#edit: added 2 more thangs

[pcktknife]

trying to compile all her inspos together

the way inspiration strikes you to make an oc is very silly did y'all know my cute lil cake girl is partially inspired by a horror movie from the 90s that I never actually watched

[crescencestudio]

“Would you choose me in every lifetime?”

Announcing “intertwine,” a short visual novel coming to otome jam 2023 🪡

Hi my friends 💖 I’m adding some Alaris updates under the cut to reassure you of development in case you’re worried about otome jam + Alaris!

I’ve been going back and forth on whether to post this or just keep it to myself, but I thought for the sake of transparency, communication with fans, and just normalizing the harder parts of game dev, it would be better to talk about this.

This is NOT bad news about Alaris, so please don’t freak out! But as you all may or may not have figured from my devlogs, I've been struggling with working on Alaris for the past... 2 months? I've made progress on it as much as I'm able to, but I've often found myself coming up against a creative wall and/or burnout. And I often feel like I'm disappointing you all because of it. There are a couple of internal deadlines I had set for myself that I just haven't been reaching lately, and while I know no one is actually rushing me, I feel like I'm dropping the ball.

This is common for a lot of indie developers, but I'm a solo developer. While I have a small team who helps me polish Alaris (i.e., editors, BG artist, GUI artist), at the end of the day, I'm the one who is in charge of everything. I don't have a separate person who can handle building out the art assets, or someone who oversees the writing, etc. And so, to feel like I'm making sufficient progress on Alaris, I'm constantly working on it, whether that's reviewing edits, creating CGs, writing the script, approving art assets/creating briefs for those assets, etc. And I do have a day job haha.

For most of Alaris's development, Alaris was my creative hobby, so I didn't really mind putting so much work into it. But lately, I think because I've been revamping the demo, I feel like I've been in this ~game dev thang~ for two years with no complete product to show for it. And having to go back and redo the demo two years into development is like an extra knife to the gut since it feels like... backward progress almost? Even though I know that's not true.

So while an otome jam project might feel inappropriate given I have Alaris to work on, it's something I've wanted to do since becoming a game dev. And after some encouragement from dev friends, I decided to take the leap because having a different creative outlet might resolve some of my struggles with Alaris. Getting to have one complete project would also be a super huge motivation booster for me!

I'm super happy to say that intertwine has been just what I needed. I've felt more motivated to work on both intertwine and Alaris and my dissertation lmao. As I've mentioned, Druk's route has been giving me a hard time, but I recently made a lot of progress on it. Overall, the creative process has just been coming to me more smoothly. So I'm excited to bring you all a complete game by the end of June as well as, what I hope to be, a lot of really nice progress on Alaris <3

[nosomatsu]

(( planning to write some more today! but before I get into that. two quick thangs!! 1. all ofthe drawings in my inbox. i hope to be sending them out soon -- but should i make one big post for it and tag everyone who sent in something, or should i just go to their inbox and post it there? what do you guys think? 2. i made an edit of an official ososan art i really liked, but thought could use some tweaks!! under the cut if you want to see :3 ....))

so, this piece. I've LOVED it since i first saw it. But, there's too much going on here, and it's way too bright. I don't think this backgrouund or keeping the sextuplet's original / iconic hair was a bright decision for this look... it just looks kind of doofy and doesn't really match the outfit vibes they're going for.

So, I drew and edited the hesokuri wars band au hair on them! the ref sheet i made for myself specifically for this purpose looked like so;

Just so you know what styles I was working with. And the end result ... was this! with my personal hc's added :D

... I also have a version that's just the hair and nothing else edited!! in case anyone wants it. But the background isn't edited on this one !! 👇

[lakesbian]

okay i blinked and accidentally wrote 1.2k more words to correct/elaborate on a point in here. continued content warning for extended discussion of CSA and rape. trigger warning alecs childhood.

edit: changed some phrasing and added more detail. no idea how long this thang is now

i largely still stand by everything in the first essay but i do actually want to make one edit re "cape groupies, my dad's girls, people i used my powers on, towards the end." i think the "towards the end" implies that this is specifically in chronological order as he recalls it, and what he's referring to for each is:

cape groupies: as stated above, not actually cape groupies! there is no such thing as Normal Regular Cape Groupies for children living in an infamous and widely reviled cult. but rather than being pedophiles specifically drawn to alec's power (like i initially theorized), this actually most likely refers to alec being prostituted by heartbreaker prior to obtaining his power and reframing it through phrasing which implies he had some form of autonomy in the situation--he makes it sound like he was voluntarily choosing to sleep with (or maybe even coercing!) people who were fans of him specifically for being in a cape group, when the actual reality was prolonged CSA.

when taylor reacts with disgust to him saying that he "used to have someone in his bed every night," he says that "it was normal to him." i think prolonged CSA even prior to triggering/being given access to his father's adult victims was the reason why it was normal to him, and i think he's reframing it so heavily because 1. he can't currently psychologically handle acknowledging the extent to which he was violated and so instead he chooses to discuss it thru a lens that downplays his loss of autonomy and 2. it was effectively the only attention or physical contact he received that wasn't done with explicit intent to punish/hurt him for a perceived slight, so he recalls the sexual abuse as some of the better moments in his childhood.

additional context from ward details that one of alec's younger sisters--candy--triggered from fear of a man her father had sent her to spend the day with. beyond this confirming that heartbreaker prostituted his children, it confirms that the people he sold them to were allowed to take the children away from the cult location and spend time w/ them wherever they wanted. so add "the only time alec was allowed/able to leave the cult house was while being sexually abused" to the list of reasons why his recollections reframe it as a highlight of his childhood.

his dad's girls: alec details in 7.1 that heartbreaker's adult victims either ignored the children or actively disliked the children, and it's very safe to assume that heartbreaker wouldn't have allowed any of his children to rape one of his abducted women without his explicit permission, which he wouldn't give without strong reason. (it can also be safely assumed that, without his power, known runt-of-the-litter alec wouldn't have been able to overpower an adult woman anyway.) all of this is to say that alec would not have had sexual access to the women in the household under normal circumstances, so i think it's most likely that, after alec triggered or did something sufficiently cycle-of-violency to gain heartbreaker's "approval," heartbreaker emotionally tweaked women to ensure that alec would have sexual access to them--a "prize" for alec that he (desperate for care and physical affection) would immediately latch onto, thus further grooming him into enacting abuse towards others. it's especially worth remembering that when alec is talking about this in 14.1, the language he uses is all along the lines of "cuddled up beside me," "body contact," etc--nothing very sexual, a lot of focus on literally just having and enjoying physical affection. you would quite possibly not expect alec "irony poisoning & emotional repression" vasil to cop to liking cuddles, but he sure does cop to liking cuddles. it's extremely unambiguous that he was sexually assaulting the women, and also extremely unambiguously tragic that his memories of it clearly evoke the image of a 10-11yo being taught to only have his basic needs for physical contact satisfied in the context of being groomed to abuse others.

people he used his power on towards the end: i think this is the only one that's more in line w/ what most people are actually imagining when they think about sexual violence during alec's childhood (i.e. stereotypically callous sexual assault with alec unambiguously in the position of abuser vs one of the abused.) at this point in his life, he's been forced to do an uncountable amount of atrocious, soul-crushing things. he's thoroughly used to having to regard the autonomy of others & his own as meaningless to survive, and he's thoroughly used to hypersexual behavior (& drug usage) being effectively the only things in life that console him thru horrendous daily abuse. he has no reason to see sexual violence as particularly bad or unique in the grand scheme of the abuse regularly visited upon everyone victimized by the cult--he was groomed for years to see sexual abuse happening to himself & others as just something that happens. because someone has power over someone else and wants to hurt them, or because someone is having a bad day and wants to feel better, or just because, with no mental map of a life without sexual violence. it's not even possible for him to fully recognize the atrocity of sexual violence without fully recognizing the emotional damage of how heavily he's been (& is still being) abused and then crumbling. so at this point, numbed to human suffering in all its forms and desperate for any fragment of positive psychological stimulation or comfort, alec starts raping the people he's already being told to use his power on.

this is the part cherish mentions where he was throwing orgies for himself. it's what his power represents coming to a head: his desire to step out of being alec and playact at being someone else for a bit, because being alec is miserable. his desire to get the fuck out of his own body, the body that he's been violated and hurt in over and over and over again. his desire for contact, to be as close to someone else as humanly possible. but no matter how many people he was hijacking at once, he was always still just--as it's phrased in his interlude--sleeping with himself. he could pretend to be someone else, and he could force people to touch him, but he could never actually be anyone but alec, and he could never actually force anyone to care about him. in fact, he could always feel how much they resented him the entire time.

it's noteworthy to recall that during the fugly bob's convo in arc 4 he outright says that he "doesn't see the difference" between what sophia did to taylor (the locker) and hypothetical sexually violent revenge (leaving sophia naked on the side of the highway w/o regard for if she gets raped). this is the textual indicator we have that, at the point where he was raping people he used his power on, sexual violence was so ubiquitous in his life that he literally had no ability to read it as markedly different or worse than nonsexual/generic physical violence. because to reiterate, not seeing it as different or worse is a good step no. 1 for repressing any devastatingly negative emotions one might have about being sexually assaulted for their entire childhood--being out of the cult for just two years doesn't mean that he's ready or able to start unpacking the experience.

he was a late 12yo/a 13yo during this final point, because he specifies that it was towards the end of his time in the cult. (he ran away when he was 13, and joined the undersiders when he was 13 1/2.) i can't imagine blaming alec as a person for any of it as opposed to wanting to strangle out his father, particularly given that:

1. he was 13 at the oldest. do you know how small 13yos are. theyre pretty small. there is certainly a transitional period within a heartbroken's shift from "abused child in cult" to "someone perpetuating abuse onto other children within that cult" where how much culpability they have is brought into question, but 13yos are still pretty fucking small.

2. we see a variety of implications that it was in part his moral discomfort that led him to running away from the cult, meaning that he did literally decide "not doing this shit anymore" more or less the second he reached the age where many people stop being fully comfortable in recusing groomed children as "not knowing better" when they perpetuate what they've been taught onto others.

I left my father because he was trying to control me and force me to be someone and something I wasn’t. It wasn’t even remotely interesting or fun any more.

read: he left his father because didn't want to be the abusive person his father was turning him into. the drugs and hypersexual behavior he had been introduced to as a very young tween initially felt like an interesting/mature/enjoyable distraction from the abuse he was facing, but they lost all of that appeal as he realized that hurting others was 1. doing nothing to fill the gigantic void inside him and 2. actually only making it bigger.

i think we see the first Reaaaally Bad Incident he has moral culpability for onscreen in his interlude. that one is something he needs to interrogate himself over to avoid backsliding every time he's upset, but everything prior to leaving the cult was, while obviously disturbing and not something he was literally being held at gunpoint for every step of the way, the result of intense coercion of a severely abused child in an actively traumatizing environment. thus concludes "here's what actually happened in alec's shit childhood and why you should be nice to him about it" part two

so i blinked & accidentally wrote 2.4k words of alec analysis, content warning for extended discussion of child sexual abuse

Keep reading

[ghostielj]

Nintendo Direct Thoughts! Part 2

Illusion Island

Come on it’s Disney!! Lol. A Disney game side scroller…looks cool and the art is cute.

Fire Emblem Engage: Expansion Pass

Yeah not my thang. But more power to those who love it.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

Art style is *kiss kiss* looks very interesting but again not my thang.

Octopath Traveler II

When the first game came out it was something I definitely wanted to check out and I don’t know what happened but I forgot and became uninterested…and it’s probably going to stay that way. Oh well.

We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie

I couldn’t find a good image on google or maybe just too lazy to look. My understanding that this is a remake. This game is pure chaos and I had no idea what was happening and I like it.

Sea of Stars

Ugh! I may have to pick this up. If not for the gameplay but for the art style. Pixel style is fantastic. I really wish I had the focus and discipline to learn that style, oh well. But yeah looks like lots of fun!!

Omega Strikers

Eh free to play so yeah

Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection

A nice little collection remaster and I'm all about it, so we shall see if I pick it up.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

I'm not the biggest fan of strategy games. I know a lot of people grew up with this series, so I'm happy for the fans!

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Alright so games like these again I enjoy the art style but they are just not for me.

Baten Kaitos 1 and 2 HD Remaster

Looks cool. I heard that people are super excited for this. Especially a game cube game remaster. Do you think game cube will be the next thing added to the virtual console?? Many hope so!

Professor Layton and The New World of Steam

Again I know, I know, I know! I need to play these games...and maybe I will soon...or later. Don't judge me.

Dang, I had to come back and edit this. So looks like I may need to write more posts. A part 3 and Part 4 coming soon!

[chaneajoyyy]

Do you know any plus size reader black panther fics?

I sure do!!!

PLUS SIZE READER X T’CHALLA

- golden girl, fingers dipped in gold series, early morning concerts, do it, a single prick series, singing lessons, lose that attitude, i’ve been going, his sixth sense, nice & comfortable, three kings of dreams, you may, comfortable, possibly, up and alert- @supersizemeplz

- family isn’t always everything, t’challa dealing wth his s/o having guardianship of her little bro, you and t’challa had a really bad breaku but he sees you at an event?, group text: date, in my feelings, t’challa after a hard day funning wakanda, “lemme show you how much i love you”, group chat: plans for tonight, love through tragedy, my apologies my queen, “choose”, lazy days (includes m’baku)-  @plussizeappreciationfics (search: tchalla and tchalla x reader)

-anonymous series, gentle giant series, the twisted ones, selfless series, all the stars series- @cassidyconner

- how the guys for the avengers would react to being twerked on (includes t’challa);  imagine you decided to post a sunbathing picture for instagram, knowing your husband, the king of wakanda will see. everything goes smooth until erik killonger decides to give you a lil too much attention. he ends up learning not to mess with the queen (fake social media au); imagine t’chala and his queen are execting their first child. the world is overy joyed by the little bundle of joy, imagine it ‘s halloween and you decide to dress up as your idol sorm leaving the entire internet shook (fake social media au), imagine it’s your anniversary with your boyfreind t’challa and he surprises you with a trip to the most beautiful beach you’ve ever seen- @papi-chulo-bucky (search: tchalla)

- headcanons: short reader, king of spring, hot cheetos, rays of sunshine, pineapple princess, your highness, jealousy- @littlemessyjessi

- cats, why series, enough for now, jealousy headcanon, lingerie headcanon, nsfw headcanon, kinks headcanon, dom/sub headcanon, height headcanons- @madamslayyy

- queen by spring series, “i have a right to what is mine”, t’challa is straight up missing you, t’challa needs to feel your finger in his hair, imagine t’challa helping you find more peace by bringng you into meditation, wakanda now bath salt baths and tantric sex; your favorite physical aspect of t’challa is his mouth, t’challa and m’baku both like gap tooth play but t’challa like to run it along the outer lips while m’baku likes to work it over the nipples (includes m’baku and sam wilson); cater, matchmakers, show me, to our bedroom (search t’challa x reader)-  @brownsugarcocoabutterwildflowers

-miles apart series-  @eriksjournal

- t’challa with his first bbw- @sisterwifeudaku

- he spills series @captainsaveasmut (includes m’baku and erik)

- where are we?, the wakandan boys when the’re sick (includes erik and m’baku) - @sonofnjobu

- al fics- @eerythingisshaka

- learn ya series- @wakandaforeverwrites

- let’s play- @wakandamama

PLUS SIZE READER X M’BAKU 

- all m’baku fics- @plussizeappreciationfics

- your cherries, wakandan events & natural charisma series, love berries, ain’t got no time, shadows in the closet, tamed, change in schedule, big baby, intersting theories, why?, forever my chieftess, three kings of dreams, long days and longer nights, i wouldn’t mind- @supersizemeplz

- gaining favor- @littlemessyjessi

- healing gardens series, it’s complicated series, extra credit series, coming home series (includes what’s for dinner?), warrior spirit, diplomatic affiars, fading away, gemini rising: birthday edition, just business series-  @jellybean531

- work from home series, fever series- @mbakusthrone

- warm colors series- @mermaidchansons

- a special visit- @yaachtynoboat711

- tradition series, mr. stamina, truth or dare series, give it to me, the garden,, princess, 2 hours, i’m right here, the wakandan boys when they’re sick (includes erik and t’challa), would you rather-  @sonofnjobu

-chieftess, giving m’baku a lapdance, t’challa and m’baku likes gap tooth play (inclues t’challa and sam wilson), tradition, watch-  @brownsugarcocoabutterwildflowers (scroll for m’baku x reader)

- an m’big surprise- @pastelastronomy24

- and i you, my love; hands, his girl, untitled, you are mine- @marvelmaree

- v.i.p (includes erik), you owe her an apology, no i can’t take a break, scraped m’baku headcanon, m’baku titty worship headcanon, whipped headcanon, the prince seires, is this love? series (ncludes m’baku) (with don’t be scared)- @madamslayyy

- fated instinct series, cabin in the snow series, whipped cream a la m’baku-  @greennightspider

- brown skin, oh angel, forever mine, best baba ever, the heat of trinidad series- @artisticestheticreads

- forget his name, our love in color series, a well deserved rest series, have it your way series, satisfied, another heir, what would you have me do? series, full body- @wakandan-flowerz

- crown royal on ice, two left feet, just for tonight series- @ghostfacekill-monger

- all fics- @eerythingisshaka

- all fics- @muse-of-mbaku

- mother may i series- @wakandaforeverwrites

- sweet thang series, the best part, bow to me- @wakandamama

PLUS SIZE READER X ERIK

- how i feel, right now, animal, chains series, purple herbs & gardens, risks & new beginnings series, better with time, let’s play, without a doubt, sizzling pans & slow jams, misinterpretations, visions of gold, out business, come through and chill series, nights, slow burn, a siren’s allure, venom, the one, maybe they’re right, sore loser series, i’ll be alright, spooky cookies & vampire fangs, screams in the night series; knock, knock series; imagination, the cure series, poptart man series, this must be our song, conversation starter, heaven is a place on earth, twins?, say it, i’m there, his princess, his for the night, sugar baby series, authority series, baby shark, lemme try, take our time, say the word, sudden reunions series, memories of you, more ways than one, lemme try it again (that’s my face), not in budget, i would like to see it, pease mama bear, she likes me, guess what, times like these, tell me your secret series, he gets it from me, baby see baby do, see what had happened was, who me?, so relax, three kings of dreams, deck the b-…halls?, do it again, be quiet, you so crazy, how that sound?, you’re so handsome, sit still, leave me aloneee, don’t hide, or maybe, send it to mommy, but i’m sick.., you thought i wouldn’t find out, he’d make you his, ballet baba, ain’t that right?, he wasn’t having that, being honest, that’s all it took?, then stop ignoring me, since you can, but i thougth…, jealous, i won’t tell you again series, hit me, no reply, i’ve alway been, you sure?, no more tummy time, toss ‘em, you done now?, sing it baby, doped up, battle it out, for however long, bath time, bedtime stories, i’m sorry, was that so hard?, i owe you that, whatchu say?, hard headed, it should’ve been you, take our time series, baba’s day, whatever she wants, nope, can’t even look at you, not again, nose wide oen, just a bit longer, come on over to my place, fences & bullriders- @supersizemeplz

- all erik fics and headcanons- @nahimjustfeelingit-writes

- all erik fics and headcanons- @eye-raq

- teach me series, when you’re mad series, waffles series, slow ride series, movie night series, let’s talk about sex series, mines, thunderstorm, girl fuck you, eat your breakfast seres (with eat your dinner), secret admirer, amusement park fun, displays of affection, night at the movie theaters, silent hearbeats series, kissing strangers series, worship, loving the way you love it, day drunk, smile for me daddy series, just like you, we goin to hell, breeding time- @thehomierobbstark

- refuge series, champion series, soft series, all dadmonger fics, erik’s getting soft series, erik and his princess, erik’s afraid of live, erik takes care of his sick princess, erik witha shy girl, erik’s created a monster series, afraid of heights, erik loves to spoil you, you want it rough, t’challa’s trusted advisor, first kiss, the legend series, you hurt erik, i love you, erik backslides, the proposal, daddy, accountability, noral, kinky, foolproof, erik ad your burn marks, erik helps you do pole fitness, i do, first date, erik teasing his short gf, erik cuts his hair- @killmongersgurl

- late again, halloween party, imprint, a man in love, v.i.p (includes m/baku), daddy’s home, y’all again?, okay? okay, prisoner of love, family cookout, kiss, what’s cooking good looking, expecting headcanons, food headcanons, crying headcanons, nsfw headcanons, foot fetish series, halloween headcanons, lingerie headcanons, jealous headcanons, kevin’s  heart series, untitled series- @madamslayyy

-carnal stimulation series, next lifetime series, hoe ass erik series, dirty little secrets series, hennything is possible, sunday dinner series (with payback), a.d.i.d.a.s., green goddess, suddenly stevens, beauty is her name, it’s complicated. i’m sorry, the great reveal, neighbors know my name series (part 2 to @hearteyes-for-killmonger‘s story of the same name), the devil speaks xosha, mile high, trap card, act up, let me smell it, up late, i’ll take your man, carry on, dreams & nightmares- @goddessofthundathighs

- headass youtube couple series, fix my crown series, all skate, cutting ties series, #tsrbaewatch,  @apantherinmypastlife

- all erik fics-  @wawakanda-btch

- all fics- @hearteyes-for-killmonger

- say my name series, beg for it, the coat room, charley horse, full court press, house party, boyfriend makeup challenge, gumby, the let out series, disorderly, token, all i wanted for christmas is you, hit the showers, neo, erica; veni, vidi, vici, i will be here, trick or treat, the wakandan boys when they’re sick (includes t’challa and m’baku)- @sonofnjobu

- mine, unravel me series (includes belong to you), i missed you series (inlcudes you a’ight and if they ain’t looking), rated e, on braodway, no average bitch,  @brownsugarcocoabutterwildflowers (scroll for erik killmonger x reader and erik killmonger imagine)

- all tasting mellow fics- @tastingmellow

- laid up series- @pastelastronomy24

- come lay with me, house hunting series, stretch marks, the footbal jerseyy, you sure?- @marvelmaree

- the deal series, nuggest of truth, girlfriend, all i want is you, care for you- @wakandamama

- rated e for extra petty, elbow deep series- @puffmamaa

- she got game, where’s the smoke, s.d.m., from paris with love, where the hoes at? (with t’challa and m’baku), written all over your face, baby bump series (wit cuddle buddy,, and hc: chubby!erik trying old clothes), not in that way, here kitty kitty, computer blue series, chunk series- @ghostfacekill-monger

- all erik fics- @stripper-patrick

- he spills series (with t’chala and m’baku)- @captainsaveasmut

- i’m cleva series, do me baby (part 2 of @killmongersgurl‘s serieserik’s created a monste)-, @killmongerdispussy

- sorry he’s gone, mad issues series, curiosity happy weight- @curls-and-crosses

- nah baby i got you- @inxan-ity (scroll for erik killmonger)

- all fics- @writerbee-ffs

- paragone series- @dynastynoire

- all fics- @eriksjournal

- the sweetest taste series, late night drive- two of a kind series (includes ‘03 bonnie and clyde prequel), beyond the lights series, mad love series- @wakandaforeverwrites

- all erik fics and headcanons- @plussizeappreciationfics

-thanksgiving w/ mr. stevens and the udakus series (with valentine’s gumbo),  @mermaidchansons

- all erik fics- @muse-of-mbaku

- all fics- @eerythingisshaka

- all fics- @artisticestheticreads

*I AM GONNA START YOU HERE!! I KNOW I’M MISSING PEOPLE. SO IF YOU AND/OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW WRITES PLUS SIZE READER X BP CHARACTERS PLEASE HIT ME UP!!**

[landlordrecords]

Bassline (& 2020 in general): Re-e-wind

 What a strange year, as everyone, everywhere has said a million times… Writing-wise, I’d been doing Record Collector magazine since 2014, and uDiscover (the Universal Records online mag) for not much less, & that all just seemed to (understandably) stop dead with the onset of the pandemic. Since then, I’ve polished off my chapter on the work of Simon Morris and the Ceramic Hobs for Palgrave, & that’s about it, so you’re more likely to find me over on Twitter at Sniffy (@philblackpool) / Twitter these days, blurting out the odd sentence. I hence thought it might be time to revisit a very old piece…

Like many, I’ve been working from home for much of the year, and although I’ve occasionally wanted to pull out my own eyeballs, it has generally been very pleasant for a voracious music-lover. I started by catching up on the vast majority of my insane, years-deep second-hand vinyl buy piles, and then chomped through a load of ‘long listen’ stuff I’d had on the backburner forever (including, astonishingly, eventually getting through something like 40 hours of Pan Sonic live sets someone had dumped online). I graded hundreds of releases for sale on Discogs, and revisited umpteen musical thangs extensively, including 90s gabba, Sun Ra, music hall, Schoenberg, dancehall reggae, the acknowledged worst albums ever, happy hardcore, Italian house, bounce and makina (I’ve lost track of how much time I’ve spent checking out youtubes to try to identify a couple of most-wanted bounce and makina tunes), Britpop (!), cosmic disco, and Belgian popcorn. It’s been an extraordinary year, packed with cultural discovery and rediscovery. In amongst this, in no way ashamed of my abject love of Discogs, and already having used and edited it for many years, I read the entire guidelines and decided to go hard on sorting out stuff I care about on there. Seeing they’d finally added various more recent ‘styles’, I’ve spent the last month and a half doing a ridiculous amount of edits on a dozen or so niche genres of importance in recent times (footwork, Jersey Club, yadda yadda). My tweakings around Bassline and UK Funky eventually drew me to the attention of UK Garage legend Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown, a fellow Discogs obsessive not so keen on the editing side of the site, who wondered if I might give him a hand sorting out the mess of his own and his label’s (2Tuf 4U) discographies. His entertaining phonecalls were enough to convince me.

I dug out all my stuff related to Karl’s label to listen to along the way, and found myself noticing how much UKG has been back in the spotlight of late (key, and brilliant, article here: RA: Like A Battle: The Push For UK Garage's Future (residentadvisor.net) ). While by no means unaware of this (I’ve had some lovely promos from Kiwi and the like of late, plus some moodier bits from various El-B worshippers), my status as a confirmed middle-aged semi-retired raver had hidden much of this from me. This leads me onto one of my big philosophical points of recent years: I listened to dance music avidly before I ever went out dancing, and listen to it now in lockdown, and in semi-retirement. There is far too much an emphasis among ever-rejuvenating dance music correspondents on ‘the club’ as the only way to enjoy dance music, but we know that OG disco fans are 60+ and unlikely to be out every weekend these days – is their experience now worthless? Online fans talk up their love of dance music for exercise soundtracks, bedtime calming soundtracks, etc: this is reality. Dance music is as valid to all these people as rock is to people who haven’t been to a gig in 40 years.

The style I felt myself most drawn back to was bassline (largely via Karl’s low-key issue of some DJ Q material). My love of UK Garage and all its offshoots largely stems from how physically removed I have been from it from virtually its entire history. Only my 2000-03 stint in Essex perfectly matched the garage waveform, and that was the 2-step era, quite the opposite of bassline. Despite being largely a northern phenomenon, Blackpool is largely untouched by bassline, being all about punk and bounce to my mind. An instant love for me circa 2007, bassline feels like one of those genres with unfinished business, but remains one I’ve rarely danced to. Cut off in its prime, it is now back, enormously popular, and rightly so, but, due to the vagaries of the digital music world, some of its key material remains tough to access in any decent form.

I originally wrote the piece I have butchered for this one in March 2008, on Myspace (remember that), in reaction to the exciting waves of bassline and UK funky then reinvigorating the world of UKG. It looks a bit embarrassing now, with more writing experience, although I continue to applaud my own willingness to be open about my innocent appreciation of things I love but am not truly part of.

 The most notable misstep in my original piece was the presumption that bassline would become the latest enormous chart sensation. Like happy hardcore before it, the ball was, in reality, fumbled. Instead of hoped-for freaky innovation, the producers also opted, as many in years gone by, for smoothed-out commerciality (in unholy alliance with low-grade grime crossovers), although the main adversarial issues seem to have been police crackdowns and the London-centric ‘cool police’. Although I was long aware of such problems with Niche in Sheffield (the genre’s spiritual home), it appears that the police interference had a devastating effect across the board ( Banned From Sheffield: How Jamie Duggan fought for bassline… And won (ukf.com) ). This largely explains why many of the bassline producers gravitated towards the largely wack bass house/house & bass style so beloved of teenyboppers in recent years. Thank heavens that era is now largely over.

Niche reputedly specialised in an arguably unholy mixture of dated late 90s speed garage and ‘bassline house’ (think ‘Let Me Show You’ by Camisra, and MK’s ‘organ house’), way past their sell-by date (I still only really like a handful of Shaun Banger Scott bits in this style, one single 2009 Brummie CD EP, and one Virgo remix). Ultimately, though, this experiment unexpectedly created something magical. The crucial element here is the 4/4 beat. While undoubtedly skippy, the vast majority of the material favoured had a firm 4/4 beat, always favoured across all key scenes in the north of England from northern soul onwards. When they ran out of tunes to rinse, in time-honoured fashion, they made their own. Long, rumbling walls of bass, organs, and hoppy-skippy beats, with raggafied samples and gunshots over the top. Popular in Birmingham as well (pretty much the centre of a vinyl glut at the time, and now notable in the popularity of DJs such as Chris Lorenzo and Hannah Wants), B-side titles hinted of coke overload. Disenfranchised by London’s movement away from the holy 4/4 (despite a slight revival in the early noughties), and via messenger services and the like, northern producers began to exchange a new hybrid in the mid-00s which took these speed garage and bassline house influences and updated them with current R’n���B bootlegs, with influences from grime (regional grime producers were key here) and, most notably, with rococo basslines. Its most obvious comparison point was Sticky’s garage productions, concurrent with the early grime era. Southern producers such as Agent X, Delinquent (who featured Gemma Fox on their magical 2006 ‘Boxers’), and Dexplicit (Fox again, 2005’s ‘Might Be’) ran with that, and the north lapped it up. Key early pointers also included DJ Narrows’ superb 2001 4/4 tune ‘Saved Soul’, and early 00s DND work (Artwork, later part of dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man). A notable increase in output came in 2006, and 2007-9 were the genre’s original glory years. And the bulk of producers and up-&-comings delivering serious anthems to the scene came not from London and the south-east, but from Leeds (T2, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), Bradford (TS7), Manchester (Murkz, Burgaboy, Subzero), Nottingham (Virgo, IllMana), Leicester (JTJ, H20, FB & Zibba), and Wolverhampton (EJ, TRC, Brett Maverick). EJ’s Ejucation mix series (all up on Soundcloud) is a good place to start, beginning as the bassline house began to be overtaken by the pure bassline numbers.

Distribution for serious UK garage music has often been woeful, with only high street compilations & the chart singles (‘Heartbroken’ by T2, ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ by H20, etc) making it all over the country, and this helped stymie the true development of bassline, although vinyl prices, dreadful video promos, and the leap to digital in some ways didn’t help. Years on, as an incorrigible vinyl fanatic, I still only have handful of bassline 12”s. Yes, you can now access this stuff the world over via Youtube etc, but decent, high-quality copies of full-length tunes (they are often hacked about to great effect, but in a way which obscures the original intentions, in the mix) are not always the easiest to come by, although the classic producers are increasingly putting out digital compilations of their original work. Material that would, for previous genres, be fiended after, is lost to being just more online links. At the time, I looked high and low for 12”s, succeeding only rarely, largely on the flip of UK Funky releases. The (mixtape) audience, going by comments online, were often extremely young, are probably now still only in their mid-twenties, and are seemingly happy enough with this chaotic model. Bassline originally, as all rave genres, largely ran off mixtape boxsets, and a 2007 ‘Pure Bass – Fantasy’ box from Stoke remains my key document of that era: seven bassline CDs, with many tracks repeated, but packed to the gills, with most tracks only lasting a minute or two in the mix. As with all rave mixes, it has taken me years to suss the majority of the track IDs. In the Resident Advisor piece linked above, DJ Q (from Huddersfield) talks about thousands of lost bassline tunes, the bad side of the digital revolution. My recent Discogs ferreting suggests more bassline tunes than one might imagine did make some sort of decent release, but too many only made white labels, promo CDs for commercial releases (before being snipped from the main release), mix CDRs, or Youtube’s grainy depths. Classics such as TS7 featuring Bianca’s ‘Seems Like’ appear to never have had any decent release whatsoever, despite TS7 going on to be a big name in bass-oriented house, and Bianca Gerald having kept at the vocal turns ever since.

T2 hit biggest, with ‘Heartbroken’, a gorgeous, smashed-vocal garage dub so popular that it even inspired a Jersey Club refix. His catalogue was immediately deep, although I get the impression he has stopped adding to it. One complaint about bassline, including some of the T2 work, regards the untutored vocals, which can sometimes be rather flat, and certainly lacking in dynamics compared to the dazzling US vocalists featured on some earlier UK garage pieces (I refer here, as always, to TJ Cases’ remarkable ‘Do It Again’). I kinda like that - it shows amateur enthusiasm not far removed from punk, and most obviously links to lover’s rock, as does the production at times: it gives a feeling of melancholy entirely suited to the vocals. Other bassline heroes include TS7, who briefly brought to the fore sassy female garage MC T Dot. His productions also include ‘Smile’, one of my very favourite bassline tracks, full of that Simon Reynolds-quoted 'weird energy’ possessed by DJ Hype & co in the early nineties. Male bassline vocalists such as Ideal also remain unfairly forgotten, although some of the female vocalists have gone on to work in related genres since bassline’s peak.

Paleface, an ex-member of London garage rap crew Stonecold GX, runs Northern Line Records (FB, TRC, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), something of a quality mark for bassline productions, while also making highly successful UK Funky tunes as part of Crazy Cousinz, and later progressing into commercial house territory. He chronicled much of bassline’s high-water mark (including being married to Kyla, since sampled by Drake). Wolverhampton-based Northern Line signing TRC proved particularly adaptable, spewing out a legion of original tunes and remixes before retreating for a while to grime. Leeds’ Nastee Boi was a favourite of mine at the time, with his pitch-black gangsta bassline tunes, but pushed on towards a mixture of underwhelming R’n’B vocal cuts and nursery grime toons. Wittyboy started similarly punishingly but also went smoother, unbalancing the classic bassline rough and smooth combination.

Now that the dubiously poisonous rep of Niche has been dispatched, the key bassline acts have returned to their key battleground, and the genre seems in full throttle again. Much of the new material seems a little one-dimensional to me: producers invariably big up Bristol’s My Nu Leng as, I suppose, a bridge from bro-step to 4/4. Everything, as acknowledged by the DJs, is huge drops and nothing much else. It still sounds pretty hot though – not the updated lover’s rock of a decade ago, but worth supporting. Bassline is NOT finished!

[klanced]

Would you mind sharing a detailed version of your writing process? Like what exactly do you do for the ROUGH rough draft? Like general plot points for the chapter first and then fill in scenes and stuff after the plot points are written until your ready to post it? Also how many have you rewatched voltron or looked up stuff about the episode to write this? Sorry for the long ask but I really like your writing style and wanna mimic it for a rewrite of a novel I used to like but now know is trash.

I’ll try my best to describe my thought process!

Step 1: Choose the episode/chapter I want to work on.

Because of my ADHD I have a bad habit of skipping around and writing chapters out of order lmao… I can never really predict what motivation I’ll feel on any given day (shrugs)

Step 2: Read the Wikipedia summary of the episode (and copy paste it into the document).

I don’t have Netflix anymore, plus I don’t really like watching television in general, so I have the Wikipedia page for the List of V:LD Episodes bookmarked and refer back to it constantly. 

Step 3: List out the major plot events in the episode.

Exactly as it sounds. With Episode 1/Chapter 1 for example, the major events were the Garrison - Shiro’s ship crashing - Keith’s shack. 

I put a page break between each event to keep them all separate and distinct in my mind. Writing it out like this helps me break up the episode into more manageable blocks, kind of like the Acts of a theater production or something.

Step 4: List out the things I want the chapter to accomplish.

Before I start writing anything, I make sure to go back to the beginning of the document and bullet point out the things I want to happen. Essentially, what the Point of the chapter is outside basic plot progression. The GOALS of the chapter. What little moments I want to happen, what character interactions/relationship development can occur, etc.

With Chapter 2 I had a LOT of bullet points lmfao:

RELATIONSHIP GROWTH:

Conflict with Shiro-Keith! Setting up for how they will later cooperate as Head of Voltron/Right Hand Man. Keith sometimes slips into role of ‘Yes Man’ to Shiro. But they also naturally butt heads!! Set up beginnings of Keith’s independence/less dependence on Shiro arc (later in season).

Beginning of non-antagonistic Keith/Lance interactions! Both are assholes to each other, but Lance is constantly reaching out (without even noticing). 

Allura and Coran + Alfor! Setting up Allura’s self-deprecating arc. Seeds of her mental health struggle plus overly self-sacrificial nature. 

INTER-GROUP DYNAMICS. Team is now officially a TEAM, even if not Paladins of Voltron!! (yet). MUST HIGHLIGHT beginnings of reactions to one another. Mostly good, some not so good. To be addressed later with Development.

Subtle emphasis on the Lions CHOOSING their Paladins right back! Mutual decision. 

The Blue/Green/Yellow Lion should TEST their Paladins in some way that aligns with the nature of the Lion itself. And Lance/Pidge/Hunk should CHOOSE RIGHT BACK to submit themselves to that test and prove themselves.

WORLD-BUILDING in re: Quintessence. Brief explanation via Allura. Mostly just hints. To develop later in season.

Set-up of Galra Conflict! Heavy presence OF Galra (experienced by Lance and Hunk). Coran’s surprise that the Galra have reached that corner of space - highlighting just how PERVASIVE the Empire is.

Step 5: Choose an event and block it out.

RUNNING THEME in my thought process is constantly breaking things down into parts lol. For example, in Chapter 1 I started with the first major plot point, “The Garrison.”

Then I thought okay, what happens at the Garrison?

Failed Simulation

Rooftop Scene

Step 6: Begin bullet-pointing basic moments of each scene.

Continuing the above example:

Failed Simulation

Breakdown of communication between Lance/Hunk/Pidge results in crash

Iverson chews out team, Pidge responds

More reprimanding. HLP feel like garbage. Peers react.

Rooftop Scene

Pidge doing her thang. Lance and Hunk interrupt.

Conversation + Confrontation. Pidge reluctantly cooperates.

Witness ship crash. Discuss what to do.

Step 7: Skip to another event in the chapter and repeat steps 5 and 6. Move on to another event and repeat.

ADHD = skipping around.

Step 8: Once all major events in chapter are bullet-pointed, return to each event and begin fleshing out points and adding additional details.

In the above case, I started working on the ‘Failed Simulation’ scene and decided to add the cameo of Lieutenant Vergara + Hunk and Lance getting mad at/feeling disappointed in Pidge.

This is usually when the draft shifts from mostly bullet-points to a rouuuuugh ‘script’ style + some bullet points. Meaning, I’ll take the bullet point ‘Lance and Hunk interrupt’ and change it into actual dialogue, reactions, descriptions, etc.

Step 9: Read entire rough draft all the way through. Begin editing. Add more details.

Fix. Add. Make more realistic. Especially when it comes to dialogue, I want these characters to sound like believable teenagers. 

I also frequently refer to transcripts of the episodes to make sure I’m not missing any tiny moments/interactions from canon that I’d like to keep. Also, sometimes a scene is fine as is and doesn’t need to be re-imagined so I’ll copy what the transcript says to save time.

https://voltron.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rise_of_Voltron/transcript

Step 10: Read second draft all the way through. Add or change details.

Step 11: Read third draft all the way through. Add or change details.

Step 12: Start another chapter because ADHD.

Step 13: Eventually return to the first chapter I started working on and begin editing again. Rinse and repeat.

Step 14: Post the chapter on a random Friday. Immediately start editing it again.

[protovisual]

CONNECTION MADE WITH: @graveyardtrees​ LOADING...

🔜     Are there any muses you want to add, but aren’t sure about?

i think i’ve done a good job of adding who i’d like for the most part; i’ve got a lot by request! but there are muses that i have added that i feel shaky about giving a go. like cassidy from preacher, kurisu from s;g & delores from westworld. espeeeecially delores. i wanna write her but it seems like a pretty big undertaking.

🌠     From what you know of my muse, which of your muses would you recommend me to play with and why? 

i’ll give you a top six; subaru from rezero, claude from fe, dr mrs from venture bros, hank from venture bros & fran from franken fran. subaru because i know you’d find inventive ways to use return by death, claude because he and lorenz butting heads is delicious, dr mrs & hank because you’re just as passionate about vb as i am ( and also your monarch is on fucking point ) & fran because i think we could work together to make her experiments as weird as possible without making you largely uncomfortable.

edit: i've been informed i answered this backwards. yay dyslexia!

edit 2: now i’ll answer this frontwards. D: oopsie daisy stinkie is on the case. so here’s the actual top six you asked for... travis with yuri from ddlc is something i mentioned last night but on second thought, i think zack foster from aod is a much better choice. he’s dumb as a stump fence so if he told him he was from a video game he’d be like “yeah and”. another one was fran and herbie that we touched on briefly before jumping to the daniella plotting. she and him would make some of the weirdest monsters out of meat possible. after your hans and monarch banter in my ask, i really want mama monarch hanging out with anna and olaf. ienaga with either mondo or dale would be hilarious since she’s generally been so interested in seducing attractive people to do her... thang... to getting absolutely stonewalled by either of them and worse, having them catch onto her murders, would be really entertaining i think. and lastly, you’ve said that you’re most traditionally the boke to my tsukkomi and like... face it... i’m really funny so mom said it’s my turn on the boke. elsa with hank, who’s so hapless he probably would not realize he’s about to be murdered. and then another hank shows up. and then another hank. and then another hank but this time he’s more prone to growing body hair and has a mustache. y’know.

👄     Which of your muses would probably get sexual with each other, if they met?

cassidy from preacher and niles from fe for sure. horny bicon kings.

🐦      Which of your muses is the vainest?

MULTIMUSE MUNDAY MEME

[stillgotme]

HELLO EVERYONE ok i’m finally doing this after like 84 years lmao

SO yeah several people in the past few months have asked me about my editing process and i said that i’d hopefully do it after gen 2 stuff and since i’m taking a break from gen 2 and wanna stall bc returning to gen 1 will be painful, ya girl got her ass to go through with it. keep in mind, this tutorial is for people who already know the basics of photoshop. if you don’t there’s many tutorials online that’ll help beginners. i’m gonna be editing a pic of val and chance all dressed up and ready to crash a prom to get lit with their homies maggie and eli

*rosanna pansino voice* LET’S GET STARTED

so i use reshade and i believe the version i have is 3.0.7 or something idk but it’s 3.0 and i switch between 3 presets that are my own. the one i use the most started with pickypikachu’s cinematic preset as a base.

now, i know not everyone has reshade, but there’s still a way you can mimic the DOF effect with photoshop. when my stubborn ass edited everything myself all i did was duplicate the photo, apply field blur and adjust the bokeh lighting, added a layer mask and with a brush using the color black, i “colored” in what i didn’t want to be blurry and BOOM ya got that DOF goodness

so for DOF i use either the marty mcfly shader or the matso shader and even both, like in this case. i also love that sweet mxao bc ooh yess them SHADOWS. but unfortunately bc i’ll never ever let go of alpha hair and you’ll have to rip them away from my cold dead hands, ya get this shit.

the dof and shadows cutting through the hair making it look ugly and blurry and just all around BLECH

so when taking screenshots, i take two photos. one with the dof and mxao and another without those shaders

now i open both pics in photoshop and layer the photo with the effects over the one without

ok this is totally optional and you don’t have to do it but i like to crop my photos and the preset for my cropping dimensions is 1150 x 705 bc that’s what i’m going to resize my photos to (w/ 300 resolution). again, totally optional, you don’t have to do this part but i do.

so now i add a layer mask to the top layer

next i select the brush tool and choose whatever brush i wanna use. i usually switch between these two brushes depending on what i need at the moment. and make sure the color you’re painting with is black.

and now just “paint” over the ugly parts to erase them. depending on your photo this can sometimes take a while, but hey ya get that dof and beautiful alpha hair. i also take this time to erase some of the blurriness that forms around my sims from the dof effect

right click on the layer and select “merge down” and i’m left with this. obviously, you see some parts that aren’t blurred anymore but i just fix it with the blur tool at 100% opacity, zoom in on the unblurred edges and blur them in with whatever brush i choose. i personally choose the one with hard edges and i make sure the brush size is very very small. this part’s also a lil time consuming so ya gotta be patient.

doesn’t that look better? now it’s time to get to the actual editing lmao. first, click layer > background layer to make it a background. this is necessary for me bc of the photoshop action i use.

so in order to give my pics that “crisp” look, i first reduce noise and these are my default settings

then i do topaz clean

then smart sharpen

then i use the liquify tool bc sometimes there’s jagged edges on the shoulders, elbows, chins, etc. that i wanna smooth out. i also use this to adjust facial expressions, like for this i wanna make the smiles curve up a lil bit more bc chalerie are in love and happy  

now this is the part where i kinda nitpick bc i’m a perfectionist lmao like i clean up some lines on val’s arms and fix that weird spot on the collar of chance’s shirt, all that small stuff people wouldn’t notice but I DO so i fix it

alright now it’s time for me to draw hair! again, this is optional and i understand not everyone has a tablet or likes drawing hair so skip this if it ain’t your thang. first add a new layer for the hair.

i like to add extra hair to make it more full or fix clipping and “highlights” to kinda emphasize the lighting effects i’ll do later and i usually go with a lighter color of the hair for the highlights OR i do the color of the lighting. in this case i’m just going with a very light brown color. this brush is from this set by castrochew and i have the opacity at 100% and size at 3 px.

this is what it looks like after i draw all the hair. and for the highlights i always reduce the layer opacity to 50-60% or even less than that depending on how subtle i want them to be. after that, i merge them all down.

now it’s time to do all the shading and highlighting. make sure you do it all as separate layers, too. even tho i use mxao it still doesn’t do enough for me, so i always add shadows and i recommend you use dark brown for the shadows as black is a a bit too dark especially when you’re adding shadows around the faces. like y’all don’t want it to look like your sims put mud on their face. trust me guys i contour my face.

now take a hard edge brush and draw where you wanna add shadows

apply gaussian blur and erase any excess “shadows”  then reduce the layer opacity to your liking. now keep doing that in other areas where you wanna add shadows. it all depends on the picture and i really just use my general knowledge of how lighting and shadows work. remember, make sure each shadow and highlight you add is a separate layer!

for highlights, use a light color, a soft edge brush, change the brush opacity to 60% and change the layer mode to “soft light”. like with the shadows, just paint whatever you wanna highlight, gaussian blur, reduce layer opacity, etc. then after you’re done shading and highlighting, merge all the layers down.

then to enhance the highlights even more i use the dodge tool with the exposure at 25% and paint over all the highlighted areas

so this is how it looks after i did all the time consuming stuff and now it’s time to play with COLOR YEAHHHHHH

this is the action i’ve been using forever and it’s a ride or die, always got my back, never fails me, always there when i need it. all i gotta do is click on that and press the “play” button and everything’s beautiful and colorful and all my problems seem to go away and suddenly the your lie in april soundtrack is playing the background

but most of the time i untick the “curves” layer from the action as it can be too bright for me and i just adjust the curves of the image to what i prefer.

now it’s my favorite part! time to add that good-ass LIGHTING and since i went crazy with the lights for the background, it’s gonna be fun to do this one hehehe. ok so first duplicate your image and then choose the color of the lighting you want. for this pic, i want the lighting to be a nice light warm yellow/orange color

now for the brush mode, choose “linear dodge (add)” and change the opacity to 35%-45% or hey even higher if ya wanna go bright as fuck. and get a soft edge brush and make it big. like fucking BIG. you see the size i put it at? yeah, make it big bc we want that beautiful shit EVERYWHERE

YEAH DAS DAT SHIT I LIKE. keep painting over areas ya wanna see glow and even paint over the same area twice to make it brighter. hell, don’t just stop at one color. add other colors of light if ya want. add some pinks or blue or purple, adjust the brush size, go crazy. BLIND EVERYONE.

buuuuuuut with all the sweet lighting, it tends to make your pretty pic look all washed out and also lighting doesn’t always work that way. and that’s why i told y’all to duplicate your image bc we’re gonna add a layer mask again and with a soft edge brush you gotta erase some of that lighting. change the brush mode back to normal, put the opacity at 100% and make sure your brush is black and get rid of what you need to. but what’s good about this is you don’t have to be perfect and it’s ok if there’s still some lights on your sims bc now it looks like the light is shining on them awwww. now merge that layer down

now color balance! i like to enhance the red, magenta, and blue most of the time but as always it all depends on the photo and what your preference is.

all that’s left to do now is change the image size. i change the resolution to 300 ppi (it doesn’t really do anything but like it’s become a habit of me to do it so i do it idk) and make sure if you’re making your image smaller, you apply “bicubic sharper” so your image stays sharp when you change the size

AND THIS IS THE FINAL PRODUCT.

so this is my editing process and i hope some of you learned some stuff from this. also please keep in mind that i also encourage y’all to do your own spin on things when you edit. i’m all for taking tips from others and learning cool new tricks but develop a style that fits YOU. eventually you’ll find it and i know that you’ll end up creating something amazing that shows how unique and lovely you are.

anyways, i’m so glad i finally got this done. love you guys 💖💖💖

[midnight-star-world]

MSR - Toby Keith - Should've Been A Cowboy (25th Anniversary Edition)

So today on the MSR (Midnight Star Review), I will be talking about the re-release of Toby Keith's debut album which is 25 years in the making.  This is titled "Should've been a cowboy" and is the 25th Anniversary edition of this album.  The release date was on November 30th, 2018.

If it wasn't for the success of this album and even that debut song.  How much more would we have heard from Toby.  The singles from this album that help Toby out when he started were of course "Should've been a cowboy", "He ain't worth missing", "Wish I didn't know now", & "A little less talk and a lot more action".  Toby also added 3 bonus tracks on this album.  The bonus tracks are "Tossin' and turnin'", "I'll still call you baby", & "Daddy Mac".  Now here's the track list for the album that has 13 songs total.

Track list. 1. Should've been a cowboy. 2. He ain't worth missing. 3. Under the fall. 4. Some kinda good kinda hold on me. 5. Wish I didn't know now. 6. Ain't no thang. 7. Valentine. 8. A little less talk and a lot more action. 9. Mama come quick. 10. Close but no guitar. 11. Tossin' and turnin' 12. I'll still call you baby. 13. Daddy Mac.

And on the MSR (Midnight Star Review), I have decided to not review this album since it is an older release.  But it is good to know that Toby did co-write a lot of his songs.  Thanks for taking the time to read this review.  See ya all next time.

[unwriter-sc]

Character Creation Tag

I was tagged @thatfizzyyyy (they’re super cool in case you want to follow them) This one shall be about Li Xue, because she is fun.

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)

It was her position as Empress of Hyan, it was a random nation in my map generaed for the Sea of Storms. 

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

No not really.

3) How did you choose their name?

Fantasy Name Generator, it does real world names and I looked up Chinese ones.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world that they live in played the most influential parts?

They lived in Anlu culture which was massive elements of self-sacrafice and the importance of the group over the self. That and her minor noble upbringing gave her the impression that she was destined for greatness.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair color?

No, not really.

6) Is there any significance behind their eye color?

Nope.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

She's 6 feet tall, I wanted a character who was tall and imposing, worthy of the name of the Raging Storm.

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

No, nothing really.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

Nothing here either.

10) What did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

When I designing the Empire of Hyan in the lore for the Sea of Storms, I didn't really have much in mind, though I eventually decided that she wasn't straight.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of at: writing, drawimg, edits, etc.?)

Writing her more bombastic moments, like her speech before the battle, that is draft two of that speech. Not to mention keeping her imposing when not fighting.

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

I extended the world past by five years and a few thousand miles from the canon story. Not to meniton that elements of her backstory go even further.

13) If you must narrow it down to 2 thangs that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

She is utterly smitten with Dai Tu.

And that she is very much a Warrior Queen type. 

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

I have her social incompetence that I sometimes find funny, if I were to write her earlier days, I could possibly have some fun with that. But I've got nothing else.

15) What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

Her having to produce an heir, it was not exactly all that happy, though I intend her story to have a happy ending.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

I regret adding the fact that she has anger issues to the OC, it makes her somewhat cliche and it also means that I have to add her unyeilding rage at some point.

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

She has a good vision for long-term strategy and politics.

18) What is your favourite fact about your OC?

She is actually smart despite the hot head persona she puts on.

For this one, I shall tag these wonderful and better people than me. @little-euro-girl @ratherinterestingmilkshake @magicmoon65  @eternalwritingstudent @books-and-girls @bookishdiplodocus @melindawrites

[passportrequired]

Survivors Guide to Passport Required: Costa Rica Edition

In my MTV Real World intro voice: 7 strangers decided to go on a trip… To find out what it’s like… To travel with random people… To random places…

There’s a variety of reasons I could give to explain why I decided to take Darnell Lamont Walker up on his offer. Do understand I had never met him face-to-face prior to June 27, 2016. Honestly, I was ready to go somewhere. I didn’t care where, but wherever IT was had to be out the country. A friend of mine had texted the link to Passport Required and I was hooked. That same friend was supposed to go, but then, and as, usual life happened.

Anyways..

I signed up with not a clue of what to expect. Now, I did do a little recognizance before giving Darnell hundreds of dollars. According to FB, we had 2 mutual friends, with a degree of separation close enough to gain me access to his people IF I needed to hunt him down if he didn’t act right with my money. You know, since I’m a thug and all. Can’t tell you how many times I revisited the site before I sent my deposit, but I finally did it just before the deadline.

Third. Best. Decision. Ever. <– a meal and a piña colada will get you the other two.

Passport Required: Costa Rica 2016 has to be the best trip to date. Yes, it was my first one and I’m biased. My hope is that through this survival guide, you’ll be encouraged to take part in the movement.

Tip #1: Don’t be scared AND get out your feelings. Know: Darnell isn’t out to kill you. At least he didn’t try to kill any of us. He’s a cool dude that spoke my language: ball-on-a-budget! Now, raise your hand if the following applies to you:

I’m ready to travel, but __________.

The unknown can create an uneasy feeling. Please believe I was nervous as $#!+. Don’t let that anxiety keep you from experiencing life. I’m telling you, while you wait on a friend to go somewhere, he/she is living theirs. Go live yours! If I had listened to my feelings, I wouldn’t have checked off so many items from my “try-one-day list” on just one trip. Within 48 hours I had zip lined, rock climbed, seen a waterfall, driven a jet ski into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and rinsed off what we hope was volcanic mud in a hot spring. Pura Vida!

Tip #2: “Paaack Light” ~Erykah Badu

Know: You can’t call Tyrone and only YOU will carry your ___!

I didn’t listen, and I heard that melodic voice play in my head as we trekked through airports, as we journeyed through the streets of NYC/Queens, and damn near any time we had to get ready. Once the destination is revealed and you research the weather, realize you won’t need every item you think you’ll need. We were in Costa Rica and staying in a hostel. Fashion wasn’t the priority, experience was. My wardrobe mainly consisted of Dri-Fit/workout gear and comfortable shoes. Clearance at Target is THEE BEST!

If you become a backpacker like most of us did, travel packing cubes are your friend. They want to bless you and make carrying what you need for the week an easy task. Also, I’d suggest a lock for your bag. Stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Amazon.com were places I tapped into for needed, affordable travel gear. NECK PILLOW. If the packing cubes are your friend, the neck pillow is manna from heaven. The sleeps (I know, I teach) I had on the planes were comparable to the sleep a newborn baby gets after momma feeds and rocks her. Remember: NECK PILLOW!

Tip #3: Be YOU/ Open your mouth and speak

Know: These people don’t know you.

I ran out of f!%#s back in the spring of 2014 and I’ve successfully been unable to find one since. Going on a trip with 6 former strangers to stay with even more strangers at a hostel in an unfamiliar land was an awesome experience. Planet Fitness would be proud of the no judgment zone, here you can exercise and train without any issue and for even more improvement in your body, you can get the right supplements by Going Here. If there was judgment, refer back to the first sentence of tip #3.

Seriously though, I hadn’t heard much about hostels except from horror movies. Hospedaje Dodero was clean and provided our basic needs: beds, shower, and an outdoor kitchen. Took my first outdoor shower there. Mommas around the world rejoiced when we came together to cook, cleanup after ourselves, and even hung freshly washed clothes on the line. Me folding the draws (I grew up in FL) of people I barely knew makes us family now. CMB… We all we got!

In one little backyard kitchen/dining room, people from across the U.S., Canada, France, and other locales shared stories of travels, offered suggestions, ate and drank together, and played games. Have you ever heard French Trap Music? Google it. It is very real and quite interesting.

I’m an introvert at heart, but I know how to play extrovert when necessary. The stories heard and the connections made only added to the rich experience of this trip. People aren’t as isolated or standoffish as I once thought. Genuinely good folks want to explore the world and see new things just like me and you. Nike that thang!

To My Fellow Travelers: if you make the time and have the money, GO! Whether you’re brave enough to go through Passport Required or some other means, listen to James Brown and get up off that thing. Greater is out there. Grab your backpack ( include two weeks worth of underwear, deodorant, and Febreeze) and get lost in a new place. You’ll thank yourself later.

To Darnell: I have to disagree with Kevin Durant and say that Darnell, YOU’RE THE REAL MVP! Ain’t no way in hell the me 5 years ago would’ve trusted this process, and I’m glad I’ve grown from that. Keep being you and don’t forget to keep your mouth closed on the train. The revolution will not be televised!

Survivors Guide to Passport Required: Costa Rica Edition was originally published on Passport Required

[kellynkane]

The Story...from a Bride’s POV

So I created this blog because I wanted to share the WHOLE story from start to finish for whoever was interested. Our love story wasn’t all hearts and rainbows! There were A LOT of rain and stormclouds throughout our (almost) 8 years of being together. So please, continue on if you dare! 

***When I mention song titles during the wedding portion of this, please listen...to set the mood.

I’m going to keep the background pretty minimal, considering i’m sure a lot of you already know how we got to this point. This will be MAINLY the wedding day! (We didn’t have a videographer so I wanted to share from my point of view- THE DAY) feel free to scroll down to the wedding chapter if this begins to be drawn out. Look, i’ve never blogged before so cut me some slack!

So take it back about 7 years and 8 months ago...

(One of our first pics on those old flip phones that had to be turned around and taken in a mirror so you could see...)

We met through friends. I had gone to my neighbor’s house to hang and long story short Adam was there, we hung out, and the rest is history. When they say “head over heels for eachother”, that was what we were. I can’t even begin to explain the love I felt for this kid. (I say kid because that's exactly what we were...two young kids.) We were inseparable. I knew I loved him from the moment we introduced ourselves to each other. Crazy right? 

A short year later we had a baby. Mason Robert Kane. And this my friends is where things ‘got real’. You think you have your crap together? Add a baby to the mix and watch what happens...So basically the next 2 years or so were very rocky. Lots of ups and downs. This was what people would call the breaking point. But our point never ‘broke’. We certainly were pushed to our limits and maybe at times pushed OVER our limits but there was something that just never went away- our love for one another. It wasn’t having a baby guys, I know, I know...you would think this was a big part but it wasn’t JUST that. There was a much deeper connection that even to this day we question as to what exactly it is/was. It’s just something. Something that kept us hanging on, stringing us along all these years.  

Between year 2-5 I would say were the hardest part of our relationship. To our friends who were around, THEY KNOW. But hey, we’re humans. We were young kids when we met. Going through your early 20′s are the years where you actually grow up. They’re the years where you question who you are and who you will be as a human. You question your relationships with not just your significant other but friends and family as well. There are A LOT of ‘what ifs’ and ‘I don't knows’ during these growing up years. BUT these are the years that make EVERYTHING worth it in the end. 

So this puts us at about year 5 and a half. Just when we thought we were through the woods...After getting through some of the toughest years of my young 20 something life, we had ANOTHER baby. (Yes, we questioned our sanity as well.) He WAS an accident. Surprise, surprise. *insert crying laughing face. Or maybe just crying face* No, really Hunter Matthew Kane has added joy to our family we never thought was needed. Very difficult at times, but that’s for another blog post. Like I mentioned before: ADDING A BABY TO THE MIX DOES NOT MAKE ANYTHING EASIER. I REPEAT: “SHIT GETS TOUGHER!” but we made it work. You can’t run away from life. Choosing to have our children and continue on this journey of life together, was what we wanted to do. Did we fight? YES. Did we cry and question things? YES. But again, being able to persevere through all of that and come out on top...well, THAT’S what makes it worth it people! 

So (not-intended) long story short, fast forward to:

Sunday, June 18th 2017

The day we said “I Do.”

Those hard times we went through are what made our wedding day, the best day of my life. It sounds cliche but it truly was the best day of my life. I married my best friend, guys. The man I grew up (into an adult) with. The man I cried and fought for years with. The man I shared so many laughs and joyous memories with. The man who is the other half to my two beautiful boys. I married him. And he’s now mine, mine, mine. *Immature editing there.*

If you’re still reading this, this is where I want to lay out the day for you. Because in my eyes (and hopefully others as well) it was a freakin’ AMAZING day. 

Early Sunday morning I arrived at the venue with my girls. (Bless every single one of them because if it weren’t for them, we may not have actually made it to ‘I Do”.) We began setting up the venue and getting hair and makeup done. 

While I’m getting ready this is what was going on with my other half:

So now, it’s time...

It’s time to put on the dress and do the damn thang. 

The music begins:

***Jason Mraz- I Won’t Give Up

I’m watching from up in the bridal suite all the groomsmen take their places. Then Adam. My heart begins to pound. I watch my girls one by one begin to walk down to the pond. Then, my oldest Ring Bearer Mason and flower girl Gia begin to walk. Mason & Gia begin arguing (as usual) as SOON as it was time to walk. Mason is basically dragging Gia saying “COME ON, GIA!” while she is trying her hardest to throw petals saying “HOLD ON, MASON!” It was one of the funniest things to watch! 

Then, my Grandfather (who is so extremely important to me. He helped raise me from birth. I love that man with everything in me) pulls the wagon which has my littlest ring bearer- Hunter, and littlest flower girl- Renzi. Hunter holding a sign “Here comes the bride!” 

Now music changes:

***The Piano Guys- A Thousand Years

I look up at my Father- a man who I can honestly say, I have NEVER seen cry and I say “You ready?” and with that, he breaks. He begins to tear up and says “I’m sorry, i’m going to get emotional”. Well jeeze Dad, now i’m going to cry! We have to get it together! So after all the tears we begin to walk. 

At this point right here ^, this is what I see:

The man that I am 20 feet away from marrying, in tears. Full fledged ugly crying- tears. And that’s what makes me lose it...Hopefully he was crying tears of happiness and not “now I’m stuck with this crazy woman for the rest of my life” tears. I’m going to go with the first one just for my own sake! 

Here we stand hand in hand (which from the photo up top, I held his hands the wrong way (the manly way) and I’ve been obsessing on it since last week...but whatevs) Jason (who is actually the Godfather of our children and very close friend of the family which makes it even more sentimental to have him marry us...) begins his spiel and then it gets to the part where we exchange our vows. Let me break this down for you- I HATE BEING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. I literally contemplated dropping out of college when I heard I HAD to take speech 101...So you already know i’ve been freaking out about this part since I got engaged. BUT I can honestly say, (without being mushy gushy) as soon as I was up there with Adam, I felt like it was just him that I was speaking to. I felt SO at ease...So we said our vows and then we get to the exchanging of rings. Good Lord, I would be the one who messes that part up. It took me two tries AND reading off of Jason’s paper to get it right. 

After rings, Jason says the all too familiar saying: “You May Now Kiss The Bride!”

With that he announces us as the NEW Mr. & Mrs. Kane!

Music begins (Mind you EVERY song I mention has specific meaning to it. Our music playlist was IN DEPTH. Thanks, Scott Cash for doing a fantastic job!) 

***Eddie Vedder- Hard Sun

I take Adam’s arm and Mason’s hand. And Adam picks up Hunter and we walk down the aisle together. As a WHOLE family. Not just the Bride and Groom but as a whole family unit. Because that is what we are. We aren’t JUST a husband and a wife. We are parents. And more importantly we were parents BEFORE marriage. So it was important for us to include our babies when leaving the main stage. 

(Yes, Mase was crying. He’s an emotional little dude, just like his Dad. And I say little in regards to both Mase AND Adam.) 

Click, Click. 

Time to do what I know I do best- BE A MODEL! (I’m totally just kidding...I absolutely hate having my picture taken, I can selfie it up all day but when I have to pose without seeing myself, totally weird...)

NOW IT’S TIME TO PARTAAAY!

Music begins:

***Beyonce- Crazy In Love

Our bridal party including parents and grandparents get introduced! 

And because I love sidenotes: Adam and I LEGIT got in a HUUUUUGE argument during wedding planning because I wanted Nelly- Hot in Hurr for the entrance song and he was NOT ABOUT THAT life...so that didn’t happen (even though I think it would have been fantastic) but BEYONCE DID HAPPEN! I had to put my foot down for my guuurl.

THEN:

Music CHANGES:

***Rusko Remix- Jahova

I gave the DJ STRICT orders to wait until EXACTLY 30 seconds before he announces us in. THEN at 40 seconds (when the beat drops) we walk in!!!

I know, I know...we’re lame. But like I mentioned earlier, the playlist for the evening is based around songs that represent US! Back in the day 8 years ago when we thought we were so cool going to raves, that song was THE SONG that we loved. So THAT is why we chose it...just a little FYI.

(See that up there ^, that’s Adam doing his little rave dance signiture move. Me on the other hand, i’m just waving it left and right because I have no rhythm...)

Okay if you’ve made it this far God bless you  AWESOME THANK YOU! I’ve realized I have reeeeally strung this along so i’ll try and speed things up a bit! 

FIRST DANCE:

***Chris Stapleton- Tennessee Whiskey

FATHER/ DAUGHTER DANCE:

***Fleetwood Mac- Landslide

Quick sidenote: My Dad had probably a little more booze than he needed before this point so long story short...he was trying to dirty dance with me during our father/daughter dance. Oh well, it makes for a good story to tell!

I mentioned earlier about my Grandfather being a very important person in my life, so I knew it was only fitting to give him a little dancing action. He said “I don’t dance” When I leaned over to him mid-dance with my Dad. So I grabbed his hand and made him stand up with me. As we danced he tells me the story of when he first met my Grandmother (who passed away a few years ago) and how he asked her to dance and she told him he danced like a chicken so he never has danced since. After that, he begins to get emotional and tells me how he wishes she was here. Then we both begin to ugly cry together. It was beautiful. 

MOTHER/ SON DANCE:

***Van Morrison- Days Like This

FOOD:

Now it’s time to GRUB! Look they don’t call me Big Mama Kel for nothin’! I love me some food.To set this scene, we (as in MY DAD) had a whole roasted pig. Kind of gross...I was against it, BUT my Dad wanted it. He paid. End of story. It actually was pretty good!

Speeches:

Carley or should I say Carlaaay & Zack (Our best man and maid of honor) KILLED it on the speeches. Some of the most heartfelt words were said by both of them. They have seen Adam and I both at our best AND worst. So thank you guys. They honestly both wrote such amazing speeches, I was seriously impressed...BUT I have to say, the SURPRISE speech from MASON, was what took the show! He got up there with the mic and basically said how much he loved us and was so happy. Thanks for the added tears Mase! 

*Insert mic drop*

Lots of booze and lots of dancing AND lots of trips to the photobooth

Who in the world did I think I was?...

Beyonce...ALWAYS Beyonce.

Oh and lots of cooling off in the bathroom because it was so hot...hey, I’m really as modest as they come but a brides got to do what a brides got to do. That dress was freakin’ heavy and hot!

(No booze for the kids obv. Just added for cuteness factor! Well, and because they’re my kids duh!)

But can we just pause and take a second for this:

Oh and these too: 

(He spent probably the most time in that photo booth!)

Probably saying “YAAAAASSSS I’m married!” But then again, who knows. I had one too many at this point...

And last but surely not least- My Mermaid-of-honor. My best friend. Carley is the sister that I never had. So thank you for being my right hand lady through this entire wedding experience. I love you. 

CAKE CAKE CAKE

***Aerosmith- Sweet Emotion

This song had no meaning. They just say “sweeeeeeet emooooooootion” so figured it went with the whole cake cutting thing...

Thanks for smashing cake all over me...but hey, that’s what you’re suppose to do right? 

And a little bit of this:

Song Choice: ***Bad Company- Feel Like Making Love

Look at my Dad sitting back there...so proud to have been front row for such a wonderful experience...(This is high level sarcasm here) 

Garter toss & Bouquet toss-

Song choices were:

Garter Toss: ***Jay-Z- Big Pimpin’

Bouquet Toss: ***Beyonce- Single Ladies (of course)

And with that guys, that’s pretty much it. 

OH we played flip cup too, you know...keeping the wedding EXTRA classy! So with that... 

THE END!

For our Sparkler Send-Off song at the end of the night:

***Led Zeppelin- Over The Hills And Far. Of course we waited until 1:28 seconds (because i’m that type of bride, if you couldn’t already tell...) to run through, what should have been a tunnel but turned out to be a circle, of sparklers!

"Hey lady--you got the love I need. Maybe more than enough.

Oh Darling... walk a while with me. You've got so much... "

ADVICE: 

I know I have a TON of soon-to-be bride’s that I am friends with, so if I could give ANY advice at all through this whole process, it would be to JUST breathe! And don’t sweat the small stuff! Seriously…people aren’t going to notice how one flower arrangement isn’t set the way it should or that your ONE piece of hair isn’t laying right (and I can guarantee your significant other won’t notice either!)

Oh who am I kidding? I was sweating every small detail that was out of place and I probably would again if I had to do everything over. But if I could give ANY solid advice it would be to try and sneak away for a few minutes with the one you JUST married and look over your wedding and take EVERYTHING in. They aren't lying when they say your wedding day GOES BY FAST so try to enjoy it! Haha but other than that, just have fun and let loose with your Lovie. It’s YOUR time to shine lady! 

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Re-living this day is amazing.

Love you all!

I would like to thank ALL vendors who were involved in making this day as special as it was. Please feel free to check them out!

Lead Photographer: Summer Mae Photography  www.summermaephoto.com

Photographer: Charlie Peacher Photography

Venue & Catering: Pond View Farm   www.pondviewfarm.com

Props & Floral: Vintage Prop House   www.vintageprophouse.com  

DJ & Photobooth: Scott Cash  www.scottcashphotobooth.com

Makeup: K. Marie Styling Studio  www.kmariestylingstudio.com

Hair: Kimberly Guercio 

Baker: Hollie Watts

*AND* 

 A BIG thank you to my Dad for making my dream wedding a reality! I know we argued a lot the past year, but you did good champ Dad! I love you. Also, a BIG thank you to Adam’s parents- Suzi & Jeff for paying for flowers and the rehearsal din-din! AND I COULDN'T FORGET: a big thank you to my Mama Bear for running around entertaining the littlest of the Kane clan- Hunter during the wedding. He sure does love his Mom-Mom and Adam & I both love you too, Mom. 

Now we’re off to Cabo! 

Toodles,

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Diablo 3 Season 18 Starts Next Week, Here Are All The Details And Patch Notes

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/diablo-3-season-18-starts-next-week-here-are-all-the-details-and-patch-notes/

Diablo 3 Season 18 Starts Next Week, Here Are All The Details And Patch Notes

Diablo 3 might be more than seven years old at this point, but Blizzard continues to support the action RPG by frequently adding new updates and seasonal events that keep the game feeling fresh. After recently sharing the company’s plans for the future of Diablo 3, we’re now getting our first taste of those plans as season 18 kicks off on August 23.

The new season introduces the Season of the Triune, “a call-back to an ancient cult forged over three millennia ago by the Prime Evils of the Burning Hells,” the press release states. These Prime Evils sought to tilt the odds of the Eternal Conflict in their favor by masquerading as three benevolent deities to infiltrate the hearts of men. Though they were ultimately defeated by Uldyssian during the Sin War, “the remnants of the Cult of the Triune still operate today as the more well-known Coven, whom continue the work of Adria and Magdha even after their deaths.”

What this means in gameplay terms is that players will benefit from the Power of the Triune buff throughout the duration of season 18. This effect periodically summons circles around the battlefield that provide one of three randomized buffs:

Triune of Love (Power): Players in the circle receive a 100% damage bonus while active

Triune of Determination (Resource Reduction): Players in the circle receive a 50% discount on resources spent while active

Triune of Creation (Cooldown Reduction): While standing in an active circle, any skills currently on cooldown come off of cooldown more quickly

Blizzard says it wanted to try something different in season 18 by providing a tangible change to gameplay from the moment you begin your journey. The Power of the Triune buff alters gameplay from level 1 to level 70 and beyond, incentivizing you to move around the battlefield in order to leverage these powerful boosts.

As far as cosmetic rewards go, after re-introducing previous seasonal rewards in season 17, Blizzard is bringing back awards that were originally available in season 6 for season 18. “In addition to the Chest and Gloves slots of the exclusive Conqueror Set, players will be able to earn a series of portrait frames bedecked with the mysterious beauty of Blood Shards. A ghastly All Hallow’s pennant will also be available, allowing you to proudly proclaim your love for all things grim and creepy.”

For Season Journey rewards, the latest update will let you earn an additional stash tab by finishing the Conqueror tier, up to a maximum of five:

Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes

Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55

All I Do IS Win: Complete two Conquests this Season

Disarm You: Kill Rakanoth at level 70 in under 15 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty

Money Ain’t A Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty

Take U There: Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo

Power Amplification: Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem

Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item

Seasonal Conquests, meanwhile, add a host of new challenges for you to test your mettle against. “Push your way to Greater Rift level 75 to complete Divinity/Lionhearted. On a Good Day/I Can’t Stop guides you to get your Legendary Gem grind on; level three Legendary Gems to 65 to complete this challenge! For the speedy, Speed Demon/Need for Speed requires the fastest nephalem to complete a Nephalem Rift at level 70 on Torment X or higher in under two minutes. For Curses!/Stars Align, pick any Cursed Chest event that requires killing monsters and defeat over 350 or more at level 70 on Torment X or higher. For the fiercest demon slayers, Boss Mode/World’s Apart is a speed challenge where you’ll need to eliminate the following bosses at level 70 and Torment X in under twenty minutes:

The Skeleton King

The Butcher

Zoltun Kulle

Ghom

Cydaea

Rakanoth

Diablo

Adria

Queen Araneae

Maghda

Belial

Siegebreaker Assault Beast

Azmodan

Izual

Urzael

Malthael”

Last but not least, Haedrig’s Gift class set rewards have rotated once more. “Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!” Whichever set you receive will depend on the class of character you’re playing as when you open Haedrig’s Gift, so you’ll need open all three with the same character to collect a full set.

Below are the full patch notes for the latest update, Patch 2.6.6.:

Note: All changes apply to all versions of Diablo III, including PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC unless otherwise indicated.

General

A pet has been added that will be available for players who pre-purchase Warcraft III: Reforged Spoils of War Edition (PC Only)

Seasons

The buff for Season 18, the Season of the Triune, has been added

Triune’s Will: All abilities have a chance when hitting an enemy to spawn a circle that gives a power. Only one circle can be active at a time.

Triune of Love (Power): Players in the circle receive a 100% damage bonus while active

Triune of Determination (Resource Reduction): Players in the circle receive a 50% discount on resources spent while active

Triune of Creation (Cooldown Reduction): While standing in an active circle, any skills currently on cooldown come off of cooldown more quickly

Developer Comment: The last couple of Seasonal buffs have been focused primarily on end-game content. We wanted to try something different this Season with a buff that was more beneficial to players regardless of where they might be in their Season Journey. Triune’s Will can come into play as early as level 1 and continue to make an impact on your game experience from the beginning to the end of the Season, and we’re looking forward to seeing how players leverage this ever-changing boost throughout their adventures!

Developer Comment: In addition, we received feedback from players during the PTR about colorblind accessibility. We’ve changed one of the blue-tinted circles to a darker, green earth tone that should stand out a lot more for affected players. We greatly appreciate your feedback!

Items

Developer Note: There are additional specific notes below, but broadly for 2.6.6, we wanted to introduce a handful of new item powers targeted at two audiences: (1) certain classes with long-standing requests for balance/quality of life adjustments and (2) the broader player base for experimenting with Kanai’s Cube. This means fewer class-specific new additions, but more additions that everyone has an opportunity to play with. We also experimented with making some of the craftable sets from Haedrig more appealing for fresh level 70’s or players looking to maximize their farming runs. We hope to see some interesting new theorycrafting and tactics out of 2.6.6 and can’t wait to see what the community does with this new loot!

Updated Item Notes: There are a number of notes below clarifying the intention of certain item functionalities. In a couple cases, such as with Flavor of Time, the item wasn’t behaving properly during PTR per our intentions (which has been fixed). For others, we just wanted to provide more clarity about exactly how these items behave.

Flavor of Time

New Legendary Power: Pylon effects last twice as long.

Note: Only wearers of this item gain this effect. This is intended.

The Executioner

New Legendary Power: Attacks will slay enemies with less than (5-10%) health.

Note: This item’s power does not work on followers. This is intended.

Stone Gauntlets

New Legendary Power: Getting attacked will slowly turn you to stone… (You gain 50% more armor, but your movement speed is reduced by 15% and attack speed is reduced by 20%. This effect stacks up to 5 times)

PTR Update: This item now displays a buff icon and has a clearer in-game description. Thank you for the feedback!

Note: Immunity to control-impairing effects can work against the reduced attack and movement speed penalties. This is intended.

Echoing Fury

New Legendary Power: Slaying enemies engulfs the wielder into a Frenzy. (Killing enemies increases your attack speed by 15% and movement speed by 5%. This effect stacks up to 5 times)

PTR Update: This item’s power now works on kill assists and pet kills. Thank you for the feedback!

Squirt’s Necklace

New Legendary Power: While not taking damage, your damage is increased by up to 100% and damage taken is increased by up to 50%.

PTR Update: This item now displays a buff icon. Thank you for the feedback!

Messerschmidt’s Reaver

New Legendary Power: Reduce the remaining cooldown of one of your skills by 1 second when you slay an enemy.

PTR Update: This item’s power now works on kill assists and pet kills. Thank you for the feedback!

Mortick’s Brace

New Legendary Item: Wrath of the Berserker gains the effect of every rune.

Developer’s Note: If you played during the Patch 2.2.0 PTR, you’ll recognize this as an item that was later removed from the game before it went to live servers. At the time, Mortick’s Brace gave too much power for a single item slot. However, the power curve of Diablo III has changed significantly since then and we’re comfortable with bringing it back.

Developer’s Note: We’re not done with Barbarians, either. However, this is a change that required less testing and could be easily added to 2.6.6, so rather than waiting for a larger batch of changes, we saw no reason to hold this one back.

Spite

Note: This item can be crafted from the Blacksmith and is not a normal loot drop

New Legendary Power: Non-cleaving Gargantuans gain the cleave and chilling effects of the Humongoid rune.

Legacy of Dreams

New Legendary Gem:

While you have no set bonuses equipped, every Legendary item you have equipped increases your damage dealt by 3.75% and reduces your damage taken by 2%. (Max level 99)

Rank 25: This bonus is doubled for Ancient items.

Developer’s Note: The end game opened up significantly with Season 17’s Legacy of Nightmare’s buff (and the community was clear about how much these new options were appreciated), but wanted to make this addition a more permanent fixture in a more streamlined way than simply making it baseline. This Legendary Gem should open that path up even further and at more opportunities than just late game Greater Rift pushing.

Crafted Sets

Note: The following sets have been significantly revised from their existing level 70 counterparts. Items crafted prior to 2.6.6 will continue to exist in their old forms but will not be updated after the patch. In addition, after the patch, the old recipes will no longer be available to craft and all players will need to re-acquire these recipes by finding the plans again through Horadric Caches or by killing Odious Collectors.

Sage’s Journey

A Belt has been added to this set.

Haedrig the Blacksmith now automatically learns how to forge this set at Rank 12.

Captain Crimson’s Trimmings

(2) Set Bonus

Regenerates 6000 Life per Second

Reduces cooldown of all skills by10% 20%.

Now also reduces Resource Costs by 20%

(3) Set Bonus

Set bonuses have been replaced

Damage dealt is increased by your total percentage of Cooldown Reduction

Damage taken is reduced by your total percentage of Resource Cost Reduction

Aughild’s Authority

(2) Set Bonus

Set bonuses have been replaced

Reduces damage taken by 15%

Increases damage dealt by 30%

(3) Set Bonus

Reduces damage from elites by 15% 30%

Increases damage against elites by 15% 30%

Cain’s Destiny

(2) Set Bonus

Attack Speed increased by 8%

+50% Experience. (5.0% at level 70) (Moved from (3) Set Bonus)

(3) Set Bonus

When a Greater Rift Keystone drops, there is a 25% chance for an extra one to drop.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an error that occurred when reporting a player via a friend request

Fixed an error that occurred when saving an existing Friend Note without making changes

PTR-Specific Bug Fixes

Squirt’s Necklace

Fixed an issue where the damage taken increase was not reaching the 50% cap

Captain Crimson’s Trimmings

Fixed an issue where the bonus provided by this class set was subject to snapshotting

Source : Gamesport

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Kailyn Lowry: Dishonest On Chris Lopez With Secret New Boyfriend?!

http://tinyurl.com/y5pep3gh Earlier immediately, we reported on Kailyn Lowry’s confession that she’s not great at relationships. But it surely appears her perceived shortcomings usually are not stopping the Teen Mother 2 star from diving again into the relationship pool. As you could recall, Kail recently traveled to Costa Rica together with her longtime pal and co-star Leah Messer. The besties documented the journey extensively on social media — but it surely appears there was one key element they neglected. Some eagle-eyed TM2 followers have examined Kail’s vacay pics, and it appears they’ve detected the presence of a 3rd social gathering. And it is doable that Kail did not need the world to know she had further firm on her island jaunt: “So seems like @KailLowry and Leah’s little Costa Rica journey was not only a sh-tty mother’s trip, however was additionally Karl’s probability to get away from her children and thot/hoe round together with her new boo thang,” wrote Twitter person @VaccinateLux. The identical person even managed to search out the Twitter account of Kail’s thriller dude: “@malikakathegoat I ponder what he thinks about her now saying Chris is her man,” she added. Sure, the final we heard, Kail was still with Chris Lopez. And we’re guessing Chris would not be too thrilled with exchanges just like the one captured above. However then once more, it does not seem as if Kailyn goes to any nice lengths to cover her alleged romance. Lowry has been on and off with Lopez for a lot of the previous two years, so the very fact she was with him final time she spoke publicly on the matter does not imply that she’s nonetheless relationship him now. In spite of everything, Kail does have a popularity as one of many smartest members of the Teen Mother franchise. We doubt she would put herself on blast on Twitter like that if she had been attempting to cover her new romance from Chris. Possibly this new factor is not that severe, and she or he hasn’t but felt the necessity to announce that she’s in a relationship. Or possibly she’s simply utilizing this new man to make Chris jealous. Or maaaaaybe — and we all know this sounds loopy — she feels that regardless of her standing as a actuality star, she’s entitled to some occasional privateness! What a thought! Edit Delete Source link