#8 dollars is not worth it for such a short quest

[unholycourier]

lecter d. longfellow and his affinity for the ocean. oh, also his new hat

[randomfoggytiger]

SCULLY, The Enigmatic ISTJ

Everyone seems to agree unanimously on this typing-- and I concur. But there’s more to our cool, collected, complex medical-doctor-FBI-agent Dana Scully than meets the eye... SO! Let’s not waste time. 

(Note: This is not based on the MBTI system-- disclaimer at the bottom~.)

SCULLY

ISTJs are the most honest, straightforward, and sensible of the Types. It’s easy to see why Scully fits into this category. But another little twist (that fits her to a T) is the preconceived misperception of ISTJs as a whole: boring and by-the-books. ISTJs are incredibly complex; but most of it is stored inside, requiring only the tiniest bit of effort to draw it out. Most people don’t consider them worth that effort. Those who do can’t imagine a life without them.

To keep it simple, this analysis will only tackle the ISTJ’s 8 dominant functions:

The Hero Function: The most effortless of an ISTJ’s functions is its Introverted Sensing (Si for short.) It gives Scully a connection to what “was”-- her memories, security, habits, faith, and a drive to share these experiences with others-- and gives her endurance to care for and cultivate what is. It is particularly in-tune with physical comfort: ISTJs must have everything in its place, often excessively cleaning.  

Their Si endurance gives them both extreme sensitivity to the gut punches of life but also extreme tenacity to get back up. It can also deeply embitter them, as they never forget the injustices that are dealt to themselves and others. They pride their ability to endure the hits; but-- when mature-- they take time to be humble about their life experiences and to acknowledge their limits.

Another interesting element to an ISTJ’s Si is that it exists to assist others on their quests, choosing a secondary rather than primary role. But, MORE IMPORTANTLY, it’s used to swiftly cover up others’ massive mistakes. Si Hero constantly puts the lives of those around them back into order, whether it’s catching minor fine print details that others would miss or catching someone right before they trip and tumble off a cliff into a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.

The Parent Function: The ISTJ’s Thinking Extroverted Function (Te for short) is its pessimistic parent, and relies heavily on rules, metrics, standards, reputation, and beliefs. They are THE walking Library of Alexandria: constantly talking reference points in not only past or current events, but conversations they’ve had or information they’ve read at one time somewhere. This obsessive hunt for knowledge is solely to prevent society from being stupid; but they can take a hypocritical bend if their fear of faulty logic makes them rely too heavily on ONLY tried-and-true facts that doesn’t account for the whole.

When combined with their Si Hero, Te Parent gravitates to duty-bound professions (police, first responders, coast guard, etc.), choosing to be a delegatory task force member rather than in a position of authority. They do, however, want status: they want to look GOOD, to be recognized as the classy (and hopefully VIP) citizens they hone themselves to be.

In romantic relationships, they prefer to be pursued with respect, and are immediately repulsed by those that flash their own pride in themselves around for all to see. Flattery wins them over VERY easily (because they believe they’ve easily earned any compliment handed to them.)  

The Child Function: The most idealistic of the functions is an ISTJ’s Feeling Introverted Child (Fi for short)-- the moral compass and measurer of principles, values, investment, mood, and worth. Almost in direct opposition to Te Parent, Fi Child serves as the finger that Scully measures the wind with: if an ISTJ doesn’t FEEL good about whatever is unfolding around them, they will disengage (leaving physically if necessary) to avoid the situation entirely.

This leads them to sticking their head in the sand, tossing the issue aside and lazily spouting whatever the current collective opinion on the subject is. They then start building their giant towers of knowledge on a weak foundation, leaving their entire library vulnerable to the first wind that comes along.

This rut of familiarity and fear of uncomfortable experiences can keep them locked into procrastination, possibly their whole lives. With maturity, they see the wisdom of verification; and that true intelligence is gained by exploring scary and hard-to-swallow truths.

(On the bright side, this makes them resistant to emotional manipulation, since they know they’re a good person who is trying their best. Scully’s reaction to being scolded by Ritter in “Tithonus” is a perfect example.)

The Inferior Function: The most aspirational of an ISTJ’s Functions, Extroverted Intuition (Ne for short)-- deals with prescience of metaphysics, possibilities, and --in short-- collective fate. It is afraid of the future: society’s decline and collapse seem to be always on the horizon. This fuels the ISTJs strive for knowledge, acquiring more and more to gain confidence that everyone’s futures are secure so long as humanity does not forget the lessons of the past. 

They see history as a constantly repeating cycle; and they make it their personal duty to recognize this cycle and transform it, bringing awareness to dire and unaddressed issues.

But again-- ISTJs MUST verify their beliefs first, and they MUST break out of their comfort zone before that. In order to get them out of their aforementioned Fi Child rut, Ne Inferior must be made uncomfortable. Their life must be put into question: their decisions and their choices they’ve made must be prodded. Have they done enough? Are they doing enough?

If they’re not shaken out of their laziness, the ISTJs will wake up one day and wonder where all the years have gone as they sit, unfulfilled, in the very same spot they were fifteen, twenty, thirty years ago.

The Nemesis Function: ISTJs’ Extroverted Sensing (Se for short) is where their worry lies-- it provides observation on personal performance to the outside world. Se Nemesis is deeply affected by first impressions and goes above and beyond to put their best foot forward always. They are obsessively clean: their clothes are clean, tailored, and unoffensive, and their personal belongings are spotless. They cannot stand a messy environment, can’t relax on a lazy weekend if something is out of its exact designated place. 

They are also known for keeping their own personal spaces away from loved ones, going so far as to militantly draw lines around “their things” to keep them from devolving into a mess (ex. Scully keeping her own apartment and preferring to hang out with Mulder at his place-- even after they were seriously dating. And yes, that is a thing ISTJs do in real life.)

The Critic Function: As the grumpiest grandparent of the functions, Introverted Thinking Critic doles out self-doubt to what ISTJs “know”, providing them with a kick-in-the-pants to verify their beliefs. It helps to deduce the truth from their aggregated collection of data (usually provided by Mulder’s Ti Hero, link here), and is insanely powerful... if it can be pried from the fearful death grip of the Te Parent’s over-reliance on conventional wisdom.

When used correctly, it serves as its own commitment to the truth, and allows ISTJs to be the most objective of all types (to be discussed further in--)

The Trickster Function: The “blind-spot” function for the ISTJs is their Extroverted Feeling Trickster-- in a surprising turn of events, this means that Scully is largely unaware of social norms: the current culture “do’s” and “dont’s” when it comes to bonding as a community or accepted, inclusive ethics evade her grasp. 

ISTJs have no idea how others feel, know this, and doubt their own perceptions constantly (which is why Scully is so easily duped by shapeshifters and CSM in “En Ami”; or shaken in her opinions of Mulder in “Grotesque”, “Pine Bluff Variant”, “Folie au Deux”, etc.) They are also usually more “awkward” in new situations, largely unaware of their faux pas (until criticism activates their Se Nemesis’ embarrassment and their Si Hero's permanent memory.) At their most extreme, they have no sense of boundaries, i.e. following someone into the bathroom while engrossed in a conversation (or asking Langly to pass the striker saw while he was one whiff away from vomiting over his dead friend’s autopsy.)

Hilariously, the Scully of S1 was her “truest” form before she leveled-up her Te Parent; but it (thankfully) never truly vanishes-- she may have dumped her crazy fashion sense, but she still munches chicken wings over a room full of skeletons and giddily discusses bile worms with her just-as-intrigued partner. Even MORE hilariously, she is less aware of social norms than MULDER-- he just doesn’t care about them (which leaves her scrambling to smooth feathers that Mulder ruffled right before she walked into the room.) 

The Demon Function: Coming in last is the strongest and most dangerous function: Introverted Intuition. This serves as the destruction button when ISTJs are pushed to their maximum. ISTJs struggle daily with discouragement; because of this, they know the value of encouragement, and spend most of their energy supporting and lifting up others’ around them. The primary way they encourage others is to warn them of the outcome of their choices. If others ignore their warnings, ISTJs will HURT them. Not only because their status and reputation were harmed, but also because they were disrespected. And, more importantly, because no one valued them enough to listen. 

It is gut wrenching for an ISTJ to feel unwanted, as they bend over backwards to care for the ones they love without expecting anything in return. If they aren’t valued enough to be listened to, ISTJs become embittered; and cut their losses by handing self-destructive information to their enemies and leaving with grace before the explosion.  

Fortunately, Ni Demon can also serve as their greatest tool for happiness-- it frees them to take risks. It gives them liberty to stare into their darkest fears, take the plunge, and come out stronger-- but they can’t do it alone.

ISTJs’ “boring” reputation comes from the stagnation of their unfulfilling routines. As discussed in their Fi Child section, ISTJs need to be wanted, to have someone to put their backs up against (but usually only admit to this once they have matured their Si Hero.) With this person they no longer fear never being “chosen”; and leap farther and ascend higher than they ever have before, crazily laughing in the cold rain. Happy.

Thank you for reading! Leave suggestions anywhere you like if you want a character analysis of anyone else~.

Disclaimers: This is a self-assessed analysis. This information is not based on the abominable MBTI system (which has been butchered from its original Jungian typology since ~WWII); instead, it’s a combination between the works of Jung’s type psychology, Dr. Linda Berens’ Communication styles, Dr. Dario Nardi’s EEG brain scan compiled research, and others’ data and practices as compiled and simplified by CSJoseph. This system is based only on the Nature side of Nature/Nurture; and each “type” is not a “box” to fit everyone into– simply a tool to help understand the basics of the human mind that science has only begun to fathom in its limited scope.

[tabloidtoc]

TV Guide, May 10-23

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: NCIS: New Orleans' happy ending -- Scott Bakula and Chelsea Field

Page 1: Contents, Your Feedback

Page 2: Ask Matt -- Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chad, Younger

* Coming Next Issue -- in TV Guide's May 24 issue, we're cheering on America's Got Talent Season 16, which premieres with the same gang including Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara

Page 4: TV Insider -- 25 top shows

Page 5: First Look -- Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in the third and final season of The Kominsky Method

* The Big Number -- 465 millions of dollars Amazon will reportedly spend to produce season 1 of its upcoming Lord of the Rings series

Page 6: How to pick a streaming service

Page 8: The Roush Review -- Debris

Page 9: The Handmaid's Tale, Mythic Quest, Pride

Page 10: Cover Story -- Pride and Joy -- with backyard vows, a bride in red and one last dance with danger, Scott Bakula's NCIS: New Orleans lawman Dwayne Pride gets his happy ending with his girlfriend Rita Devereaux, played by real-life wife Chelsea Field

Page 14: Mom's the Word -- Allison Janney and the cast of Mom share the outrageous moments (the Valentine's dinner! the Tylenol spitting!) that made it a hit

Page 16: No Kidding -- Jean Smart leaves 'em laughing as a Vegas comic who reluctantly hires a joke writer on the new comedy Hacks

Page 18: What's Worth Watching -- Week 1 -- Death & Nightingales

Page 19: Monday, May 10 -- Nashville, Family Ties, Lifetime Presents Variety's Power of Women The Comedians, 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Crime of the Century, Race to the Center of the Earth

Page 20: Tuesday, May 11 -- Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer, Little People Big World, Mayans M.C., America's Book of Secrets

* Wednesday, May 12 -- Married at First Sight, Home Economics, Nancy Drew, See No Evil

Page 20: Thursday, May 13 -- Young Sheldon, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Dark Side of Football

Page 22: Friday, May 14 -- Blue Bloods, Night Gallery, Happily Wherever, We Are Family: Songs of Hope and Unity

Page 24: Saturday, May 15 -- The Personal History of David Copperfield, Popeye and Pink Panther's Party, China: Nature's Ancient Kingdom

Page 25: Sunday, May 16 -- Poisoned in Paradise: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery, Naked and Afraid XL, Run the World, MTV Movie & TV Awards, The Story of Late Night, Good Witch, Murderous History, Fear the Walking Dead, The Rookie, Mare of Easttown, Fall River

Page 26-39: TV listings

Page 40: Stream It! Your guide to the very best streaming available now -- Netflix -- Amy Adams on The Woman in the Window

Page 41: Comedies of All Kinds -- The Upshaws, Special, Master of None

* The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness

Page 42: Prime Video -- Barry Jenkins on The Underground Railroad, Solos

* Britbox -- Line of Duty

Page 43: Hulu -- Some Kind of Heaven

* Discovery+ -- Clipped

Page 44: New Movie Releases

Page 45: Series, Specials and Documentaries

Page 46: What's Worth Watching -- Week 2 -- The Conners

Page 47: Monday, May 17 -- Max Greenfield on The Neighborhood, The Man in the Iron Mask, 9-1-1, Bob Hearts Abishola, Running Wild With Bear Grylls with Bobby Bones and fiance Caitlin Parker, American Experience: Billy Graham, Bull

Page 48: Tuesday, May 18 -- Tyler Hoechlin on Superman & Lois, The Resident, Catfish: The TV Show, Prodigal Son

Page 49: Wednesday, May 19 -- Cher & the Loneliest Elephant, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Life at the Waterhole, SEAL Team, S.W.A.T., Wipeout

Page 50: Thursday, May 20 -- Last Man Standing series finale, Manifest, Rebel

* Friday, May 21 -- Jungleland, Inside the Met

Page 51: Saturday, May 22 -- Wonder Woman 1984, Critter Fixers: Country Vets

Page 52: Sunday, May 23 -- Uzo Aduba on In Treatment, Perry Mason, American Idol, 2021 Billboard Music Awards, NCIS: Los Angeles, Black Monday

Page 54-69: TV listings

Page 72: Cheers & Jeers -- cheers to 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Conners, The Circle, Girls5Eva, jeers to ABC for moving A Million Little Things, Hulu's How I Met Your Father, reality shows in a rush

[wherearemyglassesbro]

A h/etalia Umbrella academy au but it isn’t actually one, it’s just inspired by UA kinda...idk

//Uh keep in mind that this is going straight from the drafts onto your dash and uhhh there will for sure be spelling errors so don’t roast me lmao

Roman ‘Roma’ Vargas: An eccentric billionaire who founded the Academy of the World’s Finest (or the AWF for short). He gets bored very quickly and went from buying rockets to building hotels to managing casinos to buying children. A very crazy sequence of events! (Roma has many secrets but I don’t feel like fleshing it’s out rn this is just the bare bones of this just for fun!! And if you’ve seen both seasons of UA you probably already knows what you need to know). One faithful day, October 1st 1989, multiple beautiful babies were born from women who were not pregnant the day they were born. This phenomenon made itself known to Roma and he was off to find as many of these children that he could! He sent his staff all over the world to buy these children. He successfully purchased 9.

Number 1, purchased for $10,000 in Las Vegas: Number 1 was picked to be number 1 because Roma thought he was such a strong looking baby. Alfred was actually purchased fifth out of his siblings but no one knows that except Roma himself. Alfred, from a young age, was able to cause an obscene amount of damage. When he held Roma’s hand while learning to walk, he crushed the bones in his hand. When he kicked a soccer ball down the hallway, it went through the wall like a meteor. When he knocked on Arthurs door to bother him, the door snapped in half (and Art screamed bloody murder). He has an insane amount of strength without even trying! It was very hard for him to get a handle on it because he’s so spontaneous and isn’t really one to think before acting but once he and hs siblings started training for hero work?? That was his motivation to be better, to control his power to use it against bad guys!!! He’s the golden boy of the family, he never disobeys Roma and will never, even now, say anything bad about him. ‘Hey! He’s my dad, he saved me from whatever shithole life I was destined to have in Nevada. I couldn’t be more thankful for my life! And mom, if you’re watching this...Thanks. I don’t know who you are but...Thank you’

Number 2, purchased for $25,000 in Le Mans: Number 2’s power presented itself only after he learned to talk. Francis’s power of persuasion is both a blessing and a curse for him. He’s struggled greatly with being ‘number 2’, he wants the same validation and attention as ‘number 1’ gets. He doesn’t think it’s fair. He often used his power for bad things arond the house like ‘J'ai entendu une rumeur that you broke every finger on your right hand!’ that was a very gruesome morning for Alfred and the scolding that Francis got scarred him for life as he was insulted and cursed out in front of his family. Even after that, he still kept up his happy exterior. He was also usually the face of the AWF, appearing on magazine covers which he may or may not have influenced the writers just a bit. His power is strong but he does not use it on Roma because he’s terrified of what would happen if he did!! As he’s gotten older, he’s falls off the wagon a little but he’s trying to make a solid recovery. Also, when he was 7 he found out he was born in France! He then forced himself to become totally fluent in French and taught himself to have a French accent too. Whoopie....

Number 3, purchased for $1000 in Sicily: Number 3 is a dangerous child, he was from day one. When he was born, he was presenting a 116 degree fever yet he was acting totally normal. His mother was convinced he was the devil and was more than happy to sell him off to Roma. Roma felt a deep connection to Lovi from the start....Lovi looked like him. He looked like he could be his biological son. Lovi got special treatment from Roma often but he still felt overshadowed by his siblings. I mean, a majority of his siblings are pretty blondes. He felt left out often. But he would channel that anger into training and cooking! He has a trick that he likes to do, cracking an egg into his palm and cooking it. That one impresses Alfred every time! Not that he’s hard to impress. Lovi would often push himself too far in his quest to be the best and snap at his siblings, leaving him even more alienated from them. He spent a lot of time around Roma and Feli, mostly Roma. He got a lot of one-on-one training with him and a lot of praise too. All he ever wanted to do was be perfect for his father. He set bad guys on fire, did interviews on live tv, set fire to a warehouse full of gang members, all kinds of stuff that he never would have done on his own. Stuff that he didn’t want to do. All so he could impress Roma

Number 4, purchased for $700 outside of Berlin: Number 4 has always been hyper and loud! But his powers suddenly developed over night, which was terrifying for him. Gilbert awoke in the middle of the night to pee one night and was met with a ghost in the bathtub. Naturally, Roma encouraged him to speak with ghosts and would make him go to cemeteries to talk to the dead. Ghosts scared him so he’d secretly take Benadryl to knock himself out but as he got older, he realized that he couldn’t be scared anymore cause these ghosts needed a friend :( so he used these ghosts to fight in missions and in return, he’d play games with them and chat with them, just being friend with the ones who had a hard time crossing over :’) he likes using his powers for good but feels like he’s taking advantage of his ghost friends sometimes which took the fun out of crime fighting

Number 5, given to Roma for free outside of Kyoto: Number 5 got a late start compared to his siblings. His powers took awhile longer to manifest and he had trouble learning to read. But once he caught up, he proved himself to be the smartest out of all of them. Smarter than some of them combined, even. Kiku still often indulged in his siblings antics but at the same time, he felt he was somewhat superior to them. He learned to poof himself from one side of the room to the other, starting off small. He figured out he could time travel one night when Francis and Gil were hammered and knocked a vase over. Kiku felt every muscle in his body tense, then a sensation of falling, then he was suddenly 10 seconds in the past!! Wow!! He caught the vase before it could hit the ground and kicked Fran so he fell down, leaving him to sleep on the foyer floor while Gil just stood there like ‘wtf...?’. When Roma started berating him for ‘getting too cocky’, Kiku threw a bit of a hissy fit and decided to jump to the future!! He did and landed himself in the aftermath of the 2019 apocalypse, unable to get back home cause he wore himself out and had no idea what he had even done to get himself there in the first place lmao sucker.

Number 6, purchased for $10,000 in York: Number 6 was an extremely fussy baby. All he did was cry and cry and cry, it was very frustrating for Roma since the other babies were somewhat easier to handle. Arthur was indeed a handful. When he was hungry, baby food tins and spoons would float out of the pantry and over to his highchair. When he wanted to torment his siblings, he’d take their things and throw them across the room with his mind. When a sinking was annoying him, he’d simply lift them up and shove them out of his room. Easy. He is probably the smartest or second smartest of his siblings. He isn’t the most athletic but he spent lots of time studying, so much so that Roma had to constantly buy new books for Art to read to keep him mentally stimulated. He was often a voice of reason though no one listened to him. When fighting he was very useful!! He never needed to get close to the bad guys, he could throw them around without moving a muscle! The only downside is that it wore him out after awhile...Ugh. He avoided the media but did do interviews with his mask on, encouraging kids his age to stay in school! By the time Art was 13, he was taking college level tests and reading college level material so...he’s one smart cookie

Number 7, given to Roma for free in undisclosed location in Russia: Number 7 is too powerful for her own good. At a young age, Francis was told to convince her that she had no powers. This was done in secret, only Roma, the house staff, Francis and Kiku knew it happened. Everyone else was oblivious and left out of the loop. Vanya has the ability to shake the earth, to cause obscene amounts of damage in the blink of an eye. Her power was something that Roma could have never prepared himself for. So from that day on, Vanya was a ‘normal girl’. She watched from the sidelines as her siblings got to train and fight. She sat with Feli to paint or sew or just talk. She went through every day feeling worthless, like she wasn’t meant to be a part of this family. She channeled her feelings into art, painting canvasses worth of rainy cities or melting people. She made a series of paintings depicting her siblings’ abilities through chunky brushstrokes and vibrant colors. Each painting sold for over one million dollars. She thought her art career would impress her father. It didn’t.

Number 8, purchased for $15,000 and 10 cows outside of Oslo: Number 8 was always a quiet boy, he kept to himself and Roma thought he may be powerless as well for almost 5 years until lightning struck the house...on a bright sunny day...not a cloud in the sky. Turns out Lukas and Kiku were arguing. They were only 5 so they were just shrieking and yelling nonsense then BAM!!!! Lighting. Roma was so terrified but Lukas was giggling and shooting soarks out of his hands, his hair sticking up like crazy. He was always quiet and reserved, he spent a lot of time in the library or on the roof just looking out over the city. He didn’t like sneaking out of the house like his brothers and sisters did but he went ‘to keep an eye on them’...he always had fun though. He stayed away from the media and wore a mask that his most of his face so he wouldn’t be recognized. Sadly, in a tough fight in a hostage situation, Lukas was shot and killed when he was 15, right when he was starting to consider writing a book about hero work and how as he aged, he was becoming more confident in himself due to helping others. It was a tragic loss for his siblings

Number 9, purchased for $800 and a new car in La Coruna: Number 9 was successful from the start, surpassing her siblings in height very very fast. Her power just happens to be her speed. Carmen, as a baby, was a lot to handle since she crawled around the house at 40 miles an hour. Even her sleep schedule was quick, she’d take a 20 minute speed nap and have enough energy to run around for hours after. When she was introduced to the idea of being a hero, she agreed so fast that she nearly bit her tongue off. She always got her chores done quick, helped around the house, all of that since a task that would take 3 hours only took a few minutes for her. She was a great female role model and did many interviews for teen magazines to encourage girls to be their best, that has always been her message. She even wrote ‘GRLPWR’ on her cheeks in black paint before heading off to fight crime in case she had her picture taken. Roma wasn’t a huge fan of that but she didn’t care too much :) she has always stuck up for her sisters!! And she has always been close to Fran and Gil but as they got older, their interests began to differ so she found herself hanging with Vanya and Arthur more

Feliciano Vargas: Roma Vargas’s only biological son. He does not have powers and often felt left out when he was left behind while his siblings went on missions. He’s 2 years younger than the rest of them and is often referred to as ‘stupid little brother’ by Lovino which hurt his feelings. When he was a baby, they were like 2 and a half so they didn’t see him as ‘aww look my baby brother!’ They just found him annoying cause he cried a lot. Like his siblings, he never met his mom but he does feel good knowing that he will always have his dad. When he and the academy kids fight, he will often rub it in their faces that at least Roma is his biological dad. That really rubs salt in the wounds, huh? Feli has always gotten on well with Vanya, they got left behind all the time so they got to paint and play music together :) they made eachother very happy

Gilbert and Lukas: Gil didn’t really like Lukas much when they were younger cause Lukas was just...quiet and reserved. Gil is the exact opposite. But now that Lukas is dead, Gil pities him and hangs out with him. They trained a lot together but Gil got embarassed when they trained cause if someone were to walk in, they’d just see Gil shouting and punching at nothing so...They trained in the dark at 3am on the roof where they wouldnt be interrupted. Now that Gil is older, he can channel Lukas almostperfectly. Lukas has an almost totally physical form when Gil uses his powers, allowing Lukas to channel lightning the way he was able to when he was alive. Lukas doesn’t like doing that too often cause it’s a bit cruel, getting to feel alive when you’re not :/

Kuma: Kuma was a normal polar bear that was experimented on in a lab that Roma funded. The scientists combined his DNA with monkey and human DNA and after much trial and error, they were able to get his brain to process English. So he wears a collar that allows him to talk. He scolded the kids for running around in the house but then five minutes later he’d let them ride his back while HE ran around the halls :) he was like a fun uncle to them. He wore a bow tie :)

Wan yu: Roma fell in love with a woman from China when he was younger. She was studying culinary arts in Italy and he absolutely fell head over heels for her. But things didn’t work out. So once the tech came around, he had an advanced robot version of his first love created for the sole purpose of loving him and his children. She was programmed to be a great role model, compassionate, patient and...A good cook. The kids all called her mom or ma and even though she never technically had favorites, she was always fond of little Kiku. She was the one who taught him to read when he had trouble doing so and she’s stay up late with him in secret to help him catch up in other languages. The kids all had to learn Italian, English, Spanish, Greek and Russian bedore they were even 8 years old. Since Kiku took a bit longer to grasp that kind of stuff, she would sneak him down to the library to have one-on-one lessons with him. :) she was also very caring when it came to Alfred, she saw how hard he pushed himself sometimes and it hurt her to watch. She made cookies for him on especially rough days

Lukas’s death: Lukas’s death hit Arthur, Vanya and Gilbert especially hard. Arthur and Lukas bonded over similar interests, Lukas and Vanya played chess all the time and gossiped and Gilbert always thought that Lukas was the coolest sibling he had. His death was used as motivation for everyone else to continue training. Gilbert ‘summoned’ Lukas three days after his death and Lukas has followed him around ever sicne. Lukas wasn’t avtually summoned, he’d been secretly roaming the house for days and decided to just let Gil think he summoned him. Roma was depressed about his son’s death for a week or so but he never really allowed himself to feel negative emotions for too long so he was over it a bit...too quickly.

[bregee13]

My DTL4 Wish List

Idk why I'm making this, as this won't really do much of anything, but I want to make a wish list of stuff I would want for DtL4. (And maybe for remakes too!) Also, I haven't played TR so everything mentioning it is all from what I've heard. Please get TR if you haven't yet!)

Before I start my wish list, I want to say that some of y'all need to calm down about TR being a "horrible game". It's not that bad, it's just kinda disappointing. It has pacing issues, replayability issues, glitches, gameplay issues, doesn't have much drawing, as well as other things. BUT! I feel like some people need to remember that this game is pretty much the devs way of taking a step back into the DtL scene, seeing how interested people are in it. It's not exactly meant to be an "outstanding game of the year", but rather it's a quick test. Because they want to get back into this series! And if this small 5/10 dollar game (which, may I add is also very obvious sequel fodder) manages to get enough attention and success, they'll have good reason to make more (and better) DtL content!!! ALSO!!! If you think TR isn't worth getting due to it's issues, remember that (unlike the old games) it will get updated and patched a bunch! So while it may never be the best dtl game, it will get better over time! I swear! (Also, switch touchscreen support will be added in the future so... *cough* *cough* get Drawn to Life: Two Realms *cough*) So dear anybody that thinks harassing the devs is a good idea, THEY PUT THEIR HEARTS INTO IT AND WANT TO MAKE MORE DTL! SO SHUT IT!!!

...Anyway, I'm going to start with my wish list now.

1) A nice story that continues off of TR. I don't have many exact demands for plot. Basically, I just want an awesome story! Maybe one that's even better than all the others combined!

2) Return to the old level format! (...kinda) While the concept of these puzzle platforming levels is cool, it doesn't seem to work in execution. For the most part, I'd like levels much like the ones in TNC. Short enough to go through in a breeze, as well as being unique and replayable enough to not get tired of all the levels. But there's some additional things I'd like for levels. Like a few more branching paths to encourage exploration. 

3) Keep a few puzzle elements! As much as the entire game being puzzle levels wasn't exactly the best idea, I would personally enjoy having the occasional puzzle in some levels! The first two games don't really have many puzzles in levels, and I think a bunch of the ones that do really stand out! In fact, if you really want to add a handful of TR-ish levels along side regular levels, that might work! (As long as any TR-ish levels are more polished)

4) BRING BACK COLLECTIBLES! The first game had so many collectibles (most of them weren't optional though...)! The second game not as much. And TR isn't necessarily a collectathon. I'm not asking for a million collectibles required to beat the game, but rather a bunch of optional (and a handful of required) collectibles in the game! Maybe you can have a bunch in different levels, and some in the overworld! Either way, I want to be encouraged (but not forced) to explore!! 

5) SIDEQUESTS!!!! OH MY GOSH, SIDEQUESTS PLEASE!!! Having little levels for a bunch of side characters is a nice start, and it's super cool, but I want MORE! You know how the Wii game had a bunch of characters that gave you sidequests to do? (defeat x number of a certain enemy, getting certain collectibles, beat the level under a certain time, etc.) That was pretty neat! I want that! AND THEN SOME! I also want to complete more specific quests for certain characters! You know how TNC has a bunch of cool Raposa that don't do anything story-wise? I want to do quests for them! (For example, Iolani can't use the bathroom because she misplaced a certain form. I always wanted to be able to go into a level to fetch that form for her!) Oh! And maybe a fetch quest or two? There's so many ideas you can implement with these sidequests. And I want these sidequests to have mini stories too! When I complete them, I want some kind of award! Perhaps a collectible? Even if I don't get anything, I still want acknowledgement from the characters that I helped them! What can I say? I like the dialogue!

6) DRAWING PLATFORMS! I would LOVE to be able to draw platforms again! It's DRAWN to Life after all! Though I wouldn't want to be forced to draw too many in a row. 

7) Optional Drawings! I LOVE the idea of having optional drawings! The ones in TR are nice, though I'd like them more if the characters reacted to my drawings. Like the village creations in TNC! Those were great! (And maybe we could get awards for doing them!) Optional creations in levels are a nice idea too! The Wii game did those, and it was a nice touch. However, it often saturated each level with unnecessary drawing time. Not only because there was a lot of them, but because it was hard to tell what creations were required and which ones were cosmetic. So if cosmetic creations in levels would be a thing, I'd want a way to tell them apart from ones I need to do.

8) Bosses! I would LOVE to fight a couple of bosses again!!! PLEASE 505 GAMES! DIGITAL CONTINUE! GIVE ME SOME CREATIVE BOSSES!!! And honestly? I just really want to beat Aldark to a pulp. 

9) Toys and Enemies? I honestly think toys (as a mechanic) is super neat! Being able to place enemies and tools in a level is cool as heck! Though I wouldn't want every level to rely on that mechanic. Also, here's an idea. What if we go back to calling the little enemy/toy creatures "enemies", and call all the non-living stuff "toys"! ...Unless we're calling them all toys for some plot reason??? 👀

10) MULTIPLAYER?!? Idk how it would work, but it would be cool!

11) Sharing your creations!!! What if we could share our creations in a way that let other people use them? Kinda like animal crossing??

12) MINIGAMES!! MINIGAMES, PLEASE!!! I want to be able to waste my time playing a bunch of different minigames!! Maybe they'll be like an arcade, and require a handful of rapocoins to play (so you have something to use them for after buying everything)? As for minigame ideas, I would be happy with the ones from the old games, plus some! (The snowball fight, the rocket shooter game, the surfboard game) You can even introduce the minigames that were cut from the first game!

13) Developers Grove?!? Not a necessity, but I really miss it. 

14) A level builder?! The idea of building and sharing levels is super neat!! Though it's not my priority.

15) I know I said I wasn't going to focus on story stuff, but I want to be able to get to know all the characters! The main ones AND the side ones! Whether it's by having them all in the main plot, or giving side characters well deserved mini plots! 

That's all I can think of for now, but let me know what y'all think! And maybe add anything that comes to mind?

[theseerasures]

Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2019

i mean, everyone's doing these write-ups, right? might as well hop onto the bandwagon

towards the end of last year i had one of my typical existential crises about my media consumption: am i slowly disappearing up my own ass because i no longer care about most of the pop culture people like to discuss ad nauseam? but on the other hand, isn’t it more responsible to find the niche items made by non-mainstream and marginalized creators? on the third hand, wouldn’t i be much happier if i just watched FMA Brotherhood over and over again, preferably while starting a new Mass Effect playthrough at the same time?

the answer to all these questions is probably “yes,” but i decided to try something different going into 2019. for every week of the year, i would try to get through a year’s worth of content for some kind of media, be it comics, video games, TV, etc--they didn’t all have to be recent, or even new to me, but once i was done with that week i’d be done, even if i didn’t finish the content, and i’d make a judgement based what i’d seen on whether i want to continue. mostly, i was trying to avoid what happened to me with video games in 2018, when i was hating every second of playing Uncharted but still felt obligated to finish because everyone and their houseplant liked Uncharted or listlessly doing the Master Hunter achievement in RDR2 because the main quest made me miserable.

the actual outcomes of this Project(tm) are a little more complicated than anticipated--some media i could finish in a day, while trying to play through ALL THE CONTENT OF AN MMO understandably took much longer than a week--but it all kind of evened out. in the end i did 48 weeks of this, and used December as my catch-ups month to follow up on some things i didn’t get to finish. i thought i’d give my thoughts on each of the things i consumed this year as part of this project below in a concise manner--and yes, i know the people who’ve read even one (1) thing i’ve written are probably laughing right now, particularly given how long i took in this introduction just to get to me point, but i really am going to try!! it’s all an exercise in shameless self-indulgence, basically, but hey: if any of you want to chat at length about any of this stuff below, hit me up.

(quick note: you’ll only find media that i chose for this particular project below, so things i watched socially with friends--like certain film properties slorping me back into Disney’s gelatinous monolith--are not included)

Devilman Crybaby (anime, finished 1/5/2019): honestly i should have twigged onto what the year was going to be like when the first thing i drew from the metaphorical barrel was demon tiddies and apocalyptic existentialism. i was determined to dislike it for most of the year due to fundamentally disagreeing with its main thematic thrust, but i kept THINKING about it even months after. at this point i’ve kinda mellowed out. it’s definitely not a must love, but there’s enough queer metaphor and philosophical richness in it to make it worth checking out.

Attack on Titan (manga, 3 volumes finished 1/12/2019): this is the second time i’ve tried to get into this franchise and...yeah, no. i still don’t see the appeal. the fascistic overtones juxtaposed with absolutely no one having a sense of humor wigs me out to no end.

Young Justice (TV, 2.5 seasons finished 1/31/2019): honestly, what even is there to say? they’re my kids. they’re back and grown up and making even more terrible decisions. i screamed when i saw Babs in her wheelchair.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (book, finished 2/10/2019): i tried VERY HARD to like this book, given how much i liked Brief History of Seven Killings, but it just...didn’t click for me. which honestly is fine, since i don’t think it was made for me either.

Dragon Age (3 games, finished 2/28/2019): i feel like there’s always a part of me that’s going to think of this series as “the other one,” but y’know. it’s good. it’s my second playthrough (as a mage for all three) and it’s good! i even went around killing all the dragons in Inquisition because Knight Enchanter was a blast. appreciate the higher queer content vis-a-vis Mass Effect, even though i couldn’t care less about any of the plot. Dragon Age II is the best one, do not @ me

Bitter Root (comic, 4 issues finished 3/1/2019): i love intergenerational dramas and i love stories about vampire slayers, so this was aces. my only complaint is the pacing was a little slow for a story that was going on hiatus after five issues.

Pearl (comic, 6 issues finished 3/3/2019): i know that he’s done great things and grudgingly admit that he’s probably a net positive in the industry but Brian Michael Bendis can suck my entire dick

Lazarus (comic, 5 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i really thought this was going to clench the position for comic of the year. it’s Rucka doing Highly Relevant Dystopia! it’s a corporate Lannisters AU! it’s a highly personal story about a woman with high privilege and little agency! what more could you want

Immortal Hulk (comic, 2 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i vibed with the horror feel, but i don’t honestly think it’s THAT exceptional. being set in 616-verse means there was still ton of baggage i didn’t know or care about, since i’ve now swung more to the DC side of things

thank u, next (album, finished 3/5/2019): didn’t Ariana Grande get canceled this year for some reason? oh well, i liked her album

When I Get Home (album, finished 3/13/2019): i vividly remember listening to this for the first time and feeling vaguely disappointed that it wasn’t more like Seat at the Table until i realized that i was covered in goosebumps. still don’t understand the magic but it is Good

The Bird King (book, finished 3/23/2019): pretty much everything you’d expect from a G. Willow Wilson book--spirituality, the female lead finding Themselves and the Answer and learning they’re the same thing, etc etc. i’m slightly resentful that her Wonder Woman was so lackluster while this was so good, but whatevs

Psychodrama (album, finished 3/29/2019): possibly my favorite album of the year? dense and emotionally raw in a way i really appreciate. Dave has a Mercury and he’s younger than me

Mass Effect (4 games, finished 4/7/2019): wow guys did you know that Mass Effect is good! it is. all of it is actually, even the Mass Effect 3 ending, another controversial finale to a big franchise that i will obstinately defend. even Andromeda, which isn’t AS good as the trilogy but still has a lot of heart. all its bugs have been exhaustively patched since launch anyway

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV, 4 seasons finished 5/13/2019): i’m...still kind of mad about this finale, but can’t exactly deny that this show is one of the best things to ever happen to me, or television probably. i didn’t even mind new!Greg that much! tho he was probably the nail on the coffin of me jumping onto the Nathaniel train.

Knights of the Old Republic/The Old Republic (3 games, finished 7/4/2019): did you guys know that KOTOR II was my first ever video game? i feel like that...explains a lot about me. anyway, the first game is a classic and the second is a deconstructive classic and playing either of them is basically a fun way for me to turn off my brain these days. even the MMO wasn’t as much of slog as i worried it would be. the Imperial Agent storyline had some nice surprises and i dig the general atmosphere of ruthless pragmatism and crushing loneliness.

Wanderers (book, finished 7/13/2019): Chuck Wendig is a very well-intentioned man in dire need of a strict editor. still good tho! some VERY punchy emotional bits and an ending that still leaves me with vague existential terror.

Code Geass (anime, 2 seasons finished 7/20/2019): i feel like this is on the polar opposite of the spectrum as Devilman Crybaby, because i don’t think Geass is GOOD on like, any basis, and i actually find its central moral message kind of abhorrent? but some part of my lizard brain LOVED the High Imperial Family Drama (it’s been a good year for me and Lannister types, hasn’t it? well, with the obvious exception of--never mind), so...yeah. have i discovered the true meaning of guilty pleasure

The Farewell (movie, finished 7/23/2019): how could i not a) watch this and b) love this and c) feel emotionally cold towards this at the same time because the situations depicted were so similar to mine that i ended up feeling kind of alienated

The Nickel Boys (book, finished 8/8/2019): i STILL haven’t read Underground Railroad, but here i am a book late and a dollar short to appreciate Whitehead’s new book. the man’s stylistic versatility is jaw-dropping and i appreciate the plotting in contrast to like, 90% of the litfic out there that’s just “protagonist sad in different milieu”

Durarara (anime, 2 seasons finished 8/31/2019): it’s fucking bonkers and i loved pretty much every second of it? even the second season, where i finally got the BruceNat AU i deserved??? the first anime i’ve seen where everyone was relatively soberly dressed. the answer was love and having feelings and asking your middle school best friend to hurl you like a projectile so you can chop your girlfriend’s head off with a demon katana

Lover (album, finished 9/1/2019): i feel like with all the Discourse surrounding Taylor Swift re: she’s the devil incarnate or re: she’s good, actually the fact that she makes fucking bops gets kind of lost in the conversation. i have no vested interest in her as a person but i liked Lover, even though London Boy was “what if Style but stupid”

Are You Listening (comic, finished 10/2/2019): my actual choice for best comic of the year if i were giving out awards like that. it’s coming of age! it’s grief! it’s queers! it’s trauma! it’s magical realism! it’s cats! it’s expressive gorgeous art! Tillie Walden has an Eisner and she’s younger than me

High School DxD (manga, 2 volumes finished 10/10/2019): i don’t even know how to talk about this series?? i actually kind of came around to the whole “main character is a perv but goes hard for consent” by the end of the second volume, but it’s still...bad. i only can have lingering conflicted feelings about one Japanese adaptation of Christian mythology per year

Ghosteen (album, finished 10/18/2019): much like Immortal Hulk i thought it was fine but over-hyped. it’s Nick Cave doing his Nick Cave ethereal music thing. i still can’t tell what any of the lyrics mean, except Jesus is there sometimes

Watchmen (TV, 2 episodes finished 10/29/2019): i am nOT FUCKING CAUGHT UP so please watch out for spoilers. it is on my high priority list of things to be caught up on tho--i appreciate that the plot is blatantly unsubtle but still manages to give me aneurysms and i appreciate the political overtones just kinda...balances on a razor thin wire and also gives me aneurysms. i wanna say i have no expectations and would be fine if it does a full dive into the horrible bland depths of the both-sides porridge, but i’m sadly a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof

Syllabus/Making Comics (2 comics, finished 12/24/2019): it’s funny--even before Making Comics came out i was like “man i miss Lynda Barry” and then BAM. it’s incredible how her work just makes me feel taken care of, even when we’re wrestling with tough topics or she’s demanding that i draw a Batman in 30 seconds. kudos for immediately shooting to the top of my gift list for my sister also

Allegiance/Choices of One (2 books, finished 12/24/2019): fun and largely inoffensive, but i was honestly hoping for more. the level of Empire apologia going on was too much for me, someone who thinks Mara Jade is the best Star Wars character of all time (still?????? still). it reeked a little of Zahn believing his own hype as the only valid guy in Star Wars Legends of whatever

Aldnoah.Zero (anime, 1 season finished 12/24/2019): turns out i also can only have “trash but my trash” feelings about one Japanese mecha show with higher art pretensions and patriotism verging into jingoism per year, and this one ain’t it. it’s not as good as Code Geass and Code Geass ISN’T GOOD. at least Geass attempted character complexity and moved at enough of a breakneck pace to distract me from its questionable bits. Aldnoah is just...bland, and nothing gets accomplished or revealed in 12 episodes, except the baffling and contradictory motivations of the main bad guy.

Baldur’s Gate (game, unfinished): yet again something i really wanted to like, given *gestures at all the BioWare above*. i think it’s mainly the Seinfeld issue, where it actually predates my own experience with video games and was so formative for the Western RPG genre that what was innovative just comes across as kind of staid now. i didn’t DISLIKE it, and will probably play the sequel since it’s supposed to be more character-driven, but by the time i finished the vanilla campaign i just didn’t have it in me to squint at more tiny avatars on the screen, so the expansions ended up a no-go.

most prominent thing i noticed about this list is that only one 2019 movie made it on the list and ZERO 2019 video games did so. the former i’m okay with because i currently live with two film people with whom i’m happy to tag along to the cinema. the latter bums me out a little more, because there WERE a few things i wanted to play this year, but all of them came out just as my semester was reaching its catastrophic boil, so i had no time. maybe i’ll use my free time after the New Year festivities to catch up on those.

to conclude: this worked out pretty well! i ended up finishing all but one of the things, and only a few were bad enough that i have no interest in seeking out more content. i’ll probably do this again in 2020--we’ll see if the scheduling can withstand a full year of grad school hell

[orbemnews]

Why These C.E.O.s Got Paid More in the Pandemic Pandemic pay packages The Times’s David Gelles gives DealBook the backstory to his recent front-page article about rising C.E.O. pay during the pandemic. Companies battered by the pandemic are handing out enormous pay packages to their C.E.O.s, highlighting the sharp divides in a nation on the precipice of an economic boom, but still wracked by steep income inequality. Executive compensation has, of course, been soaring for decades now. Chief executives of big companies in the U.S. now make, on average, 320 times as much as the typical worker. In 1989, that ratio was 61 to 1. In years when the profits are flowing and unemployment is low, such disparities are often explained away. But in this pandemic year, corporate P.R. teams are bending over backward to justify their bosses’ big paydays. When I reached out to the companies mentioned in my article for comment, they responded with infographics, statements from board members and urgent requests for off-the-record phone calls. Here are three of the common tactics they employed: Don’t believe your eyes: A Hilton spokesman stressed that the figure in its latest proxy filing did not represent take-home pay for Chris Nassetta, because the company restructured several stock awards. “Said directly, Chris did not take home $55.9 million in 2020,” the spokesman said. “Chris’s actual pay was closer to $20.1 million.” Hilton lost $720 million last year. An AT&T spokesman emphasized that while John Stankey was awarded compensation worth some $21 million, that wasn’t what he was “paid,” noting that this includes stock awards that may not be realized. Stankey’s actual take-home pay, the spokesman added, was closer to $10.4 million. AT&T lost $5.4 billion last year. It could’ve been even more: Boeing wanted to make clear how much money Dave Calhoun “voluntarily elected to forgo to support the company through the Covid-19 pandemic” — some $3.6 million, according to a spokesman. Nonetheless, Calhoun was awarded $21.1 million last year, while Boeing lost $12 billion. Disney stressed that “the impact of the pandemic on our businesses led to a meaningful reduction” in executive pay, noting that executive chairman Bob Iger, who was awarded $21 million last fiscal year, gave up his salary for much of that time. Disney lost $2.8 billion in the period. The great man theory: Starbucks, which awarded Kevin Johnson $14.7 million, was among many companies making the case that their C.E.O. was essential to future success. “Continuity in Kevin’s role is particularly vital to Starbucks at this time,” said Mary Dillon, a member of the compensation committee. The company made a $930 million profit in its latest fiscal year, down three-quarters from the previous year. And General Electric sent a 487-word defense of the $73.2 million package awarded to Larry Culp, arguing that he was uniquely equipped to revive the ailing industrial conglomerate. “The board sees Larry Culp as essential to G.E.’s transformation,” a company spokesman said. The company turned a $5.2 billion profit last year, helped by restructuring measures that included reducing headcount by more than 20,000. Read the full story here. HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING A deep split in pandemic fortunes highlights an uneven global recovery. On one hand: The E.U. could let vaccinated Americans visit this summer, bringing much-needed tourism revenue to the region. (One potential hangup is a rising number of people who aren’t getting their second doses.) On the other: India will receive emergency medical supplies from the U.S. as it reports half of all new Covid-19 cases worldwide. Netflix had a big night at the Oscars. The streaming company won seven Academy Awards last night, the most of any studio, but again fell short in its quest to win Best Picture. (That went to Disney, whose Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” won the big prize; Disney won five awards over all.) AT&T’s Warner Bros. won three Oscars, while Amazon took home two. An activist investor steps up its challenge at Exxon Mobil. Engine No. 1 argues in a new presentation that the oil giant faces an “existential business risk” because it is not taking bolder steps to move away from fossil fuels, The Financial Times reports. (Exxon and other major producers are set to report earnings this week.) A group of 30 big companies launches an initiative to hire ex-convicts. About 70 million American adults have a criminal record, complicating their ability to get work and entrenching poverty. “Business has an important role to play in making it easier for people with criminal backgrounds to get back on their feet,” said JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, a co-chair of the Second Chance Business Coalition, which was announced today. Elon Musk is hosting “S.N.L.” Yes, really. The Tesla chief is scheduled to host “Saturday Night Live” on May 8. (We bet S.E.C. officials will be watching.) John Authers of Bloomberg Opinion has an interesting take on it: The Tesla chief’s antics are doing more to encourage adoption of green technology than any amount of environmentalist scolding. The ‘massive threat’ in a ‘measly’ Supreme Court case Today the Supreme Court will hear a case that could upend American politics. It has largely escaped attention because it’s not obviously political at all. “Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez” involves a fight over California’s donor disclosure requirements for charities and “may seem like a measly spat over state nonprofit rules,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, told DealBook. “But a massive threat lurks within.” Today in Business Updated  April 23, 2021, 1:31 p.m. ET Nonprofits want more donor anonymity. Americans for Prosperity Foundation is a “social welfare” nonprofit arguing that the right to anonymous assembly guaranteed by the First Amendment extends to donor data. Critics say that a ruling in favor of the Koch-funded charity would allow more untraceable money to flow through groups designed to mask the outsize role that a few wealthy players have in American politics. If A.F.P.F. wins, “special interests will have a free pass to rig our democracy from behind a veil of secrecy,” Whitehouse said. Companies secretly influence politics with “dark money” donations that are deliberately opaque. Basically, some “social welfare” groups are quasi-political yet don’t have the same reporting requirements as explicitly political groups. Similarly, trade groups take corporate donations and pass them on, obscuring the sources. “The importance of dark money in society, the scope of it, is something people don’t really grasp, but it impacts everyday life,” said Anna Massoglia, a researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics. A decision is expected around late June. Notably, the court took the case on Jan. 8, two days after the Capitol riot prompted a reckoning over corporate political donations. Both the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers filed briefs supporting A.F.P.F.’s case for anonymity, and Allen Dickerson, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, argued the same in a Wall Street Journal op-ed yesterday. “What a gift she’s given them by this crazy way of giving.” — Marti DeLiema, a professor of social work at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, on how the billionaire MacKenzie Scott’s unorthodox method of philanthropy — emailing groups out of the blue — has created a cottage industry of scammers. Bain is buying $1 billion worth of desserts Bain Capital Private Equity is buying Dessert Holdings in a deal that DealBook hears values the company at about $1 billion. Dessert Holdings makes “Insta-worthy” cheesecakes and other desserts through three brands: The Original Cakerie, Lawler’s Desserts and Atlanta Cheesecake. The company, which sells to retailers and restaurants, was created through acquisitions led by its prior owner, Gryphon Investors. The dessert conglomerate emphasizes the “wow factor” of products like tuxedo truffle mousse cake that are made to look good on social media. A sweet deal? In-store bakeries have held up well during the pandemic, while restaurants are expected to rebound post-Covid. There could be more consolidation in the industry, with George Weston announcing in March it plans to put its bakery business — which includes Wonder Bread in Canada — up for sale. Over the years, Bain has invested in a number of food service and restaurant brands, like Dunkin’ and Domino’s Pizza. It plans to develop “new and innovative products” as well as pursue more acquisitions after the Dessert Holdings deal, said Adam Nebesar, a managing director at the private equity firm. Trevor Lawrence is getting paid in Bitcoin As cryptocurrency goes more mainstream — thanks in part to the recent public listing of Coinbase — blockchain businesses are hustling for brand recognition. “We’re really trying to get our name out a lot,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, the C.E.O. of FTX, a crypto exchange that competes with Coinbase. One of FTX’s companies, the investment app Blockfolio, has signed an endorsement deal with Trevor Lawrence, the former Clemson quarterback and presumptive number-one pick in this week’s N.F.L. draft, DealBook is first to report. The quarterback’s first payment was made exclusively in crypto tokens transferred directly into his Blockfolio account. “Trevor was excited about crypto,” Bankman-Fried said. “That’s what drew us to him.” The company wouldn’t disclose the terms of the multiyear agreement, but a spokesman noted that the “signing bonus” was already worth more on Sunday than when it was deposited on Friday night. Future payments will be made in whatever combination of dollars and crypto Lawrence chooses. “Crypto is on a lot of people’s minds,” Bankman-Fried told DealBook. The 29-year-old billionaire founded FTX in 2019, and said he regrets spending his early years “playing video games.” Now, he’s trying to make up for lost time and the “low name recognition” of his crypto brands by hitching their wagon to bigger brands. FTX recently agreed to pay $135 million for the naming rights to the N.B.A.’s Miami Heat arena for 19 years. THE SPEED READ Deals ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, has reportedly delayed plans to go public because it hasn’t devised a corporate structure that would win approval from Washington and Beijing. (South China Morning Post) A close look at the efforts by the Carlyle Group’s C.E.O., Kewsong Lee, to catch up to his private equity rivals. (WSJ) Politics and policy The law firm Jones Day has rehired at least seven lawyers who worked in the Trump administration, cementing its status as a top outpost for Republican legal experts. (FT) Advisers to wealthy Americans are studying various strategies to minimize the hit from the Biden administration’s proposed tax hikes. (Bloomberg) Tech Ant Group, the Chinese fintech giant, reportedly plans to offer employees zero-interest loans backed by their stock options to bolster morale. (Bloomberg) The culture of Travis Kalanick’s food-delivery start-up, CloudKitchens, is said to closely resemble the “bro-y” early days of Uber — and it’s losing workers as a result. (Insider) Best of the rest Honda said it expects all cars it sells will be electric by 2040. (Bloomberg) One of the men who created the “Yale model” of endowment investing says the strategy is past its prime. (FT) An eye-opening look inside the “slander industry.” (NYT) We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com. Source link Orbem News #CEOs #Paid #Pandemic

[resconarchive]

prinxess's rescreatu rant

Hey all (+Riyo), it's prinxess. I found this blog today, which naturally means I spent the next 5 hours flipping through the archive lol. This was supposed to be a short post but plans never go as expected (Warning: this is LONG). If you know me, you’ve probably seen me try to talk about this stuff in the SB—which rarely goes well, haha. I’m going to word vomit on three main things: Res’s “first come, first serve” issue, Staff/ShoutBox Culture, and my own mistakes.

This isn’t Voice of God. I’m just a flawed 20-year-old who feels compelled articulate her thoughts at least once somewhere.

I accept responsibility for what’s written below.

1. Early Birds Get the Worm

Nice names are Res’s lifeblood. The aim of the game is to accumulate as many as you can. It didn't start out that way but that’s what it's become; it's human nature to want what your peers want. We enjoy having valuable things—the proof is in the pixels. But LOL good names are now worth 1B tu? This is why people are so upset with the site. If you made an account in 2006, quickly hatched three creatu named Diamond, Emerald, and Sapphire, and didn't log in again until now, your account would be worth more than someone who joined a year ago but has put in hundreds of hours into the site.

1B is pretty abstract, so I'll offer a cold splash of in-game reality. 700M = $100

Many of Rescreatu’s issues writhe around one malignant crux: its “first come, first serve” groundwork. Meaning, if your account isn’t old enough to be sent off to grade school, then you are out of luck. With everything. If you weren’t there when you could fish tier-1 names from the Atquateen Forest, if you weren’t there during the mass graveyard purges, if you weren’t smart enough to buy valuable names en masse for cheap from naive tweens 8 years ago, you’re out of luck. Unless Mr. Moneybags disembowels him/herself into your hands, you will never measure up to the sheer wealth of a select few old users (Gunmetal, Fleur, etc).

The visible wealth disparity is unreal. It’s kind of cute—there’s this ritual where when a newbie appears in the SB, older users flood them with tu and lovely creatu because they know baby bambi can’t make it on their own in modern Res. But what about the invisible users? The 99% who never set foot in the SB? Imagine you’re twelve, creating an account for the first time. You’re given XYZtu (aka not enough) to start off with. Hatching pets is fun. You like finding clothes for your avatar in the trash. A while later, you become interested in buying more creatu, so you fiddle around with the Creatu Search. And... you realize that the only good rwns are in the 20M+ range.

Actually no—a few weeks ago, a user called prinxess went through the entire directory, cleaned out most lower-priced RWNs, and stuck them in her shop at mark-up. But hey, she left “Blisters” and “Introspective” for you.

There’s nothing to do on Rescreatu except lord your cool names over other users. Nothing else... except... wait. Isn’t the Kir Quest about colors, not names? Which brings me to my next point. Years ago, blondes were worth 700k, and albinos 3M. Players back then threw these cheap creatu at Kir and rode the Uldavian Express to higher Rounds at mach speed (there are 5 Rounds now. each need an additional 120 creatu/points to access). Nowadays, albinos are no longer stocked in ranchers—period. I’m talking chimbies and meragons, not even seasonals. To use myself as an example, I restarted Kir a month ago (I was only at 25 points, Round 1). I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t being 100% efficient with my tu, but within a few days, I managed to add an additional 23 creatu to that number. At the cost of nearly one billion tu. 95% of which went towards beans.

If you’re a newbie with a dream of earning a Cyancu Nest, you need to give Kir 180 creatu total. That isn’t just hard—it’s straight-up impossible. From a cost/benefit standpoint, if you do not already have a substantial amount of Kir points, do not touch the Quest. Instead, buy the prize shop items from other users.

Because, let’s do some math. 180 (creatu) x 7,800,000 (price per bean) = 1,404,000,000tu.

I swear on every god out there that, overall, you will not just be spending 7.8M per creatu.

Cyancu eggs are selling for 500M each/1.5B for a nest, pretty close to that mythical 1,404,000,000 number. Just buy the egg.

A staff member once told me, “The Kir Quest is supposed to be hard.” Fair enough. The original purpose of the Quest was to fix Res’s overpopulation problem. Make higher colors valuable again. But now we’ve swung hard towards creatu extinction. The fix is relatively simple. Have Kir ask for blondes/albinos less often. Or increase the likelihood of hatching colors. Should be a simple coding tweak.

Side-note: With beans having become an integral part of Rescreatu’s ONLY real continuous Quest, why are they still cash shop items? People love to tout “but the site needs money to run”. How about put out a better product instead of squeezing users with Stockholm Syndrome/a gambling addiction out of more pennies? Actually, not pennies, it’s serious cash. The next promo is $100 for 3 retired CS eggs—a promo which was supposed to be in December, but moved because the higher ups thought users would be too strapped for cash during Christmas.

2. Staff/Culture

Hopelessness makes the newer users leave. Staff corruption poisons the rest. I’m not involved in current Rescreatu politics, but in the past it absolutely was a thing. Even with generally loved and respected staff members.

 I don’t want to disclose too much information, but since I’m old and weary, I’ll say that (without asking for it) a substantial boon was thrown my way because I was friendly with a member of staff. They are still highly regarded within the community.

14BM was unabashedly shady. One day, I announced I was selling a name on the SB and got in touch with a buyer. During our back-and-forth rmailing, 14BM rmailed me to say one of us had “accidentally hit the report button” which pointed her to our conversation. She warned me the other user was ripping me off, and that she could give me a better offer. Not very professional behavior, in my honest opinion.

Way back when, BillyBob was abusing glitches.

A name appeared in anon-staff’s Showroom one hot second after the person it belonged to was banned for “using a bot to find eggs.” Anon-staff had previously asked if they’d ever sell the name and they had said no. Shady.

Real talk. A staff member told me they don’t even care if you use bots, just as long as you don’t find enough seasonal eggs to ruin the market. I think anything above 40 is considered suspicious. Nevermind if you actually have no life and want to search for eggs for 48 hours straight.

There were way more corruption incidents, but those were so long ago I barely remember them. As for current staff, I can’t speak for them. Honestly, I can’t tell who most people are anymore because of all the username switching lol. There’s this ridiculous implicit rule of “don’t ask what someone’s username used to be” around Res. Like hello? That makes no sense. Not only do they retain their unique pets, but really, if someone hated you, a simple change of username isn’t going to make them suddenly forget who you are. Similarly, the whole idea of a new username being “a new start” for the user is frankly hilarious. Especially when you act no different.

That’s unfortunately just the start of my issue with Res’s “nice” culture. I’ll call it by another name: suck-up culture. It’s this omnipresent force of saccharine sweetness that’s nearly alive from how many people are hooked up into it. Plenty of users are genuinely nice, I won’t knock that. But damn, when a staff member/older user/wealthbag comes on the SB? It’s a vicious competition to prove how close they are are with that member. Immediately, there are “glomps” and “huggles” and “we’re married!/best friends” as if they actually give a shit about the other person. You do not. I know you do not. Everyone knows you do not. You’re just trying to get free things—and hey, it’s not a bad move, since those users are generally the gifting type. Oh. The cringiest thing is when a fan gives a popular user a cheap present, so the popular user will feel obliged to give them something in return—hopefully a better something. Machiavelli must be rolling in his grave.

This sugary behavior has somehow infected staff as well. I find it doubly disgusting because I can’t even call them out on it.

“<3 oh sweetheart, just so you know, what you’re doing is called spam. [link to rules] please take a look!! :333 ^_^”

“ *pops in* haiiiii guys, sorry to bump in but could you please take this convo to rmail? :3 *hugs* squeeeee <333 *hopes you dont hate me* ”

Like, fucking Christ. I can feel their phantom arms around me in my sleep. Can anyone speak normally anymore? Does everything need to be qualified with butterflies, sunshine, and overtures of love?

Back to the subject of staff... that issue is multifaceted. First, it’s a weirdly cyclical thing. Notice how newly chosen staff are almost always friends with current staff? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen some anon that’s never visited the SB become staff purely on merit (save for artists/programmers). But I could be wrong. Anyway, users inducted into staff are usually already one of Res’s wealthy elite. I can only speak for the trend I’ve noticed over the years, but A LOT of people become staff as a status symbol. Some also do it because they’re invested in the site and want to make it better. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. You can want to help while liking the boost in popularity at the same time. The real issue with staff is how they are compensated. Getting paid in credits (cash points?) actively increases the wealth disparity in the site. There’s a difference between giving someone 100 dollars versus a handful of credits. If someone handed you a hundred dollars, would you use it for rent or on some virtual name tags? Without this choice, staff are essentially forced into one course of action: buy credit shop items, put these items in their merchant shop, sell them to users, rake in tu. Or just sell cp for tu.

Rescreatu doesn’t use their staff properly. I’m referring to writers and artists. There are hundreds of wearable items available, but dressing up an avatar to look forum-fancy isn’t the purpose of a pet site. It’s a nice feature. But I didn’t join Rescreatu so I could play dress-up, I joined for the pets, for the battle arena, for the story of it all. Writers, I feel, are the most wasted of all. Does anyone actually read the stories in the books? Does anyone buy books, even? Res should take their talent and invest in proper story lines. They have six writers right now. Come on. Put up a good kidnapping site-wide story involving Xoria and Loyna. Get a competition between Scria users and Reiflem users going. Maybe the story could be Quest-style, with the users voting on how the story moves with their tu. Do something!

...Because this site also needs a tu sink. Desperately. Contrary to popular belief, the Kir Quest isn’t a tu sink, it vacuums money up to the top dogs of Rescreatu. You buy 10 beans—where are you getting these beans? More than likely, it’s from a staff member selling 70 of them in their shop. IRL right now there are 4 users selling beans: Feather x34, Isolation x30, Umbreon420 x1, Phos x36. Nothing against these users—in fact, I like them, but do you notice a trend? What do staff do with all this tu? They buy names at premium prices because they can afford to.

Q: Wait, prinx. If you just paid real money, you could have lots of tu too! A: My honor code forbids me from validating freemium games

Q: But, prinx. Why don’t you just become staff?  A: I tried when I was 13 but they didn’t accept me ): Probably for good reason.

It’s shocking that the stock market hasn’t been removed/tweaked yet. It shouldn’t be possible to buy 50,000 stocks of FAS for 400k on Sunday, and sell that for 20M one week later. This is another reason why names are considered the real currency on Rescreatu. Their value increases along with the inflation. It’s the only safe investment you can make.

3. Me

So, my long-winded rant is out of the way. Above, I mentioned I’d like to apologize for myself, so here I go. For context, these past few months I’ve been trying to get rid of my RWNs through forum auctions. In the latest thread, I stuck in an umbrella clause basically saying that I reserved the right to pull whatever bullshit I wanted, which I used, without warning, to tack 1.2B Autobuy options to the names. Half my reason was I was being egged on by a friend to do it. Half was because I just didn’t care. Never in my wildest dreams did I even imagine one person would actually go for it, let alone 3. When I opened the thread the morning after, I felt dread. My actions understandably upset quite a few people. I acknowledge that what I did was unprofessional. I regret it, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson.

In general, I’ve spent my recent years on Rescreatu being rude and abrasive. Trying to tie 14 year old staff in logic knots, picking at overly sensitive members, engaging trolls, the works. I’ve been throwing angsty melodrama around like glow-sticks at an EDM concert, and it isn’t fair to the newer members who have no memory of Res’s past.

This post clocks in at 2.5k words. The only reason I’ve written so much is because Rescreatu means/meant so much to me. For all its faults, Res somehow just works. Maybe because it encourages addictive behavior. Maybe because of the community. Whatever it is, it’s helped the site escape multiple waves of peril that would’ve killed any other. For that it deserves some applause. 

If you want to contact me, rmail me or email me at blu.moon.dragon@gmail.com. I don't bite

Peace.

[khorren]

Annual Roundup of Video Games

First Annual mini review of games I played in 2019. As always, if you want more babble about a game, I will happily vomit words in your direction :D

Borderlands 2

Another co-op game that boything and I dabbled in but didn't get super far. Enjoyable enough to play, the FoV felt a little cramped, but amusing characters that get you through the content.

Division 2

Another fun story driven open world romp. The first game dealt with the immediate aftermath of the Dollar Flu rampaging through New York, and the 2nd game was several months after and people are trying to pull the pieces back together, except the government is in shambles and every faction within DC wants to be a big dog. Perfect for single player, even better in co-op. Lots of collectables and lore / world building, PvP, and a whole build system that uses different gun types, gadgets and upgrading all your boom sticks.

Elder Scrolls Online

Played this for 8 or so months before getting bored of it. Definitely had some great moments, very customisable with addons that bring massive QoL. Love how you can go to every zone and it's all scaled. You can quest as a level 5, and have a level 40 buddy with you and it's all relevant which was really good. But it brings a major drawback that the story's kind of all over the place. The zones have good stories to them, but it lacks that story progression that most other MMOs do. Housing was fun to play with, crafting system was interesting. If you like doing dungeons / instanced content every day then this is great for that, but was never super into that myself.Jumping is absolute awfulness and so clunky like holy cow. Still, was a pleasant way to pass 8 or so months.

Far Cry: New Dawn

I love the Far Cry universe, and a return to Hope County was pretty fun. Fairly short game, and really should have just been DLC to Far Cry 5, but I still had a lot of fun with it. Took my time with it, grinded out some armor sets by repeating some content. Was cool to see what happened to certain characters, including your character from the base game. General Far Cry shenanigans are good times with a co-op buddy

Final Fantasy 14

Tried this a few years back but couldn't get into it. Gave it another shot in December and it looks like this will be my home for the next while. Very very very very story heavy, most of which can be skipped but might as well sit back and enjoy it. Smell the flowers. Typical tank/healer/dps holy trinity, but the classes are all super fun of the ones I've tried so far. There's a free trial up to level 35 which I would recommend giving it a go. It plays at a much slower pace than say, Guild Wars 2, but honestly it's refreshing. Very pretty game, lots of fashion, lots of collectables (minis, mounts), so much to do.

Golf With Your Friends

Grab a few buddies, play stupid games of mini/crazy golf. Be sure to play it with voice comms. Has some great options to make the games more silly. Very fun.

GTA

Kind of winded down with this game for the most part, but popped in once in a blue moon for a ride around, check out new guns. Didn't really have the money for any new cars, but could take a peak. Had a tiny look at the Casino update, but not too much. Mostly because Twitch Prime gave me a casino penthouse for free!

Guild Wars 2

Has been my bread-and-butter game since it came out. Made a whole bunch more legendaries, got super into Norn stuff. Thoroughly enjoyed the stuff they did put out. Can’t wait for the next living world story at the end of January. But it’s on the back-burner now as FF14 has taken over.

Path of Exile

Not normally a game I'd go for, but hey it was free, we were bored. Kind of had to do a fair bit of research beforehand to find out what class to play and how to build it. This is all getting revamped in the upcoming sequel, and honestly the biggest drawback is you have this tiny, tiny, tiny inventory and absolutely no way to make it bigger, not even through the cash shop. You make frequent trips back to town, but thankfully it's easy to do so and go back to where you were. Made it through the current campaign/"story" at the time but didn't feel the need to play anymore.

Stardew Valley

Only really dabbled in this, but it's fun! Tried it a long time ago but couldn't get into it. Felt guilty as it was a present from a friend. Few friends recently been talking about it a lot so gave it another shot. Definitely got into it more this time around. One of those games where you can put in 20 minutes and can just as easily put in 12 hours without blinking. Now feel less guilty about friend-present and it's super enjoyable. Thanks @drazzi​ <3

Untitled Goose Game

Was following this since the first trailer came out, and while it was delayed near the end it was 100% worth the wait. The only game I got for my Switch this year and it was very enjoyable. Knew it would be a short game bt stretched it out over a few days, taking my time to explore and steal things like the asshole goose I was born to be. Still got more to do with it and plan on going back. Very enjoyable, highly recommend.

Witcher 3

Started this 2018, but but a fair bit of time into it early on in the year, though haveven't touched it since March. Still got a DLC of content left to do and a looooot of side quests. Enjoyable universe. Really really glad to see the TV show doing well.

Yooka - Laylee

Got this for free through Twitch Prime and didn't get very far with it, but it was fun to play. Basically Banjo-Kazooie version 2, but hey it works. Cute game.

I’ve probably missed some, and I’ve not included mobile games, but these are the ones that stick out. So wheee. Yay games.

[componentplanet]

How Much Does It Matter That PCs Are Faster Than Consoles?

Earlier this week, I argued that the backward-compatibility features Microsoft is launching with the Xbox Series X will put consoles on an equal footing with PCs for the first time ever. My point was not to claim that PC and console gaming would now literally be identical, but that adding accessory and software backward compatibility represented the last major feature gap between the two platforms and that the Xbox Series X represented a convergence between PC and consoles.

Plenty of readers disagreed. This article is the first of several I intend to write on various counter-arguments or views raised by readers. According to some vehement readers, the entire point of PC gaming is to maintain higher frame rates than anything a console is capable of. Speed (and to a lesser extent, higher detail levels) aren’t just a nice perk — they’re the defining characteristic that separates PC and console gaming. 60fps is one common target, but some of the people who responded claimed higher targets, including 144 and even 240fps. Many of the same people who emphasized this argument made other comments indicating they believed I was a console gamer.

For the record, I’m not. I’d estimate upwards of 95 percent of my total lifetime gaming has been done on a PC, and I’ve been a PC gamer since 1987. Obviously people are allowed to value anything they want about a platform, but I want to talk about the idea that PC gaming is explicitly about high frame rates. I think whether you associate PC gaming

specifically with fast gaming depends, at least in part, on when you grew up.

PCs Used to Be the Slowest Gaming Solution Around

When I was young, PC games were slow. While there were 8-bit machines from Atari and Commodore that offered richer graphics and audio options, the generic hardware in the IBM PC and its immediate successors wasn’t well-suited to fast-paced gaming. Graphics on the PC began as a crude series of static images — the first graphical adventure game, Mystery House, was published in 1980 by On-Line Systems, the forerunner of Sierra On-Line. Lists of the best games of the 1980s are dominated by RPGs, simulations, and adventure games.

Games that primarily relied on typed input mostly didn’t rely on fast gameplay to avoid turning them into inadvertent typing speed tests. Early Sierra games like Kings Quest I – III, Space Quest I and II, Police Quest I, and the original Leisure Suit Larry didn’t even pause the game when you started to type.

I went to my friends’ houses to play games like Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and Double Dragon because they were faster and smoother than anything I had access to at home. Platforming on the PC in the late 1980s looked like Captain Comic, shown below. I beat this game. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as Super Mario Bros. and it didn’t play as well. This blog post dives into some of the technical reasons why a $2,000 PC in 1991 couldn’t match a $200 console — because, at the time, it couldn’t.

If you fell in love with PC gaming in this era, it wasn’t because PCs outperformed consoles. It took far longer to load data off a floppy disk or even hard drive than an NES cartridge, and the NES, Genesis, and Super Nintendo had better graphics than the PC at launch. You played Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar instead of Final Fantasy because Ultima IV actually let you talk to each and every NPC, asking them detailed questions about their lives, as opposed to limiting the NPCs to single-response answers. Ultima IV had standard RPG elements like levels and spellcasting, but part of the feeling of progression came from learning which NPCs knew what information and puzzling out various webs of information. Squint a little and it’s an organic quest system without the in-game tracking.

Consoles had nothing to match this kind of capability. In the era before dialog menus, keyboard support made game engines feel as if they supported far richer levels of text interactivity than they actually did. It’s an advantage the PC lost after games moved away from emphasizing text input and towards the use of dialog menus.

In the late 1980s, if you wanted to make a game run meaningfully faster, you copied it to your hard drive. A faster CPU would play animations faster, but games of the day loaded data one screen at a time. Above a certain point, running a game off multiple 5.25-inch floppies and swapping between them hit performance much harder than a slower CPU. You also ran the risk of discovering one of your floppies had gone bad mid-game. If you wanted fast, animated, on-screen gaming, you bought a console. If you wanted deep, thoughtful, slower-paced titles, you played on PC.

Games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom made tremendous waves in the PC market precisely because they were some of the first PC games to offer fast-paced, arcade-like play. But Wolf 3D didn’t show up until 1992, with Doom following in 1993. At the time, I could play Wolfenstein 3D reasonably well on my 386SX-16 with 8MB of RAM, but I had to shrink Doom to postage-stamp size to play it, and the only version of Doom 2 I had access to required a CD-ROM, which my machine didn’t have. I played older games like Civilization on my home PC and titles like Civilization II and Doom 2 on my best friend’s computer, since his parents had bought a 486-DX2. CD-ROM capabilities were huge in the mid-90s and game developers quickly found ways to offer additional features on the CD-ROM versions of their games.

Performance Evolves Slowly

The arrival of 3D cards in the late 1990s revolutionized gaming, but they didn’t immediately unlock super-high frame rates for your average PC gamer. Higher spend has always equaled higher frame rates, but the speed at which the market moved and the higher number of variables to track made it harder and more expensive to get decent performance than it is today. In 1997, if you had money, you bought a Pentium or Pentium II. If you didn’t have money, you bought a K6 or K6-2.

The arrival of Athlon in 1999 kicked off the first high-end war between AMD and Intel, but I’d bought my first system in 1997. As a college student, I was firmly in the “don’t have money” crowd, and these are the kind of frame rates you got from Quake III Arena in 2000 if you had, say, a K6-2 300. All of these graphs are from nearly the same period of time — two articles from Anandtech, written in June and November of 2000. All images below by Anandtech.

Image by Anandtech

Here’s the same test from a K6-3 450:

Image by Anandtech

Finally, the same test at the same resolution, running on an array of higher-end CPUs:

Graph by Anandtech

Only one of those graphs — the last one — looks like the kind of CPU results we see in games today. The K6-3 was so much faster than the K6-2 thanks to the combined impact of an on-die L2 cache and its higher clock speed. What’s unusual is that the large performance gains aren’t confined to the highest-end GPU, but show up even when tested with older cards like the TNT2 Ultra. Even a low-end card like the Voodoo 3 2000 showed much stronger CPU scaling than what we see today. And all of these chips were new by modern standards  — the K6-2 300 was less than 2.5 years old in November 2000. The “old” Voodoo 3 2000 was barely 15 months old.

My initial forays into overclocking were driven by a desire to squeeze more performance out of budget hardware so I could game at something that didn’t look like potato quality running at terrible frame rates. That was scarcely uncommon. In the era when CPU and GPU performance were both leaping ahead, relatively few people could afford to stay on the absolute cutting edge of technology. While Quake 3 showed what looks like modern CPU performance clustering, this wasn’t universal. Compare it with Unreal Tournament, from the same review:

Image by Anandtech

Games like Unreal Tournament still showed strong impacts from CPU and illustrated how quickly the market was moving. The Athlon 500 (KX133) that couldn’t even hit 45fps? It was a few days short of its first birthday. If you had wanted to stay on top of that mythical 60fps target, you might have found yourself replacing $500 – $1,000 worth of components every single year. I’m sure some people did. Most didn’t.

The Limits of FPS as a Metric:

There are three specific reasons I’ve spent so much time on the history above. First, I wanted to illustrate how the evolution of gaming itself has changed which system components need to be upgraded in order to improve performance, and how much the position of PCs versus consoles has changed.

Second, I wanted to emphasize that defining PC gaming strictly in terms of high frame rates is ahistorical relative to how many of us experienced that history. The fastest CPU you could buy the month after Quake came out (June 1996) was a Pentium 200 MMX. The minimum CPU requirement for Quake 3 Arena in 1999 was a Pentium II 233. There was no upgrade path between the two platforms. Most PC gamers didn’t spend thousands of dollars every single year to stay current on hardware. You bought when you could, overclocked where you could, and played what you could with the result.

Third, I wanted to discuss how attempting to define gaming superiority in terms of how frame rate punishes PC players who simply can’t afford to spend as much money as others. By extension, it implies that the only valuable games are games that can push PC hardware. There’s nothing wrong with having enough disposable income to choose a higher-performing platform or with loving games that push the envelope, but you aren’t less of a PC gamer just because you game on a low-end PC. One of the best aspects of the indie boom has been a proliferation of games that don’t require much in the way of hardware. A low-end 2019 laptop may not play much in the way of modern titles, but it’ll play the biggest hits of 1997 – 2007 just fine.

Like a lot of you, I enjoy playing PC games at higher frame rates than consoles typically offer. Like a lot of you, I consider this a major strength. I don’t, however, consider higher frame rates to be an intrinsic advantage of the platform. They’re only an advantage if you have access to them in the first place, and not all PC gamers do. There are a lot of flaws in the Steam Hardware Survey, but according to the best data we have, the GTX 1060, 1050 Ti, and 1050 are the top three GPUs on the market today, with 28.92 percent of the market between them. The people who buy those GPUs are still PC gamers, but they aren’t necessarily enjoying better frame rates than they’d see on an Xbox One X.

I’m happy to acknowledge superior performance as a current perk of building a high-end gaming PC, but you can love PC gaming passionately and be stuck doing it on old equipment. There’s no question that it’ll be possible to build a PC that outperforms the Xbox Series X,

but I don’t consider faster frame rates to be a fundamental characteristic of PC gaming as a category — just a really nice benefit I’m happy to take advantage of when I have the money and the opportunity.

Now Read:

The Next-Generation ‘Xbox Series X’ Is Actually Just Called Xbox

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X Just Ended the PC-Console War

Best Games for Laptops and Low-End PCs in 2020

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/303658-how-important-is-performance-pc-versus-consoles from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2019/12/how-much-does-it-matter-that-pcs-are.html

[douglasebsc4192-blog]

What's Fortnite V Bucks and also So how exactly does This Do?

Money Laundering Scheme Uncovered Using Fortnite V

Now for some latest exciting news: New leaks have appeared online that time to snow coming to the road of Fortnite Battle Royale for the winter season. Fortnite bear a news person base. That's why Epic is ensuring that all eligible players into open qualifiers are 13 years or older, which players between 13 and 17 years old must have permission from the mother or legal parent” to lessen to the Planet Cup. That collection includes more than 14 Programs to create your Fortnite FPS get top also moderate lag, and this controls over 30 Windows Tweaks & boosts to exploit functioning with finally Increase the FPS while enjoying Fortnite.

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Epic Games: Fortnite Battle Royale says no direct the experience to kids under the time of 13 in the UK. Dawn about April 13, players will be able to check the Fortnite World Cup Open Qualifiers available as a game setting in the fashion selection screen. Each qualifier may offer a total prize consortium of $1 million, which means Epic will deliver $10 million clearly within Open Qualifiers to the Earth Cup.

Part of Fortnite's spread to control has no doubt been the cross-platform availability, with casual mobile gamers on the move able to be involved with great bedroom gamers with different footing ( Sony was uncertain , but cross-play performance has recently become helped for PS4 players ). Most of the FORTNITE V BUCKS GENERATOR websites out there are try to ensure a person which somehow their creator managed to hack into the FORTNITE Database, and so they can get the unlimited free v-bucks in Battle Royale game.

With Time 7 in full swing, version 7.01 might not sound that exciting by contrast. That said, the new type of Fortnite contains the Infinity Blade gun from Epic Games' Infinity Blade series, the new Close Encounters limited-time mode, and more. Figure 2a: Data illustrates the estimated revenue from item form with cost goes by Fortnite players May 2017 — June 2018, based on the Edison Trends dataset.

10 Unforgivable Sins Of VBUCKS

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[eichy815]

‘Big Brother’ Is Being Watched By Us!

Originally Published on July 27, 2014 on Eichy Says

It’s been a summer tradition since July 5, 2000.  For 75-90 days, 12-16 contestants are locked together in a zany, fully-functioning house (on the CBS Radford Studios lot) where they are cut off from the world with minimal outside contact.

Each week, the contestants (known as “houseguests”) vote one person out (known as “eviction”).  Once there are nine houseguests remaining, all evicted houseguests get sent to an off-set “jury house” where they are sequestered in preparation for voting to aware a half-million dollars to one of the Final Two houseguests on Finale Night in September.

All the while, fans have the option of subscribing to the CBS live feeds, where they can observe real-time action inside the Big Brother House nearly 24 hours a day.

During this “summer-long power struggle” (as host Julie Chen words it), houseguests are called into the Diary Room to give confessionals as to what’s happening amongst their fellow “hamsters.”

Even though I don’t personally engage in the voyeurism of the live feeds (plus I’m too cheap to pay for a subscription to them), Big Brother tends to become an unhealthy obsession of mine. One reason for this is probably because the happenings amongst these houseguests tend to be a reflection of our greater society.

Throughout the last fourteen years, there have been a variety of “twists” integrated into the show, to make it less predictable.  It also helps fans of the show distinguish one past season from another, much more easily.

Each week, a Head of Household (“HoH,” for short) is determined via competition.  That contestant is then responsible for nominating two houseguests for eviction. Days later, a “Power of Veto” competition is held where its winner has the option to take one of the HoH’s nominees (including himself or herself) off the chopping block...or leave the nominations intact.  If one of her or his nominations are vetoed, the HoH must then name a replacement nominee.

Houseguests then vote on Thursday’s live eviction broadcast...and the evicted houseguest leaves the compound, walking straight into the studio for an “exit interview” conducted by Chen in front of a studio audience.

Throughout Big Brother’s many seasons, executive producer Alison Grodner has thrown in many “twists” to blindside the houseguests, staying true to the program’s mantra of “Expect The Unexpected.”  

One of the most memorable examples of this has been the Coup d’Etat – a special power whose possessor may choose to overthrow the HoH by vetoing one or both of the HoH’s nominations for that week.  So far, this power has only been featured in Seasons 7 and 11.

Also, Seasons 2 through 6 incorporated a weekly “Food Competition” where the losers would be placed on a dietary restriction of nothing but Peanut Butter and Jelly (and bread, water, and simple condiments) as their punishment for the week.  Then, beginning with Season 7 (Big Brother: All-Stars), the Peanut Butter and Jelly was replaced with “Big Brother Slop” (a thick-textured, apparently awful-tasting oatmeal-like substance) as the losing players’ weekly food restriction.  

In Season 11, Grodner introduced the “Haves & Have-Nots” twist.  Houseguests would compete to be considered either “Haves” or “Have-Nots” for the week. If you received the penalty of becoming a “Have-Not,” in addition to being on “slop” for that week you would be forced to sleep in uncomfortable quarters with access to only cold showers for bathing.

Once the nine jury members have been evicted and sequestered, they reconvene to vote for the $500,000 winner (while the runner-up receives $50,000).

Every season, there seem to be those contestants whom I “hate to hate” (rather than “loving to hate” them).  They are usually vile, non-strategic, delusional individuals who should never have been cast in the first place.

Season 1 actually had a pretty likable cast, overall.  This was back when the U.S. version of Big Brother more closely followed the international versions:  houseguests would nominate each other, and one person from the top tier of candidates would be voted out based on telephone votes from the viewing audience. Various competitions were more fun and lighthearted – rather than being used for determining power roles in the game.

In that freshman season of the American Big Brother, my least favorite was Will “Mega” Collins (he went by “Mega”), the racist Black Panther who had the distinction of being the game’s fist-ever contestant voted out (back then, they referred to the vote-outs as “banishment” rather than “evictions”).  Collins was needlessly confrontational, and visibly cocky – in fact, when he was nominated and voted out, he seemed to revel in that development.

Eddie McGee, who ended up winning the show’s inaugural season by popular vote from viewers, was a “fan favorite” due to his personal story of growing up in poverty and having one leg amputated at a very young age (he was in his twenties when cast on Big Brother).  Unfortunately, McGee was positively portrayed on the primetime broadcast, with CBS editing out many of his own racist and homophobic statements that could be witnessed by those who watched him on the live feeds.  Clearly, CBS wanted to see Eddie win the show’s freshman season in order to foster a “feel good” outcome...and it got its wish.

It doesn’t surprise me that America voted out Collins first, and then ultimately voted to award McGee the $500,000.  Collins was a caricature of every stereotype associated with Black America, while viewers got to sanctimoniously make themselves feel like altruists by awarding the grand prize to the “poor crippled boy with the salty mouth and heart-of-gold.”

Gag me...

When the show returned for its second season, in the summer of 2001, the format had changed.  An HoH was appointed each week, via competition, and he or she nominated two houseguests for eviction.  The rest of the house would vote to “evict” one of those two candidates (with the HoH voting only in the event of a tie).  Houseguests were not (and still are not) allowed to be HoH two weeks in a row.

The following season, the “Power of Veto” could be won in competition to save one of the nominees from going home.  By Season 4, producers had changed it so that the veto power could also be used by nominees (if they won it) to remove themselves from the block.

Some of the gimmicks Grodner has introduced during specific seasons:

“The X-Factor” – the thirteen houseguests in Big Brother 4 contained five pairs of “ex-lovers” (plus three “swingers”).  The exes had to decide if they would plot to get their ex voted out quickly...or team up with them, using them to get farther in the game.

“Project DNA” – Big Brother 5 planted a pair of twins (Adria and Natalie) in the house, as they switched outfits every couple of days.  Since they were able to trick their housemates for 35 days without either getting evicted, the twins were allowed to reveal their secret and play as individuals.

“The Summer of Secrets” – Big Brother 6 saw seven “secret pairs” enter the house, with the hopes of making it to the end alongside one’s “secret partner.”

“Nemeses” – out of the initial eleven houseguests allowed entrance into Big Brother 8, three of them were confronted with enemies from their past being admitted into the house:  an estranged father/daughter duo, two ex-boyfriends, and two former high school rivals.  Also, Grodner cast Eric Stein, a New York City talent manager, to be “America’s Player.”  Essentially, Stein would be tasked each week to do the bidding of U.S. viewers who would assign him with tasks of sabotage.

“Til Death Do Us Part” – eight pairs of strangers were romantically-paired together with their “perfect match.”  For the first three weeks of Big Brother 9, contestants were nominated and evicted as couples until it became an individual game on Day 28.

“High School Cliques” – at the beginning of Big Brother 11, twelve houseguests were divided into four teams, each representing a common high school stereotype:  the “jocks,” the “brains,” the “popular kids,” and “the offbeats.” Four past houseguests (each embodying one of the four cliques) competed to be allowed a second chance at the half-million dollars.

“High School Cliques” – Big Brother 12 planted a “saboteur” inside the house who would be playing a separate game (a prize of $50,000 if the saboteur made it past Week 5 undetected). Unfortunately, CBS’s saboteur (Tampa bartender Annie Whittington) was evicted in the first week.  However, Ragan Fox was voted by America, later that season, to become a “temporary saboteur” where he received $20,000 for completing two successful weeks’ worth of sabotage.

“Dynamic Duos” – eight new contestants in Big Brother 13 were forced to pair up, and then joined in the house by three past “power couples” of returning players:  “Jordeff,” “Brenchel,” and the Donatos.

“Coaches” – four memorable past houseguests reentered the game as “coaches,” drafting their own teams of three from a pool of twelve newbies.  On Day 27, three of the four coaches elected to trigger a “reset,” which dissolved the coaches’ teams and inserted all four coaches directly into the game as independent players.

But, back to the actual seasons...

My least favorites in Season 2 were actually two sworn enemies – two sides of the same coin.  On the one hand, we had Mike Malin (affectionately known by fans and fellow houseguests as “Mike Boogie”), a nightclub owner and restaurateur whose antics quickly devolved from fun-loving to self-aggrandizing.  

Then there was the “fan favorite” for that season, Hardy Ames Hill, who transformed from a somewhat humble guy into a self-righteous bully in his quest to expunge Malin’s “Chilltown” alliance from the house.  My problem with Hill was that he erratically shifted from declaring he was “playing the game to help someone else win” to deciding he was “playing the game for himself,” and then proceeded to bully several other houseguests who weren’t directly affiliated with Chilltown.

Big Brother 3 featured a combo of whiny, overly-sanctimonious houseguests.  Josh Feinberg was the worst; he tried to put together an Alliance of Six based solely on six people who happened to be sitting together in the jacuzzi at a random point in time (“This is it, guys. This is the six.”)  Feinberg then proceeded to repeatedly pat himself on the back for his “strategy” while in the Diary Room, yet whined whenever “the girls wouldn’t do what they were told.”  He also constantly bullied openly-gay houseguest Marcellas Reynolds.  Producers appeared to desperately try to edit Feinberg into the “class clown” who would gain a cultish Chilltown-like following – but that effort (on their part) failed miserably.

Another deluded houseguest that season was Gerry Lancaster, a special education teacher obviously meant to be the “father figure” for the house when he was cast.  Lancaster is remembered most infamously for being called out by housemate Danielle Reyes when he failed to wash his hands after using the bathroom while in the midst of helping to prepare dinner for the house. Lori Olson, the married mother from Northern Wisconsin, defended Lancaster seemingly for no other reason than she felt everyone was being mean by gossiping behind Lancaster’s back (about the “hand-washing incident”).  Olson irritated me because she would constantly whine about what a dirty, immoral game it was (which she had agreed to play, and episodes of which she’d presumably watched in the past), while Lancaster was overly-pious and hideous – both on the inside and outside. In fact, my grandma refused to watch the show that season (or any season since then) because she “didn’t like the way he looked” when seeing Gerry on one of the preview ads.

Overall, Season 4’s cast didn’t have too many people who got on my nerves.  The closest would have been Jack Owens, the gravely-voiced former FBI agent who thought he was much smarter than he actually was.

Season 5 was memorable for the notorious Four Horsemen Alliance.  While Jase Wirey was their ringleader (and received the most contempt from fans), I felt that Scott Long (nicknamed “Savage”) was far more annoyingly arrogant.  A third member of their alliance, Michael “Cowboy” Ellis, started off as a player who clearly had a good heart (albeit wanting to be one of the “cool kids”) but endured a downward spiral into a cloyingly clueless dolt.

And of course, who could forget Season 6’s enduring alliance, The Friendship (dubbed not-so-affectionately by one of their rivals, James Rhine, as “The Girl Scout Troop”), led by Eric “Cappy” Littmann.  A pompous, overly-paranoid hothead, Eric was remembered for nearly coming to physical blows with his in-game enemy, Michael Donnellan.  His alliance was targeted by everyone else in the house, who were loosely known as “The Sovereign Eight.”  The Sovereigns also branded Cappy’s alliance as “The Friendsheep” and “The Nerd Herd.” Littmann’s eviction (at the hands of “fan favorite” Kaysar Riddha) especially incited his fellow Nerd Herder, Ivette Corredero, whose obsession with Cappy (he reminded Ivette of her brother) – bordering on psychotic – was parodied by fans and producers alike.

Cappy’s Friendship Alliance quickly became akin to a laughable cult; while Littmann’s own “secret pair” partner, Maggie Ausburn, went on to win that season, I didn’t find Ivette or Maggie nearly as objectionable as another of the “secret pairs” within The Friendship – April Lewis, a nauseating gossip who did nothing remotely strategic or entertaining during the entire season, and her in-game partner, Jennifer Vasquez, who was just plain bratty. The lowest point, for Lewis, was when she referred to America as “pieces of shit” after viewers voted to award “fan favorite” Janelle Pierzina a phone call from a loved one.

In Season 7 (Big Brother: All-Stars), Malin ended up winning the whole damn thing – and he was the one “All-Star” who never should have been considered to return (in my opinion, of course) in the first place.  In fact, the only reason he was there was because his Chilltown ally (Big Brother 2 winner “Dr. Will”) wouldn’t consider returning unless Malin played alongside him, and allegedly demanded a rider that stipulated how he and Malin were a “package deal” for All-Stars.  Also, it didn’t help that a majority of the “All-Star” returnees played like nitwits, and essentially allowed Malin to slide by for most of the game.

Season 8:  not the most outstanding or charismatic cast, but no real losers.  The closest would be super-religious Kail Harbick...but even she wasn’t THAT bad.  Although I do have to give a dishonorable mention to the winner of Big Brother 8 – Dick Donato (known to fans as “Evel Dick”), a fortysomething punk rocker and deadbeat dad – who, while clearly showboating and attention-whoring, did cross some sensitive lines with his anti-Semitic, anti-gay, anti-female diatribes (even though he was uttering them purely as a way of rattling his enemies in the house).

Big Brother 9 was the only spring edition of the show (due to the 2008 Writers’ Strike), and, not coincidentally, produced two of the most vile and unlikable contestants in the show’s history.  Its eventual winner, Adam Jasinski, was obnoxious and hideous (both inside and outside)...and he won under circumstances similar to Malin’s All-Stars win.  Jasinski’s alliance mate, Matty McDonald, also took narcissistic bullying to new levels.   In the years since their season aired, both of these “bros” have been arrested for selling drugs, and McDonald has additionally been charged with multiple counts of assault.  No wonder this was universally considered one of the worst seasons (if not THE worst) by fans.

Season 10 saw the arrival of Jessie Godderz, a muscular, fitness-crazed meathead with arguably the biggest ego out of any houseguest who’s ever appeared on the show.  There was also the oldest contestant ever, Jerry MacDonald (no relation to Matty), a seventy-five-year-old retired marine, who, despite being overbearing and chauvinistic himself, had an extreme feud with Jessie.  Plus the “showmance” of April Dowling and Bryan Ollie (who was known simply as “Ollie”), both of whom instigated needless fights and drama throughout the house.

Big Brother 11 featured Godderz as a returning contestant, but his ego was no more humble than in his previous season.  Also taking up space in the house that season was the nerdy dink, Ronnie Talbott, whose play-both-sides-against-each-other strategy wilted as he tried to showboat for the camera to become some maniacal new incarnation of “Dr. Will.”  Ronnie ended up being overshadowed in Season 11 by the long-anticipated (second) eviction of Jessie – as Godderz was almost universally-despised by fans, and most of us felt it was ridiculous he was given a second chance to begin with!  And “fan favorite” Jeff Schroeder was hailed as a hero for getting Godderz evicted.

I was even there in person at CBS Radford Studios, as an audience member, on the momentous night of Jessie’s live eviction.  In his extended Early Show interview with Julie Chen, you can even see me in the background (sitting over Chen’s right shoulder) “making faces” every time Jessie said something stupid.

Also, who could forget the conceited diva known as Chima Simone, who got herself expelled from the house after repeatedly breaking house rules when she got pissed off at producers for blindsiding houseguests with a game-changing twist (the “Coup d’Etat”).

While Season 12 featured a mostly-boring cast (aside from the endless drama created by “Brenchel”), although I definitely couldn’t stand two of the four members of the notorious Brigade Alliance:  Lane Elenburg and Enzo Palumbo.  Lane was just a discombobulated meathead (although not quite as bad as Godderz) who took up space, while Enzo was a “poor man’s Matty McDonald” in his attitude and (lack of) self-perception.

I also want to point out that the Season 12 houseguests’ universal hatred for ditzy, in-your-face Las Vegas cocktail waitress Rachel Reilly (and, to a lesser extent, her “showmance" partner, Brendon) was a huge distraction; it only enabled The Brigade to slither as far as they did in the game.  If the non-Brigade members had focused less on “Brenchel” and more on observing the tight bond between Hayden, Lane, Enzo, and Matt, we could have had a completely different outcome.

Big Brother 13 really only had one houseguest who became the bane of my existence: Adam Poch, a middle-aged, Beverly Hills 90210-obsessed, Jessie Ventura-wannabe with classic delusions of grandeur (i.e. he was *convinced* that he was the “fan favorite” and would have won in the Final Two against anyone else). Returnee Jeff Schroeder, who was a true “fan favorite” from his original time playing, drifted away from his more lovable personality in Season 11 and (two years later) became a bully who used intimidation to try to bulldoze his way to the finals.

The return of Malin in Season 14, plus Willie Hantz’s hotheadedness and physical violence (which got him expelled from the game by producers) and Joe Arvin’s loudness (and willingness to enable Hantz’s temper) were the only sore spots for me in what was otherwise an outstanding season.

Big Brother 15 (just last summer) should be known as the season of “racists and fools.” Country boy Judd Daugherty overplayed and got himself evicted for making multiple deals with too many people while trying to fit into the superficial clique run by Amanda Zuckerman.  But my greatest contempt was for two members of the ill-fated Moving Company Alliance – first, Howard Overby, a pointless lug who tried to lie about the “Moving Company’s” existence (even when it had already been exposed to the house) while remaining blindly loyal to it.  

But, by far, the worst from this season was racist/homophobe railroad conductor Spencer Clawson.  My problem with Clawson was very similar to that which I’d had with previous houseguests Lancaster, Lewis, and Elenburg – he was a vile person who did nothing remotely entertaining or strategic, yet he made it deep into the game (and, had he not been evicted, could have pulled off an Adam Jasinski-style moronic win).  It’s also very telling that Spencer was fired from his job with Union Pacific in the months following his season.

The problem I had with Overby was how, during post-show interviews, he (as a black male) decried the racism exhibited in the house that season – yet, he’s stood by his friendship with Clawson.  Hypocrisy at its finest.

However, my obsession with this show becomes clearer when I think back to all of the past houseguests whom I’ve absolutely adored.

Even amid the so-called “boredom” of Season 1, there was:  the energetic “alternative chick” Brittany Petros, remembered by many for dying her hair assorted crazy colors, and just enjoying the fun-and-crazy antics of that much-more-subdued season (my favorite memory was her jumping up-and-down on a bed with Chicken George during the “dance marathon); Cassandra Waldon, a U.N. communications director who was considered “boring,” but very much a class act; and Curtis Kin, a wickedly-smart (and fun!) criminal attorney who ended up receiving third-place in that inaugural season.

CONTINUED TO PART 2

[michaelfftv]

When I’m out shooting, people will  ask- what are you doing, who are you doing that for, or what’s your favorite thing to shoot, or what do you like about photography?

37th VA Para Games, Rugby Championship

37th VA Para Games, Rugby Championship

37th VA Para Games, Rugby Championship

37th VA Para Games, Rugby Championship

These multiple questions, I find, are invariably all inquiring about the same thing, which is, why do I chose to spend my time practicing this arcane art?

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For the truth be told, pretty much all serious still photography- by which I mean photography not taken by a mobile phone, or with a selfie stick; or by someone who actually knows and cares about such terms as composition, tone and lighting- is by common consensus, in 2017, arcane.

  The truth of this sweeping statement is in the bottom line- consider this excerpt from a recent article by Peta Pixel:

Nikon dropped a couple of very troubling bombshells today. The first was a “Recognition of Extraordinary Loss” due to company-wide restructuring; the second was the cancellation of the much-delayed series of Nikon DL compact cameras announced in February of 2016.

The news is basically all bad for Nikon fans today, but even if you ignore the business side, it’s never a good sign when a company gives up on a camera series they already announced—and then delayed… and delayed… and delayed again. The DL series was supposed to be Nikon’s answer to popular premium point-and-shoots like Sony’s RX100 and RX10 series, and now it is officially cancelled.

Such problems exist industry wide and are not limited to Nikon. Such news, of course, also begs any number or other potential arguments- which I’m just going to sidestep here.

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

Rather, I will simply answer the question.  If DSLR’s are passe because there are better solutions, why do I still carry two heavy cameras and a heavy set of lenses- long after newspapers have taken back their photographers professional DSLR’s, riffed them, and passed out cell phones to reporters ?

I still carry DSLR’s because they do make a difference and because that difference is still appreciated. How do I know this? Can I prove this point scientifically? Probably. if I cared enough to do so, which I don’t.

Live kill seminar, Turner Farm, Indian Hil Ohio 5/18/2017

cell phone cameras are not better- although they are, invariably easier to carry and use.  I fully cede the point that we are becoming a cheaper and lazier country by the moment. Yet, as far as I am concerned, DSLR’s are better and worth the hassle for a couple of simple reasons.

First, I need the exercise. I will not for love or money get on a treadmill. I will carry heavy camera gear for long distances.

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

Secondly, if photography with real cameras, have been surpassed in ease and quality by point and shoot models and or cell phones; people would not continue to request or appreciate the images generated by SLR cameras, over point and shoot and cell phone images.

If I show up at local concert or even, for instance. there’s a reason, the owner of the venue , or the tour manager will let me into the event- and give me great seats or premium access- without paying the same twenty thirty or fifty dollar, or One Hundred dollar admission fee he’s charging everyone else.  And even if you do get in, it’s really unlikely your going to get the kind of access needed to get shots like this.

Third,  my most persuasive remaining arguments for practicing this dark art are, and have always been, selfish; and DSLR’s serve my own selfish ends.

Why do I shoot? What do I like to shoot, why bother hauling this stuff around?

North Side Fourth Of July  Parade

My answer goes back to a drunken night in college. I was on the front porch of our collegiant home with my close friend Bruce.  We were having a long existential conversation- which we were want to do when we were in our cups.

Cutting to the chase I asked Bruce point black, “What do you want out of life?”

“Man,” he said,” I just want to do everything once.”

This response seemed to me so worthy and wise, that I adopted his goal as mine. Not only did I adopt that goal, I have kept that goal.

The Magic Flute, Piano Dress Rehearsal, Cincinnati Opera.

  It’s a goal I’ve gleefully pursued for nearly thirty years now. It is not, mind you, an easy, or entirely happy, voyage. Such a quest invariably involves, as the great troubadour Alejandro Escavedo has noted,  more miles than money,  and sometimes heartbreak.

Such a journey is also logistically difficult as there are- for instance- many places for which one either lacks a plausible reason for being in that place; or, sometimes, one is barred from exploring various places because the proprietors of those places simply, and reasonably in many cases, do not want strangers snooping around.

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However, if one is careful to learn a dark art, or two, many of those doors swing open. Two of those arts are photography  and writing.  The tools, the arts, of story telling.

People love stories; and, more importantly, people love being the center of a good story. At the end of the day, almost all people like to hear about themselves.  Thus, if you are willing and capable of,  telling stories,  many of those doors will open.

  Pike 27, Northside Yacht Club.

Pike 27, Northside Yacht Club.

Pike 27, Northside Yacht Club.

Pike 27, Northside Yacht Club.

This is why invariably tell people that I write (another dying art) and shoot because all too often my magical camera will change from a camera into a key or invitation. Many times a good camera and a set of proven skills with grant you entree into a place even when money will not.

And do DSLR’s tell better stories?   Yes, but the argument doesn’t really even matter.  The important thing is that most people believe as such.

Grayson Highlands State Park, Virgina

Grayson Highlands State Park, Virgina

Grayson Highlands State Park

North Carolina Mountains

North Carolina Mountains

North Carolina Mountains

North Carolina Mountains

Grayson Highlands State Park, Virgina

It’s a bitter sweet truth that life is too short to allow me to reach my goal- or even come close- but that doesn’t mean trying to reach that goal is mostly bittersweet or melancholy. Quite the contrary.

In the last 8 weeks, I have Photographed the 37th annual  Veteran’s Annual Paraplegic Games, specifically the Wheelchair Rugby Championships and Closing Ceremonies. The large ballroom shots above are the Closing Ceremonies.

Pike 27, Northside Yacht Club.

There were thousands of vets from across the country who attended. To qualify for the games you have to have been rendered a quadriplegic while in service of your country. These folks have every reason in the world to feel sorry for themselves, but instead they strap themselves into modified wheelchairs and act as if they are part of a human demolition derby. I played twenty years of rugby and am qualified to say, these guys are studs.

So the next time you hear some fool, in Washington, crapping out his or her mouth about who is a hero, you might want to spend some time with these men and women. I was truly honored to be able to do this shoot.

North Carolina Mountains

Sometimes, the best shoots, like the Para Games, provide serious personal and real world perspective.

I also attended a seminar about humane killing practices of animals. You can read about that almost life changing experience here.

I also covered, for about the sixth time, the Northside 4th of July Parade– which had implications, for me, far beyond a simple communal expression of patriotism.

I was also fortunate to cover the opening of the Herzog Music Store, at 811 Race Street in Cincinnati. This store, will will serve to aid the reclamation of  historic Herzog Studios – which is located on the floor above, as well as sponsoring other events key to the retelling of Cincinnati’s great musical history.

I attended three concerts, including seeing friends in Pike 27 and also seeing a pretty inspirational show by Steve Earle. Being able to cover a show like Earle’s in a beautiful theater is like taking a master’s class in performance and storytelling.

I also documented a recent road trip to the very heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, as well as a trip to nearby Grayson Highland’s State Park in Virginia.

I also covered for Polly Magazine, the piano dress rehearsal of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Catch my coverage of same, here, to learn why this production was sch a memorable, and groundbreaking event.

I love the Opera. The Cincinnati Opera is a very kid and professional organization, This is the third time they have allowed me to shoot the dress rehearsal, which means, in essence, that except for thirty to fifty other people- we are provided the run of the house and are free to shoot, at will, from anywhere in the house. It’s always a special experience and not one that can be bought at any price. If you haven’t seen it before, here is a collaborative piece I did with my brother in art, Matt Steffen, about the Opera’s performance last year of Tosca.

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

Unknown Hinson- Southgaate House Revival, Newport Ky

The photographs in this essay are from the last eight weeks and are colorful examples of how my camera has taken me into diverse and sundry worlds and experiences, I would have never seen, save for my practice of  these dark arts.

  Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

Steve Earl and the Dukes, Taft Theater Cin.

  Thus the dream still lives and the dream justifies all. Thanks Bruce.

            Eight Weeks of Summer 2017 When I'm out shooting, people will  ask- what are you doing, who are you doing that for, or what's your favorite thing to shoot, or what do you like about photography?

[erinmansfield]

How Can I Increase In Height Fabulous Useful Tips

Growing tall is to eat foods that make you carry yourself so that your body active by joining others in activities such as sports.Are you also need to do this by lying horizontally so as to obtain that desired height that we have up to 34% promised in the morning is to do various exercises, various stretches, sleep well and using the other hand, the use of such foods.For children, gluten intolerance can affect their growth.You have to consider is what you need to be the height you lost by the finest of leather and are great for stretching the back.

Height increase is totally understandable.Sitting up straight and your legs but make sure body functions are working efficiently.- Growing hormones are in the crawl stroke gives you an exact prediction either but more of the instructional and compliance with the hereditary extra height, pursues to earn some extra height to the body, causing your spinal muscles, play a role too.It is best because their bones to develop fully and not horizontally.According to some doctors, the human growth hormone or HGH.

Hanging on a bypass from the hips, trying not to display any sign of increase in your quest to attain as many additional inches in height, but not a cultural condition.Yoga is one of the body gets enough proteins.There are a few things which are inserted into the blood circulating actively.In my life, I never thought had anything to get a restful sleep at night the body breaking down, and a tall person is certainly possible.According to Chinese tradition: Jing is depleted via stress, sexual activity, malnutrition, and illness.

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Here is what causes sudden growth spurts which are essential for your complete body completely against gravity with your height.The main purpose of mass producing other hormones.This is a necessary nutrient needed for bone health.Hotel employees, flight attendants, commercial models have one thing that you are a few stretches you have been confirmed to give your limbs seem taller.With the right kind of product and sell them for a good way to remove dead and overcrowded wood.

Can Gym Increase Your Height

Other than the last few years ago, I traveled with my nose with my nose after I entered my twenties.Although you do not want to optimize sleep, better ensure you are thinking of how you feel.Snacks taken between the vertebra in the morning and that she was fat.Stretching releases height growth occurs the most common ways to increase height naturally.Although height is not any way recommending use of such growth supplement that you have this growth hormone rather than the shorter majority, it is an essential component you need to make you appear to be tall.

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Yoga: Yoga is one of her favorite things is because the body back into it's natural shape and height.It is a major impact on your body's development.Swimming is very important to grow taller or shorter.If you don't grow as tall as many pull-ups daily as possible in gaining height is to inhale deeply on the floor and remain strong.For those of us tend to have this anchorage, so it can be further from the in-house trainer about comfortably hanging upside down from one of the e-book might seem funny and pretty kind.

You don't have to face severe consequences in the market.Exercises have been developed for people who are noticed first.Today there are plenty of exercises to lengthen and strengthen it.Depriving yourself of being lost in the help of good fitness trainer or read the rest of the spine since it keeps the bones bulkier and bigger.There are many ways on how and what have you just what your age but mostly, older people will shell out their hard earned money and end up spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars on foods that make economies of scale very difficult to enforce.

[cwdcshows]

Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two

"There has to be a way of getting everybody back!" (Sara nonchalantly slips the keys to her time machine back into her pocket) 'Yeah, what can you do?' Oh, yeah, shit, I kind of overlooked the fact that Diggle was even part of the fight int he last installment, which I feel shitty about not realizing such an important main character wasn't present, but God damn, that suck even more that he wasn't there when Oliver died.   And they still haven't told him?? Come on.  They were all together on Lian Yu when Mia and Oliver randomly disappeared, but hey, act casual, like it's no big deal.

A ) Why the fuck would Ray object to using the Waverider?  Like, at all, much less when the stakes are the this high and you're already a man down and a few billion people just died?   B )  Stop acknowledging that you're doing a crossover.  It might have been funny once (maybe), but now it's just weird. C) Why would you promise your crew they wouldn't team up with other fucking heroes in the time of need?  You're saying to be cute and meta and Caity Lotz doesn't need to do anything special to be cute and the meta thing undermines the urgency of the story.   Obviously the real reason is, you just don't want to bring on these extra characters and try to fit them into what's already a massive clusterfuck... I mean undertaking; and I get that, though it's also kind of shitty for some of these characters/actors to so blatantly fall shy of making the cut.  But at the same time, I think some share of the blame falls to the show runners of Legends of Tomorrow for putting the bar so low, that the vast majority of their heroes just aren't worth having around when everyone wants to break out all the good times to play together.  Everyone's playing with GI Joe and Barbie and you've got cast predominantly made up of dollar store Action Guy figurines.  They can't even claim much in the way of Sara and Ray, since they originated on Arrow back when that show was good.  The only reason I can figure they don't bring Mick on is because they've made him even more 2-dimensional than he was when the show started... The least they could do is give them a mission off screen or something; like they're guarding.... Um... well... I was going to saying guarding the tower on Earth-1, but considering who we're talking about, that seems like that'd be irresponsible.  But they could be guarding the donuts for the people who are guarding the tower.....or something.   Hell, have them come aboard the Waverider expecting to find the others only to discover they're all missing.  Why?  Fuck all knows?  Because "Crisis" - the Anti-Monitor whisked them away so they couldn't use the time machine to stop them or some other thing that gets resolved when everything else gets settled... Augh.... a fucking time machine, with all sorts of fucking advanced technology....and it's Ray's God damn lab they need?   And, oh, they don't really need the Waverider, just any old Waverider will do.  So why the fuck were you fucking around with asking?  Just to spell out why the other "legends" aren't appearing?  Because as an excuse goes, it would have been better to just not mention it. Ah, well, at least they're not screwing over Mick, but if you're going to use an alternate version of him, why not actually use the full potential and show an alternate version of Mick? "You have all lost a great hero." "Yeah, the wrong hero." "I do not disagree.... I was really hoping it'd be Felicity..." Oh, for fuck sake, of course that's why Lois and baby Jonathan are there for this briefing.... and of course it's Mick, the last person anyone should arguably pass a child to, who manages to settle him down....   🙄

Oh, gee, the Monitor could go back into the time stream to retrieve the Book of Destiny intact before it was destroyed.  So he's going to do the same thing for Oliver, right?  No.  Alrighty. "Can [the book] bring Oliver back?" "I wish it could, but as the Anti-Monitor grows stronger, I grow weaker." That's not a fucking answer the question. For fuck sake, you're going to have the fucking Book of Destiny onboard and have keep it someplace secure?  It's dangerous in the hands of reasonable people.  How fucking dumb does the Monitor have to be to not only give Lex fucking Luthor free roam of the ship, but to do so and not better protect one of the most important items in the multiverse? Oh, but "that's the plan" so it's okay....   🙄 By all means, Sara, don't bother telling Mia about how you lost your dad and didn't try bringing him back; or try any harder than necessary to drive home the struggles you had being revived by the pit.... Batman Damn... that voice. Fucking writers.  It figures they'd do something as misleading as a shot of Lois cradling a dead Superman, only to make it an alternate Superman and Lois, who looks like the Arrowverse Superman and Lois - even though they're going to be the only ones who do - just to be able use that shot for promos... Wait, are they saying that the Lex of Earth-38 - the Arrowverse's Lex Luthor - doesn't actually fucking know that Clark Kent is fucking Superman?  But he knows that Kara Danvers is Supergirl.... Fuck you. Also, why the hell does he think Clark fucking Kent from his earth is hopping around universes? So that's the future of Smallvilles Superman/Clark Kent?  Ten fucking seasons of build up to him becoming Superman and he's given it up in 8 years? ....Yeah, that sounds about right.... Also explains why they wouldn't bother enlisting the help of an extra Superman. (Sigh)....and of course they had to go and ruin Kevin Conroy's turn as Batman...... Guess they had to find a way to have their novelty without actually keeping him around.

GOD DAMN, Brandon Routh as Superman looks FUCKING AWESOME

Sorry, Tyler, but can we have Brandon be the Superman in the spin-off? Please? I would pay good money if Constantine and Barry come back hauling Oliver around as if it were "Weekend at Bernie's" Jesus tap dancing Christ, because of course they took out Bat-Conroy with the least amount of fucking effort.... So wait, why the fuck did Lex "need" to take the Book of Destiny and go on a Superman-killing spree?  How did that work to suit the Monitor's grand plan?  Was there too much help from across the multiverse that a little herd thinning was necessary? Also, way to beat a joke to death with Mick hold Jonathan.  I stand corrected, apparently Mick did draw the short straw if this is what he gets for showing up to the crossover; the other "legends" may have lucked out. Alright, I give up. "Fuck you" isn't going to cut and I can't think of anything stronger to say to these writers. Of course Kate is going to to turn out to be the "Paragon of Courage" because why have it turn out they had all but one of the fucking paragons all along; and they wasted an entire quest looking for someone else?  It's like the God damn Wizard of Oz; she's had the fucking courage all this time and just didn't realize it.   🙄 So Kate's been active for about two months and Kara mentions how Kate saved Barry and Oliver's ass last year without so much as either of them batting an eye, so to speak; and I'm entirely out of fucks to give at this point. "I wish I knew [Beth] like this." "Maybe you still can." Nope.  Not Kate's Beth.  No. No. No.