#the click deluxe edition

[thelazybooknook]

I know The Click and The Click (Deluxe Edition) are the same, but there's different colors so I'm not counting it.

[songuserbox]

for @thelazybooknook

[hopeofitalll]

Discovered that willow is both 8 and 10 on my top Spotify tracks of all time

[felassan]

"Journal #3 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming October 31 Pre-orders Open Now Hello everyone, We’re excited to finally share the release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is officially October 31, 2024 worldwide! Please note, this is a simultaneous release; we will announce exact timing at a later date. We want to extend a huge shout out to the Dragon Age community for your patience and enthusiasm; we can't wait for you to jump into the role of Rook and embark on your journey to save Thedas. We know the wait has been long, but the wait will be worth it. In the meantime, we want to give you a hint at what's in store for you in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. You're leading a desperate fight for the future of Thedas with your companions, the stakes are higher than ever. So grab a seat and click on the thumbnail below to watch this brand new trailer (includes some small story spoilers). “As someone who’s been working on Dragon Age for over 15 years, I know just how much our community has been looking forward to this day, and I’m equally excited to share and celebrate that the game will officially launch on October 31,” said John Epler, Creative Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. “We wanted to give you the choice to really express yourself, and do that in a world full of adventure and danger. So whether you’re a Warrior, Rogue or a Mage, we can’t wait for you to gear up, gather your party, and set out for another thrilling adventure through Thedas this Halloween.” As a character-driven RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers you a crafted experience woven from the threads of rich storytelling and fantasy worldbuilding the franchise is known for. In this bold, heroic adventure, you will experience expansive and dynamic stories that navigate love, loss, and complex choices that affect relationships and the fate of each member of the Veilguard. In true Dragon Age fashion, these bonds of fellowship are the foundation upon which Rook’s journey is built, and it will be up to you to determine how their personal story unfolds. Pre-Orders Now Open Fans who pre-order* the Standard Edition of Dragon Age: The Veilguard for $69.99 USD‡ on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, or $59.99 USD‡ on PC via Steam, EA App and Epic Games Store will receive cosmetic Blood Dragon Armor sets for Warrior, Mage and Rogue classes. EA Play Pro† members on the EA App will enjoy unlimited access to the EA Play Pro Edition* starting October 31st. Check out the full breakdown of the different editions we have available here: Digital Editions"

"- Standard Edition  - Dragon Age: The Veilguard - PC: $59.99‡| Console: $69.99 USD‡"

"- Deluxe Edition - Dragon Age: The Veilguard - 3 Rook armor sets (cosmetic only) - 6 Rook weapons (cosmetic only) - 7 Companion armor sets (cosmetic only) - 7 Companion weapons (cosmetic only) - PC: $79.99 USD‡ | Console: $89.99 USD‡"

"- Pre-Order Bonus* - All Pre-Orders (Standard & Deluxe) will receive: - Blood Dragon Armor Set (Warrior, Mage, Rogue - cosmetic only)"

- “Rook’s Coffer” Edition (Does NOT include Game) - Lyrium Dagger - Thedas Map with Quiver Tube - Rook’s Deck - Potion Flask - Enchanted Die - $150 USD‡"

"- Vyrantium Pack by Scanavo (Does NOT include Game) - Exclusive SteelBook® Case (No Game) - ICONART™ Metal Print and magnet wall mount - Notebook - Collector’s rigid Outerbox Check in with your local retailer to find out about the availability of this edition in your region"

"The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard by Dark Horse (Does NOT include Game, Deluxe Edition shown above)  - Standard Edition - 256-page art book providing a behind-the-scenes look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard - $49.99 USD‡ - Deluxe Edition - Includes extra prints - Includes exclusive slipcase - Alternate cover - $99.99 USD‡ - BioWare Gear Edition - Only available while supplies last, sold exclusively on the BioWare Gear website - Includes an exclusive print - BioWare Gear Edition alternate cover - $55.00 USD‡ What’s Coming?"

"ICYMI, we released our August Roadmap this week! Next week, we’ll have a dive into our game’s combat and more information on our PC Specs. There’s a lot more to come in September and October, too; so keep your eyes peeled on our socials.  We're beyond excited to be on this adventure with you, and we can't wait for you to get your hands on the game. Chat soon. - The Dragon Age Community Team *Conditions & restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/dragon-age/dragon-age-the-veilguard/disclaimers for details. ‡Offers may vary or change. see retailer site for details. †Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details."

[source]

[poly-pan-0118]

Just a thought that led to this...

Bakugou/reader fluff about 700 WC

You meet up with Bakugou after his patrol. He had promised to walk you to the bookstore because he needed to get something himself. The truth is, he just went two days ago, but he's not gonna tell you that. 

His hair is still damp from the shower, sticking out from under the beanie he wears to “disguise” his look. However, people still gawk and whisper. There are not many tall, broad-shouldered blondes with red eyes in Musutafu. 

No one dares to say anything to him, though, as he walks close enough that his hands graze yours occasionally. You're too excited and oblivious to notice as you ramble on about your favorite manga having a special edition release.

Bakugou simply stares between the sidewalk and studies your face, hiding his feelings behind the scowl that usually accompanies his face. On the inside, he can't get enough of how your eyes light up as you talk so animatedly about guy character X finally admitting their feelings for the girl character Y. The irony is not lost on him. 

“But you don't understand, Bakugou. If I'm not there in time to stand in line, I won't get the ultra-deluxe version.”  is your explanation to him after he stays silent so long. It's not that Bakugou wasn't interested. He's totally invested in what you have to say. Hell, he decided long ago he'd listen to you talk about the different sizes and colors of rocks all day if he had to. 

“Ultra deluxe?” He asks as the palm of his hand settles on the small of your back to redirect you out of people's way, the movement coming naturally to him. “What? Does it come with fucking fries or somethin?”

You turn to yell at him, but Bakugou's look almost makes you trip over your feet. He's sporting a slight grin, the closest thing to a smile you've learned. The setting sun catches the red hues in his eyes just right so that you can see flecks of gold. The evening rush on the streets has gotten busier, something you only notice now because you're practically pressed chest to chest against Bakugou as you board the train. 

You're the last ones to get on and when a scummy-looking dude stares at you too long and gets too close for his liking, he turns you around so that his muscular arms cage you in with your back against the door. His hand is still on the small part of your back, and you can feel him pressing closer.  

Neither of you says anything, getting lost in the intimacy of your closeness. When you glance back up at Bakugou again, he's staring at you. He opens his mouth to say something but then closes it and looks away. 

You watch his eyebrows furrow and you recognize the look on his face. It's a look he has when he's pondering something as if making a high-stakes decision on a mission. Before you can overthink it, he whips his head back at you, and the train's jostling presses you even closer. 

“L’me make you dinner tonight.” His voice is so low you almost miss what he said. You're quiet for a minute as you stare up at the Pro Hero, playing the question repeatedly in your head. Did he just ask you to dinner?  

The longer you take to answer, the more red the apples of his cheeks get. Bakugou tilts his head, waiting for an answer. 

“You asking me for a date, Mr. Dynamight?” you tease as you smile at him. 

“Yeah, brat, I am.” 

“Okay, but first,” you start to say as he ushers you out of the train. “I need to get my manga.” You hear Bakugou click his teeth behind you. 

“Yeah, yeah. Make sure you don't forget your fries.” 

Bakugou's hand is now tightly wrapped around yours as you enter your favorite Manga store. Out of his peripheral, he can see people stop as they whisper and their camera flashes, taking pictures. They know who he is and right now, he could care less. All that matters is your smile, beaming brightly at him as you clutch the Ultra Deluxe manga Edition to your chest.

[cosmiclove-heavenstruck]

YOU WERE SEEING CASTLES THEY WERE SEEING SAND — THE GOOD WITCH BY MAISIE PETERS

@thegreatimpersonator's EDITING PROMPT OF THE MONTH: LYRICS

here are the lyric cards for the deluxe version

click for better quality <3

[dark-academia-alcoholic]

Life in the office can be a bit dull, but the routine of daily activities promises stability, and a decent paycheck. Sitting in the break room during lunch is often the best time of day. Aside from enjoying whatever lunch has been packed for the day, there's also ample time and space to do some people watching.

It's interesting how even in "adult" life, the break room is split into clicks like back in high school. From the production line workers, to the scientists, and even the administrators. All of them sit within their groups, only a few venture to the table of another.

There's also plenty of time to watch the people behind the scenes: the janitors who clean the tables and microwaves, the Coke employees who stop by only to restock the vending machines, and the coffee pots which are tended to by ...wait, who tends the coffee pots?

Stop and think about it for a minute. It seems that no one ever fills the water, adds the beans, or brews the coffee, yet there are always four pots full. The deluxe machine has two brew stations, and two additional heaters, all of which are always full and piping hot. People come and go, grab some coffee, yet the pot remains full.

But how?

This situation is most troubling, only because there is no obvious answer. Days are spent observing the machine, always with its full pots of coffee, never with anyone brewing any.

Could it be that the observer is being observed? Ridiculous. Yet the googly eyes someone stuck to the machine certainly don't help. And the fact that the eyes just moved on their own doesn't help either.

Wait.

The googly eyes just moved. Now there's a sound, a familiar sound, but it seems strange in this setting. The sound of coffee brewing.

There's no one else in the break room. Yet the coffee is being brewed. The googly eyes are definitely watching.

Then the answer becomes clear:

The coffee machine is a mimic.

Yet there have been no cases of injury or dissapearences. The electric OSHA sign proudly reports that the warehouse has gone 281 days without incident.

So then why would a mimic choose the form of a coffee machine? Why does it not do normal mimic things? Hundreds of people must interact with the mimic daily, yet it does nothing but serve fresh, hot coffee.

Could it be that this office mimic loves the employees? Is it an employee itself? Does it just have a passion for making coffee?

Perhaps these new questions are more unnerving than the original mystery of the bottomless coffee pots.

But, lunch break is over, so we must depart from our Office Mimic for now.

~ Abadon

Have a random story about Office Mimic who loves you (or loves making coffee, you decide which)! This was a random idea I've had floating around my head for some time, based on real experiences. I'm not entirely convinced our own coffee maker isn't a mimic.

I wrote this in one pass, with no editing or even rereading, cause I live life on the edge like that. I wanted to try to write something from the perspective of a non-present observer (save but the final line). So no "you notice" type phrases. There's probably a term for that type of perspective, but I'm no lit professor.

Also uh, @churchofthemimic may enjoy this. Your posts are a good reason why I felt compelled to jot this down, so.

[thinkingotherwise]

You've got an odd job - call Manager Yamada

I just had to do it 😅 It's a little long but I had a spark of inspiration

Happy Ichiro Day 💚❤️ 🤍❤️💙

Ichiro Yamada x VA! reader

VA, from one of the recently more popular anime, calls the Odd-Jobs Yamada and asks the oldest of Yamada brothers to go buy a new game of, coincidentally, his favourite series

Basically Anime Nerd Ichiro

As soon as Friday came you found yourself in your parents' bakery, helping them with the growing weekend rush. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Your mother asked as she came from the back. You stepped from one leg to another as you turned to the older woman. "Ah... I just wanted to go out for a few minutes and buy the deluxe edition of the game I was voicing in. But there are so many customers today." You replied gloomily.

You were a beginner VA, with quite a few successful projects already in your pocket. One of them was so successful that they even created a game based on the series, and the release date was the present day.

"Can't you go tomorrow?" Your mom asked patting your shoulder encouragingly after cleaning her hands against the apron she was wearing. "I'm not sure the game will still be there tomorrow. Ugh... Maybe if I go early in the morning, there'll still be a few left." You muttered to yourself, a little frown appearing on your face. "Mhfff.. I just should've ordered it online." You added regretting your choice of not preordering it online. But at that time you didn't know if you would be in town available to receive the package. But now that you were free from your schedule and decided to help your parents it was all for nigh.

"Hmm... If it's that important for you, why not call Yamada Ichiro?" Your mother proposed with a small smile on her face. "Huh? Why Yamada-san?" You asked tilting your head confused. The name was new to you, but it felt like you heard it somewhere. "He's got this little business of his going on - Odd-Jobs Yamada, he calls it. And if I say so myself, he's quite reliable and quick in his services." Your mother cleared. You looked at her searching through your memory because the name really rang a bell. And then it hit you. "Odd-Jobs? Oh... He's the boy that helps you with deliveries from time to time." You clicked your fingers as it came to you. Your mother gave you a big smile as you remembered her little updates on her life and business. "Exactly, he's a very nice young man and I'm sure he won't mind going to the shop to buy you your game if you tell him about it. Here let me get you his business number."

After your mother provided you with the phone number you took a quick break from work and went to the back to make the call and ask for the favour. The distinct sound of connecting sound once, twice, and then someone picked up.

"Hello." A voice greeted and you took a quick breath in. "Hi, is it Yamada Ichiro?" You asked just to make sure you got the correct number. "No, it's Jiro, who's calling?" Your face twisted in a small scowl. "I- umm... Can I talk with him, it's kinda- um business talk?" "Sure, please wait a moment." He replied and your empty hand went to your apron and played with it as you waited for the phone to be handed to the correct person.

"Hallo, Ichiro here." A new voice called, it was deeper than the first one and you thought it sounded really nice. "Umm- Hi, I heard that you're running Odd-Jobs Yamada and I've got a favour to ask." You said and waited for a reply to continue. There was silence from the man and you had to check if somehow the call got broken or you hung up. "Are you there?" You asked when you saw the call still going on. "Huh... s-sure. What is it?" His voice was confused and shocked.

You sighed quickly and started rambling. "So, it's Friday and there's this thing that just came out and it's limited edition and I'd like you to go buy it for me, because I'm kinda busy, and I'm afraid that there'll be no stock tomorrow. So I want to ask you to go to the shop and get it for me today. Is it possible?" You finished suddenly, your words falling quickly out of your mouth and you were thankful for your enunciation that came with being VA. "Umm-" "I- I know there might be more important matters and jobs that you have so I understand if you can't do that." You cut him off when he prolonged the confused hum. "Oh, no- No, I certainly can. I was just thinking... Did you tell me what I'm supposed to buy?" He asked and you got a little embarrassed that you, in fact, did not tell him what was it that you wanted.

"Oh! It's the new game, a deluxe edition of the game. It's based on this anime called 'My Magical World: Book of the-" "Lucky Clover." He cut you off finishing the title. (I know it sucks, live with it) "Yes, exactly. So can I count on you, or are you too busy, I understand if-" Your voice got more enthusiastic when the title left his mouth and you hoped he wouldn't be too busy for your ask. "No! Uh.. I mean yes, I can do it! I'll go, right now." His voice got more rapid as if he suddenly remembered to do something important. "Huh? You don't have to go right now." You replied, thinking he wanted to do this only because of your rambling and the excited tone of your voice. "No problem, I was going out either way so I'll go there and buy the game for you." "Great, thank you very much Yamada-san. Maybe it's weird to say, but you're a lifesaver." You said happily standing up from your seat and getting ready to go back to work. "Hahaha... Yeah, no problem, but where to deliver your purchase?" "Oh, that- Maybe FuwaFuwa Bakery, I'm helping there today." "Sure, I'll go there as soon as I buy the game." He replied taking note of the place and you hung up going out of the backroom and back to your cashier position.

--

"Ichi-nii, you're going out?" Saburo asked as he saw his oldest brother putting on his signature jacket. "Yes, I've got a job to do, besides I forgot that today is the day the new 'My Magical World' game comes out, I need to buy it." Ichiro replied as he quickly made his way through the living room and past his brothers. "Wait, wasn't your anime called something similar?" Jiro questioned, looking up from his game. "Yes, the game is based on the series, and actually the person that called had a very similar voice to the main character, like really. I-I blanked for a second there." Ichiro replied stuttering a little when he remembered the familiar voice that accompanied him throughout the series. "They did, true." The middle brother nodded his head after thinking about it. "Right? That's such a coincidence, but well I need to go. I'll be back later, you two behave."

--

Not even two hours later Ichiro walked into the bakery of your parents with two bags in his hand. "Woah, so many people." He muttered as he looked around the crowded place. His distinctive jacket, and height brought attention of nearby customers to him as they smiled seeing the oldest Yamada brother. "Is that Ichiro?" "He's so awesome." The two girls gushed as they paid for the sweets you packed for them. You didn't heard their muttering clearly as you were focused on readying the correct order and when he came to the counter you turned around. "Hi?" He smiled at you.

You finished with the girls and when they left you turned to the tall man. "Hello there, how can I help you?" You asked with your best customer-friendly smile. "Umm..." His mouth opened slightly as he heard you, his eyes widening in shock. "Hello?" You asked tilting your head as you looked at him, your smile slowly fading. "..." "Are you alright, sir?" You asked once again in worry, as he didn't reply, frozen in place. "You s-sound..." Finally, his voice came out slightly wavering but it was quickly overtaken by your mother who came from behind. "Ichiro, you're here already." She smiled nudging your side. "See (y/n), I told you he was pretty quick with his deliveries." "(Y/n)... No way.." Ichiro continued to mutter to himself, his eyes moving rapidly around your frame as he couldn't believe who stood right in front of him.

"Oh, so you're Yamada-san. It's nice to meet you. I'm very happy you agreed to take the job." You smiled once again and his eyes met yours. His expression still as bewildered as before. "Go talk with Ichiro, I'll take over for a few minutes." Your mother said pushing you in the direction of the backroom. "Thanks mom." You replied and turned to the man. "Yamada-san, let's go to the backroom so I can pay you for your delivery." You motioned him to follow after you. "O-okay."

As soon as you stepped inside the room you grabbed your wallet and took out the needed cash for the game and the delivery. "I really hope it wasn't too weird to ask you to buy this game for me." You said turning to him with a small unsure smile. "Oh, it was no problem, really. He-here you go." Ichiro replied giving you the game. "Thank you, and here you go, the money for the game and for the delivery. I really appreciate it." "Thanks." He grabbed the money you handed to him.

As he put away the cash, your hands already moved to the bag and took out the pretty box containing the deluxe version of the game. You slowly opened the intricate packaging looking at the goods inside. "Woaaaah... I knew the deluxe edition was worth it, the gadgets are so cute and- Oh, Makoto postcard. So cute." You muttered to yourself and Ichiro blushed hearing you gush. "You sound just like them." His voice escaped his mouth before he could stop himself but it was so quiet you didn't hear him clearly. "Huh?" "I- I mean your voice is very similar to- to Makoto's character." He stuttered out a little louder and it was so strange for him to stutter but your voice and presence really did something to him.

You put the gadgets back in the box before your laugh echoed in the room. "Pfthahahaha... That may be because I'm the voice actor." You said trying to hold onto your chuckles. "You- what?!" Ichiro yelled his bewildered expression making you laugh even more as you nodded. "Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? Well, I'm (l/n) (y/n), and additionally to helping my parents in the bakery during weekends, I'm a voice actor." You smiled at him and he felt warm. "Wait- you're really Makoto's VA?" He asked, he just had to make sure he heard you correctly and it wasn't some kind of dream or hallucination. "Yes, is it so strange?" "No, no I'm just- I... I really like the series and it just- You're Makoto." he stumbled over his words his hands moving chaotically in front of his body. "I mean, you sound like them. And you're talking with me, it's like I'm talking with the main character." "I see, are you a fan? Is that why you bought two games? One's for you, right Ichiro-san?" You asked only then noticing that he held a similar box as the one he gave you. It flapped around as he waved his hands. "Yes! Sorry, it's just you're real..." "Hahaha... Of course I am." You said obviously pointing at yourself.

Ichiro was really feeling as if he was dreaming. You were there standing in front of him, your great voice echoing in his ears and painting the image of the character from the series right next to you. He was so happy, so excited he really forgot himself as he blurted out. "I love you."

Hearing his words, it was your moment to freeze and stare at him in surprise. His voice was so nice when he said it, his tone calm and soft, it sounded so perfect you felt yourself getting flustered. Your eyes opened wide and you didn't know what to do with your hands as they left the game on the table. "… Huh!?" The sound left you. You saw as Ichiro became as flustered if not even more than you. His face was so red it matched almost perfectly with his jacket. His mouth opened wide for a few seconds before it started moving. "I- I mean your character. Makoto. The MC you're voicing." He tried to clarify his hands waving in front of him once again.

"Th-thanks, I-I guess." You dropped your gaze looking at your shoes as your legs shuffled against the floor. "I need to go now. Bye." He said quickly before storming out of the door. Your eyes moved quickly to him just to see the back of his jacket as it disappeared behind the doors. "Bye?" You watched as he ran out of the back room and then the bakery, expertly avoiding customers to get to the door as quickly as possible. His hand holding the game he brought for himself, the bag bumping into his long leg.

"Huh, that was strange." You mumbled to yourself before placing your deluxe version of the game safely away. Then you slowly stepped out and towards your mother. "(Y/n), you're back. I saw Ichiro rushing out, did something happen?" She asked and you truly didn't know how to answer that. You corrected your apron before taking over the cash register. "I guess? I mean, he is a big fan of the series and the main character that I was voicing." You muttered as you finished packing the cake a customer ordered. "Ah, right! I remember that I gave him a few of the postcards and keychains you brought the other day when he claimed to watch the series." Your mom added as she hummed to herself in thought. You looked at her a little surprised, you knew she had a lot of march because of you and you told her yourself that it was alright to give it out if she wanted. Yet it still shocked you that Yamada collected such stuff.

"Oh… I see. I- I better take back over the cash register." You answered stuttering a little. "Huh? Okay, okay. Then, I'm going back to baking. Have fun." She smiled at you and entered the kitchen to continue with her baking. "Thanks." Your voice came out automatically as your mind somehow still focused on the man you met and you turned out to be your fan.

--

As soon as Ichiro came back home his brothers were next to him. "And how did it go nii-san?" Jiro asked sliding on his socks into the living room. "Did you buy the game?" The youngest followed looking up from his homework. Ichiro stomped to the couch and sat at it placing the bag at his feet, his face beet-red as he sighed loudly still feeling embarrassed. "Huh, why are you so red?" "Did something happen, Ichi-nii?" His brothers asked taking a good look at their flustered older brother. Ichiro took a deep breath his face falling into his palms. "I- I told them I love them." His voice came from behind his hands and brought a wave of gasps and surprised sounds. "Whaaaat?! Nii-san, what- who?! Who did you confess to?" Jiro rapidly questioned sitting at Ichiro's side. Arousing his curiosity to the highest level. "Ichi-nii, I thought you went out only for the delivery." Saburo said confused pushing his homework to the side as his brother's words flabbergasted him.

Ichiro looked at them from between his fingers, his bi-colour eyes sparkling with excitement even though he was so ashamed. "The person that called for the job was really the VA of Makoto." He said his hands slowly falling down his face to land on his lap. "Wait- really? Nii-san, did you get an autograph? Please tell me you did!" Jiro bounced in his chair all excited, as he became a fan of the series because of watching it together with his older brother. "I didn't, I just blanked out, and when they asked if I was a fan and said my name... I just- I told them I loved them." Ichiro said leaning back on the couch, his fingers drumming against his thighs nervously.

His sudden confession brought immense joy to the younger sibling as their chuckles grew louder and louder. "Oh... That's really..." Jiro tried to stifle his laugh but it slipped him echoing in the room. "Pfthahahahahaha... Ichi-nii, that's hilarious." Saburo, however, didn't hide his amusement. "Saburo, you can't just- Hahahahaha..." "Stop it, it was so embarrassing." Ichiro lamented his voice whiny as he recalled the shocked look on your face when he uttered those words. "Surely, did they say something?" The middle brother asked followed by the youngest probing further. "Yeah, how did they react?" "I don't know. I left immediately after. What do you want, that was freaking embarrassing." Ichiro said before his brothers burst once again into the laughter at the expense of their older brother who seemed always to be so cool and composed.

[zzz-updates]

Plastic-Wrapped Journal | Built for Bitterness

"It's not that I don't like sweets. I'm just used to bitter flavors."

"Don't worry, this bitterness is nothing compared to a day at work."

"Thanks for the treat! I'll bring these sweets back for Soukaku~"

"Hands-Free, Emotion Embraced"

Click to unlock the exclusive Plastic-Wrapped Deluxe Edition for more privileges to record the most memorable moments!

The Plastic-Wrapped Journal is an AI Journal app for mobile devices, aiming to create beautiful memories for its users.

*Please exercise caution when purchasing items in the app.

>> Official Hoyolab post <<

[elaine19day]

To those who are confused as to where and how to buy OldXian's new artbook and merchandise, let me try to break it down for you.

A few days ago, OldXian announced the pre-sale of their new artbook which comes in two versions.

Variant A (regular) includes: - the new artbook - a poster - 2x postcards

Variant B (deluxe edition) includes: - the new artbook - a poster - 2x postcards - 4x buttons - a shishiki board - a sticker sheet - a 24 page booklet

Furthermore there's two new acrylic standees which can be purchased separately. A tianshan and a zhanyi version.

The cost of these items is as follows: Artbook (version A): 89 Yuan [roughly: 13 USD | 12 Euro | 10 GBP] Artbook (version B): 189 Yuan [roughly: 27 USD | 25 Euro 21 GBP] Acrylic Standee: 49 Yuan (each) [roughly: 7 USD | 7 Euro | 6 GBP]

All of these items are available for purchase in their taobao store now, under this link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=786971367604

But if you have trouble creating a taobao account or your country isn't on the (very short) taobao shipping list [China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand] then you have several other options to get your hands on these new items.

1. You could use aliexpress, koonbooks or any other China-based shopping app/website to buy these things from a 3rd party seller.

Now, keep in mind that these sellers obviously want to make a profit, so you will pay more than in the original taobao shop. However, on the plus side, they usually offer free shipping, which is nice considering that items like artbooks are heavy and shipping costs are based on weight, so if you pay over, some of that money also goes towards covering the shipping costs, which is not bad.

The risk of ordering with such a website is obviously that the independent seller could turn out to be a scammer and keep your money and not send you the goods. I have no idea about koonbook's policies, however in the case of aliexpress you are at least protected by such practices and should you not receive what you paid for, you will be refunded and get your money back.

Also keep in mind that the artbook and merch is still in production at this point! But Old Xian said the merch will be shipped out BEFORE May 20th. That's less than 4 weeks from now.

That being said - in some cases the merch will be cheaper on aliexpress after official ship-out, because there will be more people offering it, competing for best prices.

However there's obviously also a risk that the deluxe edition will sell out before that or that these re-sellers only ship the artbook itself with none of the extras.

Here's two links where you can have a look at potential resellers, but carefully think about all the pro's and con's I gave you before you consider to buy. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006893284852.html https://koonbooks.com/products/old-xian-19-days-art-collection-3-chinese?variant=46493038674166 2.

The other option you have is using a taobao shopping agent. If you google that, you'll find dozens of websites offering their services. I myself have used parcelup, 42agent and superbuy before. Here's links to all of them: https://www.superbuy.com/ https://parcelup.com/ https://www.42agent.com/ What all of these agents have in common is that you need to create an account BEFORE you can start searching and shopping. All you need for that is a valid email address. I'll show how it works with superbuy screenshots here. After you signed up, you can copy the taobao-link I gave you earlier and paste it into the search-field.

What will come up is an embedded view of the taobao listing where you can pick which variant you want and then add it to your shopping cart.

Once you have added everything you want, click on the shopping cart and simply follow all further payment instructions.

They will also ask you if you want them to keep the original packaging or if you want them to remove anything unnecessary and repack everything in order to make it weigh less so shipping will be cheaper. It's up to you. You will then be asked to pay for items, domestic shipping (so mosspaca studios can ship the goods to your agent's warehouse) and in some cases a service fee. For example, superbuy has no service fee, however they stopped offering paypal as payment method recently so you'd need a credit card or other online methods to pay for your order and everything. Parcelup, however, still offers paypal, but they also charge service fees. (They are fairly low though, if you ask me.) So after you paid for your goods, they will order the items for you and then you'll have to wait about 4-5 weeks for them to arrive, because keep in mind - like I said earlier - everything is still in production and Old Xian aims to ship everything out before the 20th of May. There's hundreds, if not thousands of parcels arriving to all agent's warehouses every day, so it will take them a few days to sort through things after your order arrives. You need to be patient!! They will get back to you with pictures of your order, trust me. When this happens you need to look at the pics and if everything is okay, you can reply to them to proceed. You will then be presented with shipping quotes. Usually they offer more than one shipping method and some are tracked, others are untracked, some will take only a week or two until they arrive at your doorstep, others will take 6 weeks or up to two months. Choose wisely which method you want and consider what is in your budget. (Obviously fast shipping with tracking is more expensive than slow shipping without it, however personally I'd always recommend a tracked service.) Just to give you an estimate on what to expect when it comes to international shipping - parcels with that amount of merch and weight, will always cost me about 50 USD or more to ship from China to the UK, where I live. (So keep that in mind before you order. International shipping is very expensive!) But once you picked a shipping method, you pay for it (that's your 2nd payment) and once they have processed that - your goodies will be on the way to you within a few days. And that's it. Sit down, eat your food and wait patiently for it to arrive. If you have further questions, just plop them into the comments and I'll try to answer them.

[velleire]

Homestead Showcase

What I got from the Homestead showcase live that happened this afternoon at 12PM PT under the cut! If you don't want spoilers, shoo shoo :)

Edit: Link of the video is up on the Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2214041991

This is what I got from the live (sorry for english in advance). If I got anything incorrectly feel free to correct me, my mind goes places easily:

- The Homestead is huge. It's a lot of space. It's like a farm.

30 characters limit to show in the instance (10 of each armor weight).

600 is the new cap of Mastery Points (or at least, it was the number the devs had).

Automatic gathering in one click. There's a chest with a little leaf icon on it to do this. Your party can also use it.

Refined Homestead Materials (used to craft decorations): 300 per week but I guess you can buy an item to refresh it. They talked a lot about how to acquire these but I zoned out lol sorry sorry

You can easily equip different glyphs (the ones you own) for the gathering.

New decorations will be released for annual events (such as Mad King decorations).

You can pet your mounts (important).

They walked around showing each section of the homestead. There's a place for crafting (for the new crafting profession), the stable with your mounts, a river to the skiff, the house, a big area outside, etc. It's very pretty.

You can decorate the mine. All mining nodes are there.

There's an x-ray option to see all your decorations and spot them easily.

I lost it, but someone mentioned in chat M.O.X is in the house (if you have it unlocked).

3 modes in decoration mode: place, modify and erase.

There's a gizmo to move the stuff around. The dev put a carpet floating in the air.They didn't leave it there, so I don't know what would have happened. They also moved stuff upside-down. The carpet could be scaled to be bigger. (This all seems easy and friendly.)

The Wayfinder Table that comes with the expansion (the deluxe ver. I guess) has 4 options of things to put above it (example: board game, war planning, etc. One of these versions had a mini Rytlock).

Some chairs won't be sit-able depending on how you resize them.

There's a flying mode that turns you into a bee so you can fly around. The dev put some trees around while in this mode, so we can decorate the outside as a bee.

There's a decoration skill to copy the last size and position of an item so it's easy to duplicate it if needed.

You can zoom out a lot as a bee to see your decorations from a distance.

You can make sitting spots in random objects. In the live, the dev put a sit position above a rock for the character to sit on (don't know how they called it… mixing a chair and a rock?? I missed it.)

They set a picnic table with food on it. They could move the food around and also resize it.

You can make your alts follow you. More than one. The dev took at least five with them.

There's Day and Night cycles like in the game but you can set the time of the day inside your instance by talking to a kodan NPC.

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

THÉO SCHMIED

The French painter and illustrator Pierre Brissaud (1885-1964) was commissioned to produce watercolor illustrations for the 1950 Limited Edition Club (LEC) production of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. The watercolors were turned over to the workshop of master French wood engraver Théo Schmied (1900-1985) to be reproduced for the edition as these remarkable, multi-block color wood engravings.

Schmied's Swiss-born father François-Louis Schmied (1873-1941), also a wood engraver and formally trained in the book arts, established his Paris workshop in 1910 to produce deluxe, illustrated limited editions. Théo Schmied took over the management of his father's workshop beginning in 1924 and inherited the business after his father's death.

This edition was designed by Francis Meynell of the Nonesuch Press in London, with the text composed in Monotype Ehrhardt at the Curwen Press under the supervision of Ernest Ingham and printed letterpress at the Marchbanks Press in New York on specially-made paper bearing the title of the book as watermark by the Curtis Paper Company of Newark, Delaware. The edition is limited to 1500 copies signed by Pierre Brissaud.

Click or tap on the alt-text for each image to see captions.

View more Limited Edition Club posts.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[blakegopnik]

Happy to see my review of Dawoud Bey's great show at Sean Kelly Gallery getting nice play in the New York Times. The full text is below (click on "Keep reading") but one thing I didn't have room to dwell on, as much as I would have liked, is the vitally important tension between Bey's video and his stills. That's a tension (as I see it) between the “gaze” of the enslaved, in the fractured video, and of Europeans, in the elegant, traditionally artistic, even "sublime," prints. It would be so easy for someone to think the prints were just elegant, knock-off commodities meant to fund the more truly important, more challenging video. But I think the reflection back and forth, between the settled elegance and the unsettling challenge, is vital to the entire project.  

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ENSLAVED - THE NEW YORK TIMES

CRITIC’S PICK

By Blake Gopnik

Jan. 30, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET

The terrifying first capture in Africa.

The deadly crossing of the Middle Passage.

The brutality of slave markets and servitude.

It’s almost impossible to imagine, let alone depict, the full horrors of American slavery, although writers, directors and artists have tried.

But there’s one moment that seems to have caught their attention less often: the first encounter of kidnapped Africans with the strange new land where they were marched into enslavement.

In a remarkable exhibition called “Stony the Road,” at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York, the artist Dawoud Bey takes us on the path that tens of thousands were forced to walk, from the slave ships that landed at the James River’s docks to Richmond’s slave pens and markets.

With 14 still photos and a vast, two-sided video projection, Bey explores the Richmond Slave Trail that extends for several miles in Virginia’s capital. At Sean Kelly, Bey’s stills

are the first art you encounter. Those deluxe black-and-whites, almost a yard across, show various wooded spots along the trail, avoiding any details that speak of our era. (In fact, the trail now crosses many modern settings.) We get a view of trees and ground, of bits of river and patches of distant sky, such as an African might have encountered 250 years ago.

The images were shot on old-fashioned film and printed on traditional photographic paper, so we’re treated to the velvety blacks and sparkling whites of landscapes by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and other pioneers of American photography. It’s tempting to linger with those tasteful, orderly images — in the gallery, and in this review — but I discovered that they get a whole new meaning after seeing Bey’s video at the gallery’s rear.

That video is titled “350,000,” an estimate of the total number of enslaved people who passed through Richmond’s trading markets. (The piece was originally commissioned for a major Bey show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond in 2023.) Ten minutes of black-and-white footage appear on a screen that bisects a big space and reaches almost to its high ceiling. It shows the same wooded path as in Bey’s prints, but to utterly different effect.

The piece works hard to put us in the place — physical, but above all psychological — of one of Richmond’s newly disembarked. The images are projected at “life scale,” Bey told me, so that the path’s tree trunks and branches are the same size on the screen as they would be if they were there before us in life. And the trip down the path is captured in a single take, without edits, by a Steadicam held at an adult’s head-height, giving a captive’s-eye view of the passage up the trail.

But the goal isn’t to create a crisp, immersive substitute for a past reality. (Bey insists that his piece isn’t about faking some kind of long-lost documentation.) It’s about using the visible artifice of fine art to encourage a trip into a past we need to confront. In some ways Bey’s video has more in common with a poet’s evocative description than with a Spielbergish attempt at historical re-enactment.

So Bey’s cinematographer, Bron Moyi, shot all the footage with a century-old Petzval lens, once used for dream sequences in silent movies. It blurs all but the middle of the scene it shows, giving an almost drunken effect to Bey’s footage, which is also shown in somewhat slow-motion. Real vision never really works quite like that, but the Petzval provides an excellent metaphor for the kind of disorientation Africans must have felt on first being shoved ashore in Virginia.

They couldn’t have known quite where they were going, or what the endgame might be — most couldn’t understand their tormentors’ language — and “350,000” has a similar lack of plot or endpoint. Its camera’s “eye” rarely looks straight down the path toward some far-off goal. Instead, it veers from earth to treetops; from river, down at right, to undergrowth that hems the path at left.

No one knows if captives would really have looked anywhere but at their own stumbling feet or at the back of the chained figure ahead, but the camera’s wandering eye evokes the fracturing of any normal they might have known. Even the flora in Bey’s video, sure to strike most Americans as an average woodland scene, must have seemed foreign.

Bey makes his disjunctive technique stand for the utter confusion — physical, cognitive, spiritual — that captives must have felt. A soundtrack, commissioned by Bey from the dance scholar E. Gaynell Sherrod, adds to the effect: It’s a mash-up of random footfalls and birdcalls, of heartbeats and hoofbeats, of grunts and sighs and clinking chains. It doesn’t quite reproduce what the enslaved might actually have heard, but it sometimes adds Hollywood melodrama that the visuals smartly avoid. However, Sherrod’s soundtrack, and its lack of obvious sync to Bey’s visuals, maps onto how trauma can fracture our perceptions.

 “Bey’s installation doesn’t recreate a single moment in someone’s pain,” our critic writes. “It condenses all the moments that thousands of subjects might have suffered on the Richmond Slave Trail.” via Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles; Photo by Adam Reich

In a final touch, Bey gives art viewers a more immediate taste of that same bewilderment: The occasional visitor who peers around to the other side of Bey’s screen will eventually realize that the view there is actually the same path but seen on a different trudge down it. That gives a sense that Bey’s installation doesn't recreate a single moment in someone’s pain; it condenses all the moments that thousands of subjects might have suffered on the Richmond Slave Trail.

And then, leaving the video behind, you encounter Bey’s stills once again, and now they seem to play a different role in his story. After witnessing the splintered sights in his video, his stills now seem to stand for the very firm and settled present that today’s art world lives in, at so many removes from an enslaved person’s view.

They give us something like the stable, settled view favored by Europe’s artistic culture, circa 1800, when wild nature promised escape from the everyday into the sublime. It’s almost as though Bey’s prints offer a bright light at the end of their forest path, so that, as in many an Ansel Adams photo, the white of the immaculate silver print becomes the white of escape and transcendence. The prints have a stable authority, in their confident choice of subject, the snapping of the shutter, their deluxe printing, that isn’t there in the video.

Bey’s show gets its name from a passage in the second stanza of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the hymn by James Weldon Johnson that premiered in 1900 and is known as the Black national anthem: “Stony the road we trod/Bitter the chastening rod.”

Here’s how the stanza ends: “Out from the gloomy past/’Til now we stand at last/Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.”

Now, 125 years later, Bey’s gloom seems to cast new light on art’s gleam.

[shinki26]

The Sims 2 Disc Installation and fix guide for Windows 10/11 PCs

I’m writing this guide to hopefully instruct people on how to properly install, fix and run their disc based The Sims 2 game and also educate you on why the discs are not as bad as everyone makes them to be.

First things first, some clarifications about common misconceptions of both the Ultimate Collection and TS2 disc games I’ve been seeing being tossed around:

1. The Ultimate Collection has compatibility patches for modern hardware: 

This one is actually kinda true? The UC did have some patches made to it compared to a fully patched disc game but no one has been able to tell what exactly it did.

A fully patched, fixed and correctly installed disc game should work the same as the Ultimate Collection, with no difference in compatibility or game performance.

2. SecuROM doesn’t work on modern OSes so you can’t run the game off the discs: 

Totally untrue. People who says SecuROM doesn’t work on Windows 10/11 haven’t actually tried running a game that uses it at all. It 100% works even on Windows 11.

What doesn’t work on modern OSes is SafeDisc, which all packs released before Bon Voyage used. So if you install BV and any pack released after it, the game IS going to run normally as it’s using SecuROM instead.

3. But SecuROM makes the game lag: 

True, for some machines it does happen. But as I will explain in the guide, you can uninstall SecuROM with the official removal tool and just use NoCD executables to have it not install itself again.

4. The discs requires Flash and it’s been deprecated:

No, the discs DO NOT require Flash. The only thing that uses it in the setup is a pop up that used to ask you if you wanted to register your game. Since of course you can’t register it anymore, you can just close it and it WILL NOT affect anything.

That out of the way, let’s get to the guide!

What you are going to need:

-All original TS2 patches released by EA back in the day:

They’re all hosted HERE on ModTheSims. 

Please, be aware that there may be multiple variatons of a patch. You need to pick the right one for your game. If you have The Sims 2 Base Game DVD version, you will have to download the second option where it says “DVD Patch Notes”, for example.

For Pets and Seasons the “DD” patches mean Digital Download, so if you have them on either CD or DVD them both are going to use the “Disk Patch”

If you seem to be not able to download them, right click the download link and choose “Save Link As”.

If you have The Sims 2 Deluxe / Double Deluxe / Holiday Edition / Other compilations you’re not going to need the Base Game patch as those versions are already updated!!

You also don’t need the Nightlife patch if you have Deluxe or Double Deluxe!!

The same thing applies for the Collections: You don’t need to patch their EPs!!

-Grumpy Loader:

Get it HERE on ModTheSims.

-If you have Bon Voyage and/or packs released after it... SecuROM Removal Tool:

Get it HERE.

-If you have Mansion & Garden Stuff... Sims2RPC:

Get it HERE on ModTheSims by @lazyduchess!

If you DO NOT have this pack, you’re going to need to source a NoCD executable of the game based on your latest installed pack.

-If you DO NOT Have Mansion & Garden Stuff... 4GB Patch:

Get it HERE.

-Graphics Rules Maker:

Get it HERE.

Having downloaded everything, you can start inserting your Base Game disc one! Or your Base Game DVD!

Installing the Base Game:

There’s no mystery in this part, install your game normally as you would back in 2004 following the instructions of the setup.

Three of the biggest problems I’ve seen people have when installing the Base Game is:

1. I get a red pop up saying “This app has been blocked for your protection”

This happens usually on Double Deluxe games and later EPs such as Bon Voyage, FreeTime and Apartment Life.

There’s two ways you can circumvent this.

First one is the one that I personally prefer:

-Open the Task Manager

-On the top left, click “File”

-Click “Run new task”

-Click “Browse...”

-Now go to your disc drive in your PC and open it, select Autorun.exe

-The target box should be pointing to “D:\Autorun.exe”. The “D” letter changes depending on what letter your disc drive is set to in your PC

-Check the “Create this task with administrative privileges” box

-Now click OK.

The setup is going to run normally now.

When you are installing EPs that show you this error, you can do the same thing to every one.

The other way is just to change your PC’s date to somewhere before 2020.

This is going to work too, I can’t explain to you why though!

Something about licenses expiring!

2. I get a Flash pop up when I try to install!

As I explained earlier, you can just close it and the installation will continue normally.

3. The setup just hangs at a specific percentage and won’t progress anymore!

This is mosty probably the setup asking you to swap discs!

DVD users do not have this problem.

What happens sometimes is that the setup GUI is supposed to make a pop up window appear in front of the GUI asking you to swap to disc 2, but on modern OSes it doesn’t appear sometimes.

Actually, it does. It just is in the background, if you minimize every open window on your machine you’re going to see the little pop up!

Just swap to disc 2 and press “Ok” on the pop up and it should resume installing.

The same thing can happen when having to switch to Discs 3 and 4.

After installing the Base Game:

Now you are going to need to patch it.

Open GrumpyLoader, on the top left select “Load...” and on the window that opens, choose the Base Game patch’s executable you’ve downloaded and open it.

It’s going to automatically patch your game, if you are on the 4 CD version of the game you may have to swap discs.

Sometimes GrumpyLoader throws errors when updating, especially when it ends. But you can just ignore it.

After patching, your Base Game is FULLY installed and properly patched, congratulations!!!

But if you didn’t already try, you will see that you can’t run the game as it doesn’t open.

That’s because the Base Game uses SafeDisc that doesn’t work on modern OSes as I said earlier.

Installing Expansion and Stuff Packs:

It’s the same process of installing the Base Game. Follow the setup instructions.

After installing each one, PATCH them with GrumpyLoader.

For example: you just installed University!

Do NOT immediately install another pack right after. 

Follow the same GrumpyLoader patching process you did on the Base Game but choose the University patch instead.

Do the same thing to ALL EPs and Family Fun Stuff.

Also, there has been some info online about installing packs out of release order can mess up your game.

I personally don’t think it’s true as I never had any problems but I prefer to be better safe than sorry.

If you want to, Install them in this order:

-University (or University Life Collection)

-Nightlife (skip if you have The Sims 2 Deluxe/Double Deluxe)

-Christmas Party Pack (I don’t recommend if you have Happy Holiday Stuff or The Sims 2 Holiday Edition) 

-Open For Business (or Best of Business Collection)

-Family Fun Stuff (or Fun with Pets Collection)

-Glamour Life Stuff

-Pets (skip if you have Fun with Pets Collection)

-Happy Holiday Stuff (skip if you have The Sims 2 Holiday Edition)

-Seasons

-Celebration Stuff (skip if you have The Sims 2 Double Deluxe)

-H&M Stuff (skip if you have Best of Business Collection)

-Bon Voyage

-Teen Style Stuff (skip if you have University Life Collection)

-FreeTime

-Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff (skip if you have Best of Business Collection)

-IKEA Home Stuff (skip if you have University Life Collection)

-Apartment Life

-Mansion & Garden Stuff (skip if you have Fun with Pets Collection)

If you’ve installed all packs, great! You can even launch your game from SP9′s (Mansion & Garden Stuff) disc and executable as it uses SecuROM which WORKS on modern OSes.

Getting your game to work properly:

Your game is fully installed, patched and even running if you have Bon Voyage and later released packs!

But you probably noticed very heavy lag, crashing, bad graphics and things not running as they should.

That’s because, just like the Ultimate Collection, the game is a PITA to get running properly on Modern OSes!

If you have Bon Voyage and/or later released packs: I HIGHLY recommend you to uninstall SecuROM from your machine.

This is going to help greatly with game performance.

Use the SecuROM Removal Tool I’ve linked earlier and remove it from your PC.

Do NOT open the game again as it’s going to install itself again if you do so.

If you have Mansion & Garden Stuff: After uninstalling SecuROM, you’re going to need to install Lazy Duchess’ Sims2RPC Launcher I’ve linked earlier. Follow their instructions on the download page and be sure to apply the 4gb patch in the launcher as it’s going to GREALTY help with the crashing.

Or... if you DO NOT have Mansion & Garden Stuff: Get an appropriate NoCD executable for the pack you are using to launch your game and apply the 4GB patch to it.

Open the 4GB patch executable and use it on your game’s exe.

After doing all that, all that remains is fixing your game performance, resolution and graphics!

Install Graphics Rules Maker and open it.

Firstly, you’re going to have to add your Graphics card to the game’s database. To do that, go the “Device Info” tab and add it there.

Back to the “Settings” tab, be sure your game is set to “The Sims 2″ and is properly recognizing where your game is installed, if for some reason it isn’t, click “Browse...” and point it to your latest installed pack’s folder.

For example: “C:\Program Files (x86)\EA Games\The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff”.

-Force Texture Memory: Use the auto-detect button and it should automatically calculate the best value for your graphics card.

Check “Disable texture memory estimate adjustment” and “Enable driver’s memory manager” boxes.

If you have an AMD Radeon HD 7000 series, also check the “Fix AMD Radeon HD 7000 series recognition”.

If you have Intel integrated graphics, check the last two boxes.

Now you can set your resolution! Choose your default (which one the game is going to start with) and maximum resolution your game is going to support.

After doing all that, you can click “Save Files...”

And... Done! You got your disc-based The Sims 2 game fully working, properly patched and fixed!!!

Any Feedback on how to improve this guide is very welcome!

Happy Simming, y’all!!! :)

[quidell-fics]

Black Myth: Wukong Patch 1.0.12.16581 Notes

Source click here

Version: 1.0.12.16581

**Update Time: December 10, 2024 16:00 (UTC+8)**

**NOTE: Epic Games Store Version will receive the patch first, but it will also be rolled out gradually on other platforms.**

**What to Know Before Patch Installation**

* Due to the platform's update mechanism, your computer will need to reserve a larger amount of free disk space for temporary storage of the update files.

* If you have installed any mods in the game, installing the patch may cause compatibility issues. This could prevent you from launching the game or triggering error pop-ups during gameplay. We recommend uninstalling the installed mods and verifying the integrity of the game files before restarting the game

* If you encounter unusually large update sizes during patch installation, or if the game gets stuck, crashes, or fails to start after installation, please refer to the [Installation/Patch] on our official website.

* **All new items introduced in this patch will not be required for any game achievements.**

# Major Updates

**New Gameplay: Challenge**

*"It's tough to confront the old rivals anew, but the Great Sage will always prevail!"*

* After completing the game at least once, the Destined One can find "Challenge" at any Keeper's Shrine.

* There are two types of challenges available: "**Return of Rivals**" and "**Gauntlet of Legends**".

* "**Return of Rivals**"

* The Destined One can challenge a former opponent to a duel, choosing from three levels of difficulty.

* If any opponents remain undefeated in the main game, the corresponding rematch will be unavailable.

* "**Gauntlet of Legends**"

* The Destined One can battle against multiple opponents in succession, using customized curses to tailor the difficulty.

* This mode can be difficult, as some old opponents may surprise with new moves. Proceed with caution!

* If any opponents remain undefeated in the main game, the related gauntlet will be unavailable.

* Completing any gauntlet rewards players with new rare treasures.

* Medicine: "Glimmering Scale Pellets" and its formula;

* Drink and Soaks: "Sour Wine", "Frost-Enduring Chrysanthemum", and "Robust Antler";

* Curios: "Stone Tiger Tally", "Ever-Burning Palace Lantern", and "Fragment of the Ocean-Settling Pillar";

* Equipment: "Three Hill Crown";

* Weapons: "Qing Mallet", "Fanged Cyan Staff", and "Leeching Centipede Staff".

**New Game Feature: Journeyer's Chart (Map Function)**

*"Let the chart chart the journeyer's journey."*

* A remarkable one has captured these landscapes, organizing them into charts for guidance and marking.

* A Journeyer's Chart can be unlocked when the Destined One first enters Black Wind Mountain and meets the Keeper.

* Afterwards, for each new territory reached, a "Journeyer's Chart" can be purchased at the Keeper's Shrine.

**New Equipment: Armor Set of Opulence**

*As the year comes to a close, we wish all Destined Ones an early Happy Chinese New Year! May you have joy and prosperity all year round.*

* Four special armor pieces have been crafted to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.

* After installation, all Destined Ones can claim these directly through "Trailblazer's Gift" at any Keeper's Shrine.

**New Music Library Functions**

* "Black Myth: Wukong Soundtrack Selection" has been added as a new soundtrack application (some tracks are not available for export due to copyright restrictions).

Please note: Due to configuration issues on EPIC, purchasers of "Black Myth: Wukong Deluxe Edition Upgrade" may experience delays in receiving the soundtrack selection. Your patience is much appreciated.

# Bug Fixes

# Bosses

* Fixed an issue where yaoguai chiefs "The King of the Kingdom of Flowing Sands and His Son" might not drop the spirit of "Second Rat Prince" upon defeat.

* Fixed an issue where "Kang-Jin Star" would die unexpectedly under certain conditions.

* Fixed an issue where "Zhu Bajie" could not be defeated during a certain phase.

* Fixed an issue where yaoguai king "Yellow Loong" would get stuck underground in certain situations.

* Fixed an issue where some skills of yaoguai king "Yellow Loong" could not be interrupted even after being seen-through.

* Fixed an issue where yaoguai chiefs "Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud" would continue attacking players while in invisible state under certain conditions.

* Fixed an issue where yaoguai chief Lang-Baw-Baw could not engage in combat under certain conditions.

* Fixed an issue where some skills of "Erlang, the Sacred Divinity" would deal abnormal damage to the Destined One.

* Fixed an issue where the Destined One could engage in the battle with "The Four Heavenly Kings" in forms other than "Stone Monkey" under specific operations.

* Fixed an issue where the Destined One could be blocked by an invisible wall, preventing him from entering combat in certain situations.

* Improved the grappling performance of yaoguai king "Yellow Wind Sage".

* Reduced the invulnerability duration of "Green-Capped Martialist".

* Enhanced the effectiveness of the vessel "Wind Tamer" against yaoguai chief "Non-Void".

* Improved the combat experience with yaoguai chiefs "Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud".

* Improved the combat experience with yaoguai chief "Emerald-Armed Mantis".

* Improved the combat experience with "The Great Sage's Broken Shell".

**Levels**

* Fixed an issue where Zhu Bajie did not appear in Mount Huaguo under certain conditions.

**Protagonist**

* Improved the experience when the Destined One consumes multiple medicines consecutively.

* Enhanced the experience of Varied Combos and Charged Heavy Attacks.

* Optimized the description of Transformations-related Talents.

* Fixed an issue where the damage detection of Spirit Skills persisted indefinitely under certain operations.

* Fixed an issue where the animation of Life-Saving Strand could not be triggered when the Talent had taken effect under specific operations.

* Fixed an issue where "Bull King's Mask" could gain Focus even when attacked during invincible states (Doging, Perfect Dodging, or Seeing-Through).

**Interactions**

* The Music Library progress bar now supports dragging.

* Control customization for Keyboard & Mouse now supports mouse side buttons.

* Fixed an issue where the Sprint button icon would not display in Controller Type B's layout.

* Fixed an issue where the Inventory interface might not display content under certain operations.

* Fixed an issue where the UI could become misaligned under specific operations.

**Sound and Subtitles**

* Fixed errors in some sound effects.

* Fixed abnormal voice playback for certain yaoguai kings.

* Optimized the volume of certain sound effects.

**Performance**

* Fixed occasional crashes for some users after enabling DLSS frame generation.

* Fixed screen flickering issues for some users after enabling XeSS.

* Fixed a memory leak issue under certain conditions.

* Fixed crashes caused by outdated drivers.

* Optimized performance for numerous scenes and boss fights on medium and low-end configurations.

* Enhanced the performance of Full Ray Tracing on GeForce RTX.

**Localization and Other**

* Added language support for Turkish.

* Added and improved translations for Portraits in several languages.

* Corrected translation errors and fixed issues with spelling, capitalization, and terminology consistency in several languages.

* Improved the translation of lyrics in several languages.

* Enhanced the quality of some English voiceovers and their synchronization with subtitles.

* Improved text display in several languages.

[kara-zor-els]

Do you have any recomended readings for Jason Todd? Not a full masterlist, just runs you'd recommend

I answered this way back but I have read a lot more comics since, so I think that it's a good time to revise it. All the links lead to readcomicsonline, so I'd recommend using an addblocker before clicking on them. And please make sure to buy the comics if you can.

✨Jason Todd Comic Recommendations ✨

Pre-Crisis

Pre-crisis Jason was essentially a clone of Dick, down to his dead parents being circus performers, so there is not a lot of this era that I'd recommend, and you can honestly skip this section. That being said:

For The Man Who Has Everything (Action Comics Annual #11): this is not really a Jason story as much as an (iconic) Superman story. It does however mark the first meeting between Jason and Wonder Woman, and he does play a role in defeating the bad guy.

Post-Crisis Robin Era

Main Robin Run (Batman (1940) #408 - #425): this includes the revised Jason origin (aka the one most people know about), Jason's first mission as Robin (ft. Two-Face!), Jason and Dick teaming up for the first time (this Jason and Dick team up got retconned in Nightwing Year One, but imo the original one is much better) and some other Jaybin adventures. My favourites are Bruce and Jason trying to catch a Serial Killer terrorizing Gotham as well as the Felipe Garzonas storyline, which sets the stage for ADITF.

Legends: This is a small event and Jason isn't in it a lot but I really liked it.

A Death in The Family: Jason dies in this one.

Post Resurrection (aka, the Red Hood era)

Under the Red Hood: this is the deluxe edition, which includes the main UTRH sotryline as well as the fight prior to that set during the the Hush story arc and Batman Annual #12, which is Jason's first Red Hood origin (it get's expanded upon later in Lost Days):

Red Hood: Lost Days: Essentially Jason's time between coming back from the dead all the way to UTRH

Teen Titans #29: The Titan's Tower incident. a lot of people dislike this one but personally I though it was pretty fun lol. Basically Jason beats up Tim in the most dramatic, theater-kid-esque way possible.

Green Arrow #69-72: Jason vs Mia Dearden.

There are some stuff set between this and the New52 but I have either not read them (Brothers in Blood, Countdown) or they were bad (Battle for the Cowl). Then there comes the New52 RHATO run (horrible) and the Rebirth RHATO run (not as horrible but still bad) So instead I'd skip to Infinite Frontier and recommend:

Batman: Urban Legends #1-#6: The first story called Cheer has a Jason and Bruce team up. It's not the best but I don't hate it as much as any of the RHATO stuff.

Task Force Z: Jason joins a team made up by zombified Batman rouges. That one was actually good.

Elseworlds:

From the DC Vault: Death in the Family: Robin Lives!: What would have happened if Jason didn't die during UTRH (currently ongoing)