#obviously i have other suggestions unrelated to design or features but that is the one related to this news.

[fungi-maestro]

[littleeyesofpallas]

BLEACH - Resurrección

Baraggan Louisenbarn’s resurrección is,

 髑髏大帝 [アロガンテ]: Arrogante

The katakana アロガンテ is pronounced “A-ro-ga-n’-te” a nice direct transliteration of the Spanish, Arrogante, obviously meaning “Arrogant.”   The Kanji however is basically totally unrelated, 髑髏大帝 meaning 髑髏: “Skull” (esp. weatherbeaten, used as symbol of death) or ”death's head,” and 大帝: “Great Emperor.”

His release call is 朽ちろ “Kuchiro” meaning, “to rot“/“to decay” or “to die in obscurity.“  It’s actually the same word that the family name Kuchiki uses to mean “Rotting/Rotted Tree.”  When you put them all together the imagery does kind of have a unifying theme, but it’s a little nebulous, and if even one of those words isn’t properly explored or conveyed the whole things is lost.  “Decay, Arrogant: Skull Emperor!“ doesn’t really communicate anything sensible, but “Die in obscurity, Arrogant:Old/worn-out skull emperor!“ pulls together better.

Abirama Redder’s resurrección is,

空戦鷲 [アギラ]: Águila

pronounced “A-gi-ra,” approximating the Spanish for "Eagle."  The kanji 空戦鷲 reads 空戦:"Air Battle” as in a “Dog fight” between airplanes and 鷲 :“Eagle."

The release call, 頂を削れ: “Itadaki o kezure" is interestingly handled. Viz uses "Scrape the summit!" which is in fact a pretty literal interpretation of the subject  頂: “summit”/”peak”/”crown (of the head)” and  削れ: “shave”/”sharpen”/”scrape.”  The more liberal interpretation used by some other translators has been “Scalp!” as in to cut the skin(and hair) from the top of someone’s skull.

Both actually seem to fit the theme surprisingly well, and if taken to be a reference to “Scalping” it may be a riff off of Abirama’s general design having vaguely native american aesthetics.

Perhaps my all time favorite case of Kubo’s dissonant naming is Charlotte Chuhlhorne’s resurrección,

宮廷薔薇園ノ美女王 [レイーナ・デ・ロサス]: Reina de Rosas

I think you can tell just by looking that there’s no way these two are direct translations between Japanese and Spanish.  The katakana レイーナ・デ・ロサス is pronounced “Re-ii-na de Ro-sa-su” approximating the Spanish for "Queen of Roses”  which is what Viz wrote as the translation: "Queen of the Roses."  But the kanji actually reads, 宮廷: “Imperial Court,” 薔薇園ノ:Rose Garden’s, 美: “Beautiful” 女王: “Queen;” so his sword’s full meaning is really, “Beautiful Queen of the Royal Court Rose Garden.”  Very different from just “Queen of the Roses.”

The release call 煌めけ: "kirameke" however was actually handled correctly, Viz used "Glitter" which is fairly literal.  “Sparkle” or “Twinkle” would also have been appropriate.  “Kirameke” is also the root of the sound effect, “kirakira” which is supposed to be the sound of sparkling/twinkling/glittering.  Japanese has a curious affinity for onomatopoeia for things that don’t actually make a noise, and it’s used mostly in manga as sound effects.  “Kirakira” is often used not just for the literal reflection of light but for a kind of metaphorical sparkle like energetic or bright attitudes, frequently relating to characters like pop idols; thus the association with Charlotte’s flamboyance.

Next up is Findorr Calius’s

蟄刀流断 [ピンサグーダ]: Pinza Aguda

The katakana ピンサグーダ is pronounced “Pi-n’-sa-guu-da”: Pinza Aguda, Spanish for "Claw, Sharp."  Once again Viz translated the Spanish, not the Japanese, as “Sharp Pincer.”  The kanji  reads 蟄: “Hibernation* (specifically of insects),” 刀流 : “Sword Style,” and 断: “Judgement.” 

*okay so scientifically speaking what crabs do in cold weather isn’t actually called “hibernating” (and neither is what insects do; that’s “torpor.”) at least not in English, but Japanese doesn’t have different distinct terms for all of those so the “hibernating” here is referring to when crabs go dormant, referencing Findorr’s ability to suppress his own power with his mask.

The release call, 水面に刻め: “Minamo ni Kizame” was translated by Viz as "Carve upon the water" which is more or less accurate.  But he specific word,  水面: “Minamo” is a compound of the kanji for “water” and “face” meaning literally, “surface of the water.”  Also, the verb  刻め: “kizame” has a few implications as to its use; it can mean “engrave” or “carve” but also “nick” or in other words a “fine cut.”  The idea is that it specifies a small or shallow mark, so rather than a grand motion of smashing or slashing into the water, the battle call reads more like “break the water’s surface” like emerging thru the surface of the water.  (i.e. a long sleeping crab rising up from the still water.)

and the last of the 4 Dragons, from the Dragons -vs- Ants battles, Choe Neng Poww’s

巨腕鯨 [カルデロン]: Calderón

The katakana カルデロン: “Ka-ru-de-ro-n’" approximates the Spanish Calderon which is both a common name for the "Pilot Whale" as well as a “Cauldron.”  The kanji is largely unrelated and reads, 巨腕鯨 “Gigantic Arm Whale,” which Viz took the liberty of just calling "Great Whale."

His release call, 気吹け: “ibuke” was translated as “Breathe” which isn’t exactly wrong, but the obvious interpretation that was meant here was “Blow” as in from a whale’s blowhole.

In the final stretch here, I know Baraggan’s got too many goons...  Ggio Vega’s resurrección is

虎牙迅風 [ティグレストーク]: Tigre Estoque

The katakana reads ティグレストーク: “Ti-gu-re-Su-too-ku” which is a little clunky but meant to be the Spanish Tigre Estoque, meaning "Tiger Rapier."  The kanji reads 虎牙迅風: "Tiger Fang Swift Wind."  Viz of course translated the Spanish, not the Japanese when they did this.

The release call, 食い千切れ: “kuichigire” means  食い: “Bite” and 千切れ: “Tear off”/”rip to shreds.”  Which doesn’t come across super succinctly in English, but the idea being the command to “rip to pieces with you teeth!”  Viz translated this as “Bite off“ which again is not technically incorrect, but also doesn’t functionally communicate the intended meaning.

and finally...

巨象兵 [マムート]: Mamut

Katakana, マムート: “Ma-muu-to” from Spanish “Mamut” meaning "Mammoth."  All super straight forward.  The kanji just reads  巨象兵:"Gigantic Elephant Soldier.  You can kind of tell Kubo threw this one together without a lot of thought.

The release call is 踏み潰せ: “fumitsubuse." Viz called it "Stomp Down" which is kind of weird considering the phrase pretty commonly can just be translated as “Trample” or “Crush under foot.”

One thing of note, these last two didn’t show up when Baraggan first appeared and only got added into the background as the first 4 fights went on.  They share the feature of being prehistoric animals (a sabertooth tiger and a woolly mammoth) which is actually a play on Baraggan’s own gimmick being age.  But the timing of their addition and the lack of a theme in the first 4 fraccion suggests heavily that Kubo didn’t have a theme in mind until right around the time Ggio and Nirgge showed up.

I’ve got more of these Resurreccion posts btw: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

[scifigeneration]

How people react to the threat of disease could mean COVID-19 is reshaping personalities

by Vivian Zayas

Your body wants you to freak out about germs so you avoid them. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic will be “imprinted on the personality of our nation for a very long time,” predicted Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

No doubt in the future people will mourn those who’ve died and remember the challenges of this period. But how would COVID-19 shape people’s personalities – and into what?

I am a psychology researcher interested in how people’s minds shape, and are shaped by, their life circumstances. Human beings are born into this world ready to deal with basic problems – forming close relationships, maintaining status in groups, finding mates and avoiding disease. People are adaptable, though, and react to the circumstances they find themselves in.

Psychological research suggests that concerns about COVID-19 and social distancing are likely to affect how much people want to socialize with others, what they desire in partners and relationships, and their preferences for more conventional thinking over openness to new experiences.

Viruses, bacteria, parasites – pathogens are all around. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

Psychological traits to keep you safe

Infectious diseases have always posed a threat.

As a result, human beings have evolved a physiological immune system designed to detect and defend against pathogens. This is the realm of antibodies, white blood cells and fevers.

But combating disease requires a lot of physiological effort. This can be a costly trade-off for a body, leaving fewer resources for other life demands, including growth and reproduction.

These physiological defenses are also a reactive strategy with risks. At worst, the immune system can fail, leading to disability or even death. But it can also weaken and become ineffective or even paradoxically work against you, leading to autoimmune disorders.

To deal with pathogen threats in a proactive and less costly way, human beings also have evolved psychological mechanisms to detect and defend against the threat of infectious disease prior to infection. This system is vigilant to cues that signal the possibility of infection. When activated, it triggers strong cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions to help you avoid pathogens – and the people and situations that may harbor them. Reactions such as the disgust you’d feel upon the sight of a decaying carcass, for example, reflect these evolved systems that motivate you to steer clear of germs.

Although spending time with others is generally beneficial to mental and physical health, when there’s a risk of infectious disease, it might have a downside. Interacting with others increases exposure to deadly pathogens and could decrease survival. This, after all, is the impetus for social distancing practices.

Like the physiological immune system, the psychological behavioral immune system is flexible – when you perceive some infection risk, it triggers responses to minimize the danger. One such response is withdrawing from other people and becoming less social.

An outbreak also affects how people date and mate. Of all social activities, sexual acts are obviously the most physically intimate, making one most vulnerable to exposure to transmitted diseases (nonsexual as well as sexual). An outbreak also signals a world that is dangerous and more uncertain, potentially coloring your views of suitable partners.

What changes when the infection threat from being around others outweighs the benefits of socializing? MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Avoiding disease motivates changes

Psychological studies have found that people who perceive themselves as vulnerable to infection are more likely to report being less extroverted, less open to new experiences and having more restricted sociosexual attitudes. They are also more likely to have fewer partners, reflecting a preference for long-term relationships over casual hookups.

But even momentary exposure to information about infectious disease can shape personality, preferences and behavior.

In experiments, psychologists randomly assigned participants to view a slide show featuring information about germs and transmission of contagious disease or, as an innocuous comparison, a presentation about architecture.

Then, ostensibly as part of another, unrelated study, participants completed a personality test. Those who had been exposed to information about pathogens reported being less extroverted. People who perceived themselves as vulnerable to the disease also became less open to experiences and less agreeable after viewing the pathogen information.

In another study, participants who viewed pathogen information, especially those who perceived themselves as vulnerable, showed evidence of automatically avoiding unknown others. When assessing their reflexive, unconscious responses, the researchers found that heightened concerns about pathogens led participants to evaluate strangers more negatively and have heightened tendencies to avoid them.

Other research has shown that exposure to pathogen information shapes preferences for opposite-sex partners. Both men and women showed greater attraction to pictures of people with facial symmetry – a cue of good health and a strong immune system. Psychologists have linked concerns about pathogen infection with a preference for long-term committed relationships over casual flings – an inclination that becomes more pronounced after viewing pathogen information.

These findings are not limited to experimental settings. Scientists have collected some evidence that these in-the-moment responses seem to settle into longer-lasting personality traits.

For example, psychology researchers have investigated the relationship between regions with many endemic infectious diseases and personality traits. Those living in a region with a historically high prevalence of infectious disease showed lower levels of extroversion and were less open to new experiences. In these areas, people also were more restricted in their sociosexual style; they preferred fewer partners and fewer sexual encounters and generally reported being more cautious and inhibited in their sexual interactions.

Other research also converges on how basic preferences about suitable partners reflect changes in the prevalence of infectious disease. Psychologists found that across 29 cultures, parasite prevalence predicted the degree to which individuals prioritized physical attractiveness in mate choice, an observable cue signaling that potential partners are pathogen-free and have strong immune systems that can be passed down to offspring.

Findings like these support the idea that personality – the ways in which you interact with others and the world – is shaped by how your behavioral immune system manages the risk of infectious diseases.

A socially distanced protest in Washington, D.C. Paul Morigi/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

COVID-19’s influence

Cultural norms and practices provide guidelines for how to behave to prevent the spread of disease. Whereas prior to COVID-19 a person sneezing in public might receive a polite “gesundheit,” now it elicits fear. Break the “six feet” rule and you risk an angry exchange, or worse.

The risk of coronavirus is highlighting people’s ability and willingness to follow guidelines for the sake of the community, promoting individuals’ collectivistic side. At the same time, the trade-off is less curiosity, experimentation and willingness to deviate from the status quo – all behaviors that in the face of COVID-19 can increase exposure to pathogens and decrease survival.

The U.S. is only a couple months into social distancing. But COVID-19 is already shaping behavior. People are less social. Dating patterns are disrupted. Effects are emerging even in people’s closest, most established relationships.

Overall the psychological literature supports Fauci’s conclusion that COVID-19 will have enduring effects on the basic ways in which Americans interact with others and the world. Living during a period with a high risk of infection is likely to shape how people view themselves in relation to their community, their feelings and behaviors about dating and sex, their preferences toward conventional thinking and behaviors and their risk-taking in general.

The longer the coronavirus threat lingers, the more these changes may reflect not just changes in momentary behaviors, but changes to more enduring aspects of people’s personalities.

About The Author:

Vivian Zayas is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Cornell University

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[jedwashere]

A Billion Years Away - Chapter Nine

Your World’s Not All It Seems

***

I had the strangest feeling

Your world’s not all it seems

So tired of misconceiving

What else this could have been

***

Commander Alpha-32

Gabriel Lorca’s reaction upon seeing her was… intriguing, to say the least. His eyes widened, his breathing became more rapid, and he stepped back from her.

“This is Commander Alpha-32,” Commodore Lizbeth Hayne said from next to Alpha-32. “Apologies if she looks… unsettling. Or familiar. Or unsettlingly familiar, as the case may be.”

Commodore Hayne chuckled after saying this, implying that she was amused by either the comment or some private thought associated with it (or, possibly, at some unrelated matter, but Alpha-32 calculates the possibility of the humour being unrelated at approximately 0.003%). Gabriel Lorca did not react with similar amusement, instead visibly attempting to restrain his breathing. Alpha-32 ran through the possibilities, and came to the conclusion after almost one whole second of deliberation that it was something to do with her appearance. 0.02 seconds later, she realised that there was a 58% probability (based on Michael Burnham’s logs and the prevalent theories and available data surrounding Gabriel Lorca’s presumed death) that Gabriel Lorca did not, in fact, have positive feelings towards Michael Burnham, and was not, in fact, put at ease by seeing Burnham’s face.

“I understand my appearance is, perhaps, a concern,” she said, keeping her tone as level as possible, “but I selected it to facilitate ease of relatability between the two of us on your new assignment.”

“Ease… ease of relatability,” Lorca repeated. He swallowed, a reflexive reaction to his discomfort. “You - you’re serious?!”

Alpha-32 raised the possibility of Lorca being discomfited to 68%.

“Always,” she said. She attempted a ‘reassuring smile’. “It is my aim to -”

Lorca laughed loudly. Alpha-32 closed her mouth, uncertain how to respond.

“Jesus, you’re joking, Commodore!” the Captain said to Hayne. “You’re joking!”

Commodore Hayne was, in fact, smiling, though whether this meant that she was joking or not, Alpha-32 could not tell.

“Not at all, Captain Lorca,” the Commodore said. Alpha-32 calculated a 74% possibility that this statement was a falsehood. “Alpha-32 is a specially-designed Android -”

“A gynoid, technically, ma’am,” Alpha-32 cut in. The technicality was important, after all.

“- made to operate smoothly on Starfleet ships,” Hayne finished, still smiling.

“She’s a robot?!” Lorca hissed, looking even more discomforted.

At this, the Commodore’s expression became less amused. “She’s a fully fledged officer, with rights and responsibilities like any Federation citizen.”

Incorrect, Alpha-32 wanted to say. Her internal database, almost as an involuntary response, came up with nine hundred and forty seven separate instances that proved that she, and others like her, were not equal to organic officers in the slightest. But saying that would prove impolitic, of that she was sure.

Lorca swallowed again. “May I speak with you in private, Commodore?”

“Nope,” Hayne said quickly. “I have the rest of your crew to prepare for you, and a ship. And you have an XO to get to know.”

She left without another word, leaving Alpha-32 alone with the Captain. She considered her next words extremely carefully: in the two seconds between the Commodore’s departure and her next sentence, she had calculated over eighteen thousand potential things to say.

“My apologies,” she finally said, tilting her head. “I was not aware that you would have an adverse reaction to this appearance.”

That was not, strictly, true. She had calculated that there was a possibility he would react negatively - but she had only calculated it at 18.2%. That had clearly been an error, and proof (if proof were needed) that she still needed more practical experience with organic personnel.

Lorca took a breath, before finally replying. “You’re a robot.”

“The correct term is Artificial Intelligence,” Alpha-32 corrected gently.

“And you’re fully qualified to be a Starfleet Officer?” he asked.

It was a valid concern from a Starfleet Officer from the 23rd Century, and so she responded more fully than she might otherwise have elected to. “I was commissioned seven months ago. Six months of that was spent doing what I believe is termed ‘running in’ of my systems. One month ago, I chose to enter Starfleet. I was fast-tracked to this position.”

He didn’t reply, and a brief analysis of his body language suggested that he had not even really been listening.

“Would you prefer to be left alone for the moment?” Alpha-32 asked after three seconds of waiting for a response.

It was another three seconds before he replied. “I would like you to go somewhere and meet me here in… one hour. When you do, I want a crew list and a series of specs for the Exeter-class.”

Alpha-32 nodded. This was obviously an effort to dismiss her from his presence, but he had requested that she do something useful, and so she did not object.

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“And Commander…” Lorca added, before pausing and sighing. “Do I have to use the full thing?”

To Alpha-32’s proverbial shame (indeed, she was certain that if she ever activated her emotional circuits she would be thoroughly embarrassed by it), she had yet to choose a name beyond the factory-standard name she had been assigned.

“The name ‘Alpha-32’ is only a placeholder, sir,” she told him. She tilted her head. “If you like, I could always pick another.”

She had certainly given that topic a lot of thought. Annabelle, Lilith, Geraldine, Gertrude, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Sarah, T’meni, T’prea, Saavo, Va’lya...

“Whatever,” Lorca said, waving a hand in a clearly dismissive manner. “Call yourself Robbie the Robot for all I care.”

“I am not a robot,” she told him.

“I don’t give a damn,” Lorca snapped at her, “just go.”

Alpha-32 nodded, and left without another word. Lorca was clearly now reaching an emotional point where he truly had nothing to say to her, and antagonising him seemed unwise.

And, after all, she had a report to give.

***

Lorca.

Lorca blinked, stepping back slightly. The woman - MichaelMichaelMichael - was staring at him impassively.

“This is Commander Alpha-32,” Hayne said, motioning to the woman with a small smile. “Apologies if she looks… unsettling. Or familiar. Or unsettlingly familiar, as the case may be.”

Hayne chuckled, as if at some private joke, which was a joke in itself since this joke was so insultingly obvious. Lorca was too shocked to call her out on it, though. He tried to steady his breathing. Calm down, calm down, calm down…

“I understand my appearance is, perhaps, a concern,” Alpha-32 (MICHAEL!) said evenly, “but I selected it to facilitate ease of relatability between the two of us on your new assignment.”

“Ease… ease of relatability,” Lorca repeated, swallowing. “You - you’re serious?!”

“Always,” Alpha-32 said. A very slight, very un-Michael smile graced her features. “It is my aim to -”

Lorca laughed, a wild, desperate thing. “Jesus, you’re joking, Commodore! You’re joking!”

Hayne’s expression was unsettlingly friendly. “Not at all, Captain Lorca. Alpha-32 is a specially-designed Android -”

“A gynoid, technically, ma’am,” Alpha-32 cut in.

“- made to operate smoothly on Starfleet ships,” Hayne finished, still smiling.

“She’s a robot?!” Lorca hissed.

Hayne’s smile faded somewhat. “She’s a fully fledged officer, with rights and responsibilities like any Federation citizen.”

Had either of the humans been paying attention, they might have seen a flash of something in Alpha-32’s eyes. But neither were, and her expression returned to the neutral smile in short order.

Lorca swallowed. “May I speak with you in private, Commodore?”

“Nope,” Hayne said glibly. “I have the rest of your crew to prepare for you, and a ship. And you have an XO to get to know.”

Without another word, she turned around and left, leaving Lorca alone with… her.

Michael. Not Michael. Michael. Not. Not. Not.

“My apologies,” Alpha-32 said after a moment, tilting her head. “I was not aware that you would have an adverse reaction to this appearance.”

How else am I supposed to react?! Lorca thought, but he took a breath, willing himself to be back in control.

“You’re a robot,” he said again.

“The correct term is Artificial Intelligence,” Alpha-32 said evenly.

“And you’re fully qualified to be a Starfleet Officer?” he asked reflexively.

“I was commissioned seven months ago,” she replied. “Six months of that was spent doing what I believe is termed ‘running in’ of my systems. One month ago, I chose to enter Starfleet. I was fast-tracked to this position.”

Lorca wasn’t really listening to her, so caught up he was in what she looked like, what she represented. He sat back down, putting his head in his hands, not caring that it made him look rattled. Dammit, he was rattled!

“Would you prefer to be left alone for the moment?” Alpha-32 asked.

Lorca swallowed. “I would like you to go somewhere and meet me here in…” How long do I need? Is any amount of time enough? “One hour.” Nice, round figure. “When you do, I want a crew list and a series of specs for the Exeter-class.”

“Yes, sir,” Alpha-32 said, smiling in that neutered, emotionless way she seemed to. It looked entirely wrong on Michael Burnham’s face.

“And Commander…” He paused, sighing. “Do I have to use the full thing?”

“The name ‘Alpha-32’ is only a placeholder, sir,” she replied with another of those empty smiles. She tilted her head. “If you like, I could always pick another.”

“Whatever,” Lorca said, waving a hand. “Call yourself Robbie the Robot for all I care.”

“I am not a robot,” she said, her head still tilted.

“I don’t give a damn,” Lorca snapped, “just go.”

Alpha-32 nodded, and left without another word. Lorca stayed sat, his mind reeling, and feeling once again that horrible combination - the loss of everything he had ever had, and something worse. The fear that none of it had ever mattered in the first place.

***

Commodore Hayne’s office.

Commander Alpha-32.

“Your opinion?” Commodore Hayne asked her a few minutes later in the Commodore’s office. She had her hands clasped in front of her in what Alpha-32’s body-language analysis subroutine told her was a professional manner. There was an 82.6714 percent chance that this was an affectation.

Alpha-32’s response was clinical and to-the-point as she sat down in front of the Commodore. “Difficulty trusting others, certainty. Paranoia, probably. PTSD, strong possibility.”

“And your suggestions for dealing with these issues?” Hayne continued.

Alpha-32 considered the options at her disposal, then reconsidered them. There were a vast number of possible actions and alternative outcomes, and calculating the best course became increasingly difficult when factoring in Gabriel Lorca’s eccentricities.

One and a half seconds later, she answered Hayne’s question. “First I must gain his trust. This will be achieved through acts of kindness that appease him on an emotional level, and by remaining attentive to his emotional needs throughout our assignment.”

Hayne paused at that. “How, exactly, will you ‘appease him on an emotional level’?”

Alpha-32 immediately listed her top two suggestions: humans and other organic beings tended to lose focus once she went beyond two options, especially if she decided to go into detail about those options (which, naturally, she did). And all Hayne did was blink at her.

“Oh,” she said after a moment. “That… might actually work.”

Alpha-32 didn’t have active emotional circuits - having considered activating them during her training, she had come to the conclusion that keeping them active was detrimental to the potential efficiency of an officer. Nonetheless, she allowed herself a brief bit of detached, logical satisfaction at the Commodore’s response.

***

Hayne.

“Your opinion?” Hayne began without preamble as Alpha-32 entered her office.

The android/gynoid/artificial intellegence/actualised intelligence/whatever the hell you were supposed to call them nowadays sat down, and tilted her head.

“Difficulty trusting others, certainty,” she began. “Paranoia, probably. PTSD, strong possibility.”

“And your suggestions for dealing with these issues?” Hayne asked her.

There was only a minuscule pause before Alpha-32 answered. “First I must gain his trust. This will be achieved through acts of kindness that appease him on an emotional level, and by remaining attentive to his emotional needs throughout our assignment.”

There was a momentary silence as Hayne considered this, and then she took a breath.

“How, exactly, will you ‘appease him on an emotional level’?” Please don’t say sex, please don’t say sex, please don’t say sex…

Truth be told, Hayne didn’t mind if Alpha-32 did use sex as a means of controlling Lorca. It hadn’t escaped her notice, after all, that Alpha-32 had chosen Michael Burnham’s face and form. That had been a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one once it became clear how much it broke Lorca down. Hayne didn’t want the man completely broken, of course - skilled Captains you could rely upon were rare, skilled Captains you had a hold on were like the proverbial diamonds - but an off-guard officer was one you could control. She had to admit, he’d reacted a lot more vehemently than expected.

And then, Alpha-32 told her.

“Oh,” Hayne said, blinking in surprise. “That… might actually work.”

“Then I have your permission to proceed?” Alpha-32 asked.

“Go ahead,” Hayne said, grinning. If it works out, we’ll have Gabriel Lorca on our side forever.

***

Lorca.

While he was waiting, he figured it would be a good idea if he read more up on the centuries of history he had missed, though he didn’t find anything interesting.

In truth, it was more to distract himself than anything else. He knew his heart wasn’t in it. It was too full of thoughts - Michael, that robot/android/gynoid/whatever that looked like her, the smirk on Hayne’s face when she’d stepped into the waiting room…

If that wasn’t part of her plan, I’m a damn gormagander, he thought with a scowl.

“Captain Lorca?” that too-familiar voice spoke. Lorca closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath.

After a moment, he opened them and stood. Sure enough, there was ‘Alpha-32’, staring at him with that neutral expression.

“What?” he asked, with as much dignity as he could muster.

“It has been one hour,” she said evenly. “I have done as you requested.”

She held out a PADD. Lorca took it without another word and looked it over. Sure enough, it was the specs on It seemed relatively straightforward: 23 decks, crew of 400, nearly 400 metres long (which seemed quite small compared to the Terran Starship Novalis, or even to Jallistra’s Enterprise, but Lorca knew that size wasn’t everything in a Starship), fore and aft mounted phasers and torpedo launchers, capable of supporting a variety of science missions (yay)…

“There is also a crew manifest, sir,” Alpha-32 said in what might have been an attempt at a ‘helpful’ tone.

Lorca just gave a noncommittal grunt, before tapping a control. There was a collection of names and thumbnail images, nothing he considered noteworthy at present.

“I realise, Captain, that this entire experience has doubtless been somewhat harrowing,” Alpha-32 said, her tone still infuriatingly pleasant, so unlike Michael’s own (but why, Gabriel, would you want this machine to be like… her?). “If you like, we can go visit your ship and allow you to acquaint yourself with her personally.”

Lorca took a deep breath. He wanted to say no. Actually, he wanted to punch her: to break his fists on her jaw, to knock her to the ground. He wanted to shout, to scream, to yell until his throat went raw.

“Alright,” he said instead, sighing wearily. “Have at it.”

What else was there left to do?

***

[transformers-art-showcase]

P.A.T.C.H. #06: "Life After the Big Bang"

There’s a common rule of thumb when it comes to comics: you can jump in when you see a new #1 on the cover. If not, be wary –you’re not gonna get it, you’ve skipped episodes, you’re missing out. Well, you know what? Nuts to that! We here at P.A.T.C.H. like to stick it to common sense and provide a halfway decent explanation for it! So here we are, presenting a story from possibly the most popular “Transformers” comics title ever that is not a number 1 and provides a satisfying, complete story with connections to more! Enjoy! ... No, seriously, did it take us that long to talk MTMTE?!

“LIFE AFTER THE BIG BANG”

“The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye” #4-5 (2012)/ “Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye” Volume 2

Written by James Roberts, pencils by Alex Milne, colors by Josh Burcham, letters by Shawn Lee The amazing sogn for this wondrous edition of P.A.T.C.H.: https://youtu.be/tvqlt7OWTOk https://open.spotify.com/track/4p82pfEa4cayPqXLN6Rhzm

SO WHAT’S IT ABOUT? After receiving a cryptic, worrisome message, Autobot medic Ratchet, turncoat Autobot Drift and bad luck magnet Pipes land on the medical outpost of Delphi on the planet Messatine to investigate. Faced with a motley crew of doctors and patients and a deadly epidemic, our heroes have to rush both against unexpected enemies and their own worsening health... Oh, and Tailgate and Red Alert aren’t doing so hot on the ship, either. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW? The opening blurbs mostly fill you in on everything: the recent end of the Autobot-Decepticon War, the proposal to search for the fabled Knights of Cybertron (“Death of Optimus Prime” one-shot), the open invitation by captain Rodimus into the starship “Lost Light” and its disastrous launch (“More Than Meets the Eye” #1). Other than that, the rest are character threads picked up from previous issues of the series and can be ignored for now, to focus on the stand-alone nature of the thing. Still, let’s go over some major ones. In terms of pre-existing character development, the most pressing issue would be Drift’s dramatic arc(s). Although he first appeared in “All Hail Megatron” #5, he already had a pretty long history behind him, mostly outlined in the first “Drift” mini-series. In those four issues (written by Shane McCarthy, penciled by Alex Milne, colored by Josh Perez and lettered by Chris Mowry), it was revealed that Drift started out as destitute and homeless before the War, and so the Decepticon vision of equality appealed to him greatly. (Not to mention giving him an outlet for his pent-up rage.) He was renamed “Deadlock” and garnered a reputation of cruelty and efficiency. That is, until a disobedience episode, an escape attempt and a brief stint with the Circle of Light, a group of pacifist warrior-scholars, changed that. Following that, he bumped into the Wreckers (“Spotlight: Drift”, written by Shane McCarthy, penciled by Casey Coller, colored by Joana Lafuente and lettered by Chris Mowry) and started associating with the Autobots, with whom he stayed for the next few years, up to the second confrontation with the Dead Universe forces (“Chaos”, written by Mike Costa and James Roberts, with art by Livio Ramondelli and letters by Chris Mowry, which we’ve briefly talked about here). One near-death experience later, he emerged as a cheerful spiritualist, much to one famous medic’s annoyance. Just this once, Ratchet’s wrong –this latest rendition of the character is one of his most popular ones, and even if you’re not interested in his pre-history, you can go by what is said about him easily. Though Tailgate is (rather famously) one of the breakout stars of the series, it’s not he who has the more extensive history, but his roomie Cyclonus. An ancient warrior and comrade of deranged megalomaniac Nem-, excuse me, completely stable individual Nova Prime’s, he was an undead creature under the sway of the Dead Universe for a long time (“Revelation”, written by Simon Furman and drawn by various artists). He later joined fellow Golden Age survivor Galvatron and his reformed army against Cybertron (“Chaos” and “Heart of Darkness”... I think so, at least). Following the betrayal of his commander for the love of his home planet, he joined the “Lost Light” after a misunderstanding (and beating up Whirl, but that’s perfectly normal). He’s been warned at least one on his violent tendencies by Rodimus and has expressed his doubts over the entire War; can he really make a fresh start with these people? Finally, and although that could be considered a bit of a spoiler, certain details –locations, characters, even phrases– first appeared or were mentioned in “Last Stand of the Wreckers”, and specifically its trade paperback editions. Click here to get there immediately and (hopefully) get a few good reasons to check out the book yourselves! WHERE DO I GO FROM THERE? To all of “More Than Meets the Eye”, obviously! These two issues, apart from being stand-alone, plant the seeds for so much more down the road, it’s dizzying! Keep up with the series, where all the characters mentioned here receive further development, and when you’re done, be sure to jump in on “Lost Light”, its continuation. If, however, you want to go to specific arcs from the first season of the series based on individual elements (most by the same team as this issue), I’d suggest “Shadowplay” (issues #7-9 or Volume 3) for Ratchet’s past with Drift (and Red Alert’s troubles), “Remain in Light” (#17-21 or Volume 5) for the comeback of Ratchet’s antagonist, “Before and After” and “Cybertronian Homesick Blues” (#12 and #13, both in Volume 4) for Cyclonus and Tailgate’s continuing development and “Under Cold Blue Stars” (issue #15 or Volume 4) for Pipes’ shining moment. Reader discretion is advised: at least one of these stories is known to cause intense pain in the feels. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Finally, make sure to pick up the dual 2012 Annuals for “More Than Meets The Eye” and “Robots in Disguise” (both contained in Volume 3 of their respective trade collections). Both are split in two. One half of their stories are the adventures of the present cast interacting with a Titan, a huge Transformer from the distant past. The other half, drawn by artist Guido Guidi (who also colors his work) in the style of the old Marvel “Transformers” series (as well as various “cosmic”, high sci-fi titles of the publisher), provides added world-building and backstory for the entire universe. While seemingly unrelated, the origin stories explain a few holes in the pasts of key characters (Cyclonus was young once?! And he knew Dai Atlas, too?!) and become vital later on, especially in the finale of “Lost Light”. IS IT ANY GOOD? It was a satisfying mystery that showcased how unique this world and its characters are. It featured the evolution of a true master artist. It introduced about a trillion things in 44 pages. It provided us with proof that Ratchet is, and shall forever be, one of the greatest things we have ever produced in this miserable world. WAIT, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT DRIFT?! Oh yeah, he’s there, too! Did I forget that? Never mind, song, playlist, go!

AND YOU THINK YOU'VE FIGURED OUT EVERYTHING | PLOT AND DIALOGUE While the format of this story isn’t unfamiliar, even for this feature (this is our third mystery, after “Windblade” and “Punishment”), what separates this one is how dense it is. Within the first three pages of the story, we’re introduced to three characters, one location and an impending threat, all unrelated to the main cast so far. Various techniques –unreliable journal narration, dialogue insertion, two-page spread– are mixed to give everyone as much character as possible and make everyone suspect for what’s going on. And the onslaught of detail doesn’t stop there. This is the kind of story that would’ve been impossible with any other type of property, even a sci-fi one: the very idea of transformation is integral to how it works. Alt-mode details, in-universe cultural views, even having the ability to change shape are used both as world-building and clues for the mystery. This is the kind of story that makes the casual, vaguely interested reader into a devotee and forces them to go back and reread it to get all the foreshadowing. This applies to the dialogue, too. Roberts’ language, which we’ve seen before here, has been praised as snappy and quotable (Ratchet and Drift here, full stop), but it also shows a deep appreciation for all “Transformers” lore. The famous joke on the best names being taken, for example? Done at the expense of an obscure character from a previous generation reusing the name “Prowl”. If there’s one downside to all that, it’s that some scene transitions can be a little clumsy (Red Alert’s scenes, though important for later, come a bit out of left field), but it’s a small price to pay for the excellence on display.

Hark! What is that I see? A vessel is leaving the port! The sirens of the “S. S. Dratchet” are blaring! All aboard! FEELING SPACED BREATHING OUT LISTERINE | ART And speaking of excellence, the team of Alex Milne and Josh Burcham are on fire here. The amount of detail, fluidity and expressiveness on all pre-existing characters is incredible, but the new designs are a triumph on their own. Most will be distracted by Pharma (I know I was!), but it’s Ambulon’s story-important form that’s the real star here. In general, however, there’s incredible synergy between the art and the story. Background details (First Aid’s badge collection) and actions (again, First Aid’s fiddling in the second issue) are as important as anything else to solve the mystery, so make sure you read slowly and pay attention. In general, Milne’s able to pack an incredible amount of information into very tight pages. The best example is probably Drift attacking another character and transforming in a single, enlarged panel and a few mini, inserted ones. Lastly, the backgrounds need to be highlighted. The arrival to the outpost and the climax excluded, all scenes are set indoors, but the art doesn’t feel constrained by them. Instead, it has two different approaches to interior spaces. Everything in Delphi looks used, dented, past its prime –even the very walls feel grimy. This makes it the polar opposite to the brightly lit, spacey rooms of the “Lost Light”, full of inviting light blues and pinks (the violent outburst in Cyclonus’ room is the exception). Burcham’s richly textured work favors faded browns, sickly greens and rusted reds –the liquid of the mysterious disease looks eerily much like blood. Two flashback-montage sequences (Tailgate’s narration and the final explanation for the outbreak of the epidemic) are much freer in panel construction and dreamier in color pallet, but are once again tight and informative. Add to this some splashes of robo-gore and the unobtrusive lettering (Pharma’s silent speech bubble and use of a laser scalpel is another small miracle) and this is an artistic five-course meal.

Pssst. Nobody tell Pipes “corpse-pile” isn’t an actual game. Let him figure it out on his own. YOU'D KILLED THE BETTER PART OF ME | CHARACTERS AND THEMES But, if you’ll let me get personal for a moment, despite all the above gushing, my favorite element in this story is still its protagonist. Ratchet’s arc in IDW has been one defined by his old age, not a unique element in the franchise –same goes for his “Animated” and “Prime” incarnations, after all. Where this medic separates himself, however, is how he’s tied to the larger themes of reconstruction and moral grayness. The characters of this universe are no strangers to morally questionable actions –we have already seen one such early demonstration from the Autobots on this feature–, but the culprit behind the Delphi disease really takes the cake. He claims all sorts of survivalist justifications for his criminal actions, but the one that rubs the worst are his similarities to Ratchet –he calls attention to them to buy time and out of a need to show off, in traditional “baddie” fashion. And that hurts. After all the effort to end the war, there’s still rot, (literal and figurative) disease and evil. How long can anyone hold onto their ideals in such a world? Won’t these ideals be corrupted, sooner or later? Why not just copy the bad guy’s tactics? If such violence is justified, why not snap and kill the bastard already? Why remain selfless and sacrificial –isn’t it tiring? The villain’s charm and Ratchet’s moral dilemma play off of each other wonderfully through Roberts’ snarky dialogue, and the final stinger remains uncomfortable. In the b-plot, this theme is further emphasized with Tailgate and Cyclonus’ scenes, where the senior bot berates the younger one on choosing a faction knowing little of their world. The younger characters introduced do offer another view –that there can be hope for the future-, so there really is no final closure offered. Instead, I wish to end this paragraph with the words of another great author: “Life persists”.

Even beaten down, rusting from the inside out and minutes before death, Ratchet is still cooler and more presentable than all of us at our best. BUT I CAN'T STILL FOCUS ON ANYTHING | FINAL THOUGHTS While reading this story again for this feature, I had flashes of my first time reading it a few years back. At that point, I hadn’t been completely sold on “Transformers”, but processing the facts and the details and the character beats here, I started seeing that there was something great about them. “More Than Meets the Eye” is a special book, the perfect gateway to a rich, complex, beautiful universe and introduced me to one of my faves. This wasn’t the story that blew me away (that might come up later), but it definitely was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[aion-rsa]

How The Dark Knight’s Canceled Game Accidentally Changed Gaming

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The canceled video game adaptation of The Dark Knight is one of the more fascinating and infamous pieces of game industry lore. To some, the title is just a curious footnote in video game history. To others (mostly those who invested in the project or lost their jobs over it), it’s a dark reminder of an idea that is perhaps best left forgotten.

I see the game a little differently, though. While it’s easy to look at these kinds of projects that were never released and wonder what could have been, the fascinating thing about the canceled Dark Knight game is that wondering what would have happened if the game had been released is the quickest way to distract yourself from the many ways that the world of gaming was changed by the fact it wasn’t released.

Those who worked on The Dark Knight never got to properly share their efforts with the world, but that doesn’t mean that the canceled adaptation didn’t (perhaps unintentionally) help change gaming forever.

The Dark Knight Was Too Ambitious For its Own Good

While it’s rarely ever talked about today, 2005’s Batman Begins (a video game adaptation of the film of the same name) caught a lot of people by surprise. It wasn’t great, but it was a simple and solid action game that allowed people to easily play out the major events of the movie they had suddenly become enamored with. So far as that goes, it didn’t hurt that the adaptation featured the voices and likeness of many of the film’s actors.

Inspired by that game’s success, Elevation Partners later acquired the rights for a video game based on Christopher Nolan’s just green-lit Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. EA would once again publish the adaptation, but this time, development duties were given to Pandemic Studios: the team best known at that time for their work on Star Wars: Battlefront and Mercenaries.

Everything that we know about the early days of The Dark Knight‘s development (much of which comes from this 2016 report on the project) suggests that it was initially intended to be a fairly straightforward follow-up to the Batman Begins game. That is to say that it was going to be a linear action/adventure game with stealth elements and a plot based on the film.

However, things changed drastically when the Brisbane branch of Pandemic that was working on The Dark Knight decided to use the open-world game engine (Odin) that the Los Angeles division of the company had developed for The Saboteur. Inspired by what they saw, the Brisbane team decided to convert The Dark Knight into an open-world game that they felt better represented the scope and spirit of Nolan’s films as well as some of the studio’s own work on previous hit open-world titles.

This is where things got really interesting. During the project’s conversion to an open-world title, Pandemic’s Brisbane team focused on more ambitious gameplay concepts that wouldn’t have been possible (or at least as interesting) in a linear setting. For instance, the team intended to allow players to navigate Gotham City by foot, by grappling hook, and via vehicles that included the Batmobile. These transportation options could be accessed at will and would make it easier for the player to complete the various side quests that the team intended to populate the world with.

It wasn’t just open-world innovations that increased the scope of Pandemic’s design efforts. For example, it’s been reported that Pandemic intended to emphasize the stealth elements that Batman Begins featured in a relatively limited capacity. The idea of an open-world game that emphasized stealth gameplay was something of a rare beast at that time, but it all supported that grander idea of making a game that felt true to the Nolan version of the character as well as classic Batman concepts.

That level of ambition is always appreciated, but Pandemic quickly discovered that the Odin engine was woefully ill-equipped to handle what they were working on. Even after they got the engine to simply load the assets without crashing, the team was unable to solve the truly terrible frame rates that made the game essentially unplayable throughout large chunks of the development process. It soon became clear that using this engine to create the open-world game that Pandemic had in mind was going to take a long time if it was going to work at all.

Unfortunately, time is the last thing the team had. In fact, it was time that ultimately killed the game.

Read more

Movies

Batman: Soul of the Dragon – Bringing a Little Bruce Lee to Bruce Wayne’s World

By Gene Ching

Comics

How The Next Batman Sets Up a New Saga for the Dark Knight

By John Saavedra

The Dark Knight’s Biggest Problem May Have Been the Film It Was Based On

It’s actually kind of funny that Pandemic was so determined to do justice to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight considering that they had very little input from anyone associated with the film throughout the early days of the game’s development.

The earliest versions of The Dark Knight game used placeholder assets built to run on PS2 technology. Both the outdated technology and the use of temporary assets largely unrelated to the upcoming film were something of a necessity as the team knew virtually nothing about the movie during the early days of development. It’s even been reported that some of the early looks they did receive (such as the design of The Joker), would later be changed as the production of The Dark Knight movie evolved. Art and test footage of the project suggests they eventually got a pretty good look at the final film, but that seems to have happened somewhere around the time that the title’s technical problems emerged.

The biggest burden The Dark Knight film put on Pandemic, though, was the movie’s July 2008 release date. Just as they had done with Batman Begins, EA was determined to have The Dark Knight game released alongside the film. However, it became increasingly clear that the game’s technical issues could not be resolved by that rapidly approaching deadline.

While it was decided that the team could instead release the game in December just as The Dark Knight debuted on DVD and Blu-Ray, that plan was shockingly derailed when Gary Oldman talked to G4 about what he had seen of the project. Seemingly unaware that the game was supposed to be kept a secret, Oldman got everyone asking questions about a title that was still plagued with technical problems and unlikely to make even the extended release window that EA had opened for Pandemic.

The project officially came to an end in October 2008 when EA decided to shut it all down over a lack of substantial progress and increased scrutiny. Some of those who remained at Pandemic’s Brisbane studio throughout the course of the troubled development process were offered the chance to go to the L.A. offices and work on The Saboteur. However, that lifeboat didn’t stay afloat for long as Pandemic was shut down entirely in 2009. It’s estimated that EA lost about $100 million in revenue by not releasing The Dark Knight and having to eat the project’s development costs.

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Considering that some close to The Dark Knight game have stated that the project’s problems were slowly being resolved by the end of 2008, it’s possible that the game may have eventually been released were it not so closely tied to the movie in terms of its design, story, and publicity. At the very least, EA may have eventually figured that it was better to eventually release something rather than just cancel the game and eat all the losses.

The cancelation of The Dark Knight game should also spell the end of its story, influence, and legacy. However, that’s not what happened. Actually, The Dark Knight lived on in several remarkable ways.

The Fallout of The Dark Knight’s Cancelation Includes The Saboteur, Arkham Asylum, and Shadow of Mordor

While none of us have ever actually played The Dark Knight, there are a few games that followed which some feel offer a glimpse at the project’s bigger ideas.

The first was The Saboteur. While that project was in development during much of The Dark Knight‘s own development cycle (and was thus not necessarily directly influenced by the “fallout” of its cancelation), the parallels between the projects are fascinating. Besides obviously featuring a version of the same engine, The Saboteur also featured open environments, stealth sequences, vehicles, and an emphasis on moody urban settings. It’s hardly “Batman without Batman,” but it’s hard to look at that game and not see a few hints at what The Dark Knight could have been.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is quite possibly the biggest game that was strangely influenced by The Dark Knight‘s cancelation. The story goes that Monolith Productions hoped to create a game based on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises or a Batman game designed to be released close to that movie’s debut. In fact, they reportedly started to work on such a project before they even had the official rights to the movie.

Unfortunately, those rights never came. There’s some debate about this part of the story, but it sounds like the biggest problem was that Nolan never signed off on the adaptation. Some suspect his hesitancy was due to his dissatisfaction with The Dark Knight‘s cancelation and perhaps his skepticism regarding the very idea of these quick-hit video game adaptations.

Not all was lost, though. Monolith reportedly decided to take their early work on that Batman game and transfer it to a title based on The Lord of the Rings. There’s some debate regarding how closely Shadow of Mordor resembles the early Dark Knight Rises project, but it’s believed that the former’s famous Nemesis system may have been based on an idea that the team would have used to generate thugs in Gotham City. It’s even been said that early versions of Shadow of Mordor featured a Batman character model in place of the eventual protagonist.

Of course, it’s impossible to talk about The Dark Knight without talking about Arkham Asylum. Considering that Arkham Asylum was announced in 2008 during the final days of The Dark Knight‘s development, it’s unlikely that developer Rocksteady Studios was heavily inspired by that project. That said, the similarities are hard to ignore. Both featured an emphasis on stealth gameplay, both were larger and more ambitious than many of the Batman games that came before, and Arkham City and Arkham Knight would even feature open-world elements similar to the concepts reportedly considered for The Dark Knight.

It’s fascinating to live in a world where two Batman games that were worked on during the same rough time period ended up so differently. The Dark Knight was canceled and is probably remembered best by those at EA and former Pandemic employees as a $100 million failure that helped trigger the end of a beloved studio and the careers of the people who worked at it. Arkham Asylum, meanwhile, is widely considered to be not just the best Batman game ever made but one of the most important 3D action titles ever. Its influence is even felt in the aforementioned Shadow of War.

For that matter, it’s also difficult not to dwell on the fact that The Dark Knight was tied to one of the most beloved movies of its era while Arkham Asylum was loosely based on the Batman comics and ’90s animated series. Actually, that difference is also ultimately part of The Dark Knight‘s greatest legacy.

The Dark Knight Helped End a Dark Era For Movie and Superhero Adaptations

The Dark Knight‘s investors and publishers seemingly saw the game as an extension of the movie it was based on. Like a more expensive and more ambitious Happy Meal toy, they seemingly figured the project’s true value was as a piece of promotional merchandise that those who loved the movie would buy simply by virtue of its association.

If Pandemic had been less ambitious in their efforts and simply delivered a relatively simple action/adventure game based on The Dark Knight, it almost certainly could have been a hit. The Dark Knight wasn’t only the highest-grossing movie of 2008: it’s a cultural touchstone that’s influence is still felt to this day.

Yet, by choosing to instead focus on making a game that was perhaps too ambitious for its own good, the Pandemic team ended up influencing video games in a more lasting way by helping to bring an end to an era when most gamers assumed that a major film release would be accompanied by a video game tie-in and that the video game based on that movie would probably be quite bad. After all, the practice of releasing adaptations alongside films was so common that most people just assumed there was a Dark Knight video game in development long before it was ever accidentally confirmed by Gary Oldman.

Funnily enough, though, many of the best games based on movies released up until that point weren’t directly tied to a new film. GoldenEye 007 was released nearly two years after the movie, Tron 2.0 was released over 20 years after the Tron movie, and some of the best Star Wars games ever were far removed from the release dates (and plots) of the movies. It’s not that there weren’t good games designed to be released alongside movies but rather that history had shown that the best games based on such properties typically took time to carve their own identities. The other kind of adaptation was often reserved for studios looking for a quick buck.

The Dark Knight‘s estimated nine-figure losses almost certainly helped change that dynamic. Suddenly, games based on properties released closer to their own terms (a list of titles that includes Mad Max, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, Shadow of Mordor, and many others) were not only selling well but garnering widespread praise in the process. With the idea that at least a game based on a new movie suddenly not as sound as it once was, we saw more and more studios turn to looser adaptations to get the best out of an established property without being restricted by a movie or show’s release date.

In some ways, it’s hard not to wonder what that change in philosophy meant for the last 12+ years of gaming. Would we have gotten a Dark Knight Rises game if The Dark Knight had been released? Would Marvel had been quicker to greenlight a series of titles based on MCU movies? Would we soon be playing a Justice League game based on the Snyder Cut rather than waiting for Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad project?

It’s hard to know the answers to those questions, but I still feel like we ended up in the better timeline (at least so far as adaptations and licensed games go). I would have loved to play a game based on The Dark Knight, but I would have wanted it to be the game that Pandemic envisioned and not the one they could have released in time. In some ways, I feel like I have been lucky enough to play several excellent games in recent years that are more in-line with their intended vision.

While I don’t believe the studio secretly served as a saboteur meant to crash the quick hit tie-in industry, I wonder if they can’t help but smile at the idea that their own ambitions are still being felt all these years later.

The post How The Dark Knight’s Canceled Game Accidentally Changed Gaming appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[maddiviner]

Greetings, everyone. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. I’m here tonight to present you with a short guide to Tumblr for witches who may be interested in starting a blog here. 

This post is obviously geared towards witches wandering the internet, but maybe some who are already here on Tumblr will enjoy it, too. I’ll be talking about the benefits to joining the Tumblr witch community, as well as some tips for getting started! Here we go!

What’s a “Tumblr witch?”

There’ve been culture-related magazines that have done huge articles on “Tumblr witches” and the witchcraft community on Tumblr, painting the whole thing as some kind of fashion trend or weird millennial hangout. 

I’ve been involved with the Tumblr witch community for three years, and I can say that most of these articles don’t quite reflect what the witchcraft community on Tumblr is like. 

A lot of them tend to paint it as an ideologically, culturally, and aesthetically monolithic trend, when in reality, it’s not. While it’s true that many Tumblr-going witches enjoy similar things or share fashion trends, witchcraft itself is not a trend, nor a fashion statement, nor is it the sole focus of the community.

In reality, a “Tumblr witch” is just what the name implies. A “Tumblr witch” is a witch who uses Tumblr as a blogging platform/CMS. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s true that there’s a large community of us, but we’re quite diverse. 

While many of us are young (millennials), not all of us as (I’m not), nor are we all of the same religion or mindset. You might even say that “Tumblr Witch” isn’t even a useful term, at all! Still, Tumblr is a great content management system for witches.

I think what makes Tumblr strong as a blogging platform for witches is that there’s an extremely diverse community here already in existence. So, in short, don’t buy into too much nonsense about what a “Tumblr witch” does or believes, because everyone’s unique. 

Again, the only real way I can see to define a “Tumblr witch” is just “a witch who uses Tumblr.” It’s as simple as that! It’s definitely not some kind of tradition or mindset for witches - it’s just a matter of what blogging platform the witch uses.

Continue reading for information about why you should consider Tumblr as a blogging platform, tips for using the interface, and more! Tagging @witchypixie by request. :-D

Why join Tumblr as a witch?

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re a witch, like me. Or, maybe you’re a magician or chaote or something related (that’s cool, too). If I may, for a moment, I’d like to discuss the benefits and reasons why witches all over should consider using Tumblr as their blogging platform! 

Obviously, other platforms exist. I’ve used Wordpress in the past, but Tumblr outpaces it (at least for witchcraft-related posts) in my opinion. Lets discuss why this site is great!

Firstly, Tumblr is more than just a content management system or blogging platform. Tumblr’s tagging system is extremely user-friendly and allows for the quick and quite intense sharing of information. 

Since, to me, magick is about building connections to the universe and learning as much as possible, this is wonderful. I personally feel that a blog of any sort can supercharge your development in magick - mine definitely did for me!

Why? Reading blogs and blogging yourself (of any sort, but especially on a site like Tumblr) supercharges your ability to share information and learn more from other people. Granted, you could learn many of the same things at a library or from books, but blogs give a personal perspective not often seen elsewhere. 

It is particularly helpful because you yourself can post your thoughts, experiments, and what you’d like to know. Then, others can comment (or, on Tumblr, reblog or reply) and share what they know, helping you. While you obviously can’t trust everything on the internet, the wide perspective provided by an active blogging community can really help you if you’re feeling stuck.

Tumblr itself is good for this, because the community is very open and accepting. This means that a wide variety of people participate, from many different backgrounds. 

You thus receive a broader perspective by interacting with everyone. The openness also means that you needn’t be too intimidated or shy yourself. While skirmishes and arguments do exist in any community, for the most part, witches on Tumblr are not overly-critical of Craft differences or religious diversity.

There are many knowledgeable people on Tumblr, as well. While plenty of witches on Tumblr are newbies, there are also many experienced practitioners of different ages and skill specializations.

These blogs can be great, both to lean more, and to just see how other people do things. Another thing: don’t discount the newbies! New witches are definitely not without their own ideas to bring to the table and you can learn from them, too!

There’s also the most obvious benefit of joining such an existing community: making friends! I’ve personally met an befriended many awesome people on this website, and it’s a great cure for the loneliness some of us might be experiencing if there are no other witches living in our areas.

Lets Do It

So, how do you get started keeping Tumblr blog about your Craft? It’s actually quite simple. If you need help navigating and understanding how Tumblr as a content management platform works, sites like this one have you covered. 

I suggest giving that a read if you’re new to Tumblr or unfamiliar with the system it uses. Explaining the ins and outs of actually creating an account and a blog on Tumblr is beyond the scope of this guide. Links like the one above, as well as just Googling, will be helpful to you if you have any questions about that.

Before you begin, perhaps before you even sign up, consider what sort of blog you want to have. What will the focus be? Some witches blog about specific topics, such as chaos witchcraft, divination, or other particular practices. Others take a more general approach. 

To get the most out of your experience here, consider what you want your blog to be. Obviously, this can and probably will change over time, but it’s good to have a starting point! Some witches use their blogs for a short record of what they’re doing Craft-wise.

Others turn their Tumblr accounts into a veritable online grimoire. Still others keep a general blog covering all their interests (not entirely about witchcraft), and use that blog to participate in the community. What kind of blog do you want to have? It’s all up to you!

As you know if you’ve read about the site, Tumblr uses a tagging system to aggregate content and help users find what they’re looking for. If you’re interested in witchcraft, great tags to check out include the #witchcraft tag, #tarot, #divination, #magick, and plenty of others that you’ll discover as you go along. These tags tend to be incredibly active, and get many posts popping up every day. 

Less-active, more specific tags, such as #sigils or #grimoire are also worth checking out, depending on what interests you personally. A small tip, though: regardless of how you feel about the spelling of magic(k), it’s much more convenient to spell it with a K on the end when tagging and searching Tumblr posts. This helps you find other witchcraft posts and separates the search from things like Harry Potter and video games.

Realize that no matter what tags you want to follow or use, none of your posts will appear in the tags at first. 

This means that, until you’ve been posting for a while, other users won’t see your posts when searching for #witchcraft or whatever you’ve tagged them with. It’s tricky, and nobody really knows the formula for when it kicks in, but Tumblr blocks newer blogs from the tagging system for a short period of time, just to cut down on spam. 

This is a mild annoyance, but does help keep the site free of spam. To get past this, make a few posts, or perhaps reblog some things that interest you over the course of a few days, and your posts will start appearing in the tags before you know it!

Third-party browser apps designed to augment the Tumblr experience are also useful and enhance features for the site. I use several. Among them is “Tumblr Savior,” which allows you to blacklist posts containing a certain word or phrase from showing up on your dash or in tags as you view them. 

This is pretty useful, because, very occasionally, the #witchcraft an #magick tags do get hit with a barrage of spam about unrelated stuff and “special offers” selling handbags or whatever. When this happens, you can just add the keywords the spammers are using to TS, and never have to see any of it.

Once your posts begin appearing in tags, it’s pretty fun to introduce yourself! You could just make a short post explaining who you are, what kind of magick you practice, and what interests you most! 

This will help you meet likeminded people. Another good idea is posting a short message in relevant tags, listing your interests and asking other witches who share those interests to reblog or like the post, and then follow them. This will fill your dashboard with great content in no time.

Best Practices

To round out this article, I’d like to just talk a bit about some extra tips I’ve found useful as a Tumblr blogger who focuses on witchcraft!

I personally do recommend you tag almost all the interesting posts you reblog. Why? While reblogs never appear in the tag pages themselves, tagging them will allow you to search your own blog more easily. In this way, you can use reblogs to gather information and build a sort of online compendium of content related to your interests. 

For example, if you reblog a post about sigil-making and tag it #sigils, it will be easier for you to find on your own blog later on! I definitely believe it’s useful to have a well-organized blog! It’s also useful to tag all your original (non-reblogged) posts with a specific tag, so you can find them later!

You can create pages on your Tumblr blog, too, just like in many other content management systems. This is really quite cool, because it allows you to have a nice, full-length About Me page if you like, and you can also create pages about your interests and with quick information for your followers. 

I recommend creating a page just introducing your blog, too. I personally have a page listing all the spells I’ve written - sometimes things get lost when you’re just going by tags, so it can be useful to list them all on page. You can do the same for longer articles or content you write. A lot of witches have a “Master Page” where they include links to all their best and most useful content, so give it a try.

As with any online community, I obviously recommend you treat your fellow Tumblr users with respect if at all possible. Don’t send anonymous hate messages - that’s just rude, and even if you’re anonymous, there are ways for the blogger receiving them to discover your identity. 

It’s just not worth it, no matter how angry someone is making you. If you see someone behaving disrespectfully or promoting hatred in the community, I recommend not engaging with them, and just blocking them. That’s usually the best response! 

If someone is saying something factually inaccurate or that you personally disagree with, you can always debate them, but I recommend doing so respectfully if they’re not vitriol-filled themselves. 

On that note, regarding the tagging system, if you have something negative to say about a particular topic, think carefully about the tags you use. For example, if you find certain chaos magic practices annoying, you might not want to tag a post about that with “#chaos+magick...” unless you’re reading for a (hopefully respectful) debate about the topic. 

Many people think online debates are unproductive, but I find them illuminating and I’ve been educated through a lot of them. If you feel similarly, feel free to engage in them, but please be respectful!

I hope you found this article about Tumblr’s usefulness to witches informative and helpful. If you do decide to sign up, why not message me and say hi? I love meeting newcomers, and a lot of other people here do, as well. If you decide to join us, welcome!

[planetarduino]

Thursday Night Live(cast) with your host David Cuartielles

Why livecasting from Arduino Education

About a month ago we started livecasting from Arduino’s YouTube channel. This is something I had been willing to do for quite some time, but I never figured out the way to make room in my agenda to fit the planning required to make it happen. Technology has changed a lot over the last couple of years and it is relatively easy to start broadcasting from anywhere given there is an Internet connection. Not only has the tech for transmission evolved, there are also several options on where to send the video so that others can watch it whether live or in its recorded form later.

What we are excited about

We want to reach you when you’re commuting to/from school and have some time to chat about things that matter in the field of tech and education. We want to test LIVE experiments made by others and see whether we get the same results. We want to showcase projects from the Arduino community that are relevant for those involved in education. We want to give a voice to makers from all over the world that we meet when traveling (something I do often). We want to fail on air, and get help from the chat to fix things. We want to have a more inclusive audience. Livecasting is a quick and honest way to approach all of this, minimizing the impact in terms of the amount of resources needed to put it in place.

Our yearly livecasting plan

Even if the livecasts will be super LoFi in nature, it doesn’t mean we will not be thinking carefully about the content to be presented in them. We have prepared a (preliminary) agenda all the way to 2019. While the exact topics of the livecasts are open to change, we will keep a balance between technical casts, interviews, project presentations, and basic introductory sessions for those starting. We will air in English on Thursdays at 7pm CEST (CET) unless there’s a holiday, in which case we’ll try on an earlier day that same week. Some weeks we might transmit more than once, like e.g. if we find ourselves at a conference or event where there might be something meaningful to inform you about.

That said, follows an overview of the livecasts we have planned to make (along with those that have already taken place).

In the program you will see how some of the livecasts are actually sponsored by the eCraft2Learn EU research project. This is a project we have been working with for over a year, where our role is to provide teachers interested in Arduino related topics with introductory tutorials to the technology. We call those livecasts “teacher tutorials.”

List of Livecasts: past and (near) future

Teacher Tutorial 1: Introduction to Arduino and the popular Arduino Uno board. (Please note that the audio was not good in this transmission, we have learned a lot since then.) 

Hacking STEM 1:  A water quality sensor experiment, where we took one of the Microsoft Hacking STEM projects and replicated it. The building process went fine, but the sensor gave us some trouble because of some alligator clips.

Sensors Q&A 1: We are always receiving questions about how different sensors work. Here we devoted one session to test different temperature sensors… ah, and we threw an Arduino Uno into the frozen sea and proved it works (after drying up).

Live from Hackergarage GDL, Mexico: We interviewed a series of people from the Mexican maker scene. People from all over the country came to Guadalajara for an event and we managed to squeeze in a series of live interviews.

Live from Hacedores CDMX, Mexico: We went to Mexico City and interviewed the founder of the Hacedores MakerSpace, Antonio Quirarte, who could also be considered one of the founding parents of the Mexican make scene. We had a great talk and he showed some of the educational projects they have been working with for some time. Are you into weather stations? Then this is your podcast!

Teacher Tutorial 2: Learn about Arduino’s classic IDE and how it differs from the new online Create IDE. We also found out about the Microsoft OneDrive issue with the classic IDE (bug that will be solved in the next release).

April 18th (between 10AM and 12AM CEST) – Live from CTC Valencia Faire: We will be transmitting live from the museum Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, showing projects made by students participating in the CTC initiative.

April 19th – CTC Projects 1: We will dissect a CTC project made by students and try to replicate it, to some extent, with whatever materials we have in our office.

April 26th – Microsoft Hacking STEM Project 2: Yet another project from the Microsoft Hacking STEM collection.

May 3rd -Teacher Tutorial 3: Learn how to extend Arduino’s classic IDE, add libraries, use other cores, etc.

May 10th – CTC Projects 2

May 17th – Real World Applications: Let’s look at a project where Arduino is being used in the wild to see how it could inspire our students to think more about this kind of design cases.

May 24th – Teacher Tutorial 4: Electronics and electricity basis

May 31st – CTC Projects 3

June 7th – Microsoft Hacking STEM Project 3

June 14th – Summer Projects: What can you do with Arduino this summer?

There is a full agenda, although it may be a bit too much to include in this blog post. We will update you with more details in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

The equipment

As you could imagine, there are different techniques for livecasts. Since we are looking at a consistent experience over the programs, we have settled on using gamer computers (because of the graphics card), together with a couple of webcams, an external mixer board, and a good ambient mic. We have an extra HDD to record the programs should the bandwidth be so bad that we need to lower the quality beyond our own standards and a Zoom recorder because sound is sometimes troublesome. The software of choice is OBS that can push the stream directly into YouTube and uses the graphics card for real-time compression of the video, which is very helpful. This is the reason why we had to fall for MS Windows (those that know me know I’m a Linux guy), as OBS doesn’t support some of the extra features of the graphics card in the Linux operating system. In the studio, we have a stationary gaming PC with two screens; when on the road, I have a gamer laptop of similar characteristics. The other difference is that the stationary has a control panel made with an Arduino Leonardo operating as MIDI device, which sends keystrokes to OBS via an interfacing program. These are used to change between scenes, switch cameras, add overlays, etc. For the portable station, I got a control panel from El Gato that takes a lot less space.

What has (and hasn’t) worked so far At the time of writing I’ve made six livecasts with different degrees of success. I have no problem admitting that we (I) are still learning how to prepare the system, switch scenes, and even select the content and write scripts. During our first transmission, the audio ended up having a terrible echo that we couldn’t figure out how to filter. For the second one, the sensors didn’t work even after a full day of preparations. In the third, there were times when I was talking about something but the screen was showing something unrelated. That day I came in the studio and someone had taken one of the monitors to use it in a lab experiment so I had to improvise and had no monitor to check whether I was doing it right or wrong. So far we have learned a lot, yet we still consider the livecasts to be in beta. We are having fun making them and will continue to do so. Also, we are nurturing a new chat community using Discord where people interact live during the programs making suggestions, adding links, and competenting the show. If you want to join the conversation, use the following link and join us on your computer or smartphone via the Discord app.

Finally, do not forget subscribing to the Arduino YouTube channel. If we see a good response from the community, we will start making a lot more video content. Don’t discard seeing some other relevant members from the crew coming online, I will do my best to convince them!

Other livecasts you can follow

We didn’t invent livecasting, obviously, and there are other streams you can subscribe to if you want to learn more about the maker culture. Personally, I have to recommend two Spanish channels. First, La Hora Maker, run by Cesar, with whom I collaborate on making live Q&A sessions. Cesar is probably the most knowledgeable person in the maker culture in Spanish language. The other relevant channel is Programar Facil from Luis, where you will find a lot of sessions about projects made with Arduino and various programming techniques.

Thursday Night Live(cast) with your host David Cuartielles was originally published on PlanetArduino