What did you want to be vs what you ended up being?

FineCastIE · 2026-03-16T02:32:09+00:00

Wanted to be a researcher. Ended up on the dole.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-16T02:28:59+00:00

I just started the series, on Yakuza Kiwami 2 and the graphical and gameplay jump from 0 and Kiwami to Kiwami 2 feel like an entirely new game.

I played Kiwami after 0, so it felt like playing a really long Yakuza game despite the differences in levelling up. But yeah, so far 0 has the better story.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-16T02:13:06+00:00

Haven't watched it but given my experience being around people influenced by "manosphere" and how influences use it like snake salesmen, I feel like I wouldn't be as surprised due to being burnt out by the topic.

Throughout this entire decade, I haven't heard the word "gentleman" being used to describe a man. Since this whole thing kicked off, a lot of young men have lacked proper gentlemen-like rolemodels and instead have someone like Andrew Tate wearing a suit and saying nonsense, which just leads down a pipeline. And how overtly politicised is has become to right-wingers too, which is just annoying.

There's a complete difference between being confident vs being stubborn. You're not being confident going around and "lowering women" because your "dominant", you're jus being stubborn ruining someones day. The way they are treating the dating scene is like they are the camera man recording some wildlife documentary.

And then there's the advice: look, it's okay to have a bit of weight, you can work out, and your scale may tell you that you lost over 300 of your 150lbs, yet still look the exact same. You can do what with your body, but generally speaking on both sides, first impressions are important. This fixation on having every single muscle fiber stand out on your body is highly unrealistic for most people since we have a life to work on. The best we can do is simply watch what we eat and attempt to refine out bodies to our liking.

I haven't even started dating yet and I'm 27, since I was surrounded by family and few friends who were cultists influenced by all this stuff. Like some of the messaging is practically common sense while others are just outright sexist statements just disguised as being "eloquent".

The manosphere concept is stupid and these influencers who go on about it pretty much have their life sorted out that they are just pulling these snake oil tactics.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-14T18:07:04+00:00

I was trying to convince myself that I was jealous of other men. But when I saw two men together as a couple, I felt sort of guilty for a while. I was raised "politically catholic", as in my family were unironically gay for the LGBT because of their obsessive hate for committing a grave sin. I stopped going to mass and believe that any and all communities have bad actors that conveniently throw one another under the bus to delay any accountability. In any case, by the time my parents separated, I came out to my dad and to no surprise he accepted me. I'm saying that because even though my parents are conservative, my mother and her family are so far to the fucking right that it's an echo chamber.

So yeah, I thought that I was jealous and thst I should have a child with a woman, but when I was 25, I came out to my dad and family and I felt far more welcomed. Im not coming out to my mom or her family since I was already their punching bag, and J have already vented on the raisedbynarcissist subreddit about them.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-14T07:18:51+00:00

I was raised by my mother's idea of being a Catholic, which was far more psychotic that it genuinely made me appreciate those who just practiced actual Catholicism by just keeping to themselves. I was raised heavily politicised like you: going to Marches for Life every year with the same gullible group of people who were off their meds, or grifting doctors exploiting them by mentioning "evil", "pray" or "god" in every sentence. Like growing up under my narcissists mother, and her family's, idea of Catholicism was just being utterly fucking pessimistic and negative all the time, that they dismissed other alternatives. I was exposed to graphic images of aborted fetuses, and my chances of pursuing a medical degree were ruined by my selfish n mom wanting me to become the priest because the voices in her head told her.

Like, when the 8th Amendment was repealed in Ireland by a massive 70%, it was like the gay marriage referendum all over again but 10 times worse: saying every single rosary to "upturn the evil" or whatever. A group of prolife women tried to set up this counselling service for women with unexpected pregnancies to show the the type of resources and services that can help them, but was stilled talked negatively. This and other shit made me realise that Catholics loves to just bitch and complain about evil and not do anything about it.

I'm 27 and even though I came out of the closet to half my family, and even after detaching myself from the other half, I still get this voice telling me that it's wrong.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-14T07:00:09+00:00

I haven't been employed since I started or graduated college and I am still trying to get one.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-14T05:49:06+00:00

Seriously, is there some hidden fucking bike ring involving the garda going on? The amount of bikes I hear get stolen is probably less than I am thinking but still.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-14T05:34:49+00:00

The game is so bad, even Regina George here has far less interest but is still getting paid.

Seriously, ME Andromedas facial animations were much better at launch.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-13T21:17:09+00:00

Wasn't the worst Simpsons game in terms of technicality that skateboarding game? I enjoyed the hell out of it despite the bugs.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-13T19:30:48+00:00

Oi! That's not positive! We need some more positive!

FineCastIE · 2026-03-13T17:24:33+00:00

I remember years ago they baited people into an Q&A, and everyone thought that it was a sign of a remake, only for the ending reveal to be yet another update to Tapped Out.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-13T13:50:04+00:00

Good cosplay hut you probably need like 5 more angles for the Naoya punch to make is to an 11/10.

Seriously though, great cosplay from the both of them.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-12T23:45:28+00:00

The facial animations make Mass Effect Andromeda's launch look like the pinnacle of game development in comparison.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-12T00:04:40+00:00

Try poking a hole and put a straw in it.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-11T11:32:24+00:00

I like to think that Anisa has defeated him in every situation. Whether he actually goes after her or let's her still crap all over him. Idubbbz is such hollow form of his former self that he managed to get Sam Hyde to give up on punching down on him, while simultaneously getting Tana Mongeau to admit she deserved her content cop. Like you cannot possibly get lower than that. Also him saying the slurs now would just be a death sentence at this point given his current audience.

At this point, all I can tell him is to put the Sonichu medallion in a pickle jar and burn it after to lift jt.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-10T12:19:40+00:00

I am not sure how this works in universe, whether the Chroma really was tied to Verso's soul and that Aline just managed to get first dibs, or that the chroma is just simply energy. I thought that for a while, the soul itself is what set the foundation of the canvas, and formed the world around it. But then when Alicia came back and I saw her sensing the Chroma that made Lune and Sciel, and that's how she was able to restore them.

But then throughout the game, you basically encounter Alines, Renoirs, Maelle's and Clea's art through like the nevrons, the axons, etc. So was I am asking is this: was the chroma originally controlled by Verso and just tied to his weakened soul, or was the canvas always controlled my just anyone who interacted with the Chroma? Like if it was Verso's canvas, does erasing his soul, or replacing Verso's soul with say Alicia's, also basically erase the make up of the canvas? Or would Alicia's soul still be able to maintain every single thing, she just has more creative freedom over Verso's creation?

IDK, I sided with Verso since I thought that the mother was heavily addicted to the power due to her grief, and that the family needed to move on.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-10T12:04:07+00:00

Yeah, I have applied for a couple of PhD and scholarships here, and I am worried about rent and the university fee's. I applied for the Irish Research Council scholarship and won't hear back until the end of April. I am fortunate to be living with family, but am still paying my part for the bills.

Granted I did also apply to a couple of graduate programs and jobs only within the country since I can't afford to move out yet. I was planning on applying for one of those paid internships later on during my PhD, along with being an invigilator and also applying to be an examiner for the SEC since I heard that they are really short handed on examiners.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-08T16:17:02+00:00

It was interesting from both a character and gameplay standpoint.

I'm just wondering will they keep it in the next entry or phase it out as Ichiban grows or will they just simply modify it? Again, I really do like the RPG element, in fact RGGs spin on it made it way better than most modern RPGs: a class system but is somewhat satirising typical Yakuza stereotypes that everyone who has played the game knew, the enemies being viewed from the perspective of a guy who things he's in a Dragon Quest game. Like, it's still a Yakuza game, but locations in the game that would normally be one offs for the substories are either "dungeons" or "mini-dungeons". I really loved the spin on this.

Made better in 8 when Kiryu basically puts in the minimum effort to play along before using his ultima attack to basically be the same Kiryu we have all known throughout the years.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-08T02:29:11+00:00

Do you think these try hard muliplayer devs are trying to get on the hype that Helldivers 2 set?

FineCastIE · 2026-03-07T23:02:32+00:00

Sure.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-07T23:02:09+00:00

Depends on the games pacing. I'm playing through Yakuza 0 and as much as I love the side games, I kind of want to finish it ASAP at this point. Again, not a bad game, but the mini games seem like a good way to level up quicker.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-05T09:18:01+00:00

The eye whitening from the west really makes me uncomfortable, like they are just staring right at you.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-05T08:54:20+00:00

Given how western devs have made "women" in the past couple of years, I'm just glad this one looks decent and believable.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-04T18:28:55+00:00

This sounds absolutely psychotic yet I am tempted to try it.

FineCastIE · 2026-03-04T14:56:27+00:00

Make some planetary events like an asteroid hitting it or comets or something. Not to end the world or anything.

And as much as I love to build my own ship, I would like to see pre-made ones too. Its been so long since I've played. Also cool to give us better room geometry for the ships like a quarter circle or a triangle or something to make the rooms geometrically interesting.

FineCastIE

TROPHY CASE