#sony hit bit

[pixelfireplace]

ソニー　MSX HiTBiT MEZZO HB-101

source: GCMC:ゲームCMコレクター on YouTube

[sirfrogsworth]

Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

[sgiandubh]

'Away in our little Scottish bubble...'

Thanks to a naive Mordorian who definitely didn't know how to use Anon or DM and left a #silly but juicy comment on Marple's page, I started to explore the treasure trove that is the SONY Archives' part of the Wikileaks project.

Between very interesting financial bits and bobs, I came upon this gem, which I have conveniently anonymized:

 In her own words:

'We’ve been working so hard away in our little Scottish bubble and now it feels very gratifying that people are enjoying it !!'

This goes to show exactly when and where originated the obvious (and accurate) argument of the 'little Scottish bubble', both of them have used to oblivion by now. Note I do not formally ascribe her as the author of the idea: it may be so, but it also may be someone else's (albeit, I highly doubt this latter possibility). It also suggests the PA was nowhere near C at that time, since the idea of a bubble clearly suggests being extremely focused on the job and not interested in much else aside. Finally, it is very interesting that someone at SONY's top level management took the time to personally contact the main cast nine days after the first episode aired first in the US, on August 9, 2014. You could argue against this point, but the guy didn't even have her email before and asked his PA to 'put her info in address b[ook]' :

Conversely, his email hit C's spam folder - again, her own words, here.

I am positive that particular week they were shooting Block 7 of Season 1 and the email hit C's inbox as *** immediately announced the renewal of OL for a further two seasons, on August 15, 2014.

I have to say I was floored to find so much data about C, S, *** and OL where I least expected it to be. Granted, it is old - but it is clear enough to discount other speculation.

PS: I have more, of course, but I am still pondering whether and what can be released now. And I took the day off simply because we're prepping the kitchen for a repaint job.

[avoxrising]

The Feral One • Epilogue

Finnick x Y/N

Series Masterlist Link

Prequel is coming in a few months! I haven’t made a Taglist yet and probably won’t start one till I’m closer to publishing. I’ll make a post tagging this series’ Taglist when I’m starting the next one.

Content Warnings - Mentions of fertility issues/miscarriage; death; the end of this series (don’t worry it’s a good ending imo)

Dear Brielle,

A lot has happened in seventeen years. I’ve now lived half of my life without you, mom, and dad. I’ve been thinking about you a lot so my husband Finnick (yes that Finnick lol) said I should write you a letter of all the things I wanted to tell you but never could.

A little over ten years ago we killed President Snow. The districts rebelled and won. The war was brutal and there were times I nearly died, but Finnick pulled me through.

We got married a year later. We never really did the whole dating thing, our friendship just evolved into a beautiful romance overnight. He was there for me after you left and he has been here ever since.

The years since the war have not been easy. I’ve had bouts of seizures that leave me bedridden and ill for days. The doctors said my condition should be worse so I should be grateful. Countless medications and treatments have made slight improvements to my health but the pain will always be there.

Two years after our wedding we almost hit our breaking point. Finnick and I had been trying to start a family for over a year but nothing was working. It was the most frustrating experience of my life post-war and I do not wish those struggles on anyone.

Three years after our wedding, Mags passed of old age. Although we were sad, we were all glad she got to live out her last few years in a free Panem. Johanna decided to move in with Annie afterwards so she wouldn’t be alone. We are still neighbors to this day.

Four years after our wedding, I got pregnant, only to lose the baby a few months in due to a bad seizure. This was Finnick and I’s lowest point to date.

It’s now been a bit over 9 years since I married the love of my life and the father of my child. We were finally blessed with a baby boy, Neptune, 4 years ago today. He is everything I could have asked for in a child; rambunctious, kind, and adventurous. He looks just like his father but acts like his mother.

Two years ago, Neptune’s best friend arrived in District 4. Annie and Johanna adopted a little girl, Jodie, from District 7. Neptune and her do EVERYTHING together. Finnick keeps joking that we should build a tunnel between our two houses so the kids can hang out all the time.

All in all, it’s been a very painful 34 years of existence. Part of me is glad you didn’t have to witness what happened. The other part of me still hopes you’re out there, even though I know you aren’t. I hope that wherever you are, you’re at peace.

Love, your dear sister,

Y/N

Taglist:

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[useyourimagination2020]

SONY “HIT BIT” Laptops, 1980s

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Blind Offer 3

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon, manipulation, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: After a leak causes you to evacuate your apartment, your landlord offers a vacant unit that’s too good to be true. (short!plus!reader)

Character: Steve Rogers, additional characters to come

Note: I've been feeling a bit off lately so thank you all for distracting me. This is one of my Corrupt-A-Wish requests but I won’t reveal which one right away because it’ll be part of the plot!

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you like I love turning intended one shots into series. Take care. 💖

After closing, you’re due for an opening shift. The abrupt shift in your schedule leaves you little off-time but right on the other side, you have a much needed day off. You’re relieved not to be left to think too much in the unfamiliar house and hopeful that by the time your time off comes, your apartment will be ready for your return.

That morning, you’re running on coffee and the promise of the cinnamon bun you bought on your way in. You work through the price changes in the digital imaging section. The cameras are the biggest pain as you have to unlock the cases to replace the old tags.

You get to the Sony section and end up on your knees, fighting the glass door as it rolls off the track. The podcast buzzing in your ear fades as your frustration gets the best of you. You lean back, your shoulder brushing against an unexpected presence behind you.

You wince and pop your earbud out, craning to look over your shoulder at the man browsing cameras past you. His eyes meet yours with a twinkle as he points to the case, “you know much about these?”

You shake your head, “sorry.”

The corners of his eyes crinkle as he smirks, the expression made devious by the trim of dark blond across his lip. He squats down beside you, “nah? I was looking for a starter camera but I need something with strong range.”

You nod and force a smile, “um, well, these are pretty basic, I think. They don’t have any extra lenses,” you look around, searching for one of the DI salesmen, “I could find someone–”

“I’m asking for your help, honeybun,” he coos, “what’s the zoom on these things?”

You feel heat speck on your forehead and cheeks. You’re not the best with customers. It’s easy enough if they know what they’re looking for but you’re useless with telling them what they need. You turn back and grab one of the small boxes. You turn it over and read the specs.

“Uh… 30x zoom…” you say, “I guess that’s pretty good.”

“Hmm,” he clicks his tongue, “I’m looking for something stronger. Stronger’s always better, isn’t it, sugarpie?”

His strange pet names put you off. Some old ladies will call you hon and some old men will call you young lady, but he’s a lot younger and not as endearing. You put the camera back and look along the row.

“Yeah, I think maybe you need to look at the bigger cameras,” you point over the case, “they’re along that wall–”

“You like it bigger?” He intones with a snicker, “you a size queen?”

You recoil, taken aback by his suggestion. Ew. You shake your head and turn back to the case, “sorry, sir, I don’t know anything about cameras. I’ll see if I can get a salesman over here.” You grab the wire of your headset and hit the button, “can I get someone over to DI?”

You let go of the button as the earpiece crackles. The man doesn’t move, “you know, I don’t mind a little extra. Especially in the trunk.”

You ignore him as you peel away the fresh stickers and press them to the front of the shelves. The heat of his lingering figure has you unable to get your fingernail under the corner of a label. You want to run and hide in the warehouse. You’re just too nervous to tell him to go away, Gwen would write you up.

“Hey,” Jamie appears from the other end of the aisle, “looking for a camera, sir?”

The man behind you doesn’t stand right away. When he does, he reaches close to you, gripping the top of the case to push himself up to his feet. You turn and mouth a thank you to Jamie as he gives a long look at the man behind you.

“Sure am,” the customer brushes by you closely. You watch the back of his head, shaved close around the sides, the top pieces longer and slicked back neatly. He walks with a certain lean to his step, his shoulders squared, his gait confident but casual. He gives you the ick.

You focus on your sheet of price changes. He’s not your problem anymore. You just hope you can through that section before he finds what he’s looking for. You somehow suspect he’s in no hurry to leave.

🖤

You get back to the townhouse just after five. It’s later than you usually get in but you’re just happy to be done. You haven’t been able to shake that feeling that’s followed you all day. Ever since that man approached you in the store, you’ve felt as if you’re being watched.

You walk the block and a half from the nearest stop and turn onto the quiet street of newly built townhouses. Despite the sighting of a neighbour, it still feels derelict. You check the number beside the door as you head up the walk to the doorstep. As you do, you hear a whistle.

You stop and turn back as you hear footsteps approaching. It’s only then you notice the white van parked along the far curb. A man runs over in a blue uniform with a box under his thick arm. Burly and broad, you almost cower as he waves and approaches.

“You live here?” he asks as his eyes flick up to the iron numbers mounted besides the door, “number four?”

“Um, I’m… crashing here, yeah,” you swallow, “it’s actually not my place–”

“I got a package,” he shifts the parcel and reads the label. 

You can just see his features beneath the shadow of his cap brim, long lashes, square jaw, a touch of stubble and a thick mustache across his lip. You hate that those are making a comeback. You shiver as it reminds you of the man in the store, but this man has darker hair, a curl poking out from his hate.

“For Steve Rogers?”

“Yeah, erm, that’s my landlord. This is his place,” you point over your shoulder with the thumb.

“Right, well, it doesn’t need a signature, so if you could pass it off to him.”

“I don’t know–”

“I don’t really feel like driving back out here tomorrow. This isn’t my route,” he says tersely.

You snap your mouth shut. Wow, okay. You shrug and reach out to take the box.

“Sure, I can get it to him. Sorry.”

“Thanks,” he hands it over and looks back and forth down the street, “quiet neighbourhood, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess… just finished development so–”

“Fancy places. Expensive,” he continues on, “your landlord must really like you.”

You frown and hug the package, “uh, he’s nice. Anyway, I’m sure you got other deliveries to make.”

He scoffs as you turn away. You’re succinctly aware of him as you move your body to block the code as you punch it in. 

“Too good for the delivery boy,” he mutters darkly, “have a good day, miss fancy pants.”

“Have a good day,” you squeak and push your way into the townhouse, spinning to shut the door.

You twist the latch as you lean on the door. You slowly lean over and peek past the curtain. The delivery man smirks at the barrier between you before turning and strolling back the way he came. You shudder and turn to put the box down. You really thought for a moment he might try to follow you inside.

You shake out your nerves. It’s just been a really weird day. Well, few days.

You pull out your phone and text Steve to let him know he got a package. You put your cell on the counter as you enter the kitchen. You planned on ordering food to celebrate your coming day off but it’s too much trouble dealing with another stranger.

You go through the fridge and cupboards and settle on the bag of hand rolled tortellini with the jar of alfredo. You’re no expert chef but you can follow instructions. It’s a quick enough dinner. You eat it at the table against the wall, a video playing on your phone. 

A notification pops up at the top of the screen, Steve saying thanks. You don’t bother replying but another flips up in quick succession. ‘How is everything?’

You finish your pasta before you reply. You rinse your dishes and leave them in the rack. You take the phone upstairs, typing as you climb.

��Doing fine. Everything’s well. Thanks for checking in.’

Easy and to the point. You don’t want to have some stunted text chat with your landlord, you don’t even want to talk to your friends, you’ve been dying all week to try the bathtub.

You turn on the faucet and the water spills out, steam quickly rising as you adjust the temperature. You go to the counter and search your pouch for your body scrub. You pause as you find it empty. Weird.

You look around. Your toothbrush is in the cup and your toothpaste and mouthwash on the small shelf that holds it. Where is everything else? You check the drawer, your face creams and cleanser are all there. Even your deodorant and body lotion. 

You peek at the tub and see your jar of scrub already sitting on the sharp edge brim. You don’t remember putting all that away. Why would you? You’re not going to be here forever. You don’t know, you were so tired that morning, you can’t even remember brewing your coffee.

You blow out the tension. Stop worrying. It’s fine. It’s little things that you’re overthinking. As usual. 

You undress and leave your clothes on the counter. You approach the tub and lower yourself down with a sigh. Oh yeah, this is living. The tub is nice and big, you don’t feel crammed in like your own place. You better enjoy it while it lasts.

🖤

The bedroom becomes a haven in the large house. You go downstairs in search of snacks, planning to veg out a bit before you inevitably fall asleep watching Youtube commentary videos. You find some trail mix with M&Ms mixed in it but are disappointed to discover a dearth of carbonated beverages in the fridge. You opt for the tropical twist juice in the sleek glass bottle.

You retreat with your meagre haul and create a nest in the bed. You grab your phone and flip past the several notifications waiting on the home screen. You scroll through Youtube until you land on something suitably dramatic. You pull down the taskbar and flick away several notifs.

Steve’s message is the last. It kinda creeps you out but the time stamp assures you it’s merely a coincidence. ‘I bought some snacks. Hope you found them. Wasn’t sure what you liked.’

You resist clicking on the bubble and swipe it away with the rest. You don’t want to leave him on read and you don’t think he’d appreciate your response. Granola and coconut water aren’t much of a snack.

You shimmy down under the covers and prop up your phone on the bedside table. You lean into the pillow and lazily munch, Your mind wanders away from the petty online drama. Work, your apartment, several strange encounters… hopefully life calms down soon. You mind your business, you don’t need the trouble. You prefer to be a witness, not an active participant.

You drain the last of the juice as the mix of almonds, peanuts, and cranberries leaves your mouth dry. You get up to brush your teeth as you listen through the open door to the edited clips from TikTok. As you come back to bed, you feel the day catch up to you.

You yawn and shut off the light. Ugh, you’re so suddenly tired. It’s not unusual to be wiped after clopening but damn, you’ve never felt this heavy. You pull the blanket up to your chin and your phone screen blurs in your eyes. You let the low drone ease you down to sleep.

It’s as if no time passes at all. No dreams, no awareness, just a thick void that makes your head hurt. You wake with a start.

Your phone gleams from beside you but Youtube is no longer open. The light is on, blaring in your vision as you sit up. Jeez, you must be totally zonked. You probably got up to go pee and don’t even remember.

You reach for your phone and check the time. It’s just after midnight. An hour or two since you passed out. The blanket falls away from your shoulders and you look down at the cold wash across your chest. The straps of your tank top droop down your arms as the fabric is wrinkled below your tits as they hang out. 

You fix your top, it’s not unusual. You’ve woken up more times than you count with your shirt all twisted. It’s why you never had roommates. You shove the blanket further down, your shorts are askew as well, caught in the crease of thigh and pelvis. You fish around to tug the loose opening free and find it damp. Ugh, you’re sweating from your little cocoon of body warmth.

You push yourself towards the edge and pause. You feel oddly sensitive, almost raw. You rise and stretch, reaching down to check yourself. You’re wet. Like really wet. You must’ve had some wild dreams but you can’t remember any of them. 

You take your cell to the bathroom with you and relieve yourself. You pull up your cycle tracking app. Ah, first day of ovulation. Horny time.

You come back to the bedroom and burrow back under the blankets. As you wiggle down, you feel something roll against you. You put your phone beside your pillow and snake your hand around to grab the tiny cylinder. You raise the small bullet vibrator and frown. Wasn’t that in your beauty bag?

You place it on the night table and take your phone. Well, you seem to be pretty absent-minded lately. First your toiletries, now this. You’ll have to do a sweep of the house tomorrow and make sure you have everything together. You won’t be there much longer.

Still, you’re unsettled by the momentary lapse in consciousness, but your lingering grogginess keeps you from panicking. You’ll just put on another video. It should distract you enough to calm you down.

[snapscube]

So you mentioned the Amazing Spider-man movies, what are your thoughts on them? For me; I was pleasantly surprised by 1 AND 2. Like 2 is bad, real bad, but the jokes were legit, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are just...an amazing on screen couple and until the transformation Harry is a really fun villain....just sucks that most of the movie is exposition about peoples relationships to one another or experiments done mostly off screen.

TASM1 is perfectly serviceable as a standalone project and was definitely not the worst jumping off point, but it struggles to really properly understand Spider-Man/Peter as a personality. Peter absolutely doesn't have to be a goody two-shoes loser, all of the best adaptations of Peter imo can have some serious attitude and grit to their persona, but TASM1 kinda over-corrects on the Tobey Maguire "shy nerd" angle by making Spidey a bit too much of a dick. I remember the movie getting a lot of praise for finally making Spider-Man funny and quippy, praise I similarly gave at the time, but it really... doesn't do that nearly as much as ppl gave it credit for??? There's like ONE scene where Spider-Man is kinda jokey with someone he suspects to be Ben's killer, but that scene kinda stinks because he's not quipping as much as he's like actively cruel lmao. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had great chemistry though and you can tell Marc Webb knew his stuff when it came to directing that kind of romantic tension, seeing as how his previous project was 500 Days of Summer. All-in-all, it's a Fine movie but it's not a fantastic adaptation of the things I personally like about Spider-Man.

TASM2 is so much more intriguing to me to watch and to talk about. It's genuinely baffling how that movie ended up like it did, but in a way that almost anyone could have predicted. That movie STINKS. It's really really bad. But it also has kind of the opposite problem to TASM1 in that... TASM1 is a good movie that doesn't properly showcase the character of Spider-Man, whereas TASM2 is a garbage movie that features some of the best live action Spider-Man scenes/setpieces we had seen and would ever see to this day. It's sincerely tragic how many great INDIVIDUAL MOMENTS are in that movie, and how loosely connected they are by some monumentally stupid studio meddling. That movie has everything going in its favor with Andrew Garfield in the lead, the best live action Spider-Man suit to this day, the most thrilling and well rendered swinging sequences put to film, and the occasional glimpse of a true Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that is down on the ground connecting with and watching over not just the city itself but the people within it. There's a montage in the middle of the movie that features Spider-Man on his daily patrol and he comes across as just so PRESENT and on the same level as the people he protects, meanwhile in the audio track you hear newscasters and interviews fiercely debating whether or not what he does is actually worthwhile. And that shit HITS. But unfortunately that kind of stuff is still too rare and it far overshadowed by Sony desperately trying to make a Spidey Cinematic Universe without earning it. Ultimately they had all of the pieces to make a truly definitive adaptation of Spidey that I feel like almost anyone could get behind, but they just... couldn't. Even Spider-Man PS4, commonly lauded as one of the most definitive Spidey stories of all time, uses SO MUCH of the same DNA of the Amazing Spider-Man films, but the difference is that it had the space to be only exactly what it needed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. Anyway I could talk more about this for sure but I'm looking at the length of this write-up and wincing already LOL.

[perseidlion]

This is why streaming is dying.

I'm Canadian, and I used to watch Star Trek on Crave. Crave saved us for awhile from the fracturing of the streaming landscape because it stayed as an umbrella service for quite some time. I used to get Star Trek, HBO, WB shows, Starz, Sony stuff...basically Hulu + HBO + Paramount. That was actually worth it because for the same monthy fee I could get House of the Dragon, Star Trek and more.

But that wasn't going to last forever. When Paramount+ launched in Canada, Star Trek got taken off Crave. I'm a huge Star Trek fan but even I couldn't justify a FIFTH streaming service just for Trek.

So I waited until Discovery was finished. And then I binged it and season 4 of Lower Decks. And then I cancelled. I won't get it again until S3 of Strange New Worlds and Season 4 of Lower Decks are finished, then I'll binge and cancel again.

There is literally nothing else on P+ I want to watch. I looked, because if there was something I'd cancel Netflix for a bit. But it's all movies I've seen and don't want to rewatch, shows I already have access to on other streamers, or things I have no interest in.

When the networks were working together to put lots of tasty treats under one streamer, it was absolutely worth it. I'd pay $20 a month for Crave if HBO kept making good shows (instead of cancelling them, RIP Our Flag Means Death) and if P+ had lots of Trek (and...didn't keep cancelling those shows like they did Lower Decks and Discovery.) Between that and Trek that would mean I always had a show releasing on the platform that I wanted to watch.

As long as there isn't a steady diet of things that appeal to me, I WILL keep subscribing, binging, and cancelling. Churn is the reason these networks aren't profitable. But there is literally no incentive for me to NOT do that when the things I want to watch are scattered across 5-6 different streamers, each charging $15+ a month.

In trying to get their slice of the pie, the networks have guaranteed there isn't enough food on their buffet to keep people coming back for more.

It creates a vicious cycle. This fracturing means there's not enough budget to support the flagship shows/franchises. Then, they get cancelled and/or budget reduced. So they take away or vastly reduce the thing I want to watch the most.

PLUS none of the networks are nurturing the cult hits/franchises of the future. Shows that have the potential to be the reason I subscribe are being cut off at the knees after virtually no promotion.

I watch every new show like Dead Boy Detectives knowing there is a very high likelihood that this will be the only season I'll get to watch. So much potential is left on the table. If there were four or more shows like Dead Boy Detectives and Kaos getting ongoing commitments from Netflix I wouldn't even consider cancelling my subscription. Instead, I know that any show that isn't an immediate cultural moment is probably getting the axe, or getting two seasons, max. Especially if it's SF&F. Especially if it's queer.

We live in the world where even the critically-acclaimed and franchise-based House of the Dragon is getting truncated episode runs and reduced support.

Regardless of how you feel about how Game of Thrones ended, that franchise is a cultural juggernaut. House of the Dragon is legitimately good and packed with talent. The rough patches of Season 2 can be easily traced back to reduced budgets/cut episode run at the last minute that forced the production team to scramble and adapt.

Honestly. Is there anyone actually committing to their series other than FX, AMC, and Amazon with Rings of Power? Although RoP can also be considered a sunk cost fallacy since Amazon invested a SHIT TON into the IP and the series, so they need it to work. They also have a wobbly track record supporting other shows. (I will never forgive them for cancelling A Leage of Their Own.)

FX and AMC are the only networks that feel like they're actually supporting their content. And what do you get for that? Shogun, one of the best shows in recent memory. The show absolutely swept awards season (and rightfully so) and is now setting itself up to be a tentpole show in the mold of such classics of the historical fiction genre like Deadwood, The Tudors, and Rome.

Interview With the Vampire, is an AMC show which has a very active and passionate fandom eager for more of it and Anne Rice's Immortal Universe. This is a rare example of a new franchise (albeit based on an existing, well-know IP) is really finding its feet and its audience. The audience for it is not of the size of something like House of the Dragon, but AMC is feeding the audience it does have unapologetically, with queer camp horror full of messy, toxic relationships.

Then there's What We Do in the Shadows, which seems to be ending on its own terms this year. FX is a Disney subsidary which somehow manages to commit to the series it creates, which proves it can still be done.

I do hope that FX and AMC continues to support their weird and wonderful shows, and I hope they keep getting rewarded for it with high ratings and awards so that the rest of the networks will smarten up.

If we hadn't just come out of a golden age of streaming where every network was producing excellent TV, all of this heavy cancellation and fragmentation wouldn't be quite so devastating.

Entertainment seems like it's constantly in a feast or famine churn. Right now, we're careening toward famine, which is full of one-season shows, overextended franchises, flagship shows being cut/restrained and a whole lot of cheap dreck.

It's the reality TV heyday all over again and I hate it.

[strontiumsun]

The big video game flop, AKA the story of Concord

If you like hearing about train wrecks, then do I have a story (and videos) for you!

Sony recently published a game that they thought would be a real hit. They announced the game, titled Concord, earlier this year in their State of Play (aka a Nintendo Direct but for PS5) with an expensive-looking cinematic trailer that had people going "...Huh?"

tl;dw, it's a live service (a risky model) hero shooter (a mostly dead genre) with a retro-future aesthetic (an ugly one) and quips straight out of a bad ripoff of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Immediately, gamers clocked this as a corporation wasting their time. Nobody wanted to play this game, or if they did, it's because they wanted to make videos on why nobody wanted to play this game.

(It's important to note this game would launch at $40. When Overwatch 2, its most direct competitor, is FREE.)

A few months later, the game had an open beta, where the game was available to be played ahead of release - and FOR FREE! - to people with PS5 accounts.

And barely anyone played it.

Despite the incredibly tepid player numbers, Sony went ahead and released the game. Maybe they were hoping that it would catch on once it was officially released?

...Yeah, like that was going to happen.

After not even breaking into the thousands of concurrent players at any time on Steam, and with abysmal sales, Sony saw the writing on the wall. Today they officially announced that the game would be totally refunded and taken offline by the end of the week. I smell a tax write-off coming from a mile away.

On the one hand, I do feel a bit bad for the developers. They spent 8 years working on a game that, by all accounts, was competently made. No obvious bugs, solid feel, a few interesting character kits. But they missed the mark in every other way, not least the timing. Hero shooters as a genre are in a weird place right now, and when your main competitor is free (and, for its glaring flaws, has a hell of a better-designed roster of characters), you're basically asking to fail.

On the other hand, I don't feel bad for Sony at all. I laugh at Sony. HA HA HA! You really thought people would buy this? In 2024? Big corporations can make mistakes any day of the week; I'll always enjoy hearing about them.

[shirotaangel]

࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔ Magdalena: Black Dragons

- SCENE I, ACT III

- SYNOPSIS : Koko, with his viper eyes and clever mind, finally finds his bite on you.

- PREVIOUS: Scene II

tw : nudity, menstrual blood, stalking, everyone is a perv.

╰┈➤THE BROTHEL WAS SOMEWHERE in the fortunate side of Kyoto, built somewhere in the Meiji period when Western civilization started seducing Japan with trade. Kokonoi was surprised he didn't hate the walk as much as he thought he would.

He was about to pull up behind Inupi but the Brothel Madame suggested he should take in the wonderful air of Kyoto, fill it with its redness, replace all the toxins Tokyo put in him.

But what surprised Kokonoi more was that he actually tried the suggestion. With his gloved hands at his back, he looked around, occasionally leaning over at the stalls of the street vendors.

The moon was up, but Kyoto didn't need its light anymore. It had its own red glow from shops and lanterns.

He thought about you, the Oiran, wondering if you ever walked the same streets as him on those precious little feet of yours.

He remembered your interesting habits - how your right foot would dangle your open-toed sandal when you're leaning back, how you'd tilt your head in intrigue, the way your brows rise.

Your charming little movements all done to tie your strings around a man's heart. He didn't fall, not exactly, but it did amuse him as it amused you.

All in an hour. Was he stupid to invest so much trust in an hour? But he dealt with many negotiations before, some even sealed in a time as short as thirteen minutes.

Kokonoi stopped, staring at a Fuji apple at one of the crates of the fruit sellers. He laughed. What a bad investor he is, isn't he? He expected all beautiful women are the same breed, sharing the same miseries as the other.

Now he sees it. How you basks in your misery, kissing it in the mouth with tongue. You sleep in bed with your misery, fucks it there, tells it: I want you.

He laughs, nodding. You're an interesting woman.

Kokonoi, more at ease now, strolled lightly to the direction of the brothel, humming a little tune to himself. When he arrived, three smoking prostitutes were gossiping by the entrances.

"Is the Oiran awake?" He asked.

"Maybe," one of them giggled, "you should go up in Mamma's office."

"Your madame's there already?" That fast?

"No," the prostitute shook her head, "but she wants you to be."

Kokonoi walked past them through the door strung with long strings of white shells in the shape of coffee beans. It smelled like dust inside and Avon perfumes.

Koko went to the second floor, asking another prostitute to the office of their madame. She pointed towards to a corridor to a shoji screen painted with scenes of mountainsides.

He didn't knock, finding it useless to use courtesy in a place of indecency.

The office was a bit bigger than the one by the pawnshop, but this one was littered with incense standing in gravel-filled cups with a small Buddha sitting on a red plate filled with fake gold coins. Koko raised his brow.

On the desk was a Sony Triton TV and three jade bracelets, which Koko turned around in inspection. Huh. The Madame isn't that cheap, after all.

Kokonoi glanced at the TV, shocked at what he's seeing.

It was the live footage of the Oiran's white-draped room, the camera view set somewhere from the ceiling. It was high quality, and had audios.

You, Koko saw, was sitting on your bed in the center of the room wearing a silk nightgown. He can only see your back, how your flow of thick, combed hair rolled down to your ass.

Two children, five year old twins, were fanning the hundred candles in the room out, reaching after to slide open the windows.

Moonlight hit your side, illuminating your arm and your thighs. Koko noticed you backed away from it.

"What do you want to wear today, Nee-san?" One of the twins piped up.

Koko was impressed at how keenly the Madame has her greatest asset under guard. He imagines the old bitch sitting here, listening, anticipating for an army of men marching to steal you away.

"It's hot, isn't it?" You asked, "you can leave for now."

Kokonoi narrowed his eyes. It's as if it was the first time he heard your sea-calm voice.

"But we haven't helped you yet, Nee-san," the little girl reasoned, "Mamma will be angry."

"She won't," you stood up slowly, padding to a drawer under the linen-covered tables to give the twins, what Koko could see, money, "go buy yourselves those tanghulu you like."

The girls gasped and kissed your cheek, happily running out the screen doors.

Kokonoi saw you didn't do anything for moments after that, standing on your spot by the drawers, staring solemnly at the door.

Then something began to leak down your legs, staining her silk nightgown in dark streaks. Kokonoi leaned towards the screen but instantly drew back when he realized what it was.

You slid the delicate straps of your nightgown off your perfect shoulders, the rest of it falling elegantly around your well-shaped ankles. Koko, for a quick second, averted his eyes.

He realized though that decency means nothing to him. Certainly, it means nothing to you. So he watched without shame.

Is this why you made the girls go? Didn't want them to see blood? Kokonoi chuckled. An irony.

Your breasts, perky and full, drooped down when you bent to wipe the blood off your thighs with the nightgown.

Kokonoi admired the science - how you're cleaning your blood and still be beautiful, faultless, perfect.

He wanted you more because of that. Black Dragons is a sea of blood and having you stand there ankle-deep might justify all of it.

Kokonoi just watched you. He didn't do anything. He didn't have to do anything. While you in your white room did nothing at all. You just sat naked staring at nothing.

He wonders what's going on in that head of yours. It's an interesting question - what is the most beautiful woman in the world thinking?

You didn't reveal much. Maybe you're thinking about nothing at all.

A few moments later, you stood up and wore a long camisole that reached your thighs and a girdle with a pad on, slowly clipping the girdle's straps to nude stockings.

You moved slow, Koko noticed, as if your perfect limbs were drenched in heavy tar.

From the covers of the bed, you drew something out. What's that, a child? You held it loosely in you arms as you slowly twirled around, swaying your hips.

Then he watched you put it gently on the table among the candles. It was a statue, he realized, of the Virgin Taiju worshipped.

Hm. You're religious?

The twins arrived while the Oiran was brushing your hair, just finished their tanghulus.

"Can I pick your cheongsam, Nee-san?" The twin gushed in excitement, jumping on little toes.

You nodded, "go on."

The girl with her twin ran out the door. Koko's spies informed him you have a whole thirty square-meter room for your cheongsams, all from Shanghai.

He would have to send both his and Inupi's division to pick all of them up, store them in one of the warehouses.

The twins return with a mannequin wearing a sleeveless piece of purple cheongsam, sewn with intricate patterns of yellow orchids and butterflies as far as Koko can see.

You, with contemplating fingers, took it off the mannequin. The fit of it was like water around you, rippling wonderfully at each movement, taking the shape of your body.

"You're so pretty, Nee-san!" A twin adored, "I wish I can have your face. Not everyone has it."

The other twin nodded, "Mother says one of us has chance to be you, Nee-san! Some day when Ichigo and I turn to seventeen!"

Koko saw you were silent.

The twin gasped, "oh, how about you read our palms, Nee-san?"

You sat back on the bed, "would you like that?"

All at once the girls spread out their chubby, dimpled palms in front of you.

"Come, Miki," you beckoned, "you can sit on my lap while waiting."

Kokonoi himself had sat on the desktop, a hand mindlessly scratching his neck. He didn't notice the heat anymore.

"You'll have a long life," you whispered, turning the child's hand in yours, "you'll . . . You'll be a healthy girl. Your features will be pretty. Look."

"Really?" The girl gasped.

"Yes," you agreed softly, "you'll be famous, too."

"So . . . " The girl in your lap trailed off, "so Ichigo will be like you, Nee-san?"

"Will I, will I?" The girl asked impatiently, smiling.

Kokonoi narrowed his sharp black eyes at your hesitation, looking closely at how you stared into the twin's palm. You were like that for moments. Frozen. Unmoving.

"Nee-San?"

The girl's eyes were big and large, innocent.

At that, Koko's own eyes widened, blasted wide. He smiled.

"Buy yourselves some apples," you dropped the palm, "go now."

copyright belongs to @shirotaangel

[basic-retro-programming]

Above you can see all computer models.

Post #266: Opinion Poll by "Basic Retro Programming", Question: Which home computer was or would have been your favourite between the 1970s and 1980s, 2023.

[therightrighthand]

How are you feeling on the topic of the Helldiver Heresy going on right now, what with all the divers protesting the peashooters?

In truth (and sorry if this upsets folks) It's all a bit silly the way people are loosing their shit over this, if you ask me.

Arrowhead have consatnly shown their willingness to change for their audience to keep the peace, and these amends (though not amazing) are based on feed back at the time.

It's not as if the company maliciously rub their little hands together and plots how they want to piss off its audience, ruin its game, and lose its job.

The Sony thing was great to see, because it showed the community (and arorw head unoffically!) standing up to big corporate, but if we start doing this at every single update, it'll just make life harder for people who make games. Not to mention that out of all the companies making big hit games these days Arrowhead proabbly have the best karma on that front, given how we have been responsive to the audience, and given us 5 DLC Warbonds in the span of 6 months (For sorta-free if you get all the credits in the previous warbond)

At the end of the day, if the weapon you like has changed, look for another weapon. The game is full of creative ways to tackle new problems. Or if not, just wait, because these nerfs/buffs swing back and forth all the time. OR just don't play the game, and let the activity speak for itself and let it fade into memory. (seriously, if you want to boycott a game? Don't keep going on about the game, because all that does is advertise it, for free, for more people to see.)

Not saying folks shouldn't have their say, but, c'mon gang, It's a video game. There are more important things in the world to worry about.

[inyourwildestdreams22]

Also, not many actors need to change their look for roles to be taken seriously. Because he’s so heavily associated with Peter Parker/Spider-man, in order to portray different roles, he goes out of his way to change his look. He very easily could cash in on his type casting (which his agents did with his voice acting work and a bit with Uncharted but that was a Sony thing), so I admire his desire to do roles that stretch him. When he REALLY hits on a non-Spider-man movie, I think people are going to look back and realize how much his talent was overlooked.

Yeah he has crazy range and people will realize one day

[tojisbbygworl]

BEYONCÉ?- Miles Morales Imagine

This is literally just a stupid little idea I thought of when I saw the Beyoncé Spidersona that Sony posted

“Could this day get any damn weirder?”

Miles looked to his left just in time to dodge the T-Rex coming at him in full speed. He didn’t have time to collect himself before more barrages of Spider people began running into him. “I guess it can.”

There was no time to think, all he could do was run, shoot, and flip. He doesn’t even know where he’s going for real. He just has to get the hell out of there.

Even though he’s panicking, he considers that he’s doing a pretty good job at avoiding Miguel. But when he looks up, he sees the hundreds of Spidermen ready to jump at him on Miguel’s command. “There’s no where to run.”

Yeah that’s what that guy thinks. Miles turns and busts out the window wasting no time.

As he plummets through the air, he has time to collect himself. But, since he just can’t catch a break, he hears a loud buzzing sound behind him. He turns in the air to come face to face with a…spider…bee…lady?

Her outfit is black and yellow with a large mask fitting over her face. The mask was more of a helmet if anything, and had long antennas coming out of the top. She had long beautiful honey blonde hair…and she was flying right at him.

“Oh come the fuck on!” He tries to turn back around but before he can hit the ground, he feels a web on his back. Then he get pulled through the air. He tries desperately to reach around and grab the string, but it’s hard when you’re being flung through the air by a crazy bee woman.

She slams him into a building creating a crater for him to rest in. He shakes his head and looks at her hovering in the air in front of him. “I ain’t never heard of a flying spider.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “My name is Spider-Bey.”

Miles furrows his brows. Her voice was deep and very southern. It sounds…familiar. Extremely familiar. “Oh okay, so you’re like a Bee and a Spider? That’s cool.”

“Thank you,” she says, her southern drawl coming out even more from excitement. She must have liked his compliment. Then the crazy woman reaches into her back and unsheathes a long, black, and skinny katana, pointing it at him.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Miles begins to frantically back into the crater. “What the hell is that? You just get weirder!”

She presses it to his chest. “I was cool 5 seconds ago now I’m weird? Don’t get stung, boy.” Ohhhh he gets it. It’s her stinger. Because she’s a bee. Bees sting. Ahh, okay.

“Before we continue,” he says gulping. “Do I know you? I feel like I know you.”

“I’m very popular amongst most universes.” She answers simply, not faultering.

Miles pauses…then he perks up a bit. Then he gasps. Before he can say anything, both their spider senses tingle. She scoffs and rolls her eyes, flying herself upwards just before the wall breaks open, courtesy of Miguel and the rest of the spider society. She stares at them falling and chuckles to herself when she hears Miles shout:

That was really fun to write. I hope y’all thought it was cute. I was imagining a mixture between the spidersona outfit in the picture and her America has a problem outfit that she wears during the Renaissance World Tour that I often call Renny Sauce for short:

If I was an artist I would draw what I was thinking but I am not so use ur imagination. Alright that’s all! Imma end this with, get ur tickets for the American leg of the RWT if you haven’t alr. Sry to the European babes

[jeffgerstmann]

dam how do you debut a $700 console with no new game to show that takes advantage of it?

it's been pretty slim on Sony's first-party side for awhile now. Concord coming and going didn't exactly help with that perception, I guess. But forget the new console for a minute, how are they in a position where they don't have more first-party stuff announced and "on the books," if you will. For the rest of this year they have Until Dawn and Lego Horizon Adventures? Am I missing something?

After that it gets into, uh, Wolverine, I guess? You could count Death Stranding 2, I suppose, they're publishing that on console, right? Marathon and Fairgame$$$$$? None of those sound especially soon to me, I don't know.

Just feels like they hit a point in their hardware cycle where they needed to get this out there, and third-parties will benefit from that power and stuff, but they've kinda shot their load for the year already between Helldivers and Astro Bot. Great couple of games to have, though, even if the shine seems to have fallen off of Helldivers a bit.

Hard to imagine they'll be shipping a ton of unknown games in 2025.

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Hello!

Firstly, just wanted to say you have a terrific blog - I was a big 1D fan way back when and kind of fell off religiously following them and the fandom around 2016/17 but Louis was always my fave since WMYB and I was always big into Larry hoping that after the band things would get better for them. Something that always struck me with that as the years went by and Harry became this megastar was that if he was so successful and so famous surely his influence and pull would have positive repercussions on Louis, the person he loves most. I always found it a bit odd that Louis didn’t take off until way later and has seemingly worked from the ground up, plus him judging on TXF always seemed bizarre to do when your trying to establish a solo career.

Anyways, in the past 2 months I found myself listening to 1D again which led me to Louis solo stuff and god if FITF isn’t an amazing album - All this Time definitely my fave but so many good songs on it! I’ve heard some of Harry’s stuff casually (I think it’s pretty impossible to miss at this point) and it’s been catchy but never anything I’ve been dying to relisten to. Some of Louis songs though just hit so hard for me and I’m really glad to see he’s had a really successful recent tour and played all those festivals, it seems that his carving out a name for himself his own way.

I’ve been working through your blog and your analysis really hit some home truths for me about Harry and the industry at large but more so the way you discuss Larries being the first to throw Louis away/boycott him is so correct. I never thought about how there’s never been the same kind of harsh judgement from Larries about Harry and I think a lot of it boils down to them misrepresenting Louis as someone who is scared to come out/has internalised homophobia and they see Harry as this free beacon of love and light. It does seem like to a lot of them Harry can do no wrong and Louis just seems to get much harsher criticism. I know he’s been the one to deny Larry a bunch but that also always made me feel a bit off too, like he’s been dealt the shit hand and Harry just gets off easy.

Anyway, apologies for the long rant but I also wanted to ask if you have like a master post about what went on in 2018/19/20 behind the scenes/with the ending of their relationship. I really want to get a better understanding of it all.

Thanks!

Hi,

Thanks for the nice words. I’m linking a post that has a collection of my thoughts about Louis, Harry, Larry, 2018-20, and how Sony/ industry monitored these respective fandoms to separate Harry from Larry while keeping those fans, and at the same time, delayed Louis’ solo career as long as possible (since they were both under Sony labels).

Here it is.

This post explains when I began to doubt that they were “in it together,” even just as a 1D brotherhood. I was impressed by the fact that in 2017, the very first Louis solo interview (to promote Back To You) was with Dan Wootton, and the very first topic they discussed was a Larry denial. They talked more about this topic than about any other aspect of Louis’ career, including his new single. Since most Louis’ and Harry’s fans were Larries at that time, Louis’ interview could only have turned more of them into solo Harries and away from Louis.

So why did Louis agree do it? Why didn’t Harry do the same in 2017? And why has Harry never denied Larry, when he’s been given multiple chances?

In retrospect, it seems that Louis felt compelled to do it in exchange for something … and we’ll never know what that exchange was about. But 2017-18, he didn’t release an album or tour as he hinted, and as promised from his BTY promo.

Larries have always had this fantasy that Louis “sacrificed himself” so Harry could succeed (the OP of that post once wrote that Louis lied about having an actual album in 2017). That head canon extended to 2023, by the way. They also thought Irving Azoff was secretly helping Louis.

But Louis isn’t stupid, and as we now can see, Louis wanted a solo career as a performer. So again, the question is why did he agree with helping to promote Harry in 2017?

Whatever you believe about their relationship, in 2018 it was also becoming clear to me that communications had stopped. Whatever I saw seemed to be done for the sake of marketing.

Again, in an interview with Dan Wootton in 2019 to promote Two Of Us, Louis described the relationship with Harry as “one of mutual respect” but his words were very carefully, strategically neutral. Dan had previously written an article in 2015 describing how Louis and Harry hated each other’s guts, and Louis knew this, sitting across from him.

As we know that Harry’s team uses Rolling Stone magazine as PR, and basically RS journalist Rob Sheffield to publish HSHQ marketing points, what Sheffield wrote about Harry’s House was interesting in so many meta ways, especially on how it pertains to Louis, Harry, and Larry. Prior to the band breakup, Sheffield compared Larry to tumultuous lovers Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac.

It is also interesting to note that a lot of cross-promotion stopped after Louis switched labels to BMG.