Seems I got a fairly good idea from your answer and OPs post.

Seems VP1 is more optimistic in its outlook by comparison as your companions seemed to have already been qualified to be tested to join the ranks for Ragnarök. But seems to place more value on an individual character as it has effect on the meta-narrative value.

I do know that CotP deals with some pretty heavy topics of the reality of the period and I did appreciate that rawness to it as it helped sell the setting and provide sufficient investment to see how far the rabbit hole went.

I have only played Covenant of the Plume - not sure that falls in the franchise - and I recall that game was grounded in human politics and the exploring the personal stories of the characters one interacts with.

It seems to be a more personal journey as the characters that one has access to and what type of story arc one plays is decided by the decisions one makes through the story and having to weigh the value of human life against a backdrop of colourful characters.

Seems the games are similiar in concept and design with some differing gameplay mechanics

Kamiki: Smugly All according to the plan

Aqua: I am Karma, I am become Death

Kamiki : What?

Aqua does the thing of confronting Kamiki with his two favourite murder methods

I am enjoying the manga with its symbolism and all, although I am more for the exploration of the human condition than the supernatural elements

Liked the introspection of peace and compassion from Aqua before commiting to the bit - nice moment of reflection on how heavy and commited he has been to enact his revenge but done with a lighter tone showing him being honest with himself and finding clarity in thought.

Reading that, seems you were fortunately not traveling too fast, as I can imagine traveling along, the sudden stop, falling over face first into the packed snow and just sort of enacting an image of your one foot being propped like a hand trying to pull excalibur from the snow.

I understand that

It was years between the robbery ( headed back home after spending time with my then girlfriend) and the attempted assault ( work decided to have me work around that area) and I would always be uneasy but trying not to look like a too easy a mark again while thinking of “what if” scenarios as it feels like one’s intution is on a fine tuned edge being alert for anything that seems suspicious.

I guess it could be described as practical fear

After the attack, I was insistent and since then do my utmost to keep as far away from that area as possible.

I will admit, I also felt apprehension like how you might have felt like when I started posting details

I was paranoid as I was robbed in that area before to which I froze, but the police were around then and arrested one of the suspects.

The paranoia part comes from thinking that they might have wanted revenge as I ID’d and provided a statement that allowed it to be prosecuted ( got a call from a prosecutor) for the robbery.

So the immediate thought was if it was payback, as they said nothing through the whole ordeal, but realistically, if it was they would have not run away so quickly or took advantage of my poor positioning.

The most rationale thinking in hindsight is that it was a bunch of meth-heads were looking for quick score and by me escalating they decided for a quick and dirty robbery instead.

That area where I used to work is dangerous and I know I got really lucky considering considering the type of incidents that do happen there

Reminds me of what a friend told with his grandfather when he was cutting wood for a carpentry project with a handheld wood saw, it slipped out of his hand and, I guess on instinct, tried to grabbed before it fell, if I recall he got some nasty lacerations from catching it on the blade before switching it off.

So I can only imagine what it might feel working with something that cuts before you can even register the damage. That was a close call, especially with the momentum of your movement could have done some irreparable damage to your hand.

Also lucky that that the impact of the fall didn’t cause any other damage to your legs as it took the impact like a champ from the momentum of the flip and sudden stop if I am assuming it was something like a 1-story distance from the deck to the ground?

Thank you for the clarity

And that must have been an experience to say the least, feeling the “edge of death” with every foot step

That is scary to think of having no control for who knows how long and when coming to a stop and realise that you missed the worst part of it at the end.

Thinking on it, must have been an experience - knowing something worked just enough to remind one of how much it protected them.

I am not knowledgeable about the ballistic resistance of a helmet, but to me that seems like a quality helmet to be able to stop a bullet in its tracks - especially if it was a caliber higher than a pistol, I make the assumption.

That is like the opposite of something out of Final Destination

That was lucky that you didn’t react yeah

Reminds me of when I was in high school playing rugby and I ended up in a position where I was on the ground. As I want to get up, I barely see someone running full speed backwards towards me and in the time I saw them and turned my head to brace I got blunt metal togs slamming against my head.

The outer most tog ended up hitting me just on above my eye on the bone along my eye brow with the other togs going up towards my hair line.

In my case, reacting saved my eye ball

I played it a long time ago, but still recall how the way of open fist and closed fist symbolized I guess concepts

Closed Fist, was a philosophy selfish desire and domination with the ideal of only the strongest getting to make the rules

Whereas open fist was selflessness with the ideal that one’s strength is only as strong as the weakest link

The morality was binary choice with the environments changing somewhat accordingly, but I recall it having a more noticable effect on the “kung-fu” you could learn and it was an interesting mechanic to try and match one’s fighting style to the philosophy one follows.

I recall open-fist felt more disciplined and “soft” in its impact whereas closed-fist had a more viseral feel with the intent to cause harm and show superiority

Although the choice was either open or closed fist it did leave a stronge impact on how different the ending sequence played out which at the time was something I really felt impressed with as the difference in tone during the last moments - showcasing that both paths can achieve the goal.

I think Mass Effect probably had its early roots, in regards to morality system, from Jade Empire with influence from KOTOR as well.

Thank you to everyone that left a comment, it has been helpful to snap me out of the negative spiral somewhat.

Again, something that I noticed is that my, not sure, brain I guess responds stronger to the perception of empathy rather than sympathy or at least it feels that way when I think on how I read what has been written. It might get warped with people I know over time as I sink into a negative mindspace.

But I do think I subconsciously attempt to try “feel” what is been written or seen and base an interpretation from that - mixed with a profile that I probably apply a bias to.

So thinking on that I probably felt frustrated at the friend when their writing had the appearance of not understanding what I am feeling and felt ever more dispondent when I tried to get them to understand what I am feeling which probably lead to throwing more and more negative emotion in an attempt to have it be acknowledged.

Probably it was an attempt to grasp at trying to not be alone, which I admit is probably not helpful to someone else, especially if they do not wish to “feel” that emotion.

It is like an emotional mismatch I guess, where one shouts " this is the solutions that I found that helped" and the other shouts “this is a problem and I want support”. It probably ends up feeling that either side is not listening to the other as both parties are looking at an issue from a different lens.

The video had a good example on how important voting in a functional democracy is, as it applies pressure and weakens the grip of stronger “keys” as the ones in charge must try to balance self-interest with survival. It also shows how this power can also be used against itself as those in charge try to manipulate the system towards a desired outcome.

Also thank you for confirming what book the video is based on

I assume the video is based on “The Dictator’s Handbook” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator’s_Handbook?

The video, helps for me, conceptualise the rationale where one sees some of the decisions that take place in the world.

Makes me think past an individual and questions how an action is targeted for a result.

Happy with the confirmation with the questions I was pondering in regards to Kamiki with the earlier panel in, i think 154,where his “black eyes” were ablaze showing he was putting in a “star” level performance selling and even convincing people (and judging by what I have seen been said about him before this point) of his lies.

Edit: looking at manga pages around 154 again, kamiki lost his “light” during the affair with the married woman and has been down the path of darkness ever since.

[Indubiously] Forta would be filled with pride knowing that. [Bewildered] Imagining having to script all of Hamlet with all that pretext

To be fair the greatness of experiencing Elcor Hamlet was intended to be seen through his actions not emotions.

[Regretfully and with much sorrow] One cannot truly experience it in its 14 hour splendour

[Restrained Optimism and sadness] It will be a different game considering the people behind it and the aftermath of the trilogy. [Wistful Contentment] Having the next Mass Effect have some grounded world building and, if need be, mix elements to a compromise of old and new