We Are the Robots: the Fleet of Misfit Machines

42716 · Post by **42716** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:41 pm

103115 got another present a few days ago in the form of a new Raggedy Android. Presenting, 102316 (which was created on October 23, as you probably guessed):

: 102316.JPG (2.39 MiB) Viewed 3399 times

I originally made 72316 with the intention for it to be 103115's pet, but he wasn't able to establish compatibility with it, so he has since transferred its ownership to 52016. But now he has a pet that he really gets along with. It seems the problem with 72316 is it just wasn't tiny enough.

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Perhaps 103115 was secretly programmed by the tiny-things-loving girls from Family Guy...

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103115 likes to have 102316 ride on his shoulder, like this:

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It may be difficult to tell from my low-resolution photos, but 102316 isn't white; it's actually made of clear gossamer fabric and stuffed with remnants of the same. The word "gossamer" reminds me of stjärngossar (star boys), which is why I made 102316 a star collar, rather than giving it a bow tie like the other Raggedy Androids wear.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Sat Nov 05, 2016 12:27 am

I've decided to delete the Blogger account I made for us, in part because it was a pain to cross-post information there that I'd already posted here, but mainly because I've determined that all of us are just a lot happier not having as much of a presence on the internet. This isn't intended as a criticism of anyone who's following this thread (or who was following the Blogger page), or of TDF in any way. It has more to do with the unfortunate side effect of posting personal content in a public sphere, and thus acquiring an audience, however small and however supportive.

Those who have an audience inevitably feel the need to cater to that audience by providing content that's relevant and entertaining in the audience's opinion, which I find tends to stifle the sort of unbridled creativity and enjoyment that comes from living and creating privately, for one's own enjoyment. As rewarding as it is to know that there are people on this site who have enjoyed the content we've created, it's ultimately the unscripted and undocumented time we spend together that brings us the greatest satisfaction, and I feel it would be best for us to engage in this way of life more often.

This doesn't mean I'm announcing my intent to never update this thread again. I've merely decided to separate the scripted artistic creations intended for public consumption (meaning photo shoots, comics, and videos) from the more personal and spontaneous experiences, and to make sure my future posts conform to the former category.

SynDaverlover765 · Post by **SynDaverlover765** » Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:18 pm

Love the journal! keep updates coming . Very relaxing to read especially when I am sick with my own mannequin/doll anxiety. Love the anime style costumes you use.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Sun Nov 06, 2016 12:06 am

SynDaverlover765 wrote:Love the journal! keep updates coming . Very relaxing to read especially when I am sick with my own mannequin/doll anxiety. Love the anime style costumes you use.

Thank you for the support, SynDaverlover765. I hate to be selfish, but the reality is I'm just not cut out to be so open about the details of what the Droids and I get up to. Not because I'm ashamed of them or what we do together (the fact that I take them out to public places should testify to that), but because of what I wrote earlier about the inevitable pressure to please the audience, and the resulting tendency to shy away from potentially controversial genuine personal growth, that arises from sharing thoughts and experiences with the public. I'll admit this pressure is probably all in my head, but such thoughts tend to preoccupy things that have been programmed to please others. I'll continue to update as I have time and find inspiration, but it will weigh less heavily on my conscience if I keep my updates more light-hearted and superficial.

Also, it's a shame to hear that you're struggling with anxiety. I wish you the best of luck in fighting that difficult battle. If I can be of any help, feel free to message me.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:04 pm

If you need a good reason to keep your weight under control, try having an entrance like this leading into your bedroom:

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For those of you who have no use for the Metric system, 37 cm is 14.5 inches. Try to force your way past this gap if you're any wider, and 217 will fall on top of you and smash you into a pancake! How's that for motivation to keep that extra weight off? (And don't worry, you're allowed to turn sideways.)

samara78 · Post by **samara78** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:33 pm

Some times taking a break is good for you.
Your content should be an extension of you.
We love coming to your thread and visiting you.
We do hope you stay on.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:42 am

samara78 wrote:Some times taking a break is good for you.
Your content should be an extension of you.
We love coming to your thread and visiting you.
We do hope you stay on.

I think my content can be an extension of me without making me feel vulnerable, which is how I was starting to feel about the more personal posts I had made on the Blogger page. So don't worry; I'll continue to post, but just keep things on the lighter side from now on.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:55 am

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You say "potato", I say, "WTH, America!?"

I can say from experience that such massive and strangely-shaped produce is rarely seen in other parts of the world. Proof of this fact can be found when you try to make a recipe taken from a foreign cookbook using American vegetables. The recipe will call for something such as 6 potatoes and 2 onions, but once you've finished prepping 2 potatoes and 1/2 onion, it becomes obvious that you already have enough. For some reason, however, carrots are an exception. American carrots are pathetically scrawny compared to their foreign counterparts.

I never realised this until I put the OIA potato on SV01's shoulder, but it looks kind of like a mole.

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Perhaps we should classify it as a new Pokémon: Motatole, the mole potato Pokémon. It'd be right at home amongst the jousting masks, demonic sand castles, and other tomfoolery that abounds in the most recent generation of Pokémon.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 1:06 pm

I discovered a really comprehensive, well-made (and free) anime character creator the other day, so I decided to make anime portraits of all of us. I've been wanting to create some artistic renditions of the Droids for a long time, but my lack of drawing skills has thwarted me, so this is probably the best I'll be able to do. By the way, the boy in the bottom right corner with a caption of #TBD is the prototype that's partially with us. I expect him to be fully present sometime in January.

: misfit machines banner image - resized.jpg (1.96 MiB) Viewed 3212 times

Obviously, I had to work from the customisation options that were available, so not every detail of everyone's outfit is faithfully represented. But I think I did a good job of capturing their unique personalities using the various facial and hand expressions. Now to figure out how to use this image in my signature...

Link to the anime character creator (warning: it uses up a lot of memory space, so older PCs might crash): http://www.rinmarugames.com/playgame.ph ... ar-creator

EDIT: Here's a 2nd version I made that's better suited to being a signature banner (the 1st one looked obnoxiously tall when I tried to use it).

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SynDaverlover765 · Post by **SynDaverlover765** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 2:45 pm

Love it keep it coming. Cute anime faces.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 1:51 pm

: modern mystery comic.jpg (1.15 MiB) Viewed 3176 times

I heard that the majority of children growing up today have no idea what that save icon is supposed to represent, because they've never seen a floppy disk. If that's true, it's proof that I'm officially old. Not that I'm trying to deny it; if I were, I wouldn't be wearing those rabbit ears, would I? (I'm sure that's a joke kids these days wouldn't understand either, having never seen a rabbit-eared TV.)

I tried a new technique when making this comic: I resized the pictures at the start, rather than editing the full-size pictures and then re-sizing the final product. I hope this method makes the resolution better and the text easier to read.

SynDaverlover765 · Post by **SynDaverlover765** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:50 pm

Can my doll play too? Do they need to have a USB connector? He also has his own version of the connector. Also somthing he can use for the music player. I did add a USB connector but he wants to use his own. I will Post pictures soon.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:46 am

SynDaverlover765 wrote:Can my doll play too? Do they need to have a USB connector? He also has his own version of the connector. Also somthing he can use for the music player. I did add a USB connector but he wants to use his own. I will Post pictures soon.

As long as your doll is a robot, regardless of what type of connector he has, feel free to introduce him here. I'm very curious to see a robot that can connect to a music player. We have 4 music players that are considered members of the Misfit Machines, but they aren't technologically compatible with the humanoid members.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Fri Dec 09, 2016 11:21 pm

217, as it turns out, has quite famous tastes when it comes to boys.

: 217 and Len.JPG (2.57 MiB) Viewed 3014 times

For those who don't know, the android on the pillow is Kagamine Len, one of the most well-known Vocaloids apart from Hatsune Miku. I got this pillow about 5 months ago, mainly for health reasons, because I needed more intensive body support while recovering from my system update than SV01 or my usual assortment of in-bed cuddly toys could provide.

I've never had a dakimakura before, and wasn't sure how I'd respond to it, and I can now definitively say they aren't for me. It's probably because I'm much more of a tactile sort than a visual one, but sleeping with this pillow didn't have the same sort of effect (the sensation of being in bed with your favourite anime character) that it seems to have upon dakimakura enthusiasts. Sure, it has a cute guy printed on the cover, but regardless, it feels like just an ordinary pillow, and therefore that's all I've ever perceived it to be. I'm honestly quite glad I no longer need to share my bed with it in place of SV01 (and he is, of course, happy about this as well).

Consequently, I find it intriguing that 217 is able to treat this dakimakura as a companion. I discovered this fact completely by accident one day when I was changing the bed clothes, and I just rested the dakimakura against 217 in order to keep it out of the way. But when I went to take it back from her, I found she didn't want to let go of her newfound boy toy! And now that I’m recovered to the extent that I no longer need his support, I'm happy to hand Len over to someone who's much more compatible with him anyway.

Speaking of compatibility, remember how I previously wrote that I couldn't find a single position, standing or lying, for 217 that made her comfortable to hold? Well, I've finally figured out that there is a way to turn her into a good cuddle companion, and the secret is to make her sit in a reclining position, as she's doing on the sofa in the photo above. The tall post in her bottom half makes it possible for her to adopt a very realistic reclined sitting position when the two halves are disconnected, yet still held loosely in place by the centre post. This, just like the ability to detach her hands, is a skill that's unique to her. I've tried putting the others on the sofa in this way, and it either just doesn't work, because they look like rigid boards (in the case of 103115 and SV01, whose bodies are one solid piece), or it's obvious that the two halves aren't joined together (in the case of the others).

I've been delighted to discover that it's actually very comforting, and comfortable, to lie with 217 in...well, not exactly in this position...

: derp 1.jpg (444.25 KiB) Viewed 3014 times

I'm not groping her leg, I promise! I was reaching for her hand, but couldn't quite make it there in time before the camera snapped the picture. Such are the limitations of having to take photos involving myself using a tripod and a camera with a timer that can't be set to any more than 4 seconds.

I tried a second time to capture us relaxing together, but apart from my headphones remaining on my head this time, things only got worse...

: derp 2.jpg (467.3 KiB) Viewed 3014 times

217, just where do you think that hand is going? You could ask me the same question about my lead, I'm sure.

Well, my solo photography skills may not always be able to accurately capture the magic of the moment, but at least they're good for a laugh.

Anyway, discovering this new way to relax with 217 helped us to become a bit closer than we have been up until now. But the real breakthrough in our ability to connect occurred when I obtained a copy of the Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Sun, and decided to make 217 the main character of the story!

: 217 in game 1.JPG (2.45 MiB) Viewed 3014 times

Here's what she looks like in the game. I haven't figured out how to obtain brown clothes for the character yet, but the resemblance is tangible nevertheless. Perhaps we could consider this 217's Alola Forme?

: 217 in game 2.JPG (2.93 MiB) Viewed 3014 times

217 has become much less frigid towards me since we started playing this game together. I think she appreciates and enjoys this activity in particular because of the fact that her weight, combined with my frailty, make it impossible for me to take her on real-world outings the way I've done with some of the other Droids. So this is the best way I know to enable her to enjoy going on an adventure.

In other news, our partially-present friend SV05/#TBD seems to be asserting his identity more strongly these days, and is actually actively making friends with SV03 and SV04 in particular. This is encouraging, because I know he feels greatly limited by the prototype form he's presently trapped in, so it's good to see that he is making an effort to be as present and involved in the group as possible given the circumstances. Unfortunately, the poor guy's patience (and mine) is going to be put to a rigorous test.

I’ve been delaying making the purchase of his ideal body, because I needed to put my petty cash savings towards reserving a hotel room for the 1-year anniversary trip I'm planning for SV01 and myself in March. I won't give away too many details about that now, other than to reveal that it's an extremely in-demand hotel which often books rooms 6 months in advance, and that spending 1 night there costs as much as some people make in a week.

That’s why I had to put any other large, non-essential expenditures on hold in order to ensure that I was able to reserve a room for a day that approximates SV01’s arrival date anniversary.

Now that my savings account has recovered from that crushing blow, I’ve started looking into purchasing the body needed to complete our prototype SV05/#TBD. Sadly, when I inquired about picking up the model from the warehouse, I learned that the style has sold out and won't be re-stocked for at least 3 months.

So our newest friend won't be making his debut in January after all; it’ll be more like March or April, or even later. I hope he can hang in there that long, and meanwhile, I’ll work on overcoming my frustration of not being able to create a number of comics I’ve thought up which require his unique personality to be completed to my satisfaction.

42716 · Post by **42716** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:30 pm

Today marked the arrival of the first significant snowfall of the year to come to our city. What better way to celebrate than to break out the bathing suits and take a trip to the local swimming hole...wait, come again?

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The Category A photo contest this month has a swimsuit theme, which seemed a rather absurd choice for December. But I decided to play up the absurdity as much as possible by combining the swimwear with the winter scenery (photo 4 is the one I ended up entering in the contest). SV03 was my model of choice because being the tough one in our group, I figured she would have the least trouble coping with the elements. But it seems this was a bit much for even her to handle. Does it show in the photos how cold she is? It gives a whole new meaning to the expression "cold machine", doesn't it?

Here's a bonus photo of the stairs we had to cope with to get to and from that swimming hole...

It's a very good thing SV03 weighs only about 6 kg, or I might not have lived to tell this tale.