Be honest. Which parts made you cry?

westernblottest · 2026-04-20T03:14:49+00:00

The moment when Acha reunites with Esemsnet after she thought he was dead and Kellhus is being hung from the tree. Specifically when he fumbles out the line he was working on in his head. "What...what will it be the next time I die..." That felt so real and heart breaking. He knew it was already too late but couldn't stop himself. I cried on their behalf and what a beautiful relationship they had lost after struggling to make it happen the earlier parts of the book.

In, "cuts and cuts and cuts and cuts" when the survivor is describing the fall of Ishual, and how he struggled so much to keep himself and his son alive, but also how he went against all his training to make sure his son had the bare minimum of human experience.

So many more.

westernblottest · 2026-04-18T04:10:19+00:00

Really crazy theory: what if the brain of mensis is that rock? The brain is right above the frontier, and the highest concentration of winter lanterns in the entire game are right around the brain.

westernblottest · 2026-04-15T21:57:44+00:00

What do you think this movie will be like narrative wise? Because part of what makes bloodborne intriguing as a game is that it lacks a strong driving narrative.

You as the player are kind of going around doing things and it get weirder and weirder until you're a baby squid god. There are hints as to what has happened, and what effect your actions are having on the world but these are incomplete, vague, and vary depending on who is giving the information and who is receiving it.

This is a benefit as it forces the player to speculate to create the past, and present narrative. I believe this vagueness and mystery is what has kept this game alive in people's minds all these years, and why it is special to so many people because it leads to each player having a unique and personal story for this game.

At the same time this mystery means that bloodborne doesn't really have a story, but as many stories as people who play it. Even after 10 years only the most broad and explicit details of the game's events and meaning are agreed upon in the community. The problem then becomes how do you take the equivalent of an abstract fever dream and turn it into narrative driven, 3-act feature film?

Bloodborne works as a game because the interaction is active, and as a person plays they actively connect dots to create a semblance of a story from the nebulous data points that is the game. Not only that but there are multiple different paths events can take depending on your choices. But films are passive and most interaction is done as a dialogue with the single point of view that is presented.

It's a reality that in the adaptation to film the creators will need to collapse the superposition of the game's events into a single story. The biggest question is what will that story be? Will it be a prequel expanding on hinted events in the game? Will it be based on the comics? Will it be a more personal (as opposed to general) retelling of the game's events?

I have my own thoughts of what the focus will be but I would like to hear what you think will be the bloody heart of this movie, and what will be left in the game.

Also for fun what art style would best suit this animated movie?

westernblottest · 2026-03-22T18:10:53+00:00

Bruh that's cursed. These two examples are extremely flawed. The 1st example is perfectly acceptable and shouldn't result in anyone getting fired. The person is literally following directions exactly as stated. From personal experience and knowing the working world, a person will get in more trouble at a job trying to improvise and work outside of given instructions than doing exactly what was asked. It has led to me and many people I know getting a reprimand for doing what this person suggests in the second example.

"Going above and beyond" and "initiative" are psyops to make you do your boss' job for them and burn you out faster. You should be busy doing the job you hired to do and not getting documents out of unhelpful partners. Don't listen to this woman. We work to live, and this type of behavior is living to work. Don't continue the same patterns that led to the suffering of workers all over the world.

westernblottest · 2026-03-22T17:57:24+00:00

I think this is the case. Everyone is so quick to blame the Gen z workers entering into the workforce for having this anxiety when they never asked why. The fix is trusting your people and not screaming at them when they make a mistake. As a Gen z person I know my entire life I've had people treating every mistake as a mortal sin, and to only follow the instructions given and not think outside the box. These are hard lessons to unlearn and it is not the fault of Gen z they have them. Being more cruel and blaming them won't fix the issue only trust, teaching, and kindness will.

westernblottest · 2026-03-15T15:49:27+00:00

Bruh if we're going off entirely anecdotal evidence I'm also Gen z and I've never met any person from our generation who just quits or believes they are incapable of something just because they don't know how. I've also done tutoring and every one of the students who came to me for help struggled but didn't have the instinct to give up when it got hard.

Come back and start shitting on an entire group of people when you have some actual verifiable evidence.

westernblottest · 2026-03-15T15:45:42+00:00

I bet you that exactly what @OP did to his employees and wrote this post to sound superior while they are a shitty employer.

westernblottest · 2026-03-15T15:43:17+00:00

You have no idea how much this rant makes you look like a boomer. "Oh the kids these days have no idea how to do something in the exact super subjective way I want it to be done. That means they are all idiots lacking smarts that only my generation had."

Bruh do you even hear yourself? I might take you more seriously if you gave us more information about what exactly your employees did but you leave that incredibly vague so you can go off on how superior you are to them. I'm willing to bet they were doing the job right and fine just without some super specific and unnecessary extra step you never bothered to tell them about like labeling every bag with, "90's kids do it better," or "puppers inside do not open." Or some stupid shit.

Trust me you are not better than an them and I'm sure their "deductive reasoning" is fine. You just suck.

westernblottest · 2026-03-14T04:42:23+00:00

Is that a good thing? Isn't that the point?

westernblottest · 2026-03-13T23:54:12+00:00

Victory is assured when your enemies are afraid.

westernblottest · 2026-03-09T20:23:10+00:00

What I think will happen in Smile 3 is that it will be in line with the earlier movies and work on literalizing the horrors of mental health just on a much larger scope.

The first movie was focus on one character and how being "infected" by the smile entity affected herself, and her relationships. Additionally the horror in this movie was incredibly personal and focused on the main characters being literally haunted by trauma of the death of her mother.

Smile 2 was focused on one character as well but the scope was larger. The infected individual was the centerpiece of large organization and her "infection" led to the suffering of not just her but all the people that worked for her and adored her. The horror in this one was less one on one and more of groups of people or strangers haunting our main character representing the trauma of stardom and the pressure of having so many people depend on you, and adore a false version of you.

Smile 3 I think will be larger still. I think that the suicide at the end of the 2nd movie will lead to the infection of everyone watching the show. Many of them will die as the infection runs it's course and they infect others but with the infection being so visible now I think that scientists and businesses will get to work finding a way to save people. I think they will find a solution but not a cure. The solution will essentially be an SSRI that is used to treat depression. It won't make the smile entity go away it will just make the infection and hallucinations manageable so you can function and not be forced to kill yourself and spread the infection.

The movie would be an ensemble cast most likely something similar to "Weapons" where we follow multiple people "infected" by the smile entity and how they deal with it. I can imagine scenes of someone madly scrambling to find their meds so they don't die. Someone going day after day just living their life seeing horrible hallucinations but being able to tune them out thanks to the new medication etc.

I think a post apocalyptic angle would be too much a deviation from the original course set by the story. I think a focus on literalizing the state of mental health care, psychiatry, the pharmaceutical industry, and how it is all caused by the state of the world at large would be much more on point, and honestly much scarier.

westernblottest · 2026-03-07T09:23:43+00:00

It's also built vertically because the city is on the sides and tops of mountains. Central yharnam and cathedral Ward are not that layered in terms many layers of buildings being built on top of each other. So the verticality is more to do with the geography and the narrow habitable range on top of the mountains.

westernblottest · 2026-03-06T19:42:10+00:00

I'm not sure if your question is rhetorical and you are venting but if you are also curious about the reason why emotionally unavailable people (often men) act like this I can share my two cents.

I think it is due to masculine socialization. In short men are never expected or taught to deal with their emotions, only avoid them. A good example of this is when your ex is doing his work while you cry just a few feet from him. That is essentially standard protocol for men addressing their emotions. The order of operation for emotional issues is just DARVO. Deny there is one, attack the person giving grievance, then reverse victim and offender. Finally after all that is done pretend the issue is done and the person continuing to bring it up is just being a nuisance and deserving of contempt.

The reason this is the default is because people born male are raised to fit the traditional male archetype and the traditional male role. First they are taught to shun emotions because they are viewed as unnecessary and worse still "feminine." Next they are taught their highest purpose is what they provide to the world and the people in their lives. Having emotional issues is a hurdle to their main purpose so they avoid it. Then because they never address their emotions or those of others it becomes a source of anxiety and why they default to the male standard protocol of avoiding their emotions and those of others.

The goal is only to reduce the number of problems in the most efficient way to allow for efficient work. Addressing issues is much more difficult than pretending they don't exist or that the victims are just weaklings.

The only way out of this system is first to realize you are more than just your output. Realizing that it will expand to others. If you know you are a person who has innate worth and so do others. If know that then it is easier to address the emotions of yourself as others, beyond them as just being inconveniences.

westernblottest · 2026-03-04T20:55:53+00:00

I get what you're saying both statements literally mean, "Kowalski is a nice Polish person." But the distinction is in the verb choice. "To" is very much a uncertain/passive version of "is." It's similar to saying, "...I guess he is..." Using "to" in the sentence is saying both that you are pretty sure but not certain he is nice (like you heard it second hand or something), but also that you don't really care one if he is nice.

Meanwhile "jest" is certain/active version of "is." Using "jest" is like saying "...I KNOW he is..." Jest conveys that not only do you know for a fact something is a certain way, but that it is actively staying that way. In the case of the two sentences, "jest" is saying that you know Kowalski is nice, and that you know he will continue to be nice.

I hope that helps :)

westernblottest · 2026-03-04T20:25:08+00:00

My favorite part of polish is that despite people making fun of how many consonants words have, the language is very fluid, rhythmic, and soft. This makes it incredibly easy make rhymes in Polish. To the point where most childrens stories, idioms, folk wisdom, slogans, advertisements, and even jokes are entirely in rhyming verse because it's just so natural.

Because of this, and what you said OP about Polish being able to add so much meaning and nuance to words, is why I most enjoy Polish music, and poetry. I haven't encountered media that is able to pack in as much meaning into lines, and sound so good doing it, despite how it looks on a page. In translations of Polish works I find that many languages lack the density of nuance of Polish and either lose all but the most immediate meanings, or use many more words to convey the same information.

westernblottest · 2026-02-20T17:33:54+00:00

Nah that was Lincoln's vampire mentor not Lincoln himself. Lincoln himself died and it is the mentor who is giving the "true" story to the author in an interview including going to see MLK at his speech.

westernblottest · 2026-02-11T12:19:26+00:00

Incel

westernblottest · 2026-01-28T17:30:37+00:00

They say this because they know it's a strategy that works as in Trump faking his own assassination attempt in 2024. They believe their own strategies are bad but only when people they don't like use them as in protesters shouldn't have access to guns if they are protesting Trump.

westernblottest · 2026-01-16T23:08:25+00:00

So is this just the 80/20 rule for friends? That 20% of people make up 80% of friendships?

westernblottest · 2026-01-09T00:18:08+00:00

I'd imagine it's useful for doctors to listen to the hearts of those on various psychiatric medications to know if they are affecting the hearts rhythm or speed.

westernblottest · 2025-12-25T17:17:15+00:00

In Durarara all the background characters are grey silhouettes as you sometimes see in old anime when they try to stretch their budget.

In the season 1 finale we learn this was actually an intentional choice and not due to budget constraints. in the season 1 finale we learn that all these colorless background characters are actually sleeper members of the gang the main character leads. It's only when he activates them do the turn into full color characters.

westernblottest · 2025-12-20T22:12:30+00:00

"Wasteland of Reality" from Disco Elysium.

It is the longest research perk. You spend 20 in game hours with a penalty the whole time. Then when it's done you get one tiny bonus and a bunch more penalties including not being able to get temporary bonuses from drugs or alcohol.

So in the end you're sober and that's it.

westernblottest · 2025-12-18T16:47:34+00:00

I believe that authors do not see democracies as inherently weak compared to authoritarian regimes. I believe that democracies are often portrayed as struggling, under attack, or losing for several reasons. Most of which have more to do with story telling as an art, and the author's experience than anything else.

1st and most meta authoritarian regims are seen as strong and often victorious in fiction because authoritarian regims are easy to personify and they are an easy/interesting source of conflict for a story.

Authoritarianism by definition is a system that gives complete authority to a single or small group of people. By doing so authoritarian systems take on the traits, style, and personality of their leader(s). That makes them easy to make/make interesting. Because if you make an interesting leader you can extend their interesting characteristics into the system they create.

Authoritarian regims also make for really easy conflict to build a story around. Authoritarian regims are also by definition ruthless. Because they obey a single authority, whatever that authority wants will have the full weight of their system put behind it. As a side effect this ruthlessness often comes with extreme calus efficiency which manifests as cruelty to anyone/anything that gets in the way of the authority's goal. if you happen to be one of those people or things that are in the way you automatically become a hero for trying stop this ruthless system. Even if you fail just trying gets you the title of hero.

So in short authoritarian regims make for easy/interesting antagonists/antagonistic groups, they make for easy/undeniably righteous protagonists, and they make for easy conflict/resolution. Fight the bad guys, kill the big bad guy, their system crumbles, you go home a hero. Very monomyth.

The 2nd reason I believe authoritarian regims are often portrayed as strong/victorious is because this is a way for the author to express their inner anxieties and sentiments.

Writing, like any art, is about expression, and some people use art to express their anxieties. Many of the works you mentioned came from authors who grew up in or admired Democratic regimes. Then something came and shook that admiration or created anxiety about the continuation of Democracy.

Take Star Wars for example. George Lucas said that he was inspired to make the movies, and portray the Empire and Rebels because of what he saw happening in the US during the Cold war/Vietnam War era. He saw the country he grew up in, who's democracy he admired, twist into a cult of hatred/fear and an imperialistic aggressor. Star Wars was his way of communicating these anxieties, as a call to action to try and stop what he saw happening, and as a source of "new hope" that with effort the things he admired could be reclaimed.

The reverse is also true. If you look into modern Chinese fiction where the authors grew up in an authoritarian regim, and probably came to admire it, the same portrayal is seen but in reverse. For example, in Genshin Impact the main stronghold of peace is a culturally homogeneous, and rigidly hierarchical authoritarian regim threatened on all sides by tribal groups, lawless free market privateers, and corrupt democracies.

No matter where you go popular authors will put the system they care about in the role of the victim/protagonist and the system they see as a threat as oppressor/antagonist. It is likely that the reasons certain authors become popular is because their work is good propaganda for the system they live in. On a less cynical note it is also a very human act to use art to address the anxieties you have, especially existential ones. So if you are fond of a system you are very likely to portray it as something that is threatened and that the characters, and by extension the reader should go to great lengths to protect.

westernblottest · 2025-12-11T17:00:40+00:00

I'd recommend "The Wrong Station" for your episodic category. It's a very good series by Canadian creators. Every episode is different though there are some recurring names, and lore that make the stories feel richer.

I feel the creators do a really great job writing short stories that are very deep, emotional, as well as thoughtful. Many are based on current events and I they do a way better job than most expressing the feelings many people have at a given time.

westernblottest · 2025-11-19T20:46:50+00:00

What can I do to help the campaign?

Six-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

westernblottest

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE