#progress is not linear and it is not a quick fix either but if we could just Get This In Out Heads and actually talk it out .

[soullessjack]

hey uh not for nothing but it would be so much easier to talk about the ableism issues with how jack is treated/depicted if you guys could learn to understand that bigotry doesn’t necessarily have to be intentional and outright cruel for it to be harmful. that sometimes it is accidental or made with good/harmless intentions but that doesn’t make it less bigoted in the long run. If we could just move past that one square we could actually have a conversation 👍

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm gonna play: Tales of Arise

I'm not too familiar with the Tales series. I've heard of Tales of Symphonia and I've played the demo of Tales of Vesperia, but I had a friend suggest this title to me, so I'm giving this a go.

I've reached near the end of the game so far, and I have to say what a blast it's been! From story to gameplay, Arise as a lot to offer.

A lot of the JRPGs I've seen tend to be very tropey, and this one shows it too, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how they subverted it. A young boy that's high spirited would usually be just that, but in this he has to deal with loss of a struggling relationship; a tsundere would typically constantly put their love interest on edge by assaulting them with violence and love, but here we have a woman from a ''superior'' race being the way she is because of a side effect and her people. The entire game revolves around the whole theme of discrimination between races and within races, and I think they've definitely pulled it off well. Everytime I thought "They didn't bring x topic up, is that a plothole? " they actually do, and I really appreciate an rpg that goes in depth to explain everything with their world and characters through gameplay. The last time I experienced this sort of depth was with Final Fantasy X, which is another game that also deals with racism as a subplot. And even with its depth, I felt it was done rather tastefully and not because there simply should be a conflict in the story. I really wonder who wrote the game because I could find no such info online.. Maybe I'll try again once I'm done with the game. However, I do find the villains so far to be somewhat weak, there are 3 that I can think of in the first half of the game that were interesting and gave a feeling of genuine intimidation, but the rest haven't hit as well as them.

Next up is the gameplay. I'm more of a fan of quick, responsive and flashy combat these days when it comes to action. My gold standard is the Kingdom Hearts series because of this. Initial impressions for Arise were just okay, but as the game progressed and you unlock more features, it definitely checks all boxes. I also appreciate that the game respects my time, (as RPGs do require a good level of commitment) where I never had to grind in excess and always stayed in par with my leveling pace. It also helps that there are items you can cook to increase your exp rate. Exploration is fun and rewarding as you find tons of items, and it's not too linear either! However I must say that the second half of the game has been falling off in regards to that. Including fighting the same bosses and backtracking all the way to the beginning for lore purposes, but this also thins out exploration of the few levels that are new near endgame, making them barren and plain. I can understand for budgetary reasons they probably couldn't add more, but a change to the plot could fix this while still maintaining what's been shown, as the game's lore focuses on the relationship between two races and two worlds. One cool addition for the narrative are the skits and overworld/combat dialogue that plays amongst characters. Seeing their chemistry and filling in bits of the plot is a huge plus. It feels like there's actual chemistry within the cast rather than just people that happen to band together because the share similar goals.

Character designs are a hit or miss. The main stars Alphen and Shionne do get lucky and have various wardrobe changes as the game progresses that represent their journey, but the same cannot be said with every character. Dohalim, a party member is one example of a character that gets the short stick. He is the only dark skinned character of the main cast, and is dressed up in what looks to be Egyptian inspired clothing. This looks fine and dandy until I have realized I've seen 0 connection between his attire and his origins and setting, so this leaves me confused. The same goes for Law, another party member who has clothing that resembles what video game characters wear for martial arts. But I've not seen anything that explains why it should look that way, other than because he fights with his fists. For a game that's been subverting tropes in terms of characterization, it hasn't done too well in terms of design. But on the plus side, I do appreciate Kisara's design (another party member) for dressing like an actual knight and not having to skimp out on armor for the sake of fanservice. The game does have outfit and accessory options however, which helps improve their appearances, but depending on the character you can either get great outfits, or very average ones. However I do appreciate the choices of colours and the use of contrast depicting themes and relationships for the characters. Alphen and Shionne contrast each other in way that complements them as the hero and heroine, for instance. And regardless of how they look, I still love them as characters (especially Dohalim and Alphen!) Music goes pretty grand, with orchestral feats all around, so it always sounds epic. You also get vocals for special moments such as openings and credits in Japanese, which are nice enough to hang around in your head. I couldn't hear much variety with it though, with the different landscapes the game offers, making it sound a bit too similar. Sound effect choices are good enough to let the player know if they're low on CP (Cure Points) or they can do a special attack. One big thing I like about the game is the overall navigation. Inputs are quick, shortcuts are (mostly) easy to access with some neat features like switching party members or leaders, and the menu tends to change based on where you are in the game which is a nice touch. Cutscenes can also be progressed through with a button which is probably for those who want to rush the game for any reason, or just want combat.

For a game that has a lot stuffed in but still have some minor gripes with, I think I can safely say that this is a great JRPG, and possibly my favourite fantasy-based anime JRPG. (specific I know, I tend to group my favourites like that). I'm looking forward to finishing it off!

Terms exclusive to the game: Skits - Optional voice cutscenes that the tales games have that revolve around the characters and/or their world Cure Points (CP) - The mana system in this game used for healing and buffs.

[randomlyritchie]

A.M. Ritchie - Sooo, I’ve been trying to take more time off work. I kind of have to use up my time. But I never really enjoy it anymore. I take off around the same time most months because it’s the time when I don’t have a pressing deadline & I can take off & not really feel too stressed out. I decided to take a gamble & take next weekend off as well because we are slowing down a little. It makes feel kind of sad that I’m sad during my time off. But it’s just how I feel. I used to feel more connected with myself when I took off…but I just feel like so much changed in my life after 2019. The past couple months, I either had something to do, or was super exhausted. This time, I was supposed to read & write & connect with myself. I go back to work tomorrow & I don’t really feel all that refreshed. It makes me feel like some kind of failure. I feel like a failure for not being able to enjoy the things that I’m supposed to. That’s why I just feel like it’s what’s going on around me. I think sometimes we have to surrender to the fact that we can’t be whole for the time. I honestly feel like I should be somewhat grateful because I’ve progressed some. Last year, I felt like I was in this weird season of death. Like, everything around just felt dead. I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel stronger. Better. I feel like it’s a process. Maybe like a slow lifting of a heaviness on my soul. I haven’t hated my whole time off…but I was sadder than I wanted to be. I’m writing about these things but I don’t want to be judged. Like, I know therapy & medication exist. Tbh, unless a therapist is going to see me for free, I just can’t swing it right now. Medication is not something that I feel that I need at this point in my life. I’m kind of this person that feels like there are not always quick fixes in life. Sometimes, you just have to go through the storm. Running helps me tremendously with my mental health. It’s just that last week was kind of off for that. Tbh, there are so many people that are not happy right now that I don’t know why I’m pushing it on myself. The highest suicide rates are said to be at the holidays, so I don’t know why I’m pushing myself to be happy during that time either. I’m not always unhappy. I just feel like lately I feel more pressure to be happy & enjoy things. It’s like it stresses me out if I’m not. I don’t want to keep feeling like this happiness failure. 😂😂😂 Maybe next weekend will be different. Maybe it won’t. The point is that no matter how honest I am about the sorrows…I know I’m moving to a better direction. It’s just slowly. Anyway, I’m probably always gonna be the girl who gets up early no matter what. The A.M. in my name is so appropriate. I hope you have a wonderful day! I’m actually going to try to have a better week. Everyday is a chance to keep trying. The path just isn’t always linear. Smooches! :)

[mynameisnowwyrm]

I genuinely need to know if this is an actual thing or if I'm just talking out of my ass so if you have something to add please do.

Hypothesis, thesis statement, whatever you call it: mainstream shows approach sexuality as if it is fixed in place with no fluidity.

Either a main character is gay from the beginning and out and proud, or a main character is gay from the beginning and in the closet and they're gonna do a whole self acceptance coming out storyline. Either way, the audience knows the characters sexuality.

Specifically (I'm thinking of 2010s shows) when a show starts off telling you all the sexualities of the main characters. Straight character, straight character, gay character, straight character. A lot of the times there will be a significant queer ship among the fans between the straight characters (bc people don't usually write good relationships for their queer characters but that's another story) but you get the feeling this is never going to be a thing bc the unspoken logic of the world regarding sexuality of the main characters is that the audience always knows. They already had this one queer character from the jump who everyone knows is queer so they aren't going to ever do a storyline where one of the other characters has believed they were straight their whole life and the whole time has been shown to the audience to be straight but is going to discover that's not the case, bc the sexualities of the characters are fixed in place.

I'm thinking specifically of 2010s shows here bc it's an interesting point in time. 2000s shows, if they had any gay characters at all, you get the feeling that "there's already one gay side character, quota filled" from the writers so you don't expect more. Coming into the 2020s were seeing a diversifying of queer characters in TV, with different sexualities and gender identities being represented. Im not saying there's a a hard line of linear progression in representation and we are far far away from perfect representation but its better than in previous years.

The main one that comes to mind for me is teen wolf. The show is set up so that homophobia is not a thing, therefore all of the queer characters are out and stated to be queer on screen, leading you to the conclusion that if one of the main characters was queer, it would have been brought up. I know they made jackson queer in I think the last season where he cameos for two episodes but that happened entirely off screen after the character had been gone for five years, none of that development had been done where we could see or with a character that was still a main character.

Quick aside, a lot of the time I see the question "is this queerbait or is this just a slow burn romance between two people of the same gender?" And the answer is usually queerbait. I have never seen a mainstream show do a queer slow burn romance because of the fixed sexuality thing. No matter how strong the character's bond is, how much relationship coding there is, unless writers start diversifyingtheir view of queerness, both characters in the ship need to already be explicitly queer for it to be a possibility. So 1. you need two established queer characters, 2. they need to both be in the show at the same time 3. they need to both be significant to the story, so main character x side character we see only occasionally doesn't count. Name one mainstream show that has all three to begin with, let alone a will they won't they style slow burn romance instead of immediately putting the characters in a relationship. That's why I feel like if a show ever does do this it will be incredibly ground breaking, they will literally be breaking the mould.

I feel like I've tapped into a whole branch of queer theory regarding how queerness is seen in society that I'm not equipped to adequately explain.

[ilikekidsshows]

One thing that pisses me off not just about the miraculous fandom but modern fandoms is fans inability to consume long overarching stories.

Like so many people are complaining about how long the reveal is taking or why haven't certain characters outgrown this trait yet or why is this character arc botched or abandoned. Like guys we just got the confirmation this show will be 7 seasons long PLUS like 3 tv specials. We're only roughly halfway through the series.

Once the reveal happens half the tension in the show is gone! I'm not saying leave the reveal till season 7 and make us wait 9 years this isn't HIMYM but miraculous is not a fast paced story. It's a long haul story. I just wish more fans would be patient. Miraculous is in the extremely fortunate and rare position that it will have a conclusive end and not be suddenly cancelled. That was and still is a huge problem for shows and cartoons with dedicated fans but networks pull the plug for stupid ass reasons.

So miraculous fans please chill the fuck out on things not resolving right away. We still have 78+ episodes plus the tv specials. If we get the end to certain things now it'll be so boring.

I think the concept of Instant Gratification describes the issue with many modern fandoms today. I hate to sound like I'm anti-technology, but the constant stream of quick and short bursts of entertainment allowed by the information age has made people more impatient. It's not about waiting for the climax to get a deeper sense of satisfaction, it's about getting that instant gratification right this instant. It's why one-shot fanfics are all over the place, when multi-chapter stories used to be just as common and popular, if not even more so, and it’s also why people are less willing to read a fic that’s still a work in progress. It's why people refuse to watch Youtube video essays even as they leave comments on the topic based on the title and thumbnail alone because, while they couldn't be assed to watch a 20-minute video (let alone an hour long one), they sure can spend that time calling the Youtuber names and making arguments the video actually already refutes. It's why a lot of online arguments happen only because one party read nothing but the first and maybe the last paragraph of someone's post and skipped all the explanation for their point of view (if I've ignored an counter argument for one of my posts, it was either because I missed it or because said counter argument did this. I have attention deficit issues so I do genuinely forget responses sometimes, but I'm also not writing a second essay for someone who's proven to me they won't read it).

Of course, it's only by constantly consuming only fast-paced content that you can become this impatient. People have different ideas about stories based on what stories they have encountered in the past.

Another thing that influences the Miraculous fandom in particular is that, while I love to show off exactly how much Miraculous has done to build up the overarching plotlines, Miraculous isn't really a show that's about a single story. It's easy to understand why people think it is one though: there's one main villain, we keep discovering more about the mythology, one of the main plot threads is the romantic relationship between the leads and singular episodes and plot elements tend to get payoff later. What is the purpose of a show if not to progress the story? Because the heroes aren't getting closer to defeating Gabriel or getting together, people think that the story isn't accomplishing anything.

I'll do a comparison to illustrate why these things aren't as clear-cut signs of a continuous storyline as people think. In the Spider-Man comics, you can pick any issue up and the chances are that the villain will be a part of Spider-Man's already established Rogues Gallery, who's back for more after who knows how many defeats, and those past defeats might even get referenced in callbacks to previous issues. It's also very possible that Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is the central focus with them not being together yet, having relationship problems or even having broken up (in really old issues the girl might be Gwen Stacy and short-term options have also always been available for romantic entanglements). Does this mean Spider-Man is a continuous story where the only point is that all the villains get put away for good and Peter and MJ live happily ever after? No, it doesn't. Spider-Man is designed to go on indefinitely, so there's no clear ending point. So, what is the point of Spider-Man then, if there is no Ending?

It used to be the single issue, because comic books used to have every issue be a stand-alone story about the hero and their supportive cast. These days it's more every three-to-six issues, because superhero comics are written to have short story arcs that can then be collected into trade paperbacks. A superhero series is not a single story; it's a series that functions as a story engine, meaning the series can generate several shorter stories where the hero helps fix a problem or solve a mystery.

In the superhero genre a villain will never get killed off or removed from stories permanently as long as the writers think they can still come up with stories to tell about them. The hero's romantic life will never be completely smooth sailing unless the writer is using other things to ramp up the stakes. Everything always allows for there to be another adventure.

I think the huge success of Avatar: the Last Airbender made people think that a series that is a single story is always superior to a series with multiple shorter plots. When I was liveblogging Sailor Moon, a viewer offered to give me a list of all the non-filler episodes because they genuinely thought I'd feel like I was wasting time on the show otherwise. This attitude is simply not based on fact. It's not fair to compare Miraculous Ladybug to Avatar, because they're both setting up to do completely different things. Miraculous Ladybug is trying to become a brand, like Batman or Spider-Man. It is part of the "Zag Heroes" lineup, a series of French-created superhero franchises to compete in the America-centric superhero market. This challenge is good for the genre, because Marvel and DC have started resembling each other more and more as these companies stew in their old ideas and copy everything that worked for the other one. The superhero genre needs new blood.

Also, Avatar: the Last Airbender first became popular by doing episodic plots for almost the entirety of the first season because it's actually not a wise choice to expect the audience to be willing to commit to a story that'll only give payoff later when working with an untested IP. Very often shows with longer story arcs start with the episodic format to hook people first, and sometimes the more linear plot is introduced specifically because the audience for the show is now expected to be both dedicated enough and older and capable of keeping up. Because, here's the thing: you can't expect little kids to remember every episode or even every character you've introduced in your show. I'm not sure if people are ready to hear that but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Kids are not dumb, they can understand more complex storylines, but many kids are still training their memory, so they might not remember the details of complex storylines that go on for too long.

This is why the news that Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season was going to have a recommended viewing order originally had me concerned. Miraculous is being branded for kids. The plot requiring too much skill in memorizing story details will make it less accessible to kids and might put those two additional seasons at risk. However, it seems that the "constantly changing status quo" concept of Truth, Lies and Gang of Secrets was a fluke and the evolution of the show is more subtle, so they might not be cutting the amount of episodes for those final seasons because the show is getting too complicated for kids to follow all the important details.

Regardless, Miraculous Ladybug being an adventure cartoon TV show instead of a comic book or a more cheaper-to-produce TV drama does mean that Miraculous Ladybug isn’t expected to go on for decades like a superhero comic or a soap opera. Because of this, it can have evolution and changes and even a planned ending. The show is expected to end at some point, even by the people making money off of it, mostly because making a cartoon like this indefinitely costs a lot of money, and kids’ adventure shows tend to see a decrease in returns if they go on for too long.

[tessadoesstuff]

Run It With Love - Chapter 6

Day 6 - Revan 

(Sorry this is late, forgot to post on tumblr!)

A non-linear story of Bly, Aayla, and Quinlan in the time of the Knights of the Old Republic games (about 3,800 years before the prequels) designed to be read without any knowledge of that game or time.

First Chapter!  Previous Chapter!

The first time Sam ever remembers hearing about Darth Revan, it was during their escape from the crashing ship where their memories begin. The words echo and stick in Sam’s head, and Sam has no idea why.

"That smack to your head did more damage than I thought. Bastila's a Jedi. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith master. Bastila is the key to the whole Republic war effort. The Sith must have found out she was on the Endar Spire and set an ambush for us in this system. I believe Bastila was on one of the escape pods that crashed down here on Taris. For the sake of the Republic war effort, we have to try and find her."[1]    

Sam knows, deep in their soul, that those words are important, that they’re the key to something.

They’re not Sam’s first memory from after the amnesia. Their earliest memory is from twenty minutes before, being shaken awake in a bunk in the crashing Endar Spire . The man who had apparently been their bunkmate filled Sam in as quick as best they could, but Sam felt detached from the whole incident until Carth said those words.

On the surface, those words are what caught Sam, and drew them into this grand adventure. They led Sam to their partners, to Carth and Bastila, who quickly became two of the most important parts of Sam’s life. Those words set Sam on the path to find Bastila on Taris, which led to them being bonded in the Force. That bond became the key to Sam being trained as a Jedi, and the quest to find the Star Maps.

Which brings Sam back to Revan. The quest for the Star Maps which comes from visions they share with Bastila, visions of Revan and Malak hunting for the same Star Maps years ago.

At the end, Sam’s journey begins with Revan, and when they find the Star Maps to guide them to Malak’s weapon, this chapter of Sam’s journey will end with Revan too.

---

Bastila Shan has been tied to Revan as long as she can remember. When she first came to the Jedi Temple as a child, Revan was there. When they were just younglings, Bastila has been told they were briefly inseparable. Bastila doesn’t remember that so much, she just remembers when Revan reached a point when it wasn’t cool to have a little kid hanging around all the time. They had a fight, and Bastila stopped seeing Revan after that.

But that didn’t mean her ties to Revan were broken. Revan would always haunt her every step.

After her friendship with Revan ended, Bastila became fast friends with Lucian Draay, and whenever the other boy came to the temple, they would study together. However, as they grew, the world became tormented, and so did their friendship. The war that had taken place just before they were born, the war against the Sith Lord Exar-Kun had killed Lucian Draay’s father, and left him and the rest of the Jedi scattered and afraid. Lucian was always afraid of the return of the Sith. Bastila knows now he was likely even right, but at the time it seemed ridiculous.

When Revan began to speak out against the Jedi’s stance of neutrality in the budding Mandalorian Wars, Lucian protested, dug in his heels, and began to speak out about the return of the Sith. When Bastila confessed that while she supported the Jedi’s neutrality, she believed the Mandalorians a larger threat than the Sith, she and Lucian fought. She stopped seeing Lucian after that.

Lucian denounced her as a Revanist, despite the fact that she swears she wasn’t one.

Despite being called more and more a heretic by higher ranking Jedi as Revan continued to argue for the Jedi to go to war, Revan was still the brightest padawan of the generation. As Bastila progressed through her studies, she was surrounded by examples of the excellence of her childhood friend. Bastila was talented, and as such was constantly measured against Revan in every class.

That stopped when Revan left.

When Revan and Malak took most of their generation to go fight in The War alongside the republic, Bastila stopped hearing the name ‘Revan’ around the temple. At least, for a couple of years. The masters disapproved, and they were afraid that more of their ever shrinking group of padawans would follow Revan to war, that those who went off to war would fall the way so many had done during the war with Exar Kun. Bastila listened to the Masters and tried to forget all about Revan then.

The Masters were right to be concerned.

When the Republic won the Mandalorian Wars, Bastila thought Revan would finally come home. She remembered her best friend from childhood, the friend Lucian had never been to her, she saw that now. When Revan came back, she had promised herself, she would fix what had been broken.

Revan didn’t come back.

When Revan and Malak disappeared with more than two thirds of their forces and the Jedi that had been with them, the temple once again lit up with talk of Revan, of Revan’s disappearance. No one had any idea where they went, or how to bring them home again. Sometimes there were rumors of either Revan or Malak being seen around the outer rim, but they were never more than rumors.

It would have been better if they never came back from their hunt for the Star Maps.

When Revan did come back, it was as a fallen shadow of Bastila’s old friend. Revan wore a mask of steel and commanded armies that destroyed the Republic and terrorized its people. Revan came back as a Sith Lord. The Jedi council turned to Bastila, with the Battle Meditation ability she had crafted over her life. She was their only choice. She had to kill Revan.

Revan killed the others who went with Bastila, and for a moment Bastila wanted to do the same. Bastila refused to let the dark in then.

These days, Bastila keeps having visions of Revan’s lost days. Sam has the same visions. Bastila worries what that means. Revan hunted the same Star Maps, and now so do Sam and Bastila.

These days, Bastila holds the lovers her teacher told her she should be above having, holds Carth and Sam so very close, and tries not to think about Revan at all.

---

Carth Onasi has never met Revan. During the Mandalorian Wars, Carth was just a lieutenant, while Revan was functionally a general. There was never any reason for them to cross paths. But Revan was a brilliant strategist. The men and women Revan fought alongside won nearly every battle they engaged in, and Revan single handedly changed the tide of the war. Carth admired Revan during those days. The thought now makes Carth sick.

Carth used to think Revan was some sort of hero. A grand warrior who came out of a dangerously uncaring or even corrupt Jedi order, but who managed to rise above it to fight for what is right. Carth knows better now. The dangerously uncaring one was Revan. Who betrayed them so easily, who talked others into betraying  everything they’d known alongside them.

When Revan had left, over half of the Republic’s soldiers had gone too. It disgusted Carth; he couldn’t understand it at all. What Revan had done to earn that loyalty from so many? To earn that loyalty from Saul?

When Revan left, Admiral Saul Karath had gone with. Before that, Saul was Carth’s mentor, his friend, his confidant. And when Saul betrayed the Republic for Revan and Malak, he betrayed Carth to Revan and Malak.

After the desertion, Carth was promoted to Saul’s position. And when the desertion was revealed to be a betrayal? Carth led the battle against the new Sith Army, fighting throughout the outer rim. And so, Saul told Revan and Malak where to find Carth’s family.

Malak and Saul went to Telos IV together, and they destroyed the planet. Bombarded every city, every town, until there was nothing left living anywhere. That bombing  killed Carth’s family. Killed his wife and son. Killed Morgana and Dustil.

It was Saul’s fault, it was Malak’s fault, it was Revan’s fault.

As Carth holds those who now have his heart, clings to Sam and Bastila, he swears that he will kill Saul with his own hands, and that Saul, and Malak, will never touch them.

And yet, the ghosts of Revan remain.

---

Canderous Ordo has knelt at Revan’s feet, and has starred up from the ground at the cold steel mask Revan wore. It was Revan who brought the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders’ war against the Republic to an end, who put a stop to their conquest. It was Revan who demanded Mandalore’s unconditional surrender, and who claimed their weapons. Revan destroyed Mandalore.

Canderous does not hate Revan. Canderous respects Revan.

How can he not? When it came down to the end, the war between them was a battle of strategists, Canderous leading his warriors and Revan leading the Republic’s soldiers. When it came down to it, Revan had been willing to make the sacrifices and take the chances that allowed for the Republic Army to outmaneuver the Mandalorians, even when no one else was willing to give the orders to do so.

And in the end, when Canderous had crossed blades with Revan, Canderous had been soundly defeated, unable to so much as scratch Revan’s mask. How could Canderous not respect that strength?

Canderous has heard that what truly led to Revan’s death was a betrayal from the inside, from Malak. Canderous can believe that. No matter what Revan did, Canderous knows that Revan will always be the greatest warrior and tactician Canderous ever encountered.

---

Juhani knows that Revan was a bad Jedi and was an Objectively Bad Person. But still, Juhani can’t make herself forget.

Juhani knows that she will never forget how Revan saved her during the Mandalorian Wars, how Revan inspired her to finally leave Taris and go to Dantooine, who gave her the dream of becoming a Jedi.

Juhani will always remember her life on Taris, growing up hated by the humans who held all of the power, and the feeling of her family being the only Cathars on the planet. She knows she was shaped by her childhood as a refugee in the gang-ridden Undercity. She is haunted by the murder of her father, and the way her mother’s life faded out slowly after that until Juhani was alone.

When Juhani’s mother died, Juhani barely had time to make arrangements for the body before the Exchange came. Juhani will never forget the moment the big enforcers told her of her parent’s debt, or the way they took her afterwards.

Juhani can’t ever hate Revan because Juhani can’t ever forget the feeling of standing there, waiting to be sold, only for Revan to lead the Jedi to interrupt the sale, to save her. Because even though Revan never took off that mask, Juhani knows that Revan smiled at her.

---

To Jolee Bindo, Revan is just another page in the never-ending chain of Sith. An interlude between Exar Kun, Jolee’s first chapter, and Malak, Jolee’s current chapter. Revan isn’t even a particularly notable page - Jolee missed Revan’s entire life during his stay in Kashyyyk’s Shadowlands.

From what Jolee has heard and seen though, Revan was nothing special. Revan was just another Jedi, then just another soldier, and then was just another Sith. Jolee has seen hundreds of Jedi, Thousands of soldiers, and more Sith than he cares to count.

People talk about the shock of Revan’s betrayal as though Exar Kun had not done the exact same thing 50 years prior. They talk about the way Revan convinced other Jedi to desert, to fall, as though Exar Kun did not do the same thing first. As though Exar Kun did not convince Jedi to fall in far greater numbers, as though he did not lure away even the best of the Jedi, as though he did not lure away Jolee’s Nayama.

The galaxy talks about what Revan has done, about the people they know betraying them to follow Revan, as though Exar Kun did not inspire the same, as though Jolee never found his wife’s lightsaber at his through as her eyes glowed yellow.

The Jedi Jolee has encountered since returning from Kashyyk talk about the potential Revan had, how great a Jedi Revan could have been, as though there have not been hundreds of Jedi with great potential who never lived up to it. As though Zayne Carrick, Andor Vex, or Shad Jelevan were not padawans with equal potential who did not live up to their greatness the way they were expected too.

Jolee sees how the galaxy talks about how Revan was a brilliant tactician, how no one could outthink Revan, but he’s suitably underwhelmed. He remembers how Krynda Draay out-thought Exar Kun, how she rose up from loss to lead the Republic to victory.

Jolee Bindo never met Revan, but he remembers what came before Revan, and he will remember what comes after.

---

To Zaalbar, Revan doesn’t stand out. Revan is just another human in a galaxy of humans. Zaalbar never even heard the names of Revan or Malak before he left Kashyyyk. If the tales of Revan were told on Kashyyyk, it would be simply added to the list of terrible humans Zaalbar’s father once carved.

Revan was just another human slaver. The only difference is that Revan went after his own people rather than just the Wookies or the other sentients who don’t look like them.

To Zaalbar, Revan is nothing remarkable. The remarkable ones are those who are on board the Ebon Hawk with him, the ones who welcomed him as the family he has longed to have for so long.

---

Mission heard of Revan just once when she was a little girl, before Griff left. She heard of Revan in hushed tones, murmured between the people of Taris, after the destruction of the temple. The Jedi temple that had once been the pride of the governors of the planet, before it had been destroyed in order to chase the Mandalorians from Taris.

After the taxes were raised in the undercity so the governors could build an even more lavish temple to replace it, in hopes of drawing the Jedi back, that was when Mission first heard the name Revan. She learned that Revan was a champion of the non-humans of the galaxy, and that Revan wasn’t there when the temple fell.

Revan came later, to chase out the Mandalorians who remained, or so the stories tell. They talk of how Revan walked through the same filth covered streets they did, who stayed in the same filthy inns they did, who walked for a few days in their shoes.

To Mission and the people of the Undercity of Taris, Revan was a legend, a figure who brought ever so small a taste of equality. Even when the stories the people from the Uppercity told became tainted, talking of a darker Revan, they were considered just another political play by those who lived below. Another attempt to take away the light in their dark world.

Mission believed that as long as she could. She believed it right up until she was aboard the Ebon Hawk , looking out at the destruction Revan’s student rained down. Mission believed in Revan until Revan’s legacy left her one of the last survivors of Taris.

---

Revan first really mattered to Quinlan Vos during an undercover mission on the planet of Dromud Kaas, about six months before he was sent back in time. It was a terrible mission on a terrible planet, largely due to the cultists.

Even nearly four thousand years after the time of Revan, the cult of Revan remained, and Quinlan spent three months undercover in it. During that time, he learned very little, and none of the things he went there hoping to learn. Instead, he learned that many people learn of Revan and view Revan very differently. As Quinlan performed his initiation tasks, he dove deeper into the history of a figure that, while famous at the Jedi temple even in his time, had previously just been another historical figure.

To the cultists, Revan represented balance. The grey between the light Jedi and the dark Sith, given the time that Revan spent as both. They claimed to strive to walk that pathway, neither light nor dark. Quinlan wished that was possible. He didn’t believe it was back then – most of the cultists were deeply dark, and a few light enough that with training Quinlan would label them Jedi. There was no middle grey to be found there, despite their awareness of both.

Now here, in the era of Revan? Quinlan was more sure of that belief than ever before. There was no middle ground here in the galaxy. Those who had once been on the side of the republic were most assuredly not anymore. That did not make them half sith, half-republic, they were entirely Sith.

The same was true for the Jedi who had turned their backs and left their principals and teaching. They did not become grey, they became dark, Sith, the same way Quinlan very nearly had once. If they wanted to be anything but Sith, they would have to work every day to walk in the light the same way he does.

No matter what the cultists of Revan believe, Revan did not walk grey lines. Revan simply walked white and then black. In the force, no one ever managed to walk grey, no matter what they believed or how strong they were.

---

Notes:

1Directly quoting from KOTOR 1.[return to text]

did someone say world-building and foreshadowing? Too bad you get it anyways. Also, a wild Jolee makes his first appearnace.

[scottdavenportphoto]

The Curves Filter Explained - ON1 Photo RAW 2021

If you are trying ON1 Photo RAW 2021 or upgrading from a prior version, please consider using my affiliate link. There is no extra cost to you and it helps support Photo RAW tutorials like this one. Ready to buy? Use the offer code SDP20 at checkout and Save 20%!

A Curves tool is a classic tool for photo editing. Why? Because curves controls are so versatile. The Curves filter in ON1 Photo RAW puts you in control. You can adjust light and shadow with extreme precision in Curves. You can make creative color grading or fix color casts with Curves. Partner a Curves tool with the powerful masking and blending options in ON1 Photo RAW and you have immense power packed into a single filter in Effects.

A powerful tool like Curves comes with a little bit of a learning curve (sorry … I couldn’t resist!). This article will explain how to read the Curves graph, how it relates to the histogram, and show a few examples of how curves can change the look of your images.

The Histogram

If you’re not familiar with the histogram, or need a quick refresher, the histogram shows the spread of brightness levels in your scene. It is a visual distribution of the dark and light tones in your image. The left side of the histogram is the shadows, with the far left edge being pure black. The right side of the histogram is the highlights, and (you guessed it!) the far right edge being pure white. If your photo has clipped shadows or blown highlights, those tones fall off the edges of the histogram.

ON1 Photo RAW presents both the luminance and RGB values in the histogram. White is overall luminance and the colors are the RGB values — the red, green and blue channels. Hover your cursor over your photo and the numeric values at the bottom of the histogram change. The numbers show the RGB values of the pixels beneath your cursor. Other colors that are displayed, such as yellow, cyan and magenta, are where the primary colors mix.

There’s no “correct” or “perfect” histogram shape… it’s all relative to the mix of tones in your scene.

The Curves Filter

The Curves filter is in the Effects module and added to the filter stack just like any other filter. By default the All tab is selected, which controls tone. Let’s start with tone. Actually, let’s take one step back and answer a fundamental question. How do we read the tone curve?

The lower left corner is pure black and the upper right corner is pure white. These points correspond to the left and right edges of the histogram. The X axis of the Curve is the tonal spread in your image, from black on the left to white on the right. It’s just like the base of your histogram. The Y axis of the Curve is how bright or dark a given tone is. You can think of the “height” of a point on the curve like the peaks and valleys in the histogram. Notice the shading on the X and Y axes. The shading starts at black in the lower left corner and progresses toward white along both axes. That can help you remember the orientation of the tone curve.

By default, the relationship is linear. A middle gray value on the X axis matches that same middle gray value on the Y axis. Curves allow us to change those relationships and increase or decrease brightness of specific tonal regions.

Adjusting The Curve

When I am working with the tone curve, I mentally divide the tone curve into 4 regions — from left to right there’s the shadows, the lower-midtones, the upper-midtones, and the highlights. Changing the curve in the lower left area, for example, will affect the shadows (the far left side of the histogram). You might like 5 regions, or 3 regions. That’s fine. The key point is this:

The Curves controls relate directly to the histogram.

The shadows are on the left and the highlights on the right. Adjusting different areas of the Curves tool affects the corresponding area of the histogram. You can shift a histogram to the left or right, force separation of tonal regions, and even redefine what pure black and pure white mean.

To adjust the curve, click on the white diagonal line. A new control point is added. Click and drag the point anywhere in the Curves filter. First, position it within the tonal region you want to affect (the X axis). Next, raise or lower the control point to brighten or darken the tones in that region. Moving a control point p and/or to the right makes tones brighter, and moving it down and/or to the left makes tones darker.

As you move the point, the once diagonal line takes on a smooth arced shape. It curves, and that’s where the name of the tool comes from. A curve can have many control points.

A Contrast S-Curve And A Matte Look

How about a real-world example. A classic Curves adjustment is a gentle boost of contrast using a so-called S-Curve. The technique is simple. Choose a point in the shadows area and pull it down gently. Choose another point in the upper midtones or highlights area and drag it upward. The tool smoothly connects the points, creating a S-shaped slope.

How about a matte look. This look has a charcoal and chalky feel. Shadows aren’t quite black, they are more a deep gray. Similarly, the highlights aren’t pure white. First, click on the pure black point - yes! you can change this point. Drag the pure black point upward on the Y axis. This redefines pure black to be a deep gray. The shadows open up a little and take on a charcoal tone. Do the same for the white point. Pull the control point in the upper right down the Y axis a little, dulling the brightest highlights to an off-white. You can also apply the same S-curve to a matte look for some additional contrast.

Less is more with curves adjustments. Small changes have a big impact.

Notice the changes in the histogram. In both of these examples, the “valley” in the middle of the histogram got a little deeper. Why? The boost of contrast shifts midtones either more toward shadows or more toward highlights, leaving fewer in the middle. For the matte adjustments, notice the left and right edges of the histogram no longer reach the edges of the histogram base. The black and white points have been redefined by the Curves adjustment.

The Color Curves

There are also individual curves for the red, green, and blue channels. Each channel can be manipulated uniquely. The color channels are useful to address overall color issues in your photo or for artistic styling. Knowing your color wheel will help you make the most of the color channels. Each channel controls its namesake color and what's opposite it on the color wheel.

Red: control reds vs. cyans

Blue: control blues vs. yellows

Green: control greens vs. magentas

Raising the curve of a color channel boosts that color in the photo and de-emphasizes the opposite color. For example, raising the blue curve will reduce yellows in the photo. And vice versa. You can raise blues in the highlights and reduce blues (add yellow) in the shadows using multiple control points.

In this example, I set several control points on the blue curve. Notice the blue curve is pulled down in the shadows and lower midtones. This removes blue from the shadowy areas of the scene and, more importantly, adds yellow. The foreground is more in shadow and the grasses take on a warmer, inviting look. Conversely, the blue curve is increased slightly in the upper midtones and highlights, adding extra blue tinting to the sky. The sky is mostly highlights. The additional control points, like the one near the center, provide extra control for the transition from adding yellow to adding blue.

All of that in a single curve control - powerful!

A Twilight Look With Curves

You can do combinations of color adjustments, too. For example, if the red and blue curves are increased, you're amplifying purple (the mix of red and blue). A favorite curves recipe of mine is for a twilight look. For my landscapes, I often like a touch of purple and magenta, those tones we get at the bookends of the day. You can create a twilight look with Curves, using small adjustments to the Red, Green, and Blue curves. Here is the simple recipe:

Raise the Red curve slightly

Lower the Green curve slightly

Raise the Blue curve slightly

That’s it. The result is a lovely twilight look. Under the covers, the increase in Red and Blue amplify purple. The decrease to Green adds magenta, furthering the purple-y twilight look. Remember, curves are a push and pull the named color channel and its opposite color.

You can, of course, modify this recipe and bias the control points more toward highlights or shadows, depending on what makes sense for your photo.

Curves Are Powerful!

I hope this article gives you a taste of the power of curves. Although there are many other filters in ON1 Photo RAW to adjust contrast and color, the Curves filter still has a place in post-processing workflow. The masking tools and blending options in ON1 Photo RAW are 100% compatible with the Curves filter. Combining the power of curves with targeting masking means you have precision control over the tones and colors in your photos.

And don't forget! You can add multiple Curves adjustments to the filter stack. If you need one type of Curves adjustment for one area of your photo, and a different type for another - no problem! ON1 Photo RAW lets you do that. Have fun!

[dipulb3]

2021 Toyota GR Supra 2.0 review: More than enough, but something's missing

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/2021-toyota-gr-supra-2-0-review-more-than-enough-but-somethings-missing/

2021 Toyota GR Supra 2.0 review: More than enough, but something's missing

A four-cylinder engine joins the Supra range for 2021 and it’s a good ‘un!

Craig Cole/Roadshow

After a couple hours in the 2021 Toyota GR Supra 2.0 I thought to myself, “We waited two decades for this, a reskinned BMW Z4 with a fixed roof?” Don’t get me wrong, this new, entry-level, four-cylinder Supra is stylish, sharp and plenty swift, but it still lacks a certain magic, that somethin’-somethin’ that compels you to take a late-night drive to get some milk even though there’s still plenty in the fridge.

Like

Impressive fuel efficiency

Blistering acceleration

Sharp steering

Exotic looks

Don’t Like

Unintuitive infotainment system

Gargantuan roof pillars

Where’s the magic?

Mazda’s pint-sized Miata has exactly this enchanted feel; its spellbinding dynamics harmonize with your soul. Something like a Ford Shelby GT350 with its bellowing V8 can provide similar feels, albeit on a much larger, louder scale. But the Supra gives me no such tingles. I feel no more connected to it than I do to my work laptop. Both are purposeful and highly responsive, but I’m in love with neither.

This sentiment was completely unexpected because the Supra does the sports-car thing well, Bavarian underpinnings and all. The car’s ride is properly pounding, any suppleness traded in for exemplary body control and zero roll through corners. The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, which are gummier than hot tar and envelop a set of stylish 18-inch wheels, provide seemingly inexhaustible grip. This machine’s hefty steering is immediate and exacting. Despite being slightly smaller than what’s fitted to its six-cylinder sibling, the GR Supra 2.0’s brakes are potent and progressive, with a nice, firm pedal feel. But despite ticking all these boxes, something’s still missing, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. 

2020 Toyota GR Supra 2.0: A strong performer that needs some soul

See all photos

That isn’t to say the Supra isn’t objectively impressive. The Supra’s 2.0-liter engine option is new for 2021. Borrowed from BMW, this four-cylinder turbocharged unit is superb, both snappy and smooth, cranking out 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Those figures pale in comparison to the heat six-cylinder Supras pack, but this car still absolutely rips, shooting from 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds flat (the 2021 Supra 3.0 can do the deed in as little as 3.9 seconds). The engine is linear in its power delivery and extremely refined. Honestly, there’s no need for a higher-end Supra — the performance this base model provides is shockingly good.

An eight-speed automatic transmission helps keep that engine roiling. Quick and crisp, it’s a willing accomplice when driving delinquency is demanded, though it’s still no substitute for a manual. At least for now, a row-your-own gearbox is not offered in any version of the Supra, and perhaps that’s partly why the car leaves me feeling less than enraptured. But hey, at least the automatic helps reduce consumption. According to the EPA, my tester delivers 28 miles per gallon combined, a figure derived from its city score of 25 mpg and its highway rating of 32 mpg. In the real world, however, I obliterated those figures, averaging more than 36 mpg after an extended drive, a performance that underscores this powertrain’s all-around excellence. 

This car’s styling is undeniably attractive.

Craig Cole/Roadshow

Yes, I love the Supra’s giddy-up, but I’ve also fallen for its design. The car’s handsome proportions, nose-to-the-ground front end and perky backside make it look like nothing else on the road, especially when dressed in Nitro Yellow. That double-bubble roof is oh-so-cool, and those broad hips draw your eye with every glance in the side-view mirror. Despite the curvaceous metalwork, this machine isn’t particularly wide, or large in any dimension for that matter. It’s longer than a Miata and shorter than a Mustang, slotting neatly between those two competitors. This car is also something of a ‘tweener in Toyota’s lineup, a stepping stone between the affordable 86 sports car and the more potent Supra 3.0. 

I find my tester’s leather-and-Alcantara-covered seats comfortable, offering plenty of support thanks to the firm padding, though the bolstering may be too aggressive for some. Manually adjustable unlike in higher-end models, the chairs’ various levers and ratchets make it easy to find a good driving position, though no amount of tweaking will improve the rear sightlines. Those massive roof pillars that help give this car such sexy styling are also great at obliterating visibility. The small backlight is no help, either. Making matters worse, blind-spot monitoring and other useful features, such as rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and parking sensors, aren’t standard. Instead, they’re bundled in the $3,485 safety and technology package.

As for other features, the Supra Command infotainment system is like forgotten leftovers: starting to stink. Basically an older version of BMW iDrive, it comes with an 8.8-inch display and a convoluted interface. It’s not particularly easy to navigate, though you can operate it with control buttons on the center console or via the touchscreen, which is nice. Embedded navigation is also included with that safety and tech package, as is wireless Apple CarPlay. Android Auto isn’t offered, so sad trombone if you’re a fan of The Google. Another downside is that this Toyota won’t be updated to iDrive 7, BMW’s latest and greatest infotainment system, even though its sibling, the Z4, already has it. Yeah, I’m as confused about this decision as you are, but so it goes.

Does this interior look German to you?

Craig Cole/Roadshow

Technological curiosities aside, the rest of the Supra’s cabin is a nice place to be. There’s plenty of soft plastic, which has a dense, high-quality feel and an attractive pattern. For better or worse, the climate controls and other switches are borrowed from BMW. Aside from the Nokia brick-phone electronic shifter and cheesy-looking gauges, everything meshes quite nicely. As you might expect, the Supra is not a particularly versatile car. In-cabin storage is scarce, limited to a small cubby on the center tunnel, another bin ahead of the gear selector and tiny door pockets. The trunk is also petite, though it should be spacious enough to carry luggage for two people.

Compared to six-cylinder models, the Supra 2.0 is down on power and torque, it also has smaller brakes, no strut-tower-to-radiator-support reinforcements, fixed rather than adaptive dampers and a standard differential. On the plus side, it’s also about 219 pounds lighter and, most importantly, way more affordable — like, a whopping eight grand cheaper. Out the door, my tester checks out for $47,895, a figure that includes the $3,485 safety and tech package, a $425 paint job and $995 in delivery fees. In comparison, the Supra 3.0 starts at 52 big ones and goes up from there.

Of all the Japanese sports cars available today that are engineered by Bavarians and assembled in Austria by a third-party manufacturer, the Toyota Supra is hands down my favorite. But all jokes aside, even in base, four-cylinder guise it offers potent acceleration and crisp dynamics. But after extensive time behind the wheel, I think I’d still rather have a Mazda Miata or even a Mustang EcoBoost with the high-performance package. Toyota’s Supra does many things right, but it somehow leaves me completely whelmed, neither over nor under.

[cryamore]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE ROUNDUP

We’ve gotten a number of questions from our Discord members in the past month and it’s time to share them with everyone along with our answers.

See what a handful of our backers have been asking Rob, Aivi, surasshu, and me after the jump.

Kishou asks the following questions:

Can you change Esmy's appearance? Like, with armor sprites?

Sadly, given how Cryamore’s sprites are designed, it’s too taxing to make armor sprites for Esmy as we’d have to make armor sprites for a lot of unique animations, idle, running, hit, ground cast, mid cast, high cast, Vanish animations, Boulder Dash animations, etc. and then multiply that with 3 or 5 directions each.

The most we can offer for visual customization are palette swaps.

Featured above are palettes for default, Braxton, Bliss, “Dewritos”, and Black & Blue

I just want to see Esmy in something revealing like a swimsuit

Rob can probably arrange that in another artwork. I could sprite Esmy in a swimsuit but I don’t think we have any scenarios written down that feature her in one.

Of course, we could always write one in...

I'm not sure if this is asked before but is there a love interest in mind for Esmy?

Esmy’s too focused on her work and studying cryamore to notice anyone that may have feelings for her.

Right?

There's no "right" or "wrong" way to clear the game right? Like, surely some spells solve puzzles but there will be proficiency in not just weapon choices but spells in fighting too?

We’ve done our best to make sure your offensive/defensive ability and weapon loadouts will always be viable so whether you like playing ranged weapons with hard hitting close combat abilities, using mobility enhancing abilities with melee weapons or whatever playstyle tickles your fancy, we’ve spent a lot of time ensuring we got everything balanced and fun enough so there won’t be an absolute god tier and worst tier loadout.

Phosphatide asks:

About story flow: with games now searching for the perfect balance between "linear progression" and "open world freedom" to avoid blatant in-game walls preventing the possibility of sequence-breaking exploration or aimless wandering with no sense of urgency... what was your goal for Cryamore?

Alan: Honestly, I personally wanted full-on freedom to go explore some of the hardest areas of the game and risk the chance of getting wrecked, but we had to corrall things a bit to ensure you stay within the story bounds. Rob being the lead on this has final say on direction.

Rob: I wanted to instill a sense of survival in the game and make sure that the abilities are a big focal point for both puzzles and combat so we were able to block off certain areas of the world the way Metroidvanias would; give you a hint at what might be ahead, but you're blocked by something that needs a new ability

Alan: There's still freedom to be had but you can only go so far before you either hit a roadblock which needs an ability or sometimes story progression (you need clearance to explore south of the island)

So yeah, the goal was to give some freedom but not too much and I'm hoping we managed to achieve it with the world design I've done and with enough usage of the puzzle solving abilities we've made.

Tomar asks:

Curiosity here. Do you guys do art asset sharing through your VC system, or do you use something simpler like dropbox/google drive?

We’ve mostly used Dropbox all throughout to share asset files.

Above are the four folders we have set for Cryamore. Backgrounds has Rob and me contributing to it, Illustrations has Rob, me, and JC and Juby’s contributions, Inspiration Music has Aivi and surasshu’s work (a lot of unheard of to the public music WIP files) and Sprite-Animations has my work.

Once something like music, animation or an environment asset is set, Rob or I transfer it to Unity, apply any settings necessary (import and display settings for 2DToolkit, audio settings for Master Audio, etc.) and then upload it to the SVN so the file and all its settings will exist for anyone on the team with a Unity key and access to the Cryamore SVN.

Do you use freecamp for like kanban/task management stuff?

When we had more people in our team, we used OpenOffice and then switched to Freedcamp to keep track of tasks and bugs. Now that it’s just Rob and me, and Aivi and surasshu on sound and music, we mostly just keep a personal to-do list.

Xaelon asks:

I have no idea if this is possible with how the game is built, but something you could add to promote replay after the base game is completed would be a "randomizer mode" that shuffles various things into different places.

We could probably apply that to enemy spawns and some cryam deposits but the environment layouts though aren't as flexible sadly as we don’t use tilesets and the collision bounds of the environments aren’t generated by object due to a lot of irregular organic shapes.

We definitely have considered implementing a NG+ option though, maybe with levels and certain abilities intact on the next play but with more mobs and other difficulty boosts. 

shadowreaper5 asks:

Do skills with timers (like the buff to breathe underwater) have a visual representation of the time left?

To a certain extent, yes. Esmy’s going to have a breath meter over her head while underwater without the Oxy Barrier ability.

We initially wanted to just have a blue fill over Esmy’s status portrait (which changes to her holding her breath) while underwater but so it’s easier to keep track of, she’ll have a meter above her head when she isn’t using Oxy Barrier underwater.

While we do have spells with durations, some of them won’t have a meter and rely on visual cues: a timed magma mine will blink when it's about to explode, time paradox clones should blink when they're about to fade, and shadow cloak should fade back to full visibility upon ending. As it is though, we will mention the duration of spells in their info box at the menu.

Tarquinn2049 asks:

Ok. This question is a bit on the other end amd might make me sound like a jerk due to timing. But does it support 4k? And if so is it by pixel doubling? I can totally play it at 1080p if hardware scaling will ultimately look better.

Our native resolution is 720p which we’ll be upscaling to 1080p. We won’t be able to provide 4K support as working primarily in 2D where our target resolution is 720p would require us to rework the assets in a larger size so as not to lose crispness of lines and pixels on a larger resolution.

Rob:  The game looks freaking good on a 50-70 inch, though haha! I for one can't wait to playtest a lot on console (devkit).

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

Unity editor-wise, Rob has been working on optimizing the code further. The sorting order of the game was archaic and clunky, so Rob decided to squish it down to a simpler and more effective form that relies on Sorting Order that Unity didn’t have early on during our development. We instead relied on Z index which required a lot of fiddling around with when setting objects up.

You can see in that test room video that the “Order in Layer” is changing value. Back then it would be the Z in the Position attributes and we’d have to manually set the value beforehand to make sure things appeared behind or in front of objects right.

Rob also implemented full analog movement instead of just the D-pad, this allows for more control, though it’ll need a bit of tweaking as it currently looks like Esmy’s skating along the ground like she’s about to break it down and provide everyone with boosted shields.

There’s been polish going on in multiple fronts on the graphical end as animations and environment assets get fixed.

Above is the fist weapons, we initially were going to go with brass knuckles but decided that it wouldn’t be that noticeable on the sprite unless we made it large but I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t miss the weapons so I designed these gauntlets that shows a bit of the transition from steamtech to cryamtech and also offers a more interesting silhouette while also making a bit more sense as a viable weapon against dangerous monsters.

The fists primary function work as a mashable combo. One press of the attack button does a jab, two presses in quick succession performs a jab and punch, three does a jab, punch, uppercut combo. It’s quick but it doesn’t have that much range or width in its melee attack range.

The second function is the parry which allows you to negate any damage if timed right. Rob’s in charge of securing the timing for all these as he’s the one in Unity and more well-versed with the parrying system this was inspired from (Street Fighter 3) so I trust he’ll make sure it’s balanced. We wanted to make the fists fun to use but even better if you master it and hopefully it’ll show.

The crossbow also underwent an animation rework during its polish phase. The old animation was too focused on being realistic that it didn’t look interesting (i.e. it looked too slow) and the crossbow already has it tough in being interesting when up against the pistols. So far everyone feels it looks much snappier now while still keeping to the timing of the old animation.

What differentiates the crossbow from the pistol is that Esmy can hold her shot and slowly strafe while doing so, only firing when you let go of the attack button. The crossbow also has different types of bolt quivers that you can equip. Currently we’re playing around with piercing properties and stagger/slowing/knockback properties.

We’re also looking into displaying the ammo/bolt count below Esmy everytime she fires so the player can easily keep track of their shots (we’ve been running on infinite ammo all this time just to get a feel of the weapon first before applying a limit). 

The rapier’s animations will still need the pixel pass but its roughs are ready.

You’ll notice two phases in the rapier animation. The basic thrust and the secondary backdash. These are the primary and secondary functions of the weapon. One allows you to dash forward with a piercing strike and another for quick evasion, making the rapier a weapon all about mobility (which could be handy for speedrunning too).

The Ghilcrest buildings are undergoing their design polish as well. You’ve all seen the Cryatisium and Esmy’s Home and now the Inventorium and the Cafe are joining them in polished goodness.

The overworld environments have also been undergoing its rework. More unique object assets have been made and its design is now following the Overworld map that I completed.

Worry not about the above image. Though we do have Brax (and some other characters) following you at some points in the game, it’s not a dangerous escort mission where you’ll have to struggle to keep your companion alive, the Berribuns were added on the map just for this screenshot (they ignore Brax and only go for Esmy).

I’ve tried to incorporate hints of the past steamtech throughout areas of Noka Island that the settlers covered, some machines like the one on the screenshot above were retrofitted to use cryam instead of steam (I did receive comments on how the smoke blobs look more like rocks so I’ll probably change it to wispy smoke).

The HUD has also undergone a visual polish to make it look more bronze plated to go with the early post steampunk-ish feel.

I’ll be continuously working on more animations and environment asset polish all throughout while Rob cleans up code, works on other background assets or lays said assets out in the Unity editor.

ART SPOTLIGHT

Every now and then, Rob (and sometimes I) take a breather and make some art (which will all eventually end up in the artbook) so here’s some of the choice pieces as of late.

Rob made something that could be wallpaper material once he cleans it up in a higher res, it’s an array of Bliss in a custom outfit.

Another wallpaper-ish piece from Rob with Deseret, Bliss, and Sorbet looking all tough and showing what I’ll just assume to be Ghilcrest gang signs... despite it being a small community.

Here's a more realistic pin-up style Bliss that Rob also made.

Rob also pays tribute to Atlus’ Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series by rendering Esmy in Shigenori Soejima’s style.

I did the same and tried making a Shigenori Soejima tribute using his soft paint style commonly present in Stella Deus and some Persona art. I chose to represent Team Bliss.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

We’ve also got a few new submissions of fanart from the community that we’re proud to share with everyone. We’re grateful to have all your support and enjoy seeing everyone’s renditions of the Cryamore cast.

@Cliffist pays tribute to the fab queen, Bliss because clearly, she’s supposed to be the star.

@boss_ruru also decides to rep Team Bliss with this lovely piece of Ms. Barson in one of her many alternate outfits.

But it’s not all Bliss as MellowMarz aka @HeartlessHat provides a pistol toting pixel-art Esmy.

I’ll be working on the pixel art and animation featurette next. I had to hold it off since I needed to prep this first.

It should give an idea of what the update will cover.

I hope you enjoyed this update and all the news! Thanks for taking time to read through these.

- CM Alan

P.S. I also managed to secure one of the previous builds we made and will be preparing a guide to go with it for the backers on Discord.

[fire-emblem-strategy]

Hello again!  I promised that this one would be a short one, but thinking it over I realized that there’s actually a lot of content to cover here.  Welcome to our quick overview of Gaiden’s maps.

Let’s start simple: the overworld map.  To keep it as spoiler-free as possible, I’ll restrict it to a very small subset.

There are two recognizable features here.  Alm represents the player and is located somewhere on the map.  If he wants to move somewhere, he simply selects where to go, one node at a time, and every node represents a playable map.  This is very similar to Awakening’s map, although there are no web-like patterns; it’s pretty much all linear with few branches.  At the beginning of the game, all locations are occupied by a single enemy that must be defeated to progress the story, but over time, other enemies can spawn and claim territory.

The best way I can think of to explain this is to think of the Risen in Awakening.  Each enemy icon represents a single “captain” and their cohort.  Two captains represents two cohorts (or a tough story battle).  There’s no difference between the icons for story enemies and roaming enemies, but story enemies remain fixed in place, whereas roaming enemies hop around and can team with anybody already present in that location.  Story enemies also have names, whereas roaming, randomly spawned enemies go by class alone.  To my knowledge, roaming enemies do not appear before Chapter 3.

Each of the occupied nodes represents one of two types of maps.  First, there are “normal” maps, for lack of a better term.  These ones have enemies at the start of  the game, and include terrain features such as forests, forts, and healing tiles.  There are a large number of these -- around 50 -- although we should qualify that number.  Here’s an example of why.

Sorry for the missing pieces -- I didn’t think to take screenshots while I was playing last week so I had to borrow and consolidate clips from MageKnight404.  But this is the same map, located in two different nodes on the overworld with different enemy spawns.  The boys over at IntSys were running out of either memory or creativity, but this doesn’t qualify in my book as two different maps.  There are several maps that are repeated like this.  Personally, I want to see the devs change up the maps a bit after chapter 1.  The general design is...uninspired.  On the other hand...

Reblog if you think the fort on the right is just as beautiful as the fort on the left.

The other kind of map is what I refer to as “monster maps”.  These are locations that, no matter how many times you enter them, you will always encounter a monster enemy (not shown on the overworld).  There are a handful of different location types like this, but the most common is the shrine.  Yeah, all the places you can promote characters are guarded by monsters (except one which is guarded by thieves).  For example, here’s the Dragon Shrine.

Speaking of these...not all monster maps are barren squares, but the shrines pretty much always are.  But...

Dungeon Crawling (and Speculation, of course)

Dungeon crawling, where it exists, occurs on “monster maps”.  You go somewhere, walk into a room, and BAM, monster battle.  Put another way, it’s less dungeon crawling and way more “walk up and fight”.  But the trailer hints that this isn’t going to be the case anymore.  Exhibit A: finding monsters in a cave.

Case in point: if you can voluntarily fight monsters you find in caves, you can also voluntarily avoid monsters found in caves.  So this time around, I’m thinking that dungeon battles will be smaller and more focused.  However, to keep the difficulty up, your characters might not heal until you exit the dungeon area. Our next shot provides evidence for the first, but not the second idea (yet), and also a bit in support of another one.

Terrain features!  And this is important.  If previously featureless dungeons are being touched up to include terrain and actual strategic points on the map, then there’s reason to believe that other maps may be updated as well.  Because while Gaiden was all well and good in its time, there are a lot of things that just don’t hold up, and its map design is one of them.

That’s all for this one!  I think I have one more post left in me to cover all the leftover odds and ends, and maybe a bonus for my own personal wishlist(?).  See you all again next time!

-Silas

[mathematicianadda]

Crowdsourced Studying Materials - Gauging Interest on Community Idea

NOTE: I mention a handful of tools in this post that you may or may not be familiar with. To keep the main content shorter, I will avoid explaining in the core of the post what these tools are, but at the bottom I will include more information on the tools and why I believe they are useful.

What is this?

Anki is not typically used to study mathematics. However, when studying through a course or a textbook with a lot of material, creating an Anki deck is a powerful way to help keep important definitions and theorems right at the forefront of your memory-- but this is a time-consuming process and often a large undertaking for a single person to do properly for a textbook. However, an Anki add-on called CrowdAnki allows for the integration of Git version control with Anki decks. I believe this could prove to be a useful tool for the mathematics community.

Consider a scenario where a group of redditors on this subreddit get together to self-study through Munkres' Topology, where a few of these redditors are familiar with these tools. They create a deck "Munkres' Topology" on AnkiWeb, giving all members of the group access to the repository where the cards are stored. As they progress through Chapter 2 of the textbook (say, the section on the Order, Product, and Subspace Topologies), each redditor opens their local copy of their Anki deck and add a few cards each. One adds the definition of the order topology and one related theorem, another does the same for the product topology, and so on, tagging cards with tags such as: munkres_ch_2, definition, order_topology.

Once they do this, they merge their local version of the deck with the community one on the cloud, allowing everyone access to the cards written by others. Then, when reviewing the topics they have been reading about, they can pull up their deck in Anki and quiz themselves on the definitions and theorems in a section-- without necessarily having to spend an hour LaTeXing all of the cards (more on the writing process later). But this can be more useful than just a way to review notes. A few weeks later, a redditor is reading on Hausdorff spaces and reads that any simply ordered set is a Hausdorff space in the order topology. Faint in his memory, he creates a custom study session in Anki limiting the tags of the deck to "munkres_ch_2 order_topology", allowing him to review the theorems and definitions related to the order topology in the section. Or in a semester, when he is studying through Algebraic Topology, he may want to review -all- theorems and definitions in Munkres' Topology related to the basis. Then simply using the tag "basis" allows him to study all the important facts from ALL chapters of the textbook.

Anki is particularly useful due to its accessibility-- while writing notes is easiest on a computer, it can be edited and reviewed using the application on a computer, through AnkiDroid, AnkiMobile, or even AnkiWeb, which makes it a great tool for commuting. This actually turns out to be handy in more ways than you might expect. Next week, our redditor is discussing topology with his math buddies at dinner. When talking about the K-topology, a disagreement arises about a small fact relating to the topology. Of course, nobody has their notes on them, and searching through math.stackexchange can be tedious for something this specific (please suspend your disbelief). However, pulling up AnkiDroid, they can use the search tool to find the note and settle the dispute right then and there.

This deck is of course public, and so anyone can make editions at any time-- fixing typos in previous cards, or adding in relevant information. If accessible to the /r/math subreddit, anyone can download the deck, and if they notice an error in a statement, they can edit the card right there on their phone or laptop, and later make a pull request so the public version no longer has the error. By alleviating the burden and human error that arises from a single person making all the notes for every theorem and definition as they go, we can achieve an impressive standard of quality with minimal effort from the community.

Some people debate the usefulness of flashcards with mathematics-- I personally believe they can be a helpful supplement. But this is a broader tool-- having decks like these is an incredible tool for any student, as it essentially offers an indexed reference to the topic you're studying that is accessible from your smartphone or laptop. Once created and shared, any student can download the deck and use it to supplement their studying in their course, or to brush up on topics to prepare for another course.

Thoughts?

All that being said, it's only as useful a resource as the community makes it. If nobody is interested in making or using flashcards, or if the decks aren't well-known or accessible to the /r/math community, then they become a weaker resource. That's why I am making this post-- I want to gauge the community's interest in such a resource. *Would you use it? Would you contribute? How would you improve the system, or what flaws do you notice? *

Of course, getting the ball rolling on something like this can be difficult. Luckily, you don't have to! I have been creating flashcards through Anki for my Linear Algebra, Measure Theory, Real Analysis, and Topology courses, and have a solid start on flashcards through these courses. If there is interest, I would be happy to implement CrowdAnki with my decks, and people can test out the idea with the decks I have-- seeing what the cards could look like, adding or editing cards in the deck, etc. They are currently in the need of some minor changes and updates-- for example, I initially typed up the cards using Anki's LaTeX functionality, but I am transitioning to MathJax for a handful of reasons.

Why?

Studying mathematics is a multi-step process. When learning a new topic in a math course, often the progression of learning goes something like this:

Initial interaction with new material. Through either lecture or reading through a textbook, a student encounters a new theorem, definition, or other note-worthy idea. Often involves playing around with the concepts to begin familiarization

Applying new concepts. The student then does exercises utilizing the new information, giving insight to the scope of the new concept and allowing patterns in application to arise, incorporating the concept into their intuition.

Full recollection of the concept-- for a theorem, knowing the complete statement, or knowing all of the required axioms and their implications. Oftentimes, this step is tied into the previous, where by repeated application, a student ends up memorizing the important theorems and definitions.

While this process usually works as-is, occasionally there is a need for a stronger familiarization of the concepts than one might gain from exercises-- or perhaps the time you would have to spend doing exercises to absorb the axioms for all the content you need simply would be too much to keep up with. I personally turn to Anki to approach this issue when it arises in my classes.

On paper, this system can work very well. However, this process involves a lot of steps-- pre-reading lecture material, attending the lecture and taking notes, creating flashcards for the notes taken, and then doing exercises. Each of these steps can easily be an hour or two, if not more. This adds up very quickly when taking multiple math courses, and can become unsustainable for a single person. The usefulness of having a group to work with cannot be understated-- this is commonly done for problem sets, but this should be incorporated in other steps of the process as well. Spreading the workload helps everyone involved save time and learn more effectively.

Now, a few disclaimers for points that I know will come up. This is NOT a replacement for traditional studying. You cannot just download a deck, study the cards, and say you know topology. Attending lectures and reading the textbook is important, as they include key details or connections that theorems and definitions cannot convey on their own. Perhaps more important is that it does NOT replace doing exercises. Doing practice problems and working with the concepts at hand is still key to familiarizing yourself with the theorems and definitions-- this simply helps you retain everything far better. Flashcards are a supplement to the math learning experience, not a primary method. You could argue that memorizing theorems and definitions isn't important in mathematics, but they sure are important in exams-- and if you're flipping to a textbook every time you're discussing content in a course, you'll be slogged down pretty quickly.

Tools

Anki

Flashcards? In my theoretical mathematics classroom? It's more likely than you think.

Anki is a digital flashcard program that utilized Spaced Repetition to help you review flashcards in an efficient manner. New material can be learned and retained so much more effectively using Spaced Repetition-- for more information on how that works, check out this interactive comic.

While Anki is typically used for rote memorization, say in biology courses, it can still be effective for mathematics. People far more experienced than I am have covered this in great detail, and it is worth a read. For a quick idea of how it can work, check out this reddit post. If you want more along those lines, check out this blog post that takes a different approach to formulating cards. More than just for studying a textbook, though, Anki can be used in mathematics on a broader level-- check out this and this post by Michael Nielson for more information on that.

However, on a more direct level, the actual creation of the cards can be complex. While LaTeX can be used, MathJax has better implementation with Anki that allows for smoother compatibility.

MathJax

MathJax is a browser-based typesetting system similar to LaTeX. Equations are coded almost exactly like LaTeX, but formatting is done through an HTML style. The Anki documentation covers pretty concisely what it is and how it is used in Anki-- for the most part, you can simply replace any $ $ delimiters in LaTeX code with ( and ) to render the equation.

There are multiple reasons why MathJax is more effective than LaTeX in Anki. The simplest being that MathJax is Javascript, and Anki is written in PyQt, which mesh nicer than LaTeX. Anki implements LaTeX basically by rendering a pdf of the code given, cropping a screenshot of the pdf, and then displaying the image when using the flashcard. Editing cards like this can become a real headache, and if the images aren't synced properly (and if the code is changed, it must be re-rendered), then it can quickly become a mess. MathJax directly renders within Anki, and so it plays nicer with Anki's font scaling and other formatting.

CrowdAnki

CrowdAnki is an add-on for Anki that allows for easy integration with GitHub. The add-on allows for the following workflow, as described by the developer:

The current workflow could be described as following:

The user creates or imports an Anki deck.

He makes some modification to it (i.e. to notes, deck settings, deck structure or note models).

Then the user can export the deck in JSON format (accompanied by media directory with media files used in that deck) and share it with other users. For example by creating GitHub repository with it.

Other people then can either modify JSON directly or import the deck to their instance of Anki and then make some modifications to it.

Original JSON then can be updated the with the changes, these people made (merging several changes together if necessary).

After that original user (and other people) can import updated deck to integrate these new changes into their collection.

GitHub is a fantastic tool to collaborate on large-scale documents, which is very useful for this purpose. It allows for people to contribute separately to documents and merge changes in a smart manner. The integration of version control with Anki is practically essential to this concept.

Final words

While I originally wrote this post with the broader goal of creating resources that the whole community could benefit from, this also serves as a PSA for anyone self-studying a topic with a group. The next time you organize a reading group on /r/math, consider adding this option to your plan. Having something more tangible to contribute to makes it easier for a group to stay on track.

There is nuance to the details of implementing these cards. For example, I have only used it thus far to keep track of theorems and definitions. However, it may be worth breaking a proof into pieces and studying the proofs as well. Some people include exercises in their decks. I currently use Cloze cards, but perhaps a different format is better. If this is implemented, a standard on formatting to some degree must be agreed upon-- I am still not sure what is really the most effective, but if you use this with your group, or if you want to use this in our community, it is worth giving the topic some thought.

If all else fails-- I am still running this with my classes, as I mentioned above! If you're working through Axler's Linear Algebra or Munkres' Topology, feel free to PM me if you are interested in trying it out (my other courses use lecture notes, and this is still experimental, so I won't do this whole process with Measure Theory and Real Analysis just yet).

Happy Mathing!

submitted by /u/BlizzardEternal [link] [comments] from math https://ift.tt/36sKmEL from Blogger https://ift.tt/2C6zUot

[oovitus]

‘What’s happening to my body!?’ 6 lifestyle strategies to feel your best during menopause.

Hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, brain fog: Menopause can make you wonder if your body is totally cuckoo. But what many women don’t realize is that they do have some control over these symptoms. Here’s what’s going on, plus six lifestyle strategies to feel your best during menopause.

++++

Mood swings. Weight gain. Waking up to sweat-soaked pajamas and bedsheets every… darn… night.

Menopause can feel weird, uncomfortable, and downright scary for many women.

Your body is suddenly doing all this stuff you don’t recognize.

Sometimes it feels like your body and brain are no longer under your control.

You ask yourself…

Is this normal?

Is my body against me?

Is there anything I can DO?!

When you look to the internet for advice, you’re confronted with headlines like this:

“8 sneaky symptoms of perimenopause — Do YOU have it?”

“Rare jungle herbs to cool your hot flashes & heat up your libido!”

“Fight biology and battle your meno-belly with this celebrity diet.”

This is not that kind of article.

We won’t prescribe a “to do” list so you can “overcome” menopause.

No “life hacks”, “cool tricks”, or “quick fixes” either.

Instead, we hope to help you:

understand your body;

appreciate the intelligent adaptations it makes with age; and

embrace change, with all the possibilities that come with it.

Because if you’re a woman (or if you coach women), understanding what’s changing during menopause, why it’s happening, and how to deal with it can make the whole process a lot less confusing, uncomfortable, and frustrating.

While you might feel like your body is all over the place, you actually do have control over your mindset, your lifestyle, and your environment — all of which also affect the symptoms that come along with menopause.

You have the power to affect your hormones.

Yep, really.

There are things you can do to ensure you feel healthy, strong, and — yes — sexy during menopause.

If you’re a woman going through perimenopause or menopause, you might find recognition and relief in this article. You’ll learn exactly what’s going on with your body and what you can do about it.

If you’re a woman who hasn’t yet reached perimenopause or menopause, you’ll learn about what lies ahead. That way, when it happens, you’ll know (or at least have some ideas about) what to do.

If you’re a coach who works with women, you’ll gain insight into what your female clients or patients in midlife may be experiencing. Understanding what’s happening on a biological, psychological, and social level will help you sharpen your coaching superpowers.

In this article:

We’ll outline and examine the different hormonal phases of a woman’s life.

We’ll explain what causes menopause and its warm-up act, perimenopause.

We’ll explore how menopause can affect the body, the symptoms women commonly experience, and what can help.

We’ll suggest lifestyle habits and strategies that can help you feel empowered and in control of your hormones during midlife.

++++

First, a disclaimer.

Of course, not all women will experience what we’re describing.

We’re speaking here about bodies that have female reproductive systems and a hormonal environment that’s within the statistically “normal” range.

But some people with female reproductive systems don’t identify as female.

And just as there is no single standard experience of menopause, there’s also no single standard way to be a woman (or, for that matter, a man).

People are diverse, and that’s a good thing.

Take what’s useful for YOU from this article, and leave the rest.

A woman walks into a medical office…

Yes, menopause often starts like the first line of a bad joke.

It might begin with your period getting a little wonky.

Maybe it starts showing up late (or early). Or it’s longer (or shorter), more painful (or less painful), heavier (or lighter). And sometimes it doesn’t show up at all.

And it’s not just your period.

Whatever your “normal” is starts changing.

Sleep deceives you.

Like a fickle ghost, it visits only at random points in the night.

Your temperature is weird too.

You might find yourself going for a walk in the middle of winter and having to tear your scarf off and unzip your jacket, your neck literally steaming.

You might be a little moodier than usual.

Yesterday at the drugstore, you became enraged because you couldn’t find the toilet paper brand you wanted. I can’t use this sandpaper! you howled at the confused clerk, and stormed out.

Maybe you’ve heard about these symptoms before. From girlfriends, from your older sister, from Googling late at night when you can’t sleep… again.

So you make an appointment with your doctor.

You sit down with your doctor and tell them about your symptoms:

“Hey doc, my vagina is chafing and feels like fire… just kidding… unless you know what to do about that?”

“Hey doc, let’s say someone bled for 17 days last month. Is that normal? I’m asking for, er, a friend.”

“Hey doc, yesterday at the gym, mid-squat, I peed a little. It also happens when I cough, laugh, orgasm, jump, or yell at my dog in a sudden fit of fathomless rage.”

Your doctor tells you these symptoms are consistent with perimenopause.

Wait, what? You’re only 38! You thought hormone stuff was for, like, your mom.

There’s no single start or end point for menopause.

You might look back on one moment in your life as “the time I realized I was a grown-up”.

Holding that first retirement fund receipt. Buying clothes for quality stitching, not style. Keeping an orchid alive for more than 8 weeks.

But biology operates on a continuum. That means there’s no single moment when menopause (or perimenopause) begins.

In general, physiological processes and systems are complex and ever-changing.

They ebb and flow from moment to moment, and year to year.

That means:

Menopause is a dynamic and responsive process, not a single event.

And it may show up when you’re not expecting it.

Just as we go through puberty at different ages, perimenopause and menopause kick in at different times, too. Usually, perimenopause begins in a woman’s 40s (although it can happen as early as her 30s), and menopause can happen anytime between a woman’s 40s and 60s.

The exact timing varies for each woman. It’s is kind of like a repair person who says they’ll be there between 9am and 8pm — a bit hard to predict.

That said, there are some distinct hormonal stages, which generally work as a linear process. Our first major hormonal event is that zit-sprouting, growth-spurting, heart-palpitating time — puberty!

When we hit puberty, our hormonal factories open for business.

In our reproductive years, a complex symphony of hormonal feedback loops occurs approximately once a month.

Our brain sends a signal to our ovaries, which respond by increasing production of the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone and other related hormones. We ovulate, build a uterine lining, shed it, and begin the cycle again.

Over and over, these hormonal feedback loops carefully coordinate to ensure that the uterus can support a fetus.

Hormones are pulsatile (meaning they’re released in bursts), and strongly affected by a variety of factors.

Hormones levels rise and drop at varied points during each monthly menstrual cycle.

At some point, the feedback loops start to change subtly.

Perimenopause is the time before menopause.

As women age, their ovaries gradually start producing less estrogen, progesterone, and other related hormones.

However, this isn’t a linear or steadily progressive process.

Just like during reproductive cycles in the years prior, hormone levels vary throughout menopause.

Hormone levels don’t drop all at once; they fluctuate throughout mid-life.

Just like within a reproductive cycle, in perimenopause there are hormonal ups and downs, which create (or contribute to) the seemingly random and unpredictable physical and psychological manifestations we experience.

This stage can be as short as a few years, or longer than a decade.

Menopause marks the end of menstrual cycles.

“Officially”, menopause occurs when a woman hasn’t had a period for 12 months in a row. But there are different ways menopause can occur:

“Natural” menopause: When estrogen, progesterone, and other gonadal hormones (our reproductive / sex hormones) decline on their own as a result of aging.

Premature (or early) menopause: When menopause occurs before the age of 40. Sometimes, we don’t know why this happens. Other times, there are known risk factors, including medical conditions like diabetes or hypothyroidism; certain medications; pituitary damage from brain trauma (e.g. a history of concussions); smoking; or genetic inheritance.

Artificial menopause: When menopause occurs when ovaries are removed or damaged (for example, by some types of cancer treatments). Because of the sudden drop in hormones, menopause symptoms begin abruptly and may be more severe than other versions of menopause.

In women without a uterus, menopause can be identified by very high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which shows that the brain is telling the ovaries to increase production, but the ovaries aren’t listening. High FSH occurs in all women during menopause.

Postmenopause describes the phase after menopause.

At this point, hormonal fluctuations have leveled out, gonadal hormone production has shut down, and levels of most reproductive hormones are now relatively low.

Hormonal changes drive these shifts.

But what does “hormonal change” even mean? And what do hormones do?

Hormones signal our body to do stuff.

Most hormones act widely throughout the body. So, our reproductive hormones don’t just affect our reproductive organs.

Hormones impact how we feel, behave, function, and more.

When hormones change, we change too.

Hormones are complex, and everyone’s are a little different.

When we say “hormones”, what we’re really describing are dozens, if not hundreds, of bioactive chemical compounds that make up complex signalling networks in our bodies.

For instance, “estrogen” is more accurately “estrogens”:

estrone (E1);

estradiol (E2);

estriol (E3); and

several other molecules that have estrogenic activity (in other words, that act somewhat like estrogen does).

And along with our gonadal hormones, we also have many other key hormonal systems, such as:

thyroid hormones;

neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin);

gastrointestinal hormones such as insulin;

adipose (fat) tissue hormones such as leptin.

Then, there are other cell signalling molecules, known as cytokines, which play with hormones.

All of these molecules interact with each other, and all are governed by our genetic and epigenetic expression, as well as various other factors.

Each one of us has a unique, ever-changing “hormone fingerprint”.

This means that menopause is not as simple as flipping an estrogen on-off switch, and everyone’s hormones are affected by their unique genetics.

That’s part of why menopause is such a different experience from person to person.

Hormones change for many reasons.

While all of the interactions of our reproductive systems are far too complex to predict, one thing is clear:

The hormonal phenomena and experience of perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause are all strongly affected by other factors.

We have the power to influence our hormones through our mindset and lifestyle.

Some things, like what we choose to eat, how we work out, or what meaning we make from our experiences, we can control. Others, like our genes, or how often our bedmate disrupts our sleep with their snoring, we can’t.

Here are the changes you may notice during menopause, plus what can help.

Symptoms of hormonal changes might show up consistently, intermittently, or rarely.

They might be intense or barely noticeable.

But remember:

Each woman’s experience is unique.

These changes aren’t “just” biological. They’re also closely linked to our thoughts, feelings, relationships, and environments.

Many of these symptoms aren’t inevitable. Your environment and behaviors can, to some degree, affect the outcome.

There’s only one given: Endogenous (self-generated) sex hormone production will decline. Everything else is like that randomly appearing repair person: Don’t plan your day around it.

Bladder

Decreased estrogen can lead to a reduced ability to control the urinary tract. You may have to pee more often, get more bladder infections, and have trouble controlling your bladder as pelvic muscles weaken due to aging.

What can help:

Exercises from a pelvic physiotherapist to rehabilitate and prevent stress incontinence (when physical stress — such as coughing, sneezing, or laughing — causes an involuntary loss of urine)

A vaginal pessary (a removable device that you insert into the vagina that supports pelvic organs) recommended by your doctor, especially if you have uterine prolapse

Staying hydrated, peeing after sex, and supplementing a simple, safe carbohydrate known as D-mannose dramatically reduces bladder infections

Body composition

Changing hormones also lead to changing shape.

Lean mass (muscle, bone, and connective tissues) goes down while body fat goes up, a phenomenon known as sarcopenia.

You might notice more fat around your middle and lower belly in particular.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Regular exercise

Hormone replacement therapy (which may decrease abdominal fat), if you choose to take it

Hormone replacement therapy

About 15 to 25 percent of women find their menopause symptoms so severe that they need hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which usually involves some combination of prescription bioidentical (i.e. just like the molecules our bodies make) estrogen and progestogen pills, patches, creams, or injections.

Most menopause symptoms are triggered by a sudden drop of estrogen, rather than a lack of estrogen overall. HRT that includes estrogen may stabilize levels and alleviate symptoms of menopause.

Because HRT has some risks, choosing it as a therapy depends on a woman’s personal medical history, family medical history, age, and symptom severity. All of these factors should be discussed with a doctor.

Benefits of HRT include relief from symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness and thinning, sleep disruption, and low libido. Increased estrogen also means a better chance of preventing postmenopausal osteoporosis and fractures.

Unfortunately, HRT may also increase the risk of cancer (especially breast cancer) as well as heart attack, stroke, and blood clots.

For now, both the medical community and the research support short-term use of HRT to treat moderate to severe symptoms in healthy women in early menopause. Short-term use of low-dose HRT in healthy women (who have no specific contraindications) does not show increased risk of coronary heart disease, clotting disease, or specific cancers.

As an alternative to HRT, regular exercise, calcium, and vitamin D also play protective roles in maintaining healthy bones.

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and phytoestrogenic foods such as soy and omega-3 rich flaxseeds may help to alleviate the severity and frequency of hot flashes.

If you’re suffering from moderate to severe symptoms of perimenopause / menopause, discuss your options with your doctor or another trusted healthcare practitioner.

Brain function

Hormones can affect thinking, reasoning, perception, and memory. Many women notice “brain fog” or trouble remembering things with declining hormones.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Managing stress

Regular exercise (as exercise boosts brain function due to the effects of increased blood flow as well as elevated brain chemicals such as BDNF, which is involved in learning and memory)

Getting enough sleep, if possible

Breast health

Breasts and nipples may become more lumpy and tender. You’re also now at a higher risk for breast cancer.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Regular exercise

Limiting alcohol consumption

Limiting or discontinuing use of medications that contribute to breast tenderness, like hormone replacement therapy, hormonal birth control, and some types of antidepressants

Digestion and bowel function

We tend to make less of our digestive enzymes and stomach acid as we age. Our smooth muscle tissue and intestinal absorption isn’t as peppy as it used to be.

This means you may notice changes in appetite, digestion, and bowel function. Heartburn, gas, and constipation might become your dinner companions more and more.

You may notice new food intolerances and sensitivities. Red wine?! Avocado? Really??

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Good bowel habits

Disease risk

“Female hormones” typically lower our risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and so on… at least, until they run out. Then, our risk of these chronic diseases becomes greater.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Regular exercise

Managing stress

Hormone replacement therapy, depending on the type of hormones prescribed, what age you start, and other risk factors (HRT also may increase risk for other diseases)

Dizziness / vertigo

Dizziness can occur with changes in how your brain regulates blood pressure (see temperature regulation below).

Women may also notice cyclical benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), a sensation of spinning or dizziness occurring when their head is in particular positions, or when lying down or turning over. While we don’t completely know why this happens, researchers think that declining estrogen weakens the protein matrix that makes up our vestibular (balance) system in our inner ear.

Dizziness can also be related to migraines.

What can help:

Staying hydrated, as changes in hydration and sodium levels can affect dizziness and vertigo

Discontinuing medications that contribute to dizziness and vertigo, such as sedatives

Balance training

Two simple exercises: the Epley maneuver, or the half-somersault maneuver designed by Dr. Carol Foster, who created it to treat her own vertigo

Hair

Hair may grow more in some places (like on the face), and less in others (scalp, lower legs, armpits, pubic region).

What the heck, biology?

What can help:

Hormone replacement therapy (for hair loss)

Unwanted hair is one challenge our society has solved pretty well. To the wax mobile!

Menstrual cycles

Obviously, menstrual cycles change. They may become more or less frequent, heavier or lighter, more or less painful. Sometimes, they may be astonishingly heavy, like “Hahaha, Super Plus tampon, I will take you DOWN” heavy.

While you can’t do much to affect menstrual frequency or duration, nor the eventual end of menstruation, you can often improve related symptoms, like cramps.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Regular exercise

Migraines / headaches

Migraines can be stunningly painful or completely painless. For example, with “aura migraines” or ocular migraines, you might see the characteristic sparkling or flashing visuals of a regular migraine without pain. These are typically harmless and resolve in about 20-30 minutes. Other times, a migraine can make you want to submit yourself to a guillotine.

Hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause can exacerbate headaches and migraines, although these seem to settle after menopause.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Keeping a “trigger diary”, which may help you notice that certain things (such as what you eat or your stress levels) make a migraine more likely

Hormone replacement therapy or hormonal birth control (for those in perimenopause) may also affect headaches / migraines

Mood and mental health

Mental health covers a wide range of feelings, experiences, and domains, but in general, you might notice:

More depression, “blahs”, emotional flatness, trouble “getting motivated”

A sense of overwhelm or “it’s all too much”

Feeling more irritable or less able to deal with small hassles

Feeling more anxious, worried, fearful, or risk-averse

Feeling distracted and/or preoccupied, having racing thoughts

Crying or other emotional outbursts that happen more often, more unexpectedly, and/or more intensely

More mood swings, and/or stronger swings

More intense emotions, positive or negative

Everyone around you has suddenly turned into a jerk

These mood changes can be attributed to not just variation in hormone levels, but also all the other biopsychosocial shifts that happen during menopause.

For instance, you may have good reasons for those mood swings. Maybe it is all too much, and this is a signal to make some important changes in your life choices, relationships, workload, etc.

What can help:

Managing stress

Counseling and/or coaching

A good social support network

In consultation with your doctor, medication like antidepressants

Pain and inflammation

Progesterone and estrogen are linked to pain and inflammation.

As sex hormones decline, you may notice changes in muscle pain, arthritis, other types of joint pain, pelvic pain, or flare-ups of other chronic pain concerns.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Regular exercise

Limiting alcohol consumption

Managing stress

Prioritizing sleep and recovery

Non-pharmaceutical pain treatments, such as acupuncture, that work by “distracting” nociceptors (pain nerves)

Relaxation and mindfulness training, which has been shown to help with how we experience pain

Sexual function

As estrogen and progesterone decline, the vaginal and urethral epithelium (lining) thins and becomes less elastic. Additionally, lubrication decreases, so the vagina will be drier.

This means that penetration can cause burning, itching, and a feeling like sandpaper on a sunburn.

Libido fluctuates. You may feel more liberated and sexy at midlife — many women say they’re having the greatest sex of their life, because they’re so much more confident, experienced, and assertive.

Or, you may feel like you don’t want anyone touching you, and would give up sex for sleep or chocolate 100 percent of the time.

What can help:

Managing stress

Doctor-prescribed estrogen creams or lubricants that you can apply to the vaginal area in order to reduce chafing, dryness, and tissue thinning

For a non-hormonal option, one study showed that a vaginal gel containing hyaluronic acid (a natural compound involved in tissue repair and moisture regulation) was nearly as effective as estrogen cream at reducing symptoms of vaginal dryness

Although vaginal tissue atrophies as a result of declining estrogen, the clitoris shows no such signs of stepping down from its position of pleasure glory. Just sayin’.

Skin

You may notice your skin getting drier or oilier as hormones shift. Perhaps you’re even getting some teenage-style acne.

Protein synthesis slows, so you’ll start to wrinkle, heal slower, and have less collagen. You’ll also likely lose fat from your face, and things will start to sag (because, gravity). You may notice changes in skin pigment.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Prioritizing recovery and sleep

Staying hydrated; not smoking; moderating sun and pollution exposure

Teeth

Your dentist might start making tsk-tsk noises about gum disease, receding gums, dry mouth, and so on.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

A good oral health routine (Make your dentist happy!)

Not smoking

Temperature regulation

Hot flashes are one of the most puzzling and annoying experiences of menopause.

About 85 percent of North American women report having hot flashes during perimenopause and menopause, and 10-15 percent of them say these temperature changes are so severe that they interfere with daily life.

On average, hot flashes persist for 3-5 years.

Most women describe a hot flash as a feeling of extreme warmth, usually in their upper body and face and lasting a few minutes. Night sweats, as the name implies, are hot flashes that happen at night — you wake up flushed and sweaty, often enough to soak through clothes or bed sheets.

Hot flashes and night sweats seem to be triggered by a sudden dips in estrogen levels, rather than declining estrogen overall.

Body temperature can also be affected by changes in the brain’s vasomotor center, which regulates your blood vessels, making them tighter (vasoconstriction) or more open (vasodilation). However, we still don’t know exactly how the change in estrogen levels affects the vasomotor center.

What can help:

Quality nutrition

Paced breathing exercises. Try it: Breathe in from the belly while slowly counting to 5. Then, release the breath while slowly counting to 5. Practice this every day for 10-15 minutes. When a hot flash hits, start paced breathing and continue it for 5 minutes. Bonus: Paced breathing may also help lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, and promote relaxation.

Aging is part of life.

In biology, cells senesce — they naturally deteriorate and decline with age.

We can speed this process up, or slow it down, but (for now) we haven’t quite figured out how to stop it altogether.

One thing we do know?

The changes that come with aging — like menopause — are not just in a physiological vacuum.

In other words, the changes we experience during menopause are not just tied to what’s going on with our bodies. Our mindset, the people we spend time with, and the life changes we’re experiencing matter, too.

Life changes are biospsychosocial.

When we experience life changes, they’re due to a complex interaction of the biological, the psychological, and the social dimensions of our lives.

For instance, many of our female nutrition coaching clients are tireless workers and caregivers — whether that’s at work, home, school, or out in the world.

The women we speak to are trying get their kids to school AND write their thesis AND deadlift with proper form AND visit Aunt Ruby who’s recovering from her hip replacement AND remember to vote AND stir the pasta sauce that’s about to bubble over on the stove.

So, if a woman feels fatigue or mood swings — two symptoms of perimenopause or menopause — what’s the “real” reason?

Hormones?

Stress?

Other people?

Not chanting enough positive affirmations?

The answer may be “several of the above” (but probably not the last one).

Often, menopause coincides with other life changes.

These can include:

The “empty nest” phase. If you have kids, they usually move out (eventually). Suddenly, your focus shifts from offspring-rearing to… what?

Relationship adjustments. If you have a partner, they’re getting older too. Or maybe you’re grappling with divorce, coming out, or starting to date again.

Aging parents. If you have parents (or older relatives) who are alive, they may be dealing with health problems or need more attention.

Work burnout. You gave at the office… and gave, and gave. What was an inspiring career path at 30 now feels like a joyless death march at 50.

A desire for change. You may not have the feverish energy that you used to, but you may find yourself thinking about beginnings: new careers*, new relationships, new places to live.

*Fun fact: Nearly 10 percent of our Precision Nutrition Certification students start a new career at midlife. In fact, one of the authors of this article, Pamela Ruhland, went back to university at 45, did her PN Certification at 48, and was then hired to be an in-house coach with PN on the eve of her 50th birthday!

All these shifts in identity, responsibility, and interest may feel a little disorienting.

But they also create openings for positive change.

Menopause is a great time to build new healthy habits — and maintain current ones.

Many women say middle age is a time of empowerment.

During this period of life, some things die (such as our simplistic youthful illusions, or any desire to wear a crop top).

But new things will grow — fresh identities, opportunities, possibilities.

Women say they feel:

More authentic: They care less about what others think and feel more free to be themselves.

More courageous: They’ve been through it all, so why not?

Less willing to tolerate BS: They’ve put up with crap long enough. They reclaim their time.

Experiences, even difficult ones, bring insight, wisdom, and resilience.

By midlife, we’ve built a nice set of life skills, and we’re looking to use them in new ways.

If you’re going through perimenopause or menopause, you probably won’t like all the changes you’re experiencing.

But remember that that bidirectional relationship between your hormones and the rest of your body that we described earlier?

Just as hormonal changes can affect your sleep, body composition, mental health, and more, your daily habits can impact how strongly you feel the impact of those hormonal shifts.

You’ve got power, lady.

6 lifestyle strategies that can help alleviate menopause symptoms.

Strategy #1: Prioritize quality nutrition.

At this point in life, you may be ready to say goodbye to 10-day cucumber cleanses, fad diets, and get-fit-quick plans. We say: Right on!

And here’s some very good news:

Good nutrition can ease or even alleviate much of the discomfort of midlife physical changes, plus it’ll help you maintain a healthy body composition.

Many of our clients find that through quality nutrition, they can manage their appetite and improve their digestion and bowel habits. (‘Cause no matter how old you are, a good poop is still terrific.)

Prioritizing good nutrition can also decrease disease risk, help manage symptoms of changing menstrual cycles, reduce inflammation (and inflammation-related pain), improve skin quality, and promote dental health.

How to do it:

Most of us are busy, rushed, and hovering over our keyboard as we eat our tuna salad. Slow down and pay attention. This will help you know when you’re truly physically hungry, and when you’ve eaten the amount your body needs.

It’ll also help to alleviate digestive upset like bloating and heartburn, which are really just your body’s way of avenging that spicy calzone you just ate in 17 seconds.

If good nutrition is a goal, consider:

Carbohydrates: Eat 1-2 cupped handfuls of slow-digesting, high-fiber carbohydrates at most meals, unless you have a reason not to do so (e.g. an aggressive intervention to manage your blood sugar).

Protein: Evidence suggests that our protein needs go up, not down, as we age. More protein means more lean mass and better bone density, especially if you’re also doing resistance training. Shoot for at least 1 palm-sized portion of protein at most meals. More protein can also help with skin quality as we age. Here’s more advice.

Phytoestrogens: The research on phytoestrogens in food (such as soy) suggests that they may help with hot flashes… or they may not. In other words, it’s not entirely clear. Feel free to experiment with adding soy to your diet, especially more traditional versions like fresh edamame, miso, and tempeh. These are consumed in Japan, China, and other Southeast Asian countries, where women have much lower rates of hot flashes.

If you have a family history of breast cancer and/or the BRCA gene, check with your doctor before adding estrogenic foods.

Hydration: Drink plenty of water and keep your salt intake moderate. This can help with water retention and breast tenderness, which can fluctuate over your cycle, as well as skin quality.

Vitamin D: Some evidence suggests that vitamin D can lessen perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. Get your D levels checked, and if they’re low, either book that tropical vacation you’ve always wanted (hey, it’s for medical reasons), or supplement. Vitamin D is also important for maintaining bone health.

Caffeine: Notice whether caffeine in coffee, tea, energy drinks, dark chocolate or medications (such as painkillers) triggers or exacerbates any symptoms you have, such as breast tenderness or migraines. Experiment with reducing or avoiding caffeine to see if it’s worth the trade-off.

Flaxseed: Flaxseeds are rich in plant compounds called lignans. With the help of intestinal bacteria, lignans can be converted to weak estrogens (enterodiol and enterolactone) which may help reduce menopausal symptoms.

Omega-3 fatty acids:  Omega-3 fatty acids (2-6 grams a day) may help with some symptoms, like hot flashes, depressive symptoms, and memory decline. There also may be added benefit to starting supplementation before the onset of perimenopause, although the research is unclear. Including high-quality fats in your diet may also help with skin changes.

Iron: If you’ve stopped menstruating, you’ll need less iron (down to about 8 mg a day), unless you’re doing something else that increases iron needs, like Ultimate Fighting. (Pfff, after 30 odd years of monthly bloodshed, a nosebleed doesn’t even make you blink.)

Calcium: For bone health, calcium needs increase during menopause to about 1200 mg a day, preferably from food sources such as quality dairy products; cooked dark leafy greens; bone-in canned salmon or sardines; or calcium-fortified foods.

Magnesium: Magnesium is important for calcium metabolism and also helps preserve bone health. Supplemental magnesium (200 – 400 mg / day) may also help alleviate hormone-related cramps and migraines.

Strategy #2: Approach alcohol intake mindfully.

The image of middle-aged women who love wine has become a cultural cliché.

You’ve seen the t-shirts at those tacky souvenir shops. “Wine is for women what duct tape is for men: It fixes everything!” they read in bold pink letters.

But although a buttery Chardonnay goes nicely with fish, it doesn’t necessarily pair well with our bodies, especially as we age and our livers become less efficient at processing it.

Limiting alcohol consumption may help reduce inflammation, as well as your risk of breast cancer and other diseases.

How to do it:

Notice where, when, how, and with whom you drink. Are there certain triggers — like work functions, or your friend Marie — that always seem to end with you having a strong urge to dance on (or lie under) the table?

Notice what happens if you think about (or actually do) stop drinking for a week or two.

There’s no “right” amount to drink. You may choose to drink less for your health, or you may drink more because you genuinely enjoy it and want to prioritize pleasure.

Either way, drinking should always be a calm and conscious choice, rather than an obligation or compulsion.

Strategy #3: Commit to regular exercise that you truly enjoy.

Exercise (moving at moderate intensity 2-4 times per week for 30-60 minutes per session) seems to help with menopausal symptoms like cramps associated with changing menstrual cycles and inflammation, though it varies from woman to woman.

Women who have lower fitness levels going into exercise sessions may be less likely to see a benefit, which has made interpreting the impact of exercise more difficult.

Still, regular exercise is your best shot at having a healthy, strong, functional body composition. This means lots of protective lean mass (like strong muscles and bones) and less body fat (especially the more risky stuff around your internal organs, called visceral fat). It also means a lower risk of disease, including breast cancer.

How to do it:

You may have less time to exercise right now, which means you’ll have to get creative about squeezing in movement when you can.

Or maybe you have more time. Your 20-year-old son may still live at home but it’s time he does his own laundry… because you’re off to Zumba.

Here are some guidelines to consider for exercising during menopause:

If you still love intense workouts, recognize that you’ll need more recovery. And have a good physiotherapist on speed dial.

Whether it’s a full yoga routine or simply a 5-minute mobility warmup, make sure to include regular joint mobility / injury-prevention type movements to keep joints lubricated and flexible.

Do some weight-bearing movements / resistance training at least 2-3 times a week. This tells your bones, muscles, and connective tissues that you need them to stay dense and strong.

Start where you are. If you’re just picking up an exercise habit for the first time in midlife, start gently. In women who are sedentary, yoga may be a good activity to start with and has been shown to improve quality of life in menopausal women.

Consider making it social. Many of us are more likely to stick with things if we have accountability, support, and community. Join a class or group, or find a workout buddy. Or get a dog. Their toilet is outside, so they’re always motivated for a walk.

Keep cool. Your body is having a tough time regulating your temperature, so exercise in a cool place and drink cool fluids.

Consult with a physiotherapist who specializes in pelvic rehab if you’re noticing you’re peeing during squats, jump rope, or other movements, or if you’re having pelvic pain under load.

If you use a trainer / coach, make sure they understand how to train a body at midlife. They should be able to balance challenge with respect for any limitations you have.

Have fun. That’s an order.

Strategy #4: Practice self-compassion, especially when it comes to your body.

When your sleep is disrupted by a hot flash that rivals the fires of Mount Vesuvius, or when you’re urging your hips into jeans that used to feel roomy and now feel like sausage casings, it’s understandable to feel angry and frustrated. Or even sad.

At midlife, you will put on more body fat. As ovarian production of estradiol (a type of estrogen) shuts down, our body relies on our adipose (fat) tissue (along with a few other types of tissue) to produce similar hormones.

We actually need that extra bump in our rump to keep us healthy as we age.

And it turns out, there’s a “sweet spot” for our body composition.

While having enough body fat will maintain hormonal health, too much body fat increases our risk of estrogen-dependent cancers (e.g. ovarian and breast cancer) as well as other metabolic diseases.

So, it’s important for your health to be conscious of your body composition, but it’s also key to make peace with your body as it is now.

How to do it:

Forget about the celebrities that somehow look 25 when they’re 55. They pay a team of surgeons, personal trainers, stylists, and magical wizards to keep them camera-ready.

Define what “fitness” and “health” mean for you.

Decide what you value, in terms of your physical self.

Maybe you value strength more than aesthetics, and maybe you don’t. (Although it does feel good to know you can open any pickle jar life throws at you.)

Your body will change. You will look different. Whatever you feel you’ve lost, mourn it.

Punch and cry snottily into your pillow. Burn an effigy. Do whatever you need to do to herald the end of the old and the beginning of now.

Then, consider what a sane, realistic, and achievable set of expectations and goals for yourself look like right now. (If you aren’t sure, check out The Cost of Getting Lean.)

Approach these goals with self-compassion rather than self-criticism.

Strategy #5: Prioritize and schedule recovery and sleep.

When things don’t go the way we want, most of us do more and push harder.

For example, if your waistline has changed despite being a regular exerciser and mindful eater, you may (understandably) think it makes sense to add more and higher intensity exercise, combined with less food on your plate.

Grrr, that should do it.

But it doesn’t.

While you may not think of exercise as a stressor, it is.

Exercise requires your body to work harder. And work = stress (even when it’s “good” stress.)

With every stressor you add on, you also need proportionate recovery from it.

Restricting food is also a stressor. Women who worry about limiting food intake to manage body weight tend to have higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, than women who don’t.

Add that to the sleep disruptions so common in menopause (between 40-60 percent of women going through menopause have poor sleep quality or insomnia), and your “stress bucket” is getting pretty full.

Lower estrogen levels also means your body has a decreased capacity to deal with stress. That bucket fills up quicker than it used to.

Even though many stressors are good for us (like exercise, learning, and change), they only make us stronger if we give ourselves the chance to recover from them.

Not getting enough recovery and sleep can also contribute to pain, inflammation, and age-related skin changes.

How do to it:

Check in with yourself. Are you exhausted? Are your workouts feeling like a heavy slog?

If so, try this radical idea: Take a week off from the gym. Focus on activities that are less intense and more pleasurable. Like taking your dog for a walk in the park, or paddling around in the pool.

When you go back to the gym, notice how you feel. Do you have more energy? Or a renewed sense of interest? Are your muscles feeling stronger or less achey?

Play around with exercise frequency and intensity. Try reducing the number of sessions a week or decreasing the intensity of a few sessions. Replace some higher intensity weight training or cardio sessions with lower intensity sessions like yoga or long walks.

Every month or so, schedule a “recovery week”. For that week, decrease exercise volume, or skip the gym altogether and just engage in gentler movement like stretching, foam rolling, tai chi, or quiet hikes in nature.

Sleep is also a key part of recovery. If you have difficulty sleeping, here are some things to try:

See what you can do to reduce hot flashes, which can disrupt sleep.

Practice good sleep hygiene.

See a therapist who specializes in sleep. Cognitive behavioral therapy or hypnosis designed specifically for insomnia can be effective.

Try exercise like yoga, weight training, or brisk walks, which can improve chronic insomnia in perimenopausal women.

Experiment with natural remedies like valerian root, tart cherry juice, and isoflavones (from soy), which may improve sleep.

Talk to your doctor. Certain prescription medications, such as hormone replacement therapy or low-dose SSRI’s can help.

Get a massage. Because anything that makes you drool from bliss and relaxation is good.

Many women even opt for a separate bedroom if they have a partner whose flailing and snoring is making their already-fragile sleep unworkable.

Strategy #6: Take steps to manage your stress.

You may find that, compared to your younger years, you just don’t care as much about what people think of you. This can be hugely stress-relieving.

But thanks to all the changes you’re going through, you may also be dealing with feelings you’re not used to, sometimes swinging wildly.

Unmanaged stress can have a negative impact on your sex life, brain function, pain and inflammation, and overall disease risk — not to mention your overall quality of life.

How to do it:

Coaching or counseling, mindfulness or relaxation practices, and other mental health strategies can dramatically improve your existing mental health or preserve the wellbeing you have. Mindfulness and relaxation practices can also help manage pain.

If the mood fluctuations or psychological distress are severe and causing problems with your daily-life function, consider consulting a mental health professional. For instance:

You might consider getting coaching or counseling.

You might consider speaking to your doctor or psychiatrist about antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication.

Also discuss these feelings with your doctor or psychiatrist if you’re on hormone replacement therapy.

Your mental state also affects your sexuality.

Setting aside time for yourself, learning to have healthy relationships, and practicing good “intimacy habits” can also help you feel juicy and sexy. Consider looking at other factors in your life and relationships to see if you can bring some calm, joy, and ooh-la-la back.

Speaking of relationships, consider which ones are serving you right now. Are there any relationships that you need to let go of, or adjust so that they feel healthier?

At this point in life, it’s helpful to be willing to let go of (and grieve, if necessary) old patterns and identities. Maybe your primary identity used to be “Mom”, and that doesn’t fit as well anymore now that your kids have moved out and you’re itching for adventure.

Be open to stepping into new versions of yourself and new ways of relating.

Menopause can be a gift… it kinda means you “made it”.

Many of our prehistoric ancestresses didn’t survive past the age of 40.

In some ways, making it past the childbearing years and into the “wise elder” years is a luxury.

While men can theoretically reproduce until they die (um, not that we’re recommending that), menopause signals the end of a woman’s ability to have children.

It’s kinda like nature is telling us, “Nah, it’s time for you to do you now. The rest of your life is for you.”

Hm. Why thank you, Mother Nature.

What will you do with that gift, that wide open space of possibility?

What to do next: Some tips from Precision Nutrition

Don’t worry about fixing everything… or anything.

Remember, you aren’t broken.

Menopause is a normal, inevitable, adaptive stage of womanhood.

You’re totally allowed to sink into the hammock of biology and let your body work this out without intervention.

If you are considering positive changes to feel better, pick one small thing at a time.

Practice that change consistently, then add on more if / when you feel ready.

Keep a journal of your experience.

Write your own Owner’s Manual. You’re the expert on you.

If you have a symptom that’s especially vexing, consider tracking it and notice any patterns. For example, you may notice that when you have coffee, your cramps are worse. Or every time you watch CNN, you get a hot flash.

Get to know the natural rhythms of your body over time by gently and non-judgmentally noticing and recording what comes up.

Use your emotions as tools (instead of being possessed by them).

Just like puberty, menopause is a time of intense hormonal flux, and corresponding emotional and physical changes.

But unlike your 15-year-old self, you are now a grown-up ladyperson, and you can choose to make use of the feelings that come up, instead of being owned by them.

When sadness comes up, you might look at what you need to grieve or let go of. When anger comes up, you might look at what needs to be protected or spoken up for. When fear comes up, you might look at what needs to be reassured or supported.

Use your emotions as tools to learn more about yourself, and to create a life that feels good for you.

Talk to other women.

Whether it’s a coach, a wise mentor, your mom, a friend, or that lady at the gym who just seems friendly and healthy, find and talk to older women about their experiences.

Not only will this give you practical advice (“Always dress in layers; never wear a pleather unitard”), it will also give you a feeling of support, normalcy, and sisterhood.

Several Precision Nutrition coaches have personal experience with perimenopause / menopause, or at least have coached hundreds of women through it.

Distribute your “craps given” wisely.

Perimenopause and menopause, with all its changes, may feel a little overwhelming for some.

Which is why you’re allowed to take some things off your plate.

Maybe you don’t give a crap anymore about “always being polite”.

Maybe you don’t give a crap anymore about fitting into a size X dress.

Maybe you don’t give a crap anymore about achieving “eternally youthful skin”.

You’re allowed to not care about whatever you don’t want to care about anymore.

Leave your caring for stuff you really care about.

Assemble your support team.

Think of the kind of support you need to be your best self at this stage of life.

You’ll probably want some loving friends or family members to talk to or reassure you.

A good family doctor or OBGYN you feel comfortable discussing all the gory bits helps too.

Add on whatever else you need, such as:

A physiotherapist to help your pelvic muscles perform.

A trainer to help you move safely and joyfully. (Maybe a boxing coach who can help you channel that pent-up rage healthily.)

A coach or therapist to talk through difficult feelings.

A naturopath, nutritionist, or dietician to help you figure out what foods will support your health.

A “menopause mentor” who will remind you that you’re not going crazy.

And so on.

Gather your posse, and conquer.

If you’re a coach, or you want to be…

Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes through all life stages — including menopause — is an art and a science.

If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.

What’s it all about?

The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the world’s most respected nutrition education program. It gives you the knowledge, systems, and tools you need to really understand how food influences a person’s health and fitness. Plus the ability to turn that knowledge into a thriving coaching practice.

Developed over 15 years, and proven with over 100,000 clients and patients, the Level 1 curriculum stands alone as the authority on the science of nutrition and the art of coaching.

Whether you’re already mid-career, or just starting out, the Level 1 Certification is your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results.

[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an exclusive, year-long mentorship designed for elite professionals looking to master the art of coaching and be part of the top 1% of health and fitness coaches in the world.]

Interested? Add your name to the presale list. You’ll save up to 33% and secure your spot 24 hours before everyone else.

We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019.

If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following presale list, which gives you two advantages.

Pay less than everyone else. We like to reward people who are eager to boost their credentials and are ready to commit to getting the education they need. So we’re offering a discount of up to 33% off the general price when you sign up for the presale list.

Sign up 24 hours before the general public and increase your chances of getting a spot. We only open the certification program twice per year. Due to high demand, spots in the program are limited and have historically sold out in a matter of hours. But when you sign up for the presale list, we’ll give you the opportunity to register a full 24 hours before anyone else.

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The post ‘What’s happening to my body!?’ 6 lifestyle strategies to feel your best during menopause. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

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40 best PC games: the must-play titles you can't afford to miss

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=15147 40 best PC games: the must-play titles you can't afford to miss - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=15147 Now that people can actually afford the best graphics cards again, we can’t think of a better time to dive into the best PC games. Perhaps you’ve heard all the hype around Far Cry 5 and World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth and you want to see what all the fuss is about. So, let this be your introduction.We took the liberty of gathering 40 of the best PC games we’ve played over the years – you really need to try all of these fantastic titles out for yourself. Even if a few of the best PC games will require a keyboard and mouse, many of the best PC games can be played with a controller, if that’s more your style. You should also keep in mind that many of the games on this list are also available on Xbox One, PS4 or even Nintendo Switch – just in case you haven’t joined the PC gaming movement yet.If you’re a newcomer to PC gaming, we’d like to extend you a warm welcome. As we intend to demonstrate with this list, PC gamers don’t need to be the elitist gatekeepers we’re unfortunately stereotyped to be. We here at TechRadar believe in inclusivity – so that’s why we ranked the best PC games you can play today – so anyone can get in on the magic. Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article If you ask someone who was building PCs in the early 2010s, they’ll likely tell you the premier game to benchmark your new gaming rig with was either Metro 2033 or Metro: Last Light. And, if you missed out on those exciting times, you’re in luck, as this PC-centric shooter series will be pushing yet another generation of PCs when Metro Exodus launches later this year – and we’re expecting to see exactly when at E3 2018 next month.Forgoing the cramped metro tunnels of the first two titles, Metro Exodus will instead focus on the surface, offering players large areas to explore – without sacrificing the tension that the previous games’ linearity allowed. This game is sure to be one of the most beautiful games when it eventually launches. Unfortunately, it was just pushed back to 2019, so we’ll have to wait just a bit longer to get our hands on it.Expected: 2019 Beautiful visuals? Check. Huge explorable world? Check. Enthralling combat? Duh. The Witcher 3 stands tall as one of the most ambitious open world RPGs to date, combining Skyrim’s unrestrained grandiosity with Grand Theft Auto 5’s scale. While it’s been criticised for its inventory system and not quite matching the graphics shown in its promo materials, it’s so ambitious and jam-packed with detail that the package more than lives up to the hype. Huge, beautiful and an absolute time-sink, The Witcher 3 isn’t just the best PC game, it’s one of the best games period. Dragon Age: Inquisition, while not perfect, places you in the midst of a huge, vibrant world on a much larger scale than past Dragon Age titles. Packed with hours of engrossing story and a wealth of side content, Dragon Age: Inquisition brings the series to an open world setting in a smart and compelling way. If you want an idea of what this game is like, take the Elder Scrolls and combine it with Baldur’s Gate, and you have a pretty good idea.  Inspired by, and made from the same developers as, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone is easy to learn, but hard to master. Like it’s big MMO sibling, Hearthstone combines classes, characters and a bit of random fortune when pitting you against either AI or online opponents. Stick with it and you’ll not just get rewarded by improved skill, but by in-game rewards as well. Keep in mind that while its accessibility is addictive, you shouldn’t expect to be a world-class Hearthstone champion overnight. Practice makes perfect, after all.  Read: Hearthstone arrives on iPad, but it is better on tablet or PC? Although it's arguably not as difficult as previous entries in the series, From Software's Dark Souls 3 takes everything you like about the Souls series and combines it with elements found in Bloodborne, the developer's more recent game for PS4.We’re not going to lie – Dark Souls 3 isn’t easy. It still takes skill and, more importantly, patience to master its complex combat system, but it plays fair too, inviting more casual gamers to take part in its bleak, fantastical world. Plus, on the bright side, it brings remarkably better PC optimization than that of the first game. And, now that you can pick up Dark Souls: Remastered and see where this apocalyptic series got its start – there’s never been a better time to link the first flame. Pillars of Eternity is a sprawling RPG in the vein of Baldaur's Gate or Icewind Dale that combines highly detailed technical combat with hundreds of hours of gameplay. It has refreshingly low system requirements on the PC but still looks incredible thanks to its simple but effective art style, which harks back to those aforementioned isometric fantasy RPGs of the 2000s. But it's not all about nostalgia: Pillars of Eternity has enough interesting characters, baddies and clever writing to make it a modern classic of its own. Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most anticipated console ports to ever hit the PC. You probably didn't need telling twice to head back into Los Santos's hugely detailed and interactive world, but it's 10 times more fun with the PC's richer graphics and smooth 60 frames per second gameplay. After you’ve completed its 30-hour campaign, there’s an overflow of post-game content to enjoy here. Most recently that includes The Doomsday Heist in GTA Online and even a radio station hosted by Frank Ocean. BioShock is a first-person shooter that takes concepts from Ayn Rand's Atlast Shrugged and tosses them underseas. To be exact, BioShock takes place in an underwater city called Rapture, free from government regulation, designed for artists and entrepreneurs to thrive. Of course, not all goes well in a city where the residents have all the power and, well, stop what you're doing and play it right now if you haven't already.You're in for one of the great games if you play BioShock, one that balances story elements with horror nigh-perfectly. There's a remastered version out there now, too, which is free of charge if you own the original. Set 15 years after the events of the first Alien film from 1979, Alien: Isolation is the suspense-packed game that fans of the franchise have been crying out for. Playing the role of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, your mission is to track down and recover the flight recorder of the Nostromo spacecraft from the first Alien film which has been located aboard the Sevastopol space station. First and foremost a stealth game, Isolation ramps up the tension by providing you with minimal weaponry. Its excellent graphics shine on high-end PCs and clever AI helps ramp up the dread, leaving you to quiver when turning every corner. Read: How the tech of Alien Isolation will scare you back into the 1970s If nothing else, Overwatch breaks the norm of gray-ish cover shooters competitive gaming year after year. Its bright, vibrant colors are complemented by likeable characters, each decorated with their own interesting backstories which, although they aren’t present in the game, make for fun web comics nevertheless. Overwatch is also a technical feat in that it can run smoothly even on older PCs. What’s more, the PC version is cheaper than on consoles, so long as you don’t opt for the Origins Edition. That goes without mentioning its astounding community of players. By now, there’s no excuse to sign into your Battle.net account and take every character – from Ana to Zenyatta – for a test run in Overwatch today. Even if it came out almost 6 years ago, Counter-Strike Global Offensive is still a fantastic update to a timeless classic that continues to thrive thanks to its vast online communities – it’s truly one of the best PC games. Global Offensive is a well-rounded tactical shooter that builds on the simple Terrorists vs Counter-Terrorists gameplay of Counter-Strike 1.6, by updating classic maps such as Italy and Dust – while also adding new modes in Arms Race and Demolition. Simpler than Battlefield, but more complex than Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a shooter for those who like to think – if only just a little bit.  Read: 9 games that are far better on PC than consoles In a lot of ways, Far Cry 5 is the ultimate Far Cry game – combining all of the elements that has made the series successful, while cutting a lot of the fat (including the towers, thank god). And while on its own it doesn't do anything entirely new, it perfects the Far Cry formula to a point where Far Cry 5 is one of the best open world First Person Shooters you can play in 2018.After a very heavy and intense intro, you’re dumped in the middle of rural Montana and given the task of dismantling the local cult. But, that quickly fades into the background as a myriad of activities – from hunting down aliens to taking out outposts – ultimately become your focus. But it’s precisely this focus on playing your own way that makes Far Cry 5 so special.  FTL (Faster Than Light) puts you command of running a spaceship and looking after its crew. Featuring a complex game mechanism that involves maintaining weapons, engines, shields and other areas, in addition to tactical combat, FTL can get extremely in-depth over time. Whether you're ordering your crew to quite literally put out fires on deck in the heat of battle, or are navigating through asteroid fields, FTL is as much about long-term progression and satisfaction as it is quick fixes. Don't let its indie stylings fool you: this is game with untold depth and scary levels of addictiveness. A 90s classic brought back to life (unlike its main protagonist), Grim Fandango Remastered is a successful attempt at reviving one of the PC's best adventure games of all time. Combining writing that matches the funniest dark comedies with clever puzzles and a still-impressive art style, Grim Fandango was the most entertaining work of art to take place in a Mexican setting for years until Breaking Bad came along. Now with updated graphics, sound and better controls, Manna Calavera's adventure has never looked so good. Read: Grim Fandango is headed to the PS4 and Vita Six years after its initial release, Skyrim is going as strong as ever thanks to a vast selection of mods and high-resolution texture packs. Even if you're only interested in playing the vanilla version of the RPG, it offers more than 100 hours of gameplay.Throw in three action packs DLC expansion packs (Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn), and it lasts even longer. That Skyrim has been compared to graphically superior but similar RPG blockbuster The Witcher 3 is testament to its enduring popularity. Step into Skyrim and you too can be an adventurer - just try not to take an arrow in the knee. Read: 9 games that are far better on PC than consoles If you’re anything like us, and you secretly pine for the days of ultra-fast arena shooters, you’re going to absolutely love Quake Champions. Unlike a lot of new games in ancient series, the DNA of Quake is left completely intact in Champions. You’re dumped into a relatively small map with a ton of verticality and armed with completely bonkers weaponry. And, there’s no battle royale or any other kind of trendy game modes here – it’s deathmatch all the way, baby. Much in the same way that Id Software mastered the reboot of Doom and brought it to a modern audience, Quake Champions is a nostalgic shooter that still manages to feel fresh in 2018. The kicker? If you act fast, you can score it for free on Steam ahead of its full release.  Read: Is the MMORPG on the verge of extinction? The phrase "build it, and they will come" literally rings true when it comes to Minecraft, the survival-based sandbox RPG that has now been purchased more than 100 million times since its conception in 2009. In it, you can create your own worlds using resources you find in the wild or explore worlds created by other players online. In Minecraft, you can either limit yourself to the numerous tools and blocks provided by the developer, Mojang, or you can install mods to truly capitalize on your investment. What’s more, come 2018, you’ll be able to take part in the Super Duper Graphics Pack, an optional piece of DLC that adds more realistic lighting effects and textures to an already fantastic product. The Orange Box may be showing its age, but it remains a must-play collection of games - particularly for FPS fans. Half-Life 2, technically still the most recent game in Valve's franchise (excluding its Episode 1 and 2 add-ons), remains a modern masterpiece and is famed for being the first game to intelligently apply physics to its puzzles and combat set-pieces.The collection's other titles aren't too shabby either: Portal takes gravity-based puzzles to the extreme by equipping the player with the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (also known as the Portal Gun), which places two portals for objects to pass through, while Team Fortress 2 continues to go from strength-to-strength thanks to the introduction of custom gear and well-balanced team combat. Read: 9 games that are far better on PC than consoles Sometimes a game that’s been out for 10 years becomes temporarily free on Origin and you just have to play it. Dead Space is one of those games. A survival horror game by definition, this acclaimed piece of science fiction stars a fittingly named Isaac Clarke, whose name itself is a combination of the famous sci-fi authors Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Told from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, Dead Space is a rescue mission story, wherein you (as Isaac) are tasked with investigating a mining ship mysteriously full of alien virus-infected dead bodies. All the while, you’ll have to stay on top of upgrading your futuristic ‘RIG’ suit too.    Id Software's Doom was a phenomena for PC gamers in the 90s. The crudely rendered first-person shooter series was as controversial as it was beloved, largely thanks to its cutting-edge depictions of gore and violence that only a computer could deliver. Parents be damned, the franchise has made a comeback in 2016 with a fresh restart, appropriately titled Doom. Although the multiplayer might not appeal to shooter fans regardless of age, the single player campaign will pit you against demons in Hell for a lengthy experience that's as bloody as it is satisfying. If Forza Horizon 3 is the racing game for newcomers to racing games, Asetto Corsa is the game for the grizzled experts. Its obtuse handling and insane difficulty straight from the get go makes it a toss up for one of the most realistic racing simulators of all time. And, even if you can get it on consoles, unlike Project Cars, this is a game that was developed for PC first. Everything about this game, from its demanding career mode to its deep seated driving mechanics – which basically require a racing wheel accessory – make it a joy for die-hard petrolheads, even if its difficulty curve is often just backbreaking.  Read: Why realistic PC racer Project Cars is the torque of the town Modelled after the 1984 game Elite, Elite: Dangerous is one of the most ambitious space sims around. Featuring an in-game galaxy based on the real Milky Way (how's 400 billion stars for depth?), the ultimate goal is to advance your rankings to Elite status by levelling up combat, trading and exploration.Starting out with a rickety ship and 1,000 credits in your space suit's back pocket, you'll need to turn to piracy, trading, exploring, mining or bounty hunting to rise through the intergalactic ranks. Doing so takes time and requires serious graft, but the experience provides a level of satisfaction that few other titles can match. And then there's the Oculus Rift... From developer Playdead, the same team that devised the acclaimed (and platform ubiquitous) Limbo, comes another eerie tale. Like Limbo, Inside follows another nameless boy in a bleak world that's apparently out to get you. Only, this time, there's at least a few shades of color to keep you from complete despair. It's not clear why, but the mute protagonist in Inside is being chased down by what appears to a group of shadowy men.Nothing is explained in either spoken dialogue or text, so for the most part you're on your own when it comes to figuring out the story. Nonetheless, Inside is bound to be an instant classic; although, revealing anything about it would inch into spoiler territory. Want more games like this? Check out our best indie games list Described as "achingly beautiful" by Unity Engine boss John Riccitiello, Ori and the Blind Forest borrows its game mechanics from old-school 2D games such as Metroid and Castlevania while adding a modern twist. If any word can describe Ori's atmospheric world, it's alive. You'll have to think fast and use new abilities gained along the way to bash, stop and manoeuvre your way through its gorgeous locations, and with no automatic saving system or easy difficulty level, it's no walk in the park. As satisfying to master as it is to look at, Ori and the Blind Forest will re-open your eyes to what 2D games still have to offer. Unity CEO argues games are at, wants Jurassic Park in VR Grow Home is an experimental PC platformer that looks like an "indie" game but is in fact the latest release from Rayman developer Ubisoft. Similarly charming thanks to its distinctive 3D art style, you play as BUD, the game's robot protagonist, whose main job is harvest seeds and grow a beanstalk-like 'Star Plant' by grabbing its branches and connecting them to nearby floating islands in the sky.There's a fair bit of trial-and-error involved, and while having to climb all the way back up again after a fall is frustrating, grabbing a passing vine at the last minute by the tips of your fingers can be equally as exhilarating. The ability to move BUD's arms and legs independently helps put you in control - just try not to get them tangled up. Because you will - a lot. Unity CEO argues games are at, wants Jurassic Park in VR A 2D exploration game set on a boat can't be that creepy, right? Wrong. More gothic than a Cradle of Filth concert, Sunless Sea throws all manners of joyless themes your way: death, insanity and cannibalism to name a few. Sailing from port-to-port in the monster-filled underworld of Fallen London, you'll have to manage fuel and supplies while battling sentient icebergs, Zee-beasts and other water-dwelling nasties to remain afloat. Top-notch writing gives Sunless Sea an absorbing storyline that's up there with history's best text-based adventures. Already familiar to millions before they've played a played a second of it, Rocket League turns the age old game of football (or soccer, depending) on its head. Played with rocket-propelled cars in futuristic low-gravity environments, the aim is simple: knock the ball into the opposing team's goal. Doing so is harder said than done because there could be up to three cars on the opposing team trying to steal the ball off you - or ram you into submission - at any one time. Gorgeous to look, simple to learn but difficult to master, Rocket League is the surprise smash hit of 2015 - and a wonderfully addictive one at that.Read: 8 real-life footballers in Rocket League: which one are you? As inevitable as sandals in summer, Blizzard finally launched its first MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game in June. Featuring a ton of characters from Blizzard games such as Warcraft, World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, Heroes of the Storm sees two teams of five attempt to destroy the other's base. When not sounding out enemy units to destroy, its expansive maps give you room to take on secondary objectives such as finding skulls or unlocking special siege units to help your team.Accessible to newcomers while packing plenty of depth, Heroes' finely balanced gameplay mechanics, shorter matches (compared to League of Legends) and ability-based levelling system make it a refreshing alternative to established MOBA titles and a fine game in its own right. Metal Gear Solid V, the last Metal Game which will be helmed by Hideo Kojima after his forceful ejection from Konami, is a hugely ambitious title. Its massive open world setting allows you to tackle missions using stealth, but you’re still able to go in guns blazing if you prefer – though you won’t get as good a score.Taking place nine years after the events of Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain’s story unravels through its main missions and more than 100 Side Ops tasks. The action is interspersed with beautiful cutscenes, and while you sometimes have to decode annoying pseudo-military babble to figure out what’s happening, TPP’s fast pacing and beautiful Afghanistan and African settings make sure the game never feels like a chore. A gripping horror game in the vein of Amnesia: The Dark Descent (it's from the same developer), SOMA has its fair share of "NOPE!" moments. But it's not really about jump scares; the game's most compelling aspect is its philosophical story arc, which unravels as you encounter a series of confused robots. Suffering from existential stress, the decaying machines believe they are human.The tension builds as you venture deeper into the underwater research facility that you wake up aboard, avoiding murderous creatures, solving clever puzzles and checking voice memos to unravel the mystery. Expertly weaving elements of survival and psychological Sci-Fi horror, SOMA is a little less action packed than Alien: Isolation but engages more of the old grey matter. If that's what you're looking for in a fright-fest, SOMA doesn't disappoint. if you think you've learnt a thing or two about prison life watching films like The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption over the years, cuff-em-up Prison Architect lets you put your knowledge to the test. Playing as wardens, you're tasked with keeping prisoners in check, preventing riots from boiling over and foiling The Great Escape-style plots. And yes: it does involve sending men to the electric chair. Gnarly. Alternatively, a second mode called Escape lets you unleash your inner Bronson by hatching a plot to lead your fellow inmates to freedom. (Until you get arrested again, anyway.) Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide was one of the best PC games for anyone who loves playing the best PC games with friends. And, we’re delighted to say that Warhammer: Vermintide 2 takes the deep co-operative gameplay of the original and improves on it in every conceivable way.Although it technically allows you to form complex strategies with your teammates, the action often turns into chaos, where the only way you can survive is mindlessly bashing at enemies until you, and your teammates (preferably), are the only things left standing. And, because Vermintide 2 adds a wide range of Orc enemies on top of the familiar Skaven enemies, you’ll never run out of things to hack to pieces. It's official: Fallout 4 has lived up to the hype. Despite feeling a little bit like Fallout 3 but with nicer graphics at times, its tighter shooting, in-depth crafting system and well-thought out story make it a wholly more enticing affair.As the Sole Survivor (the first fully-voiced protagonist in the Fallout series) in Boston's post-apocalypse wasteland, you'll take on Feral Ghouls, Raiders, Syths and Bloodbugs and more with high-powered weaponry that includes the Fat Man mini nuke cannon and the fusion cell-powered Laser Musket. Fallout 4: the good, the bad and the ugly of the Boston Wastelands If the Call of Duty series is the poison that dumbed down the FPS genre with its run-and-gun gameplay, then Rainbow Six: Siege is the antidote. Working as a team to out-wit the enemy, Siege plays out like a thinking man (or woman's) Counter-Strike that doesn't simply encourage cooperation if you want to win - it requires it.When you're not peering down your gun's iron sights, you'll be laying traps, scouting ahead using drones, strategising with your teammates and building walls that could keep a herd of demented bulls at bay. While Siege's heavy reliance on tactical team-based gameplay can prove its biggest weakness if you're hoisted into a server with a particularly uncooperative bunch, when it does click, it provides a level of satisfaction rarely found in online multiplayer games. "Console port" is no longer a dirty phrase thanks to efforts like Rise of the Tomb Raider, which gets the treatment it deserves on PC. Featuring stunning and varied locations, exciting combat and effective stealth mechanics, Lara's epic outing often feels movie-like in its execution and scope.Crystal Dynamics has kept the soul of the original games intact too – there's pistols aplenty, amazing architecture and angry animals that would quite like to gobble you up – meaning you'll never get bored once you've soaked up Siberia's amazing architecture. If you're into adventures, it's easily one of the best PC games around. Imagine a survival-based shooter where every match starts with your avatar being ejected from a cargo plane alongside 99 other players with no weapons or items. That’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or at least the solo, free for all mode. After spending the early minutes of the game digging for resources, you’ll soon be forced to reckon with your own mortality as the body count ticker at the top of the screen descends into desolation.Abbreviated PUBG, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is based on another “last man standing” game released back in 2013: PlayerUnknown’s Battle Royale. It doesn’t require a copy of Arma III or H1Z1 to run, but you’ll need to keep your wits about you. There’s no respawning in PUBG, so it’s less about the precision of your aim as it is about your ability to scavenge quickly for weapons, first aid kits and clothing.  Picking up immediately after the events of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will inevitably be heralded as a classic. For some, it’s the punishing old-school gunplay that’s to thank for this. Even on the default difficulty, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will have you fretting for your life. Yet, for others, story reigns supreme. And, if The New Colossus serves as an interactive showcase for anything, it’s story, the most interesting parts of which are told through flashbacks. We won’t go as far as to spoil the plot, but what we will say is that B.J. Blazkowicz’s motives become a lot clearer in this iteration of Wolfenstein, not that he needs to justify killing Nazis. Originally created as an entry to the 7 Day FPS Challenge, Superhot's Polish developers were inspired by a top-down game called Time4Cat where time only moves when the player does. They took this concept one step further and turned it into a FPS. Falling somewhere between Portal and Max Payne, nifty reflexes, patience and an eye for puzzle solving is required.The aim is to defeat a finite number of enemies by dodging bullets and returning a few yourself. The game is now available to buy and download on Steam, but you can head back to where it all began by playing the flash version of Superhot online for free. You'll need the Unity Web Player plugin which is currently not supported by Chrome. X-Com 2 is one addictive game, and we still can't put it down. Following up from 2012's XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which reimagined the 1994 cult classic UFO: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 has delivered everything we wanted in a sequel. Bigger, deeper, faster and even easier on the eyes, the turn-based tactics game takes place 20 years after its predecessor.It pits you in control of the Avenger, a converted alien ship that serves as your mobile base of operations used to devise strategy and execute fight plans against otherworldly enemies. With a greater focus of stealth, more intelligent alien AI and deeper customization options, XCOM 2 is bound to end up one of our games of the year. Anyone familiar with World of Warcraft knows that it's among the most successful and influential massively multiplayer online role-playing games (or MMORPGs) of all-time. Comprising nearly 14 years of content, with over thousands of hours just waiting to be invested, there are few better games to spend your money on than World of Warcraft.With Battle For Azeroth, the all-new expansion pack, players will be able to explore two new continents – Kul Tiras for Alliance players and Zandalar for the Horde. Blizzard has kept the leveling system from Legion, as well, meaning you can tackle the new zones in any order you feel like. This will of course come with all the new raids and dungeons we’ve grown accustomed to over the years and a storyline that will see the two playable factions at each other's’ throats in a major way. From PlatinumGames and Square Enix, Nier: Automata is a sequel to the 2010 cult classic Nier, which itself is a spin-off of the Drakengard series. Technically an action role-playing game, Nier: Automata’s most gripping quality is that it never truly adheres to one particular genre. At times, it’s a 2.5D platformer and, at others, it’s a twin-stick shooter. It’s unpredictable and a breath of fresh air when compared to other PC games out on the market.The story centers around a femme android by the name of 2B who is aided by a survey android called 9S, or Nines. With many questions being asked along the way, both of these characters are tasked with extricating Earth from alien machines that have engulfed the planet. Just be conscious of how you play because not only does Nier: Automata feature different endings, but with each new path comes vastly different gameplay.  Source link

[cassiepolk89404-blog]

ThinkAbout Creativity.

Convergent as well as variant thinking skills are each significant components of intelligence, complication resolving as well as critical thinking. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmahalyi has actually studied this state-- which he calls innovative circulation-- and ended that this is actually quite highly correlated along with outstanding innovative efficiency. When each are powerful and connecting efficiently on an equivalent manner, believing is optimized. The Six Hats Body is actually certainly not directly a creative procedure, but it helps make time and room for creative thinking. But, innovative electrical power raises a young child's need to discover as well as sustains mental development. Focusing on a subject matter in a logical, rational means for some time, thinking through possible answers. This is indisputably glaring therefore, that to keep above the floodings as well as keep guide in his/her field, everyone must, in these opportunities, should essentially acquire capabilities in self-expression. If you liked this article and you also would like to collect more info relating to yellow pages uk jobs - just click generic_anchor_text.dat, generously visit our web-page. In an attempt to discover an answer to this inquiry I counted on some of the pioneers from thinking, Edward de Bono, as well as found that his influential focus on the Six Thinking Hats ® administers flawlessly to the craft and also profession from composing. The pathway to damaging idea is actually effortless to have as well as that almost always closes the door to imagination reasoning. Among the most ideal techniques to get away from the restraints from your personal reasonable thoughts is actually to presume metaphorically Some of the main reason whies metaphors operate so effectively in communications is actually that our experts accept them as correct without considering this. When you realize that fact" is actually commonly emblematic, you'll often discover that you are actually complimentary to find up along with substitutes. Relaxation usuallies place your mind at its creative ideal given that diversions and also stress are generally lessened or even eliminated! The tips of creative thinking, through a speaker at the planet widely known St Martin's University of Art who has actually invested a lifetime investigating innovative thinkers. When we assume seriously our experts reason, analyze, court and issue fix in order that our team generate the most effective thinking our team can. When you are actually interacted in creative reasoning capabilities as well as approaches, there are 2 vital things to don't forget. Therefore rather than thinking about ways for you to gain from others, start considering means they may take advantage of you: you ensure to have success. It aids groups and also individuals get out of mental ruts and enhance the extent from their reasoning. Imagination is actually the method of finding new possibilities and also presuming 'from the box' if you want to offer unpredicted answers that divert coming from the standard or the standard. Intellect is simply one of the 6 variables that could either entirely, or together with the other 5 elements, generate imaginations. For that reason the lessons should embody a wide array from learning as well as presuming designs so as to cater to the pupil. Imagination is actually undoubtedly certainly not limited to unique affairs or unique individuals. When the procedures are actually used, at that point the switch to the other method from believing occurs. The suggestion is accordinged to the monitoring that your subconsciousness thoughts has vastly extra presuming capacity in comparison to you do consciously, you only should make use of some little gambit to pass info and also instructions to and from these 2 portion of your mind. Utilize any kind of identified constraints as one more way to compel you to be imaginative as well as team up with exactly what you have. For this reason, great deals of musicians have envied this just-waking-up time period to boost their creativity. Of course, not everyone which plays games can assessing the entire working. With this instance the thinker opted to alleviate a foolish suggestion as a PO. When association of ideas is utilized as a calculated resource, the thinker has to manage to put together deliberate justifications (PO) as well as not simply wait for them to show up. There are actually other benefits that have been actually shown ahead off routine mind-calming exercise, several of which contribute to far better thinking generally. It is worried about the progression of one component of creative thinking, that of imagination. This element builds the capabilities of disclosing on, as well as enhancing your understanding from, primary advancements within creative thinking analysis to gives you a vast overview of Creativity. Due to this vantage, most of us should take actions throughout our lifestyles to become much more creative so our company don't lose this essential ability. Possessing said that, here are 4 forms of creative thinking that I utilize on my own and also which I know for sure are used substantially by high-level creators. This short article discovers the root of creativity as well as gives suggestions on ways to come to be even more innovative. So, whether as a pupil along with substantial passion in skill accomplishment to critique, develop and also analyse creative works, or perhaps your interest lies only in the recognition of a specific genre for delight, this post is baited to boost your outlook, as it contains a succinct, however intricate possible quick guide along with academically audio perspective to self-development in creativity that are going to prune your composing capabilities. There are six significant obstacles to creativity that can be avoiding you from discovering how to improve your problem addressing capabilities for organisation effectiveness. Many of just what keeps our company civil depend on conformity, congruity, discussed values, as well as yes, considering things the same way everybody else does. You could really feel the requirement to develop information concerning exactly how fantastic tractors are due to the fact that you need to have to sell tractors if you were presuming in a linear fashion. As well as the way in which you find on your own can easily establish the effectiveness you permit on your own to achieve, so to be a productive thinker, you have to know that you actually possess imaginative potentials. Each of us is a innovative as well as capable being who has actually been provided the possibility to come to be an unhappy marital relationship companion or a fantastic lover, a jubilant friend or a significant fanatic, a typical stone or even a great work of art. If you desire to move on to come to be an extra creative and also cutting-edge association, one need to be prepared to massacre spiritual cows. The detailing stage of imaginative process helps to protect concepts for this stage. The more instruction you possess as well as the even more assorted the instruction, the more significant is your potential for artistic output. Communicating as an exercising Artist/Designer/Writer and a person who has over fourty years from success at being actually extremely artistic indeed, I could claim with assurance that these points are usually rubbish. Mind Applying concepts are a peripheral reveal from all these determined categorises: this is actually an outer manifest from the full reasoning procedure. This stands for hopefulness - dealing with all the perks as well as the gains. Encouraging innovation through exercises is an established means to build younger minds. It remains in the unconscious mind where our team make dreams that can be remarkable, but hard to remember when our team get up. When you believe you have little bit, or even no artistic capacity merely deal with your dreams. One quality from innovative individuals, as gauged through some psycho therapists, is exactly what is actually referred to as divergent production. The simple fact is actually, we are actually all birthed along with the ability for imagination, even if lots of folks may not be motivated to learn to utilize this well. Innovators and trainers need to recognize how you can make the most of and also successfully utilize systems, collaboration and elicitation from indirect expertise techniques if they are actually to take advantage of the intellectual cross pollination that is actually the raw product of the idea era process. On top of that, the ventures have to be accompanied by stimulus that gets students engaged in inventive and also artistic mind. Crucial thinking serves in scenarios like coping with consumer grievances, or carrying out a query lucky that has occurred and in situation like planning a sizable feature or even seminar when absolutely nothing could be left to odds. The kicked back condition you experience together with the workout enables the mind to even more easily tap into its innovative information. The MA Creativity has offered me the possibility to more cultivate my research as well as review capabilities which has been actually straight good for my working life. There are actually plenty of examples you can easily attempt completely free to analyze the sort of vital believing analysis examination will certainly be most suitable to your Company. Certainly not simply perform you would like to make your own self stronger creatively at every juncture, it remains in your best interests to aid enhance the artistic efficiency from your general staff. Weisberg & Alba 93 reviewed problem fixing by having participants finish the 9-dot complication (find Presuming outside the box #Nine dots puzzle) - where the individuals are actually asked to hook up all 9 dots in the 3 lines from 3 dots making use of 4 straight series or a lot less, without lifting their pen or tracing the same line twice.

[northshorehealthandfitness]

Fitness Limbo and How a Penny Can Add Perspective

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of regular contributor and San Antonio based personal trainer, Jonathan Acosta.

The fitness industry is rife with people who use hyperbole, quick fixes, and instant gratification tactics to “woo” other people into their web of deceit and mindfuckery.

Whether one’s goal is fat-loss, muscle gain, or to have a pecs that can cut diamonds…more often than not people default to the “I want it and I want it now” mentality. And it sets people up for failure.

Jonathan uses a brilliant metaphor/analogy to break this train of thought.

Enjoy.

Copyright: karenr / 123RF Stock Photo

  In the movie The Matrix Revolutions, Neo gets trapped in a train station that’s basically a border world between the matrix and the machine.That station is essentially limbo…

Why am I telling you this?

Because even the great Neo gets stuck in limbo.

We all do from time to time.

A lot of times it isn’t this permanent stuck here forever type of thing that we are led to believe.

Sometimes we have to ride it out until the train arrives to the station.

Note From TG: I still don’t know WTF this scene was all about.

When it comes to this fitness journey, those of us in this profession know all too well about this limbo and what to do about it. We know that results aren’t linear as we’d expect and hope them to be.

Its not a magical rainbow of results just shooting straight upward.

Luckily the fitness industry has done a good job at getting people to understand this and snapping them out of the “I want it now” mentality.

Sure, we still have to battle the inevitable BS such as same-day liposuction or the latest and greatest Cryo-Fatloss-Mega-Blast-Infrared-Sculpting procedure. But as a whole, I think we’ve done pretty well at giving clients the truth and helping them understand that this isn’t a quick and easy fix.

BUT…

What happens when you’re in this shit period? (The shit period is when progress flat lines to where progress seems non-existent?……………AKA: Limbo)

via GIPHY

Now for some, it’s easy to just look down and put in the work day in and day out until they finally see the shimmering light.

But for most, especially ones who haven’t ever prioritized health and fitness in their life, the shit period is so discouraging that quitting is inevitable.

Now you and I both know the cycle.

Three months (if that) of hard work, followed by quitting for six months, only to restart again, usually in worse shape began than before, until the process repeats itself…or they opt for the “instant fixes:”

Liposuction

Cryo-Fatloss-Mega-Blast-Infrared-Sculpting®

Tapeworms

If Only…

If only there was a way to get them to see the 1000 ft. view like you see it right? To get them to see the big picture and the timeline if they stuck with it in the long haul.

I haven’t figured out the answer myself so don’t get your hopes up this is that kind of article.

However, I like metaphors and believe many people learn best this way; they allow an opportunity for a person to connect with a topic.

I can’t remember for the life of me where I got this quote from but its pretty true.

“When it comes to fat loss, you’re going to be in a plateau 80% of the time.”

That means you might be in limbo for a good while.

So where were we?

Oh right. Limbo.

We’ve all been there.

Grinding day in and day out.

Keeping meticulous attention as to what we put in our mouths and staying on point only for nothing to budge.

First of all you should have the help of a competent coach who’s able to recognize “limbo” and guide you through it

Two coaches that come to mind that are exceptional at this are Bryan Krahn and John Meadows.

Even if you’re a coach yourself it would benefit you a ton to hire one of them and learn from them as much as you can.

Next thing is understanding and explaining this curve to them.

I like to give this scenario…

Lets say you’re minding your own business and out of the blue a man comes up to you with a briefcase in hand.

Picture Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. He gives it to you and tells you open it.

You’re confused but you open the briefcase and all you see is stacks upon stacks of $100 bills.

It’s Leo so you know its legit and not monopoly money.

It’s one million in cash.

You can have it if you want. No strings attached.

Now hold on, before you close the suitcase and run. (I did that in my head mentally the first time I heard this analogy).

He says you can have it no strings attached…Or, you can have this…He then pulls out a penny from his Armani suit pocket (they had Armani back in the 1920’s right?).

He says, “I’ll put this penny into your bank account and I’ll double the money in the account once a month for three years.”

[By the second month you’ll have two cents. The third you’ll have four cents. The fourth you’ll have eight cents and so on.]

  Before you start trying to do the math in your head, Leo quickly distracts your thoughts and says, “Which one do you want: The million, or the penny?”

You have 5 seconds to answer…

He literally starts counting down 5, 4, 3,

Now if you suck at math like me, that problem would take you 15 min to figure out let alone five seconds.

So you shout your answer.

What’d you answer?

Its ok, were all friends here. There’s no right or wrong answer.

1 Million or 1 Cent?

In the heat of the moment and with the small time frame given, most would choose the million up front.

Its cold hard cash given right there and then.

Sure we’re all smart and have already witnessed trick questions like these before, so we kind of assume already that the penny would be the better choice.

But since we don’t have time to do the math, or are not able to see the outcome, we choose the quickest, right in front of you, results right now option.

Instant gratification.

Does that sound familiar?

Clients really do know the answer to their riddle.

They know their penny option would probably be best.

But since they can’t see the outcome or the answer, and since they have a five second countdown in the form of social media bogus two-month transformations and extremely high expectations…they too succumb to the “I want it and I want it now” mentality where 1 million dollars up front is quick and easy.

Kick Instant Gratification In the Dick

Now this is where you explain to them what they’d get if they chose the penny.

If they chose the penny. The first year would total a whopping $20.48.

That one million is sounding awfully good isn’t it?

It’s ok, this is that limbo period where seemingly nothing is happening.

But slowly and surely you’re depositing into your “fitness account” with dedication, consistency, and day in day out on point eating and workouts.

After two years your bank account should be better right?

The second year puts you right at $83,886.05…

WTF! That’s still not even close to the one million cash.

Its ok, this is STILL limbo.

At this point you have two different types of people.

People that see no end in sight and either quit or go for instant gratification.

And those that figure F- it I’ve already gone this far might as well just keep going and see it through.

By the end of the third year…your account will have a total of $343.5 Million dollars.

via GIPHY

Now I’m not good at math but even I know that 343 million is wayyyyyyyy more than 1 million.

And all it took was having patience and to keep depositing throughout that shitty limbo period.

Fat Loss is Just Like That.

If you were to see it as a chart graph, it would seem as if results were slow or practically nonexistent, until out of nowhere… boom!

A huge spike and results soar for a short period of time until you “graduate” to the next level of limbo.

That huge spike is more than enough to get you where you wanna be; it’s just a long and slow process at times.

Seriously.

If you think of body transformations in terms of yearly, in a three-year period it’ll feel and possibly seem like the first year and maybe even two will have been a waste.

Pump the brakes. Chill out.

It’s completely normal to feel frustrated, like you’re stuck in cement, and that progress is moving at a snail-like pace.

The metaphor above puts things into perspective: it assures you that if you’re crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s it’s not a waste…and your day in the sun will come soon.

I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan.

He liked to use water in a lot of his quotes so I’m gonna use one too.

If you’ve ever boiled water and stared at it while it boils you’ll notice that it just simmers for a good while till seemingly, out of nowhere, bubbles erupt and its boiling.

What if you change your mindset about limbo and that shit period and see the parallel to the simmering water?

Realizing that things are actually simmering and leading up to that huge skyrocket of success makes the mundane, daily grind seem much more worth it.

About the Author

Jonathan Acosta is the founder of Underground Performance Center and head trainer at Get Sexy San Antonio and is a certified personal trainer though both ISSA and the NCEP, as well as Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified.

He likes lifting heavy things, reading books with big words in them, his steaks rare, funny stuff, writing stuff, hanging out with friends, and laughing.

The post Fitness Limbo and How a Penny Can Add Perspective appeared first on Tony Gentilcore.

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[comiconverse]

Game Review: Little Nightmares

Little Nightmares is a dark platform/adventure game out now on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Alan Stock dodges long, grasping fingers to bring you this review for ComiConverse.

Game Review: Little Nightmares

Little Nightmares, by Danish developers Tarsier Studios, is something of a rarity. It’s hard to think of side-scrolling games which convey horror or creepiness, but in Little Nightmares they’ve pulled it off. Interestingly, two other side-scrollers which also succeed at hitting that tricky balance have clearly influenced Little Nightmares. They are the critically acclaimed games Limbo and Inside.

The creators of those seminal titles, developers Playdead, are in Sweden – just across the pond from Tarsier Studios. In interviews though, Tarsier have said they haven’t set out to copy Playdead’s work. “I guess you could say we share similar interests – perhaps it’s a Nordic thing – but how we choose to realise them is very different”. Indeed, Little Nightmares has its own unique style, but anyone who’s played Limbo or Inside will immediately feel at home.

Little Nightmares Exploring the Maw

The three games share many things in common – on paper they sound almost exactly the same. In them all, you play as a lone, vulnerable child trying to escape a dark, hostile, side-scrolling environment. You complete platforming sections and solve puzzles to progress. Death is quick and brutal. Significant portions of the game are spent running or hiding from horrible monsters.

The atmosphere in these games is very strong, in each there’s a memorable art style, amazing lighting and immersive sound design. They all have no on-screen display, nothing to break the fourth wall. The stories are left deliberately ambiguous, with no text or dialogue to provide guidance – leaving you to draw your own conclusions and ponder over the symbolism and endings of the games. Playdead has used this formula to great effect. But although Little Nightmares might look and feel just like a Playdead game, fortunately Tarsier’s strong vision and story differentiate it enough from its Swedish brethren. This is more than just a copycat game.

  Credit: Tarsier Studios

You start Little Nightmares imprisoned in the bowels of what seems to be a huge ship. In a great touch, the whole environment slowly yaws from side to side throughout the game. You play as a very small child wearing a yellow raincoat – you are dwarfed by the oversized environment around you. Household objects like doors and chairs become obstacles in themselves, nooks and crannies offer hiding places. A trusty lighter and plenty of platforming help you to navigate this dark, atmospheric place.

Although at first glance, the graphical style looks like a family-friendly game (indeed Tarsier have worked on franchises like Little Big Planet and Tearaway), they’ve taken that flavour of art style and given it a morbid twist. This is a world of childhood storybook nightmares, immediately reminiscent of the twisted creations of Guillermo del Toro or Tim Burton. As you explore the vessel, known only as “the Maw” in the game’s promotional material, you’ll encounter a menagerie of horrible people and creatures. Most of these don’t take kindly to a child wandering their halls…

Credit: Tarsier Studios

The dark tone of Little Nightmares is spot on. Great lighting and graphics with the distinctive art style bring the dripping Maw to life, and its terrible denizens. The sound design is a triumph, everything in the game sounds real, from the patter of your footsteps and the squelching of leeches, to the wind echoing through the vast open spaces of the vessel’s hull. Music is subtle and only occasionally crops up, adding to the creepy vibe or stabs of terror at the just the right moments before fading away. Atmosphere is built through moody environments, attention to small details, good pacing of scares and ominous foreshadowing of horrors to come.

But it’s in the character design that Tarsier has excelled in creating something compellingly awful. The nightmarish people and creatures inhabiting the Maw are truly creepy, grotesque and disturbing. The way they look, move and sound is stomach-turning. Although I can’t call the game an outright horror experience, it definitely has its moments and frequently creeped me out. Instilling these kind of emotions in a game from a side-on perspective is quite an achievement. This kind of atmosphere usually only works in 1st and 3rd person games, because they make you feel like you are in the action – here you don’t need to be looking through the character’s eyes for it to chill your bones.

Credit: Tarsier Studios

As you navigate the hazards of the Maw you’ll often be avoiding the monsters’ horrible clutches, either by running away or hiding in small spaces. These are some of the best moments in Little Nightmares, inducing a real sense of panic as you try to escape. The game is full of imaginative and memorable scenes featuring the monstrosities that stalk you throughout the game. Unfortunately their effect is lessened if you repeatedly fail escape sequences, when horror gives way to irritation.

The rest of the gameplay is made up of fairly simple platforming and puzzles. Your character has a loose, floaty feel to control, which doesn’t help when combined with the forced perspective. Instead of being locked to one axis, you can move around in the 3D space of the world, yet the camera remains fixed looking at you side-on. This makes perception of depth difficult, which can be frustrating when trying to line up precise jumps. Many times I fell off the edge of ledges and stairs which should have been a doddle to climb, and platforming at the back of the screen is especially problematic.

Credit: Tarsier Studios

The lack of an on-screen display really helps to immerse you – no handholding is provided in Little Nightmares, you are left to figure out controls by yourself. Mechanics are introduced through experimentation, instead of on-screen tutorials. It’s a refreshing change from the norm. You have the ability to grab and climb almost anything with a suitable surface, and the game has good physics, which are used in a number of puzzles. Unfortunately though, this freedom can also lead to annoyance. It’s sometimes unclear whether you’re taking the wrong approach, or just failing to grasp the game’s loose mechanics and woolly movement. Perhaps, you think, you’re not climbing the right stack of books or shelves. Or maybe that big jump is really possible and you’re grabbing at the wrong moment. Or maybe you’re failing to throw a physics object in just the right way to hit a switch. The lack of in-game hints is welcome, but at times you wish there were more – when you’re scratching your head in an area, unsure whether it’s you or the game that’s really at fault.

Credit: Tarsier Studios

The penalty for failure – whether from falling, being caught by a monstrosity, or a myriad of other grisly fates – is instant death. That’s fine, it worked in Limbo and Inside, but in Little Nightmares design issues spoil the flow of the game and cause frustration. For a start, there are loading times between deaths, compared to the instant restarts of Playdead’s games. Secondly, checkpoints are inconsistent in their placement, sometimes forcing you to repeat annoying, long sections where the hardest part is right at the end. Frequently under time pressure (like being chased), it’s unclear what your objective is or you’ll have to solve a puzzle. These factors combine to make some parts of the game a patience-testing chore of trial and error – with every failure punished by death and having to repeat that section again and again.

Credit: Tarsier Studios

When you soldier past these and the game flows, Little Nightmares is great. Puzzles aren’t usually taxing, and aside from the aforementioned frustrations, it’s not too difficult overall. There are only minor secrets to find (which don’t seem to affect the story), but making your way through the linear environment is a dubious joy as you discover new areas and their resident horrors. The Maw’s interiors are intriguing, ever deepening the game’s constant mysteries about where you are, who you are, and just what is going on in this sinister place.

The gameplay is occasionally interrupted by story snippets which are very short but effective, raising even more questions. Little Nightmares wraps up with a brilliantly memorable series of events and set-pieces. The game’s not long, taking around 4-5 hours, but despite the hiccups I mentioned, I was enthralled throughout. Even though the gameplay isn’t too involved, I was driven ever onwards, through a sense of curiosity about what’s was coming next, and a desire to uncover more of the story. I ended up playing the whole game in just one day. Ultimately, I liked the open-to-interpretation story and it’s ending, although I know some people would have preferred a more concrete explanation of events.

Credit: Tarsier Studios

  I can forgive Little Nightmare’s flaws for its many stand-out moments and the level of imagination I found in the Maw’s depths. It’s a very well realised and polished artistic vision, albeit a really dark and twisted one. You won’t forget some of the encounters in this game – which are up there with the best moments of Inside. It’s a shame that the cleverness on show in these doesn’t extend to the puzzles and platforming, but as an immersive children’s nightmare it succeeds on every level. I heartily recommend you give it a try and “enjoy” the dripping, dank world of Little Nightmares. I’m looking forward to seeing what the dark minds of Tarsier Studios will produce in future, hopefully with more refined gameplay next time around.

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