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fayes-fics · 1 year

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Electric

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader, Modern AU

Summary: Modern AU. Passionate al fresco thunderstorm sex…

Warnings: 18+ smut, minors DNI, vaginal sex, passionate sex al fresco during a thunderstorm, a touch of biting, marking. Also, beware, this has a very soppy ending. Yes, that needs a warning.

Word Count: 3.7k

Authors Note: Not what I should be working on, sorry. Sort of a request fill for a handful of my lovely discord mutuals (you know exactly who you are). Blame the thunderstorms that tore through the Northeastern US yesterday for this one. Thanks to @colettebronte for reading through for me. OK, now back to my queue that I should be writing. Enjoy <3

“We must have taken a wrong turn,” you sigh, watching the gathering shelf of dark grey, almost purple-hued clouds rolling overhead just as dusk approaches, the lightning flashes you had seen on the horizon a few minutes before a harbinger.

“Yes, I think so,” Benedict admits quietly, scanning the surrounding countryside of the narrow single-track lane you are on somewhere in the wilds of Cornwall. He took over the driving duty a couple of hours ago.

“I don’t think we’ll make it to the reception dinner on time now. We probably should have downloaded the route so we could have navigated offline,” your voice rueful about your lack of planning.

“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” he shrugs as he flicks on the wipers, rain pattering onto the widescreen. His laissez-faire attitude to the dilemma is somehow a calming influence over your vague anxiety about being late. And lost. In an approaching storm. He always seems so calm in the face of everything; you envy him a touch.

There are a few minutes of silence as you ponder what to do. Whether you should try to find a spot wide enough to turn around and backtrack or keep going, knowing you are headed in the approximate correct direction, in the hope the patchwork of country lanes crisscrossing the area will eventually lead you somewhere more promising—all the while, glancing up at the darkening sky.

“Pull over. I might have an old-fashioned roadmap lurking somewhere in the boot,” you offer as the car slips into a tunnel of trees, the lack of view galvanising your resolve to find a way out.

“Will it be detailed enough for us to work out where we are?” he frowns.

“Better than hoping for our phones to work out here, especially in a storm,” you point out, holding up yours that still reads No Service as if mocking you.

“Okay,” he agrees.

He drives a little further until there is a pull-in designed for passing; it’s just about the length of your car. By now, the rain is pelting down; it is almost night-time dark under the canopy of trees; the thunk of heavy drops on the car roof is more pronounced as it filters through the dense branches above.

“What are you doing?” he asks as you unbuckle your strappy evening sandals.

“It’s pissing it down, and I’m certain this lay-by will be all muddy. I’m not ruining these fancy new shoes.”

“So you are just going to get muddy feet instead?”

“Yes, my feet are washable; these are not,” you argue, waving the shoes before tossing them into the backseat.

“Look, you stay here. I’ll get the map,” he offers chivalrously, “just tell me approximately where you think it might be?”

“I have no idea,” you admit sheepishly, “somewhere under our suitcases… and, well, everything else piled back there. Sorry…” you wince a little, apologetic.

He rolls his eyes without heat, throws open the driver’s door, slams it shut, and sprints to the back of the car just as thunder claps make you jump. You hear him rummaging around in the boot for a while then there is a muffled voice saying that he can’t find anything. You glance in the rearview mirror and see him close it, then tip his head up and let the rain sluice over him, giving up on attempting to stay dry.

“Ben, get back in here,” you shout, cracking your window a tiny amount, droplets painting your arm even with an inch of opening.

“No point now, I'm soaked through,” he laughs loudly, and you watch as he jogs around in front of the car and throws his arms aloft in the beam of the headlights whooping in child-like delight. “Come join me!” he yells over the din of the rain.

All you can do is stare incredulously as he stands there, his white shirt turning translucent and clinging to his torso, rivulets of rain running down his face and slicking back his hair. He looks beautiful. Handsome. Carefree. His face cracks into a large grin as he spins slowly and tilts his head back.

“Come on!” he calls again, shouting skyward.

With a twisted pout, you reach over and flick off the ignition, the headlights cutting out. Tentatively you open the door, and the noise hits you like a wall, the rain sheeting down, splattering noisily onto the road, that intensity which only comes with a summer storm rolling in to usher out the heat. You take one rueful look at your floral dry-clean-only knee-length dress and then step out. Your foot sinks into the squelchy, verdant grass verge as he jogs up to you, arms aloft in celebration, almost giddy with excitement.

“This storm is intense, isn't it?! Let's go into the field over there. I bet the view over the valley is amazing!” he declares, grabbing your hand and heading for an opening among the line of trees.

“Ben…” you trail, your gait reluctant, feeling a trickle of rain track down your spine from your neck all the way into your underwear.

“We are never going to make it to that wedding reception on time now,” he accurately surmises, “So… lets's just… enjoy this! Live in the moment! When do we get thunderstorms this intense?! Hardly ever. Come on!!” he grins, shaking your joined hand slightly to gee you along.

His enthusiasm is infectious, and the rain is surprisingly refreshing after the last few days of stifling heat; you find yourself capitulating and letting yourself be dragged along.

“Come here,” he laughs, picking you up bridal style when he notices the slightly rough stony ground under the tree cover.

You can’t help your laughing bubbling up as he carries you until you reach the grassy field, his body flexing against you, stirring something in you. You've been together for a few months now, long enough to be each other’s plus one for friends' weddings, such as was supposed to happen tonight, but still in that early flush of romance where given half a chance, you will not leave a bed all weekend.

He gently places you back on your feet, and once outside the tree cover, you are soaked through within seconds. Your dress rapidly becomes heavy and glued to your skin. You don’t even want to think about your hair and makeup….

“You look beautiful,” he assures, as if reading your mind, a soft smile on his handsome face, all jaw and cheekbones as water sluices over the contours.

“So do you,” your reply is a truthful reflex, and his responding demure smile melts a hot pool in your chest, like a little oil lantern you hold behind your ribs just for him.

“Let's go see,” he urges, wrapping an arm tight around your shoulders. Yours bands around his slim waist, the water from the back of his shirt seeping over your forearm as you do so.

It’s about fifty feet of slight incline until the field falls away, and there is suddenly a beautiful rolling vista of the Cornish countryside before you. Little fields dotted with hedgerows and in the sky above the storm slicing across the valley, half still dry and half obscured by a grey fug of heavy rain. Beyond, you can just see a slice of the sea.

You both stop short and just stare at the wonder before you. “See?” he enthuses, squeezing your shoulder.

“It's beautiful,” you admit, even as you have to brush a sodden strand of hair away from your face. A sudden flash of lightning rips high across the sky, making you jump instinctively into him. His hand curls tighter around your shoulder, and your gaze cuts to meet his; something wild there, electric, like the storm you are in.

Wordlessly, he twists to kiss you, the fervency taking you by surprise, his lips hot, the water trickling down his face cool by comparison. Just as you go to deepen it and open your mouth, he pulls back with a little smirk and grabs your hand again, drawing you off to the right. He is making a beeline for a large, sprawling oak sitting majestic but incongruous in the middle of the brow of the field. Likely the remnants of a great wood that once stood here, hundreds of years before, a singular monument to the past.

“Isn't it dangerous to shelter under a tree in a storm?” you question, your words almost stolen by a stray gust of wind.

“Probably,” he buzzes and something in his tone feels daring; he stops moving and pulls you hard into his body. “It's exciting, isn't it?” his words hot over the shell of your ear, and your body feels alive.

Only he can do this. Just one rumbled sentence and a frisson runs through your entire being. Your hands map his neck as you push up onto tiptoe to meet his lips, unable to resist your body's siren call for him. The kiss this time is more frenzied, and as your tongues touch, there is a rumble of thunder you feel reverberate in your ribcage.

“Have you ever had sex outside in a storm?” he whispers over your lips as you part.

“No,” you confess, your eyes fluttering closed as he peppers little kisses across your face.

“Me either. Would you like to?” the ask is murmured into your ear as he gently sucks the edge of your earlobe.

“Fuck yes,” you breathe, excited by the prospect, feeling an entirely different wetness between your legs.

Out here in nature with a beautiful view and a storm raging seems adventurous and so elemental, the ozone in the air making every hair on your body stand on end, the petrichor oozing from the earth beneath your toes, the sight and feel of his toned body, soaked, warm skin under cool rain.

You back away from him towards the tree trunk, and although he stays rooted to the spot, his stare is predatory, and his chest heaving as you bite your lip and wordlessly shimmy under your dress until you can drop your underwear.

The noise he makes is as savage as the roll of thunder it accompanies, and in three long, athletic strides, thigh muscle prominent under his clinging trousers, he is on you. Large hands grab your bottom and haul you off your feet; your legs wrap around his hips on instinct as he sucks your neck, walking you backwards until rough bark abrades your shoulder blades. Your fingers card through his drenched hair as you moan under his attention, his hands frenetically pushing your dress high up your thighs until you feel the wind around your bare bottom cheeks.

Everything between you suddenly frantic, like the storm, roiling and tempestuous, every sensation heightened. Warm skin and cold, wet cotton, soft earth and solid treetrunk, light and dark as the view is almost daylight under the intense flash before plunging into dusk again. And the noise. So much noise. The pounding rain, the howling wind whipping through the tree above and whistling low through the grasses, the rolling thunder, his breath hard in your ear, your own moans as you fumble to unzip his fly, feeling his cock insistent against you, so very desperate for him to be inside you immediately.

Your head tilts into a knot of wood as he slides into your body in one swift motion, pulling you down onto his cock as he thrusts upwards. The feral noise you make is almost lost to the wind, and your eyes roll closed, just going limp at the overwhelming heat and stretch, toes curling around the back of his knee as his trousers slip further down his legs. It's only recently you both agreed to go condom-free, and every time his unsheathed cock plunges into you, it feels so visceral, like every contour and vein was designed to hit just the right spots deep inside.

A hand yanks aside your neckline, with what sounds like a rip in the fabric under your arm, as a wet hand cups your left breast, a fingernail dragging bluntly over your nipple as it puckers almost painfully. All his movements ferocious, so different to his usual gentle, sensual pace in the quietness of your beds. But somehow, it’s precisely what you need, crave, and want. Untamed and tumultuous.

Your base demand for him to fuck you hard is a clarion call that catalyses him to begin moving, his hard hot tip splitting you open with every thrust. Your hands want to be everywhere at once, in his hair, gripping his neck, his shoulders, his back, his bum, tearing open his shirt. They settle on a combination of all; your motions just as fevered as his. When you are able to peel his shirt down to his elbows, he takes over briefly, propping you against the tree, speared deep on his cock as he fights it off around his cuffs and tosses it aside.

“How does this dress undo?” he pants loudly in your ear, and one fumbling hand unzips down your side, giving enough slack for him to tug it over your head.

Then you are both naked, fucking hard against the tree, your sodden clothes discarded around you as you take from each other primally, sucking and biting shoulders hard enough to leave marks, the rough bark rubbing abrasions into your spine and his kneecaps. And yet you do not stop. Like the storm, the intensity is almost like whiplash. He has never fucked you this hard before, and you have never been so rough, fingernails digging into flesh until he grunts, teeth biting his neck, his ear, teeth even grazing his cheek on the way to biting kisses.

Staring over his shoulder at the wondrous view as he surges into you over and over, as you moan encouragements, always so greedy, begging for more, and now, and to never stop. He obliges, kneading the flesh of your bottom, fingers snagging and tugging your nipples, pulling back to stare into your eyes and lean your heads together, slack mouths breathing each other’s air as you ratchet higher.

This is the least you have ever communicated during sex, but somehow it feels superfluous. Like your bodies are in tune, moving in tandem, push and pull, together and apart, over and over and over, your sweat sluiced away by the rain tumbling from the heavy boughs above. The only words spoken are your names, and as he pulls one of your legs up over his forearm, your thigh muscle burning slightly with the stretch, you know it's burning intensity now. Open and vulnerable to him, he brushes your clit with every thrust. You start to scream, the liberating feeling of solitude, miles from anyone and anything, making your inhibitions tumble away. And he loves it, growls at you to be loud, scream his name, his chest swelling with heaving breaths and pride about how he can wring such sounds from you.

This is the sort of sex you have only read about before now - passionate, near animalistic, rabid, frantic, and so addictive you want to move to the countryside and fuck in the woods for the rest of your days. Rain or shine.

“Look at me,” he murmurs, and your movements slow a touch as you tilt your eyes up to meet his, seeing the lightning flash behind you reflected in his inky pupils, mouth open and face unable to mask any of your teetering shudders. You are so close to a precipice, almost reluctant to tumble over it, wanting this intoxicating experience never to end. It feels like he wants to say something else, something profound, but the words appear stuck in his throat, almost afraid to be declared.

“Me too,” you whisper urgently, a cryptic enough response to any number of statements he could be struggling to articulate.

He nods ferociously and kisses you like a starved man as he grabs one of your hands and guides it between your bodies, pressed into each other.

“Touch yourself for me, please,” he begs, and you do as he starts that punishing pace again. It's only a few strokes, and you are convulsing, lightning piercing the sky and painting the inside of your eyelids as you screw them shut and allow yourself to tumble over the edge into oblivion, your body convulsing hard, rain trickling hard down your limbs, your skin both hot and cold and too tight at once as you fracture in his arms and slump into him babbling incoherently, Distantly you hear him biting off curses, and with a few thrusts, that push you up off your feet, he stills and shouts a biting version of your name into your shoulder as he comes hard, the warmth coating inside you as yet another clap of thunder causes you both to jolt.

The sound of both of your ragged breathing is louder than the rain as you slowly return to the scene, your thigh slipping from his forearm as he leans into you, into the tree, almost a crushing weight.

“Wow…” he sounds awestruck.

“Ditto,” you struggle out, sharing a lighthearted chuckle.

You wrap around each other in a wordless tangle of limbs, leaning on the solid trunk and mesmerised by the beautiful view, watching as the worst storm clouds move away towards the sea.

Deciding there is barely any point in attempting to re-dress, once the rain abates slightly, you agree to brave the dash back to your car nude, hand in hand and laughing carefree. Once there, you yank open your gym bag and giggle as you both attempt to dry off using the one towel in the backseat, discarding your sodden garments into a plastic bag and laughing uproariously as you pull on your casual clothes for the journey home in the tiny cramped space.

“I’ll never forget tonight,” he says softly, sincerely, after you clamber back into the front seats.

“Me either,” you smile gently back.

You never did find the wedding venue, but somehow, neither of you particularly care.

____

Twelve months later, you are back in Cornwall, and he pulls up in that familiar layby.

“Is this…?” you twist to look at him; it appears so different on a bright sunny July day you almost double-take.

“Yes,” he answers, a nervous energy vibrating off him that seems odd.

“How on earth did you find it again?”.

“A lot of time spent pinching in and out on Google Maps for many weeks,” he confesses meekly.

You laugh and allow him to drag you out of the car, enjoying the sun's warmth as you emerge from the treeline and walk up that slight slope.

The view is just as breathtaking as you remember on a warm sunny afternoon; the memories of that night, always so clear and vivid, come tumbling back as he leads you under the shade of the mighty oak.

You laugh as he whips a penknife from his jeans pocket and carves your initials into the wood, like some cheesy teenage couple. He doesn't release your hand as he does so, so you push up your sunglasses, enjoying drinking in the vista, idly thinking this is such a beautiful spot that you would happily live right here.

“Whoever owns this land will be mad if they ever find this,” you state drolly.

“I think they are just fine with it, actually,” he answers somewhat cryptically, but you let it slide. Perhaps he looked up the owner when researching how to locate the field again.

It's only when he steps away that you notice he has not carved a last initial for you.

“Do I not have a last name?” you raise an arch eyebrow, body checking him lightly in jest, but your brow knits as his nervous energy returns. “Are you okay?” you check.

“What I carve depends on your answer to my next question…,” he rushes over an exhale.

Before you know it, he is down on one knee before you.

And you entirely forget how to breathe.

“I… I couldn't think of anywhere else to ask this…,” he begins tremulant, but you don't even let him finish.

“YES!!” you squeal behind a shaking hand cupped over your mouth.

He laughs and hangs his head briefly. “Can I please ask anyway?” his eyes sparkling as he looks up again.

“Sorry!” you squeak and squeeze his shoulder, fingers trembling. “Please, continue….”

“Y/n, will you marry me?” his face radiates devotion as he holds out a ring box with your ideal ring nestled inside.

“YES!!” you squeal again, impatient and vibrating with emotion as he shakily pushes the ring onto your finger, and you haul him to his feet and launch yourself into his arms, almost knocking him over.

“Ooof!” he exclaims as you partially knock the wind out of him, but he rallies, and you share sweet kisses.

“How much do you love this view?” he queries when you finally part and slip back to your feet.

“I love it as much today as I did that day,” you sigh dreamily.

“Something you would perhaps like to look at frequently?” his voice uncertain, seemingly hedging.

“Of course… why?”

“I may have done something… a little rash,” he admits.

“What?” you frown.

“So the owner of this land doesn't mind the oak being carved because… well… that owner is me.”

And your jaw drops for a second time.

“Benedict…” all other words fail.

“And you too now, of course; what's mine is yours.” He points to a far-off spot at the end of the slope. “That hedge down there? As far as that is ours. I brought this whole field from the farmer, and umm, I’m in the process of applying for planning permission to build a home right here. For us. This view will be our back garden. Right next to this very special tree,” he concludes, tapping the sturdy trunk with his knuckles.

“You utter romantic idiot,” you whisper through blinking tears.

Back in his arms this time, you tumble to the ground, rolling in the cool grass under its sheltering might.

“One electric night changes it all, doesn’t it?” he whispers.

You couldn't agree more.

Benedict taglist: @makaylan @foreverlonginguniverse @iboopedyournose @colettebronte @aintnuthinbutahounddog @severewobblerlightdragon @margofiore @writergirl-2001 @heeyyyou @enichole445 @enchantedbytomandhenry @ambitionspassionscoffee @chaoticcalzoneranchsports @nikaprincessofkattegat @baebee35 @crowleysqueenofhell @bridgertontess @fiction-is-life @lilacbeesworld @angels17324 @broooookiecrisp @queen-of-the-misfit-toys @eleanor-bradstreet @divaanya @musicismyoxygen84 @benedictspaintbrush @miindfucked @sorryallonsy @lilithseve @cayt0123 @hottytoddyhistory @truly-dionysus @fictionalmenloversblog @zinzysstuff @malpalgalz

#benedict bridgerton fanfiction #benedict bridgerton smut #benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton x reader #benedict bridgerton x female reader #benedict bridgerton x you #benedict bridgerton x y/n #benedict bridgerton imagine #bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton #bridgerton smut #bridgerton imagine #bridgerton x reader #bridgerton x female reader

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elliesgaymachete · 3 months

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I’ve now seen mean girls the movie the musical the movie a second time and it’s still just as good so here’s a full review

The Narrators bit was so much fun, the way they kept looking at the camera, breaking the fourth wall, and that one shot where they’re doing announcements and the name plate just reads “narrators”. The way the movie opens on them recording a video for social media in a garage and it ends in the same place with the garage door closing while they wave under it like the curtain on a broadway stage. Amazing.

The way it switches from fullscreen to widescreen just for songs where Regina controls the narrative like a fucking puppeteer. Like, at first I thought it was every song, but it’s only for Meet the Plastics, Apex Predator, Someone Gets Hurt, and World Burn. It’s SUCH a stylistic choice and I absolutely loved it

THE CONTINUOUS SHOT IN I’D RATHER BE ME!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!! IT’S SO COOL!!!!! I love me a good continuous shot and would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall on set that day

Also still on I’d rather be me, the way the huge iconic moment of regina getting hit by the bus is completely overshadowed by Janis getting her moment. Loved it.

There were also a lot more smaller continuous shots that were really cool!

The use of social media, especially since social media as we know it today didn’t really exist when the original movie came out. It was a big part of the broadway show and keeping that translated REALLY well to the big screen

I made a separate post about this but the fact that they actually made Janis canonically gay instead of it just being subtext or if you squint. It makes Janis a much more sympathetic character and makes her vendetta against Regina feel even more real.

Making Cady’s mom a single mom was a surprisingly nice change and Jenna Fisher was truly a delight in all of her scenes.

The tease when Tina Fey almost sang where do you belong 😂 (though I am still bummed they cut where do you belong 😔)

THE LINDSAY LOHAN JUMP SCARE

Avantika was a delight and her comedic timing + deadpan delivery as Karen was so perfect

Literally everything about renee rapp as regina was perfect, but especially at spring fling when she’s high on pain meds was so much fun

Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise) was absolutely phenomenal. I didn’t know it was gonna be in the movie and gave me chills the first time I heard it. Auli’i fucking crushed it

I also love how they took a homophobic insult from the original movie (“it’s not my fault you’re like in love with me”) and turned it into a new queer jam for the end credits song. Can a gay girl get an amen?

This movie is truly just a fun time

#mean girls #mean girls the movie the musical the movie

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bluebudgie · 9 months

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Oh hi. I heard it's gifs tips'n'tricks time.

View this as a little addition to this post I made a while back.

This time I thought I'd take you through my gif making process. It'll be very specific to Photoshop CS6 but maybe some of you will find parts of it helpful regardless.

And since our biggest nemesis appears to be ~The Tumblr 10MB File Size Limit~ I decided to go for the absolute worst premise for a gif: Lots of stupid wobbly particles and gw2 bloom and transparency effects. Because huge gifs love these.

Aah, a horrifying amount of those in this single scene. Perfect!

Let's start with a little timelapse video, and I'll get into the details with screenshots below then.

So this actually went smoother than expected? Not super much fiddling needed in the end, but here's how it went in detail:

Load the raw footage into photoshop.

You can do this in two different ways: What I do is simply drag & drop the video file into the program and it'll open with a video timeline and some rudimentary video editing options.

What you can also do is File -> Import -> Videoframes to Layers and select your source video, which will give you a timeline of separate still image frames instead.

It comes down to preference, I used both methods in the past but nowadays I find the video timeline more intuitive.

Cut the footage to roughly the right length.

From experience I know that most of my gifs are around 3-4 seconds long. This can of course vary depending on different factors. Don't get too attached to the exact seconds you selected, you might have to shave off a bit depending on how evil the file size decides to act.

Optional: Change footage speed

Depending on the gif and its purpose, I slow the footage down. I usually do this for the visual effect (especially nice for showing off animation details) but it also has the practical side effect that it can help with file size. Say you want a gif that loops after 4 seconds. At 100% speed your gif will move at your original framerate (in my case 60 fps); if you slow it down but keep the same length in seconds it'll logically use less frames. That's less data to blow up the size! Yey.

Crop the image.

Now this is probably one of the most crucial parts when it comes to your final file size, and your gif looking nice on tumblr. Since the tumblr dashboard displays images at a width of 540px, you want this to be your absolute minimum image width to ensure a crisp image. If I can, I'll make the gifs larger (I like starting at a minimum of 600px and then reduce the image dimensions if needed).

With that in mind.... choose your image crop wisely.

A "widescreen" image like this will be the most merciful in terms of file size, but might not always be what you want in terms of composition.

Given tumblr's very vertical nature, this kind of approach will look great in posts (if it fits your image composition of course), but at 540px minimum width tends to be a file size monster.

For the gif I'm attempting to make here I opted for a more square approach. The subjects of the scene fill out the image's space nicely, and it's still a nice size for tumblr posts overall. Let's see what the file size will say about this.

Replay your footage after cropping to make sure you didn't accidentally cut off any motion you didn't mean to cut.

Next up: optional colour corrections

I tend to crank up the saturation for gifs way, way more than I ever would for regular screenshots since I find that often the limited web palette can make them look fairly dull. But like everything else so far, this greatly varies depending on the scene you're showing.

Note that colour correction can increase or decrease file size depending on what exactly you're doing. The more different colours you have, the larger your file size will be.

Reduce image dimensions

Since my original video footage was fairly zoomed out, the cropped area only left me 575px of width to begin with. In an earlier attempt (that I absolutely did not fail to capture and therefore had to record the whole thing a second time) I tried to leave it at these dimensions, but the 10MB size limit did not like that so now I knew better and immediately reduced the width to 560px.

Note: After you've changed the video's dimensions it won't let you edit the speed anymore (for some reason), so make sure you've got that settled.

After all the adjustments are done it's time for the moment of truth...

File > Save for Web...

This beautiful window will open and...

Aww almost.

But honestly? That's not bad at all. I've had completely different disasters to deal with in the past (starting somewhere in the mid 20MB, good luck trying to make use of every size-reducing trick you've got up your sleeve).

Before I do any adjustments to shave off the last few KB though, I preview the gif to make sure it loops correctly. I want the Chak to sway seemlessly. Turns out it didn't, so I back out of the window to remove a few frames from the footage. And when I open the "Save for Web" window again....

Well that's anticlimatic. Apparently those few frames were enough to get the file size where I need it. (Note: Sometimes Tumblr likes to be a little b* and pretends your file is too big when you're this close to the 10MB limit. It be like that.)

While my gif journey theoretically ends here, I want to at least show you a few more things that could have helped if I had needed to get the file even smaller.

So this dithering thing I keep making a big deal of...

It can make or break a gif. In my experience this is so, so crucial to the final file size and quality of the gif.

In my own very amateurish words, dithering is a way to emulate colours that aren't actually part of the images colour palette. This is especially needed for in-game transparency effects like fog, glowy stuff, or smooth gradients. And that is part of why I chose this hell scene of all the ley line glow and the typical gw2 bloom that's particularly bad in this area.

PS CS6 offers you three different kinds of dithering techniques: Diffusion, pattern and noise.

My go-to is diffusion dithering, which has adjustable quality levels.

In my opinion it's generally the type of dithering that's often the least noticeable and creates the smoothest looking images. Unfortunately, it's also the one that creates by far the largest file sizes. Another downside is that it doesn't work super well with heavy DoF/fog etc. effects and is prone to really ugly banding, especially visible the more you decrease the quality. It looks awful for this particular scene. (Look at the glow around my asura's headpiece if you don't know what I'm talking about. Or... just the entire background.)

Both noise and pattern dithering will get you smaller file sizes, luckily.

I've never used noise so far (it tends to look messy in my opinion), but pattern gets the job done! Especially for gradient heavy gifs it's a lifesaver. It's definitely more noticeable than the diffusion dithering on static parts of the gif, but it absolutely makes up for it by not having any ugly banding effects. This is also what gave me the neat little 9.99MB file size in comparison to the diffusion dithering's 15.31MB.

Last but not least, if fiddling with the dithering or image dimensions doesn't help you get below that magic 10MB mark...

Limit the colour palette

You can either manually colour edit your image to use less colours for a more artistic approach, or you can let Photoshop limit the palette to its best abilities.

Additionally you can double click each individual colour to replace it how you see fit. (I've done that in the past when Petthri's yellow eye colour got erased and I had to bring it back manually.)

In this gif's example, reducing the palette from 256 to 128 colours has brought the file size down from 9.9 MB to about 8 MB. It can have a big effect, but doesn't always in my experience.

SHOW US THE GODDAMN GIF ALREADY!!!

Not the best quality gif we've ever seen on tumblr, but given the extremely unfavourable source material I think it turned out alright. I have to admit I'm actually surprised it worked at all.

Oh well! This got long (once again). I hope this was at least a little bit helpful to someone out there. Happy gif making!

#i did not proof read this #budgie plays gw2 #gif

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rosieuv · 25 days

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The dokis + Emari (DDLH)

I had to make it widescreen to fit them all on. For a fangame thing. No idea when I'll actually use these sprites though as they don't appear on the start screen.

The poses were based on the original sprites and I kinda regret doing that as the skirts were a pain to look right (especially Sayori's)...and Monika's left hand. I changed the shoe colours to match their colours, Sayori's top 3 shirt buttons are undone, the bow is tied unevenly, she has a penguin pin on her blazer (hard to tell in this drawing though), her left sock is falling down and her skirt is to her knees; Yuri's blazer is longer, tucked in and the top button is undone (hard to see with that pose though), her socks are shorter or pushed down I can't really tell and her skirt also goes to her knees; Natsuki's blazer doesn't have any sleeves (they're all wearing blazers different ways), with pins and her shirt has shorter sleeves and her socks have polka dots and there is a reason for that but spoilers; Monika basically looks the same but with freckles and wavier hair; Emari's an OC but I followed the formula of: have hair accessory and black socks are reserved for sentient characters only. Also the colours are either brighter or darker than the original it depends on the thing. The glitched ones are holding an item that represents them: Yuri has a butterfly knife, Natsuki has her phone to represent the people who screw her over, and Sayori...well it's self explanatory. Basically Monika's the only one who looks just like her official sprite but with a stiffer pose as posing is hard to draw. Yuri and Monika are a good few inches taller than their canon height; Natsuki is like a foot shorter than Yuri now.

Separate sprites (Newgrounds ver)

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kyomunosaki · 10 months

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Geminism Trial, thoughts and observations

I just noticed Geminism's trial is out, so this will be a short post on my thoughts regarding it. I've been eagerly waiting for this game for a few years now, especially since I'm a massive fan of Sayonara wo Oshiete, and this brings back a ton of the staff from that era.

I've tagged some other games that are related / probably inspirations, so take that as you will if you're seeing this post randomly lol

Overall Thoughts: An amazing introduction to a game that I've been excited for, for a while now. The writing style in Japanese is absolutely amazing, unique and got me absolutely hooked, and the visual and sound direction are just phenomenal. I want to also note it has the best direction of presentation I've ever seen from a visual novel to date, with tons of cool cut-ins and effects. I cannot wait to experience the full version of this game.

There will be at least some minor spoilers with OOC screenshots and whatnot in the rest of this post, so keep that in mind if you read!

First thing I noticed was that the game is in Unity, so I wonder if it'll take advantage of effects and stuff at all? It makes sense for the CRAFTWORK staff that I know of to work in an engine like this though, since they have some wizards there.

I like that they open their eyes when you hover over the game button, this sort of presentation in VNs adds a lot since it's like the cover to a book or album, it gives something to the rest of the atmosphere that's hard to describe.

The settings screen is super neat, but also the "戦局" screen being there is super interesting. I think it's something like a TIPS page that some older ADVs have, so it serves as a reference as you read. I'm guessing who has what body part is going to be important throughout the work.

I also find it funny that Awasumi's voice is at 100% by default while the rest are like 60%, and I really wonder if that's because a certain famous someone voices him, who's using the pen name 杯瑠万花 (literally read as: Pile Bunker, I'm not joking)

The visual style reminds me a LOT of Ciconia, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a direct inspiration. The widescreen NVL format with the film grain + blurred backgrounds just screams that was an influence on this game.

youtube

The OP being called "twyndyllyngs ~Fuguai no Alice~" is kinda funny in mind with the last point too, since Ciconia draws a lot from TRianThology in turn as well.

The visual direction is indeed amazing, I haven't seen anything like this since going through some of Shumon Yuu's stuff ages ago. Should also be noted this game has proper scene jump as well, which is damn impressive to implement into Unity of all engines.

The writing style is actually really excellent overall, I love lines line this in particular. It's harder to read than say, SayoOshi though. It should be noted that it's getting an English release on the same day as the Japanese one too, so it's cool that it's going to be so accessible and something actually done by a first-party and not some underpaid localizer.

I just realized it's somewhat like Muramasa with the sprites, which is pretty funny when her main one looks so relaxed here.

And yeah, the writing is really damn good and funny so far. I've also realized the game is just mixed weirdly, which is why Sugita's character is 100% volume lol. He's doing a damn amazing job too, I wouldn't have been able to tell it was him if not for his voice PV which pointed out how obvious it was him with the lines they used.

The other 3 voice actors as well, Nakaya Shiho, Nakaya Naho and Sumeragi Mikado all do amazing jobs as well. I really like that the Nakayas chose their pen names to seem like siblings. Also it should be brought up that they do vocals for the OP, which I think is amazing.

It should probably also be stated that it's still 100% a CRAFTWORK game, so expect some extremely graphic and definitely triggering psychosexual content if you read this.

I can't get a pic that's as out of context as these, but the visual effects are pretty crazy. They definitely take advantage of having a more traditional game engine, which is pretty amazing since Unity is somewhat infamous in terms of VNs.

Another no pic thing but the choices are like Fallout 4, where it's just a truncated form of what you actually say, and I think that's kinda funny.

Excellent! I don't have much more to add at the end here, but if you got this far thanks for reading! I'm always looking for new JVN mutuals, especially anyone who reads stuff in Japanese, so please hit me up!

#jvn #nvl #visual novel #visual novels #craftwork #geminism #sayooshi #sayonara o oshiete #ciconia #trianthology #wtc

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louisupdates · 9 months

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Louis Tomlinson’s Top 10 Songs Ranked

21 July 2023 | 10:00 am | Skylar Flowers

The UK heartthrob has just announced a massive tour of Australia and to celebrate the Vodafone presale starting today, we’ve ranked Louis’ biggest and best songs.

Earlier this week, one-man pop powerhouse Louis Tomlinson announced his imminent return to stages Down Under and if you’re a Vodafone customer (and believe us, you should be), you’ll be able to get your hands on the very first tickets this morning (July 21). An exclusive Vodafone presale will kick off at 10am AEST, running for 72 hours until the same time on Monday (July 24).

You can head here for more info on how to take advantage of that presale.

Come January, he’ll deliver his mind-bending blend of bubblegum, Britpop and rock to his biggest crowds yet in Naarm/Melbourne, Meanjin/Brisbane and Eora/Sydney. The run comes in support of Tomlinson’s stellar second album, Faith In The Future, and although this tour will be his biggest on local soil, we’re expecting tickets to fly right out the gates.

To get the hype train chugging at full steam, we’ve crafted the ultimate playlist to soundtrack your ticket-scoring endeavours: a meticulous, indisputable* ranking of Tomlinson’s ten best solo releases.

10. Just Hold On (with Steve Aoki) [2016]

We’ll happily admit that Tomlinson’s first solo outing followed a fairly safe formula – squeaky clean, harmonic vocals (supplemented with plenty of “woah-ohs”) flowing over the unique kind of pseudo-clubby bubblegum pop beat Steve Aoki is a certified master at – but for what it is, Just Hold On is exactly what it should be. Back in ye olden times (2016), it proved to us that Tomlinson had the chops to carry a pop banger on his own, lapping up every lumen of the spotlight. And listeners seemed to agree: the song went Platinum in five territories (including Australia), came just one spot shy of topping the UK charts, and still pops up in Tomlinson’s live sets from time to time.

9. Back To You (featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals) [2017]

Tomlinson’s second track as the headline act landed some 16 months after Just Hold On, making for one of the most brutal waits we’ve endured between a debut single and its follow-up. But it’s without a doubt that Back To You was worth the wait, shining with an equally cool and catchy beat, and an impassioned vocal performance (carried by emotive lyrics tailored for maximum swoonability) that made it undeniably clear: Tomlinson was always the biggest heartthrob in One Direction, and goddammit, he’s still their biggest heartthrob in his solo era.

Bebe Rexha’s vocals add so much colour to the tune, too, as her smoky swagger gels with the sweetness in Tomlinson’s own delivery. Us here Down Under were especially stoked on Back To You – racking up three Platinum certificates and a peak at #11 on the ARIA Charts, it remains Tomlinson’s biggest single as a solo artist.

8. Two Of Us (2019)

Though it came out a solid 15 months after lead single Miss You, it was Two Of Us that really kickstarted the cycle for Tomlinson’s debut solo album, Walls (which arrived in January of 2020). It was a bold choice for that role, too, as a deeply emotive ballad steered by haunting grand piano chords and widescreen orchestration. But it was a power move: the song itself is striking and cuts deep with authentic pangs of grief, Tomlinson’s vocals swelling from lowkey and melancholic to intensely poignant as the music builds. Thematically, too, it’s one of his most important efforts – a touching ode to his late mum.

7. Walls (2020)

The title track from Walls is another ballad, but this one stands out a little more with its ear-pricking instrumentation, channelling the greats of ‘90s Britpop with its coolly strummed acoustic guitars, droning pianos and atmospheric string- and synth-work. Released as the album’s fifth and final single, it offered a fantastic summary of everything we’d heard thus far, from the searing pain he poured out in Two Of Us to the energised pop-rock of Kill My Mind.

Then there’s the lyrics – some of Tomlinson’s most gripping and evocative – with the chorus in particular standing out for its motivational punch. He sings: “These high walls, they came up short / Now I stand taller than them all / These high walls never broke my soul / And I, I watched them all come fallin' down / I watched them all come fallin' down for you.”

6. Bigger Than Me (2022)

Tomlinson’s newest era began last September, when he dropped the lead single from Faith In The Future: a rousing slow-burner called Bigger Than Me. It’s the perfect song to bridge the gap between his first and second albums, starting off as a lowkey acoustic number and growing into a big, bold pop anthem you could scream along to at the top of your lungs. It swells into a peak around three minutes in, where Tomlinson is virtually howling to contest with the operatic strings, spirited drums and scene-stealing synths. When we first heard Bigger Than Me, it felt like a proper reintroduction to Louis Tomlinson – and goddamn, were we keen to learn more about this new version of him.

5. Just Like You (2017)

After launching his solo career with two collaborative tracks, Just Like You marked the very first time we heard Tomlinson without a guest singer or heavyweight producer. Released standalone in October of 2017 – about a month and a half before Miss You kicked off the Walls era – this airy pop gem serves as somewhat of a theme song, very on-the-nose as Tomlinson literally opens it with a verse about how he’s “the guy from the one band” with the “whole world in [his] right hand”, prone to racking up “headlines that [he] can't stand” with his lavish escapades (“Night out and it's ten grand”)... Before explaining that as his fans, we “only get half of the story” when we see Tomlinson revel in all “the cash and the cars and the glory”.

Is it self-indulgent? Yeah, absolutely. But does it absolutely slap nonetheless? Yeah, absolutely.

4. Miss You (2017)

It makes sense that the music video for Miss You takes place at a party: accented by tasteful juts of an electric guitar and a thumping drum beat, the song feels triumphant and energising – the kind of song you’d blast in your room to hype yourself up while you get ready for an actual party. Following on from Just Like You in December of 2017, this was also the first time we heard Tomlinson shine on a track driven primarily by electric guitars, something we’d hear a lot more of on Faith In The Future, but felt like a special treat on Walls.

3. Kill My Mind (2019)

Remember how we noted that Walls (the song) saw Tomlinson channel an ambiguous ‘90s Britpop flavour? We can be a little more straight-up with Kill My Mind – this song is Oasis as fuck. But we say that as nothing but a compliment: charging forward with brisk strumming and animated drums, the artist’s vocals soar overhead, his thick Yorkshire accent gripping as he sings passionately: “You kill my mind / Raise my body back to life / And I don't know what I'd do without you now.” Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without this absolute banger in my morning playlist.

2. Written All Over Your Face (2022)

Walls was a stellar album, no doubt about it – this list features three songs from it, after all – but it’s with Faith In The Future that Tomlinson has really come into his own as a solo artist. The headstrong rock’n’roll energy weaved throughout it peaks on Written All Over Your Face, clear from the outset as, over a punchy drum beat and rollicking bassline, the artist embraces his heartthrob personality, seeped in sensuality as he quips, “Hey babe / It’s written all over your face.” You’re telling us this is the same man that once sang on What Makes You Beautiful!? Sheer insanity.

1. Out Of My System (2022)

The latest single from Faith In The Future – a post-release pick that made impact earlier this year – is a punk-laced belter that stands out with ripping guitars and a downright explosive chorus. It feels like an almost oddly natural fit for Tomlinson, too, as he smashes through the more intense vocal delivery with stunning aplomb – he’s a bonafide rocker, and Out Of My System shows he’s much better suited to reign in this world than in bubblegum pop.

On his upcoming Australian tour, Tomlinson will play three of the biggest and most renowned venues in the country – two in the open air (sorry, Sydney) – and this is the exact kind of song those venues were built for: a rip-roaring anthem-in-the-making that no sane human could stand still (or, God forbid, sit) for.

LOUIS TOMLINSON 2024 AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Sunday January 28 – Naarm/Melbourne, Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Tuesday January 30 – Meanjin/Brisbane, Riverstage

Friday February 2 – Eora/Sydney, Qudos Bank Arena

Presale: vodafone.com.au/ticket

Tickets: livenation.com.au

#the music au #louis press #louis tomlinson #21.7.2023 #they’ve only ranked the singles btw

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hexfloog · 10 months

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Hiya! I was thinking about the remastered animation Cel style evil Conan post you put up recently, and I just wanted to say how amazing and impressive it is! I love love love the look of old animation and you really nailed it. I’ve been trying for ages to mimic that look myself and haven’t been able to crack it, so if you ever wanted to talk about your process on this piece, I’d be all ears! Wonderful work, again!

Waaah hi liv!! Thank you, I'm so glad you like it, and that it comes across so convincingly!! One of my favorite things is to make digital art that can have a second life as a different medium, and I wish I had an easy answer for you as to how I go about doing that, but the truth is that it's mostly the result of a lot of trial and error. And a metric ton of references.

Here's a quick process video of my last piece to try to show off what all my layers are like, but I know it's mostly useless without an explanation!! I can't explain it all because I was kinda winging this one for funsies but I can give you general tips for this particular look.

Clip and words below the break!

As a disclaimer I didn't really go into this one intending for it to come out looking the way it did. So it's more of a hybrid look between my usual "clean" digital rendering and a fake screenshot.

[1] Reference, role models, and inspiration - I'm not kidding when I say I used to tote around an entire, dedicated folder filled with printed reference. These days that usually takes the form of about a million browser tabs (￣▽￣) I stare at early Detco and the first six movies a LOT. And Cowboy Bebop. And Akira. And and [insert your choice of 80s-90s anime film]. Depending on the exact look you're trying to replicate, you can always look to a more era-appropriate movie.

I love pulling inspo from films in particular (both animated and live action) because cinema is a whole other art that employs all kinds of techniques for our usual considerations (like lighting and framing), and looking to them can inspire some pretty poignant imagery, especially when you're trying to create something that's meant to mimic a single-frame capture of exactly that. I don't keep up with movies or anything, but I do have my favorites, and it didn't really occur to me to look to them until some of my favorite artists revealed that they do the same with theirs.

For this particular piece, I also had to establish some consistency with the other piece that bookends the scene, so I actually referenced my own art, too.

[2] BIG canvas! I usually work at two or three times the size I expect to export. Following standard aspect ratios for animated productions can help sell the look. Letterboxes have their own ratio, too, if you choose a widescreen canvas; and subtitle fonts are usually standardized to certain font families and colors since their primary purpose is to help make the media accessible. All this is usually a quick google search away, OR… if you're like me, and you still watch physical media… you can just yoink most of this from a real DVD.

[3] Thin lines!! I still can't quite nail the right line weight for these-- I definitely went too thick here-- but they tend to be very fine. And imperfections are good! Nobody has a perfectly steady hand, especially with traditional cels.

[4] Less is usually more when trying to sell a screenshot look… it's easy to over-ink and over-render and-- in my opinion-- restraint is necessary to sell it. This is the hardest thing to explain… it's design vs. rote emulation, I think. But that said, digital aids (next point) do a lot of the heavy lifting in these - as far as the art is concerned, a little will go a long way! These were some of my easiest lines and shading. So on that note…

[5] …Blending modes, masks, and filters are all your friends o___o I get a lot of mileage out of the default tools already available to me in the art software. There's plenty out there that's available for free, too! I recommend you find a fake anime screenshot tutorial, follow it once, and just go nuts when you get to the part where you can play with these settings. The make-or-break for a convincing screenshot-- in my opinion-- is texture and bloom, and all these digital tools will help you achieve that.

I hope this helps!! Hopefully the video can help you see a bit more of the process since I can only really offer tips. It shows everything at full size so you can see the details, so go nuts!

Thank you for the ask! Beaming plenty of good luck that you can find the look you want!!

ALSO I REALLY HOPE THIS IS THE PIECE YOU MEANT I'M LITERALLY ABOUT TO QUEUE THIS UP AND JUST REALIZED THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE THIS IS MORE REMASTERED CEL ANIMATION LOOK SKSKSKSK

the same tips apply though so i hope they still help all the same :3c

#ask #art #livmadart #queue

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byneddiedingo · 10 months

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Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp, Luigi Pistilli, Klaus Kinski, Luis Rodríguez. Screenplay: Sergio Leone, Fulvio Morsella, Luciano Vincenzoni. Cinematography: Massimo Dallamano. Film editing: Eugenio Alabiso, Giorgio Serrallongo. Music: Ennio Morricone.

Most of us didn't realize it until much later when he was an Oscar-winning director, but Clint Eastwood was a very smart man. When Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars became a hit in Italy in 1964, he asked Eastwood if he would make a sequel. Eastwood hadn't seen the movie, which hadn't yet been dubbed in English and released in the States, so Leone sent him a print of the Italian version. Even though he didn't speak Italian, Eastwood immediately recognized Leone's skill, and signed up to do the sequel. It was a gutsy move: At the time, making genre films like Westerns and sword-and-sandal epics in Italy and Spain was a job for has-beens and never-weres. Eastwood was on the brink of becoming one of the latter: His career to that point had been mostly in TV, on the long-running series Rawhide, with a few unmemorable movies. But cultivating a persona distinct from that of Rawhide's callow Rowdy Yates, that of the taciturn Man With No Name* of the Leone films, proved to be precisely the right thing to do. By the end of the 1960s, he had become a major star. Narratively, For a Few Dollars More is not quite as tight as the first film -- for one reason because it lacks the well-tested framework of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) that was the underpinning of Fistful. Also, setting up a rivalry between Eastwood's character and that of Lee Van Cleef's Col. Douglas Mortimer tends to diffuse the story a bit: As in Fistful, Eastwood's character is beaten to a pulp by the bad guys, but so is Mortimer, and the double mauling feels gratuitous, especially since there's no particular reason why the bad guys shouldn't just kill them. But the sequel shows Leone growing in style and technique, with a fine use of widescreen in establishing shots and a deft use of closeups in establishing the characters, especially the bad guys in the mob headed by El Indio (Gian Maria Volontè, who had also been the chief villain, Ramón Roja, in Fistful). Am I the only one who suspects, from Leone's closeups of the mob's faces, that Leone had been influenced by Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1929)? One standout in the mob is a superbly twitchy Klaus Kinski as a hunchback named Juan. Ennio Morricone's score is integral to the film's success. The spareness of the music, scored only for a few instruments, serves as a contrast to the sweeping orchestral scores for Hollywood Westerns by composers like Dimitri Tiomkin and Max Steiner. Morricone and Leone recognized the need for silence, punctuated only occasionally by a penny-whistle tweedle or a guitar riff, to maintain the film's texture.

*Actually, he has a name in both films: In Fistful he is called "Joe," which is obviously just a generic name for an americano, while in the sequel he is known as Monco, the Italian word for "one-armed," in reference to his tendency to use his left hand while keeping his gun hand under his poncho.

#For a Few Dollars More #Sergio Leone #Clint Eastwood

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alln64games · 3 months

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Star Fox 64 / Lylat Wars

JP release: 27th April 1997

NA release: 30th June 1997

PAL release: 4th October 1997

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

N64 Magazine Score: 91%

Star Fox 64 (or Lylat Wars as I knew it as a kid) is a fast-paced on-rails shooter made by Nintendo. The gameplay is extremely solid. Fox’s Awring has lasers that you can charge up for a lock-on, along with limited bombs. Movement is fast and precise and you can perform loops and barrel rolls – the latter reflects bullets.

If you complete levels normally, you’ll go through a really fun route through the game. On top of the on-rails levels, you’ll also encounter “all range mode” where you can fly in 3D. These typically aren’t as “cinematic” as the on-rails levels, but still a lot of fun.

Slippy will get attacked by one of the bosses and will crash land on a planet, here you get to use the Landmaster, a tank that is also really fun to use. You can hover temporally and barrel rolls will now move you across most of the screen.

To get to the credits for the first time, Star Fox 64 is a very short game, but that’s because it’s made to be replayed for a high score, and because it’s so much fun, you don’t mind doing so, trying to get a higher score than last time – but that’s not all of it.

Most missions in the game has a secret objective, complete this and you’ll get “Mission Accomplished” and to a different mission, the “hard route” will take you across some more challenging missions, although personally this is my least favourite route of the games – while all missions but one of the missions in Star Fox 64 are good, I do think these are some of the weaker ones, plus the one bad mission is in this route.

The underwater level. It’s slow, plodding and is rather boring. The bombs are replaced with infinite torpedoes which also light up the way, because the level is also dark and dreary. This is easily the worst part of the game, but at least it’s just the one mission.

Some of my favourite missions are in the middle, including the best all-range mission as you fight an Independence Day-style UFO and the second Landmaster tank mission as you chase a train.

Once you’ve played all the levels, there are also gold medals to unlock, which are extremely difficult. A level select at this point would be nice so you wouldn’t have to work through previous levels, but it does provide something to work towards.

Star Fox 64 is a incredibly fun game, and one you can just have a quick blast through every now and then.

It’s action packed. It’s technically eye-boggling. It works on a number of levels, being easy enough to be fun but with taxing bits if you search for them. It’s got exciting music. It’s unpredictable. It’s imaginative. It’s got massive explosions. It builds up steadily to a spectacular ending. It’s got everything, in other words, that you look for in a good movie – but in a game. It’s brilliant.

- Jonathan Davies, N64 Magazine #3

Remake or Remaster?

A new console remaster would be great – have options to toggle between N64 and 3DS graphics, music and voices (using the higher quality original recordings for the N64 version), some level select options, (perhaps with separate leaderboards for doing induvial levels), widescreen and things like that.

Official ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of Star Fox 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

Other Versions

Star Fox 64 3D

The 3DS got a remake of Star Fox 64, with various enhancements. I personally think the graphic lack the charm of the original (especially the water on Corneria), and the new voice acting and music aren’t quite the same.

Re-releases

2003: iQue

2007: Wii Virtual Console

2016: Wii U Virtual Console

2011: Star Fox 64 3D (remake, 3DS)

2021: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only)

#star fox #star fox 64 #n64 #nintendo 64 #n64 games #retro games #gaming #nintendo

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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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Where to start with Sonic the Hedgehog

With the Sonic Movie 2 proving so successful, and two new game releases on the way, there’s likely to be a lot of new people getting into the Sonic fandom for the first time. So, because I’m in the mood to write about Sonic, I decided to give my suggestions for which games to get into the series with. This will go over why I like these games and would recommend them, which one is a better gateway depending on your taste, and what platforms you can/should play them on (I know console limitations mean not everyone has a luxury of choice, but it’s worth comparing versions to give people the best chance to enjoy the series). I’m mostly going to stick to 3 recommendations but I’ll mention a few others. My logic for which games make the best start is based around: -Which ones have good platform availability and are easy to get a hold of. -Which ones I think are just genuinely good games that I don’t have to recommend with an asterisk. -Which games aren’t too hard and have a beginner friendly learning curve. I’m also sticking to the games because it’s the part of the series I know the most about. If you want to start with one of the TV shows or comics, by all means do so. They each have aspects to enjoy. Go with whatever looks good to you. These are just my suggestions. 1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Why start here?

You absolutely could start with the 1991 original if you wanted to. But for my money, the sequel from 1992 is a stronger game on most counts, and is just as good, if not better as an introduction. This was the game that introduced Sonic’s best friend and kid-brother figure, Tails, who joins Sonic in most of battles against Dr. Eggman going forward. The two set out to rescue the many animals Eggman has transformed into robots, and prevent him from launching his copyright-violating space station, the Death Egg.

This game game basically takes all the foundations the first game laid down and amplifies them. There’s more levels and they’re all more fast paced, consistently solid and not too hard (except maybe the last one, yeesh). This game also establishes how the Chaos Emeralds will work in all the games going forward, with a downright iconic reward if you put the work in. 2 is still a blast to come back to. If you like 2D platformers and want to see the series’ early roots of popularity, 2 is a great place to start. It’s not as overwhelming as 3 to a newbie but less primitive than 1. Where to play it? Andoid, iOS or all current consoles (from June 23rd) You can play Sonic 2 on Android, iOS or Switch. It used to be on PC but was delisted very recently. It will be back on PC, as well as Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X and their last gen counterparts as part of the Sonic Origins collection on June 23rd. If you’re working with older systems, you can also find it on the 3DS eShop as well as the Sonic Mega Collection on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. And there’s even more than that. There’s a ton of different ways to play it but for my money, the Android and iOS (with a controller if you have Bluetooth) is a pretty good way to get the most out of it. It has widescreen, extra features, even Knuckles is playable. This version is going to be the basis of Origins’s release, so that may welll become the new best way. Otherwise, go with the mobile version. More like this? Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Mania, Sonic Advance As for where to go from here, the Sonic Origins collection will also feature Sonic 1, CD and 3, all of which I would highly encourage you to check out if you enjoy this one. Especially Sonic & 3 Knuckles, the best of the classic games as far as I’m concerned. There’s also Sonic Mania, an anniversary game which serves as a spiritual succcessor to the 2D classics, on Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC. It’s a fantastic game in its own right, but check it out once you’ve tried the classics and you’ll get even more mileage out of it once you see what a love letter to the rest of the series it is. You may also consider the Sonic Advance and Rush games on GBA and DS respectively, which build on this game’s 2D platforming routes with more characters and new mechanics. This game is still a key part of the entire franchise’s DNA and I still love it to death. 2. Sonic Adventure

Why start here?

Sonic’s first full 3D outing from 1998 is another fine place to jump onboard. Play as 6 characters, each with their own short campaign, as part of a wider story to save Station Square from Dr. Eggman, as he unleashes an ancient, mysterious monster known as Chaos. A lot of modern fandom culture tends to be very centred around characters more than anything, especially here on Tumblr. If that’s where your interest in the series lies, I would especially suggest starting here. After making the jump to 3D, the series shifted from simple but subtle envoronmental storytelling to more involved stories with fully voiced cutscenes. This game will get you familliar with several of the staples of Sonic’s cast, not just Sonic, Tails and Eggman, but also Sonic’s friendly rival Knuckles the Echidna and his self proclaimed girlfriend, Amy Rose. Combined with how it digs into the backstory of the Chaos Emeralds, this is a great entry point to the world of Sonic. This is also the game that brought Sonic’s gameplay into full 3D for the first time, and overall it does a pretty impressive job. Sonic is fast and nimble, and there’s a lot of fun to be had dashing through the levels or flinging yourself across them with his signature spindashes. However, you also get explorable hub worlds, a pet simulator side quest, and five playable characters other than Sonic with their own abilities and gameplay styles, from treasure hunting in sandbox levels, a puzzle platformer with slight stealth or even a linear run-and-gun. This game is certainly one of the more robust entries as far as content goes, but its everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach may not be the best starting point for everyone. Its camera, controls and cutscenes do have a degree of the jank of early 3D gaming, and while it’s certainly a bigger package than Sonic 2, I don’t know of it’s quite as polished. Still, if you appreciate variety in your games and you’ve played enough popular games from the late 90s/early 2000s to get used to some of the quirks of early 3D platformers, there’s a lot to love here. Where to play it? PC with mods, or PS3/Xbox 360 As for how to play it, your main modern(ish) options are PC, PS3, or Xbox 360. There’s also a Gamecube port known as Sonic Adventure DX and of course, the Dreamcast original. It’s worth noting that ports of Adventure are extremely controversial, often criticised for bugs and visual downgrades the original didn’t have. The PS3 and 360 versions can get the job done if you have no other options, but if you have the means, I’d suggest the PC version. It has a very active modding community and an easy to install mod loader that not only reformats the game to be more like the Dreamcast original, but also adds tons of quality of life additions the original didn’t have. It’s probably the closest to an Origins style remaster Adventure is going to get for a while. It’s also thankfully not super demanding to run. Most recent PCs and even laptops should run it without too many problems. More like this? Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance If you like Adventure, I recommend going directly onto its sequel Sonic Adventure 2, which is on all the same platforms, (again, go with PC if you can) builds on and streamlines the general structure and gameplay styles of Adventure 1, brings back several of the same characters (plus some new ones) and is even more story and cutscene-heavy than the first. If you have any sixth gen consoles, (i.e. PS2, Xbox or Gamecube) Sonic Heroes, while a tad more unorthodox, has many of the same building blocks as the Adventure games and many of its characters return there. The Gamecube version of Heroes is considered to be the most solid while the PS2 is much more poorly optimised. And, while I already recommended them in the earlier section, the Advance games takes the characters as they look and sound in the Adventure games into gameplay more reminiscent of the series’ roots. If Sonic 2 will sell you on the rock solid fundamentals of the series both visually and mechanically, Adventure will get you used to mood and feel of Sonic. With its varied gameplay, focus on a large cast of characters, and slicker, almost anime-esque aesthetic, and a fantastic pounding soundtrack by Jun Senoue, Adventure is a great summary of what to expect from Sonic. It may not be quite as easy to jump on board with as the classics in my opinion, but its still a worthy entry point. 3. Sonic Colors

Why start here?

Released for the Wii in 2010, this game sees Sonic and Tails travelling to ‘Eggman’s Interstellar Amusement Park’, a theme park in space the scientist is using as a front while he captures and exploits alien beings called Wisps. It’s nowhere near as story and character heavy as Adventure, but much like Sonic 2, this is a nice introduction to the core staples of the series: Sonic and Tails’ friendship, their rivalry with Eggman, and the light theming about saving the environment from an evil scientist (albeit with a sci-fi twist). Sonic has been around for a long time, and has experimented with a lot of different styles, especially after its jump to 3D. Sonic Adventure is a great series introduction, but it’s not quite representative of how the games play today. Colors meanwhile, is a great window into the series’ modern identity. The game plays like a hybrid of platformer and racing game. Sonic alternates between 2.5D sidescrolling platformer sections and more open 3D ones. You still run and jump your way to the goal, but he can also now increase his speed with a chargable boost, or drift around tight corners. When you finish a level, you recieve a rank based on your clear time and score, and you’re encouraged to replay levels looking for secrets and shortcuts to help get the best rank possible. Colors also spices this up with the introduction of the Wisps. Sonic can find these alien creaturesin the levels and harness their abilities for a variety of power ups. These not only look awesome, but are crucial to find the shortcuts you’ll need to get the best paths. In part thanks to this, Colors isn’t quite as fast paced as some of the other games in the series. It’s still a game about going fast at its core, but the game puts a lot more emphasis on platforming, score chasing, and using Sonic’s new abilities to find secrets. As such, it may not be the best starting point if you’re here for that ‘gotta go fast’ spectacle. Fortunately, the fact that it plays a little more like a traditional platformer than something like Sonic Unleashed, helps make it less overwhelming and more welcoming to newcomers. And the loop of chasing those elusive S Ranks feels really satisfying once you get into it. Colors is a compact, polished and very replayable title with plenty of charm. If you’re not really an old school gamer and want to start somewhere a little less retro, this is a great place to get acclimated to modern Sonic gameplay. Where to play it? Wii, DS or all current consoles MAYBE Sonic Colors first came out on Wii, and that’s probably the best place to go if you want to experience it as originaly intended. I would also absolutely suggest trying the version on DS if you can. This was made by a different studio, and is strictly a 2D platformer as a successor to the Sonic Rush games. While I myself haven’t had the chance to play it, I certainly love Rush and I’ve actually seen quite a few fans say they prefer this version to the Wii version. So by all means go for it. That said, the Wii version is pretty old now and you may be eyeing Sonic Colors Ultimate, the remaster from 2021 which is on Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC. The thing is, much like Sonic Adventure DX, this remaster is...divisive. Not only have the changes to the visuals and music been a point of contention with fans, but it launched in a very buggy state, especially on Switch. It has thankfully been patched since, and if modern systems are your only bet, it should get the job done, though I’d still avoid the Switch version if you can help with it. The remaster will do, but I’d say go for the two original releases if you can.

More like this? Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, Sonic Rush If you like Colors, then I would definitely suggest seeking out the other mainline games Sonic Team released in this timeframe with similar gameplay, or the ‘Boost games’ as fans tend to call them. Specifically, I’d point you to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations. Both of these were released on PS3 and Xbox 360. These console versions are servicable, but Generations has a PC release which can be up-rezzed visually and has an absolutely gigantic modding community. Unleashed meanwhile, has backwards compatibility on modern Xbox consoles which improves the already impressive visuals and (much less impressive) framerate drastically. These games are even more fast paced than Colors and experiment with other gameplay styles a little like Adventure, which may make them slightly less welcoming at first. But once you get your feet wet with Colors, I’d say these two are just as good, if not better. If that high-speed boost gameplay appeals to you, and especially if you liked the DS version, then Sonic Rush and its sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure, the games that inspired the mainline series Boost gameplay, are excellent titles as well. And while Sonic Frontiers looks drastically different, its core essentials (at least control wise) seem to retain a lot of the Boost games’ DNA. In its day, Colors was, alongside Unleashed and Generations, something of a rennaissance for Sonic, and whether you’re looking to keep up-to-date with the latest entries on the series, or go back and explore the roots, Colors will get you on board very handily. And those are all three of my suggestions for where to start with the Sonic series, at least in terms of games. Sonic has been so many things at this point, and in doing so, he’s gained no shortage of fans. In many ways, these three indicate just some of the ideas and styles these games have experimented, and I’ve suggested some contemporaries for each of them. But don’t feel the need to restrict yourself. Just because you started with 2, don’t feel you have to restrict yourself to the classics. Nor should you feel confined to the modern games if you choose to start with Colors. Use this guide to get your foot in the door with the series, but once you’re in, go wild! Pick up whatever games look cool to you. Look for which games feature your favourite characters. Dive in and have a blast. Sonic is a series that has and does mean a lot to me, and right now, the series is in a pretty good place, with the potential to bring in lots of new faces. And if this guide is at least a little useful to any of those newcomers as they venture into a series I love so much, I couldn’t ask for more than that.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic 2 #sonic adventure #sonic colors #sonic origins #sonic frontiers #beginners guide #welcome to the fandom

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alljamesbondgames · 5 months

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Tomorrow Never Dies

Original Release: 1999

Developer: Black Ops

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platform: PlayStation

After GoldenEye and the Game Boy games, the Bond license moved from Nintendo to Electronic Arts, with their first game based on the film Tomorrow Never Dies and developed by Black Ops Entertainment.

While with GoldenEye, I recreated something close to the original experience, I want to give the other games the best chance possible, so I played games in emulators with improved resolution, widescreen and adjusting the controls to be more comfortable.

Tomorrow Never Dies is a third person shooter with a focus on auto aim (although the auto aim is deliberately inaccurate). You can manually aim, but it’s very slow. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t take advantage of the DualShock controller, instead oping to focus entirely on the original controller. While it’s understandable they didn’t want to prevent anyone from playing, it’s a shame that they didn’t support additional options. The original control scheme uses X to shoot and the shoulder buttons to strafe, but I managed to make a more comfortable control scheme more like a standard third person shooter, just without the ability to look up and down.

The first level has you fight through a snow base and target a communications tower by targeting it with a special camera (the best gadget use in the game), then escape by skiing down the mountain. The skiing is awkward but not terrible, although both Bond’s and the enemies attacks of flailing their arms looks absolutely pitiful.

The health bar was an issue for me, I’m colourblind and could not make out any visual differences as I took damage. The life system is also a bit strange: you have limited lives and when you die, you just flash and carry on from exactly where you were. Each mission has one extra life hidden in it.

After this first mission, you have a mission where you take pictures of some machinery and steal a jet (which I got in an it span around oddly until the mission ended). The missions in this game are fairly short and there are only 10 in the game. After the end of this mission, it cuts to a clip of the film, followed by the full opening credits, featuring the song from the film. I always found that the movie clips makes the game feel more disjointed, especially as everyone’s voices sounds different due to different voice actors.

The next two missions are also fairly simple: obtaining information form Carver’s Media building and newspaper press. Gadgets are pretty much keycards, and you just shoot your way through the levels, even though the mission briefing implies stealth, other than manually aiming and shooting before the enemy is fully rendered, there is none.

The next level is about rescuing and protecting Carver’s wife, here you are introduced to the game’s boss fights (they all work like this). You have to dodge their main attacks while either using an immense amount of ammo, or risk manually aiming for a headshot to take off a decent amount. It’s not an enjoyable way to do boss fights at all, and they’re all the same except for different projectiles.

Next up is the game’s best mission: a car chase where you have to blow up an enemy convoy. It’s very basic, and like many other missions, is incredibly short, but it manages to not be frustrating and the handling is passable enough to have a bit of fun.

This is followed immediately by another skiing mission that ends in a boss fight, before you infiltrate Carver’s headquarters, get captured and escape with Wai Lin – who has not been seen or mentioned at all in this game until she randomly appears when Bond gets captured. Without knowing the plot of the film quite well, you would be lost playing the game.

While she randomly turned up at the end of the previous mission without being seen or mentioned previously, you now get to play as Wei Lin for a mission. M explains that she can’t send Bond as the guards have been ordered to shoot him on sight, so while playing as Wei, you turn around a corner and immediately get shot at by guards, so having Bond sent would have made no difference.

She gets to fight a boss to get a rocket launcher and then use that to fight a helicopter, before having to decode information (done via a simple Mastermind-style minigame). This is the most action-spy level of the game, and Bond isn’t even part of it.

Now you’re onto the final level, which has a confusing layout and lots of corridors that look exactly the same. You have to stop Carver from launching a nuke, and he is as strong as all the other bosses in the game. After you defeat him, you have to quickly cancel the nuclear launch then escape the boat.

If you’re not playing on the hardest difficulty you’ll then get a message: finish on 00 Agent mode to get unlock the final cutscene. This is the only unlockable of the game, and if you trudge through the hardest difficulty, you’ll unlock this final cutscene: a two second long clip from the film of the boat exploding, followed by random clips of previous missions. It’s such a hilariously bad reward.

There’s no fun unlockables, no difference other than enemy health and damage between difficulties and no multiplayer. It’s a very short, bare bones games and isn’t even a fun one.

#tomorrow never dies #playstation #psone #ps1 #pierce brosnan #retro games #james bond #007

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mrmallard · 6 months

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So back on lord-radish, I made this post about how excited I was for the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection launching on Switch. There's a bunch of history about Metal Gear's relation to Nintendo and the permanent unavailability of Metal Gear Solid 1 outside of the PS1 original, a GameCube remake and a PS1 Classic ROM that's never left PlayStation platforms. I was very happy about the collection being announced, let alone getting a Switch port.

Konami fucked it up big time.

I do want to start off by saying that outside of some disappointing in-house games like Contra: Rogue Corps. and a Pro Evolution Soccer reboot that was so monetized it torched the entire franchise, Konami doesn't really make original games any more. Most of their releases since they reinvigorated their video game brand - which they completely torched in the wake of the Kojima split and after a Metal Gear zombie survival spinoff (?) completely failed - have been very basic ROMpacks that go on sale very frequently.

And those ROMpacks are fine enough for the price, especially when they're on sale, and in the case of the Castlevania Advance Collection those games are presented incredibly well.

The issue is that this collection of ports and remasters have been handled really poorly, to the point of deceptive advertising, and the functionality of the games has taken a huge hit across all platforms. That includes the PC ports.

Initially, my assumption is that M2 wasn't involved in this collection - M2 being a Japanese company who are kind of renowned for their excellent game ports, from the 3D Sega Genesis games on the 3DS to the Sega Ages games on the Switch to Castlevania Advance Collection, which goes above and beyond in making those games relevant, straightforward and fun to play on modern hardware. M2 are masters of their craft.

And the work they've done on the collection is fine, with a couple of mediocre NES games that are more of a curio than anything. But unfortunately the stink of this launch kind of hits them too, because they also ported Metal Gear Solid, and that's one thing that's getting a lot of bad buzz.

Basically, there's something up with the region you live in. If you live in PAL regions, you get a 50-hertz version of the game which is only capable of running at 50fps - this was the case for every European/Australian game for a long time, and this port re-introduces that step-down due to adapting the different regional ports for different markets.

Next, the game is slapped into a featureless emulator with no bells and whistles. People aren't happy because right now, there are emulators on the internet that have people playing this game in widescreen; having the game basically being a locked-off PS1 ROM running on the most barebones-ass emulator possible has people complaining.

And that's the least of the collection's problems. Like literally, "the release is a little bland and kinda shitty compared to options we would have liked" is a tiny problem, especially compared to what comes next.

Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 don't run properly, and it's widely rumoured that the versions of the games are straight ports of the 7th generation HD ports of those games. To this end, the Switch versions of the games run at roughly 30fps, despite the original PS2 releases running at a full 60fps and the PC versions running at an uncapped framerate (which is causing its own problems). This could be explained by the remasters being PS2 games ported to PS3/X360, then those later versions being ported back down to the Switch in a very subpar fashion.

What's more, digital content that was promised isn't currently accessible. The PC versions basically operate through a series of inactive Steam pages, and the Switch apparently doesn't have any access to the special material, period.

And one of the biggest killers of the whole thing comes in the form of the physical Switch release.

Here's the thing, this entire collection couldn't have taken up more than 10 gigs of data. Assuming they did back-port the 7th gen remasters, the total size of this collection is probably closer to 8gb than 10gb. So the actual size of the collection is kind of modest; maybe a little bit stiff for the Switch, but I'd imagine you could fit most of the collection on a cheap cart.

Like even if they wanted to get the cheapest cartridge size possible - which is a 1 gigabyte cart, out of a maximum of 64gb - you'd think they could at least put the original MGS on the cart, y'know. The entire game is less than 500mb.

The PS5 has all the games on-disc, which is great.

The Switch, on the other hand, has four games on the cartridge.

Metal Gear 1 on the MSX2, approx. 82kb.

Metal Gear 2 on the MSX2, approx. 58kb to 324kb.

Metal Gear 1 on the NES, approx. 110kb.

Metal Gear 2: Snake's Revenge on the NES, approx. 136kb.

The physical release of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection on Switch - assuming it's using the cheapest possible cartridge of 1gb, and using the largest filesizes I could find - only has 652 kilobytes on the cart.

For reference, to fill up the entire cartridge with just these games, you would need to copy them:

1,608 times.

Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 takes up about 445mb! That's less than half the cartridge!! Assuming that they made changes like replacing button icons and stuff, you're looking at like 600mb at the most - and even that's a ridiculous concession to grant!!

They released an entirely physical, boxed copy, covered in paper and plastic, with four NES-era ROMs on it.

That's it.

And when you download the MGS ports, they're compromised in individual ways and they play worse than the 20+ year old originals.

And the digital comics and other digital goods they promised allegedly don't even download.

What a crock of shit.

#metal gear solid

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