#without glorifying the events or the players involved

[chinchillinator]

ok hold on i responded in the tags like an hour ago when i rb this but im still thinking abt it so everyone gets to see me ramble more.

When Jojo Rabbit came out, my work friend and I sent out a quick email to other people on staff at our workplace (it’s a small workplace so we’re mostly friendly) to see if anyone wanted to join us in going to watch the film at our local independent theater (support small businesses, kids!). We have a Jewish person on staff who often reminds us that the normal workplace calendar revolves around Christian holidays and this person had to take paid personal days in order to celebrate her holidays. That is high key unfair, do not get me wrong. But when my work friend sent out the invite, the casual you-can-say-no-this-is-no-pressure-we-are-literally-just-wondering invitation, this person started going off to anyone within hearing range that Jojo Rabbit shouldn’t even EXIST as a film and should never be watched by anyone. Now, if you’ve seen Jojo Rabbit (I will assume you have for the purposes of this post) you know that it’s basically Taika Waititi just DUNKING on N/azis for the entire movie. It literally depicts the adults in Jojo’s life actively working against the N/azis to help Jojo and the Jewish girl his mother is hiding. (Seriously, guys, let’s fucking talk about the nuances of Sam Rockwell’s character omg off topic but I just can’t get over it ANYWAY). This person in my workplace HAS NEVER SEEN Jojo Rabbit. They didn’t know what the movie was actually about, they just didn’t want anyone else seeing it on principle.

I understand, in a way, where this colleague was coming from. As an Asian American, seeing the trailer for De Oost at a time when my and my family’s safety in this country is at risk definitely made me feel A Certain Way™️. FOR SURE I am uncomfortable seeing the gifs and clips! So I understand not wanting to watch a movie that depicts any portrayal of N/azism if you are Jewish and the topic makes you very uncomfortable. But to argue that the movie shouldn’t be made without knowing what it’s actually about is unfair and, to me, show a lack of ability to critically analyze real-life historic events from an educated perspective.

I think De Oost will be a good movie. I think it’s important to discuss colonization and some of the horrible things that happened during those times. I will not be watching, however. I’m just not in a place where I can healthily appreciate the movie. But I would never expect another creator to avoid this topic because I am uncomfortable with the subject matter. We, as creators, create our art to offer commentary on the world around us. That’s what it means to “write what you know.” And certain things MUST be commented on. Better to turn around and recognize the failings of ourselves, our societies, and our countries, rather than sweep it all under the rug and pretend it never existed.

So, you’re aware that movies about awful events of the history HAVE to be made and actors SHOULD take on the roles of war criminals right?

Like you do realise that playing the role of Raymond Westerling is NOT a bad choice, and De Oost is not a bad movie on principal, at least before we’ve watched it?

I admire Marwan wholeheartedly for taking on this role, because if no one dares to tell the story of horrible people how will we know about them? And knowing Jim Taihuttu from Wolf, I have high hopes of the movie being a good movie.

If the movie ended up being problematic to any degree, we will talk about it and rip it apart, but can we please not cancel things before at least knowing fully what they are?

[flokali]

♦︎ SAGAU Thoughts

….

Warnings: Cult AU, Religious AU, mentions of war, possible spoilers, etc. Ask to tag!

A/N: you guys thought i forgot about sagau or rem/vita didn’t you?

– All on-going wars seem to have stopped, at least to the public and you. However the Tsaritsa’s plan to steal all the Gnosis is very much still occurring, it’s just became harder to collect them. There is also tension between the Abyss order, which has halted its plans – at least, that’s what they alleged – and the Seven, and the Tsaritsa very much still plans to take down Celestia, however there are new, more complex motivations since you’re now involved in the equation.

For example, the Abyss order hopes to take down the Seven and Celestia, defaming them by exposing their nature and past actions, and restore Khaen’ria with you as its new head, meanwhile the Tsaritsa and her Harbingers hope to take destroy Celestia with the power of the Archons and build a new world, once again, with you and the Tsaritsa as its rulers.

– Since you have access to the teleport points, because let’s be honest, exploring Teyvat without them must be hellish, you’re also expected to be able to divide your time between the Seven Nations. Realistically, since they view you as a higher and wiser power, you’ll be consulted for all sorts of affairs such as politics, culture, the arts, and even the economy. Because of the amount of power you hold and how valuable your input is to them – even if you have no idea what you’re talking about – it’s likely your schedule has been adjusted with this in mind by the Archons and the Qixing, unfortunately this translates into having days where you won’t be able to so much as breathe for too long without messing up the time slots and you’ll have painfully uneventful days where you’re nothing but a glorified idol who’s wondered the same halls for the ninth time that day.

– With your arrival, Zhongli probably didn’t step down as an archon but rather is taking an “indefinite break”. He probably could have gotten away with retiring but it would have strippen him of too many privileges in regards to being with you, privileges he doesn’t want to hand over, so instead he’s order a contract with the Qixing that states he – as Rex Lapis, and now as Zhongli too – is still the Archon of Liyue but has given the harbor over to them for a “trial” period. This allows him to cease power if he thinks they’re getting too out of hand or if he feels his spot by your side is being endangered.

– Celestia is neutral about your existence, however many average citizens seem to think you’re both working together; only the Archons and the Abyss Order know you and Celestia work apart.

The Twin and the rest of the Abyss dislike how it has taken your name as its own, it only further fuels their distaste towards them and the Archons since they also don’t try and correct the mistake.

– We, as players, know how the wishing system works alongside the concept of event/limited-time banners, but the people who are in the game have virtually no clue what that is.

I imagine that they must have come up with some sort of an explanation, here’s my little take; it’s basically a prayer to them.

What I mean is, quite literally, that they pray to you, the player, to fulfill a “wish” of theirs — which in most cases is to be closer to you for guidance, comfort, and so on. When you pull for a character and get them, to them, it’s basically you answering their prayer and coming to them - a mutual bond of sorts. It’s less about if they want to come or if they believe in you - we’re going with the “all playable characters + The Fatui (Scara included) + Archons + Dainsleif + The abyss twin + most of Teyvat in general'' believe in you in different extents but extents nonetheless approach.

The minute they become accessible to you it’s sort of a semi-meditation-state where via their wish and Vision (yes, Vision — we’ll go with the idea that Celestia is somehow connected to you or the Vision also working as an asset that favors them in religious-ways) they manage to establish a “connection” with you where you’re temporarily sharing consciousness and controlling their body; they’re fully aware of what’s going which is why idle lines and animations are still playing, however it’s a painless and overly-euphoric state that could - in theory - become addictive, thus making characters you’ve pulled and used often become more delusional and attached to you compared to others and why sometimes you can still end up getting the same character even if you’ve already got them, aka constellations and dupes – the constellations act as a limit of wishes Celestia allows them to have, but when they appear even after you C6 them it’s kind of a testament of their devotion.

This is also why Visions are kind of a big deal, not only are they connections between the Archons, Celestia, and the user but you as well.

Characters such as Dainsleif - who don’t have a vision -, Scara - who we don’t know if he has a vision, delusion or what-not - and Baizhu who aren’t playable it’s less of a “we don’t believe in you” and more of a “we are so busy with other shit we literally cannot become vessels… yet”. Any character who hasn’t been released yet - could be considered to be “going on a journey” until they can become vessels, knowingly or not. Those who won’t become playable are a whole different story for another post entirely, but we could say it’s a “punishment” - at least, in La Signora’s case for possibly “betraying” Celestia or being too much of a danger to them.

Banners are similar, the standard banner is basically the “we are literally ready 24/7 for any blessing, lord help us” – basically, their prayers are more vague and easily answered.

Take Jean for example, her wish is to keep Mondstatd safe via being the best Acting Grandmaster and Dandelion Knight she possibly can — that’s a wish that’s easily accessible in the day to day in-game life compared to, let’s say, Raiden who’s a literal god having to repent for her past-mistakes. Of course, this logic doesn’t always apply - we can even go and tweak the explanation for each Event Banner. Standard banner = more achievable wishes, Event Banners = Harder – % up’s aren’t completely random and have more to do with the character’s importance in that moment - we know banners are loosely tied with whatever event is going on in-game, therefore we could say that it’s during the moment where the character are the spotlight that there wishes are given priority. In their eyes, they probably get told by the preachers something along the lines of: “In times of change, where our future feels the most uncertain, it’s that our Grace bestows us with their presence” or something.

The four-stars are similar, their wishes tend to be “easily achievable” and tend to be more… normal you could say. Compare Thoma who wants to protect and be loyal to the Kamisato Clan to Ayato or Ayaka’s wish to create a safe and happy Inazuma for all of the people, even Sara who’s main devotion is towards the Shogun has more achievable goals than someone like Kokomi who wanted to stop a whole decree and was an integral part of a literal civil war or even Zhongli who is a former Archon, Prime of the Adepti, who literally created a whole economy and city who is now a retired funeral employee who is keeping the progress of a whole harbor/city in check. I’m rambling here but you get the gist; four stars tend to have more “tame” and “ordinary” goals, while five stars are kind of… really, concerningly, ambitious.

In a way, being a five star AND an exclusive event banner character is kind of a curse for the characters, for the player it’s more of a “damn, Hoyoverse really wants us to spend money on this limited time character, huh?” but to the character it’s a whole religious/identity crisis akin to a “I am unworthy of my God’s love and there’s something literally wrong with me”.

[racefortheironthrone]

What’s your take on Jim Shooter? Opinions seem to be all over the place in regards to that guy.

When you’re talking about a guy whose subordinates celebrated his firing by *burning him in effigy* opinions are going to be really polarized. What I would say is that both his detractors and defenders would agree that Jim Shooter was enormously influential in the comics industry. 

To start with, I think it should be said that Shooter came in at a time when Marvel Comics was really struggling to stay on top of things during a growth period; twenty-seven-year-olds aren’t usually given the Editor in Chief job when things are running smoothly. And unlike a lot of people in their late 20s given control of a major media company, Shooter actually did manage to keep the plates spinning so that books were published on schedule at the same time overseeing a number of legendary runs of Marvel Comics (most of Claremont’s run on X-Men, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Walt Simonson’s Thor), etc.  He was also someone who pushed major, transformative initiatives. He basically invented the company-wide crossover with Secret Wars, and his crossovers both sold like gangbusters helping Marvel to financially sustain its growth and started down the dubious path of “events” that were lucrative but creatively bankrupt (famously, Secret Wars was a glorified commercial for Mattel action figures - hence why it threw together all of Marvel’s biggest characters for the thinnest of reasons - whose very name came out of focus group tests). He also pushed Marvel into the direct market with (of all things) Dazzler #1, which started Marvel down the track record of increasingly relying on specialty comics shops instead of selling through newsstands and supermarket spinner racks. Those two trends are arguably the centerpiece of Big Two superhero comics to the present day.

He was also, to put it mildly, something of a gambler who took some pretty wild swings at times. If Secret Wars was a kid smashing toys together, Secret Wars II was a bizarre existential drama in which a figure who is, essentially, God decides to learn what it means to be human, complete with learning how to eat, drink, and use the bathroom (Spider-Man’s bathroom, no less.) But the thing that probably ended his tenure at Marvel was a high concept venture called the “New Universe.” This was an insanely ambitious idea: a brand-new superhero universe completely separate from Marvel continuity, designed from the outset to be more realistic (the slogan for the New Universe was that it would be “the world outside your window”) without magic, supertechnology, gods, etc., which would take place in real time, with a month having passed in-universe in between each issue. 

It was a massive creative flop (while commercially profitable, it underperformed expectations). Because of management interference (oh, the irony), the launch was under-budgeted, which meant the top-flight talent that he had planned to run it couldn’t be hired; because they had to bring in fresh recruits and D-listers, there were delays and deadline problems; no one followed through on the line’s original selling point, so a supposedly realistic universe started to involve alien knights and professional football players as heroes-for-hire; and the whole thing was unceremoniously cancelled.  So that’s what I’d say about Jim Shooter: simultaneously a bottom-line-oriented businessman and a deeply weird creative director, someone who took wild swings and burned every bridge he could get his hands on. 

[crossdressingdeath]

You mentioned Sera, whats your take on her?

Honestly I can't say a huge amount because a) I haven't played Inquisition in A While and b) even before I stopped playing it I had stopped recruiting Sera (because she's Just The Worst), so. Just to be clear, I'm working off what I remember of her character, which may not be entirely accurate to what actually happened although I'm pretty sure it is.

That said, she's just... awful to Lavellan. Just horrible, all the fucking time. She insults their people, insults their culture, if they're a mage pretty much insults their entire existence (and the mage thing extends to Trevelyan and Adaar). She gets mad at Lavellan for refusing to abandon their beliefs having LITERALLY JUST SPOKEN TO ONE OF THEIR GODS because SHE thinks Mythal was actually a demon! I have a post somewhere about it, but if Lavellan points out that it doesn't actually matter what they believe because the Inquisition has made it clear that they'll insist on calling them "Andraste's Herald" even if they've outright denied it and come as close to saying "don't call me the herald of the religion that has persecuted my people for centuries and all but destroyed my culture" as the game will allow she disapproves of that because, again, they're not willing to convert to the religion using them as a glorified figurehead against their will! If a female Lavellan romancing her does this she will break up with her! And you'll notice that I only mention Lavellan; she will not break up with any other Inquisitor if they suggest Mythal might have been real. Oh, she'll still disapprove, but it's only an offence worthy of breaking off their relationship if her girlfriend actually worships Mythal. In other words, her girlfriend being Dalish and holding to the Dalish faith after being given empirical evidence that her gods exist in at least some form is worth breaking up with her over. Because she can't prove Mythal wasn't a demon and that makes choosing to believe in her a huge problem. In a game that is largely about faith. And of course there's the whole "elves and mages aren't little people" thing when they're literally the bottom rank of all of human society that we see (and certainly in Ferelden, which is where Sera grew up, and Orlais, where we meet her); you don't get more little than that! Also (speaking of relationships) from what people have said she comes across as outright objectifying towards a female Cadash or Adaar Inquisitor, but having never played either of them with her in the Inquisition I can't say whether or not that's true.

And she just will not take anything seriously! If memory serves she wants to play pranks in Halamshiral during a very important diplomatic event that the Inquisition CANNOT RISK BEING KICKED OUT OF FOR FEAR OF CORYPHEUS WINNING! She will murder a man to assuage her own feelings without considering the impact that could have on the organization trying to prevent the end of the world that she is ostensibly part of (a man who if memory serves is useful to the Inquisition if you make the right choices) because he's a bad person and she thinks she has the right to be judge, jury and executioner without so much as asking anyone else including the person whose orders she's SUPPOSED TO BE FOLLOWING (because murdering a noble won't piss off the Orlesians at all...)! The fate of the world is at stake and she's just dicking around, playing pranks on the people in charge of keeping it together! And some of her pranks are downright cruel, or even dangerous! Like, dumping a bucket of water on Josephine and humiliating her in front of her people so that they'll laugh at her is just uncalled for, especially given there's as far as I recall nothing to suggest Josie is anything but good to those serving under her; hey, maybe her people don't want to laugh at her! And if memory serves her "prank" against Vivienne involves putting a venomous snake in her underwear drawer! Vivienne turns it around because Vivienne's badass, but that could have killed her! What the fuck is wrong with Sera that she thinks putting someone's life in danger is funny?! I don't think she even offers any assistance that we see outside of her own presence even though the Red Jennies should logically be useful!

And you know the worst part? You can never call her out on any of this. From what I remember the closest you get is the option for some ableist insults that in no way even begin to cover any of the actual issues an Inquisitor would logically have with her, and from what I understand even if you kick her out you don't get to tell her "Your refusal to take this seriously is putting us and the world at risk and I cannot allow that" or "I cannot and will not work with someone who refuses to so much as not openly insult my culture and religion" (at least Solas, bad as he can be, will apologize and reconsider his stance if your approval gets high enough and has understandable reasons for responding the way he does) or "You have made it clear that you think my magic makes me at best less of a person and at worst a monster and I will not tolerate that any longer"! Basically Sera is horrible to the Inquisitor if they're an elf or a mage and Bioware said "What's a reasonable response to this when we give the player an opportunity to react negatively? Ableism? Yeah, let's go with ableism" and it pisses me off.

[numba99]

The Intern

Summary: You are an intern at MSG, strictly forbidden to become involved in with any of the Rangers players. However, this becomes difficult when you catch the eye of a certain player. (y’all should know vague summaries are my brand at this point) Word Count:1.8k

Warnings: none for this part. But also I just want to toss out I know nothing about like sports broadcasting which is what im using as the internship here please don’t drag me if something is inaccurate or something I am trying my best okay ty also didn't proof read teehee <3

You walked up the block, nervously fidgeting with the end of your shirt. To tuck or not to tuck? That question had been nagging you then entire subway ride. You were most certainly over thinking it, but you didn’t wanna mess anything up. You had somehow managed to nail your dream internship at Madison Square Garden doing sports broadcasting for the Rangers. It felt like at any second the other shoe was gonna drop and they were going to tell you they accidentally confused you for the real intern they wanted.

That fear was pushing you to want every last delight to be perfect, hence the intense internal debate about tucking or not tucking in your shirt. You wanted to look professional, but not stuffy or uptight. The more you thought about it, the more silly it seemed and you finally decided to just play it safe and tuck it in.

As you finished adjusting your shirt, MSG came into view. The building towered over you, making you feel so small. You’d been there countless times for concerts and hockey games of course, but it felt foreign to you now. You couldn’t wait to get the first day over with so you could stop being so nervous about everything

You finally reach the door staff people were let in, flashing your badge to get through. Now that was cool. You weaved through the hallways, reaching your supervisor’s office without having to ask for help. Considering you had the sense of direction of broken compass, you were impressed with yourself.

“Hi Beth, I’m here,” you greeted, knocking lightly on the door. Your supervisor was pretty young; you guessed she was in her late 30s. You appreciated that, having been afraid you were gonna be stuck with some old dude you couldn’t relate to at all.

“Y/n, welcome! And right on time too, I like you already,” Beth smiled, waving you towards the seat across from her desk. You noted she had her shirt tucked in. Good call. You only met Beth once at the interview, but form you gathered she seemed nice. Tough, but nice. The type that wants to push you to succeed and as long as you don’t cause any problems, you won’t have any issues with you. Which was fine with you, you were good at taking direction. Nothing was going to ruin this for you.

“We’re not going to be here too long, I wanna show you around before things get too busy,” Beth began, “I just wanted to touch base with you and go over some ground rules.”

“Of course,” you nodded.

“So there’s a lot you're just going to lean on the fly or by watching. Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions, I’d rather explain to you how to do something than tell you what you did wrong,” Beth told you, “Be careful with your phone, no taking pictures or videos in the locker room unless it’s for work purposes. Be on time - but you’ve already got that covered. Um hmm... I know there's more, but so much is just learning while you do it.”

“That makes sense, I’ve got lots of observing to do I’m sure,” you replied. It’s what you expected.

Beth nodded, “Definitely. You’ll mostly be doing observations for the first few weeks, but I’ll definitely give you more to do as you get more comfortable.”

“That sounds great, I look forward to learning from you,” you smiled. It sounded kiss up-y, but you really meant it.

“I look forward to working with you,” Beth replied, “Oh one more thing, and it’s pretty important. No fraternizing with the players, that’s a pretty strict rule I have. Team events are okay, making friends is okay, but romantic relationships are strictly prohibited. It’s just not professional, you know?”

“I completely understand,” you nodded. You didn’t think that would be a problem. Sure, there were plenty of players you thought were cute, but you doubted they would think you were. Besides, you were not about to risk this placement,

“Perfect. Now it’s tour time,” Beth replied. Beth showed you where your office would be first, since it was right next to hers. it was less of an office and more of a glorified closet with a computer, but hey a place to call your own was pretty cool. It was awesome to see this side of the Garden. Sure, it was just a bunch of offices, but everything was decked out in Rangers colors and pictures so it felt so much more exiting. 

The coolest thing by far was seeing the locker room. It felt a lot bigger than it looked on TV, then again it was devoid of a team full of giant hockey boys at the moment. Beth explained most the time spent here would be observing her interviews with players and taking the notes for her. You knew you were going to see players in person, but standing there it was all starting to feel real. You were practically giddy, though you were hiding it under a layer of professionalism.

Beth showed you around a little more, before returning you to your office. She told you to just get yourself comfortable and watch some past interviews to prep for later. Your stomach did a flip when you realized you’d get see all the players tonight.

Luckily the day moved quickly. You got to watch the game in the viewing room with some other press outlets. Beth told you to take notes as you watched, which would be used to ask questions and write up articles or social media post later. Even though it was work, it was fun. You couldn’t believe this was your internship.

You tried to hide your nerves as you followed Beth in the flow of reporters to the locker room. It was surreal, seeing all the players there. You tried not to stare to hard, especially since some of them were changing. Beth warned you some of the guys are pretty shameless about it. They had won that night, so everyone was in a good mood, joking with their locker mate.

The first player to make eye contact with you was Lias Andersson. He gave you a small smile and you returned it, though you could feel yourself blushing. You quickly turned away, telling yourself to get it together. You turned your attention to what really mattered - jotting down players answers to the questions they were being asked. First it was Kreider, than Buchy, and lastly Andersson. If you weren’t so focused on getting all the details, you would have been completely starstruck.

“Are you new?” a voice asked as you were finishing up your last thought. You looked up, finding Lias smiling down at you. You were always somewhat partial to him, and he was even cuter in person. 

“Um yeah, I’m an intern,” you replied, “Is it that obvious it’s my first day?”

Lias chuckled lightly, “No, I’d just remember seeing a pretty face.”

“Oh,” you replied, at a loss for words. Was he joking? Was this some sort of intern initiation. “Thanks. Great game, I’ve gotta go.” You cringed at yourself as you walked away. What the hell was that? And why were you so awkward about it?

“Ready to head out?” Beth pulled you from your thoughts. You nodded, happy to get out of the room. You watch Beth go through the notes - which she said were very well done - picking out the best quotes and putting together some little statements to release. After that she let you go, congratulating you on a successful first day.

---

The next day you woke up feeling on top of the world. Sure it was just one day and you didn’t really do much, but it went well and you were super excited about it.

“There’s my little intern superstar,” you best friend and roommate Jess greeted you. You laughed and rolled your eyes as you poured yourself a cup of coffee. It was a rare day you two had off together; Jess was a nurse who often worked nights, so your schedules didn’t match up a lot. “Come on tell me more about it, I was half asleep last night when you told me.”

You plopped down next to her on the couch, giving her a non sports fan friendly report about how it went. As much as you tried to get Jess into hockey, it just wasn't her thing. However, she did appreciate the good looking guys, so her next question didn’t surprise you much.

“So which one are you hooking up with first?”

“None of them. My supervisor said there’s a super strict rule against hooking up with any of the players,” you replied, “Besides lots of them are a bit older than me anyway, Or taken.”

“Just because there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score. Isn’t that the whole point of the game?” Jess teased.

You couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “Yes, but not for me, I can’t risk it.”

“Well there’s nothing against you setting up friends right? Let’s take a look at these guys,” Jess took out her phone, pulling up the roster and going through the list with you. “Zi.. Zibanejad? Don’t know if I said it right but he’s cute.”

“You did, And he is, but hes taken,” you told her. She sighed, but moved on.

“Ooh, Kreider is painfully my type,” she nearly swooned.

“Not sure about him actually, I think hes taken,” you said.

“You say that like it’s going to stop me,” Jess joked before proceeding, “Oh what about this guy Andersson?” Your heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name.

“Funny story with that actually,” you replied, before launching into the weird run in you had with him yesterday.

“Holy shit he wants to fuck you y/n,” Jess replied.

You blushed, “I wouldn't go that far. It may have been a joke, him being nice or something I don’t know.

Jess shook her head, “Men are not nice. At least not for no reason. He's totally into you. You gotta hop on that.”

“I can’t,” you repeated, “I could get fired.”

“How would she even know? Is she going to follow you into the bedroom,” Jess replied.

“I don't know, but she seemed really serious about it,” you told her.

Jess rolled her eyes. “The way I see it is you’ll be hooking up with the guy by the end of the year. And then you can get me in with this Kreider guy. We’ll be the cutest hockey wives the NHL has ever seen.”

“Yeah right,” you mumbled, playfully tossed pillow at her. As much as you knew it was ridiculous, couldn’t get Lias’ face out of your head for the rest of your day.

[theriannation]

Possible Causes of Feeling Non-human that are NOT Therianthropy

I've often seen it written that Therianthropy or Otherkinity are not the only reasons a person might feel nonhuman. After research and help from the community, I have put together this list to introduce those other possible causes. It can be a starting point for those who are seeking answers about why they don't feel human. Even if you are certain that you are a Therianthrope or Otherkin, I highly recommend that everyone read over this list and share it with others. We want everyone to be honest with themselves and to feel comfortable being who they are. This list is most likely not exhaustive. 

If you have any questions, you can contact the author, Ulfrvif. Created April 13, 2018 Last updated May 30, 2018

Tumblr hides posts from searches if there are links to other websites. If you would like to see all of the sources for this information, please see this post: https://theriannation.tumblr.com/post/184680960857/citation-for-possible-causes-of-feeling

Alter-human

Alternative Humanity Personal Identity (AHPI) is "A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity." You may decide to call yourself alterhuman if you experience an internal identity that is beyond the scope of what is traditionally considered ‘being human’. If you feel nonhuman but your experiences do not fit into Therianthropy or Otherkinity, you may want to learn more about Alter-humans. Shifter's Disease This "occurs when a person starts reading some therianthropic meaning into mundane, everyday occurances." Individuals who are researching Therianthropy may begin to trick themselves into thinking that normal feelings and sensations that can be explained rationally, are actually therianthropic shifts or evidence of Therianthropy. This in turn, leads them to falsely identify as a Therian for a short period of time. This is similar to Medical Student's Disease (MSD) in which medical students perceive themselves to be experiencing the symptoms of a disease that they are studying. Animal-hearted/Other-hearted/Kith People can obviously feel deeply connected with animals without identifying as nonhuman. Some Animal-hearted people do claim to have shifts similar to Therians. Copinglink/Otherlink Therianthropy (and a therioside) is an innate part of us that is not consciously chosen. Copinglinks and Otherlinks knowingly create nonhuman personas as coping mechanisms or for various other reasons. Creating an Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term also refers to "the different behaviors any person may display in certain situations" and "the part of someone's personality that is not usually seen by other people". Some create alter egos to live out better versions of themselves because it can be fun and empowering. Other people create alter egos to protect themselves. It's possible that young children and teens are creating nonhuman alter egos to explore who they are and test social situations. Experience Taking This psychological phenomenon occurs when a person reading a book, watching a movie or animation, or playing a game begins to mimic one of the fictional character's behaviors and personality. Experience taking can happen without a person realizing it; however, it's usually temporary. "Psychologists have discovered that while reading a book or story, people are prone to subconsciously adopt their behavior, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses to that of fictional characters as if [these traits] were their own. Experts have dubbed this subconscious phenomenon ‘experience-taking,’ where people actually change their own behaviors and thoughts to match those of a fictional character that they can identify with." While experience taking is temporary, Therianthropy and Otherkinity are permanent identities. Roleplay/Pet Play/Pet Regression It's fun to create characters and act out being someone or something else. This can be a positive interest or outlet. It's easy to feel connected to anthropomorphic characters. Mimicking these characters and their animal behavior can and does occur. Roleplaying is an interest or hobby that anyone can enjoy. Pet Play is also roleplaying as an animal, but this activity can either be a sexual kink or nonsexual. It can also include bondage. There is usually a dominant and submissive partner. This is an activity that people choose to participate in and they can pretend to be any animal they choose. Pet regression is when people prefer to act like animals to reduce stress, anxiety or it just makes some people happy. It is not sexual like pet play can be. This is considered a form of coping in the regression community. Pets enjoy imaginary play and they often have a caregiver to pet them, feed them, and give them rewards. An individual participating in either of these activities may choose to dress up in items such as collars, leashes, ears, tails, and other items to help them act out their character. They also enjoy having chew toys and plushies like dogs and cats. People who are into pet play are known to use litter boxes during play. How is Therianthropy different? Therianthropy as an identity is not related to sexual practices. Therianthropy is not a choice, and the therioside is also not a choice. Therianthropy is not a coping mechanism and is not a form of imaginary play. Therianthropes are comfortable with using modern amenities, and are not demanding to have litter boxes placed in public washrooms. Using litter boxes is something that pet players do in their own personal homes during roleplay. Some Therians may choose to also participate in these alternative activities, but roleplay as an animal and pet regression are not Modern Therianthropy. Power Animals/Spirit Animals/Guides/Totems "Everyone is thought to have a few of these guardian power animals, from childhood on. Over the course of her or his life the person may have several." -Shaman Links Power animals are external, independent entities that can guide us through difficult events in life. They are not limited by the physical world and may choose to speak to you. Others are more cryptic and will use symbology. It depends on what you need. Often, an animal guide will have specific qualities that help a person through a single event or challenge in life. This means spirit animals can be temporary and change over time. They can be with us for an extended period of time if we maintain the relationship with them. It is possible that working with a power animal can cause shift-like experiences that leads one to feel like an animal. These encounters should not be taken lightly and should be respected due to the connection to Shamanic and Aboriginal cultures across the globe. In comparison, theriosides, are the inner animal self. They are based on real-world animals and should not be able to speak to you or carry on conversations. When identified correctly, theriosides are a permanent part of a person's identity, personality, and sense of self. I've worked with spirit guides and teachers myself, and for me personally, those experiences differ from Therianthropy. Practicing an Animal or Earth Based Spirituality/Religion Therianthropy itself is not a religion or spirituality, and it does not require any individual to be a believer in such. There are many religions and spiritualities in which people worship gods or goddess that are often represented as animals. Some gods and goddesses appear as part animal and part human, such as Egyptian Gods. Believers of these theologies sometimes worship the animal itself too. Some rituals involve becoming the animal for a short period of time. Some beliefs also promote fellowship with all creatures on earth. Daemon The following comes from The Daemon Page website. A daemon is a personified version of the second half of someone's mental dialogue, usually mentally represented in an animal form. Usually has a name, gender and personality; usually the dæmon's personality is at least somewhat different from that of the person.

Daemons are considered to be "mental constructs" instead of spiritual entities. Mental construct means "The idea that dæmons are something that people "do" with their minds, rather than something that exists objectively and independently of us."  They can be spoken to, and they can speak back to you. Daemons can change form or shape until they become stable, but some remain fluid. Those of us who call ourselves "dæmians" have taken [Phillip] Pullman's wonderful dæmon concept (His Dark Materials) and turned it into a fun - and even useful - mental construct. For us, dæmons are a part of our consciousness that we've assigned a name, gender, and symbolic animal form. They're glorified imaginary friends that act as the other side of our mental dialogue - sometimes being the voice of reason, devil's advocate, or just a friend. Simply put, dæmons play the role of constant mental companion. Daemians, people who enjoy daemonism, do not believe they are an animal like Therianthropes do. They do not identify as a nonhuman species. It is highly possible that a lot of people are actually creating daemons and then tricking themselves into having shift-like sensation and feeling nonhuman. Tulpa The tulpa itself may not cause a person to feel nonhuman, but it could be possible for a person to create an animal tulpa and mistake it as a therioside. This could easily lead them to confuse normal behaviors and sensations with being nonhuman. Whereas a therioside usually merges and integrates with the humanside of us, a Tulpa becomes more and more independent and separate. The most general definition as accepted by the Western tulpamancy community is as follows: A tulpa is a thought-form that is imagined into existence. It is a sentient and autonomous mental companion. Tulpas are–or resemble to an indistinguishable point–a second consciousness co-inhabiting a brain with their creator. Upon creating a tulpa, the creator, or “host” will essentially share their head and their life with another person. They are distinct from the host in that they possess their own personality, opinions, and actions, which are independent of the host’s, and are conscious entities in that they possess awareness of themselves and the world. Tulpamancy is a branch of the wider phenomenon of plurality. Plurality is an umbrella term encompassing all phenomena where multiple consciousnesses coinhabit a brain. It should be noted that Western tulpamancy is a practice that is wholly different from the original practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Tulpas are now created for a variety of reasons, some similar and many very different from the reasons of Buddhism and occultism–curiosity, understanding the brain and the nature of selfhood, inspiration, and, most commonly, companionship." The Western tulpamancy community does not believe that the tulpa can physically manifest. Interacting with/Observing an Animal When we are around animals often, we can begin to unintentionally mimic them. Veterinarians, animal handlers, and researchers may need to think like those animals in order to treat, train, and study them. For some people, it's possible that they may temporarily feel more animal-like than human. This can also happen to children who are raised around animals. Some imprinting may happen, but most children grow out of it. However, it is possible that imprinting on a nonhuman animal could lead to Therianthropy in some cases. Medical/Psychological Conditions The following can cause people to have unusual feelings about their physical bodies and react to their environment in ways that might make them feel nonhuman. In most cases, Therianthropes live a balanced and successful life. An individual could be a Therianthrope and also have one of these disorders with the Therianthropy being a positive part of the individual's life. If your quality of life is being negatively affected for any reason, please seek professional guidance. This information should not be used for self diagnosis. Bodily Aches/Pains It was mentioned by several people that back pain can possibly cause an imaginative person to think they have wings or other nonhuman phantom limbs or cameo shifts. Also pain could make it harder to figuring out if you’re Therian/Otherkin. If you are in pain, the first explanation should not be that you are Therian/Otherkin. Pain that lasts more for several day or that is acute and/or accompanied with fever/numbness/tingling should be checked on by a medical professional. Don't go untreated because you want to be Therian/Otherkin. Dissociative Disorders Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior and sense of self. Dissociative symptoms can potentially disrupt every area of mental functioning. The attitude and personal preferences of a person with dissociative identity disorder (multiple peronsality disorder) may suddenly shift and then shift back. The identities happen involuntarily and are unwanted and cause distress. There are three types of dissociative disorders: Dissociative identity disorder Dissociative amnesia Depersonalization/derealization disorder Others in this category can include but are not limited to Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder. Clinical Lycanthropy Clinical lycanthropy is a rare form of reverse inter- metamorphosis wherein patients believe that they are undergoing transformation or have transformed into a non-human animal. In comparison, Therianthropes do not suffer from the hallucinations or delusions of having physically transformed. Autism Spectrum/Asperger Syndrome Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts brain development causing most individuals to experience communication problems, difficulty with social interactions and a tendency to repeat specific patterns of behaviour. There is also a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests. Some people who are autistic may feel isolated, because they have trouble interacting and communicating with other people. A lot of people on the autism spectrum are also hypersensitive to light or sounds which can make it difficult for them to go out in public. They may also feel like they don't belong, and all of this can possibly make them feel inhuman. Some describe feeling "alien" because they have trouble with social situations and reading normal human behavior. Being LGTB+ Instead (The next possibility is controversial, but we felt that it should be included.) While there is no published data about the number of LGTB+ people in the Therianthrope community, the number does seem to be high compared to the regular population. The Furry Fandom and Therianthropy are not to be confused with one another, but a lot of Therians also participate in the Furry culture. "It may be the case that the furry fandom, which espouses openness and acceptance as its central virtues, may be a particularly welcoming place for members of sexual minorities." "Ultimately, future research is needed to clarify the nature of these interesting sex and fandom differences in sexual orientation." Plante, C. N., Reysen, S., Roberts, S. E., & Gerbasi, K. C. (2016). FurScience! A summary of five years of research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. Waterloo, Ontario: FurScience. The same could be true for the Therian community. It could be seen as a safe place in which to explore sexuality by a person saying their therioside is the opposite gender of the human body. Of course, this might not mean that person is actually a Therianthrope. An individual who is surrounded by anti LGTB+ might use Therianthropy as a reason for why they don't feel comfortable in their body. Therianthropy could be a safer alternative explanation that the individual could keep to themselves without feeling guilty or ashamed. People who join the Therian community often come out as LGTB+ after they have been accepted and found it to be a safe environment in which to discuss how they feel about their gender dysphoria. The feeling of being nonhuman could diminish as a person accepts that they are LGTB+.

[zdbztumble]

“Kingdom Hearts II” revisited, Part VII

Little things can have a big impact, and a Twilight Town emptied of any signs of life makes for a very effective and foreboding beginning to the final legs of KH II. The continuation of the mystery surrounding Riku - or, more specifically, what King Mickey knows about Riku and why he won’t reveal it - is continued in a satisfying manner as well. That makes for another good point of comparison with later entries in the series; something like the return of Repliku in KH III, for example. That was thrown into the series more than a decade after that character’s supposed death, is only referenced when absolutely demanded by the plot, ends abruptly, and doesn’t have any logical - or narratively satisfying - continuity with what became of Repliku in R/R. By contrast, Riku and Mickey’s history in KH II was begun in the game immediately preceding this one and, while very much in the background, is referred to in big and small ways throughout the play time. 

(Revisiting Twilight Town also has a great gag, with Sora and his friends incredulous at the deductions made by Hayner and his friends. Just because they happen to be right doesn’t mean they make sense.)

Once we start in on the road to The World That Never Was, however...my feelings start to get mixed.

I’ve learned over the course of this playthrough that Axel was originally meant to die at Roxas’s hands during the prologue of the game. As much as I don’t like Axel - and let me reiterate that I really don’t like Axel - I can’t regret the decision to keep around past that point, for reasons I’ll get into shortly. And wrapping Axel’s story up by way of a noble sacrifice, if a bit cliche, isn’t a terrible idea. But it is a more rushed and arbitrary sequence than I remember, with Axel’s appearance - and his decision to kill himself - just happening, without a strong motive. While it pains me to say this, more cutscenes with Axel - particularly concerning Kairi’s escape from him - would have done this moment a favor. Despite all that, I think this is more successful than not as an ending for Axel...one that should have been permanent. 

(And did no one on staff remember the line “he was the only one I liked” when they decided to start working toward an Axel/Saix bromance?)

The return of Roxas leaves me with similarly mixed feelings. I like how cold and predatory Roxas’s attitude is - it’s a strong contrast with Sora, and indeed with Roxas as he appears in the prologue. I’ll once again save more detailed thoughts about Roxas for another day, so let’s just say for now I think that attitude speaks to why Roxas being subsumed into Sora is appropriate. But there is a big problem with this sequence: it’s only a cutscene. That this wasn’t a playable battle right out of the gate, given how pivotal a moment it is, is ridiculous, and if Final Mix did nothing else right, it fixed this huge mistake.

(And if you have Oathkeeper equipped at the time - as I always do, in any game that offers it, from the time I receive it - that cutscene is a little strange to watch.)

Stepping into the castle unloads a lot of story, for how (relatively) quickly it goes by, so it’s inevitable that there will be highlights and low points. Namine and Kairi finally meeting, and teaming up to escape, manages to be both. That the moment happens at all is wonderful, and both girls being prepared to fight Saix, unarmed if they have to, is a good touch. But these scenes take the old adage of “leave them wanting more” to an extreme, because we’re given only the barest of bones for what Kairi and Namine’s interaction could have been. Add in the fact that Namine’s origins, and the closest thing to an explanation for why she starts to fade from existence, are relegated to Ansem’s reports, and it’s very hard not to feel that she was cheated in the writing. She and Kairi were certainly cheated by the animators; their run cycle looks ridiculous. On the other hand, Kairi pulling back Riku’s hood is touching, and makes for a good reveal of an identity that most players would have figured out by this point, but is no less satisfying for that.

Every scene with Ansem the Wise in this game just reminds me all over again how incredible Sir Christopher Lee was, and how ridiculous they were to recast while he was still alive. The reveal for Ansem (another identity that should have been obvious by now) is well-handled, and he makes for an unlikely but effective partner for Mickey Mouse to bounce off of. But too much of Ansem’s story - his key turning points as a character - is left for the reports, and for his monologues. And the backstory given in that scene, and those reports, seems to be at odds with both the beginning of KH II and the events of R/R. Ansem speaks of Riku as though the two of them were working together, with knowledge of the other’s identity, for a long time, and yet the dialogue in their scenes in the prologue suggests that DiZ, at least, isn’t sure exactly who his cloaked ally is. And Riku leaving King Mickey because “Xehanort’s Heartless was still inside his heart, troubling him” seems to negate the growth Riku had in R/R. Just having Riku and Mickey get separated involuntarily would’ve been fine, I think.

I didn’t remember KH II vanilla engaging in any sequel baiting outside of the secret ending, but there is at least one line of dialogue that does so: “you don’t look like half the hero the others were.” Compared to later entries in the series, it’s a minor and innocuous tease, and if this were the end of the series, one could always justify it by assuming Xigbar was referring to the unnamed and distant Keyblade wielders that Triton alluded to in KH I. The scenes surrounding the boss battle with Xigbar are largely solid, with a fantastic reintroduction for Maleficent, great material for Kairi, and a pretty fun fight in its own right. Sora and Kairi finally reuniting is a very sweet moment - not just in the scene itself, where they embrace, but in the little details following. Kairi’s dialogue box remarking on how Sora kept her charm comes to mind (and made me doubly happy that I stick with Oathkeepr.) Kairi being the one to bring Sora and Riku back together is a wonderful idea too, though I’m one of those people who finds Sora’s reaction a little forced. I wouldn’t say it’s any more overdone than, say, the fake-out with Goofy in Hollow Bastion, but it is a bit much.

Where this section of TWTNW starts to slip up a bit is in its determination to keep the player from ever having Sora, Riku, and Kairi together in a party. How and why various characters don’t fight alongside Sora in this game is often arbitrary, and I think it’s probably impossible to avoid a few forced choices in a game this long, but it really is absurd to never put that trio together for a battle. If you check in with Kairi whenever there’s a chance to pull up dialogue boxes, you’ll get lines that all say more or less the same thing: she wants to be involved in the action from now on and be at Sora’s side in danger. This is why she’s a character that I get upset for, rather than at, because the writers take the pains to establish her as someone with the desire and the will to be an active participant in the adventure (and, apparently, the ability - she gets the hang of that Keyblade pretty quickly), and then force these circumstances that deny her the opportunity.

Having said that, the two boss battles leading up to Xemnas are...what they are. I can’t say there’s anything wrong with them, but they aren’t my favorites. To the extent that I have memories of Luxord from the first time I played this game, I’m pretty sure I disliked him, just for how hard I found it to get the timing right on his games. Saix is a fair challenge, but a little tedious IMO. His fight also leads into one of the most ridiculous moments for Sora in the game - his not remembering that he became a Heartless. Y’know, that pivotal moment in the first game, the choice he made himself for the sake of others that he was then rescued from by Kairi, and discussed with her after the fact as solemnly as two young teenagers could. Anybody could forget that.

But those fights, and the Organization’s graveyard, do bring me back to why I’m glad Axel wasn’t killed off early. Because this is the point in the game where I realized, back in the day, that Organization XIII is kind of pathetic. And I don’t mean that as a point against them as villains, or against the game. What I mean is - if you ignore the bullshit pulled by DDD and just take KH II on its own terms, the Organizers are ultimately little more than glorified Dusks, devoid of real emotions or conscience, aware of everything they’ve lost along with their hearts but careless towards the suffering they cause in an effort to reclaim those hearts that is, in the end, futile. The members’ own self-serving and predatory natures damages the Organization almost as much as the efforts of the heroes, and by the time Sora appears to clean up the mess, the Organization is already on its last legs. Axel’s attempts to get Roxas back by baiting Sora with Kairi - a ridiculous and ill-thought plan - is the whole Organization writ small, and offers a good preview for their own fate. And it’s another reason why I never wanted or needed more information about any of the Organizers as individuals than what we got. Going just off of KH II (and CoM), there wasn’t much left to any of them, and that seemed part of the point.

That Organization XIII is such a hollow, empty, and doomed shell gives the villains some pathos - a more earned degree of pathos than DDD and KH III would attempt to provide them - but it also means that the heavy-handedness of Xemnas’s dialogue isn’t necessary. A fair amount of what he was saying is self-evident. I also find it bothersome that no one calls him out on exactly what the Organization’s plan was, and that the person who gets the closest is Riku - not Sora, the character who had a much less wordy but far more impactful verbal exchange with Ansem SoD in the last game that expressed the contrast between knowledge and wisdom beautifully. That can’t be said for KH II; as I said, that bit of dialogue before the first Xemnas fight, and Xemnas’s conversation with Ansem are over-written. But they aren’t terrible either.

The events leading up to that first fight with Xemnas have many great moments. The image of Nobodies dancing in a shower of hearts is genuinely creepy. Ansem’s farewell to King Mickey is touching, and offers yet another effective character sacrifice that should have been permanent. And the final scene for Maleficent and Pete is fantastic. But Riku seems to be treated by the game - certainly by Ansem the Wise - as the group leader once he gets his body back, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. He was a crucial figure “behind the scenes,” as it were, in reviving Sora and sounding alarm bells. But Sora is the one who’s at the point of action, rescuing worlds from Heartless and Nobodies, and taking out the majority of Organization members. He’s the one who’s been used by the Organization to do their dirty work, the one who fought his way to the castle to save the others and, not unimportantly, the one we play as throughout the entire game. He’s also arguably the person most owed an explanation for what happened over the past year. I can’t necessarily fault KH II for that - it isn’t as though they have time to sit down and regale him with details about the events of CoM. It’s more a failing of later games that he never gets appraised. But that he, and everyone else, just seem to fall in line, and that Riku’s the one who knows what to do (not that it isn’t obvious)...I just don’t know.

I left off right before stepping into the final door, so this playthrough’s not over yet. But next time, we won’t be looking at the finale of KH II, or finally getting into my assessment of Roxas. There’s a Final Mix out there for this game I’ve never gotten to play, and it’s about time I took a look at everything they added...

[tainbocuailnge]

Hey,hi. As a person who has never played granblue, what would be the best features you would recommend about the game? Could I play it even if I couldn't whale it? How muxh time would I spend to farming and so on to be able to get the good content (story and events)? Would you recommend the anime?

I haven’t watched the anime but as far as I know it’s basically one of those glorified commercials for the game so let’s just get straight to talking about the game

the good points:

gameplay is flexible and allows for a lot of different styles to suit your needs. there are a few builds that always end up being The most powerful dps and that’s usually what online guides will focus on too, but not everything in the game is dps and you don’t need to win the race to still reach the finish line. if you want to play something outside the meta you can do that, and maybe you won’t win the dps races, but it’ll still be viable for just clearing content most of the time. a lot of people make a point of defeating bosses with janky contra-meta setups just for the hell of it and the game accommodates this

granblue is incredibly f2p friendly. the vast majority of the good weapons for your grid can be obtained without spending a penny if you just put in the work, and the ‘standard’ layout for every element is entirely f2p. of course the grids built with whale weapons will be stronger, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be weak if you don’t cash out. endgame f2p grids can often compete with dolphin-tier paid grids. they give away SR and even SSR characters in events all the time too and a lot of them are viable even in endgame, and raids give you bonus rewards for using R and SR characters. the devs are generous and randomly hand out gacha currency and rare upgrade materials all the time. 

when you do spend money you get a lot of bang for your buck. the spark system guarantees that you will get whatever you aimed for if you save up 300 rolls for it, and the suptix system means that for the low price of a single 10-roll you can obtain a non-limited gacha item of your choosing as well as a ticket for the 10 roll you paid for. new players get the same deal for everything that was in the gacha at the time they joined, which includes limited characters too. there are also regular guaranteed SSR gachas for the same price. it’s very easy to obtain the characters you want without going broke. 

new players get a lot of free stuff to help them along. simply progressing through the main story and clearing the side stories (which are archived events) gives you a lot of tools to get started on building your granblue muscles. it takes very little effort to become strong enough to get by in event stories and obtain even more stuff. they’re constantly making changes to make the early parts easier so they don’t feel like something to slog through to get to the ‘good’ part. 

the progression is very tangible. the game has a lot of raids at various difficulties against which you can test your progress so there’s always a new goal to set. battles which were once a struggle you will destroy with ease and battles which seemed impossible suddenly come within your reach. there’s a lot of satisfaction in defeating a raid on your own for the first time.

the not so good points:

there really is so much grinding. people aren’t kidding when they call this game grindblue fantasy. while you can probably float by well enough to play story events with just the handouts, if you want to get stronger you have to hit the grind, there’s no escaping this. personally I don’t mind repetitive tasks much and it’s easy to mindlessly press buttons while watching anime or something but for a lot of people this is a legitimate dealbreaker.  

you kind of really need friends to play with. granblue can technically be played solo but a huge part of the fun for me is in being with a crew of friends, growing stronger together, helping each other out, etc. having strong friends to carry you in your baby days is nothing but a blessing. having a crew also makes coordinating more difficult content much easier. I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that without my crew I probably wouldn’t be playing anymore.

grid building is a fuck and nowhere in the game does it really get explained. there’s a lot of math involved and nearly every online guide will tell you what to do without explaining the reasoning behind it either. I tried my hand at a guide myself and I’ll gladly answer specific questions too but it’s still something that turns a lot of people away. it also WILL take a while before you really have a full grid up and running, because this is grindblue fantasy and if you want the power you gotta put in the work. 

[chanelslola]

School spirit can suck my sweaty, janky balls <3

i was the dorkiest, most unpopular and forgettable human being in high school, and i kinda loved it. 

this topic is generally quite difficult to talk about cause everyone's high school experience was different and unique in it's own little way, so if this post feels unrelatable in any way, uh...at least you read something cool today:).

i have a bone to pick with SOME high schools. there seems to be this phenomenon with...being...somewhat likeable and very involved in like almost everything. you know, that one person who's at every school gala/sporting event and is the loudest supporter for the school team, has the highest grades and even has the teachers broadcasting this fact to the other students in class, and is probably dating someone conventionally hot in the grade because #nolosersallowed:p .

i have no hatred towards those kinds of students, by the way, i think its great to have an amazing high school track record, and some people are GENUINELY like that - you cant help it if you love sports (or anything that requires team building), have good connections with your teachers or being overall likeable by your classmates - not everyone like that was a clout chaser. it's perfectly fine to be an easy-going team player. 

what i dont like (in fact, FUCKING RESENT), is when having these personality traits/interests is forced onto other people who Just. Aren't. Like. That. my high school in particular, had this tendency to make it seem like this kind of personality was the only one that existed out there and if you didn't at least emulate or want to be like the star student...you were destined for failure - like, for life. 

this is where my unpopularity became a drop-kick in the sack. one thing i can appreciate about being shy and an introvert in high school is the sense of anonymity. i was alone...like a lot. i spent breaks in the library, literally no one had a crush on me, and i didn't have many people i could consider/call a friend. i was irredeemably unfuckable. but, it gave me time to take a step back and look at situations for what they really were without peer pressure/any outside influence, it gave me time to actually choose who i wanted to be friends with and build authentic connections without wondering if my popularity was the only reason they cared about me, and most importantly it teaches you how to spend time with yourself without depending on other people's energy to make you feel worthy.

all of that sounds healthy and mature but the reality is that it became lonely at times to be fully accepting of the fact that i'm not living the glorified 'teenage dream' that American high school movies portray because either everyone is aiming to be the popular kid with tons of friends while building their own little cliques of yes-men or they were too scared to fully accept that they were just different people so instead of just being themselves and hanging around people they actually like, depression sets in and they either dropped out of school and did home schooling, changed high schools or attempted suicide. 

the obsession with popularity came to a point where even the teachers were treating the more outgoing, social media obsessed and conventionally attractive students better than the other ordinary students - they enabled it. it wasn't even about the grades anymore. it reached this gross threshold of certain students being glorified for just being...Everywhere. and bullying became more and more common with each passing day. kids who didn't have social media or preferred to mind their business or who were just weird and indifferent or even students who came from lower class families/backgrounds and were there because of a bursary, were bullied to HELL and back. a student's finances determined how well you were treated. it became a petrifying level of ungodly. (affairs between teachers and students became a thing too, but anyway...)

i spoke about it to the school therapist one day, and she told me "maybe you should just suck it up and have a bit of school spirit, ya know?". fuck you Sharon.

and now that we're here, fuck that high school for instilling this idea that being different, unique or having just basic human problems made you a bad student and you'll forever be a failure for the rest of your life. WE WERE KIDS. as an adolescent you are in the stage of your life where your body and your mind is growing, you're essentially figuring yourself out while being forced to know what you're gonna do for the rest of your life and who you wanna be when you grow up. 

i didn't give a flying fuck about my textbooks in high school, i was an average student, and i probably failed more tests than i've farted but i can safely say that i've never felt happier now as an adult. yes, adulthood has many challenges (i might write a blog post about that) but i've experienced more acceptance and love from people ive met since i left high school than those 4 years combined. 

and on that note, i dedicate this paragraph to people who are still in high school or just finished - you can start again. no seriously, your life doesn't solely depend on how well you did in that one Afrikaans spot test, will it make things a little bit harder? yes, only because society and the work force place pressure on people to be #hustling 24/7. also, starting again/picking yourself up is not an easy road to walk, there will always be ups and downs. 

fuck school spirit. the only spirit that exists is the one in my cup <3

[thuashdore]

a super rough timeline that is here up until i write the detailed, nicer-looking timeline: warcraft edition

...because five expansions have passed since i wrote my original biography for beau, and people need to know what is going on.

my about section currently covers Vanilla WoW and The Burning Crusade. that’s the easy part out of the way. the following are events that have occurred that Beau has actively been involved in, in one way or another. brief descriptions only; the actual timeline (which is coming) will be a lot more detailed - mostly for those folks who are not in the Warcraft universe... but hey.

this is going to be a long read. you’ll probably see why it’s taking me a while to do the full version. the descriptions are, rightly so, memey. you’ve been warned.

there are also a few things in here that are purely explanation. again, for those who are NOT familiar with the Warcraft universe: i got you babe. <3

oh and for all of those who know Warcraft like the back of their hand: tl;dr the player character story line (paladin edition), but without faction-specific events. you’ll be surprised how many of those exist. <3

WRATH OF THE LICH KING - a.k.a. lets go kill the dead guy who made the undead guys and wants to end the world.

2nd scourge invasion and zombie infestation begins - Beau learns about the Argent Crusade (a happy group who all want to be friends together and forget about the red vs blue fight) and joins their ranks

Alliance + Horde (read: blue and red, respectively) declare war on the Lich King (glorified necromancer with a big sword), and all able-bodied individuals venture to Northrend (read: cold continent).

Naxxramas happens (tl;dr they kill a lot of dead people, including a cat and the Lich King’s best pal).

The Nexus War happens (tl;dr they kill a bunch of blue dragons - including the boss blue dragon) - Beau is involved largely due to her affiliations with the dragonflights; the Bronze in particular, though the Netherwing are involved too. 

The Halls of Stone and Lightning are found and unveiled. Ulduar happens soon after (uh... titan’s constructs think we’re bad. we punch them and they realise the tentacle guy underneath ulduar is the real bad guy. the world nearly ends, but through the power of friendship and good punching we stop that from happening. some red-haired mage gives a speech about it). 

THE CALL OF THE CRUSADE - including the Argent Tournament, the Trial of the Champion and the Trial of the Crusader/Grand Crusader (tl;dr the leader of the Argent Crusade - Tirion - thought it’d be good to decide who gets to go kill the Lich King by having us all fight each other, and whoever survived would go. a big bug was underneath us and we squished it). 

Assault on Icecrown Citadel - including the Forge of Souls (cool music btw), the Pit of Saron (go save Red + Blue people) and the Halls of Reflection (we found his big sword and he got angry at us so we had to run). Beau probably did this with Jaina... though I mean she wouldn’t say no to either her or Sylvanas asking. Jaina makes the most sense to me however. 

Icecrown Citadel (tl;dr it happens not long after the above and we go kill the Lich King and his friends and also his pet dragon... but he nearly kills us all first until Tirion takes our kill and Lich King’s dead dad resurrects us but in the good way).

Ruby Sanctum (tl;dr strange things happen with the dragons so we say we’ll take a look at it, and then...)

CATACLYSM - a.k.a. let’s go kill the angry black dragon who wants to end the world.

The Shattering / Elemental Unrest (the angry black dragon was cooking under the world for a long while and has now come out... so the world is on fire).

Beau spends most of her time with the Dragonflights again (given it directly involves them) and works on bringing peace to the elements... so involves going to the Throne of the Four Winds, Hyjal, Bastion of Twilight (and Blackwing Descent) and, of course, Firelands. One for each element (and also killing the bad dragons’ kids and wife!!).

The Hour of Twilight (read: the End of the World), which includes the End Time instance (basically “if you don’t stop bad dragon he’ll die anyway but so will everyone else so”) the Hour of Twilight (the Archbishop was the bad guy the whole time!!) and Dragon Soul (Green Orc Jesus gets the killing blow this time, but we do kill the bad dragon and a bunch of tentacle things - remember Ulduar? those, but Less).

MISTS OF PANDARIA - a.k.a. lets go meet the pandas who have been hiding for millenia and then kill the Orc who wants to end the world (but only for anyone that isn't an Orc just like him... JUST like him).

Lil Prequel here wow first time but Beau spends her time with the Dragonflights, who are now not immortal. I know I didn’t mention that before, but now it’s irrelevant - they’re not immortal now. Most people don’t get that. Or agree with it. But i’m just saying either way they’re Tired after the fight with their bad brother, immortal or not, so this is what she does for a bit.

Garrosh Hellscream, Big Orc Leader of the Horde, decides to bomb Theramore (cute city that did not deserve it). The first time that something like this has ever happened. Pretty much everyone is shocked except for the people who knew about it... which is a few people. Jaina Proudmoore (read: ruler of Theramore and someone you don’t want to piss off) is pissed off; very hurt and distraught by the destruction of her home. Red and Blue are at each other’s throats because of it.

Pandaria is discovered (read: the land covered in the mist?? yeah that one. it has pandas on it... and other things), and Beau travels there with, surprise, the Bronze Dragonflight.

Pandaria is a lot of Personal Growth for Beau, because of the Sha (read: bad emotions made manifest that feed off of people experiencing said negative emotions). she faces a lot of her innermost demons and is forced to conquer them in order to be able to properly help the people of Azeroth. there’ll be a big post on this someday, but for a good portion of the expansion she assists the Pandaren in dealing with the Sha presence.

Isle of Thunder is discovered, and the Throne of Thunder raid happens (tl;dr Lightning Man wants to rule the world; fails). Beau has limited involvement in the former (its primarily dominated by blood elves/reds and the Kirin Tor Offensive/blues), but is involved in the latter.

Then the Horde (specifically, the trolls - big boy troll leader Vol’jin) begins their revolution against their Warchief, Big Bad Orc Garrosh Hellscream. Beau assists with the rebels, as do the Alliance and most of the current Horde. Garrosh unleashes the Sha of Pride (read: worst one) and destroys the nicest place on Pandaria. Everyone is angry.

Siege of Orgrimmar (read: Horde capital city) happens - we kill Big Bad Garrosh’s friends but he somehow evades our kills, because player characters don’t get killing blows in this game until WoD. Vol’jin becomes the Warchief, and him and Varian (read: king of the blues) end the war! No more Alliance vs. Horde! For like two expansions!!!!

Garrosh is put on Trial... and escapes, with a Bronze Dragon (who’s actually an Infinite dragon... who are Bronze dragons that don’t agree with keeping to the destined timeways so they do what they like). they travel back in time, and we have to follow them.

WARLORDS OF DRAENOR - a.k.a. the expansion no one talks about... that ends with a bunch of guys wanting to end the world.

Prelude!!! Garrosh goes back in time, finds his dad, and they make a New Horde (the Iron Horde), and they make the current Dark Portal (read: big demon portal thing) bigger and more red, and plan to invade Azeroth! again! this has happened before!

Iron Horde invade Azeroth - we stop them, but also decide to go through the Portal to the ALTERNATIVE Draenor (read: it was this place called Outland... which is where we were in The Burning Crusade, but before Outland became Outland, it was Draenor. work with me please). 

Khadgar (uh... powerful mage; little eccentric; looks old but is actually like 10 yrs older than Beau but got made to look old bc of magic; Father of the Institute for Fallout fans - but nicer than Father is) thinks it’s a good idea to free Gul’dan (green warlock; bad; smelly) because he’s the guy powering the portal. We’ll regret that later, but right now it does stop the Iron Horde from invading Azeroth.

Beau, being a Neutral(tm), spends most of her time with Khadgar in his tower. Assists with liberating Shattrath (read: important light city), helps find and kill Garrosh (but Green Jesus Thrall actually kills him) and also participates in Highmaul (kill a bunch of ogres) and Blackrock Foundry (kill the orc making the weapons for the Iron Horde). Khadgar also starts making a ring of immense power, to give us an edge. He also kills us a few times - accidentally.

The Iron Horde crumbles after killing Blackhand (weapon orc we killed in the Foundry) and Gul’dan (here comes the regret) makes the remaining orcs drink the green goop that comes from a big demon (Garrosh wanted to stop this, but we killed him so...). the orcs turn green just like they are in reality, but now we have to fight Demon Orcs... oh, and Gul’dan summons Archimonde (big demon overlord who’s one of Sargeras’ - leader of the demons - best friends).

Surprise surprise, now we go and kill Archimonde and all of the other people who are now a part of the Burning Legion (Sargeras’ army of demons and other races... but mostly demons). We manage, but Gul’dan is transported to Azeroth by Archimonde and he finds Illidan (uh... there’s no easy way to explain Illidan so we’ll just say he’s a big winged elf-demon man, but a kind of okay one???), who’s trapped in a crystal. 

The end of Warlords is that we’re all friends, we have a cool powerful ring, and we’ve killed Archimonde - but... Gul’dan is free, has Illidan, and is going to summon all the demons to Azeroth.

LEGION - a.k.a. the demons, and Sargeras, really really want to end the world.

Prelude: I won’t lie, I honestly forget how we got back to Azeroth after traveling to an alternate timeline. Warlords was a fever dream to most people, but either way we did it... and when we get home there’s green fire everywhere and demons are upon every known orifice of Azeroth.

The whole of Azeroth fight the demons for a bit, because while there’s a lot it’s kind of like “mm, we can handle this actually”

The Battle for Broken Shore happens, and as it turns out we underestimated how many demons were here. Alliance and Horde thought a “small squadron” would suffice... but no. The Literal Entire Legion is here and MORE are coming. Tirion who got the killing blow on Lich King dies. Vol’jin Warchief of the Horde dies. Varian king of the blues dies. It’s a huge mess and everyone has to retreat.

Dalaran (read: a floating magic city) is moved from where it is now (Northrend, and then Karazhan - a tower... we’ll leave it at that) is moved to the Broken Shore and we declare war against the Legion.

Beau is chosen by Tirion to succeed him as Highlord of the Silver Hand (basically, she’s in charge of the paladins and makes sure they eat their vegetables before battle). She gets shiny weapons because of this, that grow in power the more you feed them... not literally, but figuratively. Don’t ask.

We find the Pillars of Creation (read: titan artifacts) to help us fight Sargeras, and along the way we also liberate an ancient city and also push back the Emerald Nightmare (read: uh... corruption of the world? its bad, alright, so we kill it). 

Oh, we also kill Gul’dan (and save Illidan!).

...but he’s already summoned his main hoe: Kil’jaeden (read: Archimonde’s best bro), so now we’ve got to go and defeat him too - preferably before he gets to Azeroth.

We take back the Broken Shore and infiltrate the Tomb of Sargeras (which is where the demons are coming from) and because we’ve got all the Pillars of Creation and the cool weapons we’re able to do it. Huzzah!

We do almost nearly die in space but Illidan uses a stone to teleport us to safety, however he also brings a demon-infested planet along with us.

We hate that at first, but Velen (read: the non-corrupted trio of the once Golden Trio: Archimonde, Kil’jaeden and Velen) decides we should end the Legion while we have the advantage, so makes us a little golden dingy spaceship to travel to the demon planet and... well, defeat and destroy the Legion.

We fight on Argus (read: the demon planet) for a long time and invade Antorus, the Burning Throne - the main operating hub for the Legion. We kill everyone there and fight a literal corrupt titan!! twice!! and then with the power of the non-corrupt titans, they’re able to bind Sargeras to his former seat on the pantheon (read: a literal stage with thrones on it, one for each Titan), which does end the reign of the Legion.

...Sargeras is pissed because he REALLY wanted Azeroth to die, so before he’s bound to his chair forever like a big baby he takes his flame sword and stabs Azeroth with it.

...oh this is also a good time to mention that Azeroth is actually alive and a Titan, but like... a not born one yet. Azeroth the planet is an egg for Azeroth, the titan. anyway.

We go back to Azeroth and the planet is bleeding, and Teams Red and Blue go crazy over whatever gunk is oozing out of the wound Sargeras’ sword has left behind. So they start fighting over it. Which brings us to...

BATTLE FOR AZEROTH - a.k.a. blizzard are telling us it’s a Red vs. Blue expansion when really it’ll end up being something like “the old gods want to end the world”.

this is where we are now. Red and Blue have a new leader on each side... and the whole Azerite (the name given to the gunk oozing out of the wound left by Sargeras’ flame sword) thing is pretty much causing each side to declare war. Beau, being neutral, is... worried, to say the least; she still doesn’t have a home of her own and being neutral during a faction war is... Difficult. she’s hoping her status as Highlord will help. her focus is mainly on providing aid to those who need it, and figuring out a way to mend Azeroth’s wounds and stop Her from getting too damaged.

...and that is all I can say, for now.

[epochxp]

The Eastern Front, A Wargamer’s Retrospective

A Soviet Officer leads his troops forward, 1942 | Russia Beyond

A little over 80 years ago, 3.8 million Axis military personnel crashed across the Soviet frontier in a bid to succeed where Napoleon failed. The aim of Operation Barbarossa was simple: crush the Soviet Union by the first snows. Fortunately, this failed and resulted in a titanic struggle along a 1,800-mile front for four years. It only truly ended when the Soviet army raised the red flag over the shattered shell of the Reichstag on May 2nd, 1945. During the conflict, the Soviets lost 27 million people, military and civilian. It was a war without pause or pity on either side as two dictators fought it out in some of the most monumental battles the world has seen. Places like Dubno, Kharkiv, Kursk, Stalingrad, and Berlin have become synonymous with some of the worst fighting of the Second World War.

But as much as the Eastern Front encompassed a pitiless crescendo of violence that also played an unfortunate center stage to atrocity and death, it’s also a hell of a tableau for wargamers who are into World War II. Is there a bit of a moral quandary? There is, and I’d be foolish not to acknowledge it, but I will also say this. The moral thing to do in such cases is to acknowledge it happened and be aware of it in your gaming. Don’t glorify it and honor the victims. But at the same time, don’t be afraid to game it. We can’t learn from history unless we’re willing to work with it, clear-eyed and knowledgeable. I am of Russian-Jewish extraction myself, and yes, I have quite of bit of Eastern Front wargaming paraphernalia. 

With that, I have some Eastern Front board games and computer games I recommend. Are they the ENTIRE Eastern front experience? Nope. Like many of the major engagements of the Second World War, the Eastern front has spawned a lot of books and wargames. 

Board and Computer Wargames

Board Game Geek

I played the heck out of this game in my twenties, and when I found a copy cheap at a hobby shop auction, I snapped it up like a penguin does mackerel. It’s got all the joys of a Standard Combat Series (SCS) game, and while I admit the 2nd edition is better, I happen to have a weakness for the 1st edition myself. Call it nostalgia. It reflects the limits of the Soviets in 1942 (they had some issues advancing as far and as fast as they did when they launched Operation Uranus) and a competent German player can do a lot better than Von Paulus did. The SCS is awesome as it comes with a standard set of rules that bridges all the games in the series and then game-specific rules to cover special case stuff unique to a game in the series. I own quite a few SCS games, and they’re my favorite MMP titles. The rules are solid, make sense, and play fast. 

The best part, the 1st edition is cheap to come by. 2nd edition, not so much. I do wish MMP would reprint this, but they did do Storm Over Stalingrad, so perhaps I should give this a try. It’s a bit more like the old Avalon Hill Turning Point: Stalingrad. 

As for a VASSAL module, it’s only available for 2nd edition, but at least it’s available.

Board Game Geek

This one is as tense a game as I have ever played. I mean, this one does come down to the last turn. GMT has a masterpiece in Backhand Blow. It’s easy to play and very hard to master, especially as the Germans are operating on a knife’s edge for most of the conflict. I love the 3CI points system. It really does a good job of limiting your options while reflecting the difficulties both sides had coordinating the actual battle in 1943. I really do love this game, and I lucked out finding it at a Congress of Gamers event a few years ago for a real steal. 

The best part is the game is available for some pretty reasonable prices on Board Game Geek and has a VASSAL module. 

Board Game Geek

I am not usually someone to trumpet the Tactical Combat Series (TCS). While I like the detail and gameplay, I am not nuts about the order system. You practically have to write an operations order before you begin play. Yeah, I know there are people out there who love that sort of thing. Hey, whatever floats your boat. I do like the fact that the orders you write are often invalidated by circumstance, and you must improvise like real commanders.

I rather like MMPs approach to series rules, though, and it works well here. Plus, in my “Jason likes gonzo subjects” column, the game is centered around one of the most vicious battles involving the Spanish “Blue Division.” As casualties mounted for the Germans in the east, they tried to internationalize the war as a “crusade against communism.” To varying degrees, it worked, and many volunteer legions joined the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. To be honest, and feel free to correct me, this is the first wargame I’ve seen with these guys. 

I’ve played the game once, and it is a tough slog for both sides. Both sides have good troops, and it’s in marshy terrain near Lake Ladoga, so it’s a real close-range barn burner. It took a friend and me a week to finish it, but it was one of those wargaming journeys that made it worth it. The game does an exceptionally good job of reflecting German and Soviet doctrines. If you want a playable monster game about a little-known action on the Eastern front, find this one. 

Sadly it’s a bit hard to find on Board Game Geek, but when you find it, you can get it for a reasonable price. There’s also a VASSAL module, which will do a lot to make life easier.

Amazon

Told you I’d slip a computer game in there! Slitherine put out in my mind one of the best operational games I’ve played in a while. It’s also one of the best computer games on Barbarossa, bar none. The game is fairly simple on its surface, with pretty cookie-cutter movement and attacks over a very nicely implemented map. The live combat results are a nice touch. What makes this game special is the ability to work with your subordinates and superiors. Every decision you make is going to make someone happy …and tick someone else off. This is especially so for the Germans, who have a ton of competing personalities. You also have to pay attention to logistics, and woe be the commander who ignores things like rail infrastructure and captured Soviet trucks! 

The Soviet AI is good, makes you fight, and does a better job of avoiding encirclements than the real Soviet army did in 1941. I haven’t actually played the Soviets yet, but I’ve been told by other players that your main worry is not to screw up too badly that Stalin shoots you. 

I really can’t say enough nice things about this game. I keep coming back to play it again and again, and to me, that’s the mark of a good computer game. If you don’t have it? I’d get it. It doesn’t need a high-end PC to run, and it does a lot in a very capable package. It’s currently available on Steam for $16.49, which is a real steal for this game. 

Conclusion

The Eastern front is a huge tableau to wargame on, with titanic battles that have written their name across history. There really is something for everyone here. I do hope this article has been an inspiration for you to dip your toes into this tableau. As always, Good Gaming, Everyone.

At Epoch XP, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch XP's service on our parent site, SJR Research.

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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

[conundrum-rp-blog]

Under the cut you can check out all the players that have been accepted for their roles. Congratulations!  Please take a look at the instructions at the bottom of the page. For those who haven’t been accepted this time around, don’t be discouraged! Send me a message if you want more feedback on your application and I would love for you to re-apply in the future! Congratulations again to all of you and Welcome to CONUNDRUM! 

✦ Rae, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Emmeline Vance. “Emmeline feels guilty about not being able to fully be there and support those who she feels need her, especially since she needs to be there for her friends and family more than ever nowadays. She’s used to being the emotional rock, dealing with other people’s baggage & helping them sort it. With her own optimism draining as life drags on, she feels guilty for not having enough energy to deal with the problems of others, & she’s slowly running out of ways to help.” I can’t wait to see how this turns out. The dichotomy between the old Emmeline and the new one is one of my favourite things in your application. Great job!

✦ Roman, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Corban Yaxley. “Everyone knows they’re someone to be feared, even if they haven’t seen it first hand, but those who have seen it know better than to cross them. Their anger is something hidden behind smiles as sharp as knives, something sinister lurking beneath. They like their violence to be dramatic but quiet, something that can rarely be tied to them directly, more likely to take out an enemy behind closed doors when violence is involved. There are whispers of the things they’ve done that swirl around constantly, and yet no one seems keen to suss out if they’re true or not, and no one wants to risk getting on their bad side by poking their nose somewhere it doesn’t belong.” Dramatic but quiet is a perfect way to describe what Corban does; and it’s a recurrent theme all throughout your application. I honestly can’t wait to see how they fit into this universe!

✦ Shannon, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Fenrir Greyback. “It was not the allure of blood purity that drew Fenrir to the Death Eaters’ ranks, but instead a promise of freedom. Years of living life in hiding as a second class citizen has turned him cold and ruthless, willing to do anything if it meant bettering the station of not only himself but the rest of his pack. Pureblood, mudblood, halfblood, none of that shit every mattered to him- a human was a human no matter who fucks who. The only reason why he’s willing to act as the Death Eaters’ glorified attack dog is because their deal is currently the best on the table. Now, should someone change that then he may find his loyalties changing as well.” I love to see the difference between the other Death Eaters and Fenrir. The fact that you really put the focus on Fenrir’s objectives was amazing, and I can’t wait to see him interacting with everyone else! Your Face Claim change to Jon Bernthal has been approved.

✦ Dean, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Thorfinn Rowle. “Thorfinn returned back to normal within a few months. His self righteous and cocky demeanour flew back and it was almost as if he’d never been sent away. Though he had a streak of vengeance, furious that he had to endure such a tormenting event in the first place. With a temper like his and his place in society slowly turning back to normal, it wasn’t long before the Ministry issued a whole apology to the families involved in the imprisonment. But it didn’t leave it trials, the media, with Thor’s career as a Quidditch star, would pick up on any little detail of Thor’s activities. He had to be a lot more careful, which was unusual for the man since he was never really used to being on his best behaviour.” I really liked this headcanon in particular because I can’t wait to see it develop! Thor has been so sheltered his whole life that it will be amazing to read how imprisonment changed him. Amazing job! 

✦ Lucy, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Daisy Hookum. “In the light of her friends’ losses, Daisy has given up her magic. She might not have pulled herself entirely from the wizarding world yet but it felt like a safe first step. She hasn’t made a declaration of it, not until she’s sure she can handle it. It was another form of protest, as well. The entire war, every terrible, horrible thing she’d had to read and hear about, was caused by one thing – magic. Tucking away her wand and putting it out of her mind felt like a silent war that she had taken up with the entire world and it felt powerful, in its own ways.” Amazing! Such an original twist to the skeleton! I’m so eager to see how this plays out!   

✦ Becky, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Narcissa Malfoy. “Let it be known that Narcissa Black begins her life as a soft, gentle creature. This is a reminder that ice takes time to form. That children are neither good nor bad, but something in between that teeters on the edge of being both. With shielded smiles and knowing eyes, it is her family who encourage her into the darkness. Her bloodline are named after stars; they shine through the gloom and know how to cope with it, but she is a flower plunged into a world where she should not thrive. Should not grow. It is for this reason that she fights harder to stay alive. It is for this reason that her life is theirs to mould and shape.” I chose this headcanon in particular because it shows Narcissa’s struggle so clearly; and the push and pull between rigid ice and softness is definitely going to reach top levels in this universe. I sincerely can’t wait to see how it evolves! Your Face Claim change to Emma Rigby has been approved.

✦ Emily, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Alice Longbottom. “The road back from hell is not one easily navigated by an Angel. Her halo is dented, its shine dulled. Her wings quiver at the base of her spine, unable to soar. The Lestranges were her demons, clawing at her skin as they sought to silence her voice - afraid of its contents. But even fallen angels can learn how to fly again. The art of being broken, Alice has learnt, is a matter of opinion. To the naked eye, she appeared shattered beyond repair - a mere shell of who she once was. They were mourning her before she had begun irreversible decay. But Alice knew better. She knew that pieces could be knitted back together. She knew that just because something was chipped, it didn’t mean you should throw it away. It took patience, but she navigated her course back to the light.” This was such a gorgeous way of portraying Alice’s struggles! I love how much detailed you put in every single section of your application and I can’t wait to see how Alice fits in this universe! Your Face Claim change to Laura Harrier has been approved.

✦ Nic, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Gideon Prewett. “They think that war to him is just another game and that his brother and all of his restraint was the one keeping him in check — but when it was his brother that was lying in the mud there was no rampage or explosion or mad dog released from his leash, only unnerving stillness as he waited faithfully by Fabian’s bedside until he woke. Beneath the joke for every occasion, Gideon has always been a man of his convictions and in that moment Gideon experienced a fundamental change inside of him.” The moment I read this part of the application I was hooked. I can’t wait to see that change in Gideon and how he navigates through it. Great job! Your Face Claim change to Richard Madden has been approved. 

✦ Nikki, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Andromeda Tonks. “Andromeda can’t say that she was always the rebellious child. She wasn’t. In fact for most of her life she was obedient, the perfect daughter. Never had she spoken up, debated, or acted in any way unbecoming of the Black name. For her, it was easier to behave and focus on her love for her sisters and family. It was easier to think that if she kept her head down nothing would affect her. That was probably why her being with Ted came as such a surprise, it was her first true act of rebellion and her greatest betrayal. Andromeda never regretted it.” I really liked this part of the application because it’s a nice twist to the usual interpretation of Andromeda. We don’t really know about her history that much, so it’s quite curious to think she was much like her sisters once and then changed to the point of leaving her family. Great job!

✦ Dana, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Dorcas Meadowes. “After Voldemort’s downfall, Dorcas considered for a time stepping away from the wizarding world and venturing into the muggle world instead. As a baker, it would have been easy to integrate herself into the muggle community, open another shop and begin a new life without the threat of those in the magical community hanging over her head in such a way again. As relative peace fell over the community for some time, Dorcas remained where she was, however, as recent events have transpired, it has come back into her mind once more of stepping away and wondering if she should have done so before it was too late.” I chose this headcanon to comment on because I thought it was very original and unique, and I wonder how these thoughts will develop once Dorcas gets more and more involved in the war. I can’t wait to see what happens! Your Face Claim change to Summer Bishil has been approved.

✦ Ryan, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Amycus Carrow. “There are no nightmares, there is no regret, there is no afterthought. Amycus doesn’t fall asleep every night tossing and turning over the lives he took, he doesn’t think back and feel any type of regret over what he did. He slaughtered people, he sliced them up, he butchered them, he tortured them to the point where he had them begging for death and he enjoyed every single minute of it. Killing people doesn’t bother him, hurting people doesn’t bother him, being a monster is second nature to him. Amycus isn’t a man with redeemable qualities. He’s a bastard that takes delight in being a bastard. Every terrible, sadistic, and monstrous thing he’s done or will do is because he enjoys it and because he is not a man that gives a damn about the people he destroys in his wake.” Why did I choose this part, you might wonder? Basically because I always have a soft spot for a good old villain, who’s evil just for the sake of being evil; and I thought that was a very brave choice to make when it comes to your interpretation of Amycus. I’m eager to see him in action! Your Face Claim change to Michael Trevino has been approved. 

✦ Ash, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Evan Rosier. “She joins the likes of her cousins, seating herself at Narcissa’s side in the common room, wearing identical unimpressed expressions, rings of gold and silver weighing down their fingers. She looks across and draped along the leather couches are Mulciber, Rowle and the Carrows. It feels more like a reunion than anything else. Faces she’d seen and known from galas and dinner parties since she was a child are all her housemates now.Diamond tipped hair-pins hold her curls in place, the edges sharpened a point. It’s too often she contemplates ripping them out and driving them into the eyes of those around her. But that is part of her mask, too – she must continue to squash her volatile nature down, she must blend in seamlessly. She must charm and enchant, distract, conceal and evade. Evan must hide in plain sight – and she’s become good at it.” I adored this quote because I feel you portrayed Evan’s mask perfect and how she successfully hides her violent nature in order to fit in. Spot on! Excellent job! Your Face Claim change to Jasmine Sanders has been approved. 

✦ Maggie, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Frank Longbottom. “He’s not here for glory, not here to be remembered or create his name for history. He wants to be a hand, do what he can. The Order and the war did have a part in his decision to try and be an Auror, even as it’s was so far doubted he wouldn’t make it through training. His brothers believing that he would grow sick at the sight of what he was meant to run into, classmates believing he may not be smart enough. And his amount of personal training, the amount of hours he spent studying through the hours of the night were never to prove them wrong or the idea that he was afraid of failure, it’s just how he works. Giving everything. And there was a war going to begin, so he gave everything. In canon, he was a “well-respected auror,” and did make a name for himself, but not for being the top of his class, but for honest hard work and care.” I mainly chose this quote because the idea of a hero with a tender heart - as you described earlier in your app - is extremely original, and it’s something I absolutely relate to Frank. I loved that approach, and I can’t wait to see him in action!

✦ Nell, you’ve been accepted to play the role of Marlene McKinnon. “Known by the big backyard where children would fly around and play all seasons, Quidditch has always been a big tradition in the family, making many of the family members pursue careers in that field. Warm tones, wooden details and a clean cut design decorate each and every room of the house, old cottage vibes coming from a place that has seen generations of families pass by. Marlene and her siblings lived there with their parents, Richard and Deidre, and their dog Dalek— named after Liam’s favorite show and probably one of the few muggle things Marlene sort of understands. She’d never had any plans of leaving, until the murder happened. When death eaters attacked their home that night of july of 1981, marlene fought her hardest to save everyone. “remember what moody trained you for, what the order taught you.” it wasn’t until she heard her sister scream as the body of their mother fell in front of her that she realized she couldn’t win.” I swear this was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in all my history as a roleplay admin. What I loved about your app (and the reason I chose that quote) is how much detail and originality you poured into Marlene’s history, her family life and how she felt when the worst happened. Amazing job! Your Face Claim change to Phoebe Tonkin has been approved.

Again; congratulations to all of you and thank you for showing an interest in this group! Now that you’re here, this is what you need to do next:

Follow EVERYONE

Track all of the tags (found HERE)

Make your character account send it in within 24 hours

Open up your askbox

If for any reason you need more time to get your account in, don’t hesitate to message me so I can keep your role open! If I don’t get a message from you then I will assume you’re no longer interested in keeping your spot. Once you send your account, you’ll be provided with the necessary links and we can get started! And of course; HAVE FUN!

[tngmpersonal]

Things I want in a Sinnoh remake

Crabrawler can evolve into Crabominable at Mt. Coronet

Uses a modified Platinum regional Dex that includes Sylveon and all Sinnoh legendaries and mythicals

All Pokémon that were originally roaming are fought immediately when approached (Mesprit, Cresselia)

Talking to Oak allows the Legendary Birds to appear, but always fought at set locations

Area(s) that allow Pokémon evolved or hatched there to become Alola Forms and use an inverted clock.

Cosmoem evolves into either Solgaleo or Lunala depending on version

Use Pal Park’s original spot for something else (amiibo Park?)

Either shut down the Game Corner, or allow non-gambling minigames

A Giratina plot that involves the Distortion World

Have the Pokétch actually affect the overworld (because all the apps are completely optional and are there for reference)

Make the process of finding Spiritomb easier

Do something about Ravaged Path so that it isn’t a glorified “broken bridge”

Be able to feed a Pokémon unlimited Poffins

Rotom’s Room can be found without events and has unlimited appliances

Pokémon that only appeared by using dual slot can appear through other means

Allow Secret Base elements from OR/AS to appear in player’s bases (forming a team of other trainers)

The Pastoria Great Marsh would be like OR/AS’s new Safari Zone

Be able to fight Rowan’s assistant

Give out Z Crystals and Mega Stones throughout the main plot

Do something about the Honey Trees (those were the worst)

Divergent character evolution for the Lake Trio

Be able to get the National Dex without seeing everything in the Regional Dex

[jessejackreyes]

Twilight of an Empire Prologue

I managed to write something despite everything. Its not related to any of my major projects, but its different in a way that I like. Its interesting and a challenge to write so I enjoyed it. Its a prologue detailing the background of the au which I am tentatively calling Tyrannical Jack AU. The prologue is from an in universe text written by Gabrielle Adawe. There will be R76, a weird take on McHanzo, a weird take on Genyatta, a fun take on Pharmercy and probably more. Im thinking about Symbra.

Also on ao3

Twilight of an Empire

Prologue:

Excerpt from Life Under Overwatch

by Gabrielle Adawe

 Foreword

…

Let it be known that under my orders and supervision Gabriel Reyes created the strike team that would come to be known as Overwatch. His hand picked squad consisted originally of fellow super soldier Jack Morrison, ace sniper from the Egyptian army Ana Amari, genius mechanical engineer Torbjorn Lindholm, ex crusader Reinhardt Wilhelm and himself. It grew slightly as time went on, but all of the key players in the events that followed were from that original group or would join much later.

 From personal experience the five of them got off to a really rough start. They had different ideas of what to do, different styles of engagement and occasionally different beliefs about the righteousness of their cause. People have said, and I agree, that if it weren't for Gabriel Reyes leading Overwatch we would not have made it through the crisis. But something many who weren't there don't know is that if it wasn't for Jack Morrison, his second in command, keeping the peace between its members and helping them come together as comrades and friends Overwatch would have fallen apart before it even got going.

 Reyes was a brilliant tactician and a great field commander. He weighed his options carefully, listened to other people's opinions, but made decisions quickly when it mattered and took responsibility for them. So many of us came to have great respect for the man, but it was Morrison who talked to delegates from the various nations. He sorted out treaty details, convinced reluctant generals to listen to Reyes’ plans and convinced the UN of the need to grant Overwatch more and more authority.

 It was Morrison that convinced the Russian armed forces to share their experimental energy projection technology and the German’s their crusader shield units. He masterminded the think tanks that would help fight the Omnics during wartime and continued to make strides for Overwatch after its end. He convinced the world of the necessity of taking out the Omnium in Yugoslavia even knowing the sheer amount of civilian lives that would be lost. His words were greater weapons than the rifle he wielded.

 Jack Morrison did some of these things at the behest of commander Reyes, but we have learned after the fact that many of these were done on his own prerogative. He wanted these things done and was in a position to do something about it, so he did. At the time we did not question what he was doing, we trusted him. 

It is difficult to overstate just how important Morrison was to the original strike team and its success. We owe our victory to him almost as much as to Gabriel Reyes. It is important to understand who Morrison was in order to understand why certain mistakes were made. By the end of the war most of the delegates working for the United Nations had never interacted directly with commander Reyes. They had always acted through Morrison. The stated reason was that Reyes was not only frequently busy, but not a very good politician. Again from personal experience I can attest to the truth of the claim. Reyes was blunt and quickly irritated by, what he considered, pointless trivialities. He was happy to leave dealing with that to his second in command. The actual reason would come out much later, far after the war had ended and it was too late to change the course of things.

 As Overwatch’s successes grew more numerous Morrison was able to convince more countries to relinquish more resources, more forces and more control to commander Reyes. By the end of the war commander Reyes was de facto in command of most armed forces on the face of the planet. We believed at the time, and I still believe to this day, that, even after everything that came afterwards, most of it was necessary.

 We could not have our people fighting each other during the crisis and commander Reyes proved time and time again that he could show us victory if we let him. Morrison never let us forget every victory they pulled from the jaws of defeat, every life they saved. He made sure we understood what was at stake and we relented. It was only afterwards that we realized that Morrison had authored the Overwatch initiative himself. He knew every word of it, every authority we were granting Reyes as strike commander.

 In the heat of the greatest threat to humanity we signed so much away without a fight. Without understanding the ramifications, all because we listened to Jack Morrison and trusted commander Reyes. To this day I do not regret the faith I had in commander Reyes, but we all regret believing in Jack Morrison. At the conclusion of the crisis the Overwatch initiative that the UN had ratified called for the creation of a peacekeeping force under the Overwatch banner. It was supposed to protect us and help us rebuild after so much death, but it is where it all went wrong.

 People have asked why we instated Jack Morrison as strike commander instead of Gabriel Reyes after the transition to a peacekeeping organization. The answer to that lies in our history with the men. Few members of the UN had ever met commander Reyes and were told repeatedly that he was there to win a war and not to play politics. So politics were played with Morrison instead and he was damned good at it. I know now that he had planned to be named strike commander from the moment he drafted the Overwatch initiative, perhaps even further back, and we played right into his hands.

 He argued, and many others agreed with him, that commander Reyes made a perfect wartime commander, but he was a field commander. The new strike commander position was, in many ways, a glorified desk job. The kind of job we had always heard that Reyes hated yet Morrison excelled at. We all knew how close the two commanders were, there were rumors of them being romantically involved. It was so easy to trust that Morrison spoke for commander Reyes even then. We never even considered discussing things with the man himself, most of us had never even spoken a word to him. Everything was set up so perfectly as to make Morrison the only reasonable choice we had.

 There is a last bit to why he was chosen, his last carefully played piece in the game most people weren't aware that he was playing. The public adored him. Younger people may not remember how popular he was with the crowds, with the media. He gave inspirational speeches and was photographed saving children and puppies from Omnics. The public trusted the man more than the UN ever did. He let so many people down. We did not understand how ineffective the director of Overwatch’s office would be, how Morrison would ignore Petras whenever he pleased and would even have the legal right to do it.

 With Jack Morrison officially made the strike commander of Overwatch things changed dramatically. He managed to sweet talk funding from everywhere for his humanitarian efforts, his scientific efforts and through those for his peacekeeping efforts. The size of their armed forces grew, but everyone was too busy congratulating them for saving lives and advancing medicine and technology to notice.

 Morrison recruited the brightest minds, the best fighters, the most loyal soldiers and through them he enforced his will on the people. It took almost five years for people to start listening to the voices that were decrying Overwatch, calling it the tyrannical beast that it was. A series of operations in Europe and Northern Africa that led to tens of thousands of deaths were the final straw, the Horus massacres.

 Public outcry was swift and deafening. They had looked passed so many transgressions because they believed in Morrison’s message of peace and prosperity. But these massacres pulled public favor away from him. Director Petras, with the backing of the UN, condemned Morrison's actions publicly and demanded answers.

 The strike commander was brought before a council convened by director Petras to discuss what was going to be done. There were threats of shutting down Overwatch or at least removing Morrison as the strike commander. When they asked him what he had to say for himself he laughed at them. They were commanded by him to declare their condolences for the lives lost, but their unilateral support of Overwatch the next morning. He left without answering a single question.

 None of them did what they were told, they had not understood the threat he was levying against them. Petras went so far as to go out and condemn Morrison publicly that morning instead. He was found dead in his hotel room that night along, the rest of the council a few hours later. Everyone knew what had happened, the message was sent loud and clear. Crossing the strike commander would lead to death and no position would protect you from him.

 The presidents of Russia, the United States, France, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, as well as the prime minister of England all registered their outrage publicly within hours of the deaths becoming known. From research I have done after the fact I learned that everyone of them received a private call from commander Morrison that day requesting that they reconsider their hasty words. They refused, confident that their positions would protect them. Eight world leaders were dead within 24 hours of condemning Overwatch and its strike commander. It was the beginning of the true reign of strike commander Morrison.

 Some call me a coward for being one of the many who did not resist, who did not speak out against the tyranny that Morrison was creating. I can not truly deny this allegation. What had happened was unthinkable and we were scared. On some level I believe that dying a martyr's death would not have truly helped. We could do much more good for others if we were alive in our positions. But, I know that as much as that was true, I was truly afraid of what Morrison would do.

 To this day it is difficult to tell the difference between rumor and fact when it comes to the actions that Overwatch took in the shadows. Assassination, torture, blackmail, instigating wars, funding criminal organizations, human experimentation. The list goes on and on. The first group to die were a message that he wanted the whole world to see, others had their families threatened, were forced to watch horrible things happen, some were actually tortured. We were afraid, but our fears were not unfounded.

 While many detest me for cowardice, others ridicule me for my continued belief in commander Reyes. After all these years I believe that if we had not let Jack Morrison trick us into naming him strike commander, if the position had went to the one who deserved it most, then things would have been different, been better. I have had people tell me that I am crazy for this, but given the way Overwatch fell and what I knew about him it is the only conclusion I could come to.

 On that day in Zurich, four years ago to the day this book is published, Gabriel Reyes entered the Overwatch headquarters in Zurich. He planted explosives throughout the base and in the middle of a violent confrontation with strike commander Morrison the the building erupted in flames and Gabriel Reyes died. But, he took Morrison and Overwatch down with him. People who never knew the man claim he did it for power, that it was merely a coup, but those of us who met him, who saw what kind of man he was know better. We know that he died that day for us. He did what we could not even at the cost of his life, as he always had before.

 I have published this book on this day so that everyone will know what truly happened. Overwatch saved humanity from extinction, but after that, under commander Morrison it controlled us. He used the crisis to amass power for himself.

 Herein this book lies thirty years of Overwatch, its formation, it's victory, and its betrayal. Those who were complicit, those who aided them, worked for them, and those who resisted are all here as best as I could record them. It is my sincerest hope that these words, these events, this knowledge be passed on to those who did not live through it so they know what happened. We must understand so that we may never forget.

[siliconwebx]

How to Avoid Survivorship Bias and Grow Your Business

Survivorship bias is when you focus on successful businesses, strategies or people for only their successes. You admire them and want to emulate the positives. You also completely ignore their drawbacks or failures, as well as the surrounding details of their achievements.

It’s like how people show only their highlight reel on Instagram. They feature everything they want you to think about them – how they look, where they go, what they eat. Social feeds present a tailored, filtered, unrealistic view of a life.

This is prevalent everywhere. Perhaps especially in business, entrepreneurship and startup culture.

The danger of course is that survivorship bias can hinder your judgement in areas that are extremely important to the success of your businesses. It may encourage you to follow new trends whether or not they’re on-brand. To copy those you admire instead of lead in a way that’s all your own.

Don’t fall for it.

Survivorship Bias in Business

In the business world, survivorship bias is especially problematic. Successful outcomes are studied without looking at the circumstances as a whole. A company or individual succeeded, therefore they’re better, therefore you should replicate what they did.

Business Z only shines, though, because businesses A-Y shut down. Or Business Z shines now after 50 failures since launching.

Mistakes teach as many lessons as successes. Avoiding them does you a disservice. Plus, if you try and fail, you’ll feel like garbage because you assume you got the recipe wrong.

The College Dropout Misinterpretation

Talk to someone who wants to be the next Gates, Jobs or Zuckerberg and they’ll say, “You know, Bill, Steve and Mark were college dropouts.” Yawn.

They did not drop out and then immediately become successful. Some stuff happened in between. Without learning about their long and winding paths, you don’t learn anything. Plus, it’s been shown that occupational achievement is very much related to a college education.

I love this quote from investor David Cowan, from an interview with Scientific American:

“For garage-dwelling entrepreneurs to crack the 1% wealth threshold in America, their path almost always involves raising venture capital and then getting their start-up to an initial public offering (IPO) or a large acquisition by another company. If their garage is situated in Silicon Valley, they might get to pitch as many as 15 VCs, but VCs hear 200 pitches for every one we fund, so perhaps 1 in 13 start-ups get VC, and still they face long odds from there…So for every wealthy start-up founder, there are 100 other entrepreneurs who end up with only a cluttered garage.”

Your garage may end up cluttered, but at least the clutter can be your own. You can do so much more with your own trials and learning lessons than someone else’s.

Watch The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley to see how people can get trapped in a flashy story. Elizabeth Holmes succeeded at emulating Steve Jobs. When it came to the cutting-edge medical product she convinced investors she’d developed, though, a “flop” is putting it nicely. By assuming success is found in swagger and turtlenecks, you overlook the required work.

Their way isn’t your way. Your way isn’t their way.

You can do everything the same way as a successful brand or individual and end up somewhere different. You can also do everything a different way and end up with their type of success. There’s a very specific variable to account for: you.

Also, their story may not be over yet. We don’t know what’s going to happen to Apple. Look at MySpace. Or MoviePass. What if everyone copied MoviePass when they were still successful?

Here are survivorship bias traps even the best of us fall into:

If I copy everything Brand X did, my brand will be just as successful.

It probably won’t. More businesses fail than succeed. The odds are not on your side. It’s nothing personal, and you’re not doing yourself any favors by avoiding reality.

A spin-off of this assumption is the untrue “I can do anything” exclamation. You can’t. You cannot do anything and everything you want to do.

One time, I asked a then-boyfriend what he would do if he could choose any career. He was unhappy with his job and a little lost. He answered immediately: “Football player.” I dragged out my “okaaay” and then said, “Right, but you didn’t become a football player, so…what else?” He said “football player” again, and then probably took a bite of pizza or something.

You know what he became? Not a football player, and also not anything that challenges, stretches or excites him.

I’m not saying “don’t strive because you’re unlikely to succeed.” I’m saying that survivorship bias is a liar, and there are many paths you can take to all sorts of successes. Find yours.

Okay, but if I use the same landing page template they did, I’ll see the same 35% increase in conversions they had. (Or insert any stat you want.)

One company finding one thing that works and gives them very specific results doesn’t mean much of anything for your company. A new idea for testing out a strategy of your own? Sure. A foolproof way to grow your business? There is none, so…no.

These types of case studies are so tempting and flashy that you can forget the obvious, like:

Those results don’t matter to you. You care about other results.

Your own strategy is pretty close to achieving those results already.

You’re in a different stage of your business or a different industry.

Brand X has a totally different audience.

There could have been additional changes Brand X made to help get those results.

Fine. I have a better product anyway, so I’ll be more successful.

Wait 5 minutes – a competitor will launch a better, more successful product. It’s dangerous to think you’re the only or the best or the first or the last.

Think of something you use that others consider antiquated. I’ll tell you mine: I have a landline. That’s a landline phone for you kids out there. I also have a cell phone, but I could cancel my service and use it as a glorified computer and be totally fine. Landlines have more reliable service and better sound.

My point? It’s not that easy to gain customer loyalty, even if your product is much more awesome than the former.

Well, my customers are happy because I haven’t heard that they aren’t.

When survivorship bias extends into customer service, you’re in real trouble. If bad news isn’t in front of you, you may assume it doesn’t exist. First, stop believing that. Second, put the bad news in front of you. Get alerts when someone mentions your company, read threads on Reddit and Twitter, send out a survey… Face it so you can deal with it.

Your Future Without Survivorship Bias

Survivorship bias can throw you off course. It can make you think you have to find a new way to reach your goals, a way that other people have used and succeeded with in the past. It can also deflate your confidence and turn you into a less-successful clone.

My #1 tip is to choose which advice you take to heart.

Two years ago, I put so much pressure on myself to find the perfect morning routine that I dropped parts of my routine that I loved. If I started my mornings by reading in bed, I’d read something that said, “Workout first thing!” and feel like I was doing mornings wrong. Then, if I started my morning with a workout, I’d read how you should start with meditation. Again, I’d feel like a failure.

Instead of getting further from what made me happy, I stopped reading self-improvement articles. If I come across a title I can’t resist, I read with an open mind. I remind myself that these are suggestions that I’m free to take and try or leave behind.

Pick and choose what you take in. You’ll never get to the end of the advice. When it starts getting in the way, it’s time to step away from success articles and books. Nobody can tell you how to do this.

Second, put nobody on a pedestal, at least not without a lot of research first. Look at the circumstantial events surrounding the main event.

Third, accept that this might not work. Realizing you might fail empowers you to succeed. At the very least, you’ll have a shorter fall and an easier time picking yourself back up.

Think you’re in control? You’re not. But that’s okay. Check out my article about leaning into the illusion of control to smash business goals.

The post How to Avoid Survivorship Bias and Grow Your Business appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes

[terryblount]

God Eater 3 Review: Low Effort Manic Monster Munchin’

I’d never played a God Eater before this third entry. I’d seen them on Steam, but they were all low-quality handheld console ports. Yuck! Finally, with God Eater 3, we have an entry developed for PC claiming high-quality visuals, fast-paced combat, and a serious story!

As someone who put 100+ hours into Monster Hunter World last year, I loved the idea of getting another dose of monster hunting fun, but does God Eater 3 deliver? Absolutely on the combat side; not really on the ‘everything else’ side. Let’s dive in.

Last Gen Called; It Wants Its Visuals Back

Let’s begin with the bad. God Eater 3 looks and feels like a last-gen game. I could have sworn this was a port from a 2012 or so PS3 game because it feels like the developers accidentally built the game for last-gen hardware specs.

Some scenes have decent graphics in still images, but the in-game details are quite poor.

This low fidelity feeling is especially unfortunate considering the series’ chief competitor delivered a next-gen visual showcase with 2018’s Monster Hunter World. Whoops!

Outdated & Repetitive Content

Apart from lacking visuals, the game’s content feels outdated, too. There’s only a handful of actual game environments. These are nothing more than glorified arenas without any creative twists or clever layouts. Again, this feels so much like the developers thought they were working with PS3 era memory limitations and crafted functional but boringly basic level designs.

Yes, this is an entire arena…a couple hallways and rooms.

God Eater 3 reminds me of Dragon Age 2. Anyone remember that game? It had a handful of lame arenas you’d play over and over again on a supposedly epic quest. God Eater 3 is exactly like this.

Time and time again the game will excitedly exclaim, “Look, an epic battle awaits!” What actually loads is the same exact arena you’ve played 20+ times. Seriously? Low effort!

This location is pretty cool…but I’ve seen it dozens and dozens of times.

Attempted Grand Story; Totally Tiny Presentation

The same lack of developer effort goes for the story. The game, to its credit, attempts to tell a proper story, with ups and downs, character growth, and emotional weightiness. The game even delves into some quite dark subject matters like human rights, indentured servitude, and outright slavery.

Everybody get in their places and pose for the camera, please!

I do think at the core of God Eater 3 is an appealing story of friendship and freedom that’s worth hearing out. Sure, the dialogue is all very basic and there’s no true exploration of the game’s serious themes. But at least there’s an attempt to build a logical, thought-provoking story and world. Kudos for that.

Sadly, God Eater 3 succumbs to the all-too-common low-budget storytelling pitfalls of tell, tell, tell and show basically nothing. The game ostensibly plays out across a fictional version of Europe, but it feels like a film shot in just a few set locations.

It’s almost laughable how many scenes involve your team standing dramatically across the same backdrops over and over despite supposedly traveling to all these grand locales.

There’s a big world map for the story, but there’s actually very few in-game environments.

This lack of quality presentation kills much of the story’s momentum. If you tell me there’s an epic battle before me, you need to show me an epic battle. If you say something really matters, you’d better not totally forget about it fifteen seconds after the cutscene ends. It feels…low effort!

Here’s a nice tea time cutscene. Too bad these events don’t get expanded upon…

Despite my misgivings, by the end I did care about the story and had grown fond of my ragtag group of former prisoners and oppressed people. I genuinely cared about building a future filled with freedom and peace for my friends. Moreover, the game’s got a very strong ending and nice epilogue.

Only one with the power to resonate may pilot this ship. Thankfully, I can resonate…engage!

The Gameplay Flow

This is the flow of the entire game: load into the tiny mission hub, listen to serious talk, accept an important mission, manage your gear, warp to a tiny arena, engage in a manic brawl, get your loot, maybe see a cutscene, and then get dumped ingloriously back at the tiny mission hub to repeat. It’s not terrible… just simplistic.

Ash Crawler Chrysanthemum: Home, Sweet Home

In regard to the mission hub, most of the between-mission gameplay takes place on your own mobile base, known as an Ash Crawler. There’s real Mass Effect vibes in how you can walk around and explore your crew’s living spaces, talking with them about recent events.

However, the quality of Mass Effect isn’t present. Most of the crew banter is very basic and not voiced, and there’s not much payoff for exploring your tiny base. Low effort base design, basically.

Chatting with some of my crew, discussing philosophy.

Even more unfortunately, often the game forces you to talk to specific people at your base before you can proceed on your next story mission. It would have been nice to have some marker telling you where they’re at instead of wandering around until you find them. A minor annoyance, though, since your base is quite small.

Hyper-Combat Mania!

So far I’ve given you a bunch of reasons to not play God Eater 3, but now it’s time to get to the game’s saving grace. Yes, God Eater 3 redeems itself thanks to its wild and epic combat!

I told you the combat is manic! See me doing some crazy flip while lights flash everywhere?!

Battles in God Eater 3 have a chaotic ultra-frenzied fever dream feel to them. Yes indeed, this game has brilliantly mad fighting. So fast, so furious. Monster Hunter World looks like a slow-motion creaking antique compared to God Eater 3’s hip, stylish, and light-speed stabby-slashy-crushy mayhem!

God Eater 3 versus Monster Hunter World feels very much like Sonic versus Mario from back in the day. On one side you have the meticulously polished Mario and Monster Hunter, but what Sonic and God Eater lack in quality they make up for with a cool and confident “gotta go fast” attitude!

I think I’m winning…wait: is that my lightning or the enemies? Oh well, keep smashing!

God Eater 3 will have you rushing, flipping, slashing, bursting, and linking at break-neck speeds. Jump, double-jump, zoom across the screen, panic as you flip through your items while two gigantic beasties rip you to shreds. The poor camera finds itself dragged about, bewildered, and woefully inadequate, but when combat is this crazy, you just go with it!

Thanks to the incredible versatility of the combat systems, there’s an unexpectedly addicting rush from one combat encounter to the next. A large part of the appeal comes from the countless ways to improve your play and try new things to go faster and kill better next time around.

You can break parts of the monsters for loot and fun! Pretty orange monster part particles!

Combat Gear & Fancy Moves

What makes combat so diverse? Let’s start with the fact you get both a main weapon and a ranged weapon, unlike Monster Hunter World. You also get to pick a shield type. Then you get to select dozens of unique Arts. Those Arts can be augmented and leveled up. And all your gear can have Skills (the equivalent of Monster Hunter World’s Jewels) installed on them.

Naturally, you can also craft and upgrade your gear using monster parts. There’s numerous upgrade trees and paths for each weapon, just like Monster Hunter. Then there’s the four elements, allowing you to have weapons on hand for every monster murdering occasion.

You get a lot of strange loot from each mission. It’s all a bit confusing at first.

Beyond your gear itself, there’s many more combat moves than you’ll find in Monster Hunter World. You’ll be side-stepping, lunging, and performing crazy aerial combat that feels very much like the Devil may Cry series, interestingly enough.

To put it another way, if you enjoyed the freedom of movement of Monster Hunter World’s semi-flying Insect Glaive weapon (my personal weapon of choice), this is what every weapon can feel like in God Eater 3. When you can quickly fly around the combat space, why ever go back to boring attacks on your feet? Ponder that one!

Here’s one of the nicest looking locations. I enjoy zooming around and seeing the sights.

It’s All About Speed-Eating Delicious Gods!

In God Eater 3 we’re all about eating (called devouring) gods (big monsters), and I choose to believe God Eater 3 is called such because it does the god eating three times as fast as other games!

Everything is designed to get you into combat as quick as possible. You can get a mission, get in the arena, and get to fighting within a minute of loading the game, which makes this game perfect for quick-fix gaming.

Load the game up, start devouring monsters, and do it all over again as fast as possible!

What also cuts down on the tedium this genre is often know for is the removal of all that boring hunting for monsters so common in that one series…what’s it called…oh yeah, Monster Hunter. Basically, God Eater 3 serves up the monsters right in front of you, so get devouring!

The combat does have some issues. Many monsters fly about the arena at too-fast speeds with annoying area of effect attacks that often cancel your commands. The targeting system is wonky, and the camera doesn’t help much either. Sometimes combat does devolve into button mashing, but skilled players will learn how to deftly deal with even the most seemingly unbalanced encounters.

So Many Confusing Systems

Another problematic element with the game overall is the over-implementation of strangely worded gameplay systems. You’ve got Burst Arts, Burst Arts Effects, Engage Mode, Link Bursts, Acceleration Triggers, Charge/Quick/Air Devours, and a bunch more systems. It took me a good 10 to 15 hours to finally come to grips with what in the world the game was babbling on about in regard to all this.

There’s a lot of gear to equip and terms to study. (Yes, my weapon is called “King Baboon.”)

Music & Sound

There’s some standout music tracks in God Eater 3. You know the problem with them? Here’s a hint: it’s the same problem with all the content in the game. Yep, repetition. The excellent tracks get played over and over for every emotional or victorious story scene. There’s just not enough variety.

Sound design is minimal. Like most of the development, the game gives you just enough sound effects during combat to make things feel semi-powerful, but there’s almost no environmental audio touches. Cutscene audio has the basic stuff like footsteps, clinks of swords, and bangs of bullets, but that’s about it. Passable but not passionate (the effort…it was low).

One of the many short cutscenes between battles. Clinky clank!

Smart AI Teammates & Multiplayer

One of God Eater 3’s best features is your actually intelligent AI teammates! Perhaps the developers didn’t get the memo: AI teammates are supposed to be stupid and infuriating, duh! Yet somehow this game never once frustrated me with dumb AI. If I was downed in battle, my AI teammates would always rush to rescue me.

Throughout the entire game my companions would heal me, buff me, and help me in every single battle. They’re even powerful and capable of killing many monsters by themselves. Any Monster Hunter World player will tell you your companion AI in that game is infuriatingly stupid, so score a huge point for God Eater 3! Massive kudos to the developers!

We’re all being very serious here…meditating on how best to devour more gods.

Besides AI teammates, you are able to engage in either story-based multiplayer missions or larger 8-player “assault” missions with matchmaking (AI will fill the empty slots, thankfully). Honestly, most people will want to play this game solo since the game already features robust AI teammates. But if you’ve got a good friend to play with, that’s always fun of course!

Technical Performance

On the bright side, this game runs like a champ. It was rock solid for me, with nearly perfect framerates. This is expected given the very dated visuals and lack of complicated rendering techniques, but it’s nice all the same to have a game run very well. So kudos to the developers for delivering a quality PC game with acceptable customization options.

Difficulty & Controls

You’ll probably find the game to be pretty easy if you’re an action game aficionado. I never once in my entire playthrough wiped (had to restart a mission). You get ranked for how efficiently you complete missions, and I probably triple-S ranked (the top rank) about 75% of the missions on my first try.

Just getting another SSS rank in 5 minutes or less. It’s pretty easy, really.

Granted, I’m a serious fan of the Devil may Cry style genre that God Eater 3 borrows heavily from, but I was surprised at the ease of progression compared to Monster Hunter World. In that game I wiped many, many times, so in a way God Eater 3 was a nice change of pace. I liked being able to breeze through the game without worrying about all the micro-management of items and gear, like in most Monster Hunter games.

The game is definitely designed for a controller. The mouse movement is very sensitive, and there’s far too many weird button combinations to make keyboard usage very friendly. Even the default bindings on the controller are a bit weird. Thankfully you can rebind just about everything. I’d recommend changing the guard button to something much less obnoxious.

Dude, Where’s the Armor?!

One very lacking element in God Eater 3 is armor crafting. In fact, there is zero armor crafting. There’s zero armor at all, to be precise. There is optional cosmetic clothing crafting, but these top/bottom items are a bit boring (realistic jackets, tank tops, cargo pants). It’s like you’re shopping at some trendy shopping mall…what is this?

Do you like my raincoat and oddly-taped cargo pants? I got them on sale!

The armor department is yet another way God Eater 3 proves how woefully deficient it is compared to Monster Hunter World. Where are all the awesome looking armor sets to prove how much of an elite hunter I am? Oh…I guess the developers couldn’t be bothered to implement all that…what’s the term I’m look for here? Oh yes, low effort!

Warning: Scantily Clad Girls & Large Breasts

Yes, God Eater 3 continues the dubious anime stereotype of scantily clad girls and jiggly boobs because clearly breast physics is an important development priority over more battle locations or monster armors, right? Methinks they’re pandering to the sexualized anime crowd.

Then there’s the captain of your ship, Hilda. She’s a very strong and smart and capable woman with great voice acting and good writing. Hilda’s basically classy and awesome, but the developers gave her enormous scantily clad breasts for some reason.

Hilda is an excellent character, but her visual design egregiously clashes with her persona.

To add insult to gravity-injury, they didn’t even give her a bra…and put her in an almost bursting top. Seriously, her breasts are so large she may need breast reduction surgery. A lot of people don’t realize the very serious health problems that come along with being in the extreme end of the breast-size bell curve. Maybe God Eater 3 is trying to raise awareness of the issue? Yeah…I’m sure that’s it…

Concluding: God Eater 3’s Target Audience?

God Eater 3 is the perfect case for discounted games. The developers have chosen to give us a content-limited, low effort version of a Monster Hunter game. All told it only took a little less than 30 hours to finish every mission and obtain the highest rank gear. That’s lightning-quick compared to other games in the genre.

Besides all that, they haven’t even reached current day graphical standards. Plus they reuse the same arenas and monsters over and over. Yet they have the audacity to charge full price. Nope!

You’ll be seeing a lot of monsters up close and personal. Over and over.

However, many Monster Hunter fans will absolutely love the ultra-fast change-of-pace from the more plodding and tedious Monster Hunter World. There’s a real scrappy charm to this sort of budget monster hunting experience. It’s a bit of a palette cleanser, letting you chomp up and devour a few gods here and there before returning to the real-deal Monster Hunter World experience.

The Final God-Eating Verdict

God Eater 3 is very much a guilty pleasure sort of game. I really did love playing it, even though the whole time I fully recognized how lacking and lackluster many of the elements are. There’s fun to be had here, and the story is compelling enough that I kept dreaming of what could have been if the developers had put as much energy into this game as Capcom put into Monster Hunter World.

I just devoured this god known as Anubis. He was quite delicious. Next!

When its rival series can deliver a full-fledged modern-generation, immerse evolution of the series, God Eater 3 is simply too limited, too aging, and too stuck in the past to compete. It’s a darn shame, too, because what the genre really needs is a merging of Monster Hunter World’s quality and expansiveness with God Eater 3’s story-building and hyper-fun combat.

Once God Eater 3 goes on sale for 75% off or so, then I’d say it’s a real value and worth your time. For now, it’s probably best to avoid paying such a high price for such a low effort production.

Addictive, manic combat

Smart, helpful AI teammates

Colorful cast of characters

Comfortable mission grind

So many weapons and skills

Lengthy story, many missions

Strong ending, nice epilogue

Technically solid, runs great

A scrappy charm to it all

Very repetitive gameplay

Not enough diverse locales

Locations are basic arenas

Every mission is the same

Lacks armor crafting

Reuses enemies too often

World needs show, not tell

Outdated visuals and design

Sexualized anime stuff

Playtime: 28 hours total. Nick blazed through the main story and every optional mission in 24 hours (not nonstop!). Another 4 hours was spent farming for the best end-game gear. And that was that!

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using an Intel i7-3930k CPU, 32GB of memory, and a nVidia GTX 980 Ti graphics card.

Also read the God Eater 3 PC Performance Analysis.

God Eater 3 Review: Low Effort Manic Monster Munchin’ published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/