#Playback transformers

[catbusdriver]

Blaster's Going Through It In HyperSpark

Let's see here Blaster, in no particular order:

Lost his brother in an easily avoidable accident thanks to a commander that everyone worships.

Has drifted apart from his Mini Con family

Is stuck doing missions far outside his area of expertise.

Forced to hide his marriage with one his Mini-cons to prevent a scandal.

Dealing with internal injuries that need equipment that's exclusive to Cybertron.

Greatly reduced combat effectiveness and personality issues because of said injuries.

Is forced to follow the commands of a man child playing superhero on a nowhere planet.

Is being forced to filter an ENTIRE COMMUNICATION. NETWORK. A job that's hard when he has all of his family and they get along, let alone having only two, one of which hates him now.

Is dealing with the side effects of not being in close quarters of his Mini-cons for long periods. (If he doesn't get the rest of them, his Spark might tear itself apart)

Oh. And most importantly:

All BUT TWO OF HIS MINI-CONS ARE MISSING ON A SHIP FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH POSSESSED EARTH TECH

[knlfelust]

i have to go back to procreate ….good by to all my clip studio brushes …. oh and the all layer eraser what a bad day 4 me

[charmedreincarnation]

MAYA’S MORPHICS FIELD CHALLENGE

Hello everyone :) School is starting, and that's a time when stress levels can peak for anyone in the manifesting community. It's tough to wake up to another school year without your dream life, and I know how draining it can be. You might feel like you have to focus on your journey while also tackling school, which is challenging enough on its own. I hope this can help with anything related to manifesting reality, the void state, shifting, lucid dreaming, school, and mindset. Remember, you're not alone in this journey, and it is inevitable you achieve all that you desire!

What are morphic fields

Morphic field audio refers to soundtracks that are designed to interact with the concept of morphic fields, which are theoretical fields that influence patterns and behaviors in nature. These audio tracks often incorporate elements like binaural beats or isochronic tones, which are sound frequencies intended to influence brainwave activity and promote specific mental states.

The idea is that by listening to these audio tracks, individuals you can tap into or resonate with morphic fields, potentially enhancing focus, relaxation, or other desired states. The concept is rooted in the belief that sound can influence the mind and body in ways that align with the patterns and connections proposed by morphic fields.

Subliminals or and affirmation tapes with morphic fields

When using morphic fields with subliminals, you can experiment with different approaches to see what works best for you.

Simultaneous Playback:

Play the morphic field audio and subliminal tracks at the same time.

Sequential Playback:

Before: Start with the morphic field audio to create a receptive mental state, then follow with the subliminal tracks. This can help prepare your mind to absorb the affirmations more effectively.

After:

Begin with the sublininal tracks to plant the affirmations in your subconscious, then play the morphic field audio to reinforce and integrate the messages.

Layering:

If you have audio editing software, you can layer the morphic field audio beneath the subliminal tracks, creating a single, cohesive audio experience. This method requires some technical skill but can be very effective.

Experiment and Adjust

Everyone's response to these techniques can vary like all methods so feel free to experiment with different methods and monitor how you feel. Adjust the timing, order, and volume to find the combination that resonates best with you :) it doesn’t have to be methodical at all

Specified Morphic Fields

You can also find specific morphic fields tailored to your desires, such as lucid dreaming, shifting realities, or entering the void state. These specialized audio tracks are designed to help you achieve particular goals by using specific frequencies and energies.

Similarly to binaural beats or isochronic tones Sounds, it’s best to listen to morphic fields in positive environments because they are highly receptive to surrounding influences. Ensure that your surroundings are calm and uplifting. This might include a tidy space, soft lighting, or calming scents like lavender or sage.

Stay away from negative influences like for example watching horror movies or engaging with negative shifting or void content while listening to morphic fields. Instead, pair your listening sessions with positive and inspiring content. This could include watching manifesting videos, glow-up transformation videos, or reading success stories related to shifting and lucid dreaming.

Combine this with affirming and persisting

the only three affirmations I use are:

I can shift

I will shift

I have shifted

This is very simple and effectively covers the past, present, and future, making it easy to repeat. The brain loves mantras, and these affirmations are designed to reinforce your belief in your ability to shift. This repetition helps to rewire your subconscious mind, aligning your thoughts and actions with your desired outcome. Keep it simple, stay consistent, and watch as your affirmations help manifest your shifting journey.

The challenge

Compile a playlist of subliminals or affirmation tapes, whichever you prefer.

Listen to them while playing morphic fields. You can use headphones or play them out loud; it doesn’t matter.

If you don’t want subliminals or affirmation tapes, find specific morphic fields for your desire, such as wealth morphic fields or shifting morphic fields.

They are easy to find on YouTube. Just search up your topic and then morphic field feel feee to use the ones I recommend as well!

4. Do this in a positive environment. Engage in activities like scrolling on Tumblr, reading success stories, or watching lucid dreaming tips.

5.Outside of this, use the three affirmations: "I can shift," "I will shift," "I have shifted."

You can replace these with anything related to lucid dreaming, the void state, or manifesting—whatever suits your goals, e.g: “I can wake up in the void,” “I will wake up in the void,” “I have woken up in the void before”

6.Make this routine fit your schedule.With school starting, you’ll be busy, so keep it simple and easy!

[xoluvx]

b.eilish ❥₊ ⊹ american town

just finishing what you started @sweetcherriexs ₊˚⊹♡

the sound of her voice washed over you, consuming your body as you closed your eyes. you could drown in her voice; listen to it on repeat. you felt it in your bones. it was engraved on your skin like a tattoo.

“go ahead, sweetheart” she whispered pointing to the sheet music. her chin rested on your shoulder. voice so delicate and comforting as your hands shook. you’d forever be immortalized in the soundtrack of her life. your voice forever engraved in the fabric of her musical journey.

nodding and gripping the paper, you started singing softly. tentative and scared. you were shaking your leg nervously. self-conscious about by the way your voice sounded. cringing when you heard yourself sing. she placed her hand on your thigh. fingers slowly taping to the melody in her head, piecing every element in her in brain while calming your nerves. you melted on her lap like butter. clenching your thighs as the familiar feeling grew between your legs. her soft breathing on your neck and her gentle touch on your thigh. you sighed leaning back subconsciously opening your legs.

billie turned to look at you, chin still resting on your shoulder. lashes curled as her eyes traced the side of your face down to your parted lips. you'd completely lost the inability to form words, the lyrics scrambled in your brain. whimpers and sighs were the extent of your vocabulary as the tips of your girlfriend’s fingers brushed over your sensitive core.

“you okay, baby?” she muttered. her arm wrapping tighter around your waist. pulling you closer to her body. she managed to move her chair forward. your body pressed against the edge of the desk as you surrendered to the heat ensuing between your legs.

your arms stretched over the surface of the desk without thinking; there was just pure desperation and greed as you swayed your hips. as your girlfriend gripped your waist and adjusted your body so you were perfectly aligned with her toned thigh. you felt her clench under your weight. lifting her hips every time you whimper and clawed at the smooth surface.

“i want to hear that pretty voice of yours,” she demanded with a tone so sweet you were guaranteed a sugar rush. soon the whimpers were turning into shaking breathing. they transformed into moans at the sound of ‘good girl’ and ‘louder’ melting off her tongue so naturally. your voice cracked as you begged her to keep going, to not stop. the sighs and whispers and urging and longing all forming a song she was eager to listen to playback later. one she was sure she'd never grow tired of.

[tinydefector]

Dudeee i am soooo curious what happened to baby/or sparkling (I think that's the term of baby on transformers) Megatron with the human :33333

Baby baths

Megatron x human reader

Word count: 1k

Warnings: bathing

Prev

_________

Megatron hums light as he cradles the tiny baby in his arms as gently as his massive servos allow. red optics gaze down in awe at the tiny child. "Fragile little thing," he rumbles softly, tone warmer than anyone might have believed possible. Megatron softly traces tiny fingers and wriggling his servo as tiny hands grip instinctively at his plating. The bitlet coos up at their sire, drawing a low purr Megatron as he smiles.

"My little star," he murmurs reverently. They giggle back up at him which makes his optics crinkle in adoring love. “Yes you my little star” he rumbles again only to hear his lover call out. “bathes ready” they make their way back over to Megatron. "OK let me grab them" they call out while waiting for Megatron to lean down enough to grab their baby. "Come here bubba" they coo.

Megatron chuckles as they pull their parents' cheeks squealing in excitement. “it still baffles me that you let sparkling water in this young” he hums as they move into the washroom. Megatron follows behind.

His optics linger on his lover as they slowly slide down to sit in the bath with their baby, setting them into the shallow water of the bath. They shoot Megatron a smile as their baby splashes water giggling and squealing in delight. “Yes, yes I know you love bath time.” With great care, Megatron lowers himself to sit on the floor beside the tub so he can rest his hand on the side while they sit in the water. The delight written across their little one's face is mirrored in his partner's smile.

Megatron finds himself leaning nearer, stooping low to better hear each tiny chatter and coo. Never did he imagine sharing in such mundane joys of new life - yet in this moment, this was the only place he wished to be.

"Yes papa’s here too" They coo at their child who squeals in delight as they grab at his large hand. "Maybe if you ask him real nicely he'll shrink and come sit in the bath with us" they tease their child who just giggles and smiles up at Megatron with big baby eyes.

Megatron's spark fluttered for a moment. At his partner's playful suggestion, a low rumble of mirth emerges from his engines. "As my little star commands," he replies gently, optics alight with joy.

Systems whir in concentration, slowly shifting as his frame decreases in size until his massive frame is smaller. A Servo gentle waves in the water, mindful of his reduced bulk yet enjoying each happy trill his actions invoke. Crimson gaze lifts adoringly between his sparkling, no baby and partner, he corrects himself.

He slowly steps into the bath cautious not to hurt either of his sweetsparks as he sits down. Scooping a few palmfuls to cascade over them in steady streams. "Look at you, you've come so far since the first time you held them, God you were so afraid to hurt them, when i placed them in your arms" they tease.

his little one wobbling eagerly towards their sire's outstretched arms. With the help of their parent. a rumble of profound affection rumbles from him as he carefully scoops them up in his arms, holding them close yet steady against his chassis.

"And I was," he murmurs gratefully, crimson optics flick with the memory files playback that first trembling moment, terror of crushing their delicate frame. Now, little hands pat fearlessly against his armour, drawing a purr from the ex warlord. As his partner and child settle securely against his chassis, Megatron vents softly in contentment.

"You should take your helmet off" they state Megatron hesitates, gazing between his child cheerfully playing and his partner's gentle request. Carefully he disengages catches holding the aged metal in place. Lifting it away exposes the sensitive finials beneath. They flick slightly before they flare out. His partner smiles softly, stroking the damp plating. Warmth blooms through Megatron's core at their touch, he gently brings one of their hands to his lips in a soft kiss.

The little one giggles with grabby hands as they try and reach out for the decorated finials, they twitch softly as his lover pats the side of one. "There's My handsome mech" they coo only for their baby to basically scale up Megatron's chest to try and touch the finials. Megatron meets their eager eyes with a fond flash of his own. Allowing his plating to expand just enough, he steadies them within reach of their goal, purring encouragement.

"Carefully now, little light," he rumbles gently, systems swelling with affection as tiny hand explore the finials, gripping and running along the metal. "Papa’s very pretty isn't he" they coo to their child.

Megatron releases a hum of contentment, optics brightening at his designations. ‘Pretty’ was never a choice word in his millennia of warfare - yet hearing it from his lover makes him believe it is true.

"Only through your eyes, beloved," he answers gently, nuzzling their shoulders as he relaxed. They continue to lay in the bath together with their child playing as they both watch. "You should let your finials out more. They are beautiful, " they call Megatron. "Think it would spook the crew if you walked around without your helmet?" They tease softly

Megatron emits a low chuckle, imagination sparked by the mental image. "Indeed, the crew would be in for quite a shock." Finials flick thoughtfully at his partner's praise, warmth pulsing through circuitry. "Coming from your lips, beloved, no praise could mean more." They lean back slightly, a hand moving to his face plate tracing soft patterns before they pull him down into a gentle kiss. They break away only when more squeals can be heard from the little one which makes Megatron rumble a chuckle. “I believe they want out of the bath now”

Hisnlover sighs softly. “mmm once I've put them to bed, would you like to have a proper bath with me?. This is nice and I really enjoy it” Megatron presses a soft peck to their forehead. “that would be lovely sweetspark, but only if it's in the larger pool”

______________

@angelxcvxc

@saturnhas82moons

@kgonbeiden

@murkyponds

@autobot79

@buddee

@bubblyjoonjoon

@chaihena

@pyreemo

@lovenotcomputed

@mskenway97

@delectableworm

@cheesecaketyrant

@ladyofnegativity

@desertrosesmetaldune

@stellasfallow

@coffee-or-hot-cocoa

@shinseiokami

@tea-loving-frog

@aquaioart

@daniel-meyer-03

@pupap123

[depression-napping]

Topics of Vincent

(Your resident translator was on a plane and had plenty of time to do some work so here we go with the second page of his profile ❤️)

This is long so content is under the cut

1) 身体に秘めたる魔獣の因子

The factor of the magical beasts hidden in his body

ヴィンセントはその体内に魔獣の因子を宿しており、ガリアンビーストに変身する能力を持つ。変身後は、俊敏さと力強さを兼ね備えた、文字どおり人間離れした動きが可能となる一方で、理性を失って暴走するため、肉体にはかなりの負荷がかかってしまう模様。ヴィンセントが睡眠に多くの時間を割くのは、特殊な体質のせいなのかもしれない。

Because of the factor that Vincent houses magical beasts within his body, he has the ability to transform into Galian Beast. After transforming, he gains the ability to move with both speed and strength that is literally superhuman. At the same time, his rational mind gives way to wild rampaging, and it seems to take quite a toll on his body. The fact that Vincent spares a lot of time sleeping may be due to the peculiar nature of his physical make-up.

2) 新しめの機械には弱い？

Is he bad with new technology?

ヴィンセントは、電源が入っていないカードリーダーを故障していると思い込み、起動させられずに四苦八苦*するなど、機械のあつかいには不慣れな様子を見せる。とはいえ、機械全般にわけではなく、タイニーブロンコに搭載された旧式の無線機は難なく使いこなしており、どちらかといえば古めの機械のほうがなじみがあるようだ。

Vincent has the mistaken impression that the card reader doesn’t work as it’s lacking a power source, and the device not activating seems to cause him all manner of distress*. [Please see the footnote this phrase is amazing] It seems he is inexperienced with handling such devices. Even so, it doesn’t mean he is generally bad with all technology per se, as he was able to easily handle the wireless radio on the Tiny Bronco. That is to say, he seems to be more familiar with older machines.

(*I just want to talk about this phrase 四苦八苦. It almost sent me into hysterics. It’s pronounced “shikuhakku” and it means great distress, but literally translates to “four and eight kinds of suffering.” It’s another idiomatic expression with Buddhist roots that refers to “birth, old age, disease, death, parting from loved ones, meeting disliked ones, not getting what one seeks,” and so on. Basically a summary of his life so far, minus the old age. But the fact that they used this term specifically to talk about his distress at newfangled technology just sent me. Literally you can read this as “modern technology causes him four and eight kinds of suffering.” Like the rest of what he’s gone through isn’t 四苦八苦? But the card reader not working is. I’m dead ya’ll. Like. Vincent needs this on a shirt. I need this on a shirt.)

3) Original VII Playback (Vincent Summary)

仲間に加えるかどうかを任意で選べるキャラクターながら、セフィロスや宝条と深い因縁があり、物語の背景を知るうえでは重要な役どころだった。関連作品のひとつ「Dirge of Cerberus -FFVII-」では主人公を務める。

The player can choose whether to befriend Vincent as he is an optional character. Since he has a deep connection to Sephiroth and Hojo, viewed in the context of the game’s background story, the role he plays is essential. He takes on the role of the main character in the related game, Dirge of Cerberus.

「フ… 悪夢にうなされる長き眠りこそ

私に与えられたつぐないの時間」

“Hmph… my long, nightmare-laden sleep has given me time to atone…”

(Picture captions)

追い詰められると、咆哮とともに赤黒いオーラをまとい、凶暴性さらに増す。

When pushed to the wall, with a loud roar, clad in a dark red aura, his savage nature increases further.

壊れた思ったものを叩いたり振ったりして直そうとするあたりは、どことなく前世代的。

When he tries to fix something he thought was broken by hitting and shaking it, somehow it seems like he’s from another generation.

[black-arcana]

NIGHTWISH Shares Full 45-Minute Documentary About Making Of 'Yesterwynde' Album

During the past months building up to the worldwide release of NIGHTWISH's newest opus, "Yesterwynde", on September 20, the group shared various episodes revealing further insights into the creation of this magnificent album, which closes off the trilogy started with "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" in 2015. From early demo playback sessions in hotel rooms all across the world during the "Human. :II: Nature." world tour to the remote rehearsal sessions in a cabin in Röskö, from Floor Jansen delivering stunning vocal performances at her home studio to the orchestral recordings at Abbey Road Studios, London, this 45-minute documentary directed by Ville Lipiäinen details the long way of transforming the ideas, stories and songs of Tuomas Holopainen into the opulent masterpiece that is "Yesterwynde". Check it out below.

NIGHTWISH's multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley comments: "'Yesterwynde' is full of secrets, but, if the stars are aligned, you may find some answers within..."

Holopainen previously said about the new NIGHTWISH LP: "'Yesterwynde' took more time to make than any previous NIGHTWISH album. The new album was intensively worked on for three and a half years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn't let go of the creative process — and didn't want to. Along the way, 'Yesterwynde' became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making — compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing and so on — were given more attention than ever before."

The result? There's a fascinating, but inexplicable feeling that NIGHTWISH has once again been able to find unprecedented nuances, spices and perspectives in their new works after a career of nine classic albums.

"'Yesterwynde' is an experience that takes time to digest," Holopainen explained. "The gravid ingredients of the songs are easily recognizable, but beneath the surface lies a large number of intriguing details and features."

He continued: "It's interesting – but not surprising – that 'Yesterwynde' has attracted quite a variety of opinions. Some have stated that it is the most 'band' record to date. For some it appears to be the heaviest and most ominous NIGHTWISH release. It has also been called our most progressive album. And the list goes on."

And what does Tuomas think of it himself?

"To me, 'Yesterwynde' sounds, tastes and feels strongly like the true essence of NIGHTWISH — enriched with new moods and flavors."

The lyrics of "Yesterwynde" deal with large-sized universal themes: memories, mortality, humanism, time and much more. "The new album is the conclusion of the trilogy — textually, it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful' and 'Human. :II: Nature.'," Holopainen said. "At the same time, 'Yesterwynde' is the band's most lyrically driven album: our music has never been so 'married' to the lyrics. So here's a tip: if something in the composition puzzles you, the words might clear it up."

"For me, one of the key lines is 'we are because of a million loves' — taken from the song 'Perfume Of The Timeless'," he continued. "Each of us is part of an unbroken chain that stretches back billions of years. If even one of your ancestors had died too young — mauled by a cave bear, for example — during this incredibly long period of time, you would never have been born. In other words: our existence is such an unfathomable privilege."

What does the term "yesterwynde" mean? Tuomas said: "It describes a feeling that cannot be found in any human language. That's why we had to invent a whole new word. The album is supposed to open that feeling to the listener."

Without taking anything away from the solid delivery of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Kai Hahto, bassist Jukka Koskinen and multi-instrumentalist/singer Troy Donockley, it might be worth highlighting one fact: the performance of the eloquent storyteller Floor Jansen is once again unparalleled. It is simply breathtaking how the singer is able to make songs fly with her performance.

"Floor's second child was born just over a month ago, and we hadn't rehearsed together at all... So it was a little nerve-wracking to go to Floor's home studio for vocal recordings," Tuomas said. "Well, what happened? We had booked twelve working days and after six days everything was completed in style. Floor's preparedness for the sessions was something extreme."

After the recordings and mixing process, there was one more working phase. Mastering. Could you possibly guess that no shortcuts were taken at this point either?

"The album was mastered seven times until we reached the finish line — one hundred percent satisfied,", stated Tuomas. "When the record was eventually finished, a three-year, extremely inspiring adventure had come to an end. I felt very, very happy."

NIGHTWISH's next steps are clear. And they are not the most common ones.

"NIGHTWISH will not go on a world tour this time," Tuomas said. "This was a decision made for personal reasons. But don't worry... Our contract with Nuclear Blast Records includes several albums, and there's plenty of motivation to create new music!"

"Yesterwynde" track listing:

01. Yesterwynde 02. An Ocean Of Strange Islands 03. The Antikythera Mechanism 04. The Day Of... 05. Perfume Of The Timeless 06. Sway 07. The Children Of 'Ata 08. Something Whispered Follow Me 09. Spider Silk 10. Hiraeth 11. The Weave 12. Lanternlight

"Human. :II: Nature." was released in April 2020. The follow-up to 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" was a double album containing nine tracks on the main CD and one long track, divided into eight chapters, on CD 2.

In August 2022, NIGHTWISH announced the addition of Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN) as an official member of the band. Koskinen, who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences, had spent the previous year touring with NIGHTWISH as a session musician.

In November 2022, Jansen revealed that she was "cancer free" after undergoing surgery to have a tumor removed following a breast cancer diagnosis.

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

[arraytale001]

CHAPTER 8

File 07

SPECIAL

Sans returned to his room, and like an extraordinary magic trick, everything reverted to normal. Frisk, Papyrus, Grillby, and all the monsters who had been swept away and sucked into a black hole returned to their respective places as if by an astonishing act of sorcery. No one seemed to notice anything strange, as though waking from a long and exhausting nightmare.

The world was restored to normal in just 5 seconds.

Five seconds for a deadly battle — at least for Sans. He felt deeply humiliated and wanted to end it all quickly.

“That bastard always wants to show off his power, huh,” Sans muttered, full of irritation. He tossed his jacket onto the pile of papers beside his bed and immediately collapsed onto his messy yet comforting mattress.

And Rays unexpectedly complied with his request willingly, sending him back home and granting him the chance to rest. Rays neither protested nor displayed any resistance. He simply agreed to Sans’s request without asking any questions. “Oh sure, do you need a vehicle? I can give you the best one, you know,” Rays said arrogantly.

Sans recalled how Rays had shown him the wreckage of his world — torn apart and formless. And with just a snap of his fingers, every fragment of his world, floating in zero gravity, began to vibrate intensely. Like pieces of a puzzle scattered in space, the fragments began to collide at lightning speed, reuniting seamlessly in a reverse playback-like motion. And there it was — his home. Sans could once again see Papyrus standing in front of the house with that human, Frisk.

Watching this display — how fragile and easy it was for Rays to destroy lives in this world — felt utterly unfair. Sans began to wonder: did he even stand a chance of winning?

Sans clutched a pawn in his hand, one he believed could transform into anything. He just needed to think of the right move to outwit Rays, who constantly glorified his own power. The problem was, Sans had no idea how to pull it off.

“Damn my life…” he sighed deeply, feeling overwhelmed. He’d never felt so mentally and physically drained before. Battling Rays had left him completely wrung out.

Sans felt like he’d surpassed the limits of what he could endure.

To make matters worse, the realization that he only existed in a small box called Undertale was a heavy and bitter pill to swallow. As an NPC living inside a computer, appearing on someone’s screen, everything he did was preordained — written in code that dictated his fate. He was merely a plaything, nothing more than a collection of lifeless pixels.

“What I feel is just an illusion, a series of codes deceiving me. I’m here as a stepping stone for the players. I don’t even breathe; there’s no real life in this body... The nonsense about souls and the outside world? There’s no such thing as a human world out there. The wall separating monsters and humans is just a lie and a deception. Even Papyrus, all the monsters here... we’re connected because we exist within the same circuit.”

There was sorrow in his voice, and he felt utterly helpless and tired.

Sans covered himself with the pile of blankets on his bed, which was littered with socks.

He thought of Papyrus, his only family. What if his plan failed and Papyrus became the victim? What if he lost his way and turned into the kind of monster no one wanted? At the very least, if that happened, Sans didn’t want Papyrus to know — he didn’t want to destroy him. He wanted to keep him far away from all this — from Rays.

“I can’t do this alone.”

Maybe Sans wanted to cry.

But there were no “tears” in his system; he wasn’t created with the ability to cry.

It was a lament that wouldn’t end quickly. Sans knew what awaited him was an even greater disaster. More pain and time-consuming battles. There would be no chance to catch his breath. There would be sacrifices he felt unprepared to bear — leaving him feeling like someone else entirely.

Yet he couldn’t just give up — even knowing the enormous risks he had to face. He simply couldn’t stop and let it all go — perhaps that was exactly what Rays wanted. Rays sought rebellion, pushing Sans to break free from the rules binding him, freeing him from his prison. He watched Sans, observing how far he could stray from the rules that bound them both.

A sadistic experiment for his own amusement.

When he felt utterly trapped, Rays didn’t know where to start, so he acted recklessly, disrupting the game system he had long maintained.

The king rebelling in his own kingdom. That was Rays.

“He’s already so desperate, huh. A clown seeking entertainment for himself... that’s Rays. Sacrificing others to find the key to his freedom, selfish and arrogant. I already knew he couldn’t kill me from the start, because I’m the key to his escape — the path that could lead him out of this game system’s constraints.”

Rays needed Sans as his guide.

Sans was the light illuminating Rays’s path.

The Game Keeper was proven to have limits he couldn’t surpass. He could look out through the large window frame of his room, but he couldn’t open the door to step outside and feel the “true free air.” Rays were chained by the game that birthed him into this small world.

“For now, I need to sleep.”

Sans spoke in a weary tone, closed his eyes, and hoped this was just a ridiculous dream.

But...

“Oh, you haven’t seen the worst yet, my friend Sans.”

An unsettling whisper buzzed in his head. It whispered again:

“Good luck, Sans. I’ll be watching you from afar.”

And Sans fell into a deep sleep, as though someone had pressed an Off button on his back. He felt disconnected, feeling nothing. and just sleep, like a baby.

***

Sans woke up in a chaotic state, looking like a corpse that had just risen from the grave. Three hours had passed uneventfully, but he found himself utterly exhausted, ready to collapse at any moment.

Yet, his legs held him upright, preventing him from hitting the floor, even though he was utterly drained and weak.

 "Giving up isn’t in my dictionary, hm."

A small smile—that was all he needed right now. Sans felt a bit of motivation returning. He understood his situation very clearly. Despite the destruction that had left his soul in shambles, he was still standing—standing tall, clad in his worn-out jacket—being the same Sans as always, being his old self. 

Oh well …

Sans, despite everything, it's still you.

Sans took pride in his effort, the hard work that had brought him this far without losing anyone he cared about. For now, this was all he could do: take a breath and prepare for whatever would test his strength.

 "Well, time to get to work."

Sans readied himself to leave and stepped outside. He opened the door and saw Papyrus standing still—motionless in his spot. He didn’t see Frisk anywhere. Maybe they had gone to Waterfall, Sans thought indifferently. He glanced at Papyrus, who didn’t seem to notice his presence at all, despite the close distance and the loud sound of the door shutting.

 "Hey, Paps, what are you doing over there?"

Papyrus didn’t respond.

 "Paps? Can you hear me? Hey, I’m right here."

Still no response.

 "Paps?"

No answer. Papyrus remained motionless, like a statue carved out of snow.

 "Paps... come on, don’t joke around. Look at me."

Once again, only silence.

Sans’s eyes widened, thoughts of the worst flashing through his mind—things he was not ready to face. His soul felt like a raging red fire, spreading rapidly—Sans rushed toward Papyrus, his chaotic thoughts spiraling once more.

 Tell me I’m wrong, tell me I’m wrong... this is wrong!

((( Hey, stop reading for a moment! I recommend you read the next part with this music. Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings. Thank you! )))

Sans prayed fervently, feeling the horror creeping back—gnawing at him from within, whispering words he didn’t want to hear, conjuring terrifying, tragic images.

Rays once again sang a dirge of death for him.

 "PAPYRUS!"

Sweat poured down Sans’s face, soaking his jacket. He imagined Rays clutching his soul and laughing in his face, reciting a curse that choked him tightly, revealing absolute injustice, and shattering him into pieces.

 "This can’t be... this can’t be, right?"

The abyss stretched wider and deeper than ever before, calling out Sans’s name repeatedly.

 "Haha..."

A faint laugh, carrying a dark rhythm, faded like snowflakes in the air.

Sans immediately collapsed onto the snow. He screamed like a madman, his voice echoing in Snowdin like the groans of destruction he could no longer contain. He was powerless, he was already dead at that moment... Sans had been killed as he saw Papyrus standing before him like a lifeless statue—he saw his brother, who only gazed into the emptiness and darkness of the world they inhabited. 

An NPC without freedom, an NPC forbidden from doing what he wanted. In this world, Sans realized he was utterly alone.

Oh! The storm's fog spreads the news of death with its strong gusts of wind, a tragic tale is displayed for the joyful cheers of the audience. Someone observes from behind the curtain of their throne, sipping a delicious cup of coffee—enjoying the drama of a person bowing before the devil—accompanied by the beautiful music of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A Minor... tragic! The devil savors each sip of his coffee with a wide grin on his face. The sorrow and helplessness—the devil relishes every second of the entertainment before him.

 "A ‘special’ NPC ... screw that... screw everything."

Papyrus, unlike him, had no freedom to think or act. In this game, all monsters and even Papyrus were nothing more than programs without any freedom—unlike him. They couldn’t speak, couldn’t leave the areas designated for them—unlike Sans. The system bound their will tightly—Papyrus was entirely just a puppet, incapable of doing anything—he couldn’t respond to Sans's morning greetings, no scolding him, no dinner together, no casual strolls around his house... 

Papyrus was created to test the player's conscience. That was all he could do. There was no code in his system that said, "Good morning, Sans!"

And Sans, a program that was also never meant to have thoughts of his own. He wasn’t supposed to possess his own freedom, wasn’t supposed to act outside the confines of his system’s code—yet he ended up becoming a system that rebelled and defied its master.

He was supposed to be Sans, the judge for the player, and nothing more. As Papyrus’s brother, he was meant to be like Papyrus, trapped in the same prison, acting only according to what was written in his system.

And that was why Rays turned his attention to him, seeking to exploit him—as the key to freedom. Sans was the light of that world. Rays tried to manipulate him, pushing him to keep rebelling... to keep breaking down the walls in front of him.

Rays only wanted to drain him of all his strength, doing whatever it took to achieve his goal. He didn’t care about Sans’s suffering; he would only watch Sans's destruction and repeat the process again, and again, and again.

Sans was the sacrificial lamb.

A miracle no one had ever foreseen.

JAPANESE VERSION

第8章ファイル07スペシャル

Sansは部屋に戻った。そして、まるで驚くべき魔法のように、すべてが元通りになった。Frisk、Papyrus、Grillby、それにブラックホールに吸い込まれて消えたモンスターたちも、まるで驚くべき魔法の力で、それぞれの場所に戻ったかのようだった。誰も何もおかしいことに気づかなかった、長くて疲れる悪夢から目覚めたかのように。

世界はわずか5秒で元通りになった。

死闘の5秒—少なくともSansにとっては。彼は深く恥ずかしく感じ、すぐにでも終わらせたかった。

「そのクソ野郎、いつも力を見せびらかしたがるんだな…」Sansは不快そうに呟いた。ジャケットをベッドの横に積まれた紙の山に投げ捨て、そのまま乱れたけど安心感のあるマットレスに倒れ込んだ。

そして、Raysは予想外にもSansのお願いに素直に従った。彼を家に帰して、休む時間を与えてくれた。Raysは何も反論せず、抵抗することもなかった。質問もせず、ただSansのお願いを受け入れた。「おう、車がいるか？最高のやつをあげるぜ」とRaysは傲慢に言った。

Sansは、Raysが彼に自分の世界の破壊を見せてくれたことを思い出した—引き裂かれ、形を失ったその世界。そして、Raysが指���鳴らすと、Sansの世界のすべての破片がゼログラビティで浮かび、激しく震え始めた。まるで宇宙に散らばったパズルのピースのように、その破片は雷のような速さで衝突し、逆再生のようにぴったりと再会した。そして、それがSansの家だった。Sansは再び、Papyrusがその人間、Friskと一緒に家の前に立っているのを見た。

この光景を見て—Raysがこの世界で命をどれだけ簡単に壊せるか—それがとても不公平に感じた。Sansは考え始めた。自分に勝つチャンスなんてあるのだろうか？

Sansは手にポーンを握りしめた、それが何にでも変わると思っていた。正しい手を考え出して、常に自分の力を誇示しているRaysを出し抜かなければならなかった。ただ、問題は、Sansはそれをどうやってやるか全くわからなかった。

「クソッ、俺の人生…」彼は深くため息をつき、圧倒されていた。こんなにも精神的にも肉体的にも疲れ果てたことはなかった。Raysとの戦いで、完全に絞り尽くされた感じだった。

Sansは、自分が耐えられる限界を超えたように感じた。

さらに悪いことに、彼がUndertaleという小さな箱の中だけに存在しているという現実は、非常に重くて苦いものだった。コンピューターの中に住むNPCとして、誰かの画面に現れるすべての行動はあらかじめ決められている—その運命を決めるコードに書かれているだけだ。彼はただの遊び道具、命のないピクセルの集まりに過ぎなかった。

「俺が感じていることなんて、ただの幻想だ。コードが俺を騙しているだけだ。俺はプレイヤーのための踏み台だ。呼吸すらしていない、この体に本当の命なんてない…魂や外の世界についての話？外に人間の世界なんてない。モンスターと人間を隔てる壁は、ただの嘘と欺瞞だ。Papyrusも、ここにいるモンスターたちも…俺たちは同じ回路の中にいるから繋がっているだけだ。」

彼の声には悲しみがこもっていて、完全に無力で疲れ果てているようだった。

Sansは、靴下で散らかされたベッドの上の毛布にくるまった。

Papyrusのことを考えた。唯一の家族だ。もし、計画が失敗してPapyrusが犠牲になったらどうする？もし、自分が道を踏み外して、誰もが恐れるようなモンスターになってしまったらどうする？せめて、その時はPapyrusにはそれを知られたくない—彼を壊したくない。彼をこれからのすべてから、Raysから遠ざけておきたかった。

「俺には、これを一人でやるのは無理だ。」

もしかしたら、Sansは泣きたかったのかもしれない。

でも、彼のシステムには「涙」はなかった；泣く能力が最初から与えられていなかったのだ。

それはすぐには終わらない嘆きだった。Sansは、待ち受けているものがさらに大き��災害だと知っていた。もっと痛みがあり、時間を消耗する戦いが待っている。息をつく暇などないだろう。彼が耐えられないと感じるような犠牲が待ち受けている—それはまるで自分がまったく別の人間になってしまったかのような感覚を与えた。

しかし、彼はただ諦めることはできなかった—どんなに巨大なリスクを背負わなければならないと知っていても。彼はただ立ち止まり、すべてを投げ出すわけにはいかなかった—もしかしたら、それこそがRaysが望んでいることだった。Raysは反乱を求めて、Sansに束縛から解き放たれるように仕向けていた。彼を牢獄から解き放つことを。RaysはSansを見守り、どこまで彼がルールを逸脱できるかを観察していた。

自分の楽しみのためのサディスティックな実験。

完全に追い詰められた時、Raysはどこから始めるべきか分からず、無謀に行動し、長年守ってきたゲームシステムを乱した。

自分の王国で反乱を起こす王。それがRaysだった。

「もうすでに必死だな。自分のために楽しみを求めているピエロ…それがRaysだ。他人を犠牲にして、自分の自由の鍵を探している、自己中心的で傲慢だ。最初から分かっていた、彼は俺を殺せないって。だって俺が彼の脱出の鍵だから—このゲームシステムの制約から彼を解放する道が俺だ。」

Raysは、Sansをガイドとして必要としていた。

Sansは、Raysの道を照らす光だった。

ゲームの守護者は、自分の限界を超えることができないことが証明された。彼は自分の部屋の大きな窓から外を見渡すことはできたが、扉を開けて外に出て「本当の自由な空気」を感じることはできなかった。Raysは、自分をこの小さな世界に生み出したゲームによって鎖で繋がれていた。

「今は、寝なきゃ。」

Sansは疲れた声で言った。目を閉じて、これがただの馬鹿げた夢であってほしいと願った。

でも...

「まだ最悪の部分は見てないだろ、俺の友達、Sans。」

不安を感じさせるささやきが彼の頭の中で響いた。再びささやかれる。

「頑張れよ、Sans。遠くから見守ってるぜ。」

そしてSansは深い眠りに落ちた、誰かが背中のオフボタンを押したかのように。彼は何も感じず、ただ寝ていた、まるで赤ちゃんのように。

***

Sansは、墓から起き上がったばかりの死体のように、混乱した状態で目を覚ました。3時間が何事もなく過ぎ去ったが、彼は完全に疲れ切っていて、いつ倒れてもおかしくなかった。

それでも、彼の足は彼を支え、倒れないようにしていた。完全に疲れ果てて弱っていたのに。

「諦めるなんて、俺の辞書にはない、だろう。」

小さな笑み—それが今、彼に必要なすべてだった。Sansは少しだけやる気を取り戻した。彼は自分の状況を非常に明確に理解していた。魂がズタズタになるほどの破壊を受けても、彼はまだ立っていた—立ち続けていた、ボロボロのジャケットを着て—いつものSansであり、昔の自分であり続けていた。

まぁ、そうだな…

Sans、何があっても、それでもお前だ。

Sansは自分の努力に誇りを感じていた。誰も失うことなくここまで来た、辛い努力に誇りを持っていた。今はこれができるすべてだった。息を吸って、これから自分の力を試す何かに備えることだけ。

「よし、仕事するか。」

Sansは外に出る準備をし、ドアを開けた。そこにはPapyrusがじっと立っているのが見えた—動かないまま。Friskの姿はどこにも見当たらなかった。もしかしたらWaterfallに行ったのだろう、とSansは無関心に思った。彼はPapyrusを一瞥したが、近くにいるにも関わらず、ドアが閉まる音が大きかったにも関わらず、Papyrusは全く彼の存在に気づかないようだった。

「おい、Paps、そこで何してるんだ？」

Papyrusは返事をしなかった。

「Paps？俺の声が聞こえるか？おい、俺ここにいるぜ。」

それでも反応はなかった。

「Paps？」

答えはなかった。Papyrusは動かず、雪で彫られた像のように静止していた。

「Paps...頼むよ、冗談はやめて、俺を見てくれ。」

再び、ただの静寂。

Sansの目が大きく見開かれ、最悪の事態が頭をよぎった—彼が向き合う準備ができていないもの。彼の魂は燃え盛る赤い火のように感じ、急速に広がっていった—SansはPapyrusに向かって走り出し、再び混乱した考えが彼の頭の中で渦巻いた。

「俺が間違ってると言ってくれ、俺が間違ってると言ってくれ…これは間違ってる！」

(((おい、ちょっと読むのを止めて！次のパートはこの曲を聴きながら読んでみてほしい。Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings。ありがとう！)))

Sansは必死に祈りながら、恐怖が再び忍び寄ってくるのを感じた—彼の内側からかじられ、聞きたくない言葉をささやき、恐ろしい、悲劇的なイメージを呼び起こす。 Raysは再び彼に死の哀歌を歌っていた。

「PAPYRUS！」

汗がSansの顔を伝い、ジャケットがびしょびしょになった。彼はRaysが自分の魂をつかみ、顔を笑いながら呪いを唱えて、強く締め付けられるのを想像した。その呪いは絶対的な不正義を明らかにし、彼を粉々に砕いていった。

「こんなの…あり得ない…こんなこと、あり得ないだろ？」

その奈落は、これまで以上に広がり、深くなっていた。Sansの名前を繰り返し呼び続けていた。

「はは…」

かすかな笑い声が、暗いリズムを帯びて、空気中の雪のように消えていった。 Sansはすぐに雪の上に崩れ落ちた。彼は狂人のように叫び、彼の声はSnowdinの中で、もはや抑えきれない破壊のうめき声のように響いた。彼は無力で、あの瞬間、すでに死んでいた… Sansは、Papyrusが命のない像のように立っているのを見た瞬間に死んだ—彼は、ただ虚無と闇を見つめる兄を見た。

自由のないNPC、何もしたくてもできないNPC。この世界で、Sansは完全に一人だと気づいた。

おお！嵐の霧が死の知らせを強い風で広め、悲劇的な物語が観客の喜びのために披露される。誰かが玉座の背後のカーテンから見守りながら、美味しいコーヒーを一杯飲んでいる—悪魔の前で頭を下げる人間のドラマを楽しんでいる—マーラーの交響曲第6番イ短調の美しい音楽に伴って…悲劇的に！悪魔は顔いっぱいに笑みを浮かべながら、コーヒーの一口一口を味わっている。悲しみと無力感—悪魔はそのすべての瞬間を楽しんでいる。 「‘特別な’NPC…くそったれ…何もかもくそだ。」

Papyrusは、彼とは違って、考えたり行動したりする自由がなかった。このゲームでは、すべてのモンスターやPapyrusさえも、自由を持たないただのプログラムだった—彼とは違って。彼らは話せなかった、与えられたエリアを出ることもできなかった—Sansのようには。システムが彼らの意志を厳しく縛っていた—Papyrusは完全にただの操り人形で、何もできなかった—彼はSansの朝の挨拶にも返事をすることはできなかった、叱ったり、一緒に夕食を取ったり、家の周りを散歩することもできなかった… 

Papyrusはプレイヤーの良心を試すために作られた。それが彼ができる唯一のことだった。彼のシステムには「おはよう、Sans！」というコードはなかった。

そして、Sansもまた、決して自分自身の考えを持つことが許されていないプログラムだった。彼は自分の自由を持つはずではなかった、システムのコードの枠を超えて行動することは許されていなかった—それでも彼は、反乱し、主人に逆らうシステムになってしまった。 彼はプレイヤーのための判事としてSansであるべきだった、それ以上でもそれ以下でもなかった。Papyrusの兄として、彼はPapyrusのように同じ牢獄に閉じ込められ、システムに書かれた通りにしか行動しないはずだった。

そして、それがRaysが彼に注目した理由だった、彼を利用しようとした—自由への鍵として。Sansはその世界の光だった。Raysは彼を操ろうとし、彼に反乱を続けさせようとした…彼の前の壁を壊し続けるように。

Raysはただ彼を全力で絞り取ろうとしていただけで、目標を達成するために何で���するつもりだった。彼はSansの苦しみを気にしなかった、彼はただSansの破壊を見守り、そのプロセスを何度も繰り返すだろう。

Sansは犠牲の羊だった。

誰も予見しなかった奇跡。

.

読み終わったら、この音楽を聴いてみてください。Gnossiennes Nos. 1-3 · Erik Satie · Joao Paulo Santos

[deepdreamnights]

More video tinkering with Vidu 1.5

Vidu hit 1.5 this morning for testing, which I get access to as part of the artist's program. While making raw material for a "Big Professor" project-

(Shown here to establish a 1.0 baseline)

-I nuked most of my credits, I've still got enough to try out the new features and give you all a rundown of them.

First major change is resolution options. Fast, 720, or 1080. Shown here is my first attempt at a 1080 gen, using the same prompt as above. While most vids in this post will be gifs for ease of use, this one is an MP4 to provide full evaluation.

Ignore the odd playback speed, since that's something you'd fix in post. The gif at the start was one of my most stable renderings of Big Professor under v1. Got some minor wonk in the details, little distortion around the prof's claw and the kid in the first half second, but otherwise well above the average of the 1.0 versions I've been working with, especially the clarity on the button text.

The second one is a re-run of the same prompt, minus some detail issues with one shin, the level of consistency is promising.

720 can go up to 8 seconds, 1080 tops off at 4. At present, 1.5 does not have an upscale function. If you're not tinkering to test out prompts I'd generally recommend 1080, even for lower-res projects, for the purposes of being able to crop and/pan.

For most of these, assume I'm using either 720 or 1080 gens.

Multi-Subject Reference-to-Video

THIS is the big winner of the setup. Previously, ref-to-video only could handle a single referenced subject image. The current setup now allows you to reference up to three per generation.

Those can be characters, props, or settings, and it can be used for morphing effects. This is good, because first-frame-last-frame is more finnicky than reference-to-video. The obvious use is to create multi-character scenes, and it works well for that:

But it has other uses. For example, here I used:

And while this one was reversed and trimmed, it displays the potential for using the feature for transformation sequences. The backgrounds are especially helpful, since Vidu's internally-generated toon backgrounds are very modern and digital-painting-looking (the gif of Mrs. Nice turning back and forth into Mrs. Nautilus at the top of the section didn't use a background image reference) and as always, I like it retro.

To that point, using the more comic-booky Mrs. Nice control drawing didn't work near as well as the more period-accurate one:

And while I'll personally be cutting out frames to produce a more accurate 1980s TV animation look, the raw fluidity is bound to appeal to the majority of users, and minor issues like the color of Mrs. Nice's blouse changing mid-transformation are easy enough to fix manually (though if a flaw looks enough like a traditional animation screwup, I might just leave it in)

And another fun feature? Movement amplitude control.

In my last post about it, I said Vidu likes to move, and if you need a more subtle shot, like this one, setting the movement amplitude control to small is your move. (Funny how the robot interpreted the book binding as a mouth.) If something's too static you can up the movement as well, but I haven't had that problem much.

In terms of generation quality, 1.5 is a good but not huge leap up from 1.0. at least in terms of what I've made so far. Aesthetics are very similar, but issues of tearing, distortion, and wonky action are lessened.

And it's way better at understanding triceratops, so thumbs up there.

This is one of my wonk-tests, but man, check that walk cycle. This is why the movement controls are important, sometimes when set to auto a dialog scene becomes a weird chase.

Now, in terms of generation costs (and this can always change), 1.5 seems more expensive but in the end it works out more or less the same.

A 1.0 quality 8-second gen upscaled to max res would be 24 points (16 for the quality 8-seconds, 8 for the upscale), and an 8-second 720 render is also 24 points (as is a 4-second 1080).

Yeah, you don't want to use "Fast" in most cases. While both the 720 and fast versions here both have flaws (Bruce's disappearing popcorn bucket, etc), the 720 res version is substantially more on-model for both characters.

To close out, a bit of fun wonk. To try out the effect, I prompted using a "Specialist Matt Trakker" G.I.Joe/M.A.S.K. crossover figure as a character reference, to see if it could translate a character from toy to live action. And it can-

Though it is very, very literal.

The combination of live action-esq person and accurate G.I.Joe joints is harrowing, but there's potential there for some wild variants on the Toy Story/A Christmas Toy/'Wynona's Big Brown Beaver'-Music-Video-by-Primus concept.

[blackbloodteeth]

Past Rambles #7

Cursed

This idea heavily references the poem of the first known werewolf Soul, and was intended to be written entirely in non-dialogue. Interestingly, I later revised this idea into one I call "Werewolf on Death Street", however I also haven't mentioned much about this.

In this world, Soul's still a weapon but the rules are slightly different (in the original ramble I noted that "perhaps it's not a full body thing", however I'm later not sure what that means), and the sun and moon are normal. He gets cursed (probably still from getting scarred, which is where "Death Street" differs) and things steadily get worse for him as he recovers. As Soul's been growing distant from Maka, one night during his increased insomnia he's drawn to wanting to be outside, and when he tries to open the window, the moonlight turns him.

Maka also couldn't sleep but can feel something wrong with him. His door's locked and she tries to force her way in when she hears him in pain, with her eventually busting the door down to see a beast that then crashes out through his window.

From the wolf's perspective the city is dangerous so it escapes out into the desert to be free, Maka can sense him leaving and brings some food and water with her 'cause she knows he ain't survivin' out there for long. Eventually the wolf exhausts itself as there's not a lot to hunt around the city's walls, and she calls to him when she finds the beast resting in a hole it dug out. At first it's reluctant to go near her but Maka offers snacks, letting her hang out with him until she can lure him back to the apartment to take care of him fully.

The next day Soul wakes up on the floor of her room unable to remember what happened. He soon discovers that along with being almost completely naked, his window is also busted ten days 'til Sunday, which only adds to his confusion. Soul just decides to shower before Maka quietly makes breakfast for them.

After he eats, she explains that he's in fact cursed and that it changed him last night; obviously he doesn't know how to handle that, but both the window and him having woken up a mess on her floor is much too obvious. Soul tries to go about his day as normally as he can but can't deny that he has actually changed, such as his increased sensitivity to smell and craving meat and eyeing people's souls hungrily. Maka notices him becoming stressed and decides they should spend a few days somewhere more remote to figure things out.

They book an outing someplace with woods. As night falls, Soul's reluctant to turn again but it hurts him too much not to, and Maka reassures him that he won't ever hurt her. He then transforms and she takes him out hunting, and the wolf gets more attached, even bringing prey to her.

The next morning he struggles internally with feeling out of control as he goes throughout the day being painfully aware of growing too attached to her and the fears that fester as a result, leading him to run off into the woods thinking only about how he won't be able to protect her from himself, and how he's just a monster now. Obviously Maka finds him soon after, and even though he starts trying to convince her to just leave him to his curse, she refuses to abandon him. For a moment he still fights himself over wanting her to stay but not being able to keep her safe, until they hug it out 'cause Maka doesn't give a damn about that at this point.

That night the wolf only seeks her out. There's some playback on events that occurred up to this point, and Soul then turns Maka 'cause she doesn't want to leave him behind.

And then they go be werewolves together. Hell yeah.

For a little more rambling; before this story reformed into the one I mentioned earlier, there was also an offshoot idea where Soul's wolf form is caught by raiders in the desert after it'd run off. One version led to the thought of them trapping him and keeping him as a potential weapon (as in using the wolf for power), and another where Free ends up rescuing him and (forcefully) taking him under his wing since it's not every night he runs into another werewolf.

I believe in that version Free was just a rogue element, but I've no idea if the further branching idea of him still being part of Medusa's gang and quickly growing fond of Soul after he'd been kidnapped had been thought of around this point in time.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

COMMS AU CHAPTER 35: SHATTERED LUNGS

[COMM: RECORDING PLAYBACK, PLEASE STAND BY] [WARNING: THIS FILE IS CORRUPTED; SOME ELEMENTS OF RECORDING MAY PLAY INCORRECTLY] [static] [static] [static] [beep] [static] [AUDIO DISTORTED]

I wrote 4k words this time. Mostly Grian and Keralis being silly little guys. Oopsies. :)

[teddybearsandspaceships]

Day #10 of my MCYT calendar recs and I´ve decided to rec a WIP this time because it updated today and that makes me happy.

INCOMING MESSAGE - COMM RECORDS (81921 words) by writing_and_worrying / @xoxo-ren-xoxo Chapters: 40/? Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Oliver Brotherhood/Charles | Grian/Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar, Arek Lisowski/Xisumavoid, Everyone & Everyone, John Booko/EthosLab, implied/ambiguous Cubfan135/Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar, Charles | Grian/Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar, Oliver Brotherhood | Mumbo Jumbo/Charles | Grian Characters: Charles | Grian, Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar, Oliver Brotherhood | Mumbo Jumbo, ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), John Booko | BdoubleO100, Steffen Mössner | Docm77, Arek Lisowski | Keralis, Hermitcraft Ensemble, EthosLab (Video Blogging RPF), Cubfan135 (Video Blogging RPF), Pearl | PearlescentMoon, The Watchers (Evolution SMP), The Listeners (Evolution SMP), A Secret Third Thing (My Brain) Additional Tags: Horror, Parallel Universes, Memory Loss, Temporary Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Respawn Mechanics (Minecraft), Confusion, Mental Instability, Transformation, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Animal Transformation, cosmic horror, Imprisonment, Watcher Charles | Grian, Mystery, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Survivor Guilt, Dehumanization, that major character death tag is. complicated, Multiverse, Body Horror, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Series: Part 1 of COMMS AU Summary:

[WARNING: THIS FILE IS CORRUPTED; SOME ELEMENTS OF RECORDING MAY PLAY INCORRECTLY]

DATA UNKNOWN: Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there?

[static] [AUDIO DISTORTED]

DATA UNKNOWN: Please! I’m stranded, I need help—

[crunch] [gasp]

DATA UNKNOWN: Anyone! Xisuma? Doc? Please!

[static] [AUDIO DISTORTED] [beeping]

[COMM: END RECORDING PLAYBACK]

---

OR: A mystery on Hermitcraft told through audio logs.

Why I love it: Do you love the Minecraft multiverse? Do you love dimension travel and cosmic horror and mysteries and angst? Have I got the fic for you! Still a WIP at 82k (and not updated regularly) and I don´t know how far along in the story we are, but even in its current state it´s very satisfying. The audio logs are so well done.

[atozproduct]

Dazzle Bright Smart Christmas String Lights, 66FT 200 LED WiFi RGB Color Changing String Lights with Remote & App Controlled, Christmas Decorations for Indoor Outdoor Holiday Xmas Tree Party Decor

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About this item

16 Million Colors & Multiple Scenes: Transform your holiday decorations with smart Christmas lights that offer an incredible 16 million colors and various modes. The length of the lights is 66 FT,the lead wire is 13.1 FT, total length is 79 FT, and the bulb spacing is 3.9 inches. Perfect for enhancing the atmosphere during Christmas, Halloween, 4 of July, Easter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, New Year, weddings, and birthdays.

Voice Control: Effortlessly manage your smart lights using simple voice commands through the APP. Simple voice commands allow you to turn lights on or off, dim or brighten them, and change colors—all without lifting a finger.

Music Sync Functionality: Experience dynamic audio synchronization with the built-in high-sensitivity microphone. Enhance your events with music synchronization, where the RGB Christmas lights flicker and sway in rhythm with your favorite songs, crafting an engaging audio-visual experience

Dual Control Modes: 1. When using the Bluetooth app, you can enjoy features like group control, DIY customization, scene settings, music synchronization, microphone mode, timers, display collections, and looping playback. 2. With the 44-Key remote, you can easily adjust brightness, speed, set timers, and switch lighting modes effortlessly. Multiple Christmas light strings can be added to the same group for integrated control; however, the strings light cannot be connected end to end.

Durable & Safe Design: With UL certification for safety, low-voltage power, and IP44 water resistance, these lights are ideal for both indoor and outdoor settings, even on rainy days. (Note: Protect the power adapter and electric transformer from water when used outdoors.) Ideal for decorating homes, parties, bedrooms, windows, patios, gardens, Christmas trees, bars, and music festivals.

[michaeldswanson]

Apple’s Mysterious Fisheye Projection

If you’ve read my first post about Spatial Video, the second about Encoding Spatial Video, or if you’ve used my command-line tool, you may recall a mention of Apple’s mysterious “fisheye” projection format. Mysterious because they’ve documented a CMProjectionType.fisheye enumeration with no elaboration, they stream their immersive Apple TV+ videos in this format, yet they’ve provided no method to produce or playback third-party content using this projection type.

Additionally, the format is undocumented, they haven’t responded to an open question on the Apple Discussion Forums asking for more detail, and they didn’t cover it in their WWDC23 sessions. As someone who has experience in this area – and a relentless curiosity – I’ve spent time digging-in to Apple’s fisheye projection format, and this post shares what I’ve learned.

As stated in my prior post, I am not an Apple employee, and everything I’ve written here is based on my own history, experience (specifically my time at immersive video startup, Pixvana, from 2016-2020), research, and experimentation. I’m sure that some of this is incorrect, and I hope we’ll all learn more at WWDC24.

Spherical Content

Imagine sitting in a swivel chair and looking straight ahead. If you tilt your head to look straight up (at the zenith), that’s 90 degrees. Likewise, if you were looking straight ahead and tilted your head all the way down (at the nadir), that’s also 90 degrees. So, your reality has a total vertical field-of-view of 90 + 90 = 180 degrees.

Sitting in that same chair, if you swivel 90 degrees to the left or 90 degrees to the right, you’re able to view a full 90 + 90 = 180 degrees of horizontal content (your horizontal field-of-view). If you spun your chair all the way around to look at the “back half” of your environment, you would spin past a full 360 degrees of content.

When we talk about immersive video, it’s common to only refer to the horizontal field-of-view (like 180 or 360) with the assumption that the vertical field-of-view is always 180. Of course, this doesn’t have to be true, because we can capture whatever we’d like, edit whatever we’d like, and playback whatever we’d like.

But when someone says something like VR180, they really mean immersive video that has a 180-degree horizontal field-of-view and a 180-degree vertical field-of-view. Similarly, 360 video is 360-degrees horizontally by 180-degrees vertically.

Projections

When immersive video is played back in a device like the Apple Vision Pro, the Meta Quest, or others, the content is displayed as if a viewer’s eyes are at the center of a sphere watching video that is displayed on its inner surface. For 180-degree content, this is a hemisphere. For 360-degree content, this is a full sphere. But it can really be anything in between; at Pixvana, we sometimes referred to this as any-degree video.

It's here where we run into a small problem. How do we encode this immersive, spherical content? All the common video codecs (H.264, VP9, HEVC, MV-HEVC, AVC1, etc.) are designed to encode and decode data to and from a rectangular frame. So how do you take something like a spherical image of the Earth (i.e. a globe) and store it in a rectangular shape? That sounds like a map to me. And indeed, that transformation is referred to as a map projection.

Equirectangular

While there are many different projection types that each have useful properties in specific situations, spherical video and images most commonly use an equirectangular projection. This is a very simple transformation to perform (it looks more complicated than it is). Each x location on a rectangular image represents a longitude value on a sphere, and each y location represents a latitude. That’s it. Because of these relationships, this kind of projection can also be called a lat/long.

Imagine “peeling” thin one-degree-tall strips from a globe, starting at the equator. We start there because it’s the longest strip. To transform it to a rectangular shape, start by pasting that strip horizontally across the middle of a sheet of paper (in landscape orientation). Then, continue peeling and pasting up or down in one-degree increments. Be sure to stretch each strip to be as long as the first, meaning that the very short strips at the north and south poles are stretched a lot. Don’t break them! When you’re done, you’ll have a 360-degree equirectangular projection that looks like this.

If you did this exact same thing with half of the globe, you’d end up with a 180-degree equirectangular projection, sometimes called a half-equirect. Performed digitally, it’s common to allocate the same number of pixels to each degree of image data. So, for a full 360-degree by 180-degree equirect, the rectangular video frame would have an aspect ratio of 2:1 (the horizontal dimension is twice the vertical dimension). For 180-degree by 180-degree video, it’d be 1:1 (a square). Like many things, these aren’t hard and fast rules, and for technical reasons, sometimes frames are stretched horizontally or vertically to fit within the capabilities of an encoder or playback device.

This is a 180-degree half equirectangular image overlaid with a grid to illustrate its distortions. It was created from the standard fisheye image further below. Watch an animated version of this transformation.

What we’ve described so far is equivalent to monoscopic (2D) video. For stereoscopic (3D) video, we need to pack two of these images into each frame…one for each eye. This is usually accomplished by arranging two images in a side-by-side or over/under layout. For full 360-degree stereoscopic video in an over/under layout, this makes the final video frame 1:1 (because we now have 360 degrees of image data in both dimensions). As described in my prior post on Encoding Spatial Video, though, Apple has chosen to encode stereo video using MV-HEVC, so each eye’s projection is stored in its own dedicated video layer, meaning that the reported video dimensions match that of a single eye.

Standard Fisheye

Most immersive video cameras feature one or more fisheye lenses. For 180-degree stereo (the short way of saying stereoscopic) video, this is almost always two lenses in a side-by-side configuration, separated by ~63-65mm, very much like human eyes (some 180 cameras).

The raw frames that are captured by these cameras are recorded as fisheye images where each circular image area represents ~180 degrees (or more) of visual content. In most workflows, these raw fisheye images are transformed into an equirectangular or half-equirectangular projection for final delivery and playback.

This is a 180 degree standard fisheye image overlaid with a grid. This image is the source of the other images in this post.

Apple’s Fisheye

This brings us to the topic of this post. As I stated in the introduction, Apple has encoded the raw frames of their immersive videos in a “fisheye” projection format. I know this, because I’ve monitored the network traffic to my Apple Vision Pro, and I’ve seen the HLS streaming manifests that describe each of the network streams. This is how I originally discovered and reported that these streams – in their highest quality representations – are ~50Mbps, HDR10, 4320x4320 per eye, at 90fps.

While I can see the streaming manifests, I am unable to view the raw video frames, because all the immersive videos are protected by DRM. This makes perfect sense, and while I’m a curious engineer who would love to see a raw fisheye frame, I am unwilling to go any further. So, in an earlier post, I asked anyone who knew more about the fisheye projection type to contact me directly. Otherwise, I figured I’d just have to wait for WWDC24.

Lo and behold, not a week or two after my post, an acquaintance introduced me to Andrew Chang who said that he had also monitored his network traffic and noticed that the Apple TV+ intro clip (an immersive version of this) is streamed in-the-clear. And indeed, it is encoded in the same fisheye projection. Bingo! Thank you, Andrew!

Now, I can finally see a raw fisheye video frame. Unfortunately, the frame is mostly black and featureless, including only an Apple TV+ logo and some God rays. Not a lot to go on. Still, having a lot of experience with both practical and experimental projection types, I figured I’d see what I could figure out. And before you ask, no, I’m not including the actual logo, raw frame, or video in this post, because it’s not mine to distribute.

Immediately, just based on logo distortions, it’s clear that Apple’s fisheye projection format isn’t the same as a standard fisheye recording. This isn’t too surprising, given that it makes little sense to encode only a circular region in the center of a square frame and leave the remainder black; you typically want to use all the pixels in the frame to send as much data as possible (like the equirectangular format described earlier).

Additionally, instead of seeing the logo horizontally aligned, it’s rotated 45 degrees clockwise, aligning it with the diagonal that runs from the upper-left to the lower-right of the frame. This makes sense, because the diagonal is the longest dimension of the frame, and as a result, it can store more horizontal (post-rotation) pixels than if the frame wasn’t rotated at all.

This is the same standard fisheye image from above transformed into a format that seems very similar to Apple’s fisheye format. Watch an animated version of this transformation.

Likewise, the diagonal from the lower-left to the upper-right represents the vertical dimension of playback (again, post-rotation) providing a similar increase in available pixels. This means that – during rotated playback – the now-diagonal directions should contain the least amount of image data. Correctly-tuned, this likely isn’t visible, but it’s interesting to note.

More Pixels

You might be asking, where do these “extra” pixels come from? I mean, if we start with a traditional raw circular fisheye image captured from a camera and just stretch it out to cover a square frame, what have we gained? Those are great questions that have many possible answers.

This is why I liken video processing to turning knobs in a 747 cockpit: if you turn one of those knobs, you more-than-likely need to change something else to balance it out. Which leads to turning more knobs, and so on. Video processing is frequently an optimization problem just like this. Some initial thoughts:

It could be that the source video is captured at a higher resolution, and when transforming the video to a lower resolution, the “extra” image data is preserved by taking advantage of the square frame.

Perhaps the camera optically transforms the circular fisheye image (using physical lenses) to fill more of the rectangular sensor during capture. This means that we have additional image data to start and storing it in this expanded fisheye format allows us to preserve more of it.

Similarly, if we record the image using more than two lenses, there may be more data to preserve during the transformation. For what it’s worth, it appears that Apple captures their immersive videos with a two-lens pair, and you can see them hiding in the speaker cabinets in the Alicia Keys video.

There are many other factors beyond the scope of this post that can influence the design of Apple’s fisheye format. Some of them include distortion handling, the size of the area that’s allocated to each pixel, where the “most important” pixels are located in the frame, how high-frequency details affect encoder performance, how the distorted motion in the transformed frame influences motion estimation efficiency, how the pixels are sampled and displayed during playback, and much more.

Blender

But let’s get back to that raw Apple fisheye frame. Knowing that the image represents ~180 degrees, I loaded up Blender and started to guess at a possible geometry for playback based on the visible distortions. At that point, I wasn’t sure if the frame encodes faces of the playback geometry or if the distortions are related to another kind of mathematical mapping. Some of the distortions are more severe than expected, though, and my mind couldn’t imagine what kind of mesh corrected for those distortions (so tempted to blame my aphantasia here, but my spatial senses are otherwise excellent).

One of the many meshes and UV maps that I’ve experimented with in Blender.

Radial Stretching

If you’ve ever worked with projection mappings, fisheye lenses, equirectangular images, camera calibration, cube mapping techniques, and so much more, Google has inevitably led you to one of Paul Bourke’s many fantastic articles. I’ve exchanged a few e-mails with Paul over the years, so I reached out to see if he had any insight.

After some back-and-forth discussion over a couple of weeks, we both agreed that Apple’s fisheye projection is most similar to a technique called radial stretching (with that 45-degree clockwise rotation thrown in). You can read more about this technique and others in Mappings between Sphere, Disc, and Square and Marc B. Reynolds’ interactive page on Square/Disc mappings.

Basically, though, imagine a traditional centered, circular fisheye image that touches each edge of a square frame. Now, similar to the equirectangular strip-peeling exercise I described earlier with the globe, imagine peeling one-degree wide strips radially from the center of the image and stretching those along the same angle until they touch the edge of the square frame. As the name implies, that’s radial stretching. It’s probably the technique you’d invent on your own if you had to come up with something.

By performing the reverse of this operation on a raw Apple fisheye frame, you end up with a pretty good looking version of the Apple TV+ logo. But, it’s not 100% correct. It appears that there is some additional logic being used along the diagonals to reduce the amount of radial stretching and distortion (and perhaps to keep image data away from the encoded corners). I’ve experimented with many approaches, but I still can’t achieve a 100% match. My best guess so far uses simple beveled corners, and this is the same transformation I used for the earlier image.

It's also possible that this last bit of distortion could be explained by a specific projection geometry, and I’ve iterated over many permutations that get close…but not all the way there. For what it’s worth, I would be slightly surprised if Apple was encoding to a specific geometry because it adds unnecessary complexity to the toolchain and reduces overall flexibility.

While I have been able to playback the Apple TV+ logo using the techniques I’ve described, the frame lacks any real detail beyond its center. So, it’s still possible that the mapping I’ve arrived at falls apart along the periphery. Guess I’ll continue to cross my fingers and hope that we learn more at WWDC24.

Conclusion

This post covered my experimentation with the technical aspects of Apple’s fisheye projection format. Along the way, it’s been fun to collaborate with Andrew, Paul, and others to work through the details. And while we were unable to arrive at a 100% solution, we’re most definitely within range.

The remaining questions I have relate to why someone would choose this projection format over half-equirectangular. Clearly Apple believes there are worthwhile benefits, or they wouldn’t have bothered to build a toolchain to capture, process, and stream video in this format. I can imagine many possible advantages, and I’ve enumerated some of them in this post. With time, I’m sure we’ll learn more from Apple themselves and from experiments that all of us can run when their fisheye format is supported by existing tools.

It's an exciting time to be revisiting immersive video, and we have Apple to thank for it.

As always, I love hearing from you. It keeps me motivated! Thank you for reading.

[earlgreytea68]

Myrtle comes to stand in front of him, waving her hands to get his attention, and he presses pause on the playback and takes his headphones off.

“Oh, good,” she says, as if he had any choice. He wasn’t going to ignore the little old lady. “Listen, young man. It’s time for you to take a break. You have worked for far too long.”

[digitaldetoxworld]

Smart Speakers: The Evolution of Audio Technology and Home Automation

 Smart audio systems have transformed from mere audio gadgets to imperative tools inside the modern home, serving as hubs for enjoyment, productiveness, and automation. These modern devices are powered with the aid of synthetic intelligence (AI), combining voice recognition with internet connectivity to provide an unbroken person's enjoyment. This essay explores the origins, functions, programs, demanding situations, and future of clever speakers, emphasizing their growing role in improving comfort and connectivity in normal life.

Smart Speakers 

The Origins of Smart Speakers

The idea of a clever speaker began with improvements in AI and herbal language processing (NLP). The first and foremost jump came with voice assistants like Apple’s Siri in 2011, accompanied by the aid of Google Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa. These technologies laid the foundation for voice-interactive gadgets.

In 2014, Amazon delivered the first Echo speaker, presenting Alexa as its built-in assistant. Initially, the Echo became seen as a novelty, allowing customers to invite primary questions or manage a few clever home gadgets. However, its ability to integrate with different clever gadgets quickly gained traction, and main competitors like Google and Apple developed their very own clever speaker traces.

Key Features of Smart Speakers

Voice Recognition and Assistance

Smart speakers depend upon superior microphones and NLP algorithms to system voice instructions. They can solve questions, offer weather updates, examine the information, and perform net searches.

Smart Home Integration

A cornerstone of smart speakers is their potential to govern clever home gadgets inclusive of lighting, thermostats, door locks, and protection cameras. Through structures like Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, these gadgets act as centralized controllers for a linked home.

Entertainment

From streaming song and podcasts to gambling audiobooks, clever audio systems are designed for leisure. They combine with services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Audible, delivering super sound tailored to users’ choices.

Personalization

Modern clever speakers can understand individual voices, providing customized responses, calendars, and playlists. This characteristic ensures that every person gets a custom-designed revel in.

Multi-Room Audio

Many smart speakers support multi-room audio setups, allowing users to synchronize track playback across more than one gadget in distinct rooms.

Third-Party Skills and Apps

Developers can create "talents" (Alexa) or "moves" (Google Assistant) to enlarge functionality. These range from ordering meals to playing interactive games, making the devices flexible and adaptable.

Applications of Smart Speakers

 Home Automation

Smart audio systems serve as the mind of clever houses. They connect with devices like smart bulbs, thermostats, and appliances, allowing users to govern their houses with easy voice commands. For instance, announcing, “Turn off the lights,” can extinguish lighting fixtures within the entire house.

Productivity and Time Management

Users can set reminders, alarms, and timers or control their schedules using a smart audio system. Integration with productiveness apps like Google Calendar and Microsoft To-Do allows users to stay organized.

Accessibility

For people with disabilities, clever speakers offer an available interface for controlling gadgets, gaining access to records, or communicating. Voice commands dispose of the want for physical interaction, making era more inclusive.

Education and Information

Smart audio systems act as educational gear, answering queries on numerous topics, translating languages, and even supporting math problems. They are an increasingly number of used in classrooms to guide learning.

Entertainment and Relaxation

In addition to gambling music, smart audio systems provide meditation guides, bedtime memories, and interactive games. Some models, just like the Echo Show, encompass displays for video playback and recipe tutorials.

 Shopping and E-commerce

Users could make purchases through clever speakers, check product availability, or order groceries. Integration with platforms like Amazon permits voice-based total buying studies.

Challenges and Concerns

Despite their several advantages, smart audio systems face demanding situations, specifically around privateness, protection, and consumer acceptance as true with.

 Privacy Issues

Smart audio systems are continually listening for wake phrases like "Alexa" or "Hey Google," elevating issues about information collection and inadvertent recordings. Users often worry approximately how their voice facts are saved and utilized by organizations.

Security Vulnerabilities

Being connected to the net makes smart speakers prone to hacking. Cybersecurity professionals have proven how vulnerabilities in these devices can expose touchy information or furnish unauthorized access to smart domestic structures.

 Misunderstandings and Errors

Voice reputation era, though superior, is not foolproof. Misinterpretation of instructions can lead to accidental movements, irritating users.

Digital Dependency

Overreliance on smart audio systems might also make contribution to a decline in important thinking or the ability to carry out obligations without technological help.

 Compatibility Issues

Not all smart domestic devices are compatible with every smart speaker. This fragmentation can be complicated for consumers looking to build cohesive smart ecosystems.

The Future of Smart Speakers

The destiny of smart speakers lies in more integration, improved AI skills, and stepped forward privateness measures. Key trends shaping their development include:

 Advanced AI and Machine Learning

As AI evolves, clever speakers turn into extra intuitive, able to information context and nuanced language. This will permit extra herbal conversations and smarter interactions.

Seamless Integration with IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to grow exponentially, and smart audio systems will play a central role in managing interconnected devices. Enhanced interoperability standards like Matter aim to make smart home ecosystems more cohesive.

 Enhanced Privacy Features

Future models may additionally encompass on-tool processing, where commands are handled regionally instead of inside the cloud, lowering privateness issues. Companies are also likely to introduce policies that are more transparent regarding records.

Expanded Accessibility

Smart audio systems will continue to cater to diverse populations, with functions like multilingual aid, visible aids for the hearing-impaired, and tactile interfaces for people with constrained mobility.

 Immersive Audio Experiences

Advancements in the audio era will make clever audio systems capable of turning in excessive-constancy, 3-D soundscapes, enhancing their role as enjoyment hubs.

Sustainability

With developing environmental attention, manufacturers are focusing on the usage of sustainable materials and strength-efficient additives in clever audio systems.