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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • If I got to control how the story was told and had better writing/storytelling skills? Or if you had a really skilled writer with access to my brain and memories? I could probably get a 75-85 out of it. I’ve definitely had some interesting things happen in my life. The lack of thematic journey would be where I struggle though. The best stories have payoff and a struggle to overcome. Which, of course I have. But none so large that I could base my entire life story on it. Maybe someone embellishing a little bit could scrounge one up, but tell me any biopic that doesn’t do that.


  • Man, these guys have changed their sound. I didn’t realize they put out a new album. I’ll have to give it a new listen. Honestly A Laughing Death In Meatspace was the last I really got into, but after listening to The Drones and getting such a similar taste, I think a change in direction might be good for them. I like their sensibilities, but maybe got a little tired with their specific sound—which was pretty unique, but doing a unique thing is only unique for so long. Thanks for the post, I’m putting their new stuff in my roto



  • It’s a nuanced issue. Because before VAR, the quality of the first impression calls were altering entire seasons. Entire tournaments. Now, the rules are followed to a T. Which absolutely alters the game in a different way, but now it’s not about one asshole’s probably obstructed or misjudged view in the moment. We all get to see exactly what needs to be called, and it gets called. So that means you’re getting PKs for what was ultimately a dive, but there actually was a grazing contact. We need to change the rules to adapt.

    We need to give the officials more discretion over carding for diving. So ultimately: that graze didn’t impede your movement and you felt the light touch and dove. Yellow card.

    We need to say that contact isn’t the determining factor, but obstructive contact. If that glancing touch clipped your trailing foot and you ultimately lost balance because of it, yes that’s a foul. Because with slow motion and human reaction time, it’s so clear when that touch was embellished and you decided to go down. But the officials are basically looking past the dive to see if even the slightest contact was made. The rules need to be updated. Kill two birds: eliminate problematic diving and make the game more honest.

    We’d need way more VAR officials per game and the first official would lose some power, but it’d make way more sense seeing as how it wouldn’t just be one opinion changing things but a small team of professionals making the best call.

    But this is just one man’s opinion. Yes it can be problematic and it’s changed things, but utilized properly it can change things for the better.









  • I mean, I’d argue that GTA V didn’t have the most emotional storytelling, but it wasn’t a character driven game like RDR2. The characters had the stories they did because they each opened up different avenues into different types of crimes. They didn’t focus on it. The characters were all insufferable. But that doesn’t mean the writing for the story itself wasn’t good. Yeah, the characters all kinda sucked, but the storytelling propelled the tension and wasn’t just some lame bullshit that felt like it needed to be there. The characters don’t develop that much, but the backstory was great, the intrigue and the vastness of the word made it great. That’s all writing. But you’re right, it couldn’t stand alone as a character driven story.

    RDR2 on the other hand is a character driven story at its heart. You definitely need to play it because it’s incredibly well done. If you’re looking for good storytelling, emotional connections to the characters’ trajectories, and a great fuckin game, RDR2 is where you wanna be.



  • That’s troubling. I’ve been playing the shit out of both GTA V and RDR 2 because they have the two best campaigns I’ve ever played. Especially RDR2. It was unique in its trajectory, in its beats…I really hope the follow ups, (however many years down the road those might be) won’t be affected too much by this. The writing made those games what they are.

    I haven’t played baldurs gate, but I’ve been seeing a lot about it, mostly positive. Interesting, the news about that company. Being successful doesn’t usually call for a massive shakeup. But that’s capitalism for you. Fuck the workers, squeeze more out of those you keep. Classic.



  • I mean, as I said, it’s a casual observation from an outsider. Historically, sure, you could very much argue there is a trend toward machismo and patriarchal structures in Spain, as well as a lot of spanish-speaking countries. I personally got myself in a lot of situations where I was observing a man acting really aggressively toward a woman and intervened. Everyone around me (my local friends) found it really weird that I would see an issue and/or step in out of some sense of duty. Even one or two of the women that I was attempting to help would sort of seem taken aback.

    Again, I’m making a huge generalization, but there is something to be said about the difference in interpersonal relationships across different cultures. And in my experience, in Spain in particular, I noticed very sort of “aggressive” tactics of “flirting” among spanish men toward women in general, but also on the flip side, got the impression that the Spanish women grew to be very strong in pushing back when it came to unknown men. Again, these are my thoroughly biased, anecdotal findings from my years spent there.

    But again, there’s also a noticeable difference in race relations. More sort of blunt racism that is treated as “normal,” whereas in my country the racists are more likely to coat their racism or deny it while obviously having a racist bent to their words and actions.

    Spain is a pretty religious country, and that does tend to go hand-in-hand with some sense of patriachal behavior/thinking in a lot of cases. Now, I also lived in South America for a few years and there are some similar patterns there. But in my mind, Spain is distinctly more noticeable in these respects.