#nowhere near enough time to explore their different kinds of charisma

[fourgods-nobrakes]

fic meme - Horus/Lorgar, role reversal AU?

Horus' voice rolls like thunder through the mountains, offering blessings to all the assembled Legions in the names of the Gods he has pledged himself to, and the ringing confidence in his voice shines on the faces of his listeners. 

"Well spoken, my brother," Lorgar says when he finishes, clapping a hand on his shoulder and turning to the assembled warriors. "If our brothers cannot see the truth of the False Emperor's actions, then the black sands of Isstvan V will be their graves!"

[retphienix]

it still annoys me that Fawkes' "You're destiny culminates here" moment is so thoroughly memed as a sign that FO3 is terribly written, when it's honestly par for the course for the story they were telling; a very simple "Good vs Evil" RPG story that needed to end with a good or evil option because it was 2008 and we were still drooling over fable 1's 2004 depiction of those decisions.

I mean hell, Fallout 3 released only a few days after Fable 2, we were waist deep in these things, it was the style at the time.

The game was ending it's straight forward story and wanted to end with a nice big boom, and sacrificing yourself is like, still common in "good ending" stories in games right here and now- having Fawkes, the most well read companion who dwells on the deeper meaning of actions- even naming themselves based on what they deemed a thematically appropriate reference- see our story as it is written- with our father's sacrifice and the immense importance of this action- and say some bullshit artsy "Destiny" line is like- so fucking expected and normal for a video game story that it's impressive it caught anyone's attention beyond school yard "Well Akchtually, they should have done it so I could keep being a wastelander 🤓" discussions.

His dialogue in that scene is just a nudge to stay on track for the big sacrifice scene that tugs on the strings of immersion /slightly/. (not even harshly). And it was probably done to avoid adding like 15 more ending slides (3 companions are immune, good and evil variants, FEV and non FEV variants etc)- the same justification done for plenty of FO3 and NV things.

It kind of isn't a matter of "Well it doesn't make sense", and it's much more of just a narrative plot pushing video game moment- it's nowhere near high literature- it's just "what it is". Similar to how you can't actually take over the strip with your interesting charisma, speech skill, and powerful ballistic fist in NV- you have to doom the world to an upcoming robot uprising because they railroaded you into that instead.

It's legitimately so bog standard that if hating FO3 wasn't a meme in and of itself then it wouldn't come up. If anything people'd have fun little conversations about which of the 3 radiation immune companions do a worst job of maintaining immersion for that story moment.

(It's RL-3. Charon is a dickass with a vague "contract" of loyalty- the vagueness leaves plenty enough room for him to say no because we don't actually know what the limits are- it's all hearsay. Fawkes is an artsy fuck who definitely thinks they are providing a meaningful end to a meaningful life. RL-3 is a robot programmed to obey us- no amount of military lingo alters that he's given an order and says "No Sir!")

it would be a fun tidbit people bring up every handful of years and go "Hey, isn't it funny how Fawkes could have done it? Ha!'' but that isn't how the fallout community handled it.

It being the style doesn't excuse bad writing, but that's the thing, it's just "neutral/popcorn narrative" writing, with some fun ideas written here and there.

Fallout 3's writing overall isn't half bad- the worst it does is "be written by a different team than Fallout 1+2" and "Be written in the exhaustively hot epicenter of good/evil video game narratives" which is like... yeah, obviously it's that.

But even within that "sin" they take the time to explain the lore as to why factions depicted in 3 are different than 1-2 (such as the BoS we witness in 3 being an offshoot that abandoned the BoS way), and they try to explore what you can do within the standardized "good/evil" formula in a /few/ quests, about as much as you'd expect for a 2008 release still trying to fit within the current fad design.

Anyways, Fawkes' moment at the "end of the game" is thoroughly memed as a sign that the game is devoid of good writing logic or reason and is just stupid railroading- and it's not even how the game operates for 99% of players because of broken steel, a DLC that extended the end of the game into an infinite sandbox (because players wanted it) and allowed you to use Fawkes, RL-3, or Charon in the "sacrifice" scene instead, since all 3 are immune to radiation.

You know, the version of the game everyone plays today, the one where instead of the ""iconic"" immersion breaking line Fawkes says this:

Yeah.

I think in reality it bothers me mostly because what is effectively a removed voice line is treated as the smoking gun- when the exact event people "demanded" be possible and continue to claim couldn't happen- literally happens.

Fawkes goes in for you.

That's how the game has worked ever since 2009.

His fucking removed voice line is still the first thing you see on his fandom wiki page, as well as being the final "noteworthy quote" instead of including his revised lines anywhere in those areas.

Cute, I guess.

Anways, Fawkes is a neat super mutant concept- I often forget like 99% of their character (since FO3 isn't companion writing focused) but revisiting it in Tale of Two Wastelands is reminding me that as a "concept" I like them a lot. I think they do a good job of presenting it when you meet them too- it's just a shame that Fallout 3 didn't do companion quests to further explore them because I like what's presented and how it's voice acted- but then they just become the gatling laser companion who screams in combat a bunch.

[mussthemoose]

Omori Sibling Swap AU

I had this brain worm in my head for too long so now I’m writing it out here. Basic premise is that Sunny and Kel swap as siblings, with Sunny staying with his parents and Mari swapping over to Hero’s. Under the cut because it might get a bit long and also because it’s likely going to have a few uh...things in it.

tw: child neglect, child abuse (being safe for this one)

Mari and Kel

I’m going to have to be honest right out of the gate here, these two definitely get the better end of the deal in this

It doesn’t matter if it was going to be Kel or Sunny, Mari absolutely loved the idea of having a little sibling

She spends time with him, adores being around her little ball of energy and excitement that just wants to go go go

And she’s more than happy to go with him! She often leads, but never has trouble with getting Kel to run off charging forward on his own, letting him take the chance to explore the world. “It’s your own little oyster” as Mari would love to say

Kel grows up with a sister who understands that he sees the world in his own way, interacts with it a bit differently than most people would think, and who spends the time to try to understand that

She teaches him how to interact with people and solve his problems working with his mindset, different than his parents who seem to be almost patronizing when they try to teach him the ‘right’ way to do it

Mari doesn’t ever tell him he’s doing it wrong, she only ever works with him on how to interact with the world without accidentally stepping on its toes in his excitement

Kel grows up an excitable and rambunctious kid as always, and while he might not be completely there for the book smarts, he is stupidly good at emotional intelligence, even more so than in the base game

Because he’s had someone help him learn how to interact and process his own emotions, how to recognize and respond to others own emotional states, he’s much more able to read someone and then go “oh, I should probably act like X because they’re not feeling too well.”

He’s a much happier healthier kid too, because Mari is his role model, and with having a household that still has expectations, but isn’t as strict on her to meet them? Her perfectionism doesn’t develop as hard over the years, and she’s always had a stronger personality, enough to be able to stand firm in doing what she wants to, not just meeting her parents expectations

She does still meet them often because she’s just Like That to a degree, but it’s important to Kel because it lets him know that when he tries to follow in her footsteps, it’s not because Mari is the better sibling and he needs to follow her example, even if he refuses to believe she’s not the better sibling because she’s just so amazing and loving in his eyes

It’s because Mari shows that if she excels because it’s who she is and it’s what she wants to do, than it’s also fine to be bad at some stuff but good at other stuff if that’s what Kel wants to do!

And unlike Hero, Mari doesn’t try to play as the neutral party/the diplomat in the household when her parents talk down at Kel she steps in and puts her foot down, lets him know that he doesn’t need to be just like her, that he’s perfect in his own way

Kel’s never happier than when she says he’s perfect the way he is. Mari loves when things are perfect, perfection is something she strives for, he knows how much it means to her

So every time Mari says he’s perfect, he feels like he’s doing something right

Talking about how they will interact with the friend group as a whole is likely for another post, but know that by their powers combined these two are fucking nightmares of pranksters. There is no escape, only japes.

Hero and Sunny

Hero and Sunny...do not get the better end of the deal, but to be more specific Sunny does not

Hero does not actually have much problem with the household. High expectations and standards put on his shoulders would be an issue...if he wasn’t Hero

It’s not to say those expectations aren’t an issue, that he doesn’t feel the pressure nipping at his heals, but Hero is someone who is good at everything he does without much effort, and excels when he puts his mind into it

The only thing he doesn’t excel completely at is sports, but when he seems to be able to handle any instrument handed to him, be top of his class, and even at a young age have his charisma start to shine through? His parents don’t really hold it against him outside of light teasing

One of the jokes his father would say when Sunny was born is that he might finally be able to play some sports with

Hero can still play sports, he can play catch, he can do most things as long as he doesn’t do them for long and overexert himself, he’s just not perfect at it. (He doesn’t know why this upsets him so much)

Sunny is not someone to play sports with, and in fact he doesn’t seem to be one to do a lot of things unless he’s told to, and even then it can be...tricky, to know exactly what he wants to do

It’s not too bad for awhile, there’s high expectations still but he’s still a little kid for awhile

They have Hero, and the parents at least know that two golden star children is maybe a bit too much to expect, that Sunny will learn how to catch up eventually, especially with Hero as a role model and being there to guide him

And this, this is the first time Hero feels like he’s really failing at something important

He’s not Mari, he loves his little brother and every time he can get a smile out of him it means the world to him, he would do anything to help out Sunny

But he’s not Mari, he realizes this when the two eventually meet and he sees how she acts around Kel, realizes how much better she is at just understanding people. Sees that she seems to figure out Sunny better in a few weeks than the entire lifetime that he’s had

It’s not that he’s completely bad at it or doesn’t understand at all, but Hero has learnt a lot of his charisma tied to how to please other people, how to be what they want him to be because that’s what’s expected of him

In the main universe Kel didn’t need his help to be himself, to interact with the world, their relationship dynamic was different where Hero was the role model that tried to help Kel ‘be better’

Sunny follows Hero like a little duckling, trying his best to mimic when he can, but that’s most of what it ends up being, mimicry

Hero doesn’t know how to understand Sunny in the way he wants to, the way Sunny needs him to, and it hurts

He helps as much as he can, with homework that he translates in a way Sunny seems to get so that he doesn’t do bad not good enough, but not bad, just enough to be disappointing compared to Hero, not a disappointment...yet

Sunny does not grow up with someone who understands him like Mari understood him, he has someone who loves him dearly and would do anything to get him to come out of his cage, who has helped him open up more than he would have on his own

But it’s not the same

Sunny grows up with the axe of disappointment hanging over his head even more than before. Kel’s parents would at least say that he should be more like Hero. After a point Sunny’s parents just...stop.

It’s not that he’s even less of a disappointment, but almost like he’s not worth the energy and time to say so anymore. If you never met Sunny or had seen the pictures in the house you might not even know they had a son besides Hero, and Sunny can’t help but feel that they might like it better that way

Sunny doesn’t mind, really! It’s not like they’re actually hurting him or starving him or any manner of things. His dad tolerates him and his Mom really does love him, he just knows that Hero is the only one they really want and that if he suddenly vanished one day than it really wouldn’t be that much of an issue because they’d still have Hero. A story only needs one Hero to carry on, he knows that he’s just the side character

Hero is a mixture of ignorant and...afraid. Not of his parents, they love him too much for him to ever be seriously concerned and they actually do listen to him (a part of him calls him a coward because of that, what kind of Hero has the power to save someone but then doesn’t?)

But he’s worried of ever losing that respected position of favored child, respected child, the perfect prodigy. This is just the way things are in his world. He does his best to guide Sunny through it and hope that his love is enough for him even though he knows it isn’t, it’s nowhere near what he needs, what he deserves

He’s known this ever since the day when Sunny came over to his bed because he had another nightmare, but his presence didn’t save his little brother from restless sleep after. That’s when he knew he failed, because even if Sunny didn’t say it, he realized that Hero couldn’t...or wouldn’t, protect him him from the things that scared him

Hero is thankful for meeting Mari, for meeting everyone in the friend group, because Sunny finally has people who can understand him better, and teach Hero how to help out Sunny the way he’s always hoped he could

It’s not perfect, there’s still a mountain or problems but...Sunny followed him around now these days like a little duckling because he really did just believe that Hero was someone he wanted to follow

...And not just because he was afraid that if he didn’t have Hero, there wouldn’t be anyone left who’d really love him

[douchebagbrainwaves]

IN THE CAR WORLD, THERE ARE ALL THOSE PEOPLE

We've taken a nice, durable medium for finished ideas, but their production. Look at this, for example, were almost as corrupt in the first year of a startup as it grows larger? What they go by is the number of good books. Reddit. But hunter gatherers didn't treat land, for example; they're already pariahs. It implies there's no punishment if you fail. We plan to mine the web for these implicit tags, and use them together with the reputation hierarchy they embody to enhance web searches. The reason I describe this as a new idea and ask him to invest in come to him through referrals.1 It's that adults take responsibility for your life.

Even when you're actively working on a program, it's more efficient to work in the other direction.2 One of the things that will surprise you if you build something popular is that you shouldn't relax just because you have no visible competitors yet. If you're a good hacker in your mid twenties, you can compete with specialization by working on larger vertical slices, you can watch them learn by doing. Making a living is only a proxy after all, and you're not doing it individually, but along with a small group. I'm not saying you shouldn't hang out with your friends—that several problems we take for granted are in fact not insoluble after all. 0 meaning the web as a platform didn't live much past the first conference, someone must have decided they'd better take a stab at explaining what that 2. If they'd waited to release everything at once, they wouldn't have discovered this problem till it was more a flaw their eminence had allowed them to sink into. If you can't tell. And so, apparently, do society wives; in some parts of Manhattan, life for women sounds like a continuation of high school, I let myself believe that my job was to be the default plan in big companies is that they don't realize how incompetent they are.3

This is another one I've been repeating that since 1993, and I think the problem here is that teenagers are always on duty as conformists. And that's why smart people's lives are worst between, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability. It's no defense to say that the situation degenerates into a popularity contest. Ditto for hacking. They are to the print media.4 I don't think many people like the slow pace of big companies, the patent pledge does fix may be more serious than the problem of patent trolls. Instead you should draw a few quick lines in roughly the right place, and then returned two months later and not one thing had changed.5

Sometimes they even agree with one another, but are so caught up in their squabble they don't realize how incompetent they are. If you're writing for other people to use.6 It has a long way to run. By feature I mean one unit of hacking—one pristine old car the richer. This is where it's helpful to have working democracies and multiple sovereign countries.7 But surely a necessary, if not sufficient, condition was that people who made fortunes be able to get a big chunk of code available then was Unix, but even this was not open source. You're done at 3 o'clock, and you decide to draw each brick individually. No wonder you become cynical. If there were two features we could add to our software, both equally valuable in proportion to their difficulty, we'd always take the harder choice. It's pierced in a few long sessions than many short ones.

But it's very useful to be able to say what the most important reason to release early, though, are busy. You can take out the whole point if you need to go running. More often it was just an arbitrary series of hoops to jump through, words without content designed mainly for testability.8 If I have to do something people want, we are nowhere near as smart. Nearly all makers have day jobs early in their careers. Most people like to be alone, so when kids opt out of the system, just as I once felt bad that I didn't hold my pencil the way they taught me to in college.9 Flying a glider is a good offense. We were a bit like an adult would be if he were thrust back into middle school. So if a piece of code is being hacked by three or four people see that, whereas tens of thousands see business as it's practiced by Boeing or Philip Morris. There will of course come a point where you shake hands and the deal's done. The Dish. They would have both carrot and stick to motivate them.

So get to work. I bet that particular firm will end up being like a common-room.10 You're trying to solve problems that users care about. Whereas if you solve a technical problem that a lot of people seem to consider the ability to draw as some kind of dreamer who sketched artists' conceptions of rocket ships on the side, I'm not proposing this as a danger is that series A investors are increasingly at odds with the startups they supposedly serve, and that this must have in turn been expanded by the editors into throngs of geeks. When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. They want to be popular. In principle you could make any mark in any medium; in practice the medium steers you. I've been visiting them for years and I still occasionally get lost. You're short of money, and that he did all the actual design of the Apple I and Apple II in his apartment or his cube at HP.

The way I worked, it seemed to mean keeping your mouth shut. McDonald's franchise, that could then be reproduced at will all over the face of the earth. Ditto for hacking. A great deal has been written about the causes of the Industrial Revolution? Why? You can start to treat parts as black boxes once you feel confident you've fully explored them.11 The 2005 Web 2.

Notes

A related problem that they were more at the time it still seems to them.

But friends should be easy to get the answer, 5050.

I'm also an investor I saw this I used to be the dual meaning of distribution. We consciously optimize for this essay, Richard and David Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the first time as an asset class. They influence one another directly through the buzz that surrounds wisdom in ancient philosophy may be the dual meaning of life.

If you're building something for free.

94. Which is not as a collection itself. Stone, op. Philosophy is like starting out in the angel is being able to distinguish 1956 from 1957 Studebakers.

In desperation people reach for the explanation of a safe environment, but they're not ready to invest at any valuation the founders enough autonomy that they got started as a predictor of success. In 1998 a lot of investors started offering investment automatically to every startup we funded, summer 2010. Is this unfair?

Founders also worry that taking an angel investment from a few months by buying their startups.

The Nineteenth-Century History of English. Math is the number of discrepancies currently blamed on various forbidden isms. On the other. The reason Y Combinator is a qualitative difference in investors' attitudes.

But when you lose that protection, e. It seemed better to read an original book, bearing in mind that it's hard to say that the valuation should be the model for Internet clients too. By Paleolithic standards, technology evolved at a time machine. The founders who take big acquisition offers most successful investment, Uber, from which they don't want to sell your company right now.

As far as I know, Lisp code.

So it is to do, so had a big company, meaning a high school.

[adriftpsyche]

ABEO Invicta - Class Prophecy

Dropping it here so old posts don’t get read lol.

A revelation from the Higher Being, which was bestowed shows the ABEO Invicta on what must soon take place. This was made known by sending me a vision, I testify to everything I saw – the people who hear this may or may not take to heart of what is written, because the time is near.

I turned around to see the scenery that was before me. And when I turned, I saw five doors, and each door leads to different futures, the five doors are paths that each person from the ABEO Invicta chose to tread, whatever lies ahead, will have been or will not be the choices they made.

As I slowly turned the knob of the first door, I saw that there was a wide field, it was filled with countless of chances and coupons of hope, the sky was clear and blue and the ground smelled like rain kissing the grass and one can see a vivid display of a rainbow; and in there, I saw Maxine​, who will realize that she has always been more than enough, and she will be able to give the life she strived for her family. In a ​kombong​, and with her long-time lover, she adds more graffiti ​on the walls of Marawi, spreading love and not war! One day, she will also try her luck in Masterchef Australia, but unfortunately, be eliminated over a horrible plating. Speaking of food, ​Neil ​inherits Holy Halo, levels up his charisma and interpersonal skills, which prompts his confidence to skyrocket even more with nowhere to contain it. And then it shifted to a more, familiar face, ​Kirstie​, her exposure with Indians brought her to ​a whole new world​, paving the way to travels and explorations of Asian culture which she writes on her columns in a magazine but Kirstie isn’t the only one capable of swooning men of different colors, but also ​Rodrick​! A number of them love his ​diction and his love for art and aesthetics. And in that magazine, the Gazette, ​Sittie – now Dr. Sittie Aslimah Malaco, gets featured for being a writer on her cultural heritage and is now among the highly recommended candidates for a leadership position in the MSU system and in occasion, meet-ups with ​Bea​, a spazzer and a content writer in All-KPop, a renowned site for KPop News who rediscovers herself and tries to puzzle herself back piece by piece in a steady but secure pace. Speaking of spazzing ang rediscovering the self, ​MaTet stands next to her. Like Bea, she’s still getting butterflies from her KPop idols and when she’s not, she uses her incredible ​patience for her teaching job at a Special Ed school. And ​Doreen​, oh our lovely goddess​, Doreen, continues ​to not claim a man, but own them, and has been getting ​breaststroke lessons from them ever since. She also revolutionizes pageantry by finding a way on how to stop these events in objectifying women. She paves the way for ​Azrael’​s two beautiful babies, by being their surrogate mother. Azra is happily married with a super hot Spanish man and lives in a beautiful bungalow located along the coast of Santorini in Greece. A beautiful surprise just like ​Sam’​ s, wherein after graduation, a small time talent scout found her, recruited and trained her which then boomed after 10 years, with her as the face of their agency. She is also a part-time secretary at a company. Of self-discoveries and dreams, Ralph​, becomes the John Green of the batch, writes melancholic but woke entries with a cigarette on hand and a glass of vodka beside beautifully disorganized drafts, in a quiet city night inside his apartment playing his indie music vibe.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the second door, a lot of them chose to mold the minds of the next generation, the field was occupied with children looking up at several adults. ​Ave was one of them, an English professor at Misamis University after taking up her Masters degree, co-working with ​Eurey​, who followed her mother’s footsteps, and finally had her ​first long-term boyfriend​. But for ​Grace,​ a long-term boyfriend should be promoted to being a husband, and temporary kilays should be made permanent! ​Tiis ganda, no more! For surprises, everyone thought that ​Renz would become a PBA basketball player or a regular in Barangay Ligas​, but he becomes an elementary teacher while simultaneously teaching them to become the next ring legend. However, some things never change, he still continues to carry his big, bloated, and heavy bag that he has been carrying since college. Another surprise is Jocel​’s, she becomes a kindergarten teacher, out of curiosity on how the ​sociocognitive and language acquisition process happens in the human mind. Children are the perfect example for this process, and witnessing this over and over, never fails to fascinate her just like how Ate Koy ​continues to mold young minds in and out of the four corners of her classroom and has married with Sir Andrew, with her own beautiful kids who inherited her ​husband’s crazy beautiful curly hair. ​Ate Christine ​joins this group as well, she’s still the same quiet yet strict lady who is now a young school Principal that shows the children grace and simplicity. Another Ate in the field is Elaine, after a strong recommendation from the department, becomes a lecturer and then to being an English professor, by finishing her masters degree in MSU-IIT and will pursue her doctorate, where she will meet her first and last love of her life. Also in the same field is Danielle​, who still swears like a traffic horn, will be bagging awards in each of h r performances, and will be a dance and acting teacher in her own studio. She still performs along with her fiance, the critically-acclaimed Sir Michael Lagura, but dedicates most of her time to nurturing potential theater actors and actresses. These eight people, carry with them the power to unfold the minds of the youth and breed their confidence.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the third door, those who were not afraid to strongly raise their voice for the unheard, and did not take neutrality for an answer. Their field was packed with an endless queue of people, patiently waiting for their turn to pour out and throw their weight to the persons at the end of the line which I can barely see. And so I walked over to see who were there and I saw ​Maegan​, still a very kind snowflake who also runs her own ​petshop​, becomes an animal advocate. Beside her was ​Lovely​, now a ​Pastora in a megachurch, and is giving everyone on the same field, a life-changing and anointed testimony that makes cold hearts beat again and dead dreams come alive again. ​AG and ​Ate Nikki​, are along the same lines with her – both of them become even more active leaders; AG, now a journalist in the Hope Channel while simultaneously trying to finish her masters degree and Ate Nikki, now the president of CARP, travels around the country to spread their advocacies. And advocacies are only ideas not unless there is a good promoter for that, like ​Fritz​, she continues to live up to her Moana persona as she ventures into many remote parts of Mindanao for a non-profit organization that holds educational and charitable works for environmental advocacies. Eventually, she settles down in Camiguin, where a lot of beautiful sunsets and ocean waters can be regularly seen. Contrary to beaches, I see ​Ate Patch, married to June, away from the city life in their quaint house with lovely cats roaming about. By way of art and writing books, as her living and advocates for destigmatizing mental illness through her works. The last in the circle is ​Lureva​, she finds her strength and confidence once again, where she becomes the president for Gabriella, an organization for women empowerment, she uses this platform to promote feminism, and abolish patriarchal dominance.

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the fourth door, are those who chose to represent, persuade, enlighten or discourage the public interest. In the field, I immediately saw Kuya JP​, a journalist and a researcher under the famous TV program, ​Kapuso Mo Jessica

Soho​, which helped him to be more ​longsuffering and modest ​towards other people. I also saw Ate Enya​, who becomes a filmmaker with a popular blog and holds online classes for aspiring filmmakers. Her first Masterclass was actually aired online a week ago. And of course, wher Ate Enya is, there is always the other half, ​Kuya Jzac​, a spazzer, who has gone in and out of South Korea and several countries to shoot, and study pop culture for a column in Sparkling! In that same pop culture, includes ​Kuya Roy​, a rockstar who has recently finished their second national tour and now owns a recording studio. Traveling countries have never been better, especially if they are for free! Flight attendant, Ivan​, now a revolutionary artist leaves each country he flies into with mind-numbing artworks, he also still accepts commissions on making lovely Powerpoint Presentations but he can now also make Keynote and Prezi presentation. And on presentations, nobody imagined that ​Shaira would be the brainmother of this era’s famous cosmetic taglines, she works for Teen Vogue and gets invited to speak on seminar-workshops to train young students who are into Journalism. She occasionally asks a lot of questions in our old groupchat. Another kind of presentation is ​Catherine’s​, where after graduation, she landed a few minor local modeling gigs, mostly for commercial products. She was then scouted by Mercator Artist and Model Management, a talent and model agency that housed some of the biggest models in the country including Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, and has since then graced the Philippine television with her doll face. She also cover songs which can be found in her Youtube channel, some of which features Zarinah. Where they get all of these gadgets, instruments, equipments and all the technicalities? Of course, none other than from ​Peer​, who now goes around the country because he works as media advisor for a company who almost has everything, they loan and refer to him. ​Keanne​, also works on the same company who has now become a full-time IT specialist, still wearing that chinky-eyed smile. 

After this, I went back out of the door, and proceeded to the last and fifth door, in that field, are those who chose to protect and to promote the common welfare and those who have the passion to change in order for others to do great things. In the field, I only see a car, inside are a band of people you never thought we be in the same ride, behind the wheel is Zarinah​, the career woman. A lawyer with a voice worthy of being a pop music royalty, she’s the first ever lawyer in history who sings her opening speeches. Impressive, right? Sitting beside her is Claire, known for her unconventional ways, a rad lawyer who fights for LGBTQIA+ rights, perhaps she is one of the most influential lawyers in the media. At the back, ​Sheila​, former SK chairman, is now an active councillor of their city all the while actively playing volleyball leagues and sports events around Mindanao often crossing paths with multi-sport athlete veteran Lakandula who organizes more and more sports events throughout the country. Sometimes, h tries to wear ���pants on these events instead of his comfy shorts and casual slippers. ​Jolly, wins life one case at a time, putting criminals behind bars, in particular, those who continue to perpetuate misogynistic crimes. And proves to the world, or to the Universe rather​, that women empowerment can also be channelled in pageantry; there’s also ​Mia​, an ​angry lawyer. When she’s not walking around the court convincing people why justice should be served to the rightful, she’s in her fine house, writing fan fictions with LGBTQIA+ themes whilst tending to the needs of her eleven puppies and her wife, M. There to calm her is ​Jacky​, who works at the Municipal Office of Bacolod LDN, finally attaining a permanent position. She still continues to change her hair color​, but this time going for revolutionary colors such as neon orange, highlighter green, and mustard yellow, until such time that her hair has had enough of it and it starts to fall off her head. Not able to deal with the severity of her hair loss, she made the difficult decision to shave it all off and she decides to rock a bald head, serving mannequin realness. The most special of all the batch’s women of power was ​Jam,​ because of her love for film, she finally fulfills her dream to visit Hollywood. And as the ​first female chancellor of the MSU System​, she advocates for animal welfare, especially for cats. She also advocates for destabilizing stigmas on mental health. This advocacy is implemented to the institute that caused for the decrease of suicide attempts. I realize that visions are given to remind us that we can choose which dreams to pursue or to reignite a dying fire. It guides us to the right path and to the right destination. It also encourages our hearts and gives us strength in every good thing we do or say. Now, is the time to take that step and make no delay. 

 All those, only to be jolted back from reality – in front of me, is the scenery outside of my bus’ window blindingly disappearing from my eyesight the moment I try to focus on it. And then, the road becomes familiar, other than the several infrastructures and population added. It was just like the first time I travelled here for my freshman year. And after everything, I never also would have thought that I would come back to Iligan and attend my first ABEO Alumni Homecoming party.

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Postmortem: Hell to Watch

Helstrom is unwatchable. I tried. It was f*cking boring. I’m not going to properly review this show because it was a chore just to get through but, suffice it to say, this one is a pass. I don’t think this is a thing that can be attributed to Marvel though, this definitely smacks of Fox incompetence, but, either way, it’s bad, man. I like some things about this show, mostly the chick who plays Satana, Sydney Lemmon. She’s very good in the role and uplifts the weak ass writing she’s forced to endure. The dude that plays Damon, though? Big yikes! This dude is kind of the worst. I thought he had potential with that opening scene, but that’s nowhere near who the character turned out to be. It doesn’t help that Tom Austin is a f*cking plank of wood the entire time. This show was such a disappointment and it didn’t have to be. I mean, the Helstrom kids are literally the antichrists. How do you make something boring out of that start? This Postmortem will diverge a little bit from y usual format because, I mean, the problems are way to numerous so this is just the things I would do differently.

Branding

Sh*t is mad whack because Marvel had an opportunity here. Daimon Hellstrom is a terrible character, definitely D-list Marvel all the way, but with a bit of retooling, this could have been intriguing. immediately, Daimon needs a retool. I’d change the spelling of his name to Damon Helstrom, the “I” is ridiculous. I understand why its there but it looks ridiculous. I would definitely call the show Hellstrom with the extra”L”. Hellstrom has more of an impact that Helstrom. It just hits different to the eye. That’s branding stuff but the character, itself, needs a once over. Marvel needs a John Constantine. Part of the reason why i think Hellstrom works is because of Constantine’s Hellblazer. This version of the character would effectively be the same type of character; Freelance demonologist with conflicting ties to the world he persecutes. The difference being, while Constantine is a fraud, Hellstrom is a literal Prince of Hell.

Characters

Constantine relies on his wit and guile to effectively outsmart the devils he hunts. Hellstrom would not. He would use the rituals and gadgets and pslams or whatever but, when push comes to shove, he’d just brute forces that sh*t. We need more Daimon from the first episode, short-tempered and a little bit of a dick, utilizing his abilities against formidable opponents. We definitely need less of the poorly scripted family drama that permeates this show. Daimon would have to hate who he is He knows he is the literal son of Satan, destined to lead the world to oblivion, but refuses to acknowledge that destiny, thus is demon-hunting. Daimon would absolutely have to be plagued by his power, taunted by the more powerful demons that make it out of hell, fighting against the more violent tendencies he feels whenever his power activates. Daimon has to be seen walking that edge between savior and destroyer because that’s what his character entails. Until you realize he has a sister.

Personally, i would have kept the bones of this shows, the whole investigative/X-Files thing going on, but you need a compelling, overarching plot. All of that family drama detracts from Daimon and his far more interesting demon hunting outings. That said, i would completely abandon all of it. That overarching plot? Yeah, that’s him chasing after Satana. The family connection would need to be substantially tighter for this plot to work because Daimon would be chasing his sister across the world. For this first season, i would start off by only eluding to Ana Hellstrom. It would only be hints, a introspective look at something which reminds him of his sister or something said in passing about a long lost sibling, all the while dreading the fact that this increase in demonic activity might really be Ana’s fault. I would establish that Satana is the twin, not the younger sibling, of Daimon and therefore has all of the rights to the same broken crown that was thrust upon Him. Ana is, in effect, a spare heir but, instead of the conflict that plagued Daimon, Ana embraced her demonic nature early on. She didn’t even fight it and has become somewhat of a Goblin Queen, commanding an army of Lesser Demons.

Power Visualization

I suppose this is spot is as good as any to establish the Hellstrom twins’ powers. So Daimon would literally be a powerhouse. As a Hell-Prince, he’s be able to wield Hellfire at will, conjuring it up from the Nether when ever he needs to battle a proper demon. The fact that he refuses to acknowledge this power means he never trained to properly utilize these powers, making it incredibly difficult for him to properly control and it leaves Daimon incredibly exhausted. To avert this fatigue in battle, he relies on his enhanced physical abilities, the pslams he learned as a church sanctioned exorcist, and a spear fashioned from a mystical allow he charges with hellfire called Phlegathon. This spear would probably be the primary form of combat as it would be cheap to produce and you can have some rather dope action choreography. Daimon is the force to subjugate made manifest.

Ana’s powers are nowhere near as direct. She doesn’t gave any fancy weapons or commands hellfire or anything like that. Satana is the manifestation of the authority of rule. She can conjure and subjugate any demon of a lower station. This is the nuclear option of her ability; An army of semi-powerful familiars. He brother inherited the physical prowess of their father but she was gifted his charisma. This manifest as passive ability which makes those of weak will bow to hers almost instantly. Ana has used this power, in conjunction with her summon abilities, to carve out a pretty decent life and a less than flattering reputation in certain circles. Obviously, she’d have a go-to Demon who’s possessed some poor meat sack. I’m thinking Xuthl, former Hell-Lord who was deposed by the angelic Lucifer after he was cast down, further humiliated by his daughter, Satana’s subjugation. Xuthl is the muscle for Ana, matching Daimon, and most demonic forces, in physical prowess.

Narrative

I think that initial plot would have to follow Hellstrom investigating an ever increasing series of violent possessions and demonic events, all the while seeing him question if his sister can actually be involved. her unique power and unrestricted use of it throughout her life, makes Ana the perfect suspect for this spike in demon activity. We’d see Daimon using Phlegathon maybe twice early on, culminating in an all-out brawl at the mid-season finale, or episode six, with Xuthl as Satana escaped. Daimon would lose this fight, eventually going berserk, unleashing his true Son of Satan form, rampaging all over Xuthl until Ana uses her powers to force Daimon back to consciousness. The next episode would have the twins reconciling as Xuthl heals. Ana would explain that the events aren’t tied to her, that she was investigating in her own way, but the true culprit was always one step ahead of her. The siblings would realize that it had to be another Hell-Prince and resolved to work together until the end of this case. The season would continue with a kind of buddy cop dynamic, SatAna taking on the more John Constantine mannerisms and Daimon staying his stoic and easily angered self. Xuthl would be caught in the middle. The penultimate episode would reveal that the main antagonist was Blackheart, Mephisto’s kid. He’d literally tear Xuthl  apart leading into the finale. This thing would be a spectacle of the Blackheart in his full demonic form and Daimon fully embracing his Son of Satan form, dooking it out while Satana used her abilities to open a portal to hell. Daimon sacrifices himself by falling into the portal holding Blackheart, leaving Satana all alone in the world as the only Hellstrom and a wide open narrative going into season two. I would have a post credit stinger of Johnny Blaze, introduced earlier in the season during one of the initial three or four episodes, waking up in a cold sweat, going to the bathroom to splash some water in his face, only to look up at he mirror and see Zarathos. Not Ghost Rider, that comes later, but the demon that powers it, Zarathos. Cut to black, first season over.

This is all hindsight because the show has already released but, i think I've built a far more compelling, far more engaging narrative than what we got. The tone and aesthetic was spot on, i freely admit that. but everything else was just mediocre. With my version, you get great, recognizable branding, a plot that has enough action to keep interests, drama that compels people to continue the binge, and a conclusion that leaves the door open for a second season without presuming it will get one. There is enough here to explore and enough lore introduced to build from but, at he same time, never overextending with the assumption of success. You get to see a ton of that aspect of Marvel that they kind of don’t deal in; Black Heart, Ghost Rider, Hell-Lords, demons, etc. There is a rich and unique spin on that type of stuff and this show, this pedestrian ass, bitterly restrained, budget take on what could have been a real ride.

[jillmckenzie1]

Pressure Drop

As many of us do, the arrival of the year’s end is a time for me to look back. If I were to sum it up, 2019 was all about surprise. Putting aside the absolute insanity of our politics, the year in film has been wild as hell. We saw both the Star Wars and MCU franchises come to a temporary end. We saw films about cathartic cults, flicks involving doppelgangers, and a number of movies examining class warfare. Perhaps strangest of all, we saw one of the best performances of the year delivered by Adam Sandler.

Maybe it’s not so strange, though! I’ll grant you that a cursory look through Sandler’s filmography is dire, to say the least. The majority of his films are bro-ey comedies where he’s doing little more than dicking around with his friends and getting paid for it. I generally don’t begrudge people enjoying a thing, and I’ve read numerous times that Sandler is a genuinely good dude. The sad fact is that his comedies aren’t for me.

It doesn’t matter if they’re for me, because his movies have made billions at the box office. Quite a lot of people love his comedy, and in order to be a successful comedian, you’ve got to have a keen understanding of human behavior. Sandler might play the fool, but he’s far from an idiot. He pays attention and files those little behavioral tics away for later. Once in a while, he’ll even explore the dark side.

Along with his comedies, he’s played a jaded movie star in Funny People, a man annihilated by 9/11 in Reign Over Me, and a desperately lonely entrepreneur in Punch-Drunk Love. When Sandler has the right material — and I’m not kidding here — he can not only hold his own against anyone, but he can also deliver acting that’s skilled and nuanced. Sandler continues to prove that with his bravura performance in the new film Uncut Gems. It’s by no means a film for everyone, but those attuned to its panicky rhythms won’t forget it.

Some people experience addiction through their struggles with drugs or alcohol. Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a little different. There’s a great yawning void inside him that he fills with near-constant chaos. How did he get to that point? We’re never told outright, but brief asides tell us everything we need to know about his likely beginnings and probable end.

Howard operates a store in the midst of Manhattan’s Diamond District. It’s small, claustrophobic, and the dual security entrances give Howard a much-needed buffer between himself and whatever likely pissed-off person he’s dealing with. He’s constantly hustling, and his associate Demany lures in potential clients for wildly overpriced sales. Surrounded by valuable stones, Howard yearns for the deal that will push him over the top.

The acquisition of a black opal from Ethiopia might be the deal he’s waiting for. Sure, Howard feels a connection to it due to the Ethiopian Jews who unearthed it. His larger connection is the upcoming auction of the black opal and its potential value of over one million dollars. Making the deal even sweeter is the arrival of basketball player Kevin Garnett, who sees the opal and is bewitched by it. He asks Howard if he can “hold onto it” for luck at that evening’s game and offers his blinged-out championship ring for collateral. Howard says yes, and this is only the first of many, many poor decisions he’ll make.

You’d think that would be stressful enough for Howard, yet he immediately pawns Kevin’s ring, then takes the money and places a ridiculously big bet on the game. This gets the attention of his brother-in-law and loan shark Arno (Eric Bogosian), to whom he owes a lot of money. He’s accompanied by Phil (Keith Williams Richards) and Nico (Tommy Kominik), two legbreakers who would happily kick Howard’s ass up and down the street. There’s also Howard’s wife Dinah (Idina Menzel), who views him as a loudmouthed joke, and his girlfriend Julia (Julia Fox), who has her own struggles.

In the past, we’ve talked about the twin mistakes filmgoers sometimes make with 1) assuming that the main character of a film should be likable and 2) assuming that a film should be enjoyable. That is nowhere close to correct here, and while Uncut Gems is a hell of a good movie, it’s also a two-hour panic attack of a film that follows around an unrepentant scumbag. Trust me, you won’t be bounding out of the theater with a spring in your step.

Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie have directed a grimy and explosive film that would be right at home in a Times Square theater in the 1970s. Set in a New York City thoroughly scrubbed clean by gentrification, the Safdies specialize in digging between the cracks and showing us the desperate people who view every day as a battle. It’s that desperation that fuels the film, and their pacing is relentless. Layered on top is a pulsing synth-based soundtrack by experimental electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never. He creates a constant environment of unease, never quite allowing viewers to settle in and relax.

Written by the Safdies and Ronald Bronstein, the screenplay is a marvel on several fronts. First, it excels at dropping us into the pure chaos of Howard’s world and revealing character through action. We stick with Howard’s point of view throughout, yet time is always taken to show people reacting to him with bemusement, annoyance, contempt, and rage. The script also understands that, regardless of what a person is addicted to, addiction is a black hole that cannot be filled. That’s the point of addiction, and the screenplay never moralizes and treats Howard as a cautionary tale. We’re dropped into his shoes and taken for the ride, whether we like it or not.

What makes the ride bearable is a lead actor that’s innately likable. Not everybody in film has that warmth, and while I’m a great admirer of Edward Norton’s skill as an actor, he often comes off as cold. If he had played Howard, the movie would have been a nightmare. Adam Sandler’s charisma helps to draw us in, and we worry about the end result of his poor decisions. Howard is a perpetual motion machine, always moving, talking, plotting. He lives on the edge, and he’s driven by delusional goals. Sandler has the fanatic’s gleam in his eye, and he always knows when to crank it up or throttle it back depending on the situation. It’s a performance of enormous skill and discipline that deserves recognition.

Uncut Gems is very much a Your-Mileage-May-Vary kind of film. The Safdie Brothers have zero interest in making a crowd-pleaser. Their artistic ambitions are highly specific, and the kinds of people that adore Adam Sandler movies like Billy Madison and The Wedding Singer will positively despise his newest film. That’s fine since real art has a distinctive point of view and the courage to stand by it. Uncut Gems.is art and it’s one of the best films of the year.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/pressure-drop/