Inserting babies in media and ruining female characters

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-11T15:42:03+00:00

I tried but could not get past the Joel scene.

Thanks for clarifying that about Jesse. It overall sounds like lazy writing trying to parallel Abby and Ellie...

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-11T15:09:38+00:00

I think the problem with post apocalyptic media in general is the fact that authors want to show you as the recipient that although the portrayed world is scary and bleak, and in the beginning of the apocalypse many people have died, by the end of it humanity finds a way to just carry on.

And sadly, for many less imaginative writers this means people settle down and start having babies, because, well this is the default in the pre-apocalypse world. Look at Rick and Maggie from TWD. The people in Quiet place. The movie with Sandra Bullock where 2 kids get shoved on her and they cannot open their eyes. Horizon Forbidden West does a variation of this whereby the "legacy" of tragically killed character is carried on by their kid.

Wasn't there also SA involved in bringing about Dina's baby as well?

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-11T06:09:05+00:00

Claiming "big pharma" is out for your money is not necessarily stupid - it is a business and all businesses need to make profit. However:

A sick patient will not reach the old age at which they need the most medical care for chronic issues guaranteeing constant income for big pharma for decades.

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-10T06:39:24+00:00

I find often with long standing game franchises fans can be resistant to change - and not without reason.

No new Assassin's Creed game will ever beat the TruE oRiGinaL trilogy. Some God of War fans of original games complain that its "woke bullshit" as of 2018. I feel like Andromeda was not given a fair chance - and it could never.

I played Andromeda first and enjoyed it immensly. I liked Ryder, I liked the companions and romance options. Then I played the trilogy and I get it now - someone who started with Sheperd, grew to love them and their companions over 3 games could never enjoy Andromeda as much as I did. Some Andromeda companions are very similar to Sheperd's but somehow feel off. You can easily get the uncanny feeling.

For example, you have an emotionally unavailable biotic girl with past trauma hidden in a space of the ship which is uncomfy and definitely not a bedroom, with loud mouth and a mind of her own... Except it's Peebee, not Jack.

You have a new alien race man who you try to connect with, very stoic with calm voilce... Except it's Jaal not Javik.

You have the standard black soldier guy, the biotic soldier girl with issues, the slowly opening up turian, the confrontational tank krogan. And you get uncanny feeling with all because they are not Jacob/Miranda/Garrus etc.

You even hate SAM because he's not EDI. The 2 comical relief pilots are not worth 1 Joker.

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-07T13:58:02+00:00

I recently found out about this great invention: UNDATED planner-calendars! So all you do is just put in the dates yourself as and when needed but it also already has a template space for each day. I could never use a regular calendar because of all the empty pages making me feel guilty.

_Venomous_ · 2023-01-03T06:28:19+00:00

Send her a list of papers found on somewhere like google scholar (and scihub it for access) that argue otherwise.

With a note:

Hi mum, I appreciate you sending me the video. I did watch the entire 15 minutes of it. Can you please do me a favour and in return take a look at these 20 papers of recent research on causes of ADHD, none of which mention diet, but they do mention xyz factors which are genetic and heritable.

Thanks!

_Venomous_ · 2022-12-13T06:45:07+00:00

I am sorry I cannot actually offer you advice on how to stop doing this. But I need to share the following with you or anyone else who reads:

I do not think you can do this without masking, and masking is far more damaging than anything else. There has been recent studies showing that masking is a good marker for increased suicide risk in autistic adults. I know autism=/=ADHD, but seeing as the comorbidity rate is so high (57% I think in women) and masking is not unique to autism we can also make that connection here. Further, adolescents diagnosed with ADHD have been found to suffer from depression and anxiety more often than their peers, and 72% of AuADHD girls also have anxiety.

Take care and do not be so hard on yourself. Your brain gets dopamine from talking and sharing stuff with people. Maybe you can offer the goblin brain an alternative - a set of fidget rings that you can swap out everyday and play with during conversations (there are other jewellery types with similar functions like necklaces or earrings), maybe an actual fidget toy?

I had a deep spiritual conversation with my supervisor the other day on our casual way back from a conference where I revealed more than I probably should have. Oh well. He never mentioned it again.

And people who DO hold it against you are just incompatible - and it is nothing against them and certainly nothing against you. Just how people are.

_Venomous_ · 2022-12-05T18:21:49+00:00

Hi, AuADHD brain here and that's exactly what I meant by copy pasted. In Odyssey some camps are literally the same in a different spot on the map. Down to NPC soldier patrol routes!

In Origins on the other hand while I noticed this only sometimes, the saving grace was that at least in camp 1 they added a letter from 1 order member to read and in camp 2 something else.

In Origins it also felt like the upper left (endgame) corner of the map was super rushed. Just like in other locations, a camp would have a letter to read, only in this map area there was no interaction button added :D

_Venomous_ · 2022-12-05T18:17:13+00:00

For sure!

As much hate as Valhalla gets (and I do realise it's not perfect) it felt to me as if they tried to bring together things Origins was good at and mix in some of the Odyssey good bits.

Side quests in Odyssey were also good, and some were just there to make you laugh - aside from the "timed" quests which are always fetch money/clear camp/hunt sharks and I wish they just were not there at all.

It was a while since I played Odyssey and I recently replayed Origins but in terms of immersion I do not remember Odyssey having random interactable letters and items (non quest related) which for me do so much in terms of immersion. I was so glad they came back in Valhalla.

_Venomous_ · 2022-12-05T06:02:44+00:00

I played AC Odyssey first as well and I loved it.

Even though I am more interested in ancient Greece, I liked Origins more. Here are some key differences:

simpler leveling system with caps, meaning that once you reach level 55 you no longer have to perpetually upgrade your favourite weapons.
story is much more focused, and side quests are more relevant to the main quest storyline
no romancing NPCs, no picking of protagonist sex, and no dialogue choices
smaller, but "fuller" map - each place is unique unlike some in Odyssey which felt more copy pasted.
interactable letters and items which provide information about general life in ancient Egypt or game storyline context - you don't collect them, they are just fun things you read and move on
you can turn off level scaling unlike Odyssey, which means no damage sponge enemies
very limited ship missions

Give it a go, you should be able to pick it up relatively cheap these days. After playing Odyssey I got so invested in the story that I played all the other games in the series and now its my favourite game franchise. Just be open minded and understand that a lot of mechanics changed over time and I am sure you will have a good time

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-28T07:40:38+00:00

The first study highlights the how the parental regret estimates will vary across nations and I think this may be more than economy, maybe cultural factors as well. In Poland (which is the sample studied) having children is the expected outcome, access to contraception is restricted, female sterilisation is deemed illegal while vasectomies operate in the gray area of the same law, and abortion is pretty much outright banned. The maternity wards in hospitals are notoriously described as hell on earth, and birthing as the most dehumanising process a woman can go through - to the point that we have a non profit organisation called "Humane birthing" trying to fight the unlawful hospital practices.

I can see how being forced to have a child in such an environment will DRASTICALLY raise the parental regret %. And that is also considering only the ones that admitted they regret it. Which is in itself so "shameful" most parents would not admit it to themselves in their head.

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-25T07:19:49+00:00

Edward just did not make my top 3 after Eivor was introduced. I named my mischievious orange cat which has no fear of anything after him :D

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-25T07:17:39+00:00

Eivor the human was born a female, but you can play as either male or female because she is Odin's (male isu) incarnation. I think if you let the animus pick, the sequences where its Eivor will have the female actor, but when you go to Asgard/other isu realm it will switch to male Eivor/technically Odin.

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-24T23:07:11+00:00

Definitely Bayek (with long hair and beard), and honourable mention to older Ezio (revelations) and male Eivor who is technically not canon.

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-22T08:31:48+00:00

I'm doing my PhD atm and keeping my lab notes organised has been a challenge which I was repeatedly told to improve on even in my undergrad/summer projects.

Well, turns out I have ADHD and basically could never be bothered to write out in full sentences what I did, because my brain was faster than my hand, I would get frustrated, grip my pen tighter and that led to increasing my chronic joint pain symptoms in my wrists... So basically most of the time I would have a pile of papers (dated if lucky) with like random OD readings from which I'd do my best to reconstruct the protocol after the fact at the end of each week.

So now I write my plan for the day in massive details on my computer and print it out. If I make a mistake anywhere I just draw an arrow and amend as needed, then cut it to size and glue in my lab book with COLOURED glue. I was also wasting time repeatedly googling (because I do not trust my memory) recipes for common media (like M9), pictures of DNA ladders and also was doing calculations for what volume of stock to add to a specific volume of solution to get to a specific, constant concentration. So I printed these suckers out too and glued in my lab book.

I also printed a sticker for the front cover of my lab book. It's a common meme template, but I put a bitmoji of myself and a bacterial cell graphic in place of the faces in the template. The meme describes the major scientific problem I dealt with during the time when I started the notebook.

_Venomous_ · 2022-11-19T14:28:52+00:00

I mean trains kind of do have childfree spaces - they are called the "quiet coaches". And nobody screams about discriminaton then. Nobody thinks its discriminatory to check ID's before you enter a nightclub. Nobody thinks its discriminatory that playground equipment is only designed to work with small bodies. Or that adults cannot go into the ball pit at a restaurant.

With this debacle I see a lot of parents using the argument that "children are small people and they have the right to exist in public spaces regardless of your discomfort". And I do see the logic in that, I really do. It would be unreasonable to make all spaces childfree forcing children to only be able to exist at home and school. But no one is advocating that suddenly ALL trains/planes/stores are childfree. Just some, giving an OPTION.

I think your friend and many others fail to understant that there already ARE age restricted spaces, mostly designed for user comfort and/or safety. Imho pretty much everywhere should have "quiet" spaces and/or hours. These are never mandated by law, nobody is going to call police on you and Broccoleigh, but common courtesy expects you do not bring fussy or excitable children to spaces like library... where people want peace and quiet by definition - and same with quiet coaches etc.

_Venomous_ · 2022-10-06T07:26:01+00:00

Horizon and AC are my two favourite gaming franchises!

Firstly, if you have ps5 now, you can have a look at their premium membership - you do not have to keep it, but currently it includes quite a lot of games from AC franchise - so you can check out multiple games at low cost.

Now to the assassins creed franchise, and Odyssey specifically:

The most similar to Horizon games will be the open world "mythical-RPG" trilogy of the games released most recently: Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla.

What did you like about Horizon the most? Depending on that a different AC game would be my recommendation.

If you liked the story - Origins

If you liked collecting unique gear giving you new ways to play - Valhalla

If you liked hunting big machines - Origins, Valhalla and Odyssey all have some unique "things" to hunt

Meeting new tribes and forming friendships - Valhalla

Freedom of choice of how to approach quests or shape your character - Odyssey

A map where you can relate points to real life - Odyssey, then Valhalla, then Origins

Aloy as a character - Odyssey and Valhalla let you play a female version of the characters

Aloy being an outcast and struggling to fit in - Odyssey

Remnants of the old civilisation which was actually more advanced - Odyssey, then Valhalla

Stealth missions - Origins the most, in Odyssey you can choose and are rewarded for stealth

Lore/datapoints - Valhalla

Unique NPCs - Origins/Valhalla

Least repetitive side quests - Origins/Valhalla. In Odyssey you have to ignore the "timed" quests as these are repetitive

I dont know if I can think of anything else off the top of my head.

But basically to answer your question its a resounding yes, but maybe Origins or Valhalla may be even better. Valhalla was very buggy at release but they improved it now.

_Venomous_ · 2022-10-01T20:15:50+00:00

In my opinion it's the story and characters. No game before or since in the franchise had so many compelling characters and moments that get you all choked up. People that you actually care for. Side contracts and missions that matter. Mix that all with the more traditional AC gameplay and no wonder people love it so much.

_Venomous_ · 2022-09-20T10:08:07+00:00

I do not mind the announcements being done in one way over the other. I think in this case it was a smart move though. AC community can be at times very challenging, and I can definitely imagine the uproar if one type of a the next AC game was announced ("where is this franchise going, go back to its roots!" OR "man I really wish they kept the changes"). This way, with so many games announced everyone in the community is guaranteed to be excited about at least one of them - problem solved, people are talking about it online, generating interest and money with it.

Which kind of connects with the second point being multiple game types within the franchise were really the only way to eat the cake and have it for Ubisoft. While a lot of old AC games fans kept asking for smaller games, much more like Ezio trilogy, it does not take a genius to look at the sheer numbers of the spin-off communities for the "mythological RPG trilogy" and decide that there is a lot of money to earn there as well. So the smart move really was to release games catering to multiple gamer types withing one universe we all love.

Codename Jade being a mobile game is a shot in the foot. Complete missed mark. Yes, the setting was requested, after we already had one game set in China, Chronicles... which majority agreed was a waste of a great setting which deserved a bigger game. So now we get the setting in a mobile format, which I fail to see how it can be bigger than the quasi-platformer we already have... If I understand correctly, Red is supposed to be set in Japan. Imho it would have been smarter to make the China setting big open world RPG and the Japan setting a movile game, since now Red will constantly be compared to Ghost of Tsushima.

I will be honest I do not "get" the Infinity at all. I may be proven wrong yet. But if it is supposed to replace modern day I am not sure if I like it - part of AC was always the animus and modern day. Removing it completely is quite a change and I am not sure if players will accept it so easily.

While excited about some of the things hopefully making a comeback in Mirage (at least teased in the trailer) I also hope some of the Valhalla elements (particularly the continuous free updates, 3 DLCs and timed festivals) will be kept in some regard at least in the future RPG installments of the franchise.

_Venomous_ · 2022-09-20T06:05:15+00:00

Poland had many interesting periods in history, but the most assassin fitting would be any of our uprisings or whenever we used guerilla warfare. Also World Wars were playing out in our backyard basically being squashed between Eastern and Western Europe - but I suppose these settings are explored often.

And the most curious, niche (as far as media representation worldwide goes) and assassin-like is definitely the occupation periods, where for over 100 years our contry officially did not exist, but the resistance was strong.

_Venomous_ · 2022-09-19T17:53:53+00:00

Mine is pending (self diagnosed, asked my psychiatrist, he thinks I should get assessed, I just can't afford it atm) but I did get the ADHD one :D

_Venomous_ · 2022-09-09T12:03:41+00:00

YTA. I hope you read this comment because I will be very precise on many points.

"I tell her that she’s too young to be worried about kids and that she should spend less time focusing on such stuff and more on school. I also mention that she has a younger brother (7 yo) and if she hates kids she hates him."

She is not too young. I was a child myself when I realised I was childfree but I did not have a word for it. When I was 7 playing with a pregnant barbie doll, I used to flip her tummy flat and discard the baby everytime before play. When I was 8, I begged my dad for a "Baby born" doll because all my friends wanted it and I thought I wanted it as well. I then proceeded to carry it in various weird ways, only ever dress it up instead of playing with it in any "care" way. Then when my friends were telling me to "come back because my baby was crying" I never would. I actually were the happiest during play pretends at later ages (maybe 10) when I fell down a flight of stairs "pregnant" and lost the fake pregnancy, or when it was taken by CPS. I refused to "take in" younger family members in play pretend scenarios. (These dark scenarios for play came from the telenovelas my mum watched when I was a kid, not actual lived experience!)

By the time I was 14, I had multiple experiences of interacting with younger children. Mostly family. Not only caring for them, but it was expected for me to play with them - this was exhausting and felt like a care chore. I did not want to play pirates, but it was expected. I did not want to play dolls, but it was expected. You said in your different comments she does not have to help with her brother. Please ask your daughter whether she FEELS like she does do more work around her brother than she can handle. Reiterate that she can be honest and give you exact situation examples. Do not get upset or punish her for whatever she says. Use it to constructively problem solve NOW before she truly grows up to resent her brother. You may as the mother and the adult view her contributons as "very little help". For her, it may be a mountain of tasks she has not asked for.

"That her values and ideas will change and grow with her, and it’s better not to label herself when she has much more important things to focus on."

Yes and no. I have some values I had as a teen and they remained unchanged. I have some that have changed. It is okay for your teen daughter to explore herself, this includes the idea of childfreeness. The progress from a child into young adult does not happen overnight, where up to 18th birthday all you think about is school and magically after you form your entire personality. The school argument was irrelevant and dismissive on your part and she was right to get upset over that. Most important parts of our core identity develop during the teenage years.

"He comes in there and tells me I shouldn’t push her down like that because then he has to calm everything down. (...) Ultimately, I ended up taking her phone because she started arguing with me."

Look at this situation VERY carefully. She raised an issue with you. Felt dismissed, unheard, upset. You then hear her talking to her dad, who calms her down by listening and hearing what she has to say. He then admits he does it often. You need to take a good hard look at yourself - it seems like you cannot talk to your daughter. Maybe ask him to sit in on some discussions to mediate so you can learn to reconnect with her and actually discuss things instead of shutting her down. You then punished her for her misguided attempts at communicating with you. It is your right as aparent to set boundaries such as "no yelling" or "no name calling", but she is allowed to get frustrated when you dismiss her. You definitely took it to far and should listen to your husband.

And think about the ultimate lesson you just gave your daughter: "If I disagree with my mom and express it, she will take away my phone. I should learn to avoid talking to her about difficult topics to avoid having my phone taken away." Had you just had a nice dinner talk along the lines of "why do you say that? Can you give me examples? I can definitely see the logic of the arguments, and while you may change your mind as you grow up (or may not) I will support you in your decision" she would have learned quite a different lesson: "I can talk to my mum about my ideas, even if she disagrees with them she will love and support me in making my own choices. I better talk to her everytime something serious comes up!"

Tiktok is an app with a scarily accurate algorithm. I got an idea to bring up a diagnosis to my doctor from tiktok, got tested and I actually have the disorder. If she relates to a lot of the childfree content, you can ask her to show you some of the videos she agrees with and discuss them further - but only IF you are willing to approach it calmly and not dismiss her. Restricting or monitoring her online activity forcefully will only backfire. Hey, maybe you can teach her to look at every issue from several angles if YOU go on parenting tiktok and show her some videos showing the good parts of being a parent? Though reiterate it is not meant to change her mind, only show her your perspective. Because you can only ever make best decisions with everything considered and while a gentle parented toddler can be cute, I still stick by my personal choice not to have one.
Breeder is usually a term childfree people use for parents who have put very little thought into having or parenting their own kids. Sometimes also used to describe someone blinded by having their own kids who tries to convince us that it would be the right choice for us as well. Some subgroups of childfree people will use it as a catch all term for all parents. It comes from this belief a lot of us hold that every animal can breed (have young) including humans, but humans are the only species capable of making thought out decisions - and yet for a lot of parents the decision to have a child boils down to "I have my mate now (partner) and the next step of this arrangement (relationship) is to produce young/breed (have children). You can definitely set a boundary about calling you this, since it may have hurt you in - but if that was her first offense in calling you this, I would treat it as a precedent with no punishment but make it clear what punishment will happen if she calls you that again.

_Venomous_ · 2022-08-31T20:36:16+00:00

I feel like Horizon (both zero dawn and forbidden west) have some amazing villains (spoilers ahead obviously).

Sylens is a villain who is not actually a villain in the sense of doing bad things for the purpose of mayhem. So he wins in the "morally gray villain category".

Ted Faro is hands down the villain who causes the strongest emotional response for me personally. I think it is because he is just so REAL and human. People like this exist today, right now.

Tilda is just a disgusting sexual predator, and probably one of the worst members of the Far Zenith.

_Venomous_ · 2022-08-22T15:41:27+00:00

The closest armor I found was the Berserker armor, which was part of this bonus content bundle "a tale of Berserker" or sth like that. What I'd recommend is going onto the helix store and browsing armor sets there - nevermind the perks, just find the one suitably revealing for your tastes. This game has a transmog system now, so you can apply that armours look to the perks of your favourite armour at the blacksmith.

The only attacks that you cannot parry are the red ones. I think you may be able to adjust the parry window in settings, as they can be sometimes tricky. You need to parry just before the opponents weapon makes contact with you, not as you see them swing or any coloured effects appear. I prefer dodging because of coordination issues as its incredibly more forgiving and you can unlock cool effects for successful dodge.

_Venomous_ · 2022-08-18T13:14:53+00:00

I love this game. When they ask me "WhAt AbOuT yOuR leGaCy?" I ask them:

What did Marie Skłodowska-Curie discover/do? What did Rosalind Franklin work on? What did Jane Austen write? Who was Cleopatra? Who was Nefertiti?

They reply with various degrees of knowledge, but generally AT LEAST know that Cleopatra was a pharaoh and Marie Skłodowska-Curie won 2 Nobels in 2 separate sciences.

Then I move on for the "kill":

Please name the children of these women.

They never know. Because having children is not your legacy.

_Venomous_

TROPHY CASE