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Psycho-Stress

"Hollow-sama"
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Orphea Rant

5 min read
So Orphea has been released in my favorite game Heroes of the Storm. I can't say I'm all thrilled about it. In fact, I'm pretty disappointed. This is the first Blizzcon that disappointed me and the first hero release that disappointed me. To me, her release was more an off-season April Fool's joke than Diablo Immortal was. She's not a hero that's been highly requested, mainly because no one knew who she was prior to the release of the pdf comics, whose sole purpose is to pave the way for her release, much like how the Scourge did for Archimonde. The main complaint people have is that she's taking up a spot that a more iconic hero could've held, and I couldn't agree more. HotS had always been a game where iconic heroes from other Blizzard franchises clash... prior to Orphea at least.

Here are a few points I've read and my responses.

1. "You still have your Blizzard universe heroes. Orphea being released will not take those away."
Yeah and I'm sure you'll still eat your sandwich after I poop on it. You still have your sandwich, don't you? My pooping on it didn't take it away. Yes, I just compared Orphea to poop.
2. "Blizz wanted to be creative and try to make a kit for a brand new character instead of making a kit around a pre-existing character."
The HotS team knew from the start that they will have to mold kits from pre-existing characters since the original premise of this game is a crossover. If they think that making kits around pre-existing characters is detrimental to the growth of their creative muscles, maybe they shouldn't've made the game revolve around this concept from the start or maybe they should've applied for devs in DotA or LoL instead.
3. "Orphea is made by Blizz so she has as much right as any HotS character to be in the game."
This statement is a response to the main complaint about Orphea but is poorly worded. Orphea is not iconic enough. She was introduced through freaking comics. Every other character is from ANOTHER game. Most players aren't invested enough to care about her or her lore.
4. "Orphea doesnt look like a LoL character. LoL characters look like Orphea."
Are you even trying?
5. "I'm not a diehard Blizz fan but I'm super hyped by this character."
That is exactly why you don't care as much. This is an example of not being able to walk in someone else's shoes. You're super hyped because you're not a die hard Blizz fan.
6. "I don't know a lot about the lore of other Blizz games but I love her kit."
I'm sure you would have no problem with having her kit belong to an iconic Blizzard character you don't know. Perhaps a Faceless servant of an Old God in WoW, Maar from Starcraft, Baal from Diablo
7. "They'll still release favorites after Orphea. Don't be such a whiny pussy."
Yeah but the point is that the HotS team wasted time and effort on a hero a lot of people hate rather than a hero most could've appreciated... like Imperius, for example. Imagine the backlash against Overwatch characters... then imagine even the fans of OW characters joining the backlash.
8. "If you hate her that much, then stop playing."
Noted.

Here is my list of things Blizzard could've done to make Orphea's introduction smoother.
1. Make Orphea the HotS mascot from launch or earlier.
Having her presence in-game from the get go would pique players' interest in her. We were intrigued by the Raven Lord's personality from his narration of Cursed Hollow alone. Heck, he would've been a more eligible hero were he not a Realm Lord. Anyway, making her a personality in a Brawl or some in-game event would've made players more interested in her.
2. Make her a connecting factor.
Similar to above but on a wider scale. Final Fantasy has the moogle as an iconic face of its franchise. Frederica/Furude Rika is the connecting factor between the Higurashi and Umineko franchises. Orphea could be some dimension-shifting easter egg that appears in all of Blizzard's games. A HotS mascot, an arcade game in Hanamura, some random encounter in Diablo 3, a guest in the Hearthstone tavern.
3. Release her after all the favorites are released.
Tall order, but this is what many would've wanted.
4. Release her somewhere that ISN'T Blizzcon.
One major complaint I've seen is this. People were expecting two great hero reveals in Blizzcon. Every Blizzcon so far relesed at least two heroes but this year's Blizzcon only revealed one and its someone almost everyone hated. Releasing her on some other day would still create ire from fans but this could've  at leadt lessened the blow.

Anyway, the damage is done and Orphea is now in the game. Thank you, Blizzard, for letting me play such an amazing game since Alpha but I'm afraid this is where we part ways.
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Hello. 




What the hell is a journal portal?
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Ozine:

stibsky.tumblr.com/post/446912…

www.tumblr.com/tagged/i+felt+t…


AME Monogatari:

alittledecadence.tumblr.com/po…

angeyah.tumblr.com/post/126862…


I'm collecting pictures of my for my insatiable appetite for ... uhh... narcissism? Oh well. If any of you find more pics.

Thanks to google and spitfirex
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Quiet Lately

1 min read
Everything seems to be quiet lately. I totally lost my tempo in poetry and making Romantically Apocalyptic translations and (ineffectively) replaced by papier-mache mask making. I hadn't even been able to update my blog which I intended to post on at least once a month.

I still plan on writing fanfics though; one fanfic will be of Touhou and the other will be of FFTA2. For the Touhou fanfic, I still hadn't made a decent story flow but I sure have made a rough concept that made my friend LOL. For the FFTA2 fanfic, I'm currently replaying the game to watch the scene I'll base the story from (yeah. That game has a big replay value for me).

Since I just made the LOL mask, I wouldn't be making another mask any time soon.

Hmmm... what else... I dunno.
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Christmas is overrated.
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So far, I made six masks based on Internet memes (not counting Epic Fail guy). There's Trollface, Rageface, Forever Alone, Y U NO, Me Gusta and LOL. And now I'd like to write something about them to clear things up.

Why papier mache? Because it's cheap and easy to work with. Plus, it's somewhat nature-friendly since I'm using paper that would've been sent to the landfills. I have a lot of used paper here: handouts, test papers, notebooks, flyers, newspapers, cereal boxes, et cetera. For me, it'd be a waste to throw them away. Plus, since the memes are originally drawn mainly in black and white using MS Paint, I thought that papier mache would be an analogous medium. Both are plain, simple-looking and without any complicated procedures. Though it may be the case that one could create something on par with more advanced media with expert hands, the simplicity of a drawing or papier mache sculpture can be outstanding at times. I'd like to use advanced materials in the future, though.

What adhesive do I use? Starch aka amylum. In the Philippines, we call it gawgaw or almirol. I boil it and it becomes paste once it cools. When the paste dries and hardens, the layers of paper become as hard as wood. I hurt my knuckles when I punch my masks. Seriously. My Hollow and Guy Fawkes masks were too soft because there wasn't enough starch in the mixture so when I put more starch when I made Trollface, I was pretty amazed at the stiffness of the mask.

Do I use molds? Some have suggested that I use molds so that the masks can easily fit the face and I say no. Why? To me, these masks are more like wearable sculptures. Molding them onto a face mold would remove the essence of the character and it would look different from the original meme. I don't think the memes are created to depict actual human faces (that'd be creepy); they are too distorted to fit into a mold. The Hollow and Guy Fawkes masks are actual masks... the Meme masks aren't. So yeah, I sacrifice 'wearability' for 'essence'.

What will I do next? Disappoint and I Lied some of the memes I intend to do next. But there are also non-meme masks I intend to make like No Face and Jigsaw. I might even redo Guy Fawkes. I hang my finished masks on a a wall in my room and I intend to fill that wall... or even fill the room.
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Featured

Orphea Rant by Psycho-Stress, journal

I'm back... I guess by Psycho-Stress, journal

Just some Tumblr posts by Psycho-Stress, journal

Quiet Lately by Psycho-Stress, journal

Papier Mache Masks by Psycho-Stress, journal