https://xcancel.com/AndrewJ626/status/2095263470807830595#m

also xcancel seems to be back

Red Echoes: Berlin is a narrative-driven turn-based strategy game in which you join the German "November Revolution" across 1918 and 1919, during the final days of World War 1. Over the course of three chapters, you'll play as three budding agitators from different walks of life, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. You'll move your subversives around a beautiful Berlin map inspired by "classic Weimar-era graphic design", deploying their special abilities against the minions of the state.

Red Echoes: Berlin - Game Announcement Trailer

Several endings await, "from full on defeat to a successful revolution". The developers, Morningrise Games, are a new studio who say they were founded by somebody who "has previously worked on titles such as Suzerain and its DLC". That's Suzerain as in the best game you missed in 2020. It certainly looks similar. Morningrise's founder has yet to publicly identify themselves, however, which removed me a bit.

Update: Morningrise's founder has got in touch to identify himself as Stijn Verstraete, "Torpor's 3D Artist (and also did some writing) from 2021-2025". Quite why I was unable to determine this earlier eludes me. Anyway, consider me unspooked.

Original article continues: "As the world reels from the destruction and pain caused by the Great War, the voices of those calling for change grow louder and louder," the Steam page explains. "In Berlin, almost everyone has lost someone, and shortages of goods are widespread. While the Kaiser's armies are away fighting his enemies abroad, revolutionaries on the home front, inspired by the events in Russia a year earlier, sense an opportunity."

I think I studied the November Revolution at school, but that particular wodge of GSCE exam revision has long since burst into dust, along with everything I ever knew about Bismarck (the statesman, not the biscuit). I'm quite eager to rediscover it all. Red Echoes: Berlin will last you around 3-4 hours, and is pencilled in for launch later this year. While we're talking Suzerain, here's Julian's interview with Torpor Games about future games in that setting.

https://xcancel.com/hasanthehun/status/1943174672981364937#m

Makes you think

And also within the G#mer Community. but we already knew that, anyways:

The announcement of The Witcher 4 with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Ciri as protagonist has attracted a bit of discussion. Some of the reaction is online toddlers waxing wroth about a video game having a (somewhat older!!!) woman as lead character, and especially, shock, a video game in a series that has hitherto starred a man. And some of it is people commenting more thoughtfully on whether Ciri genuinely makes for a suitable Witcher protagonist, given that she isn't the product of the typical Witcher genetic modification regime (which is heavily tailored towards men), and given that, without spoiling too much, she has gifts that make crumbly old Geralt's sword-and-sorcery skillset look rather paltry.

Speaking to Eurogamer this week, game director Sebastian Kalemba and narrative director Philipp Weber responded to a few of these comments, and also shared a little about Ciri's situation at the start of the game.

The specific section of the interview in question begins with Weber noting that, in the original Witcher books from Andrzej Sapkowski, Ciri is repeatedly described as a witcher, so you're all out of luck if you're arguing against her protagonism on the basis that it disagrees with the source material. He and Kalemba acknowledge that, yes, fair enough, Geralt is a good laugh and some people would love to have him back, but Ciri is already playable at points in The Witcher 3, and CD Projekt want to see what more they can do with her.

"I think for me, and I think for all of us [at CDPR], it's also just really exciting to see all the opportunities that Ciri brings us, both with her character, and also by just virtue of who she is, what we can do with her in terms of the gameplay as well," Weber said. "So I think the best answer for us, for those people that really are worried right now, is basically to show them, when we are ready, that we really do this well and with care."

Did CD Projekt consider introducing a custom Witcher 4 protagonist, Eurogamer asked, as in Cyberpunk 2077? "I think, honestly, this character-driven storytelling has been always in the DNA of our Witcher games," said Weber. "First with Geralt, and then, of course, we started setting up Ciri as a second protagonist in The Witcher 3, and now we want to continue with her as well."

Weber added that what makes Ciri an intriguing choice of protag is partly that she isn't quite a witcher. She might not be a fully customisable character, but she has room to grow where grizzly Ger had already nailed down his Eastwoodian outsider persona by the time he became a video game leading man.

"One of the things that makes Ciri into an interesting new protagonist for us is, of course, also that she is at the beginning of her journey as a witcher," said Weber. "So as an example, Geralt was very, very experienced already. He went through so many things. And, you know, he created his own code, his value of neutrality, he created through so many experiences. And Ciri still has to make many of those experiences. She has to go through so many of these things.

"So in a way, even though Ciri is, of course, a defined character, with her, players will have the opportunity to still define her quite a bit more, specifically define the path that she will take on her way to becoming a witcher, and basically also what kind of person that will make her."

Naturally, Ciri also promises to bring a fresh perspective to the broadly misogynistic, alternately sensitive and pervy universe of The Witcher, a video game series that once let you collect porno cards for female characters, and still loves to make a spectacle of its nubile sorceresses.

"I mean, I would say the world of The Witcher is a really dark one that's really inspired by, of course, dark fantasy folklore," Weber commented, when asked about the game's portrayal of gender politics and sexism. "But also medieval to early Renaissance history, and that is a world that was tough - tough for many different groups, women among them. As an example, in The Witcher, we also deal a lot with racism when it comes to non-humans, and this is something that we want to keep up with The Witcher 4. I think it's something that has always been really important.

"We make games for adults, and it also means that we tackle some difficult topics," he suggested. "We tackle them in interesting ways. We tackle them without giving easy answers, but often opening difficult questions that players have to answer. And I think some of those questions might be going in this direction as well, because, yeah, Ciri is a woman, and as a witcher in this world, this is an unusual state. So I don't think it's going to be this story everywhere, but since this is a part of this world, and we want to tackle so many of those different themes, it's definitely also going to appear there as well."

There's also the tiniest snippet of hand-wavey commentary on the question of Ciri's various supernatural capabilities, and how they might disrupt the quest design and slash-dodge-aard combat of The Witcher 3. Will Ciri begin The Witcher 4 in a low-power state, without the talents she displayed towards the end of the previous game, enquired Eurogamer? CD Projekt don't have anything to share for the moment.

"No, we cannot tell you exactly how," said Kalemba. "But we can tell you just, like, believe us: that was one of the things, or first things, that we were solving, to make sure - the way we develop here, we do not leave anything without a clear answer." OK then.

Previously codenamed Polaris, The Witcher 4 is the first of several new Witcher experiences. You can read more about it in our announcement post. If you're still pining for Geralt, you might prefer to read about The Witcher 1 remake in development at Fool's Theory. I wouldn't be surprised if it did away with some of the original game's laddier elements.

Chuds do be touristing all over the place smdh

the only smart G#mer on Stormfront

K (189?–?) Soviet pioneer. From Kazan, Tartarstan, USSR, K was diagnosed as a ‘transvestite’ in 1937.

She was given permission by the People’s Court to wear female clothing, her identity papers were changed to her female name, and her name was removed from the military recruitment rolls.

She was featured in a 1957 gynaecology textbook.

M.G. Serdiukov. Sudebnaia ginekologiia I sudebnoi akusherstvo. Moscow: Meditsina 1957: 47-8.
Dan Healey. Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2001: fig 24.

source

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mutta olen niin nuutunut aamuisin

it's fluffy af and sweet, but not excessively so the recipe is from here, posted below

Ingredients Dough:

300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour or white bread flour plus extra as needed
40 g (3 Tablespoons) caster (superfine) sugar
7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast
½ teaspoon salt
180 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best) lukewarm
80 g (⅓ cup) vegan butter/margarine softened

Filling:

60 g (¼ cup) vegan butter/margarine
60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate chopped
20 g (2 Tablespoons) cocoa powder
30 g (2 ½ Tbsp) light brown soft sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
pinch salt
100 g (3 ½ oz) chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate or pecans

Syrup:

60 g (¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon) granulated sugar
60 ml (¼ cup) water

Instructions

Ideally you should start the day before you want to bake the babka.
Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix to combine.
Add the lukewarm milk and mix to form a rough dough. Knead until it forms a smooth ball then add the softened butter.
Continue to knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic.
It may seem greasy and messy at first but keep kneading and I promise you the butter will all mix in and the dough will become smooth.
Once the butter is fully incorporated the dough should look smooth and silky and it should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.
It should still be soft and slightly sticky but if it seems too wet then you can knead in a little more flour; be careful not to add too much however.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour or so at warm room temperature, until the dough has almost doubled in size, then place in the fridge to rise overnight.
The following day remove the dough from the fridge and set aside to warm up a little while you prepare the filling.
Place the butter, chopped dark chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small pan over a low heat.
Stir constantly until melted and smooth then remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
It should thicken slightly but still be spreadable. If it gets too firm then you can rewarm it very gently until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 30x40cm / 11x15in.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1cm border. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips, chopped chocolate or pecans and press them down gently.
Roll the dough up tightly from one of the long edges into a sausage.
Use a sharp knife to cut the sausage in half lengthwise, exposing the filling.
Twist the two halves together into a braid. Grease an approx 11.5 x 21.5 cm / 4.5 x 8.5 in 2lb loaf tin and line it with baking parchment.
Place the babka in the loaf tin, squishing it to fit if need be.
Loosely cover the tin and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ - 2 hours depending on how cold it is.
It is ready to bake when it looks puffy and if you gently press some of the exposed dough with a finger it springs back slowly most of the way but leaves a small indentation.
If it springs back quickly and fills in completely then it isn't ready yet.
When the dough has nearly finished rising, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
Bake the babka for about 40-50 minutes until deep golden. A probe thermometer inserted into the centre should reach at least 90°C/195°F.
While the babka is baking prepare the syrup.
Place the sugar and water in a small pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup comes up to a simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside.
When the babka is ready, remove it from the oven and brush generously all over the top with the syrup.
Keep going until you have used all of the syrup.
Leave the babka to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes while it absorbs the syrup then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely.

As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

You can use either bread flour or plain flour. Bread flour will give the babka a slightly more chewy texture but both are good. You can also use a combination of the two.

The syrup helps to keep the babka moist for a few days so don’t skip it. It may seem like a lot of liquid but trust me and use it all!

The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much. The babka should be done when it reaches 90°C / 195°F.

I know it’s hard, but you really should wait for the babka to cool completely before slicing it. It carries on cooking as it cools and slicing it too soon can cause it to be dense or gummy in texture.

(another, one, bites, the ,dust, pflp, dflp)