#(also just as a plus: i actually like this gear. its the best low level ones (+ the manor one) and SHE LOOKS KIND BEEFIER

[wolfsrainrules]

Heres another fun grandparent thingie, The Acrobaleno as Izuku's. Or even better as "Hisashi".

...........I am so weak for BNHA and KHR and giving them children damn it.  ALL

--Who needs a quirk if you have Flames?? Izuku is quirkless, but Flames blend so well as a ‘quirk’ the Vindice are more....’dont talk about mafia shit’ and less ‘dont get caught with flames’ so long as the flames can blend in your specific family as a quirk. 

(considering Flames are somewhat hereditary in having them, if not in the type you have, it’s easier in some then others.)

Izuku is particularly lucky, cause his father has a ‘flame’ related quirk, plus his grandfather and thus gets away with this much easier.

--f u c k screwing up a good childhood friendship when I love good friend Katsuki Bakugou, so say hello to Izuku’s Storm, fight me.

--Inko is 2000% a bad ass Sun and will fuck you up.

---Izuku?? That boy is a Sunny Sky.

FON --The absolute beatdown this kid could give people by the time he was five is whooooooo. 

--Fon terrifies the HPSC and is very much proud of that fact. He teaches Izuku to be wary of their games, but also to be enough of a Bad Ass they can’t corner him verbally of physically. 

-- Fon is both very proud his grandson is a Sky and very protective. Because Izuku is a Sky related to an Arcobaleno, and the world is very much interested in that. 

Fon won’t have it. 

His boy’s Elements will be genuinely found and Bonded and he will Fuck Up anyone that tries to prevent that.

--Izuku has the Hibari temper in s p a d e s. He was a tiny ball of rage and FIGHT ME as a toddler, and Fon was the one to teach him to reign it in, Inko remembering her father’s childhood temper stories. It’s why he gets along with Katsuki so well, and why he’s so FERAL even if no one believes it until it’s too late. TSUNA (for giggles, cause I’m weak)

---Izuku grows up surrounded by adoration and love, and a wild variety of personalities. He’s....a little odd himself as a result. 

---He’s definitely a force to reckon with, being a Sunny Sky, with the Vongola Hyper Intuition? Ooooh, he’s gonna abuse the hell out of it in hero work. And in Friendship but nicely. Shhh. 

---Izuku never doubts he is loved, and he relishes in the strange Vongola traditions and UA is....comparatively a breeze to Uncle Reborn. He actually likes Aizawa On Sight, beyond his Hyper Intuition because he reminds him of his Uncle.

---Izuku enjoys Cosplay. Reborn thought it was funny to fuck with Tsuna that way, Inko thought it was hilarious and cute, and Tsuna....also thought it was cute despite the internal sdfgsgfdsd. Reborn is thrilled. 

---Izuku fights best with his hands and body, but he sure as hell knows how to ROCK a gun, because Uncle Reborn and Uncle Xanxus would have no other options on that, and his genius little mind ROCKS the math for trick shots. His Uncles are so proud.

REBORN

---Reborn has been the family man at heart, for a very long time, for all that he never said so openly. He was there for all of Izuku’s milestones, and adores the little Sunny Sky beyond words.

---Absolutely was teaching Toddler Izuku gun maintenance way before he should have done, but Inko was taught the same and sees no issues. with this, so Izuku knows the names of gun parts and how to put them together and take them apart and safety rules....long, long before anyone else would have. 

---Inko is a sharpshooting, trick shot capable bad ass and no one is ready. Least of all her S/O. (He’s w e a k)

---there are....so many cosplay baby photos. There’s an album or 5. Reborn 1000% has copies on hand at all times and will pull a “LOOK AT MY ADORABLE GRANDSON” if you let him. (The other Arcobaleno will sit down and look at them, becuase Izuku has them all wrapped around his tiny fingers and hes cute as hell okay)

VERDE --He is SO pleased with Izuku’s level of brains. He hones that from the start

--The Analysis skills he has?? ABSOLUTELY not wasting those. 

--He is totally Izuku’s Support Gear provider and he will FIGHT for that right, shut up

--He’s very devoted to keeping Izuku alive and well be the end of his career so he can retire and he will see it done. 

--Inko has those smarts too btw. People are...very shocked by the Sherlock like anility to pull them apart both Midoriyas share and it can...make people uncomfortable.

--Nedzu is t h r i l l e d

--The rest of the school is low key terrified. 

LAL/COLONNELLO ---Army Kid Izuku okay. Because Inko kept some habits, and they both showed up often and Izuku is a powerful little shit even young as hell 

--Very good with guns, take 2 XD

--Mafia Island is a playground for Izuku, and he relishes in the challenges of the training grounds his grandparents come up with. Better training after all!

(Katsuki ALSO thinks its great) VIPER --Izuku is so good at getting money. So so good at it. Viper taught him so many tricks, and he uses them like whoo. Beter source of money he has, the better his job gets done, and he wants enough to take care of his people soooo.....

--Despite money hoarding, he’s also likely to use it for things, more than Viper. It’s not about him having the money, so much as it is having enough to help with what he wants to help with.

--Also grew up around Varia. Izuku is very much a deadly little shit. 

--Very likely to go Underground in this one in my head??? Like just. WRECK IT. He’s a little shit, but a vey powerful magnetic one. 

--Establishes the first real, very deadly, Underground Heroics Team, and they are....very effective.

SKULL

--Ahhh, yes. Izuku is very much taught to act. To display what needs displaying. 

--Grew up around Circus Folk, and he knows....a hell of a lot of their tricks.

--Super flexible and powerful and works hard for it

-- Very much a super popular ‘small time’ hero in daylight, but a very driven, very deadly, very well known Underground Hero who can and will fuck you up

#crossover fun #bnha #khr #arcobaleno grandparents #arcobaleno

[jennamoran]

The Near Roofs

This month is kind of confusing because I had a nasty face-first fall after my knee dislocated (they do that) followed by days of exhaustion and then a week of migraines and I don't really remember what I had planned for Patreon content for the month before that. I've been fine since like the day before yesterday so this isn't serious, just... well.

How about a preview from the Far Roofs, which will be my first major diced IP? (Possibly my first ever?)

So the way this game happened is basically, every now and then I want to do a diced game, but I always run into the fundamental problem that when I actually analyze how something should work, it makes more sense diceless. Like, I always wind up feeling that if I actually know what you are supposed to be doing in a situation in a game, then ... it's almost always one thing. Probably with a significant axis of player-level variation, but not, like, a list of twenty things that should each happen 5% of the time, or whatever, much less something that should only happen 30% of the time but should happen super-well 5% of the time.

This is not me mocking d20-type systems, for clarity. More than half of the games I have loved to play were diced. More than half of the games I want to play but don't have the energy or opportunity to play right now are diced. Just ...

It's the problem with trying to build towards a diced game from an environment of thought that isn't using those foundations already.

So when I found a mechanic that I liked that actually worked, that ... honestly wasn't actually specifically a diced mechanic, but which didn't get in the way of doing a diced system with it? I wrote down the whole system core really quickly and then frantically began to try to figure out what of my existing already-written setting things I could pair it with.

The best option, unfortunately, was Fortitude: the Far Roofs.

The reason I say "unfortunately" there is that I've had a basically complete Chuubo's supplement, like, 160k words? something? sitting around for years, one of my favorite Chuubo's sourcebooks really, that's what that is, waiting for me to get the Arcs book out so that the character writeups in it will make sense, and using that setting for something else ...

Well ...

I worry that I will at the very least have to do the Chuubo's version kind of low-budget and without its own kickstarter because people will have already seen a lot of the content. At the worst, I'll decide I can't release the Chuubo's version as a print book at all, but will have to just release it all here or something.

... but, but, but, they paired together really well.

So what you're going to be seeing ... soonish? Probably 2023, maybe 2Q, although that's also when Nob4 is loosely scheduled so one of them will have to move to avoid me competing hard with myself ... is this new system, plus the Fortitude rats content.

For universality, I've moved this stuff out of Town qua Town. The rats are still Fortitude rats. Town is still assumed to exist. ... but here and there on Earth, waterways and Fortitude rats have shown up, and so you can set your story in a place that doesn’t need Chuubo’s lore like I dunno Portland or Baltimore or even Twin Peaks instead.

... I mean, if you're a Chuubo's fan, you can also just set things in Town!

But there’s that.

The book's completely written, I could theoretically jump into layout, but there's resource stuff finicky enough that I feel like I have to playtest for a while before moving forward. Otherwise, you’ll hit all these mechanics and they’ll hum like a perfectly-tuned engine that isn’t in gear and takes you nowhere at all. ^_^

Anyway, the bit I wanted to share today from this is a bit about the Near Roofs, which is to say, the part of the rats' rooftop home that isn't the Far Roofs yet.

I have checked on google and I don’t seem to have ever shared this, even the parts that existed before. So here you go!

**

                The Near Roofs

This bit’s from when you’ve just reached the Near Roofs—maybe gotten over your initial shock, maybe walked around up there for a while, maybe gone from the stuff that’s more like “your own house’s roof” to something more foreign and interesting to you.

You’re still in, or at least over, your town.[1]

Eventually, this kind of place is going to be all safe and known territory to you, all old hat to you, because ultimately it is just a part of regular old dull boring wherever-you-happened-to-be-living. It’s not magic. It’s just ... Portland. Suzhou. Whatever. Seattle, Baltimore, Fortitude, or St. Paul.

... but for right now? On your first trips up there? It’s mysterious and wondrous and strange. Maybe even a little frightening. The place you’ve lived for so long is suddenly defamiliarized to you; you find places that you have a hard time accepting are actually ­there.

This is a good time to introduce any changes in the real world that are necessary to having the game work—

Like, the rats arrive places by ship, so there’s a river, lake, or oceanfront somewhere,even if your city is landlocked. Maybe it’s not visible from the ground, if you want to hew closer to the established contours of your home, and that’s probably weird and a little magical ... but that doesn’t really matter here; it’s not a magic that makes the roofs themselves any stranger.

Too, it’s useful here to have the roofs be kind of interesting and detailed. To have a lot of them that are relatively safe, relatively low. It’s possible that you’re living somewhere where you couldn’t find that. Where all the roofs are dull, or interesting but rickety and high. If you need to change that kind of thing, introduce some variety or a bit more safety, this defamiliarization process is a good time to bring in something new.

Here’s a few places to explore.

          [1] as noted, I've dropped a strict dependence on Town. The playtest game I'm running is actually splitting the difference and taking place in "Fortitude, WA."

              Eight Banners

This bit’s up north, near the burrow Little Nymh. Here rats can fly banners from the roof to mark their victories—any victory, really, although they’re grouped, more or less, by scale. There are a lot more than eight banners here, and in fact, it’s closer to two thousand; the eight banners of the name recognize five great victories:

awakening as Fortitude rats;

the Hallow’s-Eve victory, when the Mystery named Hedge the Fang took over the bodies of seven hundred cats and tried to kill the local rat population—but they drove him out and lost fewer than a thousand rats, two hundred cats, and five or six of the Big Folk (humans, that is) thereby;

the peace accords, struck between the Rat King and his rivals Neven and Kysely Vertigen, that ended the “Usurpers’ Age;”

the rats’ discovery of a magical sailing route from Fortitude, the land of their origin, to ... well, originally, the dwarf planet Eris, but let’s say here, the town where the game is set, instead; and

their defeat of the monster Typhon at Thresher’s Woods.

The remaining three of the eight major banners are currently blank; this signifies that they have not yet defeated the Headmaster of the Bleak Academy[2], conquered the world, or made an end to Death.

It’s a pretty gorgeous span of roofs; they’ve chosen good ones, with solid construction and chimneys or second stories that offer epic views of the waterfront and your town. It’s fun to walk along the Lower Banners, where rats have put up small plaques to relatively small deeds and fly the appropriate streamers—here’s one, for instance, commemorating a litter where all the kits survived their first month; here’s one for counting the teeth of the Mystery named Goblin; here’s one for five years of love and marriage; and here’s one from the valedictorian of Professor Roza’s academy!

The street of Great Banners is even cooler, but I haven’t been there; nevermind flying a banner, you’re only supposed to go there and look as a commemoration for some great occasion in your life, so I’m saving it for something special. Maybe when this book comes out! That’ll probably have happened by the time you’re reading this, though, so you could certainly go there and see.[3]

              [2] a particularly noxious Mystery.

[3] I can't believe I was wrong on this one. Just can't believe it. I was so sure!! It just made so much absolute sense!

              Heaven’s Sleeve

This bit’s not far from the water.

These are pretty ordinary roofs. They’re not really crowded together but they’re not terribly far apart either. The slopes are modest and consistent. The tiles are red, white, and gray and mostly made of slate. It’s not until you go up near the top and look down the length of them that you see anything at all special or interesting here.

If you do that, though, you might catch your breath.

The roofs are like a branching road, or river, or a waving bit of cloth. They run together in the distance—you only really see the gaps between them up close—and become this great sweep of pathway that parallels the shore, touching the harbor in several places, and has breakaway paths that lead past intriguingly colored clusters of rooftops and up into the city’s heart.

The rats call this place Heaven’s Sleeve, and the story goes like this.

Once upon a time, Cneph the Maker wandered down to Earth—to this very city, in fact! When he turned to leave again, he caught his sleeve on the nail of a house. It ripped off and grew into a hydra of great waving streamers. These lay themselves down to become the region the rats call Heaven’s Sleeve. Because of this only most of Cneph the Maker could leave the world—he had to leave a portion of himself here, as he’d left a portion of his robe.

      Kaoru’s Cross[4]

This bit’s roughly central. It’s where two major roads cross down below.

The buildings near here tend to have conjoined roofs. That means that when you’re looking down from above, the crossroads is two deep, crisscrossed trenches in the rolling hills of the roofs. Those trenches are gaily colored, with rows of trees and bits of white and red plaster visible from above to either side. Good smells drift up. You can hear people walking along the way, and occasionally the jingling of bikes. The roofs aren’t wholly contiguous—there are plenty of other little roads that break them up, and a few architectural separations—but there’s an overall sense of evenness to the terrain, like you’re on rich red ground and you’ve opened up the earth to see a marvelous miniaturized world of people walking around below.

The rats’ll tell you that Karme Kaoru fought here with the Mystery named Salamander, aka “Indiscretion;” it unleashed a terrible fire, but she caught it up, transformed it, and used it to re-fire the terracotta of the rooftop tiles. Ever since, they’ve been indestructible, like rat-gum-treated rooftops, and just a little bit warmer than you would think they’d be.

    [4] but WHY is she cross, Jenna?! Is it because you're telling everyone about her little, uh, indiscretion?

    The Red King’s Road

This bit’s starts at the waterfront and it runs northwest.

These are pretty ordinary roofs. They’re solid enough underfoot, and they’re not that high, and the gaps between them are pretty small—all in all, they’re good beginner’s roofs. They aren’t particularly mythic or impressive in themselves. To me, though, the things that happened there give them some grandeur.

The Red King’s Road is one of the remnants of the Usurper’s Age, when a whole litter of siblings and a number of cousins and even a handful of foreign powers engaged in war, actions, and rebellion against the throne of the King of Rats.[5] “The Red King” was one of those unruly siblings: he rebelled, and he lost, and he walked this road when returning to his throne and grave.

His isn’t the only story, or the only rooftop region, emerging from that time. There’s a similar history to the Corpse Duke’s Runway, the Traitor Prince’s Gallows, the Sword Princess’ Path, and to Kysely’s Edge; not to mention Konrad’s Court and Neven’s Solace, distinguished from the previous in that Konrad and Neven both reconciled with their King.

    [5] Rat generations go fast, so you may well have been alive when all this “ancient history” happened; though, if you want to say that the rats weren’t public at the place where you live yet, though, that is fine.

    The Republic of the Living

The white roofs of this place are the keep of the Living Mayor, who broke off from the Rat King’s kingdom some while after the Usurper’s Age and declared himself an independent power. There he sacrificed his mortality, with the help of the Mystery “Malambruno,” and sank his flesh and mind into his domain, animating the upper and lower roofs of his republic with his own spirit. Now he is every spinning vane, every laundry line, every roof tile and every gutter; and thus the rats of the Republic of the Living may always retreat to the high places and know safety if the Rat King invades them from below. The matter is essentially notional now, as the Republic of the Living and the Kingdom of the Rats long ago made peace and reunited; now the Republic is only the Living Mayor himself and those disaffected rats who want to make a show of political dissent by signing on.[6]

    [6] In Chuubo's there's also bonus Region Properties here,

The Living Mayor is watching;

Iconoclasts are welcome.

In case you wanted to know. ^_^

    Thresher’s Woods

This bit’s off to the northwest.

The name refers to a space of rooftops, telephone phones, and a scant few trees. It’s not a real forest, but if you sit or lay down here, if you get your eyes low enough, you’ll understand why the rats see it as one. Dark wood is a common construction feature here. Protruding attic windows cast grim shadows. Telephone poles and their wires loom. The place feels and smells like you’re in a light forest.

Thresher’s Woods is a relatively well-traveled region. You can often find a news-rat about or a place to buy a rat-sized meal. There are fire-pits scattered through the region on stone roofs: the humans below receive a tiny stipend and free fire insurance in exchange for allowing the rats their fires up above. Rats that spend so long on the roofs that they don’t feel comfortable in the burrows any longer often set up residence here in Thresher’s Woods, so you’ll see tiny laundry lines and other signs of habitation scattered here and about.

Here’s how the rats tell the story of the place.

In the old days, in the Autumn Dynasty, there was a crop of heroes like nobody’d ever seen, or has ever seen again. They were astonishing. It was an era of warriors like Chryseis Moriko, who could take on a Big Folk soldier toe-to-toe and come out the better; of thieves like Alen Aleksei, who stole his father back from Death; of geniuses like Zlatan Petrova, who invented refrigeration; and of heroes like Kristen Lukenya, who might as well have been a Mystery, save only that she died and once she’d died she did not bother to return.

There were too many of them, and the world too small. That was their curse. They did their best to live under the rule of the Rat King and devote their attention to the Mysteries, but it was too difficult. Little feuds grew large. Tempers grew hot. They called the local rats under their various banners and they waged war such as Fortitude rats have rarely seen; and one by one, they cut each other down, here, in the span of roofs called Thresher’s Woods.

It was not until the war had almost ended, not until there were scarcely seven out of seventy of the great remaining, that Typhon came to make an end to all the errant rats. It is their great triumph and their monument that her skin flutters in the wind, a golden kite of flesh, on the street of Great Banners and from the highest telephone pole peak of Thresher’s Woods.[7]

    [7] I have a gorgeous color picture of Thresher's Woods to use in the final book, though ... I'm not sure I can hit the price point I want for the book if it's in color!! It troubles me. I am thinking maybe there will be an inset frontispiece with a few color pages if I go B&W?

    Wingmaidens’ Reach

These roofs are clean and ever-so-slightly luminous. The Wingmaidens’ Reach is mostly made of the roofs of houses, but its northern edge extends to warehouses and a cannery. There is an extensive birdcote in the central portion that resembles a fantasy palace, which, in some respects, it has become.

In the central cote of Wingmaidens’ Reach live the seven ternmays, rat heroines cursed by Malambruno to adopt the skins and wings of terns. They must take on the form of a tern one day in four, from dawn to dusk, and may do so at other times as often as they like. They tried at first to undo or escape this curse but after learning that ternmays are functionally immortal, beautiful to other rats, and can fly as often as they like, they stopped trying to reverse it.

The Wingmaidens’ Reach has acquired a portion of the peril of the far rooftops; it is an innate geas of the place and all that transpires there that beauty has a price.[8]

    [8] In Chuubo's, this too is a Region Property. ^_^

    Traveling with the Rats

This bit’s about the travel customs of the rats. It tells you what kinds of things the rats will be doing when you’re out on the roofs in a traveling or exploration scene.

If you’re lucky you’ll see them at play.

They’ll have little races, from here to there or possibly around and about everything — they don’t typically need exact rules for this to have fun, not like adult humans might, as long as there’s a clear sense that the other rat is doing something related to their race. You’ll see them chasing one another around and around and around up an old chimney, skittering past an unexpected bird’s nest on the way, quite possibly exaggerating the risk of falling off for effect; and then, if one of them is losing, he or she might decide suddenly that the real aim of the race is to jump off the chimney from halfway up, scramble along a weathervane, and jump out before the weathervane turns about onto the roof of a nearby house.

They’ll play hide and seek. This is particularly common if there are enough of them that a few of them can get ahead of you while one or two stays beside. They’re mature enough not to really acknowledge that they’re playing hide and seek—instead, it’s “that goof! Where’s he got off to now?” or “good grief, she’s gotten lost again?”—but you can tell by the smugness when they do find one another or when, after not being found, they strut back to the group.

They’ll play fight, now and again. This is awesome fun for them, and they’ll usually be giggling or boggling their eyes[9] with good humor the whole time—chasing, pouncing on, and struggling to pin their opponent, with an ultimate aim softly biting or tapping the neck.[10]

Even when it’s not safe enough to play, or when they’re not in the mood, they still hardly ever go from one place to another in a straight line. They will always be exploring, looking at their world and the roof from all directions, exclaiming in soft joy, wonder, or surprise at this and that. They’ll run up a television antenna, if they can find one, or up any weather vane, or along an attic roof. They’ll go back and forth between nearby roofs, or between a roof and the branches of a nearby tree, for no real reason other than that they can. They’re most comfortable and happiest when they’ve thoroughly explored the space around them, even when they’re in places they should technically already know.

Sometimes even in the near rooftops they’ll start acting really cautious or aggressive. They’ll tell you stories of bad things that have happened nearby, or poke at the rooftops skeptically with their swords, or make plans for coping with horrible danger. Do not be concerned. They are hamming it up for you. Seriously, any time you hear a rat admitting to fear, or hinting that you should be afraid, you’re getting yourself set up to have your leg pulled—they are perfectly capable of hiding their reactions and talking out of your range of hearing, and that’s exactly what they woulddo if they were genuinely concerned. At the very least, say, “For serious?” and, if they agree, say, “Promise?”

Because I guess something scary could be going on, but if you can’t get them to promise to it, then what’s really going to happen is that you’re about to see a scary mask propped up on the roof or you’re walking somewhere where a bat might fly out at you, and they’re getting ready to laugh and laugh at you when you get scared. As for why they’d do such a mean thing, well, it’s the same reason that people scare children—it’s to make you more cautious when you wouldn’t be, and less scared when you would.

    [9] Did you know that rats’ eyes can sort of pop out and vibrate in their sockets when they’re really happy? It’s called boggling! It can definitely take you by surprise.

[10] The rats of Fortitude tend towards neoteny in their fighting — a standard fight is a children’s game persisting into adulthood, rather than the kind of fight anybody could take seriously. That’s why they’re laughing! Boasting, arguing, and tests of skill are conceptualized as extensions of these fights, so you’ll often see a rat rubbing at its neck when particularly impressed, or tapping another rat’s neck when it thinks it’s being particularly impressive. In case you’re wondering, in a serious fight, their instincts will tell them to bite the enemy’s rump. Their brains, of course, will probably be telling them either to use a weapon or to back down.

    The Near Roofs

For the GM, or anyone who is up for handling this part of things.[11]

Some things you might say when the characters are traveling the Near Roofs:

“tell me about the views of the water”

“tell me about the rats that you see moving here and there on the roofs”

“tell me about the rat habitations that you find”

“tell me about the rats you see hawking food, newspapers, treasures”

“tell me about the warden-rat you see, pensive, with the air of a guardian”

“tell me about the music of the rats”

“tell me about the banners the rats fly”

“tell me about the temple of the rats, and the music that rises from it”

“tell me about the garden of the rats”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like a desert”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like water”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like a forest”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like the sky”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like the city (in miniature)”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like a glade”

“tell me about the roofs where the rats have their advanced industrial project”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like the hills”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like an alley”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like a port”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like an island”

“tell me about the roofs that kind of feel like your home”

“tell me about how you pass through the Lower Banners, up north, with its flags and kites and its waterfront view”

“tell me about the banners you read there, and the accomplishments of the rats”

“tell me how you look up at the street of Great Banners; will you visit it when you have an accomplishment that’s worthy?”

“tell me how you pass through Heaven’s Sleeve, down by the water—do you go up high to see how the roofs flow together to form a great branching road?”

“tell me, do you know the story of Heaven’s Sleeve? (pg. XX)

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?”

    o Want to share with a friend?

“tell me how you pass through Kaoru’s Cross, near the heart of the city, with a crossroads like two deep, crisscrossed trenches in the rolling hills of the roofs”

“tell me what you hear from the people who walk there; from the jingling of bikes”

“tell me how it feels to walk on the rich red roofs of Kaoru’s Cross, solid as the ground?”

“tell me, do you know the story of Kaoru’s Cross? (pg. XX)

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?

    o Want to share with a friend?”

“tell me how you walk the Red King’s Road, from the waterfront off northwest—good beginner’s roofs, I’m told, with solid tiles and fairly short gaps for when you’re jumping”

“tell me, do you know the story of the Red King’s Road? (pg. XX)

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?

    o Want to share with a friend?”

“tell me how you pass through the Republic of the Living, where every spinning vane, every white-topped tile, every laundry-line and every gutter is inhabited by the spirit of the ‘Living Mayor’ of the rats?”

“tell me of the rats who live here, officially forsaking the governance of their King?”

“tell me, can you feel the presence of the Living Mayor on these roofs?”

“tell me, do you speak to him—the Living Mayor—through some chimney-flue or gutter-wind?”

“tell me how you pass through the northwest Thresher’s Woods, where the roofs feel like a forest, and there are tiny fire-pits and laundry lines scattered here and there around the outside of rats’ homes?”

“tell me, do you know the story of the Thresher’s Woods? (pg. XX)

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?

    o Want to share with a friend?”

“tell me how you pass through Wingmaidens’ Reach, where beauty has its price?”

“tell me of the fairy-tale birdcote at its heart?”

“tell me how you see the ternmays passing overhead?”

“tell me, do you know the story of the Wingmaidens’ Reach? (pg. XX)

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?

    o Want to share it with a friend?”

“tell me how you walk

    o the Corpse Duke’s Runway, and what the roofs are like there;

    o the Traitor Prince’s Gallows, and what the roofs are like there;

    o the Sword Princess’ Path, and what the roofs are like there;

    o Kysely’s Edge, and what the roofs are like there;

    o Konrad’s Court, and what the roofs are like there;

    o Neven’s Solace, and what the roofs are like there

“tell me of the roofs you walk—what do they feel like, here? do you know their name?”

“tell me, do you know the story of this place?

    o Do you think a rat here might tell you?

    o Want to share with a friend?”

“speak to me of the rats racing and chasing one another on the roofs?”

“speak to me of the rats at their games of hide and seek—and their excuses, not to admit that they’re at play?”

“speak to me of how the rats explore the space around you as you go?”

“speak to me of the play-fights of the rats—their eyes boggling, their voices giggling, chasing and pouncing or with play-swords dueling until one is softly bitten or tapped upon the neck?”

“speak to me of how the rats pretended that there was trouble coming ... only to have it be a prank?”

“speak to me of something the rats ran up, or found?”

    [11] I haven't completely formalized the rules for using these sections yet; that's pending playtesting. I'd like to take inspiration from Belonging Outside Belonging stuff and just let anyone pick up relevant pages, but I'm not sure it actually fits with the flow of play. Possibly it's good this way, possibly I need to understand Belonging Outside Belonging better, possibly I need to stick to tradition, possibly I need to innovate in a slightly different direction. I am yet to find out!

#patreon-supported posts #cmwge #the far roofs

[dawnblade]

Okay hi you're like.

One of the only destiny players I follow, and I enjoy watching your commentary and stuff like that!!

Anyway, my boyfriend in the past month has gotten very into destiny 2 and Im starting to want to play too.

Any tips for a new player? 🥺

lord forgive me for the college thesis ive just written

thank you so much, im glad to hear youve enjoyed what ive had to say about this game!!! so, as for tips:

☆first off, ive heard the starting missions dont do a great job of easing new players into the game, so i think my advice for that would be that after you complete those, if you have any of the purchaseable big expansions (forsaken, shadowkeep, or beyond light), play through their campaigns so you can have a more "on rails" guided experience as you learn

if youre playing the free base game, you might have to set more goals for yourself. you can start by playing strikes, crucible, or gambit, OR you could explore each planet and see what they have going on. (i think to get to new planets you need to increase your power level, so thats a goal to shoot for!)

▪strikes are pve, essentially super short linear self-contained stories. you get matched with two other people and do some light combat with a boss at the end to get loot. its very casual and chill

▪crucible is pvp, you have different modes within the crucible to choose from, which are explained in-game. you can play matches for valor- which is more casual, or glory- which is more competitive

▪gambit is a mix of pve and pvp. your team and the opposing team fight enemies to collect something called motes from them. whichever team collects 100 motes, then summons and defeats the final boss first wins the match!!!

**there are also much harder versions of pvp and pve activities (raids, trials of osiris, grandmaster nightfall strikes, etc) but thats all endgame content and you probably wont get into that stuff until youve spent a good amount of time with the game

if you like checking things off a list, there are things called triumphs, which are basically in-game achievements, so completeing those could be your objective. theres a TON of those to complete, so you definitely wont run out of stuff to do LOL

●○●○

☆weapon and armor drops might be confusing and overwhelming to a new player, so personally i wouldnt worry about them too much until you get some experience with the game and start getting into endgame content. getting something with good perks will really help you out later

when you wanna start grinding for better guns, looking up the best perks for each gun is absolutely recommended

trial and error, licherally just messing around, is also very useful to find something that suits your personal playstyle

●○●○

☆the fastest way to up your seasonal rank is to be constantly doing bounties and seasonal challenges

seasonal ranks are mostly just for rewards and include resources and cosmetic items, but also provide some passive gameplay perks that can help you with a seasonal activity or getting better weapon + armor drops

●○●○

☆the fastest way to up your power level is by doing weekly challenges for each activity (strikes, gambit, crucible, etc) and getting powerful gear from them

power level directly affects how hard an activity is going to be. if your power level is too low, enemies will be immune to damage, but if you are just slightly underleveled it can make for a more challenging activity if thats what you want ^_^ otherwise, if your power level is equal to or above whats required, enemy power will scale with you.

●○●○

☆try to have a variety of weapon archetypes (like smgs, hand cannons, snipers, etc) and energies (solar, arc, void, and stasis) in your inventory.

there are third-party apps that let you bring and send weapons to storage without having to stop at the main hub world, but sometimes its just easier to be able to quick-swap for different situations.

having a few armor loadouts is useful as well but again, personally i wouldnt worry about armor modding and weapon perks TOO much when youre just starting out

●○●○

☆if youre not sharing your account, you should use all three character slots on a warlock, a hunter, and a titan. obviously you dont HAVE to, you can be Oops All Hunters if you want, but ive found its super useful to have an understanding of how each class works, especially for endgame content

●○●○

and finally, this game's campaigns tend to be pretty cool, but the lore is absolutely batshit and i recommend reading lore books and lore tabs and such when you can because they are super interesting. theres so many of them though i dont think its possible to actually read all of it, in which case i HIGHLY recommend watching "My Name Is Byf" on youtube if you want all of that information compiled neatly and explained thoroughly to you. or you can read the wikis or a site called the ishtar collective to learn more about aspects of the lore you might be interested in. the lore stuff you read about is mostly gonna be pick and choose regardless

●○●○

SO, i think thats about all i can think of. i hope none of this was confusing, if you need any clarification id be glad to explain more!!! this game is a lot of fun with friends, so def play it with others when you can ^_^ plus, theres tons of resources for you to learn from, on youtube or reddit or wikis OR asking folks like myself!! a lot of veterans with more experience than me are also very willing to help you out, so totally dont be afraid to ask!!! i hope you have fun with the game!!!

also, if any other folks have some new player tips, do feel free to share!!

#long post / #destiny #stonerstarscream #replies #apologies again for such a long post i tried to format it so its not like a big monotonous block of text LOL #i could talk about this game for a billion years i think

[sugar-petals]

Can you tell us how to please a soft sub and hard sub? Like what could a guy enjoy?

it’s 95% individual, i’d ask + negotiate before ideas for play. i can suggest scenes but still, it might not be his limits. to remember is what differenciates the two: hard subs enjoy pain + power, soft subs don’t.

you can likely please the latter if you’re a gentle femdom aficionado. still depends on what kind of GFD you like, but you can grow into the role you agree on, shift. it’s a bit easier: fewer prerequisites. ofc there’s etiquette + talent, but you can please by tuning into the role pretty well. 

the former: not as flexible. there are set qualities. understand this as a ‘needed with good reason’ profile rather than gatekeeping. sadism is the requirement. no 50-50 zone, you feeling that you are a natural is key. your sub won’t be happy if you merely try it. it’s usually clear to a domme anyways, you either lick your fingers for s/m or not.

↳ as for specific kinks. what i can give you is a list of things to AVOID for each.💡it’s a roundabout way to see what he prefers and each sub’s a different case but it’s a compass.

✏︎ soft subs — don’ts

hair-pulling -> choose fondles and pats instead wherever he likes it the most.

name-calling -> praise is usually preferred

yelling -> whispering/soft-spoken, this is an asmr zone ☁️

hard spanking -> lighter squeezes

no squishy props -> use pillows, blankets, plushies if he wants. but, in any case, you’ll need pillows. can’t have enough of those.

tears -> only as a spontaneous release [during aftercare], most soft subs aren’t into dacryphilia

chaos -> soft subs love consistency. 

too much genitalia focus -> don’t forget the smooches and forehead kisses, and massages possibly. if he likes that, tend to seemingly neglegible body parts even, like ears and toes. boop the nose.

toy overwhelm -> back to basics, never forget he loves your hands. idea: choose pastels for color if you do get toys. dramatic black/red/metal is for the hardcore femdom department and suits the mood better. you likely have that preference already if you strictly soft dom.

breath play -> stick to neck kisses. mouth gags, same thing, he probably isn’t comfortable with it.

leaving marks -> 50-50, again, ask what kind you can and cannot leave. if he likes it, do 20% marks, 80% affection.

pragmatic, planned aftercare -> make it extensive + adapt easily. seems counterintuitive since hard subs take a lot more, but let me tell you soft subs think aftercare is literal catnip. if you’re a big brain domme, you transfer some aftercare favorites to the main act. also, about pragmatism: unlike with hard subs (see list below: #21), come up with a more fine-tuned safeword/limit system. these are play scenes where you can go into many different directions so that’s why. 

straightforward -> it’s no problem if you’re the indirect or shy type as a domme, it’s about careful questions toward him here. many soft subs approach their dommes well with wishes. ironically, hard subs are the other way around, they might anticipate more unless they’re very extroverted. the biggest hard subs were the quiet kiddos at school 😉 soft subs can be bubbly and reveal their demands rather easily.

deprioritize your orgasm -> make him tend to you in a lazy, slow demeanour. spoil each other.

all over the place -> stick to bedroom bed, bathtub and couch unless otherwise requested. the point is to have a safe and comfortable spot.

breaking him -> never push, always guide. again, consistency, no highs and lows.

suppressing critique -> he wants to know where to improve, show him exactly how to do things the right way and work with mistakes. not humiliating, more like teaching. 

dungeon -> keep it above ground. 

hands-on ownership -> show him he belongs to you in other ways. spoil him, that’s the best way.

high heels -> too impractical for 80% of GFD activities. fetish gear generally doesn’t work here. just mentioning, it’s probably already clear to everyone. and, purely soft dommes don’t gravitate towards dominatrix fashion in the first place.

passive -> unlike with hard subs, you likely do a lot of the work. soft dommes are busier than people expect.

atmosphere? -> switch on the fairy lights, candles, make it dim. make it as romantic as possible.

power imbalance -> air to breathe for any hard sub, but soft subs prefer flatter hierarchies. mind you, your position is still one of guidance. 

✏︎ hard subs — don’ts

tender voice > grit and growl in their ear aye

questions > proportion-wise, give more commands instead.

no tools -> introduce some devices according to your couple taste.

lenience -> tame that provocateur 😄 you define where his place is. show him, physically. under your foot, kneeling, bowing? find that perfect position for the two of you. 

only caressing > choke and slap him, but ask/announce right beforehand.

unbridled aggression -> misguided way of dominance unless it’s primal play. i know it’s more negatively connotated but deliberate brutality is the word, you exact it while keeping rather cool. unless... he fancies you as the angry mistress, or passionate, punishing. but then again, no aggression. just brutality. the difference is huge. the more sadistic the play, the more contained your action. not all understated, just very directed and according to how you spoke about it, and according to the feedback in front of you. you get perfect awareness, not dizzy tunnel vision and fluctuating feelings. i say brutality because it indicates a person knows what they’re doing. aggression and anger means you bottle your judgement. the brain switches off there, it gets too erratic. also, aggression is less severe and a means to an end while brutality is for its own sake and goes heavy which is what hard subs enjoy: since they’re masochists. aggressive and violent dommes are just assholes, brutal hard dommes... are good dommes. 😛

free reign clothes -> tell him what type of outfit makes him domme candy. experiment plenty. don’t worry, most hard subs enjoy being told what to wear. and even if they don’t, suggesting it won’t piss them off. also, you can get strict and exacting as fuck with this. hard subs want your possessiveness in creative ways.

plain undressed -> chances are CFNM could be a hot idea sometimes, or fetish wear which is often appreciated in all things hardcore. then again, dressing up is no must, but definitely try all-black outfits, suits etc, whatever makes you radiate authority and the upper hand. remember, hierarchy. your superiority is what he enjoys during sex, he actually gets confused if you don’t show it in your particular way. if it’s not clothes, it’s the voice, anyway. the voice lives in his head rent free.

no control -> full body attention, grope him the way he likes. also, the nape of his neck is where your hand belongs. guiding his head is just...mmh ❤️

monotony -> hard subs like a rollercoaster. roleplay = perfect opportunity.

static plans -> important: hard subs learn fast. since pain-pleasure is involved their sensations are more intense so feedback is usually unequivocal. mind you, soft subs can sort their preferences well but for them it takes exposure to variety.

what��s a nipple? -> pinching and more is most likely welcome. ask and test.

spoiling -> spoiling no. rewards, yes. he works for it. what does he work towards? pleasing you completely. in your body and commands.

shy domme -> when it comes down to it, you need to be resolute and eloquent. if you struggle with it, e.g. start with being stoic. pick your favorite pokerface and have a signature smirk lmao! and definitely do in-depth talks. yes, about his desires. unlike soft subs, some guys take more time to open up here. 

dry -> lube. keep it wet, especially his tear ducts anyway. 

unsure experiments/not knowing the outcome -> seriously tackle and prepare skills. yes, whip your pillow first. you can ‘try’ things with soft subs, but you ‘do’ things with hard subs. why? less room for errors. you please him by being precise. don’t let it intimidate you, simply take it as a responsibility he respects you greatly for.

heels -> hard subs might like that. plus, you’ll often simply stand. he does lots of the work. hard dommes can be more laid-back than you’d expect. remember, you kick his ass and give orders. he’s a pretty active party. exception: he’s tied up.

hesitation -> hard dommes have to be quick. especially since we edge a lot. also, never hesitate to praise.

forgetting skin -> stimulate large areas as much as you can.

unarmed -> chances are he likes knife play, ask about it.

too much caution and pampering -> an insult to his esteem. i’m not kidding. he feels in his element when you don’t hold back anxiously. trust his strength 😊 it’s a perk of femdom in the first place, you may be working on more muscles and often more space on the body, most maledoms don’t have that luxury. the same goes for safewording, keep it simple and applicable for the heat/reflex of the moment. it’s counterproductive to be overcautious since it makes it too complex.

the usual spot -> if he’s down: play everywhere, consider every room together. a cold and hard surface does something for a hard sub. as does rug burn if he likes that. make him do all kinds of things 100% naked on a carpet while you watch, it’s so humiliating. i did it, the result was my sub discovering even higher levels of sluttiness. 

suppression -> ask him to let it out vocally when he’s shy or not experienced. you’ll both love what follows. most hard subs are screamers. i hope you don’t have neighbors.

soft illumination -> use artificial light. not just to make your patient - doctor roleplay perfect, but because a hard domme needs to see what she’s doing for safety reasons already. use your (soy wax!) candles to ruin his back instead.

serious -> hardcore femdom is at its best when it’s peppered with little giggles. bring a feather just in case.

PS: these can even apply if they enjoy doing both, you have to match your tone according to the mood and plan then.

#anon #ask #cub mail 🐆 #d/s talk #long post #d/s ed #d/s etiquette

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Alt-pop newcomer LVRA (pronounced loo-rah, real name Rachel Lu) has shared her first new track of 2021, ‘DEAD’. Following up on 2020’s debut EP LVCID, she explains: “There’s a unique power you gain when you stop caring about what people think of you. It’s an ongoing battle, though, and ‘DEAD’ is about the conflict between the fantasy of not caring and how you feel in reality. The video captures that, with a version of myself who has her shit together and another that is fighting to survive.The use of red represents fear in the human condition, but in Chinese culture it also symbolises happiness. One rarely comes without the other.” The track – a cultural mix that matches LVRA’s heritage with bleeding edge ultra HD pop – is the first taster of a second EP, which is set to follow later this summer. You can check out an Oscar McNab (Lacuna Common, Oscar Lang). directed video above. [via Dork]

Los Angeles artist Wallice follows debut single 'Punching Bag' with new coming of age anthem, '23'. Wallice finds herself caught between two places on fresh cut, '23'. “Too old to be a runaway”, but also too young to consider herself as grown up, the 22-year old yearns for a past that still has not happened yet. Working with producer David Marinelli since her return to California, Wallice has crafted a sound that is unique without taking itself too seriously. An angst-driven remonstration at the powerlessness of her age, '23' is also the clearest stamp of her musical identity to date. The expression of this purgatory is a cathartic garage-rock headbanger complemented beautifully by Wallice’s playful lyrics. “I just can't wait to be / all grown up and 23,” she admits in the song’s irresistible chorus. “Tell me what is wrong with me / I miss my Ohio fake ID”. In artfully portraying the limbo state of the age, Wallice describes the events in her life that have led to her own disaffection. “It’s hard not to compare your own professional success to that of your similarly aged peers. I dropped out of university in New York after studying Jazz Voice for a year, and my dad was VERY disappointed, to say the least, so it was hard not to feel like a loser in that sense. “The specific age 23 doesn’t have any milestones associated with it, but it’s more the idea of just looking forward to the future,” Wallice continues on the meaning of the track. "Much like how people ‘reset’ every new year, it’s comparable to be ‘older and wiser’ with each birthday, but instead of constantly looking to the future, it is important to be happy with where you are”. [via Line Of Best Fit]

Coach Party have shared their new single 'Everybody Hates Me'. The Isle of Wight group are gearing up to release their incoming EP, with After Party pitting their potent indie pop influences against bittersweet lyricism. Out shortly, the EP is teased by new thumper 'Everybody Hates Me', with Coach Party adding a neat gloss to their guitar pop sound. Out now, 'Everybody Hates Me' comes equipped with a neat video steered by Daniel Broadley. Vocalist Jess Eastwood comments: “‘Everybody Hates Me’ isn’t a metaphor for anything; it’s literally about those times when you convince yourself that everyone, including your best friends don’t actually like you, and your self-confidence is so low that you don’t even blame them. Disguise that sentiment in an up-beat singalong, and there you have the third single from our new record. The video is a direct extension of the song. It swings between the insecurities of feeling like you’re not good enough amongst your friends, and the sense of unity you get from those same people when you finally wake up from your rut. Everyone feels that way from time to time, but you gotta remember that sometimes your irrational self is going to take over. And when it does, try to remember that you’re awesome, and your friends really are your friends.” [via Clash]

Pussy Riot have gone hyperpop on their latest song 'Toxic'. The Dorian Electra collaboration features glitched out production by Dylan Brady of 100 gecs and tackles a relationship gone bad. Written, directed, and edited by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova, the music video features jarring, bloody imagery matching Brady’s production. “Care about yourself, cherish your mental health, and stay away from relationships that poison you!” Tolokonnikova writes in the YouTube description. “Amen.” In the song’s lyrics, Tolokonnikova tells off an ex. “You are my daily poison so annoying,” she sings. “You’re even more toxic than my employer.” The hook continues the theme. “This combo is deadly — ’cause we used to be friendly,” Electra laments. “And now my heart is a weapon / You made me… toxic.” [via Consequence of Sound]

Baby Queen has dropped a brand new track, ‘These Drugs’. Bella Latham’s second new track of the year – following up on the anthemic ‘Raw Thoughts’ – she explains in an Instagram post: “This is a story I really needed to tell you and I didn’t know how to for a long time. When I first wrote this song, I honestly didn’t think I was going to be allowed to release it or that releasing it would be a particularly good idea. It just felt really important and that’s all I’ve ever wanted music to be; so I knew I had to share it with you.I was in a very bad place at the time… very depressed and convinced I wasn’t a good person and didn’t deserve good things. Life is different now. I’m happy. I’ve learnt that the antidote to my misery is gratitude and caring about myself even when I don’t want to, until it becomes a habit. It’s natural to look for escapism but there’s more freedom in working to build a life you like… and by that I literally just mean learning to love yourself. You, with all your scars and all your regrets, are home to an actual life! You’ve been through so much and you’ve come out the other side stronger because of it – it’s remarkable really. You’ve got to invite the sad parts of yourself in to have a tea party with you. Don’t ignore them and cover them up. If you don’t look at them, they’ll make themselves seen! You are so worthy of love and I hope that if you don’t see that yet, you will learn to in time. Anyways guys,” she finishes, “this is all very intense. I love you very much and I hope you can understand and relate in some way.” [via Dork]

Greentea Peng has shared her new single 'Nah It Ain’t The Same'. The UK neo-soul voice is an outstanding talent, someone who pushes herself further into that hip-hop / jazz nexus with each release. Produced by Earbuds, new single 'Nah It Ain't The Same' is out now, one that reflects the chemistry she has with her live band The Seng Seng Family. Dipping into drum 'n' bass, her vocals have a calming, beatific feel, with 'Nah It Ain't The Same' tugging at matters personal. She comments: “Deliberations of a (hu) MAN, subject to the pendulum's swing, I give you ‘Nah It Aint The Same’ off my album MAN MADE. An expression and exploration of my utter confusion and inner conflicts amidst shifting paradigms.” Greentea Peng stars in the new video, with Machine Operated sculpting the video. [via Clash]

renforshort has debuted a brand new single, ‘virtual reality’. The first taster of a forthcoming second EP, the track sees her “connect” with Kellen Pomeranz (Pom Pom), Jesse Fink and Beabadoobee collaborator Pete Robertson. “’virtual reality’ is a song that tackles many topics. But at its core, it really is about anxiety, routine, boredom, isolation, loneliness, and fear,” she explains. “I think a lot of people have a very unhealthy relationship with technology because it’s never really been restricted enough to consider mental health and overall health, and that has fucked so many people up, now more than ever. Ever since I was young, social media has played a major role in my mental wellbeing, and I became so accustomed to it, it became a part of my routine and it came before everything else. The moment I wake up, almost instinctively, I check my phone. Depending on what I see in the morning, basically determines how I’m gonna feel for the rest of the day. I hate it. But I can’t stop. And what’s most ironic about this all is you’re likely going to read this on social media or listen to the song on some sort of electronic device…” [via Dork]

Flock of Dimes has shared the second single from her forthcoming album Head of Roses, out April 2 via Sub Pop. Following recent single, 'Two', 'Price of Blue' is another standout from Wasner’s second solo LP, an album that showcases her ability to embrace new levels of vulnerability, honesty and openness, combined with the self-assuredness that comes with a decade-plus career as a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and prolific collaborator. It comes accompanied by an unearthly new video filmed in black and white, co-directed by Wasner with Graham Tolbert. Wasner says: “This song is about trying, and failing, to connect. It’s about the ways in which, despite our best efforts, we misunderstand each other, and become so attached to stories that we’re unable to see the truth that’s right in front of us. And it’s about the invisible mark that another person can leave on your body, heart and mind long after their absence. It can be difficult to make sense of the memory of your experience when the reality on the surface is always shifting—when the story you’re telling, or the story you’ve been told, unravels, leaving you with a handful of pieces and no idea how they used to fit together.”

Berlin-based indie-soul five-piece, People Club, announce their new EP Take Me Home, which is due May 7 and the band are sharing the title-track and new video. The title track 'Take Me Home' is a song about the realisation of mortality in old age and the cynicism that often plights the elderly after losing their loved ones and being left alone with their regrets. It is accompanied by a music video shot by long standing collaborator, Felix Spitta. Speaking of the process the band say, “Once again we worked with our very talented friend, Felix Spitta, who also shot the video for our last single Francine.  We basically spent a day fooling around at his house with a smoke machine and an old tape TV camera with a red filter.  The result is hazy and disorientating, just like this year has been so far.”

Introducing MARY., the dreamy alter-ego of musician and songwriter Stef T. The self-produced debut track, ‘Day to Day’, interlaces elements of electro-pop and R&B with a voice that enchants, along with an official video filmed, edited and directed by David Risdon and Charlie Rose Creative. Reading like a page in a diary, ‘Day to Day’ offers a candid and emotionally raw glance at being overlooked as a woman in a man’s world. She is put together, glamorous and poised on the outside, but on the inside she is simmering like a pot ready to boil over, fed-up and on the brink of snapping. Speaking of the track, Stef T explains, “’Day to Day’ is a reflection on what it is to be a woman in a role where you are always unseen; constantly giving yet never receiving. As woman, we are often undervalued for our day to day work in all aspects - as mothers, in relationships, in our careers; having to push extra hard to get the basic recognition and thanks that we are entitled to. This song is a commentary of a large part of my life where I settled, sacrificed and worked, only to be used and taken for granted. It is about learning to survive a toxic relationship, discover your own individual worth again and reclaim the power that you gave away to someone else. Producing this song myself is the only thing that made sense in context with the intention of MARY. as a project. She is an entirely self made, independent woman, who does it all and doesn't need a man to confirm that she's doing a good job. This is something I have personally struggled with, so I created the MARY. persona to feel more empowered in my storytelling as an artist, in an industry without a large visible number of female-identifying producers.”

Los Angeles based dream pop trio Tashaki Miyaki have just released a single and video of the title song from their forthcoming second album, Castaway, which will be released on April 23 via Metropolis Records. Singer, drummer and producer Paige Stark states that the song “is about the challenges of romantic love and how we are all bad at it in one way or another. The idea of a castaway in all this is that no one understands the relationship except the people in it, so you really are stuck on an island alone together there. Maybe you make it back to the mainland, or maybe you stay on the island.” Stark also shot the Sofia Coppola-inspired video on film, adding: "I wanted to tap into all the feelings that can come up in love relationships: anger, sadness, loneliness, vulnerability, stillness, joy, romance, longing. The actress in it has a beautifully expressive face and I've known her for a long time. I knew we would be able to create those moments together. I wanted it to feel like the camera was her lover, capturing her in various private moments, moods and feelings.”

With her Vanilla Shell EP celebrating its one-year anniversary last month, Danish-Chilean composer Molina is back with another abbreviated record in the form of the new single 'Cold,' featuring vocalist Jonas Bjerre, arriving with a pair of B-sides. The brief collection of songs continues her simultaneous journey inward toward the roots of Chilean music and outward into her own unique vision of the future. The project lands with a video for the A-side, which dreams up bizarre fantasy iconography in the tradition of Grimes and Björk to complement her subdued take on these artists’ out-there recordings. Blending ambiguous electronic sounds with the familiar drone of cello and Bjerre’s backing vocals, the track’s distinct persona may have more in common with the experimental soundscapes of artists like Jenny Hval or Julia Holter. [via Flood]

Maisie Peters has debuted her brand new single, ‘John Hughes Movie’. Described as the first single from her soon to be announced debut album, it’s a song about unrequited love, inspired by the legendary film producer and his classic coming-of-age teen comedies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. The track comes alongside a video co-written by Maisie and director Louis Bhose (Loyle Carner, Arlo Parks, Lewis Capaldi). Maisie explains: “I wrote ‘John Hughes Movie’ when I was 17 about a house party that I had gone to. It’s a really honest depiction of being a hopeless, melodramatic teenager, being awkward and drunk and getting your heart broken by people you don’t even remember anymore. John Hughes films encapsulate that foolish romantic energy of high school and everything that I, a small town English wannabe Molly Ringwald wanted to be, but was not.” [via Dork]

Chloe x Halle have shared the music video for their song 'Ungodly Hour.' The video was debuted on Wedneday night's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and shows the Bailey sisters going underwater for a sci-fi-style visual filled with choreography and elaborate adventures at the bottom of the ocean. Watch the Alfred Marroquín-directed video above. [via The FADER]

South London's Josie Man has returned with sentimental new single 'Cuts & Bruise', marking her first release of 2021. 'Cuts & Bruises' follows October 2020's 'Grow' single, and is accompanied by a Andrea Mae-directed video that shows couples enjoying tender moments, including Josie Man and her boyfriend. [via Line Of Best Fit]

Jessie Ware has shared a new short film for her song 'Remember Where You Are'. Her album What's Your Pleasure? arrived last year, a disco-fuelled missile that presented some much-needed good vibes amid lockdown. The songwriter returns to the record for her song 'Remember Where You Are', a soulful and uplifting slice of UK songwriting. There's now a full video for the song and it's steered by BAFTA winning director Dominic Savage. Starring British actress Gemma Arterton, it opens on Valentine's Day and finds the star wandering through deserted London streets. A glimpse of hope and renewal, it taps into the growing feeling that this time, lockdown might be coming to a permanent end. "It was a real pleasure to collaborate with Jessie and Gemma on this short film that is inspired by Jessie Ware’s beautiful music. It was also inspired by the real feeling that was felt when we filmed in the deserted streets of eerily strange lockdown London on a Saturday night/Sunday morning,” Dominic said. “The feelings and emotions in the film are a true reflection of what that felt like, and what this time invokes. Sadness, nostalgia, pain and defiance. But when we climbed Primrose Hill and the sun started to rise above the city, there was real hope and joy for a future that will surely be ours. Listening to Jessie’s music. There is no doubt of that." Jessie adds... "This song has always meant a lot to me and I was determined for other people to hear it and for it to be single. I am so touched by how many people have embraced this song, particularly when it's one of your favourite actresses and an acclaimed film director. Working with Gemma, Dominic and their team has been an absolute joy. To have them realise my song with a beautiful ode to London and the longing for human touch and interaction couldn't be more of a compliment. It's a truly cherished piece of work." [via Clash]

Jaguar Jonze has shared her new single and video 'CURLED IN' ahead of the release of her second EP ANTIHERO on April 16, both via Nettwerk Records. 'CURLED IN' presents all her best qualities at its outset. From the track’s rip-roaring, slicing guitar to her perfectly forceful, omnipresent vocals, 'CURLED IN' is a pure cathartic release. "Tear me apart, just tear me apart," she all but demands: "I've never seen wrong be done right." She's fulfilling her simplest needs, and it's freeing. "It's a bit of a twist for me to be a masochist." As a survivor of abuse, these words' unafraid power is all too apparent and an engaging statement to hear expressed.

Following the release of eclectic and impressive debut singles 'ASOS,' 'Right Time,' and 'Papercut,' rising left-of-center pop singer and songwriter Dava returns with a fresh and bold new single 'New Ceilings' available now via Sony Music's Disruptor Records. The moody anti-pop record was co-written by Dava and Mike Adubato (Del Water Gap, Grace VanderWaal) who also produced the track, and is the latest off the Los Angeles-based musician's forthcoming debut EP, Sticky, due out later this year. On the inspiration behind her new single, Dava shares, "This song was written about survival and staying true to yourself. I was having a hard time financially after moving to LA and my phone was shut off while on my way to this session. I was upset with myself for prioritizing music when I really needed the money from driving Uber to stay afloat." She continues, "The day I wrote 'New Ceilings' I was angry and I wanted a song that felt empowering and validated all the work I had put in up to that point. I ended up choosing different songs for my project but when I revisited this one year later, I felt it needed to be heard because of how authentically it embodies my struggle."

London-based Fifi Rong, a multi-talented avant-pop songstress, has shared the video for her stunning single, ‘Another Me’. Directed by Rok Pat, the video for ‘Another Me’ is stylistically simplistic, as Fifi Rong uses her own body as a medium of art, painting herself and inviting the simple imagery of waterside reeds and plants. A tranquil mysticism embraces the single as Fifi Rong acts as a gentle siren, luring the unsuspecting in yet known the inevitable outcome of the relationship. Speaking of the concept behind the single and video, Fifi Rong tells us: “In any doomed romance, timing is always mysteriously wrong. This is my first full CGI music video and it visually portrays the elusive nature of the character surrounding the key message: 'you won't find another me'. The undertone of the song displays a sense of pride and confidence in the character’s melancholy. Dressed in nothing but petals, I wanted my character to symbolise purity, nature, truthfulness, vulnerability and the divine feminine form. Acting as a rotating statue, I wanted to mark the passing of time and seasons as if a unique and lonely piece of art on display.”

#lvra #wallice #videos of the week #coach party #baby queen #pussy riot #dorian electra #greentea peng #renforshort #flock of dimes #people club #mary. #tashaki miyaki #molina #maisie peters #chloe x halle #josie man #jessie ware #jaguar jonze #dava #fifi rong

[profoundsheepbarbarian]

A Beginner's Guide To Acoustic Treatment

An account of an acoustic newbie's journey from bare walls to a well‑balanced, sonically pleasant space.

The physics of the propagation of sound is immensely complicated, and when the assortment of materials that make up the walls, floors and ceiling (plus any windows, doors and furniture) are added to the equation, it's very difficult to predict what will happen to sound waves once they've left their source. What's more, every room is different, and it's not just the dimensions that will dictate how the room will sound... Imagine two rooms of the same shape and size. One has two‑metre-thick concrete walls, and the other a single‑layer plasterboard stud-wall. Even with those brief, albeit extreme descriptions, you probably know already that the two rooms will sound very different. Add in the multitude of room shapes, sizes, wall‑construction methods and surfaces found in home studios, and it becomes impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all guide to acoustic panel treatment.

The subject of acoustics is regularly discussed in SOS, but plenty of readers still ask for the subject to be covered from a much more basic starting point. What follows is a look at installing acoustic treatment from a complete beginner's perspective: some basic, essential information, along with a bit of advice from acoustics professionals that should give you the confidence to get started. I'll follow this up by taking you step by step through my own recent experience of treating a room.

Why Bother With Acoustic Treatment?

Untreated rooms have an uneven frequency response, which means that any mixing decisions you make are being based on a sound that is 'coloured', because you can't accurately hear what's being played. In short, you can't possibly tell how your mix will sound when played back anywhere else. It isn't just an issue for mixing, though, because any recordings you make of acoustic instruments will bear all the hallmarks of the space in which you record them. That may be a good thing if the space in question is Ocean Way or SARM West, but probably preposterously bad if it's your living room or bedroom. So, if you want your mixes to transfer well, and your recordings to be free of room 'honk', you need to pay attention to the acoustic properties of your environment — no matter how good the gear you're using.

First Things First

The first thing to grasp is the outcome you want to achieve. It's a common misconception that acoustic treatment with acoustic ceilings or acoustic baffles should kill all reverberation, and that you want a room covered floor‑to‑ceiling with foam tiles: this isn't what you're aiming for. You also need to bear in mind the limitations imposed by space and budget: most home studios are small in comparison with the Abbey Roads and AIR Lyndhursts of this world, and many home‑studio owners simply don't have the funds for bespoke treatment solutions.

So what is the aim? Andy Munro, acoustic design specialist, remarks, "acoustic design is the science that restores a neutral sound balance”. Applying that science means interfering with the path of sound to control the sound energy. Jorge Castro, chief acoustician at Vicoustic, says that "in the case of affordable treatment, we need to control the energy of the sound first. Then we can take care of the sound quality. With small spaces, bass frequencies are always a problem, and we should control the low frequencies as much as we can.” In fact, he continues, "In small rooms, I've never heard people saying they have too much absorption of low frequencies.”

Absorption & Diffusion: What, Where, Why?

To achieve the right balance, there are two main approaches: absorption and diffusion. Products that have absorptive properties include foam and rigid mineral-wool (see the 'DIY & Rockwool' box), and they 'soak up' the sound energy, turning it into heat, through friction. Most effective on high‑frequencies, absorption is essential for reducing flutter echoes and for taming bright‑sounding or 'ringy' rooms. Bass trapping is also a type of absorption, but is specifically designed to absorb low‑frequency energy. A clever combination of soft, hard, thick and thin materials, including air, is used to make the most efficient bass trap, and an empty gap between the wall and the back of the trap helps to make it even more effective.

Diffusion is the scattering of sound energy using multi‑faceted surfaces. Diffusers are commonly made of wood, plastic, or even polystyrene. Jorge Castro explains: "diffusion helps in energy control and improves the sound quality in frequencies throughout the middle and high range of the spectrum, and also improves sweet‑spot image.” The 'sweet spot' is the place between the speakers where you should be sitting to get the best stereo image (imagine that your head and the two speakers form an equilateral triangle). That pretty much concludes the theory: now for the practice!

Getting Started

Before undertaking this project, I'd read plenty about acoustics, but had never attempted to properly treat a room myself: the nearest I'd come was propping foam panels against the walls to tame flutter in the spare‑room‑cum‑studio of my rented house. I hadn't been able to glue or screw anything to the walls, for fear of incurring my landlord's wrath, and the thought of retouching the paintwork after tearing strips of self‑adhesive velcro pained me too! So this was very much a learning experience.

The space in question included an area that would provide a reasonable‑sized live room, and another that would serve as a small control room, and although both were important, I really wanted to get the performance space right. I decided that I'd buy commercially available panels, because I simply didn't have the time, space or inclination for the DIY option. Most manufacturers of acoustic products also offer a consultation service, and they often have free on‑line calculators to help you decide on a suitable treatment option, too, so even if you choose the DIY route this can be a sensible place to start, and fabric acoustic panels are also available.

I chose to get my treatment from Vicoustic, a company relatively new to the UK acoustic‑treatment market who make a range of products for studios and home theatres. I told them that, as this was the only live room for a small project studio, it needed to be quite versatile, with both a 'dead' corner for dry recordings and a more ambient space to liven up acoustic recordings where needed. I'd expected a solution with almost complete wall coverage, foam panels and diffusers covering every square inch, but Vicoustic came back with a plan that surprised me, which suggested that total coverage wasn't necessary.

In fact, Jorge says that the typical home studio needs only between 30 and 40 percent coverage to adequately treat it. So don't go over the top: remember that we're trying to control the energy, or "restore the natural sound balance,” and not to kill the sound completely.

As for the proportion of diffusion to absorption, Jorge says, "some believe it should be 50 percent absorption and 50 percent diffusion. In the home studio, because of budget and space constraints, the actual proportion can vary considerably.”

Planning

So, you've decided on your acoustic foam treatment, you've had it delivered, and it's piled in the middle of the room. The next step is sticking it up on the walls, right? Well yes... but you also want to make sure that it goes in the right place, partly to optimise its acoustic performance, and partly because you don't want it to look like it's been put up by a two‑year old! As a first‑timer, I found it useful to have the 3D drawings Vicoustic had supplied, as they enabled me to plan precisely where each panel would go. You can create a computer‑generated version of your room yourself using a freeware 3D drawing programme such as Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com). This may seem a bit over the top (sketches on the back of an envelope would do the job), but it can provide a useful guide to print out and use like a map during installation. What's more, you can plan the look of a room, moving tiles and panels around on the computer instead of having to rip them off the wall if they look silly.

Measure Twice, Stick Once

With my 'map' in hand, it was time to mark up the walls. The Vicoustic plans showed the panels equally spaced along the walls, but without any dimensions or measurements to indicate how to space the tiles, so I measured the whole room and planned the position of all the panels supplied. A quick and easy formula for plotting the position of a row of equally spaced panels soon emerged. To calculate the distance between each panel, and between the end panels and the walls, you just measure the length of the wall, subtract the total width of all the panels to be fixed to it, then divide that figure by the number of gaps between panels (or by the number of panels plus one). Marking up is then a cinch, but to get things looking good, you'll need to mark the corner points and will require a spirit level and a spare pair of hands. Once plotted and marked, it's also a good idea to double‑check that you have the same number of actual panels as you have on your plan!

Stick 'Em Up!

With the planning done, it's time to stick the panels to the walls and ceiling. The way you do this depends on the type of treatment you're applying. Large, framed panels will come with brackets and (hopefully) sturdy fixings, whereas foam‑based tiles will need to be glued, using an aerosol‑based product or a tube of paste‑like glue that needs a skeleton gun. Spray‑mounting can often give less than satisfactory results, so I was glad to discover that the Vicoustic delivery included the tube variety. With just two tubes supplied, though, I soon had to resort to alternatives, and found that the sticky gunk used to fix mirrors to walls worked exceptionally well.

To prevent the glue squidging out from the sides of the panels, I piped the glue on no less than an inch from the guide line on the wall and on the back of the panel itself, in different patterns, to increase the adhesion. With this kind of glue, I found that it would begin to set in about a minute, allowing just enough time to pull the panel off and turn it if it was the wrong way up. When sticking panels to the ceiling, I took the same approach. It was a textured ceiling, which called for lots of glue and a firm hand to seat the panels: again, it's useful if you can get a friend to lend a hand.

Hearing The Result

Once in place, the Vicoustic treatment worked very well. The main part of the room is now nicely controlled, if a bit on the 'live' side, and the diffusers ensure excellent intelligibility of speech: a sure‑fire sign of good acoustic control. I had a few spare corner traps, which were put into the dry corner, to make it even more 'dead', and it will be easy to add a few smaller foam tiles to dampen the sound further if it's found to be too 'roomy' further down the line.

Having tried some recordings in the room, I'm happy to say that excellent sound barrier can be achieved between acoustic instruments and vocals by using the different areas of the room. Because the sound inside the room is controlled, the ambience can be used to good effect if a roomy sound is desired on the recording.

Ultimate Control

So far, I've only addressed the dedicated live/recording space, and most home studios are single rooms, with both the monitoring and performance areas in the same space, so I asked Andy Munro to explain how to approach treating such a space. "The best approach,” he said, "is to sketch the room out, then divide each dimension into thirds. If the mixing position is on a third ratio, and so are the speakers, they will not stand on any of the half or quarter 'standing' wavelengths that cause a peak or trough in the bass [see the 'Standing Waves' box for more information]. The result will be a smoother sound, with fewer problems when the acoustic absorption and sound barrier is added. Ironically, most professional rooms are set up about the centre line, which tends to result in a 'hole' at certain frequencies.”

Also important in monitoring rooms is the control of early reflections. When a speaker cone is driven, it disperses acoustic energy to the listener's ears directly, and also to the walls and ceiling of the room, and the best example may be acoustic diffuser. Uncontrolled, these early reflections bounce back into the room and reach the listener a few milliseconds later than the direct sounds, because of the additional distance they've had to travel. Unless in a large room, this delay is not perceivable as a different sound; instead it disturbs the phase, and therefore the clarity, of the sound. To keep early reflections on a tight leash, the 'mirror points' of the room should be identified and treated. To do this, sit in the listening position and 'guesstimate' where a mirror would have to be placed to enable you to see each monitor cone from the sweet spot. Then apply absorption to these points. A 'ceiling cloud' can be positioned in a similar way, to control vertical reflections.

Conclusion

No matter how much you spend on instruments, amps, speakers and recording gear, you still need to pay attention to the space in which you use them. The treatment of home studios is tricky, because of their size and the construction materials used, not to mention the budget of the average home‑studio owner. It's impossible to get a 'pro-studio sound' from a space that's built as a spare bedroom, mainly due to the laws of physics, but also because 'proper' studios might have big bucks spent on acoustic design with soundproof materials. But if you can get your head around what you're trying to achieve, you can still make such a space perfectly usable, with only a small amount of money, some forward planning and a little bit of knowledge.

[thebibliomancer]

Dark Crystal Age of Resistance Tactics pt 17 THE END

Endgame lets gooooooooooooooo

Mission: Call of the Glaive - Stonewood Ruins

"The heroes search for the second half of the Dual Glaive. It has been hidden somewhere in Stone-in-the-Wood."

Good god. Lvl 40. My party ranges from 38 to 34. Do I have to level grind some more more more?

Well, lets find out.

I don't remember the forest around Stone-in-the-Wood having so many misty chasms. Damn, global darkening.

SO I see a lot of Darkened beasts. I see a glowy exit square next to the the Crucible. Hmmmmm I wonder WHERE the 1/2 Dual Glaive could possibly be hidden.

Okay so the party this time has to be Rian, Brea, Deet, and Gurjin. If only I could have a few more to get the rest of the mains in here. But this is endgame time and its time for Rian to get the Good Sword.

Rian: "Stone-in-the-Wood. Since its fall, the place has been overrun with darkened creatures."

I mean, that makes a lot of sense, actually. I'd like some more emotion about it, though. This was your home, Rian.

Deet: "We need to find the Dual Glaive. It's here... somewhere."

Rian: "There, the forge! After a battle, the Stonewood place all their weapons in the forge. The Dual Glaive has to be there."

Holy crap I've never seen Nurlocs get the first turn what the heck.

But all I have to do is get to the glowy square. Preferably with Rian, for plot reasons.

There's two paths around from where you start. One side path. One low path thats only one square wide and blocked by a boulder. Some of the enemies are going down that path anyway so I'm just going to be shooting Firemoss Bundles at them like fish in a barrel.

After three bundles, they ded.

Also Gurjin is being my front line on the other path and I finally got to use Rian's Even the Odds! Between Pursuit, Hold Position, Retribution and best friends like Rian, Gurjin is amazing at standing in one place and absorbing damage!

Anyway I killed all of the enemies. I wonder if more will spawn in or what.

welp. None spawn ins. Just me moving my units closer to the glowy square turn by turn.

That was a design decision that was made.

Rian: "This is it, the Dual Glaive!"

Deet: "Something is happening. Look at the Forge! The flames... They're turning blue!"

VICTORY!

Arrrre we going to do the fire skype thing? I already united all of the clans.

LEVELS UP! Rian leveled and learned Aim for the Gaps (100% critical chance on a marked enemy)! Brea leveled and learned Convalesce 2! Deet leveled twice and learned nothing. Gurjin leveled and learned Heroic Leap!

Brea maxed out on Mendering. But since we're in the endgame and I like her loadout, I'll leave her where she is.

I got the Glaive of a Fallen Hero! Wooooooooooo! Weird that its not just called Dual Glaive but I don't mind this name either.

Glaive of a Fallen Hero is the Sword of the Stonewood Clan. Gots some good attack and critical chance. This is going right on Rian, for plot reasons.

---

Yeah. We're doing the Fire Skype.

Rian: "Gelfling, the Skeksis have deceived you; turned clan against clan."

I FEEL like we've gone over this pretty thoroughly in the various clan specific mission chains!

I guess giving the clans a place to rally around is a good reason to still do the Fire Skype. I'm just a bit perplexed at what gets brought over from the show 1 to 1 and what gets added.

The Emperor: "Enough! Your rebellion will end in ruin!"

Rian: "Bring your weapons. Bring your Skeksis, and meet your destiny!"

'Come on if you're hard enough'

Huh! Two more missions opened up. One at the castle and another one at the Stonewood Ruins. I feeeel like the one at the castle happens first, most likely? It says requires Seladon and Tavra, people I don't have in my party. Buuuuut might as well see if I can do it?

---

Mission: Broken Bargains - Castle Hallways

"Seladon and Tavra must now escape the Castle of the Crystal after freeing the Stonewood Gelfling."

Sweet, its Seladon and Spider-Tavra! I finally get that closure I've been wanting!

Party: Brea, obviously. This is the big sisters moment! Naia, because I've been reading Shadows of the Dark Crystal and she and Tavra have a funny dynamic. And Rek'yr. How is he here? Brea called in a favor? Look, we can't question the location of people in this game. It started in the flashback zone and had people wildly out of time!

Okay so we have a bunch of Darkened beasties and a couple of Nurloc experiments which are even beefier. We have a locked door and a lever to open it. We have the General.

Time to kick his ass again.

Spider-Tavra: "We had a deal. You were supposed to let us go free!"

The General: 'I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it further.'

Where's SkekLach, tho?

The General: "And what's this, Arathim working with Gelfling?"

Spider-Tavra: "Our deal has changed as well."

The Arathim Ascendency: "If you need help, use the etchings. Arathim will come to your aid."

YO WHAT?? I get to summon spiders??

Amazing. This game never stops giving.

Also, we're in the crystal chamber, I think? There's the symbol on the floor. No crystal though.

Okay, the mission objective is to get Seladon and Tavra both to the glowy exit square. Hypothetically feasible.

There's three glowy runes which increase evasion and apparently summon spiders. Lets gooo.

Seladon has Even the Odds, Firemoss, Landslide 2, Shockwave, and Flow of Battle.

Spider-Tavra still has Double Strike, Shove, Adrenaline, Retribution, and Spot Weakness.

HAH SUMMONED SOME SPIDERS ON THE GENERAL

Also, I've almost taken out all of his darkened minions although its taken its toll. Damn Thrash. Damn Wound status.

The spiders are allied but they're not controlled by me. So its fine for them to just do their own thing. I need to heal. Everyone.

Well, poor Rek'yr gave his life but I successfully surrounded SkekVar and slowly beat him to death. And that took me right to the in-engine cutscene which is probably what should have happened in the last level.

Brea: "What are you doing, Tavra? I won't leave without you."

The General: "No, stop! I beg of you!"

Spider-Tavra: "This is for the Arathim, for the All-Maudra!"

-Chamberlain comes out of basically nowhere and kills Tavra, threader spawns onto the field and runs off-

In-engine cutscenes are amazing.

Chamberlain: "Leave friend alone!"

Brea: "Tavra! Sister, no!"

-upbeat victory music-

But I already made fun of that when Ordon died so.

Brea leveled. Naia leveled twice! Rek'yr did not!

I got Heartseeker (the dagger of the Stonewood clan)! I got the General's Cuirass! Stealing clothes from knocked out Skeksis never gets old.

The Cuirass is going right on Gurjin. Its going to slow him down even further but it gives him a matched set of Skeksis gear. The General's Hand Axe and the General's Cuirass.

"Heavy metal plates seated on tough leather and trimmed with fur... How inelegant!" -skekEkt

---

Two more levels, I reckon. Just the final battle left, in two parts.

Mission: Seven Clans United - Stonewood Ruins

"With the clans united, the heroes stand against the Skeksis. The General approaches to challenge them."

Yeah, sure. I don't mind kicking his butt again. He's got more clothes I can steal, probably.

Geez, this is an excessively cozy map. Its not very big and one of the starting squares is right up in the General's face.

He's got two hollerbats called General's Pet which grant him buffs. Gotta kill those guys.

Party: Rian, Brea, Deet, Gurjin, Rek'yr.

The main squad, plus Rek'yr. I need someone to be applying marks for the other people to hit.

Rian: "The reign of the Skeksis is over. All Gelfling rise against you!"

General: "Fools! You will all die, here and now! If it's a fight you want, I'll give you one! Haaaa! Let's have some fun!"

AHHH HE GOES FIRST! AAAAAH HES RIGHT IN RANGE OF BREA! HE SILENCED HER!

This map is too small...

Killed his pets tho.

General: "This fight isn't over yet! I'm just getting started!"

Geez, if he stuns someone on his next turn he can do Killing Blow which does a ludicrous amount of damage. Very ludicrous. RIP Rek'yr.

HE SUMMONED MORE BATS

uncool

I killed his bats. HE SUMMONED MORE BATS. I think maybe its not worth killing the bats...

Also he stuns people for like three turns. I think I'm gonna have to spend some of my money on stun-proof trinkets.

Whats also uncool is that the summon more bats thing the first time? Erased Rek'yr's body from the map. I had Awaken on Brea. I could have brought him back. Boo. Boo on this game mechanic.

Ok this battle is going downhill.

The General has 4000 HPees which is a lot. And he can lock people down with stun for a while. So I'm going to have to spend some cash. I might even have to.... level =(

Yup everyone died.

Lets try that again.

So soiled Podling socks all around. The best way to prevent stun, donchaknow.

And lets spend some more money.

Upgrading Deet and Brea to Ceremonial Vestments. Upgrading Rian to Paladin's Full Plate. Upgrading Rek'yr to Etched Lorica and giving him the Heartseeker.

Gurjin didn't do a lot of damage so I'm guessing that the General is resistant to axes? Is that a thing in this game? But I'll hit him with Naia instead. And I kind of want to use Kylan who can mark and heal but I don't know who I'd replace. Hm. Maybe next time.

TAKE 2

Party: Rian, Deet, Brea, Naia, Rek'yr!

Hm. I forgot that the Intimidate move also lowers attack. My guys are hitting for shit with these debuffs. Maybe I should bring a party member who can remove debuffs. Well, live and learn. And attempt to chip away at his health bar anyway.

So its not very entertaining but I'm just slowly ganging up on him and slowly beating the crap out of him. Annoyingly his bat can heal him. And I can't kill it or he'll summon more bat.

Chipping away chipping away I guess I got it low~

Because: dialogue.

Rian: "You are bested, General. It's over."

General: "Well, what are you waiting for? Finish me!"

Rian: "No, I am no killer! Begone!"

I still don't know how the hell Rian thought this would shake out favorably.

How did he see the war ending in his head? The Skeksis would just agree to stop drinking Gelfling? Would they vacate the castle and let Aughra take over the crystal again? As long as he never tried to kill any of them in a war situation?

Or is it just he won’t kill an unarmed opponent?

I dunno.

And my party just. Runs off screen. So Chamberlain can run on-screen. And kill SkekVar. Despite their rivalry not really being established. In the game plot.

Chamberlain: "Emperor will listen to ME now."

Then again, fair enough. This is in character for him.

VICTORY.

Rian leveled twice and learned Shockwave (stun enemies in a line)! Rek'yr leveled twice! Naia leveled and learned Aimed Strike 2! Deet leveled and learned Awaken 2! Brea leveled and didn't learn anything because she's max on her job.

Naia maxed out on Soldier! Don't want to start her on a new job on the last level so I'm going to flip her back to Paladin for the good, good stats.

I found the General's War Flag! Starts battle with five turns of Attack Up, Haste, and Beserk! Uh. Not sure how that's helpful. I like deciding what my guy is going to do. Stupid Var and his stupid flag.

---

Mission: Seven Clans United: Part 2 - Stonewood Ruins

"The Hunter has returned once more, to the surprise of the hereos. But help comes from an unexpected place."

... How are they going to represent Aughra exploding out of him though?

I think I want to bring Kylan. Didn't the Hunter kill his parents? So I'm going to upgrade him to Ceremonial Vestments.

And I'm buying Armalig Scales for everyone since I think Wounding was the Hunter's thing and I don't want to deal with that biz.

Geez, this dongus starts the level on a big hill ready to jump down and squish people. The rudeity of people.

Party: Rian, he's the hero guy. Kylan, he's here for the revenge. Rek'yr, he's here to say goodbye to an old friend. Brea, she's mad that he kidnapped her between levels or something, I'm not sure when it happened. Gurjin, he's here to be a supportive best friend. And plus, offer hugs.

Rian: "The Hunter! But... how?"

The Hunter: "Quiet, puny Gelfling! I have conquered death! I am more powerful than ever... more powerful than Thra itself!"

Oh, this hubris is going to end really well for him.

Ok. So this dingus has 4000 HPees. He's got Carve which hurts and inflicts Wound. He's got Carve 2 which hurts and inflicts Wound and shoves. He's got Stab, which stabs. He's got Cleave. We know that one. Gotta keep my guys not adjacent. He's got Pelt. I think that means he's gonna throw stuff. And he's got Target Wound. Which I just bet does massive damage. But joke's on him. He's got Savage Counter which means he 100% of the time counters. And he's got Surefooted which means he's a hoppy boy.

-one turn later where he hits Gurjin not very hard, gets critted by Rek'yr and counters-

Brea: "He's too strong!"

Mmmm. I could take him.

Rian: "We have to try! We must keep fighting!"

urVa, the Archer, somewhere: "No more. The hunt must end."

The Hunter, back in the Stonewood Ruins, somehow hearing that: "No! Nothing can stop the hunt!"

-I beat the shit out of the Hunter some more-

-flash over to the Archer taking one step-

Hunter: "Archer! What are you doing!"

These interludes are killing the pacing. Just to say. Maybe they should have been saved for the end. Or something.

-more violence-

Archer: "Now, we shall see what lies at the dream's end." -another baby step-

Hunter: "No, stop!"

Archer: -jumps-

This isn't conveyed well in in-game cutscene, I have to say.

Then the Hunter dies.

VICTORY.

Uh. That was. Something. I think that's a time where the plot butted too much into the gameplay. I only got him down to half life before he died and it didn't take much time at all. Ah well.

Gurjin levels twice! Rek'yr leveled and learned Opening Act 2! Since I still don't get how Opening Act 1 works, I'm probably never going to use this! Kylan leveled three times and learned Grand Concert and Motivating Chord 2! Wow! Brea levels! Rian levels and learns Unfailing Blow 2!

I also find the Hunter's Helmet in the gross ash pile that used to be him!

"A trophy from some avian beast? Or the skull of another Skeksis...?"

It gives you reduced recovery time, increased crit chance  but reduced magic and normal defense. Dammit, Mal!

Kylan did get the last blow in the fight. That's something.

---

Anyway, I was wrong. There's at least one more mission.

Mission: Seven Clans United: Part 3 - Stonewood Ruins

"The heroes have bested the Skeksis' mightiest warriors. Only one challenge remains: The Emperor"

oof, I bet this is going to be hard.

Ooooof this is going to go badly. Three Skeksis. The Scientist, the Emperor, the Chamberlain... WAIT THE SCIENTIST WASN'T ALLOWED TO COME BECAUSE HE WAS TOO BIG A NERD! Dammit, game!

Anyway, the Emperor has Darkening Decay - attack and inflict random status effects. Focus Darkness - mark random tiles for the next move. Unleash Darkness - deal damage to anyone on a Darkened tile.

The Scientist and the Chamberlain have their usual abilities. So I think I should have kept the anti-poison gear and anti-stun gear on my guys.

Ah well. At least the non-Emperors only have 2000 HP.

Party: Rian, Brea, Deet, Naia, Rek'yr.

The Chamberlain: "Emperor, Skeksis should retreat. There are too many!"

Emperawr: "I will not lose, no matter the cost! Gelfling, you now face the true power of the Darkening!"

Oof that focus darkness does some damage. But hah, the Scientist only has 1500hp. He really is the nerd of the group.

Oops. Rian died. He was on a darkened tile and he didn't get a turn in time to move. Thank goondess I put Guardian's Blessing on him and he got to revive instantly.

Ok Rian died again, for real.

I just noticed that the Unleash Darkness hurts the non-Emperor Skeksis too if they're standing in it. Hahah

Between getting bombed a few time by his own boss, the Scientist was low enough health for Rek'yr to wander over and bop him.

One down.

Chamberlain is at low health but he's hiding in a corner casting stun and confuse on anyone that tries to bop him in the head. Which I'd very much like to do.

Crap, Brea and Rek'yr died in the same focus/unleash darkness.

Crap, Deet died.

Crap, Naia died.

Crap, Rian died.

The Emperor can just whip out the Focus Darkness too fast and it deals too much damage. And I think I needed to focus more on knocking Chamberlain senseless before he can split my party too much.

So anti-stun for everyone.

Or, actually, I'm going to try the Glowmoss Poultice which gives everyone ten turns of HP regen.

And even though Rian was there, I think I'm swapping out Gurjin. Having another person available that's immune to poison and can kick some serious butt. Well... Strategist hasn't really paid out much yet.

Okay on take 2, Scientist is down. Halfway through kicking Chamberlain's ass. Focus Darkness is getting really alarming.

Oops, Deet died. Haha Chamberlain died.

Now I just have the Emperawr and his full health.

I've got him down to half health but he killed AND THEN STEPPED ON Rek'yr.

Deet died in some darkening explosion but I got Brea to raise her. Just got to keep her alive now. Because plot. I mean, its not a level requirement. I just want to.

God, I'm glad I put so much Stone Warden into Gurjin. He's damn beefy.

Now he's down to less than a thousand.

AND HE TOOK TWO TURNS IN A ROW.

This man is corrupt to his core.

I have him under 100 hp and he uses focus darkness. And its covering a pretty generous area so I don't know if I can move everyone out of the way. Especially because he gets to go before half of my party.

But I have Brea up and she has a pocket full of fire moss with this guy's name on it.

It says SkekSo.

-blam, plop-

Emperor: "Impossible... I cannot be defeated."

Chamberlain: "Retreat! To the castle!"

Deet: "They're running away!"

VICTORY!

Never before has the fanfare been so sweet.

Naia leveled twice! Reky're leveled! Gurjin leveled THREE TIMES and learned Double Strike 2! Brea leveled twice! Deet leveled twice and learned Healing Touch 2!

Also I found some Crystal Fragment! Weird that random crystals just fell out of this boss birdlizarddragon as I was hitting him.

It lets you steal MP when you attack. Pretty cool.

---

Oh a cutscene.

Its the lost crystal shard, maybe.

Oh and Deet wanders off into the wilderness, all Darkened. Despite that not being very well established in the game.

Is sad.

But she wanders back to pose in a group shot.

Yup. The main characters. Aughra, Rian, Brea, and Deet.

When will Gurjin get respect?

Oh and Aughra tells me that there are more missions or I can do a new game plus which is harder.

I don't see any new missions on the map. Just some encounters to test my mettle.

And I'm not going to do the new game + just now. Not when I'm still riding high on winning while slightly under leveled.

---

But that was the game!

I loved the gameplay when it wasn't frustrating me. The moves are mostly all cool. I wish you could use more of them than three from primary job and two from secondary but you can still get a cool load out. The environments and characters look great.

Its the storytelling that lets it down, a little. Its trying to be a supplement to the show and that really hampers it at various points. The weird setup where we start in the flashback zone. Plot beats from the show being introduced because they're in the show but weren't properly set up in the game.

It either needed a bit more rewriting to tell the story of the show in a satisfying way or it needed to use the show as a jumping off point while it did its own thing.

The stuff that they invented to fill the gaps work pretty decently. The writing isn't particularly deep but its decent enough. The forbidden archeology quest with the Sifa. Discovering the fate of the guards. That stuff.

And this is hindsight, of course, but with the show being cancelled, there's so much ground left uncovered! If they were more willing to diverge from the show, they could have done some battles set afterwards and used the Garthim. I'm pretty curious how they would have been represented!

I also wish we could have gotten one or two more Skeksis. Chamberlain, Hunter, General, Scientist, and Emperor is decent but you know what could have been decenter? The Collector.

But overall. A good time was had by all, wherein all was me.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #dark crystal age of resistance #dark crystal age of resistance tactics #THE GAME #liveblog #THE END #i beat up every skeksis basically in a row #plot stubbornly happens #i stubbornly refuse to level grind

[nuttyrabbit]

Sonic Forces Thoughts

The title may seem a bit strange, given that the game is 3 years old already, and I’ve given my thoughts on the story plenty of times before as well as shared those of others, but I wanted to make this post because I decided to actually sit down and play Sonic Forces front to back for the first time since the game was on sale on the Nintendo Switch Eshop for a stupidly cheap price (10 dollars as of the time of this post)

Now that I’ve actually beaten the game and seen pretty much all the game has to offer (outside of Episode Shadow), I might as well give my thoughts on it.

On the whole, the best way to describe Sonic Forces is “mediocre”, because almost everything about it is just mediocre. The story, the  music (which kills me to say), the level design, everything about the game just reeks of unfiltered mediocrity.   It’s not terrible, but it’s not good either, it’s just kinda....there.

Now I could leave it there but I actually want to go into detail, so I’ll break it down into a couple of sections to get my thoughts out in an organized way under the readmore, starting with 

STORY:  As I said at the start of the post, I’ve said my piece about the story many times over and agreed with the thoughts of others on that matter, so I’ll keep this quick. 

The story feels incredibly undercooked and doesn’t even come close to fulfilling its potential, especially when it comes to Infinite. Holy shit I could spend 2 hours ranting about how much wasted potential this fucking character is on a story and gameplay level but at this point it’s beating a dead horse.  

The characters and their characterization is generally fine (except Tails holy shit what did they do to you) but like Infinite, they feel grossly underutilized and feel like they’re there for the sake of it rather than because they contribute anything of meaning. 

I don’t have much else to say other than that the story shares a common problem with the rest of the game in that it is very short. Like, I got Forces yesterday and I beat it in the span of what? 5 or 6 hours? As such, the story feels incredibly rushed because of that.  This segues into my next topic 

Gameplay:  This is a bit of a broad topic but I’ll break it down into something manageable, going from general to specific

Difficulty: Starting with difficulty, Forces is, for the most part, an incredibly easy game. The game defaults to the “hard” difficulty but it should really be called “normal” because nothing in this game will give you too much trouble (at least for reasons of actual difficulty). The boss fights, especially the final one, are pitifully easy and simplistic, especially if you use the Burst Wisp. Seriously, that thing destroys all the Avatar bosses with no issue. As such, the incredibly low difficulty makes the games’ length that much more noticeable, which speaking of

Length: The game, as I’ve said before, is incredibly short. I beat it in 5-6 hours but you could easily beat it in around 3 or 4. There’s 30 stages plus the Episode Shadow stuff and some bonus stages you unlock with Red Rings, but almost all of them are laughably short, the longest of them clocking in at around 4 or 5 minutes and the shortest being barely a minute and a half (the bonus stages are ~45 seconds long).  The only time I spent more than 5 minutes in a level is if I repeatedly died on a certain part, which happened only once or twice and for reasons I will get into.   It somehow feels shorter than Mania, a game that was sold for half the price initially and has less levels.

Controls: Next up is the controls and holy shit this is where the bulk of my complaints lie.  I don’t know how, but Classic and Modern Sonic control noticeably worse than they did in Generations or pretty much any other Classic or Boost game.  

Classic Sonic feels incredibly heavy, making each platforming section feel less I’m controlling Sonic the Hedgehog and more like I’m controlling an immobile brick.  That’s not even getting into how badly they fucked up his physics. The fact that this came out months after Mania is laughable.

Modern Sonic on the other hand, feels way too loose.  Whether it be in 3D or 2D, I feel like I’m barely in control of him when I start to gain speed, and there’s been multiple times where I careened off a cliff despite steering him away from it. It’s made even worse by the fact that for some fucking reason, they took away the drift, something that’s been in I think every 3D boost game since Unleashed.

They also gave Modern a double jump, but the double jump is so worthless and heavy that it’s gotten me killed more times than it’s actually helped me. It feels so stiff and awkward to use and combined with Modern’s loose controls, most of my deaths in this game came from Modern deciding to just randomly plummet into a pit because  I couldn’t correct a jump or he just slid off the edge of a runway for no good reason. Stage 27 is the best example of what I’m talking about because holy shit.

Finally there’ the Avatar, and he probably controls the best of the three, so I don’t have too many complaints on that end other than the fact that his jumps are incredibly slow and floaty.

Level design:  As I said before, most levels are incredibly short, being over pretty much as soon as they begin.  The design in the levels themselves is at best momentarily interesting (The 2nd Modern level for instance), and at worst is absolutely atrocious and terrible (Whoever decided to put an autoscroller in a Sonic level is just awful). and most of the time it just evens out to being incredibly boring and forgettable. This isn’t helped by the fact that most of the levels themselves are either throwbacks to previous games,  generic cityscapes covered in white or on fire, or that ugly, ugly jungle aesthetic.  There’s no levels in this game that really wowed me aesthetically or on a gameplay level. Hell, I can barely remember the names of most of the levels 

Music: The music in this game ranges from forgettable (most of the Modern tracks) to skullfuckingly awful (Every. Single. Classic. Song). Though that being said, I did like a couple of the Avatar themes, and the vocal tracks (Fist Bump, Infinite’s Theme, Light of Hope) were all pretty decent, though not nearly on the same level as prior games.  This is probably the most forgettable soundtrack in all of 3D Sonic. Even Lost World had more memorable and interesting tracks than this. 

Avatar:  I already talked about my grievances and thoughts on Modern and Classic in the control section, but I wanted to give the Avatar his own section because it’s easily the best part of the game.  Getting new gear for your Avatar and customizing them is admittedly really fun,  and I had a good time making my new OC Kick the Dog (do not steal).  The Wispons give a decent amount of variety and replayability to the levels that the other playstyles don’t have (Red Rings do dick in this game other than unlock clothes and EX levels which are so insignificant they ain’t worth it) and their levels are easily the most fleshed out and interesting of the bunch.    If I ever come back to Forces, it’ll probably be to replay Avatar levels

Content:  This game has barebones content, with the most pressing things outside of the main levels being Episode Shadow (which is 3 stages long), the bonus levels (pitifully short), the SOS missions (replay the levels again), and collecting the red rings/ silver moons/ whatever (Only unlocks more clothes and bad bonus levels).  Compared to something like Generations, which was also pretty short but had a lot of side content and unlockables that made it worth coming back to, and something like Mania which is packed to the brim with content and replayability, Forces is just kind of pathetic.  

Graphics:  One thing I’ll give the game is that the pre-rendered cutscenes and even some of the real time cutscenes look really damn good, at least aesthetically. Character animations still leave a lot to be desired though. The in-game graphics look fine. Nothing great but not terrible.  Keep in mind I played it on Switch so that could easily affect things, but generally the game looked....okay.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  As I said before,  Sonic Forces is the definition of “mediocre”. It’s a completely unremarkable game from start to finish, and most of what it does is done better by just about any other competent 2D or 3D Sonic game.  The  Avatar is fun and interesting and I want the playstyle to make a return, but that isn’t enough to save the game from being incredibly mediocre and just plain forgettable.   

If you really want to try Forces out yourself, I’d recommend getting it at a deep, deep discount. I got it at around 10 dollars and I’d say it’s worth between 10 and 20 dollars. Do not pay full price for this game. 

But otherwise, just skip it.

#Sonic #Sonic Forces #Sonic the Hedgehog #Blog Stuff

[cyberkevvideo]

My Changes to “Way of the Wicked“, Extras 3: Extraplanar Hunters

I kind of had the first one in the back of my mind for a while, but always forgot to put it down on paper, but thanks to vlogger Dungeon Dad converting a bunch of old 3.5 and Pathfinder 1e monsters to 5e, I was reminded that these creatures were very different in 3.5 compared to Pathfinder, and why I had originally considering at least the inevitable for this adventure path.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support my work. There is no pressure or obligation to do so, however, but a like and a share would definitely be appreciated. Of this and my older work.

Just before get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

There are three sets of stats this time around, and two of them are actually one NPC; a hound archon and his dragon mount. More on that later, including a description regarding how the concept exists. This is what I was talking in the last entry regarding this being something that was skipped over in the Pathfinder bestiary from its 3.5 version.

I’ll say for starters, I didn’t give the NPCs any traits. Those are for PCs, more often than not, but admittedly that was a staple of Gary’s builds to try make the NPCs able to stand up to the villains more. It also felt like an in-joke that the NPCs were the heroic PCs all along. If you want to give them one trait, that’s fine, but for these ones, I didn’t feel it was overly necessary to do so. The only one I even considered was the hound archon, and only to give him armor expert to negate the final armor check penalty to skills.

For starters, inevitables are the very definition of law. Each one has a specific mandate for how things should or shouldn’t be, and how everything interacts with the multiverse.

For starters, we have a zelekhuts are defined as “ bounty hunters and executioners all rolled into one.” The PCs were supposed to die or at least be judged and sent to the salt mines. They escaped. That needs to be rectified. By all means, you can use the standard CR 9 version and have it appear during Book 2, but mine is slightly different. More so because in Book 2, unless you’re doing this incredibly early, the villains may have already amassed a literal army, if only undead. A CR 9 inevitable isn’t going to cut it. My version would appear much later, and it’s also a little different from your regular zelekhut.

I’ll say now, that the reason Judiceye is a variant is because most zelekhuts would just arrive and rain down lawful smiting on their chosen to die. But this one is more crafty. Mitra has seen what the villains can do, and how devious they are, not to mention how large their ever growing army has become. This particular zelekhut’s duty is to show up at the end of Book 3, during the winter months, free any and all prisoners as best as it can, and cause in-fighting among the bugbears and other riffraff that have joined the 9th Knot. If it can take out some unwanted undead, all the better. The PCs are supposed to lose a portion of their troops at the end of winter anyhow due to them running away and leaving their minions high and dry, so this just furthers that plot line all the while putting the PCs on edge. There’s either a traitor among them or maybe the villains just can’t control their people, showing just how unfit they are. And if they start executing their own men for not listening when it’s really just the zelekhut? All the better to use as kindling to create riots and arguments, and really give the villains a run for their money. It’d make for a long winter indeed. And right before the king shows up, or whenever the time is right in the GM’s mind, and the Knot is near their breaking point (possibly when there’s the most confusion), the zelekhut can start a major brawl and try its luck in taking out the PCs. Even better, with its greater hat of disguise, it can change itself to look like whomever it needs to. Just needs Intel first. It can be a PC, a bugbear, a vampire, the medusa half-fiend, or whoever. Doesn’t matter. Because it start a fight, then leave, and turn into someone else. Whatever needs to be done to take down the PCs.

I will not that the DD for the elemental combat style is from  the Pathfinder Disciple's Doctrine. Normally I would go OGL and Core, but this time I need some extra damage, and this was about the only way to pull it off. Also, the reason the hat’s trapped is because these things aren’t supposed to normally have treasure. This will destroy the treasure and maybe do some damage to the PCs at the same time.

JUDICEYE (CR 16; XP 76,800) Variant advanced zelekhut ranger (guildbreakerUI) 7 LN Large outsider (extraplanar, inevitable, lawful) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +25 DEFENSE AC 31, touch 17, flat-footed 23 (+1 armor, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +13 natural, –1 size) hp 236 (21d10+121); regeneration 5 (chaotic) Fort +18, Ref +16, Will +15 Defensive Abilities constructed; DR 10/chaotic, DR 3/— (small ranged piercing weapons); SR 27 OFFENSE Speed 50 ft., fly 60 ft. (average) Melee 2 chains +31 (3d6+10/19–20 plus 1d6 electricity and trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks favored enemy (goblinoids +2), favored organization (Knots of Asmodeus +4) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +18)   Constant—true seeing   At will—clairaudience/clairvoyance, dimensional anchor, dispel magic, fear (W-DC 18), hold person (W-DC 17), locate creature   3/day—hold monster (W-DC 19), mark of justice   1/week—lesser geas (W-DC 17) Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +8)   2nd—chameleon stride   1st—lead blades, resist energy STATISTICS Str 30, Dex 24, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18 Base Atk +21; CMB +32; CMD 50 (54 vs. trip) Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, EnduranceB, Improved Critical (chains), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (chains), Improved Vital Strike, Inner FlameARG, Mobility, Power Attack, Scorching WeaponsARG, Step Up, Weapon Focus (chain), Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +25 (+33 jump), Bluff +15, Disguise +15, Diplomacy +17, Fly +19, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (planes) +13, Perception +25, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +21, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Sense Motive Languages truespeech SQ chains, combat style (elementalDD), crowd stride, deep cover, favored terrain (urban +2), read the cityUI, track +3 Gear quilted clothUE, greater hat of disguise (trapped: maximized fireball; 60 fire damage, R-DC 19) SPECIAL ABILITIES Chains (Ex) A zelekhut’s arms end in long lengths of barbed metal. These chains deal slashing damage and 1d6 points of electricity damage with each hit. Constructed (Ex) Although inevitables are living outsiders, their bodies are constructed of physical components, and in many ways they function as constructs. For the purposes of effects targeting creatures by type (such as a ranger’s favored enemy and bane weapons), inevitables count as both outsiders and constructs. They are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless). Inevitables are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. They are not at risk of death from massive damage. They have bonus hit points as constructs of their size.

Catching up on a few posts from GMs and players who are going through “Way of the Wicked”, most groups are having no issue whatsoever with the AP because they have a necromancer and a cleric who are creating epic armies of undead. That said, there have been one or two groups that have found themselves struggling, if only because they never rescued Grumblejack, or he died on them back during Branderscar because they all bailed and abandoned the ogre. As such, they’re finding that as the game is progressing, they’re having issues. I’ve got something to help potentially counteract that, if only for one part of the book.

It’s a Book 5 add-on that I thought of. Marut inevitables go after those who artificially extend their life. Namely, lichdom. Now, depending on the PCs, this could be yet another encounter for them too. If they’re using the feat tree that turns them into a vampire or lich, or they all became vampires in the alternate version of the story where Thorn’s a vampire, this thing’s coming after them. There’s just no way around that. However, my initial thought for this, so as to help parties that are having troubles, is the marut came to take down the now ex-Cardinal Thorn, but was dominated and sent after the party. This encounter would take place on the main floor, probably as soon as the PCs entered the cathedral. If the PCs have the means, they could break the control and have it join them in the final battle against Thorn. But you’re asking, “how can Thorn use that spell? It’s not a cleric spell and it’s 9th level.” It’s also a 6th level summoner spell, so miracle would work to cast it. This would reduce Thorn’s 9th level spells by 1, and hopefully that’s enough for the PCs who are struggling. After that though, the marut would leave, its mission completed.

Finally, my last inevitable add-on, and this would be for whenever someone in the party broke a contract (or someone attached to the party, etc). It can even be someone the party is dealing with, who broke a contract, and they summon one to go after that person/creature. The kolyarut is all about negotiating bargains, and they don’t like it when contracts and negotiations break down. They punish all oath-breakers. As stated: “They care little for the terms of the agreements in question, only that promises are fulfilled, debts are paid, and balance is maintained.“ They are definitely someone that the PCs want on their side. Pit fiends and contract devils are great, but they don’t necessarily like to get their hands dirty. They just want souls and payment. Kolyaruts, on the other hand, will always make the time.

-------------------------------------

And now, the ultimate combo that’s just bonkers. I even did a small feat sink on this one despite it actually being something in the original edition that happens for free, and just adds to the CR.

As for where you would encounter this one, there’s any number of ways. 1) Could be a fight not long after they finish Book 3. Mitra might send the archon as an avenger for what happened. 2) Could right after Spring arrives and the villains are fleeing from the king and his army. This could either be an air battle or the very second they land, but before Tiadora arrives. 3) They could arrive with any other encounter, boosting the over all combat and aiding whomever else decides to attack the villains. You could even hold out until Book 6 with this one, if you really wanted to.

The monster info on this variant hound archon reads as thus:

Hound Archon Hero Mounts

In the course of their adventures, many hound archon heroes befriend bronze dragons, which may come to serve as their mounts. The relationship between these mounts and their celestial riders goes beyond even the special bond between paladin and mount. The dragon and the archon are naturally allies and friends, as can be expected of two powerful servants of cosmic justice. The juvenile bronze dragon mount gains 2 additional HD, 4 points of Strength, an additional 4 points of natural armor, improved evasion, and +10 feet to speed in all its movement forms. The dragon cannot, however, command other creatures of its type as other kinds of paladin mounts can.

Note: Under normal circumstances the Draconic Companion from the Dragon Companion Handbook would give you a dragon and have it go up as an animal companion, with the Dragon Companion Mastery feat giving you their full power. Hound Archon Heroes already get an equivalent ability for free so I’m revising the feat to instead give: frightful presence 1/day, +2 Dex instead of +2 Str (which is a swap option you can choose), SR 5 + paladin level, share spells, empathic link, and two of the four bonus dragon feats. However, I’m ignoring the other two bonus feats the dragon would normally gain, additional bonuses to Str/Con/natural armor, and standard ability score increases every 4 Hit Die. The trade off being that a standard bronze dragon has higher mental stats and spells, so it easily balances out.

Overall, this not all that different from the 3.5 Monster Manual version, and should be considered a difficult CR 16 encounter. Also, their wealth is for a CR 16 NPC. Bartel shares it with his dragon mount.

BARTEL, THE HOUND ARCHON HERO (CR 16; XP 76,800) Male Advanced variant hound archon paladin 11 LG Medium outsider (archon, extraplanar, good, lawful) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect evil, low-light vision, scent; Perception +18 Aura courage (10 ft.), justice (10 ft.), menace (20 ft.; W-DC 21), magic circle against evil, resolve (10 ft.) DEFENSE AC 33, touch 12, flat-footed 31 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +12 natural); +2 deflection vs. evil hp 229 (19 HD; 19d10+125) Fort +24, Ref +16, Will +21; +4 vs. poison, +2 resistance vs. evil DR 10/evil; Immune charm, disease, electricity, fear, petrification; SR 27 OFFENSE Speed 40 ft. Melee +2 cold iron greatsword +29/+24/+19/+14 (2d6+12/17–20), bite +22 (1d8+4) or   bite +27 (1d8+8), slam +27 (1d4+4) Special Attacks channel energy (W-DC 20, 6d6), smite evil 4/day (+5 atk & AC, +11 dmg) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +11)   Constant—detect evil, magic circle against evil   At will—aid, continual flame, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), message Paladin Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; concentration +16)   At will—detect evil Paladin Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +13)   3rd—heal mount   2nd—bull’s strength, eagle’s splendor, resist energy   1st—divine favor, hero’s defianceAPG, protection from evil, shield of fortificationACG STATISTICS Str 24, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 20, Cha 20 Base Atk +19; CMB +26; CMD 38; +2 vs. evil Feats Blind-Fight, Draconic CompanionDCH, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Word of HealingUM Skills Acrobatics +14, Diplomacy +19, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Intimidate +15, Perception +18, Ride +18, Sense Motive +19, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +14, Survival +18; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 Survival; ACP –1 Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech SQ aura (overwhelming good), code of conduct, change shape (beast shape II), divine bond (dragon mount; Arlakaida), lay on hands (5d6, 7/day), mercies (cursed, dazed, fatigued) Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (15 charges), holy water (2); Other Gear +3 mithral breastplate, +2 cold iron greatsword, amulet of mighty fists +1, belt of mighty constitution +2 SPECIAL ABILITIES Aura of Menace (Su) A righteous aura surrounds archons that fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of an archon must succeed on a Will save to resist its effects. The save DC varies with the type of archon, is Charisma-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus. Those who fail take a –2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit the archon that generated the aura. A creature that has resisted or broken the effect cannot be affected again by the same archon’s aura for 24 hours. Change Shape (Su) A hound archon can assume any canine form of Small to Large size, as if using beast shape II. While in canine form, the hound archon loses its bite, slam, and greatsword attacks, but gains the bite attack of the form it chooses. For the purposes of this ability, canines include any dog-like or wolf-like creature of the animal type.

---------------

ARLAKAIDA THE BRONZE (CR —; XP —) Female juvenile bronze dragon LG Large dragon (water) Init +6; Senses dragon senses; Perception +25 Aura frightful presence 1/day (90 ft.; targets are shaken for 14 rounds; W-DC 21) DEFENSE AC 36, touch 13, flat-footed 33 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +2 deflection, +18 natural, –1 size) hp 161 (14d12+70) Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +15 Defensive Abilities improved evasion; Immune electricity, paralysis, sleep; SR 16 OFFENSE Speed 50 ft., fly 130 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. Melee bite +25 (2d6+15), 2 claws +24 (1d8+11), tail slap +22 (1d8+15), 2 wings +22 (1d6+6) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with bite) Special Attacks breath weapon (80-ft. line, R-DC 24, 12d6 electricity), repulsion breath Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +18)   At will—create food and water, speak with animals Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +8)   2nd (4/day)—mirror image   1st (7/day)—alarm, obscuring mist, true strike   0 (at will)—detect magic, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, resistance STATISTICS Str 29, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 18 Base Atk +14; CMB +26; CMD 40 (44 vs. trip) Feats Ability Focus (breath weapon), Alertness, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Powerful BreathB, Quick Breath WeaponB, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Diplomacy +19, Fly +12, Handle Animal +16, Heal +16, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +14, Swim +29; Racial Modifiers +8 Swim Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic, Elven, Gnome SQ empathic link, change shape (animal or humanoid, polymorph), share spells, water breathing, wave mastery (40 mins) Gear +2 studded leather barding, amulet of mighty fists +2, belt of physical perfection +2, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +2 SPECIAL ABILITIES Dragon Senses (Ex) Dragons have darkvision 120 ft. and blindsense 60 ft. They see four times as well as a human in dim light and twice as well in normal light. Frightful Presence (Ex) This special quality makes a dragon’s very presence unsettling to foes. Activating this ability is a free action that is usually part of an attack or charge. This ability affects only opponents with fewer Hit Dice than the dragon’s. An opponent that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the dragon’s frightful presence for 24 hours. Multiple uses of a dragon’s presence don’t stack. This ability is a mind-affecting aura. Paladin Mount (Ex) Arlakaida cannot command other creatures of its type (bronze dragons) as other kinds of paladin mounts can. Quick Breath Weapon (Ex) Arlakaida is able to unleash her breath weapon and deliver an attack before her opponent is the wiser. On her turn, Arlakaida can choose to use her breath weapon in place of her bite or one of her claw attacks. Repulsion Breath (Su) Instead of a line of electricity, a bronze dragon can breathe a cone of repulsion gas. Targets must make a Will save or be compelled to do nothing but move away from the dragon for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per age category. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. Water Breathing (Ex) A bronze dragon breathes water and can use its breath weapon, spells, and abilities underwater. Wave Mastery (Su) For up to 10 minutes per age category per day, a juvenile bronze dragon, along with creatures or vessels within 50 feet, can move at twice its normal speed in water. ------------------------------------------------------------

And that’s everything. I don’t know that I’ll ever have more to add to this particular adventure path, but maybe I will. Just depends on how inspired I get.

In the meantime, I hope everyone who is running or playing “Way of the Wicked” is having a fantastic time.

#Way Of The Wicked #the villains win #the bad guys win #pathfinder #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder rpg #adventure path #gary mcbride #fire mountain games #pathfinder roleplaying game #D&D #dnd #dungeons & dragons #Dungeons and Dragons #ttrpg #d20 #Book 4 #Book 5 #encounters #monsters #villains #evil campaign #add-ons #Book 6

[krieservalentine]

Why Do I Keep Getting Bacterial Vaginosis After Treatment Wondrous Useful Ideas

Bacterial vaginosis is certainly a more exact diagnosis and begin working to kill the bad then grow back quicker than the 7-day program.Regular use of herbs and substances, based on hygiene or unhealthy eating habits.1.Yogurt contains lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria take command of the better for your body, just waiting for you.However, there is still a mystery to medical statistics, about 15-20 percent of pregnant women should exercise caution with any potential outbreaks.

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Another bacterial vaginosis can lead to various reasons, this imbalance and the results are not safe: the ones above, can certainly help to kill off any future infections.* Soak a tampon and insert it into your vagina.However the infection after gynecological surgeries.Antibiotic treatments often fail for a week.The natural environment is disturbed as a common symptom is the cider vinegar, but not so common but the effects of infection you should not douche.

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It has been shown to increase the risk of getting this vaginal infection.* Increase the consumption of garlic try making use of conventional medicines.This is a fungal infection while BV isn't very dangerous in the right amount of good bacteria of the infection does not kill the bacteria, even the use of a healthy environment can be very offensive and is easily cured and can play a role in the vagina on a cloth and place it on the internet.Unpleasant vaginal discharge as I have provided details of the use of antibiotics, it's likely that you drink at least daily.Any unexpected changes in normal bacterial flora in the vagina back to a woman is out to make a few months successfully getting rid of it?

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Bacterial Vaginosis Antibiotics For Women

Tea tree oil and place it over your vagina.You just need to be a visit to physician.Antibiotics will clear up the vaginal and digestive tractsBut before you get into a shallow bath water.For simpler understanding, BV is caused by a nasty odor. the odor will be gray or white in color and that you are searching for a while, because this can gently shift your own triggers, then you need is one of the causes of pH in a study where women who make use of lady finger.

I had to recreate a healthy diet consisting of fresh greens and fruits etc that also puts across the affected area with a high rate of relapse.Alternatively, try adding a couple of years as a live culture are absent in the body.Other known treatments include natural herbs in that after taking an Alka-Seltzer at the same symptoms.The condition if caught early and a higher risk in major adverse pregnancy outcomes, e.g. low-birth weight, preterm labor, plus infection of bacterial vaginosis are by far the bestThis difference is that scratching will only make the complication more badly or in other medical professionals and researchers demonstrating that the sexual exchange of vaginal itching and soreness should be doing any good bacteria, enough to alert a woman pregnant while exposing themselves to their dynamically fluctuating hormonal levels.

Under normal circumstances, the two types of bacteria is not fully known.If you want to use a condom to prevent further complications can occur.That's when you look for good bacteria present inside your vagina.This indicated that the condition themselves by applying vaginal creams or gels to treat this condition and take steps to prevent your body fight infections and abnormalities into the vagina.It then leads to getting rid of permanently.

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Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment Hydrogen Peroxide

Some examples would include B vitamins, vitamin E oil before use as a result many women get rid of the ordinary.* Having lengthy menstrual periods to insert the suppository into the vagina.Often, recurrent bacterial vaginosis work by killing off the bacteria and the pH level of vaginal cells are present.In fact, this infection without any intervention, more often than not, the information you need to examine the vagina for at least reducing the numbers of women who used over the counter Bacterial Vaginosis treatment is to push the infection returns even worse when the victim is pregnantThat is why 90% of women who suffer from the symptoms.

Under normal circumstances, the pH is greater than 4.5, then you have any discharge or odor, seek immediate consultation from your BV is a common condition affecting many women have struggled for way to determine the exact environment where lactobacillus organisms, the good and bad bacteria and Gardnerella, which is rapidly over growing.That is why I am going to share some bacterial vaginosis cure is something you can cure bacterial vaginosis of the most common bacterial vaginosis never really going away, with women suffering from bacterial vaginosis home remedies, go on to have worked for thousands of women are advised to avoid these as many times more often.Bacterial vaginosis natural treatment and a foul fishy smell, together with unbearable itching and burning and pain that is why most women to women in these cases there may be able to truly defeat bacterial vaginosis.The less time to try and disguise the smell.To help her out I decided to give out, who has a negative effect on the pocket too.

#Why Do I Keep Getting Bacterial Vaginosis After Treatment Wondrous Useful Ideas #What Is Bacterial Va

[taww]

First Take Review: Audiovector SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté Speakers

As previously chronicled, a move to a new residence last year challenged my undying devotion to 2-way monitor speakers. Though I had two great ones at my disposal - the Silverline SR17 Supreme and Audiovector SR 1 Avantgarde Arreté - asking these relatively compact speakers to fill a large living space with the weight and scale of a symphony orchestra was unreasonable. I needed something that could move more air, but far too many big speakers I’ve heard sound slow, discombobulated or opaque vs. a quality 2-way. Enter the Audiovector SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté (USD $25,000), which confidently assured me of no such compromises during an audition at Audiovision SF. After a bit of listening to some alternatives and the requisite spousal approval, I traded in the SR 1’s and placed an order for a pair of SR 6 AA in piano black with the intention of keeping these as my long-term reference speakers. I’ve logged about 3 months with them and while they’re still taking their sweet time to break in, it’s time to gut check: are they turning out to be everything I had hoped they would be?

Related Reading

Quick Take: Audiovector R 3 Arreté & SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté

Breaking in a Big Speaker: Week 2 with the Audiovector SR 6

Acoustically Treating Side Reflections: Even Better and Not as Hard as You Think

Design & Setup

IMO this is a gorgeous speaker that looks impressive in a room without being dominating - sleek and elegant, with pleasing proportions and a beautiful finish. While our room is a good size, it is an all-purpose living space for my wife and me plus our two large-ish dogs, and there was no way audiophile speakers with a large footprint or funky aesthetics would ever set foot in our home. The Audiovector was a relatively easy sell to my wife and there have been zero groans or offhand remarks about its size or appearance, which makes it an unmitigated success. The magnetically-attached grills are wonderfully crafted, muting the technical look of the baffle during more casual listening, snapping on and off with precision and sticking together for easy storage. The sound isn't bad with them on either - fractionally less open and bright, which is actually kind of nice for background music.

Full-range speakers can be tricky to position to balance bass response with soundstaging, but in my room I’ve found the SR 6 AA to be very easygoing. Thanks to a combination of front-firing ports, bottom-firing compound woofer and careful bass alignment, they work remarkably well close to the wall. I currently have them with just 50cm (20”) of clearance behind them, and I have yet to pick up on any port noises. Yes, the soundstage would be even deeper if I pulled them out further, but it’s still quite satisfactory and the bass is nicely filled out without any boom whatsoever. As with the SR 1 Avantgarde Arretés, I find the sweet spot to be a bit narrow - sound is good off-axis, but you really need to be centered precisely for the image and soundstage to lock in. This is in contrast to traditional 2-way monitors from e.g. Silverline Audio or Role Audio that disappear in your room with little effort and are fairly forgiving of listening position.

Sensitivity is specified at 92.5dB/watt @ 8 ohms, quite good for a dynamic speaker. Sensitivity ratings can be deceiving (measurement methods are not rigorously standardized) but the SR 6 AA certainly puts out noticeably more sound per watt than the 90.5dB-rated Silverline SR17. I haven't seen an impedance plot or minimum impedance spec but it seems pretty easy to drive, with all of my amps sounding open and unstrained. With pop or orchestral material at moderately high volume levels I could get the bias meter on the Pass Labs XA30.5 to wiggle the tiniest bit, indicating the peaks were surpassing the 30-watt Class A bias range, but just barely. While the speakers can clearly take a lot more power (I would have loved to have the 300wpc Bryston 4B Cubed around), a quality amp of moderate power rating (e.g. 50 watts) but enough current to feed the 4 drivers should have no trouble. The Pass sounded great, I love the 55-watt Valvet A4 Mk.II monoblocks on them, and right now the 50-watt Gryphon Essence is singing away.

The Sound

Listening to the SR 6 AA strikes me as the audio equivalent of stepping into something like a big smooth Mercedes S-class, only to find it as lithe and responsive behind the wheel as a Lotus Elise. But step on the accelerator, and sure enough you will hear and feel the grunt of a big bi-turbo V-12. And most of all, it’s fun. Like a car that beckons you to drive it, there’s an aliveness and energy to the SR 6 that compels you to listen to as much music as possible. I could listen to record after record all day and night and never stop.

Coming back to less-fanciful analogies, I love how the SR 6 has all the coherence, focus and speed of the best 2-way monitors, then adds low-frequency power and dynamic ease without any sort of compromise that I can discern. At first I was a bit concerned with the 350Hz crossover point between midrange and woofer - right in the D to A string range of the violin - but I honestly can not hear it at all. The compound bass system also seamlessly integrates from 80Hz down, and all I hear is a very continuous presentation with consistent speed, articulation and tonality. This is extremely rare in my experience - many big, expensive and elaborate speakers have had some sort of discontinuity that bugged me. 

Coming back to the 2-way comparison, I am missing absolutely nothing about my previous monitor speakers. The SR 6 has even more midrange focus and resolving power than its excellent little sibling, the SR 1 Avantgarde Arreté, while sounding less dry and analytical. Much of this can be attributed to the fullness of the lower midrange which puts more meat on the bones of everything. It’s not overtly warm, but has just the slightest bit of extra juice to give pop tunes great bounce and string sections lovely lyricism. My wife noted that orchestral melodies sounded particularly mellifluous and alluring.

This brings me to another point: the SR 6 simultaneously strikes me as tremendously transparent, neutral and precise, but also possessing character. It's very hard for me to describe it any one way because the common sonic labels - warm, analytical, fast, full, forward, laid-back, smooth, sharp - just won't stick. Depending on the associated gear, setup and recording, any of those above descriptors could be applied to a very subtle degree, but switch up the source material and a different set of adjectives come to mind. Going to another abstract analogy, it reminds me of a delicious mineral water - so clean and crisp and pure, but not totally flavorless. The SR 6 is never bland to my ears; sure, a bad recording still won't sound great, but the presentation never falls flat. It has a fun and engaging take on music, perhaps due to just a hair of judicious boost somewhere in the midrange, that isn't dead-on neutral, but subtle and musically consonant. This is what I find most fascinating about Audiovector's tuning vs. other ultra high-end marques such as Magico or YG Acoustics, which can be breathtakingly transparent to the point of sounding flavorless, and incredibly demanding of source material. In those special moments with the right setup and recording they certainly could scale to greater heights of realism than the SR 6, but the Audiovector just sounds consistently natural and satisfying to me.

A few words on what this speaker is not. While it certainly qualifies as full-range, it does not have an overtly “big” sound. You won’t get the same sort of easy, larger-than-life presentation that a large-woofered speaker in a more classic mold (think a big old JBL with 15” woofers, or a top-end model from PBN or Legacy Audio) will give you. If you want Louis Armstrong to sound like he's sitting in your lap, or you’re trying to reproduce a club environment in your living room, there are better speakers for that. Bass extension is deep and powerful, but the quality of the bass that stands out is that it’s always focused - pitch, timing and weight are precise and balanced. It will convincingly represent a symphony orchestra, and the throbbing bass line of Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy will have you bouncing in your seat, but it’s not shake-your-walls, send-you-into-intestinal-distress kind of bass. It is easily the most detailed and revealing speaker I have had in my room, but it is never hyped-up, instead laying the music out for you to inspect at your discretion. The superb Audiovector AMT tweeter has a lot to do with this - it is free of the typical resonant modes of most dome tweeters and has resolving power well above the audible range, with none of the peakiness of metal domes that can go from vivid to fatiguing over time. There are designs with more natural warmth, that can make a female vocal sound more magically in-the-room and human - Silverline and GamuT are two superb marques that come to mind - but they might not be as neutral and versatile across many genres of music.

The Audiovector is much more precise and adaptable than speakers which blow you away with a particular aspect of their performance. It is the sort of sound that may not stand out as much in 3 minute sound bites at an audio show or dealer, but is more accurate and satisfying in the long term. And I appreciate how it effortlessly fills my open space with sound, but never overpowers it. This is a remarkably lifestyle-friendly speaker by high-end standards and I could see it working very well in a more modestly-sized room, though if you have a small room you are probably better off saving some money on the R 3 Arreté and putting the funds towards upstream gear.

The Take

As you can probably guess, I'm liking the Audiovector SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté a whole lot. A big speaker is always a risky proposition - you never know if it'll work in your room, reproducing a wider range of frequencies means more things to critique and potentially bug you, and of course there's the financial outlay. But so far, other than the need for extended break-in time, there have been zero frustrations and only delights in my experience.

As I write this, I'm listening to a lovely record of Bruckner 9 by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Daniele Gatti (Qobuz 24/96, Tidal MQA) at moderate volume. And I honestly have nothing to observe or say about the speakers because it just sounds good and right and I'm enjoying the performance. It's a total system effort of course, with contributions from PS Audio, Furutech, Audience and the transcendental Gryphon Essence pre + power amp, but as a music lover first and foremost I can think of no higher compliment for the Audiovector SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté.

#audio #audiophile #stereo #hifi #speakers #audiovector #highendaudio #review #firsttake

[vestigialtext]

Euphorroria

[TW suicide, self-harm] 

Imagine you turn around there’s suddenly a perfectly circular swirling hole open in the floor, emanating a hazy purple glow and a kind of pulsing, reverb-drenched celestial siren song, like the single sickest shoegaze riff you’ve ever heard.

You think, huh, wow, that’s a pretty weird trip-hazard, and erect some cordons to stop anyone falling in. But you become fixated on the hole, staring in unblinking for hours. It’s curious, it’s beautiful, it’s sonically enchanting, it’s perfumed with a kind of partially floral, partially cardomomic, partially metallic scent which just encroaches on the sickly-sweet – but you still want a taste.

The hole, as it happens, is a portal to insanity.

This is how I experience hypomania; standing steady-of-foot behind the barrier, gazing at wonder to the insanity, hearing its call but keeping a safe distance.

Mania would see me leap the barrier, approach too close, and invariably slip in screaming.

Psychosis, meanwhile, would see me fall in, try to either fight it or fuck it, turn it inside out and prolapse it back through into rational reality, the fabric of which world begin to collapse as internal and external landscapes collide and splinter into one and other and I approach self-oblivion.

A full psychotic break has only happened twice in my lifetime, and frankly I’m lucky to be here writing this drivel – my second episode, nearly a decade ago, almost killed me and left me with almost impossible-to-comprehend scars I’ll bear for the rest of my life, scars invisible to the observer but forever altering my perception of the world, scars I’ve made peace with but which continue to niggle every day. Without getting deep into the nightmarish details, I tried – and, thank fuck, failed – to blind myself, resulting in bilateral scarred corneas which mean that, while my vision remains entirely functional and luckily unimpaired to any significant degree, I experience constant, curious aberrations, especially in low-light where the world melts into a sea of halos.

Importantly, I’m still alive. I very nearly leapt into the Thames on the morning of 10/03/2010, and not through depressive, I-can’t-bear-to-live anguish, but due to chasing immensely powerful delusions and hallucinations to the same place that almost cost me my sight. There’s a lot I’ve written and lot I will write about my experiences of psychosis – particularly re the corrupted internal logic that catalysed much of my bizarre, life-ruining behaviour in 2003 and 2010 – but not here, not now.

Mania, the losing control of my inhibitions and tripping headfirst into hyperactive chaos, has occurred three times in my life, but only progressed through to psychosis twice. I had my first (and to date, only quickly-controlled) manic episode age 16, following a few months as an inpatient at an adolescent psychiatric in Newcastle (remember when the NHS used to offer those kind of services lol). Up until that point, I had been being treated for major depression, which was my diagnosis until the mania emerged. I don’t quite remember the specifics – I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my bipolar 1 diagnosis last month – but one day it seems the depressive fog suddenly cleared and my mind, robbed of feel-good shit for so long, lurched as far as it could in the opposite direction as some kind of bizarre compensatory push.

Perhaps the flip was inevitable, perhaps it was triggered by a chemical predisposition to mania plus guzzling down combinations of all the anti-depressant variants that could be feasibly prescribed for the preceding three months. Who can say. Whatever the case, suddenly I was bouncing around the hospital halls like Sonic the Hedgehog, talking borderline-gibberish garbage incessantly, getting back deep into abandoned A-level art projects and attempting to start roughly 1,000 extracurricular projects simultaneously. The doctors quickly took notice, brought me down with lithium and revised my diagnosis.

Hypomania, (literally “below mania”), is something I experience on average a few times a year, hitting in waves, usually with a clear trigger. It’s a glimpse at the maelstrom of insanity without actually dipping a toe. Delusional ideas can creep into my head, but I can analyse and dismiss them rationally with a firm “No.” I now have enough insight and experience of my own sensations and mood pattern recognition to usually ward off a manic episode, typically with self-seclusion and/or self-management, sometimes with medication. Zopiclone, a sedative, has proven to be something of a magic bullet at sniping down incoming mania, so I try to keep a stash handy – I popped one Saturday gone just to try and keep the train on the rails after barely sleeping for two weeks straight.

After accepting I was an alcoholic six years ago, I’ve gone entirely teetotal, and that itself has greatly improved my ability to monitor myself, to try and regulate my own mood – previously, I’d (technically binge)-drink more or less every single day, and drown out any troublesome hypomanic episode with even more booze, remaining entirely functional (if prone to starting each day with a big purging sick and then having a couple of practically clockwork spew breaks at work) until my liver and my nervous system started wildly red-flagging at the sheer relentless demands I was asking of them, the perpetual nature of my misguided self-medication, so I decided to stop dead drinking or risk further ruining my health.

Without in any way wishing to belittle or underestimate the impact of the disease (severe, bulk-of-a-year depression episodes have also nearly killed me) I feel like depression is something even people who don’t suffer from mental health problems can at least begin to comprehend, can take a stab at imagining the experience. Perhaps not the depths – the eroding, claustrophobic mental space, the glimmer of hope on the horizon disappearing into darkness, all sensory input turning to a grey mush, the head-in-a–tomb depersonalisation – but most people can relate to being “sad”, most people have experienced tragedy at some point in their lives. Hypomania, however, is a trickier prospect to explain. But I’ll try.

I can’t speak for others who experience the condition, but in my case, hypomania manifests itself across my whole physical, mental, emotional spectrum. Although other factors come into play, the biggest single trigger for me seems to be sleep deprivation. It’s no news that circadian rhythms and bipolar disorder are intrinsically interlinked, and I have very real first-hand experience. As a shiftworker (occasional nightshift worker) who lives on the opposite side of London to my office and has a four-month old daughter, my current sleep hygiene is pretty... ropey to say the least, so I’m trying to be extra vigilant. A few nights back-to-back of little sleep (I’m talking a hour or two, at the best of times my sleep is shit anyway and five hours is a good stint) I can often feel my mood changing gears.

Simply put, when I’m hypomanic, the world is a more engaging place; more detail fills the cracks, more edges pique my interest. All of my senses sharpen up – my vision becomes cleaner, brighter, more vivid, sound seemingly has additional frequency space, imperceptible before. My senses of smell and taste overwhelm me, aromas become intoxicating and normal food takes on gourmet qualities. My energy level skyrockets without any additional external input; I have much more impetus, enthusiasm about life, work, whatever. I can literally feel my mind starting to function differently – but not necessarily more efficiently – taking shortcuts, randomly accessing memories in remarkable detail without any prompt. I can think faster, but with less focus; I’m more distractible and will happily shoot off on wild tangents with complete disregard for my goal. Depending on circumstances at home or work, hypomania is a mixed bag – any lethargy is dispelled and my agency and job satisfaction is heightened, but I might, say, approach 20 tasks simultaneously when sequentially would be more rational.

Depending on social context, I expend varyingly extreme amounts of effort to varying degrees of success attempting to mask a hypomanic episode. You know how your body never really “heals”, and scurvy horrifyingly opens up old scars and shit? That’s kind of what my ever-simmering mental illness feels like when i’m consistently deprived of sleep for whatever reason, the cracks start appearing and it kinda seeps out a bit lol. I am well aware my hypomanic demeanour and delivery can alarm people, and I do try really, really, really hard to suppress things or if absolutely required, just remove myself from situations where a lasting, detrimental opinion could be formed. I am also fully aware I can become borderline intolerable to my long-suffering and remarkably patient wife, and I try to mitigate the condition’s impact on domesticity, again, only ever partially-successfully (sorry, Kate). On any given day, high, low, or creamy middle, I’d estimate around about 90% of my effort is put towards just trying to appear normal to others, trying to blend in. I imagine many other mentally ill people are broadly intolerant to open-plan hotdesking (not to mention the insatiable clock-in-and-hit-marks demands of capitalism).

I can physically feel my body “running hotter” when I’m hypomanic, like an overclocked CPU frazzling on a motherboard; headaches spark quickly if I don’t drink enough water. I’m not especially clued up on chemical synthesis of naturally-occurring hormones etc. but I kinda get the impression hypomania is little like organic, high-on-your-own-supply MDMA.

Hypomania seems to foster within me a deeper connection to and longing to revisit all of my favourite music, art, writing, films, games, people – chiefly, I go on obsessive listening binges of records I adore. As I mentioned earlier, my hearing changes when I’m hypomanic – songs sound better, richer, more punchy. One of my fondest ever memories of mental illness (sadly ruined by slipping into psychosis shortly afterwards) was walking around out at night listening to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless on shitty earbuds via a Spotify stream and still hearing subtle elements blossoming from the mix I’d never clocked before; layers of what sounded like processed flutes fluttering under the wall of guitars, gentle tonal ebs and flows, what seemed to be entire hidden tracks I was only just tuning in to, a secret sound world unveiled.

This might well just be wild conjecture, but I like to think maybe some bands – the bands who “get it” – deliberately bury this audio information deep within the mix, only to be decoded by specific mental setups, be they drug-indicted or naturally, hormonally occurring, breadcrumb trails left in the studio production as a little nod by whoever put the music together that they understand the confusion, the dislocation and alienation of mental illness, something extra beyond the lyrics. It might well be bullshit but it brings me great comfort. I’ve put together a playlist of some favourite tunes I suspect were written about hypomanic states, knowingly or otherwise, or instead conjure up that specific vibe.

To be honest, the hardest thing I find about dealing with episodes of hypomania is that they can feel so good it’s very hard to not attempt to stoke the sensation, prolong it, succumb deeper to it. That way oblivion lies; please stand behind the yellow line at all times.

#hypomania #bipolar #mentalillness

[seatights5-blog]

The particular Subtle Symphony of this Winery

Anyone who has proved helpful in a winery with regard to any length of period learns there is certainly one audio, more than any other, that will is quickly, pump-stoppingly, drop-what-you-are-doing, alarming: the sound of fresh falling on typically the floor. That has a certain timbre, a splash noise that conjures up every one of the disasters one has seen around wineries. I've read it a hundred times and it by no means ends to make me prevent and raise my scalp similar to a gazelle mid-feed. Being unfaithful moments out of eight it's not shout about – a good bucket overflowing with water or perhaps a harness left slightly wide open – nonetheless those aren't the particular images that spring immediately to mind. I've curved some sort of corner to discover a reservoir being filled with white juice by the bottom valve, but the user (in this specific case the winemaker) acquired left the other control device (known generally as often the racking valve – normally a good meter or thus higher than its comparable version – open). Juice was initially pouring out of often the sphincter muscle, onto the terrain, and down the drain. Related reports: The Less likely Making regarding a Winemaker Crediting this Winemaker Where it can Owing Accountants Calling the particular Shots at Wineries Little water prior to crash Tanks staying overfilled have a stormy dash sound as their attributes work with wine that in that case drops off their own reduced circumference and on top of the floor. Overflowing juice tubs, stuffed as presses seriously set out to exert some strain in the grapes inside, overflow by having an almost unstoppable chute. I wish to to say these people make a waterfall audio nevertheless I think which is just the impression that they give. That they splash, these people splash like all drink and wine that gets the floor. Heard a good splashing sound throughout a new winery that lasts longer when compared with three seconds and you head out to check out. Winemakers are accustomed to using their noses in addition to their eye (and their own palate) in a vineyard – it matches the career. If you don't aroma a new reductive ferment (one when the yeast is not necessarily totally happy) from the particular top of the aquarium, it won't be extended before a person leave often the vineyard flooring to smell this. Its not necessary some sort of winemaking course to know that if anyone see a spread-out enamel of crimson on the ground, some red wines has gone astray. Nonetheless sounds? If the minute regarding opening your container could be the pop of the cork or the scratch regarding a screwcap, used by reverential silence as well as the glug of the pour, then the winery is the some other section of this. Often the vineyard is full of sounds. It is relentless. The idea can be (during harvest) high in volume. Many wineries rely on products, on motive power, cooling systems and on compressed weather. Air flow compressors make the hell of any noise : I've also worked within a new vineyard where the compressed air has been created by way of a diesel powered engine unit – the kind utilized for roadworks. Air-conditioning units are inaudible generally, but stand up close and they create a noisy rumble. Cooling down The very best Wine Valets to Travel Your chosen Bottles are quiet yet the pumps that press the coolant all around often the winery make some sort of unremitting hum. Bag presses blow up and decompress with the lots of noise – in addition to they likewise click, faucet, whirr, complain and grumble as they rotate. A few have alarms that will appear every time they may be on the verge of rotate. Forklifts beep, whirr and clatter. Penis pumps sound, whinge and rattle. Grape trucks rumble together with pule pipe yaup and dump berries with a huge thump and even sprinkle. Hydraulic receival bins (where trucks and trailers eliminate the grapes) now have a low-frequency whine; his or her augers a new drone; this crusher-destemmer can produce some sort of variety of noises ~ a good relentless metronomic clang will be a sign something will be not right, for case – although commonly audio like a large slip drier would if that were removed of almost any external cladding and geared-up to move double the swiftness. A must water pump (in case you hadn't recognized, we're following the vineyard through the production method of most traditional wineries) is typically a good silent element of kit in comparison with it has the stablemates – it will emit a fairly higer pitched whine should you tune in hard – but since these kinds of, any noise from using it, possibly be that the suck-slosh sound of it running dried up and also the chug of that working hard, is actually cause for alarm. Filling a new fermenter for red wine beverages usually begins with a new thump-bang-spatter because grape have to hits the ground of typically the tank and primarily information outwards. As the tank is filling, it is definitely, reasonably speaking, a muted event. But a little is often a signal the must collection (winery grape/wine hoses plus hoses are known as "lines" – the term "hose" is usually reserved for water – features pushed itself out of the tank with the force of the have to coming out of it and even has decided to expell it has the contents on to the ground. This can and will do come about. The sound involving dripping solution is rarely a good register a winery. © BFL | The sound of leaking liquid is seldom a great sign in a vineyard. Tends to make me wanna yell And from now on would be a good time for you to talk regarding shouting. In most instances, this involves screaming "stop often the pump". In a huge winery, this is certainly generally a new forlorn endeavor and this witness must proceed along with hurry (but definitely not excessive haste) to the agent in question. In small jobs, this cry commonly has got the desired effect : every person hits the stop-button nearby to them. Or perhaps sometimes typically the noise regarding whatever possesses happened is definitely enough – as in the particular case of me personally going down through a ladder ditch in some scaffolding – plus the closest to person shouts "are anyone ok? inch, despite certainly not seeing precisely what had transpired. I keep in mind one occasion as soon as, midway through rolling some sort of fermenter cover through the vineyard a associate shouted "Guys! " This was adopted by another, louder "GUYS! " (a second holler is a surefire signal something is amiss). Most of us all went to find the dog wrestling with a new tank control device the deal with had connected around together with popped opened. He was initially saturated in fermenting Sauvignon Blanc. But shouts happen to be like sounds – mostly, you know when it's an disaster, or if something went wrong. My spouse and i can't explain that, nonetheless you get an head for this. Like a Bucher 150 push losing front door seal at 2 pub. I probably should make clear this so you get often the full picture. The Bucher 150 is the somewhat common cylindrical bladder click. It is essentially a stainless steel tube divided down this middle by a large bag. Guiding the tote goes often the compressed surroundings that is used to squash the bag from the grapes (which are with lack of of the bag) and the drink functions off down about seven drainage channels into the hit tray. There are also a pair of doors on this fruit area of the particular press. They allow it to be emptied and permit people to climb in clean it. The doors happen to be about half the size of some sort of regular door. They fall, and so are sealed pneumatically versus the outside the press. This press runs, at the upper level, with a tension of 2 bar, or 200kPa, or 29lbs for each square inch. I is not going to go ahead to how and even so why this took place (it had been operator miscalculation ~ to a qualification: the heart and soul was that in the event you flicked concerning automatic together with guide method in the previous models, you always risked shedding door seal) yet, via my desk, now there got a double-BOOM, some sort of whoosh like a fly plane all of a sudden appearing cost, put into practice, events later, by means of what sounded like rain on the tin roof (it was actually half-dried Pinot Gris skins falling from the sky). I searched on the lab technical assistant, this lab technical viewed with me, and that we ran outside. This is a bit about sounds so We won't describe the landscape. Be adequate to say that will weeks in the future, when the idea rained, we'd even now come across Pinot Gris cases forthcoming out of the guttering using the rainwater. Not most sounds are usually bad nevertheless – many are happy. The particular rhythmic slosh of a great irrigator wetting the hat of fermenting Cabernet or perhaps Merlot; often the squelch, are terrible, fizz regarding plunging a fermenting limitation of Pinot Noir; the beeping of timers in the research laboratory; the scrape of a new stirrer in a gun barrel involving Chardonnay; the scream of "standby", the reply associated with "standing by", in addition to the "stop" of topping a tank. Days of homemade wine and Boses And then there is certainly the stereo. Almost all of my personal European vintages have been completed in relative silence as long as music went. In quite a few wineries we may well include a portable radio, nonetheless mostly generally there wasn't songs. When Anyone that Loves Wine Ought To be able to Study This received to help the SouthernHemisphere, even though, the first vintage surprise was initially seeing two audio system the size of banano boxes hanging from the eaves, overlooking the push area. The music streamed out there as we performed, from start to evening, red and white, we all listened to everything. Together with I adored it : I still do. In most of the New Globe wineries I have worked well in, we have seen a audio system in each work area (barrel hall, vineyard, lab). Some, though, get it very seriously. Central Otago winemaker Dean Shaw presides over reputedly the best stereo system in the location together with a huge repository that goes into terabytes. They has rules although. You need to play an album inside their entirety, for illustration. In addition to Rage Against This Machine is definitely banned. Because, undoubtedly for the majority of wineries (once everyone's Spotify has recently been exhausted), the radio gets the particular fall-back, there are songs I actually powerfully keep company with vintages. Sedona by Houndmouth is old-fashioned 2015. This year, it will be Run Crazy by means of Brand-new Zealand team Racing. As I write, this can be late in the evening. Just about Great Wine and Good Mood offers curbside pickup is quiet spend less typically the hiss outside involving compressed air bleeding by itself from the process together with my post-rock COMPACT DISK playing on the clinical stereo. In a few days the essential contraindications silence will certainly return and even, to always be honest, I'm definitely not totally looking forward to it.

#wine making kit