#the colours are pretty funky(?) because i tried playing with the colour balance to make it look like its night

[vladimpale]

Zukki week 2022 day 1: Only one bed/Bedsharing

@zukki-week

Zuko is a blanket hoarder

[riskeith]

good morning love! (or afternoon for you hehe)

deku vs kacchan part 2 is my favorite ep of the entire series actually. i’ve watch that ep so many times as well it’s just perfect. i got into them when i watched that episode actually! the voice acting god..... literally shivers. now that i think about it it might even be my favorite anime ep of all time help. i just love how bakugou lets it all out and we get to see that side of him.. the insecure scared child he tries to hide. god i could ramble about it forever idk just love it. OH YOU WATCHED THE MOVE RIGHT AFTER? a scene with bakugou and todoroki is guaranteed a good time.. and they work so well together. haha that’s such a nice coincidence tho their dynamic is great in that movie even if it’s mostly kiribaku sjsksjk. what do you think about kiribaku btw?

RIGHT!!! at least we have a couple days to decide hihi.... paimon no longer emergency snack.. only seelie. 🥴 oooh? what kind of thing have you envisioned? (if you wanna share ofc!)

i’ve seen so many people mention that!! like one of the worst parts of the game is that in the higher level you get the less there are to do.. ssjksjdk at some point all you can do is grind domains and try to level up shdkdfhdj

LEVEL 40 INTO A LEVEL 70+ FIGHT ok that’s honestly hilariously brave doesn’t she like die right away 😔 oh yeah you’ll be leveling up Again soon *praying for you*... can’t believe they don’t keep the easy bosses anymore sjdkfh that’s so rude. this game is just grind grind grind. WE NEED A BENNY STORY SO BADLY. like imagine a story with him wanting to seek out diluc because he wants to learn how to fight from a master or something like that. i saw it in a comic and i can’t stop thinking about it 😭 all of them deserve stories!!! there’s so many ways they could make it happen pls mihoyo... chongyun x xingqiu story... <333

shfkjdskdjhf nope right now i’m playing with noelle as my main damage dealer, traveller, lisa and barbara actually. so i think i have a pretty good balance atm.. 2 long range 2 short range-ish. i usually trade out barbara for another character if i have to tho, hehe. that’s only combat though ^ benny is with me when we explore. mood is me having a 5 star and not even using her... i still need to think of ways qiqi could fit into the group yk. is your group still looking the same as before? ooooh if you could rank the elements what would your ranking look like?

172!!!!! that’s a bit short though when you said tall i thought like... 190 or something sjksjdxk. wait how tall are You?

oh i just meant like... people bashing others for spending too much money on the game vs those that bash people for not spending money and complaining that they don’t get 5 star etc? idk yt comments can be so ugly though so it’s a good thing that you don’t read them sjdjdjdkd

that’s super smart!!! you just follow along the plan and delete when you come to the part. must feel so satisfying too i imagine. haha, what little notes i have i put in the notes app and just check up on when i need to. sometimes i even forget they’re there shdkdhsks. my notes are filled with half-assed dialogue or random one words notes that don’t make any sense to me anymore.. nskdhddjdj

you’re right!! so you write at night? sometimes i just open docs on my phone and write a bit before i sleep and when i wake up it’s either a grammatical mess or just... super bad hskshd the brain is simply too tired to create anything shakespeareian

nooo i’ll def check these out and let you know what i think. i’ve seen halsey being in pretty much every klance playlist on spotify so i imagine she portrays their vibes pretty nicely. doesn’t she have a song she sings about being blue and red or something... shdjfhdj such a bad description but i see it being used in edits a lot. also now that i think of it melanie has a song called pacify her that i really like!! do you like it?

THATS SO CUTE YOU ARE A CRYBABY. 🥺 same here tbh i actually like crying sometimes... sjskdjdjd like you said it just feels nice to get it all out. i cry to almost movie or series or book i read i’m a super emotional person but i also think it adds to the experience? you feel more immersed in it that way.

RIGHT??? ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! and it’s our boys 😭 and they’re cuddling 😭 under the sun 😭 ssjdjdhdjdj 😭

can’t wait to hear from you again <3 yours, ma <3

good night! more like ahhah

:o!! that’s so legendary of them wow.. <33 and yeah honestly the voice acting is phenomenal.. and all the implications behind the fight too? bakugou finally opening up? midoriya understanding that what he needs is to fight him? ugh. kiribaku is fine! fhdsjfks my brain is so full of todobaku that any other ship is really just... in the background hfskjfs but i can appreciate the relationship they have! with kiri being the only one bakugou has really acknowledged and seeing as being on the same level, that iconic hand clasp when bakugou was being rescued... i have a kiribaku fic in my drafts but idk if i can ever get to it ahha. you like them a lot right?

ikkk also i didn’t know we had to wait until the very end to buy? i have more than enough to buy it rn but when i clicked it said ‘must explore area 14 first’ and i was just... bruh. AHAHAH. okay so in my mind it’s like.. chongyun at a funky angle we’re kinda looking up at him and his body is like bent down towards us fhsdkjs idk how to describe it but i can picture it very well but i also cannot put it to paper/screen. and then his clothes are just black instead of white! HAHAH. tho i kinda wanna see if i can draw a xiao first to offer up to the gacha gods hfsdjkfs (and if i can i’ll do a version w a dark outfit too for u hehe)

legitttt im literally just logging in and grinding the talent domains every day fhsdkjfhskfhjd there are some artifacts i want as well but the domain is literally SO difficult for me fuck.

i just go in and use her skill then heal a bit and switch right away fhsdkjfsd it going alright! and then i go ham with my other 3 charas and switch back to her to heal again fhskfjd. OMGGG that’s so cute please... i miss diluc too... come back!! i wish we had a way to replay the old quests even if we get nothing out of them like i just wanna experience it again ya know.

oooo! that’s pretty nice. hfskjd you could switch barbara out for qiqi! since she’s a healer as well. omg wait you have lumine right? so your combat team has no males? legendary 😩 we love fighting queens! ya! traveller, chongyun, xiangling, fischl. and then i switch depending on the domain/boss i’m gonna fight. hmm elements I think would go: anemo, cryo, electro, pyro, hydro, geo, dendro? LMAO i reckon if i had diluc tho pyro would be higher... i also almost forgot to add geo to that list lmaooooooo oops, hbu??

I JUST SAW THE LINK.... AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! the bestest boys look how cute they’re sjdkfjdjjdd i’m obsessed. the picture where benny has his back turned sjdudjdjddnd stop. 🥺 they’re so neat. 🥺 also NO ARE YOU SERIOUS? that’s so upsetting are you gonna try it out nonetheless or do you think it’s too risky?

they’re SO neat!!! and bennett facing the other way was so fhskjfd yeah cute <3333333 I KNOWWW IM SO SAD :((( and no...... im not gonna try 😭😭😭 i told my brother about it too and he asked how many rolls i was at and i said 70 and he was straight up ‘you can’t try then’ and i was like ‘i know 😔😔’. @ xiao... i am giving up xingqiu rate up for you 😤😤😤😤 ugh i hope i can still get xingqiu in xiao’s banner tho even tho the chances will be shit. are you gonna roll ganyu’s banner?

FHSKJFSD NOOOOOO don’t tell me 172 is average for you wtf... (apparently the average male height in japan is 160cm! for reference ahah) and i myself am. one hundred and. fifty something cm hfsdjfhskjdfhskdjfhw9uehdsifhwsdkjfhsdkfhsd 😔 big sighs lmaoooooooo. how tall are you? (im assuming much taller 😔😔😔😔😔)

ooh notes app? nice ahaha. fhdkjfhskfsk hdthat’s the mood tho! if i don’t have my laptop with me i’ll write out everything on notes first then transfer to my laptop~

AHAHAH yeahhh i think mostly i do? bc during school times i’ll only write after i’m done with my work which = night time. for a while Peak writing time for me was like 1am lmfao but i do that in a like half-asleep half-conscious state so when i come back the next day at a “normal” time i run into the same issue as you fshdfkjshfs

she does!!! it’s called colours 😩 but i think the one i related to voltron most is control! there was this really good shiro edit with that song i still remember it to this day <3 yeah i do!!! i like most of melanie’s songs actually ahahah. i think my favourite for a while was show and tell~

it totally does!! like it’s satisfying as well you know... like the characters have gone through so much and you experienced that with them so it’s natural to get emotional about it. that reminds me, what kind of books do/did you read? did you read all Those YA novels ahah talking about crying has reminded me how i cried reading those..

<333 i wanna be there with them 😩 actually no i want to BE them 😩😩😩

eager for your response <33 love, c.r.

[rthemars]

Creating my own Rave Flyer

I have created a rave flyer of my own, using 80s and 90s flyers as inspiration. It incorporates distorted typography, a digital illustration of eyes, CGI-like planets and a starry background. My main goal for this design was to look as appealing and intriguing as possible, I did this by producing strange imagery with bright and vibrant colours so it’s really bold. However this meant that when it came to communicating a concept, there isn’t any clear message I’m trying to put across. Instead I am leaving this piece up for interpretation, which in my opinion is really interesting because one person’s perception could be completely different from another’s.

Overall I am really happy with the outcome, I think it has a really effective retro look thanks to the textures and colours applied. I learnt to embrace experiments/mistakes throughout the process, because I could have never planned the planets to look the way they do without trying new things. I think I have balanced the colour pallet really well, because I was able to incorporate many different colours but still not look overwhelmed by them. Finally I am really pleased with the face portion illustration, many times I have showcased hand-drawings in my outcomes but this time I wanted to demonstrate what I could do digitally.

To come up with the overall design I sketched out some rough ideas, using a collage of 80s and 90s rave flyers as inspiration. I experimented with different typography, concepts and imagery, deciding to go with a funky styled outer space piece.

To begin with I digitally drew a section of a face using my drawing pad, the program I used for this was Illustrator as I could tweak and change my lines that I created. I used the paint brush tool to draw the lines themselves and the direct selection tool to adjust them, by making sure all of the lines are properly connected there are no gaps for colour to seep through and spread, plus it will look more tidy. After drawing one of the eyes I simply duplicated and flipped it for a perfectly symmetrical set of eyes, the only thing was the light reflection in the eyes so had to redo one of them to match. 

Once I was happy with my illustration I grouped the lines and expanded its appearance, this assured me that the lines wouldn’t shrink in thickness when moved to another program. On photoshop I copied in the drawing and added in 4 circles in-front of and behind the face, this was the beginning of my layout process where the planets would fill the circles. 

Next I filled in the face section with colour using a mixture of tools, this included the paint bucket, brush and mixer brush tools. Then for a background I took a faded image of space, it’s filled with stars which is a pretty and subtle touch.

To create the planets I first tried filling in the circle selection with stripes of colour, with this I used the mixer brush tool to blend them together like Jupiter. However I thought this looked too flat so I wanted to see if there was a way to make it a sphere, to do this I clicked on the first thing that came up for ‘sphere’ but it turned into some strange 3D shape. Even though this wasn’t a sphere the texture of it looked perfect for a planet, so to make it one I rasterised the 3D which allowed my to then cut it into the space of a circle. I made sure that some of the shadow was displayed in the circle to help it look round, and I added a tiny bit more shadow by painting around the edge with the same colour.

With this I duplicated the object and changed its colour through hue/saturation, I then experimented with different blending modes and put what I found appealing together. For example the yellow planet is made of two layers, one blended with overlay and one pin light. The two together display a clear round shape with a beautiful gold glow, and so I did the same thing with the other planets but choosing blending options that fit best.

Once I had placed in the planets I also deleted the original circle lines, then I noticed that the face looked a bit too pale and colourless compared to the rest of the piece. Therefore I adjusted the vibrance all the way up to make the colours pop out even more, I also think the colours looked more pleasing anyway.

To add in text I saved the piece at how it was and transferred it over to Illustrator, I then locked this layer and added a new layer of which I would draw on. Using the paint brush tool I drew the words ‘rave to the grave’ with my drawing pad, fitting the ‘rave’ and ‘grave’ around the planets. I wanted to create a groovy kind of style for the type, drawing round and curvy lines that fit together like a puzzle. I also wrote out the words ‘to’ and ‘the’ put I planned to bled these into the art, therefore it can cover the objects and be moved around.

Once I was happy with my type I repeated the process to move it over to photoshop, where I placed it in the exact same position and put each word onto its own layer. Next I filled in the words with bright colours to match the pallet of the planets, the smaller words were then blended in so they stood out less than the main, large words. However as I looked at these words I felt that they stood out a little too much and looked a bit separate, therefore I searched for blending modes that will let specks through whilst maintaining its vibrancy.

With the design completed I wanted the piece to look less smooth and digital, rather more old and worn looking. To do this I laid a textured image over the entire piece and blended it using the overlay mode, this alone was too prominent so to mellow it down I lowered the opacity to just 26%. I repeated the same process using a grainy texture but only for the large words, this was because they still looked conspicuous and modern in comparison.

At first I was going leave this flyer as it is, however I then realised I hadn’t added any information on the event itself. I had to think of a way to incorporate it into what’s already there, so I thought having the text curve around the large planet would work perfectly. To do this I used the pen tool (path selected) to create a curved line around it, and then I clicked on the line with the type tool which allowed me to type along the path of the line.

I chose to display the days, time and location which is all you need for event information, I used ‘the Graveyard’ as the location for this design because it linked with the name of the event ‘Rave to the Grave’. This gives the name another meaning on top of a saying, it is now a literal sentence to match/promote the location. 

The font was chosen for its wide gaps and straight lines, I feel this gives is a retro-digital feeling which is the aesthetic I was going for. I started off using yellow as the colour of the text but thought it looked too bland, therefore I played around with duplicating, blending and layering until it fit perfectly.

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, Google Home and more: We put 7 speakers to the test

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/apple-homepod-amazon-echo-google-home-and-more-we-put-7-speakers-to-the-test/

Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, Google Home and more: We put 7 speakers to the test

Image caption Amazon’s Alexa director Daren Gill has called voice “the next great interface”

For the last four weeks, I’ve been living in an Orwellian nightmare. One in which I have to watch every word I say because “they” are always listening. And by “they”, I mean Alexa, Siri and Google.

It seemed like a good idea – get seven smart speakers and test them in a real house to see how they affected our listening habits and daily routine.

At times, they’ve been pretty helpful. If we’re running low on biscuits, one of us can bark, “Hey Siri, add Hob Nobs to the shopping list” and a reminder appears on our phones.

During Storm Emma, Google kept me up-to-date on train cancellations, while our kids amused themselves for hours by asking Alexa what noise a cat makes.

Thankfully, none of the devices started spontaneously laughing in the middle of the night – but they were all prone to bouts of madness.

I once asked Alexa “what’s the weather in Yemen” and got the reply: “‘Das wetter’ is German for ‘the weather’.”

And when I told Google to “play music in the kitchen”, it responded by streaming Lee Brice’s Songs In The Kitchen to a speaker in the dining room (congratulations, Lee, on your new royalty stream).

To find out which smart assistant was the smartest, I put each of the speakers to the test – posing 50 random questions on music, sport and general knowledge. Like all good quiz show hosts, I only accepted their first answer.

Alexa fared best, with 37 correct answers, followed by Google on 32, and Siri, which scored a lowly 27.

Apple’s assistant was hobbled by its lack of integration with other apps – meaning it couldn’t read my calendar or look up recipes.

When it came to music-related queries, however, Siri had more success.

For instance, the HomePod was the only speaker that could parse the command “play the James Bond theme next”. Its competitors all tried to find a song called “James Bond Theme Next”, failed, and gave up.

You can find the full list of questions, and how the speakers responded, here.

As you’ll see, none of them are perfect (never ask for music by Haim in an Northern Irish accent) but smart speakers look set to replace the smartphone as the tech giants’ biggest growth products.

Choosing the right one can be tricky. So here’s our guide to the speakers, and how they might fit into your lifestyle.

Apple HomePod (£319)

Image copyright Apple

Apple has arrived late to the smart speaker market, but not through laziness.

The HomePod has been in development since 2012, and boasts a unconventional design – with seven tweeters (the speakers that produce treble) arranged in a circle to project music into every nook and cranny of your house. The bass is also punchy and well-balanced, even at low volumes.

I found it worked better with acoustic, singer-songwriter material. Playing Regina Spektor’s Samson, the HomePod championed the singer’s vocals without losing the detail in her piano work. On a busier song like Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, however, it struggled to pick out the star’s intricate drumming.

It’s also an incredibly insistent speaker – demanding your attention with a very “forward” soundstage. We found that was great in the hustle and bustle of a family kitchen, but less attractive when listening to music in bed at night.

One important note: You can’t set up the HomePod unless you have an iPhone or an iPad. The speaker is then tethered to that device and certain functions, like updating your shopping list, only work when they can “see” each other.

HomePod is also completely loyal to Apple Music. You can’t ask Siri to stream from Spotify or Deezer – although you can access them on your phone and beam them to the speaker.

Best for: Apple enthusiasts; audiophiles

Amazon Echo Plus (£139)

Image copyright Amazon

If you want a speaker that comes with a free light bulb, then Amazon’s Echo Plus is your only choice.

The speaker aims to be a “home hub”, controlling all sorts of connected devices, from your lights to your kettle. I wasn’t able to test those abilities, though, as the BBC budget didn’t stretch to buying me remote control curtains.

As a music player, the Echo Plus is competent but unspectacular – but it’d make an ideal replacement for a kitchen radio.

Alexa will happily stream from Spotify and Deezer, as well as Amazon’s own Music Unlimited service – which you get at a discount if you purchase an Echo device.

It’s particularly good at finding the music you want, even if you have a terrible memory. I managed to get Alexa to cue up Girls Aloud’s Love Machine by asking, “What’s the song that goes, ‘Let’s go, Eskimo?'”

One word of warning: Amazon’s streaming service doesn’t have a parental filter, so you’re stuck with the explicit versions of the songs in their catalogue.

And now that Amazon has leased Alexa to other speaker manufacturers, there are better devices in a similar price range.

Best for: Casual listening, smart assistant abilities

Ultimate Ears Megablast (£199)

Image copyright Ultimate Ears

The Megablast is a long, tall cylinder of fun, available in a range of colours (our review unit was a lurid yellow, which I became weirdly fond of).

It gives out a bassy, fulsome sound; which goes up really, really loud without losing any finesse. You can use Alexa to play songs from Amazon Music Unlimited (but not Spotify yet), or simply use it as a bluetooth speaker to stream music directly from your phone.

Best of all, you can unplug it and take it to a party, with a generous battery life that means you won’t be left tuneless when the clock strikes midnight. And it’s waterproof, so it won’t go kaput if you spill your drink.

On the downside, the microphone is poor at picking up your voice commands – especially when music is playing. And the charging port is awkwardly placed at the bottom of the speaker, meaning it has to be laid on its side when its plugged in, ruining the sound. (Ultimate Ears sells a separate charging dock, pictured above, for £35 if this is a deal-breaker).

Best for: Portability, volume

Sonos: One (£199)

Image copyright Sonos

Sonos are masters of multi-room audio, but the One is their first foray into smart speaker territory.

There’s an intriguing set-up, where you’re asked to wave your phone around the room while the unit emits a series of sci-fi bleeps and bloops.

This helps the speaker adapt to its environment and, to be fair, it performed admirably in our cluttered bedroom, with a weighty, dynamic delivery that belied its tiny size.

Superstition, which confounded Apple’s HomePod, sounded bright and lively, with a deep, funky bass and plenty of breathing room for Stevie Wonder’s vocals.

Best of all, Sonos welcomes all music streaming services – with 49 currently available in the UK, including Apple Music (not all of them can be controlled by Alexa, though).

You can also chain two Sonos speakers together to get stereo, while the Sonos app is the only one that allows you to tweak settings like treble and bass to tailor the music to your tastes. And if you buy multiple units, you can scare your family by playing ghost noises in the attic while you’re in the kitchen.

One small niggle: Sonos has programmed Alexa to speak over the start of your music, so you constantly miss the first five seconds your favourite album.

Best for: Stereo, choice of streaming services, multi-room audio

Google Home (£129)

Image copyright Google

It looks like an air freshener. An air freshener on the Starship Enterprise, but an air freshener nonetheless.

Still, I was quite enamoured with the Home’s sleek, matte white finish and the easygoing, friendly voice of its virtual assistant.

It transpires that her dialogue was written by Emma Coats, a former Pixar employee who drew up the film studio’s 22 rules of storytelling – which explains why Google feels more engaging than its competitors.

There are a few neat touches to the AI, too. When you ask Google to “flip a coin”, for example, you hear the sound of a coin being tossed before learning the result. Even better, the Google Home enables you to make voice calls to any UK landline or mobile number – for free.

Sadly, though, the device isn’t up to much as an actual speaker. It had the worst sound of all the units we tested, and was prone to distorted bass even at low volumes.

Best for: Personality, design

JBL Link 300 (£249)

Image copyright Harmon Kardon

Luckily, fans of Google’s voice assistant have some alternatives. Sonos are promising a Google-enabled speaker later this year and JBL will release their Link 300 in the next couple of weeks.

It’s a chunky little device that works best on pop and hip-hop, with an eloquent sound that emphasises the low end thanks to a circular resonator on the back that pumps out the bass.

One neat feature is a wi-fi light that shows the strength of your internet connection (something I’d like to see on more devices, given the patchy wi-fi in our house).

In the end, this became our go-to speaker in the living room and kitchen, despite an infuriating five-minute fight to make it play the Hamilton soundtrack.

It turns out you had to say “OK Google, play ‘Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording'” – a command that’s as intuitive as a lead wetsuit.

Best for: Google smarts with better sound.

Amazon Echo Show (£199)

Image copyright Amazon

The Echo Show has a 7-inch screen, which displays song lyrics while you listen. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but it was a big hit with our kids.

The device also came in handy in the kitchen, where we used it to display recipes and set timers without having to touch the screen with our sticky fingers.

All this functionality comes at the cost of sound quality, though. Don’t expect anything beyond your average clock radio.

Best for: Karaoke night

Secret option eight: Don’t buy any of them

Image copyright Getty Images

Here’s the thing: With the possible exception of Sonos: One, you’re not getting true hi-fi sound with any of these devices.

If you’ve already got a good home stereo, it’s much cheaper to buy an Amazon Echo Dot (currently £39) and hook it up to your existing set-up with a simple cable.

Similarly, if you’ve got £300 to spend, you can get a decent hi-fi system and an Echo Dot with money to spare.

That way, you get all the benefits of voice control and music streaming without breaking the bank.

Best for: People who’ve already got speakers and have privacy concerns about this whole thing.

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