#which like objectively is a lot better the bells and whistles there are crazy but I’m used to beepbox and it has the scroll watch song thing

[pebblezone]

forgot we got a recording of our concert and I’m losing my marbles Explosion Real Explosion Real

[horseyfuture]

Lockdown Horrorscopes

Welcome, horrendous mortal, to your mind-rending Lockdown Horrorscopes. It has been some time since you last graced my tent with your questioning buttocks. No, do not cross my palm with silver, we use contactless now. Just press it on that bit of the window there. Excellent. Your payment has been accepted. Let us discover what the universe needs you to hear...

---

Aries: After many weeks of lockdown, you are beginning to have conversations with inanimate objects around the house. In the middle of a one-sided argument with the toaster, a small, flint-hard piece of green-tinged pitta bread joins the debate, taking the toaster’s side and calling you a “scruffy tossbag”. You may be hallucinating, though also, that pitta bread has been there QUITE A WHILE. The pitta is chewy, but stops talking after a while. A little time later the room becomes a little sloshy, like gravy in a bowl. The fruit bowl pipes up as you walk past. It calls you a wanker.

Taurus: To fend off the tedium, you decide to play a joyful round of “how many chairs can you put on a chair”, to which the answer turns out to be “six, before getting a face full of chair”. While bleeding gently onto a chair, you consider that future sources of entertainment might be more wisely centred around (say) pillows, or kittens, or candyfloss. You do not own any of these things, sadly, as you sold what you did have to get more chairs, very much failing to anticipate the sorts of items commonly found to be of use in a lockdown. Oh well. You sigh resignedly and begin to put a chair precariously on top of some other chairs.

Gemini: Having had more Skype calls with family than anybody can healthily defend, you decide to take a long, relaxing bath. Unfortunately, you are running low on soap. Also, you forgot to stock up on bubblebath last time you went to the shop. And water. Additionally, you do not own any towels. Or a bath. Or the room for a bath. A bathroom, if you will. Still, not to be held back by trifling inconveniences, you diligently strip off and scrub yourself vigorously all over, while sat naked on the kitchen floor. Eventually, the people who own the house return and a Series of Exciting Conversations follow.

Cancer: Because you are so wildly creative and unique, you decide that among your already proven range of wondrous skills, such as writing crap poetry, making crap fan art for mawkish period dramas and attaching small pieces of technical lego to a crap hat, you will blow the minds of your friends by becoming... a baker! Yes. This will mark you out as a trend setter. You carefully go to the shop, observing social distancing except when you aren’t which is always and buy ALLLLL the ingredients for bread making. Literally all of them. So nobody else can make bread. Returning home, you valiantly point your wild intellect at the problem and, with a little help from a BBC recipe guide: YOU MAKE BREAD. It is crap.

Leo: You receive an unexpected parcel. The parcel contains mostly lizards. As well as the lizards, there is a bright red jewel which sparkles enticingly. You discover that the jewel allows you to control the lizards. And also, to see through their eyes. You, furthermore, hear their lizardy thoughts, although to be fair, their minds are fairly quiet and their thoughts are mostly “Woohaar! I’m a lizard!” With your newfound powers, you decide you will finally be freed from your virus-laden lockdown. No longer will you be caged by a mere four walls. You send your lizard army forth to bring you new sights, sounds and experiences. Unfortunately, almost everything is shut and the outside world is pretty dull. After a bit, one of the lizards politely asks if they might have their minds back, to which you accede. They agree to pop round on Thursdays. They’re good lizards.

Virgo: The Gods smile upon you today. The Gods wink at you, also. The Gods send you a direct message asking you how you’re doing today and mention that you’re looking great in that recent profile photo. The Gods say they’re doing alright, you know, but feeling kinda lonely since Karen left, so hey, did you ever get back together with Steve? No? That’s a real shame, you were a sweet couple. The Gods ask if that means you’re still single, then? You are? Oh, baby, there ain’t no justice. What you need’s a real man. You sure do. You deserve one. Or maybe even better. The Gods wonder if you’ve ever made it with a deity. The Gods wonder how come you went so quiet. The Gods say aw, come on, don’t be like that. The Gods themselves go quiet for a while. The Gods send you unsolicited photographs of their genitalia. You block the Gods.

Libra: As you open your kitchen cupboard, a wizard appears before you and tells you that of the two remaining cans of soup, one of them contains not just soup but truly endless riches: the meaning of the universe and an infinite lifespan granted to the opener, with which to explore and enjoy the myriad beauties to be found in a boundless cosmos. In the other can: SUFFERING. Problematically, though, one of the cans is tomato soup from a fairly reputable brand and the other is leek and celeriac, which your weird aunt sent you about four years ago and seems to have been manufactured by ancient Welsh hippies. You go to open the tomato and the wizard winces and whistles through his teeth. You reach toward the leek and celeriac. The wizard smiles and waggles his eyebrows. Bugger this, you open the tomato, the wizard disappears and your arse immediately falls off. You have no regrets and the soup’s pretty good.

Scorpio: You are the twat that took all the toilet roll. Helpful. Aren’t you a good little pandemic pixie? Getting up at shithead o’clock in the morning and nicking all the stuff that your neighbours might have wanted. They suspect you. They saw you carrying your many, many bags past their windows and into your flat. But what they don’t know is that you’re not using it the way they imagine. You haven’t done a poo in over five weeks now. Not since you superglued your bum together. They’d think you were crazy, but you had to. To save the toilet roll for Greater Things. The pains come again, as your tummy heaves and you try to poop through a blocked up bum, but you breathe deeply and in time this passes. Now you are free to return to your great work. Your 20ft high pornographic sculpture of the Queen, made entirely from papier mache. Your Majesty looks down on you in erotic approval.

Sagittarius: Carnival tiiiiime! It’s carnival time! CARNIVAL TIME! Oh boy, oh boy, you can’t wait! You LOVE carnival time! You’ve been waiting so long, and they said you weren’t going to have carnival time because of the virus, but you weren’t gonna miss out! CARNIVAL TIIIME! There’s a strange knocking sound. That’s not usually part of carnival time. You follow the sound to the door, which you open gingerly. Who? Ah. OK. Right you are. I see. Yup. Yup. I will. No, you’re right. I’ll do that. I will. I’ll put it back. I thought you wouldn’t mind. It’s not a real one, it’s just a, no, OK, I’ll get rid of it. And the fish. I got it online. I’ll look after. OK, no, I understand. I know. I will. I’ll wipe it off. Yep. I will. Right away. Sorry. OK. Bye mom. So. Uhhh. Yep. Yeeeep yep. It is definitely not carnival time.

Capricorn: You begin to suspect that there is something going on with your neighbours next door. There are animal sounds late at night and you’re certain they have no pets. Sometimes you hear a tapping, it seems rhythmical. Almost like Morse code. How you wish you’d remembered the symbols they taught you for that when you were at school. One morning, you wake up and sit bolt upright as the sounds of a plaintive, strangled scream are quickly drowned out by a guttural groan of ecstasy, as if something huge and ancient had been satisfied in a way that only demons would commend. Sullen red illumination fades from the windows and all becomes silent once more. You resolve to ask the vicar if he’d consider wearing headphones on his Zoom calls in future.

Aquarius: You decide that you will spend the week not wearing a bra. Why not? Why shouldn’t you at least enjoy some of the more free and easy aspects of long term self-isolation. After the week, though, you sort of miss the bra, so you start wearing it again for a few days. Yeah, actually, this is kind of better. And if this is better, how good would two bras be? You try it out. Feels amazing. Why didn’t you try this before? How could you not have realised that the problem wasn’t tight bras or ill-fitting bras, or always having to wear a bra, the problem was: Not ENOUGH bras. You immediately add a third bra. Holy crap, this is the life. Five or six bras in, you’re starting to slow down a bit, not least because of the underwiring, but you feel incredible, and the SUPPORT is off the chart! The door bell rings. You clatter to answer it, now a somewhat difficult proposition given all the bras. Delivery guy leaves a large parcel on the floor to maintain social distancing, which makes picking it up a little tricky. Again. All the bras. You hobble inside and manage to pop open the parcel. Ah yes. More bras. Perfect.

Pisces: Day 37. You miss your partner. It’s been weeks now and while the occasional saucy video call has kept some semblance of intimacy together, you have needs and an itch you cannot truly scratch. Your hamster runs noisily in its catch, the wheel squeaking. The hamster gets more exercise than you these days. If only you hadn’t sold that treadmill. You feel a kinship to the hamster, tinged with guilt. Now you yourself are confined in your house, you feel bad for locking up little Hammy. In fact, you decide to let Hammy out. You share a strange kinship with Hammy now, fellow prisoners in life’s lonely cage. So lonely. Just you and Hammy. All alone. Nobody else around. Poor little Hammy. All alone, just like you. Day 38. You look at Hammy. Hammy looks at you. Tired, but loving, Hammy’s eyes seem to say a lot of things to you and you feel a different kind of guilt now, looking into them, albeit mixed with gratitude. You put an extra helping of food in the cage, fill up the water bottle and think about where you find yourself in these strange times. You glance back up at the cage and think. “They’re going to make me marry that hamster”.

---

YES! The vision is complete. The skies briefly whirl, the oceans dance then subside and the stars cease their jagged oscillations abruptly and settle down with some snacks to watch Netflix. You have heard the universe’s dark narrative and your brain structures are indelibly marked with what must come. Now go. And tell nobody you visited me today. The police regretfully do not consider this to be classed as an essential journey.

[evangeline-perry]

Dead Poets Society: Neil x OC: part 8

masterlist

complete series

Since Neil isn’t at Welton at the moment, because he’s gone to see if he’s got the part in the play, and the boys have football training, I decided to just hang around on Neil’s bed in my comfy clothes, reading one of my books.

‘Charlie, I got the part!’ I hear the familiar voice of Neil yell throughout the hall, ‘I'm gonna play Puck! I'm gonna play Puck!’ I hear him knocking on a door.

‘What did he say?’ Meeks mumbles taking off his radio headphones

‘That's the main part’, Neil yells exitedly.

I hear Knox and Charlie congratulate him before he bounds into his room. There I’ve put my book down and now stand in front of him. He wraps his arms around me and dramatically dips me down to kiss me. I’ve vaguelly aware of Charlie and Knox whistling. When he pulls away he pecks my lips one more time before sitting down at his typewriter.

Todd and I sit down on his bad to see what he’s doing.

‘Okay, okay, okay, okay’, Neil mumbles to himself.

‘Neil, how are you gonna do this?’ Todd questions.

‘They need a letter of permission from my father and Mr. Nolan’, Neil explains.

‘You're not gonna write it’, Todd objects.

‘Oh yes, I am’, Neil laughs.

‘Oh, Neil. Neil, you're crazy’, Todd states, shaking his head.

Neil begins typing as he reads out loud: ‘Okay. "I am writing to you on behalf of my son Neil Perry."’ Neil begins laughing and stomping his feet up and down, ‘This is great.’

Once he finishes his letter, Neil gets up to go and post immediately, but I stop him by grabbing his blazers sleeve. He turns to look at me and seems to know what I’m thinking already. He puts his letter down on his desk and puts his hands on my cheeks, tilting my head back slightly so it’s easier to kiss me. He pulls me up and away from me slightly just to say: ‘Todd leave.’ in a tone that sent a shiver down my spine.

Then he pulls me back to him, his soft lips on mine. I only notice we’re walking when he sat down on his bed, pulling me on his lap to straddle him. There the arms around my waist, pull me flush against him. My hands move their way into his hair, slightly pulling his hair, causing him to quietly groan, which I enjoyed.

Suddenly I hear some snickers. I look at the door to see the Dead Poets peek in with smirks on their faces. ‘Get out!’ Neil’s voice was low and husky, I couldn’t exactly explain why, but it gave me chills. I could see the boys surprised expressions, and Charlies smirk, leave the slightly opened door, before it closed again. Before I could do anything else, Neil pulls me even closer, if that was even possible, and he started to kiss down my jaw to my neck, before biting down at the base of it. This caused me to inhale sharply, as Neil continues to kiss and bite my neck.

The next morning… let’s just say that I had to readjust my collar a LOT because of all the hickey Neil had given me. When he saw me fumbling on our way to class, he threw his arm around me and whispered in my ear: ‘Why hide them? These boys should know you’re mine.’ Which caused me to blush a bright red.

In English class, Knox stands at the front of the room with his poem in hand, ‘"To Chris."

‘Who's Chris?’ I hear some boys say, ‘Mmm, Chris.’

‘I see a sweetness in her smile. Blight light shines from her eyes. But life is complete; contentment is mine, Just knowing that...  just knowing that she's alive.’ Knox crumples his poem and walks back to his desk, ‘Sorry, Captain. It's stupid.’

‘No, no. It's not stupid. It's a good effort. It touched on one of the major themes, love. A major theme not only in poetry, but life’, My dad told him. I turn in my seat and tell Knox, ‘That was a really sweet poem, Know’, he smiles sheepishly.

‘Mr. Hopkins, you were laughing. You're up.’ Hopkins slowly walks to the front of the class and unfolds his piece of paper.

"The cat sat on the mat." he says, refolding the paper and moving to sit back down, the boys start to laugh.

‘Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. Yours is the first poem to ever have a negative score on the Pritchard scale. We're not laughing at you, we're laughing near you. I don't mind that your poem had a simple theme. Sometimes the most beautiful poetry can be about simple things, like a cat, or a flower or rain. You see, poetry can come from anything with the stuff of revelation in it. Just don't let your poems be ordinary. Now, who's next?’

My father approaches Todd's desk. ‘ Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put you out of your misery.’

‘I, I didn't do it. I didn't write a poem’, Todd mumbles quietly.

‘Mr. Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing. Isn't that right, Todd? Isn't that your worst fear? Well, I think you're wrong. I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal.’ my dad walks up to the blackboard and begins to write, ‘"I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world." W. W. Uncle Walt again. Now, for those of you who don't know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell. Now, Todd, I would like you to give us a demonstration of a barbaric "yawp." Come on. You can't yawp sitting down. Let's go. Come on. Up.’ Todd reluctantly stands and follows his teacer to the front, ‘You gotta get in "yawping" stance.’

‘A yawp?’

‘No, not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp.’

‘Yawp’, Todd says quietly.

‘Come on, louder.’

‘Yawp’, quietly again.

‘No, that's a mouse. Come on. Louder.’

‘Yawp’, a little louder...

‘Oh, good God, boy. Yell like a man!’

‘Yawp!’ a shout!

‘There it is. You see, you have a barbarian in you, after all.’ Todd goes to return to his seat but he is stopped, ‘Now, you don't get away that easy.’ he turns Todd around and points out a picture on the wall, ‘The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What does he remind you of? Don't think. Answer. Go on.’ he says as he begins to circle around Todd.

‘A m-m-madman.’

‘What kind of madman? Don't think about it. Just answer again.’

‘A c-crazy madman’, Todd stumbles.

‘No, you can do better than that. Free up your mind. Use your imagination. Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go on.’

‘Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman.’

‘Good God, boy, there's a poet in you, after all. There, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what you see.’ he pulls his hands over Todd's eyes and they begin to slowly spin around.

‘Uh, I-I close my eyes.’

‘Yes?’

‘Uh, and this image floats beside me.’

‘A sweaty-toothed madman?’

‘A sweaty-toothed madman’, Todd repeats, ‘with a stare that pounds my brain.’

‘Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him action. Make him do something.’

‘H-His hands reach out and choke me.’

‘That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful’, my dad removes his hands from Todd but Todd keeps his eyes closed, ‘And, and all the time he's mumbling.’

‘What's he mumbling?’

‘M-Mumbling, "Truth. Truth is like, like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold."’

Some students begin to laugh and Todd opens his eyes, but my dad quickly gestures for him to close them again. ‘Forget them, forget them. Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket.’

‘Y-Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.’ Todd opens his eyes again and the class is silent. Then we all begin to clap and cheer. My dad whispers something to Todd that I can’t hear before turning to the class, ‘Who’s next?’

‘How do we follow that?’ Neil whispers, leaning my way, I smile at him.

‘I’m sure you’ll figure it out Mr Perry’, My dads voice interrupts, ‘you’re up’

Neil gets up, unfolding the page in his hand. Once in the front of the class, begins to read his poem:

‘fog on her glasses

from the still steaming tea

a book in her hand

as she casually reads

a catch in her breath

as the climax grows near

she’s deaf to the world

the book’s all she can hear

she’s completely lost now,

or perhaps she is found

in this strange paper world

That’s far from the ground’

The class applauds, and Neil sits back down. My gaze follows him, he winks at me, and I smile. The class goes on as usual, until the bell goes off. ‘‘Mr Perry, stay here for a moment please, you too young lady’, my father calls as we move to leave the classroom.

All the other people leave, but the both of us go to stand in front of the desk, where my father is leaning against. ‘Do you wish to tell me something, Mr Perry?’

Neil and I share a worried glance, but my dad just goes on to ask, ‘for how long?’

‘We’ve been together officially for about a week, sir’, Neil answered nervously.

‘Are you serious about this relationship? What are your intentions in this?’ my dad continued, in a very serious tone.

‘I’m serious about what we have, sir, I… I  just want to make her happy. I...’ he stammers, I turn to look and, he’s blushing, ‘I love her.’ he says finally. What he said moved me, I take hold of his hand, directing his attention to me. ‘I love you too.’ I say softly.

Neil smiled down at me before kissing my temple. I look back at my dad to see him smile, ‘That’s all I wanted to hear.’

With that he pats Neil on the shoulder and goes back into his office, leaving both of us in shock, but relieved. After a moment Neil grabs my waist and kisses me, picking me up and spinning me.

‘How about I take you out this weekend?’ he asks after pulling away.

‘Sounds like a plan’, I smile and he leans in to kiss me again.

<- PREVIOUS/ NEXT ->

[waveridden]

FIC: living on your own time

“Mr. Kerchev is just married, and there’s nothing more that newlyweds love on honeymoons than other newlyweds to show off in front of.” Kepler arches an eyebrow, presumably to let everyone absorb that. (W359 undercover as married AU, 3.1k)

A/N: this is actually a chunk of an abandoned WIP from a handful of months ago. I decided to rework the opening scene into something presentable. The longer fic, if it’s ever finished, would be Minkowski/Lovelace and Eiffel/Jacobi, with a little bit of Eiffel/Jacobi even shining through in this scene. (What can I say? I’m biased.)

AUcember || title lyric || read on ao3

#

“Ladies, gentlemen.” Kepler looks around the room. “What do you know about the Ukrainian mob? And Agent Eiffel, don’t say that you know they’re from Ukraine.”

Eiffel closes his mouth just long enough to frown. “That’s a legitimate piece of knowledge, sir, I think it’s to my credit that I- ow. ”

“Whoops,” Hera says cheerfully, and lifts her heel so it’s not crushing Eiffel’s big toe anymore. She’s smiling, which is the worst part. Smiling like she knows that she’s embarrassing him in a mission briefing. Smiling like she doesn’t care, which is even worse. It’s the ultimate betrayal.

Kepler doesn’t even acknowledge them. Consummate professional, that guy. “Of course, we have local mob chapters all over the country, but the main boss-”

“-is in Ukraine,” Eiffel finishes triumphantly, but this time it’s Minkowski who elbows him in the ribs. “Hey!”

“Time and a place,” Lovelace says mildly, from where she’s practically draped over one of Maxwell’s fancy touch-screen computer tables. Which is totally unfair, because if it were Eiffel, Maxwell would’ve pushed him on the floor by now.

“The time is now!” Eiffel protests. “We’re talking about the Ukrainian mob! There’s no better time!”

“I can duct tape his mouth shut if you want,” Jacobi offers, which, again, definitely unfair. If Eiffel said something about duct taping Jacobi’s mouth shut, Hera would make fun of him for having an oral fixation, and Kepler definitely wouldn’t make a face like he’s considering it. Eiffel tries to glare, but Jacobi just sort of smirks at him. “Solve a couple problems.”

After a couple seconds, Kepler sighs. “Just keep poking at him until he stops trying?”

Eiffel rolls his eyes, but Minkowski and Hera both say “yes, sir” in eerie unison, so it must not be worth the effort of arguing.

“Good,” Kepler says. “The Ukrainian mob - which is based in Ukraine, thank you, Agent Eiffel - is helmed by this man.” Maxwell, standing at Kepler’s side, hits a button, and a couple of images pop up on the massive display screen. It’s a blond white guy, early thirties, with that creepy dead-eyed stare that most mob bosses have. “Mr. Yevgeni Kerchev, who likes to cause a lot of trouble by dealing arms.”

“Seems young,” Lovelace says, propping her chin up on one palm. Her eyes narrow. “Let me guess, inherited?”

“Correct, Agent Lovelace.” Maxwell hits another button, and another image comes up, this time a family photo. “Here we have Mr. Kerchev, with his recently deceased father Piotr and his missing-in-action brother Viktor. This is all speculation, of course, but we’re pretty sure that Yevgeni killed both his father and his brother in order to take over the operation.”

“Mr. Kerchev is on watchlists all over the country. CIA, FBI, NSA, anything with three letters. Hell, the EPA probably has it out for him.” Kepler’s eyes sharpen. “He’s also stolen proprietary Goddard tech to redistribute.”

Hera whistles lowly. “I didn’t know you could steal from Goddard.”

“Generally, you can’t.” Jacobi frowns at the screen, eyes narrowing. “How’d he get away with it?”

“Mob connections, probably.” Maxwell’s mouth twitches. “Probably went all Godfather on some employee.”

Eiffel jolts upright, a slow grin already spreading across his face. “They made someone an offer they couldn’t refuse?”

Jacobi glares at Maxwell, who already looks sheepish. “You had to enable him?”

“Oh, don’t hold out on me now, Doctor.” Eiffel clasps his hands together. “Please, tell me more about Mr. Kerchev sneaking a horse’s head into Rachel Young’s bed.”

“You had to enable him,” Kepler repeats heavily, and this time Maxwell shrugs. “Fine. The point is, our goal is to bring Kerchev in as soon as possible. And luckily for us, it looks like we have an opportunity.”

“Wedding bells are ringing for Mr. Kerchev.” Maxwell hits another button, and a few more pictures pop up, all of Yevgeni Kerchev with a pretty blonde woman. “Meet Natalie Delight, and yes, that’s her real last name.”

“The YouTuber?” Minkowski says dubiously.

“Who taught you what YouTube is?” Eiffel demands. He recognizes her, now that he has a career to put to the face. “Hera, did you-”

“Me, actually,” Lovelace drawls, looking immensely pleased with herself. “Someone’s got to teach our good commander how to entertain herself online.”

“Remember before we worked with them?” Maxwell sighs, slanting a longing look at Jacobi. Even Kepler looks a little wistful, which hurts maybe more than it should. “Back in the good old days, when we would’ve been done with the mission briefing by now.”

“Already be on the next flight to Ukraine,” Jacobi mumbles.

“Not Ukraine,” Kepler says. “If you all don’t mind terribly, I’d like to get you sent on your merry way, so if you could let Dr. Maxwell and I finish with your mission briefing-”

“Aye-aye, sir,” Eiffel says, and doesn’t even protest when Hera lifts a hand to close her fingers over his mouth. He doesn’t even lick her palm, because that’s the kind of chivalrous guy and good employee that Doug Eiffel is.

“Go on, sir,” Hera says, and lifts her other hand to cover the first for good measure.

Kepler doesn’t smile, but Eiffel kind of gets the impression that he’s pleased anyways. “Natalie Delight has just married Yevgeni Kerchev, and they’re going on a honeymoon. South of France, lovely spa resort, vineyard attached, very remote. They’ll be there for ten days, and that’s ten whole days where Kerchev will be out in the open for us to find.”

Minkowski leans forward. “Sir, is this an assassination or an extraction?”

“Extraction, if possible. We don’t know what Kerchev did with the weapons he stole from Goddard, and we want them back.”

“Extraction,” Lovelace repeats. “Undercover?”

“Undercover. Mr. Kerchev is just married, and there’s nothing more that newlyweds love on honeymoons than other newlyweds to show off in front of.” Kepler arches an eyebrow, presumably to let everyone absorb that.

Eiffel glances around the room. If they need newlyweds, then they need two people. Hera never goes on missions, by virtue of technically not being trained for that, and with something this secretive Kepler will probably want Maxwell to stay in Canaveral.

And of course, SI-5 mission assignments are always… erratic, to say the least. Eiffel’s not really trained for any of this, but he’s still gone undercover more than once, so there’s a good chance that he’ll be going again. As far as partners go, Minkowski’s kind of an awful liar and Jacobi is about as subtle as a flaming sledgehammer, so that leaves…

“Dibs on Lovelace,” Eiffel says, even though it’s muffled by both of Hera’s hands. She grimaces, but digs her fingers into his cheek and holds on. “Hey!”

Kepler arches an eyebrow. “Something you want to share with the class, Agent Eiffel?”

Hera reluctantly pulls her hands away, and Eiffel grins. “Dibs on Lovelace?”

“It’s cute that you think it’s your choice,” Maxwell says, “but yes, that’s the plan. You and Agent Lovelace will be going undercover as newlyweds honeymooning at this resort.”

Eiffel grins over at Lovelace, who smiles back at him, looking pleased. Sure, everyone on this team likes to act like he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and sure, they’re normally right. But something about working with Lovelace makes him better at his job. Probably something to do with them actually being friends.

“What do you say, Isabel?” Eiffel wiggles his eyebrows, and she rolls her eyes at him. “Wanna get hitched?”

“Mm, I think I’m the one who proposed.” Lovelace glances at Hera. “Can we make that official?”

“I can make that official,” Hera says, because she is Eiffel’s best friend, and by extension his greatest enemy. “Congratulations on the engagement. And the wedding. I was Eiffel’s best man, of course.”

Eiffel beams at her. “Aw, baby, you know I wouldn’t have anyone else.”

Maxwell clears her throat, and all eyes go to her. She looks excited. Unnervingly so. “Sir?”

“Because this is such a high-priority mission, we need as many agents as possible in the field.” Kepler inclines his head. “Hera, obviously, you’re staying here with me, and Maxwell is staying because she has more than enough other projects to work on. So Jacobi, Minkowski, mazel tov.”

“No,” Jacobi says sharply. “No, sir, you can’t-”

“I’m going to have to object too,” Minkowski says, looking a little green around the gills. “You don’t mean-”

“I do mean.” Kepler fixes Minkowski with a placid look, and Maxwell has to hide her smile behind her remote. “Jacobi, Minkowski, the two of you will be going undercover with Eiffel and Lovelace. This is too serious to let go because you two are squeamish about it, do you understand?”

“Colonel,” Eiffel breathes, “it’s not even my birthday and you’ve given me the greatest gift of all.” Minkowski glares at him, but Eiffel can’t even bring himself to care. This is it. He’s died and gone to heaven, which must be real after all, because now he gets to watch Minkowski and Jacobi have to act like people. People in love. People in love with each other. “Hera, am I dreaming?”

“Maybe,” Hera whispers back. “But probably not.”

“Why do I have to be with Minkowski?” Jacobi demands. “Why can’t I be with Lovelace?”

“Eiffel called dibs,” Maxwell says, which is completely true. Eiffel knew he liked her for a reason. Maxwell is Eiffel’s favorite now. “That, and we’re pretty sure she’s the least likely to go stir crazy and kill him while you’re living together for ten days.”

“Minkowski’s really not my type. And for that matter, neither is Lovelace.”

“Do you want to be married to Eiffel for a week and a half?”

Eiffel carefully looks just over Jacobi’s shoulder, so it doesn’t look like he’s invested in hearing the answer. Because that would be desperate, and Eiffel isn’t desperate.

“Maybe Minkowski won’t be so bad,” Jacobi allows grudgingly, and Eiffel doesn’t let his face fall. He refuses. Hera bumps her hip against Eiffel’s, and he bumps her back, because there’s not much else to do in a moment like this.

“If only so Eiffel doesn’t die,” Minkowski agrees. Eiffel rolls his eyes. One of these days, these people are going to get tired of giving him shit. It hasn’t happened yet, but it has to one day.

“Congratulations on your vows,” Kepler says, with all of the infinite patience of someone who is very, very close to snapping at them all. “Eiffel, Lovelace, you’re our A-team on this. You’re going to make sure Kerchev is complacent and comfortable and having the time of his life, do you understand?”

“Yessir,” Eiffel says quickly, and Lovelace nods.

“Minkowski, Jacobi, you’re backup. You only contact Kerchev and Delight through Eiffel and Lovelace, never directly. You are there for intelligence, and you are there to make sure things don’t go wrong. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Jacobi grits out. If nothing else, Eiffel can appreciate the fun shade of puce that his face is turning right now.

“Excellent.” And just like that, the vein bulging in Kepler’s neck goes from “meltdown imminent” to “meltdown might be happening next Thursday.” Eiffel barely avoids sighing in relief. “You’re leaving for your honeymoon bright and early tomorrow morning, so get packed. Maxwell already emailed out your supply lists, and we’ll have some waiting for you once you get to France. Remember, you have ten days.”

“It’ll only take four,” Jacobi promises. Minkowski mutters something in agreement.

“Eiffel’s going to help me review comm devices,” Hera announces, and grabs him by the elbow. For such a tiny woman, she has hands of iron. It’s one of the things he loves about her, although maybe not in this moment. “Right, Doug?”

“Right,” Eiffel says, because he’s not about to argue with Hera about this. “Colonel, permission to check up on the comms array?”

Kepler nods. “Dismissed, both of you. Make sure you have something that’ll work well long-distance. You never know what kind of situations you’ll run into.”

Eiffel flicks off a quick salute before Hera starts tugging him towards the door. “Hey, Lovelace, wanna go ring shopping later?”

“I’d rather shave my legs with a potato peeler,” Lovelace answers blithely, ignoring Eiffel’s full-body shudder, because ew. “Goddard’ll have rings for us, right? We kind of need them.”

“We have a selection of standard-issue fake wedding rings,” Maxwell confirms, which is maybe the strangest sentence that Eiffel has ever heard come out of her mouth. She’s starting to say something else when Hera drags Eiffel out of the room and shuts the door behind her.

“Well,” Eiffel says slowly. He gets the feeling that he’s missing something here. “Comms room?”

“Comms room,” Hera agrees. “Great place to avoid being overheard.” She starts down the hall, moving so fast that it takes Eiffel aback.

He waits until he pulls the comms room door closed to look at Hera. “What?”

“What, me?” Hera frowns. “How about what, you?”

“What me?”

“Jacobi?”

Eiffel grimaces. “Yeah, that wasn’t the best.”

“That was totally unfair of him,” Hera says nobly, which, okay, that might not be true. Eiffel doesn’t have the best track record with undercover missions, but Hera probably doesn’t care about that. She’s definitely the best friend that Eiffel has ever had: she’s smart as a whip, she’s a good listener, and she is completely devoted to defending his honor even when he doesn’t deserve it.

“Maybe,” Eiffel hedges, but apparently that’s not enough, because she glares at him. “What? The guy’s allowed to not want to marry me for the sake of taking down a Serbian mobster-”

“Ukrainian.”

“Don’t tell Kepler I said that.”

“After your whole ‘I know he’s from Ukraine’ bit?” Hera snorts.

Eiffel winces. “Not my finest moment.”

He’s never going to admit it to anyone other than Hera, who already knows all his darkest secrets, but he kind of wants Kepler to like him. It’s partly a self preservation thing, because he gets the impression that people Kepler doesn’t like go away and are never heard from again. But it’s also because he’s pretty sure everyone else on the team likes him. Even if it’s the awkward, begrudging kind of liking that people start out with, they still like him. Kepler doesn’t seem to like anyone, but Eiffel’s going to try his best anyways. Because that’s what doing his job is all about. Or something.

Hera waves him off. “You’ll have another moment soon, don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.” She flashes a smile at him, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Okay, we actually do need to do our jobs-”

“Do we?”

“Yes, Douglas, so pick a comms array for when you head off to France.”

“Alright, geez.” Hera only calls him Douglas when she’s patronizing him, or as a codeword something’s gone horribly wrong. He’s actually not sure which one of those situations is happening right now. But he gives it a minute, just to feel it out. He starts going through their communications devices - they need something that prioritizes the short-range, but Kepler was right about the long-distance - and settles on one of the newer models, setting it on the table in the middle of the room. “Think these’ll work?”

Hera, who seems to be settled in staring at the door, doesn’t even look. “Mmmhm.”

“Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“You don’t need me to tell you how to do your job, do you?”

Eiffel pauses. “Nnnnnnno?”

“Do you think those will work?”

He looks down at the case. “Probably?”

“Then they’re yours.”

“Hera, what’s-”

“Nothing!” Hera whirls around and slams her hands on the table. The comms room is small enough that the smack echoes, and Eiffel has to try not to flinch. “You know, maybe I’m trying to- to have your back on this whole Jacobi thing, which I still don’t get, by the way-”

“You don’t need to get it,” Eiffel mumbles, but shuts his mouth as soon as Hera’s eyes sharpen.

“Maybe I don’t need to get it, but I’m still trying to back you up with all this, and you don’t even seem bothered by it!” She folds her arms, and suddenly she looks far too small. “Maybe it’s bothering me, and I don’t know why it’s not bothering you that this is happening.”

Eiffel blinks. “This isn’t about Jacobi.”

She looks away, and Eiffel lets out a long breath. Of course it’s not about Jacobi. This is going to be the first time he’s going undercover since… since.

“Hera,” he says softly, and goes around the table so he’s closer to her. “All four of us are going to have a direct line to you and Alana the whole time.”

“The whole time,” Hera repeats, not quite mocking, and it feels like a fist wraps around Eiffel’s heart and squeezes. “Yeah, nothing’s gonna go wrong.”

Eiffel snorts. “Darlin’, something’s going to go wrong, and you and I both know it.”

She shoots a glare at him, which is completely undercut by how watery her eyes are. “Then why aren’t you worried?”

“Because I’m going to spend the whole time partnered up with Isabel, who’s one of the best people to have in a crisis. And Minkowski and Jacobi are going to be there, and they’re the best backup. And best of all-” he reaches out and rests his hands on her shoulders, as lightly as he can, and she relaxes into it - “you’re gonna be in my ear making sure that I don’t do anything too stupid.”

“You’d better not.”

“I’ll try my best.” Eiffel grins. “I’ll call you every night.”

Hera’s face relaxes into a smile, and Eiffel’s lungs collapse with relief. “You think your wife’s going to like that?”

“You know, I get this funny feeling that she’ll understand.”

“Every night,” she says seriously. “Last thing before you go to bed, no matter how late it is.”

“What’s the time difference between Canaveral and France?”

“Enough that you’ll be calling me and the other way around.”

Eiffel smiles and squeezes Hera’s shoulders. “Every night and twice on weekends.”

“Good,” Hera says, and steps forward to bury her face in the crook of Eiffel’s neck. “Come back.”

“I will.”

“Without the bad parts this time.”

“I will,” Eiffel repeats, and hopes more than anything that it’s not an empty promise.

[guerilla935]

Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS4 Version)

The newest entry in the annual Call of Duty franchise came out November 13th, 2020 under the subtitle “Black Ops Cold War”. A successor to 2010′s Call of Duty: Black Ops this game is developed still by Raven Soft and Treyarch with the hope to reignite what made fans crazy over the original by making the game a direct sequel in terms of its campaign and zombies modes. The games campaign is another page out of American conspiracy theory aimed mainly at worst case scenarios from the Red Scare. The zombies mode sees you revisit the fan favorite compact zombies map Nacht Der Untoten and the surrounding areas along with a ton of new optional objectives and easter eggs to achieve. This game also features a full multiplayer mode along with the Warzone battle-royal mode from the previous years Modern Warfare.

Let’s start with the zombies mode. The zombies mode is the same as previous except with a few new bells and whistles attached. the biggest of these is the Exfil system that lets you extract and end the game on your own terms for the promise of extra rewards. You have to survive in the pond area and defeat a certain number of zombies within the time limit to extract. This is a cool features that incentivizes players to play a game of zombies without having to block off an entire afternoon. Something else that is added is weapon varieties that have rarities like they do in Warzone, this wasn’t super ideal to me at first but as I familiarized myself with the upgrade system the addition of armor and weapons from Warzone fit right in and added another layer to getting stronger rather than just pack-a-punching. I’ve read up on the Easter Egg and briefly started it and achieved about half of it and it seems like it would be really cool to the fans that are into zombies for the lore however it doesn’t present a huge challenge and looks fairly accessible to most players. Overall, the zombies experience is something that I will continue to play however I am much more excited to see how the future maps take the round based survival mode to the next level.

Ok, now for multiplayer. The multiplayer mode features a host of good game modes including the ones that get played the most from past games. I’m personally upset that realism from Modern Warfare got axed but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. The new main attraction is the Fireteam Dirty Bomb which is a more casual version of the battle royal experience that allows its players to group up in teams of 4 and load a bomb full of uranium and set it off and the team that sets off the most bombs wins. This game is just a faster paced Warzone, so if you liked Warzone you’ll like this and if you didn’t really like Warzone then you probably won’t like this either, however right now this is the only mode that includes vehicles besides Warzone so if that’s your thing then there it is. The rest plays exactly how you’d expect, not all the maps are all that great featuring a lot of locales that expose players and the large nature of the environments means that you are going to have to study a lot to make the terrain even the least bit profitable. The create a class is really well done this time around boasting the incredibly deep attachment system from Modern Warfare and the equally as well done gun play. If you are a first time player you may not be blown away however if you are a long time player of Call of Duty then this is just another set of maps with different guns which in itself is novelty enough to keep you playing.

The campaign is actually my favorite part of this game, as something that I was expecting to skip I played it and after I was blown away. The level variation and writing go hand in hand with exciting visuals and fun locales to make the story engaging from beginning to end. The most impressive part to me was that the game play was so much more than just rooms of enemies for you to kill, there is espionage, stealth, meaningful decisions, and lots of intel gathering. The intel you gather has to be put together to solve puzzles that determine the outcome of side missions and most of the puzzles are easier to complete with a pen and paper which was really surprising. Some of my favorite missions involve deciding how you are going to get a key in the KGB without being found out to be a mole, returning to a snowy satellite structure and using stealth to take out enemies within, and sneaking through Berlin making decisions on who you can trust. But I was generally excited for every mission and every mission was worth being excited for. Although it’s important to note that this is history altering conspiracy theory stuff so the fact that the writer has decided to continue to rabbit hole the plot into blaming Soviet Russia for orchestrating (in increasing depth) so many events of the Cold War may turn you off (or very much on) if you read too much into it. However if you can put your politics aside this is a crazy good 6-8 hour thrill ride that delivers both action and espionage along with a little drama. And without spoiling too much there is a main plot twist toward the end that is pretty crazy however the option to have multiple endings really wasn’t necessary in my opinion and kind of cheapens some of the final explosive moments.

All in all this is a decent Call of Duty that does a great job choreographing great stories while balancing the pressures of becoming a AAA esport. I think that zombies will be much better after receiving more maps and I think that there is no saving multiplayer without adding more of everything to set it apart from its previous installments. But if you can excuse the lack of unique content in the multiplayer then you’ll be rewarded with what should be considered the most definitive version of Black Ops that Treyarch has ever produced.

[shimmy-sham-with-the-fam]

For the prompts/request project: Fantasy AU for Killugon? :3 (anything works! eg. Killua as a wizard and Gon as a dragon-trainer, or anything else, i'm just giving ideas XD) hope it's fine!!

I finally finished this! Sorry, this took a lil bit of time!

I hope this is kinda fantasy-ish!

I definitely took some liberties with this… But it was a lot of fun!

Thank you for making my first request so amazing, @kigamin! :) 

Here is the art that is paired with the fic!

(I apologize in advance for the terrible back ground.. I am awful with those…)

Here’s also a lil bonus sketch of Gon’s shirt because I actually super love it?

Title: Boy X With X Wings

Rate: General Audience

Words: 2289

Killua couldn’t help but stare at the boy in front of him with a mixture of awe and curiosity. Despite seeing each other every day for the past few months, he would always feel his breath hitching when his eyes graced upon the two limbs that naturally rested close his body. Both of the large appendages reflected golden-green colors, and if Killua took an even closer peek, he could make out the details of the smalls scales that lined in rows. In order to make room for the two large members that sprout from his shoulder blades, Gon sported a backless top that reached over his shoulders and covered his neck, almost similar to a turtleneck. Where the clothing didn’t cover, freckles could be seen washing over the boy’s sun bathed skin.

It was honestly hard to believe that Gon wasn’t just some dream, or maybe even an creation from his own imagination. But the smooth, scaled textures underneath the tips of his pale fingers served as proof enough. Gon was real.

And Gon had wings.

“They feel pretty weird, huh?” the owner of the wings chuckled at his friend’s curiosity.

Killua hummed in confirmation while continuing to stroke the left limb protruding from Gon’s shoulder blade. “How did you get these? Were you born with them?”

“No; my aunt told me that my dad was experimenting with a few things when I was a baby. Apparently he had decided to test some sort of potion on me to test if a human could acquire certain traits from different beasts. I guess you could say his test was a success.”

Killua’s lips pulled down into disgust. “He did that to you when you were a baby?! What a terrible dad!” The wings that Killua had easily become accustomed to petting were ripped from under his touch. The owner peered back at him from over his shoulder in the most childish pout in existence.

“I don’t think it was wrong!” Gon objected. “They’re a part of me! Are you saying you don’t like them?!”

“Wha- no! That’s not it! I just was thinking that he just did it when you couldn’t even say you were okay with it!” Killua tried to reassure his friend that he had no actual qualms about the wings themselves. Just the morality in which Gon had acquired them.

Then again, Killua knew he had no room to talk where morals of family members are concerned. Considering his father was the current ruler over Kukuroo Kingdom, the family demanded certain… training practices for self defense and survival of torture methods in case he was caught by an enemy. Much of these tactics included becoming immune to poisons, electricity, and whipping. But Killua had figured out in the short while that he had known the dragon boy that it was one thing for Gon to go through abnormal events. But it was another for his friend to do so. It was probably best that Killua stay silent on that subject for a while.

The pout that rested on Gon’s face instantly brightened into the widest smile Killua could have possibly imagined. Sometimes, Killua wondered how the other teen was able to smile so widely without making the muscles of his cheeks sore.

A bell chimed from the distance, reminding them that their time together was short.

“”Ah! I have to go back before my lessons starts!” Killua exclaimed hastily. He tried to stand up, but was quickly reminded of why they had been sitting. “Ouch!” His back hit against the tree behind him as he whimpered.

“Killua, does your ankle still hurt from the fall earlier?” The young Zoldyck winced in a reply. In all of the wonder of Gon’s wings and amazing chocolate, Killua had completely forgotten that when he and Gon were playing at an earlier time, he had twisted his ankle and face planted into the ground. He wasn’t normally the clumsy one of the two; no, that was normally Gon’s field of expertise. But somehow, Killua became much more aware of his inelegant tendencies. Today was just another painful reminder that Gon has such a peculiar effect on him.

“I’ll be fine,” Killua finally breathed out. “But I have to get to my lessons soon or my mother will be pissed!”

“Well…” Gon shimmied his eyes down at Killua’s bandaged ankle before looking back up into crystal ocean eyes. “I could fly you back?”

“What?! Gon, that’s crazy-” Killua immediately protested at the offer. It was stupid, really. He had been through various tortures in his ‘training sessions’. A twisted ankle was nothing in comparison to what he had been through in the past.

“How so?” Gon used his pouting face for the second time that day. “You’re hurt and it’s a long walk from here to your home! It would be much faster and easier if I just fly you over there!”

“Gon, I’ve never-”

“Please, Killua?” The pout transformed into the largest pleading eyes he could muster. It was Gon’s signature “get Killua to do what I want” face. And it worked every time.

“Okay, fine! Fine! I’ll let you do it, just stop looking at me like that!” Killua hates how quickly he gives into Gon, sometimes. But he can’t help it.

Gon cheers with pure enjoyment at his victory, and jumps to his feet at a terrifying speed.

“Here! You’re gonna have to hold on tight!” The dragon boy tells him as he faces his kneeling back towards Killua. Ocean blue eyes sigh as he begins to wrap his arms around his friend’s neck with little certainty. The white haired boy took the time to notice that his heart rate had increased significantly, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the nervous anticipation of being air born or if it was from being compressed so tightly against his friend. Either situation wasn’t quite ideal for the poor boy, emotionally.

Gon gathered his hands beneath Killua’s knees and pulled him up so that the other teen relaxed into his back. Now that Killua sat piggyback against Gon, Killua wasn’t quite sure what to do. So he decided that the best idea was to tightly knit his eyes close and waited for the swooshing noises of wings cutting through the air.

“Are you ready, Killua?” a soothing voice met his ears.

“Yeah, sure fine, just get it o-VER WIITH~” half way through Killua’s sentence, Gon kneeled down in preparation for take of. Within less than a second, his feet pushed mightily against the ground, creating a howling sound against their ears. Killua’s muscles tensed around Gon’s neck, leaving hardly any room for the dragon boy to breath. But Gon didn’t mind; he knew this was a brand new experience for Killua. So instead he smiled patiently while waiting for his friend’s intense screaming to settle under the wind.

Killua shivered as the air cut through his hair and face. He pressed his face into the nape of Gon’s neck, wishing that the ground wasn’t hundreds of feet below him. He never realized how much he loved having cold pavement against his feet until now. This was such a bizarre feeling; being air born. He wanted down, he wanted down, he wanted down. This was a terrible idea, he could have walked it. Sure, the sore ache would be pretty annoying, but he could have done it. And it’d be so much better than pressing his eyelids tightly together and contracting every single muscle in his entire body. It’d be so much better being able to open his eyes and see-

“Killua! Open your eyes!” Gon shouted over the howling whistles of the wind in their ears. Killua almost shouted ‘no’ at the top of his lungs. But something made him second guess that decision. And so he complied, slowly unfolding his lids.

-The most beautiful scenery that only the two of them shared.

“Wow…” His cobalt eyes played against the top of the greenery far below them. Too condensed and pressed together to make out any details from so high up. But there were also homes and buildings and white churches. And Large hills and small mountains from across the way, covered in grassy fields And the beach off bits of ways into the distance, but still close enough that the clear waters of the ocean could be seen in its accompaniment.

“Pretty, huh?” Gon questioned from behind another signature sunshine smile.

“Yeah…” Killua gasped breathlessly. “Is this what you see all the time?”

“Yup! I love it! It’s so nice looking over the forests and the ocean!”

“It’s amazing!” Killua broke into the largest smile he could, marveling at the landscape. No longer did he wish to be planted to the ground. Rather, he wished that he could stay up in the sky with Gon forever.

“Ah, Gon! Look!” His left arm released from Gon’s neck and pointed below them. “That’s my favorite sweets store! Oh!” his hand pointed slightly farther up from the building. “And there’s that lady that gives me sea salt chocolate all the time! And then the small bakery that I take Alluka to all the time when we sneak out! That’s her favorite place to go!”

Gon couldn’t hold in his laughter. “You sure love sweets, Killua!”

“Well duh! Chocolate is the best food in the world! I live off of it!”

“Killua that’s not very good for you!” Gon nagged playfully. Killua scoffed at him.

“I never asked for your health tips, Gon! Just keep flying! We’re almost there!”  

Gon’s ringing laugh chimed through Killua’s ears. It was then that Killua sighed and rested his head in the juncture of Gon neck. For the rest of the flight, they stayed silent; both being truly content with having each other’s company amidst the sky. Just the two of them.

Disappointment filled Killua’s heart when he felt Gon carefully dive down. This was the end of their small adventures for the day, Killua realized. And he hated the fact that each day with Gon felt shorter than what he would have preferred. If it were up to Killua, he’d spend all day with Gon, not that he would ever admit that to anyone but himself… Okay maybe Alluka.

When Gon landed skillfully on his feet, he continued to walk with Killua on his back. It was only when Canary, Killua’s favorite guard had sprinted to meet them. She would always meet them at the end of their small adventures guide Killua back to the castle as if she had never left his side. It was an unspoken agreement amongst the three. Gon would come by in the afternoon and they would run off together to play or explore. Then when the chiming of the church bells bled through the air, they were ripped from their playtime and met back with Canary so that Killua could attend his lessons. If he attended his lessons, then his mother wouldn’t snoop and follow Killua around. So they had to make do with what time they had together.

Canary’s eyes immediately set onto the bandages wrapped tightly about Killua’s ankle. “Your highness, what-”

“I just tripped and twisted my ankle. I’m fine!” Killua assured before she could finish her concerned inquiries. He grimaced at the pronoun reserved for his social classification. It felt wrong to be called something so ridiculous.

“I flew him over so he didn’t have to walk on it the whole way. I think he should be fine from here!” The winged boy gently kneeled down, releasing his grip from underneath the knees of his best friend. Once Killua’s feet met the ground, there was a bit of wobbling as his body had finally caught up with the adrenaline rush he had experienced just a minute ago.

“Thank you for taking care of him.” Canary bowed in gratitude. Killua rolled his eyes at this, wishing that his guard didn’t have to be so formal but knowing she had no other choice. Even if only just in the presence of Gon and Killua.

“It’s no problem, really!” Gon scratched the back of his head is if he were embarrassed by the sudden gratitude. This had become a rather routine act between Gon and the young guard.

“Alright, you two,” Killua leaned his weight on the foot he hadn’t twisted. “I got a lesson starting in about five minutes! I’m in kind of a hurry here!”

“Right! Sorry, Killua!” Gon grinned.

Killua stuck his tongue out, playfully. “See yah later!” Gon was about to reply with the same phrase. But instead stepped forward; closer to Killua.

Blue eyes widened when foreign lips brushed against his cheek. It was a small, quick peck of affection against the flushed cheek. But Killua still couldn’t stop himself from reaching his hand up and tracing where Gon’s lips had touched moments ago.

Gon gave no time for Killua to sputter. He simply gave one more signature smile before replying, “See yah, Killua!” And with that, his wings were pushing him back up into the sky.

Killua stood stunned with the palm of his hand resting against his cheek. “Did… Did Gon just…” His voice stuttered into the air. Of course, this was not a question meant to be answered. The action itself, answered for him.

“Your highness… Your lessons.” Canary reminded, although she was quite amused by the display Gon had given.

“…Right.” Killua turned and leaned against Canary to support him. As they walked away, the slightest grin pulled at the prince’s lips. “”That idiot…” he murmured under his breath.

But he knew he’d wait with little patience for the next day to see his friend with the dragon wings.

[thinkingaboutgames]

WHAT’S YOUR FOREVER GAME: or, that...THIS new game is really THAT old game, and I’m cool with that...game.

(random thoughts and video that kinda really sums up five hundred percent what I end up loving so much about a “game” / archetype / franchise I’ve been playing and enjoying for 10 years plus)

So, for whatever reason I’ve decided to write / ramble about something that keeps coming back for my brother and I every few years in our respective / mutual gaming cycles...

That...going / crawling on your knees back to your…“forever game”…

Which, the more I think about it…I’m mostly curious about defining / dissecting the idea of this kind of game…

As well, because we’re in this golden age of video games as “video games as a service”...so I get the feeling that people WANT these games to exist for us���and I kind of think they already do, but...what are they? Are they made, born, or just effectively “sold” to us?

And what has me wondering the most on this topic...most surprisingly...is how the game I’m thinking of for all this...isn’t what I would’ve originally put on my “must play” or “desert island” games lists...

If anything, it would probably be on the “games I keeeeep playing and would never tell anyone about BECAUSE I keeeeeep playing IT!” game list…now that I really think about it…

Which brings me to Everybody’s Golf…

(which is the 7th? I think? Game in the Hot Shots Golf Franchise...but, really, is just the newest in a long line of golf sim off shoots of, what was really FIRST for me personally, (despite 1990s Golf on the game boy technically being the first I played and did love) 1999’s Mario Golf for the N64 (which really had its hooks in me for years, and with every new incarnation, to come…))

Which is a brand new MMO (wooo, the chance to play a live round with my brother...where we can chat and watch shots and shoot the shit while we drink a beer ALMOST like real golf!) with microtransactions…

(...has there ever been a ship you actually helped make float?)

BUT...at it’s core...this, in part, “forever game” of mine, is ALSO the most bloated version of the simplest thing I love...

(and what’s funny to me when I really break down what the “game” is, and how this “game”, through all it’s versions, has been able to feel / be the same “game” because it’s ALSO felt so...formulaicly similar?)

Which is just...hit A to “start swing”….hit A to stop “top swing” (power guage)...hit A again for follow through contact (to stop “accuracy guage”)...

Which is so mechanically simple that it was able to be made on the game boy...and, as well, because it’s part one of what only has to be a two part system of game mechanics who’s formula add up to “re-creating” / making a simulation of what “golf” is.

“aim” mini game + “club swing” mini game = golf

(though, to be fair, the new MMO lets me drive a cart around, explore a little...fish...all on a live course with other players...and it’s all sooo seamless and lag free that I can do other things AND this OR play my own round and fly through it while completely forgetting everyone else and the entire world is there if I wanted to (...until the crazy created characters / bear suit people show up and start spinning around and I can’t forget them...))

the way that...

player controlled “paddle” + player controlled “paddle” + computer controller “ball” = table tennis (Pong)

So, really, my earliest thoughts on this were of me marveling at how a game that...when it stays simple...gets to also feel easy and familiar over the long haul…

(...and how and why I think people jump from top / newest competitive shooter to the next...chasing the technological edge, latest philosophy on “feel”, AND the competition...perhaps more than other genres, while games like madden or fifa can do nothing different until the end of time and will always have a strong player base)

But that’s what brought me to my next thoughts on what makes this possible…

Feeeeel...

Which is easy enough to understand in the close up and most immediate sense with…

How do my hands think and feel about this game?

(...and how do they get to remember...to build up and into being a part of this game?)

(...am I learning to move, then punch, then combo, and fight...adding things up over incarnations until I’m dancing...)(...or seeing an initially arbitrary, but, later on, very important, score climb as my bare bones understanding of a few simple arcade game concepts turn into muscle memory and late game meta strategies?)(...do new game plus runs give me just a little more to see and explore as meters get higher and my hands get more confident, like in shadow of the colossus, or just darker dungeons and toughter fights, like in final fantasty remakes on 3DS / mobile?)(or am I just getting more chicken dinners and or seeing better KD ratios?)

...but, this always becomes interesting, over time, because video games are also, in part, technology...so what we play on can change out from under us...from handheld, to 64 controller, to the gamecube’s cushy cloud (in the case of me playing Golf, then Mario Golf, then Mario Golf Toadstool tour)…

So the game itself (or it’s goals (goal line) and objectives (touchdowns)) can feel familiar…

But how we play...what we play for, and why…can change, add up and be wholly re-interpreted out from under us too...with us learning, borrowing, and abandoning a lot at times even...

(the easiest and quickest example to tie up all those esoteric questions about “what’s it all about”, can be made out of...skateboarding games...and how it’s main contributor / trunk game of the genre, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, evolved from high scores and timed runs on a controller...to a plastic skateboard peripheral (for a second)...and, in a different but still similar sense, from the arcadey, combo chain, game style of Tony Hawk to the trick specificity, unique goal, flow and feel approach to skating that was EA’s Skate franchise)

But that “feel” of everything...as a whole experience, despite some reuse of more simple “parts”...is really about the entirety of that equation adding up into something that can be remembered as “different”…and it’s what makes a game, potentially, infinitely replayable (because it’s worth is always there for it being / feeling so unique).

As another example...there are all kinds of snow boarding games to play (technically, not necessarily within the newest generation of consoles), but, really what that means is that, snowboarding games as a genre, only saw so many incarnations over the years (surfing games has it worse), but...to name a few...

1080 snowboarding (N64), Snowboard kids (N64), Cool boarders (PS), SSX (PS2), Amped (Xbox), Shaun White Snowboarding (PS3), Steep (PS4)...

But each, is wildly different in terms of single player / multiplayer objectives / intent, story mode or competitive replayability, and, yes, though each sees a swell of content, console power and so, depth, breadth, and newness all it’s own, really, they each, ultimately “feel” unique, I feel, and warrant their own specific attention because each is such a different “game”, in terms of what you play for, on, and how...

And each of those games “feels” different because each tries something different for specific reasons…

It’s not quite like golf games, who’s simple idea has been more or less repeated, and kept similar, yet slowly built up and stacked upon with bells and whistles until we swell into a crescendo (like with Everybody’s Golf)…

Sooo...maybe each of those snowboarding games could be seen as having their own “forever game” potential, or any from the genre itself BECAUSE the genre, from game to game, can end up with so much variation in “feel”?

...it all makes me think and ramble in a bunch of different directions lol.

But I’ve only really looked at things from within the realm of sports games, more or less, so far...as well because they are games who’s controls, or “hand feel” (to be most? Specific), are at the forefront of their core experience...

BUT...is this similar to how and where match three games like candy crush, or light and simple puzzle games, number games, or physics games can offer simplicity and immediate return, consistently and conveniently?

OR even beautiful giants like “Threes” can offer a streamlined, brain heavy mountain to climb?

OR the way that real Donkey Kong folks need a standing arcade cabinet to really complete the experience, AND be serious about a record?

Is that how people end up begrudgingly jumping on board with the most modern fighter, and yet...

Some will always end up back at the arcades that are closing down, and hunting down gamecube controller parts, even if no one else is?

Is it allllllll…

What makes a forever game…

“feel”? And NOTHING else, maybe?

...rhythm...pattern...flow of “feelings” and “rewards” to a game?

Why chess, Tekken, and poker are always going to exist in some form, somewhere?

It all makes me wonder...and feel kinda sad and embarrassed for “games” too, because...

Everybody’s golf is a game that ALSO...FAILS...SO much at what it’s ALSO trying to do…

Which is...make itself into THAT game that gets me to hand out more money, but...honestly, they’re in a bind because...why would I?

They’re throwing new clothes, purchasable with COINS, and club upgrades, purchasable with GEMS and TICKETS, at me like nobodies business, but...

(quick aside...I hate microtransactions...it’s why I can’t and don’t wanna play Overwatch anymore...because I don’t have enough friends to enjoy it competitively, and it’s too miserable to end up actually “wanting” anything in the game...because, then, once I do, I have to be miserable and sad and only, on a timed grind to get it...OR, I waste money on slot machine boxes and end up skipping meals and over-drinking to deal with my sadness...in part, because I feel hurt and let down for letting myself depend on / trust a game for some enjoyment...which was a place I used to think was safe for wanting things...)

FINALLY – WHY I POSTED THE VIDEO

THIS, what this video shows, ultimately, maybe...is what ends up being the MOST magical of moments in these mostly “the same” slogs through a very samey kind of game, like these golf franchises...

Wild moments of physics-made chance that turn into something I can send my brother a replay of via my phone, just so we can laugh together, and get excited to send another one back because NOW we have a machine for MAKING these moments between us…

It’s not a scripted event, an achievement, an unlockable…

It’s not a well written plot or bit of story that connected to me more to my soul…

...it’s just...a surreal, or silly...emergent...moment from playing hundreds and hundreds of holes WITHOUT skipping a beat, until…

...I absolutely HAVE to pull the car over from this smoooooth ride to marvel at something that’s spectacular...

It’s something that feels mine...and, sadly, MAYBE couldn’t even be pre-programmed to mean more, or even as much...

And that, really, is I think what’s magical for these games…and what makes a “forever” game different than the games you put on display, in your library, on your desert island...

These are the games who’s moments you don’t brag to everyone about…

Just your closest family, who might have the same itch, and get the same enjoyment out of this little slice of...hundreds of hours…

For those thirty second clips, and two minute laughs...

...it’s JUST a game that let’s me just “play” it, and enjoy the play of it, until I MYSELF make something happen?

And, again, what’s sad, I feel...is that they could add a hundred courses over time, and ask me to buy each one, or season pass, or something, but I don’t know if I’d shell out a time, because...can’t I just keep playing the old ones? Wouldn’t I be fine with it, because, as well, maybe I could afford the DLC this month, but, if my brother can’t...why would I want to send him a clip or something he can’t enjoy, as much, too?

(This led me to another thought / example...Shadow of the collossus...one of my favorite games with FEEL to it...but...if they added monsters and different story scenarios...on and on, forever...I’d probably never touch any of it past the main story because...how and WHY it ends is really one of the most beautiful things about it...same with metal gear solid 3, and other games I could probably think of…

but, the truth is...adding more of that “in between” isn’t gonna help an already great game be better, or even good forever…

and, MAYBE they could keep coming up with meaningful ways to show new / different stories in / through that same original world / game / vessel…

like, I’m sure someone could turn out fantastic dead pan comedy arc using the shadow of the colossus’ game engine, but… just make a new tv show!

...why are they trying to turn each new game (or new tv series), INTO the NEW television set?? as if THIS will be the new vessel through which all stories can / SHOULD flow...)

So...I really don’t know how to help “games” as an industry, with doing the impossible (being both worthwhile, finite AND infinite money machines)…

Because the game I’m currently expecting to play forever...probably won’t get any more money out of me any time soon...

But I’m curious about thinking about it…

Those games you’ll always jump back on board with…

You might not tell EVERYONE to get on that horse with you…

But you’ll ALWAYS put a quarter into the Galaga machine when you’re waiting for your slice of pizza…

...and maybe you’re gonna get the new Red Dead game just to enjoy more horse with your nature...

THOSE forever slices of something...be it a whole, or little bit of who knows what or why, that becomes your “forever game”…

Maybe it’s all feel…

...but is it? I don’t know...but, whatever it is, it’s perfect…

So…once again, and always and forever…

Games...thank you

Love, me

(...rant over...for now...)

[micaramel]

Artist: Birke Gorm

Venue: Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Exhibition Title: common crazies

Date: January 25 – March 7, 2020

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Press Release:

‘Do you know what a poem is, Esther?’ ‘No, what?’ I would say. ‘A piece of dust.’ Then, just as he was smiling and starting to look proud, I would say, ‘So are the cadavers you cut up. So are the people you think you’re curing. They’re dust as dust as dust. I reckon a good poem lasts a whole lot longer than a hundred of those people put together.’

And of course Buddy wouldn’t have any answer to that, because what I said was true. People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn’t see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing poems people would remember and repeat to themselves when they were unhappy or sick or couldn’t sleep. 1

In times of personal struggle, pain or despair, we might mutter/whisper/whistle a verse of poetry or a tune of a song to ourselves. An image might flash up in front of our eyes, of a painting, a film, a sculpture we saw, which evoked emotions of comfort or companionship. What Plath describes is not to be understood as a counterpart to modern sciences. It is rather an alternative form of care, speaking to our psychological state rather than our physical one. Artistic practices can be strategies and means of political protest, forming alliances, helping to create and define the goals of communities. Their value lies in the variety of their carriers of meaning, their permeability and the possibility of an amplified intimate expression.

Ten small female figures besiege the gallery space along the walls in Birke Gorm’s exhibition titled common crazies. Their torsos are made of a single terracotta brick, their limbs of terracotta pebbles found on the beach. The small jugs, cups and pots on their heads make them appear like a little army of pregnant fighters, jute cushions shaping their bulky bellies. They are equipped with remnants of shiny metallic beverage cans, champagne corks and nails, which they carry like shields and riot gear. Contrary to the perception of pregnancy as a state of weakness that forces women into the domestic space, here, the pregnant belly is part of her combat equipment. The fighters are made from what is already there: things that were collected by Gorm over time. As reproductive beings they live in an economy of abundance instead of expediency; they are oriented towards giving instead of taking. Nevertheless, their approach to some kind of “origin“ remains fictional: although the forms burnt from the red clay are reminiscent of primeval materials and objects, they are nowadays mass-produced goods. They are still wafting somewhere between an imagined natural or rough state (and thus an idea of origin), and a mechanized, highly efficient industry. Likewise, the collected metal waste on the one hand is part of the urban space, on the other, it’s carelessly thrown into the urban vicinity foreign bodies in their surroundings.

Five wall pieces made from burlap take up the symbolic attributions that poet and political activist Judy Grahn (*1940 in Chicago) dedicates to the female protagonists in her The Common Woman Poems that were written in 1969. Tie linings are converted and appropriated as letters. The tie ‘skeletons’ are reminiscent of dusty relicts of an outdated symbol of power, of hierarchical order and male domination. The works are manufactured with the textile technique of crazy quilting, in which various scraps of fabric are joined together in coarse patches with highlighted seams. Originally the quality of quilts depended on their sites of production: in rural areas, they were mostly featuring coarse,  functional textiles such as burlap, whereas in cities more noble fabrics, i.e. leftovers from silk ties or blouses were available.

The Common Woman Poems became a ‘coalitional voice’ for (gay) working class women in the U.S.: a voice, that combines personal with collective experience and reaches out to make alliances with other communities. Each poem portraits a specific character, but the ‘common woman’ can be any woman. ‘Common’ stands for ‘ordinary’, but also for ‘mutual/together’, and it is this sense of togetherness/commonality that Grahn provides a voice for. Herself coming from a working class background, she wrote especially for women coming from the lower social classes, in order to establish a greater visibility for those widely invisible and underrepresented in the feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s. The symbolic value of language develops an emancipatory potential and turns against the accusation that art and literature are elitist and inaccessible.

Through the use of Gorm’s body, the interwoven fabrics become an act of writing, or what Sadie Plant labelled an “active matrix“. Furthermore, her female fighters do not have superpowers, but are nevertheless combative subjects. Their weapons and tools are not constructed from other materials and thus extensions of their bodies in the sense of a heroic (male) undertaking, but are made of found and collected objects. They are reintegrated and utilised anew. Similarly, Grahn’s poetry can be understood as an immaterial collection of words that can be reassembled and made use of in the political, female consciousness. New forms of collectivity and care that are created through performative techniques of writing, collecting and temporarily merging different layers of meaning can create a social power that undermines the patriarchal economy by a poetry of the body, a poetic and artistic language.

Inga Charlotte Thiele

1 Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, 1963

2 In her 1998 book Zeros and Ones, Sadie Plant describes the “active matrix” as an indissoluble entanglement of pat- tern and structural concepts. Weaving and creating textiles always initiates processes of order and structuring. This is in contrast to the “passive matrix“, i.e. a painted canvas, to which the paint, i.e. the content, is applied in an additive, subsequent step.

Link: Birke Gorm at Croy Nielsen

Contemporary Art Daily is produced by Contemporary Art Group, a not-for-profit organization. We rely on our audience to help fund the publication of exhibitions that show up in this RSS feed. Please consider supporting us by making a donation today.

from Contemporary Art Daily http://bit.ly/2TCmbhF

[myphotobucketlist-blog]

Best Camera for Photography Beginners

Buying your first camera can be tough, expensive and time consuming. I can tell you I have personally wasted a lot of money on cameras early on that probably weren’t the best choice. I’ve also wasted a lot of money switching camera brands along the way. I started with Nikon, switched to Canon and now I am team Sony which has been a lot of buying and selling. I also had bad advice early on so hopefully this blog post will give you some good ideas to think about when looking at what camera you want to buy first.

Things to Consider When Buying Your First Camera

Price: This is probably your biggest driver when getting your first camera. Camera equipment is expensive and if you want to get into photography you will need something that’s a step up from a simple point and shoot. The biggest thing you will want/need is a camera that allows you to manipulate all of the settings such as shutter speed, aperture and ISO. So no matter what your budget is, at least get that function so you can start learning how to control the different parts of a photograph.

Quality: Quality and price do tend to go hand in hand, however, sometimes you will be paying for a band name rather than a good quality camera. A Leica camera is an awesome camera but will start at around $1000 and offer generally the same features that you could get for the Sony RX100 pictured above. You will want a camera that offers good quality but you won’t want something that is top of the line. I do recommend getting a camera that you could continue to grow with.

Brand: I’d strongly recommend figuring out what brand you want to go with now and doing your best to stick with it as you grow as a photographer. Typically what happens is you will buy a camera body which can vary greatly in price. Then you will purchase lenses to go on that camera body. Pretty soon you will have a camera body with a handful of lenses. The issue here is that camera lenses are not interchangeable with different camera brand bodies. Each company has their own proprietary lens mount which makes lenses only mountable to one camera brand body. So let’s say you buy a Canon 7D Mark II as your first body and get a whole bunch of Canon lenses and then decide you want to go to a Sony, you will have to sell all of your lenses and Canon body and then buy a new Sony and all new Sony mount lenses. This is obviously pricey.

One mistake I’ve made is I always bought the camera that my buddy recommended rather than what was the best item on the market. The bottom line…. Do your research. I personally recommend Sony. I think their mirrorless systems are the best on the market. I’ve had Canon, Nikon and now Sony and I believe they offer a product that is superior. But, that’s just me.

Ability to grow: Your last consideration should be… can you grow into your camera? If you buy a little point and shoot you will most likely grow out of in pretty quickly and then have to spend more money again in the near future. I recommend finding a camera that can accept interchangeable lenses rather than one with a built in lens. Also find a brand that has a various levels of cameras from entry to expert so you can grow with them.

So what Camera should you buy?

That’s a great question. I am sure I don’t hold the answer but here are some recommendations. I will go from cheap to expensive. Again, I am team Sony over here so that’s what I recommend. That doesn’t mean that the other brands don’t offer good options… I just like Sony, if I didn’t say that enough already.

Least Expensive Beginner Camera

Sony RX100

The Sony RX 100 is a great starter camera because you actually get a pretty decent quality camera for around $370. The camera comes in a manual mode so you can learn how to adjust the settings. In addition the camera weighs in at just half a pound and is around 4 x 2.5” so it’s really easy to throw in your pocket if you’re traveling around. The 20.2 mega pixel CMOS sensor will ensure that any photos you capture are high resolution and could be blown up and framed if desired.

In addition the camera has an ISO setting of 125-6400 which allows you to do some low light shots, although the camera isn’t going to perform to well at higher ISOs, that is typically reserved for the higher end cameras. One of the best features is the Zeiss 1.8, 28-100mm zoom lens. That gives you a pretty wide range aperture range so you could practice using your depth of field. Finally the 28-100mm zoom isn’t amazing but it does give you a fairly decent range to work with.

Some of the cons with this camera is that you will outgrow it quickly, the lenses are not interchangeable and you will have poor low light shots. This is very much a beginner camera and wont be something you’d stick with for very long. However, it’s a great one to try if you want look into becoming a photographer without breaking the bank.

Mid Range Beginner Camera

Sony a6500

The Sony a6500 is an APS-C camera meaning its sensor is slightly smaller than a full frame camera. The sensor is big enough to get some incredible shots and this is actually my go-to travel camera/back up camera. The photo quality is good enough that if you captured a great photo that you wanted to blow up as a print you could make it pretty much as large as you like.

I originally purchased the Sony a6500 after I was looking for a camera that offered great quality shots but was also light and portable. My goal was to use this as a travel camera. After using it for a month I was so impressed that I sold all of my Canon gear and made the switch to Sony. The crazy thing here is that I owned the Canon 5d MkIV, one of their flagship full-frame top of the line cameras. This means that Sony’s mid-line camera impressed me so much it convinced me to ditch my top of the line Canon…

I would suggest the a6500 one as a great option because you can swap out lenses as you start to build you lens collection and the lenses you buy for the a6500 could also be used on a full frame camera if you decided to go that route later on. In addition, the camera comes with a lot of the nice bells and whistles such as wi-fi, add-on apps and the ability to attach external batteries or a flash.

Finally, the a6500 performs much like a high end camera with a 24.2 mega pixel sensor, 425 auto focus points (meaning it auto focuses really well), 11 frames per second continuous shooting (meaning it can take a lot of photos really fast for sports or wildlife photography), and a 4k video (meaning it takes really nice video).

For a body you would pay around $1100 and a lens can run you anywhere from $300 on up. I currently run the camera with a Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 lens which is an excellent combination.

If you want a more detailed review of this a6500 I did a full write-up here. Best High End Beginner Camera

Sony A7III

With the Sony A7III I use the term “beginner” very loosely. In fact, this camera is absolutely incredible and is used by professional photographers around the world. The A7III is a full frame camera that came out after the A7RIII (the camera that I use as my go-to). In some arenas the A7III actually out performs some of the A7RIII’s capabilities and does it for around $800 less. If you want the bottom line on this camera I would say it’s an absolutely phenomenal camera for a somewhat affordable price. The A7III body will run you around $2,000 and lenses are around $300 on up. However, if you’re going to splurge for this one, I’d recommend getting a good lens to match so you don’t lose all the great quality that you get from the camera.

I’d recommend getting this camera if you’ve decided you’re ready to be a professional photographer. If you buy this camera you won’t need to upgrade for a long time and if you do upgrade this is a great camera to use as a backup/secondary camera.

What makes the A7III so great? Well for starters it features a full-frame 24.2 MP sensor that has some of the best low light capabilities on the market. The AF features a 623 point phase detection with 93% coverage. Now if you are just getting into photography I know that might not mean anything but to break it down nice and simple… it means it does a great job of focusing on the object you’re trying to capture.

One other thing I should point out is the A7III comes with 4k video capabilities… So if you’re looking to also get into videography this camera would again be an excellent choice.

So what makes this camera a beginner camera? Well again, it’s not really a beginner camera but it’s more of a beginner-ish price. Your only set back on this camera would be the 24.2 megapixel sensor. For reference, the A7RIII features a 42 megapixel sensor. However, this difference can also set you back. Fewer megapixels can lead to better low light qualities. In addition a 42MP sensor can drastically slow down your editing time if you don’t have a super fast computer. However, a larger sensor will capture more information which can be beneficial in post editing. There are plenty of times that I have imported a photo into LightRoom and thought it wasn’t going to edit. However, because the A7RIII has such an incredible sensor it captures a ton of information that can be edited.

In the end, the 24.2 megapixel sensor will still produce some amazing photos and you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference until you started to blow the photos up for super large prints. To be honest, I wish the A7III was available when I purchased the A7RIII because I would have saved myself a lot of money and I’d have one amazing camera to work with.

The Take Away

Ok so I have been crapping on about all of these cameras for awhile now but here’s my abbreviated recommendation. The camera you purchase should be scaleable in the sense that you should be able to grow with it. Photography equipment is very much in the arena of “buy once, cry once”. Most often people purchase a budget camera, with budget lenses and then outgrow their camera quickly and then want to upgrade. If I could recommend one thing to a beginner it would be to buy the Sony a6500 and a 50mm lens and use that until you get the hang of photography. The reason is that we as humans tend to see the world at around 50mm so you will photograph what you see (ok so for anyone reading this who’s a photography nerd, yes I know the APS-C turns a 50mm into more of a 75mm focal length, but you get the idea). In addition a 50mm prime lens combined with the a6500 with produce some incredibly crisp shots. By shooting a 50mm fixed length you will be forced to capture the shots you want by getting creative, rather than just zooming and zooming out. I personally believe that a good photographer uses additional lenses to simply enhance their photography skills rather than act as a crutch. The bottom line, if you can capture great photos with that combination you will absolutely crush it when you start upgrading your lenses and camera body in the future.

Camera Comparison Guide

[rosetylesr-blog]

New Year's: Party Ideas And Games For Teens

Things been recently so chaotic with this crazy economy, two kids and trying to stay above water, that they can be difficult to have a positive attitude sometimes. Everywhere I turn here citrus I hear of friends who have lost jobs, can't pay mortgages or have lost tens of thousands of dollars in equity in their homes, in order to not mention the negative media coverage that we're constantly exposed to allow them to. Yes, the economy is bad and possess a lot to complain about. Some of us have health issues, have lost loved ones or been dealt some hard considerations. But, the truth is, it may well always be worse. Nothing will get better by chilling out and complaining. This year, I select to be happy and just keep on moving. Here i will discuss some things I'm working on to keep me smiling. Christmas has passed, and new year is impending. What would you like to celebrate the festival? Posy Teens have a good idea, which they want to make it worse some desserts for their particular own. Huh, very interesting! Let's do now the actual planet hot girls games here ! i belive you can make something you're able to do for your parents , are going to be happy , so in the girl games , the posy teens will make some desserts for their friends and themselves , so girls here do a good job! As you sit alone imagining this scenario, you paint photographs clearly. Add sound. Add scents (maybe sparklers, or perhaps the smell of this fresh outside air). You excited yet centered. That's right, make use of the powers of self hypnosis to get this to real anyone personally. You have worked so hard this year to build dreams come true, now you could sit back, relax, and get the excitement of this powerful year coming for end. You understand 2007 will hold even greater possibilities ought to reach to the next stage. And now, continuing as well as self hypnosis, see the countdown.

Feel and express my gratitude. I do believe before I will expect produce new year 2018 in spanish wishes wonderful things into my life, I really should try to be grateful for what already making my life terrific. For instance, Practical goal going to bring on and crab around somewhat compared to perfect physical body, instead I will focus everyday on how grateful I am that I have a body that functions well, gets me everywhere I hope for to go, sees, hears and thinks very efficiently and generally has served me wonderfully. The tradition of kissing under the flower might have descended of the Scandinavians. They associated the mistletoe with Frigga, their goddess of affection. According to the tradition, any time a couple for each other exchanges kiss under the mistletoe, the gesture is recognized as a promise to marry as well as a foresight of happiness and long each day. While the adults are gearing up for a rocking New Year's Eve celebration (if we can muster make the most of to stay up until midnight!) there is no reason why the kids can't participate in the New Year's festivities as nicely. Since the countdown will be the most long awaited moment of your evening, concerning designating 8:00 p.m. since their official 'midnight.' Gather the children around at five minutes before the hour, don them while using appropriate party hats, loud bells and whistles, and put them excited to ring in brand new Year along with you. When you are in a performance-based career like sales, goal setting is vital to achievement. Vital yes, but without an organized plan on the way to achieve your objectives, may vary according to ritual of goal setting is just an exercise in futility. Pull each child aside and have her set down her New Year's resolution on a strip of paper. Keep a separate list for blueprint. Resolutions can be anything children do in the coming year, like go skiing or learn multiplication desks. There may be duplicates. Fold the strips and them perfect bowl. Take turns having each child pick out resolution and guess its owner. If incorrect, place the resolution back into the bowl. If correct, a young boy keeps the paper. Keep playing until the bowl is empty. A visit holds one of the most strips.

[michaelmpennington]

5 Electric Skateboards that comes with a remote controller – 2017

Believe it or not, some electric skateboards rely solely on your feet. In other words, there’s a small fraction of electric skateboards on the market that don’t rely on remote controllers for acceleration, deceleration and switching through different riding modes.

So, with that in mind, I assume you are thinking about purchasing an electric skateboard that comes with an actual remote… and who could blame you? Remote controlling your skateboard is intuitive and way easier than solely with your feet. It takes pressure off your body allowing you to enjoy the skating experience way more. That’s why I took a lot of effort into coming up with a short list of top 5 models that come with a remote controller. I tried to be as objective as I can, so please bear with me here as I’ve did quite a lot of research on each particular model listed below. So without further adue, I will lead you straight to action!

Best electric skateboards with remote controller [Table]

table coming soon

  5. Xtreme Free 1500W

The first entry on my list is Xtreme Free 1500W electric skateboard. The first thing you will notice about this model is its size. Yup, Xtreme Free created a 36-inch beast that will swoop the floor with the rest of its competitors. The deck is made out of only the highest quality Canadian Maple Wood, topped off with a firm anti grip tape that will make sure you get all the stability you need while skating at high speeds.

While we are talking about high speeds, it is important to mention that this beast sports 1500W motor (who would’ve guessed, eh?), that is capable of providing it with quite the speed. More precisely, this little fella is capable of reaching 19mph with ease and carrying maximum weight of around 230lbs. That should be more than enough for most of you, and is practically considered as the standard weight in this price range.

One last thing worth mentioning about this model is its long lasting (and quick charging) battery that can last up to 20 miles on a single charge. That is an admirable number and I am sure you will greatly appreciate such a long range… if you decide to purchase this model, that is…

  4. Airwheel M3

Let’s start off by saying that Airhweel M3 looks absolutely amazing. It has that classical skateboard look to it with those big shiny wheels and that’s something you rarely see these days. True, there are companies that are trying to play the “old school looks” card, but their models are usually pretty cheap and the looks are the only good things about them. But, that is certainly not the case with Airwheel M3.

Besides its astonishing old school looks, this little fella sports quite the power underneath the deck. First off, it has big tires capable of rolling on all terrain types, making this little fella your go-to off-road model. Other than that, it also has built in damper masses and top quality anti-skid grip tape which is covering the top layer of Canadian Maple Wood deck.

Moving onto the specifications, it is important to mention that it only has rear wheel motor, not a dual one. Still, it is more than powerful allowing the skateboard to reach cca 13 miles per hour. The battery is pretty solid too, but don’t expect to reach more than 13 miles on a charge. The great thing about its battery is the fast charging technology which allows it to fully charge in less than 2 hours, making it extremely mobile if you are planning on covering great distances in a short time span.

  3. Benchwheel Dual 1800W C2

Benchwheel’s C2 model sports dual brushless motors, each with 1800W of pure power. This much power allows the skateboard to easily reach top speed of up to 20 mph. The remote controller is made out of high quality materials and is probably the best default remote controller (default as in it comes with the skateboard itself) currently available on the market. It is ergonomic, easily fits into your hand and lets you quickly switch between power saving and high speed riding modes. It works via 2.4G network meaning that you should not have any interference or connectivity issues.

C2 has an incredible acceleration (on par with that of GT Powerboard), with the only downside being its relatively weak battery. Considering this little fella costs $650 and goes up to 20mph, I expected at least 18 miles of range on a single charge. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen since the 210Wh battery delivers up to 12 miles, shortening your daily skating by quite a lot. Still, the skateboard looks awesome, skates great and is bound to provide you with an utterly enjoyable skating experience. If that’s something you are looking for then C2 might just be the right electric skateboard for you!

  2. eGlide GT Powerboard

The second best (only due to its extremely high price tag of cca $1,300) electric skateboard on my list is eGlide’s GT Powerboard. More specifically, the black anodized aluminum version which has a superior build quality when compared to its peers.

I am talking about a seriously powerful model whose main advantage over the top listed model (Koowheel) is its ability to skate on all types of terrains. This is due to its big rubber tires and built in damper masses combined with extra powerful braking system and innovative downhill technology (the skateboard lowers RPM automatically while skating downhill). This all provides you with an amazingly smooth skating experience, unlike anything you’ve ever experience before. There’s no shaking, no stability issues, pretty much nothing bad can be said about the skating experience.

In addition to all of that, the specifications are yet another praise-worthy aspect of this electric skateboard. Its powerful motor allows it to go as fast as 23 mph (it takes just 5 second to accelerate up to that speed) which is more than enough for day to day use. The battery, on the other hand, has cca 15 miles range on a single full charge. Even though we’d love to see a bit more mileage under the deck, 15 miles is still an admirable number, especially considering this model is built for all types of terrain. All in all, I believe it is pretty clear that eGlide hit the sweet sport with GT Powerboard. With a good mix of powerful hardware and great build quality, it sure is one hell of an electric skateboard!

  1. Koowheel

And finally, we have come to the (in my honest opinion) best electric skateboard with remote controller. As you can see from the name of this chapter, I am talking about the well-known Koowheel. It is an excellent electric skateboard that pars well with its competitors across all departments. Not only does it provide an amazing skating experience, but it also has spectacular specs and a humble price of roughly $550. At first, the price might seem not that humble to you, but wait till I give you the specs of this beast!

For starters, I will start talking about the raw power this little fella possesses. It is equipped with a state of the art dual brushless motors that are more than capable of providing it with exceptional torque. In addition to the powerful torque, this beast of an electric skateboard has quite the top speed as well. Believe it or not, Koowheel goes up to 25 miles per hour, making it the fastest model on our list. Other than that, it is also important to mention its 4300mAh battery with quick charging technology. It can achieve 25 miles on a single charge and the charging time is just 2 hours. But that’s not all… This model has a special feature in the form of easily reachable battery hub. It takes less than 15 seconds to replace a battery, allowing you to have up to 50 miles of range if you bear the burden of carrying an additional battery with you. It is not that heavy, just 3.5 lbs, making it a viable choice for those long range rides. All things considered, Koowheel is undoubtedly a premium quality electric skateboard that is on par with those that cost more than a thousand bucks.

  Conclusion

That would be it guys! That’s my top 5 best electric skateboards with remote controllers list. As I already sad on the very beginning of this article (in the introductory paragraph), each and every one of these models was handpicked by me. I did the research all by myself so I will feel really proud (and happy) if it helped you make up your final decision on which one to purchase. Trust me, I know how hard it is to purchase such an expensive gadget… that’s pretty much why I made this list in the first place. And finally, what kind of a writer would I be if I end the article without saying thank you? Well, here it goes – Thank you for reading this article; I really hope you’ve enjoyed it!

The post 5 Electric Skateboards that comes with a remote controller – 2017 appeared first on ELSkateboards.

5 Electric Skateboards that comes with a remote controller – 2017 published first on https://elskateboards.wordpress.com

[louisdwilliams]

TOP 5 electric skateboards with wireless remote

Even though electric skateboards with wired controllers have some distinctive advantages over their wireless counterparts, such as 0-interference, smooth controls and virtually no delay, most people still prefer wireless electric skateboard options. That’s mostly because they feel much freer due to the lack of wires, allowing them to fully concentrate on the road instead of looking whether they’re straining the cable or not. If you’re one of them and you are looking for the next electric skateboard you should buy, you are at the right place. Below, you will find a list of top 5 best electric skateboards that feature wireless remote controllers. The list was handpicked by me so I hope you will like it. With that being said, please note that the models featured are the best ones in my personal opinion. While I did try to be as objective as I could, I’m still sure some of you won’t like them and will post nasty comments saying they could have done it better. For those people – I’m entitled to my opinion as you are entitled to yours. If you don’t agree with my list, why waste your time reading it?

Table : Wireless Electric Skateboard

table is coming soon

5. Swagtron SwagBoard NG-1

The budget option in this list belongs to a solid electric skateboard made by Swagboard, a company which came to fame with its excellent electric rideables. It is the cheapest (by far) model on this list but rest assured that it is still able to provide you with plenty of enjoyable skateboarding time. What I’m basically trying to say here is that it provides a massive bang for the bucks and is a must-have for everyone looking to get into the whole electric skateboards thingy.

Specifications

While the official specifications sheet claims this little fella to go up to 10 miles on a single charge, in reality you can expect roughly 7-8 (or even less if you’re heavy). That’s because the numbers on specs sheet are measured in ideal conditions whereas the practical ones might vary from different factors such as inclines, user weight, terrain and so on. Still, the 11mph top speed mark is quite astonishing for the price, but again, you’ll more likely be cruising at around 10mph or perhaps even less in certain scenarios.

Features

SwagBoard NG-1 features sa solid 24V Li-On Fe battery with UL 2272 certification that ensure its as safe as it can be. Moreover, the deck is made out of maple wood and sports a high-quality grip tape for ultimate skateboarding experience. Wheels are made out of the standard material – Polyurethane. That’s what most modern-day wheels are made from so I have nothing to add in that department. All things considered, SwagBoard NG-1 seems like a great entry level option for people who are not looking to spend a fortune on an electric skateboard.

4. Benchwheel Penny Board 1000W

Benchwheel’s Penny Board with 1000W motor has claimed the 4th spot on our list, ranking in just a tad bit better than Swagtron’s entry level model, the SwagBoard NG-1. What separates this model from the crowd is its overly aggressive appearance that makes it clear immediately that it is made for kids and teenagers. But, for now, let’s put that aside and see what can this bad boy do!

Specifications

Penny Board features a mighty 1000W brushless motor for increased endurance and heavy power output. Believe it or not, this 1000W motor is able to provide this board with a top speed of up to 15 mph. Additionally, it also features a durable 800mAh Lithium Ion battery which is pretty good in terms of power efficiency. More precisely, it can last up to 7 miles per charge making it stand pretty good within its price range. What’s even better is the implemented quick charge technology. This essentially provides the battery with faster charge times of only 90 minutes.

Features

Combine those specifications stated above with an incredibly lightweight design (just 11 pounds) and you’ll understand why kids and teens are so crazy about this one. Likewise, the deck is made with a combination of eco-friendly bamboo and maple wood topped off with a grip tape featuring tacky graphics all over the place. And last but not least, Penny Board also comes with a wireless remote control which is used for basic commands such as accelerate, decelerate and brake. All in all, Penny Board is a good electric skateboard but with its aggressive graphics I doubt many grown-ups will opt for it.

3. Ivation

Ivation electric skateboard incorporates more of a standard design with no aggressive graphics or anything like that. It is an outright simplistic model featuring powerful hardware and a solid price tag to its name. Some will find it too expensive while others will be swept away by the value for money it provides. Do you belong in the first or the second group of people? Well, perhaps you’ll know after reading all about its specs and features down below!

Specifications

Let’s start off with the fact this beast sports a powerful brushless motor that allows it to go pretty fast. We are talking about 21mph in pro mode (yup, this bad boy features 2 speed modes) without sacrificing stability or smoothness. Likewise, nothing bad can be said about its battery either. It is finely poised at around 18 miles of range on a full charge which should be more than enough for your daily commute and/or casual stroll through the neighborhood.

Features

As I’ve already mentioned above, Ivation is a simplistic skateboard with no fancy features such as LEDs or anything like that. If you’re looking for such bells and whistles please look elsewhere because Ivation cannot provide. What it can provide is a flexible deck, wireless controller and to top it all off, a high-quality grip tape just like those on the good old non-electric skateboards. If we take everything that’s been said about Ivation into consideration, we’ll come to a conclusion that it’s an outstanding model offering class A performance with no compromises to the build quality and stability.

2. LiftBoard

LiftBoard is a sleek looking, completely black skateboard that looks to be all set for a fashion show. With its matte back grip tape and black 80mm Polyurethane wheels, people would argue that it’s as black as the coffee I enjoy every morning.

Specifications

If you are looking for great value for money, rest assured that it does not get much better than this one. For under $500 you are getting a powerful electric skateboard running on a 900w motor. It allows it solid top speed of up to 16mph which is not neck breaking but still is admirable at this price range. Moving forward to the battery and we’ll find a lithium-ion pack capable of providing with roughly 16 miles of range. So, to summarize – LiftBoard can boast with great specifications as well as an “adult” design… but can it perform good when it comes to the features? Let’s find out!

Features

Starting off at the deck, it’s important to mention that it is fully made out of 7 ply maple wood. As most of you already know, maple is extremely durable and flexible which will give you a worry-free experience in the long run. Black Polyurethane wheels are another great addition and definitely make the overall design a lot crisper. Moving forward to the grip tape which is also black but sports a LiftBoard logo on the left side. The right side, on the other hand, is reserved for the carrying handle located directly in center, right across the LiftBoard logo. And last but not least, It’s important to say a few words about the controller. Truth be told, it is not the best one out there, but nevertheless, it does its job just fine. You won’t notice any delay between your commands and skateboard’s response, but it’s somewhat of a pain to handle, especially if you have huge hands like mine. All in all, LiftBoard is one of few skateboard that are designed exclusively for adults, and as such, I believe it is going to continue with its recent flow of success on the market.

1. Pure Energy

With the LiftBoard out of the way, we only have to give you an overview for the ultimate champion in this category. All hail the almighty Pure Energy, an electric skateboard which brings the best value for money in the high-end market.

Specifications

When it comes to this beast’s specifications, it is safe to say it does not fail to deliver. With a state of the art 1200W hub motor, this baby can go as fast as 21 miles per hour, making it among the fastest models available on the market. Despite the 21mph mark, people weighing over 160 pounds should not expect more than 18, 19 at best. What’s best of all is the fact that, even with such incredible speed you will still be left with good stability and decent grip made true by the top layer of high quality tape. Battery-wise, Pure Energy, as its name suggests, is nothing short of spectacular. With little less than 20 miles per charge (in ideal conditions of course), Pure Energy is an absolute champion with plenty of head room.

Features

The general design of this little fella seems fine enough to me. It sports black Polyurethane wheels along with black motor hub as well as a same-colored grip tape with just a couple of decals to distinguish it from the others. Feature-wise, you’ll enjoy their regenerative braking system, something which we see more and more from top flight models. If you do not know what it does, here’s the deal – it essentially charges the board while you’re using the brakes, thus allowing you a small boost to the maximum range. All things considered, Pure Energy is a god among electric skateboards with wireless controllers and from the looks of it, it will remain there for quite some time.

Conclusion

So that’s about that when it comes to awesome wireless electric skateboards with wireless controllers. Once again, I cannot stress enough the fact that this list was handpicked by me and represents my personal opinion on the matter. If you have a problem with the list and/or you think some other models should have been featured, please be so kind and drop a comment down below and express your opinion. With that being said, I believe we’ve come to the end of our article!

The post TOP 5 electric skateboards with wireless remote appeared first on ELSkateboards.

TOP 5 electric skateboards with wireless remote published first on https://elskateboards.tumblr.com

[elskateboards]

TOP 5 electric skateboards with wireless remote

Even though electric skateboards with wired controllers have some distinctive advantages over their wireless counterparts, such as 0-interference, smooth controls and virtually no delay, most people still prefer wireless electric skateboard options. That’s mostly because they feel much freer due to the lack of wires, allowing them to fully concentrate on the road instead of looking whether they’re straining the cable or not. If you’re one of them and you are looking for the next electric skateboard you should buy, you are at the right place. Below, you will find a list of top 5 best electric skateboards that feature wireless remote controllers. The list was handpicked by me so I hope you will like it. With that being said, please note that the models featured are the best ones in my personal opinion. While I did try to be as objective as I could, I’m still sure some of you won’t like them and will post nasty comments saying they could have done it better. For those people – I’m entitled to my opinion as you are entitled to yours. If you don’t agree with my list, why waste your time reading it?

Table : Wireless Electric Skateboard

table is coming soon

  5. Swagtron SwagBoard NG-1

The budget option in this list belongs to a solid electric skateboard made by Swagboard, a company which came to fame with its excellent electric rideables. It is the cheapest (by far) model on this list but rest assured that it is still able to provide you with plenty of enjoyable skateboarding time. What I’m basically trying to say here is that it provides a massive bang for the bucks and is a must-have for everyone looking to get into the whole electric skateboards thingy.

Specifications

While the official specifications sheet claims this little fella to go up to 10 miles on a single charge, in reality you can expect roughly 7-8 (or even less if you’re heavy). That’s because the numbers on specs sheet are measured in ideal conditions whereas the practical ones might vary from different factors such as inclines, user weight, terrain and so on. Still, the 11mph top speed mark is quite astonishing for the price, but again, you’ll more likely be cruising at around 10mph or perhaps even less in certain scenarios.

Features

SwagBoard NG-1 features sa solid 24V Li-On Fe battery with UL 2272 certification that ensure its as safe as it can be. Moreover, the deck is made out of maple wood and sports a high-quality grip tape for ultimate skateboarding experience. Wheels are made out of the standard material – Polyurethane. That’s what most modern-day wheels are made from so I have nothing to add in that department. All things considered, SwagBoard NG-1 seems like a great entry level option for people who are not looking to spend a fortune on an electric skateboard.

  4. Benchwheel Penny Board 1000W

Benchwheel’s Penny Board with 1000W motor has claimed the 4th spot on our list, ranking in just a tad bit better than Swagtron’s entry level model, the SwagBoard NG-1. What separates this model from the crowd is its overly aggressive appearance that makes it clear immediately that it is made for kids and teenagers. But, for now, let’s put that aside and see what can this bad boy do!

Specifications

Penny Board features a mighty 1000W brushless motor for increased endurance and heavy power output. Believe it or not, this 1000W motor is able to provide this board with a top speed of up to 15 mph. Additionally, it also features a durable 800mAh Lithium Ion battery which is pretty good in terms of power efficiency. More precisely, it can last up to 7 miles per charge making it stand pretty good within its price range. What’s even better is the implemented quick charge technology. This essentially provides the battery with faster charge times of only 90 minutes.

Features

Combine those specifications stated above with an incredibly lightweight design (just 11 pounds) and you’ll understand why kids and teens are so crazy about this one. Likewise, the deck is made with a combination of eco-friendly bamboo and maple wood topped off with a grip tape featuring tacky graphics all over the place. And last but not least, Penny Board also comes with a wireless remote control which is used for basic commands such as accelerate, decelerate and brake. All in all, Penny Board is a good electric skateboard but with its aggressive graphics I doubt many grown-ups will opt for it.

  3. Ivation

Ivation electric skateboard incorporates more of a standard design with no aggressive graphics or anything like that. It is an outright simplistic model featuring powerful hardware and a solid price tag to its name. Some will find it too expensive while others will be swept away by the value for money it provides. Do you belong in the first or the second group of people? Well, perhaps you’ll know after reading all about its specs and features down below!

Specifications

Let’s start off with the fact this beast sports a powerful brushless motor that allows it to go pretty fast. We are talking about 21mph in pro mode (yup, this bad boy features 2 speed modes) without sacrificing stability or smoothness. Likewise, nothing bad can be said about its battery either. It is finely poised at around 18 miles of range on a full charge which should be more than enough for your daily commute and/or casual stroll through the neighborhood.

Features

As I’ve already mentioned above, Ivation is a simplistic skateboard with no fancy features such as LEDs or anything like that. If you’re looking for such bells and whistles please look elsewhere because Ivation cannot provide. What it can provide is a flexible deck, wireless controller and to top it all off, a high-quality grip tape just like those on the good old non-electric skateboards. If we take everything that’s been said about Ivation into consideration, we’ll come to a conclusion that it’s an outstanding model offering class A performance with no compromises to the build quality and stability.

  2. LiftBoard

LiftBoard is a sleek looking, completely black skateboard that looks to be all set for a fashion show. With its matte back grip tape and black 80mm Polyurethane wheels, people would argue that it’s as black as the coffee I enjoy every morning.

Specifications

If you are looking for great value for money, rest assured that it does not get much better than this one. For under $500 you are getting a powerful electric skateboard running on a 900w motor. It allows it solid top speed of up to 16mph which is not neck breaking but still is admirable at this price range. Moving forward to the battery and we’ll find a lithium-ion pack capable of providing with roughly 16 miles of range. So, to summarize – LiftBoard can boast with great specifications as well as an “adult” design… but can it perform good when it comes to the features? Let’s find out!

Features

Starting off at the deck, it’s important to mention that it is fully made out of 7 ply maple wood. As most of you already know, maple is extremely durable and flexible which will give you a worry-free experience in the long run. Black Polyurethane wheels are another great addition and definitely make the overall design a lot crisper. Moving forward to the grip tape which is also black but sports a LiftBoard logo on the left side. The right side, on the other hand, is reserved for the carrying handle located directly in center, right across the LiftBoard logo. And last but not least, It’s important to say a few words about the controller. Truth be told, it is not the best one out there, but nevertheless, it does its job just fine. You won’t notice any delay between your commands and skateboard’s response, but it’s somewhat of a pain to handle, especially if you have huge hands like mine. All in all, LiftBoard is one of few skateboard that are designed exclusively for adults, and as such, I believe it is going to continue with its recent flow of success on the market.

  1. Pure Energy

With the LiftBoard out of the way, we only have to give you an overview for the ultimate champion in this category. All hail the almighty Pure Energy, an electric skateboard which brings the best value for money in the high-end market.

Specifications

When it comes to this beast’s specifications, it is safe to say it does not fail to deliver. With a state of the art 1200W hub motor, this baby can go as fast as 21 miles per hour, making it among the fastest models available on the market. Despite the 21mph mark, people weighing over 160 pounds should not expect more than 18, 19 at best. What’s best of all is the fact that, even with such incredible speed you will still be left with good stability and decent grip made true by the top layer of high quality tape. Battery-wise, Pure Energy, as its name suggests, is nothing short of spectacular. With little less than 20 miles per charge (in ideal conditions of course), Pure Energy is an absolute champion with plenty of head room.

Features

The general design of this little fella seems fine enough to me. It sports black Polyurethane wheels along with black motor hub as well as a same-colored grip tape with just a couple of decals to distinguish it from the others. Feature-wise, you’ll enjoy their regenerative braking system, something which we see more and more from top flight models. If you do not know what it does, here’s the deal – it essentially charges the board while you’re using the brakes, thus allowing you a small boost to the maximum range. All things considered, Pure Energy is a god among electric skateboards with wireless controllers and from the looks of it, it will remain there for quite some time.

  Conclusion

So that’s about that when it comes to awesome wireless electric skateboards with wireless controllers. Once again, I cannot stress enough the fact that this list was handpicked by me and represents my personal opinion on the matter. If you have a problem with the list and/or you think some other models should have been featured, please be so kind and drop a comment down below and express your opinion. With that being said, I believe we’ve come to the end of our article!

The post TOP 5 electric skateboards with wireless remote appeared first on ELSkateboards.