#its also good creative exercises on how to flesh characters out better and better understand how things in a story may impact a character

[starry-bi-sky]

Danyal Al Ghul's missed potential - this kid is not gonna behave like his canon self if he's with the league of assassins until his late formative years, and my reasoning why

(feel free to take this all with a grain of salt this is just my thoughts on it, this is all mostly amusing to me and isn't trying to be negative towards anyone else)

similar to how i was talking about how danny growing up in crime alley would affect him, demon twin aus with danyal al ghul make me laugh a lot (affectionate) because... whose teaching danny to unlearn all the ecofascism he picked up from the league of assassins? whose teaching him to be kind? to be gentle? Not the LoA thats for certain.

(you could plausibly say Jazz but she's only 2 years older than Danny and do you really expect a fellow child to properly explain why X is wrong to another child and have it be 100% effective? i don't doubt it'd help to an extent, but not in the same way an adult explaining it would)

plus a ton of other things, like whose teaching him to value human life? not the LoA. Whose teaching him how to adjust to living with American society after he ends up with the Fentons when he's 8-9-10? Who teaches him that killing is wrong, whose enforcing that?

(not the Fentons if you're going the neglectful parent route, and Jazz can try but i really don't think Danny is going to listen to her, a stranger who isn't even part of his grandfather's league)

How do you teach a child to value human life when the greatest development window for that opportunity has closed and he's already formed his own opinions?

You're not gonna get a Danny whose exactly like his canon attitude if he's staying with the league during his formative years (0-8 years old). you're not. You could get someone LIKE it, potentially, or someone who has traces of it or is similar -- like danny's wit and jokes and sarcasm, and on some level his kindness. but you're not gonna have a carbon copy. Development doesn't work that way. "nature" can only do so much in the face of nurture.

If anything, it doesn't even have to be a major change -- in the league he cans till be kind, but it's probably going to manifest in a different way than what is considered normal. Tough love, for one. But there's gonna be something that affects him negatively. Why make him 'always good/kind' when you can make him a brat who develops into a kinder (if spikier than in canon) person?

TLDR: Danyal Al Ghul would not be like how he is in canon if he's with the league until his late formative years -- not without any lasting pr permanent impacts from the league at least. Missed potential to make him an absolute nightmare like damian was -- especially in his early years when he first arrived to the Fenton house.

(this doesn't apply to danyal al ghul aus where he's either given to the fentons as a baby/is reincarnated/etc. this is mostly aimed for danyal al ghul aus where he fakes his death at like, 7-10 and somehow ends up, personality-wise like his completely canon self by 14 without any differences.)

(and even then if he's five or four, or even three, he would still be traumatized and influenced by the league. he'll just have more time to adjust. the sooner he leaves the league the more likely he is to be like his canon self, but not like an exact copy)

(more under the cut)

Anyways what I'm saying is that there is prime missed Danyal al Ghul potential to make him an absolute NIGHTMARE to the Fentons however way he ends up with them, just like Damian was with the Waynes! Cuz why does Damian get all the fun? Danny got the same training and endoctrine as him! He is also an ex-assassin! Why is Danny the only one who is 'well adjusted and non-violent' hm? Hmm?

Why can't he also be mean, and stabby, and a total stuck-up in some way or another? Have fun with his characterization, its prime opportunity to play play-doh and clay with him! If he starts out as X how does he get the personality traits of Y, and thus become XY?

Like take this with a grain of salt if you will, but make him arrogant. Make him an asshole! Make him a bad person at first! Because he will be! He's the blood son of the batman and you mean to tell me that damian is the only one arrogant about it at first? Make him stabby and mean even at 14 when he's begun to chill out! Have fun with it! If he's with the Fentons at any point past the age of four or five then he's gonna be a nightmare to handle because he still remembers the league and his time there.

(and while it gives him more time to chill the hell out, his time at the league is still gonna leave an impact on him.)

also what im saying as well is have him and sam potentially get along like a house on FIRE. Again, Danny grew up under the views of an ecofascist cult and nobody to challenge those views to him until he got to amity park at whatever age in late formative years he was at. He could be about as intense or even MORE intense about environmental awareness/rights than Sam is!

(also him being supremely unimpressed with Sam's wealth. he gave up a palace in the mountains for this town. because that's funny to me - like let his past have more influence on him! it'll be fun!)

you could have a danny who doesn't kill but doesn't fully understand the value of human life because jazz is like two years older than him and isn't that good at explaining why people's lives are important. he won't kill but he's not morally opposed to it. there's very little chance he actually gets bullied at school because he nearly killed Dash the first time he tried anything.

Danny could have scars, physical ones, because its implied in multiple canon that training starts at toddling (my best bet is 3 at minimum and ~maybe~ 2 but only on the later side of 2. Good fucking luck getting any infant under 2 to do anything you ask, ESPECIALLY assassin training. They're gonna stick the weapon in their mouth sooner than they're gonna do katas. This is coming from a daycare teacher.)

there's more examples of how danny being at the league during his formative years would affect him, but those are just some of them. he could have a sword! An appreciation for weaponry and nature. Maybe he still speaks all shakespearan and formal, does he still make bodily threats to people? If Damian is still threatening people at 14 why can't danny?

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #dpdc #tldr danyal al ghul has a ton of missed potential of what his behavior would be like if he left the league mid-to-late formative years #this post is specifically directed towards those danyal al ghul posts where he ends up with the fentons when he's like. 8 #like great. who taught him to unlearn all of the LoA's programming #how is he exactly like he was in canon despite being with the LoA during his early childhood #source: i've taken multiple child development classes #this isnt to bash those aus at all its just me thinking its hilarious that danny would even remotely be like his canon personality #especially if he's in the league long enough for damian to remember him #like i love danyal al ghul aus i just think there's not enough being taken into account about how the league would permanently impact him #especially if he leaves later on in life #people are not ponds they are puddles of mud. if you drop a rock into it it's gonna change its shape #its also good creative exercises on how to flesh characters out better and better understand how things in a story may impact a character #good thought exercises with the additional bonus of making danny a violent gremlin like damian is #i dont wanna say this is bashing but i guess it is kinda a criticism on the writing in those aus because you’re telling me this had NO #affect on danny on his personality beyond just ‘oh league bad. league scary’?? cmonnn have some fun #like you mean to tell me that being a child assassin had no lasting impact on him or his personality?? like at all??? #he doesnt have an ounce of self-importance/arrogance/anger like damian did?? like none of that *stuck?* he’s just the normal and sane #sibling right off the bat??? five years with the fentons turned him into a complete blankslate?? he has no lasting impact from the league??

[tigpooh67]

New interview from Pedro.    Did my best to translate to English.

Enjoy!!

**************************************************************************************

Looks like Pedro Pascal is in every possible universe. Here and there. In the past, in the present and in galaxies far, far away. Today, the actor is considered the great benchmark of entertainment and one of those in charge of saving a franchise that seemed lost. Sufficient reasons to talk exclusively about discipline, gastronomy, creeds and how he swallowed his dad in 30 seconds.

 The SAR defines 'creed' as the set of ideas, principles or convictions of a person or group. For example, by creed, one can leave his country and be in exile. It just so happens that one can leave the loved one behind. Or simply live in another reality. And you can also put on a helmet to pretend never to take it off again. If that is the way to go, the creed says that it must be done with the profession of faith and without stopping to look. As he turned the pages of the script for The Mandalorian, the Disney+ series that revived passion and nostalgia for the Star Wars franchise, Pedro Pascal came across this definition in every dialogue and moment, and reflection worked his way.

It has been more than two decades since the Chilean-American Pedro Pascal began his acting career and today, named as the great benchmark of 2020, misses the theater and still hurts him not to have the discipline to exercise and maintain a healthy diet while recognizing the ironic of having the best year of his career in the midst of one of the worst in recent history. But even in physical solitude, the man who carried Christmas's best-selling baby rescues many positive things and shares the vision of the universes he has traveled through, his passion for distant galaxies, and how to traumatify your family with a simple TV scene. In interview, the Mandalorian of Latin America.

 IMDB named you the 2020 benchmark in entertainment, a year in which the world took refuge in fiction. What was it like to live your best time locked up and what do you rescue on a human level from him?

The strength of family relationships and friendship. For them, we endure this physical loneliness. I find it ironic that in 2020 I received projects so well received by the public, although they were carried out before the pandemic and their impact was during this one, and that year I was isolated and alone. But I must stress that loneliness is a privilege when many people had to keep working, surviving and maintaining the functioning of the world. We just had to be alone, but they had more than that and you have to value it too.

 Among the activities you've lost, how much do you miss the theater?

A lot, really. It's something I miss most and being with people without feeling afraid. See a play and return to those experiences of being with people doing and living things in common. That's what I need most, besides my loved ones.

 Disney went into streaming and its strong card has your face, what do you think of the discussion of platforms against movie theaters?

In streaming there are amazing things and many people develop great projects that they didn't access before. The diversity of voices is taking its way and it is important to recognize that opportunities grow exponentially and limits change. It's amazing how much availability we have to very well-made content and how creative people can share their work in different ways. But I also want to be honest: limiting the experience of viewing content only on our gadgets or at home is a mistake that affects the stories we can tell. A mix of opportunities and challenges must be achieved.

Leaps between the fictional universes that mark the last decades until they reach the universe of universes. What is your first Star Wars memory and how do you sum up the essence of this legendary story?

For me, Star Wars is nostalgia itself. It's one of the primary things in my memory, of my childhood. I came to the United States with my Chilean family when I was under two years old and one of my first memories is going to the movies with my dad to see the saga; it becomes one of those romantic things about childhood, that open your mind, so imagine how special it is to participate in this project. I think the creators of The Mandalorian fully understand this nostalgia and power, and they managed to count on that element as a great ally for the Star Wars world and I can't be happier to be a part of it. (Of which we look forward to the third season The Mandalorian)

 The Mandalorian exploits the power and nuances of your voice, did you have that letter on your resume?

I didn't know I could do it, but I resorted to my theatrical preparation, which was very physical at all levels and feelings. There are elements that have to do with creating a role, and they teach you that voice is a primary thing, something you have to start with and can't hide. Now I've learned a lot more about the importance of that, and how to use it with economics. The body also has to do with it, because something very subtle communicates something. At The Mandalorian, I had a great time figuring out how to do it, they gave me the opportunity to develop it in different ways. The opportunity to be very intense in it.

 What about the ego when someone works under a suit and mask?

In the conversations about the project, before doing so, we were informed of the idea and concept of the whole season, so I clearly understood what it was. I wanted it to be the most powerful version of what they were trying to accomplish, so it didn't make sense for me to involve my ego, you know? It was already very clear what the project meant, so I knew about the character, the piece he represented for himself and the opportunity it was for me, so I was just focused on better executing the part that touched me in all this. In the theater, I worked several times under a mask and it helped me develop the experience.

It seems that The Mandalorian has a very theatrical base...

Exactly, and thanks to the physical experience of working in theater, making a play a few times a week, discovering how your body and your voice communicate, being part of an entire image, and how you will tell that story visually, I achieved this character. I never imagined it would be something I would have to use in such an important Star Wars project.

 On the list of entertainment greats, there are names like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, do you think John Favreau's should be added to the list?

I think his name is already included. Without a doubt, it's in that category and it's amazing. I'm fascinated by his vision. I remember a chapter in the second season, and I had some boots and I walked so much in the snow, that it stuck to them. He noticed, so he talked to the art department about the kind of boots you need when you're in the snow. They came up to me and gave me some new ones that fulfilled the idea I was looking for. He noticed it in an instant. It is such a wonderful detail and is repeated at scale in every session with it. Think of absolutely everything and your vision of using technology is admirable. He's someone who makes you feel motivated and always sees how to achieve the goal.

 One of the reflections of the series is on how and under what circumstances a man can break his creed and the way he lives. What makes you break up with your beliefs?

I think you must follow your heart so as not to repent of anything; even if it sometimes brings pain or conflict, deep down when you go back, it's all worth it because it's what you heard in your heart. I'm very afraid to deny that feeling or not to take care of it. Now I'm 45 years old and I can't believe I have a finer philosophy. Make him more disciplined. It's ridiculous, but I'm trying to accept that I am and that's all I can say, "Follow your heart." Although, you know, I still don't follow a good diet, I still have trouble sleeping or exercising.

 Are you still good at Chilean empanadas?

Yes, I couldn't stop. And also how good that I don't live in Mexico City because I would only spend it eating. I could move my whole life to the defe just to eat.

 I want to deviate and ask you, who did you see the chapter of your death in Game of Thrones and what trauma did you cause to your family?

For me, no trauma. I separate myself well from the characters, although I fully understand that if I were a Game of Thrones audience and loved that character, it would make an incredible impression on me. Thank you, it wasn't. I had to interpret it and there was a model of my head to be crushed that way with the tubes and the fake blood, you know? I lay there, with pieces of my flesh, it was funny in the end. But not for my family. There's nothing funny about them and it's traumatic. My dad totally changed his voice when we saw the episode, turned around and said, "I didn't like it, Pedro. No, Pedro, not this."

 The media found similarities between your villain in Wonder Woman: 1984 and Donald Trump. When you play a character with characteristics like that, do you humanize or understand it?

The project had nothing to do with the former president. I was always told that my character in Wonder Woman:1984 was emotionally messy, and I took that and took it as far away as possible. Instead of creating it with images or certain inspirations from life, it was more working with what was on the page. Personally, what made sense to me is the size of the story being told and there's always more, and we all want more. Creatively, if this makes sense, that meant "flying it out of the park." Connect a hit with the character and be committed to telling their story faithfully, in a way that was true to me. So all the exterior elements found their way.

 What way to start 2021 with the theme of the Capitol... how do you perceive that moment?

I am not a politician and it is not that I have no opinion on such events; However, there is no need to express the obvious. My opinion would be very simple compared to that of a person who studied this, who knows how to act in these kinds of scenarios; I think I'm next to the majority who lived this, which is the logical result of what we've been through over the years and we're all horrified. It was distressing to see this violence.

 If you had the monolith in your hands, what would be your wish?

My wish would be... it's impossible, the truth (laughs). I think it's being together again, with less fear and people having a chance to connect.

 What is your position of the reality that Chile has experienced in recent years and how has the relationship with your country been since exile?

It's something I'm developing and I keep doing it in my life, trying to understand that it's my home. Being in Chile is being at home, but my life has been very nomadic, living different things and having many influences; so it's strange, I don't feel the title of a full Chilean identity or an American.

 Neither from here nor there?

In a sense, but I'm also completely both. My parents are Chileans, my brothers were born there before my parents traveled, and I returned sometimes because my family is so big; in fact, my parents came back. It's always been there, it's still developing, and it's going to be a part of me. I don't know if I answer your question, but it has a lot to do with who I am.

 What is your relationship with Latin American cinema? Interested in you?

A lot, it's invaded me in life like American cinema. The movies I have in my heart, seeing something like And your mom was also something that changed me; I also love the work that comes out of Chile, and all I can say is that it is a cinema that needs more access and projects.

You got a comedy with Nicolas Cage on your doorstep today, can you tell me something?

It's my first chance at comedy, as a complete story within the genre. Speaking of American influences, in the 1980s I saw all the films where Nicolas Cage was coming out, he came into my life and it's great to be his partner after seeing all his performances.

 What's your relationship with the comedy genre like?

I love it, I've done a lot of comedy in the theater, what happens is that in film and television themes, I was always part of drama castings. And in the cinema, you go where the doors open; although I identify with one or the other, I think being an actor, you go and do what you have to do. Comedy is something unique, it's very challenging because it has to be very real to make it funny, you can't hide or use normal tricks. I was very excited to have this challenge in front of a camera.

 Finally, Pedro, after going through so many fictional worlds, literally, what do you dream of when you sleep?

I dream that my bathroom is dirty, that I haven't done my math homework, that the oven and all that stuff are on. Of course, there are times when I close my eyes and see myself in all these projects, although my conscience is with the anxieties of the day you can imagine.

#pedropascal #the mandalorian #games of thrones #the mentalist #dave york #the good wife #Equalizer 2

[casualarsonist]

Wolfenstein II, and the importance of tone.

B.J. Blaskowicz's pregnant lover, Anya, tears her burning shirt from her body as her grenades explode under the feet of the advancing Nazis. She straddles B.J's prone body and brandishes two machine guns aloft as blood showers her naked skin, and I roar with laughter. My girlfriend asks me what the f**k is happening. Hitler pisses into a bucket and vomits on the floor. B.J. rants against bourgeois pacifism in a drunken rage and passes out. And as the sword bites into his flesh, and his head falls into a pyre, only to be collected by a machine and reattached to a synthetic body, I rejoice at the moments wherein Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus has the balls to embrace the absolute madness of its setting and take everything up to 11. 

But something doesn't feel quite right. Its predecessor - The New Order - subverted and exceeded the expectations of everyone that awaited it; I don't think anyone could have imagined what Machine Games would do with the franchise rights of the world's first FPS. As a pitch, the idea of taking the inherently daft premise of a man fighting Nazi-zombie robots in a retro-futuristic 1960's and grounding it all in a real emotional place with characters that understand and communicate the gravity of their situation to one another and to the audience alike...well, it's mental. And yet it worked. It worked really, really well. The action was intense and bombastic, but when it was over and the game asked us to understand what was motivating these people to do what they were doing, the drama felt earned, and every enemy you defeated felt like a cathartic victory rather than an exercise in psychopathy. When a friendly character died, it hurt because you cared, and because the death felt like a genuine loss amongst all the well-written personalities. The New Order was dark and visceral and at times terrifying, but always a joy to play, and in the end, no matter which turn the story took, you were invested. 

So why does The New Colossus feel like such a mistake?

To be fair to the game, as I've already said, there were moments that I was literally rolling in my seat with laughter, and it is certainly at its best when it says 'fuck it' to the concept of restraint and goes mental. It is, at times, incredibly fun, and funny. The aforementioned scene in which an insane, addled, syphilitic Hitler pisses in a bucket whilst auditioning actors for a terrible, terrible film he has written is one of the best in the entire game, not just because it makes an absolute mockery of the long-feared icon of human evil, but also because it is rendered and animated so well that looking into his eyes is genuinely chilling for how lifelike it all appears. But moments like these are few and far between, and it's regrettably rare that, buried amongst long, long cutscenes that have nothing important to say, one feels like they are genuinely being surprised and entertained. 

I suppose it's all about on which end of the crazy scale you heap your content - balance is good, as is committing to one style and tone on either side, but to be indecisive, or to miscalculate and mistime and portion your moments improperly so as to leave your audience confused as to your intention can be fatal, and in the case of Wolfenstein 2, it very nearly is. Whereas The New Order balanced the silliness in its gunplay with sincerity and moments of genuine tenderness in its story, The New Colossus couples inappropriate moodiness and melodrama with the violent actions of its characters, and leaves them looking like hypocrites. After tearing through a gauntlet of soldiers leaving little but a hallway littered with bloody chunks of flesh, B.J. chooses to wax poetic about the loss of a friend's life and the loss of all her experiences with it, in turn completely ignoring the dozens of lives and thousands of experiences he just erased. The moment is timed so perfectly and the recitation of the lines so genuine that the juxtaposition almost feels intentional, as if the game wants you to scoff at his lack of self-awareness, and it might have been a nice subversive moment if this game’s immediate predecessor hadn’t pinned all its integrity on the fact that its characters and narrative were supposed to be relatable. Instead, B.J. comes off psychotic, annoying, and unlikeable, and the writers seem less like they’re in on the joke and more like they just don't know what their doing. 

Which is rather baffling, given that it's the exact same creative team behind the The New Order - the same two writers that created a masterpiece of action storytelling, and somehow married an impossibly absurd premise with a genuine, heartfelt narrative. They created a terrifying villain, complex and likeable sidekicks, and together with the ambitious and intense soundtrack crafted a world that lived and breathed despite exploring all manner of ridiculous scenarios (moonbase FTW). The New Colossus is this, but less well made. It repeats a lot of the same beats of its predecessor, and so they all feel forced, unearned, and inferior. It's as if the setting of Nazi-occupied America wasn't fertile-enough ground for the creative directors, so they needed to borrow directly from their previous game. They delve into B.J's childhood and fill his backstory with caricatures that overstate the point they're there to make, and yet at the same time expect us to invest in a depressing world that is directly at odds with the light-hearted insanity of the rest of the story, and I think moments like this come from a desire to leave the tone of their previous game behind in favour of something a bit more fun, while still feeling like they need to bridge the gap with some kind of drama. Unfortunately, they fail to find the balance, and the attempts at seriousness reek of try-hard melodrama and smash against the humour like two cars travelling opposite directions down a one-lane road.

I could be mistaken of course; perhaps I’m just too thick to ‘get it’ and they were trying to ironically deconstruct their own work, but the drama is so heavy, and heavy-handed, that I just can’t believe that this is the case, which is such a shame because there are all the makings of an amazing game under the hood - fantastic components have been assembled together in a confused and chaotic manner, leaving the follow-up to one of the greatest shooters ever made (and one of the most unexpected underdog releases) feeling like a victim of its own success. And this is exemplified in no better place that at in the ending of the game, which is in almost every way the antithesis of that of The New Order. 

A recap: in The New Order you must fight a super-robot implanted with the brain of one of your former comrades. After defeating it and ending the suffering of your friend, you’re attacked by the main villain - General Deathshead - as you fight amongst an increasingly unstable network of gas pipes and crumbling concrete. When you finish the desperate battle and kill Deathshead from within a conflagration of fire and flames, a short, poignant cutscene activates in which the game implies the end of one of the most important parts of the franchise. It’s a perfect example of why the game did best as a whole, offering the traditional trope of a boss fight with a new coat of paint, and then ending with a no-nonsense but impactful piece of genuine drama. 

So how does The New Colossus conduct itself? Well not only does it unravel the risk of the previous game’s ending within the first few seconds, but it ends by making the player’s last interaction with its Big Bad a single button-press that then triggers a five-minute-long cutscene in which the characters stand around and spout cliche ideological platitudes about America rising up. Then B.J. stares at the corpse of his enemy like a fucking nutcase, before getting down on his knees next to the wrecked carcass and proposing to his girlfriend, which would be funny if this wasn’t the same character we were supposed to be rallying behind and is now clearly insane. It’s anti-climactic, tonally unbalanced, and boring, and worse than all this is that it commits the cardinal sin of second acts in that it ends unsatisfyingly whilst promising a third installment that will be much more interesting. 

Fuck off. 

This could all have been avoided if the creative rudder of the production had steered it directly into the eye of the storm - the setting, its violence, and its cast of characters are all ripe for parody, so why the hell did they feel like they had to spend so much time exploring B.J’s tragic upbringing in which his racist, wife-beating dad makes him kill his own dog? What purpose does that serve in a story that opens with a wheelchair-bound protagonist machine-gunning Nazis in the face? It’s just madness. And in my opinion it ultimately undid a lot of the good will that The New Order worked so hard at creating. Even if the incoming third game commits completely to its craziness, we’re still stuck with this strange Frankenstein’s monster, and the fact that from about the half way mark I was just waiting for it to end is, for me, a nail in the coffin. It’s just...it’s such a shame. The New Colossus is a smooth, beautiful shooter, and also an trainwreck of mismatched tones, confused pacing, regurgitated story beats, and an unsatisfying ending. It tries to vary its gameplay and somehow ends up feeling more of a generic shooter than it’s predecessor - a game that actually set out to reboot the world’s first FPS. It has moments of absolute brilliance that it just fails to perpetuate because it doesn’t let them gather momentum, which leaves it feeling starkly weak specifically in the areas that The New Order excelled, and that makes it a much larger kick in the nuts to me than it ought to otherwise be.

Of course, if you’re not a whiny little baby like me, or are like a friend of mine who’d never played a Wolfenstein game in his life before this one, you might just enjoy it for what it is - a gorgeous, ambitious, and gratuitous FPS set in a strange and fun alternate history, but if you asked me to recommend it as a sequel to it’s fantastic predecessor, I just can’t do it. 

6.5/10

P.S. I think I’m going to remove the qualification titles of my ratings from this point onwards. I’m not 100% certain that I’m going to get rid of them forever, but between my poor attempts at thinking of ‘names’ for half-marked titles and the fact that I’m tied to classifying a 7/10 game as ‘good’ even though my subjective impression of the game might not agree with that, means that the more complex my feelings about a certain title, the harder it is to put a specific label on it. Wolfenstein II is a good example of this conundrum. I don’t think it’s objectively good at a lot of what it’s trying to do, and yet I don’t think it’s objectively ‘just okay’ across the board.   With this in mind, if you refer to my review scoring system you’ll get a better idea of what each ranking means, beyond what a single word can convey. You’ll see that Wolfenstein II gets a 6.5 because I think it is largely unsuccessful in the pursuit of its intentions regarding its narrative and tone for the reasons I’ve detailed above, and yet I can’t at all say that it offers a poor return-on-investment for the average gamer. Hell, you might think it’s an excellent game and disagree with me entirely - this is just my opinion, after all - but given that I will obviously weigh certain aspects of a work’s design more heavily than other aspects, I still think this is the best way to understand what each score means for me (and thus for you), and why I might have come any given conclusion.

#wolfenstein ii: the new colossus #bethesda #machine games #video game #review #pc #b.j. blazkowicz #id software #fps #shooter #ww2 #gore #sequel #alternate history #imnotgoingtotagthefuckingnazisinthis #shitijustdid

[tswatch]

I am getting a bit tired of this. I am other/fiction kin and I use it as a way to cope with depression and anxiety. I'm 16 and will be 17 later this year. I been mocked by an EX friend who was older than me for choosing a life style. Saying it was "cancer" and that I need "help". They blocked me. It's hurtful, because my life has been rather dark, grim and unhappy. I always been rather downhearted, and tend to make gashes on my face or arms due to it... advise?

Hey,

we apologize for the late answer, how have you been doing since you send us this message?

I am honest with you, I have my opinion on otherkin and fictionkin and it’s rather ambivalent and it really depends on the individual and their situation. But all in all I have nothing against it. Just so you are aware of this, but please remember this is just my opinion and my opinion should not matter to you too much. I am just one out of a million and more people.

Let’s start with your former friend. I am really sorry that they hurt you so much, this is not okay, this is not fair of them and they are clearly not aware of how badly words can hurt someone. Don’t listen to their words. Just like I said before, one person out of so many other peple, their opinion should not matter to you, there are so many people out their who love you and will love you for who you are. There will always be people in our lives that try to make us down, but there will be people who will love us unconditionally as well.

That brings me to my next point, all of us will meet people who will make us down for something, for something and it doesn’t even matter what. People will use the weirdest reasons to excuse their behaviour. If someone does something different than they do, they make them down. If someone doesn’t like what they do, they will make them down. If someone deals with something they have no experience with, they will make them down. Someone could not like the colour green and get called annoying for that. Someone could make a cake different than someone else and they called stupid for that. Someone could suffer from a mental disorder that someone else has no experience with and they get called a psycho. Someone could not like the band someone else does and gets called a loser.

My point is, it doesn’t matter how ridiculous the reason seems, people will always find something that annoys them and they will make someone else down. Why do they do it? Most likely because they have problems on their own, because they are desperate, because they hurt others to cope with their feelings, because they just don’t understand the other person.

You are not cancer and we all need help with things. But I think you need help with your depression and anxiety, not for using otherkin and fictionkin as a way to cope with it. Which brings me to the next point. Are you harming someone with being otherkin or fictionkin? No. Is this helping you to deal with negative emotions? Yes. So why the hell should you stop with it or change it? You seem aware of the fact why you do this and that you are actually a human, not a dragon, a wolf or a fictional character. Here is where my personal opinion comes in, as long as it helps someone to deal with things, a long as it makes someone feel good, as long as they are still aware of the reality, everything is cool. However I talked to people where this got out of hand and they were not aware of reality anymore and of how things really are and that is where I say they need help. But even then, who am I to judge, if they are happy with how things are and no other people get harmed with it, why should they change something? Just because I say so or someone else? No.

That is a topic I could probably talk about forever, but before this reply gets way to long I will stop right here. I think I made my point clear and I hope you understand what I mean.

Back to your former friend, don’t listen to them, you are lovable, you are amazing, you are beautiful, you are important, you deserve to be happy and alive.

There is something else that I would like to talk about. You said that because of all the things happening in your life you harm yourself.

I know that harming yourself seems like a way to cope with negative feelings, but it is not. It may help for a short moment, but after that you will feel like you messed up and you won’t feel good about this at all. Self harm only causes more problems and makes life harder than it already is.

There are better ways to cope, ways that are healthier and will help you so much better over a long period of time. Learning these ways may not be easy, you will fall back into old habits, you will feel like the new ways don’t actually help, but they need practice. A lot of practice. You will get used to them in time, you will see them help in time, you will find the right things to do in time. Keep trying, even if it’s a long and hard way.

Depending on how strong the urge to harm yourself is, you can try different things. The stronger the urge, the more things you should do in a row for the urge to stop.

Let’s start with a small urge to harm yourself. When you feel that, you should try to distract yourself, usually that will make the urge go away so that you can think clear again. Here are some ideas what you can do.

•  Listen to music or sounds of the nature•  Sing•  Play instruments or learn a new instrument•  Watch a funny movie•  Read a book•  Paint•  Draw•  Paint your nails•  Go out for a walk•  Listen to the sound it makes when you walk over stones or leaves•  Write down your feelings or good memories•  Make some origami•  Call or skype with a friend•  Dress up or try on old clothes•  Write creatively•  Talk to someone•  Do some sport•  Eat or drink something delicious•  Do some baking•  Make funny faces in a mirror and take pictures•  Read inspirational speeches• Learn a magic trick •  Mess up your room•  Watch some videos on Youtube•  Clean your room•  Learn something new like knitting or how to make a Tumblr theme •  Go to the zoo and name all of the animals•  Jump up and down, do rope jumping, or jump on a trampoline or your bed•  Meditate or do some Yoga•  Play a game•  Go shopping•  Recite a favourite monologue•  Watch the sky•  Do a puzzle, crossword or sudoku•  Meet up with friends•  Sleep •  Do your homework•  Watch your favourite TV program/show•  Make up a roleplay about something you’d like to happen•  Play with a pet•  Have a bath or a shower •  Make a scrapbook•  Decorate your wall with inspirational quotes•  Dance around your room like an idiot•  Make a new Tumblr blog•  Color your hair•  Leave nice messages in someone’s askbox•  Take some pretty pictures outside•  Get your friends and family and play board games •  Tie a small string or a rope into knots •  Make a tiny gift for your best friend •  Make a bucket list •  Smile to at least 5 people, bonus points if they are strangers •  Go out and perform one act of kindness •  Watch how the wind makes the leaves of the trees move. •  Do volunteer work •  Give your blog a makeover •  Write a letter to a friend •  Donate all the clothes you don’t like anymore •  Go to a park and sit on the swings, be a little kid again •  Plan your outfits for the week •  Give someone a hug •  Simply relax, and enjoy your life

Here are websites to distract yourself.

• The Quiet Place • Relax Exercise • Thouhts Room • Dawn Room • Pixel Thoughts 60 Seconds Relaxation• Emotional Baggage Check• Automatic Flatterer • Silk• Neon Flames • Painting• Sand• Stickman• Koala Mosaic• Sunshine and Rain• Rainy Mood• Mood Turn• Magic Button• Secret Door• Geo Guesser• Make some Music• Soundrown• The Colour Game• The Universe• Free Rice• Watch A Dream• Imagination• Make Music With Circles• Make Music With ToneMatrix• Fatal to the Flesh (Trigger Warning)• Play Super Mario• Cute Online Games

Try out a few things and see what helps you the best. Once you found things that help you, write them down, keep these things close to you in a box or something so you can do them right away when you feel like harming yourself.

If the urge gets stronger and simple distractions don’t help anymore, try to do things that help you to get out your emotions like anger, sadness, fear or guilt. Here are some things you can do.

• Scream really loud into a pillow• Let yourself cry• Go to an open space and shout all the things you hate right now• Scribble on photos of people in magazines• Tear apart newspapers, photos, or magazines• Throw a ball/stone/ice cube etc. against a wall• Listen to music and sing along loudly• Beat up a stuffed animal or a pillow• Blow up balloons and pop them• Build a fort of pillows and then destroy it• On a sketch or photo of yourself, mark in red ink what you want to do;cut and tear the picture• Write your feelings on paper, then rip it up or burn it• Make a soft cloth doll to represent the things you are angry at;cut and tear it instead of yourself• Break sticks or old things you don’t need anymore• Cut up fruits• Pull weeds in the garden• Put on nail polish, then peel it off• Splash your face with cold water• Slash an empty plastic soda bottle, or a piece of heavy cardboard, or an old shirt or sock• Instead of punishing yourself by self-harming, punish yourself by not self-harming •The Butterfly Project: Draw a butterfly on the place(s), where you would like to harm yourself.If the butterfly fades without self-harming, it means it has lived and flown away,it’s like giving a sense or feeling of achievement.Whereas if you do harm yourself with the butterfly there, you killed to butterfly.If that does happen, you can start again by drawing a new one on.You are not allowed to wash of the butterfly, it has to fade on its own.You can also name the butterfly after someone you love.•Think of a loved one [a friend, family member, or anyone else who cares about you]and write their name on the place(s) where you want to harm yourself.When you want to harm yourself, remember how much they careand how they wouldn’t want you, to harm yourself.• Talk to someone about how you feel• Create a safe place to go• Try to imagine the future and plan things, you want to do• Make a list of all the positive things in your life• List all the reasons, why you don’t want to harm yourself• Remember why you want to recover

Try out as many things and possible and try to figure out what helps you the most. Once you did this, keep the things that help you on a list or keep them in a box close to you, so that you have access to them right away. When you feel a stronger urge coming, do 1-2 things of the stuff named above and then distract yourself with 1-2 of the listed distractions.

When you get a really, really bad urge to harm yourself, try alternatives to harming yourself. These will either trick your brain into thinking there is blood when there is no real blood, or by making yourself feel something. Doing some of the alternatives, you can even feel some kind of pain, but it doesn’t harm you in a bad way. Here are some examples.

• Draw red lines on the places you want to cut, or use red watercolor,and put it on the place where you want to cut; it will look like it’s bleeding• Viciously stab an orange or an apple• Eat something really sour• Do sport, like running, strength training, jumping on a trampoline,dancing etc., until you are completely exhausted• Take a hot/cold shower or bath• Drink freezing cold water• Wax your legs or plug your eyebrows• Bite into a hot pepper or chew a piece of ginger root• Rub ice across your skin, where you want to harm yourself,or hold it in your hands• Put rubber bands on wrists, arms, or legs and snap them

Like with the things before, try them out and see what helps you the most. Make sure you have fast access to them. When you feel this really strong urge, start for example with a cold shower, then scream into a pillow or tear apart paper, and then distract yourself with something.

Make sure to write the things that help you down, so you don’t have to start thinking about what to do with yourself everytime you get the urge to self harm.

If you feel like you cannot deal with all of this on your own, please reach out for help. There are people out there able and willing to help you.

Take care of yourself!

- Belle

#anonymous #message #support #belle

[leeedge91]

Mental Music: Maintaining Motivation

By Lee Egerton

Staying Motivated can be one of the most difficult tasks especially when things aren’t going well. You may feel like sticking to something until you master it is the best policy, which it sometimes is, but doing the contrary can allow you to reach to the same goal. Discovering something new is, for me, one of the most underappreciated things this world, and, also in my opinion, one of the most beneficial things the world has to offer. Being open minded enough to try something new can open you up to a world of possibilities you may not otherwise experience. There are a number of ways to achieve your goals and is another way to develop character in your playing. In order to stimulate the mind enough so that progression happens quickly, we have to find our limits, balance, and inspirational triggers that keep us interested in the goals we are trying to achieve. Let’s take films for example. I like action movies. But if I saw a film that included a 3-hour fight scene I would get bored, as I would feel that the fighting lost its impact. The same rule applies to food. IF I eat too much of one food type I begin to find that food bland, and distasteful as I would become accustomed to the taste. So, if we do too much of one thing it becomes tedious and no longer stimulating. Therefore, when preparing practices, writing songs, gig set lists or producing music, it is vital that we have enough tricks up our sleeve to deliver the right move for the right occasion. Here are some methods you can try in your musical training that can increase your motivation and prevent boredom.

Changing Style/Genre

The amount of times I hear people tell me they don’t like a style of music because they find it boring is incredible. In particular, classical music is often brought up by people. I will always question people as to why this is as I find it interesting to know. The most common answer I have had to date is, ‘It’s boring’. In some cases, this may be the case. Not every piece of music can be everybody’s cup of tea. However, I am a firm believer that we can all learn something from it, and sometimes this so-called boredom, derives from a lack of understanding. The same as a jazz musician should take influence from the blues, I believe metal musicians, should look to classical music for inspiration, for the benefits it can have on their melodic, harmonic and dynamic ear. This can improve their ability to create ideas for solos, riffs and contrasting phrases. The heritage of any musical genre is a development of something before it. Merging different elements of each genre not only develops us as musicians but also develops our genre. The benefits of this are that you can begin to appreciate the strengths of musicians, expand your awareness, increase technical dexterity, grow your sense of character and make more definitive and creative decisions.

Change the context

You may have a very specific reason behind what you want to do. For example, when I was younger, I wanted to learn to sweep pick, because I had heard the technique used in some Trivium and Avenged Sevenfold songs. It was something I had never practiced in any other type of song. If I had have tried it on broken chords or found other songs that used the song until I had nailed the technique, and then began to build up speed, I may have been able to achieve it. But being stubborn and maybe slightly immature I never managed to achieve this. In hindsight, this is what I would have done, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, so I can only prepare things for my students, which are designed to encourage this kind of independent thought and these methods. Learning skills in a variety of different contexts can also develop a better understanding of the techniques and give them a purpose. Once again this is great for decision making, soloing and adds depth to your musical knowledge and Genre/style, giving you a much more rounded and broad skill set. The more you understand the uses for something, the more likely it is that you will achieve it.

Watch or show other people.

Watching other people playing something can give you a bigger scope of what you need to know. By watching someone do something, you can develop the understanding by asking questions that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to. This can be great for visual learners and also for developing the processes of different tasks. By watching others perform, we can observe the habits and practices that achieve the results we are aiming for in our individual goals. Observing good practice can jog the imagination and make you more attentive to your own practices and what habits are maybe aiding or preventing you from achieving your targets, or even add new and more purposeful habits to your armour, therefore eradicating any barriers from your performance.

On giving advice, you will be able to develop communication and be more focussed on how you are completing tasks, as your demonstrations will need clarity to transfer to the observing person(s). This gives you more incentive to be conscious of your own practice and ensure that you pay more attention to detail when you are practicing your preaches. For this your explanations will need to be direct, succinct, and clearly communicated, to allow the observer to be certain on how to properly apply the advice.

There are a number of different ways to do this. Videos on YouTube, listening to podcasts, reading articles or physically seeing other people in the flesh. When I was trying to learn my trade as a Guitar Teacher, I took lessons from a peer to see how he taught me and that enabled me to see the disciplines and how to explain them in a people friendly way. However, it is also important to question the practices to understand the point behind the exercise being demonstrated. From this point on, I am still developing other aspects of my teaching from observing the students and listening to audio books on motivation, communication, relaxation and persuasion. Notice how there is a range of research and not just coming from one source as the ideas you are looking for may link to other areas, so be sure to create clarity and open your mind to various resources and practices.

Set reminders and Developing habits.

Reminding yourself of the purpose of your practice is always a good way to stay motivated. Why did I want to do this? What do the results look like? What feelings do I want to generate? What type of person will I be if I achieve this? And sometimes (not always) How will others perceive this personality? Give your time and effort to these questions and consistently question them to remind you of your progress and the purposes behind the hard work. Generating and creating clarity of your goals are a brilliant way to set your mind straight and stay focussed on working towards them. Set an alarm 3 times a day to make sure you are aware of what your goals are. Write down daily tasks for yourself that work towards them so you can keep track of your progress. Surround yourself in the environments that will help them. When you practice your instrument, set practice routines that will relate to your goals in some way. Write check lists and tick them off. Or keep some sort of spreadsheet that helps you to analyse what areas you need to develop rather than just focussing on your strengths.

It is important to keep the targets achievable and challenging to build both strength and positivity. Don’t see things that you have not yet mastered as being a negative thing, we can’t do everything. But by creating the right environment, mind set and understanding, you can then improve by way of habit, routine, and structured practice. A friend of mine recently said ‘Motivation is nothing, Discipline is everything’. By developing the appropriate habits and working hard to achieve tasks that are related to your goals and aspirations, you are already one step closer to achieving your targets. Anything that can’t be done now, can be improved. That is something you will need to remember when you are practicing.

Conclusion

To finish off the penultimate episode if you like, motivation is a major part to success as it is the beginning of all success. It’s the thing that encourages the development of the individual and the thing that keeps us going when we feel at our lowest. It is the thing that reminds us of our purpose and gets us out of bed. So keep reminding yourself that you do have something to fight for. Believe that you do have goals and aspirations and believe that they are achievable. Think big and dream even bigger. Chase the dreams and reach for the sky. But don’t ever forget who you are, how far you have come and what you have already achieved in your life, and don’t ever stop yourself from achieving more. Your life is yours to live, and it is up to you to own what you have. Thanks again for taking the time to read this blog and I hope that they are helping.

[felicezhukov]

:: Dear Nicolas Jaar ::

I have been working on the below manifesto and whittling it down to its key aspects over the weekend, the last week has been adjusting to my new approach and its subsequent withdrawal symptoms. I haven’t had an alcoholic drink or cigarette for 8 days now, I think I finally understand that I can not drink in moderation so it’s better to entirely cut it out except for the occasional occasion. It has not been as difficult as previous attempts because my motives are strong and I’m correlating it to my art, making it my the next avenue of performance. This is ultimately me taking my self guided therapy to the next level I guess.

I have to be a strong muhrmaid samurai, as I will have to travel through the bowels of a sunken cruise liner soon and rescue people.

As I’ve made my breakdown so public it is somewhat of a relief to make my rehabilitation public as well, I’m already less shaky and more awake to my surroundings, in fact earlier on I walked home in ecstasy, everything feels more vivid, more present, it’s as if up to this point the lights have been dimmed in my life. I’m aware that it’s a long road and there will be cracks, breakages etc that might fork the path so I will have to be constantly aware when these arise. This bears repeating as it’s been of great use to me so far:

A hero walks with dignity A hero shelters others A hero stands tall A hero breathes deep A hero goes without A hero accepts their suffering

I will be keeping a diary alongside committing to discipline training for mind soul and body, below are the facets of what being a muhrmaid samurai entails:

THE MUHRMAID SAMURAI MANIFESTO

The Muhrmaid Samurai is sworn to a code of honour, which serves to guide the muhrmaid samurai both in light and in dark, the muhrmaid samurai acknowledges that adversity will be an outline on the horizon and that deep waters can get deeper still with the movements of the earth's core. 

So with this set of basic instructions the muhrrmaid samurai hopes to enshrine truth and nobility even against a backdrop of post truth politics and unsubstantiated fear. The muhrmaid samurai also acknowledges its forebear, the samurai, and bushido the samurai moral code, which these guidelines are born from.

The Muhrmaid Samurai swears allegiance to its master, the intellect or higher consciousness, the Muhrmaid Samurai is the beast aspect inside us all, fighting to protect us.

ENSHRINE TRUTH -- In lieu of the contemporary fascination with lies, always attempt to be as true to yourself and to others as you possibly can. Make truth the axis which you rotate around and practise it daily with peers and with yourself, truth is good and despite its nuances is the core of honour, make it your daily bread. Perhaps if we all tell the truth it will tip the balance of lies that now surround us.

PURSUE KNOWLEDGE TO DEVELOP HONOUR -- Your moral code is your own, as my moral code is my own, though they will most likely engage and decode the same subjects it must be based on knowledge. Take the surrounding world into account and vigorously begin a pursuit of understanding. Watch Youtube, read e flux, make a commitment to yourself to read daily and study what you don’t understand, if something comes up in a conversation which you’re not aware of, make time with that person and then with the vast compendium of thought that is the internet and literature, to fill the gaps you find within yourself. Each person's interests are like a fingerprint and I cannot tell you what it is you might find curious, but through a daily practise of rolling through texts, journals, books, the news, you will find it.

TRAIN YOUR FRUGAL SELF -- Muhrmaids where is your money going to? Plan for the future, creativity can be used as a tool to fatten what might seem like very little, let go of your preconceptions that £5 for a pint is reasonable, think of the taxes this price includes, let go your lack of resistance to paying over £10 for tobacco or £8 for coconut oil, all these things are unnecessary sundries, ultimately what do you need in this life and what you want to reward yourself with? Is having no money because you’ve drunk and smoked it away really logical? When you could spend it on a trip somewhere, on materials to make something, on watching artistry in the flesh. Smoking and drinking equate to time and money lost and inhibit the path to becoming a true samurai.

STAND TALL -- Tap into the bountiful stream of love inside yourself to find your body. Feel your muscles, engage with the physical world in whatever sense that fulfills you, walk from place to place, put your phone on silent sometimes. Sit with nothing stimulating you on the edge of your bed and breathe deeply, allow yourself to get bored, use times of transience as tools to invigorate yourself, know where you are and feel your feet on the ground, or your fins in the fresh water.

PROTECT YOURSELF AND THOSE YOU LOVE Carve out the handful of people that mean the most to you and make a shelter for them inside yourself. Look after and love them fiercely, channel the deep well of your warrior blood to make a bed for them to rest on. In protection you find a deeper self respect which allows you to rest the worries you may have about those in your life.

CREATE It matters not what form your creation takes on, whether it’s game design, writing poetry, carving twigs you find on your way to work, salsa dancing. All that matters is that you use some part of yourself to pour something back into the world, with the act of creation there follows satisfaction and self belief.

MUHRMAID SAMURAI DISCIPLINE TRAINING

Each Muhrmaid Samurai can define their own objectives and goals below is my personal objectives which I intend to adhere to and practice daily in order to be the most streamlined Muhrmaid Samurai I can.

PHYSICAL -- Train for an hour every day at least except Sundays which is a rest day. * 1+ hour of yoga, weight conditioning, pilates and gym ball (coordination / flexibility / strength ) * 30 mins cardiovascular exercise (predominantly running as can’t afford the gym) for stamina and endurance * only eat at mealtimes, relaxed and sitting down, respect food as ritual, practice chewing slowly and acknowledging and thanking universe for whats in front of you, no food groups are restricted except processed grains and sugar, attempt to eat whole foods where-ever possible with emphasis on fish, whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit. Treat yourself to 1x croissant / cake etc on Sundays and special occasions, Only drink alcohol (in moderation) on very special occasions (for me the next time that will be will be the birth of my niece or nephew in late august / early september) - this extends to my exhibitions, weddings or milestones of loved ones and christmas day.

INTELLECTUAL -- Study 1+ hours a day on -- invest in some titles from the epic amazon book list below: -- http://amzn.eu/033rra0 As well as reading e flux, science news, scanning the guardian daily and actively searching for blogs / articles on avenues of interest: * science // bio engineering, physics // inc. robotics, space travel, etc * theological questions // ways of seeing and consuming, semiotics, * political theory // chomsky // slavoj zizek // debate on current modes of living, anthropology,

SPIRITUAL / CHARACTER * Work on awareness, meditate, do yoga and practice in waking life to take in environment and engage with surroundings to have keener understanding of what is around you, this also means be aware of your movements, where you put something down, how your room is arranged, what the environments that you move through are comprised of - insert zen meditation into your daily routine * Flaneurism, go on voyages of discovery, actively seek out experiences in the city via internet and other means of publishing, watch music more often in varied environments, go to gardens, events, happenings, sometimes just aim to get a little lost * Practise telling the truth and not bending to other people’s will, defy people politely and with empathy, by being well read and studied it will be easier to counter things you don’t agree with in a methodical and unaggressive way, be aware of the interactions you have daily and cultivate healthy stimulating ones as much as possible * Live in your urges and let them pass through, recognise them to be given fuel by unconscious desires which can only be brought to pass if you bend to them, live in unsatisfied neediness and get used to less *Protect others, if you see an injustice that you can somehow alter do not hold back from throwing your energy in to this encounter. The powers inside you should be used for good and loyal endeavours, look after those that you love and if you are stronger, be stronger for someone else.

FINANCIAL Keep Diary of personal spending and make budgets, key to understanding access and factoring in what can be achieved fiscally. Plan for the future, ie travelling to Devon to see the new baby, going to venice biennale / documenta / istanbul biennale before they finish, trying to get to Europe to see Nicolas Jaar (that’s you) live, catch up with friends in Ireland / Finland / France * Sell wedding ring and hair, which has been sat in my room for some time now CREATIVE Look at getting some open edition prints online of posters I am making for myself as inspiration Edit pralay films for sale and quiz audience from Mermaid Prom to make me interpretations of their experience, whilst addressing how I document it without having any video footage-- perhaps as animated film?? Prepare and apply for funding / residencies for next part of project which should be begun in October 2017

#Nicolas Jaar #nicolasjaar