Lift the Veil | By Brad Carver

Below you will find my latest poem. A poem that speaks of things kept from plain sight. Things that will come to be known through the deeds of those that work behind the scenes to manipulate others. Truth always reveals itself, and is not disputable. You can live a lie, but the truth always comes calling. Enjoy this poem, and may it inspire you to look beyond the veil.

Happy Holidays From The Inferno!!!

It is that time of year. A time of celebration, of family, and of closure for our struggles within the past 365 days. We face uncertainty on many fronts as we move towards 2024, the new year. The world is more volatile than it's ever been. We're on the brink of world war III, and politics keeps on dividing and conquering us all. 

Somewhere in the midst of it all we still manage to partake of the bread and circuses as those in Rome did before their societal collapse. Distractions that only serve to momentarily stave off any worries or fears lingering in the backs of our minds. My hope is that in 2024 we don't get so distracted by the bread and circuses that we let our world fall apart any further. As Ayn Rand said, "You can ignore reality, but you cannot escape the consequences of ignoring reality".

QUOTE: About Heroes

"Heroes. We all grew up admiring those outstanding individuals who were our heroes. Be it firefighters, doctors, teachers, soldiers, or even comic book superheroes. All those heroes did something good for the world in their own way, and made us want to be as good.

It made me think about the heroes of today, and what it means to be a hero in the modern world. The superficial traits or degenerate sexual preferences. Even known criminals are paraded around as heroes. Why do you think this is? It's by design and a part of socialism/communism/marxism. The collectivism therein. They don't want you aspiring to be a true hero of righteous moral values. They don't want anyone bold or brave enough to rise up against their corruption and tyranny. So they award people for basically being less than heroic. They want to inspire you to be as corrupt as they are, and in doing so perpetuate their rule through your adherence to their twisted social standards. Not for your benefit, but for theirs. For if there are no real heroes there is no hope for those seeking it." - Brad C. (OtakuDante)

QUOTE: Deleting History

"Everyone fighting for the rewriting of history, and erasure of historical truths are destroying their futures. You can hijack any invention, discovery, or accomplishment in history, but if it's a lie you don't have the legacy or knowledge it takes to live it up.

"Historyface". That's exactly what it is. Claiming to own a part of history without being a part of the actual historical context. And while you may fool the whole world you will be a fool for it. Not knowing your own past, and unable to shape a future based upon it." - Brad C. (OtakuDante)

QUOTE: Repeating History

"The scariest thing I can think of facing society today is that while our history is being erased and changed to fit corrupt narratives the only ones who know the truth are elderly and dying. Our elders won't be around for much longer, and if we don't learn from them the facts before they pass future generations will never know the truth. All the values, morals, and experience will eventually be lost to time with no record, especially now that we are entering a digital age."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

QUOTE: Know Thy Enemy

"We're all being generationally genocided. Made to kill ourselves and others. Indirectly and directly so. Through the very life giving things we partake of we are taking in poisons. Through word of mouth and perpetuated lies our thoughts are being poisoned with hate, and a false sense of reality. If we cannot see this we cannot stop the cycle and hold accountable those who are doing this to us. Know thy enemy."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

What Truly Matters . . .

In life our pursuits as individuals and collectives vary. Some want fame and fortune. Others want happiness and worthwhile relationships. There are also those of us that want to find meaning and purpose in our existence. We all chase, sometimes blindly, after that which we desire. For me this life's journey, four decades in the making, has been somewhat of an eye opener in this regard. I began very immature, and oblivious to the goings on of the world around me. Conditioned to accept passed down teachings as the Gospel truth, down to the expected cycle of life. I lived selfishly, and hid myself from society. Only getting out into the world when it best suited my interests. Never seeking a marriage partner, or a life fit for those who have bought into the perpetual debt slavery system.

QUOTE: Of Humans and Livestock

"Imagine being encouraged to behave like a feral animal to the point of losing all human decency. That's what's happening to the minorities who Democrats and Communists are supposedly helping. By enabling the worst acts humanly possible with zero repercussions it is turning these people into animals ... violent and unthinking animals. The leaders of the global government are no doubt watching it all unfold from afar laughing at the destruction of humanity they have orchestrated. Creating, in the chaos, human livestock that is reactionary, controllable through their emotions, and willing to do anything for scraps."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Blackmail In Business | Cold War 2.0

We've seen some crazy stuff in the realm of politics these past several years. World leaders championing the communist and marxist ideology. Seemingly compromised by interests outside of their respective countries. Bypassing human rights and freedoms to usher in a totalitarian form of governance inline with certain anti-freedom loving dictatorships. Rumors are some of these bad actors among us are either being bribed or blackmailed by foreign operatives. Acting against the peoples' best interest whether willingly, or by force. What if I were to tell you this growing sphere of influence might have very well infiltrated the whole of the entertainment industry including gaming as well?

QUOTE: Of Life & Death

 "We are more likely to die wanting than to live a fulfilling life. It is not in our pursuit of a better living that this happens, but in our complacency and championing of things and people which shorten our lives and rob us of opportunity. Our vices, and those whom we trust who are not trustworthy lead us to an untimely death."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Alien Corpses & Unity | The High Cost of Lies & Greed . . .

Things hit peak insanity this week as two world events became hot topics of discussion. One being the revealing of dead aliens, and the other Unity's greedy move in relation to indie game development. Both equally as concerning, and highly questionable. On the alien side of things we have to question the legitimacy of their existence now. Something that could have upended our entire historic reality if it were true. On the flipside, gaming as we know it has also been hit by something as questionable as aliens that could negatively effect both gamers and developers alike on an industry level ...

QUOTE: Of Money & Mortality

"If you sit down and really think about it, all that we spend our money on is a waste. Even the food, clothing, and shelters used to meet our needs are harmful to us. Just as the hobbies that we indulge in that also do us harm in various ways. We live, eat, breathe, and take into our minds all these toxic things. Working our lives away to pay for them. Ultimately paying for our own undoing in the process. We pay for propaganda, we pay for poison, and we pay to serve those who could care less whether not we live or die. In all of that we wonder why we struggle to make a living. Not realizing that which we slave for does not serve us well. It does not make our lives any better."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

QUOTE: Of Unity & Division

 "Unity of a nations' people, or nationalism, strengthens that nation and creates a uniformly beneficial system of opportunities that benefits all under it's jurisdiction. Oppositely, a divided nation does not cater to the needs of the whole, but selectively to prioritized groups. It is in this biased division that civil conflict arises, and even more opportunities, freedoms, and resources are lost due to inner conflict."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

QUOTE: Of Complacency & Evil

"The normalizing of bad ideas and actions through psychologically manipulated complacency gives those who create the bad ideas, and who have others commit bad actions through those said ideas more power over those who would do those things for their cause. Even the slightest ignoring of the most seemingly harmless aspect of something bad okays that bad thing. It lets whomever would enact such bad dealings know that no one cares enough to stop them. That they could, metaphorically or quite literally, get away with murder ... among other things. That the risk is worth it even though it could lead to death or jail time."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Time, Money & Gaming | Resource Management Versus Hobby Upkeep

There's a lot of us these days who cannot afford to buy the latest releases. We're bending over backwards trying to pay the bills as earning a living grows more difficult by the second. In fact, between time and the pursuit of money there's a lot of limitations imposed upon us in life. Thus, as consumers, we have to be selective about what we spend our time an money on. Lest we end up regretting it later. 

As a gamer and film fanatic I, myself, have found that I've reduced the time spent on my favorite hobbies by a huge margin in my adult life. I only commit to short sessions of gameplay outside of review work, and spend the rest of the time trying to stay relevant in my review career. Connecting on my socials, and interacting with my audience to keep people interested, and up to date. My job, and life comes first in a lot of instances, as it should. 

Gaining An Audience | The High Cost For Success In 2023 Business ...

As a seasoned entertainment reviewer I've tried all the tricks of the trade when it comes to gaining and earning a growing audience. I've stooped so low at one point as to apply clickbait tactics in my articles, and videos in response to other more user friendly methodologies failing. I've tried various time zone related social media link sharing tricks, and have even paid attention to what my metrics/analytics tell me about my audience, among other things. Also applying keywords, labels, and tags as a consistent go to SEO tactic. Something that has been met, like everything else, with results contrary to what leading industry analysts would tell you. 

Amidst all this tinkering and toying I've had my ups and downs, my growth and lack thereof. Never once though has one of my efforts shown a telltale sign outside of what I've observed in regards to the impact that certain topics of discussion and debate have on one's online business.

CrossKrush (REVIEW)

Imagine if you will retiring at an old age in a house that's smack dab in the middle of a busy intersection. A long awaited vacation home situated supposedly far away from the hustle and bustle of a life left behind. Within this humble abode you finally have the time available to spend with your loving wife. After having spent most of your life dealing with your kids, and their drama you get to make good those vows you spoke so long ago. You choose to spend your retirement days alongside your dearly beloved listening to an old radio, and watching the news on an old tube style television. In your spare time you also dance the time away with your wife to an old record player that contains that one record with that one song which means the most to you, and her. A song that commemorates your first date, and the many anniversaries thereafter. 

Now imagine all those wonderful things stolen away by the noisy traffic that constantly collects not far from your newfound home. What do you do? Well, in the case of CrossKrush you get off of your soggy bottom, and take care of business. You've had enough of those young whipper snappers and their noisy vehicles, so you pack some explosives, and carry your cane out to the crossroads to deal some geriatric street justice. Blowing up cars, and beating them with your cane until they blow the f**k up! BOOM!!!

GROOD (REVIEW)

The machines have invaded so you built GROOD. That's about as deep as the story goes with this trippy shoot 'em up. Thankfully the game's mechanics, and brutal difficulty offer the player much more than just that one line introduction. In what could best be described as the rise of Skynet versus 'Batteries Not Included' we get a cute 'em up that has it's own unique damage taken, and damage dealt mechanics. All with a flying tube television that has a rocket booster, and a gatling gun strapped to it. Thus is GROOD ...

As GROOD you will basically be flying left to right blasting the fool out of mechanical enemies while dodging hazards, and avoiding death by repeated hits. Damage not only changes your lights from green to yellow, and finally to red as you take in the hits, but also breaks the fourth wall by putting cracks in your television screen. Obscuring your already impeded vision. In the process of screen shattering the game creates a visual color distortion that mirrors that of a real television malfunction. Going from dark, to rainbow colored, to grey scale, and even blurred. In the way of combat things are fairly straightforward, given the addition of a slowdown mechanic, and the weapon power-up/weapon upgrade system. 

9th Dawn III (REVIEW)

Dubbed a "Collect-A-Thon" this sequel that is "9th Dawn III" harbors content from various RPG genres. Coming at you as an action rpg or dungeon crawler with mmo missions, monster collecting, crafting, and it's own card game it aims to impress on many different fronts. Though simplistic in design with it's top-down pixel constructed elements the town of Ashwick, the surrounding world, and it's would be hero come to the forefront offering up a grand adventure the likes of which is rarely seen, especially from an indie game. 

WARSAW (REVIEW)

The date is August 1st, 1944. The last of the Polish resistance faces insurmountable odds from both the Nazis, and the Soviets. Each of which are closing in from both sides. In a last ditch attempt to defy the seemingly inevitable outcome they plan, and execute an underground uprising. Looting supplies, hitting targets, and fighting back while trying to maintain morale, and survive the war ...

Keeping true to the nature of the real world war that this game is based on Crunching Koalas, and their developers, through gameplay mechanics, emphasize that each choice made holds a potential dire consequence if not managed properly. Maintaining a tone of seriousness respectful of the source material. Strategy is king in Warsaw of 1944, and the stake is 952,000 innocent lives which decline each day that the war wages on. Can you lead the resistance to victory?