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melodic-haze · 6 months ago

Note

I WAS WAITING FOR THE ASKBOX TO BE OPENED AGAIN WOOHOO…

anyway. How about a belly bulge from a strap with Robin? Like, trying out different straps with Robin and the one is bigger then the bigger belly bulge on her stomach is!!!

-🐿️

☆ — DEMO TRACK: sub!Robin x dom!fem!Reader

☆ — TYPE: NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: Reader with a strap but that's probably evident HAHAHA, squirting

☆ — NOTES: I JUMPED ohhh 🐿 how I love your mind ik you sent this when I last opened my askbox I'm so sorry it took this long 💀💀💀💀💀

I went crazy insane before sitting down to write this bc HOLY FUCK

For the record I'd like to think that this was Robin's initial idea. She got way too curious and decided to just maaaybe suggest experimenting with sizes :3

And maybe she wants to see how it feels to be stuffed silly but shhh you don't need to know that (you probably already know LOL)

You start with a smaller size before buying new ones that are bigger than the last......but you just can't help but notice that whenever you both look around the site for another one, she always seems to linger at a particularly large one before you gently nudge her and snap her out of whatever train of thought she was in

So you end up buying that exact one in secret before surprising her, in which case?

The moment you revealed your 'mystery gift', you find that you've never seen Robin's eyes practically sparkle this much in such a peculiar way; it shined with a humorous mix of surprise, amusement and heated desire.

"Is this..?"

"I've noticed your eye on it more than once—for a multi-talented performer, you're not exactly discreet," you joked.

She smiles bashfully, "I suppose I've let my excitement show once or twice..."

"Really."

She laughs in that melodic tone you've easily grown to love, "Oh, hush, you!"

But then her eyes drift back to the new toy you've bought her.. and her hand idly strokes the false appendage, the size comparison between it and her hand being.. definitely something.

You hadn't even realised you were staring at her (and her movements) until you heard her clearing her throat, "Y-Yes? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

She gives you a light smirk, the wings on her head lightly flapped as if it were tittering, "I was going to ask if you'd like to try it out on me but if you're preoccupied with something, then-- mmph! ..Mm..."

You had silenced her with a quick yet deep kiss, the dildo pressing down on both your stomachs and earning you an excited moan before you drew back, "Was that enough of an answer for you, angel?"

"Mhm..." Her hand went to feel the toy leaning on her stomach, as if a prelude for the real event, "More than satisfactory."

Oh god when you get down to it, it's like she's absolutely hypnotised. Robin's DEFINITELY a lot more, for the lack of a more eloquent term befitting for such a lovely lady 🥰, sluttier and you've found that out for a bit now, but you've never seen her like this—all that's happening right now is Robin blowing you and yet it's as if she's already so dumb and eager as she drools on your cock. Can't even fit it in her mouth, what's the chance that she'd fit in her cunt????

Turns out she's determined to have you (and your new toy) inside of her no matter what 🤷‍♀️ gotta respect the woman's perseverance 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

She winces when you try to put it in at first (with a LOT of questioning her beforehand about whether she's sure she can handle it, which she says she can but still) and you take your time with it, letting her adjust to the stretch little by bit. Something inside her wants you to just shove it all in but she 1) knows better and 2) doesn't want to worry you 🫶🫶🫶🫶

It takes a while but when you finally bottom out inside her she is WEAK AS HELLLLLLL❗️❗️ Her eyes are half-lidded, her breaths fast, drool gathering on the corner of her mouth.......oh she's already gone and you haven't even started moving yet

The moment you do though??? Ohhh boy oh boy oh BOYYYYYYY her wings are a DEFINITE tell on how she's feeling. With the way they're flapping and twitching as you piston her deeply, you can easily say she was enjoying it ☺️

And alsooo the moment you've all been waiting for :33333

You had been so distracted with your Halovian lover's reactions that you almost didn't notice the very noticeable bulge on her...

Oh. Oh.

"Robinnn..." You cooed with a clear smirk on your lips, "I'm sure you can manage to look down here, right? It'll be worth it."

You accentuate your point further by gently grazing your hand onto the evident bulge on her stomach disappearing and reappearing every time you plunged the strap inside her. She looks down at the feeling with unfocused eyes before they widen at the realisation...

And then you push.

The reaction you get is one you wish you recorded for preservation—she screams as her nails claw on the sheets underneath her, hips shaking up and pushing herself even further into your cock. The tip ends up hitting a particular spot and her eyes roll back as you feel some sort of pressure hitting onto your strap.

The moment you pull out, a jet of liquid squirts out and hits you and the strap both. It takes a while before her orgasm actually starts to recede.

...

And you need her to do that again, you resolve within yourself, as you use the wings on her hips as handlebars and pull her back on your dick without a warning.

You don't stop for a while, that much is clear

Yk what else is clear? That Robin's a SIIIIZE QUEEEEEN I love her 🥰🥰🥰 She's soooo stretched out and fucked out by the end of it and yk what the best part is???

She makes sure to show you just how much she appreciates her very big gift in any way you'd want ☺️☺️

She's gonna have so much fun the day after when she goes to work ahahahah no fr I'd say jokes but I'm really not. She'll think about what you've done and what you now have and she'll feel her pussy clench as she gets distracted by her own thoughts when she REALLY shouldn't be 😭

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candysims4 · 1 year ago

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MODULAR SET

A small but adorable set with four items: 1 hair, 1 top, 1 "dress," and a pair of earrings.

THE FULL CREATOR’S NOTES IS BELOW THE CUT.

ALL ITEMS ARE:

TEEN TO ELDER

BASE GAME COMPATIBLE

MADE FOR FEMALE FRAME

DISALLOWED FOR RANDOM

360º GIFs & THUMBNAILS (HOSTED IN IMGUR)

LOLA HAIR

HAT GAME COMPATIBLE

3.730 POLYGONS

119 SWATCH COLORS - 24 plain colors from EA Color Palette - 95 plain colors from my Candy Color Palette

YOU WILL FIND IN LONG HAIR OR/AND STRAIGHT OR/AND UPDO

AMANDA EARRINGS

1.920 POLYGONS

65 SWATCH COLORS - 10 metallic colors - 55 plastic colors

YOU WILL FIND IN ACCESSORIES/EARRINGS

ROSALIA TOP

3.492 POLYGONS

95 SWATCH COLORS - 55 plain colors - 40 patterned

YOU WILL FIND IN TOP/BLOUSE

ROSALIA (DRESS) SKIRT

1.112 POLYGONS

95 SWATCH COLORS - 55 plain colors - 40 patterned

YOU WILL FIND IN BOTTOM/SKIRT

MY SITE (NO AD.FLY): LOLA HAIR | AMANDA EARRINGS (TWO VERSIONS) | ROSALIA TOP & (DRESS) SKIRT Free release on 3rd October 2023

PATREON EARLY ACCESS + MERGED OPTIONS

Thanks to all the cc creators that I used in the pic. And thanks to @maxismatchccworld, @simblrcollective, @s4library, @wewantmods, and everybody who reblog this post!

If you’re a cc finds and want to be tagged when I post, please, let me know. You can send me an ask or in DM.

With your help, more people can know about my work! 💖 Love you all, XOXO 💖

CREATOR'S NOTE:

As I was brainstorming ideas for a new outfit, I asked myself a simple question: "Why not create a modular outfit like I did with hair before?" This inspired me to design a dress with a top outfit that can be easily paired with other items, as both pieces can be worn separately. I know this might sound a little unconventional, but I just wanted to mix things up and try something new. I hope you're cool with my different ways of doing things and that you're able to put together some really cool outfits.

The "Rosalia (Dress) Skirt" is in the skirt category, and you know what's great about it? You can mix and match it with other stuff or even with some CC, and it still works like a charm. I personally think it looks cute and works well with sweaters, making it an excellent choice for fall outfits. I plan on creating some sweater looks with this dress in the future.

I've included a few examples to give you an idea of how it can be styled, but feel free to make it your own. Check out the photos on the site.

Rest assured that all the items are categorized correctly, but that doesn't take away from their individual shine.

I was so torn between the plastic and metal swatches/specs for "Amanda Earrings" that I just went for both! They're seriously gorgeous and go with pretty much any outfit.

Last but not least, the "Lola Hair". This cute and romantic low pony with a pretty bang adds the perfect finishing touch to the whole look. It's a versatile hairstyle that can work with different outfits, occasions, and moods.

And as ever, all these items have been made to be worn together or separately - whatever you decide! I hope you like these items and enjoy playing with them. XOXO <33

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punderfullll · 1 year ago

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Where would you recommend looking to purchase Touhou cosplay outfits? I've been looking through EZcosplay, But I'm really skeptical of the how the quality may be. Are there other sites that you think would be better? I know you make a lot of your outfits by hand, but I really just don't have the skills to do anything wonderful like that. Thanks! Love your work!!!

Hello! First off thank you so much! I do make some of my stuff but typically if I am buying cosplays I do so secondhand. Mostly because it saves me a bit of money! So sadly I do not have a lot of experiences purchasing new! However I'll try to help the best I can with what I know :D! If you are interested in buying secondhand please send me a message and I'll send you my big info pile on it. I have a lot more experience with it in comparison so I have a ton of links and information on it! Ok so for new! I think the best place currently in terms of price and quality is typically Taobao. A lot of stores like aliexpress and other online shops that sell touhou cosplays are often just reselling from Taobao. Buying off Taobao can be a little tricky but you will need a proxy. I know a few touhou cosplayer mutuals of mine have had a lot of success with bhiner cosplay It is basically a taobao proxy with a focus on cosplay and there is a whole touhou section here <--- I have only ordered here once and it was for a Yukari Parasol prop. It was a pretty good experience overall and the quality was nice. The only major issue recently is I've hear Bhiner has stopped accepting paypal for payment. I'd have to try to put an order in to confirm that but it might be something worth looking into another proxy for! At the very least its a great way to browse what is currently being sold and bhiner always links the actual taobao stores themselves, so you could easily go through another proxy! Another touhou cosplayer also made a handy guide on buying some of the more fancy premades as well I'll also link that here <------ A very helpful guide!! I bought a costume off a cosplayer that bought it from a shop called fm-anime . Can't speak for the ordering process but the quality pretty good! It was a Touhouvania Alice cosplay. It looks like they have limited stock these days with touhou but it might be worth a look! RoleCosplay seems to have a decent selection and even some less popular touhou characters. I've never ordered off here myself though so I'd maybe look into reviews a bit more! Maybe I should put in a test order and do a review one day LOL EzCosplay (as you stated) I have heard mixed things about! It used to be regarded as a pretty okay place to get Touhou cosplays from but more recently I've seen some people complain about sizing issues and quality in regards to their photos vs product etc! So I'd maybe avoid that one! Lastly there was this google doc made a little while ago with some shops listed. I do not know if this is up to date but I thought I'd share https://docs.google.com/document/d/12w82AVDHKmJ1dKRRZ3CAYiy1S5TbqOR_o91NCJVqgUQ/edit Also there is a touhou cosplay discord I could get you the invite to (just send me a message first) Its full of really nice and supportive people and theres a cosplay shopping talk channel and lots of people with experience there that can help out! There's also a secondhand cosplay sale channel as well if you wanted to buy directly off another cosplayer! Anyways I hope that helped. Again please feel free to message me anytime if you need specific help. I'm always happy to help people cosplay touhou in any way possible :D If you have a specific character you want to do I can try and get as many links for you put together that I can as well!!

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behindthewox · 4 months ago

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Criticism is hard

I've been quiet for a while to allow some time to pass and the EU site leaders to work out the kinks (but also due to IRL commitments) and from what I've heard the opinions are still pretty mixed.

The new site leaders published a feedback form a while back, which is a great idea and honestly should've been done sooner, but instead of just taking the feedback to heart amongst themselves they have now publicly responded to it in a notice board post. Some users in the comment section are very appreciative of this but based on my tumblr inbox there are those who disagree and think it's pretty bad and I kind of agree that it doesn't look all that good.

Yes, it's important to respond to feedback. But it has to be done carefully and at the end of the day it's the actions that really count, not the words you respond with. Actions like arguing against the critics and dismissing opinions as lies or untruthful speaks very loudly, and throwing blame on others is just plain disrespectful and unprofessional. The lack of actions speaks loudly too, and the choice of what feedback to act first on sends a clear message about priorities.

So how do you respond to criticism?

There's no simple answer, but in my experience the following points are generally agreed upon:

§ Humility is key when responding to feedback and criticism. Pride and arrogance will only screw you over and no matter how superior and infallible you think you are, you're not. § Be honest and truthful in a neutral manner. Don't make empty promises and if you want to share your feelings try to be genuine. § Your words mean nothing if they are not backed up by action. If there's no concrete suggestion on how to do it better, ask for advice on what you need to do differently in order to improve or make the changes your critic wants to see. Asking for more input is a great first action to take. § Be objective, try to look at the matter from both sides and see if you can relate to the critic. § Don't dismiss the concerns that your critic expresses, unless you can back up the dismissal with solid reasons for dismissing it. § The feelings and opinions of your critics are not wrong: feelings and opinions are personal and subjective, there is no right or wrong there. A critic can be incorrect but you should never imply that they are wrong in what they express to you. § Your own feelings and opinions generally don't belong in a response to feedback. Feelings can be irrational and when it comes to feedback and criticism it's not about what YOU think and feel, it's about what OTHERS think and feel. § Apologies are good - in moderation. Use them wisely and phrase them carefully. Remorse and regret is overall good for responding to criticism, but keep it minimal and professional. § Explanations can easily be interpreted as excuses, so sometimes it's better not to explain yourself but rather offer to explain it upon request. Critics are usually not objective and will actively look for flaws and weaknesses. § Don't share more information than necessary and always respect and protect the integrity and/or anonymity of your critics. Don't give them more reasons to criticise you. § Don't bring other people into it, especially not to put blame on them. There is absolutely no need to put other people in a bad light, if anything it just makes you look bad. § Don't pose yourself as the victim, even if you feel like you're the victim of unjustified criticism. If your response is more about you than about the critic, it's a bad response. § Read up on terms and concepts like "gaslighting", "victim blaming", "guilt tripping", "discrimination", "self-vicimization" and "minimization/downplaying (psychology)". Not everyone will recognise and identify it but to the people who do it looks really, really bad and they might accuse you of manipulation and (depending on the severity) even verbal and emotional abuse. Learn to recognise it so that you don't do it by accident to others.

Results may vary and what works in one situation might not work in another. The advice above is pretty generic but there will be always be nuance and exceptions that generic advice can't account for. Ultimately you should ask someone to look over your response and help you identify potential issues with it and help you finetune it before you hit send.

You will inevitably get it wrong sometimes and that's okay, as long as you learn from it and put in the time and effort to improve your skills over time. There will always be flaws and weak points in what you do and say but the goal here isn't to be flawless, the goal is simply to dodge as many bullets as possible and keep the damage to a minimum.

Criticism isn't easy and it takes a lot of practise but it's an extremely valuable skill to have in life. Both giving criticism and receiving and acting on it. I'm still learning and I might never fully master the art of criticism, but I'm pretty confident that I've got the basics down and I mostly know what I'm doing. Mostly. It's a work in progress :P

NOTE/CREDIT: This post is based on an anon submission where the anon criticised the Feedback Response on WoP EU and provided a few pointers on what they did wrong. I decided to take the rather harsh criticism and flip it into something less negative and more constructive that can be helpful to everyone, not just the individuals adressed in the submission. It's a mix of anon's original points (credit goes to them) and my additions with what I've learned over the years as well as personal experience, preferences and beliefs. I'm not an expert but it should align pretty well with the general consensus among the people who actually are experts in the field. Thanks for your submission and I hope you don't mind that I Frankensteined it, Anon. Please let me know what you think about this submission-flipping experiment of taking something negative and making something more constructive out of it.

#wox #the art of criticism #educationish blog post

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audio-luddite · 6 months ago

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More Stuff from around the internoise.

I was doing my usual crawl around YouTube and found a couple things.

One is a Brit who talks about sound. His site is called "audio masterclass". He is apparently an audio engineer and does mixes in his home office and that type of thing.

youtube

Judging by the background in his videos he must do pretty well in the day job. I find him a bit too cynical occasionally. He uses a few AI animations of "people" to tease and abuse people who call themselves audiophiles. He prefers the term Hi-Fi enthusiasts. He says the "A" word with a wee bit of a sneer. Though in this particular video I agree with everything he says.

And yes I can easily hear differences in amplifiers, preamps, and many other bits. I do not have perfect pitch. I will not spend stupid money on wires, I can do the math.

I check him out occasionally but warily. I watched a thing he did on a cheap class D amp that he found sounded fine, but was claimed to have far more power than it really had. (A FOSI V3) If I was rich enough I would like to try it as I think it would be fun. I also think I would find it less than great. Why is a FN essay worth of words, but I do not have the bucks to risk proof.

Another place I found was Darko Audio where I watched a video where he went on a rather long explanation of why Vinyl may sound better than many CDs and streams.

youtube

I guess he goes on for a bit as he needs to give background on background. If you watched it you know what he says. If you skipped it a summary is that in the old vinyl days there was less compression and forcing the loudness up as in CDs so vinyl was less processed. (If only that were more true!)

(His turntable is a nice Thorens with a Thorens pickup.)

I think his comments apply mostly to pop music as serious Classical and Jazz never played the LOUDNESS game. Those genres tried to get as good a sonic image as they could. (mostly) Overall I think he does not get it.

If you have read my stuff you know I try to get good sounding recordings of music I like. And of course my vinyl front end has been far more of an investment than my CD and my iphone streaming side. That forces me into the LP market. If there is a gourmet issue of one of my old disks I pay attention but I rarely buy it. (like once)

Of course I am picking and choosing things I like.

One thing that is clear is there is too much information good and bad for a new member of the audio hobby to digest. I feel sorry for newbies. Where the hell do you start?

Golden ear reviews never say bad things outright. They often contradict each other and themselves. The things they tend to review are expensive. The choices are limited until you can afford to pay more for your system than a good car. For normal people that is far too much.

Of course that is why I play in old equipment. It once was very expensive and now is relatively affordable IF you know what to look for. There is old good stuff and old bad stuff, and stuff in the middle. That is the one advantage of age and experience.

#audiophile #high end audio #audioblr #vinyl #cheap audiophile #tubes vs transistors #turntables #audio technica #vinyl lp #vinyl records #Youtube

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imready4u2 · 6 months ago

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sex therapy

Can you find sex advice online? Yes, but be sure to check out a site as carefully as you would a therapist.

Jenny Peters (not her real name) was having difficulty with physical intimacy and pain during sex, but was too embarrassed to bring it up with her doctor.

Instead, she found a free Internet site where the doctor posted her question and, in his answer, suggested she get in-person therapy.

"The Internet got me on the right path," she says. "I wasn't scared to talk about it anymore. I went to my doctor and found out I had a bladder infection. She also put me on a long-term therapy program with my partner to become more comfortable with physical intimacy."

While the cast of television's "Sex and the City" discuss a myriad of sexual quandaries with ease, in real life, most people -- like Peters-- will stammer through questions about such topics as pain during sex or masturbation. In fact, embarrassment can be the biggest obstacle between a sexual problem and help.

That's where online sex experts can help, says Deborah Fox, MSW, a Washington, D.C., sex therapist with her own web site. "The Internet is useful for addressing sexual problems because people are able to ask questions that [otherwise] make them feel uncomfortable."

Online Roles and Limitations

Fox and other sex therapists offer their expertise online, providing educated responses to a variety of questions. They're quick to point out that this does not, however, qualify as therapy. At "Ask the Sex Doc," for example, William Fitzgerald, PhD, a sex therapist in Santa Clara, Calif., posts his answers to hundreds of questions, choosing the ones he feels are most universal.

Common questions easily answered online, according to Fitzgerald, include the effect of masturbation on sexual performance, the regaining of sex drive after the death of a spouse, and the way to approach a spouse about acting out a sexual fantasy. Some sites answer questions free of charge and post the answers for other users to see, while they may require a fee for answering questions privately.

Sandor Gardos, PhD, an online sex expert, also responds to questions on many sexual topics. But when a question is beyond the scope of what can be or should be answered online, Gardos is quick to suggest face-to-face professional help. He and other online sex therapists often recommend traditional therapy for issues that involve more complex problems, such as childhood sexual abuse. Fox adds that current technology simply doesn't allow for the equivalent of ongoing, in-person meetings necessary to resolve many sexual issues.

The Marriage of Therapy and Technology

Online sex therapy falls under the umbrella of "telemedicine," which also includes videoconferencing and telephone therapy.

Because telemedicine is in its infancy, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association are still grappling with guidelines. Even so, both organizations emphasize that therapists who are online must adhere to ethics standards already in place.

William Stone, MD, who is on the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Telemedicine, says the new technology is a mixed blessing. Although it is starting to bring therapy to people in remote locations, it also has limitations and potential dangers. For instance, doctors can usually prescribe drugs only in states where they are licensed to practice medicine, making it difficult to treat patients signing on from other states. And the images transmitted during videoconferences don't always allow detection of subtle changes in body language or expression that are often helpful in making a diagnosis during face-to-face meetings.

How to Judge the Sites

A reputable sex therapy site should have a disclaimer saying that the content and interactions do not constitute therapy or medical treatment, says Mitch Tepper, PhD, MPH, who has been researching online sex therapy sites for more than five years and launched his own in 1996.

Tepper also suggests checking sites to see if the therapists are certified by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) or belong to other organizations such as the American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association. Ask therapists where they were trained and how many years they have been in practice (or look on the site for background information on them), as well as how long they have been online.

By doing a bit of research on the therapist and the site, you will be more likely to find someone who is credible and competent.

#his story #herstory #s3xterapy

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ngoclnm · 8 months ago

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[WEEK 10] IRL BFFs, Online Foes? Why We Turn Savage on Social Media

Hit those comments on a news post lately? I’m talking about every kind of news, not just those celebrity scandals or political controversies. Comments sections often erupt into flame wars, and social media becomes a battleground of insults and negativity when people have different or opposing opinions. But why? What makes otherwise normal people turn into digital Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes? Let's dive into the psychology of online conflict and see what makes the internet such a breeding ground for bad behaviour.

The Disinhibition Effect: Unleashing Our Inner Troll

Psychologist John Suler (2004) coined the term "online disinhibition" to explain how our usual social filters get weaker online. In other words, it is where social and personal restraints weaken in the digital world. Suddenly, the fear of social consequences seems to disappear, and people feel free to express themselves in ways they wouldn't dare to face-to-face. Imagine inhibitions as those little angels on your shoulders, reminding you to be polite. Well, online, those angels seem to take a permanent coffee break. Here's why:

Anonymity - No One Knows Me: Online, individuals can engage without revealing their true identity, leading them to feel less accountable for their actions and more willing to express themselves freely.

Invisibility - No One's Watching (or So You Think): Without face-to-face interaction, the fear of getting called out seems to vanish. It's easy to forget there's a real person on the other side of the screen, leading to less restraint and more negativity.

Asynchronicity - Time to Craft the Perfect Put-Down: Online communication isn't always back-and-forth. This delay lets people take their time crafting the ultimate insult (or carefully consider a witty comeback, hopefully!).

Solipsistic Introjection - Me, Myself, and I (and Maybe My Misunderstandings): Without nonverbal cues and the full context of a conversation, it's easy to misinterpret online interactions. This can lead to people assuming the worst and reacting poorly.

Dissociative Imagination - The Online Disguise: The internet can feel like a place to reinvent yourself. This disconnect from your real-world identity can make it tempting to act differently online than you would in person.

Minimization of Authority - Everyone's Equal (at Least on the Surface): Social hierarchies and authority figures seem less powerful online. This perceived anonymity and empowerment can lead to bolder (and sometimes ruder) behaviour.

More Than Just Anonymity: The Psychology of Cyberbullying

This disinhibition effect, however, can have a dark side. When that feeling of anonymity and reduced accountability is mixed with a lack of empathy, it can easily lead to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can take many forms, from nasty comments and flaming to harassment and doxing (revealing someone's private information). But why do people stoop to this level?

Narcissistic traits: You know those folks who strut around offline, constantly craving attention and admiration to keep their egos inflated? Well, turns out, they're drawn to the internet like moths to a flame. Why? Because the online world offers them a stage to showcase their fabulous selves to a massive audience at the drop of a hat. They're the kings and queens of Social Network Sites (SNS), soaking up every like and comment like it's pure gold. And let's face it, they're fostering a generation with extreme digital narcissism who can't survive without a constant stream of applause and validation (Keen 2007).

Sensation Seeking: Ever met someone who lives for the adrenaline rush, constantly chasing after novel and intense experiences? These folks have a personality trait called sensation seeking (Zuckerman 1979), and it has been frequently linked to problematic Internet use and is assumed to be associated with Cyberbullying (Kim & Davis 2009). High sensation seekers often take physical, social, legal, and even financial risks simply for the sake of the experience.

So, How Do We Avoid Becoming Online Ogres?

Before you unleash your inner keyboard warrior, take a deep breath and consider these tips:

Pause and Reflect: Take a moment to cool down before hitting post. Ask yourself, "Would I say this to their face?" Chances are, the answer is no.

Remember There's a Person Behind the Screen: Online interactions are still human interactions. Treat others with the same respect you'd expect in real life.

Disengage from Negativity: Don't feed the trolls! Sometimes, the best response is no response.

The Takeaway: Be the Change You Want to See Online

The internet doesn't have to be a digital battlefield. By understanding why online conflict happens, we can be more mindful of our own behaviour and promote a more positive online environment. So, the next time you feel the urge to flame someone online, channel your inner peacemaker instead. The internet needs more heroes, not more villains!

Remember, everyone makes mistakes online. If you've ever been part of an online conflict, it's never too late to apologize and move on.

References

Keen, A 2007, The cult of the amateur, Nicholas Brealey, London.

Kim, HK & Davis, KE 2009, ‘Toward a comprehensive theory of problematic Internet use: Evaluating the role of self-esteem, anxiety, flow, and the self-rated importance of Internet activities’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 490–500.

Suler, J 2004, ‘The Online Disinhibition Effect’, CyberPsychology & Behavior, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 321–326.

Zuckerman, M 1979, Sensation seeking: Beyond the optimal level of arousal, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale.

#mda20009 #digital communities #cyberbullying

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billconrad · 8 months ago

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Fan Fiction

Writers and readers typically categorize fan fiction as the worst category. But why? The primary reason is that respected works get trashed by a fan story. For example, if a person wrote a Star Wars story about Luke Skywalker’s twin brother. This is a perfectly valid storyline, but the Star Wars creators and fans would be super upset by such an outrageous slap to their treasured character. There is even a term for such deviations, “non-canon,” meaning the Star Wars creators would not consider a twin brother storyline to be part of the approved existing story.

There are authorized (legitimate) Star Wars comic books, novels, and TV/streaming shows that stray far away from the original story. I bet one of them might explore a twin story. This is true, but the creators of Star Wars do their best to keep alternate plots close to the original story.

The allure of writing fan fiction is powerful because the big story is well established, it has a huge fan base, and it is fun to write in this well-loved world. A fan writer can easily take the main story in a new direction. “James Skywalker knew he had a gift at an early age…”

Franchise owners put great effort into crushing fan fiction. This includes massive legal teams that search the ends of the internet to extinguish every creative effort. Of course, there are fan fiction sites, but they even have strict submission rules. Here is a submission guideline for one site:

The overall theme of the above site is not to mess too much with the existing work, including not changing the main character’s backstories, adding big concepts, tarnishing core concepts, or killing a main character. They also do not like intimate relationships, mixing different parts of the franchise (like Star Trek Deep Space Nine with Star Trek The Next Generation), wacky dreams, or introducing something from another franchise like Captain Kirk using a Star Wars light saber.

Would I ever consider writing in this space? I enjoy the freedom of playing in an existing big story and have spent time thinking about a Star Trek story. Of course, I can never publish my thoughts because of copyrights and trademarks. Plus, my writing style is not a simple “sit down and start typing.” I begin with a detailed outline, thinking about it for a long time, spending over 150 hundred hours writing and over 500 hours editing. Only then do I have enough confidence to pass my precious words to a beta reader (my mother), an editor, and a copy editor. That is too much effort for a project that will sit inside my computer. But could I sell my story to the franchise?

The Star Trek owners have ultra-strict approval rules for new content, and my story violates them all. Working in this space means the franchise owner gets most of the profit. To make matters worse, big franchise owners only work with particular authors, and it would take a miracle for them to even look at my words. What about a fan site like the one above? My concept invents huge backstories, so the site would not accept it. It seems my idea will never get a single keystroke. It’s your loss, Star Trek fans.

Yet, writing for fun is just that. Who cares if nobody reads a writer’s words? Fan fiction readers are just that: enjoyers of fan fiction. Fans write because they like to be part of something big. They write knowing they will never make any money or receive praise. This is probably the ultimate form of devotion. And if a reader does not like such works, they certainly will never go to a fan fiction site. So, no harm.

How would I feel about a fan fiction story based on one of my books? After getting over the shock and joy that somebody took the time to write something based on my words, anger would set in. “Hey, think up your own ideas and stay away from mine!” I think many writers feel the same way. Yet, there is good news. I have a great imagination, which, if let loose, would do more damage than Captain Kirk could have ever done.

You’re the best -Bill

March 23, 2024

Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

�� Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

#writing #fan fiction #author

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pancakeke · 2 years ago

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been thinking about this for a while and the volume of posts I've seen decrying the act of liking art without reblogging it vs the literal 0 (zero) number of posts I've seen explaining how to find art by:

utilizing the individual characteristics of Tumblr's site wide search/tag systems

using tumblr's content filtering system to declutter search/tag results (to hide gifs, manga caps, edits, etc)

listing common shorthand terms used within fandoms for characters/ships/etc that can be used to target specific reaults

disabling endless scrolling and editing search/tag page urls to do deep dives into tags (if this still works? I haven't done it in a while)

using tumblr's tag following system along with the "your tags" tab to keep up with new posts

creating your own quick link reference (using a text editor, spreadsheet, or notepad doc formatted with html and saved as a .html file) to catalog various favorite search/tag pages so you can have them all a click away for regular checking

(above is nice for making favorite artist directories too)

creating an "artist dashboard" via the blog sub tab (follow the artist, enable notifications from them, then go to tumblr settings and disable push notifications. you'll get all the artist's posts in a tab but wont be annoyed by notifs)

looking up title/character names in other languages (using both english alphabet spellings and ones from non-english alphabets)

identifying an artist's unique art tag to see all their art (btw it should also be stressed by tye community that artists should use unique art tags if they're mixed OC/non-OC blogs so people can easily find their original art)

understanding the quirks between searching a term on an artist's blog and clicking a tag on one of their posts (the blog search is fucked and often extremely non-chronological, but if you search something on a blog, get a result that has the term tagged, then click that tag, you'll be directed to a chronological view using the tag)

also honorable mention for artists and not art enthusiasts: encouraging artists to use good tags and understand how tumblr's tag system works (AND THEN KEEP UP TO DATE ON THIS. it has changed so many times...)

makes me feel like this shit is purely registers as a personal numbers game to them. like, no thought is being put into how people operate or how to enable their potential audience. they just want reblog count go up. now.

also for real, helping people with the desire to find art and the initiative to go out of their way to get to your content seems like a better way to get reblogs than trying to shame disinterested people whose only regard for your work was a fleeting moment of attention as they just happened to pass it on their dashboard.

sure there is merit to people sharing a work but it is the most random, non-targeted method of reaching someone. Acting as if it's helpful (or even possible) to force a casual audience to change their desires and behavior is bizarre.

#long post #complaining

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chingyu1023vick · 3 years ago

Text

Updates and New Mods after patch 1.83

UPDATE: Holiday Tradition Override V2

Updated for 100 Base Game Traits Pack V2.3, the reward traits added in the latest version

Updated to include EA Traits As Reward V2, e.g. a Sim with a Neat reward trait will now love cleaning tradition.

UPDATE: Age Up add Preferences V2

Updated for an addon for Decor Preferences. Only use the Addon for Decor Preferences when you own Dream Home Decorator Game Pack! Otherwise, you will get LEs!

NEW: Meaningful Social Context

This is a tuning mod to adjust conversations to make it easier to get more than a "casual discussion".

Sims will be easier to get into meaningful conversations like Funny, Offensive, Boring, Steamy, etc. with only about two to three social interactions.

Sentiments will also have a bigger impact on how a conversation goes.

Previous conversation context also stays a bit longer after the Sims stop chatting.

** Base-Game Compatible

** Compatible with ALL mods by me.

You can choose which type of context you want to be adjusted

This edits the game social context tunings. Check out the edited tunings below to make sure you don't have any conflicting mods by other creators!

Download HERE (Free)

NEW: Age Group Custom Preferences

This brings a new preferences category of Age Groups.

I create this because I feel like Sims should have more unique preferences in their social aspect. I also don't like that there is only a Hate Children "trait" and none for liking or for other age groups.

A Sim will have their own reactions, autonomy, faster and slower relationships built with other Sims depending on their own Age, Preferences, and Relationship Levels with the other Sims.

You can pick and choose any of the custom preferences in CAS.

** Base game compatible. No other requirement!

** Compatible with any other mods.

Mod Features of Age Group Custom Preferences

Early Access HERE

Public Access: Feb 20

NEW: Faster/Slower Relationship Progress

This mod is to inject a buff to all Sims to reduce or enlarge the relationships gain/loss by multiplying a value.

Unlike my other Slower Relationship Change, this doesn't edit any game tunings and is compatible with any other mods.

I still highly recommend Slower Relationship Change rather than this one as that mod reduces the extreme values. This mod, however, would reduce or increase value proportionally.

You CAN pick and mix and match what serves your gameplay style.

You CAN use this together with Slower Relationship Change to reduce the relationship changes even more.

Require having XML injector in your Mod folder!!!

Early Access HERE

Public Access: Feb 12

Translations added:

Supernatural Traits V1.4

V1.4.1

Added Spanish Translations by MashyLatte. Thank you!

Seasons Traits Pack V1.7

V1.7.2

Added Spanish Translations by MashyLatte. Thank you!

100 Base Game Traits Pack v2.3

V2.3.2

Added Brazilian Portuguese translations by egomesbr. Thanks! (translations are merged into the mod package)

Added Polish translations by Astercholik. Thanks! (translations are merged into the mod package)

Friendzone Mod

V1.2.1

Added Chinese translation by shiloh-sauce. Thanks! (translations are merged into the mod package)

V1.2

Added Spanish translation by Mine MacGrath. Thanks! (translations are merged into the mod package)

All changelogs in January 2022

To easily check all my Mod Status on Google spreadsheet

Check to install a mod and FAQs

Help with Mods Installation on Discord

My Official Site Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Tumblr

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rainbowsky · 3 years ago

Note

Do we really need to always look back to CQL everytime we talk about Web & XZ? CQL is an old news. We have more interesting and much better contents now. Why bother to always go back to it?

Web has Louyang to look forward to. It looks great. The costumes, the visual, the detective-libe story looks so promising Let's not forget Being A Hero, a very challenging role for him. And of course SDOC4 where we can see Web looks so relax and happy aside from DDU.

XZ has Oath of Love and The Longest Promise to look forward to. These two are FAR FAR SUPERIOR and more recognized literature works than CQL. Read the novels and you'll see how amazing the romance in these 2 are. Easily the best romance stories (perfect) for XZ. Then ADLD which shows his amazing range as an actor. Very challenging since it's a stage play with a very long running time. We still have Ace of Troops too which we have no news about it.

Do we really need to go back when they themselves have move on? We need to move on too.

It's funny, I was just saying a lot of similar things to someone earlier today.

Although I'm not convinced that the novel of OOL is so much better than MDZS. Tastes are pretty subjective and it's hard to make claims like that in such a broad way. I've heard very mixed reviews of the book OOL is based on. A lot of people describe it as a very het, very cheezy melodramatic story. True, that sort of thing has a broad appeal, but I'm not the target market.

I haven't heard much about the story The Longest Promise is based on, but the same applies. These things are a matter of personal taste.

Having said that, I'm really looking forward to all of their new dramas and projects, and while I will likely skip some of the overtly propagandistic ones, I can't wait to see them perform in other roles. OOL is near the top of that list for me. I can't wait to see GG in that role.

To me, The Untamed is great not only because of GGDD, but also because it's just an excellent, excellent drama with an outstanding cast. I've watched it, in its entirety, 4 or 5 times, plus I watched the Special Edition (which I did not enjoy as much - it felt hacked apart). I am a fan of the show, make no mistake about it. I even own the official photo book. I know I will watch it again. I love the show.

But when it comes to fandom about the show - all the meta and gifs and fanart and discussions and, to a lesser degree, the BTS - my eyes glaze over a bit, I can't lie. I feel like I've seen it all before a thousand times - the fandom is oversaturated with all of this - and I'm just more interested in what GG and DD are up to now. They both have exciting things happening in the here and now.

The Untamed will always be special to GG and DD, and to BXG. I mean, that's a given. It's where all of this started for a lot of people, it's where GGDD had a chance to work together. It's a great show, and they both gave outstanding performances. It launched both of their careers into the stratosphere - no one can deny it (although some solos certainly try). As queer actors, this might very well be the only queer role they ever get a chance to play.

But it's also been 2 years since it aired. In the world of entertainment, 2 years might as well be 2 decades, and that's only a slight exaggeration. It's old news for a lot of people who saw it around the time it originally aired.

Of course, there are always new people discovering it and new people coming to the fandom, so there will always be turtles in particular for whom all of this is brand new and exciting. We are probably always going to see people bringing it up as though it's new. Because it's new for them.

I hope we can all try to empathize with their enthusiasm and try not to put too much of a damper on it. I do my best in this regard. I'm still happy to take asks about the show and the BTS (although my memory of some of those things is going to be rusty).

At the same time, I hope turtles - old or new - will at least try to branch out and experience some of the other material GG and DD have created, and try to support 'the whole, individual man' and not just the relationship between GGDD. There's a lot of content out there. If you can't find it in your region try some of the unofficial sites like Dramacool.

If you haven't seen The Wolf yet, you're missing out. If you haven't been watching SDOC, you're missing out. etc. etc.

However, as I've said many times - everyone gets to be a fan in whatever way works for them. If The Untamed is new for you and you want to enjoy it, enjoy! If it's old to you but you're still attached and don't want to move on from it, enjoy! If it's the only thing that interests you about GGDD, enjoy!

But please recognize as turtles that GG and DD will be moving forward in their careers, and they will talk about/feature the show less and less in their posts over time. They will emphasize new content and move on from The Untamed, at least in terms of what they highlight in interviews and social media. This isn't a 'suppression of the show', it's just time marching forward.

Recognize that a lot of the fans will be moving forward as well. There will inevitably be some people who are sick of talking about it, who find it old news, or who are more interested in other things. This isn't a 'conspiracy of silence', it's just time marching forward.

Don't let yourself feel threatened by any of that and behave in ways that disrupt the fandom when the show isn't highlighted in the way you expect it to be. Don't make up scary stories in your mind about what you fear might be 'the real' motive behind this. The simple truth is, not everything about them is going to be about that show, and that will only become more true as time marches forward.

And that applies both ways. Like I said, I hope those of us who have mostly moved on will try to be empathetic to those for whom the show is new. I hope we can all try to respect each other's approaches and not be warlike about it.

In the end, we all just love these two fools, and if we focus on what we have in common we might find any friction melts away.

Important note

Please don't take this as an invitation to hit up my inbox with anti-BXG hate, messages denigrating The Untamed or BXG, etc. etc. Anyone sending me such garbage will be insta-blocked. If you are anti-BXG and hate The Untamed, please don't follow my blog or engage with my inbox. Stay in your own lane.

#the untamed #fandom reflections #bxg perpectives #ask

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arcticdementor · 4 years ago

Link

Sitting on the couch watching TV earlier this month, my wife read to me a headline from her iPhone. “Listen to this,” she said: “There are only 15 lesbian bars left in the entire country.”

“Great,” I said, “We’ll each get our own.”

Lesbian bars have always been vastly outnumbered by bars for straight people and gay men, but in the 1980s, there were more than 200 lesbian bars in the U.S. What happened? Well, a lot of them sucked. The first lesbian bars I went to in my early 20s were dank, smoky caves where women in khaki shorts and backward caps grinded on each other to Outkast. They could have been frat bars if not for the notable absence of men.

…

But there’s something else going on right now, because it’s not just lesbian bars that are disappearing; it’s lesbian as a category itself.

After Portland’s last lesbian bar closed in 2010, as Ellena Rosenthal explored in the Willamette Week, there were attempts to start lesbian-specific nights at various venues, but most avoided the L-word to appear inclusive of trans and nonbinary people. One event, called Temporary Lesbian Bar, apologized after being accused of condoning “trans women exterminationism” for using the labrys — a double-headed ax that symbolizes female strength and has long been a part of lesbian iconography — in their logo. That event still exists (or did before Covid), but the organizers make sure to advertise that, despite the name, it’s “open, inclusive, and welcoming to all people.” (Oddly, these fights only seem to occur around women’s space, not men’s. If gay bars, bathhouses, and clubs go extinct, it will be because of Covid, not because of infighting over inclusion.)

Portland may be a parody of PC, but it’s not an outlier. When I came out in North Carolina in the early 2000s, the term “lesbian” was fading and “queer” was rapidly rising. Most of my peers saw lesbians as stodgy, old-fashioned, and uncool, whereas queers were hip, edgy, and inclusive. Yet “queer” is vague enough to mean nearly anything, so the label says less about your love life and more about your politics. (I propose we all start using the Kinsey Scale instead.)

The flight from “lesbian” has accelerated since. An academic in the Southeast, who asked to remain anonymous, told me that when she mentioned to a colleague that she’s a lesbian, the colleague “reacted like I’d confessed to being a Confederate Lost-Causer. She told me that the term is outdated and problematic, and I shouldn’t use it.” So the lesbian keeps quiet about her identity: “It’s like living in a second closet.”

Not long ago, it would have been the Christian right stigmatizing homosexual women. Today, it’s also from people who call themselves queer.

…

Nonbinary people say that the identification liberates them from the prison of gender, but for others, it doesn’t dismantle gender roles and stereotypes; it reinforces them. It legitimizes the idea that there’s an intractable gender binary in the first place. Instead of saying, “I’m a woman and I reject gender roles,” NB ideology says, in effect, “I reject gender roles and therefore I’m not a woman.”

Joycelyn MacDonald, the editor-in-chief of the lesbian site AfterEllen, has seen the NB ideology pushed by well-intended people and she worries about the unintended consequences. “When we say that femininity is equivalent to womanhood, we leave no space for women, gay or straight, to be gender non-conforming,” she told me. “Butch lesbians especially have fought for the right to claim space as women, and now women are running from that instead of boldly stepping into it. It’s another way of saying ‘I’m not like other girls,’ and it’s demeaning to other women.”

This is not a popular position in some queer communities, and AfterEllen is routinely accused of being transphobic. In 2018, Rhea Butcher, a nonbinary comic, tweeted: “You don’t represent me or my friends and your website is a sham. You’re not a lesbian/bisexual website, you’re a TERF website.” (“TERF" stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” and is not, to put it mildly, a compliment.) Butcher’s tweet is typical, and it’s part of what makes having this conversation so fraught.

There’s been no clear polling on the shift from “lesbian” to “nonbinary,” and so my sense that the lesbian is endangered is purely anecdotal. But there are plenty of anecdotes. After I put out a call on Twitter asking lesbians for input, my inbox filled with emails from women who said vast portions of their friend groups have adopted new labels and pronouns. But none feel like they can openly discuss it, which is apparent by the number who asked to remain anonymous: all of them.

…

Some feminists argue that women are so oppressed in society that opting out of womanhood is a way of opting out of oppression. I’m skeptical. Why didn’t women do this decades ago, when oppression was objectively greater? Besides, enbies are more likely to be Smith undergrads than, say, immigrants getting assaulted at the border.

And there’s another not-so popular explanation: that it’s a fad, a form of social contagion.

I’m aware that this will be offensive to some people. The concept of a fixed, internal gender identity has become sacrosanct, and it’s viewed as something deeply personal and meaningful, like the soul. But humans are social creatures and we are easily influenced by our peers. This isn’t a moral judgment, just a fact, and I’ve seen how it plays out in my own peer circle. First one person comes out as nonbinary, then another, then another, and then one day half the dykes you know go by “they.” Add social media to the mix, and fawning profiles of nonbinary people in the press, and you’ve got yourself a mass cultural phenomenon.

I ran this theory by a therapist who specializes in LGTBQ issues. (She asked to remain anonymous, so I’ll call her Tara.) Tara told me that while the most common complaints of her young female patients involve gender identity, it’s not an issue with older patients. The older ones struggle with their sexuality or their relationships, but aside from a few transexuals with dysphoria, gender identity doesn’t come up. And young women, in particular, are prone to social contagion. We’ve seen this in many areas: eating disorders, cutting, exercising, yawning, strange fits of laughter, and even (forgive the term) hysteria.

When I asked Tara if social contagion could be the cause of the nonbinary movement, she paused for long enough that I thought she may have hung up the phone. “Yes,” she said. “But I can’t really say that to anyone.” The professional risks are too great.

#katie herzog #substack

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ayuuria · 4 years ago

Text

Yashahime Translation: Animage Plus Editorial Department Interview

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

Jaken is the Mother Theory!? We ask Matsumoto Sara, Komatsu Mikako, and Tadokoro Azusa About “Hanyō no Yashahime”

The TV anime currently broadcasting, “Hanyō no Yashahime”. Continuing the world of “Inuyasha” in the same style, the new development in the Inuyasha world depicts the struggles of Sesshōmaru’s twin daughters, Towa and Setsuna, and Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter, Moroha, as they travel all over the modern and feudal eras. Now, right after the broadcast of episode 14, we had the voices of Towa: Matsumoto Sara-san, Setsuna: Komatsu Mikako-san, and Moroha: Tadokoro Azusa-san, talk about the appeal and the behind-the-scenes of the work.

— What did you think when you first found out that a new story about Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru’s daughters was being created this time?

Matsumoto: When I found out it was being created, 1. the shock was huge… The fact that the characters I watched when I was little “had children” was a shock and I started thinking about all sort of things like how were they born? (laughs).

Tadokoro: I was really surprised as well! I knew that “Inuyasha” had wrapped up nicely, so to think that there would be a new story to continue that. I could see Inuyasha and Kagome having a child but I thought “Who would Sesshōmaru have a child with?” Before I prepared for the audition, I was looking at the character designs like I was lapping it up, wondering whose child it was (laughs).

Komatsu: At first when I saw the title of the work, I thought “there’s now a work with a name like “Inuyasha”” but I was surprised that it legitimately inherited the world of Inuyasha (laughs). On top of that, I was astonished that the story was set to be about the children of Inuyasha and the others. However, Miroku’s (and Sango) children were depicted in the final episode of “Inuyasha, The Final Act”, so it certainly seemed feasible. The feeling of joy and excitement I felt that I could touch the Inuyasha world I enjoyed as a child all over again was big.

— During the COVID crisis, I’m sure you are unable to record normally by any means so what is the recording site like?

Matsumoto: There are a lot of scenes where the three of us interact with each other, so a lot of the time, the three of us are together during recording. Though we’re in this situation, they’ve come up with a recording order that allows us to record with people we interact with as much as possible.

Tadokoro: Conversely, we don’t get to really meet if we don’t interact.

Komatsu: Moroha has a lot of individual scenes, so there are times where we don’t meet at all on those occasions.

Tadokoro: There are many times where Moroha is with Takechiyo and Jyuubee-san so on those occasions, I don’t get to see the two of them (Matsumoto and Komatsu) which is lonely…

— Seems like a harmonious recording site.

Matsumoto: Yes. The atmosphere in the recording (studio) is great and we do things together like go to the “Inuyasha” Collaboration Café after we’re done recording. It’s like we’ve joined the Inuyasha family which I’m grateful for.

— With each of you playing Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha, what sort of characters are they?

Matsumoto: Unlike Moroha and Setsuna, Towa was the only character that grew up in the modern era, so I thought that Moroha and Setsuna, who grew up in the feudal era, would criticize her like “you're too weak” or “you’re too soft” and Towa would deny that like “That’s not true!”. However, she surprisingly accepts things and I thought she was a very flexible child at her core.

Tadokoro: How to put it? Moroha seems stupid at first glance. Even sound director Nagura Yasushi-san told me “Please act more stupid” (laughs). She has an innocent side that acts before thinking, but she has a surprising side to her like how she’s managed to live on her own under fairly difficult circumstances, exceling in battle, coming up with the best plan among the three, and giving out orders like “You go there”. I think she’s a character you can’t take your eyes off of or rather the more you get know her, the more you like her. Not to mention, her emotions and facial expressions change constantly to the point that it’s hard for me to keep up. It’s an aspect that you never get tired of watching.

Komatsu: Setsuna is the opposite of Towa. While her calmness and her speaking mannerism makes you think she strongly inherited Sesshōmaru’s blood, there was a time when she grew up in a village, so she understands the human heart which I think makes her differ from Sesshōmaru. In regard to Towa, even though she (Towa) lives a soft way of life opposite to her which she finds annoying, she sways because she acknowledges that she (Towa) has a charm that she doesn’t have… I think she’s a girl who clearly displays the realistic swaying of a 14-year-old girl’s heart. Also, she does properly take part in comedic scenes, so she surprisingly gets into the mood. She’s the type that can read the mood (laughs). I wonder if that’s influenced from being raised in a village.

— While acting your respective characters, what aspects were easy and difficult to empathize with?

Matsumoto: To be honest, from the time of the audition, I never found it difficult to play (Towa). It’s like Towa’s thoughts smoothly came into me, even without thinking too hard on it. I don’t really struggle; on the contrary, there are a lot aspects that I empathize with.

Tadokoro: Since the time I received the first documents, I had this big idea that Moroha was the type to move like this. But I didn’t think she would feel down and seclude herself so easily just as I do… That’s why carrying her energy is hard work (laughs). Hence, I make large movements with my body when I act. When Moroha keeps walking with big steps, it’s an image of really using one’s body, so I move while trying to be really expressive. It’s like I’m trying to take a bite into Moroha’s vitality!

Komatsu: Setsuna is the opposite of Moroha, so it’s like I talk without moving. But if I just quietly talk, you can’t feel the pressure, so I keep in mind putting in a little pressure. A pressured voice that’s like even though it’s not a loud voice, you lend your ear to it without realizing it which is the type of voice I think Sesshōmaru has, so I stay conscious of that.

— Is it like putting dignity into your voice?

Komatsu: You could say that. In terms of what was difficult, at the first recording, my voice became similar to Towa’s that they pointed out that it would become hard to tell which one is talking.

Matsumoto: Oh yeah! That did happen.

Komatsu: Towa and Setsuna are twins so if we’re talking feasibility, then it’s feasible but as a character you need to be able to differentiate them… Hence, I figure out a way to project my voice so that the difference in the environments that they grew up in comes through.

— Not only do they have to be similar, but also different which seems hard… What do you think of each other’s acting?

Matsumoto: The documents I received before the audition was the character design that Takahashi Rumiko-sensei drew and a simple correlation diagram, so it was a mystery as to what sort of people these characters would be once each of them had a voice breathed into them. However, come the start of recording, I was like “I see! I get it, it would be like this!”. During the recording itself, I’m desperately catching up to the other two so that I don’t cause any trouble for them. I receive so much from them each episode.

Tadokoro: When I auditioned, I did the other two besides Moroha but to be honest, I couldn’t imagine what Towa’s and Setsuna’s voices would be like. However, when they had me actually record with the two of them, I was like “This is it! This is all it can be! I saw the answer!” (laughs) Towa is a character that doesn’t fit in with either the modern or feudal eras and wavers a lot, so she makes statements that are off which makes her role difficult. With Sara-san’s sincere and honest acting, I would say it makes me think that Towa has her own beliefs that allows her to say and act the way she does. I like Sara-san’s honest acting with her personality mixed in.

Matsumoto: No no, not at all! Thank you… …

Tadokoro: I understand this because I auditioned for Setsuna as well, but even though Komatsu-san is a woman, I think it’s amazing that she is able to make Narita Ken’s (the role of Sesshōmaru) acting come through. However, I can feel Setsuna’s 14-year-old cuteness, which makes me think that Komatsu-san’s extensive skill is amazing.

Komatsu: Naah!

Tadokoro: No, that is Komatsu-san’s skill! Every time, I very much feel that I have to keep up with the two of you. I always go home feeling discouraged.

Komatsu: I agree that Sara-chan’s personality comes through in her acting. Towa has a boyish impression based on her appearance, but she has a friendliness that I think would allow her to survive in any era. Sara-chan herself has that friendliness as well as strong communication skills, flat with everyone, and fun to talk to. Also, the large size of her conversation drawer gave me the impression that she was similar to Towa in that aspect. The acting for Moroha is like without a doubt she inherited the blood of Inuyasha and Kagome! The playful absentmindedness within Koroazu-chan (translator’s note: Koroazu is Tadokoro Azusa’s nickname) blends in with Moroha which makes Moroha appear cuter. That’s why I think even if she gets annoyed at Moroha, Setsuna will still go along with her. That is “Koroazu’s Magic”!

— We would like to ask regarding the work but did all of you have a scene that left a big impression on you as you were acting?

Matsumoto: Episode 14. It’s the episode where you learn why Towa and Setsuna got caught in the forest fire. It’s heartrending, fleeting, beautiful story where you feel a little sympathy for the mastermind who burned the forest… The scene where Homura, who burned the forest, took his own life tugged at my heart during recording and left a big impression on me. I was dumbfounded at what happened before eyes and it was an unforgettable episode.

Tadokoro: What made me think this was just like “Inuyasha” was how they thoroughly explain things during times like when they’re surprised, in a critical situation, attacking with their moves, or doing something.

Matsumoto: Oh yeah! That might be especially true for Moroha.

Tadokoro: You have to leave a surprised emotion while thoroughly explaining things, so it’s difficult. Despite struggling, I’m doing my best. But being able to do what my senpais in “Inuyasha” did now really fires me up! This time, I rewatched “Inuyasha”, and Miroku was explaining things while shouting so that must’ve been hard...

Komatsu: What I looked forward to was the episode with the night of the new moon since it’s something half-demons go through. Also, the episode where Miroku appeared. I was glad to see the parent-child interaction between Miroku and Hisui. Being able to see the good side of Miroku not just secluding himself in the mountains was like falling for him all over again and an unforgettable episode.

— With the mysteries of the story gradually being revealed, it’s about time for the identity of Towa and Setsuna’s mother to be revealed but what did you think when you found out?

All: (clapping) There was a lot of applause.

Tadokoro: We weren’t told either, so I was wondering who it was.

Komatsu: We repeatedly talked about it, but among them came the “Mama Jaken theory”. We thought about a lot of things like how Jaken is certainly a good caretaker and he’ll make a good mom but if it was Sesshomaru and Jaken’s child, they would just be regular demons instead of half demons (laughs).

Matsumoto: When I browsed through Twitter, everyone was having fun investigating.

— So you surf (Twitter).

Matsumoto: I’m especially curious on broadcast days so I end up looking. Like I look through the tags. I check while becoming grateful that everyone is watching like this.

Komatsu: I’m sure everyone is doing all sorts of investigations, but Towa and Setsuna’s mother will be revealed soon so please look forward to it while waiting!

Matsumoto-san, Komatsu-san, and Tadokoro-san spoke to us in a good, fun tempo just like the three girls in “Hanyō no Yashahime”. In the next broadcast, the identity of Towa and Setsuna’s mother will finally be revealed… …?! With that, you really can’t miss “Hanyō no Yashahime” going forward. Episode 15 is scheduled to air on January 16 (Saturday) from 17:30 (5:30pm on the 12-hour clock) on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV!

#yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime: princess half demon #translation

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rigelmejo · 3 years ago

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Dude I was on the language learning forms as I do sometimes, and someone was lamenting the lack of Chinese content to immerse in (watch, read etc). And how it was hard to find and they didn’t have this problem with Japanese what should they do?

Well. 1. I get their frustration on one level, as I do think Japanese content is so much more mainstream to watch in English speaking countries (at least anime and Japanese video games), that trying to find content in a language where it’s harder to just find content right on Netflix or from a friends recommendation does bring up a new challenge. Whereas with Japanese, probably you could accidentally stumble onto it or have a friend recommend you something, then at least explore deeper with some idea of what you liked/where to start finding it.

However. The person also sort of thought the lack of content was due to Chinese just not having as much content or as interesting content. Again I’m going to assume their key issue was just - it can be a new challenge finding media if you have a harder time just starting.

Because lol?? Chinese has SO much content. Like as far as language content on the internet alone??? Chinese has been eons easier to find than Japanese for me, and in terms of sites I actually use regularly is much closer to my experience of English online (there’s so much Chinese content online... so much... an incredible amount... like in chinese I’ve even found free movie watching sites FOR shows in English - like the way I find sites in English to watch Chinese shows IN chinese lol! Like you can use English to search for Chinese stuff, and literally do the reverse to find English stuff, there is so much Chinese stuff... I found more stuff in Japanese using bilibili in chinese than I could find of Japanese using YouTube In English). And Chinese drama land is HUGE it feels as active as American television, so you have endless genres to dive into and companies and actors and writers etc (there is a distinct lack of sci fi though as far as I’ve seen, but to be fair america isn’t making a Ton of sci fi compared to like Detective shows either - it’s just English speaking sci fi has had some more good ones in recent years). There is no lack of Chinese content out there. There’s audiobooks, dramas, audio dramas, talk shows, radio, fanfiction, novels, fanart, manhua, sites to find other stuff, forums, weibo, search sites, just a lot?? Like, if you think Japanese has enough internet content then there is an adequate amount of Chinese content on the internet too lol. You just may have to do a touch more initial exploration.

I just. Thought the assumption “can’t find media means their media sucks” was funny. Because also? I have not found that to be true. I know very little about Thai media. I just happened upon SOTUS cause of a friend talking about it. So like someone watching anime conveniently - I got into it. It was good, so I dug, and found a lot of amazing Thai shows (and some I didn’t love cause lol genres all have a mix of quality depending on show etc). There IS a ton of amazing Thai shows that exist right now. But if all you ever found was SOTUS? While it was great when I saw it to me, once I found more I realized there was a LOT better stuff. So like if you see one cdrama on Netflix (if that’s how you first easily find the media), that does not mean all shows will be that quality or anything like them! And just cause it’s the first one you found doesn’t mean they’re all like that ones quality.

Like I had a similar experience with jdramas growing up, so I get it. I was into anime, saw some (trainwreck) live action adaptations. And as a teenage just blanket assumed all Japanese live action media was gonna be around that quality. And then in recent years, I checked out some Japanese live action media - to see if new stuff was better. YEAH IT SURE IS (and I would imagine some old stuff was great I just gave up after one not-wonderful one lol). SO MANY AMAZING jdramas exist now! Even the ones I most feared would not be great - live action adaptations of anime’s? They’re so much better now, some of them are genuinely loved in their own right as standalone live actions. So like. One not-great show experience is NOT representative of the entire plethora of shows available and their quality. Now that I’ve realized how MANY good jdramas I missed out on? I have so much catching up to do ToT

2. If you’re in this boat of “content seems hard to find, so I feel like there’s none or no good stuff” what to do?

First ask some friends for recommendations?

Check Netflix, Amazon, YouTube (YouTube has a ton of cdramas), Viki, iQiyi app. Like how some people get into anime, maybe you just need an easy conviennent show in your recommended to get into more content.

Check out rec channels on YouTube like Donghua Reviews and Avenue X to hear about some shows and figure out the kinds of ones you’d even want to check out (I imagine other languages also have review channels like for kdramas).

Go to MyDramaList.com. Search genres you like, read recommendation list posts. if you’ve seen a show at this point already you can look it up and see in the “Recommended” section what other dramas are like it, you can see it’s genre tags to see WHAT genres you even seem to like. Use this to start DIGGING and finding stuff you might really like. Since like with anime, you’re only going to find the most popular stuff at first just based on Netflix or friends (which might not match up to your personal tastes as well as finding stuff that Is more your favorite genres).

Try out new stuff. And if it sucks, you don’t like it? Drop it, learn that about yourself, start another new thing. You’ll figure out what you like and dislike pretty fast (like I personally hate bad pacing or bad writing specifically characterization, and I can notice when the specific things I love are gonna be in a show pretty fast).

Check out genres specific to that language’s media. Because if it’s new to you, you might not know if you even like it or not, and if you like it then which things you personally prefer in it (since even within a genre there will be wildly different content and feels). For Chinese this might be wuxia, xianxia, palace dramas, costume dramas, republican era dramas, tomb raiding dramas etc.

*That’s how it worked for me, SOTUS led me to the bl drama fans, eventually they recommended Guardian so bam I guess I was learning chinese, YouTube recced me more cdramas from there to continue with, and mydramalist.com helped me find other shows with actors I liked from guardian (and other bl related shows which led me to Go Princess Go of all things for the bi lead), and that site helped me find more genres and shows I’d like, as well as friends continuing to rec things. Didn’t take long to figure out what I liked, didn’t, and to start noticing what upcoming stuff I’d probably be excited for. And now there’s so much good stuff found I don’t have enough time lol.

As for non show media: use shows as the jump off point. Just like using “easy to find shows” can be used to break into finding more shows. Once you have a show you liked a lot - look up it it’s based on a book, if it has an audiobook, an audio drama, a manhua, a donghua. Chances are it DOES have some of this stuff, because cdramas do a PRETTY regular amount of the time. Often cdramas have all or nearly all of these other story types. So jump into those, then find more novels or audio drama or manhua etc by branching off from the one you liked to others like it. Novelupdates.com is good for doing this with novels (it has a recommendations section), I imagine manhua sites have rec lists too, ximalaya starts recommending stuff once you’ve listened to a few audio on it, etc. And if you get into fandoms of those x media types, those fans will start recommending more too. And again, even if you just stick to media related to shows you liked - so often shows have so MUCH related media that would definitely keep you busy. (Like I didnt wade into non-show connected novels until I looked up more novels as recommendations afte show-related novels, like MDZS and Guardian leading me to SVSSS and 2ha and Can Ci Pin which at the time had no show adaptations, and then eventually found just-novel rec lists - which is still the main way I find fanfic).

#rant #June #discussion #I just. I both get why they were frustrated #but also lol it is a bit funny to me to read that #someone thought chinese has very little media and it sucks #because??? lol Chinese internet has been the most similar for me in terms of comparison to English internet #just because there’s SO much it’s like as big as my English shows to wafch/books to read lists god #there is no shortage of media #and also?? seeing the few easy to find cdramas or donghua #doesn’t mean they’re all the same quality?#that’s like finding family guy and thinking all American cartoons can only be like that #not realizing Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse or Xmen Evolition or Rugrats or Danny Phantom or Avatar exist #like?? just look more lol

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self-loving-vampire · 3 years ago

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Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988)

Summary

Ultima 5 is what you could call Ultima 4′s edgier but “cooler” sibling. The gameplay has gained in complexity, dialogue has been greatly expanded, and the ground-breaking system of virtues and morality from the previous game has been twisted by the tyrannical Lord Blackthorn following the disappearance of Lord British.

Ultima 5 also introduces more of a day/night cycle to the proceedings with the introduction of NPC schedules, enabling a level of world simulation that was very new at the time of release. It goes on to make good use of this system by casting the player in the role of an outlaw fighting against the new government, meeting with members of the resistance in the shadows, and going around the martial law that has been imposed.

Freedom

Just like in Ultima 4, you are dropped into an open world right from the beginning, and your tools to explore the world have been expanded.

The inclusion of more complex systems also enhance the feeling of being able to interact with the world with less barriers, as there is now furniture you can use, barrels you can search, etc.

Like with Ultima 4, there is only one way to win and a list of absolutely required steps that must be taken to reach that victory, but the order in which these steps can be taken is rather flexible, allowing players to create more of a personal narrative as they follow clues they picked up on wherever their instincts or whims took them first.

It is worth noting that there are actually some optional quests dungeons this time around, which is always nice.

Character Creation/Customization

While it is very nice that you can import your character from Ultima 4 into this game, I would say that this aspect of the game has taken a step back in a sense even as it has made progress in other ways.

The eight classes of the previous games have been reduced to four: The standard Fighter/Mage/Rogue Bard trio plus the Avatar class the main character belongs to, which is an all-rounder. As before, there is not really any customization beyond equipment either.

However, the positive of this is that equipment has been greatly expanded from the previous game. While in Ultima 4 you were limited to merely choosing your character’s weapon and armor set from a very short list, Ultima 5 not only enlarges the list but also allows for equipping multiple armor parts (such as a helm or amulet) while also providing a secondary hand slot.

What this means is that two-handed weapons now also give you a trade-off between their big damage and the option to use a shield in your other hand, or even dual-wield.

This greater variety of equipment allows a greater degree of specialization for your party members, though by modern standards this still isn’t much. The supremacy of ranged weapons also continues here, as magic axes are undoubtedly what you should be equipping everyone with later in the game, and now that class does not restrict equipment every single one of your party members will end up in plate with a magic axe.

Story/Setting

This is, in my opinions, one of the most interesting things about the game. Ultima 5 takes all of the virtues from the former game and turns a corrupted form of them into the law.

The game is pretty explicit about this too. Early in the game, in the town closest to the shack you start in, you can find a man in the stocks together with his son. The man is being punished for failing to donate enough of his income to charity as the Law of Sacrifice demands, while his son (who is barely breathing at this point) is being tortured for not reporting his father to the authorities.

Throughout your travels, you meet many kinds of people. From victims, to resistance fighters, to supporters of the regime and everything in between. Throughout your interactions with these groups you will have to discern who can be trusted (generally easier than it should be since the bad guys tend to be meaner or even cartoonishly evil at times) and learn how to fight Lord Blackthorn and the Shadowlords who corrupted him.

The Shadowlords are, incidentally, the part of the story that I don’t quite enjoy. Fantasy is full of one-dimensional ancient evils and dark overlords. By making the events of the game the result of an unambiguously malevolent supernatural force rather than human failings of the type that are not uncommon in real life, the game makes those events feel more distant and less complex.

This very series already has had plenty of “Defeat this one evil force and everything will be fine” plots. They are generally devoid of the moral complexity that the series is now aiming to explore and I want to know what this game would have looked like without the Shadowlords.

Fortunately, however, this effect is not too pronounced. Blackthorn remains a misguided man with good intentions. He admires you a lot, actually, and seeks avatarhood himself. He has such a positive view of the virtues that he sought to enforce them by law.

(Then again, his actual plans for the shrines make this apparent idolization feel dishonest, or at least inconsistent.)

And there is a real type of authoritarianism that functions a lot like this. Even on this site there are many who would be in favor of things like surveillance, police brutality, and harsher punishments. Even on this site there’s a whole lot of people who seek to punish others over stupid things like shipping the wrong fictional characters.

The people I grew up with even went as far as yearning for a dictator who would unleash death squads to execute all the “bad” people. This is a wish that I still see in many people, even those who grew up outside of the circumstances of my country of birth.

This is not an error that humans need supernatural corruption to fall into.

Other than that, I find the dark twist on the existing setting from the previous game to make for a spicier world to explore.

This is also the section where I should point out that Ultima 5 introduces a rather large and dangerous “Underworld” map that is easy to get lost in. While it is mostly barren, you do have to visit various parts of it as part of the main quest, and I just find the concept of a massive dark world beneath the earth to be a super interesting one (I mean, I have even run D&D campaigns based primarily in the Underdark).

I kinda wish there was more to it other than some items and a companion to collect. Something like a town would have been interesting.

Immersion

This is one area where the jump from Ultima 4 to Ultima 5 was massive thanks to the day/night cycles, NPC schedules, expanded dialogue, and even the addition of words of power to the magic system.

But the best thing I can say about it is really that it calls on you to actually roleplay and engage in the world as if you were actually there, at least to a degree, and it does so through a combination of atmosphere and gameplay.

You will not only want to be careful with your words when talking to certain people to avoid being reported to the regime, but you can also learn the resistance password and use it to get help and information from other members.

While these systems are all still pretty rough here, they still come together well enough to make this a lot more immersive than the average JRPG.

One thing that does feel really off is that the guards are not only superhumanly tough but you also lose karma for attacking them. They also behave strangely in that even though you are a wanted outlaw they don’t actually hunt you on sight, only trying to arrest or kill you if you refuse to pay tribute (as if they didn’t recognize you or your companions at all). This despite wanted posters.

So there’s definitely some rough aspects to the crime system in this game.

Gameplay

Massive improvements have been made in this area, and I don’t just mean the above-mentioned expansion of items and the addition of NPC schedules.

For one, enemies now drop things other than gold, such as food and armor pieces. The magic system has also been improved so that you can now mix multiples of a spell at once instead of having to do it manually every single time.

Additionally, spells are now cast using a consistent language of magic composed of several words of power, which you can chain together to produce effects.

But I would say that the single most significant improvement in the gameplay is the simple fact that most NPCs now have significantly more keywords that they react to in dialogue, including many that do not come up through normal conversation with them. The system is still not perfect, but you can have more of a conversation with characters now and switch from topic to topic relatively easily.

In terms of combat, you can attack diagonally now (only monsters could do that in Ultima 4) and random overworld encounters are much easier to avoid now, cutting down on what eventually starts to feel kind of like padding in the previous game (but see below).

Despite the fact that the material rewards from combat have been increased and items are much cheaper now, Ultima 5 is actually significantly more difficult than Ultima 4. Not only do you have less health, enemies also seem to do more damage.

Dragons and daemons in particular are a nightmare, as they can summon more daemons (who can posses party members) and are extremely durable. A single dragon is a very tough challenge for an unprepared mid-level party, and even after giving most characters magic axes they still prove tough to take down while also being extremely damaging. Trying to fight multiple ones at once without blowing powerful spells or glass swords is costly at best and foolish at worst. Dragons are best thought of as boss-level enemies probably.

I am pleased to report that the dungeon crawling is better in many significant ways. Not only are the graphics more pleasant and immersive but also fully cleared rooms no longer respawn endlessly the moment you step out of them (in fact, they may not respawn at all).

It is not all positive however. The descend and ascend spells seem to be nearly useless this time around and the spell to instantly exit a dungeon is gone entirely. This can make getting out of the underworld such a pain at times that you might even prefer to literally kill yourself in-game and lose some XP instead of doing that. Fortunately you can now dig up and bury moon stones, so you can create moongates down there to quickly escape that way.

There is one problem in terms of balance though. While obtaining gear is significantly less of a problem now due to many enemies dropping tons of torches, gems, and keys, your experience will lag far behind your itemization and your quest progress. This means that to actually reach the 8th level and unlock all of the ultimate spells you will need to either explore all the dungeons thoroughly while focusing XP on one character, or otherwise just grind a lot.

Enemies just don’t give enough XP for a smooth progression otherwise. This would have been solved entirely by making significant main quest events (such as finding the artifacts of Lord British or destroying the Shadowlords) grant experience, but no such luck.

This makes for a strange endgame where you’ll have so much money that you run out of worthwhile things to spend it on while at the same time still feeling forced to grind out enemies, even if you imported your Ultima 4 character for an XP boost.

You do want to have access to these 8th-level spells too, as the final dungeon can be brutal without them or items that replicate their effects.

Adding to the experience issue is the fact that you can’t level up at will in this game. You have to camp and hope that an apparition of Lord British will appear and level you up (if you have enough experience). He does not always show up, and as far as I can tell he does not appear at all if you sleep on a bed or camp inside a dungeon. It has to be out in the wild in the overworld (and possibly also in the underworld).

I wish leveling up was just not tied to him at all.

Aesthetics

As is often the case for this series, the game looks and sounds really good for its age. The jump from Ultima 4 is particularly notable, as the level of detail is on a whole other level, particularly within the dungeons.

As with the previous game, the aesthetic core of the Ultima series (after the first trilogy) lies in the virtues. While there is still a karma system involved, it is much simpler than having to maximize eight different virtues. The karma system determines how much XP you lose on death and how much shops charge you, encouraging players to behave (or at least atone for their misbehavior).

But the biggest impact on the feel of the game is the above-mentioned corruption and tyranny affecting the land. Some of my favorite moments were early on, when I was just starting to get involved with the resistance and investigating what was happening around the overworld.

That said, I think that if the guards did actually recognize you on sight and hounded you more aggressively after spotting you the atmosphere could be even better (assuming they were balanced a bit better).

I think some of the music some versions of the game have is quite good too.

Accessibility

This game manages to up the complexity from Ultima 4 while not being any harder to play. Chances are that if you’re importing your Ultima 4 character you will need only a little bit of adaptation to do fine in Ultima 5.

As before, you will need to take many notes throughout the game. More so than in Ultima 4 due to the greater size and density of content. However, if you played Ultima 4 and took notes for it, this is somewhat alleviated. The mantras for the shrines remain the same, and the world’s geography should be mostly familiar (though there have been changes there as well).

You will also still need to consult the manuals and map frequently, at least early on.

The difficulty has also increased dramatically. You will likely end the game with about 200-ish HP rather than 800 and every enemy is much more deadly. Both the early game and the final dungeon will challenge the improvident.

For these reasons, the game is not that easy for newcomers to pick up but I would not call it obscure or complex.

Conclusion

I would say that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives on this one. The story and setting are interesting even if I don’t agree with all of the decisions made in crafting it, and the rest of the game is usually tolerable at worst. Nothing nearly as annoying as Ultima 4′s Reaper and Balron sleep spam (in fact, a plot-relevant item you can find renders Reapers pretty much helpless).

My primary complaint about the game is that the balance is poor. You will end the game loaded with all the items you could ever want while struggling to reach level 8 with even a single character even after doing nearly everything you need to do before the final dungeon.

I know there is a remake of this game made using Dungeon Siege, which I have not played. I think this is a good thing and I’d hope that it fixes some of these issues, but even apart from that I wish there were games that set out to achieve the core concept of this game.

What I am talking about is an open world RPG in which you play an outlaw who must hide from the state and meet other rebels in the darkness, but with complex and mechanically-competent systems to enable all the interesting possibilities this should enable.

I do not assign numerical ratings to games with these reviews, but I can definitely say that I liked Ultima 5 better than Ultima 4. I think it is worth trying even today despite the late game grind.

#vampire reviews rpgs #ultima 5 #warriors of destiny

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