#which has lead to a massive burnout

[the-irrelevant-trumpeter]

me: oh my god i have so much school stuff to do, it's so unfair that they dump an unreasonable amount of work on us and then expect us to be able to keep up with it when we simply don't have the time

also me: *spends an entire day watching youtube*

[sanshofox]

Just me pondering I guess… I feel like what really irks me also about the current entertainment/gaming industry debacle (with the massive layoffs, or AI being art and job theft or the irrational greed of business people) is that it now openly excludes and casts out one group of people w/o shame and in a way denies them being able to enjoy life (like free job choice) and what’s even worse is that it has become a threat of existence for those now out of a job, but also to those that still have one. It's more layoffs than job openings currently, which therefore almost completely denies access and those few that remain in the industry get cycled through one project after another, each time one step closer to burnout.

AI CEOs admit wanting to rid creatives of their job with reasoning that make them look like toddlers with a temper tantrum in adult suits that held a grudge for too long. And I feel like I am back in high school with my friends where you got bullied for being artsy nerds. Like god forbid people develop a passion and skills for smth and later enjoy their jobs. It's immensly dismaying for me. Because this feels like high school behavior, it’s the same damn scheme, but those are actually adult people in leading positions with huge impact. This is where behavior and decisions count and it’s ruining lifes. There’s an unhinderend amount of irrationality in business we haven’t seen like that before.

[itsabouttimex2]

Hi would it be alright if I request a yandere Platonic Noodlefam Headcanons please with a cherry on top 🙏

MK sets an impossible precedent for you to match. He’s stronger and far more skilled than you, serving as the mentee to the illustrious Monkey King, inheritor of compliant golden-hooped rod known as the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

When Pigsy and Tang see that one of their kids is constantly under attack from demons and monsters, it’s only natural for them to be worried about the other. MK becoming a local hero who regularly endangers himself also means that it’s entirely plausible for his friends and family to fall into the crosshairs of his enemies.

So your fathers; legal and surrogate alike, start to place new restrictions on you. No going out before or after designated times, no going out alone, they get to vet all new friends, so on.

You already weren’t allowed to date, but after their run-in with the Spider Queen teaches them that enemies will even try to seduce them to their demise, the two double down on that deal.

Sure, there were always rules to follow, but never on this level. You never minded rules like “text when you get there”, “be back before ten,” and “don’t leave Megapolis”. Those made sense, and you made sure to abide by them. And your diligence and responsibility have not only not been acknowledged, but instead tested with more rules than ever before.

This quickly breeds resentment from you to MK, because you very accurately surmise that it’s only because of your brother’s antics and adventures that your personal life has grown suddenly stifled and restrictive.

MK, obviously, is devastated. He just wants to keep you, his family, and everyone else safe, and seeing you blame him for how you’re getting treated kind of breaks his heart. Still, he doesn’t dare argue with Pigsy or Tang, in part because he actually does agree with them.

He’s your big brother, after all. Is it really that bad that he and your fathers want to keep you safe? Sure, it can get a bit lonely and frustrating for you, he won’t try and deny that. It must suck to be kept inside most of the time, especially when he runs all over and gets into incredible adventures. MK gets to cause trouble and stop evildoers on a weekly basis, and the most exciting thing you do is deliver the noodles that he was supposed to be dropping off. (The noodle cart is tagged, and so is your phone. They can’t ever be too careful, after all.)

MK is the “fun, happy kid” and you’re the “good, quiet kid”. You dutifully tend to your surrogate father’s noodle shop, biting back resentment as it swells in your chest. MK sneaks out with Mei to visit arcades and bust skulls.

A hard worker, a good listener, a skilled chef… these are all the great things that you become over time. But also, you’re bitterly jealous, overworked, and slowly grinding down to nothing with all the effort you put in.

Eventually, the exhausting duality of being put on a pedestal and held to it with shackles takes it’s due toll. All of it leads up to a massive burnout or breakdown, which shifts the dynamic severely.

If you end up burning out and end up fatigued and unmotivated, you get grilled a little too hard by your fathers, both terrified that something might be wrong or that someone might be hurting you.

It’s them. They’re the ones hurting you, but you can’t really say that. Since you can’t answer their questions honestly or explain what’s wrong, they have no idea about what they should do. Pigsy settles for treating you like you’re sick, forcing you to take several days off to stay in bed. It’s a bandaid solution, but it does accomplish something by giving you time to recuperate from the prior mentioned burnout.

Breakdowns are treated with more care and more severity. One little straw breaks your back, and then MK is getting a vicious/distraught earful about lending his duties to you without your permission, and Pigsy for allowing him to do so. Tang gets off easier on account of not being personally involved in the noodle shop’s affairs, but you call him out for calling himself your father and still allowing these things to happen.

The responses are… split, to say the least.

MK will genuinely apologize for the strain he’s been putting on you and admit that he hasn’t exactly been the greatest brother. He’ll give you a big hug and drag you to his room to hang out, ignoring your complaints and protests. You’re upset that he’s been going out too much? Then the solution is to spend more time with you! (It’s not, but at least he’s trying.)

Pigsy won’t stand for it. One of his kids, yelling at him? Absolutely not. Go to your room and calm down. (He’ll whip you up a bowl of noodles while you’re off stewing/sobbing.) Once you’ve eaten and cooled off, he’s open to an actual conversation- the end result is most likely him appointing Tang to take you out once a week or so, giving you an actual break from the monotony. Once again, not the best solution, but it’s definitely an improvement that lifts your spirits.

Tang validates your concerns by listening to them and comforting you, but doesn’t try to solve the problem at all. He offers to be your shoulder to cry on, but also acknowledges that what MK runs off to do is usually important, and can’t be avoided. But! He’s always here for you, dear. Now, come sit with him and have a bowl of noodles. Maybe he can read to you?

It’s not always so bad for you, thankfully. You’re still allowed to leave, under admittedly strict rules, for one. Pigsy also provides you a steady job, whether working with him in the kitchen or running deliveries. You interact with customers regularly, so not only are you never too lonely, they also allow you to keep in contact with customers they trust.

It could be worse. It could be better.

But it’s good enough to feel like home, to feel safe and loved, and that’s what makes it so hard to leave.

[sapphire-weapon]

i know most people don't know anything game dev and even i don't know much but some of your anons really need to documate themselves about what it takes to make a game and especially AAA games

because anyone knowing the strict minimum would know it's like impossible to have perfect work life balance when working on a AAA games... that’s not the kind of job where you clock in at 8 and clock out at 4, with plenty of time to unwind… and that is true for most artistic jobs actually

that's sad but it's like that

i was literally just ranting about this to @godtier lmao

here's the reality of what we're looking at with RE9. either:

the project has been scrapped and rebooted multiple, multiple times at this point due to a lack of coherent vision by management (which is kind of what the director told us -- that it took them a long time to decide what to do next after RE7), leading to dev burnout and an underwhelming, patchwork product as pieces of the old versions of the game get slapped together in order to save on dev time and cost, or

the team keeps trying new ideas that aren't working, leading to massive changes in narrative direction, level design, enemy encounters, and gameplay flow and mechanics that will eventually erode the core message and experience that the game was supposed to convey

or both.

i've said it before and i'll say it again:

if we do not see RE9 by the end of this month, you should be very, very nervous about what that product ends up being.

[dailyanarchistposts]

The paradigm of government

Where does rigid radicalism come from? Surely there are a multiplicity of sources. Ultimately, we think it is an inheritance of Empire. It has been suggested to us that rigid radicalism is primarily a Euro-colonial phenomenon: that is, it is most intense in spaces where whiteness, heteropatriarchy, and colonization have the strongest hold.[129] These divisions induce habits of relating based in crisis and lack, as capitalism constantly pits people and groups in competition with each other. But rigid radicalism does not exactly mimic Empire; it emerges as a reaction to it, as an aspiration to be purely against it. When we spoke to adrienne maree brown, she suggested that it is an outgrowth of terror and violence:

Nick and carla: What sustains it? brown: The culture that there is only one way to be radical in the world, one way to create change. Nick and carla: What provokes or inspires it? What makes it spread? brown: Terror. We are dying out here. So much destruction is in motion. I think there is a feeling of urgency, that we need discipline and rigor to meet this massive threat to our existence—racism, capitalism, climate, all of it. It feels like we need to be an army.[130]

Empire’s destruction in motion can trigger desires for control and militarized discipline. It can lead to a monolithic notion of the right way to be radical, hostile, and suspicious towards other ways of being. It forces out the messiness of relationships and everyday life in favor of clear lines between good/bad and radical/reactionary. In this sense, rigid radicalism imports Empire’s tendencies of fixing, governing, disciplining, and controlling, while presenting these as a means of liberation or revolution. In this sense, many radical movements in the West (and elsewhere) have been entangled in what Spanish intellectual Amador Fernández-Savater has called the paradigm of government:

In the paradigm of government, being a militant implies always being angry with what happens, because it is not what should happen; always chastising others, because they are not aware of what they should be aware of; always frustrated, because what exists is lacking in this or that; always anxious, because the real is permanently headed in the wrong direction and you have to subdue it, direct it, straighten it. All of this implies not enjoying, never letting yourself be carried away by the situation, not trusting in the forces of the world.[131]

In the paradigm of government, one always has an idea of what should be happening, and this gets in the way of being present with what is always already happening and the capacity to be attuned to the transformative potentials in one’s own situation. Under the paradigm of government, people are never committed enough. Silvia Federici spoke to this when we interviewed her:

This is why I don’t believe in the concept of “self-sacrifice,” where self-sacrifice means that we do things that go against our needs, our desires, our potentials, and for the sake of political work we have to repress ourselves. This has been a common practice in political movements in the past. But it is one that produces constantly dissatisfied individuals.[132]

Because rigid radicalism induces a sense of duty and obligation everywhere, there is a constant sense that one is never doing enough. In this context, “burnout” in radical spaces is not just about being worn out by hard work; it is often code for being wounded, depleted, and frayed: “I’m fucking burning.” What depletes us is not just long hours, but the tendencies of shame, anxiety, mistrust, competition, and perfectionism. It is the way in which these tendencies stifle joy: they prevent the capacity for collective creativity, experimentation, and transformation. Often, saying one is burnt out is the safest way to disappear, to take a break, to take care of oneself and get away from these dynamics.

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Is 6.5% enough?

Today, there was a leak in the Times that said the independent body who make recommendations on teacher pay has recommended a pay rise of 6.5% for teachers in England for September. Obviously, we don’t know all the details, and funding is a key issue, but is 6.5% enough to save education?

Anecdata, but I recently met up with some friends from my teacher training course. We’re close to hitting the 5 year mark- by which point 1/3 of teachers apparently quit. Except I’m going to be the only one out of five of us teaching in England in September, an attrition rate of 80%. And I don’t think that attrition rate is so unusual, any more.

Right now, on one of the main websites which schools use to advertise vacancies, there are over 12,000 teaching/education jobs being advertised in England. It’s very roughly one vacancy for every two schools. These vacancies won’t be evenly distributed between all schools, so there will be schools in September with huge staff shortages. It’s not an exaggeration to say education is in crisis.

If we got 6.5% (and if it were funded, ensuring all teachers could receive the pay rise), would it make any difference? It’s lower than inflation, after all, and many of the things that we regularly need to buy have gone up by more than inflation in the past year.

As a brief explanation, most teachers in England are paid according to one pay scale. People get a bit more in Inner/outer London and the surrounding areas, but otherwise there’s one set of pay for the whole country. All teachers progress from the starting point M1, to M6, usually at the rate of one pay point a year. The 6.5% would be added on to all of these paypoints.

6.5% would bring M1 (the starting pay point for most qualified teachers) very close to the original Tory promise of a £30,000 starting salary for teachers. At the top of the main pay scale- M6 (which is the point at the pay scale where this would have most impact) it would increase salaries by over £2000 to £41, 332. This would be noticeable in pay packets, enough to reduce people’s financial stresses- which can enable them to cope better with a stressful working environment.

I know some of you will say £40k is a lot, but bear in mind we are talking about a postgraduate qualified professional with at least 6 years of experience. For someone with a chemistry, physics or maths degree, that could be their starting salary in industry. It’s about equivalent to the average salary of a pharmacist. In a capitalist system, pay has to be competitive.  

After M6, to increase your pay, you either need to get onto the “upper pay scale” or take on an extra responsibility payment known as a TLR. Getting on to the upper pay scale used to be relatively automatic, but now it’s much harder. It can certainly take people two or three years to progress from M6 to upper pay scale, and you’re expected to take on “whole school responsibilities” which can amount to a lot of extra work, with not that much of an increase in pay. Increasingly, in England, teacher pay is capped at M6, although there are a lot of older teachers who are on the upper pay scale, and sometimes, they find themselves getting pushed out because they are too expensive. If you move schools, there’s no guarantee of getting a UPS pay point at the new school.

TLRs are even worse in many ways. This is the way that people like heads of department and heads of year are paid. It’s a figure set by your school, within a national range, and there’s no consistency between schools. A Head of Science in one school may get £5000, whilst another only gets £3000. It’s worth noting that it’s also much harder to get a TLR in primary. Because TLRs are often the only way to increase your pay, a lot of people rush to take them on, sometimes in the second or third year of teaching. This often leads to burnout, because people take on massive responsibilities before they are ready, and the consequences can be damaging to everyone around them as well.

I do think 6.5% might be just enough to keep some people who are looking elsewhere from leaving. But the main reason people leave is often work related stress, often euphemistically called “workload”, which is largely being driven by the collapse in other services such as social services, the NHS and social care. “Workload” is also often made worse by being in a short staffed department, so it becomes a vicious cycle. I’ll write more about workload in another post.

However, the point is, the profession is on the brink of collapse. I really do believe that. I think the only way to save education would be to tempt a lot of the recent leavers back in. And 6.5% won’t be enough to do that. I don’t think 10% would be enough to do that. Without tackling the systemic problems within teaching, and without a pay system that really rewards classroom teachers doing the key, every day job that makes education functional, pay increases that don’t even match inflation aren’t enough.

[izztreme-art-n-stuff]

So I said I'd elaborate on my headcanon of Jack and Whyatt being autistic, and now here I am to talk about it. In list form. I'm sorry.

Whyatt:

He's a severe creature of habit. He really doesn't like things being completely out of his control, so he makes routines to try and make a safe and controlled environment for himself. This, however, comes with him unintentionally showing control freak tendencies that bother others.

His stims are rubbing his hair, which usually happens when he's deep in thought or stressed out, and playing with his shirt collar and/or cape, usually when he's nervous.

He gets very hyperfixated on books and sometimes gets so fixated on one that he constantly rereads it and it becomes all that he talks about. He only infodumps to his friends and family because he's insecure about how everyone else would think about his current fixation.

He's very sensitive to light and tends to avoid any place that is far too bright for him to bear. He also doesn't like being around crowded places and likes to keep to himself unless he's with his friends.

He keeps a calm and collected demeanor, partially because that is how he is as a person, but also partially because he feels that's what everyone expects of him. He has a massive restraint on most of his emotions as he feels that's not what anyone wants from him, and he only shows his true feelings once he gets pushed far enough, as SRATSOR chapter 3 will show.

Jack:

He actually masks his autism, which is a severe pain to himself. This was caused by his toxic friend Peter Rabbit when he was still with him during his Super Reader days and it pretty much stuck since as he's terrified of what people might think of his true self. This masking has caused him to have many burnouts and meltdowns that he hides in his own room most of the time. Needless to say, he hates masking, he just doesn't know if he should unmask or not.

His stims are bouncing his leg, rubbing his facial hair, and clicking his tongue. These are usually suppressed due to the aforementioned masking and it only crops up when he's really excited, impatient, or nervous.

Music is actually his hyperfixation, and one he's partially open about as he decided to make it his career, but he tries not to infodump about it as much as he would as he knows way too much about music and its history than he feels he should know. He also has a lesser fixation on plants, having been spawned when he gained plant powers for the first time, but he tends to keep that on the down low too.

He has a sensitivity to sound, which is good when you're a musician, but really bad when you're stuck in a room full of people talking about stuff you don't really care about. He also gets bothered by sounds that no one else can hear/pay no mind to. Of course, because he's masking, he often forces himself into social situations where a lot of noise is created, which becomes very stressful for him, but he feels obligated to try and make a good impression on everyone. This is the main reason he keeps getting meltdowns in the privacy of his own room, as he lets his stress build up and only lets it all out once he knows he's fully alone.

He has a terrible habit of bottling up his emotions, to the point where he's at the brink of blowing up on someone and having a meltdown. He believes that everyone sees him as one of the cooler guys that don't show much emotion, and tries to keep up the persona that he built up in his head when, in reality, he's actually a very emotional person and it's pretty hard for him not to feel an intense amount of feelings. So far, he found a healthy coping mechanism of venting his emotions through song...but that's the only one, and not something he can do all the time, so he just defaults to bottling them up again. He also tends to react with his emotions first and then think about it later, which leads to a lot of regrettable moments for him, especially in the case of him feeling angry.

And a couple that apply to both are them constantly talk to themselves, though Jack tries to keep it more of a mumble, and they tend to talk with their hands a lot, with Jack keeping his hand gestures close to his personal space while Whyatt likes to do more grander, outwardly gestures, which is especially the case when he's getting very emotional

So...thoughts?

[os-mapmaker]

I have received an extra plush version of the Messiah. I only have need for one, so I would like to gift it to you as something to keep yourself occupied with. The task you have set yourself on is daunting. While acknowledging its massive scale does help to a degree, that acknowledgment won't carry you through the entire process. Take it from me, burning yourself out won't do you any good.

…You want to gift this to me?

I…I greatly appreciate it.

And, regarding your concerns about my work… Well, you have likely noticed that it has been moving at a very slow pace. I know that improper pacing can lead to increased stress, which could result in burnout. So I am trying to keep my work at a slow, steady pace.

I appreciate the concerns though.

. . .

Thank you so much for the gift.

[thefirstknife]

Narrative, lore and abuse

I want to talk a little bit more about the constantly repeating ideas about how Destiny used to be better, how the lore is constantly being retconned and how writing was better before. Not only are these sentiments entirely factually incorrect (and I'm currently working on a project to document 8 years worth of reviews, opinions and comments about Destiny to show that no, people really didn't enjoy vanilla D2 or D1 as much as they think they did); the sentiments about lore, supposed retcons and mistakes as well as ideas that it used to be better and that original visions were better are all ignoring a very real and very serious troubled past that came with working at Bungie over the years.

Specifically, I think a lot of people forgot about this article. It's an in-depth review into the hostile work culture and crunch at Bungie, focusing mostly on the troubles that the narrative team went through. The snide comments about how Bungie doesn't know their own lore and how they don't pay attention to details and how they changed certain things over time really ring as petty and hollow when they're put into context of what the employees were going through. I want to remind people.

This article was also not debunked by Bungie and they instead acknowledged it and apologised. In case there are people who think that these devs were exaggerating their reports. They did not.

To start:

There is seemingly no better microcosm for Bungie's historic, company-wide cultural troubles than its narrative team, which has experienced toxic leadership, issues with crunch, and at times unmanageable separation between ideas of ‘Old Bungie’ and ‘New Bungie’ culture, and more — all within the last five or six years.

The narrative team had it worst. This basically plagued the entire development of Destiny.

Several sources spoke of a narrative team lead from that time who appeared to suffer massive burnout during the project, creating an increasingly toxic work environment for others on the team, enough so that team members kept a countdown of days since his last "explosion" on a whiteboard. Many people I spoke to were familiar with a story of him throwing a chair at a window because he felt others were ruining his creative vision of the game.

And:

Some sources who had encounters with him during this later period said that he would frequently issue narrative direction despite no longer being a senior team member, and would become angry when he felt the Destiny 2 writers were deviating from his original vision for Destiny 1. One source told a story of him yelling at her over the phone so aggressively that she was brought to tears, and she subsequently refused to be on phone calls with him without a third party present.

I want people to really read this and commit it to memory. A narrative lead was so toxic that it led to actual physical violence. A narrative lead that was physically explosive over people "ruining" his creative vision of the game. I want us, as a fandom, to truly read this with full understanding that maybe, just maybe, when current employees are changing or "retconing" lore, they are doing it to remove all traces of a person who caused them real trauma and abuse.

What amounts to funny little lore tabs for us to pore through, it's very likely a reminder of abuse to the employees who are writing it. If they want to make minor changes to distance themselves from someone who abused them, I am happy for them if they do it, even if that leads to minor inconsistencies in my lore. The wellbeing of another human is more important than a "retcon" in a fictional story.

I would rather a story change than have "the original" coming from a toxic abusive asshole that is actively making the lives of everyone on the writing team miserable. I frankly don't care about his original vision for Destiny. I don't believe it was anything good.

More under for length. It's a lot.

Writers wouldn’t learn about changes to their work until after voice lines had already been recorded.

Absolutely insane that this is what the writers had to deal with. Yes, of course there are mistakes and issues, especially in the early days of Destiny 1 when the crunch was worse and Activision was forcing them to release new DLCs and forcing them to switch focus to the sequel.

This highlights the issue of people using older lore as proof of retcons. What if these mistakes and inconsistencies that we're seeing are a result of crunch and decisions being made away from the writing team? A lot of old lore could be the actual mistakes that are now being fixed. People tend to prioritise what was written first as some sort of gospel, ignoring all of these well publicised issues that we know Bungie was going through.

The other way around could be true. Old lore, things that were written first, were mistakes due to the disruptive workplace that these devs were struggling with and they didn't have time to double check before their work was shipped off to recording and publishing. Perhaps these people are using this time away to correct some of these mistakes that never should've been released in the state they were released in.

This absolutely makes sense due to the report of an employee that didn't want to stay anonymous. Cookie Hiponia started working at Bungie in 2016 as a contractor and became a full-time employee in 2019. In her words:

Hiponia recalled that when she first stepped in, Bungie hadn't had a lot of editing oversight on the Destiny franchise, and had not previously focused very much on its story, consistency, or continuity. That led to a leadership that appeared to operate without normal professional boundaries. As Hiponia puts it, "They just had a bunch of people who wrote things and kind of had the run of the place."

For years, during entire D1 and early D2, there was apparently no editing oversight, the story wasn't focused on properly and especially they did not care enough about consistency and continuity. Basically, top guys were making things up on the fly and treating the game's story as their personal sandbox. We should be taking 6-7 year old lore with a grain of salt instead of treating is as superior. An actual developer came out publicly to tell people that Bungie did not care about the story, consistency and continuity at the time.

More on hell working conditions:

One leader from earlier in this period was described by one of our anonymous sources as a "sexist nightmare" who yelled in meetings, and would throw papers across tables. Multiple people told us he would frequently rewrite things at the last minute, often on his way to voice recording sessions.

+

One lead frequently made sexist remarks, but also complained about "reverse sexism" and on at least one occasion made homophobic remarks to a queer colleague. He would openly mock his team members’ ideas in meetings then play his mockery off like a joke, and would frequently take credit for work others had done.

+

A third narrative lead was called a "callous, hierarchical, authoritarian, incurious, cruel leader" by one anonymous source. ... Others recalled that he frequently insulted people who stood up for themselves, including publicly dressing down the narrative team after they accommodated a last-minute request and asked that such a rush not happen again. On another occasion, he separated and cornered an employee who stood up to him to yell at them. Multiple sources say he also regularly made racist remarks...

Cutting off that racist remark, you can check it out yourself in the article if you want the specifics. I am copying the article directly because I have a feeling not many have read it and not many would if I just posted the link without highlighting these parts.

Those close to the team describe its members working 60, 70, 80, even 100 hour weeks during some expansions, frequently with no breaks in between crunch periods. One team member crunched while so sick they were unable to type, and had to have someone else type for them while they dictated.

People working in these conditions cannot make a coherent story across many years of development and across multiple different teams that were being treated no better than cattle. The fact that there was any kind of a story in Destiny at the beginning is a miracle to be honest so the fact that there are inconsistencies and mistakes is more than expected.

Furthermore, when Bungie decided to stop the crunch, they didn't extend any help to the writing them:

Another source said that the team had been told not to crunch as part of a growing studio push to eliminate the practice — the idea was that the studio would simply cut features if crunch was the only way to get them done. However, many of the writers felt they had been backed into a corner after the painful release of Destiny 2’s first DLC expansion, Curse of Osiris.

This was an incredibly difficult time for the narrative team:

Curse of Osiris' story had been lambasted on Reddit, with a few female narrative team members being singled out by the community for harassment, death threats, and vitriol. Our sources say these women didn't receive support inside the studio or from the community team for what they were going through, and multiple sources were aware of one member of leadership still at the studio who emailed Reddit comments about these women to other company leaders in a seeming bid to tear down the narrative team because players didn't like the story.

+

The same leader is also said to have been dismissive during a meeting about the controversy, explaining that no one should be worried because they were just going to bring back the Destiny 1 writing team to solve everything.

Ah yes, because the writing in D1 was just splendid and did not have any issues whatsoever /s. This is already showing the rose-tinted glasses of the "good old days" that apparently plagues not just the community, but the actual developers as well. D1 was lambasted on release, especially for lackluster story, and continued to be lambasted for pretty much every DLC. These first two DLCs were an especially huge subject of crunch, as this article details, they still weren't done up to a month before release. Incredibly in-depth article about how much the game sucked during Dark Below. This also discusses how incredibly bad lore delivery was at the time, with everything being relegated to cards that can only be read on the website.

These are just a few articles I collected during my deep dive into 8 years worth of Destiny's existence. It's an incredibly long task to go through up to 400 pages of content on every website that wrote about Destiny. So I'm sure there are more and even harsher criticisms of Destiny at the time, especially if I deep dove into reddit or Youtube. I am putting this excerpt to illustrate how wrong the claims of supposed greatness at release are. Even some of the devs had this perception, skewed by their own egos and ideals of importance that ended up harming and abusing the entire narrative team.

And let's not forget the community's involvement here as well. The criticisms we post online are seen by devs. That doesn't mean that criticism shouldn't be posted, but maybe it should be posted in a more humane way. The narrative team shouldn't be getting death threats over this.

Because of these comments and reviews and the reception that the narrative team got even from inside the company (especially if these writers were women or people of colour or queer), they just continued to crunch:

As a result, the narrative team was afraid of what would happen if it shipped something else that appeared to the community to be incomplete or not up to standard. So they continued to crunch, some of them going so far as to hide the overtime from their leads so they wouldn’t enforce story cuts.

+

Crunch was exacerbated by the constant need for revisions and last-minute changes, often worsened by constant conflicts over who had control of the story.

Worst of all:

Some of Bungie's old guard were especially precious about the vision of Destiny 1, and reluctant to change anything about the tone, characterizations, or direction of the story as the game moved into Destiny 2 and its subsequent expansions. This was especially frustrating for the team in cases where that vision had never been explicitly defined in the game or elsewhere, but only existed as ideas in the heads of people who no longer worked in narrative.

This is absolutely horiffic. And this sort of a sentiment is the same type of a sentiment that some portions of the fandom also exhibit. The utter mystification and glorification of some imaginary version of D1, treating it as a holy relic that cannot be touched, changed, altered, developed or evolved. This is the death of storytelling. Stories and characters have to change and evolve over time, especially if we're talking about a live service game that is supposed to go on for a decade.

Even worse, a lot of this were things that just existed in someone's head, were never properly communicated to others and were never established as things that are important or that should be taken as important going forward. All in all, what this tells me, is of a narrative team with leaders who are driven entirely by their self-inflated egos, who treated the game as their personal project, who abused, neglected and demeaned a group of people they were in charge of and who were especially nasty to those they thought of as inferior to them; women, people of colour, queer people.

Knowing that, I don't want to know or engage with their "original" ideas for Destiny. And I don't blame the writing team for wanting to scrub their influence away as much as possible. As a matter of fact, I commend them. I hope every aspect of this toxic crap is thoroughly removed even if it results in the entire rewrite of established lore.

This next bit is for people who want more cutscenes and who think that cutscenes are more important than written lore. This is how cutscenes were being made:

Another issue was with the development of cinematics, which were considered a prestige project. Largely written separately from the main writing team in a "star chamber," the cinematics team frequently tried to operate independently from the main narrative team, resulting in disconnects between established lore, planned quest narratives, and major story beats. The cinematic team’s decisions, Hiponia and others recalled, would override decisions made by the narrative team, forcing last-minute rewrites and more crunch.

Personally for me? Until we know that this sort of an ideal is removed entirely, I would rather we never receive another cutscene ever. I would rather get 20 weblore pieces.

Next paragraphs details how much these leads were fighting against inclusivity and diversity and how much the rest of the writing team (that mostly consisted of marginalised groups) had to fight tooth and nail to get inclusive stories told. We owe everything to these people. We owe them all of our great stories about women, inclusion of characters of colour in important positions and the opportunity for them to be big parts of the story, LGBT+ content and incredibly well-handled stories portraying stuff like trauma.

Under all this stress, toxicity and abuse, these passionate people were still fighting, often risking their jobs, to give us these stories and characters. I want people to keep that in mind the next time they even slightly think of calling it queerbaiting. Queer people weren't getting called slurs and being abused every day at Bungie for years for some fans to call their stories queerbaiting.

Despite their best efforts, these toxic leads who had more power still managed to push stories with negative stereotypes. Some low-tier employees can only do so much against big name cishet white dudes who more or less own the company.

In all of these situations, the members of the writing team who fought for change would routinely be told they were difficult to work with, not supportive enough of their leaders, or were aggressive or abrasive and needed to be better at taking criticism.

This bit also details the absolute uproar that Bungie and Activision made when writers decided to give Devrim a husband. I want people to apprecite just how much of a change has happened since, especially if they dare talk about how things were better under Activision. We would not have a fraction of LGBT+ rep under them. This also goes to everyone calling it a "retcon" that Saint-14 and Osiris are lovers because in the "good old lore" they weren't. Except they were. The writers just couldn't say it. The leadership lost their minds of Devrim saying he has a "partner." Not even openly saying "husband." Just "partner." That's how bad it was.

For comparison, today we have entire lore pieces of Devrim and Marc having dinner, and Devrim helping Saint deal with the trauma of almost losing Osiris. Things changed, for the better. So I am not sure why some would rather we go back to before.

Bungie obviously makes mistakes. They made mistakes before and they make them now. Sometimes stories change, direction changes, ideas change, sensibilities change. Sometimes someone makes a decision to take the story into another direction and it requires ignoring or reworking something previously established. These are all normal things that happen when writing anything, including books, TV shows, movies and so on.

But in this case, with how Bungie was handling narrative and how the narrative leads were treating employees? These aren't just normal mistakes and changes. A lot of these mistakes are due to the overworked and abused employees who had to crunch under people who would demean them and abuse them to the point of mental distress and physical injuries. People working under those conditions will make mistakes, especially when the leads are literally circumventing their writing and making changes to the writing on the way to recording sessions.

The fact that there's any coherence at all is a miracle. And then we get fans nitpicking irrelevant details that are easy to mistake even when you're not being abused by your boss while working 100 hours per week, let alone when you are. Think about how those employees feel when we nitpick stuff that they made while they were actively being abused at work every day.

This isn't a defence of Bungie having narrative mistakes. Bungie failed these employees that they were supposed to care for. It has since become evidently better, but the cost is there. Many lost their jobs and their security and health dealing with these working conditions and this needs to be embedded in the mind of every fan who wants to nitpick something written 5 years ago.

And ultimately, yes, perhaps writers that are still there want to actively change the story to remove all traces of leadership that was pushing a certain narrative. Perhaps that's annoying to us, the players and lore enjoyers. Perhaps we hate seeing certain details change in front of our eyes. Perhaps we hold dearly a detail from 2015 that has since been retconned out of the story. Perhaps someone thinks that Destiny's story was the best during D1 and that everything else that's happening now is a retconned crap.

Then re-read this article again and consider that these stories were made under inhumane working conditions. And if you value fictional story details over the wellbeing of real humans, then it's time to reasses your values. To me personally, I am immediately put off from the way those stories went when I know how they were made and what was the cost. I still appreciate then, but I will not scrutinise irrelevant details being changed or mistakes being fixed years after they were first made while the workers could quite literally physically not type from exhaustion.

I first and foremost rely on new lore and always will. It was made with less abuse and with more employees of sound mind, as well as with marginalised groups not being demeaned and shut down. Bungie is currently very obviously and clearly taking the story much more seriously and are aware of how important it is for Destiny's success. Are things now perfect? Probably not! But even those that were previously abused have said that things changed for the better and that there is hope.

Most of the new lore is also repeatedly going back to explain and rework some of the older stuff which can, yes, cause things to change. I don't mind, not with the context of this article looming over our heads. As I said before, people tend to emphasise the importance of stuff written first as proof of changes which ignores the very real possibility of stuff written first to have been written wrong and new rewrites being used to correct that information to what the narrative should've been from the start.

Are there genuine mistakes? Of course. Not every mistake is the consequence of abuse. Sometimes they are just mistakes. They exist in every writing. Don't take them too seriously, especially if they are about some incredibly niche detail that doesn't change the story either way.

However, please keep in mind how much crap the writing team for Destiny went through. Allow them to breathe, allow them to make mistakes, allow them to choose to change things that remind them of their abusers.

And when you're reminiscing about "good old days" of D1 or early D2, remember the conditions under which they were made. It was not a good time for the employees in any department and the fandom glorification of that time can be incredibly painful and defeating to the devs, especially those that belong to marginalised groups.

While you had immense fun at 16 playing D1, hundreds of people were undergoing the worst time of their life trying to maintain the game while being abused 80 hours a week. I'm not asking for people to stop thinking about how much fun they had at the time; just to put things into perspective and to recognise that this is the work of nostalgia. I had fun playing vanilla D2 as well, but I can simultaneously recognise that this was not a good time for Destiny, I would never want to go back to that time and I especially don't want to shittalk developers into going back to that work schedule only to deliver inferior products. I don't want my entertainment to be soaked in blood.

This especially goes for the lore fandom. We almost always talk about the pvp toxicity and sometimes pve toxicity, but rarely touch on the toxicity of the fandom that treats the story as some esoteric construct that doesn't involve a human cost to be made. Are changes annoying? Sure thing. When in doubt, use the most recent information. That's it. Pondering ancient lore can be fun, to a certain extent. At some point, you have to let it go.

There are still many pieces of lore that have been the same for years (my recent post about the Books of Sorrow is one example), but banging your head against the wall about some niche detail from D1 Y1 is usually pointless. In most cases it's a detail that doesn't change anything. In a lot of cases, it simply reflects an in-universe confusion about some information. Unreliable narrators are everywhere in Destiny; characters are biased or they lack knowledge or they interpret things wrong.

The setting is specifically set up in that way. The Collapse wiped away so much knowledge and context so people are sometimes wrong. This is explored in a really over-the-top and funny way in the Festival of the Lost lore where a Cryptarch misinterprets what a "fourth-grade researcher" means.

There is not a single omniscient narrator in Destiny lore. Everyone has their own biases and convictions and limitations of knowledge. Sometimes they will contradict each other by design. Not to mention the amount of complex and secretive characters that are deliberately not telling us everything, such as Rasputin, The Nine, Elsie or Mara Sov. Or the Eliksni who are a displaced and fragmented people that lost much of their own history and often work against each other and have varying perceptions of who they should be as a people. There will be conflicting information regarding these characters and stories.

On top of all that, there will always be a human element present. Writers will make mistakes even on their best days working under the most favourable conditions. So keep in mind what writers went through at Bungie. Not for Bungie's benefit, but for the benefit of largely marginalised people who, despite everything, fought for their voices to be heard and present in the game we love now.

[angel---eater]

Kind of a frustrating thing in an AuDHD4AuDHD relationship where one person is perpetually understimulated, which is Bad[tm], and the other person is perpetually overstimulated, which is also Bad[tm]. But their understimulation leads to more drastic consequences quicker, but also our overstimulation is just as difficult on us and has a more slow-burnout effect. But both of us also have a shit ton of trouble asking for and talking about help with this stuff. So all in all being neurodivergent together is just. Massively hard sometimes

[destinygoldenstar]

Jo Minamino ; The Ultimate Musical Sensation (Danganronpa The Privileged Traitor)

Jahan Oishi Minamino (Yah-han Oi-she Mean-ah-mean-oh) ; 21 Years Old ; From Bollywood, India ; The Ultimate Musical Sensation

Jo Minamino is a student of Hopes Peak College Class B-3 in Danganronpa The Privileged Traitor.

Jo is a celebrity in the Bollywood industry since childhood. His main career specialized in musicals, stage and movie, and gained massive popularity all over the world for his incredible singing voice and acting skill. He’s had lead roles most of the time.

Music itself is a huge part of Jo’s life and what he’s defined by. It used to be his great passion, his entire world, and what he felt he was made and born to do in this world.

Emphasis on ‘used to be’.

See, Jo is actually a very soft spoken person in real life. He’s a rather gentle fellow who likes modak and hates getting into fights and likes to keep to himself when he can. If he can’t keep his emotion in check at the moment, he REALLY can’t, but it’s more getting upset at himself than anyone else.

For years his sleep schedule has been non existent, he has habits of making self deprecating jokes, and he gets nervous around peers, especially those that recognize him from his shows.

This is all due to trauma from the very career that got him famous in the first place.

He never had a say in his fame or his job. His parents just heard him singing to himself one day and put him in auditions in a “I’m not asking I’m telling” way. He landed a big part despite just being a newbie kid at the time and his fame just grew from there.

What followed was an entire childhood worth of isolation from other kids his age, pressures of perfecting his singing and acting for multiple performances at once, people putting him on pedestals like an object to display, and severe burnout from the music he used to love.

Did the adults care? No. They kept using him.

It got to a point where his own parents used their kids fame for their own egos, became heavy drinkers, and sent him to live on his own at fourteen because they would be too drunk to take care of him.

It led him in the hands of a theater director that would take him in, but only so he could be used for more shows.

And let’s just say the director would be arrested five years later for exposed abuse of many kinds on minors. They found Jo in a beaten malnourished and sleep deprived state that was masked with makeup and stage glamour for awhile before anyone even noticed.

For the next two years before Hopes Peak, Jo had been stuck with no authority figure, taking medications for his PTSD from his harsh childhood, and taking a break from life in general. He had quit the spotlight, which got backlash from the fans of him that kept him distant from others emotionally. He continued to say ‘screw the spotlight’ when he decided to do nothing about his lack of hairbrush and his major weight gain.

His love for music? Very much killed off. But deep down, he hoped that Hopes Peak would at least help him rediscover what he loved about music in the first place.

Guess what it did instead? Undo pretty much all of his progress.

Turns out, he’s stuck there forever in a killing game. It’s kill or be killed.

Victim? Killer? Survivor?

See my other profiles; The Protagonist ; The Mastermind; The Ultimate Good Cop ; The Ultimate Bad Cop ; The Ultimate Scientist ; The Ultimate Archer ; The Ultimate Environmentalist ; The Ultimate Arsonist ; The Ultimate Vigilante ; The Ultimate Violinist ; The Ultimate Renaissance Student ; The Ultimate Dance Streamer ; The Ultimate Video Game Modifier ; The Ultimate Poetry Writer

[morilucidstories]

In your pinned post, I'm curious to know what's going on with the bat dragon person and who might be you holding your cat? Poking around the blog hasn't gotten me answers. Or maybe answers are there and I'm just hungry and tired.

I had this whole thing written with pics on my phone, and then the wifi flaked and the whole things became lost into tumblr's void when I hit post, so this is the 2nd version. ;-; But this version has more images so it's objectively better.

That's not me in the image. That's Lily Mills, the main character of one of my original comics I post on Tapas and Webtoons Canvas. Pine Barrens Super Natural is based on the legends I grew up hearing from my family about the New Jersey Pine Barrens/Pinelands, and shojo romance comics. Lily is a mix of me and my sibling from when we were young -that's why she looks like me (and Lyly if you know what they look like from MtW.)

The series blurb & summary of Ch 1&2: Lily Mills and her dad, Don Mills, have just moved into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. On their first night there, Lily is attacked by monsters that should only exist in legends. Luckily, another super natural monster also rescues her. There's definitely some connection to the super natural hidden in Lily's past, and it's going to a lot harder for it to stay hidden now that she finds herself surrounded by all sorts of Super Natural things.

Here is the full version of the cover with the logo:

This comic is actually a reboot of the original comic I started when I was 15-16 in my Sophomore year of Highschool. (It was made on notebook paper.) When I started it I didn't really have a plan for where it was going until around chapters 15-20, so this reboot is taking a lot of loose ends and either cutting them out or adapting them to work with the plot. It's taking me so long to make because I'm struggling with burnout, and I'm now past most of the mental issues I was using it to process so sometimes working on it puts be make into that worst head space. With Lyly's help as my editor we have rewritten and redesigned the parts that cause me problems so once I get back into it, I should be fine.

The little kitty thing is Mascot. He normally appears at the bottom chapters with the credits, in the cover images, and sometimes pops up in chapters with author's notes and comments.

((If anyone wants to head canon any of my characters as neurotypical just know that it is head canon and not supported by anything in the plot -or me))

Below this point are more character descriptions, but just know that most involve spoilers for things that happen after Ch2. I didn't spoil the biggest things just a few things that lead up to them.

The devil catboy is Damian Leeds the son of the Jersey Devil (TJ) and a human (Nancy). I grew up hearing many different stories about the Jersey Devil with many different depictions so this version is a polymorph, and so is his son. Damian is able to change between human, Neko Mimi, and full furry forms. Lily does not know that the Kitty Devil that saved her is Damian. Damian gets a massive crush on Lily. He's very emotionally secure which makes him a great support as a friend, but he also struggle with recognizing that others won't respond to stress the same way he does.

Nancy Leeds works at the local Super Natural Animal Wildlife Reserve. She is also Don's new boss. SN stuff is kept secret from the populace.

Even though Lily and Damian are the central 2 characters, the readers have pretty unanimously voted Erik as the fan favorite. They are a mix of many of the friends I had growing up. She is nonbinary and uses all pronouns. He is a huge nerd, lover of chaos and cringe. When not in the school building, Erik wears a beanie their brother made them that reads "I ♥️ Emo Boys." She's the heart of the group without question.

Alex is Erik's older brother. He is a huge anxiety gay, and introvert. He prefers letting others take center stage while he watches. This does mean he's prone to bottle things up. Luckily he's the type to go to his friends for help after isolating to process. He hasn't had many appearances yet, but what has been revealed is that he really likes fashion and sewing. He has also been weirdly touchy with Lily and even he doesn't know why. The most recent chapter and the next few will have him as a focus.

(Alex and Erik are half Italian, half Columbian American. This hasn't had an opportunity to be brought up in the story yet. I had a bunch friends that were Columbian. Their extended family and specifically their grandparents were very like my Italian grandparents. So I made these two a mix of those just like they are mixes of many friends I had growing up. Even though I've had these characters for half of my life, I have never been able to decide on a last name for them.)

The last of the friend group is Mike Sasha Keith Apple Gate. In the OG version I made in Highschool, I had 3 characters that all played the same role at different times throughout the story so I mixed them into 1 person and introduced him in the plot much sooner. He too hot to remain single and keeps ending up in unwanted romantic relationships. MSK has anger management problems while also completely failing at defending his own boundaries. He has a grudge against Damian and the why hasn't been revealed yet. He's author's favorite and you can tell because of how much effort I put into his outfits and hair. Lastly, it has been revealed that MSK can see Super Natural Energy. It is through his eyes that it's also revealed that Alex's behavior around Lily is cause by an energy around her.

((Since I've been making it slowly over many years you can easily see the evolution of my art through this comic))

[unsolicited-opinions]

I've been thinking a lot about the unique challenges faced by autistic women and AFAB persons.

Masking isn't limited to neurodivergent people, but masking in neurodivergent people is profoundly impacted by gender because *all women, all AFAB people, NT and ND, are already coping with a layer of masking which their male counterparts don't have to deal with.*

A brief explanation of masking:

Masking is a coping strategy which a lot of autistic people develop, usually non-consciously, in which they suppress aspects of themselves which are frowned upon and socially perform "normality" to meet the expectations of the neurotypical world.

The neurotypical world, for example, wrongly regards stimming the same way it regards masturbation. Despite the fact that it feels good and is good for you, people get very nervous if you do it where they can see/hear...so many autistics will avoid being witnessed stimming and are deprived of an important self-regulation tool.

The NT world also punishes a failure to make just the right amount of eye contact and has expectations of small talk which are counter-intuitive or actively painful for ND folks- So autistic people not only hide/cease their stims, but also force themselves to make eye contact, prepare scripts for small-talk needs...and do a thousand other things, every day, most of their lives, just trying to pass for neurotypical.

Unfortunately, this eventually catches up to them because it places *massive additional burdens* on a nervous system which *already has fewer resources.* It is exhausting to do and almost inevitably leads to shutdowns, meltdowns, and burnout.

So how does gender figure into it?

Our culture teaches boys and men that it is appropriate for them to assert themselves, assert their views, and to strive to win others over to their point of view. When boys are frustrated, their frustration is generally validated.

That same culture expects girls and women (all AFAB folks, all girls and women, neurotypical and neurodivergent) to make *others* more comfortable. It teaches girls to make their needs, their views, and their agency secondary to the needs of others and they've been taught that this need to subvert their own agency is the only acceptable way to be a girl or a woman. *This means that women - ALL WOMEN - are already burdened by a deeply engrained expectation that they mask and subvert their true selves.*

Once I started to grasp this, it made perfect sense why neurodivergent AFAB folks generally present differently from neurodivergent boys. Where boys have been socialized to let their inner life be expressed, girls are actively taught to suppress theirs. The impact of this is enormous.

A late-diagnosed autistic man will usually do a lot better after learning how to shed their masking and learning to differentiate between who they really are and the performative behaviors/personas they've built for the comfort of others in hope that they'll be found acceptably "normal" in NT society. This takes time and a lot of work, but the benefits are clear. Once the masking is dropped, the additional drain on limited resources is gone....and shutdowns, meltdowns, and burnout all become less frequent/likely.

Now imagine being an AFAB autistic person and trying to do the same thing. In addition to the challenges your male contemporaries have, your masking is *already a layer deeper.*

But it doesn't end there.

That additional layer makes your autistic needs less visible AND tells you that it isn't okay to have or communicate your autistic needs. You're far more likely to be dismissed by professionals in behavioral health. The vast majority of the available research on autistic behaviors was done with boys (mostly white boys), so professionals in behavioral health are far less likely to *recognize* your challenges and correctly diagnose you. I know women who were told, by medical professionals, that they couldn't be autistic because they made eye contact and could passably perform small talk. AFAB autistics are more likely to be misdiagnosed as a result.

Once they start to un-mask, once they actually learn to identify and express their own needs, they're often treated like betrayers of a model of feminine presentation...which was sexist, self-harming, and misogynistic to start with.

I can only *imagine* how difficult and infuriating it is to be an autistic AFAB person, but I get angry just imagining it. It's a special blend of misogyny and ableism which is unique to their circumstances, and it's absolute bullshit.

So the next time somebody asks you to donate to Autism Speaks (which sucks and is deeply loathed by most autistic adults)?

Consider instead donating to AWN.

[sahonithereadwolf]

I've actually been saying this for years at this point. As a brief background, I'm a game dev who use to do the games journalism thing.

It's hard not to see all the major moves of the industry as an on coming collapse of the triple a when we're seeing the pop of the pandemic bubble in the form of rolling massive layoffs. But this is a movement longtime coming. Basically, there was a shift at about the end of the PS2/Xbox era and into ps3/360 when the media around games shifted from "toy/hobby market/consumer electronic" to "this is the industry making more money than Hollywood" which lead to a lot of outside money and investors from Hollywood to really want a piece of that pie. The industry has long been neighbors but the money started coming from a different source with different expectations. External validation, a chasing of maturity through fidelity and "prestige storytelling", safer more proven gameplay chasing well established markets. Stuff like that. There was a flattening in a definition of games and a start of a consolidation under these big mega studios systems. Really one of the saving graces at this time were the emerging digital marketplaces where people who didn't fit into those systems could skill make games and push for innovation on a mechanical, artistic, and even business level. But the past few years we've been seeing these mass acquirement as these massive AAA system face a brain drain. A combination of worker abuse, burnout, creative frustration. And these giant studios are trying to capitalize off these studio names while loading up with debt to keep this unsustainable system afloat. A lot of these executives don't want some money, but forever money but lack a concept of an economy of attention. Most people have room in their lives, if they are interested in these live service games that they want to chase, for maybe 2 of these in their life. At most. They require too much of your attention. It's not sustainable and you can't have a portfolio of multiple of these.

But there is a special sort of executive hubris that comes from wildly overestimating the perception of their ips and the idea that no, maybe this time, I'll be the roblox/fortnite. They have the golden ticket.

And I get it. I do. 5-6 years for a big game that might not sell vs a constantly updating brand synergy machine with a pleasure button built in is executive saltlick. But boy is that ship not getting out of a harbor especially as the people that DO actually buy into these have a level of sunk cost invested into the ones they already like? So, the eventual collapse will lead into one of these following scenarios, likely all of them at some scale:

-Money gets scared and so less games get made overall (most likely)

-Money decides to just invest in a bunch of smaller studios in the hopes that one of them will become the next bioware or blizzard and pay dividends (some are already doing this)

-A return to a smaller studio and game structure as bigger studios become unsustainable except for a select few (optimistic)

-Indie games, now with structures in place that weren't there in the first video game industry collapse, have a sort of life breathed into them because a frustrating part of human nature is you can't just "quit" art, just quit making art certain ways. However, there will need to be a new way to consume them. No matter what there is gonna be a bodycount.

Unironically I think we might run into another video game crash like back in the day

[sanjio879]

Cricket: A Glorious Game of Tradition and Skill

Cricket is more than just a sport; it is a cultural phenomenon that resonates deeply with millions of fans around the globe. Originating in England, the game has evolved into a global spectacle with a rich history, diverse formats, and significant cultural impact. This essay delves into the origins, evolution, and significance of cricket, exploring how it has grown to become a beloved pastime for many.

Origins and Evolution

Cricket's roots trace back to the 16th century in England, where it was first played as a village game. By the 17th century, it had become popular among the gentry and was played with formal rules. The establishment of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1787 marked a pivotal moment in the sport’s history, as it set down the first official rules of cricket. This period also saw the introduction of the iconic Ashes series between England and Australia, which remains one of cricket's most celebrated rivalries.

Online Cricket ID spread beyond the British Isles to various parts of the world, including Australia, South Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. The game's international expansion was significantly bolstered by the British Empire’s colonial reach. In 1909, the Imperial Cricket Conference was founded, which later evolved into the International Cricket Council (ICC), governing the global aspects of the game.

Formats and Gameplay

Cricket is played in several formats, each with its own unique appeal. The traditional format is Test cricket, which is played over five days, with each team having two innings. Test matches are known for their strategic depth, endurance, and the opportunity for players to showcase their skill over an extended period.

One-Day Internationals (ODIs) emerged in the 1970s as a shorter, more dynamic format. Each team plays a fixed number of overs (50), leading to a result within a single day. The advent of Twenty20 (T20) cricket in the early 2000s revolutionized the game with its fast-paced, action-packed style. T20 matches are limited to 20 overs per side, making them ideal for a shorter time frame and attracting a broader audience.

Cultural and Social Impact

Cricket has a profound cultural significance, particularly in countries like India, Pakistan, Australia, and South Africa. In India, cricket is often referred to as a religion, with players like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli being celebrated as national heroes. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has further elevated the sport’s status by combining cricket with entertainment, drawing massive crowds and media attention.

In Australia and England, cricket is deeply embedded in the national identity. The Ashes series, for instance, is more than a mere sporting contest; it is a historical and cultural event that captures the imagination of the public. In South Africa, cricket played a role in the post-apartheid era, uniting people across different communities.

Cricket also promotes values such as sportsmanship, teamwork, and discipline. The game’s ethos emphasizes respect for opponents and the spirit of fair play. The emphasis on integrity and ethical conduct is integral to the sport, as demonstrated by various initiatives and codes of conduct implemented by cricketing boards.

Challenges and Future

Despite its rich history and widespread popularity, cricket faces several challenges. The sport's traditional formats are struggling to compete with the fast-paced entertainment options available today. The issue of player burnout, especially in formats like Test cricket, is also a concern. Additionally, the commercialization of the game raises questions about the balance between entertainment and the sport's traditional values.

However, cricket's adaptability is its strength. Innovations such as T20 cricket and the introduction of technology like the Decision Review System (DRS) have helped the game evolve. The expansion of the sport into new regions and the increasing focus on women's cricket are promising developments that indicate a bright future.

Conclusion

Cricket, with its rich heritage and evolving nature, remains a sport that captivates and unites people across the globe. Its origins in England and subsequent global journey have created a diverse and dynamic game that continues to inspire and entertain. As cricket navigates the challenges of modernity, its enduring appeal and the values it represents ensure that it will remain a cherished sport for generations to come.

[naturecoaster]

Leadfoot City's Newest Dragstrip on Florida's Adventure Coast

Leadfoot City: The only city in America where street racing will be legal. @Lead Foot City is developing a multi-purpose automotive and entertainment complex that will be the first of its kind in the United States. It has been referred to as an “Automotive Theme Park” and will have everything from a 1/8 dragstrip that will simulate racing on a street, to a massive paved arena for drifting & autocross. As well as the country’s only dedicated Burnout Pit for auto enthusiasts who want a safe place to burn some rubber. The complex will also have a full-blown Amphitheater for concerts, a Convention Center for indoor events, and more. They also have the Gear Head Grille & Bar on site which offers American-style food and drinks for eventgoers. The facility is scheduled to be fully open in the Fall of 2024. Aside from hosting large-scale motorsport events and concerts, Leadfoot City will also offer a variety of private rentals for every occasion. #hernandocounty #travel #wanderlust #tourism #floridatravel #TravelFlorida #FLAdventureCoast #dragstrip #leadfootcity Read the full article