#those games would give you plenty to justify spending your money on them.

[ravenadottir]

If you could switch any of the routes, how would you do it? For example, put Noah in super easy mode by giving him Bobby's route. Or make Gary the Unicorn (Kassam's route).

((live footage of me thinking about noah having any other route than his own))

so, let’s see...

i would like noah’s playthrough to still have the flavor of his indecision, and plenty of dialogues so i could fall even more in love with him... but you know, less snakey and painful, soooo, i would give him rahim’s route. we get to be with him since day one, but he switches to someone else because of his insecurity, eventually becoming ours again when the right timing is right.

rahim should’ve had noah’s route. hear me out! he’s the one who cannot deal with confrontation. noah still bickers back when he and hope fight, and gives her some hard time when she says she makes more money than him. the only person who truly doesn’t take confrontation is rahim. he actually lets priya go for noah on operation, and i still don’t understand why he wouldn’t say anything, unless he was scared of calling her out. with that being said, he’s not out there at all, handsome, quiet and timid. that’s much more gentleman-y than noah ever was on those first couple of days! priya going after him on “operation nope” would make more sense than noah, because rahim is exactly her type, not book boy! she says she likes guys that can be cheeky and that’s who rahim is, despite of delivering the lines wrong. noah isn’t throwing pick up lines back and forth, and rahim was the one saying he doesn’t want to be friends with her because something else is on the table. and if we’re all playing the same game here, instead of hope, we put lottie on it. cause you know... cuckoo over a guy... and the fights with priya would stay in that realm of making sense. lottie going for priya’s guts would’ve actually been justified!

as for crane boy, i wanted to see something flavorful in than just lottie pining over him while he’s entirely into mc. it’s just very annoying she calls dibs without ever being with him. lucas’s route would fit gary so well, because he’s still unsure of whether he should trust someone or not, after being burned. and it would make sense for him to switch because he’s conflicted. it makes sense for lucas, but not for henrik (that was ooc), so gary could take that part. after mc is back and alone, he realizes the mistake he made and apologizes. it suits him better than henrik, i’ll tell you that. plus, if they made blake convince him? even better! one more for the “naive gary” for the win.

henrik could’ve been a casa amor guy. he’s the kind of boy you either fall in love right away or never give him a second look. imagine this dumbass of a guy trying to get with you in less than three days, while being confused about everything felix says! getting him so desperately trying to get with you being his confident self would’ve been another level! it also doesn’t make sense for him and lucas to come after the girl they’re with. they’re mates! it needed to be something about the frenemies trope and not the little brother-big brother. if we could put henrik on carl’s place, alien boy would’ve been a bombshell: 

carl coming in on day 5, taking henrik’s spot, would have a much richer development. he has a lot to learn about trust and control, and spending more time with us would teach him that. if carl brought someone back from casa amor, it would give sense to what he says later about “ending things before they get serious”. the angst would’ve been far more intense and the compensation of his arc much more satisfying than it is, giving him a full circle of a “awkward and scared” trope and giving us the carl arc we deserved.

rocco can stay put. his arc kind of fits him well and i don’t mind not seeing him again.

lucas could have gary’s route, and i would love to fight marisol over him. bear with me, it will make sense in a bit. lucas being an og boy would actually be cool since he doesn’t make the best first impressions with the guys, only the girls. the friendships would’ve been conditional and i would love to see that! plus, a little of hope’s glances towards him. but back to the marisol thing. she knows this is a place to find love, but also to play a game when it’s needed. once you get the breakfast gate happening, it’s on! marisol would be interested in him because of his looks and background. being so educated, honest, blunt and rude as he is, for once, she would’ve stirred from her usual type, and we could’ve had a little bit of a healthy competition.. imagine the snarky comments but still, the friendship with her being intact if one of us gets the guy. and marisol still being a love interest would only make everything more flavorful. “i thought i was competing for him, but it turns out, i was into you the whole time.”

bobby getting the unicorn route, in casa amor. imagine the players that unlocked him saying “did you know he’s a baker who makes cupcakes for his friends when they’re sad?” it would actually be a unicorn because once you’re on his route, and is sweet just like him, he boops you. PLAYERS POSTING ABOUT THE UNICORN GUY BOOPING THEM. i bet fusebox would’ve fixed that shit already, given he would become quite popular, not only because of his looks (because let’s face it, he’s adorable) but also the things he says and does. plus, if they played the cards right, he would’ve gone down on mc during casa, and OH MY GOD, the stans would lose their shit even more!

kassam would get bobby’s spot, and honestly? he would’ve been a direct competition to mysteryous lucas. he has so much to offer, but after casa amor, all the guys become the same person and that’s honestly a waste! kassam being there since day one would’ve been legitimately the quiet guy. even more so than noah.

elisa coming in from casa amor and staying, instead of shannon. again, hear me out. elisa still being an li it would mean she falls for us after being with a guy, and in this case, noah. elisa being a mean casa girl, but falling for us and having a completely new “enemies to lovers” route? UM, YES! much more interesting than what they gave her. let’s face it, girl was robbed! plus, day 19 is when everything happens, and elisa being jealous of whoever we saved (or brought back) is actually a dream! i still want a cool girl to be jealous of my mc!

shannon coming in later would make much more sense if she foght jo over one of the boys. the betrayal is far superior given they both came in together and were supposed to have each other’s backs. the fight would happen, and because shannon is not with him, it would also be understandable for her to not get the guy involved.

this second part you didn’t ask for, but like, my brain is gonna be scratching if i don’t match them like this:

‘new villa’

‘og boys and girls’

noah + hope become: rahim + lottie (staying together until the end, and it would make sense for lottie to be paranoid about priya and mc)

rahim + marisol become: noah + hope (would split right after hope realized he’s not her type)

gary + hannah become: lucas + hannah (hannah still gets dumped, but lucas is entirely for grabs after day 10)

rocco as rocco // rocco + mc (that could be the obligatory choice until he gets kicked for getting with someone else, and that would interchangeable among the girls depending on who you flirt with)

kassam as bobby kassam + marisol (it looks and feels cursed, but they would’ve mixed and matched once marisol noticed he’s not her type)

‘bombshells’

carl + gary

‘casa amor’

henrik coming in instead of carl, the other boys as themselves.

elisa being brought by rahim, and blake being brought by either carl or gary. much easier to manipulate, let’s face it.

shannon and jo come together and fight over one of the guys (probably)

‘disaster recoupling’

- jakub would choose lottie

- rahim would choose priya or mc (depending on your participation on operation rattie... or lohim)

- bombshell that stayed (gary or carl) chooses mc, stealing her away or staying in a couple as they were after girls’ choice

- noah chooses hope (and the surprise would be just as big, given hope doesn’t think anything of him because he’s too shy)

- lucas chooses chelsea

- kassam goes for marisol

‘stick or switch’

- jakub stays loyal (despite of bedding someone)(lottie going insane over the fact that he did that, regardless of how she feels disgusted by him)

- rahim stays loyal to priya, or brings blake back, if he’s with mc

- bombshell (gary or carl) brings blake back or stays loyal (depending on operation lohim)

- noah brings elisa (even though he’s not a hundred percent sure, and you can choose him the next recoupling)

- lucas stays loyal to chelsea, regardless

- kassam stays single

- marisol still switches to graham (even on her route)

- chelsea brings elijah back if you stayed single, or stays loyal to lucas if you switch

my brain is tired, i’m going night-night after this one.

[magnusgoetia]

Transcript of a Sinner’s Conversation: A Meeting with Caecus

--Begin (In Medias Res)--

Sinner: You kiddin'? Dyin' was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Caecus: There’s nothing you left behind? No family to miss?

Sinner: My family? Fuck 'em, I'd ‘ave hired 'elp to kill 'em already if it meant they'd be dead-dead, and I wouldn't have to spend time wiv 'em down 'ere. It wouldn't be right for me to force this on my friends either, but they'll be 'ere in due time anyway. I can wait.

Caecus: So, you’re expecting your friends to join you here as well. The wait must be awfully lonely.

Sinner: Ah, not really. I’ve made friends while I’m ‘ere. The shit I can do ‘ere is like, fucking magic and with it I can make up for what I lack in a lot of different ways. Just wish I could remember how I ‘ad died.

Caecus: Maybe it’s better not to remember… Not all of us intended to be here, after all.

Sinner: No. No, perhaps it’s best not to remember. I quickly found out that it's not just evil folks that end up here, lots of good folks, plenty of weird ones too. I'm sensing you’re of the “gooder” ones, you radiate...well, it’s 'ard to describe, but I don't sense any hostility from you at the very least, even though you were born ‘ere.

Caecus: How amiable of you. But remember, a birth is just a new beginning of sorts. You couldn’t have been alone since you were… delivered to us.

Sinner: Ah, you’re a poetic type aren’t ya? Anyway, I’ve not made many friends but I do ‘ave a particular fondness for this one clown...me an' 'im seem to 'ave this weird connection wiv each other. Actually, he's more of a jester type, though rather embarrassingly his name escapes me...

Caecus: Are you, by chance, referring to an imp named Blocko?

Sinner: Yeah, don’t surprise me you know ‘im. He seems like the type to ‘ave a particular reputation.

Caecus: That he does, and yet a divine will connects us. I’m being led to believe your intriguing appearance has an even more… intriguing history.

Sinner: Riiiight...Well, you know what they say about skeletons and closets. Though I suppose I ‘ave nothing to hide ‘ere...Well, to put it simply, I was a broken kid. I never got help, and I did... unspeakable things to anyone who ‘ad wronged me—or simply didn't like.

Caecus: Even the purest of souls can be corrupted by another’s sins.

Sinner: Yeah...Well, it's not like I'll stop doin’ what I did while I was alive, with all that murder and hedonism. Though death has a way of humbling some people...In any case, the murders mostly stopped as I grew older. I seemed to have preferred to just traumatise people instead, ruin lives of the people I saw as bad or evil.

Caecus: Then you found a different punishment for those you had judged.

Sinner: I suppose so. A lot of it involved me spying on groups of people. I'd worm my way into the seedy societies that thought they were safe in their little circles and collect dirt on them. Really sick shit too by the way but don’t worry, the hypocrisy wasn’t lost on me either.

Caecus: Oh? You judged yourself a hypocrite yet continued along a path of self-appointed righteousness... Why?

Sinner: I don’t know, maybe a sense of catharsis? A lot of these were people who I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about killing or whatever. Sometimes it was more personal too, there were—still are people I am attached to up there that got hurt, and I took my revenge on them in their place.

Caecus: Ahh, how noble. Fighting for your friends.

Sinner: Yeah, there was this one particular bastard. Actually, there were a few…but…eh, nevermind…this one particular guy who was essentially lying to one of these “friends” and caused them a psychotic breakdown. I didn’t take action right away, but I did end up killing ‘im. Didn’t even bother hiding the fact it was a murder.

Caecus: What made you wait?

Sinner: Money, mostly. It makes the world up there spin, and you need a lot of it to get anything done, right? Well, I ‘ad to wait until I ‘ad enough money to fly to the states on top of all that shit involved in immigratin’. When I settled in, that’s when I made my move on a buncha grudges. This guy was just the first. Moving to the states made my life a lot easier in some ways. Was a lot easier to sleep when I took care of the grudges too.

Caecus: Oh, wow. You must have had remarkable resolve to keep a “grudge” that long… Tell me, did all of them truly deserve it?

Sinner: No, most didn’t, but I am…was, an angry person. I found I was very much capable of venting my anger, to put it mildly, and I was much too young when I had...shall we say...discovered it.

Caecus: Young minds are impressionable.

Sinner: Right, and the fact that I was generally good at getting away with it made me feel just that little bit better about it.

Caecus: So, you exploited that validation to continue justifying your actions. Most sinners in your position never reach awareness...

Sinner: Yeah? I’ll take that as a compliment, but I was totally emotionally disconnected when committing my crimes. Afterwards I pretty much always dealt with conflict. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch. Though I had largely stopped my ways. I’m ‘aving way too much fun down ‘ere, and even though I won’t drag ‘em down here with me, I’d love to have my friends join me eventually.

Caecus: Would they be pleased being here, embrace this existence like you have?

Sinner: I dunno, some of them have a hard enough time as it is with one existence, I doubt they’ll be too happy to find out there’s another waitin’ for ‘em. The others I’d imagine would be quite surprised all the same, being atheists and such, but I reckon they’d come to like it.

Caecus: An existence you cannot escape is itself a prison. Albeit, choosing to enjoy it in spite of that perspective is a marvelous thing. If you could imagine them in your presence, what would you do?

Sinner: Again, I dunno. It’s hard to tell when they’re not here yet but I am somewhat interested in what’ll end up happening should they get here. I dunno if I’ll be able to tell if it’s them even.

Caecus: And how do you dare to enjoy existence now?

Sinner: Well, I’ve been doing everything I’ve ever wanted to do but could never do in life amongst other things. It’s kinda embarrassing, but I played a bunch of video games, so I miss those quite a bit. I’ve found plenty of ways to fill that void though. Some of your movies are pretty sick down ‘ere, and importing goods from the other rings to ‘ere means I don’t miss out…mostly, on their fun too. I just wish I could explore the other rings; I don’t get why us sinners can’t.

Caecus: Decretum is often difficult to understand. However, it would seem a blessing that you’ve been placed with the multifarious company of the pride ring.

Sinner: True enough, whatever that means. There’s a lot of strip clubs, greedy businesses and shit, stuff you think you’d only find in the other rings. Though I think I probably would’ve ended up in wrath if we landed in the rings based on our sins.

Caecus: Most catechisms view wrath as an excessive anger. You strike me as having more control than the average sinner.

Sinner: A lot of people on the surface woulda said the same too, I was and I suppose still am really good at keeping it in check, well, good enough to not make it obvious anyway. Though it’s been a lot tougher down here.

Caecus: This is a realm of collective temptation, after all.

Sinner: My only judge here is myself and perhaps my peers if I let them. I still kill down here, but it’s been in self-defence. I don’t think I’ve killed anyone out of anger yet but let’s just say I’d feel sorry for the poor sod who happened to piss me off on a bad day.

Caecus: You’ve always been your own judge. I suspect the lack of good comparisons for your behavior here has coaxed you further.

Sinner: Actually, I could tell you about the first person I “killed” down here. It was soon after I woke up. I suppose this guy thought it’d be easy—fresh sinner, just in time to be another tally mark on some statistic.

Caecus: A second death, the lake of fire…

Sinner: Uh...yeah, I reacted on instinct and it musta been a sort of “kiss of death” type shit. I only touched the dude with my hand, and he just kinda…shrivelled up and died. You know…like when a cartoon character eats a lemo—ah sorry, you can’t watch TV.

Caecus: Ah, yes… a shrivelling death is nevertheless descriptive.

Sinner: Anyway, I have a bunch of other powers too but that one I’m most afraid of you know? I can drop the ambient temperature of an area so shit gets cold, have some form of telekinesis and a buncha other stuff, like I have some kinda control over this weird glowy energy, it’s how I have my eyes, which are purely for show, I don’t need them since I can see perfectly fine without ‘em...not that you’d know I even have ‘em.

Caecus: I’m aware you observe our world, in a traditional sense. My observations are just a bit more… unorthodox. And I feel as if your fear is not from a lack of understanding.

Sinner: Well I seem to have it under control, but I’m afraid in a moment of weakness I might react without thinking, you know? I’ve not had it happen yet, but it would be so easy when flippin’ out that I just give ‘em the ol’ touch of death.

Caecus: Even a king’s heart is just a stream of water to the hand of… fate.

Sinner: Gonna be honest, I haven’t the foggiest of what you just said. Though if I’m being honest myself, I couldn’t care less if it was someone I didn’t know anyway. Only really care about my friends and such. You seem pretty neat yourself.

Caecus: The impression is mutual. It’s not often that I’m seen as anything other than senseless and intimidating. I don’t find it unwarranted, granted; my appearance is as disconcerting as my psyche.

Sinner: How do you even know what you look like? It’s not like you can just look into a mirror.

Caecus: I was presented with a vision soon before I arrived, my last blessing I suppose… Regardless, my rebirth is a tale for another time. I’ve relished in your company long enough, and I must answer my calling. I’m sure our paths will converge again.

Sinner: Hey, I hope so too...uh....

Caecus: Please, call me Caecus.

Sinner: Well, it’s only polite to give you my name too. I go by many names here, but I am quite fond of “Mr. Death” as silly as it sounds.

Caecus: Silly, yes, but very becoming of you. A pleasure, Mr. Death.

Mr. Death:Well, don’t let me keep you. I’d like to see you again sometime, Caecus. I’ll take my leave.

Caecus: All in due time.

--End--

[solesurvivorpaigeargot]

Okay but let’s talk about the opening of Fallout 4

And I’m not talking about the part where you gotta pantomime your way through a half-hour of BS at least before you’re actually allowed to step out into the world and get shite started [seriously Bethesda, if you’re gonna keep making openings like this, please include a ‘get to the point’ option and stop making modders do it for you. First time it’s interesting, second time it’s mind-numbing.] I’m talking about when you roll up on the museum and have to help out Preston and the gang-- and I’m just gonna rant for a few paragraphs here so here’s a read-more cut so I don’t clog up dashes too badly. 

Fallout 4 never gives you the chance to value human life. 

Fallout 3 had this issue as well, but it’s even more glaring in 4 because in 3 an order came down for your death. When you aren’t given a choice, what you’re doing can at least be penciled in as self-defense. 4 expects you to devalue raiders and treat them as unreasonable threats, to see them as a shooting gallery and nothing else... but there’s a serious problem with the framing.

You made me pantomime being a normal person for the first 30 min to hour of your experience, and now you’re telling me a normal person can just pick up a gun and start popping people with no moral issues. 

This is required to even get close enough to talk to Preston. He might take out all the raiders if you’re willing to wait 20 minutes, but when you put yourself into the role play head space of a character, what kind of person ducks behind the sandbags and waits for the dude with the laser to pick everyone off? And there is no force preventing you from simply running away, this is true-- but doing so simply removes your ability to interact with what is a core mechanic of the game a-la the minutemen and establishing settlements. So if you wanna keep the game experience intact, and follow along with the mission? Murder is required, without any time taken out to consider the value of human life or if that murder is justified, or if your character is capable of that kind of violence. 

To say I dislike this headspace in shooters, that whomever the denoted ‘bad’ group is are just okay to treat as squishy playthings, more so in shooters that try to integrate choice and morality, is a massive understatement. There are plenty of other things in the commonwealth that could threaten a group of settlers that aren’t people, and framing us as a normal person [PARTICULARLY IF YOU PLAY AS ‘NORA’ WHO WAS NOT A MILITARY MEMBER] who is just immediately ready for this is ASSUMPTIVE BULLSHIT. More so when you remember that if you played as ‘Nate’ this dissonance would be less-- it assumes a male audience who would choose the male protagonist, and his military service makes this opening a lot smoother. But when you don’t? It becomes batshit insane. Your average lawyer is not ready to just pick up a gun and wreck people, even when there are innocents on the line. 

So, if ya like, I’m gonna propose an ‘alternate’ idea for what this mission could have been that would have kept all the same elements. The raiders, the power armor, the deathclaw-- but not forced the player character directly into murder. 

Step 1: Finding Dogmeat. 

When we find Dogmeat, he appears to be just... wandering the gas station? And yeah, he’s in our path, but Mama Murphy appears to think that Dogmeat went and found you, so let’s take that a step further. Let’s say Dogmeat actually ran and found you-- that he spawns into the world when you get past the footbridge, and no matter where you go from there Dogmeat will find and bark at you. That no matter how you treat him, Dogmeat will try to lead you to Concord and ruin your stealth by running in circles around you and barking if you try to go the wrong way. That this pupper is trying to find someone to help his group, he found you. 

Step 2: The approach.

So say we follow Dogmeat, who leads us to where the raiders and Preston’s group are in standoff. And yeah, sure, we pass the main road where they’re all sandbagged up, but Dogmeat leads us around back to a rear entrance the raiders have not yet realized exists. Possibly a fire escape that has a ladder that could be released from above that was pulled up when Preston and co hunkered down. While, yes, the player could choose to engage the raiders at this point, deciding they’ve seen enough and take on the museum from the front? Going around, Dogmeat barking, and Mama appearing to let the ladder down because she probably knew you were coming gives you a non-violent in. Why haven’t the group left? There’s too many of them to just sneak out, Mama is old and slow, and Jun is nearly catatonic. No changes have to be made to the group to make that path out non-viable, it’s simply a way for you to get in, speak to Preston, and understand what the fuck we’re dealing with here without the one and only solution being kill everyone-- though the power armor is posited as something that might be helpful in a show of force to get the raiders to fuck the fuck off. 

Step 3: The Raiders.

Banditry is not something ‘bad people’ do. It is an act of desperation. The idea that all the raiders are just the most repugnant people on the planet, and there appears to be no fuckin’ end to them is the same flavor of bullshit that’s used in all that war on drugs propaganda 50′s politicians were so high on. The idea of ‘Oh, the raiders are just bad people, so it’s okay to shoot at them’ ignores that they are people. People with lives. People with motivations. People who had their own path that led to where they are and what they’re doing. And what motivates a person to this kind of violence?

Starvation, usually. And I’ll be the first to say I don’t make great decisions when I’m hungry, either, but let’s dig a little deeper on this. Let’s step into the role of the leader of a raider group for a few seconds, get into this head space, and think about what’s going down with Preston’s group. 

Imagine that I am a leader of a raider band. Let’s imagine that it started as me and a friend getting forced out of Diamond city, possibly given exile, because we couldn’t find work and decided to steal some food. The lack of work was no fault of our own; me and my friend may not have known the right people, or had the right skill sets, or been willing to take work that risked our lives as if we were worth nothing. Maybe we survived on good will for a while, but after so many hungry days got desperate, held up the Dugout for all the caps they had, or stole food from the general store, and tried to run with the take before we got caught. Whether we were caught, stripped of our gains, and then thrown out, or we got away-- we now have a place we can’t go anymore, and are at the mercy of the outside world. Are we bad? Are we bad because we were starving to death and desperate? Am I bad for coming up with a not great plan but at least trying to take action rather than just quietly dying in a gutter? I just wanted to eat. So now me and my friend are drifters, and we stick together because we’re all we got. And maybe we meet another drifter here, and another one there, and on some hungry night someone gets the idea that hey, if we all jump out from the side of the road and threaten a trader, maybe they’ll drop some of their stock without a fight?

We don’t want caps. We want food. We can’t spend the caps, and we don’t wanna get into a fight because none of us can get treatment-- we’re exiles and criminals. We don’t want blood, we want to eat.

So we threaten a trader, and that goes well-- we got supplies! But those supplies don’t erase our records. We still need to live, and this food is only gonna last so long. The traders know about us now, they talk-- even if we got money, who the hell would trust us? No one, that’s who. Even better, sounds like our little hold-up horned in on some other group’s territory that we didn’t even know about, and they ain’t happy with us. We all have guns, but none of us have ever killed anyone. None of us want to. We just wanted to eat.

So did the other group. They just wanted to eat, too, but they saw us horning in on their territory. Their take. Those supplies belonged to them. They have mouths to feed. More than us, probably. We stole from them, and all we wanted was to eat. 

Whatever happens next is desperate, and it’s a baptism in blood. It’s a process of alienation. While there may be a select few who are actually out of their gourd and enjoy the violence, the majority of people who engage in banditry are desperate and hungry. 

So what the hell does this have to do with the group holding up Preston’s group?

By all rights, Preston’s group does not have anything a gang of raiders wants. Even if they’re far enough along that caps have value to them again, able to do trade with their own network, injuries are expensive and often lead to permanent disability because these groups lack consistent access to medical supplies and knowledge, and fatalities means your crew is down an important and useful member. SO WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY WANT? 

In the canon encounter, what they want is nothing. They want to wipe out Preston’s group because the game said so [I think there’s a terminal entry about it later, like they’re getting paid or something, but no payment is worth getting wiped out the way they did, and you don’t run a group that big on blind arrogance alone. Gristle woulda been displaced by then. All the caps in the world aren’t worth your life; you can’t feed dead crew members, and greed is useless when you’re blacklisted from all the settlements with any sense of luxury] They exist to shoot at. But when we ascribe motivation to them, what the fuck do they want? 

The power armor. 

It’s a tool; something that would change the balance of power in the area, make other groups think twice and lower the chance of losses when trying to gain supplies. Screw wiping these morons out, there’s only five of them left-- hold them at stand-off for a day or so until someone breaks and asks to negotiate, make them drop everything they’ve got as the toll for getting out, and then the group steps in to take the prize. There’s no need for anyone to get shot, just gotta starve ‘em out a little and then let them run with their lives. 

Step 4: The Death Claw

So we have a stand-off situation that could... probably be pretty easily negotiated through without major loss of life. Your player character is a third party, after all. Opens up some non-lethal ways of doing things if you wanna convince Preston and co to give up all their stuff if it means getting out with their lives. Likewise, a high speech character could possibly go to Gristle and convince him that you’ve seen the power armor and it’s wrecked, no worth the effort he’s spending on bottling this crew up, and the men he’s probably already lost in the process. Or maybe a character with high intelligence could work with Sturges to sabotage the power armor, handing it over to the raiders knowing that in a day or two it’ll fall apart. All of these make for some interesting shades-of-gray choices...

Then the deathclaw shows up. In the middle of negotiation. Everyone gets forced up to the upper floor; no time to kill each other, there’s a giant murder machine prowling around the lobby and it is only a matter of time before it climbs up to the second floor and starts ripping out walls and doors to get at people.

This could have served to make the situation even more interesting-- if you’d gone aggro in the beginning and started killing raiders in the streets, you have less people to deal with a massive threat that could kill the fuck out of you. If you’d been in the middle of convincing the raiders to take a sabotaged set of power armor, you’d have to explain to them why the power armor isn’t gonna help you... or let Gristle take it and get murdered when it freezes up and leaves him stranded to get ripped out of the can and munched. Is that murder? How’s the player feel about that? Meanwhile, if you hadn’t killed anyone and were in the middle of negotiating a bloodless solution, you might have a chance of unifying everyone to take down the deathclaw-- possibly with a future bonus that Gristle and his crew wanna go straight and giving you the choice to set them up within your settlement system, or becoming yet another ‘civilized’ system that won’t work with them because they’re too far gone. 

...................... I may have to write another fic just to explore these ideas in a modified canon. 

[razieltwelve]

Stabilise (Final Rose x Game of Thrones)

When Averia had been reborn as Lyara, she had immediately done her best to grasp her new situation. The North was vast, but the more she learned about it, the more her concerns grew. Despite its size, the North seemed to have little in the way of natural resources, and it had to import much of its food simply to survive. The former seemed to be at least partially due to how little her new world understood the ideas behind prospecting and geology whilst the latter was likely due to the relative primitiveness of the farming techniques available and the reliance on manual labour.

She had already dealt somewhat with the lack of mineral wealth in the North. Her theories regarding possible locations for mines had been proven mostly correct although her strike rate left much to be desired. However, without better maps and survey data, there was only so much she could do. She was fortunate too in that her father, Eddard Stark was a good ruler and father who actually listened to his children and subordinates, provided they could justify themselves. He wouldn’t have sent men to check for mines on a mere whim, but he had done so after reading her proposal and examining her reasoning for flaws.

With the North’s wealth set to improve, Averia turned her sights back to one of her more long-term projects: improving crop yields and increasing the area under plough. The two best methods for improving crop yields were to introduce better crop rotation and to identify or breed crops better suited to the harsh North. Given how devastating a mistake could be, she knew her father would never agree to any large-scale changes without ample data.

And that was were Maester Luwin came in. The man was highly intelligent, incredibly loyal, and quite open minded. He had listened carefully as she explained her ideas, and he had agreed that they would need proof before her father agreed to anything. With his help and with her father’s aid, she had been given several formerly unploughed areas to work with. If something went wrong, then it would be no great loss, but if she was successful, the whole North would reap the benefits.

Most importantly, she would be able to accumulate years of data with which to convince her father. The new fields would also give her a chance to test better farming equipment. She might not be Diana when it came to inventing things, but she was brilliant in her own right, and she had lived an entire life in Arendelle, a place whose wintry climate was a match for the North’s.

X     X     X

Maester Luwin looked over the numbers once again. The proof was incontrovertible. The crop rotation methods that Lyara had proposed had greatly increased the yield in the fields she had been given. Her theory regarding the ‘draining of soil’ by certain crops and its replenishment by others seemed to be correct. 

With retrospect, it seemed obvious. The soil provided nourishment for plants. Just as food contained different things that people needed to live, so too did the soil contain different things for plants. Likewise, just as different animals required different feed, so too might different plants draw different things from the soil to survive. Plant the same crop in one place too often, and it was no surprise that it would drain that area of nourishment, leading to failure. But if the crops were moved such that each subsequent crop demanded different things of the soil, then the soil would never be exhausted and in fact might be replenished over time.

Simple but brilliant and insightful - like so many of Lyara’s other ideas.

With this latest season of proof, he was confident that they could now approach Lord Stark and suggest a change in farming practices. Of course, Lord Stark would not likely force the changes upon his vassals. He was not the sort of lord to do that. Instead, he would try it in his own lands first. Should it prove fruitful - and Luwin was certain it would - then his vassals would undoubtedly follow suit. In the harsh North, only a fool would ignore the chance to grow more food.

Yet it was Lyara’s development of mechanical devices to aid in farming that were likely to be adopt most quickly. The North - and Westeros - had used the same plough or something quite similar for countless years. Yet she had designed a better one that could be pulled far more easily using far less livestock. Likewise the seed drill she had invented was a marvel, vastly speeding up how quickly seeds could be planted while reducing how many were lost to vermin. She even had plans on a horse or ox-drawn reaping device and other more advanced devices too.

Of course, finding someone to build these things was not easy. To that end, she and Luwin had sought out the most skilled smiths in the North, and they had moved steadily from mere designs and ideas to real implementations that had proven their worth in the fields she had been given to test her ideas on.

“It is time,” Lyara said. She had been reading through the numbers as well. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Luwin nodded solemnly. “I think so, my lady. Let us speak to your father.”

X     X     X

Ned Stark listened carefully as Luwin and Lyara explained what they had been doing and what their findings had been. Their words were accompanied by carefully kept records regarding crop yields and other information. Although Ned was no maester, he was still the Lord Paramount of the North. He was well educated in many things related to farming due to how important food was to the North. Every year, they spent much of their money to import food from the more fertile south, and every year, they struggled to equal the harvests of previous years only to find themselves coming up short.

For the first time, the reasons for their struggles were laid bare in words as simple as they were powerful. Likewise, an answer to their struggles was also presented. For a long time, he said nothing. Instead, he stared at the numbers on the page and at the designs on the parchment.

Finally, he spoke. “Who else knows of this?”

“Only Luwin and I know the full details,” Lyara said. “And the smiths involved in making the devices have all be sworn to secrecy. They are loyal men, father. They will say nothing until you give the order.”

“I see.” He smiled. “You have done well. This... I thought you finding those mines was a miracle beyond miracles, but it seems you’ve outdone yourself yet again. With these new techniques and devices...” He took a deep breath. “The money we could save on importing food alone...”

“I know, father.” Lyara’s gaze was calm as if she hadn’t just upended his world yet again. “As the words of our House say, Winter is coming, and I intend for us to be as prepared as possible.”

“Aye, you have the right of it.” Ned stood. “I fear I have neglected this project of yours.” He grinned and shook his head. “In truth, I wasn’t sure if you could create another miracle. I should stop underestimating you, daughter of mine. I wish to see these devices in person.”

The trip to the fields did not take long, and as Ned watched the strange devices his daughter had created get to work, he felt a pang of emotion that he couldn’t quite place. It was part awe, certainly, but there was also wistfulness too. How often he had heard his father mourn the lack of food in the North. Good men and women forced to all but starve when winter came. Had he seen these things, he would have wept at the possibilities. 

“Keep all of this secret,” Ned said once they had finished their demonstration. “We must be careful with this information.” He knew of many in the south who would seek to sabotage them to keep the North reliant on their food. Robert, of course, would send him whatever aid he could, but Ned did not trust the Reach or the West any further than he could throw their rulers. “If we are to build these devices, then we must build them ourselves, using only solid, reliable people of the North.”

“Yes, father.”

“Luwin?”

“My loyalty is to you, Lord Stark,” the maester said. “I will write nothing to my order until you give me leave to do so.”

“Good.” Ned considered the fields thoughtfully. They were bustling with produce. “Still, it may not be easy to convince others to follow your new methods, daughter. We will try them on our lands first. When others see our success, then we will share with them our knowledge.”

“Will you ask a price for it?” Lyara asked.

Ned paused, deep in thought. It would be easy. Men in the North would kill for the knowledge and devices his daughter had developed. Yet, he was Lord of the North. His actions must always be for the good of the North. “Not exactly,” he said eventually. “We will share the knowledge of crops freely with loyal folk from the North, provided they swear not to share it with anyone else. As for the devices, we will keep secret how to make them, but we will sell them at a reasonable price to those from the North who wish to purchase them.”

“A wise decision, my lord,” Luwin praised.

“Aye.” Ned could see it now. He could hoard this knowledge and the devices all for himself and his family, but what then? The other lords would grow bitter and resentful. They would grow to hate him for withholding what they needed to aid their people. By sharing willingly, he won their gratitude, and there was still plenty of profit to be made by selling the devices. Moreover, if people did not have to spend so much importing food from the south, then that was more money they could spend on things from the North. “Make this your top priority,” he ordered Luwin. “And, my daughter, I’m afraid I must ask you to focus on this for the time being.”

“Of course.”

Ned’s lips twitched. “I know that expression on your face, daughter. What else are you thinking about?”

“Roads, father,” Lyara said. “And how to build better ones, ones suited for the North, ones that will work all year round and last long after we are but dust.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Lyara (Averia) has identified weaknesses in the North, and she’s set about fixing them. With more money soon to be coming in from the mines, food is her next objective. Roads are after that since they’re expensive. But her intention is to have the North as self-sufficient as possible, to turn it from a net importer to a net exporter of goods and services. She’s also looking to expand trade, which may well bring her representatives into contact with merchants and sailors from Braavos...

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

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[sanpatron]

I don’t particularly know why it’s taken this long for me to realize the full extent of the Boss’s betrayal at the hands of Julius. I knew it was fucked, I knew it had affected him greatly, but I never truly sat down and really dove into just how horrendous it actually was.

There have been plenty of posts I’ve read from people I know who’ve examined this, who’ve really taken their time to dive headfirst into what it all means and really word it in a way where you can truly understand the extent of it all. It’s in reading these posts that I’ve decided to more or less compose it all in my own post in regards to my Boss. A way to really showcase the shit he went through and how it drastically changed him as a person.

Django joined the gang around October of 2004 at the age of 20 (his birthday is in December). He had been wandering around the country aimlessly without any real idea of what he wanted to do with himself. Felt no sense of purpose, no sense of belonging. Other than his family back home he was truly and utterly alone in the world. Yet that all changed once he stepped foot into Stilwater.

He found himself caught up in a fight between Los Carnales, the Vice Kings and the Westside Rollers. Thankfully before he wound up getting himself killed solely on the merit of being here at the “wrong place, wrong time” Django was saved by both Julius and Troy. Extending a hand towards Django Julius decides to try and recruit him into the Saints, and in realizing that he basically owed this man big time, Django decides to take the invitation and meet him and the others at the church.

I want to stop here for a moment and say that the Saints were originally formed as a response to the increasing violence between the three warring gangs across Stilwater. Julius definitely had his good intentions, but to echo the same statements made in another post, I really doubt there was ever a point in time where Julius didn’t want to hold some sense of power. To be the guy who was in charge of the city. Oh sure, he decided to leave the Vice Kings (which he was originally a part of alongside his best friend Benjamin King) due to the direction in which they were going. But given certain details that I will get to in a second, I really do believe that Julius wanted just as much to be at the top as he did to protect the city.

I say this because he uses the increasing violence within the district of Saint’s Row as an example of the city going to hell because of these warring gangs. He wasn’t even originally from the district, he was from Sunnyvale where he and King grew up together, eventually forming their own gang. He latched on to this idea to protect the Row as a means to start a rallying cry and get all these incredibly angry and very violent kids to fall under his leadership and form a counter group. Not a single one of the Saints knows this and it isn’t till you’re riding around with Ben in one mission where the truth comes out.

Hell, the speech that Julius gives during the custscene after the tutorial missions turns out to be a word for word copy of Ben’s very own from when he first formed the Vice Kings. It’s this same speech that the Boss would later use when he takes over the gang after his coma stint. Julius basically puts out this preconceived image of himself in order to get all these people who are significantly younger than him to join his cause. It’s this exact thing that let someone like Django essentially fall under his spell and believe a single thing that ever came out of that man’s mouth.

Julius is manipulative, but I wouldn’t say he’s the sort to pull some Machiavellian-type shit. Cause as I will get to later, there was no point whatsoever before his arrest where he was considering on betraying everyone and leaving them all high and dry. No, Julius’s manipulative actions are the direct result of an incredibly simply and human emotion; selfishness. Yet this will also come into play much later over why his betrayal even happened in the first place.

So once Django is canonized and helps take back the Row, he’s basically let to do whatever necessary to take down the other three gangs and bring some sense of peace back to Stilwater. 95% of the time it’s with him acting as a weapon, which is something he is scarily good at. This is something that not only Julius but other lieutenants definitely pick up on, and it’s why when you need something taken care of where no one is left alive and as much destruction as possible is caused, you either send Django, Johnny or both.

And as time goes on and more of the city turns purple, Django begins to feel more and more like he’s found his purpose. He managed to find a place where not only is he validated for the work he does but the people within the gang accept him and make him feel good about it. Django has gotten a taste of power, of violence, of money, of fame. A taste of generally living a better life to the fullest where he feels like he’s at the top. Not only that but, for the first time ever, he has friends as well. He has people he’s beginning to care for and feel a connection with after spending an entire childhood basically lonely as shit. Frustrated over his inability to truly connect with anyone.

At no point in time do I think that Django ever wanted to usurp Julius. He respected the man. Looked up to him. He was the embodiment of what the gang stood for and a sign of pure loyalty. So to then be promoted to his second-in-command once all the gangs were dealt with must have come as a pleasant surprise. One that definitely awoke something even more within him. He was ready to take on that title and he was absolutely prepared to save the man from police custody after everything he had done for him.

And I want to make something incredibly clear here; up until this point I don’t think Julius had in mind that he was going to betray the Saints either. Everything was basically coming up fantastically and he was getting the power and recognition that he wanted. Hell, he doesn’t give a shit about what Django had to do to get results. He practically justifies and validates every single little action the Saints have taken.

“ We did it, playa. 3rd Street owns this town. Now, that's not to say that shit didn't cost, and I ain't talkin' about what happened to Johnny's leg or losing Lin. Those two were soldiers, they knew the risk. Hell, Johnny gets off on it. But we crushed a lot of families playa, and someday they're gonna holla at us. But believe me when I tell you, we did the right thing.

With the Rollerz wiped out, Benjamin gone, and the Colombians in our pocket, there ain't gonna be a need for a gang war ever again. And in the end, that's gonna save a lot more lives than we took. So relax, playa, you've earned yourself a break. You've impressed the hell out of me son, and I've told the crew you're gonna be my right hand- ”

Julius was downright ecstatic with the results he and the gang had been getting. He was more than happy. And as you can see right there he was happy enough with what Django had done that he decided to give the guy that high of a promotion. Everything seemed to be going fantastic up until he gets arrested during this little phone call.

Once the two of the final three missions play out in which the Saints do what they can to save Julius everything seems to go right back to normal. That is until Django is called out to Alderman Richard Hughes’s yacht on that fateful December night. Once arriving, Django is greeted by the alderman and is essentially given a speech about gentrification and his political power before telling his men to turn their weapons onto him.

However, before even getting a chance to fire a loud beeping is heard and without even a moment to react the yacht blows to hell and everyone, but Django, dies. Instead our poor little gangster is put into a five year coma, staying on life support on the request of Troy for, as it turns out, he was an undercover cop this whole time.

Years later Django will once again wake up, and after a series of events that lead him towards saving Johnny and then the two of them deciding to resurrect the Saints, Django decides to pay Troy a visit and find out what’s been going on. It’s here that in the game (SR2) you get to find a couple of taped recordings at the police station. The first involves Dex (former lieutenant of the Saints) confronting Troy of being an undercover cop and stating that he’s dropping his colors and taking a job at the Ultor corporation.

The second is Troy speaking to Julius after his arrest and asking him to speak to Johnny and Django and convincing them to step down, thus disbanding the gang and keeping Troy from arresting the people he’s come to call his friends over this time.

The third tape is where Django learns the truth; Julius was the one who had planted a bomb all those years ago.

A punch to the gut can’t really describe the sort of feeling Django must have felt from learning this. It had to have been one of the most horrific, most anger-inducing things he could have ever heard. To have this man, the one who had taken you in, gave you a sense of validation and appreciation, told you that the work you performed was fantastic, let you have this sense of belonging and purpose within a group, who you practically looked up to be the one who tried to assassinate you is absolutely sickening to him and fills him with such rage.

Five years of his life. Five whole fuckin’ years. I know a lot of people make the argument that your 20′s really ain’t that special, but that’s not the point here. The point is that whether or not they would’ve been extraordinary, Django lost five whole years of his young adulthood. An incredibly pivotal point in him growing up was completely lost on him due to almost dying at the age of 21. He will never get those years back. He will never truly know what he missed out on. It’s practically one of the reasons why he acts so brash and angry and hotheaded during the entirety of the second game.

Everything had been taken away from him. His city, his friends, his sense of identity; all of it was snatched right out of his hands and thrown to the gutter cause of one man. The one man he looked up to the most after everything he had done for him. If Django felt sick at first when trying to process the amount of time that had passed and how much he had to catch up on, then he more than likely felt horrifically ill at this revelation.

When their final confrontation plays you can see Julius direct the blame entirely on how the Saints were handled and how Django acted. It’s ridiculous given the fact that Julius did not start thinking about how terrible the Saints or Django were until his gang activities got him in trouble. This is where the selfishness plays out. As soon as he was arrested and realized their were consequences to his actions, the man figured he’d better fucking dip and completely disregard what that meant for everyone else.

He abandons the Saints, abandons the people who allegedly wished to help out, and soon starts claiming his has morals—that he could not stand up to Django whatsoever and that he was the monster destroying Stilwater all along. I really doubt he could have gotten Django to back down after basically awakening something in him, but he didn’t even bother trying whatsoever.

And as the two have their final confrontation Julius really lets it be known how he’s come to despise Django, how he seems him as the problem, putting all blame squarely on him despite knowing full well that he has the biggest hand in this after all. It’s with all of this plus the anger that Django already felt towards everything, plus his brash and arrogant attitude that it truly twists him into the monster he’s become today.

Their final confrontation can be found here.

As a friend of mine who has way too many blogs here to tag said

“ I like the subtle implication that a huge part of him, if not all of him, died on the boat ”

And it’s true, this is exactly what he thinks. This is exactly what was going through his mind as he spoke to Julius. Django is gone. Django is completely dead after that explosion. And in having that part of him be completely eradicated he can now turn towards his new identity, one that he will showcase to the entire world. If Julius is going to call him a monster then fine. So be it. He will accept this new identity of his and run with it. Revel both the fame and infamy he will garner. 

From anger and betrayal The Boss has now been born.

Julius may have had his good intentions, he may have genuinely wanted to keep the city safe and do something right. But his desire for power outweighs that, and the fact that he will never truly admit his mistake is such a damning thing. Shit, he probably thought that the Boss murdering him only served to further prove his point.

Yet after all is said and done, after the Boss has finally killed the man who turned him into what he is, there really is no true sense of satisfaction. The Boss is a man who finds a feeling of catharsis when taking revenge on people. To him it “fixes thing”. It makes things right. Yet with his killing of Julius he’s fully aware of the fact that it won’t truly change much for him.

He’s far gone now. Completely transformed into an entirely different beast. Julius’s betrayal is going to leave a scar on him that’ll last a lifetime. One that he can never truly let heal whatsoever. He’s not one to brood, especially with this when it’s already hit him like a ton of bricks. However, he will forever remain conscious of the fact that what happened is leaving an impact.

That what Julius did to him will always affect him in some way. His trust issues, his difficult connecting with others, all of it has been now heightened by these events. This is a scar that will remain with him for a lifetime, and that truly infuriates him to no end.

There’s nothing worse than knowing you owe the personal growth and identity you have, good or bad, to someone who hurt you.

[lizwontcry]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Big Bang Theory (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sheldon Cooper/Penny Characters: Sheldon Cooper, Penny (Big Bang Theory), Leonard Hofstadter, Amy Farrah Fowler, Bernadette Rostenkowski, Howard Wolowitz Additional Tags: penny being pregnant is utter bullshat, so here is my answer to that Summary:

The baby isn't Leonard's.

While the light is still red, Sheldon leans in and kisses Penny gently. She feels an interesting sensation in her belly as his lips meet with hers, and she is hopeful that there will be a lot more kisses like that in her future.

For Sheldon's fortieth birthday, he and Amy throw a huge party and invite everyone they know. With their Nobel Prize money, they have cash to spend on this affair, which they host at a luxurious mid-century modern beach house in Los Angeles (obviously this was all Amy's idea and Sheldon reluctantly went along with it). Raj mans the grill, providing hot dogs and hamburgers, and there is plenty of alcohol available to enjoy as well--Penny makes sure of that, although she does not imbibe herself--for obvious reasons.

"Are you having fun, Mama?" Bernadette asks Penny, after doing three tequila shots in a row with Amy while Penny watches with increasing jealousy.

"Of course! I love seeing my friends getting drunk and then almost drowning in the pool," Penny says, and Bernie laughs too loudly.

"I'll toast to that!" Amy says, doing one more shot than Penny would have advised.

Kripke and Bert are in the corner of the pool arguing about the season finale of Game of Thrones, and Leonard and Wolowitz are watching some Youtube video of the latest particle physics discovery on the patio, preferring to stay in the shade until absolutely necessary.

Penny is sitting by the side of the pool, surveying the action, happy for her friends and the fun they're having. She is also trying not to think about ruining most of their lives with one small sentence, which will have to be done sooner rather than later.

Sheldon extracts himself from Amy for a few minutes and comes over to sit by Penny. They both put their legs in the water. Penny briefly touches Sheldon's toe with hers, which makes him twitch a little. Penny laughs. She knows how much he hates other people's feet.

"Happy birthday, sweetie. I hope you're having fun."

"It's not the worst party I've ever been to," Sheldon admits. "Although I'd much rather be eating Thai food at home while watching--"

"The new Spiderman Blu-Ray, we all know, babe," Penny says. She loves her weirdo friend.

"Yes, that's correct." Sheldon takes a sip of the spiked lemonade Wolowitz made. Penny does enjoy a semi-drunk Sheldon. That's how they got into this mess in the first place.

"So I suppose you haven't told Leonard yet," Sheldon says, looking across the pool at Leonard, who is now eating a hot dog while playing volleyball with Howard. Penny has never been less attracted to him.

"Oh, yeah, I told him last night and he took it really well. He can't wait to raise your baby and co-parent with you and Amy. He's over the moon."

"Sarcasm?" Sheldon asks.

"Yes, Sheldon. Obviously I haven't told him yet. I wanted to wait until after this party. He's so happy right now--he thinks he's going to be a daddy and he never stops talking about it. This baby was going to give him the chance to raise a child the direct opposite of how his mother raised him."

"Why would he want to do that? Beverly is a perfect mother," Sheldon says, and Penny ignores him.

"Anyway. I'll tell him tomorrow night. Are you ready to stick with the plan? I'm not putting my ass on the line if you're going to chicken out."

For a brief moment, Sheldon puts his arm around Penny and she rests her head on his shoulder. This public display of affection is not a good idea, but nobody is watching them, and Penny can always explain that Sheldon was expressing his newfound happiness for her pregnancy if anyone asks.

"I'm ready. Amy thinks I'm going to a conference in Colorado next week and that's why I've been packing in advance."

Penny nods. "Good. But... you don't have to do this, you know. I realize this isn't how you imagined your life turning out. I can deal with it on my own."

"Of course I know that, Penny. And yes, this is not optimal. I made a vow to Amy and I planned to uphold it for as long as I lived, but things change. Now that I've won the Nobel, I find that I am amenable to other possible outcomes. You are carrying my child, and I am committed to you and the baby. We can make this work."

Penny smiles. "We can. I know we can. Have you figured out how you're going to explain this to your mother yet?"

"No. I can't even picture how she's going to react. There's no telling what Jesus is going to think of my actions but I'm sure I'll find out soon." Sheldon sighs and Penny feels the familiar ache of how their lives are going to change so drastically and how many people it's going to affect. "I have to return to Amy now. You are going to tell him tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Penny promises, dreading every single second leading up to her telling Leonard that she is actually having Sheldon's baby.

"Then I'll be ready tomorrow," Sheldon says, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. He takes his shiny alabaster legs out of the pool and walks away to find his wife. Penny watches him closely. Although she occasionally had feelings for Sheldon in the last 12 years since they've first met, of course she didn't think they'd end up together. But it feels... kind of right? She doesn't love him, exactly. Not yet. She's hoping that will come after all the guilt from cheating on Leonard with his best friend, and taking her best friend's husband from her, has dissipated somewhat. It's right there on the surface--part of her thinks she's been falling in love with him one small moment at a time for a while now--at least ever since they went shopping together and Sheldon came out looking like a snack in that black suit of his. That's when Penny realized he was way more than a socially awkward comic book nerd.

Penny gets in the pool and swims over to Leonard, who offers her half his hot dog, which she takes gratefully--she's eating for two now. Bernadette joins Howard at the volleyball net and they play together, couple against couple, not knowing that there will be one couple less in the next 24 hours or so.

24 HOURS LATER

Telling him now. Meet you outside in hour. - P

Fine. See you then. - S

It’s about 8:13 PM on a Sunday night. They just had dinner--Leonard made a lovely meal of roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, which Penny had been craving for a week. Leonard is sitting at his desk, writing a grant proposal (or something, Penny isn’t really paying attention) and listening to a TED talk. In other words, just like every other Sunday night Penny can remember in the last couple years. She has no idea what Sunday nights with Sheldon is going to entail, but she’s definitely ready to find out.

This would all be so much easier if she went with her first plan, which was to leave Leonard a note and never speak to him again. But Sheldon vehemently disagreed with that method and convinced her to tell Leonard the truth in person. Penny hopes Sheldon’s inherent goodness will rub off on her.

“Hon? I have something to tell you,” Penny says. She’s sitting in Sheldon’s spot on the couch.

“One second, let me finish this sentence…” Leonard says. Penny waits at least two minutes before Leonard turns around. “Okay! What’s up? Is the baby kicking again?”

“No, that’s not it. But it does have to do with the baby. Um, remember that night when Sheldon and I went out for some drinks and then I came home and was too drunk to, you know… do it with you?”

“Yes… of course I do. The week before is when we made that baby. And as I recall, we haven’t ‘done it’ since then.”

Penny nods. The ever-present guilt is starting to make her a little queasy. The questions she asks herself over and over, day and night, are stacking up again--how could I do this to him? He loves me so much and I cheated on him. I’m the worst wife ever. And the like. Penny has always known her morals have been questionable. In a way, she’s not even surprised this happened. Her relationship with Leonard was bound to derail eventually, just because she is the way she is. This is what she thinks in her darker moments--most of the time she’s able to at least justify it enough to make the guilt go away for a while. But that’s not happening tonight. Most likely tomorrow she'll wake up and her other dominant feeling will take over--that she deserves this baby, that her marriage has been a disaster from the beginning, that Leonard cheated on her before they even got married... you know, that kind of thing.

“Well. Sheldon and I had a good time that night. We laughed a lot. He drank more than I’ve ever seen him drink. He was telling me about winning the Nobel Prize and Amy and the problems they’re having in their marriage, and I did the same…”

Leonard looks--well, he looks a lot of things. A bit hurt, a bit confused, a bit angry. He’s going to be a lot more of those things in a few minutes.

“Why would you tell him about our issues? We barely even have any. You know I don’t want to go around telling our friends everything.”

Penny resists the urge to roll her eyes. They have plenty of issues that her pregnancy was just going to provide a band-aid for; before she got pregnant they'd fight every couple of days about both the little things and the big things. From how Penny never takes the trash out to how Leonard doesn't want Penny to audition for anything because he thought her acting days were over. They fought about that one a lot.

She doesn't argue with him on this point, though, because she's the one currently at fault here. "I know. But I was drunk, and I was in a mood. Well, something happened. Something you aren’t going to like. I made a mistake. Sheldon and I both made a mistake. When we got in the car to drive back to the apartment, we sort of… ended up in the parking lot of the Pasadena Public Library. And…” Penny doesn’t know how to finish this sentence. It’s so bad. It’s so so bad.

Leonard has started to figure out that his worst nightmare may be coming true at this exact moment. “And what? You checked out some books and went home?”

“No. It was dark and rainy and we were both drunk. One of us kissed the other. Then we got in the backseat and things… happened.”

“What are you telling me, Penny? Because surely you aren’t saying that Sheldon got you pregnant? That would be utterly ridiculous.”

Penny stares at the floor. She’s glad she already moved most of her stuff into the car so she wouldn’t have to stick around much longer. Can she leave now? Does Leonard have all the information yet?

It turns out he has a lot more to say. Penny listens to Leonard yell, and cry, and accuse, and say all the mean things she knows are true. He deserves to let it all out, she thinks. He deserves a better wife, and she deserves a better husband. They were never right for one another--just because they lived across the hall from each other doesn't mean they are soul mates. It just means they lived across the hall from each other.

While he goes on and on, Penny thinks about how she used to love Leonard at one point in her life--it seems like a long time ago, but she wasn’t always dissatisfied and bored with their marriage. She should have done something about it instead of ending up in a backseat with Sheldon, but… it happened. Things can change so quickly.

“I’m going to leave now,” Penny says when Leonard has finally run out of things to say. Leonard doesn’t argue with her. Instead, he ignores her completely, which she actually prefers. She gets her purse and a few other things from her room, and leaves the past behind.

Sheldon is waiting for her in the lobby. They hurry to her car, and once Penny has driven a mile or so, she stops at a red light. She turns to him and is surprised to see that Sheldon is smiling. Like, a real, actual, human smile.

"How did she take it?"

"Not well, I'm afraid. I believe she's writing you several angry texts or emails as we speak." Penny knows there's a lot more to the story, and that Sheldon is devastated in his own way. Amy was the first love of his life. She hates what Amy is about to go through, but there's no turning back now.

"That reminds me..." Penny says. She lowers the window and throws her phone out of it. It lands with a satisfying thud on the road.

Sheldon, without even thinking about it, does the same with his phone. Penny is shocked but delighted.

"This is the new me. The 40-year-old father of a new baby. The 40-year-old husband of Penny. The 40-year-old Nobel Prize winning scientist. I like the sound of that," Sheldon says. Penny laughs. She can fall in love with this Sheldon. This is a much different version of the 20-something she met for the first time who proudly showed her his whiteboards so long ago. This is the man she may, in fact, spend the rest of her life with--and that doesn't scare her or bore her to tears when she thinks about the prospect.

While the light is still red, Sheldon leans in and kisses Penny gently. She feels an interesting sensation in her belly as his lips meet with hers, and she is hopeful that there will be a lot more kisses like that in her future.

"Let's do this," Penny says. Sheldon nods, and as the light turns green, they drive into their future.

[ainarosewood]

100 Random Character Development Questions Aina Rosewood

@gilrainmustang here ya go love and for anyone whos interested :)

This is gonna be a long post so answers beneath the cut

001. When is their birthday? 19th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon

002. Do they do anything to celebrate their birthday? Not really though the Twins and Tataru make sure something happpens

003. Does your character like coffee better, or tea? Tea

004. Do they prefer being alone or with others? Usually alone or with a group of close friends

005. Are they in good health? yes

006. What sense do they most rely on? Aina relies on her hearing the most

007. Is your character an optimist or a pessimist? Optimist for the most part

008. What is their favorite fairy tale? Alice in Wonderland

009. Do they believe in happy endings? Aina believes it can happen but she’s seen too much to assume it always will

010. Do they believe in love at first sight? Sort of more it can happen that way

011. How would your character court the person of their dreams? Shed...probably not most likely she’d hope they were to make the moves or she’d blurt everything at once in a jumble

012. What makes your character embarrassed? compliments and if someone calls her out on the nose twitch thing

013. Have they ever been bullied or teased? a little when she was very small till she saved a group of kids then well you know how the story goes in those cases

014. Detail one secret shame your character feels. she is absolutely ashamed of how she handled the situation with Livia sas Junius.  She hates that she  abandoned her normal course for vengeance she has been striving to make up for it ever since.

015. Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue? Her tongue. Aina is very sharp witted and can have a tongue that cuts like a blade when she wants to

016. What is their choice of weapon? Red Mage rapier usually the Serpent Captains Small Sword

017. When does your character think that violence is justified or deserved? Depends on the situation she would prefer things to be solved non violently but she knows sometimes steel is the only answer some will recognize

018. Your character wakes up to find that war has been declared. What do they do?  Find the nearest allied group and see what help she can give would she be better suited as a healer or on the front line

019. If they could have a superpower, what would they choose? Empathy

020. What are their hobbies? Weaving, Reading, Writing stories

021. How do they display affection? Gentle kiss, hugs for those shes closest to soft words in an ar

022. What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen? The Nightsky over The Rak’tika Greatwood after the light was cleared

023. What do they consider beautiful in others physically? soft eyes warm smile though she does not judge by appearance alone

024. What do they consider ugly in others physically? cold eyes bulbous growths ect though again does not judge by appearance

025. What do they consider beautiful in others personality-wise? Kind gentle people who are also courageous

026. What do they consider ugly in others personality-wise? Cruel enjoying peoples suffering idolence

027. What is their idea of perfect happiness? Being with those she is closest to and spending time with them

028. What makes them laugh out loud? Jokes, Alisaies sarcastic remarks and gentle jabs at her brother

029. What sort of sense of humor does your character have? Quirky

030. Do they believe in the afterlife? sort of...shes really not sure if there is an actual “afterlife”

031. Are they superstitious about anything? Not really

032. Does your character believe in ghosts? She has seen to many who remain in this world not to

033. Do they keep their promises? yes

034. What’s their view of lying? Aina hates it a person is only as good as their word oath breakers are not well liked

035. What is the most important rule your character lives by? Giving a person a chance no matter how bad they are.  Everyone gets one.

036. How honorable is your character? For the most part she is what most would call honorable however she knows that strictly following a code of honor can get you killed so she weighs the situation

037. If your character saw someone drop a large sum of money and knew that they could probably take it without anyone noticing, what would they do? Return it to the person

038. What bad habits do they have? Bottling up all that bothers her until it literally flows out in a flood of emotions

039. What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? Taking away their freedom

040. What is their obsession? Any information about the magical arts

041. Are they comfortable with technology? Aina despises magitek she awknowledges it has its uses but she hates it as a whole

042. What is their greatest achievement? In her mind saving both the First and the Source with Ardberts help (also helping him understand hes worth something)

043. What will they stand up for? the weak those who are being treated very badly by others

044. What disgusts them? people who enjoy hurting others

045. Does your character have any chronic medical conditions? no

046. How do they handle getting sick? She tries to hide it until she cant anymore then she finally lets people take care of her

047. What was the last medical problem your character had? Id say the overinundation of the Light was a big one

048. Do they have any allergies? no

049. How does your character feel about growing old? its enivetable but that doesnt mean you cant have fun along the way

050. How does your character feel about their own mortality? She is willing to give her life if necissary but its not her go to and she accepts that death is a part of life though she will fight tooth and nail to save everyone she can

051. If they knew they would die tomorrow, what would they do today? Stay close to those she loves spend as much time as she can with them.  If she needs to give her life for something she sees as important before she falls

052. What is your character’s worst flaw? The bottling up of her emotions

053. What is your character’s greatest strength? giving her all to help people

054. Does your character want power or authority of any kind? not really she will help if she needs to but she feels there are plenty who are better suited to lead

055. Is your character an introvert or an extrovert? kind of both depends on the situation

056. Has your character ever struck someone in anger? plenty of times she will deck a person if she feels theres a need

057. Has your character ever killed anyone? yes a few times usually in defense of others

058. What is your character’s idea of a perfect day? curling up with a book and listening to the rain fall outside

059. List several phrases your character is fond of uttering. Where did they pick them up? “You alright?” she has been healer for too long not to ask that “For those we have lost, for those we may yet save,” she got this from Minifilia it feels like the literal mantra that driven her to do all that she does. “By Light and Shadow!” she got that from Ardbert.

060. What is your character’s attitude toward education and learning? She sees it as very important and strives to continue her own while at the same time encouraging others to do so as well

061. Does your character prefer adventure or safety and security? Adventure she enjoys a challenge

062. What sort of legacy does your character wish to leave behind? A better world where all are considered equal beings both Spoken and Beast Tribe

063. How well does your character handle difficult people? Well enough she usually gauges how to interact with them and if need be will verbally tear them apart if it is necessary

064. In what ways does your character annoy others? She has a habit of keeping her problems to herself and try to not burden others a thing her friends hate

065. Is your character better at leading or following? Which do they prefer? She is very good at doing both and will do either on whatever the occasion calls for but she does prefer to follow rather than lead but she will take charge if there is a need

066. Does your character prefer city life or being out in nature? Nature she is very much close to her heritage 

067. Does your character believe in fate or destiny? not really its why she is not very skilled with astrologian she doesnt truly “believe” that fate is the only factor driving things

068. How strong is your character’s sense of responsibility? What kinds of things trigger it? Immensly strong, she will step up and do what needs to be done especially if people are suffering

069. What about your character is heroic? She will rush in and defend those that need it no matter the cost

070. What about your character is cowardly? She has a very hard time opening up to those closest to her when it pertains to herself she tends to hold it all in for fear of burdening others

071. How kind is your character? She wears her heart on her sleeve

072. In a Dungeons & Dragons game, which class would your character be? (wizard, fighter, bard, priest, ranger, etc.) Priest, though she prefers to be in a more combative method she is very much the healer.  Also ranger would definetly be a thing due to her desire to support people and be very versitle

073. In a novel, what plot role would your character fill? (hero, anti-hero, sidekick, villain, etc.) Probably either hero or sidekick

074. What is your character’s favorite game? Anything involving tatics

075. Is your character ticklish? yes

076. How do they express anger? Aina tends to be very quiet at first with her anger usually her tone will drop to very soft in some cases however like someone literally dismissing those she cares for as nothing she will fly into a rage usallly a very loud cry proceeding it.

077. How often do they cry? Over what? She will cry when she feels she has a moment again usually bottles it all up untill its too late.  Usually its about what she perceves as her ‘failings’ mostly her inability to save someone she felt she should have.

078. How emotionally stable is your character? pretty stable aside from her ‘uncorcking of the bottle moments” ie when she can no longer keep it all in

079. How easy is it for them to read the emotions of others? Aina is a pretty quick study and can usually judge pretty well the atmosphere of a room or the general disposition of a person she has been wrong before and has been suprised by a reaction shes not perfect

080. How easy is it for others to read your character’s emotions? Aina is a pretty easy read when it comes to her feelings for other people she wears her heart on her sleeve.  Its a bit more difficult to see what she’s feeling about herself most of the time. 081. Is your character religious? no

082. What are your character’s sleeping preferences? In a bed if its possible if not, a bit of hay in a chocobo or amaro stable is fine

083. What is the first thing they say and/or do when they wake up? streach and find where it was she laid her gear to get ready to do what she must as the WOL

084. Describe your character in one word. Caring

085. Describe your character in three words. Caring Courageous Determined

086. How would your character describe themself in one word? Foolish

087. How would your character describe themself in three words? Foolish, Determined, Caring

088. Is your character quiet or loud? Aina is usually very quiet and soft spoken

089. How vocally expressive is your character? She uses words often enough but she feels actions tend to speak louder

090. How bodily expressive is your character? Her ears can be a dead giveaway for her emotional state if you know what your looking at

091. What type of music does your character like? Gentle string instruments or wood winds

092. What emotion does your character evoke in others? Depends on the person, it can be jealosy cause she doesnt try to attract attention but tends to get it or devotion because of her willingness to do what she must to protect people

093. What is your character’s goal in life? Helping people to understand that a being is a being it matters not their appearance

094. Name three things most would not expect your character to be able to know.  How to be cruel, How to fight, and To mistrust people

095. Name three things most would not expect your character to be able to do. Fight as hard as she does, Hurt people when theres a need, Hate someone

096. How do they move and carry themselves? What energy do they project? Aina carries herself with a quiet confidence.  People feel safe and secure around her because of her gentle attitude.  Some people thing she may be easy to manipulate because they assume shes niavee they learn very quickly that is not the case

097. How well do they adapt to change? Very well her studies in arcanima have led for her to accept that change is a factor that must be taken into account in a given situation

098. Does your character like animals? She loves them she is very close to both Zephyr her chocobo and her amaro friend Windsong

099. Do they talk to inanimate objects? Sometimes

100. Does your character dream? If so, what do they dream about? Sometimes and it can vary sometimes its hard for her to remember other than potentially strange.  Sometimes it unfortunately nightmares from things shes faced or things shes felt shes failed to do right.

[aion-rsa]

Housemarque Gives PlayStation Studios the Original Games They Need Most

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

To the surprise of pretty much nobody, the PlayStation Studios team has officially acquired Returnal developer Housemarque.

“Today I’m thrilled to welcome a new member to the PlayStation Studios family,” says Helmen Hurst, head of PlayStation Studios, in a recent blog post. “I have been a fan of Housemarque since the studio’s early days when they introduced Super Stardust HD to PlayStation fans. Housemarque’s recent release of Returnal proves the studio is one with incredible vision, capable of creating memorable new games that resonate with our community. This addition enhances the creative force of PlayStation Studios, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Housemarque.”

Housemmarque co-founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen had this to say about his gratitude towards the PlayStation team as well as his hopes for the future of his studio:

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“This gives our studio a clear future and a stable opportunity to continue delivering on gameplay-centric approaches, while still experimenting with new methods of narrative delivery and pushing the boundaries of this modern art form…We at Housemarque are gamers, and we have grown from the need to perfect and tinker with facets of games that we have found most fascinating. We are also not known for shying away from running our own course and trying out new combinations. With the backing of SIE and its family of studios supporting us, we can truly grow into our place in the industry and show what Housemarque can create with no limitations.”

Both of those statements feature the kind of carefully worded optimism you expect to see in most acquisition announcements, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of truth to be found in them. Actually, Kuittinen may have addressed a particularly uncomfortable truth when he said that he doesn’t want Housemarque to shy away from following its “own course.”

You may recall a recent report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier which, among many other things, led some to speculate that the PlayStation team is currently focused on “too big to fail” Triple-A entries into established franchises over smaller, shorter, original games. While that’s a simplified version of the narrative, there is, again, at least some truth in it. Escalation in video game production budgets and time investments have ensured that more and more major studios are putting their resources into big projects with familiar names that are most likely to succeed. That’s just good business.

Yet, there’s another side to that business strategy that has some people (including former PlayStation executives) a little concerned about the future of Triple-A gaming. As more studios push for $70 next-gen exclusives, the gap between indie and Triple-A developers grows wider. While there is an emerging “Double-A” scene trying to hold those sides together, it feels like fewer Triple-A studios and first-party developers are able to turn their success with bigger releases into an excuse to pursue smaller projects and new properties. Instead, it feels like more and more publishers see the time and money they might spend on those smaller projects (however modest they may comparatively be) as resources that could go to the next big game.

For most of its history, Housemarque has focused on developing smaller titles with “arcade-like” gameplay. They were the exact kinds of games you wouldn’t expect from many major modern publishers and developers, and they certainly helped put Housemarque on the map for pretty much that reason. However, in 2017, Housemarque published a letter boldly titled “Arcade is Dead.” In it, Ilari Kuittinen had this to say about the realities of the modern video game industry:

“Despite critical success and numerous awards, our games just haven’t sold in significant numbers. While some of them have reached a massive audience due to free game offerings across various digital sales channels, this, unfortunately, doesn’t help pay for development, which gets costly for high production quality…it’s time to move on to new genres. Lackluster sales of Nex Machina have led us to the thinking that it is time to bring our longstanding commitment to the arcade genre to an end.”

While some speculated that letter meant that Housemarque would soon focus on open-world games or online multiplayer titles (the studio even hinted at the latter possibility in a follow-up letter), their next major release instead turned out to be Returnal: a wonderfully weird roguelike title with hard-hitting horror storytelling that retains some of the studio’s best arcade-like gameplay ideas. It’s one of 2021’s best games as well as proof that adjusting to the needs of the modern gaming industry doesn’t always mean having to make a specific type of title.

That’s what makes PlayStation’s acquisition of Housemarque so fascinating. Recent PlayStation Studios hits like God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are all great games, but they’re games that adhere to the basic concepts of a particular, established style. In other words, they’re open-world (or very large world) adventures with basic RPG concepts. You can do a lot with that style to make it your own, but it will naturally become increasingly difficult for developers to distinguish themselves in that genre as it becomes more crowded.

By acquiring Housemarque, though, Sony is seemingly putting their money where their mouth is by strongly supporting a studio that doesn’t just say they want to do things differently but has historically committed to that idea even when their backs were seemingly against the wall. I have no idea what Housemarque is going to do next, and in a strange way, that makes them one of the most exciting members of the PlayStation Studios family.

The question now becomes “Will PlayStation actually let Housemarque forge its own path?” After all, it’s been suggested that studios like Insomniac have previously hesitated to be acquired by a major publisher like PlayStation Studios over fears of losing creative control. You could argue if those fears are justified on a case-by-case basis, but it’s certainly not unheard of for publishing partners to push developers to pursue certain projects to satisfy the bottom line. After all, we’ve already talked about how Returnal‘s $70 price tag and next-gen console shortages may have impacted its commercial success, which is really just a reminder that creativity and quality sadly aren’t always enough to overcome certain commercial realities.

For now, though, Housemarque really does seem to be in a position to enjoy a little security while pursuing projects that are a little different. Quite frankly, those are exactly the kinds of games PlayStation Studios needs them to make most.

The post Housemarque Gives PlayStation Studios the Original Games They Need Most appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3w4lSgS

[cnexportbusiness]

Do Custom Lithium Ion Batteries Packs Discharge When Not In Use,

Do Custom Lithium Ion Batteries Packs Discharge When Not In Use, Custom lithium ion battery pack has become amazingly common everywhere in the world today. They have become common components in iPods, cell phones, PDAs, and computers. If you look around, these batteries are worth the reputation they have made for themselves. They are about the best among the rechargeable battery class. However, many people have had their reasons and opinions for debating the efficacy of these batteries. For starter, there is the topic of whether the battery can discharge over a period of time when it is not used. A question like that one, and many more are some of the things we will be answering in the course of this write up.

Custom Lithium Ion Battery Pack 7

All batteries do The chemistry with which battery technology is operated upon for now is still limited. Although we may not be talking about a 100% percent performance, we are saying some things are still the way they are. All batteries discharge when they are not in use. This is not a question that should be limited to lithium ion batteries or Lithium battery pack manufacturers alone. When batteries are kept in one position for a while, they start discharging at a certain rate. So long as batteries are still operated by electrodes (cathodes and anodes) that are separated by electrolytes, this is going to keep happening. It does happen for Ni-Cd and NiMH batteries, as well as lead acid batteries. It is a cancer that has been found in all battery technology for the now. That said, we cannot put lithium ion batteries on the same level with the other battery types. The lithium ion battery technology is a much superior one because it has an almost negligible rate of discharging.

What you know So many people know very little about lithium ion batteries. The only information they have regarding this battery could be where they heard that lithium ions have had one negative effect or the other. Lithium ion battery may have been in the news for some reasons. But that does not mean every custom lithium ion battery pack is that bad. The development of these batteries were masterminded by humans. Those errors may have been responsible for those sad occurrences. You need to do more digging on lithium batteries than what you already know. Lithium ion batteries have changed our mentality about rechargeable batteries. Their improved performance has made them a suitable choice for all the modern electronic gadgets we have around us today. Lithium ion batteries give you more power, given its size and worth. It is far better than most of the batteries that are existing today. The bottom line here is that you need to improve your knowledge of lithium ion batteries by looking up the subject from authority websites.

Better choice for most appliances Before now, high power applications had serious limitations working with the existing rechargeable batteries. It was either they lacked the capacity to serve the appliance long-term or they were unable to produce large amounts of currents to operate it. That was a big limitation back then. It meant only a few appliances could work with rechargeable batteries. Plenty thanks to Lithium battery pack manufacturers who did not give up at the time. They thought it wise to give rechargeable batteries a new face. For them, it was necessary to step up the game of rechargeable batteries to make them with higher performance. Thankfully, that doggedness is what gave birth to lithium ion batteries today. The higher technology that comes with these batteries have put them on the world map. As far as rechargeable batteries are concerned, none can be compared to lithium ion batteries.

The cost factor Many people are quick to jump onto this train, and using it as a justifying factor to label Custom lithium ion battery pack as not being worthy of your money. They have come out to say that the batteries are too expensive. In their opinion they are priced too high. But the thing is, many people base their judgments on the fact the other batteries are cheaper. They however, forget that those batteries they are talking of are not as effective as the lithium ion batteries. You have to cut these manufacturers some slack if you belong in that category. The material and technology required to churn out lithium ion batteries are quite expensive. You will expect them to cost more than the others because they are superior to the others. That is the order of things, and nobody can change that for now. Unless, there is a new technology, you still need to spend more to get lithium ion batteries.

They are smarter In the era we have found ourselves, manufacturers are trying to see how everything can be made to work digitally. To be honest about it, the migration has been swift. Many of those old-fashioned batteries were not going to survive the transition. Making them as smart so they can be used with digital appliances have fallen short in so many ways. Lithium ion batteries have been a better choice because of their size and their overall technology. They have adapted quickly with the current scenario. And the manufacturers are doing a great job at that. So, again, on the level of smartness, we cannot start to compare lithium ion batteries and the other numerous battery types. They are centuries behind. If you are sincere, you would discover that these lithium ion batteries are more appropriate for the stage of mobile computing devices.

Custom Lithium Ion Battery Pack 11

Conclusion Lithium ion batteries are not as bad as many people paint them to be. Rather we should be thinking of how to applaud the manufacturers of these batteries. The Lithium battery pack manufacturers have given us every reason to use our devices longer than before. In spite of their few shortcomings, lithium ion batteries are way ahead of the park in terms of overall performance. They are worth any amount you are spending on them because they are very reliable.

For more about custom lithium ion battery packs,you can pay a visit to china custom lithium ion battery pack manufacturer JB Battery at https://www.lithiumbatterychina.com for more info.

Source: Do Custom Lithium Ion Batteries Packs Discharge When Not In Use,

[therainroguefanfiction]

⚜️ Change the Face of History (Skyrim); #1 Prologue

📑 Table of Contents & Information

☁ Genre: Slice of Life, Magic, AU

☁ Pairing: First Person OC x ??

☁ World: Game, Skyrim

I stifled a yawn with my hand as I made my way home, regretting the decision to leave the house in the first place, but the fridge was pretty empty and I kind of need food to survive. Plus, soda. Need I say more? I made it about halfway when the sky, which had been steadily darkening, opened up, allowing rain to pour down on the city. I cursed, ducking into the closest shop to me. It’s not that I hate the rain or don’t like getting wet – in fact, rain is one of my favorite things in life. My mood always increases when it rains, but putting away soggy groceries is not fun, a lesson I learned a couple months back.

Thankfully, though, I had reacted quick enough and made it into the shop with my clothes only slightly damp.

I set the plastic bags on the floor near the door, making sure that they weren’t in the way, before turning to inspect the store I had entered. Wooden shelves lined the floor in aisles, standing about four feet, five inches in height. The items on display looked quite old, but not in the sense that they were grungy or used. Each item was in incredible shape, but they didn’t look as if they belonged in this time period.

‘This must be some kind of antique store,’ I concluded, carefully navigating through the displays. I did not want to accidentally break anything – I’m sure this stuff is hella expensive.

As I made my way to the back of the room, a table stood out to the right. It was lined with red velvet and featured a locked glass lid. Inside were various types of jewelry and even a feathered pen with an inkwell. I scanned the items with wonder before my eyes stopped on a ring in the center of the table. I’m not sure why, but… I just couldn’t pull my attention away from it, no matter how hard I tried. It was as if the thing was calling out to me, trying to get my attention. I carefully rested my hand on the glass, just above the item.

“You have good taste, miss.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin, whipping around with a hand over my racing heart. Standing a couple feet away was an elder man, barely at the same height as the shelves, with thinning snow-white hair and a face full of wrinkles. His hands were clasped behind his back as he smiled kindly at me.

“Sorry, dear, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The amusement was clear in his dark brown eyes.

“It’s okay,” I breathed out, willing my heart to calm down as I turned back to the case. “How much is it for that ring there?” I pointed it out, despite believing that he already knew which piece I was referring to.

He hummed, thoughtfully as he dug into his pocket, pulling out a ring of five different keys. His hands shook slightly as he inserted the key and twisted to unlock the case, carefully lifting the lid. His slim fingers picked up the ring, holding it out in the palm of his hand. “It costs fifty dollars,”

I nearly winced at the information. This ring is absolutely beautiful and I honestly feel like I need to have it in my life, but… I just can’t justify spending so much money on a piece of jewelry. I feel like this is one of those lose-lose situations – if I buy it, I’ll spend the next week cursing myself for wasting fifty bucks, but if I don’t buy it, I’ll spend the same amount of time cursing myself for not buying it.

“There is a legend attached to this ring,” he stated, his eyes twinkling. “It is said to harbor unparalleled magic power within, which had lain dormant for many centuries now. The legend states that only those of pure intent may harness its power. The ring chooses its owner.”

I scoffed at his words because there ain’t nothin’ pure about my ass. He raised a brow and I realized my mistake and cursed. “Ah, no, I didn’t mean to -“

“It’s quite alright,” he chuckled, “There are very few who believe in such things. Here,” Before I could protest, he took my wrist and gently transferred the ring to the palm of my hand.

The metal was… weird. One moment it felt unbelievably cold like a block of ice, but the next it was hot like a roaring flame. Goosebumps rose across my body as I brought it closer to my face to further inspect the detail. The metal itself was an onyx black with a thin, silver trim. A deep gray dragon was engraved in a repeating pattern across the circumference of the ring. As I turned it over, admiring the way the soft light glinted off it, I realized that I had never felt such a want, a need, quite like I do in this moment.

The man’s smile grew, the corners of his eyes crinkling with crows feet. “For you, though, I will let this ring go for twenty-five dollars.”

My eyes widened in surprise, jumping to meet his own. “Are you sure? That’s one hell of a discount…”

He nodded, holding his hand out. I gently set the ring on his palm and he said, “I’m positive, dear, now come. Let us get you rung up before the rain starts up again.”

I glanced to the front of the room, which consisted of a line of windows. Sure enough, the rain had stopped, the sun shining brightly on the land. I knew it wouldn’t last long, though, because Florida weather is far too bi-polar to stick to just one weather pattern. Rather than debate his kindness and give him a chance to renege on his offer, I followed him to the counter, digging into my pocket for two tens and a five.

After carefully placing the money into the cash register, he pulled out an ornately carved wooden box. Inside was a piece of soft, black foam with a slit in the middle, which he slid the ring into. He then wrapped the box in some blue tissue paper before placing it in a small, thick plastic bag. “Here you are, my dear. May magic always light up your life and guide your path.”

“Thank you very much, sir. Have a good day.” I offered him a thankful smile before carefully picking up the bag and returning to the front of the store, where I retrieved my groceries. I pulled open the door and glanced up at the sky before exiting the store.

The clouds above were a medium gray, spread out enough to allow the sun to shine down in strips of light. Off in the distance, the sky was nearly black and the clouds were quickly moving in my direction. Thankfully, the storm was rolling in from behind me, so I should be able to keep ahead of it.

I picked up my pace, boots slapping the wet pavement as I tightly clutched the bags in my hands. Honestly, I just wanted to hurry up and get home so I could put the ring on. I really don’t understand why I’m feeling so excited about this. I mean, sure, I appreciate a nice wring, a cool leather bracelet, a long chain necklace, but I’ve never felt this happy about a piece of jewelry before. Maybe because it has a dragon on it? I do love dragons, but I’ve gotten dragon-themed merchandise plenty of times in the past.

I feel like a little kid at Christmas.

When I finally reached the third floor of my apartment complex, I had to set the bags down in order to get the door unlocked and open. As badly as I wanted to just leave the groceries on the counter to be put away later, I knew that there were several items that needed to be put in the refrigerator, and a couple that needed to be kept frozen. Shaking my head, I put away the cold items as quickly as I could before moving to the adjoining living room and sinking down onto the old, brown couch. It had seen better days, and it squeaked quite loudly as if protesting my weight.

I carefully pulled out the box, letting my fingers trace the carving of a large tree – possibly an oak or cherry -, before lifting the lid. Just as before, the metal was ice cold when I first picked it up but quickly grew hot. Maybe the metal reacts to skin or sweat?

‘It is said to harbor unparalleled magic power within,’ The man’s words echoed in my mind. For a moment, I considered the possibility before shaking my head. Nah, that’s far too ridiculous.

As my thumb rubbed over the carving of the dragons, I couldn’t help but think about how cool it would be to see a dragon in real life. If only they were real… though, if they did exist, I doubt they’d be willing to co-exist with human beings.

I slid the ring on the middle finger of my right hand and smiled before glancing at the clock. It was getting late and I’m starting to feel like I’m starving. The rest of my night passed by without incident. I watched some anime, heated up leftover pizza from three nights ago which I do not recommend doing, watched some more anime, questioned my life choices while sitting in the bathroom, and then I finally retired to bed just after midnight.

As I curled up under the comforter, I inspected the ring until sleep finally claimed me.

──────── ∘° Third 🐲 Person°∘ ────────

The hour hand slowly ticked over, striking three in the morning. Rae Winchester turned over in her sleep, right hand slipping out from under the comforter and hanging over the side of the bed. A small stream of light from the full moon outside shined in through the crack in the curtains, falling directly onto the ring. It started to radiate with an ethereal, white light that slowly started to crawl up her arm. It wasn’t long before her entire body was bathed in this light, filling your body with a strange sensation of warmth.

It penetrated her dreams, morphing them from a zany adventure with her favorite anime characters to a void of navy blue as far as the eye could see. She found herself hovering in this void, hearing a faint chanting somewhere in the distance.

The light around her began to pulse in tune with her heartbeat. A cloud rolled across the moon, cutting off the stream of light and she stirred, tossing and turning. The light grew to a degree so bright, it was impossible to see before it exploded outward without a sound. It slowly faded, plunging the room into pure darkness.

The wheels of fate shifted direction that day as a new path was written out before her. Little did you know, the purchase of that ring was about to change her life forever, forcing her onto a path she has no say in.

I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes.

⤞ Forward

📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

[thecompostpile]

Ice Cream Essay #4  On Ice Cream in the Winter

Fairweather fans think ice cream is a summer man’s game. So all the shops around town start to close up around Halloween for the winter. My favorite ice cream place hosts a Halloween party every year giving free ice cream to anyone in costume and then closes for the winter. One of the most famous ice cream places in Milford even posts a sign when they open claiming “It must be Spring. We’re Open”. The shop next to the police station keeps winter hours from only 4-8. Even the Rita’s in town barely stay open.  So what is a boy supposed to do when he wants to get ice cream in the winter? It would be impossible to not crave ice cream in the winter. While the cold may sometime deter my neverending craving for ice cream. There are so many things the winter stops me from doing like going swimming in the ocean or forcing disc golf games to depend on the weather. Sure I love a good snow day but a few snow days to break up the cold dull monotony of winter could never compete with the entire season of summer. I won’t let a season dictate to me if I can have ice cream or not. I refuse to allow it.  There are a few different options for you to go when you want ice cream in the winter. None of them are as good as summer ice cream but all of them come pretty close to filling that sweet tooth craving.  New Haven While most of Milford’s ice creams establishments close in the winter New Haven’s usually stay open. I personally have three favorites that I will hit up Bill Caresoul Drive-in, Ashley’s Ice Cream and Arethusa Ice Cream. Each one is special in their own way. I will probably write more about each one (Bill’s got a special shoutout in one of the first Ice Cream Essays). They are all some of the best ice creams in the area. It is fantastic that each one of them stays open. Ashley’s, which has a few different locations, has fantastic ice cream and does some very interesting flavors. Arethusa is my absolute favorite ice cream in of all time. They only do a few types of flavors but boy is it something special.  Then there is Bill Caresoul which isn’t open as much as it is in the summer when it never seems to close but still keeps pretty late hours. Each one of these places is near to my heart and a trip to any of them would make my day.   However, a trip to New Haven is about an hour round trip for me and to justify that just for ice cream is a little bit ridiculous. Plus parking in New Haven is notoriously bad parking. A bunch of my friend are currently living in New Haven so if I can talk them into going to get ice cream we will end up at one of these places. Arethusa is also close to the movie theatre I go to the most and so if I go see a movie I usually also end up grabbing some ice cream a little bit down the street. It’s nice that New Haven ice cream, unlike Milford, stays open in the winter.  Carvel  I usually tend to not go to chain restaurants if I can help it. If it is during the day and I have the time I will go to a local restaurant instead of a chain like McDonald’s or Subway. To me it just feels like I am ethically spending my money better. If I had to pick I think my favorite chian is Carvel. My mom tells stories about living down the street from Carvel headquarters and seeing Tom Carvel. I also love Fudgie the Whale more than anything in the entire world. It is an absolute work of art. For Christmas Dinner this year I bought my family a Christmas Tree ice cream cake and it ended the meal perfectly. If I ask my dad to bring home ice cream while he is out he will usually stop at Carvel and bring home Flying Saucers or premade ice cream cones with strawberry dip. For some reason, those premade comes are one of the tastiest things I have ever had. They are perfect and while they don’t last long they are a great treat.My biggest problem with Carvel is their hard ice cream.  I usually get soft ice cream but every once in a while will want to get good hard ice cream. I can’t even think of what type of hard ice cream Carvel has. I don’t think it is anything to write home about. If it is the summer there is a very slim chance I will end up at a Carvel but in the winter it is one of the loyal places that will stay open. Even when I went on Christmas Eve it was open. While places like Walnut Beach Creamery do have better hard ice cream they close so in the dead of winter it is nice to have some good ice cream you can depend on.  Fast Food Places As previously stated I don’t really like to go to chain restaurants but when it is late at night and there is no food around the house and there is nothing else to do sometimes you got to bit the bullet. My personal favorite fast-food ice cream is McDonald’s. There are plenty of jokes about the ice cream machine being off but not once have I gotten a McFlurry and been sorry I did. They also have great milkshakes and strawberry milkshakes are one of my absolute favorite things. If it is past ten and I really want ice cream McDonald’s is my go-to.  I barely think a Frosty counts as ice cream and I just don’t really like Wendy’s. I also don’t think I have ever had Burger King ice cream which I am pretty sure they have but I could be wrong. The best thing about McDonald’s ice cream has to do with the fact I think most people like McDonald’s so much it is consistent. Sure it isn’t the best milkshake or the best ice cream in the world but it doesn’t need to be it is consistent. You know exactly what you are going to get every single time you get it. That is a comfort to people and the main reason to get ice cream from a fast-food restaurant.   Gas Station Ice Cream The gas station is the 2 am “you up?” text of ice creams in the winter. You can always find a gas station open, sure and it does get ice cream into your mouth but at what cost? Don’t get me wrong I’ve had my fair share of Ben and Jerry pints from 24 hour gas stations well past midnight and it doesn’t make me a bad person. Here’s the thing though, yes both Ben and Jerry make fantastic ice cream but I rather have fresh ice cream every single day of the week. Sometimes you just have to work with what you got though. Ben and Jerry’s really has this market down and makes gas station ice cream way better than it has any right to be. I’ll always want a Cherry Garcia or a chunky monkey or whatever weird combination of flavors they are slapping together this time.  My biggest problem with gas station ice cream is that ice cream is such a fragile food once it is melted it is basically garbage. Plenty of times I have bought a way too expensive pint of Ben and Jerry’s from my favorite gas station came home and found out it was melted and refrozen. This usually leaves ice crystals all over the top of it and while it can be worked around it still isn’t great. Like I said before there is absolutely nothing better than fresh ice cream but sometimes you just have to lower your standards to fill your mouth up. At this point in my life, I am happy for anything I can depend on. Every single year it seems like that list is getting smaller. So while none of these options is my favorite option they have a place in my heart for being dependable. They aren’t my best friend but instead the friend I know will want to hang out and so I continue returning back to them for that dependability. Ice cream is important, it is one of my go tos when I am feeling crummy and I certainly don’t stop feeling crummy because it is winter or because it is after 10 pm. So each one of these ice cream places is special for getting me that ice cream during those tough times. 

[darling-wednesday]

dare u to do all the hc question memes

Your dares are no match for my power. Let me know if you want elaboration for any of these. :* 

100 Random Character Development Questions

Under a read-more due to length.

001. When is their birthday?

September 17th

002. Do they do anything to celebrate their birthday?

Absolutely! The Addams family celebrates life as well as death! Cake is mandatory, and the family makes a point of spending some special time together, whether it be a fun outing or a game night at home. Gifts are present, but generally not the focus as gifts are often given on random days as well. 

003. Does your character like coffee better, or tea?

Tea! When she gets older, Wednesday doesn’t mind coffee, but Thing makes wonderful tea, they know just how long to steep it. 

004. Do they prefer being alone or with others?

In the right company, being with others, but it’s very much with the right people. Wednesday doesn’t mind being alone, but family and friends always make for a better time. 

005. Are they in good health?

For an Addams, absolutely. It may not be good health if someone outside the family would follow her diet, but she’s a bit different. She’s in no danger of major illness, and is by all means in a rather athletic shape. She practices Judo and is quite skilled. 

006. What sense do they most rely on?

Sight. Wednesday is generally rather good at using all her senses, but sight is really just the most useful. 

007. Is your character an optimist or a pessimist?

An optimist! Things have a way of working out for an Addams. 

008. What is their favorite fairy tale?

Her and Pugsley’s version of Red Riding Hood. The wolf is okay in that one. 

009. Do they believe in happy endings?

Yes.

010. Do they believe in love at first sight?

Yes. 

011. How would your character court the person of their dreams?

Well, her family has lots of advice on this. She’d wear pretty dresses, keep her hair down, learn to dance, and pull a nice long face. If that doesn’t work, though, she’s been given plenty of backup options. 

No, but really, she would likely change her appearance somewhat, but would largely offer her affection as acts of service and time spent with the person of her dreams. If it truly is a person of her dreams, then they will want to court her as well, and she imagines things will fall naturally into place. 

012. What makes your character embarrassed?

Remembering the terrible crushes she’s had on people that wouldn’t even play with Pugsley’s octopus. 

013. Have they ever been bullied or teased?

Yes, she didn’t mind much so long as they were just insulting her. 

014. Detail one secret shame your character feels.

She wants her Marie Antoinette doll to be period-accurate. Even though the clothes she wears are beautiful, and the period-accurate ones are horrific, Wednesday would rather it be light and frilly. 

015. Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue?

That depends– not much aside from insulting her family will make Wednesday resort to physical violence, but when words simply won’t do….

016. What is their choice of weapon?

If a weapon is to be used, a nice knife. 

017. When does your character think that violence is justified or deserved?

As mentioned before, when someone insults her family. 

018. Your character wakes up to find that war has been declared. What do they do?

Rejoice. 

019. If they could have a superpower, what would they choose?

Teleportation

020. What are their hobbies?

Writing, raising spiders, painting, ballet, etc. 

021. How do they display affection?

A loving look, or (as a child) excited hugs. Occasionally thumps on the head. Sharing of possessions. 

022. What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen?

Her mother’s garden

023. What do they consider beautiful in others physically?

A lovely pallor 

024. What do they consider ugly in others physically?

A penchant for bright clothing

025. What do they consider beautiful in others personality-wise?

Intelligence 

026. What do they consider ugly in others personality-wise?

A sense of superiority

027. What is their idea of perfect happiness?

Family and the means to decorate and provide for her family in the way that will make them most comfortable.

028. What makes them laugh out loud?

Uncle Fester’s dynamite caps

029. What sort of sense of humor does your character have?

Dark & Gloomy

030. Do they believe in the afterlife?

Yes, though her idea of the afterlife is not conventional or definite by any means.

031. Are they superstitious about anything?

Yes. Imagine most superstitious, reversed (ex. lucky number 13, breaking a mirror is 7 years of good luck, etc.)

032. Does your character believe in ghosts?

Yes

033. Do they keep their promises?

Most of the time.

034. What’s their view of lying?

Reputable people don’t lie. That said, sometimes she doesn’t feel like she has to be reputable. 

035. What is the most important rule your character lives by?

Family first and family last and family by and by. 

036. How honorable is your character?

Depends on when you catch her. I’d say mostly honorable. 

037. If your character saw someone drop a large sum of money and knew that they could probably take it without anyone noticing, what would they do?

Give it back. Depending on the sum, possibly slip in a little more for charity. Money’s a strange thing, for the Addams family. 

038. What bad habits do they have?

Using her family’s possessions without permission

Proclaiming when she knows a secret

039. What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person?

Isolation from loved ones

040. What is their obsession?

Raising pedigreed spiders

041. Are they comfortable with technology?

Depends on the type. 

042. What is their greatest achievement?

Though no one knows it’s actually her art (as they believed it was Sam Picasso’s), her paintings have been critically acclaimed. She’s most (un?)known for her trees with human heads. She’s more proud of her spiders, though. 

043. What will they stand up for?

Family. 

044. What disgusts them?

Apples

Non-consensual sadism (deriving joy from hurting someone that doesn’t want to be hurt). (while I HC the Addams Family are neither sadists nor masochists, there’s no judgement of those who are, unless it hurts those who do not want to be harmed)

045. Does your character have any chronic medical conditions?

No

046. How do they handle getting sick?

Her father will typically call Dr. Mbogo, but he’s usually busy and by the time they’ve run off another doctor, the illness will have run its course

047. What was the last medical problem your character had?

Her temperature was very oddly low for a few days. 

048. Do they have any allergies?

No

049. How does your character feel about growing old?

Well, everyone must

050. How does your character feel about their own mortality?

What of it? It’s unconcerning

051. If they knew they would die tomorrow, what would they do today?

Spend time with her family

052. What is your character’s worst flaw?

A shocking refusal of awareness that her family is in any way “strange.” Also her undying loyalty.

053. What is your character’s greatest strength?

Undying loyalty. Also her refusal to think of her family as “strange.”

054. Does your character want power or authority of any kind?

No? Yes? She’s happy to have it but does not demand it.

055. Is your character an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert

056. Has your character ever struck someone in anger?

Yes. Harold Pomeroy. 

057. Has your character ever killed anyone?

No

058. What is your character’s idea of a perfect day?

A nice storm staying at home and curling up against Kitty. Lurch would play the harpsichord and her parents would dance, she would play with dynamite caps with Pugsley and Uncle Fester, Grandmama would tell her about Marie Antoinette again, she’d play hide and go seek (and Thing would help her cheat), and at the end of the day her Mother would read her a lovely bedtime story.

059. List several phrases your character is fond of uttering. Where did they pick them up?

“It’s so nice and gloomy” - How she’s always described her house. Echoed from her mother’s words. 

“It’s Marie Antoinette” - Whenever people ask about her doll

“No.” She’s a very stubborn girl, and knows exactly what she said.

060. What is your character’s attitude toward education and learning?

She’s extremely intelligent… but may have the system a little backward. She’ll fail to spite her teachers, unless she’s very interested in the subject. Even then she doesn’t like answering tests. 

061. Does your character prefer adventure or safety and security?

Adventure. 

062. What sort of legacy does your character wish to leave behind?

That of a true Addams

063. How well does your character handle difficult people?

She’s undeterred. 

064. In what ways does your character annoy others?

Wednesday is very set in her ways at times, and will keep at her argument without escalation (and without deescalation) when it comes to minor differences. 

065. Is your character better at leading or following? Which do they prefer?

It entirely depends on the situation. 

066. Does your character prefer city life or being out in nature?

Nature

067. Does your character believe in fate or destiny?

Not in the way this question makes it sound. 

068. How strong is your character’s sense of responsibility? What kinds of things trigger it?

You may have guessed it now, but very strong. Particularly to her family or any group she is a part of, she feels she has the responsibility to show her worth and care for those within. 

069. What about your character is heroic?

She will defend her family until her death and beyond. 

070. What about your character is cowardly?

If there’s something she doesn’t want to deal with, she simply won’t. This isn’t really a problem for smaller things, but sometimes....

071. How kind is your character?

I think she’s actually rather kind, but it may not come across that way, always. She has a very good heart for those she cares about. 

072. In a Dungeons & Dragons game, which class would your character be? (wizard, fighter, bard, priest, ranger, etc.)

Oooh... this should not be as hard as it is... I want to say warlock. 

073. In a novel, what plot role would your character fill? (hero, anti-hero, sidekick, villain, etc.)

Strange mysterious character that ends up giving you a cryptic, true answer but you don’t realize it until the end

074. What is your character’s favorite game?

Dolls (when young), poker (when older)

075. Is your character ticklish?

Not that anyone knows.

076. How do they express anger?

Violently and vindictively. Wednesday isn’t truly angry often. 

077. How often do they cry? Over what?

Not too often. When she was younger it was because of those awful tales where knights slew the poor defenseless dragons. Nowadays it’s just a nice cathartic cry every now and again. 

078. How emotionally stable is your character?

Rather.

079. How easy is it for them to read the emotions of others?

Rather.

080. How easy is it for others to read your character’s emotions?

Fairly.

081. Is your character religious?

No?

082. What are your character’s sleeping preferences?

On her back, perfectly still, under two light blankets with a hard mattress and pillow.  

083. What is the first thing they say and/or do when they wake up?

Yawn, then make the bed.

084. Describe your character in one word.

Novel

085. Describe your character in three words.

Child of woe

086. How would your character describe themself in one word?

Wednesday. 

087. How would your character describe themself in three words?

Wednesday Friday Addams. 

088. Is your character quiet or loud?

Quiet, except when she gets to use fresh dynamite caps. 

089. How vocally expressive is your character?

She says what she thinks.

090. How bodily expressive is your character?

Very, if you know how to look. But it is rather subtle 

091. What type of music does your character like?

Instrumental. Her favorite artist is Lurch, on the harpsichord. 

092. What emotion does your character evoke in others?

Unease, sometimes. Who on earth could know why?

093. What is your character’s goal in life?

To support her family, and someday have her own.

094. Name three things most would not expect your character to be able to know.

The works of  Edgar Allen Poe, Dante Alighieri, and William Shakespeare.

That B-O-O-Z-E spells booze (at six) 

Approximately how many heads were chopped off in the French Revolution.     

095. Name three things most would not expect your character to be able to do.

Judo 

Advanced mathematics

Be the unintentional cause of several law enforcement officers’ resignations.

096. How do they move and carry themselves? What energy do they project?

With confidence, poise, and grace. Wednesday projects a strange, dark energy, but one that is assured of itself and uncompromising. 

097. How well do they adapt to change?

Fairly easily. Sometimes she’ll become a bit down if it isn’t as gloomy as she’s used to, but she can get it there. 

098. Does your character like animals?

Yes. She has a spider named Homer and a lizard name Lucifer, among others. She adores animals! Though dogs and bunny rabbits are a bit… weird. 

099. Do they talk to inanimate objects?

That depends on what you consider inanimate. In the Addams home, those lines get blurred. 

100. Does your character dream? If so, what do they dream about?

Yes. Usually just about daily life-- playing, going to school, talking to her family, etc.

[nickelplatinochloride-blog]

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Don't enable boys and girls enjoy a game title prior to have a look at its rating. Some Keygen comprise of artwork physical violence and tend to be exclusively for parents. Violence can give the kids an incorrect beliefs, that may exhibit later on. In cases where a match is aggressive, it can have harmful affects on get to sleep and behavior of young kids.

In case you are thinking of buying a different adventure, arrange it in advance as an alternative to expecting the actual put out. It is not necessarily rare for sport creators to offer you savings and also in-adventure signup bonuses to prospects who pre-order the game. All these further extras may incorporate insider strategies boasting which the common open public is not going to have.

License Key should basically be one important thing that you simply do for entertainment. 

If you ever play Key Generator everyday, you could suffer overall health negative effects. Be certain that you be involved in other sorts of functions, way too. Key Generator may be addictive, so enjoy how much time you may spend about them.

It is important to screen your child's game play when they are performing on the net. Although a great number of gaming applications are ranked from the ESRB, some also caution that in-Keygen conditions can transform, slipping into unrated territory. Lots of gaming applications offer you conversation features and modification alternatives for personalities and equippable items. Whenever you invest time to observe the web based match play, you could make sure that your little one is communicating inside an setting that you will be at ease with.

You might have to give yourself a reminder to consider splits if you achieve quite easily get caught up in License Key. You can actually wounded eyesight, control, and body when you continually enjoy games for long periods of time. A clock is effective in reducing agony and help you break up in an opportune time.

If you enjoy to play License Key, then you probably love to only enjoy some styles. Remember to continue to keep a wide open intellect for new and useful different kinds of Keygen. Develop a habit of exploring gaming applications outside of your comfort region every so often. You will probably find that you really enjoy a excellent adventure in spite of which style it belongs to.

There are several License Key on the market right now, but most of them are merely junk and not simply worth the hard earned cash. By knowing the Key Generator you shouldn't acquire, your experience could be enriched, and you will save money on top of that. This article need to provide you ideas that will help enhance your game playing practical experience.

[bigdpartyrentals]

Productivity Mantras Event Planners Live By

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/productivity-mantras

Write them down, create a graphic that includes them or say them in a mirror each morning but regardless of your method, these phrases and mantras can help event planners boost productivity.

Affirmations and mantras are often used because over time they can change your mindset and help you to actualise what you want. As well as this, they can serve as a reminder of what you want to achieve and how to get there because it is easy to switch to autopilot when you get to work. For event planners, this level of mindfulness will help to improve productivity and allow you to achieve your goals by repeating these phrases to yourself each day.

Stop, Take A Step Back

It might seem counterproductive to be encouraging yourself to stop working, however, this thought process is particularly useful when problem-solving as it reminds you to look at things from a different perspective, take a minute and try to handle something in a different way, which is more likely to result in success.

I Will Not Let Negativity In

Negativity can be a hindrance on productivity by making you feel like you can’t do things and is a very powerful force that will stop you taking on tasks altogether. Positivity breeds success and helps you to enjoy what you do, so even if you are looking for a little more motivation to keep the negativity at bay, try a motivational playlist or quotes that inspire you.

This Will Get This Done Today

If you can do something today, then do it because putting it off means adding something else to your to-do list tomorrow, which is going to put you behind. So if you are able to pick up a task and decide that you are going to do it today, then do it! If you are struggling, delegate or ask for help but reminding yourself that this task is getting done today will help you prioritise it and actually get it done.

Pick Your Battles

This is usually a phrase regarding getting angry or annoyed at others but fits in perfectly for those who get easily frustrated. If you spend your time getting annoyed at every task, particularly if you don’t want to do it, you will drag your heels and it won’t get done. Decide what is really worth getting frustrated over, and you’ll find you are not only more productive but will be less stressed!

If It’s Not Helpful, It’s Hurtful

Procrastination is the ultimate productivity killer and when tasks start to pile up, something isn’t going to get done, so cut yourself off before you even start and decide whether or not what you are doing helps your goals or gets you to where you want to be today. If ‘this won’t help me reach my goals’, put it to one side and move on to something else.

Something Is Better Than Nothing

Have you ever had that paralysing feeling where you are overwhelmed with workload and don’t know where to start, so in fact, you don’t do anything? This is a reminder that you can’t achieve everything and that is okay. Just do what you can and you will probably find that you get more done than you expected (and certainly more than you would have done by worrying about it).

It’s All In My Mind

Obstacles can be daunting and often it is ourselves that get in the way. Whether it’s our own negativity or an overwhelming task (or general workload), it is important to remind yourself that sometimes it could be yourself that is hindering progress. Realising that it is actually you, makes things seem smaller and more manageable as we can make changes when we know the cause and improve.

Little Achievements Lead To Big Goals

Setting goals makes you a better event prof but often the big ones can seem far in the distance and unattainable which demotivates you and reduces your productivity levels, but this mantra serves as a constant reminder that the small things all add up and achieving those things today puts you one step further to achieving the larger goals.

Done Is Better Than Perfect

While you should always aim for top quality work and event planning, this is aimed at the perfectionist who is so worried about chasing perfection that they do so at the expense of actually getting things done. Not making any decisions or achieving anything because it doesn’t meet your unrealistic expectations can not only halt productivity but stop you from meeting deadlines altogether and can put entire events in jeopardy.

Taking Care Of Myself Will Help Take Care Of Work

Burnout is real and it’s important to focus on your physical and mental health in order to be your most productive self. Running yourself into the ground will get you nowhere so this serves as a reminder that sometimes you need to take care of yourself first before trying to tackle work, particularly in the high-pressured event industry.

I Will Use My Resources

Many focus so much on trying to improve their own productivity that they forget there are plenty of tools around them that can help. Take stock of the resources you have available, including your event team and look into what you need to take some of the extra workload for you, be more productive the smarter way!

Less Talking, More Doing

Specifically targeted at those who waste time in unproductive meetings that tend to run over, have poor outcomes or are uncoordinated. Meetings can be a real time sucking task and to combat this and have more productive meetings, you should ensure that you are only going to those that are necessary or that you HAVE to be at, otherwise you are just wasting time chatting and not getting work done.

If I Have No Time, I Will Make Some

Sometimes the key to productivity is making your own time, whether it is streamlining your processes and making yourself more efficient, or prioritizing what actually does (or doesn’t) need to get done. For example, you can make your lunch break or commute more productive and this allows you to find time to get things done where others don’t.

If In Doubt, Make A List

There is a secret power of to-do lists and when you are stuck for what to do next, making a list can help you clear and organise your thoughts, regain your focus and allow you to be more productive by avoiding time-wasting when you move onto the next task. Also, writing a list can give you physical cues on where to go next, what to work on and will keep you busy so you don’t stray onto social media and start procrastinating.

The Past Is The Past

It is easy to get caught up in the blame game and waste time (and energy) justifying your own actions or focusing on office politics. Unless there is something to be done now, let it go, don’t hold a grudge and don’t waste time emailing back and forth or playing the blame game – it will never work out in your favor and you’re just throwing time away.

More Isn’t Always Better

A common productivity mistake made is that people assume that ticking more things off of the checklist is better than the actual work they get done. For example they may have 10 small, low-priority tasks that need doing and five big one,s but they focus on getting the 10 done and consider this more productive. Turning productivity into a numbers game doesn’t always pay off and sometimes one high-priority, large task is worth 10 small ones – so ask yourself whether you are focusing too much on quantity over quality.

Time Is Money

This may seem business-orientated and while your organisation is paying for your time, this phrase is also a reminder that your time is valuable. To stay productive you need to be asking yourself if the tasks you are wasting time on are worth your effort putting that time in, because if they aren’t, you can streamline the process, spend less time on them and move on; focusing on projects that are really worth it!

I Got This!

Because sometimes we just need a reminder to keep on going and that we can actually handle everything on our plate or what we have going at the moment. Positivity phrases like this are the most powerful when it comes to productivity and have the biggest impact long-term to make a change to our thought processes so make sure if you say nothing else to yourself, let yourself know you got this!

In Conclusion

Whatever your focus, goals or intentions are for the future and no matter what you want to achieve, you will need to be productive. In order to get there, motivational phrases and mantras that you can tell yourself is a simple but effective way to do this. Pick and choose some of the most relevant on the list, repeat them every day and watch how your productivity and mindset changes.

[thefootballlife]

Warbur-done! Rangers move towards getting rid of their manager

“Going For 55” That’s what the big display at the opening game of the season was all about. There was no “We’re Back” or “We’re Here”. There was no suggestion that second place would be settled for. Rangers were in the Premiership to win it. That’s what sold the season tickets, the corporate hospitality, paid the wages, etc. And now we’re in February. And it’s proven pretty clear that the marketing that brought the money that keeps the lights on was based on a complete lie. Fans aren’t happy and it’s Mark Warburton who is taking much of the flak. Previously this season, whenever I’ve taken a look at the managerial situation at Rangers, I’ve had a fair bit of sympathy for Mark Warburton. Last season’s achievements are some which deserve to live long in the memory: he picked up a side that was little short of atrocious and that played some of the worst football in recent memory and turned them quickly into a serious attacking outfit who deserved to win the league at a canter and who deserved to get past Celtic in the Scottish Cup Semi Final. They may have lost the Cup Final, but last season ended with Warburton having earned the right to continue to shape the side as he saw fit. This didn’t happen - not by a long shot. While Warburton went on holiday, in traipsed Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar and out went most of Warburton’s wage budget. At this point, Warburton seemed less Rangers manager and more Rangers Head Coach. Rangers have failed to stop going downhill from this point and fans are moving towards calling for Warburton’s head. Much like at Celtic last season with Ronny Deila, he may be doing all that can be reasonably expected of him given the players at his disposal, but the manner in which he’s going about it is so uninspiring and the team so poor on the park, that it is impossible to be satisfied and also difficult to get the words “dead man walking” out of your head whenever Warburton appears on screen. Word vomit such as his quote this week that if Rangers had won one more game and Celtic had lost four games then Rangers would only be ten points behind help little. It was an extraordinarily ineloquent manner of simply saying “Give me a break, Rangers are only a little bit behind where I thought they’d be but Celtic are miles ahead of anything anyone expected”. In addition, attempting to perform mathematical gymnastics to compare yourself to the team having the most extraordinary league season that any side has had in decades is irrelevant if your side is in the clutches of the side directly behind you (at that point, Aberdeen had not overtaken Rangers for second). That sort of performance is the sort of thing that solidifies Warburton’s move from being a manager it was difficult not to have a little bit of pity for to a manager it’s impossible to pity. Rangers fans must be sick. I write this blog as a Celtic fan and I try to be as even handed as I can be and not get into the “Old Firm” circlewank, but it must be difficult for Rangers fans to see Rangers have a pitiful defensive record and then, at the same time, see Hearts sign an established Greek international on a free on a short time contract to sit at the base of their midfield. That doesn’t strike me as the sort of thing fans of what is an unquestionably big club should be particularly satisfied by. The defence for Warburton has been gone through - he deserved to have been given full control over his transfer budget this summer and he can hardly be blamed for things like Joey Barton or for Kranjcar suffering a season ending injury. Put simply, Mark Warburton would have done better if he had been given a fair crack of the whip. In September and October, that was a pretty reasonable retort to anyone saying that he deserved the sack. However, we are much further into the season now and have had another transfer window and such an argument fails to continue to hold water. Rangers spent £1.8m on Joe Garner. Garner has scored 3 in 18 league appearances, a record so poor value for money it’s little wonder that the first thing people think of about him is getting to number 31 in the charts. This is, after all, the SPFL - when any club spends actual money on a player, then that player needs to justify it. When a club spends the best part of £2m on a player, then that justification needs to be overwhelming - that applies to Rangers as it does any other side in the league. Joe Garner, in and of himself, is the sole justification as to why perhaps the club were right to not give the whole budget to Warburton to spend - not that any spending this season has really worked out well for the club. That ties into Rangers’ secondary problem - a lack of goals. Kenny Miller may be evergreen, but little else about the side is right. There is a lack of creativity, a lack of confidence, a lack of bite - Garner, Miller, Dodoo, O’Halloran and Waghorn are all varied strikers yet only one of them has scored more than three all season. Barrie McKay has shown glimpses of last season’s form, but he is the only creative outlet that seems to be in the least bit effective: it is, in fact, Josh Windass with the most assists at the club this season tied with left back Lee Wallace and he isn’t even a regular. Rangers have scored 9 fewer than an Aberdeen side who are noted for their solidity, not their attacking: no matter what front five Rangers put on the pitch, they struggle to create. This would be fine if they were solid at the back, but they aren’t. Andy Halliday has been forced to play as a holding midfielder (as he naturally plays further up the park) because Jordan Rossiter has been injured all season - rather than getting a replacement in in January who can actually play a holding role well, Warburton brought in Jon Toral and Emerson Hyndman who are both attacking midfielders. That bit of square peg, round hole cost Rangers against Hearts. Behind the midfield, it’s round pegs in round holes that are the problem. James Tavernier is a very good attacking player but can’t curb those instincts to defend. Clint Hill is a great organiser of a defence and is Rangers’ only unquestionably good bit of transfer business this season, but he’s old and while positional sense can buy you a yard of pace against most attackers, it can’t do it all the time and if any spaces are left by colleagues, Hill gets left exposed. Plenty of spaces are left by colleagues because, while on one side he has Tavernier who often posts missing, next to him in the centre is Rob Kiernan whose headless chicken act is so consistent, one almost expects Paris to choose him to replace Denis as it’s patron saint. After all, St Denis only walked 10km without a head, Rob Kiernan’s been without one all season. These are problems that are known and obvious to everyone. These are problems that have been around for six months or more. And these are problems which have not been rectified one little bit. So, even if one makes the argument that Warburton should be given a break because, this season, he has been neutered to almost a head coach role rather than a manager, the argument falls flat on it’s face because it’s impossible to see how his coaching is having an impact on the players because they aren’t getting any better, they aren’t looking any more like a team and they are making the same mistakes they were making months ago. This is a club which stirred up (unrealistic) expectations of winning the league and there is zero chance of that happening. Mark Warburton himself has admitted that second was always the target but, right now, Aberdeen not only have a game in hand, but have gotten Celtic out of the way until after the split which is as good as a game in hand this season. It is very easy to see Aberdeen six points ahead of Rangers by the time the split comes around and that sort of lead will be unassailable. With Hearts now clearly back in the swing of things, Rangers could easily slip to fourth if Hearts can pull out convincing performances week in, week out and Rangers drop points against anyone other than Celtic. That is a legitimate danger - Every single manager in the league knows Rangers’ weaknesses and while, most time, Rangers have the sheer quality of player to nullify that, dropping points in silly places like at home to Ross County or being totally incapable of ever getting the best of Tommy Wright are now the sort of dropped points that really matter. Those weaknesses that everyone knows aren’t getting fixed which means those weaknesses get ever more likely to be exploited. The one certainty is that Mark Warburton doesn’t appear to know how to fix it. This leaves Rangers in a quandary. Things are highly unlikely to get much better - even Cup success is unlikely given that it would involve having to beat Celtic at some point. At best, Rangers will finish second by a whisker, with Celtic about 35 points ahead of them. More likely, they will finish third at this point - Aberdeen are too consistent to give much away, have the game in hand and are unlikely to lose to Rangers at Pittodrie. Which means that, at best, Mark Warburton remains under pressure and, at best, frustration with him only grows. It will cost to fire him - he is contracted till 2019 - but it is hard to think that a parting of the ways at the end of the season will benefit everyone. Surely, the only question now is if Rangers can be that patient as Dave King must know that, if he wants to sell season tickets, Rangers need a Brendan Rodgers in charge for next season. A Mark Warburton just won't do any more.

[imapplied]

Advice on evaluating new software tools for your workflow

The creative field evolves at a rapid pace, constantly pushing designers and developers to adapt their workflows to the new landscape. Luckily, tools and software evolve just as fast, but there’s a catch. Every popular tool will claim that it’s the solution to all your problems, that it’ll save you time, make you money and clean the oven for you. So how do you pick the right tools?

Certainly the right tools are unlikely to simply be the ones popular right now, and a bandwagon mentality can lead you to make hasty choices. We’ve seen how disastrous a bad software rollout can be. It’s not pretty.

A methodical, outcome-focused approach is the way to avoid these issues. This article will give some insight into how the Builtvisible creative team goes about evaluating prospective new additions to our toolkit. Naturally, we’re focused here on the creative workflow, but these principles will apply equally to tooling in any discipline.

Initial Research: Why are you considering using a new tool?

Before you even start looking at tools and software packages, why are you even considering making a change? What’s wrong with your current set-up? What’s the core problem you want to solve with a new tool? If you can’t answer those questions, it’s far too soon to consider options.

Once you can answer those questions, it needs writing down. Go into as much specific detail as you can about what your tool needs to achieve. Is it important that it has both macOS and Windows versions? Does it need to be able to export in certain file formats? Does it need to make rapid iteration easier than your current package? Whatever those requirements, the resulting checklist will allow you to quickly assess if your chosen replacement satisfies all the needs of the team.

With that done, you’re ready to start evaluating tools against that spec. Below are the areas you’ll want to think about.

1. What organisational benefits does the tool provide?

It might sound obvious, but it’s important to understand what benefit using a new tool will bring, analysing pros and cons and comparing it with other similar products on the market. Certainly, plenty of people will already be discussing the merits of software X vs. software Y, so that’s a good starting point for understanding the differences between them. Specialised forums are usually a great source of information here, and you’ll be able to see what real-world users think of the product.

2. Which of your problems will the tool resolve?

Going back to the spec doc discussed above, you need to understand if the software you’re considering is actually going to solve your core problem.

Setting tangible goals here is essential. Avoid vague requirements like ‘Provide a good environment for web design’, and go for something more specific such as ‘Reduce the amount of time required to create web page designs’.

As a real-world example, Builtvisible’s creative team has been evaluating Adobe XD as a tool for UI design and layouts. The criteria we were measuring against here was:

Allow for quicker, more agile iteration of wireframes and full designs

Allow for more quick and effective communication and sharing internally

Allow for more quick and effective communication and sharing with clients

The features of XD mean that we can confidently tick off all three of these points, and so we move through to the next stage of the process.

3. Do your colleagues have other pain points they’d consider higher priority?

It’s almost certain that your team mates will have their own ideas about the parts of your workflow that work and the parts that need work. It’s important to listen to and include those who’ll end up using the new technology and make sure they understand why the process is changing and how it’s going to benefit them. Simply imposing a new software choice on unsuspecting staff will only breed frustration.

Planning: What resources will be required?

Once the benefits of the new product are clear and your mind is made up, it’s time to start thinking about the resources you’ll need in order to integrate the new software into your workflow.

1. Training and on-boarding costs

It’s crucial to understand how time-consuming the onboarding process will be. No matter how big or small, you have to consider the amount of time you’ll have to spend on testing, training and producing resources and documentation.

A poor rollout can be disastrous in terms of time and money, so don’t skimp on the time you allocate to this stage. Software that has launched hastily without proper testing can cause problems further down the line, when the members of the team starts to encounter issues that can cause severe delays. At the same time, poor documentation can lead to confusion, with the risk that your colleagues will stop using it entirely.

2. Are clients going to be affected by the change?

It’s easy to think of your software choices as a purely internal concern, but the needs of your clients can really make or break the deal.

First amongst these considerations is compatibility. A lot of designers in the industry love Sketch – we do too! – but we’ve decided against making it part of our toolkit. Clients often state a preference for receiving files in more universal Adobe formats, meaning that we need to maintain the Creative Cloud suite as our primary platform.

3. How are you going to get sign-off from budget holders if it requires extra spend?

A thorough evaluation process can help you make a solid business case to stakeholders, but that alone is not enough.

There are a few elements to consider when it comes to justifying any extra spend. As well as the cost of the new product, you’ll be expected to know what you’ll get in return for that spend. Those will come both in very tangible forms, such as the ability to deliver X% more work as a result of workflow improvements, and less measurable outcomes such as facilitating smoother working relationships between team members.

Take into account all the possible future variables. Is adding more people going to mean you need to upgrade to a different type of account that costs a lot more? Is the price going to increase based on the number of projects?’ Will you have to pay more to unlock specific functionality?

Roll out: Training structure

So, you chose the right software, weighed the pros and cons, received the green light from budget holders. Now, it’s time to officially share the new tool with the rest of the team, but not before planning the launch appropriately.

1. Create fool-proof documentation

Even if there are tutorials and guides available on the internet, is a good idea to write a bespoke user guide tailored to your team’s needs.

That document should highlight the benefits that the new system will bring to the company. Include examples covering your workflow and explain clearly the steps necessary to implement the new tool in your production process.

To really sell the upgrade, include information about how other teams within the business will benefit from the change. As an agency, we recently adopted Basecamp for project management and were careful to emphasise how the software was useful not only for account managers handling client comms, but also how it would enable the creative team to share files and documents seamlessly.

2. Share links and guides

Provide links for tutorials and guides so your colleagues can deepen their knowledge of the new tool and make sure to offer the necessary assistance after the official launch.

It’s good to have a solid plan of action that includes different scenarios so as to minimise the burden that providing help and support puts on your workload, and to let your colleagues know who to go to if they run into problems.

3. Share the excitement

Sometimes the simple list of benefits or a purely technical guide are not sufficient to win over your team mates about the quality of the tool. It’s crucial to illustrate practically the benefits that the new software can bring to them.

When possible, is worth considering organising a 1-to-1 session with your team mates, or a group demonstration of what the package can do.

Try to involve your colleagues in challenges and workshops, like Becki Hall suggests:

“Host a lunch and learn, rather than a mid-afternoon PowerPoint review. Create a “new technology scavenger hunt” or bingo-style game to really get people invested.”

Ongoing: Troubleshooting

Once the rollout phase is over, make sure that the new software is used in an appropriate manner and evaluate the performance.

1. Collect feedback and concerns

Regular checks are crucial to understand if your team is using the new tool as intended. Make sure to take note of any doubts, suggestions or feedback, which will help you to strengthen the workflow and spot issues that didn’t appear during tests.

It’s really important to heed your colleagues’ ideas and take into account new options or solutions while making sure to stick with the agreed workflow.

2. Review

To measure the benefits that the new tool provides to your team and your company, you should schedule a review and verify if the new software has achieved its aims, how it improved your way of working and if there were any unforeseen issues.

This step is fundamental to understand which improvements are necessary to make the process better in the future. The rollout is really only the beginning, and should mark the start of an ongoing process of improvement.

Adopting new software can be a long and laborious process, but it’s worth the extra effort needed to make sure you get it right. A half-baked rollout is bad for everyone.

As long as you follow the advice above and adhere to a rigorous plan for evaluating your options, you can make sure that every tool you roll out is a roaring success.

Source

from https://www.imapplied.co.za/web-design/advice-on-evaluating-new-software-tools-for-your-workflow/