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omegatheunknown · 3 years
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AEW Double or Nothing 2021
In which the spirit of WCW is alive in confusing and delightful ways and we are left to parse whether overbooking and extracurriculars are offset by having actually very good wrestling happening at the same time.
- Lessons learned from Revolution on the production side? Maybe just cool it on pyro, though the rappelling adventure in the Stadium Stampede showed some of that now-characteristic 'trust us it'll look better on TV' flair. Hot crowd tends to paper over most woes, and the crowd was pretty hot. My one gripe is that the casino theme is hanging around like yesterday's takeout containers. Nothing wrong with clinging to a theme, I just think it's time for season 2. My suggestion? Under the Sea.
*Pre-Card Serena Deeb (C) v Riho for the NWA Women's Championship (***1/2) - Serena Deeb's star has finally risen. She's a remarkably consistent technician and she can get a match out of anyone at this point. She's working at the level of Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles at this point, it's amazing that she was overlooked or considered fit only to be a coach for so long. With the NWA belt she has this new swagger, she's basically everything Tessa Blanchard might bring to the table with none of the downsides (Serena has a lot of friends and seems like a lovely person, even!) - Riho's back and here to stay. Her time in Stardom didn't do much for my evaluation of her, which is that there are many better wrestlers that would be better representatives of the joshi style and she's merely pretty good. - The match was very good. Serena showcased a champion's aggression against a sympathetic Riho, they really work well against each other, Deeb's technical prowess against Riho's flexibility led to a very dynamic finish.
*Main Card Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage (***1/2) - Here the shenanigans start. Brian Cage is on Team Taz, Team Taz has nothing else much to do tonight, so why wouldn't Team Taz flex their muscles, bait us with HOOK, etc? (Because it would be nice to have some variety in the card in terms of a match where one competitor stands across from another competitor?) - Hangman is (checking notes) yeah, still over as fuck, as befits the Anxious Millennial Cowboy. Cage terrifies me, he's a child's drawing of a body builder. He do be very agile for a man of his immense musculature tho. They match up well, Page is biggish for a flyer, Cage loves to play catch. Nothing much to write home about, other than Hangman's beautiful moonsault to the floor and what was overall a very good curtain jerker. - Okay fine, I am curious about Cage's reluctance to lean on the goons, Starks can't come back soon enough.
The Young Bucks v Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (***) - I will not be referring to Mox & Eddie as (The) Wild Things because it gives me 'he calls it the wacky line' flashbacks for some reason. - The Bucks have to cheat and abuse Rick Knox's attention span constantly to be on even footing with Mox & Eddie, which is a clever sort of thing that gets washed out by the appearance of LG and Karl Anderson, which again, is cool in a vacuum but was the story of the evening. - Pace was weird - repetitive in eliminating Eddie, then Mox fights back, failed hope spot, Bucks team up, Eddie saves x2/3 in a row. - Mox, unlike Cody (in so many ways,) will probably actually be taking some time off with Renee, which is the kind of thing I would prefer not to know in terms of booking, but they really uh, put him down on the canvas here, and it felt pretty finale-esque.
Casino Battle Royale (n/r, but on the balance pro) - Any changes to the theme of the PPV would likely include changing up the nonsense suit format of these largely joyless slogs. - Obviously anticipating a NJPW talent, or... I dunno, actually -- Lio Rush was a surprise. Got in a quick demonstration of his otherworldly quickness, and you know what, there's probably a fun place for him in AEW. He'll need some friends, of course, feel like Team Taz might fit his temperament. I wonder if he was aware of the Mark Henry news... - Christian does not need to win this kind of match to get a title shot, obviously, but that said it was super lovely to use him to give Jungle Boy the shine. Jungle Boy would be a license to print money if he was even as big as Hangman. - Could register some continued griping about how Penta is not getting his due in AEW but he also literally was dressed as the Joker so I'm low on sympathy on this one particular night.
Anthony Ogogo v Cody Rhodes (*) - I did not like this. It's hard for me to read jingoism as a face move to begin with, and Cody's was egregiously tone deaf and kinda silly yet delivered without a trace of irony because Cody doesn't do irony on purpose, ridiculous neck tattoo aside. - Great argument to be made that Ogogo just isn't experienced enough to be winning matches against Cody. But like, what are we doing here? Cody needs to take some time off, maybe. I thought that's what was happening when he had his mini feud with Penta that really just ended in quick decisive Cody win. I though maybe Cody was being turned when QT and The Factory snapped-- sure, they're a group of impotent player 2s, but Cody is an out of touch elitist with a callous and manipulative streak. Alas, also no. America #1. - Cody is approximately 8 times as tough as Billy Gunn based on his weathering of the one punch man. Match ran a bit long given how little there was to go on. Cody gigged? Quelle surprise. - Cody had the best match on the card like, 3 out of the first 4 AEW events or something, and that was all booking and storytelling. I do hope Cody follows Moxley's lead into a little sabbatical.
Miro (C) v Lance Archer for the TNT Championship (**1/2) - Card's hossiest hoss match, a quick burst reminiscent of a car wreck. Absolutely hit on what it should've hit on but a little slow moving considering it went all of 10 minutes. - I will not complain about Jake the Snake, who I love. And also the gimmick spot, with Miro very astutely yeeting what was definitely a snake in a bag (surely.) back down the tunnel.
Dr Britt Baker, DMD v Hikaru Shida (C) for the AEW Women's Championship (***) - Picked up a lot of steam toward the end but seemed a little toothless (heh) until the last five. - Shida 'deserved' some more time as champion in front of crowds but also it's time to let heel Britt reach her peak, I can't even imagine how obnoxious she can be as the champ, it's going to be great.
Sting & Darby Allin v Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (***1/2) - Such is the power of STING that I feel like I might be underrating this match... I mean it was an okay match about very simply getting some revenge and the sixty year old man did a very subdued Code Red and a slightly less subdued dive. He's also Sting. They missed an opportunity in calling it the 'Scorpio' Death Drop, but the main takeaway here is you see something like this where it's The Icon and you start to understand why WWE trots out their legends to come out of incredibly still kick ass without bending their knees. - The difference, I guess, is that Sting is absolutely being used to build up Darby Allin, whereas it's not like the fed brought back Goldberg and his attendant aura to pump up... anyone but Goldberg?
Kenny Omega (C) v PAC v Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship (****) - Off the top I have to say I'm very sad that the rest of the Galaxy's Greatest Friends were seen only very briefly, nice of them to bring OC's backpack. - Also have to point out that PAC's promo featured one of my favourite jokes, that Kenny must be short for Kenneth as a sort of legal/birth name belonging to a professional wrestler. (See also: Samoa Joseph) - And Mr Cassidy certainly did try in this match, ragdoll sells and all. Kenneth and PAC are absurd talents who bring aerial, power and technical maneuvers in equal measure and OC is not doing any of those on the same level, but he picked his spots, showed his genre savvy and hung in there to the point that he wasn't just the fall guy. - The extracurriculars continue in a match that was already a little overboard for silliness due to asymmetry... I think if you're the Invisible Hand it would've made sense to save up all your tricks for this match, but who am I to question the golden goose? - Sure, Kenny and Don ran the classic heel manager interference spot and taking out the ref in desperation spot but having to take out the ref because PAC wouldn't break the hold is fun, as is the stupid/inspired sense in running the 'smash opponent with the belt' spot four times so as none of your heavy gold prizes feel left out. (I love that AAA Mega Championship, they weren't on TV so we get to see it?) - "Fuck You, Don," indeed.
The Inner Circle v The Pinnacle in 'Stadium Stampede II' (***1/2) - This one had to grow on me for two reasons, first that it's usually pretty unforgivable to co-opt the main event spot from the championship match, and second to law of diminishing returns on dumb gimmick matches. - But grow it did. There's a full on meat locker? Commentary will refer to a cardboard cut-out of Shahid Khan as Tony Khan's father (that's canon now,) and Jericho will lovingly pat it? Konnan happened to be the DJ at whatever night club there is a Jaguar Stadium? Spears surrounds himself dramatically with chairs and his hoisted by his own petard? - Ultimately it comes down to letting Sammy shine. His involvement with the Inner Circle has sometimes come at the cost of being able to showcase that prior to AEW he was an ascendant talent in PWG, on his way to Ricochet level feats of acrobatic excess. Still feel like Sammy could've/should've been the one tossed off the cage a few weeks ago, but even better is being the guy getting the pin in the ring.
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maxsix · 4 years
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MVNALYSIS: GOD’S MENU by STRAY KIDS
Hello friends, seeing as 2020 is going down in flames anyways, there seems like no better time than to start my MV Analysis series, MVNALYSIS. Storytelling and cinematography are both important but the technical aspect is definitely more interesting to me. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’d know how often I yell about a good lighting scheme so this is just an extension of that.
There have been some great MVs this year but the one that really lit my fuse and prompted me to do this is God’s Menu by Stray Kids. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it first then come back. This is very long so if you’re not really interested in the technical aspects of music videos then I would definitely recommend scrolling past. 
1) The Cyberpunk-Anime Intro tracking shot. That flourescent-neon title card reminds me of cyberpunk aesthetic, especially if you’ve seen the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. I really love title cards because they remind me of old movies and cartoons. To throw it up so nonchanlantly immediately sets the vibe and subconsciously triggers your mind to think about when you last saw something like that, be it a video game or anime or a movie. They use it a lot more often than other groups and I never noticed until I went back to watch a few of their videos for this post. 
The Intro to God’s Menu is both a sonic and visual assault. It’s so fcking good that I am almost sad I will never get to watch it again for the first time. 
That tracking shot for Changbin is just beautiful perfection because it has three levels of depth and a very controlled use of blocking. The deepest level is the chaos in the background, the main level is Changbin and the most superficial level is the one closest to the camera, with the marching band player. Interestingly, the movement and speed of each level progresses in descending order: the background is crazy busy, Changbin is moving through at a controlled pace and the marching band player is almost still, like a sign post to reiterate the depth of field. 
There are a few really famous and amazing tracking shots, so I’m just going to link them here if you are interested in camera work: Atonement (legendary tbh), 1917 (deserved the cinematography Oscar), Ava Adore (you can see the track they used for the whole video) and the Baby Driver introduction has one of the best tracking shots but I won’t link to it out of respect for people who might be triggered. 
Sometimes you watch something and you don’t know why it’s so cool. Well, this is why it’s so cool. This is why some MVs are so interesting to re-watch and why others have no re-watch value at all. 
2) Transitions and editing. Oh boy. The fcking transitions. Sometimes people think of them like a cheap trick in the vein of a horror movie jump scare but when you see a good transition, 'cheap’ should be the last word you think of. All the transitions are worth mentioning: Changbin seemingly changing the frame with his hand, Han’s mid-choreo transition and Hyunjin’s forced perspective to mimic the spotlight. I suppose they are are little flashy and tricked-out but it doesn’t change how cool they look. The video editer deserves all the credit for this one. 
It’s seems obvious but I can’t ignore the stop-motion DuDuDuDu editing either. It does exactly what the music does in that moment: it’s jarring and abrupt and literally like shots fired and bleeding red. Sometimes literal interpretations are cringey and don’t work but sometimes they work so well you wish everyone was on this level. 
A more subtle transition is one that I don’t see a lot of people talking about but it’s when the music shifts from the heavy rap to the smoother vocals. The first time it happens we went from the dark enclosed confines of Han’s kitchen rap to vast open air of the cars racing. The smooth flow of the vocals is echoed in the smooth silent roll of the car tires and then the smooth choreo from Bangchan with that bright God ray lens flare. It’s just like a smooth smooth smooth flow of water after total chaos and that’s exactly what the music is trying to do: the rap is a spicy meal, the vocals are a glass of cool water. Seriously, this MV is so well thought out and well planned. It’s like the director actually listened to the track. What a crazy notion, heh. 
3) Robot Camera. If you’re not sure which part I mean, it’s basically during Han’s rap, Felix’s 5 Star Michelin part and the subtle camera tilt for the group choreo. You can see it in action in their ‘Making Of’ video. You’ve probably seen this used before, most notably on Jungkook for DNA but I think it was made really popular in music MVs when Kendrick Lamar did it for Humble. Everyone is using it now but I still love it. No human can film with that precision and it’s seriously cool use of tech. I like that they didn’t overuse it though because it would’ve felt too repetitive. Restraint? In Kpop? Hell really has frozen over today. 
4) The colour and lighting. It’s generally really well lit and coloured but the most remarkable thing to point out here is that God’s Menu has only four sets. It feels like it has some meat and depth to it because they used those four sets to their full capacities. In contrast, I think I counted 9 sets for GOT7′s ‘Not By The Moon’ and let’s be honest, they were all kind of wasted. 
The scrapyard set is used four times with four different lighting schemes and you barely notice how repetitive it is because they all look so different. The garage scene is my favourite example of good depth of field because they’re in a tiny confined area for choreo but it doesn’t actually feel tiny or confined because of the huge open grandstand in the background. 
Also. It’s rad how the video goes from day to night. I didn’t even notice until the third or fourth re-watch. 
5) Kendrick Lamar. I just wanted to spend a little time on this point because I hear and see his influence on God’s Menu. Obviously, Kendrick doesn’t have a patent or copyright on use of RoboCams but the main backing track is very Humble-esque and the DuDuDu reminds me of old KL. It’s a little grating tbh but the producer at least showed some restraint with it. Any more of the DDD part and it would’ve been too obnoxious to listen to. 
6) Styling. I really love these black outfits because they look like a cross between a karate uniform/dobok and black chef aprons. I wasn’t really sure why they went with the racetrack imagery but there is something about this entire MV that reminds me of anime/manga...and then I remembered that Initial D existed. If you’ve never heard of Initial D until now? You’re welcome. 
Oh and Hyunjin’s hair. Damm. 
7) Bias: Okay, I’m Australian and I used to live in Sydney so part of me has always been invested in Chris and Felix. But. I have to be straight with you all, that tag-team of Changbin and Han is insane. Insane, I tell you! I wish I could hear that rap intro again for the very first time. It’s like when I heard Mingi’s rap in Wonderland for the first time. Some things are just inexplicable. 
8) Conclusion: This is one of the best MVs JYPE has ever made and it’s not even story driven. The modern tech and insane editing is truly next level and I hope people appreciate the work that went into it instead of just seeing it as another flashy kpop video with no substance just because it’s not “deep and meaningful”. 
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vgwriter · 5 years
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Everything wrong with Kingdom Hearts 3 and why its not all bad
Everything Wrong
Kingdom Hearts is an interesting series to say the least. Over the greater part of the last two decades it has released 9 games on 7 different platforms. The truly astonishing thing is that they all add something to the series' overall plot. This is something that rarely happens in video games or fiction in general. The wait that many fans had for Kingdom Hearts 3 and all the expectation from prequels and years of development was bound to lead to disappointment. But enough with the broad claims and needless facts, lets get down to what went wrong with the game.
#1-The lack of Final Fantasy characters
This has been a pretty consistant outcry from fans since the launch of the game but probably came as no surprise to hardcore fans who had notice Nomura slowly directing the series away from FF. I agree with most fans and think this was a bad call, not because I didn't get to hit Sephiroth with a giant key for 10 minutes but because Square wasted character development on the Hollow Bastion Gang. Squall (Leon), Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid, who we had all seen since Traverse Town, are no where in sight. Not even a mention in the ridiculous amount of cutscenes this game had. Now, it is easy to say that they weren't consequential to the overall story that this game focused on but I argue they are not so easy to throw away. We watched and helped them go from Traverse Town to cleaning up Radiant Garden. Squall introduced us to the concept of the Keyblade and Heartless for crying outloud! With so many cutscenes on their world, they certainly deserved an onscreen appearance and really, an interaction, too.
#2-No Cloud and Sephiroth
That's right, this is so wrong it gets its own little paragraph. The Cloud saga has also been simmering in the background for many years with Cloud being tricked by Hades and battling the darkness within himself. The story fits so well into Kingdom Hearts' themes that it is disappointing to not see it come to a close in this third home console installment. Also, a numbered Kingdom Hearts game where I can't beat up Sephiroth? The Sephiroth fight was a rite of passage for me as a little kid and the idea of not being able to do it for the long awaited Kingdom Hearts 3 is a major let down.
#3-The Combat and Difficulty
The basic combat, much like the rest of the game, looks absolutely stunning. But, like a trackcar, it doesn't feel amazing (for the most part). Sora has never been as airborn as he was for this game and this greatly effects the difficulty in the otherwise outdated combat system. The basic combat system is floaty, for lack of a better word, and Sora is a lightening bolt across the worlds. In previous titles, the difficulty derived from how well you could move Sora (or other protags) with emphasis on understanding boss patterns and manipulating mobs. With the amount of mobility Sora has in Kingdom Hearts 3, players don't have to worry about mob control or bosses for that matter. Sora will move wherever the player wants in almost a flash and the game just isn't built around that kind of mobility, yet. Kingdom Hearts 3 enemies are built like the previous titles: slow, large, and highly predictable. They were challenging when Sora was an immobile piece of cabbage in Kingdom Hearts 1 but now they are simply too easy for this new high paced Sora.
The biggest additions to the combat are its biggest detractors. The forms seem too elementary and bland when compared to the drives used in Kingdom Hearts 2. Also, the fact that they are all attached to their respective keyblades is an odd way of limiting how the player can use each form. I personally loved the Frozen keyblade's forms but wanted to go for a more physical combat style and with the keyblade being magic focused, it was a choice I didn't like making. The attractions are a major detraction (insert laugh track). Aside from a few boss specific attractions, they disrupt the flow of combat and give the player a get of jail free card in a game that is already way too easy. They aren't very involved either and it turns an otherwise interesting and explosive combat system into an unrealized, underdeveloped shooter, quicktime event, or an invincablilty mode. The new mechanics for the combat were clearly an afterthought to the games graphics.
#4-Sidelined Characters and Sora's Arrested Development
This should come as no surprise by now but Nomura benched Kairi, again. Not only did he bench her, he ultra benched her. In game that was supposed to be her big fighting debut she had one on screen kill. While other female protags like Aqua and Xion have some badass moments here and there, Kairi is a cheerleader in an era of game storytelling that has left the trope far behind. Her and Axel (about the same rant for him) are trapped in this little time and space pocket dimension that we only get to see in cutscenes. Sqaure really missed a great opportunity to make the world Kairi and Axel went to in to a unique coliseum experience. We could've seen Kairi and Axel train or even helped! It's a great opportunity that was missed just like Kairi's character.
Although we have seen Sora grow up physically, Sora is still the same naive little kid on the inside and that is becoming a problem. It was fine when Sora was just the vehicle for us to explore Disney worlds in KH1 but every other character has grown up and we've grown up too. Sora has also been through way too much to be the same kid he was in KH1. Characters like Riku, Axel and Aqua have all been through a lot and their struggle changed them in to the character they are in KH3. Sora needs to mature and grow in future or else this franchise won't have a palatable main protagonist. So, while it is nice that Haley Joel Osment can use a comfortable range when voicing Sora, it doesn't make up for the fact that Sora hasn't changed at all over the past decade and a half.
A small thing, but the last fight with Xehanort would've been great with the Destiny Island Trio instead of Sora, Donald and Goofy.
Why its Not a Bad Thing
So, while this game is by far the weakest number entry in the entire series in my opinion, the future for the franchise does show promise. For starters, the Xehanort saga was wrapped excellently. (The ending was by far the best part and did justice to the absolutely massive scale of the story so far) Looking to the next game, Nomura will essentially have a fresh start and that is great news. The character cast had become a little bloated with the idea of three trios (BBS, Days, and the Destiny Island Trio), each with their own complex storyline and resolution. With this fresh start, we could see a more focused style of storytelling at best or at worst, some great new characters and plots. Either way, it is certainly exciting!
The combat was weak because the enemies had yet to adapt to the mobility Sora has with the Unreal 4 engine. With the overwhelming comments on the games difficulty, I'm pretty sure Sqaure will try to created more aggressive AI and bosses that really test the player on how well they can use Sora's new found mobility. The idea alone gives me chills.
Overall, I give the game a 3/5 but I still have high hopes for the franchise as a whole.
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theonyxpath · 5 years
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Small update and preview on Night Horrors: Tormented from Steffie. First (if you’ve been following the Monday Meeting Notes you know this already) the proofs are back with me. The art is AMAZING, Mike Chaney’s crew really knocked it out of the park. So many beautiful wretched creatures in there. Some of the chapter pieces legit made me tear up, because they so perfectly walk that line between hope and despair. I’m proofing it now, and hopefully we’ll get the book to you (and the amazing authors!) soon. (Depending on when this blog goes live, we may be there already—in which case, go team!)
Night Horrors is an antagonist series, and we ran into a little conundrum deciding which antagonists this one should have. Because what’s Promethean without Clones and Zeky? Except we didn’t have room to properly cover those in the Core, and we couldn’t exactly throw antagonists at you without mechanics for them. So Tormented fixes that: you get rules, narrative guidance, and amazing history on creating Clones (for your game—please don’t try to grow people in vats at home) and Zeky (also don’t try to create irradiated people at home; there are other ways to achieve multiplicatio).
Zeky are like ‘regular’ Prometheans in that they have a Pilgrimage, Azothic Memory, Refinements, and transhuman potential. They are not like other Prometheans in that everything they do is radioactive, and, boy, does that fuck things up. Even their Alembics work differently, the effects warped and channeled through a radioactive core. Every Zeka is unique, so Vulcanus for this Zeka works differently than for that Zeka. That means players get to customize their Zeka exactly, which is very cool. (Don’t worry if you’re the Storyteller just looking for a quick NPC—Tormented has three full Zeky and enough sample Alembics to tide you over.)
For the preview, here’s the wonderfully creepy and tragic Tumor Fairy written by Paolo Iantorno. Leave Paolo a note in the comments if you love it!
The Tumor Fairy: Dawn
What’s so special about you? Why do you get to check out?
Background
Dawn is sick. She woke up in her first hospital’s basement in time to see her parents run away. They left a note: “We’re so sorry, we love you very much. Stay in the hospital. Stay out of sight. You’re sick.”
They wrote it on a get-well-soon card.
So, Dawn waited, but they never came back. Days became weeks, weeks became months before Dawn decided they hadn’t been clear on which hospital she had to stay in. She’d learned all of this hospital’s secrets — she’d even met another Promethean on the graveyard shift. He told her what she was and a little more, but he’d been horrified when she showed him her trick.
Dawn went to another hospital. She’d learned a lot about hospitals: People went there when they were sick, and got to leave if they were better. Despite all her poking and prodding and an amateur imitation of the thing the doctor did with that little knife on a sleeping patient, Dawn had no idea what was wrong with her. She knew she was different, that she had to become human, but nobody else had what she had, not even the other Prometheans she encountered.
Dawn’s third hospital had a cancer ward. Biopsy waste containers might as well have been mirrors. The overworked doctor she asked said there was no cure for cancer, which made Dawn angry. She made his insides go bad. Let him be sick forever.
Dawn moves between hospitals every week or so, hiding from baffled doctors and concerned nurses, poking at patients and flipping through charts. She’s figured out the violent outbreaks spread if she stays too long, to say nothing of the first cancer ward she ruined. She’s gleaned a lot more about the Pilgrimage than one might expect from a Zeka, but she is young, unguided, and too powerful for anyone’s good.
Sometimes, Dawn gets angry when a patient recovers too well and gets to go home, especially if they’ve been mean. The parents’ smiles are what really pushes her buttons. Dawn makes those patients sick again. She might even cut them open to see if they get sick like her. She’s not sure why she cries every time they do.
Description
Dawn is a skinny girl with long, greasy blond hair and crooked teeth. She smiles big and often, and asks a ton of questions. Dawn puts on a carefree front. She knows where to find just about everything in hospitals, and how to get around without being seen. She’s even picked up medical procedures from nurses. If you need food, medicine, a place to lay low, or an escape route, Dawn is an invaluable friend. She’ll trade any of these for information with other Prometheans. Dawn is jealous of anyone with loving parents, though she takes most of her anger out on the children. Dawn wears a pale blue hospital gown, scrub pants, and a dark hoodie with plenty of pockets sewn inside. Dawn’s disfigurements are what she thinks her parents meant by “sick,” and it’s hard to blame her. Tumors bulge beneath her skin and break the surface at every node. Her features are distorted and swollen. Dawn’s eyes glow a sickly yellow. When she’s stressed, some of her extremities leak viscous neoplasm studded with blobs of pus and tumorous tissue.
Secrets
Once, Dawn met a nasty doctor on call in a cancer ward’s night shift. He gave her disgusted looks; she could feel the revulsion oozing between his teeth. Dawn felt shame for the first time. The night doctor later screamed at her, and hit a patient. Dawn heard some other doctors talking about “liability,” so she sat herself in the vents above his desk without moving for an entire week. She didn’t know everyone would get so violent. She didn’t know they’d die.
Rumors
“Stay away from the hospital downtown. It belongs to a Zeka. She looks so small, but she will kill anyone who isn’t of her Lineage.”
Dawn has scared away a few Prometheans by accident. She doesn’t mean to hurt them, but whenever they start using Transmutations, she gets excited and tries to copy them. That’s usually when they run.
“She’s Princess Nuke. Her genitor is the granddaddy of all granddaddies, the Tsar himself. He left her there to grow, and one day, he’ll come back to collect.”
Dawn’s parents were an Osiran and an Ulgan. They thought using the x-ray machines and other hazardous equipment stored in the hospital basement would unify their humours; they thought they were ready to be genitors, that they would never abandon their child the way they were abandoned. They were wrong. The radiation was too powerful. They blame it for corrupting their progeny. Dawn, for her part, would give anything to see her parents again.
“If you’re bad, the Tumor Fairy will come and give your cancer teeth so it’ll crawl through your guts and eat you inside out.”
Dawn has been a fixture at local hospitals long enough for younger patients to mythologize the glimpses they’ve caught. One of them pointed at her one night and screamed that at her. The girl wouldn’t stop screaming. She wouldn’t stop tearing at the life-support devices either. Dawn was hurt — she got so angry only the security guard’s presence deterred her from vengeance. She came back the next night to find out the girl had died. The name “Tumor Fairy” makes Dawn’s mouth taste like ashes. She’ll slink away to cry if she hears it.
Story Hooks
The characters needs a hospital, and find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a doctor-turned-hunter. The hunter may be missing a few organs and a leg, but he’s determined to kill “the monster preying on these patients.” Does he mean the young Zeka whose Disquiet caused a lockdown, or the sublimatus stalking the morgue? Between the staff, the patients, the hunter, the Pandoran, and the Tumor Fairy, the throng is in for a wild night.
A friendly Promethean couple shares their refuge with the throng, and tell stories about a Nuclear Promethean holed up in a hospital in the city. The characters find a young Zeka who has done terrible things, but wants to get better — she doesn’t want to be “sick.” Can they teach Dawn? Does the Promethean couple match Dawn’s stories about her genitors, and will the throng attempt to stage a reunion?
The characters know someone who works at the local hospital, who has described what sounds like a Promethean being held under quarantine there. They find a Wasteland threatening to enter advanced stages by the time they arrive, but it’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen. Can they free Dawn from a hospital floor packed by human medical authorities, with more on the way? How will they react when she reveals what she is during their escape?
Dawn
Elpis: Recovery Torment: Jealous Lineage: Zeky Refinement: Cuprum Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3 Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 1 Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 3 Mental Skills: Computer 2, Investigation 3, Medicine (Surgery) 2, Occult (Prometheans) 3 Physical Skills: Larceny 2, Stealth 2 Social Skills: Persuasion 2, Socialize (Medical Professionals) 2, Subterfuge 3 Merits: Anonymity 1, Danger Sense, Small-Framed Health: 5 Azoth: 1 Pyros/per turn: 10/1 Transmutations: Metamorphosis — Tegere (Metastasize); Sensorium — Vitreous Humour Willpower: 6 Pilgrimage: 2 Size: 4 Speed: 10 Defense: 3 Initiative: 6 Armor: 0
Unique Distillation: Metastasize
This unique Distillation of Tegere is the Tumor Fairy’s curse.
Dawn focuses the radiation running through her to warp healthy cells into cancerous ones, creating a tumor in the body of the person she’s touching.
Cost: 1 Pyros Dice Pool: Resolve + Medicine + Azoth vs. target’s Stamina + Supernatural Tolerance Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Dawn’s body reacts adversely. She gains the grave Sick Tilt for two turns. Failure: Dawn’s tumors writhe and leak. She gains the moderate Sick Tilt for one turn. Success: The target gains the grave Sick Tilt. Exceptional Success: The target gains the grave Sick Tilt. If they attack Dawn, they take a further point of lethal damage per turn they do so, as the tumors she implanted attack their insides.
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lovediva013 · 4 years
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Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt
We made a special selection Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . on Mothers Day tshirts. Cause this is a big-time combo. Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their gratitude towards mothers worldwide. And sometimes nothing says “I love you”, better than a t-shirt.Mother’s Day celebrations can be dated back to the spring celebrations to honor Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, in ancient Greek civilization. Likewise, the Romans adopted the practice to their own pantheon.In America, the precursor was Julia Ward Howe. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. It was a reminder of the power mothers have when they merge. It was about Mothers and women taking action on this day. Not just about the maternal bonds between mother and child. It was about the positive impact mothers have on society and the work they do for their children. Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
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Unisex By the early 1920s, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother’s Day cards Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . Many people are still sending cards to their mother. But, each country has its own Mother’s Day origins and celebratory twists. For example, Mexican moms are spoiled all day with food, flowers, and music. That music includes a serenade by mariachi singers with the song “Las Mañanitas.”We love heritage and folklore, but we think also that new ages require for new recipes. So, our moms will get t-shirts on Mothers Day ?? And we made these choices hoping that we`ll help you out, tooThough we`re now searching for anime tshirts, anime has long been considered a bit of a niche territory. Like many aspects of pop culture that are not “traditional” to Western audiences. It is a fact that humans are getting easily judgmental on things that they didn`t try.“Nerds” related stuff is often misunderstood until they become so notorious that everyone finally gets the fuss.The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan, as a local product, with a distinct spark. Not only from artwork angle. Also from a storytelling perspective, themes and concepts. Anime isn`t a genre. It can be a comedy, drama, sci-fi, horror…you name it. Over the last years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans. Now is translated into many languages. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article
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lovediva1313 · 4 years
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Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt
We made a special selection Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . on Mothers Day tshirts. Cause this is a big-time combo. Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their gratitude towards mothers worldwide. And sometimes nothing says “I love you”, better than a t-shirt.Mother’s Day celebrations can be dated back to the spring celebrations to honor Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, in ancient Greek civilization. Likewise, the Romans adopted the practice to their own pantheon.In America, the precursor was Julia Ward Howe. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. It was a reminder of the power mothers have when they merge. It was about Mothers and women taking action on this day. Not just about the maternal bonds between mother and child. It was about the positive impact mothers have on society and the work they do for their children. Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
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Classic Ladies
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LongSleeve
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Unisex By the early 1920s, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother’s Day cards Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . Many people are still sending cards to their mother. But, each country has its own Mother’s Day origins and celebratory twists. For example, Mexican moms are spoiled all day with food, flowers, and music. That music includes a serenade by mariachi singers with the song “Las Mañanitas.”We love heritage and folklore, but we think also that new ages require for new recipes. So, our moms will get t-shirts on Mothers Day ?? And we made these choices hoping that we`ll help you out, tooThough we`re now searching for anime tshirts, anime has long been considered a bit of a niche territory. Like many aspects of pop culture that are not “traditional” to Western audiences. It is a fact that humans are getting easily judgmental on things that they didn`t try.“Nerds” related stuff is often misunderstood until they become so notorious that everyone finally gets the fuss.The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan, as a local product, with a distinct spark. Not only from artwork angle. Also from a storytelling perspective, themes and concepts. Anime isn`t a genre. It can be a comedy, drama, sci-fi, horror…you name it. Over the last years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans. Now is translated into many languages. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article
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lovediva0303 · 4 years
Text
Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt
We made a special selection Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . on Mothers Day tshirts. Cause this is a big-time combo. Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their gratitude towards mothers worldwide. And sometimes nothing says “I love you”, better than a t-shirt.Mother’s Day celebrations can be dated back to the spring celebrations to honor Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, in ancient Greek civilization. Likewise, the Romans adopted the practice to their own pantheon.In America, the precursor was Julia Ward Howe. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. It was a reminder of the power mothers have when they merge. It was about Mothers and women taking action on this day. Not just about the maternal bonds between mother and child. It was about the positive impact mothers have on society and the work they do for their children. Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
Tumblr media
Classic Ladies
Tumblr media
Hoodie
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LongSleeve
Tumblr media
Sweatshirt
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Unisex By the early 1920s, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother’s Day cards Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . Many people are still sending cards to their mother. But, each country has its own Mother’s Day origins and celebratory twists. For example, Mexican moms are spoiled all day with food, flowers, and music. That music includes a serenade by mariachi singers with the song “Las Mañanitas.”We love heritage and folklore, but we think also that new ages require for new recipes. So, our moms will get t-shirts on Mothers Day ?? And we made these choices hoping that we`ll help you out, tooThough we`re now searching for anime tshirts, anime has long been considered a bit of a niche territory. Like many aspects of pop culture that are not “traditional” to Western audiences. It is a fact that humans are getting easily judgmental on things that they didn`t try.“Nerds” related stuff is often misunderstood until they become so notorious that everyone finally gets the fuss.The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan, as a local product, with a distinct spark. Not only from artwork angle. Also from a storytelling perspective, themes and concepts. Anime isn`t a genre. It can be a comedy, drama, sci-fi, horror…you name it. Over the last years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans. Now is translated into many languages. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article
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beautshirt79 · 4 years
Text
Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt
We made a special selection Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . on Mothers Day tshirts. Cause this is a big-time combo. Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their gratitude towards mothers worldwide. And sometimes nothing says “I love you”, better than a t-shirt.Mother’s Day celebrations can be dated back to the spring celebrations to honor Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, in ancient Greek civilization. Likewise, the Romans adopted the practice to their own pantheon.In America, the precursor was Julia Ward Howe. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. It was a reminder of the power mothers have when they merge. It was about Mothers and women taking action on this day. Not just about the maternal bonds between mother and child. It was about the positive impact mothers have on society and the work they do for their children. Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
Tumblr media
Classic Ladies
Tumblr media
Hoodie
Tumblr media
LongSleeve
Tumblr media
Sweatshirt
Tumblr media
Unisex By the early 1920s, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother’s Day cards Zombie Ice Hockey Player Halloween Trick or Treating shirt . Many people are still sending cards to their mother. But, each country has its own Mother’s Day origins and celebratory twists. For example, Mexican moms are spoiled all day with food, flowers, and music. That music includes a serenade by mariachi singers with the song “Las Mañanitas.”We love heritage and folklore, but we think also that new ages require for new recipes. So, our moms will get t-shirts on Mothers Day ?? And we made these choices hoping that we`ll help you out, tooThough we`re now searching for anime tshirts, anime has long been considered a bit of a niche territory. Like many aspects of pop culture that are not “traditional” to Western audiences. It is a fact that humans are getting easily judgmental on things that they didn`t try.“Nerds” related stuff is often misunderstood until they become so notorious that everyone finally gets the fuss.The word anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan, as a local product, with a distinct spark. Not only from artwork angle. Also from a storytelling perspective, themes and concepts. Anime isn`t a genre. It can be a comedy, drama, sci-fi, horror…you name it. Over the last years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans. Now is translated into many languages. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article
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timeclonemike · 7 years
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Time to reinstall it again.
So. There’s this thing about Deus Ex that’s been rattling around in my head for a while.
The original game was iconic because despite its flaws and the limitations of the engine, it existed in a sweet spot of storytelling narrative, world exploration, stealth, combat, and strategy. It wasn’t the first First Person Shooter / Role Playing Game hybrid, but it was one of the best for a long time and still holds up today.
But I think some games that tried to follow in its footsteps, including the later installments in the same franchise, missed the mark when aiming for that sweet spot. I don’t necessarily mean choices to port to consoles or not, or engine limitations, or anything that exists on the technological side of the game design process. I mean the stories that these games are trying to tell.
In the original Deus Ex, there was some optional dialog when talking to one of the members of the old guard Illuminati where he explains the whole psychological aspect of secrecy and inducting recruits into a multi-tiered conspiracy; the prospect of learning increasingly valued and restricted information is the biggest incentive for the new guys to do well by whatever standards the group uses to evaluate people. (I think it was Stanton Dowd but don’t hold me to that.)
Whether or not the writers intended to or not, they were also describing the progression of a player through the game itself. Every new objective met and mission accomplished and note found and computer hacked filled in another blank, completed more of the jigsaw puzzle, until by the time the endgame starts if the player has been playing attention, they know what’s going on and how high the stakes are.
The focal point of the original Deus Ex was secrecy and trust. You start out working for a top secret task force that holds its cards very close to its vest by design. When you find out that they’re the fox guarding the chicken coop and switch sides, you end up working with... more groups that hold their cards close. Do you trust these organized crime guys to help you and not stab you in the back? Do you believe this lady whose apartment is filled with the telltale sound of security lasers? Do you take your pilots advice? Do you listen to the voice in your head? If you’re working with organized crime now, maybe you’re the bad guy after all. Maybe your old bosses were hardcore hard-asses because the sociopolitical situation is that fucked up. Maybe society really does need an invisible hand on the steering wheel, if ordinary people are just going to panic and turn on each other. Or maybe there are no good guys in this war, just competing assholes with different outfits.
These are the questions that a first time player had to ask themselves, and it isn’t until you start screwing around in the VersaLife facility that you start to find evidence supporting what your allies are actually telling you in dialog, emails, and infolink transmissions. You find the Dragon’s Tooth blueprints and spread that around. Doing that, you find out about the Universal Constructor and its role in the creation of Grey Death and Ambrosia. You blow that up (and according to newspapers most of the VersaLife building) and you find out about the supertanker. Scuttle that and both before and after you learn more about the Illuminati and Majestic Twelve, so you head to Paris and so on and so on and so on... every step fills in more of the blanks. Honestly a conspiracy thriller is the perfect story to tell using a video game because the pacing is so compatible.
Now let’s look at what was not the focus of Deus Ex: Questions about the human condition and the socioeconomic implications of technological assistance. Mechanical augmentation is old school by the time JC Denton gets dumped out of the incubator tank with his cutting edge nanotechnology based augments. There’s two other mechs working at UNATCO, the bartender at Underworld, and maybe Jojo Fine, even if his are cosmetic. The MJ12 Commandos are, according to one email, outfitted with “off-the-shelf” hardware that turns them into walking weapons platforms with enhanced vision and hearing, and running off of standard power supplies. The questions of how this technology would change the human condition and society didn’t get directly addressed during the main plot because for the most part, they didn’t matter; the world was literally falling apart and everyone had much more important stuff to think about. Like not catching an incurable disease. Or finding enough food to live another day.
The implications of what the technology could do to or for people did get addressed in the endgame, but in service to the game’s central theme of trust and secrecy. Technology is a force multiplier and by exploiting the developments in nano augments, artificial intelligence, and the Universal Constructor, Bob Page was turning himself into God. Omniscient, able to manipulate information on a global scale through Helios and the Aquinus Protocol, immortal, and theoretically invincible through his armies of mass produced robots, engineered life forms, and loyal followers. And Bob Page would certainly not be a just and loving god, because he’s an asshole with a massive ego. So he can’t be allowed to become One With All Things. Aside from that, the game is open ended in what happens next, and it comes down to trust in the end; you can trust humanity to steer its own course with nobody in the shadows trying to pull strings, you can trust your fellow conspirators to steer humanity in the right direction behind the scenes... or. You can say “fuck this” and do it yourself by merging with the Helios AI before Page does and becoming a much more benevolent higher power than he would ever be, no matter how much of a dick you were in game.
This is the problem I have with Invisible War, Human Revolution, and to a lesser extent Mankind Divided because I haven’t played it (waiting for a Steam Sale) and I don’t know how much it takes its cues from the other two games. Basically, the dichotomy between augmented and non augmented humans is given center stage, driving the conflict between different factions even when engineered by a third faction behind the scenes. Even within the context of it being another attempt by conspirators to guide human society in a direction that they want it to go, it dominates the philosophical landscape of the plot as well. This is especially true when both sides are presented as having good points, and both sides are shown being supported by assholes who will do anything to further their ideals, and other assholes who use the ideals of their action as an excuse to be assholes. The entire narrative tension becomes a never ending circle jerk until the player picks a side and kills key members of the other one.
Not that anyone’s asked me, but I think the Deus Ex franchise needs to return to its roots of secrecy, trust, and open ended philosophical meandering. And to a limited extent, I have some ideas on how to do this.
First, focus on a plot that really emphasizes the idea of a conspiracy seizing power purely for the sake of power itself. This disconnects the main antagonist, whoever they are, from whatever philosophical arguments get made in the rest of the game.
Second, the question of “what it means to be human” needs to go back into the setting background again. Have it crop up in newspaper articles, blog posts, books and ebooks, have it be something that academics can make tenure arguing about, and (this is important) only have NPCs bring it up when it directly affects them. And have most of the NPC banter and dialog be entirely based around stuff that people today can relate to; incompetent politicians playing fast and loose with the rules, the rising costs of health care, climate change and deniers of the same, economic uncertainty in all of its many many flavors, natural disasters, and mixed in with all of that is a little bit of concern about augments and how it affects their lives specifically. Hell, include a parody news article where augment producing companies complain that post-millennial generations are “ruining” the augmentation market.
Third, bring back skills all the way. Deus Ex started you out with a flashlight in your eyes and a radio in your skull, with options for upgrades later, so you had to get by with your wits, planning, and whatever you put your skill points into during character creation. In Invisible War Alex starts with just the flashlight, but their entire genetic structure has been developed from the ground up to prototype universal genetic alteration and biomod integration. Adam Jensen kicks a reasonable amount of ass with just his tricked out gun during the opening interactive cutscene / tutorial of Human Revolution, and does real well right up until he gets bushwacked by Team Asshole, after which his boss has them put literally everything in the Serif Industries catalog into the guy’s body. No Deus Ex protagonist can ever realistically be expected to align themselves with the anti-modification side in any conflict without invoking emotional manipulation, delusion, a suicide mission, or a vendetta against whoever wired them up without their consent. So either the mods have to be completely optional, or the social dichotomy has to be completely optional. (Or a completely unimportant background detail compared to the rest of the plot.)
Fourth, if you have to keep some sort of dichotomy, make it more complicated than just two sides, for and against. Make it like real life. Make it complicated as different people go “well I agree with this part but that other thing is a deal breaker” and mix and match until the whole human augmentation position exists on a grid system just like political ideologies do, measured using two different X and Y axes. Or (I cannot believe I’m saying this) take a page out of Civilization Beyond Earth’s book with the Affinities, especially the Hybrid Affinities from Rising Tide:
Purity: No augments at all. Skills only
Harmony: Biotech and genetic engineering.
Supremacy: Mechanical augments.
Purity / Harmony: Genetic engineering, but only to wipe out disease and increase humanity’s natural abilities.
Purity / Supremacy: Cybernetics as a matter of utility and tool use, no AI research or enhancing the brain beyond what’s needed to interface with the augments.
Harmony / Supremacy: Transhumanism or bust!
This also lends itself to different abilities and how they get developed. So instead of just mech stuff added by surgery, there’s also retroviral gene therapy, and with skills that makes a trinity of abilities that all need to be balanced. Or at least, if a player goes all in with one group, it requires a certain play style to do (probably with an achievement for beating the game that way). If skills are about what you can do in the world and how well you can interact with objects in that world (five different weapons skills to choose from, hacking, picking locks, etc) then it would make sense for genetic engineering to add passive upgrades and abilities like health regen, improved strength and reflexes, resistance to toxins and knockout darts, and so on. Meanwhile mechanical augments go straight for adding functionality and integrating technology, as with the infolink and seeing through walls. Having all three of these categories be open ended, without any artificial mutual exclusion and railroading along a specific path, means that a player is limited entirely by the circumstances they find or expect to find, and the opportunity cost of making one choice at the exclusion of others. Presumably the requirements for skill progression involved going out and doing things, while mech augments need at least outpatient surgery, and gene therapy requires some convalescence and has a nasty debuff effect while the virus is playing with the PC’s DNA, so there’s that tension going on. Also, augments probably require money while skills can be improved for free, but upgrades for the equipment that skills use, ammunition, and supplies also cost money, so there’s that resource management aspect.
This also means that the players allies and enemies can be more varied as well, because no group is defined purely by adherence to one type of ability or another. The groups are defined by where they stand in relation to the conspiracy driving the main plot (part of it or not, supporting it or not, aware of it or not) and possibly a completely tangential goal or mission like money for a mercenary team. This means that allied groups have more room to have memorable characters, and so do enemy groups as well. It also means that fighting against a specific group requires a lot more planning and tactical thinking, if they have a team made of different people whose abilities compliment each other.
And that’s about all I have on this subject, at least for the moment. It’s getting late and I have to peel potatoes in the morning.
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I’m finding all the CS wedding hype rather amusing… I said I was done with this show a while back but split Queen lured me back in. I bailed again because the show hasn’t redeemed itself and I don’t believe this wedding is an indication of a happy ending. I’m not going to talk about that today. Today is for the upcoming musical episode, where the fan focus hasn’t really been about the musical element at all, it’s been the Captain Swan wedding. Captain Swan are getting married! They are endgame and SwanQueeners will just have to deal with it and accept that Captain Swan is the most beautiful love story ever told, and oh my god Jen chose a wedding dress Grace Kelly wore in a movie called “The Swan” and Grace Kelly was such a style icon that this wedding is so iconic because Captain Swan is the purest of true loves and that must be why Jen chose the dress and they are gonna live happily ever after and they’ll finally have sex on their honeymoon and have CS babies and won’t that be just so wonderfully fantastic! 🙄 I wonder if my fake fangirling and heavily sarcastic tone was detectable in that speech… My response to the first part, about the wedding actually happening is… it may happen, and it may not. Even when couples say “I do” and wear rings after tying the knot, it does not necessarily mean that it is true love and they will live happily ever after. Princess Diana wasn’t happy in her marriage to Prince Charles and look how that ended, which was also dubbed as a fairytale once upon a time by those who knew nothing of Diana’s life or her marriage. 👸🏼 Aside from the fact that all true love’s kisses on OUAT happen during a curse, and it’s always been the first kiss shared that breaks a curse, Captain Swan have had their first kiss outside of a relationship and outside a curse in Neverland so I wouldn’t expect a rainbow blast then. Snowing only get those happen when they are in a curse. In Ruby Slippers, Red kissed Dorothy to break her out of a sleeping curse - first kiss rainbow blast. Hades and Zelena’s first kiss broke the curse Hades brother placed upon him so they got their rainbow blast. Aurora was woken by Phillip and it was the first kiss we saw between them… the only time where a curse has been broken without a kiss was during the frozen arc with but it wasn’t a curse as such, it was a spell. The spell of shattered sight. Spells are different to curses. ✨ So Captain Swan had their first kiss and subsequently been in curses & true love’s kiss has never actually worked for them. You can argue all the other red herrings of Captain Swan being true love but the fact is a true love’s kiss is what is meant to break any curse, true love being the strongest magic of all and that still has not happened. Why is that??? Maybe they are saving it for the wedding day CSers cry. Maybe they are, it is a possibility. But in my opinion it’s highly unlikely. You should know Adam and Eddy’s way of writing by now. What they show you in canon text is NEVER what is intended. Unless of course you refer to the Snowing ship. This is why SUBTEXT is so important. I’m not talking about SwanQueen subtext. I’m not even going to go into a SwanQueen is endgame argument, which may shock you. No, I’m going to just use the OUAT storytelling as it has always been to make my point without bringing SwanQueen into it. 😧 Firstly, this is Adam and Eddy we are talking about. The same guys who gave us the mysterious Lost series, where we were trying to figure out what the hell was going on with this strange island that attracted planes to crash into it that people miraculously survived from. The people were stranded and trying to find a way off the island. The island at first seemed like some sort of conspiracy. There was a Dhama project and the word Dhama in Buddhism means TRUTH. So there was this element of trying to figure out what the truth was. This place didn’t make any sense and was totally confusing. Turns out that it wasn’t a reality as such. Seeing as many years have passed since then I think I am safe to say it… the island was some form of purgatory. They were held there and when some vanished in whatever fate was bestowed upon them, that was their soul moving from purgatory. At least that’s how it was interpreted. The ending actually infuriated a lot of viewers. 😤 So if you aren’t familiar with Adam and Eddy’s work, I suggest that you get to know it and understand that nothing is as straightforward as it seems where those two are involved in the writing. If they are happy with a wedding spoiler to be released (the guys who are strictly “no comment no spoilers”) then it’s safe to say that this wedding isn’t actually going to be as it seems. 💍🙊 Do you remember when Rumple’s dad played “Follow the Lady” before he became Peter Pan? It’s the three card trick where the player must keep their eyes on the marked card (the Queen) whilst it is shuffled around with two joker cards though some use aces. This is also called three card monte. When the swindler has finished moving them around, the player must choose the marked card (the Queen). The players watch carefully trying to keep an eye on that marked card focusing so hard on what they are told to focus on. Only when they turn the card over they believe is the marked card, it turns out they have been focused on one of the two jokers. This is Adam and Eddy’s game when they tell a story. They are telling you to focus so hard on the wedding. It’s the marked card. But when the wedding scene actually happens, you can bet your bottom dollar that when that card gets turned over, you’ll end up with a joker, and the wedding isn’t what it seems. ♠️♥️♣️♦️🃏 This is why SUBTEXT is actually more important than CANON TEXT! Things that are canon because they are written and verbally stated by characters, are generally what they WANT you to focus on, so when they flip that card (the plot) you feel like a fool staring down at a joker. So when it comes to that episode I think I’m gonna sit back, sip my tea, and have a giggle at all these CSers flipping their shit because they truly believed they are actually going to get what they want. 🐸☕️ Naturally they won’t direct their frustration with Adam on twitter, oh no, the’ll misdirect that anger at Swen because they’ll convince themselves that Adam and Eddy listened to us and gave in. But if it goes the way Adam and Eddy like to play, Swen won’t get what they want out of this episode which would be for Emma to realise she is making a mistake at the very least, and as a bonus run off with Regina. Yeah that’s not going to happen either, although it is nice to dream it at this point. What happens in the future who knows? The thing with Adam and Eddy is they aren’t afraid to give nobody what they want or hope for. OutlawQueen didn’t have a true love’s kiss, they didn’t even utter the words “I love you” - funny how that without saying I love you that their relationship can be seen as canon love because of the obvious subtext, whereas something like SwanQueen can’t because they aren’t dating. 🙃 But not going there. 😋 Realistically, it’s been 6 years, and in that time nobody ever gets what they want, and only side characters have ever had true love’s kiss because other wise the story would be over and done with quick if all the mains got their happy endings. I mean, y'all should have learned the routine by now CSers. Oh but what am I thinking, of course you haven’t learned the routine because only canon written things are important to you. Silly me! 🐸☕️ As for the Grace Kelly wedding dress, and the movie The Swan in which Grace Kelly appeared in… let me clear up a few things, seeing as I tend to watch a lot of vintage movies. I love to watch Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day… not only to see such a difference with acting back then to how it is today, but because these women were fashion icons of their time and are still icons in history. I have a particular interest in styles of those eras and how very different they were compared to the styles around today. But the movies… the actresses were great, but the messages of them weren’t always. Some were quite degrading to women in my opinion; The Swan being one of them. 🐥 The premise of the Swan… Prince Albert, visits a banished family of nobles. Their matriarch ( to spell it out for you this means the head of the family) Princess Beatrix (who seemed to act like more of a domineering queen), wants her daughter Alexandra, to marry her own cousin Albert so that the family will be welcomed back into the kingdom. So Alexandra’s mother encourages her to flirt with Albert to gain his affections to regain regal status as she believes he will fall in love with her, marry her, and they can finally rule a kingdom again. (Reiterating this point to CSers because generally they only focus of context rather than any subtext… this is not love, because love is not a choice and love isn’t manipulation in order to gain status or material possessions). 🙄 Princess Beatrix: Oh my dear child, this is the one thing, the one opportunity that all your life I’ve been praying for - for you to become a queen. - Doesn’t she sound like Cora! Not at all like Snow. The one opportunity in all YOUR life that I’VE been praying for. Never mind whether Alexandra has any feelings of her own. I’ll just dream your life for you and you do as I say to fulfil my own dreams for your life. This is such a common thing. When you think in terms of sexuality, though this has nothing to do with sexuality, a lot of homophobic parents like to do, control and force their child to be in straight relationships they don’t want to be in. Controlling and forcing relationships is something a parent should never do, regardless of whether or not their child is heterosexual or otherwise. Control and manipulation is not an act of unconditional love. Anyway, I digress. So back to the story… 😑 Much to her Beatrix’s dismay, Albert doesn’t show much of an interest in Alexandra. So Beatrix encourages Alexandra to flirt with her tutor, Nicholas in order to rouse Albert’s attention. 😧 Princess Beatrix: My dear child, how do you suppose I came to marry your father? You can’t think a man just gets an idea into his head and asks a woman to marry him? Of course not! All your father ever cared for was horses. He wouldn’t even look at me. So I looked once or twice at the riding master. Your father proposed the very next afternoon - on horseback. 🤔 Don’t you just love pushy manipulative people who become parents who then try to manipulate force their children into a relationship where there is no feeling not to mention the fact that Albert was Alexandra’s cousin? I know you CSers are so quick to jump on an incest wagon when you compare Regina who was no blood relation to Snow, was forced into a marriage with Snow’s father, man she didn’t love and therefore was forced to be a stepmother very temporarily to Snow, whom she didn’t want to be a step parent to, rather than also accept the fact that Hook actually had a relationship with Henry’s biological grandmother by choice, and was Baelfire’s/Neal’s step father by your own logic, was even trying to act as such whilst Baelfire was aboard the Jolly Roger, and therefore acted unbeknown to him as Emma’s step father-in-law… so this marrying of a cousin thing should really be a pleasant thing for you guys to hear. Anyway…. 🙃 Dropping the prince and princess titles as writing that is becoming rather monotonous, Alexandra does as her mother wishes and flirts with her attractive tutor Nicholas. However, later the plan backfires when she develops genuine feelings for Nicholas. Nicholas is already quite taken with Alexandra, so when she invites him to the farewell ball for Albert (her last chance for the plan to work) he eagerly accepts. Later when they are dancing at the ball it appears that Albert is getting jealous, (how very possessive considering his apparent lack of interest) but instead of saying something, he appears to show more interest in playing the bass viol in the orchestra. 🎶🎵🎶 Despite the original intention of using Nicholas, Alexandra realises she is quite taken with Nicholas. Here you can see her conflict where she expresses feelings for him but you can see that she is bound by her ploy in order to gain the Kingdom for her family… 💔 Dr. Nicholas Agi: You’re so sweet and so beautiful… Princess Alexandra: Don’t come any closer Nicholas… I’ve never seen a man in love and… he happens to be in love with me. Dr. Nicholas Agi: Are you so afraid of me? Princess Alexandra: Oh, if I am I want always to be afraid. I want to be so good to you. I want a hundred things. I want to tell you everything that’s in my heart… I want to look after you and spoil you and… oh, eat something. The wanting to always be afraid is a hint of saying I want to always be afraid that I will lose you because that’s how I know, in this confusing time where I feel things for you but I’m trying to gain my cousin’s affections, that my feelings for you are genuine. But obviously she cannot be so transparent and say this aloud because of her mission set by her mother. 😔 Eventually, she tells Nicholas that it was all a ploy to get Albert to propose to her and she suspected he felt this way. She realizes that she has some feelings for him but he feels used and that Alexandra has been disingenuous, so refuses her affection. Albert comes to find out about this situation and is a little taken aback. Albert and Nicholas trade insults, and Nicholas then storms out and tries to leave the next morning. 😭 Alexandra, distraught over what happened, tries to leave with him, but he refuses her again. YES… SHE WANTED NICHOLAS NOT ALBERT! Albert’s mother shows up and gets the entire story and is aghast. Albert actually GIVES HIS BLESSING to the pair and says that when he is king he will allow them back into the country. However, Nicholas is still hurt ends up leaving the mansion without Alexandra. 😭💔 So… there you have it. She didn’t actually want to marry Albert, because she actually loved Nicholas. But royalty being what it is, marrying for love is rare. She did end up marrying Albert but it wasn’t for love. These are the last lines where Albert tries to console Alexandra… 😭 Prince Albert: Your father used to call you his swan, so I am told. I think that’s a good thing to remember. Think what it means to be a swan: to glide like a dream on the smooth surface of the lake, and never go to the shore. On dry land, where ordinary people walk, the swan is awkward, even ridiculous. When she waddles up the bank she painfully resembles a different kind of bird, n'est-ce-pas? Princess Alexandra: A goose. Prince Albert: I’m afraid so. And there she must stay, out on the lake: silent, white, majestic. Be a bird, but never fly. Know one song, but never sing it until the moment of death. And so it must be for you, Alexandra: cool indifference to the staring crowds along the bank. And the song? Never. 😭😭😭💔💔💔 Now… first off, Albert insulted Alexandra. She is graceful but only where she belongs… he doesn’t see her gracefulness in any other circumstance. Out of her natural habitat (i.e. with Nicholas whom she actually had romantic feelings for) she would be awkward and ridiculous. Instead of being the regal beauty that she is, she would be more like a goose. It’s all metaphoric to suggest that she is far too good for a man who was actually a nice guy, but not royal and therefore not worthy, despite the fact that she genuinely loves Nicholas. It was suggesting that her life was to be unfulfilled, and that her cousin who wasn’t interested in her to begin with, and who only did become interested when another man was on the scene, who will give her a life where she can be regal and graceful, but she as a Swan cannot sing her (Swan) song and must be silent and subservient to preserve the perfection illusion for the Kingdom. This is the life she was born into and she should just accept it. 😤 What kind of message is that really to women? To settle for a guy you’re actually related to, in a loveless marriage, living a life where the surface everything looks perfectly regal and wonderful, but she can’t even express herself… sounds like such a wonderful happily ever after, doesn’t it? [Oh sorry, insert sarcastic tone here again!] 🙃 And wouldn’t you know it, beautiful blonde woman with a Swan wearing a crown was the poster for that 1950’s movie. Seems to depict the oppressive nature of how royal romances are more of a transaction than of genuine love. Not saying that some aren’t for love, it’s just not often that a royal will marry someone for love. Though I do believe that Kate and William in the UK did marry for love. I guess time will tell. 🙃 Ironically, Grace Kelly was courting her own prince while making The Swan. She met Prince Rainier during April 1955 Cannes Film Festival. By December that year, he proposed to her. Royals do work fast and this is usually down to external pressures in retaining their kingdoms. It was speculated that he was seeking a wife, as a treaty with France in 1918 stated that if he did not produce an heir to the throne, Monaco would revert to France. However this was neither confirmed nor denied. It was also rumoured he had an affair with three different women and the first was during Grace’s first pregnancy, but that was also neither confirmed or denied so we cannot say for sure whether it was a faithful marriage. 😕 Also ironically, that movie featured several eerie similarities to Kelly’s future. Her white lace costumes are quite similar to her wedding dress, and Alec Guinness who plays Prince Albert in The Swan, actually looks a great deal like Grace Kelly’s husband, Prince Rainier in this movie. 🤔 Interestingly enough, Grace Kelly actually did some work for ABC! Yes, she narrated ABC’s made-for-television film The Poppy is Also a Flower (1966). She and Rainier worked together in a 33-minute independent film called Rearranged in 1979, which received interest from ABC TV executives in 1982 after premiering in Monaco, on the condition that it be extended to an hour. Before more scenes could be shot, Kelly died and the film was never released or shown publicly again. Grace Kelly died in a car accident. The beautiful blonde princess lost control of her car after suffering a minor stroke that caused her to lose control of the vehicle. Her daughter, Stephanie, one of her three children, was in the car with her and she tried to regain control by taking the wheel after her mother lost consciousness, but failed to do so. Grace was alive but unconscious, with injuries to her brain, thorax and a femur fracture, she was in a coma on life support until the following day when Rainer decided to terminate the life support as doctors determined that she would not recover. Stephanie suffered bruising, concussion and a fracture to her spine. She didn’t attend her mother’s funeral due to these injuries. 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 A tragic way for a princess to die, a tragic way for anyone to die really. Her life was cut short, so the happily ever after bit didn’t really happen for them. 😔😔😔😔😔😔 During her marriage to Rainer, Grace was not permitted to act anymore, a decision that Rainer himself imposed after an outcry in Monaco when Hitchcock offered Grace a part which would depict her fictional character as a kleptomaniac. So Grace had no choice but to decline Hitchcock’s offer. Despite acting being her dream and pleasure in life, the only way she could do it would be to divorce Rainer, which would mean leaving her three children in Monaco, and she would never do that. So she threw herself into her role as a princess and engaged in charitable work. Grace Kelly’s dream was to act and it had been her dream from being a very young child, much to her parents initial displeasure. However, her life changed, and she had to put not only her children and husband first, but the reputation of Monaco before herself too. She was no longer in a position to pursue her dreams. After her death, Rainer lived out his life, but never remarried and he is buried alongside her. ☹️ Most see Grace Kelly as this gorgeous blonde woman, who got lucky and married her own Prince Charming in a fairytale come true. But what I see is this whirlwind romance where a proposal was made after 8 months of not actually spending a lot of time together what with their individual commitments (particularly Grace’s as she was filming at the time). She accepted it meant that she had to give up her dreams, sadly her tragic death meant the apparent on the surface perfect fairytale (which it really wasn’t) ended prematurely to what a happily ever after is meant to be. Fairytales don’t end in tragedy. So I really find it somewhat interesting that Jennifer Morrison chose a Grace Kelly wedding dress of all the dresses she could have chosen. It will be interesting to see just how this pans out. 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Follow the lady does not mean follow Emma into the canon plot spoiler that they don’t mind you seeing with blind faith that it will happen. The truth and the clues as to what will happen have already been shown to us, but you guys are too busy focusing on what they tell you to look at. It’s not the big obvious canon things where the truth is found, it’s in the details and the subtext, in the small things. Even in the things you believe are not canon because they haven’t been said. But what do I matter huh? I’m just a fan who ships SwanQueen and as YNB said once only canon ships are worth talking about 🙃 I wonder if that statement will still hold up after all of this is over, or whether Adam and Eddy’s storytelling will teach the lesson that just because something is canon, doesn’t mean it’s set in stone and that it always will be.
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anrbackchannels · 7 years
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Terminal Directive Campaign Review
I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m in love with the new cards in Terminal Directive, but I am less enthusiastic about the campaign, now that I’ve finished it.  Below is a little spoiler-free review of the Terminal Directive campaign along with some tips to maximize your fun (things I wish I knew).
My opinion: it’s worth playing… once.
Criticism:
My experience in our playthrough of the Terminal Directive campaign was like... being in an unhealthy relationship.  I was confused.  I felt bad and I didn’t know why.  I figured it was my fault.  My enjoyment went downhill fast about halfway through, and what started in euphoria ended with tears and panic attacks.  Looking back on it now, objectively, I can see that there was actually some dysfunction that contributed to my misery.  Unlike getting into an unhealthy relationship, I do recommend playing through Terminal Directive, just… Be careful.  Know what you’re getting into.
I guess that’s where I can help.  Here are some things to look out for.
Balancing issues: One of the strengths of Terminal Directive is the engaging, yet manageable card pool you get between one core set and one copy of TD.  However this card pool also contributes to one of its weaknesses.  Corporate power increases dramatically with the addition of TD cards to the core set.  (Think about IPO and Marilyn Campaign vs. Armitage Codebusting.  Playing without Jackson Howard is not as bad for the corporation as you might think.) While I rather enjoy a meta tilted in favor of the corporations, this advantage becomes absurd with the addition of TD campaign cards and abilities as you progress through the story.  I got runner campaign cards that were basically unplayable in our matchup and situational at best, while my opponent got outrageous cards and passive abilities that accelerated them into a very ugly victory streak.  The more progress they made, the uglier that difference in power levels became.  I don’t want to spoil campaign cards, but you’ll know what I mean.  My opponent spent a lot of time apologizing for campaign mechanics and I felt absolutely suffocated trying to play around and against all the effects in play.  I’d suggest that any future campaigns implement some sort of handicap or luser acceleration to keep campaign progress close, instead of features that just snowball the winning side.
Disconnect between gameplay and narrative: I think the storytelling started out strong, and is probably at its best when the ‘caution’ conditions are triggered.  As we progressed, though, the relevance of our games to the story (a flatline has no narrative impact, for example) became quite a strain on the imagination.  I think this could be remedied by having more in-game triggers for the story’s progress, adding more opportunities for the narrative to branch out based on in-game events, and for the narrative to advance (at least at certain checkpoints) for both sides simultaneously.  In addition to campaign cards and abilities not being well balanced, they were arbitrary as opposed to having a narrative connection, however tenuous.  My last complaint about the narrative is that whichever side wins gets to have an ending… the other person is just stuck wherever they were.
Repetition: By our sixth game, we both had a solid grasp of our matchup and had pretty much used up all of our favorite tricks and tweaks.  Game 7 (in a row) of the same matchup was pretty much the breaking point for me.  It became tedious and I just wanted the story to move along, but to move the story I had to win and as I said before, it was very hard for me to win after my opponent got certain campaign cards.  I never got to read further in the story.  I tilted more and more in our last games, which felt like forever because - I hate to say it - I was bored.  I think the solution to this is not necessarily less games or a shorter story.  I think it’s more narrative; more interactive campaign effects (like when your cautions are triggered); just more events in general to shake up the gameplay.  Don’t get me wrong, Netrunner’s a great game in itself! I’ve learned there’s a limit to my love, though.  Playing the same side of the same matchup a dozen times in a row with the same person is not my idea of a good time.
Constructive Suggestions for Players:
Besides just steeling yourself for those problems, there are some concrete things you can do to improve your play experience of the game such as it is.
Read your narrative cards and dialogue out loud. The instructions say that you can choose to keep them to yourself, but this is your chance to dig into the theme (and do dramatic voices) and let both players have a full experience of the campaign.  We decided to read our narrative cards to ourselves because we wanted to play again as the other side.  That’s a bad idea looking back.  I was salty when I had to sit and watch my opponent read quietly to themselves, especially when they won the campaign and I was just left hanging. Share the narrative developments to increase everyone’s enjoyment of the game.
Destroy cards when told to do so. The instructions say so, but I didn’t do it; again because I wanted to play the corp side before wrecking my campaign materials and also I have issues with authority.  Destruction is fun.  And those cards deserve it!  It’s a little thing, but worth mentioning.
Throw caution to the wind. I think it’s a good idea to trigger your cautions.  Bad things will happen when you do, yes, but those bad things are actually a really fun part of the campaign and one of the better in-game storytelling mechanics.  I feel like I really missed out by avoiding one of my cautions until the end of the campaign, but I was determined.
Space out your games. We marathoned the campaign - terrible idea.  First, the games get repetitive, your brain will need the down-time.  Second: it didn’t allow us much time to think about changes in our decks, which could have really changed our gameplay experience.  We made tweaks, but we didn’t have time to make any fundamental changes to our strategies and sleeve up entirely different decks.  Spacing out the games should take the edge off the repetition.
Conclusion:
I think Terminal Directive is a step in the right direction for Netrunner’s deluxe expansions.  I have a taste for Netrunner narrative blood now.  I’d love to play a similar campaign with these problems addressed - at least in part - but the Terminal Directive campaign does not live up to the immense promise of its concept.
Art via Fantasy Flight Games promo material
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theapprof · 6 years
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The Syllabus Episode | Bonus | TAPP Episode 24
Introduction (2 min) Do students read the syllabus? What is a syllabus? (8 min) Reading and raiding the syllabus (14.5 min) First-day activities | A syllabus quiz? (18.5 min) Basic elements of a syllabus (13.5 min) More things to put in a syllabus (12 min) Study strategies, extra topics, & FAQs (8.5 min) Conclusion (1 min)
  If you cannot see or activate the audio player click here. Follow The A&P Professor on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Nuzzel, Tumblr, or Instagram!
  There is a peculiar aesthetic pleasure in constructing the form of a syllabus, or a book of essays, or a course of lectures. Visions and shadows of people and ideas can be arranged and rearranged like stained-glass pieces in a window, or chessmen on a board. A. S. Byatt
      (0:58) It's a BONUS episode, meaning that you get bonus minutes, meaning that it's a really, really long episode!
How eccentric do you think Kevin is? Other listeners want to know! Really.
1-833-LION-DEN or 1-833-546-6338
  (3:03) Do students read the syllabus? Maybe half? It's the other half who drive us nuts. Wait! do we always read the directions before asking questions?
What is a syllabus? It can be different things, right? Why do administrators seem to love the syllabus so much?
Recommended Twitter feed: @ReadTheSyllabus
Please share the first tweet in my Twitter feed: @theAPprofessor.org
That "empathy thing" I'm always harping on: Caring for Students Helps Them Succeed
Is it syllabuses or syllabi? The answer is in a previous episode: 49 MORE Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses
    (11:09) Some general considerations when designing a syllabus include make sure that students can both read the syllabus through, and raid the syllabus for key information when they need it. The key is simplicity and logic in syllabus design.
READ and RAID your textbook (a link for students; explains the "read & raid principle" as applied to textbooks
Storytelling is the Heart of Teaching A&P (the episode where I explain storytelling as a teaching technique)
Utilize Clear Language (my take on simpler language to reach students)
Temple Grandin, animal science professor and autism spokesperson; someone who "gets it" that we have to try to put our head inside their heads
Recommended book: Animals in Translation
  (25:36) Is it just "here's the syllabus; see ya next class"—or is it an engaged look at important syllabus elements? The first day of class is key to starting things off on a good foot. What I learned from Krista, Michael, and Richard—and my own sideways twist on those first steps. What about a syllabus quiz? Is that a good or bad idea?
Krista Rompolski PhD @KristaRompolski
Recommended teacher gear: Leather index card wallet or Index card wallet
Engaging Students on the First Day of Class (my first-day syllabus activity; adapted from Michael Glasgow & Richard Faircloth; click through to download copies of my handouts)
First Impressions: Activities for the First Day of Class (article from Faculty Focus)
Why be honest? (about academic integrity)
Student Understanding
This is what I use for my Pre-A&P course, a self-paced onine refresher course
My web-enhanced on-campus courses use a similar list
The online quiz turns each item into a multichoice "I understand" or "I do not understand" test item
A perfect score unlocks the next item in the LMS, thus making this a necessary gateway to access course activities
Test Zero
Reviews prior content and syllabus contents
Start A&P 2 with a Final Exam (explains my Test Zero for A&P 2)
Teaching For Long-Term Learning (episode in which I explain my Test Zero approach)
    (44:24) What exactly goes into a syllabus? Who decides? What are the essentials? This isn't comprehensive, but it gets you
How to Write a Syllabus (a great online guide from Cult of Pedagogy)
HAPS Learning Outcomes - Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS membership is required to access them)
Anatomy Core Syllabi (from the Anatomical Society; different flavors [undergrad med, nursing, pharmacy] membership not required to access them)
LifeSciTRC Syllabus Resources (free samples of A&P syllabi & related resources)
  (57:47) Frank O'Neill recommends video walk-throughs, which have the added benefit of letting students know that you really do care about them. Consider also a table contents, abstract/summary, and/or index if the syllabus is long. How about a disclaimer, some playful tidbits, and links to external resources. And make sure your supervisors know what's in your syllabus!
Frank O'Neill @growgraymatter
7 Ways Video Can Enhance the Student Experience (video of Frank's live presentation, in which he addresses how to use a video walk-through of an A&P syllabus to give students a good first impression)
Cumulative Testing Makes Learning Last (episode in which I discuss brief video walkthrough; click through for a link to more resources)
Professors Are from Mars®, Students Are from Snickers®: How to Write and Deliver Humor in the Classroom and in Professional Presentations (recommended book)
Playful & Serious Is the Perfect Combo for A&P (previous episode explaining the value of playfulness in the A&P course)
  (1:09:38) Consider putting hyperlinks or URLs in the syllabus to take students to other resources. Consider linking to a FAQ page, wher you explain your rationals for doing things the way that you do them in your course. 
Additional links you may find useful
Syllabus Resources for A&P (from the TAPP blog)
Help Your A&P Students Get Off to a Good Start (from the TAPP blog)
Academic integrity in A&P (from the TAPP blog)
Some links that your students may find helpful:
The A&P Student (Kevin's blog for A&P students; rich source of advice you can give your students; theAPstudent.org)
Lion Den (Kevin's website with all kinds of study skills tips and resources for A&P students; LionDen.com)
Medical Science Navigator (Margaret Thompson Reece’s website for helping A&P students; she offers mini-courses!)
Getting a Good Start in your Anatomy & Physiology Course
Why be honest? (about academic integrity)
Why deadlines are important
Is spelling important?
Help significant others help you (getting busy students—especially returning learners—off to a great start)
Get Your Head in the Game - 5 Tips for Success in Learning (metacognition for A&P students)
9 Proven Tricks for Reducing Test Anxiety (for A&P students)
  (1:18:07) Final thoughts. Okay, no real thoughts. Just be glad you made it this far!
  If the hyperlinks here are not active, go to TAPPradio.org to find the episode page.
More details at the episode page.
Transcript available at the script page.
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cavefelix · 7 years
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The Green Arc: Be Not Afeard; the isle is full of noises
This is an Otherworldy arc for The Immigrant in this campaign because you are literally from another world. I suppose with some tweaking it could be used for a different stranger in a strange land tale. The Immigrant’s higher power it’s dealing with may be the seductive spirit of baseball (or your campaign’s substitute sport) whispering (Field of Dreams is an excellent example of a Green Arc). Or perhaps they may still be connected to the world of 139199 Eris.  For a mortal Arc you can get away with that ambiguity. :p
Quest 1: Homesick blues
(Knight 1, Knight 3, Otherworldy 1, Aspect 2, Shepherd 2, Shepherd 4, Emptiness 2)It’s impossible to play baseball on 136199 Eris, because other than you, there were no other baseball players. And so you came to Town to live out your dream. But this place is so alien. Everything everywhere you go is strange. Memories of Eris call to you.
I’m not going to going to go into detail of the customs and cultures of Eris, even though they’re important for this quest. If you want to use the melancholy bat people of the planet as a Star Trek like stand in for a particular culture, go ahead. If you want to assume they’re just sentient humanoid bats who love to do batlike things like hang upside down and either drink blood or consider mosquitoes a delicacy, that would work too.
35 point version
Major goals:
You encounter another bat-person in town but don’t have a chance to talk to them.
You perform a major cultural faux pas due to your misunderstanding of Town culture with ramifications that last at least a couple of scenes. (E.g., inviting the Rider and human players on the Walking Field Goats to the same party.)
You receive a letter from home. (If your game is higher tech, a phone call is an acceptable substitute -- the charges would be astronomical. An e-mail is not. The important thing is someone made a serious effort to communicate with you acrross worlds.)
You may take each once.
Minor goals:
You fly above the buildings of a region at night.
You ask about what everyone else sees as a routine thing 
You freak out over something everyone else sees as routine. (Examples: “You got a haircut!?!?” “Ugh! How can you guys eat *rice*?”
You fail to make an important play in a baseball game, either because the sun was too bright or you had established you were thinking of home before the game began.
You ask for advice about Town or consult a book/guide.
20 XP version: You’re still getting used to Town. It’s weird. You’re homesick. Your love of baseball is in conflict with your confusion over where baseball is played. Take a two sided sign.                          This is what I want/ I miss home. Once per scene/15 minutes you can earn an XP by flipping the card.
Results
You feel a little more comfortable in Fortitude. Also, you gain one of the following two perks:
If someone helped you out a lot in understanding the ways of Town, you can take a Connection (This person) 1.
Your new feelings have permeated your Air of Melancholy  magic. You gain a Trick: Air of Nostalgia. This lets you evoke memories of home which, as long as they have just a touch of loss or bittersweet in them, can be surprisingly positive.
Quest 2: The High Price of Success
(Knight 3, Otherworldly 2, Storyteller 2, Emptiness 3)
The first part of this quest is going to be fun. You go on a massive winning streak. Hit grand slams; make amazing catches; put the team ahead in bottom of the ninth. And Fortitude will welcome you. You’ll be so welcome it’s almost disturbing. People will dress up in costumes that look like you.  
Why does this happen? Is it fated? Did one of your rivals put out a pitcher you find you can read really well? Is some higher force taking an interest in you? Or is this just some statistical quirk that all ballplayers have every now and then, and people are excited about in your case because of your exotic origin story?
Then you’ll go back to normal. Which is good. Just…everyone in the big league is a good player. Fans will be disappointed. Your teammates will be puzzled. Maybe you’ll feel let down yourself.  This quest explores the highs and the lows.
40 XP version
Major goals
You perform some amazing feat during a game. (This must be taken first. The other major goals can be taken in any order.)
You are awarded the Keys to Fortitude, a parade is held in your honor, a professor announces there will be a course on you, or some other entirely inappropriate award for some rookie player is announced.
A teammate avoids talking to you.
Someone throws an object other than a baseball at you. (E.g., rotten fruit or the like.)
You may take each once.
Minor goals:
Your play has the potential to give your team the win -- but doesn’t.
You are yelled at on the street.
You are asked to do something you are unqualified for.
You avoid or put off an appointment
You go outside on a rainy day.
You spend more time than you’d like interacting with fans.
25 XP Version: Major goals
You perform some amazing feat during a game. (This must be taken first. The other major goals can be taken in any order.)
You are awarded the Keys to Fortitude, a parade is held in your honor, a professor announces there will be a course on you, or some other entirely inappropriate award for some rookie player is announced.
Your play has the potential to give your team the win -- but doesn’t.
You may take any two.
Minor Goals:
You are surrounded by a large crowd
You are yelled at on the streets
You spend time interacting with a child
You go outside on a rainy day
Results:
You accept that you’ll always have a burden to live up to you can’t always meet. Also, you’ll choose a perk.
While you were on a winning streak, the honor you got with one of your awards came with permanent access to some place you don’t really care about. Three possible examples include full access to the Fortitude Museum Archives; an office which was obviously a broom closet until they converted it for you in the College of War and Nightmare; or the key to Tip-Top Ticker Tape’s factory floor. (If this goal didn’t come up during play, you can still take this perk, assuming the award happened offscreen.) 
At one point in the rest of this Story (and once per future story) you get a +3 Tool bonus to weather the fickle nature of fandom.
Quest 3: Two roads diverge
(Knight 2, Otherworldly 3, Aspect 4, Emptiness 4, Mystic 4)
Someone is trying to change you. More specifically, someone has decided that they don’t want a bat person playing in the game. Even though this has certainly been cleared by the commission, and is also fine with the fans. Who would do this? My best guess is that it’s one of the following people:
Sandy Helliwish, the Manager for the Horizon Ferrets, because they’re a total jerk.
One of the more passionate players on the Bluebell Park Harts, either one named Purity who is, let’s face it, xenophobic/racist, or one named Justin or Justine who really believes that you have an unfair advantage over the human players in some way, violating the laws of baseball. 
A pitcher on a team that you’ve consistently hit well against, who’s humiliated and looking for an excuse other than that they telegraph their curveball.
Justin(e) is a good choice if you want a conflicted person leading the charge) The others are good if you want a flat out villain.
I’m assuming that people will come to your aid and the bad guy will ultimately fail. But since this is the last quest in the arc, if you want a tragic ending that could happen too.
25 Point Version
Major Goals
You are called up before a legislative body (possibly the commissioner of baseball.
Someone not totally trustworthy offers a horrific compromise to make this issue go away. (E.g., a deviant scientist offers to take your brain out of your body and transfer it into a human.)
You are seen flying and someone uses this against you.
You may take any two.
Minor goals:
You make a spectacular play
You make a horrible play because of the stress.
You and the person trying to get you disbarred from the game meet.
A group of fans show strong support for you.
The person trying to get you disbarred gets literal mud on their face (either thrown at them or because they trip).
15 point version
What’s more important to you? Playing the game you love or staying true to the thing that you are? Each time you need to grapple with that question as you’re being confronted, turn this sign to the appropriate side:
                            Batter/Bat Person
You may flip it once per scene/15 minutes of play. (Also, if you’re in a game where the Fortitude Lynxes are not a baseball team but some other organization, please change “batter” to something that makes sense, like goalie, baritone, etc.)
Result: 
You refuse to give in. You won’t sacrifice your heritage -- whatever the consequences may be. Also, you gain one of the following perks:
Once or twice a story, your catchphrase “It’s different on Eris” becomes supernaturally compelling. Any tale told about Eris afterward is treated as a Superior Skill with two edge. If you have used this perk more than twice, you can use it again with a Refresh Token.
Alternately, you can take a point from your catchphrase and move it to a new skill: Rhetoric 1, indicating you’ve learned how to respond to arguments well.
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waynekelton · 5 years
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The Best Upcoming iOS & Android Games 2019
The mobile gamer can look back at 2018 with an affectionate and misty eye, secure in the knowledge that gaming on mobile devices gets more diverse, sophisticated and polished with each year. In this respect, 2019 also is shaping up to be a banner year on this front.
Roughly speaking, the most exciting upcoming games can be split into three groups: the name-brand megahits-in-waiting, boardgame adaptations, and indie projects. Read on to see what the who’s who of mobile gaming are cooking up for this year’s treats.
Dire Wolf Digital (Board Game)
This isn't the name of a game, but the name of a company that announced this year they're making a bucket-load of digital board game adaptations. Because we only have the announcement text to go on, we've decided to keep the new games all in one place until we know more. The games Direwolf are bringing to digital (which afawk also includes mobile devices) are:
Mage Knights – It's worth noting this is the first step in a bigger agreement with WizKids, so it's likely we'll be seeing more announcements this year.
Wings of Glory – A popular table-top aerial skirmish game.
Raiders of the North Sea – An excellent worker placement game themed around the 8th and 9th century viking raids (pictured).
Yellow & Yangtze – a Reiner Knizia tile placement game of civilization building.
Sagrada – A dice drafting game about creating works of art.
Root – the recent Kickstarter sensation about asymmetrical warfare in the woods.
We're not sure which project is due to appear first - possible WizKids & Mage Knights, given the importance that project has within the announcement? We'll update as we learn more.
Evolution (Board Game)
This was on the 'MIA' until recently, when North Star Digital announced that it would finally be releasing on February 12th. This is a digital adaptation of the popular boardgame of the same name, where you play as emergent species attempting to survive and adapt. You must use cards and combine traits to make sure your species gets the food it needs to live. This is a game of up to four players, and will feature a solo campaign vs. AI, as well as cross-platform online multiplayer.
Mario Kart Tour (Racing)
It’s been practically a year since this title was first announced and outlined with few concrete details added between now and then. Nintendo’s mobile offerings have run the gamut, from the premium Mario Run, the Miitomo social & style app everyone tried and forgot about, to the successful and generally great Fire Emblem: Warriors. Mario Kart is a treasured and classic franchise, even amongst Nintendo offerings, so that reputation guarantees some level of careful handling. It remains an open question whether the game will be a premium or freemium model, but the launch date is still projected to be March.
Diablo Immortal (Action RPG)
Diablo Immortal will draw some side-eye and mockery, having been already made notorious because of its horribly mistimed announcement. (Yes, we have phones, but read the room, Activision-Blizzard). Even more puzzlingly, the game is being created in partnership with NetEase, a Chinese developer whose resume already includes ‘Eternal Realm’ (无尽神域) itself essentially a Diablo clone. Weird stuff: the official license merging with a pretender to the throne to make a hybrid project together. Concerns about endless grind or re-skinning of Eternal Realm are well-founded, but while most of us will be as judge-y as possible we’ll also probably still give the final product a try. Good action RPGs live or die by loot, character progression and above all, delicate-yet-accurate controls, so it will be interesting to see if Diablo Immortal will be a good game as well as the inevitable cash cow.
Artifact (CCG)
Two juggernauts of early-aughts gaming, Valve and Richard Garfield, collaborated to create Artifact, a lane-based card game with its theme and heroes lifted from DOTA 2. Launching on desktops this November, the game has been universally praised for its gameplay and just as roundly (and soundly, I might add) panned for its multi-layered pay scheme, which presents significant barriers to entry and requires quite the investment. The game is a purchase upfront, with tournament tickets and the chance to earn cards in-game through other methods both requiring further shills at some point. Yes, there is an individual card market which allows powerful and rapid deckbuilding, but at what cost? Amazing game with an incredibly rocky launch, but its trade winds are already shifting. The game is excellent and its market & monetization can only improve. Watch this space.
Five Tribes (Boardgame)
Five Tribes, oldie but goodie, will make its digital debut this year. Days of Wonder has been updating and digitising its catalogue at a steady pace and with fantastic results. Five Tribes central mechanic is just like mancala. Pick a space and drop the meeples one by one along the path. Dead simple, but if you think it makes the game easy, you’d be dead wrong. The Five Tribes each possess unique scoring criteria and effects, and the turn-order bid means timing depends on correctly valuing the current layout. Many simple bits add up to make a nigh-perfect game.
Scythe: Digital Edition (Boardgame)
In another history, the Great War also ruined Europe and annihilated a generation, but its nations and technologies faced the blight and devastation quite differently. With large mechs, steampunk agricultural combines and faux-Eurasian player nations, Scythe gives each player a unique entity to steer to victory. Engine building games are always efficiency races, conversion puzzles, but Scythe’s unique setting, eye-catching miniatures and indirect player confrontation quickly made a it a fan favorite amongst the gaming community. Its rollout on Steam has been smooth experience, with decent AI and a robust tutorial. The assets and UI will translate well to mobile and what used to cost near three figures will be available to most anyone for a fraction of the price.
Terraforming Mars (Boardgame)
Terraforming Mars sounds like a noble goal for all of humanity. In reality, the game is a push-and-pull competition for corporations to garner by prestige by...terraforming Mars. Three categories: oxygen, temperature and ocean coverage dictate the endgame, but to get there, players will reshape the red planet into a bright blue hope. It’s a Euro though-and-though: precisely balanced, intricately co-dependent and inevitably point-based. But the close match between theme and mechanic makes this game deeply satisfying and intuitive to learn and explain, and the action selection mechanic is uniquely innovative and inspired. Just when I think boardgame design is tapped out, something truly exceptional rises to the top.
Mew-Genics (Sim)
This one has been incubating forever but should be worth it when it finally gets here. Ed McMillen (of Binding of Isaac fame) has been teasing this cat-breeding simulator for ages. The game has been described as a mix of Tamagotchi, Pokemon and the Sims, with its signature art style courtesy of McMillen. All bets for a playful wild game about the weirdness, sweetness, malice and all-around havoc of cat-raising seem to be right on the money. The ideas are there, the premise is promising, the only question remaining is when it will get here.
Overland (Finji) (TBS/Survival) 
Overland is tactical turn-based survival meets cross-country road trip (from hell). Each waypoint is a battle, a flashpoint conflict over some minor life-extending objective. Its overland map and procedural generation seem reminiscent of FTL (or its follow-up Into the Beach) but the setting here is familiar people struggling with post-apocalyptic daily hardship. Water, medicine, gas, weapons: the items are banal but vital. The game uses minimalism and scarcity to great effect, sketching characters and strategic scenarios alike with the barest elements.
Impossible Bottles (Rhythm/Action)
Various robots move about in their bottles and raging about like a bull in a china shop. Each level presents one of these Impossible Bottles for the player to fix by manipulating the environment and repairing the situation, or at the very least soothing its sole occupant. A scientist built these robots as part of a perpetual motion machine for unlimited energy, but they don’t quite work as is. The secret to fixing everything is music, or in gameplay terms: rhythm. One-touch gameplay and lush, fantastic art, with a slated mid-year release.
Nowhere Prophet (Card Game)
Nowhere Prophet: this one is a doozy and a little secretive. The dark horse of this race, if you will. In the game, post-apocalyptic leaders trek across a scabrous landscape to gather supporters and supplies, occasionally clashing with foes or environmental dangers. This card game has grid-based combat as well procedurally generated encounters. It’s a card-battler roguelike, essentially, with a unique setting and what seems to be a robust battle system.
Heaven’s Vault (Interactive Fiction)
Inkle (of 80 Days interactive fiction fame) has been teasing their mechanically ambitious Heaven’s Vault for some time now. An archaeologist-slash-xenolinguist explores the dusty remains of an alien civilization on an unknown planet, with a vivid backdrop of sienna sand and celestial blue. There’s some pretty nifty procedural tricks behind the code-breaking and translation, and while its approach to storytelling is a little less handcrafted, it has the potential to have even more surprises and replayability than the globe-trotting 80 Days.
Other Missing Games From 2018
As a reminder, here is a quick list of some other games we were expecting last year, but never turned up:
Void Tyrant (card game/RPG)
Bad North (RTS)
Exodus: Proxima Centauri (Boardgame)
Dungeon Warfare 2 (Tower Defence)
Epic Card Game (Card Game)
Lord of the Rings Living Card Game (Card Game)
Monster Slayers (Card Game) 
EVE: War of Ascension (MMO)
Best 2019 Mobile Releases So far
There's already been some excellent releases this year, and not all of them were expected/on this list. If you haven't already, check these games out:
Star Traders: Frontiers (RPG)
Legends of Andor (Boardgame)
Seen any other games coming out this year you're excited about? Let us know in the comments.
The Best Upcoming iOS & Android Games 2019 published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/
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kukiverzum-blog · 6 years
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Solid Parental Advice When It Comes To Kids Playing Golf Clash Hack
Adults and children alike like Golf Clash Hack . Video games are a great stress reliever for people of all ages. To get the most out of your experience, though, you need some good tips and tricks. The key is to have the right knowledge and information to increase your know-how. Read on to better your game.
To master a video game, practice all that you can. When you feel like you've practiced enough, stop, breathe and then practice some more. Video games are a passion for many players, and if you expect to compete online, your skill sets will need to be honed extremely well.
As a parent, it is important to remember that children do not have an "off" switch in their brain. Without parental intervention, kids can (and will) play video games for many hours without stopping. It is important to monitor the amount of time your child can play their games. Set a limit and be consistent and firm with this limit.
Get the most for your money and buy Golf Clash Hacks used. If it isn't necessary to buy video games when they first come out, wait until you can buy a used copy. You will be able to save a little bit of money this way and still enjoy the game.
Invite your friends and family to play a video game you like. You can spend time with them, catch up on old times and play your favorite game. You never know, they may want to buy it for themselves so you can play together from the comfort of your own homes.
Video games are expensive, so rather than purchase one that you are unsure if you will like, rent them. Many services offer video games for rent for a certain price every month. By renting the video game first, you can test it out to see if you like it and the buy it if you do.
Try a little one-on-one video gaming with your children. This lets you bond with your child and learn more about what they like to do. Sharing video gaming with your kids can help to strengthen your closeness. They will also benefit from having you close by to see and aid in the progression of their developmental skills.
Think about the kids in your house before letting them play mature games. Generally, you can set up your console so that kids can't play Golf Clash Cheats that are too mature, although computers are a little harder to work with. It is best to monitor your child's gaming.
When buying games for your kids, consider their interests. There are enough video games out there now that your daughter, who likes ponies, can get a fun game just as well as your son, who enjoys army games. Browse the gaming store and ask the clerk for gaming recommendations for all interests.
Check out game sites that offer reviews and trailers before you purchase video games. Kids usually choose games by what the packaging looks like, or what their friends want. But you can make a more informed choice by reading what other parents and kids are saying about the popular games. You can get good information by word-of-mouth.
Today a lot of the most popular and enjoyable games out there are available free-of-charge. Be aware that developers rarely produce these games out of the goodness of their hearts. Figure out where they intend to make a profit, i.e., how the game encourages you to spend money. Whether or not such games are worth your money is your own decision, but you should understand the mechanism that's intended to make the game profitable.
If you're playing a game online, and you run across another player who seems to be aggravating other players (or you, in particular) intentionally, don't take it personally. This is called "Griefing," and it's the gaming equivalent of Internet trolling. Griefers are just out for negative attention, and you give them what they're looking for if you interact with them. Don't get emotionally invested in what's happening and simply try to ignore it.
If you choose not to preorder (or just forgot to), you can maybe still benefit the first day or two a game comes out. Many retailers bundle a freshly released game with a gift card or certificate worth ten or twenty dollars. This can make buying a new Golf Clash Hack Gems at launch much cheaper.
When you create characters for online roleplaying games, give some thought to the world they're supposed to inhabit when you name them. Although some players don't care about the names of the other characters they encounter, some will react negatively to out-of-place names. Not everyone in a medieval fantasy game will be willing to partner up with "WeedToka420."
Try using parental controls. Some newer video game consoles and some handheld hardware devices let you limit the type of content that they allow their children to access. You can do this by activating some parental control features that are already built in. This makes sure that your child only plays games with the ratings you feel are appropriate for them.
Buy used games to get even more bang for your buck. Many game stores are selling previously owned copies of console Golf Clash Gem Hack for half the price of a new copy. When you finish playing a used game, so long as it is in good shape, you can turn around and sell it back to the store yourself, too.
If you want your partner or spouse to try gaming, carefully choose some games that he or she might enjoy. Forcing your own tastes onto your significant other won't work. Cooperative games are a good place to start, so you can share the experience and find out what your significant other likes and doesn't like.
Playing video games is much more enjoyable when you understand what you are doing. Whether you like sports or deep storytelling, there is a Golf Clash Mod Apk out there for everyone. Pick a platform and a title and start having fun. This is one of the most enjoyable hobbies in which you can engage these days!
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guywithtime2kill · 6 years
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Breakdown/Analysis of 'Son of Rap Bear' Hello again! Apologies for not getting this out yesterday, but as I said I've been a little busy.Now, before getting into it I wanna say that I really like this episode. A lot of people hated it, and I can understand why - the rapping is painful... if you choose to take it seriously. I'll get into it further down, but it's actually part of why I really enjoy this one. But it's also a really strong episode for Flame Princess.So let's not waste anymore time, yeah?Son of Rap BearThe Clam Rap party was a nice introduction to the episode; classic low-key fun in Ooo. This marked the return of Crab Princess and her huge crab (is it even alive?) transport. And some nice "environmental storytelling" with the guests. Aside from a group of Candy People we got Breakfast Princess and one of her little sisters. It's nice that Finn invited Phoebe and Neptr because he knew they like rapping - and that FP brought Cinnamon Bun.Also, Elder Plops is actually a DJ in his downtime! I thought that was just a joke in Elements, but it turns out that that's legit.Also Chocoberry is with Mr Cupcake. I like how the show just made them a thing in the background.Lots of fun details here - like how Neptr is rapping even though Elder Plops isn't playing anything. So he's just droning on and continues to do so as Finn talks. Also, Phoebe just throws her plate of clams into the fire since, well, she doesn't eat."Utensils weren't provided, so I had to use my hands. I'm gonna be unhappy, if it happens agains." Once again, Finn belts out the dopest lyrics.Phoebe's first rap is pretty relevant to her character. Remember, her main conflict in this episode is that she feels like an uninteresting person, because her life has been very "contained", in more ways than one. So when she says, "I'm like a library book, so check me out, read my front and back covers so you know what I'm about," she's happily proclaiming she can be read like a book, and only her beginning and end, her recent history, is interesting.The rest of it is basically what FP realizes later - she's rapping about rapping. She has notably better skill than Finn, but, well, it isn't anything jaw-dropping.I gotta say, I really like how Phoebe picked up freestyle rapping. It's a fun and creative outlet for her, which I think is a very healthy avenue for her to pursue and distance herself from the stigma everybody has for her. Given that this is her first Clam Rap, it's clear she and the rest of Fire Kingdom still isn't wholly integrated with the rest of Ooo's societal structure. Getting out there and showing off her character like she does at the end of the episode was a significant step towards achieving this, I think."Rap Fastade" and neither Phoebe nor Finn hearing about it, makes it clear this was all part of Toronto's plan to steal the Fire Kingdom out from under her. And isn't it just fitting that she, once again, has to contend with people who aim to manipulate her naivety?I read through the part of the contract we see, and it seems like Toronto not only tricked Phoebe but also Son of Rap Bear. It mentions that their properties will be handed over to a set of "clients" - so I'm wondering if Toronto plans on owning the Party Bears' big monster guy, and if we'll see the results of this episode later. Probably not, but it's fun to notice these things and think about them.Neptr waves to Toronto when he says, "See you in a week." Little guy just misses the subtext of everything.Speaking of the monster, I like the detail that he has moss growing over him now. He must not have moved for a good while.There's also a ton of mushrooms in Rap Bear's place. What, does the monster have an infection or something?"He rapped my legs off." Only in Adventure Time.Remember how in 'Abstract', we see that Dirt Beer Guy now owns the Candy Tavern? On the roof, he put grass and trees on top. There's a sleeping deer there and I'm not sure if its real or fake or alive or dead. Let's not think about it."Rap Bear, Son of Rap Bear's father, said his son, Son of Rap Bear, would be at tonight's open mic." What a great jab at children's shows who do stupid hand-holdy exposition.I don't know the world of rapping/freestyle rapping, but they've got guest stars playing SORB and the gingerbread man: Dumbfoundead and Open Mike Eagle. They gave good performances in this episode! Especially Dumbfoundead.So, in case you haven't noticed for yourself, the rapping in this show really isn't good - at all. But the characters within act like it is, and /u/leusid pointed out to me that it's as if rapping is a reemerging artform in Ooo, it's different, so everyone who is average to us is great by their standards.SORB is savage as hell. "You haven't been in a battle since the age of two. I got shampoo more worldly than you."My favorite joke in this episode is how shit just explodes when they make killer raps. And that's a big part of why I enjoy this one - it's just fun! The rapping is painful sure, but if you don't take it seriously and just take it as is it's really enjoyable.Phoebe's naivety about the real world shows in how she thinks life experience can just be crammed in a week's time. Even Finn, who took ages to get where he is now, didn't achieve growth overnight. And that's the hidden theme of this episode: identity. That's a big theme of Adventure Time overall, but this episode if Phoebe's story.I like the detail in this episode of how Phoebe's burning works, and its consistency with her poisoning in The Red Throne. Remember how she cooled down and lost the majority of her powers? Well, she torches the little card a couple seconds after holding it (as opposed to how she destroyed Finn's poem by being near it in Burning Low), doesn't burn the papers, and only begins to singe Finn's shirt after settling her hands on his shirt. And he doesn't seem to mind as he grabs her by the wrists.I do wonder why Elements didn't reset her powers. Perhaps it shows that this was always a mental/emotional thing, and Phoebe is definitely more in-control and mellowed out than she was in her early days. Yet another subtle hint as to how Phoebe's identity and growth is the theme of this episode.Phoebe with sunglasses and riding Jake 2, encapsulates what I love about this episode. All these ridiculous things we see her doing, it puts Phoebe in a position we've never seen of her before - it's just so silly I can't help but smile. Really shows the kind of person she is and what she's willing to do for something she cares about. One of the first observation Finn makes about her is that she's passionate, and that has not waned over the years - only her expression of it.And in the background of that shot, a sad mailbox with socks that says "out of order." Whatever you say, Adventure Time.The sequence in which Phoebe is doing all these different things, to try and round herself as a person, is my favorite part of the episode outside of the third act. She gets a "real job" at Sassy's, and I love the "cuz I'm not very classy" bit - because she isn't, a princess wouldn't do a such a job but she isn't like other princesses.Climbing the rock (cool thing, it was a huge, dead insectoid) was a cool bit. That kind of imagery typically relates to one overcoming a huge obstacle and achieving their dreams. Now, on the surface you could argue that becoming Fire King was this obstacle, except it isn't. Phoebe's entire deal, her whole story ever since being introduced, was discovering who she is and her place in the world. Every episode has fed into this in one way or another, and here we have that identity essentially being attacked not only by SORB, but herself as well: she feels uninteresting, she feels like she hasn't lived a fulfilling life, and spiritually that means she doesn't feel like a complete person. However, her rap at the end is a realization of sorts, which I will get into further below.Really liked the other bit, where she had to "mind the clock," because she doesn't have time, only a week - in essence, she feels like she doesn't have time to patiently and carefully develop her very self."All around known, I'm the girl on a throne." Wow, that's actually a great line for the wrong reason - because that's all Phoebe is known for.Other interesting things include playing the saxophone for a day (very poorly, as a sax player myself I heard how bad that sounded).Standing in a bathtub was great. On a surface level, she's in the middle of the very thing that would hurt her, and to Phoebe that's interesting and probably hardcore. Except she's wearing boots. On a deeper level, bathtubs have always been a symbol of cleansing! Like she's ridding herself of her negativity and outer flaws. How she's in there with Finn speaks of their closeness. And he's with her every step of the way throughout this episode! It's nice to see how quickly their friendship mended together.When she's backrubbing Wyatt, they're in the Candy Tavern and there's graham crackers boarding up the wall from when SORB blew it open.So Bubblegum runs a math club! And for the only two people in Ooo who would care to: Turtle Princess and Kim Kil Wan. Funny how it says, "Don't stress about maths (until you know what I know)". For one, I doubt Phoebe became as good at maths as PB - emphasizing how haphazardly she tried to cram life experience in her. And on the other, it's a subtle jab of Bubblegum basically telling everyone not to worry about things until they are as smart as she is.That "mad grub" Phoebe made was appalling. Again, emphasizing how she really doesn't have much life experience, nor the time to carefully gain any.That billboard for Son of Rap Bear is awesome, and it's got a bit of meaning to it. But first, "When I close my eyes it's hard not to imagine that he's some sort of animal," - Ice King, Musicologist. Very deep, Simon.So, later in the episode, Flame Princess criticizes SORB for stealing his father's name and glory, and on this billboard we see he's already doing the same to Phoebe: he's called the "fire spitter," and his motif is flames. He's clearly trying to extinguish her already-meager fame at rapping and throwing himself to the forefront. It's funny how he's doing all this, when Phoebe just took up rapping as a fun hobby."Uh, yeah, my experience: solid like a pebble in aquarium - dropping knowledge like Bubblegum if she was a librarian." They do cool things with the outfits in this episode, and this line shown while Phoebe dresses in a bear hoodie is one of them. It circles back to the previous scene where SORB is trying to dethrone her identity while she tries to do the same. All while she says this line, where, no, she doesn't have a lot of experience or world knowledge. Both of these factors paint Phoebe in an artificial light, and we know that's not her. She isn't trying to take Son of Rap Bear's identity, nor is she this knowledgeable individual. And above all, Phoebe isn't fake - she isn't a liar. This rap really shows the power of this show's writing - how it crams so much meaning into just a minute of screentime.As soon as it's over, Phoebe says she feels like a hack as she removes the hoodie, and she hates that feeling. It's sweet of Finn, though, to tell her it's "really good."BMO hits the nail on the head: "Maybe there's an interesting thing about you that you just don't realize." I'll come back to this.Yeah, the can on Neptr's head. Did you know Finn made that because he intended for that to be his head originally? And who the hell does BMO think he is, trying to tell Neptr that what he believes in isn't real? He really is a child haha.Phoebe misses the point of BMO's wisdom, where she thinks the interesting thing about herself may lie in her relationship with her family - particularly, her father. I don't need to explain in depth why she went about that the wrong way: she's an interesting, complex person on her own, and it's because of her experiences borne from those of her father's treatment that made her who she is now. For better or worse. But of course, Phoebe doesn't get that immediately. It's a little sad that she really feels like a boring, unremarkable person.Flame King was utilized subtly and perfectly in this episode. The first shot we see of him and his kingdom encapsulates this and the theme of the episode, all without uttering a word about it. We see his Chipmunk Kingdom really has become one, and he's taken up painting as a fun hobby, even though he isn't good at it. It's exactly like what happened to Phoebe, right down to the little pastry companion he has, riding by on a skateboarding chicken.See, because just like Phoebe, it isn't Flame King's relationship with his daughter that makes him an interesting person. He's grown and developed on his own into a rounded individual, and he's happy with his existence. But Phoebe is a child who is uncertain about her place in the world and who she is as a person - a problem most everyone faces at this stage of their lives.There's a picture on Flame King's wall of Jake wearing a backpack. I guess he tried remembering the "baron of the Grass Lands to Prince Finn," and thought they were the same person.Phoebe came to her father in hopes of putting the past behind them. Because surely, with their history, doing so would definitely make for an interesting ballad, right? I believe that was her mentality here! But unfortunately, her father is still her father, and he still only thinks for himself as far as they're concerned. He isn't cruelly selfish, but he thinks she came to apologize for putting him in "lantern jail".Additionally, Flame King is still selfish because he clearly acknowledges that what he did to his daughter was terrible, but from his behavior (immediately going to put on tunes) and his dialogue, ("Be thankful for what you have now!") it's obvious he doesn't feel quite comfortable confronting this. He even says at the end of the scene, "Eugh. Drama." As though he doesn't like that stuff - it seems like he's missing the point and calling his daughter dramatic, but judging from his actions here he is well aware of what's going on. That's what AT does a lot with its writing - there's what you get on the surface level, but look past that and you'll see the character behind a lot of the, well, characters.Thing is, like with Finn, it's all on him. I've noticed Phoebe is as quick to anger as she is to forgive. Like Finn could have come back and been her friend at any time, but he needed to feel comfortable about it first, and grow. Perhaps her father will do the same, but likely not. But it's all on him to bury the hatchet.So, literally only the Party Bears and Fire People cared enough to show up to this. Just shows how little of a damn people gave about this.Phoebe's outfit in the climax has some nice meaning to it, just like the one from earlier that I mentioned. It's all white, giving off a pure sort of vibe that, by extension, feels honest and open. It also reminds me of her dress from Earth and Water - one of her most pivotal episodes in which Flame Princess, for the first time in her life, takes control of her own destiny and the first step towards becoming an individual.SORB coming in through a giant snapback is great.Toronto haha: "Aaaaand GO (sonofrapbear)"I love how they've written SORB's lyrics to attack Flame Princess at her most personal. He calls her a danger, and asks if any guys ever actually dated her or just used her for what she was. That was Don John, and that was what Finn did by accident. Flame Princess doesn't like being used, as we all know, and one of her goals as king was to be different from her predecessors - and that extends to Bubblegum in The Cooler.It's even more fitting that with Elements, Phoebe at her purest is a giant, rampaging monster that loves fighting. Maybe that's who she is, that's what she knows, and that's why she turned to healthier, less violent and offputting hobbies like rapping.I love how she blushes in embarrassment when SORB implies that she dates Cinnamon Bun as opposed to big macho men. Finn is more akin to the former too, and from Cinnamon Bun's reaction I'm wondering if we're supposed to get the vibe that they are in a relationship. I don't think so personally, they just seem like close friends, but it could just be something we haven't seen onscreen yet. To me, that just is another interesting facet of Phoebe's person: she prefers nice, sensitive guys like the two boys of her life.Which is why she completely chokes on her turn. Phoebe just isn't a mean person. Her rapping was never about criticizing people and making them feel like trash.Flame King's appearance made me realize this episode was also a parody of those singing competition-type movies. How the underdogs should totally lose, but then they see their loved ones in the audience and that somehow gives them inspiration to beat the pros. Except AT is more real than that, and Phoebe beat SORB at his own game, in her own badass way.There's a neat visual detail of how Phoebe blows off her rappers' hat when she explodes at her father - the final part of her desire to give the illusion of a "pro rapper" by wearing a snapback (which was also merchandise from The Music Hole when she rapped with Neptr). Once she sheds that, Phoebe isn't wearing a disguise anymore; she becomes real, to everyone, but more importantly, to herself.When she says, "I don't need you or anyone!" you hear another explosion in the background: she disses her father just by being honest. Phoebe doesn't need to rely on anyone, not like she did before she became king. She's the real ruler - not her selfish, cowardly father.She turns around and criticizes Son of Rap Bear for being a fake. He was just a kid trying to steamroll everyone who stood against him so he could feel fulfilled and special. But in truth, as Phoebe explains, that just proves how much of a sad little kid he is. SORB is really well-characterized for someone whose every line is just a rap - we get everything we need from the environment and other characters.As I said before, identity is the theme of this episode, and Phoebe's entire storyarc. Son of Rap Bear doesn't have one - he doesn't even have a real name, it's emphasized throughout by himself just being known as the son of a famous star."So sorry, you can't take what isn't owned by me... So take him away." That was badass, and then "I get it! She owned him!" was just hilarious.In the end, Phoebe tells it like it is. Like everyone who ever stood against her, being a liar and a swindler isn't the road to a happy life. Oh, it could achieve satisfaction, but unlike these people Phoebe loves her life and who she is, what she's accomplished. And she doesn't see her kingdom as something she owns, like her selfish father did: Flame Princess is the Fire Kingdom, and the Fire Kingdom is Flame Princess.Who she is has been shaped by her upbringing, and this mentality echoes in her attitude towards being a ruler (shaped by Finn's gentle guidance in her early days of being free) and what she went through before that, and after.And this is the heart of 'Son of Rap Bear'. Phoebe's rap emphasizes that she doesn't need to have a varied, "interesting" life to be an interesting person. What's interesting about her, and us as individuals, is the experiences we have and how they make us us is what really matters.I've always liked Flame Princess's story. In fact, I love it - she's a fantastic character, and a lot of people miss that because they criticize her for what she felt in this episode: she isn't interesting.But as someone who once, a long time ago, felt much like her - boring for not having a wild, crazy life, only realize later that who I am and why is what matters than superficialities, her character arc really jived with me, and it made me love this episode as much as every Flame Princess episode that came before it.Please join me tomorrow for 'Bonnibel Bubblegum.'
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