#so I could make their height difference extra accurate

[inkamumbles]

Surprise! Here it is! Here’s how I imagine this would go:

Tissaia: Greetings Moiraine Sedai

Moiraine: Good evening Archmistress de Vries.

Tissaia: …

Moiraine: …

Moiraine: I like your outfit.

Tissaia: Hm. I like yours too.

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

A character reference based on all four Steps of Our Life! It's only "sort of" a height reference as well since obviously they're not 100% accurate (the devs don't have specific heights for everyone to my knowledge).

I did dig into the code to try and get characters at their "normal" heights but there are other matters at play too (example: Nicolas is obviously "taller" than he should be because he needs to be pushed upwards to be visible enough above the game's text box; likewise with other very short characters).

Still, this should serve as either a nice reference guide for every character or a "height reference" in the sense of getting an idea of which characters are shorter/taller than others.

I'm also going to detail some extra notes below the break, including posts from GB Patch's Tumblr that reference any defined heights (with Cove being the obvious one) or general height things, as well as some more stuff about the MC's height in comparison to the three love interests depending on what you pick.

Cove's height is listed on GB Patch's FAQ as 4' 1" in Step 1 (also stated as "mostly average, perhaps a bit on the short side"), 5' 4" in Step 2 (in-game this is defined as "very tall" on the MC's potential height spectrum, as that is the only option considered on par with Cove's height), 6' 0" in Step 3, and 6' 4" in Step 4. A fun fact is that Cove's final height was originally 6' 3" (191cm) instead.

Derek in Step 2 is under five feet tall (this post also lists Cove as "around 5 and a half feet tall" which you could take as either close enough to 5' 4" as stated above or a potential original height he had that got changed). In-game, he's "short" but not "very short", as having your MC be "very short" will prompt narration telling you that you're shorter than Derek, whereas "short" only has you relate to him in smolness generally.

Step 4 Derek is "mostly average." He wouldn't be considered tall nor would he be considered short. His youngest brother Nicolas will "probably end up as a similar height to him" once he's more grown up.

Step 4 Baxter is "taller than average, but not especially tall."

I've been informed that, on the Our Life Patreon Discord, Step 4 Derek's height is listed as 5' 9" (175cm) whereas Step 4 Baxter's is listed as 5' 11" (180cm), so those are their defined heights. Before that, both of their heights had jumped around somewhat. A post from 2019 said that Derek was 5' 11", but a post from June 2021 said that Baxter was 5' 11" and Derek was 5' 9" (so consistent with the Discord). Then there's also another post from July 2021 (you'll have to scroll down for this one) that listed Baxter at around 5' 10" while Derek was 5' 8"/5' 9". If you're insane enough to try and use the character reference too, then Baxter would actually be around 6'1" at minimum since he's taller than Step 3 Cove (though you could also make the same argument that this means the mom trio of Pamela, Noelani, and Kyra must be decently tall as well since they're so close to Cove on the character reference).

I don't have any experience with GB Patch's other game, XOXO Droplets, so I don't know what ages the characters are in it, but since both Shiloh and Jeremy are characters seen visibly in Our Life, I thought I'd also mention that they're listed as 5' 10" and 5' 5" (or 5' 5 1/2") respectively in XOXO Droplets. Jeremy also apparently grows to 5' 8" in his 20s and he's 22 in the Our Life Cove Wedding DLC (I don't think this is spoken of in the game specifically but he's labeled as 22 in the code).

As for the MC and how their height plays into things, "tall" and "very tall" as well as "short" and "very short" tend to be considered the same for the most part in the game's code. It's not that there isn't a difference at all (I would say it's still notable), it's just that sometimes the game may be more vague about height differences. My post about Errands references this where you don't need more athletic points due to being "very short" instead of "short" to give Cove a piggyback ride.

A guesstimate I'd make is that about 5% of the time, the game will take note of whether you're "very tall" instead of "tall" or "very short" instead of "short." Otherwise, you're either "generally tall," "average," or "generally short." There are also other instances (usually with Cove) where the game might just check if you're either generally tall (around Cove's height) or not generally tall (i.e: definitely shorter than him).

This is actually relevant to the heights because, following all above information, one would assume that Step 4 Derek is average, Step 4 Baxter is tall, and Step 4 Cove is very tall going off the MC's potential "height spectrum" of very short, short, average, tall, and very tall, but it's not entirely the case.

A "tall" MC (generally tall) will look "down" at Step 4 Baxter just as he will look "up" at them or they'll look directly at each other if the MC is "average," same as Step 3 Baxter, but--

when the game has any instance of differentiating between "tall" and "very tall" (they never do this for Step 3 Baxter so the base assumption would have to be that he's just average height), things change.

During Baxter's apology in the wedding of his Step 4, Baxter dips his chin to look at the MC if they're "short"/"very short," levels his chin to look at the MC if they're "average"/"tall," and then lifts his chin to look at the MC if they're "very tall." A generally tall MC still has to lean down to kiss him if they choose to do so though.

Also, during the intimacy scene with Baxter (either in his office or his living room), if the MC is "very short," "short," or "average," it states that Baxter is taller than them. If they're "very tall," then Baxter is shorter than them, but a "tall" MC is "almost the exact same height" as him.

This is all a really long-winded way of saying that GB Patch referring to Step 4 Baxter being "taller than average but not especially tall" might mean that he's some infuriating middle ground between average and tall where he's not quite one but not quite the other either (which honestly is very Baxter of him so I can't even be mad).

[marlynnofmany]

Reaching

Being the tall person at the grocery store is nothing compared to being the tall species on an alien planet. Everybody here was hip-height at best, and my ability to grab things that would normally require a stepstool was very appreciated. I wasn’t the only Big Alien come to visit, since the courier ship was about evenly split size-wise, but I was definitely enjoying it.

Especially since the cargo we were meant to pick up was stored (for some reason) on high shelves.

“That’s everything from this one,” I said to Mur as I grabbed a final dusty crate from head level, bending down to place it on the hoversled. “What’s next?” I straightened up and stretched my back, ready for more.

Mur consulted a list on the communicator he held with one tentacle. “That was the ‘blue alcove.’ Which one’s the ‘round alcove’?”

I rotated in place, looking for round things in the alien barn full of mismatched architecture and empty stalls. The owner had decided to retire and sell their old junk, which meant getting us to deliver it to somebody else’s farm. They were paying extra for us to load it onto the ship ourselves. This farmer was either elderly and infirm, or out of bothers to give. Not that it mattered much either way.

“I see it!” Paint said, pointing a scaly hand upward.

I followed her finger to see a curved opening halfway up the wall. “That’s more of an oval, but everything else is square, so I guess that’s it,” I agreed.

Paint tugged the hoversled over, while Mur sat on top of the boxes with his list. Then they both waited for me, because they certainly couldn’t reach any of it.

“We’re meant to take everything up here, right?” I asked, leaning in to grab a bundle of what looked like hammers strapped together. They were heavy, but not to the point where I was at risk of dropping them on anybody.

“Looks like yes,” Mur said. “Can you get all of it?”

“Mayyybe not,” I admitted. “This alcove is pretty deep.”

“Oh, there’s a ladder!” Paint said, darting away. I was busy straining to reach a roll of wire, so I didn’t see what caused the loud snap. But I did hear her make a disappointed sound.

Mur laughed. “There was a ladder. See any others over there?”

I pulled the wire down and set it on the cart, only then getting a view of Paint guiltily dropping the decrepit piece of wood that had recently been half a ladder. There were two or three pegs sticking out of it, though the rest had stayed with the other half, which appeared to be bolted to the wall.

I winced. “Are we going to have to pay damages for that?”

“Eh, maybe,” Mur said. “Pretty sure the old farmer mentioned a number of things that were destined for the fuel pile anyway. We can let Captain Sunlight ask.”

Paint called over, “I don’t see any others.”

A look back at the near wall showed bolts that might have held a different ladder in place once. “New question,” I said. “What do you see that looks strong enough for me to step on? Because I can just climb up there with a little boost.”

Mur grumbled something about species that were always looking for things to climb. Since this was entirely accurate, I ignored him. Then he said, “Well, I’d suggest stepping on the sled, but it’s full of goods, and the brakes aren’t what they should be.”

“Yeah, no use risking that,” I agreed. “And I don’t need much. I could probably get up there with a running start, but I’d rather not bruise anything today.”

Paint trotted back over. “What about those?” she suggested, pointing out a stack of metal tubs that were probably meant for animal food.

We took a look. Some were rusty and unreliable, and they were all heavy — we had to tip the stack on its side to sort through them. But we found one at the bottom that felt sturdy enough. I probably wouldn’t fall right through it. Probably.

It sure was heavy, though. I dragged it over, leaving a trail through the dirt and alien straw, hoping I wasn’t about to ruin another thing that we’d have to pay for.

I’d just gotten it into position when a new voice asked, “What is taking so long?”

Trrili stood in the doorway, a looming black-and-red menace with mandibles and pincher arms. She looked impatient. She also looked like a giant praying mantis, but she always looked like that.

While Paint explained that the items were hard to reach and the ladder was pursuing an exciting new career as kindling, Trrili stalked over on her many legs. Ignoring me completely, she reared back and easily reached into the back of the alcove. “All of these?” she asked.

“Ah, yup,” I said, stepping to the side.

She pulled back to land with her pincher arms holding a large curved thing that had loops dangling from the sides. “What even is this?” she asked as she dumped it onto the sled.

“Looks like a saddle,” I told her.

She was already back up there, rummaging around with only her hind feet on the ground. “What for?”

I said, “Riding animals, I imagine,” then went to stand uselessly with Paint. We watched as our larger coworker loaded up the rest of the items.

“Why would anyone want to ride an animal?” Trrili asked, placing a segment of pipe between the boxes.

“Not everyone has hovertech,” I said. “And it’s nice when your transportation can watch out for hazards. And appreciate neck scritches.”

Trrili declared the whole idea absurd and unnecessary, fit only for species that got too familiar with their prey. None of this was a surprise to me. I’d heard her opinions on pets before.

But Paint was curious about what it was like to be carried around by a large living thing. Was it frightening? What if the animal went the wrong way? What was the importance of “neck scritches?”

I set about explaining horses to her. I might not be able to reach as far as Trrili, but this was definitely something I could do.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

[joelsgreys]

pains l a safe haven drabble

Post Outbreak! Joel Miller x Female Reader

summary: When Ellie has awful menstrual cramps, you come to the rescue.

warnings/tags: 18+ only, MINORS DNI. talk of menstrual cycles, cramps, our lil baby Ellie is in pain, Joel is kinda useless but we still love him, little fluffy moments here and there. domestic fluff.

word count: 2k

a/n: so this is just a little thing based on this request right here. i love the idea of writing little extra blurbs and drabbles for this universe now that i am further into the series. i hope you like this anon, and thank you for being patient with my slow snail ass! *this takes place somewhere between the events of chapters five and chapter six

“Fuck, fuck, fuck—fucking motherfucker!”

Ellie loudly gasps out the string of profanities, clutching at her stomach as she doubles over in what you can only imagine has to be a world of pain. She steadies herself by planting one of her tiny hands firmly on Stella’s rotund side, her facial features twisted in complete and utter agony. She sucks in a sharp deep breath, her eyes squeezing tightly shut as she leaned up against the pregnant mare for support.

Letting out a small sigh, you set your clipboard down and walk around Stella and over to Ellie’s side. “Alright, that’s it,” you say, placing a gentle hand on her lower back. “You’re going home right now, missy. Do you understand me?”

“I’m fucking fine,” the teenager insists through her gritted teeth. “They’re just fucking cramps. It’s not a big deal.”

“Ellie, look at you. You can hardly even stand up straight,” you tell her, the slightest hint of amusement lacing your tone. You give her back a soft, soothing rub, prompting her to exhale the breath she’d been holding. “I’m sorry, but I just can't let you work like this today. They’re clearly hurting you very badly.”

“I’ve never had cramps like this before,” Ellie admits to you. She feels the sensations in her pelvis subside and draws herself back up to her full height. Her gaze finds yours and she worriedly asks, “Do you think something’s wrong with me?”

You hum. “No, not necessarily. Symptoms of your cycle can differ from month to month. I wouldn’t be too alarmed, not unless you get awful cramps like these each time you get your cycle.” You peer at her in concern. You’d much rather step on a rusty nail barefoot than have to take Ellie to see Luke at the clinic, but if there was something going on, you would have no choice but to take her. “Be honest. Do they hurt you this bad every month?”

“No,” she replies, shaking her head. “Sometimes I don’t even get them at all.”

You let out a small sigh of relief. “Then I think you’re just having a little bad luck this month,” you state, patting her shoulder. “The best thing for you to do is go home, get off your feet and get some rest until they go away.”

Ellie frowns. “How can I even rest when it feels like someone’s fucking twisting my insides in their hands like they’re wringing out a wet mop?”

You can’t help but to chuckle a bit at her oddly specific, yet incredibly accurate analogy. As a woman, you understand just how bad the pain could be and you empathize with her. At least when you’d been her age, you had been in the QZ where you could use your ration cards for a pack of expired Midol. “Listen, I’ll tell you what—I have a few remedies up my sleeve that might help. Go on home and I’ll swing by in an hour once I get everything that I need. Do we have a deal?”

Ellie opens her mouth to protest, but another wave of pain causes her to yelp and double over again. “Alright, alright,” she chokes out. “We’ve got a deal. Just please fucking do something to help make this shit go away!”

Just like you had promised, an hour later, you find yourself knocking on Ellie and Joel’s front door. You’d made a couple of pit stops along the way, gathering the supplies that you needed into an old, floral printed canvas bag. 

“Peach?” Joel’s eyebrows shoot up in complete surprise when he opens the door and sees you standing there on his front porch in broad daylight. He takes a quick look around and lowers his voice when he speaks again. “Uh, not that I ain’t happy to see you darlin’, but what are you doin’ here?” The corners of his mouth pull down into a frown and a worried look flashes in his eyes as he looks over you, making sure you’re okay. “Somethin’ happen? Is everythin’ alright?”

You smile up at him softly.

By now, you’d just about gotten used to him and his overprotective nature. “I’m fine, Joel,” you assure him. “I’m actually here to see Ellie.”

He grimaces. “She ain’t feelin’ too good—”

“I know.” You hold up the tote bag in your hand. “That’s exactly why I’m here to see her.”

Joel seems to be a bit puzzled, but he steps aside and allows you into the house. As soon as he shuts the door behind you, he catches your wrist and gently pulls you towards him, swiftly stealing a quick little kiss from you. “Hi baby,” he greets in a quiet murmur against your lips. “S’kinda nice gettin’ a little sugar from you durin’ the daytime,” he jokes lightly before he steals another.

You giggle and playfully swat at his chest. “Cut it out, Joel. I’m here because I’m on a very important mission,” you inform him, taking a step backwards. “I sent Ellie home from the stables a little while ago and I told her I’d come by with a couple of things that might help make her feel better. Where is she?”

“She’s in here. Follow me,” Joel beckons to you with his hand as he leads you down the long hallway and into the living room. He gestured with a jut of chin to Ellie, who is sprawled out on the couch on her stomach, her small face buried into one of the cushions. “I took the afternoon off from patrol today. Didn’t want her to be home alone while she’s in so much pain but I’m useless. I don’t know what to do or what I can give her to make it stop hurtin’.”

“You’re not useless Joel—”

“No, he’s right. He’s pretty fucking useless,” Ellie mumbles miserably, her voice muffled by the couch cushion. 

You glance at Joel who tosses her an offended glare. “She doesn’t mean that, you know. She’s just in a lot of pain right now.” You touch his arm and offer him a small, sympathetic smile. “Do you mind if I borrow your kitchen for a few minutes to prepare what I brought?”

“‘Course not. C’mon, the kitchen's right across the way.” Taking advantage of the fact that Ellie’s face is still smushed into the couch, Joel takes your hand in his and starts leading you across the hallway into his kitchen. “What do you need, darlin’?”

“Do you have a tea kettle I can use?”

He shakes his head and drops your hand. “No, I don’t think we have one of those.”

“A normal pot will do, then,” you state, setting your bag down on the counter.

Joel nods and walks up beside you, opening one of the cabinets underneath the kitchen sink. He pulls out a dark blue pot and hands it to you. He watches as you fill it up with tap water from the kitchen faucet before carrying it over to the gas powered stove. After switching the stove on and getting a flame going, you set the pot down on top of it so the water could begin to warm up. You then reach into your bag and pull out a small plastic ziploc bag filled with loose tea leaves, dumping a few of them into the water before sealing the bag back up and setting it off to the side.

“What’s that?” he questions, curiously. 

“Raspberry leaf tea. It’s good for a lot of things, but it does wonders for menstrual cramps,” you explain briefly. You dig into your bag once more and pull out the handmade heating pad that you’d sewn together yourself a while back. Noticing that Joel’s standing right next to the old microwave on the opposite end of the counter, you toss it over in his direction, quickly warning him, “Joel, think fast.” 

He swiftly catches it in one of his hands. “The hell is this fuckin’ thing?”

You toss him a playful eye roll. “That’s a heating pad.”

Joel squeezes it between his fingers, making a face. “What’s in it?”

“Rice, flaxseed, and some lavender as well. It’ll help soothe her. Pop it into the microwave for a couple of minutes.”

He nods, doing as you’d instructed. “If you say so, peach.”

While the heating pad is warming up, you notice the water beginning to boil in the pot and start looking through his cabinets until you find a mug. You set it down and switch off the stove, asking him, “Do you have a hand strainer by any chance?”

“Yeah, think there’s one in that drawer right beside you.”

As you go about finishing preparing the tea, you feel Joel’s dark brown eyes glued to your back. Glancing over your shoulder, you meet his curious gaze and raise a questioning eyebrow at him. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothin’,” he replies, innocently. “Just can’t believe you’re doin’ all this for her.”

You laugh a little. “Of course—why wouldn’t I do this for Ellie?”

Joel says nothing. He can only smile at you.

“Okay,” you say as you finish pouring the tea through the strainer. You set the pot side and pick up the ceramic mug. “Grab the heating pad. Let’s go make little miss grumpy pants feel better.”

He chuckles and does as he is told, grabbing the heating pad out of the microwave before following you out of the kitchen and back into the living room.

“Okay, Ellie. I need you to sit up,” you announced, walking over to the couch. 

She groans dramatically, but obeys. “I swear, if you making this fucking stop, I will never in my life complain about mucking out stalls ever again.”

“Here.” You hold out the mug to her. “You’re going to drink this.”

Ellie makes a disgusted face. “Ugh. I fucking hate tea.”

You pin her with a stern look. “What do you hate more—tea or pain?”

“Fine. Give it here,” she grumbles, carefully taking the tea in her hands. She blows on it for a minute to cool it down, then takes a couple of reluctant sips. She lets out a little disgusted noise, but says nothing about it.

As she leans back against the couch, you take the heating pad from Joel’s hands and place it over her pelvis. 

Ellie groans out in relief. “Fuck, that feels incredible.”

You glance over at Joel, raising an eyebrow. “Eh? What did I tell you?”

“You’re amazin’,” he grins. 

“You’re amazing,” Ellie mimics, teasing him with a smirk.

Joel’s smile fades. “Well, that tells me she’s feelin’ better already,” he grumbles, shaking his head. 

You watch as she forces herself to drink the rest of her tea. Once she’s finished, you take the empty mug from her in one of your hands.

“Oh. I have one more thing that might help.” You reach into the breast pocket of your white blouse and produce a tiny, square shaped object wrapped in foil. “I know it always makes Dina feel better when she’s having a rough time with her monthly bill.”

Ellie unwraps it, her eyes going wide. “No way! Is this chocolate?” She eagerly bites into the corner of the piece, moaning. “Fuck, that’s so good.”

You pat her thigh. “Lay down and keep that heating pad on you. You’ll start to feel better in no time.”

“I already do,” she says, shooting you a grateful look. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, kid.” You smile and stand up, walking into the kitchen with the empty mug in hand.

Joel follows suit.

Setting the dish down into the sink, you gasp when you feel his arms wrap around you from behind. “Joel, Ellie is—”

“She ain’t gonna see,” he murmurs, pressing his lips against your neck. 

You turn around in his arms.

“Thank you,” he says sincerely, his eyes meeting yours. “For takin’ such good care of her. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

Grinning, you tilt your head up for a kiss. 

You don’t know what you’d do without them either. 

[cidthesquid]

Closing the Book on Fashion Forward! (Mini Review+Personal Story)

Yes, yes, I'm aware, this is the 3rd “I've finish Style Savvy FF" post! But This time it's for real, I completed the (spoilers) event, and I've even transferred my save off the emulator for long-term storage on the game cart! [My adventure spanned from 11/04/23 - 12/26/23]

Here are my last few outfits! (mini-review to follow!)

Overall, had a ton of fun with this game! It was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had in years. But it was not without it's hiccups, the most obvious being how events are handled, At times you'll have to wait for the correct person to pop-up to progress the plot, and sometimes they just refuse to show up. The Real time clock is a neat addition, with a season system for fashion shows, shop inventory, and for some slight weather features. it's FAR less strict than in games like animal crossing, but it can make unlocking some content really annoying, since you have to wait a real-world day for shops to refresh, and some in-game locations are locked out for different based on the time. But it by no means hampers you from enjoying the game's core loop. (Nigh owls rejoice) I could also complain about unlocking colors and hairstyles and makeup, as they all feel pretty random without a guide. But again these are all just extra. The core gameplay loop of managing inventory, designing outfits, and matching style to your customer was absolutely top notch! Even on my last day, I ended up coming with at least two new ones when I thought I'd exaused all options. The only snag with this, is after a fashion show, everyone will get excited about the theme, and will demand that you only make outfits in that specific style for multiple days afterwards, so that can get a little repetitive. But other than that, the core designing has been more fun than I thought possible! (Personal story relayed to SS, after the break!)

Alright, well since this will be my last post for a little while, (I'll take a short break before starting trendsetters) I figured I'd talk a little about why Style Savvy means soo much to me. (It's SUPER long, and get's a little personal, but you've been warned!) In short, I've always been a bit self-conscious about how I present myself in games. I'm a guy, and generally only play as guy characters designed to look as much like me as possible, Not because it's more 'immersive', or that that's because I'm most comfortable with, but because it would mean less 'uncomftable questions' from others, Yet I'd still get comments such as "that doesn't look like you", why'd you choose that.. weight/height/ hairstyle/skin tone/etc, that's not accurate"!

And that, mixed with many offhanded comments about how others chose to dress their characters, (and the possible reasons why they chose 'a specific outfit', applying a negative connotation to even the idea of a guy playing as a female character) It kinda enforced in my mind, that even wanting to play as a cool, cute or even sassy female character was just creepy in some way. So for a long time, I just avoided it my making all my main characters as close to myself as possible, but even having a female side/alt directly based of an existing TV show/game character would still cause some sarcastic remarks, so I just stopped using them in any multiplayer games, and stuck with my main. Eventually i stated playing Final Fantasy XIV and made my standard character, but the friend that introduced me to the game decided he had no interested in playing the start of the game again, and the few others I planned to play with were always busy, so I decided to make a female side character, and came up with a design I liked and ended up playing as them a lot, while waiting for others to be free. In Final Fantasy, I picked up crafting, and started making my own armor and clothing, and for the first time, I was actually designing outfits for an original female character! and began really enjoying the various outfits I could make, and mixing pieces for new looks It still felt kinda weird, I'd never cared about how other people designed or dressed their characters, but it still felt 'wrong' for me somehow, (Like I was enforcing my own will on them, deciding how they dress. as silly as it sounds) The compromise was making a few alt characters, giving each a style an personality, and just sticking to only designing within "what they would actually wear"

That allowed me to be much more comfortable designing in various styles, but I still felt a little weird making specific styles, as I was worried about how it would be precived by other players. ...And eventually 'Fashion Dreamer' released it looked interesting, looking it up online introduced me to 'Style Savvy', So I gave Fashion Forward a Shot, and fell in love with the game. It let me designed outfits my and other characters, but removed all the previous sources of anxiety! I did not have to worry about anyone else's feelings, no one in the game cared about who I was or how I looked in real life, I was not taking away anyone elses control, they decide they want to look cute/cool/feminine, and I'm just helping them achieve their goal. I could look however I want, and it would never bother anyone or make them feel uncomfortable. The people in the world were all very nice and friendly, and while they may be fake, the positive improvement the game has had on my live has been very real! The game may not be a teaching tool, but I still feel I've learned a fair bit about the basics of fashion and outfit customization. and I feel more confident in not just my designs, but how I feel about making characters in general! ...I mean to a point. I did completely redesign my avatar when I started posting here, as I was worried about what people would think, of my working with an avatar that appeared to be of a different race, ....despite me never posting any IRL pics... ...But, baby steps, I have to start somewhere! --- Thanks Syn Sophia, this game has truly changed my life for the better! :)

[infini-tree]

ok so... here’s krupp’s house interior recreated to the best of my ability! here’s some comments because i have Thoughts on it.

general

i don’t know what’s in the art book when it comes to krupp’s house. even if it was completely mapped out, it may not even be accurate to the final version seen in movie-- i know at the very least some older concepts where there was evidence of a pet bowl and a cat tower, but i’m not factoring that for obvious reasons.

this is not to scale, so some parts may be off.

fun fact after looking at these screencaps for ages: every part of krupp’s house has a different wallpaper pattern. i think that’s just fun. and it makes things/placement easier to identify! :)

to summarize my thoughts on this house: really, only the living/dining situation is the part i’m the most sure of, and that’s only because they’re confirmed to be next to each other. the placement of everything other room is more out of “common sense” that i’ll explain.

the parts of the house labelled with an asterisk ( * ) are those that are theorized to be there because of logistics. we don’t see a laundry, or hall closets in the boys’ montage, but its there to both fill out space and to be a bit “realistic” in terms of Where Does Krupp Keep His Stuff/Clean His Clothes.

The Closet At The End Of The Hallway is mostly for me as i put it there for sticky notes au reasons. you could easily swap it and where the laundry room is.

the exterior layout seen in the movie is completely disregarded. if it was, then the left half of his house would be gone. that being said, i tried to keep it as completely square as possible. there are a few particular discreprencies i had to contend with i’ll explain in later sections.

dining room / kitchen

i’m skipping the living room because there’s not much to say about it. like harold says, it looks nice! though, a bit empty.

his kitchen/dining situation is wild. typically one would just connect the two rooms directly like you would krupp’s living/dining, but this dining room shot implies that there’s a bit of hallway between the two spaces? it makes it feel a lot more congested than it needs to be. who ok’ed this? is it the same guy who put krupp’s office on the second floor as opposed to the front door? but i digress.

also its extremely extra of him to just have one chair when these sorts of things come in a set.

as for the kitchen itself... its honestly frustratingly vague considering how close the shots associated with it are. 

the shot showing the drawer shows a light source implied to be a window with blinds, but the reverse shot shows that there’s no room on harold’s right to facilitate a window. this is one of those discrepancies i had to either do one or the other for and i just decided to add the window (albeit a small one).

i also added a door leading to the backyard, mostly as a logistics thing. the other neighboring houses have one on the side, so there’s a precedence for it.

bathroom

the shot is pretty self explanatory. i’m not sure if krupp has a shower or a bathtub considering that the frosted glass obscures the view. the height of the porcelain in relation to the toilet makes me think ‘bathtub’, though.

bedroom

also self-explanatory. had to do a bit of gymnastics when formatting the closets to make it not stick out on the floor plan. honestly the most contentious thing about where i placed it is because right outside the bedroom door, the hall might extend to the left. due to the fact hat the boys are right in front of the shot its hard to tell, but i decided on it not being it.

also its a little silly how krupp decorates his own room with what seems to be one of his degrees/principal’s license. even in his home life and doesn’t need to perform it, he’s leaning into the principal identity.

[picapicamagpie]

I am meant to be in bed rn because I have work tomorrow and have been at work all day today and am going to regret being awake but I could not get this out of my head. After reading and re-reading the amazing analysis by @lemonisntreal I’ve decided my new mini project is getting a canon height for all the Sing 1 & 2 characters. Going off Lemon’s post, I set the guy’s height for an average 5′10″. Supposing he is of average height and not extra tall or small, I then adjusted the picture of him so that it fit the 5′10″ scale. Then I lined up the Sing characters who appear with him, adjusting their positions so that their feet are equal with his and everyone is starting off from 0, as perspective can make characters look taller or shorter depending on where they stand relative to him. They are already scaled to the same size as him. Then measuring their height from their feet up to the heads - not counting things like Miss Crawly’s hat or Ash’s quills. I did two measurements for Johnny because it’s a bit more unclear where his hair ends and head begins. This is still not perfect as the chart leaves me interpreting the numbers a little, but as best as I can read:

Ash is slightly below halfway between 2′5″ and 2′11″ (the difference is 6 inches, half of 6 is 3, so just under half would be +2 inches from the minimum). So I put her at 2 feet 7 inches.

Miss Crawly is slightly below halfway between 2′11″ and 3′5″. So I put her at 3 feet 1 inch. However she is hunched over most of the time so she probably appears shorter.

Gunter is just over halfway between 3′11″ and 4′5″ (the difference is again 6 inches, half is 3, so just over half would be +4 inches from the minimum). So I put him at 4 feet 3 inches.

Buster is just over halfway between 1′11″ and 2′5″. So I put him at 2 feet 3 inches.

Johnny, up to the top of his hair, is 5′5″ almost exactly. Maybe like 5′4.9″ if you want to be precise. Up to his brow ridge, he’s just under 4′11″. So I put Johnny between 5 feet 5 inches and 4 feet 10 inches, depending on how much of his head is just tuft.

@lemonisntreal you eyeballed it pretty damn accurately!! Also full credit for this post goes to Lemon because this is just piggybacking off their brilliant idea, they thought of it first!!

Oh and I absolutely WILL be doing all the named characters. It’s going to be a long process making sure the characters are scaled correctly but I‘ll do it tomorrow and just add to this post.

[zhongwans]

Some extra context on QV's new expose

Back in May 2021 right after the WOH concert, a fan claimed that she saw ZZH in Shanghai buying boba. In the photos, "ZZH" was wearing the same clothes he was wearing during the concert afterparty.

P1: the "ZZH" spotted in Shanghai

P2: the actual ZZH a few days before

At the time people thought it was weird because why would ZZH still be wearing the exact same outfit days after he wore them? It felt very unnatural and forced, like this "ZZH" was trying very hard to make sure people knew it was him. Plus, this was right after the WOH concert when he was at the height of his popularity and couldn't even go out to play golf without people surrounding him and following him. So what was he doing traipsing around in Shanghai in the middle of the day, in an outfit that any fan would recognize, and looking like he was being completely ignored? When at that time even the less popular WOH cast members couldn't walk around freely without being approached by fans.

A lot of the analysis about this incident was wiped when the fandom went underground after 813, but it was generally agreed on that "Shanghai ZZH" was a fake. But the one thing people couldn't decide was how this fake ZZH knew exactly what clothes ZZH was going to wear during after the concert so he could prepare the exact same outfit beforehand. If QV's info is accurate that ZZH's studio and staff were involved in creating this fake ZZH, then I guess we might finally have an answer to this old mystery.

One of the main theories at the time was that the people behind the fake hurriedly ordered the same clothes during the afterparty so the fake could wear them later. But the problem was that at least one of those clothes (notably the Lanvin sweatshirt) was still not being sold. So people theorized that it was a dupe (from maybe a taobao shop or whatever) and there were plenty of analysis comparing the lobster print on ZZH's sweatshirt versus the fake's, to try and spot any differences in quality.

The possible involvement of ZZH's studio suggests a much more realistic possibility: that when he took off the sponsored clothes and gave them to his staff for them to handle, they had the fake ZZH wear it and walk around in Shanghai for the staged "sighting" before returning them to the brands.

The "fan" QV is referring to in her expose is the fan who claimed she saw him in Shanghai and provided the pics. Apparently she was contacted by his studio staff and given the photos of "Shanghai ZZH" and was paid to post those and pretend she saw him there herself. I don't know how much of this is true (guess we'll have to wait) but if it is true then it answers a lot of questions we all had about that staged Shanghai sighting incident. Both ZZH and GJ were subjected to a lot of hate throughout the airing of WOH, but this fake ZZH in Shanghai was the first real sign that something was very wrong behind the scenes, and that certain parties were putting in a lot of effort and money into manipulating the fandom. At the time I didn't think it was that serious, but I guess people were right to be worried because look where we are now.

As for the purpose of the fake sighting, the main theory back then that this was meant to set up a future smear.

[lovelaetter]

how do u feel abt yunjin + chaewon as gfs?? im kinda in love w the idea of them actually, ik they'd be sooo touchy n lovey w each other but also kinda shy at the same time, esp in front of the other girls... i also think they'd be kinda competitive esp when it comes to stuff like dancing or singing, they're both so passionate about lsrfm and i feel that would influence their relationship/dynamic as well...

+them being kinda obsessed w each other like chaewon hangs like a sloth onto yunjin, pinkys linked arms around the waist the whole package... +yunjin being such a terribly romantic sap like IK she'd write songs abt them and shit

and their height difference AWOOo... chaewon being so pocketable n stealing yunjins sweaters and sweatpants and lookin Extra Soft,,, yunjin tucking her chin into chaewons shoulder when she goes for a backhug im ILL

(nsfw: theyd be SOOO horny for each other it would be actually insane. idk why but i read them both as massive switches, they just love feeling good AND making the other feel good... +them having little quickies n makeouts EVERYWHERE like they're so so so busy all the time + have little privacy but theyre just so :( horny :((( anywhere is fair game, the couch in their dorm, a practice room, a bathroom while recording for music shows.... + yunjin struggling to be quiet while chaewon panics abt being heard :((( ... yunjin loving leaving marks on chaewon (puppy coded puppy coded!!) and chaewon having to remind her not to leave any that are visible :(( oh im so soft.... and at the start of them dating they're both kinda shy and blushy abt fucking but nowadays all it takes is a telepathically charged Look and they're both sneaking out of a room together +why do i feel sakura would tease them abt their sexcapades the absolute MOST)

lmk ur thoughts!! i love ur blog btw :') there's not that many lsrfm writers let alone good ones, im so lucky i found ur blog

i don’t have much to say about this because i don’t really ship members but everything you described seems so accurate :( especially the bit about arms around waist because a few days ago i saw a video that said something like “yunjin is that type of girlfriend” and it was basically just her giving chaewon backhugs, pulling kkura to her lap… so yeah, i can see them acting like that.

also, on the height difference, on the same video there was this one where yunjin lowers her chair so chaewon could properly rest her head on her shoulder and it was just so cute! thinking about yunjin teasing chae about even though it’s not a big difference just to see make chae a little mad because she looks cute :(

now, nsfw, you’re right about them being switches but the idea of yunjin being a service top is so vivid in my mind that i think it’s how it is most of the times, like, it’s the puppy energy! absolutely loves to pleasure chaewon, lives for it, whines because she wants to mark her so badly and chae is all about “no, not here” and “we can’t” … and yes, they probably are horny as hell, the tension would be insane, a “need to fuck her or else i die” situation.

[misc-obeyme]

have u ever posted wht ur ocs/mc looks like anywhere?

Alas, I have not.

I often say I have zero artistic skill, but while this isn't entirely true, it might as well be. I don't have the skills needed to draw characters, anyway.

I've had a hard time finding a picrew that really captures them, too. That being said, I think I will share this one with you because it's the best one I've found.

This is as close as I could get. Their heights are probably the most accurate part of it.

Ciaran's hair is a brighter blue and is more wavy and messy. They're also chubbier in general and they're like in their early thirties where this picrew makes them look twelve lol.

Arsenios's hair is a darker brown and the red highlights are brighter and there are more of them. But a lot of picrews only let you do a different hair color on these extra sort of pieces, so this was the best I could find. He also has more piercings in his ears, but you know. I took what I could get! These proportions look pretty good, though my head vision of that is somewhat vague so I don't have as much to say about that as I do his hair and such.

I have a much more detailed description of Arsenios in his main post, but also in chapters seven and ten of The Threads That Bind.

Of course I'm happy to describe either of their features in more detail if anyone would like me to! One day I'd like to get some art commissioned at least of Arrie and maybe I'll get Ciaran but we'll see. I don't have the funds for such projects at the moment, so it will have to wait. (I'm kinda thinking I might do a couple writing commissions so that I can get the funds to do this... but I'm waiting until I feel up to doing that lol.)

Thank you for the interest in my silly characters! I hope this at least kinda answered the question.

[metroidprimepics]

More miscellaneous observations, mostly from Corruption.

Prime etc.

Since there may be Switch remasters of these games on the way, I’d like to clarify that this blog is not an accurate representation of how these games look on console.

For one, I do bump up the resolution, which makes smaller details much clearer. (The base textures are unchanged, though I believe there’s a fanmade HD texture pack for Prime. Which admittedly could kind of use it.)

I also often tweak the lighting in post - usually brightness/contrast, sometimes white balance. (On top of that, I turned down bloom by 10% on Corruption, because it’s a bit much.) This is about as much I would edit a photograph which I took of real life.

Finally... Keep in mind that these games were originally meant to be played on a component video output hooked up to a CRT, which (as you may or may not know from personal experience) is a very fuzzy experience.

That being said, all I’m doing is adding extra polish - Prime games look decent under any condition. (My actual play setup is trash...) So these remasters, provided they exist, have a lot to live up to.

Moving on.

This is what it looks like inside the morph ball. So... now you know...?

Activating two cutscenes at once means they play simultaneously.

It seems Gliders were originally going to be used as platforms at some point. It is very difficult to get on top of one without noclip, but as you might hope, Samus can totally ride on them. Whee!

There’s no issues with sliding off or anything, either - you’re clearly meant to be able to stand on top. (Wish the same was true for my sad attempts to boost onto Quadraxis’ flying head without stunning it first - water off a duck.)

Apparently there’s even an unused scan image depicting this exact scenario, which more or less confirms it.

This applies to some midsize harmless flying enemies in the rest of the main trilogy as well, specifically the drones in Sanctuary and the cargo carriers in Skytown, both of which speedrunners ride to get out of bounds. Perhaps they’re using the same code...? Or maybe those are programmed like “crates that move” and the fact that they’re also flying platforms is a coincidence, who knows. It’s all platforms, always has been.

Different game entirely, but bear with me. These statues in front of Elun reminded me of this statue in Prime 1, specifically with the robes/armor. Might be a coincidence, though, especially since the main series basically ignores Prime.

Echoes

I love Echoes, but I don’t have much to say about it this time.

Spoopy.

The regular human corpses are about the same size as Samus, but when Ing-possessed they get... bigger. (Morph Ball is about half her height - when unmorphing, she comes up to the armpit.) So that’s weird and kind of gross to think about!

Corruption

The MPT version of Corruption seems to have significantly better load times than the Wii release, though it takes longer to boot up at the start.

The Pirate Phazon storage that Dark Samus reconstitutes herself in during the opening cutscene (left - sorry for terrible angle, it’s hard to fight the cutscene camera) isn’t one of a kind. It’s the same room model as the Phazon storage/processing room that you pick up X-Ray Visor in much later (right).

...gonna chuck that one on the right in the queue, actually...

It’s really impossible to overstate just how tiny humans* are in the Metroid universe, compared to almost every other species. Other humanoid species are generally at least as tall as Ghor. So if you’re looking for an in-universe explanation for all these conveniently morph-ball sized vents... Uh, I guess those are still pretty small for most species.

*or, in this case, Gandrayda badly impersonating a human - though she’s the exception, being about the same size as Samus anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use the same model.

Speaking of Gandrayda. This isn’t a new discovery, but I figure it’s worth mentioning that there’s some otherwise unreleased concept art in her body texture. Seems someone was using it to colorpick...

Feeding my statuary addiction with these busts on Bryyo Fire.

This save room in Skytown has a mysterious solar system model. My pet theory is that it’s home. Like, the lore on the nearby Cyrlic tree is that this Chozo tribe bioengineered it and brings it from place to place (you also see this exact species on Tallon IV). So maybe if that tree is from home, this model is depicting home? I don’t know.

There are a lot of assumptions there and an environment artist probably just stuck it there because it looks cool. Just kidding! This is approximately canon.

While it seems odd that the HUD is a 3D element in the world, it does let it interact with lighting, like this orange glow. It’s subtle, but a nice touch.

...now that I know you can make it invisible I’m turning it off though... Invulnerability cheat doesn’t work in this game, so whatever happens happens I guess!

Quick look at the dying parasite queens in the Skytown Xenoresearch Facility elevator wall. Which is... You know. A completely normal place to store your dying specimens.

If you’ve ever wondered where exactly in Samus’ body her Phazon growth is located, wonder no longer: it is located above whatever Leviathan seed she happens to be in! (In this case, Bryyo. Blue things on the walls.) Hope that helps. 😔

In the drop cutscene, two Spire pods are loaded at the same time, though you’d never see them both with a normal angle.

You might have to take my word for this, but the text in the biohazard scan is once again basically keysmashing. All homebar too, very classical. There’s one word on here, “extra”. And some numbers, 123123, @@@, etc.

Finally. (deep sigh) Shoutouts to the artist at Retro who decided to give the Reptilicus about 6 polygons of lizard bulge. Maybe they can hang with the artist at Mercury Steam who kept giving a bunch of ZDR critters detailed bolas.

[greatwyrmgold]

Holocure Character Guide: Holomyth

NOTE: This guide was written for 0.3.1656470021. The Hololive EN characters didn't change much in the 0.4 update, so it should be mostly accurate, but item recommendations in particular are probably wrong.

Each character has a basic weapon they start the game with, three unique upgradable skills, and a super attack. These interact to make (for instance) Calli and Sana play very differently, even when armed with the same weapons and items. I’ve played each of them at least a couple of times, and will do my best to explain these differences and how best to use them.

Amelia Watson

Ame is a pretty basic character—appropriate, since she’s one of the few ordinary-ish humans in Hololive (outside the early JP generations).

Her starting weapon is a pistol that can only fire left or right (in my opinion, the most annoying to aim out of any starter weapon), and two of her skills just boost damage and critical rate. Her special freezes enemies in place (while boosting her pistol’s firing rate), and her third skill lets Bubba run around, fetching XP and hurting enemies. Pretty much any loadout works on her, with the exception of loadouts that just don’t work at all.

Also, you can pet the dog.

Gawr Gura

Gura’s skills lend themselves to a specific sort of playstyle, focusing on numerous small strikes and not getting hit.

The most important, at least for building her kit around, is her Shark Bite, which has a chance to put a “bite mark” on enemies each time they’re hit, increasing damage taken and potentially healing you when they’re killed. You need weapons that hit a lot for tiny amounts of damage per hit to take full advantage of this mechanic.

Gura’s basic weapon, a fork trident, has good range and strikes multiple times when upgraded, but its narrow attack area means aim is critical (and it struggles with crowds). The Power of Atlantis creates whirlpools that trap enemies and make them more vulnerable to damage. Just be sure to attack them—you aren’t running a catch-and-release program. Her special is pretty straightforward—one big attack, then she “reflects” on her performance gets bonuses to damage and speed for a bit.

Finally, there’s Short Height, which causes enemies to sometimes miss her because they’re used to fighting taller people. After dodging this way, Gura gets half a second of invulnerability and speed boost, which is hopefully enough to get you to safety. Combine with Headphones for, at maximum level, a 57.75% chance of ignoring any attack that hits. Just don’t assume that this combo makes you invulnerable. (For more than half a second at a time, I mean.) Short Height also combines well with Sake and other items items that buff you if you haven’t been hit.

???

I don’t know where else to put this, so I’ll squeeze it in here: Gura and Ina get a semi-unique bonus with the Cutting Board weapon and derivatives. I find this interesting, because their base weapons have something in common—both are long and narrow, compared to other (non-projectile) weapons. This has its advantages, but it has big weaknesses called “sides and back”—weaknesses that the fully-upgraded cutting board solves by throwing extra cutting boards at all of those weaknesses.

Is this a coincidence, or an intentional design choice? What weapons will Ollie, Shion, and that famous necromancer have?

Anyways.

Ninomae Ina’nis

Ina’s a fun one. If you play her right, she’s jumping into the middle of enemy hordes and smashing them to pieces.

The first and most obvious piece of the puzzle is her Special Attack, which summons a bunch of tentacles before turning Ina into a damp, sticky buzzsaw. If you don’t throw yourself into a mass of enemies, it won’t do much. If you do, it can wipe out an enemy mob. The second only-less-obvious-because-it-takes-time-to-unlock piece is Ina’s Cult skill, which grants a damage bonus for having lots of targets around.

Now, jumping into a big pit of violent fans could be somewhat dangerous. Enter The Void, a skill which slows enemies as they get close. This helps mitigate that danger, by making it harder for enemies to reach you. Of course, it doesn’t help any once the enemies do reach you; you still need to avoid running into enemies, and grabbing some weapons with knockback (like max-level Spider Cooking) can hardly hurt.

The last thing you need to worry about is not dying. The Ancient Ones skill helps out with that, turning enemies into harmless ghost takodachis (which still count for the Cult skill, and heal you at maximum level). But it only does so much; you’ll want defensive items as well. Nurse Horns are good on everyone, of course, but they’re worth pointing out; the times when Ina is most vulnerable (in the middle of an enemy horde) are when she should be killing the most enemies.

Defensive items are good, especially the best defensive item in the game. What else? Ina needs some close-range weapons, but mostly to protect her from the enemies she’s jumping into. Cult’s damage bonus applies whether the enemies are two pixels from hitting you or offscreen, so she benefits from mixing short- and long-range weapons.

I haven’t really talked about Ina’s default weapon, Summon Tentacle, because it’s hard to fit into this framework I’ve been building. I’ve been talking about how Ina wants to jump into the middle of big groups of enemies, and her tentacle…has the longest range of any starting weapon except some projectiles, and while wider than Trident Thrust or Bird Feather, it’s still narrower than many other starting weapons.

As for actual advice: You can “swipe” with the tentacle by moving while it’s extended to hit more enemies. This is particularly useful when an enemy you thought you should have hit ends up in one of the tentacle’s weird curls. Advancing a starting weapon to max level ASAP is rarely bad advice (unless you’re playing Baelz), but it’s especially rewarding on Ina, whose level 7 ability is probably the coolest out of the entire cast.

Takanashi Kiara

I would rate Kiara as the best for new players to pick up. She’s pretty simple; run around, slash with your nice broad sword, and set everything on fire.

Kiara’s basic attack is pretty simple—a sword-swing that grows and grows and eventually gets set on fire. Before Calli’s rework, it was by far the easiest Holomyth starting weapon to aim, and it’s still pretty easy. Her special attack, Phoenix Fire, is also straightforward; one big explosion, and some lingering flames to protect you (or to lure enemies into).

Her skills are pretty easy to understand, too. Phoenix Shield can help defend you, but it’s only effective if you only take damage every once in a while. Trailblazer creates damaging (and eventually slowing) fire where you walk; it’s beneficial to inexperienced players, because it lets them do damage by running away. Speaking of running, Dancer provides a damage boost as long as you keep moving. (You can stop for a fraction of a second without losing the buff, but not reliably.) There’s rarely a reason not to move, so this is a pretty easy buff to maintain (unless you’re even more fumble-fingered than me).

Kiara works pretty well with any weapons or items. I personally recommend going for MiComet and Dragonfire, so you can paint the map orange with flames, but that’s more of an aesthetic concern than a tactical one.

Calliope Mori

Calli has gone through some serious changes in recent updates. She’s been buffed, partly by tweaking some skills, but mostly by changing how her scythe works on its own.

Once, the scythe was for many people the trickiest weapon to use; it covered a wide arc, but only a narrow slice along it, some distance from Calliope—and that distance only grew as you upgraded the scythe. Many people found it more difficult to aim than any other basic weapon—you didn’t need to work hard to get the angle right, but you could only attack at a fairly specific distance.

And even if you were better at keeping your distance than aiming, the dead zone meant that enemies surrounding you on multiple sides could easily trap you, unable to attack if you didn’t have some other close-range weapons to fill the gap. And even in that case, Calliope would still be in danger, because she is all about that scythe.

The Rapper boosts damage within a certain radius, which affects all weapons with a shorter range than her scythe, but also affects her scythe. Death causes some extra effects when enemies are killed with the scythe (or by Death’s explosions, which are triggered by the scythe). And her special attack, The Reaper, mostly just boosts her scythe damage.

Sure, it boosts crit damage too, but Calli isn’t very crit-focused. And it’s honestly kinda disappointing for most of the game—it’s not hard to boost your scythe to the point that it kills basically all non-boss enemies for the first twelve minutes. You’ll fall behind the curve if you grab some useful items in the early minutes, but you should catch up before you actually need to kill enemies in a single swipe. For ~60% of the game, The Reaper is a boss-killing special. And it’s quite good at that!

I should also briefly mention Workaholic. It provides a stacking damage buff whenever you kill enemies that only goes away if you stop killing them. This is a big part of why Calli’s scythe is so deadly—it’s very easy to kill some enemies and never stop long enough for the buff to go away.

So aside from buffing the scythe, what should you get? Other weapons that can benefit from The Rapper’s close-range damage buff are ideal, particularly Spider Cooking. It used to be more important, to fill in the scythe-arc’s huge dead space and help judge how close you were to enemies, but it’s still handy. Spider Cooking, BL Book, and Cutting Board help cover Calli’s back, where her scythe isn’t reaping.

She also needs defensive items. Most characters have at least one defensive skill, at least something that slows down enemies like The Void or Down Under, but Calli’s only innate defense is an overwhelming offense. Nurse Horns are an excellent choice for any character, but Calli’s sheer lethality makes them an especially good choice.

If you like living dangerously, Face Mask and Injection-Type Asacoco are also worth considering. They give huge damage buffs, in exchange for making you extremely fragile. ITA and Nurse Horns seem like they would make a potent combination—all the power of Asacoco with enough healing to practically negate the downside—but I’ve never been able to test it.

Old Calli should never take Knightly Milk; it would extend her scythe outside The Rapper’s range, which kinda defeats the purpose of the skill. However, I tested New Calli with Knightly Milk, and it looks like even a maxed-out scythe with maxed-out milk stays within level 3 Rapper’s range. Man, this guide sure had to change a lot after Calli update, huh? I hope no other characters were updated enough to completely invalidate parts of this guide…

[demonslayedher]

Could you do a character analysis for everyone? im looking to write a kny fic and wanna make sure all the characters aren't ooc

‘Sup, Anon! While I’m flattered, ultimately I’m just one nerd on the internet, and the only true authority on what is and is not in character for any of the cast is our alligator mangaka, Gotouge. (Even then, Gotouge surprises me with characterization choices.) As I do not work for any of the companies that own the rights or work on the production of the manga or anime, I have zero authority whatsoever, and what’s more, I am a fangirl before I am a nerd. That means sometimes I make fanfic choices purely based on how I want the characters to act, or I choose to emphasize or ignore certain aspects of their character simply because I like them better that way. At some level, all fanfic authors do, so getting everyone 100% in character is an unnecessary amount of stress for something that should be fun!

That being said, I do envision most of my fics as fitting in believably with canon, so I do try to keep the details accurate and reflect a similar tone and make realistic characterization choices (hence, this blog). If that is also the style you want to write in, and it doesn’t have to be in order to be good fic, then I have the following advice:

***

Reread/rewatch canon. While extra fanbook details are great reference and all, knowing a character’s height in centimeters isn’t as important as knowing how they’d react to different situations they are put in. Instead of reading for plot, reading for what the characters are doing, how they are feeling, how they react to surprises or things that make them happy or angry or embarrassed is what will make it easier to pretend how they would react or what they would do in the scenarios in your fic.

Part of what's so fun with KnY is that there's a lot going on that's easy to miss the first time(s) around, like Giyuu being the one to reach out to Mitsuri when she practically faints at a Pillar Meeting or Murata having been the one to care for Giyuu when he was injured at the Final Selection.

And as previously stated, Gotouge is the ultimately authority! When in doubt, always go back to canon.

***

References details and Taisho Secrets

The Kimetsu no Yaiba Wiki is a great resource for basic details and fun facts, especially ones from Taisho Secrets. Gotouge has thrown such bizarre facts in sometimes that those tidbits make great springboards for asking more questions!

For example, Fanbook #1 is the only place mention is made of Mitsuri’s pet rabbit, but in a Taisho Secret she tells Iguro about her four cats. How do the cats and rabbit get along? Who takes care of the rabbit while she’s gone? If the cats weren’t mentioned among her pets, as that because she counts them as friends instead of pets, like how Iguro sees Kaburamaru? (Or it could be continuity error, but whatever.)

***

Setting research

As the circumstances in which characters grew up can have a lot of impact on their character choices, do research based on what will impact the characters’ outlook. There’s no need to understand all of Taisho society, as you’d never finish your research, there’s no end to how deep you can go. Focus instead on what will have an impact on the story you’re telling. (I have links to a lot of setting related analysis on my KnY Fanfic Reference compilation.)

***

Brainstorm

There’s often no existing answer to how a character would act in a given situation, and any writer gets stuck sometimes. I’m copying and pasting from this post about my productivity methods, but these are some of the brainstorming methods I use when trying to work out a plot issue in a way that would be in-character.

I have another brainstorming method I use especially when working out plot holes and how to get from Point A to Point B: ORATING TO MYSELF on selfie mode and seeing where my babbling takes me. It’s a good thing my file sizes are too big to upload to Tumblr, nobody needs to watch me talking to myself while brushing my teeth, but some major takeaway:

–identifying goals, plot constraints, character motivations –if tossing out an idea right away, identifying why (i.e., OOC) –approaching from many angles –skipping over parts that I need to figure out later –if I like a solution, asking myself what needs to happen to enable that solution –allowing some extreme ideas, which I might use in a lesser extent –jumping into character POV to walk myself through a problem the way the character would approach the problem –coming back to it in several videos as I continue digesting the problem (On that note, I had thought the upload failed, but it turns out I did upload a sample video of one of my brainstorming videos for this Ask response. So there’s a real life example of how I go about trying to keep things in-character as I puzzle out a story and potential plot holes.)

***

Practice!! You only get better at writing the characters by practicing with them. I feel much, much more comfortable writing the characters now than when I started, but I also have written, like, a lot by now.

If you don’t feel prepared to write a long fic yet, start with drabbles! Instead of worrying about plot, work with drabbles or short prompts that simply put the characters into situations. All you want to do is get inside their head, and once you feel you can find your way around inside their brains, it gets easier to manipulate them into doing what you want them to in service of your story’s plot.

***

I hope that helps! I’ve written meta about a lot of the cast, and you can always use the search bar at the top of my blog to look for specific characters to see what I had to say. There’s also lots of other insightful meta writers right there, many of whom may focus especially on their favorite characters, but I want to specially promote @wynsnerdyrambles here for a whole bunch of really solid, insightful posts about a lot of characters’ arcs. My stuff tends to get into get into the marshy weeds, but those are very nice for getting to the core of the characters. ^_^

Ultimately, it’s up to how you want to write your story! Happy writing!

[let-the-living-beware]

What if the founders had an extra form they could turn into?

So I was rewatching one of the, in my opinion, best dinosaur franchises of all time. Wich isn't very hard I know but that's beside the point. And while I was watching through Jurassic Park and Jurassic World I had a fun idea. I always found it, though it is very plausable, very odd that the founders could only ''just'' transform into every animal form of the main subraces. I mean they are the founders, the main ancestor of these four races, give them a extra form beside those!!!!! And since I talked about the JP/JW franchise you know where this is going.

✿❯──────────────────「✿」───────────────────❮✿

First of I must say that I really have strong contender that already exist in the JW universe and that would be the third genetically engineered dinosaur by Dr. Henry Wu, the Indoraptor. (play dramatic drums) And for everyone who doesnt know who or what I am talking about here is a quick rundown together with a silly little picture.

[Q1]

This little fella right here is the Indoraptor (Indomitable thief) one of the three engineered dinos with the other two being the Scorpius rex anf the Indominus rex but we're not talking about these two. The Indoraptor is a hybrid between Indominus rex (wich itself is a hybrid of a bunch of dinos most notably the Giganotosaurus, T-rex and Therizinosaurus), Velociraptor and Stygimoloch. It is much smaller than its predecessor and has the ability to walk on either four or two legs but we will get into its specific abilities/senses and anatomy in just a bit.

But now what drove me into the idea of using the Indoraptor as a base concept? There are two reasons, first is its size that is portrayed in the movie (wich is around 3 to 4 meters? since this specific one wasnt fully grown) and second that it is specifically created for warfare.

Anatomy

I wouldn't change much about the Indoraptors anatomy in and of itself. It is a perfect killing weapon after all besides its temper and overall personality but that won't be a problem for us since we aónly need the body of it.

I said I wouldn't change much but what I would change is making the maximum size 2 meters instead of the ~3,1 meters in height and 5,2 meters instead of the ~7.3 meters in length. But why would I do this? Well simply because I like smaller dinos more instead of the really big ones and small animals are known to be more maneuverable.

The other change I would make is its head and that for the same reason, aesthetic. I just dont like the bulky head and would give it more of a raptor head (not the JP/JW ones the accurate ones).

[Q2] [Q3]

These two pictures also show one of the non aestethically changes: feathers. The feathers would go great in line with the founder theme as one of the races are Adler (also the german word for eagle if anyone is interested) and they seem to be based on them so it works. But feathers are also a good scours of protection as they help to insulate birds from cold temperatures and are often hydrophobic. This is very useful in, lets say, hunts in different enviroments. The feathers on their front legs can also be used to shortly glide through the air or to break falls. So lets slap some feathers on them too.

I would also give them hollow bones but I dont wanna do impossible things.

The rest of this absolute weapon stays the same, besides maybe the colors? They change dependend on the persons haircolor.

Anatomy of the Indoraptor that stays - thick skin that blocks bullets to an extend - jands with four fingers one of them being an opposable thumb - crocodile like teeth

Senses

Ok now a tricky topic, for me at least. How about we just summarize what the Indoraptor (and for this case also I. rex) could do?

So the Indoraptor had night vision and echolocation and the I. rex could adapt its thermal signature, detect thermal signature and camouflage itself.

[Q4] -> you can kinda see it here

So what do we change, keep and add? I would first of keep the thermal vison as snakes can do this and one of the sub races are Vibora, a bunch of snake people. I would also keep the nightvision just for funsies and bats are nocturnal after all. And at the topic of bats we definetly need to keep the echolocation (grabs it and throws it into the pot).

So we change or more discard camoufalge, simply because they have feathers and feathers can't camouflage (she said that while having the possbility of magic), and the thermal regulation. I hope I dont have to say why? Yes? Ok. Though founders, contrary to Vampires, have a bit of body heat I doubt that they can change it. And this really wouldn't help a hunter? At least thats my feelings towards it, if you wanna have them have thermal regulation they can have thermal regulation, its only a fun little headcanon after all.

I also wouldnt add much besides maybe envriomental adaptations? Like founders who live near the ocean being able to breath, see and generally be more adapted to water.

Summary

So lets summarize what we got.

Heigth: 2 meters (6,5 ft) Length: 5,2 meters (17 ft) Other anatomically things: - thick skin that blocks bullets to an extend - hands with four fingers one of them being an opposable thumb - crocodile like teeth - feathers -> hydrophobic

Abilities/Senses: - echolocation - thermal vision - nightvision - (adapted sight, movement underwater and being able to breath underwater)

And with that thank you for listening.

Q1 -(24) Pinterest

Q2 - (24) Pinterest

Q3 - jonathan kuo artwork: velociraptor (jonnadon.blogspot.com)

Q4 - Welcome to Jurassic World (tumblr.com)

[deliventura1]

The Website Inspiring People to Grow Taller with Shared Experiences

In a world where physical stature often plays a role in self-confidence and social perception, the quest for added height is a common pursuit. While there are various methods and products claiming to promote growth, one website is taking a unique approach by harnessing the power of shared experiences. Howtogrowtaller.com, based in New York City, has become a hub for individuals seeking to increase their height through a supportive community and practical advice.

Founded by Jay Lauer, a former height-conscious individual himself, Howtogrowtaller.com was born out of his own struggles and eventual success in gaining a few extra inches. "I remember feeling self-conscious about my height throughout my teenage years," Lauer recalls. "After trying numerous methods, some worked better than others, and I wished I had a resource to learn from others' journeys."

That's when the idea for Howtogrowtaller.com took root. Lauer envisioned a platform where people could share their height-increasing experiences, offer tips and tricks, and encourage one another in a judgment-free zone. "I wanted to create a space where people could find practical advice, but also a sense of community and moral support," he explains.

The website's sleek and user-friendly design immediately draws visitors in, with sections dedicated to various height-increasing methods, from exercises and supplements to specialized equipment and even clothing designed to create an illusion of added height. But what truly sets Howtogrowtaller.com apart is its vibrant community of users.

Within the forums, visitors can read firsthand accounts of individuals who have tried different approaches, sharing their successes, setbacks, and valuable insights. These candid discussions not only provide a wealth of information but also offer a sense of camaraderie, reminding users that they are not alone in their pursuit.

"I've learned so much from the experiences shared on Howtogrowtaller.com," says Sarah, a 19-year-old user from California. "It's helped me understand that gaining height is a journey, and everyone's body responds differently. The support from the community has been invaluable in keeping me motivated."

One of the website's most popular features is the "Success Stories" section, where users can submit their height-increasing journeys, complete with before-and-after photos and detailed accounts of their methods and results. These inspiring tales serve as a beacon of hope for those just starting out, proving that with dedication and the right approach, achieving desired height goals is possible.

Lauer and his team of moderators work tirelessly to ensure the information shared on the platform is accurate and beneficial. They carefully vet user submissions, fact-check claims, and provide guidance on safe and effective practices. "Our goal is to create a trusted resource that empowers people to make informed decisions about their height-increasing efforts," Lauer states.

While the website primarily caters to teenagers and young adults, its reach extends far beyond that demographic. Howtogrowtaller.com has attracted users from all walks of life, united by their desire to gain a few extra inches and the confidence that often comes with it.

"Height is such a personal and sensitive topic for many people," Lauer acknowledges. "By creating a supportive community and providing practical resources, we aim to help individuals feel more comfortable and empowered in their own skin, regardless of their ultimate height."

As Howtogrowtaller.com continues to grow in popularity, garnering over a million views and counting, its impact extends far beyond the realm of physical height. The website has become a testament to the power of shared experiences, fostering a sense of belonging and providing a safe space for individuals to pursue their goals without judgment.

In a world that often places emphasis on outward appearances, Howtogrowtaller.com reminds us that true confidence comes from within – and sometimes, a little bit of extra height can go a long way in helping individuals achieve that self-assurance.

With its ever-expanding community and wealth of practical resources, Howtogrowtaller.com is poised to continue inspiring and empowering individuals to reach new heights, one shared experience at a time.

[waterlilyunit6]

Boat Print Sample

I wanted to expand on the diamond pleat sample I complete for one of my Georgiana dress development pages. I also wanted to try out my prints and designs on fabric so I could get a feel of the outcome before I started considering adding any prints to my design.

My favourite print design so far has been the boat sketch. Although it is simple, it feels that it has a stronger inspiration and Cannon Hall link than my other Cannon Hall inspired prints due to the variety of boat themed artifacts and items at Cannon Hall.

Since I wanted to combine this print with my favorite technique so far, I needed to figure out how I wanted the print to look like. I decided I wanted a small print of the boat in various diamonds, and not in every one. The boat sketch was scanned into photoshop, where I then added a grid of squares (any size for the time being). The grid replicated how my sample would look before the pleats were sewn on (as the grid is the guide of where to sew). Boats were placed into the grid in this style (this was the working out sheet):

I wanted the boats to be spaced out enough that it didn't look crowded, and decided to space it out so the boat pattern didn't look like rows either, instead spacing it into a diamond pattern to compliment the pleating technique. After placing the boats and printing out testers of the pattern onto paper, I decided I wanted the boats to be spaced out more, so I added more rows in between the boats, still keeping the same pattern. Then, I needed to decide how big I wanted the boats and the square. A few different sized squares with different sized boats were printed off onto paper, ranging from 2cm² up to 6cm², and the heights of the boats ranging from 2cm to 5cm. I decided to have each square 2.5cm² and the boats around 3.5cm high. When pleated, each diamond/rectangle would be 5cm by 2.5c, with the boat in the centre. The diamond would not be too small or too big, and the boats wouldn't be so small that the shape wasn't visible that well, and not too big that it gets covered by the pleating.

Once I was happy with the sizing and spacing, the design was printed out onto some cream curtain fabric I found, with the boats printed out using a mid blue tone. I thought the curtain fabric would be really great to use as it should hold the structure of the pleating better than the satin did. The blue's shade for the boats was chosen from the Cannon Hall boat inspiration itself, mainly the blue tiles around the Hall's fireplace.

Once the designs was printed, I began pleating. I found some small ivory pearl beats that I thought complimented the fabric, as well as added an extra touch to the sample. Beads were used on many gowns, and I thought that including beads on this sample would be a great historical link. Some beads were added onto the pleats, but I still wanted to see what it was like without the beads. The pearls ended up keeping the pleating structure better than without (this is something I'm unsure of why), as well as the beads covering up the stitches.

This sample inspired me for some of my garment designs. Stomachers were used for many gowns, and I thought about wanting to include a few in my designs to create different looks and link it to the accurate historical aspect. This sample would make a create idea for a Stomacher, as it creates extra detail and texture, including the added beads. It is definitely something I want to consider, I know it would be an effective technique.