#it is Very disappointing knowing there isn’t a third game and the studio was shut down… 😔

[velvetjune]

for 99% of evil within 2 so far, I haven’t felt like I missed much from not playing the first game, but I just got to the last projector slide and got hit with “who’s Joseph” — “Joseph was his friend?” — “Kidman killed him??” — “he’s alive??????” in the span of 30 seconds. ive never seen that man before in my entire life

[purplekiwis]

“From the Dining Table” - Chapter II

Hey guys! I can’t thank you enough for the support my fic has gotten, I still can’t believe so many of you guys have been enjoying it so far. I really hope you like this next chapter and the next one is coming out very soon! (Also, I’m still wondering if I’m going to add another chapter, just ‘cause I’ve been writing a lot more than I was planning on). Anyway, I hope you like it! ❤️ Word Count: 8K  Warnings: Angst, Cursing, Sexual References Summary: Friends to Lovers; Y/N is a graphic designer working at a small studio in London. She lives a pretty ordinary life, considering she also happens to be friends with an internationally known musician. Which is fine... Until she finds herself having to face the feelings she developed for her friend, who's the last person she expected to fall in love with. You can read Chapter I here You can read Chapter III here

Chapter II - The Hickey

The last thing you wanted to do was go to Harry’s house, but there was no way around it because you needed your car to go to work the next day.  

You ended up hanging out with Alexa for the rest of the morning, cleaning around the house while she contested, stating that she had hired a company to clean and that if you kept going, by the time they got there, there would be nothing left to do. But you couldn’t help yourself because you were too anxious to just sit and stay quiet.          

When the cleaning team arrived, you decided there was no point in posponing the inevitable so you finally called a cab, said goodbye to Alexa and went to Harry’s.              

When you got there you rang the bell, hoping that he was already up, which he was, but most importantly, you hoped he didn’t have company over.  

It took you about five minutes to walk from the gate to his building because you were practically dragging yourself, trying to figure out how you were going to act normal in front of him. As you got inside the elevator, you were still mumbling to yourself but when you hit the third floor you decided it was time to get it together.            

He was waiting for you by the door, wearing a fluffy bath robe and it looked like he had just gotten out of bed. If you weren’t so nervous, your body would be aching with desire to jump his bones, since he looked rather appetizing… You wondered if he was wearing anything else under that robe, but judging by the tightness of the knot around his waist you figured he probably wasn’t. “Where did you sleep last night?” He looked you up and down as he realized you were still wearing the same clothes from the night before.  

You couldn’t believe that you had completely forgotten that maybe it would’ve been a good idea to go home, take a shower and change before coming over if you were trying to keep up the whole I went home early alibi. “What do you mean?” You replied as rushed inside his apartment, quickly walking past him and making your way through the familiar hallway before he could analyze you any further.“Can I use your restroom? Thanks.” You asked, walking in and pressing the door shut before he could even get a chance of answering the question.    

Your makeup was all smudged, your hair looked too good for it to be believable that you had slept and your eyebags were definitely making an appearance. “God, I’m such a dumb cunt!” You spoke to yourself as you tried to wash last night’s residues from your face.              When you were done, you walked around the house looking for Harry. He was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the balcony. As you walked into view, his eyes immediately shifted from the orange he was eating and examined you again. “What?” You asked, rolling your eyes when met with his inquiring, yet silent demeanor.

“Oh, nothing...” He shook his head, smiling to himself. “If you don’t want to tell what you were up to last night I’m not going to insist...” “I have nothing to tell.” You replied easily. “Fine…” He shoved the rest of the orange in his mouth and made his way out of the kitchen into his large living room. Laying over his back on the couch You followed after him, sitting down on one of the edges. “What about you?” You elbowed his leg, trying to seem interested. “I saw you with your guy friend...” You pried, secretly wishing he wouldn’t spare you many details.

“We just made out for a while and then I left.”

“You didn’t have sex with him?” Your eyes widened in disbelief when he shook his head no. “Not even a cheeky blowie?”

“No.” Harry asserted, laying his head on your lap. “My head is killing me...” 

You read in between the lines and began to trace your fingers around his forehead and temples. He closed his eyes, focusing on your hand motions. “Should’ve held it back a little with the Tequila, right?” He replied with a grumble, turning around and burying his face on your lap, what surprisingly was getting you a little aroused. 

“Are you cold or something?” Harry asked, sensing the trembling of your body once a shiver ran through it.

“No, I’m fine!” You pressed as you buried your hands in his hairline and scratched lightly.“I’m still finding it hard to believe that you didn’t have sex last night…” You persisted, just trying to pull his attention away from your shaky legs.

“I couldn’t get it up even if I wanted to. I was so hammered that I could barely feel my legs, let alone my dick.”

“Oh! That makes a lot more sense.” “What do you mean it makes a lot more sense?” He rolled around, lifting up his head to look at you for a moment.

“I mean that it’s a plausible justification... Otherwise, why wouldn’t you?”

“Well, I wasn’t looking for anything to happen in the first place, it just kinda did.” “Are you looking forward to seeing him again?” “Hum… No, I don’t think so...” “Why not?” “You sure do ask a lot of questions for someone who isn’t even willing to tell where she spent the night at.” He remarked, opening his eyes again and looking right into yours with a smirk.

“I have nothing exciting to tell, I promise.” “So, what you’re saying is that you spent the night with someone and they did an awful job, is that it?” “What I’m trying to say that I didn’t get with anyone last night.” “You’re full of shit, I don’t believe you.” Harry made sure to remark, squinting his eyes and smirking devilishly. “Was it someone I know?”

“No! I told you already, nothing happened last night.” “But you didn’t spend the night alone though?” “Well, technically no…” “So it was just a bit of snogging, was it?” “If you really must know, I spent the whole night just talking to someone.” “Come on... quit the bullshit and just tell me who you fucked already, you know I’ll end up figuring it out anyway...” “Fine! Good luck figuring out something that never happened...”

“What was all that talking about then?” “You know… just girl stuff.” Technically it wasn’t a lie.

“Girl on girl stuff?” “Don’t be nasty!” You chastised, slapping his torso.

“You’re nasty!” The boy uttered, rubbing his ribs where you’d hit him.

While playing with his hair, you couldn’t help but to go back to the memory of the boy gripping it while he kissed him, and even though it made you feel better to know it was just a casual hookup, you knew it was only a matter of time until he found someone that really peaked his interest. If you really want something, you gotta go and get it. Otherwise someone else is gonna get it for you. Those exact words had been spoken by Alexa the night prior, and were still echoing around your mind.   You knew she was right. Ever since you and Harry met you had been building your life around him... Only bothering to look for a partner when he was taken, always waiting for him to notice your feelings... But somehow he never did. And you were unable to find a way to just tell him. Deep in you heart you knew that you had to come clean, but it was just so hard to find a good opportunity to do so, and now that the conversation faded and there was nothing to distract you from your own thoughts, it was becoming harder to hold them in.

“Are you okay?” Your friend asked, noticing your sullen expression.

“Yeah, yeah... I’m just a bit tired, that’s all. I should probably go home and get some rest.” Harry looked a bit disappointed that you were leaving, but he knew you should be tired so he didn’t insist for you to stay longer. “Are you busy tomorrow?” He asked, as you shuffled in the couch, preparing to get up.

“I’m working until 5PM.” “I have a radio thing in the morning and a couple of interviews in the afternoon but we could hang out after work, yeah?” “I can’t promise anything yet, but if I’m free I’ll let you know.” You suddenly playing hard to get seemed to have caught him by surprise and he frowned. “Sure! You’re probably really busy with work, right?”

“Hm, not really, no...” You got up from the couch, letting his head fall back into the pillow. You were enjoying his eagerness for your company, so you kept up with the little game.

“You know it’s okay if you don’t want to… you can just tell me.” “Don’t be silly Harry.” You waved off his worries. “Have you seen my blouse? I don’t remember where I left it.” “On the chair, by the closet.” “I’m taking your shirt so I can wash and iron it, but I promise I’ll give it back.” “Oh, yeah, about that... you can keep it. Take it as a late birthday gift.” “What?” “It looks great on you. And just this time, I’ll admit that you’ll probably wear it more than I ever will.” “You know I can’t say “yes” to that,” “Then just say “thank you”. That works just fine…” “Are you actually serious?” “Dead serious.” He said, smiling widely once you excitedly jumped over the couch and held his body in a tight hug to thank him for his random gift before leaving. Once you were already on your way out, Harry insisted on accompaning you to the garage... giving you one last hug goodbye before you got inside your car. As you made your way home, you rolled the windows down and reveled on the way the air flew around the sleeves of your new shirt, you could still smell traces of him in it. That had just become your favorite shirt. Not only because it was a great shirt, but because it was his. **

As the next day came, your boring weekly routine started again. However, in this specific day you were particularly commited in making sure not to stay afterhours... Giving up your lunch break and choosing to eat by your computer instead, so you could finish work earlier. When you finished your rushed lunch, you decided it would be a good time to text Harry, letting him know you were free to hang out after all (as if you hadn’t been planning your day around it all along).

The hours passed and still he hadn’t texted back, so when you finally left work you decided it was best to just call him. And so you did, but he never picked up, not then and not for the next four hours you tried to reach him.

You couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmingly sad with the fact that he had made plans with you and left you hanging for no apparent reason... You were also somewhat worried that something bad might have happened, but mostly, you felt angry at yourself for making the same mistake you always made when it came to Harry. Building your hopes up, only to be left disappointed and hurt in the aftermath.

You finally broke down when you got home that day. And it was bad. It was as if all the emotions you had been bottling up for the past years and, mostly the last two days had finally let loose. It was like a storm had settled inside you, and you were drowning in it. The walls of your heart had caved in to make room for the feelings that came down in buckets like rain, that leaked down your face in the shape of tears, snot and slobber. When you woke up the next day, you still felt awful... Yet somehow, it seemed that something inside of your head had finally clicked in place… It was the Harry switch. You had just decided to turn it off for undetermined time. As you went about your day, the stubborn little switch still insisted on turning itself on sometimes, but you were deep-seated and refusing to give in. That’s why you had purposely been avoiding checking your phone during morning, but as lunch time was getting closer and you didn’t have much work left to entertain yourself with, you decided to check it out of boredom and as expected, there it was… a text from the traitor himself.

Y/N battled with herself over if she should open it or not. Having picked up and dropped her phone nearly ten times trying to ignore the notification sign... but she knew she couldn’t just leave it there forever, so she (alongside her soft, silly heart) decided it would be best to just get the deal over with.

H.S: I’m really sorry about yesterday. Something unexpected came up and I couldn’t make it. Can I compensate by offering lunch today?”

You smiled at that. No matter how hard you tried to hide it, your heart was too soft for your own good. You couldn’t stay mad at people for too long, you hated arguments and you were absolutely terrified of confrontation. In fact, that was probably the main reason why you hadn’t confessed your feelings to Harry yet.

And still, you managed to go the rest of the day successfully ignoring his text... What made you feel quite proud of yourself, but as you got in bed that night and checked your phone one last time before sleeping, you couldn’t help but to feel disappointed he hadn’t tried harder...

“He must not feel so sorry after all since he gave up on it so fast…” You talked out loud beyond your knowledge. “Pfft... And he says something came up. I wonder what it was… Probably another one of his little hookups, and I bet they weren’t even that nice or interesting… God, what am I doing?” You grumbled, caughing up to the fact you had been talking to yourself out loud again with your cat watching from the edge of the bed. Probably wishing that their owner would just shut up and go to sleep already so that they could cuddle your belly. “Help me Tilly...” You called for the creature. “What do you think I should do?” It blankly stared at you for a second, before starting to lick at her private bits. “Thanks a lot... I know you’re just a cat but at least you could try…! ...Or seem a little more interested, or at least consider me as an option… After all, why not me? What’s so wrong with me? What did I ever do to give him the impression that I just wanted to be friends? Is it the fact that I try not to beg for his attention all the time? Is it because I don’t flirt much? ...And yet, perhaps it’s just that he really doesn’t see me that way…”

The next day came and you kept up the silence treatment. At this point, you had no idea of how long you were going to keep with it, but you were far too commited to just give in now, and since he didn’t seem too bothered by your absence, you thought that you might as well just ignore him for a couple more days...

To your surprise, he texted you again.

H.S: Hello, it’s me again. I realized that you are probably upset so I thought I should invite you for lunch again (I know, genius!!!) But this time I won’t take silence for an answer so please just text me back already. What are you going to if I don’t text you anyway? You thought to yourself, deciding you would reply to his text... but only after lunch just so you could keep him suffering for a little longer.

As lunch time finally arrived, the usual fuss began as people started to get up from their desks for a well deserved food break. Albeit that day, that time, there seemed to be a particularly bigger fuss coming all the way from the studio’s front. Where clients usually came in and costumer service was provided. Y/N opted to think nothing of it, figuring it would probably just be some heated, sports related discussion between coworkers…

Until she heard a familiar laugh over the music playing in her earphones.

The sound grabbed her attention, making her pause Spotify and pull off one of the spongey plugs covering her ears to have a better listen. It happened again, and this time the laugh really left no room for doubt... 

Being the brave little spirit she was, Y/N decided she was just not going deal with the situation making her far more uncomfortable than she could ever imagine.You figured your only chance to escape would be to hide in the storage room for a while, so that maybe people would assume you had already left. Unfortunately, as you sneakely attempted to get up from your desk, a head popped inside the work room. “Y/N... Harry guy from One Direction is at our service desk. Says he’s looking for you.” Your co-worker Jonas spoke in an amazed tone, as if he couldn’t believe his own words. He disappeared behind the door the next second, and knowing him, you were already assuming he was off to tell the rest of the building.

“Why me?” You groaned internally, picked up your belongings and dragged your feet on your way to the studio’s front, absentmindedly hiding your face from the pairs of curious eyes staring from the different rooms.

At least his outfit was discreet. Consisting of a black printed sweatshirt, black jeans and sneakers. He was wearing his hood up and underneath it, resting over his forehead, was a pair of white sunglasses. You were glad that he was trying to lay low, because the last thing you wanted was to show up in the background of his magazine pictures with your face stuffed with food, like it happened once before. Luckily, that time you managed to pass out as just an occasional passenger, since you weren’t that close to him when the wave of blinding flashes came, and left the second after.  Harry had gotten a little pissed at the time though, mostly because it was completely unexpected and it lead to everyone making fun of his overly casual attire. Is a crime for a man to walk down the street in ugg boots at midnight to pick up a snack from the convenience store? Harry had asked when he saw the tweets. Y/N had decided to keep to herself that she thought it to be legitimate that the topic of whether a crime against fashion had been committed or not that night would be up for discussion She cringed the memory away, focusing on present Harry and the way he was shaking hands with all of her co-workers and introducing himself with a smile. “Hi, I’m Harry! I believe we’ve already met.” He addressed your boss.

“I’m sorry, I’m finding it a bit hard to remember…” The artsy looking man looked mildly confused by Harry’s statement, but decided to shake his hand nonetheless.

“I believe we met at BBC a couple of years ago... I was there with my band at the time, and you and Y/N were putting up this big mural on one of the walls...”

“Oh, right! You’re the hickey guy!”

Harry buried his face in his palm at the man’s bluntness, displaying a shameful smile underneath it. “Yeah, I’m... that guy.” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you...” Your boss apologized a little sheepishly. “I guess I was still picturing you with the long hair.” “No it’s okay, I get that a lot…” Everyone in the room seemed a little curious to find what the story behind the embarrassing hickey was… And you couldn't help but to reminisce that almost forgotten memory as well.

**

Y/N had just began working at the design studio as an intern. And due to her lack of experience, her superiors had clearly been avoiding giving her creative work. Awarding her with the boring tasks instead, like heat printing endless boxes of merchandise, cutting and applying vinyl on practically every type of surface there was, watching over the company’s e-mail and social media, and her personal favorite: Putting up amazing panel installations that she so desperately wished she’d helped design.

That day happened to be panel installation day.

Therefore you were already feeling quite sulky... and then, to make it even worse, you had been assigned the task of carrying around the printed plaques from the van to the TV Center all morning by yourself... And you were starting to feel like you were also going to be putting them up without any help...

That morning your boss had volunteered to accompany you in your quest, what was rather odd, given the fact that he never wanted to leave his office chair, unless he was bound to by extreme higher forces. He had also insisted that two people were enough to put up the panel. However, he was too busy catching up with his mate, that happened to work there, to realize that you could actually use his help.

That explains why he wanted to come in the first place, You figured, side-eyeing the chatty pair with one of your hands rested on your hip. Which means I should probably get started if I don’t plan on spending all day at this goddamn place. You concluded as you observed the gigantic empty wall in front of you for a moment, before finally settling on climbing the unsteady ladder with fearful legs, to start hammering the plaques to the wall.

You had already finished the first row and were about to start hammering the first plaque on the second row when a group of people came running inside the room, laughing and jumping at each other’s backs. Accidentaly, one of them kicked the ladder on his way in, making you lose your balance and drop the hammer over your toes. It hurt like a bitch, and for the first time in a long time, you just lost it. Turning around and shouted at them without any hesitation: “How about paying attention to where you’re going next time?” Your body froze when you recognized 4 faces out of the 7 that perplexedly stared back at your complaint. You felt a rush of shame consuming your entire body and for a split second you thought you were about to die out of embarassment. “I’m so sorry, I- I don’t know what came over me.” You stuttered a bit, hoping that they still weren't enoughly used to star-treatment to believe that pressing aggression charges on a moody internee was something suitable to do.

“No, we should be apologizing. We shouldn’t have ran in like that... It could’ve seriously hurt you.” The long haired guy awkwardly approached you, as the others stood watching the scene unfold, looking a bit cautious of what your reaction would be. “I’m Harry, by the way.” He held out his hand and you shook it, still in shock that you had just accidentally yelled at one of the most famous boybands in the world.

He bent down and grabbed your hammer from the floor, playing around with it in his hands for a moment. “That’s a strong hammer you got there...” He handed it back with a grin. “Better watch out for you while we’re here.” You took it from his hand, attempting to thank him but ending up just mouthing something incomprehensible instead.

Once they left and closed the door behind them, you couldn’t help but to cover your face with your hands, still in disbelief over your inopportuneness. Instead of offering a word of kindness, your boss just shook his head at you and continued his conversation. Thirty minutes later the door opened again and the group re-entered the room, you kept your eyes stuck to the wall, still feeling shameful of your previous actions. One of the BBC employees announced that they were going to take a break before filming, inviting everyone to join them for coffee and tea. Your boss hopped right along, but you politely declined... Not wanting to embarrass yourself any further. And so they left, leaving you in alone the room.

Not long after, you felt someone’s presence and peeking behind you, you saw Harry standing there, observing the panel that was already starting to take form. He was acting a bit strange, lurking around the room as if he was up to something, but you figured it was best to just keep pretending you didn’t see him.

After a few minutes, you glanced behind you again and noticed he had left. You briefely shrugged at the oddity of his behavior, turning you attention back to the panel, suddently noticing a tall figure standing right beside you.

“Jesus Christ! Are you trying to kill me?” You gasped, taking a hand to your chest to calm your startled heart.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I just… need help with something.” He was looking up at you in the ladder, hands behind his back and eyes full of wist. His body language screamed that he was about to invite you to prom, what weirded you out a little bit.

“Oh, I don’t actually work here.”  You promptly answered. “You should probably ask someone else.” 

“Can you do makeup?” He questioned.

“Huh… I mean, I’m not an expert or anything.” You were confused by his question, but still got down from the ladder and wiped your sweaty palms in your jeans, predisposed to try to help anyway. “Don’t they usually have makeup artists on TV stations?”

"Yeah, but apparently the make-up artist got in labor today and since we’re all guys, they figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem to not have one around."  You frowned at his observation, reckoning how insecure he must be to care about something that minor when clearly there was nothing wrong with his face, quite the opposite, actually. “I’m sorry but I don’t have anything with me... and even if I did, I doubt it wouldn’t match you anyway.”

“They have a makeup room, we could just go there and borrow some.” “I don’t know if that’s a good idea… I mean, you don’t need the makeup, trust me! You’re fine.”

“The problem isn’t my face, I know it looks great.” You wheezed at his self-compliment, now guessing that he must be quite conceited. “The problem is this.” He pointed out, moving his locks to the side, revealing one of the largest, darkest, sloppiest hickeys you had ever seen.

“Oh.” You exclaimed at the sight of it. “Now that’s a little…different.”

You knew helping him wasn’t wise. He was essentially asking you to stop what you were doing and help him steal makeup from the company you were working for... What was obviously highly unprofessional. Unethical even. And since your boss could be back any time soon, it would be pretty reckless to just randomnly vanish without an explanation... Plus, you didn’t exactly pity him for having the interesting sex life you could only dream with. And yet, the way he was looking at you with those puppy eyes made it impossible for you to deny his request. Besides, you had to admit that this would make quite a story to tell your grandchildren one day.

Apparently Harry had already figured out where the makeup room was... What significantly helped your situation, since you might be searching the building for hours, had that not been the case.  He opened the door and got inside, keeping the lights off to avoid drawing any attention. “Maybe it’s best if one of us stays behind and watches the door.” You suggested, stopping near the doorway.

“Alright then.” He turned and began walking back towards the door, but you crossed your arms and stared at him, waiting for him to get the clue. He did. Stopping in his tracks with a “Oh.” Followed by: “You want me to go get the stuff, don’t you?”

“Well, it was your idea wasn’t it?” You inquired, prompting him into turning back around with a snort. He walked towards one of the vanities, hastily opening the drawers and grabbing random items, inspecting them in his hands and trying to read the labels under the dim light that came solely from the hallway where you stood.

“Do you even know what you’re looking for?” You asked, noticing his struggle.

“Do I strike you as a makeup knowing person?”

His honesty had you giving up on watching the door, guessing that you had a far better chance of not getting caught if you saved both of you some time and helped him search. You quickly found what you were looking for, some concealer, foundation and a brush. “Give me your hand.” You commanded, struggling to match his color from distance.

“Jeez… trying to hold hands with me already…”

You felt glad for the room’s poor ilumination, preventing him to see how  flustered you got at his cheeky comment as you grabbed his hand and squeezed a tiny drop of product in it, blending around with your finger. After a few tries and using your phone’s flashlight as a light source, you were almost certain you had a decent match. “Okay, I think I’ve got it! But we should probably go somewhere else to apply it if we don’t want to get caught red handed.”

“I think there’s a toilet down the hallway… I know it’s not the best, but given the circunstances…”

“That’ll do just fine!” You said, hurrying him down the hallway and inside said toilet, It smelled a bit funky, but it definitely wasn’t the worst you’d seen.

“I have a problem.” The boy started once you closed the door behind you. “I kind of really need to wee. I didn’t want to before, but the ambience... it’s getting to me.” He hissed, getting a little impatient.

“Can’t you hold it for like, three minutes?” “I’ll try... but if I piss my pants, you’ll have to loan me yours.” He whined, resting his bottom against on the sink. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling to keep his neck extended while you tried to cover the giant purple mark on his neck. You were practically grinding on him, due to the lack of space in the toilet, but for some reason it didn’t feel awkward at all, until you started to think about it. You gave a step back, attempting to increase the distance between the both of you. “Getting shy?”

“A little, yeah” Your honesty caught him by surprise. “Don’t. It’s fine, we’re just two makeup pals doing their thing.”

“I’m sure your girlfriend wouldn’t be very pleased with it either way…”

“What girlfriend?” “Oh, sorry. I just assumed due to the...” You pointed out the hickey with the brush in your hand. “...you know.”

He coughed at laugh at that. “Well... Single life can get quite lonely and a man has his needs…” He explained himself, although he knew he didn’t have to. “What about you hammer girl? Is there an hammer boy that would care that you’re grinding on a stranger inside a toilet?”

“Hammer boy is a girl, actually.” “Oh, that’s cool. I mean… It’s normal, right?” “I would hope so, since it’s 2015. Can you turn this way a little bit so I c-”

Your question got cut off by the toilet door bursting open. A group of people, included Harry’s managers, your boss, his friend, and a bunch of BBC employees, were standing in the hallway, incredually staring at the two of you. “God damn it Styles! Can’t you keep it in your pants for two fucking minutes?”

“I swear this is not what it seems!” You and Harry said in unison.

“What in the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? Everyone has been looking around for the two of you for the past 20 minutes. You better have a good explanation to give or I swear to god Styles, I’ll make you explain it on camera so that everyone  gets to see how much of a pain in my ass the lot of you are.”

Both of you explained the situation the best you could, what naturally didn’t go very well. But even though Harry’s managers were angry, they seemed quite glad that he had kept his pants on this time... It made you wonder how often they actually found him mid-shag with strangers inside toilets, but you opted not to the debate much on the topic. Your boss on the other hand, wasn’t so glad that you kept your pants on, matter of fact, he probably would’ve preferred the shagging over the make-up stealing, since he scolded you in front of everyone, calling you out on your lack of professionalism and personal values. Leaving you bawling your eyes out for the rest of the time you were there.

Your crying made Harry feel really bad, since it had been his idea, so he tried to offer you VIP tickets for a One Direction concert, but his manager denied his request out of spite. You didn’t really mind it, since you had never been much of a 1D fan and you assured him that you were fine, but he insisted that you gave him your number so that you could meet after the concert for a drink. Somewhere along the years that followed your first encounter, he admitted that he only invited you to be kind and that he was planning on making an excuse and leave you hanging, but then he ended up having an ugly argument with someone on the concert day and could use a distraction and a couple of drinks, so he texted you.

Long story short, you ended up getting smashed on a shitty London pub, puking in a gutter together and spending the whole night having drunken conversations on a street bench. It’s safe to say that that night was a pretty good introduction for the friendship that followed.

**

Part of you wanted to kill Harry for showing up at your work knowing how important it was for you to keep your work life and your personal life separate. But you had to admit that you were happy that he was putting in the effort. “Ah, there you are!” He smiled as he spotted your familiar face. “Are you ready to go?”

“I suppose.” “Oh, by the way...” He adressed your boss directly. “Is it too much of an inconvinience if Y/N arrives a little late to work today? The place we’re going can get quite busy sometimes...”

You widened your eyes at Harry’s outrage and opened your mouth to apologize in his behalf and assure your boss that you would be there in time, but he had a unexpected reaction. “Oh, it’s fine! You can keep her for the rest of the day. I always tell her that she works too much and that she should take more days off. Excuse my curiosity, is this some sort of anniversary situation?”

“Oh no! We’re not… We’re just friends!” You quickly informed.

“Are we? I was under the impression that we were marrying next spring.” Harry’s comment inevitably made the heat rush to your cheeks.

“Can we just go already?” “Always so moody… Well then, goodbye everyone, it was nice meeting all of y-” He started, but you pushed him out of the door before he could speak another word. “Have you completely lost it? What were you thinking in showing up at my work like that?” You asked when you felt you were finally out of sight from any prying eyes.

“Well, you wouldn’t text me back so I decided I should come by. Besides, what’s the big deal? You work for musicians all the time, you’re the one making it sound weird.” “Yeah but they don’t usually just walk through the door, do they? Let alone ask for their friends…” “God woman, you’re a nightmare!” “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?” “A nice young fella trying to take you out for lunch and all you do is complain…” “Well…If he’s so nice then why did he leave me hanging and didn’t even bother to explain himself properly?”

Harry went on explaining the terrible day he had. From waking up late for his appointment, to having spent the whole afternoon on a super important meeting that he had completely forgotten about. Since he didn’t prepare for it, it didn’t go very well, what triggered a nervous breakdown and so, to help him relax, Mitch shared some weed with him, but it didn’t hit him well and he ended up throwing up all over the studio’s rooftop.  

You obviously forgave him right away... Feeling rather sorry about the way you had handled the situation in the first place. You ended up having a lovely lunch at a cute little cafe that Harry liked for it’s discreetness and delicious “somewhat healthy” as he called it, food. He made sure to tell you he had a meeting at the studio with the band to work on some stuff for his upcoming album, what was originally meant to be a justification why he couldn’t hang out with you for the rest of the day, but ended up turning into a invitation to come along. Since he knew you always enjoyed to watch him play, even if it meant you didn’t get much of his attention while he was there. “Oh, I almost forgot!” He exclaimed mid conversation. “On the day of my meeting I ran into Alexa and she asked for your number… Apparently she’s throwing another party and wanted to personally invite you. She was acting weird, like the two of you were bezzies. I dunno, she has always been a little cuckoo, but I have a feeling that it’s all finally starting to take a toll on her.” He rambled as you made your way past the music studio’s reception. His words made your heart race, you knew how inconvenient Alexa could be and you worried that she might have spilt the beans on your conversation. “Did you give it to her?”

“Of course not, I told her I needed to ask you first... And then she flipped me off and went about her day.”

“Was that it? Did she say anything else?” “No, chill out. Why are you suddenly so concerned about what she says?” “I’m not. Oh, and you can give her my number by the way.” “Huh, excuse me, what?” “I guess you were right. She’s not so bad after all.” Harry physically paused, still trying to proccess the words you’d spoken as you practically danced around the hallway, observing the art that decorated the walls. He shook off his head, massaged his eyelids. “I’m starting to think that maybe I’m the one who’s going cuckoo after all...” He mumbled.

The studio session ended up taking a lot longer than expected. It was already nighttime and you were almost sure you were the only ones left there, but everyone was having fun, so you didn’t mind it at all. However, you were starting to feel a little sleepy, so you curled up on the sofa and closed your eyes. The music sounded so peaceful in your ears, that you could almost feel like you were already dreaming to the sound of it... Until, completely out of the blue came a loud noise. Followed by screaming. You sat up in a jump, and so did everyone else. You all confusedly stared at each other and then, towards the door. Two different voices could be heard. One of them was rather pitchy, sounding almost scared. The other in comparison, felt angrier, and demanding. You could also still hear objects being thrown around, some of them clearly getting smashed on the floor.

Being the curious cats you were, you ran towards the door and put your ears against it, in hopes to figure out what was going on in the hallway. “Is that Alexa? It sounds a lot like her…” Sarah commented, cupping her mouth in shock.

Harry stretched his neck, trying to peek out the window. “I think you’re right… but who the fuck’s that guy?” You pulled him down by his belt before he could see, noticing his head was fully on display.

“Should we do something? I know she’s crazy but I have a bad feeling…” Sarah questioned, seeming genuinly worried.

“I think that if we don’t they might kill each-other out there.” Mitch joked, noticeably being the calmest in the group.  

“Alright, I’m gonna go see what’s going on…” Harry puffed his cheeks, already rolling up his sleeves

“No, you’re staying right where you are.” You grabbed his wrist and pulled him down again. “I just know you’ll end up getting yourself hurt.” 

“So? You think I can’t take a punch?” “That’s not the point, Harry! I was hoping we could intervine without having to resort to... more violence.” “Do you have any genius ideas?” “Actually, I was thinking I could try to talk them down.” “Absolutely not!” He scoffed.

“Let me give it a try and then if it doesn’t work, we phone the authorities. How does that sound?” You rationalized.

“Step away.” He insisted, ignoring your argument.

“You know what mate... To be fair, I don’t think it’s very good marketing for you to be associated with the trashing of a studio.”  Mitch intervened in your favor. “Especially in the middle your solo transgression. Even though your intentions are good, I think you... especially, would be best staying out of it.”

You could almost make up the engines working in Harry’s head before he spoke again. “If I’m staying out of it, we’re all staying out of it…” He grunted.

“Why don’t we just call the police and sit here quietly until they show up?” Claire suggested.

“What about Alexa? I don’t want her to get in trouble…” As you finished your sentence, a set of expensive looking headphones came flying against one of the room’s windows, luckily not breaking the glass. “I think it might be a little late for that…” At the sound of Mitch’s words you got up and jumped out the door. Your friends still tried to drag you back inside by your ankles, what ended up only making you stumble a bit on your way out, before you quicked their hands off and closed the door on them.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” You challenged the fighting duo, crossing your arms in a silly attempt to look somewhat threatning.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?” Alexa asked, clearly distressed. Her makeup was all smuged and you could see fight marks all over her chest and arms.

“I came looking for my friends, but they’re not back from dinner yet. Next thing I know there’s screaming and equipment flying everywhere…” “How long have you been in there?” “Long enough…” “You should probably go, this is none of your business.” The guy finally adressed your presence. You figured him to be Alexa’s ex, you also figured him not to be sober by the way he dragged out his words.

“I’m not going anywhere and if anyone here is going home it’s you, you woman beater piece of shit.” You were shocked by your own boldness. The guy was huge and frankly quite intimidating.

“Listen here you snippy little bitch, who the fuck do you think you are? I said it’s time to go home and you’re gonna do as I say before I slap the shit out of you as well, do you hear me?” He didn’t make a move towards you, what helped fuel your conviction that he was just trying to scare you away.

“Y/N please... just do as he says. I’ll be fine, I promise.” Alexa begged you, practically sobbing at that point.

“I’m sorry but I’m not going to do that. It’s just a matter of time until our friends get here and find us… They’ll call the police then, and it’s all going be fine for us… I mean, two girls versus a big bad guy… you know who’s side they’re going to believe in.” Alexa’s face went white, you could tell she was mortified by the claims you were making. “Are you threatning me? You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into you stupid little” You stood by your stance, disregarding his threat. “And yet, perhaps we can all just go home and forget this situation ever happened! Wouldn’t that be good? I’m sure we could tell eveyone that it was just a robbery… All it would take would be for you to just piss off and leave Alexa alone for good… I mean, If you ask me I think it’s a pretty easy choice to make…”

The guy stared at you for what seemed like an eternity, but when he spoke, he said exactly what you hoped he would. “Whatever, that whore isn’t even worth my time anyway.” 

He turned around and made his way to the exit, making sure to punch through the canvas that decorated the wall to your left as he walked past you, in a pathetic attempt to assert his dominance. When you heard the door shutting, Alexa ran into your arms and you hugged her tightly, she was a complete mess.

In the middle of her crying, you heard a door knob rotating and Harry, Mitch, Sarah and Claire rushed out of the door, falling all over eachother in the proccess. “Wait, what are you guys doing here?” Alexa stared at them with confusion all over her face. “You said they were out having dinner, I-”

“I figured that if I told him that we had people on the way he would get scared and just leave, you know... since I’m not much of a threat.” “I suppose it worked.” Mitch congratulated, high-fiving you. “Great move.”

“Who the hell was that guy anyway?” Sarah asked, making everyone shift their attention to Alexa again, waiting for an answer.

“He’s my stupid ex-boyfriend.” She granted, not giving it nearly as much importance as she should. “Look, I really appreciate the help but I don’t want you guys to worry, I can deal with him myself.” “Alexa, I know you feel like you don’t need anyone, and trust me, I’ve been there too and all I can say is that, even if you don’t realize it at first, it’s always important to have a friend there. Someone who listens, who cares, who talks you down from doing stupid shit... That lifts you up when you need them most, and forces you to be kind to yourself, that stays and doesn’t leave even if when you push them away... Everyone needs people like that. We can be that for you, because we’re your friends...” Her frown lit up into a delicate smile before she pulled you in for a hug. “You girls are going to make me cry!” Sarah chuckled, wiping away a forming tear.

“That was real cute but I’m still trying to process that that just happened.” Mitch added, clearly baffled by the events.

“Me too… that was crazy.” You admited.

“To be fair I don’t know who got it worst… You should’ve seen what we went through to keep Harry from storming out of the room and go after you.”

Due to Harry’s silence, you’d almost forgotten he was there. You turned around to check on him, only to find him still sitting on the floor, looking rather weary. You kneeled by him and brushed the hair off his face, handing him a hand to help him get up as everyone silently took the time to fully examine the damage that had been done.

“We’re so fucked… What are we going to do now?” Mitch wondered.

Chapter III here

[gamerzcourt]

Xbox One and The Quest for Relevance At E3 2018Xbox One and The Quest for Relevance At E3 2018xbox 360

New Post has been published on https://www.gamerzcourt.com/xbox-one-and-the-quest-for-relevance-at-e3-2018xbox-one-and-the-quest-for-relevance-at-e3-2018xbox-360/

Xbox One and The Quest for Relevance At E3 2018Xbox One and The Quest for Relevance At E3 2018xbox 360

It’s not often that I rant at Microsoft and even less so around E3 time. After all, tis the season for every company to hawk their wares, put everything up for show and convince us to actually partake in their games/services for the next year. Well, except for maybe EA which devoted significant effort to showcase a Command and Conquer title that no one enjoyed. But I digress.

Isn’t it better to judge a company after their press conference is over? In Microsoft’s case, the struggle that its Xbox brand is having to remain relevant isn’t new nor did it begin a few years ago. The resulting struggle has been going on for a while now, taking roots in the Xbox 360 era up till the introduction of Kinect.

“Cut to 2017 and what is Microsoft best known for? Why, cancelling Scalebound and shutting down Lionhead Studios along with Fable Legends.”

In this day and age, the Xbox One is still a fairly popular console. Granted, it won’t ever reach the PlayStation 4’s sales and may even be struggling to hit half that amount. That was becoming incredibly apparent only a year after both consoles launched. It was painfully obvious that Microsoft was lagging behind. It was incredibly sad to see the company’s botched “always online” functions ultimately drag the Xbox One down, even if they were completely reversed before launch.

However, in 2014, the Xbox One was cooking in some pretty cool ways. Titles like Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall (which would also release for Xbox 360), Project Spark and Forza Horizon 2 were cementing it as this place with great games. Well, except for Halo: The Master Chief Collection that is. 2015 would seem to be even better with franchises like Forza Motorsport, Rare Replay, Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Halo and Tomb Raider (albeit in timed exclusive form) sharing space with new franchises like Ori and the Blind Forest and Rivals of Aether.

Of course, it didn’t take long before Microsoft’s old habits began to creep up. Halo 5: Guardians was a huge disappointment at launch, especially with its campaign, and only cemented 343 Industries as a developer that thought it knew what made the Halo games great, and not the fans. Gears of War 4 would release in 2016 and barely carried the franchise forward in any meaningful way. Forza Horizon 3 was pretty incredible but titles like Quantum Break just didn’t rise above our already average expectations. Dead Rising 4 was just awful and ReCore wasn’t the best new IP by a long shot despite the incredible talent involved.

Cut to 2017 and what is Microsoft best known for? Why, cancelling Scalebound and shutting down Lionhead Studios along with Fable Legends. Were both projects going to be amazing? Well, we don’t really know but this was a console that desperately needed exclusives. With Sony firing on all cylinders with its first and third party exclusives in that quarter, Nintendo at the pinnacle of hype with the Switch release and no major exclusives but Halo Wars 2, Microsoft seemed trapped.

“It’s that Microsoft has failed to really foster new ideas within those franchises (or indeed within new franchises) to really excite anyone in recent memory.”

This practice of cancelling projects and relegating studios by the wayside wasn’t exactly new either – Microsoft had done the same to Obsidian Entertainment, with the company on the verge of bankruptcy before Pillars of Eternity was fully funded. Similarly, the numerous hoops that it made developer Darkside jump through before taking them off of the Phantom Dust sequel were similarly damning.

It’s not like the latter part of the year helped either. Cuphead was the one shining light in a land of original IPs but Forza Motorsport 7, despite being excellent, felt like more of the same (but with progression seemingly gated behind loot boxes). Tacoma was all well and good (even though, again, it was a timed exclusive) but Microsoft was laser-focused on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, particularly on its exclusivity to the Xbox One. It was marketed as this huge prize that would see console players flock to the Xbox One. In December 2017, not only was PUBG one of the worst optimized games for either Xbox One X or Xbox One but the base PC version is buckling under the lack of improvements, new content and proper optimization. Granted, things have improved but PUBG’s popularity also took a significant hit with Fornite: Battle Royale’s release.

What is Microsoft’s plan come E3 2018, which will pretty much define its strategies going forward? Will there be much change with Matt Booty as head of Microsoft Studios as of January 2018? Rumours indicate that Halo, Gears of War and Forza will form a major part of Microsoft’s plans (with some Fable thrown in for good measure). Looking back on Microsoft in the Xbox 360 days, it’s incredible how the company seemingly doubles down on these franchises when all else seems lost. The spoiler is that these franchises aren’t advancing the Xbox business as much as Microsoft would think.

You could argue that back when the Xbox 360 was winding down, Kinect was popular and for sure, it did some very good business for Microsoft. However, the crux of the issue is that – unlike Nintendo – Microsoft has struggled to really muster up a compelling first party catalog when motion controls started trending downwards. The one constant isn’t that Microsoft keeps going back to its known franchises to cater to their respective fans. It’s that Microsoft has failed to really foster new ideas within those franchises (or indeed within new franchises) to really excite anyone in recent memory.

“The point isn’t that Sony is pro-consumer. It’s the building of successive franchises with a longer goal in mind rather than going back to the well again and again and again for diminishing returns.”

Look at Sony, which pushes new franchises like Horizon: Zero Dawn and new ideas in established franchises like God of War. Not every new idea is a slam-dunk hit (see The Order: 1886) and not every idea is incredible out of the gate (Evolution Studios’ DriveClub). However, it’s clear that the studio isn’t looking to just compete with the best that first party competitors have to offer. It’s competing with third party developers, pushing higher production values in offbeat concepts and providing a platform with benefits for third party developers on the PS4. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to minimize its third party dealings.

I’m not saying that deals with timed exclusive DLC for FIFA or Call of Duty set my world on fire but they were a few of the aces that Microsoft had. This is, again, to say nothing of Microsoft’s dealings with developers like Platinum Games who it completely shafted. We could talk forever about Microsoft’s failure to really employ the creativity seen in the Japanese game development market. But those chickens came home to roost in 2017 itself when all the big names like Nier: Automata, Persona 5, Nioh and so on stuck with the PlayStation 4 at their respective launches (with Nier: Automata only now being confirmed for Xbox One).

The point isn’t that Sony is pro-consumer. It’s the building of successive franchises with a longer goal in mind rather than going back to the well again and again and again for diminishing returns. Yes, God of War and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End remain some of the most successful PS4 titles. Re-imaginings/remakes of old classics like Ratchet and Clank and Shadow of the Colossus have also proven successful. However, it’s the franchises like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Until Dawn, Detroit: Become Human, Bloodborne, Nioh, Nier: Automata, Persona 5, Gravity Rush 2, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and so on which it either developed or helped foster (even as some released on other platforms later) that are ultimately building up the console’s brand.

“If Microsoft goes back to the well again with Halo, Gears of War and Forza, it’s shooting itself in the foot a decade later.”

On the flip-side, look at the Nintendo Switch. Even if Nintendo does go back to the well with franchises like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, it’s still pushing relatively newer properties like Splatoon 2, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Snipperclips, Fast RMX, and ARMs. It’s providing a platform for games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, numerous indie titles which couldn’t break out on other platforms, and so on to achieve success. Even when it does recycle old IPs, it does so in unique ways as the open world of Zelda: Breath of the Wild attests. Furthermore, it’s proving a strong platform for indie developers to really taste success.

Of course, foresight is 20/20. Even if franchises on Nintendo’s less successful Wii U platform didn’t exactly set the charts on fire, like Bayonetta 2, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, it still brings them over to the Switch on short notice at the behest of fans. Furthermore, it uses properties like Bayonetta 2 to help promote upcoming exclusives like Bayonetta 3. It’s almost like Nintendo seems in tune with what the consumer may want and attempts to deliver it to them. What a funny concept, right? That doesn’t dismiss whatever issues people may have with the upcoming online service but again, there are still more incredible games on the Nintendo Switch in its first year then there’s been on the Xbox One in the past two.

At the end of the day, whether it’s Sony, Nintendo or even the various PC-exclusive developers, players around the world are given umpteen reasons to invest their time into these platforms. Those looking to get into a platform won’t just have the future to look forward to – they’ll have a compelling backlog supported by strong names, whether new, old or rising. The Xbox One currently lacks this and if Microsoft goes back to the well again with Halo, Gears of War and Forza, it’s shooting itself in the foot a decade later.

“With Nintendo and Sony doing incredibly well for themselves, Microsoft and the Xbox brand are in danger of not just “third place” but total irrelevance.”

The Xbox One doesn’t just need new IPs. It needs IPs that people would fall over themselves to invest time into. State of Decay 2 garnered over one million players in the first two days of release while Sea of Thieves reached over two million its first week. Game Pass user breakdowns aside, both titles have motivated Xbox One users to invest in them. Microsoft is on some kind of right track (even if the above titles were rather average in their critical response) but needs more quality and in larger quantities. It needs its own Bloodborne or Uncharted 4 or Horizon: Zero Dawn. Not in the sense that it needs the exact ideas those games contain but to inspire the same kind of frenzy that those games do.

Microsoft’s E3 2018 presser is on June 10th. Will we see history repeat itself as the company struggles to relate to a user base that expects more? There are 15 “World Premieres” planned for the show. Will that equate to 140 minutes of just premiering games that will also be coming to other consoles like Battlefield 5? Will it simply cut the prices for the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox One S even further? Announce some free subscriptions? Or will it ignite our excitement like it did in 2014, showcasing a company that doesn’t just want to talk down to its players but offer them exciting things and back up those offers with exciting products?

Time will tell and for better or worse, time seems to be running out for the house that Xbox built. A long time ago, we would push certain companies to be better simply because more competition was good for everyone. With Nintendo and Sony doing incredibly well for themselves, Microsoft and the Xbox brand are in danger of not just “third place” but total irrelevance.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to GamingBolt as an organization.

Video Game News, Reviews, Walkthroughs And Guides – GamingBolt

[bunnyandbirb]

Birb’s Summer 2017 Sports (Anime)

My first distinct memory of trying to play sports involves trying to win a game of soccer by ignoring the ball and repeatedly kicking the opposing players in the shins instead.

During four years at my basketball-crazed college, I never went to a single game (my priorities were with Overwatch and figuring out how to survive the rest of the month on two dollars.) I remember once going to watch the Denver Nuggets play, and then waking up when it was all over. So yeah. I might not be a “sports person.” That being said, I fucking love sports anime. They’re super straightforward, feel-good shows and I’m a sucker for underdog stories. I would call them a guilty pleasure, except I don’t feel guilty about watching them at all. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re all good.

I watched all of the sports anime that debuted this summer (in one night) and here are my sleep-deprived opinions:

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun (Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun) Studio Hibari

Aoyama is a freshman in high school, a genius soccer player, and has a crippling obsession with cleanliness. I was very into the premise of this show when I first read the description, which is why I watched it first. I’m still glad that I did watch it first, so I could get my disappointment out of the way faster. Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun isn’t a true sports anime, more like a comedy anime with sports. The pacing in the first episode is pretty atrocious, barely introducing the main character before suddenly getting into a game with an enemy team (that I think I’m supposed to care about?) and then wrapping it all up in less than ten minutes. Basically the whole thing is a series of setups for jokes, and if they don’t make you laugh, it’s a little bit awkward.

The ‘clean freak’ joke started getting stale near the end (and it had only been one episode). There was even a moment where they actually tried to take it seriously (it’s so TRAGIC that he wants to play SOCCER when he’s a GERMAPHOBE), and that just made me confused. Aoyama also looks suspiciously similar to Haru from Free!, and it doesn’t help that they both have that quiet, unfazeable, non-personality.

I don’t even remember the names of the other characters, because they weren’t particularly interesting. There was an angry guy who was always angry that Aoyama didn’t want to be a dirtyboi, generic side characters, and then some girl who stalks the MC because he talked to her once. The best part of the show was the ending, which was an obvious nod back to old-school sports anime and was pretty entertaining.

The show’s art/animation isn’t that bad, which is a shame because I’m never going to be watching more of it. I’d say this is a mediocre show that I can see people liking if it matches their sense of humor. I’m not someone who finds gag comedy particularly funny, which doesn’t make me the right audience for this kind of thing.

Ballroom e Youkoso (Welcome to the Ballroom) Production I.G.

It’s an anime about ballroom dancing. The first time I heard of this, I immediately thought this was coming out to snatch up the audience of Yuri on Ice. I still don’t think I’m wrong, but Ballroom e Youkoso feels both similar and very different from both that show and Haikyuu!!, another product of this studio (and one of my favorite shows in this genre.)

Our main character is Tatara Fujita, a kid (supposedly in eighth grade, clearly doesn’t look it) with no hobbies and no idea what to do in life. He almost gets beaten up but is saved by Sengoku, a professional dancer and owner of a nearby dance studio. He eventually gets a lesson and then watches a video of Sengoku dance, which gets him hooked on dancin’ (at least it isn’t drugs.)

To understate it a bit, this show is VERY DRAMATIC. Maybe I should have expected an anime about dancing to ham it up a little, but this was a level of drama that I haven’t seen in a sports anime in a long while. They stretch limbs like nobody’s business to emphasize the ‘fluidity of dance’ or something (I don’t really know) and I laughed out loud at how silly some of it looked. Not to the say that the animation is bad. The whole CLAMP-esque rubber limbs syndrome is clearly a stylistic choice, and everything looks pretty good when they’re not dancing.

But it’s not just the animation. The plot is also VERY DRAMATIC. The entire show is a lot heavier than a lot of other sports anime, and all of the characters are way more passionate about dancing than I’ve ever been about anything. And honestly, I did get a little caught up in it. The music in this show is pretty good, and definitely contributed to how invested I got in the scenes. The characters are likeable so far. There is a bit of fanservice every now and then, which is annoying but I’ll deal with it. This is a true underdog story, and while I can predict how the rest of the show will go by watching these first five episodes, I’m sure I won’t be bored following through with it.

Dive!! (Not-Free!) Zero-G

Okay, so the alternate name isn’t really Not-Free!, but it should be. This show is mostly boring and a little hilarious (for unintentional reasons.) Dive!! is an anime about… diving, and is centered around a middle schooler named Tomoki Sakai. His combined middle/high school diving club will shut down unless one of its members can get into the Olympics within a year, which is totally reasonable.

Where to even start with this.

It’s almost impossible not to compare Dive!! to Free!, because it begs you to compare them. I can imagine they had a list of how to one-up Free! and, judging by the show, came up with this:

MORE ABS. Everyone gets a 10-pack.

Swim jammers? Pussy shit. Speedos only.

You like high schoolers who look like college students? We got some that look like they’re 12.

Add another exclamation mark in the title, that’ll really get ‘em going.

I’m not exactly sure what Tomoki’s character is supposed to be. In the first episode, he is walking to the diving club with his girlfriend. She starts talking to him, trying to engage him in a conversation… you know, the thing people in relationships have sometimes. He only gets like three sentences through before he starts zoning out completely and has an inner monologue about how much he loves diving. THEN when she confronts him, he looks past her, sees his beloved senpai and BLUSHES. IS THIS A BL SHOW??? IS THIS GIRL A BEARD?? But really, watching this pissboi interaction was probably the funniest thing in the entire show.

The animation is serviceable, but if they wanted to compete with KyoAni’s work on Free!, they might as well have not tried at all. All of the characters are forgettable as fuck except for one, who isn’t even a main character. Actually, I take that back. The main character’s emo twin brother is also pretty memorable, only because he spends every waking moment trying to steal MC’s girl. The majority of the show is straight-up boring; Unlike Ballroom e Youkoso, I didn’t feel any sense of tension or urgency no matter how much they tried to get me to care.

In conclusion, Dive!! sucks. Don’t watch it.

Nana maru san batsu (Fastest Finger First) TMS Entertainment

This might not be considered a “sports anime” in the traditional sense, but I would argue that’s exactly what it is. Koshiyama Shiki is a nerd enters high school and is drafted into the “Quiz Study Group”, where he learns the joys of competitive quiz bowl. So yeah, it’s basically a show about people answering trivia questions on a timer.

I’ll be honest; This show isn’t that special. It’s predictable, the characters are generic, the dialogue is pretty trash at times, and the art is decent. Pretty much everything aside from the actual tournaments crawls by at a snail’s pace, and by the third episode I was skipping past most of the scenes that didn’t have to do with quizzes. There also is some random fanservice (really? In a quiz bowl show?) and sometimes the character artist draws their heads too big for their bodies.

Despite all that, I will keep watching this show until the end. I’ve had a lot of fun learning about quiz bowl, mostly because I didn’t know anything about it before this. I’m a big fan of trivia, and I feel like I can just watch the show for that and still enjoy it without caring about whether the characters die in a fire or not. I’ll just ignore the repetitive conversations and weak romantic subplot in between tournaments.

Okay, so the two shows I said were my faves of the bunch are about ballroom dancing and quiz bowls. But my three all-time favorite sports anime are about tennis, volleyball, and football, so I’m just saying my preferences are based on the qualities of the show, not on the fact that I’m a loser.

Well, that’s it for now. Hopefully we’ll see some more quality sports anime in the future... or I’ll just wait for the next season of Haikyuu!!.

~Stay tuned for more nonsense~

- birb

[digital-strategy]

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It was around this time last year that things were starting to look a little dicey for the media industry’s once breathlessly-hyped digital unicorns. Both BuzzFeed and Vice made news for substantially missing their revenue targets. Mashable was sold at a dramatic price reduction. Vox Media was forced to terminate 5 percent of its workforce.

These companies, which once heralded the dawn of a new media age—replete with massive valuations, large fund-raising hauls, and millennial sex appeal—now appeared to exhibit some traits of the brands that they once attempted to disrupt. They were large, less nimble, and increasingly vulnerable to Facebook and Google. They seemed virtually encircled by competitors familiar and new. On one side was a new generation of smaller yet influential companies focused on monetizing their direct relationships with consumers, like Axios, TheSkimm, Crooked Media, and the Athletic, to name a few. On the other were a tandem of revitalized shit-kicking legacy players, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, who were converting subscribers at unforeseen levels in the Trump era.

A year later, the challenges have hardly abated. Mic canned the majority of its staff last week as part of a last-resort sale to Bustle for about $5 million—$95 million less than its previous valuation. Vice, under turnaround C.E.O. Nancy Dubuc, is in the process of trimming its 3,000-person global headcount by 15 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported Vice’s losses at more than $50 million in 2018. At Refinery29, 10 percent of the workforce received pink slips this fall. BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti recently floated in the pages of The New York Times the quixotic notion of a multi-company merger between BuzzFeed, Vice, Vox Media, Group Nine Media, and Refinery29, as a means to rival the Facebook-Google ad duopoly.

Boutique players have not been spared either. Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s Lenny Letter shut down in October, and last week brought the end of Rookie magazine, the 21st-century answer to Sassy, created by precocious tastemaker Tavi Gevinson. "Digital media has become an increasingly difficult business, and Rookie in its current form is no longer financially sustainable,” Gevinson wrote in a farewell note to readers. Traditional magazine companies, meanwhile, are trying to adapt to the digital world. Hearst, whose holdings include Cosmopolitan and Esquire, has endured layoffs, restructuring, and a leadership shake-up. Condé Nast, which owns Vanity Fair, is looking for a new C.E.O. who can streamline and maximize its global clout.

The chilly environment has created an opening for bargain shoppers and turnaround artists. Bustle founder Bryan Goldberg has been a regular at the fire sales; Jon Miller, a former AOL and News Corp executive, is shopping for Web sites with funding from the private-equity titan TPG.

But everyone else seems to operate on a relentless pivot schedule. “It’s a moment of real pressure,” one digital media executive told me. “My sense is, it’s tougher times for everybody.” Summing up the latest portents, a veteran digital-media strategist warned, “I think this is the tip of the iceberg. I think it’s gonna get worse, not better.” Tony Haile, founding C.E.O. of the Web-analytics provider Chartbeat, echoed that sentiment. “No one’s looking forward to this Q1,” said Haile, whose latest project is a publisher-friendly subscription ad-blocking service called Scroll. “You’ve got that kind of thing going on where everyone’s for sale.”

Haile isn’t incorrect. Everything does seem for sale. As the threat of the so-called FAANGs—Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google—continues to grow, large legacy players, such as AT&T and Time Warner, or Disney and 21st Century Fox, are combining at a rabid pace. Certain heritage brands, like Time, Fortune, and The Atlantic, have landed in the warm bosoms of philanthropic billionaires. New York Media, the parent company of New York and a coterie of buzzy Web brands including The Cut, is pursuing a sale or strategic investment. A number of publications that ascended during the post-downturn digital gold rush have found safe harbors: HuffPost in Verizon (via AOL); Business Insider in Axel Springer; Quartz in the Japanese financial-intelligence firm Uzabase. But they, too, are under the gun to perform for their parent companies. Verizon’s media unit, for one, is in the midst of a rejiggering after falling short on advertising revenue. “The whole media sector is under pressure, unless you’re a FAANG company,” said Vox Media C.E.O. Jim Bankoff. “You can see that impact in all the big mergers that have been happening, but you also see it in companies that are scaling back or selling. Whether you’re a company that started in the past decade or a century ago, whether you’re funded by a billionaire or a V.C., you’re not immune to the changes in the industry, or the uncertainty that those changes bring.”

The stakes are arguably the highest, it appears, for the much ballyhooed cabal of independent, venture-funded, super-scale companies, such as Vice, BuzzFeed, and Vox. Reacting to Peretti’s confederacy-merger proposal, one prominent founder and C.E.O. wondered whether there was “a problem for the whole space,” or “a problem for a handful of companies that really over-raised and over-expected and are now trying to re-adjust.” Consumer spending is up, and billions of dollars are being sunk into content, this executive noted, and yet “you have this little pocket of the universe looking desperate. So the reality is: is there a problem in the digital-media space overall, or a strategy problem for a certain set of companies?” In a somber parting memo on the day of Mic’s mass layoffs, outgoing publisher Cory Haik lamented the current state of the media universe: “Our business models are unsettled, and the macro forces at play are all going through their own states of unrest. If anyone tells you they have it figured out, a special plan to save us all, or that it’s all due to a singular fault, know that is categorically false.”

BuzzFeed, Vice, and Vox share some common challenges. In an environment that values either enormity or monetizable premium appeal, they are somehow in the middle. They were also forged in an era of rapid-succession strategy pivots—first display advertising, then native, then video, and now broad diversification through things like subscriptions and events and other potentially promising remedies.

But in reality, these companies have their own unique headaches. Vice is staring down stalled growth, as well as viewership struggles at the flagship cable channel it launched in 2015. The company’s defenders would point to its large global footprint and diversity of revenue streams—that includes an HBO show and other licensing deals, a creative studio, an I.P. library, and a scripted-programming arm. Indeed, Dubuc appears to be moving Vice further away from the notion that it is a “digital” enterprise at all. As the Journal recently reported, the plan she has outlined to the company’s board of directors involves consolidating Vice’s many Web verticals and focusing instead on growing its creative agency, Virtue, as well as making a greater number of shows and movies for third parties. But Dubuc has her work cut out for her. Asked about the company’s astronomical $5.7 billion figure at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit on October 9, she replied, quite carefully, “I’m not gonna speculate on what Vice is worth. Valuations are set at a moment in time.”

BuzzFeed, once a stubbornly pure native-advertising proposition, has likewise recognized the need to branch out. In addition to now running traditional banner ads, BuzzFeed is offering exclusive member content for $5 a month; getting paid to produce shows for Netflix and Facebook; opening a toy store in New York and selling cookware in a collaboration with Walmart; and playing the affiliate marketing game, in which a Web site takes a cut whenever, say, readers click a link to an Amazon product and hit “Add to Cart.” At the very least, it all appears to be a promising start to turning around the company’s revenues: sources told the Times that revenues are expected to surpass $300 million this year, up from a disappointing $260 million in 2017.

In multiple conversations I had for this piece, Vox Media seemed to be the horse that people were most willing to bet on, in part because it didn’t take as much money or drive its valuation as high as BuzzFeed or Vice. (Revenues for 2018 are projected to be up 15 to 18 percent—around $185 million—compared to 2017, according to someone with knowledge of the numbers.) Vox Media, too, has been diversifying, and is in the process of creating a consumer-revenue component where some of its Web sites—which include Vox, the Verge, and SB Nation—will charge for certain content, according to someone familiar with the plans. Vox Media has created a digital-advertising marketplace, Concert, with partners including New York Media, Rolling Stone, and Quartz; and it licenses an in-house content-management platform, Chorus, to other publishers. Vox also now has a TV unit whose productions include a popular Netflix show, as well as a conference business in Recode, which it bought in 2015 following an acquisition of the Curbed sites two years earlier.

More recently, people familiar with the matter told me, Bankoff took a look at Fortune (which has a robust events business) and New York Media (which has a suite of tony Web brands), but both opportunities were tricky due to their print components. (Neither opportunity was presented to the board.) In a meeting Bankoff had with CBS C.E.O. Les Moonves, before his #MeToo scandal became public and he was ousted in disgrace, Moonves floated the idea of buying Vox Media, according to sources with knowledge of the conversation, but the talks never progressed to a serious stage. Bankoff declined to comment on any of these discussions, but said the company might look at making acquisitions in 2019.

Vice, BuzzFeed, and Vox have achieved a level of scale and brand affinity that lesser players, the Mics and Mashables of the world, can only dream of. In that sense, the road ahead may very well be hardest for smaller, venture-funded companies that rely wholly, or close to wholly, on digital advertising. Someone who sits on the board of a large digital-media company broke it down like this: “They can’t compete in scale, they can’t compete in terms of quality and breadth of content, and they can’t compete because they only have one revenue stream.” This person added, “Companies who struggle, struggle disproportionately bad when things go bad.”

More Great Stories from Vanity Fair

— Inside the strange world of conservative college women

— The paradox of George H.W. Bush

— What it’s really like to be part of a “migrant caravan”

— The miseducation of Sheryl Sandberg

— See our list of the top unconventional heroes and newsmakers of 2018

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Nikon Night time Images Showdown: D850 vs the D750, D810, and D5

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Nikon Night time Images Showdown: D850 vs the D750, D810, and D5

  My identify is Lance Keimig, and I’m one of many instructors for Nationwide Parks at Night time, a workshop program centered on night time pictures in nationwide parks. All 5 of us instructors are primarily Nikon shooters. Between us, we use the D750, D810, D3s, D4s, and D5. Though we’re usually pleased with our present cameras, a few of us are prepared for an improve.

As such, the announcement of the D850 just a few months in the past excited us as a lot because it did the remainder of the picture world. This digital camera was touted to be a game-changer for each area of interest it caters to, together with night time pictures. So it was pure that we’d need to field-test it as a nocturnal instrument.

With its practically 46-megapixel sensor and spectacular listing of specs and options, the D850 was a becoming digital camera for Nikon to launch throughout its centennial 12 months. Though it’s a direct successor to the D810, the D850 appears to be extra of a hybrid between the high-megapixel D810 and the high-speed D5. The brand new digital camera sports activities a Nikon-designed 45.7-megapixel FX-format BSI CMOS sensor aimed toward panorama, studio, and architectural photographers, however can shoot as much as 9 frames per second and at the least 51 steady frames earlier than the buffer fills for sports activities and wedding ceremony photographers. And the back-side illuminated sensor ought to enhance low-light efficiency, which is clearly key for night time photographers!

I lately had the chance to spend a while (not practically sufficient) with the D850 and evaluate its efficiency to different high-end Nikon cameras, particularly because it pertains to nighttime pictures. Regardless of the moon, UPS and the climate (clouds, chilly and wind) all conspiring in opposition to me, I used to be capable of spend a few nights with the D850, in addition to make some comparability pictures with the D750, D810, and D5.

There are a lot of on-line evaluations of the D850, however on this one I’ll focus totally on the way it performs and handles for night time pictures––particularly:

1. Excessive ISO astro-landscape pictures 2. Native ISO lengthy publicity night time pictures Three. Excessive distinction synthetic gentle night time pictures

I’m assuming that the reader is at the least minimally conversant in Nikon DSLRs, and that they may use different assets equivalent to DPReview and DXOMark to guage the digital camera for different sorts of pictures.

The digital camera is simply barely heavier than the D810 and is well-balanced and cozy to carry. It weighs about half a pound greater than the D750, and nearly a full pound lower than the D5.

The controls and buttons of the D850 are much like the D810, besides that the ISO and Mode buttons have switched positions consistent with the D5. It is a good enchancment over different Nikon cameras just like the D750 the place the ISO button is on the again and to the left of the show.

The pop-up flash has been sacrificed in favor of higher climate sealing and a bigger optical viewfinder with .75 magnification and 100 % body protection. Night time photographers ought to respect each of those options greater than a built-in flash. There’s additionally a flip lever with a shutter to dam gentle from getting into by means of the viewfinder throughout lengthy exposures.

The D850 has an articulated rear display screen which operates in the identical vogue because the D750 display screen, besides that it’s increased decision and touch-sensitive. The display screen adjusts on just one axis and is helpful primarily for high and low digital camera angles with the digital camera within the horizontal place. Earlier Nikon contact screens have been usable solely in playback mode, however the D850’s contact display screen can be lively in live-view and menu navigation modes.

Like a lot of Nikon’s semi-pro cameras, the D850 has two card slots, one for XQD and one for SD playing cards. Personally, I would like the selection of two of the identical card slots, however the XQD card’s excessive write pace is required to take full benefit of the digital camera’s excessive body charge and enormous buffer, in addition to the large quantities of knowledge recorded by the high-resolution sensor throughout video recording.

One characteristic that’s particularly welcome to nighttime photographers is the introduction of backlit buttons, which clearly ease the duty of discovering controls in the dead of night. Although, in contrast to with the D4s, D5, and D500, solely the buttons on the left facet of the D850 are illuminated.

As with the D750, there’s a Time publicity setting, obtainable in guide mode in between X250 and Bulb. The Time setting appears like two dashes (“- -”) within the Management Panel. Not like the Time setting within the D750, which shuts off after 1,694 seconds if not ended sooner, the D850 shutter will stay open indefinitely.

Sadly, programmed shutter speeds don’t lengthen previous 30 seconds, which can be true of the obtainable shutter speeds within the built-in intervalometer. Canon lastly prolonged their shutter pace vary with the 6D Mark II and 5D Mark IV, and hopefully Nikon will observe swimsuit with their future fashions.

One in all my greatest disappointments with previous Nikon cameras has been the poor high quality of the reside view picture in low gentle, which makes live-view focusing at night time fairly tough. There’s some enchancment with the D850, and a brand new setting that permits the consumer to set totally different brightness ranges for reside view and picture playback is useful, as are the addition of live-view focus peaking and zebra stripes. (Should you’re not conversant in the latter characteristic, know that it’s going to make your life higher. Test it out.)

The awkward Mode dial has been changed with a way more user-friendly Mode button, with the unlucky trade-off of dropping the user-programmable customized modes for saving ceaselessly used combos of digital camera settings. I’m additionally not a fan of the outdated menu banks. Two different issues:

1. The SnapBridge Bluetooth app for transferring pictures to your smartphone, at the least at first inception, was unreliable at greatest and is the one method so as to add GPS knowledge to your recordsdata in-camera. (Nikon has informed us that the latest replace makes it usable, however I’ve not been capable of check it.) 2. Transferring recordsdata over Wi-Fi requires an attachment, of which the Nikon possibility is the $750 WT-7A Wi-fi Transmitter. (There are third-party choices as properly, which we are going to cowl sooner or later.)

Regardless of the few quibbles talked about, the D850 is a pleasure to make use of. It’s extremely customizable and really straightforward to get snug with. I’m unsure that I’d need to hike the Pacific Crest Path with it on my again, however in my restricted experiences, it didn’t really feel noticeably heavier within the area than my D750.

Most earlier Nikon DSLRs have used Sony engineered sensors, so the very first thing to notice with the D850 is that this is among the few cameras that incorporates a Nikon designed sensor. It’s a 45.7-megapixel FX-format BSI CMOS sensor. BSI stands for back-side illumination, a expertise that has an atypical association of the sensor elements that permits extra photons to achieve the photodetectors, enhancing low-light efficiency, in addition to readout charges, or the time required to digitize the sunshine reaching the sensor.

What this implies to us is that Nikon has produced an especially high-resolution digital camera that doesn’t sacrifice low-light efficiency. Night time photographers could make very giant high-quality prints from pictures made with a D850.

(An attention-grabbing facet notice is that Sony’s a7R II was the primary FX digital camera to make the most of a BSI sensor, and the alternative a7R III additionally makes use of BSI expertise. This expertise has been round for some time, however till lately was too costly to implement in a fairly priced FX digital camera.)

Like its predecessor, the D850 has a local ISO of 64, permitting for wider dynamic vary than cameras with a local ISO of 100. The sensor additionally makes use of twin conversion achieve, which has the impact of preserving spotlight dynamic vary whereas growing sensitivity. In essence, the sensor has two totally different sensitivities: the native ISO of 64, and ISO 400, which is when the elevated achieve is activated.

After all night time pictures is usually finished at excessive ISOs, which sacrifice dynamic vary in favor of shorter publicity occasions. It has been recommended that underexposing at ISO 400 or 500 after which elevating the publicity throughout RAW conversion will protect extra of the dynamic vary than taking pictures at increased ISOs as much as 4000. To me, this means a point of ISO invariance, (which is bolstered by my check pictures) though the article linked above claims that it’s not.

The focusing system within the D850 is similar as within the D5: a 153-point autofocus system that includes 99 cross-type factors. Each the middle focusing level and light-weight meter are rated all the way down to -Four EV. This isn’t sufficient to focus or meter by starlight, however it does supply a slight enchancment over earlier Nikon fashions just like the D750 (-Three EV) and D810 (-2 EV).

As with the D810, the D850 has no optical low-pass or anti-aliasing filter, which makes for the sharpest attainable pictures, however at a value of an elevated threat of moiré in extremely detailed areas of a repeating sample.

I used to be ready to make use of the digital camera in numerous lighting circumstances various from full moon to starlight to some synthetic lighting combined with moonlight. After I had entry to the digital camera, temperatures ranged between the low 20s and low 40s F, so lengthy publicity noise was not an issue.

Thirty-minute exposures at native ISO with out enabling LENR have been clear as a whistle. Native ISO 64 exposures yielded really extraordinary picture high quality in each pure and synthetic gentle, however increased ISO pictures have been inconsistent. To be truthful, I used to be not testing in a managed atmosphere, however with real-world variability that makes it tougher to be scientific.

So you may make your individual evaluations, we’re offering you a number of pictures made throughout the testing I did for this text. They’re largely DNG recordsdata with embedded metadata. Be happy to obtain the recordsdata and manipulate them for evaluative functions. Please don’t try and take away or edit the recordsdata on this folder, however slightly obtain them onto your individual laptop first.

You may obtain all the pieces talked about beneath right here. (Warning: It’d take awhile, and we suggest not doing so with a cellular machine utilizing a mobile knowledge connection. The recordsdata complete about half a gigabyte.)

ISO 6400 COMPARISON

ISO 6400 Comparability: D750 v. D810 v. D850 [Download]

These pictures have been made sequentially on a really chilly and windy night time in Vermont simply earlier than moonrise. The clouds close to the horizon are reflecting the lights of South Burlington or Williston, about 20 miles to the north. Because the clouds have been altering rapidly throughout the photographs, the worth of evaluating spotlight clipping is considerably restricted. The foreground was lit by a handheld Luxli Constructor gentle, which was moved throughout the body throughout the publicity, because the beam was not vast sufficient to gentle all the scene. In hindsight, it will have been higher to mount the sunshine on a stand for consistency. The white strains within the street are puddles reflecting gentle from the sky.

DYNAMIC RANGE

Dynamic Vary: D850 [Download]

On this folder, you will see a daytime picture made at Ubehebe Crater in Loss of life Valley Nationwide Park. The picture was made shortly earlier than sundown, throughout a windstorm that kicked up an amazing quantity of mud. It wasn’t the picture op I had hoped for, however nonetheless offered loads of materials to work with. There are three PNG recordsdata displaying my Lightroom fundamental and native changes, and one displaying clipping within the unique file. I’ve included the DNG file, so you may make your individual changes as properly.

There’s additionally the radio telescope picture in DNG format to indicate the utmost dynamic vary—what’s attainable, and what isn’t.

NATIVE VERSUS HIGH ISO

Native v. Excessive ISO: D750 v. D5 v. D850 [Download]

There are two subfolders right here, one displaying native and +6-stop exposures in combined synthetic and moonlight shot with the D750 and D850. These are DNG recordsdata. The second folder reveals native and +6-stop exposures in starlight with a little bit gentle air pollution, evaluating the D5 and D850 below these circumstances. Observe that heavy clouds moved in throughout the 30-minute publicity on the D850, so it appears fairly totally different than the 30-minute D5 picture.

ISO INVARIANCE

ISO Invariance: D5 v. D850 [Download]

These two folders embody a sequence of pictures shot with the D5 and D850 at full-stop ISOs from 100 to 6400 utilizing the identical aperture and shutter pace. The D850 folder additionally consists of an ISO 64 picture since that’s the native ISO of the digital camera. For every cease of underexposure, the ensuing picture was given an extra cease of publicity in Lightroom, as much as 5, the utmost obtainable. For the ISO 64/100 exposures—that are six stops lower than the 6400 exposures—5 stops plus Highlights and Shadows have been added to make the picture look pretty much as good as attainable. Solely fundamental module changes have been utilized.

The conclusion is that the D5 is most undoubtedly not invariant, and the D850 is. The D5 has a decrease dynamic vary at native ISO, and greatest outcomes are achieved by giving right publicity at no matter ISO you utilize and never by elevating publicity in post-processing. Conversely, the D850 has extraordinarily vast dynamic vary at native ISO 64, and likewise has a small bump in dynamic vary at ISO 400 when the extra achieve is utilized to the sensor. Greatest outcomes are achieved by taking pictures at ISO 64 when attainable, or, for astro-landscape imaging for star factors or Milky Approach pictures, I like to recommend taking pictures at ISO 400 and including 4 stops of publicity within the RAW converter of your selecting.

For instance, a typical astro-landscape pictures publicity can be 20 seconds, f/2.eight, ISO 6400. With the D850, I like to recommend utilizing 20 seconds, f/2.eight, ISO 400, after which boosting the publicity by 4 stops throughout RAW conversion. This may permit you to use the a lot wider dynamic vary on the decrease ISO with out including further shot noise to the picture. (Utilizing ISOs decrease than 400 and boosting the publicity in put up by extra than 4 stops will not yield higher outcomes.)

These are DNG recordsdata, so be at liberty to obtain and reset them to make your individual changes from scratch.

LIGHT WRITING COMPARISON

Gentle Writing: D750 v. D810 v. D5 v. D850 [Download]

Obtain These pictures, made on the Racetrack Playa in Loss of life Valley, are the one ones I’ve evaluating all 4 cameras. However because of the distinctive nature of every light-writing publicity––particularly the angle of the sunshine supply and the pace it was transferring—there are some intrinsic variations in highlights. Nonetheless, they’re enjoyable recordsdata to evaluation as a way to get a common sense of the picture qualities below these circumstances (moonlight with a lightweight supply within the body).

Briefly, the entire cameras I examined have excellent picture high quality and make wonderful decisions for night time photographers. The query readers must be asking themselves is, “Which digital camera is greatest for my wants?”

D750

The D750, regardless of being launched greater than Three years in the past, produces pictures that maintain their very own amongst its costlier brethren. It’s a very good worth, presently priced at slightly below $1,800, and is a superb step up from an APS-C digital camera. It might even be a superb selection for a second physique.

The compromise in selecting the D750 is primarily in consumer expertise. Missing a touchscreen and the higher live-view picture high quality of the newer cameras—in addition to the consolation options of the D5 and D850 equivalent to illuminated rear controls and an eyepiece shutter—don’t have an effect on picture high quality a lot as ease of use.

Should you by no means print, or in case you by no means show your pictures on something bigger than your laptop show, you is perhaps greatest off with a D750 and utilizing the additional cash to put money into some new Nikon glass to go along with it.

D810

The D810 was launched Three 1/2 years in the past, and is presently priced round $2,800. Heralded as revolutionary on the time of its launch, it’s nonetheless an awesome digital camera, however a bit more durable to suggest after the discharge of its successor. At roughly $500 lower than the D850, I don’t suppose there’s sufficient of a financial savings to sacrifice all that the brand new digital camera provides to the social gathering. Photographers who want the decision of the D810’s 36-megapixel sensor however are on a restricted funds are those that is perhaps drawn to the predecessor now. Search for worth drops within the close to future, or contemplate shopping for a used one as upgraders unload their “outdated” fashions.

D5

The D5 is really a beast. Succesful, sturdy, quick, correct and comparatively heavy. It’s not a digital camera for hikers, not even for lengthy walks. Some well-known photographer as soon as mentioned that if a topic wasn’t inside 100 yards of the automobile, it wasn’t price photographing. This digital camera is for that man. Perhaps it’s for you you probably have a dependable assistant who by no means complains about schlepping your gear. Perhaps it’s for you in case you are robust and younger and value isn’t a main consideration. For the journalist, sports activities or high-end wedding ceremony shooter who additionally does night time pictures, that is the digital camera. The D5 is worthy of its flagship standing in each method. However not solely is it considerably heavier than its more-than-worthy little siblings, it’s additionally considerably extra pricey: $6,500, physique solely.

D850

Now, the digital camera we actually need to discuss: the D850. Launched in October 2017, and priced at $Three,300, there may be nonetheless a backlog and a wait of 1 to 2 months to get your arms on one. Nikon Skilled Providers members perform a little higher, with an approximate wait time of two weeks as of January 2018.

As talked about earlier on this put up, the D850 takes among the greatest options of each the D810 and the D5 and combines them into one digital camera. The D850 affords excellent picture high quality, near medium-format decision and high-end options (a lot of that are extraordinarily helpful for night time photographers)—all for roughly half the value of the D5.

It’s not excellent––native Wi-Fi and a helpful smartphone controller, GPS, prolonged shutter speeds, customized publicity modes, and excessive ISO amplification that doesn’t push highlights into clipping would all be welcome enhancements. Nonetheless, the mix of picture high quality, excessive decision, and options make the D850 one of many easiest digital cameras ever made.

I like to recommend the D850 for skilled and severe newbie night time photographers who need to make giant high-quality prints. And those that need to make the most of the newest applied sciences in a digital camera with excellent picture high quality with out taking out a second mortgage also needs to put their names on the listing.

Replace on 1/29/18: I didn’t imply to indicate that the D750 doesn’t produce print high quality pictures. I’ve made prints as giant as 30×45 inches and been fairly pleased with the standard. My intention was that spending the additional cash on a D810, D850, or D5 isn’t price it for somebody who not often or by no means prints their pictures.

In regards to the creator: Lance Keimig is a photographer and pictures teacher based mostly in Bristol, Vermont. The opinions expressed on this article are solely these of the creator. Keimig is among the instructors at Nationwide Parks at Night time, a workshop program centered solely on educating night time pictures in nationwide parks. This text was additionally revealed right here.

Picture credit: All nighttime pictures are © 2018 Lance Keimig/NationalParksAtNight.com, and is probably not printed or republished with out categorical written consent of the creator and Nationwide Parks at Night time

[impurelight]

The Surface Book 2

I heard on the Vergecast that Microsoft was trying to compete with Apple with the Surface Book 2. For real this time. So let’s take a look.

I have never been a fan of Microsoft trying to be popular again in the PC universe. Part of it is me going, “Look Microsoft, you had your chance to dominate the PC industry. And you blew it.” But another part of me just wants Macs to be popular because I have one now.

To be honest I’m sort of disappointed with Apple. It seems that iOS is getting all the new stuff and Macs constantly trail behind by at least a year.

So I was curious. I’ve been looking at the new Surface Books and I must say I’m impressed. The entry model is a fantastic value and hopefully this will finally get Apple to give us these Arm powered laptops that have been rumoured for years.

But I wouldn’t buy one. And there are 3 reasons why: Price, Reliability, and Usability.

Price

Why am I talking about price here? Didn’t I just praise the Surface Book 2 for being price competitive? Well, yeah, but only on the entry level model. The one without a dedicated GPU. That one is priced about 400 CAD cheaper than the base touchbar Macbook Pro.

I mean, you could buy the non-touchbar MacBook Pro but come on, I really want that touchbar. I wasn’t a believer at first, but turns out the touchbar is a much better way of adjusting the volume and brightness. I don’t need all those other gimmicks but I guess they’re fun to have.

The entry level Surface Book 2 has a 256GB SSD. Which, if you can live with that good for you, but I currently have a 512GB SSD so that would be going backwards for me. I need a 512GB SSD.

And if you want that you’re going to have to shell out for the model with dedicated graphics. See? This is how they get you. They’re like “Starting at under 2000 CAD, but to get the version you want you have to pay over 3000 CAD”. Oh, dear, the inflation here is terrible.

And each of these dedicated graphics models are priced with a higher markup relative to their Apple-powered counter-parts. 300, 600, and 700 CAD for the 256, 512, and 1TB model respectively. See that massive increase between the 256 and 512GB models? That means they know a lot of people will opt for the 512 GB model.

The 15 inch model is a different story, although still very similar. It’s not sold in Canada but in the US you’re looking at about a 100 USD difference. I didn’t pay much attention, I’m not interested in 15 inch laptops.

Reliability

I recently looked at the Wirecutter’s external hard drive reviews. And you know what they scored them on? Transfer speed. For an external hard drive. Look: transfer speeds are important but if I’m buying an external hard drive I want to know it’ll last.

Reliability is the hidden statistic. Rarely do we ever hear about it just because the amount of resources it takes to evaluate. So when we get a peak behind the curtain and see this valuable figure we shouldn’t just brush it aside.

So when I heard that Consumer Reports dropped the Surface Book 1 because of reliability my ears perked up. Whenever Consumer Reports does anything it’s big news and this is no exception.

I did a bit of digging and apparently 25% of units had problems. 25%! That’s 1 in 4. A huge waste. The article I read also suggests the problem is getting better based on a leaked report on return rates.

But I suspect they’re just due to the fact that Windows users are a stickler for pain that just come back for more and more no matter how much it hurts. Just scroll down on that article and see. Not one of these users even considered jumping ship. Sad, really.

[…] the display audio driver still constantly flakes out and I have to disable and reenable it periodically to get to get audio or of my external monitor setup.

[…] I still got a faulty device, it was not going to sleep and just lost the charge after few hours. I replaced it, and […] it is still very glitchy.

[…] I’ve had my Surface Book (w/ i7) for two years and it still does stuff that drives me absolutely bonkers. I’ve considered swapping it out for another device for a while now. The thing still doesn’t shut down half the time, and "sleep" has never worked right. Not to mention Surface Dock instability, and other little things.

Had Surface Book from the very start (company evaluation unit) and it’s quirky to this day.

There are glitches here and there (nothing major) on my SurfaceBook […]

In fact with these troubling comments it wouldn’t surprise me if the actual number of defective units was higher. People covering it up because, “Windows is supposed to work like that.”

People even complained about the Surface Pro 3 and 4 on that thread. Crazy. Although there were complements (maybe 1 or 2… probably 1). Also this post I liked.

On a Windows computer "Sleep/Hibernate" has never "always" worked perfect. […] Never had that issue with a Mac or Linux.

A lot of people actually agreed with this one. And it’s not all negative in that thread. There was also this.

2 MBA’s in 6-7 years and they were flawless. FLAWLESS in OS and HARDWARE. Absolute perfect machines […]

Usability

Why is the headphone jack on the top of the device still? I mean, you don’t have to put it on the top. Maybe you could put it in the middle. Or even include another one in the base. I know headphone jacks are such a waste of space and so, so expensive with everyone removing them from their phones but it would really help.

The fundamental problem with the Surface devices minus the Not-A-Book is the fact that they are gimmicks. All of them. And they just cram in more functionality that no one really wants. At first you may wonder, “Why not? Why not have a touch screen? Why not have a detachable display? Why not have a laser pointer? Why not have a Swiss army knife?”

The problem is that these are all trade offs. Maybe, just maybe, you can include some novel feature without compromising somewhere else. But once you start adding giant changes like a touch screen or just adding more and more features I highly doubt there’s no compromises. This is why I’ve never liked all these gimmicks in smartphones that do absolutely nothing unless the stars align just right.

All these things: the reliability, the headphone jack being on the top. These are compromises. But I doubt these are the only compromises. Microsoft claims that the Surface Book 2 gets 17 hours of battery life. Colour me skeptical. For one if you read the bottom of the page it says:

Up to 17 hours of video playback. […] Testing consisted of full battery discharge during video playback. All settings were default except: Wi-Fi was associated with a network and Auto-Brightness disabled. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.

I don’t know what the Wi-Fi being associated with a network means but this is my rough interpretation: we played back a video with Wi-Fi disabled and brightness at 0%. Which isn’t that impressive, because any one of these factors: video only, Wi-Fi disabled, or brightness at 0% will significantly boost battery life. Add them all together and then I’d probably get something crazy like… 18 hours of battery life on my current laptop that gets like 5 normally.

Combine this with the fact that Laptop Mag found that touchscreens have a 3-4 hour impact on battery life among other drawbacks and I don’t know. I’ve never gotten the full advertised time from a laptop battery but something’s telling me the Surface Book 2 will have significantly less battery life than what is advertised.

And then… there’s Windows. You know I have a list of things about Windows that annoy me. And because I have to use Windows for all of my gaming and most of my development work, what can I say? Visual Studio for Windows just blows everything out of the water, that list is growing all the time.

I don’t think anyone likes Windows. But they don’t want a Mac because they don’t want to be one of ‘those people’. You know, I used to love how reliable Windows was. It just didn’t crash on me. But with Microsoft’s constant drive to be like Apple with annual releases, which BTW it is failing at, it has become less stable.

I love my Mac. I love how I can view a web page in Safari without any URL bars or menu bars getting in the way. I love how I can search my system near-instantly and even find files based on the text in a text file (great for hunting down which file is calling a specific method). I love how apps autosave. I love how the typography and UI is beautiful. I love how things will just close and turn off when you want them to. I love how programs will automatically open after a restart. I love the great built in text to speech. I love the easy to install apps. I love using all the apps, even the default ones. I love the picture in picture feature. I love better touch tools and the other wonderful third party apps that just work.

Windows has none of this. You know, even if Microsoft fixed everything: the reliability, the cost, the headphone jack; I still wouldn’t be impressed. Because it runs Windows.

I think these arguments why the Surface Book 2 is an inferior device are convincing enough. But they’re just coincidences. Because I love my Mac, but I don’t love Windows. I think we’ve all looked past the flaws of what we loved. I mean, the Mac isn’t perfect. So if I loved Windows maybe things would be different. Maybe.

[kranethios]

Hi!! I'm sorry for my ignorance on the topic. But has Bioware done something wrong?

no need to apologize, nonny! short answer is, kinda yeah, but i want to explain it a little.

i’m gonna throw this under a cut for length and for some fandom discoursey stuff. there’ll be a tl;dr at the bottom of it.

let me preface this by saying two things: 1) i love mass effect. i will always love mass effect. i plan to love mass effect andromeda as much as i love the original trilogy. this is true regardless - maybe even in spite - of what has happened. 2) i don’t want to get in any fights. i don’t want any hostility in my inbox about this.

most of the controversy is in regards to a leak that came out recently that describes a scene where liam kind of unceremoniously turns down broryder and says in no uncertain terms that he’s not into dudes. now, i would ordinarily say that this isn’t necessarily the biggest deal, but there are a few pieces of context that make it kind of icky.

first of all, this kinda shuts down fans who were hoping for lgbt+ human squadmates. liam’s our only human male on the squad. cora’s romance with broryder is already confirmed, and although that doesn’t rule out the possibility of her being bi, it means we definitely don’t have any exclusively gay representation, and no mlm period, among the humans in our squad (”squad” here meaning the group of people you can select to accompany you on missions, consisting of liam, cora, peebee, vetra, drack, and jaal). now, maybe other romanceable characters outside the squad will 1) be gay and 2) have the same amount of importance to the story and fleshed-out writing that their squad counterparts have (something i, personally, am kinda hoping for), but bioware’s track record for that sort of thing is… not great.

second, and speaking of track records, i’m gonna talk for a second about the history of the mass effect series and how it’s dealt with lgbt+ stuff in the past. the short version of this is “not too well”. we’re gonna leave aside the issues with the way the asari are handled (which is a whole other thing that i kinda don’t want to get into) and just focus on the numbers by themselves. throughout the whole series, there are two full romance options each for wlw and mlm (for the purposes of this discussion i’m gonna leave out the romances with kelly chambers and diana allers because although they’re both bi, their “romances” are very insubstantial). we know that several bi options were cut, including jack who is canonically bisexual but cannot be romanced by a female shepard. the two exclusively gay romance options (including the only human wlw romance) are steve cortez and samantha traynor, both of whom i love very dearly but they are also both fairly minor side characters that are introduced in the third game. for mlm, there are no romance options until the third game, since kaidan is femshep-locked in the first. and, oh yeah, you might have killed him off. granted, this shows a positive trend as the series progresses, but it’s still kind of discouraging to see that maybe we’re falling into some similar patterns.

third, going into how the devs are treating this whole debacle. throughout this whole marketing campaign that’s been going on, we’ve had fans practically begging the devs to release the romance options, usually being met with some variant of “you’ll just have to wait and see ;D ;D ;D“, especially regarding lgbt+ romances. which is, y’know, all fine and dandy, except that every scrap of news and every semi-reputable leak that’s come out has suggested an abundance of m/f options, and so far the only things i’ve heard about any lgbt+ stuff have been “peebee had a girlfriend once” and “gil is receptive to broryder’s flirting”. nothing quite so definitive as the images in the trailers of cora and scott kissing (which, again, doesn’t mean she’s not bi! and i don’t want to erase that possibility at all! but there’s no evidence that she is, either) or liam allegedly saying outright that he’s not into guys. fans want to be assured representation, not have the idea of it dangled in front of us like a carrot.

overall, though, i’m trying to stay optimistic. for one thing, this is an AAA studio producing a big budget mainstream game, and we all know how the representation issue goes in mainstream media. everyone needs to do better. for another, i’m holding out hope that maybe the non-squadmate characters will provide us with interesting, well-written, and fleshed-out romances, moreso than in the past, and that these romances will come in a variety of flavors and sexualities so that a wider variety of players can see representation of someone like them in the game. the leak about liam was kind of a blow, though, and the disappointment among lgbt+ fans resonates with me as well.

tl;dr: bioware is kinda not treating their lgbt+ fans as well as they could be with news about romance options in andromeda, and their track record in the mass effect series is making fans rightfully uneasy. i’m trying to keep my chin up and hope for the best.

i’m trying to keep my tone pretty informative and i hope i don’t come across as patronizing or negative or anything. i don’t want to get into a whole lot of discourse about this, as stuff like that tends to give me a lot of anxiety. anyone is welcome to come into my inbox or pms to talk about this, but please try to avoid hostility with it. i’m upset and hurt and angry too, but i am also a fragile lil bean.

[randomrichards]

BEST ACTOR: – Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, an ornery, reclusive janitor who becomes a reluctant guardian for his nephew. In MANCHESTER BY THE SEA – Andrew Garfield As Private Desmond Doss, a real-life WW2 combat medic who won the medal of honour despite never carrying a gun. In HACKSAW RIDGE – Ryan Gosling as Sebastian, a struggling jazz pianist who falls for a struggling actress. In LA LA LAND – Viggo Mortensen as Ben, an off the grid father of 10 whose unconventional parenting methods are tested when he takes his kids to their mother’s funeral In CAPTAIN FANTASTIC – Denzel Washington As Troy Maxson, an ex-ball player turned alcoholic garbage man and resentful family man In FENCES Who Will Win? At the start of this, it seemed like the winner would be Casey Affleck all the way. But now it looks like Denzel Washington will be taking the top spot away from him. It had to be quite a challenging role for Ben Affleck’s little brother. His character is a withdrawn reclusive who avoids meaningful conversations at all cost. So, Affleck faces the task of making us feel for a character who shuts people out. On top of that, Lee isn’t the most pleasant guy to get along with, often picking fights with random strangers just for looking at him. Despite his flaws, we still empathize with Lee, thanks to Affleck’s performance. Though he doesn’t show it, he still love his family and is willing to take care of his nephew. But he’s torn between his duty to care for Patrick and his desire to send him to another guardian so he can return to his reclusive life. Through his restrained performance, Affleck still brings out signs of emotions billowing inside of Lee, trying to get out. When someone tries to start a conversation with him, he politely tries to finish the conversation as quickly as possible. Like Patrick, you wish he would break out of his shell and try to connect with people, but he always disappoints you. What makes it sadder is seeing the man he once was. In the flashback scenes, Lee is a different person; a happy, social average joe who enjoys drinking with his buddies and playing with his children. But then he goes through a tragedy so traumatizing he’s unable to bring himself out of his psychological shell. Affleck was the frontrunner for winning this award, but some factors have derailed his success. First, there’s sexual harassment allegations made against him by I’m Not There co-workers. The Jury’s still out about whether he’s guilty, but it can still hurt his chances. The biggest factor working against him is Denzel Washington winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor; an award well known for its 90% accuracy in predicting the Best Actor Oscar. So, it looks like Denzel is the new frontrunner. Denzel seems to be taking roles less squeaky clean then his previous roles. His most recent roles include a paranoid drug kingpin in American Gangster, A manipulative fugitive in Safe House and a drug addicted pilot in Flight.[1] Now he portrays a bitter alcoholic, philandering father, a role he’s portrayed on Broadway[2]. The power of Denzel’s performance is best conveyed when Troy’s son Corey asks him “How come you never liked me.” Often shown in the trailers, this scene sums up Troy’s complicated relationship with his son. Troy doesn’t hide his contempt toward his son when he demands to know “what law is there saying I got to like you?” He reveals his need for dominance through his interrogation, insisting Corey always put “Sir” at the end of an answer. And yet, he also makes his sense of duty clear when he says he does it because it’s his duty as a father to take care of Troy. When he tells Corey to care more about whether he’s being treated right by others, Troy’s bringing in his experience coping with racism. There’s complex layers of character in these two minutes. I also admire the fact Denzel chose to make his character look pathetic. He puts on a few pounds to convey Troy having let himself go. He also never hides the fact he’s an unlikable cad who bullies his son and takes advantage of his wife. Though he makes his motivations understandable, Denzel never excuses Troy’s resentful behavior. It certainly doesn’t excuse his drinking or philandering. So, it looks like Denzel has a high chance of taking home the award, but his success isn’t 100% certain. This could be among the 10% chance the SAGS will get it wrong this year. BEST ACTRESS: – Isabelle Huppert as Michelle Leblanc, a ruthless video-game CEO seeking revenge on her mysterious rapist In ELLE – Ruth Negga as Mildred Loving, a real life timid housewife turned reluctant civil rights activist when her interracial marriage was taken to court In LOVING – Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy, the first lady as she copes with her husband’s assassination In JACKIE – Emma Stone as Mia, a struggling actress who falls for a failed jazz pianist In LA LA LAND – Meryl Streep As Florence Foster Jenkins, real life ailing socialite who achieved her dream of singing for Carnegie Hall, even though she’s one of the worst singers ever. In FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS Who Will Win? At first, it seemed like Natalie Portman would win a second-best actress Oscar for her play Jackie Kennedy. But two actresses have jumped ahead; Isabelle Huppert and Emma Stone. Though not a big name in North America, Huppert is an arthouse darling in home country of France. The most obsessed moviegoer will recognize her from such arthouse films as infamous flop Gates of Heaven, Best Foreign Language film winner Amour and The Piano Teacher, a role that earned her a best actress award at the Cannes film festival. Now she’s sure to get more mainstream attention with this performance. The film literally begins with Michelle being raped by a masked stranger. Actually, it begins with the image of Michelle’s cat watching Michelle being raped. The moment the rapist leaves, Michelle just cleans up the mess and moves on with her everyday life. When asked about her bruises, she claims they’re from a bike accident. She seems completely unaffected by the rape. Michelle is a rape victim who refuses to play the role of a rape victim. In fact, she is a very unsympathetic person. She’s a video game CEO who creates sexually violent video games. She’s very disrespectful to her co-workers, especially her business partner. She’s only slightly nicer to her friends. Though when you meet her mother, you can understand where she gets her attitude. You don’t feel any pity for her, and yet she remains engaging throughout the film. If anything, we’re more fascinated by her. Why does she go on with her everyday life? Does she know who the rapist is? Why is this guy still tormenting her? She is an enigma. But the more popular choice is Emma Stone. While Huppert many have won the Golden Globe award for best actress in a drama, Stone has won award after award for her performance, including the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy/musical. She’s not even thirty yet and she’s set to win her Oscar. Of the two romantic leads, Mia goes through the most hardship. While Sebastian battles for his artistic integrity, he still catches a couple breaks halfway through the film. Mia isn’t as lucky. Mia dreams of being a movie actress, but the odds are stacked against her. At audition, she’s competing against other actresses “prettier” than her. She finds herself reading for indifferent casting directors more focused on their cell phones than on her performance. The result is rejection after rejection. She’s fortunate to work at a coffee stop on a studio lot, but even the scheduling proves a problem when she gets notification of an immediate audition. She’s torn between the hope of achieving her dream and the doubt that asks if she should just quit and return home. This comes to a head when she hits a soul crushing low point. As they’ve already proven in Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have great chemistry together. They play off each other beautifully, creating a feeling of genuine love. During dance numbers, they manage to play off each other without ever saying one word. Speaking of dancing, while they aren’t exactly Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, these two are still graceful on their feet, whether they’re tapping on a LA road or waltzing across the night sky. But Stone truly signs in her solo number “Audition.” With a hushed tone, Mia starts out telling a story to some casting directors, but as the lights go out, she sings about the struggles dreamers go through to achieve their goals. She delivers a lot power through her subtle voice. When in doubt, go for the popular choice. So, Emma Stone it is. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: – Mahershala Ali as Juan, a soft-spoken drug dealer who becomes a reluctant father figure for Chiron In MOONLIGHT – Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton, an aging Texas Ranger investigating a series of bank robberies during the recession In HELL OR HIGH WATER – Lucas Hedges as Patrick Chandler, a teenager placed in the care of his ornery Uncle Lee In MANCHESTER BY THE SEA – Dev Patel as Saroo Brierley, a real life adopted son who begins an obsessive search for his biological family In LION – Michael Shannon as Officer Bobby Andes, a cancer stricken, hard-nosed cop who bends the law to give a father (Jake Gyllenhaal) a chance to avenge his family. In NOCTURAL ANIMALS Who Will Win? My drama teacher would always say “There are no small parts, just small actors.” No performance embodied this mantra more perfectly than Mahershala Ali’s in Moonlight. Though only onscreen for the first third of the film, Ali leaves an indelible impression on the audience. Going against the stereotypical drug dealer archetype, Juan seems like an everyday nice guy. When he checks up on fellow dealers, Ali portrays it more like he’s having a coffee break with friends. He is especially a gentleman towards Chiron, offering the boy some macaroni while he tries to find out where he lives. He is also very patient to the kid, who starts off too shy to even speak. He shows an excellent skill in his parenting, especially in a scene he teaches the boy to swim. In some time, he seems like the perfect role model for Chiron. At least, he would be if it weren’t for the fact he’s a drug dealer. This comes to a head when he finds Chiron’s mom Paula smoking crack one night. When he chastises her for it, she points out the drugs came from him, forcing him to confront the consequences of his trade on children. Ali brings a gentle power to his performance, creating an unforgettable character in Juan. You wish there were more scenes with Juan. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: – Viola Davis for FENCES As Rose, Troy’s loving, put upon wife – Naomie Harris for MOONLIGHT As Chiron’s drug addicted mother Paula – Nicole Kidman for LION As Sue Brierley, An Australian step mother who adopts who Indian boys – Octavia Spencer for HIDDEN FENCES As Dorothy Vaughan, a brilliant mathematician who led a team of African American women in assisting NASA with their first successful space launch. – Michelle Williams for MANCHESTER BY THE SEA As Randi Chandler, Lee’s ex-wife. In a powerful scene, she confesses her regrets to her ex-husband. Who Will Win? It’s Viola Davis all the way. As the film starts, Rose is a supportive wife and mother to Troy and Corey, respectively. Throughout the film, she tries to get Troy to let Corey accept the football scholarship, but Troy keeps refusing. It’s clear she loves Troy, but as the film progresses, she reveals her weariness of putting up with his surly attitude toward life. She tries to get Troy to let Corey accept the football scholarship, but to no avail. Davis’s really gets her chance to shine when Troy reveals a devastating revelation to Rose. Seeing her struggle to restrain herself in front of guests is devastating. The moment they are alone, she finally lets him have it. When Troy complains about staying in the same place for 18 years, Rose counters with “Well, I’ve been standing with you. I’ve been giving 18 years of my life to stand in the same spot of you.” She tearfully calls Troy out for never taking her feelings into consideration, demanding to know “Don’t you think I have a life? Don’t you think I have dreams?” Just this scene is enough to get her the Oscar. She also has an excellent scene in the end which I won’t give away. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it. You can see why Davis won the Tony award for portraying the same role on stage. She’s guaranteed to have this Oscar to place between her Tony and her Emmy win for How to Get Away with Murder. [3] [1] For which he was also nominated for Best Actor. [2] And won a Tony award for. [3] If only she had a singing career, then she’d probably win a Grammy and become a member of EGOT.