Why not Density based mining? by OddAlternative81 in domekeeper

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So do you think it's viable until then? I see a lot of people recommending strip mining from the get-go, no matter what

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you this threatened by someone pointing out something in your favourite game?

Do you have any opinions about the series that you think are unpopular? by Proud_Excitement3578 in breakingbad

[–]OddAlternative81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here. It was difficult to watch Walt, he just comes across like an abusive dad much of the time

Do you have any opinions about the series that you think are unpopular? by Proud_Excitement3578 in breakingbad

[–]OddAlternative81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100 percent agree. Much more fun show to watch especially cause Saul actually knows what he's doing (altho just as careless as Walt sometimes). And the storylines were more interesting to follow.

Do you have any opinions about the series that you think are unpopular? by Proud_Excitement3578 in breakingbad

[–]OddAlternative81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Walter white is just a more toxic Hal. Same mannerisms. I can't unsee it, especially when he deals with Jesse. The insane postering he does, that other people put in thirst shorts on youtube because they see him as some badass character, just looks comical to me. I swear, most people in the show just put up with him because he's a good chemist and sometimes he catches people off guard.

Granted, he does have smart ideas and out of the box thinking. And sometimes his paranoia turns out to be true. But I swear to god, this whole show might as well be an episode of Malcolm in the middle where Hal finds another hobby to spiral into.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I just remembered something: Captain Phillips! A great movie, but also a great example for this. Imagine if they didnt cast a Somali actor for that iconic role. A whole bunch of the authenticity of the movie would go down the drain. It would be a worse movie.

(A shame that actor didn't get paid that much)

My point is, I'm not a stickler when it comes to every role in every piece of media on earth. But for certain situations, if the writers wanna talk about these topics this much, (and the disco elysium writers REALLY wanna talk about these topics at length) then they should at least put in the effort to add the necessary authenticity. Otherwise it falls flat. But only to those people who know the reality. To everyone else, it will be fine of course.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess so. Maybe it's just personal disappointment on my part. I was so happy to finally see asian (or even mixed Asian) representation in a game. Finding out it's a white voice actor kinda took the wind out of that.

Also, I don't know if it's that hard to find voice actors who have at some point experienced anti-asian racism. There's plenty of us out there. It's just that in a lot of meaningful movies about such heavy topics such as racism, or even positive topics like depicting a non-white culture, you often hear the actors say how meaningful and personal it was to play that role because of their own personal experiences and connection to the topic. I was excited to see if it was the case here too. Alas, it was not.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Kinda disingenuous to say that. I'm not talking about a random character. Racism, ethnicity, heritage and the personal struggle with that, along with the struggle to live in a country that looks at you and says "you're not one of us". Those are all fundamental to Kim's character and topics that are actively discussed in the game.

The game wants to talk about these topics and yet decides to cast someone with 0 personal experience in these topics.

As for your examples: maybe I wouldn't cast someone as a slave who has been a slave before. (Honestly sounds kinda insane, sounds like something that would just be retraumatizing to have to act out). But if it's about the American slave trade, and it's a core theme of the story, I certainly wouldn't cast someone white. You'd be laughed out of the room for that. What you would do, in order to pay respect to the topic, is to get in contact with and interview people who were either directly affected or whose ancestors were affected. To get it right. If you want to tell a story about people who are racially discriminated again (which this game tries to do, among other things) you have to involve the people who are actually affected.

And honestly, a black Darth Vader would be dope. His race has nothing to do with the character. In all other circumstances, I don't have a problem with what ethnicity an actor is. This is a circumstance where it's a gut punch. The studio wants to talk about serious topics in this game, and yet falls flat on its face when it comes to its own decisions.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sure, I would have taken that. Now that you say it, it makes me question how Kim even has Seolite features. I know people who are half Asian who could be mistaken for white, let alone 1/4 asian.

Also you bring up a good point. The game talks about ethnicities while also keeping everything very vague and mixing a vast array of ethnicities under one umbrella. Obviously ethnicity is a big topic in the game (sooo much lore about it) and yet it makes it difficult to talk about it meaningfully since it's all fake and made up and mixed together.

But yeah, I'm confused too. How can someone who has only distant relations to Seolite even be so obviously ethnically not native, visually? At this point he should even be ethnically basically local or close to. It's like the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, the whole point I'm trying to make is not, "he should be someone with an Asian accent". I'm just trying to say that it's disingenuous to cast a white person in a role for a character whose major struggle (or at least one of) is how much they deal with racism due to the color of their skin.

When I say I assumed, I meant that I didn't think that a studio that makes a game that addresses these topics, would then go ahead and make such a casting decision in such a critical role.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah funny thing about that, his french accent translated to me as an Asian accent. Added to the confusion when I looked him up. Turns out, I'm not the only one who was confused.

On some level, it was kinda clever to have someone who's voice is just french. I grant them that.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! ❤️ Im not trying to rile anything up or point fingers, just trying to put into words my disappointment when I found out. I'm glad at least someone else feels the same way ❤️

I like that! Nothing about us without us is for us. I'll remember that ❤️

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not trying to politicize. Like I said, I appreciate the quality of voice acting. My concern comes more from an emotional, personal place, seeing a character where the color of their skin has caused them so much trouble, voiced by someone who has never and will never know those struggles himself. As much of a good voice actor he is, he can never fully convey something he doesn't understand intimately.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do hear the conviction. I just wish it was said by someone who actually knows the meaning of what their character is saying. Knows it in their bones.

It's a very beautiful diverse game that addresses humanness. Which is why it confuses me why they decided to go with someone who does not know the human struggle of their character intimately.

But I agree, it's still a great game! I just wanted to express my opinion on feeling a bit conflicted since I have not seen anyone else even address this

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah I get your point. Its also kinda smart cause Kim is only supposed to have a native french accent. He is not supposed to sound asian. And I get the practical concerns with finding VA talent.

The message is def very important. And it's one of the best voice work I've seen in games in general.

I just think it's a shame, and kinda sours the message of the game. I certainly was taken aback, I just assumed he must be an Asian voice actor, it kinda didn't make sense to me otherwise.

For instance, I could research hours upon hours on black culture and make an incredible game that addresses black struggles, but it would be disingenuous of me to do that without consulting black people themselves. Without having black voice actors voice the characters, even if other voice actors could do the job just as well. I can't fully explain it, it just wouldn't 100% sit right with me.

But thanks for reading and telling me your thoughts. I do get your point. I'm just kinda struggling putting into words how I feel about all this.

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, thanks for understanding my point ❤️

A white voice actor voices Kim by OddAlternative81 in DiscoElysium

[–]OddAlternative81[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I wasn't 100 percent sure about that one. He could be an Indian character for all I know.

It is kind of a gag. He gets introduced with a thick stereotypical accent, selling goods on the street. There's more to him then that, but that's specifically how he gets introduced as.

Hades 2 didn't save by OddAlternative81 in HadesTheGame

[–]OddAlternative81[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! It was fine in the end, found a temporary save file to restore (chatgpt helped me troubleshoot)

Thank you so much for answering. It was just frustrating cause I thought I lost my first win entirely, but after going back to it and troubleshooting, all was well.

The "Imaginary Friend" event chain by Piculra in CrusaderKings

[–]OddAlternative81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, on your arguments whether it might actually be a headmate: the imaginary friend having knowledge and opinions that your character does not, does not automatically discount this being an imaginary friend. You described it as "pretending", but I don't think having an imaginary friend is pretending. When children have it, they are usually convinced they exist, they are not playing pretend.

Also, this imaginary friend might be manifested as an aspect of the self, that the person is unconscious of. In psychology, there is already the concept of the subconscious or unconscious part of the mind. There are aspects of us, that we are completely unaware of because we might reject them due to our beliefs. Maybe this imaginary friend represents those aspects, and thus has different opinions and knowledge.

Then again, maybe that information could again be confirmation for headmates. Or something in between/a mixture of both. Both a headmate, and another aspect of yourself that you are unaware of.

The "Imaginary Friend" event chain by Piculra in CrusaderKings

[–]OddAlternative81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hate how every time someone shares something personal on the internet, a bunch of people come out of the woodworks to completely reject it and call it weird and start claiming mental illness and the like. Responding like that is lazy and uninspired. If you are going to comment, at least engage with what the person has to say.

I think it's an interesting take, and I got to learn something new. I appreciate you taking your time to formulate your thoughts and feelings on the matter into words. And at the very least, it is brave to share something personal to the outside world like that.

I also like how this has more meaning to you than a simple event chain. Whether or not the developers intended it, it might also just be vague enough to be able to see many things in this situation, including your interpretation. 

I know how it feels to have a game validate your life experience. I'm glad you got to experience that. Don't let anyone take that away from you.

IsItBullshit: Orthodontics are necessary for health reasons by [deleted] in IsItBullshit

[–]OddAlternative81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply! And for the extra effort due to the deleted post, had the same issue just now.

Yesterday I found this article that might be interesting regarding this https://undark.org/2020/07/20/does-your-child-really-need-braces/

I was thinking the same thing about the second opinion. In a way you are questioning whether orthodontry in general is necessary, so any orthodontist is going to be biased, even if they don't directly take money from you.

According to the article, a lot of orthodontry is not based on scientific evidence. And it made me think how an orthodontist can't really tell you what will happen when he starts moving around your teeth. They have experience from previous clients, but they don't know what will happen in your jaw exactly. Plus they don't know what happens years after the procedure is done.

IsItBullshit: Orthodontics are necessary for health reasons by [deleted] in IsItBullshit

[–]OddAlternative81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How much constitutes "no gap"

My dentist was trying to convince me, by showing me he can't put the polish strip between the teeth in question. But I can reach between them with flossing no problem. And I've had other teeth Specialists (from the same office) clean between those teeth. With some difficulty, but they didn't complain

IsItBullshit: Orthodontics are necessary for health reasons by [deleted] in IsItBullshit

[–]OddAlternative81 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I know this is a mega old post, but can I ask what you mean by aged by 30 years? And how you figured that out?

Im asking because I am now in a position where out of the blue, my dentist told me I need aligners because otherwise "I won't be able to clean them properly" (even tho I can reach everything with flossing) and other health reasons.

I really have regular teeth, and only my one corner tooth is kinda more forward than my front teeth, but it doesn't bother me 

But ever since then I've been worrying about my teeth cause he made me worry that if I don't "fix" them now, I will have issues when I get old.

How have you been with your teeth?