nicoreese Member Jan 18, 2018 1,480 Dusk Golem: xcancel.com/AestheticGamer1/status/1925562212602847252 So RE9 originally started development in 2017. RE9 originally starred Leon & Jill in a fictional island based off Singapore. Click to expand... Click to shrink... HOWEVER, AGAIN, this is the old RE9, the project got a pretty heavy reboot in 2021 around the time Village came out, though a few things stayed the same like Leon is still the main character. Click to expand... Click to shrink... He's also right that that the Rebecca focused Revelations 3 I talked about back in early 2020s was cancelled in 2022, was originally a Switch game first, etc. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   StarPhlox Member Oct 25, 2017 5,530 Wisconsin I trust Capcom with whatever direction they go next for Resident Evil but it still hurts to hear that Rev 3 was canceled.   Shinobido Heart Member Dec 23, 2017 10,187 Damn, I really loved Revelations 1. Revelations 2 was alright, I didn't enjoy Raid mode here as much as the first game. I wonder if they're still doing Outbreak.  Last edited: Yesterday at 2:43 PM Dal Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Aug 18, 2024 2,205 Live service RE9 ? Dark future averted  ClickyCal' Member Oct 25, 2017 65,525 Devastating to hear of Revelations 3 being canned. We'll never get Raid Mode again...   DidactBRHU3 Member Oct 17, 2019 4,447 Fortaleza - Ceará That's a lot of words just to say that Dino Crisis is next :)   Jahranimo Community Resettler Member Oct 25, 2017 10,280 So is that next Resident Evil game going to debut the REX Engine?   Blackbird Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 7,269 Brazil he...he just tweeted it out like that. lmao.  Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,589 I mean, if Jill is playable you pretty much have to reboot the whole game. Can't have her leading a new title. aaaarrgghhh   SilentMike03 Member Oct 27, 2017 9,030 Just what everyone wants from Resident Evil a big open world multi-player game.   Grenlento Member Dec 6, 2023 1,803 Rev 3 Rebecca Cancelled bartpunchingwall.gif  SofNascimento cursed Member Oct 28, 2017 24,911 São Paulo - Brazil I wonder how many nanoseconds it took for Capcom deves to decide to cut Leon rather than Jill. She was probably a secundary character though, so it might not even have been a real choice.  808s & Villainy Member Oct 27, 2017 46,683 And the original version of RE9 was trying to be the opposite of RE7, IE big open world multiplayer game). RE9 originally starred Leon & Jill in a fictional island based off Singapore. Click to expand... Click to shrink... HOWEVER, AGAIN, this is the old RE9, the project got a pretty heavy reboot in 2021 around the time Village came out, though a few things stayed the same like Leon is still the main character. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Capcom plz Why do you hate Jill? SofNascimento said: I wonder how many nanoseconds it took for Capcom deves to decide to cut Leon rather than Jill. She was probably a secundary character though, so it might not even have been a real choice. Click to expand... Click to shrink... im just as sick of it as you are  LossAversion The Merchant of ERA Member Oct 28, 2017 11,694 Hope it's good. They've been on a roll but honestly I'm not really that interested in what they've been doing in RE7 and RE8, story wise. I'd like a Leonfocused game that stands on its own and doesn't have anything to do with the other modern day story shenanigans. Just another RE4 style adventure please.   ClickyCal' Member Oct 25, 2017 65,525 Also yeesh, Jill getting the worst of it. That fucking sucks.   Juryvicious Member Oct 28, 2017 8,139 Oh my God... what?I have several thoughts on this. Resident Evil Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game? WTF.. that sounds absolutely balls out fucking awesome. And WTF.. my single player game Capcom!! I don't know what top think of this news.. if true. I honestly think this could have been awesome if Capcom 100% committed to this, like how Nintendo have 100% committed to Mario Kart World.  JetstreamRorschach One Winged Slayer Member Dec 30, 2017 2,160 Zaragoza, Spain. Revelations 1 and 2 are maybe my favorite RE games outside of both versions of RE 2 and REmake   harinezumi Member Oct 27, 2017 20,571 Buenos Aires, Argentina I feel like Dusk Golem's changed his tune so many times at this point I'm not believing anything until there's an official announcement.   Papaya The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 2,721 California Resident Evil 7's importance cant be understated.   Dal Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Aug 18, 2024 2,205 ClickyCal' said: Also fresh, Jill getting the worst of it. That fucking sucks. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Seriously, she's one of your most recognisable characters Capcom! That's no way to treat her. At least RE3R exists.  Pai Pai Master Member Oct 25, 2017 37,222 Atlanta GA RE9 starring Leon RE10 starring Jill?  Josh5890 I'm Your Favorite Poster's Favorite Poster The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 26,507 Sounds like we dodged a bullet there with RE 9.   Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,589 Dal said: Seriously, she's one of your most recognisable characters Capcom! That's no way to treat her. At least RE3R exists. Click to expand... Click to shrink... All three hours of it.   Spelunky3 Member Nov 15, 2024 106 I just don't believe RE9 was a multiplayer game. And Dusk has flip-flopped so many times on his RE9 infothat I feel very comfortable saying that.  Lowblood Member Oct 30, 2017 6,279 I really did want Rev3, shame. SilentMike03 said: Just what everyone wants from Resident Evil a big open world multi-player game. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's wild because it seems completely the opposite of how Capcom has operated in recent years, and RE's recent run of hits has simply been good survival horror and action horror games. But if it started in 2017, I can kinda see it as a late remnant of Capcom's bad calls in the PS360 era. I imagine it's nothing like that now.  alpha Member Oct 25, 2017 5,786 Provided this rumor stuff is true, no Rev 3 with Rebecca sucks.   Tace Avenger Nov 1, 2017 41,389 The Rapscallion Capcom pls. I just want a new RE game with Jill.   Patitoloco Member Oct 27, 2017 28,200 If that's true We dodged a really fucking big bullet. This sounds like a RE6 all over again. No, not the few good parts of 6.  Kalor Resettlement Advisor Member Oct 25, 2017 20,925 Juryvicious said: Oh my God... what?I have several thoughts on this. Resident Evil Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game? WTF.. that sounds absolutely balls out fucking awesome. And WTF.. my single player game Capcom!! I honestly don't know what top think of this news.. if true. I honestly think this could have been awesome if Capcom 100% committed to this, like how Nintendo have 100% committed to Mario Kart World. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It doesn't say it was a MMO. If anything it just reads like it was 2 player co-op.  Supreme Leader Galahad ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 27, 2017 2,910 Brazil Well, at least we dont get MP focused game as mainline   808s & Villainy Member Oct 27, 2017 46,683 Pai Pai Master said: RE9 starring Leon RE10 starring Jill? Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's gonna be RE9 staring Leon RE10 staring Leon and Chris  jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,070 I mean..it's an interesting idea.  Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,589 Tace said: Capcom pls. I just want a new RE game with Jill. Click to expand... Click to shrink... We have a game for Jill fans and it's called Resident Evil.   NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 659 "You see that mountain?You can die there"   OGlol Member Jun 4, 2018 1,919 I wonder how 9 ends the Ethan story? or how it was originally supposed to?   Tsunami561 Member Mar 7, 2023 5,375 He's just tweeting out every version possible of the game so that when it gets announced he can say i told you so   808s & Villainy Member Oct 27, 2017 46,683 Genesius said: We have a game for Jill fans and it's called Resident Evil. Click to expand... Click to shrink... And the Mv2 re-release ;_;   Spinky Member Oct 25, 2017 5,614 London Leon again? Holy innovation   ditusjack Member Oct 26, 2017 722 please, PLEASE, may the final version NOT be another RE Engine open world disaster.   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,771 Melbourne, Australia IE big open world multiplayer game Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'm sure that would have made sales explode lmao Thank Wesker we averted that shit timeline  Josh5890 I'm Your Favorite Poster's Favorite Poster The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 26,507 If RE 9 got rebooted in 2021, then we are probably still a couple of years away from a release.   Cess007 Member Oct 27, 2017 15,495 B.C., Mexico Just bring Leon and Claire together Capcom. They have only appeared alongside each other in RE2. Hell, they have more movies together as partners than games.   SofNascimento cursed Member Oct 28, 2017 24,911 São Paulo - Brazil I fully believe we will never see Jill again in a mainline title as the protagonist. That is quite clear at this point. If she is in a mainline game, it'll be as a secundary character. And if she is the protagonist, it will be a smaller budget/scope poject, like REmake 3.  Blackbird Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 7,269 Brazil Spelunky3 said: I just don't believe RE9 was a multiplayer game. And Dusk has flip-flopped so many times on his RE9 infothat I feel very comfortable saying that. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Kalor said: It doesn't say it was a MMO. If anything it just reads like it was 2 player co-op. Click to expand... Click to shrink... yes, he meant co-op. like RE5/6.  MeltedDreams Member Oct 27, 2017 9,437 Of course they are rebooting it lol. RE MP always sucks, yet Capcom keep trying.   AWestCoastDirtyBird Member Apr 27, 2020 3,779 Next time we see Jill   giancarlo123x One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 28,002 Dusk is either wrong usually or "plans changed". How good is his track record of being right at this point?   GJ Member Oct 25, 2017 10,529 The Netherlands giancarlo123x said: Dusk is either wrong usually or "plans changed". How good is his track record of being right at this point? Click to expand... Click to shrink... He was very right with a lot of his RE8 info.  Pai Pai Master Member Oct 25, 2017 37,222 Atlanta GA 808s & Villainy said: It's gonna be RE9 staring Leon RE10 staring Leon and Chris Click to expand... Click to shrink... I hate that you're probably right.  cw_sasuke Member Oct 27, 2017 30,002 Open World after DD 2 and MHW is not what I wanna hear from Capcom tbh.   #dusk #golem #resident #evil #started

io9 is proud to present fiction from Lightspeed Magazine. Once a month, we feature a story from Lightspeed’s current issue. This month’s selection is “Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell. Enjoy! Through the Machine by P.A. Cornell “Steve, over here! Turn to your right. Can we get a smile?” He falls back on his training easily enough, turns to the cameras, gives them his famous crooked smile, tilts his head just so as the flashes go off so they can capture the smoulder that highlights his cheekbones. The one he’s practiced countless times with his manager, Ethel. The red carpet extends before him, and up ahead he sees the actress he’s been paired with in this film. His co-star and onscreen love interest but in reality, a total stranger. He only knows her name because the photographers keep shouting it, asking her to turn so they can capture her svelte profile. She tilts her head obligingly, long blonde hair falling seductively over one eye, teasing the lenses and through them the millions of fans who’ll one day see these images. She’s a pro, like him. She’s clearly had the same kind of training he’s had. She’s been through the machine. It’s a phrase he heard years ago from a late-night talk show host. It refers to the way Hollywood turns you into a product. You start out this average person, just trying to make it as an actor, then as your success grows, more and more people come into your life to turn you into something else. A movie star. A fairy tale ideal of celebrity perfection. He’d told himself that would never be him. He was in it for the art, not the fame and fortune. But here he is. “Steve! Daphne! Can we get some shots of the two of you together?” The blonde up ahead reaches a hand toward him as if beckoning a good friend, though this is the first time they’ve met. She smiles at him in a way that almost looks genuine. He returns his best leading man grin, flashing the expensive set of pearly white teeth his manager arranged for in the earliest days of their partnership. He puts an arm around Daphne. They both pose, turn, look at each other and smile, over and over. Then both look serious, then smile once more. Then she leans in for a peck on the cheek as instructed by the shouting crowd, just before they’re both ushered off to find their places inside, where the film will be screened. Once they’re away from the cameras, he extends his hand to Daphne. “Hi. Steve Randall.” “Nice to meet you,” she laughs. “Daphne Everheart.” “You seen any of it yet?” “Not even the trailer,” she admits. “Did they send you the screenplay?” He shakes his head. Someone in her entourage grabs her by the arm. She gives him a small wave as they lead her off. He wonders if he’ll even see her again after this premiere. Maybe. If the film does well opening weekend, there could be a sequel. They could find themselves at another premiere for a movie they appear in together, but that neither of them has acted in. Steve lets his own people show him past curtains and cocktails to a theater with plush red seating. He takes his place staring up at the screen, trying to conjure up some of the excitement he once felt as a kid about to watch his favorite actors. But the excitement feels more akin to anxiety as the opening credits appear. He sees his own name—or the one his manager gave him, anyway. That’s when he appears. Seeing himself like this is unsettling, to say the least. He turns to the people seated around him and they’re all looking up at this face that resembles him but isn’t him. Do they not see it? Do they not feel that uncanny valley sickness in the pit of their stomachs that weighs his down as the thing on screen billed as Steve Randall starts to speak? It’s his voice, but he’s never said these words. Never read the script they came from. Who wrote this, anyway? He wonders. Or rather, what wrote this? The film’s runtime is ninety-five minutes. It’s a romantic comedy, but the word “comedy” is generous. Steve doesn’t so much as crack a smile. He watches this AI-generated doppelganger and his equally digitized scene partner as they traverse the uneven landscape of the disjointed plot—flimsy even for this genre. They flash smile after smile, kiss with ever-deepening passion—if you can call it that—and ultimately, after a series of contrived misunderstandings, they get their Hollywood ending. All set to an AI-generated score bereft of any feeling that might conjure atmosphere or elicit an emotional response from the viewer. As the lights come up and people start to clap, Steve glances down the row of seats at his co-star. Daphne, seeming to sense his stare, glances back. She looks as though she’s about to be sick but gives him a brave smile—a trained smile—and starts to clap along with everyone else. He does the same. This is his job now, after all. The scan was taken a couple of years ago, during pre-production on a movie in which he played an astronaut. They had to scan him for proper fit of the spacesuit they were having made, as well as for some of the more intricate effects. The voice they came by even more easily. From all the ADR he’d done, voicework on some animated stuff, and of course countless interviews already accessible online. He hadn’t given the scan much thought, at the time. It had made sense for the work they were doing. He’d never imagined it would lead to this. There’s an afterparty and people keep coming up and congratulating him on the movie. He says what he’s been trained to say, graciously thanking them for their praise, taking pictures with people for magazines and entertainment shows. Evidence that he is in fact still a real person that exists in the world, even though it’s not him on screen. Not in this movie and not in a handful of others, several of which he hasn’t even seen. If Hollywood could turn you into a product before, this is on another level. His career has become, almost exclusively, one of public appearances. His L.A. agent has him booked for a store opening tomorrow, and a series of meet-and-greets at conventions sometime in the spring. The sorts of gigs that used to be thought of as “has-been” work, but Steve, by all accounts, is still a bona fide movie star. He was People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” just last year. Fans still somehow manage to find out what hotel he’s staying at in any given city all over the world, just so they can catch a glimpse of him walking in and out. How has it come to this? At the end of the night someone pushes him into a shiny black town car and the spectacle of this farce fades away in the car’s rear lights. He exhales, trying to get the image of the thing on screen out of his head. It’s not so bad, he tells himself. SAG made sure he’d get paid for the use of his image. It’s not as much as he might’ve liked, maybe, but it’s decent, and they use it often enough that the cheques enable him to maintain his standard of living. The public appearances add to that. He can’t really complain. But the sick feeling in his stomach remains. • • • When he’s back in New York, he calls his manager. “It was fucking weird, Ethel.” He tells her. “Seeing myself in a film I wasn’t actually in. No chemistry between me and my co-star because, well . . . neither of us was actually there to do any acting. This isn’t what I signed up for.” “Sweet boy,” she says, using her years’ old term of endearment for him, though he hasn’t been a boy in quite some time. “I know. But this is how it works with the studio films these days. Be glad your image is still worth something.” Steve sighs deeply. “I know. It’s just . . . I worked so hard to get here. We both did. The work mattered to me. I miss challenging myself, figuring out who my character is and how to best convey that through my performance. I miss being able to disappear into all those people and live their lives for a time.” “Of course, of course,” says Ethel. “That’s one of the reasons I took you on as a client. Even at sixteen, you had such passion. You loved the art of it. But what’s the alternative, Stefan?” She only ever uses his original name when she’s serious. He knows her hands are as tied as his. It’s this or give up the business altogether. • • • Over drinks with a friend the next night, he airs his frustrations, his tongue loosened by more than a few shots with beer chasers. “I’m bored,” he tells Frank, who doubled for him in an action film franchise that now continues without need of either of them. “I miss acting. It’s like all they left me with are the worst parts of fame. The parts where I still can’t walk down the street in peace without some paparazzo shoving a lens in my face, and where I can still get cancelled online for any stupid shit I might say without thinking. But the good parts, they’ve all been taken over by some digital version of me that frankly gives me the creeps.” “I hear ya, Steve,” Frank says, raising his beer. “It’s not just you though, brother. At least you still have a marketable presence. Companies still send you free clothes and shit so you can be spotted using it.” “Sure,” he tells Frank. “But all that amounts to is that I’m now pretty much just this human billboard. I’m not even an actor anymore.” “You’re breaking my heart, man. But think about guys like me. We were getting your crumbs even in the good times. If you think things have gotten rough for you, imagine what’s left for us. I haven’t been called for a stunt gig in months. And that last one ended up cancelled last minute when they decided it was cheaper to use AI. I’ve got a family to support, and all three kids are gonna need braces. Not to mention the first wife who’s on my back if I’m even half a second late with her alimony. What I wouldn’t give for my ugly mug to be in demand.” Steve knows he’s right and feels bad for whining. Things could be so much worse. Whatever jobs he’s lost to AI, there are countless more jobs lost by less famous actors, crew, and other support personnel like PA’s and craft services. He can’t begin to imagine how they’re all making ends meet these days. Many of the ones he’s still close with, like Frank, work multiple jobs, even outside the industry, just to cover what their once stable careers did. “Drinks are on me tonight, by the way,” he tells Frank. “You’ll get no argument here, pal.” • • • Later, in the privacy of his loft, Steve allows himself the luxury of self-pity. He can’t help thinking of the kid he once was. The chubby little dork with the accent. Too shy to talk to girls. Pushed around by the guys he so wanted to be. Acting freed him from all that. It had allowed this kid who didn’t feel comfortable in his own skin to become someone else. In time, it had given him confidence, and as he continued to hone his craft, it had brought him the attention he’d craved and opportunities he’d never imagined. It hasn’t always been easy. There’d been plenty of lean years before his big breakout role turned him into a household name. Years during which covering rent had been a struggle, and meals had often consisted of half-eaten scraps left by patrons of the restaurants in which he’d waited tables. But he’d loved acting enough to stick with it, and he’d thought it worth all the sacrifices. He gave up his very name for this profession. He lost the accent and the baby fat. He’s spent a sizeable portion of his income on fixing his teeth, and on five-hundred-dollar haircuts sometimes paired with a treatment to achieve that perfect shade of chestnut brown or a shave that still left enough stubble to keep him looking “manly” in a marketable way. He’s gotten regular tans to conceal his naturally pale complexion—a condition the L.A. agent refers to as his “vampire” look. He’s hired a stylist, a personal trainer, and a dietitian to help him maintain what the grueling workouts have chiselled him into. He’s had more hours of media training than he’s had acting classes. Hell, at times he’s even dated women he’s been told to date. All of it to create this perfect image of Hollywood glamour intended to seduce audiences into filling theater seats. He’s been put through the machine—and willingly let it happen—just so he can go on doing what he loves. He hadn’t realized this image wasn’t him. It was just a product. Something that could be sold, and then re-sold again and again, with little if any say from him as to how it might be used. Feeling down about his situation, Steve turns to Instagram. He doesn’t follow any fan accounts but now and then, when he’s alone, he looks up the hashtag that bears his name. The fans have a way of making him feel better about himself. Their comments on his pictures—especially the shirtless ones—always make his day. Their support for the charities he’s championed over the years warms his heart. Sure, there are always trolls, but those are in the minority and easy enough to block. He scrolls through his feed and finds the People photo shoot. His feelings about the shoot are a mix of pride and embarrassment. Pride that the chubby kid with the Polish accent showed his high school bullies up, but a little shame at the fact that he still cares so much about what they might think. Still, a few of the pictures from the shoot are really good. He recalls how the photographer’s great sense of humor put him at ease, and how welcoming the magazine staff were. Continuing to scroll, he comes across a picture of himself he never took. This isn’t one of those amazing fan art images he’s seen over the years made by outstandingly talented artists that managed to capture not just his appearance, but his essence. This is some kind of Frankenimage, clearly AI-generated. His hair is a honey blonde he’s never sported, not even on screen. The cheekbones are oddly exaggerated and too narrow, giving him an almost gaunt appearance. In the picture he holds an infant, staring down at it like a proud father. It hurts him to see it. He’s always wanted a family, but this hasn’t happened for him in real life. Steve scrolls some more and comes across another AI image. In this one he’s dressed in a patent leather getup; cut to reveal tattoos he doesn’t have. A red blindfold covers his eyes. His arms are cuffed behind his back. His expression is one of ecstasy. Behind him stands another known actor who holds the handle of a whip against his chest as he leans in to lick the side of Steve’s face. The actor is a good friend. They’ve worked together a few times but never as onscreen lovers. Fans have imagined their characters as a couple for years, which seemed harmless enough, but seeing this is something else. Against his better judgment, he reads the comments. “I ship them.” “Gorgeous art. Love this.” “Yes, please.” And so on. “I wanna see them getting down in a movie together,” someone’s written. There’s a response to this last comment from someone who’s handle indicates they work for a major studio. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to wait much longer for that. And let’s just say this one’s not going to be the family-friendly fare you’re used to seeing these guys in.” Steve isn’t homophobic. He’s played gay characters more than once and has been fine with kissing or even simulating sex with other male actors. But there’s something about being paired with a close friend in this way without so much as a heads up, that seems like a violation. It’s one thing to work with another actor that you’ve built trust with and talk through a scene to make sure you’re both comfortable depicting something intimate that everyone can be proud of in the end. It’s quite another thing when your image is used to quell strangers’ salacious appetites, in a way you didn’t consent to. Steve feels sick. He takes screenshots of both the AI image and the comment about the movie and texts them to his friend. He follows that up with the message: Did you know about this? The reply comes almost immediately. Fuck. Are you kidding me? Wish I was. Damn man. I love you, but not like that. At least not without the kind of money we used to get for our movies. Steve smiles in spite of himself. At least his friends can still have a sense of humor about these things. I feel like we need to push back on this, he tells his friend. Yeah, I get it man, but we signed the contract. I know we didn’t have much choice, but the law doesn’t care. We agreed to this. Pretty sure it’s too late to stop them. The fans don’t even seem to care it’s not really us, Steve types. Why would they? His friend replies. They don’t even really need us anymore. We just get in the way of their fantasies. Steve doesn’t respond to that. He deletes his Instagram account. He shudders to think of what they’re doing with his image on TikTok. Or worse, on the dark web. • • • “This sucks, Ethel.” Steve puts the phone on speaker and sets it down on the kitchen counter to pour a bowl of cereal. “I’m going stir-crazy here. I need something to challenge my creativity again.” “Well, I heard about one thing, but I’m not sure it’s really for you, so I hadn’t mentioned it,” she says. “What? Tell me?” He opens the fridge and reaches for the almond milk then thinks, screw it, and grabs the whole milk he bought yesterday instead. “There’s this Broadway musical. I know one of the producers, but you’d have to audition.” “That’s exactly what I need right now,” he tells her, over mouthfuls of Frosted Flakes. “It’ll be good for me to go back to my theater roots. It’s been too long since I’ve performed in front of an audience.” He pushes the thought that it’s a musical to the back of his mind. He’s never been known for his singing, but he can work with a voice coach or something. At this point, he’ll do anything to perform again. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had to audition, let alone for live theater,” Ethel says. “Just tell me where and when. I’ve got this.” • • • When he gets the lead in the musical, Steve’s thrilled, but also mildly surprised. He’d felt good about the audition, but he’d heard some of the other actors sing and they were clearly better than he is. He figures they must’ve seen something in him—an intangible quality that suits the part. Why overthink it? His illusions come crashing down early on in rehearsals. During a break, he talks with one of the stagehands. An older guy named Bill. Steve vents a bit about how he can’t really act in the film industry anymore. “Thank god for Broadway. The last refuge for actors like me.” “Yeah. For actors like you,” Bill agrees. Steve isn’t sure what he means by that and says so. “Look, you seem like a decent enough guy,” Bill says, “so don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re here because you’re a name. They need something to put on the billboards that’ll draw a crowd, is all. It ain’t about talent no more.” Steve is taken aback, and his expression must show it. “Don’t get me wrong,” Bill continues. “You’re good. Up there on the big screen, you were a real standout. But this is a whole different animal. All I’m saying is there’s actors more cut out for the stage than you that can’t get hired anymore because the guys who used to work the screen are taking their roles.” Steve’s about to respond when Bill points to a group of actors sitting together talking. “See the guy in the collared shirt?” Bill says. “That’s Wayne Garnet.” Steve knows Wayne from rehearsals. Nice guy. He has a small part but gives it his all. “Wayne’s a Tony-winner. Used to be his name on the marquee. Now even he has to settle for bit parts since AI started taking chunks out of the film industry.” Later Steve Googles Wayne Garnet and finds he’s actually won two Tonys. He’s also known for his singing voice, which he loaned to several animated films before they started digitally recreating it. Steve feels sick. He approaches Wayne during the next rehearsal and offers to bow out to make room for him. Wayne is gracious and tells him not to. “There’s no point, Steve. They’d just get another big name movie star to replace you. My days as the lead are done. I’m just happy I still get to be on stage at all. At least for now.” “What do you mean?” Steve asks. “AI’s coming for all of us,” Wayne says. “It’s not just the film industry. This crap is spreading like a virus throughout the arts. There’s already talk of a new play, AI-written, of course, where instead of live actors they’re projecting digital performers onto the stage. It’s strictly off-Broadway for now, but give it time.” Steve is appalled. Doesn’t know what to say. Wayne continues. “I’ll take whatever I can get these days. You know what they say, ‘There are no small parts.’ I just hope that when the roles run out, someone will want to scan me to use in a projection so I can at least cash a cheque now and then.” • • • At home one night, after the play’s run has ended, Steve settles in to watch TV. He scans his options, stumbling upon one of his early roles. A serious drama in which he played a depressed teen, struggling with his parents’ divorce and his older brother’s untimely death. Even all these years later, the dialogue comes back as he watches one of the more emotional scenes. “It’s not like I don’t want to talk about Tommy,” he mouths along with his younger self. “I do. It’s just that . . .” Young Steve can’t finish because he’s started to cry. Present day Steve remembers shooting the scene—his first time crying on cue. He remembers harnessing all those emotions and tapping into all the pain he’d ever felt, and all of it somehow pouring out of him in that moment. He remembers the director taking him aside later and saying, “You nailed it, kid.” He smiles thinking of this now, but then he’s sad again, missing the sense of accomplishment of pulling off a scene like this. The exhilaration of seeing an audience respond to it later. He watches the remainder of the movie while eating peanut butter by the spoonful right out of the jar. Halfway through he crumbles in an entire Kit-kat bar like he used to do when he was a kid. By the time the credits roll, the jar is empty. • • • Steve’s personal trainer leaves frequent voicemail messages asking when he’s coming back to the gym. He knows he should, but it’s tough to get motivated for a workout when he feels like all anyone’s going to see is his AI clone. Still, it’s in his contract to try to resemble the digital version of himself as much as possible. He knows his skin could use a bit more color these days too, and his hair’s starting to show some gray he hadn’t even realized he had. He makes a mental note to focus more on his appearance. All that can wait until after he returns from the convention though. He’s surprised to find he’s actually looking forward to connecting with his fans again and maybe seeing some of the ones that have become familiar faces over time. The energy at the con is intense, and Steve feels electrified, like he did during his stint on Broadway. One by one he greets his fans as warmly as he possibly can. He makes time to speak with them in the few minutes he has while they take pictures with him. He gives them not his practiced smile, but his real one, and makes sure to thank each one for their continued support. Things get a little weird during the signing. Much of it is what he’s used to, with fans handing him old headshots or pictures from his older films to sign, and in some cases art they’ve made themselves. But he’s also handed quite a few more AI-generated images than he’s used to. He feels like a fraud signing them. Like he’s putting his autograph on someone else’s headshot. Still, he tries to be gracious and humble with the fans. They’ve been there for him through his rise to fame. It’s the least he can do. By the time it’s all over and he’s on his way back to the hotel, Steve’s feeling good about the event. So good, in fact, that he revives his Instagram account to see what fans have been posting. He smiles at the pictures they took with him earlier in the day. Many of the fans are dressed like his characters. Some of the props and signs they’ve brought are so creative, they bring a smile to his face. But soon he notices that not all the comments under the pictures are kind. “Is it just me or is Steve rockin’ the dad bod these days?” someone asks. “Yeah. I hate to say it, but I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t look as hot as he does in Burning Brand II,” replies the account holder. “He’s looking older too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was nice and all, I just wish the picture was better.” “Just fix it so he looks hot,” someone else suggests. “Yeah, I probably will.” Steve doesn’t even know what Burning Brand II is. Another of his films he hasn’t seen—or acted in—he assumes. He closes the app and wonders why he even bothers. If the fans don’t care what’s real and what isn’t, why is he even doing this? • • • He goes for a run the next morning. It’s been a while, but he soon finds his rhythm. It’s early in the day and the streets are quiet. He likes this time of day. It’s peaceful. Gives him a chance to clear his head. When he stops for a rest, he notices a small theater. A sign over the door proclaims that the theater shows only movies made by and starring living human beings. The acronym “AI” is painted on one of the windows with a red slash cut diagonally through it. But what really gets Steve’s attention is the man changing the posters. He replaces one with another that features a pensive-looking Daphne Everheart. His former co-star, if you can call her that, looks younger in this poster. He’s never seen her act before and he’s curious. He decides to return later in the day when the theater opens. • • • The film’s called Grace. In it, Daphne plays a young woman trying to convince her wealthy parents to take her seriously as an inventor. The story is moving, as Daphne’s character struggles against societal expectations to achieve her dreams. Steve likes the score too, and decides he’ll stay to read through the credits to see who composed it. He also enjoys the style the director has brought to the project. But what he likes most is Daphne’s performance. She’s good. It kills him to think that someone who was clearly a rising star is now relegated to appearing only as a digital ghost of herself in half-baked movies that would’ve been an embarrassment at another time. How many other talented actors have been forced out of the industry altogether? And what of everyone else whose jobs have been made irrelevant? Steve feels the tears well up, in part because of the movie, but also because of his thoughts. He blinks them away and looks around to see if other people are equally moved. That’s when he notices that nearly every seat in the theater has someone in it. He watches their expressions as they react to Daphne’s performance. He sees the story affect them, and by the end he understands that there are people for whom this art still has meaning. • • • After the movie lets out, he calls Ethel. “I’m thinking of doing something a bit different,” he tells her. “I want to start a production company. Make movies the old way. I have a whole list of people I can call who’d jump at the chance to collaborate on something real again.” “That sounds wonderful, sweet boy. It’s nice to hear some excitement in your voice again.” “I was calling to ask you something,” he tells her. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to get in touch with Daphne Everheart, would you? I don’t have a project yet, but I’d like to gauge her level of interest. I’m sure we’ll find something for her. The world deserves to see how good she actually is at this.” About the Author P.A. Cornell is a Chilean-Canadian speculative fiction writer. A graduate of the Odyssey workshop, her stories have been published or are forthcoming in over fifty magazines and anthologies, including Lightspeed, Apex, and three “Best of” anthologies. In addition to becoming the first Chilean Nebula finalist in 2024, Cornell has been a finalist for the Aurora and World Fantasy Awards, was longlisted for the BSFA Awards, and won Canada’s Short Works Prize. When not writing, she can be found assembling intricate Lego builds or drinking ridiculous quantities of tea. Sometimes both. For more on the author and her work, visit her website pacornell.com. © Adamant Press Please visit Lightspeed Magazine to read more great science fiction and fantasy. This story first appeared in the May 2025 issue, which also features short fiction by R. P. Sand, Gene Doucette, Martin Cahill, Russell Nichols, Meg Elison, Jonathan Olfert, Nancy Kress, and more. You can wait for this month’s contents to be serialized online, or you can buy the whole issue right now in convenient ebook format for just or subscribe to the ebook edition here. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #movie #star #endures #hollywoods #dystopian

All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.“I don’t like fame. I don’t like the sense of belonging to the public,” Elizabeth Taylor admits in Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, the 2024 documentary featuring unearthed recordings of the Hollywood legend by journalist Richard Meryman. “The person my family knowis real. But the other Elizabeth Taylor, the famous one, really has no depth or meaning to me. It’s a commodity and it makes money. One is flesh and blood, and one is cellophane.” Taylor, who skyrocketed to fame as a child actor and was among the first film stars to receive a million payday for a role, spent much of her life in the spotlight. It’s not surprising, then, that the late icon considered her public image to be completely divorced from her private persona.The Lost Tapes grants viewers a glimpse into that life through Taylor’s candid reflections on it all—the romances, the tragedies, the opulence, and the scandals. Though her superstar status meant that even her rare private moments sometimes got the on-camera treatment, the below selection reveals an intimate look at the “real” Elizabeth Taylor’s time at home, outside the limelight.Photo: George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images1/211942In 1939, Taylor, her older brother Howard, and her parents—stage actress Sara Sothern and art dealer Francis Lenn Taylor—moved from London to Los Angeles. After a couple of years living in LA’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, the family moved into a Spanish-style Beverly Hills home. Here, Howard and Elizabeth are seen in the backyard with their pets during the year in which the 10-year-old began her acting career.Photo: Earl Theisen/Getty Images2/211947This 1947 shot shows Taylor and her mother prepping hamburgers and hot dogs in the kitchen of their family home. Biographer Alexander Walker wrote that the 1929-built abode sported “pink stucco walls and red roof tiles, a huge round-arched window facing the road and a dusty front ‘yard’ with an olive tree in it.” It would remain the young starlet’s home until her first marriage.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images3/211949Featuring decorative tiles and terra-cotta floors, the dwelling had all the classic Spanish-style details that remain beloved throughout Los Angeles today. The Hollywood legend is pictured here at age 17, drying off her dog, Amy.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images4/211949The future Oscar winner is seen here with her mother reading sheet music at their piano. At the time, Taylor was engaged to William Pawley Jr., the son of a US ambassador. “I want our hearts to belong to each other throughout eternity,” the teenage actor wrote in a letter to Pawley. It wasn’t in the cards, however; the engagement ended just a few months later.Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images5/211950Photographed in her childhood home, the movie star twirls in a velvet dress before an ornately framed painting. Walking in her father’s footsteps, Taylor continued to collect art throughout her life. The very same painting can be seen in photos of Taylor’s final residence, six decades after this snapshot was taken.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images6/211950Eager for independence from her sheltered upbringing, Taylor married hotel heir Conrad “Nicky” Hilton Jr. in May 1950 at the age of 18. However, Hilton was “abusive, physically and mentally,” the actor wrote in her 1988 book Elizabeth Takes Off. “The honeymoon and the relationship were both over by the time we returned. I couldn’t bear to reveal that my marriage was a failure, and I kept quiet for months. Around Christmas, I could stand it no longer and moved out of our house.” The residence in question, pictured here, was a Pacific Palisades rental where the pair stayed after a stint at the Bel Air Hotel.Photo: Ed Jackson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images7/211951The young couple officially divorced in January 1951 and Taylor moved into New York’s Plaza Hotel, which was owned by Hilton’s father at the time. The exes met on October 15, 1951, in her suite to wrap up some loose ends—including a property settlement, per the New York Daily News, which published the above snapshot. The star speaks fondly of her time at the iconic hotel in The Lost Tapes, describing it as “the first kind of free, independent time I’d ever had in my life.”Photo: Ed Jackson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images8/211951The couple discusses the divorce settlement and meets with the press in Taylor’s Plaza suite here. “I was a divorcée, and I was 19. Roddywas there with me, and Monty. Just having fun with my chums, doing all kinds of crazy things,” Taylor said of her time living at the famed hotel. “If I wanted to go ice skating at nine at night, we would. Or we’d just have hot dogs all day long. Completely irresponsible sort of behavior. I didn’t have to keep proper hours. I didn’t have to do anything properly. And I had a ball.”Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images9/211952In 1952, Taylor married English actor Michael Wilding and moved into his London apartment, where they are pictured here playing piano. The starlet looked to Wilding, who was two decades her senior, as a source of stability and comfort following her volatile first marriage, she explains in The Lost Tapes.Photo: WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images10/211953Taylor and Wilding bought a house in Beverly Hills in 1953, the same year that the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof star gave birth to her first child, Michael Jr. Pictured in September of that year, the 21-year-old actor reclines on her sofa with the infant. “We will have the outside painted yellow, with white shutters, the living room will be in gray with periwinkle blue—my favorite color, ” Taylor allegedly said upon buying the home.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images11/211953Baby Michael’s sweetly decorated nursery had a butter yellow, baby blue, and pink color scheme. Taylor described the storybook Beverly Hills dwelling in her 1965 tome, An Informal Memoir. “One whole wall was built of bark with fern and orchids growing up the bark,” she wrote. “You really couldn’t distinguish between the outside and inside. And all the colors I loved—off-white, white, natural woods, stone, beigy marble. The pool was so beautiful. There were palm trees and rock formations—it looked like a natural pool, with trees growing out of it. It was the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen.”Photo: CBS via Getty Images12/211957Taylor and Wilding split after nearly five years of marriage. One month after the divorce was finalized, the Cleopatra star married film producer Mike Todd in February 1957. The two are pictured here in their penthouse apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Taylor and Todd kept estates on both coasts; in addition to their NYC abode, they maintained a 1920s Spanish-style primary residence near Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills. The roughly 4,000-square-foot home didn’t offer the high-profile pair much privacy—its front steps began right at the curb, winding around a turret, and up to an arched wood front door.Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images13/211957A few months after they married, Todd and Taylor welcomed CBS’s cameras into their NYC home at 715 Park Avenue for a 1957 Person to Person segment, which showed the newlyweds’ duplex filled with art; a Monet painting in a gilded frame hangs behind them in this photo. Taylor gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Liza, before Todd’s tragic 1958 death in a plane crash.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images14/211966After a five-year marriage to singer and actor Eddie Fisher that generated tons of scandalous tabloid fodder, Taylor married her Cleopatra costar, Richard Burton, in 1964. The couple, whose relationship essentially birthed modern paparazzi culture, is pictured here at their Gstaad, Switzerland, property. Dubbed Chalet Ariel, Taylor and Fisher purchased the estate early in their marriage. The Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? star retained ownership of the dwelling for the rest of her life.Photo: James Andanson/Sygma via Getty Images15/211967The couple—again pictured at their Swiss vacation home, with a trio of petite pooches in tow—were known for their passionate yet turbulent marriage. “We enjoy fighting,” Taylor reportedly said. “Having an out-and-out, outrageous, ridiculous fight is one of the greatest exercises in marital togetherness.” It’s fitting that the relationship was filled with drama, seeing as it began with some: The couple started their affair while Taylor was still married to Fisher and Burton was married to Welsh actress Sybil Christopher.Photo: David Cairns/Getty Images16/211967The frequent costars also spent a great deal of time on their yacht, Kalizma. They reportedly bought the luxury vessel forin 1967 and invested another in refurbishing it to their liking. It was onboard the Kalizma that the Welsh actor gifted Taylor the famous 69.42-carat Cartier diamond now known as the Taylor-Burton diamond.Photo: David Cairns/Express/Getty Images17/211967The couple looks out from the deck of the Kalizma in this snapshot. They reportedly outfitted the vessel with Chippendale mirrors, Louis XIV chairs, and English tapestries. Taylor’s suite—from the bedroom to the bathroom—was done up in a hot pink color scheme. Grace Kelly, Orson Welles, and Ringo Starr were among the A-list guests that Taylor and Burton entertained on the yacht.Photo: Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images18/211977After divorcing Burton, Taylor married American politician John Warner in December 1976. They are pictured here in the kitchen of their roughly 7,000-square-foot fieldstone-walled manor in Marshall, Virginia. Taylor reportedly kept horses on the sprawling property, which was known as Atoka Farm.Photo: Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images19/211977Warner and Taylor roam the grounds of the 400-acre plot in this photo. The actor helped her husband with his 1978 senate campaign, though his busy government schedule put a strain on the marriage, and they divorced in 1982. “She was my ‘partner’ in laying the foundation for 30 years of public service in the US Senate,” Warner said later. “We were always friends—to the end.”Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images20/211987Taylor’s primary residence from 1981 until her 2011 death was at 700 Nimes Road in Bel Air. This 1987 photo shows the Hollywood icon smiling on her sofa in the ranch-style home, which was formerly owned by Nancy Sinatra. Taylor worked with AD100 Hall of Fame designer Waldo Fernandez to decorate the dwelling, which was posthumously featured in the July 2011 issue of Architectural Digest. A trophy room, plush pastel carpets, and abundant flower gardens were among the estate’s highlights.Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images21/211987Taylor sits in a welcoming living room at her Nimes Road dwelling in this shot. “Of course when she had to appear at an important event, she would put on the most beautiful dress and the most amazing jewelry and become Elizabeth Taylor, the star,” famed fashion designer Valentino once said. “But at home she liked a cozy life, friends, good food.”The Hollywood legend died in 2011 at age 79. #elizabeth #taylor #home #photos #golden

It's a whole different kind of dark mode for the paparazzi-like AI feature in Windows 11. #signal #will #black #out #windows

Click here to read this story in English.SONORA, México — Este paisaje no parecía ser un lugar donde encontrar jaguares, el felino de la selva más famoso del mundo. El suelo estaba reseco, rocoso y casi en su totalidad de color café, a excepción del ocasional cactus o palmera. Hacía tanto calor que incluso algunos de los espinosos nopales se estaban marchitando.Sin embargo, ahí estaba — en la pantalla de una cámara con sensor de movimiento amarrada a un roble cerca del lecho de un arroyo seco. Al menos una semana antes, un gran jaguar había caminado exactamente por donde yo me había parado. Incluso desde la pequeña pantalla de la cámara, el felino se veía imponente, con sus grandes patas y una amplia mandíbula que podría destruir cráneos. La Reserva del Jaguar del Norte está situada en la Sierra Madre Occidental, en Sonora, un estado mexicano del norte. Durante nuestra visita en abril, en temporada de sequía, apenas había vegetación que no sean plantas desérticas como cactus y agaves. Ash Ponders para VoxEra una tarde calurosa de abril y me encontraba en la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte, un área protegida en Sonora, aproximadamente a 200 km al sur de la frontera con Arizona en los Estados Unidos. La reserva y la región a su alrededor albergan a la población de jaguares más septentrional del mundo, los felinos más grandes del hemisferio occidental, así como otras tres especies de felinos salvajes: ocelotes, linces y pumas.El de la pantalla se llamaba El Guapo. Es el más grande de los cinco o seis jaguares que habitan en la reserva y probablemente haya engendrado a varios cachorros, me comenta Miguel Gómez Ramírez, el gerente de la reserva.El Guapo tiene una personalidad audaz: mientras algunos de los jaguares del parque se asustan con el flash o el sonido de las cámaras con sensores de movimiento esparcidas por la reserva, saltando como gatos de casa sorprendidos, al Guapo no parece importarle. Es como si supiera que está en la cima de la cadena alimenticia.1/4El Guapo. Northern Jaguar ProjectMientras los jaguares son a menudo asociados con las zonas tropicales, alguna vez se extendieron tan al norte como al Sur de California, el Gran Cañón y posiblemente incluso Luisiana. ¡Estados Unidos tenía jaguares! Y después, no fue así. A mediados de 1900, los ganaderos y cazadores habían exterminado a estos felinos — como muchos otros depredadores salvajes — en gran parte porque eran vistos como una amenaza para el ganado. Los jaguares ocasionalmente matan vacas, aunque muy pocos casos de ataques a ganado se han verificado en los Estados Unidos. En las últimas décadas, varios jaguares machos han regresado a su hábitat histórico en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos– más recientemente, en diciembre de 2023. Los extraordinarios avistamientos dan a los defensores del medio ambiente la esperanza de que algún día los jaguares puedan regresar a los Estados Unidos, reparando así una cadena alimenticia rota y recuperando una importante pieza faltante de la cultura indígena en la frontera.Una piel de jaguar se exhibe en el Centro Ecológico de Sonora, un zoológico en Hermosillo, la capital del estado. Ash Ponders para VoxTodos los jaguares que han aparecido en Estados Unidos vinieron del norte de México — de la región donde ahora me encontraba — deslizándose a través de algunas de las secciones del muro fronterizo que aún están abiertas. Cualquier posibilidad que ahora tengan los jaguares de regresar a los Estados Unidos depende de mantener aperturas en el muro fronterizo y una amplia reserva de felinos por el norte de México. Los jaguares sólo pueden restablecerse en su rango de distribución al norte si son lo suficientemente abundantes en México, donde están en peligro de extinción. Como en los Estados Unidos, los ganaderos de Sonora tienen una larga historia matando felinos por su percibida, y en ocasiones real amenaza para su ganado. Si bien la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte ayuda a proteger a los felinos salvajes en Sonora, lo que realmente me trajo a México fue un proyecto para conservar jaguares que se extiende mucho más allá de los límites del parque. Durante muchos años, un pequeño grupo de científicos y defensores han estado trabajando para presentar a los jaguares de Sonora bajo una perspectiva diferente — para convertirlos de villanos hambrientos a importantes actores dentro de un ecosistema, brindando recompensas financieras a los ganaderos. Esta apuesta parece estar dando frutos: la población de jaguares en la reserva y en la región de rancherías a su alrededor parece estable, o hasta parece estar creciendo, brindando esperanza de que la gente pueda vivir en armonía con los depredadores que alguna vez odiaron.Ponte en contacto con nosotros. ¿Tienes noticias o comentarios sobre esta historia? Queremos escucharte. Escribe a Benji Jones a benji.jones@vox.com o en Signal a Benji.90.Se puede decir que la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte está en medio de la nada.Viajé allí el mes pasado con Roberto Wolf, un veterinario que lidera el Northern Jaguar Project, una organización sin fines de lucro que supervisa el refugio. Después de cruzar la frontera al sur de Tucson, manejamos alrededor de otras cuatro horas hasta un encantador pueblo ganadero llamado Sahuaripa, donde las estrechas calles estaban bordeadas de casas coloridas y llenas de perros callejeros.Las casas de la ciudad de Sahuaripa están pintadas de colores llamativos y suelen tener cruces en sus puertas. Ash Ponders para VoxUn nombre llamado Don Francisco vende tortillas calientes al atardecer en Sahuaripa. Ash Ponders para VoxUna estatua de Jesús con un solo brazo mira al pueblo de Sahuaripa. Me dijeron que el otro brazo se cayó durante una tormenta. Ash Ponders para VoxDesde allí, fueron un par de horas más hasta la reserva, en gran parte por caminos de tierra accidentados..Un rato después de entrar a la reserva nos detuvimos junto a un tronco al costado del camino. Estaba cubierto de marcas de arañazos, como el brazo de un sofá en una casa llena de gatos. Eso fue obra de un puma marcando su territorio, dijo Gómez Ramírez, quien nos recibió en el parque. Señaló hacia una cámara con sensores de movimiento que previamente había capturado el comportamiento. Justo antes de llegar a nuestro campamento, un zorrillo cruzó frente al coche, se paró en sus dos patas delanteras, y luego desapareció entre los matorrales. La mañana siguiente, sin nubes y fresca, caminamos hasta La Hielería, el lugar donde la cámara de rastreo había detectado recientemente al Guapo. Sombras de alas se cruzaron en nuestro camino, proyectadas por buitres que buscaban un cadáver.En el camino de Arizona a Sahuaripa cruzamos el Río Yaqui, al oeste de la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte. Atraviesa las faldas de las montañas de la Sierra Madre Occidental. Ash Ponders para VoxDocenas de cámaras de rastreo con sensores de movimiento están repartidas por la reserva. Aquí, la pantalla muestra a un puma que caminó por ahí algunos días antes. Ash Ponders para VoxLa Hielería solía ser parte de un rancho de ganado, y tiene un lugar importante en la conservación de felinos. A finales de 1990, cuando los jaguares estaban reapareciendo en los Estados Unidos, un equipo de investigadores comenzó a explorar el norte de México para averiguar de dónde venían. Como parte de ese trabajo, el biólogo Gustavo Lorenzana Piña instaló una cámara con sensores de movimiento junto al lecho de un arroyo en La Hielería. La cámara capturó, como era de esperar, vaca tras vaca tras vaca. Pero Lorenzana siguió haciendo clic y lo vio: un jaguar, “el amo y señor de las selvas neotropicales, en una hermosa postal con matorrales y cactus de fondo”, dijo. La imagen, tomada a principios del 2000, fue la primera fotografía de un jaguar vivo en Sonora. Era una hembra a quien después llamarían Gus, en honor a Gustavo.La primera foto de un jaguar vivo tomada en Sonora. GP Lorenzana/CA López-GonzálezSu historia terminó — como la mayoría de los cuentos sobre jaguares — en manos de los humanos. El animal fue perseguido y asesinado por supuestamente haber lastimado al ganado, me dijo Lorenzana. Aunque es técnicamente ilegal matar jaguares en México, cazarlos por causar daño real o imaginado al ganado fue una práctica común en el pasado. Y sigue siendo una amenaza hoy en día. A finales del siglo XX, se mataban en promedio al menos cinco animales al año en el estado, según el libro Tigres de la Frontera de David Brown y el co-fundador de NJP, Carlos López González.Un hombre que conocí de unos 70 años me dijo que había matado a seis jaguares en un rancho que ahora forma parte de la reserva.Los propietarios de ranchos pagaban alrededor de 5.000 pesos por cada jaguar sacrificado. Heraclio “Laco” Duarte Robles mató a varios jaguares cuando trabajaba para un rancho que ahora es parte de la reserva. Ahora Laco es empleado del Northern Jaguar Project, donde ayuda a mantener a los felinos en vida. Ash Ponders para VoxLos jaguares ocasionalmente matan becerros, aunque prefieren alimentarse de presas salvajes, como venados o pecaríes, un pequeño y feroz animal que se parece a un cerdo. En Sonora, cada jaguar o puma podría matar algunos becerros al año, lo que normalmente equivale a sólo una fracción de la producción de un ganadero.Aunque Gus estuvo del lado perdedor de los encuentros entre ganaderos y felinos, dejó un legado de conservación duradero. Después de aparecer en una cámara de rastreo en La Hielería, ayudó a demostrar que Sonora era el hogar de una población reproductora de jaguares. Esto impulsó un esfuerzo por comprar ranchos, incluyendo a La Hielería, para convertirlos en una reserva. NJP compró su primer rancho en 2003 y desde entonces ha agregado varios más. En conjunto, cubren más de 22.900 hectáreas.Hoy la Reserva del Jaguar del Norte tiene una población pequeña pero saludable de cinco o seis jaguares, según Carmina Gutiérrez González, bióloga del NJP. Las cámaras con sensores de movimiento han detectado alrededor de 10 jaguares pasando por la región, dijo Gutiérrez González, quien identifica a los individuos por sus patrones de manchas únicos.Nuestro único encuentro con un jaguar fue en el Centro Ecológico de Sonora, un zoológico a día y medio manejando desde la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxDespués de ver al Guapo en la cámara de La Hielería deambulé por el arroyo seco y tropecé con un montón de heces. Heces de jaguar, sospechaba Gómez Ramírez. Nunca en mi vida me había emocionado tanto encontrar un montón de caca. Personas como Gómez Ramírez, quienes han pasado más de una década en la reserva, nunca han visto jaguares cara a cara. Mi probabilidad era casi nula. Entonces me conformé con ver caca.La reserva es esencial aunque insuficiente — es relativamente pequeña y cubre menos del 3 por ciento del área de Yellowstone, por ejemplo. Mientras tanto, los jaguares en Sonora tienen áreas de distribución increíblemente grandes y pueden viajar hasta 16 km por día, dijo Gómez Ramírez.Protegerlos en un área pequeña no es suficiente en una región donde todavía hay caza. Así que el Proyecto Jaguar del Norte tuvo que encontrar otra solución.Una mañana después de algunas noches en la reserva, manejamos a un rancho ganadero un poco más allá del límite. Estacionamos nuestra polvorienta 4Runner junto a un puñado de vacas y sus becerros, quienes se congelaron y nos miraron como si nunca antes hubieran visto humanos.Uriel Villarreal Peña en su rancho, Saucito, cerca de la Northern Jaguar Reserve. Ash Ponders para VoxUn ganadero llamado Uriel Villarreal Peña, dueño de la propiedad, salió a recibirnos, seguido por dos perros. Mientras nos sentábamos alrededor de su mesa al aire libre bajo la sombra de un techo de lámina, nos dijo que tiene un poco más de 100 animales de ganado. Cada uno tiene un valor de varios cientos de dólares y los vende en Sahuaripa para exportarlos a Estados Unidos.Durante más de una década, Villarreal Peña, quien vestía con gorra de béisbol, jeans y camisa con botones, ha sido parte de un programa llamado Viviendo con Felinos. El programa, lanzado por NJP en 2007, trabaja con ganaderos para colocar cámaras con sensores de movimiento en sus terrenos. Cuando esas cámaras detectan a un felino salvaje — un jaguar, un puma, un ocelote o un gato montés — la ONG le paga al ganadero con un fondo común de recursos que ha recaudado a través de donantes. La idea, me dijo Wolf, es “hacer que los animales salvajes vivos sean más valiosos que los muertos”.Las fotos de jaguares valen 5.000 pesos cada una — similar a lo que los cazadores podrían ganar matándolos. Las fotos de ocelotes generan alrededor de 1.500, las de pumas 1.000 y las de gato montés 500 pesos. Cada ganadero puede ganar un máximo de aproximadamente 20.000 pesos al mes por sus fotos — más del doble del salario mínimo mensual en México. Al unirse a Viviendo con Felinos, los ganaderos también se comprometen a no matar ningún animal salvaje en su rancho, incluyendo venados y jabalíes. Roberto Wolf descansa por un momento durante nuestra caminata en La Hielería. Ash Ponders para Vox.Villarreal Peña me dijo que se unió al programa NJP en parte por el dinero. Las fotografías de felinos tomadas en su rancho le hacen ganar unos cuantos miles de dólares cada año, dijo, lo que representa entre el 10 y el 15 por ciento de sus ingresos anuales. Pero también le gustan los jaguares. “Me interesa ver animales, conservarlos porque se ven bonitos”, dijo. El hecho de que los jaguares no le hayan causado muchos problemas ayuda. Cuando era joven, Villarreal Peña pensaba que los felinos salvajes eran malos porque comían ganado, el medio de vida de los ganaderos. Pero con el tiempo aprendió que los depredadores evitarán a los becerros siempre que tengan suficientes venados y jabalíes para comer. Después de probar un poco de la bacanora casera de Villarreal Peña, un licor a base de agave similar al mezcal —¡Mi trabajo es duro, lo juro! — Villarreal Peña nos llevó a ver una de sus cámaras con sensores de movimiento. Estaba “cerca”, aunque llegar allí implicaba un corto viaje en auto, una caminata de media hora bajo el sol y un encuentro con un correcaminos, un pájaro terrestre de aspecto maníaco que siempre parece tener prisa.Wolf y Heraclio “Laqui” Duarte López, técnico de campo de NJP, nos muestran un mapa en un mirador camino a la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxLa caminata a la reserva te lleva por piedras volcánicas y matorrales, típicamente bajo extremo calor. Ash Ponders para VoxEl cráneo de un ganado en las afueras del rancho de Villarreal Peña. Ash Ponders para VoxUn papamoscas bermellón cruza el Aros River en la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxAtada a un poste de madera, la cámara era de plástico, pintada de camuflaje y aproximadamente del tamaño de un ladrillo. La abrimos y vimos las fotos más recientes. Yo acercándome. Conejo. Venado. Zorro. Una criatura parecida a un mapache llamada cacomixtle. Coatí. Ocelote. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí. Pecarí.Y más pecaríes. Le pregunté a Villarreal Peña qué piensa cuando ve un felino salvaje en la cámara. “¡1,500!”, bromeó, refiriéndose al dinero en pesos mexicanos que gana con cada fotografía de un ocelote. Luego añadió, más seriamente: “Se siente bonito poder decir que sí hay.”Hasta la fecha, 21 ganaderos cerca de la reserva se han unido a Viviendo con Felinos. Y en conjunto, su terreno comprende 50.990 hectáreas, un área de más del doble del tamaño de la reserva. De hecho, el programa ha ampliado el área de protección de los jaguares y sus presas. Además, es tan popular entre los ganaderos que en realidad hay una lista de espera informal para unirse, dijo Wolf.NJP ha estado ampliando lentamente el programa, pero agregar más ranchos — y todas las fotografías que puedan tomar— es costoso, señaló Wolf. Entre el otoño de 2023 y el otoño de 2024, NJP gastó más de 2 millones de pesossólo en premios de fotografía. Eso no incluye el tiempo del personal ni el costo de las cámaras de alrededor de 2.900 pesoscada una. Y esas cámaras necesitan ser reemplazadas frecuentemente porque, entre todas las cosas, los pájaros carpinteros ocasionalmente destrozan los lentes y los sensores, me dijo Gómez Ramírez.Viviendo con Felinos has ha dado más espacio a los jaguares para moverse en Sonora, y eso por sí solo es algo enorme. Pero estos animales icónicos también se están beneficiando de un cambio más fundamental en la región — un cambio de cultura y de costumbres. Después de nuestra visita con Villarreal Peña, nos detuvimos en la propiedad de su vecino, un gran rancho que le pertenece a Agustín Hurtado Aguayo. Hurtado Aguayo, ahora de unos 80 años, es el ex-presidente de la asociación ganadera del estado y una figura importante en la comunidad ganadera de Sonora. Hace varios años “detestaba a los felinos”, me dijo Hurtado Aguayo en su casa de la ciudad de Hermosillo, capital de Sonora, a unas horas al oeste de Sahuaripa. En la pared colgaban sombreros de vaquero y un par de cuernos de toro. “Tenía muy mala imagen de ellos”, dijo.Agustín Hurtado Aguayo en su casa de Hermosillo. Ash Ponders para VoxFotos sobre la vida del rancho y un cuerno largo de toro de cuelgan en la pared de la casa de Hurtado Aguayo. Ash Ponders para VoxCazar felinos salvajes era una práctica que las antiguas generaciones transmitían, dijo, y surgía de la creencia de que los felinos dañaban a la producción. “Esa es la formación que teníamos”, me dijo. También era normal que los ganaderos cazaran y comieran venados, dijo, lo que disminuía una importante fuente de alimento para los depredadores.Tras unirse a Viviendo con Felinos, Hurtado sintió curiosidad por el programa porque le gustaban las fotos de felinos del rancho de su vecino. “Al comenzar a ver las fotos que tomaban las cámaras comencé a apreciar los animales”, dijo, mostrándome a un puma de fondo de pantalla en su iPhone. “Poco a poco comenzó a cambiar mi visión del felino”.Hurtado Aguayo, quien luego también se sumó al programa, se dio cuenta de que al limitar el número de ganado en su rancho, sus vacas estarían más sanas y sobraría más pasto para los venados. Si tenía más venados —y sus trabajadores se abstenían de cazarlos—, los felinos salvajes matarían menos animales. Estas ideas son cada vez más comunes entre los ganaderos que se han sumado al programa en Sonora. “Si nosotros como ganaderos o como dueños de un predio conservamos la cadena alimenticia normal, no tenemos problema”, dijo José de la Cruz Coronado Aguayo, otro ganadero de Viviendo con Felinos. Existen otras maneras de proteger al ganado de los depredadores, como asegurarse de que los becerros no anden solos por las montañas. En otras regiones del mundo, la instalación de elementos disuasorios como cercas eléctricas, alarmas y luces intermitentes, también son una opción eficaz para prevenir la depredación.“Realmente los felinos pueden convivir con el ganado”, me dijo Hurtado Aguayo.La reserva está rodeada de ranchos de ganado que en su mayoría venden becerros de carne. Ash Ponders para VoxEstá claro que las fotografías de jaguares pueden hacer que alguien se enamore de los felinos. Esto no explica cómo ganaderos como Hurtado Aguayo aprendieron a criar ganado de tal manera que protegen tanto a los felinos como al ganado. Wolf, de NJP, dice que a menudo todo se reduce a las experiencias individuales. Los ganaderos aprenden con el tiempo que al dejar a los venados o al crear nuevas fuentes de agua para los animales, se pierde menos ganado. Lo que también es crucial, dijo, es que al ganar dinero con fotografías de felinos, las personas en el programa se vuelven más tolerantes con su presencia — y más abiertas a comprometerse y encontrar formas de vivir con ellos.Antes de salir de su casa, Hurtado Aguayo sacó su laptop y nos mostró fotos de las cámaras de vigilancia de su rancho. Eran espectaculares: un puma, cerca de la cámara y con cara de sorpresa. Un ocelote con lo que parece un ratón en su boca. Y varios jaguares, incluyendo la imagen de abajo, tomada en 2023, que tenía guardada en su fondo de escritorio. 1/3Fotos tomadas por cámaras trampa en el rancho de Hurtado Aguayo. Northern Jaguar ProjectNo todos en Sonora aman de repente a los felinos. Los ganaderos todavía culpan a los jaguares cuando sus becerros desaparecen o aparecen muertos. Y es probable que todavía maten a jaguares discretamente. Un ganadero que no forma parte de Viviendo con Felinos me dijo que desde noviembre ha perdido más de una docena de sus becerros y sospecha que los felinos están detrás del daño. Él dice que la reserva debería estar cercada para beneficio de los ganaderos..La tensión en la región se desbordó a principios de este año, cuando aparentemente un puma entró a una casa donde un trabajador de rancho se estaba quedando y atacó a su perro. El trabajador, un hombre llamado Ricardo Vázquez Paredes, dice que golpeó al felino con un tubo y el puma se escapó, no sin antes herir a su perro, Blaki. Si bien Wolf y algunos de los otros ganaderos con los que hablé sospechan que su relato podría ser exagerado —es raro que los pumas se acerquen a viviendas humanas— la historia generó preocupaciones en Sahuaripa sobre los jaguares y los esfuerzos para protegerlos.El cambio climático también podría empeorar los conflictos en la región. Los ganaderos con los que hablé dicen que Sonora está cada vez más seco, lo que significa que habrá cada vez menos pastizal para el ganado y para animales como los venados que son el alimento de los felinos salvajes. Esto podría hacer que las vacas sean más débiles y más propensas a morir de hambre y los jaguares estén más hambrientos y más propensos a atacar. La investigación sugiere que los jaguares matan más becerros cuando está seco. En 2023, un ganadero de Viviendo con Felinos llamado Diego Ezrre Romero perdió un becerro a manos de un jaguar. “Lo más crítico en el rancho que tengo es el agua”, me dijo Ezrre Romero. “Hay poco venado por las condiciones”.Diego Ezrre Romero, un ranchero del programa de Viviendo con Felinos, en el verdoso patio de su casa en Sahuaripa. Ash Ponders para VoxEl conflicto en Sonora no está a punto de resolverse del todo. Sin embargo, está claro que Viviendo con Felinos está ayudando. Junto con otros esfuerzos de NJP para involucrar a la comunidad — programas educativos, por ejemplo, y pinturas de murales que representan a los felinos icónicos en Sahuaripa y otras ciudades — el grupo está haciendo que los ganaderos en el territorio de los jaguares sean más tolerantes con los felinos. Y gracias a los pagos, está ayudando a que se vuelvan más tolerantes a las pérdidas que estos puedan ocasionar. “Sin ellosahorita no hubiera ni un jaguar aquí”, dijo Fausto Lorenzo, un ganadero cerca de Sahuaripa que no está afiliado a la reserva. “Ya se lo hubieran matado todos los rancheros porque esa era la costumbre”.Desde la casa de Hurtado Aguayo en Hermosillo, manejamos de regreso a Arizona. La carretera atravesaba campos de cactus saguaro. Los remolinos de polvo giraban a la distancia, moviéndose a través del matorral.El sol se acuesta detrás de las montañas de la Sierra Madre Occidental cerca de la reserva. Ash Ponders para VoxEl éxito que el NJP ha tenido en México es a fin de cuentas un buen augurio para los esfuerzos por restaurar los jaguares en Estados Unidos. El número de jaguares en la reserva es estable, dice Gutiérrez, pero las cámaras con sensores de movimiento sugieren que año tras año más individuos pasan por la región. Se trata de más individuos que potencialmente podrían llegar a los Estados Unidos.Pero persiste un gran problema. A medida que nos acercábamos a la frontera, el muro apareció ante nosotros. Era de metal y de color café y se elevaba 5 metros sobre el desierto. Extendiéndose cientos de kilómetros a través de la frontera de Arizona y Nuevo México, el muro ha hecho que la frontera sea en gran medida impasable para la vida silvestre, incluidos los jaguares. Y continúa expandiéndose. Actualmente, la administración de Trump está planeando completar una de las últimas secciones no amuralladas de la frontera, una brecha de 40 km en San Rafael Valley, alrededor de 240 km al noroeste del refugio, donde los jaguares han cruzado a los Estados Unidos.El futuro de los jaguares de Sonora parece prometedor independientemente de si Trump termina su muro. NJP y otras organizaciones han dado más espacio a estos animales y han erosionado las amenazas más severas.La verdadera pérdida se sentirá en los Estados Unidos, y no sólo entre los ambientalistas. Los jaguares han vivido en Estados Unidos desde mucho antes que nosotros. Son parte del patrimonio natural del país — de ecosistemas verdaderamente estadounidenses — y su ausencia perjudicaría nuestros paisajes. Los ganaderos en Sonora nos enseñan que podemos convivir con los grandes depredadores del continente. Sólo tenemos que elegir hacerlo.See More: #estas #fotos #están #literalmente #salvando

Of all of its ingredients, it’s perhaps the signature pepperoncini at Papa Johns that most differentiates the pizza chain from its competitors. Papa Johns places one of its Mediterranean-grown pepperoncinis in every pizza box along with complimentary garlic dipping sauce. Like fortune cookies at a Chinese restaurant or Andes mints at Olive Garden, these freebies are a bit of hospitality meant to delight customers and build loyalty in a notably unfaithful fast-food category. Now Papa Johns is taking the pepperoncini a step further by placing it right into your drink: “Cini Dirty Soda” is citrus soda with a zesty, pepper kick. How Papa Johns went all in on a pepper brand The brand expansion is happening at a time when Papa Johns is investing million more in marketing this year to improve on its 1% year-over-year revenue growth. While such shocking food collabs are nothing new, in this case the pizza chain has been working pepperoncini deeper into its brand for a while now. Papa Johns released a new brand identity last year that includes a pepperoncini yellow-green in its color palette alongside colors like reds that evoke sauces and pepperonis.Coupled with a doughy custom font called Pappy, it’s a brand that’s designed to remind you of pizza with a free side of pepper. Now the pepperoncini has become the inspiration behind a limited-edition drink with Mountain Dew. Rather than selling the drink in its stores, Papa Johns made it as a limited-edition, do-it-yourself kit available only online. The Papa Johns recipe calls for 8 ounces of Mountain Dew and a quarter ounce of pepperoncini brine with a pepperoncini-brine-and-Italian-seasoning rim and a pepperoncini for garnish. It already sold out, and Papa Johns says it was one of the most engaged sweepstakes the chain has ever done. “The dirty-soda trend is on the rise, and with our revamped approach we thought it was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate culture with our iconic fan-favorite garnish,” Papa Johns CMO Jenna Bromberg tells Fast Company. “Our quality ingredients are our point of differentiation, which is where we’re focusing as a brand.” The “Cini Dirty Soda” taps into the dirty-soda craze of shops like Swig and Sodalicious while embracing the trend toward adventurous flavor profiles for products like the pickle soda Popeyes released last month. It also links the pizza chain to Mountain Dew, a soda brand that recently overhauled its visual identity and is making investments in becoming more culturally relevant. For a category as competitive as pizza, such small gestures as a free pepper and sauce can go a long way toward growing and cementing loyalty. Papa Johns is finding new ways to lean into its signature freebie. #papa #johns #turned #its #food

Rocketz Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 8,604 Metro Detroit Ubisoft has release a gameplay showcase of what to expect in Anno 117: Pax Romana. Get a chance to see the new roads and land armies. Release still set for 2025. Looks like content creators have videos and impressions as well if you choose to seek them out. View:   Firebricks Member Jan 27, 2018 2,438 This is my most anticipated game of the year, and it looks great.   PapaJustify Member Nov 3, 2017 1,318 Germany Incredible. It's all I wanted and more. I cannot wait.   OP OP Rocketz Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 8,604 Metro Detroit Saw as well you get a choice now of what food you want to start your first group of citizens with.   MacReady Member Jan 21, 2024 476 Looks really good.   MacheteSquadSteve Member Jan 6, 2025 276 Going to spend a lot of time with this. As gorgeous as Manor Lords is, I'm looking forward to a more pleasant climate to build in.   strudelkuchen Member Oct 25, 2017 13,387 Looks good. Anno 1800 is the best one since 1404, I have high hopes!   ProdigyZA Member Jun 9, 2024 1,491 Looking great.   Nacho Papi Member Oct 27, 2017 3,270 Looks gorgeous!   Squirrel09 Member Nov 4, 2017 1,909 What's the combat like in these games? My impression was that they were themed city builders, are they more like RTS with a city building focus?   cabelhigh Member Nov 2, 2017 1,917 Visually looks good, but just that trailer gameplay wise looks a LOT like 1800...seems like the streams have more unique gameplay tho, but I dont have the time to watch them   Shahadan Member Oct 27, 2017 5,565 So apparently you can choose which foods to supply to houses? wow Not sure I like stuff being locked behind a tech tree however  Majora's Mask Member Oct 26, 2017 2,028 Will watch when I get home, but really hope M+KB is implemented on consoles.   attic Member Jun 28, 2024 383 wow so this is by far the earliest setting in the series so far, that's so cool. antiquity-heads are eating good   Xando Member Oct 28, 2017 37,600 There is a lot of footage out there. Seems like some german influencers got a lot of time with it   Potterson Member Oct 28, 2017 7,227 Looking at influencers' videos, it looks like Anno 1800with small changes. And... It's great. 1800 is amazing.  FliX Master of the Reality Stone Moderator Oct 25, 2017 10,928 Metro Detroit Awww yiss, been waiting for this!   Anno Member Oct 25, 2017 7,876 Columbus, Ohio idk that I need ground combat to return. But otherwise it looks amazing, unsurprisingly.   GTAce Member Oct 27, 2017 4,601 Bonn, Germany Anno 1800 with aentirely uninteresting setting. Love 1800, but I hoped for a game with a generally bigger scope, maybe even multiple eras.   FliX Master of the Reality Stone Moderator Oct 25, 2017 10,928 Metro Detroit Squirrel09 said: What's the combat like in these games? My impression was that they were themed city builders, are they more like RTS with a city building focus? Click to expand... Click to shrink... The focus has historically been on production chains and trade. But looks like more combat options in this one than in 1800.  Bucca Member Oct 25, 2017 5,506 Beautiful   strudelkuchen Member Oct 25, 2017 13,387 monketron Member Oct 27, 2017 4,112 Hype levels at max. Cannot wait for this and also to see where they go with the DLC over the years. Shame we don't have a proper release date yet.   MegaSackman Member Oct 27, 2017 20,674 Argentina Only watched the trailer which didn't say much but I'll watch the rest later. Regardless, this is a day one for me. Thank god it's coming on consoles day one.   Shairi Member Aug 27, 2018 10,175 Oh damn, this looks sooo good. I'm so excited.   Splinky Member Jul 12, 2023 133 It makes sense to go straight to the Romans, those guys were way ahead of the curve in their love of grid layouts.   shoal Member Dec 27, 2020 753 Wow, I loved 1404 and didn't know this was coming out!   Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,542 I'm excited for this but also a bit intimidated, especially since I'd be on console for this. I wonder if you'll be limited to Roman gods or if they would do something like incorporate early Christianity.  mavericktopgun Member Oct 27, 2017 5,435 Do we know if this comes to Switch 2? Mouse mode is perfect for this   strudelkuchen Member Oct 25, 2017 13,387 Genesius said: I'm excited for this but also a bit intimidated, especially since I'd be on console for this. I wonder if you'll be limited to Roman gods or if they would do something like incorporate early Christianity. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You are not limited to Roman gods.   Lightsong Member Nov 11, 2022 9,385 I'm so glad we went back so far in history. I loved 1800 but something even more modern is just not working well for this franchise.   Sec0nd The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 6,952 Looks nice. Anno 1800 was so wonderful and I've spent ridiculous amounts of hours in that game last summer. Don't feel like I'm ready for another Anno game yet, but I'll keep my eyes open for this one for sure.  FliX Master of the Reality Stone Moderator Oct 25, 2017 10,928 Metro Detroit Genesius said: I'm excited for this but also a bit intimidated, especially since I'd be on console for this. wonder if you'll be limited to Roman gods or if they would do something like incorporate early Christianity. Click to expand... Click to shrink... The console version of 1800 is wonderfully realised. Plays great with a controller.   SofNascimento cursed Member Oct 28, 2017 24,883 São Paulo - Brazil Give me all Roman games.   Lightsong Member Nov 11, 2022 9,385 My favourite Anno is still 1602, that had land combat too, so I'm totally on board with this.   Morten88 Member Dec 22, 2019 2,391 This looks really fucking good   Dmax3901 Member Oct 25, 2017 8,554 Looks so good, the tease of Romanising other provinces sounds super interesting, I wonder how extensive that will be. Would certainly be a good avenue for Season Passes to go down.   Smokey_Run The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 5,077 Can't wait to play it. It looks great. Hopefully a date gets announced soon.   MegaSackman Member Oct 27, 2017 20,674 Argentina I watched the IGN preview with distractions and didn't find anything truly different from 1800 outside of minor stuff. Not that it matters to me, 1800 was my first full Anno gameand I'm ready for a new one, doesn't matter to me if it's more of the same.   FliX Master of the Reality Stone Moderator Oct 25, 2017 10,928 Metro Detroit Honestly 1800 is like the perfect game for me. More of the same is good in my book.   Aangster Member Oct 27, 2017 3,016 Looking forward to this, the universal UI being the console version of 1800 is my main concern though, because I don't think it'll work well for PC players and could end up being a bit of a disaster like Civ 7's.   Dmax3901 Member Oct 25, 2017 8,554 What do we think the chances are for this to get pushed to 2026?   Tmespe Member Oct 27, 2017 3,758 Dmax3901 said: What do we think the chances are for this to get pushed to 2026? Click to expand... Click to shrink... Medium since we don't have a release date yet. Then again the press preview is looking quite polished already.   Lucreto Member Oct 25, 2017 7,273 Dmax3901 said: What do we think the chances are for this to get pushed to 2026? Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's possible but they are still saying 2025, so it's still there target. There is a developer commentary livestream Wednesday so they might mention a date there.  finaljedi Member Jul 15, 2018 629 Cincinnati, OH I wonder when they run out of titles that add up to 9.   eonden Member Oct 25, 2017 17,557 That looks class.   #anno #pax #romana #gameplay #showcase

Hundertwasser’s home in the Kaurinui Valley, located just 20 minutes north of Kawakawa and less than a three-hour drive from Auckland, is to be the only one of his homes around the world that is open to the public. I was given a tour by volunteers from Living Hundertwasser, including Richard Smart, who worked closely with Hundertwasser for eight years and now represents the non-profit Hundertwasser Foundation in New Zealand. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Austria in 1928, Hundertwasser was a world-famous painter and architect, renowned for his radical views and eccentric approach to design. His childhood, marked by the devastations of World War II, led him to find solace in painting alternative worlds filled with nature, vibrant colours and abstract forms that would later influence the trajectory of his environmentalism and architecture.1 The Eyeslit, Kaurinui, 2025.© Image:  Richard Smart In 1976, he settled in New Zealand, purchasing a dairy farm in the Kaurinui Valley with the intention of setting nature free.2 He did just that: over two decades planting 150,000 trees and widening the Kaurinui Stream that flows through the farm. His philosophy is embodied in every aspect of the property and, despite recent health-and-safety upgrades, Hundertwasser’s dwellings remain as he left them, down to his last shopping list and paintbrushes left on the table. The tour begins at the Eyeslit, a Hundertwasser design built after his death, replacing the old decaying farmhouse. Aligned with his distinctive style, it features vibrant pink walls, colourful mosaics and columns reminiscent of his iconic Kawakawa toilets. The Eyeslit serves as a communal space for a pre-tour introduction to Hundertwasser and his legacy that lives on in Kaurinui. The Bottlehaus, Kaurinui.©  Image:  Richard Smart The tour continues through four of his six idiosyncratic dwellings scattered throughout the property, each reflecting his ecological philosophies. The next stop is The Boatshed, a gabled timber building, home to his boat, La Giudecca. Across a bridge over the Kaurinui Stream is The Cave, a space dug into the hillside, containing a bench and hundreds of wētā. Returning over the stream, we arrive at The Pigsty, Hundertwasser’s primary dwelling, which, true to its name, is a former pigsty converted into a habitable space. Inside, a hallway stretches the length of the home, with the kitchen, dining and living room, and a combined bedroom and bathroom branching off. It is built from recycled glass bottles and natural materials, such as earth bricks and logs laid on their sides, extending from inside to outside, mortared in place with a lime, cement and sawdust mixture. With its spontaneously vegetated green roof, felled tree trunk columns and uneven interior floors, the dwelling echoes his philosophy that buildings, like human skin, should grow and wrinkle over time, evolving alongside nature.3 Mountain Hut, Kaurinui, 1994/95.©  Image:  Richard Smart The Bottlehaus, originally the farm’s milking shed, is Hundertwasser’s other main residence. The interior is filled with natural light from the polycarbonate skylight and bottle walls, providing perfect conditions for painting. Not yet included in the tour because of their distance are the Railway Hut and Mountain Hut. Smart recounts how he and his children would hike up to the Mountain Hut, spending the night in the home, built three-quarters underground. The walls and floor are clay earth and the roof, covered in wild greenery, sits just above the ground’s surface. Hundertwasser’s alignment with Māori culture is reflected throughout his homes; adorning the walls are timber-carved tiki and the koru flag he designed for New Zealand, symbolising a unified national identity. Hundertwasser was inherently nomadic, moving between buildings based on their various functions, inadvertently resembling the organisation of customary Māori papakāinga settlements, where buildings serve distinct purposes. Māori would move between kāinga seasonally, leaving structures built from natural materials to decay and return to the earth. At the tour’s final stop, the Exhibition Building, a letter from Hundertwasser’s friend A. D. Fagan in 1974 describes him as a guardian of the land, a sentiment akin to Māori identification as kaitiaki – guardians of the whenua. Before his death, Hundertwasser expressed his desire for Māori artists to have equal opportunities in New Zealand. This wish was realised in the Whangārei Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery, completed in 2022.4 Throughout the property, Hundertwasser’s interventions – from a waterwheel and outdoor bath to timber plank bridges and ladders feeding into ponds – speak to a lifestyle that reinforces his commitment to living in harmony with nature. In contrast to his bold European architecture, Hundertwasser’s New Zealand home is more subdued and organic, blending seamlessly into the forest, indistinguishable from the natural environment. As Living Hundertwasser volunteer Clive Jackson explains, “He wanted to let the colours of nature speak.” He allowed nature to exist in its most wild and natural state, supporting his 1983 Peace Treaty with Nature, where he asserted that humanity must put itself behind ecological barriers so the earth can regenerate.5 As an example, he considered trees to be fellow ‘tenants’ on the property, who ‘paid rent’ through their provision of oxygen, beauty and joy.6 Hundertwasser died in 2000 and, at his own request, was buried under a tulip tree at Kaurinui, his body returning to the earth to nourish the ‘tree tenant’. This final act encapsulates his lifelong philosophy of humanity in harmony with nature and, as such, he lives on through the property. Hundertwasser famously stated, “We are only guests of nature and must behave accordingly. Man is the most dangerous pest ever to devastate the earth.”7 In a world where modern architecture is disrupting the natural environment and climate, Kaurinui offers a blueprint for a return to ‘original nature’ – a more sustainable, symbiotic relationship with the earth, and one that resonates with our country’s indigenous identity and the role we must assume as kaitiaki, guardians, of the natural world. REFERENCES 1 Nir Barak, 2022, ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser’, The Architectural Review, 18 October 2022. 2 Andreas J. Hirsch, 2022, ‘Hundertwasser’s “Five Skins” Unfold’, in Hundertwasser in New Zealand: The Art of Creating Paradise. Auckland: Oratia Books, p. 72. 3 Wieland Schmied, 2007, For a More Human Architecture in Harmony with Nature: Hundertwasser Architecture. Köln: Taschen, p. 259. 4 Cooperation Agreement 2016, p. 24. 5 Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1983, Peace Treaty with Nature, Hundertwasser Foundation. hundertwasser.com/en/texts/friedensvertrag_mit_der_natur 6 Wieland Schmied, 2007, For a More Human Architecture in Harmony with Nature: Hundertwasser Architecture, p. 86. 7 Hundertwasser Foundation. 2016. Hundertwasser Architektur & Philosophie. Germany: Wörner Verlag GmbH, p. 30. #sharing #hundertwassers #legacy

Image: Austin VoigtAt PAX East, we had a chance to sit down with the lively Nico Papalia and Top Hat Studios - developer of Athenian Rhapsody, and its newly-announced prequel, Tales of Tuscany. We wanted to learn a bit more about what inspired such a mad-cap universe, and where the WarioWare / EarthBound / Pokémon-esque ideas all stemmed from. While it was a bit of a challenge to talk over the raucous laughter coming from the crowd gathered at the demo booth, we managed to get an inside glimpse at Papalia's surprising backstory and his work on both games.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube813kWatch on YouTube Here is our interview with Nico, which was just as entertaining and zany as the universe these games are based in... Nintendo Life: So, let's start from the top — what was the inspiration behind the universe of Tales of Tuscany and Athenian Rhapsody? There seem to be some Earthbound vibes in there... Nico Papalia: Honestly, I didn't even play Earthbound until AFTER I started Athenian Rhapsody - fun fact! I bit into it and was like, 'I feel like this meshes with me,' and I felt like it looked like what I was making. Definitely inspired by Pokémon on Game Boy Advance, played a lot of that. I also played a lot of Castle Crashers - The Behemoth are my friends, so I talked to them a lot, and we're actually discussing working on something together too — very slapstick-y, you know — but they're so tight about their IPs, so... we're still talking. I had big ideas - but I never knew programming, I went to school for art, I was doing traditional pencil art and stuff - I didn't know what I was doing. So it built over time, and I'm very fortunate and lucky that I was able to share this at the scale that I did, and turn it into my job. It's very personal. "Slapstick-y" is definitely the right word for these games, they're hilarious. Yeah, it doesn't take itself too seriously, so the inspiration for the world is just basically my life, my friends, and what I think is funny at the moment. I'll just throw funny things in there as I think of them - and the players seem to love it. I'm a solo dev, so I can kind of have the final say and just do whatever I want. It's fun. In the first game, I took some risks and had this 'invisible grilled cheese' in the map, like an item, and I thought nobody was going to find it - but someone found it within eight hours of launch! I crashed out on social, I bugged out. Will there be any secrets or easter eggs to find in Tales of Tuscany? There aren't too many secrets yet - I'm still developing it, and I just finished the main story, so now I have to do the 'evil' story, and I'll kind of just throw some extra stuff in there before it releases, probably around spring 2026. Tell us a little more about how the two games differ. You know, making Athenian Rhapsody was kind of slow. I started with GameMaker, and it just kind of snowballed. So I honestly didn't really know what I was doing, going into the first game. It was in 4:3 ratio, like Game Boy Advance - because I'm a big GBA guy. So at first I was like, "Yeah, this is awesome!" Then, you know, it comes to porting it and I'm like... "Oh no." So, Tales of Tuscany is in the RIGHT resolution. It's also got more control customisations, quality-of-life stuff like that. Round 2: bigger, better, stronger. I like to say, Athenian Rhapsody is like Pokémon Emerald, and Tales of Tuscany is more like Pokémon Black & White - based on the battles and stuff, with the camera movement, sprite work, stuff like that. So you're clearly a big Pokémon fan too! What are some of the different games you played growing up? I played a lot of Game Boy Advance games - Madagascar, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Minish Cap, and things like that. My grandma would just go buy them for me. Or I played Crash Bandicoot on the PS2, and I would just stay in the starting area and mess with stuff - I never progressed in the game, and that was actually probably what I do with most of these games. I never progressed; I just did things. And I guess it all kind of just formed that inspiration for me. Image: Top Hat Studios Interesting - so are you a bit of a completionist then? Because this game — with all of the different choices and storylines — seems a bit overwhelming for a completionist, like you could never *actually* complete it entirely. You know what, when I was a teenager, I was more of a completionist; I would 100% complete Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze and stuff like that. But a lot of times, I was just kind of a stupid guy who didn't know what I was doing. I couldn't advance through the plots, I never got Rayquaza- so I would just go and do random things. And now, I'm actually kind of the opposite of that. So making Athenian Rhapsody and Tales of Tuscany, I want a kid to be able to just go around and have fun. The games seem to be designed almost like a constant dopamine hit. Players are allowed to just be mischievous and do whatever they want. And there's probably no way you could experience every single choice available to you in the games. That's exactly it! That's kind of what me and my friends like. You kind of have to get in there a few times, and the way it worked out, some players like that, and some don't. Some people are that objective, numeric, "I'm done, check the box" thing - but with these games, the experience is always going to be different, depending on who you have in your party and the choices you make. Another thing is that, it doesn't feel 'perfect', and a lot of people like that. Did you always intend for the game to be a 'choose-your-own-adventure' style like that? Yeah, I always intended for it to be like that, but I didn't exactly know how to do it at first. I couldn't figure it out. So, Athenian Rhapsody was not programmed very well... Tales of Tuscany is programmed much better, I was able to pull it off better. But I just had to start small and build off of it, because I had big ideas - but I never knew programming, I went to school for art, I was doing traditional pencil art and stuff, I didn't know what I was doing. So it built over time, and I'm very fortunate and lucky that I was able to share this at the scale that I did, and turn it into my job. It's very personal. Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube813k As someone who studied art and went to school for it, did that help with the development of the game itself - at least, the art aspect of it? That's actually a sick question - it must have! I went to SUNY Oneonta, awesome school, I had a lot of great teachers. I was all into anatomy — transformational anatomy — and it took me kind of a while to figure it out, using space and character design. So when I started Athenian Rhapsody, my pixel art was very poor - I didn't have these fully-saturated colours yet, I didn't figure that out yet. My sprites, I was doing the pillow shading... so it took me a while to get it. There's some kind of interlink, but that skill definitely wasn't immediate; I had to learn to access that part of my brain, learning the basics of pixel art. Even in Athenian Rhapsody, when you play it, you'll see there are 10 things going on in one room; that's because I didn't know what I was doing with the space! That honestly led to this feeling of extremely hyper pace, things around every corner... But it works! The absurdism is what makes it all so endearing. Part of it sounds like it was accidental, trial-and-error, but that actually became a really cool thing. Exactly! And I was just doing what I wanted to do. I got lucky that people liked it. Some people think it's a little too much, but I've also heard from a lot of players who really like it, saying they love the story. Another publication, the reviewer said he thought the story "changed vibes too much," and that's where he wrote me off for points. But I've got other people — especially younger kids, but a lot of adults, too — saying they love that about the story! And I personally think it's very needed. A lot of times in this industry, people can take themselves a little too seriously, and I appreciate that you're just doing what you wanna do. It seems like people are drawn to that. Yeah, I try and get very personal and show myself as I am. That's how I built this, doing tutorials online and building a following just being myself. I just took my phone and filmed my screen showing "Today I did this," and I was just being real. But I'm lucky, I still just get to do whatever I want. Like for Tales of Tuscany, the team thought it was a little bit of a risk, making the main character a sheep... Lambypoo - it reminds me of my dog's toy, Lambchop! Oh my god, YES! That's exactly it! I have a hundred of those laying around my house, ripped up! That's where it came from, I'm so glad you said that! So I was just like... yo, what if I had a button, where the lamb just started "baaa"-ing? And that's where the idea for the 'Baa' button came from. You know, it doesn't always have to be this "Hold X, charge your sword..." - you can just have fun with it. So the 'Baa' turned into an interaction tool - you can break plants and cars and stuff, because people just wanna do fun stuff, like the dopamine hits we talked about earlier. So I'm trying to hone in on that. Images: Top Hat Studios I'm still shocked you hadn't played the Earthbound / Mother games prior to starting your first game. It feels like such a spiritual successor to those games. Right? And when it comes to the flavour text in those games, like the options are: "Yeah", or "I'm lactose intolerant" - that's exactly how I write, too. It almost unlocked something, when I saw that. I was like, 'Okay, so this is okay what I'm doing, this irreverence.' I watched a documentary on Earthbound, and the director was saying he had a very intuitive approach - he didn't plan it all out, he just did it block-by-block, and that's exactly what I do, too. So I guess it's that same brain type, maybe? And I had friends from my school who were trying to tell me: "Yeah, you have to block the whole game out" and all of this stuff, and I was like: "Dude, but I'm changing it every day?". So there are a lot of differences between the two games and how much I planned out Tales of Tuscany, but they're the same spirit. Speaking of Earthbound, I've heard you refer to your games as "JRPGs" a few times - what does that label mean to you specifically? Honestly, I've been saying "JRPG" lately just because I think of a long-narrative-based game, and "RPG" is too broad. But I don't know... I also call it an "IRPG" sometimes — "Italian RPG" — because I'm Italian, and Italians do like long conversations. For someone who's never heard of either of your games, what's the one thing you would say to get them to take a look at this series? Out of all of the RPGs and JRPGs out there, there are a lot, and a good one that really makes it to the finish line is hard to find. This game has a lot of love in it, there's something to love in it for everybody, that's a big part of how I made the game. I loved Game Freak's early philosophy of trying to strike a balance between 'cute' and 'cool', and how everyone has a favourite pokémon. And with Athenian Rhapsody, I tried to make one follower that everyone could love. It's the game that conforms to what you like, and everyone will get something out of it. The 'rhapsodies' are like Gen 1 trading; I wanted everyone to get something out of it. In Pokémon, you can port your Pokémon across all of the consoles, and that's kind of what I was trying to do. We'll see how that works! So, the 'munchkins' are making a comeback, too, only this time, the weasels are watching you and ruining everything. This new feature seems pretty cruel, and I'm wondering what happened to you as a child that made you want to torture people? HA! So, in the first game, I had a debug option in the 'pause' menu — just a placeholder — and it was called 'munchkins', and all these stupid things. And I was like, eff it, I'm gonna make 'munchkins' a real thing. So basically, you have to wait, like, 8-10 hours to download them, and you have a 50% chance of failing... and if it works, it's just a picture of some art of mine that says like, "Congratulations" - but I didn't realize everyone was going crazy over that! So with Tales of Tuscany, I thought 'Okay, I won't have a random 50% chance of failing at the end... but there WILL be weasels... and the weasels come and slowly go across the screen, and when they tell you, you have to press an input, otherwise they'll corrupt the munchkin.' I thought, 'I can't just do the same thing again', so I changed it up a little bit. Nobody else is doing munchkins! Nobody else is doing something to the player where they're like, 'No, you do it the way I want you to do it, or else you fail, and I'm not making it easier because you're complaining.' @athenianrhapsody Revolutionary new gameplay mechanic. Wishlist Tales of Tuscany on Steam #pixelart #indiegames #undertale #deltarune #earthbound #nintendo #athenianrhapsody #pokemon #indiegame #gaming #jrpg #omori #yumenikki #fearandhunger #lisathepainful #chainedechoes #talesoftuscany #warioware ♬ original sound - Athenian Rhapsody You're just going to make the game you want to make, and purposely live outside of the box. Was there anything too crazy in Tales of Tuscany that ended up getting vetoed yet? Yeah, there are a few things my publishers tell me I have to edit... I know more how to skirt the line now, but there were a few parts that might have to change. There's this character from Athenian Rhapsody called Uncle Billiard, and he's in this one again because he's a great character - and he has this hot dog place, but they all call the hot dogs 'wieners'... and there's this one character who's like, "Oh yeah, my double wiener sandwich..." and looking back on it, I'm like, "I can't just be throwing 'wiener' around like that." Or like, I wanted to have an enemy with a plumber's crack, and a mechanic where you have to throw things in it. And I actually vetoed that for Athenian Rhapsody, because it was kind of disgusting. ...Ask forgiveness, not permission? Yep, that's my motto! Image: Top Hat Studios Do you have plans to add any more to this universe, or do you think you'll go in a totally different direction? Honestly, I think this IP was a good one, it's strong. I did specifically want to do three RPGs. Why three, because of Earthbound? Oh, I didn't even think about that! I just thought it would be a nice number. You should do three, and just never release the final one here. HA, yeah, I'll just say there's a third! You know, I did originally want to do three, but making this game, I'm nearing the end of the creative development, and I kind of want to take a break from RPGs for a bit. We're doing the mobile game, too - it's called Goobie Garden, and Thunder Goober is in it, he obviously hit something, so even if I do decide to take a break with the IP, I'll always come back to it. But I think for my next console game, I'd like to do something a little more simple, mechanic-based... maybe a battler? I'd like to do a roguelike game. Not sure yet though! This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Thank you, Nico Papaliaand the team at Top Hat Studios, for taking the time to answer our questions. Tales of Tuscany will be coming to PC and consoles in 2026. Will you be playing Tales of Tuscany when it releases? Did you play Athenian Rhapsody? Let us know in the comments below. Plenty of new Switchofferings See Also Share:0 2 Austin started gaming at 2 years old and has been addicted ever since. Her Zelda, Mario, Pokémon & Animal Crossing obsessions freak people out. She habitually carries a mini projector around to play her Switch in console mode in weird places. Her favorite gaming snack is pizza rolls, because greasy controllers are her bugaboo. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles Nintendo Unveils Diddy Kong's Brand New Design Cap's off The First Review For Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Is In A fantasy score? 12 Switch Games Are Getting Free Switch 2 Upgrades, Here's What You Can Expect Nintendo's free updates arrive next month Review: Capcom Fighting Collection 2- A Cracking Collection Of Top-Class Arcade Fighters A Dreamcollection #feature #039tales #tuscany039 #dev039s #goal