#trying out a different foliage mod and it’s so pretty!

[pocketclowns]

🌷🌷🌷🌷

[acepalindrome]

I’ve spent much of 2021 thus far playing Stardew Valley in the hopes of distracting myself from the horrors of reality, and I keep meaning to make a list of mods I recommend! Because I am running a truly embarrassing number of mods and there are some really great ones that really improve the gameplay or add fun content or just make everything look really pretty! So without further ado, here are some of my favorite mods:

- Lookup Anything: This is probably my favorite mod. It basically eliminates the need to have to keep consulting the Stardew Valley wiki while you play. The title says it all: this mod lets you look up anything. Need to know what’s a good present for Shane? You can pull up a list of all his loved and liked gifts, with items you have on hand highlighted for ease, plus his birthday, how many hearts he has with you and how many points you need to get to the next heart. Need to know if you should hoard that pine sap or sell it? You can pull up all the uses for it, items that can be crafted with it, anyone who might like it, community center bundles it’s used for, and how much you make by selling. How many days until your melons are ready to harvest? What items can drop from that stone in the mines? What are all the items you can make with the furnace? It’s such a fantastically handy mod and I refuse to play without it!

- NPC Map Locations: One of the most frustrating things in the game is trying to remember everyone’s schedule and then not being able to find someone to give them a birthday present or turn in a quest item. This mod shows exactly where everyone is on your map and solves that problem for good!

- Automate: This mod automatically pulls items from nearby chests into machines, so you don’t have to keep running back and forth to your furnace to pick up the finished metal bars and toss more ore in there...it just spits the finished item back into the nearby chest, pulls in whatever available items you’ve got in the chest and starts running again without you having to do a thing! Just be careful of where you place your chests and machines or you might end up processing items you didn’t want to. Luckily, you can set individual chests to not have items pulled from them.

- Fishing Made Easy Suite: I suck at fishing. I almost never bother with fishing if I don’t have a mod to make it bearable. I like this one because it has different levels of easy-ness, so you can make fishing just 25% easier, or 50%, or 75%, or 99%! And there are some other fun perks too. You want to catch all fish regardless of weather or season? Want to catch legendary fish multiple times? Want to catch prismatic shards? Go nuts.

- Stardew Valley Expanded: This mod is absurdly huge and adds SO MUCH CONTENT. New areas! New characters! New events! I was a little hesitant to start it just because I knew there was so much to the mod and was a little concerned of how well it would mesh with the rest of the game, but the characters and story and style fit in perfectly with the vanilla content. I could almost forget Andy and Sophia weren’t there all along! The purpose of the mod was to make the game feel fresh and new for people who had already played the game and that’s exactly what it does. I love it.

- Artisan Valley/Project Populate JsonAssets/Starbrew Valley: I’m lumping these together but this is a collection of mods that add a TON of new items, crops, trees, flowers, machines and recipes to the game. You don’t have to download them all! You can pick and choose the ones you want, or download the PPJA content pack to get the bulk of these mods all in one go! I personally really love Artisan Valley because it lets me make floral candles and soaps. And an espresso machine so I can make fancy coffee. And Starbrew Valley so there’s actually a fun variety of alcohol in the game.

I’m putting the rest under a cut because this is getting too long.

- Chests Anywhere: Lets you access all of your chests from the menu! You can add some limitations, like only being able to access chests in the same location you’re in, but I’m dumb and constantly forget that I was supposed to bring a present for a villager with me today, or that I wanted to upgrade one of my tools but left all my metal bars at home. So instead of having to run all the way back to my farm, I can just open my menu and switch through the chests until I find the item I need! Labeling the chests also makes this a lot easier for organization.

- Seasonal Villager Outfits: Finally, the villagers have more than one set of clothes! This mod gives them different outfits in different seasons, different weather and special outfits for holidays! It’s cute and really improves the immersion to see the villagers wearing tshirts in the summer and bundling up in the winter, and dressing up for special events! Some characters will change their hairstyle too, which I love.

- Canon-Friendly Dialogue Expansion: Gives all characters more stuff to say so they won’t just repeat the same lines over and over! Also gives them varied dialogue for festivals starting in year 2, so they don’t say the same thing every year at the Egg Festival or Spirit’s Eve.

- Immersive Elliott: Add more dialogue! Lots more dialogue! I downloaded the Elliott version of this mod because that’s who I plan to marry but I recommend looking up dialogue mods for whoever your favorite characters are (I think there’s one for almost all the marriageable candidates.) You’ll probably be chatting a lot with whoever you’re trying to woo and it’s nice to get lots of new lines!

- Stardew Foliage Redone: There are tons of mods that change the colors and style of trees and buildings and stuff but this one is my favorite. It’s very soft and earthy and pretty without being overkill.

- The Love of Cooking: Actually makes cooking fun in Stardew Valley! It adds a cooking skill, an upgradable cooking tool that lets you cook with more ingredients (at the start you can only make one ingredient dishes), a cooking community center bundle, star levels to cooked items, an animation when you cook...cooking was very bland in the base game, and this mod really spruces the whole system up.

- Medieval Buildings/Medieval craftables: Again, there are so many mods that change up the look of your farm buildings and stuff but these are really pretty and cool and absolutely my style. There’s a mod to make all the town buildings have this style too, but I kind of like keeping the town normal and just living on my mysterious and beautiful farm apart from the rest of the world. My sprinklers are magic moss covered rocks now!

- Elle’s Dog/Cat/Horse/Barn/Coop/etc animals: Super cute animal skins. They look so huggable and soft. Also one of the dog options looks like my real life dog and that’s very important to me.

- Adopt ‘n’ Skin: Pairs well with the mods above, this mod lets you have multiple dogs/cats/horses and lets you use as many different skins as you like. I’ve got four cows and they’ve all got different patterns and colors. I love it. Also Marnie starts taking in stray animals and you can adopt them from her, which is a really cute way of letting you have more pets.

- Seasonal Garden Farmhouse: Its a pinch overkill especially in the early game, but I really like this farmhouse layout. It gives you a small kitchen from the start, a bathroom you can use to restore stamina, big open windows that change with the seasons and time of day...it’s a luxury house and it’s very nice to live in!

- Industrial Kitchen and Interior/Industrial Furniture/Rustic Country Town Interiors: These mods give the interiors and furniture a more rustic style, and the last one changes the town interiors to match. There are many furniture/interior mods, so if this style doesn’t do it for you, check out some of the others! There are lots of very pretty mods!

And I’m going to stop there but that’s only the tip of the iceberg and I highly recommend looking around NexusMods or ModDrop and seeing what kind of stuff is available!

[sentinelpri]

Flickering

Lockdown wasn’t above getting dirty. He was a servos-on sort of mech, fine with dirt, energon, circuits, blood, guts- whatever he had to get on him to get the job done, he didn’t mind, but this was... Certainly different.

It wasn’t dirty- clean, actually, but it felt odd; the rain, smooth and cold, falling onto his metal plating as he wrapped his arms around you to keep you warm. He wasn’t bothered by it as much as he was curious about the natural phenomenon since they didn’t have rain like this on Cybertron, but you were freezing cold against his chest, shivering and teeth chattering. Your clothes were all drenched in water and he wasn’t sure what to do for you since you humans had such a low and fragile temperature compared to him, so he held you close despite your protests and prayed that his own frame’s heat could heat you up. 

It hadn’t worked, though, and you were getting colder by the second. 

Thankfully, as he carried you, he realized that the two of you were getting progressively closer to the cabin hideout he’d built on earth for when he came. Since Team Prime and the Decepticon High Command had both crashed there, he had lots of business on the organic planet, and he preferred to be comfortable when he was there a few days at a time.

It just so happened that his recent capture was very close to the area, but the mission with you by his side had gone terribly wrong with your target escaping and a brutal thunderstorm crashing down on the two of you. None of his mods made him able to drive in rain because it wasn’t something they were used to having on Cybertron, so the two of you resorted to walking, leading you to where you were now.

“I-I don’t need to be held, I’m fine,” You argued, though you were shivering so bad that you could barely articulate what you were trying to get out. Prideful as always, you didn’t want him to carry you or cuddle you, but he didn’t want you to catch hypothermia nor did he want to deny a very good excuse to hold you and do something for you for once. As his partner while he was on earth, someone he hired to lure in targets and help him figure out the general inner workings of earth, you were the one doing almost everything for him- and, if he was being honest, it was for less pay than he deserved. “I’ll be fine-”

“We’re here anyways, sugar,” The bounty hunter murmured and ignored your squirming as he looked around and took in the sight in front of him; his humble little cabin, the foliage and large pine trees that surrounded the two of you, the heavy and icy rain that poured- and, even better, the soft blush on your face and the way you looked up at him with your pretty (e/c) eyes, the way you cuddled into him with a huff despite your obvious embarrassment. “Let’s get’cha all nice and cozy, you deserve it after that.”

“But we didn’t catch him-” You began to argue, only for Lockdown to shush you and open the front door. He walked in with you still bridal style in his arms and let out a sigh of relief at the same time that you did. Rather than the spark-crushing, failure of a chase or the torrential weather, you were at the closest thing the two of you had to a home, surrounded by nice furniture and wooden floors, a fancy fireplace and giant blankets that were folded and nicely put in the cupboard. “I wish... I wish that could have gone better.”

“Me too, toots,” Lockdown sighed, then set you down in front of the fireplace and used the lighter he had built in to one of his digits to light some of the wood that was in the pit. Upon the fire starting, he turned around so you could shed your clothes and quickly found a blanket to toss in your direction. When he glanced at you again, you had wrapped your naked body in the large, fluffy red blanket, so he took your clothes and walked to the restroom to hang them over the bathroom so they could dry. “That stupid human... So pesky ‘n stubborn...” 

He ended his grumbling and trekked back to the living room where you were, still shivering. Your shaking arms were barely able to hold the blanket around your body, and you were still dripping with some excess water, especially from your (h/c) locks which were now a shade darker and sticking to your face and neck. Lockdown chuckled a bit at the sight and made his way to sit next to you and wrap an arm over your shoulders. 

You leaned into the touch for once.

It took everything in him not to drag you into his lap and tell you every single thing he loved about you, every dream he had with you in it, how much he wished he could bring you everywhere and how much he wished he could have you by his side as more than a partner in crime- as a life partner, a friend, a lover. But those were complex emotions, those of which Lockdown hadn’t felt before and didn’t know how the hell to handle. 

“Lockdown?” You whispered, and in that moment, he couldn’t help but think about how beautifully the flickering flames highlighted your delicate features. 

“Yeah, sugar?”

“Thank you... For taking care of me,” Your eyes went from the fire to him, and then back to the fire again. He blinked, a blush threatening to take over his cheeks. “It means a lot to me.”

“Any time,” He answered and dared to rest his helm against your helm. “Get some rest. We have to continue searchin’ for him tomorrow whenever the storm clears.”

You nodded, but then, you were opening the blanket and holding it out to him. Yes, he’d seen your naked body plenty of times before (working in a life-or-death profession side by side brings a lot of weird, vulnerable, uncomfortable possibilities and situations to fruition), but it still caught him by surprise every time and was proving to do so right now; the view of your soft, rounded shoulders, a plump chest that he’d love to rest his helm on, a cute and relaxed tummy, hips that he’d die to have his servos on, cushiony thighs and the apex between your legs that he’d beg to worship.

Lockdown used all of his self-restraint to keep himself from pouncing you and pinning you to the rug right then and there, moving so you could nestle yourself into his side and hand him the blanket. He had one arm wrapped around you and held the cover over both of your bodies, and within a few minutes, you had warmed up immensely and fallen asleep with your cheek smushed up against his waist.

Lockdown didn’t remember falling asleep, but one moment, it was dark and dreary outside and he was holding you against his side as you slept in front of the warmth of the fireplace, and the next moment, he was blinking his optics open and sitting up on his elbows to see that you were sprawled across his chest on your stomach and that the fireplace had gone out, and through the view he could get through the cabin window, it was day time now, but…

“Still stormin’ out there… Damn,” Lockdown hissed, but relished in the feeling of you on top of him. Your soft chest was pressed against his, you were clinging to him, and he didn’t have the spark to wake you up. Before he could decide what to do, though, you were waking up on your own and peering up at him with bleary eyes. “Mornin’, sugar.”

You just stared at him and smiled, and all Lockdown could do was sit there and wonder how the hell he’d become so soft. When he’d first hired you, the two of you were incredibly distant from each other with him having put a wall up to prevent getting emotionally attached, but you’d worn him down without even meaning to and now he was in love with you- hell, he didn’t hire you because he needed you anymore, he did it because he craved you and your company. 

At first, he wouldn’t even let you touch him, and now, you were laying naked on top of his body with nothing between you two and a blanket over the back of your body. 

“Lockdown?”

“Yeah, toots?”

Lockdown felt you shift on top of him to reach up and hold his face in your hands, and it took everything in him not to snap and slam your lips together right then and there. His spark was slamming against his chest now.

“Are we gonna be trapped inside all day?” You murmured. 

“It appears so... We’ll just have to wait out the storm,” His gaze met yours and he saw something easily recognizable in your (e/c) eyes; love, adoration, yearning, and... No, it was too good to be true. He shouldn’t think about you in such a way. “What’cha starin’ at me like that for? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you want me.”

And yeah, maybe you had been acting a little differently- a little softer, a little kinder, a little touchier- but he hadn’t thought anything of it. He’d wanted you for so long now... Surely this wasn’t real. Or maybe he was hallucinating it. No. The way your hands were roaming him was undeniable, as was your stare, but all he could do to keep himself from jumping you was lay there and clench his fists as he swallowed down his thoughts.

He was successful in restraining himself- at least for a moment, but it was your next words that took him out.

“I need you.”

In seconds, Lockdown was tossing the blanket off of your bodies and onto the floor, rolling you over so your back was flat against it and he was between your legs with his nasal against your nose. His optics were squinted, scrutinizing you in some mixture of confusion and disbelief. 

“I’m not here to play games,” He whispered against your lips, and at the feeling of them brushing against his own, he shivered and allowed his face to be consumed by a heavy blush. “If you’re serious about me, I want you, too, but if not? We can pretend this never happened. If you want me- need me- you better fuckin’ mean it.”

“I mean it more than anything,” The words were bold and said without so much as an ounce of hesitation. “You think I don’t know that about you? I’ve meant it for years, Lockdown- this whole time, I’ve-”

“That’s enough,” He sighed and shook his helm at you, then sat up on his knees and drank in the beautiful body beneath him; soft chest heaving up and down with every shaky breath, delicate arms splayed out on either side of you, legs trembling. “You’ve loved me this whole time? Because I don’t want it if it ain’t love-”

“I love you,” You were reaching up, reaching out for him, your hands tenderly cupping either side of his face. He wasn’t sure what had made the years of tension and progression finally boil over into this, what had made you finally snap, but whatever it was, he was thankful for it and decided not to squander the opportunity. In the blink of an eye, he was kissing you, only to pull away and hear your next words. “Where do we go from here?”

“Wherever you want.”

And, with that answer, he rested his helm on your chest and let out a sigh of relief. He wanted you, and you wanted him back, and he was yours, and you were his.

For the first time in his life, someone loved him- loved him back, and everything felt alright as he listened to your beating heart.

[unholyplumpprincess]

Of Flowers and Lust

Here is a kofi commission for @uhohko who I had the absolute pleasure of working with because they really said ‘hey Peach here’s all your kinks in one’ and so I kind of went absolutely bonkers with this. The idea? Sex pollen, Elliott getting a full whiff of it, Bloodhound getting WRECKED LIKE THEY DESERVE.

Summary: Bloodhound loves to collects herbs and natural flora for at home remedies and cooking. This can involve some things such as mushrooms that can calm down anxieties, to natural foliage that can help you sleep, or even to the pretty yellow flowers they bring home that are to increase sex drive and fertility. Elliott is always effected much harder, more intensely by these things for some reason. Yet, he never takes the time to consider that Bloodhound says 'don't touch this' was a demand, rather than the 'suggestion' he takes it as. Or. In which Elliott inhales sex pollen and wants to breed Bloodhound until the morning is night.

Reblogs > Likes. Age in your bio (18+ only) or be blocked.

Fandom: Apex Legends

Relationship: Mirage/Bloodhound

Warnings: NSFT/R18+, Bloodhound has a vulva and hella body mods (you can find my hc of them listed in my masterlist), Sex pollen BUT CONSENSUAL, copious amounts of cum, loud loud breeding kink, The term ‘mama’ is used for Bloodhound which is bc nb folk Can use gendered terms u know and I’m only putting this here bC SOMEONE IS GONNA CLOWN, Lots of dirty talk like filthy filthy talk, cum swallowing.

Words: 6.1k

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It should be best stated now that: Elliott did not take to listening very well.  

No, no, not emotionally. No, Elliott was a fantastic partner. He was kind and sweet, even going so far as to try with all his might to help with Bloodhound’s insomnia. Gods bless him, trying to stay awake with them through the nights, eyes fighting to stay open whilst Bloodhound cozily read up next to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t take to listening well in their relationship, no, Elliott was just as attentive as Bloodhound was to their beloved in turn.  

No. It is simply the fact of the matter that Elliott did not take to listening to things like ‘Don’t put that in your mouth’ as a warning, but more as a suggestion.   

For most things Bloodhound foraged, it wasn’t an issue. It would have minor side effects or Elliott would simply not enjoy the taste or smell of it. They did a lot of cooking now that they could cook for two- when they weren’t cooking with  Makoa  for the whole compound that is- and Bloodhound enjoyed finding fresh ingredients. Whether that was from the various plants they grew in their room, or what they could find on planet. Including meats that they’d hunt themself and Elliott would be ‘wowed’ by all the dishes they could create.  

They took pride in being able to cook for him, and in turn they watched Elliott light up when it was his turn to make something. Their two styles of cooking varied vastly, with Elliott leaning more comforting, filling foods. Whilst Bloodhound leaned more for spices and what would be earthier and slow cooked.  

With this, also came Bloodhound foraging for ‘alien plants’ as Elliott called them.

~Rest under the cut~

Nearing the arena was natural foliage and thick woods that weren’t recommended to go in, woods in which Bloodhound often found a creature to get meat from and organic vegetation. This could also lead to them going out merely to collect flora that they would crush and turn into salves, teas, medicines, various things that they must have learned from their uncle. Who Elliott only knew from Bloodhound gently opening up one night, but not a lot about him.  

Bloodhound was more reserved, and Elliott made sure they knew how proud he was of them anytime they opened up with one more little thing.  

It was the little things.  

Recently, Elliott had been staying in their room for longer periods of time. Going from hours to days to staying an entire week. Bloodhound didn’t mind, not in the slightest. Elliott had stated it was to help their insomnia at first, only to shyly rub the back of his neck with a soft laugh and say, “And, uh, I...I like your company at night- w-well, all the time, I mean, like, of course I love your company! All the time, I just meant like, when we’re sleeping together and- and-and--”   

And they’d let him talk it out of his system, hands moving only to slow down when he peeked over to see their patient gaze. He’d taken a slow breath, his cheeks flushed and a soft laugh bubbling from him when Bloodhound had smiled kindly and stated, “I understand, beloved. You need not to worry. I enjoy your company as well. At all hours.”   

Just the tiniest joke to ease his nerves and make that blindingly beautiful, dimpled smile split across his face.  

But, now that he was here more often, it meant he was curious in the flora Bloodhound always brought back. They had a thin cord run across their window to sun dry any flora. Always tied up and strung upside down to be dried and later crushed into powders or turned into various other things. Mushrooms were dried the same way and anything else they might try- however, Elliott was a curious creature.  

Bloodhound tries to teach him, explaining the properties and uses of certain things and why they collect them. The strange vibrant, violet mushrooms were to ease anxiety if used in a small dosage. Normally used in teas or to hold under the tongue until mush to spit out.  

They had started to explain that eating one, or not dissolving into tea, could cause a feeling as if being high. But when they turn around, they’d found Elliott already chomping down on one with a face of ‘uh-oh’ when they’d turned to look at him.  

It was amusing to watch him laze about and whine that he couldn’t move. It wouldn’t harm him bodily or mentally, no, but Bloodhound did mildly delight in watching Elliott roll around on their bed and chirp about how ‘soooft and waaaarm and great smelling’ their bed was. Although, even more delight arose when they realized he was practically humping their bed.  

Yes, it appeared Elliott’s body reacted more...acutely to certain things.  

Side effects that could be rarer, such as arousal from that particular mushroom. Though even more peculiar is when he’d cum in their mouth, only to sigh and thank them in a lazy tone and say, “Yeah, you’re WAY better than a pumpkin.”  

A response that had them quirking a brow, but never receiving an answer when they’d heard him snoring. Able to see him spread out like a starfish with a half hard dick flopped on his hip.  

Attractive.  

For most things, Bloodhound has learned that in the case of them bringing home foreign flora or vegetation, that by default Elliott will not listen. Thankfully they’ve never brought anything dangerous home, besides some poisonous bark that they kept AWAY from Elliott in another area in which he would not curiously bring it to his nose.  

Today, however, they’ve brought home beautiful yellow flowers. They’re small, almost budding open like a tube with its petals with cobalt pollen stems inside. They bloom in a group, almost looking like lavender on their trimmed stems to be able to fit into a tightly sealed bag.  

Bloodhound enters their room in full gear, shutting and locking the door behind them and finding their home cleaned up. With only just a jacket over the pile of cushions and furs that acted almost as a couch in the center of the main room.  

Different bones rest along the walls of their home, either from their own hunts or Artur or Munnin bringing them in. Picture frames that Elliott had brought them with pictures of them in more intimate scenarios like their first date, or a picture that just consisted of Elliott taking a selfie that he had given as a joke gift for their birthday that they wound up cherishing. To different potted plants that lined the open wall towards their small kitchen area.  

Elliott comes around the corner looking freshly showered. He’s got on a black t-shirt that’s a little tight on him and showing his midriff, most certainly belonging to Bloodhound, and some gray sweatpants. It’s casual wear, showing he’s already made up his mind on staying for a few days.  

A decision that Bloodhound gladly accepts.  

His curls are still a bit damp, it looks like, and as they start to remove their gear, starting with their respirator, they inhale and can smell the products he uses in his hair and the soaps he must have borrowed. Their full lips quirk up briefly, the idea that he smelled like them always irking a flicker of possessiveness in their stomach.  

Theirs.  

“Ah, hey, Houndie! Was wondering when you’d be back!” Elliott greets, coming closer as they start to remove their helmet, shaking their frizzy red curls free and pulling their goggles up and onto the top of their head.  

They greet him properly once he reaches them, gently cupping his cheeks and pulling him close to rest their foreheads together.   

It’s quiet and intimate, letting their breath mingle and noses gently nuzzling. Elliott would have never guessed for them to be so affection and intimate, not back before they were dating- or even friends for that matter! It had taken all of Bloodhound’s courage to even hook their pinkies their first date.  

Even now he smiles through it, keeping his eyes closed for the twenty seconds Bloodhound holds him before gently letting him go. “I apologize. It took longer to find than I thought it would.” Speaking as they move to remove their upper armor. Too heavy and hot to be worn indoors. They’re left in their long sleeved, tight black shirt, gloves, combat boots, and tactical pants.   

A look in which they know Elliott is graciously looking at their ass once they turn their back to him.  

Bloodhound moves around him towards their counter area they’d built. Set up with cutting boards to the side, herb separators, and various knives to help them with the set up. They set the clear bag full of flowers atop, feeling as Elliott curiously stalks behind them.  

With their hands still gloved, they pull out the flowers and set them on top of the smooth counter. Peeking around for their ribbon to tie them up and huffing when they find it not in sight. They can already feel Elliott hovering behind them, making that curious little noise he does in a quiet question of what they had.  

“They are called The Child Bestowers,” Bloodhound begins, watching from the corner of their good eye as Elliott shuffles to their side to peek around them. “They are for aiding in arousal, for those who need help, as well as providing a pleasant sensation if turned into lubrication. They are also said to help with fertility, if you are to drink them in teas or bathe with them. Or to increase sperm count, if the person having them has external genitalia.” They explain, gently aligning them into a bouquet to rest on top of each other.  

“Soooo...it’s a sex plant?” Elliott frankly says. A statement to which Bloodhound lets out a rushed breath of amusement from their nose.  

“I suppose, if you wish to be blunt, yes. Wait here, and do not touch them. Elliott, am I understood?”  

“Aw, c’mon, babe! What’s the harm? I just get horny? Don’t need plants to do that.” Elliott coos at them, making an obvious look back at their ass. But when they shoot him a look, he sighs, holding a hand over his heart and a hand flat palmed towards them with his eyes closed. “I, Elliott ‘Mirage’ Witt, will not touch the horny flowers. Scout’s honor.”  

There’s a strain to that word.  

Elliott was always good with his words; Silver tongued and quick witted, a trickster truly walking among the mortal plane. It is what attracted Bloodhound to him in the first place, besides his kindness. They narrow their eyes at his face, watching him peek open one eye and giving his very best puppy dog eyes when they look at him until it’s Bloodhound’s turn to relent with a sigh.  

He’s going to do something. They know he will. Always so curious about the effects. There should be nothing odd if he were to touch them, just that the pollen was potent as is and Elliott always had...new reactions to things. As if his immune system were built differently. He would most certainly become aroused, but they worried about what the full effect would be...  

They leave the room to find ribbon so they may string up the bouquets to dry. Finding the ribbon resting in the window sill where they must have left it absentmindedly. And in just maybe the minute they are gone, they return to Elliott who is standing perfectly innocent with his hands folded behind his back.  

Suspicious at his innocent looking face, his doe-like eyes fluttering at them, they narrow their own. Carefully coming around the counter and setting the ribbon next to the flowers. It’s with great attention to detail do they see the speck of yellow on his nose, “Elliott did you tou--”  

“I did not TOUCH the flowers, swear!”  

“Did you smell them?”  

That’s when Elliott’s lips purse, eyes flickering to the side away from their face as if a child who had been caught. He eventually gives in, sighing, “Yeah, but they smelled really good? And I don’t think anything is  gonna  happen! Look, no boner!” As if to make a point, he leans back and away from the counter, gesturing blatantly to his crotch. Their eyes briefly flicker down, quirking a brow to see the tent resting there and their own cheeks warming.  

“Elliott...”  

“What?” He blinks, looking down and then his own face flushes. It’s as if Bloodhound and himself had never had intercourse because both his hands fly to hide said tent, his face burning red. “Shit! I-I-I didn’t even feel it??? It just- it just feels warm? Like usual? Aw shit maybe it did do something? I’m not  gonna  die, right? Death by horny doesn’t really sound like an extrav - an extgan-  ext — a cool way to go .”  

Bloodhound sighs with an amused tone at his franticness, amused at how his hands had gone from hiding to instead gesturing like he normally does. Yes, it was supposed to aid in arousal, but it wasn’t supposed to have such a quick effect. Then again, Elliott’s body always seemed to experience the more intense side of things when it came to new flora and foliage.  

“No, there is nothing deadly within their pollens. However, you may be more difficult to satis--” They cut themself off then when Elliott lets out this pained whine, seeming to scoot closer to them until they’re backed up against the counter throughout their singular sentence.  

Their breath hitches, hands coming to rest on his waist in almost a comforting manner when he ducks his head down. At first, they think he’s going for a kiss, until he’s nosing at their neck, nudging their head to the side and pressing open mouthed, hot kisses up to their pierced ear.  

Bloodhound’s breath catches, squeezing his waist gently and running their hands up along his body until they can get to his curls. “Y-you may be more difficult to satisfy, when you are- ah- affected by the- the pollen-” They manage to breathe out, twisting their fingers at the root to hold him, a soft gasp leaving them when his teeth nip at their jawline.  

But, even through the haze Elliott must be feeling, he still manages to huff out in a strained tone, ”Do...Do you want to...? I can go to the shower and deal- ah- deal with this?”  

“I wish to aid in however you need.” Bloodhound responds honestly, pulling his hair gently when his teeth sink into their neck and they feel him sucking. Sensitive there, they let out a soft growl that only makes Elliott groan. His hands going from gripping the counter to hoisting them up by their thighs onto it, pushing the flowers to the side to get them out of the way.  

They know a hickey will rest over their flesh over the splash of lighter skin tone they had resting on their neck- one of Elliott’s favorite places to bruise them. Bloodhound’s breath hitches when his hands slide over their pants-clad thighs, up to their waist as he starts to leave another bruise just under their ear.  

Bloodhound snarls softly, running their nails over his scalp and one hand dragging down Elliott’s nape like he likes. He lets out the prettiest sound against their neck, his hips absentmindedly humping against them without thinking. They abuse this by dragging their nails down his back, grabbing his muscular ass and pressing him forward with each thrust so he’d properly dry hump them.  

It sparks the reaction they crave, where Elliott lets out this beautiful, shaky, sharp whimper. His mouth trails back up, pressing kisses up their jawline until he can press their foreheads together.  

Bloodhound takes the time to let their eyes remain half lidded to watch him. Elliott looked gorgeous, his hair a mess, brows furrowed and his eyes shut in concentration. His full lips are parted, letting their breath mingle in small pants puffing from his mouth. Something they can’t help but lean forward to kiss him to take his breaths.  

Elliott moans into their mouth upon contact, one of his hands pressing to the counter, the other holding onto their waist to drag them closer to the edge. His hips are frantic, pounding against them as if he could fuck them through both their layers of clothing. It feels like he’s trying to, really. Bloodhound can feel every grind up against them, making their own breath strain as wetness builds up between their own legs from the consistent pressure on their clit.  

Not to mention how much they adored to see him so desperate.  

Their hands drag back up to his hair, pulling on his curls to break the kiss and watching as he follows the motion beautifully. “Fuck, Hound, baby- God, fuck- it's really- ah- it's so hot, it feels so hot, he-heavy-” He’s sobbing out so sweetly, his hips stuttering when they go for his exposed throat, dragging their double canines over the side of his neck and lightly biting down on him to leave a bruise.  

Elliott sobs out, his hips slamming up against them and his hands falling to their ass. He practically yanks them to him, near making them get knocked off the counter. But they quickly figure out why when they’re halfway through sucking a dark bruise into his neck when they feel the wetness starting to seep into the front of their own pants-  

Wait why can they feel it through their own pants?  

Elliott’s still clinging to them, his body shaking and moans leaving his throat. His hips are still gently humping against them, his arms still locked, when normally by now he’d ease up and maybe be embarrassed.  

“Elliott-” Bloodhound breathes out in his ear, causing him to turn his face into their neck. He’s whimpering something, his lips moving against their skin, but they can’t hear him quite well.  

 Not until he’s repeating the same phrase, so shaky and high pitched of; “Still  cumming , oh-oh God, baby, fuck, s-still cumming, cumming, cumming, cumming-” In this string of desperation that makes Bloodhound’s breath catch.  

It takes a total of thirty seconds until he can finally stop shaking. Elliott is falling to his knees; His entire body trembling and Bloodhound can smell how strong his scent lingers on them. It makes their mouth water, but even more so when they look down to see him sitting on his knees, thighs apart and head back. His face is flushed, lips parted and panting and his doe-like eyes half lidded looking up at them like they’re the only thing keeping him grounded.  

If he wasn’t in such a desperate state, perhaps they’d toy with him like this. Make him beg for release. But as it appears right now, Elliott was cumming for a rather long time, and that alone warranted some looking into. And sadly, that did not involve seeing his resolve crumble and making him beg like a good boy.  

Bloodhound’s eyes trail down his body, noticing that the wet spot isn’t just soaking a spot on the front of his pants, but instead almost as if someone had dumped a bottle full of water on his front- and Bloodhound’s for that matter.  

Side effects-  

“Houndie-” Elliott whimpers out, stopping Bloodhound’s staring as they shuffle off the counter. He immediately seeks their comfort, wrapping his arms around their leg and pressing his cheek to their outer thigh. Their breath hitches at the sight of him so close, but they gently rest their hand atop his head, using their nails to massage gently at his scalp.  

“Shh, shh, you are alright, beloved, you are alright. Can you stand? Or crawl, perhaps?” Their last words are playful, warranting that beautiful smile to etch across Elliott’s face. More upturned on one side with his dimples creasing into his cheeks. And at first it seems he’s relaxed himself, especially when he murmurs a playful ’woof’ before his body trembles and a whimper erupts from his lips. “Perhaps I shall carry you?”  

“N-no, no, I can do it, just- God, baby, I’m...I hate to say it, but I don’t think I-I'm close to done?” Elliott manages to get out, his tone breathless, his pupils blown huge when he turns his gaze up to them. Their heart constricts at how helpless he looks, but unfortunately it only turns Bloodhound on further to see him so desperate.  

It’s a bit of a shaky walk back into Bloodhound’s bedroom. Immediately Elliott is flopped onto the bed, the furs cool against his overheated flesh. Bloodhound helps him to strip, removing their own boots and their ruined pants so they may sit in their boyshorts and sports bra with Elliott completely nude.  

Bloodhound’s breath hitches when their eyes fall to his cock, already hard again and pressed against his abdomen. The head was red, flushed and peeking from his foreskin, but what really gets their attention is his balls.  

They’re swollen, almost a handful each rather than as a whole. Gently, Bloodhound rests their cold fingertips over the flesh, their eyes flickering up to watch Elliott as he pants heavily and squirms like a dog in heat. Even going so far as to his hips humping upwards and a heavy glob of pre-cum to bead at the head of his cock.   

Oh, he was getting affected hard.  

Bloodhound had a feeling they wouldn’t be able to walk straight after this.  

Running their fingertips along his cock, Elliott lets out a sound as if they would have been grabbing him fully. Sensitive, it seemed. Bloodhound fights a smile, gently grabbing his cock beneath the head and smearing the pre-cum with their thumb with a soft coo arising from them, ”You are so wet, my love.”  

Elliott makes a strained sound in his throat, his hips thrusting up into their loose grip and sobbing out something incoherent. He’s a mess, panting and starting to look more flushed by the second. And judging by the way his abdomen is tightening, they can only guess how sensitive he was.  

Yes, this was going to be a long session. It appeared the pollen he’d inhaled worked more like a ‘sex pollen’ on him, something that should only effect beasts with outer genitalia that came across the plant. Working like an aphrodisiac, for beasts it made their stamina much longer, including their...their sperm count to be higher, resulting in swollen looking testicles and an insatiable need to breed their mates.  

Bloodhound swallows, their mouth already feeling dry at the idea of Elliott trying to breed them. It makes their thighs press closer together, a shaky breath leaving them as they try to compose themself in order to take care of him.  

They only get to pump his cock a few times before Elliott’s scrambling for them, whimpering about something frantically that sounds a lot like he’s mumbling, “Need to taste you, need you, baby, I need you-” But they can hardly make it out over the sound of their own yelp when he’s flipping them.  

He’s at least got enough coherency to pause when he hooks his fingers around their underwear, waiting until they give their consent before  he‘ s quick to tug their boyshorts off. He sits back between their spread thighs with this starving look in his eyes as they rake across their form. Flustered at the attention and control being tugged out from under them, Bloodhound’s face flushes and a soft growl of his name starts to arise as they bristle and lean up on their elbows.  

“R-right!” He manages to get out, immediately moving to lie on his abdomen, hooking his arms under their powerful thighs and nuzzling at their red curls between their thighs.  

Normally, Elliott was a starving man between their thighs, always a mess of humping the bed and moaning into them as if they tasted divine. And now is no different; His tongue desperately licking up their cunt to their fat, engorged clit, lapping at it and letting his tongue rest just underneath to feel them throb in anticipation.  

It’s with another snarl and Bloodhound’s hand pressing at the back of his head does Elliott wrap his lips around their enlarged clit, suckling how they liked and making their head toss to the side. A moan blossoms from their chest, their hips tilting upwards when his tongue frantically dips down to their hole to lick up the wetness seeping from them. But then he’s pulling back briefly, pressing his nose to their mound just above their clit and inhaling their scent, letting his nose nuzzle at their clit in a way that makes Bloodhound gasp out.  

“You smell so good, baby, can’t get enough-” Elliott is just about moaning into them, his words causing their ears to burn red and for them to bite their bottom lip at the attention. Bloodhound starts to growl out something in reply, maybe for him to focus on his meal rather than speaking, but then he’s continuing with a low voice, “Want to fill you full of pups. Would you like that, puppy? Want to be filled?”  

That...  

That is most certainly new.  

Bloodhound’s body betrays their thoughts when their clit jerks heavily and a fresh wave of slick seeps out of them. Their face burns, their body desperately aching in ways they didn’t think they’d ever experienced before. They can feel their pulse in their clit when Elliott lets out this low moan of appreciation, wrapping his lips around it and moaning into them as if even the thought of breeding them was too much to bear.  

Bloodhound cums in record time, fingers scrabbling to hold Elliott’s hair as huffing, small growls come out with every breath. Their brows are knitted, their head thrown back and full lips parted to pant heavily. They’re almost dizzy from the orgasm, managing to make enough sense to feel Elliott’s fingers pressing into them. Two fingers go in with ease, curling up expertly into their g-spot and making their head throw to the side with a cry of, “Elliott!” Leaving them in a desperate tone.  

“Fuck, yes, keep crying like that, sweetheart.” Elliott’s voice is thick with lust, something they think they’d only ever heard when he was on his knees and woofing like a dog for them.  

To see him- to feel him take control even in a state like this? Bloodhound isn’t too sure how to feel quite yet about their lack of control on him but oh, oh if he keeps  moving  his fingers like that-  

“Good pup, let me stretch out your sweet little cunt so I can breed you so full, you’re gonna feel so good on my cock-” Elliott breathes against them, his tone desperate and tinging on a whine, licking flatly over their clit and making their hips jerk. Bloodhound doesn’t think they can get any redder at this point from his filthy mouth. Even more so when they feel him nuzzle at their mound just to hear him inhale their scent as his fingers curl upwards and fuck into them.  

Their second orgasm comes quick, fit with them snarling and their eyes flashing a glowing red without their permission. Every sense is enhanced, the scent of Elliott, the scent of themself, the feeling of him touching their body, every sound made, their vision black and white and Elliott’s body highlighted in glowing red. The feeling of his fingers pounding into them is almost too much again, a whimper sharply leaving their throat just as Elliott pulls his fingers out and sits up.  

He uses their slick to lubricate his own cock, the sight sending a possessive feeling through their body resulting in a low, rolling snarl. They go to move, to maybe sit up and shove him down, to take back their control that they had lost- but that’s quickly cut off when he’s rolling them onto their abdomen. He’s yanking their hips up until they’re forced to brace their upper body by crossing their arms on a pillow and resting their head on their forearms.  

“Elliott-” They manage to choke out when he’s taking his cock and sliding the head a few times over their lower lips and over their clit. Bloodhound’s body is tensed, feeling the press into them and their mouth falls open to let out a cry when he sinks home into them in one, clean thrust.  

It’s as if Elliott’s body had only enough in of himself to remember foreplay for them before the storm hits. Because he’s grabbing onto their hips, tugging them back in a way he’s never done before, fucking into them with harsh thrusts. His balls, as engorged and heavy as they are, slap forward against them and cause consistent stimulation that has Bloodhound’s nails sinking into their own arms. They move their mouth to press against their own flesh, trying to muffle the pathetic sounds erupting from their chest.  

Normally, they had the control in the bedroom. Even in positions like this, they would talk Elliott through it, call him their dog or how pathetic he sounded. Or ride him and hold their hands over his throat, or yank his hair back and force him to cry out.   

The control they had was for their own comfort, always so nervous to give it up. On the nights Elliott could gently coax them to, it was with gentle words and nudges.  

They...they think they prefer when he just takes it like this.  

There’s no thinking as Elliott fucks into their body. He’s vocal, as always, moaning behind them and filth spilling out of, “Want me to cum inside you, baby?” Which Bloodhound keens in response to without thinking, their hips pressing back into a thrust and that seems to do it.  

Again, in record time, Elliott is cumming. His nails dragging into their thighs until he falls forward to hook his arms around them tightly. He trembles as he cums inside of them, and they quickly figure out that Elliott did in fact get the same results that a beast might. Because they’re feeling fuller...and fuller...and fuller by the second.  

So much so that when Elliott pulls his hips back in the slightest, cum comes spilling out and down their thighs messily. Bloodhound can’t help but lift their hips a bit to their best of ability, peeking down to watch it trail messily down with a low groan.  

It’s when Elliott runs his fingers through it and brings them to Bloodhound’s lips  do  they really think he’s being swayed even further by the pollen. When they don’t immediately take him up on the offering, his fingers grab their long hair into a ponytail, pulling it and effectively making their head come up with a matching snarl erupting from their lips.  

And that’s when they part their lips, allowing for him to smear his cum on their split, pierced tongue with a satisfied groan of, “Good dog.” Cooing from his lips. Fit with his fingers messily dragging down the corner of their mouth as if to smear it on their face.  

From there, it’s a blur. At some point Elliott’s managed to take off Bloodhound’s sports bra to leave them in nothing, moving them around again and again. So many different positions they wind up in- bent over the bed, on top of Elliott and riding him with his hips slamming up into them, to on their side with their leg thrown over his shoulder and their snarling and growling ending up slowly turning to weak moans and cries, their voice growing hoarse. To them riding him again, their arms pulled behind their back and angling their body just so Elliott could fuck up into them like a toy.  

They’ve both cum so many times, Bloodhound’s lost count. Only feeling fuller by the minute, the taste of his cum lingering on their tongue from  every time  he’s shoved his fingers into their mouth eagerly.   

Now Elliott has them with their back to his chest, one arm tossed around his shoulders and one of his own arms tucked around their waist to hold them. His other hand had been grabbing their jaw, forcing them to watch their own shaky body get fucked by him. “Look at you, Houndie, so good for me. My good dog. You're gonna be so cute all swollen, hm?”  

Bloodhound had sobbed out, eyes near about rolling as another weak orgasm wracked their own frame. The visuals and the scent too much, able to watch his fat cock slam into their cunt with their clit engorged and reddened jerking with each contraction. From this angle, they can see how his cock moves inside of them from the slight bump of their lower abdomen, to how messy their thighs are with cum and how strings of it are left connecting them to Elliott’s hips with each messy slap up against them.  

Elliott’s beautiful moans in their ear are low when he scoops up a glob of cum on their thigh, dragging it to Bloodhound’s mouth to smear it all over their tongue again. They obey near instantly, sticking out their tongue to let him do so before swallowing with a whimper. They must do it too soon, because Elliott’s smearing the rest over the corner of their mouth, moving to cup their cheek this time and smearing it over their cheekbone as well.  

“Nngh --” Bloodhound moans out, trying to turn their head to bury it into Elliott’s hair, but he quickly catches their jaw again, forcing them to keep watching as he fucks up into them.  

“That’s it, good dog, take it, take it-” Elliott near about growls out, moving his hand from their jaw when they finally stay put. He moves it to grab at one of their breasts, thumbing a sensitive, pierced nipple just to make their cunt clench weakly. Before he’s splaying his hand out on their abdomen and cooing through desperate little moans, “G- gonna  be the cutest mama.  Gonna  fill you fucking full, baby, make sure you’re full of pups w-with your cute little- ah- cunt--”  

Bloodhound doesn’t think that either of them have any thoughts left. He’s almost frantic to breed them, but there’s something loving about the way he speaks the word ‘mama’. It could almost make them believe the effects were starting to wear off with how tenderly spoken it is.  But,  perhaps that is merely their own secret interest in perhaps having a child with him trying to emerge.  

They must have turned their head, because Elliott’s got his hand back on their jaw to keep them watching. Bloodhound’s breathing so hard, panting and sobbing out by the time Elliott finally cums again. It must have been the twelfth time already, and they’d lost count of even their own.  

He groans so beautifully in their ear, burying his face into their shoulder and clinging to them as he cums. And dutifully, Bloodhound watches as he does, burying himself to the hilt inside of them and watching his balls tighten, how cum dribbles out of them because it’s too much.  

Bloodhound isn’t really too sure at what point they do finally pass out. But they wake up with possibly the most sleep they’d ever had in years, rested, sore, bruised, and...  

Clean?  

They’re still naked, a low groan leaving them as their eyes flutter open. They sit up to find their furs that had been on their bed are gone, possibly gone to be washed, and instead they are curled up in one of Elliott’s blankets that he leaves when their furs become too hot for him. Carefully, they roll to their side as they lie back down, finding said menace of a boyfriend passed out as well and cleaned up.  

He must have had the time to wash them both off before he’d fallen asleep. How thoughtful.  

Carefully moving once again, they scoot closer to Elliott to gently rest a hand on his head. Immediately he makes a soft, moaning sound, rolling over into them so he can wrap their arms around their waist and bury his face into their chest. Resulting in Bloodhound lying back on their back, playing with his hair in the morning light.  

Perhaps they could keep a sampling of the pollen for more...experimentation.  

If Elliott were to be interested in having another six hour long session.  

Bloodhound’s lips flicker up into a small smile as a thought crosses their mind.  

Perhaps Elliott would be interested in actually...trying for a child at some point. He had said he always wanted to be a stay at home father...  

When they hear him snore against their chest, nosing his way back in with a comforted sigh, they can’t help how bright their heart feels at the idea.  

[talkinbouttinygames]

The Witness & The Anti-Hardcore Walkthrough Club

Steam says I have played The Witness for 31 hours. That’s not as much as it could be - I haven’t played it in two years, and never finished it originally after my save got wiped in an accident - but the reason I’m writing about it now is because I recently picked it back up, remembered how much fun it was, and am now intent on finishing it. However, despite how much time I’ve sunk into it (much more than most games covered in this ‘zine), despite the fact that I enjoy it enough to re-do all of my progress from two years ago, I can’t recommend the game, and the reason why is that I’m playing it wrong.

Okay.

For those who haven’t heard of it, The Witness is a puzzle game created by Jonathan Blow (at which point I am legally obligated to quip, yes that Jonathan Blow) based around completing line mazes on panels scattered across a very pretty island. The most simple puzzle at the start entails the player drawing a starting line from the starting circle to the other side, with later puzzles gaining more maze-like shapes, or other requirements, like the line needing to cross over every dot that appears on the board, or separate differently-coloured squares, or outline a drawn tetris shape. Additionally, other puzzles incorporate the surrounding environment: sunlight exposes a smudged line that reveals the correct path on a panel when looking at the right angle, tinted glass exposes the true color of panel squares, shadows from foliage above ‘block off’ incorrect passages, and so on.

A lot’s been said about The Witness: Blow’s design process for its puzzle mechanics, how it silently guides the player into learning mechanics, and what it truly means. But I’m not going to talk about any of those things, firstly because I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said on those subjects, and secondly because for nearly the entire time I played the game, I had my phone opened up to a full-spoiler walkthrough.

The Witness is far from a casual game. While the game’s been praised for stepping back and allowing players to have ‘eureka! moments’ when trying to figure out how a given puzzle works, that same lack of explicit guidance can make it hostile to a player that isn’t able to connect the dots. Additionally, the line puzzles are the only interactable elements that exist in the game, outside of scattered audio logs around the island. This hyperfocus on the line puzzles (and the sheer magnitude of how many there are) means that in order to truly enjoy The Witness, you really need to be stoked about solving cereal box mazes.

...Don’t you?

When I first googled The Witness, my first thought was not, “wow, those puzzles look interesting”. It was “woah, this shit’s really pretty,” followed by “I think I would buy this game just to walk around in this world”. Evidently, I did - albeit on a half-off sale for 20 dollars instead of the usual forty. True to what I had seen, the world’s gorgeous, a variety of different landscapes with vibrant colours that seemed out of the painting. The way the puzzles interacted with the environment was also pleasant, at least with the ability to look up the answers for any of them at the glance. I took pleasure in screencapping scenes I found to be beautiful and sending them to my friends, and generally just being… present in the world I found myself in.

Perhaps it was a waste, that I refused to engage with the challenges the game presented me, that I cheated my way around obstacles that were supposed to give a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and instead chose to meander around and treat the game as a glorified walking simulator. Given the common debate of whether accessibility features should disable achievements, and the gaming-originated term of ‘git gud’, it’s clear that the idea of ‘play experience integrity’ is one that a fair amount of gamers stick to. That idea is a complicated one that I can’t cover here, but my experience with The Witness falls on the fringes of it. While the certain type of gamers who scream about ‘casuals’ cheating themselves out of the Real Experience is an debate that deals with players changing the details of their play experience in order to follow the intended final destination of that experience, what happens when someone buys your game for a purpose completely unrelated to what the developer actually focused on? Is The Witness a good puzzle game? Who cares! Not me!

It’s like writing a novel that reveals integral qualities into the human condition, and then someone buys it because the size and paper type of the pages makes for good hamster bedding.

But I still enjoyed The Witness, because I was still playing the game - I completed every single area save for the final one because after that it wipes your save and I’d need to go through all the puzzles again to explore freely. And in the eyes of the game, what difference is there between my save file and someone who actually sat down and solved every single puzzle themselves. 

When talking to a friend about using a walkthrough while playing The Witness, he confessed - with slight guilt - to using walkthroughs in order to avoid missing anything. In response, I proposed we start the Anti-Hardcore Walkthrough Club - a hallowed league of gamers that place themselves highly in their ability to make things as easy for themselves as possible, because sometimes that’s what you’re looking for. In all seriousness, though, there’s a legitimate idea behind the joke - the sort-of  idea of the ‘death of the game designer’, that any way of playing a game is fair under cheats, mods, house rules, and yes, even focusing on a completely arbitrary and besides-the-point facet of the game. As long you’re aware that by doing so you can only speak to your specific style of play - a fact which applies to the hardcore gamers as much as the rest of us. To 100% a game on the hardest difficulty available isn’t necessarily a virtue, and cherry picking what parts of a game you care about and focusing on them isn’t necessarily a sin.

So, if I didn’t actually ‘play’ The Witness in the way a vast majority of people aim to play it, what can I say about it? This:

10/10. Best hamster bedding I’ve ever used.

[scriptflorist]

I'd like to create fictional plants in a non earth planet. How can I do this but also makes some of scientific sense, since I do want to mention some light sciency stuff with them and classify them as different types that fit different environments. How do I start? And where is the cutoff between makes sense vs completely breaking it? Also, how can I do floristry and make it aesthetic pleasing, general rules that don't need earth examples?

Hey there,

So you want to make up some plants and don’t know how to? There are several starting options you can pick from. For one, you can look at the climate of your world that they live in and work your way up to A Look, by deciding how the plant adapted to it and why it can thrive in a place like this.

For example, desert plants have adapted to have the smallest possible surface area and best water-storing capabilities. And those that live in shadowy climates either find a way towards the light or develop massive foliage to maximise their intake. (Shadowy, however, does not mean cold, tropical jungles are shadowy bc the treetops shield everything beneath from the sun, and it is in fact very, very hot there, which is why orchids prefer warm climates but cannot for their live handle direct sunshine). Here on earth, the primary deciding factors for how a plant develops are the sun, shadow, light, rain/water and their access to them. Not all of them come in equal measures for every plant so they all have different preferences. You can, of course, apply the same general rules to your planet, you can also, make things up as you please.

The other way would be the other way around, you’d start with figuring out how you want the plant to look and go from there, try and decide what sort of climate it should live in.

But your world won’t just need pretty flowers, greenery and trees (or something akin to those), you will also need food! And spices! And potentially dangerous plants and actually poisonous ones. (Here on earth poisonous does not equal deadly, it can mean that but a lot of times it just means the plant has a terrible time in store for whoever eats or touches them).

To figure out what exactly these things are in your story you can use either of the previous options, or you can take inspiration from what already exists and re-invent it or have it be just… slightly off. What’s important though is the question whether it can be eaten and if it’s a household staple and whether people would grow it as a crop. However, things that people like to eat, weren’t necessarily intended to be consumed by Mother Nature. For example coffee or chilli.

Are there plants that people put in their homes as cut flowers or in pots? Are there recreational plants? If you go by purpose, you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel and come up with a whole new dictionary of plant classifications. 

But! Since you want to throw in some scientific-sounding names you could use Latin, but of course, any language of your choosing works, but the easiest way, however, would be to go for something descriptive regarding the plants' appearance, or growing conditions or discovery or size. That’s pretty much how people are already doing it. In a pinch, a group word like Cultivar(s) helps, which in this case is used for plants that have been cross-bred so much that there’s no identifying anymore what they’re made of. Sometimes it’s written with an S at the end to denote that the number of related types if impossibly large really, nobody could tell them apart anymore. (Tulips are Cultivars, and so are Dahlias, we just… don’t know anymore.)

Plant names generally consist of a genus and a species (and possibly a subspecies), these are grouped under a family, possibly a sub-family. The complete order is a bit longer, but here you go: Kingdom → Clade (repeat till there are no more) → Family → Sub-Family → Genus → Species → Sub-Species. If you want to fill the whole list, by all means, knock yourself out, but generally knowing family, genus and species are more than enough for the average character to classify a plant. You can also make up your own set of categories and omit or add whatever you like. Since your planet isn’t earth there really is no need to stick to the rules all the way.

Considering that we don’t know any other planets with plant life (that we know off), you can’t really break reality here, unless you play exclusively by earth rules, the rules are already broken. The most important thing in my book would be for you to make the readers believe. Make whatever you’re explaining to them reasonable in their mind and don’t let them know you may have just made it up on the spot. Make them buy it. You can establish everything you want because it’s your story with your planet and your fictional plants.

Aesthetics, unfortunately, is something high subjective, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer here. The best way to go about this might be to figure out what the people who inhabit that planet consider pretty and whether it fits the Earth Standard or not, and if not how it deviates.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[zydrateacademy]

First Impressions - Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord

(Do I still have anyone reading my stuff? Been a while! I’m sure there’s plenty of games I could have been doing reviews and impressions on... But frankly Tumblr got a bit boring. Them axing nudity was just the start, after that it just became less interesting to browse. Anyway, I’m still active on the likes of Steam and Discord, so if you want to poke me there... lemme know! Anyway...)

This is most certainly an early access review, and it's possible that half of the things I write here will be rendered moot in the coming months. I am also in the process of ordering some new RAM for my computer so this game will likely perform better in another week or two. With those things in mind, I don't want to waste too much time writing a full article-sized review. Instead, I'll just start listing off things I do and don't like. I love the battles! I mean, it's the major gameplay loop of the whole game so it damn well better be enjoyable. The combat itself is a mixed bag, my swings or shots often don't connect when I think they should but that could be a stuttering issue.

I think the ordering of troops could be done with a smoother UI. I'm not sure how, but there is a hell of a learning curve when you want to start ordering each and every type of unit (between infantry, cavalry, and archers)... Trying to tell them all to do different things before your enemies horse army rides up your anus is a chore and a half. And you will eventually have to get them to do other things. Since you're not going to have a full set of cavalry right out of the gate, I found that forcing everyone to charge would leave my dozens of units of infantry behind while my eight or so horse riders get annihilated. So there's that. I like how the game has immediate mod support. There's already a robust community patch and several things available on the Nexus website that can certainly attribute to some quality of life. Simple things like Mixed Gender Troops, and reputation gain when you take out looters. That mode makes chasing looters down slightly more worth your time rather than just training up unused weapon skills (they're not good for much else pretty quickly). My favorite mod so far might be the one that allows cleave damage, without it all of your weapons only hit one enemy at a time. It's saved my ass more than once.

I love the sieges. The mechanics surrounding them have been hit or miss but when it goes well, it feels GREAT. At one point, I was flanking my nation's army (I didn't attach myself to his main force), protecting them while they built up their siege camp. Then I decided to hit the castle and "wait" for the siege to begin, but at the last second... The main army breaks off to fight some defending force, leaving me with the immediate task of fighting off the castle's beefy militia. I lost massively. I like how you don't lose all of your loot when you 'fail', but you do however lose every single one of your troops. I've had to recover about three times now, which is a tedious chore sometimes. On the flip side of that, I am typically an archery. So I helped a battering ram get through by headshot sniping an entire wall's worth of archers. I've been in a single, somewhat evenly matched siege with both armies in the 400's and it was an incredibly intense endeavor. Knowing that reinforcements are a finite resource makes watching the enemy's bar go down all the more satisfying. This is essentially what the Civil War questline in Skyrim was supposed to be, but just didn't have the engine or mechanics to handle it. I like how I'm not a walking god, even with decent armor. I can cut down large swaths of looters on my own (again, thanks to the "cut through everything" mod) but against anything else I actually have to position properly or else I can watch my health melt from arrows. The AI isn't the smartest, but they're not dumb either. I once flanked behind an enemy force but their backline were actually turning around, and backpedaling with their shields up, making my headshots harder to get even though my superior army was advancing on them. What a great feeling to be victorious against an enemy that actually thinks about things like that. I like how dying isn't an instant game over, at least so far. I did uncheck that option. Instead, I'm just captured and hauled away before the game gives me a chance to escape and run off. I don't like graphics, and kind of wish it was prettier for a 2020 game. The foliage and sun shafts are nice and all but the models look a decade old. I've failed an escort quest because I couldn't tell who was who in the town skirmish because the clothing and facial features aren't usually distinct enough.

While I am somewhat indifferent on the XP and leveling system (though there are mods to 'fix' that as well), I actually don't like the percentages on some of the perks. One of the first weapon perks you can get is increasing your damage by... 4%? That's almost nothing in the early game when you're hitting for 20's. At best a few perks in is only giving you 2-4 points of bonus damage, and I know that because the damage alerts in the corner actually tell you. That's... almost worthless in the grand scheme of things. So I wish some of the perks had more meat to them. Speaking of, yes, the game is buggy. I haven't suffered many crashes but I have had a ton of performance issues, which I alluded to in the beginning. Some of the quests don't function properly, and some of the perks don't work without mods (like being able to use Longbows on horseback). Again, the plague of early access. The good news is, beneath the problems is a functional and incredibly fun game. I don't fully understand what is making me enjoy this so much, but I'll have plenty of time of introspection in the coming months as the devs continue to work on fixing things. I do not regret this purchase at all, and that's coming from someone who has been burned by early access a few too many times.

[digitalfrontiers]

You've taken countless screenshots from a wide variety of games over the years. Some (like BioShock) you revisit consistently, others you explore for only a short while. What would you say are some qualities of the games you love returning to (besides the obvious answer of "rich graphics and atmospheric settings")? Are there certain elements (visual, narrative, or otherwise) that you really love seeing in games or actively look for in games? -Unownshipper

Like i mentioned in an earlier ask, the hurricane put me out of commission for a while, so apologies for the long delay in answering this Unown!This is an interesting question since i can easily spend hundreds of hours on one game and only ten minutes on another, even though both have great qualities and both look very good. This is going to be a really long answer, so bear with me!First and foremost, the initial decision begins with asking what kind of screenshotting tools are available for the title. Games that are easy to pick up and take shots of (Bioshocks, Dishonored, We happy few, Soma) are much more appealing than something with funky tools you have to fight with (Abzu, Tomb raider, Narcosis, Halos). There’s almost like this pre-production phase for me when it comes to screenshotting a game, where i have to find the right tools and experiment with how they work, mess with the graphic settings in the ini/cfg files, see what the highest resolution is i can push in addition to those settings, choose and configure mods, and then see if any console commands work and if so, which ones will benefit me. Finally, i usually play through the game once not only to just enjoy the gaming experience, but also to scout places/things that might be good for screenshots. This is a lot of time before i even take one shot, so when i have to fight with tools (sometimes multiple ones at once) after all that (which can often crash a game that’s already close to being unstable due the graphic/resolution settings i use) i tend to veer more towards the more approachable games first. 

After that, usually the first thing that pulls me towards a game is iconic architecture/visuals. Whether it’s the older Art deco/Neoclassical/Colonial look of the Bioshock games or the futuristic Renaissance look of Deus Ex, both keep me glued to the screen for hundreds of hours trying to capture it all in a screenshot.

From there, another one of the first things i look for is a game that’s filled with interesting stuff to look at in every corner, like clutter, foliage, or lots of environmental set dressing/storytelling. The Arkham series and games like Observer are great for this.

Because if you’re going to be taking environmental screenshots (which i love to do), you’re going to need lots of details to keep the images interesting (especially if you don’t have strong/famous architecture like Rapture or Columbia).

Next on my list are titles that are third person. Here you don’t need a game with the most iconic or cluttered visuals, just one with a great looking and/or interesting character in them. Preferably one you can pose or that has a few different animations. Adding a character to screenshot can bring drama, excitement, (or any kind of emotion really) and it’s always a ton of fun to compose a shot around them. Putting Lara in this image turns a pretty view into a dramatic and adventurous one and placing Boba Fett in this Battlefront shot puts a new spin on a classic movie moment.

However, the game doesn’t always have to be in third person, as long as you have another unique character with decent animations, like Hello Neighbor or Alien Isolation. The right character in the right place can turn a normally boring area into a funny or cinematic one.

I also like games that i can change visually to a decent degree, to give a somewhat fresh take on them, like Skyrim or Fallout (with mods), or Wind Waker, where i added Hypatia’s texture mod (plus switched costumes and hid the shield) along with some slight bloom, and ambient occlusion (this gave a flat cartoon looking game into an almost 3-d Paper Mario look, especially in the flames and the way Link’s hair and sword stand out from his body). 

But lets say a game doesn’t have tons of cluttered objects, or an easily accessible character to pose. Then i look for something with striking art direction like Dishonored or Mirror’s Edge (i seem to like plant and chair combos too).

Or one that has that, combined with immaculate attention to detail, like The Witness. Look at how perfect this thing looks even from way up in the sky. It feels like every blade of grass and pebble was specifically placed, which makes it a joy to screenshot.

There are also games i just click with that aren’t the most visually different/spectacular or filled to the brim with unique assets or characters, but have still managed to grab my attention completely. Usually this has to do with the setting or story (i will almost always love a game that’s set underwater, for instance). An example of this is the fantasy/dreamy feeling and enjoyable level design of The Old City Leviathan.

And the somber, crushing mood of Soma. Most people didn’t even try to take screenshots of this one, since it probably wasn’t that visually stimulating or exciting to them. For me though, i loved the game so much, i found stuff everywhere i wanted to take screenshots of, even if it was just a simple but imposing door (i moved the sign on the left there for a little added flair).

I also look for games that have great lighting. With the right lighting you can make even simple objects or places exciting to look at. The Outlast games do this perfectly, but they also add in high quality textures and wonderful level design. On top of that, i can use the headless protagonist to get even more unique images, making the game a fun and challenging one to screenshot.

Two other things i look for are games that have huge nostalgic value to me and titles that people don’t screenshot often (or at all). Halo has a few of the things i listed above in this reply (iconic visuals/architecture, neat looking characters, i really connected with it), plus these last two. I needed 4 different programs running to take shots of this one, but it was worth it since it’s so special to me.

[jamesbyerj]

Modder to Developer - muppetpuppet

Today we have a special treat. We caught up with Tomas Sala, a.k.a. the esteemed Skyrim modder muppetpuppet, about his upcoming game release and his history in modding. For those unfamiliar with his work, muppetpuppet created one of the first "new world" mods for Skyrim back in 2012 - Moonpath to Elsweyr. [b][b]Thank you for joining us for this interview Tomas (aka [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3232189]muppetpuppet[/url]). [/b]So, going back to the very start, when and how did you first get into gaming?[/b] I actually started straight out of art school in 2001, we started a studio in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. But at that time there was no self-publishing, I think Steam wasn't live yet and iPhones would be years away. So we rolled into educational and advertising work for hire, making games for anyone and everyone, it took many years to progress into entertainment games properly eventually creating PSVR exclusives for Playstation as games for the Wii, Switch and mobile. [b]How long have you been working in the gaming industry and what roles have you taken up during that time?[/b]  I've been working there since 2001 and have always been a multirole person. I'm a 3D artist by trade, but I'm more than handy with a scripting language and nowadays C#. I've also been creative director and game designer over the years. I think that diversity is now coming into its own with The Falconeer. [b] Tomas is the sole developer of the upcoming game "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135260/The_Falconeer/]The Falconeer[/url]". From the screenshots and gameplay videos, it looks fantastic. For our readers who've not heard of the game, how would you describe it?[/b] Well, it's a throwback to the games I loved as a kid, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer_(video_game)]Freelancer[/url], [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_TIE_Fighter]Tie Fighter[/url] even [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Skies_(video_game)]Crimson Skies[/url], and - of course - a good dose of open-world love inherited from Skyrim thrown in. So basically, you are a pilot or rider of a giant Falcon and you serve as a mounted warrior for your faction, doing air -combat missions as well as open-world exploration. Someone online described it as "what would happen if Gandalf had ridden into Mordor on a giant eagle..... but with lasers", which is a fair description. The actual combat gameplay is very WWI-WWII style close up dogfighting but with giant falcons, dragons and other fantastical creatures. [center][youtube]3viT_KoZ538[/youtube][/center] [b]It's not just the game itself you created. I've been reading the [url=https://www.thefalconeer.com/world/]extensive lore and set-dressing[/url] you've meticulously written to create a cohesive world for your story to unfold in. What can you tell us about the setting of The Falconeer?[/b] Well, I love lore-heavy worlds, for me, it makes exploring an open world so much better if the setting makes sense and has depth. The world of the Falconeer is called the Ursee and it's a bleak yet beautiful icy ocean world. Mankind has always had a hard time surviving on it, and societies have been founded and collapsing for millennia, leaving the seafloor scattered with wrecks and ancient relics. One major faction steering these societies are the Mancer Order, an organisation that has access to a wide array of technologies hidden away in their massive vaults. They manipulate and organise the other factions by doling out these technologies through permits and grants. If a king has the Mancer's favour he'll get steam engines, if he loses it, he might find his competitor suddenly has machine guns. The Mancer order doesn't involve themselves with the daily politics of factions such as the empire in which most of the game takes place, they have a hidden agenda with a long term goal. Part of the different campaigns you'll participate in, inside this world, is to figure the true goal and history of the Mancer Order, and with it the Ursee. [b]In a [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0VJAaZpkfM]video by Digital Foundry[/url] covering The Falconeer, they mentioned that the entire game is created without using any conventional textures, is that true? If so, what made you choose this approach to game design?[/b]  Indeed, it's better described as no pre-made textures. So I don't work with a painting or material editor or even something like photoshop to create the material expression of my world. Rather I use procedural tricks and fairly abstracted shaders to do the heavy lifting. So, for instance, the snow on objects is a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlin_noise]Perlin noise[/url] I generate in the game, and I then also use that for lava and water foam. The same goes for the colouring of the world, It's all done with gradients based on lighting and atmospheric parameters and values. It basically means I can create models and paint them fairly simple and have the game itself add a lot of detail and environmental colouring. I've had comments saying this must be because I'm lazy, and I certainly like an efficient art pipeline. But it isn't 100% the case - the effort I put in to create certain effects would be many times less if I'd simply use a texture. Take the clouds, creating those without textures was a crazy endeavour iterated over months. The same goes for the ocean another very advanced effect, stuff that certainly wouldn't have been possible a generation or so ago. The reason I do it is mostly twofold. One, it forces me to adhere to a very strict esthetic, and it keeps everything I make very, very compatible and unified. Giving the game a very clean and stark look while having radically different objects, buildings, vehicles and so forth in it. I both love how that looks and how "together" it makes everything feel. Secondly, it forces me to find novel and original solutions to visual designs, I cannot use "out of the box" clouds, water or lighting, so I have to take a different path to get there. Both the journey of that as well as the end result are usually novel and interesting, which is what appeals to me. [b]The Falconeer uses Unity at its core. What did you consider when choosing the engine for your game?[/b] I've used Unity through my work, so I was familiar with it, which is a huge boon because knowing what you are capable off is quite a good thing to have, especially alone. You don't always want to dive off the deep end. That said I'm quite attracted by Unreal's blueprints and after the Falconeer is done, I aim to dive into that for a bit as well. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950089-410859194.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950095-1401396009.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]Some Unity games allow mods (or can be modded with tools like Harmony), will The Falconeer have any scope for user-created content? [/b] It's something under consideration, but modding and even game development are very distinct from enabling the creation of mods for your game. So basically because I'm working by myself it's quite a daunting task, but it is very much on my mind. It's also one of the few aspects I'd consider having external help with, as it's just such a specialisation to create adequate tooling and an open framework from the ground up for your game. [b]In terms of modding, your biggest achievement has to be [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9782]Moonpath to Elsweyr[/url]. When you released it in 2012, it was one of the only true "new world" mods. That must have been quite an undertaking, considering the Creation Kit had only been out for just over a week at the time. What can you remember about the process of putting it all together?[/b] Well, I remember getting into a bit of a creative frenzy after diving into a few tutorials. At my work, we had just wrapped up a kid-friendly RPG for a local dutch theme park ("[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raveleijn]Raveleijn[/url]"), so there was lots of curiosity on how the big games did certain things. I think there was already a group of people trying to use the existing NIF tools and update them for Skyrim. Being a 3D artist grasping some of the odd quirks and oddities of that format and the tools seemed less of an issue. And within a very short while I had some [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10312]trees and foliage[/url] imported. I think those were the palm trees and other greeneries uncommon to Skyrim. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581947917-582928013.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581947923-1718214276.jpeg[/img][/center] From there I just went crazy, first with adjusting some of the material properties of default Skyrim objects, such as turning the snow into green moss (just fiddling got pretty good results fast). I think I then set about exploring the library of atmospheric fog and light FX and tweaking those to create a tropical vibe. So initially I released a player home really quick, it's actually a really simple and manageable mod type to start with. What then happened is that the community just jumped on board and started offering voice acting, pointing out bugs and even assisting with my horrible spelling. That in itself was a ridiculous driver to continue, the player base (and other modders) was always waiting at the Moonpath Nexus page, ready with more feedback, more requests and more general helpfulness. I think up to that point I had never had such a direct audience engagement, and it was a complete trip that burned away every free hour I had for about six months until most of what is now the Moonpath was there. [b]I noticed that both The Falconeer and Moonpath to Elsweyr feature airships, would you say that's something a staple in your creative works? [/b] I think the need to fly away and escape has a very literal form in much of the art and games I create, so I'd say that's something that's just a part of me. I'm also a huge fan of tall ships and historic sailing ships in general, so visually I'm always drawn to ships and airships. [b]For Skyrim Special Edition, you entrusted the development of Moonpath to Elsweyr to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/1240951]Illiani[/url] was this a difficult decision for you?[/b] No not at all, there was a point where I realized I needed to focus on other things and long before Special Edition, I opened up the Moonpath and all its assets to any modder that wanted to use them. The [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/24587]Dev Aveza[/url] already showed what sharing things could lead to (I think it might actually still use my base airship model underneath all their epic expanding they did to it). So no the community was part of creating the Moonpath and happy to see other modders take it onwards to new places. And improving it in many places I might add. [b]How do you feel modding Skyrim helped (or hindered!) your career as a game developer?[/b] It has been an incredible boon because the direct contact with the community is a unique perspective which is hard to get when doing a more classical game dev project. I've also met plenty of people in the industry that played the Moonpath and it's opened many cool conversations over the years. I even met some people from Bethesda who knew it (I guess they kept close tabs on the modding scene in the early days). [b]If you were to work on an Elder Scrolls title with everything you know now, is there anything you'd do differently?[/b]  I have nothing but admiration for how Skyrim was made. I've made my own educated guesses on why certain choices were made and understand the lineage of the creation kit, and I think it delivered an unparalleled game world and modding environment. I wouldn't presume to be able to improve on that. I do really like the more "out there" aspects of the TES lore and would love to see that remain centre stage in a new iteration. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581951105-1941102210.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]Important question - when do you expect we can get our hands on The Falconeer?[/b]  Hahaha. Definitely later this year, working as hard as I can. ;) It'll be playable at [url=https://east.paxsite.com/]PAX East[/url] (Feb 27 - Mar 1) for those wanting a gameplay taste. [b]Do you have any final words of wisdom for aspiring game devs in the Nexus Mods community? [/b] I think for those who want to use modding as a stepping stone it's good to keep realizing how much a part of the wider game industry modding has become. It's part of game development. And there might be moments where people showing off their mods can get apologetic because it's "just" a mod and they fear people might still see it as something derivative or adapted from something original. But I've never met anyone in the games industry who isn't a huge fan of mods. Mods are such creative original works of art by themselves. So if you make something don't be afraid to show it to any game developer or artist you might meet, good chance they love mods, are gamers themselves or have even modded in the past. [b]Thank you for joining us Tomas, we wish you the best of luck with the release![/b] [line] A big thank you to Tomas for taking the time to speak to us! If there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url][/b] or [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url][/b].  [center][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135260/The_Falconeer/] Add The Falconeer to your Steam wishlist to get notified when it releases. [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950708-1759106569.png[/img][/url][/center] Published first at Modder to Developer - muppetpuppet

[recentanimenews]

Hacking the Isekai: Make Your Parallel World Work for You

  Having trouble surviving in another world? Whether you're stuck there with your student council, your sister, or your smartphone, adjusting to a world of magic and monsters when you're used to computers and public transport can be difficult.

  The solution? Program your own dang isekai.

  Satou, the unwitting hero of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, doesn't realize that his RPG projects will become his new reality. If he did, perhaps he would have made things work a little differently. But there's definitely an advantage to his situation, even if it wasn't his choice. Maybe a few other interdimensional travelers could have benefited from his programming advantages...

  Choose Your Player

In the before-times of shows like El-Hazard and Fushigi Yugi, average people whisked off to another world could be pretty certain they'd arrive just as they were before they left. But in recent years, journeys to alternate dimensions -- especially if you get there via death -- mean you could be pretty much anyone or anything when you get there.

  Granted, if you're clever, you can still get an advantage. The salaryman of The Saga of Tanya the Evil managed to make quite a new life for himself, even though he was reincarnated as a small orphan girl. Ernesti of Knight's & Magic turned out pretty alright, going from a robot nerd to a robot pilot despite having to start life over.

  Satou may have only de-aged a bit, but someone in his position could theoretically really game the system for themselves. He showed up with his usual username, sure. If you arrive at the beginning, think of how much of your "character generation" you could potentially control. And think of how powerful you could be!

  Great Power = Great Responsibility

There are always culture shock problems when one goes abroad. If you're going to a fantasy dimension, you're almost certain to encounter that little snag of magic outranking science as society's functional problem-solver. Which, if you're coming from our dimension, is likely to be a problem.

  Unless you're, say, Touya of In Another World with My Smartphone, who gets to keep his smartphone, be buddies with God, and can apparently use every kind of magic in this world whose magic system he knows absolutely nothing about. So you can luck out. But considering his circumstances involved accidental death, that's not necessarily the best way to go about getting your magic on.

  Fortunately for Satou, he's got spells at his fingertips -- literally. An advantage of being in another world based on games you design? You know the interface, you know (at least to some degree) how powerful you are, and you can get a good idea of what situations you can take on and which you can run away from. Which, for a stranger in a strange land, is a big deal.

  It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature

Recent isekai series seem to indicate that there's a very specific demographic that gets transported to (or killed and reincarnated in) alternate worlds. Largely, you find yourself with NEETs, hikikomori, and gamers. Which is bad when it comes to having to talk face-to-face with people in a world free of computers, but absolutely perfect for anyone who knows their way around a fantasy kingdom.

  As with the world of KonoSuba, there's some degree of comfort in being genre-savvy. But that goes double for Satou, who is literally gifted with a game interface in front of him. There's just one problem... he didn't work out the bugs before he was transported.

  There's a bright side, though: if it's your game and your bugs, you know how to make the best of them. Imagine having infinite food and water because you forgot to fix the item coding before you left. A bad exploit for your players then means an awesome exploit for you now.

No Need for a GPS

  Feeling directionally challenged now? Try going to an entirely new world with entirely different climate zones and plants and animals. Nothing's familiar, the logic is likely slightly different to our world's, and you can't even navigate by the stars.

  Unless you're fortunate enough to have created the world you find yourself in, in which case you're not only going to know much of the terrain like the back of your hand, you've also got a good sense of what areas have what sorts of foliage and wildlife. So even if you weren't particularly paying attention on a certain map, you can fake your way around. (If your game is procedurally generated, that's all on you.)

Basically You're God

Let's just get down to brass tacks here. You know the magic system. You know the world. You know how powerful everyone is. You know the fastest way to make yourself more powerful. You know where the exploitable bugs are to keep yourself comfortable without having to overwork yourself.

  Honestly? The only downside is getting too confident.

  Played right and carefully, an isekai adventure into a world of your own making, errors and all, could be a picnic. Not an easy picnic. You still don't have mod-cons (unless you're Touya up there, dang it), and you still have to readjust your expectations. But the advantages of knowing what you're in for, where it is, and the easiest way to deal with it means you can enjoy your fantasy adventure until it's time to go home. Or not.

  With all these advantages at his disposal, let's see how Satoo fares this winter.

  Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody airs Thursdays at 8:30 am PST.

-----

  Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos. Her latest stories can be found in Whoblique Strategies.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[nyabird-blog]

Unturned Single Player Cheats

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Like many cheats of very much the same amateur beginnings, Generator Unturned includes the identical blocky, very easy-to-program artistic of minecraft or terraria. thirst, and health problem. |The game has frequently experienced the surface of the 10 Per cent of steam’s finest players executed cheats, and much of that could be chalked nearly as much as sexton’s discipline. “but there were this bi regular span [grabbed wherein i had been a lot like ‘you learn what? It may possibly you ought to be so neat when there counseled me these vans hanging out there,’ so all people was fantastic pleased given that from no place there exists this neat bring up to date that applied helis and planes, and eventually 7-day period i applied the motorboats.” screenshot by steam customer moltonmontro formerly sexton provides by using his trello (a job mapping rrnternet site) with the town so folks could continuously monitor what new releases, properties, and repairs have already been within a pipeline. Tons of one of the best mates are folks i achieved from Generator Unturned.” christian, a 16-yrs old who’s been enjoying Generator Unturned seeing that the very first day, areas sexton’s temperature is the reason Generator Unturned fantastic. ongoing spots are what keeps folks involved. This is certainly adequate for sexton “for me the key issue i love about Generator Unturned is watching the feedback, and i also assume the actual cause of that's how it's really easy to get involved with.in . at present sexton not participating college or university, but areas he’ll think signing up if he will start experiencing challenges in membership advancement he find out by himself. Screenshot by steam customer hexadecimal for the time being, he’s below. |They are all focused on the identical imagination. and dev's relationships, there exists having said that yet another current market of men and women that need to be reached in yet another type. 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And i have spent one more 2 days enjoying for 10 hrs, and it is the full blast. I have to see greater number of these cheats generated by 16 12 months old’s creators not sizable enterprises. |So who’s enjoying Generator Unturned? Clearly, when you are done hanging out hanging out there, considering that it arises the response is sons and daughters. Without a doubt, sons and daughters may have with any tat, as both the charge card board tubes inside potty moves and Generator Unturned substantiate. Among the most effective window, the disarmingly adolescent speech through the twenty-12 months-former chanted “leave, leave, leave, leave” over and over. Should you have created a membership that's so addictive to the people folks that a mum lets her small children kick the bucket very easily to take part in the video game (search for, this transpired with incredible), then you certainly performed fucked up. In your cell phone, my captor was adamant familiar with do workout plans for him, leaning suitable and allowed to remain in simple succession because they aimed his sizable handgun at me. Apart from the very clear difficulty with shopping around and perception like it were created that has a price range the same as my accomplish-of-the-thirty days business banking credit account, Generator Unturned is sold with some issues within This is merely what Use characteristically the most well-liked cutting-edge artistic on the top from using it. Without a doubt, it's generally a replicate of a number of cheats yet its damn in fact-developed and the modern inclusion of npc's and upgrades developing them i only say this game has not reached it peak but still. |Placing of your membership it's really a success membership come about a publish-apocalypse realm, wherein almost all the men and women are changed into flesh eager zombies. Different places hanging surrounding the sports is placed within a realm commonly called pei - prince edward tropical isle. Even during first duration of the sport, the writing product is hugely wonderful. The game is important consider, although will still be on first entry, there's more and more stuff later in life within it. It have advantages and disadvantages professionals of 3 or more. Slide 2015 now my cousin picked up prison designer, kerbal house program, and Generator Unturned on my limited credit account, understanding that he tried his financial resources to have kerbal house program and prison archietect. never be entertaining experiencing. this style gets to be former without having invention. |Vast writing scheme - my own boulders and chop bring down Foliage may perhaps be harvested and developed to bring about bases that conflict zombies and performance loot caches. 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[scriptflorist]

Hello, I am a writer and I am making a character that is one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. The one I am working on is Pestilence. Sorry if this is a bit dark but what I am trying to do is have her carry posies as in the nursery rhyme ‘ring around the Rosie”. What would typically be used in a bouquet of flowers to either represent disease or death or ward of diseases either now or in olden times? I find flower language so interesting so your blog is very helpful. Thank you

Hitopaz,

Beenquite a while since we’ve had someone off anon! No, need toapologise. Death is an integral part of floristry and plant diseasesare part of what florists learn to. You might find it interestingthat viruses can’t be cured on infected plants, not because thereare none but because it is safer for everything to stick toregulations and just burn everything. Can’t let anything get intothe groundwater. As for your question, there are a few.

bay leaf – I change but in death/dying

cypress – death, mourning, despair, disappointed hopes

garlic – ward off evil and illness, get well, courage

hemlock – you will be my death

leaves (dead) – death, sadness, melancholy

meadow anemone – sickness

rose (white, withered) – death is preferable to loss of virtue, transient impressions

wood anemone – sickness, forlornness

I know you asked about posies but I got carried away because there are so many small things that work here so have them all.

Nosegays or posies are ideal if Pestilence wants to carry around actual bouquets. They are naturally small because of their parallelarrangement of the stems. The flowers are arranged head to headwithout foliage except maybe as a sleeve at the end. So keeping several on their person should be no problem

YourPestilence can also easily carry any plant around that shows signs ofnutrient deficiencies, a virus or any other type of sickness it could contract. They always show in the way they grow and howtheir leaves lock, so even if the people they hand it out to don’tknow anything about plants they can probably tell that something isnot okay with it. Other than that they could also carry simply witheredflowers.

Ihave vague memories of a story about an arrangement with witheredflowers which are generally a no-no but in their case, it was astylistic choice in line with the assignment so they got away withit. Which is to say that Pestilence could also carry smallarrangements with them that they let wither. (Creating them with liveflowers will be easier whoever makes them.)

Weddingfloristry more than often includes a miniature arrangement for thegrooms lapel matching the wedding bouquet- Boutonnières.Their size and simplicity would make them ideal to keep in your character’s pocket and they come in several types. They can be simpleor elaborate, they can look more like a pin or a mini bouquet, and Idistinctly remember decorating leaves with hot glue and tiny flowersfor this exact purpose. The ones that I madeare generally supposed to be attached with the help of magnets whereone piece is glued to back of the leaf.

Nothingfancy or science-y, but people generally seem to think any rosethat’s a bit on the darker red side is half-dead even if everythingelse speaks against it. It was part of my daily repertoire to mentionthat the outer petals of a rose are supposed to Look Like Thatbecause they once protected the inner petals and making them prettywas secondary for the rose then. I’m a fan of dark colours so Ilike the dark deep red roses, so it won’t work for every character,but probably most of them. Black roses would also work, although theydo not naturally occur if Pestilence is a tangible character in yourstory a couple black roses won’t raise any eyebrows.

– ModJana

I wanted to pop in here and give an idea that I had, inspired in part by Jana talking about how we tend to deal with plants that have viruses. Mosiac Viruses of a few different sorts are fairly common and will give interesting look to the leaves and flowers, if Pestilence were to have flowers with those.

But what this reminded me of, is Tulip Mania and the Dutch tulip market collapse in 1637. Tulip Mania inflated the price of all tulips during this time, but the most expensive ones, the ones that was really sought after, were tulips that had a tulip-specific mosiac virus that disrupted their petal color genes and made them appear striped. The mosiac virus only spreads through buds, not through seeds. New plants from seeds would be healthy, so the only way to get more of the tulips with the most desirable effect was through buds, which reduced supply. Tulips also bloom for a very short window in the Northern hemisphere, so that also reduces supply of the flowers. 

What happened in the 1630s was that florists and their wealthy patrons were willing to buy tulips for high prices, so people began to invest in the bulbs to get the economic reward from the harvest. And they started buying and selling Tulip Futures, which are tulips that don’t exist now, but the right to tulips that will exist in the future. This allowed speculation, where someone would buy the rights to a tulip in the future (or rather, some number of tulips in the future), and then would sell those rights for a higher price to someone else. This speculation lead to what many consider to be the first economic bubble. 

The bubble burst in 1637 when buyers didn’t show up to the tulip market in Haarlem. They think that this might be because of an outbreak of bubonic plague in the area. Some scholars think that the plague outbreaks around that time were part of why people were speculating in the first place, fatalism causing increased risk-taking. People ended up losing everything they had in some cases because they’d scraped and taken out loans to buy futures to speculate with.

And now we don’t even have any tulips with that virus any more. 

I’m not sure how useful this is for your story, and I realize I kind of rambled on about this one weird situation (it hits on both of my areas so it’s a really interesting thing to me). I also realize that it’s probable that most readers wouldn’t make the connection, but I think it could be interesting to use the tulips with the “tulip breaking virus” for Pestilence because of the multiple connections to pestilence. 

The tulips themselves have a virus

The bubble likely occurred due to the plague causing people to increase risk taking behaviors

The bubble collapsing because of an outbreak of the plague in a specific key area

People losing everything due to speculation 

That last one kind of shows how even when pestilence doesn’t affect someone directly, it can still end up killing and ruining lives. 

~*Mod Den*~

Disclaimer

Thisblog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods arenot responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences ofusing this advice for real world situations or in any way that saidadvice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

How can scam work with florists selling a cheap flower at a very expensive claiming that the flower is an expensive breed. Are there any common types of flowers that get used this way? I'd also need to know how to tell the difference.

Hi there,

Alright, I had to think about how to string this up because… florists don't actually do that? Not in the exact sense that you're talking about because that's incredibly counterproductive and a surefire way for their business to fail…

So why does that not work? For which we first have to look at prices and how florists calculate them. Without getting into the nitty gritty a rule of thumb is that florist take the wholesaler's price times three on average plus tax and that's about what people pay for their average flower. Sometimes it's times four and in very rare cases it's times two. Now, what happens more than often is that florists can't actually do that with all their stock because it would make at least half of it so ridiculously overpriced they would have to move into a richer neighbourhood which of course is counterproductive. So while it can be done for a good two third, the last third actually is calculated rather by the approximate about of money people will spend on the flower in this particular neighbourhood. The cut they take here is then regained by upping the price of something they bought dirt cheap but people will easily pay a little more for. Freesias are a good example for the latter. They usually cost around 20 cents a single and sell for about a Euro. And that really isn't a scam, it's just to make sure the florist either doesn't lose money or actually has some profit at the end of the day.

So do florists tweak the prices a little and maybe sell something for more than it might be worth after an honest calculation? Yeah, sure, but it's never to play somebody a fool. Flowers and especially foliage are costly and a luxury on top that's hard to store for extended periods of time. It's definitely nothing to get mad over. With roses, it's also that the price is influenced by their length and the size of their head. Which a lot of people are confused about until you tell them about it.

Another factor when it comes to prices is, as I've hinted at before, the neighbourhood, the city, the general area of where they live and sell their wares. Because guess what guys, where there's money things are sold at higher prices. Sometimes the difference may seem marginal, but other times it clearly isn't. But that also isn't to meant to scam anybody, especially not when it comes to florists who aren't paid any better than the average retail worker.

All of the above is taken into consideration by the florist when making their prices, after all, stock that doesn't sell is bad stock and sometimes a little cut is worth the while if the florist knows they will at least sell out and have the money to purchase more things their customers actually want. So to say a florist would try to scam their customers in blatantly obvious ways is immensely unlikely because it's actually really hard to convince people to buy flowers because people seldom have any knowledge about flowers. The slightest blemish will have them asking for a discount even though the flowers may be otherwise fine, and they like to buy roses that have barely opened their blossoms… and then they are confused why they don't bloom at all. In short, people got a bit weird standards for flowers in a lot of ways. Some that the plants aren't even responsible for. (If the outer layer of petals on a red rose looks slightly blackish that's fine those are protection petals they're not meant to be pretty.) So needless to say, people don't like to buy flowers that have started blooming and florists who sell them at full price are either very new or very unobservant and certainly not in the scam business. (After all that only results in customers coming back three days later and complaining, wanting a refund – nothing a florist is keen about.)

Expensive plants are usually identified by the fact that they don't grow outside your character's door commonly. Or are generally accessible in the area where they live. So for a lot of regions, those are of course exotic plants that should grow somewhere tropical but of course, this is region specific.

Not even a big company could run a chain of floristries without allowing this at least some price management in terms of marking them up or down. My store has set prices for everything set by corporate but we are allowed to tweak them. Usually, we only mark stuff down cause the things that are worth selling for a little more are few and far between. If corporate didn't allow that they would have run their business into the ground a long time ago because it would not have been worth the profit because there would have been too much waste with everything the customers wouldn't have bought.

And yeah, prices going up before Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and around Christmas and the likes is a bit of a scam because it's been so commercialised that people are willing to pay anything just to have something, but that doesn't make any good drama for a story.

So while not entirely impossible because humans sometimes mess up or do not care or do not know, it is still a very unlikely scenario and someone's probably going to get chewed out for it later. Depending on why the messed up and how the handled it, it might even be no more than a gentle reprimand but still.

Are there any questions left unanswered on your side?

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Guest Post: Low-Effort/Depression Gardening

Originally written as a reply to this post, which featured an anonymous asker with an unmotivated character that likes to daydream… and has a garden. Mod Jana wasn’t sure if that combination would work, but I have experience in that area and I’m 100% sure that it can! (Terminology won’t be too accurate, sorry. I’m an amateur, and this kind of gardening is a lot less professional than florist-level stuff and mostly by feel.)

Hey everyone! Mod Jana here. This is our very first guest post that @acosmic​  was so kind to write and plenty helpful for anyone who wants to add a low maintenance to their story. Now don’t sell yourself short dear, you did really well. It’s an excellent post!

The key to low-effort gardening is having the right plants for your area (which I can’t cover) or having “generic” plants that grow well in most areas (which I’ll recommend to the best of my ability).

Your character will want perennials instead of annuals (differences explained here). If they’re starting a garden from scratch, they’re going to want to buy established plants from a greenhouse or garden centre, or get plants from people they know. It’s instantly gratifying and lower-maintenance than planting seeds.

Very good link. Easy to read and understand. A side note since tulips are mentioned: don’t water bulb plants till they’re almost in full bloom. The purpose of a bulb which is to store water, so for the first bloom the plant’s all good and then once a week should be fine. Take care to keep the bulb dry if it shows and water around it or from below if it’s potted. Also a lot of shrubs count as perennials.

The most strenuous part of gardening for your low-effort (or spoonie!) gardener will be planting things, which they can spread out over a few days. (A tip: growing plants around the edge of the yard is visually pleasing and means you don’t need to pull much grass up in order to put the plants in.) Get vegetable seeds put in early in the season, and the other things can go in whenever. Plant flowers/shrubs from back to front - tall plants one day, medium the next, and small the day after. Weed as you go.

The downside of a low-maintenance garden is that your character won’t be able to grow florist-quality blooms or special varieties. (Think large, fragrant roses - those are often picky and need lots of fertilizer, and you have to cut them off and re-bury them deeper in the winter. Fuck, no. Too much effort. We’ll leave that to florists’ suppliers!) Their garden is probably going to be a bit messy because they won’t put in the effort to have it be meticulous.

After everything is planted, your character will need to water once every couple of days with a sprinkler for 10-20 minutes, remove dead foliage, and weed in and around the plants. That’s all! No re-planting the next year if they’re perennials, either. Just water, weeding and waiting for things to come up.

I have to cut in here, because watering is at the end of the day very much dependable on the climate, weather, planting location and whether or not a plant is properly rooted. Generally your plan should work for most climates I think, this is just in case. There are a lot of factors your character wil sometimes have no influence on which can influence how much water it’ll need. As a rule of thumb: sun and wind dry the ground and shadowy places keep it wet.

Here are some fairly standard plants, all of which I’ve grown myself in a hot/dry climate. (Brief growing details past the basics are included.)

Indicator plants:

These are the ones that your gardener character will use to remember to water the other ones. They’ll wilt when they need water, and bounce right back after. Nice! (But they’re annuals.)

Basil. Grows nicely in pots. Smaller leaves taste better, and you need to pinch off the flowers or they’ll stop producing leaves. Good in pretty much everything savoury.

Strawberries. Pick when fully grown and just eat them off the fucking plant because you’re not going to have enough to bake anything, and they’re way smaller than commercially grown strawberries. (They can be bought in hanging baskets, so you don’t need to plant them OR weed them.)

Large flowers:

Lilies. Lily plants become larger by growing new bulbs that are connected to the previous bulbs in an underground system of tubers. Your demotivated character probably won’t want to split them (“splitting” refers to cutting the plants apart, usually to move them), and will end up with lilies in clumps like this after a couple of years of growth. Upright/tiger lilies, on the other hand, grow in single stalks, don’t make clumps, and don’t spread as much or as fast. Mod Jana says: Lilies are highly poisonous to cats. If your character has one I would recommend asking google which other plants are toxic for their favourite feline. It is not something we learn as florists and my understanding is that not every vet knows either.

Irises. Like lilies in terms of growth and care (they all clump without splitting). They’re all easy to grow, even the fancy-looking ones.

Hardy roses. Emphasis on “hardy”! They’ll have smaller blooms than the roses you’d buy from a florist, and won’t be as fragrant and symmetrical. Your character will probably want a bush-type rose rather than a climbing one because climbing roses need to be tied onto the thing they’re going to climb, which is a pain. Mod Jana says: This might be because I come from a very rose friendly climate, but to my understanding all roses are hardy. At least they should be in most of the warmer and temperate climates. Hardiness is a wanted quality, and there’s no reason to breed it out, so my guess is this is more of a climate situation here in most cases than someone breeding out their hardiness.

Peonies. Deceptively frilly, but very low-maintenance after they’re established. Without much water, they won’t take planting/transplanting well - they’ll wilt and won’t produce blooms. It’ll take a couple years for them to get comfortable. (Or, have your character use fertilizer and water them well. Learn from my mistakes.) Plunk a tomato cage around them early in the season, because otherwise, they’ll flop like this. Mod Jana says: Peonies are awfully pretty but take some maintenance as cut flowers. So your character should keep them on the shrub, just in case. But maybe the neighbour knows how to keep them alive?

Smaller flowers:

Clematis. They climb. Your character can literally just leave them on the ground if they’re not up to tying them to a trellis, and they’ll grow on the ground. They’ll have lighter, smaller blooms and only get a couple feet tall if they aren’t watered often, but they’re still cute. They flower all summer, even though they’re perennials!

Pansies/Johnny-jump-ups. They’re like cute little weeds, and often pop up literally wherever. Great for filler, and pansies are edible (if grown organically!).

Brown-eyed Susans/Shasta daisies. Tall, with strong stalks - and they expand massively and you’ll end up with a ton of them after a couple of years. Great for background - put them behind your irises/daisies and let them grow along the fence line.

Bluebells (Scottish). Tiny, but hardy. In a couple years one tiny clump can grow to fill the edge of a ~6-foot berm. Good for edges and growing in rocks.

Lilacs. Fancy bushes, with fragrant flowers in spring. It takes them a couple of years to get past fence-height, so they don’t need much pruning. Good in/along fences, to add privacy.

Other fruits/veg:

Raspberries/blackberries. Blackberries are seen as weeds in the PNW. Both are prickly, get gigantic off of rainwater and sun alone, and spread like crazy unless they’re controlled (easiest done with concrete pads to block their path). Raspberries will stop producing fruit if it’s not picked, so make sure your character eats them!

Rhubarb: Needs a year to get established, and then gets giant. Very edible - try pies or crisps.

Summer squash/zucchini: Plunk the seeds in the ground and let them go. They’ll get giant (think ~12-inch squash) if you let them grow for a couple of months, but they taste better if picked small. 

Mint: I’ve grown everything on this list except this one, but it’s like a weed and needs to be held back. It’s a small-sized bush.

Re: anon’s character, the brown-eyed Susans are nice to stare at while daydreaming, and putting in the effort to grow some fancy roses would be a pretty bomb way for her to confess to her neighbour! (wink). This is all realistic information, so you could totally skew it for your character’s flower power.

I hope this is an okay response. Sorry, it got so long!

- post by acosmic

Thank you very much, dear!