#this is incredible. amazing. i’ve never loved an audio file more

[kimabutch]

I’ve already alluded to it plenty here, so: let me tell you about my friends’ TTRPG game. 

So, almost two months ago, my friends @hgb94​ and @nilim​ started what was supposed to be a oneshot of Ships That Pass, a two-person game about queer spaceships in love. Because they like to talk a lot (affectionate), they didn’t finish. So they played a second session, and still didn’t finish. And then, because they liked their characters, they started adding extra scenes and secondary characters. And then they started adding flashback scenes to create extra context for the characters. And then they threw out the rules entirely, and it became largely-improvised collaborative storytelling. 

Oh, and they’d recorded it all from the beginning, so they started editing the present-day and flashback scenes together to create episodes, complete with music, soundscaping, and narrated scene introductions. Not for anyone but themselves, but, well, I did start listening. 

But the story, friends, the story. It’s so good. It starts off simply: the Elysium (Ely), a luxury cruise ship and a bit of a prankster, meets the Scythe (Scy), a biomedical research ship and a stickler for rules, while both of them are near a plasma cloud. They start talking, and Ely’s sense of humour enchants Scy as much as Scy’s stories of the wonderful phenomena she studies enchant Ely. They start finding excuses to pass by each other. Scy introduces Ely to an ice storm. Ely starts writing poetry for Scy. They’re frankly adorable. 

But things aren’t that simple. Both ships have close bonds with their captains and crew. Ely has been flying with her captain, Richard, a kind, gruff, and Tired man, for fifteen years; Scy’s been with her cool but Disaster captain Manon for less time, but they care for each other deeply. However, in this world, AI are seen as property — and dangerous property at that. Fifteen years ago, there was a brutal war fought over AI rights, where the colonialist Coalition used propaganda about “rogue AI” to justify invading other planets, and the rebels fought (and lost) to try to protect their ships and planets. 

But that was fifteen years ago — it’s all “settled” now. Supposedly. 

When one of Manon’s crew dies of illness, both she and Scy are brought in for psychological evaluations, and Manon’s suspiciously pro-AI and anti-MAN (Monitors of Artificial Norms) sentiments put her under further investigation by the MAN. They assign her an Agent, Oliver (Ollie), who comes on board to monitor both Scy and Manon. 

Fortunately for them, Ollie’s a young but incredibly bright Agent on his first mission, and particularly sympathetic to AI. Doubly fortunate, he’s the protégé of Theresa Williams, a ruthless senior man Agent who’s been plotting undercover revenge against the MAN for over a decade because they reprogrammed her ship. Williams “recruited” Ollie out of university — that is, discovered Ollie had pro-AI views that might get him in trouble and then blackmailed his family so he’d join the MAN and be “protected.” She’s mentored him ever since, and despite her insistence that attachments are a weakness, she cares deeply for him. 

Williams assigned Scy’s case file to Ollie after she noticed Scy & Ely’s anomalous flight patterns; she wants to help. She hopes no one else notices this dangerous pattern — particularly because Richard and Manon should not be meeting. See, while Richard and Manon know that Ely & Scy are in love, they don’t know who the other’s captain is. 

Manon doesn’t know that Ely’s captain is Richard, her mother Elske’s lover, who was almost her stepfather — who was forcibly conscripted to the pro-Coalition side, while her mother fought and died for the rebels. Richard, who never contacted Manon after the war. 

On the other hand, Richard doesn’t know that Scy’s captain is Manon, the daughter of the woman he loved; the woman who he saw die, for whom he punched out a Commanding Officer, for whom he was ready to die. Manon, whom Richard was forbidden by the MAN from contacting after the war, who was used as leverage for Richard’s silence about the war. 

When they find out who the other is, well, that’s when things really start going to shit. Because Agents aside from Williams and Ollie have started noticing what’s going on, and that puts everyone in danger: Scy, Ely, Manon, Richard, Ollie, and Williams. To get out of this mess, the captains & ships will have to trust the rogue Agents, Manon will have to trust Richard, and they all will have to believe there’s a life outside of the MAN’s control. 

And that’s about where I am in the story so far — I’m told it’s not even halfway done. I am literally bouncing with excitement for every single upcoming episode. 

And like! The story is beautiful — it’s a queer romantic love story between spaceships yes, but also a queerplatonic love story between ships and captains, a story of love lost and found, of found families, of redemption, of healing, of learning to care and hope after trauma. And the characters, goddamn, I love every single one of them: Scy, sweet, reserved, a little naïve, a bit of a know-it-all but in the most loving way; Ely, hilarious, protective, and hopeful even after 200 years; Manon, simultaneously carefree and incredibly angry; Richard, weighed down by years of guilt but learning to be courageous; Ollie, who sees the best in everyone even after years of being told that it will only hurt him; and Williams, cold and ruthless and vengeful but really broken-hearted and more kind than she wants to admit. 

And that’s not even mentioning the side characters; at this point, both players play over half a dozen characters each — some love-to-hate villains, some loveable goofs. And they play them so well, like, I’ve played with both my friends in the past and I know how good they are at role-play — but they’re still blowing me away with the strength of their RP in every single goddamn scene. And their shockingly good audio editing makes it feel… well, genuinely like a real podcast. 

It’s just… amazing. I’m so proud and astounded by my friends, and feel so lucky that I get to sit in on (and write fanfic for, and create a fanvid for, and make a fanwiki for) this story. It’s really cool, and like. Wow. I have cool friends. 

[bat-besties]

Courtship song

AO3

2.7k

Logince Fluff

When esteemed researcher Logan Crofter needs the help of a musician, famous saxophone player Roman Sanders gets ready for the most unusual project of his career.

-

Logan looked over the application again. Roman Sanders, respected saxophone player, winner of the Australian Jazz Bell Awards 2015 and 2018, with record sales in fifty countries. He outshone every other applicant, but that was what was worrying. Logan knew that his budget could not stretch to the kind of money Sanders would make at his average performance. Still, the musician had known their budget when he applied.

Trying not to overthink it too much, he dialed the number.

After a few moments, it picked up. "Hello? This is Roman Sanders speaking," said a clear, deep voice from the other end and he froze. He had not- expected him to sound like that. Whatever he had expected his voice to hold, it was not a timbre which seemed to be set to the resonant frequency of Logan's heart.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"Yes-yes-" he snapped back into focus and cleared his throat. "Yes, this is, uh, Logan Crofter, I am accepting your application. You have reviewed the details?"

"I have! It all seems to be very organised," Roman replied. Logan felt his cheeks flood with heat.

"It is very organised," he said stiffly. "It's not your usual caliber of work, I know, but it is very serious. Very important. To me and others."

Roman laughed, not like he was mocking Logan, but in a genuine expression of excitement. "I know! It's important to me too! I always want to do something different, stretch my creativity, so this stood out to me. I think the idea is amazing. How did you come up with it?"

"Oh, you know, research- but more than a little hope. I had to also be creative, in my own way." Desperate times led to desperate measures, which for Logan were increasingly far from the approval of established methodology.

"Wonderful!"

He was suddenly afraid that Roman could hear his heart racing over the other end of the phone line. "Indeed. Indeed. So, I will email you the relevant audio files, then I can set up the studio for you for the 15th."

"Of course- I'll try and immerse myself! Truly get the feel! Any documentaries or anything you can recommend?"

"Oh, I-" Logan adjusted his perfectly straight glasses. "I'll send you a link to some," he said in a high-pitched voice. "And I can- set up the studio for you."

"Thank you, I appreciate it, Logan."

At the sound of his name in Roman's voice, he completely short-circuited. "Yesthankyougoodbye-" He hung up.

For a long moment, he stared at the blank screen of his phone almost breathless. I appreciate it, Logan.

He stood up, irritated, and wondered what in the name of Darwin had come over him. Attraction, he supposed. The musician's voice was simply...attractive.

Would it be egotistical to send Roman a documentary he himself had been interviewed in? It was most informative due to his consultation, but...perhaps it would not look best. Then again, research would probably cause him to stumble upon Logan's name-

He shook his head. He did not have time to deal with this. There were more important things at stake, and Roman Sanders could wait until the 15th.

*

Writing a love song would be stressful enough with a conspicuous and oft-mourned lack of a lover in his life, but as Roman trawled through the articles and videos Logan sent him, what had started as an exercise in eccentricity began to take on larger importance.

As the two emailed back and forth, the nervous, uptight voice Roman had spoken on the phone to morphed into a complete nerd delivering informative ramblings, or, in one YouTube video he'd stumbled upon, a slightly younger version of Logan almost lit up by a kind of tender curiosity.

Therefore, Roman wanted his song to be perfect, and between days practicing and nights researching, he managed to finish the piece only the day before the 15th.

*

As soon as he caught a glimpse of Roman's cloud of hair in the distance, Logan took a deep breath, and pulled on his best cool and professional approach. "Roman! I’m glad you were punctual."

Roman grinned at him. "I thought you'd appreciate that."

And, despite himself, he grinned back. He coughed, and then opened the door so Roman could carry his saxophone case through. "We rented out the space for hours, to give you as much time as you need."

"Thank you," the musician stepped through into the cool air-conditioned reception and wondered why Logan was flushed. "I hope you weren't waiting outside long? I am usually on time! I neither lag nor rush," he joked.

After a moment, the corners of his mouth twitched up. "Ah. Jazz joke. And no, please do not worry. I was not outside long."

As he led Roman down the corridor, he was trying not to look like he was watching him- though he also wanted to be polite- so he walked just ahead, turning his head every now and then. "Everything is prepared for you. We will overlay the drums afterwards, that idea is...really quite impressive."

"Well, the video you sent me gave me the idea! But yes," he admitted, with a bow more flamboyant than polite, "I do think the way I've worked it is quite unique."

They stopped outside the door. "Well-" Logan began, and Roman looked at him with interest. As they made eye contact somehow all the words he wanted to say fell down to bounce around his stomach.

Roman frowned in concern. "Are you alright?" Maybe the researcher got anxious, like Virgil did. "Would you rather I didn't make eye contact?"

"Oh," He adjusted his tie and looked down. "Thank you. No, I am alright with it. It is a threat display in many animals, but not necessarily humans-" He tapped the door-handle. He dimly knew he should cut off now but his clarification was already falling out his mouth. "It is especially seen as a threat among primates, and among those that is most pronounced with chimpanzees- which is why you must never look a chimpanzee in the eye and why zoos should in my opinion warn about body language of primates better, because visitors can upset them. But, then, many animals do become desensitised.” He shook his head. “But really, anthromorphising animals at all is a fool's route." His eyes darted up to meet Roman's once more.

Oh no. He was very, very cute. Roman would never have thought being informed about primate threat displays would be very interesting, but it was incredibly endearing. "You never think animals have their own thoughts and feelings?" he gently prompted.

"No, I know they do," Logan said sincerely. "But they are not the same as human thoughts and feelings."

"This isn't a little like that?" Roman teased.

Logan drew himself up. "No, this is research based."

"Have you set up the studio for me?" Roman asked with a twinkle of humor in his eye.

"I have. For you, a human-" But Roman just caught on you.

Logan unlocked the door, to reveal that the inside of the studio had been decorated with potted plants, the floor scattered with rose petals, a few candles lit, and a framed photo sat on a side-table.

"This is for your inspiration," Logan said with a slight smile. "You may serenade the photo."

Roman burst into a peal of laughter as he put down his case, then blew a kiss to the photograph.

It was a picture of a bird. It had mossy green feathers around its face, then brown ones around beady black eyes and a little beak with nostrils in it.

"I have played love songs for many people in my lifetime," Roman announced to Logan. "But never for, or on behalf of, a parrot."

The kakapo parrot is remarkable for many reasons- it is the only flightless parrot, as well as the heaviest one, and it is historically significant to the Maori. It ought to find mates with males booming to win the attention of females in arenas, but with critically diminishing numbers, competitions to attract mates are not replenishing or increasing the population. And therefore, conservationists must become creative.

"It is not a method which has been proven," Logan clarified, once again. "But any assistance in creating optimal conditions for the kakapo to meet mates is gravely needed."

Roman winked at him. "Don't worry, you already know that I can help set the mood."

"I don't know what you are-"

He undid the clips of his case, then picked up some of the rose petals. "And so, it seems, do you."

"It is of great importance this goes as well as it can do," Logan replied primly.

"Of course, of course, we need the rose petals," he said, with wide, sincere eyes. "For the atmosphere! Here we are, in the arena of love..."

"Actually," Logan couldn't help but add, "the arenas are very large. Each "court" is on average 50m apart, so I would have to be down the street from you."

Roman pouted. "But the benefit of this is you hearing me up close, not at the distance of a music arena. You have front-row tickets to one of the biggest names in Australian jazz." That was, perhaps, arrogant, but Logan appreciated him saying it like the fact it was. He said it like it was a gift to Logan that the musician wanted him to appreciate, not something he didn't deserve.

"Well," Logan conceded, "I suppose that the bird being serenaded is closer to the court."

"I am a proud parrot in my court then!" he said.

Logan nodded. "That is accurate. Judging by your voice, I am hoping your saxophone playing will also be attractive."

Roman paused. "By my voice?"

"It is objectively attractive," Logan said, completely objectively. "Therefore, I hope that your playing shall attract the kakapo parrots. To each other."

"Oh." Roman's eyes widened, then a soft smile spread on his face. "Thank you."

He bobbed his head into a nod, then gestured to the recording booth. "I have been instructed in how to use this, so I am going to go and set it up. You can start when you are ready."

"Just give me a moment to warm up."

"Of course."

As Logan fiddled with the controls to set up the recording for a new song, Roman warmed up, playing through a few scales. He didn't use anything to check his exact pitch, but it sounded right to Logan as he adjusted.

Then he paused, and nodded to Logan through the glass. "I'm ready."

Roman started with a few low, humming notes, similar to the booming of the kakapo, and Logan looked up from the controls, his heart in his chest all of a sudden. He could remember those long nights in a hide close to the arena, hearing the courtships- it was a sound which by rights should be common all throughout New Zealand. Then, the musician overlayed a few long notes, swaying and closing his eyes as he leaned into the music.

It was upbeat, with big dramatic swells every now and again, and Logan, whose mind was always leaping from thought to thought, from analysis to evaluation, was transfixed into stillness.

The smooth sounds, Roman's swaying, the way the dim light of the studio glinted off the saxophone and that earnest expression on the player's face…

All too soon, it came to an end with a final little trill.

*

To ward off stage fright, Roman had closed his eyes against the cute researcher and instead lost himself to his music. As he opened them again, he was met with a beaming smile and round of applause. A residue of nerves mixed with pride to thrill through him. "What did you think?"

Logan beamed. "I think it was perfect."

Roman's face heated, and his eyes crinkled as he returned a genuine smile. "Thank you! So- I'll have some water, have another take or two, and then we can see about overlaying drums and chirping?"

Logan nodded. "I think that is a good plan."

The two of them worked well together- in all honesty, Logan didn't have to input much since Roman was the expert on composition, but he was happy to cede control on a project if he was confident in the abilities of his partner. He was happy to listen to each deliberation, and provide questions if not answers.

They were finished and ready to vacate the studio half-an-hour before they needed to, since Roman helped Logan carry his props back to the van. "No- they just pair for the mating season."

"For now!" Roman declared. "My funky music will create love for a lifetime! That's a joke," he clarified.

Logan laughed. "Well, at least they have great genetic variation."

It was late afternoon creeping into evening outside the studio, and the warm air had begun to mellow and cool. "Are you staying in Auckland long?" Logan inquired.

"Only a few nights. I want to catch a show, but I don't have anything to do tonight. How about you?"

"I should be back at the sanctuary tomorrow. I would recommend the square a few streets from here if you're looking for a good restaurant. I can give you directions?"

"Oh, I don't know," Roman adjusted his saxophone case with a faux innocent expression. "I have to have this back at the hotel for safekeeping, and then it might be harder to find my way there..."

Logan furrowed his brow. "I can give you an address if you wish to use Google Maps?"

He couldn't quite work out if this was a genuine suggestion, or a gentle refusal. His hotel was close, and Logan's van on the curb. It was now or never- "You could take me," he said, with a confidence he didn't feel. "Tell me more about, uh, parrots."

Logan's heart thudded in his chest. "As a social event? Not to do with the project?"

"Social, yes."

"I'd like that." He adjusted his glasses. "I would like that very much, Roman."

They walked back to Roman's hotel, so that he could protect his saxophone, then wandered out along a quiet avenue on the way to the restaurant. The sky had dimmed to soft grey and purple, clouds scudding aimlessly across it. Side by side, they talked and laughed, glances catching on lips, on hands, on each other.

As a tentative test, Logan moved closer, so that their hands brushed together as they walked. When Roman faltered in the middle of his story about a concert, he offered his hand for him to hold.

Roman took it, raised it to his lips, and turned Logan red. Then, Logan mirrored, pulling Roman closer by their joined hands and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. For a long, still moment, they met eyes and forgot how to speak.

"I liked your playing, today," Logan said softly.

His lips parted for just a second before he could manage to say, "And I liked talking with you. Even over the emails...it has been a pleasure-" He cut himself off with a nervous laugh. "A pleasure I can't quite describe."

"We don't always need words for things." Although his hand was shaking, and his heart loud in his chest, Logan's voice was steady. "Music, body language, mutual company...there are many ways to communicate."

"Oh?" Roman murmured.

He nodded, and stroked his thumb over the back of Roman's hand. "I think so."

"Then, may I..." Slowly, he brought their joined hands over Logan's heart, and he moved his other one to cup his face.

Logan's eyes darted up to meet his, all shining with wonder. A breeze shivered through the trees, and although the evening was still balmy, he drew closer together, wrapping his arm around Roman's waist.

They stood in a tenderness of quick breaths and racing hearts, until Logan breathed, "Yes."

Roman dipped his head, and Logan tilted his up, their noses bumping into each other so the kiss was met with the beginnings of laughter. It was gentle, and curious, and as much about their clasped hands and chests pressed together and weak knees as it was the kiss itself.

They drew back for a beat. "How was that?" Roman asked, although his face was hot and Logan was starry-eyes, and he felt like he could faint.

"It was perfect," he said, thrilling again at Roman's voice so close to his face. "Just perfect. But, with these things I suppose..."

Roman stopped breathing.

A mischievous smile crept onto his flushed face. "I suppose we would be remiss for not, ah, testing further."

He burst into laughter. "Of course! Of course! Practice is the key to anything..." And they kissed again, more secure and passionate than before.

- 

This is all based on a true story! Here is an article And here is the song! 

[therealtsk]

okay so i think before I really start delving into this fandom I wanna give my thoughts on the game itself.  so MUCHO SPOILERS FOR CONTROL. IF YOU WANNA EXPERIENCE THIS AMAZING GAME YOURSELF DO NOT READ THIS POST.  You good? Alright, let’s go. 

So. First, I wanna talk about the game-play of CONTROL.  It’s fucking amazing. In a year where I played five incredibly strong games (Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War and of course, CONTROL), it was my favorite game. In fact, I think it might be my favorite game of 2019.  It has something that all of the other games lacked, with the possible exception of U4...the core gameplay was inherently fun. The word “Next-gen” gets tossed around a lot in the gaming world, but this was the first thing I played that truly felt like it. The gameplay of CONTROL is at once simple and wildly different: I think I speak for most people when I say that the Launch ability is my favorite gameplay aspect: it just feels amazing to use, even after a year of playing it. It’s the closest I think a game has ever come to truly come (for me) to making me understand the sort of power the character wields in a way that isn’t superficial. From the sound design to the rumbles of the controller, to the superb animation, all of it comes together to make you feel powerful.  It’s amazing.  Okay so now that’s over, let’s talk about the world, characters, and story, the biggest reasons I love this game. As a long time fan of the more surreal and ethereal types of the supernatural, CONTROL immediately stood out to me with it’s central location: The Oldest House. What an incredible setting for a game, but also just what an incredible setting in general? When I walk through the hallowed halls of the House, I never feel at ease. I think it’s a fantastic combination of visual and audio design, but the House has a way of making you feel both unwanted and watched: even with all of the human touches the Bureau has scattered throughout the map, The House feels starkly inhuman- the ceiling too high,the doorways slightly too broad. Even after centuries of co-existing with humanity, the House has not quite adapted to humans. And yet there’s something also irresistibly compelling about wandering a place you know, logically, you probably shouldn’t be. It’s a fantastic way of putting you inside Jesse’s shoes: you feel both her fear and the powerful call of the unknown that beckons her to the darkest corners of the House.  The Altered Items themselves are also just...fascinating. The twisting of the mundane into the paranormal- there’s a word I’m looking for, but I can’t find at the moment. I know some people got annoyed with all of the reading in the game, but personally, I loved scanning through every document, case file, and correspondence. Dead Letters in particular caught my imagination: I’ve never stopped thinking about the woman trapped in the phone since I read about it, I even turned it into an original short story. CONTROL’s world feels very much lived-in, like it has history and activity outside of the game’s story, which is crucial to the livelihood of any setting.  Now, for the characters: Jesse Faden is perhaps my favorite video game character to date. I love her so much, words can’t describe, but I’m gonna try anyway. I love her sass, her jump-down-and-figure-out-a-plan-on-the-way-there attitude, her frustration and quiet sadness, her anxieties and ultimately- her love. Jesse Faden loves her brother so much that she literally threw away any chance she could have had at a normal, peaceful life and risked everything for him, not even knowing if he was still alive. As a proud brother of two siblings, It’s nice to see familial ties being just as strong in games as romantic ones.  Speaking of romantic ones, Emily freaking Pope am I right??? The minute Jesse and her sat down at the table I was like :eyes: “these vibes...the chemistry...the delivery...” I don’t care what anyone says Jesse and Emily are gay for each other and you cannot tell me otherwise, just look at all of their interactions. Remedy thank you for giving me another ship to stan until i die  The other characters are also amazing! I love my bois Simon Arish and Fredrick Langston, adorable dorks that they are. RIP Marshall but damn you were badass- also your long coat. Remedy make merch so I can buy it pls.  As for the more supernatural characters: Polaris.  Oh my god I love Polaris. My first assumption was that Jesse was speaking to us, the player, but learning the truth about what Polaris was and her own character was so fantastic- I would literally watch so much of just Jesse and Polaris communicating, the idea of humans and these...ethereal life-forms co-existing is just fascinating.  And then there’s the Hiss. I have been obsessed with the Hiss since I first heard those words. You are a worm through time. Like...the idea of a malignant radio wave, burring into your mind and planting itself within you, overriding your thoughts with song...just fucking chills. I can’t wait to write about this audible horror. 

Also just something I wanna note before I wrap this rambling thing up: CONTROL was not a game I expected this from, but I love how they handled representation in it: they never call attention to it or try to get clout for it, but they have a wide scattering of nationalities and a very even split of women and men: it was just so nice to have a game that didn’t feel dominated by dudes, you know?  Anyway: the story. I think this is where the game lost a lot of people, but I thought the way that it unfolded was fantastic, and every ending (Base game, Foundation, AWE) has left me excited to see more. I think my favorite plotlines thus far comes from the DLC’s: The Astral Politics and, of course-  Alan.  Fucking. Wake. 

But more on that in a bit. I think The Board and the presentation of them was fantastic: It’s so hard to for humans to write utterly in-human mindsets and persons, but I think Remedy’s team did a truly amazing job with The Board. Down to the method of communication alone, blasting divided concepts into Jesse’s thoughts that are literally shattering into synonyms because they don’t quite understand human language is just...aaaaaaahhhh, so good. And then The Foundation, my favorite DLC out of the two: So much expansion on the lore of both The Board and The House itself. The implication that The Board may, in fact, be just as much of an intruder as the Hiss are is chilling, and of course, The Foundation gave us even more Emily/Jesse ship fuel and development so like come on. As for the AWE DLC: I know a lot of people were disappointing with it, and I get that! Don’t get me wrong, when it ended, I literally went: “Wait, that’s it? That can’t be it.” I was expecting something roughly around the same length as the Foundation, and I think other people were too. Once I got over the initial surge, though, I sat down and really thought about it.  Story and content wise, Foundation is 100% the better DLC. But gameplay-wise? Oh man, AWE was so much more thrilling. I think this lends to Remedy’s incredibly atmosphere building, but after spending hours of Control feeling like an unstoppable badass, for them to completely turn it on it’s head and make me feel like a rat trapped in a maze, desperately lunging for any light and being utterly terrified of the dark: god, what an amazing fight the entire Third Thing was. The Service Tunnel in particular had me shook, man.  Was AWE short and felt more like a teaser trailer for Alan Wake 2? Yeah. Was it still really fun? Yes. And also, I think people missed out on how much lore we got for CONTROL, as well! Two words: Chester Bless.  So, to sum this completely chaotic post up: I adore CONTROL, every bit of it, and I can’t wait to talk to you y’all about theories, fics, and the like. 

[spockandawe]

HEY THERE, you have me interested in The Untamed but I'm a little lost as to where to start, there's both a 50 episode normal version and a 20 episode special edition, which should I watch/start with? Also WHAT does your svsss tag stand for? I'm seeing "The Untamed" and "Chén Qíng Lìng" and "Mo Dao Zu Shi" and "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" thrown around as synonyms or related pieces of media, but nothing with svsss!

Sure thing!!

Okay, to start with, I’d definitely go with the 50-episode version. It’s a Lot, and there is some padding added to the story compared to the original book, but twenty episodes seems really, really short to do justice to the central plot 

(a quick skim of google tells me that the special edition leans harder into the original novel’s gayness, which the show has to be coy about, because china. i think there are expanded scenes featuring the two leads, which is awesome, because their acting is AMAZING, but that just means the plot scenes are even more compressed. I saw at least one person recommend that you not do the special edition unless you’ve consumed the story in at least one other more standard format already)

Also! Iirc, the show is available on youtube and netflix, among other platforms, though those two are wonderfully accessible. However, comma, I do hear from people fluent in chinese that the subtitles sometimes are inaccurate in unnecessary/unfortunate ways. From what I hear, viki has the best complete set of subtitles (I think there may be fansub projects in progress, but I am not at all in touch with those. I still haven’t watched the show myself).

And the general summary of my current webnovel fixation! There’s this webnovel author who goes by mxtx, who currently has three complete books out, which have all been translated into english. Then after I finished those, I started branching out into other authors and webnovels, though I’m not too deep into that end of the pool yet. I’ll break each book into a separate paragraph for clarity. 

Oh, and. Each of these books is explicitly gay, and set in ancient fantasy china, in a wuxia/xianxia setting, which I’m not too familiar with myself, but I believe it functions a lot like how authors will use ‘ancient fantasy europe’ as a playground where they don’t necessarily need to match up to established countries/cities/etc, but they expect readers to recognize certain conventions, like I’d be able to recognize a western author writing a basic feudal setting, or recognize witches and wizards, without them explaining the whole thing from the bottom up. Since I’m not familiar, it raised the difficulty level a little for me to get into the genre, but the webnovel translators tend to use footnotes and I picked up a lot as I went on.

(if you are interested in any of these, novelupdates.com is a good central resource collecting links to various fan translation projects)

So! Mxtx. Her earliest book is The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS), which is also the shortest and most linear of her books. The general premise is that a guy who’s been hate-reading this (straight) stallion harem webnovel with a dark protagonist. He goes to bed, and wakes up in the novel, as the protagonist’s dickbag teacher, who is doomed to eventually die horribly. He wants to not die, and is also a decent human being, so the book follows the “original” novel derailing from its intended path, and accidentally getting super duper gay. This one is about to come out in donghua form, but I think that may be its first non-book adaption.

Her second book, which was adapted into The Untamed/Chen Qing Ling (CQL), is also known as The Grandmaster Of Demonic Cultivation/Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS), which really manages to be the hardest of her books to summarize. Wei Wuxian, the grandmaster of demonic cultivation, dies. Thirteen years later, he wakes up in someone else’s body. Most of the world would like him to stay dead, tbh, but he’s a good egg, and he and his old friend(????) go forth and solve a necromantic mystery together, and also there is romance-romance and ten million family feelings. This one gets nonlinear, with several extended flashback sequences, and the story STARTS at about the midway point of the plot. This has been adapted into an audio drama at least once, a manhua, a donghua, and now a live action show, so it goes by a million different names in its various formats.

Her third book, and the LONGEST, is Heaven Official’s Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF), and oh my god, it’s so long, and I love it so, so much. This gets into high fantasy much  more than the other two, including the idea that as people develop their cultivation and powers, they may eventually achieve immortality and ascend to the heavens. The story follows Xie Lian who achieved immortality and ascended to heaven! And then fell. And then ascended! And fell again. Eight hundred years later, he ascends for the third time. He meets Hua Cheng, the ridiculously powerful ghost king, who most of the other immortals are terrified of. But Hua Cheng seems to like Xie Lian! And Xie Lian thinks Hua Cheng is a sweet boy! (hua cheng is a sweet boy, but only for xie lian). This also has extended flashback sequences, but is a more linear story than MDZS, I think. Also it made me cry, which, wow, rude. I love it so incredibly much. This also exists as a manhua, but I think it’s still being published? I haven’t read it yet.

NOW. Mxtx is working on a fourth book, but it’s not out in chinese yet, never mind english. But I needed More. I was getting some SVSSS vibes from this one other book, which, *wobbly hand motions*, but I am enjoying the hell out of this book purely for its own sake.

Meatbun is an author with other books that I haven’t read yet, but I am currently in the middle of The Husky And His White Cat Shizun/Er Ha He Ta De Bai Mo Shi Zun (Erha/2ha), which is at this moment being adapted to a live action tv show called Immortality. There are MANY warnings that go with this book, though the google docs translation files do a good job of placing warnings at the front of every document and in front of relevant chapters. The general premise! Mo Ran basically conquered the entire world, put down all resistance by force, and was a super powerful but Kinda Dumb emperor. As part of this, he took his old teacher, who he despised with a burning passion, prisoner, and abused him a Lot. The story starts as rebels try to mount an assault on his palace, and Mo Ran’s cousin gets impatient with how slowly things are moving and runs ahead of the group. He finds that (suicide warning:) Mo Ran has... taken poison, and is in the middle of dying. This doesn’t stick. He wakes up as a teenager, apparently having traveled back in time, and starts living through events again, with the knowledge of his past life. It took me a while to warm up to this story, but ohhhh my goodness, it’s so TASTY. The translation for this one is ongoing, and I am in AGONY waiting for further updates.

So those are the ones I’m currently into and mostly blogging about! I also read Dreamer In The Spring Boudoir, mostly because feynite wrote an SVSSS fic set in the universe of that novel, which was good in some ways, left me cold in others (and the original novel is straight, with a society with rigid gender roles, so making it super gay in the fic made the setting much more interesting to me). Meatbun has other writing, which I haven’t sampled yet, but I am definitely interested in doing that sometime soon. 

Sorry, I know this is a LOT, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask me!! I got into these mostly via being interested in the untamed, so I read them as 1) mdzs, 2) svsss, 3) tgcf, 4) erha, which was an order that worked well for me. But if someone was looking for a general order to read them in, independent of that, I might suggest 1) svsss, 2) mdzs, 3) tgcf, 4) erha. They’re all really good, and scratch different emotional itches, and each of them has at least a few characters who sucker-punch me RIGHT in the goddamn heart. They’ve been a HUGE help for me dealing with the restlessness and/or apathy of quarantine, so I’ve been evangelizing them to pretty much anyone who will listen to me, hahaha

[qm-vox]

So You Want To Play Hades

I spent six hours coming up with that title because I have problems in my mind which I refuse to either examine or resolve.

So, Hades! The latest work from Supergiant Games, who brought you the interactive soundtracks to Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre, all superb games in their own rights known for their intuitive gameplay, build-your-own-hard-mode difficulty style, incredible atmosphere and characterization, thought-provoking stories, and that sexy, sexy fuckin’ music.

Like, listen to this sometime it’s amazing (all of their soundtracks are available from them on Youtube, by the by, though if you like ‘em you can support the creators by buying the music from them directly too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH3Aoj1nw58

You’re likely asking, quite reasonably, why in the infinite and undying fuck I’m writing this post right now, and the long and short of it is I want more people to talk Hades with so now y’all are gonna get hit with the sales pitch and what I hope will be a helpful beginner’s guide if you decide to get into the game. Let’s get into that first part, shall we?

Thou Shalt Subject Your Gods To Market Forces

(Image sourced from Supergiant’s website)

Hades is an action-roguelike/lite that places you in the role of Prince Zagreus, secret son of Hades. Zag is trying to move out of his father’s house and live somewhere else for awhile and, well, Dad’s just being an entire dick about the whole thing. Hades challenges you to face down the endless ranks of the dead one chamber at a time, gathering the resources you need to breach upward through the Greek underworld and open the mighty gates into the living world. You can acquire it on Steam or on the Epic Store.

How do you know if Hades is or isn’t for you? If you like action games with tight controls and widely varied playstyles, we’ve got you covered here (if you’re thinking in terms of previous Supergiant offerings, Bastion has the most bones in). Hades also offers a great character-focused narrative, centering around the relationships Zagreus has and develops with the people around him - from legendary shades like Achilles and Sisyphus, to the gods of Olympus, to the cthonic gods of the underworld like Charon, Nyx, and the Furies - which fully incorporates the conceits of the genre. Unlike many roguelikes which sorta quietly elide failed runs or deaths, Zag’s defeats are part of his journey. After all, he’s already in the underworld. Where the fuck else is he going to go when he dies? Connecticut?

Though I can gush about the characters and narrative all day (and I’ll do it a bit more later), don’t get me wrong: Hades expects you to perform some pretty tight mechanics. Since dying is just the end of this run and not the game, the game feels pretty free to take brutal measures; the environments you move in are full of deadly traps, the seething ranks of the dead outnumber you to vast degrees, and you’ll fight a dizzying mix of opponents who do not hesitate to catch you in cross-fires, push you into lava, or drop bombs when you kill them because fuck you for succeeding you weird godling bastard. If you get easily frustrated or flustered, Hades may be quite stressful for you; before it’s anything else, it’s an action game with a heavy focus on combat, and if you decide to ride this train that’s the price of the ticket. If you relish the challenge and especially if you like the satisfaction of watching your play improve, though, it’s one hell of a ride.

In terms of accessibility features, Hades is a mixed bag. It has subtitles and aim assistance available, as well as a variety of supported languages and control adjustments which can alter how you do things like dash or attack, but it’s missing, for instance, a colorblind mode (and that’s gonna be important here in a minute), and many enemy behaviors & traps have audio cues which are not part of the current subtitle support. A rumble feature for controllers that have it is supported; Hades strongly suggests the use of a controller, but I know several players who choose to use a mouse & keyboard and seem to prefer it. Semi-recently, a God Mode option was added which empowers you when it’s turned on and does so further every time you die; it’s the closest Hades comes to an ‘easy’ mode, and while reception of it from my fellow players has been highly positive I’ve not tried it for myself.

If you’ve liked action games in the past, I’d highly endorse giving Hades a try as long as it’s accessible for you. The current build of the game (just before formal release) is selling at $24.99 USD on Steam right now, and like...I am not a highly skilled Gaming Individual(tm). I lose at games a lot. I play most of my games on Easy or maybe Normal if I’m really feeling like my dick is big - and with that in mind, I loved this one enough to buy it twice. I love the tight feeling of the combat, the way the mechanics feel, its gorgeous environments and its captivating characters. Hell, that’s why I’m out here writing a whole-ass article.

Stealth, Guile, Subtlety, And Other Things You Will Not Need - Getting Started In Hades

(Artwork sourced from the Hades wiki)

So you’ve decided to acquire Hades, you already own it, or the first part of this article was intriguing enough for you to look at the advice portion and see what sort of game you could be dealing with. Hades can be intimidating at first; it throws a lot of stuff at you, very quickly, and while it gives you some strong guidance on what to do with many of the resources you’ll acquire not all of those uses are immediately intuitive. The following is a guide to help your first few runs go a bit more smoothly and work on the fundamentals that will help you through your entire experience.

Let’s start with some General Tips that will help you out with every run and every weapon:

- Relax. No, seriously: relax. You haven’t ‘failed’ a run if you don’t beat the final boss. Hell, you probably haven’t even ‘failed’ a run if you die in Tartarus. If you learned something or got any permanent resource - gemstones, darkness, nectar, keys, blood, diamonds, ambrosia - then that run was a success. Even if the game wasn’t currently early access and thus without a proper ‘end’ at the moment, it’s supposed to be fun. Don’t castigate yourself for dying, just dive screaming back in and rip your vengeance from the spectral chest of your slayer.

- Always Be Moving. You only have so many hit points (you start a save file with a max of 50 and the most you can start a given run with is 200) and healing is limited over the course of a run. If you’re standing still, you’re getting hit. Zag’s quick on his feet - keep him moving and use your dash liberally. Once you’ve dealt some damage, leave and let your enemies swing at empty air, then dash back in and bully them back into their graves. When you start a dash you’re invulnerable until the dash finishes, which can make for some real cheeky dodges once you’ve had time to learn enemy timing.

- Watch And Learn. Early on in the game you’ll be learning about new enemies every chamber, especially when you start transferring to new zones and all of the enemies you’ve been facing just stop being a thing. Take the chance to know your foe! You’re not on a clock: don’t leap into the fight immediately. Dash around and watch how your enemies move and attack. What’s the limitations of their tactics? The reach on their attacks? How fast do they swing and move? If you’d like to watch some of that stuff ahead of time, I’d like to suggest amber_cxc’s Twitch channel: she’s been doing a lot of runs and speedruns of Hades of late, among the other games she plays.

- Manipulate Your Rewards. Certain things in Hades can only be offered a limited number of times per run, and once you’ve hit your quota they stop appearing. You can take advantage of this to get more Boons, Centaur Hearts, and Poms of Power. Specifically, you can only have up to two Daedelus Hammers and up to three Hermes Boons. If you can knock these out early I highly endorse doing so; they’re never bad to have, and even if somehow you want none of what they have to offer getting them off the RNG will help you later. Additionally, you can use Keepsakes (more on these in a minute) to manipulate who you get Boons from, when, by changing in and out of them at each biome. In this way you can control the shape of your build for the run.

- Accept That Your Dick Energy Is Fucking Huge. A lot of games try to keep you humble. Dark Souls is infamous for it, of course, and others in this genre such as Crypt of the Necrodancer and Enter the Gungeon do not reward haste at all. That is not this game. Walk into Hades like you’re the lord god of the Big Dick Dimension even if you know you’re not; take risks and learn from experience how you can mitigate, manipulate, or cancel out those risks. That unearned confidence won’t just help you with tip one (Relax), it’ll help you practice in those high-pressure situations which will occur more and more as your Heat rises.

- A Brief Note On Projectiles. This game has a few kinds of projectiles that you’ll need to learn to identify. Balls and Arrows can be broken - hit them with an Attack and they pop and won’t hurt you. Waves cannot be broken; they travel fast along the ground and have to be dodged or deflected. Lasers can neither be broken nor deflected. Traps can’t be broken, and deflecting them doesn’t always make them safe for you; these include the lava balls in Asphodel, Inferno Bombs, and the shit spit out by Bothers and Pests. Know your foe and always be moving.

In terms of the resources you’re offered, there are broadly two kinds: in-run resources, and out-of-run resources. Let’s talk briefly about in-run ones.

- Boons: Boons are the powerful gifts of your Olympian relatives. They change how you play during your run by augmenting your abilities (like your Attack, Special, or Dash) or by offering passive benefits. In general, look at Aphrodite, Athena, or Dionysus if you want powerful defenses, Ares, Artemis, or Zeus for powerful attacks, and Poseidon and Demeter for a combination of damage and utility. Different gods will be good with different weapons, and we’ll get into that later. Boons have a Rarity and a Level; Rarity determines their starting power and how well they scale if they do scale, and Level is that scaling.

- Centaur Hearts: +25 max and current HP for this run. Do you like not dying?

- Poms of Power: Poms increase the Level of a Boon by 1, which generally makes it better at doing whatever it does. Not all Boons will level up, but the ones that you can attach to your Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, or Call always do. You do eventually hit diminishing returns with these, so you’ll generally want to spread the love around if you keep picking up Poms.

- Obols: DOLLAH DOLLAH BILLS Y’ALL. Obols are the coins preferred by Charon, the Ferryman, who will take them from you for goods and services. Obols can be turned into all other resources - even out-of-run resources. They’re almost always a great choice of investment.

These in-run resources are presented as potential rewards when you’re selecting chambers. I tend to run heavy on Boons and Obols myself, but your own play style is likely to differ! Experiment with the feel of acquiring various rewards and see what you like to invest in. After all, they’re only for the run you’re on; you literally can’t take it with you.

Out-of-run resources are used to permanently advance Zagreus’s power, his relationships, or both. They are as follows:

- Cthonic Keys: Used to unlock new weapons and new parts of the Mirror of Night. Once your weapons and Mirror are wholly unlocked these keys stop being useful more or less instantly, and can be safely traded at the Wretched Broker between runs to acquire Nectar (but see Gemstones, below).

- Gemstones: Early in the game, Gemstones can be traded in at the House Contractor between runs in order to enhance the underworld; in particular, they can be used to install fountain rooms, to open up access to Chaos and Erebus, to give you access to Infernal Troves (and upgrade said troves), and to add in-run resources to Keys, Nectar, and Gemstones. These services are in the first tab of the House Contractor and you should buy them out as soon as possible so that your runs can springboard off of these powerful additions. Once that’s taken care of, Gemstones can be used to renovate the House of Hades, including Zag’s bedroom and the lounge, again at the House Contractor.

- Nectar: The nectar of the gods is in short supply in the underworld, and is a treasured gift that Zagreus can offer to his friends. In most cases, the first time you give a character Nectar they will trade you a powerful Keepsake in return; these are run-altering tools you select at the start of each run and change how you play. Early on, spread the love, but once you’re full up on Keepsakes you can feel free to develop relationships through gift-giving however you see fit.

- Darkness: The power of Night is used to give permanent, powerful passive benefits to Zagreus via the Mirror of Night in his bedroom. I would suggest using Darkness to get your extra Dash and extra hit points before anything else, but once you’ve got those tools kinda fuck around and find out. Eventually a dialogue option with Nyx will unlock the flip side of the Mirror’s talents, which must be developed separately and cost even more Darkness; you’ll want lots of this and you’ll want it for a very long time. Oh, and try to save aside 8,888 Darkness for a rainy day. You’ll need it.

- Titan Blood: Offered by the first and last bosses at each level of Heat (more on Heat later). Titan Blood is used to upgrade your weapons, making them better at doing all of the things they do, as well as to unlock Aspects of those weapons. We’re still shy one Aspect as of the latest patch, so ah, don’t stop collecting this. You’ll always have a use for it.

- Diamonds: Offered by the second boss at each level of Heat. Diamonds are used to buy plot-relevant renovations to the House of Hades, to advance certain relationships, and to acquire the fishing minigame and in-game access to the soundtrack within the House. Like Blood, you’ll have a use for these for a long, long time.

- Ambrosia: Offered by the third boss at each level of Heat. When you reach the point at which you can no longer offer people Nectar, genuine Ambrosia from Olympus becomes the princely gesture by which you can show your gratitude. You may be tempted to trade this for Blood early on. Don’t.

When you’re starting out, Darkness and Gemstones will be the gods of your new world, followed closely by Cthonic Keys You’ll run out of immediate need for Gemstones faster than you will for Darkness, but by that time you’ll either be comfortable with Hades or you’ll have determined it’s not for you. Focus on unlocking access to your new weapons, upgrading the underworld itself, and paying off your talents; at this stage, escaping the underworld isn’t really a priority so much as setting up for your eventual triumph is.

And When You Can No Longer Lay Waste - Infernal Arms And Heat

(Artwork sourced from the Hades Wiki)

The assault rifle with under-slung mortar launcher is definitely my favorite ancient Greek weapon.

So I’ve mentioned unlocking weapons, and I’ve mentioned that Hades offers varied play styles, so I suppose I ought to talk about them. Zagreus’s weapons - his Infernal Arms - form the first layer of your play style choices, which will be augmented by your in-run choices, and the second layer comes in the form of the Pact of Punishment and its Heat. Each weapon has differing values for its attacks and behaves very differently. I’m not gonna give you the specific numbers here - we have a wiki for that - and will instead make some general statements on how they play and what might pair well with them.

- Stygius, the Blade of the Underworld: You start each save file with this bad boy. Stygius is a generalist weapon that leans somewhat towards speed; its Attack is a three-hit combo that ends in a Thrust with knockback, while its Dash Attack (note: these are not the same with ANY weapon) is solely the Thrust, still with knockback. Its Special, slower than the Attack, is a high-damage shockwave that breaks enemy projectiles and knocks them back. You might be asking yourself, Vox, why would I Special when it makes people leave sword range, at which point I will direct you back to Always Be Moving; your Special makes your enemies Go Away, which saves you hit points. Stygius can build into almost anything, though its Attack benefits the least from Zeus and Poseidon, and is notable for having the most wild fucking Hammer options. Some of them do little things like make your Special bigger, but then you get stuff like Hoarding Slash (deal extra damage equal to 5% of your Obols), World Splitter (you do one big swing with a base damage of 80) and motherfucking CURSED SLASH, which is where Stygius rips a line of cocaine off of a mirror, cuts your health by 60%, and then heals you for 2 every time you hit something. My advice for this is whatever you start down, commit. Stygius might build into anything, but it can’t build into everything: once you choose a boon path, pick things to compliment that and go fucking ham.

- Varatha, the Eternal Spear: The forgotten child of Hades’ weapons, Varatha is a versatile weapon that, like Stygius, does a bit of everything - and unlike Stygius, does it all at the same time. Varatha’s base attack is a series of three long-range thrusts with low damage, and its Special throws the spear in a straight line, at which point it hovers in the air until you Special again; it follows a straight line from its position to your current one, damaging anything in that line. Last, but not least, you can perform a powerful Spin Attack by holding down the Attack button and charging up. Spin is one of the strongest single hits in the game, but you do have to stop moving to charge it up. However, you can dash out of the charge - even better, dashing releases the Spin at the end of your dash. This means that once you learn the timings of your charges, you can use Spin to attack and dodge at the same time, in a wide circle around yourself. Unlike Stygius, Varatha benefits to an extent from splitting your build up; its Attack wants big hitters like Aphrodite, Artemis, or Poseidon, whose high multipliers pair amazingly with the spin, while its Special can mount debuffs or stranger forms of damage like those offered by Dionysus and Ares. If you start building into one thing, but then Hammer into an alternate focus, the end result is still going to be pretty cohesive. Like Generic Goodstuff, or want a weapon to use while building up many divine relationships? Varatha does it all.

- Aegis, the Shield of Chaos: Just because this thing has the only block function in the game doesn’t mean it’s a defensive weapon. Aegis is a fast-moving melee weapon whose hits cause native knockback, slamming foes into walls, up against cliffs, and through traps & magma. Since Aegis throws people around it’s great for a highly aggressive style; dash in, hit them, and watch them slide away before they can do damage back to you. Its Special throws the shield Captain America style, where it ricochets off of opponents and obstacles before eventually returning. Use this with care; you can’t attack or block while your Special is out. Holding down the Attack button begins to charge a Bull Rush; while you’re charging, you’re immune to damage in the direction the shield is facing, and then when you release you dash to the end of the indicated line, damaging anything you hit. Despite how sexy that sounds, Bull Rush is honestly kinda slow and can be hard to build for specifically; instead, Bull Rush is best used to get out of bad situations, or to outlast big long boss combos, especially those used by the first and second bosses who are known to spit out absolute STREAMS of projectiles. Aegis hits fast and gets lots of bonus damage against normal enemies by bullying them against walls for that sweet, sweet Wall Slam damage, but it craves big damage multipliers less than some other weapons; consider using Zeus, Dionysus, or Demeter for your Attack, saving big damage choices for if you can get a Dash Attack build going. Special is great for mounting utility like Aphrodite or Poseidon that let you control the engagement further, just remember to think before you hit the yeet button.

- Coronacht, the Heart-Seeking Bow: Meet your first ranged weapon! Coronacht deals damage in a straight line by charging up a shot; when your line flashes, release the shot for a Power Shot that deals extra damage. Its Special is...bad, I’m gonna be real; it’s a wide-sweeping volley of arrows that deal individually low damage and will rarely, if ever, hit the same target. Still, it has its uses. Coronacht benefits from either high damage or battlefield control on its Attack; look into Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Poseidon. Its Special is harder to build for, but Ares and Zeus both do well on it since they can cause damage out of proportion with the range and/or area of your volley. Play keep-away and use distance to get off those charge shots, and remember that you can break projectiles and hit multiple enemies with each attack. Avoid mounting odd damage (Ares or Dionysus) or utility (Athena) on your Attack; it’s not going to come out fast enough to take meaningful advantage of those tools.

- Malphon, the Twin Fists: Easily the angriest weapon in all of Hades, Malphon is a pair of massive fuck-off gauntlets that are used for fast-moving combos at extremely short range. It is unique in that its Attack has a Dash Attack, and its Special - a massive uppercut - has a dash upper, letting you sweep in and deal big damage in a tight area immediately. Though each of Malphon’s hits are individually small, it throws out so fucking many of them that you can put almost anything on your Attack and it’ll work out. Athena Attack? Why not, you’ll be swinging when the enemy is. Dionysus Attack? Poison stacking has never been easier! Artemis Attack? Sure, you don’t do a lot of base damage, but you swing so often that you’ll crit constantly and take advantage of passives like Support Fire. Your Special has much higher base damage and can easily become the focus of your build, and because it moves slower it wants bigger damage multipliers like Artemis or Aphrodite if it’s your focus. If it’s not your focus, consider Poseidon in its slot (to get enemies to Go Away) or a god that will combo with your Attack (for instance, if you’re doing Demeter Attack, consider Zeus Special so you can potentially pick up the Cold Fusion boon and get 10 seconds of free damage every time you tap the Special button). You pay a price for this ease of use: Malphon’s range is directly inside the enemy’s ass, which means you need to have razor-thin timing to dash out of the way of attacks and keep your combos going, especially if you get swarmed. Since Malphon can mount and build literally fucking anything, it’s the ideal weapon to use if you want to power-level Keepsakes; slap something on at the start of a run and then just never take it off. Sure, you’re letting the Three Fates decide your build, but fuck it, it all just works!

- The Adamant Rail: What if you invaded the underworld with a fucking machine gun. The Adamant Rail has an ammo counter; each Attack takes 1 bullet (and Dash Attack takes and fires 2), and you reload by pressing the right-hand stick in. Its Special is a slow-moving mortar that hits in a wide area. The Rail is a powerful and versatile weapon capable of engaging at great range, which tends to build either Attack or Special. If you’re building Special, look for big hits like Aphrodite, Artemis, or even Poseidon, and any Special upgrade at all from the Hammers. Attack usually wants utility or stacks - stuff like Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, or Zeus - but certain Hammer upgrades like Spread Shot might make it more worthwhile to invest in big hits for it if you get them early. However! Just because you’ve decided on a focus doesn’t mean you should neglect the other half of your weapon. For instance, an Attack-focused build might still entertain the Targeting System upgrade so that you can more easily land your hits and avoid the enemy, while a Special-focused one benefits from mounting debuffs like Weak or Chill on its Attack.

For any weapon, once you settle into a play style you enjoy, find ways to be rewarded for what you’re already going to do. If you enjoy, say, the Chiron Aspect for the bow which makes it into a Special-focused weapon, mount benefits like Doom or Weak on its Attack since you still have to use that to make your shit go-go. This applies more broadly too; if you’re saving up Gemstones for something, for instance, use the extra money you get during your run to visit the shops earlier and more often. Let Hades reward you for doing the things you already want to do.

To close this guide out I’m going to briefly touch on Heat, which is how Supergiant Games has manifested their signature build-your-own-hard-mode approach. After you clear the game with any weapon for the first time, you acquire access to the Pact of Punishment. This Pact lets you turn on hostile modifiers to your run, which each have a Heat value; once you clear the game with a weapon at any given level of Heat (0, 1, 2, etc) you can only get Titan’s Blood, Diamonds, and Ambrosia with that weapon by advancing to the next level of Heat. In this way the game gradually gets harder on a weapon-by-weapon basis.

So, what modifiers to turn on? Depends on what you’re good at and bad at, but I would highly, highly suggest that you get used to Extreme Measures, Middle Management, and Benefits Package as soon as possible. Not only are they sources of big Heat by themselves that don’t change too much of the run by themselves, but their primary difficulty is knowledge-based; once you know them, they’re practically free real estate. Since Heat is tracked per-weapon and not in total, you can also always go back to weapons you’re not as good with and use practice with them as an excuse to get more permanent resources that you can pour into the ones you prefer.

Obviously this guide is not comprehensive! I’ve left out a lot of things you might want to know, like boss patterns, enemy types, and a whole lot of stuff about characters. Some of these things I’ve not talked about because I don’t want to give spoilers; others I haven’t talked about because I’m, again, actually pretty bad at games and the Hades community has talented folks whose guides on Steam, on the Reddit, and on the wiki can provide you with thorough breakdowns of the math that makes the game work. Still, it’s my hope that this can ease your entry into the world of Hades and help guide you in those early runs when it can feel like you’re spinning your wheels. I look forward to hearing from you; reblogs and commentary are welcome!

See you all in Hell.

[richfieldbranch]

Mike’s Picks - Week of April 6th

Hello again to all our Richfield Library Patrons. We’re back this week with more suggestions to keep you busy while you're stuck at home. All library programs, outreach, and meeting rooms have been canceled until at least May, so hang in there! The books are all available through Hoopla or Overdrive, you can click the title to access it’s listing, or find all our materials at https://akronlibrary.org/browse/digital.  As always, I miss you, and please send me an email to let me know how you're doing, or if there's anything I can do for you.

Mike Daly, Adult Services Librarian 

mdaly@akronlibrary.org

Crafts:

For all you Richfield Crafters out there missing your monthly crafting fix, I have attached a couple of timely links to help you pass the time during the great quarantine.

Do-it-yourself Covid Masks

The first link was posted by the U. S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. It's very simple and doesn't require sewing. You can find the video at: 

https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus-local-impact/surgeon-general-heres-how-you-can-make-a-cloth-mask-today-in-just-a-few-easy-steps/

NPR also explains how they should be worn, and offers some different options for making them (including one where you just cut up an old t-shirt, no sewing or stapling or anything):

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/03/826996154/coronavirus-faqs-is-a-homemade-mask-effective-and-whats-the-best-way-to-wear-one

This one is what my wife used to make our family's masks. It does require a sewing machine, but the results were quite professional and easy to wear. There are hundreds of online tutorials if you do an internet search for “making Covid masks”. This one is from USA Today:

 https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/04/04/coronavirus-face-mask-tips-how-make-fabric-instructions/2945209001/ 

And finally, Joann Fabric has provided this pattern that does not require elastic or string, but instead has fabric straps:

https://www.joann.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-LibraryJoAnnShared/default/dw4148ae36/static/landingpage/assets/MaskInstructions_V2.pdf

Easter Pom-Pom Craft

Here's a couple of simple craft for all ages. They're really easy and the end products are very cute. All you need are scissors, rubber bands, old fabric, and some yarn. For bunnies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8DYHOSpL50 

and for chicks:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz0o-dBhAKA  

There are many more available on You Tube.

Books:

Non-Fiction

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough

McCullough tells the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory, at the time a wilderness northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. His main focus is on the founding and growth of Marietta, Ohio. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the

prohibition of slavery. McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Manasseh Cutler, Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam, Cutler’s son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science. A must read for anyone interested in Ohio history.

Code Name: Lise, the True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis

This book was an exciting read. I had never heard of Odette Sansom or the women of the SOE. In 1942 Odette Sansom, a French woman married to and English man, decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and one plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer Captain Peter Churchill. Loftis paints a portrait of true courage, patriotism, and love—of two incredibly heroic people who endured unimaginable horrors. He weaves together the touching romance between Odette and Peter and the thrilling cat and mouse game between them and a wily Gestapo agent.

Fiction:

This week I've been rereading some of my favorite books. The titles listed below are an eclectic mix, so everyone should find something to like. They are also long which will help you kill some time while stuck at home.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This was my favorite book in high school. Lose yourself in the adventures of Frodo and Gandolf in their epic battle of good versus evil. All three titles, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King are available for down as Ebook or audio on the library website.

The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens 

Although not as well known as Great Expectations or Oliver Twist, this Dickens classic is my favorite. A serial romp through Victorian England, this book is in turns funny, sad, and touching. Don't give up because the 19th Century language is unfamiliar. You will be rewarded if you persevere. 

The Ebook is available through Project Gutenberg: 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/967/967-h/967-h.htm 

and the audio book is available at LibriVox:

 https://librivox.org/the-life-and-adventures-of-nicholas-nickleby-by/ 

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

The first and best of Follett's historical novels about the fictional English city of Kingsbridge, it's an Oprah Book Club choice as well. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known, of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect, and of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena. The book tells of the struggle that will turn church against state and brother against brother. The book, as well as the two sequels, A World Without End and A Column of Fire, are available for download as Ebook or Eaudio on the library website.

And finally.................

Monday April 9th is

Fresh Tomato Day

“A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savory fruit. A fruit that has ambitions far beyond the ambitions of other fruits.” E. Lockhart

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” Miles Kington

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” Lewis Grizzard

Tuesday April 7h is

National Beer Day

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Benjamin Franklin

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.” Abraham Lincoln

“Beer's intellectual. What a shame so many idiots drink it.” Ray Bradbury

Wednesday April 8th is

International Feng Shui Day

“You don't have to believe in Feng Shui for it to work. I just know it brings me money.” Donald Trump

“I once drew a picture of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. But I put it away after a Feng Shui expert told me about the bad vibes” David James

“My view on Feng Shui: don’t put your bed in front of the door because you won’t get in.” Jonas Eriksson

Thursday April 9th is

National Gin and Tonic Day

“The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.” Winston Churchill

“Of all the gin joints, in all the world she walks into mine.” Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca

“I don't know what reception I'm at, but for God's sake give me a gin and tonic.” Dennis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher

Friday April 10th is

Global Work from Home Day (Very Appropriate!)

“All happiness depends on courage and work.” Honore de Balzac

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” Leo Tolstoy

Saturday April 11th is

National Pet Day

“Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love it.” Amy Sedaris

“Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life.” James Cromwell

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.” John Grogan

More to come next week!

[fysmartwatch]

Spotify on smartwatches has been a complete game changer for us!

Simply, stream or transfer your favourite music onto your watch for wireless playback any time, even when offline.

It’s another huge step towards true smartwatch independence from cellphones.

In today’s guide, we recommend the best smartwatch for Spotify currently on the market. We also recommend some awesome alternatives.

How Does Spotify Connect to Your Smartwatch?

Using Spotify on a smartwatch doesn’t yet offer all the features it does on a cellphone. It’s a very different experience, but using a smartwatch is all about making concessions right?

In this section, we take a look at how it all works and what kind of experience you can expect.

A Brief Introduction to Spotify

For those that have been living under a rock for the past few years, Spotify is a streaming service that supplies music and podcasts to its subscribers. 

There are millions of songs available on Spotify, and they cover a range of genres and time periods so that you can be certain of finding something that interests you, no matter how obscure your musical tastes. 

Spotify is commonly available on your computer, phone, and tablet, but more recently, smartwatches with Spotify have made it to market.

The great thing about Spotify is that it is free to sign up for, and you can start listening as soon as you have shared your email address. 

There is a premium service that you can pay for which has 3 key benefits (among others):

It removes advertisements from the listening experience.

It allows a higher standard of music quality (up to 320kbit/s bit rate).

Plays music without an internet connection.

Spotify is hugely popular across the world and has over 248 million active users, with over 110 million subscriber (nearly double that of Apple Music subscribers). 

How Spotify Works on a Smartwatch

A smartwatch with Spotify is not the same experience you are used to on a cellphone or computer.

Yes, you can the play music you love but you need to synchronize your watch with a computer or phone app. It’s not a standalone experience.

In this section, we explain how to set it up and also the limitations you need to prepare yourself for.

Step 1: Download the App

When it comes to accessing Spotify on your smartwatch, you will first need to download the Spotify app to your watch.

With Samsung wearables, this is a really simple process. Select ‘Apps’ from the home screen. Select ‘Galaxy Apps’. Find Spotify and install.

The process is easy with Garmin smartwatches too. This time you’ll need to find the Spotify app using the Connect IQ app on your cellphone.

Step 2: Sign Up

The sign-up process is straightforward, you just connect your Facebook account or use your email.

Important Note: Just remember not all smartwatches are able to use Spotify, so make sure you check out our list of recommended models.

Spotify will ask you to set a password and share your date of birth so that they know your age and can make music suggestions based upon that.

It’s an incredibly simple process made to make accessing music easy. There are lots of ways to customize your account when you have logged in so that you enjoy the music that you want to hear.

Step 3: Connect your Accounts

This step isn’t necessary with Samsung watches as you can sign in to the Spotify app on your smartwatch. However, Garmin users now need to sign into their Spotify account in the Connect IQ app. They will then be prompted to connect their accounts.

Step 4: Download Music (or stream on selected Samsung devices)

Now you can access the following folders in your Spotify account:

Playlists

Recently Played

Made for You

Workout

Podcasts

You may be wondering how to do this on a Garmin watch? (I know I was!). You need to hold the ‘Down’ button. This will take you to your library. You’ll see an ‘Add music and Podcasts’ option at the bottom.

Browse through what’s on offer and download your favorite playlists (you’ll need a WiFi connection).

Important Note: You can’t edit playlists or search for new music from your watch. This needs to be done using the full Spotify app on your cell phone or computer.

The Limitations of Spotify on a Smartwatch

Unfortunately, smartwatches with Spotify don’t get the full music streaming experience. It’s a little bit annoying having to download all of your music and podcasts, but in my opinion this is a small price to pay to have music on your wrist!

Here’s the lowdown on the drawbacks you can expect with Spotify smartwatches.

1. You need a premium account.

This is no big deal for those of you that already pay the monthly subscription but for those of you new to the streaming service or that currently use a free account then this could be a dealbreaker.

In order to put music on your smartwatch, you need a paid Spotify Premium subscription. At the time of writing (8/2020), this is currently priced at $9.99. In my opinion, if you listen to a lot of music then this is really good value for money but I’ll let you decide.

2. You can’t stream music (in most cases).

Spotify is by definition a music streaming service but its integration with smartwatches (at this time) isn’t quite the same. You must download music and podcasts to your watch. That means adding and deleting new playlists every time you want to “freshen” things up.

This is a very simple process but it takes time. Especially if you are adding substantial amounts of new material.

However, as you’ll see with the next couple of points too, there are a couple of exceptions.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch and Samsung Gear S3 Frontier are both available with data plans which enable them to stream music.

3. The amount of music at your disposal is limited to your watches’ memory.

Since you must download music onto your smartwatch (with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy and S3 Frontier, which can stream), the listening material available to you at any one time is limited to the memory capacity of your watch.

Generally speaking, this is around 500 songs but it really depends on the watch and also the file sizes of your songs (higher quality music will take up more space).

Personally, I’ve never found an issue with this limitation. I use my Garmin 245 Music to listen to playlists while running. A five hundred song library is more than enough. I tend to change things up every month once some songs start to get a bit familiar.

4. You can only listen using a Bluetooth connection to external speakers or headphones.

Most of the watches with Spotify that are worth having can only playback your music with some external help. This means you need to connect to headphones or a speaker using a Bluetooth connection.

I pair my Garmin 245 Music with Bose SoundSport wireless headphones for a seamless experience when running.

The exceptions to this are the previously mentioned Samsung pair. They both contain built-in speakers that can play music without needing and external connection. Just be warned, the volume is pretty low and the sound quality isn’t great.

Spotify Alternatives to Consider

There are other music streaming alternatives that are worth considering before you sign up for a subscription. Here’s a quick look at three of the best music streaming platforms for smartwatch use.

Amazon Music – At $9.99 for non-Prime members ($7.99 with Prime membership) and with a library of 50 million songs this is a true Spotify contender. Available on Garmin.

Deezer -3 tiers that range from free up to high definition streaming at $14.99 per month. It has a library of around 60 million songs. Available on Garmin.

Pandora Music – A premium account with access to around 40 million songs costs $9.99 a month. Available on Samsung.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a watch that plays music, then picking a Spotify enabled smartwatch is a great choice.

As a runner, my kit is as lightweight as ever. Previously, in order to listen to music while running, I had my bulky smartphone strapped to my arm. Now, all I need is my smartwatch and wireless headphones.

Just don’t expect the full Spotify experience on smartwatch because it doesn’t yet exist. Smartwatches have a few hurdles to jump before we get that kind of app integration.

Right now, this is as good as it gets when it comes to Spotify on smartwatch. And if you ask us, it’s still amazing!

The Best Smartwatch for Spotify

In our opinion, these are the only three smartwatches with Spotify worth knowing about.

There’s one clear winner in our eyes but the others are worthy alternatives.

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music – Our Top Pick

Garmin is incredibly well known and typically considered to be the smartwatch choice of people who love to get outside and exercise.

This smartwatch not only offers an excellent music experience but has GPS to track your every move.

Music Library Size

The Forerunner 245 has 3.5 GB of internal memory which Garmin state should hold around 500 songs. However, I currently have 750 songs and 2-hour long podcast episodes on my watch so this isn’t actually accurate (but in a good way!). I typically freshen the library up every month or so with new podcast episodes and playlists.

How it Works

This Spotify smartwatch requires a premium Spotify account as you need to download the music to your watch. This means that it can’t stream music. You need to synchronize your watch with your smartphone app after selecting the music you want. The synchronization process can take a while if you plan on downloading a lot of music, so it’s best getting this out of the way with plenty of time before your next run.

Another key point to note here is that the watch itself has no audio output ability. It can store the music and play it but there are no built-in speakers. This means it needs to be paired with speakers or headphones via a Bluetooth connection.

I pair mine with Bose wireless headphones for a completely wireless listening experience while running. The connection process takes a few button presses and the connection is always solid.

Interface

The Spotify music controls are reached by holding down the ‘Back’ button for a couple of seconds. This takes you to your music library where you can browse what’s available.

This same procedure takes you to the skip, volume, shuffle, stop, and play controls while you’re listening.

It’s not exactly the smoothest user experience but it’s simple and easy to navigate. Depending on the headphones or speakers that you have paired with the watch, you might be able to control the music player externally through them.

What Else is There?

The Forerunner 245 Music actually does a heck of a lot more than just play music. As this is a Spotify watch guide we won’t go into too much detail but here’s a brief summary of the key features:

Works with iOS and Android

5 ATM waterproof

GPS (and GLONASS mapping)

Heart rate monitor

Pulse Ox sensor

Fitness notifications that can help you understand whether you need to work harder or slow down.

Garmin Coach that will work with you to get fitter and faster

Detailed feedback from all your workouts so you know where you need to put your efforts

Fall and safety detection services that will help you if you find yourself in trouble; this smartwatch will even alert emergency services to come and help you.

Up to 7 days of battery life when in smartwatch mode (up to 24 hours if GPS is in constant use)

Bottom Line: I’ve owned this watch for about 6 months and absolutely love it! If you’re an active person that enjoys listening to music then I highly recommend it. Besides playing music, it’s an awesome fitness tracker that actually encourages you to get out more. It’s the Spotify smartwatch that I’d choose over all others.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

Samsung is a household name and well known for its phones, TVs, and other tech. The Galaxy Watch is the perfect choice for fitness activities as well as listening to your music throughout the day. Spotify on a Galaxy watch can be easily downloaded and is simple to access so that you don’t have to fuss around to find it.

The great thing here is that if you have the SIM card enabled version of this watch then you are able to stream music using Spotify. While this sounds really cool, it does significantly drain the battery when you are using 3G and 4G data. I also prefer playing the music through external speakers as the in-built speakers are tiny and don’t sound great.

Until smartwatch battery life improves, I prefer the Garmin Spotify implementation where you pre-download the music. The battery life doesn’t take a huge hit when listening in this way. That being said, I don’t expect everybody to agree with me.

This beautiful watch has a round face and comes in two sizes to fit all wrist types. You can expect to enjoy a full-color display, and the straps are interchangeable so that you can suit your mood to your watch look.

The fitness tracking is really good, and you will be able to swim with the watch on, meaning that you never miss an opportunity to track your progress.

Some other key features include:

Light and thin design so you never notice it on your wrist

Always on display to make it easy to check what is going on in the world

A fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor to keep you up to speed on your progress

A health coach that will work with you to improve your general fitness

A fully customizable screen so that you can get the look you want

Bottom Line: The Samsung Galaxy Watch is the smartwatch to choose if you want to stream music. It’s an awesome watch in general and much more than just a fitness tracker that plays music (which could be said about the Garmin Forerunner).

Apple Watch Series 5

The latest Apple Watch hit the shelves last year and offers a huge range of features that will appeal to anyone that wants to get a new smartwatch.

The Apple Watch is synonymous with Apple Music, but the company does not bar Spotify. Just be prepared for a seriously limited experience.

Apple being Apple currently don’t permit 3rd party apps (ie. non Apple products) to use a cellular or WiFi connection to stream. As you can imagine, this seriously limits what 3rd party apps can achieve on the Apple Watch.

In the case of Spotify, the app is available but it can only act as a controller to control Spotify playback on another connected device. This means no streaming and not even any downloading!

I can understand why they’ve done it. It’ll push more people to use their very own Apple Music streaming service (which has full streaming capabilities with a premium subscription). However, it’s a pretty annoying tactic that we’ve come to expect from Apple.

Third-party apps may well receive more support in the future but for now, Apple Music is the only streaming service worth using on the Apple Watch.

Otherwise, it’s a seriously awesome watch that’s got the best user interface we’ve seen on a smartwatch so far. A couple of other criticisms can be aimed at the price and battery life, but all in this is a really cool piece of tech.

Some of the most sought-after features of the Apple Watch Series 5 include:

An in-built GPS system to track wherever you go

An Always-On screen, so there is no more pushing buttons to check the time

An ECG app to check your heart health whenever it takes your fancy

An in-built compass

A bigger screen than ever before

Bottom Line: There’s a big compromise to make here if you simply must use Spotify. But, if you’re willing to make the switch to Apple Music you get the full streaming ability and a real quality wrist-piece.

Conclusion

If you want music on your watch there are few decent choices right now, but smartwatches with Spotify are leading the way.

However, there are a few different implementations of Spotify on smartwatches that you need to be aware of.

There are those that can stream, those that can only download to internal memory, and those that simply work as an extended remote control.

It depends what you’re personally looking for but for me the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music does a brilliant job. It’s a smartwatch with offline Spotify access that relies on downloading and storing the music internally via a smartphone. This might not be for everyone (try the Samsung Galaxy or Apple Watch if so) but for a runner like myself it’s now an essential piece of tech.

Remember, other very good music streaming services exist too. If you’re an Apple fan then switching over to Apple Music and streaming with an Apple Watch Series 5 is a great way to get music on your smartwatch too.

The post The Best Smartwatch for Spotify [Plus 2 Awesome Alternatives] appeared first on Find Your Smartwatch.

via Find Your Smartwatch

[clintbartonswife]

Message

Pairings: Clint Barton x OC Grace, Avengers x OC Grace

Summary: After sacrificing herself for the soul stone, Grace has one final message for her family

Warnings: angst, Set in the ‘duyên’ universe.

Pt2 of this  || masterlist 

“Uh, Hey. Friday is this recording now?”

“Yes”

Clint’s fists tightened as his wife’s voice rang out of the speakers, a blurry hologram of her projected in front of him, Natasha resting her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“Great. Okay I’ve got to make this short and sweet cos you’re fighting behind me right now and I know it’s not long before someone wins” Grace spoke, clearing her throat quietly, “I love all of you with all of my heart, you’re my family and I can’t thank you enough for giving that to me. If this worked and my kids are back ... god please say we won ... I love you more than you can imagine and I don’t want you to be sad.”

“It was my time. I experienced no pain. Nathanael, I hope you do something with your amazing ball skills, maybe you’ll go into a sports career. That’d be awesome. I love you a hell of a lot little man. Lila, you’re so good with a bow, know that Dad and I are so proud of you for that. Who knows, maybe you’ll beat your old man to the Hawkeye spot one day. Cooper, you are so smart, like the level of smart that makes me question where the hell you get it. It sure as hell isnt me - hey maybe Clint’s a secret genius. Just know I’m cheering you on whatever you choose to do. Look after eachother, yeah?”

Nathanael let out a small whimper, Cooper pulling him and Lila into a tight hug, all of them having a steady stream of tears cascading down their face. Wanda and Pietro rubbed their backs soothingly.

“Wanda, you are so incredibly talented. Please don’t be afraid of what you can do, you’ve helped so many people. You’re going to go on to do so many amazing things”

Wanda dipped her head into Pietro’s shoulder as she held back tears, her brother holding her even tighter.

“Pietro, you cheeky sod. I know you like to go fast but ... remember to slow down a little some times, enjoy the moment. Keep on saving the day Sonic. Even though you two may not be genetically related to me, I truly believe that you are my children, and I love you like I do the others. I know Clint does too”

A sad smile crossed Pietro’s face as he rested his head on top of his twins’, Wanda’s dam finally breaking as she started to sob. Nathanael moved to snuggle between the two comfortingly, making Wanda smile through the tears.

“Tony, Pep and Morgan. Thanks for helping me when I couldn’t help myself, you brought me back from the edge and I love you all to death for that - oh maybe I shouldn’t use that analogy. Morgan, look after your parents for me, okay? You’re in charge, as always”

Now it was Pepper’s time to cry, Morgan giving the hologram a small salute before nuzzling into her mothers neck. Tony stared blankly at the screen, his hand trembling within Pepper’s grasp.

“Bucky, I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to miss some more of our support sessions, I’m a little preoccupied for the foreseeable future”

Bucky let out a pained chuckle, Marzia rubbing his knuckles soothingly.

“I’m gonna have to ask Marzia to look after you now. I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll do a great job”

Marzia nodded slightly.

“Steve and Sam. I know I didn’t exactly leave things great with you Sam, but I do honestly hope that you’re okay. I trust you both endlessly, and I’m angry at fate for taking time away from all of us. What happened in Wakanda sucks, but I don’t hold any of that against you. Steve knows this”

“Shit - don’t - okay. Everyone else I love you so, so much. Nat you’re my fucking soulmate in more ways than one. Look after Clint and the kids for me. Who am I kidding you’d do it anyway”

Natasha finally broke, tears free-flowing down her flushed cheeks, her hand moving from Clint’s shoulder to entwine with his.

“Clint, my love. Jesus I don’t have words. You truly changed my life. Thank you for making me so much happier and healthier. Thank you for giving me 5 beautiful kids. Thank you for giving me a family. Most importantly, I forgive you. For everything. Even for the things I don’t know about. You know what I mean”

Clint choked back a sob, his shoulders shaking. The hologram Grace’s eyes widened, her tone becoming more panicked.

“Both of you - I’m so sorry. None of this is your fault. This is my decision. I know you’ll never forgive me for this but I can’t let you fight each other to kill yourselves. The world needs you, my world - our family - needs you. What person would I be if I let you die?”

The audio became more jostled as Grace began to move, the projection of her becoming more worried. Slight scuffling was heard in the background.

“I love you all. Friday end message”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah - They don’t need to rewatch this Friday - end it please”

As if Friday knew the situation, she didn’t turn it off immediately, leaving Grace’s sad smile fill the screen. The others watched with bated breath as she amped herself up, quietly muttering to herself as she ran.

“You got this you got this you got this”

Suddenly the group could hear Clint and Natasha shouting in the background, protesting.

As she disappeared, the room fell silent, the only noises being those of crying. They sat there for what seems like hours, staring at the empty space where she once stood. Slowly, Cooper, Lila and Nathanael moved to hug their dad, Wanda and Pietro joining, tugging Nat into it too. The rest silently filed out of the room, leaving the grieving family in peace.

They were going to be okay.

[gossamie]

i hope you’re watching this.

— summary: [AUDIO TRANSCRIPT] Korea’s Entertainment Live! Ep. 143 - Watch as singer Jeon Jungkook goes into shocking detail about his recent and public breakup.

— pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

— genre: angst

— word count: 1,688

— warnings: minor swearing, s a d n e s s

— notes: i like to think of this story as read this before i break up with you meets you and i are lost stars. as these are some of my favorite works, naturally, i really wanted to start writing this story the minute i found the inspiration for it. i hope you enjoy!

p.s. thanks again to @fentasies for helping out with this story, please check her out!

“Fame is a beast that you can't control or be prepared for.” - Tom Holland

FILE NAME: Ep_143.wav

[00:00:00]

YHM: Why, hello there and welcome back to Korea’s Entertainment Live!, South Korea’s #1 late-night show that gives you the latest on the nation’s celebrities and elite. I’m your host, Yoo Hyunmin, and let’s get onto the show, shall we?

[00:01:32]

YHM: As always, we have a star-studded line-up for you tonight, starting off with our first guest. Recently awarded ‘Best New Artist’ at only twenty years old, he’s gained worldwide popularity with his ‘golden’ vocals. He’s also been dubbed ‘The Heart of South Korea’, and rightfully so, because there’s no denying that he’s captured the hearts of every girl across the nation with his beauty and personality. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jeon Jungkook!

[00:05:22]

YHM: Thank you for joining us, Jungkook.

JJK: Thank you for having me.

YHM: First things first, I think it’d be rude of me to have you here and not congratulate you on your new album, Euphoria, which was certified gold by the RIAA only two weeks into its promotion. Now that deserves some applause, huh?

[00:06:13]

YHM: Success like that— it’s incredible! How do you feel about it?

JJK: I feel like you described it perfectly; it’s absolutely incredible. None of those fancy titles or awards or anything would’ve been possible without my fans, so trust me when I say that I’m beyond grateful for them. I don’t know what I would do without them.

[00:06:45]

YHM: It must be hard to hear the silence in the room, then.

[00:06:55]

YHM: I’ll be honest with you, Jungkook, you haven’t been looking so great in the public’s eye recently.

JJK: Yeah, that’s… that’s an understatement.

YHM: I don’t think it’s a secret to neither me nor you as to why I haven’t heard a single fan cheer for you. So, I guess to clear the room of this— this unspoken thing, let’s talk about the breakup.

JJK: Yeah, okay.

YHM: Is there anything that you feel you need to explain about it?

JJK: I mean, what is there to explain? We broke up. There’s not much to it.

YHM: Well, from what I understand, it was a very public breakup, and, for her, at least, completely unexpected. But, other than that, there’s not that much that we know about it.

[00:08:41]

YHM: No one really understands why the breakup was so messy or how it even got to this point. So, I think, for the sake of our viewers and for the media, especially, it would be beneficial to understand the breakup by understanding the relationship. I’ll ask you some questions about it, is that okay?

[00:08:59]

YHM: Jungkook?

[00:09:03]

JJK: Oh— yes?

YHM: Can I ask you questions about your relationship with L/N Y/N?

JJK: Yeah, go for it. Sorry.

[00:09:12]

YHM: Let’s start off simple. How long were you two dating?

JJK: 3 years, 8 months, and 1 day.

YHM: You still remember it?

JJK: I never let myself forget.

[00:09:48]

YHM: That is some dedication right there.

JJK: Well, anniversaries were valuable to us. How could I forget something that was so important to her?

[00:10:13]

YHM: How do you know Y/N?

JJK: I’ve known Y/N since our freshman year of high school. She was the class president; I was the class clown. I always knew she was way out of my league. To this day, I still don’t understand why she wanted to talk to someone like me, let alone wanted to date someone like me.

YHM: Someone like you? What do you mean by that?

JJK: Y/N is intelligent and independent and patient and beautiful, God, she’s so beautiful— she’s the definition of perfection. She’s everything that I’m not. Someone that perfect doesn’t fall in love with someone as flawed as me.

YHM: Oh, come on, Jungkook, we all know you’re perfect.

JJK: No. Believe me, I am far from perfect.

YHM: Alright, whatever you say.

[00:11:21]

YHM: So, how did you two meet?

JJK: Oh, it’s kind of funny, how we met. I had a thing for messing with teachers, especially substitutes. It just so happened that my homeroom teacher was sick on that Friday and I thought it would be a great idea to use the substitute’s head as a target for my spitball. But I have terrible aim, so that spitball ended up on Y/N’s forehead and it landed us both in the principal’s office.

[00:11:44]

YHM: Jungkook!

JJK: I know, I know. I felt horrible about it. But I don’t regret anything about what happened that day. Without that spitball, I don’t think I would be lucky enough to talk to that amazing girl.

[00:12:30]

YHM: She must’ve been special to you.

JJK: She is.

[00:12:37]

YHM: Were you in love with her?

JJK: Yes, I’m in love with her.

YHM: You were, or you still are?

JJK: I never stopped loving her.

YHM: Then why did you break up?

JJK: I became famous.

[00:13:02]

YHM: Can you elaborate on that?

JJK: I used to be a guy who just liked to sing, but for some reason, I became famous. I felt like I only had time to blink before I was amassing this enormous amount of popularity that seemingly came out of nowhere. There’s nothing that could’ve prepared me for fame. Nothing.

[00:13:39]

JJK: At one point, the interviews and the concerts and the paparazzi were blinding me with their bright lights and all I could think was, ‘How much more famous could I become?’. At one point, I began to trade my time with Y/N for time on that damn stage.

[00:14:03]

JJK: I was placing my career before her. I was pushing her away from me, and I didn’t do anything about it.

[00:14:09]

JJK: It took me way too much time to realize that. The moment I registered that in my brain, I knew that Y/N deserved someone who made her a priority, who gave her the love and attention that she was entitled to, who didn’t hurt her like I did.

[00:14:19]

JJK: I couldn’t do that for her. I can’t do that for her. So I let her go. It was hard. It was so fucking hard for me to do.

[00:14:28]

YHM: Jungkook, I’d like to ask you one last question.

JJK: Yes, what is it?

YHM: Is there anything left that you would like to say?

JJK: Yes. Yes, I do.

YHM: Go ahead.

[00:14:59]

JJK: First, I need to apologize to my fans. I feel horrible for not being honest to you guys about my relationship; you trust me purely without asking for anything in return and I’ve recklessly broken that trust. I understand if you’re still unwilling to give me your support, but from now on, I promise that you will only hear utmost honesty from me.

[00:15:25]

JJK: But, I think the person that needs to hear my apology the most is the person I’ve hurt the most— Y/N.

[00:15:28]

JJK: I hope you’re watching this.

[00:15:31]

JJK: There aren’t enough words that can completely communicate to you how sorry I am. Maybe there are no words that can justify what I did to you. I didn’t do enough for you to stay by my side. I don’t think I ever deserved love from someone as perfect as you, and honestly, I don’t think I ever will.

[00:15:58]

JJK: I realize how desperate this will sound or how much this will sound like a lie but I could never lie to you, so trust me when I say that I’m still in love with you. I’m still in love with your eyes and how they glimmer like diamonds in the sky. I’m still in love with your smile and how it crinkles the edges of your eyes when you see a little puppy. I’m still in love with your hands and how I never want to let them go because they fit so perfectly in mine. Y/N, I’m still in love with everything about you and no amount of distance or separation can change that.

[00:16:22]

JJK: I’ve learned two things from all of this in the time we’ve spent apart. I know now that being famous is like dying. Death is relentless, and so is fame. It just takes and it takes and it takes and it took you away from me and I let it and I hate that I let you go so easily and I hate being famous.

[00:16:41]

JJK: I would take all of this fame away if it meant getting back to you.

[00:16:47]

JJK: I also know that I can only stand so much space between us, that I can only miss you so much. Now more than ever I’ve realized how much I need someone as important as you in my life. Loving you is the only thing I know I want to do for the rest of my life.

[00:17:00]

JJK: I’ve lost you once. I know now that I can never lose you again.

[00:17:05]

JJK: Y/N, I want you back. I want to love you again. Please, let me love you again.

[00:17:39]

YHM: It… it looks like we’re running out of time. Jungkook, thank you again for joining me. Is there any other words you would like to say to close off this first segment of our show?

[00:17:59]

YHM: Jungkook?

[00:18:01]

YHM: A—alright, then. Everyone in the audience will be receiving Jungkook’s album, Euphoria, which is available on all music platforms and on sale right now. Once again, this has been Jeon Jungkook, and we’ll be right back after this quick commercial break.

[aion-rsa]

Deathloop Proves Incredibly Flawed Games Can Still Be Masterpieces

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Deathloop‘s initial reviews have everyone buzzing about this timed PS5 exclusive from developer Arkane Studios (the team behind modern classics such as Dishonored 2 and Prey), but I’m a little worried that the positive buzz surrounding this game is going to give people the wrong impression about what kind of experience it actually is.

When a game starts getting perfect scores, it’s tempting to start telling yourself it must be perfect. Well, no game is perfect, and Deathloop is one of the most imperfect major games I’ve played in quite some time. It’s loaded with obvious shortcomings that will surely chase people away from its inherently divisive core gameplay.

Yet, I too am convinced that Deathloop is a masterpiece not just in spite of its flaws but, in some strange ways, because of them. Because a score can give you the wrong impression about why Deathloop is great, let’s take a slightly deeper look at this game’s problems, greatest qualities, and the strange relationship between the two that shows you just how rare a game like this really is.

Deathloop’s A.I. Is Shockingly Bad

The core of any immersive sim’s gameplay is the thrill you get from finding different solutions to complex problems. Do you go in guns blazing to show off your arsenal and abilities, or do you use stealth, hacking, and subversion to find a more subtle solution? That thrill of finding the perfect path forward (or even just your preferred one) is what makes games like Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and BioShock the classics they are. 

Sadly, Deathloop’s terrible A.I. limits the moment-to-moment appeal of its immersive sim gameplay. Enemies will regularly walk straight into their death, ignore bodies dropped inches behind them from great heights, and generally refuse to use even basic combat techniques to try to slow your progress.  

Deathloop’s woeful A.I. rarely inspires you to find those creative solutions that should define these types of games. You can still approach a situation however you’d like, but you’re rarely left with the feeling you’ve just found and executed the perfect plan since you’re pretty sure just about any plan would have been good enough to topple this game’s hapless goons. 

Deathloop Tries Too Hard to Hold Your Hand

Deathloop is a pretty complicated game built around a fairly unique premise. As such, I can certainly sympathize with developer Arkane’s decision to frontload the game with quite a few tutorial screens designed to explain the basics. 

Still, it feels like there was a better way to explain this game’s core concepts without relying on a series of screens filled with tiny text. For a game that does such a great job of subtly relaying nearly every other bit of information while letting you figure things out on your own (more on that later), it’s odd that Arkane chose to rely on such a conventual, straightforward, and often frustrating method of delivery. 

In fact, the somewhat sudden way this game pivots from guided gameplay to encouraging you to find organic solutions to complex problems might be too much for some and ultimately negate the good intentions of the title’s opening hours. 

Deathloop Doesn’t Feel Like a Next-Gen Game

Most people knew that the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply shortages were going to slow down an already slow next-gen transition process. We probably won’t start seeing a steady stream of “true” next-gen games until later in 2022, and I understand why that’s the case. 

That being said, I’m not sure Deathloop is entirely “worthy” of its current PS5 console exclusivity (the game is also available for PC). Aside from a few Dualsense features and quicker loading times, Deathloop feels like a game that probably could have been ported to the PS4 without sacrificing its best qualities. 

Considering how hard it is to find a next-gen console, I feel like this game probably should have been developed for PS4 and PS5. Microsoft may eventually offer some kind of backward compatibility once Deathloop comes to Xbox, but this title’s few obvious next-gen features aren’t a good enough reason to limit its initial reach. 

Deathloop’s Time Loop Is One of the Best In Video Game History

You probably know that Deathloop is a time loop game, and, thanks to a surprising number of new entries into that formerly niche genre, you probably know that means Deathloop is designed to make you repeat the same time period over and over again until you break the loop. 

However, you’ve got to play Deathloop to appreciate just how great its time loop really is. In fact, the way that Deathloop uses the time loop concept to slowly unravel its initially bewildering plot and enhance your understanding of what is possible in this game may just make it the best example of time loop design in video game history. 

I’ve already heard some say that having to repeat Deathloop’s basic structure over and over again starts to feel “grindy,” but in my experience, but there was honestly never a time when I felt too disappointed to start the loop over as doing so usually opened up exciting new opportunities or at least allowed me to learn from whatever mistake I just made that triggered the most recent reset.

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Deathloop’s Assassinations Are Some of the Most Satisfying Logic Puzzles Since Portal

While Deathloop’s poor A.I. makes battles against its basic enemies feel…basic, the battles against the game’s Visionaries (your “boss” targets) combine the best elements of Portal and recent Hitman games to form the most satisfying logic puzzles you’ll ever experience. 

Identifying your target and finding not just the perfect way to kill them but the perfect way to kill them that then allows you to seamlessly move on to the next target with enough time to spare is quite simply one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in a video game in the last 15 years. The number of possible ways to kill an individual target is bested only by the number of possible ways to kill every target in one perfect run.

It’s an approach that leads to a nearly infinite series of “aha” moments that never fail to provide the motivation you need to work your way through one more loop. 

Deathloop Brilliantly Repurposes the Best Qualities of the Roguelike Genre

At first, I was a little worried about Deathloop’s item rarity, skill finding, and progression/regression mechanics. During those early stages when the game is trying to explain so much to you in a short amount of time, the combination of all those roguelike systems started to feel like a bit much. 

However, you eventually discover that the reason those mechanics work so well together is that Deathloop brilliantly limits how many skills, weapons, and items you’re able to readily access during each loop. The result is a kind of roguelike experience where you (eventually) get to have some say in what your reset looks like and how close to “zero” you really have to start from.

I love a traditional roguelike experience, but between games like this, Returnal, and Hades that challenge the idea of “starting over,” it’s been fascinating to watch developers play with the boundaries of the roguelike genre and blend that genre with other concepts. 

Deathloop’s Multiplayer is a Brilliant Idea You May Choose to Ignore

In case you haven’t heard, Deathloop features a fascinating multiplayer component that allows other players to “invade” your game by controlling Julianna: a rival who will stop at nothing to kill the player and preserve the time loop. Julianna’s unique set of abilities allows invading players to easily disguise themselves and generally make your life hell.

That’s the great and annoying thing about this feature. See, if you choose to disable player-controlled Julianna invasions, the character will still “invade” your game but will instead be controlled by the A.I. Considering this game’s A.I. problems (see above), you don’t really get to experience how brilliant this concept is until you enabled the multiplayer component. 

At the same time, the “griefing” nature of this invasion system means that many people are going to find it to be quite annoying and even detrimental to the overall experience. I feel like this problem could have been solved by a stronger A.I. version of Julianna who comes closer to representing the challenge offered by human players without being quite as frustrating. 

Deathloop’s Incredible Environmental Storytelling Enhances a Sometimes Weak Narrative

Most of Deathloop’s storytelling is done through audio files, environmental clues, computer exchanges, and…well just about everything other than cutscenes and character-to-player dialog exchanges. Anyone who is familiar with Arkane’s previous works (most notably Prey) will be familiar with this basic approach. 

Arkane’s familiarity with this complicated form of storytelling generally results in some of the cleverest and most unexpected bits of narrative design I’ve ever seen, even by this studio’s lofty standards. It’s amazing that Arkane left it up to the player to discover so many vital plot points and character development moments, but that approach ultimately enhances the thrill of finding that one bit of information that puts every other piece of the puzzle in place.

However, the game’s brilliant approach to storytelling doesn’t entirely disguise the weakness of the overall narrative. I won’t get into spoilers here, but once you realize that Deathloop’s plot is more about the little moments and the journey rather the destination, you start to get the feeling that there was a more interesting overall story here that the developers just didn’t quite deliver.

Deathloop Isn’t For Everyone, and That’s What’s Great About It

Developer Arkane Studios has been criticized in the past for making a specific kind of game that rarely meets sales expectations. Some have wondered whether or not Arkane would be better off making at least a few concessions to the preferences of wider audiences just so they could help ensure that they’re able to continue making at least some kind of version of the games they make so well. 

Between Deathloop’s PS5 console exclusivity, Arkane-style design, and the fact it’s hard to even offer a basic description of the experience without getting into spoilers, I highly doubt that this is going to end up being a long-term best-seller or even just the studio’s best-selling game to date.

However, that’s kind of what makes Deathloop so great. Nearly all of the problems in Deathloop can be attributed to Arkane’s desire to focus on the things they do so well and not worry so much about whether or not someone who doesn’t really enjoy what this title is fundamentally going for is going to take a chance on it. 

I can’t speak to what would have happened if Arkane tried to make a few more changes for wider audiences or even just worked harder to break free of their bad habits, but what I do know is that they came up with a brilliant idea for a game and made that brilliant idea work despite the fact that it could have so easily fallen apart at any time. 

In a world where nothing is perfect, it’s hard to withhold the masterpiece label for something that somehow manages to get everything right. Like many of the most innovative and greatest games before it, Deathloop was made by a team of people committed to getting their biggest and best ideas right above all else.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It’s easy enough to see how Deathloop could have been a better game, but I’d rather be left with a series of nitpicks acquired in the pursuit of something original than another perfectly fine Triple-A game that ultimately justifies its existence through sales figures alone.

The post Deathloop Proves Incredibly Flawed Games Can Still Be Masterpieces appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[viabrown586]

Best Cbz Reader For Mac

Cbz Reader Download

Best Cbz Reader For Mac

Best Cbz Reader For Mac

If you're looking for a CBR and CBZ reader for your favorite OS, look no farther. Comical is an easy-to-use, featureful GUI comic book viewer, written in C++ using wxWidgets. Comic Book Reader supports all major formats like CBR, CBZ, XPS, EPUB, and PDF. CDisplay Ex Lightweight, easy to use and having just the right features, CDisplay Ex is a great comic book reader software for Windows 10. CDisplay Ex is a light, efficient and Free CBR Reader, and it is also the most popular comic book reader.It is able to read all comic book formats (.cbr file,.cbz,.pdf, etc.) and Manga. Everything is designed to give you the best comic reading experience, it load comic books immediately, reading is fluid and comfortable even on slow computer. Mac & iOS: Just go for YACReader, it’s the best comic book reader for Mac and iOS. Windows 10 PC and Mobile: Go for the UWP app called Cover-Comic Book Reader, not only it’s the best comic book reader for Windows 10 PC and Mobile, but it also has the best UI I’ve ever seen on a comic book reader. Rename the file extension to RAR and you can just unarchive it with any capable unarchiver software. Same as CBZ, which uses ZIP. CBR/CBZ are usually used for regroup scanned comic book pages. If you have a CBR file and you want to read the content directly without unarchiving it first, I’d recommend EdgeView 2 for Mac. It’s by far the only comic book reader I’ve ever tested that can do the simplest thing correctly, such as zoom to fit for every page.

CBR/CBZ are usually used for regroup scanned comic book pages. If you have a CBR file and you want to read the content directly without unarchiving it first, I’d recommend EdgeView 2 for Mac. It’s by far the only comic book reader I’ve ever tested that can do the simplest thing correctly, such as zoom to fit for every page. After the recent hiccups introduced by the comicvine database transitioning to a new location, cbanack has releases a new and updated version of his incredible Comic Vine plugin for ComicRack. You can get the new build at the usual location.

These 2019's comic book reader apps for iPhone and iPad are easily the best of the lot. Check out this exclusive list and pick out the one that stands out for you to liven up your comic reading experience.

Do you have a penchant for reading comic books? If yes, we have you covered with the best comic book reader apps to let you experience the spectacle of “Iron Man,” The Avengers, X-Men and more.

What makes these comic reader apps special is the ability to offer unmatched comic reading experience. They support most comic formats and allow you to organize your comics with utmost ease. What’s more, you can even fine tune them to suit your best interest!

Best Comic Book Reader Apps for iPhone and iPad in 2019

#1. Episode ft Pitch Perfect

Episode ft Pitch Perfect is an ideal app to enjoy reading interactive and visual stories. Boasting of the vast catalog of more than 35, 000 stories featuring all the genres like romance, fantasy, comedy and more, it keeps your interest in reading something out-of-the-box alive.

The interactive stories offer you a great chance to lead your life just the way you want and have the desired success. As, you can choose your path to love, popularity and more. Find a gorgeous woman or a super handsome guy to fall in love. That’s not all; there are a lot of mysteries to be unraveled and dangers which you need to encounter to achieve your goal.

Price: Free Download

#2. Wattpad

Wattpad is the one-stop platform to read all types of books and interesting stories. Based on what gets you going, you can explore several things like mystery, comedy, action, fiction, science fiction, romance, adventure, fantasy and more.

You can easily save any articles to read them offline. With the option to sync your account, you will be able to pick up from where you left off on any of your iOS devices. Most importantly, you can directly connect with writers and other readers and share your experience or discuss.

Price: Free Download

#3. comiXology

comiXology is one of the finest comic reader apps. With this app, you will enjoy reading Kindle comics, graphic novels as well as Magna purchases. The massive library boasts of tons of Marvel comics, image comics, DC comics. You can also search for and add your favorite books to the wishlist. If you want to make your comic reading more delightful, you shouldn’t look beyond comiXology.

Price: Free Download

#4. iComics

iComics is designed to be a top class comic reader app. It is compatible with most comic formats such as ZIP, CBZ, RAR, CBR, 7ZIP, CB7, TAR, CBT, LZH, LHA, EPUB, PDF. It features a slider that allows you to move from one comic to another with ease. You can split extra-wide pages to make reading a bit easier. You have the option to share, email and even save individual pages.

Price: $1.99 Download

#5. Chunky Comic Reader

This one is a complete comic book reader app. It’s highly user-friendly and easy-to-use. With the super handy upscaling feature, it makes even low-resolution comics look nice. It features auto-contrast/tint which fixes yellow pages as well as faded ink. There is a self-organizing library which keeps all your stuff in perfect order.

Price: Free Download

#6. Marvel Unlimited Comics

With Marvel Unlimited Comics, you can access a vast library of more than 17, 000 digital comics. Even if you are not connected to Cellular or Wi-Fi, it lets you read up to 12 issues offline. It includes some famous Marvel comics including Spider-Man, The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, X-Men and more. It allows you to preview every issue in the archive and read some selected issues if you are not signed up.

Price: Free Download

#7. Madefire Comics & Motion Books

The last but not least, “Madefire Comics & Motion Books” is one of the most adorable comic book reader apps for iOS. With the synchronized sound effects, music and 360 panoramic views, it offers an amazing reading experience.

From Batman, Superman, Star Trek to Dark Horse, it was packed in with everything that can thoroughly entertain you. As the new releases are added every week, you will never get bored and always have plenty of options to explore. You can browse through new print comic titles from famous publishers in the print books storefront and quickly buy the one you love via in-app purchases.

Price: Free Download

#8. Comic Book Reader: Viewer for Comic

This comic book reader app supported all formats and considered to be the best for reading, cb7, cbz, cbr, and cbt comics. The impressive design and intuitive user-interface make reading books a great experience.

Thanks to the integration with major cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and network services including SMB, FTP, SFTP, DLNA, it lets you quickly open documents from any network or cloud services. Page layout option in documents such as single page, double page offer more convenience. You can bookmark any story to read it later. The file manager allows you to keep your library in perfect order.

Price: Free Download

#9. Comic Zeal Comic Book Reader

“Comic Zeal Comic Book Reader” is feature-rich and a perfect app to enhance your comic book reading experience. It lets you organize your collection as desired. As, you can put series inside series, and with the use of dividers, you will be able to manage long lists. There is also an option to sort comics into their respective series automatically. Better still, it also includes a parental lock for specific series.

Price: $4.99 Download

#10. ComicFlow

With the smart interface, ComicFlow provides an unmatched comic reading experience. It’s equipped to handle large comic collections. You can easily import your favorite comics in the background. It supports cbr, .cbz and pdf files. It’s compatible with the only iPad.

EC Technology SD Card Reader Aluminum Superspeed USB 3.0 Multi-In-1 Card Reader for SD Card/CF Card/Micro SD Card and More for MacBook Pro Air, iMac, Mac Mini, Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo Yoga by EC Technology. Safari opens the Adobe Flash Player page on the Adobe website. Follow the instructions on the Adobe website to download and install the latest version of the plug-in. If you need to use an older version of Flash Player, you can use Internet plug-in management in Safari to run the plug-in in unsafe mode for websites that you trust. Flash player for mac. Adobe flash reader free download - Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5, and many more programs. Download free Adobe Flash Player software for your Windows, Mac OS, and Unix-based devices to enjoy stunning audio/video playback, and exciting gameplay.

Price: Free Download

That’s it!

Signing Off

These comic book reader apps excel in letting you read books with optimum convenience. So, whether you want to read science-fiction, romance or action thriller, these CBR apps are the class apart. Have I missed any top CBR app for iOS?

Do let us know that in the comments below, on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram. Also, make sure to try our app on your iPhone and iPad.

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If you've been looking to go digital with your comic book collection, you're probably overwhelmed with all the comic readers available on the iPhone and iPad. Fret no more: Comic Zeal is the app you want.

A Comic Book Lover's Guide to Going Digital

Whether you've been a diehard comic book fan for years or you just want to see what…

Udf reader for mac os x. For Mac OS 10.4. Enables an Apple computer to mount and read disks formatted with recorded video and data files, and supports mounting and reading of DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray and other optical media. The new ReadDVD!

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Comic Zeal

Platform: iPhone and iPad Price: $4.99 Download Page

Features

Automatically organizes all your comics by series

Manually organize your comics with swipe gestures and easy-to-understand options

Track which comics you have and haven't read

Search and find your comics by title and tags

Proceeds directly to next issue when done reading

Zoom lock lets you fit the page to your screen however you want and remembers it between pages

Tons of additional settings for brightness, navigation, and reading

Load comics over USB, Wi-Fi, or Dropbox

Where It Excels

Comic Zeal is, hands down, the best app on iOS for organizing your comic library. When you import new comics, it automatically detects the series name and filters them all into their own categories by series. If you want to do something different—like create a reading list for a multi-series event—you can do so by swiping individual issues into ComicZeal's 'slider,' then emptying them out as you see fit. It can be a little tedious to do, but it's still light years ahead of any other comic readers. Comic Zeal also has a lot of settings for reading, which means you can get everything set up just how you like it. The 'smart zoom' feature is particularly awesome.

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Where It Falls Short

Comic Zeal does have a few annoyances, but they're minor enough to keep it in the top slot. Turning pages is a bit slower than it is in other comic readers, so going from page to page doesn't feel very smooth at all. Similarly, importing comics takes a long time, and you can't do anything while the app is importing—so if you're importing a large number of comics, be prepared to set your device down and wait awhile.

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The Competition

Cbz Reader Download

Comic Viewer is slightly cheaper at $3.99, but has enough options to keep most people happy. It has a 'fit to screen' or 'fit to width' mode which works flawlessly, and it has a few settings to keep the reading experience solid. It also has a silly-but-kind-of-awesome page flipping animation and sound (which you can turn off), if you want to recreate the real-life reading experience as much as possible. Its organization is nowhere near the level of ComicZeal's (though you can manually categorize things themselves), so I'd recommend spending the extra dollar on Comic Zeal. Comic Viewer is certainly a solid alternative, though.

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If you want something free, ComicFlow is probably your best choice. Its 'library' interface is very similar to Comic Zeal's, but with some nice filtering options (though not nearly as many good organization options). ComicFlow, as its name describes, excels at flipping between pages with fantastic smoothness (unlike Comic Zeal). However, it doesn't remember your 'zoom' level on each page, which is extremely annoying for people that don't want it to fit every page to the screen. It also is pretty bare when it comes to settings (for example, it only gives you a 'dim mode' rather than letting you adjust the in-app brightness). Like ComicZeal, ComicFlow can import comics over Wi-Fi, but it'll cost you $3.99 after the first 50 transfers. If ComicFlow has one incredible advantage, its that it imports comics in the background, which is really nice.

Best Cbz Reader For Mac

CloudReaders is another popular one, and while its interface isn't nearly as pretty as Comic Zeal or ComicFlow, the reading experience is a good one. Like ComicFlow, flipping between pages is fantastically smooth, and it has a few more settings if you don't care about looks, care about features, and want something free.

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Of course, all the above apps are for reading your DRM-free CBR, CBZ, or PDF comics. If you want to read comics from the official source, you'll want something like Comics from ComiXology. ComiXology is the place to buy, download, and sync comics straight from companies like Marvel and DC (who, incidentally, have their own Marvel and DC versions of the app), as well as others like Image, IDW, and Disney. If you're looking for new comics from these companies, this is the app you'll want to download.

Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories. Free epub reader for mac download.

Best Cbz Reader For Mac

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[stockfox742]

Vst Plugin Fruity Chorus

Chorus Pedal Vst Free

Free Vst Plugins

Free Chorus Plugin

Hello everyone!This video officially announces the release of my first audio plugin: Virgin Choir. The video demonstrates how this plugin sounds without any.

Chorus plugins, vst Chorus plugins, buy Chorus plugins online, Chorus effects, download Chorus plugin, free trial, rtas, aax, au at Pluginboutique.com.

FL Studio is a serious player in the DAW scene, evidenced by MusicRadar crowning it the number 1 DAW in the world for 2020. In competition with legendary names like Cubase, Ableton and Logic, that’s no mean feat. Initially launched in 1998, and known as ‘Fruity Loops’ until 2003, it was considered more of a toy than a serious workstation. Yet, its highly visual and simple-to-operate workflow attracted increasing numbers of young, hungry producers. Unencumbered by over-reliance on deep technical know-how, these young producers found FL Studio the perfect platform for adventurous experimentation.

It’s no exaggeration to say that without FL Studio, genres like Dubstep and Trap may never have come to fruition (pardon the pun).

Chorus Pedal Vst Free

Download free VST plugins, free synth VST, autotune VST, Drum sound VST, choir VST, Orchestra VST, and much more free VST plugins. Great place to download free VST plugins for music production, updated each week with new VST plugins check back frequently. Free VST Plugins for Fruity Loops, Cubase, Audacity, and Other Software Welcome to our Free VST Plugin area of Free-Loops.com we are in the process of assimilating the largest collection of Free VST Plugins on the net. Even better we've attached easily previewable MP3 files so you can listen to the online before you bother downloading the free.

As the music created in FL Studio developed, so did the software itself, and it now boasts an impressive array of in-built VST plugins, excellent MIDI compatibility and enough power to host some serious 3rd-party plugins.

Adam Hignell takes a look at some VST Plugins every FL Studio Producer should lust after.

Award-winning AU + VST plugins for music composition.

Use Captain Plugins to write your own Chord Progressions, Hooks, Melodies and Basslines

Export to your DAW

Available on Mac and Windows.

FabFilter

FabFilter have become one of the most heralded name in VST Plugins. A first-choice for many professionals, their plugins offer an intuitive workflow, sleek design and comprehensive range of applications. Put simply, if you want to create an effect, a FabFilter plugin might be the fastest and most intuitive way to get there.

Rather than attempting elaborate analog emulations, FabFilter focus on sound quality, usability and multi-disciplinary appeal. Their Pro-Q EQ is clean, responsive and easy to use. Pro-R is a reverb plugin capable of delivering a breathtaking range of reverb responses. Saturn is a world-class saturator/distortion effect that can emulate classic sounds or create wild new textures. Meanwhile, Pro-G might be the easisest to use Gate on the market. Add in a world class delay in Timeless, a simple and powerful Limiter in Pro-L and some exciting filter and rhythm tools like Simplon and Volcano, and you have a bundle of plugins that any producer would be delighted to own.

And I haven’t even mentioned Pro-C, their incredible compressor. It’s powerful, clean and has one of the simplest interfaces imaginable. Hitherto complex side-chain and Mid/Side compression operations are a piece of cake!

Massive X

Suitably befitting a DAW renowned for encouraging modernism over classic emulation, Native Instruments’ Massive X has to rank highly in this list. Now in its ‘X’ incarnation, Massive was a game-changer from the get-go. By simplifying a traditional synth user-interface and focusing on usability, it quickly established itself as a go-to for bedroom producers everywhere. Extremely powerful and capable of monstrous bass, artists like Skream and Skrillex found Massive a perfect weapon of mass dancefloor-destruction.

It’s not just a bass-face, either. A sophisticated and unique wave-scanning engine, 3 oscillators, 16 voices, a one-page visual design and enough patch-points to create any sound imaginable, Massive is a favorite among FL Studio producers. A lynchpin of Dubstep, Trap and Tech-House, it’s a synth you’ve heard in countless bangers.

Output: Substance

Bass. Dance music. FL Studio. Peas in a pod, birds of a feather, amigos… and if you want to push the envelope with your bass sounds, you can’t look past Substance. Somehow, Output have managed to give Substance users staggering degrees of sound design control with just a few sliders and knobs. It’s so simple to use, it almost feels like cheating. Married to its brilliant sample-meets-synthesis engine, replete with extraordinary sample patches that intertwine with gigantic synth voices, you’ll be making jaw-dropping bass sounds in minutes.

Unusually, Substance offers filter and FX controls for each voice in the sound patch, giving you plenty of control.

There are additional controls for motion, multi-fx, compression, saturation and more, meaning you don’t need a costly arsenal of plugins to create fully-formed, knee-shaking bass.

Captain Plugins

Writer’s block? Need to find inspiration? Or simply lack the keyboard skills to play the music that’s in your head? Captain Plugins by Mixed In Key is your new best friend.

You can throw ideas down super fast by selecting chords, generating melodies and basslines, jamming with all out-of-scale notes removed, or crafting beats with per-channel rhythm templates to aid inspiration. Whether you’re a music theory expert or not, Captain lugins is a unique, fun and fast way to improve your workflow, allowing you to spend more time on what matters most, making music.

Valhalla DSP Plugins

Free Vst Plugins

There are many reasons to love Valhalla’s plugins range. For starters, they’re kind to your wallet: Every plugin is priced at just $50, except for a smattering of equally brilliant ones that they give away for free!

But this is not bargain-basement fare, not by anyone’s standards. Valhalla excel at reverbs and delays, and wild space echoes and crazy modulation. They make fun plugins that do things few others can.

I love their Shimmer reverb plugin on synths – even with subtle settings it adds a dreamy, ethereal sheen to synths and pads, as if you’d draped them in diamonds. Alternatively, you can get experimental with their FreqEcho plugin – it echoes while adjusting the frequency of the resultant echoes in a multitude of tempos and ratios (FreqEcho is one of the free ones too!) And then there’s UberMod, which blends reverbs and delays with chorus and flange until up is down, light is dark and you’re no longer sure which way up your brain goes.

Likewise, their delay game is tight. A simple interface, multiple delay styles, including the oft-overlooked BBD delay, and a broad range of characters – it won’t take you long to find the perfect delay for your sounds. Oh, and ValhallaDelay won Readers Choice: Best Plugin 2019 with MusicRadar.

Check out the range here.

Sylenth

Simple, easy to operate, and capable of anything from stomach-churning sub-bass to wild SFX, soaring leads and thumping percussion. Sylenth is a synth that you could legitimately produce an entire album on. As such, it ticks a lot of boxes for FL Studio users: Simple interface, one-page design, excellent value for money and huge range. If you only buy one VST instrument for FL Studio, it should probably be Sylenth.

Mixed In Key Studio Edition

Mixed In Key Studio Edition analyzes your sample collection in real-time and enables you to match the perfect one-shot, loop, vocal or any other sample to your music production, remix or mashup.

It will instantly tell you the key, scale and tonality of any audio sample.

With Mixed In Key Studio Edition you can base compositions around a sample with total confidence. You’ll know exactly which notes are already present, giving you a great foundation for composition.

It’s the fastest and most intuitive way of matching incoming samples to your project!

WavesFactory – Trackspacer

Possibly the simplest to use and most intuitive dynamic EQ ever made. Trackspacer is an amazing tool for separating sounds in your mix. Say you’ve got a guitar and synth line that are competing for similar frequency space… tradiotional fixes for this involve complicated side-chain compression, and careful EQ to keep enough of each but give them room to stand apart. With Wavespacer, you simply set the guitar as an input source on the synth channel, set the band-range you want to affect, and dial the knob ubtil it sounds perfect. Trackspacer’s advanced audio analysis means it only reduces the exact frequencies of the incoming signal. To give an even clearer example, imagine your snare is competing with your kick; when the kick and snare play togethr, the snare gets lost. With Trackspacer, simply set the snare as an input signal on the kick channel, and tell Trackspacer to reduce the frequencies of the kick drum, only where they coincide with the snare’s crest, and only when the snare strikes. Voila! Instant clarity with no loss of power.

Eventide – Physion

Eventide make great plugins, from the legendary Blackhole reverb to the equally legendary H3000, H910 Harmonizers and some epic flangers, phasers, reverbs and compressors. Generally, Eventide’s plugins do things other plugins can’t, and ooze with character.

While I could have chosen one of several outstanding plugins, I’ve decided to vaunt Physion with particular gusto. It’s a multi-FX style plugin that boasts a unique Structural Effects processor. By splitting incoming audio into transient and tonal sections, it can work on both using separate effects, chiefly Transient Shaper, Chorus, Delay(s), Phaser, Gate and Reverb. By allowing this independent processing of different parts of the same signal, it’s capable of some fabulous effects on vocals, synths, drums and guitars.

Personally, I love using it on drums, and rarely need to look past the incredible presets. Throw Physion on your drum bus channel and try Sharpening… it’s like a magic trick – suddenly your drums are crisper, tighter, more dynamic and glued tight together.

Write Your Own Original Compositions With Captain Plugins

It’s super easy to create your own ideas from scratch. Visit the official Chords homepage and see how it will help you explore music and write your own original productions.

Sometimes(very often!) we need to add effects on our voice recording. To make it sound better, to make it sound thicker, or just to maker it sound incredible! For widening/thickening, or making choir like voices, you can use : chorus, voice multiplier, voice doubler, stereo wideners. For radical changes or special FX, you can use harmonizer / pitch changing, genre changer, pitch correction / autotune.

Here’s a top 5 of free VST effects for changing the voice :

1) Azurite multi voice chorus VST

This great chorus can work on many type of sources : guitar, voice, etc. It works nicely for voice, it’s not too hard/harsh and does a good job on mono inputs for spreading voices and give a stereo effect.

information & download @ http://distorqueaudio.com/plugins/azurite.html

Dry voice : https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Katherine-Ellis-dry.mp3

Voice with chorus! https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Katherine-Ellis-chorus.mp3

2) ADT – Artificial Double Tracking

This VST has no GUI

When you can’t record two takes for doubling your voice, you can gor for the artificial double tracking technic! The Beatles did it, and now you can too. Voice doubling ahs never been so easy.

Download here : http://www.vacuumsound.de/plugins.html

3) Emonizer Micro Pitch Shifter effect

Emonizer VST

This free VST effect is intended for thickening, it’s a “one trick pony”, it’s in fact a micro pitch shifter, that add detuned voices, it creates a wider sound. Works also for other sounds than voice!

download it now ! => http://music.service-1.de/html/wok_emonizer_vst_micro_pitch.html

4) g200kg KeroVee & roVee

Here we go now for a more radical effect ! With this one you can change the nature/type/genre of the voice, make it from female to male, or from female to male. KeroVee is a pitch correction plugin, it can also do the “autotune” effect.

Information and free download @ http://www.g200kg.com/en/software/kerovee.html

Normal dry voice https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ultra-nate-normal.mp3

Maxi chorused multiplied choir-i-fied voice ! https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ultra-Nate-multiplied.mp3

female voice https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/simone-normal.mp3

from female to male ! genre changing https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/simone-female-to-male.mp3

Maxi super chorus : voice multiplier ! https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Simone-voice-multiplier.mp3

5) ag-works chorus ch-2

Free Chorus Plugin

Chorus CH-2 VST

Decorate your mobile with beautiful Unicorn analog Clock with your photo backgrounds and awesome digital clock. Unicorn clock digital. PERSONALISED UNICORN ALARM CLOCK. These are amazing digital alarm clocks, carry on reading below. Mood lighting button to switch on mood lighting in rotation mode until switched off.

Here, at Wavosaur, we love the monstachorus VST by Betabugs, but i thought the Chorus CH-2 is lesser known, and deserve some exposure. It’s like having 4 independant chorus you can tweak in parallel.

download for free @ http://ag-works.net/plugins.ch2.htm

About Amazon Connect IP address ranges. In the AWS ip-ranges.json file, the whole /19 IP address range is owned by Amazon Connect. All traffic to and from the /19 range comes to and from Amazon Connect. The /19 IP address range isn't shared with other services. Amazon doesn’t have an unique IP address. It has one (not just one, they has more) domain names, and multiple IP addresses could be associated to the domain name in different points in time. You can check all the Amazon IP Public Ranges. Mostly of them are being used in AWS (and their clients), not just by amazon eCommerce site. Amazon ip range. If the IP address location is not your present location, or location set by you, it means that your VPN, if any, is working.-Upto Previous Release-Works on Ethernet connections also. Updated Network/LAN Scanner to work on Android 10 and later devices. If you want to add your Kindle Fire to your router's whitelist to ensure you can connect to your network, you'll need to know the device's MAC address. While your IP address changes from network to network, your MAC address is unique to the device. Entering the MAC address of the Kindle Fire into your. The following list provides websites, IP address ranges, and endpoints for Amazon QuickSight in each AWS Region. US East (Ohio) (us-east-2) Website for user access – https://us-east-2.quicksight.amazonaws.com.

[crookedtacoluminary]

Vst For Mac Os X

Sylenth1 (Mac)

November 14, 2018EffectsMacReverbSynthsValhallaVST65

Sylenth1

Lennar Digital

2.2.1

32-bit and 64-bit

Mac OSx 10.10, 10.11, 10.12, 10.13, 10.14

Instructions attached

FREE Plug-ins for Pro Tools, Studio One, Logic and any DAW that supports AAX, VST and AU Formats. If you are looking for some FREE plug-ins, then here’s the list, they often also work in any DAW that supports AAX, AU and VST, including Pro Tools, Studio One, Logic Pro X and many more. The list features FREE plug-ins from some top brands and is updated regularly. Clap Machine is a freeware VST/AU plugin for Windows and Mac OS X, based on the natural hand clap samples Posted in Free Plugins News Vengeance Producer Suite – SCOPE Free Plugin.

Bro where is serum icant find it thanks bro never forget your help

Thanks Alottt 🙂

OMG!!!! Thank you so much!!!

Thanks alot! Brooo Native Instruments Komplete next plz! ?????? God bless. Love you.

thankss

https://anonfile.com/u0Rbo5s6b7/License_dat there is ONLY license file! It is not keygen! Only license file!

Now it works! Thank you so much!!!!!!!

Thank you very much! It works perfectluy. You are great !

everything that normally leaves a whole in your wallet is on this website and it’s all free

Muchas Gracias desde Chile!

Hello, I did all the steps but it doesn’t appear on Ableton, after resurrecting and restarting for the second time, there is something else I have to do to be able to use it on Ableton? thank you

Anyone else getting a “The installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.” message upon the first step to installing the Sylenth1 pkg. file?

Funciona, gracias!

Can i delete the 32 lives app after installing the vst?

Thank you so so so much for this one!

Un gran saludo desde Latinoamérica! <3

Thanks, it works. But in Logic Pro X I’ve got something what sounds like bit rating issue. A sound is cracking a little bit when I use the plugin. When I turn it off everything is fine. Does anyone had similar problem? Thx for answer.

Yo, thank you so much. I’m a 14 y/o Swedish EDM Producer/DJ and I am BROKE. I have a DDJ-RB Controller and a DAW (Logic Pro X), I installed plugins I could barely dream of using, thank you so fucking much. Thanks to you I can finally start uploading quality EDM Tracks with professional sounding synths etc. <3 // Pkandaz

You are GOD!

I can not find the license.bin in the 32 lives folder ..

Can someone teach me how to install it? pls message me on instagram @marcomoserr

I just want say thanks for all of your site, your team is great i dont have money but now i can produce with good stuff, serious, amazing work, thanks broooooo

please bring Sylenth 2 for mac

where did serum go lol, can’t find it anymore

Please Update Its Version

AUTOTUNE EFX +!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You’re a legend

Need help! I followed the instructions and Ableton shows the Plug-In in “Audio Units” (but not in “VST” or “VST 3”). When I try to open it by double clicking nothing happens and Ableton doesn’t respond anymore. I’m on Mac, OS Catalina.

Yo need help, what do u mean by run keygen? Please email me really need to run this vst asap [email protected] Thank you

Running Catalina 10.15.2. Plug-in shows up in Ableton 10 AU menu, but it just freezes up.

Comments are closed.

Download ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac free latest version offline setup for Mac OS. ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac is a powerful VST plugin that can enhance your audio experience.

ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac Review

Vst Folder Mac Os X

A powerful and impressive VST plugin, ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST can greatly enhance the tracks. It provides a very reliable and interactive environment that allows the users to effortlessly deal with the audio and enhance the audio. With a professional environment, the users can adjust various settings of the audio including the reverbing envelope and room design with a variety of parameters.

This powerful application provides support for adjusting the level, echo, damping, EQ and quality using different knobs and options. View the graphical representation of the reverb and work with three frequency bands of diffuse reverberation.

Create high-quality sounds with its intelligent set of algorithms and incredibly enhance the audio. All in a nutshell, it is a reliable application for editing and enhancing the audio files with the help of powerful VST tools and a variety of customizations.

Vst For Mac Os X 10.13

Features of ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac

Powerful imposing application

A complete VST plugin

Obtaining exact reverb for tracks

Customize various audio parameters

Adjust the damping, EQ, echo, quality and numerous other details

View the graphical representation of the audio

Three frequency bands of diffuse reverberation

Generate high quality sounds and impressive options

Many other powerful options and features

Technical Details of ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac

File Name: ArtsAcoustic.Reverb.v1.6.0.15.dmg

File Size: 23 MB

Developer: ArtsAcoustic

System Requirements for ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac

Mac OS X 10.7 or later

200 GB free HDD

1 GB RAM

Intel Dual Core Processor or higher

ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST for Mac Free Download

Vst For Mac Os X64

Download ArtsAcoustic Reverb VST free latest version offline setup for Mac OS X by clicking the below button. You can also download Scaler VST for Mac

[gamerszone2019-blog]

How AI: The Somnium Files Blends Absurdism, Love, And Dreams Into A Murder Mystery

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/how-ai-the-somnium-files-blends-absurdism-love-and-dreams-into-a-murder-mystery/

How AI: The Somnium Files Blends Absurdism, Love, And Dreams Into A Murder Mystery

Like many mystery-driven adventure games, AI: The Somnium Files is a little tough to talk about. It’s not exactly action-packed in its moment-to-moment gameplay, and most of the intrigue in games like it comes from the ways in which they challenge your investigative skills and decision-making–plot twists and character dialogue are often at the heart of it all. This is very much the case when it comes to games under the direction of developer Kotaro Uchikoshi, best known for the Zero Escape series.

Since AI: The Somnium Files was first revealed, we knew that it would channel similar gameplay elements from Zero Escape, but it’s aiming to be an evolution of that. As private detective Kaname Date, you travel between reality and a dream world to unravel the truth behind a series of murders. Its overarching theme revolves around a pun for the word eye: “eye” as in your sight, “ai” the Japanese word for love, and A.I. as in artificial intelligence. Not to mention all the murder victims have one eye gouged out as well. Date himself has one eye that’s actually an A.I. companion named Aiba (a Japanese-English pun for eyeball). And the real name of A-Set, the virtual influencer/idol behind music videos and promotional materials, is Iris.

Last time we spoke with Uchikoshi-san, he talked about love, story details, and the dream world’s Psync mechanic, but there’s still more than meets the eye. To get further insight into what’s going on, we corresponded again via email and dug into the game’s direction. We were also able to loop in the English localization team lead Alex Flagg for additional perspective on what it’s like to deliver a dialogue-heavy Japanese game to a Western audience.

If you’re not caught up on AI: The Somnium Files, check out our interview with Iris “A-Set/Tesa” Sagan or our hands-on preview with the game from GDC 2019. The game launches for PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 17 this year.

Can you explain the “Somnium” world? It’s the key to solving mysteries, but are these people’s secrets, true feelings, dreams? How does Kaname Date use that information throughout the game?

Kotaro Uchikoshi: Somnium means “dream” in Latin. So a Somnium world would mean “dream world.” Dreams are made from fragments of memory stitched together like patchwork. Hidden inside are people’s secrets and suppressed feelings. It’s Kaname Date’s job to interpret what he sees in the dream to solve mysteries and move forward in the investigation. For example, there’s something like this: A girl was alone at the scene of the crime. However, she suffered mental trauma and now has aphonia, so she can’t talk. So, Date will dive into the girl’s dream world and find a lead: she heard a phone ring. Then, Date will return to reality, go back to the scene to investigate and look for a cellphone somewhere. Something like that.

We’ve seen AI being both dead serious, cheery, and sometimes outright absurd. How do you strike a tone that comes together?

Alex Flagg: Through a lot of hard work! Uchikoshi has this amazing ability to blend Wikipedia-diving information dumps, absurdist theater, and sex jokes into a gripping and touching story. What I’ve discovered by playing and localizing his work is that you can get away with a lot that seems narratively inconsistent as long as you’ve already captured the audience’s attention with an intriguing plot and interesting characters. Uchikoshi taught me that tone can fluctuate wildly, as long as the heart is centered and steady. Because if your heart is fluctuating wildly, you’re probably having a heart attack and are about to die. You know, narratively speaking.

KU: This is a hard question. All I can say is…by watching the balance. If I were to compare it, it’s like a barista or a mixologist. Their jobs are very sensuous, and it’s hard to put into words how they balance the ingredients. Or maybe it’s similar to hitting on someone. You can’t always be serious and cool and you can’t always be energetic and carefree. They’ll just brush you off, won’t they? It’s important to understand when to be serious and when to be energetic… What I’m trying to say is that everything is balanced out by things and you can’t just explain it away with words. Having said that, my pick-up techniques have never been very successful. I bet Alex is really good at it, so next time I’m in LA, maybe he can teach me a few tricks!

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AI: The Somnium Files – Official Gameplay Trailer

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There’s some body horror, light gore, and morbid imagery in your games, AI especially. Do you ever have ideas then stop yourself from going too far?

KU: When I was writing the scenario for AI, the character designs weren’t finalized yet. That meant that I only had a general idea of the characters while writing. That’s why I didn’t feel much guilt putting the characters through some really tough times. When the designs came in, I thought, “OMG, so cute!” That’s when the characters started to really exist. But then it crossed my mind. “Ah, why did I do that to them…?” I didn’t want to have a guilty conscience about it, so I thought, “Could I at least try not to put them through the darkest of my ideas?” Because of that, some scenes are now milder than the original idea. But this isn’t censorship, this is love. Love for my characters. I decided to tone down some things, but the story isn’t any less interesting or fun because of it. Please don’t worry about that.

What are your thoughts on canonical endings in games with branching storylines? How does AI handle that?

KU: I remember watching a Hayao Miyazaki documentary, and he said something like, “I’m over this, I don’t want to do this” while drawing original cels. Branching routes are like that to me. It’s so much work. I scream, “Augh! I’m over this, too much work!” while writing the story too. In AI, the story splits from the decisions you make in the Somnia. To put it simply, picking either the “A” lead or “B” lead changes how the story unfolds. Branching stories are a pain in the ass for the creator, but to the player, there’s nothing better. There’s a lot of interesting elements in this game due to the branching paths, so please look forward to it!

What are some important things Akira Okada (assistant director) has brought this time around for AI that you didn’t think of?

KU: Of course Okada-kun was a huge contributor, but AI was created from multiple ideas from all the staff members. For example, Aiba turning into a cute girl in Somnium, the video game inspiration behind a certain action scene, one of the stages from one of the Somnia. All of those were ideas from the staff. I mean, the Somnium parts, from the setting to the structure, was mainly done by Okada-kun and Yamada-san. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the staff.

Are there any particular difficulties that come out of having to do a simultaneous Japanese and Western release?

AF: Oh, absolutely. Working side-by-side with the Japanese creative team is a totally different experience than picking up a completed project and adapting it.

KU: Thanks to the hard work from Alex, Kazu [Okura], the other Spike Chunsoft Inc. team members, and [community manager] Dave Kracker, I didn’t really have any trouble with simultaneous shipping. So, to the Spike Chunsoft Inc. team of course, the development staff in Japan, and the Chinese localization staff: I thank you very, very much, from the bottom of my heart!

You get to control Aiba in the Somnium world, but you only get a limited time to investigate.

What are some Japanese- or English-only quirks you get to put in the game? Are there some unique things players will get out of either language option?

AF: The Japanese and English are largely the same, script and presentation-wise. There are a few times here and there that, say, a joke was intentionally not localized, or a character’s voice performance in the English has a slightly different feel than the Japanese performance, but for the most part they are two versions of the same game.

Some jokes or one-liners might come across differently in either language. And one thing that we’re very proud of is that A-set’s debut single, “Invincible Rainbow Arrow,” is fully localized, right down to matching the Japanese rhyme scheme and poetic meter. So if you are playing in Japanese, you will hear the Japanese version of the song; if you are playing in English, you will hear the English version.

How involved are you with the performances of the voice cast?

AF: The translator for this project, Kazu Okura, and I were either there at Bang Zoom! studios or listening in over voice call every single day of recording. While we offered feedback and direction, especially during particularly intricate or complicated scenes, we can only take a little bit of the credit: it was our audio engineer JP Aller and voice director Chris Faiella that really helped the words come off the page and become something incredible in the performance.

What’s the toughest aspect for localizing AI that folks might not realize?

AF: I would say the humor is by far the most challenging aspect of localization, especially “dad joke” humor, jokes that are intentionally bad. If you localize that joke to make it genuinely funny, you aren’t exactly matching the tone of the Japanese. If you localize the joke to make it unfunny, you run the risk of the audience not realizing that the joke is supposed to be bad, it’s supposed to make you roll your eyes and groan. AI is full of these kinds of jokes, so my translator and I worked very hard to make them funny…but not too funny.

“Tesa, aka A-Set, you bet.” was totally the localization team’s idea, huh?

AF: Yes, it was. Her slogan cheer is different in the Japanese and the English. In the Japanese, it goes something like “volatile solvent of the net world, Aseton, aka A-set!” It’s a wordplay on the honorific “ton” added to her stage name “A-set,” making it sound like “acetone,” the chemical solvent. Keeping it “Aseton” in English would be clunky, invite mispronunciation, and lose the cuteness factor of the Japanese wordplay. So we decided to go with “Tesa,” a cute, easy-to-say nickname that utilizes the game’s prevalent motif of reflection (“Tesa” is of course “A-set” backwards). There was a time we briefly considered making her nickname “Ace,” but Zero Escape fans will know why we decided against that.

A-set has been a huge part of AI’s lead up. Besides being a major character and idol, what was the idea behind breaking the fourth wall with A-Set’s YouTube channel?

KU: One of the themes of this game is dreams and reality. So by linking the real world that we live in with the artificial world of AI, I tried to express the analogy (or is it a metaphor?) of “dreams and reality,” or something like that. Iris (A-set’s real name) is the goddess of rainbows in Greek mythology. She is said to be the messenger girl that delivers the words of the gods. Rainbows are also sometimes called the “bridge of heaven,” so you could say that A-set is the “bridge” between fiction and reality.

With all the lead up to AI and A-Set at the forefront, how involved are you in her video content?

AF: Very involved! Our team and the creative team in Japan were sharing ideas for videos and story beats for months, coming up with the general “plot” of her YouTube channel together. Once that was more or less in place, we localized and recorded each video based on Japan’s video, which was incredibly difficult because of the fast pace they had to be produced. Often times we didn’t even have a final video render to look at while we were recording, so we had to feel it out by the script alone. But it came together beautifully.

How’s she been as a promotional partner?

KU: She was amazing! I know there were times I pushed her, but she didn’t make a face and took everything very seriously. I thank her from the bottom of my heart. Also, she smells really nice. A sweet scent that tickles a person’s heart… If she comes on screen while playing AI, please put your nose up to the screen. I’m sure you’ll start to smell irises…

Will A-Set’s presence in our real world play into events in AI?

AF: “Our real world”? What a peculiar way of phrasing it. You can see her, hear her; she is information in the universe and she occupies space in your mind at this very moment. She exists in this world the same way I do right now, typing away at my computer, communicating with you only through ones and zeros. One and the same.

KU: I already kind of answered this, but Iris is the bridge that connects our world to their world. As long as she exists, both worlds will continue to be linked.

How much tequila have you drank since the A-Set interview we did?

KU: The situation has changed. Currently, rather than me drinking tequila, it’s more of tequila drinking me. My office is always full of it. That’s where I wrote the game’s story. Just like one of those caterpillars in the bottles of tequila.

Source : Gamesport

[shadyb00ts]

Horizon: Zero Dawn - A Review

Right, gimme a moment to compose myself after the INCREDIBLE RIDE that was this fucking game.

Okay. So. Picture it: E3 2015. There I was, minding my own business, completely PS4-less and only scoping out upcoming PC titles since at the time I was a proud PC gamer. Deep down I was always bitter that I probably would never get a PS4, though, so I usually knowingly avoided any footage of PS4 games like inFamous: Second Son, Uncharted 4, etc. I’ve always been a naturally jealous person, so seeing footage from those games at the time sorta stirred up some jealousy there.

But regardless of that, I still end up seeing the original gameplay trailer anyways. And holy fuckballs, I was so pissed. There in front of me was footage of a game that was literally MADE for me, I swear to god. It had all the elements that I loved in a game. Let’s list them, shall we?

Lush open world with gorgeous vibrant landscapes and incredible graphics: check and check

Female protagonist that looks badass and is voiced by ASHLY FUCKING BURCH: check, check and check

Bow and arrow combat: check

Stealth: check

RPG elements like side quests, skill trees, dialogue trees, etc: checkcheckcheckcheck

Intriguing and mysterious story: check

Platforming and climbing mechanics a la Tomb Raider & Uncharted: check

Honestly, I could go on and on but you get the idea. I never thought I’d see the day where a game could so perfectly fit the criteria of everything I like. So 2-Years-Ago-Me was completely heartbroken since at the time I was convinced that I’d never own a PS4. It was up there with Kingdom Hearts III as the games I thought I’d never get to experience.

Flash forward to now, having been a PS4 owner for about several months. This game was pretty much top priority on what to get, so as soon as it was available for preorder, I clicked that shit so fast I almost broke my mouse. So naturally, when the game finally became playable, I completely immersed myself in it.

This may be a bold statement, but I think Horizon is going to be one of my favorite games of all time. For real.

So all those elements I listed up there were true, but there were also additional elements I love that I had no clue were even in it, prior to playing. Like for example, I had no idea just how deep into the RPG category it was going to go. This game was so freaking immersive. I was immediately in Aloy’s shoes and experienced the world through her eyes, starting from childhood. And then what a pleasant surprise it was when I discovered that the game presents you with moral choices, too! At that moment I knew that the game was going to exceed my already extremely high expectations.

There are also dialogue trees in which you can exhaust a lot of dialogue from, and I of course took every chance I got to choose all the options. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this intricate world Guerrilla Games has built and encountering its inhabitants. I loved finding out more about all the different tribes and their own unique traditions and religious beliefs, as well as their relationships with each other. It also helps that their outfits are all so fucking rad. In addition to all that, there are collectibles called “datapoints” where you could find various text, audio and holographic documents from the world of the “ancient ones”, and there’s so many interesting tidbits you can discover from these files. Guerrilla really has fleshed out this world as fully as they could. And let’s quickly touch on the diversity this game has. Man oh man, there were so many people of all different races throughout this game. Lots of strong female characters who weren’t one-dimensional, and I even stumbled upon a gay character during one of the side quests. The diversity showcased doesn’t feel contrived or there to appease the masses, it feels natural and well represented.

I was a bit worried about the story at first, since Guerrilla were definitely shrouding it in mystery and being extra vague every chance they got, which I guess a part of me did like, since it made me not know what to expect and heightened my sense of discovery while playing. But these devs have crafted a really amazing story with a likable cast of characters, including the star of the show Aloy herself. I’m a little biased about her though, since she’s voiced by Ashly Burch who I adore to pieces, but even regardless of that she was simply a wonderfully written character. I just loved watching the story unfold, finding out more and more about what happened to the world and witnessing Aloy finding out the truth about who she really is. The lowest expectation I had initially about this game was probably the story, but it didn’t disappoint at all. I was thoroughly hooked and craved to know more. I won’t spoil anything, since I want those of you who are going to play the game to be more engrossed by it as you have your own experience through it.

Those of you who have seen screenshots and/or gameplay know that this game is a visual masterpiece. The environments are lush and full of life despite the post-apocalyptic nature of it. Originally I had thought the Last of Us had the most gorgeous post-apoc landscapes of all time, but Horizon definitely takes the cake for this one, no question about it. There’s a photo mode available, and because the game itself is so beautiful, it’s probably impossible to take a bad shot. Even without using the filters provided, the graphics have that gorgeous pinkish glow that I always love in games, very reminiscent of Dragon Age: Inquisition I think. The screenshots in this review were some snaps I took using the photo mode feature, and it’s really fun to play around with. You could probably spend hours with it taking scenic shots and action shots to your heart’s content.

Now let’s talk combat. A game automatically has me sold when it has archery. My love of this developed through the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, which I’m sure I reviewed on here a long while back. It grew when I played the sequel to that remake, Rise of the Tomb Raider. This game takes that style of combat and amps it up to a hundred, adding a bunch of various unique and craftable arrow types, as well as multitudes of elemental traps and explosives. Most unique out of these is probably the Ropecaster, which allows you to tie down enemies to leave them immobilized. These are extremely useful for the flying machines that you’ll encounter later on in the game, since they can be pretty tricky. The combat relies heavily on weakpoint takedowns, so you’ve definitely gotta have real good aim in order to slay them robots, especially the bigger ones. Unlike most action games, you can’t just go in guns blazing and continuously shoot arrows at random spots on the machines’ bodies. Focusing on their weakpoints is key, as that’s where all the real damage lies. Most of the robots are also weak to specific element types, so exposing those weaknesses gives you an even bigger advantage. Some enemies you could even strip off their ranged weapons and use it against them, which I thought was fucking radical. I did it more than a few times and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

There’s also melee combat in this game, although I rarely ever used it to be quite honest. The only use I found for melee are the silent takedowns during stealth, but in battle I would say ranged is the way to go. Battles with the machines are very exhilarating and intense, since they are clearly much more stronger than you, even the weaker ones. There are also human enemies like bandits and cultists, but they’re pretty easy to pick off since all it takes are headshots, basically. The machines are the real challenge. I played on Easy since I’m a scrub, and have always had no shame in playing games on easy difficulties anyways since, unlike most gamers, I’m not much of a fan of challenge. Basically for me, Easy is my Normal. That’s just how I roll. But even easy mode was a bit of a challenge at times, at least for me. I had some trouble with the huge, stronger machines. Then again, I pretty much spent the entirety of the game doing nothing but side stuff and power-leveling, so by the last few main quests I was already at max level. But even at max level and wearing arguably the best outfit in the game, the final boss was a lot to handle.

I’ve spent the majority of this review gushing about this game, but was there anything I disliked? In all honesty, not really all that much. Most of my negatives are pretty much small nitpicks. I thought the climbing mechanics could’ve been a little bit better, since unlike Tomb Raider or Uncharted, most of the platforming can be done just by pushing the left stick and only pressing the jump button once in a while. I would’ve liked it better if the jump button was more frequently used during platforming, basically. You also can’t filter between icons on the map, and the map interface can get pretty hectic as a result since there’s so much stuff cluttered in it. Not sure why they didn’t add the option to filter between machine sites, collectibles, etc. Would’ve made for an easier time navigating.

Another negative is probably how I wish the outfits were more customizable. As it stands, each outfit is already one full set, and the only modifications you can make are by using two or three slots where you can insert mods to increase certain effects like elemental resistances, stealth, etc. I wish it was a little more in-depth in that you could get different pieces for each body part, like most RPGs, and maybe be able to insert modifications to each individual armor piece. Actually, the modification system in general, for both outfits and weapons, is a bit too simplified for my taste. You can’t really upgrade them, it’s as simple as just inserting a mod or two and you’re done. This may be ideal for more action-oriented players, but since I’m an RPG enthusiast, I find it to leave much to be desired. There are some other small nitpicks I have with the game that hold it back from being absolute perfection, but honestly they’re all pretty much easy to ignore. The positives crush the negatives.

So yeah, overall I’m extremely overjoyed with how this game turned out. It’s everything I had been hoping for and then some. It literally just came out a few days ago and already I’m aching for a story DLC or, hell, even a sequel. This game better branch out into a franchise; there’s so much Guerrilla can explore with this world that they’ve created.

I give Horizon a 9.75/10. 9.5 seemed a little too low and 10 seemed a little bit too high, so I thought fuck it, 9.75 it is. This game is near perfection, and if you have a PS4 or are going to own a PS4 in the future, then I swear to you that you won’t regret having Horizon in your game library. It’s a mishmash of various elements in open world, action-RPG gaming all rolled into an impeccable, beautiful package. And for all you trophy hunters out there, it’s pretty easy to platinum too.

Man, do I love this game. Jesus. Looks like I’ve found something new to unhealthily obsess over.

[cdrforea]

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Hands-on Review

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Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Hands-on Review

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 to touch

"The hardware is great, but Blackmagic RAW is a game changer for indie and small budget productions."

Blackmagic RAW codec

120 fps 4.6K

Accessible user interface

Built-in ND filters

Cumbersome placement of the iris dial

Some nickel and diming for accessories

"Bear" is a fitting name for the beast that is Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2 from Blackmagic Design, the flagship of the company's cinema camera. But it is a well-trained bear. The Ursa is docile where other such machines appear fearsome in their complexity. I've never been so amazed at how easy a camera is to take professional pictures.

It really feels like cheating. Turn it on, point it at something, press record, and there will be a picture for the big screen. If you know how to use a DSLR, you can find out the Ursa in minutes.

Okay, it takes a bit more work. You first need to decide which record button to press – there are approximately four of them. But once you've chosen your favorite, there's nothing standing in the way of making your director's dreams come true. At least from a technical point of view.

Despite my love of techno, the Ursa remains outside my league – and yet not alien to my budget. I won't buy one soon for a five under $ 6,000, but it's a lot cheaper than comparable movie cameras from other manufacturers.

I'm not sure why a Red or Arri, the camera of choice in Hollywood, is worth tens of thousands more. But as someone who shoots video with a mirrorless hybrid camera, I can see the value of climbing to Ursa. Six giants are a lot of money. But here, with the Ursa, it feels like a bargain.

Design and user interface

The original Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K was the first Blackmagic camera to feel ready. After a few years of eye-catching and bizarre designs, Blackmagic landed on a familiar shape that bridges the gap between a cinema camera and an ENG camcorder.

The G2 refines the formula with small but important improvements to the electronics without changing what has already worked. The result is not only a professional video camera that shames my aging but trustworthy Fujifilm X-T2, but also the best value in the cinema world.

Blackmagic gets a low price by selling you a bare bones camera. A viewfinder, a battery and a handle are add-ons that can add hundreds or thousands to the price. This can make cameras like the Canon C200 cheaper for $ 6,500 with viewfinder and battery. However, the Ursa has a hardware advantage: 15 levels of the announced dynamic range compared to Canon's 13, higher frame rates and a more versatile RAW format.

Although not new, the built-in filter control with neutral density is a key feature of the Ursa – and many dedicated video cameras. You can select 0, 2, 4, or 6 stops by turning a dial, so you never have to deal with a screw-on lens filter. Think of sunglasses for your camera. ND filters reduce light and allow you to keep a slower shutter speed for smooth movements and / or a larger aperture for a shallower depth of field when shooting in bright environments.

The viewfinder may not be standard, but a touchscreen monitor is the most accessible user interface you can get with a camera. Blackmagic has set itself the goal of standardizing the user interface for all camera models. So if you have a pocket cinema camera, you will feel at home with the Ursa. The user interface is easy to learn if you have not used a Blackmagic camera before.

The Ursa has numerous physical buttons and toggle switches for access to frequently used functions such as ISO, shutter angle / speed and white balance. A complaint? The iris dial is hard to reach when the monitor is open, a design flaw that Blackmagic may have missed because cameramen who use real cinema lenses use the iris ring on the lens.

Not me. I used standard Canon EF lenses. Apart from the bizarre iris control, I love that about the Ursa. Camera lenses are much cheaper than their cinema counterparts, but often of no less optical quality. (However, the Ursa's autofocus features aren't good – stick to manual focus.)

For this test, Sigma lent me its 18-35mm and 50-100mm f / 1.8 lenses, a pair of zooms that make a strong case for being the only lenses you need. Together, they're worth about $ 1,900. Sure, that's a bit of a change, but it's a far cry from the $ 8,000 required for theatrical versions of these lenses. (In truth, this is still quite affordable in the field of cinema glass.)

In addition, the Ursa Mini Pro has interchangeable lens mounts. In addition to the active Canon EF mount, you can use PL (the standard for cinema cameras), B4 for broadcast lenses or even a passive Nikon F mount. The latter opens up the Ursa to a decade-long legacy of photographic lenses. I have a small collection of Nikon glass from the film era that I would like to have tested on the Ursa. Next time.

Of course, cinema lenses have some advantages – mostly they make you look like an ass – but Blackmagic's willingness to let you mount any old DSLR lens natively is a big plus for the indie and student filmmakers. From news gathering to film production, the Ursa Mini Pro can be configured to fill a variety of roles. The Digital Trends video team even used it on the floor at CES 2020.

Performance and picture quality

The updated electronics of the Ursa Mini Pro G2 are all about speed. Above all, this means new slow motion HFR (High Frame Rate) options. 4.6K footage can be captured at up to 120 frames per second, while 1080p can reach 300 fps. The 4.6K / 120 film material is recorded across the entire width of the sensor and automatically played back in slow motion (up to 5 times with 24p pictures).

It looks absolutely awesome. I also appreciated how the camera records audio in HFR mode, which many smaller cameras don't. This way you can either slow down the audio in the mail to adjust it to the footage (think of the dramatic “Noooooo!” Shouted by a character approaching a certain doom) or the footage back to real-time speed boot up and use it more or less -less like a normal clip if you have to.

The updated electronics increase the maximum ISO by 3,200. That's nothing compared to modern still cameras with ISOs by the hundreds of thousands, but it makes the Ursa usable indoors. It is important that this high ISO value is useful when shooting HFR footage. This requires a faster shutter speed and requires compensation by either opening the iris or increasing the ISO.

Footage shot with ISO 3,200 can look grainy, especially when you try to lift the shadows in the post, but I never thought it would look bad. It's what it is, and you should try to stay at lower ISOs if possible, but I appreciate having that extra stop when I needed it.

The readout time of the sensor is shortened due to faster processing, which means that the "Jello Cam" effect of the electronic roller shutter can be controlled. In practice, I didn't notice it at all, except in very fast pans where I specifically searched for it.

File quality and flexibility

When I tested the first generation Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K, it was before Blackmagic released its RAW video format. It could record Cinema DNG, an open RAW format from Adobe, but I didn't have the storage or processing power to handle it. With the G2, I have finally experienced the power of Blackmagic RAW first-hand and it is absolutely revolutionary.

This is a RAW video format for the rest of us. With selectable compression levels up to 12: 1, .braw clips can be recorded on standard SD cards. In fact, the bit rate at 12: 1 compression is lower than the 400 megabits per second non-RAW codecs in cameras like the Panasonic Lumix GH5s and the Fujifilm X-T3. You still want a fast V90 card to be secure, but you don't have to be a professional studio or have a big budget to work with RAW video. That's great.

Sample material taken with the Ursa Mini Pro G2 Daven Mathies / Digital Trends

I recorded all of my test material in .braw with 12: 1 compression and it looked great. I edited and colored the clips in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 16 on my eight year old iMac and it worked. Performance was problematic after adding more than the most basic color adjustment, but the fact that it worked at all is impressive.

If you're worried about editing performance, Ursa can record proxy files in addition to RAW footage, so you don't have to create proxies when importing.

I am not an experienced colorist or even an experienced DaVinci Resolve user, but I come from the world of still photography, where RAW files have been common for many years. Working with RAW videos seems familiar to me. In some ways, it is easier than working with other codecs like h.264 or even ProRes, which are often recorded with a flat logarithmic tone curve to maintain dynamic range and look like garbage before color correction is applied.

In contrast, Blackmagic RAW material can be used directly from the camera. It is also flexible. Even at 12: 1 compression, I was amazed at how many details I could pull out of the shadows.

Not everyone needs RAW video, but as Blackmagic explained to me, Blackmagic RAW offers the best quality to file size ratio at any compression level compared to non-RAW formats. There is no reason not to use it. Well, unless you want to import directly into Final Cut Pro X, which currently doesn't have a plugin to support .braw files. (There is a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro.)

Conclusion

The Ursa Mini Pro G2 is proof that we are living in an incredible time for photo and video equipment. I am jealous of today's film students who may have access to it. They can produce large-screen movies in their dormitories and never know how difficult it is to record and edit standard definition footage on MiniDV tapes.

Of course, for many of us, $ 6,000 could just as easily be $ 60,000. If it's out of your budget, it's out of your budget. However, some of the Ursa's most important functions – such as Blackmagic RAW – are available in the cheaper Pocket Cinema Camera series. The Ursa Mini Pro may still be a desirable product for people like me, but unlike a Red or an Arri, it's not a dream. I can at least afford to rent it.

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