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Arthur Morgan is one the most dynamic characters in video games, as of this year. At first he starts off as a grizzled veteran outlaw, who is used as the workhorse of his boss’ ,Dutch, gang. He is constantly trying to escape to live the life he always has, the life of an outlaw. But times are changing, and the world doesn't seem to need people like him anymore, the world wants to become more “civilized” and wants to rid themselves of the past, the age of outlaws. Arthur having to face this makes him mature in so many aspects, that it makes him feel all that more human, and with the time you need to spend to get to know this world, it’s an unforgettable experience.

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Cuphead is one of the most ambitious games of recent memory, it goes takes the hard route in creating its movements, as every single frame is hand drawn, creating an incredibly fluid, fun, and satisfying experience from beggining to end. Behind the curtains its another story, but still one full of passion. The creator of the game had to basically put his finacial life on the line in order to finish this game, his dream, and every single aspect of it oozes the blood, sweat, tears and hard work put into it. 

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Formal Essay #2

In the month of October one of my best friends that is studying in the US, Carlos, had the chance to visit us, because his university had given him and another friend of mine Juan (Juanki) a Fall break. He was not going to be able to visit us during his actual birthday (November 5th), so instead we planned to celebrate it in the week where he was here, from the 15th until the 22nd. During the week he was here, I was going to his house after my classes, since it had been a couple of months since I had last seen him. It was really nice to catch up on what was going on in his life, and to spend some time with the guy.

It was Thursday, 6:00 pm, the end of my college week, and the start of a new weekend. It was time to party. I called up some friends who are studying in Mayagüez (Miguel, Anto, and Manzano) to come down to Guaynabo to mess with Carlos. They did that 2-and-a-half-hour ride, in what felt like a heartbeat. After getting the gang together, I brief them in what is going to happen. We called Carlos and told him we wanted a guy’s night out. He told us we couldn’t because he had to go to a family dinner at his girlfriend’s house. What he didn’t know was that his girlfriend (Hannah), had elaborate ruse to surprise him. We called him from inside the same house he was heading towards. Somewhat childish, although the look on his face was priceless, he was so happy to find out that he didn’t need to actually go to a family dinner.

We stayed in the house for a few hours and left at about 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm, to pick up my buddy Diego from his apartment in Condado. A few games of beer pong later we left the apartment, to go to our second to last destination. We were going to Old San Juan, due to the whining of both Carlos and Juanki. It had been a few years since I had actually gone to El Viejo San Juan, probably since 11th grade or so.

San Juan is normally a place of gathering for many people from around the island, depending on what time of the year it is, the craziest is when Las Calles de San Sebastian happen in January, where it’s basically impossible to move along the street without bumping into someone. There are so many different kinds of people you find on the street, depending on the day you go, on Saturdays it’s filled with kids from 10th to 11th grade, on most other days it’s a bit emptier, but has more variety of people, from a few drunkards, to a few potheads, which in comparison to some of the other bad things that happen in this country, is pretty mild. Driving towards my group’s destination I couldn’t help but reminiscing about all the things that I’ve experienced here.

Memories of the past come flooding. From my first-time drinking, to some of my first night’s out on the streets with my mates, good times looking back on it now. When we got there, the place was pretty desolate, which was pretty normal on a Thursday night. We went to our go to spot from a few years back, El Boqueron, which was home to Percy, this overweight bartender, with a beard that gets to half of his shirt, but one of the friendliest guys you can find there. We were the only ones in the bar, except for a couple at the corner of the bar. I felt very nostalgic, imagining, as if they were flashbacks, the various places where I would normally sit with my friends and chat with the people I would meet up with. A few drinks later, we hit the streets, and we walk around the old Spanish streets we had walked so many times before.

These same Spanish streets which were home to so much war, cruelty, and other terrible acts, have been watered down to mere tourists’ attractions, as explained by Dean MacCannell in the Ethics of Sightseeing. Pain and Pleasure aren’t that far apart, like many other attractions of beauty and happiness, like the examples MacCannell presents: The Ground Zero for Hiroshima and Auschwitz in Poland. These have become attractions of mostly pleasure, that are built on the suffering of others, seems like a lot of things are made that way. The suffering of a most definitely extinct race of natives that once roamed these lands, were cut down by the Spaniards, destroying most of their history and culture in the process. Most stories about the different natives around the world have similar ends, which I truly find saddening that such diverse cultures, for being different from the European way of life, was deemed savage, and uncultured, and needing of “salvation”.

So many of these beautiful ways of thinking, such as the Native Americans, and their ties with protecting the land and what the Earth provides them with to survive, and how it’s one’s job to protect, not harm the world. Afterwards I found world where I find myself conflicted between two ways of thinking, either enjoying the place where I find myself in or really digging deep about how this is just a coat of paint trying to hide a hard truth.

This time it felt different from previous times. Just as the natives of this land were suffering, about the various problems they were facing at the time, I found myself in a similar predicament, but not nearly as intense or violent. I realized that a major part of my life had passed right before my eyes. My high school era, which I had longed so long for it to end, had finally come to its conclusion. I remember a younger version of myself always trying to become older, and for time to pass faster and faster so I can skip to the best parts of life, but now that I’ve started college and have become about 5% more mature than my previous self, I felt an air of sadness and melancholy shroud me for a bit, no more was the age of being a child, an age of innocence, being so carefree and not having to worry that much about the consequences in life, and what I wanted to do with the rest of it.

The rap artist J. Cole once said: “The bad news is that nothing lasts forever, the good news is that nothing lasts forever”. The pain that had once happened on these streets, have become the pleasure of others, and as the feelings of sadness I once felt on that night, became happiness as I had realized that another chapter of my life was just beginning, there is still so much more to experience, and so many things to do. Shortly after we left Old San Juan and headed our way towards another place of gathering, La Placita in Santurce, which is filled with more college students and adults than anything else. We stayed there for a few more hours. It was 1:00 am when we decided to leave and stay at the apartment in Condado, to end the night.

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Shadow of the Colossus without hyperbole one of the most unique video games ever made there is quite simply no other game out there quite like this one it's also one of the most beautiful tragedies ever told in a video game story and a grand masterpiece that stands as a poster child for the mediums artistic worth.

Shadow of the Colossus was developed by Team Ico in 2005 as something of a spiritual successor to their previous game ICO for which the dev team is named after. upon the release of Shadow of the Colossus critics praised it pretty highly and players loved it but despite its many qualities it's a very slow game with very awkward controls so it didn't catch on much with the masses.  Shadow of the Colossus consists of 16 boss battles and that's basically it. in terms of the gameplay at least you wander the game world in order to reach each of them but there are no enemies in this world nothing to attack you aside from the colossi themselves you have a bow and a sword and that remains the extent of your inventory throughout the entire game and on top of that simplicity the game is kind of awkward to handle the protagonist moves awkwardly and does horse controls like there's a moment of lag between each of your button inputs. despite this the game is widely considered a masterpiece its proponents will argue that the game's flaws are in a way strengths and don't ultimately detract from the experience of the game others will argue that the actual experience of play is a little too awkward and frustrating to actually really be able to appreciate what else the game has to offer.

this game is gorgeous even with the low graphical capabilities of the ps2 the environments are stunning but the game has a way of slowing down and just letting us appreciate these environments which really drives home that beauty. it's not something we get to do often in games but as we'll see more when the game really starts Shadow of the Colossus is not like most games and pairing this with the beautiful soundtrack doesn't hurt either our hero named wander arrives at a gate and crosses a bridge into a temple and places upon the altar a young girl named mono when dark shadowy creatures began to appear wander shows them his sword and a voice rings out, asking who he is, this is Dormin. Wander explains that Mano was sacrificed because she had a cursed fate and that he came because he heard this being doorman had power over life and death. dormin laughs exclaiming that the law of mortals is that Souls cannot be brought back from the dead but says with the ancient sword Wander has it may be possible he explains that the only way to bring her back is for wander to destroy the statues lining the walls which can only be done by defeating sixteen colossal creatures who were tied to each one but dormin also says it will have a heavy price to which wanders response is: “It doesn't matter”

Shadow of the Colossus has a pretty minimal story but it also has a lot of depth so there are a lot of details here that are kind of left open to the player's interpretation hankfully paying close attention and having a solid grasp on the story's major themes can lead to some pretty interesting theorizing and gives us a good enough platform from which we can figure some stuff out

wander sets off and now we reach one of the two major elements of Shadow of the Colossus is running time riding his horse aggro across a huge empty land to find the colossi as I mentioned before there's no danger in the world of this game aside from the colossi themselves so the time between epic Colossus battles is taken up by a peaceful journey across the land

These colossi have a lot of architectural elements in their design but seem to be alive in one way or another so we're unsure exactly what they are giant organic beasts,  lumbering golems could be a lot of things but we do know one thing for sure fighting them is epic.I mean you're playing as a kid armed with a sword and a bow taking on these gigantic creatures how do you do this? By climbing them  seriously the first part of every Colossus battle is figuring out how you can get on the freakin thing so you can stab the the runes that can be all over their body but still this makes the colossi play out less like a typical video game battle and more like a puzzle platforming level where you have to figure out how to get onto the Colossus and also how to navigate its body without falling off.

you're hundreds of feet in the air on top of a gigantic beast holding on for dear life is this immense behemoth tries to shake you off, some of them even go underwater or fly and you need to do everything in your power to stay on top of them while they do everything they can to buck you off pair this with some exciting desperate sounding music from the wonderful wonderful soundtrack, and it makes for some great moments.

Everything here is huge from the colossal Giants that you have to fight to the vast plains you ride across on aggro well that is everything is huge except you remember when I said that awkwardness of the game is more of a strength than a weakness in the end this is the main reason why Shadow of the Colossus builds dramatic tension primarily through the simple fact that you are small and incapable and taking on things much much larger than yourself. Wander is not a fighter he's not trained he's not capable he's just a boy and I've never seen another  game so effectively and thoroughly communicate that kind of characterization just through the characters animations I mean if you look at him run with the sword he’s just flailing with it  like a kid playing with a stick.

the biggest gameplay element that adds tension and emphasizes wanders desperate lack of competence in this situation is a simple mechanic that's far as I know completely unique to this game.  The grid button and stamina meter. You don't grab onto ledges automatically when you come near them like you do in basically every other platformer of this style and era you actually have to hold the r-1 button to grab and hold on to something and you have a limited amount of stamina before you'll have to let go this means you'll occasionally need to find an opportunity to stand so your stamina can return which can be difficult when you're holding on to the back of a giant beast as it shakes violently back and forth in an attempt to throw you off this makes the encounters with colossi incredibly tense and add a lot of pressure and makes you constantly aware of the fact that if you don't find some respite soon you're going to fall off.

in general the gameplay has a very organic feel to it there are no timed button presses no guided jumps or automatic ledge grabs no set pieces that conveniently align themselves just right when you need them to progress the game doesn't really help you with any of these basic motions or actions and that it can actually result in some frustration sometimes since a minor miscalculation can actually lead to some pretty major setbacks all this comes together to make it so Wander never comes across as anything other than a boy who is in way over his head

the thing about killing these colossi is that as epic and exciting as the battles may be, when you actually kill one, you might not get your expected result. people tend to remember the music that plays at the end of these Colossus battles quite vividly it sounds majestic which is of course very fitting but also sad it makes you feel less like you just vanquished a mighty beast and more like you just destroyed a magnificent creature something innocent maybe even sacred and those tendrils of darkness plunging into you at the end of the battle don't really ease your mind.  after defeating the first Colossus you wake up back in the temple with a shadowy figure standing over you and after defeating the second there are two then three and it continues this way all the way until you're consistently waking up in a circle of shadow people.

as you continue you start noticing some variants in the colossi some are humanoid some are more animal and some are explicitly magical in nature but one defining characteristic across the notable majority is that they don't attack you or at least if they do it's only in self-defense most of them don't care you're there and some of them never even do anything to directly harm you even as you're killing them by and large they don't seem to be a danger to anything or anyone so why are you killing them? This unease comes to a head when you encounter a small Colossus yeah not all of them are absurdly huge then guard some kind of sacred flame and the way to beat it is to discover its weakness it fears the fire it guards when you wield flame against it it cowards like a scared puppy and swats pathetically at you just trying to get you to go away. We've seen a variety of colossi at this point but this is the first time we've seen one show discernible human emotion crippling fear and we take advantage of that fear to kill it it's actually kind of horrible.

the narrative of the lone hero who slays the beast and saves the damsel is so ingrained in our consciousness that there's no real consideration right off the bat that maybe our actions aren't heroic but a horrible desecration of nature for a dark God the fact that there will be a heavy price for wander is a quick line at the beginning easy to look over so despite all this foreshadowing that you might not be the good guy a lot of players don't catch on that something really bad is happening until they notice that wanders skin is growing pale and clammy and he looks well like he's dying or something the point at which they noticed this varies since it changes subtly over the course of the game but it's very noticeable by the end. Wander himself is incredibly single-minded he's so fixated on getting Mano back that he never really gives any real thought to the consequences.

in a cutscene at about the halfway point wander dreams of Manos resurrection and goes to her when he awakens the statue of the colossus wander just killed explodes from a distance obscured by the architecture while Wander remains fixated on Mano andi think that's an excellent image to sum up wander’s motivation and character he only wants one thing and he doesn't care what he needs to do to himself or to others to get it and this is such a slow creeping feeling of dread blanketing the whole game that the inevitable ending is all the more powerful for it

on the way to the final Colossus a bridge begins to collapse as wander crosses it on a grow a grow being an endlessly loyal horse manages to throw wander off in time but plunges into the river below with the rest of the debris it's actually kind of crazy how much and how deeply this affected a lot of players I mean the death of the faithful animal companion is a sad event in any human story really but this moment is in a lot of lists for some of the saddest moments in games  I think it's safe to say by this point the player is catching on to wanders questionable intentions and it's easy to feel like you got aggro killed for evil purposes when all he ever did was loyally help you without fail.

nevertheless wander continues to the final Colossus which is very different from the others it's stuck in place and since it's actively and maliciously attacking you the entire time it's not beautiful like some of the others and there's no triumphant music or epic struggle it's a grueling dark journey of an ugly and terrifying monster.  you do eventually destroy it but when wander arrives back at the shrine he's not in very good shape to make things worse the group of masked men led by a man named Eamon arrived just before him and see him like I said if you haven't noticed wanders deterioration before now you definitely do at this point he's weak he looks beaten sickly and worn down and he has horns protruding from his head

he's basically powerless to stop Eamon’s  followers when they attack him shooting him in the leg before stabbing him through the chest but wander is now Dormin's vessel and it's explained that Dormin had been separated into sixteen fragments in order to seal away its power and wander has now freed it once more and the game actually gives the player control as wander becomes a shadowy Colossus the player can attack Eamon’s men but cannot stop them from escaping. Eamon having grabbed the magic blade Wander has carried with him throughout the game throws it down into the pool at the bottom of the staircase in order to seal Dormin once more. Eamon defeats evil with it here not by wielding it but by throwing it down a vortex forms over the pool shrinking Wander back to himself and pulling him back toward it and for one final moment the game gives the player control over Wander as he reaches for Mano fighting against the forces pulling him back into the pool but he can't nothing the player can do will save him and eventually his eyes fixed on Mano the entire time he disappears under the water to the same music that plays over the death of a colossus.  

I'm just gonna be honest and say that is one of my favorite scenes of any video game ever. To give the player control to let them try and save themselves right at the end there when their goal is so close but ultimately making it impossible for them to escape the consequences of their actions is brilliant brilliant interactive storytelling and that scene always gets to me and the message is clear from the musical choice to the simple fact that you essentially play as the final boss .In this scene wander is not the hero if anything he's an antihero at best but at this point is clear that he has just straight-up become the villain he cared so much for Mano that he was willing to let loose a dangerous and malicious being with unknowable amounts of power and that is not to be commended we're used to stories of young heroes slaying the Beast and saving the maiden from its clutches but here we're presented with someone who slayed the beasts unjustly and selfishly and the consequences for these actions are severe. Overall, Shadow of the Colossus is a game that anyone that is interested in video games should experience, as it still is one of the most incredible stories told in the medium

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Spiderman for Ps4 is one that brings with it many feelings of nostalgia, from the days of the ps2 where i would play the video game adaptation of  the Sam Raimi movie spider man 2, i can't remember another game 8 year old me would play other than Kingdom Hearts. That being said the newest edition of the spider man franchise is nothing short of a masterpiece, and i truly do mean it when i say this. It uses the medium to it fullest potential, creating a real life recreation of Manhattan as a playground, and teaches a story about good intentions gone bad

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The threat of technology in Fallout 4

Fallout is a franchise by Bethesda game studio that takes place in a post apocalyptic future, where the world has been transformed into a nuclear wasteland, because of the actions of the United states and China. We play as a man or a woman who is frozen in cryogenic stasis with their family in a Vault for over 200 years, only to have it taken away from you by strangers, you are forced to see them kill your wife/husband and see them kidnapping your newborn child, and are thrown into a completely different world with only one task, find your son. The once beautiful Boston has become into the Commonwealth, were all sorts of things are trying to kill you, from roaches that reacted to radiation and now are as big as dogs, to raiders, big green guys called Super Mutants, to what i want to talk about most, the boogeyman of the Commonwealth, The Institute, a group of scientists that have one task at hand, to use technology in order to restore people to the original glory of the past.

At first you might think that they aren't that bad since at heart they do mean well, but the ends dont justify the means, just as in many other aspects of this game, the institute as well as the other factions are a big grey area, but this one is leaning towards a darker side.

The Institute has very shady means of doing things, they believe that the world is a complete hellhole, which at first it does seem that way, there are still many people out there trying to live honest lives as best they can, and have friends and family, but now with their latest creation in Robotics they have done what was thought the unthinkable, they created artificial humans, or synths how they are called in game. Synths are synthetic humans, that reacts, look like, talk like, and have the memories of humans. The institute use this as a means of puppeteering the Commonwealth from the shadows. They abduct people, and then replace them with a synth, that carries the same aspects as the person they are mimicking. This had begun to make people hard to trust each other, it had begun to be almost like a witch hunt, people killing people because they think they are synths, one day you could be with that person, and the next it could be a synth and you wouldn't even notice.

A synth goes a bit further than just a machine, as some don't even know themselves that they are synths, such is the case with a member of an opposing faction, The Brotherhood of Steel, a group hellbent on seizing all technology so it can never be used to harm humanity as it once did so many years before. This is the story of Paladin Danse, one of the most praised members, that was a perfect example of what a member of the brotherhood should strive to be like. As you continue with his story, and hack into the list of synths on the field, you find out that Danse is a synth. The brotherhood of steel believes synths as abominations made by man, to make a machine that mimics a human is nothing more than an insult to everything they believe in, but one of their proudest members is that such thing. The worst part of all is that Danse didnt even know himself that he was a synth, he had been living for years on end as a synth, but felt human every second of it. Once you find this out, the elders of the brotherhood face Danse with death, and you as the player have the decision to either let him die or to save him. As we continue to advance technologically we might have to face these kinds of problems in the future, and it’s a bit scary to think about.

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Only watch about first 10 - 15 minutes, to get an idea of what im talking about 

God of War (2018) is an experience like no other, it succeeds where others have failed before it, in creating a masterpiece of storytelling. How does one truly create an engaging story through a video game? In short it is no easy task, unlike in passive forms of media such as: movies, tv shows, books and music, there are multiple variables at play such as level design to gameplay systems and the pacing of the game, which are all controlled by the player. If all these factors are not polished to perfection, it will create a non-coherent and disjointed narrative. After finishing God of War I was impressed at how it was able to tell a self-contained and a very mature story, that blends all of the other elements of the game, and makes you feel satisfied by the end of it, but at the same time it teases you and creates this excitement for what is to come in future installments and where it will go. Not only does it prove that video games can express amazing stories, but it also shows us how.

The first act of the game is a perfect summary of what to expect from this title. When you start for the very first time, it shows the titular character, Kratos, standing, but we do not know what is going to happen, after choosing the difficulty, the game throws you immediately into this scene, presenting how there is an absence of camera cuts in any moment. He kneels down and there is an air of sadness, as he focuses on the mark of a hand on the tree and shows how this means greatly to him. Afterwards you are prompted to cut down the tree, using the button scheme that you will use for combat, and the game continues this pattern for the various gameplay mechanics to come. Most games are criticized for having a slow start, which is mainly a tutorial of the various combat, and gameplay mechanics, but God of War evades this problem by teaching you in very subtle ways, that at the same time keep the story moving.  

Later on Kratos focuses on the wrappings on his wrist that have come loose, which brought back many memories of the previous games, as he originally had “The Blades of Chaos” that were melted into his body by chains on his arms This game takes place many years after the original trilogy, which was mainly characterized by its over the top and in your face violence. This is not the same man from the previous games, as he is haunted by his past deeds, from previous games, which were fueled by his rage and ignorance. This game is one that does not forget it’s past, which pleases longtime fans, like me, but also keeps it fresh enough so that newcomers aren’t completely lost in the story, allowing anyone to enjoy it.

When he regains his focus, his son Atreus is introduced, and Kratos immediately turns his back, to not show him his scars. He has had many years to reflect on his actions, but there is still one more chain weighing him down, the secret he keeps from his son, about his true nature. His son is a god and he doesn’t even know it. A little further into the game, Atreus and Kratos exchange a few words, and Kratos says: “Everything is different boy, try not to dwell on it.” This has a double meaning as not only does it correspond to the story being told at hand, but also how different it is from its previous installments.

Shortly after, Kratos and his son reach their home, and the true reason for the cutting of the tree is due to the fact that Krato’s wife, Faye, has passed away. What is to come is one of the most emotional scenes than in any other installment before it, and only about 10 minutes of game time have passed. The goal of this game is very different from previous ones, normally in a situation such as this, Kratos would get revenge against those who had wronged him, but this time the goal is one much more personal. It is to carry his wife’s ashes.

In order to see his son’s abilities, he creates a test for him, in which he must find and hunt a deer, but fails as he is unable to kill the deer by himself, and needs his father to help him, not only this, he also struggles with his emotions, he cant control his anger and becomes clouded by it. Kratos is convinced that Atreus is not ready for this world and the dangers that live within it. They return home and the story reaches a dead end, waiting for a new catalyst to make it progress.

Afterwards an unexpected guest knocks on your door, claiming to know Krato’s true nature. You don’t know who he is or what he is looking for, but one thing if for certain, he is ready to give his all for it. Normally previous games would start an introduction boss battle as this huge and intimidating monster to face in battle, but this time around it’s more like a Connor McGregor lookalike, with an annoying but humorous personality. This battle does not give you the identity of your assailant but teases you with enough information on who he is. He tells you that he was sent by Odin, and that he somehow cannot feel pain, no matter how much is inflicted upon him. After a seemingly never-ending fight, Kratos manages to come out on top. All of this is only in the first hour of the game, it does a great job of making you familiar with the basics of combat, making you instantly care about the story. This is a game I can only shower with praise as it shows how far the video gaming industry has come, and proves, at least in my opinion, that video games are turning into the newest art form.

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Where do our loyalties lie, are they with a nation or with an individual? Are they based on your own belief or are those feelings just a product of the times, of shifting political alignments that only exist in the now. To a soldier the answer is simple: you are loyal to whatever politician are above you, and you are used to advance their interests. Ideally those interests are the same interests of your country’s people. But it’s not always the case, especially not in the world of Metal Gear Solid, these ideas of corruption and loyalties as a soldier are all explored through the character of The Boss, the woman seen as the greatest soldier alive, who suddenly defects to Russia during the Cold War, without any justification.

The Boss and the player character “Naked Snake” have had a deeper relationship than that of a regular man and a woman: they had worked together for many years, she was a mentor to him, she helped train Snake into the skilled soldier he was, but also as a mother in his eyes. They share an inseperable bond to each other, although it had been years since they had last seen each other. During the beginning of the game she claims to be talking to you from a submarine in the Arctic Ocean

but why exactly is this all happening the boss is the embodiment of the ideal soldier loyal and capable for decades and the woman  considered to be the mother of Special Forces what could have caused her to become so disillusioned with our country that she would defect to Russia and join forces with such a monster a man whose goal it is to create an arsenal of nuclear equipped tanks to proliferate all over Russia and establish the country's dominance over the world she gives no reason only telling snake that he can't join her something he might have even considered if she offered it to him he was that loyal to her and idolized her that much.

During the final parts of the game, we still dont know much about the reasons behind the Boss’s actions, but as we confront her in a final showdown, she begins to get a few things off her chest, she shares with him her life story: during World War 2 the boss took part in the invasion of Normandy while she was late into pregnancy she was just that much of an asset to the United States, she was shot in the chest and there through a c-section she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, leaving a large snake-like scar across her chest, unfortunately the child was taken from her by the philosopher now a mother without her child she drifted from one secret government project to the next she was exposed to radiation during atomic testing in the Nevada desert in 1951 the same way snake was during the nuclear test detonations on Bikini Atoll in 1954 they were drawn together by their shared past both fated to die early due to their exposure to mankind's most destructive creation shortly after the boss was chosen to take part in the mercury project and become the first American in space. Anyone sent up in the primitive spacecrafts of the time would be exposed to radiation from the Sun that's why the boss was chosen since she had already been irradiated once before. There high above the atmosphere she got to see Earth in all of its beauty her whole life had been about war and conflict between nations of people yet up there she got away from all of the petty squabbling and saw the world United as one entity on one planet not one divided by imaginary borders and politics that became the world she wanted to see realized.

Instead she was betrayed by her leaders in 1961 after being sent to Cuba during the Bay of Pigs. according to the boss the president at the time refused to send in air support for her in the paramilitaries so they were annihilated by the Cubans she was forced to watch as these men were sent by her country to die and be killed by soldiers from their homeland truly putting into perspective how the times can turn your own allies against you and how you can be taken advantage of by others because of the botched operation she was sent underground this is when she was contacted by the Philosopher's who ordered her to kill to sorrow who was her lover friend and former partner driven apart from her by the times in World War two their countries were allies but now they were facing each other as enemies.

just because of political alignments she was forced to kill the father of her child just two years prior to operation Snake Eater this shapeless faceless organization known as the philosophers is actually a fractured shadow of its former self they began with good intentions but with the eventual deaths of their founding members in the 1930s the organization began to grow corrupt the philosophers original philosophy of peace became one of war as new members were brought in to replace the original ones now they have no sense of right or wrong and instead exist to cause a string of conflicts that chain together perpetually into the future they became more itself orchestrating and profiting off of conflict all over the world

the boss is one of the only people in the world who knows the true intentions of the corrupted philosophers they killed her father and put her through so much suffering throughout her life and now she stands before you with their legacy in her hands she now possesses a near limitless fund of money is something that could ensure world domination for anyone who had it. Hearing this now it seems like a really solid motivation based on revolting and eliminating the corrupt establishment running the world did she defect intentionally to obtain the legacy for herself so that she could use it to free the world from the corrupted influences of the Philosopher's? it's actually far from that.

everything the boss has done during the virtuous mission and operation Snake Eater has been the result of an order by the U.S. philosophers she was tasked with faking her defection and allying herself with Volgin in order to obtain the legacy for the US. she was given two Davy Crockett's to gain Volgin’s trust but they hadn't anticipated that he was crazy enough to launch one of them on Soviet territory the resulting political uproar forced the U.S to make a deal with Russia to send Snake to kill Big Boss in order to clear the U.S’s name. Right here right now her mission is to die, to be killed by her protege, and who was like the son she never got, just to cover up the the actions of a shadowy group that had caused nothing but pain, just so they can secure their money and gain dominance over the world. defying all expectations she's completely willing to go through with it the boss is a loyal soldier until the very end and she plans to fulfill this mission just like any other and she's so willing to go through with it.

Snake still has to finish his mission: hers is to die and his is to kill her what better way to end it than going all out in one final battle the ultimate test of snake’s skill and the training the boss has given him she isn't just going to let herself die this battle will be the passing of the torch of her title whoever wins will earn the title of the boss and live a life of endless battle. only once she has left behind a greater soldier than herself can she die happily.

 in the end snake defeats her and now that she knows she's been surpassed she can accept her death after a long moment of reflection and hesitation snake shoots her with her own gun ending her life for good this moment of pain and release is punctuated by an incredible display with the entire field of white grass lilies turning blood-red and the snake shaped scar on the boss's chest coming to life and slithering off she's finally free completing her greatest and final mission she left a greater soldier behind in her wake and her death avoids an escalating conflict between the US and Russia.

[journey-into-lit-jp-blog]

Autoethnography

An Autoethnography is a term that can be subject to different interpretations and a bit of controversy. I found that the term is best defined by Deborah Reed-Danahay from Oxford Bibliographies as: “a genre that places the self of the researcher and/or narrator within a social context. It refers to works that provoke questions about the nature of ethnographic knowledge by troubling the persistent dichotomies of insider versus outsider, distance and familiarity, objective observer versus participant, and individual versus culture”. Simply put, this an approach to research and writing that tries to describe and analyze one’s personal experience in order to understand cultural experience. It can be hard to accurately portray what a cultural group experiences when one writes an autoethnography, as he/she is confronted with difficult questions to answer about representation, and ethics. The experience that one individual has, must be accurate and consonant enough to identify the happenings of the cultural group. In order to successfully create this, it is imperative to accurately voice what really happens to, and around you. In my autoethnography I will try to express my perspective correctly, to further understand not only myself but to better understand the world I live in.

My name is Jorge Pelet del Toro, I was born on March 9, 2000 in San Juan Puerto Rico. Throughout my life, I’ve had many blessings have been bestowed upon me from a young age. I was born into a high middle-class family. My father’s name is basically the same as mine (Jorge Pelet Mejías), he is a doctor with descendance from Bordeaux, France, and my mother (Lourdes Pelet del Toro) is the manager of the office they both run, with descendance from Spain. When I was a 1 year old I was already traveling with my family.

Traveling really lets you see yourself in a different light that normally, and to grow as a person in so many different ways. It can be as simple as learning the history of a country, or learning of its traditions and culture, my favorite examples of things like these are: the festivals and how the social and historical context of the time allowed the formation of each one. The day to day activities they have created throughout the years to cater to their specific needs, from the fashion, to form of transportation, even the form of dialect each one has. Even if multiple countries speak the same language there are still enough differences between them to distinguish each one apart from each other, for example Puerto Ricans are known for speaking Spanish, but we don’t really roll our R’s or pronounce the letter L, mostly out of convenience and laziness, but we all understand each other perfectly. On the other hand, when we compare ourselves to people that are from Spain, the way we speak is nothing alike from our own form of Spanish, they pronounce S sounds as if they were Z sounds, and on top of that they speak almost twice as fast as we do, and it can get a little tricky, even for me to understand what they say under that thick accent.

Another thing that I find amazing about this world is the variety of different foods that each country is known for, and when I say I like food, I mean I reaaaally like food, there is something amazing about the various styles of cooking and how each one can differ from one to the other, from the lean cooking style of the Japanese, filled to the brim with fish, soup, noodle and rice dishes such as: Ramen, Onigiri, Sashimi, and Okonomiyaki; It’s basically a savory pancake, and it’s literally the best dish I’ve ever eaten, when I visited the island where it originated, in Miyajima, better known as Itsukushima (Island with the giant orange Torii gate). It’s ridiculous how much they differ from the very fattening and decadent cooking style of the US.

 The first time out of the country was to visit Disney World in Orlando Florida, but I was way too young to even remember what happened. Throughout my short life I’ve had the fortune to be able to visit many countries from around the world and have the chance to explore different cultures and ways of life; Of being able to expand my perspective in life. Sometimes I wish that everyone could have the same view in life as myself, but people don’t choose in which family they are born in, there is such a large margin of people that haven’t been able to really observe and undergo the great things that the world has to offer, and it’s a darn shame that there are people that wont be able to see what I have with their own eyes, and have to work so much harder to get even the little things in life, like paying taxes, to rent, to the gas you use in your car, and the food you eat, and even going out to see a movie or other forms of entertainment. When I think about these things it really helps me see where I stand in the world, and I always find myself grateful to be the kind of person I am, and I want to work hard to use these gifts that I’ve been given to be better than the person I was before.

Currently the places I’ve visited span from all around the world, places that are pretty close to here like parts of the Caribbean such as: Cuba where I saw firsthand how strongly present was the class margin is between the high class to middle and low class is, Dominican Republic where I learned that the islands near us share basically the same history, but how vastly different each one went with the problems they faced. Other countries that aren’t as close but close enough is North America including: New York a couple of times since it’s such a cool place to visit, and Florida every few years (Me and my family really like Disney). Another is California, one of my favorite places to visit in the US, since it’s so different from other states, also Boston which is cold as hell but really nice place to go to from time to time. Arizona is one that really stuck with me since I got to visit the Grand Canyon, which was the first time that I truly was in awe of how the beautiful and incredible this world really is. There was Mexico where I saw Chichen Itza, it can be a little sketchy if you don’t know which places are safe to visit, but a great experience nonetheless. Finally Canada,*Canadian accent*: Cold as shit eh , but a lot of  fauna from snowy areas that I have never been able to see with my own eyes before.

The next continent on the list is South America, and quite a bit of it, like: Peru, where I visited Machu Pichu, and really understood how brilliant the native Inca’s building strategy was, in which they carved boulders to fit perfectly with each other without the use of any adhesive, and the tragedy that many other indigenous people faced at the hand of the Europeans at the time that completely abused these various cultures. Brazil where I went to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Argentina where I climbed an iceberg called Perito Moreno, in the southern part of the nation, )

On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve visited some places that are on the other side of the world. In Europe I was exposed to many life changing situations. In Spain I went to do the Walk of Santiago, even though it was kind of a bitch to walk all the way through which was about 150 km or about 93.2 miles in about 6 days, it is still one of my favorite experiences to date, as I was able to really disconnect from the online world and really have a good look at the world around me, and on top of that connect with different people from around the world that are there for the same reason as you, to enjoy the beautiful scenery of rural Spain and the simple, but happy lives the people that live there have, and it was truly an eye opening journey. Then there was France, where we visited the Eiffel tower, but the most important moment of that whole trip, which felt like a movie was the day we were supposed to leave to PR, we went to visit the old house which my great grandfather once lived in Bordeaux, and with the help of a few kind locals pointing us in the right direction, and my completely basic knowledge of French, which helped with translating what they said, even if I only understood half of what they said, we were able to find a long lost relative of my father’s French side of the family, we had found the house of my Great-Uncle, whom literally looked like a carbon copy of my Grandfather. He was a short, fat man with a knack for hunting, he lived alone with a large, beautiful dog with blue eyes, white fur, and black and brown spots around his body. He had stashed in various hidden photo albums, old pictures of him with my Great-Grandfather as children together, and it was truly a touching moment for my entire family bloodline, seeing as how two lost pieces of the same family finally reunited after so many years, we still keep contact with them from time to time. Italy where I was able to visit the old architecture like the Roman Coliseum and art they are so famous for, and how we have strayed from the ultra-realistic and almost perfect way of art they have, for a more primitive, and modern art style we constantly see as of recent. I have visited Ireland, but it was only for a day, and I only had enough time to scratch the surface of what they have to offer. There was also Germany where I visited what was left of the Berlin wall and how people used that symbol of segregation and oppression to express themselves, and as of today it is covered in tons of very skilled graffiti and political jokes. The most recent place on the list Japan, where I was  shocked on how exotic and vastly different it all is from what I normally see in my everyday life. It was so organized, as if everything was in its right place, and it gave the impression like everyone knew that they had an important role to play in order to keep the nation afloat, which I feel is a bit lost in some many other societies.

In all of these journeys they’ve helped me grow little by little. They’ve shown me a lot about how differently we do things, but in the end we all basically have the same goal, and that is to survive, repopulate, prosper, and to find the happiness we all deserve. It doesn’t matter if you come from a tribe in Africa or if you are the C.E.O of a huge corporation in the US, they all strive to find these things wherever they may be found.

An example of this kind of thing which I find interesting is of all things, something I don’t really emphasize that much most of the time is Religion, even though I’m not the most religious of people. I truly find it mind boggling how some people are so closed minded and don’t see these ways of life for what they really are, they are basically guides to be a better person. You have all these different perspectives on the same concepts. The Jews have the Ten Commandments, as do the Christians, but with the addition of the 11th Commandment formed by Jesus Christ, and the Muslims have the Five Pillars of Islam. The stories they all tell are mostly the same, and the differences they have are because of the context behind them as they were forming at the time, to cater with each culture they originated from. They all try to answer that which as of today can’t be answered in its totality, of how we came to be. It’s this question that created a great fear within all of us, very early in our history, the fear of the unknown. We constantly try to answer it to the best of our capabilities. If you take the essence of each one of the messages they try to portray, you can see that they all are guides on how to live your life as just a better human being. For me it really doesn’t matter what religion one follows or even if they follow one at all, as long as you live your life to become better each day, and to strive to become “enlightened” or all-around better person. This link that the entire world shares is what really makes me think that we aren’t that different after all.

Not everything in life is peaches and cream though, there are still a lot of problems in this world at the moment. News isn’t really news anymore; I remember that when there were actual reports on troubling situations happening all around the world, and the great advances we have made. Now it’s mostly an official update on Trump’s twitter feed. So, I don’t listen to CNN, or FOX or any sort of news show, because that’s all they ever talk about. Instead I try to read articles about things I find that are useful and interesting. Most of the time I try to be open minded about all the experiences and problems one faces in life, you can’t really decide between one thing or another without knowing how both parties are affected, and what are their views on the situation. If you don’t consider that then you aren’t evaluating correctly the event in question. I always like to find out who is truly the one at fault, if you know the truth then you can determine the best course of action always. I think that’s why I really enjoy the field of science and technology. Just thinking about making things more accurate, more efficient, and just better, and that being able to create something that is beyond the human limitation is something amazing.

The hardest part of an autoethnography, is explaining how others view me. As a member of society, it’s difficult to really express that. I have to step into someone else’s shoes to see myself as the outside world’s perception. I have my own ideas about myself but I’m a stranger to everyone else, they don’t know my life story, like I do. The aspects that I think are shown the most when people have that first impression of me is as the guy that’s there but not really there, a wallflower. I generally don’t really stand out in a room, I’m not very tall, but it doesn’t really bother me since it’s not something that can change even if I wanted to, I spun the wheel of life and got the genes that define me. My face still has that layer of stubborn baby fat, making me look like a 15-year-old even though I’m 18, I haven’t trained my body consistently to have an athletic build, yet, so most of the time I’m fine not really being in the spotlight unless I’m needed. I only interact with a few individuals, most of the time I get stuck in that sort of awkward barrier between acquaintance and stranger, since I’m not the most extroverted kind of guy, at first. After I get that shitty wall down and I can start to open up a little bit, the relationships that are formed are ones that can’t be destroyed that easily. I don’t really excel at meeting new people, but when I do, they can become some of the greater moments of my life. It’s not that I don’t like meeting people, it’s just that, I find it hard to really start a conversation with someone new that doesn’t fall into the category of small talk. Being an intelligent person is something that I find to be quite important, since it really facilitates and allows you to really think about the things you do and why you do them, and to really reflect about yourself, which really helps in creating this part of an autoethnography. I believe that most people sort of see me as a nerd or a geek, I sort of give off that vibe, but if I’m being perfectly honest, I do see myself as a smart person but being a slacker gets the better of me, and the struggle between them is something I face every day. I’m not really the best sports player, but I really do enjoy watching the games such as Basketball, Baseball and American Football, especially because of the fans and their crazy antics, but most people don’t see me as a sporty kind of guy. Thanks to the different experiences in my life I’m this way, and I hope to continue growing and trying to be better every day, and progressing towards a better future.