What Is a Man?

You are what you do, not what you say.

Do you agree? My answer is 'yes and no'. At its barest, the statement is just 'people lie.' And that's true. But can you not lie in action as well as in words? Some argue that doesn't matter, that motives are irrelevant, only actions count. Motives are internal, they do not affect the outside world, but actions do. It's a very pragmatic view. It's also very self-centered. 

Think about your own existence. Your experiences, your feelings, your thoughts, your opinions. Do you define these as part of you? I believe identity is ultimately subjective, so if you do not then we may have a very different argument on our hands that I will discuss in a later post. But I think most people would say, 'yes, that is a part of me.' So who are we to deny that to others because such things do not impact our world?

And they do impact our world, albeit indirectly. It could be argued that they're irrelevant, as they are only catalysts to action. Thus, we could remove them from the equation and only look at action - the sum and result of all these motives, feelings etc. But not all of these parts of 'you' always manifest in action. We are frequently contradictory in mind, but our actions can only take one course. If you believe in any degree of determinism, it is this mental 'you', and the rest of your biology's interaction with the outside world that determines action. Those thoughts and feelings of that do not noticeably influence our actions are not any less real to us for it. Why should they be less real for anyone else?

That's certainly a more complicated picture. But I suppose, 'you are the sum of your thoughts, feelings, and biology, as influenced by your environment, manifested by your actions, and determined subjectively' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Some Movies Are Better Out of Context

Dark Souls Challenge

My friend, Massack, and I are huge fans of the Souls series. While Dark Souls has a reputation of being incredibly difficult, this can be misleading to those not familiar with it, because unlike so many other games, it does difficulty right. So, while the game can be tough as nails, with intelligence and learning you can make amazing leaps and bounds in mastering it. Up to the point where we were talking about how it had become too easy and started thinking of a way to reclaim that tension. Enter this challenge. Partially inspired by the Nuzlocke, the idea is to make Dark Souls even more grimdark and gritty-realistic than it already is.

Here are the rules:

1. If you die, you must unequip everything you were using, and may not use that, or anything else you were carrying until you retrieve your bloodstain. If the bloodstain disappears, it is considered lost. You must drop it all and may never touch it again. Items that can not be dropped are exempt from this rule. (i.e. estus flasks, keys, etc.)
2. If you die in hollow form, you are considered to have gone full hollow. You lose.
3. No farming humanity. You get what you find.
4. Summons work like invades, you are allowed 1 summon at a time. If the summon is defeated, you may not resummon until you rest at a bonfire, defeat the level, or are killed.
5. Weapons and armor require that you drop one of their upgrade materials for every 100 points of durability you repair, regardless of method. If you don't have the materials, you can't repair the weapon. I.E. A +6 regular sword would require you to drop large titanite shards for every 100 points you want to repair, while a dragon weapon will require a dragon scale for every 100 points you want to repair. Items upgraded to max by slabs are an exception and may be repaired with chunks of the same type.
6. An item that shatters can never be repaired, and must be dropped. 
7. You can only use your repair box to repair what you can upgrade yourself. Anything that requires an ember to be made can only be worked on at a smith that can use that ember, with that ember, unless you are using Repair Powder or the Repair spell.
8. (No cheating or exploits.)

 It worked.

On Mega Man (Part) 2

As I mentioned in Part 1, Mega Man 2 is a great NES game (remember that when you're reading this, because it will be very easy to forget.) However, I don't think that it's particularly good compared to the rest of the series. And by "compared to the rest of the series" I mean that out of all the genuine Mega Man games I've played (X 1-6, Zero 1-4, Legends 1-2, Mega Man 1-2, & Bass), I'd rank it the worst. Yes, even below the first game.

The reason for this comes down to gameplay design.

On Mega Man and Greatness

So, I've discovered I'm a heretic.

Here's how it went down: I've been on another Mega Man music kick. It happens every now and then because the proper terminology for the series' music is "fucking fantastic". Also, this video might have had something to do with it:

Welcome!

So, you've decided to go back in time and look at my first post. Good job. This one's for you.
<3