#Niko Belić

[da-riya]

I remember since I was 8y.o GTA4 was the shit because "OMG the main character, Niko Belić, is from here!" and then you hear the most broken Serbian speech imaginable

[jacobsneed]

So this little cutscene rewrite has become such a comfort/passion project for me :'D So yeah please enjoy the first couple chunks of this :')

tw: mentions of death/suicide

Playlist

Niko's hunger gnawed at his insides, a ravenous beast desperate to be sated. As he attempted to quell the aching void with a hot dog, his cellphone interrupted, vibrating on the dashboard like a relentless itch, displaying: 'U.L.P. Paper.' With a sigh and desolation surging through his veins, he traded the untouched hot dog for the device, dreading the encroaching omen.

"Belić," the voice of 'Agent ULP' reverberated like a ghost's breath through the speaker, "I have your man. He's been flown in." Niko's body froze as if ensnared by invisible chains, thrusting himself upwards—his knees colliding with the steering wheel while a sensation both inexplicable and profound washed over Niko's frayed soul. "We're going to drop him in the airport cargo area for you." A maelstrom of emotions swirled within him at these portentous words, still, an electric excitement charged his response, concealing his internal torment. "No more jobs, is that it? Am I out?" His pulse danced like a caged animal alongside an eerie film of sweat encroaching upon his palms. "You're out. You've done good things for us, and we are grateful," ULP echoed hollowly before delivering a stifling finality: "That said, I've given you a lot of protection. From here in, you're alone. Goodbye." Abruptly severed from their discourse, an uncanny silence swallowed Niko whole. Glancing at the forsaken hot dog on the dashboard – a futile offering to the inexorable march of time. He dismissed it once more as he frantically dialed Roman's number with trembling fingers, consumed by impatience as he awaited an answer.

"Roman," he clipped darkly, eschewing pleasantries and slicing straight to their grim reality. "They've brought Darko Brević into the country for me. This is almost over. I'm going to finish it." With unwavering determination lacing each syllable, Niko jammed the key into the car's ignition. "Niko, you can't do this alone." Roman's voice, a blend of authoritarian concern and brotherly compassion, "I'm coming with you. Come collect me from Firefly Island." Grumbling like a tempest set free, Niko submerged himself within the rain-drenched streets, discarding the now meaningless hot dog that has long gone cold. "Alright," he sighed in resignation, "Wait there for me." With a dismissive flick of his wrist, Niko cast the phone aside onto the dashboard. He tore through the rain-drenched labyrinth of Liberty City, forging a path towards Firefly Island. The night's oppressive symphony rang out, marrying the relentless drumming of rain on metal with the shivering howl of thunder, and Vladivostok F.M. murmuring through crackling radio speakers, the distant melody of Splean’s ‘Линия жизни’ playing through–

Гни свою линию

Гни свою линию

Гни свою линию

Горят огни

Сверкают звезды

Все так сложно

Все так просто

Мы ушли в открытый Космос

В этом мире больше нечего ловить

Emerging into Broker, Niko discovered Roman, cloaked beneath a sanctuary from the downpour, and honked quickly. Roman tumbled into the waiting car with nerves tingling electric. "Cousin, there you are." he breathed. "They are bringing him to the cargo bay at Francis International." Niko intoned mechanically, "I do not want to be late after I have waited so long." Their gloomy journey like a funeral march.

Roman nervously broke the heavy silence: "Well, this is the big moment," he started, attempting solace. "What you have been waiting for for so long. I hope you will not be disappointed." His words fell like calming petals around Niko, but thorns lingered beneath them. Niko murmured hollowly, "Disappointment is not a consideration." He faltered before resuming: "I have not been the same man since the day that Darko betrayed us." After a heavy beat, he mumbles painstakingly, "Since I saw those things." Roman inhaled sharply and muttered: "You lost a lot of friends that day, Niko. We both did." With a sardonic half-laugh, Niko sneered: "In some way, our friends from the village were lucky." Pain coiled within his every syllable as he admitted: "I lost myself that day, too." Roman sat unmoving; never before had such raw confessions stirred dread deep within him. "Everything that was good and innocent in me died along with them." His own revelation twisted like entrails. "If I could live those hours again," Niko continued,

"I think I would have preferred to be buried in the pit along with everyone else."

Roman recoiled at this grotesque ode of survivor's guilt spewing forth from his cousin. Enshrouded in his gory confession, Niko persisted: "This is all that is left of me." he resigned himself hoarsely. "What am I good at, Roman?" He choked on desperation: "What is my trade? I deal in death because that is all that is open to me." Roman stared resolutely at his cousin. "I will tell you what you are good at, Niko." he proclaimed, "You are a good cousin, a good father, and a good friend." punctuating each assertion to sear them into Niko's mind: "You still have integrity. No matter what you say, there is still humanity in you." Roman's voice swelled with conviction, "You still have the power to be good. It's important that you believe that."

"Hah, maybe I will start to believe it when Darko is dead." Niko uttered with vindictive fervour, as though each word bore the anguish of a decaying existence. "That might give me some perspective." A decade's torment echoed through the biting sting of his words. Roman, burdened with existential anguish, beseeched his cousin, "This killing must stop sometime, Niko." Roman's voice trembled with palpable desperation, "Once this is done, then you must begin to forgive." He implored. "Think about your future instead of the horrible things that have happened to you, to us, to all of us, in the past!" Roman pleaded. "After this is done," Niko retorted harshly, a flicker of genuine emotion piercing through his bitter exterior. "Then we can talk about forgiveness and redemption." His words echoed the darkness within, a testament to the weight he bore within his tortured soul. "Now is not the time for such conversation." And so, the two remained in a somber silence that stretched beyond its physical conception as they journeyed towards inevitable confrontation.

Their unspoken communion was shattered by Niko: "It was weeks after the massacre that I realized that we must have been given up by someone in our group." Roman, caught off guard, bewildered by Niko's sudden admission, his eyes meeting his cousin's sorrowful glare. "Given up by someone from our own village." Niko flatly revealed. Clutching the wheel until his knuckles turned ghostly white, he continued, "I had to go back to the pit where the bodies were dumped. I had to count the ripe corpses and see who was missing."

"Niko, I know." Roman muttered in response, nausea crawling within him. "That wasn't something the old me could have done," Niko admitted, sparing Roman a fleeting glance before resuming focus on the road before them. "But losing those friends, seeing them cut down in their prime," Swallowing a lump grotesque with sorrowful memories, "It hardened me, it made me cold." Empathetic despair weighed on Roman's voice, "I know it did, Niko. But that was a long time ago! I'm not saying that Darko should be forgiven - it is not our place to do that." He implored, seeking a crack in Niko's stone-cold resolve. "But the Darko you are going to meet might be very different from the one who led our friends to their death."  

"He will be enough of that man to justify what I have to do to him." Niko snarled, the abyss within him yawning wider as his grip upon the wheel intensified. "Be assured of that, cousin." With each mile they traversed, hope receded into an ever-distant mirage, bitterness laced in his words as the loading bay emerged from behind the shroud of rain. "This is it. This is where it all ends." Niko murmured frigidly, abandoning the vehicle to face his the awaiting van.

[mozgoderina]

Dobrodošli u hram tihih žena!

U ponedeljak, 29. oktobra 2018. godine, u Galeriji Progres, Knez Mihajlova - Zmaj Jovina 8-12, u Beogradu, održano je otvaranje velike selekcionisane retrospektivne grupne međunarodne izložbe žena-umetnica, pod nazivom “Silent Women”. [1] Imao sam veliku čast, ali i zadovoljstvo da se odazovem na poziv direktora The Iwano Project fondacije, Aleksandra Pedovića, da u svojstvu kritičara umetnosti [2], uz prigodan govor svečano otvorim izložbu. [3]

Za japanske slikare često je upravo nepopunjeni deo kompozicije nosilac vrhunske poruke. Ručno pravljeni tradicionalni japanski papir za slikanje, širi kroz prostor i vreme poruku o kreativnoj snazi praznine. Jedno nežno, ali odvažno, porodično umetničko stablo, niklo je iz takvog dragocenog semena koje je dospelo i do ovih prostora.

Michaela Nociarova ~ Untitled, 2003. Mixed media on the paper (110 x 76 cm).

Gospodin Aleksandar Pedović okuplja umetnike specifičnog senzibiliteta iz celog sveta, već skoro pune dve decenije, još od 1999. U izdvojenoj vili “Stanković”, u Čortanovcima pored Novog Sada, gospodin Pedović za prispele kreativne goste, tokom leta nastoji da ostvari uslove za meditativnu prazninu u kojoj stvaraju slikari. Pribavljen je i prazan papir.

Tradicionalne zanatske radionice gospodina Heizaburo Iwano-a opskrbljuju umetnike koji imaju privilegiju da slikaju na čuvenom japanskom ručno pravljenom papiru „WASHI – Kumohada Mashi“.

Tanja Milharčić ~ 'Together', 2011. Tempera on paper (107 X 78 cm).

Umetnici mogu da sede u miru, zaboravivši sve probleme. I tako iz godine u godinu – kada, koliko i ukoliko raspoloživa sredstva dozvole. Nova stvaralačka sezona nosi naziv Silent Woman. Ovog puta, The Iwano Project ustupa svoj glas kreativnim a utišanim ženama iz našeg okruženja. Poput čamca, projekat nosi slikarke kroz bremenitu tišinu. Manje praznine u srcu a više na papiru! Sa već dvodecenijskim iskustvom i samopouzdanjem, projekat hrabro zadire sve dublje u društvene zone sumraka, noseći blistavo svetlo umetničkih postignuća. Takav angažman nije ostao neprimećen. Nakon devetnaest godina postojanja, The Iwano Project ima čime da se diči.

Preko 300 renomiranih svetskih umetnika, iz preko 25 država sveta, aktivno je učestvovalo u koloniji. Do sada je održano 23 izložbe projekta, četiri u inostranstvu, uključujući i Japan, a kod nas su izložbe održavane u referentnim muzejima.

Mina Krassimirova Decheva ~ Night time, 2004. Screen rinting (108 x 128 cm).

Projekat je tematskim opredeljenjem i suštinskim pristupom stvaralaštvu, jedinstven ne samo na ovim prostorima, već i u svetskim okvirima. To je potvrdilo i učešće preko 20 stranih ambasadora i atašea za kulturu koji su otvarali izložbe ostvarenih radova nakon pojedinačnih ciklusa. Otvoren prijem i spontan pristup stvaralaštvu, široko je prepoznat kao autentičan čin, pa ne iznenađuje odličan odziv čak i utišanih žena.

Na ovogodišnjoj izložbi učestvuje 36 renomiranih akademskih umetnica iz 17 različitih država i sa tri kontinenta, od kojih je većina stvarala uživo u Workshop-ovima, u vili „Stanković“.

Marie Neugebauer ~ Untitled, 2008. Mexed media (107 x 80 cm).

Pišući o estetici praznine u kulturama Istoka, italijanski publicista Đanđorđo Paskvaloto ističe da praznina nipošto nije nešto što je izvan punog, još manje nešto što mu se opire. Vrhunska umetnost se sastoji u tome da se praznina uvede u samo srce punog. Na dobrobit svih. The Iwano Project je još uvek u potrazi za tim krajnjim dometom. Na koji način, tišinu koju komunicira Umetnica, sa papira preneti u vrevu i buku savremenog tranzicionog društva? Gospodin Pedović se ovog puta odlučio na zaista hrabar korak.

Ksenija Čerče ~ Fire frescoe, 2002. Fire, shelack, watercolor (145 x 108 cm).

Povetarac oko slikara uvek može da se pretvori u oluju koja će prevrnuti krhki čamac. Svim učesnicima, umetnicama i organizatorima, ipak – želim mirnu vodu, a ako vetar i ubrza, neka im napuni jedra za tihi put kroz prazninu, ka zacrtanom cilju.

Lao Ce piše: "Odaje razne kada se čine, za prozore i vrata izvedu se praznine. Tako i praznina postane oruđe, jer bez nje niko ne može da uđe." Uđite, dakle, u hram tihih žena. Dobrodošli!

Sara Anne Barraclough ~ Mask II, 2008. Mix media print (108 x 80 cm).

  [1] "Congratulations on a very imaginative project and excellent example of East-West collaboration." (Dr Mark Nesbitt, Curator, Royal Botanic Gardens, United Kingdom) .

[2] Urednik magazina za umetnost i kulturu PULSE, Boban Savković, bio je toliko ljubazan da objavi moj promotivni tekst o radu The Iwano Project fondacije: The Iwano Project: Glas tihih žena → | 18. oktobar, 2018.

[3] The Iwano Project: "Silent Women" PDF Catalogue: "Silent Women" on Scribd →

Lokacija: Galerija Progres, Knez Mihajlova - Zmaj Jovina 8-12, Beograd, 29. oktobar, 2018.

Pripovedio i grafički opremio: JovAN JoNA pAvLović → Estetska inspekcija: koLoR koALA → Ilustracije: The Iwano Project Workshops. Moderator: MozGoDER vELičANsTvENi → 

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oBELEžENA TRAsA NA puTu Do spAsA → ✓ Ritualno pismo (Bart) →  ✓ Metaumetnost (Belić) →  ✓ Lepota i nadlepota (Đokić) → 

[senka-mesecine]

Recently I realized how much I love my Serbian boy Niko Belić.

[mikimicic]

Niko Belić je najpoznatiji anti-heroj iz sveta igara koji je potekao sa naših prostora. Njegov trnovit put i životnu priču možemo pratiti u ultra popularnoj igri Rockstar Games-a, GTA 4. Kako sam Niko kaže, više ljudi na svetu su ga želeli mrtvog, nego živog. On je uspeo da vešto upravlja svojim životom u opasnom okruženju Liberty City-ja i da sve teškoće isprati sa ciničnim humorom. Ovo je...

[mndigr]

Potvrđeno: Srbin je najveći zlikovac GTA serijala!

Grand Theft Auto IV je izašao 2008. godine, i od tada je klasik. Sa svojom odličnom grafikom, dizajnom sveta, gejmplejom i pričom, ovo je igra koju su igrali, ali i dalje igraju milioni. Igrači sa Balkana, međutim, su imali još jedan razlog za interesovanje oko ove igre, a to je glavni lik: mutan tip, lak na obaraču, više zlikovac nego heroj, sa čudnim naglaskom i interesantnim poreklom. To poreklo je, kako stvari i bivaju na našem području, veoma polarizujuća tema. Neki su, naravno tvrdili da je Niko Belić, kako se zove protagonista, Srbin, neko da je Hrvat, Bošnjak, jer kreatori igre nisu baš precizirali koje je nacionalnosti, samo da je došao iz ratom razorene Jugoslavije, da pronađe novi život u Americi (tako što će se napucavati sa mafijom, policijom i svima ostalima). Sada su te sumnje raspršene, jer je predstavnik kompanije Rockstar, koja je zaslužna za celokupan GTA serijal, izvesni Nick S. u odgovoru nezadovoljnoj korisnici kojoj je smetalo što je glavni lik igre ruski vojnik, jer „Rusi žele da nas kontrolišu“ i koja je želela da se igra ukloni iz prodaje, otkrio da je Niko zaista Srbin, a ne Rus ili bilo koja druga nacionalnost. On joj je potom održao bukvicu zbog rasističkih i licemernih predrasuda, skrenuvši joj pažnju da je veliki broj zaposlenih u Rockstaru ruske nacionalnosti, kao i mnogih drugih, te joj dodelio ban od nedelju dana, sa pretnjom ako nastavi sa takvim ponašanjem, ta zabrana igranja biti permanentna. Tako da su sve zablude sada raspršene, Niko je definitivno Srbin, i pridružuje se velikoj plejadi stereotipnih „zlih“ Srba, u filmovima i igrama. Nadamo se samo, da će se u nekom momentu, u nekom delu fikcije, pojaviti i neki opušteni, nasmejani Srbin, koji ne planira da puca na sve živo. Šta vi mislite o tome da je Niko, Srbin? A, koje je vaše mišljenje o Srbima kao negativcima u igrama, filmovima, serijama? Ili ako ne volite da previše polemišete o takvim trendovima, šta mislite o GTA serijalu? Čekamo vaše komentare ispod vesti i na Facebook, Twitter i Instagram mreži. ____________________________________________________________________ MONDO Android aplikacija je opet tu: PREUZMITE JE! Let's block ads! (Why?)