#kojima without limits

[cerastes]

With how Armored Core portrays the world as worse off after every game. I honestly wonder how fucked things are now in 6. It may have gotten to the point where its isn't even corporations in slap fights anymore. But desperate remnants struggling for what little is left. Its been years since I played so I might be misremembering the tone.

Armored Core did a reset with 5, so it's unknown is 6 will be its own thing, continue from 5/VD, or continue from the 4/4A main continuity.

You remember the tone pretty well, by the way, just, it's less desperate remnants struggling for what little is left and more the last few megacapitalistic gigacorporations fighting for what little is left and that isn't theirs yet. By the time of 4A, Kojima particles have wrecked the absolute shit out of Earth, the Cradles (where those well-off live) are only a temporary stop gap, as pollution has gotten so bad it will eventually, and sooner than later, affect them as well, and without the resistance to pollution that surface dwellers have in comparison to Cradle dwellers, they'll be dead in seconds (or YOU shot them down already with your own hands, if you sided with Old King, killing 100 million people in honest to god gameplay), so recovering space travel seems to be the only viable option for the survival of humanity, but plenty of events led to humanity, who stretched far across the Solar System, to regress back to Earth, including but not limited to the events at the end of AC: Nexus, in which countless Pulverizers (unnamed superweapons) are accidentally reactivated by Kisaragi and devastate the absolute shit out of other planets, and going to space means going back to them.

So Shit's Fucked!

[vyragosa]

gonna start dwelling and reading deeper about absurdism kierkegaard and camus for my already personal credo but also

absurdism takes into account 3 possibilities, suicide, religious belief or rebellion against the absurd

with rebellion as recommended conclusion, no escape, but recognizing the absurd

death stranding being generally disliked and misunderstood mainly because, it becomes clear as to why DS is divisive, reviled or "this helped me and changed my life" because the whole game follows absurdism, and it feels like kojima had this kind of writing belief before too but MGS as a genre and context has its own constraints and limit that he wanted out

DS premise of a chaotic stranded universe because of human choices and interventions but ultimately, remains chaotic without them. the extinction entity is the definition of absurdism, by being chaos

sam as the absurd hero who not only accepts the phenomena but wants to understand it, ultimately knowing, how absurd it all is, constantly rebelling against BRIDGES against everything

then comes higgs opposing this sam, who is visibly the suicidal part of absurdism as a way out of "this rinse and repeat bullshit" and the religious belief being amelie's homo demens

it seemed like what kojima had attempted to tell, was indeed to find meaning in the smallest most insignificant to the world, tasks and commitments against the absurdity of this whole world, against all of it

[imustbenuts]

*asks about the aureole* keep talking I like hearing you talk /gen

!!! Thank u for the ask LOL I'm super flattered you think so.

Okay, so for this post I'm going into religion iconography today and then loop that back into FE. Just bear with me, and you might find something interesting in here.

As a warning: I'm not going to be very thorough with each part because simply, there are so much branches and meanings and intermixing of this simple halo thing. While I'm going to talk about it in a general manner, take note that there are always nuance in branch of religion, culture, and history where the halo has been used.

So if you're interested, it's worth digging into each part on your own.

To begin:

Aureole, or more commonly known as the halo, is commonly found in a lot of religious depictions. Picture an angel as they are typically depicted in modern culture in your mind and chances are it'll be a humanoid with wings and a halo on their head. Something like Mercy from Overwatch would be a good starting point:

But halos aren't just limited to angels. They are found in soooo much more things all over the world. Though, since an angels are rooted in western theology, specifically Christianity, I'm going to start with that.

In old Christian religious art, the Halo is a symbol you'd see on important religious figures such as the representations of Christ, angels, and the saints throughout the middle ages. Not so much today, though.

The halo is typically used to symbolize holiness. Without going into too much detail, there are a few different types of halos which means different things. This symbology seems to have been incorporated into early Christian art around 400 CE, but it saw gradual decline as western art began to shift into realism.

So much that by High Renaissance period, the halos more or less just went poof altogether. Artists would find other ways to depict it through use of more subtle lighting or some floating mirrors, but it just wasn't as explicit as it once was.

Still, the idea of halos associated with angels stayed. And hence here we are, still playing with the ideas of halo'd humanoids with white wings as angels.

But now let's go eastwards. Let's look at the religion there and we'll find something very similar too.

The Buddha... has a halo as well.

In fact, this halo thing has been around since the First Century in India. During the Gupta period (320-647CE), there has already been depictions of Buddha with a halo behind him to signify enlightenment in this case:

Buddhism of course spread further eastwards and south-eastwards to the rest of Asia. If we pause and take a look in each of the region from this point onward, there's a strange change to the aureole/halo gradually emerging. Basically, it isn't strictly a circular halo all the time. Sometimes, it looks like an aura of fire around the figure.

Below are depictions of Buddhas, Boddhisattvas, and Celestial Beings/Gods in Buddhism:

And sometimes, it's just rays of light around a figure. Check out the depiction of Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun of Japan creation myth here, she has one.

Heck, how about Egypt? There's the Sun god, Ra with something very similar too!

So, this halo is actually really common. But it takes a lot of different forms, doesn't it? In my understanding, there's 4 main types of halos. And given the examples above, they all in some part symbolizes one thing: light.

Part of the reason why this is the case is because the sun just... looks like that. Bring up a shiny, transparent or translucent material and it refracts off it. Have a guy stand between yourself and the sun, look at him, and suddenly the dude has an aureole.

The other more serious reason from a culture standpoint is simply put, the spread of an idea. As Metal Gear Solid Kojima puts it, a meme.

...Okay, I was only being half serious there. Back to being serious. /coughs

I alluded to this, but there is a clear distinction between West and East. The middle of it -- the Middle East, sometimes called the cradle of civilization, is a big reason why the halo is such a big icon all over the world. The halo seems to be a result of people being really taken with a certain coinage in that sphere. A certain god was depicted on its coin, and it was a god named Mithra. He is an Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the Sun. So a super light based deity of truth.

The roots extend further beyond Mithra, and there was likely a few other influences stretching even as far back as the Indus Valley civilization, but I won't get into it for this post. BBC has published an article going more in depth about the spread of it here if you'd like to read it.

The halo: A symbol that spread around the world

But anyway, fascinating stuff. Lots of common theme, and it's clear all these are ideas spreading back and forth, changing a little each time it touches a different sphere.

It's such a strong iconography that some Roman emperors appropriated it for themselves, becoming in what's known as a Radiant Crown. It has some association with the cult of Sol Invictus (also associated with the sun), but I'm not going to detour there.

Rome was, of course, extremely influential to later civilizations, contributing to a lot of governmental ruling framework to European Christian monarchs who came after. Long story short, this association with the divine eventually morphed and influenced the idea of the divine right of kings. IE, God decides a ruler before they are born, thereby making certain the world is as God intended, which seals the legitimacy of their rule and therefore the average folk should just accept it.

The Chinese had its own spin on this, which was the Mandate of Heaven. The Heavens, (i.e Celestial beings/Buddhist gods) bestows their chosen, just ruler, their mandate. If this ruler acted in a way they disliked, Heavens will cause flood, famine and natural disasters to signify their displeasure. Successful revolt of the people just meant the Heavens have revoked their mandate.

Apples and oranges, but both are fruits of the governmenting variety, really.

Side Detour: Possibly alternate aureoles in Chinese/Japanese Buddhism

There's also a group of dieties found in Japanese/Chinese Buddhism known as Tennin (天人). Tennin and Devas are the same thing, just one is in Japanese and the other Sanskrit. The females are known as the Tennyos (天女), celestial maidens, and they're depicted like this:

Those silks of ribbons are known as Tenne, and their coloured, feathered kimono are called hagoromo (羽衣, lit. feather dress). Without their hagoromos, these Devas cannot fly without them and so cannot return to heaven.

But see how the silk scarf is framed? Kind of like a halo? It's not a piece locked to the female tennin/devas, it's common to see male tennin/devas with them too.

OKAY now about Fire Emblem I swear.

So now with all this knowledge, let's take a look at some Fire Emblem characters, and see what clicks.

Veronica

Veronica bears design elements of both an angel and the Radiant Crown, but he crown also stands out in how it seems to be a halo. I'm not entirely why she's designed this way, but it could be that her character arc was about overcoming her ignorance, hatred, and the greed of wanting more time with Letizia to become a better person. She ticks the boxes of the overcoming the Three Poisons in Buddhism, which Alfonse actually doesn't go through. (Kind... of. Not as obvious as her arc, at least.)

Kiran

Kiran's design here also has that subtlety of the aureole. If you took their coat and just spread it out, fanned it out, it kind of looks like they have a halo on their forehead, and another circle around their body. It also doesn't help that the chest area is another circle.

(This is why I think Kiran is really fucking sus for the past 6 years. Seeing Buddha statues with that aureole growing up and then looking at Kiran, it feels like I'm just being toyed with by intsys >_>)

Seidr

Remember what I said about the silk scarf shawl thing and the Aureole? Seidr here has a tenne!

As a bonus, she does fit the conditions of being a Buddhist deva/tennin too. I think most people might have picked up on that Eastern spin the shawl gives but not really know why. But well, now you do ;)

Askr and Embla

These two do in fact, have the halo. Right up there, on both their heads.

It's an easy way to portray how these two are gods, but it might be a bit puzzling why they are seemingly portrayed as 'lower gods' if you just viewed it from a western religious lens.

But these two aren't lower gods, at least, not if you viewed it from a more Eastern lens.

--And there are probably a lot more little examples I'm missing! Take this knowledge and try applying it against other Fire Emblem character designs or even to things outside and see what you get. Chances are, a lot, actually.

Anyway, that's about it for this post! (Tumblr says I've used up all 30 photo slots ;;) Thanks for reading and sending the ask! ❤️❤️❤️

[visionkept]

“ ah, here’s our star for today, hello tama-chan! ” quick was the young class president to sink to his knees upon being approached by the little one, allowing his height to match with that of the younger’s. weekends for the kojima boy normally meant advanced studying, leisure reading or a couple of rounds playing tetris, but on this particular saturday he found himself in the home of his classmate chihiro, heeding her call for help in babysitting her niece. he didn’t mind though, he didn’t mind at all! he has a little sister too whom he has been taking care of since he was seven! 

while the older girl went deeper into the house, satoru found himself entertaining tama. “ oh yeah, I brought you something … ” a palm reached into his bag, only to soon come out with a beige-hued little box – a limited edition chocolate snack he had specifically bought for his classmate’s niece. “ tadaa! remember to give your otousan and obaasan a few pieces of the chocolate too, alright? i’m sure they’ll like it as much as you’ll do ” following a lighthearted chuckle, a palm was raised to gently pat the younger’s head. 

“ i know we didn’t get to play last time because we were really busy studying, but now the tests are over and your obaasan has invited me to help her watch over you … ” cue in the childlike wonder that glinted against blue grey hues. “ what do you want to do today? shall we read stories about mermaids, and dragons, and princesses? ooor how about let’s spend the afternoon baking? it’s your day today okay, tama-chan? anything you choose to do, i promise your obaasan and i will see to it. ” / hehe here’ mr. fancy pants at the ready to help babysit little tamaa!! (OMG TAKE 2 BC i accidentally sent this ask from chihir.o ALSDJF A 😂)

HE'S HERE ! HE'S FINALLY HERE ! ! !

She has been waiting for this for years ! ( Actually, it's been a week or two at most but for a small girl like her, time goes slower than usual. She's mainly being DRAMATIC though ). This encounter was written in the stars, fated by destiny, and predestined by the gods from above. The time has come for the Aoki's so awaited visitor to make an appearance. Welcome, SATORU KOJIMA !

❝ Chi-chan, he's here ! ❞ She had spotted him from her place right next to the window, watching birds fly by and people crossing the street. That proper uniform of his didn't go unnoticed for the little one, with his carefully groomed hair and his every day backpack with what she presumed, books. A small wave goes his way before she strolls down to her auntie's room, knocking excitedly to announce his arrival. ❝ Sato-chan will play with us today ! ❞ Play ? Well, that's how she sees it anyways. His job could be described as babysitting while Tomoya was away working, a favour between classmates, and the opportunity for their daughter to open up her little world and meet new people. Chihiro trusted him and by that logic, they do too ( not just anyone manages to make their sister talk for hours non-stop ).

A second knock is given, followed up by a giggle as she hops her way to the door ( almost slipping a couple of times in the process ). There's a ring from the doorbell and the little miss doesn't waste a second on opening up. ❝ Welcome ! ❞ She gives a light bow as taught, courtesy is something to always have in consideration no matter how eager one is. ❝ Come in, Sato-chan. ❞

Today will be just perfect ! They could play with her dolls or read a story, maybe even watch a movie ! Why not the three of them ?! Oh her mind was coming up with more ideas and she's not even sure where to start but before that. . . ❝ CHOCOLATE ! ❞ Emerald hues light up at the box in hand, jumping with delight as the sweet smell coming from the gift invaded the room. Would be impossible to hide them from her father, she might as well SHARE some of it when they get home. On the other hand, Chihiro was without a doubt, getting lots if that's what she wanted. ( FAVORITISM ? Perhaps, but papa can buy their own chocolate so that's alright ). ❝ Thank you. ❞ Again, manners are essential.

❝ What I want to do. . . . ❞ She has to choose. . . that's difficult when all of it sounds like fun. Think, Tama, think ! ❝ Hmm. . . I want to do. . . ALL OF IT ! We can play princesses and bake a cake ! And read stories of pretty mermaids and watch a movie ! And draw together and━━ ❞ Well, good luck SATORU.

[plebeiangoth]

New controversial opinion: I don't understand gaming on a Macintosh.

This is coming from a long-time Mac devotee, though they've lost me in recent years. The thing about PC gaming that's so great is how customizable it is. Macs are just simply not that. Gaming on one has always felt like it has the limitations of a game console, only it's a console not intended for gaming. Granted in the 90's there were some Mac exclusive games that ranged from quaint/interesting-iconic that I loved, examples being Squirrel Kombat (quaint) and MYST (massively iconic and has since been ported to nearly everything which can play Doom). Mac gaming has never not felt like a novelty in this way. Have you ever tried playing a triple-A release on a Mac? Results vary drastically, and you have no control over which processor or video card is used, and last I checked many models even started soldering the RAM. I frigging hate having to get my hands into Mac guts to fix them because it inevitably means calling customer support, or more likely an aPpLe CeRtIfIeD tEcHnIcIaN (should get me one of them certs).

Not to mention that Apple products are and always have been super expensive! You can whack together a budget gaming PC on your own for like $500-1000 (graphics cards willing) and play WAY more games far more reliably than most Macs can.

Anyway this rant comes from the news that Death Stranding is being ported to Mac and Kojima's creaming his jeans over it. Like… the amount of work that I put into my PC to make DS run without crashing, and they're putting it ln Mac… I'm having flashbacks to trying to run Team Fortress 2 on my dad's Mac about 10 years ago… it ran, but the framerate was almost unplayably unstable and the files were super bloated.

Anyway I'm gonna get coffee. I know I shouldn't rant about things before coffee, but too bad this one was irritating me.

[mewtonian-physics]

@hylasregilla sounds like a deal to me! the whole character ask with raikov... let's go

1. My first impression of them

'oh god, why? i hate this. why does this have to be a thing'

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

suckered myself into liking him april 1 2022. the real april fool was me

3. A song that reminds me of them

hmm. last time i got this particular question i said bubblegum bitch. this time i'll give you the first song on the raikov playlist

4. How many people I ship them with

just ooooooone

5. My favorite ship of them

raikov/the guy @setphies and i made up just so he could finally have a good relationship 2kforever

6. My least favorite ship of them

[points at volgin]

7. A quote of them that you remember

from mgs3? i think about 'do your job' a lot. from other metal gear content? 'regretful'. and if it's about lines i wrote myself, i'm quite fond of 'eat from the tree of knowledge, and pay better attention next time'.

8. Your favorite outfit of them

well in canon he only has two outfits, so... uniform, duh

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

that'd be the non-outfit [grimaces]

10. Describe the character in one sentence

'a lot more complex than official canon would have you think.'

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

eva theory of course!

12. Sexuality hc!

highkey fucking gay of course. but also ace. he likes men but sex itself isn't something he's really interested in. (he's also sex-repulsed due to trauma but without that it'd just be 'whatever' to him.)

13. Your favorite friendship they have

him and ocelot naturally

14. Best storyline they had

the one i came up with myself

15. Worst storyline they had

official canon

16. A childhood headcanon

he doesn't actually know his own real name. he picked out 'ivan' himself as a child because he hoped it would bring him luck

17. What do you think their first word was?

'cold'

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

as said previously, he was very survival-oriented and had very few limitations on what he'd do to stay alive. would as soon steal from you as talk to you. still pretty manipulative and he had fun doing it. who'd have thought someone who looked so innocent would rob you blind in a heartbeat? well. he would

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

i try not to pay attention to ships with him <3 but i've seen him and ocelot which just feels weird to me

20. A weird headcanon

i think a lot of people in this fandom would consider all of my headcanons about him weird. especially the one where i think he hates volgin with a burning passion. sucks to be them and not get it.

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

not at any point during canon, that's for sure

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

that'd be immediately post-mgsv ('but he wasn't in mgsv' shut up i don't care)

23. Future headcanon

that man is going to settle down and find a very normal and average and kind person who treats him like he deserves. and they will have a cat. and he will be genuinely happy for the first time in longer than he can remember

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

he's a spy lol the amount of secrets he has are insane. but i think he's always going to be very secretive about the exact details of his work. he really doesn't want to talk about them.

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

when kojima writes him

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

when i write him

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

mello deathnote i think he should meet mello deathnote

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

all the self-destructive shit he did because he had serious mental health issues and didn't realize it was okay for him to just not do that

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

spy x family but worse

30. The funniest scene they had?

nothing i didn't write myself

[cooledtured]

The A24-Kojima Death Stranding Collaboration

The video game landscape has witnessed its share of cinematic adaptations, but few inspire such fervent anticipation as the upcoming collaboration between Hideo Kojima and A24 on a Death Stranding movie. This is more than just a game hitting the silver screen; it's a meeting of two artistic titans, each renowned for their singular visions and groundbreaking approaches. While excitement bubbles amongst fans, the question looms: can this partnership birth a cinematic masterpiece, or will it stumble under the weight of translation? To answer this, we must delve into the strengths of this union, acknowledge the inherent challenges, and ultimately, embrace the nuanced possibilities that lie ahead.

Kojima, the maestro of mind-bending narratives and immersive worlds, needs no introduction. Death Stranding, his magnum opus, is a testament to his visionary storytelling. Its desolate landscapes, hauntingly beautiful BTs, and the profound exploration of grief and connection resonated deeply with players. A24, the cinematic provocateur, brings its own brand of audacious artistry. Films like Hereditary and Midsommar stand out for their meticulous visual style, unsettling yet captivating narratives, and willingness to push boundaries. When these two forces converge, the potential for a truly groundbreaking film is undeniable.

Imagine Kojima's intricate symbolism finding expression through A24's haunting aesthetics. The desolate beauty of Death Stranding's landscapes, amplified by A24's minimalist lens, could become a canvas for existential contemplation. Kojima's penchant for cryptic storytelling, woven into A24's penchant for ambiguity, could weave a film rich with layers of hidden meaning, rewarding attentive viewers with Easter eggs and thematic echoes.

Yet, translating the interactive, player-driven narrative of Death Stranding into a linear film presents its own set of challenges. How do you capture the essence of a world shaped by player choice and exploration within the confines of a two-hour runtime? Focusing on a specific storyline, while sacrificing some narrative flexibility, could be one approach. Alternatively, the film could adopt a more thematic focus, exploring the core themes of connection, isolation, and the struggle against the inevitable, offering a fresh perspective on the game's world.

Another potential hurdle lies in maintaining Kojima's singular vision while navigating A24's collaborative filmmaking style. Creative clashes, while potentially enriching, can also lead to discord. Open communication and mutual respect will be crucial in maintaining the core essence of Kojima's vision while benefiting from A24's expertise. Additionally, the film must find a way to balance catering to dedicated fans, already steeped in the game's lore, with attracting a wider audience unfamiliar with its intricate world. Striking this delicate balance will require careful world-building without bogging down the narrative with exposition.

Despite the challenges, the possibilities remain tantalizing. A24's arthouse sensibilities could elevate the film's thematic complexity, inviting viewers into a world open to interpretation and contemplation. Kojima's experience in directing cutscenes within his games could prove invaluable, allowing him to bridge the gap between video game storytelling and cinematic structure. Furthermore, the limitations of film could inspire creative reinterpretations of key narrative elements, leading to a fresh and unexpected perspective on the Death Stranding universe.

Ultimately, the success of the A24-Kojima collaboration hinges on embracing the nuances of their partnership. By harnessing their respective strengths, navigating potential pitfalls, and embracing the creative possibilities that arise from this unique convergence, this film has the potential to redefine video game adaptations. Whether it surpasses expectations or succumbs to the limitations of translation, the Death Stranding movie will undoubtedly be a cinematic event, a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the transformative potential of artistic collaboration.

----------------

DANIEL SIMMONS | Writer POP-COOLEDTURED SPECIALIST cooledtured.com | GROW YOUR COLLECTION

[callmearcturus]

I'm bored and I'm obsessed with Process, so I'll elaborate.

Jim Butcher (author of the Dresden Files) The biggest negative example I know, TDF had this recurring issue where the author didn't seem Aware of what the implications of his own writing was and seemed baffled and even upset when people pointed them out. I learned about close third-person perspective from TDF and I learned the power of an Unreliable Narrator and the limitations of a narrator's knowledge. I learned how to leverage what the Audience knows vs what the Character knows. I learned a lot! Thanks Jim! Sorry your books suck!

Mark Z Danielewski (House of Leaves) I read House of Leaves in parts during the summer when my mother worked at Hastings Entertainment, this huge combination book-game-music-DVD store that didn't survive the shift to digital. HoL was the first thing I read that demanded so much of the reader and couldn't be read casually. I think I learned to trust myself to handle Weird Shit and also that there was an audience for Weird Shit.

Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock) Negative example, but I learned that audiences can't just constantly be told something is cool over and over and over. Moffat's greatest failing is that he only cares about the myth arc. If you hand him a character without a legacy, I don't know what the fuck he'd even do. He has no patience for building a character up slowly to show that they are dangerous and powerful. He just says it and is like "trust me." You gotta show your fucking work.

Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear) /face in hands Metal Gear made me queer and pretentious. No, I... owe Kojima so fucking much, but I think the most I owe him is the idea that it's worth being overambitious and failing. Outside MGS2 and MGS3 and maybe DS, I don't know if any of his works truly succeed at the lofty goals he has for them. But it is worthwhile to try and fail and make a compromised artistic statement than to be a boring bitch. Be more queer and pretentious. Make pop culture that means something. And more than anything, Kojima taught me to make people uncomfortable. That is where growth happens. Thanks, Hideo.

Italo Calvino (Invisible Cities and If on a winter's night a traveler) My copy of Invisible Cities is covered in sticky notes for fast reference. I think Calvino taught me that you don't have to explain shit. There are emotional truths that become physical through the conviction of belief. I owe all of the Tradespeople concept to him.

Rachel Pollack (Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom) Archetypes. Symbology. A toolbox. Recurring images and their power. I have a Type and my Type is the Hanged Man. Also no matter how much there is an intended 'right' answer or interpretation, what is truly important is what you see instead. It'll always be more true.

Anne Carson (Autobiography of Red, the Sappho Translations, etc) The patterns repeat. The stories repeat. There is nothing new under the stars, but that doesn't mean its not worth telling. The lens matters. The words matter. Sometimes, you can kill someone with five words instead of seven.

Austin Walker (Waypoint, Friends at the Table) jesus fuck i owe Austin so much. Fuck 'good representation' if you have multiple instances of a group then no one person has to stand in for the whole. Make people messy. Analog is more satisfying than digital. All mech shows are about bodies. You can make it spiritual without it being religious. Utopia is a process, utopia is a process, the work will never be done but the work is good. When we don't see ourselves in the art around us, we will treat a famine like a feast and starve ourselves. Don't be afraid of a beautiful monologue. Make the voice distinct, make it count. People are vulgar and poetic.

Josh Sawyer (LOTS of games, esp Fallout New Vegas) Think about things! Build the world! Make it tactile, make the audience able to touch it and taste it. Come up with a weird idea and then stalk that idea for forty nights until you're in a new and weird place. Bring other people there.

sonnetstuck (Detective Pony) There is no such thing as Too Weird. There is no such thing as Too Deep. But have fun with it, for god's sake.

LightGetsIn (a lot of v good TDF fanfic) Literally one of the most important lessons I ever learned from a piece of fiction was from their fic Cross, and it was about the limited scope of character knowledge. I am obsessed with close third-person perspective. I write it almost exclusively. LGI taught me that every single character you write, each of them sees the world in a unique way. The language they would use, the details they would miss, how they interpret something that feels obvious to you. Make certain each character you write is truthful to how THEY would see the world and take care not to infused them with YOUR knowledge too much.

Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena) I'll never put it into words. The foundation was poured here.

Richard Siken (Crush, War of the Foxes) I don't know if I had words until Siken gave them to me. If you ever read a story of mine and go "wait, is that--" yes. The answer is yes. My copies of Crush and WotF are heavily dogeared and I rely on them to translate the world. I owe Siken so much.

Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale) hahaha god. I learned self-respect. I learned to stop being afraid. I learned there were people like me. I learned a lot of technical tricks, the way to form sentences, how to make an audience see what you're not saying, how to write Theme-first. Fink and Cranor taught me words as talismans, and that's in SO MUCH of my work it's absurd. Invocation, baby. Everything you make says something, so make it good. Be fucking weird with it. Art is communication, so what do you want to say?

Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) /grins. I learned how to communicate between Artist and Audience. And that there are many forms of love, and one is how wonderful it is to have the key to someone's heart and still break the windows on your way in, just for fun. You're the antidote to everything except for me. Mythologize yourself. Be loud.

Christopher McQuarrie (Edge of Tomorrow, Mission Impossible 4-8) HOW THE FUCK DOES HE DO THAT? I'LL LET Y'ALL KNOW WHEN I FIGURE IT OUT.

my beloved mother tried to tease me about being into Tom Cruise and accidentally unlocked a TED Talk about McQuarrie and how he structures stories and what I'm trying to learn and decipher from him.

she mentioned it's funny that I never went to school for this stuff, which is fair tbh. I honestly have no idea if I got a BA or whatever in English if I would have been taught about all this. Alas, that was never in the cards, so I've built my own lesson plan over the years. I think it's gone p well.

I consider my teachers....

Richard Siken and Ann Carson

Austin Walker (god I owe him a Lot)

Italo Calvino

Mark Z Danielewski

Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (but more the latter imo)

Jim Butcher (you can learn a lot from negative examples)

Steven Moffat (NEGATIVE EXAMPLES)

Josh Sawyer

Pete Wentz (tho not how you'd assume)

Hideo Kojima (SIGHS)

Kunihiko Ikuhara

sonnetstuck

and currently? Yeah, Chris McQuarrie

All of these are people I've learned something important from and that thumbprint is on my work. I like it. Synthesis is a fun art.

[queen-of-hearts92]

Kojima: I have character names for you guys.

Us: Oh finally!

Kojima: This is Sam, Cliff, Amelie, and Higgs.

Us:Sounds good.

Kojima: This is Fragile and Mama.

Us, getting concerned: A-Alright.

Kojima: And this is Deadman, Heartman, and Die-Hardman.

Us, with tears in our eyes: Why.

Kojima: Because.

[fuck-yeah-intro-movies]

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - M∀RS (2018) <(Original 2003)>

[oswednesday]

omg im daydreaming like i think it would be the Perfect time for a new operating system to just clothesline apple like okay imagine with me it would have to have a Branded built in way to use apple and pc products, it would need to be sleek to cater to that crowd but i think if it was rounded and slightly thicker and launched in like a pastel purple, a pink, a grey and a mint green, it have to boast all the ports and drives as features and not only that but provide branded fabric cord accessories and branded blank cds like five in a starter kit, it would need to have a few os exclusive games and the team up would need to be like a mainstream but perceived niche game dev like kojima and an indie one with a massive youtube fan base like puppetcombo or chillasart, the starter kit would have to come with a competitive not flat round mouse and a similarly comfortable keyboard, branded keyboard cover, mouse jacket, desk pad and mouse pad can be added to the kit, the webcam needs to be onlyfans ready with an internal mic sensitive for rough asmr, it also needs to launch with ear buds and over the ear headphones that are sleek and Stylish, it would HAVE to come with a branded beverage warmer so everything feels really lifestyle and frivolous, you can add branded neck pillows or a cable knit beanie and this thing needs to be expensive—it needs to be So luxury it makes apples price point look like you picked it off the curb BUT it has “sales” like summer sale bestie! springomg sale! that puts it below market price, it would need to collab with well know but moderately inoffensive girl gamers and the referral discount is like 75 percent off, it would need to collaborate with the following in this order, releasing limited edition sets at an affordable price point: tooface, sanrio, colorpop, dead by day light, toby fox or a similar indie creator with that much name and fame perceived as inoffensive, these releases would include headphones with cat ears, mini cooling fans, blind box makeup, an introduction of a well thought out cute mascot for the company during the sanrio run, gamer plushies, a phone during the colorpop era that is similar to the og release, it would need to hire a moderately well known youtube to show how to solve tech problems AND then add branded slightly upcharged compatible peices for those tech fixes without making it exclusive ; apple wouldnt stand a Chance apple would file for bankruptcy

[withteeths]

Maybe Steamrolling Games is Bad Actually

Videogames are unique in that they are inextricably tied to corporatism and have been since birth (this is an oversimplification but roll with it). This means that to an extent most companies even since the ’80s have never really cared about proper preservation or easy access to their titles. Nintendo carts were originally manufactured to have their battery die in 3 years so you would have to buy a new one (this failed, but it’s why you still see a lot of dead carts floating around). I think there's a nostalgia issue within the gaming fandom regarding "oh x was great back then" but a lot of the time, games manufacturers have been historically shitty and anti-consumer and it’s just that they now have the tools to execute it much more effectively. Regarding obtrusive DRM, that’s an issue PC games have had since their zenith, where if you lost your original copy of a manual or a small plastic key you could never play a game again because the codes were individualized for each copy and support would refuse to give you a new one. Even back in the arcades, there were particularly batshit examples like the CPS board, which I shit you not was built to explode a battery pack filled with corrosive acid if it detected you were attempting to repair or modify it. There’s a lot to say about the current state of games but what I would likely illustrate is that 2/3 major consoles are racing to decide who will be obsolete first. Games consoles are reaching a point where they are trying to emulate PCs with more restrictions and DRM. We're already seeing interest in steam spike again and it’s likely that eventually, we will see almost a crash for consoles where no one can justify the price for games they can play on a PC rig. The only solution I see there would be a merger between the two consoles which feels inevitable. 

That being said as interest in the PC space increases again so does attempts at entering the bubble. We have Epic, Origin, Microsoft, Indiegala, Itchio, and Steam all vying for attention, requiring accounts, and offering exclusives to justify the use of their storefront over others. Some people think this is a good thing because it's breaking up Steam's monopoly but it literally is not, if you ever really wanna hear me rant ask me about Leftist obsession with itch being some sort of ethical steam, which it is provably not. In the end, the real sort of saviour figures that work to preserve games are random ass people on the internet. I know people who automatically assume that at the end of the day, companies care about games preservation too, and they usually have a three-pronged argument that cites a) Steam’s ability to allow the redownloading of delisted games, b) retro companies periodically rereleasing titles for modern consoles in compilations, and c) companies doing limited reruns of a game that fans request. All three of these examples are basically an incredibly effective use of diversionary tactics, but most of the time when someone cites these I just assume it’s a misunderstanding and not outright malicious intent because a lot of the time companies will attempt to actively implant these ideas to build brand loyalty.

My main dissertation is usually that Steam is incredibly selective with what titles you can redownload, and most importantly, corporate benevolence is more-so a band-aid on a gaping wound! There’s no contingency for when Steam might migrate to a new service, go belly up, or become obsolete when a new OS is created. That means thousands, tens of thousands of dollars worth of games are just gone, permanently, along with fan mods, DLC, and content. It’s a terrifying thought that not many people bring up when discussing the problems with game storefronts that focus so much on providing a cloud and have DRM attached to every purchase. In a way, Steam preceded the trend of not allowing consumers to actually own the things they purchased, and they’ve avoided criticism by strategic use of silence and creating the illusion of a company being made by the consumers they’re attempting to serve. At the end of the day, Steam is a business, and if you ever lose access to your Steam account, or they decide to up and leave one day, you will not be able to play almost all of those games, even if you have them installed on a hard drive, because if you’re online, they connect with a server to ensure your steam account has the ability to play them. When it comes to other arguments like the limited rereleases or use of compilations to preserve arcade titles, I usually just beg people to look at community-driven options that have existed for years. The Scott Pilgrim game is a big source of contention, but I would point out that for years now, it was playable, for free, with all the DLC, on PCs. Preservationists didn’t wait for the gods of Universal and O’Malley to rerelease it for 30 bucks or save up to snatch the fucking ridiculous 200$ limited edition with shitty paper cut-outs, they straight up just did the work to make the game free and available. RCPS3 has (with a contemporary build) been able to run the game pretty flawlessly for years now, in fact, it was how I played through a majority of the game in high school on my shitty brick of a laptop. If you look further out than this one example then it gets even better, MAME and other emulation backends have been able to play obscure, unfinished, and homebrew titles with 100% accuracy, on almost any setup, for free, for decades! I found out about many of these options back in 2015 or so, certainly late to the curve, but I never really questioned as to why emulation, games preservation, and some key titles being available on PC remained some sort of arcane, unknown knowledge to most people interested in games. In the end, the answer was a highly effective propaganda campaign that combined with strategic use of DMCA takedowns has resulted in the concept of communal games-preservation and emulation becoming some sort of debate, where people will wholeheartedly side with corporations in some sort of quest for preserving things the “ethical and correct way,” which is code for preservation on the condition that it remains profitable for the IP owners.

 I think the best way to illustrate this would be with the community built around the preservation of an infamous PS4 title, PT. The story of its inevitable delisting from the storefront and the messy breakup between Kojima and Konami is well known, so I won’t regurgitate it, look it up at your own leisure. What is significant here is corporate reactions to attempts at preserving the game, which can basically be boiled down to Konami acting with borderline rabid fervour to prevent redownload, redistribution, or recreation of a seven-year-old demo, released for free download. Mentions of solutions to redownload the game have been taken down, fan-made recreations for PC, and archival servers that store a copy of the game for future preservation or emulation. Usually when this is brought up a debate occurs citing that technically speaking, Konami has a right to do this whenever they want, for whatever piece of media they believe infringes on their copyright. On one hand, yes this argument is factually correct considering the current state of copyright and ownership of media, but on the other hand, what compels someone to step into the ring for a multi-million dollar company with the primary argument being “well actually, people SHOULDN’T be able to play this specific video game until it benefits the shareholders”? In my opinion, it’s some sort of corporatized symbiosis where players believe that, if you cull the bad actors and play by the rules of the company, you may be able to eventually play the game a couple of years down the line. Sure, this has happened in the past with a few isolated cases, but it can’t be stressed enough that this is a genuinely dangerous and reductive position for people to take regarding games preservation.

 I have two colleagues, Mariken and Fotocopiadora, who released a short interactive title called Videopulp (playable here: https://fotocopiadora.itch.io/videopulp). It’s a dramatic reimagining of a real historical event, wherein a promotional event was held in 1994 at Lelystad to destroy bootleg carts by a figure in a Mario costume. This perhaps best encapsulates something I am pleading with younger generations to understand, as an archivist, art historian, and creator: corporations are not your friends, and they never will be. With the rise of online circles of leftism, this concept is starting to gain traction but is starting to be polluted with concepts of fandom and tribalism. This has lead to arguments that while *most* corporations are bad how could you say that about Nintendo? Or Valve? Mario is so innocent and characters like Wheatley are beloved by all! I feel some people don’t realize that they can enjoy a select title or character without enlisting in a corporate faction in the battle for “best company” or “best videogame”. It leads to a parasocial kinship with a nonexistent figure that was hand-crafted to ensure consumer loyalty to a certain brand. It’s depressing, terrifying, and should stand as a disquieting example of how the grip of capitalism on works of art has permanently distorted how we think and engage with media today. So, what’s the solution? As always I can never really provide something concrete that’ll act as a cure-all, only things that people in games need to work towards. Bring up conversations about games preservation, create archives for your own work, support archivists and boost their work whenever a new discovery is created, and try to promote optimism and solidarity in your hobbyist communities. I’ve noticed a lot of futility being intertwined with the future of AAA gaming, use of online storefronts, and the inability to own pieces of media anymore, and I feel this should be pushed back against, even in a minute way. Open-source programmes still exist that allow you to hold on to what you have purchased, offline and ad-free options exist for games launchers, e-readers, and media players. The future isn’t bright, but it is not a place without hope, and as long as people continue to enter communities with passion and ingenuity, I think we have a chance at stopping the events at Lelystad, 1994 from happening again. 

[bleachbigbang]

Bleach Big Bang 2021 Fic Summaries!

Writing samples for each fic attached. 

Fic #01 || Sample

Rating: Explicit

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Urahara Kisuke, Aizen Sousuke

Main Pairings: Urahara Kisuke/Kurosaki Ichigo || Aizen Sousuke/Kurosaki Ichigo

Additional Warnings: BDSM, suicidal thoughts, probably bad self-care, dark thoughts, bad BDSM etiquette, Dom/sub

No matter which mastermind stood behind the plan, when Lady Fate is a bitch who doesn't like to follow what others say. 

They planned to go back and change the past, to have a better future. 

They planned everything carefully, three masterminds, and a brute force. 

They planned but everything went wrong. 

Only one person arrived back in time in another timeline. He was alone, without his soul mate, without any help from the masterminds. Will he be able to change the future alone? Will Lady Bitch Fate let him? But wait... Why is that thing there? That shouldn't be possible! 

The beginning already changed, why is it there? Why does it still happen? 

“Foolish Mortal, there are things that will remain the same, no matter what you do. Can you change the future without knowing what are the invariable happenings in time? Will you be able to find your happiness, while you keep helping others to find theirs? I am curious about it, but Mortal, I’m Lady Fucking Fate, I love chaos.”

-----

Fic #02 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: Major Character Death

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Ogichi Shirosaki (Hollow Ichigo), Grimmjow Jeagerjaques

Main Pairings: Ichigo Kurosaki/Ogichi Shirosaki 

Additional Warnings: Reincarnation. Major character death might happen more than once. Heavy cultural reference and possible historical manipulation, mesoamerican focused. ((AKA: if you're racist/have trouble with inaccuracies, think twice))

He doesn't know why was he born into this world. His life has been nothing but pain, always feeling out of place and never in sync with his people and "friends", and once he became an exile, he really felt like there was nothing left for him in this life. That was until he met the God that would give meaning to his existence, and become his reason to fight. "Shiro", now Ichtalcoatl's warrior, feels like everything he has endured was for this moment, and he wouldn't exchange it for anything. 

Except, all evil happens for a reason, and there are many truths to be uncovered from Shiro's past, giving meaning to this eternal karma and the never-ending cycle of pain. This is the tale of the final trial Shiro must endure to be worthy of the Sun itself.

Gods/Demigods AU, ft. Quetzalcoatl Ichigo.

-----

Fic #03 || Sample 

Rating: Teen 

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Byakuya Kuchiki, Kenpachi Zaraki, Visored, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Ulquiorra Cifer, Aizen Sousuke, Other Bleach characters

Main Pairings: None / Undecided

Additional Warnings: Swearing, Mild Violence, Mild Gore, Canon Divergence

Ichigo is special, he's always been. From the moment he managed to become a Soul reaper, to when he obtained unlikely powers and achieved inhuman deeds, he's always had that natural talent to go beyond the limits. However, his true strength lies not in his latent abilities, but in the charm he wasn't even aware he had. His ultimate power was not his bankai, nor his hollowfication; it was his power to move people's hearts, sway them towards him, and somehow make those who wanted to kill him become his most loyal allies. Or, instead of merely befriending everyone he fought, Ichigo unknowingly builds an army of people who will die for him and change destiny itself in order to protect their one, true king.

-----

Fic #04 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Kisuke Urahara, Yasutora Sado

Main Pairings: None / Undecided

Additional Warnings: Teacher AU, DID, Alternating POVs, Supernatural Elements, No Shinigami AU

Ichigo moves to Karakura after an abrupt shift in career. There, he meets faces both familiar (his friend Chad is teaching music) and not (he doesn’t know what’s up with that Urahara guy but for a maths teacher he's not that bad). As the newest teacher in the school, and the least experienced at it, Ichigo decides not to make waves and to let himself fade into the background. Unfortunately, his friendship with the maths teacher seems to drag him into plots that are far outside of anything he’s ever known.

NOTE: I'm really flexible as far as the plot goes and willing to work with the artist if there are any particular elements they'd like to incorporate

-----

Fic #05 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters: Kisuke Urahara, Rukia Kuchiki, Tessai Tsukabishi, Yoruichi Shihōin, Ichigo Kurosaki

Main Pairings: No romantic relationships; Pre-UraYoruTess; 

Kisuke has feelings for both Tessai and Yoruichi but that won't develop into anything during this fic though I have plans for UraYoruTess & TatsuHime in a sequel. 

Additional Warnings: N/A

There was a soul reaper who was assigned to Karakura town. There was a human who could see ghosts. There was a hollow who wanted to eat. Thus, the sword of fate fell, But the sword did not hit the ground when the soul reaper transferred her powers to the human. For there was a shopkeeper who still had a decision to make Kisuke decides to tell Rukia about the hogyoku and Aizen. They start working together to take down Aizen.

-----

Fic #06 || Sample

Rating: Teen 

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters:  Urahara Kisuke, Kurosaki Ichigo, Hirako Shinji

Main Pairings: Shinji Hirako/Urahara Kisuke, Urahara Kisuke/Kurosaki Ichigo 

Additional Warnings: N/A

After the Visored were changed, Kisuke had a multitude of theories. One of those was that they might still be contagious. A slip during training proves that theory, and now he has to get his own hollow side under control with the help of his friends. As always, that's easier said than done, given that Kisuke's hollow is as odd as he is.

-----

Fic #07 || Sample

Rating: Mature

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Hollow Ichigo 

Main Pairings: Past Hollow Ichigo/Kurosaki Ichigo

Additional Warnings: Flashbacks, Heavy Betrayal, Psychological Trauma, PTSD, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Toxic Relationship

Ichigo -- or what he assumes his name is -- doesn't expect to wake up to the poverty-stricken Rukongai. Without a clue as to where he is or how he ended up there, he meets another amnesiac lost soul, who calls himself Shiro (name pending tbh). However, lurking beneath the two of them is a storm of betrayal waiting to be unleashed.

-----

Fic #08 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply 

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Hollow Ichigo

Main Pairings: Hollow Ichigo/Kurosaki Ichigo

Additional Warnings: Very fluff, much cute

“We've been childhood friends all this time. I think I would know when you aren't enjoying yourself with someone,” Shiro stated, tilting his head further into his palm to assess Ichigo's reaction.

“It's ... It's not going to be like that, okay? Maybe he'll turn out better than you think,” He countered, causing Shiro to sigh under his breath. While Ichigo hesitantly stuffed the thoughtless gift from his new boyfriend in his bag, Shiro could only watch. He couldn't help but wonder when it'd be his turn to make him happy.

-----

Fic #09 || Sample

Rating: Explicit

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters: Momo Hinamori

Main Pairings: Momo Hinamori/Izuru Kira/Shuuhei Hisagi/Renji Abarai

Additional Warnings: Alcoholism, Past Abusive Relationships.

Continuation of All that draws us together (AO3) 

Momo knows all the ups and downs of life and love, yet she rides it again and again. Sometime after the battle against Wandenreich, Momo invites Izuru out. 

From there begins a maelstrom of confusion hurt, and eventually, the loving partnership of her, Izuru, Renji, and Shuuhei.

-----

Fic #10 || Sample

Rating: Mature

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Main Characters: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Ichigo Kurosaki

Main Pairings: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez/Kurosaki Ichigo 

Additional Warnings: Body Horror, Body Dysmorphia

Ichigo is the most advanced CyberLife Android to date. A prototype. A test model. Incomplete. Grimmjow smiles, and it's not biting. It's more. Painful. There is nothing physically wrong with Ichigo, and yet his chest aches at the sight. "You're my partner, Ichigo. A whole person. You always have been."

-----

Fic #11 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence

Main Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Gotei Captains, Kamado Tanjirou (KnY)

Main Pairings: None (Gen)

Additional Warnings: Suicidal Ideation

Bleach x Kimetsu no Yaiba crossover. In which all their deaths were in vain, and Muzan lived, and the Gotei are the Demon Slayer Corps in the modern world.

-----

Fic #12 || Sample

Rating: Mature

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Underage

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Shinji Hirako, Kisuke Urahara, minor appearances by Rukia and Co.

Main Pairings: Shinji Hirako/Ichigo Kurosaki

Additional Warnings: Ambiguous Morality, Dark Ichigo, Ichigo Eats Souls, Hurt/Comfort 

[some tags might be added, but these are the bulk of the story]

Ichigo’s excuse of a broken soul is not enough to keep him going, and an assassination attempt brings to light just how deep the problem goes.

-----

Fic #13 || Sample

Rating: Teen

Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Main Characters: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Rukia Kuchiki

Main Pairings: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez/Rukia Kuchiki

Additional Warnings: N/A

Grimmjow doesn't think he's coming out of this alive. 

A drabble fic. 

-----

Fic #14 || Sample 

Rating: Mature

Content Warnings: No Archive Warning Apply

Main Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora “Chad” Sado, Orihime Inoue, Uryuu Ishida, Rukia Kuchiki, Keigo Asano, Mizuiro Kojima, Tatsuki Arisawa, Renji Abarai, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Main Pairings: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez/Kurosaki Ichigo

Additional Warnings: N/A

The group had settled on blankets by the bay as the fireworks went off in the distance, the booms, cracks, and sparkles of them could be heard clearly. As they all watched, they got close to each other and kept warm on their shared blankets, friends, or couples, they didn’t care. Grimmjow and Ichigo, Chad and Orihime, Renji and Rukia, Mizuiro and Keigo shared their blankets as pairs, but Uryuu and Tatsuki had their own little spots on their blankets.

They had traveled to America for the school year as transfer students in South Texas and this was the first time that they had seen fireworks like this outside of the tv, and they were the best experience that they have had since being there, thus far. Grimmjow, Keigo, Rukia, and Renji were off in the distance cheering while their partners and friends smiled and watched them as the finale of the fireworks were going off on the boardwalk.

After the fireworks ended, they all picked up their blankets and bags of used small sparklers and party poppers that they had bought beforehand from the Kroger that was close to their host parents’ houses the day before.

[thearkhound]

Kojima Cinema Vol. 2: Labyrinth of Dreams

Greetings from Kojima Cinema

Hello! Time sure goes fast. It’s already been two months since our premiere. I convinced myself that I had plenty of time, but those two months went by quick. It’s a good thing Game Hihyō isn’t a monthly magazine or I would had been in trouble finishing my manuscript. This issue I will be covering the latest work of director Sogo Ishii, my mentor in spirit.

A Labyrinth Seen From (Euro) Space

I saw Labyrinth of Dreams. It’s the best the film by Director Ishi in his post-comeback career since Angel Dust. Rena Komine in particular is pretty good. She’s completely different here from the girl we’ve seen in August in the Water, with a presence that completely outshines costar Tadanobu Asano. Ishi is truly skilled at bringing out the talent from new actors. Her performance, which can be described as a possession that emanates all over her being under the few limits of her sensuality, her dialogue, the way she moves herself, doesn’t make me think of her as a 17-years-old girl.

An Introspective Direction in a Monochrome World

Ishi’s introspective direction was a surprise. Dialogue and movement are both minimalist, the camera work is extremely simple, there are many long shots and perspective shots, everything is told through the rough shadows of the monochrome imagery, the swells of waves in those scenes, the flows of clouds, the thrusting rain, the wing flaps of moths, the swaying trees, ect. It seems that the dynamics of the natural world gives the movie rhythm and a sense of breath, as if its skillfully projecting the inner universe of the characters. The way that sound effects are employed is also first-rate. Did you noticed the ambient music that comes and goes like ripples on a water and the noises peculiar to film? To go as far as to be able to freely control sound effects in order to express emotions is pretty skilled!

Interactive Cinema That Makes The Audience Ponder Dialogue

The scene where the heroine visits Niitaka’s lodging house is a highlight. They stare at each other without making a slight noise or sudden movement, only time flows. The camera is set still, there’s no pantomime or dialogue, no camera work, the emotions between the two characters are expressed solely by the room and “distance” between them. Even without dialogue, the audience will ponder deeply about the feelings between the two characters. Perhaps it’s a kind of interactive cinema. “Distance” is a communication peculiar to Japanese people, but lately there are a few western movies that’s been using distancing boldly.

A Truly Life-Waging Love

I have never read the original short story written by Kyusaku Yumeno, but my interpretation is that the serial killings was just something that the wild imaginations of the young girls conjured up. Niitaka did not have murderous intentions, but the yearning for a grown man and awe for sexuality of his young lovers created a sort-of “murderer” or “love to die for”. Perhaps the incident was an end of a fantastical love taking shape. I don’t think that to like someone means to create an ideal lover within yourself.

The Sogo Ishii Within Me

When I was in my teens I had an obsession to create homemade films. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I formed a group called Hidetatsu Productions alongside some friends from middle school and made some rather uninteresting 8mm movies. Back then it was the heyday of independently produced film directors, starting with Kazuki Omori (nowadays you think of people like Shinya Tsukamoto). Among such directors, I had a true admiration for Sogo Ishii. As someone who always dreamed of filming movies, titles like Crazy Thunder Road and Burst City made the idea that even a complete amateur could make a movie seemed even more plausible. Even though I ended up joining the videogame industry instead, my feelings for Sogo Ishii hasn’t changed. His next work will be an adaptation of Kobo Abe’s novel The Boxman. Kobo Abe is one of my favorite authors. In fact, tthe cardboard box that appears as an in-game item in the Metal Gear games was inspired by The Boxman. I’m looking forward to it. [Note: This movie was completed, but never released.]

Indies & Hollywood

Lately there has been many instances in which film directors of indie background from various countries have been call forth by Hollywood to hold the big megaphone. Luc Besson, John Woo and Robert Rodriguez are such examples, and lately we also have Roland Emmerich, Peter Jackson and Danny Boyle as well. On one hand it’s good that talented directors are being given a chance, but on the other hand there’s a fear that you’ll rob such a director’s talent by forcing them to shoot a huge budget sequel to an existing movie. It can create a situation in which pressure and a Hollywood-like restriction of entertainment (that aims for mainstream appeal) could suppress the director’s unique style. While there are directors who were capable of grasping success while skillfully walking around the Hollywood system, those who failed to do so end up having painfully bitter experience. I was concerned for Peter Jackson, but then I saw The Frighteners and it has the same vulgarity that Jackson is known for, so I was worried for nothing.

A Dangerous Omen for the Game Industry

The same thing is happening within the game industry. Although it’s only a few, there have been developers and even whole teams that were headhunted by larger companies to work an anticipated sequel or a game in a popular genre. It wasn’t that long ago when videogames used to be made by a small team of people. It was just like making an indie movie. You had to draw the artwork, compose the music and assemble the program by oneself. Naturally the authorship of a single developer was very noticeable. But that is all in the past. Just like in Hollywood, what sells is pretty much fixed and there is a struggle to gather developers to make those kind of games. While this is not a Hollywood example, it is necessary for developers to ask themselves what kind of games they can create or whether they can take an opportunity or not. Unless you’re a creator who is capable of that, I don’t think you can survive in the future. We must think a bit about the risk of what an opportunity means. Just like when Danny Boyle turned down Alien Resurrection.

Source

Game Hihyō Vol. 14 (April 1997)

[vios-rockland-corner]

Dollmaker Talk PT 2

*snaps fingers*  Guess what?  I got the “okay” sign to talk a little bit more about Runawayoutlaw’s unfinished Dollmaker build.

That means yes I will be going into my thoughts about the characters and setting this time.  I focused on Dollmaker being outside the Rockland canon and the game mechanics last time.

(MAJOR spoilers below for the unfinished Dollmaker build)

First of all, what is the plot of Dollmaker?  Well the MC this time around is a medical student attending a seminar that day on improving relations between demons and humans for the greater good.  One of the very speakers at the lecture is none other than Dr. Sano Kojima.  The MC apparently catches his eye and you two seem to get along fairly well considering you admire him for his position (he’s a demon ambassador) and he appreciates that you seem to be specializing in demons for your medical degree.  All seems to be going well and you look forward to discussing the profession with him more...only to get caught off guard when he knocks you out and brings you to his home.  The atmosphere quickly changes when you wake up and he cuts straight to point that his main goal is turn you into a human doll!  He puts a binding spell on you so you can’t escape the house, but he gives you the freedom to walk about as you please.

That’s pretty much the gist of the game.  From there it’s about exploration and getting to know the inhabitants of the house, and on rare occasions, seeing some visitors.

Sano Kojima

As I stated in my previous post, both Sano and Akira have been introduced beforehand in BTD.  This game was meant to revamp the characters and stories.  For the most part, I’d say personality wise that Sano stays very similar to his BTD counterpart.  He’s very calm and professional.  He’s very much into his research and appreciates compliance from the MC.  He can still kill you in this, but the only such ending I found is if you fight back repeatedly right away.  Like I said, he prefers compliance.  He is probably one of the more sane of the three main house inhabitants and possibly the nicest?  It’s hard to say when I feel like both Sano and Annabelle’s routes weren’t quite finished yet.  That or I haven’t found everything yet.  

I will say compared to the BTD game, Sano here doesn’t show nearly as much sadism or malice.  He DOES still want to turn you into a doll though, but again I don’t think his route was fully finished (or I haven’t found the right paths yet).  I didn’t get a full ending with him completing the doll transformation, so other than the beginning, we don’t get to delve into that obsession as much as I would have liked.  I remember playing BTD and getting that one ending and thinking, “Oh!  I love that concept, I wish I could have seem more of the character focused on that.”  Dollmaker is obviously supposed to do that, but the creator didn’t get around to the finishing touches.  I kept getting stuck in the same loops with “Sano’s route,” so I can’t say much else.

Annabelle Winter

Annabelle is a brand new character.  There’s a bio for her luckily in the game to explain some of who she is (a former lead singer), but otherwise I probably was able to get the least information about her in the game.  I remember some notes about her one tumblr way back when Dollmaker was being developed.  Basically, she’s supposed to be Sano’s “first doll.”  You, the MC, would then end up being the second doll.  You can tell this really doesn’t sit well with Annabelle, even if I couldn’t get much more information about her feelings in the game.  There’s a conversation between Akira and her you can spy on, but you really aren’t quite sure what’s happening.  Her room was also always locked for me.  I don’t know if the programming for it all hadn’t been completed like Sano’s wasn’t, or I just wasn’t performing the correct actions.

The existence of Annabelle is interesting though because then it does make you ask questions like: What’s her relationship with Sano?  Are they lovers or something else?  Is she jealous that he’s making a new doll? Does Sano plan to throw Annabelle out after he has you? Does this mean the MC could also get tossed out later? What’s her relationship with Akira?  Stuff like that adds more tension to the atmosphere.  On the plus side, at least you know Sano’s successfully turned someone into a doll before, so you know the procedure should go fine (yay?).  Personality wise, I didn’t have enough to go off of to get a real good idea of what she’s like.  She can be a little bitter and creepy, that’s for sure, but also talks sensibly with someone like Akira.  It’s hard to say.

Akira Kojima

Ah Akira!  Probably the character that was the closest to completion in my opinion.  That doesn’t mean his whole path WAS complete, but compared to Sano (one death ending vs. couldn’t progress) and Annabelle (hardly any progression and no ending found), Akira actually had decent introductions, quality time with the MC and an ending.  Granted, it was mostly the ONE ending...but I kind of loved it and it wasn’t a death ending at least.  Before I get into that, what’s he like in Dollmaker?  Well he definitely has more of a domineering and feisty personality I’d say, contrasting nicely with Sano.  He also can be both naughty and tender I’d say when it comes to romance.  He can be pretty sensitive at times.  You also learn he’s a contract killer in this game, but he doesn’t seem to really enjoy the work.  That’s the only major hint I’d say of the guy being unhappy.  I remember during the development process it was hinted that Akira has a LOT of baggage in this universe.  Baggage unfortunately that seems to make unstable enough that he will completely flip his lid if he thinks someone is turning on him.  What I’m saying is...the dude actually has a yandere ending XD  I’m not joking.  For those who know of my main blog and are probably thinking, “Did YOU enjoy that?” the answer is obviously HECK YES!  See what happens is if you get too cozy with Akira, apparently that makes him latch onto you.  

I swear to god when I played my first run, I was NOT trying to make him jealous.  I thought there was more to do so I didn’t think it was a big deal if I didn’t wake him in bed (it seemed rude to me), go to the kitchen and compliment Sano’s eye.  But those Telltale mechanics from the last post I talked about?  This is where I realized too late they were hinting that Akira gets VERY aware of what you do in the house once he starts to like you.  He doesn’t like it AT ALL if you either seem like you’re trying to leave or get friendly with anyone else then.  He goes full “snap.”  What he does is try to “train you” so that you agree the MC belongs to him and him alone then.  I love how he does it actually because I find it pretty realistic.  Yeah he gets really rough with you initially once he’s snapped, but the big thing is he throws you into a large closet.  He just leaves you with a bucket and nothing else.  And then he makes NO CONTACT with you.  You go through...who knows how many days with occasional bottles of water or food placed on the floor without Akira talking to you or even you seeing him.  Depending on your actions, sometimes he’ll pop in to check on you, but if you show that your spirit isn’t broken yet, he goes back to the no contact.  He’s essentially driving the MC insane through isolation.  It’s very simple but incredibly effective.  Imagine literally being given nothing to do for days on end with limited food and water and just a bucket to relieve yourself in.  It can start to wear on you.  Humans are social creatures too (we NEED other people).  I love MC’s with stronger spirits actually that don’t bend to a yandere’s whims all that easily.  So yeah, I kept the MC yelling and tried to just hold out as long as I could.  This puts you in a loop though and Outlaw did a nice little touch where there’s this static effect over the screen when you continue to make decisions.  This helps to emphasize how monotonous this routine is becoming for the MC and you really feel less of the urge to fight back anymore.  I can see why the MC broke in the end.  Once they are broken, Akira comes to collect you and that’s pretty much the end.

Obviously I loved playing through Akira’s path the most.  I will do one small critique here since...I’m kind of a nut about yanderes.  I think it would have been nice to have a FEW more hints before Akira’s “snap” that he suffers from something like anxiety or separation over losing people.  There might have been some and I just got lost in the build maze finding this information XD  Like I said, I knew he had baggage (and even lost a lover) from the creator’s tumblr page during development, but I think it would have been nice to have some hints like that in the game.  Just food for thought in case they want to try another yandere character in the future.  Some people don’t like if you pull a “yandere snap” out of nowhere without at least dropping some kind of hint of instability with the character prior.  I mean I’ll always enjoy yandere endings regardless honestly XD  It depends on how serious you want to take it though.  This situation was different than say Marcus from Till Death Do Us Part only because....that game basically is ALL about the “snap” there (no real progression to it like in Dollmaker).  You had just enough backstory (The MC and Marcus are divorced and Marcus gives you nightmares) that him coming back as the ex from hell isn’t surprising.  People can fill in the blanks and fantasize all they want there about what went wrong with the relationship beforehand.  With Akira, you’re seeing the relationship progression play out, so there’s a little more pressure to make the “snap” a little more believable.

I don’t know how fair it is to critique an] game that’s clearly not finished though 0.o

There’s was other stuff in the game I enjoyed like all the little Easter eggs with the plants and paintings, and Cain even popped up briefly in a bad end :P  There was other stuff I also didn’t learn about though like Mio (sorry I scared you lol), but it is what it is.

Still a nice treat.

[hungnitan]

MANKAI ENCORE ! SAKYO FURUICHI STORY PART 3 (END)

*cautious : for deeper understanding, you need to read “Tales of Chivalry : Ginji the Wanderer” and “Yin Yang Midnight” Event Story **This part included “Tales of Chivalry : Ginji the Wanderer” play so YOU BETTER READ THAT EVENT STORY FIRSTHANDLY since I don’t want to put so many notes for explaining those

(Since I’m pretty bad with english, let’s just say it doesn’t contain spoiler much XD)

Kazama : “An honour to meet you. I go by the last name of Kazama, name’s Ginji. I look forward to working with you Izumi : (Kazama and his underling, Kojima, have both been in the care of the Tatsuta group’s head. The story begins right after he was killed..) Ken : Say, Kazama. What should I do? Kazama : Get a hold of yourself, Bon ! *

Ken : ...! Kazama : ...Now that boss is gone you’re the only young one who’s capable of carrying on the Tatsuta group Izumi : (emotion he put in that line... that's a new approach) Ken : ...Is it good for someone like me who has been treated like a young master until now become head Izumi : (accepting Sakyo-san's act, Juza-kun answered by showing Ken's clumsyness) (it gonna become a different performance than before !) Kazama : It's not about doing it or not. You must doing it, bon Mogi : Kh, to think I have to serve a young master like him Ken :  Say, can't you take revenge for my father. There's trouble brewing inside too so I can't make any reckless moves. Please. You're the only one I can rely to Kazama : I've not forgot my gratitude on boss. I swear to protect the Tatsuta group Izumi : (After being asked to take revenge, Kazama started gathering information)

Mogi : What's the meaning of this ! This isn't what you told me ! You said about making me the young head of Kousei group if I hand over Tatsuta Ken

Yokota : Ahh, that I don't think that meat can remain last in Tatsuta group and only a wild dog like you would happy over a mere bone Mogi : You... ! Izumi : (Omi-kun's Yokota villain act too give more fear than his first times...!)

Mogi : Ugh... Ken : Mogi ? Oi, who did this to you !? Mogi : I just got my punishment It's Yokota from Kousei group I heard I can join his group and protect Tatsuta group if I give them your head Ken : Then the one who attacked me is... Mogi : Sorry. Even if you become the head, I want to protect Boss's group... Izumi : (Banri-kun's Mogi too turned better than first performance)

Izumi : (Kazama and Kojima go into Kousei group base. But Kojima fell into trap protecting Kazama-) Kojima : Brother !! Kazama : -- Kojima : kuh-- Kazama : Kojima ! Kojima : ha, ha, Is this enough to repay your favour...? I guess not, huh...

Kazama : Kojima !! Audience A : ugh... Audience B : -- Izumi : (I heard a bit cried from audience... must be Taichi-kun's innocent act touch their hearts)

Izumi : (Kazama proceed to final battle alone) Yokota : Kazama...? You're still alive Kazama : My dragon within me cries every night, you know. It wants to kill and devour bastard like you ! Yokota : ---kuh Izumi : (Eventhough Yokota already cut down, Kazama struggling holding out on his own--)

Kousei group yakuza : You... how dare you to boss...! Hyah !

Kazama : Ugh-- Kousei group yakuza : Uwaa ! Kazama : --kuh Kousei group yakuza : ---ugh, just die...! Izumi : (Azami-kun so amazing...! Anyone wouldn’t think that it's his first time perform this play !)

Ken : ...he's gone Mogi : Hee... it's must be his nature not going inside with you I too must properly see this until the end Ken : What are you talking about, Mogi. If you want to see until the end, I'll have you to pick up Tatsuta group's bone Mogi : Young master... Izumi : (Both of them saw Kazama and Kojima away...the end--)

Autumn troupe : Thank you very much ! Audience A : That's very good...! Audience B : Kazama looks awesome ! Audience C : That's so passionate... Izumi : (Eventhough we used different approach... the play is great success !)

Izumi : Thanks for hard works ! It was really good ! Taichi : I've bit suprised with Sakyo-nii and Juza-san different performance ! Omi : Me too Taichi : And without realized we got hooked on them ! Azami : Like we can't lose to them Omi : That's true. Once again I understand how interesting act is Banri : We show different emotion with different approach, so it's not bad Izumi : Yup, you're right Plus I'm happier that all of you keep pushing your limit to create better performance Juza : Yeah. If someone change his act, his partner should do same Sakyo : It's just like Fushimi said Izumi : Yes ! Doing good acting is just like trial and error, that's why it's interesting While riding this good mood, let's do our best until last day ! Autumn troupe : Yeah !

Sakyo : It ended without any concern Juza : ...'sup. Thank you Sakyo : ...For what ? Juza : Sakyo-san's on first day, until now and different approach on play After accepted it, I feel a new emotion, and because of that I can do better play than ever Sakyo : No... Me too, I accept so many things from you. I'm just returning the favor Juza : That's should be my line Sakyo : But it's nostalgic. There's so many things happened on play before Juza : I'm sorry for that time. I followed you... Sakyo : No, I should be thankful for that It seems you're my mother's "oshi-men" **

Juza : Oshime...? Sakyo : She loved your performance Juza : ...I see. Please give my thanks Sakyo : Ah But to think... "love". I got overwhelmed that time ***

Juza : ...Please stop Sakyo : ... Everyone sleeps so peacefully Juza : You're right Izumi : zzz...zzz Taichi : Um... Can't eat anymore zzz... Azami : ... Sakyo : (love, huh...) ...we both, now know about it more than before Juza : It's good if so

Translator note : Maybe some of you pretty confused about this play, so I suggest to read from theater since it has better way of delivering the stories in order I used “Mogi” not “Motegi” for Banri’s role name (茂木) because I read the play with voices and keep hear Mogi not Motegi... *That line are delivered in really different ways than first play. In first play Sakyo used deep tone while here (I’m very sure) he’s shouting so of course Juza suprised about it (XD) **Oshi-men means favourite men like girls said it to your loved characters (men), this from YinYang Midnight Ep 1 ***Juza said it to Sakyo at first Chivalry ep 8. Scary isn’t Juza said “love”, that show how dire the situations (lol) Sakyo keep pushed himself away from everyone and Juza frustated

My next project will be translating Mankai Manga Sengen that yaycupcakes still not translate !! of course if new Sakyo card appear I prioritizing it first