A Requiem From Winter Past OST

Okay, the post title is a lie unless the likes of Miura Kentaro, Isayama Hajime, and Hirano Kouta decide to endorse me. Come to think of it, that's impossible even though I might have been blessed/cursed with Yayoi-Jomon facial features. Even though my pink card stated I'm a Chinese, I swear the shape of my eyes and jawline weirdly resemble an Ainu.

Note: I don't know whether Abe Hiroshi is related to the Ainu even though I'm 100% sure he's unrelated to another Abe whose given name is Shinzo. Seriously, do you think Japanese politics would allow a guy with a Jomon/Ainu look to be the PM? I doubt so. There are times where I actually wondered whether there's an external force at work concerning certain rulings and decisions involving the welfare of the Ainu people. Considering how stubborn the rest of Japan from Tohoku to Kyushu and Shikoku has been when it comes to history, it definitely got nothing to do with Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Yes, I've dropped off from the blogging radar entirely...

The reason was never depression even though we should be more willing to talk about matters which others don't like talking about. Coupled with stuff like this and that, you can't blame the Japanese for making two AMV vids of the same song.

I'm currently too engrossed in playing Everquest 2. Thankfully, feeling a bit emotionally dry for quite some time means I finally get an opportunity to retaliate against that aberrant called procrastination. Because no one knows what I'm doing, zero motivation means it's not that easy trying to have a mental fortitude of steel.

Just quite a bit of writing before I start the OST list rolling. So why do I enjoy reading dark stuff? Now it must be stated that due to my emotional state and possible trauma resulting from my schoolyard environment seeing me as either a dirty foreigner or an equally dirty Jew, I no longer have a sense of emotional attachment to this nation. Thankfully, I got two families. One is my physical family, the other is my church. But because of my inability to express myself due to a traumatic past, there's no way I can be sure whether or not they know anything, let alone how much if the answer is a yes. I tried finding a way to know the truth of my condition. Sadly, the door was never opened in the first place.

I must point out my understanding of plot and characters comes from sites like this, this, and that. In fact, it's a miracle that I was able to get into dark fiction for a reason: I could have tried killing myself before I reached 21.

Hence, I don't regret gravitating towards the dark side of storytelling. But as a Christian, I need to set a ceiling. YouTube is the maximum limit I allow myself to touch. Yet, it must be stated that in my early 20s or a couple of years prior to the age of 20, I did read the GTO manga. If you don't know what is GTO, it's better not to know at all. I know I've upped the 2nd episode of the anime, but that one was very tame compared to most of the episodes. Not to mention the manga as well. I still like Driver's High, though.

One thing I must point out is that when I listen to songs, I pay attention to the tune. At the same time, my brain doesn't operate like a normal human being in this area. Hence, I don't expect people to understand me that easily. One thing I've learnt is this: If every person is born dysfunctional, it merely means there will be those more dysfunctional than the rest.

So is there anything good I can learn from dark fiction? Believe it or not, Walt Disney was never a teacher. The Brothers Grimm, while never correct all the time, were capable of being better teachers than those in the classroom and on the TV screen, let alone the movie screen. To say humanity and monstrosity are two sides of the same coin is never incorrect. However, we must also understand that while the world is full of tragedies, it's also filled with warmth. The former is telling us the truth, the latter gives us the strength to live in a world where the seemingly sane are capable of being more dangerous than the insane. At the same time, kind people do exist. Sadly, the same goes for scoundrels as well. Life is never a Shakespearean comedy, but there are moments where the Merchant of Venice prevailed over the odds due to the kindness of others around him. However, life is often a Shakespearean tragedy where it's either Macbeth or King Lear. Yet, we do have what it takes to decide between the choices made by Hamlet or that coming from Judah Ben-Hur. And that's why I mentioned two families instead of just one. I could have either become the Prince of Denmark or the King of Britain, but I ended up being a Jew.

So does that mean I'll quit the dark stuff? For now, my answer is no. The reason for this is also the reason why writing dark fantasy has become my second nature: I find the occasional reminder of what the real world is like truly therapeutic. At least it means people suffer because the world is all about sinners capable of trampling each other.

When it comes to writing A Requiem From Winter Past, I came to realise that being emotionally damaged beyond repair shouldn't be an excuse not to do something. This is why I decided to make certain decisions which other dark fiction writers might not do. If there's a need to portray what's wrong with humanity, I'll do so in my own way. If there's a need to portray a world where God doesn't exist, I'll do so in my own way. 

A Requiem From Winter Past

Chapter 1-The Wolf And His Answer

Chapter 2-The Lion And His Dream

Chapter 3: The Maiden Fair And Her Prince

Chapter 4: Today And Yesterday

Chapter 5: Monsters, Demons, And Gods

A Requiem From Winter Past OST

Disclaimer: The music belong to the respective composers and singers. I don't own them and I'm not responsible for the videos. The track titles are what I'd envision, NOT the real deal.

1. Prologue: The Wolf, The Lion, And A Maiden Fair

2. A Wolf's Blood

3. Edge Of Answerer

4. Enemy Of The World

5. Mocking Death Itself

6. The Lionhearts

7. A Maiden Amongst Ladies

8. A Lion Amongst Men

9. Serpent Of The Sea

10. A Place Where No Gods Exist

11. The Day All Things Died

12. Chaos Incarnate

13. The Queen Of Homm'Nua

14. Fleeting Fireworks

15. Epilogue: Winter Continues

16. Bonus Track I~An Elder Sister's Hope

17. Bonus Track II~A Mother's Lullaby

Happy b'day to me!!!!!

More specifically last Friday. It's quite surreal to see that my day of birth actually reflected the life I've always had. Halloween may be synonymous with Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, but Samhain truly heralds the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. Not every Singaporean can claim to be the nation's equivalent of winter and the "darker half" of the year. I happened to be one. This is also why while I'm willing to say local talents do exist in the creative sphere of Singapore, I just can't connect with anything done by Jack Neo or Anthony Chen. Yes, I've been mocking/bashing my own countrymen on the artistic creativity department, but that's because I can't connect with the mainstream stuff.

In other news, I just stumbled upon another moment of Japanese creativity done right. Despite the wrong message I might have sent out, not all anime and manga series are equal.

Can't understand Japanese? It's okay.

So how did I end up knowing about the story of a Japanese Absalom? This song below.

Lyrics

A new format?

Unless it's writing the only stuff which I can proudly say are decently good, the rest of what I've written is worse than the product of some Dr Frankensteiner. When I say the only stuff, I mean original gaming designs and everything to do with A Requiem From Winter Past from the lore to the main story. In other words, I need to do some actual change.

Firstly, I'll be doing most of the posts in the same format as The Drifting. While I don't know whether I have to regress to my half-Ainu sea otter persona, at least that's the plan.

Secondly, anything I've been using entire posts to write up on will now be broken up in pieces. I know this may sound confusing, but read on and you'll know.

Seriously, playing a 15-year-old game?

I've been spending too much time playing Everquest 2. Not so recently, findings reveal a disturbing trend called gaming addiction. The source of information? Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung Shin-Ri. This might have ignited a debate on whether gaming addiction is an actual problem or symptoms of a dysfunctional society.

So what am I going to say in this section? Well, I've actually removed Viaa Bellerouge from my character roster. I may behave like a full metal gamer, but I'm not crazy enough to spend money on something I can play for free. Yes, Daybreak does employ a paywall the size of Trump's ideal Great Wall Of America. But Everquest 2 has got much more free content than other F2P MMOs I've played. I may have the determination of wintry steel, but my logic is still intact. I got a daily job, thank you very much.

Okay, so back to gaming. I'm going to try my best keeping this short. The reason why I have to switch a Paladin for a half-elf Ranger was very simple: I was merely toying with the idea of creating another version of Arylos (i.e. my ranger main in Neverwinter). Cynical and with a selfish sense of righteousness. Yes, I know what my fellow Singaporeans are going to say: "How can you use selfish and righteousness in the same sentence?" Blame the Japanese.

Long story short, the farcical nature of education=morality in Singapore pushed me to do the unthinkable. After some time of using Aryden Ravenstorm, I realised one thing: I'm more of a ranged user than a stand-and-fight unless it's solo content. If I'm to use a tank in any group content, I'd most likely tank like Nick Kyrgios. To be honest, it took a combination of a cynical Norrath and dysfunctional Singapore to kick me out from the Tower of Ivory Denial.

Hopefully, I can come up with a more coherent post on my experience in using a Ranger so far. But let's just say it's more fun to use than a Fury. Must have been the need to play it tactically.

Tell it like a Norrathian

On a non-gaming related note, something happened before Halloween. Everquest 2 has the best storytelling out of all the MMOs I've played so far. Path of Exile might be on the par because I only spent very little time playing it (to be fair, the lore in PoE was very solid). There were three notable moments which I believe every good storyteller can learn from. After all, humility is power.

The first is Rinna, a vital NPC in a certain questline involving Qeynos and its deep state of corruption. Early in the quest, you realised a terrorist organisation known as the Bloodsabers were planning something big. Not satisfied with moving along the tunnels underground, they're out to corrupt Qeynos from their swamp so that they could establish their brand new kingdom. Either that or forcing Queen Antonia Bayle to be Princess Leia to Bertoxxulous' Jabba the Hutt (also known as Jabba the Jahat if you're a Malay). As the questline progressed, I suspected whether Rinna was a fellow terrorist. After all, she's wearing a veil. Turned out that...

1. Rinna belonged to the forces of good, not terrorism.

2. Islam doesn't exist in Norrath.

So why did I end up becoming more cynical than Batman? Props can go a long way in leading or misleading the audience. For Rinna, she only needed one prop. And that's her veil. By the way, this is Rinna.

The second is the Enchanted Lands zone. The name of the place is nothing short of tragic irony. Unlike Thorin Oakenshield's famous last words, the hobbits/halflings there were anything but happy. Recently, I've read some articles highlighting the epidemic of loneliness in America. While every nation has its own dysfunctional side, Enchanted Lands actually explored the way people coped with depression. To be honest, the halflings weren't that good in dealing with it. The most notable aspect of dealing with depression among the halflings wasn't about killing people but... well, getting drunk. Albeit I wouldn't be surprised if this was already touched upon in another piece of wondrous storytelling known as Ravenloft. Either that or Cryptic added the booze.

While the whole getting drunk plot device was significant once you entered the barroom in Rivervale (not the one in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC btw), it was clearly hinted in one of the quests requiring you to kill some mischievous fairies. The reason why? An angry halfling clearly drunk was raging about his dead BFF. Sounds logical in the mad land of the Enchanted Lands? Wait till you complete the task.

Drunk NPC: Oh sorry, they didn't kill Fritz. He just got knocked out for some reason.

Player: What?

Drunk NPC: Here's something for you. Let's pretend the whole deal never happened in the first place.

Player: Okay. *grabs the loot and complete quest*

The typical Singaporean may not find this convo funny, but I do. After all, I'm more used to dark humour because Singapore can be a dark place to deal with depending on your situation. The humour lies in two factors:
1. A tragic past and dark present.
2. The absurdity of what you're doing all the while.

It's like being an accomplice and that halfling wasn't a Hannibal Barca.

The third part would be the Steamfont Mountains where it seemed the only way for you to get loot is to kill bosses (tip for level 40+ characters: Go to the minotaur zone and kill the two bosses there. Both are level 43 and only single upward arrow difficulty). The gnomes there were a surreal bunch. Unlike the halflings, they didn't have to wrestle with demons and inner demons. But there's something in their humour that felt inane. Not the kind we Singaporeans are used to in Mediacorp shows, but the more surreal type. Just don't ask me whether a clockwork non-living thing suffering from depression is funny.

The humour from the gnomes was founded upon a device called irrelevancy. In other words, the humour got nothing to do with the ongoing plot. Let me just use an analogy to highlight what I mean: Does animal cruelty have anything to do with helping those gnomes defending their... well, gnomeland? The answer is no unless you have to kill those minotaurs. Now that's technically animal cruelty. Hilariously enough, the issue of animal cruelty was brought up by one of the NPCs. Why? Because another NPC asked you to destroy some clockwork enemies gone beyond control. The funny part? One fellow was guilty of clockwork cruelty while the other was guilty of hypocrisy because she objected to clockwork cruelty at the expense of animal welfare. If that's not loopy, I don't know what else is. Moral of the story? Not everyone free from trauma is certified balmy. The gnomes proved that.

Also, who in the mechanical hell would call himself a Dangsprocket? Please don't ask me whether Peter Jackson is a gnome. I'm not some kind of fantasy geneticist.

Note: I can't go into specifics, but the dialogue involving the quests Fulgation Sightings and Clockwork Assessment Technology (i.e. C.A.T) has to be one of my funniest moment in playing this game.

Additional note: Bots are common in this zone. A quest dialogue joke actually arose over the gender of one of them.

More additional note: Humour involving the Sootfoot goblins proved to be even more inane.

Okay, enough about the gaming...

Is it true that the gaming industry in South Korea is worth more than the K-pop industry? That'd be like asking me whether TERA Online is worth more than Blackpink. To be honest, I don't know. What I do know is the not-so-recent trade war between the salty Koreans and the equally salty Japanese. Long story short, Toyotomi Hideyoshi set a bad example for the future kids of Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu was smart enough not to anger the Koreans and it got nothing to do with whether Mikawa was the neighbour of Nagoya, but it's very likely due to Hideyoshi smart enough not to trust a master of psychology. One must understand that Japanese nationalism as we know it via historical events like World War 2 and the Second Sino-Japanese War was caused by a revolution more successful than the ones in France, Russia, and Tunisia. That one actually caused Sakamoto Ryoma to be assassinated like Honest Abe and JFK.

[Note: The history textbook approved by the MOE during the 90s was technically lying because it called the Second Sino-Japanese War the Sino-Japanese War.]

The Meiji era was the Japanese Dream. Unfortunately, it also resulted in oppression. It's not just the Koreans, Chinese, and Singapore. There were other victims like Malaysia and the Malays. To make things worse, Yamato supremacy was also whacking the indigenous people of Japan like no tomorrow. To the Yamato Kamui, Ryukyuan lives were made in China while Ainu lives were manufactured in Korea. That's how bad things were. So no, Japanese nationalism didn't start from the Showa era. Interestingly, this also made the Tokugawa era unrelated to what we're seeing right now. In fact, the Meiji era was justified by the ineptitude and corruption of the Tokugawa shogunate.

So will there be a light at the end of the tunnel or will it be something worse than false dawn in the form of an incoming train's headlights? This is not some kind of German joke, but the only continental trade war happening right now.

While there might be some reason for cautious optimism starting from Emperor Naruhito's big ceremonial day, you can't blame the realist for pointing out the incoming headlights. Yes, there's a bit of progress during ASEAN's big ceremonial day. But unless there's a mutual consensus of compromise, you can't blame the pessimist from saying everything is going to get screwed either way. When I say compromise, I'm not referring to the Korean Moon saying history has been lying to us. That'd be like telling me only 7 Jews died in the Holocaust. But if only 7 Jews died during wartime Germany, then how many Jews did Corrie ten Boom save? There's no way the Korean Moon would commit political seppuku. That'd be his Minister of Justice.

Likewise, Abe of the Rising Sun isn't going to say "Sorry, bro. You're right and I'm wrong". There's no way he's committing seppuku. Because that'd be his Minister of Justice.

My definition of compromise is this: A mutual agreement that the Supreme Court ruling is to be non-binding. Yes, I know it's a bitter pill to swallow for both sides of the wrangling. Even more so for the Koreans. But if you're to ask me, the verdict from the Supreme Court of Korea was that one spark setting off the powder keg. You can't reverse the moral nature of the ruling. Because that'd be wrong. Since it's wrong for Seoul to do a moral U-turn and circumstantially impossible for Tokyo to do a political Toyota AE86, perhaps the only way out would be discussing whether the ruling should be binding, non-binding, or somehow semi-binding.

Which now comes to...

Your Korean MAMA. Not your Korean mother because that'd sound like some kind of Hangeul profanity. When CJ E&M decided to make certain changes to this year's Mnet Asian Music Awards (also known as your Korean MAMA), it raised up a controversy boasting the might rivalling that of Susanoo. So should the decision to host the event in Japan make any sense? Morally, the answer is no. Practically... well, the answer is also no. Why? Let's look at it from the cancellation of the venues.

This year, there was supposed to be three venues: Hong Kong, Seoul, and Nagoya. Striking Hong Kong off the list made perfect sense. After all, the scenes resembled the next Planet of the Apes movie and it's not the Koreans' fault.

Then you have Seoul. Surely it'd be a case of 3-1=2 instead of 3-2=1. Even if it's 3-2=1, the special one would be Seoul, right?

Seriously, the decision to host it at Nagoya only (note the keyword) didn't make any sense to me from the business point of view. Considering the current butting of heads between President Moon and the Rising Sun, the question is whether the cultural exchange is more important than long-term interest. Assuming the trade war could be resolved before 4th December, you don't expect the Koreans to heal their wounds like an X-Canuck or the other one. It makes you wonder what made the powers-that-be reach the kind of decision which no one else in their position would do. Definitely not Tokugawa Ieyasu's decision not to anger the Koreans even though Nagoya and Mikawa are still good neighbours.

So to close this post...

I stumbled upon a MAD video (i.e. not Mutually Assured Destruction) and I decided to do two sets of two-panel. I don't know how to explain it, so might as well I demonstrate how it's done.

命に嫌われている。
君の神様になりたい。
とても素敵な六月でした

P.S: Despite detesting the Darwinistic nature of my country's education system, I realised that trying to compare my merit of integrity with whatever paper merit boasted by the likes of SG Nasi Lemak Goreng and SG Telebabi would be like an Anglo-Norman going up against an Anglo-Saxon. My apologies for the racist song btw.

"People have said this is the most famous common assault case in the history of the English legal system."
-Former United director and solicitor Maurice Watkins

Forever questing Pt 4

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2019/07/forever-questing-pt-1.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2019/08/forever-questing-pt-2.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2019/08/forever-questing-pt-3.html

Okay, Part 4 is here. At the same time, the lack of (?) is now official. The reason why? The fact that there's no way for you to try doing every quest possible/available without hiring the expertise of the Chronomage near your home. At this point, John noticed something interesting. Namely, Google ratings for the specific games. If you think this kind of thing is only for Avengers: Endgame and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, you're wrong. In an era where Google is the legal version of Big Boss Paul and the real-life version of Big Boss John, video games are not spared from Google reviews as well.

Now the reason why John L'Otter is saying something seemingly unrelated is that he decided to snoop around (legally) for Google reviews. After all, he's only doing this for fun. You'd think both Everquests would have an approval rating of 80% to 90%. After all, the first Everquest came out in 1999 while the next version came out in 2004. At the same time, World of Warcraft would always be the defining title of the MMO industry as we know it. So imagine John's surprise when he realised the Google approval rating for WoW is currently at 88%. For a series of its calibre and global reach, that felt... underwhelming. Further "investigations" reveal some interesting results as well.

TERA: 83%
Neverwinter: 90%
Path of Exile: 90%

Now it must be stated that Google reviewers are (most likely) your average folks working either 6 days, 5.5 days, or 5 days per week. They don't earn millions, let alone being CEOs or politicians. Very likely, they don't work for names like IGN and Kotaku. Like those in the Steam community, they play video games because they're... well, gamers. This comes to mind how the Steam community ratings have changed throughout the years. In the beginning, they're most likely more hardcore than just giving a 7/10 rating for the many, if not most. Now it seemed that Google users are pickier. If Steam decided to rate a specific game on a less than 7/10 scale, you know things aren't going right. Interestingly, Path of Exile is the only game John searched that has a 9/10 rating.
[Note: Rift has a 73% rating while World of Warcraft Classic got a whopping 95%. For some weird reason, however, Google seemed to have taken down the info.]

So why did John mention this? Weird things do happen in life, believe it or not. While this means you're not going to see a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu living in Singapore without knowing who he/she is, it did just enough to warrant a 91% Google review rating for Everquest 1. Everquest 2? 92%. Now it must be stated that to rate a game, you have to play it. If you want to knock it, try it first. The player base of any MMO title would always dwindle as years progress despite WoW's status as that defining title in the industry. For the two Everquests, it's a case of dwindling player base due to circumstances both unavoidable and avoidable. Therefore, there's no way one could assume a sizeable number of reviewers deciding whether to do a Borat thumbs up or the Roman thumbs down for these two games. Because that'd possibly be one of the dumbest moments in the history of intellect. The funny info Google ratings gave actually reflected the fact that both games were (and most likely still are) unable to draw in a new crowd. That's all. But TERA's drop in ratings was nevertheless surprising given the high previous ratings from both Steam and Google. It makes one wonder whether the Korean rack truly sells. Actually, we all should know the answer by now. Of course, this is not to say only Koreans are obsessed with the oppai. No, it's not a typo. This is oppa while this is oppai.

At least she's not a case of Korean virtual anatomy.

Back to reality (i.e. #respawnlol)

The thing about spending too much time solo'ing zones below your level is this: You're bound to face reality sooner rather than later. After some time of not respawning, reality came back to Layes Wolftree. In Everquest 2, the quirky part about respawning was that it's incorporated in the background world instead of just only the gameplay. Whether or not this was intended to avoid any psychological impact caused by in-game death remains debatable (?). The hard landing (no pun intended for those who died because their mounts happened to run themselves off the cliff) first came up in Rivervale. Not this one but that one.

To highlight how insanely difficult Rivervale is even for a level 40+ character, you can try challenging yourself only to risk multiple moments of #respawnlol in one single session. Unlike other zones, the mob in Rivervale have a high tendency to zerg anyone either reckless enough to engage an individual target or just SoL enough. The Stone Hives near the Drafling Tower is a notable exception to this rule. Otherwise, taking quests in this zone means dealing with the aggro consistently (i.e. fight instead of flight). The tainted maidens along the river are particularly nasty in this aspect. In fact, John suspects the corrupted halfling mobs are not even half as bad. But they're not the worst-case scenario because any desecrated vale oak you find is definitely worse. If you want to progress enough to enter Everfrost and/or Lavastorm, you're better off doing quests in both the Enchanted Lands and Zek. In fact, there's only one questing zone in the Enchanted Lands outside Rivervale. If you don't want to waste your time running all over the place, then Steamfont Mountains should be a good zone for you to run about. After which you can decide whether or not to enter the Lesser Faydark and face those AMDK residents. And that's not mentioning New Tunaria where you have to face those equally AMDK elves (Note: To understand the real-life circumstances happening in the fictional realms of Lesser Faydark and New Tunaria, please refer to this).

A piece of advice from John: Do NOT try to solo the dark side of Shire unless you happened to have a mercenary. Even if you're beyond level 40, Rivervale still presents a bigger challenge than Lavastorm and Everfrost. This was meant to be strictly a heroic zone and it most likely still is. If you think solo'ing the Barovia zone in Neverwinter was already tough enough, try the Ravenloft version of Shire.

Another piece of advice from John: Due to the creature catalogue quest for Enchanted Lands involving around half of the list in the Rivervale zone, the only way to get it done via solo running is to get in and get out. So please know beforehand where your targets are spawning because the only way to get things done is to risk unwanted aggro. Also, please make sure you have the means to teleport back to any city. You'd need that unless you want to #respawnlol.

Note: Interestingly enough, not every nymph is an angry nymph serving the wrong cause. Apparently, the vale nymphs you see in the forest areas are allies to the correct group.

Lava and Frost

Lavastorm and Everfrost are two interesting zones. One can only be effectively done during the day, the other being the most ideal zone to run night questing. In Norrath, day and night matter quite a great deal. Unlike Neverwinter where day and night affects the challenge level of the AI in the Barovia zone, Everquest 2 is all about visibility. In short, it's far easier to run outdoor quests during the day due to normal visibility. Once night arrives, that's where visibility becomes an issue. And in Lavastorm, this cannot be any truer.

If you think visibility in Thundering Steppes was already bad enough, you haven't entered Lavastorm yet. Even in the daytime, visibility remains compromised. This may result in first-timers wondering how to reach Blisterzonk to start questing.

John forgot whether this was during the day or night. Also, the timing was brought to you by S(melly)**T(hings) Happen.

To reach Blisterzonk, you have to scale the outer part of the Sootfoot mining area. In fact, the entire area is a basin where Blisterzonk is at the outer high ground. At this point, it's advisable to complete the mount quest in the Butcherblock Mountains zone since the resurrected fossil mount can leap onto the high ground in a single try. The same couldn't be said about horses.

If you have stealth, then use it. While the Sootfoot mob have a low chance of aggro compared to other non-critter enemies, there's always a chance of it happening. Otherwise, you really have to risk the aggro. One particularly annoying thing about fighting Sootfoot mobs is that the gatherers have a high chance to knock you back, which in turn would result in a potential stun-lock situation. This is not to say you can't get out. Just that you'd need to have a decent level of stun-resistance.

Note: If you have the Karana familiar quest, try to wait until you're level 53 or so before attempting it unless you want to trial, error, and die en route to Sumarvaldr. John isn't interested to know whether it's possible to run along the mountains to prevent the aggro.

Everfrost is... well, fun in the sense that you can't just run the zone at early level 40s. While this doesn't apply to the ice wolves along Bitterwind Trench and primal frostfins swimming in the sea, pretty much 90% of the mobs are unsolo'able to any characters below level 45. However, there's a way to level up to 45 asap. At the docks area, you have a guy fishing for fish. This barbarian dude would offer you a fishing quest. All you need is to harvest some fish for him. So long you know how to run away from the sharks (in particular the ancient frostfins since these bigger sharks can dizzy you in 60 seconds), you're safe.

So how to dodge the sharks if you're unlucky enough to attract one? Firstly, the sharks aren't aggressive unless it's that annoyingly dangerous Dreadwake. Of course, there's still a chance of an ancient frostfin targeting you as if you're a bloody prey. But chances of that are... well, slim. Secondly, all you need is to swim towards the part of the docks area where a lone quest giving NPC is standing. Assuming you're facing the guy, aim for the right edge instead of the left. Make sure to hold space once you're nearing icy dry land. The reason why being that sometimes you'll end up under the docks instead of being able to move up onto it. If Dreadwake is chasing after you in this case, then congrats. It's SoL for you because that thing is an epic boss requiring two parties to take him down. Just ignore the fact that this deadly sharknado is a level 42. The challenge level barometer doesn't work conventionally.

Interestingly, you can try solo'ing a heroic quest intended for two players if you manage to meet the criteria below:

1. You're at least level 45.
2. You're a druid due to that underwater breathing spell.
3. Either that or you have the Fishbone Earring.

It's not a joke. John was able to solo Ebon Tooth. The first try was a failure minus the respawn. Layes got dizzied and half of his HP gone. Thankfully, the shore was nearby and the escape was a success. The second time around, casting Cure after getting hit 2-3 times somehow resulted in immunity. Apparently, this is how you go about taking down those ancient frostfins because this was already tried and tested before the first round. This move turned the second bout to Layes' favour and he managed to complete the impossible+unthinkable+unconceivable. Credit to this vid below for showing this half-Ainu sea otter from Hokkaido where to swim.

Note: Plenty of stuff did change over the years. Like less than 5 years to be exact.

In case you're thinking whether this is the only fight that would fetch you a green slot neck gear, the answer is no. You can get one either from Blisterzonk or helping the chivalrous barbarians to remind the valkyries of an age-old alliance. Although to be fair, those guys have to do it in order to survive and thrive.

The correct treatment of women

Recently, a river otter called Adam got himself into trouble. While it's high time we should just swim on, this comes to mind another episode. John is not about to take sides here. After all, he's just a half-Ainu otter who should have been born in Hokkaido instead of Singapore. But he still did have something to say.

Examples of dark fiction include this, this, and that. Half-Ainu or no half-Ainu, John should have been a Japanese sea otter from Hokkaido.

Enough about being a dark knight instead of a white knight in shining armour. The final part of this post involves a question: Is there such a thing called an unorthodox approach in Everquest 2?

The reason behind this question lies in using a Paladin. It's very easy to say tanking+damage, male or female. Under the Crusader section alone, we have four out of five trees considered as orthodox. The reason why?

1. Avenger is all about dealing damage via DPS and cooldown reduction. At the same time, it synergises very well with threat generating so long you have two taunts on standby. No defensive options are available for this tree, though.

2. Cavalier and Sentinel are the tanking trees. The Cavalier tree is all about holding the mob aggro while the Sentinel tanking game is more about survival. For the best tanking effect, Cavalier+Sentinel should be the ideal choice. 

3. Fourth is the Knight tree. Possibly many Paladin users' attainable dream, this is all about frontline combat support. You have the defensive, offensive, and the fact that every party would want to have you leading the line.

4. Legionnaire. This is the unorthodox option. The reason why being that it merely gives you an alternate source of damage. Who would be insane enough to attempt this tree since nothing about it is related to what a Paladin is expected to do? Definitely not a river otter. But no one ever said the likes of Emiya Kiritsugu and Goblin Slayer are river otters.

As you can see, this sea otter decided to go unorthodox. While John L'Otter is no ally of justice or the frontier's kindest, that doesn't mean he can't have role models. If you don't have brawn, get a degree. If you don't have both, then play it like this John.

So how exactly was John able to make the unorthodox work? The downside of the unorthodox lies in not being able to be considered the accepted specialist. This would be the strength of the orthodox. As for the downside of the orthodox, it's all about having too many options to consider. This is where the unorthodox shines: You don't need to think much about your move set. On the defensive end, just go for Knight's Stance. There's no other option. Worried about unwanted aggro? You have Subtle Strikes. Having to maximise the only thing that makes the Legionnaire work? You have Righteousness, so make sure you max out Legionnaire's Smite as well. The only dodgy part lies in using Legionnaire's Conviction since it only applies to magic damage. Legionnaire's Mercy? You need that. Like full 10 points. If you're using multi-heal as a bailout option, then Legionnaire's Mercy is your BFF.

This ultimately results in one problem: You most likely have no choice but to max out every AA. That is except for the final one that gives you double cast bonus. If you want to max out the alternate damage, then you can just throw full 8 points into it. Shunning this option, however, means you can afford to be more tactically and strategically versatile. Tactically because Paladins don't get many spells in their black book, hence making other options viable. As for the strategic end, it means you have more space to focus on the orthodox aspects. Because Legionnaires aren't specialists in tanking or damage dealing by default, maxing out Trample under the Cavalier tree can help a lot. To make this work, you have to place at least 1 point into Swift Attack so that you have better chances of multi-hitting. If you're lucky enough to harvest a Primordial Adornment of Carnage shard, that's going to be the best lottery your Greco-Roman knight can get. Whatever you do, make sure the AoE auto-attack game is up to scratch.

10 points into Battle Leadership, that's vital. In terms of party buff, it gives your Legionnaire better value. At the same time, Battle Leadership doesn't require concentration. What this means is that your power gauge won't go down that fast. Trust John, anything requiring concentration is bound to affect your power depletion. He knows because Layes is a Fury and it's been verified through trial, error, and the occasional #respawnlol. Battle Leadership is the backbone of every Knight. It buffs your party members and it also buffs you as well. Damage increment is always much welcomed for any Paladin using Knight's Stance. Again, it's vital for any Legionnaire.

Defensive wise, that'd be the defensive increase under the Cavalier tree. Damage wise, critical chance is important. So 10 points into that under the Sentinel tree. If there's anything left undone, it'd be 4 points into Crusader's Faith. With 94 points currently all spent on the Crusader end, John may end up spending the last 4 points into Swift Attack. Because the faster you hit, the more times you can proc Trample.

Impact so far

Above is all that's left to round things off for this build. The combination of Blessed Weapon training and Divine Inspiration focus is meant to up the damage without worrying about power usage. Yes, it's probability-based. But that's why Knight's Stance is so important. This isn't about getting things done asap, but doing trench warfare. Which was historically what the Romans were known for. The good thing about Paladins is that they have an effective AoE two-hitter. Ancient Wrath>Holy Circle is an effective tactic to weaken mobs. Against trash mobs, this can result in massive damage.

Note: For some weird reason, there were moments where Viaa took down like half a mob with a single hit. Granted the aforementioned two-hit synergy was utilised, but that's before the enemy ranks broke down at least by half. Possibly a case of Trample if you're to ask John.

P.S: We all know the common attribute of every distressed merchant waiting to be a gratified merchant. That is, the oppai. Granted it's not Korean, but that's still oppai. In a twisted moment of accidental humour, there's actually a distressed merchant waiting to be a gratified merchant having the same sprite as Viaa minus the arms, armour, and a more realistic bustline. The one to save her? Not some noble member of the Qeynos Guard but a bastard Fury. This is the reason why John called it a twisted moment of accidental humour. And he's not joking like an Adam.

Add P.S: There's nothing intentional about attractive gratified merchants with a female barbarian's bustline. Refer to the third meaning.

Final P.S: If there's anything worse than being Adam Khoo or Jay Chou at this point in time, it'd be getting yourself arrested in an incredibly stupid way.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod

Breaking character and blaming Steve

This is John L'Otter breaking character for this post, therefore I will be using the first-person POV. Recently, the Media Literacy Council upped a post on Facebook which caused a stir. While I shouldn't have reacted like John Constantine, the fact was that I had to edit it because I was typing like a genius Scouser who was nevertheless not as famous as Superman and Batman. In Zatanna's own words, it's called playing fast and loose. Seriously, she did say that concerning John Constantine in DCUO.

Just a distraction here before I continue: Should Batman have enjoyed eating steamboat all alone by himself?

I suddenly have a crap idea here. Seriously, it's total crap. Batman should consider inviting John Constantine if his friends aren't invited.

Maybe DC should start a detective agency helmed by Batman and John Constantine

Okay, back to the topic. Despite the absurdity surrounding the question of whether Singaporeans are academically smart but still utterly stupid, I realised I actually committed the mistake of seeing satire as the real deal. In fact, I wasn't the only one being fooled. As you can see by now, human intelligence is never absolute. But should the MLC have consulted the public to ensure that Singaporeans aren't stupid? The irony of this episode was evident in the sense that the person who fooled me was a girl. A local Singaporean girl, to be exact. I swear if this post goes national, it means I have to find a way to apologise to her. And her BFFs as well in case there's a need to avoid a lynch mob from India.

So why do I blame Steve?

To be honest, it's a joke based on what he once famously (?) said to me. Namely, I shouldn't be so obsessed with anime if I wanted to know members of the opposite sex. In NSF speak, it means you need to be cool in order to get the girls. And Steve Ang was the coolest guy in now-defunct 32 SIB@Clementi Camp. But what if the intellectual level of Japanese visual media can be way higher in value than works like Crazy Rich Asians and the Ah Boys To Men series? This post will be about stuff related to Steve's comment on why I was (and still am) not the coolest guy in the country. Actually, it'd take either a global miracle or an utterly stupid girl for me to get an actual smartphone instead of a pseudo smartphone cursed with zero net accessibility.

Seriously, I doubt my ancestor was the Sage of Strategies or the Falcon That Shines From The East.

Before I begin, it seems that something funny is about to rise from the (Far) East

This past one month or so seemed terribly weird. Not in a nation giving birth to a unifier named Lee Kuan Yew but that other nation giving birth to another unifier NOT guilty of invading the salty Koreans. Three weird things, to be exact.

The first weird thing involved the Showa Emperor becoming as emo as Winston Churchill. If the reason behind Winston Churchill turning emo was a deadly cocktail of Singapore and depression, then for the Showa Emperor, it's this. Now it must be stated that when you signed along the dotted line, that's it. In other words, you can't blame people for reacting in a way that's... well, angry. The anger directed towards an Emperor (in)famous for starting a war shouldn't be dismissed as emotional issues. Yes, we're now living in an era where the closest thing to a Japanese invasion would be Ambitious Abe's intent to amend the post-war Constitution. But that doesn't mean we should dismiss history as if our ancestors were a bunch of Vikings sailing all way from Saxony. While hypothetical analysis should be perfectly okay, it's important to state the hypothetical as... well, hypothetical. This comes to mind a very interesting question: Why the timing? Mind you, the entry was dated 7th April 1987. That'd be like two years before he passed away. In the aftermath of his demise, we have brave people behaving like every brave Ainu and equally brave Ryukyuan. Simply put, someone has be responsible for the greatest shock in Japanese history since Crown Prince Naruhito married a feminist N years before his father decided to abdicate in the name of irony (i.e. the reason behind Emperor Emeritus Akihito's abdication was the reason why the Meiji government decided to ban every Emperor from ownself fire ownself). As if this wasn't enough, it's implied that the Showa Emperor did have his own BFF. I'm not spreading fake news and neither am I out to spread satire. In fact, this real news came from the unlikeliest suspect otherwise known as the South China Morning Post. I have a decent guess on who this unknown BFF was. Unfortunately, certain things cannot be said because there are families in Japan which you cannot afford to piss off.

The second weird thing would be Robert Kuok agreeing to an interview with Asahi Shimbun. At first glance, there's nothing weird about Asahi Shimbun doing a Robertayaki. Excuse me, Mr Kuok, so you're telling your fellow Kuok that Asahi Shimbun should be given the right to interview you ahead of the likes of Bahasa Melayu Mail and South China Sea Morning Post? I don't want to react like a brave Ainu or equally brave Ryukyuan, but I'm sorry to say that it's illogical. Shouldn't the right to do a Robertayaki go to news media owned by your people? I'm not being a protectionist, I'm just trying to be logical. And besides, something else happened involving another bunch of salty East Asians. Moral of the story? It takes a brave Japanese to do a Robertayaki.

The third weird thing actually happened like a year ago or so. Now the good thing about me being myself is curiosity. So far so good, I've yet to exercise my cremation rights. That is a good thing because that means I can keep on being curious until I run out of respawns. This is also the reason why I have the ability to obtain knowledge through wiki sites. The same couldn't be said about my fellow Singaporeans, though. If you're a Hokkien, it means you're forever a Hokkien. This may sound straightforward, but the region where every Hokkien hailed from was also the most vulgar place in China. Just when optimists believed such vulgar days of vulgar people and vulgarities have ended due to names like Xiamen University and Yi Zhong Tian, the Japanese Imperial family was given a dose of classic Hokkien education. Funnily enough, the Imperial Household Agency had no comments. Sounds logical? Considering the Imperial Household Agency has always been dogged by a reputation of being control freaks, that's illogical. Not even a statement striking a diplomatic tone was done. Sounds illogical? Well, it's more illogical than Asahi Shimbun given the right to trademark the Robertayaki

Reason for recommendation: It teaches you the other side of humanity

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Reason for recommendation: It teaches you to get a sword before following the rainbow




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Reason for recommendation:
It teaches you that a saint is still a sinner, so no point trying to impress Monica Baey






Reason for recommendation: Refer to the video below






Reason for recommendation: It teaches you why tribalism exists










Reason for recommendation:
It teaches you how scary a world without God can be.
Not to mention as well it being part of Singapore's banhammer list.

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P.S: Okay, gonna cool things down with this last song.

Le Bâtard

Update: John just came back from work and the two matches are now underway. Hence, he has no choice but to up this without editing. With that being said, someone mentioned something a bastard once did before. The bastard John L'Otter was talking about?

History repeating itself?

Two defeats for the red half of Manchester. Will it end up as something more than just two blips? Below are the teamsheets during the last two blips.

Versus Wolves

Versus Palace

Within 180 minutes in total (minus stoppage time), Solskjær might have gotten tactically wedgied. While it's right to say football is a human being's game, there's nothing humane about the lack of intelligence coming from a bunch of people. Let's get straight to the point here: Did these fans know anything about the opposition? No one is saying a penalty miss or two wouldn't cost the team, but the whole incident was effectively a case of the dog eating the homework. Below are the teamsheets of the opposition during the two blips.

Wolves' teamsheet

 Palace's teamsheet

If Man Utd fans were guilty of sniggering at Liverpool two seasons ago, then retribution may have arrived a tad too early. Be it 3-4-3 or 4-5-1, it's obvious the opponents were out to prevent Utd from creating any semblance of offensive momentum. We all should know Roy Hodgson by now, he's no believer in footballing aesthetics.

Erm, no. John isn't referring to this.

As for Wolves, the Man Utd match wasn't the first time Nuno Espírito Santo deployed a 3-man backline. In fact, he's been doing that since day 1 when Wolves were still bumming around in the Championship. Simply put, one could say he's a back-3 specialist. The defeat suffered was no coincidence. If you have a back 3, it means you should be preventing the opponent from starting the counter-offensive from the middle 3rd. If you're someone who tried the fish-and-chips football, it means parking the humongous fish-and-chips van in front of the goal so that Jesse Lingard couldn't do a single thing despite allowing so much space to run. Solskjær's inability to break down either a stubborn midfield or an equally stubborn backline comprising of 9 outfield players shouldn't be dismissed as just two blips. The other bunch of red shirts should know what John L'Otter was referring to.

Two seasons ago, Liverpool got a problem with Die Gegenpress. Against teams NOT out to park a cluster of rocks in front of goal, it can easily work wonders. Against teams choosing to do so, however, was a chief factor behind the Kop having to wait for another year. Actually, the correct duration in silverware purgatory should be 2 years. Champions League didn't count in John's books because the red bird bottled it again like its blue brother in Wales. To be honest, last season was worse than Stevie G's fall from grace considering how close last season's team was compared to Brendan Rodgers' era.

Well, at least Liverpool got itself a smaller pot of gold after following the rainbow. The leprechaun was too strong in his native cluster of rocks, though.

The possibility of Man Utd staring at the start of its own Liverpool shouldn't be dismissed. Looking at the starting lineup actually exposed the fallacy of Old Trafford's Jarl. Against teams out to emulate Trump by building a wall, it's only logical to utilise a master passer of the ball. This is NOT to say there's no Plan B. It has always been there, we're talking about this guy below.

Granted Solskjær might have preferred his football to be faster and prettier, but the question here should be this: Is there any other player in the dressing room able to prove his class by stabilising the game, dictating the tempo, and passing the ball? Lingard isn't that kind of player while Andreas Pereira only featured once. Incidentally, that's the only match Utd won so far out of three.

This was the starting team against a team which got sucker-punched 4 times.

Going by this article, it seems that Pereira does have the potential. The problem, however, would be his nerves.

How a bastard's strategy can work

A bastard's strategy involves three lines: The first would be the artillery, the second would be the infantry, and the last line would be the cavalry. While Scottish McTominay's presence should be more than capable of freeing up Le Chevalier Noir deployed alongside with him, the question would be whether there's a need to add in one more ball anchor. It's one thing passing the ball from the deep, quite another to split open the defence with a single pass. Focusing the fulcrum of passing at the four by two is nothing less than a risk. All the opposition needs to do is to look at the teamsheet. John wouldn't be surprised if Nuno and Roy were emboldened by seeing Lingard instead of... Pereira? If Mata is to start, then the most ideal formation may well be 4-2-3-1 instead of 4-3-3. Then again, 4-2-3-1 is more of a variation of 4-3-3 and 4-5-1. One of the challenges behind making a strategy focusing on all-out mobility offensive would be coming up with an effective ball anchoring approach. When you have four such players plus a black knight, it's inevitable that the one in charge of distributing play would be under a lot of pressure. It's up to Solskjær to decide whether Scottish McTominay's youth would result in composure. It's actually a gamble which may well make or break Utd's season within one-third of the fixtures. Whenever they say if you're good enough, you're old enough, it's nothing more than one side of the quarter. The other side? If you're old enough, it means you should be good enough.

No one says they're good at duels

In another part of the English north, Middlesbrough may well be staring at a hard fight ahead. Ask John and he'd prefer Woodgate to be given two seasons to reach promotion. At this point, we're not good enough. Why get up there only to fall back down? It's like skydiving. You don't assume you won't die if the parachute is faulty. Actually, you'll die. One aspect of the match stats has to be the most disturbing moment for any Boro fan. Including John.

Let's be honest here. Do you think Boro deserves promotion if the aerial duels win rate stays this way? While there are indeed teams in the second flight out to prove a point by going against the norms (Eddie Howe has to be the most famous name under this category so far), the breakneck pace of the game there means aerial duels are a must for every team. To highlight how bad things can be if nothing is being done, consider the fact that Blackburn's manager is Mogga and we all know how insanely swashbuckling his brand of football can get. If West Bromwich under him could get relegated due to idealism, Blackburn winning aerial duels could easily say something about us.

This comes to mind whether goals come easier under aerial pressure or the other way around. There seemed to be something shaky about the team and you can't fault Woodgate for giving the team something to grapple with. In fact, John wouldn't be surprised if losing aerial duels was the driving force behind our sluggish start so far. And that's the one thing Woodgate needs to address. In fact, if there's only one thing he could afford to do so, it'd be this. Considering that Woodgate effectively inherited Pulis' backline, losing aerial duels looked more like an absurdity than at least 3 blips in a row.

Case in point: If Blackburn could win the aerial duelling, then so can Bristol City.

How a bastard's strategy can work

Boro's form so far is a tale of two Northern Irish. It's nice to see Woodgate attempting a 3-man mobility offensive in the form of Britt Assombalonga, Ashley Fletcher, and either Marvin Jonno or Mr Browne. But you don't expect offensive momentum to go your way if the backline is unable to send a message of motivation and assurance. After all, it's only human nature to watch what's behind.

And speaking of the backline, Woodgate may have pulled off a strategic blinder by deploying his fellow Jonny at the right back. A central mid by default, who'd imagine Howson to operate efficiently at a position which he never tried before on a competitive basis? John may be wrong here, but he didn't remember Howson playing anywhere beyond the middle 3rd. Woodgate might have discovered an effective way to play the ball from the back. Imagine what's going to happen if this didn't work out.

Depending solely on Howson in this manner is not going to solve the aerial duelling problem. If Woodgate wants to play the ball from the back, he'd need a ball-playing centre back to compliment his fellow Jonny. Do we have such a player? The answer is yes, he's Big Fry. But there's a problem: He has to prove his composure first.

In the midfield, Woodgate would most likely have a decent idea on his permanent 3. That is if there's anything to go by from Vickerman's article. Add in Lewis Wing and we'd have a promising engine room raring to go. However, that's not going to solve the aerial duelling conundrum. This could be where Georgie Saville comes in.

Right now, the ball anchor comes from the right side of the defence. After all, Howson's most prominent strength may possibly be his passing game. But that's not going to address the question of who should be the midfield ball anchor. This comes to mind whether Woodgate would have to swallow his pride.

The attacking 3 has to be the most consistent fixture in the team so far. If there's any reason behind the jitters and creepers in the final 3rd, it's very likely due to the backline unable to ease the pressure off them. It's very clear for all to see what Woodgate wants in terms of the firepower. One central striker (i.e. Assombalonga), one fast winger (i.e. Fletcher), and an attacking midfielder (i.e. either Marvin Jonno or Mr Browne). The last part of this mentioned attacking 3 is what John was talking about just now. Should he slow down the pace so that the team can have a better time in keeping calm and composed? Or to put it simply, should Georgie Saville start as the third man in the attacking 3 alongside the other two?

Yes, you can say he didn't have a decent game against Millwall. However, his energy and ability to play in a false 10 role mean the ability to hold down the ball effectively. But there's a problem: He's a left-footer. This means the question of whether Fletcher can be deployed at the right even though he's more commonly known as a left-winger. Apparently, the answer is yes.

Assuming we're talking about a middle 3 of McNair, Clayton, and Wing. this means we're looking at one defensive mid deployed nearer to the back 4 due to Paddy Mac and L-Wing belonging to the aggressive type. Simply put, there has to be a ball anchor somewhere in order to maximise the efficiency. With Saville playing as a false 10, this means taking the pressure off the back while enabling two running men to boss the show in the middle 3rd. Adding in Howson and Big Fry at the back and we'd have three ball anchors instead of just one. Would the offensive momentum be slower? Yes. Would it contribute to easing the pressure off the back? Hopefully so. Would we have less problem scoring goals if stability from the back to front can be achieved? You can bet Hodgson's tenner on that.