Bounty Head Bebop Comlink
General Category => Media & Mayhem => Topic started by: Morgan_R on March 25, 2016, 05:25:46 am
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So, I went out to Haven last night... or so I thought. Haven being the local goth night at the local gay club. Only happens once a month these days, so I was psyched. I even took a selfie, which I basically never do.
And then I got there, and the parking lot was empty. I'd misremembered it as the last Thursday of the month, when it was the last Tuesday. And their mobile site is basically nonfunctional, and Google said they were open "today" from 10 PM to 2 AM.
Google rarely lies, so I daresy Google was mislead.
9_9
ANYway, I walked to Haymarket to get a hot drink and some wifi to bitch about Haven being closed. No dice, they closed at 10. So I walked back. And that's a pretty long walk, by my standards, so I did some thinking.
My conclusion was this: If I can't post my dorky face on this forum like all of my incidentally-male friends have decided to do... Gamergate wins. Fear trumps all, fear takes the hand... and maybe the whole damn game.
I am not in the habit of letting fear win.
So. The next time I'm at a computer, y'all are gonna get to see what I look like, all dolled up. Because I look pretty damn cute, for someone who's easily over six feet in heels. (Not that I was wearing heels, because I wanted to dance. But it's the principle of the thing.)
Fark Gamergate. Here where I can say that without being swarmed. I'm not afraid of them, but that doesn't mean I want to have to spend literal minutes of my life figuring out how to block them all.
Oh, and just for good measure: I work at Anzovin Studio. Feel free to Google us, or just go to anzovin.com. We're awesome... and if Gamergate calls my boss, he is going to be PISSED... at them, not me. You wanna SWAT us? You wanna play that game? The cops are gonna be REAL skeptical. But maybe you can. That said, I'm a white woman in what amounts to a suburb of Noho. Ain't no cop gonna shoot me on accident. And I've faced scarier things than a bunch of guys pointing guns at me.
And yes, I'm a little "up" right now. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to change my mind about this. And if I do... well, I haven't posted the pic yet. You're my sanity check right now, folks.
Who wants to see me? Or: Who thinks I would be making a mistake?
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Not sure gamergate is still going on, ha ha, but yeah🌿, the more faces the better ha ha
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But it's about muh ethics in gaming journalism!!!111oneone!!111!
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Where the Fark is this coming from? XD
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Wait, you went from there's a conspiracy at google which is why your gay bar is closed, to if you don't show us your face then gamergate wins?
And I think this is the first time I've seen you refer to yourself as a woman (and as a cute one).
As far as being your sanity checker goes... You're pretty far into the deep end now ^_^. That said, there's really nothing bad that comes with showing your face here, so it'd be among the less crazy things you've done.
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I must really be out of the loop, as I don't even know what Gamergate is...
So, what is it?
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I must really be out of the loop, as I don't even know what Gamergate is...
So, what is it?
Basically, it started as some sort of protest for "ethics in gaming journalism". However, it quickly became an excuse for people to harass female game devs, that sort of snowballed into death and rape threats being sent to unpopular female game developers and critics.
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Sigh.
It's the sort of thing you don't need to know about if you're male, to be blunt. Drak, if you wanna go another round... you'll be shadowboxing. I don't need to try to change your mind when time will do the job for me.
(That's intended as a compliment, to be clear. You're far ahead of where I was at your age, on pretty much any axis.)
I'm at work, and we have an open floor plan, so, no pic. Yet.
This is very helpful, though, to my ability to gauge where I'm at. I lost some of you, but I am quite certain I'm not lost myself. There is a qualitative difference. And apparently the state is called gnosis, by some. For anyone inclined to latch on to new keywords.
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You're not obligated to share your picture on the Internet, Morgan. I'm sure most of us don't care either way.
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Listen, i'm just saying that this:
ANYway, I walked to Haymarket to get a hot drink and some wifi to bitch about Haven being closed. No dice, they closed at 10. So I walked back. And that's a pretty long walk, by my standards, so I did some thinking.
My conclusion was this: If I can't post my dorky face on this forum like all of my incidentally-male friends have decided to do... Gamergate wins. Fear trumps all, fear takes the hand... and maybe the whole damn game.
Seems like a pretty wild leap. I mean, what do we have to do with gamergate?
It literally seems like this came in out of nowhere. Like, completely unprompted by anyone here at all, which makes the rant feel weird, is all i'm saying
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Basically, it started as some sort of protest for "ethics in gaming journalism". However, it quickly became an excuse for people to harass female game devs, that sort of snowballed into death and rape threats being sent to unpopular female game developers and critics.
It attracted the same elements that any group eventually attracts. It grabbed extremists, just like Feminism does, just like any political party, just like any religion.
I find it amusing because of just the sheer amount of anti-gamergate stuff I found was just as nasty (threats of violence, telling any minority that supported gamergate that they didn't exist, threats of doxxing, calling in bomb threats) as what they say gamergate people did to them.
If course the media is believed above all else, when the media is the thing being criticized. It's like a company being accused of something unethical and then going to said company and accepting what they say as the truth.
Of the accusation is the media is not following proper ethics then there is no reason for the media to report the truth if they are indeed not following the ethical codes that they should be following.
News media in general is completely unethical nowadays anyways.
It is about viewers and not being seen as biased, but at the same time giving biased reports because that's what appeals to most viewers for whatever reason.
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I don't see what any of that has anything to do with you showing your face. Go ahead if you. If you don't, then don't.
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I think Morgan said earlier that she wants to make vidya, but doesn't want to be doxxed?
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I think Morgan said earlier that she wants to make vidya, but doesn't want to be doxxed?
Yes, but here is someone really gonna to dox her?
I suppose since the site is viewable to anyone, there is a risk of some random guest doing so. However, I don't particularly feel like the users in here would do it.
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Yes, but here is someone really gonna to dox her?
I suppose since the site is viewable to anyone, there is a risk of some random guest doing so. However, I don't particularly feel like the users in here would do it.
I think the fear is that they would Google her after the fact.
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I think the fear is that they would Google her after the fact.
Well that's a risk for anyone that gives out personal information on the internet. Humans are curious creatures.
However, I doubt anyone is going to make an issue out of it if they do so. So Morgan won't know about it not would anyone else besides said person who did it. That type of thing doesn't really hurt anyone as long as no action is taken with said information. The person doing so is in the wrong for breaching an internet social contract, revealing that they did by contacting said person in real life context is when it gets even more obviously wrong, The revealing of the link between online name and real name, doxing, is of course wrong to do in most circumstances.
If someone posted anything anywhere about that with Morgan's real life information and whatnot linked to her online username, then I expect the mods around here being ready to punish said person who did it.
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There be monsters out there on the internet, Morgan! It's not really an irl societal thing, it's not really a group in and of itself. From what I heard, it was just a bunch of sociopaths on 4chan being sociopaths on 4chan because 4chan is Farking sociopathic and autistic fueled by internalized rage at their own useless, impotent, and horrifically entitled beings. And apparently one woman who makes video games sometimes dated one such sociopath, and didn't know how to respond to mass rage, and there began the biggest argument ever had under the guise of "ethics in video game journalism" wherein people realized that, big surprise, critics are biased. They are not the only horrifying side of the internet, and gamergate is not something that really highlights gender issues, it highlights human issues. Sure, there are sucky, misogynistic corners of the internet, sure, there are people that shut down goth nights at gay bars(?) but those are not the only sucky people. Everyone who is anyone on the internet is at risk of being attacked by extremists. That's just the way it is. On the other side of the spectrum, somebody was almost literally bullied to death by people who were upset about the fact that she made fan-art wrong. There was a guy who made an awkward video on the internet and is now receiving death threats because one guy made a "cringe reaction video" in response. Hell, there's even Chris-Chan, as un-sympathetic a figure as that racist idiot may be, he has been receiving death threats and all manner of irl harrassment since the dawn of his internet career. Hell, name a webcomic made by any male or female person that's been viewed by more than a thousand people, and you'll find that there are also a sea of people who personally hate their guts because they put something up on the internet that they don't like.
It's not a matter of sticking it to some vicious, monolithic organization that made a big enough stink to get mentioned on the news one time, though that may be your motivation, all this is about putting your face up on some corner of the internet and hopefully avoiding the opinionated hydra swarm of people who are just hateful in general. We aren't politicians here, and we aren't >moderately famous media makers. We're people who post on a small writing site and play games on forums. There will certainly not be a horde of stalkery beasts any time soon. And if there is, I'll eat all three of my tf2 hats.
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Listen, i'm just saying that this:
Seems like a pretty wild leap. I mean, what do we have to do with gamergate?
Nothing. And for that, I thank you.
You're not obligated to share your picture on the Internet, Morgan. I'm sure most of us don't care either way.
Indeed. The voice of reason, and the one to explain my reasoning in my absence. Thank you.
It's not a matter of sticking it to some vicious, monolithic organization that made a big enough stink to get mentioned on the news one time, though that may be your motivation, all this is about putting your face up on some corner of the internet and hopefully avoiding the opinionated hydra swarm of people who are just hateful in general. We aren't politicians here, and we aren't >moderately famous media makers. We're people who post on a small writing site and play games on forums. There will certainly not be a horde of stalkery beasts any time soon. And if there is, I'll eat all three of my tf2 hats.
I trust you all implicitly. I hope at least some of you will believe me when I say I have more knowlege of Gamergate and its impact on female game designers than you do. And yes, it's the fringe. It doesn't change the fact that I KNOW women, IRL, who have personally dealt with this shit... and not just the 'big names' like Quinn, Sarkeesian and Wu.
Even so, I only give a flying fark about Gamergate IN THIS CONTEXT because I consider you to be my friends. Some closer than others, but friends all the same. And I was a really farking lonely kid, when I was a kid in college. And I lost friends, too... not through alienation, but through fear. I literally couldn't bring myself to tell my best friend on the internet that I was gay, so I just... talked to him less and less, until one day I realized I'd never be able to talk to him again, because I'd forgotten my ICQ password & my retrieval email was defunct. And my best friend IRL... well, I've told that story before. Water under the bridge, now.
Suffice it to say that I value my friendships, however tenuous they may be. And it... frustrated me, when Drak got dared into showing his face or however the hell that went down, that I was in the throes of figuring out how to handle Gamergate, as a woman deciding how to launch herself as a professional game designer, and couldn't use my one awesome profile pic as my avatar here, because it had already gone up on Facebook.
The ever-observant Killa has noted that I now refer to myself as a woman. So, yes, my gender identity has apparently recrystalized, at age 35. Eventually, though, once life has thrown you enough curveballs... you learn to hit the goddamn ball out of the goddamn park.
So, yes. I plan to be a successful indie game designer, which is not entirely unlike planning to be a Farking rock star. But I've already BEEN the Farking rock star... and I've told that story too, albeit in pieces. I may have even named the Big Name Client, though I probably shouldn't have. But what are they going to do, fire me? 9_9
Tired owl rolls its tired eyes, folks. Maybe tomorrow bubbly!Morgan will feel like proving she can dress like a girl if she puts her mind to it. Maybe not. Fark me if I'm not too tired to give much of a damn. It's been a long double-day, and I'm glad to be winding down.
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Interesting turn of events.
What kinds of games are you going to make as an indie developer?
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Okay, making a little more sense now. I mean, you clearly skipped a few steps in the initial explanation, like "I plan on being a female game developer and that's why I'm not sure I want to show my face on the Internet in numerous places or reveal my identity to you suckers".
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Sorry, I guess I thought that would be obvious from the context. My gamedev-y aspirations are well-known to my RL friends, but I guess the habit of keeping my beak shut on the Internet is not quite extinguished.
I'm in studioland crunch-time through April. After that... well, one project is a collaboration and I'm not the creative lead, so I'm not gonna summarize it here. The other isn't actually a game per se, but rather a self-improvement app with integrated Cardboard-powered VR. That's Google Cardboard, and yes, it's both real and actually made out of cardboard. Though I'll be using the iamcardboard plastic viewer for my devkit. It just feels more professional, and it still only cost me $30. Plus the refurb Samsung Galaxy, since I'm an iPhone user. Cardboard does work on iOS, but there are various hurdles to deployment and I want a quicker build/test cycle.
...and hopefully if I've lost any of you this time, you'll at least recognize that I DO actually know what I'm talking about, and have in fact been playing around with games and designing my own since before most of you were born. Not to play the age card, but... one DOES continue to learn new things through the course of one's life, and in some contexts, it DOES matter.
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Good luck in your endeavors morgan. ^_^
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Do it bby, the more faces the better! Totally won't steal your info and open credit cards in your name, or whatever it is the kids are up to nowadays.
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Yeah, I have no reason to think you couldn't do it if that's what you set your mind to! Go for it! 8)
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Good luck in your endeavors morgan. ^_^
Do it bby, the more faces the better! Totally won't steal your info and open credit cards in your name, or whatever it is the kids are up to nowadays.
Yeah, I have no reason to think you couldn't do it if that's what you set your mind to! Go for it! 8)
Awesome, thanks y'all. ^_~
And in case anyone's still curious...
(http://i.imgur.com/8EBOcBA.jpg)
The six-year-old was my style consultant on what I told her was a "cute goth" look. She's loved gothic fashion since she was four or five -- never to wear herself, of course. HER favorite color is hot pink, second favorite is purple. But she 'encourages' everyone to dress according to THEIR favorite color. ;D
Anyway, that's me. And Haven's actually tonight, so, yeah. Gonna goth it up AGAIN, dance a little, and figure out who's who in that scene right now. It's been a while.
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Awesome, thanks y'all. ^_~
And in case anyone's still curious...
Cute. I like your sleeves and stockings. I can't quite say I'd call your style goth without the stereotypical dark hair and such, though.
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The picture won't load on the device I'm presently stuck with, so I'll just have to assume that you're the badass Sigourney Weaver-Margaret Thatcher-looking amalgamation in your profile pic for now.
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The picture won't load on the device I'm presently stuck with, so I'll just have to assume that you're the badass Sigourney Weaver-Margaret Thatcher-looking amalgamation in your profile pic for now.
That's Carol from Walking Dead. XD
Awesome, thanks y'all. ^_~
And in case anyone's still curious...
The six-year-old was my style consultant on what I told her was a "cute goth" look. She's loved gothic fashion since she was four or five -- never to wear herself, of course. HER favorite color is hot pink, second favorite is purple. But she 'encourages' everyone to dress according to THEIR favorite color. ;D
Anyway, that's me. And Haven's actually tonight, so, yeah. Gonna goth it up AGAIN, dance a little, and figure out who's who in that scene right now. It's been a while.
I don't think I've seen that, actually: goth but in princess colors? That could be a thing.
Love the sleeves on that top.
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Very Cool. ^_^
Il be honest though, you look nothing like I thought ha ha.
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Woooooooo!
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Actually a lot of goths in the Belfast scene a few years ago (by a few I mean when I was young... So like a decade) wore a lot of purple and pinks. They would have the basic black base but then would add accents of a really bright colour to somthing or to their hair.
Also looking at the Gothic Lolita style in Japan I'd say she is safe to grow up as a pretty pink goth!
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Waaaait a second, didn't you say skirts or something made your skin crawl whenever you were the one wearing them? Something doesn't add up. I'm calling bullshit. You photoshopped your face onto whoever that is. ;D
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Mad props to the first of you crazy cats to get my photo rotated for me. XD
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Anyone who continues to doubt my ability to kick your ass IF and ONLY IF necessary... if cordially invited to Haven at Diva's of Noho, this Friday. Back corner. 18+, apparently. Again. I may or may not be there, as my other responsibilities permit.
A person always has the right to change their mind.
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And that's Northampton, Massachusetts, just for anyone who's lost the narrative thread. Look for the rainbow crosswalks if you're doing Street View. Our actual venue is still subject to change, I believe. We maaaay need to increase our capacity a bit. But for now, it's directly off 91, North or South depending. Upper story of the sheriff's office. Not to put TOO fine a point on it. ^_~
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Mad props to the first of you crazy cats to get my photo rotated for me. XD
Oh, right, it's the forum glitch. Berrrrkaaaaa~!
Heh. No responses yet? Gee, it's almost like you're a bunch of thinking autonomous beings with your own lives and shit.
Fancy that. ^_~
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It's been long enough that I forgot how we fixed that pic issue... I think Daedalus was the last one to go through it. Maybe it was a size issue? Create the Pic under 115px so the system doesn't have to resize it? ???
Or, now that it's the right size, download it to you pc, rotate it, then re-upload it - think that will work. 8)
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I thought it was the resize then rotate then re-upload to fix it.
Can't remember though.
And sry Morgan, much as I would love too, it's a bit of a long trip for me...
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Anyone who continues to doubt my ability to kick your ass IF and ONLY IF necessary... if cordially invited to Haven at Diva's of Noho, this Friday. Back corner. 18+, apparently. Again. I may or may not be there, as my other responsibilities permit.
A person always has the right to change their mind.
Wait a second, are we gamergate? Are you required to kick our asses in order to deter the other gamergate minions that we are thus far unaware of? Do people know whether they're gamergate or not, or do they have to be purged individually by people who for-sure aren't gamergate to save their non-souls? Are we challenged to a goth dance battle? Are heterosexuals allowed to join this dance battle or will we have to remain ambiguous in order to get in? Is this a dance battle? Shall we band together under the flag of Totila and make war with the preppy Roman posers!?
I have no serious idea what this post means, and it bothers me. But Gothic warfare would be nice right now. Or not, actually. A medieval dance battle, on the other hand...
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I just crop a bit of the bottom (or top) of the picture and then upload that.
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Sent has the gist. Can't talk much, I'm almost out of charge. But yeah, it's gonna get pretty Farking epic. Gothic dancefighting & contact improv. ^_^
Drak is assuredly correct. Let's see if I can execute on the plan. 9_9
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Meh. I'd have to use more bandwidth than I've got. Maybe later. I do have a pic of the haircut in progress that looks disturbingly like Lady Gray. ;D
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So. Undercut + "unicorn hair" = y'all can see me as I currently appear. The pink is NOT photoshopped, and while my stylist did talk me into it, I have zero regrets. It looks purple in some lights & heliotrope in others, and it can be completely hidden with a center part.
If anyone was wondering where I disappeared to... well, I spiralled up again & landed back in the hospital. Which was... interesting. Ultimately good, buuuut being sectioned is a lot different when you're only quasi-voluntary. But I got to meet the kind of cops who dress in black & carry themselves like they can take you down unarmed. And eventually I met the kind of doctor who I'd actually trust with my mental/behavioral health. He runs a very, very good unit.
Along the way, I made five friends who I was close enough with to exchange numbers, & make tentative plans to meet up with "on the outside." I'm also about to go off to swing a wooden waster at people who are similarly armed. I have a lot more... intent... than I could previously command.
But my knuckles are presently healed of the minor bruises & scabs I acquired while "training," and will probably stay that way awhile. It is very strange to me, that I seem to have levelled up in "badass" as a side effect of being bipolar. But stranger things have surely happened.
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What a strange and interesting saga! ;)
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So. Undercut + "unicorn hair" = y'all can see me as I currently appear. The pink is NOT photoshopped, and while my stylist did talk me into it, I have zero regrets. It looks purple in some lights & heliotrope in others, and it can be completely hidden with a center part.
If anyone was wondering where I disappeared to... well, I spiralled up again & landed back in the hospital. Which was... interesting. Ultimately good, buuuut being sectioned is a lot different when you're only quasi-voluntary. But I got to meet the kind of cops who dress in black & carry themselves like they can take you down unarmed. And eventually I met the kind of doctor who I'd actually trust with my mental/behavioral health. He runs a very, very good unit.
Along the way, I made five friends who I was close enough with to exchange numbers, & make tentative plans to meet up with "on the outside." I'm also about to go off to swing a wooden waster at people who are similarly armed. I have a lot more... intent... than I could previously command.
But my knuckles are presently healed of the minor bruises & scabs I acquired while "training," and will probably stay that way awhile. It is very strange to me, that I seem to have levelled up in "badass" as a side effect of being bipolar. But stranger things have surely happened.
Just remember, most people who aren't afraid of crazy, are crazy. I got part of my arm and ear Damn near bitten off learning that, so go light on the "training."
Unless you think it's fun, then hell yeah!
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What the balls!? Gamergate is a street gang!? I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS!
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Haha, thanks guys. I only punched some gamer chairs (in the "Sensory Room") & a clock (in the room I was first placed in, before I got upgraded to the "Quiet Room.")
I'm certainly not gonna assume that I can walk unscathed in the "bad" areas of my geographic radius. But I do look forward to learning how to channel my newfound "intent." Apparently German longsword is out and Polish saber is in, for now. Haven't asked yet if the progression will include training on horseback. ;D
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In the same way there's no feminist cabal plotting to steal my video games, I doubt that there are armed gangs patrolling the street looking for uppity game devs.
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In the same way there's no feminist cabal plotting to steal my video games, I doubt that there are armed gangs patrolling the street looking for uppity game devs.
But aren't Ducky Swords the new Switchblades?
You can't tell me this is the only place where homies with beef work it out during a Gentleman's duel. Even I've partaken in a duel before! I've Farked up people's shit with a sword before! No ceramics and/or sportsballs and/or large fruits/vegetables are safe from my wrath, no matter what speed they happen to be travelling at!
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In the same way there's no feminist cabal plotting to steal my video games, I doubt that there are armed gangs patrolling the street looking for uppity game devs.
There's an 'unarmed' game dev who can't be doxed or SWATed, though! ^_^
Do you actually do sword-stuff, Sent? If so, what kind? I've never actually trained with anything sharp, it's been all waster, boffer, & foil so far. I did once have Elizabeth Moon show me how to hold a rapier... but again, a practice weapon of the not-sharp sort.
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There's an 'unarmed' game dev who can't be doxed or SWATed, though! ^_^
Do you actually do sword-stuff, Sent? If so, what kind? I've never actually trained with anything sharp, it's been all waster, boffer, & foil so far. I did once have Elizabeth Moon show me how to hold a rapier... but again, a practice weapon of the not-sharp sort.
I have an older cousin of a friend who works as an actor/stunt guy for Medieval Times. He brings home old/blunted/broken stage and reenactment swords and sometimes tells us stuff about them, (usually when he thinks we're going to hurt ourselves by accident) but the extent of my knowledge on swords comes from Lindybeige and the free stuff you find around here (http://"www.thearma.org/manuals.htm#.Vww0LuArLnA"). I don't understand any of the finer points, and my muscle memory isn't good enough to get down any higher form of fightery other than basic/obvious shit, but I get the theoretical uses for things like all the different guards. My area of expertise is hitting things that are thrown at me, though. Usually old basketballs and bike helmets. As awesome as wielding a two-hander would be in most other circumstances, and something I would actually love to do, I'm afraid its much lamer one-handed Espada counterpart is more practical when Farking up an attempt to play baseball. Those are the only two kinds of swords they seem to use at MT, but I'm not complaining, I get to play swords with my friend and his cousin.
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Nice! Linky is not working for me, though.
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I recently aquires two swords - a gladius and a cutlass. They're awesome and I love them more than most people.
Also got a longbow and some arrows.
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I recently aquires two swords - a gladius and a cutlass. They're awesome and I love them more than most people.
Also got a longbow and some arrows.
Love them more than you love most people, or more than most people love them?
I've been considering learning archery. Did you get a recurve or compound bow?
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The first one.
It's a recurve bow. Those compound ones look ridiculous though.
Got all of it from a tenant who abandonned them in his apartment when he left.
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I have a few swords of varying sizes, the mitzikana is roughly the size and weight of my bokken so I used to ba able to train with it :)
I'll actually be getting a hunting bow soon but I haven't done archery is several years and dread how rusty I will be at it, gonna enroll in a local club to try and get back up to scratch.
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Nice! Linky is not working for me, though.
Tried getting the link to work, but it just doesn't seem to. It's a list of sword treatises from Thearma. I usually read the viking Sagas, because they're entertaining, and some of the straight-up "Manual" manuals are kind of like reading about how to make mouth noises. I don't associate/translate instructional words to physical actions that well.
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Tried getting the link to work, but it just doesn't seem to. It's a list of sword treatises from Thearma. I usually read the viking Sagas, because they're entertaining, and some of the straight-up "Manual" manuals are kind of like reading about how to make mouth noises. I don't associate/translate instructional words to physical actions that well.
Heh, yeah, taking the manuals and turning them into actual swordplay is what the group I'm rejoining is all about. And I think it takes a minimum of three people -- two to be trying out the moves together, and a third to be watching and telling them they're doing it wrong. ;D
Nice to see that some other folks are weapon-geeks. There's apparently an archery range in one of the other mill buildings near me, but I'm really more into melee right now.
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I would love to do a European Sword fighting course! I have loads of old blades lying around here, including a 6 ft claymore with boar guards. There are some nifty YouTube vids on stuff you can do with them.
On the Eastern side, I have fiddled around with Haidong Gumdo (a Korean sword art) and have a giant no-dachi, which is completely awesome, yet totally useless for the sport haha! (Now, if I have to unhorse anyone in the near future, then I am well prepared...) ;D
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I would love to do a European Sword fighting course! I have loads of old blades lying around here, including a 6 ft claymore with boar guards. There are some nifty YouTube vids on stuff you can do with them.
On the Eastern side, I have fiddled around with Haidong Gumdo (a Korean sword art) and have a giant no-dachi, which is completely awesome, yet totally useless for the sport haha! (Now, if I have to unhorse anyone in the near future, then I am well prepared...) ;D
I think your claymore might actually an anti-cavalry/anti-spear sword. Claymores usually weren't any longer than a 4th grader because they were supposed to be two-handers that could be used for (defensive-ish) close-quarters combat in a pinch, I think. (Hence the leather grip/blunt edges on the bottom of the blade) Skallagrim's demonstrated that you can use normal two-handed swords for close quarters combat by half-swording and bashing and stuff, but I guess the Claymore works better because you can get more use out of the crossguard and therefore armor-prying and grappling techniques that were taught, instead of improvised/unoptimized movesets while you try to get in the good range again. But I'm no expert, I just listen to the theories of some experts on youtube and google.
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... I just listen to the theories of some experts on youtube and google.
Which on the internet, is all the qualifications one needs to be an expert! ;)