A New Keyboard and a New Story

I got a new keyboard.  I'm sure it's not a big surprise that I bought something new, but honestly keyboards are important and very relevant these days as I'm writing a new story again.  So, I'm gonna tell the story of how I came to this keyboard, what I think about it so far, and then go into the story I'm writing. If you don't really care about my keyboard journey, just skip down to the section called 'Just Dance'. 

Just Type
Keyboards for me, for the longest time, were nothing special.  Just something to slap in front of the monitor and dance my fingers over.  I think my first 'special' keyboard was the Logitech G710 Plus.  Keyboards previous to this were just the letters, numbers, arrows, and  function keys.  After the G710 Plus they had to include media buttons.  They HAD to.  A volume wheel and mute button were also required.  

This is also where I started learning about mechanical switches.  To be honest, I bought this one without even knowing the difference between mechanical switches and membrane ones.  This one, by the way, uses the Cherry MX Brown switches.  Mechanical switches serve a lot of purposes, almost all of them aesthetic.  They sound good.  I was talking to my brother yesterday morning and he was saying how he liked is old membrane style keyboard because the only thing you heard while typing was his fingers hitting the keys.  He was wrong though, as you hear that mushy sound of the membrane compressing.  It's not loud, but mechanical switches don't have to be loud either.  I use a 'normal' keyboard at work and can't get over how just low quality it sounds.  Another purpose of mechanical switches is supposed to be durability, but I've never broken a keyboard by typing on it to much, so I don't see any reason to get something that's twice as durable.  And finally, the big reason to get mechanical switches is consistency.  When you press down on a mechanical switch it will take the same amount of force each and every time. It will go down the same amount and either have a tactile bump or you'll feel it bottom out.  Each and every time.  With membranes, you practically have to bottom the keys out as otherwise sometimes it will take a tap and other times it will take a full press.  

The G710+ also had something new for me and was one of the big reasons I got it.  Backlighting.  This was the half step between dark keyboards before and the RGB goodness that came after as it was only backlit with white light.  BUT, what a glorious addition.  Seriously, I try pretty hard to have it dim around my computer.  The light from the monitor is all I really need.  But that makes seeing the keys difficult.  Backlight is the answer.  I could now turn the light lower or even off and see just fine to type.  The only problem, and it's a problem I still come across, is seeing the secondary characters.  When I'm looking at the keys and trying to remember which shift key gets me $, I have to turn on a light as this type of switch only illuminates the primary letter/number.  

I don't remember why I got rid of the G710+, but eventually I upgraded to the Logitech G810 Orion Spectrum.  I think it was a simple reason... color.  I liked my system with it's white lights but once you go down the upgrade path, you keep going so long as there are more upgrades to get.  

I do remember that while I was happy with the lights on the G710+, I didn't like the overall aesthetic of it.  It was a 'gaming' keyboard.  Now technically, any mechanical keyboard with lights is a gaming keyboard these days, but this had all the angles, the name plate, and the stupid looking orange 'G' keys to the side.  I wanted something a little more adult even if it was going to go all rainbow puke.  The G810 Orion Spectrum seemed perfect.  First, it was all metal (That's so Metal!).  It kept the media keys and added a big illuminated Logitech G logo, but it looked minimalist and awesome.  It was heavy too and there's always that association of heavy=quality.  

This keyboard had Logitech's own in house switches which were fine, but I'll admit I wanted to really go full on clicky.  I wanted that loud, almost typerwriter like noise from my keyboard.  The 810 was linear and, dare I say, quiet. 

Logitech also took an alternative method of lighting their keys.  Most RGB keyboards at the time (and still to this day) have the keys raised above the board so that the light can leak around the individual keys.  Logitech avoided that and let just the letters/numbers be lit.  Again, it looked more professional and less like a circus.  

Now, before I move on to the next keyboard, let me add a few things.  I was firming up exactly what I want in a keyboard but also realizing no one had everything I wanted.  Mechanical switches and RBG lighting was the entry fee.  Don't have that and you just don't play.  I wanted Cherry MX switches as they were the premier keyboard switch manufacturer.  And beyond being the best, they were also so widely available that you could hear people talk about how they sounded and acted and get a real feel of what you were getting into. For example, I wanted the Cherry MX Blue switches as they were the loudest and clickiest.  

But I also wanted more nebulous things, like good lighting control.  Did I know what good control looked like?  Nope, but I wanted it.  I also wanted variety.  As in, when I open up a game the keyboards lights change to help out.  The best example I can give is going into a first person shooter and having almost all the keys go dark.  The WASD keys light up in one color.  Then, depending on the exact game title, the ERTFVC Control, Shift, and number keys light up in different colors.  That way, at a glance, you can get your hand lined up and hit reload (R) instead of use (E) with ease.  And beyond specific uses, I want pretty lights.  Yeah, rainbow puke (the bright spectrum flying by over the keys quickly) is fun for a bit but I'd like something more... professional?  

So why did I get rid of the G810?  I want to say there was a mechanical issue too, but I don't remember what it was specifically.  I probably spilled something sticky into it and one or more of the keys got stuck/sticky.  But really it came down to lighting.  Logitech's lighting is just dull.  I believe I settled on a simple slow color cycle.  All the keys are the same color and fade from Red to Green to Blue with every color in the spectrum included.  It's nice and calming, but it certainly doesn't help me line up my fingers and isn't anything more interesting to look at.  So I went from one of the most professional looking keyboards to one of the most gamiest keyboards.  The Razer Blackwidow Elite.  

They Blackwidow was just about everything the 810 wasn't.  It was garish, it was in your face, it was pretty, and it had the lights! I mean, first it had the keys raises as I talked about above so the light flowed everywhere.  It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but it wasn't the most pleasant experience.   The good thing about the lights was the Razer software made customizing the keys far easier than the Logitech software did.  I had options and I had customization.  

The switches were like Logitech's... custom in-house switches and not Cherry.  I did get the 'clicky' ones but they weren't the crashing cymbals of Cherry MX blue I wanted.  One nice thing about the Razer was it's overall premium feel.  The included wrist rest was a leatherette that was really nice, both to use and to look at.  The deal killer though, as I only had this keyboard for a few months, was Razer's software.  

This was kind of Razer's last chance with me.  I'd run into problems with their software before as I'd used their mice and headsets previously.  The big problem with the software was that it just didn't work all the time.  When it DID work, it was nice.  You of course got customization of the lights, could remap keys, and all other manner of minutia that I barely touched.  But occasionally... and by occasionally I mean about a third of the time... the software would load up and just not do anything.  So the lights would go to the default and any keymaps were sent back to factory settings.  And there was one VERY important keymap that I made.  You can see in the image above that it had a volume wheel in the upper right corner.  That was what killed it for me. 

Imagine turning that as a nob.  Grabbing it from above and 'turning up' the volume.  Well, you'd turn it clockwise, right?  Right.  So that was the default position.  My problem was that I barely took my hand off the mouse and would kind of scroll the wheel either toward the top of the keyboard (turning the volume up) or scrolling the wheel toward the bottom (turning the volume down).  Obviously, this was reversed from the default.  So I mapped it.  

Now imagine what happens when that fails to map.  I'm sitting at the computer with my music playing and hear Mom call out... or did she?  I want to quickly turn the music down and listen for a moment, so I reach out and scroll the wheel toward the bottom of the keyboard.... which cranks the volume up quickly.  

That was it.  I don't remember exactly how long I had it, but it wasn't long before it crossed me one to many times.  Ever since then, I've been ditching Razer products.  I had a mouse and headset at the same time, and the mouse has since been replaced and the headset will go once I move back home.  Anywho, I decided to go for true asthetics above function for my next keyboard.  I went for the Rocat Vulcan 121.  

The Rocat was.. and if I'm entirely honest I have to admit that it still is... one of the most beautiful keyboards I've ever laid eyes on.  A single image can't do it justice, so check out the video below.  I have no idea what they're saying in the video as I don't speak conversational German (I'm assuming it's German), but I picked the video because it shows the lights off the best.  Seriously... just look at how the light seems to ogrannically flow from yellows to greens to blues to purples to reds to oranges.  How they'll start on the right lower corner and slowly expand and contract to some rhythm that you can't hear.  And as you type, you see a little glow go out from any key you're pressing.  Hold down that key longer and that glow will grow and grow and grow until it's taken over the entire keyboard lighting.  

Even without the seriously understated wrist rest, the aluminum back plate and it's clean look, this is the most beautiful keyboard I've ever laid eyes on.  They keys are still an inhouse design, but that's because they were the first really clear keys that let out all that gorgeous light.  They're not clicky... not even as clicky as the Razer, but that was a compromise I could easily live with for that beauty.  

And why aren't I still using this beautiful piece of mechanical engineering?   Media keys.  It comes down to that simple little thing... I can't pause my songs while using this keyboard.  Technically I can, but like on a laptop with limited space, you have to use the function key and another key somewhere else.  So it requires taking my eyes from the video I want to watch or the game I'm playing, looking down at the keyboard, finding the 'play/pause' button under the F8 (or whichever) key, and hitting them.  Or, on all the other keyboards I've talked about I just glance down, see the big illuminated individual play/pause button and hit it.  

I technically still have this keyboard, but I think I'll be throwing it away soon as I just know the media keys are a requirement.  Here's to hoping they put out a new keyboard with real media keys because I'd drop just about any other keyboard, including ones with true clicky keys.  

When I decided I needed media keys, I sat back and took a longer look at what was available.  I wanted to make Cherry MX switches a priority, so Razer and Logitech were out.  The biggest company I hadn't had a keyboard from was Corsair, so I took a long look at their offerings.  Now, normally I go for the biggest, baddest, top of the line product I can get my hands on.  BUT, from Corsair that meant the K95 and like my original Logitech G710+, it had 'gamer' keys to the side.  Nope... don't want that.  Thankfully they had the K70 below it that was practically the same keyboard.  Same keys, same type of frame, same lighting... just no G keys and it's wrist rest wasn't as nice.  

Technically they keyboard I got was the K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY MX Blue.  Seriously, that whole thing is the name.  I know they've used the K60, K70, and K95 brands for awhile, but why not just make some new numbers instead of all that.  The K70.  Make it with mechanical switches?  The K71.  RGB?  K72.  A new version?  K73.  But nope, I had the K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY® MX Blue.  I'll be calling it the K70 from now on.  

Even though it didn't have the extra colors like the G710+ or the G keys like the G710+ or the K95, this still might be the 'gamiest' keyboard I'd owned.  The frame was built out of high quality aluminum but it was so big and bulky that it was still heavy.  They keys were raised like the Razer so it poured out light all over the place.  It even had a kind of silly font for the keys that made it feel more childish.  BUT, I finally got to type on those glorious Cherry MX Blues!  

Umm... they're fucking loud. 

At first I liked em.  A lot.  You get a real audio experience as you type that's satisfying.  The problem is the people in the next room get the same experience, whether they want to or not.  It's a loud, sharp sound that really travels and is hard to cover up.  

After about a month I thought about trading out for another keyboard.  But here's the thing, this entire journey from the G710+ to the G810 to the Blackwidow, to the Vulcan, to the K70 had only been over a few years.  And while yes, I could afford to keep throwing money out the window at a perfect keyboard search that would never get me what I exactly want... why?  I'm going to have to settle on something that's less than perfect, so why not settle on loud? 

So I kept the K70 for almost a year.  And if it wasn't for an accident, I'd still be using it and not writing this all out.  But there was the soda incident.  There's no fun details, I just spilled almost an entire can of soda onto/into the keyboard.  I got most of it cleaned up and for a few more weeks it worked fine, but the right shift key really started sticking.  When it got to the point that it capitalized the first two letters anytime I used it (THe THat, QUick...) I had to call it quits.  

Maybe it was just that the K70 was the biggest and bulkiest keyboard I had, but I really wanted to go smaller.  Not ten keyless where they cut the number pad off (I use the number pad a LOT), and not shrinking it's overall size down by making it 70% or 65% of normal width/height.   No, I just wanted a low profile keyboard that wasn't nearly as high and bulky.  I remember seeing some reviews last year about a new Logitech keyboard that was just so damned small (low profile) and cute. I also remember that it was really quite expensive and would still have the Logitech software.  So I started searching for low profile keyboards.  

Umm... yeah, there aren't many to pick from.  Ironically it came down tot he Logitech ones (yeah, there were two from Logitech), and a low profile version of the very keyboard I was giving up... the (deep breath)  "K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile RAPIDFIRE Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY MX Low Profile Speed" or just K70 low profile for short.  The Logitechs are the G915 and G815.  The 915 is wireless while the 815 is wired.  The 815 costs $200 while the wireless adds another $50.  The K70 low profile only goes for $150 making it the bargain of the bunch.  

Sadly, I could knock off the Corsair quite easily.  Even though it was low profile, it was still bigger than most keyboards out there.  At least taller.  And if I wanted low profile, there just wasn't any getting around the low profileness of the Logitech offerings.  I've added some larger photos of the G915 with it's feet up and laying flat followed by a similar image of the K70 low profile and finally a regular K70 with a low profile version next to it.  

There's really no comparison. The K70 low profile is slightly shorter than it's full figured big sister.  The G915 is absolutely tiny. Now, I have no problem with my keyboard having a cable.  Especially since you'll eventually have to plug it in anyway as it will need to charge.  Unlike a mouse, which moves all over the desk, they keyboard doesn't really move outside of it's cable reach.  At least not for me.  So I was all set to spend $200 on the G815.  

I was making this decision on Saturday morning.  It was a long weekend though, and really affected my decision.  You see, I could order any of these keyboards from Amazon and have it delivered Tuesday.  Tuesday may as well be a week away as I won't do much with it from Tuesday until the following Saturday.  I might not even hook it up.  But there's always options.  I don't live in a big town so specialized keyboards like this might be hard to come by, but it just so happens that Best Buy has one in stock. 

The Logitech G915.  

Yeah, I spent $50 to have it Saturday morning instead of Tuesday.  And I have to say, I'm quite enamored with it so far.  It can't be love as it's not perfect.  First, it's too expensive.  $250?  Come on.  It also has those G keys.  It's light software and customization is as simple as I remember from the G810 days.  But those are about the only bad things.  The good?  Well it looks fucking spectacular.  Understated, small, professional.  Even the G keys don't make it look all gamery.  It's size.  I've had it lying flat for the past two days and later today will put it up on its feet.  Either way, it's the smallest/thinnest keyboard I've ever had.  By FAR.  I honestly believe it's making me a better and faster typist.  I make less mistakes and can keep up a good speed that generally keeps up with my thoughts.  That wasn't always possible on the Corsair, Razer, Rocat, or previous Logitechs.  And finally... the click.  Thankfully the one that they had in stock was the 'clicky' version.  These aren't Cherry low profile switches and instead are Logitech's own low profile switches.  They come in linear, tactile, and clicky.  The clicky ones are smooth, fast, and have a decidedly cute click to them.  I'd almost go so far as to say they are as clicky as the Cherry MX Blues, just a hell of a lot quieter.  It's a comforting noise to go along with my typing.    

Just Dance
Now, that's all a long way of telling why I've been feeling lazy and didn't get my cap posted yesterday.  You see, while I loved typing out the obscura and cap, I knew what I originally wanted to get do.  That was making progress on my recent story.  I've really been feeling the story as I've imagined several 'scenes' and even the method of writing them out.  Like for example, when our hero/heroine gets a new kind of breast implants where it's just injected into his chest, the story will go over his conversation with his roomie and the girl doing the procedure without really saying he's getting breasts.  It'll be kind of a fun mystery for a few paragraphs.  

But like a lot of the time, I psych myself out when I think about writing.  I know damned well that no matter how much I want to write, I won't get done with this story in a day.  At best, if I write some each weekend (I just know I won't write during the week), I'll probably finish this up around April or May.  At BEST.  It could easily be June or July.  But I do want to write it out.  I not only think it will be fun to write, I think it will be fun to read.  

You see, here's what I have so far.  A guy named Charles (names are place holders for now but might stay) went to a prestigious dance school (Butler) and met a girl who became a very close friend.  I think I have her name as Merry right now.  Charles and Merry graduate and move to New York but where Merry gets work quickly and soon enough gets a prestigious job, Charles just can't get work.  Not only are male dance positions in short supply, he doesnt' have the big hulking body that most producers and troupes are looking for.  To make matters worse, the troupe Merry is in an all female group that doesn't believe men can dance as well as women.  

So, Merry and Charles work on fooling the group during an open audition.  They already know he has better dance skills than most of the ladies in the group, they just need to hide the fact that he's a man.  So they go through a transformation, going so far as to work on his voice and mannerisms so that he doesn't clue anybody in before or after the audition.  The idea is to dance for the group, get offered a job, then drop the charade and ask if they'd accept a guy.  They hope that laughs ensue, maybe a lesson is learned, and maybe MAYBE he actually does get a job offer as himself.  But during the audition there's a few monkey wrenches thrown in.  Unknown to Merry is the fact that the group has already accepted they need  guys in the group and have several auditioning (they'll audition after Charles so he doesn't know until its too late).  The other problem is that they also have a producer watching over them and he's deciding if the group should join a televised dance competition.  Think in terms like America's Got Talent, but just big dance groups.  

Not only does Charles get offered a position, but the producer likes 'her' as a role he can spotlight.  He can show what 'she' did to get into the group and then make the group good enough to get into the competition.  

The head of the group makes Charles' offer contingent on 'her' working with the production company.  Merry is beside herself as he knows what a big deal it would be for the group to get into this competition, but also what it would take to continue to fool not only their fellow dancers but an entire TV audience that Charles is in fact Charlie, the sexy young female dancer.  They convince Charles to go along, but as I almost always have my heroines, he/she is reluctant at best.  Merry's family has money and it turns out that her father invented a new cosmetic surgery system where instead of opening up a woman to implant breast enhancements, they instead inject it.  It's experiential, expensive, and not yet permeant.  Or maybe this isn't Merry... I don't know.  But I do want Charlie to have breasts and better curves down below... thighs, ass, and such.  They'll also get her one of those wearable latex fake pussies, as she'll now be continually wearing tight clothing and need to show off her 'camel toe' and not the bulge her pulled back penis makes.  

The image I have in mind of a post transformed Charlie is Cadey Mercury.  And one specific reason I wanted to give her real/realistic brests was this inspiring image:

Pixie haircut?  Check.  Smooth thin body (from dancing of course!)? Check.  Hips, ass and breasts? To be honest, not realistically.  And this is one of those areas that while a smaller dancers body helps me act as though she looks more feminine than she really would, I just can't get around the breasts part.  Clothed?  Sure, there are lots of options there. But I want her in a position like above.  Being held close to a guy as he both undresses her and holds his hand powerfully around her neck.  You can also see one of the more XXX scenes I have in mind with Cadey/Charlie in my other blog's post Santa Brought His Baby Back.  

From there I get a little more nebulous ideas.  Nothing is quite as firm.  I'd like to 'push' Charlie into a semi romantic relationship with one of the hired male dancers.  I want her to feel honest jealousy because he got the job he/she wanted.  But I want to push it further.  I'm thinking that the producer admits to seeing a spark between Charlie and this male dancer and tells the leader of the dance troupe that it would help sell them to the public if he could show off a budding romance between them on TV.  So Charlie and this guy are pushed to 'romance it up' for the camera.  Holding hands, kissing, hugging, stuff like that.  Which of course makes Charlie even more jealous as she's forced to act like the compliant little girlfriend to the guy that got her job... she could have been the guy here with a girl being all compliant and loving on him.  

I had the idea of bringing in a room mate.  I have Charles/Charlie living with Merry in a sweet apartment paid for by her family.  A room mate would force Charles to live as Charlie 24/7.  And then it gets even worse when they're on the road for the show.  

I don't really have an ending for this.  I need to write it out and see how Charlie reacts to everything.  I know that she'll like dancing.  Especially because she's dancing in a feminine manner because it's made dancing all new to her again.  I know how she'll react to Merry liking her more as a girl... confused.  Maybe they've had a sexual past that never got off the ground, but now Merry is more attracted to Charlie than Charles.  And we'll find out that Merry is far more the agressor when she's dealing with Charlie and Charlie likes it that way... but when her forced beau is the same way, acting more dominant with her, she'll start to question her own sexuality.  In other words does she simply like taking a more classic submissive role or is it that she likes being in the feminine role and her natural status is submissive.  

And I can't move to a conclusion until I have those questions answered.  I she 'forced' to keep up her relationship as they go on and win the cometition?  Winning could mean a long term contract in Vegas or Miami, and now she's stuck being Charlie for the foreseeable future.  Or does she accept her newfound place, fall in love with either Merry or the guy (I'm thinking his name will be Damon), and we have a happily ever after ending.  Even with that, it's not all rose petals and sunsets... if she falls for Damon, does she tell him that she's really a guy?  Does she go for more radical solutions and changes to her body?  

So, that's why I'm being lazy.  It feels like such a good story and I'm honestly excited to write it but it's daunting.  And honestly, after the mediocre response to my story Thesis... I don't even know if that's fair since the response was okay... I'm not to eager to put myself out there again.  It's not the only reason I haven't written more, but it's a big reason.  

We'll see.  I hope to have more to share but don't hold your breath.