#with in the sandbox to understand that and have fun in your area of the sandbox

[qkmlh]

*deep inhale* Fascinating how it’s consistently a good chunk of a certain set of fans who repeat the same benign headcanons believing them to be real and proof of canon *shuttering exhale befalling a headache* yeah yeah yeah

[revelboo]

This is a sandbox storyline- basically a story starter anyone can play off of. No set Transformers universe here so any partner or partners goes- you want to romance BW Wapinator, IDW Megatron, and TFP Ratchet? Go for it. The premise? Cybertronians trying to find a human who's a compatible match to their sparks and biofields (bit different than my normal stuff, where here, a match needs to be made to be able to bond). Due to how severely endangered their species is, the factions are cooperating even if there still is palpable tension. The agreement is to lure potential matches onto a massive cruise ship where they can interact as their holomatter avatars with their real forms stashed in the hold. Flirting, chatting up, and romancing humans they're drawn to with the intent to reveal their true forms when the cruise stops at its first and only port of call. An isolated island.

If you want to play: no minors in any context, smut is fine, dub-con/forced seduction is okay, but anything beyond that is a nope. Pick whatever characters you want from any TF continuity and carry on the storyline. You can do next/previous like I do and reference this starter if you want, but you don't have to. It's free real estate since it's a very old fic I haven't touched in forever and it probably wasn't getting touched again ever otherwise, so have fun.

Cruise ship concept inspired by Swim Away by themaskismyface on Ao3

Cybertronian Cruiselines

Squinting up at the massive ship as the sun bakes you, people move around you up the walkway alone or in small groups. And some of your doubts ease a bit seeing the ship up close, because you'd honestly assumed it was a scam of some sort. The brochure that had come with your ticket had indicated it was a fantasy cruise. That you could roleplay and romance crew members as funny as it sounds.

Rounding a corner, you run into a queue of people and the cause? The two tallest men you've ever seen. One's mostly silver hair is swept back from an almost sinister, scarred face and red eyes that have to be contacts sweep over the crowd. The other one's hair so dark a black it almost looks blue in the sunlight, his eyes startlingly bright. Yeah. You absolutely understand the backlog now. Everyone gawking at the eye candy on display. That one with the contacts, his eyes almost glow with a feral light, lips twisting in annoyance. And that duster he's wearing looks too hot for the heat, his shirt halfway unbuttoned to show an expanse of tawny skin and tucked into tight fitting jeans. His buddy's shirt stretched tight over a broad chest as he smiles and reaches to hook a finger against his tie, tugging slightly.

"Welcome to the Iacon. I'm Optimus and this is my co-captain Megatron," blue eyes says, his deep voice easily carrying over the whispers. "Please get settled so we can set sail without delay." And he's sweeping an arm to get people moving in the right direction.

Glancing at the two hunks, you follow the crowd, pulling your luggage with you. If the entire crew is that lovely? You're going to have some fun. The ramp enters into an expansive main area, and your neck cranes to try and figure out how many levels there are above you. Never seen a ship this big before. Everything gleaming gold, cream, and glass. Looking far too bourgeoise for you to set foot in or touch. And it looks like the entire cruise line crew is right here, mingling and drifting among the guests. Men and women both and there doesn't seem to be any real dress code going on that you can tell. The only way to tell the crew from the guests is the lack of luggage and the little pins they're wearing. Little colored badges that look like funny faces. And there's multiple versions it looks like. Showing what their duty is, maybe?

"I can't believe that the future of our race lies with these pathetic creatures," Megatron growls, watching the humans wander up the ramp to the ship, fingers flexing in irritation at this indignancy.

Shooting him a censoring look, Optimus watches the humans go. "The strong should protect the weak. Though, these forms do take some getting used to." Rolling his shoulders, he rubs his fingers together, playing with the sensory net and the sensations that feel as real as if it was his own servos touching.

"It's a miracle humans have survived as long as they have," Megatron mutters. No claws, no fangs. Disturbingly squishy and weak, and still very determined to murder each other from what he can tell. Shuddering slightly, he growls as more of them head their way. To come gawk at him. But after centuries of failed attempts to create a hybrid or artificial spark? Their numbers are dwindling. This is the last, best option and he despises it. And as carefully as they selected humans to invite, he can't deny the dread that maybe it won't work. That the medics and scientists got it wrong and this is all a waste of time. That Cybertronians can't be saved. Head turning, he sees Autobot and Decepticon avatars crowding the railing, leaning to watch the humans that might be their salvation with open curiosity.

Annoyed when he sees several head into the ship to greet the humans. And to get close enough to see if any of them trigger reactions to their biofields. Oblivious little organics smiling and gawking at them as they're fussed over on the pretense of getting closer. Because that's the game here. A fantasy cruise where the crew, his people, cater to the human guests' whims, trying to find a compatible partner. It's horrifying that they've sunk this low.

[osakanone]

The steel battalion controller could fix me. Some company needs to make specialty mech controllers so i dont have to spend £350 on 2003 hardware (so i can spend £350 on 2025 hardware).

Mech game Controllers: Solving the unsolvable

I have put so much time into thinking about this and you've basically asked the perfect question.

I think there are really complex and important questions that nobody really has a good robust answer to but also that nobody is really asking those big questions in the first place either, so we're stuck on this issue.

My take is I genuinely think if we want big mecha controllers we have to think about this stuff deeply and profoundly. Like, why we need them and what they're for.

So… This has been tried many times.

NOK or NextOfKin Creatives did try this.

The Mek-Fu lopped horribly, and I was absoloutely fascinated by this at the time and wanted to understand exactly why it had failed. I think we must learn from this failure, so we don't make the same mistakes again.

The lesson I took from Mek-Fu was this: it didn't take because players had nothing to use it in where it was the best fit.

What does this mean?

1) For other games in the real world, it was inferior to keyboard and mouse in games which do not simulate a vehicle. 2) The design wasn't trying to meet some sort of pre-existing need from other games. 3) Steel Battalion emulation did not exist meaningfully yet, and in turn no equivalent game existed on the PC platform which would need it.

Therefor: There was no special environment where its employment made the best sense.

It had nowhere to excel and thrive.

So where have specialty controllers existed, and thrived?

Digital Combat Sim (DCS)

Star Citizen

Euro Truck Simulator

Farming Simulator

What do they all have in common?

They all have robust modding tools for user-created content

They all have some form of social experience or multiplayer

They all are highly accessible (PC, and are controller agnostic*)

They are all sandboxes in some capacity and let users find their own fun.

No mech game which exists at time of writing meets all these terms that I know of.

So what do these controllers look like?

In the case of real vehicles, you can simply ape the real vehicle 1:1, but for fictional vehicles, something special happens -- you see people approach and try to solve the problem in many different ways.

You see, control design in any area exists to solve a problem. The Mek Fu (a response to the VT controller) was a solution looking for a problem, and no problem existed.

From this, we learn that for specialty mech controllers to exist, you first need specialty mech games. Steel Battallion is limited, because it won't run on general hardware and doesn't network or mod easily so it isn't a good fit for this because it makes the game inaccessible and limited.

Let's actually think about the SB controller for a bit:

Steel Battalion approaches its problem from the standpoint of a robot. You might not realize this but a VT or Vertical Tank intentionally controls very similarly to a tractor.

It is influenced by a real thing. I know that sounds absurd, but let me show you what a modern tractor's task control console looks like:

Yeah, not what any of us would have expected.

If you wanna be a mech pilot in 2025, go drive a tractor. I'm not kidding.

Once you're on the field, your hands aren't on the wheel, they're on this thing:

The big stick controls the course in the computer, the little one controls your tool, the many buttons toggle states (or what the little stick is currently triggering) and through these inputs you drive the tractor.

Steel Battalion is very fun, but it won't hold your attention for more than around 100 hours unless you're a real freak about tractors and just don't know it yet.

What's more, Steel Batallion isn't playable to anybody without the controller which limits how many people will be playing it and it isn't social or moddable like the successful games we talked about earlier.

Okay, so what can we do about this?

I think the one feature here that nobody talks about is that of input-agnosticism: The ability to bind your own inputs to something in the game (directly or indirectly through some middle thing) and get good results… But not in some hugely "okay bind 100 things using our controller, or use a keyboard and mouse" binary.

The binary is still not input-agnosticism, and it still will not work.

It has to be granular.

Input agnosticism results in controller agnosticism:

You can bind as much or as little as you want, and you can pass features you don't want to bind directly to a helper subsystem middle-man like an assistant or instructor which will perform limited tasks for you - while you provide the helpers context by telling them which of a limited set of goals you want to achieve.

Say, face a target, or a direction, or aim at a thing. It saves you mental time, though if you did it manually you might get better results (incentivising you towards experimenting in that direction).

Let's touch on why controller agnostic design is really what's needed here, and why its important:

This is the omnithrottle, and and this is the Sublight Dynamics 6dof joystick.

The Omnithrottle tries to solve 6dof throttle management by adding an extra piece to a joystick at the bottom, turning the yaw z-axis-twist of the stick into a sort of vertical axis for direct up and down movement, ascending and descending.

The Sublight Dynamics 6dof joystick combines all six axis into a single device, and is an interesting experiment. I particularly like the puck switches ahead of the user's fingers, inspired likely by Evangelion which in turn was inspired by Sol Bianca's use of them.

We got great lessons in human factors for space dogfighting from both:

The omnithrottle produces huge fatigue if you use it in coupled mode (software assisted flight), because you have to hold the joystick base forward, fighting the springs. This is fine in decoupled mode (where you coast under newtonian force) but not everybody uses it. Likewise, if you remove that spring, you lose fine movement because you can no longer feel where the middle is anymore.

The SD6DOF creates a conflict in Fitt's law (speed and precision are enemies of each-other, and to get both you need a tool in the middle to help you) where some precision is lost due to the same muscles needing to drive more axis at once.

These are both many years old now, and over time we've seen many many solutions to this problem flop.

Well, VKB announced the Space Throttle Grip a few days ago, which rethinks the distribution of axis and combines the best features of both.

The key thing is, this is an evolutionary space with competing ideas. A healthy ecosystem.

And its only possible because the game's inputs are controller agnostic.

This doesn't just mean that it'll let you bind any input device directly to things, but that there are multiple ways to achieve your desired outcomes even on the software side with the helper middleman we talked about (in this case, coupling modes).

Does your machine turn to face an arbitrary vector which is the thing you actually steer or select (Warthunder)? Do you have direct input control? Do you haven an autopilot?

Here's a lecture by F22 Raptor test-pilot Randy Gordon talking about some of this stuff, giving you a frame of reference with a real vehicle which exists.

When you can pick between those goals them, you have what's called "a software" in human factors. Your two grips become arbitrary and are now called inceptors.

The software drives the machine, and you drive the software. You can override the software and provide a manual input, but the other elements you are not overriding will try to compensate to maintain a desired state. If you know how to manipulate this, it means you only need a small number of axis to achieve a very complex control action.

A great example is how long you hold the A-button in Mario changes how much power his jump has. The action is a versatile verb.

Imagine a person balancing. If their goal is to stay upright, and I push them, they translate across the ground and try to stay the right way up, turning that push force into horizontal force. They are following an instruction: remain upright.

If I make that person carry a very heavy thing, they compensate their body's balance accordingly. If I then use my finger and tell them to act as if I am pushing them with that gentle motion, they will respond but if they go too far they can say "hey, don't do that, I'll drop the heavy thing!" and ignore my pushing instruction -- because my directive telling them to remain upright superseded it.

We need to think of mecha in terms like these, and to do mecha, we need to make a standard of accessible rules like this which input devices can talk to via axis and buttons, with lots of middlemen.

Absolute (mouse-like) and relative (stick like) and accumiulated (driving a mouse with a stick by having a variable over time) and blended (driving a car with a d-pad with a simulated wheel that wants to return to zero all the time, replicating a stick) inputs must be middle-modes processing and digesting inputs in these ways. Curves matter. Biases and preferences must be accounted for.

This means finally solving "how" the giant robot works in software (even if its a design conceit), and then having systems which poke at the "how" to bias it in a direction toward an outcome.

My favourite version of this is a deliberately clumsy mech-game called Robot Alchemic Drive (RAD for short).

Playable on a regular PS2 controller, the triggers and bumpers drive the legs like a tank. The sticks drive the arms.

The robot's body has physics. You are controlling a thing.

There are no helpers to correct your motions other than when the robot stands up and to keep it upright (its otherwise 100% manual, playing back motion planning which gets fed into the physics) but yes, there is a simulated body here.

With helpers, this could get faster and way, way more fluent.

So how might these "helpers" in software work?

Think for example of how a body in motion continues to move. With a robot in a vacuum like space, you'd continue indefinitely. That's hard to control.

Do you automatically slow down and fake aerodynamic drag axially with your boosters to allow curved trajectories and soft stopping with a motion-control-decoupling-mode (as Star Citizen does), or do you have a breaking system a user can activate on a pedal or trigger, to apply those forces on different axis when they want them?

What are those axis bound to, the pelvis, the thorax, the head, the synthetic vision 3rd person camera?

These are really complicated questions, and this is just about how we make a vehicle come to a stop!

Now this might seem niche, but this exact same kind of thought also applies to how a robot balances, and how it digs its feet into the ground, creating torque or not situationally.

This isn't just fine grained motion like "moving our legs manually", but how and when we apply breaking force on the ground.

Do we apply it when we let go of the left stick?

Does the left stick prescribe a preferred velocity?

Does it prescribe input forces?

Do we change between these situationally, or maybe with a button?

Its important to think about these things.

"You're making this too complex!!"

"But why would we do this? What is the value? People are playing Armored Core 6 with a HOTAS!!"

Yeah, and that experience is not great, actually?

You're actually less capable than a keyboard and mouse-player, because Armored Core 6 isn't a game which simulates orientation over time (the body turns instantly as if by magic), so you're just driving relative inputs. You are literally disadvantaged.

Armored Core 6 has no "vehicle": This is an action-game's 3rd person control software. Its Elden Ring's horse, with a jetpack, and the roll replaced with a dash. Everything else is animations.

Its visually impressive, but there's something fundamentally missing:

Fahrvergnügen.

It means "driving pleasure" in German.

The feeling you get when you speed up going down hill, or you feel the give of the wheels against the road and the lean of the car when you take a corner.

When you bank against air in an aircraft, or turn faster than your velocity changes and you drift.

That good feeling, that's fahrvergnügen.

A game which really gets this I think is Armored Core: For Answer. I know many of you might have expected Mechwarrior here but the physics of Mechwarrior games are extremely simple, following an interpolative model.

Interpolative here means, a bit of calculus is used to ensure a smooth arching curve is how you go from zero to a high speed at all times, or a rotation, so on and so forth. This "smoothness" is the same smoothness present in Armored Core 6.

Armored Core For Answer on the other hand, is additive in how it calculates velocity per second, meaning your AC's velocity curve is inconsistent. The game has hidden stats calculating aerodynamic drag per part, it has a simplified model of angular momentum, and it has ground friction and its boosting system is different on each axis.

All of your inputs are analogue, including the angle of your boosters on left stick, and two booster-types: Your main booster handling like a motor-cycle throttle curve, and the other not only having many stages of output for flashes of thrust via contexts (combining motion and direction together to produce an intent) but also combos and even cancels. Its VERY sophisticated!

That's a lot of different factors to control. A lot of fahrvergnügen to be experienced when you master them, and feel ownership of them.

Lots of areas for skill expression.

This, combined with a rich weapon balance and a complex combat geometry (the emergent spatial and pressure rules of motion, aspects, angles and motions similar to the aircraft dogfighting) are why people are still playing this game today.

The match I uploaded was from four days ago, as of time of writing. People are still modding a game from 2008, limited to console by hacking the rom file's patches. Yeah.

I know among many game reviewers, "smooth" and "smoothness" is considered a compliment in game design (its easy to control), but interpolative motion really is the opposite of fahrvergnügen:

Interpolative suffers from feeling "zippy" and "hollow" when its fast, which is why lots of players and designers insist on slowing games down so they recover their fahrvergnügen.

You don't have to do things this way. A good mech sandbox should reward both fast and slow movement in its design!

There should be room for everybody to play!

In interpolative movement games, motion is already solved, to sell you the superficial power-fantasy (that you're good, despite not having learned how to be good) instead of giving you the experience.

Interpolation is insisting the burger you got at McDonalds is the same as the burger on the commercial. Like the burger at McDonalds, its also way way easier to make, and in today's market yeah, you take what's easy and known because you have economic pressures to get things done quickly.

You can't make a five star meal in a McDonalds kitchen, and the AAA games industry is the McDonalds kitchen of gaming.

So, what is a three star michelin meal, in terms of inputs, with additive movement?

You incentivise people with the cheaper stuff on the menu. That's robust helper tools which let keyboard and mouse players, or gamepads interact fluently.

Its affordable, and easy and gets people invested in your experience.

Then when people use fancy controllers, you get better response-rate. Because everybody buys into the mecha fantasy when they play, being beaten by someone who is controlling more complex control factors more directly at once (making them a better pilot) feels fairer.

They are negotiating the machine's limits better than you are.

You both know they more "an char" than you are:

It becomes aspirational, rather than annoying, which is how the culture of space-simming, and flight-sims, and other vehicle sims express this. It also fits the mecha fantasy, because those with basic controls are your grunt units.

We see this if we look at cockpit controls in Gundam: A Jegan's control inceptor is way simpler than say, Unicorn's.

It is just part of the fantasy.

So let's talk about these limits we negotiate.

It means, some kind of vehicle must be simulated in software, even if its a very simple abstraction purely enough so it feels good for players.

Also, I say "a software" or "helpers" what do I mean?

I don't just mean the simulated vehicle, but a robust modular middle system in the "player controller" part of the game simulation which interprets desired outcomes from a pilot user or operator and tries to achieve them.

Here's an example, let's talk about Armored Core's lockon system, which uses a software stack to turn your intention into an outcome in exactly this way.

Your robot's simulated sensors (radar, visual, etc) detects a list of potential targets…

Which uses camera orientation of a synthetic vision system to give you comprehensive 3d awareness to determine which target is interesting to you…

After selecting the target, it passes that information to the fire control system which computes a trajectory from its position and velocity…

This then talks to your weapons which know how fast your bullets go…

and this picks where to lead along that trajectory…

then that location is sent to the arms to execute that command…

Which then sends the state of this command chain to your HUD, so you understand what the body of your robot is currently trying to achieve.

Each step is influenced by ingame statistics and simulated mechanical limits -- meaning, how well you can lock up, or even select a target is very important.

You can't instantly put a cursor on something and bot a game, because everybody already has a deliberately limited aimbot, it came with your robot, to negotiate its deliberately limited body.

The key thing is, this is much much faster and more effective than you could as a human select the target manually and hit accurate than you could with round velocities -- with most videogames hiding this with hitscan (instantaneous bullet) weapons meaning whatever you click on is hit right away.

When the round takes time to get there, things are far more difficult. This is why almost nobody uses manual aiming unless they're throwing explosives at big bulky targets in AC.

From limitations like this, booster performance, turn-rate, and so on and so forth -- the negotiation of limits produces a combat geometry and how well you understand that combat geometry, and how well you understand your abilities to your opponents abilities dictates how the fight will go.

We see something somewhat similar in Steel Batallion with the lockon system but we also have a lot of deep manual control over our VT's orientations which change its balance and so on. Steel Batallion is in fact, one of the few games where your robot can fall over and get back up.

This is exactly how DCS and Star Citizen also work, and very similar principles apply in Eurotruck Simulator and Farming Simulator via the fuel, cooling, air, combustion cycle, and transmission, and shock absorbsion systems of your vehicle.

Okay, so now what?

I've been thinking for a while now about writing what I think would be the mech-game equivalent of the paper Tim Berners Lee wrote for the web (Information Management: A proposal) going into what I think the simulation would really need, what the software would need, what the controller would need and some suggested practical strategies for solving these problems based in real research I and others have done.

The system I've already built solves for fire control, fine arm motion, head movement, independent pelvis and foot motion, the operation of boosters and other similar systems in a 6dof environment which accounts for gravity, aerodynamics, balancing, alignment and full motion control -- all on a standard game controller. Its not modular yet, simply because I am not a skilled programmer, and would need real help to do this.

There's also game-design research here, which would ensure the combat geometry would reward skill expression via investing in that agnostic game design, so the control skill aligns with the power-fantasy through skill expression. This means no one strategy becomes overwhelming.

It likewise, also has the "for gamepad and keyboard/mouse" solve which would be needed to ensure its accessible for those who aren't ready yet for custom controllers.

In turn, it also has considerations and proposals for such likely controller designs and probable strategies of employment which of course translate and map to two big sticks, in a HOSAS (Hands on Stick and Stick) layout.

So what's your ideal controller?

Less a controller, and more a principle:

Key to the proposal is you can scale up the amount of control bindings, or scale it down passing automation to helper subsystems which take your intention and act on it in a useful way.

You could have just two plain sticks with foot pedals, or you could go ham and have some complex force feedback device with tons of inputs -- because of this input agnosticism.

The secret sauce I think to the highest end control is the use of software defined force-feedback not only for the two big sticks, but also four smaller ones: one each for your thumb, and one each for your finger on each hand, and an analogue trigger. I've seen this solved in open source projects, so its entirely doable.

What does this actually mean?

Source: KAIST-HCIL/FS-Pad

The purpose of a force-feedback stick is software defined -- driving the camera, pelvis, upper body, boosters, walking etc variably, with the feedback not necessarily telling you about the environment -- but also by providing what amounts to new input devices.

To explain, force feedback works by providing input to the stick like a robot arm and is not at all like a rumble feedback device. This means the position the stick "wants to return to" at any given time is not defined by springs like it is in a conventional controller, but by active software which can update in real-time.

This means resistance can be different in different directions, or the stick can even hold a position you give it in one axis but not another, replicating a hat switch or a flight throttle.

I've looked at many different open source projects which achieve these outcomes both on thumb-sticks and main sticks with great outcomes, and I think a prototype could be made if I had a team, or other people to work with.

If interest is expressed, I'll produce a specification proposal for what this input agnostic design in software needs to be (eg, how the robot is controlling) in strictly defined terms which can be implemented.

You can already see it on my Tumblr account as TOMINO, NAGANO, etc where I go into some of this -- all of which works on a standard controller, but adapts extremely well to a large HOSAS.

Likewise, I'd (eventually) also produce a proposal for a controller design which meets this specification.

I've been testing this concept on and off for many years now in Unreal Engine (I'm not a skilled programmer, not skilled with CAD or electronics, depression limits my effective outcome returns -- but I'm still getting very promising outcomes).

Ultimately what I'd really want access to is expertise and help, since my background is mainly thinking about and designing solutions for problems not necessarily implementing them -- and I'm essentially on disability, so I have unlimited time to think about this.

I don't want to ask for money, which I figure is the thing everybody is anticipating: I'd rather get this done than make money from it.

In conclusion?

To solve this what's needed isn't some figure of brilliance in a basement or garage somewhere, but an organic ecosystem of designers and builders responding to pressures, and we've already see that work many times very well.

In our case, nobody has defined the vehicle or the modular helpers in a way robust enough to capture every fantasy effectively.

That's the issue.

tl;dr coming away from this:

For the controller to exist, you first must have something to control.

To be a pilot, you first need a vehicle.

--

Live forever, Apes.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Hey hello

I just read the new chapter and oh boy I've been almost crying in more than one moment lmao

Tomura discovering his sexuality and sexual preferences was cute somehow, him biting the bullet and agreeing to sub for Aki hurt me much more than how you probably intended lol

And him fucking up everything with Dabi was *chef kiss* because he's still young and he's still human, so it's almost expected that he can't know everything and can't always be spot on

And Dabi. Dabi. Aaaaaah my baby, he was just Trying His Best™, trying to keep himself together and Shouto safe and allow them to live in the most dignitose way possible with what little he could make. Self sacrificing idiot indeed, I love him so much and I love how he cares for his little brother -maybe it hits the spot because I'm an elder sister too, so I can relate, I don't know, it's just Good.-

AND GIRAN, so worried for his adopted brats wellbeing. I love him too lmao he's one of my favourite characters and I've never found until now fics with him written enough to be relevant to the plot if that makes sense

(On a side note, another thing that I love about your stories in general is how the ocs are always the same lmao

I mean, different settings, different dynamics, different plot, but we always find Simon. And now we find Aki, and i love It lol every time I find somebody I know I'm like OH HELLO YOU HERE TOO and it makes my day)

Bwahaha, EXCELLENT! Oh I had so much fun with Tomura thinking that he knew everything and could handle anything and then getting absolutely knocked on his ass when faced with the genuine emotions of someone he's been using and having to see how that hurt Dabi 💕 oh boy was it nice to just see him fucking things up so badly! And I definitely had fun with him discovering his sexuality, thinking he's in control, and not really understanding how fucked up the situation really is 🥰 maybe he'll deal with that at some point or maybe he'll just lose his mind when he finds out that Dabi is not just a virgin, but still hasn't even kissed anyone in all the time they've known each other.

And I definitely did just Put Dabi Through It in this chapter. Poor boy, he just wants to make things better and keep his brother alive. He's fucking trying and standing up to Shigaraki and getting torn down by Shoto was definitely a step that he needed to take even though it sucked the whole time for him. Hopefully he'll do better in the future!

I'm glad that you're enjoying Giran and my stock of extras! I like running with the canon that elements like specific locations and characters exist in all of my stories! In addition to Aki, Iha, for instance, is a character who showed up for one scene in Instinctive, and the safehouse from Gray Area is the same one that the League ended up in at the end of A Cat By Any Other Name! It's not necessary to have an encyclopedic knowledge of any of this stuff, but I think it's a fun way to flesh out the general world that I use as a sandbox for my writing!

Thanks so much for commenting!

[cursezoroark]

( waves) just woke up back read a lil and yeah. Once you finish the rebornverse games,there's still a sudden feeling of being stuck, especially with ocs. For me it helps that I have discord friends who bounce off ideas and plots for said ocs, and I'm literally reworking most of my ocs as we speak......but once that's done it's gonna be like " well now what" lol. What I'm trying to say is that I get the fear - and I can certainly say you fit :)

As for potential advice uuuuuuuuh. Well outside of my own methods, playing more fangames may help? Shifting attention to another separate thing might make you become more fueled for the main thing you wanna focus on( rebornverse). Put ur ocs in different aus for funsies ( not all have to be pokemon related). I literally have a whole separate sub with Imani just being a kid and Devil ( I don't think I ever explained him. Don't worry about it) being her parent bc she never got a good parental figure in her youth in canon, and I'm a sucker for big scary assholes getting incredibly soft for their kids. It's purely self indulgent and the sweetest of fluff but it preoccupies my mind a lot. Maybe u can find an au like that too?

....and that's all I can think of right now, lol. I swear I felt I had more advice, but weh. Here's to hoping you feel a little better though! I love your ocs and your work and I hope this big ass ask makes you feel a lil better :) - R

(Waves) It’s very very sweet for u to send anything at all thank u. :] I’m v happy for u, im glad u got your oc roots going with lots of ppl thats Amazing rlly!!

I have played other fangames! A secondary favorite has been Ashen Frost because Holy Shit what a good story and characters. Highly recommend. I think though rebornverse has like. Rlllly good battle systems that makes me like it the very most and is a very driving factor as to why I like them so much. makes me rethinking my base knowledge completely and has enough sandboxing for me to come up with creative teams. The difficulty hits a very niche sweet spot in my pokemon brain. But it isn’t a whole revamp and it doesn’t feel foreign to the concept of Pokemon itself. I’ve played Flux which I’m patiently waiting for because Woah. I have considered Xenoverse but I’ve seen walkthroughs enough to know it’s Not for me. (Though I know why ppl like it!)

As for AUs, I do have one! Only for Mona rlly which is what I Just made Up like 2 hours ago of them being recruited into Team Xen. but for aus to be not Pokemon related it hurts me just a bit cause Pokemon has been the Pinnacle of my creative life (though I have many other interests! Just not. AU worthy for me? Not enough headworms. I also have my timeskip Mercury to work with, and have my Rebornverse Trio Post-game adventure (they go missing for like a good chunk of months to the panic of Everyone) I am rather self indulgent in my ocs in terms of tropes I’m a sucker for as well I fully understand (I don’t know if u can tell but Mona is literally one of my favorite tropes ever by Existing) (like. Hi Kurusu Akira Persona 5r Third Semester Arc lmaoo)

If I were to elaborate on my laments, I always just feel uneasy drifting from the original. But I do agree AUs are Fun and I will indulge them as much as they interest me. the fear of mischaracterizing will always haunt me though I’ve got to learn to accept that it’s Probably Gonna Happen. But I also just love the canon material and want to try expanding on areas if I can find any. TBH this is probably the most fandom invested I’ve been since 2020 (if u can guess which I’ll laugh) where I went art crazy. And of course faced some endeavors because it was 2020 so. Hm. All others were oc murmurs or observations, I’ve never participated in a fandom This much in a long time.

Off topic aside, I’m very grateful for any advice on my rant, I felt better after posting and doodling some random stuff and I feel even better with very kind words. Thank u :] I will just do what I do until I don’t feel like to. I will love these ocs as much as I possibly could! And hopefully show more works of them. I’ve got two comic wips that I’m procrastinating on because I Hate Lineart. So. Hopefully I don’t give up on them :]

[arsenicflame]

✨, 🎥, 💕, and 🏳️‍🌈 for OFMD and Madoka?

ahhh Iz! so many, thank you so muchhhhh

✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

for OFMD: i love the characters!!!!!! all of themmmm. their dynamics are probably the most interesting thing for me. i also love the setting & playing around with more serious sailing stuff, and also into the areas that make this group special. i think fundamentally, the show is such a good sandbox to play around with, what could happen, why, etc etc. i love adding little pockets of lore (i think this is why im so drawn to Sam Bellamy stuff, its adding more to the universe & to izzy and layers of depth that werent there before, even if hes completely part of the past). especially after s1 and kraken era speculation, it was all the what ifs and maybes that drew me in.

for PMMM: this is a hard one! i first watched madoka back when it came out in 2011 so its really hard for me to imagine a life where its not important to me. i think the thing for me about madoka magica, is that its about hope. it so often gets sold as a dark magical girl anime, but at its core, madoka is about looking despair in the face, and choosing hope anyway. its about finding a way through even when it seems impossible. ive always been drawn to that. and the interpersonal dynamics- im big into the different story manga, which adds so much depth to kyoko & mamis characters & their relationships.

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

for OFMD: ive already mentioned one, so again, that, but a second one: the new unicorn scene. its both the complete opposite to the other, and its twin, and it means so much to me. its really first time we see izzy released from his duties, as first mate, to ed, this is just izzy. and its the first time we properly see him accepted by the crew. i dont really know how to put into words what this scene means to me, but i think you understand anyway. i cried. thats my fucking boy!!!!!!!!!!

for PMMM: i think most of my favourite scenes are from the manga (again, TDS fan) but out of the anime, i think its probably the fight against Elsa Maria- its stylised in a gorgeous way, the animation and movement is artistic and gorgeous. and, its the first moment where you really start to feel dread. the first moment you realise that something awful is coming. its beautiful artistically and narratively

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

for OFMD: skipping right over the obvious, because ive dedicated my life to the fuckin guy, archie!!!!!!! my sweet love!!!! urgh shes ao delightful, one of the best things to come out of season 2 forreal. i dont think theres a single scene with archie i dont like, i love her stupid little quips and her pragmatism about everything. thats just the way things go, we fight to the death. pointing out that the guys on top do get away with it. idk, theres just not a single thing i dont love. its also so nice to introduce someone not of the revenge mindset, but also not as messed up over things as fang & izzy. she just fills her role perfectly. so fun to see a "normal" pirate. i love her i would do anything for her

for PMMM: i am, in my heart of hearts, a kyoko girly. my first love, the original. i think loving kyoko set me on the path to love izzy too. shes the underdog, she comes in as the villain of the story, till you start to dig into her character and understand why she feels the way she does about things. even if you disagree, its a different perspective on her. shes teeth and claws and knows nothing but fighting to survive. i love her backstory and her attitude to the truth of their life, and i love her stupid little quips. yes girl it is reasonable to break a guys legs to get him to date

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

for OFMD: as i said earlier, im pretty flexible on most headcanons, usually working whichever fits in to the particular idea im thinking about, but trans izzy is pretty consistently up there. its one of those things that i think adds a lot of flavour to his actions in canon, and also adds backstory to him and why he might be who we meet in canon in the first place. also making characters trans fucks and should always be done 👍

for PMMM: everyone is gay. including hitomi. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

media hyperfixation ask game!

[macgyvertape]

Thoughts on Season of the Wish

Its funny that Mara has now been the focus of 2 extended seasons. Overall I love how this expansion year has had a lot of female antagonists, and conflicts between characters who are against the Witness but not allies like Mara vs Riven, Eris vs Savathun.

Also Bungie has really been able to iterate successfully with randomized maps and enemies in seasonal activities. Its fun to have modes where abilities or weapons are boosted like Asha’s Gifts, the Arcana Cards, and buying things from Riven it can really let niche or non meta builds shine.  Gameplay:

Is Mara’s outfit more shimmery this season or is it just my better graphics card? It really is a good design for space royalty

Understandably the devs wanted to get their full use of the Riven’s paths, but between appearing in the story missions, Riven’s Lair activities, and The Coil I was tired of running them by the season end. I’m not sure if it was a limitation of how randomized areas worked, but it was annoying to have one extra connecting hallway and portal from the start to the first combat area. 

The Coil once scoring was buffed was a very fun activity, Riven’s Lair however didn’t seem to have rewards worth it until Bungie started the daily red borders from activities. Frustrating however that the reprised Undying weapons weren’t included in the red border buff. 

The Guardian Games skimmer has been so much fun to use, especially how it can cross gaps or height differences that are meant to block sparrows, shame that getting it was obviously set as a player engagement grind; watch twitch a lot, be lucky with your personal schedule for focus activities to compensate for bugs, or compete with the streamer try hards for top 10%. 

I noted in this season the other player engagement metrics; “please login each week” with the free bright dust but the 20% silver sale popup felt much more predatory, especially how there still isn’t a silver package that directly matches the silver price of one season.

Blind Well got a buff in difficulty which is understandable since the power sandbox has changed. However I wish the Ada bounty would be reworked to compensate, since it's not worth the time spent.

Never thought I’d say it but had a great time with the Crucible seasonal challenge. I haven’t touched mayhem in a while but running arc staff hunter, Shinobu’s vow exotic, and demolitionist perk Mountaintop led to some really great combo loops. 

I enjoyed Onslaught a lot, however I wish instead of a short playlist mode that isn’t rewarding, there was a 30 minute based mode since an hour for a full run is a big time commitment. No wonder 2 rounds in Legendary then leave became so popular as being most value for time vs reward.

The Archie quest was cute and a lot of fun, nice to go back to older areas for hide and seek. 

I thought Pantheon was fun and I hope a version of it comes back since sadly I didn’t do more than week 2 due to time constrictions and trouble finding a group. I’d love to play through the 2 Rhulks especially at a less than -20 power difference. 

Plot

I love summoning Riven ended in a dramatic “I refuse”. Sloane and Ahsa's storyline was about trusting someone’s good intentions, this season was about a “bargain not based on trust” just the mutually assured consequences of breaking it

Really like the song that plays in boss fights in the Coil as a remix of Forsaken tracks. I hope it appears on the Destiny Music archive eventually since this season didn’t have a soundtrack released

I can’t believe after all that hype we don’t even get to see a Harbringer

“I yearn for you to stop talking” IMO Crow is at his most enjoyable when he has a bit of fight to his comebacks. This really is the season of re-evaluate my feelings on Crow, where I really disliked him in season of the Risen and have overall been bored by him since he got his memories back. 

Riven imitating Shaxx and then threatening to imitate Sjur was really mean, and really funny direct nod at the Shaxx/Mara fanon. I really enjoyed the mutual antagonism this season between Riven vs Mara, Crow, and Petra. Really curious how bad Riven would twist the wish of the Dreaming City safe that she dares them to make

Hearing the Oracles in the one mission was startling enough to gimme flashbacks to hours spent in VoG. It's an unsettling tone, though musically I’m not sure why, or if its just that my raid role was oracle spotter.

The “can only send 1 person reveal” sparked such a fun fight between Mara and Riven that it made it my 2nd favorite season this year. I really have missed the story element of people on the same side being antagonistic towards each other

“You and I will see where the river flows” Riven has been the most interesting character this season, and this has been my favorite Mara character writing since her brief appearance in Forsasken. It felt like a good final send off for Riven, with the slight possibility that she could come back if there was an interesting enough story reason

Lmao Crow Mara special twin bond magic, and he says it was his purpose. I dislike this being his Destiny (pun intended) or that any of the Sovs have a fated path vs making their own choices.

“I’m tired Mara I’m ready for what comes next. It's ok to admit you are too”. Osiris was a side character this season but I really like his character arc about being excited there might be a resolution, an end in sight. Hope that works out for him

Its a big contrast to Petra who starts the season worn down by the curse in the dreaming city and fighting an unwinnable war, and ends the season saying that her focus has to be on her people in the future, with the implication the attacks by the Vex will be The Final Straw (pun intended)

Awwwwwwwwww I feel so sad finishing the story and getting [defeaning silence] when doing The Coil. I then stopped doing seasonal activities in that character and didn’t finish the story in the others

Lmao Crow hammer firing Hawkmoon then using melee recharge dodge when no enemies were around. His ass is not proccing Paracausal shot (there’s a reason I deleted Hawkmoon and don’t use it)

Interesting that during the Crow vs Cayde standoff “Thin Line” which is Uldren’s leitmotif doesn’t play. It did of course play when Uldren shot Cayde but also when Zavala discovered who Crow was. I feel like Crow shooting Cayde has been covered exhaustively so I hope that isn’t a major point of The Final Shape. 

Also I’ve been saying Rheasilvia wrong. Rey-a-silvia. I’ve also been pronouncing Jolyon wrong all these years

[malgoinsights02]

Quick Tips for Using Hamster Kombat Clone Software Like a Pro

In the world of gaming, software clones can be a double-edged sword. While they offer a fun, familiar experience, mastering the game mechanics can be tricky without the right knowledge. If you're a fan of Hamster Kombat Clone Software and looking to take your gameplay to the next level, you’ve come to the right place. Below are some quick, pro-level tips to help you outshine your opponents, level up faster, and maximize your experience.

1. Master the Controls

Before diving into intense battles, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the game’s controls. It may seem obvious, but understanding the basic mechanics allows you to react swiftly and efficiently in fast-paced situations. Use the training mode or a sandbox feature if available to practice different combos and moves until they feel second nature.

2. Optimize Your Settings

Every gamer has their preferences, so make sure you adjust the game settings for optimal performance. Whether it’s adjusting the screen resolution, fine-tuning the control sensitivity, or modifying the audio to reduce distractions, setting up your game environment can significantly improve your focus and gameplay.

3. Understand Your Hamster’s Abilities

Each hamster in Hamster Kombat Clone Software has unique abilities. To truly excel, you must take the time to understand how to leverage your character’s strengths and minimize weaknesses. Focus on mastering their special moves and combos to get the upper hand in battles.

4. Utilize Power-Ups Wisely

One of the most exciting features of the game is the availability of power-ups. However, using them at the right moment is key. Don’t waste power-ups on small skirmishes. Instead, save them for critical moments when you’re in danger or during intense face-offs with tougher opponents. Timing is everything!

5. Know the Map

Hamster Kombat isn’t just about being fast; it’s about being strategic. Take time to learn the game’s maps. Familiarizing yourself with each area allows you to plan your moves better, identify power-up locations, and avoid traps or hazards. Knowing the terrain gives you a huge advantage during battle.

6. Play with a Team

If you’re playing the multiplayer mode, forming a strong team is essential. Communication and collaboration are key to success. Work together with your teammates to strategize, control areas of the map, and create distractions that give you the edge over your opponents.

7. Stay Calm Under Pressure

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when the action heats up, but the key to playing like a pro is maintaining a level head. Don’t panic when you’re about to lose a match—take a deep breath and focus on your next move. Staying calm lets you think clearly and make better decisions.

8. Practice, Practice, Practice

Like any other game, practice is essential to mastering Hamster Kombat Clone Software. Don’t expect to become a pro overnight. The more you play, the more you’ll understand the nuances of the game, and the faster you’ll improve your skills. Consistency is key!

9. Join Online Communities

If you’re serious about taking your gameplay to the next level, joining online forums or gaming communities is a great way to gain insights, strategies, and tips from other players. You can learn from others’ experiences, get tips on new updates, and share your own insights.

10. Stay Updated with the Latest Patches

Game developers frequently release updates and patches that fix bugs or introduce new features. To stay competitive, make sure you’re playing the latest version of the software. Keeping your game updated ensures you have access to the latest tools and enhancements, giving you an advantage over others who aren’t up-to-date.

Ready to Play Like a Pro?

Now that you’ve learned these quick tips for mastering Hamster Kombat Clone Software, it’s time to put them into practice! Start training, refine your skills, and soon you’ll be the one dominating the leaderboard.

Don’t forget to share your progress with us and fellow players in the comments below, and subscribe to our blog for more gaming tips and strategies! Keep leveling up—your pro-level gameplay awaits!

Call/Whatsapp: +91 8778074071

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Email: info@malgotechnologies.com

[shalu620]

Python Playground: Where Coding Becomes Child's Play

The world of coding can feel like a sprawling jungle, filled with tangled syntax and intimidating tools. But fear not, aspiring programmers! Python emerges as your friendly neighborhood jungle gym, offering a fun and accessible way to learn and build incredible things. With the helpful assistance of Learn Python Course in Hyderabad, studying Python becomes lot more exciting — regardless of whether you’re a beginner or moving from another programming language.

This guide swings you through the many reasons why Python is the perfect language for beginners and seasoned developers alike.

Monkey Bars of Ease: A Beginner's Paradise

Unlike some coding languages that resemble ancient hieroglyphics, Python speaks in plain English. This makes it the perfect monkey bar set for beginners to grasp the fundamentals of coding. Imagine learning the ropes (or lines of code) in a language that feels familiar and intuitive. With Python, you'll be swinging through basic concepts in no time, ready to tackle more complex challenges.

Slide Down to Versatility: One Language, Endless Possibilities

Python isn't just a single slide in the coding playground – it's a whole multi-level structure! This versatile language excels in a variety of areas, from web development to data science. Imagine building stunning websites, analyzing mountains of data, or even creating programs with artificial intelligence – all with Python as your trusty tool.

Sandbox of Support: A Community to Help You Build

The Python playground isn't just about solitary play. It boasts a thriving community that acts like a giant sandbox of support. Online forums, tutorials, and open-source projects offer opportunities to collaborate, share knowledge, and build sandcastles (or code!) together. Whether you need help navigating a tricky problem or want to contribute your own skills, the Python community is always there to lend a hand (or a shovel).

People can better understand Python’s complexity and reach its full potential by enrolling in the Best Python Certification Online.

Treasure Hunt for Skills: Unlocking Career Opportunities

Mastering Python isn't just about having fun on the playground – it can unlock a treasure trove of career opportunities. As one of the most in-demand programming languages, Python skills are highly sought-after by companies across various sectors. Imagine becoming a software developer, data scientist, or even a cybersecurity analyst – all thanks to your expertise in Python.

Take the Leap: Embrace the Python Playground

Learning Python offers a world of possibilities for those seeking to explore the exciting realm of coding. Its accessibility, versatility, supportive community, and promising career prospects make it a valuable tool for anyone venturing into the digital world. So, grab your metaphorical jungle gym pass and take the leap into the Python playground. It's time to unleash your inner coder and build something amazing!

[playtecequipment]

5 Ways Playground Activities Foster Social Skills and Friendship Among Children

A commercial indoor playground has been one of the havens of kids because it is where they can do whatever they want and talk to their fellow kids. This place is just more than a playing space for them, it is also a place where they can foster their social skills and create friendships with others. If you are a parent, first time or not, you must know that letting your child in the playground can give them numerous learning opportunities. Here are some good examples:

Shared Play Equipment

Every kid who will visit the playground will have to use the equipment for sharing. There is no specific playing area for each of them, so sharing everything they see is needed. With these shared play equipment, they can conduct collaborative play that starts with effective communication. No matter the age, if they want to use something, they will be vocal enough to say it. This social skill will help them while growing up, knowing that they will encounter different people wherever they go. Socialising will not be an issue, and they are more confident to be with other kids.

Imaginative Play Zones

The playground can make your kids imagine things in a good and positive way. It is how they make the place more fun and exciting to be in. Their imagination will be their tool to perform role-playing activities that could enhance their thinking and creativity. Cooperation is also a vital part of this skill and they can improve it at a young age. If there are playhouses or sandboxes in the playground, do not be surprised to see them with other kids playing and talking. For sure, they are creating some cute scenarios where they create a place where they can put everything they want or build sandcastles to be their homes someday.

Group Games

Playgrounds can also be the place where they can do group games like hide and seek. They can be creative enough to look for a space to hide and be the winner in the game. However, the fun will not be possible if there are no kids who will play with them. As the term states, group games must include at least three children to complete a team. Whatever they play as a team, it will help them improve their communication skills and be a good team player someday. If they learn these at such a young age, do not be surprised if they are effective team players at school or at work too.

Turn-Taking Activities

Some kids might not have patience once they start to play and enjoy themselves. But with this, turn-taking is tested. Are they good enough to give up a chair at the swing? You will see some results if you take them to the playground. There, they will encounter different kids their age who might have the same interests as your kid. You will see if your kid is interested in turn-taking activities or if they are cooperative enough to let other children enjoy what they are doing and experiencing. Whatever you see, it is the perfect opportunity to educate them about what they should and should not do, especially when it comes to sharing things with others.

Social Observation

Once your kid enters the playground, they can already learn and assess something without even doing anything. All they need to do is observe, and they can think of something they will do. The place will make them interact once they are sure where to go. Learning social cues and developing empathy are also some of the things you will notice. Their social observation skills can help them assess what others feel and understand different emotions and behaviours. As a parent, it is up to you how you will answer their questions.

Playgrounds are not just places for playing because they can also be where your kids are a good role model or resolve conflicts. Their interactions with others will help them form friendships that could last a lifetime. There is empowerment through amusement and random plays can be an act of kindness, and you would never want the opportunity to pass for your child.

[kitsuvil]

— resigning [scaramouche x gn!reader]

warnings/notes; cursing, fluff, smoking, cigarettes, heavily insp by uramichi, soft scara is eternal, scara who has a soft spot for kids is the only scara, use of kunikuzushi as his name bcs i will die in my grave still calling him that it's beautiful, yn and scara are adults

summary; you volunteer at your nearby daycare pretty often... of course, only to help out with the children. it's not like there's a really hot guy who constantly complains about wanting to quit his job but stays for the kids, not at all. today's volunteer work is a field day trip.

"Kuni, catch!"

"We're on nickname basis now?" He grabs the bottle of cold water I tossed him from the air.

"It's not my fault your name is too long to say."

"You act as if it's my fault. I didn't name myself, after all."

"Still, you're the one with the name."

"Whatever, don't be surprised if I start suddenly calling you sweetie pie baby cakes."

"What?..."

"I'm joking."

Kunikuzushi gives me a deadpan stare, telepathically nagging me for actually thinking he would ever call me that. Before I can pick out a response though, Lisa calls us out.

"This field day was not made for people to flirt, go on and take care of the children, you lovebirds."

"Say that again and I'm writing my resignation papers."

"Maybe in your dreams, for now I want you to go check on the bouncy house."

"Fuck you."

"Kunikuzushi, mind your language—may I remind you once again, we're around children?"

He trudges off, leaving me stifling my chuckle at how quickly Lisa got him back on track.

"You too, Y/N. Volunteer work isn't couples work, can you check on the playground area? Especially the sandbox... You know what happened last week."

"You got it."

I do in fact remember what happened last week. The daycare's playground was entirely covered in sand because the kids couldn't keep the sand where they're supposed to... Something about digging down to Australia? I'm sure Lisa doesn't want a repeat of that, especially in a park she doesn't own and was offered to borrow for the day from the mayor.

"Y/N! Come play with us!" A group of children run towards me upon spotting me walking towards them. They stare with their expert puppy dog eyes, practically begging. "Guys... Only if you pinky promise to keep everything clean and not hurt each other," I give in with a long sigh. "We promise! We love playing with you!" They all share high fives and I can recognize all 4 of them as Beatrice, Elizabeth, Marie, and Sara.

This group has always been so sweet, though all of them have spent a few years here from the amount of time their parents work, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm overjoyed that of all places, they ended up here.

"I finished checking on the bouncy house but... What are you doing over here?" Kuni comes up from behind me.

"Having fun with the kids. What's with that look—do you want to join? Hiding jealousy isn't your strong suit, you know."

"Shut it."

"Ooooh! Mister Kuni said a bad word!" The little group cheers.

"There's a lot more where that came from," Kuni laughs while gritting his teeth at their choice of address.

"Maybe not, stop yourself there. You can come join us, though, don't be shy," I offer my hand out to him.

He hesitates a little before taking it, but nonetheless comes down and crouches with the rest of us. Strangely enough, his hand is warm. It sends butterflies fluttering through my entire body, also creating goosebumps whenever I think about our entwined hands. His hands are fine, smooth, not a single callous on any of his finger tips.

"Y/N, are you okay? You're clutching my hand as if the world is about to end," He raises his eyebrow as his voice brings me out of my trance.

"Yeah, no, I'm perfectly fine. I just- Let's go play hide and seek or something..."

Marie scoots closer towards Kuni, getting closer to his ears. She says something I can't pick out with my ears, but I do understand what it was after seeing the expression laid out on Kuni's face. "Marie, that stuff isn't for kids to talk about. Spend your time playing here, not thinking about boyfriends and all those things. Save it for when you're actually our age."

"But..." She sits back down, looking deflated.

I shove my shoulder up to his, teasing him, "What did she say, huh?"

"Nothing you need to know."

The kids scurry away and whisper amongst themselves, coming out with an announcement momentarily after.

"Y/N, Mister Kuni, we have something to perform for you guys!"

"A performance, you say? I can't wait to see it!" I get comfortable, ready to watch whatever silly show or dance they came up with.

"Yay!" The kids cheer, forming into a line and holding hands.

"Y/N and Kuni, sitting in a tree!" Beatrice starts them off, but the rest of them follow in unison, "K I S S I N G!"

I pause in shock, throwing a hand over my mouth immediately after hearing their song.

"Guys, guys, please, stop it, that's..."

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" They practically jump up in glee.

What genius children.

Kuni and I stare off into yonder, frozen in time with embarrassment, refusing to look at each other.

"I'm going to report you four to Lisa. No singing about kissing, marriage, or... Especially making babies." Kuni demands, entirely red faced.

"WAIT! Please not Miss Lisa... We're sorry," They stare at their toes, acting innocent.

I sigh in defeat, unable to be angry at them, "We can let them off for now, it's fine, we have other things to be taking care of anyway."

"Like what?"

"Have you seen the time? It's almost dinner, we have to prepare the food and get ready to send the kids home in an hour or so."

"Oh. I guess you're right. Time flies fast during work... Especially when you're helping out."

I pretend to not hear the last part he muttered under his breath.

Of course, with bickering in between, we manage to finish handing out dinner and return the children to their parents without... too much struggle. The fiasco from before gets reported to Lisa, but instead of getting upset, she just waves it off with a laugh, and "Even the kids understand what's going on, whatever is going on between you two needs to get figured out."

Damn Lisa.

But we're actually alone, stuck packing our stuff and getting ready to leave ourselves.

"Y/N, I'm taking you home. I know you didn't arrive with a car, neither did I, it's already dark and I don't trust you out there alone," Kuni comes up behind me.

"Awe, you want to make sure I'm safe? That's sweet."

"No, I don't want to be blamed for not keeping you safe if anything happens. There's a difference."

"Whatever you say, let's go. I'll invite you in for some dessert if you stay obedient during the walk home."

"Obedient? You think of me as a dog? Maybe I won't take you home anymore, I'll leave you for dead instead."

"That's just mean, I was kidding, I know you wouldn't leave me for dead anyway," I laugh at how quickly he responded with annoyance.

"Be quiet, let's just go."

"I'm perfectly fine with that."

A few minutes into our walk, Kuni brings out a lighter and a cigarette from the small backpack he was carrying.

"You smoke?" I question as he takes the cigarette to his mouth, lighting it.

He takes it out of his mouth for a second to respond, "I think it'd be more surprising if I didn't smoke. How else would I get through life?"

"I mean, you don't see me smoking to get through every day."

"I don't, but that's exactly why you should try it sometime. You want one?" He offers.

"Just this once," but a thought runs through my head when I accept his offer.

"...But only if you light my cigarette with yours."

"You mean... You want a cigarette kiss? Fuck you, this is why I can't keep you out of my head, how are you gonna go and casually pull this shit," He looks away, almost as if to ignore my statement.

"What was that?" I grin.

"You're imagining things, I didn't say anything."

"Right," I feign ignorance.

Kuni speaks up after a short moment of silence, "I'll take you up on that whole dessert thing, in that case. Only if you make it a date, 'sweetie pie baby cakes.' "

i had the time of my life writing this, its been in my drafts for so long i came up with the idea like months ago LMAO i hope everyone enjoys ty for reading and take care of urself <3

[marellytalks]

im in my feels rn

As you know I'm just starting to play in the thai bl fandom sandbox and it's been really fun and I wrote fics for it lol, I couldn't resist.

THE ANGST! THE FLUFF! THE BETRAYAL!

Here's the link to my ao3

My username is MarellyJeon.

but anyways since netflix has tharntype and I have seen plenty of hype about it but I was too in deep with BTS so I wasn't paying attention.

So I decided to watch.

I'm not sure if you can call it watching because I'm constantly in between squawking like a crow and dying whale noises because.

THARN IS JUST SO FREAKING HOT.

fuck that thumb ring.

So after two episodes because my anxiety won't allow me to watch in peace, I needed some backstory, some sort of synopsis I snooped online.

And the content and pics I found.

And they called it fanservice.

And me. I dabbled in kpop, they do fanservice and before kpop and BTS , I was a Directioner (please dounghnut roll your eyes at me).

FANSERVICE? Mewgulf fanservice is something else.

How do you be in each others pants, space and breathing area and NOT fall in love and develop a relationship?!

Especially if you look and behave like Mew Suppasit?

How did you do it, Gulf? What kinda sorcery is involved?

Listen. I'm no sweet innocent summer child.

I have been in fandoms since the internet gave birth to yahoo so imagine my shock I fell so hard and so fast.

I have standards for men. I don't basic white men anymore because I need and prefer my men to be groomed and moisturised.

And I needed more. FAST. TikTok is my source of content.

Bless TIKTOK. Bless that slow-mo clips of him rubbing his chest (what is up with thai actors and their exposed chest, I came from Kdramas but even then I don't watch too much we only get bare wrists and ankles)

How can I not love you?

I have seen posts of it that their fanservice relationship contracts coming to an end and they don't interact with each other anymore and need to as much.

Listen.

My mind understands. I don't have a permanent residence in delulu land and I can accept but does not mean my heart , my fangirl heart accepts.

It's a purely professional contract, yes? I can accept.

Again , I ask how do you be on that mans lap and breathing his air and not fall in fucking love ?

Anyway their moments together, their interactions, it's A LOT. I have yet to explore their tag on ao3.

I'm at episode 8-9, I think?

Will blabber more because I have seen things, I feel like some parts really stemmed from them having an authentic bond or relationship and that they enjoyed each other's company, some parts are really where you can see Mew is so used to doing it unconsciously, like taking a soiled tissue from Gulf and keeping it in his pocket?

That moments exists in another fandom, the Jimin/Jungkook where JK did the same thing.

I know what habits between couples looks like. It's unconscious, it's familiar because you do it all the time. Like the shirt smelling.

Too long to talk about my babie guppie , imma talk about him next post.

Why am I always late to the party???!!

[demifiendrsa]

Halo Infinite | Multiplayer Reveal Trailer - A New Generation

It’ll launch for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in Holiday 2021. It will also be available via Xbox Game Pass for Console, PC, and Cloud.

Logo

Key visual

Screenshots

Latest details via Xbox Wire

Hey there everyone! I hope you enjoyed your first look at Halo Infinite multiplayer. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, so I wanted to provide more info here, as well as encourage you to check out our deep dive over on Halo Waypoint. We also have a new video from our Multiplayer team coming out tomorrow and an upcoming breakdown of our Multiplayer Trailer this Thursday on Xbox Game Showcase: Extended with Associate Creative Director Tom French, Multiplayer Designer Alex Bean, and Lead Sandbox Designer Quinn DelHoyo. But for now, let’s talk a bit more about where the team has been, where we’re going and what we’re working on between now and launch.

When I joined the team in the Fall of 2020, I threw myself into the game, playing through the campaign and joining in multiplayer playtests. The first thing that struck me about Halo Infinite is how, in so many ways, it’s the realization of the vision we had for Halo 20 years ago when we were making the original games. That feeling of awe and wonder, the freedom to explore an expansive alien world and discover its secrets, all coming to life. Finally, the technology has caught up with the vision, and that’s hugely exciting for everyone at 343.

We also huddled up as a team and identified key areas of focus that we felt were important to finish the game strong and deliver an experience our fans are going to love. Since that time, we’ve been focusing hard on the elements that make Halo uniquely fun, while polishing and optimizing the game in preparation for launch on Xbox and PC. We’re not done yet, but we’re getting close. We can’t wait for you to finally play for yourselves.

Even though launch is a huge moment, it’s just the beginning of Halo Infinite’s Great Journey (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). A major focus for our team is the content we’ll deliver after the game has shipped, and work has already started on our first year of content — and beyond. You saw some examples of that effort in our Multiplayer Trailer, with tons of Spartan customization options that will be part of our very first season, “Heroes of Reach,” including a super-sweet Yoroi Spartan. And in case you were wondering, the Yoroi armor is free and you can unlock it just by playing events in Season 1.

When it comes to gameplay, our goal is to deliver a multiplayer experience that honors classic Halo combat while also offering new players the support needed to jump in and have a great time. To that end, we’re introducing the Spartan Academy and Spartan Commander Laurette who will help players familiarize themselves with maps, weapons, and equipment. We’re also introducing bot matches so players new and old can warm up before they hit the battlefield. We’ve got more in store for bots and Academy content over time that we look forward to rolling out as the game evolves.

And that gets at heart of our other focus, making Halo Infinite a game that will grow over time with the community. It’s incredibly important that all of you are partners in this journey, and we’re dedicated to listening to your feedback and continuing to improve the game over time. As we try new things and take risks, we’ll listen closely to the community to understand what players love and what we need to reexamine as we go forward. For the first time in franchise history, we’re getting a chance to really dig in and deliver new experiences for our players. Some things you might expect, like new maps and modes. But we might just have a few more surprises up our sleeves that you’ll see in the months following our launch this year.

What gets me the most excited about this journey we’re starting together is the fact that multiplayer is free to play, and how that gives us the opportunity to build the biggest Halo community ever. Also, with cross play and cross-platform progression, there are almost no barriers to enjoying the game with friends, regardless of where they play. It feels extra special to be able to grow the community and bring it together in this way.

Over the past several months, we’ve been taking fans behind the scenes with our Inside Infinite blog series, introducing faces from around the studio and telling stories behind how the game is made. This past year has been filled with challenges as well as successes for all of us. But we’re going to keep having open, candid conversations with our community, and keep you all in the loop on our progress as we make our most ambitious Halo game yet.

I also want to encourage everyone to head over to Halo Insider and sign up if you haven’t done so yet. We’ll be conducting technical previews this summer and signing up gives you a shot to be one of the first people to play the game, provide feedback and help ensure we have the best launch possible. We’ll have more details on the preview program soon, but for now, please sign up! We’re really excited for people outside the studio to play the game.

Lastly, while today is largely a celebration of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer experience, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also speak to those tantalizing bits of the campaign we shared during the showcase. We are continuing the story of the Master Chief and Cortana from Halo 5, but also telling a story that’s welcoming for new players. Cortana’s fate is one of the Infinite campaign’s big mysteries, and early in the story, you will meet a new UNSC AI, “the Weapon”, that was created to help stop Cortana. Together with the Pilot, the Master Chief, and the Weapon begin an epic adventure to explore Zeta Halo, defeat the Banished forces who control the ring, and unravel even more mysteries along the way.

[doubleddenden]

I started SMT V today, and even though I have been playing for a few hours, I'm still not too deep into the story. It's kind of refreshing in a way knowing I'm going to have a long game ahead of me.

Gameplay is pretty great I'd say. Combat is a JRPG style and pretty strategic in both actually fighting to figure out weaknesses, and trying to figure out how to recruit particular demons to join your posse. It has monster collection elements in that regard, and things get even crazier once you start experimenting with fusions and Essence materials. Doing so let's you make pretty comprehensive demons that have a variety of attacks and unique weaknesses and resistances. Figuring out weaknesses in battle is key, since that let's you take extra turns.

Outside of combat, exploration is actually a lot more freeing than I thought. The map is pretty linear in some regards, but each area is basically its own little sandbox with extra areas to explore and little discoveries to be made. You can run really fast too, making exploration and running away from op enemies pretty fun. Additionally you'll find demons running around in the open- something particularly unnerving are the presence of high powered demons the game outright warns you you are not prepared for. Going blind is especially fun and a bit unnerving when you see the shadow of a dragon fly overhead, circling the map like crazy.

Story so far, ngl, is a mix of JRPG nonsense, religious mumbo jumbo, and post apocalyptic EDGE. But I'm not going to judge too hard, I am still pretty early on, and by God I am intrigued.

The game even has difficulty settings! It's almost like they understand some players like it harder and some like it easier, and you don't have to exclusively cater to the lowest IQ on the market. Not like a certain OTHER franchise I will not name, richest in history btw, that still can't grasp the concept of difficulty beyond Press A to Win.

The graphics also just look incredible. It's stylized and yet realistic, and yet gritty and otherworldly at every turn. That's the Unreal Engine for you, but to get these levels of graphics and all of these hundreds of models to look and move with lively and varied animations on the Switch is something to be commended. Sure wish the FRANCHISE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED would take note. Seriously, there's so much detail to each of these models and how they move, from running up certain angles to the majestic flow if your hair to the purposeful janky movements of Demons meant to unnerve you.

Oh, and the music is great, pretty atmospheric too no matter the scenario.

Really at this point I only have 2 nitpicks:

1. Talking to demons is the best way to recruit them, but they can be pretty finicky assholes, so sometimes choosing one wrong answer is enough to ruin the chance to buddy up with it. There's definitely a better way, there has to be.

2. This is definitely the biggest arbitrary nitpick, but I don't like the voice effects on EVERY demon. One or two is fine, it adds to the horror of gods and demons and what not. But for the most part it just really takes it out of me. I feel like natural voices would really benefit the majority basically.

Overall though it's very 8/10 worthy thus far.

[goatsandgangsters]

so what is grishaverse? i could just google it, but i kind of want to hear it from a fan

hello yes! happy to help! I also love to be categorized as a fan here because the reality is that these books have been loitering on my to-read list for several years until netflix forced my hand and I was like “o fuk, o shit, I gotta read those now” and then tore through binge-reading/absolutely devouring them over the past couple months (and I’m not normally a media-binger, but man, these books go FAST and they hook ya) and now Am Love It Very Much

Non-spoilery lore summary of where things start out: Set in a fantasy world based on tsarist/19th-century Russia. Some people—called Grisha—have powers. Everywhere else in the world, Grisha are oppressed, but In Fantasy Russia they’re now warily tolerated as a useful military branch. There are three broad categories of Grisha types, which are basically “medical school but make it magic” (people whose power is either to Fuck Shit Up in your body or to heal it), “long ago the four three nations lived together in harmony” (airbenders, waterbenders, firebenders), and “extreme DIY crafting” (they make/invent stuff real good). However, Our Protagonist discovers she has the rare Grisha power of being able to summon sunlight. Which is particularly useful when your war-torn country is cut off from its only coastline by A Giant Enormous Area Of Total and Absolute Darkness That Monsters Live In. /CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC

You’ve got POWERS! You’ve got HISTORICALLY-INSPIRED-YET-DISTINCTLY-FANTASY AESTHETICS! You’ve got POLITICAL INTRIGUE and WAR! You’ve got HEISTS and CRIMES! You’ve got FANTASY ANALOGIES FOR REAL-WORLD OPPRESSION! You’ve got some really great CHARACTERS! It’s fun, it’s fast, it’s absorbing.

Book series structure: There are a couple different sets of books set within the Grishaverse. The first is a trilogy (“the grisha trilogy”)—the first book of which is called Shadow and Bone, from which the Netflix adaptation draws its name. That’s a three-book series focused on the aforementioned sunlight protagonist. THEN there is another duology of books (which are six of crows and crooked kingdom), which is set in the same universe, but focuses on an entirely different set of characters, with an entirely different storyline, in a different/neighboring country from Fantasy Russia, and also it’s set slightly after the first trilogy. Book-wise, they’re very much separate entities. While the trilogy has sort of a “you’re the chosen one, save your country” vibe with big political players, the duology has more of a “be gay, do crime” vibe that’s more gritty with gang of found family do a heist. (Tho if you’re looking at content that’s on my blog, I’ve only reblogged trilogy-focused posts because I am Not Yet Done With The Duology Books.) I have to respect an author who creates a sandbox and then doesn’t want to stop playing in it, because that’s probably exactly what I would do too.

TV adaptation structure: the SHOW, which is called Shadow and Bone and which drops on Netflix in a couple weeks, is combining both of those sets of books into one plotline, even though they are very much separate in the books. It seems like they’re planning to follow the plot of the first (trilogy) book pretty closely, while weaving in the characters from the duology as more of a prequel to their own books. So it’ll be interesting to see how they do that, because they’re fusing together these different stories into one.

So that’s why the use of “grishaverse” is useful because you have these multiple sets of stories that take place within the same world but that focus on different things and different people in different places—but that will be woven together more fully in the upcoming adaptation—so it’s a useful catch-all term for The World This Is Set In 

If you’re intrigued by the show but reasonably can’t commit to binge-reading an entire book series in the span of the next two weeks, it DOES seem like it’s designed to be enjoyable to both book fans and to people who are totally brand new to the world. That said, even though I just dumped a lot of info on you about trilogies and duologies (and those five aren’t even the entirety of books published within this world but I wanted to stick to the Key Info), the books and the world are actually super accessible. The pacing is fast, so I found them to be quick reads. The world-building is presented in a way that’s really clear and digestible; I never felt thrown into something huge that I didn’t understand, which can happen with some fantasy series. While the world itself is broad and sweeping, the way these stories are told and the way they unfold felt like something that I could jump immediately into without any foreknowledge and immediately feel like I understood what was going on. I literally osmosis’d ZERO THINGS about the series(es?) when I started reading—and I didn’t even read the blurb on the back!—but it was a really accessible and easy world to enter into.

Also, I did NOT expect to get as totally hooked as I did. But the timing has been really fun for me actually, because I get to absolutely devour this fun, engaging book series and then immediately I’ll get to revisit it in a different way when the show drops!

[camp-counselor-life]

Scaffolding Social Prediction

Social prediction is the ability to predict and understand how others will respond to certain behaviors. For example, we know a joke is not funny because nobody laughs when we tell it. This kind of understanding is key to interacting appropriately with those around us, and unfortunately, it’s one of the lagging skills that children with social challenges face. That’s why socially awkward children often tell inappropriate or unfunny jokes repeatedly; their brains don’t make the connection that not laughing equals not funny. Nor do their brains make the prediction that next time, people will still not laugh.

As a staff member, you can help campers develop their social prediction skill by scaffolding their efforts. One easy-to-implement scaffolding technique involves four basic steps:

Identify the problem, with the camper’s help if possible.

Honestly explain why it’s a problem.

Teach a replacement behavior.

Check for understanding.

Other Ways to Scaffold and Support

Camp is a fantastic place to teach social skills, and as frontline staff, you have the ability to make a real difference in helping campers build their abilities in this area. To be at the top of your social-skill-building game, in addition to incorporating the preceding strategies, try following these five tips:

Be aware, encourage inclusive interactions, prevent harm. Keep an eye out for the kids who aren’t connecting or making friends. Let it be known from day one that your expectations for your group are that everyone is included and welcomed in games and activities — that you’re not the kind of counselor who is going to look the other way if kids aren’t being nice to all.

Pre-cue prior to experiences at camp that might be difficult for a camper. If you know that a camper seems to get in arguments when your group goes to arts and crafts, check in with them on the way to that activity. “I noticed that it’s hard when other campers sit too close to you or try to use supplies you want to use. If that happens today, what do you think we should do?” Previewing options and giving suggestions helps remind them of expectations and preplan solutions, minimizing risk of a blow-up in the moment.

Facilitate social opportunity by setting up “play dates” within the group. When your group has board games, playground time, rest hour, or other less-structured activities coming up, have something ready that you know your socially awkward camper and others in the group will be excited about. “Who’s in to build a fort later? I snagged some cardboard and yarn so we can really get a good one going.” After a few of the other kids have already committed to participating, casually invite your more awkward kid. “Pete, I know you’re in, you’re awesome at forts.” Only the bravest of campers will openly back out because they don’t want to play with Pete. And a firm, friendly smile and small shake of the head before they open their mouths to object will usually take care of that, silently reminding them of your expectations that everyone plays together nicely in your sandbox.

Keep supervisors informed of difficulties and efforts being made to support the camper. It’s your job to help your campers have fun and successfully navigate camp. It’s the job of your supervisors and directors to:

Have a good understanding of the challenges you may have with a particular camper Help devise strategies and plans to support your work with that camper Communicate with parents/guardians or other caregivers about that child’s camp experience

​The only way they can properly support you is if you keep them informed about what’s going on in your group.

Ask for help when you need it. If you’re feeling frustrated or having a hard time, tell someone. Don’t worry that anyone will think you don’t know what you’re doing or be upset with you. Realizing that you aren’t always sure what you’re doing is a key part of being a good counselor — because it shows that you’re someone who is willing to learn. Awkward campers are awkward. It’s tiring and hard to help them be successful —. but you have support on this journey. So keep your eye on the goal and get help in the field when you need it.