whiteflame

Roles: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uyAbsTGOpS7oskFDIfB3u5DLbXsDyvfbjFY52e3er8I/edit?usp=sharing

Pie gave Earth Justice

As for the second issue, I decided ahead of the game that a roleblocked role was just not going to be used up, and I do think that was a mistake as applied to the roles granted by Pie's Inventor in particular. At minimum, I should've been looser on how that perspective applied in this game, and I think the Freezer should have resulted in Earth having used up the Justice role. It just made Pie's role more powerful than it should have been by NP2. Apart from that, it probably would've been best to leave Pie's Inventions at 2. I think altogether, these decisions did make the game town-sided, so my balance was off.

Anyway, I'll leave the self-flagellation there and focus on the game. I was surprised people were so ready and willing to lynch Savant that early, particularly with a claimed Doctor on the table. I get that scum could ask about two roles and could have designed this claim knowing there was a Doctor in the game, but it seemed particularly risky, especially coming from Mharman who stood to lose his role.

As for WyIted in the second DP... yeah, it was a bit painful to read his paraphrasing of my PMs. I probably would have townread his being so flabbergasted with so much of the terminology, but I get why he was being scumread, even if the "scumslips" were reaching.

I think town also gave both Luna and Mikal way too much leeway in those first two DPs. I get that Mikal was absent for a lot of that first DP, but he barely posted in the second and Luna didn't have to do too much to keep attention off of him.

Luna and Mikal definitely had some opportunities to win out in the end, but their concern over the Justice role ended up winning out over some more promising strategies. That's partially on me for reasons I've already described, though I think the risk of the Justice was pretty low given what they had on hand with an Ascetizer and the Even Night Godfather. They pushed a little too hard for the DP3 win, but especially on those last two nights, they were putting in solid effort to design fake claims and run through a lot of potential night actions. Props to them for putting it all on the line.

The sun rises. Another DP begins.

Doing this one solo and seeing how it goes. Should be interesting.

This game will be themed on microbiology. I'm going to limit the focus to bacteria. There will be a theme split. Going to start this thing off with 9 slots and expand if interest does as well. I'm still working on the setup so there's room to figure things out if needed. No, you don't need to have detailed knowledge of microbiology to understand the theme. The aim will be to start sometime in a week or so.

Vader NK'd Barney

So... huh. This was going to get pretty crazy based on how things were set to play out. Barney wasn't aware of it, but he was a Hidden Sleepwalker, and RNG had him visiting Luna, so both Casey and Barney would have been Silenced if the latter hadn't been NK'd. Was interested to see how the PBO would work out, but things came to a head early in DP2 with Austin's result.

It was a quick game, but oh well, I had fun making it and seeing everything come together. It was great revisiting all the quotes from the show. I promise I'll do this again sometime. Thanks again to Mharman for all his help designing the game, and I welcome any and all feedback on the design and execution.

Onward to DP2!

Barney - You are Saint Germaine! You come onto the scene as a normal human seeking information on the Infinite Corridor, a gateway to other dimensions into which he lost his partner before the events of the series. After getting lost in the Corridor, you are found and manipulated by the mysterious Alchemist into committing unspeakable acts, only to discover that it was in fact Death himself using him to return an ultimate evil to this world. Because of your attunement to the unseen and can discover disturbances that others overlook by glimpsing shadows, you are the Cop. Each night you may select one person to target. You will learn there affiliation. You win with the town.

1. Pie

A few years back, I took a sort of scattershot approach to reviewing and recommending anime and manga series I'd liked over the past couple of years, as well as some of my all-time favorites. I had intended to keep it up after that, but honestly, I thought my approach was too wordy and not directed enough. Maybe someone got something out of reading those reviews, though I don't think many people read them.

I have since seen individual requests for recommendations, and I think making this more dedicated to that could improve on what I was originally aiming for and narrow the focus.

So, instead, I'm going to just set this here to create a space for recommendations and requests for recommendations. I'll expand on this in future posts on this thread with some entries of my own with a focus on genres, and I'll also try to include some sections for style and more unique, hard to characterize storytelling. People can feel free to add to this in an ongoing fashion. Hopefully, with the help of anyone who wants to participate, we can get a running list of recommendations (I'll try to keep up compiling them) and answer any requests that come up.

As many of you have become aware, there is apparently an issue connecting with the site, particularly from mobile devices. I know not everyone is having this problem, but it does seem like it is affecting quite a few people, myself included. I'm able to bring up the site on my home and work computer, but not on my phone. Hopefully the problem will not persist, but I'm doing what I can to investigate it (no, I do not have access to the site's code and cannot do anything personally) and see what we can do about it (yes, I've reached out to Mike).

I received an invitation for the annual Mafia Championship tournament. Apologies for not getting this out sooner, but it looks like we'll have to select someone by April 20th, assuming there is someone that wants to participate. If you're interested, information about the tournament can be found in the link below.

Hey everyone!

Those in the know may recall that we've been involved in an inter-website mafia championship in previous years, and it looks like another one is just around the corner. The link for it is given below, and the tournament is supposed to start on April 22nd. We've participated before and I hope someone will step up to the challenge and join the competition this year. Note that the Google Doc details some of the requirements, including a good amount of activity in a forum mafia game on a daily basis. Let me know if you have any questions and I can relay them.

Many of you probably won't recognize this account. I had to dig back through The WayBack Machine to find his account, but I still remember my debate against Ajab and the discussions we had all those years ago. He's also one of only a handful of people that I stayed in contact with well after leaving DDO. We spoke with some regularity, despite the fact that he lived in Pakistan, half a world away.

Unfortunately, that ended early this morning when he died. I know his death hit me hard - he was in his mid-20's, and while that alone is a tragedy, he was also a person who had been through a lot in his life and persevered, someone who was thoughtful and passionate, loving and caring. I won't go into details about his death, but his family and friends will miss him dearly. For everyone who knew him or wishes they could have, we are all affected by this loss. Rest in peace.

After substantial discussion regarding several votes on the election thread (we appreciate everyone's patience), we have determined that the outcome stands as written at the end of the election thread:

I feel like we haven’t really had a retrospective on recent anime on the site, really just an assorted set of picks that each of us likes.
 
So, I'm starting something new and ongoing - a series about each season of anime and manga as they're coming out. Rather than starting with the current season though, as I'd like to pace this out a bit, I'll be taking a step back a couple of years and focusing on the best of each season starting in 2016 and going through 2021, hopefully getting through a year of anime and manga each week. I’m up for doing earlier years and 2022 onward, but for now, my focus will be on the more recent past and present.
 
I’m not going to try to be exhaustive about what came out each season, but I will try to cover both what I saw and the basics of the series that I missed and either wish to return to at some point or just think warrant attention for one reason or another. I will provide a rating for each of the ones that I’ve seen/read (on a scale of 10, with a 5 being a weak but average series, a 10 being a basically perfect series, and a 0 having no redeeming qualities) and will include a best-of-year among the ones I watched at the bottom of each post.
 
If I didn’t cover something you liked from any of these seasons, you'd like to provide your own views on what I've covered, or if you just want to interject with something related to anime and manga, feel free to post. My hope is that we continue posting here as new anime come out to give thoughts, or, barring that, just have some further discussions of some recent favorites.

I've watched quite a few anime over the years (full list here: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/whiteflame55), but picking out a top 10 is difficult for me. Used to have a clear set, but now, it's impossible to leave it to even that many. So, while I have a top 10 series (I'm giving those in no particular, though I do have some idea of how I'd rank them), I have to pick some favorite movies for a separate list.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2008)

Hard not to love this bombastic, over-the-top series by Gainax. You might know them best by the work of another studio that spun off from them, Trigger (BNA: Brand New Animal and Kill la Kill). The animation is colorful and sharp, as in those series, but what really sets this apart is the emotional stakes baked into it and the incredible characters. It's a story of perseverance against impossible odds that always struck a chord with me.

Fate/Zero (2011-2012)                             

The series that would probably top this list, it's a Greek tragedy done up in the style of mages summoning some of the greatest heroes from history to do battle over the Holy Grail. No one in this series is free from guilt, and it's incredible to watch the characters bounce off one another and challenge each other physically, emotionally and psychologically. Never had a series before that just worked on every level so well. To top it off, the studio (Ufotable) is known for their superb animations, having recently done the adaptation of Demon Slayer.

Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (2016, 2020-2021)

Wouldn't have said this back in 2016, but this series is incredible. It does an amazing job developing its main character, and for a show with one major gimmick (return from death), it gets an amazing out of mileage out of it. The expanding cast only gets more intriguing and the show constantly keeps us guessing as it develops, never letting us or the characters get complacent. 

Made in Abyss (2017, 2020)

Another series that gets a lot of mileage out of a single gimmick, the whole series is built on the knowledge that there is a giant abyss and people go in to explore it for riches and fame. The whole series is built on the absolutely dismal realization that our lead character is after something she cannot obtain without condemning herself to death, it's really more about the journey than the destination, with every new level of the abyss being a tour de force in animation and the music being among the best in any series.

Code Geass (2006-2007, 2017-2019)

This series has a similar vibe to Death Note, though with a grander scale and mech battles to boot. The series gets going fast and focuses on a character who is caught up in a world where the British Empire never stopped expanding, and plays a deadly game of chess with people as pawns to exact revenge. Though it has its low points, it's riveting to watch the series play out, and has an incredible ending.

Cowboy Bebop (1998, 2001)

The absolute classic on this list, Cowboy Bebop is a must-watch for any anime fan. Space bounty hunters who absolutely do not get along going on adventures with an intelligent corgi and an eccentric young computer hacker, all with a dramatic and suspenseful through-line story, some great comedic side-stories, and characters whose interactions are actually more interesting than their personal backgrounds. With one of the best endings in anime and one of the greatest OPs of all time, it's worth your time.

Steins;Gate (2011, 2013)

Time travel is rarely done well, but this series bucks the trend. With a main character who is always a joy to watch and a twist in the plot that starts about halfway in, the series goes from fun exploration of a new technology to a suspenseful, high stakes thriller, this series constantly had me on the edge of my seat.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009-2010, 2011)

Honestly, I can't say anything about this series that isn't commonly known. It's the best all-around series for a reason. Everyone loves it. Watch it.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020)

This is the only series on this list that fits comedy and slice of life, but it absolutely deserves to be here. With some of the most innovative animation of any series, a trio of main characters who play off each other beautifully, and a plot line that never gets stale, this is a series that breaks down the process of making an anime while putting on a master class.

Mob Psycho 100 (2016, 2019)

Almost everyone should have heard of One Punch Man by now, and while that series is great, this one has it beat. Having a nearly all-powerful main character is a big risk, but this series manages to use it in an interesting and relatable way. The animation is incredibly fluid, the characters incredible, and the plot of the series, both in individual arcs and as a whole, riveting. Also, both of the OPs slap.

Onto the movies.

I’ll try something I’ve seen a little of under different topics, though nothing too centralized. I’d like to just have a spot where we can all provide some insights into what we feel needs work and what we’re doing about it in our debating. This can also be an opportunity to provide some constructive feedback, particularly to people who are either unclear on what to improve or just feel stuck for whatever reason.

In my case, I’d say I have two major problems. First is that I’m just generally too verbose. You give me a character limit and I’ll almost always fill it. It normally takes a lot of editing before I have decent word economy. Part of what I’ve idolized from the best debaters I’ve seen (mostly in live debates) is their ability to be concise and incisive, whereas I almost always feel like I’m failing at one or the other.

The second is that I don’t feel I put out good first rounds in debates. They’re all serviceable and they get me where I need to go, but they almost never stand as my best round. I’m much stronger on rebuttals and conclusions than I am on case construction, which is strangely the opposite of where I was in my early days as a debater (when, to be fair, I wasn’t very good at anything). I’ve got a few examples of strong first rounds, but the vast majority are just there to get my points out.

As for what I’m doing about these, I keep challenging myself by enforcing a lower character limit on what I’m writing than the debate requires. I still fill it, but I figure if I can keep moving the limit down and then one day remove it, I can feel a little more confident in using fewer words to make my point. In the case of the latter, I’m mainly just trying to break out of my usual structure for the opening round. I’ve come to be rather regimented there, whereas I’ve made a lot of changes to how my conclusions are structured. I think that the more I experiment, the more likely I’ll find what fits. I’m also trying to make them feel (at least to me) more like rebuttals, as though I’m attacking something rather than making my own stand-alone points. That’s precarious because I’m not at all a fan of pre-rebuttals (anticipating what your opponent will say and addressing it before they say it), but treating it as though I’m challenging a probable mindset of my audience or the topic itself helps me skirt around that.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Interested to see how other people respond to this. If you think you’re perfect, then I suppose that’s a response as well, though I doubt anyone’s so good at this that they couldn’t stand to improve anything about their debating.

Hey, for anyone who's interested, Virtuoso's interviewing me today. We'll be talking about my PhD research, which I've finally finished, as well as a bit more about me.