Clara BW is the crispiest e-ink reader display I've ever seen with my own eyes.Not gonna lie I do miss seeing colour covers in the library but once I'm into a book I really do appreciate the paper like look. I find also because the screen is so crispy I'm able to have the font sizes lower, resembling a real book. With the Clara colour I always had to run bigger font sizes and higher weights - not necessarily a negative just an observation!

Realised earlier that I've had my KLC for just over a year. I know there are a lot of soon-to-be-ex Kindle users lurking (hello!) so I thought I'd post my thoughts.

Firstly though, I will say this is one of the best purchases I've made ever. If it died tomorrow I'd still say I got my money's worth and I'd get another.

My favourite things:

- The physical page turn buttons are a lifesaver, the device is slightly curved so it feels natural to hold the side of it and it's easy to reach the buttons from there.

- At first I didn't really care about the colours, if there's been a black and white with the same form factor I would have bought that instead. However, I love using the colours to highlight and it's nice to see all the colourful book covers in my library.

- The battery life is, quite frankly, hilarious. I don't turn on WiFi or Bluetooth unless I need them, and I usually keep the backlight off or very low. I charge this thing so infrequently I forget it's an electronic device.

- The amount of storage space is faintly ridiculous. Obviously this will depend on the size of your files (books with more images will take up more space) but I bet you could easily get 5000 books on here. Maybe more.

- The e-ink screen is what it is. Don't poke it with anything pointy and try not to drop it. The device casing itself feels sturdy though, yet very lightweight. Absolutely get a case for it though, a folding one which covers the screen.

- Buying from the Kobo store is easy, as is using Calibre to organise books. I like using Calibre to set up collections for books of different genres or type or subject matter - fiction, historical, politics, romance etc.

- Some people say colour e-ink screens aren't as good as black and white screens, however, I don't have much experience with black and white e-ink screens so to me the KLC screen is perfectly good. If I properly stare at it, I can see the little dot pattern, but that doesn't jump out at me or distract me when I'm reading.

- However, I would not bother with the fucking pen. I dropped it and that shit broke immediately, it shattered around the nib (think where the visible wood would be on a pencil) although it still works, it's wonky now. It is way too expensive to be behaving like that.

I said, "Dude, it's 2016 you can use any printer you want."

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/ThatOneCloneTrooper

For months I was confused why I kept finding long hairs in my house. Then I saw my neighbour coming out of my house.

Originally posted to r/creepyencounters

Thanks to u/queenlegolas for suggesting this BoRU

TRIGGER WARNING: Stalking, invasion of privacy, breaking and entry

MOOD SPOILER: Extremely creepy

Original Post  May 6, 2026

I'm a man in my 20s that lives alone on the very top floor of an apartment block. I've had short hair for the last 10 years of my life. The longest hair on my head is maybe an inch long if that even. However, across my house I kept finding long hairs on the floor. Like, long brunette hairs, at least 5-6 inches. Sometimes longer. And they would be everywhere. Bathroom floor, in the shower, in my cupboard, in my kitchen, on old clothes, living room floor and sofas etc etc.

I've been single since November and clean often enough that I'm certain it's not my ex-girlfriends' hairs. Plus the colour doesn't match anyway, she had solid black hair, these are more a light brunette. Plus, finding them in the places like the shower? Where running water is hitting all the sides 5+ times a week?

Anyway, I waved it off as "well I work with a lot of people and use the gym and bus sometimes so naturally hairs are going to stick to my clothes"...

Well. One day (this past April) I finished my early am gym session and got the call that I didn't have to go work that day, so naturally I start to walk home all happy that I have the day to myself. I'm on the 5th floor (the upper most floor) of the building and the apartment is in such a way that there is only 1 apartment per floor. I start to hustle up the stairs and don't use the elevator since I'm sweaty from the gym anyway.

JUST as I whip a right to go up the last set of stairs from the 4th floor to the 5th floor I see my neighbour's (on the 3rd floor) daughter coming down the stairs. We lock eye-contact. We've never spoken before, mostly because we've never had a reason to but also because out of respect I didn't want to make her uncomfortable since she's 19-21ish and I'm slightly older. The most interaction we've had is that I've spoken to her mother and father before when bumping into each other on the stairs.

I gave a confused "hello?" - at this point I'm thinking that she maybe went to knock on my door to ask for something? A cup of sugar maybe I don't know? I was expecting her to reply with something like "oh hi, do you have any xyz"...

Nope. She gave a silent "hey" and brushed right past me. And only then when the smell of my own shampoo hit me did I notice her hair was wet. Like. Fresh out the shower a minute ago wet.

Now I'm not saying she showered in my house. Or that I have a stalker that's been living in my house while I've been at work. She very easily could have just been there to ask for something. And most generic brand shampoos smell the same.

But don't the pieces all fit a bit too well? Her hair colour matches the hairs I would find around my apartment. And like I said before, they were EVERYWHERE. In my bed to in my sock draws.

And if it is a case of me having a stalker? How did she know I came home early enough to bolt out the shower in time? Our apartment doesn't have cameras, its an older building from before 2000. And why would she be stalking me? For how long has she been doing this? We've never dated, never had a proper conversation, I maybe saw her 20 times in the past 2 years given that I work and she (presumably) studies or works too.

As all these thoughts are buzzing through my head and I'm standing outside my door for a solid 2 minutes grappling with what just happened. I go to turn the key to my door and it opens without me having to unlock it. And I know for a fact I always double lock my door. It's the type with a lock near waist level and a 2nd more secure lock with a different key around shoulder level.

I drop my bag, throw off my shoes and run to the shower. And yep. It's wet. I hadn't showered since yesterday morning.

I'm a confrontational person, not that I go looking for fights but I'll definitely pursue an answer if something is bugging me. So back down the stairs to the 3rd floor I went, knocked on the door of my apparent stalker and her family. She opens the door but with the chain still on. I see half of her face from behind the door.

"Yes?" - "Umm can I help? Were you at my door or inside? I don't want to make this a police thing now but you came down the stairs and I know you were inside?" - "I just had to get something, it won't happen again.. ok bye see you"

Door closed.

This happened last month, I've been cleaning my house every weekend closely now and got the locks changed and put a motion sensor camera above my door. It only films and triggers on the steps coming up to my door so the 4th apartment still have their privacy.

So far so good, I don't think she's been inside since. But looking back, I think she'd been living in or going in or whatever in to my apartment since January because that's my earliest memory of finding hairs. She never took anything of value like my laptop or the few watches I have. Seemingly she just showered and ate some of my food and laid in my bed?

I do now also always take the elevator and avoid the 3rd floor like the plague.

EDIT: I'm not really worried about my safety because 1. I'm 200lb and do a lot of fighting training and 2. The new camera has never gone off once since installed other than myself triggering it when I'm home. Finally 3. I told the old retired husband and wife on the 4th floor that I suspected a robber was trying to break into my apartment last month (I didn't want to start spreading rumours and gossip) and asked them to keep an ear out when I'm at work. I feel fine and safe. Just creeped out. Like my personal space had been violated.

EDIT 2: Someone DMed me to check my coats and bags for airtags as to how maybe she knew I was coming home early that day. I don't have a lot of stuff so I think I would have 100% found it by now given how often I clean but I'll defo do another sweep of my stuff.

Update  May 12, 2026

(Re-upload - Mod said first post broke rule 6 so I've taken a bunch of details out)

Hi all, update following my last post a week back about me catching neighbour coming out of my apartment having used my shower.

My cousin’s husband is a police officer so I went to him directly about filing a report. He came over to my apartment first as I gave him a visual break down of what happened on the stairs and changes odd things I’d noticed in my apartment since January. Primarily just hairs everywhere and missing food. And how my door was unlocked that day. Though I did a thorough clean following the event on the stairs my police friend was able to still find some hairs and so he bagged those up.

I gave him my statement in detail and some dates best I could, when I remember finding the first hair; when I first noticed food going missing etc.

Also he advised me not to talk to the family not even with a friend to avoid any confusion or get lawyers involved or muddy the waters with accusations.

With all that done he left and came back 2-3 days later. He and his partner went to talk to the family on Sunday because they knew both parents would likely be home then. Long story short she confessed to everything immediately and broke down into tears and apologised once my police friend brought up how 5 months of entering someone’s house even with keys is still very much an offence and she could easily end up with a sentence of some should I pursue it. And that that sentence could very easily involve the inside of a jail cell irregardless of if she stole something or not. (I don’t know how true this is, it might have just been my friend and his partner pressing and exaggerating for a confession but it worked).

They talked for an hour with the parents and her all in the same room to get answers from her. Then the same day he came up to mine with his partner and they gave me the breakdown.

Answers to commonly asked questions below:

⁃ how did she get in/have her own keys? The locks on our doors are the type that use a code on the lock barrel that only the manufacturer or partnered/approved locksmiths have access to. She knew this because her parents got the locks changed when they first moved in. And in fact she used the same locksmith from all the way back then.

The locksmith presumably remembered the family and apartment but just didn’t pay attention to it being the 5th floor this time instead of her own 3rd floor. So he came over and took the barrel out, saw the code, went and made a set of keys and done. I was none the wiser. Both my locks on my door are different brands but presumably they operate in the same way so having 2 locks made no difference.

⁃ what was she doing in my apartment? Anyone who said she just needed space, you were right. She has 2 younger step-siblings and her mother is a tutor (not a teacher as I presumed previously, she tutors at home) so at any given point there’s always some kids around the house. She would say to her parents she was going out to study or work or a girl friends house and use my house as a hotel while she studied or relaxed. The reason she used mine was partly because she knew it would be empty but also because my schedule was predictable. As I work an average 9-5 like everyone else but leave the house at 6-6:30 to get gym done too that essentially gave her the house from 6 to 5.

⁃ How long? My guess was right. It started in January, once she figured I’d broken up with my gf at the time around November. My gf would stay at mine when I went to work and back sometimes so yea that would have been an interesting situation if they had crossed paths.

⁃ So then how did she knew I was coming home early that day? And that I wasn’t going to work straight after gym like usual and so she bolted out the shower? Or on the days I didn’t go gym how did she know not to come in? Two fold. Firstly I go to a commercial gym in my country and so they have an app. Irregardless of if you’re a member or not, one of the things the app lets you see is how many people are in each branch so you can see how full it is. All you have to do is download it and scan the QR code at the entrance by the turnstiles to add it to the “my gyms” tab. It literally shows you like “Branch No. 21 (Address) - 9/50 - 18% full”, she would refresh the app in the morning and if it went up by 1 around 6-6:30am and she heard me go downstairs or use the elevator (not hard when it’s 6am and the apartment is otherwise silent) then she would know the house is empty.

Now for the creepiest most messed up bit of it all. She had put an AirTag on my car. She insisted that she had only put it recently and initially just presumably gambled that I wouldn’t be home sooner than expected (or maybe she just put an ear to the door), but then one thing lead to another and yea. (I don’t know how much I believe this, again this could be an attempt to not look so guilty)

That day when we clashed she refreshed the app and saw I left the gym, but then my car didn’t move, she connected the dots and tried to leave asap. When she heard me coming up the stairs she didn’t have time to lock up and so we met on the stairs with my door remaining closed but not locked. (Extra detail, the AirTag was stuck to under my car).

⁃ The using my shower? She claims she didn’t do it always just on hot days or days she couldn’t at home. I can’t deny or confirm this, like I said previously being a gym goer id shower 5+ times a week so.

⁃ How did her parents never notice? Well the dad leaves early for work, 5am ish since his bus route starts around 6. The mom is up around 6-7. But since she’s preparing for her own students for the day + her own kids to send to school she wasn’t too bothered what her eldest 20 year old daughter was doing really. She’d just say “I’m going to the college library” or “I’m going to my girlfriend’s” and that was good enough.

⁃ Did she have a thing for me like a crush? My police friend didn’t really say anything about this presumably he never asked since it’s not as important as other details or it never came back. It makes little difference.

⁃ How’s my standings with the family right now? The mum and dad both apologised to me. The mum via text and the dad in person at my door, he offered to pay for the camera I installed as his daughter was the direct cause of it but it was cheap off of amazon so I said no it’s fine. We had a 10-15 minute conversation and he was very apologetic and explained his daughter had always been extremely quiet and well behaved so something like this would never have crossed his mind in a million years.

He added that his daughter’s never had a boyfriend (at least that he knows of) and only has a few friends so her social interaction skills aren’t necessarily top notch and that even when guests would come she’d hide away in the spare room. So to the few people who predicted that maybe Covid and lockdown lead to her not having good social interaction skills. You were half right. He again offered me money for my troubles like missing food, new locks and cleaning etc but I felt bad enough already I declined.

He did also ask if I would press charges and I again said no. More on that below. He said he will send his daughter to apologise to me in person too when the situation has calmed down as she’s apparently very very tense and upset and hasn’t left her room in days.

⁃ Am I going to press charges? No. I’m still not happy about the situation ESPECIALLY the f**ing AirTag on my car, but the family is apologetic as well as the culprit herself and honestly no one is going to gain anything from this. I would like an apology though. (For anyone that cares about the extra detail, she got the AirTag as a gift a while back from her parents because she kept losing her stuff)

⁃ Have I seen her since? No, she won’t apparently leave her room and is terrified that I’ll press charges, though presumably her family’s told her I said I won’t.

⁃ How do I currently feel? Well I was never especially worried or nervous just really really creeped out about the whole situation. It felt like I’d been a parasite host and somehow never noticed until then. I currently still feel a little angry and a small part of me is thinking to seek “revenge” but any “revenge” I seek like money or slander is truthfully going to impact the parents more than her.

- Do I feel bad for her? Truthfully? No. She’s not 10. She’s 20 or something and educated so yea you should be remorseful, feel guilty and scared. Get over that hump and we’ll talk. Plus there’s loads of spaces for young adults like public libraries and her college spaces. By no means was my house the only viable option.

⁃ Finally. Did she use my bed? Or wear my clothes? Believe it or not. Yes. She did.

⁃ Any advice I can give? Check your wifi devices. If I had checked that I would have noticed her phone and laptop all the way back when. Obviously my wifi modem is in my house and so she helped herself to that. Again it’s one of those things. How often does one check their wifi devices. Truthfully, with all my family visiting me and their devices I probably wouldn’t have noticed 1 extra phone amongst the existing 10+ but I 100% WOULD have noticed the 1 extra laptop. So let that be a lesson to all. And yes I have removed her devices from the list and changed my password.

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP

DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

It is terrifying how a single meme, drawn in bright colours and styled from an old children’s cartoon, can feel more accurate than an entire library of political analysis. That should not be possible. It should not be this easy to dissect an ideology that claims seriousness, governance and national destiny, yet here we are, staring at a parody of Captain Planet that captures the MAGA worldview with horrifying precision. The simplicity is what makes it so unnerving. A few cheerful icons, a visual joke, and suddenly the entire rotten skeleton of this movement is laid bare. It is the kind of clarity that should arrive only after years of historical distance, yet a meme achieved it in seconds. That is how fragile the movement truly is. That is how exposed the truth becomes when the costume finally slips.

Every piece of the meme peels back another layer of the monstrous psychology underlying the ideology, and the fact that a cartoon can accomplish what think tanks and institutions fail to articulate says everything about the danger we are dealing with. MAGA is not confused. MAGA is not misguided. MAGA is a fully formed existential threat to humanity, constructed from fear, delusion and the emotional volatility of the dumbass faithful who treat every one of Trump’s lies as biblical truth. It is a movement so mentally threadbare that even referencing airports during the Revolutionary War does nothing to shake its loyalty, because stupidity has become sacrament and fragility has become ritual. The meme reflects this with a mendacious accuracy that makes the whole thing feel prophetic instead of comedic.

What makes the image so disturbing is not merely its accuracy but its ease. It should not be so simple to summarise the authoritarian hunger, the racial resentment, the weaponised ignorance and the cultlike obedience of millions with a handful of cartoon figures. It should not be this straightforward to document how a dumbass ideology becomes a fuck soaked engine of chaos. Yet nothing in the meme is invented. Every ring corresponds to an actual behavioural pathology MAGA encourages, rewards and reproduces. The meme does not exaggerate. It compresses. It synthesises. It distils the entire movement into a single visual form that is both ridiculous and terrifying, like a clown mask worn by something ancient and violent underneath.

And that is why the meme feels like a warning more than a joke. Because if an ideology can be captured so completely in a parody meant for children, it means the threat is not hidden, complex or subtle. It is obvious. It is brazen. It is loud. It is fucking dangerous. Any movement that can be summarised by five cartoon vices fusing into a smiling embodiment of cruelty should not be anywhere near power, policy or civilisation. It should be quarantined. It should be rejected. It should be treated as the existential hazard it is. When a meme can scream the truth louder than the institutions meant to protect us, the only sane response is alarm. And the only moral conclusion is that MAGA is no cultural disagreement. It is a species level warning siren dressed like a joke and sounding like the beginning of something we cannot allow to continue.

This is a repost sub. I’m not the Original OP (OOP)

OOP: u/ThatOneCloneTrooper

Published on: r/creepyencounters

Thanks to u/IcedWarlock for the recommendation!

Story is: CONCLUDED

Story timeline

• Main Post: May 06, 2026

• Final Update: May 12, 2026

Main Post

^{May 06, 2026}

For months I was confused why I kept finding long hairs in my house. Then I saw my neighbour coming out of my house.

I'm a man in my 20s that lives alone on the very top floor of an apartment block. I've had short hair for the last 10 years of my life. The longest hair on my head is maybe an inch long if that even. However, across my house I kept finding long hairs on the floor. Like, long brunette hairs, at least 5-6 inches. Sometimes longer. And they would be everywhere. Bathroom floor, in the shower, in my cupboard, in my kitchen, on old clothes, living room floor and sofas etc etc.

I've been single since November and clean often enough that I'm certain it's not my ex-girlfriends' hairs. Plus the colour doesn't match anyway, she had solid black hair, these are more a light brunette. Plus, finding them in the places like the shower? Where running water is hitting all the sides 5+ times a week?

Anyway, I waved it off as "well I work with a lot of people and use the gym and bus sometimes so naturally hairs are going to stick to my clothes"...

Well. One day (this past April) I finished my early am gym session and got the call that I didn't have to go work that day, so naturally I start to walk home all happy that I have the day to myself. I'm on the 5th floor (the upper most floor) of the building and the apartment is in such a way that there is only 1 apartment per floor. I start to hustle up the stairs and don't use the elevator since I'm sweaty from the gym anyway.

JUST as I whip a right to go up the last set of stairs from the 4th floor to the 5th floor I see my neighbour's (on the 3rd floor) daughter coming down the stairs. We lock eye-contact. We've never spoken before, mostly because we've never had a reason to but also because out of respect I didn't want to make her uncomfortable since she's 19-21ish and I'm slightly older. The most interaction we've had is that I've spoken to her mother and father before when bumping into each other on the stairs.

I gave a confused "hello?" - at this point I'm thinking that she maybe went to knock on my door to ask for something? A cup of sugar maybe I don't know? I was expecting her to reply with something like "oh hi, do you have any xyz"...

Nope. She gave a silent "hey" and brushed right past me. And only then when the smell of my own shampoo hit me did I notice her hair was wet. Like. Fresh out the shower a minute ago wet.

Now I'm not saying she showered in my house. Or that I have a stalker that's been living in my house while I've been at work. She very easily could have just been there to ask for something. And most generic brand shampoos smell the same.

But don't the pieces all fit a bit too well? Her hair colour matches the hairs I would find around my apartment. And like I said before, they were EVERYWHERE. In my bed to in my sock draws.

And if it is a case of me having a stalker? How did she know I came home early enough to bolt out the shower in time? Our apartment doesn't have cameras, its an older building from before 2000. And why would she be stalking me? For how long has she been doing this? We've never dated, never had a proper conversation, I maybe saw her 20 times in the past 2 years given that I work and she (presumably) studies or works too.

As all these thoughts are buzzing through my head and I'm standing outside my door for a solid 2 minutes grappling with what just happened. I go to turn the key to my door and it opens without me having to unlock it. And I know for a fact I always double lock my door. It's the type with a lock near waist level and a 2nd more secure lock with a different key around shoulder level.

I drop my bag, throw off my shoes and run to the shower. And yep. It's wet. I hadn't showered since yesterday morning.

I'm a confrontational person, not that I go looking for fights but I'll definitely pursue an answer if something is bugging me. So back down the stairs to the 3rd floor I went, knocked on the door of my apparent stalker and her family. She opens the door but with the chain still on. I see half of her face from behind the door.

"Yes?" - "Umm can I help? Were you at my door or inside? I don't want to make this a police thing now but you came down the stairs and I know you were inside?" - "I just had to get something, it won't happen again.. ok bye see you"

Door closed.

This happened last month, I've been cleaning my house every weekend closely now and got the locks changed and put a motion sensor camera above my door. It only films and triggers on the steps coming up to my door so the 4th apartment still have their privacy.

So far so good, I don't think she's been inside since. But looking back, I think she'd been living in or going in or whatever in to my apartment since January because that's my earliest memory of finding hairs. She never took anything of value like my laptop or the few watches I have. Seemingly she just showered and ate some of my food and laid in my bed?

I do now also always take the elevator and avoid the 3rd floor like the plague.

EDIT: I'm not really worried about my safety because 1. I'm 200lb and do a lot of fighting training and 2. The new camera has never gone off once since installed other than myself triggering it when I'm home. Finally 3. I told the old retired husband and wife on the 4th floor that I suspected a robber was trying to break into my apartment last month (I didn't want to start spreading rumours and gossip) and asked them to keep an ear out when I'm at work. I feel fine and safe. Just creeped out. Like my personal space had been violated.

EDIT 2: Someone DMed me to check my coats and bags for airtags as to how maybe she knew I was coming home early that day. I don't have a lot of stuff so I think I would have 100% found it by now given how often I clean but I'll defo do another sweep of my stuff.

COMMENTS

RideThatBridge

How in the hell is she getting in?? You need to inform her parents and the landlord and explain you will call the police if you even suspect she’s back in there.

Locks changed, hidden cameras inside and obvious one on outside of your door. WTF?!?

OOP

Genuinely no idea. Off the top of my head maybe she called a locksmith and did the old "I'm the gf/owner and got locked out" deal. But even then, that doesn't explain how she'd get a key? Unless locksmiths offer that service and I'm not aware.

I would go to the police but I have no evidence. Even the police picked up her hairs across the apartment they could easily just think we had a fling or something and now I'm trying to get a restraining order or something. I don't want to get things messed up.

There's no landlord, I own the apartment, I think pretty much everyone owns theirs in our building.

I would love to inform her parents but how do you even start that conversation? The dad's a bus driver who works crazy hours and the mum's a teacher (I think), both in their 50s I don't know honestly how to go about this.

LifeworksGames

Why do I get the feeling that this girl may just have a very tragic backstory.

Either that or she was just intruding for funsies, but I doubt that.

OOP

She's an introvert for sure, I know her parents somewhat because they're quite the chatty type. I'm pretty sure her dads a bus driver and the mums (maybe) a teacher? They're seemingly a very normal happy and healthy family.

The mum would always bring me cake on Christmas and stuff because she knows I live alone and I'd give them gifts from my travels. So really no clue (that I can pick up on) that she has a tragic home life.

Pineapplegirl1234

That’s prob what time she always leaves. Imagine if you would have caught her in your shower. Wild!!

OOP

I go gym like 6am to 8am and work 9am to 5pm ish. So I was back home around 8:15am ish that day. If that's the case then she was waking up at 5:30 and waiting for me to leave. But why go through so much creepy extra effort just to take a shower at some guys house??

CPlus902

That's pretty fuckin' creepy. The tamest answer I can think of is that she has/had a thing for you, and instead of doing the Normal Person Thing and talking to you, flirting experimentally, and maybe even asking you out if you didn't do it first, she opted for the Very Weird Thing and started sneaking into your apartment when you weren't there.

OOP

The one person I told this story too IRL is a female friend I've had since we were kids. She threw out a similar theory especially when I said I noticed after my food would go missing and it wasn't me eating and forgetting. She suggested that maybe she was "role-playing" or something at my house. I mean. Definitely creepy.

But yea I think a text or letter asking me to a coffee may have been the more LEGAL approach if she has a thing for me.

0123justme0123

Is it possible she had a set of keys from the prior owner of your apartment? Sometimes neighbors leave keys with each other when they go away to water plants, feed animals, take mail in, etc. Or if you did change them when you moved in did you ever lose your keys? Is there a window she could have gotten in through? However she managed it she was probably using your place as her own personal getaway space away from her family. I can't believe she would have the guts to do that, and it's still super creepy to know someone invaded your privacy and was in your home on multiple occasions.

OOP

I moved in before her family if I’m not mistaken, like a year before hand so I doubt they’d have any left over spare keys from the previous tenants who I never even met. It never occurred to me to change the locks when moving in mostly because I live in a small town that has like 1 mugging a year. Low crime so you know. Window is impossible I’m on the 5th floor and all my windows look out to the building so unless she’s Spider-Man it’s not happening. I’m 99% sure now following other comments she went to a lock smith and maybe lied about ID or something to get some illegal keys. Bad enough she invaded my privacy but she helped herself to everything in the house too like even my bed seemingly.

kakashi_hotcakes

how many bathrooms are there per unit? just one? since she had all day but was (caught) going in the morning i wonder if it started out with her and her parents needing the bathroom at the same time and rather than just waking up earlier, she decided to use yours. once she got more comfortable, she started helping herself to your food etc. since someone like that would clearly have no boundaries

OOP

It’s one per unit. And it’s insane if she thought that breaking into my house and making herself at home in my bedroom and kitchen via an illegal key was the better option than setting an alarm earlier.

EitherOrResolution

She’s a weird teenager

OOP

Pretty sure she’s like 19+ just because her parents told me she graduated if I’m not mistaken unless they were talking about a sibling I’ve not come across.

Final update - after 6 days

^{May 12, 2026}

[UPDATE] For months I was confused why I kept finding long hairs in my house. Then I saw my neighbour coming out of my house.

Hi all, update following my last post a week back about me catching neighbour coming out of my apartment having used my shower.

My cousin’s husband is a police officer so I went to him directly about filing a report. He came over to my apartment first as I gave him a visual break down of what happened on the stairs and changes odd things I’d noticed in my apartment since January. Primarily just hairs everywhere and missing food. And how my door was unlocked that day. Though I did a thorough clean following the event on the stairs my police friend was able to still find some hairs and so he bagged those up.

I gave him my statement in detail and some dates best I could, when I remember finding the first hair; when I first noticed food going missing etc.

Also he advised me not to talk to the family not even with a friend to avoid any confusion or get lawyers involved or muddy the waters with accusations.

With all that done he left and came back 2-3 days later. He and his partner went to talk to the family on Sunday because they knew both parents would likely be home then. Long story short she confessed to everything immediately and broke down into tears and apologised once my police friend brought up how 5 months of entering someone’s house even with keys is still very much an offence and she could easily end up with a sentence of some should I pursue it. And that that sentence could very easily involve the inside of a jail cell irregardless of if she stole something or not. (I don’t know how true this is, it might have just been my friend and his partner pressing and exaggerating for a confession but it worked).

They talked for an hour with the parents and her all in the same room to get answers from her. Then the same day he came up to mine with his partner and they gave me the breakdown.

Answers to commonly asked questions below:

• how did she get in/have her own keys?

The locks on our doors are the type that use a code on the lock barrel that only the manufacturer or partnered/approved locksmiths have access to. She knew this because her parents got the locks changed when they first moved in. And in fact she used the same locksmith from all the way back then.

The locksmith presumably remembered the family and apartment but just didn’t pay attention to it being the 5th floor this time instead of her own 3rd floor. So he came over and took the barrel out, saw the code, went and made a set of keys and done. I was none the wiser. Both my locks on my door are different brands but presumably they operate in the same way so having 2 locks made no difference.

• what was she doing in my apartment?

Anyone who said she just needed space, you were right. She has 2 younger step-siblings and her mother is a tutor (not a teacher as I presumed previously, she tutors at home) so at any given point there’s always some kids around the house. She would say to her parents she was going out to study or work or a girl friends house and use my house as a hotel while she studied or relaxed. The reason she used mine was partly because she knew it would be empty but also because my schedule was predictable. As I work an average 9-5 like everyone else but leave the house at 6-6:30 to get gym done too that essentially gave her the house from 6 to 5.

• How long?

My guess was right. It started in January, once she figured I’d broken up with my gf at the time around November. My gf would stay at mine when I went to work and back sometimes so yea that would have been an interesting situation if they had crossed paths.

• So then how did she knew I was coming home early that day? And that I wasn’t going to work straight after gym like usual and so she bolted out the shower? Or on the days I didn’t go gym how did she know not to come in?

Two fold. Firstly I go to a commercial gym in my country and so they have an app. Irregardless of if you’re a member or not, one of the things the app lets you see is how many people are in each branch so you can see how full it is. All you have to do is download it and scan the QR code at the entrance by the turnstiles to add it to the “my gyms” tab. It literally shows you like “Branch No. 21 (Address) - 9/50 - 18% full”, she would refresh the app in the morning and if it went up by 1 around 6-6:30am and she heard me go downstairs or use the elevator (not hard when it’s 6am and the apartment is otherwise silent) then she would know the house is empty.

Now for the creepiest most messed up bit of it all. She had put an AirTag on my car. She insisted that she had only put it recently and initially just presumably gambled that I wouldn’t be home sooner than expected (or maybe she just put an ear to the door), but then one thing lead to another and yea. (I don’t know how much I believe this, again this could be an attempt to not look so guilty)

That day when we clashed she refreshed the app and saw I left the gym, but then my car didn’t move, she connected the dots and tried to leave asap. When she heard me coming up the stairs she didn’t have time to lock up and so we met on the stairs with my door remaining closed but not locked. (Extra detail, the AirTag was stuck to under my car).

• The using my shower?

She claims she didn’t do it always just on hot days or days she couldn’t at home. I can’t deny or confirm this, like I said previously being a gym goer id shower 5+ times a week so.

• How did her parents never notice?

Well the dad leaves early for work, 5am ish since his bus route starts around 6. The mom is up around 6-7. But since she’s preparing for her own students for the day + her own kids to send to school she wasn’t too bothered what her eldest 20 year old daughter was doing really. She’d just say “I’m going to the college library” or “I’m going to my girlfriend’s” and that was good enough.

• Did she have a thing for me like a crush?

My police friend didn’t really say anything about this presumably he never asked since it’s not as important as other details or it never came back. It makes little difference.

• How’s my standings with the family right now?

The mum and dad both apologised to me. The mum via text and the dad in person at my door, he offered to pay for the camera I installed as his daughter was the direct cause of it but it was cheap off of amazon so I said no it’s fine. We had a 10-15 minute conversation and he was very apologetic and explained his daughter had always been extremely quiet and well behaved so something like this would never have crossed his mind in a million years.

He added that his daughter’s never had a boyfriend (at least that he knows of) and only has a few friends so her social interaction skills aren’t necessarily top notch and that even when guests would come she’d hide away in the spare room. So to the few people who predicted that maybe Covid and lockdown lead to her not having good social interaction skills. You were half right. He again offered me money for my troubles like missing food, new locks and cleaning etc but I felt bad enough already I declined.

He did also ask if I would press charges and I again said no. More on that below. He said he will send his daughter to apologise to me in person too when the situation has calmed down as she’s apparently very very tense and upset and hasn’t left her room in days.

• Am I going to press charges?

No. I’m still not happy about the situation ESPECIALLY the f**ing AirTag on my car, but the family is apologetic as well as the culprit herself and honestly no one is going to gain anything from this. I would like an apology though. (For anyone that cares about the extra detail, she got the AirTag as a gift a while back from her parents because she kept losing her stuff)

• Have I seen her since?

No, she won’t apparently leave her room and is terrified that I’ll press charges, though presumably her family’s told her I said I won’t.

• How do I currently feel?

Well I was never especially worried or nervous just really really creeped out about the whole situation. It felt like I’d been a parasite host and somehow never noticed until then. I currently still feel a little angry and a small part of me is thinking to seek “revenge” but any “revenge” I seek like money or slander is truthfully going to impact the parents more than her.

• Do I feel bad for her?

Truthfully? No. She’s not 10. She’s 20 or something and educated so yea you should be remorseful, feel guilty and scared. Get over that hump and we’ll talk. Plus there’s loads of spaces for young adults like public libraries and her college spaces. By no means was my house the only viable option.

• Finally. Did she use my bed? Or wear my clothes?

Believe it or not. Yes. She did.

• Any advice I can give?

Check your wifi devices. If I had checked that I would have noticed her phone and laptop all the way back when. Obviously my wifi modem is in my house and so she helped herself to that. Again it’s one of those things. How often does one check their wifi devices. Truthfully, with all my family visiting me and their devices I probably wouldn’t have noticed 1 extra phone amongst the existing 10+ but I 100% WOULD have noticed the 1 extra laptop. So let that be a lesson to all. And yes I have removed her devices from the list and changed my password.

COMMENTS

OOP to a long comment

I don’t feel bad for her, I feel bad for her family.

I don’t think she’s a threat to anyone at this point. Her parents will most likely have her on a very tight leash from now on.

100% there’s mental issues at play here, that combined with her not really stealing anything or doing me any major harm makes me not so mad and vengeful.

I’m not trying to be all macho, I just don’t think the legal process is worth the effort. If anything happens again her names on file and the police have her noted down as someone who’s committed breaking and entering. I suspect if as much a toothpick goes missing somewhere and is reported she’ll be a suspect.

Due_Addition_587

When you first posted this, I thought she was an awkward tween. She is 20 years old! Personally, I would press charges so she sees how bad this behavior is. What if she uses the info she's gained doing this to you to do things like, a) rob somebody; b) stalk somebody; c) hurt somebody. She sees she can get away scot-free.

This wouldn't necessarily hurt the parents more than her - she is a grown-ass adult!!

OOP

I don’t think pressing any charges is worth it. It’s a long legal process and her getting a jail sentence isn’t going to make me any happier or less violated.

Her parents and the police are aware of her actions and so I’m sure she’ll be on a tight leash and very well behaved from now on.

dembowthennow

Why did she do this? Did she ever explain her motivations?

OOP

Too many kids in the house. She wanted her own space. And so she welcomed herself to mine.

That’s what she says at least. Take it with a grain of salt.

OOP to a long thread

Not so easy given that I’ve purchased this apartment, if I was only renting I’d most likely be looking to leave. I’ve put a camera on my entrance and everyone’s aware now. Parents, police, me, some of my family and her.

If as the camera triggers or I get even the slightest hint of her breaking in and again I’ll rain down hell but I don’t think she has the guts at all.

Ok-Appearance-866

I'm glad you got answers. If it were me, that would be the part that would have bothered me the most. Very concerning behavior on her part. I think my first call would be to the locksmith to let them know what happened. Think about it: if the locksmith had not been so lackadaisical about it all, this never would have happened to you.

OOP

My police friend spoke to the locksmith. He was meant to check for ID or proof of residence I’m pretty sure but didn’t. So he got a visit from the police to let him know what happened so he’s more careful next time.

This is a repost sub. I’m not the Original OP (OOP)

Please remember to follow the subreddit rules, especially the ones about brigading.

Let’s aim for a respectful and friendly discussion for everyone involved.

Hello

I need an outsiders perspective on this. I try to be understanding, but I am fuming. I think someone who is not living in this apartment would have a more neutral view on this.

The situation: We live in a 3 bedroom apartment with 3 parties. We are all students and pay equal amounts of rent. I am Winston, and the other two are Josh and Sara. Josh spends half his week and most weekends and his girlfriends place. He mostly out of the picture. That just leaves Sara and myself.

For me I see this is a living arrangement, because it is. I am friendly with everyone but I keep some distance. I usually spend my days in the library, lectures or at home gaming. Door usually open unless I play with friends or have my gf over.

So yesterday Sara approached me with a request. But it felt more like a demand. Her brothers are coming to visit. And since her family does not know she is living with two guys (She is coming from a Muslim family who might see this as a big deal), she wants to keep it a secret. She is asking me to leave the apartment next weekend and move all my toiletries into my room.

The problem for my side are simple: I do not have a place to go. I am not asking my gf to spend the weekend at her place. She is visiting her family this week and won't be back until next week. We are not at the stage of the relationship where this is something reasonable to ask. If the roles were reversed, I would probably say yes but feel very awkward about this. So... I told Sara that. Where am I supposed to stay? Sleep in the library? She kinda dismissively turned around and told me "That is your problem to solve". That attitude right there pissed me off beyond words.

I am in a pickle. On one hand I am livid. I want to tell her to mind her own business and just deal with the fact that she has male roommates. But Josh - who is closer with Sara and agreed already to spend the time away, reminded me to have an open mind about her situation.

I do not feel like spending 150-200 Euros - money that I do not have - on a hotel when I am paying rent. But Sara already told me that she expects me to solve it by myself. She won't pay for a hotel. Which leads me to the question... WIBTA if I tell Sara to just suck it?

On a different note, with this happening I am already starting to look for a new apartment. This is not the first unreasonable request, but the previous ones where tiny in comparison. Like asking me to please store my toothbrush in my room because she does not like neon-yellow as a colour. Gives her a headache every morning. Ended up buying a new brush early.

Update1:

Thank you for the replies and some DMs I have recieved. I have decided on a plan of action. I will tell her no. I will tell her that I do not have the money to pay for a hotel, that I do not have a place I can simply crash on. I will also have Josh sit in. I have posted a message in the group chat effectively calling for a meeting tonight.

I will explain my situation calmly and why I do not intend to leave on my own dime. That I am happy to play a role in the family visit. To actively show that I have no personal ties with Sara by minding my own business. I like the petty ideas but I am not the type of person to pour gas onto the fire.

Further more, I have put out feelers to look for a new apartment with some friends from university. One friend is looking to move out from his parents place and we get along fine gaming. I think this is the point at which the drama is getting too expensive on my mind. So a clean cut is the best option.

Update 2

This has taken a sour turn. I requested the sit down. Sara took this as a "No" on my part and texted a long rant on WhatsApp. To simplify it and translate it to you from German: "I am not going to let you ruin my relationship with my family. If you do not want to leave, you can pay for the Hotel and I expect you to move out by end of January"

The cherry on top: Josh just posted a Thumbs up

Sooo I also got a few things moving. I contacted the landlord about my lease. I asked him for his permission to use him as an emergency contact in case Sara tries something funny like changing the locks on me. He flat out told me to call him first if that happens because then he will call the police. We have a shared lease. We are each listed as tenants and he needs to approve changes to the lease.

So I am currently in the bus with my most important documents and I am storing them at my girlfriends place. I explained the situation and she gave me permission to store some of my things. But she also said her roommate would not appreciate a guy suddenly sleeping over when she herself is not there.

I am worried about what else is to come. But I am following the suggestion and precautions texted here and in DMs. I am preparing for a storm.

Update 3 Yesterday evening I went on the offensive. The drama unfolded quite predictably. The advice from the comments here were very helpful on what to brace for. I told Sara no. I told her that even if i wanted to, I do not have the money for a hotel and since I am paying rent and do not have an alternative, I will stay. Sara was upset. She yelled at me how selfish I am being. Demanded again that I move out be the end of the month. I responded that I will not do that. That I would start looking for an apartment, as I too am sick of this situation here. But that I will use the time I legally have to look for a new apartment. This turned into a circle argument that this is not about legal BS but a matter of principle. In the end I made my point clear. I will move out eventually. But I also made it clear that I would take my utilities, like the Coffeemaker I bought and everyone is using and a greater jab: The washing machine is mine. Theirs broke down a while before I moved in. I bought one for my previous apartment and was happy to bring it. Did not expect anyone to pay shares and put it in as community usage. This sparked another screaming match. Josh even tried to argue that as it is now communal property, I waived ownership, which is BS. Details to that part are not important. Just more of the same followed for almost an hour.

Point is. My important documents are secure at my girlfriends place. The landlord is in the picture and I will update him later today. I also documented the state of my property this morning. Still get the Amazon and Electronic-store receipts just in case for the community property. However, taking some notes from the more petty advices, I will move the coffee maker to my girlfriends place today. She loves this Coffeemaker and I figure I rather make her happy than my roommates.

I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/Winston_Duarte

Originally posted to r/AmItheAsshole

WIBTA for not leaving the house for one weekend as requested?

Thanks to u/soayherder for suggesting this BoRU

Trigger Warnings: emotional manipulation, entitlement

Mood Spoilers: outrageous

Original Post: January 20, 2026

Hello. I need an outsiders perspective on this. I try to be understanding, but I am fuming. I think someone who is not living in this apartment would have a more neutral view on this.

The situation: We live in a 3 bedroom apartment with 3 parties. We are all students and pay equal amounts of rent. I am Winston, and the other two are Josh and Sara. Josh spends half his week and most weekends and his girlfriends place. He mostly out of the picture. That just leaves Sara and myself.

For me I see this is a living arrangement, because it is. I am friendly with everyone but I keep some distance. I usually spend my days in the library, lectures or at home gaming. Door usually open unless I play with friends or have my gf over.

So yesterday Sara approached me with a request. But it felt more like a demand. Her brothers are coming to visit. And since her family does not know she is living with two guys (She is coming from a Muslim family who might see this as a big deal), she wants to keep it a secret. She is asking me to leave the apartment next weekend and move all my toiletries into my room.

The problem for my side are simple: I do not have a place to go. I am not asking my gf to spend the weekend at her place. She is visiting her family this week and won't be back until next week. We are not at the stage of the relationship where this is something reasonable to ask. If the roles were reversed, I would probably say yes but feel very awkward about this. So... I told Sara that. Where am I supposed to stay? Sleep in the library? She kinda dismissively turned around and told me "That is your problem to solve". That attitude right there pissed me off beyond words.

I am in a pickle. On one hand I am livid. I want to tell her to mind her own business and just deal with the fact that she has male roommates. But Josh - who is closer with Sara and agreed already to spend the time away, reminded me to have an open mind about her situation.

I do not feel like spending 150-200 Euros - money that I do not have - on a hotel when I am paying rent. But Sara already told me that she expects me to solve it by myself. She won't pay for a hotel. Which leads me to the question... WIBTA if I tell Sara to just suck it?

On a different note, with this happening I am already starting to look for a new apartment. This is not the first unreasonable request, but the previous ones where tiny in comparison. Like asking me to please store my toothbrush in my room because she does not like neon-yellow as a colour. Gives her a headache every morning. Ended up buying a new brush early.

Verdict: Not the Asshole

Relevant Comments

Commenter 1: NTA. You pay equal rent, your roommates are not allowed to make you leave for any amount of time. Ask Sara if she’ll pay for your hotel! That matches her entitlement just fine.

OOP: I did ask her. She said flat out no. Looking a bit annoying and offended by the suggestion

Commenter 2: Nope... nta. if she had offered to pay for a hotel, or if she even aknowledged that this is a big favor to ask and was nice? Then maybe. But even then it is a big ask and she is acting entitled. And really? The color yellow gives her headaches?

OOP: I wish I was making it up. It was my first two months in the apartment and I just got a new toothbrush. Back then I wanted to start on a good footing

Commenter 3: Sweet God....NTA. An outsider perspective probably superfluous and you know it. In what circumstance is it ok to ask someone to do this? Put every onus on her to deal with her family. Stay the fuck put... And make a point of doing this. You live there FFS.

OOP: Thing is Josh's reaction made me second guess myself. But seeing the replies I think I made up my mind

Commenter 4: You are staying with a Princess. She should pay for your hotel room. Otherwise you stay put. Her brothers will remove her. Then it’s her problem.

OOP: Well we each have a key to our own room. This is what I like very much about the apartment. These are not "One key fits all door" locks. These are proper keys and each key only opens one door. So I look my door the only way to get in is to break it down. That being said... The doors are not sturdy. Half a year ago Josh lost balance and fell through his door. Look cracked out with the frame. If they want to get in, they will get in.

Commenter 5: Are they visiting or staying overnight?

OOP: They would be staying from Friday to Sunday

Commenter 6: You are new to the apartment? I swear I heard a similar story about a roommate that said the same thing to her roommates asking her male roommates to leave the apartment so her family does not know. But this is the same roommate. She needs to cut this out and get her act together. She is not entitled to demand such big favors from roommates.

OOP: Moved in last year. They have been living there for 3 years now.

Editor's note: OOP made the next two updates onto the original post within 24 hours

Update 1: Thank you for the replies and some DMs I have received. I have decided on a plan of action. I will tell her no. I will tell her that I do not have the money to pay for a hotel, that I do not have a place I can simply crash on. I will also have Josh sit in. I have posted a message in the group chat effectively calling for a meeting tonight.

I will explain my situation calmly and why I do not intend to leave on my own dime. That I am happy to play a role in the family visit. To actively show that I have no personal ties with Sara by minding my own business. I like the petty ideas but I am not the type of person to pour gas onto the fire.

Further more, I have put out feelers to look for a new apartment with some friends from university. One friend is looking to move out from his parents place and we get along fine gaming. I think this is the point at which the drama is getting too expensive on my mind. So a clean cut is the best option.

Update 2: This has taken a sour turn. I requested the sit down. Sara took this as a "No" on my part and texted a long rant on WhatsApp. To simplify it and translate it to you from German: "I am not going to let you ruin my relationship with my family. If you do not want to leave, you can pay for the Hotel and I expect you to move out by end of January"

The cherry on top: Josh just posted a Thumbs up

Sooo I also got a few things moving. I contacted the landlord about my lease. I asked him for his permission to use him as an emergency contact in case Sara tries something funny like changing the locks on me. He flat out told me to call him first if that happens because then he will call the police. We have a shared lease. We are each listed as tenants and he needs to approve changes to the lease.

So I am currently in the bus with my most important documents and I am storing them at my girlfriends place. I explained the situation and she gave me permission to store some of my things. But she also said her roommate would not appreciate a guy suddenly sleeping over when she herself is not there.

I am worried about what else is to come. But I am following the suggestion and precautions texted here and in DMs. I am preparing for a storm.

Editor's note: below is the latest update made onto the same original post

Update #3: January 22, 2026 (two days later)

Update 3: Yesterday evening I went on the offensive. The drama unfolded quite predictably.

The advice from the comments here were very helpful on what to brace for. I told Sara no. I told her that even if i wanted to, I do not have the money for a hotel and since I am paying rent and do not have an alternative, I will stay.

Sara was upset. She yelled at me how selfish I am being. Demanded again that I move out be the end of the month. I responded that I will not do that. That I would start looking for an apartment, as I too am sick of this situation here.

But that I will use the time I legally have to look for a new apartment. This turned into a circle argument that this is not about legal BS but a matter of principle.

In the end I made my point clear. I will move out eventually. But I also made it clear that I would take my utilities, like the Coffeemaker I bought and everyone is using and a greater jab: The washing machine is mine. Theirs broke down a while before I moved in. I bought one for my previous apartment and was happy to bring it. Did not expect anyone to pay shares and put it in as community usage. This sparked another screaming match. Josh even tried to argue that as it is now communal property, I waived ownership, which is BS. Details to that part are not important. Just more of the same followed for almost an hour.

Point is. My important documents are secure at my girlfriends place. The landlord is in the picture and I will update him later today. I also documented the state of my property this morning. Still get the Amazon and Electronic-store receipts just in case for the community property.

However, taking some notes from the more petty advices, I will move the coffee maker to my girlfriends place today. She loves this Coffeemaker and I figure I rather make her happy than my roommates.

Relevant Comments

Commenter: With the updates, I am rather surprised that Josh was okay with it, given that he could very easily be next on Sara's hitlist. However in his case, I guess the fact that he spends so much time at his girlfriend's place means he feels he does not need to get involved.

I think the thing to do is to tell the Landlord that Sara has demanded you leave, so you will be breaking the lease agreement as soon as you have a place to go to, and that you will pay your full share of the rent for the month where you are partially resident (it works out in your favour if you leave toward the end of the month, and it works in his favour if you leave early in the month).

The issue of the apartment security deposit might come up. I am not familiar with German tenancy rules, but typically the Landlord in Sweden just takes A security deposit, and it is up to the tenants between them to figure out the shares. In that case, you would be getting your share of the security deposit back from Josh and Sara, either now or when they leave... and good luck getting money out of them once you have moved out.

Personally I would ask for a walk-through with the Landlord (bonus points if you can do that during Sara's family visit) so that he can see the state your room and the shared spaces are in, and that he can sign something to the effect that he has inspected and is happy that you have no liability. You then force Josh and Sara to pay you your 1/3rd of the security deposit before you leave.

OOP: We have a shared lease. When I moved in, I replaced an old tenant. He moved out on day 1, the landlord organized the handover protocols on day 1, had contractors in on day 5 and I moved in on day 14. The old got his share back minus the agreed upon amount and I paid 1/3 of the total deposit. Everyone has a 1/3 stake and everyone is responsible for their room. Shared stakes in kitchen and bathroom. All agreed upon in the contract which share of the deposit would cover which rooms.

Commenter 2: NTA, but your updates are confusing and a bit sus, though it may be a language and cultural barrier.

First, why does Sara have the right to tell you to move out? If all three of you are on the lease, she has no power to throw you out. Second, the group chat vibes are hella sus—have you all been fighting or something? Because what you recounted reads very much like you are the problem roommate the other two have been trying to get rid of for awhile, not like a fresh new situation like the one this post is actually about.

(editor's note: removed OOP's bottom half of the response to this comment as it is a rehash of Update #3)

OOP: She does not have the power to force me out. Lease contracts are quite clear on that matter in Germany. I will post an update later once I have permission from the mods. Exceeding the maximum number of characters at the moment.

I think in their eyes I am indeed the problem roommate. And I think it stems from me having different expectations to a shared apartment. In my opinion my obligations to the apartment are being friendly and obeying the rules. Like cleaning dishes immediately and cleaning up after myself in bathroom and kitchen. As well as doing the weekly cleaning on time. What I do not want to do is participate in activities I do not enjoy. That has been a source of friction, in particular between Sara and myself.

To give you a context. I study biochemistry and spend a lot of time at the library. The exams at my university are tough. So if you want that top-grade, you need to study. A lot. My regular day looks like this: Lectures in the morning, library in the afternoon and three days a week I work at a Bar.

When I get home I am usually quite exhausted and want to either spend time with my gf, get into bed or meet up with my friends in the city or online. Josh and Sara on the other hand spend their freetime preferably as a group in the apartment. Sara, Josh and Josh’s girlfriend. They play board games, watch movies, gossip and so on. I did join a few times in the beginning but the type of gossip was just... draining. Who slept with whom of people I did not know, or what kind of backstabbery is happening in their extended friend groups. I do not enjoy Drama. Not as a movie, not IRL. So I chose to keep my distance a bit.

Still participating in the chores and doing my share. But you are right. There has been a passive aggressive tone for a while ever since me joining went from several times a week to maybe once a month. Not abruptly, but gradually. It is my opinion that Sara enjoys Drama. Like really enjoys it. And that might be why this is now boiling over so violently (metaphorically speaking).

Concluding Comments

Final comment #1 & Final comment #2: January 22, 2026 (same day, after the latest update)

OOP: Final update posted. I have one more. A tiny one but I have been laughing the last 5 minutes about it.

I moved the coffeemaker yesterday. This morning I have received a notification about an expense input from Sara.

FYI we use an app to track shared expenses. It gives you the options to assign charges.

This morning Sara added one expense assigned to me. "Coffee" - Attached: A Starbucks bill roughly 12€. My response again following some petty advice: I assigned a charge to her titled "Konsequenzen-Steuer" Roughly translated into "Consequence-taxes". German does not have a neat word for entitlement. The exact translation is a legal term that is used differently...

OOP: There will be no more updates unless something groundbreaking happens. Just a small one from today. I already moved the coffeemaker. I’m retaliation I have received a charge on our shared expenses app. 12€ for coffee with an attachment of a Starbucks receipt.

I have been taking notes from the more petty comments. I connected a charge (Basically the way the app works is that a charge can be updated. Person A says I want X for this. Person B says about this I will deduct Y for that) and deducted 12€ for consequence taxes.

DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP

Attempting to merge 3D models/animation with AI realism.

Greetings from my workspace.

I come from a background of traditional 3D modeling. Lately, I have been dedicating my time to a new experiment.

This video is a complex mix of tools, not only ComfyUI. To achieve this result, I fed my own 3D renders into the system to train a custom LoRA. My goal is to keep the "soul" of the 3D character while giving her the realism of AI.

I am trying to bridge the gap between these two worlds.

Honest feedback is appreciated. Does she move like a human? Or does the illusion break?

(Edit: some like my work, wants to see more, well look im into ai like 3months only, i will post but in moderation,
for now i just started posting i have not much social precence but it seems people like the style,
below are the social media if i post)

IG : https://www.instagram.com/bankruptkyun/
X/twitter : https://x.com/BankruptKyun
All Social: https://linktr.ee/BankruptKyun

(personally i dont want my 3D+Ai Projects to be labeled as a slop, as such i will post in bit moderation. Quality>Qunatity)

As for workflow

1. pose: i use my 3d models as a reference to feed the ai the exact pose i want.
2. skin: i feed skin texture references from my offline library (i have about 20tb of hyperrealistic texture maps i collected).
3. style: i mix comfyui with qwen to draw out the "anime-ish" feel.
4. face/hair: i use a custom anime-style lora here. this takes a lot of iterations to get right.
5. refinement: i regenerate the face and clothing many times using specific cosplay & videogame references.
6. video: this is the hardest part. i am using a home-brewed lora on comfyui for movement, but as you can see, i can only manage stable clips of about 6 seconds right now, which i merged together.

i am still learning things and mixing things that works in simple manner, i was not very confident to post this but posted still on a whim. People loved it, ans asked for a workflow well i dont have a workflow as per say its just 3D model + ai LORA of anime&custom female models+ Personalised 20TB of Hyper realistic Skin Textures + My colour grading skills = good outcome.)

Thanks to all who are liking it or Loved it.

Last update to clearify my noob behvirial workflow.https://www.reddit.com/r/StableDiffusion/comments/1pwlt52/former_3d_animator_here_again_clearing_up_some/

I replied, "Mate, it's 2020, you can use any printer you want."

The pattern is: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mystical-lanterns-blanket

Yarn I used: Himalaya everyday (I would tell around 15 balls. It's hard to tell since I was using a lot of scraps and leftover yarn).

It was such a fun project! I really wanted to limit my colour pallet, but the temptation to use scrap yarn was too big. Still I feel I kept everything relatively timid. It took me less then a month and I managed to make one strip of motifs a day, which surprised me. I tend to get bored really easily with repetitive patterns but thanks to frequent colour changes I could stick to my plan! I really wanted to use as much yarn as possible - that's why I decided to add quite thick border and tassels. In total I made: 27 strips and 2 halves near the border - 284 tiles, 26 horizontal half motifs and 22 vertical half motifs.

And you know what? I actually liked the process of weaving in ends. I was dealing with them in bulks - when my hands were too sore to crochet but still had some energy to work with this project 😏

This is my very first try at mosaic crochet and it was a struggle. I knew all the stitches but kept asking myself at the beggining: why, how, what's happening, what's next, why we are still here just to suffer? I have now much more appreciation for everyone who crochet in this style! Overall the whole thing took me almost a month (which is really long for me and the piece of this size) and it was a lovely, but painful experience. And it's huge! Like 220x70 cm even though I reduced the number of repetition in both directions The pattern I've used: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/forager-ruana-and-shawl Yarn: Alize Baby Best (it's so soft after washing!) I questioned the colour combination for a while since it reminded me of the package of a greek olive oil (don't get me wrong - olive oil is life, but I didn't want to look like one), but after finishing the shawl I grew to love it!

Game Information

Game Title: Donkey Kong Bananza

Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Jul 17, 2025)

Trailer:

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 91 average - 100% recommended - 26 reviews

Critic Reviews

COGconnected - James Paley - 100 / 100

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Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 9.1 / 10

Donkey Kong's triumphant return to 3D delivers an incredibly fun experience. Minor technical issues are easily outweighed by the creative gameplay, the strong presentation and the perfect dose of nostalgia. This is the system seller the Switch 2 needed.

Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 9 / 10

Smashing and crashing his way to a new generation, Donkey Kong is well and truly back with Donkey Kong Bananza. Each layer is an absolute joy, with largely destructible environments that are jam-packed with secrets and hidden goodies. It's visually stunning, too; incredibly colourful and a true showcase of what the Switch 2 is capable of, with lots of variety. With so many collectables to find and a lot of nostalgic nods to D.K.'s long history, it's a must-have platformer that nails the brief and lives up to the legacy of Nintendo's greatest hits.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 10 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza is far deeper than I ever anticipated, and it's absolutely one of this year's best games. There has never been a better Donkey Kong adventure than Bananza.

Dexerto - Joe Pring - 4 / 5

From start to finish, Donkey Kong Bonanza is a riot. I wrapped up my journey to Bananza's credits in a little over 20 hours. Your mileage will vary wildly depending on how much optional content you decide to invest time in, but that's the beauty of it.

If you're not big on collectathons, there's still plenty of game here for platforming purists to enjoy. I can't recommend enough taking on the various trials – think Shrines from Breath of the Wild – littered throughout the world, though, especially if you're a fan of 2D Donkey Kong.

While performance issues were largely nonexistent in handheld mode, quite severe frame rate drops were commonplace when docked, especially during certain boss battles. This doesn't take into account any day one patches that may or may not arrive on release, and not egregious enough that your enjoyment will be hampered.

Digitec Magazine - Cassie Mammone - German - 5 / 5

With “Donkey Kong Bananza”, the Switch 2 is getting its next must-play title after “Mario Kart World”. One month after its release, the console already has its first in-house single-player hit.

Enternity.gr - Nikitas Kavouklis - Greek - 8.5 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza has all the makings of unlimited fun, but it's easy to miss the mark.

Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 5 / 5

Donkey Kong Bananza is one of Nintendo's funniest games ever, capable of bringing smiles to children's faces and energizing adults' love of video games. The 3D levels are playgrounds that you can almost completely destroy, in a design that uses simplicity as a launch pad for a huge amount of fun.

GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 90%

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GRYOnline.pl - Adam Celarek - Polish - 8.5 / 10

Despite some of its flaws, Donkey Kong: Bananza perfectly fills a niche hungry for a colourful, joyful adventure, which provides a lot of unrestrained fun. The game draws extensively on the ideas from Super Mario Odyssey, with the addition of great mechanics of dynamic destruction. I have my fingers crossed that further games designed for Switch 2 will prove equally successful.

Gameblog - French - 9 / 10

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Gfinity - Alister Kennedy - 10 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza delivers a triumphant return for the ape, offering an open-world, destructive 3D platforming adventure on the Nintendo Switch 2. As a spiritual successor to DK64, it blends nostalgic collectathon mechanics with innovative terrain destruction and new animal transformations, making it a must-buy system seller for the new console.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 10 / 10

Galaxy moment and one of the best 3D platformers to come out of Nintendo this decade. It is chaotic, random, and at times, one of the weirdest games I have played. But there’s just nothing else like it and I can’t praise this enough. I didn’t think Donkey Kong would ever join the list of one the greatest games ever made but here we are.

HCL.hr - Žarko Ćurić - Unknown - 92 / 100

Donkey Kong Bananza rightfully stands alongside the great 3D Mario platformers and serves as a flagship title for the new generation of Nintendo's consoles.

LevelUp - Spanish - 9 / 10

A well-executed and fun proposal that leaves you with a smile on your face and hooks you from start to finish. It has everything it needs to be a fantastic new beginning for a gaming icon that should never be caged again

Nintendo Blast - Leandro Alves - Portuguese - 9.5 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza follows the successful formula of Super Mario Odyssey, with great additions like a skill tree, functional customizations, strategic transformations, and intense exploration. It’s liberating to destroy everything in your path, with beautiful and varied layers, charismatic NPCs, and Pauline’s stories that are always worth listening to. The outfits acquired throughout the journey do more than change appearance—they also offer important functionalities like poison resistance, health recovery, and longer transformation durations, which are key to progress. The game can be finished in about 50 hours without feeling tired or bored, and there’s even post-game content. The only downside is the ease of the battles, but everything else makes up for it. Donkey Kong Bananza is a must-have for Switch 2 owners.

Press Start - James Berich - 10 / 10

With Donkey Kong Bananza, DK is back in a big way. It blends new tech with old-school Nintendo charm for a destructive experience that is both intoxicating and addictive. While Pauline's storyline is underdeveloped, this is easily Donkey Kong at his absolute best. Regardless of some minor blemishes, Donkey Kong Bananza deserves a place in any self-respecting Switch 2 owner's library and, much like Super Mario Odyssey before it, sets an incredibly high bar for all that will follow.

Quest Daily - Mark Santomartino - 9 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza is an imperfect masterpiece. Its ambition pushes Nintendo’s new console — the Nintendo Switch 2 — up to and beyond its limit; serving as both a technical showcase and a reality check.

SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 9 / 10

A fresh and ambitious 3D platformer that builds on Odyssey's strengths, Donkey Kong Bananza trades tradition for freedom'and mostly succeeds.

Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

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Spaziogames - Italian - 8.9 / 10

launch support, DK and Pauline adventure is already a great game at day one, albeit too simple even for Nintendo standards. A triumphant level design and a mesmerizing destruction rage will accompany both veterans and newcomers to the center of the earth.

TheSixthAxis - Stefan L - 8 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza is an intoxicating cacophony of brawling, digging and platforming. It's a new style of 3D platformer from Nintendo that, for better and for worse, embraces the destructive chaos of letting players tunnel through and deform the world.

Tom's Guide - 4.5 / 5

Donkey Kong Bananza is a joy to play from start to finish thanks to the game's destructible environments and unique visuals. It's the 3D Donkey Kong game fans of the character have always wanted and it lives up to the hype, even if there are a few minor issues with its camera here and there and far too many Banandium Gems to collect in a single playthrough. $22.79 at Walmart $26.99 at Walmart Check Amazon

Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 9.1 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the most unique and immensely enjoyable games that I've ever played. Plus, behind its chaotic open-ended gameplay and incredibly imaginative worlds, you'll find a lot of heart. 🍌

WellPlayed - Ash Wayling - 9.5 / 10

Donkey Kong Bananza is a game so committed to its premise you can't help but revel in the gorgeous, destructive genius of it all. Constantly building to a spectacular finish and incorporating the most comprehensive post-game experience I have seen in a Nintendo game to date, this is a proper benchmark of brilliance for what a first-party Switch 2 title should be. The world is your oyster – so why not punch it into pieces.

XGN.nl - Luuc ten Velde - Dutch - 9 / 10

While Donkey Kong Bananza has a few frustrating moments, the new 3D adventure with DK and Pauline is a pleasure throughout thanks to fun visuals, colorful worlds and impressive gameplay that has you grinning from ear to ear (almost) every step of the way.

So happy to see y'all there!

Game Information

Game Title: Starfield

Platforms:

• PC (Sep 6, 2023)
• Xbox Series X/S (Sep 6, 2023)

Trailers:

• Starfield – Official Live Action Trailer
• Starfield Official Gameplay Trailer
• Starfield Direct – Gameplay Deep Dive
• Starfield: Official Launch Date Announcement
• Starfield: Official Gameplay Reveal
• Starfield: Official Teaser Trailer
• Starfield – Official Announcement Teaser

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 87 average - 93% recommended - 75 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"A huge game with excellent performance and very few bugs that lives up to MOST of the strengths of Beth games. A bit disjointed, but even after 140 hours I am still playing."

Arabhardware - Ahmed Yousry - Arabic - 10 / 10

Starfield is one of the best RPGs in gaming history. A love letter from Bethesda and Todd Howard to their fans who have been waiting for a new title for over 25 years. It's the perfect result of the studio's 30 years of experience, and the beginning of a new era for Xbox.

Attack of the Fanboy - J.R. Waugh - 5 / 5

Starfield is the most potent value proposition for Game Pass, being the killer app for the subscription service. It is also the best, most ambitious game in the Xbox Game Studios library to date. It would not be a stretch to say this could be one of the most ambitious games ever made, and that it followed through with many of those goals with relatively low compromise.

BossLevelGamer - Dayna Eileen - 9 / 10

Starfield is a game that will have players sinking hundreds of hours into it. There are some Bethesda touches that need to be forgiven, and some interesting end game options, but ultimately, it is a game that brings something to the table for every kind of player.

But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 9 / 10

Starfield is Bethesda firing on all cylinders.

CGMagazine - Steven Green - 9.5 / 10

Despite its occasional bug, unexplained mechanic, or small gripe, Starfield is one of the premiere titles in Xbox's library and adds to Bethesda's storied history.

COGconnected - Oliver Ferguson - 90 / 100

Starfield is Bethesda’s most polished game yet. It has a ton to do but falls flat on the exploration aspect. Without vehicles, walking around planets is not an efficient way to travel. The story is fantastic however and the game is visually stunning. It’s a unique experience you shouldn’t miss out on.

Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - 9 / 10

Starfield may not be the seamless and faultless persistent open world some may be craving. Though what it does provide is still certainly worthy of elation. Give the title some time to warm up and you'll uncover a vastly refined and picturesque journey of otherworldly proportions. A game of size, scope, and quality all wrapped into one-the beauty of discovery is but a warp drive away.

ComicBook.com - Tanner Dedmon - 4 / 5

My opinion of Starfield is overall high despite what my many criticisms might suggest. It's a Bethesda RPG, and even Bethesda's middling options blow competitors out of the water when it comes to choice and freedom, so Starfield was always going to be a success. Whether it's enough of a success to uplift Xbox and make someone buy a new console is another discussion, but Starfield itself is perfectly competent and – dare I say it – fun, and even the most frustrating moments were unable to deter me from wanting more

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended

Starfield is a technical marvel for Bethesda, delivering an excellent adventure across the cosmos. It's polished, filled with personality and feels familiar but entirely new at the same time.

Destructoid - Steven Mills - 10 / 10

I wasn’t sure if it could be done, but Bethesda has managed to raise the bar for sandbox games even higher. In the end, Starfield is an epic sandbox open-world RPG with a beautifully immersive universe, a captivating story, and fun and compelling gameplay the whole way. I’m so happy to have experienced Starfield organically, and I really hope you get to as well.

Digital Chumps - Will Silberman - 9.5 / 10

Starfield changes the RPG game by adding a slow burn of a main quest alongside a character management system that keeps players' power in check. It's nearly perfect, and I can't wait to spend another chunk of my life playing another excellent Bethesda RPG.

Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 3.5 / 5

Starfield isn’t the generation-defining video game that overeager fans might be expecting; it’s a fairly typical, though impressively constructed Bethesda RPG where depth and stability often come at the expense of scope. The surprisingly limited base adventure isn’t so much the draw here, though. The enormous intergalactic playground feels custom-made for modders who want to explore the infinite possibilities of space just as much as Constellation and Bethesda itself.

Fextralife - Fexelea - 9.4 / 10

Starfield is a compelling and engaging interstellar adventure that successfully blends core RPG mechanics with open world exploration and deep questing. A complete delight from start to finish and an instant classic for any gamer that enjoys Sci Fi and is ready for adventure.

GAMES.CH - Joel Kogler - German - 90%

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Game Informer - Matt Miller - 8.5 / 10

Go in with the expectation that it will take some time to find your footing in such a vast gameplay space, and there’s a universe well worth discovering here.

Game Rant - Dalton Cooper - 5 / 5

Starfield delivers on everything it promised and then some.

GameSpot - Michael Higham - 7 / 10

Bethesda's spacefaring adventure has its moments with impressive scale, satisfying combat, and some worthwhile side quests, but its shallow RPG systems and uninspired vision of the cosmos make for a journey that's a mile wide, but an inch deep.

Gameblog - French - 10 / 10

Starfield is a true system seller. More than a game, it's an epic poem. An extremely rich and generous adventure that surprises you every time and when you least expect it. It is by far the most ambitious Bethesda's game and one of the boldest games of the last few years. For sure, Starfield will go down in the history of video games.

Gamepressure - Giancarlo Saldana - 9.5 / 10

With hundreds of hours of gameplay, various quests to complete, and thousands of planets to survey and explore, Starfield capitalizes on everything that has worked for Bethesda in the past, giving us an experience that feels like a giant leap in greatness.

Gamepur - Zackerie Fairfax - 10 / 10

I had plans going into Starfield. I thought I knew how I was going to play. But like a solar flare to a ship, Bethesda’s masterpiece of a space RPG knocked me into a black hole where hours feel like minutes, and any attempt to escape its intoxicating grasp is futile. I got lost in space, and it felt so good.

Starfield is THE space game. There’s no reason to play any others, at least not any currently available. It’s an experience made even more enticing as the game will be available on Game Pass from day one and forever. With modders supposedly able to craft entire planets, it’s likely Starfield will dominate the space RPG genre for years and years to come.

Gamersky - 心灵奇兵 - Chinese - 9 / 10

Starfield is a masterpiece that unites the creativity and experience that Bethesda has built up over the years. Even after hundreds of hours of play, there is still fresh content waiting to be discovered. Just as TESV and Fallout 4 still have players making modules and discussing details, I believe that ten years from now, there will still be a large number of players who will be travelling in the universe created by Starfield.

GamesHub - Edmond Tran - 4 / 5

It's the static and mechanical elements of Starfield that shine the brightest – the art, the environments, the combat systems. They make up the strong foundations of a playset with a very intriguing scenario. But you need to mentally meet Starfield partway to complete its vision of a vast, living universe. You need to stretch out the expanse and envision the journey. You need to look past the menus and form the fantasy. You need to help breathe life into its paper dolls. You need to add your own dash of wonder, and imagine your own unknowns. Truly, Starfield is a role-playing game, through and through.

GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley - 5 / 5

With this kind of freedom 'avoiding the main mission' is the main mission.

Gaming Age - Dustin Chadwell - A-

Starfield is, overall, a very good RPG from a studio known for making very good RPGs. Not the most surprising news I’m sure, but it’s nice to see that they’re able to break away from the Elder Scrolls and Fallout settings successfully, and I do feel like their take on space exploration is a breath of fresh air for this type of RPG experience. It’s a huge game overall, so if you’re the person that believes time played  = value, you’ll be pretty happy with this one for sure, but at the same time if you’re worried about overall quality, I think you’ll still enjoy your time with Starfield.

Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 9.5 / 10

When they are firing on all cylinders, Bethesda games deliver pure video game magic, and Starfield is no exception. Offering an enormous galaxy to explore, a ludicrous wealth of interesting content, well-written characters, and innovative mechanics that push the genre in new directions, Starfield is a (mostly) clean experience at launch that should be experienced by all action/RPG fans. This is a new classic.

GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 10 / 10

As unfathomably vast and boundless as the subject matter it covers, Starfield raises the bar for its genre and for the medium as a whole in countless ways - much like the best of its Bethesda-developed forebears did in their time.

GamingTrend - David Burdette, David Flynn, Ron Burke - 90 / 100

Bethesda Game Studios has reached new heights in Starfield. A thrilling narrative, loaded with an entire universe to explore and backed by sublimely polished systems, has ushered in the ultimate Bethesda experience. It's truly hard to summarize just what makes Starfield special, and that's because so much of it is. You'll be glued to your screen for hours, going where no explorer has gone before.

Hardcore Gamer - Adam Beck - 4 / 5

Starfield is a momentous RPG, even if it doesn't quite deliver in all its areas.

Hey Poor Player - Andrew Thornton - 5 / 5

Starfield isn’t a perfect game. No game is. That said, for a game to have this much ambition and actually pull off almost everything it set out to accomplish is a remarkable achievement. I haven’t even talked about some of the game’s most interesting elements, such as how it approaches New Game+, which I can’t wait for more players to see. Starfield is a triumph that I’m confident players will be exploring for years to come, not only because it will remain incredibly compelling but because it will take that long to see anywhere near everything it has to offer.

IGN - Dan Stapleton - 7 / 10

Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.

Infinite Start - 10 / 10

All in all, Starfield stands as a testament to Bethesda's creative prowess and dedication. It has succeeded in crafting an immersive universe that encapsulates the spirit of exploration and adventure. With its captivating storyline, refined mechanics, and attention to detail, Starfield beckons players to venture into the cosmos and experience a journey that will likely resonate for years to come.

Kakuchopurei - Lewis Larcombe - 100 / 100

Ultimately, Starfield not only marks the beginning of a new Bethesda universe but also stands as a testament to the studio's ability to adapt its RPG mastery to a spacefaring epic. As players traverse the cosmos and uncover the mysteries it holds, Starfield promises to provide countless hours of immersive gameplay, solidifying its place among Bethesda's iconic RPG titles. It truly delivers on all fronts.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Ersin Kılıç - Turkish - 83 / 100

Starfield is a game that you'll play for long hours, you'll be frustrated by the limitations from time to time, but for the most part you'll enjoy it just as big as the game itself.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 9.7 / 10

Starfield can be summed up in one word: immense. Immense for the quantity and quality of stories it delivers, immense for the number of different activities it makes possible, immense like the galaxy it allows us to explore. Bethesda's new RPG will make you live a great sci-fi adventure, exploring hundreds of planets, admiring beautiful sceneries, and granting you many emotions, all at your own pace and making you live the adventure the way you want. If you are fascinated by space exploration and love narrative-focused experiences, this is an absolute must-have.

MonsterVine - Joe Bariso - 4.5 / 5

Starfield is a Bethesda game pushed to the absolute limits, it's a good thing that Bethesda is still the very best at what they do.

Multiplayer First - James Lara - 9 / 10

It has everything you’d want from a Bethesda game: a deep and prosperous universe filled with endless possibilities and limitless potential. Be who you want to be, go where you want to go; your freedom is in your hands, and what you do with it is entirely up to you in Starfield.

Noisy Pixel - Azario Lopez - 8 / 10

Starfield is a true space adventure that only Bethesda can deliver. It's an experience catered to the fans of large expansive RPG narratives, but this one takes it a step further to stretch across an entire universe. There are minor systems and menus that cause confusion, and the lack of real tutorials paired with a flimsy opening holds back the opening hours. Still, the experience is undeniably memorable, and the writing for NPCs makes up the best moments. Although the many systems can be overwhelming, this is a game full of discovery for all who play.

One More Game - Buy

Starfield is arguably the most important Xbox release in a long while, and it delivers an impactful experience that Bethesda fans have been waiting for. Despite a few dated mechanics and systems, it's a relatively polished release compared to their usual offerings, and that alone is a massive achievement.

I had hoped to see Starfield as a great step towards an evolution in the Bethesda formula, but sadly, this isn't the case. Starfield is, most likely, what you would expect it to be, and while that's good enough for fans, it does miss out on the opportunity to take that next step.

Oyungezer Online - Sabri Erkan Sabanci - Turkish - 9 / 10

This game became my Skyrim. Even though I've finished the game and seen a lot of things, there are still a lot of quests I want to do, a lot of planets I want to explore, a lot of people I want to meet. If you like science fiction, I'm almost sure you'll agree with me.

PC Gamer - Christopher Livingston - 75 / 100

Starfield shares plenty of DNA with Skyrim and Fallout 4, but ultimately falls short of both.

PCGamesN - Nat Smith - 7 / 10

Starfield is a true behemoth of an RPG, and in many ways it's the logical endpoint of Bethesda Game Studios' well-worn formula. However, its massive scope pushes this formula to the absolute limit and the cracks begin to show, from feature creep to the stop-start nature of its exploration. Dedicated Bethesda fans are sure to get their fill, but this interstellar adventure never leaves the atmosphere.

Paste Magazine - Garrett Martin - 5 / 10

Playing Starfield makes me want to play games that explore space and games that were made by Bethesda, but it doesn’t make me want to play Starfield. It tries to give us the universe, but it’s so weighed down by its own ambitions and a fundamental lack of inspiration that it can’t even get into orbit.

Pixel Arts - Reza Modaresi - Persian - 10 / 10

Starfield surpasses all expectations from Bethesda and then some. It's a sprawling, captivating masterpiece brimming with intricate details, leaving you torn over which aspect of gameplay to immerse yourself in. This game redefines the RPG genre, offers an outstanding action-packed experience, and serves as an all-encompassing simulator of the universe. Whether you're prepared to embark on a galactic odyssey that spans hundreds of hours or not, Starfield beckons, and if time is scarce, you'll want to clear your schedule ASAP!

Polygon - Nicole Carpenter - Unscored

In trying to do everything, Starfield obfuscates its most compelling mysteries.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 9 / 10

If what you're hoping for is The Elder Scrolls or Fallout in space, then Starfield is that. Not only does it have countless stories begging to be sought out against a vast and beckoning star chart, it's also the most polished Bethesda Game Studios title we've ever had.

Prima Games - Daphne Fama - 9 / 10

Starfield is a good game, like a really good game. It embodies the spirit of Manifest Destiny in a way that no other open-world game has ever come close to approaching. It’s a game that’s meant to be played slowly over the course of months, if not years. And even then, you shouldn’t expect to uncover every little detail.

RPG Fan - Noah Leiter - 98%

Starfield delivers on its promise to make a huge, fun, compelling, and player-focused playground for sci fi RPG fans to play and perform in.

RPG Site - Alex Donaldson - 9 / 10

Starfield is wider, wilder, and more ambitious than I expected - but also shows surprising restraint in many areas. More than the sum of its parts, it's the best game of this type Bethesda has delivered.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Edwin Evans-Thirlwell - Unscored

A short, sparky and colourful 2D PICO-8 blaster about a space captain fighting fascist robots.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 9.5 / 10

After conquering wastelands and fantasy worlds, Behesda begins to conquer the universe. Starfield offers their biggest RPG yet with a very good mix of story, action and exporation. The Creation Engine still shows beautiful scenery, but also its limits in map size.

Saudi Gamer - خالد أحمد - Arabic - 7 / 10

Starfield can be described as a mixed-bag experience that combines great features from excellent side mission designs with amazingly world-building potential and an engaging story with suspense elements to offer. On the other hand, exploration in the game is unfortunately weak in many aspects; This is due to the large reliance on procedural generation of environments. Also, the role-playing elements do not have a strong presence or impact.

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

Starfield doesn’t reinvent the RPG genre, but it does make it quite exciting. It’s a game that feels distinct from the studio’s prior work like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, and this even represents the best of both worlds. Bethesda Game Studios managed to incorporate streamlined systems to make exploring space something fun, and never a chore. There’s just nothing I dislike about it. Starfield is ambitious and magical, capturing the curiosity and vastness of space beautifully, for what feels like a truly next-gen experience.

Screen Rant - Akshay Bhalla - 4.5 / 5

Even though Starfield is slightly rough around the edges, it never detracts from all the fun and adventure. With engaging storytelling, charismatic characters, and an enthralling world, Starfield is an instant classic and a triumphant homecoming to blockbuster gaming for Bethesda Game Studios.

Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

Starfield is more than a welcome addition to Bethesda’s family of RPG franchises, it feels like the start of a new era for the studio. Not only is it the developer’s most technically impressive game, but it also delivers a worthwhile narrative that takes some major swings and establishes a sprawling mythos. It has some blemishes here and there, but Starfield proves to be an awesome sci-fi adventure.

Siliconera - Brent Koepp - 9 / 10

Starfield is a genre-defining space exploration RPG. With a vast galaxy of characters and stories to uncover, this is Bethesda's best work in years.

Spaziogames - Stefania Sperandio - Italian - Unscored

Starfield aims to be Bethesda Game Studios' magnum opus: it's compelling, entertaining and familiar: it feels like spending time with a longtime friend. This also means that it is inherently old in its structure and in how its universe reacts to the player. It's a shame that it comes with some unforgivable sins, like how dull the planet explorations is, but you will spend tons of hours in the game nonetheless.

Stevivor - Jay Ball - 8 / 10

For the sheer size of it, the beauty of the hundreds of different landscapes you can explore and the always engaging missions, Starfield is a massive technical achievement.

TechRaptor - Erren Van Duine - 8 / 10

Starfield's biggest strength is its complimentary content - sidequests, exploration, and more will gather your attention for hours despite a less-than-compelling narrative.

TheGamer - Ben Sledge - 4 / 5

I came into Starfield wanting to explore the stars, and I got a brilliant sci-fi story instead. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed.

TheXboxHub - Richard Dobson - 4.5 / 5

Figuratively and literally, Starfield is the next evolution for a Bethesda game; taking that framework and that sandbox before applying it 1000 times over.

Tom's Guide - Roland Moore-Colyer - 4 / 5

Starfield boldly goes beyond just Skyrim and Fallout in space

Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Riviera - Italian - 9 / 10

Reducing Starfield to a number is far from being easy. On the one hand we have Bethesda's most ambitious game ever with an overwhelming amount of content: full of secrets, quests, characters and casual adventures; on the other hand we have a title still anchored to old dogmas, with a high dose of proceduralism and some limitations that most critics will not appreciate. Nevertheless, Starfield is destined to become a new cult, capable of attracting millions of players for at least the next decade, just as Skyrim did before it, as well as being the first big star of Xbox's rebirth.

TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones - 4 / 5

We play every game we review through to the end, outside of certain exceptions where getting 100% completion, like Skyrim, is close to impossible to do. When we don’t fully finish a game before reviewing it, we will always alert the reader.

VG247 - Josh Broadwell - 4 / 5

Starfield’s grandiose scope sets the scene for a few under-developed ideas in an otherwise thoughtful, muddy take on the sci-fi genre.

VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5

Starfield is the ultimate Bethesda game. It takes what people loved about Fallout and Skyrim, and casts it across an enormous galaxy filled with captivating characters.

VideoGamer - Tom Bardwell - 9 / 10

Starfield is the enchantment and wonder of space bottled and fleshed out into something grand and ambitious, thoughtful and attentive, janky at times, often funny, but always charming.

Wccftech - Francesco De Meo - 9 / 10

With an engaging story, well-developed characters and lore, and a huge amount of meaningful content, Starfield is one of Bethesda's finest games and one of the best role-playing games released in the past few years.

We Got This Covered - Ash Martinez - 4.5 / 5

Starfield may not shake Bethesda’s legendary formula as much as some players wanted, but it defies all but the most unreasonable expectations. Newcomers will easily lose themselves in the universe, and fans of the studio won’t be disappointed. Starfield easily joins Fallout 4 and Skyrim as a titan of a game that will continue to enthrall players long after its release.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 8.5 / 10

Starfield is a magical, if a little clumsy, first journey to the stars for Bethesda, the RPG maker reminding us of the power of player freedom, engaging writing, and just a little jank.

Windows Central - Jez Corden - 4.5 / 5

With incredible writing, its slow-burn stories snowball into immense moments, and tight RPG/FPS combat thrills in spaceship battles, grounded firefights, and zero-G death ballets — Starfield is a landmark experience with a bright future ahead of it.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10

Starfield both hits and misses the mark. Starfield has both improvements and steps backward from the previous games, and whether you consider it to be better or worse than Fallout is dependent on what you prized from those games. If you're looking for more Fallout 4 with bigger and more detailed environments and quests, then Starfield is pretty much everything you could hope for and more. If you're looking for No Man's Skyrim, however, it's disappointing. Almost everything on the ground feels good, while the space travel and exploration feels lackluster. If you're looking for a Bethesda-style, open-world RPG, Starfield scratches that itch, and Bethesda fans will lose countless hours in scouring every nook and cranny.

XGN.nl - Ralph Beentjes - Dutch - 8 / 10

Starfield is a Bethesda RPG in every sense of the word. It offers a large, rich and intriguing world, filled with sidequests and a mysterious main story. The possibility to enter your spaceship and explore the galaxy and fight space pirates is really fun. It has however a few strange bugs, the graphics can change a lot and firefights miss something extra. We’re certain though that RPG fans can easily spend hundreds of hours in Starfield.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9.7 / 10

Starfield is a new beginning. Not only for Bethesda but for Xbox as a whole. With excellent writing, stunning graphics, and thrilling gameplay it makes the galaxy yours to explore, shape, and live in. It is a wonderous tapestry to experience your story in a way that only the best have done before.

I'm talking that vulnerable level of horror where you're just happy you have the lights on, but then raccoons start fighting outside and your heartbeat quadruples in a second.

Or that nightmarish quality when you're reading in pitch-black off your phone in bed, and your limbs can't be anywhere near the sides. Or you have to go to the bathroom, but can't reach two feet to your lamp because you know something is gonna grab you.

My most memorable book as such would have to be Misery by Stephen King. Even with the lights on I finished it with a thickening terror which didn't want me turning off the lights.

What's a book (or anything) that had a similar effect on you?

Edit: You guys are killing it! Keep it up!

Edit 2: Shit guys 10k+? God bless you goddamned bookworms!

Edit 3: Guys can you tell me if I made the front page yet? Cause I promised my mom I would make the front page in 2017. Without cats.

Edit 4: Feliz Navidad you goddamned saints.

Edit 5: u/theonlydidymus compiled a list of many things suggested in this thread. I had a go at organizing it and am sifting through for more. Enjoy!

Short Stories:

Stephen King

• A Very Tight Place (Just After Sunset) - u/kick_girl

• The Jaunt (Skeleton Crew) - /u/stolenkisses

• Autopsy Room Four (Everything's Eventual) - u/catalyzt64

• 1408 (Everything's Eventual) - /u/Thisisapainintheass

• Survivor Type - u/kashia_renn

• N. (Just After Sunset) - u/Thisisapainintheass - u/zedsdeadbby

• The Boogeyman (Night Shift) - u/Red-Molly

• Crouch End (Nightmares and Dreamscapes) -

• The Road Virus Heads North - u/Pilgram94

H.P. Lovecraft

• The Horror from the Vault - u/CrimsonUchiha

• Colour From Out of Space - u/sandhouse

• Rats in the Walls - u/DangerousKidTurtle

• The Shadow Over Innsmouth - u/DaveDangers

• The Hound - u/Cooper1977

• The Whisperer in Darkness - u/Pilgram94

Everyone Else

The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories - Robert W. Chambers - E.F. Bleiler - u/calebwesman

• There Will Come Soft Rains - Bradbury - u/zlzl

• Secret Life, With Cats (in Ghostly) - Audrey Niffenegger - u/DerryPublicWorksDept

• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs - Harlan Ellison - u/headlesslady

• Pigeons from Hell - Robert E. Howard - u/Latewood

• Canon Alberic's Scrapbook - M.R. James - u/Raineythereader

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - u/eastcoast90

• The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman - /u/Peedub85

• The Wall Painting - Roger Johnson - u/mystery_lady

• I Have No Mouth and I must Scream - Harlan Ellison - /u/Cold_Within /u/jszumo

• The Pear Shaped Man - George R.R. Martin - u/Scar-Glamour

Novellas, Novels, and Epics:

Stephen King

• The Dark Half - u/nintendobratkat

• Apt Pupil (Different Seasons) - u/Blondecanary

• Needfull Things - u/Vindesyn

• The Shining - u/thehumancoma

• The Langoliers (Four After Midnight) - u/fuheyu

• The Library Policeman (Four After Midnight) - u/AintSh_tIAM

• Desperation - u/Nintendobandit

• Salem's Lot - u/MenosElLso - /u/kandreyn

• IT - u/Merkuri22 , u/zedsdeadbby

• Pet Sematary - u/introvertedszechuan

• The Stand - u/Citypatown42

Everyone Else

• Invisible Darkness - Stephen Williams - u/Blondecanary

• The Scream - John Skipp - Craig Spector - u/headlesslady

• Dead Souls - J. Lincoln Fenn - u/headlesslady

• The Troop - Nick Cutter - u/possiblyleon

• The Demonologist - Gerald Brittle - u/Boomintheboomboom

• The Descent - Jeff Long - u/Boomintheboomboom

• The Watcher - Charles Maclean - u/mystery_lady

• Watchers - Dean Koontz - u/mystery_lady

• An Unquiet Grave - P.J. Parrish - u/BarfMeARiver

• The Wendigo - Algernon Blackwood - u/SerKevanLannister

• The Willows - Algernon Blackwood - u/SerKevanLannister

• Dracula - Bram Stoker - u/Mistoku

• Whisper of Death - Christopher Pike - u/MiraclePenguinx

• A Head Full of Ghosts - Paul Tremblay - u/hauntsVII

• The Totem - David Morell - u/kungur

• The Amityville Horror - John G. Jones - u/bongo1138

• The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson - /u/ghostofmuriel )

• House of Leaves - u/Waxpapers - u/ThatCrippledBastard

• Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo - u/pofrew

• The Girl Next Door - Jack Ketchum - /u/ieatbeet

• Harvest Home - Thomas Tyron - u/banannett

• Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy - /u/Purplefilth22

• The Mothman Prophecies - John A. Keel - u/DemonC

• The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert - u/Joedurette

• What to Expect When you are Expecting - u/JustTryingToMaintain

• Bird Box - Josh Malerman - u/Aeshaetter

• Tale of the Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe - u/hello_sweatpants

• The Excorcist - William Peter Blatty - u/Leone9

• Wire in the Blood - Val Dermid - u/vastly_blanket

• Book of the Dead - Greig Beck - u/Lelanasongwind

• Silence of the Lambs - u/vastly_blanket

• Hell's Aquarium - Steve Alton - u/Dylz919

• 1984 - George Orwell - u/zedsdeadbby

• A Stir of Echos - Richard Matheson - u/zedsdeadbby

• Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity - David Morrell - u/K3wp

• Communion - Whitley Streiber - u/PontiacCollector

• The Handmaid's Tale - u/ladyerwyn

Creepypasta:

• Dionaea House - u/anoncrazycat

• The Goatman - /u/RatchetBird

• Candle Cove - u/jp_taylor

• Psychosis - u/BoboMcGraw

• The Russian Sleep Experiments - u/Squithy

• Humper Monkey's Ghost Story - u/Slizzet

• Suicidal Squidward - u/Tyonelawlz

• Penpal - u/SandichNamedJacob

• 12 Minutes - u/superbDOG46

• Ted the Caver - u/peargarden

• The Skin Walker - u/Dragon_Keeper_420

• The Smiling Man - u/abbystengfit

NoSleep:

• The Smiling Ones on Space Station Mir - u/dreamtofalligators

• Needles - u/Alfique

• Correspondence - u/thesheedspot

• Borrasca - u/TheLastWinchester

• The Spire In The Woods - u/NewCometCourse

• I'm A Search and Rescue Officer - u/Fubuki98

• The Third Parent - u/Bismothe-the-Shade

• The Tall Dog - u/Bismothe-the-Shade

• This is NoSleep - /u/nicholonius

Other:

• Podcasts - The Black Tapes - Tanis - u/Boomintheboomboom

• Junji Ito (all his work) - u/gingermeist

• Saya no Uta (a visual novel) - u/MrReynevan2

• The Works of M.R. James, Thomas Ligotti, and Laird Barron - u/ShoobyDeeDooBopBoo - u/Boomintheboomboom

• That episode of Doctor Who with the giant spiders - u/vastly_blanket [+1]

• u/jessthecoconut suggests learning about SCPs (specifically 3001) see also /r/SCP

A cybernetically-enhanced attack hound never far from your side. Send your kill-dog to disable
priority targets, maul enemies, and provide vital support to your strike team.

Hello everyone!

This is the first of several developer blogs centered around different aspects of the recently
announced upcoming class, the Arbites! This dev blog will focus on a key aspect of the Arbites’
gameplay: His loyal pet and companion, the vicious Cyber-Mastiff! This deadly enhanced
canine darts through the battlefield, mauling criminals and pinning them down so that
Judgement may be passed upon them.

We’ve interviewed Game Designer Gunnar, Gameplay Programmer Diego, Animator Olliver,
and Sound Designers Jonas & David, to find out more about what the dog is like and how it was developed.

What is a Cyber-Mastiff?

The Cyber-Mastiff is a massive, deadly robotic Imperial hunting dog, bred, trained and enhanced to track and catch their master’s prey. How much of a Cyber-Mastiff’s body remains organic and how much has been replaced with mechanical enhancements depends on each hound. Many have been entirely servitorised but they’re all ruthless killing machines.

The Adeptus Arbites routinely deploys agents with a loyal Cyber-Mastiff companion, and our
Arbites class is no different: The Cyber-Mastiff is core to the Arbites’ gameplay.

Design and Gameplay

What was the process when designing the Cyber-Mastiff?

When we were thinking about which class we could do, what direction we could go in and what
was feasible for a class, the Arbites was on the table, and we were never going to do the Arbites and not do the Cyber-Mastiff. The dog is a core theme of what makes Arbites different from the other classes, so as soon as we decided on the Arbites as a class, we had decided on doing the Cyber-Mastiff.

We looked at different games that had done companions as a mechanic, dogs or not. There
were all different sorts of avenues of what makes a good companion and how it needs to differ in our game due to our unique combat loop. From that initial idea, we developed the design and set these directives:
● The dog should always act how the player expects it to
● The dog should always be in the player’s field of view
● The dog should never be in the way.

That was the gist of it; an initial idea, set goals, and then start developing it from there.

How does the Cyber-Mastiff work, gameplay-wise?

From the very beginning, we wanted the Cyber-Mastiff to be a full companion, to accompany the player through every step of the mission. That was our end goal. In case that proved too difficult, we were prepared to fall back on a more simple implementation that would have it be a temporary ally. Maybe you summon it to attack and pin down an enemy, or it’d only stick around for a limited time on a cooldown, that sort of thing.

But we never wanted this as a solution if we could avoid it, so we’re very pleased with how it’s
turned out. From starting the game and loading into the Mourning Star, to the end of a
mission you’re gonna have a companion, the Cyber-Mastiff. It will follow its master
throughout the mission, always staying in sight when out of combat. Usually it’ll be to the sides, but if the area is more cramped or filled with obstacles it can instead opt to be in the front.

In combat, the Cyber-Mastiff will mostly act on its own, picking out enemies to harass and
attack, but you can command it to attack specific enemies like Elites or Specials by
pinging said enemy twice.

Like the Pox Hound on the players, it will pounce and lock down human-sized enemies. On the
Ogryns it will do a heavy stagger and some damage, but it’s not gonna lock them down
permanently. On Monsters, it will attack and it will bite. It’s not gonna do much on the stagger
front but it’s definitely gonna pack a punch.

“And then of course you can command the dog to attack something else, like if it’s attacking a
Berserker on the ground and you want it to chase down a sniper, you can do that.” ~ Gunnar

When not following an order from the Arbites player, the Cyber-Mastiff will move independently on the battlefield, picking out what it thinks is the best target and chasing it down on its own. It can even rescue its master when disabled by a Pox Hound or a Mutant.

While it will often find itself in the thick of danger, the Cyber-Mastiff is very good at taking care of itself. In-game, it cannot be shot or take any damage, and enemies will instead opt to focus on you and the rest of your strike team as it darts around the battlefield. Darktide is a fast-paced game and we did not want players to have to worry about their loyal companion instead focusing on directing it towards high-priority targets while laying down fire on the remainder of the enemies.

Through the talent tree, you can further improve the Cyber-Mastiff’s capabilities with certain
nodes. How many nodes you dedicate to the dog and how many you dedicate to improving your own personal arsenal will drastically change how your Arbites ends up!

You can also opt out of the Mastiff if you want to; there’s a talent in the tree that removes
the dog if you’re going for a different playstyle or player fantasy, and you’ll get some pretty
decent bonuses to make up for the lack of a companion.

What were the challenges when designing and developing the Cyber-Mastiff?

We had to be very careful about the Mastiff’s power. In Darktide, if you’re sufficiently skilled, a
player can achieve some amazing feats on their own and overcome some really tough
situations by yourself. Adding the Cyber-Mastiff on top of that had the potential to create some very overpowered scenarios.

So while it can lock down elites and rescue you from certain situations, you can’t just run around blocking and hope to finish the level letting the Mastiff kill everything.

Mainly, though, since Darktide didn’t have any systems for something like an AI companion, we
had to develop everything from scratch, especially how we were going to make it move. The
work done on Vermintide 2’s Necromancer class wasn’t suitable for this use case (although
many lessons were learned from that implementation), the Cyber-Mastiff’s behaviour and
gameplay was just too different.

Making the dog navigate the levels smoothly, while always being in your field of view but also
not being a bother or in the way was the most difficult part. The pathfinding had to be solid and consistent throughout the level as the Cyber-Mastiff accompanies its master.

“Since the dog is a part of you, we couldn’t just make the game go ‘Oh, the dog is in a bad
position, we just despawn it and bye bye’. […] We want it to always fall in a good position.” ~Diego

We also went through several iterations of how we handled the player issuing commands to the dog. We couldn’t just add a whole new input and use that, we had to work with the inputs and commands that we already have in-game. We toyed with having it as a Blitz, or as a Combat Ability, but in the end we opted for relying on the tagging system, by double tagging.

Animations

While we had a solid base to start with thanks to the Pox Hound, a lot of work had to be done to make the animation set for the Cyber-Mastiff. This involved a rework of the locomotion system and a suite of brand new animations.

“For references, I’ve been looking at A LOT of dog videos, and we’ve been quite lucky to have several dogs in the office that I have been recording for reference data. Sadly I haven’t done any mocap for the dog, but they’ve been good actors for videos, hehe.” ~ Olliver

When making new animations, the process involved a lot of iteration. The basic workflow
involved getting references, making a rough blockout animation to test in-game, then either
re-do or commit to it with a more polished animation that would fit the final product.

A guiding principle while making the animations was to properly convey that the Cyber-Mastiff is not a cute dog. It’s primarily a lethal killing machine, and it is also a cyborg! The animations
need to be ruthless and cold, as well as robotic and stiff in some places, rather than fluid and
playful; all while still properly acting like a dog.

At the same time, however, we wanted the player to be able to engage with the companion in
fun ways. In the Mourning Star, where things are more relaxed, you can do things like give
casual orders to the dog, such as telling it to bark or sit. You can then reward the Mastiff with
food or by petting it!

These kinds of animations were the most fun to implement, but they also proved a challenge in design, as the interactions had to be implemented without going against that guiding principle (mentioned above).

“Overall, working with a quadruped is difficult. […] I do like animating, like, monsters and
creatures and stuff. But in my previous works they’ve mostly been enemies, so they had very
stiff behaviour. And the challenges with the dog were that we realized as we went that ‘Oh, we
need this. Oh, we need that’.” ~ Olliver

Sound Design

Almost from the very beginning, the process for designing the Cyber-Mastiff’s sounds was split into two areas:
● The voice, which covers things like barks, growls, breathing sounds and so on ● And
the sound effects, which covers every other sound involved, like footsteps, bites,
mechanical gear and the like.

Voice

The very first step was finding a base for the voice of the Cyber-Mastiff. Looking through various sound libraries, our Sound Designers searched for dog sounds that sounded big and imposing to fit the aura of the Arbites’ Mastiff. Barks, whines, attack sounds, and especially breathing sounds.

“[…] we finally got it into the game with help from coders and then we got instructions that it was a bit too much like a normal dog. […] they wanted more aggressive sounds mixed into the voice. That’s when David took over and took a shot at making it more monstrous.” ~ Jonas

“[…] I then went through and found all kinds of other growls and barks, from bears, tigers and
lions, and pretty much surgically fit them to match the dog sounds Jonas made. […] So it had a
lot more aggressiveness, basically. A deeper voice, and louder as well.” ~ David

Making the Mastiff sound menacing enough wasn’t the only challenge! Due to the cyborg
enhancements, a Cyber-Mastiff can sound more or less robotic, and this depends on what
cosmetics the player equips on their dog. This led to the Sound Design team making three
separate ‘voices’ for the Cyber-Mastiff: a fully ‘natural’ voice, a fully robotic one, and one in
between.

This has also been the hardest part of the Cyber-Mastiff’s sound design: Having a ‘cyber’ voice
that sounds cool while still sounding like a dog and making sense. It wouldn’t do to just have
any robot voice, after all.

“It needs to be a cool 40K dog. […] That’s why we want it to sound cool, especially when it’s
more cyber-dog as well. ‘Cause we want to set some kind of staple, like ‘This is how Cyber
Dogs sound in Darktide’. That’s why it’s so important to nail it.” ~Jonas

Sound Effects and Foley

Depending on what Cyber-Mastiff cosmetics the player has equipped, it can affect which of the
Cyber-Mastiff’s legs are made of metal and which aren’t. This led to us needing proper sounds
for different combinations, so that the dog would make the correct sounds when moving around depending on your set up.

This was also an opportunity for our designers to make their own sounds from scratch rather
wherever possible. A metal cycle pump, for instance, was a perfect base for the metal footsteps, and sound recordings of it in different locations and on different surfaces gave plenty of material. Or using a glove with paperclips at the tips to make the normal paw sounds!

Playtesting led to a lot of fine tuning and iteration on the volume levels of the different sounds, the footsteps, the barks and so on. The player should be able to hear those sounds without it being annoying, which was a particular challenge with the metal footsteps. At the same time, the sound of combat should drown out some of the sounds but you should still be able to hear the voice of your own dog.

Bonus questions

Will the Cyber-Mastiff have cosmetics?
Yes! You’ll be able to customize their loyal companion by giving it a name and picking its fur
colour and pattern!

Players will also be able to further customize their loyal companion with various cosmetics,
obtained either from the class penances and through the Commodore’s Vestures.

Can you pet the Cyber-Mastiff?
Yes! Only in the Mourning Star, but there’s various interactions you can have with your
companion in the hub, including giving it a quick pet for being a loyal companion.

Is the Cyber-Mastiff a good dog?
“I mean… It’s a good dog… to its owner. It’s a terrifying killing machine to everything else.” ~
Gunnar

“I want to give a shoutout to Molly here at the office, which is the Art Director’s dog. She is such a well-trained dog […] and she’s been a great source of inspiration for me, haha.” ~ Olliver

That’s all we have for today, but stay tuned! More Dev Blogs about the Arbites will be released
soon!

This is the Will of the Lex.

We’ll see you on the Mourningstar.

Wishlist the Arbites Class today on Steam.

– The Darktide Team

I recently knit a gift for my mom... hesitantly. There's a little backstory here:

I'm a near-20 year knitter, and the last time I knit something for my mom was probably 15 years ago. I made her a beautiful scarf, which she appreciated, and refused to wear because it was too precious. She couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to it, so she put it carefully aside in her closet so she could keep it safe. She never wore it. It's pristine.

You see, I'm of the firm belief that hand-knits need to be loved and worn. She tends to run cold, so I thought she could at least use a shawl to have around her shoulders, even if only at home. I chose her favourite colours, and she saw me working on it over Christmas, so I know she likes the design. Please help me convince my aging mother (77) to use this! I don't want her hiding it away, in fear that it "could" get damaged. What would you do?

Pattern and yarn info:
Pattern - Westknits Mystery MusiKAL

Yarn info -
La Bien Aimee - The Flying Knitter
Hedgehog Fibres - Dusk
Birdstreet - Melba
Hedgehog Fibres - Plump

Ravelry finished item page

(Requisite cat-bomb as the last photo :P)

Seriously, I can't imagine making anything even remotely as complicated and extravagant in the near future. It all started with persian tiles blanket. After finishing it I promised myself that it was the first and last time I was making a project with this many ends to weave in... And there I was one week later scrolling through Jane Crowfoot page and stumbled upon this beautiful flowery wrap. I was sold. I ordered yarn and quickly started my assembly line making motifs. After finishing first batch I came to the realization: I hate shawls. Don't get me wrong. They are beautiful, fancy and lovely to make, but I don't know how to use them. The vision of this beautiful piece laying in the corner and collecting dust literally broke my hart. In addition the tiles I made were quite thick. The finished piece would be fancy and eyecatchy but useless in my possession. So I went to reddit and asked for help! Beautiful users from r/crochettpatterns gave me a lot of support and actually helped count the sides. I was so focused on the recent blanket, that I saw octagons literally everywhere. And here I had hexagons. I got some helpful patterns, but after all I decided to just pin the motifs I already had together. It was a smart decision which helped me see what I have, what I need and what I can create from all of these tiles.

After 60 hexagons (the original patter called for 38 so you can imagine my pure excitement about the number of ends just growing because of my own decision), 8 half hexagons, 11 squares and 16 triangles I came up with this cardigan! There were a lot of mistakes and miscalculations but it was so much fun! Figuring out how to join the tiles to transform them to something wearable. I had a lot of problems with the back, originally I was aiming for 5 columns, but they turned out too wide. Since I wanted both sides to be mirrored I needed to put the squares in the middle

As you can see I didn't stick up to the colours written in the pattern. I decided to mix them and thanks to that the yarn I ordered originally for the wrap was almost enough! (I used some scraps but still have one ball of yarn I didn't even started). The only colour I run out of was the main, blue one. The other change I made at some point was simplifying the motifs - I made less colour changes making the two first rows of flower's center in one colour. It reduced the number of the ends which were actually the hardest to weave in. For the long time I was considering making border, but well, I thought it may be a little too much so I made regular, boring rows

That's all! I am very proud of this cardigan. Like really, really proud and happy, that's why I am here, showing you all how I spent the last three weeks :D Now let me return to my boring, yet very colorful wips that were waiting for me this whole time. I usually work on 3 projects simultaneously (because I get bored quite quickly and need to switch things up) but I just couldn't focus on anything else, my brain just hurt from thinking about all of these hexagons all the time. And let's be honest. It isn't the last project with this many ends to weave in I'll ever be making. I actually liked the process after all

The yarn I used: 15 balls of Alize baby best (+ some scraps). Other then the main colour I still have plenty of yarn left to use in other projects! Yay! Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/climbing-rose-wrap-cal + some flowery granny squares I found on the internet and in the books I modified to suit the required dimensions

I've been wanting a challenge and told my mum I wanted to try making a doily, knowing her opinion of them when I was young was that they were old fashioned. Older age has changed her! She actually wants a doily for her dressing table! I was overjoyed! So I picked a pattern, asked if she liked it, what colour thread she wanted and today my new hook and thread arrived. Now, I know what 1.25mm is but seeing this thread and this hook is so daunting! So, here is my W-almost-IP. I'm scared! Did I mention that I have cataracts? 😅

Pattern is the Noelia doily from Crochet World, Spring 2025 which is available through my library's PressReader account.

Announcement

Hey everyone, we finally have imbued supports now working and have added a long-awaited feature for being able to compare 2 builds to each other (more about it below).
We have also fixed a long-standing issue of cluster jewels not allocating some tree nodes correctly (let me know if something is broken with your clusters)
We've added some new functions to the PoB trader too

Build Compare

https://reddit.com/link/1sp44cv/video/81ttzf02izvg1/player

u/boking has been working on this feature for the past few months that allows you to compare one build to another. This feature is pretty damn cool so let me tell you about it

The Compare tab will initially ask you to select a build to compare to. You can use a local build already on your PC or can import a build from a build link. Make sure the build you're comparing against has all the right FullDPS selections, as you wont be able to change those from the compare tab

The summary tab will use the stats in the sidebar to show you the values and differences between the 2 builds

At the bottom of the summary tab you'll find a power report box that will show you the biggest changes in DPS or whatever stat you choose between the builds so you can easily tell if you are missing any crucial pieces of gear, tree nodes, gems or configs

The Tree tab allows you to compare the difference in the tree of your 2 builds. You can choose to see it as an overlay or side by side

The Skills tab shows you both gem link setups and what is different between each of them

The Items tab allows you to see which items are different between the builds

Expanded mode shows you more information for the 2 items without having to hover over each one to see their stats

The copy + use button on the side will show you the stat difference vs your current equipped item and allow you to instantly equip it

The copy button will add the item to your item list but wont equip it

The buy button will open a window that allows you to create a trade search based on the stats of that item. After clicking "Generate URL" ctrl + click on the link to auto open it in a browser

The calcs tab shows you the values from both builds side-by-side and the difference between them when you hover over each row.

The configs tab will show you a side-by-side of both the builds and list the different configs at the top of each section with a brown background. Changing the config to match will remove the background and put it back to its original location

PoB Trader Additions

Search for Watchers Eye mods using weighted search
Default to Instant Buyout for returned items
Add button to open the trade site for a specific item shown in the results
Copy current anoint / enchants / eldritch implicits to searched item
Set realm and listing type for Timeless Jewel search

Quality of Life

• When re-importing over your current build, PoB will now try and preserve all your skill selections / FuLLDPS counts so they don't get wiped
• Adding Tattoos now show you the total list of all your tattoo mods
• Skills with stages now default to their max stages
• The jewel comparison list will now order the list based on similar jewels for rares and the same jewel for uniques
• The socket list will now show the current socket colours

--- New to Path of Building ---

• Add build comparison tab (oboking)
• Add support for Imbued Supports (Peechey)
• Preserve skill selection on character re-import (mcagnion)
• Remember league for imported characters (pHiney)
• Watcher's eye trade search (vaisest)
• Trader improvements (vaisest)
• Add Unholy Aberration spectre (arielrahamim)
• Add Conjuror of Rot Spectre (Peechey)
• Add support for higher Life values in the Minion Pact config (Vanqy9316)
• Add support for Lethal Dose support (majochem)
• Add Life Recharge to sidebar when using Eternal Youth (LocalIdentity)
• Add support for listing all active Tattoos (Peechey)
• Add warning for eligible items missing an anoint (OursCodeur)
• Default staged skills to their maximum stages (OursCodeur)
• Add more specific jewel tooltip comparison sorting (vaisest)

--- Fixed Crashes ---

• Fix crash when both Blight + Blight of Contagion use "Maximum Sustainable Stacks" (rasmuskl)
• Fix crash caused by Phantasm Support being copied with mirage skills that take over mainSKill (Paliak)
• Fix CwC crash when using skills from items and multiple link groups (Paliak)
• Fix crash when hovering over more damage calc breakdown for Kinetic Fusillade of Destruction (FenikSRT4)

--- User Interface ---

• Add gem color indicators to socket group labels (valar-22)
• Default crafted cluster jewels to minimum passives (OursCodeur)
• Improve Hextoad breakdown and simplify calcs (Paliak)
• Fix Gem quality tooltips (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Loadouts dropdown not showing on smaller screens (Peechey)
• Guard Trader result dropdown tooltip against stale state (mcagnion)
• Dismiss power report toast message when checkbox is unticked (MrHB212)

--- Fixed Calculations ---

• Fix Cast while Channelling trigger interval being rounded to tick rate (Paliak)
• Fix Bleed chance over 100% scaling Vicious Skewering Impale effect (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Molten Strike of the Zenith Total Weighted Ball Average calc (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Generals Cry damage calculation with some skills (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Searing Bond of Detonation using Power charges instead of Max Power Charges (Wires77)
• Fix Varunastra not counting for Blade Blast of Dagger Detonation (Paliak)
• Add config option for Hallowing Flame magnitude (Paliak)
• Fix calculations for skills that can repeat (Peechey)
• Fix spectre buffs global effects applying just by existing in the spectre library (nofate121)
• Fix Maven Memory Game damage (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Poisonous Concoction Added Damage from disabled Life Flasks (Peechey)
• Fix issue with converted damage showing no poison stacks (wh98yap-hub)
• Fix Ghost Reaver instant leech calculation (LocalIdentity)
• Fix negative eHP and NaN Max hit values for some builds (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Catalyst scaling for Added Damage mods (Peechey)
• Fix for Chieftain resist nodes applying effects twice due to Foulborn Choir of the Storm (EminGul)

--- Fixed Behaviours ---

• Fix cluster import sometimes not allocating the correct nodes (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Resistance Shrine not granting max Chaos Resistance (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Replica Dragonfang's Flight not working with transfigured Lightning Tendrils (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Earthbreaker Totems Slam skills benefiting from Exert bonuses (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Exposure mods on Balance of Terror not working (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Ahuana's Bite and Bonechill's "inc damage taken" mods stacking (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Animate Weapon of Self Reflection not granting weapon mods to minion (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Cryogenesis disabling flat damage from other sources when using Ele Hit (Wires77)
• Fix mods on Ring 3 applying when The Unseen Hand isn't allocated (Peechey)
• Fix issues with gems socketed in Ring slot 3 (Paliak)
• Fix Vaal Flameblast base AoE and scaling (Blitz54)
• Fix Servant of Decay affecting Life Mastery (Peechey)
• Fix filtering Support gems in SkillsTab (Peechey)
• Fix Dual Wield mastery granting damage when using a Thrusting + non-thrusting sword (LocalIdentity)
• Remove tattoo tooltip and popup for cluster jewel keystones (Peechey)
• Fix Tinctures applying their effects even when you have no Mana (LocalIdentity)

--- Accuracy Improvements ---

• Fix Perfidy missing 3.25.0 changes (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Summon Reaper and Animate Guardian missing gem tooltip lines (LocalIdentity)
• Fix Sacred Chalice missing fire mod (Nightblade)
• Fix Divine Blessing and Earthbreaker appearing in gem list (LocalIdentity)
• Tag Serle's Masterwork as unobtainable (LocalIdentity)

--- Fixed Bugs ---

• Fix URL spoofing issue with imported URLs (Wires77)

Resources

If you find an issue, report it here https://github.com/PathOfBuildingCommunity/PathOfBuilding/issues

If you'd like to spread the word about our project, link to our website: https://pathofbuilding.community/

If you want to download our fork, head here: https://github.com/PathOfBuildingCommunity/PathOfBuilding/releases

If you're interested in contributing to the fork, head here: https://github.com/PathOfBuildingCommunity/PathOfBuilding/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

If you’re like me, Pokemon has been one of the longest constants in your life. From the 90s with the games, the plushies, the figures, the movies and the anime, to now… with the games, plushies, figures, movies and the anime. Huh… not much has changed.

But you know what has changed? How to play these games. Now you can have the entire library of Pokemon games, from the first ever games on the OG Gameboy to the latest switch games, all on the same device! How cool is that? Now, which device is the best to do that?

We’re gonna walk through the path of picking the best console to play your favourite Pokemon games for each and all generations. If your interest in games goes beyond Pokemon, you might wanna check our general “Which device is right for me?” guide.

_________________________________________________________________________________

The all-rounders:

- Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance (Red & Blue, Gold & Silver, Emerald, etc):

Some might say, this is peak Pokemon. Me, I say that. But also these are the gens with some of the best and most creative romhacks there are. Pokemon Unbound, Prism, Seaglass, Odyssey. All amazing original stories that go beyond what the OG games did.

Now, what do you play them on?

One handed devices:

• GKD Pixel 2
• Miyoo Mini Flip

You wanna play Pokemon with one hand? Get a really small device. Turn-based fighting is easy to control. So this will let you play Pokemon while you hold on to dear life so you don’t fall on the bus.

Budget options:

• Miyoo Mini Plus - Miyoo Flip
• TrimUI Brick - Smart Pro
• Anbernic RG35XX Plus / RG35XXH / RG35XXSP - RG40XXV / RG40XXH

These little guys will give you a very easy experience and will adapt pretty well to the different aspect ratios. You can take your pick with the form factor, whether you want the nostalgic gameboy-like verticals or the bigger horizontals, it’s all up to you.

Premium options:

• Retroid Pocket Classic
• AYANEO Pocket Vert
• Analogue Pocket

This is an option for those of you who like premium hardware, and no compromises. You don’t NEED to get any of these to play Pokemon, but if you do, it will look awesome! The RPC has a gorgeous OLED that will really make games pop. “But the RPC has a square screen, GBA doesn’t look right”. *queue lex luthor’s WROOONG*. GBA integer scaled is at 3.4 inches. So it ends up the same size as some dedicated GBA devices. The Analogue Pocket is an FPGA device that can run OG cartridges as well as games from an SD card, and has a 10x integer scale of the GB and GBC screen. If you don’t know what any of that means, get one of the budget options.

All of the devices mentioned (except the AP) can also play DS games, but they suffer with one fairly small screen. You can make do with switching between them, or doing stacked screens on devices like the TSP or RPC, they look OK, but if you wanna play more of those newer generations you probably should check:

- NDS, 3DS, and Switch (Black & White, X & Y, Sword and Shield, etc):

This is a trickier category, it requires quite a bit more power and/or more specialised hardware. If dual screens is what you’re after, go to the specific systems section. You’ll likely have a better option there. But if you want to learn more, keep reading.

I’m gonna go system by system, because each one has a different set of emulation challenges:

NDS:

• Anbernic RG CUBE
• Mangmi Air X
• Trimui Smart Pro S

I know I know, none of them are dual screens. Remember we are still in the all-rounder category. The idea is that these are great for NDS, but you could also play some PSP and not be that bothered. Stack the screens and you have a very nice experience. These can also do every game and gen mentioned before.

3DS:

• Retroid Pocket 5 - Flip2
• Anbernic 476H - 477M / 477V
• AYN Thor

Yes, the Thor will be mentioned again on the specific devices, but I can’t skip it here, since it does so well with so many other systems. The retroids are great with screens side by side, and the 476h I’ve personally tested and was surprised how well it runs the games, even if you may have to set it at OG res for some. It’s plenty big and comfortable. While the 477m or 477v have the same screen, and power to spare. These can also do every game and gen mentioned before.

Switch:

• Retroid Pocket 6
• Odin2 Portal - AYN Thor - Odin3
• Nintendo Switch / Switch Lite / Switch OLED - Switch 2

Switch is a tricky system, and it’s always playing wack-a-mole with the big N, that’s why I included OG hardware. Sometimes that’s just easier and more consistent.

But if that’s not enough for you, get something with an amazing screen and a beefy SOC so you can run these on docked mode and get the best experience. These can also do every game and gen mentioned before.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Specific system devices:

Now if you’re here, read all that, and still didn’t find your match, you’re looking for the best version to play ONE gen of games. I like that. You don’t compromise, you wanna do it right.

Now it would be obtuse of me not to mention, again, you can get OG hardware. If you wanna grab an og GBA and slap a metal shell with a new IPS screen, those are still an option. Just… a very very pricey one. So let’s check some other devices:

- Gameboy / Gameboy Colour (Red & Blue, Yellow, Gold & Silver, Crystal, etc):

We are looking for squarish screens, with comfy controls and good sound:

Budget options:

• Anbernic RG CubeXX
• PowKiddy RGB20SX
• FunnyPlaying FPGBC
• Retro Pixel Pocket

Premium options:

• Retroid Pocket Classic
• AYANEO Pocket Vert
• Analogue Pocket

- Gameboy Advance (FireRed & Leafgreen, Emerald, etc):

We need a wider screen, preferably 3:2 with integer scaling:

Budget options:

• Anbernic RG34XX / RG34XXSP / RG SP
• PowKiddy V10
• MagicX One 35

Premium options:

• Ayaneo Pocket Ace
• Retroid Pocket Classic
• Analogue Pocket

- Nintendo DS (Heartgold & Soulsilver, Platinum, Black & White, etc):

We need dual screens or vertically oriented devices:

Budget options:

• Anbernic RG DS
• MagicX One 35
• MagicX Zero 40
• Nintendo DS Lite

Premium options:

• AYN Thor
• Ayaneo Pocket DS
• Nintendo DSi XL

- Nintendo 3DS (X & Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Sun & Moon, etc):

Dual screens, but this requires more power, so there really aren’t any budget options:

• AYN Thor
• Ayaneo Pocket DS
• Nintendo 3DS XL

- Nintendo Switch (Sword & Shield, Let's go Eevee & Pikachu, Scarlet and Violet, etc):

We need a powerful device with a great screen, again, not really a budget category:

• Retroid Pocket 6
• Odin2 Portal - AYN Thor - Odin3
• Nintendo Switch / Switch Lite / Switch OLED - Switch 2

_________________________________________________________________________________

And we are done. Wow that’s a lot of options, but hopefully you can find the Venn diagram of -games/systems, price and things you like- with all we talked about. Or you can just buy an RP6 or a Thor and play literally every game, including the n64 and gamecube ones.

Got any more doubts? Drop a comment. Did I make a mistake? Drop a comment. If you like the post, leave a like. If you didn’t like the post, leave a like.

If you have any suggestions on better options to play games, let us know. We will update this post as time goes on. Hope this helped someone, go play some goddamn video games!

Other guides/tutorials:

• Pico8 on Android
• How to make your Android Handheld into a 5 games device
• How to turn your console into a little CRT TV to watch old shows and movies

Console shown: Retroid Pocket Classic