Say Gay, Florida!

It is a sad day today.  A day that many young people will remember as the day that their government began a campaign to systemically erase them from any conversation and to pretend that they exist, which in turn will help legitimatize bullying and hatred that so many people like a girly-mate who now essentially has carte blanche on my Twitter, which was such a great decision because so much of what she posts is great.  I remember when we were in high school together, in a state that is just as red as Florida.  A friend described it as “Texas, but with snow.” 

Growing up, which got so much hatred and bullying from people who only saw her as “that dyke.”  It was disgusting and dehumanizing, and it made me very glad that she was a part of my inner circle.  Because I gave her protection she wouldn’t have had, because I’m a titan who stands just under 7ft tall.  NOBODY fucks with me.  After she got outed when she was busted kissing another girl, it was pretty much open season and on her and man, the bullying tactics were disgusting. 

So imagine my surprise when a man who is almost at Ben Shapiro levels of being a piece of shit, Gov. Ron deSantis, signs into Florida law the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, aka, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.  This bill, broken down, forbids teachers to have any acknowledgment of LGBTQ relationships or teach that a child can be whatever they want to be and love whoever they want to love, It has provisions that require schools to out LGBTQ students to their parents without their consent.  This is even more prevalent to me because after my girly-mate got outed as gay, it quickly got to her parents, and her father kicked her out and disowned her.  Said she would never be allowed back home “as a dyke.”  Thankfully, that story had a happy ending.  Her and her mother were very close, and her mother was disgusted by what her father had done, and so they ended up getting divorced and the two moved down to Arizona.  I missed my friend when she left, but was glad that she got to spend so many nice years with a mother who cared and was not going to let Catholicism get in the way of her relationship with her daughter.

Piece of shit deSantis has stood defiant of this bill, saying that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.  He stands by this.  Disney has said that they oppose this, but since they endorse a number of Republican government officials in that state, I guess they don’t oppose it that hard.  More of that passive progressivism that has become so popular with that company.  Can’t wait for their next “first X character” who is LGBTQ for two seconds so they can edit it out for China and the Middle East, so as to placate more bigots and not have to lose out on their cheddar.

I am an absolute defender of free speech.  I have taken tons of shit when I am defending the rights of people to say what they want, even if I find their opinions abhorrent.  And sure enough, if deSantis wants to speak his disgusting, bigoted opinions, I am fully in support of his right to be that kind of person and say whatever horrible thing he wants to say.  Nothing good or kind or decent has ever come out of the mouth of that waste of skin.  However, this bill absolutely spits in the face of freedom of speech and makes it so that the government is allowed to force people to marginalize a community.  Why?  Because the bigotry of this man and those who think like him takes precedence over them.  Because LGBTQ people are just living in sin, right?

If you actually think that way and are subscribed to me, please unsubscribe.  Please go anywhere else and go into your little echo chamber.  I don’t want you as an audience member.  I don’t ban people, but I would much prefer you go read something that feeds the confirmation bias of your bigoted opinions. 

To all the teachers who disagree with this reprehension, and especially the LGBTQ students down in Florida, my heart absolutely goes out to you right now.  I know some of you must be feeling very alone.  In my mind, it’s long-past time for civil disobedience.  Don’t say gay?  Say gay!  Say it loud and proud!  Say it even louder than ever before!  Drown Piece of Shit Gov. deSantis in Pride paraphernalia.  Mail endless Pride fliers to his office.  Cover his car in them.  Every campaign office that exists for this cocksucker, send glitter bombs (envelopes filled with glitter, not actual explosives.  Feel I have to clarify that, since this worthless sack of shit is an elected official) to the offices of every person who is in support of this.  For the teachers brave enough to risk your careers, stand by the LGBTQ students.  They need the support now more than ever. 

And if you are a person who actually agrees with this disgusting bill, I have no words for you.  There is nothing I can say outside of – I’m sure you sleep well at night, because you are a hateful person who only cares about yourself and your precious beliefs in your bullshit deity who doesn’t exist, but in your heart of hearts, I hope you recognize that this bill doesn’t do anything good.  It helps spread hate. 

Until next time, a quote,

“Everyone from Florida is stupid!  Everyone from Florida is dumb!  I might not be the brightest guy, but next to them my IQ’s high.  If they had guitars here’s how they’d strum…” – Into Harmony’s Way

Peace out,

Maverick

What They Should Do With Aloy’s Character in the Third Horizon Game

I just did a post of the compilation of interactions between Aloy and Sylens in the first Horizon game. I am currently replaying the second to get their interactions in that one. As I go through it, I can’t help but think – I find Aloy to be UTTERLY insufferable. She’s a complete bitch! What is this thing that so much fiction does now where they think that a woman who is empowered or strong is a cunt who treats everyone like trash? I hear the term “girl-boss” bandied about, and I think to myself – is the idea of a good leader someone who treats all their subordinates like shit? Unbelievable. I think back to my favorite boss, who is at the top of my reference list. She didn’t rule the part of CSSD that the two of us were a part of with an iron fist. She was tough when she needed to be, but eager to get along and foster camaraderie with the team, because she knew that we were all working a hard job and that positivity would be essential for us to make things work and run smoothly. 

What is this idea that the most empowered woman is also the world’s biggest bitch?  I genuinely want to know.  From where I’m sitting, this isn’t empowerment.  They just took Toxic Masculinity and put a wig on it.  There are genuinely strong women.  My mother was one of them.  After my head injury, she dealt with so much as my health was so bad.  As she was dying of cancer, she did her best to keep a happy face because she didn’t want anyone to suffer.  This may sound like a digression, but it isn’t.

Aloy’s problem is that she’s a bitch.  To absolutely EVERYONE.  Right out of the gate, she is trying to get rid of Varl.  Then she totally gives the cold shoulder to Erend.  Why?  Because she is super-woman, of course!  She alone has to save the world.  The game TRIES to coddle this in the idea that she doesn’t want to risk anyone else’s life, but if that’s the case, then why does she have to treat everyone like they don’t matter to her?  There is this great scene where you see into the past and you hear Travis Tate point out that Lizbeth Sobeck is working so hard to save humanity, yet she doesn’t give a single fuck about a single person in humanity.  This is consistent with the last game.  She cared infinitely more about GAIA than she did any of the other people.  You never hear anything about her being a good person to anyone throughout the whole game.  Sylens was right to call Tate right for that observation.

This girl needs to have some kind of humanity instilled into her.  I’m talking real humanity.  The ugly, tear-faced, confusing and uncertain kind.  Something needs to knock her down a few pegs and she needs to find out that she isn’t super-woman and can’t do everything alone.  Personally, I am hoping that she accidentally starts a war with the Quen.  It’s clear that the next game is going to be across the sea where they are.  Given Aloy’s unbelievably insensitive propensity to just shit on other cultures, there is no doubt in my mind that her mouth is going to get her into trouble.  I personally think it would be neat if it got her into excessive amounts of trouble.  I’m talking full-on war with another tribe. 

It would be even better if HEPHAESTUS was on the Quen’s side, helping them against Aloy.  It learns from Hades and works with them to fight a confirmed enemy.  Given how rapidly the subordinate function has learned, it only makes sense that it tries to rally a force against her.  A war would be great.  Have Aloy realizing that there are consequences for your actions and that the biggest problem with becoming a leader (which the end of the game is seeming to imply that she is) is that you have to play politics with the various tribes, and some of them are not going to be your allies just because you say so.  The Quen are vicious and will already see her as lesser because she is an Ancient reborn of someone who they saw as a subordinate to one of the highest figures of their doctrine – Ted Faro.  Since Aloy has no ability to keep her annoying opinions to herself, it is a guarantee she pisses someone off.

The next game needs to have stakes raised.  We need to have Aloy pushed to her limits.  We need to see her like Femshep, having moments where it is all too much for her and she is right on the brink of falling apart.  Or better yet, have her actually fall apart.  A complete breakdown as the difficulties of leadership overwhelm her and she is continually believing that she can do everything herself. 

At this moment, how great would it be if she found kinship?  Personally, I am hoping it is with Sylens.  These two have been working together at the beginning.  Everything about how she was able to get to power was through him.  He had a chance to leave Earth to its fate, but chose not to.  Aloy had outright admitted that she could not do this without him, acknowledging the sheer power of his intellect and how he is able to find solutions where none seem to exist.  These two becoming true friends, working together towards the ultimate end of saving humanity from destruction and building a better world.

It’s a fact that at some point, they are going to have to go to the Far Zenith’s ship and get their version of Apollo.  GAIA needs all her subordinate functions if they are going to stop NEMESIS.  I am hoping that it is Aloy and Sylens who go up onto the ship together.  To see the stars for themselves.  There is NO way that he would let her make that journey alone.  A man who wants all the knowledge of the old world, such an opportunity would NEVER be allowed to pass him by.  Not while he draws breath.  The two of them having their ever-so-delightful banter on the way up to space sounds kind of fantastic.

The point of all this is – Guerilla needs to make Aloy less of a bitch.  This insufferable side of her nearly ruined Forbidden West for me.  Were it not for how the third act wrapped up, I’d be done with this franchise.  It isn’t empowering to make a woman a complete bitch.  Quite the opposite.  It is empowering to make a them a human being, who overcomes trials and grows as a person.  Who is able to connect with others and form friendships.  I didn’t feel for Shepard’s mission in the good Mass Effect games because she was fighting for the galaxy.  I did it because she was fighting for her friends.  The crewmates and the relationships you can foster with them are the reason you care.  The reason it is so frustrating how bad the ending to Mass Effect 3 is, because we don’t get to have Shepard rallying the forces they raised across the galaxy for the war effort.  We don’t get to see her use the strategically in the final battle to even the odds.  We don’t get to see her and Garrus having that drink, or see the celebrations across the galaxy with the Reapers destroyed and all the galaxy facing a new day.  To have those little blue children with Liara, or Tali’s house on Rannoch.  These are the things that make the game so nice.

Forbidden West had an element of a growing family.  We got Alva, who would make a cute girlfriend for Aloy (it’s so obvious that’s where this is going).  We got what could be a fun bromance with Erend.  Zo is WAY too much of a motherly figure, which is a character archetype I haven’t like in anything (Katara is the WORST character in Avatar: The Last Airbender).  Kotallo was growing on me.  If Aloy does end up in a war, he would be a genuinely amazing military commander.  Though, can he please stop grand-standing about losing his arm and just embrace the cyberware one?  That scene was so cringe in the game.

Oh, and Beta needs to die.  Badly.  I had the same feelings about her that I did about that little girl in Borderlands 3.  She’s the annoying kid of the group, and she needs to go.  Another OP character who has no flaws at all, outside of being socially awkward.  If the next game can’t humanize Aloy, I will probably just skip it. 

Until next time, a quote,

“I know you probably didn’t learn much in the way of manners growing up in the wilds, but this is the part where you say ‘thank you,’ and I say ‘you’re welcome.'” – Sylens, Horizon: Forbidden West

Peace out,

Maverick

Lucien’s Gaming Clips: Sylens Cutscenes (Complete) – Horizon: Zero Dawn

I recently discovered Lance Reddick has a Twitter account. I sent him a Tweet that I loved his work as the character of Sylens in both Horizon: Zero Dawn and Horizon: Forbidden West.  Now, while the latter definitely was worse for his character, Reddick still gave it his all.  This character is up there with some of my favorite in all of gaming.  He is able to ride the line between hero and villain so seamlessly that it leaves you wondering exactly which side he is on and what he wants from it all.  Nowhere was this more exemplified in Zero Dawn.  This game had him at his best, and the interactions between him and Aloy were fantastic.

Because I felt like having something to do, I decided to replay the game and get every interaction he has with Aloy throughout the whole game and compile it into a complete compilation.  It’s fantastic stuff, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

I do plan on making one for Forbidden West.  It will be short, and not at all sweet.  Sure, the final scene between him and Aloy, where she outright admits that she needs his help for the threat that is coming, is a very great scene, but it doesn’t make up for how terrible their interactions are through the rest of the game, or make up for how much she is on her high horse throughout the entirety of it.  Still, Lance Reddick brings his A game, and I won’t put the game’s faults on him.  That’s the writer’s doing.

Until next time, a quote,

“Exactly.  Which is why it’s time you expand your frame of inquiry.  Only then will you understand how big your problems really are.” – Sylens, Horizon: Zero Dawn

Peace out,

Maverick

Christmas in March

To say that the last seven months have been more than a little insane would be the grossest understatement in recorded history.  It’s been hard, and more than a little frustrating at points, but it all appears to FINALLY be coming together.  The stories of all the tribulation that have gone on in this move from the very first day up ’til now will be funny to me and my partner, at some point.  But, as Aragorn once said “it is not this day.” One such tribulation was when I ordered a small table and chairs for our kitchen.  Given that COVID was happening, I knew the delivery would be delayed.  I joked with people that my holiday treats that I was going to mail out would be so late for Christmas that it might as well be for a different holiday.  Lo’ and behold, I delivered on that. 

I took over THREE MONTHS for the table to be delivered.  I shit you not.  But, since I was planning on making Christmas noms anyway, I decided that I was going to stick to that.  And boy howdy did I get into it.  I ordered special Christmas nom baggies and cute little tags and even some Christmas cards on Amazon.  It was so ridiculous.  But man, having a table to work at and roll out my gingerbread snaps was so worth it.  I cannot begin to describe how nice it was to be sitting at my table in March and listening to Christmas music on my boombox (it plays CDs.  Bite me).  Why?  Because I can!  This whole experience was actually really nice!  And holy shit!  I cannot begin to tell you how nice it was to be able to go to the post office at 9 in the morning and get these right out.  Shipping in December SUCKS (extend that out as you see fit and you will get the intended meaning right). 

This move has been such a growing experience for me.  It has been hard.  There have been days when I just want to pull the ripcord and leave it all, because fuck this place.  But now that I have my table and have put up my artwork, it actually does feel like a home.  I didn’t put up a Christmas tree last year.  Why?  Because my kitty was young and she LOVED to climb things.  She still does, but she’s getting less crazy as she gets older.  By next December, she will be hopefully much more leveled off, and my partner and I can truly make the most of the holiday season.  Our tree is artificial (why people get a tree you have to water daily is beyond me), so we could technically leave it up until March, but I won’t go that far.  Or maybe I will.  I have a reputation as being somewhat eccentric. 

My eccentricity has always been a strange thing to my people, but I am proud that I have people in my life who have their own unique eccentricities that mesh with mine.  Only strange people can get along with me.  Hell, even my partner and I’s new cat is strange.  It is an adoption from a local shelter.  I will only ever get a kitty from a local shelter.  Shelter kitties need homes.  And don’t just adopt kittens.  Full grown cats need love too.  My next kitty is going to be an adult.  Tali only came into our home because the adult kitty was so shy, but she was so outgoing and pouring out of love that we fell in love with her instantly.  The next one will be one at least a year old, so it isn’t so hyper.  Give Tali a friend to love.  Neat fact – our kitty is named after Tali’Zorah vas Normandy, from the Mass Effect trilogy.  It is the character most like my partner, and she was the one who the kitty chose, so that’s the name we went with. 

This move has been an experience that has built a lot of character for me, and it is looking like we are finally done with it.  But we are finally settling in and it is started to feel like home.  I have a couple job interviews for positions that pay more than I have ever seen before, and if one of them works out, then I am going to reach financial security too.  Fingers crossed.

Until next time, a quote,

“We so have to make this a yearly thing.  You know that, right?” – Panda

Peace out,

Maverick

The “Need for Vengeance Goes Away Because of Love” Trope…Sucks

The only streaming service I have is Amazon Prime. Not because I wanted it, but because I was tired of shipping with Amazon. Have you seen what the cost is now? Inflation really has been a bitch to the Internet. Well, I decided that since I got this stuff, I might as well check out some of the content on Prime Video.  I instantly fell in love with the show Invincible and the character of Cecil, in-particular.  He was a fantastic anti-hero who was doing horrible and unethical things to get to the truth of what happened to their version of the Justice League.  Once it is all laid before him, you really see the lengths he was going to because he realized that Omni-Man was his enemy and he would have to go to obscene lengths to stop him.  One of my favorite lines was when Mark’s mom says to him “this is why I always hated you,” and instead of defending himself, he just replies back “this is why I always hated me too.”  He doesn’t take any pride at all in what he’s doing.  To him, it’s all about being in a desperate situation and doing whatever it takes for humanity.

Another show I checked out was Vox Machina.  As you might expect, the character I immediately fell in love with was Percy.  When you learn about the dark motivations of why he is on this quest with the others, and the dark forces at work inside of him, it makes his character so much more interesting.  We see him do some insane things to get his vengeance against the people who destroyed his family, and you start to see this indication that he is becoming just as big a monster as them in order to make sure that those who hurt him and his family pay for their sins. 

But then we get to an episode where his vengeance is finally let off the chain, and he has Delilah in front of him and makes very clear that her death is going to be slow and horrible and that her suffering hasn’t even started.  You can see in her eyes as she realizes the monster that she’s created and how her nightmare isn’t over.  It’s only just begun.  It’s a great scene.  But it all has to be interrupted by Vex who appeals to his sense of being a good person and to stop him from doing this.  And what’s more – it works!  Yet-another instance of the “love conquers the need for revenge” trope that I am oh so tired of.

Another great example of this is in Avatar: The Last Airbender.  In fact, we have multiple examples of it there.  My least favorite characters in that show were Aang and Katara.  Especially Katara.  Her archetype is one that I despise.  The kind, motherly figure who always knows what’s best and who always is able to help everybody.  How?  With a hug.  Oh thank God.  I’m so glad that she had a hug.  Because a hug makes everything all better, right?  A hug makes all of the bad things about a person go away and for them to no longer be unhappy. 

This trope keeps popping up, and for the life of it, it drives me nuts every time.  Just once, I’d love it if some character who gets between the bad guy and the hero who is looking for righteous vengeance and they just kick them out of the way and then get what they have been searching for.  Deadpool made fun of the trope when Colossus is trying to implore Deadpool to let Ajax live because he’s a good person, and Pool just blows his Ajax’s brain out.  That was cathartic.  This idea that you have to do the right thing and save people from themselves and their own anger is such a bad trope.  It’s an overused trope.  Rage and hate are powerful emotions.  There’s a great quote from CAPT. Nemo about it – “It can fill the heart just as surely as love can.”

We need more characters who are willing to go the distance and who can see that at the end, even if they get that vengeance, it doesn’t just make grief go away.  It’s a shield to keep themselves from feeling it.  It would have been great if Percy and blasted Delilah to pieces and then at the end realize that all it gave him was a feeling of emptiness as he now realized there was nothing left.  But this leads into another trope that I am equally as tired of – the “it was ACTUALLY this other thing that lead this person to do all these things.”

One of my favorite anime has this trope, and it honestly drove me nuts.  It was in Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.  We come to realize that the Count isn’t just doing this because he has a desire to make the people who ruined his life suffer.  No, it is all because of the evil monster that he made a deal with.  It would have been so much better if the Count wasn’t in possession of some monster, and instead was doing horrible things because his need for vengeance had gotten that out control, to the point that even if he wanted to turn back, he had no choice but to keep going.  For him to see the totality of his vengeance realized and then see the wreckage that is left in his wake.  But nope.  Instead, it was all the horrible evil monster inside and he is actually a great guy and purges the evil monster from him.  Same deal with Percy.  In both cases, it felt like a cop-out.

One of my favorite villains in anything is Count Darcia, from Wolf’s Rain.  You see him go from a noble who just wants to get the Flower Maiden back so that he can finish his cure for the woman he loves, only for her to be killed by a woman who was jealous of them.  This causes him to seek her out and get his vengeance on her.  But when he gets what he wants, he comes to understand that everything is gone and nothing matters anymore.  So he decides to torment the protagonists just so he can make them understand his own sense of loss and pain.

Or there is one of my favorite anti-heroes, Lelouch vi Britannia, from Code Geass.  He has a goal in mind – to destroy the Britannian empire, and in order to realize that goal, he makes a deal with CC and is given the power of Geass.  At first, he starts out wanting to make the world a gentler place for Nunnally, but gradually it becomes more about getting revenge against Britannia for what they took from him and how they destroyed his life.  The further he goes on his path to power, the more he realizes that he is becoming just as big a monster as them, but he then realizes that instead of trying to make amends, he will have to become even more evil and do even more horrible things, because at the end of that road, he will make the world a better place.  It will cost him everything, even his own life, but he can do it.  It is a great series.  Or at least, the first two seasons.  But anime being just as creatively bankrupt as Hollywood, they couldn’t leave it at that and had to keep it going.

So yeah, those are two tropes that drive me nuts, and how Vox Machina became a shitty show to me.

Until next time, a quote,

“I wanted you to know it was me.” – Percy, Vox Machina

Peace out,

Maverick

Lucien’s First Take: Hogwarts Legacy – State of Play Gameplay Reveal

I remember when I first saw the announcement trailer for this game, and I remember thinking to myself – if this game lives up to even half its potential, it could be something amazing. Now we have gotten a comprehensive breakdown trailer of the gameplay, the visuals, and what kind of game this is potentially going to be, and…I’m intrigued. This game looks to be ambitious, and not in a bad way. Not in a Peter Molyneux way where the game will promise to change everything but instead will change nothing. I still have a few reservations, but I am intrigued by what I have seen here. Let’s see the trailer and then talk about it.

We begin with a disclaimer that this is a mix of in-game content and pre-rendered cinematics, which is all well and good.  Plus, it is captured on the PS5.  This game is coming out for the PS4, which makes me happy because getting a PS5 is harder now than finding gold ingots, so we’ll see what the visuals end up being on the PS4 Pro. 

The narrator comes right and gives up a summary of the plot.  My belief has always been that if you can’t summarize the central tenant of a plot of something in one sentence, it’s shit.  In this game, it’s that you’re a new student at Hogwarts who needs to unravel a goblin conspiracy.  Okay, I’m intrigued.  Continue.

We get a character creator, which makes sense.  Hopefully it has a lot of options.  I want to be able to customize my witch/wizard to be a character that I could see myself as.  The detail is nice, so that gives me hope.  We get sorted into one of the houses, and ho boy!  I am DESPERATELY hoping they let us choose.  Because I want to be in Ravenclaw.  It’s the house I have the most kinship with as a pretentious pseudo-intellectual.  And what it shows of the house looks absolutely splendid.  This video is giving me a lot of hope for this game right out of the gate.  It seems the game is going to cheat you starting as a First Year by skipping ahead to you starting as a Fifth Year.  Okay.  Seems like a cop-out, but I won’t begrudge them that.  Unless you are completely magically illiterate in this game, which would be absurd for them to start you from scratch as a character that late in the student year cycle.

Seems that classes is an integral part of the game, which makes me happy.  The books never shied away from the fact that classes exist, even when shit gets real in them.  This game is hopefully not going to just forget about their existence as you go along.  The visuals for the castle look absolutely phenomenal.  Will say that some of the teacher voice acting isn’t the best, but I’m going to reserve judgment until the final game comes out.  We don’t have any context for these characters right now. 

In addition to classes, there is an emphasis on exploration.  Yes!  Thank you!  Let me explore this castle and find things.  Hopefully there is lore stuff everywhere.  My favorite part of any game is uncovering the flavor stuff about the world, and this one is rich with possibility.  We get to explore the Hogwarts kitchens!  That’s awesome!  Little details like this go a long way for me.  Especially when the setting is this rich.

We then get to see about the plot that we will be engaging in.  Seems simple enough.  You are unraveling the secrets behind your character’s ability to interact with ancient magical artifacts and then find out there are forces who want to harness your abilities for their own ends.  We team up with Professor Figg, who is referenced in the books as a former Headmaster.  Okay.  Like, the Dumbledore of our story?  I am okay with that.  An old mentor isn’t a dead trope.  Not gonna lie, how this game is going to play interests me more than the story right now.  My biggest concern was how combat was going to go, because that’s a big red flag, potentially.  Especially if I’m using the same spells over and over again like in a shooter game. 

Oh, the trailer seems to know where my concerns are and then addresses them.  That always makes me happy when the trailer knows where my mind is going just after it goes there.  Makes things a lot easier.  If I’m analyzing this right, combat comes down to more of a combo system of the right spells to break through enemies defenses and disable them.  That is…acceptable.  You don’t just spam spells, but instead have to mix and match your spells based on whatever you are fighting.  There are also powerful spells we can conjure to attack for large amounts of damage and even finishing moves.  Okay, this intrigues me too.  I’m curious to see how all this plays out. 

We then move on to how you level up as a character.  This also interests me.  It seems the development system of you as a witch/wizard is pretty detailed, with lots of options.  You can upgrade spells and it shows that there is a stealth gameplay option, which sounds great for me because I prefer to play stealthy.  This got a little more interesting.  It seems there are multiple play styles one can use and the game doesn’t just shoe-horn you into a box.  This gets more and more interesting.  Gear can be found, crafted, and bought that will affect how you play.  Hearing more and more stuff that I like.  Hopefully this doesn’t mean you have to have certain kinds of outfits in order to play your own way.  It would be rad if the system to give yourself an edge in various situations with play style was separate from your fashion sense.

We learn about how potions, herbs, and beast taming works.  That looks pretty cool.  And naturally, there is broom riding.  I cannot tell you how many people have demanded to be able to play Quidditch.  Hopefully that is something you can either get into, or completely avoid, because I have ZERO desire to get into that.  But having a broom to get around on would be nice.

From there, we go into the companions you can meet throughout the game.  This also interests me.  It seems this game is going for you being able to make your acquaintances and building up relationships with the ones you want to, rather than the ones that you are told you have to.  I like that.  I like when a game doesn’t force me to interact with someone and I can make my time with a person what I want it to be, rather than what the game tells me it must be.  The girl who is into magical creatures is pretty cute.  This trailer doesn’t go into if you can build up a love interest, and I am hoping you can.  So long as it is done well, that could be a cute mechanic. 

It seems that the Room of Requirement is our hub area.  I can dig it.  You can do all the things to upgrade, brew potions, grow herbs, all the usual hub stuff.  It makes sense that it would be here.  You can even unlock an outdoor area within it that you can use to house your beasts and even set up your own digs.  Nice! 

We then see the exploration outside of Hogwarts.  Definitely stoked about that.  Can’t wait to visit the candy shop!  I want to be able to buy all kinds of candy.  For real, if they just have that place in there, but you can’t actually get something, then what are they doing with this amazing space?  Not to mention ordering a butterbeer.  I might make some for when this game comes out, you know, to mark the occasion.  Ooo!  We get to make our character have their own fashion sense!  Oh yes!  I want to be able to make my character into their own person, separate from their gear they take into battle.  Lots of combinations to make, so I am eager to see what I can create.  And if I can dye it to personalize my look even more.

The last thing they go over is places you can see, puzzles and missions you can unlock, and dungeons you can brave.  The usual RPG stuff.  We also see that we can master evil spells, which tells me that there is some kind of morality system in this game.  I like it.  Hopefully I can ride the line of hero and anti-hero, while being loyal to my friends.  Like my Femshep in Mass Effect.  That’s kind of the vibe I am getting from this game’s story.  Or maybe more Dragon Age: Inquisition?  Either way, there are worse things to ape off of than the story-telling style of Bioware.  Given how bad that studio has gotten, maybe they can actually do the style justice. 

This game looks intriguing.  I sad when the announcement trailer came out that if it lived up to half of its potential then it would be amazing.  If this game can actually live up to what this trailer is selling, then we have an RPG experience that SO many people have wanted in this universe.  It’s got me hooked, and the wait is not overly long.  Hopefully it lives up to what it’s shooting for.

Initial Verdict
Intriguing out of 10

Peace out,

Maverick

2003 Never Really Ended…

I don’t suppose you all would remember the term “Freedom Fries.” There is almost certainly a sizeable chunk of my audience who never heard the term. Hell, there is a probably a chunk of my audience who was born after 9/11 or were toddlers during that time, so they have no frame of reference. Post-9/11 was kind of insane. They increased airport security to ridiculously stupid levels and started a spy program that not a single Democrat has actually fought against in any meaningful way. Because the war economy and the corpos behind it own this country and our ENTIRE government, party affiliating be damned. But it wasn’t all needless complications and expansion of corpo rule. There was a funny side to it all.

When America decided to invade Afghanistan and then Iraq, boy howdy did lots of countries get behind us.  The UK couldn’t get on board fast enough.  However, there was one country that wasn’t so eager to join in on the meaningless wars that America began, which would go on for two decades.  That was France.  They were very reticent to get behind it, and that is definitely to their credit.  But post-9/11 America didn’t take that very well.  In fact, this country kind of lost its fucking mind about it.  So, products that came from France or had French names were suddenly VERY taboo.  But the problem is that some of those products were actually nice and people liked them.  What to do?  You like French fries, but you don’t want to eat them because we now hate France.  Dipshits that Americans are, they found a solution to the problem.  And thus, Freedom Fries were born.

There is a diner back in Anchorage, the city where I lived before moving, that still calls them this.  It is a diner that wears their conservative outlook on their sleeve, and if you are not up to their political standards, you pay for it.  However, it went beyond French fries.  Like the French dip sandwich?  I do.  Well, they decided it’s now the American Dip Sandwich.  Ah yes, because if we just change the name, that makes it different.  But that’s the world after 9/11 for America.  It was for a VERY long time.

However, as I look at what is happening now, I realize that 2003 never REALLY ended.  In fact, it’s going strong now.  See, America really doesn’t like Russia right now.  Not sure if you noticed.  There’s this big war that they started with Ukraine, and Americans who are stupid have to feel like they are making some kind of difference by making sure Russian products are persona non grata at their stores.  Russian vodka?  Gone.  Russian restaurants?  Vandalized and vilified.  Hell, they even wanted to get rid of Russian students, because American openness is suddenly gone when people who had NOTHING to do with Putin deciding to invade Ukraine were here at the time.  Oh, and we also don’t like Russian music, either.  Even if it’s from people who have been dead for over 100 years and couldn’t have possibly influenced what is happening right now in ANY way.

One of my favorite composers is Tchaikovsky.  His music is amazing.  It came from my favorite era of classical music – the Romantic period.  It’s when you had these beautiful harmonies.  He also made The Nutcracker, a ballet that I used to see every year with a woman that I love and wish was still around to see it with me.  Alas, she is far away now, and we grew apart over the last few years after it got out that I love her.  It was also in my favorite film of all time, Fantasia.  However, he was Russian when he was alive, and as such, American insanity has decided to go after his music as well.  This is a man who died in 1893.  That’s 130 years ago as of next year.  I’m sure that he was totally influencing Putin, even back then.

In the latest round of virtue signaling, Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra cancelled the portion of their upcoming concert with music from Tchaikovsky.  Why?  Because they “didn’t feel it is appropriate at this time.”  For fuck’s sake.  This is performance art.  That’s EXACTLY what this is.  It’s not actually making a stand or saying something important.  It’s performance art and virtue signaling.  Against somebody who has been DEAD for 129 years!  Oh boy!  You sure showed Putin?  Did Putin put Tchaikovsky on?  Was Putin a big fan of his music?  Well, I could at least give the imperialist this much – he’s got some musical taste.  But it’s nothing to do with that.  It’s because Russia bad and anything from Russia bad.  Context be damned, it’s all just bad because Russia Super Mega Ultra Evil. 

Neat fact, my girlfriend got her education in history, and she was talking about how laughable this is especially because Tchaikovsky eschewed Russian nationalism and worked to bring his music to the west.  So wow!  You really showed Russia, Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra!  There was nothing else behind this outside of virtue signaling.  And the fact that this sort of thing is viewed by some people as a great act is baffling to me, when (AGAIN!) the person they are scrapping the music of has been dead for 129 years and has no possible way to account for anything and there is nothing in his history that goes along with Russian imperialism.

Now, the piece in question was the 1812 Overture.  The reasoning goes that because it was celebrating the defeat of Napoleon by the Russians, it is a touch bit inappropriate while Russia is invading.  I love having a historian for a girlfriend.  We have had some amazing conversations about history, and her point is well taken – Napoleon invaded Russia.  He was an invader who was seeking to conquer their country as he had the rest of Europe.  While Tchaikovsky was no nationalist, he still loved his country and was against a foreign invader trying to conquer it.  This was over a century before Communism would even exist on paper, much less in Russia.  But again, it’s all performance art.  It’s all virtue signaling.  And of course, The Guardian has to go along with it.  The Queen of virtue signaling publications, who will signal every virtue they can find at every opportunity for them to find it.  It’s almost impressive how much they are able to virtue signal.  Leaves you feeling like all of this comes down to fuck all.  Can’t wait for holiday season to roll around and people to bitch and moan about The Nutcracker ballet.  The virtue signaling publications will go so far over themselves to look into any potential meaning that they will make a whole novel of rationalizations.

Because as I said, 2003 never really ended.  American insanity is forever, and holy fuck am I done with it.  I was too young to be done with it then, but I sure as shit am done with it now.  Especially because it is all such bullshit.  Disney is SO pro-LGBTQ.  Oh, but the back every Republican in Florida and the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.  Oh, but don’t talk about that, or their pet online media will complain that people aren’t seeing the big picture.  Everywhere I look, corpos are saying one thing, but doing the exact opposite.  It’s all just endless virtue signaling. 

So if it’s all the same to you, I’ll continue listening to Tchaikovsky.  Because he’s 129 years away from being able to defend himself, and I am not one of these assholes who has to virtue signal about antiquity in order to feel superior about how amazing they are.  Fuck me…

Until next time, a quote,

“To the virtue signal, Batman!” – Anonymous

Peace out,

Maverick

Discovering When Someone is a Foul Person (the strangeness of QUANTUM TV)

There is a fantastic piece of dialogue from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I just did post on a video that a salty AF gamer called QUANTUM TV did about Elden Ring, but as I posted that, some stuff found me about this guy and what an absolute piece of shit he is. I said in my post that I try and be nice to people, but man, some people just hit that button of “this guy is a piece of shit and needs to have every bad thing happen to him and have the most miserable life ever. It’s rare that I have these feelings, but let’s go through this guy’s Twitter account and really dive into what a scum-fuck he is.

First, he’s a VIRULENT homophobe. Not just in the whole idea of not liking them, but in a much deeper level of despising them that genuinely makes me sick. Especially now that I’ve essentially handed over my Twitter account to my gay girly-mate. Best decision ever. Between her messages to porn stars with cute comments, and my anti-corpo rants, our Twitter is like the most insane place. It’s great. She tabulated this guy’s stuff, and her message about him – “I am more manly and tough than he will ever be. This clown is such a piece of shit. Fuck him.” Here’s some proof –

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1006781965280993280

He literally wishes for two women whose only sin is being in love to have been murdered in the Pulse nightclub shooting.  See all that Christian kindness that the church fosters?  See all that Christian love that people like this worthless slug exemplify.  I genuinely don’t get how liberals are able to get past the bigotry of the Bible, and especially the types of people that it inspires.  But we’re just getting started.

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1007469056969138176

They deserve to die because they are “forcing” their lifestyle on you?  How?  Did two men kiss and now you want to kiss?  If so, then I got news for you, my African American – you’re gay!  How are you having anything forced on you?  Is there nothing else you can look at?  With countless channels on TV and streaming services online and YouTube videos to watch, you literally have anywhere else to look.  What the fuck is being forced on your disgusting, bigoted, piece of shit ass?

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1006870735405703168

More of that Christian love.  Man, it makes me wonder what Jesus would think about you.  I could have swore there was something in that holy book that your pathetic, diminutive ass clings to about judging people.  Something about it being better that you don’t do it, lest you also be judged.  Drawing a blank.  It’ll come to me, I’m sure.

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1332340464373084161

Oh boy.  He’s also a Biden stole the election nut.  Watching that madness was almost magical.  All the times that the right said that even if Trump loses, they would NEVER have the freakout that the left did when Trump was elected, and we got a smorgasbord of insanity to watch.

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1258970965381439488

And he was also a denier of how bad COVID-19 is.  Well, with now almost 1 million dead from the virus (I’m sure he’s also one of those people who thinks that it’s all just a lies and a hoax and a conspiracy and any number of other things that are stupid, because this dude is clearly nuts), I’m so glad we had people like this clown, out on beaches.

https://twitter.com/QuantumTV_YT/status/1250766029745270784

Well, boi, I used specific examples of terrible things you have said all over this post.  But am I mad?  Honestly, not really.  You are just a strange, sad, pathetic little man.  You are so consumed by anger and bigotry and you have let people disagreeing with you about your Elden Ring review drive you to a false-flagging campaign that is almost certainly going to destroy your channel.  Maybe you can become the next Brett Keane.  Christ, am I dating myself with that reference?  Oh dear.

Until next time, a quote,

“What a strange person.” – Sir Galahad, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Peace out,

Maverick

Your Beliefs About the Ideal Game are Infantilizing (A response to QUANTUM TV)

From Software has a pedigree when it comes to games. It is something if a tried and true method that they stick to. It’s not for everyone. Every time they release a game, the exact same arguments happen on gaming media – games should be easier. They have stood their ground and basically said “if you don’t like how hard our games are, then you are absolutely free to play something else and we hope you have fun with it.” They have been very polite, but that’s to be expected. The Japanese are known for it. However, sometimes you get people who get salty about this and you can’t help but find their content and respond to it. Especially when it is a dickhead who has been false-flagging videos that are making sport of his review of their latest game Elden Ring. I’m going to put his video here, so you can make sure I’m not taking anything out of context, and then we’ll talk about it.

The first argument this guy makes is that games should be made to appeal to as many people as possible.  No.  No they shouldn’t.  If that was the case, then games would be all the same.  It would be boring.  I for one like when a game does something unique and different.  When it has a neat concept that you can play with and goes the distance with it.  The biggest problem with AAA gaming right now is how so many of them all feel the same, if you play most of them.  It’s good that we have companies like From Software who go away from the grain to make games that are niche.  The same way it’s good that Bandai Namco makes games that are only for the JRPG crowd.  Or the same way that EA and Ubisoft makes games only for the brain-dead crowd who have no problem buying the exact same game over and over again.

He continues to say that he doesn’t like the kind of game like Elden Ring or other From Software games.  Okay.  That’s fine.  If you don’t like it, you have no impetus to play it.  Tons of games are released as any given months.  You could play Horizon: Forbidden West.  That game has been criticized for how much it holds your hand, but that’s an option for you.  I myself am not the biggest fan of From Soft’s game.  The only Soulsborne game I’ve actually enjoyed is Bloodborne.  And the reason I enjoyed it is because it has this neat mechanic in most fights where, if you take damage and are willing to get back in the fight quick enough, you can negate some of the HP loss.  It compels you to get back in the fight and take risks.  Sometimes they are stupid risks.  But part of that game is knowing when to be brave and when to be calculating.  Plus, the action is faster paced than Dark Souls, so you don’t feel like it unfair when an enemy can move so much faster than you. 

Still, these games are not for everyone, and I would be the first to say that that’s okay.  You have options.  There are so many games that get released every year that there is no reason to say that there is nothing made for you.  Don’t like hard games, there are games that give you difficulty settings.  But From Software do that.  They have their niche and they stick with it.

He then laments how bosses are hard and you basically have to grind to level up.  Man, this dude has never played a JRPG.  That much is absolutely certain.  I cannot tell you how much grinding you have to do in a JRPG, because some boss kicked your ass seven ways to Sunday.  I’m sorry that you take such umbrage with that, but that’s the nature of this genre.  Did you seriously have no idea it was going to be like this before you started playing it?  He then makes the argument that if it wasn’t this difficult, people would call it what he sees it as – trash. 

Quantum, honey, if the bosses were easy and all the combat was easy and everything in the game was easy, then yes, it would be trash.  That’s the nature of the genre.  However, there is more to a game than difficulty.  Is the story engaging?  Well, the Soulsborne game are known for having vague stories.  Ones that Interweb bards like VaatiVidya (I like his videos about the lore of Dark Souls more than the actual games.  Sue me.  By the way, hi Vaati!) get to talk about with that melodious British voice of his.  Are the visuals nice?  One cannot argue that that is untrue.  Does the game handle well?  Are the controls hard to pick up?  One can argue the nuances of that, but the basic controls of any Soulsborne game aren’t hard to learn.  This seems like a lot of salt because people thought your review wasn’t giving the game a fair shake.

He then confirms that he had no idea what From Software games are like.  Okay.  Well, now you know.  They are all like this, so you can keep this in mind for future purchases of their games.  I hope this was a learning experience for you.  But then he makes this asinine argument that because the comments weren’t nice to him, that is a reflection of the game and its community as a whole. 

Bro…the Internet is filled with assholes.  You must be new here.  Greetings from the Internet.  I try and be nice, because being mean is not cool (unless somebody is a complete dipshit and you just wanna have a laugh at the stupid crap they said, but that’s not the case here), but ask any company that has opened up something they are doing to let the Internet have a say in it and they will tell you how fast it goes downhill.  The zoo in China wanted to get the Internet to help them name their new gorilla.  What was the name picked?  Harambe McHarambeface.  A couple asked the Internet to help them name their new child.  The name picked was Cthulhu Allspark.  McDonald’s asked for the Internet’s help to develop new burgers.  Watch Internet’s Historian’s video on that (linked here).  ANYONE with perspective of how the Internet is knew EXACTLY where that would go.  How nobody at McDonald’s knew that is beyond me.

Quantum then makes the argument that it’s the devs fault for making a game hard and not his fault for being bad at it.  Dude, stop blaming the developers for making the kind of game they wanted to make.  If you aren’t good at it, you know what you do – stop playing.  Play something else.  There are a TON of games out there.  Given that the game I was excited for this month is releasing with a Season’s Pass, so I am giving it a pass because fuck Gearbox and their money-grubbing crap (will wait for a complete edition to be released), I am catching up on some of the games that I missed in the last couple years.  It’s been nice.  It isn’t the devs fault for making a game that is too hard for you.  It’s your fault for not recognizing that this isn’t a game for you and then changing and doing something else.

We then get probably the most insightful statement of the kind of person this guy is – he tells the people who disagree with his statements to go kill themselves.  Nice.  Real nice.  Real fucking nice, dude.  No wonder people came after your videos.  Part of me thinks that the dude got salty about the mean takes on his first video, and then decided that he was going to come back and hit back.  I don’t think this was deliberate antagonizing.  This feels like salt that just didn’t get a moment of stepping back and having a good think and realizing that at the end of the day, it’s just a video game, and he is able to play something else.  It’s especially telling because he did two other videos about this whole affair once he started to false-flag people who made responses to him.

Well, this is a written word blog, so you can cry all you want.  You want games to infantilize their audience to cater to the lowest common denominator possible.  A game that tries to cater to absolutely everyone is the lowest common denominator.  It’s the single biggest problem in gaming right now – how homogeneous everything feels.  You play one open world game, you’ve played them all.  You play one game in a Nintendo franchise, you’ve played them all.  You play one game of ANYTHING that Ubisoft puts out, you’ve played them all.  That’s how formulaic they are.  Good games are ones that aren’t afraid to be their own thing and be as creative as they want.  It’s getting harder and harder to find that in the mainstream market, and a lot of OG devs are going indie to make the kinds of games they want to.  I cannot wait to see what the OG Bioware devs are coming up with.

If you don’t like From Software games, you have every right not to play them.  You can play anything else.  In fact, I encourage it.  Find the kinds of games that make you happy.  Life’s too short to be unhappy.  But don’t shit on people for not feeling the same way you do.  And for fuck’s sake, stop expecting the Internet to be nice.  Anyone who is popular enough to get comments gets mean ones.  The Internet doesn’t live up to people’s expectations, it lives down to them.  I’m sorry if you didn’t know this before now.

Until next time, a quote,

“Who the hell are you?” – Rich, How to Destroy Your YouTube Career in 3 Videos

Peace out,

Maverick

Lucien’s First Take: Ms. Marvel Official Trailer

Does anyone remember the MCU? I tuned out the second the credits rolled on Endgame. I knew that the franchise had hit the high water mark with Infinity War and it could go no higher. The only place it could go from there was somewhere stupid.  After seeing all the reviews of Black Widow, I realized I was 100% correct.  They took a villain who has a fantastic concept, Taskmaster, and made him stupid.  They took a character who was broadly liked by the fandom and made her stupid.  They took physics out back like a $5 whore and fucked it to death with scenes of people surviving things that no human possibly could without a problem.  Then Eternals happened.  I was convinced that this was where the franchise went to die.  At least, that’s what I was hoping.  Disney has CLEARLY run out of creative energy now that all the best superheroes are gone, and so they are trying to find whatever they can to keep the content train rolling.

Which brings us to Ms. Marvel.  A hero that I had only heard of because of that Groj-awful Square Enix Avengers game and have given her her own movie.  Well, we saw with Captain Marvel how well Disney is doing with introducing new female heroes, making them basically a giant virtue signal.  So I thought to myself – let’s get out the Mary Sue Bingo Board and see what we can make out of this trailer.  Will never watch the film, but let’s see where the trailer gets us.

O-kay, what is with the comic book bubbles in this movie?  Is this going to be a thing within the whole film?  If so, are they actually trying to make Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse in live action?  Wow…Disney is ripping off Sony now.  Wait!  This is a Mary Sue Bingo card hit – unnecessary headcanons integrated into story.  And it keeps going.  This seriously has to stop.  I have seen people on Twitter talking about this shit as a positive.  For one, it’s COMPLETELY overdone.  Into the Spiderverse was able to make it natural, because the film was made to look like comic book.  This is live action.  It doesn’t work like that!

We get a two-fer on the Mary Sue Bingo card – everyone likes her for no reason, and is so kind or snarky that everyone loves her.  Oh, and I can already tell that she will have more than one person interested in her, but she will only have eyes for the intended love interest.  She also is a bitch to this counselor guy who is just trying to help her, but in modern “empowered” female character lingo, that means she is a strong, independent teenage girl.  I’m seriously getting the “she’s just a skin for feminist girls to put on” vibe with this character.

Oh wait, we see another part of her personality!  She’s Muslim!  I’m sure that will not just be a complete virtue signal and actually mean something for the story.  Notice she wears no hijab, so the Middle Eastern audience is out.  A girl who doesn’t cover her head is a sinner in that part of the world.  We get all the virtue of her being Muslim, but she doesn’t actually have to adhere to any of the behaviors because that would alienate the intended audience for this.  Let me make something clear – I don’t care if she believes in Islam, so long as that is something other than a virtue signal.  Instead, that is EXACTLY what this is going to be.  Make me a friggin’ bet on that.

Alright, we see the source of her powers – a bracelet.  No tragic backstory (so she avoid that part of the Mary Sue bingo board), no adversity to overcome.  She just finds a magic bangle and she’s set as a superhero.  That does tick off the “masters new skill with no time or effort or explanation” one, though. 

Then we have the empowering women montage where it says that “the future is in her hands.”  What future?  What are the stakes?  What is the villain of this story?  She says that she never imagined being a superhero being like this.  Being like what?  We don’t know anything about this girl.  We don’t know anything about her world.  They establish no villain here, so we don’t have anything to grab onto that makes us want to root for the character.  This movie has no direction, and I bet you dollars to donuts that that is how it is throughout the bulk of the runtime until a villain is introduced at the last minute.

The trailer ends with her talking about how she is a superhero and running away like a dork.  Oh boy.  Because the dorky teenager getting powers thing didn’t get to me enough with Spider-Man.  I half-expect him to be in this goddamn movie. 

I made jokes about the Mary Sue Bingo cards, but really, this film looks boring.  I am bored by it.  Nothing looks engaging.  It all looks totally generic.  I have nothing to talk about with this movie.  It is going to be another film that completely follows the Marvel formula to a fault like how every Ubisoft games follows their format.  Nothing exciting, nothing different, all the same.  Neat.  And Disney will get their pet online media to sing its praises.  Half-expect there to be some blink-and-you’ll-miss-it LGBTQ representation, just so they can do all the virtue signaling boxes because Disney is creatively bankrupt. 

Initial Verdict
Formulaic out of 10

Peace out,

Maverick