What Are You Thinking?

[Rebel Dynasty]

Looks like we're entering the nippy season. We'll probably get a few more summery days (most likely in October--because Autumn and Spring are when we get three seasons in one day) but damn if I'm not looking forward to all the hot drinks. I have a hankering for apple cider. :inlove:

+Better get in what sleeping in I can before Tuesday. On the plus side, hopefully back-to-school will equal getting back into the swing of things on the writerly front; so slow-going.

++Why do I keep dreaming about owning that? Should I give into my nostalgia, or let it be (since I never read the manga to begin with)?

 

[aoshi]

My sweet weekend is here but i am not excited as much.Hope i can make the most of my free time.

 

[Angel]

Take one balloon glass

Add some ice

Add a shot of Warner Edwards elderflower gin

Add some fresh raspberries

Add some fresh mint leaves

Add 175ml of Fentimans botanically brewed rose lemonade

Enjoy

 

[Lain]

So I finally got around to watching "Mr. Holmes" staring Ian McKellen.

Spoiler: Movie Spoilers

I went into this film totally expecting a cliché ending with Holmes dying, so I was surprised that Holmes was more energetic than ever by the end. Anyway, the main thread of the plot is how even the mighty Sherlock Holmes can't fight against the tide of mortality. And yet he battles hard to finish a memoir of his final case to reveal the truth before it is lost to time. I had a grandfather who also suffered from dementia, so this movie hit hard at home for me and I felt super bad every time Holmes would struggle to remember something - especially Roger's name. The final case was an interesting one, as Holmes solves it perfectly as he's still in his prime...but the reason it ends in tragedy is because Holmes' suppression of empathy in favour of logic bit him in the ass as he failed to console a suicidal woman. I liked that as it exposed a flaw within his character without necessarily undermining his brilliance. I must say, it was a curious choice to completely obscure Watson's face throughout the flashbacks but I didn't dislike it. Something I did like was that when Holmes is watching a movie about himself (how meta) the man playing Movie!Holmes is Nicholas Rowe who famously played Holmes in "Young Sherlock Holmes" which I also watched recently. Similarly, the detective who cameos at the end is played by Phil Davis who played the serial killer in the first episode of BBC's Sherlock. Anyways, the climax of the film is interesting as it's the main point where the film diverges from the novel it was based on, ("A Slight Trick of the Mind"). In the novel, Roger dies from his wasp injuries and the novel ends with Holmes accepting his mortality is coming very soon. That ending was far too nihilistic even for me and evidently the screenwriter as the film has Roger managing to survive his injuries and is slowly recovering with Holmes enjoying his final days with his newly adopted "family" that he plans to leave the house to after he's gone.

TL;DR - It was a very good drama. Focusing more on telling a heartwarming drama than an heart-pumping thriller. The acting was brilliant and I definitely recommend the film to any Holmes aficionado. I don't even normally like pastiches, especially not of Sherlock Holmes. But this was the exception to the rule. :thumbsup:

 

[Shadow]

It's the first day of Halloween. =D

 

[EA9Sol]

So, I have finally found a violin I want to buy. Doesn't cost too much but isn't cheap either. lol But, buying a violin is the first step, I'll have to learn how to play....It's going to be fun. X)

 

[Rebel Dynasty]

...And I have no more episodes. Peaky Blinders, you've ruined me! :'( (Please let the fourth season feature on Netflix this fall. Please, please, please...)

+C'mon head, we've gotta get in the game, here. I mean, sure, I could take the next couple of days off, then dive full force once kiddo goes back to school...but I have a feeling if I do that, I'll have lost sight of where this part was going.

++Mmm, lemon cookies. :inlove:

 

[Sparda's rejected son]

So that is why "Death Note" is plastered all over Youtube! Some US live action movie came out and now everyone's talking about it in the hopes of getting views and by extension get paid for their Youtube content. Everything makes sense now. I've never seen "Death Note" but that live action Ryuk is terrifying and played by the Green Goblin. Neat!

@Izzy Glad to hear that your nuts are alright.

This would of been a superb day to get some editng done on the story. But did I take advantage of that? Nope. I let it all slip away and I sat on my butt and did nothing. Nothing I say!
The only reason A razer blade isn't near my wrist right now is because I worked on the story yesterday. But I have at least learned how to write a better story with aggressive heroism traits instead of passive heroism traits. The next story will be a much, much better tale compared to my current one.

 

[Shadow]

Some chick on YouTube talking about hair tips to help hair grow long and healthy: "When it's wet, you can pull it gently to lengthen it and it'll add inches quickly!"

....I...that's....not how hair works, dear? Otherwise brushing out tangles would automatically add a ton of length.....

+ I don't understand how some characters get called liars when they don't tell any lies in canon. That's really weird.

 

[Viper]

Some chick on YouTube talking about hair tips to help hair grow long and healthy: "When it's wet, you can pull it gently to lengthen it and it'll add inches quickly!"

....I...that's....not how hair works, dear? Otherwise brushing out tangles would automatically add a ton of length.....

+ I don't understand how some characters get called liars when they don't tell any lies in canon. That's really weird.

She might mistakenly believe hair works the same as a certain part of male anatomy, although even that effect is temporary. XD

 

[Foxtrot94]

Some chick on YouTube talking about hair tips to help hair grow long and healthy: "When it's wet, you can pull it gently to lengthen it and it'll add inches quickly!"

....I...that's....not how hair works, dear? Otherwise brushing out tangles would automatically add a ton of length.....

Same broken logic as the urban legend of beard getting harder each time you shave. Was that true, I'd be shaving with a chainsaw now.

 

[Goldsickle]

After researching a lot of Capcom's made up genre description for their Japanese version packaging, I can't take "Survival Horror" seriously anymore.
It was nothing more than a packaging decoration that got out of hand.

Imagine if "Free-Running RPG" (Megaman Legends), "Gothic Psycho Horror" (Haunting Ground) or "Zombie Paradise Action" (Dead Rising) gained enough following to become established genres of their own and people start arguing "the true definition of Free-Running RPG" or crap like that.

 

[Foxtrot94]

@Goldsickle
But unlike all that "Stylish High Action", "Hard Action" and blah blah blah, Survival Horror is something that actually makes sense. It's a game that is scary, and has mechanics focusing on surviving in said scary setting. I don't see why you should lose your respect for the way the genre is called just because it was made up by Capcom. I mean, so what if it was? All genres' names were made up by someone. In my book, whether or not such names are any credible is down to whether or not they make sense and denote something that is important within the game's nature that already existing names don't.

For example, "Zombie Paradise Action" denotes nothing really important that a simple and way more canonical "Third Person Action" isn't able to convey, so that is more of a case of a not all that credible name for a genre imo, you know what I mean? Or "Stylish High Action", where that "high" clearly means nothing, doesn't highlight any important aspect of the game and is just there to make for a fancy name.
Survival Horror instead, highlights the survival component of the game, while being horror themed. Cause there are games out there that, while definitely being horror themed, like F.E.A.R. or Jericho or a game centered on a lighthouse whose name I can't remember (but I remember it was one of those point and click games) that are not focused on survival, rather on shooting or puzzle solving etc etc. So I feel like Survival Horror is still a legit name to identify certain games with.

This post came out way longer than I intended.

 

[Sparda's rejected son]

I need to upload a Signature asap. My profile feels empty and lonely. :blush:

 

[Goldsickle]

But unlike all that "Stylish High Action", "Hard Action" and blah blah blah, Survival Horror is something that actually makes sense.

"Survival Horror" stopped making sense as soon as you try to get into detail with it.
Everybody has their own interpretation and nobody can truly agree on a universal definition.
To make things more confusing, people out there making such games use their own personal definition of the genre.

For example, every single game numbered RE title is marketed as "Survival Horror", including RE4, RE5 & RE6, despite the significant difference in gameplay presentation.
Either the team have a very generalized definition of "Survival Horror" or maybe the marketing department just simply decorate the packaging of Capcom's games as they please.

The only reason the West knows about "Survival Horror" is because the loading screen of RE1 & RE2 hammered the idea into player's head every time they load a previous save.
Imagine if Metal Gear Solid's loading screen says: "You are now entering the world of Tactical Espionage Action, good luck".
I'll bet we will end up with people immortalizing the "Tactical Espionage" genre and we will get BS discussions like how "it's not a Metal Gear game unless it has overhead view camera".


For the record, I don't think game franchises are obligated to follow any sort of "commandments" and they can evolve as the creator desires, although whether I will like it or not is a different story.

 

[Foxtrot94]

"Survival Horror" stopped making sense as soon as you try to get into detail with it.
Everybody has their own interpretation and nobody can truly agree on a universal definition.

Screw the details. As long as there's elements of survival gameplay into it (resource gathering and management), the name Survival Horror makes sense, to distinguish from those other horror games, such as the ones I mentioned earlier, that don't have it. The various definitions as to what should be put in a game that's supposed to be a Survival Horror, with all the different views people have on it is another story, and frankly I don't care much about it.
Anyway, what I'm saying is, who came up with the name and why it ended up sticking shouldn't matter as I see it, as long as the name is functional and is not redudant with other terms. Just like, say, First Person Shooter: who invented it and the reason why it stuck doesn't matter - is it in first person, and the main mechanics revolve around shooting? It's an FPS. Simple as that. The origin of the genre's name, I don't see it why it should be such a big deal as long as it does its job at describing the game. And maybe, just maybe, such names stuck because they are functional and make sense. And it's probably the reason why names such as the other ones you mentioned will never stick no matter how much the game makers will flash em in our faces during loading screens. Because they're either redudant ("Tactical Espionage Action" for example, doesn't do nothing that a simple "Stealth" doesn't do at describing the game) or make no sense (once again, "Stylish Hard Action"... that still makes me chuckle... :laugh.

But I remember the long winded tirade you and VampireWicked (believe was her) once had on the matter of the definition of survival horror. So I think I'll leave with this post cause I'm hella not willing to get into a long winded tirade myself, LOL. If you still don't wanna acknowledge the term, so be it and be my guest, I just wanted to share my two cents. But in case you do wanna discuss it further, you could always open another thread, and maybe tag me in there. Cause I remember mods ain't too kind on people discussing a specific topic in this thread.

 

[Goldsickle]

I wish I knew more about it.

Sometimes, you have situations where the developers and the marketing department aren't on the same page.
I remember reading an old 90's article where a Capcom staff said that "Survival Horror" was coined by their marketing department team but unlike "Free-Running RPG" and "Cinematic Shooting", the development team actually acknowledged the phrase and inserted it into the first two game's loading screen.

 

[Xeroxis]

AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! SOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOORRREED

 

[Sparda's rejected son]

Yes! I got a chapter edited and down. Onto the next one. Also I'm lazy oh so lazy.

 

[EA9Sol]

I'm so hyped right now!!!! Going to finally buy my violin and learn how to play it. X) I'm even going to take some violin classes as well....>.> Don't want to be picking up bad habits and all that. Best start off on the right foot, yeah? lol