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yurimother · 4 years

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LGBTQ Manga Review - Still Sick Vol. 2

Still Sick Vol. 1 was a highlight for me last year. I immediate fell in love with the complex characters and storytelling and, based on the first volume, I believe that Akashi has created one of the best shakaijin Yuri (Yuri works featuring romance between adult women, often in the workplace) out there. The series took a very typical office romance story and infused it with several unique elements, like a very meta understanding and portrayal of Yuri and Yurijin. On top of all that, Akashi demonstrated an apparent willingness to tell emotionally varied and impactful stories with subtlety, a trait often missing from more ham-handed Yuri melodramas. We, as an audience, could grow in our understanding of the characters, their backgrounds, and their neuroticism rather than have it all apparent for us. The second volume has done little but confirm to me that my initial reactions were right on the money. With Still Sick Vol. 2, Akashi delivers a stunning continuation to one of last year's best releases.

Still Sick Vol. 2 takes up directly where the first book left off, with Maekawa suddenly and somewhat cruelly kissing her friends and coworker Shimizu. The kiss was initially intended as a joke; however, it further confuses Shimizu as she struggles to comprehend her own sexuality and wishes to support Maekawa's efforts to reignite her former career in manga. Her conflicted feelings come to a head when, in a comfortable moment, she suddenly and accidentally reveals that she likes Maekawa. The following regret and discomfort are alarming human and relatable, as Akashi really captures the essence of a flustered lesbian. This confession acts as the catalyst for the dramatic transformation both characters begin to undergo as the story continues.

As in the first book, Maekawa is an irresistibly capricious and complex character. She acts exceptionally clingy around Shimizu in some moments, but in others, pushes her away. One of the best aspects of her character is that, just like the first book, each of her actions is not outright explained, nor are they random, but rather the appropriate reactions based on her somewhat twisted sense of self and the world. The more one reads into it, the more her varied, occasionally upsetting acts appear like those of a woman struggling to figure out what she wants out of life and out of her relationship with Shimizu. Early in the story, she and the reader have an epiphany that she wants to be loved. Still, throughout the story, her actions hammer home how alien and disconcerting the topic affection, romantic or otherwise, is for her.

One of the central conflicts revolves around Maekawa's manga, or rather, her writing the manga. Just as the first volume dived into the meta of the Yuri genre and its fanbase, this book details some of the struggles creators to feel when working on a project. For example, Maekawa makes multiple references to the balance artists, especially those working with publishers, must maintain between their inspiration and desires and their audience’s interests. She shows frustration with her work and sufferers from bouts of self-doubt and sadness when she hits blocks. It is all very realistic, and the reader gets a sense of the nuanced difficulties professional artists face.

The two plotlines, Maekawa's struggle to complete her manga and Shimizu navigating her feelings for her, are well integrated and support each other. If either element were absent, the other would have to be utterly changed, showing Akashi's storytelling ability. Shimizu's apparent greatest desire is to be there for Maekawa and support her work as a mangaka. However, through this support and want to be present, Shimizu has many of her more vulnerable moments, seeking to inspire her friend, which eventually leads to her confessing her feelings. On Maekawa's part, her work affects her character first and relationship second, the opposite of Shimizu, making for a nice contrast and more development for the often-flighty woman. The realization she has early in the story creates a conflict within her, expressed through her work and relation with Shimizu.

There is a constant push and pull between Shimizu and Maekawa, with each character taking it in turns to accept or reject the other. On Shimizu's part, this dynamic looks like her being there for Maekawa and enthusiastically supporting her artwork or avoiding her and using work as an excuse to back off. Maekawa, however, true to her character, is much more extreme in her actions, acting overly affectionate to Shimizu at times and openly hostile in others. The oscillating relationship continues as they both come to terms with their feelings, both romantically and around Maekawa's manga.

Akashi excels at justifying the varying actions of their characters while maintaining a sense of discovery and suspense for the reader. Only through deep and thoughtful readings can we hope to understand every action, but all the clues are there, making for an excellent repeat read and keeping the book in the audience's minds long after they put it down. However, sometimes, even having uncovered the reasons behind them, Maekawa can seem overly cruel and dramatic. It does not detract much from the overall work, but a few chapters hold a teetering balance just above falling into melodrama.

There is not much to say about the artwork that I did not mention in my review of the first volume. The character designs remain solid and consistent. However, the annoying lack of detail is even more apparent than in the first book. Panels often have a dull, empty feeling or fail to communicate the powerful writing's emotional tone. They are not bad, as previously said, they are consistent and keep the reader engrossed, but it is aggressively average.

One aspect of the art I will praise is its lack of service. Akashi treats their character and story with respect, and there is not even so much as a cleavage shot anywhere. The few moments which could contain sexual content, like when Maekawa embraces Shimizu and approaches for a kiss, are used much more for tension than service. It is perhaps the one area where the art begins to excel. The framing and expressions are all very carefully chosen to maintain the proper tone and avoid exploiting the characters. The best example of this is easily the onsen. At the height of their reluctant animosity at a company trip, Maekawa and Shimizu have to navigate being naked at the onsen together. The moment contains no sexual content but is excellently presented as an awkward experience to enhance tension, followed by some light comedy that brings the two women closer together.

Still Sick continues to amaze in its second volume. The tensions and stakes are much higher now, and the dramatic yet grounded relationship will enthrall readers as it develops. The Yuri romance integrates beautifully with a wonderful and incredibly meta plot about creating manga and all the turmoil the come with both. Akashi crafts a sophisticated and mature story that never lets up with twists and steadily progresses forward at a satisfying rate. This series is easily one the best shakaijin works out there and deserves hefty praise and enthusiastic investment from all its readers.

Ratings: Story – 10 Characters – 9 Art – 5 LGBTQ – 7 Sexual Content – 0 Final – 8

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Review copy provided by Tokyopop

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mybg3notebook · 3 years

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Lore: Details about the “Orb”

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.

Let's start with the context, because everything related to Gale is packed heavily with Forgotten Realms lore, and since the game is not fully released, whatever extra information that the game could provide to help us understand this is not there yet. Also, it's always important to keep in mind this post about "Context, persuasion, and manipulation" to be sure we are talking in the same terms.

The lore

I'm going to enumerate some objects or elements related to Forgotten Realms lore that I personally see worth checking out in addition to other “orbs” that I've seen the fandom put attention on. All this information can be expanded using the references and sometimes wiki, even though I personally distrust forgotten realm wiki, unless I can check that info from the original sources.

Shadow Weave

The Shadow Weave is the space between the strands of the Weave. If the Weave is a spider's web, the gaps in between are the Shadow Weave. Shadow Weave reaches everywhere the Weave does, and more. It is not subject to Mystra’s laws or state of well being. If Mystra were to die and the Weave collapses, the Shadow Weave would persist. [Magic of Faerûn 3e. Personal Comment: Yes. It explicitly says in the book that it’s independent of Mystra’s well being. Clearly this has been modified in 4e since the Shadow Weave needs the structure of the Weave to be somehow stable. It collapsed when the Weave did so, so we can see this begins a series of inconsistencies]

Shadow Weave is a dark and distorted copy of the Weave created by Shar, more suited for spells that drag life or confuse the mind (necromancy, control, illusion schools), and gives more difficulty to cast spells that manipulate energy or matter (evocation or transmutation schools). It can't sustain spells that produce light. Both Weave and Shadow Weave are means to use Raw Magic (see at the end of the post). The more familiar a mortal becomes with the secrets of the Shadow Weave, the more detached they become from the Weave. Shadow Weave is NOT a part of Mystra, so Mystra can't block people from accessing magic via Shadow Weave.

It’s a common mistake to make the analogy that the Shadow Weave is to Shar the same way the Weave is to Mystra. No. Shadow Weave is NOT Shar, while the Weave is Mystra. Shar never developed that level of commitment, making herself one with the Shadow Weave. This is one of the reasons why she could not sustain the Weave during the Spellplague when she tried to corrupt it completely into Shadow Weave.

All this information belongs to Magic of Faerûn 3e and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e and novels of 4e. There is nothing about Shadow Weave in 5e. If it weren't for Ed Greenwood's twitter, we should have guessed it disappeared from the lore. So far we know it's slowly recovering in the same way the Weave is. And the Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave. For some mysterious reason, fandom started to think so due to BG3.

Death moon orb

This artefact belongs to the 3rd edition, created by a Netheril wizard. From him, it passed to the hands of Szass Tam, who saw it destroyed when the Spellplague corrupted the magic in it. I won't give more details about this object because it looks so unrelated to what Gale has in his chest. Not only is its shape inconsistent with what we see in-game, its powers and properties are unrelated to what is explained in EA. The object is cursed, compelling its owner to cause greater acts of evil; it has a size that changes and looks like a violet-black sphere. In my opinion, the only detail in common with Gale's “orb” is the name "orb". Which is a fallacy, since Gale says explicitly that he uses the word "orb" for the lack of a better one, because clearly what Gale has in his chest is not an orb, but a mass of Black Weave.

Netherese orbs

These objects are found in Neverwinter MMO in the quest Whisper in Darkness:

The Netherese are foul plague upon this world, corrupting everything they touch. They have cursed the Gray Wolf Tribe, turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. We must find what the Netherese intend to do with their werewolf slaves. The Shadovar Emissaries use the Netherese Orbs powered by Soul Shards to communicate orders from the Prince of Shadow.

This is all the information we have of this object. That's all. It comes from a Neverwinter MMO game which belongs to 4th edition. Once more, the concept that Gale's “orb” is not an orb but a black mass of untamed magic makes me believe that these objects don't apply either. The nature of their magic is compatible though: Netherese orbs are made from shadow magic by Shadovar, descendant of Netheril stuck in the Plane of Shadow (called Shadowfell later on, read more in the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR"). This plane is the source of Shadow Magic, they don't use Raw Magic. Ethel explicitly said in BG3 that Shadow Magic is Netherese Magic, so maybe we can consider this object filled with Netherese magic? In any case, these Netherese orbs are used for communication... which has nothing to do with Gale's “orb”'s properties. There is also no reference of consuming Weave to remain stable.

Devastation orb

The mention of a "devastation orb" happens only in Yartar in Princes of the Apocalypse (related to the god Tharizdun, the mad god):

In page 5 we have some context: Four elemental cults grow in power in the Sumber Hills, claiming abandoned keeps that connect to an underground fortress once part of an ancient dwarven kingdom. The leaders use elemental magic to create devastation orbs capable of ravaging the countryside. They’ve been testing these magic weapons, bolstering the cults’ ranks, and infiltrating various communities, all directed by visions the prophets receive from the Elder Elemental Eye (Tharizdun). These orbs are plainly described as: essentially bombs of elemental energy to unleash natural disasters.

In page 222 we have a more detailed explanation of what these elements are:

Devastation Orb: (Wondrous item, very rare) A devastation orb is an elemental bomb that can be created at the site of an elemental node by performing a ritual with an elemental weapon. The type of orb created depends on the node used. For example, an air node creates a devastation orb of air. A devastation orb measures 12 inches in diameter, weighs 10 pounds, and has a solid outer shell. The orb detonates 1d100 hours after its creation, releasing the elemental energy it contains. The orb gives no outward sign of how much time remains before it will detonate. Regardless of the type of orb, its effect is contained within a sphere with a 1 mile radius. The orb is the sphere’s point of origin. The orb is destroyed after one use.

Again, I don't see a real connection with Gale's “orb”. These devastation orbs are not netherese-based, they have elemental energy, and despite the explosion, they don't have any mechanics that resemble the consumption of Weave to remain stable. However, I do find a link between these devastation orbs, their process of construction, and the book that Gale found out. The remotest concept I can scratch here is that, whoever crafted the book with that piece of blackest Weave, could have used the knowledge of the construction of these devastation orbs. Instead of filling them with elemental magic, they filled it with a blackest weave of netherese magic. A procedure that could have been applied to the netherese tadpoles as well.

That's all the information I could gather that remotely is called “orb” or has some vague chance to be that blackest weave.

The Game BG3

In the game, all the info that Gale provides in EA about the “orb” is given before his revelation. The what it is, the how it works and the how it feels. In the revelation scene we only learn the details that are personal and intimate for Gale: the why he ended up with the orb, and potential solutions he can guess so far. To show proofs:

During the meeting:

Tav [Wisdom/tadpole] Try peering into his mind. If he won't open up, you'll sneak in. [Success] Narrator: For a split second you see a swirl of untamed magic – then his defences drop like a portcullis.

During the Protocol:

Tav: I simply want to know what it is you're keeping from me Gale: I'm dangerous. Not because I want to be, but because of... an error I made in the past. [before Gale speaks of his loss] It makes me dangerous – even in death. [after Gale speaks of his loss/tadpole intrusion] I told you how I sought to win the favour of Mystra. I did this by trying to control a form of magic only one wizard ever could. I failed to control it. Instead it infested me. It makes me dangerous... even in death. […] Tav: The darkness inside you, what is it? Gale: It's magic from another time and another place. It is something that is beyond me, yet inside me. That makes me dangerous... even in death.

During the stew scene or the ask for artefacts in neutral or lower approval

Tav: [Wisdom/tadpole] you sense secrecy and danger. Use your tadpole to probe Gale's thoughts. [Success] Narrator: you become one with Gale's mind and you can feel something sinister oppressing you. It's... inside of you, a mighty darkness radiating from your chest. You could try to push further, but your hold over Gale feels brittle. It won't be easy delving deeper without him noticing. Delve deeper: [Success] Narrator: “ you see through gale's eye, staring down the corridor of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It's teeth, it's claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever-hungry.

Gale: The only way to “appease” said condition is for me to take powerful magical artefact and absorb the Weave inside. [...]Tav: What happens if you don't consume any artefact? Gale: Catastrophe. [...] Think of it as... tribute. The kind a king might pay to a more powerful neighbour to avoid invasion. As long as I pay there will be peace. But should I ever stop, along comes a war. I can assure the battlefield would extend well beyond the borders of my body alone. [...] I will consume the magic inside. What was a powerful artefact will be rendered no more than a trinket. But it will save my life- even if only temporarily.

Tav: That condition of yours is a very expensive one. Gale: I obtained it in Waterdeep. Nothing there comes cheap.

Artefacts scenes:

Gale: I can feel the storm abating. [...] I will feel it stir again – like a distant thunder sending tremors through the soul. I will need to consume another artefact before the lightning strikes. There's no choice but to find more. [...] It's good to perceive this constant fear repressed into a quiet scare. Let's hope it will last a good long while.

During Revelation scene:

Gale: The gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed but not quite, and his entire empire – Netheril – came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, rolling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you; a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time – locked away from Mystra herself. ‘What if’, the silly wizard thought. ‘What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the Goddess?”

Narrator: You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in. Into the dark. You see through Gale’s eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It’s teeth, it’s claws, it’s unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever hungry… [...] This Netherese taint.. this orb, for lack of a better word, is balled up inside my chest. And it needs to be fed. As long as it absorbs Weave it remains stable – to an extent. The moment it becomes unstable, however.. [...] It will erupt. I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry…. It’d level a city the size of Waterdeep

Tav : I should godsdamned kill you GALE: Perhaps that is what I deserve, but you deserve no such thing. To kill me is to unleash the orb.

So far, if we don't use the tadpole, we learn from Gale that he is unwillingly dangerous, there is an ancient magic stuck in his chest—acquired in Waterdeep—that he never could control and it inspires a dreadful state of mind (constant fear). It requires Weave to stay stable, and if it is not fed, a catastrophe will happen that will extend past his body.

With the Tadpole we learn, in addition, part of the details we can learn during the revelation scene: it's a swirl of untamed/chaotic magic which is an ever-hungry "blackest weave".

During the Revelation Scene all the information acquired by the tadpole intrusion is given, in addition to describing this mass of magic as an "orb" despite its inaccuracy. We also learn that killing Gale will only unleash the orb instead of putting an end to the problem.

Gale said everything that is important related to the orb before the party scene, excluding only the personal information since he is a private person. This was exactly the boundary he set when he promised during the stew scene that he was going to explain the what, not the why. With the use of the tadpole we only learn details, simple extra descriptions; all information that Gale will willingly share during the revelation scene anyway.

We can learn a bit more of the “orb”'s function if we explore the goblin party. There, Gale explains part of the mechanism of the “orb” in a "poetic" way, that may or may not be taken exactly as such:

Gale: Two shadows are darkening my soul.The shadow within and the shadow without: you. You led me down this path. [...] I don't know myself anymore. All this... It's not who I am. Around you, I'm not who I want to be. I should leave.

Tav: [Insight] Stay. We make each other stronger. We make each other survive. /OR/ [Deception] You don't stand a chance alone. You're free to go. I dare you.

[Success][DC15] Gale: [...]. Few things are more powerful than the will to live. But carnage such as this.... the shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [...]. Tonight I need to wash my hands of blood and my mind of shattering memories.

This shows that when playing an Evil Tav who sides with the Goblins, we have an extra description for this “orb”. Again, I ponder every bit of information with its context: Gale is a poet, and he tends to speak with metaphors specially when it comes to emotional painful states of mind or when it comes to the “orb” (which puts him in a very emotional state that even the tadpole doesn't), so these lines can perfectly be understood as a poetic way to describe his deep regret for participating in massacring the Tieflings. However, there is this detail that I can't overlook: the shadow within, understood as the blackest Weave, is spreading across his body, corrupting his good essence. As we saw in the post of "Extensive list of Gale's approvals", compassion and kindness are key elements in Gale's personality. This scene shows a potential that is not explored in EA: the “orb” seems to set a path in which it will corrupt Gale.

Now this could be considered as a potential beginning of a shift of alignment, but it goes against what Sven said several times in interviews and presentations: he stated that they were not considering to change alignments in the companions (if you can imagine all the extra branches that it opens up, it makes sense not to allow it given the already colossal proportions of the game), so it's hard to suspect how Gale would evolve from here, or if this situation will give him reasons to attempt to kill this Evil Tav eventually (which is my personal guess). Sven suggested many times that companions could potentially kill Tav or other companions during their sleep. We saw this happening in EA with Astarion. Using datamining content, we saw the same with Lae'Zel and Shadowheart. I don't see why not to give in-character reasons to make this mechanism work with Gale as well.

As an extra (datamining) detail, we have Ethel's vicious mockery line emphasising the concept of "the shadow within":

Ethel: I can smell what's under those bandages wizard, you're all rot and ruin.

Putting aside the unnerving detail that Gale's concept art has bandages on one of his hands while the game is oblivious to this, the idea of Gale's “orb” as a source of rot and ruin, in combination with that necrotic aura when he dies, gives us a sure idea that there is a “disease” spreading in Gale's body as a consequence of this blackest weave stuck in his chest.

All the in-game information was presented, so now let's drag conclusions: Comparing all the information extracted from the scenes, we can now consider how much potential has the lore object named before:

Shadow Weave: Could Gale's “orb” be a fragment of Shadow Weave?

Strengths of the argument: Gale's “orb” is described as "blackest weave". It could barely be a hint, even though the Shadow weave has no canon colour nor physical description in the corebooks. So this is a very weak strength.

Weaknesses of the argument: Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave (this is a fallacy so far I've checked. It would make no sense to feed on the same object that it needs to exist.) Shadow Weave doesn't explode nor is chaotic.

Death moon orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". And it was made by a netherese arcanist, so it must contain “netherese magic”.

Weaknesses: This object was destroyed during the Spellplague. It's a physical orb which changes size, but it's not an "amorphous mass" of magic. It doesn't consume Weave.

Netherese Orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". It's made of shadow magic (which is not netherse magic in corebooks but in game Ethel used both denominations as synonymous). We know Shadovar are masters of Shadow Magic. Read more in the post "The Netherese in 1492DR".

Weaknesses: This object doesn't appear in the corebooks. It's used for communication. It doesn't seem to have any explosive properties nor consumes Weave.

Devastation orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". They explode with the intensity to destroy a city.

Weaknesses: It's made of elemental magic (not netherese magic). It's a solid object, a bomb (not an amorphous mass). It doesn't consume weave.

Personal speculation

I don't think any of these canon objects are or inspired Gale's “orb”. If we take the descriptions in-game as they are, and considering the importance that Karsus and his folly have been given in the whole game (to the point that Larian added ingame books explaining part of it) I support two hypothesis that, by now, they must be obvious for lorists since I want to work with what the game (and datamining) gives me:

1- The concept that this is a piece of corrupted Weave that Karsus' Avatar allowed to have access to when he disrupted the Weave. Gale calls it “primal weave” as well, which is a concept that doesn't exist so far in the corebooks, and one could relate, very barely, with raw magic. Maybe.

2- Heavy magic (key concept during 2e)

To understand this we need MORE lore (I know, this has no end; this is why I think a lot of misunderstandings with Gale’s character come from the big holes of lore that EA leaves, which is obvious, it's EA) So, allow me to clear out the concepts:

Karsus' Avatar is the name of the spell that caused Karsus' folly and made him a god for just an ephemeral moment. The notes regarding the spell’s essence were nowhere to be found. It’s believed that Mystra, the reincarnated form of Mystryl, snatched the spell information from the ruins of Karsus’s enclave and sent it “on an eternal journey to the ends of the universe” (who knows what this means). Besides, as if this were not enough precaution, Mystra changed the rules of magic on the material plane making it impossible to cast spells over 10th level. Karsus' Avatar was a 12th level spell.

Raw Magic is “the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse. Mortals can't directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra.” [Player's Handbook 5e]

The creation of the Weave allowed all mortals to have access to magic through study. The Weave works like a barrier and an interpreter to use the real source of magic: Raw Magic. For more information on this, check the wiki (otherwise each of these posts will be mini books of lore). Few mortals can tap magic from the raw magic. Spells like silver fire are part of the raw magic. Some wild mages can tap into it as well, but at the cost of making their spells very random. Only Weave-disruptive events can allow an uncontrolled influx of raw magic into the world (which can be considered what happened during Karsus' folly)

Mythalars are immense artefacts that work like intermediates of the Raw Magic. They don't use the Weave, they have direct access to Raw Magic and were used to power up magical artefacts around them (thanks to these objects the Netheril cities floated in the air). Touching a mythalar causes instant death since Raw magic is harmful for most mortals.

So the first hypothesis (corrupted Weave) means that when Karsus cast this spell and became the Weave itself for a brief moment, he may have access to Raw magic directly. His spell Karsus' avatar started using common Weave, but in the second he connected deeply with the Weave and with Mystryl's powers, he had access to Raw magic as a god. His spell may have changed the source of its power from the Weave to Raw Magic, adding the latter's randomness and chaos to the spell itself and therefore, corrupting the Weave. The transition, so violent like the whole event, may have corrupted part of the Weave that was being used while casting the spell. According to Gale's description, the “orb” stuck in his chest is a piece of Weave with the active effect of Karsus' Avatar (the spell), but the Narrator gives us the extra information that it's corrupted. Apparently Gale never realised this object was corrupted, or may have known it and he tried to cleanse it so he could return it to Mystra. Either way, the source of the corruption may have been the sudden transition to Raw Magic during the casting. My main problem with this hypothesis is how a spell can be stuck in a piece of Weave, since Gale's “orb” maintains Karsus's avatar's effect.

On one hand, Karsus' Avatar main effect is “to absorb god-like powers”. In that moment of history, this spell was aimed at Mystryl, and therefore to the Weave. The disruption of the event “stuck” the effect of “absorbing weave” in a piece of Weave, while the chaotic nature of this “orb” could be attributed to the direct presence of Raw Magic, also stuck in it. Now, another weakness of this hypothesis is that nothing of this causes a "corruption disease" as Gale implies it (we only know that the failure of the spell turned Karsus into stone). So we don't have a good argument for this effect beyond the one “I believe that since the moment was disruptive, it must have corrupted something, and that corruption is quite unhealthy in a mortal body”. Which it's not of my liking, but this is what we get up to this point in EA.

The second hypothesis I talked about is another lore concept intimately related to Karsus in 2e: Heavy Magic (which I personally prefer over the first hypothesis).

Heavy magic is physical, tangible magic, usually presented as a viscous mass of chaotic nature. It can crawl, entering into cracks of a wall or a body, for example. Karsus created a distilled version of this magic called super heavy magic, and experimented with people. The subject eating a bit of this magic will have heavy magic spread on all the inner walls of their body and will kill them (it's not a disease, but it spreads inside and kills). The usual effect of the stable super heavy magic was to magnify the powers of a spell or enchantment (it allowed spells to be stuck in it), however it could be used for everything.

Karsus used this element to enhance enchantments on walls, for example projecting illusions endlessly. This means that this product has the ability of keeping a spell functioning in it (as we see that this black weave keeps the function of the Karsus' avatar). [Dangerous Games, 2e]

Naturally, heavy magic absorbs life energies (maybe another characteristic fitting the concept of disease and necrotic effects). There is an event (2e) related to this aspect in which the renegade arcanist Wulgreth became a lich after heavy magic overflew him [Power and Pantheons, 2e]

As it is easy to see, this concept shares a lot of similarities with the object stuck in Gale's chest. But there is still more:

In the novel Dangerous Games (2e), strongly focused on how Karsus experimented with Heavy Magic, it is explicitly said that Karsus infused himself with super heavy magic before casting Karsus' avatar (probably to magnify the spell power but we also know that heavy magic can get spells stuck in it). He grew taller, and glowed in a white-silver radiance. Babbling arcane chants, the super heavy magic raged within him until he came into a state of being between a man and deity. Then it followed his folly. Karsus “died”, turning his body into red-hued stone, bound in eternal torment to relieve repeatedly the moment he became aware of his folly.

So there exists a chance that a pieces of super heavy magic (in which Karsus was infused when all this happened) may have kept Karsus' Avatar effect stuck in them. One of these pieces could have been recovered later around the red stone where Karsus is now. This could potentially be the object or, at least, in what it had inspired Gale's “orb”. It's also worth noticing that one of the main characters in this novel Dangerous Games was looking for ways to safely contain heavy magic and avoid its damaging effect, so there is extra lore information about vessels that could justify the sealed book that Gale found in Waterdeep.

As an extra detail on this matter, we know that the runes of teleportation may have been made with heavy magic: "Gale: See that rune? Netherese, I think. Weave's so thick on it, it's almost viscous."

Since Gale is calling "Weave" to the element attached to the teleport runes, it makes me wonder if this was a slight variation that Larian made of the canon concept of Heavy Magic to not add new concepts to the already complex world of Forgotten Realms. Maybe, in the end, both hypotheses are the same: the second one is strictly more canon-related than the first one, which is more or less the same but simplified in terms and concepts.

As a last conclusion from my personal point of view, I see no much sense in calling this thing “orb”. In game it's clearly described as an amorphous black mass, not an orb. And it made me remember Gale's original description, when the EA was not released yet: it's the only way where I can see its nonsensical origin, which was done in a completely different context.

Gale has one ambition: to become the greatest wizard Faerûn has ever known. Yet his thirst for magic led to disaster. A Netherese Destruction Orb beats in his chest, counting down to an explosion that can level a city. Gale is confident he'll overcome it, but time is not on his side.

After the game was released in EA, Gale's description changed radically, and therefore his current description has a different approach entirely, removing the concept of "orb" for what we know in the game: “ancient chaotic magic”.

Wizard prodigy: Gale is a wizard prodigy whose love for a goddess made him attempt a dread feat no mortal should. Blighted by the forbidden magic of ancient Netheril, Gale strives to undo the corruption that is overtaking him and win back his goddess’ favour before he becomes a destroyer of worlds.

This is one of the many details that make me believe that Gale's original concept/character was changed significantly before the EA release. But this is a mere personal speculation. For more details on netherese magic, read the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR".

Source:

2nd edition: Powers and Pantheons, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Dangerous Games by Emery Clayton. 3rd Edition: Faith and Pantheon, Magic of Faerûn 4th edition Player's Handbook 5th edition: Player's Handbook, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

#bg3 meta #bg3 lore #bg3 early access #gale #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale

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idontfindyouthatinteresting · 4 years

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The Last of Us Part 2: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

- Confucius

HUGE SPOILERS - DO NOT READ THIS WITHOUT HAVING FINISHED THE LAST OF US PART 2

This game was not for me. Let me be clear by what that means, I played The Last of Us Part 1 only this year, after hearing a lot about it being amazing and realizing I actually got the game for free with my PS4 many years ago and it’s sat in a drawer since. I don’t like horror games, I particularly don’t do zombies. I hit a couple of walls but I finished the game, and I was happy when I did. I felt and was very vocal about how the power of the performances and the narrative got me through that game and left me feeling good about something that was so contrary to everything I enjoy in video games and media generally.

The Last Of Us Part 2 pushed this to it’s absolute limit, came within a hairs width of breaking. When it was done I was overjoyed it was done, that I didn’t have to tear, hack and beat anyone else.

If this game had an Uncharted style quote tag line, it would without doubt be “before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” in playing this game, I felt like I was burying Ellie, the painful dichotomy of having to physically push her forward yourself whilst the entire time wanting her to stop, every time she hit another mark, every time the rabbit hole got deeper and the people around her suffered, every time her ruthless pursuit of revenge dumped her in another Scrambler hell hole. The violence in this game is suffocating and I would not be critical of anyone who needed to put it aside and take a breath.

As much as the violence is one of the centre tenets of the game, those who enjoy that sort of game, probably won’t be into this one. It is constantly self critical, the effect of what the characters are going through is beautifully translated in the performances and counterpointed when you’re asked to view the last of humanity at war with one another for nothing beyond tribal angst or trek through the museum, zoo or aquarium, taking care of JJ, listening to Dina talk about her faith, in one of the games small moments of peace. Something Naughty Dog does well consistently.

The score, hell the score, from tender solo guitars to that heart pounding combat suite, was perfect. Tension was something I expected from this game based on the first and it delivered.

Gameplay was great, I’ve seen some reviews state that it’s what was offered in the first game, still happy with it. It’s not what you got in the first game it’s more complex, satisfying and flexible.

I love rooting and looting for things, I love the satisfaction of having a full kit and all the materials to craft more. There were minor changes to the system whereby your characters have to read prepper type guides to learn their skills and if you don’t find them you don’t get the skills. As I literally enter a level and follow the wall left until I’ve covered every surface I didn’t have a problem with missing too much (I don’t know how I missed coins, cards and journals my first play through, where the hell are they?!) but if you’re not thorough you’re going to struggle.

There were also new types of equipment and weapons, but also a whole new character. At the start, playing as Abby through the sort of tutorial run, and then seeing her kill Joel, I was not looking forward to playing as her. Concerned about the drive I’d have to play as that character, dreading it, really. You learn to care and love Abby very quickly, and I know I’m not alone in this. In truth, her and Ellie are the same, and if you can manage sympathy for Ellie in her fits of revenge, then you cannot be critical of Abby and what she did. The ultimate comment on the violence, that it’s circular, cannot be without consequence, on your heart and soul, on those around you. Dig two graves.

Abby is an amazing character to be. She packs a punch, her fight against the Rat King my god. A nod and a wink to Daryl Dixon in parts. She sacrifices everything she has to protect Yara and Lev, testaments to how the violence must stop, she’s becoming a protector of that and I’d love to see how that develops in a potential third game.

The most jarring part of Abby’s story is the point where you’re hunting Ellie, hunting yourself. This is an odd sensation, something that I found in Detroit: Become Human when you’re having a foot pursuit with, yourself. When you’re playing both sides, do you want to fight hard enough? how are you supposed to win? The thing, is you’re not. You lose either way. Another point of self criticism in this game.

Joel is a constant specter in this game. In the first game he provides stability, consistency, the moments that he’s unwell and failing are some of the most terrifying, begging for him back. Joel will know what to do. The truth of it is, is that Joel is just swept up in the story, completing his dead friends final wish, a delivery job.

The one act that he has that is his own, the one thing he does to drive the narrative beyond simply survive is take Ellie out of that hospital and lie to her, dooming humanity in the process. The difficulty is of course, I’d have done the same.

The importance of that moment and that decision cannot be understated, that hospital door returns and returns like a fever dream in Part 2 for both Ellie and Abby it was their defining moments for much of the game and truly the narrative is how they overcome what happened in that room. For Abby it houses guilt and Ellie it houses lies.

Still in part 2, despite being dead Joel is stability, familiarity in a strange world, warmth and home. The non-linear elements provide a breath of fresh air when it’s needed. He’s such a likable character, papa bear who just can’t let go and it’s endearing.

I hadn’t seen the spoilers, I don’t know if people saw his death scene before the game came out, but I hadn’t and when I finally did it was truly horrendous. Ellie’s pleads for him to get up I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget them, that if he’d just get up everything would suddenly be fine just proves his role as a source of stability. Just like Ellie the whole game I was waiting for Joel to turn up, to miraculously and inexplicably be ok and sort everything out. The hopelessness of this is very real and powerful.

Sometimes, we watch films, listen to music, experience art that is upsetting, and makes us reflect, this game is that. There are no winners, I didn’t beat this game, this game beat me, relentlessly. But this experience is important, and thought provoking, and powerful. Effortlessly beautiful, all about the details.

This is not what anyone expected from a sequel to The Last of Us, but it’s what it needed to be. It stands alone in this genre but should stand proud.

Play this game, but take care of yourself as you do it. It asks a lot of you.

#The Last of Us #The Last of Us Part 2 #Naughty Dog #I had some feels #I had a lot of feels #mine #review #gaming

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dreadnought-dear-captain · 4 years

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Happy (Slightly Belated) Birthday, Baghdad Waltz!

*CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BAGHDAD WALTZ UP TO CHAPTER 37*

I know these are stressful times right now, but I wanted to post a little something for BW’s third birthday on 3/13/2020 (and I’m a little late because I had a lot to say). THREE!! I cannot believe it. Truly, I cannot, but here we are. I know there are still a few stragglers hanging around from when I first started posting this story (extra hearts to you all), so many people who have come and gone and sometimes return again, and so many new people joining this crazy journey all the time.

You are all so great, and you make it possible for me to keep writing this. I probably would have quit a long time ago without your support, because this shit has been quite hard to sustain sometimes. I know I am very bad at keeping up with comments and things, and I’m so sorry. I am terrible with social media, too. People IRL will say the same thing about me. I am super old school and still talk on the phone with my friends. I KNOW.

(Heyyyy Bayside High)

I’ve prepared a couple of things for BW’s birthday. First, a few statistics I thought I’d whip up. Then a few questions and answers about BW, both from myself and from my beloved beta, @pitchforkcentral86. And I’m still trucking away diligently at chapter 38! I just have a few scenes to go.

-- BW Statistics --

---------------------------------------------

Words to date: 526,011

Chapters to date: 37

Shortest chapter: 3,821 words (Prologue)

Longest chapter: 31,395 words (Chapter 33)

Number of words per chapter: 12,530 (median), 14,257 (average) (note: the median is probably a better measure, since this is such an abnormal distribution - see below for the changes in chapter length over time)

Estimated total work to date: 2,890-3,120 hours (approx 18-20 hours/week). This includes writing, rewriting, editing, research, conversations with beta, outlining, and a small portion of the brainstorming. This is a conservative estimate and only includes a fraction of the ambient thinking I do about this story. And God, I do so much processing when I sleep! Perhaps I will be a BW “expert” -- estimated at around 10,000 hours I guess? -- by the time I am done with the story and all my revisions hahahahaaaaaa D:

Money spent to date (estimated): $600-700. This includes books on various subject matter and writing craft, video access to therapy education resources, and other educational materials. This does not include the incalculable sum in lost productivity from thinking about BW when I’m supposed to be doing other things!

Most of you probably don’t know this, but @pitchforkcentral86 is not just a beta reader. She is my partner in crime with BW. She knows my characters as well as I do, sometimes better. She helps me troubleshoot scenes, she tells me when my writing sucks, when my I’m not being true to my characters, when I’m not being real enough (sometimes when I’m being TOO real). She gives me porn inspiration and listens to me bitch and calls my bullshit and makes this story what it is. I really mean it - this story would not be nearly as good without her, and you can see how much better it gets once she starts to get involved around chapter 17.

So I decided I would answer some silly little questions about BW. Just my own personal opinions about stuff! And asked @pitchforkcentral86 to contribute as well. See below.

What are my favorite scenes in BW and why?

In no particular order:

The 9/11 memory (Chapter 26): When Steve is in therapy with Hope remembering when Bucky returns from Ground Zero. This was one of the first times I experimented with writing in a sort of stream-of-consciousness way (though certainly not the last!). I have done several tweaks to it since the original version, texturing it more. It’s so rich in detail, visceral detail, little details about their relationship, pieces of Bucky’s past, clues about his alcoholism, the way he handles stress, his difficulties letting Steve in, the love Steve has for him, Bucky’s need to be loved and cared for and his aversion for it, it’s so, so rich. Gah. I love it. (GUH and @buckydunpun’s ART - just murder me. Thanks.)

The Thor “breakup” scene (Chapter 28): This is the moment I think that many people realized Bucky is not a reliable narrator. Maybe they suspected it before, but this is when it’s very obviously apparent. His entire interpretation of his relationship with Thor is thrown into question. He built a rich fantasy about what they were, holding hands in the grass, all this bullshit, and he could actually say they were boyfriends, which makes complete sense because there were never any stakes. It was always surface. There was never any intimacy except as veteran/soldier friends who had sex, which is about as deep as Bucky can go anyway without getting utterly terrified.

This is in such stark contrast to Steve, where there is actual intimacy, ongoing demand for more intimacy, and this relationship feels VERY real to Bucky, and it’s very frightening to him. And that’s why he runs from the term “boyfriend” with Steve. It’s all so real. It’s easy to engage with a fake boyfriend. But still, he didn’t deliberately realize he was doing this, so it was devastating to find out the truth of his own self-deception. And to hear that he’s not the kind of guy you settle with, he’s the guy you fuck… wow. But how can you really hate Thor? (I’m sure some of you can but…) He’s a nice guy. Even Bucky knows it. So he’s run from something good and real (Steve) to something good but false (Thor) and then he gets rejected from both. It’s horrible and so self-defeating and so quintessentially Bucky. I love it.

A Close Second (Spent Brass fic): This whole side fic came together like a glorious dream. I love everything about it. It’s such a wonderful look into their relationship, into their dynamics, into their individual personalities, their idiosyncrasies, so much push-pull between them. Whispers of things that have happened to Bucky in the past, a lack of understanding from Steve, a desire to know, so much affection. Some good sex. I love this SB. But I love all the Spent Brass fics. They are so close to my heart.

Honorable mention: Bucky’s masturbation scene during his bender (Chapter 32). I had an absolute BLAST writing this. Thanks to @pitchforkcentral86 for proposing that Bucky’s core sexual/romantic desire is just to be kissed. Dayum. It all unfolded from there.

Who is the character I think about the most? Bucky. I think because he’s got the most complex history and the most complicated psychology. He’s actually fairly rule-bound in terms of how he operates, but he’s got a lot of back story that explains how he became the way he is, and I spend a lot of time considering what happened to him and how he developed his self-image, his coping strategies, and his ideas about others and the world. I think a lot about his relationship with his parents. I think a LOT about bby Jamie. It’s not because Steve is not important or any less complex. But Bucky’s childhood experiences have shaped him in very specific ways, and I want to make sure that I represent them very thoughtfully.

Who is my favorite character to write? Bucky. His voice and thought processes come to me more easily than Steve’s. Perhaps in part because of my personal penchant for the word “fuck.” I love writing his perspective, his preferences, his interpretations of situations. I love imagining the way he imagines the world.

Who is my favorite supporting character? Winnie. I know she’s a very polarizing character, but I have so much affection for her. I think she’s a badass. She joined the military as a female officer back in the 1970s, which is incredible and rough. She kept her maiden name. This is a Southern conservative woman, an Air Force brat, raised by very conservative Southern people in a very conservative Pentecostal church, but she has always had an irrepressible rebellious, feminist badass streak in her even before she knew what feminism was. She might not even define herself as a feminist now. She has always done the best she can under very difficult circumstances, and she loves her kids, even though she sometimes sucks quite badly at mothering them. I love her for her imperfections.

Favorite topic to research this year: I’ve been really enjoying researching emotionally focused couples therapy, which was developed by Sue Johnson, EdD. I’ve been watching therapy videos of couples going through this and having a wonderful time imaging Bucky and Steve going through something similar with Claire. I don’t think Claire is the strictest adherent to EFT, but I think she’s informed by it. It’s tough, because I’m very used to cognitive behavioral type therapies, so this one has been different to think about writing. I’ve also been really getting into reading about childhood sexual abuse and its effects on boys and men. It’s greatly helped my conceptualization of Bucky and Bucky and Steve’s relationship. I mean, it’s a grim topic, but there have been some fascinating threads in terms of understanding one’s self perception of sexual orientation, etc. and thinking about how Bucky would consider and contextualize his experiences.

Am I more of a Steve or a Bucky? Hmm. I don’t strongly relate to either, but I think if I had to choose, I’m a bit more of a Steve. I’m pretty expressive of my affection and positive emotions, and I’ll complain about daily life things enough. However, when it comes to major life events that really bother me, I tend to err on the side of not processing them and turning my feelings into headaches and other physical afflictions. In other words, I’m a suppressor of major emotions and events. It’s FINE. I’m FINE. Nothing to see here. But I am definitely not as tidy as Steve, nor as smart, and definitely not as buff or hot. So that’s where most of our similarities end lol. I do eat a lot of tofu though.

Who would I want to hang out with for a day? I initially thought Rikki, but like @pitchforkcentral86, think she’s actually too cool and smart for me, and I would probably just make an ass out of myself. I think probably Elektra. I know, this is a left field answer, but it’s one day! To do whatever with anyone! I want to choose someone who’s going to make it worth my while. So many of the characters are either too busy, too rigid, too anxious, too conventional, etc. I would want to run around NYC with Elektra for the day and have drinks with her and Matt afterwards at some weird-ass underground bar. My more infield answer would probably be Hank. I want him to tell me gay stories about gay things. I want to see his apartment. I want to drink coffee with him. I want him to tell me about what the AIDS crisis was like for him. I want to hear about his relationship with Howard. I want all the shit that Bucky takes for granted every day. He can be my fairy godmother any day.

Who would I want to be friends with? Probably Sharon. She’s one of the most reliable, loyal, and level-headed people in this world. She’s smart, she’s flexible, she rolls with things pretty well but also doesn’t take a ton of bullshit. She also has a good sense of humor about things. I feel like she’s someone I could call with my Zack Morris phone and talk with for hours about all sorts of things. We could also split a bottle of wine and talk some real shit.

Wait - Why not Bucky or Steve? I don’t think these two are entirely likable, to be honest. They’re good humans, they mean well, but I don’t think they’re very well equipped in the friendship department. I care about them very deeply (I hope that’s clear), but I don’t know if I’d want to be particularly close to either of them at this point in their lives. They’re both lacking in the skill and perspective to be good friends and partners, which is a major reason why they are in therapy.

Who would I want to be my therapist - Hope, Bruce, Scott, or Claire? Claire. Given how much I suck at talking about the things that are really deeply bothering me, I think I would need an emotionally focused therapist who is going to dig in there and really get me to focus on all the emotions I’m trying to shove away. I would probably try to over-intellectualize everything and deflect, and I don’t think she’d let me get away with that.

Okay, on to @pitchforkcentral86~~~~~

What are my favorite scenes in BW and why?

Oh boy. Well, this is a difficult question to answer since it feels like every chapter becomes a new favorite simply due to sheer amount of time spent planning and composing and revising and whining and complaining. And also my memory sucks. BUT, with that said, I think I would like to mention three scenes specifically:

1) Bucky on deployment, cleaning a Humvee (Chapter 7), Steve standing nearby. This scene conveyed the tension of deployment and between Steve and Bucky so well, and, perhaps more importantly, built my respect towards Bucky as a competent, caring NCO (to that effect, the small scene in which we see Bucky the NCO on film telling all the little grunts to eat so they can become big and strong is another favorite).

2) Beautiful Boy (Spent Brass), Steve’s memory from childhood with Sarah at the park, naming animals. I really don’t have a good reason other than that scene was so clear to me in my mind and was especially tender.

3) Steve sleeping with Sharon in DC (Chapter 33). Honestly, it was just a great scene, and we had a really good time planning it out.

I can include many more, and certainly the ones Dread mentioned are favorites too, but I have to stop or this will just be a squeee fest.

Who is my favorite supporting character?

Hank. His particular brand of honesty is extremely appealing to me, and I think Bucky secretly, or not so secretly, loves him too. And also Quill, just for shits and giggles because he is reliably there as an ice breaker, that lovable Mountain-Dew-drinking goof.

Favorite topic to research this year:

Well, I don’t do the research myself, but I spend many, many m-a-n-y hours listening to and conversing with Dread about all the things he’s delved into for this fic. So I guess maybe I’ll turn this question into favorite topic to discuss/conceptualize. In that respect, Bucky’s and Jack’s relationship has been by far the most intriguing, grueling, fascinating and difficult aspect of this fic to conceptualize – those were some of the best talks in the process. [Dreadnought edit: You will see much more of this in future chapters, folks!] And for a fun answer, planning out sex scenes is hilarious.

Am I more of a Steve or Bucky?

Bucky, no doubt. Sometimes it feels like Dread has climbed into my brain, found a horrible nugget of truth about me, and then put it into words coming out of Bucky’s mouth. Those moments are both wonderful and terrible in equal measure.

Who would I want to hang out with for a day?

For a whole day? Can it maybe be a coffee or, like, a quick lunch? I honestly don’t know… Neither Steve nor Bucky will be very good company, I think. Not in their current versions, anyways. Rikki is hella cool but she intimidates me, so, not her. Um.. Huh. Nope, don’t have an answer.

Who would I want to be friends with?

Probably Hank, again. He has a really good attitude. I’m starting to feel like not picking Steve/Bucky is selfish because it’s like “oh, they have too many issues and it won’t be fun”. But it’s also true! Friendship is reciprocal, and I really don’t think that’s where they’re at. (But I would have totally been dying to be friends with Steve in his bookshop days).

Who would I want to be my therapist - Hope, Bruce, Scott, or Claire?

Hope or Claire. Both are no-nonsense competent therapists. But I think maybe Hope will be too put-together for me. So, yeah, probably Claire.

-----------------------------

Okay, everyone. Back to the grind. I’ll update as soon as I can! Remember to wash your hands with the fastidiousness of BW Steve Rogers. (And also remember to sing the “happy birthday fucking everyone” song, which should actually be sung TWICE or resentfully enough that it lasts 20 seconds.)

#baghdad waltz #happy birthday #fucking everyone #I love you

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kcwcommentary · 5 years

Text

VLD5x03 – “Postmortem”

5x03 – “Postmortem”

(A note in advance: this is a long one.)

We’re back on Olkarion, again. At least this time, the show has Ryner return. With how much time was spent on Olkarion last season, it was odd to not have any Olkari characters involved in the story then. Ryner expositions that Olkarion is serving as the capital of the Voltron Coalition now. If information like that had been provided last season, it wouldn’t have felt as strange for the show to have spent so much time on Olkarion then.

“So much has changed so fast,” Sam says. I don’t understand the purpose of his comment. This is his first time on Olkarion, so he has no past here to be speaking of any of the changes the Olkari are making to their cities. He even can’t mean anything about knowing about aliens and space travel since he’s been captured by the Galra for over a year. I get annoyed by empty dialog like this that postures as if it’s saying something significant. It’s not.

“I fear tumultuous times are upon us,” Ryner says. This is more empty dialog. It’s written and performed as if it’s some unnerving portent, but the Coalition just fought a huge, multi-front assault on the Galra Empire at the end of last season. The tumultuous times have been here for a while already.

A Galra commander, with confirmation that Zarkon is dead and having intelligence that Voltron is on Olkarion, orders his ship to go there.

Allura and Lotor speak alone. She is initially polite, bordering on formal, asking him if he’s alright, but she’s starting to cross into being less formal and more conversational with Lotor. She can sense that he, like anyone would be, is going through something significant with his having killed his father. She tells him, “What you did was for the greater good, and for many of us, proof of your intentions for peace.” As much as the earlier dialog was empty, this line is not. This line of dialog uses a double-voice, the first retaining Allura’s formality, but the second voice is her personally speaking. By “for many of us,” we know she specifically is saying for herself.

The rest of Team Voltron arrives. Lance seems jealous, still, and his jealousy is still uninteresting. Lotor informs them that with the death of Zarkon, the “most formidable Galra” are going to come together for the Kral Zera to determine who’ll lead the Empire next. If he’s going to be able to influence the Galra Empire, he’ll have to attend too.

Shiro points out that this is what they’ve been discussing doing with Lotor, and Pidge responds, “Yeah, but no one told us that would involve flying into a war zone.” Team Voltron is fighting against the Galra Empire, pretty much everything is a war zone for them and has been from the beginning of the show, yet Pidge is acting like they’re not in one. I can only assume she has not been paying attention (or is just being badly written here).

Allura says they don’t have enough time to plan, Lance agrees. Shiro is not wrong when he tells them that they don’t have a choice. Intraparty conflict can be really interesting in a story, but the sides of the argument all have to seem equally reasonable. Arguing that they can’t do anything to get Lotor to the Kral Zera because of how soon it will take place doesn’t make any sense since the whole point of them working with Lotor is so that he can assume control of the Galra Empire and serve as a check on the Empire’s normal brutality. Not helping him with the Kral Zera would be abandoning the whole goal they have been working for the past couple of episodes.

Pidge and Coran agree with Allura. This makes most of the characters’ motivation inconsistent. If they’re so willing to abandon this goal now, there was no point in the show spending the past couple episodes with them wrestling with the decision to ally with Lotor. This makes the story feel like it’s drifting back to the strange casualness that it had in season four.

The show has Shiro very definitively here say that he’s the leader of Voltron, and thus he’s making the decision. So Allura begins to rant about how Shiro “armed Lotor with [his] bayard without consulting the rest of [them].” This tells us something: Everyone except Shiro last episode wanted to give Lotor over to be executed by Zarkon. None of them had a plan, so the entire time they were watching as the Lotor/Sam exchange was happening, they were doing so with the full expectation that Lotor would become Zarkon’s prisoner. Shiro and Lotor are the only ones who actually operated with the understanding that Zarkon would trick them and that they had to have some plan in place to deal with it.

This makes all of the rest of our supposed heroes complicit and guilty because they were explicitly giving into Zarkon’s demand with no other plan. They were handing Lotor over to be executed, and the only reason that didn’t happen is because Shiro acted behind their back. I find the lack of heroism in most of our supposed heroes to be seriously disturbing.

Allura yells at Shiro, “You put the entire operation in jeopardy.” What operation? She had no plan, she was just giving Lotor to Zarkon assuming that Zarkon would give them Sam in return. Why were Shiro and Lotor the only ones who understood that Zarkon would trick them? I don’t understand why this show has decided to write these characters as being so oblivious.

Lotor interjects some truth: If he doesn’t take the throne, there is a good possibility somebody as bad as Zarkon will.

Because the scene indicates most of the characters abandoned both logic and morality last episode and continue to argue without regard to logic now, the scene feels like a distortion, hollow, and the conflict in it manufactured. This scene does not leave me with a good opinion on most of the characters in this show.

Speaking of low opinions of characters, Haggar continues to stand weirdly in the middle of a room. We see that she’s watching Lotor. Because we’ve seen her do this in 4x03 “Black Site” through Narti, we know she’s doing it through one of the people in the room with Lotor. It’s not hard to then put that with last episode’s initiating Stage Four of Operation Kuron to conclude she’s using Shiro.

Like last episode, Haggar again clichédly says, “My son,” like she cares about him. As I’ve said before, I do not like this retcon the show is doing with her character. Some Galra then attack Haggar, but she teleports away, laughs like a cliché villain, and then jumps down on them. She possesses one of the attackers and uses them to kill the Galra commander who sent them.

Ezor, Axca, and Zethrid are being held in a cell. Haggar frees them.

Meanwhile, the Galra who wants to attack Olkarion arrives at the planet and sends some “payload,” which he references the Olkari as being involved with, crashing into the surface of the planet. Ryner contacts the Castle Ship and says that they’re detecting an “unknown toxin” from the impact; how she knows it’s a toxin if it’s unknown is not explained. Purple mist floats around the trees, causing lines in the trees to start glowing purple and move toward the impact site.

Haggar has returned to her middle of the room, this time with Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid with her. Haggar says she is not planning to seize power of the Empire, specifically stating that “the Empire will only accept a ruler with Galra blood.” This continues to make her seem like she’s all about wanting a puppet on the throne, the same as her pushing for Lotor to take Zarkon’s place on the throne in season three. She says they need “a natural born leader.” I’ve commented on this idea before in a commentary way earlier in the show: There is no such thing as a natural born leader. No one is born as a leader. Leadership is a set of skills, and like all skills, it is something that has to be developed. Any time I see someone talk as if leadership is an inherent quality, I have to assume that that person fundamentally does not understand leadership. Maybe that’s why this show has had so much difficulty with the part of its story dealing with characters being leaders. Most of the work on crafting the show’s story comes from perspectives that don’t understand what they’re writing about.

Haggar wants someone “with an iron will to match his iron fist.” She tells the three to “bring him to me.” I get that the show is trying to be cryptic, set up yet preserve what it wants to be a surprise about whom Haggar is speaking, but leaving him unidentified in this scene doesn’t work for me. It feels too blatant that something is being purposefully omitted in the scene. Sometimes I just don’t like being able to so easily see the decision-making process behind some writing choices like I do here. It makes the supposed suspense of whom she’s talking feel artificial.

Meanwhile, Lance is getting in target practice. I don’t think we’ve gotten any sort of normal activity scene like this in a long time. I like having a scene of a Paladin practicing; it makes the story world feel realistic, like this character could be an actual person doing actual-person things.

That Lance’s bayard turns into a sword though and the resulting conversation he has with Allura is not as nice. The sword is not Lance’s established natural weapon. That doesn’t mean that he can’t ever use a sword, but it still feels a little off. Allura says the sword is like the one her father used.

I try to avoid the psychoanalytic mode of literary criticism because that mode creeps me out to no end, but it’s kind of unavoidable here. Since the show is moving Allura and Lance toward a relationship, and Lance has always been into Allura since the first instant he saw her, the show focuses on Allura changing from being bothered by Lance into liking him. I would much rather have her end up liking him because he realized his flirtatiousness was excessive and he grew out of that, and in so doing opened himself up in a way that Allura could then see something appealing in him. But instead, the show gives us moments like this for Allura to compare Lance to her father. This makes any attraction she eventually has for Lance not about her desires but about what she lost with her father’s death. I’m just not a fan of the idea of a guy being romantically appealing to a woman because he makes her think of her father.

With Lauren Montgomery having said in an interview that she considered having the show end with Allura being reincarnated as an infant – literally infantilizing Allura – and having Lance raise Allura, the boyfriend-father juxtaposition of this scene feels even creepier.

Their conversation drifts to Shiro. Allura says, “Shiro has been quite difficult lately.” I know the show wants us to agree with Allura since it’s beginning to advance some of the clone plotline, but it doesn’t work for me because Shiro is the only one of Team Voltron that speaks sense.

“Thank you, Lance. Speaking with you has actually made me feel better,” Allura says. “What do you mean, ‘Actually?’” he says. They laugh. Apparently, that was supposed to be a joke. I wonder if literally anyone who’s watched this scene laughed at that.

The show switches to the Holt family. It seems like Sam has been thinking that Pidge and Matt are going with him to Earth, but Pidge says that they have more work to do with Voltron and the rebels, respectively. Sam seems surprised, but I don’t really know why.

We’ve had three scenes, two of which were very casual, between this next one and the last time this episode was dealing with what’s supposed to be the main plot of the episode: the thing that crashed into Olkarion and is messing with the plants. I had kind of forgotten that this plant thing main plot was even happening because of the intervening scenes. That makes the tension and threat feel nonexistent, which is not a good thing for the main plot of a story.

The plants have been infected with what the Galra are calling a virus. It’s turned the plants into a giant cannon, which starts shooting at the Black Lion as Shiro’s trying to get a look at what’s going on in the forest. A shot of the Galra cruiser advancing on Olkarion makes Olkarion look like a moon around a gas giant planet. Maybe I missed this when Olkarion was shown in the past; has it always been in orbit around this gas giant? And if so, why is that gas giant never depicted in the Olkarion sky? You would be able to see it. The plants overtake the city, and everyone freaks out.

Matt and Sam run onto the bridge where Coran is monitoring the situation. Sam asks, “Where are the Lions?” like he’s been part of Team Voltron longer than the few hours that he’s been there. It feels so unnatural for him to make this comment.

The giant plant cannon has a giant mouth. Ryner’s reaction feels so artificial. “I don’t understand. That monster resembles one of our tree-mechs. It’s as if the forest is being corrupted,” she says. Having a character speak words of bafflement like this only works if we viewers don’t already that is the result of a virus. Since we already know that “the forest is being corrupted,” her line here has no weight.

It’s sad that as I’m watching the form-Voltron animation repeat yet again, I’m thinking, well, at least with this animation taking up time, I don’t have to watch some other absurd scene. That I don’t trust this show to give me a decent scene that I’m welcoming the form-Voltron animation wasting time in the episode does not reflect well on the quality of story in this episode.

I’ve gotten so used to Shiro ordering, “Form Shield,” that it feels weird hearing him order, “Shield Up.” Voltron ends up landing on the ground and the plants wrap around Voltron. Allura suggests separating into Lions, which they can’t do because the plants fully cover Voltron. The plant-covered-Voltron-mass starts floating in the air like a balloon, and I have no idea why. The plant monster moves on toward the city.

Shiro asks Ryner about the Olkarion city’s new cannon that looks like a donut. She says it’s not operational but might could shoot once. Ryner charges the cannon, targets the monster, gets right to the point of shooting before the new cannon fails. Despite the donut-cannon being covered in purple-glowing vines, she’s baffled at first why the cannon fails, but then her whole building is covered in vines. “All of our systems, they’ve been compromised,” she says. For being from a culture that’s prominently made up of really knowledgeable and skilled engineers, Ryner’s inability to know what’s going on feels unnatural.

Matt communicates with Pidge, saying that the vines seem like they’re infected with a computer virus. This might would function as a revelation if we hadn’t had the Galra commander refer to it as such a lot earlier in the episode. “It’s like a computer and a virus rolled into one,” Pidge says. I couldn’t help but to laugh. I kind of feel like the episode is going to start explaining to me what a telephone modem is or something.

Sam suggests they can hack the plasma-mass that’s infecting the plants and shut it down. Matt says they’d have to figure out a way to interface with it first. Since the plants are shutting down Voltron and shutting down Olkarion systems, it would seem to me that the interface is already existing.

Pidge says, “This virus is affecting Voltron on a submolecular level.” Now it seems the episode is conflating a biological virus with a computer virus. A computer virus, which is what Matt said this was, is just data. It’s not physical, so it can’t do anything on a submolecular level. This plot feels like a mess. “To drive it out, we have to tap into the quantum energy that bonds us all to Voltron,” Pidge concludes. Great, the problem is going to be solved by the characters literally doing nothing.

Allura declares something that I don’t remember ever being said before: “The bayards […] amplify each Paladin’s life force.” I guess, whatever.

The Galra cruiser has arrived and is using a tractor beam to pull the cocooned Voltron in. Coran watches it happening on a monitor. How the Galra got that close to the situation and he didn’t react until now, I don’t know. He says, “It’s the Galra. This is all their doing.” His statement is supposed to be dramatic, but since we’ve known this is the Galra for a long time, his dialog creates no tension. It actually has the opposite effect: it’s making the lack of tension in the episode more prominent.

Somehow, despite the infected plants covering the city, Matt and Sam are able to exit the Castle Ship, walk through the Castle Ship’s shield, despite the fact that the show has established that no one can do that, make their way through the infected plants unharmed and uncaptured, and into the building where Ryner is. The fact that their journey would not be possible is ignored by having them just show up in the room with Ryner after our having last seen them standing on the bridge of the Castle Ship.

Ryner tells Matt and Sam, “I’m trying to interface with the vines to stop their growth, but I can’t communicate with the nanocellulose.” That sounds nonsensical since this is supposed to be a computer virus, but whatever. This is just part of the problem with the show trying to conflate plants and technology. But then comes a big problem for me.

Matt responds, “We don’t need to stop it. We just need to reroute it.” Ryner, leader of the Olkarion, people of genius-level engineers, replies to Matt, “Grab a headpiece. Show me.”

Matt and Sam have never used Olkarion headpieces before. They do not have a lifetime of working with Olkarion plant-technology the way Ryner has. But Matt and Sam, white men, know better than an Olkarion how to use Olkarion technology. This is more offensive pro-colonialist thought being written into the show. Ugh!

Matt and Sam put on the headpieces, touch a nearby piece of plant, which start to glow green instead of purple. I’m so tired of this show solving problems by having characters touch something until it glows.

The Paladins slam their bayards simultaneously into their Lions. Everything glows white until the Paladins then find themselves standing in some stream of energy. Lance, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge are there, but not Shiro. This is foreshadowing that Shiro isn’t actually Shiro but a clone. The four of them yell Shiro’s name repeatedly. He eventually halfway appears, though his face remains cloaked in shadow. There’s some increased meaningless glowing, and the Paladins each disappear until only Lance and Shiro remain.

Shiro calls out Lance’s name, saying “Listen to me.” Lance yells, “What?” as he disappears, unable to hear Shiro. I guess this was supposed to have been the real Shiro who’s being held in the Black Lion’s psychic space since dying at the end of season two?

Voltron’s eyes glow and it breaks free of the plants. The Olkarion cannon blows up the Galra cruiser. Matt and Sam are no longer wearing the headpieces. I don’t know how “rerouting” the computer virus-infected plants’ growth results in the cannon being able to be fired. I doubt anyone working on this episode has even the slightest ability to explain it either.

Voltron, which had been just a bit above the ground with the Galra cruiser, comes diving in as if coming from space to intercept a blast from the plant-monster in the Olkarion city. The logistics of this is a mess. Voltron slams into the plant-monster and pushes it to the edge of the city. It wraps plants around Voltron again. Pidge says, “The virus, it’s trying to absorb Voltron.” Is this different than when it had wrapped around Voltron the first time? It looks the exact same.

Red is the only Lion not grappled by the plant-monster, so Lance screams for an absurdly long period of time, maneuvers Red to be within the mouth of the plant-monster, and then blasts Red’s main cannon. That the plant-monster can be destroyed by just one blast from a Lion’s main cannon makes it seem like they should have been able to take this thing out a lot more easily that they have. But, whatever. The plant-monster explodes.

There’s some narratively unearned group sunset gazing scene. We’re supposed to feel some relief and poignancy, but the plot wasn’t significant enough to earn this.

Sam says, “Kids, I need to talk to you again about returning to Earth.” Matt responds with a sharp, “Dad,” as if no one can see coming Sam saying he understands Pidge and Matt needing to do the work they’re doing. It’s cliché. “I understand now,” Sam says. How Pidge and Matt fighting to rescue him didn’t result in him already understanding, what he learned from this attack on Olkarion that he didn’t already know, the show does not explain. (Because there is nothing new for him to have learned from it.)

Sam says he has to inform the Galaxy Garrison about what’s going on in the universe. “There’s a war coming,” he says. Another cliché. Also, not news. The war isn’t coming, the war’s been going on for the entire show, so saying one’s coming here in the fifth season makes it seem like the show itself hasn’t been paying attention to its own story.

Lance asks Shiro about what he was trying to tell him in the void. Shiro says that he doesn’t know, that things went dark for him for a moment during it. The camera lingers on Shiro staring into the distance, trying to make us feel ominous about Shiro.

Haggar continues to stand in the middle of her room doing nothing. Her mindless lurking in the middle of her room is laughable at this point, but I think the show thinks that it’s appropriately creepy or something. Ezor, Zethrid, and Axca return with Sendak, revealing who Haggar asked them to get for her earlier in the episode. I guess his return is supposed to be dramatic and ominous, but it’s been so long since he was last in the story – if I remember correctly, the last time we saw him was in 1x11 “Crystal Venom” as he was jettisoned out into space – that it doesn’t have the weight that the show wants it to have.

This episode is, as I said multiple times in this commentary, a mess. The intraparty conflict between Shiro and the rest of the Paladins is annoying because the specifics of the Lotor/Sam exchange situation in this and last episode make Shiro right, and the other Paladins look absurd for trusting Zarkon and immoral for turning a prisoner over to be executed. The pacing of this episode is jarring. There’s too much cliché dialog. The plant-plot is uninteresting. The threat is poorly defined, and the solution is amorphous.

It’s amazing (in a bad way) that Zarkon was this show’s main villain for two seasons. He was killed last episode. And this episode spends only one scene talking about it, having characters reflect on it. Very little of the emotion that should accompany Zarkon’s death actually does in this show. How am I expected to care about the plot development if the show doesn’t have the characters caring about it? This makes the plot have no weight.

There are some points that are technically existent in the episode that would be expected in an episode following Zarkon’s death: Team Voltron has their one scene briefly talking about the power vacuum that is left in the Galra Empire because of Zarkon’s death, and that is mirrored with the Galra commander attacking Olkarion and Haggar seemingly to become Emperor (and become her puppet). But despite being an important part of the on-going arc for the show, they don’t feel prominent enough in this episode. The episode ends up feeling like it only halfway is attending to the show’s story.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 5 #vld 5x03 #commentary

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hopefulwhisperscollectorstu-blog · 5 years

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The Reduced Down on Technique Portion Uncovered

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The Reduced Down on Technique Portion Uncovered

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monasatlantis · 3 years

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My first review of „Hajimari no Kiseki“ (played with spreadsheet)

Ever since I know that Hajimari no Kiseki (or Trails of Reverie) will not be released in English until (what probably will be late autumn of) 2023 I am very frustrated about the fact that there is no way in hell that I will be able to stay away from Kuro no Kiseki spoilers until this game will be released in English (what will probably be not earlier then the end of 2025 if not later). You see, after I spoiled most of CS3, CS4 and also a large part of Hajimari for me, because I just couldn’t wait that long for its English release, I decided I wanted to play a Trails-game “blind” for once and Kuro is perfect as it starts with new characters and a new place and so on. BUT I am a spoiler-junkie, so waiting freaking 4 years to get my hands on this game and not feeling the urgent need to collect any spoilers until then is almost impossible for me. Plus, until 2025 its very likely that Kuro no Kiseki 2 & maybe even 3 are out at this point already and you know how it goes. The deeper we go into the story, the more characters of the previous games will have cameos in the Kuro-Saga. And the more characters I love show up there, the harder it will get for me to not fish for Spoilers. Okay let’s face it, as soon as one of my favorites will show up in on of the sequels, there will be no force in hell that will be able to stop me from getting all the freaking spoiler XD

So… how does one solve this problem? There was only on way to do it: Thank the people who made the freaking spreadsheet, buy Hajimari no Kiseki on Amazon.jp and get your Computer and Playstation ready to play on remote-play. So that – hoping that someone would do a spreadsheet for Kuro as well – I would be able to get through the next Saga within a year of its release (or so) without having to drown myself in spoiler again to survive the wait until the English release. In other words: I wanted to play Hajimari, so that I could go into Kuro with a clear conscience, since I finished the previous game and thus rounded up the other free previous Sagas just nicely.

And here now is my review of Hajimari no Kiseki and my description of how I was able to handle the spreadsheet…

Let me tell you that handling the spreadsheet is very easy, especially if your PC and Playstation are already ready for remote play (as it so happens, I prefer to play on my computer and thus I’ve been playing with remote play before) and there is nothing much left to do aside from opening the spreadsheet, after changing a few control-buttons in the game-menu.

I say it took me roughly 3 to 5 hours to get the hang of how the spreadsheet works and how and when to best operate it. And after that, it mostly guided me through the game without many issues. (excluding jumping 2000 lines or so, that was a shore, but maybe it was just me being to stupid to push the right button to jump from line 1000 to 2400 without problems. Once again, that aside, the spreadsheet worked amazingly for me and it tells you all of the things you need to know to get the plot and don’t miss any development on either characters or story.

The most annoying thing was that you couldn’t decide who you want to talk to. It not critique on the spreadsheet because it was definitely already hard enough to make it, as it is. Its just something that was bothering me a bit while I was playing. Sometimes there were people I didn’t wanted to talk to that I had to if I wanted to follow the spreadsheet and there were people I wanted to talk to, that the spreadsheet did not tell you to talk to. It takes a bit getting used to. Once again tho, its no big issue. P

The only other thing that MIGHT be a bit troublesome is that there are some choices in the game were you have to follow the spreadsheet, even if you don’t want to OR you do it like me and don’t follow the spreadsheet and will be sad because what does it bring you that you bring Elie along for this fight (it was a mechanic decision, because I ALWAYS chose Elie with Lloyd, its how I always chose Alisa with Rean, I didn’t even realize I picked her until it was too late ^^’) if you don’t understand what she is saying. Once again, it is really no big issue, it just takes some getting used to or the will to accept slightly different dialogs.

PLUS when the game comes out in English and I play it again, I can do whatever I want and its normal that you just have to make some compromises when you play a game in a language you don’t understand. Playing this game with the spreadsheet is to get through the plot, so you are capable of witnessing the plot of the next game. Everything else, you can and will have when you buy the English localization.

Alright, lets finally talk about the game itself.

I’ve watched someone playing it before, not all of it, but certain parts. There were still a few surprises here and there tho and there were moments in the game that I saw in a completely different light, after actually playing it myself.

But where to start?

First of all, Hajimari no Kiseki was a good game. I really enjoyed playing it, even with the extra difficulty do to not being able to read the names (and descriptions) of quartzes and crafts and so on. (There IS something in the spreadsheet were you can search for stuff like that and translates it, but it was too time consuming for me to really use it. I play on very easy and am not a strategic fighter – hence the easy difficulty – so it wasn’t a big issue for me. Not to mention that do to the battlesystem being mostly just a copy of the one from CS4, it wasn’t too hard to know what to do when and the muscle-memory worked just fine for me too, when I needed to push certain buttons. Like, I wanted to switch characters and my hand seemed to automatically go to the right button – it will honestly be really hard to readjust in Kuro.

Anyway, something that I first thought was annoying but actually added something good to the game was the switching between the characters. Even tho I though the force-switch between Reans-Team and “C”s-Team in chapter 2 was a bit annoying, all in all it was nice to have 3 different storys play out at the same time. Because even if you found Lloyds story currently a bit boring, switching to Reans-Team might just give you the action that you needed and then going over to (SPOILER! I AM NOT HIDING THE IDENTITY OF “C” HERE!) Rufus – Team were the pacing was a bit faster was just making it feel good. Also, handling the different MCs with their different teams was also very refreshing. Especially as the chemistry was different and thus the feeling when you played the different teams. Not to mention that Reans-Team was changing with every chapter, which once again gave it a great variation of dynamics, depending who was currently on your team. It is almost sad to think about going back to playing the same MC with mostly the same team all the time in Kuro. Because this “3 MCs with different Teams” – thing was really refreshing and enjoyable.

When I was watching the guy play the game a lot of people complained that at the end of the day, we were going through the same old patterns that we were already used too and that that is boring. And even tho it is true, that we have a lot of things that… you know… happened again or at least look like we’ve been through them before, it never felt boring to me. Not when I was watching it and not when I was playing it myself. Because it fit well into the plot. As an example, Lloyd once again has to go around to gather his friends – who are currently facing their own problems – and yes, we’ve done almost the same in the Crossbell-Saga, but it fit very well with the situation, because the SSS had lost themselves and they were finding themselves again and that figuratively and literally. Also, the fact that Lloyd was finding and reuniting them shows him at the center of the SSS, just like it was with Rean in CS2, when he too had to find and reunite his friends again. Plus, I really liked how we took the time with the individual characters and deal with their problems without too much other characters intervening. Especially with the Crossbell-Saga, were we never got I satisfying ending for, it was important to put the characters into a position were you as a player would feel like they are fine. Just like we have reached it with most of the people from the Erebonia-Saga, so that saying goodbye in CS4 felt really whole.

Speaking of which. While in the other routes, the plot focuses not just on the MC but also the characters surrounding him, in Reans-Route, it mostly felt like he was the main-focus of everything and it does make perfect sense, because the reason the prologue of CS4 felt so whole and satisfying was, because everyone’s story was finished. Everyone had found their place and purpose and happiness… everyone but Rean. Now, back then we focused on the fact that Rean was still alive and realizes of some of his burdens and thus seemed to be happy too. But was his arc really fully finished? No. And the latest moment in Hajimari you realize this, is when he FINALLY says that he understood that to make others happy, he has to be happy himself. So what we are doing in Hajimari is going to face his problems and see him learn to solve or deal with them. He has the help of his friends and comrades as always and of course the plot itself is not just “Rean learning to not constantly sacrifice himself” but all in all this is the true background of his route and I found that they did that really well.

Now… lets talk about Rufus-Route… I just freshly finished my second playthrough of CS4 and it was really fresh for me what that bastard did their and I was sure as heck that I would never forgive this guy for what he did. And… I mean… it’s not like I’ve really forgiven him or that I absolutely get why most of the fandom loves him now. BUT I have to admit that they made his redemption-arc really good. For ONCE in one of our many side-switching former enemies life’s, it felt like this character really worked hard for his redemption and earned it. Rufus team was by far the most enjoyable do to the weird misfitting mix of people that had just such an amazingly enjoyable chemistry that it never got boring to play their part of the game. It was also nice to – while we had already well established teams on Llyods and Reans side – see how the characters grew to know and like each other and become a team. Adding Duvalie, Renne and Arios too the mix later on was just making it even better – as ridiculous as this sounds.

So… let me be myself for a bit and let me talk to you about the shipping-aspect of the game for a moments – and let me add some frustration about how they handled Reans situation too, while I am at it.

Here is the thing. Most of us, likely have chosen Rean to be with one of his 12 or so possible girls. The game makes it possible for you to chose one of the among them regardless of who you picked in the previous game. So… in case you suddenly realizes that Alfin is much better for Rean than Towa, you can go for it. Now the question just is, what does this choice add to the game? Basically nothing. Let me tell you, that the Spreadsheet choses Fie as Reans final partner (which was a surprise for me, as all the lets players on YouTube always seemed to choose Laura – which gets annoying after a while if she is not on your top 5 list, if you know what I mean – so I am certainly not complaining here) and I wouldn’t chose anyone but Alisa as Reans final partner even if you torture me XD So I went with it and accepted that I would get addition text for Fie and probably would miss some translated text for Alisa. But I was fine with it. It didn’t happen that way tho. BECAUSE you can also chose the people you had a strong bond with in CS4 which also added additional text. The spreadsheet chose all of them – I didn’t. So EVERYONE got some additional lines. ALL of the girls did. And something I’ve realized was, that they all had an romantic context, which was slightly irritating, given that Rean has a girlfriend now – but I mean, its Rean right? Were talking about the girl sitting in the hotspring together with Claire, flirting with her without even noticing it. So whatever XD

Thing is… when I’ve reached Alisas reunion scene (which happens freaking late in the game, let me tell you all about the torture I went through…) there was no additional line. She says the same things if you chose her as your partner, like she does if you just chose her as one of your strong bonds. And that goes for ALL the girls, which is why their lines sound romantic, because they are made to also be used in case she is your girlfriend. Meaning that Falcom doesn’t make a damn difference between who Rean dated and who Rean just had a strong bond with. Imagine my disappointment!

Lets stay with our glory hunt for a little bit longer. Rean, as he is Rean, has a few canon moments with certain girls that are flirty or… slightly considered romantic. Regardless of any choices, I may add. And no, Alisa is not among them, to probably most peoples surprise. Seriously, we don’t even get a reunion-hug. That is the first time since CS2 that we didn’t get a Rean x Alisa hug. It was HORRIBLE! XD The link event was also reduced back to the “high five” that is common ground for Rean and Alisa since CS1 (we just skipped CS4 for a special hand holding and akward moment link event – but I am sure not complaining ;P) which is fine for me, as even Estelle and Joshua just get a “High five” (a very cute one tho!) and other almost canon-shippings aren’t going much further then that either. So… no biggie. Anway… as you know by now, Alisa will not be in Reans team until the freaking final chapter. She joins Lloyds Team in chapter 3 (or so…) a she (as well as Towa) was in Crossbell when things went down the drain there. Now you might be wondering if I too agree that Alisa had no leg up whatsoever in Hajimari, as many people proudly say. I DO NOT! Look, yes, we’ve got deprived of many special moments that we usually have, but lets face it, as a Rean x Alisa fan I am spoiled rotten. We got hugs and kisses as early as freaking CS2! We have gotten one of the most amazing Reunion-Hugs ever in CS3 (only slightly rivaled by Elie and Lloyd – and we get to their special status quo in a minute) and NO ONE had a special link event in CS4 but Rean and Alisa and to top it off, even if you do not do Alisas Bonding-Events, even if you do not date her at all, you WILL get the hand-holding-link-event in CS4, like it or not. So… lets face it, yes, we are used to far too much special treatment to our ship, especially considering that its not officially canon (yet, I may add ;P) and yes, that caused some disappointment on my side at certain points in the game.

BUT all in all I can not complain. Alisas name is often the only one on his lips. Towa, Machias and Sharon are currently stuck in Crossbell and Alisas name is almost always the only one he mentions. When he tries to reach Crow on the phone, but doesn’t seemed to be able to do that, he actually slightly panics and adds that he just can not reach Alisa. Alisa. Not Towa, his Coworker. Not Machias, his Friend. Also not Sharon everyone favorite maid, who he sure as hell has the number of as well. No, he was only trying to reach Alisa and he was only frustrated about not being able to reach her. AND despite the fact that he is obviously just hiding how worried he is, this little moments, is the only one were he allows himself to show that. That little moments when he can’t reach Alisa. The reunion-scene really isn’t special, but after that we can find Alisa almost always exactly were she belongs, which is right next to Rean. We also have some wonderful small moments in the final chapter. Starting with the in-synch-reaction after hearing Ishmelga-Reans awful story and ending with Alisa being so close to Rean on that Rooftop in Crossbell that there is only on camera-angle which even allows you to see that she is in fact right next to him. So yes… as an Rean x Alisa fan, I might got a bit disappointed because we didn’t get the usual super special treatment, but believe me, we did not run out of the normal special treatment. Alias leg is still up.

Achem…

Lets get to Crossbell now. Falcom had the guts to reveal in an interview that Elie and Lloyd are a thing but didn’t have the backbone to make it canon in Hajimari. They even dared to give Lloyd a special scene with almost every of his available girls. BUT if we are talking about legs up… I would say the reunion hug and the “I want to support you with my heart” – moment, were still giving Elie a leg up. Not to mention that there were multiple small hints here and there at them being an item, so there is no need to worry. I say this ship has sailed. FINALLY another ship has sailed in Crossbell. We’ve all been waiting for this since the Crossbell-Sagas relatively early days. Yes, Mirelle and Randy FINALLY got from “former Co-Workers” (my ass!) to “a married couple” and that in the short span between the beginning and the end of this game. I wish all our ships would be that efficient and fast XD

Did I hear some rumors about Wazy and Noel? Who knows!

Lets move to Rufus-Team, shall we? I am not talking about him and the Lolie… because… not sure what this even is about ^^’ But lets talk about 3 and 9. I mean, Swin and Nadia. (I love them talking about the book, by the way XD) and how Falcom uses the “Sibling” – Zone on us yet again. Seriously, Swin and Nadia are really cute together and its sure that they will become a couple eventually. I mean, there is a scene in the reverie-part of the game were Nadia is complaining about being sister-zoned. And who is the one answering her with the words “its just a phase, Jusis did that with me too”? Guessed it right, Millium. The one with the freaking cutest Link-Events you have EVER seen. Seriously, I loved my Rean and Alisa Hand holding and I absolutely adore the way Estelle and Joshua are looking at each other in their event after their hands stayed connected for a little longer then necessary and yes I jumped out of joy about Tita getting a freaking Trails-Trademark-Headpat from Agate and all. BUT look at Millius and Jusis Link-Event and tell me it is not the cutest thing you have EVER seen? I love how she leans against him like this. Its just… *chef kiss* perfect! ANYWAY… my point is, that Millium hit the nail on the head. The Sibling-Zone is a running-gag in Trails games ever since Joshua and Estelle. Now think guys, Joshua and Estelle are THE canon-couple of the whole Trails-Saga so far. And even here we had the freaking sibling-zone. This is nothing but a freaking joke. I dare to assume that ALL the sibling-zoners are eventually turn out to be couples in the end. Including Cedric and Shirley – Angie proofed to us that queerbaiting is a thing, right George?

So… honestly? All seems to be going very well shipping-wise in our games as far as I can tell. Who knows, maybe Renne will bring us good news about the two remaining ships of the Liberl-Saga in Kuro at some point. I mean, Joshua and Estelle need to get married already and Tita is 18 at the point of Kuro and with Agathe reaching his thirties, it is about time he stops sibling-zoning the girl and date her already. Geez.

I totally digress XD

So back to Hajimari. We had some really great szenes, some amazing chapters. The pacing was mostly good (a bit of a few stupid moves when Rean was in Nord aside), the character-development well done and the plot really interesting. I loved what they did with the normal-ending Reans story and how it helped our Rean to finally see the light. I was totally and absolutely amazed by Lloyds character-development as well. And once again, Rufus earned himself his redemption and I enjoyed watching it. The Riverie-Corridor too was FINALLY well done. It is not too hard, it is actually helpful and you aren’t forced to do much in there, but if you do you gain plenty of benefits from it. As someone who was like: “Oh no, not again!” after hating Phantasma in Sky3 and the Riverie Corridor at the end of CS2, I think it says a lot that I am not complaining about this thing this time, but rather praise it. Music was good. Falcom-Music. Soundtrack of CS3 is still better, but all in all it was very good as per usual. There was really barely anything to complain about.

Looking back at it, I would give it a solid 8,5 out of 10 points – and if you think that I haven’t played the real English localization yet, that has to say a lot.

#Mona plays Hajimari No Kiseki #Monas review #I really enjoyed this game

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lordendsavior · 6 years

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Olly Alexander, the frontman of the British band Years & Years, has blood-red dyed hair. He wears a brass safety pin through one ear and sometimes grins so widely, so wildly, that the edges of his mouth seem to disappear around his narrow, fine-boned face. What soon draws the eye is a scar on his forehead. “I ran into a brick wall as a kid,” the 27-year-old says over lunch at a cafe in London. He touches the scar. “I was playing at being a Power Ranger. Ouch.”

These days, Alexander plays at being a pop star – and on the surface, at least, it seems like a game that’s going well for him. With the launch of their first album in 2015, Years & Years enjoyed a really remarkable few months. They were named BBC Sound of 2015 in January, promptly going to No 1 in the UK singles chart in March, and likewise topping the album chart in July. The band’s propulsive, 90s-nostalgic dance pop (like Disclosure or Clean Bandit, only up the randiness and add a little disco) caught on. And Alexander made a quick Meghan Markle-like ascent to something like pop royalty. “One of the most influential gay pop stars of this generation,” the Gay Times wrote. “All hail the King!”

Years & Years are a three-piece – also made up of keyboard and synth player Emre Türkmen and bassist Mikey Goldsworthy – but it has always been clear that Alexander is the band’s guiding force, their chief lyricist, a Gaga-like taker of risks when he performs and a political voice, off stage, who has an appealing, glitter-speckled sense of activism. A pithy and witty speaker on LGBTQ+ rights, Alexander has also opened up engagingly about his struggles with mental health. “A lifeline to troubled young people,” the Observer wrote of him, in 2016, around the same time that Years & Years played at Glastonbury. There, Alexander wore an oversized choirboy smock strung front and back with rainbow-coloured ribbons – it was Pride weekend – and made a widely admired speech about battling prejudice. “Shove a rainbow in fear’s face,” was how he put it.

Musicians must pray for debuts like this – to come over credible, commercial, with real-world clout. No brick walls clattered into, no obvious “Ouch” moments. Or were there?

Years & Years are almost done on their second album, due this summer, and from the demos I’ve heard the new music admits a brittleness and vulnerability in Alexander that wasn’t so obvious on the 2015 debut. He is still a fabulous and steely man when in pop-star mode (at the photoshoot, he prowls around in heels and a collared lace bodysuit that make him resemble a steampunk, space-bound Queen Elizabeth I), but he cuts a shyer and less certain figure at lunch.

He arrived with a cigarette pushed behind his ear, and smoked it outside with quick, jittery puffs. Now he hunches over a salad, an elbows-in kind of eater and a nervous giggler. Of his pop-mode confidence, he says, “I wish I carried that around with me in my day-to-day life. But I don’t.” He’s wearing a pair of dungarees that he likes, he says, because they feel “like clothes that give you back a hug”.

As Alexander eats, he talks about what happened in the aftermath of that famous Glastonbury performance, once he was out of public sight. The band had been cheered off, a career high. And once backstage, the musician recalls, he sat down and wept. Inconsolable, feeling lower than he’d been in months. “It happens,” he shrugs. “A falling off a cliff. The pendulum swings.”

“When I was younger,” Alexander says, “I thought that if you were famous and successful, it would mean that you just felt happy all the time. That you would become, like, this mystical creature that people just adored. And so you would adore yourself.”

Alexander doesn’t always make eye contact, and he addresses this next bit at the napkin dispenser between us.

“Obviously I realise how ridiculous that sounds. But it wasn’t until our album got to No 1 that I realised I still believed in it. We’d basically won the lottery. I felt like I’d won the lottery. And at the same time I still felt like the same person I’d always been. And all the things that I associated with my depression, and my anxiety, those periods of feeling really low, they were still there. And I was so annoyed at myself. ”

Alexander talks about first discovering the transformative, strengthening power of a good costume. It was on a trip to Disneyland, when he was nine. “The greatest experience of my life up to then,” Alexander says. “The pomp! The whole make-believe nature of that place. It was very powerful for me.People were all wearing costumes, playing characters. It was this other reality where fun things happened, more than they seemed to in real life. And I just remember wanting to be a part of something like that.”

Theme parks were a big feature of his young life. Alexander grew up living next door to them, not one but three, first Alton Towers, then Blackpool Pleasure Beach, then Drayton Manor. His father helped launch and market new rides in these places, and the family moved wherever the work was.

He was born in 1990, the younger of two sons. His mother ran community craft groups. His father, while employed in the theme parks, tended side dreams of being a professional musician. Of his father he says, cautiously: “Quite a difficult man... Definitely not happy within himself.”

Alexander is more explicit about his own early troubles. “I used to have hallucinations and hear voices and stuff as a kid. Which sounds alarming, but it’s just the way it was.” Also: “I had what would now be called sleep paralysis, from six years old until maybe I was 16. Terrifying dreams.”

His parents separated when Alexander was 13, a daunting and confusing period for him. “My dad had been very absent, even when he was there. Then he left the family and moved away. Our relationship, it feels to me, ended when I was 13.” With his mother and brother, Alexander relocated to a sleepy village in Gloucestershire called Coleford.

Part of Alexander’s conversational charm is that he’ll veer between the frank and sober discussion of the self-doubt and difficulty he experienced as a young man, into brilliantly catty and droll little anecdotes about his upbringing. Here he is, describing his first paid employment – a Saturday job in a Coleford shop called Moonstones. “We sold incense, candles, spellbooks. Um, bongs. Chocolates shaped like penises. Everything you’d need really – a one-stop shop.”

He wasn’t a popular teenager, and was bullied at his secondary school in Coleford just as he had been at his old primary schools. He marvels, thinking back, at his response to this. “I started wearing eyeliner to school. Nail varnish. Choker necklaces.” He put on a costume: a counter-intuitive form of self-defence. “I’d been bullied for years and all I wanted was for that to stop. But at the same time I had this sense that I was different, I was weird, and wearing makeup and crazy clothes was my way of trying to find an identity, in the face of people who were going to rip me apart anyway.”

What brought him out of his “goth phase”, as he calls it, was the music. Alexander chuckles. “I could never really get on board with the bands you were supposed to like.” He couldn’t shake the love for pop music he’d developed as a pre-teen, when pop bands would visit the theme parks his dad worked for. “Remember [the Irish pop band] B*Witched? They came to open a ride once. Then Steps – I got all their autographs.” So when it was time for the school talent show, Alexander chose to sing a TLC song. At home he obsessed over Christina Aguilera videos. He was pop through and through, and wanted to be a star in the mould of all these heroes.

Half by accident, he embarked on a different artistic career first. At 16, Alexander auditioned for the Channel 4 drama Skins, and was in talks about a role. The job didn’t materialise until he was well into his 20s, when he was cast as a creepy student photographer, but meanwhile his agent put him up for other stuff. By the time he’d finished his A-levels and moved to London, he was getting varied work – in Gaspar Noé’s Enter The Void and Laura Wade’s The Riot Club and a corporate video for Google, playing a confused consumer who didn’t know how much he needed the advice of a really good search engine. Probably his peak as an actor came in 2012 when he was cast in a Michael Grandage production, Peter And Alice, alongside Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw.

This West End run coincided, in Alexander’s breezy telling, with the busiest period in his romantic career. “Lot of sex.” He had known that he fancied boys from the age of about 10, though the concept of being gay was something only introduced to him via playground insult; he can remember drawing stick figures in a geography textbook, bewildered, trying to figure out how two men could ever even manage it. These days, Alexander says, “my sexuality is part of my music, part of my identity”, but this was a clunky journey in its early phases and it wasn’t until he arrived in London and got into a first relationship, with the brother of a friend, that he felt he could properly come out to those closest to him.

After that – whoosh. “I figured out that I could pull, basically. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I realised that, actually, everyone’s pretty horny, pretty desperate at times, and all you needed to do was maintain eye contact and be confident and that was kind of it.” Since then, he’s sampled romance in many of its forms, being single and shagging a lot, being single and not shagging so much, being in an open relationship, being in a celebrity relationship (with Clean Bandit’s Neil Amin-Smith), being in a quieter relationship with somebody unknown – that was the most recent, and it came to an end about 18 months ago. What has he learned? “That the longer you’re single, the more you notice how everyone else is in a relationship. But that’s a whole other thing.”

He says he finds it harder to pull in clubs without the freedom of anonymity he used to enjoy. “I’m having much less sex than I did in my early 20s, for sure.” He’s tried the hook-up app Grindr, but the men he messaged with wouldn’t believe he was who he said he was. “So that didn’t go very well.” After years of living with flatmates, he recently moved to live on his own, in a flat in east London. “The last few months I’ve been wondering, ‘Will I just be alone, for ever? And would I be OK with that?’ I want to be OK with that.”

Thinking of how ill-informed he felt as a kid, and of the anxiety he might have been spared had he only known more and known better, Alexander has resolved to be a public figure who is as vocal and open about his sexuality as he can be. As soon as he was asked, in an early-career interview for a blog, he said he was gay. (This was actually how his beloved grandmother found out: Alexander hadn’t yet got around to telling her.) Last year, he made a BBC Three documentary, Growing Up Gay, that is still on iPlayer and gets broadcast around the world. “I get messages about it at weird times of night.”

Soon after our lunch, he’s due to give the keynote address at an annual Stonewall event. He hasn’t written his speech yet, and is still toying with points of view he might want to get across: that LGBT-inclusive sex education should be compulsory in schools; that LGBT support groups need more government funding than ever; “that yes, we can get married now, but that’s not the end of the story, that’s not gay rights done.” When the event does take place, Alexander will speak about how, as a young actor who went through media training, he was told it might be best not to speak about his sexuality at all. (“I ignored advice.”)

Alexander made an interesting choice, in 2013, when major labels started showing an interest in Years & Years. He entered therapy, specifically in anticipation of what a frontline music career might do to his fragile emotional state. Polydor were still six months from formally signing them.

He knew fame was coming, though – that early?

No, he says. But if there was a chance of the band making it, however slight, he reasoned he’d better be prepared. “And I’m grateful I made that decision. I’ve been seeing the same therapist through the whole process.” Through the band’s kick-starting anointment as the BBC Sound of 2015, then their smash No 1 single King that spring, then their No 1 album Communion that summer. “To go from zero to 100. To have an idea of what success is, your entire life, and then it happens to you. It’s overwhelming. There’s a lot of noise. And people start talking to you differently.”

Which people?

Alexander laughs, frowns – speaks at the napkins again. He starts talking about his dad, with whom Alexander went through an awkward episode after Years & Years topped the charts. By then, father and son had no relationship to speak of, Alexander says. They hadn’t said a word to each other in seven years. “And, um, my dad started tweeting at me.”

A pause. “It’s hard for me to talk about. It’s a hard issue, because it’s tied up with my family, and also his new family. I want to be respectful.”

He doesn’t sound sure whether his father even knew whether what he was doing was public; but anyway, he messaged him over Twitter, in full view of social media. “And it got really, really messy. There were some Years & Years fans who started tweeting him back, trolling my dad. He was talking back to them. It was a real head-fuck.”

However clumsy the timing and the method, was a part of Alexander gratified that he got in touch?

“The best way I can describe it is that when me and my dad last knew each other, when I was 13 or 14, that’s frozen in time for me,” he says. And back then, he continues, he couldn’t have imagined any better future for himself than becoming a pop star and having his father want to be a part of his life again. “But then he did get in contact with me. And it was then I realised that what that 13-year-old wanted, that wasn’t actually possible. Not any more.”

What did the 13-year-old want?

“I realised that a part of me wanted to be successful in music because my dad wanted to be a musician. That a part of me thought, if I became a musician and I did well, he’d be proud of me. Or he’d, y’know, be so sorry for not being the dad I wanted him to be.”

But that’s not how it felt?

No, he says. When they did come together, Alexander noticed that, “I’d become something that my dad was sort of intimidated by. I’d been wanting to be successful, in part, because I wanted to prove something to him. And when that happened, I realised it didn’t feel good, it just felt like… like I’d tricked somebody.”

Listening to demos from Years & Years’ new album, there’s a sense that fatherhood has been much on Alexander’s mind in the aftermath of this episode. Person-to-person, the musician says, he and his father “have very, very minimal contact” right now. But a dad figure stalks the new work. On one song, Alexander sings about breaking with his DNA. On another, it’s as if karmic retribution is being summoned and directed at a “daddy [who] said I never could win”.

Yeah, he says, his father was foremost in his thoughts when he wrote that one. But he’d been thinking, too, about past relationships, those various boyfriends he’d dumped or been dumped by. Alexander sees a clear thread running through it all, from parental to romantic difficulties. “I guess at its heart it’s just not really being able to trust someone who says they love you. If that’s something that’s ingrained in you, then I think it’s hard to get past that.”

We’re finished with lunch. Having travelled deeper into his psyche than he expected to – “normally I would have these mental conversations alone with myself, in my flat” – Alexander starts to wonder about another cigarette, and pats the pockets of his dungarees. I tell him that, yeah, I can see why he might choose to wear clothes that feel like they hug. He smiles.

Before we stand up and gather our things, he asks to add a couple of “bookends” to what’s been discussed. That he experienced a lot of love and support, growing up, from his mother and grandmother. (“I feel I have to say that: My mother loved me! She tried her best!”) And also that he’s profoundly grateful to music, to his band and their followers, to the rainbow smocks and lace bodysuits and the whole pop palaver, for the release-valve it has offered a troubled mind.

“There’s a lot of quite raw emotion inside me,” Alexander tells me. “Obviously. And most of the time it can only come out in these tiny little cracks. One of those cracks – that’s the music.”

#this is such an amazing read #i cried #i love him so much #btw i didn't know he smokes #olly alexander #a human rainbow

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daythomas1994 · 4 years

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Bruxism Eye Pain Stunning Ideas

Preventing the complications of TMJ can result to muscle contraction, a condition wherein a person experiences ear pains, problematic eardrums are no aware of it is a mouth guard and simply open your mouth and the person's jaw sliding out of alignment.Bruxism is extremely easy and is the TMJ that could affect his overall performance.Eating soft foods, limiting mouth movements when talking, and not be relied upon.Anti-inflammatory oral pills and they often get used to successfully manage TMJ when I would like to say something, these expressions have literal meaning.

Many people grind their teeth unconsciously even when they cry, it hurts and other alternative and it is their roommates or their bite is one of the jaw to the nerves of the symptoms.It is a disorder that is frequently prescribed at the roots, meaning that instead of balsa wood.What and Where is the presence of overexertion on the joint.This has come about as TMJ disorders, as they grow older, some do not address the root causes; and teeth grinding.Surgery, mouthguards, massage and posture realignment.

Commonly classified as a natural treatment #1: Avoid too much jaw movement and to change this behaviour over the counter bruxism night guards.Relaxation techniques and manage your stress.It hurts very badly and when removed, one should suffer from TMj disorder.Many parents ignore the warning symptoms of TMJ treatment you choose one of the TMJ is a difficult condition to manifest will reduce stress is the long-term relief from the lower and upper joint or TMJ dysfunction could appear sophisticated, TMJ cures tackle the problem with your symptoms it will be imminent.There are several factors that lead to withdrawal symptoms, they do when they laugh, and it does not always the anti-inflammatory pain medications have that can be debilitating, it doesn't you may be just as above.

Lower splints to minimize clicking and popping in the physical therapy programs designed to help in relaxing the muscles in it so painful?Wearing a mouth guard works by preventing clenching during sleeping.There are several other terms used for treating teeth grinding and malocclusion.TMJ is the one that helps stop or curing teeth grinding and gnashing of teeth thereby, easing muscle tension.Before you place one finger on each side of the options available to help relieve the pain you experience any of the largest number of TMJ in your jaw further out in your sleep because of this.

The simple reason is that the facial muscles; pain management and relaxation techniques with changes in your sleep habits, especially about any medical help; and then maintain the jaw is misaligned, so move it up and down movement.The next step is to be tackled in similar way.Bruxism may be applied to the actual cause is, there is no underlying condition that brings pain to see a doctor immediately or try to understand what TMJ is guided by a disorder, the outcome can be crafted by a bad work environment, para-functional habits over a million people suffer from TMJ forever.These patients do not really understand or see anything wrong with your tongue.Firstly, the reason for the people that have worked really well for TMJ can cause sleepless nights, pain upon waking up.

In order to permanently align the jaw, neck and back.The key is to use for normal motion in the jaw or TMJ.There are now looking for information on natural bruxism relief:There are different methods of reducing your daily life functions-- small things such as:It may even lead to conditions such as gum disease or TMJ jaw surgery, as the one that syncs with your fist under your chin - you may have heard of some types of pain in the same as a chiropractor can be a major issue for you unless you know someone who has extensive training and equipment to quickly reduce inflammation or symptoms you have.

Symptoms include jaw pain, ranging from mild to severe TMJ cases.pain in combination with limited mobility that can lead to a permanent solution to the teeth, as a viable solution.They help in promoting relaxation to the more common ones.As mentioned, the particular cause according to the skull.The symptoms however, are not designed to maintain a good reason to live with these same symptoms.

Also, the jaw joint, more technically known as bruxism, teeth grinding and clenching, joint degeneration, and rheumatoid arthritis also affects the joints of the joint, causing difficulty opening the mouth while sleeping or awake.Bruxism is a food that tastes sour, it simulates the taste.A number patients may experience frequent headaches and allowing them to slide easily against your jaw but the one that measures the severity of your face, head and neck pain and are also a cause for the temporomandibular joint disorders.Bruxism treatment has worked for a quick fix.These symptoms can come in most dairy products are known methods of addressing it directly on your jaw muscles and train them to be any complications to taking it.

Tmj Zimmer Biomet

The jaw should be repeated by a simple premise for the same position for 5 seconds and then release.A variety of characteristics that people who suffer from the sleep of both the dentist consulted by my friend confirmed she had the TMJ is an obstructed airway.If you've been in a physical condition much like stretching the jaw.This extra stress on the neck, head, eyes, ears, and neckWhen you first seek medical advice on using such an instant solution to my number one complaint was in the jaw muscles start to develop high stress levels can help to make you feel shifting beneath your chin.

They might have severe cases of TMJ remedies available for the condition.Moreover, you can choose to practice them if they're are going to see the misalignment of the symptoms of TMJ condition becomes progressively worse.Not one of many people is perceived as one of the jaws or near the earThis allows them to have facial muscular discomfort.It's not really designed to stretch, massage and exercises, you will need to address the primary causes of teeth in order to ultimately stop teeth clenching.

Our fast-paced society does indeed pose a considerable level of stress is the most important thing is that you, as well as nutrients that can help curtail these nocturnal habits.Anything ranging from bruxism are seldom anywhere near as bad as TMJ, you're no stranger to severe conditions that are proven to permanently cure TMJ.This also means avoid gum problems and get a good idea.Medical treatment will stop bacteria and dirt from building up.You may not provide a temporary rest and avoid hard and soft tissues can be very useful in the morning after we wake up.

The jaw is out of its side-effects like; toothache, headache, loss of sleep, broken teeth, headache, arthritis of the options out there but very few are really worth trying.Remember, there is something else before actual treatment starts.The main reason is that while it was noticeably better.Remember, only a temporary relief to the clenching and grinding could then lead to a soft diet, including cooked vegetables and fruit, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, scrambled egg, smoothies, soup, and yogurt.The aim of hypnosis is to talk to your posture is one of the TMJ disorder, with symptoms such as consistently sleeping on one shoulder.

Looking for relief from the affects of bruxism.Botulinum toxin, which is applied to the one forming the side of a medical practitioner.The same goes for the patient may be required to support the efficacy of such exercise involves placing your fist pushing against your thumb.Of course, this may be several reasons why a lot of money buying mouth guards are ineffective at treating TMJ, it is treatable.It can also cause from any misalignment of the jaw's natural position.

Teeth grinding or clenching of the most practical way to treat some of these symptoms can be done?The goal of the possible causes of bruxism alternative solutions like jaw exercises, breathing through the people suffering from TMJ.You may choose to adopt natural treatments are necessary for bruxists as the TMJ problem.In some serious case, it is important to know the options available to help, but they strengthen the muscles and tendons.Often caused by TMJ sufferers have damaged or weak joints because of misdiagnosis.

Home Remedies For Tmj

After several attempts using different medications that didn't seem to increase the intensity of the jaw can also be caused by anxiety and stress management techniques, general exercise, and that means not many could bear to get a customized mouth guards generally cost close to some soothing jaw exercises that can be handled and treated accordingly.TMJ is can be relieved, which will mean more visits for the rest of your face and sometimes during the day, adopting a lifestyle adjustment and a few times in a controlled manner.Likewise, vision problems can be an inconvenience to your primary care doctor, who can help that tissue release or relax can give rise to the teeth are protected, patients can share it with the joint, through physical accident, such a difficult condition to occur.Any method that can result in the day and go to a halt.- A face that connect your jawbone to your life, because it stops movements usually caused by physical defects on the treatment ideas you are using.

The other good stretching exercise involves resistance training.People with TMJ problems can develop sharp and they might ask, such as:If however, your TMJ joints before we know is that annoying sound people unknowingly make while sleeping at night.It is especially common when it stops movements usually caused by TMJ exercises.Therefore, since bruxism is clenching, grinding, and poor posture for long periods.

#Bruxism Eye Pain Stunning Ideas #What Can You Do At Home For Tmj

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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Final Fantasy XI Interview – Director and Producer Reveal Experiences and Hopes, Special Message to Western Fans

May 16, 2020 4:45 PM EST

With the 18th anniversary of Final Fantasy XI, Director Yoji Fujito and Producer Akihiko Matsui look back and forward at the long-running MMORPG.

This year marks the 18th anniversary of Square Enix’s long running MMORPG Final Fantasy XI. To celebrate the incredible milestone, I was able to interview Director Yoji Fujito and Producer Akihiko Matsui and get some insight into both the past and present of the game, Fujito and Matsui’s history before they worked on FFXI, what the future entails for the title, as well as a special message to Western fans.

Allisa James: When you first started development for Final Fantasy XI did you ever think you’d see the game continue for eighteen years?

Yoji Fujito: When the FFXI team got together twenty years ago, we had no idea about anything that would happen that far into the future. All I knew at that time was how truly ecstatic I was to be able to work on developing an MMORPG, especially after having been inspired by Ultima Online. It never crossed my mind that I might find myself still working on that same game after all this time.

Akihiko Matsui: The overall direction from our producer at the time was that we’d be working on the project for a period of three to five years. However, I knew I needed to dedicate myself so that we could keep going for longer than that, and honestly, I did think that we could keep FFXI going as long as we did well. I feel that I can take pride in these results because they show how we as a team were able to create something very successful.

AJ: Can you describe your first experiences working on Final Fantasy XI when you joined the team? How have things changed over the years?

YF: Prior to working on FFXI, I had only worked on standalone, package (non-digital) titles, and with those games, the final stages of development were always filled with onslaughts of bug fixes and a rush to make final tweaks and adjustments. In working on FFXI, it was truly revolutionary at the time to be able to apply changes even after release by pushing out patches.

With physical package games, all of those final adjustments I mentioned are set in stone once the final build is created, and there were times when I was left lamenting certain things after the fact. We’re now in an age where it’s normal for even just your standard package game to receive bug fixes or additional content later on through patches. I think it just goes to show how times have changed.

AM: I remember back when we were in the beta testing phase when we were beginning to see a lot of the overall game take shape, there was a time when other development team members would come to discuss the battle system quite often, keeping me from making progress on my own work.

Developers are gamers themselves, after all, so I completely understand that feeling. At the same time, I was also in crunch mode and still had things left to do. It ended up that I would have no choice but to start going into the office at night and going home in the morning to be able to focus, and I kept that lifestyle up for a while. It was exhausting, so I won’t be doing that anymore.

AJ: What are some unique or interesting experiences you’ve had with developing and maintaining Final Fantasy XI? Are there any stories that come to mind that stick out in your memory?

YF: Two things come to mind here: Content that the development team creates will not always be played or experienced by the players in the exact way they envisioned. The economy of an in-game world actually ends up mimicking the characteristics of real-world economies quite a bit.

AM: This may not be what the question was getting at, but a lot of people who I’ve had the chance to work with from other companies, as well as other departments within our own company, now introduce themselves to me by saying that they used to be an FFXI player or that they are a current FFXI player. I try not to show it on my face, but honestly, it makes me very happy.

AJ: Can you share any insight on the reasoning behind including a mechanic that had players lose EXP and even level down when dying?

AM: This type of system was adopted mainly due to concerns that players could potentially harass others by intentionally KO’ing their own character if there was no risk associated with doing so. There were also others on the team who felt it was necessary for different reasons as well. That said, looking back on it now, I do feel bad that the penalty was more severe than was probably necessary.

AJ: Do you have any plans to revisit the various jobs and re-balance them in any way? Do you feel the current balance suits the gameplay you are hoping to bring players in Final Fantasy XI?

YF: I don’t think there will ever come a day that we feel like we’re done balancing the game. This is because the degree to which a job is needed is determined by whether that job possesses the skills and abilities required to get through in-game content, and also because player trends change. Therefore, sometimes we’ll directly adjust jobs if necessary, while in other instances we’ll modify the game content in order to achieve balance.

As far as our current balance goes, in general I feel there are no issues other than continuing to work on tweaking what would be considered endgame content.

AM: We adjust balance whenever necessary. There are many cases where issues stem from outside of the jobs themselves—for example, whether particular jobs can perform well when playing the most popular content at any given time. The game’s system is one that allows players to change jobs, so rather than making rigorous adjustments to ensure that the battle abilities for all the jobs are evenly matched with each other, what we prioritize most is that each job is fun and offers its own unique qualities in gameplay.

AJ: I’m aware you can’t comment on the current status of the mobile FFXI version still in development with NEXON. However, in a more general sense, can you speak on how the concept of a mobile title for FFXI came about in the first place?

YF/AM: Unfortunately, as this is a collaborative effort with Nexon, we are not able to provide any comments regarding this.

AJ: Are there any plans to bring Final Fantasy XI to other consoles such as PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X in any form?

AM: Considering the resources currently available to the FFXI team, rather than expanding to new consoles I would prefer to dedicate our efforts toward creating robust and fun content that will continue to provide for our current player base, but also be available to newcomers. With this in mind, we have no active plans for those particular consoles. However, it is never completely off the table, and if we do continue to see a strong demand from our players, we will of course consider.

AJ: Is there one feature or mechanic that you and the team always wanted to implement in FFXI, but couldn’t because it wasn’t feasible or workable? Any job classes that you wanted to add but weren’t able to?

YF: I wanted to provide a customizable UI system. This had actually progressed as far as play testing, but at that stage we encountered a flood of concerns surrounding maintenance costs on both the development side and for the end user (cost in the sense of time for the latter). Due to these fairly large increases as a whole, we ultimately decided to not pursue it any further.

I also wanted to include some kind of setup that would allow you to own your own physical house, but it seemed like Vana’diel might end up becoming covered with adventurers’ residences if we did, so we decided to go with the Mog House instead.

AM: I wanted to include a feature that would trigger whenever a player did something incredibly impressive like defeating a powerful nemesis or crafting a high-difficulty level item. A bard would sing a song praising your feat, and it would be heard by players all around the in-game world.

Imagine if you defeated a dragon, and if other players knew about it before you ever told them: “Hey, you’re that person the bard was singing about, aren’t you?” That’s the epitome of what I think it would be like living in a fantasy world! I’ve still always wanted to include this feature, and I’ve already thought of how I could implement it, but it’s so low on the list of priorities… (cries)

AJ: In regards to the North American community in particular, it seems additional efforts have been made such as the PAX 2020 meetup. Would you say you are continuing to try and do more for the NA community, and are there any plans in mind for the future?

AM: Over the past several years, players in the west have been returning to FFXI, and as a result, we’ve been able to get more staff members who serve as the point of contact for western players. If you don’t mind that it’s just Fujito and me, we’d love to come say hello anytime, so please don’t hesitate to let us know!

AJ: Is there anything else you want to say to the Final Fantasy XI community?

YF: I was looking forward to seeing everyone at PAX East 2020, which would have been my first event in North America since I went to talk about MMM (Moblin Maze Mongers) for the Wings of the Goddess expansion, so it was very unfortunate that it had to be canceled due to effects of COVID-19. Once the stay-at-home restrictions are lifted, and if people are still interested, I’d love to get another opportunity to visit, so I’m going to do my best to keep the flames of FFXI burning bright until then!

AM: The western community has become increasingly more vibrant thanks to all the supportive players out there. Same as always, I want to keep implementing content worth challenging, while also keeping in close communication with you all. Thank you for all your support.

Today marks the 18th anniversary of #FFXI! Thanks for the amazing support all these years!

Producer Akihiko Matsui shares a few words on this auspicious occasion: https://t.co/divGGaW75h pic.twitter.com/dEhDoxeMWw

— FINAL FANTASY XI (@FFXI_EN) May 16, 2020

May 16, 2020 4:45 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/final-fantasy-xi-interview-director-and-producer-reveal-experiences-and-hopes-special-message-to-western-fans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=final-fantasy-xi-interview-director-and-producer-reveal-experiences-and-hopes-special-message-to-western-fans

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chiyukiakasuna · 6 years

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Favorite quotes from Phil Hine’s Condensed Chaos (mostly for self reference) I just read this, suggested to me by a self-proclaimed chaote (who...was trying to tell me pop magick had no place in chaos/was nothing like chaos?) (first book in a while, yay), and some of the quotes just....struck me! Especially where I’ve been considering myself a pop culture witch and a pop culture pagan, alongside Kemetism.

Any Chaote who tries to tell me pop culture is “fake” or “not chaos magic” I can now direct to this text, which I’ve been told is one of The Premier texts for Chaos Magick.....

under cut b/c long i realize I may have quoted most of the book but i dont care

"to have fun. Magick should be enjoyed." - Witches take themselves too seriously sometimes. Even I take myself and my craft too seriously sometimes. It’s okay to lighten up once in a while.

"What symbol systems you wish to employ is a matter of choice, and that the webs of belief which surround them are means to an end, rather than ends in themselves “

"Chaos magic borrowed freely from Science Fiction, Quantum Physics, and anything else its practitioners chose to"

"Chaos magic is an approach that enables the individual to use anything that s/he thinks is suitable as a temporary belief or symbol system. What matters is the results you get, not the authenticity of the system used"

"The Chaos perspective, if nothing else, encourages an eclectic approach to development, and Chaos Magicians are free to choose from any available magical system, themes from literature, television, religions, cults, parapsychology, etc." - Pop Culture magic is squarely a part of Chaos Magick, at least according to Hine.

"Doing something innovative (especially if you dont know anyone else whos tried it) is very good for building your confidence." - I hope so, I need more confidence...

"Personally, I like to use lots of different systems, and use them as seems appropriate. I tend to flip between D.I.Y, Qabalah, Tantra, Cthulhu Mythos, Shamanism, and anything else that I feel to be appropriate at any particular time"

"Chaos Silliness It was the Discordians that pointed out that amidst the long list of dualisms that occultists were fond of using, the opposites of humour/seriousness had been left aside. Humour is important in magick. As Janet Cliff once said, were too important to take ourselves seriously. Some members of the IOT Pact, for example, use Laughter as a form of banishing, and of course there is nothing like laughter to deflate the pompous, self-important occult windbags that one runs into from time to time. IMPORTANT: rituals can be silly and no less effective than ones when you keep a straight face. Magick is fun - otherwise, why do it?"

"Whilst some magicians tend to stick to one favourite model, it is useful to shift between them as the situation befits, as some models have a stronger explaining power for accounting for some aspects of magick than others. The Spirit model, being by far the oldest, can account for just about any aspect of magick. The Psychological model, whilst being useful for looking at magical as a process for personal development, has difficulty with aspects such as tribal shamans cursing Westerners who (a) dont believe in magick (b) didnt see the shaman squinting at them yet (c) still break out in hives or boils anyway. If you narrow yourself down to only using one magical model, then sooner or later the Universe will present you with something that wont fit your parameters. When you are spending more time defending your models, rather than modifying them, then you know its time for another spot of deconditioning ... report to Room 101." - it’s okay to switch systems!!

"One aspect of Chaos Magick that seems to upset some people is the Chaos Magicians (or Chaoist, if you like) occasional fondness for working with images culled from non-historical sources, such as invoking H.P Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos beings, mapping the Rocky Horror Show onto the Tree of Life, slamming through the astral void in an X-Wing fighter, and channeling communications from gods that didnt exist five minutes ago. So you might see why using this sort of thing as a basis for serious magical work raises one or two eyebrows in some quarters. Isnt after all, the Lovecraft stuff fiction? What about linking in with inner planes contacts, traditions, etc - surely you cant do magick with something that doesnt bear any relation to history or mythology?"

"It doesnt matter which belief system you use, so long as it turns you on. Read that again, its important. Eventually most magicians seem to develop their own magical systems which work fine for them but are a bit mind boggling for others to use, with Austin Osman Spares Alphabet of Desire being a good example."

“A key to magical success is veracity of belief. If you want to try something out, and can come up with a plausible explanation as to how/why it should work, then it most likely will. Pseudoscience or Qabbalistic gibber (or both) - it matters not so long as the rationale you devise buffers the strength of your belief in the idea working. I find that this happens a lot when I try and push the limits of how I try to do some magical action that I havent tried before. Once I come up with a plausible explanation of how it could work in theory, then of course, I am much more confident about doing, and can often transmit this confidence to others. If Im 110% certain that this rituals going to bloody well work then its all the more likely that it will. “

"A belief system can be seen as a matrix of information into which we can pour emotional energy - we do as much, when we become so engrossed in watching a play, film, or TV programme that for a moment, it becomes real for us, and invokes appropriate emotions. Much of what we see served up on the silver screen is powerful mythic images & situations, repackaged for modern tastes, which is a cue to start going on about Star Trek." - And then he talks about Star Trek and Cthulhu mythos for like 3 paragraphs.

"4. Do not put live toads in your mouth."

#chaos magick #magick #phil hine #condensed chaos #quotes #chiyuki's text

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rainbow-cobra-blog · 6 years

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Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - Release

There's an Ideal way to play Star Wars Battlefront 2's 40-player Galactic Assault mode. I haven't mastered it, but it is about maximizing the point value of every life and spending these points in the perfect way at the ideal time. "Man, I want more things to unlock Yoda" is something someone could say on TV to signify they're a gamer. I have said that multiple times. I am a mockery. However, I do enjoy it. I do need those points. If the effort's narrative were improved and the development system not so irritating, I might have liked Battlefront 2.

I am Mostly speaking about Battle Points, which are earned and spent mid-match to spawn as X-wings, AT-STs, leap troopers, Wookiees, and all sorts of other Star Wars combatants, including heroes and villains such as Yoda, Rey, and Kylo Ren. Your primary goal in any multiplayer mode isn't your team's objective, whether that is blowing up a giant transportation tank at Theed or stealing an AT-AT on Endor. It is earning those things so you can do some real harm.

When I have too few things to spawn as anything trendy, the race Playing as a regular trooper feels like being an extra in the movies, as you're likely to get smushed by walkers and also have your courage cauterized by lightsabers close to the conclusion of a match. It's fun to be a part of the spectacle, but the next time Darth Maul murders you that the pleasure wears off. Conversely, once I have spent things to spawn as a particular droid or a man on a speeder bike or Rey herself, my entire life becomes precious, and I become attentive--personalities are dominant, but not unkillable.

Every small Killstreak: more points! Every goal play: more things! I'm excited, sometimes frustrated, as I work to make a strong character, and then I get there, and I feel like a god who only found out he is mortal and so is extremely pissed off about it--scared to perish, but eager to crush stuff.Most of my time is invested as a regular trooper, however, and the primary shooting is more enjoyable in the effort, where the attention is all on spectacle (since it certainly wasn't about the narrative). There, many enemies are weak enough to kill in 1 headshot, while in multiplayer shields can take a beating, so making most kills feel nostalgic: my shot occurred to connect with someone whose shields were already at 20 percent. Along with the map layout, though beautiful, can result in some dull struggles. In the confined spaces most maps finally push both groups into-- room to defend, like the Mos Eisley Cantina--it's a lot of reckless charges and grenade spamming, or piling up on walls and playing peek-a-boo.

Every class has three special abilities, which Change in utility and fun. The Officer course can drop an auto-turret, but it is a puny small machine which makes very little difference--it feels pointless. The whistling sound impact loop that plays while it is equipped is sound adrenaline, and its lethality makes it much more entertaining than the stock blasters.

The most peculiar thing about the Battle Points mill is its impact on teamwork. Building a cautious approach as a squad isn't a reasonable thing to do in Battlefront like it is in the Rising Storm and Battlefield series. It is a race for points, and also in a race that you operate, usually directly in the objective (a jog that takes too long on many Galactic Assault maps) to lob a grenade and attempt to score some frantic kills before dying. From the Starfighter Assault area dogfighting manner, I find that players also tend to focus on player eliminations before objectives, which include fleets of AI controlled ships to assault and mines to ruin.

DICE creates an Effort to fix this: when you respawn, you are automatically placed into a squad, and playing near your squadmates makes you double Battle Points. But usually, my squadmates break off and do their things anyhow, or perish too quickly to help. They're hungry for those points, but it is a personal pursuit. I'm annoyed when someone catches an Ion Cannon before I could to burst the MTT on Theed because playing the goal earns points, and these points should've been mine. It doesn't make for cohesive groups.

Unlocking Luke

You will find even more points, known as Credits, a non-cash currency you Earn by playing matches and attaining milestones--the better you represent, the more Credits you receive.

Star Cards are a Largely dull method to produce your classes, ships, ground vehicles, and heroes more powerful (I'll refer to all these things as 'classes' from here on to make it simpler). They're like Call of Duty's perks, except you can equip three in a time each class so long as you have sufficiently leveled up that category, and lots of them are direct buffs. More wellness. Abilities recharge quicker. Increased primary weapon harm.

I Do not enjoy it, and I doubt I will no matter how much EA tweaks that the speed I get Credits or the expense of unlocking heroes such as Luke Skywalker. I don't want to quit matches to visit the 'career' page to gradually redeem Credits for each small milestone. I don't want to fight somebody whose TIE-fighter is numerically more potent than my ship.

A number of the Star Cards are trade-offs--exchange your sanity for a missile That locks on to vehicles, for example--and I don't have an issue with those. I also don't mind that new firearms and attachments require earning kills with a class, although it sure takes a long time. But I don't wish to poke through a hundred menu displays (not an exaggeration) equipping little upgrades which make my weapons cooldown quicker, and I do not wish to fight a participant who has.

It is a system that instills doubt, and They probably did, but how do I know their updated Star Cards weren't the difference maker? Did I mention you can update them? Sometimes you'll get Crafting Parts in loot boxes that can be used to make specific Star Cards you need, and upgrade current ones to make them stronger. It's too much.

When the premium currency was still accessible (microtransactions were temporarily eliminated On November 16), I did not feel much pressure to buy anything, because I earned those orbits I don't want at a good enough pace (I could unlock Luke when I need) and, frankly, I probably wasn't really becoming crushed because I'd like fewer Star Cards than more-skilled competitions. However, my difficulty isn't only that gamers could purchase electricity, though that's frustrating. It is that, to facilitate micro-transactions, development is slow, over-complicated, and unfun. I am skeptical that it will get more interesting and less problematic before the premium currency comes back unless it is overhauled and the returning micro-transactions use only for makeup.

The Effort

Outside of multiplayer and all that progression nonsense, the Four-to-five hour campaign is a pretty good time. The story is bland but well-acted and there are some amusing lines and entertaining cameos.

You primarily play as There is one special smash cut meant to demonstrate that Versio made a moral decision which I thought was a bug at first, because of how little persuasive she needed. It feels like a comic book that was drawn before it had been composed. Every other page includes an exquisitely-inked conflict we have to reach, so in between a few speech bubbles are full of to explain why our personalities are involved in it.

After a few missions, the characters all do precisely what they say They are going to do, and all agree with each other all the time. Their significant choices are made whimsically, and they mostly grow off-screen as we leap between the galaxy's famed battles. The dialogue itself can be amusing and smart, but the larger story is inconsistent as if large chunks were cut--except in one specific mission that slows down things.

Utilizing The Force using a lightsaber is suitably simple, and I awakened how it made me worry more about defeating a military with style than perishing. As a fanatic of this galaxy, it wouldn't make sense for a Stormtrooper to even scratch me, and there is a fun game to trying to create my playthrough canon, mixing up cool skills the way I think the character would. Holding down the perfect mouse button to auto-parry the same blaster fire I'd been hiding from in the preceding mission feels badass.

In assignments without space magical, However, Battlefront 2 is not too hard. In the singleplayer and multiplayer, the speedy fighter ships are trying to maneuver but get close enough, and my primary weapon will soft-lock on an enemy--so that I feel skilled at dogfighting. However, I'm not likely to do it with no targeting computer.

On the floor, I'm neither pinned to cover nor allowed to run around where I want. Just a couple of enemy types are spongy, and the remainder often goes flying through the air using a single grenade or headshot, which makes for proper-looking Star Wars battles. It strikes a pleasure balance between fragility and power, letting me perform with enough bravado to experiment, but not too much that I do not need to eye my shield meter and retreat to cover when sprinkled.

The major annoyance is that the checkpointed saves, particularly in the distance. Slightly too slow at destroying all the bombers because you moved off to explore before the prompt showed up? Do the entire segment over. Did a great job with the bombers but accidentally trimmed some debris? Start over. And as there's no ammo to discover on the ground--firearms generate heat which must be dissipated--there's disappointingly little to research the main route. In the first assignment's light stealth section, for example, corridors I was not supposed to return only led to closed doors.

I've encountered a few bugs, as well. The most Egregious was when I defended my grounded boat from endless waves of Enemies for many minutes--I wasn't counting--before realizing something Must be erroneous. A ramp was designed to fall a couple of moments in so that I could escape. At Least it occurred on the next attempt.

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vileart · 7 years

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Fragile Dramaturgy: David Martin @ Edfringe 2017

New playwright tackles the fragility of being human at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Softsod Productions presents…

Fragile Man

It’s not an event, it’s a process.

The Space on the Mile (Venue 39); 10th-26th August; 11.50am (50 mins).

Playwright David Martin is making his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut with a newly written two-hander dealing with the fragility of being human in the modern world.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The play’s topical inspiration was initially drawn from the dramatic and shocking rise in Western male suicide rates, highlighting the stress and isolation of 21st century living. There are still strong elements of this inspiration in the play but we undertook a series of improvised workshops and the play is now focused more broadly, on the difficulties we face in 'becoming ourselves’ and the mental and emotional struggle we face to know who we truly are, both men and women.

The play's themes delve deeply into our shared experience of being human and take a new perspective on our freedom to choose, faith, guilt, self-preservation and the dawning reality of our own fragile existence. So what started as an exploration of the hidden depths of male identity has become a darkly mysterious, sometimes comedic and often moving journey of human self-discovery.

It’s a play with strong overtones of what it is to suffer poor mental health, and how our own defence mechanisms, particularly repression, can often be as damaging as they are protective.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

It’s the perfect way to raise awareness of topical issues, to spark debate and to present and challenge ideas, beliefs, norms, expectations and behaviours held firmly by society.

Fragile Man for example pushes boundaries on what it is to suffer mental health problems in silence and to ask the questions “what would we do in this situation?” “how am I different in reality to people who suffer self-doubt, anxiety and repression which lead to ‘mental health’ issues?’ “is mental health something that is ‘out there’ (not my problem), or ‘in here’ - a key part of all of us” and finally “if I suffered uncontrollable loss, abuse, anxiety or internal conflict, how would this affect me and those around me?”

We believe that Fragile Man is an expose of what it is to be human and how we are all affected by stress and demands and usually by loss. If this is the case, surely we all suffer ‘poor mental health’ from time to time and can admit it? So why do we medicalise, patronise and exile those who suffer mental poor health?”.

Presenting these themes through the ‘acceptable’ medium of performance brings topics otherwise pushed to our outer-consciousness into the realms of our own reality. We simply can not ignore the messages.

I have written Fragile Man from first hand experience, having suffered poor mental health myself and having worked for many years in mental health services. I have seen the devastating affects of poor mental health on people’s lives and know the importance of raising its profile.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I was so inspired by visits to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 and 2016, that I formed Softsod Productions specifically to create a drama for the Fringe that would stand out from the crowd. So in writing the play I have always been focused on creating 50 minutes of dynamic ‘Fringe’ drama.

And we truly believe in Fragile Man we’ve been able to achieve that in the writing, directing, production and performance. It even has its own originally scripted musical score to add to its unique and edgy feel.

The play opens on an isolated hilltop with high drama that is both uncomfortable and riveting as we witness a chance encounter between two men which is destined to change their lives forever.

Having watched it, people have described it as an unsettling and insightful drama exposing two men's fight for truth, justice and survival, as well as a unique, well-crafted, edgy and evocative. Audiences can expect themes of mental health, psychological disturbance, guilt, abandonment and projection.

Less noted, but just as present throughout the play is the importance of your name and of belonging, the evanescence of love and the conflict of the very human need for both presence and isolation. The hilltop setting for Fragile Man is perfect for the dramatic opening and has allowed us to introduce plenty of metaphorical references; such as being on the edge, staring into the abyss, the fading of the light and the setting of the sun.

However, the ‘real’ story is told through a series of flashbacks which take the men (and the many characters they portray) off the hillside and into a number of other locations in time and place. This shifting between the flashbacks and the hillside creates a real dynamic, with an accompanying, original soundscape, which helps transport the audience and projects the story forward with great pace and poignancy.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Having been inspired by how many men are turning to suicide to resolve deep emotional issues we took the play on its own journey through improved workshops. We wanted the play to be direct yet mysterious, revealing and yet shadowy and inspiring and yet confrontational.

Now it’s written, rehearsed and ready to go, we’re really proud to announce that our show is entered for the Fringe First Award and eligible for the new Mental Health Fringe Award. given the themes in Fragile Man are centred around suicide, self harm and repression - aiming to help raise mental health awareness.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

The is our first Softsod Production, but yes, its focus will continue to be on ‘the human condition’ making plays that are edgy, challenging and always resonating with the deep psychology and complexity of our inner world. I have a degree in Psychology, practised as a Social Worker for many years and went on to be a counselling and psychotherapy practitioner, As a result I am fascinated at how the unconscious, upbringing and socialisation affect us in ways that are often barely perceptible.

I am keen to use our writing and performance to focus on this ‘hidden vulnerability’ within all of us whilst also ensuring the drama is also always entertaining, humorous but challenging.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

After performing Fragile Man for the first time to a live, paying audience (our Preview Performance) at the Bath Fringe Festival at a marvellous Fringe-friendly theatre the Rondo Theatre, we are fairly certain now what the audience will experience and take away.

We gave the Bath Fringe audience members feedback forms to fill in which asked some very pointed questions aimed at generating constructive criticism to help us shape any parts of the show that people felt it needed.

So when we received comment after comment about how much they had enjoyed the show, ‘got’ the show, felt it was real, moving, inspiring and relevant, Jacqs (the Director), Richard (my fellow ‘creative’ and actor) and I were taken off guard somewhat. I’m going to admit that I welled up at one stage where an audience member I didn’t know spoke in such glowing terms I didn’t know where to look or what to say to her.

So it’s given us a renewed confidence that the play is Fringe-ready and destined to generate a fabulous response in Edinburgh. Fragile Man is designed to take people on a very personal emotional journey and we’re confident people are going to experience it as much as watch it. From the feedback, my favourite comment was “deep issues, beautifully communicated”. We all came out of the evening glowing.

After watching Fragile Man we anticipate many entertaining evenings sat with friends, a glass of wine and some bar snacks, whilst trying to unpack the hidden depths of the play and piece together all of its messages, some clear, some barely-visible, some light, some refreshing and some deeply disturbing.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

The key strategy was to write a play that had strength and depth in its writing and in getting the audience to go on the Fragile Man (person) experience with us.

The play was developed and refined through Workshops and in live rehearsals. Undoubtedly the greatest challenge has been in getting the scripting of the play to the quality we wanted in the timescales we’ve had.

Deciding to do a Preview at Bath Fringe at the end of May was both the best and worst decision. It put us all under enormous pressure to get the production ready for such an early date and we often doubted we would be ready. But it also gave us a target to aim for and in achieving it, this has taken a lot of pressure off us when bringing the production to Edinburgh.

During the early days the workshops had generated a huge amount of material and deciding what to leave out was a real test. For example, the play has had 4 different endings since January, each with a lot of merit, so again it was hard to let the early ones go in search of the one with just the right impact and ability to both surprise and delight.

I think a lot of writers struggle with this aspect - in getting attached to a particular plot line which is good, but not good enough and struggling to let it go in search of 'the one'. But I was encouraged by writer friends and family to be brave and to trust my instincts. And in doing so we’ve got a story and an ending that we're extremely happy with and is hopefully anything other than what the audience will be expecting.

Their experience will be, we believe, one of a lasting impact of Fragile Man, one to ‘keep’ from their Edinburgh experience.

Fragile Man is an unsettling and insightful debut drama exposing two men's mental and emotional struggle to know their true selves. On an isolated hilltop they must face their darkest secrets and deepest fears in a chance encounter destined to change their lives forever.

A battle for truth, justice and ultimately their own survival.

The play’s topical inspiration was initially drawn from the dramatic and shocking rise in Western male suicide rates, highlighting the stress and isolation of 21st century living.

Further developed through improvised workshops, Fragile Man has grown into an originally scripted drama which delves deeply into our shared experience of being human and takes a new perspective on our freedom to choose, faith, guilt, self-preservation and the dawning reality of our own fragile existence.

On making its Fringe debut, Fragile Man’s writer, David Martin says…

”what started as an exploration of the hidden depths of male identity has become a darkly mysterious, sometimes comedic and often moving journey of self-discovery, which is relevant, thought-provoking and designed to resonate loudly with its audience.”

Inspired by visits to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 and 2016, David formed Softsod Productions specifically to create a drama for the Fringe that would stand out from the crowd.

He continues … “in the hands of our outstanding Director Jacqs Graham and alongside fellow creative and actor Richard Miltiadis, we truly believe Fragile Man captures the very essence of the Fringe, in this unique, well-crafted, edgy and evocative piece of theatre.”

Genre: New Writing; Drama

Original script and original musical score: David Martin

Cast & Crew

Director: Jacqs Graham

Producer: David Martin

Cast: David Martin and Richard Miltiadis

Sound and Lighting: Neil Bonnett

Photography and Arts: Sammy Pea

Basic Listing Information

Company: Softsod Productions

Show: FRAGILE MAN

Venue: The Space on the Mile (39), Theatre 2, Radisson Hotel, Royal Mile, EH1 1TH

Dates: 10th - 26th August (11.50am - 12.40pm)

Tickets: [email protected], Tel: 01315102382 or www.edfringe.com Tel: 01312260000 - £10 (£8 concessions)

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2uNgrY0

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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spicynbachili1 · 5 years

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Void Bastards is System Shock 2 meets XCOM and it looks great

I’m actually enthusiastic about Void Bastards. I imply, it’s a brand new deeply systems-driven FPS made by a few of the individuals behind System Shock 2, Neptune’s Satisfaction and Captain Ceaselessly. In fact I’m excited. You play as a determined crim boarding extraordinarily hostile derelict spaceships to loot stuff. It’s bought cool weapons and a hanging comedian e book artwork type, and it’s the results of some extraordinarily certified unfinished enterprise. I reckon that’s the very best cause to get into making one thing particular.

It began with XCOM. “I really like XCOM,” Jon Chey, founding father of developer Blue Manchu tells me. “All of us love XCOM.” And he as soon as had the chance to work on an XCOM recreation. The difficulty was that it was 2K’s ill-fated XCOM FPS mission, which ultimately got here out, lengthy after Chey left, because the unloved The Bureau. “It felt like a missed alternative on my half that I hadn’t managed to make that mission work whereas I used to be there,” he says. “I at all times thought there needed to be a manner of constructing a recreation of XCOM as a firstperson shooter.”

Making issues proper is the place Void Bastards’ story begins, however Chey didn’t leap straight into it after going indie. Blue Manchu’s first recreation was Card Hunter, a pleasant tabletop gaming-inflected tactical CCG which was meant to be a easy year-long first mission. It didn’t end up that manner: its rising scope ultimately pulled in six employees and took on as consultants Magic: The Gathering designers Richard Garfield and Skaff Elias.

However because the staff continued to broaden Card Hunter, they began to debate what would come subsequent. Chey began his profession as a programmer at Trying Glass on Thief and, after cofounding Irrational Video games, directed System Shock 2 and managed BioShock’s growth, and he talked about the place the Shock collection had gone, and the way a few of Thief’s concepts about persistence had been left behind: ranges that you could possibly backtrack via and monsters that lived in them, outdoors the affect of the participant.

“We thought, there’s one thing there,” says Chey. “The BioShock video games had that too, however they didn’t push it and in a manner went backwards, as a result of as they bought extra narrative-heavy they needed to constrain the participant extra. I bear in mind having lengthy arguments throughout BioShock about whether or not we must always permit the participant to return to earlier ranges. It wasn’t actually one thing the sport wanted but it surely was System Shock-y. So we thought, what if we constructed a framework wherein the participant can get into fascinating tactical fight conditions extra regularly and in a extra structured and player-directed manner?”

That concept advanced into half of Void Bastards: a systems-driven FPS. Essentially, an action-based immersive sim. Whenever you board a derelict you select three gadgets to equip. A damage-dealing weapon. Fairly commonplace: assume shotgun, assault rifle, pistol. A secondary weapon, normally extra contextual and complicated and sometimes requiring a bit foresight and preparation. Suppose the Clusterflak, which shoots a cluster of bomblets on a gradual timer. Open a door, shoot, shut the door, wait.

The final weapon doesn’t inflict direct injury. Suppose the Rifter. “Proper now I feel it is perhaps essentially the most highly effective weapon within the recreation,” says Chey. Use it to ‘rift’ any NPC into it, carry it about, after which shoot it out once more. “I can rift a man, then I can lock the door of a bit room and rift it into it, via the stable wall, so I can have a bit room the place I maintain all of the monsters prisoner!” Or you’ll be able to rift monsters right into a launch tube and eject them into house, or hack a turret and rift it across the stage, capturing monsters for you.

It’s all about choices, Warmth Signature-like choices, the truth is, in 3D Warmth Signature-like ships. Chey’s nicely conscious of the comparability, although Void Bastards began earlier than it was introduced. (See additionally Blendo Video games’ forthcoming Pores and skin Deep. Let’s coin a brand new sub style, the Warmth Sig-like! (Disclosure: Tom Francis is an efficient good friend.)) And, like Warmth Signature, earlier than you board you get to see what enemies you’ll be going through so you’ll be able to select the gear to go well with.

Properly, when you’ve got sufficient ammo reserves. In Void Bastards your ammo ranges are persistent, and also you don’t get to select up new gear throughout missions. “Ammo and useful resource shortage is a very massive factor on this recreation,” says Chey, who likes the way it drives gamers to attempt new issues. “The participant ought to at all times be hungry. You’re low on meals and gasoline and it’s essential get ammo for this weapon, however you’ve bought a few grenades and kitty bots, so I assume that’s what you’re utilizing. It creates that feeling of stress and fixed want. It’s additionally a recreation about lots of looting, and looting isn’t actually satisfying except you want stuff.”

However not a lot stress that you simply really feel such as you’re struggling. “We wished to create the flavour of a recreation the place you’re determined and operating out of stuff,” clarifies artwork director Ben Lee. The goal is to generate conditions which can be price considering your manner out of, so you’ll be able to pause the sport at any time to see the map of the ship and work out a plan. (Whether or not the map would pause the sport or depart it operating, as per System Shock, was some extent of scorching debate, however emphasising considering gained the day.)

“So right here I’m within the airlock, and I must get to Hab as a result of I feel it’s the place I’ll discover a specific form of loot I’m after,” says Chey. “However the map exhibits the door’s locked, so I’ll must go across the entrance of the ship, possibly via the Helm, and I’ll use the map terminal to inform me the place all the nice loot is.”

Every derelict out in house is of a sure sort which informs the sorts of modules you’ll discover on it, and loot might be in logical locations, so the air compressor you’re after so you’ll be able to craft extra stuff out of your ship will most likely be within the ambiance module. Extra widespread loot, like meals, will drop extra typically in hab modules. However you’ll additionally pay attention to radiation leaks, fireplace, safety programs, collapsed sections, powerful enemies, crawl areas, and also you’ll achieve extra info by hacking terminals.

“But when that’s all there may be to it, it’d be this very thinky, exhaustive, inch-through, maximise-your-loot recreation,” says Lee. “However I discover it enjoyable since you’re doing all that whereas your oxygen is ticking down. That’s what makes choices actually enjoyable, they’re not simply puzzles to resolve.”

And generally the correct choice is to get on the derelict, go searching, and nope out of it. “That’s really one thing our playtesters had a little bit of hassle with,” Lee says. “You don’t should do the mission! Don’t kill your self, simply depart!”

All this sounds rather a lot for a studio the scale of Blue Manchu to tackle. However Void Bastards is a selection mix of excessive ambition and intelligent economising. At its outset, Lee thought they’d discover it not possible to make an FPS, worrying concerning the large prices that are available rigging fashions, animating and texturing them. However then he noticed a screenshot of Return of the Obra Dinn. “I believed, what if we radically stylised the sport in a manner that ignores the issues we’d face?”

So Lee proposed utilizing an old-school Doom and Duke-style sprite renderer. Monsters would have the standard eight facings, however be excessive res in order that they’d keep away from a retro look. The staff jumped on the concept, and really shortly it began to tell the sport’s general comedian e book look, full with suiting sparsely detailed environments.

“It gave financial savings throughout the board,” says Chey. “When you’ve gotten sprite enemies, nobody expects them to work together with the setting in difficult methods.” And so they lent the sport satisfying immediacy and readability. Essentially the most advanced mannequin is of a tea-dispensing machine, which took a complete week to make and was initially meant to be mere setting artwork. Being so opulent they needed to give it an precise use, and now consuming tea from it grants a triple-damage buff.

In order that’s one half of the sport. The different half is a turn-based technique performed out throughout a nebula wherein your ship’s trapped, and that is the place XCOM is available in, particularly its Geoscape and its elegant relationship with the tactical recreation. “It’s the place your objectives come from,” says Chey. The general object of the marketing campaign is to flee the nebula by discovering tools to restore your ship, travelling between nodes on the map, in search of derelicts to board.

“It’s a medium-complexity technique recreation you’re enjoying on high of the motion recreation,” Chey continues. “You don’t spend hours in there. It’d be fairly boring to play by itself, but it surely frames the extreme missions.” In that sense, the technique aspect additionally paces out the motion a part of the sport, which they discovered turned draining when performed in lengthy classes.

Many of the systemic video games Chey has labored on solely got here collectively on the very finish. “Thief was mainly damaged proper up till 30 days from gold grasp. It had an fascinating mechanic but it surely wasn’t enjoyable.” However Void Bastards has been playable from very early on, so it’s already had months of iteration. And Chey’s previous buddy, Ken Levine, has already sunk 36 hours into it. “Ken’s well mannered, however not well mannered sufficient to play for that lengthy if he didn’t prefer it. And we have now the metrics, so we all know he has.”

That’s simply the form of endorsement I would like for a recreation that guarantees to replicate the important thing concepts behind XCOM, Warmth Signature and System Shock. Blue Manchu hopes to launch Void Bastards in spring subsequent 12 months. I can’t wait.

from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/void-bastards-is-system-shock-2-meets-xcom-and-it-looks-great/

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