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3smuth · 5 years

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To the Champions of Kamigawa

Not too long ago, Blogatog slipped back into a familiar discussion about Kamigawa and its popularity – more specifically, the lack thereof. In the process, a lot of old arguments arose about the set’s power level, about its proximity to Mirrodin, and the state of Standard at the time it was released. And as true as all of those things are, MaRo has made clear that when he refers to the popularity of Kamigawa as a setting, there are several axes on which they grade a set, and that Kamigawa was unpopular in all of them. And yet, people continue to claim that the creative, the setting, the world of Kamigawa just wasn’t given a fair shake. The fact is, that’s just not true.

Now to be completely clear, I personally liked Kamigawa block. At the time I was no good at evaluating the power level of cards so that hardly mattered to me, and many of the elements of the block seemed cool, different, and just ~weird~ enough to catch my attention. But the thing that’s important to understand is that “weird” is – almost by definition – not popular. There is a certain amount of weirdness, of newness, of difference that players expect and even demand from every set, but every degree of just weirdness you put into your work beyond that actually just makes the finished product more inaccessible to a general audience. When you play up weird for weird’s sake, you just make it hard for people to connect with it.

Kamigawa turned ~weird~ up to 11. I think a lot of the champions of Kamigawa underestimate just how off-putting the setting really was for an average consumer. So I thought it might be useful to go through piece-by-piece and try to evaluate how much weirdness there really was in the set, and how much of that weirdness was going needlessly beyond what the average player demanded.

Kami - We might as well start with the elephant in the room – or perhaps the unrecognisably surreal mass of tusks and trunks that would be the Kami of the Elephant in the Room. The Kami introduced more weirdness into the set than every other element combined, and this was actually by design: they were fully intended to seem otherworldly, that was how they were selling the premise of the plane. The problem here is not with that intent, but with the execution: the Kami were not only very, very weird, they took up so much of the set that they would have pushed the set over its weirdness quota entirely on their own. Nearly half of all the creature cards on Kamigawa were Spirits, and the art for nearly every one of them looks like it was contrived by Salvador Dali – while this is a cool effect individually, forcing players to try and wrap their brains around this several times in every pack they open is just way too taxing. Again, even with none of the other things on this list, the Kami (as they were executed the first time around) likely would’ve turned off enough players to make Kamigawa a middling set. But, of course, they didn’t stop there.

Characteristic Races - While the Kami were designed to feel alien and otherworldly, the other side of the conflict was intended to feel material, corporeal - to feel familiar. Additionally, it had the responsibility of communicating the theme of the set, delivering on tropes that would allow players to recognise the setting as inspired by Japan. This overloading of responsibilities - serving as both the familiar contrast to the surreal Kami, but also as the unfamiliar contrast to a normal Magic setting - would've been a difficult task for any setting, but let's consider how well it was delivered upon here.

Kitsune - I’d consider the Kitsune a 'success', insofar as foxes are something the average person might actually be able to see a connection to Japan in. The problem with the execution here is that while the typeline clearly claimed these creatures were foxes, the creatures themselves were designed around a stylised representation of foxes used in traditional masks – a very specific element of the culture that the average person wouldn’t be able to connect. Red elements on actual anthropomorphized foxes would’ve been cool; having some of the Kitsune wear actual masks would’ve been cool; but taking away nearly all the identifiable features of foxes for the sake of a reference most players were never going to get? Needlessly - and unsuccessfully - weird.

Soratami - Whereas the Kitsune were something some portion of the audience would find resonant with Japan that was simply executed in a way that made them inaccessible, the Soratami were inaccessible from the ground up. The association of rabbits with the moon is much less well-known, and the Soratami are even more ambiguously rabbits than the Kitsune are foxes – the typeline isn’t even used to inform it. That said, the idea of Moonfolk is actually cool enough that I think this would have been a successful application of weirdness in isolation, but in practice it just became one more inaccessible reference that most players couldn’t follow.

Nezumi - An outlier on the plane, the Nezumi actually succeed – amazingly enough – in looking like what they are. The biggest issue here is that there’s no particular resonance between rats and Japan for most of the audience, but offbeat anthro races are something they still do from time to time, and I can’t lodge a specific complaint about it here. Probably not coincidentally, the Nezumi were my favourite characteristic race on Kamigawa.

Akki - Many planes have Goblins, and apparently Kamigawa is no exception. The goblins of Kamigawa look relatively little like traditional Goblins, instead drawing on folk stories of the kappa and adopting shells. This is doubly weird: most players aren’t going to know anything about the kappa, and those that do are going to know them as amphibious, river-dwelling monsters, not analogs to Magic’s Goblins. Now personally, I quite like when they change up the look of familiar characteristic races to show the differences between planes – Tarkir and Ixalan did so pretty successfully – so I’m not highly inclined to complain about the Akki, but I can’t help but feel it’s a little forced when the change doesn’t even make sense to those familiar with the source.

Ogres - These aren’t technically a characteristic race, but they show up in enough numbers that they’re worth mentioning. Interestingly, the oni tropes that Kamigawa’s ogres play into actually line up reasonably well with traditional ogres, so they don’t actually seem particularly weird. I actually think the Ogre/Demon execution on oni was pretty successful, with most of those cards being understandable even to those who aren’t familiar with the source material, yet still unfamiliar enough to communicate that we aren't in Kansas anymore. Again, one of my favourite aspects of the original block.

Orochi - The Orochi, however, somehow manage to do everything wrong at once. They fail to look like the snakes they claim to be, trading in snakes’ single most identifiable feature (all tail with no limbs) for the literal opposite of that (six (!!) limbs with no tail), but even if they did look like snakes, nobody particularly associates Japan with snakes anyway. I honestly can’t even figure out what they were trying to do with these, but whatever it was I can't say that they succeeded at it.

Humans: Given the strangeness of the other races, the bulk of the responsibility for familiarity fell upon the humans of Kamigawa - and in a sense, they achieved that: the Samurai felt like Samurai, and the Ninjas felt like Ninjas. But bear in mind that these things would themselves be the ~weird~ elements of any other set. These things on their own would have met much of the demand for new and different that most players had, but instead of serving that role they were forced to provide comfort and familiarity – a role they weren’t particularly well-suited for, and actively prevented them from capitalising on how cool and different they were. When the most familiar part of the set isn’t actually fundamentally familiar, it makes the entire set feel inaccessible, which is exactly the effect that Kamigawa had on so many players.

Other denizens: In the entire block, there are exactly three creature cards that are not one of the types listed above: one hound, one insect, and one beast. What this meant, more than anything, is that there was no real refuge for players who weren’t into what the block was doing. If a player who loves Green creatures found the Kami too surreal, and the Orochi too confusing, and just didn’t particularly resonate with the monks of Jukai, there was next to nothing for them in the entire block. One card in the last set, and even that is more than Red, Blue, or Black got. Modern Magic sets make sure to have individual cards that are individually appealing, so that when players don’t buy into the set as a whole, there is at least something there to catch them. And this was probably Kamigawa’s biggest failing overall: not only did it force players to ante up to a lot of weirdness, but when they weren’t willing to buy in it sent a clear message that they weren't welcome. If you really want to understand why so many players felt like Kamigawa wasn’t for them, it’s because the set told them it wasn’t. They just listened.

Now, there are lots of things they could have done better. A lower density of Spirits, and toning down some of the more surreal aspects, especially in the common ones: a tangled mass of human limbs with multiple faces and floating, disembodied eyes can certainly be a thing that exists in the world, but does it need to exist in every pack? More resonant and relatable characteristic races would help: make foxfolk enjoyable for people who just think foxes are cute, or introduce a characteristic Green race that doesn’t make you wonder how someone forgot the name for a snake with legs is “lizard”. They could have thrown in more random Japanese tropes, rather than tying every element of the set so tightly together that nothing else fit: it looks like they came accidentally close to including a Boar-Deer-Butterfly trio in Saviors, but loosening up the themes could have allowed for much more of that. There are lots of things they could have done, but didn’t – and the world they would’ve ended up with if they had would be different enough from the Kamigawa we got as to be largely unrecognisable.

And that becomes the fundamental question going forward: is there a way to completely rework the 90% of the setting that didn’t go over well without it feeling like something fundamentally different? And if 90% of the setting needs reworked anyway, should we really bother constricting ourselves to the 10% that was decent? I won't pretend Kamigawa didn't have successes (the Spirit Dragons, for example, are still quite popular to this day) but whether revisiting those successes warrants the limitations that a return would demand is a question that has to be approached very critically. And it's a question that many of Kamigawa's champions may not like the answer to.

[NOTE: I actually wrote up this post about a week ago, and I resolved that I'd simply post it whenever the topic cropped up again. Mark answered a question about Snakes that led to a small discussion about the Orochi in the comments, and I figured that was cause enough for me. Enjoy!]

#magic #mtg #kamigawa #blogatog

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garbage-art-positivity · 5 years

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I'm strongly suspected to have ADHD (waiting to get a diagnosis) due to this I often struggle to stay focused with my hobbies often getting bored and not going back to them or getting bored and just stopping. I also suffer from depression (officially diagnosed) which affects my motivation and makes things not as enjoyable as they previously would be. How can I find time to draw and improve?

Oh hey, same hat! (Though I haven’t gotten that depression diagnosis: making that and ADHD my 2020 resolution)

But yeah, it’s definitely a struggle, and I completely sympathize/empathize. Finding the time for drawing and practice is more difficult than a lot of people might think, since it’s not just... sitting down to draw? We gotta get our tools, open up programs, make sure we’re comfortable and there aren’t any other tasks that need doing...

My advice is this: Don’t find the time, make the time.

If you’re like me, you may find that you really benefit when you have a schedule or structure for tasks. Set a length of time per day/week to work on art, put it in a schedule you have easy access to (I use my phone’s calendar and set an alarm to remind me, personally), and stick to it to the best of your ability! Once you keep up with it enough, it may become more and more of a habit, which is just a nice bonus.

This is more for the ADHD stuff than the depression stuff, but having a schedule to follow (and not being hard on yourself for the occasional slip; life gets in the way, after all) can help with depression as well.

Also, my local library has a weekly block of time set aside for people who want to come in and work on their writing projects; see if your library/community center/cafe frequented by the artist community has a similar setup! Gets you working on art and out of the house, which is also a thing that can help out with depression moods!

Oh, and before I forget- if getting bored with hobbies is a concern of yours, make sure to not be hard on yourself for that either. Getting really hype for something only for that to fall off right away is a solid ADHD thing, after all.

I don’t have much of an answer for this, unfortunately, aside from... lowering your standards? I don’t mean that as a bad thing, either; if all you can get out of a drawing is a rough sketch, it’s still one more rough sketch than you would have done! If you spend one scheduled art session drawing one character only to get bored and use the rest of your time on a detailed anime eye then you still drew stuff!

TL;DR focus on making and maintaining a schedule/structured art time to help keep on track, allow yourself to drop your current art thing and switch to another subject that has your interest, and don’t beat yourself up if you start to slip.

#Anonymous

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hirstories · 6 years

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Lamb Stew

A/N: This is an old (2014 old) story. I wanted to write new content but I just don’t have time. I think I posted this on Tumblr before; I couldn’t find it in the archives though.

I post Lamb Stew for the #503week EdWin Week Day 5: Home.

Lamb Stew is special because I don’t write much fluff or happy stories, it just isn’t in me. The writing style is different from my recent works but it’s still enjoyable. Also, Lamb Stew is a favorite one-shot of mine. I hope you like it too.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs (675 g) stewing lamb, cut in bite size pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp (10 mL) salt

1 tsp (5 mL) celery seeds

1 tsp (5 mL) dried rosemary

3 cups (750 mL) water

6 medium carrots, peeled and quartered

4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 medium onions, peeled and quartered

1/4 cup (60 mL) all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups (310 mL) Milk

1 tsp (5 mL) Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Edward poured the equivalent of three cups of water into the old saucepan. He brought the pan with him and placed it on the large burner, turning the knob to the right so the gas could flow freely while he looked for the matches. He looked everywhere and couldn't find the accursed sticks. Any spectator looking into this particular scene would think that Edward had lost his marbles because the poor frenetic man couldn't see the box of matches sitting pretty on the wooden shelf directly above the stove, just to the right of the spices.

"Brother, the matches are right in front of you." Alphonse stated the obvious from the breakfast table. He even guided Edward with his eyes by pointing the location to his frazzled older brother.

The younger Elric shook his head as he watched his brother grab the box from the shelf, and offered him a sympathetic smile. It wasn't Edward's fault that he was so out of control, after all; roughly forty feet away —or the distance between the master bedroom and the kitchen— laid his wife on bed, screaming at the top of her lungs every time she had a contraction as she moved from active labor to transition labor.

Edward quickly took out a matchstick from the box and struck it against the side with the coarse surface, and after four pitiful attempts, he managed to finally light the fifth matchstick and—

"Shit!"

The small combustion caused by the gas that had become saturated around the burner almost singed away Edward's long bangs.

"Edward!" Alphonse reprimanded, shaking a chastising head at his older brother. "You can't be cursing like this around the baby!"

"I see you don't care that I almost burnt my face off!"

Alphonse's expressionless stare made the older sibling grumble and pout.

Right now Edward couldn't control that sailor mouth of his. Winry's water had broke around ten in the morning and the ballad of her pained cries had slowly but steadily frayed his nerves. He was about to shoot a snarky comeback at the expecting sibling when Winry's pained moan shoved his words down his throat.

The soon-to-be-dad couldn't help the shudder that followed. Out of nowhere, Edward threw his hands in the air.

"H-how can't I not cuss?" Edward groused while pointing an agitated finger towards the hallway, enforcing his point. "She's in pain, dammit, and I can't do squat! Don't you get it?"

'Just great.' Edward's irrational behavior made Alphonse huff in exasperation as he realized that Edward was taking his calm demeanor the wrong way.

Of course he cared! Winry was her dear friend and sister-in-law —heck— she's the sister he always wanted to have, and to hear her pained cries was as just hard on him as it was on Edward. He was only trying to stay calm so he could be the pillar that Edward so desperately needed… at least this is what Mei had drilled into his head before heading into the master bedroom.

He stood up and approached Edward.

"Brother, of course I care," he reiterated. "But that's how nature is." He placed a reassuring hand on his brother's stiff shoulder. "Besides, Winry is in excellent hands. Granny is guiding her through labor and Mei is applying alkahestry techniques that help ease the pain."

Alphonse's calming influence didn't quell Edward's distress. All the older Elric could think about was how utterly useless he was at this type of situation, just like that stormy day at Dominick's house…

"I'm as useless as that Bastard is on rainy days…" He groused, petulantly.

Alphonse gave Edward a puzzled look, and he was going to ask him what he meant by the odd comment, but the angry splashing and sizzling of boiling water caught his attention.

"Brother, the saucepan." Edward looked at the stove and saw that the water was rolling wildly.

"Oh, sh—oot!" Edward half cursed as he lowered the flame.

He immediately turned towards his brother and grinned at him like a child caught doing a prank.

Alphonse humph before offering a smile of his own. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, opting to disregard Edward's sailor mouth this time around, and decided to take a look around the kitchen.

Vegetables were set on the counter next to the chopping block and a huge chunk of meat was also sitting nearby, still wrapped in butcher's paper.

"Ed, what possessed you to cook at a time like this?" Alphonse asked in bewilderment, not understanding what was going on through his brother's head.

"Winry asked me to," Edward simply stated. He glanced at the ingredients waiting to be prepped before returning his attention back to his younger brother. "She requested this from me ever since we found out she was pregnant."

"Oh!" Alphonse was quite surprised with the answer and immediately wondered why Winry would make such odd request, because as far as he remembered, Winry had complained in the past about Edward's lack of talent for the culinary arts—

His expression turned impish.

"It's a miracle that she's still alive," he taunted, knowing well that type of teasing always set Edward ablaze.

"Ha—ha!" Edward snapped. He then turned up his nose at his brother.

"I had plenty of practice just you know," Edward added with shallow pride.

"Of course you did! Alphonse sniggered, his playful expression was full of sarcasm, but Edward had enough of his quips, and sucker punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Alphonse cried out. "Geez, I was only joking!"

"Yeah-yeah," Edward deadpanned.

"So? Are you going to stand there sulking like a child or are you going to help me out with the stew?"

The younger blonde nodded, still rubbing his arm.

"Can you peel and cut the vegetables?" Edward asked.

"Sure, Ed."

Alphonse went over to the sink to wash his hands. He chanced a glance at Edward and noticed that his tension had diminished considerably and he smiled at that. His goofiness had paid off.

'But he owes me one for the punch.' He mused as he closed the tap.

"Oh, no. This won't do." The elder Elric complained.

Alphonse looked over his shoulder. "What's the matter, Brother?"

"The chunks are still too big," he pinched a chunk of meat between his fingers. "See?"

"Is that lamb?" Alphonse went off the tangent, making Edward roll his eyes at him.

"Of course it's lamb! What else can it be?"

"Beef?" Alphonse offered sheepishly.

Edward couldn't counter that answer.

"Well, Winry was craving lamb, ok?" He said flatly.

Golden eyes now stared at the meat. "I'm going to cut them into bite size pieces."

Alphonse shook his head.

"Whatever makes you happy, Brother." He commented, almost rolling his eyes at Edward's manic compulsion.

He grabbed a potato and the potato peeler then started the tedious task of skinning the tuber.

"Um—"

Alphonse looked at Edward. "Yes, Brother?"

"Can you mince the garlic first?" Edward asked with a sugary smile.

Alphonse nodded. He set the potato and the peeler apart then grabbed the two garlic cloves. He also grabbed a smaller knife from the knife block then begun cutting the first clove into tiny pieces.

"Al…?"

Alphonse looked up. "Yes, Brother?"

"Try to be careful when using that knife," he said pointing at his brother with the knife he was holding. "I don't want you to cut yourself."

This time Alphonse did roll his eyes at Edward. "Geez, Ed. I'm not a baby," he sulked in frustration while cutting the clove. "I know what I'm—"

Alphonse dug the knife into his left index finger. Edward turned around to look at his brother when the chopping stopped.

"Dammit, Al!" Edward hissed when he saw the blood. "I told you to be careful!"

Alphonse was sucking on the wounded finger. "I was being careful, Ed!" He sucked on the finger some more. "You just had to go and jinx me."

"Hey!" Edward shouted in his big brother tone. He left the meat and the knife behind so he could assist his brother.

"Lemme see."

"Edward!" The younger blonde whined when his brother grabbed his wrist.

Edward looked at the wound thoroughly. "It's not that bad," he said and he let go of the hand.

"Of course it's not that bad, mother hen." Alphonse scoffed while looking at the wound. "Nothing that a little alkahestry can't cure."

The meat had been cut to Edward's standards, and was simmering along with garlic, salt, celery seeds and rosemary for about hour and a half. Edward added small amounts of water to the pan whenever the broth lost too much water. Alphonse had finished peeling and cutting the vegetables. The task had been a cinch with the freshly healed finger.

At this point both brothers were sitting on the breakfast table waiting for the moment to add the vegetables. Winry's grunts and howls had become more frequent and Alphonse noticed that Edward was becoming tense once again.

"It's ok, Ed." Alphonse offered with a pat to the back and an open smile. "She's progressing."

Yet once again Alphonse's words didn't provide the desired effect. Instead of calming down, a baffled Edward looked at his brother in mild annoyance.

"How is it that you can remain so calm?" Edward let his thoughts be known.

Alphonse felt the frustration in his brother's words. He leaned back on his chair and offered Edward another sympathetic smile.

"That's because I've helped Mei with lots of births back in Xing." Alphonse explained, immediately noticing Edward's astonished reaction to the confession.

"It was part of my alkahestry training," he continued. "After all, alkahestry is geared towards the medical use."

"Wow, lil' bro… that's amazing!" Edward expressed with the proudest smile.

He offered his younger brother the most loving look, one that made Alphonse blush brightly in return.

There was a short pause between their brotherly exchange in which both siblings heard another of Winry's pained cries.

"Do you remember how scared we were when Mrs. LeCoulte was giving birth to her son?" Edward mentioned after the cry died out.

Alphonse nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"We were a mess…" Edward added as he talked about the memory.

Alphonse noticed that Edward's countenance had relaxed some yet there was some gloominess lingering behind his seemingly serene expression.

"So the stew," he asked, trying to capture Edward's attention. "How many times have you made it for Winry?"

Edward glanced at Alphonse. His golden eyes looked slightly upwards and to the right as he mentally counted the times he had to make the tedious dish for his loving wife.

"About thirty times… roughly once a week since the day she asked me to cook the dish for her."

"Wow!" Alphonse spurted in amazement. "That's some food craving she had going…"

"You're telling me!" Edward snorted.

"And she was very picky too!" Edward now rested his back on the seat, relaxing his posture.

"Winry almost threw a wrench at me one time, when she accused me of burning the stew," Edward recalled. "How can you even burn stew—"

A louder howl echoed from the back of the house and made Alphonse sit straight on his chair.

"What is it?" Edward asked with utter worry, noticing his brother's change in behavior.

"The contractions are becoming more frequent," Alphonse mumbled. "She must be at ten centimeters now," he added, now directing stern olive eyes at Edward.

"What!" Edward cried out, jolting away from the chair as his nerves revved up.

"Calm down, Brother!" Alphonse said but Edward wasn't listening.

"Oh, cr—ud!" Edward yelled as his blanched face met with the simmering saucepan.

"What is it?" Alphonse asked, alarmed.

"The stew!"Edward rushed into the kitchen. "The vegetables need to be cooked!" He was becoming frantic again.

Alphonse grumbled to himself, wondering if he was going to behave like his brother the day that Mei went into labor…

'Most likely.' He gave out a small chuckle before standing up.

The younger blonde followed his brother into the kitchen, after all, it was his job was to keep Edward from injuring himself as they waited for the baby to be born.

Edward set the timer for thirty minutes and placed it next to the stove. He had built the small contraption from scratch just a few months ago as a way to practice engineering while he awaited the arrival of his first-born.

During the three years he spent in the West he fell in love with the mechanics of the flying machines of Milos. He made a contract with the government of the fledgling nation and trained with the best mechanical engineers that Milos had to offer. He, in an act of Equivalent Exchange, taught his alchemic knowledge at the local university. During his apprenticeship he dabbled a little in automail mechanics but decided to leave the work to Winry. He knew very well that his wife would divorce him if he ever tried to tamper with her glorious masterpiece.

"It's starting to smell delicious, Ed," Alphonse offered, bringing said blonde back to the present.

Edward placed his hands on his hips.

"I just hope it taste good," he answered before glancing at the hallway. "She deserves the best." A tender smile followed his words.

"Of course it will taste good," Alphonse replied, also looking at the long hallway. He returned his attention to his brother.

"You should have gotten the hang of it by now," he added with a mischievous smirk. "I mean with thirty-something attempts under your belt, you should be a master chef by now—"

"Ow!" The younger blonde got struck on the back of the head as Edward walked past him.

"Remind me to pester you when you're in my shoes," Edward retorted as he opened the fridge. He took from it the Worcestershire sauce and the milk.

Alphonse noticed the look of disgust that his brother had while carrying the items with him. He kept watching with mild amusement as Edward placed the items on the counter. He could have sworn that his brother gave a death stare to the milk carton after setting it on the wooden surface.

"Al, can you hand me the flour?"

"Sure thing, Ed!" Alphonse opened the shelf behind him and took the small bag of flour from it. He walked over to Edward and handed him the bag.

"Thanks…" Edward opened the nearby drawer and took a sifter from it. He took the bag in one hand and the sifter in the other then placed them above the simmering saucepan. He begun adding flour to the sifter and shook it so the milled powder would fall evenly inside the bubbling stock.

Edward put down the flour and the sifter then grabbed the large wooden spoon he had been using to stir the stew and smoothly mixed in the flour before it had a chance to clump.

"Al, can you hand me the vile secretion?" Edward extended a hand at Alphonse's way. He didn't take his eyes away from the pot as he asked for the favor.

An amused younger brother grabbed the milk carton and placed it on his brother's hand.

"It's for Winry, remember?" Edward snapped before Alphonse had the chance to get all smart aleck on him.

"I know, I know, but you like it too." Alphonse taunted.

Edward decided to ignore the tongue-in-cheek remark as he concentrated on adding one and a quarter cup of the disgusting milk, not a drop more nor a drop less.

He really despised the ghastly liquid but he knew that it made the stew taste better.

By the time the stew had thicken, Winry gave out the most horrible howl that both brother's have ever heard. Silence followed but quickly dissipated as the frantic cries of a tiny human were heard.

Both brothers stood still, Edward wide-eye and with spoon in hand, and Alphonse standing still with his mouth agape.

It was the younger Elric who reacted first.

He tried to unclench his jaw but failed to do so, then he saw tears running down his brother's cheeks.

It was a rare sight to see Edward Elric crying because "Edward Elric didn't do crying".

Edward noticed Alphonse staring at him and shed more happy tears.

"Al… I'm a dad…"

He lowered the spoon, almost letting it slip from his grasp as a tidal wave of emotions hit his mind and body.

Alphonse, who hadn't shed a tear yet, felt his olive eyes suddenly drown with them. He also felt a lump in his throat, a sensation that usually hated, but this time around he welcomed it with delight. His quivering lips finally were able to form words.

"You're a dad!" He cried out from utter joy, and his body moved on his own accord, holding Edward in a tight, loving embrace.

The last time they held each other like this was when Alphonse recovered his body.

"I want to see them," Edward said as he parted from Alphonse's comforting arms.

"You can't just yet," Alphonse said sympathetically. "Mei will come for us when mother and child are ready to see you, us."

It was clear that Edward didn't like what he heard.

"You still need to serve Winry a big bowl of lamb stew." Alphonse reminded his brother as he himself searched through the cabinets for a bowl large enough to feed the new mom.

Edward hated feeling this emotional. He just didn't do emotional, yet… that's what he had been doing ever since he found out he was going to be a father.

At first he felt scared, because he could only see himself failing Winry and the baby, just like his father failed him and his mother. He even had a nasty fight with Winry because of this, but a "chat" with Pinako helped him clear the cobwebs from his mind.

Some time after Edward regained his confidence, Winry asked him to cook a special dish for her. The odd request about making lamb stew took him completely by surprise. He had never been a good cook to begin with but he wasn't going to say "no" to the woman that was carrying his child.

As Edward followed his sister-in-law down the hallway, he felt his heart beating faster. The little bean didn't want to tell him nor Alphonse if the baby was a boy or a girl. She didn't want to divulge the information, saying that it was "unlucky" to do so.

The surroundings begun to feel muted as each stride brought him closer to the master bedroom. He swallowed deeply, trying to ease the dryness he was beginning to feel in his throat. He absently licked his lips too, just before Mei turned the doorknob. Thank the heavens that Alphonse was the one carrying the tray with the lamb stew because he would've dropped it on the floor from the nervousness he had been experiencing ever since Winry's water broke half a day ago.

When the door opened, Edward was welcomed by the yellowish light of incandescent light bulbs. For him it looked like a golden light was enveloping the room, blanketing with its aureate hue everything it touched. He blinked slowly —at least it felt to him this way— studying everything inside the room.

To the right was Pinako, putting away what looked like bloodied cloths inside a wicker basket. To the left was Alphonse, who was setting the food tray on the table, and Mei, who was looking at Winry with loving eyes. Her flickering gaze guided him to connect with the love of his life.

Golden orbs touched sapphire, and they widened as they took in the breathless sight before him.

Winry was sitting on bed, with a few pillows helping to keep her erect. Her tired smile quickly connected with Edward, pinning him in place as he felt his heart swell. With a minute shift of the eyes, Edward's golden orbs clung to the tiny figure nestled in his wife's arms.

The sleeping baby was nuzzling comfortably on the soft bosom, sleeping contentedly after having bonded with his momma. Edward found that he still couldn't move, paralyzed from the surge of emotions that were coursing through his body.

Happiness and elation…

…fear and uncertainty—

"Ed, come near." Winry's sweet voice helped him get a grip of himself.

He walked slowly towards his beloved wife, and when he was standing next to her she gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

"Sit down, silly man," Winry said tenderly to him as she pulled him to sit down on the bed with her free hand.

Edward obeyed and sat with outmost care on the bed. He didn't want Winry to hurt from the shifting since she must've be very sore by the burden of labor.

Once Edward sat on the bed, Winry guided him with her celestial eyes towards the newborn.

"Ed, this is your son," she said with the proudest smile a mother can have.

Edward swallowed down the lump in his throat. He wanted to touch that tiny human Winry was holding in her arms but didn't know how to.

She offered Edward the baby but he backed away from it in fear.

"I don't know, Winry—" He whined, his voice full of insecurity, but Winry was having none of it.

"Don't be such a baby, Ed! He won't break!" Winry groused as she pushed her son on Edward's arms.

The fearful father had to choice but to quickly adapt to holding his son. Suddenly, the tiny body molded to his arms.

Golden orbs took in the beauty of the tiny life as it flailed his arms before settling back in peaceful slumber. A sob escaped from the ex-alchemist as his forehead met with his son's thus bonding for the first time with the new life that he had helped to create.

"Welcome home, my son," he said in the gentlest tone that he had ever used.

All of Edward's fears dissipated when the baby cooed in response to the sound of his words.

"Know that I will always be there for you, my boy," Edward continued. "I will protect you and love you with all my heart, heh, I already do… ever since I found out that you were on the way."

He kissed the newborn's soft forehead. "Thanks for being in our lives… I love you."

Edward now looked at Winry who had been silently crying over his heart-felt speech. New tears begun falling from his eyes.

"I love you, Win," he leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

Edward handed his son back to Winry.

Mei's loud sobbing interrupted the precious moment. The new parents looked at the newlyweds and smiled. Alphonse was lovingly holding Mei in his arms as they both dried their tears.

Winry gave out a tired giggle.

"Al," she directed her full attention to her brother-in-law. "Do you want to hold your nephew?"

Alphonse's face lit like the sun. Words failed him again, so he avidly nodded a "yes". He stepped forward and extended his arms as Winry handed him the baby boy.

Alphonse tenderly held his nephew in his arms as he brought him over to Mei.

"He looks like, Ed!" He exclaimed with tear-laden eyes.

His comment made Winry pout and Edward grin.

"He—ck yeah!" The new father boasted, minding again that he couldn't swear as he did before.

Everybody inside the room, with the exception of Alphonse, laughed at Edward's attempt of being polite.

"Where's the stew?" Winry asked, breaking the mirth of magical moment with her inquiry.

"The stew!" Both brothers said in unison.

Edward gently stood up from the bed and took the food tray from the table. He brought the tray to his wife and gingerly placed it on her lap.

Winry took the spoon in her hand and dipped it inside the bowl. She took a small sip at first, as manners dictated, but her manners left her the moment she swallowed the broth down her throat. The new mother wolfed down the contents of the large bowl in mere seconds.

Everyone, except Pinako, looked at Winry in disbelief.

"Ah! That was a godsend," Winry exclaimed as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

She grabbed the empty bowl and handed it to Edward.

"More please!" Winry said with a grin.

Everyone inside the master bedroom ate stew in silence but it was Winry who broke the quiet moment.

"This was your the best stew, Ed. Thank you." Her words made Edward blush.

"Yeah, Brother," Alphonse chipped in. "This actually tastes good."

"I second that!" Mei chirped.

"Hey!" Edward pouted. "Of course it tastes awesome!" He added pointing a proud finger to his chest.

"Oh shush, micro-dad." Pinako interjected. "This is just slightly better than the lousy crud you've been serving."

"No one asked, old hag!" Edward countered, not before sending daggers Pinako's way.

"Keep it down," Winry shushed. "Edwin's sleeping."

Everyone looked at Winry in surprise.

"Ed-Edwin?" Edward gawked.

"Yes, Ed. His name is Edwin." Winry replied, confidently.

Edward stared at his wife for a moment as he thought about the name.

"I like it!" He said with a toothy grin. "It's a badass name… now I need to have it embroidered on the dragon onesie I got him back in Central—"

"No, Ed!" Winry cut off. "Eddie will not be wearing gaudy outfits."

"But it's a rad design!" He complained petulantly.

"Of course it is, Ed," Winry rolled her eyes at him. "Only a blind person would agree with you!"

Alphonse, Mei and Pinako stared impassively at the young parents, who at this point were heavily engaged in their usual petty arguments.

"C'mon you two," Pinako said to the newlyweds. "Let's leave these two alone while we take care of the dishes."

Pinako was transferring the leftovers of the stew into a smaller container while Alphonse and Mei took care of the dishes. Alphonse could clearly see the exhaustion marked on the women's faces. He told them that he would take care of tidying up the kitchen.

It was close to midnight when Alphonse finished cleaning the area. He now joined his beloved wife and foster-grandmother in the living room.

"Hey, Granny?" Alphonse asked as plopped into the sofa. "Winry must be exhausted."

Granny considered Alphonse's statement as she rocked herself on the chair.

"Winry is just fine," she replied, confidently. "That stew revitalized her body. She was fighting with Ed, wasn't she?"

"I guess so…" Alphonse mused. "Is that why Winry asked Ed to make her the stew?" He added, wanting to know more about the history behind the strange request.

Pinako cackled. "That recipe has been passed down the Rockbell women for generations. I asked George —bless his soul— to make it for me when I was with child, so did Sarah when she was pregnant with Winry—"

"And now Winry did the same with Ed." Alphonse concluded.

"That is a sweet tradition," Mei interjected. She looked at Alphonse with shiny eyes. "Will you cook it for me when I'm with child?"

Alphonse coughed in nervous reaction to Mei's words, yet he immediately begun thinking how amazing it was going to be to cook the delicious dish for his beloved wife.

"Well, I hope that is soon, dear, because I want lots of great-grandchildren playing around this house."

Pinako cackled again when her comment flustered the young couple. She stood up, slowly, feeling the exhaustion of the day.

"I'm going to bed," she announced and left the bashful couple behind.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Winry cooed as she fed her son.

"M… yes he is…" Edward said while he tucked some of Winry's locks behind her ear.

"After all he's our littlest man." He added, saying out loud the words his mother would've said regarding Edwin.

Sometime after, the new family rested comfortably in the large bed, awaiting the new sun to mark the new chapter of their young lives.

#503week #edwin #old story #repost #fma #fanfiction #my stories

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ashxpad · 3 years

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Shooting with a 21-Year-Old Camera: The Fujifilm S1 Pro

I find it incredibly fun to use older, especially unique, digital cameras both as a challenge and for sheer enjoyment.

I think part of it is psychological. With archaic cameras sporting outdated technology we anticipate subpar results, and so we focus more on what we can control: composition, lighting (when applicable), exposure, and so on — the things we should always be focusing on.

Conversely, when we have a Hasselblad in our hands, we may let go a bit in the unconscious belief that the camera can make up the difference for our lack of talent or effort. Of course, we all know it can’t.

I won’t get into the boring history of why I own a lot of early to mid-2000s digital cameras, but at some point, I found myself the owner of a Fujifilm Finepix S1 Pro — the first in a five-model line of Fujifilm DSLRs that housed some incredibly unique sensor technology that it dubbed “SuperCCD.”

Apologies for the subpar product photos. I didn’t have access to my full setup.

In the S1 Pro, the photodiodes of the 3.1-megapixel SuperCCD sensor took the form of a honeycomb tessellation, oriented in a zig-zag array rather than a simple vertical/horizontal mosaic. Because of this, the distance between cells is smaller, making for about 40% more (square root of 2 = 1.41) sensor cell rows horizontally and vertically than a regular Bayer sensor.

The camera then uses an interpolation algorithm that supposedly results in a resolution equivalent to a 6.2 megapixel Bayer sensor. The 45-degree orientation also allows for improved capture of horizontal and vertical detail. This is good because most of the world, thanks to gravity, exists in horizontal and vertical planes — however, this happens at the expense of diagonal resolution, which is where traditional sensor layouts excel.

The honeycomb design of the SuperCCD sensors.

Released in January 2000, the Fujifilm S1 Pro is based on the Nikon N60 (aka F60) film camera body (with modifications by Fuji). It logically sports a Nikon F mount and can use AI, AI-S, AI-P, AF, AF-D, or G type lens — however, only AF and AF-D lenses will autofocus. AI and AI-S lenses can only be used in manual exposure mode as there is no meter coupling.

Most of these photos were shot with either the Nikon AF-D 24-120/3.5-5.6 or Nikon AF-D 50/1.8. While the 24-120 is not a quality optic, it’s a more than sufficient match for this sensor, especially stopped down a bit — and you can stop down to your heart’s content without hitting diffraction on this camera.

I had initially gone out shooting with some superior G-type lenses, however, accurate manual focusing is impossible for me through the straw-like OVF (wearing glasses doesn’t help either) and the focus confirmation dot is totally unreliable. Strangely, I had more issues manually focusing on distant objects stopped down than closer ones wide open — the photo above was manually focused with the Sigma Art 35mm wide open at f/1.4, yet the below photo (slightly out of focus) was at 24mm and f/8 with the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR.

Shutter speeds top out at 1/2000th. There are several metering modes (3D 6-zone, 6-zone, center-weight), a pop-up flash and hot-shoe (Nikon TTL compatible), and ISO options of 320, 400, 800, and 1600. There is no auto ISO function, and you have to menu dive each time you want to adjust it.

File choices are JPEG or TIFF only — no RAW, unfortunately — recorded to either CompactFlash or SmartMedia. The camera certainly did not accept my 64 or 128GB cards, but I was able to dig up an old 1GB card that can hold a whopping 56 TIFF files in the highest quality mode available (“Hi RGB TIFF”).

This is easily the slowest camera I have ever used. The menu is the antithesis of intuitive; it’s mostly just a collection of symbols and abbreviations and my hat is off to you if you can guess their meaning without reading the manual.

Forget chimping. Just murder that idea and bury it. It takes a solid 31 seconds (yes, I timed it) for an image to populate the screen. Once it does, just about the only thing you can confirm is that a photo was indeed taken, though a histogram is available for more accurate analysis. JPEGs, however, are significantly faster to review.

In a way, if you choose TIFF over JPEG, using the camera is akin to shooting a bulked-up Nikon N60 loaded with a roll and a half of film — no image review, roughly 55 maximum shots, and no quick adjustment of the ISO.

The S1 Pro allows you to choose between either 3.1MP or 6.2MP output. To produce a traditional image file — which exists in rows and columns — the camera must interpolate by using adjacent photosites to generate data between existing pixels. After all, the recorded file can’t exist in the same zig-zag honeycomb pattern as the sensor. After each line is read out and the missing data is filled, you end up with twice the spatial resolution (6.2MP).

Compared to the Nikon D40, which uses a 6.1-megapixel Bayer sensor, the S1 Pro doesn’t quite reach the same level of pixel acuity. However, side by side with the 4.1 megapixel Nikon D2Hs, there isn’t much in it between the two. So, I think the real Bayer-equivalent resolution sits somewhere in the middle of 3.1 and 6.2MP — around 4-4.5 megapixels. As it would happen, this is exactly in line with the roughly 40% increase in sensor cell rows (3.1 * 1.41 = 4.37). It also depends on the scene — some benefit from the unusual sensor design much more than others.

CCD sensors are not forgiving of sloppy exposure. Pushing or pulling can quickly result in blotchy chroma noise, severe color shifts, and compromised roll-off from the quartertones into the highlights. It is not unlike slide film in this way.

The colors are phenomenally accurate and neutral out of the camera. “ORG” tone and color produce a lovely, neutral file that’s perfect for editing, and “STD” (standard) tone and color make for a pleasingly usable straight-out-of-camera file. Even with color set to “HIGH” and tone set to “HARD,” the images aren’t bombastically oversaturated and Disneyland like we often see with the “Vivid” setting in modern cameras. In fact, High Color/Hard Tone photos exhibit only a very modest bump in saturation and contrast compared to Standard Color/Tone. One thing is perfectly clear: Fujifilm was producing cameras with beautiful color output long before X-Trans.

All the images here were shot at ISO 320, 800, or 1600. ISO 400 is completely pointless given that it’s a mere quarter stop gain over base. It would be easier to just dial in a third of a stop of exposure compensation rather than clicking through the menu. I really wish there was a lower base ISO of 160, as well as intermediate options like 640 and 1280.

The camera’s high native sensitivity — combined with early CCD architecture — means that there is a noticeable level of noise even at base ISO. Thankfully, the noise is quite pleasing and mostly luminance up through ISO 800 — even 1600 has very minimal chroma noise straight out of the camera. Anecdotally, I’ve found this to be a running theme with CCD sensors — considerable noise even at base ISO, but the noise presents very favorably through most, if not all, of the sensitivity range depending on the camera. It also makes for astonishingly appealing black and white photos, especially given the finely grained texture from what is largely high-frequency noise. “Film-like” would be an apt descriptor for the results.

The considerable noise in this image is the result of bringing up an underexposed photo in post. Black and white helps cover the color shifts and chroma noise.

If you nail exposure in camera, ISO 1600 will produce remarkably great results with an unexpectedly low amount of noise for a sensor of this type and age — there isn’t much to speak of in terms of offensive noise and photos are completely usable without any noise reduction. However, at this point, you’ve lost a good bit of dynamic range and if you try to push the image in any way, blocked up patches of low-frequency chroma noise and banding immediately rear their head. There is essentially zero room for pushing the files at all if shot at ISO 800 or higher.

Quite impressively, there is almost nothing in terms of color shift throughout the entire sensitivity range — what is accurate or pleasing at base ISO will be accurate or pleasing at 1600. Again, this is something I have noticed on more than one occasion with CCD cameras — the Pentax 645D behaves almost identically throughout its ISO range.

ISO 1600, SOOC “Standard” color and tone, auto WB. Noise reduction and sharpening zeroed out in ACR. No adjustments aside from downsizing.

While restrictive by modern standards, a highly usable ISO 1600 in an APS-C camera in the year 2000 was exceptionally good. Fujifilm claimed the SuperCCD cameras to have superior sensitivity performance — the honeycomb photosites allow for more pixels to be packed within a given area and their shape more closely mirrors the circular microlenses that sit above them. I think Fuji’s assertation bears out in practice.

I would estimate roughly 7.5-8 stops of usable dynamic range, which is up against what I presume is an 8-bit ADC (analog to digital converter). Given this, along with the unforgiving nature of CCD sensors and processing latitude further limited by the lack of RAW, you need to be very deliberate with your exposure choices. Even in a scene of moderate contrast, you will almost certainly have either crushed blacks or clipped highlights.

However, like most CCD cameras, you do start to lose dynamic range quickly once you boost the ISO by a couple of stops. There also isn’t much in the shadows — modern cameras (CMOS) tend to have a lot of their dynamic range bunched up in the shadows, allowing for some truly incredible detail recovery. CCD sensors do not work the same way, and even with a full-blown RAW file, I doubt you’d find much usable information at that end of the histogram. You can mitigate this somewhat via ETTR (“expose to the right”), but with what is already a suboptimal amount of dynamic range, you’ll only have a small amount of latitude for ETTR, if any.

Oops, highway patrol got me. High contrast scenes like this are difficult – the whites are just on the cusp of clipping, but the blacks are gone in numerous areas.

While the camera’s light meter, particularly the 3D 6-zone multipattern meter, is exceptionally adept at balancing exposure in difficult scenes, the auto white balance is a duality: it’s either one of the most accurate I have ever seen or it’s the worst. Almost all the photos I took required zero tint adjustment and usually only +1 to +4 temperature adjustment. However, on three occasions the images were off by so much I’m still baffled as to exactly why.

The most egregious were photos taken about two hours before sunset in the shade — they were rendered extremely blue and about half a stop underexposed. The white balance went so far off the map that most of a plain white T-shirt measured blue values from 240 on up to completely clipped! I assume the culprit for this error is a combination of the camera’s CCD light meter design and spectral response — the infrared filter may be causing issues in certain situations too. IR filters can strongly affect the blue channel and it’s possible there was a bit of Rayleigh scattering at work.

The major issue is that without a RAW file, your options are extremely limited — those botched files required +76 temperature to correct. Such a massive shift in an 8-bit TIFF file results in horrendous noise — especially bad because the blue channel is always the noisiest — and extreme spectral shifts across the entire image. Strangely, a separate shot of a red step ladder taken five feet away at the same time required only -3 tint and zero temperature adjustment.

Using the S1 Pro reminds me of shooting with the original 18-megapixel Leica M9 and Leica M Monochrom cameras — both with Kodak CCD designs. Neither those cameras nor the S1 Pro has any tolerance for “underexpose to protect the highlights” or similar approaches in the same way that CMOS sensors allow — not unlike how slide film doesn’t take kindly to push processing. People who worry about how a camera handles being pushed five stops will need to adjust — it’ll help them in the long run so they can finally learn to stop underexposing so much.

Ultimately, while the files from the S1 Pro don’t contain anywhere near the latitude of even modern JPEGs, let alone the power of RAW, my biggest takeaway while using this camera was how much I adore and value transparency as a starting point out of the camera. In a way, the naturality of colors and tones from this camera makes it even more aggravating that the files can’t stand up to much manipulation — I would absolutely LOVE results like this out of my Nikon Z7, and every other camera I have for that matter.

My father assisting in the repair of a Pentax 6×7. In scenes like this, you just have to expose for your subject and let the extreme ends clip.

What I would love to see is a universal “Natural Color Solution” (to steal a term from Hasselblad) adopted by all manufacturers and implemented in their cameras as an option. If you want that “Natural Color” RAW file, you can have it. If you want the look that you’ve come to love from your manufacturer, you can pick that too. Aside from Hasselblad, I’m not sure what would be the risk for manufacturers to do this — other than that it would take some effort and time.

I would not call the Fujifilm S1 Pro a fun or pleasant camera to use at all. To be honest, I probably immediately deleted 99% of the photos I took while doing this review. And even among the ones you see here, there are more than a few that I am not happy with. Normally, I would not settle for posting simply passable images, but in this case, I think even the lesser photos here do have value by showing both the warts and the ornaments.

Have no doubt, this is a challenging camera to use. I’m sure my images would greatly improve with continued use, but how much I am not sure — I feel like you hit the ceiling quicker than you might imagine.

Perhaps I can follow this up with a retrospective review of 2005’s Fujifilm S3 Pro, which sports a new SuperCCD SR sensor with two photodiodes per photosite — one of normal sensitivity and a smaller one of lower sensitivity. Both are combined to produce enhanced dynamic range (and it works very, very well). The general principle behind such a design comes from the structure of the crystal coating in silver halide film. The S3 also has a 14-bit ADC and produces 14-bit RAW files! That’s just a few of the improvements, but I’ll tell you this much: the SuperCCD SR sensor does NOT disappoint.

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gamerszone2019-blog · 5 years

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Children of Morta Review

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/children-of-morta-review/

Children of Morta Review

Children of Morta is a game about family. Mechanically, it’s a satisfying dungeon crawler where you grind through bad guys, level up your characters, and unlock better abilities so that you can face off against a series of increasingly difficult bosses. But really, at its heart, it’s a compelling game about what it means to be a part of a family, and how being surrounded by loved ones can make you a better, stronger person.

The Bergson family, six of whom you’re able to play as, is made up of warriors, mages, and inventors all tasked with holding back the Corruption–which has, at the game’s opening, started to spread across their homeland. Their house sits atop a shrine, and to battle against the evil forces of the demonic Ou they need to travel through portals and conquer dungeons, in order to awaken three spirits that can guard against the Corruption.

It’s a cliched fantasy setup, but Children of Morta makes the most of its tropes by making sure that you’re invested in the Bergsons and their plight. Between runs of the dungeons, you’re treated to cutscenes and vignettes of the family interacting with one another, and you get to know the beats of their lives and what they get up to when they’re not enduring dungeons. You start with two playable characters, family patriarch John and his eldest daughter Linda, but the other four are introduced within the game’s opening half. Seeing them train and grow in cutscenes, and getting a sense of their place within the family, means that you’re already attached to the characters before you get your hands on them.

Gameplay in Children of Morta involves battling your way through hordes of enemies to reach each dungeon’s boss, exploring thoroughly and nabbing as many temporary boosts as you can along the way. Each character has three main abilities they’ll unlock as they level up: a standard attack that can be used continuously, a special attack with a cooldown, and a more defensive ability (although some of these can still do damage). The combat isn’t necessarily super deep, but it’s a lot of fun thanks to some extremely satisfying animation and the strategic possibilities that become available as you level up. Dungeons consist of multiple levels and are generated anew each time you enter, so finding the entrance to the next level will always require some exploration. Occasionally I’d find myself frustrated when the path to the exit ended up being very elaborate, but this also kept the game feeling fresh when some dungeons took a long time to clear.

There’s an imbalance between the number of melee and ranged characters–four melee to two ranged–which is a shame, because playing the ranged characters changes the rhythm of the game significantly by encouraging a slower, more thoughtful playstyle, and only having two of them feels like a missed opportunity. I found that Linda (who uses a bow and arrow) was the character I most often managed to beat bosses with, since so many bosses are primed to punish you for getting too close, and I would have loved to have another option beyond her and Lucy, the family’s youngest daughter.

Each character plays differently, and you’ll no doubt have your favorites. Lucy can shoot a continuous wave of fireballs while standing still, and can be upgraded to withstand three hits without damage; Kevin, the youngest son, can dramatically increase his speed and strength by building up “rage” with continuous knife attacks, but he needs to get very up-close to do so before using his power of invisibility to get out of danger. Some characters are less interesting; for the life of me I can’t figure out how to make Joey, who swings a huge hammer, effective. But it’s still fun trying out a character you haven’t played for a few runs and getting into the groove with each of their distinct rhythms.

You need to switch characters regularly, too, as any member of the family who is used too many times in a row begins to suffer from corruption fatigue, which lowers their overall health until they’re given time to recover. Each member of the family can also unlock new abilities that benefit every other family member as they level up (like higher rates of critical attack or even assists in certain situations), and later abilities in their skill trees can be very useful–I initially dismissed John for being too slow but found his shield and wide swing arc extremely useful later in the game, and was ultimately glad that the game encouraged me to use every character and discover their strengths (in five cases out of six, at least).

The plot’s focus on the family, paired with the tremendous art and beautiful animation, makes it easy to love the Bergsons. Lucy is so full of energy that she’ll jump in the middle of her run animation (which doesn’t interrupt your pathfinding at all but adds personality to her sprite), while eldest son Mark’s Naruto-style run is a perfect complement to his martial arts fighting style. Charming touches like this are everywhere, and they give the characters more personality. You feel those unique traits come through in combat, too; there are few things more satisfying than seeing Kevin shimmer with rage and rip through a huge mob of enemies.

And as with any family gathering, Children of Morta will encourage and then test your patience. It’s a grind-heavy game; it was very rare for me to beat a dungeon on my first shot, as most required that I level up and learn the boss’ attack patterns, which requires storming through the dungeon to get to them a few times. You can get away with running right past most enemy mobs, but to stand a chance against the boss at the end, you want to be armed with powerful buffs, and growing stronger requires farming experience and gold to unlock new abilities and improve your stats.

However, it takes a long time for the grind to start wearing you down. The combat is meaty and intense, and the allure of growing stronger is so compelling that dealing with huge crowds and collecting all the gold they spill can hold your attention for hours. There’s a sharp increase in difficulty right at the end, but I could always identify what had gone right–which fights I’d avoided, which charms I’d made use of, how I’d thought about my character’s relative strengths and weaknesses to the boss–and adjust my strategies accordingly to continue to do well. The grind helped make me a better player, instead of simply acting as a level gate.

There are special buffs that are only active for that session, and you have a much better chance of beating the boss if you go in after thoroughly exploring the dungeon and powering up. There are many different kinds of buff you can unlock, some temporary, some permanent; I found that I did far better against bosses when I went in with a lot of them active. You can find the various items and objects that make you more powerful throughout each dungeon, or buy them from shopkeepers that pop up, and I found myself getting excited whenever I found a good combination. Going up against a boss that has beaten you several times, now armed with a combination that you think will give you an advantage, is a great feeling.

Your dungeon runs are also broken up by numerous subquests that can appear throughout each dungeon, which expand on the game’s lore, introduce new NPCs, and result in significant upgrades or rewards. A few even have major narrative impact–there are a series of quests early on that end with the Bergsons adopting and raising an adorable puppy, for instance. But if one dungeon is really giving you grief, eventually it can feel like the game’s ready for you to move on before you’re ready yourself–you’ll stop getting cutscenes and character vignettes after missions, and you’ll find that you’ve run out of subquests to complete. But then, the feeling of eventually taking down a boss that was troubling you is extremely satisfying, especially knowing that you’re going to get more lovely character moments as you try to beat the next one.

You also have the option of playing the whole game in co-op, and the game balance differs depending on whether you’re alone or not. However, I found myself preferring to stick to solo play–it’s annoying for a friend to talk over cutscenes and the difficulty scaling makes co-op more complicated.

Children of Morta’s fantastic art style and enjoyable storytelling take what would have been an otherwise fun roguelike dungeon-crawler and elevate it a great deal. Taking down enemies and eventually triumphing over bosses is enjoyable, but what kept bringing me back was the connection I felt to the Bergsons, and my sincere desire to help them push back against the Corruption. After all, it’s a lot easier dealing with dungeons full of monsters when you have a family to come home to.

Source : Gamesport

#Game Reviews

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iblameashley · 7 years

Photo

Anyone here old enough to remember Lost In Space (the TV show, not the Movie)? I remember when I was really young, I would watch it after school (Elementary) before my parents got home. It was as cheesy as Star Trek (TOS) but I still found it incredibly enjoyable. An attempt was made in 1998 to reboot the series via a movie, but that failed miserably (and it has aged just as miserably).

The original ship was called the Jupiter 2, had 2 levels and followed the adventures of a family lost in space (shocking)! It was very 60's, much like Star Trek, but I have always found it had a little charm to it. So I have attempted to reboot the concept in the form of the Jupiter 5. So without further ado.... Backstory: In 2132, after Climate Change has devastated the Earth, and with a booming population of over 11 Billion, Earth faces a crisis. A series of ships are built using new Hyper-space technology. The first of these test Vessels are the Jupiter 1 and 2, though during the test flight for the Jupiter 2 it was lost exiting the solar system and assumed destroyed. In 2138 the Trans-Continental Alliance funds the construction of the Jupiter 3 and 4 Class vessels. The 3 being tasked with sending colony supplies to the Vega System where the first Extra-Solar Human colony will be established. The Jupiter 4 will carry the first of the colonists who will set up settlements in preparation for the colonial efforts. In 2142 the first 5 of the Jupiter 5 class vessels are completed. With the ability to carry 80 persons in cryo-statis per-ship, colonial efforts begin. The Jupiter 5 class vessels are of incredible value, and begin moving large groups of people to the Vega Colony. The second series of Jupiter 5 class vessels (completed in 2149) were tasked with establishing a secondary colony in the Ursa Major system when a habitable planet was found. In 2166, the Vega colony reached a population of 4,080 people across 6 settlements, and the Ursa Major colony was flourishing with just under 2,720 people. Permanent colonies had also been established on Mars, which boasted a population of under 1 million, and Luna, home to a whopping 3 million people. Earths problems came to a head in 2173 when an outbreak occurred in the United States of a virulent strain of influenza swept the nation, and spread to Canada, Mexico, Britain, France, Spain, before jumping across the Mediterranean sea and devastating many African nations and parts of India. With antibiotic treatments ineffective, the killed nearly a billion before it was stopped. Economies in the worst effected places collapsed, and the ensuing wars killed upwards of 800 million. With the violence and disease running rampant, Luna and Mars colonies closed migration entirely, and declared independence from the Earth. With no other alternatives, and keeping a tight-lip on the situation on Earth, the remnants of the TCA sped up colonization efforts, seemingly wanting to abandon Earth, and anyone unlucky enough to be left behind. __________________________________________________________ Jupiter 5 Length: 124 m Width: 124 m Height: 21 m Decks: 3 Main decks 2 1/2 Decks & Shuttle bay Crew Officers: 3 Enlisted: 19 Total Standard Crew: 22 Total Crew Capacity: 100 (80 persons in cryo-statis) Weapons Systems None Probe Launchers: 2 Probe Types 6 Planetary survey probes 6 Deep-space anomaly probes Armor & Shields Armor Type: Emergency re-entry heat shields Stellar radiation deflection armor Shield Type: Kinetic Deflection Arrays Shuttle Bays Shuttles: 2 Personnel Craft (Nicknamed Chariots) Cargo Bay Bays: 2 Location: Deck 3 Compartments: 1 Crew Entertainment Facilities Deck Three: Workout Room (Gym) Aft Lounge / Mess Hall Reaction Control Systems Thruster Assembly's: 4 Type: Standard gas-fusion thrusters Sub-light Engines Engines: 13 Sub-light Engines 3 Primary Engines 10 Secondary Engines Standard Speed: .25C Max Speed: .45C Hyperspace Engines Hyperspace Core: Mark III HSD-Reactor Cruising Speed: 140 xC (5 day burst) Max Recommended Speed: 145 xC (2 Days) Emergency Speed: 148 xC (15 Hours) Landing and Docking Docks: 2 Location: Deck 2 Port / Starboard Dock Type: Magnetic seal system Size: 3.2 m Landing struts: 6 Fore / aft: 4 Port / Starboard: 2 Other: cargo loading ramps located Port / Starboard, and descend / retract with landing gear Other Systems: Mass-manipulator Assembly: Responsible for reducing the ships mass when in Hyperspace flight, or during planetary landing. Anti-gravity Drive: Responsible for maneuvering the ship through atmosphere during planetary landing procedures. __________________________________________________________ Despite my ragging on the 1998 movie, I did want to pull a little from it to try and help "modernize" the ships. I also pulled inspiration from the concept art for NASA's FTL ship. It was incredibly difficult for me to update a UFO-style ship to make it more relatable and plausible for 2017. In the end I think I managed a decent balance between the old and new, and am overall happy with the ship. The other thing I retained from the original was the windows for the command area. The rest of the ship is windowless, as windows are structural weaknesses. To keep crew members from going bat-crap crazy, large, holographic screens are installed in key areas that can project a number of realistic scenes along a wall. The bottom picture shows one of the 2 shuttle bay doors open with a small image of a chariot. It also shows the landing gear lowered and how the ramps appear when on a planetary surface.

#Lost In Space #LIS #My Art #My Stuff #Digital Art #Spaceship #Starship #Concept Art #FanArt #FanFiction #Paint Program #FTL #Hyperspace #Space

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annamariemirfin · 7 years

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Dancing is great!

Recently I have re-discovered a love of dancing. I remember that as a child and teen I always enjoyed dancing. It started at a very young age...when I was maybe 4 or so, apparently I very much enjoyed trying to get house guests to dance with me when they came around to visit. I would dress up (and down I have been told) and prance around the living room putting on a little show. As I got older I started making up dances to the world music samples on Microsoft Encarta - I made expressive routines to chinese opera songs (woomf!), bolivian panpipes, aboriginal didgerdoo...and many more! My friend Bridget and I would make up silly choreographed dances to songs on the “Now” CDs (oh yes I remember those) and we put on all sorts of other dance performances and shows. As a teen my dancing evolved into ‘i-pod parties’ where I would on a fairly regular basis, just put on some music in my room and dance along to it. It was great fun. Later on, up until the age of about 16 or 17, I had culture days which would usually involve dressing up and having some kind of ethnic dance party for one. Then as I got older, I just stopped dancing. It’s was a great shame. Growing up as well there had been some talk at times about me actually taking some sort of dance lessons but I never did (no one’s fault but my own!)

Recently my dietitian Katherine was talking about basic ways to improve my digestive wellbeing. She said that reducing stress, drinking more fluid, doing deep breathing or meditation, and getting regular exercise were all very important. It’s obvious of course, but it’s surprising how valuable it is to be reminded of basics like this and how easy it can be to forget them. She suggested that one way I could look at getting some daily exercise was just to put some music on in my room and dance. One day I gave it a try. I put on some dance music when no one else was around in the house and just danced! It was great. The movement felt as though I was massaging and stretching my digestive system and it was such a fun, happy, carefree thing to do. Since then I have discovered that dancing is quite a useful activity for a variety of reasons. If my digestive system is feeling sluggish or having trouble (which it too often is) sometimes I’ll try a bit of stretching and dancing and it is usually sort of helpful. If I’m feeling anxious (which I must avoid as much as possible, especially prior to meal times - stress is very clearly linked to digestive dysfunction for me ) sometimes taking just a few minutes to dance can help to relax my body and mind so that I have a better chance of being able to enjoy my meal. If I’m feeling gloomy, sometimes I’ll do a bit of dancing then too because I think to not try dancing or doing something fun when you’re feeling gloomy is essentially deciding to sulk.

There’s something else that I think is quite beautiful too. The concept that dancing, particuarly free form dancing, is allowing yourself to be creative and expressive in a way that feels true, inspired, spontaneous and uninhibited. I like expressing myself through music and using this as a way of engaging with the art form. I like to imagine being able to fully let myself go - feel at one with the music, feel totally in control, and at ease with myself. Sometimes it annoys me that I struggle to come up with dance moves and that my body doesn’t move in a way that feels fully fluid. It would be very cool to just dance in a way that felt expressive or fulfilling without even really having to think about it, and without judging it. Perhaps learning how to dance properly could be an enjoyable activity that could help with that. Either that or I lower my standards and just get better at free form dancing : D These past two mornings I have begun my mornings with a bit of dancing, straight out of bed and still in my pyjamas. I feel a bit like a silly character in a book (like the trapeze artist that I’m currently writing a silly story about).

One morning I took myself out on a little exercise around the block. As I was walking I realised I felt like doing some dance moves. I felt happy to be moving through space and I just wanted to move even more freely and expressively so I did a few little dance moves. Why not? I thought? Why can’t I just dance down the street when I want to? That day I went to the school and did made up yoga stretches, followed my made up warm up exercises, followed by a made up obstacle course around the school playground.

Just yesterday Marie, Eva and I went to Arts in the Park, which is where a different music artist performs outdoors every weekday for the month of June. A Celtic band were playing. I have found in the past that I don’t really love most live music (other than perhaps, Opeth : P ). I’ve never really known how to engage with it. But yesterday, after watching a few couples around me dancing, I realised that I wanted to dance too - there was a happy, spinning, twirling, Anna-Marie inside me that wanted to be set free! Eva was tapping her feet along beside me (she actually learns Scottish highland dancing, both the girls do). So Eva and I got up (and after moving to a place that no one could see us) we did a little jig. It felt like a far more fulfilling way of enjoying the music, although I very much wished I could be more carefree and inspired in my dance moves!

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5brightplanets · 4 years

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Hi Mom,

I hope this note and the enclosed set of books find you after their shipment and quarantine. It has been a while since my last letter. The good news is the letter that I sent with the first set of books still does a good job of summing up how I feel about my journey. While there is no immediate plan to travel back home, I also have no plan not to travel home. It would be good to visit with friends and family, maybe that will happen soon.

There is a welcome side effect of little future planning. I have more freedom to focus creative energy and attention on a range of curiously ordinary subjects. Somehow, these ordinary subjects are prone to be roundly ignored and bluntly taken for granted at the same time. If that last bit makes sense, than great. Otherwise, just know I am happy finding time to make art which draws on many ordinary experiences and ideas - both old and new.

Please try not to worry about me. I feel good and have been taking extra care to try and keep healthy during this extended flu season. There are plenty of books for me to read. Music still touches my life in many ways. Nearly every day I find time to play the guitar and sing.

I remain grateful to have time to share some of my experiences and perspective through my poetry. Hopefully, my journey and free form art will resonate with others in terms of questions and answers they already hold just on the tip of their tongues.

It is amazing to think about all of the twists and turns in life. Pretty much mind boggling to look back on so many friends, family, strangers, books, movies, songs, and images, all of which combine to provide help, comfort, and perspective over a lifetime. It is possible to think back on situations and places where I was lined up to be the butt of somebody else’s joke. In light of the much bigger story which we are all part of, it surprisingly seems there was as much helping as hurting on those occasions - basically 50:50.

50:50 experiences in life bring to mind a kid’s book that I remember we had in the house when I was first learning to read. The book hinted at the same idea. I don’t remember the book’s title but with each page the storyline and pictures alternated a fortunately … event with an unfortunately … event. Near the end of the story, a pilot jumps out of an exploding plane wearing a faulty parachute only to narrowly miss landing on a three pronged pitch fork sticking up out of a big haystack. Before the end, I thnk the man finds the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Which brings me to the subject of this new set of books. The four books include three books in German with pictures that are perfectly enjoyable without needing to know German. In browsing the German language books, I noted bits of English and French in some of the photo descriptions.

One book is a kid’s book printed in The United States Of America. The Shad Are Running is in English with a couple of Dutch treats to dialect and names, like Mynheer Van Loon and his son Corny Van Loon. The story takes place in 1833 New York State in a village on the lower Hudson River. North of New York City the Hudson River is a tidal river with salt and fresh waters mixing with the tides. Like the Bagaduce River in Castine, Penobscot, and Sedgwick, but different.

The look and feel of the book made me think of you and the years you spent working in the schools to help kids improve their reading skills when they had progressed in grade level but were having difficulty keeping up. It also reminds me of the books you occassionally brought home for me from the school library because they came with good recommendations. Some of those books you lugged home in the early 70’s still continue to influence how I see the world today. It also brought to mind the many years you shopped local bookstores for prizes to give to students in the annual Milton Historical Society History Contests. Lots of wonderful memories to look back on.

The Shad Are Running by Judith St. George and illustrated by Richard Cuffari has all the telltale attributes of a long overdue US library book initially checked out in 1977 which then got waylaid on a lengthy Indo-European tour. However, it also has a discounted price tag of 50 cents and includes an all caps redeeming stamp of disavowal: NO LONGER THE PROPERTY OF THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY.

Reading the book cover to cover, I learned the Hudson River was regionally better known as the North River in the 1800’s. The story and illustrations revolve around the history of steamboat racing - fast paddling for fun and profit. Apparently, steamboat racing has a pretty explosive history. The author explains that in 1852 they had to pass laws to try and discourage that kind of commercial competition playing out on public waterways. The agitated competition among steamboat crews too often resulted in life and death outcomes for river watchers, fared passengers, and employees of the lines.

After digesting the book, I did a little poetic riff on the same subject.

A Race Of Steamboats

The more clings change the more Hey! sways the same. Samply survey virtual landscapes and ride choppy ideas along entertaining meants on big revered streams. Hold tight to a bitty poetic license as steamboats race headlong on remarkably predictable tracks in time before then and now floating on meer currents of refreshed difference. Imagine: wheely attractions; idle bystandings; gangplank stakes; inclined plains; smoking stacks; fast forwords; pidiful action; boiler plight monitors; occidental sterns; swell plowing; rolling stops; scenic pullovers; whatery domains; thruway benefits; risky aversions; wait redistributions; telltale floaters; racey undertows; and the belly visibles. The cumulonimbus after bath of skidfree channels; gripping ors; bold lead lines, timbered peers; sweeping decollections, heady counts, bobbing intimates, and ex port witnesses. A legal ezelly onplussed muddy struggle of parsunk costs and kowtow slicked back doos of A tout of sight bout of mind. Certified diverse mask scans a cousteaudian bottom strewn with unsurfaced causalities, scalable reskew manuals, and riveting rosey poster pinops flexing silty sleeves of What To Do In Case Of X. All echoes of route detours over arching the 69 Generally Accepted Plucky Standards of univen hip lilies ever after.

By Jivananda Candrāmā (James FitzGerald)

I am sure you miss seeing most of my poetic positings to Facebook and Tumblr. A Race Of Steamboats gives you some idea of how my online poetry reads. The wrapping format is the same as online but this poem is a little different (more drafts, punctuation, and caps than usual). It was after my writing had been headed in this direction for a time that I learned more about notable Irish roots anchored in evocative and kindly wordplay. It’s good if it sounds to you like it means something important and simultaneously means nothing at all - that is the sweet spot.

The three German language books all focus on nature. One of the three books features photographs of roses. It is curious how the photo on the cover features a rose garden with a classical statue of a woman holding a pitcher. Her stance, posture, and righthanded gaze give every indication she is checking her cellphone for messages.

The second book features artistic portraits of roses. For some reason, I find the paintings of roses seem to say more about roseness than the photographs. Interesting to think about the whys and wherefores of all the arts (social and physical sciences included) and their ability to bypass realism and focus our attention on specific attributes of interest.

The third book is devoted to pictures of trees in all stages - seedlings to stumps. There are tree photos from all over the world but many photos feature regions of Germany close to Leipzig. The cover photo gives away the photographer’s obvious attraction to trunks which are featured in many photos. The book reminded me how the nature of trees invite us to find beauty across all the stages of life. Saplings, trees, stumps, and moss covered logs on the forest floor are like so many snapshots of story unfolding. Mini stories told within a forest of stories and echoing within a bigger story in which all beings and things participate. On page 155, I was drawn to the little blue junked car on a dirt track in a field with the evergreen treeline in the background.

I understand this flu season has shut down many activities and turned many people’s lives upside down. Even with all the isolation and change to normal routines, I hope the books and this letter give you some comfort and provide some good things to think about until things settle down.

Love,

Jimmy

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