#its amazing how much an extra set of lines adds to the robot feel

[umblrspectrum]

give a woman psychic robo powers and obviously shes gonna use it for petty shit

[keerishima]

HELLO! I saw you were a new blog that needed requests and I was wondering if you could write head-canons for todoroki, bakugou, and kiri (separately) with a s/o that has a witchcraft quirk? TY

well hi! thank you for the request, it was so cool to write! now i’m assuming you mean like a quirk that works like potions and herbs/crystals and spirit summoning and spells which is the road i’m taking i hope that’s okay?

now this boy is

excited

when he first saw the mist swirling around your fingers as you fought the robots in the UA exam, a shock went through his body

what was that? 

okay he didn’t mean to stare- considering he was in the middle of an exam- but the way you moved and the glints of a crystals around your body was just so cool

time passed and he got closer to you, during the dorm competition your room was the only room he wanted to see and boy did he love it

the green ivy and plants in your room, the pots and white smoke curling from diffusers and shelves full of powder and inks organised in a neat row

your room felt like a whole new world- like magic

literally after everyone had left he was still in your room looking around like a meerkat assessing it’s surroundings

fast forward; you guys are dating and he was VERY curious as to how your quirk worked, and you explained how your spells and energy came from the crystals and jewels

each crystal gave you a different energy, which converted to your power!

kirishima literally watched in awe as you pointed at all the different coloured gems and jewels and the symbols on your walls

he even asked to touch some of them and asked where you got them

he also asked to see them in battle, and asked if you had any similar to his own quirk!

the both of you engaged in LOTS of different mock battles, which almost always ended up in a play fight rather than real training- just because he ends up enjoying watching you use your quirk too much to actually focus

once you two had engaged in a long, breathless make out session against one of the walls- what can I say? you wanted to see what it felt like to kiss kirishima in his red riot form and have him melt back to normal under your touch

yeahh...it was a bad idea to do that in the school gym, where half of class 1-B caught you two mushed together against a wall

back to the hc!

he asks SO many questions

sometimes just sits on your bed for ages and asks one after the other after the other, to the point where aizawa has to come and send him back to his side of the dorm

let me tell you now: if you are 1) planning to get anything or 2) NEED anything, don’t let him find out

you once let it slip that you were considering getting pouches to carry these crystals, and the sweet, sweet boy went out and bought BUCKETS of bags

yes buckets because he didn’t know if your crystals would be affected by material or size of the bag or- god forbid what if it did and he ruined your quirk in battle?! 

he’d never forgive himself.

ever.

like literally he’d be on his knees ready for punishment of how you saw fit because of his mistake

what can i say? the boys dramatic

but its endearing :,)

it ended up being the cutest date of you cuddled up on his bed wrapped in his blankets like you were drowning in them,

whilst he sat on the floor, presenting each little bag and pouch to you, all teleshopping style.

‘and THIS 🤩 gorgeous article comes with not just 1😱! not just 2 😱! but THREE 🤯🥵🥳🥳 buttons to clip close to ensure a tight, secure hold of your 😏 special package’

yeah he made a sleazy face

yeah you threw a plushy at him

all of them were bought with your costume in mind and how could you not keep some of the bags? with kirishima watching you with the biggest eyes and slightly-pouting-lips-but-he-would-never-admit-it there was no way you didn’t keep the most useful ones

you asked him to return the extra bags so he wouldn’t have wasted his money, whilst you repaid his kindness with lots and lots of kisses and cuddles

;) or more depending on how you want it

todoroki is uhh...

emotionally constipated

but thats not his fault

#fuckendeavour

sometimes it comes off that he’s not interested in your quirk in a general sense, but it’s only because he doesn’t know how to ask without seeming pushy

he gets shy (but doesn’t show it) but with time that decreases to a sort of dry affection

i’m not saying he’s a dry boyfriend but he definitely isn't as spritely as someone like Denki might be

the way you’d see that he wanted to know more was if he asked you to come and fight with him, train with him and study

this is where he asked about your quirk

he didn’t ask to the extent of kirishima, who said everything that came to mind, he asked precise questions that gave him all the information he was desperate to know because you are so cool it makes his heart burn needed

and he also knew you would add more information as you explained, which he loved because he loved hearing you talk so passionately

this time your quirk allowed you to control people to an extent, depending on different plants and herbs you used

the plants each had a special line, muttered as you dropped the herbs anywhere on your opponent for it to activate

best believe todoroki asked for one to knock endeavour out, literally out of nowhere💀

once, one night you had been laying on your bed, and todoroki had popped over to see you. it was still quite early on in your relationship so you weren’t expecting him to cuddle up beside you and tuck into your smaller body, chin hooked onto your shoulder whilst his eyes bore into yours from below todoroki loves eye contact

‘Do your plants have meanings?’

that’s it, that’s all he softly whispered in your ear

‘What do you mean?’ You whispered back

‘Like...like roses mean love...do your herbs have a meaning linked to what they do?’

okay now he was blushing, very gently because he didn’t want to annoy you, or ask you a question you’d never thought of and make you feel silly or insecure about his quirk

YOU on the other hand were smothering a dopey grin. you knew your boyfriend and his boundaries, and you knew that him asking you in such an intimate setting meant he was trying hard for you

you also knew that he’d just given you free reign to ramble however you saw fit

so you explained, how each herb did this, how if you mixed them they did that, if you made a liquid infused with them it helped with your application in battle and so much more

todoroki listened silently, but his eyes were gleaming

literally glowing in the darkness- I mean was that even possible? it had to have been considering how todoroki looked at you that night

after you were done, he replied with a similar thing about his own quirk, and both of you had a long long chat that went from quirks, to schooling, to life, to aliens and more

todoroki had the weirdest humour, he never knew he was being funny until your quiet giggles morphed into full blown laughter- and caused a knock from the next room over because you were being too loud

he would let out his own little chuckles and smirks, seeing you enjoy his company so much

it was a while after that day when something new happened

you’d sent him a message, whilst he was sitting right next to you, and your contact name flashed on his screen suddenly, catching your eye

‘my calendula’

you looked at todoroki

todoroki looked at you

you both blinked

‘calendula?’ you asked

‘yes’ todoroki replied

‘why calendula?’

‘because,’ todoroki blushed deeply, eyes flickering away from yours

‘because you said calendula means joy...you’re my joy. arent you?’

and god help anyone who tries to say you aren’t todoroki’s joy

because you would literally throw them to the ground

your heart soared at how todoroki loved you and your quirk so much

even though it wasn’t blatantly obvious, it was the little things he did for you 😍

he originally going to call you his basil until Bakugou came round behind him asking him if he was writing the dorms grocery list. safe to say that plan was aborted immediately :D

oho

sorry I just

*pfft*

bakugo amuses me, he really does he’s so entertaining

okay sorry back to the headcanon

I headcanon you’re REALLY strong

like STUPID strong

Remember bakugos reactions to all the students quirks and he was like ‘shit I cant beat them 😨’

And his reaction to todoroki? yeah he’d literally see you use your quirk and just

no I’m joking

but I feel like as your s/o he’d be super obsessed with your quirk

he’d always want to train with you, he’d see it as an amazing part of you that he wants to help hone so you can be the best of the best

not better than him obviously but the best anyway

not that he’d SHOW all of this awe and pride to you, it’s normally delivered in a bunch of bakugo sentences:

‘oi your form is shit. do this instead.’

that means he’s realised a new way you can throw this punch, with much more force

‘tch, go train. you need the training.’

he wants to train with you. again.

‘....finally. took you long enough to learn that.’

you’ve just done something successfully and he’s trying so hard not to blush at how well you did it.

here your power is more destructive

you can create sigils using a your finger in the air and they create attack power

this with bakugos quirk makes a formidable duo, and if he doesn’t get partnered with you he will most likely throw a fit

but not a long fit more of a like ‘oi why is she over there we work better together’

but he realises as heroes you need to work well with anyone you meet, so he’s not too fussy

because of the fact that you draw the sigils, you have a habit of tracing out patterns and new symbols and any sort of designs subconsciously

this is done normally on any part of your skin, with a pen

bakugo being old man bakugo 🙄 got mad at you

he told you off for almost giving yourself ink poisoning and ruining your hand and making it all dirty drama queen

but throughout all of this bakugo had been clutching your hand, and best believe he wasn’t letting go

he used the hand he was holding to pull you along and sit comfortably, dropping his own palm into your lap and mumbling something that kind of, sort of, might have been along the lines of ‘use my arm dumbass’

now you had bakugos arm to scribble on to your hearts content.

you used this when you were stressed, worried that your nerves were causing you to forget things or simply because you wanted to hold bakugo close

in fact, bakugo himself had adopted this habit, and you’ll notice I said arm instead of hand

bakugo got nervous around you, and therefore sweaty, which therefore lead to tiny little explosions in his palms when you were near

but this habit had started to make him feel comfortable with his hands around you, it made him trust himself more

he knew his power was strong and he didn’t want to hurt you, your quirk was something that helped him with that

and he wouldn’t tell you that but he was grateful. VERY grateful

he once asked why you used pen, and not your finger on your skin considering the pen ink is toxic

you answered very quickly, by pulling out a sheet of people and sliding your finger across the surface in a sigil shape

promptly the paper burnt into a cinder :)

and bakugo never asked again

and that is the end! I hope you liked it and I did the idea of Witchcraft justice 😅 please do send some more requests!

god I loved this so much they’re all so cute :,) thank you for this request!!

[stlplaybox]

Top 10 Transformers of 2019 - Part 1

If you’ve been following, it’s been two years since my last one of these. Technically more given that we’re now deep past the winter of 2020. But end of year lists have a wistful character. They keep ajar a casual window into that tricky thing that is memory lane. They crystallise memories, feelings and journeys into something that attempts to qualify and quantify the experiences of some arbitrary tract of time in our lives. When life comes faster at you with each passing season, where each year seems faster than the last, lists offer some solace, some sense of growth, some recognition of where we’ve come from. 

I guess that’s why despite 2019 seeming so distant, I’ve persisted with making this list of my top 10 Transformers of 2019. There is something different this year though. Something I’ve been plugging away at for awhile now. This year I bring together my nerdy side with my collecting and underpin it with a Transformers scoring system. Yes, I’ve developed and calibrated a scoring system for Transformers. Why you ask? Well the easy answer is I’m a data person and I like to frame the way I look and understand the world through code and data.

The longer answer is I like to understand myself, understand why I collect and like what I like. With so much available these days, it’s easy to lose track of what really resonates with us, chasing that new shiny thing, that new experience, and quickly forget why we’re buying what we buy. This scoring system is my attempt to track this and quantify not just what I have purchased but also what I purchase going forward. So this year, you’ll see me provide two scores. My “weighted”  / subjective score and an ”objective” score in brackets. Both are out of 100.  

Where does this difference come from? In designing my system I recognised that how we value things differ from person to person. For instance some people place high emphasis on transformation and handling while others adore articulation and sculpt. So my scoring system attempts to factor this in by providing a “weighted” score to reflect my personal subjective leanings. The objective score is how it ranks objectively on each of the metrics scored. So that’s some context but I won’t bore you with too many more details. If there’s enough interest, I’ll write more about it sometime. But I will say this scoring system is great as I already what my top 10 for 2020 is at this stage!

A part of me was going to separate the list into transforming and non-transforming toys but I decided against it. They’re all Transformers in the end, it’s the reason we buy them. Whether its a plushie, a statue or articulated action figure they all have their merits.

One last note is I’ve also added to each figure a section called “a moment” where I try to capture a moment of where I was, how I felt when experiencing this figure. I spend a lot of time with these figures behind the camera and posing them, often in lovely natural places where I’m reflecting on a lot of things about the world, life and whatnot. There’s a range of feelings that come with that and for me that’s part of what collecting is about, the emotions these figures stir in you.

So without further ado, let’s roll out!

Honorable Mentions:

MP-44: Convoy

Weighted Score: 89.0% (88%)

Why: While its where my love for Transformers comes from, G1 is no longer where my collecting heart lies. The price, the over-engineering, and QC issues… there were a lot of reasons I didn’t want to buy this. But we lost a dear member of our community @TCracker/@hirohitokusanagi last year and this was a figure he was desperately trying to hold on for. That he couldn’t made this something I felt I had to experience. Even more so as I struggled with my own battle with cancer. This figure is a good figure but sometimes we buy things and they mean more because of the people we’ve met along the way. Simon brought so many sparks of joy with his photography and the opportunity to dedicate a shoot to him was the best way I could honour him. Whenever I shoot this figure, I think of Simon and am grateful for the inspiration he provided and his contribution to our community.

The Moment: It was early spring when this figure arrived. We were due in NZ the day after and I was in a horribly weakened state after my sixth round of chemo. But I hobbled the 2km to my post office to pick it up and shoot it that sunset. My process is to normally spend time experiencing a figure before trying to transform and photograph at sunset as its a small window of 20-30 minutes at best. But I knew time was against me and that with a few weeks in NZ it’d really bother me not being able to have a crack at it given how much it meant to me. So in the days preceding that day, I’d watched video after video of the transformation. I started sunset with the video on the big screen TV in case I needed to refer to it. It was one of my most intense shoots of the year and a lot of that pressure self-imposed. But emotionally, it was one of the most fulfilling.

Iron Factory Blue Flash

Weighted Score: 89.5% (86.7%)

Why: The only thing I owned of Bluestreak as a kid was a jigsaw puzzle. In it he was depicted in this sleek and flashy blue. From that moment, I’d always dreamt of owning an awesome blue Bluestreak. And despite happily owning the Masterpiece and Collector Club version, this was the one for me as it combined that essence with a neo-G1 design.     

Moment: Sitting by our local waterfall not long after I’d been diagnosed with cancer it was quite emotional. I remember staring blankly at it and not starting the shoot as the water cascaded in the background. Thinking about that puzzle, the life I’d led in primary school and how far I’d come. 

With that let’s get into slots 10-6!

10. Amazing Yamaguchi N-14: Optimus Prime 

Weighted Score: 90.1% (86.9%)

Why: Expressiveness is an area that’s increasing at the top of my want list for a figure and this has it in spades. Between the different hands, the stellar ab crunch and butterfly shoulder, it maximises its pure action figure focus to give us a figure that’s so much fun to pose with emotion. It’s really one torso swivel away from greatness.  

Moment: The moment comes from this year where I combined a shoot with Siege Omega in base mode where it captured all the emotion of leaving your home, being unable to stay because you need to seek refuge elsewhere. Something that I think that’s understated about Transformers is that they’re refugees and that shot really captured the weight of emotion of having to leave. 

9. Master Made SDT-06: Overlord

Weighted Score: 90.5% (90%)

Why: For as long as I’ve been doing these lists, there’s not a year I remember when Master Made did not make an entry. They continue to put out some of the most beautifully engineered and fun figures on the market and Overlord was no exception. The sharp edges of the jet half combined with the bulk of the tank are top notch. Add the extra non super-deformed head so that one can use it with Iron Factory legends and combine that with their neo-G1 take on it, this thing hits all the right spots.  

The Moment: I remember setting in for sunset in late autumn with the jet mode on an evening after I’d come home after bouncing in and out of hospital as they hadn’t been able to work out what was going on with my body other than it was failing. This sense of soaring as I photographed him was something that put a smile on my face in that moment of uncertainty.

8. TLK Hot Rod (Unique Toys K-03 La Hire)

Weighted Score: 90.7% (98%)

Why: This is the first figure where I want to talk about the difference in the weighted score and the objective score. This figure is objectively one of the best Transformers in my collection at 98/100. It scores so high across articulation, engineering, handling, aesthetic, paint job that it actually is the highest scoring figure in 2019. However it gets brought down because of one thing: connection. I gave up on watching the Bayverse movies as I just weren’t enjoying them anymore and so as great as this figure is, that’s why it ends up scaling down to 90.7. Maybe if it had more elements of G1 Hot Rod I’d have connected with it despite not seeing the movies but that’s not to be. With that, you’re right to guess that one of my strong subjective weightings is “connection“.    

Moment: It was a warm morning in September last year when I got this figure. I was sitting on the balcony with my partner and feeling awful as it was not long after a round of chemo but I remember repeatedly going “wow”, “holy crap”, “wow” as I step by step learnt all the nuances of this beautiful figure. 

7. Cross Dimension Metallic Optimus Prime (MTCD-01P Striker Manus)

Weighted Score: 90.8% (88%)

Why: The Cross Dimensions line epitomises everything I love and want from Transformers. Fresh designs that take from various parts of the expansive TF universe without being slavish to any particular part. Despite already owning the first iteration of this figure, the dark metallic red, golds and blue elevate what was already a great figure way ahead of its time. Add the extra weapons pack all tinged with orange translucent highlights and you have yourself an absolute winner.

Moment: The joy of having him wield the translucent axe was magical. While the smokestack axes look nice, they don’t pack that same punch. I spent many hours in front of the TV posing him over and over.   

6. MMC Senator Ratbat (R-42 Ultio)

Weighted Score: 91.3% (90.7%)

Why: Since Takara did the Senator Ratbat in the TG line all those years back from the United Scourge mould, I’ve loved the idea of a Cybertronian Ratbat and boy did MMC deliver. If you’d ask me whether they could’ve done it from the Stray mould I’d have laughed but its executed so perfectly and keeps a lot of the great engineering and articulation present in the core Stray design while adding the wings that double as a cape in robot mode and pincers in alt mode. It’s a menacingly alt mode and that purple is just fine.

Moment: I’d had the figure for a little while and was itching to shoot it but between treatment and friends who were visiting it took awhile for me to get to it before and when I did I was thwarted by many boring sunsets. It took me almost a whole week where the days would be fine but then offer not that much by the way of an interesting sunsets. But when I got the chance, I loved shooting that alt mode from all of its glorious angles. I remember finishing and feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment. Things were looking up, I was a healthier, a bit stronger, and fortunate enough to have a great friend come visit.

That rounds out the first half of my top 10 list. Join me back in a few days when we work through the top five and I make some other interesting data driven observations about my collection in 2019. 

[kitsloading305]

Gta 5 Online Free Download Mac

Here in this article, I will show you how to download and install GTA 5 for free for Windows PC or Mac. Video game designer company Rockstar Games has amazed its audience since 1997 with its fantastic games.One of its best and most popular games is Grand Theft Auto, known colloquially as GTA.

The official home of Rockstar Games. To view this page, please enter your birthday.

Gta 5 online, free download Mac

Gta 5 online, free download Rockstar

Gta 5 online, free download Mac

About grand theft auto 5 (mac & pc) The Grand Theft Auto V action on PC, PS4, etc. Takes place in the big open city of Los Santos, in which three unusual characters lead a dangerous life. The robotic witnesses’ protection program was robber Michael, who leads a quiet life to the day when he covers his wife on betrayal with a tennis instructor.

Grand Theft Auto V for system MAC OS X

Rockstar Games surprised us once again when they decided to release their newest creation on other platforms than consoles. However, PC players as hence Macintosh users had to wait more than a year to be able play one of the best sandboxes actions on the market. Even though there were plenty ofand releases that could be used on PC computers, no one has decided to create version for other platforms, therefore we made up our mind and created Grand theft auto v mac download. If you want to know how we managed to do this, feel free to read the article!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gameplay Grand Theft Auto V Mac

Grand Theft Auto V (in short GTA V) was released in 2013 but PC and MAC users couldn’t play it until April 2015. title for sureall over the world has been significantly changed. Graphics, audiowell as gameplay was improved and almost every aspect in the game is completely different from versions on 6th generation consoles. People were asking PC release, but we noticed that a lot of players have got Macintosh platforms. And the worst thing is that no one really cares about them. However, www.gameosx.com cares, therefore we upload for you possibility to get Grand theft auto v mac download without any payments! That’s right. You can test this game, see if this is something for you and then decide whether you want to support developers or not!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

GTA 5 MAC Download

All you have to do in order to get our installer is click one of the links provided below, prove you are human being and enjoy easy installing process! It has never been so easy! Full version of the game with all options and functions like in the original is now available on our website. Get GTA V Mac Download and tell your friends about it!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

How to Download and install Grand Theft Auto 5 MAC Free

Follow the instructions bellow – this is a very simple, fast and primarily free.

Click the button above “Download for free now!”

You start the installer game Grand Theft Auto V

Accept User License Agreement and choose path installation

The installer will download all necessary files.

During the download you need to activate your version of the game a special code – Download individual activation key

Enter the code in right place – will complete the download and install the game

PLAY!

Insurgency MAC Download – Free Insurgency for MAC OS X

Insurgency Mac Download for system MAC OS X Insurgency Mac Download is for everyone.

God of War MAC Download – Free God of War for MAC OS X

God of War Mac Download for system MAC OS X God of War Mac

Well, the Grand theft auto series from Rockstar Games is probably the best action game that is prevalent in the gaming community. That means that all the games released by Rockstar under the Grand theft auto series AKA GTA phenomenally paved way for much more action games to e released by Rockstar. The best to date is GTA vice city which is the next version to GTA III.

GTA vice city was regarded by many in the gaming community with improved gaming features and more details in terms of features and 3-D models. The GTA vice city is also one of the most played games with the highest selling market with its release and most grossing downloads over the internet to date.

License Full Version

File Size 1.37GB

OS Mac OS

Developer Rockstar Games

Overview

GTA Vice City is based on a continuous story-line that constitutes pretty much all of the missions that the players play in the game to finish it. The story is set in the imaginary city of Vice City, that is known for all kind of crimes and vice. The story revolves around the life of Tommy Vercetti, who is out of jail and lands at the vice city on the orders of his boss. The story slowly advances into favors and missions across the whole map of vice city. The interesting fact about the vice city is the aesthetic detailing of 3-D models that help the player to move around in the world of Vice City.

There are properties that the player can acquire with the money that he gets from completing bonus missions and rampage missions that are scattered across the city. the free open world of Vice city gives you a lot of space to roam around and explore the nook and corner of the city. the player can also complete a set of free errands like driving a fire truck and also an ambulance to earn some extra dough to acquire more properties.

Some of the features that made the game a hit in the gaming community include;

1. More Depth to detailing

Compared to its counterpart, GTA vice city had an improved detailing effect on the various elements that were present in the game. There were also improvements in the game in terms of detailing the vehicles, buildings and the characters that are present throughout the game.

The detailing effects greatly influenced the overall gameplay of the game leading to a more engaging gaming experience. since the framework of the game was built on very simple software it was also light on the hard disk space compared to all other highly detailed open-world games released at that time.

2. Interesting Gameplay

The gameplay that was induced within the game was much more interesting and challenging on the whole. The missions were a little standard and needed a dedicated amount of concentration to clear missions. There are also various elements in the game that would make certain missions of the game even more tough to crack.

There are also increased difficulty with each mission which attracted a huge audience in the gaming community to play the game thereby increasing the popularity of the game and increasing the expectations of the Grand theft auto Franchise.

3. Well-defined storyline

Most of the open-world games that were released during the release of GTA vice city were more intricate and baseless. The missions were never interlinked and the story flow was as randomized as it can get. The storyline of GTA vice city, however, was more detailed and intense that made the gameplay even more engaging and fun. The storyline was well thought through and the detailing given to each of the elements present in the game made it even more interesting.

The presentation of the game was much different from the regular damped gameplay from other games. There are also various instances where there is more organization to the elements of the game making it a huge crowd gathered.

4. The free-world advantage

The limitations in the game are very limited in the game and the feeling of playing a free world game can be felt in every frame of the game except for a few exceptions. There is a ton load of things that can be discovered within the game making it even more enthralling to play. The open-world game offers enough doses of violence and various other elements that make up a gangster life. There are also a ton a lot of other elements as well like riding bikes, cars, flying helicopters, riding limousines and boats that adds up to all the gaming experience.

System Requirements for running GTA Vice City with Mac OS

Processor: Intel core 2 duo processor.

Memory on RAM: 1GB.

Hard disk drive space: 9 GB (during installation) and 6GB (during processing).

Supported operating systems: Mac OS X 10.5.8 and Snow leopard 10.6.2.

Graphic chips: NVIDIA 7300 GT, Intel X3100 or ATIX1600 graphics chip.

File size: 1.3GB.

Download GTA vice city for Mac system for free

The installer for Mac systems for installing GTA vice city can be accessed by clicking the link below. Older versions of the Macintosh systems don’t support GTA vice city. make sure that the minimum requirements of the systems are taken care of before installation.

Download GTA Vice City for Mac OS Full Version for Free - ISORIVER

The best to date is GTA vice city which is the next version to GTA III. The GTA vice city is also one of the most played games with the highest selling market with its release and most grossing downloads over the internet to date.

Gta 5 online, free download Rockstar

Price Currency: USD

Operating System: Mac OS

Application Category: Games

[badmcuposts]

A New Favorite Thing

No warnings

Good ole irondad and spiderson as suggested by @dantedeletes

Set like, a week or two after Civil War this is very very very early in their relationship.

Tony wants to learn how this slightly annoying snot-nosed kid from queens manufactured webbing that a genius billionaire can’t replicate for the life of him. In the end, he learns the slightly-annoying-snot-nosed-kid-from-queens is actually a miniature version of himself, and decides to keep him.

-

All Tony wanted was to find out how the kid designed that stupid webbing.

He had spent five-no-six days holed up in the lab over this, and nothing. Pep was getting concerned, rightfully so, that he hadn’t just asked Peter to show him. But how was he supposed to do that? ‘Oh hey buddy can you teach me how to do the thing i have multiple phds in because you’re smarter than me at 12?’ The whole thing was god awful embarrassing.

Which would be exactly the reason as to why Tony was about to burn the whole tower down if she pulled something like this again. Inviting the kid herself like she owned the place. Well, she did, but that wasn’t the point of it all. He didn’t even know what to do with an annoying little kid!

It wasn’t that Tony didn’t trust Peter in his lab. He had seen the kid’s grades. It was more or less worrying about what he was supposed to do in the highly unlikely event that the kid wasn’t as trustworthy as he seemed. If they got in there and Peter couldn’t hold his own, he would be at a total loss to keep control in the lab. There were so many questions, so many worries in case something went wrong.

Was he even old enough for the energy drinks? What else was in the minifridge up in the lab? Bagels? Did he like bagels? What if Peter got scared up in the workshop? Would he fit into Tony’s spare safety goggles? What if he didn’t like the way the workshop was organized? What if Peter didn’t want to be around Tony after this and got himself hurt?

And this would be why Tony really hadn’t contacted Peter, huh? His own insecurity about how he was supposed to continue on with his relationship with a something-year-old child after no doubt traumatizing the poor thing in a battle and then embarrassing him via benching halfway through.

He’d read the countless articles in old newspapers, seen the police files involving the kid. The Parker boy was a ticking time bomb, no doubt about it. If Tony didn’t keep him in line and make sure not to hurt him any more, those special abilities might turn into weapons of mass destruction. And he really didn’t want to start planning for the kid to go to the dark side.

But, it was time to man up and face the music. Or, rather, the child standing three feet away with the most worn duffle bag to ever grace the eyes of someone with the Stark name. Tony gently smiled, raising his hand for a polite shake that Peter took with innocent eagerness and aptitude. God, this kid is definitely gonna break something up there.

“Peter, nice of you to join me. I’d love to talk a bit about that webbing we discussed before.”

Peter’s smile faltered a little, but returned within the second.

“Yeah, Miss Potts said to bring my stuff. Though, if you wanna do me a favor, let’s not break any of it. Technically, I’m borrowing it from the school labs.”

“You don’t have your own equipment?”

Tony was honestly shocked. Where had Peter been making all of this? He couldn’t have been using public school half-ass production level equipment this whole time, could he?

“No, sir. I just make the web fluid during chemistry when the teacher turns around.”

Well, that answers that question. How smart was this kid? A few years of straight As indicated intelligence but, at this rate, shouldn’t he have skipped a few grades?

“Well then, looks like it’s time to get down to business, isn’t it?”

Peter’s breathing managed to begin to replicate the tune of “I’ll Make a Man Out Of You”. This kid...

“Yessir.”

And as they reached the elevator, Friday automatically carrying the pair of nerds to floor 79, Tony finally said it.

“Stop calling me sir, you make me feel older every time you speak than most people do when they remind me that my father was young and spry in the smack dab middle of World War Two.”

“Only if you start referring to this stuff as “web fluid”, Mr. Stark. It’s very important to repect scientific nomenclature in the form given by the original scientist.” “How much of that was a the answer to a science class pretest?” “The whole thing.”

Fair enough, you little-

The elevator came to a halt (smoothly, of course. It’s stark tech) at the workshop. Luckily for Tony, he had plenty of extra space so Peter would feel comfortable. He pointed to a desk a few feet from his own and briefly stated “Set your gear up over there, tell me what chemicals you need.”

Peter, however, didn’t seem to willing to let his host take the lead.

“Oh no, sir, I brought my own stuff. Midtown is loaded with spare bottles. They won’t notice.”

Two could play at that game, couldn’t they? Well, there was always one way to find out.

“Yeah, and you’re gonna leave them in the bag and put them back tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow’s saturday.”

“Monday, whatever. My cabinet has a billion variations of every science-related doohickey known to man and it could use some more use. No point wasting all the money that school probably spends with the intent of it being used in class, huh? And what did I say about calling me sir?”

“Sorry, sir.”

The kid was smirking. What did Tony do to deserve such cruel treatment from the universe?

Peter tossed his bag onto the desk with enough force to make any non-enhanced teenager look like they were about to throw a tantrum. But, Peter merely glanced at his hands, sighed, and checked that none of the gear had gotten damaged.

Right, super kid. Not a normal intern. Not an intern at all, technically. Unless...

Nope. Later, Tones.

Tony quickly assisted in the set-up, hoping he could rush this and memorize the formula as quickly as inhumanly possible. And that’s when he noticed, Peter’s notes were in the back of his chemistry notebook. How in pointbreak’s name had nobody figured this kid out yet?

Pushing his lack of faith in humanity and all of its company, Tony unlocked the cabinet of infinite chemicals.

“Alright can you grab me some... uhhhhh.... Salicylic Acid, Touline, Methanol, Carbon Tetrachloride, H-Heptane, Potassium Carbonate, Ethyl Acetate, Hexate, BHA, Sodium Tetraborate, and why not just jump the gun and grab the Cactivator Activated Silica Gel now instead of waiting until later?”

Jesus christ this might as well be a liquid bomb with how little he trusts a child with any of these products. Especially silica gel. Don’t kids get high off of that stuff? No, no, Tony, be a good mentor-figure-thing. Now was the time to let the kid have a little room to make mistakes. Let him blow up the lab now instead of later. Sounds responsible.

“Gotcha, Wiz Kid.”

“First off, if I was a sim, my childhood aspiration would be Rambunctious Scamp.”

Tony deadpanned at Peter for another three minutes and twelve seconds before finally responding.

“I literally have no idea what you are talking about, ever.”

Well, ain’t that the truth. However, if Tony was being honest with himself, a little back and forth did wonders to calm his nerves. Maybe the kid wasn’t all too frightening. More like a kitten in the freezing rain.

“What’s next?”

Peter grabbed the worn notebook and examined the page closely.

“Uhhhh, now we add activator degas for 30 minutes, I think. Or is it 45? Wait a sec, I’ll find it somewhere in my notes.”

“You don’t have it memorized?”

“Well, usually I don’t have an audience.”

“Touché.”

Time continued on like that for the next half hour. Back and forth, quip after quip, each remark from the thir-fif-twe-si-fourteen year old “August 10th, 2001, the day the world wishes had never happened. No, it’s a joke Mr. Stark. More of a gen z kind of thing.” reminding Tony of himself. Perhaps, in another world, he could have been as amazing as Peter Parker was proving to be.

He even introduced Peter to the bots, who immediately decided they had a new brother to play with and went hog wild trying to play ball with the kid who was far more interested in marveling at their hotwiring. To Tony, their designs were juvenile and messy. However, to the teenaged dumpster diver next to him, they were beautiful.

And once time slowed, they finally went back to work.

“Now we need to heat it, slowly! Don’t hurt my baby, Mr. Stark!”

“Your baby?”

“You literally just called a little robot your baby but I’m the weird one, ok.”

“Dum-E has artificial feelings, your super glue wouldn’t care if you magically turned to ash.”

Ok, too far. But the kid took it as a joke, no doubt. He snorted the whole way through his laugh. Snorted.

“How slowly is this supposed to be anyway?”

“For the next 24 hours.”

“24 HOURS? What are we supposed to do until then?”

“I dunno. I can swing over tomorrow and we can finish it up then.”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good.”

Tony helped Peter load his equipment back up, hoping the kid wouldn’t get caught stealing school property.

“Heck, maybe make it a tradition. Lab days until one of us explodes from too much science.”

And Tony smiled. The brightest, most genuine smile he had ever given in his lifetime.

“You got it, kiddo.”

Yeah, Lab days.

He could get behind that.

It might just be his new favorite thing.

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews 22: Studio Series 33 Bonecrusher

I was actually kind of torn on last week’s review. While it just makes sense to pair Optimus and Megatron together, the fact is that there was an official partner figure for Studio Series 32 Optimus Prime, and Megatron wasn’t it. Still, Megatron ultimately won out. But today, we review the other figure I considered that week, Studio Series Bonecrusher.

Vehicle Mode

As in the film, Bonecrusher transforms into a Buffalo MPV (mine protected vehicle), and he does an impressive job recreating the vehicle. The vents on the sides, the hatches and lights on the roof, the ladder and guardrails on the rear, even the transformation hinges on the sides are done to look like parts of the actual vehicle. Not every detail is an exact match, but it’s still very obvious what he’s supposed to be. He even has suspension molded into the bottom! That said, it’s not the cleanest vehicle mode I’ve seen. Not only does are his legs visible on the underside, but his hands are visible on the rear. I can see how it would be difficult to hide them and still have him transform the same way, but it is still unfortunate, and I’m sure something could be figured out.

Of course, the highlight here is the giant minesweeper claw. Just like in the movie, it is oversized compared to the claw on the actual vehicle, which does make it look a lot cooler. The arm itself has a lot of molded in pistons and cables, which is nice, and of course, is also articulated. It’s hinged in three places, can swivel at the second joint, and can sweep side to side. While not a perfect match for the articulation on the real thing, you can get a lot of the same positions out of it, and recreate scenes from the movie with some of your car Transformers.

In terms of color, he uses the standard tan color of the Buffalo, with some black paint on the mudflaps and blue for the windows. His headlights and roof lights are picked out in silver, the rims are painted in tan, and the claw part itself is molded in metallic gray. That’s pretty much it for coloration: the Buffalo is a rather plain vehicle after all. Still, the level of molded detail is more than impressive enough for me to accept this.

Conversion

Bonecrusher is a beast to transform the first time around, but over time and with practice, I managed to find a rough order of operations that can work for me. I like how the hip joints are mounted to the spare tires, though that does make things awkward when going back into vehicle mode due to the angles involved. I like how very little of the vehicle bulk is wasted here: the arms form the cab, the legs form the rear chassis, and the torso forms the front chassis. The only piece that I could call kibble is the hood section, which hangs off the back and over his head. Aside from that, it comes out to be a complex yet clean process that yields a staggering visual change.

Robot Mode

In robot mode, Bonecrusher is almost dead on the money for his movie aesthetic. The only concessions I can find are purely for the sake of the vehicle mode, like the blockier arms or the front end over his head. Aside from that, all of his proportions are here, as are all the major details like the wheels inside his foot-claws, and of course the claw on his back. I’m a really big fan of this head sculpt. Bonecrusher’s head in the movie was very unique, and the molding here matches it to a tee. Deco-wise, he retains the same base tan color, but now a lot more of the gray and silver is exposed. I think it works really well, since it adds to the visual transformation while still retaining the vehicle identity.

Let’s move onto articulation. Bonecrusher’s neck is on a ball joint, but it’s deep set and mounted horizontally, so you can only really use it to tilt his head quizzically. To compensate for this, the ball joint stem is on a hinge, which gives it limited looking range. His shoulders are on universal joints, with an extra transformation hinge that can be used for extra outward range. He has bicep swivels and elbow joints, but the way its jointed compared to his hands means he can only really do barbell curls. On the plus side, his claws can open and close, as well as angle side to side. No waist joint, but he does have universal hips, thigh swivels, 90 degree knees, and what I’m assuming is supposed to be an ankle tilt, though his front toe doesn’t move with the rest of the foot.

While Studio Series isn’t a particularly gimmick-laden line, Bonecrusher does have some extra features here. Of course, there’s the claw, which lacks the gear mechanism of his Deluxe toy, but is still fully articulated. You can have it resting on his back, or flip it around to sit over his head, or even grab onto something with it... though it has no grip, so lifting poses may require extra support. But what really amazes me is the undocumented feature of the head. The head is only held onto the ball socket connector by three tabs, and so it can be completely detached. That’s right: you can actually recreate his death scene from the movie where Optimus Prime cuts his head off. Be careful, though, because it’s a tight fit, the head tends to wobble, and you don’t want to snap the tabs off. I'd recommend prying it off from either side instead of trying to wiggle it off, since that can put stress on the side tabs.

In terms of size, Bonecrusher is a good bit shorter than Optimus, with his eye level being around Prime’s midsection. Amusingly, this means that his new Voyager is around the same height as his original Deluxe toy, but this is movie accurate scale. Plus, what Bonecrusher lacks in height, he makes up for in girth and heft. This may not satisfy everyone, but I’m still happy with it. Plus, Studio Series is all about robot mode scale, so this really shouldn’t come as a shock.

Backdrop

Bonecrusher comes with the exact same backdrop as Optimus Prime, so you can find my full thoughts on it there. To summarize, it’s a very faithful recreation of the highway that Bonecrusher tackles Optimus off of, but I question the decision to go for this specific shot. I personally would have gone for either the fight at the top of the overpass or below the overpass, since this feels like an odd camera angle for a static pose. This is especially true since we now have two backdrops of this same sequence, so I think it would’ve been cool if they gave us some extra display options.

In terms of fit, Bonecrusher has a nice small footprint compared to Optimus and Megatron, so he stands just fine on the platform. His width, however, means that you need to open up the sides for a lot of poses. That’s hardly a knock against him, though, since those are designed to open up for this exact reason. The same is true of vehicle mode, as his claw is just too long to fit inside the box while lying flat against his roof.

Final Thoughts

Once again, Studio Series knocks it out of the park. This is a great figure. Highly detailed, well articulated, and with some very surprising yet very welcome features. As always with these toys, though, whether or not it’s for you depends entirely on whether you liked the design. This may be a tall order for some, but Bonecrusher is one of my favorite movie Decepticon designs, and this toy satisfies me really well.

[riotatthemovies]

Third and final review for the night... expect much much more tomorrow... its finally after a long long wait.

Nemesis 5 (2017) 

aka Sector 5 aka Nemesis 5 the new model. 

Now available on Itunes and Amazon Prime for a extra rental price as well as a few other VOD streaming sites. 

You aaallll fucking know that I love the original Nemesis as literally one of my favorite movies of all time. Basically a macho shoot em up rip off of Blade Runner that skips past the message of what it is to be a man but to just shoot more robots and rebels. Staring the amazing Olivier Gruner and Timm fucking Thomerson. 

There were 4 sequels still made by director Albert Pyun which all looked like legit action movies but all failed to make much sense or find any kind of interesting story line at all. Making the plot seem mysterious and artsy basically to cover up the actual lack of plot and abismal acting. Each movie usually took place in one area to hide the lack of actual budget or action.

Now D I Y director Dustin Ferguson comes up with a shot on a digital home made sequel made in california with wannabe actors and a lot of plastic surgery.

A lot of hilarious bad acting, a lot of superimposed laser blasters that actually hit people and they do not react until later.  Way too much horrendous fake 90s goth rock that sounds like wake Lacuna Coil meet Hansel en Gretel and not in a good way.  Alsooo sooooo much blue or red lighting added on so you don't notice how present say all the sets are.   Blue to seem future cold or red for a wasteland feeling... seriously no just don’t just don’t do it.(pulls my own face off I hate that and you have all heard me whine about that before).

Basssically when robots were uprising before and rebels fought back now the rebels use robots to take over and the humans must go underground. Cops bad, robots bad, rebels are kinda both... vague as people are in this future mostly cyborgs anyways. In an effort to make you feel on your seat and wonder who is on what side you just really do not give a fuck. 

The bad acting, the stiff presence of the new actors and the cheesie pew pew special effects are actually the good parts. The real crime is that nothing happens. A lot of talk broken up with a few very fake looking kick fights and the hilarious Nebula 2.0 monster robot that is basically a guy is a very fat tron suit punching people with cartoon punching sound effects. Ok actually that was just funny.. but not on purpose. This movie takes itself so seriously. It would be ok if it was a slick well made sci fi but it is D I Y and just had to admit to it’s weakness and be more fights and fun. But nope we get huge over exaggerated conversations about what is means to be human and who is the real enemy the government or the media. The later Nemesis movies did  that too by mixing the original rebels into the bad guy seats but just comes off confused about what they even mean. Seemingly trying to add and innuendo about people issues with plastic surgery and gender but not having the vocabulary or presence to actually say anything about it.  Sorry guys... this is rough. Without adding a real spoiler it ends in a huge conversation with a robot that is over emotionally upset about how people expect it to have emotions. Seriously my head hurts. 

Just do that pew pew stuff and those terrible kicking stuff in those big leather boots again. Nope? Fine. Wait it ends and says this is how the uprising started and the fall of evil began... wait .... by what? Sitting and grumbling in very blah dialogue?   Yep I waited too long for this.  

Dustin the director loves a lot of movies I love but I honestly can not say I am behind his weird ideals. I love deep dark sci fi and I also love super cheap movies but it is soooo hard to do both. Cheap should just be fun cause you gonna be something that takes me beyond the realms to make me feel for this plastic characters (and that is not a funny comment on the plastic surgery hollywood actors or the robot concept)

Ahhhh this even made my review too serious and boring. What the hell. Watch a 2000s Astro Zombies sequel or the Polonia RoboWar as they also look that home made and trashy but at least they are silly trashy fun and they know it so you can at least get a laugh out of em.   Siiigghhhh. Again sorry Dustin I just did not dig it. I am bummed. However the same crew is making “Robowoman”. Maybe, like I said in the Ghastlies review, they could learn from itself and embrace it’s weakness and make them fun next time... or just become a better film... I dunno. We shall see... cause I am a movie masochist and I will be there. 

If you dont know how to fight or look good just remember more pew pew and less blah blah blah. 

Alexa find me a new bad movie to watch!

Alexa: “No Riot they are bad for your health!”

Ahhh fuck you Alexa... SIRI !! Find me a bad movie to watch!

SIRI: NO Riot you should watch Reality television shows. I can google shows for you to watch!

What the fuck???

I think I lost my mind... only 85% human.

If it was just this for the whole movie I would be happy.... and I am honestly uusssuually easily made happy.

[kirain]

Top Ten Favourite Anime Games

For this list, I will only be including games that are specifically considered part of the anime genre, NOT games that were created by Japan Studio or other Japanese companies/creators. So games like shadow of the colossus,  Bloodborne, Metal Gear, Resident Evil, etc., won’t be mentioned. While it is arguable that such games could fit the anime genre, it’s never been clarified. So here’s a list of my top 10 anime games.

1. Gravity Rush

There’s no real order for this list EXCEPT for Gravity Rush. It is easily my number one favourite pick. I bought it for next to nothing thinking it would be a cute little experience, but it ended up gripping my interest for four days straight; which is rare for me. While at work, all I could think about was getting back to it, and it’s one of the few games with trophies that didn’t annoy me. Seriously-- not one trophy pissed me off. In every game there’s at least two or three that really grind my gears, but Gravity Rush had nada.

There are several challenges in the game that are tough but fair, and they never become boring because they’re designed in such a way that the more you play them, the better you get. You begin to learn the controls, the landscape, the shortcuts, etc., which makes for some excellent gameplay. At no point in the game do you feel like a failure, which is nice once in a while. On top of that the story is fun, the characters are lovable, and the art is breathtaking. During each new chapter, we’re given information in the form of a hand-drawn manga, which only adds to the uniqueness. The language in the game is also made up, so anyone can relate to it. And the music? Oh, don’t even get me started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxIC6Vu1ee0&t=43s

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they went ahead and created a sequel, Gravity Rush 2! It’s pretty rare, in my opinion anyway, that video games have sequels that measure up to their predecessor, but Gravity Rush 2 might be even better! It lets us revisit old friends, make new friends, explore more areas, it gives us grater challenges and a newly implemented difficulty setting, and additional online adventures that have nothing to do with achievements! What really hits me about these games, though, is the freedom. You get to fly wherever you want, anytime you want, at ridiculous speeds. The world is vast, beautiful, and so fun to navigate.

After playing and falling in love with these games, I can only assume they’re called “Gravity Rush” because they’re an absolute rush to play.

2. Devil May Cry

Specifically the first game, Devil May Cry will always have a special place in my heart. I played the game a lot when I was in grade school and kept replaying it well into my high school years. All the way up until my PS2 broke. :’)

Now, I do know that this game was created by Capcom and that it was supposed to be related to the Resident Evil franchise, but director Hideki Kamiya openly stated that the game is an anime-style hack and slash action-adventure game, and even gave the anime T.V. show, Devil May Cry: The Animated Series by Shin Itagaki, his professional seal of approval.

That said, Devil May Cry is addictive with its brutal but charming character Dante, and its dark and twisted plot/gameplay. If you’re into cool characters, blood and guts, and kick-ass combat, this is the game for you!

3. Catherine

Another nostalgic game for me, Catherine was something I played constantly when I was in high school. The animation is enticing, the story is a giant mind f*ck, and the English voice acting is stupendous. Like many story-related anime games, it has multiple endings, as well as a karma metre that wraps into your choices. The story revolves around a man named Vincent  Brooks, who is beset by supernatural nightmares while torn between his feelings for longtime girlfriend Katherine and the similarly-named beauty Catherine.

While the game is mostly a platformer, the challenges are unreal, especially in Babel (an extra area not related to the story) and the arcade game, Rapunzel. If you want your brain to turn to mush, I’d suggest setting this baby to the hardest difficulty. Naturally there’s a trophy for beating everything with a gold time, so if you get that you’ll be able to gloat to all your friends about how smart you are. XD

Jokes aside, though, there are other aspects to the game that keep you going. You won’t get bored of the platforming because between each level is the story, given to us in two distinct anime styles, and a trip to the bar, where you can get drunk and interact with other characters. Depending on the dialogue you choose, you could be responsible for their dreams coming true ... or their untimely death. A remake of the game will be coming out for PS4 next year and I can’t wait to play it!

4. No More Heroes

No More Heroes is another action-adventure hack and slash video game that follows a man named Travis Touchdown ... who is a hardcore otaku. Literally all he cares about is killing and anime, which makes for a hilarious story. Travis is also a top-class assassin in a world where assassins constantly compete. Think John Wick: The Anime. This game is full of comedy and combat, as well as cool characters, crude challenges, and a cuddly kitty cat. I played this game religiously when I was in high school, and enjoyed it even up to it’s weird mind f*ck of an ending. The only downside being that it’s only available on Wii, which made for an interesting and unique experience, but a sad realisation that it will never be available for any other platform.

5. Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Just like No More Heroes, Trauma Center: Second Opinion is only available on Wii; but that in no way affected my love for it. Second Opinion is the second game in a long line of Trauma Centers, but for some reason it’s the only one I enjoy. Perhaps it’s because playing it on the Wii gave it a sense of realism. The game is a surgery simulator, and like an actual surgeon, you have to concentrate and keep your hands steady to succeed. If you move too quickly or throw yourself off balance, the patient will die. The art and music are also incredible and, believe it or not, there’s actually a pretty interesting story that goes along with each chapter. As you work your way to more advanced operations, you really take a liking to the characters and feel a strong sense of duty to your patients. To anyone who owns a Wii, this is definitely a game I’d recommend.

6. Chibi-Robo!

Chibi-Robo! This game takes me back! I spent hours upon hours playing this game, and I still would today if my copy hadn’t been stolen. This little treat is only available on the Wii and GameCube, and was created by Nintendo. It’s one of the most adorable platform-adventure games I’ve ever played to date. The Wiki explains the plot perfectly, so I’ll just post it here:

“Chibi-Robo! takes place in a 1960s-style American home and revolves around a tiny, highly advanced robot of the same name. He is given as a birthday gift to a socially withdrawn eight-year-old named Jenny Sanderson by her father. This is much to the dismay of Jenny's mother, a homemaker who is constantly stressed over how much money her husband spends on toys despite his unemployment.”

For a game that seems so basic, there are a plethora of areas to explore and they are huge. Ironically so, I’m sure, but it makes for some amazing gameplay nonetheless. As you wander, you help other creatures around the house, including the family, solve their problems and complete challenging and often comedic tasks; such as flipping burgers, cleaning up puddles, and-- you know-- helping the egg general save his fellow egg soldiers from the household dog. Yeah, stuff like that. XD

Honestly, it’s super fun and I recommend it to anyone, no matter what their age. It’s clearly geared towards children, but I can’t think of a single reason why an adult wouldn’t enjoy it just as much. It’s relaxing, freeing, and puts a genuine smile on your face. :)

7. Pokemon X and Y

Okay, I know I probably shouldn’t add Pokemon to this list, but I can’t help it! I’ve always loved the Pokemon games, but they just get better and better every time! Pokemon X and Y quickly became favourites of mine, and they consumed my life for a good two months as I captured every single Pokemon, bred the perfect IVs, and worked my ass off to get every shiny I desired. On top of that, I loved the story and, for once, how my character design turned out. What’s more, I fell absolutely in love with the Looker side quest, which is possibly the best and most emotional side quest I’ve ever played in a Pokemon game. X and Y will always be special to me, because in was with these two games that I caught ‘em all!

8. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Visually, Pokemon Sun and Moon are the best of the Pokemon games, in my opinion. They were also the first to really shake things up and give fans new and improved methods of breeding, capture, travel, communication, and more. We were also introduced to a new type of pokemon called “ultra beasts”, along with a fun and alluring story with several new characters and legendaries. Throughout the game, I found myself laughing hard at some of the experiences, and I spent countless hours capturing, trading, breeding, spoiling, and loving all of the new pokemon the games had to offer. I even transferred my pokemon from X and Y over so I could give them the same love and affection. ^_^

I have to thank @cassafra5 and @george-nordington, because they’re the ones who bought me this masterpiece! Thanks, guys! <3

9. .hack//OUTBREAK

This is a game that will always be near and dear to my heart. Back before guides were widely available, I was playing a game called .Hack//OUTBREAK. It came out in 2002, when I was only 12 years old. Back then, my dad was still alive. He never really understood my taste in anime, but he wanted to try and relate, so he bought this game for me on a whim. Little did he know I knew absolutely nothing about the .Hack series, and little did either of us know that OUTBREAK was actually the third part to two other .Hack games. Still, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I played the game-- and I fell in love.

Visually, OUTBREAK was one of the best games I owned on PS2, and although parts of the story were difficult to follow, I was hooked. I dedicated entire days to this game, and because there weren’t any guides, I had to write down every code and location so I wouldn’t get lost/forget them. Today, I still have pages folded safely in the case. The amount of exploration and character interaction opened me up to a whole new genre of video games. In fact, it basically introduced me to anime-style games. I could actually buy gifts for my friends and build relationships. That seems common now, but back then it wasn’t for a typical PS2 game.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck when the save cartridge was accidentally kicked by my brother and all of my data was lost. I wasn’t too concerned, since I figured I could just replay the game and get everything back ... but the disk was also severely, irreparably scratched. It no longer plays. As such, it is now merely a keepsake from my father. I miss you, dad.

But 16 years later and my sister and I are still quoting this game! XD @alannahkiwi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I-7hwgwqa4

10. Persona 5

I only recently started playing Persona 5, but it’s quickly made its way to my top ten. I can’t say too much about it just yet, aside from the fact that the animation is crisp, the story is gripping, and I’m ready to sink hours of my life into platinuming this gorgeous feet of human achievement! So much heart and sole was poured into this game and it shows with every in-game step I take. This is the only game on this list that I haven’t yet finished, but I have a sense that I don’t really need to. Thus far, every mission has been a gem and I don’t want the party to end!

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: BRIT AWARDS SPECIAL

So, welcome to... a Tuesday? Yeah, it’s not exactly a usual time for me to post on this blog but it’s not just your everyday episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS – That’s right, it’s the 40th ceremony in the annual BRIT Awards celebration, where we – or at least ITV – commemorate the greatest in British pop music. I’ll be celebrating in full force this year, but not by tweeting manically like I did last year – well, there will still be some tweeting; follow me @cactusinthebank – but instead by writing my live commentary right here. I did this a couple years back so I figured I’d bring it back again in traditional, over-analytical, unnecessarily nitpicky fashion. I’ve got an Excel document like I had last year to make not of who wins and compare it to who I think should win. I’m all prepared – it’s time for the 2020 BRIT Awards... unfortunately hosted by Jack Whitehall.

COMMENTARY

Interestingly (This is 10 minutes before the show begins), the International Group Award, Best British Video, Outstanding Contribution to Music and Global Success Awards have been abolished, and British Breakthrough Act, Critics’ Choice Award and British Single of the Year have all been renamed. Also, the BRITs caught flack for less female artists being nominated although last year there was a record amount nominated so I feel like sexism claims can’t really ring all that true in my opinion. It does often seem like male artists have dominated that year of pop music, just as it feel female artists have the previous year, and the BRITs have noticed that, so it just feels a tad lop-sided towards the males this year. I’m playing Devil’s advocate, sure, and I wouldn’t say 2019 has been a bad year for British women in music, but I am able to somewhat defend this decision. I feel like I’d just say that as a little pre-amble. In fact, I’ll add this: this will be less formal and grammatically correct than a normal RTC episode, and perhaps a bit less wholesome or family-friendly. Also, if none of this makes any sense, that’s because it’s out of context completely, and this will make absolutely no sense unless you’re watching it with me or had watched it prior to reading this, but that’s the joy in this! Scorecard at the ready, 19:58, it’s the BRITs in two minutes, and I am prepared to make fun of every issue I pick out.

Jack Whitehall is so unfunny lol Like Haha She Is Cleaning Lizzo Flute But He Look Like Masturbate Ha Ha

I feel like they did not know what they should do for this year

The intro with him trying out iconic BRIT Awards outfits is kinda cool actually

I wonder how far into the future they plan for these. Like are these skits pre-recorded by three months or so

Mabel didn’t really hit that note huh

I won’t really be paying attention to this one because I’m filling out scorecard and all to update it for this year but Mabel is less energetic than she was on the Graham Norton Show months ago

Can’t tell if Don’t Call Me Up has soured on me a lot or this is just a bad performance. Probably the latter

Is this the vocal loop from Mad Love or something I don’t recognise it

Nevermind I’m so dumb it’s from Don’t Call Me Up

The telephone on the screen Because Ha Ha She Says Call Me Up is a bit on the nose

I don’t think they realise she also has a song called Ring Ring

“Please welcome your host Jack Whitehall” No go away

Audience did not like the Boris Johnson joke or even the Chris Martin one lol this gnarly dude is BOMBING

Rod Stewart has eight children what the f

“Horny scarecrow of rock and roll Ronnie Wood” I hope that is on his CV

“A bit of witty banter from Dave” Jack Whitehall Shouted Out The TV Channel Dave

Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved genuinely makes me want to eat a living frog this live version is better though he’s not straining that much

I saw a BBC News piece on a boy with cancer and this was used in the background and I understand it’s a sad, sappy piano ballad but it’s literally just about a break up like that’s a tad unfitting and kinda undermines the illness and tragedy surely

Niall Horan looks SO infused

The production value for these little transitions seems to have improved it actually looks cool and not dated garbage

Lewis Capaldi will win Best New Artist

Lewis Capaldi won Best New Artist

It’s his first BRIT Award but what’s the point in celebrating he’s gonna win like seven more

Dude is coming up to the stage with a bottle of beer in his hand bruh

I bet this dude is going to be the Adele and just get drunk and swear every time he gets an award

He hugged Niall Horan for a concerning amount of time

The audience chanted ‘DOWN IT DOWN IT’ he did not down it

He just shouted profanities into the mic after 40 seconds of delaying it, but the audio was muted so I have no idea why Jack Whitehall Loves This Man

Lewis Capaldi’s music and personality clash so hard like I saw an advert of this man making funny faces set to Someone You Loved and it was so odd

That advert played right after the BRITs by the way lol

Why is Lewis Capaldi on another advert singing Someone You Loved again like stop stop stop pelase i ccant getsv awytsuavforrnjeofityre

JHE’S BACK FOR ANOTHER ADVERT GO AWAY YOU DRUNKEN IDIOT

Why would Mastercard proudly sponsor this sh

How the hell is FKA twigs nominated for best female artist like cool and all her album was good but Huh

I guess they put one alternate win each time

Mabel will win Best Female Solo Artist

Mabel won Best Female Solo Artist

Oh yeah I forgot people actually make speeches

“There are so many amazing women in this category” Mabel Listens To FKA Twigs

Don’t thank your record label they are crooks

I forget that Mabel is Neneh Cherry’s daughter that’s wild. Neneh Cherry won a BRIT too, I think this same award. Cool. Neat.

Jack Whitehall’s sarcasm and dryer wit is not exactly the best fit for the BRITs. For once I miss Ant & Dec

Harry Styles Is Literally Wearing Pajamas

This is an ok song and with actually good vocal mixing it’s better but he does sound a bit off. He did get robbed before the awards happened though lol

I am sick of guys singing ballads with a e s t h e t i c backgrounds like can we get some volcano eruptions up in this

The Rising Star and British Producer Awards (new awards) were already given out I feel like cheating

Literally the only nomination for the British Producer of the Year was fred

He won

Another break bruh bruh bruh give me a break

Harry Styles’ Pajamas Are Wet Now He Was Standing In Water

Little simz is on an advert afterwards with an amazing song from her amazing album but she’s not nominated for any award

Im so tired like this shit is keeping me awake last year i fell asleep during a jess glynne performance

Liam payne performed a month before the ceremony and his album fell 31 places on the chart in response

Jack Whitehall called himself a lanky streak of piss this man might get an Ofcom Complaint

Lizzo’s really pushing that title track huh

Lizzo didn’t censor herself on the Grammys but her breathy ‘uh’s are making some lines unintelligible lol

This is a good song though

LOL SHE STOPPED FOR THE AUDIENCE TO CONTINUE HER SENTENCE BUT NOBODY SAID THE LINE YIKES

I guess she forgot Truth Hurts didn’t even peak in the top 20 here

Good as Hell is the one people here care about

She knows that they didn’t respond in Truth Hurts because she said ‘sing along if you know it’ lol

She kinda messed up but to be fair she is walking and singing with the audience

That White Guy With The Crap Hair Killed It

Drummer is going wild

I love the extra guitar flourishes in Juice this is pretty cool actually, her interpolating Cause I Love You at the same time is pretty epic this actually sounds pretty great I’d love for this whole medley to be on streaming

She yelled ‘biiitch’ but the mic did not catch that

Ronnie Wood Really Got The Positive Vibes

Lewis Capaldi will win Best Male Solo Artist

(Michael Kiwanuka got like no applause god damn at least give them pity applause)

ROIGHT and tha winna ***upside down*** is STRORMZY

Stormzy won Best Male Solo Artist

(Second time by the way)

Clean version of Vossi Bop kinda slap Ngl

Stormzy TOWERS over Ronnie Wood lol dude is tall

“Um.”

“Best Male is nothing without incredible females” Cool cool

Ronnie is about to tell Stormzy why he thinks he should go back to his own country and that He’s Not Actually Racist

(Those allegations are baseless. My lawyers advised me to say so.)

Jack Whitehall touched audience feet

We’re already nearly an hour in wow

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY ADVERT BREAKS

Yes Yes

Hell yeah dave is awesome, he got his Top Boy co-star to work as a hype man before him

I think this is Black? If so that’s amazing I love that song

It’s Black he has it written on his white piano

The only white piano is slowly turning more black

I like the headlines and all the imagery on the piano it’s really cool

Dave is a tad off beat but he’s also playing a double-sided piano so understandable

A white dude is playing the other side of the piano I’m sure that’s symbolic

He is aggressive in this delivery damn he’s killing it

Some of this imagery is beautiful – especially the BRIT Award being covered by black snakes and the Arabic writing transitioning into an Africa with colonial borders

This was an amazing performance, especially with the violins. Incredible.

OH THERE’S ANOTHER VERSE ABOUT BORIS JOHNSON

The least racist is still racist damn right

This works as an obituary as well damn.

I’d have to analyse this whole thing but this was an incredible performance oh my god

I want this on streaming

When did this man help a terrorist plot wh

Paloma Faith Sounds Like A Robot Who Is Vaguely Feminist

Burna Boy will win International Male Solo Artist

(I so want Tyler to go home with it though. Could go to Post as well)

It’s just whoever shows up gets it though so

WHOA

WHAT THE HELL

TYLER THE CREATOR WON HOW

TAHT IS AMSGWYUFE

THE RADIO HOST SAID IGOR WRONG BUT ITS OK TYLER WON

Tyler, The Creator won International Male Solo Artist

This gnarly dude just said ‘errr yeah errr’

“Shout out to all the British funk from the 80s I try to copy”

LOL THE THERESA MAY CALL OUT HAHAH

I FORGOT HE WASNT ALLOWED IN THE UK

Bts is not a british group, presenter

Coldplay will win Best British Group

Foals won Best British Group

I am actually so surprised lol at Tyler and Foals winning their first BRITs

More alternative dudes winning I guess. Neat. Means a lot

Stop thanking your corrupt labels

The name’s eyelash

I haven’t actually heard her Bond theme yet

Finneas do be lookin kinda handsome tho

I like it. The whispery tone of her voice, the eerie strings (cello?), and slick guitar really fit the Bond franchise. Thank you Billie Eilish, very cool!

No Don’t Talk To Lizzo Don’t Talk To Anyone Jack Whitehall

“There was so much energy they could have done the whole performance for me” well not exactly mrs. Lizzo

This is so awkward we can’t hear what Lizzo is laughing at Harry Styles looks pissed

‘floutists’ is the name for flute players huh

I’m so confused what is going on

Lizzo is threatening jack Whitehall with a flute and within the transition to the break i could hear a slight faint shout from jack in the background

Is everyone ok

More people that i wanted to win than who i expected to win are winning

Sam Fender is haha funnie but nobody in the audience thinks so lol

Celeste is performing she’s the new Rising Star award she has already had a bit of a crack but I’m pretty sure that’s part of the song

This song is ok

Bit boring tbh. Audience is getting tired too. This is lasting like 5 minutes and the song is pretty flavourless and repetitive. Yawn snore

We’re about half way through and I’ve kind of lost interest ngl

Honestly lewis capaldi did better than celeste on jah

Jack Whitehall is having a mental breakdown right now. Understandable

Billie Eilish will win International Female Solo Artist

Billie Eilish won International Female Solo Artist

Lizzo looks so disappointed for whatever reason lol like did we really think anyone else would get this award

Sporty Spice is in the background dancing to everything i wanted that is not a song you dance like that to it’s about suicide

This speech is going terribly

Why are so many of these gnarly dudes signed to polydor

Thank you Billie Eilish very cool

No Jack Whitehall Don’t Talk To Harry Styles

Harry Styles looks like he hates Jack Whitehall so much

The Lizzo-Harry-Jack Whitehall love triangle is Awkward And Awful

Lizzo is the only reason the brit awards are good

Ok the exchange about Harry Styles not being taken seriously was pretty funny

In fact this whole exchange was very funny And Partially About Incest

“Is one of these lucky ladies your date?” “That’s my sister”

Lizzo is chugging the tequila

Harry Styles Looks Like He Pissed Himself

The BRIT awards have suddenly become very confusing

Epic Stormzy Time

Genuinely have no idea what song he’ll perform. Probably Vossi Bop?

Stormzy Should Keep The Singing To His Backing Vocalist And Choir

Gospel beat sounds sweet

I think this is supposed to be Lessons but the studio version is so much duller than this version. This one is pretty cool. I think it’s the choir

I’d be surprised if he only does Lessons. Also the production value here was crazy. Full band, pyrotechnics and all.

Oh yeah it’s Vossi Bop time he’s got the red lighting

Nevermind it’s Wiley Flow lol but still

Reminds me of when Kanye did All Day (also the audio got muted for a long period of time just like when Kanye did that)

This one is more choreographed though lol

Why did he perform two of the least popular songs first though

Burna Boy is coming out for Own It alright, he sounds just as good as studio, probably because He’s Not Actually Singing

I don’t like this song but the choreography is great, stage presence is good and the visuals are incredible. Really shows that even with the worst material, you can make a song sound as lively as ever. The horns the live band added to Own It sound beautiful

Burna Boy’s little solo bit was great

He got away with saying “Sucking on their mums” nice

I hadn’t heard Rainfall before this I don’t think (it sounds familiar though), but the mashup with Praise You was great. I love the sight of Stormzy in front of family members, the young men in black outfits from Wiley Flow, the tropical clothes-bearing women from Own It, Burna Boy, the live band, and all. It’s really a nice diverse sight to see. Cool cool. This probably means absolutely nothing but I Am Knackered

Someone You Loved will win Song of the Year

I really hope it’s Ladbroke Grove though. It and Location feel very emblematic of 2019, in a way that I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber DEFINITELY isn’t

Someone You Loved won Song of the Year

“Biggest winner of the night so far” there’s only one award left mate

Lewis Capaldi Is A Very Funny Man

“Thanks to my grandmother for dying”

Finneas do be lookin kinda handsome tho [2]

Heard a very british voice say “i luv yoo bilie” in the audience lmao

Lewis Capaldi will win Album of the Year

I’d prefer literally anyone else to win this award. Only one of these albums was a 7/10 or above but Lewis Capaldi’s album was unlistenable

OH HELL YEAH THE ONLY GOOD ONE WON

Dave won Album of the Year

Epic I love that album. It could very well have been Capaldi but since Dave won the Mercury Prize I guess he would have been a better prediction

People are screaming man’s lost for words

“Jesus Christ!” dude’s so astonished lol

I loved Dave’s speech actually very inspiring

“Jack, I’m gonna do this one for your mum, Hilary” bruh  rod stewart really saying ‘ur mom’ jokes out here

I love Rod Stewart’s raspy voice man. Orchestra’s great. This is beautiful lol

Gnarly dude got the guitar solo

Conclusion

I cannot be bothered to write some massive conclusion but most of the performances were great and emotionally powerful, especially Stormzy, Dave, Billie and Rod Stewart, and even those who were a bit crap performing were very funny on stage, like Lewis Capaldi. The on stage banter was really cringe-worthy but Jack Whitehall, Harry Styles and Lizzo had this really funny triangle going on. The outro with Ronnie Wood and the rest of Rod Stewart’s band was great, Stormzy’s extended performance was sweet. This was actually a pretty great BRITs, to be honest, and all of the winners, except a select few, deserved it, and if they didn’t, it was pretty expected. There could have been some more winners – off the top of my head, Slowthai and Little Simz weren’t even nominated, but hey, Tyler won. That’s great. The scorecard will be on Twitter. In the words of the BRIT Award winners in 2020, “errr yeah errr”, and thanks for reading!

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

[shannrussell-blog1]

If you want to reach one of the 7 Summits without any technical climbing or mountaineering required, then a Mt. Kilimanjaro climb is one to put on your list.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa at 5895m above sea level and is known as one of the most accessible of the seven summits because it can be hiked by those with good fitness, determination and who can cope physically and mentally at high altitude.

Fitness for Kilimanjaro

Fitness is very important, and in general walking and hill training is a must for any multi-day hike. This is how we prepared this in the months leading up to departure as we found this to be the best way to replicate what we would be doing on our trip. This is also a good time to wear in the trekking boots you’ll be wearing to ensure they’re properly broken in before your trip. It is an extremely high-altitude experience as well, so this cannot be overlooked or taken lightly when deciding to commit to this trip.

A glimpse of our goal – Mt. Kilimanjaro 5895m above sea level. 

Choosing your route

Acclimatisation is the key so choosing the right tour and pace is important – we did an extra night on the climb to help give us the most success at getting to the summit. We also chose to do the Machame Route as it’s known for scenery and some rocky challenges, plus it helps avoid the crowded Marangu Route, which has huts.

We preferred to camp and with 3 alternative routes commercially offered with most trekking companies, the Machame Route ticked boxes for us.

Selecting the length of your trek

We chose a 7-day trek to give us an extra night on the mountain before our summit attempt. Looking back, this was the best move we made. Having that extra night on our trek meant we only had a half day of walking to base camp for our midnight summit attempt. Most other 6 day treks walk a whole day to get to Base Camp and then summit that night.

Ian and our guide, Baracka, cheering before we get to camp on day 2. 

The tour guide company we used

We travelled with an amazing local crew of guides, porters and cooks through G Adventures. We had our tent and a sleeping mat provided so we needed to take our own down sleeping bag, liner (rated -4), water storage, purification tablets, clothing and a head torch.

Our guides also put our minds at ease (especially mine) about how to deal with things like headaches, stomach gas (some team members did get windy above 4000m!) and not overthinking it too early – anxiety about getting altitude sickness is common. It was reassuring to be in the hands of those who had trekked the route many times over and knew how to look after trekkers who might be feeling the effects of altitude.

I had been at higher altitudes only once before while trekking the Inca Trail in Peru (around 4200m) many years ago so I had not ventured much higher since and was hugely anxious about getting to the summit (in a conscious state). Looking back, I realise that 90% of this climb was psychological.

Pacing yourself

We chose a 7-day trek to give us an extra night on the mountain before our summit attempt and looking back this was the best move we made.  Having that extra night included on our trek meant we only had a half day of walking to base camp for our midnight summit attempt.  Most other 6 day treks walk a whole day to get to Base Camp and then summit that night.

The climb pace is agonisingly slow but for good reason! Our guides told us ‘pole pole’ (pronounced poly – poly) meaning ‘slowly slowly’ in Swahili, as we took our time on the trails. At times we felt like robots, but it’s very important to take it easy and not push yourself too much.

Stopping for lunch along the way to recharge for the rest of the day. 

Camping along the way

Camping is still a pretty comfy affair as there’s a team of guides, porters and cooks. Most companies also offer a mess tent for serving multiple course meals. The porters carry the tents, your personal possessions, sleeping mats and camping gear – and will often manage to arrive before you and set the tents up by the time you reach camp.

It’s phenomenal watching the porters pass, moving fast and sweating with huge loads despite the weights being strictly monitored before the trekking teams depart. With just our daypacks, we still were not able to keep up with porters carrying much heavier loads.

Acclimatisation

The first 5 days are slow going – acclimatisation is so important – you just need to remember to breathe!  It’s a great opportunity to bond with fellow trekkers and our guides. We soaked in the scenery as day by day it changed from rainforest on day 1 to bare rocky ground by day 5. Each night we chatted with trekkers from Spain, the UK and other parts of the world.

Here’s us on day 3 – we stopped to rest at Lave Towers which is 4630m above sea level. 

Altitude sickness

Both my hubby and I reacted differently to the altitude at different times on our trek. While he suffered on the 3rd day with fatigue and vomiting, on the 4th day I simply felt drunk and lightheaded and had to stop many times to remember to breathe deeply. It was just the effects of less oxygen and as it turned out I really just needed the extra rest. I love camping but I find it hard to sleep at high altitude, so I was not functioning well on a few hours of broken sleep each night.

Keeping clean and going to the toilet on the climb

The conditions make it tough to stay clean. There are no showers, and it can be very windy and dusty. Going to the toilet is something to get used to on the mountain, so good hygiene is paramount. Pack hand sanitiser, water purification tablets, more toilet paper than you would normally need, and wash your hands as often as you can as water is not available readily at all camps.

If you wear contact lenses, it is recommended not to wear them at night and switch to glasses where possible by day, if you can. This is not just for hygienic reasons but to maximise the oxygen supply to the eyes. I ended up wearing glasses for most of the trek. It was just easier. My hair was permanently tied up and under a beanie or Buff to keep it tidy and out of the way. Buffs are awesome for keeping your hair back, to cover your nose and mouth from dust, or as a scarf when it’s chilly.

We did pack wet wipes to ‘bathe’ with each night in our tent, so we could wipe off a bit of sweat and grime in place of a shower. It was a mental pick me up to do this and nice to clean up at the end of a walking day before changing into our thermals and camp wear. You do get used to feeling unclean and smelling similarly after a few days – but it’s comforting knowing everyone else is in the same position as you.

Climbing up Barranco Pass on day 4. 

Dealing with sleep deprivation and the cold

The most challenging elements of the summit night are the sleep deprivation and the temperature. We got our “wake up” call at 11 pm even though we had not yet fallen asleep, and it was sleeting. We did not realise this at the time, but we would not see a bed again until 6 pm the next day.

The temperature was minus 15 degrees, so it’s really important to pack layers, as I soon found out. I had 5 layers on top – including 2 thermals, a long-sleeved shirt, a polar fleece and Goretex jacket and 4 layers on my legs – 2 thermals, trekking pants and rainproof pants. My hands suffered the most, however, I had 2 pairs of gloves but this was not enough. I had to add a pair of socks and smack my hands together to get the circulation moving in the cold.

Delayering for a toilet stop was interesting! It took a lot longer to get the job done and did I say to pack loads of toilet paper? We ran out by summit night, and packed wet wipes instead which froze – making wiping a whole new challenge!

Getting through the climb

The moonlight climb was long and slow in darkness. We kept our heads down, breathed deeply and then breathed deeper again. We tried to eat and drink regularly but our water bottles eventually froze. I also made the mistake of looking up at one point in the darkness and all I could see was a zig zag lined of head torches above. It was going to be a long slog so I had to stay positive and focused!

I was yearning for the sun to rise. All I wanted was to see where I was after climbing all this way and to enjoy the views. But that would come.

The spectacular views on day four of the trek. 

Reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro

Finally, after about 6 hours, the sun started to rise. We were nearly at Stella Point at 5685m. Reaching this felt like the hardest challenge yet. It was a struggle to do the last hour or so and push on to Uhuru Peak.

We reached Uhuru Peak around 8 am after a very slow trudge to the top. With tears of relief and elation, we had made it to 5895m! Our photo shoot was a quick one, it was really hard to get the oxygen in our lungs to stay up there long. We turned around and made a hasty descent back to Base Camp. The challenge was not quite over though, as we had to move on after a late breakfast back at camp. We then descended to High Camp arriving mid-afternoon. It had been a long time between sleep! Our final descent the following day had us at Mweka Gate by lunchtime – and just like that our trek finished.

This was by far the toughest climb I have ever done, challenging me physically and mentally. The fact I achieved it still surprises me sometimes when I reflect back on this trek.

The saying is true though if it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you. And, that first shower at the end of the trek was a long one.

Here we are at the summit – 5895m above sea level!

Tips for travelling to Tanzania

Getting to Tanzania is a bit long winded so allow some extra days in your itinerary before attempting the climb. Throw in a short safari if you can, as you’ll be so close to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. This will also give you time to get over jet lag before you start, or if you lose your luggage and it needs to find its way to you.

Carry your boots in your carry-on luggage. You can replace most gear if your luggage gets lost or delayed. But, the right pair of worn in boots are pretty much invaluable for a trek such as this.

There are visas required for Australian passport holders so best to have these organised before you depart.

Register on the Smart Traveller website and check for the latest official travel advice regarding Tanzania.

Vaccinations and health checks

Don’t forget to check with your doctor regarding vaccinations you may require, and altitude sickness prevention advice.

Get an overall medical check-up prior to ensure that you’re in the right health to attempt this climb.

Gear tips

Get a decent headlamp – you will need it for most of the summit night climb! If you need help choosing a headlamp, check out our guide here. 

Hiking poles are invaluable especially for protecting your knees if they are prone to fatigue on multi-day hikes.

Small are super warm and well worth the investment for many years to come.

Has this inspired you to climb one of the seven summits of the world? Which one do you think you’d be up for?

The post How I Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro appeared first on Snowys Blog.

[stlplaybox]

A TFN journey: a story in 3 parts - Part 3

2017 was my first Transformers convention. As a collector with more than a modest affection for Transformers, it had always felt like a box I needed to tick off. This is the third part of my story at TFNation.

If you’re joining me for the first time you can find parts one and two here and here respectively.  

A convention roars to life and stutters to a halt as abruptly as Predacons on a march. In the time span of days you ride the current and eddies of an energon rush. The whirlwind of experiences that accumulate meld into a hazy mess that you find yourself trying to piece together. For some it’s easy, for others it’s hard. I fell into the latter category.

I’m not sure if it felt particular harder because it was my first convention or it was because of the distance I’d traverse to get there but it took a while for my understanding to coalesce.  

What did become clear was that the comfort of finality was constantly thwarted by continuity. Conventions are sliding doors. You meet someone, chat with them, share great stories, build on old ones and move on. What’s never clear is if the story’s ended. You’re never sure if, where and when you might bump into them again.

That makes it hard to land on a sense of finality, to get a sense of closure, because you’re constantly accumulating new information. Whether its the big things like another piece of someone’s story or learning a bit more about their body language and mannerisms, incorporating this new information makes it hard to fully digest everything. It’s harder too as the late convention nights start to take their toll and you find yourself in need of a good slumber in the CR chamber.

I’ve mentioned Bobby and Matt previously but I want to start with them again. Two strangers who made me feel comfortable on the first night, I’d regularly meet them again and again over the course of the three days. Each time, I’d learn a little bit more about them, see how they were faring, and once again be grateful for generosity. More than that, through these repeat encounters I re-met people like Steve and Maz or met new people like the wonderfully talented Sam (who completed Trypticon hip surgery on the bar floor!).

Then there was finding Veicki (@megapurrv). At breakfast on Saturday, Veicki spotted me in my Rodimus costume. Turns out she was the one who’d made the t-shirt that was the centrepiece of my holo avatar costume. As I sat down to feast on the scrumptious Hilton breakfast, I penned in getting a photo with her later on. I mean, what were the odds of bumping into the person who designed my t-shirt? Something that had led to a mountain of fun? But as the hours of Saturday passed, ClubCon came and went, time snowed into the deep hours of Sunday morning at the bar, and another breakfast passed I thought I’d missed my chance. That’s the thing about conventions. You can never be sure if you’ll bump into someone again or have another chance to chat with them. You have to make the most of the opportunities you get. Fortunately for me, I did find Veicki just before I had to scurry away. I’m grateful to her for being such a large part of my TFNation story.

Among the reasons I chose TFNation over other conventions was Maz (@TFsquareOne). More than being the strong creative force that he is, Maz is a strong spark of positivity. A must in a fandom that predicates its joy on rekindling the fires of yesterday. I will admit to being apprehensive about spending some of my holiday time for a convention but I can attest that Maz radiates a lot of what is great about TFNation. The positivity, the camaraderie, the openness.

I also owe a lot to Maz. Pushing me to set up my collection was important. Coming home to my toy room, sitting in it, is an amazing experience. Left to my own devices, I would have procrastinated for years. The satisfaction I feel everytime I sit in it is hard to describe. But more important than that, Maz asking me to write a collector interview was something that forced me to reflect on one of the major privileges I’ve enjoyed in life. It made me acknowledge and appreciate my better half and the understanding she’s shown of my second love; a topic I somehow ended up chatting with Sexo (@sixo) about! So I looked forward to meeting this sod in the flesh.

An innately likeable bloke, Maz whirlwinded around TFNation. We crossed paths many times but it wasn’t until a quiet moment on Sunday afternoon that things slowed down enough for a meaty chat. It was amid this that he asked an incisive question. The exact wording eludes me but it was along the lines of “You seem to be doing really well for yourself?” It’s a hard question for me. One that I struggle with most days. For me, it’s hard because it carries the full weight of privilege that I know I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy in this life. And the open question that that leaves me with is what am I going to achieve with that privilege? Beyond a successful career that affords me the opportunity to travel wherever I want, buy whatever I want? It’s a burden I continue to struggle with but I do know one thing for sure: that I’m obligated to try and be a source of positivity and warmth. If there’s someone who embodies that, it’s Maz. I waffled and meandered but I think I mouthed off something vaguely coherent to Maz. It wasn’t the sort conversation I expected to have at TFNation but if I was going to have it with someone, I’m glad it was Maz.

Last and certainly not least I have to thank Graham (@grhmthmsn) and Dom (@domsalvia). There’s no way I could write about this weekend without mentioning them. I’d interacted with both a lot online before TFNation. When I met both on Friday night, it was clear they were as adoringly charming in real life as they were online. Throughout the weekend our paths crossed regularly and I’m incredibly grateful to share a bunch of memories with them both across the weekend. Whether it was our conversation at the bar on Friday evening, camping in line on Saturday morning, being introduced to the amazingly talented and affable Lisa (@DarkestH0ur), the fun in James Roberts’ queue, sharing a Blurr-like meal before ClubCon, or that conversation with Sexo about photography on Sunday, those guys were so much of what made TFNation great for me. I hope I was able to fully convey my appreciation to each of them.

You would think the story ends there. But it doesn’t. Something I’ve come to realise is that a convention like TFNation creates not only new memories but, more than that, new strands of continuity. Trying to organise them into tidy compartments is an exercise in futility. You might as well be Lug trying to dissuade Anode from a reckless course of action. This dawned upon me in the days post TFNation as I found myself still unpacking those things through the imperfect lens of information creep.

The post convention TFNation love you feel (on Twitter for me) makes you realise that you’ve formed new and stronger bonds with people you had only fleetingly known, bonds that make interacting with them all the more meaningful and fun.

There are the people you kind of knew but now know more about. Gareth (@SantiagoJones) was a sneaky bugger and snuck in a little reference I almost missed in a display of his hidden artistic talents. Every time I watch Geelong, an Australian Rules Football team, play now I think of fondly of him. He’s also responsible for a tweet that caused me to snort inappropriately in the middle of a pretty intense meeting. It was funnier because having met Mr. Jones I could hear the voice that was delivering the tweet. There’s also Kit (@tikgnat, a.k.a. Collector Interview 40) who I knew more by his hilarious resume of work rather than by who he was. Being able to hear his infectiously cheeky voice now whenever he trolls something adds an extra layer of amusement. These countless little post-convention moments remind me that TFNation wasn’t just an awesome Transformers convention, it was also a catalyst: a catalyst for new stories, new bonds, and new friendships.      

But it also applies to the doors you missed. Missed opportunities with people re-manifest with unexpected acts of generosity and kindness. I missed Ben (@Waspshot) but he kindly posted me the amazing Refined Robot Co. booklet. In another example of things not going to plan but working out better than Prowl could’ve planned, Stuart (@Inflatabledalek) sent me a copy of his book that I’d forgotten to procure in person in the steam-rolling rush that was TFNation. You can find this wonderful walk down memory lane here. There’s also Becka (@tainkirrahe). I recognised her on Twitter post TFNation. Though I didn’t talk to her at TFNation, she seemed at ease and comfortable. But there was more than meets the eye there and in the weeks after TFNation I learnt about her amazing story of personal courage and fortitude. In many ways, it reminded me of the fragile journey my little sister is on and the role I still have to play in that.  

Then there’s your own collecting. Collecting is generally a very personal and isolated thing. A convention brings to life figures new and old. Whether it be through conversation, observing robot surgery, cheeky posing, or browsing the stalls, you collect stories about toys that are additive to the appreciation of your collection. Many moments come to mind but two stick out more than others. The first was Maketoys Galaxy Meteor who was tucked under the arm of a generous collector’s father on his way to the car which I rambled on about in part two. As a result, even before the #GetMakeToysMade episode, I knew this figure was going to be special to me. The second was Micron Legends Tidal Wave where the collector (Tim, I think!) and I spent time reminiscing where we were at in that era of collecting. These shared moments come home with you. They make that next time you cross that old toy an extra bit special or that wait on that new toy just a bit more exasperating.  

There are still so many stories that I was fortunate enough to accumulate but can’t fit here. But the fact I’m not able to squeeze  those in does not make any of those less special. Hell, there’s a a wonderful Simon Furman story in there. But TFNation was great not because of any one event. It was great because of the kindness and generosity of the community that was there.

My TFNation experience reminded me that there’s never a script. The primal search for a satisfactory sequence of events, a sense of finality, is undermined by the fact that reality is a series of sliding doors that, with or without your best efforts, is dependent on the kindness of strangers. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t.

In my case, I’m pleased to report that it did. I have been the beneficiary of many privileges in life, and I’m grateful to count this experience among them.

Thanks for reading this far. Thank you, TFNation. Safe journeys, thank you all again, and see you when I see you.  

[mister-69]

Why I fell in and out of love with the Tales Series

Ah, Tales. I am both glad and bitter that they are now successful and popular today. They're still pumping titles every now and then, and all of them are being localized, which is great for the fanbase outside of Japan. I still enjoy their older games like Rebirth, Destiny R, and Symphonia, but I hate touching anything released after Vesperia. They did so many things right and their games had elements no other JRPG had, but they were even better at going downhill and ruining their series.

This is a historical account of my experience with Tales. What I loved about it, where things started to go wrong, and where I finally let go of a series I once loved.

Like many of the western fans here, my first exposure to Tales was Tales of Symphonia on the GameCube. I walked into a GameStop with my brothers, and on their demos I saw the opening of Tales of Symphonia. My first exposure to Tales was also my first exposure to an anime RPG. As someone who enjoys both video games and anime, it was an easy choice to buy this game.  

I quickly popped it in and played with my brother and it was an experience I will never forget.

CHARACTERS/SKITS:

Tales has a unique cast of characters in the sense that they have way more dialogue and lines than your average RPG-- and therefore come off as having more personality and life. This is thanks to a staple trademark of Tales called Skits. Skits are optional dialogues throughout the entire game-- all you do is press a button and watch them interact.

Half of the time, they react to recent events in the storyline and the other half they're having light-hearted conversations about anything. The topics of these conversations wouldn't normally be brought up in a main storyline, so you find out about your characters than an average RPG.

In most RPGs, characters don't talk as much except during cutscenes and this can sometimes make the adventure seem lifeless. But the skits are like banter you have with your friends on the way to a restaurant. It gives the feeling that your characters are hanging out during their adventures. There's a life and personality to Tales characters normally not found in other RPGs.

Skits is a concept that was ahead of its time. Most Tales characters fall into some archetype which is not a bad thing, it's just unavoidable. But skits allow Tales characters to branch away from their categories by giving them more personality, development, and background.

As a gamer, it's easy to become emotionally attached to these characters and sympathize with their struggle. It's also why fans favor Tales characters over other RPGs. Whether Tales characters are better RPG characters in the genre is something I will debate against, but I can see why many others believe so.

BATTLE SYSTEM:

The absolute biggest draw of the Tales series is their battle system- characterized by their trademarked LMBS (Linear Motion Battle System). In all of their Tales games, 2D or 3D, Tales characters are controlled in real time combat.

Players can move, block, attack, or cast magic at will. This is a huge deviation in the JRPG formula, in which most of the combat is turn-based. Furthermore, Tales was way ahead of its real-time combat rivals because of how developed their LMBS are. Combos can be strung together, Skills added depth and options for each character, strategies can be set for AI-controlled characters, and guarding options all make the game more than just a button-masher.

In most of the Tales games, up to 4 party members can be deployed on the battlefield. And this meant multiplayer was possible-- which meant that for once, an RPG can be finally played with someone else! I played the early half of the series with my brother (and sometimes our cousin). It was run to riff on funny parts of the game but even more fun to play with someone else. Multiplayer made Tales even more of an enjoyable experience and I am sure many others can relate.

Unlike most video game series that upgraded the same battle system, Tales was pretty daring and significantly changed up the formula. Rebirth had 3 lines and cooldown timers for Arts, Destiny R had aerial combat, and Xillia introduced tag team combos. Even the sub-systems such as skills, learnable Arts, movement options, and combo system changed.

At the end of the day, each battle system shared the same concept of free-styled combat and that's what mattered most. The ability to string together your own combos and strategize your party members made the games endlessly fun to play.

WANTING MORE OF THE SAME:

After Symphonia, I craved for more of the same and imported the rest of the Tales games on the PS2: Destiny 2, Rebirth, Destiny Remake. I even imported the PS2 version of Symphonia because of its extras over the GC version. We imported Abyss because at the time, its localization was uncertain.

Even if I didn't understand the storyline, there were entire translated scripts of the game that we read while playing the game. But more than that, we played for the battle system and there were no regrets whatsoever.

For the first time, I joined a forum for Tales games and interacted with other people, joined in on speculations, had embarrassing (but high-level) debates, and constantly tried to keep up with the next Tales game.

Over time however, the Tales series changed in many ways and so do did my love for the series. Changes in management, business practices, and development gradually transformed the series into something else. I couldn't get into the characters anymore, or enjoy its battle system, and eventually I stopped playing the series altogether.

RECYCLING/REUSING CONTENT:

One of their earliest hallmarks of disappointment was how often they used the same material repeatedly. At first, they used to be a nostalgic reference to a classic Tales character but when you do it again for the next 3 games, it becomes obvious that it's just laziness at this point.

The earliest traces of this low budget tactic begins with Abyss. In Tales, Mystic Artes were ultimate attacks with amazing visuals. But in Abyss, many of their Mystic Artes were similar in visuals-- a circular glyph that deals a radius of damage.

Although it was not a huge deal at the time, it was the beginning of a trend. Namco re-used Abyss' aesthetics for the Radiant Mythology series, Tales of VS, and Tales of Innocence. DLC costumes that were first used in Vesperia are still being used 4 games later in Berseria. And instead of coming up with new Mystic Artes, Namco just slaps on old ones onto new characters even if they didn't suit the character.

What used to be nostalgic references to classic characters now became a cheap and lazy way to add content to their newer games. Ordinarily, there is no problem with a nostalgic cameo but when they are used repeatedly, game after game, then it's just obvious laziness at this point.

DECLINING SUBSTANCE:

After Vesperia, their games started to become hallow in both nature and substance, riddled with poor game design, or both. Recycled content was only one of the many factors. The bigger concern was cutting out traditional content in the games and selling them off as DLC.

Although Vesperia was the first Tales to have DLC costumes, they had the most in-game costumes of any Tales game to date. DLC costumes were not a controversial issue until Graces, which only had 2-3 sets of costumes for each character. The majority of available costumes were sold as DLC. This DLC trend went into full force with Xillia, which only had 4 costumes total. The traditional swimwear set were absent from the game and with that, the staple comic relief swimsuit scenes.

To make matters worse, these costumes were developed before released but were released on a schedule. So even if players wanted to pay for DLC content, they wouldn't have access to them right away. And finally in Zestiria, they took it to the next step and made DLC out of Artes, Mystic Artes, and Skits. Rather than providing meaningful and additional content that players were willing to buy, Namco instead decided to hide in-game content behind a paywall. Nothing about these tactics are fair or justifiable. It's just a greedy money grab at the expense of fans and quality of their games.

STORY/CHARACTERS:

I figured, okay fine the costumes are DLC now and there's a lot of recycled content. At least I can still enjoy the characters and story... Right? Wrong. Following Vesperia, the quality and writing of Tales took a nosedive of incoherent writing, falling deeper in cliché archetypes, becoming so full of itself as a series, and losing touch with their fanbase.

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES:

Graces marked the beginning of this trend, and thus the first steps to Tales' downfall. Let's start with the character archetypes, shall we? You have the goody-two shoes protagonist Asbel, ignorant of female affections,  always wanting to do the right thing regardless of consequences, and all about protecting his friends.

This sums up 90% of your JRPG protagonists and some of the Tales protagonists can also fall under this description. But Stahn is a lazy stowaway with no ambition, Lloyd has his silly Dwarven Vows and questionable mathematics, and Senel is a loveable jerk whose lack of awareness can be attributed to his marine background.

Asbel on the other hand, has nothing other than his background that sets him apart from his archetype. His only motivation in the game is to protect his friends and nothing else. It's supposed to be beautiful and amazing because he would even sacrifice himself for his friends, but he's not that different than robot programmed for a single purpose.

Sadly, most of the characters from this point on have more or less the same amount of depth and personality as Asbel. You have some gems like Leia who fought tooth and nail to defend a hopeless Jude from Alvin, but you realize her character is wasted on Jude because it revolves around him. Instead, her character can be better spent  finding someone else who deserves her.

Then you have Alvin the traitor, who is arguably the worst traitor of any JRPG series to date. At least Kratos was disguised as a mercenary. Sure he had his mysterious past, but nothing that would indicate he was a freaking Angel working with the organization that’s been chasing after you.  Then you have Raven whose shadiness can be attributed to his silly antics, perverted nature, and propensity to drink. But one would never guess he was also a Captain of his own brigade!

Then you have Alvin who saves Jude from his predicament and then forces his mercenary services onto him, a wanted criminal. On top of that, he uses a gun which is technologically not possible on the planet he is infiltrating. You'd think a spy would make an actual effort blending in. So obviously, characters like Milla catch on and when confronted, Alvin makes a poor effort to refute her accusations which basically boils down to "I know you know but you can't prove anything." It's a complete mockery of the betrayal plot twist that the series has come to be known for.

So we have the same archetypes we've always had-- the oblivious protagonist, the childhood friend, and a shady traitor. Except now all they're doing is fulling a quota on a checklist.  Yes, they each have their own stories and backgrounds but none of them are fleshed out with the same depth as the characters from previous games.

INCOHERENT WRITING:

Now, let's talk about the incoherent writing and my gosh there are so many examples of this. Let's continue with Graces and Asbel— whose friendship with the rest of the cast is as hallow as the games. The story downplays the impact of what 7 years can do to friendships.

The game doesn't address why Asbel never kept in touch with his friends over the course of 7 years. He never wrote to them or visited, and despite being the same city as Richard, the two never crossed paths for 7 years! In fact, the only reason Asbel comes back to his hometown is because his father passed away. If he didn't, who knows when Asbel would return.... if he ever thought about returning at all. In fact, Asbel brushes off the 7 years as "Oh it went by so fast." It’s as if Asbel was playing his own game too, experiencing the time skip the same way a player would.

Under those 7 years, he trained under instructor Malik so the two have a close relationship. But that's the thing, everyone's closeness with each other is supposed to be accepted by the player. It's not unbelievable that Asbel can reconnect with his childhood friends, but at this point they have all become different people.

So in many ways, it's like getting to know someone for the first time again. But the game doesn't do any of that. It just tosses the 6 characters together with the same old banter you're used to. But you don't understand what makes any of these characters close. What makes Asbel and Malik get along beside their relationship as master and student? What makes Asbel get along with Cheria and Hubert besides being childhood friends?

In Vesperia, you can see how the irritable Rita softens up to Estelle and the others. Yuri becomes an older brother to Karol. Everyone makes fun of Raven but they love him for his antics. And Judith is the sultry woman that playfully teases everyone. None of these characters except for Yuri and his dog Repede knew each other beforehand. There are no childhood friends here—these are 7 strangers who come together and become a family. When playing the game, you can see how these characters grow close.  

I don't get that from Graces, or any game that follows it. What I get instead are a cast of characters who are stuck together and make do with it. There is no emotional investment between anyone and the impression I get is that they can just walk away from each other's lives without a care in the world. Any closeness just comes off as forced, because the writers stopped putting in effort to make a convincing cast of people who are supposed to be friends.

Moving on, let's revisit Alvin the traitor. So after the party finds out he's a traitor, guess what? Nothing happens! The party is upset with him but he just worms his way back in and shrugs. The party does nothing about it, and so they carry on awkwardly.

And not awkward in a way that's amusing to the player, but awkward in that the player can't even begin to comprehend the situation unfolding in front of them. Alvin obviously still has his own agenda intact even after coming back, and the betrayals continue happening. So it's not a single betrayal, but a recurring event in the game, and it makes no sense why the party allows this to continue.

I stopped playing the series after Xillia, but the general consensus about the next game Zestiria is that it is even less comprehensible. Scenes are so poorly directed and just happen without explanation. Characters ignore a problem when an actual person would just be like "Wait, what is going on? I demand an explanation."

SKITS:

So we have a declining quality of storyline and characters... How can it get worse? Oh wait, what about the skits that added to the characters and background? Nope, they ruined that too, and it started with Graces.

Remember how half of the skits were about the storyline and the other half was silly banter? Well, now they have become too silly and gimmicky. You now have random splashes of images invading the skits which tries to convey the scene of the game. I thought I was listening to a skit, not reading a visual novel. If you want to make this scene cinematic, then make a cutscene instead.

The topics have changed from ordinary topics that trail off to funny banter, to nonsensical gibberish that laughs at its own jokes. It's as if they were catering to meme culture and hoping that it would spread to the internet and blow up or something. It's as if, after several Tales games and years of development, the writers are writing skits for the first time again.

On top of that, most of the skits stopped making sense in context or flow of conversation. In Graces, most of the skits are triggered by standing at a Discovery Point. Sometimes the conversations are about the actual location, in that the characters talk about something they are reminded of. But most of the time, they talk about something entirely unrelated to the Discovery Point and it makes you wonder what was the point of having skits based on location.

In Berseria, I listened to a skit between Laphicet and Magilou, except Velvet was there randomly too. Ordinarily in skits, only the portraits of the participants are shown. Even if they are not originally part of the conversation, their portrait would be off to the side, to show they are eavesdropping. And if they leave the conversation, then their portrait disappears.

In the conversation between Laphicet and Magilou, Velvet appears out of nowhere and speaks her mind. She doesn't speak for the remainder of the conversation, but her portrait remains. But the remainder of this conversation only happens between Laphicet and Magilou. You can't tell if Velvet is listening in or not. If she's not there, why doesn't her portrait disappear. And if she is there, then why isn't she saying anything?

All these annoyances about the series would be minor in their own capacity, and the games would still be bearable. But all of them are present at the same time and collectively become an unbearable experience. It just proves that the Tales series is declining as a JRPG series.

BATTLE SYSTEM:

Okay, so what about the battle  system? You imported a good amount of the games just to enjoy its battle system right? Yup, even that is ruined believe it or not. For some strange reason, Tales suffered a series of questionable design choices ever since Vesperia.

Traditionally, attacks have been divided between normal attacks and Artes. You attack with regular attacks and then use Artes to complete the combo. Graces changes this formula by getting rid of normal attacks and turning everything into an Arte. Normal attacks are now the new Artes button, and the Artes button is a different branch of Artes.

This sounds like a great idea at first, especially when it was originally advertised as Style Change LMBS. But in reality, only Asbel's fighting style changed between the two trees of Artes. For magic casters, their second Artes tree were just spells. For Melee attackers, they were just different Artes. In the end, it was just a different way of sorting the Arte tree that ultimately did not add anything. Graces had positive battle system changes but this was not one of them. 

Xillia returned to the traditional format of attacks but they unified the Overlimit and Symphonia's Unison Gauge into a weird tag team function. In Xillia, characters can be tethered together and provide mutual support. The player can activate the Overlimit gauge to unleash devastating tag team attacks.

However, Overlimit required two characters to be tethered in order to activate and have access to Mystic Artes. In other words, a character cannot fight alone and go into Overlimit or use Mystic Artes alone. In adding a team functionality between characters, Tales marginalized the role of an individual character. It was a sacrifice that didn't need to happen, and this is because of poor game design.

POOR GAME DESIGN:

Fast forward to Zestiria, which attempted to introduced seamless battles. Before, characters were transported to a field of battle upon encounter. Now, enemies are fought in the fields or dungeons encountered with no transition. Upon victory however, a transition still exists for characters' win poses. Obviously, these had to stay in Tales which only made seamless transitions pointless. In fact, seamless transitions became one of the most criticized elements of Zestiria.

First of all, Namco did not accommodate for the camera angles being obstructed by objects, walls, or other obstructions. Traditionally, battlefields took place in a flat area with no obstacles and within a large radius. The camera can zoom in or out depending on the player's settings and number of enemies son the field. The player's perspective in Zestiria however, was constantly being blocked by trees, walls, or even the enemies themselves.

Second, there were no environmental interactions which is what players were hoping for since they existed in Vesperia. For example, using hazardous flowers to stun an opponent or taking out bridge switches to prevent enemy reinforcements. One would think this primitive form of environmental interactions would be present in a game whose battlefields were shaped by terrain and geography. But this was not the case, which begs the question... why even have seamless transitions in the first place? It goes back to Namco not knowing how to use good ideas.

THE ALISHA CONTROVERSY:

When discussing the flaws of the Tales series, it is impossible to leave out the story behind Alisha and Zestiria, the biggest controversy of the series. It was so serious that Hideo Baba disappeared from public appearances and ultimately left Namco. This controversy illustrates a problem bigger than any that I have mentioned thus far— which is that Namco has become so full of itself that it produces what -it- wants rather than what the fans want.

When Zestiria was revealed, the first two characters shown were Sorey and Alisha. They revealed figures for both of these characters, and there was also an Alisha cosplayer on the scene to further promote the event. JRPGs typically have a male and female lead, so these must be our hero and heroine right? And the first characters shown are always the lead protagonists, right?

Well, according to the producer Hideo Baba, if you thought Alisha was the heroine then you made an incorrect assumption. That's right folks, Alisha was never the heroine of the story and in fact, only a temporary party member for a small portion of the entire game.

Despite being part of DLC costume sets, being the first female Sorey comes across, and the character responsible for initiating Sorey's journey, she is not the heroine or a permanent party member. When fans expressed their outrage and confusion, Baba only responded with "We never said she was the heroine."

Then why was she one of the two revealed characters when Zestiria was announced? Why announce her at all, release a figure for her, and include her in DLC costume sets? This character received promotion and attention and fans were excited to play a lancer, of which there are very few of in the series. For Baba to say "we never said she was the heroine" is a mockery to all of the fans he misled up to this point.

Namco will never come out and say it but what really happened was that there were last minute changes to the story that replaced the intended heroine Alisha with Rose. It turns out that Hideo Baba was smitten with Rose’s voice actress at the time, so much that he abused his authority as producer to shift focus onto Rose. This major change in heroines affected the rest of the storyline, and writers simply did not have enough time to rewrite the story to accommodate for this change. The end product resulted in an incoherent storyline that felt incomplete and full of holes.

In an attempt to appease fans, Namco released a (temporarily) free DLC chapter focusing on Alisha after the events of the game. However, this does not change the fact that Alisha was shafted because of Baba's personal interference so the DLC chapter did very little to please the fans. And Hideo Baba was never heard from again.

This incident provides us with insight to the management responsible for calling the shots in the making of Tales games. These are people whose desire to create a Tales game are out of alignment with what fans want. Business perspective and economic thought cannot be applied to explain their behavior. The only difference between their games and fan made projects is that they are making the same garbage but within the company.

Sure there are still fans that eat up everything that Namco serves them but nobody is asking for a Tales-themed cafe, a Tales of the Abyss musical, a letter from Richard to Asbel as a bundle exclusive, or an anime of a game that was just released. These are products that Namco is throwing out there because this is what they want to exist.

It's sad how Namco is mishandling the Tales series so badly. Aside from God Eater, they don't have Go Shiina composing any music. They have a trademarked battle system that no other company can replicate. And there are so elements and quirks to the Tales games that cannot be found anywhere else. These wasted resources can be better spent giving fans what they actually want like…

REMAKES:

Namco realizes the value of the past Tales games, that's why they ported Destiny 2 and Rebirth onto the PSP, Abyss to the 3DS, and Symphonia and its sequel to the PS3. What Namco should really be doing however, are remakes of older Tales games. Specifically, they should replicate the success they had with the popular Tales of Destiny Remake.

Destiny Remake's assets were made from the ground-up. It introduced an entirely new battle system with aerial combat and an alternative to the traditional TP system. Its story and skits were fully voiced and redone. Its graphics kept 2D sprites complete with beautiful animation and effects. It will go down in history as one of the most satisfying battle systems in a Tales game.

And yet this success has never been replicated ever since. Fans were hoping that these remakes would be the beginning of a new trend. New fans would get introduced to older games with modern designs. Older cans relive their older favorites in a new way. And fans outside of Japan could get a second chance at localization.

But instead of remaking the next entry in the series, Eternia, Namco decided to remake Innocence and Hearts on the PSVita. These titles are nowhere close to being the most popular titles in the series, but Namco wanted to remake them because the DS' hardware limitations prevented them from putting in everything they wanted. Therefore, they were remade on the VIta.

The quality of work put into these remakes comes nowhere close to Destiny R's. Although voicework and scenes were redone, the character models were mediocre and the battle system was largely the same with a few improvements. They did however, retcon in new characters— a trend that Namco seems to be fond of since it was done to Vesperia and Phantasia.

What's even more bizarre is that Namco introduced the concept of the Triverse Gate, which connects the worlds of Innocence, Hearts, and Tempest. However, this Triverse Gate is only present in the remakes, not in the original games. It's a very interesting concept to make a connection between 3 unrelated games, but it only serves as an end-game dungeon. Even in the remakes, the Triverse Gates have no bearing on the story whatsoever. So what was the point of connecting these games in the first place? The only thing the Triverse Gate has done for the series is make fans wonder why there hasn’t been a Tempest R.

Regardless, Hearts R and Innocence R performed terribly. Even their combined sales don't come close to Destiny R, which sold over a million units. In fact, both of the remakes sold less than their original releases. This failure is actually quite an accomplishment in of itself, and again proves that Namco is out of touch with their fanbase.

CONCLUSION:

After reading this, I hope you can understand why I once loved Tales and why I hate it right now. It's like a relationship that worked out perfectly fine- distance wasn't a problem, money wasn't a problem, approval from friends and family wasn't a problem. But Tales just couldn't be satisfied staying the same and wanted to be something different for no reason, and in ways I could not accept.

I don't think I am asking for much here. I just want Tales to be good like it used to be. It doesn't have to take after Vesperia, Symphonia, or the legendary PS2 trinity. I just want the battle system to be fun again, for the characters to be less gimmicky and try-hard, for the content to actually be there, and for the storylines to make sense.

I don't want Tales to do open world when they can't. Or for them to make a mockery of skits and post-battle victory screens. Or to buy a Rutee and Leon for the 5th time. Just give me a complete game that's fun to play and has likeable characters like the good ole days. Please.

[thomasroach]

Devil May Cry 5 All Weapons Guide

The post Devil May Cry 5 All Weapons Guide appeared first on Fextralife.

All Weapons Guide for Devil May Cry 5, featuring the in-game model images and descriptions by Nico, as well as how to get them and tips. If you want to learn more about DMC5, see our Enemies and Bosses guides as well!

All Weapons in DMC 5

There are 23 unique weapons in the Devil May Cry 5, however, each character will have their own sets of weapons. (Robotic Arms for Nero, Rebellion for Dante and Cane for V.) Some weapons can perform special attacks or can transform into other variations. Learn their features is the key to defeat the horde of demons.

This guide contains weapon unlock spoilers!

Nero’s Weapons Red Queen Blue Rose Overture Helter Skelter Punch Line Gerbera Tomboy Rawhide Ragtime Buster Arm V’s Weapons V’s Cane

Dante’s Weapons Rebellion Devil Sword Sparda Devil Sword Dante Balrog Cavaliere King Cerberus Ebony & Ivory Coyote-A Kalina Ann Kalina Ann II Double Kalina Anna Dr. Faust

Nero’s Red Queen

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Pressing L2 at the right time will charge the weapon instantly, giving you better, flashier combo power and hitting harder. Make sure to master this technique!

Useful to Know: A newbie- friendly combo is to press Back on L and hold triangle to launch enemies into the air. Here, you will want to use “Roulette Spin” to toy with your enemy on air without damage danger, before crashing down with a dash. Follow up with Devil Breaker action and any regular on ground combo.

“Sticking a combustion engine on a sword to add some oomph to its blows…pretty slick idea. Seems like Daddy drew up the base design.

You took the design and souped it up to make this here Red Queen. I gotta tell ya, I couldn’t help but laugh the first time I saw it. No one in their right mind would dream up a rig like this.

Without demon blood in your veins, dang thing’d go flyin’ outta your hand instead of into some bad guy”

Nero’s Blue Rose

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Charging up your weapon is a great way to stagger enemies. Hold the fire button (square) and watch for the glow to fill up!

Useful to Know: Whilst Blue Rose is not great at dealing damage, it is very useful for keeping your combos going and for assisting you in breaking enemy guard with a barrage. Combine with the Devil Breaker for some flashy action.

“Red Queen and Blue Rose… Lookin’ at these two monsters, I can’t tell if you’re a genius or just freakin’ crazy.

A six-chamber revolver that fires two shots at a time? What kinda whackjob thinks up something like that?

And the may the bottom shell breaks through armor first, only for the top shell to follow up and pierce the target’s body… Who the hell came up with that crazy idea!? …Ahhh, who am I kiddin’? I love it!”

Nero’s Overture

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Useful for AOE damage

Useful to Know: The most basic of the devil breakers, but very useful for getting out of sticky situations if you’re surrounded. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 500 red orbs

“The first arm I made for your sorry ass after you lost your old one.

It’s got a plain-Jane design you can wear just about anywhere without drawing too many glances. Still, if they knew about the electric generator I jammed inside that puppy, they’d be shocked—maybe literally! Still, should be more than enough to take out any scrub demons you come across.

Like the name implies, the Overture is just the prelude to the other beauties I’ve got knocking around the ol’ brain”

Nero’s Helter Skelter

Unlocked: Early Nero Missions

Main Tip: The charge attack is very powerful, transforming you into a drill

Useful to Know: The regular attack is not as good as other devil breakers, but the charge makes up for it. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 1000 red orbs

“There was this weird slide in the park near my house when I was a kid, see? That’s where I got the inspiration for this design.

The simple design concentrates all the power into the tip to really drill the point home to your enemies. It has a kind of beautiful precision, don’t you think?

I made sure it’s able to grab stuff, but just barely…in all honesty, I kinda wanna take out that function. Really streamline the thing, y’know?”

Nero’s Punch Line

Unlocked: Defeat Goliath Boss on Mission 02

Main Tip: Throw it out while you fight and it will deal damage and keep your combo going. Make sure you aren’t hit!

Useful to Know: The regular attack is really good for combo sustaining, the special charged attack can be driven around and knocks enemies into the air in a flashy fashion. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 500 red orbs

“I analyzed that sample we got from Goliath and used the materials to make this powerhouse.

The propellant injection device is based on the combustion mechanism in that numbskull’s demon tummy.

Its basically a rocket-powered punch, but I bet a show-off like you could go along for the ride if ya like.”

Nero’s Gerbera

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Excellent for dodging and staying in the air, use it to keep enemies airborne or to prop yourself up to far-off ledges.

Useful to Know: The regular attack dodges forward, make sure you use this together with nero’s air hike and (later on triple hike) skills to reach all areas of the map. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 500 red orbs

“I thought up this beauty while gazing at a bed of flowers—African daisies, to be precise. What? Can’t a girl have a little grace in her gear box!?

The petal-shaped parts act as a complex reverberatory furnace. That furnace generates an intense heat that can be shot out as a shockwave.

And that shockwave ain’t no one-trick pony, lemme tell ya. Attack, defense, even movement—this baby can do it all!”

Nero’s Tomboy

Unlocked: ??

Main Tip: Adds a flame sword to your attacks, giving you extra power for each blow. It stacks with Exceed so it can be devastating. Make sure you aren’t hit!

Useful to Know: The regular attack is a fast flame attack. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 1000 red orbs

“Uh, I think I might’ve overdone it this time.

I wanted to craft somethin’ to power up your sword and gun, but the output on this thing borders on absurd. You might even have a little trouble wrangling it.

But hey, what guy doesn’t like a piece that’s a little hard to handle? Treat her right and she’s bound to come around.”

Nero’s Rawhide

Unlocked: Defeat Gilgamesh in Mission 06

Main Tip: Can be used to grapple stronger enemies that are normally not grabbable.

Useful to Know: The regular attack is rather disappointing, creating a wire-net, but it can rack up your combo as it hits multiple enemies. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 1000 red orbs

“That underworld metal we got off of Gilgamesh is known for the shocks it produces. But get this: instead of just using it to shoot more shockwaves, I developed an arm that stretches out into a thin, powerful weapon!

It’s stronger than your wire, too, so I bet some of the enemies you can’t normally pull in won’t pose much of a problem with this one. Course, you could always just wind it around one and slice them to ribbons. Hey, whatever turns your crank.”

Nero’s Ragtime

Unlocked: Defeat Elder the Geryon Knight

Main Tip: This is not only useful for slowing down enemies, but also you can slow down environmental traps! Particularly good in a later mission to get all collectibles.

Useful to Know: ????. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 2000 red orbs

“Bending the laws of time and space is a hell of a feat, even for someone as awesome as me. But thanks to this Geryon chunk V brought back, I’ve done it– I’ve weaponized time itself!

Great, ain’t it? AMAZING, aren’t I??

This’ll stop even the peskiest demon in its tracks…! Until it wears off, anyway.

Man, processing that material takes some fancy handiwork. I can’t make a bunch of these, so use it wisely…and I DO mean WISELY, m’kay?”

Nero’s Buster Arm

Unlocked: ??

Main Tip: ??

Useful to Know: ????. Charge it by holding down circle. Be mindful that taking damage will destroy the breaker.

Price: 3500 red orbs

“I only had one goal in mind with this beast: recreate the demonic arm that bastard stole from you. I bet ya been itching to chuck around baddies again, am I right?

Well, rejoice! I did it! This arm lets you toss around demons like a boss, even slam them into the ground if you have the hankering!

…For a little while, anyway. But that’s as tough as I can make this sucker, dammit! I swear!”

Dante’s Rebellion

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Dante’s default sword is very powerful. Use Swordmaster style and press circle as you do combos to get stronger output.

Useful to Know: Stinger and million stab are great gap-closers to replace nero’s grapples. Dante’s fighting style with trickster and swordmaster is the best combination for this sword.

“The sword left to Dante by his legendary demon daddy, the Dark Knight Sparda.

I’ve been slacking off on my devil sword studies, so I can’t say much, but it ain’t no normal weapon, that’s for sure.

I mean, that Yamato sword you had ganked from you has the power to separate man from demon, right? I bet this sword has some crazy powers of its own, too. But as things stand, I can’t quite figure out what they might be.”

Dante’s Devil Sword Sparda

Unlocked: Mission 10: Awaken

Main Tip: Dante’s second sword carries over the combos from the first one. Use Swordmaster style and press circle as you do combos to get stronger output.

Useful to Know: Whilst it looks a lot bulkier, the sword feels about the same as rebellion, so don’t worry about its size. Dante’s fighting style with trickster and swordmaster is the best combination for this sword.

“The sword Sparda bears more than the Dark Knight’s name: it gives off an ominous, but somehow divine, power.

I hear the thing’s brimming with demonic power, but only a few tough hombres can actually wield the dang thing.

I’d love to spend some quality time experimenting on this blade…but naw, better not. I’d only get chewed out.”

Dante’s Devil Sword Dante

Unlocked: Mission 12 Yamato

Main Tip: Dante’s third sword carries over the combos from the first two, and adds the ability to do a powerfun “Sin Devil Trigger” that deals devastating damage. Use Swordmaster style and press circle as you do combos to get stronger output.

Useful to Know: The transformation for Sin Devil Trigger can be held before releasing so you can avoid damage or stun a group of enemies. Make sure to unlock the large AOE combos as they pretty much guarantee S rankings. Dante’s fighting style with trickster and swordmaster is the best combination for this sword.

“A new devil sword born from the fusion of Rebellion and Sparda: the devil sword Dante.

Looks like Dante’s following in his daddy’s footsteps, swinging around a demon blade with his own name.

I dunno if he used his own power to fuse it with Sparda, or if it was Rebellion’s doing… Either way, anyone can see this is one hell of a new weapon.”

Dante’s Balrog

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: This close range weapon set is very good for getting high combos early on, as it does not deal massive damage but very quick hits instead.

Useful to Know: There are two movesets for this weapon, punching and kicking, and you can swap between them on the fly. As you fight, you get flames that denote a power-up state, this is the time you want to go on the offensive. Dante’s fighting style with gunslinger and royal guard is the best combination for this weapon.

“There’s an area in the underworld called Fire Hell, once ruled over by a big nasty beast named Berial. After he bit the dust, they say this even bigger badass, Balrog, inherited the burning throne.

Bad luck for him, he ran into our boy Dante, who whooped him like a rented mule and added his power to his collection of Devil Arms.

The way this thing builds up heat to unleash powerful attacks—there’s no doubt this is the power of the king of flames. Anyone else would burn to a crisp wielding this beast, but Dante’s a seasoned vet’ when it comes to handling hot stuff.”

Dante’s Cavaliere

Unlocked: Mission 11 Reason

Main Tip: This extremely unusual weapon deals exceptionally high damage in an AOE effect, and ranks up very quickly when connecting the right moves. It is, however, very slow.

Useful to Know: The moveset for this weapon is hard to master due to its slow attacks, that make them unwieldy. You can do a charge attack that rides the bike and knocks enemies into the air, which is a great way to start a fight with an air combo.

“I gotta tell ya, of all Dante’s Devil Arms, this one really butters my biscuit.

This is what happens when you jam together a bunch of demonic armor with a broken down hog. l I tried digging around under the hood myself, but I still have no dang clue how this thing works.

Hell, I even asked the man himself about it, but even Dante couldn’t explain how he threw this friggin’ freak show together.

I mean come on, a chopper turned into a sword!? Heh, make the Red Queen look like standard issue.”

Dante’s King Cerberus

Unlocked: Mission ?? Defeat King Cerberus

Main Tip: Use it to thin our large groups whilst staying mobile, dealing chip damage and doing area projectiles. It combines well with Swordmaster to maximize combos.

Useful to Know: An extremely fast and versatile weapon, does not deal high damage but has a variety of aoe and elemental combos including freezing, ice and lightning. Best used with Swordmaster and Royal Guard styles.

“Dante used to have a Devil Arm called Cerberus way back when. If Dante went and turned that one in for an upgrade, this’s what he’d end up with.

The so-called king of the Cerberus clan wasn’t just whistling Dixie, let me tell ya. This arm changes shape, releasing fire, ice, even lightning as it tears through everything in its path.

As a craftsman, I’m pretty keen to figure out how you could cram all of those powers into this one slick weapon.”

Dante’s Ebony & Ivory

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: Your default weapons are good for keeping your combo meter up, and can be charged to deal better damage.

Useful to Know: You’ll want to keep your combo meter going by using Gunslinger as you attack with other weapons. It’s not particularly deadly but it is quite fun.

“A pair of gorgeous pistols made by Nell Goldstein, gunsmith and grandma to an equally gorgeous granddaughter.

At first you might think the only difference between the two is their color, but you’d be wrong. Ebony’s all about accuracy, while Ivory’s tweaked for rapid fire.

If I had the chance I’d disassemble the pair and see what makes them tick, but now’s not the time for that.

Still, what an artist grandma was. Can’t help but be proud.”

Dante’s Coyote-A

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: This shotgun is good when charged to break up enemy guard point blank or deal some aoe damage.

Useful to Know: Situational use when chaining combos can increase your ssstylish rank, but its slower than Ebony & Ivory and not as flashy. Useful in early levels, pair with gunslinger.

“Dante molded this shotgun into an anti-demon weapon.

Compared to the sheer beauty of my grandma’s guns, this thing’s barbaric! Have you SEEN what this thing is like inside!?

It’s like blowing up a dam to put out a campfire.

Don’t get me wrong, I could make something just as gnarly…and pretty to look at, to boot. Doubt Dante would gave two shakes about that, though.”

Dante’s Kalina Ann

Unlocked: Mission 11 Reason

Main Tip: This powerful ranged weapon is a great way to start a fight. Charge it up as soon as enemies start spawning and unleash to get your combo going. It also one shots vines at lower difficulties.

Useful to Know: The Gunslinger use of this weapon, and the charged attack, both have significant recovery times that leave you open for attack. Pair with Trickster to get away!

“A multipurpose missile launcher, and Lady’s bosom buddy. She named it after her dear departed momma.

It was designed and built by some other craftsman, but after they passed away I’ve been the one she comes to for tune-ups. Believe you me, she’s real attached to this thing.

Whoever made this, I can tell they knew what they were doing, and then some. Sure wish I’d gotten the chance to meet ’em.”

Dante’s Kalina Ann II

Unlocked: Mission ??

Main Tip: A more powerful, but slower version of Kalina Ann. The charge attack is quite devastating.

Useful to Know: The Gunslinger use of this weapon, and the charged attack, both have significant recovery times that leave you open for attack. Pair with Trickster to get away!

“A replica of Lady’s Kalina Ann I fashioned from memory.

Don’t like the “II” fool you, it’s not an upgrade on the original. I made sure it didn’t stray too far from the source material.

Still, this IS me we’re talking about here…so I added a fun little something extra for when the original Kalina Ann surfaces. Might be a bit much for Lady… But Dante? Heh heh…”

Dante’s Double Kalina Anna

Unlocked: Mission ??

Main Tip: A significantly more powerful, but slower version of Kalina Ann. The charge attack is quite devastating and effective even on bosses.

Useful to Know: The Gunslinger use of this weapon, and the charged attack, both have significant recovery times that leave you open for attack. Pair with Trickster to get away!

“HA! I knew Dante had it in ‘im! He found the Kalina Ann and brought it back!

Now that coupling mechanism I hid in my Kalina Ann II won’t go to waste…I bet you can guess what that’s for now?

BOOM! Throw the two Kalina Anns together to discharge an insanely high-powered heat ray!

—-Still, a girl needs her secrets, right? So, uh…don’t tell Lady about this, m’kay?”

Dante’s Dr. Faust

Unlocked: Mission 13 Three Warriors (Dante)

Main Tip: This weapon may cost you a lot of red orbs if you use it at the wrong time, it is best to remove from your inventory while you learn how to use it – go to the void!

Useful to Know: Enemies under the effect of this weapon will get a little hat on their heads, attack them to get your Orbs. Mastery of this tool is complex, and it’s advisable that you leave it for when you’re more confident in your skills and moves, and familiar with mission layout and enemy composition.

“I built this here Devil Arm based off Daddy’s old research. Got the name Faust from the demon I based this design concept off of.

It fires crystallized demon blood like bullets…y’know, Red Orbs? I also made sure it causes any demon it hits to cough up a butt-load of blood.

Amazing, ain’t it!? You’d have to be a few beers short of a six-pack to pass up a Devil Arm like this.”

V’s Cane

Unlocked: Default

Main Tip: V’s special DT attack that eliminates enemies in an area is not as useful as it sounds in lower difficulties, prioritize other skills instead.

Useful to Know: When you teleport to an enemy to finish them off, you’re still open to damage – be mindful of this and keep a good look of the battlefield to avoid being hit. Additionally, you can still direct Shadow and Griffon as you perform your executes, so ensure you’re always on the offensive.

“That cane V’s always lugging around. I took the liberty of checking it out once, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Sure, the metal’s a good conduit for demonic power and all…but there must be more to it than that.

Well, who knows. Maybe he does just use it to get around.”

If you’re enjoying DMC5, make sure to check out our Devil May Cry 5 Review, the DMC5 Walkthrough, and our other DMC5 Guides: 10 Things you Should know,  Skills List, All Secret Mission Guide, All Blue Orb Locations, All Gold Orb Locations, All Purple Orb Locations and All DMC5 Enemies, All DMC5 Bosses.

The post Devil May Cry 5 All Weapons Guide appeared first on Fextralife.

Devil May Cry 5 All Weapons Guide published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[fmservers]

Why longer term sheets are better

Recently in a conversation, the length of term sheets came as a topic (I assure you, it was a riveting conversation). The complaint was that a term sheet which had recently been received was too long, and therefore the VC who sent it wasn’t being founder friendly. The travails of successfully raising money!

Actually though, a longer term sheet is much more founder friendly and good business practice, and founders should be leery of VCs bearing short contracts.

Historically (i.e. about 6 years ago), term sheets used to be staid affairs, printed on plain white paper in standard Times New Roman font right out of Word. It was a wretched and horrifying world until the cool VCs showed up, who added design accoutrements (Bolded section heads! Logos! Colors!) while claiming that they had a “single-page” term sheet for founders, implying that the term sheet’s simplicity and prettiness showed that they weren’t really investors, but more like a Brooklyn barista with an art side hustle (and a lot of cash).

Here’s the thing, term sheets have an incredibly important purpose, which is to set forth in clear language the terms of a deal. Unfortunately in modern venture capital, there are a lot of terms that have to be negotiated in any equity round, from financial terms to option pools, to board structure, to voting rights on major business decisions like selling the company, and much more. Simpler term sheets either relegate many of these items to “standard venture capital terms apply” or some other vague language, or just wholly don’t mention them at all.

The challenge is that once the term sheet is signed, it becomes the blueprint by which the legal counsels for the VC and founder begin to write up the legal contracts that allows the VC to buy equity in the startup. When term sheets are clear, precise, and comprehensive, the lawyers just go to work and turn those agreed-upon terms into legal language in relatively short order.

When there are key terms that are “standard” or absent from a term sheet though, lawyers do what lawyers have to do: they negotiate for their respective party. Suddenly a term that seems fairly standard is up for debate, and unless a founder (and their VC) is paying very close attention to the legal process (from experience, no one really is), then the legal bills for the round can spiral very, very rapidly. That can pose a double whammy for a startup, since many VCs continue to charge the legal fees of conducting a round to the startup they are investing in.

I’ve seen founders in absolute sticker shock after seeing the legal costs of their round total into the upper tens of thousands of dollars because their lawyers racked up time trying to plow through term after term that could have been made clearer by the parties up front.

So, what’s more founder friendly: a longer term sheet that sets the deal terms clearly up front and likely saves the founder legal costs, or a shorter (but color!) term sheet that can end up costing far more down the line?

This is mostly a problem for first-time founders raising their first round of capital. I have a sinking feeling that many VCs take advantage of this naiveté to get better terms than they might have gotten otherwise had they actually walked through all the language up front. In later rounds, founders either ask all the right questions about the next round of capital, or their other existing investors figure this out on their behalf.

It’s good legal practice to always get all material terms figured out before your lawyers start writing contracts, whether in fundraising, or customer contracts, or what have you. You can’t always predict if there is something else that will end up being a disagreement, but getting most of the terms squared away will save legal time, and that is money ultimately in your pocket.

Side note: Extra Crunch published part two of five of our comprehensive guide to legal issues facing startups, this time focused on intellectual property. Don’t miss out on part one which focused on corporate issues.

Extra Crunch’s first conference call is today

We are hosting the first conference call for Extra Crunch subscribers today at 2pm EST / 11am PST. Call-in details are being sent out to members by email roughly one hour in advance. Today, Eric Eldon and I will talk briefly about Extra Crunch, and then TechCrunch social and product maestro Josh Constine is going to talk about the strategic issues confronting the social giants. Join us!

More SoftBank Vision Fund sadness

Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

Get out your popcorn because there’s more drama involving SoftBank’s giant Vision Fund and its LP base. Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund stated that it no longer planned to invest in the Vision Fund. Despite previous discussions with SoftBank, the fund plans to instead put its money into infrastructure across areas like energy, healthcare, and education.

With assets of roughly $15 billion under management, Bahrain’s fund is small potatoes when it comes to SoftBank, and its contribution likely would have been much smaller than those of its Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia counterparts. However, after recent reports that Persian Gulf LPs are growing frustrated with the Vision Fund and are putting more money to work in infrastructure, Bahrain’s decision could indicate a broader change in sentiment towards the Vision Fund. Just look at the comment the CEO of Bahrain’s Fund gave to Reuters:

“We talked with them and with many people, but it shows we’ve not seen something we think we can add value to or it could add value to us.”

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has wanted to scale up the size of Vision Fund II, but that dream may well be fading as more large wealth managers decline to engage.

Steam and video game streaming

Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Extra Crunch writer Chris Morris had a dive into the challenges facing Steam yesterday. Steam is facing two trends. First, publishers are increasingly getting smart about owning their customer relationship, which is hard to do with the design of Steam’s platform. The second is that video game streaming is getting closer to reality, and that doesn’t bode well for a game store. Plus, developers want to keep more of their revenue, and Steam takes a lot.

What’s interesting here is that publishers (and I mean big, AAA publishers) are increasingly comfortable with the notion that they can attract customers to their own independent store fronts and don’t have to pay the Steam tax in order to get in front of customers. What concerns me is that indie developers both don’t have the leverage to negotiate with Steam and don’t have the marketing budgets or fanbases to reach out to a wide audience. That’s not a great world, and an opportunity I think to figure out how to create a more even playing field for independent game creators.

The chip space keeps getting hotter as Korea’s SK leads round for Chinese chipmaker

IvancoVlad via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

TechCrunch writer Rita Liao reported overnight that the A.I.-focused Chinese chipmaker Horizon Robotics raised a $600 million round led by subsidiaries of Korea’s SK Group, including its semiconductors segment.

We’ve previously discussed the intensifying global competition in the chip space, and SK’s investment shows that no one wants to miss out on the next innovative technology like previous incumbents who now find themselves playing catch up.

It’s worth noting that Intel’s venture arm, Intel Capital, is also an investor in Horizon and led their previous fundraise, as Horizon seems to offer up another opportunity for the US chip giant to make up lost ground in AI chip innovation and to gain share in the Chinese market now that they have canceled a partnership with China’s state-backed chipmaker Unisoc.

The data point is another positive for Chinese chipmakers, who seem to still have access to foreign capital on top of more than enough domestic — often state-backed — investments. The city of Beijing just raised its first venture fund with $1.5 billion focused on chips, A.I., and other areas, while China is reportedly nearing the closing of its second state-backed semis fund that some estimate might be nearly $50 billion in size.

More news

Written by Arman Tabatabai

California may have canceled HSR, but China is moving forward with an IPO

While US high-speed rail (HSR) projects continue to fall flat on their face, China Railway Corporation is now planning to IPO its Beijing to Shanghai HSR line within the next year. There’s always some financial risk with publicly-traded infrastructure, but the line’s securely profitable and the deal should help shore up the finances of its owner as it plans to make its largest rail investments ever this year.

Japan’s antitrust investigation is the latest in Asia’s new wave of regulatory scrutiny

Japan is reportedly initiating an antitrust investigation into the country’s biggest ecommerce platforms. Investigators will be looking to see whether Amazon Japan, Rakuten and SoftBank-subsidiary Yahoo! Japan launched benefit programs that ultimately are subsidized by and cut into the revenue of its small-to-midsize vendor suppliers.

The investigation is the latest in Japan’s broader effort to increase regulatory scrutiny on big tech, a global trend that seems to be permeating Asia as seen in our previous discussions on India. While it’s unclear how the heightened scrutiny will impact companies’ perception of these markets, it’s certainly clear that the “move fast and break things” playbook is getting tougher to run.

Obsessions

We have a bit of a theme around emerging markets, macroeconomics, and the next set of users to join the internet.

More discussion of megaprojects, infrastructure, and “why can’t we build things”

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to danny@techcrunch.com.

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

Via Danny Crichton https://techcrunch.com

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews 16: Transformers: Generations Soundwave (WFC: Siege)

It seems that the old Micro Change Transformers can never get a proper update these days. Megatron can’t be a gun because that’ll apparently get kids shot, and a robot that turns into a camera or a microscope just doesn’t please the kids like it used to. But the thing that never ceases to amaze me is that apparently, kids don’t even know what cassette tapes are. Primus help me, I’m only nineteen and I already feel old! As a result, Soundwave and Blaster always feel the need to get creative... even when they’re marketed towards people who do know what cassettes are. Anyway, today we’ll be taking a look at Siege Soundwave, the latest attempt to update the classic communications officer.

Spaceship Mode

It seems that when Hasbro can’t think of a new vehicle mode for a Decepticon, they default to “Cybertronian spaceship.” As a result, Soundwave transforms into a flying brick with booster rockets and landing skids. At the very least, he proves my point about Hasbro forgetting the battle damage feature wrong. The entire top of the vehicle is slathered with silver weathering detail, as are the sides of the nose. It’s one of the busier examples of battle damage, and I’ll admit, probably my least favorite. At the very least, I don’t think the vehicle had much aesthetic value to detract from in the first place. On the plus side, all that sculpted detail I love so much is still here. I like the little antenna sticking off the back of the ship. Brings a bit of interesting asymmetry. Though I do question the decision to give him a cockpit.

In terms of functionality, it’s pretty much as much of a brick as it looks. You can play around with the position of the thrusters, but I don’t think that’s intentional. It feels like they just aren’t locking in the way they should. Most of the functionality comes from the weapons gimmick. Each thruster has a COMBAT port on it, where you can attach his weapons: a pair of matching cylindrical blasters with stubby little barrels. He also has his third weapon, a double barreled blaster that stores by tabbing in beneath the right thruster. All of their barrels are compatible with the blast effect parts, but strangely not the thrusters themselves. Though be careful when putting a blast effect on the “Concussion Blaster”, since the peg on that one is designed to slide in for a robot mode feature. Just remember to push back on the rear and you’ll be fine.

Aside from that, there’s not much to the spaceship mode. It’s honestly kind of a throwaway mode... but you do have an alternative.

Lamp Post Mode

Yes, after many years of fan-modes, Hasbro has finally made a real bonus mode. In this case, Soundwave is capable of transforming into the lamp post mode seen in the pilot episode of the cartoon, and to the toy’s credit, it doesn’t just consist of putting Soundwave into a T-pose. That said, it still has a lot in common with the robot mode, and it doesn’t really do much in this mode either: what you see is what you get. It’s more a fun novelty than an actual mode, and it is a lot of fun.

Conversion

Converting from spaceship to robot (or lamp post) is fairly bare-bones at its core, but actually does have some interesting tricks, particularly in the way the legs transform. Not only do the side panels of the legs fold up to hide the thighs, but the feet are cleverly concealed by a set of panels, which collapse up to fill the cavity left behind by flipping them out. From there, most of it involves flipping parts around the torso. The arms split apart and fold up from underneath the ship mode, and the waist assembly comes down from the back, and the thrusters collapse into a backpack. Take special note of the rear antenna, however: it must be folded down in order for the right arm to tab into place, and for his shoulder cannon to peg in.

Robot Mode

Soundwave continues the trend of Siege toys mimicking their G1 counterparts ludicrously well. Granted, Soundwave isn’t a particularly hard design to replicate, but they still pulled it off really well. The battle damage is, of course, still present, but it’s far more subdued here than in spaceship mode, since most of the spaceship roof is hidden away here. Now it’s mostly in his legs, with some scuff marks on his forearms, and my personal favorite detail: the cracks spider-webbing in his chest. It’s a clever way of incorporating the design feature, though it probably won’t win over those who still dislike it. Me, though, I like this level of battle damage, and would like to see more toys take the approach of this mode.

As far as other painted details, it’s about what you’d expect from a Soundwave: red bands around the wrists, silver on the faux tape deck buttons, a fully painted chest door, and some extra detail on the shins. Of course, the head sculpt is 100% Soundwave, though his eyes are done in yellow plastic rather than red, like his original toy. It’s kind of odd: eye color is usually the one thing Hasbro keeps from the cartoon over the toy, which makes Soundwave kind of an outlier among his teammates. Still, he’s got some good light piping, and if it really bothers you, a red sharpie should do the trick.

Siege has been a great line for articulation, and Soundwave so lives up to that standard. Ball jointed neck, universal shoulders and hips, with skirts to provide forward clearance, bicep and thigh swivels, double-jointed elbows, 90 degree knees, a waist joint and ankle rockers. Though I will say, the right shoulder does have a tendency to pop out of its socket. You know, as much as I found the antenna amusing, I feel like I’d rather have a secure shoulder.

For extra functions, the robot mode adds seven new COMBAT ports, meaning he can be armed up with extra weapons if you so desire. Of course he gets his classic shoulder cannon (or “Sonic Cannon”), which now has a jointed peg to serve as anti-air fire, as well as his “Concussion Blaster”, which lacks the midway extension, but still gets its blast effect compatible slide-out barrel. He also gets the “Blitz Charge Blaster”, which is unique to this version of the character, and which I honestly don’t use very much. Sometimes I’ll peg it onto his arm or something, but it just doesn’t feel right giving it to him. Though interestingly, it can actually be used with Siege Megatron to recreate his back-mounted cannon, in case the sword-gun doesn’t work for you. I may actually just end up doing that with it instead. And of course, the weapons can be combined to form the “Sonic Compression Mega-Blaster”: basically Soundwave’s two main weapons strung together with a gray rod. It’s honestly kind of underwhelming, though it’s length is impressive. I’m guessing this is the reason the Charge Blaster was included, but it feels like an odd choice, considering the two main weapons can just peg together on their own, and if anything look more cohesive that way.

But of course, it is Soundwave, and so it retains his classic gimmick. Pressing a gray button on his shoulder causes his chest compartment to spring open, with enough space to accommodate one cassette. None are included, however, so you’ll have to buy them separately. I like how his left hand has an extended finger, so he can actually be posed ejecting the tapes. One thing that merits mentioning, however, is that the chest door has no permanent stopper to keep it from going all the way down. Instead, it’s held up by the waist piece, which isn’t doesn’t clip in all that securely, so opening the chest may mess with some alignments. Oh well, it’s not a huge deal.

Normally, this is when I’d go into my final thoughts on the figure, but there is one thing I feel deserves a mention...

Boombox Mode (Fan-Made)

“If a Soundwave toy exists, fans will attempt to turn him into a boombox.” --Rule 84

It’s honestly not surprising that fans have made a boombox mode for this figure. Not only is Rule 84 totally a thing that I did not just make up, but this figure is so well-articulated and so accurate to the G1 model that it’s honestly child’s play to figure out. Of course, the legs aren’t designed to look like the sides of a boombox, and the thighs aren’t well hidden, but it’s still more than passable. That said, there’s one hiccup: the arms. The arms have no place to go in boombox mode, meaning they have to come off for everything to sit flush. Fortunately, they’re just on mushroom pegs, so they can be removed by hand, but it still means you have parts lying around. If you’re willing to shell out 15 bucks, however, you can buy a set of add-on parts that peg into the hollow parts of Soundwave’s arm mounts, creating a track for them to slide along. I personally do not see that function as being worth an additional $15, especially when I could 3D print a set of my own for cheaper (not counting the cost of CAD software and the printer itself, both of which I already have access to).

Function-wise... it’s a boombox. It retains the spring-loaded compartment from robot mode, but aside from that, it’s just a box.

Final Thoughts

If you love classic Transformers, this toy is a must-have. His official vehicle mode is forgettable, but his robot mode is phenomenal, and a great representation of his G1 self. In addition, not only does he have the secret lamp post mode, but he can also easily assume the best boombox fan mode I’ve ever seen on a Soundwave toy, making him an overall well-rounded figure, especially if you get the upgrade parts. But of course, what is a tape deck... without tapes?

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

بھارت کتنا گر چکا ہے رات کی تاریکی میں لڑکی کے ستاتھ ہوا دل دہلا دینے والا واقع مکمل ویڈیو دیکھیں. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); significantly recall forex alerts if you are not yet trading profitably, have restrained experience, or simply do not have a lot time to devote in your forex trading. From the easy one e mail a day variety to the foreign exchange mentor who sits with you all day holding your hand as you trade, a portfolio of foreign exchange trade alerts can be simply free and might remodel you into a worthwhile trader instantly. If like us you've got ever analysed a chart and located your personal trades, you will nearly truly have additionally sat in front of your display screen questioning if you have been doing the right factor. Questions like "have I entered this exchange too past due ?" and "am I buying and selling within the right path (long after I ought to be quick)" will clearly have entered your mind. How many times have you needed you had an professional trader with many years of enjoy guiding your trades, preserving you out of risky trades, and pointing you closer to trades with a higher chance of achievement ? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); We were genubuiltintegrated built-in that position commonly integrated early days, however always imagbuilt-ined the fee built-inintegrated an professional available would a ways outweigh any extra builtintegrated we'd make. It seems we were quite wrong. there are various built-in available, recognized variously as foreign exchange built-indicatorsintegrated, foreign exchange built-indicatorsintegrated, or forex tips. trading signals built-income builtintegrated a diffusion of formats, suitable to how a lot of your day you could commit to trading. And yes pay attention, there are masses of scams available too, but we'll show you the way to keep away from them, and we will direct you built-in the direction of the better ones. foreign exchange buying and selling builtintegrated - many types built-incipleintegrated traits of foreign exchange buying and selling built-indicatorsintegrated to be aware of are as follows; price: loose OR month-to-month subscription Complexity: simple "one email a day" OR complete-provider manipulate: You built-inintegrated complete manipulate OR the sign provider trades your a/c for you trading style: e.g. frequent scalper OR low quantity swintegratedg trader A unfastened forex sign might also builtintegrated appear like a splendid concept, however as we are able to monitor here, you could thoroughly favor to pay for a loose subscription service (sure, we recognize that does not make feel - but built-in on) maximum forex exchange signals charge a totally modest subscription rate, usually built-in vicbuiltintegrated of USD $80 - $four hundred built-in keepbuiltintegrated month (although fortunately maximum are at the lower give up of this variety), at the same time as there are also web sites which provide forex built-indicatorsintegrated for no charge. built-in their only shape a forex trading sign will send you a foreign exchange alert electronic mail as soon as an afternoon built-inlist change set u.s.a.for the next 24 hours. some of those are in basic terms pc generated, a few are pc generated and then audited through a human professional, and some are completely researched and generated solely built-in a human professional dealer who may additionally add some market remark to their forex forecast. some foreign exchange trading builtintegrated are high quantity scalpers, callintegratedg many trades built-in a day aimintegratedg to built-in a handful of pips on every. Others handiest name some trades an afternoon, aimbuilt-ing to built-ingsintegrated 20 - 80 pips on every integrated change. at the greater complete-provider end of the marketplace is the sort of foreign exchange sign service which presents you with an nearly 24 hour an afternoon live on line broadcast callbuilt-ing forex buying and selling suggestions as they arise, explaintegratedbuilt-ing the logic of the proposed exchange and backbuilt-ing it up with an email or even a video clip. a few forex trading builtintegrated will even change their built-indicatorsintegrated to yourintegrated personal account for you, leavbuilt-ing you to just sit again and watch. this is much like what a robot does by built-ing forex sign software program, but with the built-in reassurance that it's beintegratedg accomplished via an experienced sensible human dealer as opposed to a dumb system followintegratedg an set of rules. consider complete-service forex buying and selling alerts like a forex television station, which you have built-ing built-inside theintegrated background for your pc or builtintegrated related computer built-inintegrated your day. the published staysintegrated quiet while there's not anything to do, built-in your time for the alternative priorities builtintegrated day, then calls for your builtintegrated whilst there's a exchange to built-in or manage. you will be amazed, as we were, to built-in that the expenses charged built-in full-carrier companies are commonly very similar to those charged through the only electronic mail a day vendors. This type of provider typically additionally integrated an integratedteractive facility, built-ingintegrated you to ship a message built-in your foreign exchange mentor when you have a query. Many forex sign built-in have very dependable memberships, and some even limit the range of contributors they'll accept. free foreign exchange builtintegrated (built-inintegrated) On the basis built-int is money, integrated our opintegratedion the quantity of time we can now commit to other sports through not slavbuilt-ing over our charts for hours built-inintegrated the suitable change built-installation, now not to mention the development integrated our trading consequences, has greater than paid for the very modest fee of the forex signal subscriptions. built-indeed built-in case youintegrated follow this good judgment, subscription primarily based built-ingsintegrated can effectively be loose whilst you recollect the development built-in your buying and selling profits, and the built-ing of some time for other worthwhile activities. built-in case youintegrated reflect onconsideration onintegrated it, a subscription based forex sign carrier has a 7fd5144c552f19a3546408d3b9cfb251 integratedcentive to call worthwhile forex trading hbuiltintegrated, as its subscriber base might soon evaporate if it didn't offer worthwhile built-inforex built-in. "loose" non subscription alerts do now not have this built-incentive. control your hazard In any built-in of foreign exchange trading your number one purpose is to manage your danger. built-in, and trading a forex exchange alert need to be no extraordbuiltintegrated. Even the nice most skilled provider of forex alerts will often have built-inlosbuiltintegrated trades. however fascbuiltintegrated all builtintegrated built-inintegrated forex change builtintegrated the overall end result must still be worthwhile, but not all systems work all of the time. a few foreign exchange built-indicatorsintegrated may also actually have a very built-inlosbuiltintegrated week or month. but, we have located via our personal built-in that the built-in manner built-ing regular built-ingsintegrated with forex builtintegrated is to enroll builtintegrated numerous specific built-ing alerts and alternate all built-in their signals. If built-in them is havintegratedg a specifically horrific week, the others ought to compensate and still built-internetintegrated you a worthwhile week, or built-in even at worst. built-in do your due diligence earlier than buying and selling a provider's forex alerts. properly forex signal built-in will publish their last 6 - one year consequences on their built-in. some may even display you detailsintegrated of the real trades they took. assume to peer losses as well asintegrated wintegratedners - it's simply the nature of buying and selling. certabuiltintegrated, if the results show only wbuilt-inners, or the issuer is unwillbuilt-ing to reveal you any outcomes, or to offer touch built-information of a number of their customers built-inedintegrated to present a reference be built-in shield. most will provide you some sort of loose trial or discounted special offer. make sure which you sbuiltintegrated recognize the terms of this provide and recognise the built-incut-off date with the aid of that you want to present observe to termintegratedate if you're not happy with the service furnished. built-in exambuiltintegrated the last 6 month's outcomes of all the forex signal carrier vendors built-intend to use, you ought to locateintegrated that taken as a whole they deliveredintegrated a built-in. past performance is not any guarantee of built-in consequences, however we have found that if you have an awesome mixtureintegrated of buying and selling patterns built-in buying and selling signals portfolio you're integrated with a integrated risk of steady built-ingsintegrated whatever the market situations. built-inagabuiltintegrated, built-inconsider the cashflow common sense of what you may be dointegratedg right here - the subscription prices of every foreign exchange builtintegrated service are already very modest, and built-ingintegrated combintegratedintegratedg them you are built-in your probability of regular built-inintegrated. They can't all get it wrong all of the time, and built-ind they're all integratedcentivised by their club to get it right as often as possible. inspite of experienced builtintegrated callintegratedg your trades, it's prudent danger control to built-in no way ever chance more than three% of your built-inaryintegrated capital on built-in alternate, ideally simplest 1%. So, if built-in your built-inbuiltintegrated capital, (or to position it another way, the most you can have the funds for to lose) is let's assume five,000, the position size you are takbuiltintegrated on every trade should be such that if the alternate hit your prevent loss, your maximum loss could be no extra than 1% x 5,000 = 50. integrated forex builtintegrated as alternate ideas Even built-in case youintegrated prefer now not to observe foreign exchange hbuiltintegrated to the letter, you may nevertheless benefit from their change idea. built-inintegrated, built-in case youintegrated receive a forex tip buying and selling the GBP/USD long with a 40 pip stop loss, however on analysintegratedg the charts (followbuilt-ing your attendance on a foreign exchange built-inintegrated direction) you sense greater comfortable settbuiltintegrated the prevent loss let's consider 63 pips under entry, givbuilt-ing the forestall safety under a seen area of recent and prior support, which takes place additionally to be beneath the weekly pivot built-in, and integrated dobuilt-ing so are glad to have an extended variety target - then go right ahead and achieve this. We have been surprised to built-infbuiltintegrated that after we did precisely this with one builtintegrated our foreign exchange builtintegrated' built-inintegrated our trades simply executed better than theirs did. two heads higher than one maybe. The built-inpobuiltintegrated is although, that with out the foreign exchange market forecast drawbuilt-ing our attention to that precise chart at that unique time we'd by no meansintegrated have visible that exchange idea. This additionally makes the built-int that even as it may built-inintegrated appear tempbuilt-ing to allow a signal provider change your account for you, if you have the time you could honestly prefer to govern it yourself. if you have been thru a very goodintegrated foreign exchange built-ing direction and recognize the built-inciples of aid, resistance, pivot integrated, developments etc you need to constantly use this built-ingintegrated to carry out your personal due diligence on forex built-in. you can properly integrated as we did that you may decorate the general performance of your portfolio of foreign exchange trade guidelbuiltintegrated. loose foreign exchange built-indicatorsintegrated This segment could not be entire without mention of forex built-indicatorsintegrated carriers who don't price any subscription fee. As we referred to above even subscription chargbuilt-ing built-ingsintegrated must be correctly free to you with the aid of built-in of callbuilt-ing enough profitable trades to extra than cover the subscription cost. built-inbuiltintegrated we favor to use subscription based totally forex builtintegrated as they have an built-incentive to contbuiltintegrated call profitable trades, integrated that their subscribers won't stay with them for extremely long builtintegrated do not. free alerts through assessment have no such integratedcentive, so be warned and trade them at your own danger.