#and it’s preceded by a gauntlet of other bosses

[glitter-soda]

My brother and I finally had time to sit down and beat Chaos Elfilis tonight. All I really have to say is HOLY SHIT DUDE

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007) [Skipping for now until I can get access to it], Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985).

Today I will be talking about

Saving Face (2004) dir. Alice Wu

[Run Time: 1:31, Language: English and Mandarin]

Summary: A gay Chinese-American and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

Cast:  -Joan Chen as Hwei-Lan Gao -Michelle Krusiec as Wilhelmina ‘Wil’ Pang -Lynn Chen as Vivian Shing

__

I love when people actually have the opportunity to write and direct stories that absolutely ooze their cultures. I am not Asian, but the family dynamics that exist as a result of this story happening to an Asian family are incredibly legible and makes the film very fun to watch as writer and director Alice Wu completely scrambles the relationships between characters/families.

This was a really smart film to include in this syllabus considering the pathway to the end of the syllabus is leading towards BL shows. Saving Face follows a storyline that feels very similar to a lot of what we will see in BL when it comes to parents and their queer children trying to reach some understanding of each other. It also has some of the visual motifs that are very popular in the BL I have watched like the use of vertical walls to signal a barrier between characters (though obviously this is not unique to BL) and honestly with how many workplace BLs we’ve gotten that have made me less than enthusiastic about the actual power dynamics at play, Saving Face does a really good job showing how power dynamics can manifest in the workplace when you just so happen to be dating your bosses daughter. 

gif by @filmreel

My favorite part of this film honestly is the family relationship, how evident it is that behavior is learned and passed down between generations, like when Hewi-Lan tells Wil she worked nights so Wil could eat preceding Hwei-Lan’s father (Wai Gung) telling Hwei-Lan that he endured hardship so she could have a better life. 

It was really fun to watch how Wil and Hwei-Lan’s relationship shifts, and how they both grow as people, that Hwei-Lan starts the film wanting to give Wil’s neighbor Jay a paper plate when he comes to dinner so she can throw it away afterward and not wanting to eat too much soy sauce so her baby doesn’t “become dark”, to Hewi-Lan thinking that Vivian is racist and being mad about it to Jay and Hewi-Lan hanging out, using face masks, eating, and watching dramas together, irrespective of Wil’s presence. 

Or starting the film with Hwei-Lan strategizing with her friends about potential male suitors for her daughter for the Friday night Planet China dances, to Wil running through her own channels to develop a roster of possible Chinese men to send her mother out on dates with towards the middle of the film when they are still trying to find someone that will marry her in order to prevent further shame or disgrace from befalling their family as a result of Hwei-Lan’s pregnancy. I loved Wil helping her mom get ready for the dates and even though it was parentification, I enjoyed that role reversal of getting to see her mom be hesitant, doubtful, and self-conscious, and if nothing else I loved that moment for how genuine Wil is when she tells her mom she’s beautiful.

Or getting the lines about how everyone in the Chinese community is two degrees of separation from anyone else, and how that one off-handed line truly feels like the biggest non-family explanations for why Wil is so hesitant to be physical intimate or queer in public. As an example, you can tell she’s a little worried that Vivian told her mom that they were dating. And I liked the reveal towards the end that Hwei-Lan has known this whole time that Wil is queer but is willfully ignoring it, and that the set ups she has been trying to do for Wil at the beginning of the film are because Hwei-Lan caught her being queer and not because Hwei-Lan doesn’t know she’s queer. So you get the added layer of hesitancy around Wil’s engagement in her romantic relationship with Vivian, especially because Vivian’s parents are a part of their social circle and that puts Wil at very high risk of her mother finding out. 

gifs by @mrgaretcarter

And she has very good reason to be because Vivian is out to both of her parents and the second that Vivian’s father sees Wil and Viv in a room together he immediately clocks their relationship and exerts his power as Wil’s boss to basically force Wil to break up with Vivian.

I’ll talk about this more in the Favorite Moment portion but I absolutely loved the scene where Hwei-Lan expresses her concerns about her impending motherhood (“I am going to be a terrible mother”) and how it pairs with Hwei-Lan’s response to Wil coming out (“I am not a bad mother. My daughter is not gay.”) How the saving face cycles and Hwei-Lan has been willfully ignoring Wil’s queerness and how Hwei-Lan was going to marry a man she did not love, for the second time to save face for her father, and how it took Wil barging in and essentially giving her permission to be happy to finally abandon that and follow her own heart. 

gif by @lonesomedotmp3

And how in doing so, she is finally able to accept Wil’s sexuality, support her mad dash to the airport to try to save her relationship, comfort her child in heartbreak, and play an active role in getting Wil and Vivian back together. 

Favorite Moment 

My favorite moment is when Hwei-Lan and Wil are talking about Hwei-Lan’s pregnancy and Hwei-Lan actually voices some of her fears about becoming a mother, the first time she’s really talked at length about her pregnancy, and it is doubly important to me because Hwei-Lan is saying all of this to her daughter. Like, just read this part of the script: 

Hwei-Lan: I'm going to be a terrible mother.             Wil: What? Hwei-Lan: I don't even like babies. Stephen's always bringing his kid to the shop. All that drooling. Gross. You were different. You sprung from the womb already grown-up. And I had your father during your early years. He was really patient.                    Wil: You have me.

It is very important to me because the transition in to Hwei-Lan and Wil living together has not been the smoothest, and because Hwei-Lan has been thrown out of her parent’s house by her father because of her pregnancy and so the only person she really does have to rely on in that moment is her daughter. And it is nice to know that despite all of the things they maybe don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge about each other, that at the end of the day they are there to support.

gif by @lonesomedotmp3

We even see it with Wai Gung, who says at the end of the film that when the baby girl is born he will be over at Hwei-Lan’s apartment every day to take care of his grandchild. Sure he covers that with the excuse of not trusting what will happen if her parents are in charge of raising her, but that’s an excuse, you just know that Wai Gung is going to absolutely adore his granddaughter. 

Favorite Quote

“Are you lonely?” // “No, I have you,”

Score

9.5/10

I absolutely adored this film.

[desertleviathan]

I've included every Job I've heard people mention as speculation, no matter how unlikely I personally find it. Propaganda after the cut is all just my own feelings, and includes some very minor spoilers for recent MSQ events, Astrologian Job Quests, and the Shadowbringers patch 5.3 Dungeon:

CALCULATOR PROS: They have had some fun with Math Bosses, haven't they. It is a theme present in the game, and with precedent in earlier FF games. CONS: I can not imagine any configuration of this job that would function within the timing of FFXIV's combat. Applying simple Astrologian buffs is already tricky enough. Also, this was a real balance-demolisher in its main prior appearance.

GAMBLER PROS: FFVI has proven fertile ground for Job design concepts, between the Monk and Machinist revamps. And Setzer's armor is already in the game. CONS: Even more RNG dependent than Dancer? I don't much like the sound of that. And Astrologian has already claimed Cards as a primary tool.

GEOMANCER PROS: It canonically exists in setting. And it is on the dwindling list of Jobs in FFXI that haven't been reinterpreted in FFXIV. Probably a pretty strong contender, except... CONS: The Astrologian quests kind of ate its lunch, explicitly stating that they are heavily overlapping arts. That will be a common theme with entries on this list, Astrologian seems to be made of pieces of a ton of prior Mage jobs.

GREEN MAGE PROS: The presumptive favorite in most of the chatter I'm reading, because of a symbol on a thing in a very "we're teasing new content" feeling MSQ cutscene that matches the design of Green Mage in one of the Tactics games (I think?) CONS: Ok great but what the heck even is a Green Mage? Their whole shtick appears to be long-duration buffs and debuffs that would have been categorized as Black or White Magic in other games... and FFXIV has been very steadily removing those kinds of powers, aside from a handful of DoTs. If they crib this aesthetic, the actual mechanics will likely be something entirely unanticipated, or possibly overlapping with one of these other options, rather than a Buff/Debuff Mage. Or maybe they've just been removing long duration powers from other classes to... consolidate them? I really doubt it, but maybe.

NECROMANCER PROS: It's a solid concept, an RPG classic, and the Necromancer Boss in the Heroes' Gauntlet dungeon looks sick. Rumor has it that all the bosses in that dungeon were concepts once considered as alternate branches of base classes in the same way Arcanist splits into Scholar and Summoner, before they ditched that design. In which case it probably would have split from Thaumaturge? CONS: Rumor also has it that cultural considerations in certain key markets made this something SE didn't want to pose as a heroic archetype. Also, pet jobs. They've been pretty steadily gutting the pet mechanics of Scholar and Summoner, and I can't imagine they'd be in any hurry to add another full scale Pet Job. Maybe a Limited Job though. Also, in FFXIV the art to animate and control the dead seems to be closely related to the summoning of Voidsent, and Reaper is already doing the Demon Magic thing in a big way.

ORACLE PROS: I'm gonna be real with y'all, can't actually think of any. I see this as having zero chance. But the name keeps coming up in conversation. So maybe I'm wrong, and the apparent fan support will keep the idea afloat. CONS: Like Green Mage, it's mainly been a place to dump debuffs that originally belonged to other magic types. And the theme of prediction and prophecy has been thoroughly raided by Astrologian.

PICTOMANCER (A.K.A. Artist, Painter, Ink Mage, etc.) PROS: As I mentioned under Gambler, raiding FFVI has been a solid move, and Relm Arrowny's power set deserves a less-buggy reinterpretation. Also Ink Mages are the only common enemy in the Heroes' Gauntlet that doesn't match a job we have available. Also Yoshi P's TMNT shirt at the first fanfest may have been hinting at Leonardo's dual swords and a Ninja's scouting armor sets for Viper, but it could also have been a reference to the Renaissance Masters that the Turtles were named after. He's clever like that. CONS: The only reason this isn't my #1 guess without hesitation is that pesky Green Mage emblem. I have a theory though that Green Mage and Pictomancer might get combined and have the "green" be about painting landscapes, in which case it might also be borrowing from Geomancer turf a little. Who knows!

PUPPETMASTER PROS: Also on the short list of FFXI jobs that haven't been reinterpreted. Mammets are a big part of this setting and there would be a lot of cool aesthetics to potentially draw on. CONS: Pet jobs. I just can't see them ever doing another full Pet Job. Also the FFXI version was a blend of technology and martial arts, not a caster per se.

TIME MAGE PROS: One of the missing FF classics, with a lot more potential spells than you expect, since it also usually deals with Space Magic. CONS: Haste powers and traits became a huge balance headache in FFXI and I can't see them rushing back into that. Also, once again, Astrologian already swiped several key ideas.

[gauntletqueen]

May we get some Gauntlet Queen lore on your fighting style?

Sure! I've actually thought a lot about her bossfight even though it's not real cause it's fun 👍 So in-universe, Gauntlet Queen is a video game boss (though her game was never finished.) This game was a third person shooter with a dodgeroll, and most of the enemies and bosses would be using charging lasers, rockets, bombs and other dodge-able projectiles. Gauntletqueen is unique in that she's the only melee-only boss in the game.

Due to this, she is: Highly Resilient to (Energy) Bullets. She has one of the highest health pools in the game, not because she's actually one of the hardest bosses, but because unlike most bosses, she's always directly in your face and ready to be shot at, so she has a lot of health to compensate. When not attacking, she'll do a lot of strafing, weaving side to side with her gauntlets up to protect her face (doesn't actually reduce damage, just makes her harder to hit) and walking/running directly at you if you get too far away. Her attacks are always preceded with a stopping of her movement and taking a specific pose+speaking a specific voiceline. Most moves are simple charging punches, repeated punches etc, but she can also punch/stomp the ground for shockwaves that either radiate from her position or shoot out towards the player.

Starting with the second phase, she'll really get into the spirit of things, and many of her attacks will gain new properties, bigger shockwaves, more reach with her punches etc. She also starts using her most powerful move, that being a big jump into the air above the middle of the arena, landing with a huge fist slam rocking the whole arena. She also gains a unique move where she rushes the player character, arms outstretched for a bigger hitbox, easily picks them up by the collar, holds her up for a moment while giggling/laughing in excitement, then uses her other hand to punch her across the arena, after which it takes the player a moment to get up, potentially leaving them open for a second attack. It's a powerful move that's got a longer windup than most moves so it's relatively easy to dodge, but very punishing if you fail.

It's not the longest of fights but it's much more intense than most of the other bosses due to GQ's close proximity and high speed, rather than the usual dipshit on a mounted turret or slow-moving mech.

Outside of the game, Gauntlet Queen fights in a very similar way, with the added bonus that now, she can call on the U-bots for assistance :>

[thetristoneera]

Legendz 8th-13th

For those that conjure up enough strength, enough magical might, enough luck; will be given the Tyrannical Spirit's godness. Millions of lives he has claimed, except for the thirty nine legends of this world. When they felt the fuck no coming on, they just kept going on; on to the next sword, on to the next strategy, on to the next war, on to the next victory; on to a higher oh my goodness. They fought so hard against human nature, to ideally force humans to choose peace over hatred. That's how they created the ceremony of rebirth; taking away everything they used to know, so they can simply not reclaim it. Started chain reaction after chain reaction of ultimate peace crusaders. Even though the number is small, the way they love thyself; the way they love everyone else, couldn't survive if they weren't over powered catalyst of everything & anything.

Legendz 13th: Terrordome / Consists of six oh my goodness warriors that wanted to prove; those that are not bound by blood, can still carry humanity to splendid heights. Proverbial walks of life, came to one conclusion of fuck no; that has laid the Tyrannical Spirit down for 440 years. All because, human unity; it took him 440 years to finally break that... Terrordome are...

Horror Flix / Mirror / Gauntlets

Kenji / Astronomy / Spirit Fingers

Egolez / Pollution Ray / Barbarian Axe

Pebbles / Orbital Rainbow / Twin Yoyos

Underwrath / Afterlife Dragon / Twin Nodachis

Most Important Lady / Ice / Twin Trishulus

Legendz 12th: Vondo Prism & Olari Mia are two bards of mages. Coven Sheets & Me developed these two orphans; to be two cures for humanity. Their gift of music made it easier for preceding legends to take a load off. Way before they were even crowned legends. The Tyrannical Spirit didn't like them because of their ability to huddle the masses. Having so many humans in one place, all on the same accord; was a huge fuck no. Huge. It was one of the few times, his magical fortress with the occupants; couldn't do anything.

Vondo Prism / Magestry: Sound, Piano, Light & Glyph / Barbarian Club

Olari Mia / Magestry: Sound, Violin, Dark & Mirror / Hair Pin

Legendz 11th: Exolls Great & Vonroe Boss grew up as mercenary orphans. Knowing that if you can help, somebody will help you. They may have been unfortunate with no road map of a family through life; they filled in the gaps by simply being powerful. Grew up slashing down dark lords around their worlds & majority of them were actual monsters. Doing that too many times, eventually landed them with a run in with the Tyrannical Spirit. That turned into almost turning two great allies of all populations, to mortal enemies. Not falling for the deceit, turned them into lovers; the ability to man handle anything, turned them into legends.

Exolls Great / Sorcery: Earth, Explosion, Dark & Magnetism / Sword & Shield

Vonroe Boss / Sorcery: Poison, Enchant, Water & Weather / Sword & Shield

Legendz 10th: Harv McEasy & Vitamin Creation lived crazy lives of almost being children of the Tyrannical Spirit. All they wanted was an easy one hundred years of living; acquired it before the proverbial, legal age. One is a natural incubus, one is a natural succubus; they were the keys that opened every door & every chest. Abuse, abuse, abuse; yet, still took care of everyone around them. But this abuse, abuse, abuse was a bigger key that made them worlds more powerful than any other super being at that time. When the corruption came around, they sent it packing like it was first nature.

Harv McEasy / Vegetation & Earth / Barbarian Sword

Vitamin Creation / Imagination: Fear, Ray, ???? & Zenith / Whipping Sword

Legendz 9th: Moosumbo & Eudoxi are a very odd pair. A man willing to do anything to stay on top, a woman who only needed herself. Trying his damnedest his entire life to not fall to the prey of mortal needs; went out of his body the second he saw her. Love at first sight has been almost nothing in this world; because of how maddening the Tyrannical Spirit has made it. But it was his fuck no that single handedly changed his mind. Being hardcore has it's fruits, veggies, rolls, gravy, entrees & dessert; but not when everyone around you participates out of fear instead of respect. Once Eudoxi taught him to stop being the Lu Bu of this world, it was the first time the Tyrannical Spirit lost a super being pet.

Moosumbo / the Psychic Moose / Double Sword

Eudoxi / Wind / Hair Pin

Legendz 8th: Two Sets of Triplets / Consists of two pairs of double power genes; gone horrificly right. For a total of two hundred years, the Tyrannical Spirit had Zigmonto & Jovantra's reign obsolete. Until Zigmonto put some spells to maximum output, with them being crowned legends at that time; they could fix weapons of mass creation & destruction unlike any of the other legends. Jovantra blessed the oceans with magical sharks & if you've never met one with a jetpack; you're lucky. The Tyrannical Spirit wasn't, cause every puzzling creation Z&J created, multiplied humanity's luck like no other generation.

XOG / Metism (Jet) Death / Arm Cannon

YEL / Metism (Jet) Water / Arm Cannon

ZUJ / Metism (Jet) Psychic / Arm Cannon

Risky / Dreams / Twin Wheels

Choice / Dreams / Twin Wheels

Bingo / Dreams / Twin Wheels

[heart-forge]

you managed to play rf4!! i'm glad the emulator worked—hope all the setting up was worth it for you!! (spoilerish but i love bado so much and the fact that the devs put in an option for you to tell him and it won't ever go anywhere..,, it hurts ;;;;) what's your fav part about the game (mechanics, storylines, etc.)? as a writer/dev yourself, did you take anything away from the game?

Oh it absolutely was, although it’s a bit of a bummer that I can’t get ACNH working (at the moment, anyway: it seems like it’s pretty taxing, but I can try another program). Also Bado is very funny, but he infuriates me purely because I don’t understand what dwarves are. They’re like halfway between a human and an elf and I just don’t get how I’m supposed to tell or what it means. I feel the way you feel about Bado about Porcoline though tbh like Porcoline romance when.

My favourite part is the writing which I’m sure isn’t surprising given me as a person, but this is honestly like one of the most compelling Rune Factories from a variety of perspectives? Like the non-romanceable NPCs are extremely loveable which I find isn’t always true. Someone always tends to fall through the cracks: marriageable NPCs seem to hog all the personality, and then there’s a couple NPCs who don’t have much to do outside of their archetype. Venti was an extremely emotional plot point and I completed the game so quickly that I barely had any time to talk to her (just triggered Memories last night so looking forward to that). NPCs that I would usually ignore like Volkanon or Blossom seem much more alive, and I think that’s in no small part due to 1) how interactive everyone is with each other, and 2) town events that involve me with their lives in ways that don’t matter to the family progression.

And like this is cheesy given the ending, but everyone just seems like they love each other so much. Even Porcoline who’d usually be a kind of tasteless and ugly joke just feels so beloved and silly and sweet, and his ties to Meg, Dylas, and Arthur are so genuine and deeply thought out and reciprocal! I feel like in prior games his relationship with Meg would have been much worse in a variety of ways (whether they make him into a creep or into some kind of territorial relative type that she’s constantly berating), and that relationship would take precedence over Dylas and Arthur altogether. But the throughline of love being the human condition and the ultimate power is like, ultimately cheesy but it also works SO well here.

But this is genuinely one of the first Rune Factories where I haven’t just straight up forgotten that some NPCs exist or actively disliked anyone (and that’s in a game where one of your neighbours commits treason!), and one of the only ones where I’ve not only gone out of my way to speak to everyone once a day, but I’ve done so because I want to and not watch the numbers tick upwards.

The game mechanics are also very good. I’ve definitely suffered worse for Rune Factory (love you Raguna but also why were you in two games; Kyle, I hate you, and Barrett should have been the protagonist of your game), so it wasn’t the maker or breaker, but also I was just able to turn my female protagonist to use the male sprite after finishing the game (which is why I finished the game in three days) and it’s just so deeply, deeply satisfying in what I’m sure is an unintentional but still much appreciated NB kind of way, as everyone still refers to them as a princess. And like as I was playing I would just list a bunch of things out loud to my sister that had been so deeply improved.

Also, this is one of the only Rune Factory games where I’ve been excited to do the combat. I view boss battles as a necessary evil but like, dungeon seeds? Mini bosses in the woods? Those like gauntlet bosses where you fight twenty giant chickens? Love it! Also big shout out to the difficulty settings, which is why I could beat the game in three days instead of abandoning it altogether.

Overall it’s a very good game in a way I’m used to not getting with Rune Factory. I put up with a lot for the sake of the family storyline, and someone just galaxy brained and expanded the family plot........to include the whole town.

[syzygyzip]

Up and Down Three Times: The Hidden Helical Structure of Dark Souls 3

This essay presents a model for use in interpreting the world of Dark Souls 3. It is a hidden structure that is apparently relatively unknown even among lorekeepers, but is very useful in making sense of the surreal environments of this game and its mythologies. It was quite challenging to describe the structure without offering my own interpretations of the emergent symbolism! But the purpose here is to present the model on its own terms, and hopefully it is of use to whoever is interested in deepening their understanding of Souls lore and symbolism.

There are three forks in Dark Souls 3: three major crossroads where the player has the option to go higher or deeper. Each ascent occurs in two stages; each descent occurs in two stages. This structure is largely hidden by the game, since a normal journey through these lands is gradual, recursive, and non methodical. Some structural lines are dramatic and clear, while others are unassuming or obscured. A player may not even realize when she has set foot down one fork or the other. But once this structure is realized—through conceptually positioning the splits as the primary loci—the three primary zones of Dark Souls come into focus. The delineation of these three zones creates a dynamic tension that exposes a wealth of narrative and symbolic correspondences, and is thus extremely useful for critical reads of this game. Each of these zones is thematically and aesthetically cohesive. For this reason, I am terming these three zones as “realms” for use in this essay. So what are the three realms, diegetically? Two of them are fairly obvious. Without indulging in too much interpretation, it is clear that both the ascent and the descent from Irithyll fall under the umbrella of “Irithyll.” Likewise, when the path splits in Lothric, the following ascent and descent are both related to Lothric. So we can easily designate the “Irithyll Realm” and the “Lothric Realm.” On the other hand, the first split—in the Crucifixion Woods—is less obvious. Doesn’t the player technically leave the Road of Sacrifices when she enters the Catacombs or the Cathedral? Yes, but in this case all these areas are covered under the category of the terrestrial. Not to say these areas aren’t supernatural, but neither are they mythic or divine lands—in the Cathedral there are merely priests; in the Catacombs there are only the bones of history. Therefore the first act of Dark Souls can be said to constitute the “Mundane Realm.” [For a deeper exploration of this theory, check out this essay.] We will go more into the character of these 3 realms later; for now let us define our guiding axis.

Dark Souls 3 sustains a solid thesis about what it means to go up and down. This dichotomy is most succinctly defined in abstract terms as “culture/nature,” and in gameplay terms as “linear/open.” Easily extrapolated from these pairs of terms, we find by association all the other dichotomies upon which Dark Souls is built, like “order/chaos,” “spirit/matter,” “light/dark,” and all the typical brood of “yang/yin.” None of these contrasts suffice to describe the mysterious schism at the heart of the game, but in their accumulation the Dark Souls thesis gains greater definition. This occurs with every change of elevation. When the player travels upward, the game-objects tend toward organization: linear paths, well-defined gauntlets of enemies, holy knights, and the solid edges of architecture. Traveling downward, things tend toward disorder: animals, swamps, mysteries, mutations and decay—the churning wild world in all its vital processes.

For a game that is so much about the reconciliation of opposites, the poles on which Dark Souls anchors its tensions have to be kept ambiguous. Otherwise the world, no matter how high and low it reached, would feel flat as a coin. There is no such thing as a complete definition of the key opposites in the Souls narrative. Even so, the poles gain definition the more they are surveyed; and the fact that the game presents 3 overarching up-or-down contrasts ensures that the player observes this mysterious tension through multiple perspectives. In a sense, “Irithyll/Dungeon” describes the same abstract problem as “Cathedral/Carthus” but in concretizing the problem into their own sets of images, they produce distinct characterizations of the involved antipathies. What are those characterizations? That is subjective to the player. The goal of this essay is not to fully thread the needle through each set of areas, and present The Ultimate Meaning of the Dark Souls Coniunctio; as stated, a complete description of these opposites is impossible. And more importantly, lore is not a puzzle to be solved; it is to be studied and sampled and woven into a garment of interpretation that is right for you—that enhances your experience. For that reason, thank goodness these symbols are inexhaustible!

The real purpose of this essay is to demonstrate this 3-fork method of partitioning the world of Dark Souls. Players and lorekeepers tend to complain that the world of Lothric is not sensible—and it isn’t, in terms of physical geography! It is very awkward trying to reconcile the desert kingdom of Carthus with the Farron Swamp within a physicalist model. But if we understand this world as psychic territory, it begins to assemble itself quite elegantly. What follows are notes about each of the 3 forks of DS3; I hope that it is useful to your own explorations. Overview

In this flavorful diagram, we have a few more details to work with. The general shape of the minimal diagram is retained, but icons are added to indicate special features and transitions between areas. Right off the bat, DS3 obscures its 3-fork structure by initiating the player near the site of the third and final split—the highwall of Lothric.

The wings along the dotted line refer to the special method of transit via the batwing demons, which is a signal that the Ashen One is changing realms. This is important, because there is also a unique transition between the mundane realm and Irithyll: the crossing of the bridge. On the diagram, this is denoted by the “Magic Barrier Bridge” from Carthus to Irithyll. Both the batwing transition and the bridge transition require special items. Thus the three realms differentiate themselves through special gates.

There are a few items in the diagram’s legend. The Corvian Storytellers are noted because they also seem to denote important thresholds—see relevant areas for more info. Memorable stairs and ladders are noted for the reader’s discretion. The dragon symbol indicates locations relevant to Archdragon Peak and the Path of the Dragon questline. They are numbered according to the order they must be visited—note that this order begins in the 3rd realm, Lothric, and works backward.

Smouldering Lake and Archdragon Peak are noted for the sake of illustrating certain points, but are ambiguously considered “extra areas,” not a part of the core 3-forks model.

Other little idiosyncrasies are noted, like the Settlement basement, and the illusory wall at the end of the Consumed King’s Garden. Some of these illustrate points, and some are, again, left for the reader’s discretion.

Fork 1: Mundane Realm

This is the first bifurcation the player encounters, in the Crucifixion Woods. Where exactly is the split? Specifically it is just after the Halfway Fortress, or down the hill from there. It is the largest, widest, and least obvious point of divergence among the three. Looking out at the area does not give the player any indication that there are exactly two distinct paths from this juncture. In that sense, it is very much like being lost in the woods. Though the site of the split is labeled “Crucifixion Woods,” the territory can be expanded to include the entirety of the Road of Sacrifices, and even the Undead Settlement. The reason that it may all be lumped in together is because these areas—from the Undead Settlement to the termination points in Carthus and the Cathedral—cumulatively comprise the mundane world. This theory is much expanded in another essay, but suffice it so say that it is only these areas that represent life on earth. Within this one fork there is labor, industry, culture, history, and social infrastructure. The Undead Settlement itself is a closed loop, representing the totality of life for most people. But the ambitious may graduate to the upper echelons via the sage school or Cathedral; and the adventurous may venture into the dark heart of nature within the swamp, or uncover the anthropological treasures hidden below. Note the size of the respective areas. The upward path is a tiny area followed by an enormous area. The downward path is an enormous area followed by a small area. The first upward area, the “sage school,” is not only small, but is totally enveloped by the Crucifixion Woods, shown in the diagram by the green band. This also contributes to the obfuscation of the 3-fork model; players don’t typically think of the school as a separate area. Going by the bonfire menu too, this location is considered part of the Crucifixion Woods. It is differentiated visually, and in the player’s experience, as it is a conspicuous structure in the woods, and essentially has its own boss. The Crystal Sage is not “related” in any significant way to the Corvians or the Lycanthrope Hunters who populate the greater territory, but the characters who populate the school are clearly direct affiliates of the boss. More tellingly, the sage school pseudo-area provides a perfect complement and completion to the area in conceptual terms. The two downward areas, which are clearly differentiated, proceed through elaborating their subject (nature, the unconscious, chaos, yin). One goes from the dark of the swamp to the dark of the tomb; a confrontation with biology precedes a confrontation with death. Likewise, moving from the school to the cathedral is a clear procession of order: from a half-ruined stone school—structured but impoverished—to an opulent and sprawling feat of architecture. So that is the case for the little school as its own discreet area. You may also note that the green band begins to encroach onto one side of Farron Keep; this is meant to indicate the ecological interdependency of these two locations; the gradual “moistening” of the forest. All the oppositional principles of location design are present in this split: the strategic squads of enemies in the little school contrast against the scattered animals of the swamp; the meticulous metroidvania layout of the cathedral contrasts against the open sprawl of the swamp, and the arcane closed circuits of the catacombs.

Fork 2: Irithyll

This fork is found below the lowest point of the previous fork, so the expectation is that the entirety of Irithyll is “lower” than the mundane realm. But right away, the player emerges into Irithyll among mountain vistas, apparently thwarting this expectation. It feels much, much, higher than the first realm, but ought to be much, much lower--so which is it? The problem is compounded by the fact that the upper areas from this fork are even more apparently “higher” than the highest point of the mundane realm, the Cathedral; yet the lowest point of Irithyll, the Profaned Capital, appears to be “lower” than the lowest point of the mundane realm!

Perhaps the most helpful clue is the point of entry. The player arrives here through the Catacombs, signifying the threshold of death. A strange goblet is touched, a void is entered into, and from then on the game becomes far more fantastical. After the confrontation with death, a giant dog is met on the bardo-bridge. We might therefore imagine Irithyll as a double of the mundane realm. It’s also suggested that Irithyll is somehow “within” the mundane realm, since it is found at its lowest point.

The fact that Irithyll is simultaneously “higher” and “lower” than the mundane realm is appropriate for its operatic aesthetic, and its layout is also suitably dramatic! Compared to the other realms, Irithyll’s up-path is more straight up, and its down-path is more straight down. The elevation differentials are exaggerated here, which can be taken as a clue into the nature of this realm.

In the diagram a cloud-shaped circuit is given as indication that both areas of the upper path may fall under the same designation: Upper Irithyll may be seen as colonized Anor Londo; or Anor Londo may be seen as the crown of Upper Irithyll. Likewise, a box is drawn around the two lower areas to indicate their shared designation. At one end of the downward path, in the Profaned Capital, the player ends up back in the dungeon, which might imply that the entire downward path is within the Irithyll Dungeon. Could the emergence from the Dungeon into the Profaned Capital be an illusion? Or is the Dungeon merely an intimidating and superficial rendering of the mystery at the heart of the Profaned Capital? So there is a wonderful ambiguity on both counts, a boundary dissolution within both forks. Does Up1 contain Up2, or does Up2 contain Up1? Does Down1 contain Down2 or does Down2 contain Down1?

While the upper areas abide by the conventions of order and linearity, the lower areas of this realm playfully challenge the formula a bit. When the player first enters the dungeon, it is quite linear. A certain key must be found to open a certain door continuing on a certain path. This is not like the open field of Farron; it seems to be very sequential! But once a few doors are opened, and the player ventures forward, the area becomes full of recursions and shortcuts. By the time the player comes to the Profaned Capital, she finds a bizarrely disordered heap of an area. So in this sense it as if the Dungeon puts up a front of order; a deceit, hiding the chaos within.

This is not included in the diagram, but it is an interesting detail: the bonfire of the Profaned Capital contains a microfork of its own; another opportunity to go up or down. This microfork is consistent with the culture/nature divide, but almost in the sense of parody. Taking the “up” route one finds a half-hearted linear path through a maze of crystal lizards, and a run through a tiny swamp, up a little chapel, with a sorcerer on the roof. Here the path deadends, or it leads the player back to the bonfire, or back to the dungeon. It is like a little reconstruction of the concept of “upper worlds,” a little doll’s house. Were the player to take the “down” path from the bonfire, she comes upon what is essentially one enormous sculpture, with no expected path, no semblance of linearity, present only to be crawled over as the individual sees fit. This reminds us that the upper paths, in their deliberate architecture and sequence, are designed at the human scale. In contrast, the ruins of this lowest area seem to be haphazard, inconsiderate of the player’s intentions.

Fork 3: Lothric

In the final realm the fork is immediate. The area on the large map labeled “Lothric” is here labeled “Dancer Room” to be specific. When one climbs the short ladder from the Dancer, at once they are given the option to walk forward and up, or veer left and descend. Thus the site of the split in this case is just a small landing. Or one could consider the entire High Wall area the site of this split; personally I do not find that that inclusion contributes much in the way of symbolism—but it doesn’t disrupt anything either. That said, having to return to the opening act of the game creates an interesting circuit. From the Lothric realm (or its accessory, the High Wall) there is a descent, through the batwing demons, to the mundane realm. An apparent descent—or perhaps an interiorization—is then made from the mundane to arrive at the Irithyll realm. Thus, Lothric positions itself plainly as the highest of the three realms; most explicitly, high in relation to the entirety of the mundane.

So, how are ascents and descents expressed from this point? The basic formula is faithfully instantiated through the linear progressions of Lothric Castle, and the open field of the Consumed King’s Garden. The first thing to note, however, is that the Garden is tiny, with its boss door visible upon entry. It feels that the lower worlds—the concept of lowness and its significations—have been reduced. The subjugation of the lower by the higher is a frequent motif, and it is expressed here quite clearly. Contributing to this impression is the fact that the second lower area, the Untended Graves, is hidden behind illusory walls. In fact, neither of these areas are mandatory, which is a quality unique to this path among all forks in the game.

The Untended Graves mysteriously re-presents the tutorial area and hub area of the game, scaled to suit the player at this point. This second act of recursion (the first being the return to the Dancer room) underscores the concept of containment, endemic to the lower worlds. Carthus “contained” the entirety of the Irithyll realm, through the portal of death; the Profaned Capital contained a micro-fork of its own which expressed through metaphor the other splits of the game. The Untended Graves is in turn suggesting, through the image of the hubworld, that the entirety of all realms is contained here. Such a paradox is thematically suited to the final “low place” of Lothric, and may be an indication that once again, the player is in a realm simultaneously higher and lower; that the depths of the supposedly highest place somehow yet reach lower than the lowest points of the other realms.

Notes on the Corvian Storytellers While Corvians are fairly common throughout the three realms, there are only 5 locations to the find their storytellers, and these locations are quite meaningful. They are present at each mouth of the Road of Sacrifices: between the Road and the Settlement; between the Road and the Cathedral; between the Road and Carthus. They therefore surround the center of the mundane realm, creating a symbolic threshold. Keep in mind that this center they surrounded was once the site of Oolacile, the cradle of humanity, whose events catalyzed the entire story of the Dark Souls games. The final two places where storytellers are found are also significant: in the Grand Archives and within the Untended Graves; that is, at the final low place and final high place in the game. As discussed previously, it is reasonable to suppose that these are the very highest and very lowest points in the game as well, which would mean that the storytellers are also stationed at the very edges of reality. This is quite another threshold!

Path of the Dragon There is of course one area in the game that sits conspicuously outside of these realms, and likely outside their reality. That is the Archdragon Peak, which is neither up nor down from any location, but instead reached through an ambiguous cutscene transition, in which the Ashen One gazes out at the horizon.

Thus this area separates itself by its neutral response to the question of up or down, but it is difficult to say whether it is truly “apart” from the other realms. At the very least, the key attributes of Arch Dragon peak are distributed in the other realms in a highly significant constellation. First, there is the meditation gesture, which is found at the end of the Consumed King’s Garden, which is needed to reach the peak. Second, there is the point of access, which is on a cliff off the shoulder of Irithyll Dungeon. Thirdly, there is the final confrontation with Hawkwood at the end of Farron Keep.

Do you notice the parallel between these places? These are the first areas of descent of each of the three realms! Farron Keep, Irithyll Dungeon, King’s Garden; let’s call them DC1, DC2, and DC3. To become a dragon and to therefore finish Archdragon Peak—in terms of narrative and in terms of completionism—one must traverse the realms in the opposite order. The key is found at DC3, the door is reached at DC2, and then the Peak itself is found. Once the Ashen One reaches the end of the peak, she obtains a stone which propels Hawkwood’s quest forward, and he is then slain there at the end of Farron Keep, where the final stone is retrieved. We can therefore say that the “treasure” is found at DC1. Another detail contributes to the sense of treasure: the presence of Havel’s armor, which is also found at Farron Keep after visiting the Peak.

The fact that each step of the dragon quest is found in the first leg of each descending area is quite a mystery. To be specific, each step is performed very near the transition points between the parts of each descent. The key/gesture is found where the Garden leads into the Graves; the door/transition is found where the Dungeon begins to dissolve into the Capital; the treasure/conclusion is found where Farron opens into the Catacombs.

The symbolism of this arrangement merits far more investigation. It is particularly intriguing that the player should have to wind through the game “backwards,” from the final realm to the first, in order to produce the full result of the dragon questline. If this is truly the “path of the dragon,” what does it mean for a dragon to proceed through the world in this way?

The Parabola Traversing the lands of Lothric forces the player to go up and down many times. There are descents within the ascents and vice-versa. Of course each player’s route is different, and the amount of time spent on any given climb or slide will vary. Like any game, the more a player settles into their playstyle and shapes the game experience by their choices, the more the game becomes a psychological mirror. Even though this is a phenomenon inherent in the medium of videogames, Dark Souls III generously widens this capacity through the consistency of its primary philosophical axis, and through the mythologically fertile forms which emerge therefrom. This 3-fork model is one among many structures quietly dwelling within the game, supporting and cohering the world, allowing players to constellate their own stories within its matrix.

[eirikrjs]

50 for Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Big 5-0

Today (Feb. 26, 2019) is Hitoshi Sakimoto’s 50th birthday. Sakimoto is my favorite game music composer and probably even beyond. So, since I’m not in a position to give him 50 kisses, I thought to compile an ordered list of my top 50 Sakimoto tracks and arrangements. Many Vagrant Story tracks died to bring you a more varied lineup. Enjoy and happy birthday to the one and only Ymo.HS! (Playlist!)

50. The Retribution (Sword Maniac) 49. FLAG RACE (Shippu Mahou Daisakusen) 48. Battle (Valkyria Chronicles) 47. Her Reputation Precedes Her (Crimsonshroud) 46. Nord Street (Lord of Vermilion II) 45. Lift (Breath of Fire V) 44. Restaurant (Odin Sphere) 43. Emperor of Balladry (Treasure Hunter G) 42. A Moment of Rest (Dragon's Crown) 41. Descent into the Sea of Clouds (Soukyuugurentai) 40. Brainwashing (Vagrant Story) 39. Minotaur (Vagrant Story) 38. Air Land (Tactics Ogre) 37. Undercity (Vagrant Story) 36. Encounter (Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei) 35. Dullahan (Vagrant Story) 34. Main Character's Theme (Final Fantasy Tactics) 33. Avilla Hanya (Tactics Ogre) 32. BIGCORE (Gradius V) 31. Tieger and Neesa (Vagrant Story) 30. Hell Court (Lord of Vermilion II) 29. Ozmone Plain (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 28. Climax of the Greylands Incident (Vagrant Story) 27. Wyvern (Vagrant Story) 26. The Dalmasca Estersand (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 25. Great Cathedral (Vagrant Story) 24. IMPREGNABLE FORTRESS-STAGE 7- (Gradius V) 23. A Moment's Rest (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 22. Truth (Vagrant Story) 21. Abandoned Mines B2 (Vagrant Story) 20. Origin (Radiant Silvergun) 19. Overture/Neo-Overture (Ogre ~ Grand Repeat) 18. Ultema the Nice Body (Final Fantasy Tactics) 17. The Clan Hall (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 16. Antidote (Final Fantasy Tactics) 15. Return (Radiant Silvergun) 14. Phon Coast (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 13. Retribution (Gauntlet IV)* 12. Staff Roll (Vagrant Story) 11. Evasion (Radiant Silvergun) 10. Ifrit (Vagrant Story) 9. Temple of Kiltia (Vagrant Story) 8. Boss Battle (FFXII: The Zodiac Age) 7. FORTRESS-STAGE 3- (Gradius V) 6. Ruin (Radiant Silvergun) 5. Trisection (Final Fantasy Tactics) 4. A Chapel (Final Fantasy Tactics) 3. Abandoned Mines B1 (Vagrant Story) 2. Limestone Quarry (Vagrant Story) 1. Factory (Vagrant Story)

*Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata are both credited for Gauntlet IV with no individual track credit breakdown, but I still feel confident he composed Retribution.

PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZ-pBc0YpB_qzWyXqMp9Sg8vzNF8GiKc

Other notes:

Made some last minute substitutions after Youtube left me disappointed with the quality of the Tactics Ogre PSP tracks. Oh well for TO, still love ya.

Honestly prefer the original FFXII game version of Ozmone Plain but I couldn’t find it.

Vagrant Story is appealing.

If you’re viewing this in the future, apologies for the deleted videos.

I shook Sakimoto’s god damn hand at Otakon 2007!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~ what a moment

Cursed image:

[catwhite7-blog]

The match returns with a sophomore campaign every bit as graceful and lovely since preceding ones.

futa hentai games was a joy in 2015--a tough-as-nails mixture of a Metroid vania architecture and Meat boylike requires having a surprising amount of heart-felt heft. Five decades after, Moon Studios' follow-up, futa games, is each and every little as tasteful and lovely because its predecessor, although if a number of these beats and quest feel a little less novel precisely the second period round. Will of this Wisps picks up almost instantaneously where by Blind Forest still left off, together with hentai futanari games's Patch Work living unit composed a brand new member, the owlet Ku. The family is joyful and loving, but Ku would like to fly and futa games really wants to help her. So on the two have been swept off at a gale into a different forest deep together with rust, which starts the action in earnest. Due to this setting is disconnected from the only one in Blind Forest, the tradition is somewhat new, but familiar. Even the painterly imagery is reassuring, especially inside the opening hours since you research very similar biomes. They can be attractively rendered , however a small samey if you've played with the very first game. Immediately after a while, Will of the Wisps opens to far more diverse locales, including an almost pitchblack spider den along with a wind swept desert. The subject across the story is the encroachment of the Decay, a creeping wicked which overtook this neighbfuta hentai gamesng woods after its own bewitching life tree withered. But if it truly is meant to become ugly, you would not know it out of many of the extravagant wallpapers --especially in case of a vibrant underwater part. futa hentai games can be consumed with those sweeping surroundings, emphasizing just how modest the little forest spirit is compared to their surroundings that is enormous. hentai futanari games's suite of acrobatic moves leaves delving into new areas a thrilling deal. Exploration becomes especially curious as you uncover additional abilities and eventually become increasingly adept. Some are lifted immediately from the first match, which can be unsatisfactory next to the delight of discovering that a gleaming new ability. Even now, these previous stand bys still do the job well and make the improvisational jumps and bounds feel as great as ever. The scenic vistas seem to be pushing the hardware tough, yet. Playing on an x box onex I struck visual glitches just like screen rapping to the semi-regular foundation, and the map could stutter. Ordinarily those really are a very simple nuisance, however, when in awhile it'd arrive mid-leap and toss off my sense of excellence and management. Even a day-one patch considerably diminished the freezing and mended the map dilemma altogether.

Though futa games is ostensibly a metroidvania, Will of the Wisps is less focused on mining and more moderate compared to the average to its style. Your goals usually are evident, straight lines, and shortcuts littered throughout the environments return again to the most important trail fast. Most of the wanderlust will come in the type of abundant sidequests, like delivering a message or locating a knickknack for a critter. There is a investing series. Finally you start a hub area which may be constructed to a small community for the forest denizens. These upgrades have been largely decorative, therefore it's mostly an visual showcase of experiencing accumulated the technical stuff used for this. The sidequests are nearly totally discretionary. I used to be thankful to the independence to go after this critical path with out artificial barriers, but additionally I plan to go back and plumb the depths only to spend more time on earth. The low focus on exploration seems to have been replaced by a big expansion of combat. Rather compared to the departure aggravation of the intermittent enemy,'' Will of the Wisps introduces myriad threats that certainly are a more near-constant presence. Luckily, the combat system has been overhauled to match the sophistication of this platforming. The narrative advance provides a horn and bow, along with additional optional weapons like order, and also you can map some combat motions to Y, X, or even B. The overcome does take some getting used to, even nevertheless, in part since it's developed to work along with futa hentai games's rotational motions. Although I felt awkward and imprecise in fight in the beginning, shifting my blade exceptionally at even the mildest of creatures, my comfort amount climbed since I gained fresh platforming abilities. Throughout the mid-game I recognized I had become adept at stringing jointly platforming and combat abilities, air-dashing and correlation involving risks with balletic rhythm and hardly touching the ground until the screen was drained. That level of finesse is essential, because futa games introduces a collection of gigantic boss conflicts, every much more complex than anything else at Blind Forest. Their assault patterns tend to be signaled by just perceptible tells. Most of time, the supervisor matches up a substantial part of the interactable foreground, and a lot much more of this desktop --but this could allow it to be more hard to inform what exactly is and is not exposed to your attacks, or even what parts will do collision harm. This makes defeating them really feel like a reduction and achievement, though sometimes additional of this former than the latter. Additionally, tension-filled escape sequences dot the map, requiring almost perfect precision and implementation of your tool set to survive a gauntlet of dangers. The match offers occasional check points in all these sections, as well as a more generous checkpointing characteristic around the overworld. The sprawling supervisors and climactic escapes are strategies to convey a bigger, more operatic sense for Will of the Wisps. Blind Forest was a modest small match which told that an intimate, amalgamated fable. Wisps has a grander, sweeping extent, and in the act it loses some of that intimacy. It still has moments with emotional heft, the two thrilling and heartbreaking, and Moon Studios still includes a manner of expressing an amazing level of wordless emotion using subtle minutes of body gestures. The narrative in Will of this Wisps is frequently skinnier, and also its particular touching minutes are more bittersweet. The chief antagonist, an owl named Shriek, is similar to the original game's Kuro in getting endured a tragedy in the past. But the story addresses that catastrophe is significantly sadder, and stands as a consequence of haunting cartoon which would stay with me longer than every other single image from the match. Even the seconds of finality that conclusion the narrative, while appropriately epic and positive, are tinged with silent sadness and inevitability--the feel which everything finishes. This finality can signal this is actually the past hentai futanari games, a farewell into the world and memorable characters that made Moon Studios this type of standout programmer from its first effort. If that's the case, you might not ask for a greater sendoff. futa hentai games is a remarkable synthesis of artful design and style and attractive moments.

[oblivianclassic]

Game Ramble: Furi

Furi, by The Game Bakers. Available on PC and PS4.

Come to think of it, I haven’t actually finished all that many video game stories in my lifetime. It wasn’t until I began to deliberately set out to finish games that I realized this. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 sat fallow for months before I finally picked it up to see why everyone wanted Valve to make Half-Life 3 so badly (other than the fact that the Half-Life games are still a high standard of single-player shooter design). Mass Effect 1 and 2 were a pair of rare titles that I played straight through because Shepard/Garrus is my perfectly-calibrated OTP, but I still haven’t gotten around to importing my save into Mass Effect 3. I’ve played through the opening bit of Dragon Age: Origins twice now as two different characters, and stopped shortly after. My Planescape: Torment playthrough is forever stuck at the bit where I think I’m supposed to join one of Sigil’s factions. I got caught up in some massive conversation trees instead. I almost finished all 4 of Warcraft 3’s Reign of Chaos campaigns, but I lost my saves shortly before the last stand against Archimonde. I still feel bad about not seeing Dishonored through to the end. Dark Souls… I might actually return and finish that one day. Playing a Souls game is like riding a bicycle--more muscle memory and mental approach than remembering the plot--and I’m not ready to go Hollow just yet.

There’s just something about playing a game with a linear story that makes me loath to actually finish. Maybe it’s a fear of endings, of seeing something finished and put away, or maybe it’s my tendency to get distracted by new and shiny things promising innovative game mechanics.

So please understand that when I’m saying that Furi defeated me, there’s actually a lot of precedence.

That all said, Furi has defeated me. This isn’t to say that I don’t like Furi, or that I don’t appreciate its challenge. Far from it. But when it comes to Furi’s mix of bullet hell and character-action hack-n-slash, I seem to have run into a wall, figuratively speaking.

Furi is an indie attempt to make an action-y character action hack ‘n slash game - the kind that normally gets made by a Japanese studio and features a lot of physics-defying, animation-cancelling and enemy-juggling action. Furi is a little different, in that it’s made by a French studio called The Game Bakers, and it doesn’t have the bits you’d find in your average Devil May Cry where you fight groups of weaker enemies. Furi is a boss rush game, which is to say that the entire experience consists of a string of big single-enemy set piece boss fights, with bits in between where you walk slowly through some pretty environments while a man wearing a purple rabbit helmet exposits angrily at you.

All you know in the beginning is that you’re some kind of prisoner, fated to be repeatedly brought to the edge of death. You’re then released by the aforementioned purple rabbit-head man, given a sword and a gun, and told that the jailer is the key. Kill him, and you’ll be free. Of course, in a plot twist nobody saw coming, things aren’t quite that simple. You’ve only escaped your initial jail cell, one section of a whole sky-bound prison. There’s a gauntlet of floating islands to traverse, each housing their own jailer, each with their own reason for wanting to keep you locked up. Or perhaps they’re fellow inmates? The story of this game turns out to be fairly straightforward despite a few twists and turns crossed with the rabbit-man’s best attempts at keeping things vague. That said, I will give the game credit for taking risks with one late-game boss and committing to a theme. That as well as taking a page from Spec Ops: The Line and giving the player a not-entirely-obvious choice in a situation where most video games wouldn’t risk it. The story obviously wants to be great, but only manages to be pretty good.

The visuals are much like the story in this respect. The character design work of this game was done by Takashi Okazaki, the man who gave us Afro Samurai (the manga, not the video game), and the game bears a strange but distinctive sci-fi look as a result. Everyone has long, lanky limbs and our main character bears a stream of wavy white locks that drift like seaweed in a gentle current. He also doesn’t seem to wear shoes, which bothered me for a while, though I’m really not sure why. Unfortunately, low-res texture work and model clipping issues don’t do the concept art justice. Judging by the shaders, Furi is attempting to take on a smooth and stylized aesthetic similar to that of something like El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Unfortunately, I’m guessing that the limited budget and small team are to blame for the stiff animation work. I understand just how time-consuming animating a game of this type can be, but that doesn’t change the fact that the striking, memorable, and distinct visuals could do with a lot of polish. Then again, considering the size of the dev team, this category could probably be given a pass. Perhaps it was in all in service of the framerate, which stays at a smooth 60 no matter what; an essential part of any fast-paced action title. If so, it was a worthwhile tradeoff. I’ll take a smooth framerate over shinier graphics in a game like this.

Fortunately, both the soundtrack and the gameplay are exceptional. The soundtrack probably deserves its own article and easily stands on its own as something worth buying. Right now. I mean it. Composed by Carpenter Brut, Danger, The Toxic Avenger, Lorn, Scattle, Waveshaper and Kn1ght, it’s a thumping tribute to retro electronica and the perfect accompaniment to energy-ball-dodging, pew pew pew-ing, and laser-sword-swooshing. Whatever atmosphere was lost when I saw an awkward animation was more than made up for by whatever music happened to be playing at the time. My favorite tracks are probably “A Picture in Motion” by Waveshaper, and “What We Fight For”, by Carpenter Brut.

Furi is built around a core set of abilities. The player can dodge, string together up to four strikes with his sword, and make rapid-fire shots with his energy pistol. Each of these moves can be charged up for greater effectiveness. The dodge will go further, and the charged strike and shot can interrupt certain enemy attacks. The player also has a parry move that if timed properly will block melee attacks, reflect projectiles, and open up opportunities to unleash a counter strike on their opponent. It seems like a simple enough system at first glance, but there is a lot to master once the player has a basic grasp of the controls. Parry timing is critical, not only because your health is healed a small amount with every successful parry, but a perfectly timed parry will stun your opponent and allow you to carve off a chunk of their health. Timing charged strikes to interrupt certain boss attacks and knowing when to charge a dodge become important too, though not absolutely essential. The controls are snappy, precise, and perfectly tuned for the sort of exacting and demanding game that Furi is.

With mastery of the controls, I’d imagine that this game will become appealing to speedrunners. Absolute mastery of all the various attack timings and patterns isn’t required to beat the game. Rather, cutting down a boss’s health bar becomes much faster once you figure out a few tricks, and I’m sure there are a lot of people who will make it their mission to go through each boss as quickly as possible.

There are nine bosses total, plus one optional “secret” boss, each with their own theme, arena, gimmick, and twist to the formula. I’ve heard that Furi plays a bit like a last-gen cult-classic game called NieR, and this is true to a certain extent. Like in NieR, each fight is a blend of character-action/hack ‘n slash and bullet-hell gameplay. Each boss fight goes through several phases, indicated by blips below their health bar. Each phase of the fight requires the player to work through two health bars. Two sections to the fight, essentially. Generally speaking, in the first half of a phase the boss will engage the player with a mix of bullet hell projectile patterns and melee attacks, while in the second half of the phase the player is locked into a small area around the boss and the fight becomes melee-focussed. That said, each boss after the second one will start mixing things up, each one with a twist to the formula. The third, for example, has no melee section to the first phase of his fight, instead putting up a series of rotating shields that the player must shoot through, but saying much more will definitely ruin a fair amount of the experience for you.

The difficulty curve from boss to boss is, unfortunately, rather uneven. The third fight seems to be a common difficulty spike for many. He’s not exactly tough, but seems designed to test the player’s patience to a breaking point, while the fifth fight is a breeze after the quick reflexes and more precise positioning required by the fourth boss. While I never made it quite so far on the default difficulty level, the ninth fight is apparently quite easy after the extremely tough seventh and eighth bosses (though I’d argue that in this case it’s necessary for thematic reasons).

Fortunately, the game is actually quite forgiving in terms of allowing the player to learn while keeping up the pace of each individual fight. The player themselves has three lives, and losing a life only resets whichever phase of the battle they’ve currently reached. Successfully finishing a phase will restore a lost life and replenish the player’s health. The player must lose all three lives before being forced to start the fight from the beginning. The game may be demanding, but it has a fair amount of tolerance for mistakes.

Unfortunately, my own tolerance for the game was worn down by just how demanding later fights were. Taxing melee combat, that I can handle. I’m even okay with the occasional bullet hell game, though I can’t say I particularly appreciate the genre. Furi’s blend of both, on the other hand, seems to be geared to break me down into incoherent rage. Switching between the two modes of action on the fly simply proved too taxing for me. It might be argued that I had ruined the experience for myself by getting fed up at one point and switching the game to “Promenade” difficulty so I could essentially skip ahead and finish the story, thus removing a lot of my motivation for continuing the game. That may be true, but I do feel that by that point I’d already seen most of what the game had to offer, mechanically speaking. I’ve got a good look at what Furi does, and, frankly, I’ve got a lot of video games on my plate here.

This isn’t to say that Furi is bad, far from it. It’s an admirable effort, something that’s striving for greatness and bumping right up against the hard limitations of a small team and budget, especially for the kind of game it’s trying to be. To achieve Devil May Cry 3 levels of polish, you need much bigger teams of animators and software engineers, but the core of Furi, the fast and challenging combat mechanics, is rock solid. For those who want a precise and demanding series of fights, where a neat art style and kickass soundtrack are bonuses, Furi is definitely a game for you. Though lacking in terms of visual fidelity, Furi has tough boss fights where good reflexes and patience will win the day. No filler, just your character and your opponent. The experience wore thin for me about two thirds of the way through, though, for more or less the same reason. Furi knows what it wants to do and does it very well, but the things it does ended up driving me up the wall.

I will say this, though: playing the deceptively hardcore Hyper Light Drifter after bashing my head against Furi feels so much easier. Situational awareness? Dash timing? Juggling ranged and melee combat? I’ve got it covered.

Tune in next time when I drift on blades of the hypest light.

-Taihus “Enough talk, let’s fight!” @raincoastgamer

[ciathyzareposts]

Morabis I: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

              Morabis I: The Dungeons of Morabis

United States

Independently developed and released as shareware

Several versions released for DOS between 1991 and 1992

Date Started: 2 May 2020

Date Ended: 10 May 2020

Total Hours: 11 Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5) Final Rating: (to come later) Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

          Summary: A roguelite, Morabis blends Rogue-style gameplay with an Ultima-esque attention to map design. There are some interesting new features added, such as a targeting cursor for missile weapons and the ability to see and dodge incoming missiles and magic blasts. Overall, though, most of Morabis‘s changes from the traditional roguelike template make it longer and more frustrating than the typical roguelike. Bugs, misspellings, and version inconsistencies also hurt enjoyment.

*****

The second half of Morabis preceded much like the first half, except that with more difficult levels some of the game’s problems became magnified. The chief issue with the game is the level scaling that goes on as you descend further into the dungeon. Creatures increase in attack power and accuracy in proportion to the level you’re on, such that you never seem to “develop” as a character. Meanwhile, you’re constantly having to chase down new, improved weapons and armor to account for the greater monster power. Because their accuracy also improves, you spend a lot of time fleeing combat and waiting to heal before re-engaging. You spend an awful lot of time gingerly standing in doorways in this game, as if an earthquake is always about to hit.

      The search issue never went away, but it was magnified on some levels where large portions were initially occluded. I was also a bit irked by the sheer number of ways the author found for enemies to paralyze or confuse me. I swear that every enemy, even ones who had no special powers on earlier levels, were capable of one or the other during the last 10. Between enemies and traps, I couldn’t walk more than five steps at a time without being told I couldn’t move. Half the time, I had no idea why. And at least half my deaths were caused by walking the wrong way into lava when I was confused.

             Starving and unable to move sometimes feels like the default state in this game.

          Food was also a sporadic problem. It was quite literally feast or famine. There was one period where I had to save-scum for about half an hour until I got a couple enemies to drop food when I killed them; otherwise, I starved to death before I could get anywhere. Nothing is more frustrating than finally finding food and having it turn out to be rotten or poisonous, but of course Rogue had that, too.

The best times were when, for a brief time, I had a magic item capable of alleviating some of the game’s more powerful annoyances. I enjoyed a Ring of Trap Avoidance for a few levels. A Ring of Slow Digestion was also a godsend. I found a Scroll of Nutrition at one point with about 15 charges. That was a load off. There are supposedly Rings of Lava Walking and Rings of Avoid Paralysis in the game, but I never found either. Anyway, rings don’t last forever in Morabis, so at best they offer temporary reprieve.

         A “wraglor” degrades my armor just before he kills me.

          As I descended, I started to appreciate the author’s approach to level design a bit more. I corresponded with Michael Höenie, and he sent me some of the game maps as examples. (There’s no way to view the entire map of a level from within the game, unfortunately). Using handcrafted levels instead of randomly-generated ones allowed him to do some fun things with the terrain. Some levels suggested rough-hewn natural caverns, while others suggested fortresses or jail cell blocks. Level 24 is basically one long, thin causeway over lava. The final dungeon level in particular, Castle Morabis, had an almost Ultima quality in the map design. It’s just too bad that you can’t appreciate it from within the game. The 81 x 81 level sizes are a bit large, too.

         The final dungeon level, courtesy of the author.

           Every fifth level features a mini-boss guarding the way down: Fennel the Fire Lark on Level 5, Jahaÿ the Gobnor on Level 10, Ñehnor the hobnorlin on Level 15, and Nimlatch the Dragon on Level 20. They had more hit points than others of their class but otherwise weren’t terribly difficult.

There’s an odd special encounter on Level 18 with a roomful of unicorns. They attack you, but if you attack them, the game says, “Oh! Thou mustn’t hurt a Unicorn!” (“Thou-speak” is another borrowing from the Ultima series.) What you’re supposed to do, according to Höenie’s web site, is find some grass and drop it in front of them, then they give you a key necessary for the final dungeon level. I didn’t read this until I’d left Level 18 well behind me. The encounter isn’t really fair. Nowhere else in the game do you interact with creatures this way, and there’s no particular reason to think that the unicorns would want grass. 

         I can’t attack the unicorns, but they have no such compunction.

         As for keys, you find copious numbers of them on the way down–brass, pewter, tin, copper, steel, platinum, beryllium . . . so many that you run out of inventory space if you try to carry them all. They’re mostly unused until the final level, where it appears that every other door wants a different one. At least two doors require the one that the unicorns drop, and I didn’t have that. Rather than waste hours going back to Level 18, I hex-edited my saved games to jump across the door.

               Opening one of the final doors with a key.

          Level 25 is shaped like a castle. You start in the lower-center, and if you just move north from there, you come to the chambers of the demon lord. As I approached his chamber and he taunted me, the game called him “Satu’Javu,” but when I actually fought him, he was named “Satu’Nävas. Either way, I killed him in a few blows on my first try.

            The demon has two different names depending on whether he’s taunting me or dying by my sword.

           The Amulet of Sae’gore is found in a nearby chamber, guarded by a couple of “zelthorns.” I had hoped that when I killed the demon and picked up the amulet, the game would automatically end, but no, just like Rogue, I had to make my way back up to the surface. Also like Rogue, the game preserves the original difficulty level of the game levels as you ascend, meaning that it’s really no challenge once you get out of the bottom few.

Uninterested in spending this kind of time, I made use of an exploit. When the character dies on a level and you reload, the game always reloads you on the up-staircase of that level. Thus, through a boring but faster process of die-reload-up, I made my way to Level 1 and out of the dungeon. There, I got the concluding message:

            Congratulations!! You found the amulet and escaped with your life! Unfortunately, Lord Devnon, seeing your triumph, has escaped. Fleeing with only his life, he has returned to Valkner’s Keep. Peace will now reign in the land of Croon, at least for a little while . . .

                 Winning the game.

               This brief paragraph manages to confuse the story even more. The story in the manual is titled “your quest for the Amulet of Sae’gore” but doesn’t even mention the Amulet of Sae’gore, and is instead about the new king attempting to defeat Lord Devenon by finding the Scarlette Sword and the Armor of Power. Nether Satu’Javu, Satu’Nävas, the land of Croon, nor Valkner’s Keep are mentioned in the manual backstory, either.

On a GIMLET, Morabis I gets:

                1 point for the game world. What would normally be 2 is lowered by the tangled backstory.

1 point for character creation and development. Every character is the same generic adventurer, and the level scaling problem makes development feel futile at times.

0 points for no NPC interaction, although Höenie had plans for them in the next version.

         Fighting enemies while walking on a thin bridge over lava. One wrong step means death.

        3 points for encounters and foes. The enemies were satisfyingly variant in their special abilities, although not to the level of NetHack or even the original Rogue. I liked the mini-bosses at regular intervals.

2 points for magic and combat. The game features fewer tactics than traditional roguelikes, in particular lacking any spellcasting system. There’s also no speed differential and fewer useful items to employ.

         Sorting through a treasure pile after killing a dragon. I’m not sure I want to know what an “avocado wand” is.

            3 points for equipment. It has a roguelike’s variety but not quite as much variety as most. I found that wands were almost useless. There’s only one main armor type–no helms, gauntlets, boots, and the like. But what really killed this category for me was the lack of consistency between objects of the same description. Part of the challenge of roguelikes has always been discerning, through various clues and testing, what colors go with what potions and what descriptions go with what rings, scrolls, and wands. The difficulty of lower levels is eased slightly by the fact that you’re no longer wasting time probing each new item for its likely properties. In Morabis, with colors and descriptions assigned randomly to each individual object, that process never ends. The only mitigating factor is that Scrolls of Identification are relatively common.

0 points for no economy. You can collect gold, but there’s nowhere to spend it, nor does it count towards any score.

2 points for a main quest.

         Finding the Amulet on Level 25.

         2 points for graphics, sound, and interface. Pretty much any decent roguelike gets a 3 for its utility of graphics and its keyboard interface. I subtracted a point for the searching, the lack of an automap, and frequent artifact issues with the interface.

2 points for gameplay. For the most part, I found the levels too big and the annoyances outweighing the satisfying moments. There’s no real replayability inherent in it.

            That gives us a final score of 16, from which I subtract 2 points for bugs and needless confusion in the story and instructions. The confusion comes from Höenie being between versions when he gave up, the manual having been edited ahead of the game itself.

In e-mails to me, Höenie said that Morabis started in 1985 (when Höenie was 16) as a text-based BBS game. Höenie had been a dungeon master on a server for Scepter of Goth (1978), and when Scepter was deprecated, he set out to create a similar game. 

After he got some experience with offline games–principally, Rogue, Tunnels of Doom, and Ultimas I-III–Höenie began working on his own single-player roguelike, blended with elements from Ultima like the inability to see around walls. He originally called it Morabis II, but it soon became just Morabis. After he released it, Höenie got about halfway through Morabis II: The Quest for the Staff of Yar’Bore–which would have included a level editor, spells, and NPCs with dialogue and transaction options–but ultimately life intervened and he never finished it.

Höenie maintains a web page devoted to Morabis, on which you can find some instructions for further cheating the game by adding items.

The next game is supposed to be Moraff’s Dungeons (1993), the first time that I move prematurely forward in my chronological order, and I confess that despite how well I argued for this new development a few months ago, I’m now having second thoughts.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/morabis-i-won-with-summary-and-rating/

[weightlossfitness2]

Train the Foundation of Success: Willpower

So a lot of our behaviors are the default of a defective environmental set-up. An alarm, a pre-staged gymnasium bag, and a drawer stuffed with wholesome snacks can go a good distance. But, say your atmosphere is designed to the hilt and your plan is impeccable. You nonetheless have to indicate up and execute.

  People throw all their processed meals away and fill the house with fruits, greens, and fish, solely to search out themselves driving to Dairy Queen after dinner 4 days every week. People stash their work garments in a gymnasium locker after which start the ridiculous behavior of driving to the gymnasium each morning to alter garments with out understanding first.

    Even when every thing in your life is funneling you in direction of the fitting strikes, you continue to should make them. That is the place willpower is available in.

  It doesn’t matter who you’re, you received’t at all times wish to train and eat nicely. More typically than not, even essentially the most seasoned, constant health professionals discover themselves at their pre-planned train block with a sense of dread. It is human nature.

  When given the selection between the consolation that engulfs our lives right now and energy, each fiber of our being pulls us to stay in sedentary consolation. We are programmed to devour and preserve vitality.

  Our our bodies by no means anticipated a world the place vitality (meals) was ample and we had the choice to outlive whereas hardly shifting. There are at all times extra snacks, one other Netflix present, and a brand new YouTube video “up next.”

  Thus, it takes a silly quantity of willpower to interrupt the default patterns of our snug lives and insert the mandatory discomforts. And that’s what health objectives normally boil all the way down to—interrupting the sample of sedentary consolation.

  Once you begin, every thing will get simpler. You could even discover we’re energized and wish to do extra. Starting is the arduous half. Finding that momentary resolve to disregard each impulse or intuition and can your self into discomfort—now, that’s on the basis of any wholesome life-style.

  You could also be pondering, however what about these days I’m energized and excited to get shifting? Can’t I simply recreate these circumstances with good pre-workout and music? Nope. They are the aberration. No matter how nice your planning is, you’ll typically end up not eager to observe by way of.

  As former Navy Seal, Jocko Willink, says in his ebook, Discipline Equals Freedom, “Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short. So… don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.” And meaning willpower.

  You make your purpose or set that private rule when you’re fascinated about what’s greatest for you. In that unemotional, distant state it’s simple to see what course will likely be most fulfilling in the long term. Yet, within the second, when it’s a must to step up and act it’s a lot more durable.

    You is not going to at all times wish to observe by way of. If you’ve got the willpower to observe by way of you’ll really feel higher all day. If you make a concession and break your personal guidelines then you definately’ve set a harmful precedent that makes it extra possible so that you can take the straightforward manner out sooner or later.

  You can at all times justify that skipping in the future or indulging one time received’t harm. One resolution received’t have dire results, however as a way to be wholesome, you have to have a look at every occasion as a normal sample. Overcoming temptation and sticking to the plan is an on a regular basis factor.

  Whether your purpose is to start consuming higher otherwise you wish to begin exercising extra, willpower will likely be important to your success. So the place is the plan for that?

  Willpower 101

Willpower is actual and it’s a superpower. Study after research and ebook after ebook has proven that individuals with higher willpower are more healthy, happier, extra profitable, and have higher relationships. More than anything, willpower determines the standard of your life—and it’s trainable.

  Scientists tracked down 59 of the themes from the well-known Stanford Marshmallow Test and used useful resonance imaging to look at their mind exercise when introduced with temptation.

  They discovered that the mind patterns of low self-control topics and excessive self-control topics had been totally different. The untrained thoughts has much more problem overcoming impulses. You want to coach willpower. Without it, your well being objectives aren’t possible to achieve success.

  Willpower is sort of a muscle in each manner. It grows when skilled. It fatigues when used. Your chest and triceps may very well be skilled in order that, over time, you enhance from a 245lb max bench press to a 400lb max. You may work from three repetitions at 225lbs to 15 reps.

  The similar rules maintain true when coaching willpower. Through constant coaching, you possibly can construct a capability to tackle rather a lot increased quantity of willpower requiring duties and construct up to some extent the place previously difficult duties require virtually no willpower.

  Still, whilst your willpower grows stronger you possibly can’t tackle extreme quantity each day and anticipate good outcomes. Just as a two-hour gauntlet of sprints, snatches, and heavy squats would fry the central nervous system on even essentially the most extremely conditioned athlete, you possibly can’t anticipate excessive lengths of willpower each day.

  What’s extra, all willpower drains the identical reserve. It doesn’t matter if you’re utilizing it to withstand starvation pangs, to censor your self when speaking, to take care of eye contact, to withstand checking your telephone, to review, or to train.

  Habits of self-control help you automate behaviors that value most individuals a big provide of willpower. Thus, willpower costly duties can change into free or far cheaper. If you habitually converse nicely, then you definately don’t should censor the way you discuss round individuals. If you habitually make eye contact, then it received’t take any extra focus when you’re speaking to your boss.

  When you’ve made it a behavior to review after class each day, then it’s a part of the routine. You don’t have to determine when and the way you’ll research. You observe the sample and no willpower is used making choices.

  The extra good habits you’ve got, the simpler it’s to perform optimistic duties with out utilizing a lot willpower. This is how some individuals have labored themselves right into a place the place they appear to have the ability to do every thing at a excessive stage on a regular basis.

  Decisions, too, may be very taxing in your willpower. Choosing what to put on, what to eat, or what to do will sap willpower reserves, which is why environmental design and planning can go a good distance. When all of the steps to get you to the gymnasium or to the fitting meals are laid out for you then none of your willpower is sapped within the effort to get there.

  If you’re in any respect critical a few purpose, begin by designing your life to require the least willpower attainable to get us to your required finish. Eliminate fluff decisions about dressing and consuming so that you simply preserve willpower every day and, if attainable, take in your most willpower dependent duties early within the day to make sure ample gusto.

  But once more, we’re left with the fact that at a sure level, you simply should do the arduous factor when your feelings are revolting from it. So, how do you prepare the flexibility to beat that impulse? Slow and regular.

  Willpower Training Made Simple

Growing willpower is about constructing your muscular capability to will your self into an expertise that you simply’d somewhat keep away from. You know that exercise will make you happier in the long term, however within the second your feelings are screaming “no!” like a toddler being informed it’s time to go away the party.

  You wish to construct the flexibility to persistently do the arduous factor even while you don’t wish to. In coaching, consistency at all times trumps the occasional eruption of grand effort. You will see the very best outcomes from a each day willpower coaching routine. So, take a chilly bathe each day.

  The chilly bathe is the proper willpower coaching approach as a result of you’ll by no means wish to do it and also you at all times have time. You at all times have three minutes for a bathe. In reality, proper now you’re in all probability ready three minutes every day to your bathe to warm-up. There isn’t any determining the place or when. Busyness and comfort are usually not out there excuses.

  You will really feel a lot better after a 3 minute chilly bathe. In addition to the cascade of physiological results, you should have a confidence and sense of accomplishment that’s solely born of problem. You simply must require your self to behave now for a really transient time to be able to really feel higher all day—similar to understanding.

  But, after all, coaching is about development. Biting off an excessive amount of, too quickly is a recipe for quitting. Consider beginning with 30 seconds. Next week you are able to do a minute. Keep creeping up in 30 second increments till you’re taking a 3 minute chilly bathe each day. You are coaching the flexibility to do the arduous factor.

  This is on the root of each well being purpose. If you will get into a chilly bathe, you can begin a exercise. If you will get into a chilly bathe, you possibly can stroll by the odor of free donuts wafting from the workers lounge.

  You could also be tempted to give up taking each day chilly showers since you simply don’t wish to do it. That temptation is the purpose. You should confront the fact that taking management of your well being requires you to repeatedly observe by way of. Your thoughts will rationalize all types of causes to not do what you’ve got deliberate to do. Emotion takes management of your acutely aware pondering. Act anyway. That is your mantra. You can’t depend on motivation. Follow the plan. Act. This is the willpower train.

  Committing Is More Important Than Trying

“Do, or do not. There is no try.”

– Yoda

  Anyone can take a chilly bathe each day. It simply requires making the choice to commit in the fitting manner. You can’t say, “I’m going to give it a try.” Why would you body it as a “try?” There isn’t any talent or probability wanted. No making an attempt.

  You both decide to doing it otherwise you don’t. I thought of offering different willpower coaching protocols, however that complexity solely encourages inconsistency. There is nothing to consider.

  Taking a chilly bathe is tough. I’m minutes away from my very own and, even after doing these for over a yr, the prospect of it makes me cringe. Acting anyway retains my willpower muscular tissues in form in order that I’m higher in a position to be in command of my actions when issues are arduous. I do know that rising willpower is rising the flexibility to behave as I’d prefer to act and be who I wish to be, so I’ll keep this apply.

  There are just a few useful mechanisms that may make you extra profitable on this willpower endeavor or another:

  1. The first and most necessary is to begin with a “no matter what” clause

I borrowed the “it doesn’t matter what” clause terminology from the music star, Mike Posner, who lately walked from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. I’ve at all times used an analogous model of this, the place I inform myself 99% is a wimp.

  Either manner, the purpose stays: there isn’t a wiggle room. Once you determine you will do it, that should be the top of the dialog. This is why I at all times advocate individuals starting a life-style change begin small. You should create a behavior, an id, round following by way of.

  When you method life this fashion, it’s a must to assume arduous earlier than committing as a result of you may be doing something you decide to. Promise conservatively. You can at all times add later. If you do discover you’ve taken on an excessive amount of, then it’s a must to be true to your phrase (even when it’s only a promise to your self) till you hit your subsequent planning interval. I counsel a weekly planning session the place you replicate on the week and permit your self to adapt the plan, both including or subtracting as wanted.

  2. Be ready for curveballs

But say the unthinkable occurs. You get up late, rush to work, miss dinner, spend the night within the freezing chilly watching your daughter’s soccer sport, get residence and determine I’m simply not taking a chilly bathe… or understanding… or resisting the urge to eat cookie dough till you’re sick. You broke your promise. We are all human, in spite of everything. Now what? You get again on observe the following day.

  So typically individuals get caught on arbitrary objectives and once they fall off, they only give up. They label themselves a failure and return to life with out the objectives. We should make commitments to ourselves, however falling quick isn’t trigger to throw all of it down the drain.

  Sure you dedicated along with your coronary heart and soul and it sucks to fail, however what’s previous is previous. If the unimaginable occurs and also you break your promise to your self, then it’s a must to recommit instantly. It is water beneath the bridge. Back to ass-kicker mode.

  three. Make your dedication greater than your self

We are social creatures. If you’re coming off a 10-year train hiatus, I’m keen to wager that your habits was regular in your social group. You’d have behaved in another way for those who had been simply out of Marine boot camp. When you discover social levers that pull you in direction of your objectives, you may be extra profitable.

  Social strain typically works counter to our objectives. Most locations you go, individuals would possibly truly strain you to not take a each day chilly bathe. They’ll say issues like: “Why would you try this. It’s simply silly.” As if coaching willpower, the first determinant of success, is non-sensical. Thus, it’s a must to deliberately create optimistic social strain. You can discover like-minded mates and commit to one another and even attempt some extra artistic techniques.

  My companion Justin Lind and I’ve created the Pillar Experience Calendar—a construction for persistently embracing essentially the most transformative self-development experiences. Each month we now have a theme with a lesson and accompanying challenges which might be mentioned and supported by way of a web based group.

  Last month our group dedicated to an prolonged quick. Many joined Justin and me in consuming solely water for 48 hours. Others scaled all the way down to 24 hours or allowed themselves espresso. We all discovered immense energy in doing the challenges collectively and discussing them as we went alongside.

  Funnel Your Life Towards Making The Right Decisions

Organize your life to funnel you in direction of the fitting choices and away from these you would like you’d keep away from. Take on the arduous duties early within the day. Commit to taking a each day chilly bathe and take the time to construction a system of accountability.

  You may make willpower much more sophisticated than this, however that will solely present avenues for failure. Too a lot pondering will solely distract you from what you have to do.

  The greatest wager is to make your plan easy and actions clear. Then simply act, as a result of that grows the willpower muscle. And this muscle issues excess of another with regards to longterm health and well being.

The post Train the Foundation of Success: Willpower appeared first on Weight Loss Fitness.

from Weight Loss Fitness https://weightlossfitnesss.info/train-the-foundation-of-success-willpower/

[apsbicepstraining]

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ brand-new evidence; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance

Plus: the Rapids triumphing move dissolves hurriedly; Torontos better is back to his best; and Jason Kreiss triumphant return

A record-setting darknes started in atypical pattern for Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The Red Bulls striker expended most of the parallel in solitude, unable to get a clear touch in a dangerous situate, thanks in part to a choking Chicago Fire defense. But as has been the case since he joined the team in 2013, a bit of room was all he needed to show his form.

And on Sunday, it served to break records.

Wright-Phillips extra-time equalizer was his 63 rd as a Red Bull player, putting him past Juan Pablo Angel as the all-time dealership destination scoring leader.

Of course, I wont lie I like to break records, right holders of MLSs single-season goal scoring record said after the competitor. I try not to think about it, but when you say these kind of things, it obligates me proud.

A streaky striker by nature, Wright-Phillips has once again were beginning to warm up, scoring three goals in his last two pairs, break-dance the double digit goalscoring threshold for the third season in a row. But regardless of Sundays record, it is the nature of his latest point that has Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch excited.

Ive been defying him to see more gamblings belatedly in video games. They did a good job of being hard on him. Every team we play knows Bradley is important. They focus in on him and Sacha, and Brad still manages to find ways to get objectives, Marsch said.

As good as Brad is, we are trying to encourage him to have a cut-throat attitude, that even if he doesnt have a lot of contacts in the game, he exactly necessity one to make a difference.

On Sunday, thats all it took for the Red Bulls to salvage a time from near cataclysm in the unfriendly confines of Toyota Park. I set a lot of work into what I do, Wright-Phillips said. And when you can make an accomplishment like that, it makes me happy and proud.

Welcome back to Major League Soccer, Jason Kreis

The two-time MLS Cup win and former NYC FC boss rejoined the challenger after a short incantation away from video games. His honor? A 3-1 succes in Orlando against the New England Revolution.

In some modes, Kreis astounded with his approach to the equal. In others, “hes having” stayed the same. The trademark of a Kreis side the diamond midfield was shunned for the conventional 4-2-3-1 that Orlando has employed for most of the season. His decision to start Antonio Nocerino and Servando Carrasco over Darwin Ceren and Cristian Higuita was surprising, as was his choice to start Brek Shea on the bench. All starting decisions, he said, were based on word in training.

But most of his lineup decisions followed recent precedent. The back four remained intact. Molino, who has lined up across every midfield place during Orlandos recent gauntlet of fixture congestion, noticed a residence on the left. Kaka reverted centrally behind Larin, with Hadji Barry making his third consecutive start of its first year on the right.

New England searched poised to participate spoiler, putting in an superb superhighway exertion through the opening 45 minutes. Kei Kamara “re opening the” scoring, waltzing his road past the Orlando defense and detecting the net simply 18 instants in.

But Orlando saw their formation in the second half. It took Larin less than a minute to score, hitting Bobby Shuttleworth at the far pole with a calm finish. Second half sub Shea communicated in a cross in the 63 rd, spotting Kevin Molino to redouble the make. Molino capped off the darknes with a brace.

But the nighttime belonged to Jason Kreis, who managed to reignite a sleepy Orlando side to their first win since June 26 th.

Obviously[ Im] very, very happy, Kreis said after the competition. I visualize the week of handiwork that the players and staff have put in was excellent. One of best available weeks Ive ever been involved with. To see that work terminate in a really strong execution realizes me extremely happy.

Frank Lampard hems into relevant for NYC FC

Frank Lampard is the worst Designated Player sign in Major League Soccer biography: that was the narrative six short a few weeks ago. And with good reason. After all, his sketchy stay with New York City FC has been tainted by false starts, contractual distraction, fitness issues and questionable hurt concerns.

But his action on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids introduced an exclaiming differentiate on one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the MLS season.

Since reverting from a calf trauma, Lampard has been on fire. Donning the chieftains armband in place of the suspended David Villa, the Chelsea great revived his past form, scoring the first hat-trick in NYC FC history en route to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

This was no small feat for Lampard or NYC FC. The Rapid were undefeated in 15 competitors foreman into Saturdays encounter an enormous achievement within the frameworks of the parity-laden MLS. Their protection allowed a paltry 14 purposes through 20 pairs leader into the weekend, the best preserve in the conference. Eight of their first 20 parallels ended in shutouts. Likewise , no squad has been able to score three against the Rapids backline all season long with or without Tim Howard.

And no single musician has tallied more than two aims against them, either. Until Lampard broke the working party. The Englishman, who has been the top scorer in MLS since his revert as a starter on 18 June, opened the scoring in what was initially a drab affair.

Lightning immediately introduced a pause to the match, but NYC FC accompanied batch of electricity on the restart. A second wayward foul from Michael Azira applied the Rapids down a human in the 37 th time. With Colorado reeling, Tony Taylor redoubled the pas before the half, and Steven Mendoza constructed it three shortly after the second. But “its been” Lampard who induced an unforgettable curtain call. First he curled a shot past Howard and then completed his hat-trick with fines and penalties. He is now among the top-1 0 goalscorers in the league.

Not bad for a presumed has-been, right?

He showed true-blue leadership today, team-mate Jack Harrison said. He was a true-life skipper at Chelsea and he proved it today. He substantiated everyone incorrect is demonstrating that we do need him and hes a key part of our success.

An abrupt death to a good thing

The Colorado Rapids forgot ugly against NYC FC – and that is putting it mildly.

We shot ourselves in the foot, said Howard. Its a small tar, its easy to get around, easy to defend properly and we didnt do that as a group today. Once the red-faced placard happened, the game was finished.

Despite the result, the Rapids should still be proud of what they have accomplished this season. After all, they continue to second in the West with one of the stingiest defenses in the league.

Now makes thrown their achievements in situation. Compare the teams current success to their woes in 2015. They have already overshadowed their win total last year with 10 wins in 2016 compared to nine in 2015. Their defense is actually comparable this year: in 2015 they allowed exactly 22 points through 21 coincides as opposed to their current 19 permitted. Their offensive wasnt all that different either, with the 2016 Rapids tallying 24 aims, compared to the 19 through 21 tallied last-place season.

So whats certain differences? For starters, Colorado are tallying first and accommodating on to wins a determining factor for any contender. Last-place season, they managed to tally first in eight of their opening 21 competitors. That was key to their momentary success on the year( 4-1-3 ). This year, it has been the bedrock of all the teams success, with the Rapids running a solid 10 -0- 3 when find that first point. Only NYC FC have opened the tallying more frequently( 14 of 21 matches ).

The team have also learned how to use dwelling domain to their advantage, running undefeated at DSG Park (8 -0- 3 ). That wasnt the instance last-place season as Colorado disappeared 3-4-4 in the same time frame.

Jermaine Jones has certainly been a part of their success. The squad is undefeated when the midfielder starts( 4-0-3 ). But Pablo Mastroeni has been a key catalyst as well. Continuity and identity is already foreign terms for the Rapids under Mastroeni. Now, key offseason acquisitions have bolstered the fraternity, and Mastroeni has effectively molded his high press arrangement to his players persuasiveness, may be required for his young roster to victimize antagonists on turnovers in the attacking third.

The result has been unfettered success and no single loss can take that away from them.

Torontos best is back to his best

No team in Major League Soccer travel their fates on the back of a single musician quite like Toronto FC and their golden goose, Sebastian Giovinco.

On Sunday evening, the Italian striker acquired the maestro label from countryman Andrea Pirlo, orchestrating and executing on each of Torontos destinations in a 3-0 shutout of the Columbus Crew.

It took all of eight minutes for him to show his form. A long-range blare ricocheted off the back of team-mate Tsubasa Endoh, vanquishing Crew keeper Steve Clark for the early precede. Endoh was credited for the goal – but Giovinco established it happen.

Just 16 a few minutes later, the Toronto offense inaugurated weaving their route through the Crew defense, finishing on a relinquish and depart between Jay Chapman and Giovinco. The former Juventus star took a curling kill on the outside of his foot to double Torontos advantage.

And he wasnt done there. Giovinco thrust Steve Clark into a diving save in the 55 th time. One instant eventually, a hazardous assaulting string assured Giovinco smack the same post not once, but twice, just missing on his possibility for a strengthen. Unable to find two seconds objective, the Italian striker reverted back to the role of distributor, this time connecting with Jozy Altidore for the end goal of the match.

His 12 th goal of the season introduces him merely one behind tournament lead David Villa. His two expedites on the night wreaking his season total to nine as well, tying him for second league wide. Those stats are all the more impressive when you weigh his nine-match scoreless shortage.

Weve said it before and we will say it again: the success of Toronto follows the success of Giovinco. Toronto are 5-1-2 when Giovinco scores. When he doesnt? An humiliating 3-6-4. Its recent, highly circulated nine-match tallying drought resulted in a paltry 2-3-4 evidence for the believed playoff hopefuls. With last weeks hat-trick and the coming week creation, the team have now strung together two prevails for the first time since April, putting them four degrees clear of the crimson line.

The Seattle Sounders can tell you the dangers of relying on a single outstanding representation to move the societies lucks. Two thirds of the channel into this season, and they are still trying to find a solution for the loss of Obafemi Martins.

Toronto may find themselves in a similar discern. But for now, Giovincos brilliance continues to mercy the Great White North and they will follow his contribute, for better or for worse.

The post Bradley Wright-Phillips’ brand-new evidence; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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[apsbicepstraining]

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ brand-new evidence; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance

Plus: the Rapids triumphing move dissolves hurriedly; Torontos better is back to his best; and Jason Kreiss triumphant return

A record-setting darknes started in atypical pattern for Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The Red Bulls striker expended most of the parallel in solitude, unable to get a clear touch in a dangerous situate, thanks in part to a choking Chicago Fire defense. But as has been the case since he joined the team in 2013, a bit of room was all he needed to show his form.

And on Sunday, it served to break records.

Wright-Phillips extra-time equalizer was his 63 rd as a Red Bull player, putting him past Juan Pablo Angel as the all-time dealership destination scoring leader.

Of course, I wont lie I like to break records, right holders of MLSs single-season goal scoring record said after the competitor. I try not to think about it, but when you say these kind of things, it obligates me proud.

A streaky striker by nature, Wright-Phillips has once again were beginning to warm up, scoring three goals in his last two pairs, break-dance the double digit goalscoring threshold for the third season in a row. But regardless of Sundays record, it is the nature of his latest point that has Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch excited.

Ive been defying him to see more gamblings belatedly in video games. They did a good job of being hard on him. Every team we play knows Bradley is important. They focus in on him and Sacha, and Brad still manages to find ways to get objectives, Marsch said.

As good as Brad is, we are trying to encourage him to have a cut-throat attitude, that even if he doesnt have a lot of contacts in the game, he exactly necessity one to make a difference.

On Sunday, thats all it took for the Red Bulls to salvage a time from near cataclysm in the unfriendly confines of Toyota Park. I set a lot of work into what I do, Wright-Phillips said. And when you can make an accomplishment like that, it makes me happy and proud.

Welcome back to Major League Soccer, Jason Kreis

The two-time MLS Cup win and former NYC FC boss rejoined the challenger after a short incantation away from video games. His honor? A 3-1 succes in Orlando against the New England Revolution.

In some modes, Kreis astounded with his approach to the equal. In others, “hes having” stayed the same. The trademark of a Kreis side the diamond midfield was shunned for the conventional 4-2-3-1 that Orlando has employed for most of the season. His decision to start Antonio Nocerino and Servando Carrasco over Darwin Ceren and Cristian Higuita was surprising, as was his choice to start Brek Shea on the bench. All starting decisions, he said, were based on word in training.

But most of his lineup decisions followed recent precedent. The back four remained intact. Molino, who has lined up across every midfield place during Orlandos recent gauntlet of fixture congestion, noticed a residence on the left. Kaka reverted centrally behind Larin, with Hadji Barry making his third consecutive start of its first year on the right.

New England searched poised to participate spoiler, putting in an superb superhighway exertion through the opening 45 minutes. Kei Kamara “re opening the” scoring, waltzing his road past the Orlando defense and detecting the net simply 18 instants in.

But Orlando saw their formation in the second half. It took Larin less than a minute to score, hitting Bobby Shuttleworth at the far pole with a calm finish. Second half sub Shea communicated in a cross in the 63 rd, spotting Kevin Molino to redouble the make. Molino capped off the darknes with a brace.

But the nighttime belonged to Jason Kreis, who managed to reignite a sleepy Orlando side to their first win since June 26 th.

Obviously[ Im] very, very happy, Kreis said after the competition. I visualize the week of handiwork that the players and staff have put in was excellent. One of best available weeks Ive ever been involved with. To see that work terminate in a really strong execution realizes me extremely happy.

Frank Lampard hems into relevant for NYC FC

Frank Lampard is the worst Designated Player sign in Major League Soccer biography: that was the narrative six short a few weeks ago. And with good reason. After all, his sketchy stay with New York City FC has been tainted by false starts, contractual distraction, fitness issues and questionable hurt concerns.

But his action on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids introduced an exclaiming differentiate on one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the MLS season.

Since reverting from a calf trauma, Lampard has been on fire. Donning the chieftains armband in place of the suspended David Villa, the Chelsea great revived his past form, scoring the first hat-trick in NYC FC history en route to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

This was no small feat for Lampard or NYC FC. The Rapid were undefeated in 15 competitors foreman into Saturdays encounter an enormous achievement within the frameworks of the parity-laden MLS. Their protection allowed a paltry 14 purposes through 20 pairs leader into the weekend, the best preserve in the conference. Eight of their first 20 parallels ended in shutouts. Likewise , no squad has been able to score three against the Rapids backline all season long with or without Tim Howard.

And no single musician has tallied more than two aims against them, either. Until Lampard broke the working party. The Englishman, who has been the top scorer in MLS since his revert as a starter on 18 June, opened the scoring in what was initially a drab affair.

Lightning immediately introduced a pause to the match, but NYC FC accompanied batch of electricity on the restart. A second wayward foul from Michael Azira applied the Rapids down a human in the 37 th time. With Colorado reeling, Tony Taylor redoubled the pas before the half, and Steven Mendoza constructed it three shortly after the second. But “its been” Lampard who induced an unforgettable curtain call. First he curled a shot past Howard and then completed his hat-trick with fines and penalties. He is now among the top-1 0 goalscorers in the league.

Not bad for a presumed has-been, right?

He showed true-blue leadership today, team-mate Jack Harrison said. He was a true-life skipper at Chelsea and he proved it today. He substantiated everyone incorrect is demonstrating that we do need him and hes a key part of our success.

An abrupt death to a good thing

The Colorado Rapids forgot ugly against NYC FC – and that is putting it mildly.

We shot ourselves in the foot, said Howard. Its a small tar, its easy to get around, easy to defend properly and we didnt do that as a group today. Once the red-faced placard happened, the game was finished.

Despite the result, the Rapids should still be proud of what they have accomplished this season. After all, they continue to second in the West with one of the stingiest defenses in the league.

Now makes thrown their achievements in situation. Compare the teams current success to their woes in 2015. They have already overshadowed their win total last year with 10 wins in 2016 compared to nine in 2015. Their defense is actually comparable this year: in 2015 they allowed exactly 22 points through 21 coincides as opposed to their current 19 permitted. Their offensive wasnt all that different either, with the 2016 Rapids tallying 24 aims, compared to the 19 through 21 tallied last-place season.

So whats certain differences? For starters, Colorado are tallying first and accommodating on to wins a determining factor for any contender. Last-place season, they managed to tally first in eight of their opening 21 competitors. That was key to their momentary success on the year( 4-1-3 ). This year, it has been the bedrock of all the teams success, with the Rapids running a solid 10 -0- 3 when find that first point. Only NYC FC have opened the tallying more frequently( 14 of 21 matches ).

The team have also learned how to use dwelling domain to their advantage, running undefeated at DSG Park (8 -0- 3 ). That wasnt the instance last-place season as Colorado disappeared 3-4-4 in the same time frame.

Jermaine Jones has certainly been a part of their success. The squad is undefeated when the midfielder starts( 4-0-3 ). But Pablo Mastroeni has been a key catalyst as well. Continuity and identity is already foreign terms for the Rapids under Mastroeni. Now, key offseason acquisitions have bolstered the fraternity, and Mastroeni has effectively molded his high press arrangement to his players persuasiveness, may be required for his young roster to victimize antagonists on turnovers in the attacking third.

The result has been unfettered success and no single loss can take that away from them.

Torontos best is back to his best

No team in Major League Soccer travel their fates on the back of a single musician quite like Toronto FC and their golden goose, Sebastian Giovinco.

On Sunday evening, the Italian striker acquired the maestro label from countryman Andrea Pirlo, orchestrating and executing on each of Torontos destinations in a 3-0 shutout of the Columbus Crew.

It took all of eight minutes for him to show his form. A long-range blare ricocheted off the back of team-mate Tsubasa Endoh, vanquishing Crew keeper Steve Clark for the early precede. Endoh was credited for the goal – but Giovinco established it happen.

Just 16 a few minutes later, the Toronto offense inaugurated weaving their route through the Crew defense, finishing on a relinquish and depart between Jay Chapman and Giovinco. The former Juventus star took a curling kill on the outside of his foot to double Torontos advantage.

And he wasnt done there. Giovinco thrust Steve Clark into a diving save in the 55 th time. One instant eventually, a hazardous assaulting string assured Giovinco smack the same post not once, but twice, just missing on his possibility for a strengthen. Unable to find two seconds objective, the Italian striker reverted back to the role of distributor, this time connecting with Jozy Altidore for the end goal of the match.

His 12 th goal of the season introduces him merely one behind tournament lead David Villa. His two expedites on the night wreaking his season total to nine as well, tying him for second league wide. Those stats are all the more impressive when you weigh his nine-match scoreless shortage.

Weve said it before and we will say it again: the success of Toronto follows the success of Giovinco. Toronto are 5-1-2 when Giovinco scores. When he doesnt? An humiliating 3-6-4. Its recent, highly circulated nine-match tallying drought resulted in a paltry 2-3-4 evidence for the believed playoff hopefuls. With last weeks hat-trick and the coming week creation, the team have now strung together two prevails for the first time since April, putting them four degrees clear of the crimson line.

The Seattle Sounders can tell you the dangers of relying on a single outstanding representation to move the societies lucks. Two thirds of the channel into this season, and they are still trying to find a solution for the loss of Obafemi Martins.

Toronto may find themselves in a similar discern. But for now, Giovincos brilliance continues to mercy the Great White North and they will follow his contribute, for better or for worse.

The post Bradley Wright-Phillips’ brand-new evidence; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2mFc1wc via IFTTT

[apsbicepstraining]

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ new account; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance

Plus: the Rapids triumphing operate terminates unexpectedly; Torontos good is back to his best; and Jason Kreiss triumphant return

A record-setting darknes started in atypical pattern for Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The Red Bulls striker invested most of the equal in emptines, unable to get a clear stroke in a hazardous caste, thanks in part to a suffocate Chicago Fire defense. But as has been the case since he assembled the team in 2013, a little bit of space was all he needed to show his form.

And on Sunday, it served to break records.

Wright-Phillips extra-time equalizer was his 63 rd as a Red Bull player, putting him past Juan Pablo Angel as the all-time franchise purpose scoring leader.

Of course, I wont lie I like to break records, right holders of MLSs single-season goal scoring record said after the equal. I try not to think about it, but when you say these kind of things, it makes me proud.

A streaky striker by nature, Wright-Phillips has once again begun to warm up, tallying three goals in his last two competitions, violating the double digit goalscoring threshold for the third largest season in a row. But regardless of Sundays record, it is the nature of his latest aim that has Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch excited.

Ive been defying him to draw more performances belatedly in video games. They did a good job of being hard on him. Every team we play knows Bradley is important. They focus in on him and Sacha, and Brad still manages to find ways to get goals, Marsch said.

As good as Brad is, we are trying to encourage him to have a cut-throat attitude, that even if he doesnt have a lot of suggestions in video games, he simply needs one to make a difference.

On Sunday, thats all it took for the Red Bulls to salvage a degree from near cataclysm in the unfriendly confines of Toyota Park. I made a lot of work into what I do, Wright-Phillips said. And when they are able to make an accomplishment like that, it builds me glad and proud.

Welcome back to Major League Soccer, Jason Kreis

The two-time MLS Cup win and former NYC FC boss rejoined the tournament after a short sorcery away from video games. His wage? A 3-1 succes in Orlando against the New England Revolution.

In some lanes, Kreis astonished with his approach to the match. In others, “hes having” stayed the same. The hallmark of a Kreis side the diamond midfield was shunned for the conventional 4-2-3-1 that Orlando has employed for most of the season. His decision to start Antonio Nocerino and Servando Carrasco over Darwin Ceren and Cristian Higuita was surprising, as was his alternative to start Brek Shea on the bench. All starting decisions, he said, were based on formation in training.

But most of his lineup decisions followed recent precedent. The back four remained intact. Molino, who has lined up across every midfield statu during Orlandos recent gauntlet of fixture congestion, detected a home on the left. Kaka rendered centrally behind Larin, with Hadji Barry giving his third consecutive commencing from the year on the right.

New England searched poised to play-act spoiler, putting in an excellent road effort through the opening 45 minutes. Kei Kamara opened the scoring, waltzing his method past the Orlando defense and learning the net exactly 18 instants in.

But Orlando saw their model in the second largest half. It took Larin less than a instant to score, drumming Bobby Shuttleworth at the far berth with a calm finish. Second half sub Shea transmitted in a cross in the 63 rd, observing Kevin Molino to double the make. Molino capped off the nighttime with a brace.

But the darknes belonged to Jason Kreis, who managed to reignite a sleepy Orlando side to their firstly succes since June 26 th.

Obviously[ Im] extremely, very happy, Kreis said after the pair. I ponder the week of toil that the players and staff have put in was excellent. One of the best weeks Ive ever been involved with. To see that work terminate in a really strong accomplishment reaches me extremely happy.

Frank Lampard margins into relevance for NYC FC

Frank Lampard is the worst Designated Player signal in Major League Soccer record: that was the narrative six short weeks ago. And with good reason. After all, his sketchy stay with New York City FC has been defaced by false-hearted starts, contractual fluster, fitness matters and questionable harm concerns.

But his recital on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids introduced an exclaiming symbol on one of the most remarkable comeback floors of the MLS season.

Since rendering from a calf hurt, Lampard has been on fire. Donning the captains armband in place of the suspended David Villa, the Chelsea great rekindled his past species, tallying the first hat-trick in NYC FC history en route to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

This was no small feat for Lampard or NYC FC. The Rapid were undefeated in 15 accords pate into Saturdays encounter an enormous achievement within the frameworks of the parity-laden MLS. Their protection granted a paltry 14 aims through 20 matches leader into the weekend, the best evidence in the conference. Eight of their first 20 coincides was concluded in shutouts. Likewise , no crew has been able to score three against the Rapids backline all season long with or without Tim Howard.

And no single musician has scored more than two goals against them, either. Until Lampard devastated the working party. The Englishman, who has been the top scorer in MLS since his yield as a starter on 18 June, “re opening the” scoring in what was initially a drab liaison.

Lightning immediately put a pause to the equal, but NYC FC accompanied abundance of energy on the restart. A second wayward fumble from Michael Azira threw the Rapids down a person in the 37 th minute. With Colorado reeling, Tony Taylor redoubled the extend before the half, and Steven Mendoza saw it three shortly after the second. But “its been” Lampard who induced an memorable curtain call. First he curled a shot past Howard and then completed his hat-trick with fines and penalties. He is now among the top-1 0 goalscorers in the league.

Not bad for a guessed has-been, right?

He demo true-blue leadership today, team-mate Jack Harrison said. He was a true captain at Chelsea and he demonstrated it today. He supported everyone incorrect showing that we do need him and hes a key part of our success.

An abrupt resolve to a good thing

The Colorado Rapids forgot ugly against NYC FC – and that is putting it mildly.

We shot ourselves in the hoof, said Howard. Its a small tone, its easy to get around, easy to defend properly and we didnt do that as a group today. Once the red-faced poster happened, the game was finished.

Despite the result, the Rapids should still be proud of what they have accomplished this season. After all, they continue to second in the West with one of the stingiest securities in the league.

Now tells placed their achievements in context. Compare the teams current success to their woes in 2015. They have already overshadowed their win total last year with 10 wins in 2016 compared to nine in 2015. Their defense is actually comparable this year: in 2015 they allowed merely 22 aims through 21 competitors as opposed to their current 19 tolerated. Their offensive wasnt all that different either, with the 2016 Rapids tallying 24 purposes, compared to the 19 through 21 scored last season.

So whats the difference? For starters, Colorado are scoring first and regarding on to acquires a key factor for any hopeful. Last-place season, they managed to tally first in eight of their opening 21 accords. That was key to their fleeting success on the year( 4-1-3 ). This time, it has been the bedrock of all the teams success, with the Rapids becoming a solid 10 -0- 3 when feeling that first destination. Merely NYC FC have opened the tallying more frequently( 14 of 21 accords ).

The team have also learned how to use residence battleground to their advantage, exiting undefeated at DSG Park (8 -0- 3 ). That wasnt the action last-place season as Colorado extended 3-4-4 in the same time frame.

Jermaine Jones must really been a part of their success. The team is undefeated when the midfielder starts( 4-0-3 ). But Pablo Mastroeni has been a key catalyst as well. Continuity and identity is already foreign words for the Rapids under Mastroeni. Now, key offseason acquisitions have bolstered the golf-club, and Mastroeni has effectively molded his high press method to his actors strengths, may be required for his young roster to cheat resists on turnovers in the attacking third.

The result has been unfettered success and no single loss can take that away from them.

Torontos best is back to his best

No team in Major League Soccer razz their fates on the back of a single musician fairly like Toronto FC and their golden goose, Sebastian Giovinco.

On Sunday evening, the Italian striker borrowed the maestro tag from countryman Andrea Pirlo, orchestrating and executing on each of Torontos purposes in a 3-0 shutout of the Columbus Crew.

It took all of eight times for him to show his form. A long-range bomb ricocheted off the back of team-mate Tsubasa Endoh, pulsating Crew keeper Steve Clark for the early extend. Endoh was credited for the goals and targets – but Giovinco stirred it happen.

Just 16 a few minutes later, the Toronto offense began weaving their road through the Crew defense, terminating on a hand and proceed between Jay Chapman and Giovinco. The former Juventus star took a curling fire on the outside of his hoof to double Torontos advantage.

And he wasnt done there. Giovinco forced Steve Clark into a diving save in the 55 th hour. One instant subsequently, a dangerous criticizing string watched Giovinco smack the same post not formerly, but twice, scarcely missing on his chance for a fortify. Unable to find two seconds purpose, the Italian striker reverted back to the role of distributor, this time connecting with Jozy Altidore for the final goal of the match.

His 12 th goal of the season sets him exactly one behind conference leader David Villa. His two facilitates on the night delivering his season total to nine as well, tying him for second tournament broad. Those stats are all the most impressive when you conceive his nine-match scoreless shortage.

Weve said it before and we will say it again: the success of Toronto follows the success of Giovinco. Toronto are 5-1-2 when Giovinco tallies. When he doesnt? An humiliating 3-6-4. His most recent, highly publicized nine-match tallying drought resulted in a paltry 2-3-4 record for the expected playoff challengers. With last weeks hat-trick and this weeks yield, the team have already been strung together two triumphs for the first time since April, putting them four items clear of the ruby-red line.

The Seattle Sounders can tell you the dangers of relying on a single outstanding chassis to move the squads fortunes. Two thirds of the channel into this season, and they are still trying to find a solution for the loss of Obafemi Martins.

Toronto may find themselves in a same blot. But for now, Giovincos brilliance continues to grace the Great White North and they will follow his lead, for better or for worse.

The post Bradley Wright-Phillips’ new account; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2yZqADE via IFTTT

[apsbicepstraining]

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ new account; and Frank Lampard hems into relevance

Plus: the Rapids triumphing operate terminates unexpectedly; Torontos good is back to his best; and Jason Kreiss triumphant return

A record-setting darknes started in atypical pattern for Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The Red Bulls striker invested most of the equal in emptines, unable to get a clear stroke in a hazardous caste, thanks in part to a suffocate Chicago Fire defense. But as has been the case since he assembled the team in 2013, a little bit of space was all he needed to show his form.

And on Sunday, it served to break records.

Wright-Phillips extra-time equalizer was his 63 rd as a Red Bull player, putting him past Juan Pablo Angel as the all-time franchise purpose scoring leader.

Of course, I wont lie I like to break records, right holders of MLSs single-season goal scoring record said after the equal. I try not to think about it, but when you say these kind of things, it makes me proud.

A streaky striker by nature, Wright-Phillips has once again begun to warm up, tallying three goals in his last two competitions, violating the double digit goalscoring threshold for the third largest season in a row. But regardless of Sundays record, it is the nature of his latest aim that has Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch excited.

Ive been defying him to draw more performances belatedly in video games. They did a good job of being hard on him. Every team we play knows Bradley is important. They focus in on him and Sacha, and Brad still manages to find ways to get goals, Marsch said.

As good as Brad is, we are trying to encourage him to have a cut-throat attitude, that even if he doesnt have a lot of suggestions in video games, he simply needs one to make a difference.

On Sunday, thats all it took for the Red Bulls to salvage a degree from near cataclysm in the unfriendly confines of Toyota Park. I made a lot of work into what I do, Wright-Phillips said. And when they are able to make an accomplishment like that, it builds me glad and proud.

Welcome back to Major League Soccer, Jason Kreis

The two-time MLS Cup win and former NYC FC boss rejoined the tournament after a short sorcery away from video games. His wage? A 3-1 succes in Orlando against the New England Revolution.

In some lanes, Kreis astonished with his approach to the match. In others, “hes having” stayed the same. The hallmark of a Kreis side the diamond midfield was shunned for the conventional 4-2-3-1 that Orlando has employed for most of the season. His decision to start Antonio Nocerino and Servando Carrasco over Darwin Ceren and Cristian Higuita was surprising, as was his alternative to start Brek Shea on the bench. All starting decisions, he said, were based on formation in training.

But most of his lineup decisions followed recent precedent. The back four remained intact. Molino, who has lined up across every midfield statu during Orlandos recent gauntlet of fixture congestion, detected a home on the left. Kaka rendered centrally behind Larin, with Hadji Barry giving his third consecutive commencing from the year on the right.

New England searched poised to play-act spoiler, putting in an excellent road effort through the opening 45 minutes. Kei Kamara opened the scoring, waltzing his method past the Orlando defense and learning the net exactly 18 instants in.

But Orlando saw their model in the second largest half. It took Larin less than a instant to score, drumming Bobby Shuttleworth at the far berth with a calm finish. Second half sub Shea transmitted in a cross in the 63 rd, observing Kevin Molino to double the make. Molino capped off the nighttime with a brace.

But the darknes belonged to Jason Kreis, who managed to reignite a sleepy Orlando side to their firstly succes since June 26 th.

Obviously[ Im] extremely, very happy, Kreis said after the pair. I ponder the week of toil that the players and staff have put in was excellent. One of the best weeks Ive ever been involved with. To see that work terminate in a really strong accomplishment reaches me extremely happy.

Frank Lampard margins into relevance for NYC FC

Frank Lampard is the worst Designated Player signal in Major League Soccer record: that was the narrative six short weeks ago. And with good reason. After all, his sketchy stay with New York City FC has been defaced by false-hearted starts, contractual fluster, fitness matters and questionable harm concerns.

But his recital on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids introduced an exclaiming symbol on one of the most remarkable comeback floors of the MLS season.

Since rendering from a calf hurt, Lampard has been on fire. Donning the captains armband in place of the suspended David Villa, the Chelsea great rekindled his past species, tallying the first hat-trick in NYC FC history en route to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

This was no small feat for Lampard or NYC FC. The Rapid were undefeated in 15 accords pate into Saturdays encounter an enormous achievement within the frameworks of the parity-laden MLS. Their protection granted a paltry 14 aims through 20 matches leader into the weekend, the best evidence in the conference. Eight of their first 20 coincides was concluded in shutouts. Likewise , no crew has been able to score three against the Rapids backline all season long with or without Tim Howard.

And no single musician has scored more than two goals against them, either. Until Lampard devastated the working party. The Englishman, who has been the top scorer in MLS since his yield as a starter on 18 June, “re opening the” scoring in what was initially a drab liaison.

Lightning immediately put a pause to the equal, but NYC FC accompanied abundance of energy on the restart. A second wayward fumble from Michael Azira threw the Rapids down a person in the 37 th minute. With Colorado reeling, Tony Taylor redoubled the extend before the half, and Steven Mendoza saw it three shortly after the second. But “its been” Lampard who induced an memorable curtain call. First he curled a shot past Howard and then completed his hat-trick with fines and penalties. He is now among the top-1 0 goalscorers in the league.

Not bad for a guessed has-been, right?

He demo true-blue leadership today, team-mate Jack Harrison said. He was a true captain at Chelsea and he demonstrated it today. He supported everyone incorrect showing that we do need him and hes a key part of our success.

An abrupt resolve to a good thing

The Colorado Rapids forgot ugly against NYC FC – and that is putting it mildly.

We shot ourselves in the hoof, said Howard. Its a small tone, its easy to get around, easy to defend properly and we didnt do that as a group today. Once the red-faced poster happened, the game was finished.

Despite the result, the Rapids should still be proud of what they have accomplished this season. After all, they continue to second in the West with one of the stingiest securities in the league.

Now tells placed their achievements in context. Compare the teams current success to their woes in 2015. They have already overshadowed their win total last year with 10 wins in 2016 compared to nine in 2015. Their defense is actually comparable this year: in 2015 they allowed merely 22 aims through 21 competitors as opposed to their current 19 tolerated. Their offensive wasnt all that different either, with the 2016 Rapids tallying 24 purposes, compared to the 19 through 21 scored last season.

So whats the difference? For starters, Colorado are scoring first and regarding on to acquires a key factor for any hopeful. Last-place season, they managed to tally first in eight of their opening 21 accords. That was key to their fleeting success on the year( 4-1-3 ). This time, it has been the bedrock of all the teams success, with the Rapids becoming a solid 10 -0- 3 when feeling that first destination. Merely NYC FC have opened the tallying more frequently( 14 of 21 accords ).

The team have also learned how to use residence battleground to their advantage, exiting undefeated at DSG Park (8 -0- 3 ). That wasnt the action last-place season as Colorado extended 3-4-4 in the same time frame.

Jermaine Jones must really been a part of their success. The team is undefeated when the midfielder starts( 4-0-3 ). But Pablo Mastroeni has been a key catalyst as well. Continuity and identity is already foreign words for the Rapids under Mastroeni. Now, key offseason acquisitions have bolstered the golf-club, and Mastroeni has effectively molded his high press method to his actors strengths, may be required for his young roster to cheat resists on turnovers in the attacking third.

The result has been unfettered success and no single loss can take that away from them.

Torontos best is back to his best

No team in Major League Soccer razz their fates on the back of a single musician fairly like Toronto FC and their golden goose, Sebastian Giovinco.

On Sunday evening, the Italian striker borrowed the maestro tag from countryman Andrea Pirlo, orchestrating and executing on each of Torontos purposes in a 3-0 shutout of the Columbus Crew.

It took all of eight times for him to show his form. A long-range bomb ricocheted off the back of team-mate Tsubasa Endoh, pulsating Crew keeper Steve Clark for the early extend. Endoh was credited for the goals and targets – but Giovinco stirred it happen.

Just 16 a few minutes later, the Toronto offense began weaving their road through the Crew defense, terminating on a hand and proceed between Jay Chapman and Giovinco. The former Juventus star took a curling fire on the outside of his hoof to double Torontos advantage.

And he wasnt done there. Giovinco forced Steve Clark into a diving save in the 55 th hour. One instant subsequently, a dangerous criticizing string watched Giovinco smack the same post not formerly, but twice, scarcely missing on his chance for a fortify. Unable to find two seconds purpose, the Italian striker reverted back to the role of distributor, this time connecting with Jozy Altidore for the final goal of the match.

His 12 th goal of the season sets him exactly one behind conference leader David Villa. His two facilitates on the night delivering his season total to nine as well, tying him for second tournament broad. Those stats are all the most impressive when you conceive his nine-match scoreless shortage.

Weve said it before and we will say it again: the success of Toronto follows the success of Giovinco. Toronto are 5-1-2 when Giovinco tallies. When he doesnt? An humiliating 3-6-4. His most recent, highly publicized nine-match tallying drought resulted in a paltry 2-3-4 record for the expected playoff challengers. With last weeks hat-trick and this weeks yield, the team have already been strung together two triumphs for the first time since April, putting them four items clear of the ruby-red line.

The Seattle Sounders can tell you the dangers of relying on a single outstanding chassis to move the squads fortunes. Two thirds of the channel into this season, and they are still trying to find a solution for the loss of Obafemi Martins.

Toronto may find themselves in a same blot. But for now, Giovincos brilliance continues to grace the Great White North and they will follow his lead, for better or for worse.

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