My second #BeatSaber rec is also a Joetastic map (these must have just been lying around in wait from that time I downloaded all 1000 of their maps), and it's a map of GUNSHIP's "Tech Noir":

beatsaver.com/maps/48a7

Banger synthwave song and a map that is intricate and low-key without being one of those maps that are super slow and pile all the blocks one right behind the other.

A quick search didn't reveal a video I thought was great to showcase this map, so maybe I'll record one tomorrow while I'm baking. 😁

It's been forever since I posted a #BeatSaber map rec, and today I have two! The first is a really fun, dancey map to QUIX's "Survive", mapped by Joetastic:

beatsaver.com/maps/bf71

The mix of the single arm beats with the fast twirly/circular pattern (which has a slightly unusual doubling of blocks in it that tripped me up on my first attempts) makes the mapping feel really dynamic. Sometimes that kind of thing feels like a mapper reaching for variety and instead finding chaos, but it works great here.

I didn't record my session today, but this person does a nice job at it: youtu.be/cAp1vmj1PSw?si=6vTf8w…

I got my first #BeatSaber injury in March! I strained my left pec playing a fast and unfamiliar song, and goddamn that shit hurt. I'm not entirely pain-free yet, but I dutifully spent five weeks unable to do *any* of my normal workouts. 😭 Today was my first day being able to play some light BS.

My new favorite warmup is "Bubble Tea" by dark cat (mapped by roeek: beatsaver.com/maps/13e9). The blocks aren't fast, but the patterns aren't trivial, either, and the song is cute. I tossed my full playthrough up, because fuck it, it's Friday: irrsinn.video/w/kEB9KDbaweRSWN… I think I missed more cross-body swings than I hit there, but better that than reinjuring my chest. 😅

I decided to resume deliberately improving my #BeatSaber skill, and picked the Camellia remix of 100$ Bills (7.87 NPS) because I like it on Expert.

...Prolly not going to be what I stick with. 😅 It's a little outside my zone of proximal development, as Dr. Lucy would say, and oof, all the jangliness in the song gets to me after a while.

Anyway, I finished both Dr. Stone and Hunter x Hunter recently, so my rec is Joetastic's map of the Dr. Stone opening song "Paradise": beatsaver.com/maps/1d510

One of my partners got a Quest recently. I've been pulling #BeatSaber recs for them, so I should put them here, too!

I've been playing a lot of OST 6 (E+ "Cathedral" and "Lift Off" are my fav kinds of maps), but a map that's very fun at X/E+ is "Grant Green" by Mr Jukes: beatsaver.com/maps/94e0 It does a great job of being mapped pretty tightly to the drums, but not making the mistake some rock maps do of having too many downstroke-only segments in an attempt to mimic playing drums.

I managed to crash #BeatSaber 3 times on account of playing songs that need mods, but at least I realized I accidentally split this rec thread a few months ago. xoops.

Anyway, today's rec is (*deep breath*) "More/How You Like That/The Baddest/Ddu-du Ddu-du/Kill This Love MASHUP", mapped by Joetastic: bsaber.com/songs/1922c/ Play (not me): youtube.com/watch?v=E0-IWVXta_…

As with several songs by K/DA, I tend to think the song is over before it actually is and get caught relaxing too soon. 😅

No matter how good I get at something like #BeatSaber, I don't think my brain will ever not break at the idea of tapping out a polyrhythm (ref: youtu.be/Ez8Q68h9i4M?t=413) Like... two rhythms, potentially sustained? keeping count?? looking cool and calm??? Nah.

Anyway, Larnell Lewis is a delightful drummer and you should listen to his stuff if you like #jazz fusion. youtube.com/watch?v=Jd1X5JWaGg… (original work) and youtube.com/watch?v=Zd_UcjMusU… (him trying Metallica on for size) are fun.

It's been far too long since I gave a #BeatSaber map rec, but I'm back, babeeeee. "Fury", mapped by nitronik.exe, is a [head]banger: bsaber.com/songs/1d10c/ Playthrough: youtube.com/watch?v=HYdmT_BXxu…

It's one of those songs I tried and failed forever ago, ❤️'d because of fun rhythms, and then promptly forgot why I fav'd it. Every time I passed it in my favs afterwards, I'd be like, "What's this crunchy metal song doing here? 🤨" and skip it.

Well, it's fucking good, and I can beat it now. 🤣

Got in a little 15-20 minute session of #BeatSaber for the first time since fucking up my back a week and a half ago. 😤 Felt pretty good, and although I didn't play any fitbeat maps (I was trying to be gentle!), I did play "CANDYYYLAND", which... was prolly a bit much.

Still recommend that song. It feels great to play: bsaber.com/songs/294c/

My latest #BeatSaber level struggle has been stuck in my head since I decided to have a go at it. The map is a nightcore remix of Juice Wrld's "Wasted": beatsaver.com/maps/1ace0

There are many things about this map/song that are not my usual: long streams, Juice Wrld (😂), and a fair amount of high-pitched noise.

I'm currently stuck at the tail end of this second long stream, where the blocks become stacked: youtu.be/ELdLZrELRfE?t=99 I've got it 85% speed, but no faster.

#VideoGames

Had a delightful #BeatSaber session this evening, and landed on a wonderfully difficult and clever map: tofubeats' "CANDYYYLAND (Pa’s Lam System Remix)", mapped by Saut: bsaber.com/songs/294c/

Here's a very skilled person playing on Expert, the hardest difficulty I beat: youtu.be/3XjdriFOgLk (unrelated: they have wildly low-contrast block arrows! 🤯) The segment starting at 2:48 in that video is so smoothly mapped that I didn't even get tangled up in left-handed mode.

#VideoGames

I do have some #beatsaber song recs, tho! First is Lil Nas X's MONTERO, mapped by GreensweaterVEVO (install the cinema mod to get the video in the lvl): bsaber.com/songs/1656c/

2nd is Dua Lipa's "New Rules", m/b bennydabeast: bsaber.com/songs/bd3/ The blocks are *excruciatingly* slow, but the pattern makes up for it (on E+, at least).

3rd is Imagine Dragon's "Enemy" m/b Joetastic: bsaber.com/songs/1d742/ JID's segment in that song is done beautifully.

My shoulders were too fried today to go very hard, so I decided to play #beatsaber in left-handed mode, which I haven't done in months.

Playing LH'd forces me to read patterns on the fly that had become rote and helps me focus on my left dexterity and speed, which is often what holds me up on maps with lots of L/R independence like "Angel Voices" on E+.

I also enjoy the "oh shit" moments in a fast pattern where I cross over the wrong way and have to (fail to) untangle. 😹

Sometimes I just wanna play #beatsaber levels I can't beat. Today it was Camellia's "Ghost", a level that seems to be a mark for "I'm a good player now, ma!" on reddit.

I've beaten it on Expert maybe twice. E+ is *far* beyond my skill level, but slow that puppy down to 80% and put on no-fail? It has some patterns that feel so clever and satisfying to land. 🤩

An amazing E+ run: youtube.com/watch?v=jskhmfC-wh… Even slowed down, I fail at the fast left hand beats at the 3-min mark. 😅

I played an *outstanding* map tonight. It's "Feel That Way" by Ellis, mapped by officialMECH, who also did a map of "2U" that I love. It's very dancey, and holds up well on Expert. bsaber.com/songs/28c9c/

I'm a sucker for the crossover fluttery stuff this song is full of. Those are some of my favorite aspects of the Billie Eilish music pack (esp. "Oxytocin"), too.

Here's the mapper playing it on E+: youtu.be/3eNgjPhqymM

#beatsaber

Today's #beatsaber rec is a real ab workout. 😍 "Illusion" by BassNectar and PEEKABOO (ft. Born I) in the Anniversary Pack (bsaber.com/songs/4b2e/) is so damn hard on E+. Lots of fast cross-body swings, which are easiest (lol) for me to do if I keep my core very tight. I played/failed this song a handful of times last night, and I am indeed sore today. 😅

Here's a very respectable play of it: youtu.be/xMKtZlQEwRo

Today's #beatsaber rec is one of the first difficult songs I ever beat, but also one of my favs: #chali2na's "Black Vapor", mapped by AltusClura: bsaber.com/songs/8a7c/

It's labeled Expert, but in retrospect I'd call it E+ for the difficulty of hitting those snug and bouncy patterns with low-ish readability. It was one of the songs that helped me bridge the huge gap b/t Expert and E+, although at the time, I just felt incompetent at not being able to beat a song labeled Expert. 😅

Oh, I've missed posting #beatsaber recommendations... 😻 Today's rec is a fun dance-y map for K/DA's "More": bsaber.com/songs/142e8/ I have no idea how that map ended up in my game, but I love it. 😁 The E+ patterns are simple but mobile enough that it makes a great warm-up if you're comfortable at that level.

youtu.be/C86ebbseC34 The segment running from about 33s to 45s is especially fun.

The song of this week is definitely Unlike Pluto's "Everything Black", mapped by nolan121405: bsaber.com/songs/2596b/ (h/t to some Beat Saber Discord I'm in for this being their level of the week/month)

The patterns are simple—I almost got an SS on E+ (my first ever!?) on my first play of the song—but the song is a real banger and the map is dancy. I played it three times in my session today. 😅

#beatsaber

I've still been chipping away at OST V in #beatsaber, and it's grown on me a lot over the last month. I finally beat "$1.78" on E+ a couple sessions ago, although I failed it on my next try. 😁

I wrote previously that I could play all but the final bit of "Firestarter"—that was a whopper of a typo. That was "Curtains", which has a tangly part at the end. It's been a very long time since I've lived in Texas, but is it weird that "Curtains" reminds me of Tejano music? Anyway, it's fun.

Today I managed two shorter, more normal sessions, including a dab of multiplayer! The Beat Together mod is available for testing, so Gregory and I kicked the tires on it.

With the hard things happening recently, #beatsaber is in a bit of easy mode for me: songs I can't beat, I just enjoy playing in Practice mode slower and/or NF. I'm playing favs instead of pulling down new songs, and practicing tricky segments just a few times before moving on.

BS as comfort food, I guess. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Today's map of the day is the *other* Bad Computer "2U" map: bsaber.com/songs/19049/. It's very good, and notably easier than the bombfest of the previous one I tried (no shade!), but has super good patterns. I love an intricate pattern, even if (especially if?) I have to practice it.

The fun pattern starts around the 48 seconds into youtube.com/watch?v=850GK_ks49… and there's an easier matching segment at the end.

#beatsaber

Somehow, in 5 months of playing Beat Saber, I'd never run into a poodle map. WTF is this wild business?!

I played "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons (bsaber.com/songs/1f459/). If you play it, just put on "no fail" first. Don't even bother trying for real unless you already know the gimmick.

So fucking cool. youtube.com/watch?v=eJacbH8iuE…

I'm definitely going to give it a whirl without "no fail" tomorrow.

#beatsaber

Friday and Saturday's sessions bubbled up a fun song with some real "elbows up" energy. A fun category of map, but hard ones can be brutal on my shoulders.

I found "Naked" by Jonas Blue & MAX (bsaber.com/songs/c4d3/) just lying around (naked) in my custom songs. It's tricky and intricate enough to be engaging, but not so hard I had to practice it, and the mapper made some clever decisions on what to highlight from the song and how.

A solid play: youtube.com/watch?v=nM4JEw6Tbd…

#beatsaber

Thursday's lunch session did not include succeeding at "Midnight", but *did* include warming up with what was my first "real" tech map: "Sound Chimera" by Laur: bsaber.com/songs/f988/.

I can still only beat this song on its lowest two difficulties, and the song feels very chaotic and stitched together, so it's not always what what my brain is in the mood for. Here's a rando playing it on the hardest difficulty, which I've never even attempted: youtube.com/watch?v=XuxMmhPLso…

#beatsaber

So today I decided I wanted to start working on (i.e., practicing in order to beat) the Expert+ version of "Midnight" by Caravan Palace (bsaber.com/songs/1ee3b/). No recording from me of today's effort, but I spent about 35 min working up to a very shaky 80% speed on this 20-second segment and its counterpart in the back half of the song: youtu.be/MztpQd0lDE0?t=76

My brain just does not want to separate left- from right-hand action that much, esp with the angles thrown in. 🤯 #beatsaber