#when I figure out how the heck I want to render objects

[sunnydayaoe]

Guys :)))!! Single image under the cut

[kaishimo]

Hi! Hope you're doing well!

I'm trying to learn how to properly draw people. I'm fairly decent at drawing objects, but people? Nope, that's out of question. So, do you have any tips for a beginner? Like what should I focus on, any YT channels, etc.?

(If you see this ask on other pages as well, it's because I'm sending this to my favorite artists on this site <3)

Hyello!

I don't know if I'm exactly the person you should asking, seeing as I'm still fairly new to art so I'll point you in the direction of a few of my personal favorite artists as well! I do have a few tips and exercises for you that I've found to be quite helpful (if not fun) that have been passed down to me by other artists and teachers, though.

1. You should really learn your anatomy before you try to find your specific style. Without knowing the basics first, you'll probably jump around and have no consistency when drawing the same character. Knowing the body is very, very important.

Exercise 1: Using reference photos (I recommend dancing and sports photos for more dynamic shapes, beauty influencers and photographery for what is typically "attractive," and lots of different body types and skin tones for a diverse and more realistic character) and trying to figure out the line of action, then make a gesture drawing to get the basic feel of the body's movements, then the shapes of the body, etc.

Exercise 2: (The fun version) Draw a random shape. Yes, a random one - it can be pointed or round or wavy. It just has to connect. Then, try to make a character that fits in the bounds of that shape. This will push you to try to figure out what is necessary to make a human look, well, human, and also limit the clutter of your characters' accessories and clothing. It also helps you create a unique silhouette (which is always great when making a good, recognizable character)

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2. Colors! I'm sure you know basic color theory from when you learned how to draw objects, but if not, you should definitely get on that. It's best to know what colors work best with specific skin tones or whatever you're putting on your character. There are a lot of color theory videos on YT which I think you should check out!

Exercise 1: Limit yourself to 1 color - you may only use variations of that color for your entire character. Yes, this includes skintone and hair. This exercise helps you with values and gets you connected to what places need darker or lighter colors. It's also just really, really fun.

Exercise 2: (Variation of 1) Find a color pallette and stick to those colors exclusively. Try to use the 60-30-10 rule if possible (meaning 60% of the character is one color, 30% is a different color, and 10% is another color). Not everyone adheres to this rule since character design is fluid, and you can do whatever the heck you want, but I personally think that it helps to push your knowledge of color.

Exercise 3: The internet is your best friend. Find a very colorful image online of a model that you really like, or a person that's sitting in some nice lighting, or even an animated character that had some funky colors. Try to imitate the rendering. Shading is pretty important when learning how to draw because it can really change how the muscle looks without it. (Depending on your style, shading can look very, very different.)

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3. (Extension of Color) Once again, shading is very important! Depending on the project, however, the way you should shade can be very different. For animations, shading is typically minimal so that they can focus on the movement and not slave over their computer for days on end shading and shading and shading. Keep that in mind! For cartoon or anime art styles, it's often blocky and not blended. For real-life proportions and art styles, it's often blended and rendered (and normally without line-art if that's the route you wanna go 👍).

Exercise 1: Try out and study all sorts of art styles and shading types! It's really helpful in the future if you want to know what you like best! If you want to study a specific artists' art, it's best to ask them beforehand, however. Get their OK before starting. If they say no, then don't. (By the way, no art style is original, no matter what anyone says.)

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4. There are lots of online courses or resources you can use! Utilize them. Some of my favorites/things I've heard good things about are...

Artstation - Courses

IAMAG - Courses

Senshi stock - References

Croquis Cafe- References

Rad how to school - Courses

Life of action.com - References

Quickposes.com - References

Proko - Courses

Posemaniacs - References

Warrior Art Camp - Courses

Pexels.com - References

Marshall Vandruff - Courses

Cactus Art Academy - Courses

Sketchdaily - References

Bodyvisualizer.com - Body types

Figurosity - References

Pinterest - EVERYTHING

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5. Youtubers and Content Creators !!! There are a lot that I watch and a lot that other artists have recommended to me, so I'll tell you them. Also, find your favorite artists on your favorite social media sites and mentally study their art when you see it! Trust, it helps. (Warning: Long List)

Drawfee Show - They're very funny + watching how they quickly build their characters and settings can really help you figure out what is most important in character design.

Hanacue - Their shading is to DIE for <3

Marikyuun - Very good with a cutsie art style!

Kooleen - Funny, sarcastic + amazing tips

Marc Brunet - Anatomy at its finest

At Lojart - I just find them really cool

Jaiden Animations - Silly + watching her animations can help with your animations

GinjaNinjaOwO - They're funny + their character design makes me want to scream /pos

LavenderTowne - Very sweet + great tips + cute art!!

Pixiv - Wondeful tutorials

TheOdd1sOut - Same as JaidenAnimations, really

Sinix Design - <333333 so many great tips for shapes and painting !!!!

Marco Bucci - Color Theory!!

Mmmmonexx - I don't know much about them but my friend swears by him

Naoki Saito illust Channel - Putting stories/feeling into your art made easier

HxxG - More attractive art <3

Coax Illust - Fun! Semi-realism (I could never)

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6. Lastly, learning art takes a long, long time. You can't just wake up one day and know how to draw. You have to keep trying and keep learning and never, ever give up. It's all part of the journey, even the pieces that you don't like. Practice doesn't make perfect. It makes permanent. <3

My favorite artists (and my moots <3): @gl4ssfan , @aiyumiyeou , @coffeeisfortheresponsible , @foxlow , @roselock22 @alicecraftgirl @twigs-sprigs @greenflowerceo @spoopy-sloth @laziilizard @enavstars @miyuliart

Hope this long post didn't bore you! Plus, I hope this helps. Have a wonderful day <33

[lexigraph]

I already posted this to Reddit, but I want it here too, where I will find it again some day.

Someone else posted that you can do freecam in the 6 month montage with Jackie. So I spent like three hours doing just that... First, bonus images of fun angles I got while making my observations. I realized I couldn’t get into camera mode AND I no longer have screenshot software, so forgive the snipping tool snips... and forgive me for leaving the subtitles on when I have a “no HUD” button.

Anyway, here’s what I found!

The whole montage appears to be rendered in a liminal space, with the rooms sort of stacked on top of each other and going out into nowhere.

Mama Welles has an ancient LCD tv in her living room! She also set out three plates of food, ready to go. I wish you could talk to her more, she's your surrogate mom in all life paths!

She also has a shitton of ammo and a shotgun by the door, with a set of tally marks above it (you can see this when V is leaving, too).

Jackie has a heavyweight boxing trophy in his room, a punching bag in the closet, but not much else alluding to the fact that he boxed (with Vik?). Slightly less "learn about Jackie from the room" decor than I expected/wanted! But there are clothes and shoes (including high heels) everywhere. Are they his? Misty's? V's? Who knows! The decor doesn't change as time passes.

The mirror in the montage is (mostly) fake!! There's a whole room on the other side of it, where a more animated V and Jackie are. When the camera switches back to looking at Jackie, his model jumps from the mirror room to the "real" one. The objects in the mirror are, if you notice, NOT mirrored at all -- text is forwards. I assume this is so the reflections "work" no matter your settings.I use the third person mod (for screenshots, not play) and 'see your own reflection' mods, which leads to two slightly out of sync Vs during the mirror parts. Why is it reflective but only of V??

Maiko and Joshua Stephenson are grinding in the background of the "stealing the briefcase" scene. Jackie is watching them go at it. They hold hands and stroll into the wall as the scene changes. Why!

Speaking of the briefcase: It appears to contain cash and something that looks like a cyberdeck but is the size of a video card. Not sure if that's how big they're supposed to be (if so, where the heck do they slot in!) [Note: Reddit answered this]

I didn't notice this before, but you would be able to see it from the normal angle -- the reason V and Jackie get jumped at the club is that the man they stole that briefcase from seems to have brought in some hustle to do the job--from their tattoos, these are Tyger Claws. I couldn't figure out if he is someone you can encounter again later, but it was nice to catch this bit of story continuity.

When Jackie is introducing V to Misty, and V walks past him, Jackie is looking at V's butt! Excuse me, Mr. Welles

Jackie is in fact waiting around the corner from the trashbin to tackle the redhead in the jacket, ready to go, not just popping in when ready or in a "default pose".

I didn't figure out why they're chasing this particular person.

At the club, you can see "one of" the Kabuki fight twins, the man V and Jackie stole from (and one of his lackys) dancing among the crowd. It's not much of a crowd, either.

The DJ at the club is none other than Claire, but she is our last background cameo for the sequence, at least that I recognized. Claire seems to disappear somewhere in the middle of the dance sequence, before the jump. I didn't follow her so I'm not sure if she was just out of sight or gone through a wall.

Didn't glean anything interesting about the theft from 6th street, but the guy V clocks at the beginning of the sequence looks familiar and I can't place him -- the one with the heavy neck/eye cyberware and the cap? Also nothing I noticed during the Tyger Claw (probably?) shootout in alley after buying new guns.

When V leaves Mama Welles's place, they're switched into the "new life" start of the game outfit. Jackie looks so sad that V is leaving!

V's apartment is truly empty -- even the three shells in the toilet nook are not there yet!​

[wonderofasunrise]

About a Long Night

A/N: Naturally, I’ve been writing some ER fics on my own, and I managed to actually finish one yesterday. After a few tweaks here and there, I thought I’d post it here because...why not?

Inspired by @bwayfan25​, whose brilliant ER fics on AO3 made me real hot for Susan/Kerry and prompted me to start writing fanfiction again. Among other things, it’s a great exercise and wonderful way to relax.

Hope you enjoy, and fingers crossed I can share some more writing stuff here in the future. Reviews/ideas are welcome!

Disclaimer: These characters are, sadly, not mine. But a girl can dream, can’t she?

Featuring an excerpt from the song “Lost” by Dermot Kennedy, who I’ve been listening to a lot lately.

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For fear of moments stolen I don’t wanna say goodnight But I’ll still see you in the morning Still know your heart and still know both your eyes

***

“How long have you been awake?”

Kerry starts to rub her eyes, unable to contain her mild annoyance upon realising that the person whom she shares her bed with has been watching her sleep. Their room is dark with only a faint ray of light barely piercing through the window, but even without her glasses on she can easily recognise the pair of big green eyes staring at her, along with the smile that accompanies them.

“Long enough,” Susan smirks.

She is lying on her side, her head propped up on one of her hands—her favourite position every time she gets a chance to watch Kerry in slumber. Susan makes it no secret to Kerry that she finds the sight of her lover sleeping comforting, to which Kerry, in her typical defensive way, first responded by accusing Susan of wanting to see her at the most vulnerable.

Over time, however, Kerry has gotten used to it, to the point that there is nothing she looks forward to more than seeing Susan’s bright eyes and smile first thing in the morning—when their schedules allow them to spend the morning together, that is.

“You’re on at seven in the morning, Dr Lewis. Don’t push your luck,” Kerry tries (and fails) to emulate her Chief of Emergency Medicine voice, which comes as no surprise seeing that she has one of her eyes closed and her body relaxed against the comfort of her queen-size bed. Susan confirms it by sticking her tongue out in response.

“I’m not Dr Lewis,” she says in a mocking tone. “And neither are you Dr Weaver. We’re not in the ER, we’re home, and we’re just...us. Is my irresistible charm not enough to remind you?”

“Susan,” Kerry groans, her annoyance growing ever so slightly by the second. “You and I both know we need all the rest we can take. I had a long day, which I’m sure you’ve heard about, and chances are you’ll have one yourself in a few hours. Come on.”

But Susan is undeterred, and instead she gently pulls Kerry into an embrace and lets her head rest against her pillow, moving closer to ensure that their heads meet. Kerry can now feel Susan breathing against her skin, Susan’s hand wrapped around her body with only the fabric of her pajama top between their skins. Kerry half-expects Susan to kiss her neck and cause her to blush in the process, but instead Susan just rests her head against Kerry’s shoulder while inhaling the familiar scent of the latter before letting out a sigh.

“Do you know why I like watching you sleep very much?” Susan murmurs, her tone suddenly serious. “And it’s not because I like to prey on you when you’re vulnerable, although you gotta admit that would be pretty hot.”

“Because you get off on getting on my nerves,” Kerry states matter-of-factly. Both of her eyes are now closed, as if it somehow would convince Susan that they really should be sleeping instead of talking, but Kerry knows better and mentally prepares herself for a witty response.

“I’d rather get off on your other things, thank you very much. But seriously,” Susan retorts, “do you have any idea how different you look when you sleep? How...peaceful and relaxed you are? I swear sometimes I see you smirk in your sleep, and we both know that’s not something anyone would expect to see from you in public.”

“I’m not sure I have any idea as to how I look in my sleep, and I don’t think I’d want to know,” Kerry deadpans.

“You’re—you’re just you,” Susan happily ignores the remark. “You’re not an ER doctor, you’re not the Chief of Emergency Medicine, you’re just human—which I’m sure you’re aware that some people find debatable.”

Kerry is about to challenge that, but at this point she is just too tired and there is no way she can shut Susan up anyway, so she might as well let her be. All the while, Kerry lets her hand rest on top of Susan’s, her fingernails giving it a gentle scratch.

“I get worried sometimes, you know. That you don’t loosen up enough, that you’re content with people hating you and talking shit about you behind your back, because you deserve better than that. I think the world can do with knowing that you do have a heart, and not just in front of patients,” Susan muses, feeling Kerry squeezing her hand tighter now with each word.

“But then I feel lucky too, knowing your gentle side is reserved to those who deserve it. And you trust me enough to be one of those people. Heck, I’m the only person who gets to see you in pajamas and how cute you are when you’re cranky before having a cup of coffee in the morning.”

No longer feeling the urge to sleep, Kerry’s eyes are now wide open, staring at Susan’s as the latter shows no sign of ceasing her chatter. In turn, Susan, satisfied that she now has Kerry’s full attention, brings Kerry’s hand close to her face and places a soft kiss on it.

“When I—when we had our first date,” Susan continues, her smile growing even more at the word, “I remember you were getting tipsy after only one glass of wine, and you laughed so hard at something I said. I don’t even think it was that funny, but you laughed anyway and I just sat there, amazed. I never saw you laugh like that before. Granted, you had alcohol in your system, but the fact that you didn’t even try to conceal it said it all.”

Kerry chuckles as she recalls their first (proper) date, in which she inadvertently revealed to Susan that she was a lightweight, and she was surprised that she did not make any effort to conceal that. She was drinking and doing silly things as a result, but not once did she feel embarrassed. If anything, she was relieved that she could let herself loose up in front of someone she trusted completely, and she was beyond grateful that that someone was Susan.

There were no concerns about the possibility of being recognised by someone, nor were there misgivings about going public with their relationship—which Kerry normally has, ever since she started coming to terms with her sexuality. There were just the two of them, and the realisation that their feelings were manifesting into something more.

“It’s moments like that, and when you’re asleep that always remind me how lucky I am to see the real you. Sometimes I feel like keeping myself awake—even after pulling a double—simply because I don’t want to miss these moments when you’re just yourself. Because I want to always remember...how fortunate I am to be the one seeing you like this.” Susan can barely contain herself now, tears flowing down her face freely. She has to let it all out now, having expressed how privileged she feels to be with Kerry, to be the only one who witnesses her affectionate and loving side on a daily basis. To be the object of the said affection.

“Susan—baby, you’re crying,” Kerry raises her hand to wipe the tears away while sporting a concerned look. Susan, as if trying to tell Kerry to stop being concerned for nothing, laughs between her tears instead.

“I’m happy,” Susan takes a deep breath. “I—I never thought I’d say this, least of all when we first met, but I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time, and it’s all because of you.”

In many ways, as Kerry has learned, Susan is a fairly straightforward individual who only says what she means and means what she says, and coming from her those words feel like music to Kerry’s ears.

Unable to respond, having been rendered speechless at Susan’s sincerity and the way she expresses her feelings so candidly, Kerry simply kisses her on the lips, which Susan happily (and still tearfully) reciprocates.

“Me too,” Kerry says in a low tone that almost sounds like a whisper. “I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. With you.”

For a few minutes the two women stay silent—save for the soft sounds of Kerry’s breathing and Susan’s occasional sobs—as they lie still in bed, engulfed by the warmth of each other’s embrace. Time must have stopped for both of them, as for a time it feels like the stillness and warmth will never fade. As strange as this might sound, this is how Kerry always feels whenever she is with Susan: that the world around them stops as if conspiring to let the two be without anything in the way. There is no work, no hospital, nothing except Susan in front of her with her arms around her smaller body, and she knows Susan feels that way too.

“You know what will make me even happier?” Kerry smirks, and there is no mistaking the hint of mischief in her voice. “If you’ll get some rest, because God knows we really need it. And you know you don’t need to worry about missing any moment—I’m off tomorrow morning, and I’ll be right here when you wake up. First thing you see.”

Susan chuckles, pulling Kerry tighter into her embrace. She feels silly for admitting that she is worried about missing her favourite moments with Kerry, but she figures she can indulge herself in silliness once in a while. She is, after all, a woman in love.

“I love you,” Susan mumbles, her lips caressing Kerry’s shoulder blade. She has said this numerous times, and each time she knows that she always means it, and that it never gets lost on Kerry.

“I love you too,” Kerry kisses the top of Susan’s head and smiles at the sensation of Susan’s hair tickling her face. Similarly, each time she says the words she always ensures her sincerity comes across, which Susan never doubts.

Soon enough, the two fall asleep with their arms wrapped around each other, and again it feels almost as if everything around them stopped. There are just the two of them, sleeping peacefully without any care to anything or anyone else, and they know it is what they deserve.

All worries fading slowly, serenity begins to envelop Susan with the knowledge that she will see and hold Kerry first thing in the morning, all in a way that only Susan is privileged to witness, and that is enough for her to take on the world.

[beanzybrandon]

ABSOLUTE CHAOS WITH PRETTYMUCH (Walmart Ver.)

• the boys are wild enough as is so things are bound to get worse when it's obscenely late at night and their minds and bodies aren't quite synced • like, the day has been long and they know that they should sleep but their minds are racing and it's prettymuch (hehe) straight adrenaline coursing through their veins • when they're by themselves it really isn't that much of an issue and it probably makes them more productive than usual, but when you throw them all in the same room, one of three things happen • ‎they're either collectively more productive and churn out a surprising amount of work, they're as cracked out as they come and prettymuch (sksks) destroy the house, or some combination of the two • ‎tonight its the second option • ‎you showed up around eight for a movie marathon, and as the night progressed things got more and more chaotic • ‎obscene amounts of caffeine and sugar had been consumed, and by the time you got around to the third movie in your list, it had been noted that you guys had run out of snacks • ‎and what kind of movie marathon doesn't have quality snacks? • ‎an absolute trash marathon, that's what kind • ‎you had offered to run to the store on your own to buy some more, but the boys were quick to interject, stating that you wouldn't be able to get everything that everyone wanted • ‎before you had the opportunity to point out that you cOULD if you made a list, everyone was getting up and growing on their jackets and shoes, filing out to the car • ‎let's just say that the drive to the store was not an easy one. how do out get six people from point a to point b in a vehicle that can really only comfortably fit four or five people? magic, that's how • ‎given the tight fit, you figured it would be best to stop at the nearest store • ‎which just so happened to be walmart • ‎things were fine enough at first. everyone had taken off in separate directions so that they could find their favorite snacks, and it truly seemed as if you'd be able to get in and out without issue • ‎it wasn't long before this notion fell flat on its face, though • ‎you were in the chip aisle, silently mulling over what you wanted when something rather large and oddly shaped moved in your peripheral • ‎you turned to see what it was but saw nothing. when you turned back to the array of chips that lay before you, you saw that same strange object passed once more • ‎when you turned this time, you kept tour gaze forces on the end of the aisle, determined to see whatever it was that passing by • ‎ sure enough, the strange object passed by again mere moments later you were surprised to see that it wasn't, in fact, some strange machine or some sort of monster, but a shopping cart filled with humans • ‎and by humans, I mean zion and edwin • ‎you know that vine where that dude is pushing his friends around in the shopping cart?? the one where they're mimicking the infamous titanic pose while "my heart will go on" plays in the background? • ‎yeah, that's exactly what's going on here.  Austin is pushing them around and singing very loudly and very off key • the real kicker?‎ • zion was rose in this situation • ‎you chased after them, frantically whisper yelling for them to get out of the cart. cameras were everywhere and getting thrown out of walmart at 2:30 wasn't on your list of things to do • ‎it went without saying that they weren't exactly complying with your wishes • ‎in fact, they ran from you. • ‎zion and edwin sat, shifting about so both of their bodies kind of fit in the basket. austin was nearly sprinting at this point, laughing through labored breaths • ‎it wasn't until they went to turn the corner at the end of the aisle that they stopped • ‎and even then it wasn't by choice • ‎when they moved to go down the next aisle, austin clipped a small piece of metal that protruded from one of the shelves. it was an easily correctable mistake, but the combined weight of zion and edwin had shifted to the left and forced the handle of the cart out of austin's grasp. • ‎it hit the ground with a thud so loud that you were sure everyone within a twenty aisle radius had heard it. • ‎the boys didn't stick around for long, scrambling off the minute they gained their footing to avoid your wrath. • ‎you stopped near the frozen foods, doubling over as you tried to catch your breath. a familiar voice caught your attention, and before you knew it you were off again, trying to find one of your - hopefully behaving - friends • ‎your hopes were dashed rather quickly • ‎you had come to conclude that the voice you heard belonged to brandon, but it began to fade rather quickly • ‎hoping to talk to him, you followed the sound, eventually finding yourself in the clothing section • he went quiet, and you were afraid that you had lost him until you heard some suspicious rustling and the slap of clothing hitting the floor • ‎you silently inched closer, peaking between racks to see what was going on • ‎it was brandon, sure enough • ‎what was he doing, you ask? • ‎redressing some of the mannequins • ‎let's just say it's a good thing he decided to do music and not fashion. • he had just stripped one the mannequins and was now beginning to redress it, pulling different items from nearby sections. • he attempted to had slipped a pair of shorts that were easily four sizes too small up its legs. they didn't even come close to fitting. • brandon had also tried throwing a flannel on the oversized doll that stood before him, but something had gone seriously wrong, and the arms of the mannequin slipped out of place and down the sleeves, making them look horrendously long • a nightmare on wheels, man. • or heels, rather. he must have stopped in the shoe section before making his way over here because the mannequin was sporting some neck-breaking heels. well...one heel the other was a flat •  the heel was strappy and blue, by all means, a very cute shoe the other shoes, a flat, was far too large and looked like something his grandmother would wear • it was so large, in fact, that the only thing keeping it in place was the fact that the mannequins foot was slightly curved at the toe. • to complete the look, he had opened a wig (from where he had got it, you would never know) and had placed it on the mannequins head, a large cowboy hat resting on top of the matty red locks. • brandon stood back, hands on his hips as he admired his work •  "beautiful." • "absolutely stunning," you snickered • he whirled to face you, eyes blowing wide. a slightly embarrassed flush dusted itself across his cheeks. • "how long have you been here?" • "long enough." • wanting to avoid any more awkwardness, he slowly backed away. when there was a sufficient amount of distance between the two of you, he turned and booked it. • at this point, you could only imagine where nick was and what he was doing • honestly, you didn't even want to question it • you shook your head, making your way back toward the front of the store so that you could pay for the snacks you had managed to grab and go wait in the car • you had almost made it to the registers when the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps reached your ears • before you could do so much as turn and see who was coming up behind you, you were being picked up and thrown over someones' shoulder, snacks hitting the floor • you went to scream, but nick's voice rang out before you could, setting you somewhat at ease. • "come on, we need your help with something." • "with what?" • "something." • that alone was enough to have your anxiety kicking into overdrive again • he carried you to the front of the store and, given that you were so close to the doors, you assumed he was going to carry you back out to the door • it became apparent very quickly that this was nOT the case. • he stopped just short of the doors, depositing you in the basket of the electric carts housed near them. • you immediately went to climb out, but one of your belt loops had snagged on something and had rendered you immobile • nick made himself comfortable on the seat, pretending to rev the cart up. • he was zooming off in no time, weaving through foot traffic as he made his way toward the camping section • the rest of the boys had already collected there, two more carts resting nearby. they were chatting amongst themselves as they looked through the fishing gear • after a bit of deliberation, several rods were picked out. given that you were still unable to get out of the cart, nick had to pick one out for you. • after handing it over, he returned to his seat • the others partnered up, brandon and edwin climbing in their respective cart baskets while zion and austin sat down and got to driving. • you, of course, still had no idea what the heck was going on but saw no reason to complain • this wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened tonight, after all • the six of you drove up and down nearby isles, getting a feel for everything that was there • when it felt as if you had a pretty good idea of what was there and where it was, the real fun began • the boys began to "fish" for things, judging one another on who managed to bring in the best haul (or knock over the most stuff because there weren't real hooks on the end of the lines and it was surprisingly difficult to grab anything with the plastic ones that they had found) • figuring this was the least chaotic thing that had happened thus far (and you had done a lot more observing than participating) you figured you might as well join in • the six of you continued on like this for nearly fifteen minutes, screaming as you tried to haul things over the shelves and into the car. • by the time security got over to you guys, the aisles were littered with various boxes and odd items (clothing, accessories, decorations, stuffed animals...you name it, it was on the floor) • seeing the officer coming down the aisle, you all scrambled • you were still stuck though...so zion practically had to yank you out of the cart and then sprint out of the store with you balanced precariously in his arms • you all piled breathlessly back into the car, silence falling over the six of you • after a few moments, you all burst out laughing, the intensity of it making your stomach hurt and your eyes begin to water • the trek back home was shirt yet fun, full of jokes and you poking fun at one another • when you finally got back to the house, you all trekked back inside and collapsed onto the couches, feeling significantly less energized than you had at the store • you grabbed the television remote, ready to pick up where you had left off in your marathon • then it hit you • "did anyone manage to grab some snacks?" • "no..." came austin's timid response • "should we go back?" brandon chimed • "do you think they'd ever let any of us step foot in there again?" edwin snorted • "....no...." • "we'll just postmates something," zion said simply, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "what do y'all want?' • when you finally agreed on what to buy and the food and been delivered, you fell back into your movie, relishing in one another's company as you half-watched what was playing

[wellntruly]

FLEABAG Notes - Season 2, Ep 3

In which Fleabag complements her sexy spiritual guide in the Hot Priest with another sexy spiritual guide in the Best Woman In Business. It’s Scott plus Scott and it’s a lot!! I go 😍ff.

Season 2, Episode 3

this show is fucking priceless that’s all there is to it

reading BIBLE PASSAGES a cute PRIEST marked for you in a BUBBLE BATH and GASPING like you just hit a really surprising DRAMATIC TURN in a romance novel!!

Claire tells Fleabag not to be herself at the end of naming all the specific things she doesn’t want her to do, which notably included being funny and clever :’)

Fleabag knows her sister so well, that she’s actually living right now in all this panic and stress

Claire: “Where is everyone?!” Fleabag: “She’s so happy.”

I love this cryptic pinch-knock gesture Claire uses as if other people should know what it means. also she looks gorgeous, this business dress on her? damn

Emily and I were trying to figure out why the award drop works so well (as in it just fucking BREAKS you with laughter), and we think it’s because it happens so quickly, without fanfare, in this casual medium shot

more running sequences, thank u

the first thing Kristin Scott Thomas, “Belinda”, does is look at Claire and say “God you’re tasteful.” UGH THIS WOMAN. swoon.

this ray of indefatigable blonde Finnish sunshine showing up as Claire’s business partner is still just a whole delight

this show is so fucking good at crushes, honestly?

“Off the wagon then?” “Oh, just when I’m with you!” see this is what I mean! my response is just to shriek into my hands! Claaaire!

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE JOKE THAT HIS NAME IS KLARE IS RENDERED SO FLAWLESSLY. the long beat, the staring, what the fuck is coming, then “Klare”, and Fleabag’s faaaace

also: love that Flea doesn’t glance away at us at all in that sequence, she’s just totally tuned in to Claire and having this whole conversation with her in facial expressions. only after she walks off and Fleabag scopes out Klare looking for her over by the champagne do we get an eyebrow wiggle

Rowan Atkinson whomst, btw

I really feel like Claire deserved an appreciative “ah yes” chuckle for her cover that the other winner is busy “--which, shouldn’t come as a surprise, really!” this was good, Claire!

THE TORSO SCULPTURE IS LIKE AN ANTI-McGUFFIN AND I’M OBSESSED WITH IT AS AN OBJECT/STORY DEVICE!! you originally think it’s just gonna be this prop for a one-off bit but it just keeps gathering SO much plot and meaning into itself! keeps showing up in different contexts and gaining new layers and new power!! IT RULES

sidebar: can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to wrangle with I am 98% certain is this exact plexiglass podium out of the way in my former job’s storage unit/various closets

omg Claire’s face as she hands it over

classical music as Fleabag walks pointedly after Belinda, who’s glancing back at her periodically in her stunning outfit: I feel the Killing Eve

(seriously, these flowy cropped trousers with the heels? her short sleeved pussy bow top?? this windowpane coat??? wrooowwrrr)

the cut from confrontation to them getting drinks so Fleabag can tell her the story of the stolen golden tits—I love 1 television show

aaauuuugghh! Kristin Scott Thomas!

honestly? I think Belinda’s right that women’s awards are an infantilizing subsection of success!

Belinda, looking at the statue: “Gosh, she’s hot.” Fleabag: “Yeah.” Belinda: “Are you a lesbian?” Fleabag: “Not strictly.” 😂Flea!

j’adore the reveal that’s she’s a bit bi though, really good. admittedly this scene isn’t done with me yet!

Carrie

“God you are a tonic!” I kNOW

glad we’re now at the stage where we’re all admitting being in your early 30s is STILL a confusing shambles

we just gotta quote this whole monologue and then talk the heck about it okay:

“Listen, I was on an airplane the other day, and I realized—well I’ve been longing to say this out loud, so: Women are born with pain built in. Period pain, sore boobs, childbirth, you know. We carry it within ourselves throughout our lives. Men don’t. They have to seek it out. They invent all these gods and demons and things all so they can feel guilty about things which is something we do very well on our own. And then they create wars, so they can feel things and touch each other, and when there aren’t any wars, they can play rugby. And we have it all going on in here, inside. We have pain on a cycle for years and years and years. And then, just when you feel you are making peace with it all, what happens? The menopause comes. The fucking menopause comes, and it is….the most...wonderful fucking thing in the world. And yes, your entire pelvic floor crumbles, and you get fucking hot and no one cares, but then: you’re free. No longer a slave, no longer a machine with parts. You’re just a person. In business.”

I am enamored of this moment, and actually less for the content of it than for how it functions in the story. so for starters, this is, of course, a totally batty speech down in the nuts and bolts of it. men don’t make war and demons because they don’t have periods. for that matter, plenty of women do make war and demons. some women don’t even have uteruses—and some men do! biology is influential but not so strictly deterministic.

but I don’t think this scene isn’t about factual reality, I think this scene is about powerful words and Fleabag’s receptiveness/reaction to them. Belinda begins her speech by saying that she just wants to get these words out there, as if she wants to see what happens when they hit the open air. Fleabag listens to her with an expression of startled fascinated bewilderment, that gradually becomes more dazzled, and then longing. and I feel like I recognize this Fleabag, that in this moment Belinda has become a spiritual leader to her, like an answering note to the Priest. here is this person Fleabag is deeply drawn to—like the Priest—where she can’t figure out if she wants them to lead her or sleep with her, tell her what it all means or take her to bed—like the Priest—who has powerful words to share with her that aren’t like, literally TRUE, but are just something to think about, some poetry that might help you with something you’re struggling with. like the Priest, handing her his post-it noted Bible.

and that’s why I love this incredible, bonkers, female pain speech so much. it’s a sermon. the Sermon at the Bar.

(also anything that references Barbara Kruger’s “You construct intricate rituals” piece is automatically superb)

oh and then there’s even a go-with-my-blessing-child call to action! “People are all we’ve got, so grab the night by its nipples and go and flirt with someone!” I love Saint Martini Aunt

when people say Fleabag Season 2 is even better than Fleabag Season 1 they mean many things and one of them is this. and not just because it’s a wlw kiss, but because it’s so sweet and unusual and wonderful. because they both know this is just this, Belinda has already made it clear that she won’t be taking her home, but Fleabag still wants to give her a kiss just to give her a kiss. it’s almost—a communion, fuck, god she’s taking communion how am I just seeing it!! aahhhhhh

Fleabag: “Thirty-three isn’t exactly—“ Belinda: “And what had Jesus done by 33?” Fleabag: “Died?” Belinda: “Exactly, so get out there and flirt.” I mean structure!!

the reveal that Claire is jealous of Fleabag because she feels she isn’t interesting in comparison to her far too interesting sister, “with your quirky cafe and your dead best friend!” Wow! but you can understand it still?? 

ah, yeah, well see she’s a little tender about the whole “friends” thing right now…

so of course she takes all this and goes to flirt with the other person with no friends

the Priest is in a Buffalo Bill T-shirt. it’s snug.

“I just fancied a drink—[and a priest]—and a chat, maybe.” “Oh, well that’s my whole job!” priests actually kind of rule to be honest

Fleabag: “So I read your book.” lol

a) your face is ridiculous

b) this big ol candle on a plate behind him, like a vase-less devotional candle meets one of those candlesticks with the brass holders you carry around as an old man in a nightgown

see!!! see yes!! he describes the text as poetry! it’s not literal or fact or without inconsistencies, “they’re just words”---“It’s interpretation to help us work out God’s plan for us!” like Belinda’s lesson!!!

sorry sorry I keep noticing absurd details about this clergy house: the bowl with just two lemons in it, in the living room

also Andrew Scott is sitting cross-legged in a chair: the second gayest thing he’s done in this series

Fleabag: “Do you think I should become a Catholic?” Priest: “No, don’t do that. I like that you believe in a meaningless existence.”

[laughing helplessly] the fox thing, the fucking….FOX thing… it just makes me feel like John Mulaney going “Now we don’t have time to unpack aaaall of that!”

I’ll just do one though: The Foxy Priest

hilariously, Andrew Scott’s fox monologue performance is very good & Theatre in a different mood but in exactly the same amount as Kristin Scott Thomas’ very good & Theatre pain monologue performance. like you could audition for your school play with either.

yes darling, I do think you’re mad, I think you’re a bit of a lost soul and that actually makes you more holy.

that here, only halfway through the season, they openly talk about how they aren’t going to have sex—this is assured writing, this is writing that believes it knows what it’s doing. (and Phoebe’s riiiiight, she does!)

the “Many” moment…the Priest is also bi yay or nay?

I realize now that’s supposed to be yea, but also, is it

“What was that?” READER. I. GASPED.

Fleabag: “What?” Priest: “Where’d you, where’d you just go?” Emily and I: [yell-ing]

he can see her!!!! the only one who notices the skip when she makes an aside to us!!! his attention to her at the dinner was only part one, this is a whole other level!!!! THIS IS BREAKING DOWN BREAKING-THE-FOURTH-WALL LEVEL!!!!! the Priest is disrupting the very fabric of the television show and I’m Screaming. it’s MAGICAL and it’s FRIGHTENING and it’s UNBELIEVABLY EXCITING

and then they’re both startled by a fox, perfect, yes give us a break with a different kind of jolt to carry us into credits

Fleabag Notes

Season 2: Episode 1, Episode 2 | Season 1

[aftermathdb]

DEATH BATTLE Review: Nightwing vs. Daredevil.

The ninety ninth battle. It’s been what?- Almost eight years, and we’ve come this far. This episode is just… full of a lot of firsts. Like it being the very first Live-Action Battle. Two acrobats, fighting it out in the arena. One will live, and the other……… will be resurrected because let’s face it, this is comic books.

Nightwing′s Preview.

Nightwing: The first Robin, and the first one to leave the nest… Er, cave, as it were. We know how this goes, we see some background and a quick overview of his stats.

We get a rundown of some of the things he’s done, and some of the feats he has. We also get the backstory as to him falling out with Batman, and his graduation to become Nightwing.

Especially since we also get to see how Bruce failed a second time to keep a Robin by his side…

(Red Hood vs. Winter Soldier confirmed?)

Nightwing’s arsenal also gets a page, much like many other previous characters.

By the looks of it, only the variants in the Wing-Dings will give Nightwing an edge at all.

And Nightwing’s feats put him ahead of the game. These are quite impressive for just a regular human with intense acrobatic and martial arts training.

(I’m starting to get the feeling that being able to sneak around Superman is becoming less and less of an impressive feat. But sneaking around Batman is an impressive feat. Give that guy a taste of what he give Commissioner Gordon for a change!)

Overall, Nightwing seems very primed for this battle. It honestly feels like a great way to introduce the character, and unlike his mentor, Nightwing actually possesses a sense of humor and (to me, personally) a lot more likable.

The end line is from when he introduced himself to Starfire after she got flung into the future. Remember that episode?- Man, I miss that show.

Daredevil′s Preview.

Daredevil has an edge or two right off the bat. As a kid who trained to be like his father, he was a pretty good acrobat and fighter. Plus, he’s got a good Netflix show. And thanks to that, I’m sure we all know his backstory. Boxing dad, chemicals in the eyes, superpowers, rigged match gone awry, and dead parents. Because what’s a superhero without dead parents?

(What do comic book creators have against parents?)

But anyways, on to the more kick-ass stuff.

Matt’s overall stats gives him an edge in height and weight. But that’s not going to mean much unless he has some abilities and skills to back him up.

So by the looks of it, they’re both equal in terms of being at peak human physique, and are fairly even in martial arts skills. Daredevil’s radar sense seems to also let him have a perfect detection of his surroundings, and we even get a comparison on how it works.

Overall, his arsenal is what would really set him apart.

Considering that this isn’t as versatile as Nightwing’s arsenal, it says a lot about how much Daredevil relies on his powers and skills to win fights.

And his feats are quite something to be impressed about.

(So they’ve both broken concrete. Good to know).

End line is something from his series. At least, I think so… It’s been a while since I last watched it.

The Battle Itself.

There is no animator for this Live-Action battle. Nightwing will be portrayed by Danny Shepard while Daredevil will be portrayed by Tyler Tackett. This is also a co-lab with ismahawk, who made a five-part Nightwing fan series. So, look out for references to that. Devil of the Night is composed by Brandon Yates.

So, for this being the first live-action battle, there’s a lot of firsts. And the battle opens with Nightwing trying to sneak up on Daredevil, but it not working because… it’s Daredevil.

The primary reason for the fight starting is because they’re both after a briefcase that is important to a case they’re both working.

(Honda: If you hit the trunk, it’ll open).

We get a staredown, and then the action starts.

So, both of them seem to be fairly evenly matched at the start. And the acrobatic work is pretty good too.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me, because I am not exactly an aficionado in live-action fights like this. I’ve been spoiled by the high-budget movies, and high-budget CGI, so I might not be the greatest expert here. Since these sort of live-action comic shows are typically more story-driven than action-driven, it feels a bit… slow.

an aspect about the fight that I don’t really like is that the battle has pauses for brief moments.  While I get that it’s so that the actors can catch their breath, it feels out of place here. Had this been a gun fight, where the combatants would be taking cover behind different objects, there would be a better justification. But here… it feels really out of place.

(At least we get some flips. Every Death Battle needs at least two good flips to feel real (Dammit Torrian, you’ve spoiled us viewers with your choreography and flips)).

And Nightwing’s tech gives him something to figure out about DD. He’s got some sort of anomaly in his brain, and he [Nightwing] is about to formulate a hypothesis. Because he has been trained by Batman.

The little wrestling portion seems to have dislocated Daredevil’s shoulder, but true to Daredevil fashion, he just fixes it himself. What a boss.

Anyways, Nightwing seems to be eager to test his hypothesis by rendering the arena completely dark. And neither fighter is hindered a bit. Daredevil’s super senses and Nightwing’s nightvision tech essentially make the darkness moot.

And just as Nightwing is about to attack, Daredevil deflects the weapons, just like how it was mentioned that he could do back in his rundown.

(The wing-dings landed in a car’s door)

The battle rages on until it Daredevil pins Nightwing down and is ready for a finishing blow in

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Nightwing uses the sonic wing-dings from before and overloads Daredevil’s senses before taking him down.

By the way, that last shot there is a reference to the Nightwing series by ismahawk (I told you to look out for references)

(Jeez, Dick. You just killed a blind guy).

Verdict + Explanation.

So, overall, most of the fight was dead even. Nightwing took strength thanks to several of his feats like keeping the jaw of a shark closing in on him, and Daredevil took speed thanks to his bullet deflection narrowly outpacing Nightwing dodging gunfire.

And in terms of arsenal and equipment, they were also pretty even. Neither suit would be hindered by electricity, and both were very durable.

But much like Spider-Man vs. Batman, only one of them had something that would stop the other in their tracks. Much like how Spider-Man’s spider-sense renders Batman’s stealth useless, Nightwing’s sonic wing-dings would cause a sensory overload on Daredevil’s end.

And the way that Nightwing could deduce it also plays a minor factor. As he is a smart cookie, and his mask sensor would let him know something was up.

Some notecards also indicate that Nightwing could also take advantage of other aspects of Daredevil’s powers, and turn them against him. Effectively reducing Daredevil to just sonar, smell, and other senses outside of his ultra-sensitive touch.

In the end, both fighters were very even, making really feel as if it could go either way, but Nightwing’s detective skills and varied arsenal ended this bout.

Overall impression.

Overall, it feels like a big factor was a variant of the “He’s Batman” argument, but after going back and listening to the explanation a few more times, it became a lot more clear that between the two of them, fifty-five times out of a hundred, Nightwing would come out on top.- At least, that’s how it came off to me.

The pauses in the fight didn’t really feel appropriate, but for a first live-action battle, it was really great. Overall, I’d say that it earns a good 8.6/10. It doesn’t have the same feel as other battles, and I feel that it would take some getting used to. So really, 8.6/10, with some room to grow.

Next Time…

To be honest, I wasn’t sold on battle 100. I was honestly expecting something like Samus vs. Master Chief, Galactus vs. Unicron, Darkseid vs. Thanos, Ruby vs. Maka, or even Wario vs. Rouge. Heck! I was also expecting something like Jaune vs. Tucker, or Danny Phantom vs. Jake Long! But this… This was unexpected. It took a comment on the site to really sell me on it, and even then, I’m still a bit hesitant.

So yeah. Mario vs. Sonic. It’s happening again. While I’m more looking forward to seeing Wiz and Boomstick, it took this comment to really make me see this as not being a waste of time:

So, while I can understand why they tried to hype it up, it took some convincing.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

A new rematch.

[scrafty-crafty]

This is the folder for my 2018 art. All the folders for the paper crafts I’ve finished this year so far, not including the HTTYD AU ones since I have those in a separate folder. Since I sort these by project, some of these are only one piece, some have 2 or 3 and one has 10, totaling 27 among just these folders, 30 including the finished HTTYD pieces.

I have another 4 or 5 events that will wrap up within the next two months and there will probably be some other shorter events like secret santa’s that I’ll do as the holidays approach, so my 2018 folder isn’t done yet, but I’m so surprised at how many I’ve done. Starting last summer is when I started doing all these events and exchanges and it’s been so fun creating so much art for this fandom.

I started rambling, so the rest is under a cut OTL feel free to ignore.

Idk, I didn’t create a whole lot of art before joining this fandom, so I really love Voltron and the VLD fandom for inspiring me so much. Heck, before joining the VLD fandom I wasn’t even super comfortable drawing people!! Even though I have been doing art for years and years, it was always a hobby kind of thing and I enjoyed rendering inanimate objects more than drawing people because you draw something like a cookie?? Or something in nature?? And it’s like, it doesn’t have to be perfect because nature isn’t perfect, but humans are a bit different in that if something is off it will just look wrong and that alone kept me from even trying and making any progress.

And I still have so much to work on and improve on, but like, I really am so much better than I was before this fandom and even just doing paper crafts alone I learned so much. I figured out things that I liked and didn’t like and I have so many things I want to try still. I actually decided to start doing paper crafts because’ of how insecure I was in my ability to draw well and with fun papers and different layering it can distract from the oddly shaped arm or head. My line art has never been super clean either and I never really found a good coloring technique I felt confident in, but that’s actually probably more for lack of actually trying to get better at it (and also probably due to my lack of confidence in my line art since if the lines aren’t good why bother coloring... at least that’s how I thought of my art....)

Just looking at the amount of pieces I’ve done.... before doing art for this fandom if I finished a handful of art pieces a year then I was happy. The quantity and quality of my work has gone up and I’m just... so happy....

Idk, sometimes I get down about my art (or a lot of the times if I’m being honest) because it’s hard to not compare yourself to others, but taking a step back like this and focusing on examining how far I’ve have progressed makes it seem silly because I do my art for me and for the few of y’all who enjoy seeing my art, haha.

I want to try out some new techniques with my paper crafts in the upcoming year. Add in some mixed media type of stuff. Try making my own paper for some cool texture effects. Learning watercolors, maybe.

[aion-rsa]

Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article is sponsored by As a species, humans have more or less always been obsessed with vampires. (The earliest references to blood-drinking creatures date back to ancient Mesopotamia, believe it or not.) But the way we relate to these creatures has shifted throughout the centuries, as legends, folklore, and popular culture have adapted to the needs and fears specific to respective societies. 

Published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula may have sparked a particular vein of horror story that continues to this day (looking at you, American Horror Story: Double Feature), but Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, changed how audiences relate to bloodsuckers forever and plenty of contemporary vampire tales have continued to cast the creatures as broody, desirous, long-suffering anti-heroes burdened by the weight of immortality. 

But don’t expect bestselling Australian author Jay Kristoff’s new book, Empire of the Vampire, to follow this modern trend. In this story, the first in a new epic fantasy trilogy, vampires are 100% terrifying again, vicious monsters who kill violently and indiscriminately, and whose powers mean that few humans are capable of standing against them for long. 

“When I was a kid, vampires were the monsters under the bed. They were the scary things that were trying to eat the good people,” Kristoff explains during a wide-ranging conversation with Den of Geek. “I grew up reading books like Salem’s Lot and watching films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark. Those were the vampires that I grew up with.” 

Those aren’t generally the sorts of vampires we tend to see in much contemporary fiction nowadays, however. From The Vampire Diaries and True Blood to the Twilight franchise, recent mainstream pop culture has embraced the idea of the vampire as a version of the ultimate bad boy boyfriend, a secretly romantic figure still searching for true love after centuries of loneliness. 

“Over the course of the last 20, 30 years they have evolved into something very different,” Kristoff says. “[And] there’s nothing wrong with exploring that kind of vampire,” he adds, describing himself as a “massive fan” of The Vampire Diaries and firmly “Team Delena” when it comes to the love triangle at the show’s center.  

“The cool thing about [the ‘vampire’ concept] is they’re a dozen different things to a dozen different people. You can have a dozen different vampire fans in the room, and they’ll all tell you a different reason why they like them, why they’re attracted to them.”

Though Kristoff may enjoy the world of The Vampire Diaries—he’s currently making his way through its spin-off The Originals—Stefan and Damon Salvatore were not the sort of creatures whose story he was interested in exploring in Empire of the Vampire. The novel is set in a kingdom where the sun has barely shone for nearly three decades, the dead walk during the daytime, and vicious vampire factions fight for control over the remaining human territories. Its world is bleak and frightening, and his vampires reflect that fact.

“I did want to make them monsters again,” Kristoff says. “I wanted to explore the way eternity and immortality would just warp you beyond all recognition. [How] it would make you inhuman.”

The author cites Rice’s aforementioned Interview with the Vampire as “the biggest influence” on this story. “I’ve loved that book since I was a kid,” he says. “And one of the strong themes that permeates that text is that nothing is forever. Everything goes away on a long enough timeline.” Including the humanity of those who were once human. Kristoff’s novel includes something of a nod to Rice’s work, as the story is framed by our primary protagonist recounting the highs and lows of his life to a vampire historian named Jean-Francois, who is our first consistent glimpse into the removed, detached attitude with which these creatures view human beings.

“Over the course of hundreds upon hundreds of years, if you’re killing a person every night, you very quickly stop seeing people as people and start seeing them as food,” Kristoff explains. “That can’t help but affect your worldview and the way that you interact with it. I don’t think you could help but become inhuman …That’s really what the older vampires in this world are. They’re truly alien and truly monstrous. They look at us the same way that we look at the hamburger that we’re about to eat for dinner.”

Empire of the Vampire is not for the faint of heart. Clocking in at over 800 pages, this is a book bursting with darkness of both the literal and the figurative variety. From the cataclysmic event known as “daysdeath,” which literally darkens the sun to violent, to bloody battles between the living and the dead that lead to (multiple) heartbreaking deaths, this is not a story that’s here to coddle its readers or pull any punches, narratively or figuratively speaking. 

“There’s only [redacted] named characters—as in major characters—left alive at the end of the book,” Kristoff teases. “Everybody else is dead.” 

But as a result, Empire of the Vampire is also genuinely compelling, a rich, layered story that embraces real stakes and wrestles with complex questions about faith, belief, and family, both found and otherwise. 

“It’s the biggest book that I’ve written. It’s definitely the hardest book that I’ve written,” Kristoff says, whose previous works include the Nevernight trilogy, another massive fantasy shot through with violence, corruption, and complex stakes. “Now that I’m at the tail end of it, [I think] it’s the best book that I’ve ever written. I’m more proud of this novel than anything I’ve ever written in my life, and that’s against some pretty stiff competition.” 

Ostensibly, Empire of the Vampire follows the story of Gabriel de Leon, the last Silversaint, a member of an elite order of warriors who have sworn their lives to the Church in order to defend the world from the encroaching vampire plague. The novel is his reflection upon his own life, told from what feels very much as though it could be the end of it, imprisoned by the very creatures he was once charged with hunting. 

Told in split narratives that look back at the beginning of his time as a Silversaint and his final desperate journey to save the world, Empire of the Vampire not only shows us a hero in crisis but one who has forgotten why he wanted to be a hero in the first place.

“[Gabe’s story] is two sides of the same coin,” Kristoff explains. “One, when he’s young and passionate and thinks all the world is good and bright and he can be a positive force in it. And the other one where he’s gotten old and realized that things don’t always work out the way they do in the storybooks.”

Though Gabe was once the sort of hero who tends to have songs written about them, by the time he’s recounting his great deeds to his vampire captors, he’s become more of a “fallen hero” whose story is primarily “about redemption, or at least a reclamation of faith.” 

“Faith was something that was really important to him as a young guy,” explains Kristoff, “but terrible things happened to him over the course of his life and he lost his faith, as many of us do. Part of his journey, at least in Empire, is about finding something to believe in. He’s on a pretty destructive path at the start of the book when we meet him, and he’s 32. He doesn’t have a heck of a lot to live for. At least in part, his journey is about finding something that’s bigger than himself, that’s something more than the revenge that he’s driven toward…something worth fighting for.”

That something arrives in the form of a quest. Like so many before him in popular literature, Gabe ultimately finds himself on a search for the Holy Grail, a magical object that is rumored to be able to end daysdeath, and with it, the vampire plague. Whether the Grail is real or not is a spoiler that only those who read the book will find out, but Gabe’s search for it will quite literally change his life and expand the events of the second and third books in this trilogy in new and different ways.

In Empire of the Vampire, Gabe’s hunt for the Grail forces him to reckon with the darkest aspects of his own life as “ a lot of his own sins come back to haunt him.” As an example, Kristoff describes a later chapter in the book (it’s called “The Worst Day” for those who want to skip ahead) as “the hardest chapter I’ve ever written in my life.”

“I think some of the darkness that was happening in the world around me permeated my head and permeated the story,” Kristoff says of a scene in which, as you might have already guessed, something awful happens to a major character. “I wrote that scene and at the end of it I slammed the laptop shut and just pushed it away from me. I didn’t touch it for four days. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. That’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever written. Even reading it back now, I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s really tough, you bastard.’”

Empire of the Vampire is just the first piece of what is shaping up to be a massive fantasy saga, and its second installment—which Kristoff says he’s writing right now—is set to expand the series’ world even further, introducing us to the matriarchal clans of the western Ossway as well as the dangerous vampires of the Blood du Voch, whose strength makes them especially difficult to kill. But, according to Kristoff, readers shouldn’t be shocked if the sequel turns our understanding of the story we’re reading on its head once more. 

“One of the cool things [about Book 2] is you get a second POV. There’s another character that’s imprisoned in the tower and we get their version of events,” Kristoff explains. “You start to realize that maybe Gabe hasn’t been entirely truthful, or maybe he’s just viewing the past and certain people through rose-colored glasses.”

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In other words: Buckle up. This adventure has only just begun, and plenty of Kristoff’s dark creatures are still waiting in the wings.

Empire of the Vampire hits bookshelves in the U.S. on September 14th, and in the U.K. a week prior. Find out more here.

The post Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[nomanicsdak]

New Post has been published on https://manicdak.com/misfortunate-son/

Misfortunate Son

What Could Have Been

I return to the game still besieged by bandits to shoot some arrows and—-Now, I’m not sure, but I think the guards from a house nearby have joined the fray and killed the bandits for me. I shoot a few arrows around (definitely not enough to kill four or so bandits several levels above me!)  and then go hide for a second and all of a sudden the guards are back guarding their house and ignoring me because I’m not breaking in, and Demokritos has the ‘you have completed this leg of the quest, come talk to me now’ diamond above his head. Huh.

Nobody’s laughing now

*shrug* I’m not above letting an npc or the local wildlife complete a quest for me.

The sad news is that Demokritos’s poet lady friend has been murdered before he can tell her his feelings in the form of atomic theory. I choose the sentimental option whilst comforting him: He should read it to her anyway. He just wants to be left alone and wonders what could have happened in another life. I could have been his student, and he could have had his love. Ah, well. I tell him not to think about the past could have beens, and he gives me some drachmae and a scientist hat for my services. I am super bummed out now. Is there a simple fetch quest I can do now to chill out a little bit before I head off to see the pirate woman for more mom clues?

I’ll just wander around in that direction and do some locations. Also, I’m going to check on Pythagoras’s cultist clue. He is a dude called the Mytilenian the Shark; A fixer who put evidence of the cult’s evil doings into the ocean. Great, a boat guy! Maybe I’ll come across him while meeting with pirates! So, I make my way to another pirate island, stopping once again at the silver isles to get my boat because there are no fast travel points nearby my destination yet. There is a cultist on this new island—not the one I just unmasked, but a different one. I manage to get him with only one bar of health. Seriously, why isn’t my health regenerating???? I consult the interwebs to see if it’s a bug, but it is not. I have equipped a cursed object!

It gives me 100% damage in exchange for only having 1/4 of my health. No thanks. I’m not that good at hitting stuff!

Quid Pro Quo?

Cultist dispatched, I head off to meet Xenia, the Pirate queen. I vaguely register that I have entered a restricted area but nothing seems to be happening, so I just hop across some roofs to Pirate HQ and only notice that literally everyone in the village is chasing me right at the very end. 

Xenia

Xenia is not happy to see me and wants to know what I’m doing breaking into her village. They are not down with strangers here! Like—I really had no idea I was supposed to be sneaking, but okay. I let her in on the deets. Anthousa, sent me, I’m looking for my family etc… She will help me for drachmae that I do not have because I keep paying off my own bounties like a richy rich person. Maybe it’s just the game though, because I can now earn money by doing tasks for her pirate friends. I feel like I’d probably have to do them whether I had the money or not. 

If there is any luck maybe this piratical quest will be less educational than the last one. I am on the Isle of Misfortune today. Doing favours for pirates because I am being extorted by the pirate queen, Xenia. She’s just going to tell me my mom got on a boat and went to some other undisclosed location, isn’t she? I will have run out of clues at this point.

I am getting ahead of myself though.

The first pirate I meet looks like Timotheus of the seductive brothers quest, except less blonde. He wants me to fly Xenia’s colours and show the other seafaring vessels who’s the boss. You got it, my dude. I easily defeat 2 Spartan Vessels and 2 Athenian Vessels, but I can’t find any other pirate vessels. What the heck?

I go to bed and return another day to find some pirates and move on to the next quest.

This time I have to retrieve a treasure map for one of Xenia’s associates. Easy enough, but then she shows up right outside the target’s house acting all cagey and suspicious. She doesn’t want to go diving in shark waters herself for this treasure, so It’s up to me. I agree to this, naturally, because I agree to any old tasks. 

I head back to sea and get turned around, so instead of heading to the treasure location, I just head toward the nearest exclamation point instead. Here I find a stranded pirate crew on some tiny island and they are about ready to kill the Captain. He is super apologetic about stranding them there and begs me to take him back to pirate island. His excuse for this crash is that he was so excited about sinking their target ship that he crashed his own ship on the rocks. Perhaps he’s not a great captain, but does he really need to perish for it? I don’t think so, so I agree to his terms.

The crew is not having it, so we have to fight them to escape. 

Next up is the treasure. Apparently these super shark infested waters are very dangerous, but I just swim pass the sharks like Elle Woods getting into Harvard law. When I surface there is a nearby ship, but I don’t think it’s my ship. I am besieged with doubt now, though, so I swim to it anyway, and it’s not. It’s that shady pirate lady’s ship. She is here to double cross me. I try to lie and say there was no treasure, but she’s not buying it. She’s going to try and kill me no matter what. I fight a little, but decide that it’s a dumb idea to take on her crew by myself when I have a perfectly good crew to help nearby. 

See, if I defeat her ship with my ship then all my lieutenants that I recruited will join me! I jump off her ship, swim to my ship and get to sinking (her ship, not mine) We all board and take them out pretty easily. I also get to keep the treasure, which was some armor I think. 

Now it’s time to deliver the wayward captain back to Xenia. Turns out it is her brother! Whew, I am super glad I did not side with the crew on this one. Xenia is also a person whose bad side I don’t want to be on. She’s like twice my size and way meaner. In any case, she still chastises her bro and gives me his armor, even though it’s their dad’s armor.

Southward Bound!

I have two more tasks, one is to retrieve some of those special expensive bricks I found earlier, (I still have to find more though. At least I know where they are and what they are for this time.) The other is to steal the national treasure from the big fort on the other side of the island. There is nothing remarkable about either of these journeys except for the huge amounts of wild pigs and lions on this island. How did they get here? 

The Phoenix Remembered

Money in hand, Xenia will now tell me about my mom! YES. I should have done her quest first! The highlights: 

Myrrine was a pirate. Her pirate code name was Phoenix. Alexios is surprised that mom is so cool. 

She was Xenia’s friend and Xenia wished she would have stayed, but alas, she had to move on again.

She went somewhere to the south. It is at least a direction which is more than I got from Hippokrates and Anthousa. 

Let us see what the South has for us!

Waving on the Wind like Feathers

I kid. I actually have to return to Athens and consult Phoibe’s new mentor Aspasia But, first, before I can do that I am compelled to finish all the locations on this current island. At some point I get fed up with all the boars and lions wreaking havoc everywhere and just decide to go hunting. I need the pelts to upgrade my snake armor! Also, at another point while doing all these things, I notice Xenia has another task for me.

This time it’s another treasure hunt. She wants me to go find Zeus’s golden feather which was given to Ajax and woven into an ox hide shield that once belonged to a giant and though the shield is gone the feather remains. I get three treasure maps to figure it out.

Damn, I guess it’s not the feather from Athena4Real then. Maybe if I earn enough feathers I can create a whole bird. Sorry, Ikaros! In any case, I hope this whole operation doesn’t lead me back to that damn cyclops. I still do not have the fortitude to attempt that battle. 

In any case, I’m putting off the main quest to quest for this treasure instead! As you do. 

This is all much harder than I think it’s going to be when I finally look at the treasure maps. They are just vaguely rendered drawings of islands with an X on them, so now I have to scour the map and find the topography that matches. Easier said than done, my friends. 

I find an okay looking spot that might match the first map, but it’s in an undiscovered area. Barnabus sails me over there and drops me off at a quarry where everyone is ten levels above me, but ignores me. I get a bunch of XPs after I steal their loot, so all those stormy seas were worth more than nothing at the very least.

A Tragic Scene

I find another spot near Athens and figure I’ll check it out even though there’s no river there and there is on the map. Who knows. I fast travel and get a cut scene.

Geez, looks like there was some kind of massacre happening here. There are some dead people and an injured dude implores for help and the sky is all murky and rainy and tinted sepia. Either something bad happened here, or we somehow fast traveled to Mexico. 

I guess I’ll check in with Aspasia before I continue with my feather treasure quest.

As I head on, I pass by Kleon talking shit about Pickles some more. He wants to make Athen’s great again, which still isn’t winning me over to his side of things. I’m supposed to talk to him, but Aspasia is first on my priority list at least.

Okay, here’s the deets: Perikles is sick. He wants to go to his Parthenon and he doesn’t want to see Hippokrates or anybody really.

Little known Plague Symptom: Brown Skies

I guess the Plague has taken over Athens and not Sparta ransacking the place like I first thought. Is this the same plague I unleashed on my home island? Maybe I should have investigated that sooner. In any case, Aspasia will only talk to me about mom if I go help out Perikles and get him to take his meds. Of course I will! I will talk to Kleon first just to get it over with though. 

I don’t find him, but I do find Hippokrates. He doesn’t know where this came from, but he doesn’t know it spreads through err…bodily fluids. His recommendation is to burn the bodies so it can’t spread more. I agree to help him out and I have to avoid some religious fanatics whilst doing it of course. I wish I could impart my future knowledge of vaccines onto this situation, but alas.

After that’s done, I don’t think I have to actually talk to Kleon, so I won’t. Time to see Perikles. He takes his medicine and is all sad and despondent about Athens dying of plague and Kleon taking over when he dies, and the gods abandoning him. He feels like he should live out his last moments in the Parthenon. Both me and Aspasia agree that he probably shouldn’t risk the travel what with his illness and fanatics running around. 

I have to run back to Aspasia now and give her the news that Perikles took his medicines, and now I get to be sad with her. This quest is just running back and forth being sad.

Isn’t the Literal Plague Enough?

 I’d really like to get out of here and not die of the Plague, but alas again, dear Phoibe has gone missing on an errand. I chastise Aspasia for sending the kid out in the dangerous streets and now I have to go and retriever her. 

When I get to the dude’s house she’s supposed to be running her errand at, I don’t find her, but I do find everybody dead. After I look at the clues, which don’t clue me into much of anything except maybe my sis is sending a message for the cult, my only instruction is to exit. I sense an upcoming cut scene. Possibly with Kassandra.

Nope. I hear a scream and have to go rescue Phoibe from the cult. I make sure to get as far away from her as possible to do battle. Like…I don’t think I can kill an MC accidentally or out of historical context, but I did once accidentally stab Sokrates which didn’t do anything but it did make me feel really bad (and sometimes my horse collapses if we fall off a really high cliff or a lion jumps us, and that makes me feel even worse.)

And after I do away with the guards I return to find Phoibe already dead anyway. Like, I had a feeling this was coming eventually, but it still hurts.

 I leave an eagle carving in her hand and say a prayer. Seriously, these cult fuckers are going down. Hippokrates and Sokrates arrive to inform me that Pickles is missing (where did Sokrates come from? He is everywhere!), but I just want to give Aspasia the what for for putting Phoibe in danger in the first place. I manhandle Hippokrates a bit and they tell me to look in the Parthenon and agree that I should probably use their level headed escort before I do something regrettable.

Kassandra, No!

Well, I don’t (do anything regrettable) . In fact I choose not to blame Aspasia. I mean, she’s not a cultist as far as I know. I vow to avenge Phoibe. Sokrates and Hippokrates arrive to tell us how everything has gotten even more sucky in the past few minutes and in the meanwhile Perikles is indeed inside and it sounds like he’s being attacked or something.

Oh, cool, Demios aka Kassandra is there with Perikles in a classic…Oh crap, she’s going to break his neck pose. No, she has a knife. She does that instead without much preface except the usual ‘you can’t stop me, Greece belongs to me etc…nonsense’, and this is a cut scene so I can’t do anything to stop her anyway.

 Is this how Perikles actually died? (No, he died of the plague in real history apparently) 

After I defeat Kassandra’s guards, I promise to give my remaining friends refuge on my boat. It’s getting a bit crowded on this thing. 

First some Athenian soldiers try to stop us from getting on board because Kleon said so. I knew that guy was a dick. It doesnt take long to defeat those guys and upon doing so Hippokrates and Sokrates inform me that they must stay in Athens to help her get back on her feet. I try to convince them to come with me, but they’re going to fight the good fight. I make them promise to give Phoibe a proper burial and on that, the sourest of notes, Me and Aspasia are on our way!

[thatkatiecooney]

The 7 Elements of a SCENE

There are few things as soul-crushing in the writing process (at least to me) than getting a bunch of characters in a room with the intention of something happening, then the characters proceed to stand around and stare at each other.  

Or worse, look at you like this. 

My characters didn't know why they were there. I didn't know why they were there either. I had no clue what they were supposed to be doing, so I'd start throwing random instructions at them: "Fight, characters! You guys should fight now! Maybe fighting will make this event have a purpose!" Which inevitably resulted in characters going through the motions of battle for no apparent reason, like they had all lost their minds.

What was the problem? I didn't know how to write a scene. I didn't know what a scene was. I had a vague definition that it was something about changing scenery, or just "something happening".

It's not. And once I learned what a scene was, my characters got to stop pummeling each other, while wishing they could pummel me. 

So what is a scene? 

The definition of a scene is kind of like the definition of a story. Story is change, a massive change in the life of your main character. A scene is change too, but much smaller, and part of that huge story change. You couldn't have the BIG change without these tiny changes. Thus, a scene is not switching scenery. It's not flipping to a new Character's POV. It's one segment of change, which triggers the next change, which triggers the next, which gradually build into sequences, which build into Acts, which build into story. 

So what goes into a scene? How does it work?

1. Alternating Charges

If a scene opens positive, it will turn negative by the end. If it opens negative, it will end positive. Simple. 

2. Character Goals

Everybody in a scene wants something. If they don't want anything, they shouldn't be in the scene. And these characters, with their often opposing goals, are going to employ different tactics on each other to get what they want. Which creates . . .

3. Escalating Conflict

Conflict is created when one character wants one thing and another wants something else, right? So the characters in the scene are each pushing for something different, each new tactic increasing in determination. And what are these actions called?  

4. Beats

The beats of a scene are exchanges of action and reaction. One character does something, another character reacts. All exchanges (beats) are pushing the scene onward, building tension and conflict, until finally . . .

5. Turns & Revelations

The scene turns. The positive has changed to negative. Something has been discovered. The story has spun in a new direction.

6. Connection to Story Objective

Every scene must be connected to the BIG goal of the story, the main character is taking small actions to reach that big goal. If it isn’t obviously connected to this big plot, it won’t make sense. Your reader won’t know why the heck they’re reading the scene. Which brings us to . . . 

7. Logic & Necessity  

Every scene must be necessary. It must be able to be linked with the previous scene. “Because that happened in the previous scene, THIS must happen in this scene.”

So! To see how that all works, let's break down a scene from Tangled. (Because I used it in the last post to map out how a premise works, and my little writer heart can't resist symmetry.)

Which scene? The one right after this happens: 

Opening Charge: Positive. She's realized everything. 

Rapunzel's Goal: Rise up against her mother -- finally. 

Gothel's Goal: Regain control.

Escalating Conflict: They're fighting over who controls Rapunzel, and this battle causes them to go from "mother and daughter" to "enemies". The conflict builds nicely in this scene, causing the story turn.

Connection to Story Objective: Throughout the movie, the big thing Rapunzel wants is freedom, she wants her life to begin, she wants to have a new dream. This is the moment she figures out how to do that; it's not escaping the tower, it's escaping Gothel's control over her.

So! Here's the scene.

Beat 1

"Rapunzel? Rapunzel, what's going on up there?"

Ignores her. Still processing the tremendous implications of this revelation. 

Beat 2

"Are you alright?" 

"I'm the lost princess." (Dumbfounded. Almost whispering it to herself.)

Beat 3

"Oh, please speak up Rapunzel! You know how I hate the mumbling." (Bullying.)

"I am the lost princess! Aren't I?" (Fighting back. She will not be bullied anymore.)

Beat 4

Gothel stares, stunned. She's rendered temporarily speechless, because her secret's been revealed finally, and her victim is actually fighting against her.

"Did I mumble, Mother? Or should I even call you that?" (Accusing. Drawing herself up taller. Looking down on Gothel and glaring. She's seeing her clearly for the first time in her life.)

Beat 5

After a pause, thinking up a tactic. "Oh, Rapunzel, do you even hear yourself? How could you ask such a ridiculous question?" (Laughs. Ridicules. Attempts to make her feel childish, dumb, worthy of being mocked. Tactics which have always worked. She even begins to hug her.)

Rapunzel pushes her. "It was you! It was all you!" (Still accusing and angry, but pain is beginning to show. It's almost like she's giving her a chance to explain herself.)

Beat 6

"Everything I did was to protect you." (And Gothel doesn't say anything redeeming. She's holier than thou, regal, bestowing kindness on an ungrateful, stupid child. Trying to control through guilt.)

Rapunzel rams her out of the way. 

Beat 7

"Rapunzel!" (Shouting. Now trying anger.)

"I've spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my power . . .” (Leaves her.)

Beat 8

"Rapunzel!" (Still trying the anger angle.)

"But I should have been hiding from you." (Throwing the truth at her.)

Beat 9

"Where will you go? He won't be there for you." (She's tried everything else. It's time to attack her heart.)

"What did you do to him?" (Fear)

Beat 10

"That criminal is to be hanged for his crimes." (She's keeping up the disapproving mother act, but striking her right where it will hurt her most.)

"No." (She's stopped. Shrinking in on herself. Staring, horrified. And Gothel thinks she’s won.)

Beat 11

"Now, now.  It's alright. Listen to me. All of this is as it should be." She goes to pat Rapunzel's head, a gesture symbolic of her superiority, her physical, mental, and emotional control over her victim.

Rapunzel grabs Gothel's wrist. "No! You were wrong about the world. And you were wrong about me! And I will never let you use my hair again!" 

Beat 12

Gothel wrenches free, stumbling backwards in shock and anger, breaking the mirror in the process. 

Rapunzel walks away. She's escaped Gothel emotionally now.

Beat 13

"You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. Now I'm the bad guy." (Well, now emotional control is over. It's time to start stabbing Rapunzel’s boyfriend.)

This action has no reaction, interestingly. It leaves us hanging, a cliffhanger created with only beats. 

Closing Charge: Negative. She's now a full-fledged villain, the motherly persona shed, and she's determined to get what she wants whatever the cost. 

Turn: It changed from positive to negative,  and now we’ve got a Flynn-stabbing witch to deal with.  

Revelation: She's always been evil. She has always been the bad guy. The motherly act was just that, an act. 

Logic & Necessity: This scene fits with the previous scene, and the one that follows.     

Though I've seen these concepts in many books, the place I first learned about it (and the best resource for scene design in my opinion) is the book Story by Robert McKee. It's helped me countless times, is one of my favorite books on storytelling, and I highly recommend it if you write anything.

I realize that these definitions were a little vague, so I’ll be explaining things more thoroughly in subsequent posts. 

[kashmiresims]

Forgotten Empire

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Orion appreciated all types of music. Jazz was something he didn't hear often but still loved it when he did. The Jazz bar Nick had gotten them into without paying cover was a cozy dive in downtown Scandalica City; it was called The Smooth Mute.

Despite being in a place buzzing with music, with a guy he liked, and one of his good friends—Orion just wasn't feeling it. Cain had ordered them some martinis and Nick was drinking beer. Maybe alcohol was the reason. Orion didn't usually drink but took sips of his martini since Cain was kind enough to buy it for him.

Or, maybe the reason Orion wasn't feeling the atmosphere was because Nick was seated in between him and Cain, and it was the first time in awhile that he and Cain were able to go out. Orion would have liked to sit next to Cain and he didn't want to come off as pushy or ungrateful toward Nick by demanding they trade spots, so he kept quiet. Cain didn't seem to care who sat by him; Nick didn't seem to notice the guys were kind of together.

It shouldn't have bothered Orion so much that Nick and Cain were getting along famously. It was good at least one of his friends was warming up to Cain. It wasn't like Nick was into dudes either, but he did seem to be a natural flirt when he talked to people and his extroverted nature made people like him rather quickly. It had always been that way, ever since they were boys. Orion still wondered exactly why Nick had left the fraternity—it was an environment perfect for him.

Nick and Cain were currently discussing sports, something Orion didn't have that much of an interest in so he focused his attention on the jazz players and took another sip of his drink. He only acted like he did because all his friends were into it.

"We should go to a game sometime. I have a connection at the student center that can get us discounted tickets," Cain said.

"That'd be awesome. I used to play in high school but sort of lost the time to practice," Nick smiled, "What about it Orion? You want to go to a soccer match with us sometime?"

Orion blinked a few times since he was finally being addressed, "Sure."

How was it that Orion had become the third wheel on his own date?

"That reminds me..." Cain swirled his drink around and eyed Orion. Orion felt a bit hopeful they'd finally talk about something else. "You have that third room upstairs you and Cypress use as storage—why don't you clean that out and let Nick live with you?"

Orion wasn't expecting such a question and Nick wasn't either. Orion hadn't even thought about offering Nick the room. Did that make him a bad friend?

"I didn't know you had a third room! I thought that was a closet!" Nick laughed, becoming eager that there was a chance he wouldn't be homeless for much longer.

"Um, no..." Orion thought about it. Cain and Nick looked at him expectantly and he didn't want either of them to think he was a jerk. He'd have to talk to Cypress but didn't see the harm in having Nick live there, "I guess if you wanted to split the rent you could move in."  

Nick reached over and grabbed Orion into a grateful hug, "Bro, you and Cy are the best! Thank you!"

Nick's pocket started buzzing suddenly and he dug his phone out to look at it.

The Caller ID indicated that his father was calling.

Great, he thought to himself sarcastically. Way to ruin the mood. His father calling was never a good thing—but knowing him, he wouldn’t stop until Nick answered. Nick took a swig of beer and excused himself from the table to go outside where it was quieter and he could take the call.

The night air was a moderate temperature, and the streets were relatively empty because it was a Monday evening. No one was even passing on the sidewalks. Good, the less there were to hear his Dad’s shouting, which was all their conversation inevitably spiraled into as of late.

Nick pressed the ‘accept’ icon and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” “Hello Nicholas,” his father’s voice was even, almost bordering on displeasure.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“Can you explain to me why one of my biggest donors just pulled out of my campaign?”

“Uh…” Nick stalled, not really knowing what the heck his dad was referring to or why he would think his son was involved, “Who would that be?”

“Pryce Cosgrove, the CEO and President of the Cosgrove Collective. He cited his reasons for dropping funding was that if ‘my son can’t take his greek society membership seriously, then how could I—as your father—take my position as mayor seriously.’ Why would he have such an impression?”

Here it was, the moment before the storm. Nick had to take a deep breath before responding, “I quit the fraternity.”

He expected a loud, angry, inquiry as to why but it was even worse. There was silence.

Nick scrambled to fill it, “Cosgrove’s son was drugging drinks at our parties. I made my objections clear but he’s the president—it wasn’t like he was going to stop so I had to leave. It's okay, though, I'm not a hobo. I'm going to live with Orion and Cypress.”

“You’re ruining me, son,” his father said in an exasperated sigh, and it struck Nick harder than he’d have thought. Didn’t his dad even listen to what he was saying? Girls were being taken advantage of and Elm Calhoun could only be concerned for himself and his image.

“I can’t be a part of a school society that thinks something like that is acceptable.”

“It’s a part of being in that society. You just deal with it and move on,” his father snapped.

Nick was rendered speechless before a blast of anger shot up through his body and out of his mouth, “If that’s true, and you really believe it then you are the worst judge in the history of Kashmire and I hope you lose this election hard!”

With that sentiment aired, he ended the call. He couldn’t stand his father—the most conceited, arrogant, and inattentive man Nick had ever known. This was why he always referred to himself with his mother’s surname—the family name of his Grams and Gramps—a name that invoked the love they had given him throughout his life: Hart.

Calhoun was his legal last name, the name he was born with, the family he was born into but he refused to share the name of the man he reviled so much and it gave him the tiniest of petty pleasures that every time someone referred to him as Nick Hart it would drive his father mad.

Nick knew what he’d said to his father wouldn’t be without consequence and he shuddered to think what his dad would do if he happened to unseat the current Mayor. He wasn’t that worried, though. Orbinson was incumbent, and that whole family was a political dynasty in the region. He could only surmise that his father was running for the mayorship because he wanted more power and passing life-altering judgments on people wasn’t enough to satisfy him anymore.

Nick fiddled with his phone absently, wondering how his father was going to punish him for his insult. Nick was always the defiant Calhoun son—sneaking out, questioning orders, trying to plan a path in life that his father had a minimal hand in. Shane was clearly the favorite son, the academic with a bright future, and Kit was so innocent, he wouldn’t question anything their father did. 

Nicked pocketed his phone, figuring he should get back to the guys before they started to wonder.

They spent another hour or two drinking and listening to jazz. Nick found Cain Nova wasn't half as bad as Cypress seemed to think. He was funny and could keep up a good conversation though he and Nick seemed to try and out-brag each other many times. They ended up paying their tab and laughing their way out the door while quoting their favorite comedy movies.

As they were walking back to the bus stop, they passed a series of warehouses.  

"What was this place?" Nick asked, gesturing toward a three-story brick warehouse that had seen better days.

"Oh, the old Armscor warehouses. It used to be a packing place thirty years ago or so that went out of business. The city should probably demolish the lot—it's just more urban blight," Orion answered and they stopped briefly to look at it. He forgot how he knew that fact. Maybe he read it in a history book?

Orion saw nothing special but Cain and Nick were seeing something different and instead of continuing toward the bus stop, they wandered into the lot.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Orion caught up with them as Cain bashed off an old, rusted lock attached to the chain on the doors leading into the front warehouse.

"Aren't you curious?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, where's your sense of adventure?" Cain teased. Orion looked through the dusty windows at the dilapidated interior. He shuddered. There were probably mice in there too.

"I promised Cypress I wouldn't get his shirt dirty," Orion shook his head and made an excuse not to enter.

"Well it's your loss," Cain dismissed the worry and pulled open the door which made a creaking noise loud enough to wake the dead.

"You can just keep from rubbing against anything," Nick suggested, "Come on and check it out with us." He too went through the double doors. Wasn't this breaking and entering? Trespassing? Orion stood beneath one of the only working lamp posts on the lot and felt a vast sense of loneliness with the darkness surrounding him.

He swallowed his apprehension and followed.

Cain and Orion had already made it to the second floor; It was dark and there were silhouetted mountains of old boxes. It was like the company had gone under and didn't bother to clear anything out, just packed up and left it the way it was. It was kind of a sad notion--simply abandoning all the products. It wasn't like they could hire anyone or pay to have it removed, so it all just sat there gathering rust and dust over the last three decades.

"I wonder if any of the lights work?" Nick wondered out loud and his voice echoed off the ceiling and through the expanse of the room.

Orion tried extra careful not to bump his shoulders or sides into any of the protruding clutter. He could barely see Cain climb another set of stairs onto the next level that overlooked the warehouse's second floor.

"I think I found a switch!" Cain called down to them. Nick and Orion hurried up after him. They heard a metallic clink, then a groan and finally a dull buzz as several of the overhead lights flickered on and illuminated the warehouse.

"This place is awesome!" Nick exclaimed with the edge of excitement in his voice. It felt like he was a kid again and had the opportunity to explore a big, mysterious playground. What were in the boxes? What was in the other warehouses? The world was at his fingertips.

"Indeed," Cain mused.

"Let's get out of here," Orion said and put his hand on Cain's shoulder, "We shouldn't be here."

"Chill out," Cain put his arm around Orion's waist to give him ease, "No one cares enough about this place to complain about a few mischievous college students rummaging around in it."

Orion relaxed just a little, perhaps now not so eager to move because of the placement of Cain's hand.

"I'm going to check out the next warehouse," Nick said and slid down the stair rail, which left a streak of dust on the backside of his workout pants. He patted himself down and ducked out a side door to the fire escape. Cain made a move to follow but Orion wrapped his arms around Cain's shoulders and kept him from leaving.

"Can't we just be alone for two seconds?" He pleaded in a quiet voice, the frustration obvious in his tone.

Cain stopped and considered the request, "What's the matter? I'm just trying to get along with your friends. You always encourage that, and it's not like Cypress makes it easy."

"I know, I appreciate your... enthusiasm but I want to spend some time with you. I've missed you."

Cain's prominent brow softened and then grinned wolfishly, taking Orion's hand without another word and led him to the supply lift. Orion was curious to where they were headed but didn't question it. He trusted Cain. 

The switch Cain had found earlier must have activated the power grid the warehouse was on because to Orion's surprise and relief, the lift functioned and delivered them to the roof of the warehouse.

The of view of downtown was pretty stellar. Thankfully the rooftop was solid as they stepped out of the lift and onto it. Cain pulled Orion forward and held him in his arms, "I missed you too, star boy."

The way Cain said 'star-boy' made Orion melt a little. When they had first met and Orion introduced himself, Cain took to calling him that on account of Orion sharing a name with the constellation.  

"How's that Tranquilicis treating you?"

"It's amazing," Orion felt himself smile. If it wasn't for those pills who knows how many anxiety attacks he would have had? He could have been having one now with all that had happened this evening, but at least had the sense to take one before he left the house.

"That's good to hear. I'm glad it's working for you."

"I was wondering," Orion mumbled, "Can I get some more? I think I only have a few left."

"Of course," Cain reached up and skimmed his fingers tenderly along each side of Orion's jaw—right where it met at the neck—and leaned forward. Orion let his eyes fall closed and parted his lips in anticipation but then... they heard the doors to lift squeal open.

They ripped away from each other and faced the doors to see Nick appear, "Here you guys are. I guess I accidentally left you behind. Sorry, my bad."

Orion knew it was unkind and that he'd regret it if it actually happened, but he couldn't help but to imagine bellowing with rage and throwing Nick off the roof in that instant. He'd be out a roommate but maybe he'd actually get to be alone with Cain for more than five. Freaking. Minutes.

Cain had his arm behind his back and Orion stood stiffly with his arms crossed. This was the worst date he'd ever had. It might have failed at being a date already, and reduced to a simple outing with the boys.

"Did you want to see what was in the other warehouse?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, man, let's check it out!" Cain nodded and moved forward while making a grab for Orion's hand. Orion rejected it. It caused Cain to take pause and look at him in question.

"You guys go, I kind of want to sit alone for a moment."

"Suit yourself," Cain shrugged and followed Nick down the lift. Orion sat on the slanted tin roofing and sighed. He didn't hate Nick but found it really damn annoying that Nick had ruined the moment with Cain he’d been waiting for all night. The worst part was Nick wasn't even doing it on purpose!

Cain really seemed to like Nick and maybe that was a good thing about having Nick live at the house with them—Cain would come around more often if he had someone else to get along with. Cypress didn't make much of an attempt and Orion didn't know why. Cypress just seemed to isolate himself in his room when Cain visited, rather than be forced to converse.

Orion looked out across the warehouse rooftops to the city beyond and couldn't help but to realize how peaceful it was up there. Despite the whole breaking in aspect, he knew Cypress would have loved the view too.

Nick had climbed the third staircase in the back warehouse where it ended on another landing. He'd found old furniture—beaten, battered, and worn with age. There were dirty old desks and chairs, and even holes in the floors where the lumber had given out. This was much better than the clubhouse he’d always wanted as a boy. Cain was looking through an old filing cabinet that had ear-piercing sharp, squeaking drawers.

Nick surveyed the contents of the new level and froze suddenly at what he saw. Was that...was that what he thought it was?

"Hey!" Nick called down to Mr. Eyebrows. Cain looked up to where he was. There weren't as many working lights in the back warehouse so it was harder to see.

Nick gestured with his arm for Cain to come join him on the upper level. Cain climbed the stairs and stopped to catch his breath since he'd made it so quickly at Nick's urging. Then he caught site of the same thing Nick was staring at.

"Holy shit," Cain exhaled and moved closer, covering his mouth with disbelief.

Nick smirked and crossed his arms, thinking the same thing as Cain.

Before them stood a worn old counterfeiting machine. But it wasn't just any counterfeiting machine—it was a genuine silver-age model that the old syndicates used before they were shut down. Armscor warehouses hadn't been just a packing facility, but also the business front for an empire of crime.

[howtohero]

Sound Based Enemies

You know who likes to make a huge ruckus? Supervillains. Seriously, for the most part superheroes don’t actually need any sort of alarm of warning system. When something supervillainy is going down you’re definitely going to hear it. Not just hear about it. You’re literally going to hear it. If they’re not standing atop a giant animal shaped mecha and ranting through a megaphone about the how unfair it was that they lost a childhood swimming competition to “That blasted buffoon Rodrick Rodigan” then they’re in the middle of the city square blowing up cars they “brought from home so it’s not technically a felony ha.” (You still need those alarms to alert you about like natural disasters and attacks from alternate dimensions I suppose.) Then there are some villains who have had the good sense to recognize that they’re really very loud and to weaponize that facet of their character. They use sound to commit their heinous crimes and to defeat the pesky superheroes who “deign to approach [their] superior visages.”

When you’re dealing with a supervillain who uses sound as a weapon it’s important to determine exactly how they’re using sound. Some villains for example can control others with their voices. In cases like that they don’t need to worry about the volume of their sound, just that they can make it. Even the faintest whisper can be enough to sway someone to their command. So when dealing with a villain like that you need to make sure there is absolutely no way that you can hear them. Ear plugs should generally do the trick. Like we said, these guys aren’t necessarily particularly loud so you don’t have to work too hard to protect your ears from them. But just because you had the good sense to protect yourself from the villains abilities doesn’t mean everyone else in the area did. Civilians are notoriously bad at taking the proper precautions for dealing with supervillains. It’s embarrassing really. Don’t you people watch the news? There are supervillains everywhere. New ones pop up literally all the time. I once even created a supervillain entirely by accident! (You guys remember Mustard Man? Were you around for that one? Basically I made fun of a man for his hotdog condiment choices and now he’s a supervillain.) Pack some earplugs before you go out. Don’t be a fool. 

When you’re dealing with villains who are a bit louder than your average persuasive speaker you need to take more intense precautions. For example, if your villain uses horrible screeching sounds to render people catatonic. Or if your villain has weaponized the disturbing powers of the brown note. In cases like those you need to make sure that there’s no way their sound attacks can effect you. Professionally speaking, I think that the best way to guarantee that is to just render yourself deaf. If you can’t hear you can fight these guys no problem. They’ve only got the one trick. They didn’t expect you to be immune to it. You’ve really ruined their entire day now. How you choose to make yourself deaf is up to you. It can be as simple as turning off your hearing aid or as complicated as journeying into the desert in search of a tiger shaped cave that holds within it a magic lamp which contains a genie who can magically remove your powers of hearing. Whether or not this process is permanent is up to you, but you never know when another sound based villain will pop up. So make sure you think everything through here.

Another thing you can do to stop a sound based villain is too silence them. Wow. Revolutionary. I guess you didn’t really have to deafen yourself after all. If your sound based supervillain happens to be one of the many sentient gun that shoots very loud blanks that we have running around and committing crimes (such as for example The Lone Gun or The Blanker) then silencing them is as simple as getting close enough to them to screw a silencer onto their barrel. If, for some reason, your sound based villain is not a sentient floating gun don’t fret! We can still get you through this. Try projecting some kind of cone of silence around the villain. Or a sphere perhaps. A quiet time bubble. Ooh that’s good. I have dibs on that name now! Throw a big ol’ Quiet Time Bubble® around those suckers. The Quiet Time Bubble will simply trap their evil sound waves inside with them so as soon as they try to use them they’ll just end up hurting themselves. Amazing! The Quiet Time Bubble® fights the bad guys so you don’t have to! Think of all the time you’ll save not having to physically go toe to toe with these robot/cassette players and living sound waves. Heck, you could write a book, see the world, start an entirely new society from the ground up where everybody gets their own cool personalized sweaters and money is illegal! Wow, these Quiet Time Bubbles® sound almost too good to be true. If you want in on this hot and spicy silencing action, call us now and tell us how to invent it!

Then there are villains who weaponize sound in a more aggressive way. Instead of using the sound to hurt people’s ears and brains they actually use sound to physically push people around. Which is just baffling. Why would you use sound for such things. You can push people with any number of tangible objects. Sticks, bulldozers, a cow. (Your arms!) Yet these noisy nuisances insist on cranking up the volume so loud that they’re knocking people off of their feet and hurling cars. Inconsiderate. And also, it makes it very difficult for people to get close to them. They’re always pushing people away. Which means they don’t have very many loved ones, which is sad. And it also means that it will be difficult for you to get close enough to them to beat them up. Even if you’ve got earplugs. Once again our solution lies in using the baddie’s own sound against them. 

Let’s talk a little bit about acoustics. Generally, sound bounces well off of smooth and hard surfaces while softer surfaces tend to absorb sound. So if you were planning on charging into battle wearing a suit made of pillows maybe wait a minute. (Why would that ever be the plan?) In order to defeat this bad guy they need to be overwhelmed by their own sound. Anything you try to throw at them will simply be reflected back at you. So lure the bad guy into an abandoned concrete building. Or drop one around them. Depending on what kind of resources you have. Villains are pretty easy to lure wherever you want, thanks to the fact that they’re always loudly declaring their motivations and ranting about what they want. Just put whatever that is inside the building you want them to go to. Next you need to goad them into using their powers inside. If they know anything about their powers (honestly it’s 50/50) it might be a bit more difficult to get this done. They might even figure out what your plan is and then you’re out of luck. They also might use them without thinking as soon as they see you. Really it can go either way. Some villains are really dumb. Most villains though, are extremely hotheaded to the point where a few well-place insults should trigger an explosive episode from them. For some good insulting techniques see our post on banter. Now, since you’re trying to get them to unleash their powers in a place where their powers will be reflected and bounced back every which way, you certainly don’t want to actually be in the room when that’s happening. So you need to either get a hologram projector, a good teleporter, or get tricky with mirrors to make it look like you’re there when you’re not! 

Sounds are all around us. I’m making sounds right now. If you hold up this post to your ear you may even be able to hear them! Let me know. Supervillains make more noise than anybody else and they’ve even learned to corrupt it, as they do with all things, to suit their own treacherous purposes. So you need to be prepared to fight those nefarious noisemakers and quiet them the heck down.

[crijoh]

Extra special thanks!I got so much feedback and love for my two previous Hyrule Warriors topics.For the ones who aren't sure what Hyrule Warriors isandFor the ones who want to know if buying a second/third time is worth itAs someone who's always dreamt of, tried to, and failed at being a writer, it means the world to me to see people not only enjoy my little articles, but find them useful. It's thrilling to get comments saying that they plan on buying the game now thanks to me, and even the ones who read my article and decided the game isn't for them. I love you guys. Thank you so much.So what's this topic about?This time, it's just pure gameplay tips and strategies to make you a Hyrule Warriors master. While the core gameplay is very simple, a lot of incredibly useful information is not readily available. Some of this information is going to be for specific versions of the game, but I'll try to keep the information as general as possible.Did you know that you can manually break into a sprint at any time?Everyone probably knows that when you begin running, it usually takes a few seconds before your character will break into a sprint. Some of the bulkier characters can take a long ass time before they reach their full speed and it can make some characters much more tedious than others to play. Luckily, there's a sprint button hidden right on your controller/3DS.If you dodge, and then hold the dodge button while holding a direction, you'll immediately begin a full sprint in that direction. No more waiting for your character to reach full speed. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't figure this out until the 3DS version came out.Giant bosses can be defeated without even using the item they are weak to.I hated the giant bosses in the Wii U version. Sitting, and waiting for them to perform the attack that exposes their weak point is so painfully boring. It really screws up the satisfying quick pace of the game. Luckily, you have an attack that can knock them flat on their ass immediately. Again, I didn't find this out until the 3DS version.After filling up your magic meter (the green vertical bar) you enter what's called Focus Spirit mode. From here, by performing a special attack (the one with the fancy cutscene) you'll perform a devastating attack that will immediately expose the boss's weak point gauge. This saves an incredible amount of time.3DS and Switch players will get an even bigger bonus. If they gather two of their commandable warriors at a boss, both warriors will immediately fill their magic bars to full.Don't neglect capturing outposts.As you probably know, capturing keeps will do two things for you. One, it will periodically spawn troops and raid captains who will go out and harass your enemies. Secondly, they'll often times be required for certain objectives. Raid captains are a pain in the ass, and are usually the main reason that you'll be losing your keeps, and sometimes even lose control of the whole battle in fights that drag on too long.What you might not know, is that raid captains have to stop at every enemy outpost they meet along the way to their target keep. Outpost captains are in the game to stop raid captains. Capturing an outpost takes you less than five seconds, and can stall raid captains for a long time.Don't neglect Gold SkulltullasSure, everyone loves collectables in games, but a lot of folks I've talked to largely ignored the Gold Skulltullas because they didn't really care about filling out the illustrations. They're just for the image gallery... right...? Well...Killing Gold Skulltullas does two things for you;One, you'll unlock new apothecary bonuses for each one you kill. This is hugely important for getting better weapon and material drops. Perhaps the most interesting, is that in order to get "perfect" weapons, you'll NEED these special potions. If nothing else, make sure you kill at least 50 Gold Skulltullas in your travels.The second reason is that the first time you complete any illustration, you'll unlock an adventure mode map called the "Rewards Map". You'll get a new tile for every illustration you complete. This map will have special stages based on the illustration you finished, plus special rewards.So how do you make a Gold Skulltula appear? It's different for each one. Each Legends mode Skulltula is unique, and you'll need to look up a guide for that. As for Adventure mode, they typically appear after 1,000 KOs, or if you complete the first objective and get 1,200 KOs before taking 4 hearts of damage. Be sure to check a guide if you aren't sure.My Fairy mode makes getting A ranks very, very easy.This is only for the 3DS and Switch folks, as My Fairy isn't in the Wii U version.One thing that everyone should understand about the enemies in the game is that there are thousands and thousands of them. More than the game can render at once. If too many gather in one area, they have to "wait their turn" to spawn in. There might be 1,000 monsters in one small area, but you can only see a small portion of them. This is the reason that you can be slaying enemies non-stop and they seem to just keep spawning in.The answer to this is My Fairy. The fairies have a special magic blast that they unlock once they're a high enough level. This attack not only kills all of the monsters in an area around you, but also kills all the monsters that are waiting their turn to spawn in the area. This can easily net you hundreds, or even over a thousand kills in a single attack depending on where you use it. Use your map to find the area with the highest concentration of enemy captains. Usually that is where the majority of the enemy army is waiting to spawn. Swoop in with a full magic meter and pop off your fairy barrier blast, and enjoy your free few hundred kills.This will help you get the 1,200 KO requirement for a lot of A rank missions very easily.I highly suggest checking out a more detailed guide on My Fairy. Some of the special abilities they can give you are straight up unreal, but it takes a lot of effort to create your perfect fairy.Most of the "bad" characters aren't bad at all, and just have deeper mechanics.I notice a lot of people seem to try a character out, find them lacking, and pass them off as just being a "bad" character. Some of the most powerful characters are ones that just tend to have confusing mechanics, such as Zant, Agitha, and King Daphnes.Lets look closer at Zant: People will immediately notice that all of his combos end in him stunning himself. If you stunned yourself as Zant, you pushed his combo too hard. Zant has a sort of "rage" mechanic. When you perform a combo, you can keep hitting the heavy attack button to really lay into enemies. As you do, his rage meter builds up. If it reaches maximum and you continue to push the attack, he will over exert himself and get stunned. The idea is to stop hitting the button the moment it reaches maximum. At that point, you can cool him off by simply performing his heavy attack to unleash a flurry of spinning blades or projectiles. This mechanic isn't explained well in the game, so a lot of people are left wondering how the heck to play as him. He's actually one of the most powerful, and fun characters to play once you get the hang of him.I highly recomend checking out Gamesbrained's character guides on Youtube for every character. Really, watch them all. Did you know that you can have Young Link put on his Keaton mask and roar? Or have Linkle put her hood up? You learn cool shit like that in his videos.Some characters are vastly better than others, but there's really only one or two that are plan "Bad", and Agitha isn't one of them.Not much else to say, but again, I'm going to recommend watching Gamesbrained's character guides.Elements matter. They actually have three different uses.Believe it or not, your weapon element does a lot for you.First of all, you'll get a significant attack bonus for using a weapon of that element in that stage. That's why it's very useful to have "main" characters of each element. Luckily, on the 3DS and Switch versions of the game, you can get weapons that have dual elements. The recommended element is the element that will trigger for any given stage. On top of that, depending on what badges you buy for your skill trees, you can give yourself hefty defense bonuses for stages with certain element types.Don't go in thinking that you can "counter" a fire-element stage with a water element weapon. It doesn't work like that. You'll want to take a fire weapon to a fire stage.Each element also applies a special status effect on enemies:Fire causes airborne enemies to explode when they hit the ground, dealing splash damage.Water wraps a bubble around an enemy's head, slowly causing damage.Lightning causes increasing bonus damage for each hit that an enemy takes before they hit the ground.Light causes bonus damage to groups of enemies that are hit consecutively.Darkness causes bonus damage to single enemies that are hit consecutively.Interestingly enough, a lot of weapons have a moveset that compliments their specific element. For example, Ghirahim is the best one on one duelest in the game, and his darkness effect compliments that very well.It should be noted that not every attack will apply a weapon's element to an enemy. For example, Shiek's harp can apply all sorts of elemental effects, but still only gains the damage bonus from "Lighting recommended" stages.On top of that, every enemy, giant boss, monster captain, and even playable hero has an elemental weakness:Fire: King Dodongo, Gibdo, Moblin, Stalmaster, Icy Big Poe, Agitha, TingleWater: Manhandla, Helmaroc King, Fiery Aeralfos, ReDead Knight, Lizalfos, Big Poe, Stone Blin, Goron Captain, Darunia, VolgaLightning: Argorok, Aeralfos, Darknut, Dinolfos, Shield Moblin, Big Blin, Lana, Ruto, MarinLight: The Imprisoned (large and small), Ganon, Phantom Ganon, Ganondorf, Midna, Zant, Ghirahim, Cia, Wizzro, Twili Midna, Skull Kid, Ravio, YugaDarkness: Gohma, Hylian Captain, Link, Impa, Sheik, Zelda, Fi, Young Link, Linkle, Toon Link, Tetra, King Daphnes, Medli, Toon ZeldaThis can be a tad hard to predict, so it's best to simply use a weapon that grants you the "element recommended" bonus.Unlocking the true Master SwordYou may have noticed that Link's Master Sword has two locked abilities on it. These abilities don't become unlocked until you've unlocked every other weapon in the game. After that, you'll need to grind out a whopping number of monster kills before the abilities reveal themselves, but they are incredibly powerful. They will make the Master Sword in to by far the most powerful weapon in the game, even moreso than "Perfect" weapons. It seriously turns the Master Sword into a "win" button, but it's effectively one of the hardest things to unlock in the game.Getting a "perfect" weapon.A perfect weapon is the best weapon that you can get with any specific character. In the 3DS and Switch versions, this means a dual element, level 4+ weapon, with 8 slots, 5 stars, and 750 base damage.It's actually not terribly complicated to get one. In order to find that weapon, you need to be holding the weapon type you're looking for. For example, if you want a perfect Ocarina for Skull Kid, you need to be attempting this with an Ocarina weapon. You'll need to use the blacksmith to equip the Stars+ and Slots+ skills to the weapon. Then, before each match you need to get the Apothecary mixture "Weapon Rank III". This is going to require that you kill 50 Gold Skulltulas.It remains to be seen what the best maps will be for grinding this out on Switch, but on 3DS, a good one is B-16 in Lorule. Finish the mission, and look over your rewards. If you don't like what you see, simply reset your system before leaving the weapons screen and saving. You'll save your pricey Apothecary mixture.It's a beautiful thing.Also make sure you're appraising those hidden weapon skills. Some of the hidden ones are absolutely insane. Much more exciting than Darkness+.None of the above information is mandatory for you to have an amazing time with this game.I've gone over a few somewhat intricate mechanics of the game. Really, none of them are mandatory for you to have a blast playing the game. You don't need the ultimate My Fairy skills, or the perfect weapons in order to have a fantastic time. Though... really you should learn how to sprint.Got any tips you'd like to throw in? If you teach me something new about the game, I'll include it here with credit!Thank you all so much!Edits:/u/Henryuuk pointed out that Focus Special Attacks force ALL enemies to reveal their weak point, not just giant bosses. Go upvote his comment here. via /r/NintendoSwitch

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

Sooo happy that summer is over.  That season is a bane upon my existence.  But hey, the temps about 30 degrees cooler than a month or two ago, and the winds gonna be a blowin’ tomorrow, so how about celebrating with some Nanoha?  …OK, I would have been watching this anyway, but now I can do so wearing a festive, pointy hat.  So let’s get down to episode 7, “Hotel Augusta”.

* And the episode starts off with Tea unloading her insecurities as early as the pre-episode intro narration.  Gonna be a nice, fun episode!

* Once the episode starts properly, the officers fill the recruits in on the next mission while approaching their eventual destination in Storm Raider.  They’re informed of Jail, and the mission is security detail at an art auction which includes some approved Lost Logia.  Which makes me wonder what makes them approved.  They’ve been deemed harmless?  The scientists have all the tech they can get for them and need to recoup cost of research via artifact dealing?  They’ve been rendered completely inert?

* Subaru, I don’t think it’s generally a good idea to give superior officers pettings.

* Back to the briefing, the reason they’re going to provide security is there’s a concern that one of the Lost Logia might be misidentified as a relic by the Gadgets.  That and there’s usually some under the table dealings at big auctions anyway, so, you know, there’s that too.

* Caro is curious about what’s in the 3 small boxes next to them.  There’s a game show joke in here somewhere.

* To answer her question, let’s just say… “bomb casings”.  But more seriously, if they wanted to be subtle, they wouldn’t use their badge to get in or have uniformed troops outside.  The others would be dressed up too.  And if they’re not being subtle, they should have dress uniforms they can wear instead.  Oh well, why question fanservice?  Besides for the enjoyment of nerdy nitpicking.

* Wait, so Hayate’s Device being a “Book of Darkness” type named “Tome of Night Sky” is public knowledge, but everything else is classified?  This makes me wonder if they thought they could fool anybody who did the research for a few minutes.  It also makes me wonder if there are other “Book of Darkness” type Devices out there now. Just how popular a model is it? Actually, did it predate the incident on Earth, with early attempts to replicate the legendary feared planet destroyer in at least some scaled back form?  Or heck, was it a model that technically never went away entirely, it just became less popular after the BoD went haywire?  “Book of Darkness” actually being a recognized type raises so many questions…

* Tea muses on the nature of Riot Force 6, specifically how much power it actually has at its disposal, how Hayate has so many S rankers who answer personally to her for some reason, and how even the support staff are the young prodigies of their fields. And then she comes to the conclusion that she’s the only “average” one in the whole group, making her far behind the curve.

* The large hooded figure with the little purple-haired girl finally let’s his face be shown, showing that he is in a fact a he and apparently in the 30s-40s range at a guess. They’re nearby the auction, but the girl doesn’t sense what she’s after in there.

* A tiny mecha-bug lands on the girl’s finger and informs her that the Gadgets have arrived.  The thing looks like a little thumbtack with legs and a couple of insect wings.  Weird.

* Shamal picks up the enemy on her sensors and Signum sends Caro and Erio to form a defensive line with Tea as immediate command.

* Apparently the kids went all this time without knowing Zafira was one of them talking dogs.  I wonder how long he’s been able to con the recruits out of table scraps and belly rubs that way?

* We get a very abbreviated transformation sequence for Shamal, who is suddenly twirly, naked, then clothed again.  Boo! Give her a full one!

* Signum’s and Vita’s are a little more elaborate, but only just barely.  Have to admit I’m not feeling the love for the Wolkenritter’s transformations, here.

* The sponsors of the auction have been informed, but decided that an evacuation wasn’t feasible so they’re gonna stall until the danger is past and hope nobody notices. Not a very good plan as far as safety goes.

* And so the fight begins. Amusingly, it only takes Signum a single blow to take down one of the big orbs that gave Caro and Erio so much trouble two episodes ago.  Oh, and as Tea notes, they’re doing that with their limiters on.

* Jail calls up the hooded figures and we get names and titles for them, Knights Zest and Lutecia.  Jail admits it doesn’t look like the Relic is there, but asks the two to help him out with an “experiment” anyway.  Zest tells him to shove it, as their agreement states they don’t have to fight if a Relic isn’t involved.  Lutecia agrees though so Jail sends the specifics to her Device, Asclepius, which looks a lot like Caro’s only purple.

* Zest asks Lutecia if she’s sure about this, but she doesn’t have the same animosity he and “Agito” do towards the doc.  Then she makes with the summon magic among transparent and purple spotted tentacles, calling forth “insekt zug”.  This would apparently be a swarm of those little thumbtacks.

* The mecha-bugs fly into the far larger Gadgets, and suddenly they’re both stronger and far more competent.  What once ran purely on AI now has little pilots inside of them.

* Lutecia bypasses the front-line defenders entirely by teleporting the Gadgets straight to the hotel. Meanwhile Rein tries to locate the enemy summoner, only to discover that little thumbtacks that fly are actually a threat at her size.

* One of the bugs finds the mission objective, and Lutecia asks “Garyuu” for help.  Interesting that while she commands the small bugs, help from this second summon is a polite request.

* Holy crap, the big ones have missile launchers.

* Shamal gives the order to hold the line until Vita gets back from the front, but Tea argues that they need to go on the offensive.  Then Shamal warns her that she can’t handle as many blasts as she’s trying to make right now, but Tea claims she and Cross Mirage have this.  Then Shamal is proven right when a shot goes wild and the only reason Subaru didn’t subsequently get blasted out of the sky by one of Tea’s shots was Vita diving in for the save.

* Vita is absolutely livid at this, and commands both Tea and Subaru to stand down.  Yeah, Riot Force 6 might be casual about a lot of things, but they do not put up with disregarding orders and friendly fire.

* Meanwhile while everybody is busy with that the mostly unseen Garyuu breaks into the back of a truck in the parking garage and smashes one of the crates to get the briefcase inside. Sorry, Riot Force 6, but Mission Failed.

* Riot Force 6 isn’t actually aware of this though, so Hayate gives the kudos for a successful battle before bantering with a gentleman with long green hair named Inspector Acous.

* Nanoha and Fate are surprised to discover that the items of the auction are being introduced by Yuuno.

* Subaru tries to tell Tea it wasn’t her fault, but Tea just wants to be left alone right now, and not in the usual tsundere way of being grumpy.  Once Subaru is gone, she can have a mini-breakdown over the fact that yeah, it totally was her fault.  She screwed up bigtime, and everybody knows it.

 And that’s the end of the episode.  This one was OK, we got some nice action, a bit more of a look into some of the antagonists, and most importantly, a bit of insight into Tea’s self-esteem issues. Ones that aren’t going to be helped any by nearly killing her “tolerated friend” (i.e. obvious love interest) while going against a commander’s wishes twice over.  That’s gonna be a black mark on the record.

[steven-p-warner]

Trump’onomics: Proving Darwin wrong!

If Trump does plan to bring back jobs from China, Vietnam and India to US, he will have to reduce American wages by about 80-85% to ensure the same level of competitiveness. Is he willing to do that?

Steven Philip Warner | February 2017 Issue | The Dollar Business

Outcomes of the immediate last General Elections in three nations that matter most to an Indian exporter-importer are perhaps the most obvious evidences of how paradoxical the current situation is in this globalised market. Three nations: America, China and of course, India. While India saw its single-most popular nominee in many decades chosen to the nation’s corner office, and China (and its citizenry) was given no choice to decide on who was their Mr. Favourite, America saw its least-loved campaigner take the oath of office! [Wollah!]

Even on Presidential inauguration day, media channels around the world used words like “unbelievable”, “surprising”, “shocking”, “untrue”, and the likes, to get a grip of America, The White House and the world to be. And that’s purely because the man in charge of arugably the most influential nation in the world still – we say that because of how capable US is to finger-and-hand-twist power bodies like the Bretton Woods twins, NATO, UN, etc. – has a habit of saying whatever he feels makes that “moment” great with little respect or consideration of the ramifications of his eccentric vocal expressions. And when every time he talks about “how he forced those who hated him to concede”, we end up imagining how he may just force devastating changes on the natural pattern of trade and policy relations for not just America but the whole world. His ever-defiant ego is one representation of an independent thinking and unilateralist, who thinks his way, likes doing things his way, cares least about traditions, and has the audacity of announcing that values are for suckers and Russia a friend in public!

Historically, American presidents have been about “light-hearted caricatures”. Trump is all about “serious jokes”! [I remember one Jimmy Fallon show in the third week of January where he jests that “as per a recent survey, 70% of respondents said that the person they’d like to see at Trump’s inauguration function was “A New President”!] Historically, American presidents have been about experience in politics. He has been one about experience with controversies. Historically, American presidents have been about sober tongue and silence post-electoral college results. He has been one about taking his tweet count to newer highs. Historically, American presidents have been less about impulse (unlike the current class of Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogran). This one is about a constellation of ‘off-the-cuff’ impulse revolving around a heck of a gravitational ego. Historically, American Presidents are about playing “caring global daddies”. He’s not a world policeman – he’ll carpet bomb at will, mind you, but he’ll not sing lullabies to other sobbing Head of States. Historically, American Presidents are almost sure of what they say. He speaks against immigrants and H-1B Visas, while his very better Slovenian-born half is an immigrant herself! Somehow, this less popular, outlandish candidate becoming president has proven Darwin wrong. (Organisms evolve; yes?) The confusion however is – who’s the subject of defiance to Darwin’s Theory here – Trump or America’s voters? Or maybe most Americans decided that as Trump enjoyed shooting bizarre remarks during his campaign tours, they had a right to finger the wrong button on voting machines, hoping everyone else would choose the politically-logical candidate. Problem is – they all thought alike! So it happened. Trump won. America was surprised. And the world was shocked. And while Republicans and his supporters hope that he will keep his promise to build a wall, other nations who have big stakes in foreign trade (and their exporters and importers) still hope that he'll keep his promise, declare the election results “rigged by illegal immigrants” and step down!

Speaking of promise, some indication of how Trump becoming president could impact world trade and policy is obvious from his tweets. Like I said before, historically, American presidents have been about “silence post-results”. He has just made Twitter his hometown. But what percentage of those 140 characters emanated from his left-brain is questionable.

A quick analysis will give you a fair idea of how going forward, this Statesman will influence America’s road to greater or lesser global trade integration and impact millions of exporters across tens of other exporting nations that thrive on supplying manufacturing produce and rendering services to the world. Let us analyse some of his theories (of Trump’onomics) supported by 'his' tweets and understand what they mean when put under two scanners: Trump’onomics and Global Economics.

Trump’onomic theory #1: The world is celebrating his victory. Related tweet: “The world was gloomy before I won - there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10%...”

Analysis as per logical economics: For Trump, perhaps world market means just the American market. American stock exchanges behaved like reckless teenagers on hearing that he’s won the elections, but the fact that stock markets in the world’s top two populous nations (China and India) have fallen since Nov 8, 2016 (till Jan 20, 2017; including BSE, NSE, Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hang Seng) proves how sound his theory of global markets is! (Yes, since Nov 8, the Russian index MICEX has appreciated by 10% to 2,200 points; is Russia the new world for Trump?)

Trump’onomic theory #2: Building a wall to celebrate a border is a symbol of a defiant and great neighbour, one which your neighbour will want and reciprocate by paying for it willingly!

Related tweets: “We must build a great wall between Mexico and the United States! Mexico will pay for the wall!”

Analysis as per logical economics: What inspires Trump to build the wall is a mystery. Five issues come to mind. First, Trump’s campaign rhetoric about illegal immigration and insistence that the US needs to build a border wall is hard to understand if one goes by the falling number of illegal immigrant apprehensions of Mexican nationals at US borders in the past seven years (the count has fallen by 62% since 2009, to 192,969 in CY2016) and the reduced count of illegal immigrants since its 2007 peak. Second, forgive Trump if he is drawing inspiration from The Great Wall of China, but can someone please tell him that the Wall cannot be actually seen from the moon? There are three more facts that don’t make The Great Wall of China a fitting comparison or inspiration. One, the Great Wall is within China, not on its border. Two, China paid for its own wall over centuries. And three, the Wall was meant to stop invaders, during the BC era when passports and Visas were non-existent. Talking about making Mexico pay for it – the nation’s political leaders, including both its current and former presidents, have already confessed that it is far too short on funds or willingness to do so. Going by Mexico’s economic situation, the only way in which Trump can force money out of his neighbour is by levying a double digit tax on remittances from Mexicans working in US. But if Trump were to push any federal tax on remittances down the US Congress’ throat, it would have to be applied to all foreigners in US; taxing just Mexicans would be discriminatory. And mind you, if Mexico was to fund this plan of Trump, it will have to bow down to other security measures that Trump has on mind. How about funding toilet papers for US border patrol agents next?

Trump’onomic theory #3: Reduce outsourcing to 0%. Related tweets: “Make in USA or pay big border tax! The Democrats are most angry that so many Obama Democrats voted for me. With all of the jobs I am bringing back to our Nation, that number will only get higher. Car companies and others, if they want to do business in our country, have to start making things here again. China has been taking out massive amounts of money from US in a totally one-sided trade. We will bring back our jobs.”

Analysis as per logical economics: Alright! Before this objective of Trump makes Obama look villainous, here’s the real story. When Obama took over, America’s unemployment rate was 7.8% (Jan 2009). When he left, it was down to 4.7% (Dec 2016). So, Obama has silently reduced unemployment rate to almost half. With such silence can Trump do too. But he won’t! That’s not his style because he’s just about learning to become a political figure! Back to Trump’s objective. The millions of jobs he wants to bring back to America was lost decades ago. And since then, more than borders, there is a new virus that’s doing the damage which he probably needs to be educated on – technology! What Trump intends to do is bring back 7 million jobs lost since the early 1980s back to America! Good morning Mr. President: FYI, all jobs aren’t being replaced by cheaper ones in China or Vietnam or India. Microchips, AI and smarter softwares have arrived. And therefore technically, you can’t bring back all the jobs lost! Confirms Wharton management professor Ann Harrison who writes in a Wharton Public Policy paper that, “If you try to understand how so many jobs have disappeared, the answer that you come up with over and over again in the data is that it’s not trade that caused that — it’s primarily technology. 80% of lost jobs were not replaced by workers in China, but by machines and automation.”

"Forgive Trump if he is drawing any inspiration for his 'border wall' from The Great Wall of China, but can someone please tell him that the Chinese Wall cannot actually be seen from the moon?"

Now I’ll tell you what will happen. If Trump forces Apple to shift 100% of its iPhone and GM, Ford and Chrysler to shift 100% of their car-making assembly lines to US, it will actually force the non-American consumer to opt for cheaper alternatives to the American brands, which in turn will mean that first, the jobs went and now the company and brand themselves will! Minus Apple, the likes of Samsungs and LGs will roll in wealth. Minus GM, Rolls Royce and Ford, the Audis, Suzukis and BMWs will. Yes, if Trump's goal is to bring back manufacturing jobs, he can. But they won't be the same jobs US lost decades back. Instead of using the rod, he can incentivise and make American manufacturing plants look appealing for even Asian firms! And what if I told you that the very belief that America has lost jobs created by manufacturing is one wrongly founded? As per an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) research paper, US' manufacturing sector supported approximately 17.1 million indirect jobs in US, in addition to the 12 million persons directly employed in manufacturing, for a total of 29.1 million jobs – or more than 21% of total US employment in 2013. Here’s my final question on this theory: If Trump does plan to bring back jobs from China, Vietnam and India to US, he will have to reduce American wages by 80% to ensure the same level of competitiveness. Is he willing to do that?

Trump’onomic theory #4: Kill FTAs like NAFTA and those in the making like TPP. Related tweet: “NAFTA is the worst trade deal... and now you want to approve Trans-Pacific Partnership. I will renegotiate NAFTA. If I can’t make a great deal, we’re going to tear it up. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America's business.”

Analysis as per logical economics: There is a good reason to believe that Trump’s crusade against TPPs was largely driven by the Clinton factor and bad economics. It was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, an FTA that has not altogether been a sour deal for US. If trade deficit is all that Trump want to talk about then which trade treaty will he abuse in the name of blaming rising American deficit with China? As per the US Chamber of Commerce, six million US jobs depend on American trade with Mexico, a flow that has been greatly facilitated by NAFTA, which has helped eliminate costly tariff and non-tariff barriers. As per researches by the Wilson Center, 25% and 40% of the value of goods that are imported from Canada and Mexico into US respectively, are actually “Made in USA”!  In fact, Wharton management professor Mauro Guillen, has been open about the benefits that NAFTA has had on US. He states in a Wharton paper that, “We have gained jobs thanks to NAFTA, jobs that were in Europe and Japan. In the 1990s, after NAFTA came into effect, companies like Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes and BMW established plants in Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states, for instance. Their suppliers also came.” And talking about TPP, it is true that much of the forecasted failures of this FTA to benefit America is based on the assumption that this deal is “altogether too foolish to make” – little early to say that given this FTA has no China still and actually hasn’t seen the light of the day! And what economics teaches us is that if US leaves TPP, China will benefit the most, as NYU professor Ghemawat concludes in his HBR article, ‘If Trump Abandons the TPP, China Will Be the Biggest Winner’. [But, since Trump says TPP is bad for America, he must be right. Oh! Actually, he is. Because American voters think he is.]

Trump’onomic theory #5: Global warming is non-sense. It’s Chinese propaganda. Environmental friendly products have no future. Stop manufacturing them.

Related tweet: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”

Analysis as per logical economics: What does America do when it hears a Presidential candidate campaign against science, logic, experience, vaccination (you read it right), laboratory experiments and all things real? It gives him The White House! Economics and world trade have supported well-proven cases of scientists around the world – so bio-fuels, green technology, solar panels, etc., are increasingly becoming big business in foreign trade. But, if you are a Trump supporter, stop right there. Go back to the Hummers and side with Rex Tillerson!

This cover story deals with Trump and the impact his anti-outsourcing act will have on H-1B visas and India’s outsourcing industry. Does Trump even realise that given the differential between white collar salaries in US and India, even a 100% outsourcing tax will have practically little impact on India’s IT giants' relocation strategy. Given that salary differences between India and US across most white collar jobs areas range roughly between 300% to 500%, the only difference such a tax will make to Indian firms is their bottomlines. And if stricter rules on outsourcing and visas hit Indian companies, they will hold back from investing in US.

Trump’s take on the Turkey-Russia-US faction, at war Syria & ISIS, a hurt Israel, a sanction-free Iran, his new friend Putin, EU’s slim-down season, cursed Big Oil, tax reductions, job-gobbling monster of a China, and other such issues are all significant to decide the future of America's and world's foreign trade.

Trump’onomics makes little sense in most parts. It was probably thought of more as a campaign agenda and less to drive forward America’s foreign relations and trade with the world. Many claim that Trump will destroy relations that American importers and exporters have with their counterparts, especially with those across emerging nations like India, China, etc. His supporters opine that he will 'Make America Great Again'. Trump’onomics isn’t real. Economics is. Promising to bring back jobs and quarelling with neighbours isn’t going to make the impending inflation in America look prettier or Trump look younger.

Translation: US will lose if Trump sticks to Trump’onomics for very long. Remember, Americans are less than 5% of the world’s population. Someone tell Trump that. [Unless of course, his campaign slogan was meant to read, 'Make America primitive again'!]