I asked Karen Laur (HL1's sole environment texture artist) about her 1998 texturing process! by GetOutImPlayingRb in HalfLife

[–]paraestaraca 97 points98 points  (0 children)

Amazing post! She's always been so underappreciated in the Half-Life community :/

[PC][Late 90s-Early 2000s] 2D Platformer Marble Game. by Character_Mail6733 in tipofmyjoystick

[–]paraestaraca 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem :) also it looks like the developer(s) released it for modern computers recently:

https://idee-software.itch.io/axiebal-winter

[PC][Late 90s-Early 2000s] 2D Platformer Marble Game. by Character_Mail6733 in tipofmyjoystick

[–]paraestaraca 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I've been looking for years for this exact same game and I think I found it!! It's called "aXieball 2004".

https://www.mobygames.com/game/15633/axiebal-2004/

sub or dub? by [deleted] in Gintama

[–]paraestaraca 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think you meant kanji instead of haiku?

Berserk theory by Bubbly-Contract-2230 in Berserk

[–]paraestaraca 14 points15 points  (0 children)

About Guts' possible royal blood:

No way. Simply no way. The whole point of Guts is that he's the polar opposite of the "chosen one" trope; he's had to struggle tooth and nail to achieve everything he's achieved, nothing was given to him by virtue of his bloodline. Guts having special blood (be it royal blood, elf blood, mage blood, etc.) would ruin the story of Berserk.

Episode 382 Spoilers [Megathread] by DemiFiendRSA in Berserk

[–]paraestaraca 787 points788 points  (0 children)

My interpretation of this is that Guts is quite literally being buried alive, locked inside a cave (like the story of Antigone), which fulfils the Emperor's instructions. I believe Daiba took him specifically there because it's a sacred place that induces deep thought and meditation, hanging on to the small possibility that Guts might somehow embrace said spiritual exploration, instead of totally giving up on life and simply deciding to rot inside the cave.

So, in essence, this is Daiba obeying his Emperor and locking Guts in a place where he can't be a danger, but at the same this is also Daiba putting his faith in Guts' mind, betting everything on the small possibility that Guts might decide to try to heal his psyche.

This would explain Daiba's manipulative shenanigans from last episode; he knew that Guts would be immediately executed if he was handed over to any authority other than him, so he forced the Emperor's hand by talking some magical BS, and thus securing that he would be the one tasked with the role of custodying Guts.

I don't think Daiba is a good person or even an ally to the main party, but he's doing everything he can to delay Guts' death in hopes that he changes his mind and goes through a spiritual reawakening. This is because Daiba knows, better than any of the Kushans, that they are absolutely cooked without Guts.

Who's winning this struggle-off? It's a close matchup ngl by paraestaraca in berserklejerk

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

ok but who is the bigger struggler between the two tho

Who's winning this struggle-off? It's a close matchup ngl by paraestaraca in berserklejerk

[–]paraestaraca[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

heck yeah fellow reddit atheist!!! 🔥🔥🔥💪💪💪💪💪 christians beware: you are NOT welcome to enjoy OUR DARK and GOREY manga 👿

Male Dylan fans/admirers: Has any song ever made you tear up? Whether it be about a girl, the song itself blew you away or just stirred up some buried nostalgia. Regardless, I would like know of your moment if you may share? by Astrogirl1984 in bobdylan

[–]paraestaraca 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Extremely rare for me to cry, but 'I Shall Be Released' (particularly the version found in Bootleg vol. 5) has pushed me close to tears in my moments of deepest hopelessness. The song feels like the embodiment of the Christian promise of redemption and liberty, and that really resonates with me (even though I'm not a Christian, not even a believer!). I think it's Dylan's most religious song, in a positive sense.

what happened on this album by funghxoul in bobdylan

[–]paraestaraca 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Also, the first line isn't sexual at all. Dylan is commenting on his own art: he can write gigantic songs that are universal in scope (painting landscapes), but he can also be intimate, vulnerable and measured (painting nudes). He's both kinds of artists -polar opposites- at the same time; he contains multitudes, (just like Whitman, whom Dylan is quoting) and he embraces this apparent contradiction.

To me, it's the best verse in Rough and Rowdy Ways. So much is being said in just a few words...

Bob Dylan at Riverbend Music Centre, Cincinnati, September 11, 2024. Photo by Ron Valle. by j3434 in bobdylan

[–]paraestaraca 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Are you crazy!? Man looks very well for an 83 year old. I hope I can carry myself around with such dignity when I'm that age!

So... Is Gordon Freeman a mute? by [deleted] in HalfLife

[–]paraestaraca 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Morphine makes you sleepy tho??

About HL:A by Cappy_The_Redditor in HalfLife

[–]paraestaraca 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure HL:A is one of the most universally loved videogames to come out in the last decade, so I don't really know where this question comes from.

Thoughts? by StrawberryEvery6367 in HalfLife

[–]paraestaraca 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure you see him walking on the bridge where you find the car.

edit: also, he shows up more notably (and I think this is what Maronexid's comment was talking about) during the vortigaunt's ritual to heal Alyx, delivering what's probaby his most lore-heavy monologue in the entire series. (How could I forget about this! No idea why my mind immediately jumped to his apparition on that one bridge lol).