#nier the forest king

[deku-pipe-link]

[ryouverua]

Nier bravely answered the question ‘what if everyone had white hair’ with a very confident, unapologetic ‘yes’.

[the-best-bagel]

i want to rot on a log but in like a good way

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Assholes fight round 1 part 3b

Macbeth (Macbeth) vs Adam (Nier: Automata)

Propaganda below cut (Beware spoilers!)

Macbeth

Witches say he shall be king, so with Lady Macbeth’s help he murders his way to the throne, then backstabs his only allies for fear of them plotting against him. According to the witches, he can only die if the forest marches to his gates, so he’s good to go! Until an army carrying a forest of branches arrives at his gates. a classic

macbeth was too caught up in being manipulated by his hot wife that he failed to notice his declining mental state or the fact that treason is, in fact, Not Good; scottish white boy breaking it down ne’er-be-cleaned style

Adam

He fucked around and found out! Adam was a humanoid machine created in front of androids 2B and 9S. He nearly died to them another guy came out of the stab wound but that's irrelevant to his hubris lol. Connected to a network of machines, he became fixated on humanity (which has "fled to the moon" thousands of years ago), and more importantly, their emotions. He started copying the BIBLE, going "hm yes I'll name myself Adam my brother can be Eve ig, oh lookie here apples make you smart, we don't need to eat but let's eat those" and just like. Buddy. I'm not even Christian or Jewish or anything but I don't think that's what the Bible meant. Anyways, he wonders how androids feel emotions, so, as one does, he kidnaps 9S, just kinda puts him through some good ol' psychological torture, and then stabs him and sort of crucifies him, leaving him alive Now onto the hubris! He leaves 9S there, so when 2B finds 9S, Adam tells he he wants to see HATE firsthand. He disconnects from the network, making him completely mortal, and decided he wants to see 2B fight him. And, obviously, she does, bc she is PISSED. Aaaand Adam promptly gets stabbed and bleeds out on the floor. Fucked around and found out lol;

[fearofahumanplanet]

Jane's Special Interest/Hyperfixation List

I'm mostly making this bc friends keep asking me about gifts

Will also likely be edited over time as I'm sure I've forgotten some things or will get more (there is a Lot going on in my brain on any given day)

Broad Things (aesthetics, genres, etc)

Anything gothic (like, classical gothic)

Victorian aesthetics

Pagan vibes

Anything punk (music, fashion, aesthetic, etc)

Skulls & bones

Masks (specifically face-covering masks) (favorites include plague doctor masks, kabuki masks, porcelain masks, Venetian carnival masks, gas masks, etc for reference)

Horror (as a whole genre, but particularly gothic horror, psychological horror, body horror, folk horror, sci-fi horror and slashers)

Mythology (any, but particularly Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, Celtic, Japanese)

History (most anything, but particular obsessions include Victorian London, 1700s-1800s America, Golden Age of Piracy, the Wild West, Edo period Japan, Mongols, WW2)

Culture (particularly anything that isn't Saxon - favorites include things like Mexican culture, Celtic, Chinese/Japanese, Brazilian, etc sets off all my brainworms)

Music (particularly metal, punk, and hip-hop)

Medieval weapons (particularly fixated on polearms)

LEGOs (stuff without theme usually, i like buildings)

Cyberpunk, steampunk, biopunk, cowpunk, all the punks...

Dark, urban & mythological fantasy

Noir & any crime fiction that focuses on the actual criminals (fuck police procedurals, I'm obsessed with gangs & serial killers) (this does not include true crime, i'm not into fetishizing my mental illnesses)

Soulslikes

Roguelikes / roguelites

First-person shooters (especially the older style, Doom, Gothic, Hexen, Shadow Warrior, Unreal, Quake, Halo, Dusk, mmmm)

RPGs (tabletop or video games)

Weird west

Dungeon crawlers

Vampires

Kaiju

Specific Things (franchises, games, etc)

Aliens / Predator / Aliens vs Predator

Arcane (the show, fuck everything else Riot has done) (mostly Jinx and Vi actually, fuck the rest of the show lmao)

Arkane Games (Dishonored, Prey 2017, Dark Messiah, Deathloop, etc)

Assassin's Creed

Binding of Isaac

Borderlands

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Civilization

Cthulhu Mythos (anything Lovecraft is in a hate way, but I love what happens when people who aren't racist expand on it)

Cyberpunk 2077

Dante's Inferno & Paradise Lost

Dark Horse Comics (Hellboy my beloved)

Darkest Dungeon

DC & Marvel (but like, in a hate way. I cannot stand them. Cannot stop thinking about them either. AAAA) (Jason Todd & Moon Knight are as obsessed as I get)

Destiny (hate way)

Deus Ex

Devil May Cry

Diablo and its rip-offs (Grim Dawn, Path of Exile, etc)

Disco Elysium

Discworld

Divinity

Dune

Dungeons & Dragons

Elder Scrolls

Fables

Fallout & Wasteland

Far Cry

Final Fantasy

Frictional Games (Amnesia, SOMA, Penumbra, etc)

Friday the 13th

The Forest

FromSoftware (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, etc)

Godzilla

Grand Theft Auto (in remission)

Halo

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Hotline Miami

iD Software (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, etc)

Insert-Shock (BioShock, System Shock, Prey 2017, etc)

Life is Strange (Chloe.....)

Mad Max

Metal Gear

Metro

Middle-Earth (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, etc)

Monster Hunter

Mount & Blade

Niel Gaiman works (especially Sandman and Good Omens)

NieR

Paradox Games (unfortunately... Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Stellaris, etc)

Resident Evil

Saints Row

SCP

Shadowrun

Silent Hill

Skulduggery Pleasant

Star Wars (Disney is working very hard to kill this one)

Stardew Valley

Stephen King works

Telltale Games (what an odd thing they were)

Those truck sim games (yeah i dont know)

Undertale

Valve (Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, etc)

Walking Dead (fuck the TV shows, i mean everything else)

Warhammer 40k/Fantasy and its derivatives

Watchmen (Rorschach....)

Witcher

Yakuza (like, the games, not the organized crime syndicate)

[silvermuffins]

NieR:Automata: oof, been a hot minute

Let me hit up two big topics before we dive in, for the maybe five people who will read this and the one of you who was awaiting this but already knows the deal: Firstly, the five month absence of anything from me was the result of work getting super busy (STOP MAKING YOUR MOVIES TWO AND A HALF HOURS LONG, HOLLYWOOD, NOBODY ACTUALLY WANTS THAT). My other hobbies also got busy. And, well, both getting the PS4 going and liveblogging as I play games took more spoons than I was left with. Things are finally kind of chill again, at least for now, AND the two cats who pilot my meaty contraption actually agree on what to do, so here I am! Secondly, my laptop's keyboard is kind of fucky and some specific keys ain't workin' right. They are: A D B N X , . / - and enter. We may see some typos, folks! Or some completely incomprehensible bits, won't that be fun!

ANYWAY, let's get into it!

haven't even started the game, have no memory of where i'm at so we're just gonna Go

man i need a less awk setup

oh right fuck i got new internet and need to hook my ps4 up to it

hot damn i actually remember the new wifi password. doot doot updates and shit, probably shoulda done this before i started the post but you know what, I have never once in my life not been a disaster so why would i suddenly start now

okay NOW we Go

see if i even remember how to play

probably not

i have sidequests to turn in!

gee this map really is a lot bigger than i got to explore the first time through the game....hmmm

being friends with the meeses now really do be like "/walks out of vending machine" "/suddenly, MOOSE"

this leadup suggests either i am going to have to fight Jackass or she is going to explode me

i am pretty sure there is lore somewhere in this game as to why there is no day/night cycle but fuck if i have found it

found the Cruel Blood Oath! I am excited for this sword purely because my bestie and I used it for something in some of our secret fandom shenanigans--

i feel like this "project gestalt" is going to be relevant somehow

anyway i found jackass and it feels weird because i think even without the whole....alternate runthrough thing we've technically met her before

9S sweetheart please don't try to lie, you're bad at it

speed star wont talk to me which is fine because i suck at his quest anyway

fuck you, sir star

oh right this sidequest was shaping up to make me feel weird in the moral bits, like several others have done

Type-E?

ooooh

oooooooooh

dont like that

creepy chant starts up!

............i have questions about if those she was ordered to kill were really deserters

..............

well. at least she DID pay me.

2B did not confirm she didn't know

time to have a go at Daddy Serves

......i regret typing that but fuck it it's staying in

so he has 10 levels on me but i fight well and have healing items

.....sir are you going to just, have me cutscene kill you, or do i gotta get through another hp bar first?

iiiiiit's the latter

anyway pascal gave me monies thank u pascal

....wait what was i supposed to do to progress plot again? where do i find that out??? is there a main quest tracker somewhere???

literally right on the front of the goddamned menu letty be less stupid

....i don't have much to say to this part, okay, i already did it as 2B

i sorta wish i could find a list of the sidequests that are only completable as 9S? and maybe of the hackable things. just for completion's sake.

my cat really wants snuggles but has something against bent knees so she won't lapcat

forgot a dead machine's head hatches into emil

wha

flashback to the forest king founding....

time to finish off the photographs sidequest! see if this one will make me feel uncomfy in the moral bits,

it did not!

but as usual it was pretty existential

....i am losing steam i think imma call it here tonight

[wot-in-the]

thinking back to 2020 was very hard. feels like it lasted 10 years. still, good media is good media, and the below are my favorites of what i saw/read/played last year, in no particular order:

nier: automata // it’s refreshing to see a video game really embrace its video gamey-ness – this story could only ever be told in this medium. haunting plot, complex characters, incredible soundtrack, combat as smooth as butter. but what will stick with me longest is the eerie, palpable sense of sadness that pervades every nook and cranny of its setting. and the voice acting?? it’s rare that voice acting makes me feel things, but in some parts it was so good i forgot i was playing a game.

fruits basket s2 // s1 set up most of the cast, introduced their surface level traits, and started digging into their pasts. in s2, the horror stories introduced in one-off s1 episodes are revealed to be deeper and more intertwined. the magical realism premise is, more than ever, an allegory for generational abuse, and this series does that without sacrificing hopefulness. i’m happy that this adaptation turned me back to a manga i really loved. it's every bit as good, if not better, revisiting it in my 30s. i’ve heard s3 may be condensed, which is a shame (it’s the best, most intricate part of the manga), but anime adaptations rarely do a good manga justice.

dark // the writers of this show did something really ambitious. with a story spanning multiple decades, many actors playing aged up or aged down versions of the characters (and HOLY CRAP the casting is incredible in that regard), a plot web so thick you need to take notes, and a sustained super-serious tone, things could go horribly wrong. but they didn't. they keep you deeply engaged even if some of the characters rub you the wrong way - which is done purposefully. doesn't hurt that it's beautiful to look at and listen to.

natsume yuujinchou/natsume’s book of friends // takashi natsume, the purest boy who ever lived, can see spirits. this has made him an outcast his whole life. we follow him as he begins to form bonds with humans and spirits alike and learns the joys and heartbreaks of making real connections. this is a slow, supernatural slice-of-life story about the transience of our everyday meaningful encounters. it’s so simple and so beautifully executed. almost every episode perfectly nails the heartwarmth/heartbreak ratio.

the king of elfland’s daughter by lord dunsany // i appreciate modern fantasy, but sometimes i want a fairy tale. and fairy tales aren't written like this today. this one is about... let's see. time? magic? the loss of innocence? beauty? love? all of the above and more. this one's 100% about the atmosphere and the prose used to describe it, and sometimes that's what i'm in the mood for. i read it early last year and can't remember the finer details of the plot, but can vividly recall the images it conjured in my mind.

final fantasy vii: remake // this was one of the biggest surprises of the last several years for me. i whined about not wanting a remake, especially one split in parts. but they took everything i actually loved from the original, expanded on it, sprinkled in just the right amount of details from the compilation, made some clever gameplay decisions, and fleshed out the characters so much that i was shocked. still shocked. i can't believe how much i was moved by it and how much fun i had with the gameplay. been thinking about this one since the first day i played it.

stranger 2/secret forest 2 // if s1 introduced us to larger than life heroes, villains, and stakes, s2 takes a step back and asks harder questions. we know our two leads (tbh? worth watching both seasons just for them) are good people who will stand up for what's right. but what happens when doing that is difficult, dangerous, and full of consequences? it was a treat being able to revisit hwang si-mok and han yeo-jin, especially as it was yeo-jin’s turn to have the more prominent character arc. it doesn't need another season, but i hope it gets one!

the legend of zelda: breath of the wild // this game's world is masterfully created. there's just enough plot to ground you, but the point is exploration. it’s your boy link and this huge physics sand box full of decaying ruins and rolling fields and waterfalls and like, snow capped mountains and rivers of lava and expansive desert. the vast quiet landscapes hammer home how this is a post-apocalyptic world. this is an after-the-end story, and your wanderings slowly rehabilitate hyrule and make you stronger. this more than lived up to the hype.

honorable mentions: piranesi by susanna clarke, honey & clover by chica umino, gravity rush, hunt for the wilderpeople, keep your hands off eizouken, the ancient magus' bride: those awaiting a star, medicine walk by richard wagamese

(i pretty much abandoned film last year. will make a point to watch more in 2021.)

[the-unicorns-of-nienna]

[Image Description: artwork depicting the infant Forest King from “Nier: Automata”. The King, swaddled in a blanket, sits on the grass; and is gently sniffed by a moose. End image description.]

a king should be well-acquainted with his kingdom’s inhabitants (even if he is, well. a baby)

[savedgame]

Special Unit Machine: 

Immanuel 

[asianfemaleeatingfooditems]

How can we make him bigger?

I don’t know...

We’re too dumb to figure that out.

Sure is a cutie, though!

[thefaestolemyname]

Part 2/?

iNaturalist Adventures at the Pinery!

Purple Sandgrass (Triplasis purpurea)?

Not completely sure about the identity of this one. In-person the red of the lower stem is quite striking. You would think the distinctive features of these grass-like plants would make them easy to identify but I guess not? I'm sure they're not the same species as the last sedge though because they're not hairy at the bottom and the leaves come off of the stem periodically instead of all at once at the base. Never before did I realize how mystifying grass could be.

Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

I had a hard time distinguishing this bad-boy from a Black Oak. Oaks are probably the most common tree at the pinery, and are especially prominent at the transition zone from the dunes to the forest, which makes sense considering it's called "Oak Savannah". There is considerable variation in leaf shape, so I thought it was going to be easy to differentiate, but I was absolutely horrified by the variation in leaf shape among individuals of the same species! There's something very familiar and comforting about the leaf litter of oaks for me, however. It's nostalgic.

Hairy Puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense)

The most often-seen flower at the Pinery during this year's stay. Were he anthropomorphized, I imagine him a portly and kind baker. Such gentle flowers! They do not match the leaves in the slightest. According to the Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre, he is of vulnerable status in Ontario, though secure in parts of the US. I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of his shade of yellow, but he certainly brightens up the place. I am, though, a huge fan of the ease at which he may be identified! Finally some certainty.

Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

A familiar Face! I identified him first at a conservation area near where I lived, but he popped out at me because I recognised him from the Pinery. These guys contribute massively to the vibes of the Pinery. Oaks, Juniper, Fragrant Sumac, Sedges, and these guys right here. He's so full of personality, I love him! Apparently the reason he's got such a metal name is that he's closely related to regular False Solomon's Seal, which is a lookalike to Solomon's seal, which got it's metal as heck name because

"The rootstalk, or rhizome, of the Solomon's Seals is jointed; the leaf stalk breaks away from it, leaving a distinctive scar said to resemble the official seal of King Solomon. Indians and colonists used the starchy rhizomes as food" - The Audubon Society field guide to North American wildfloers, eastern region by Niering, William A, linked below (I love the Internet Archive)

I like to think that each of them, as the legendary seals of King Solomon, imprison a demon.

Stiletto Fly (Family Therevidae)

I thought this little guy was a Three Banded Robber Fly but some dude re-ID-ed him as a Stiletto Fly and I think he's right.

"The larvae, like those of other Asiloidea, have an entomophagous diet and they live as predators ... The observation of the behaviour of known forms highlights voracious feeding and agile movements. When exposed to light, the larvae of the Therevidae dig back into the substrate with rapid movements" and "Adults feed mainly on nectar, honeydew, and pollen" - Taken from an uncited paragraph on Wikipedia, reliability disputable.

Ebony Sedge, (Carex eburnea)

My favourite grass! He looks so soft and inviting! Of course Sedges aren't technically grass, but c'mon, that's grass. A warm shade of green without reaching the yellowy shades of parched and dying lawns. I can't find much information on him for fun facts, but he is hands-down the friendliest-looking grass I have ever met.

Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)

A less-often seen plant at the Pinery, it took me a while to ID her, but once I did I felt rather stupid, as I believe there was a Snowberry bush in my backyard back in my hometown. The berries, though pretty, are said to be poisonous to humans. Other mammals, including grizzly bears and sheep, apparently have no problem with it.

Taken from "Major indicator shrubs and herbs on national forests of western Oregon and southwestern Washington" by Robin D. Lesher, Richard H. McClure, jr. 

So some say poisonous some say not poisonous, personally I'm going on the safe side.

Rough-stalked Feather-moss (Brachythecium rutabulum) ?

There are so many mosses that look so much alike, this is just my best guess.

"This, and other large common Brachythecium species, is usually a robust species. Its branching is irregular and variable, and this is often what leads to field misidentification. Its habitat preferences are not helpful either, as it grows in many different kinds of habitat. However, it is most at home in the lowlands and prefers quite enriched places, such as woodlands, lawns and hedge bases next to intensively managed arable fields. You are not likely to encounter it in upland areas much." - Taken from the British Bryological Society's webpage on the species.

Part 1/?

iNaturalist adventures at the Pinery!

First observation was a bunch of Sand Cherries (Prunus Pumila) in the dunes

Hauntingly beautiful blossoms.

A Sand Cherry was one of the 4 native plants I bought and planted recently. Mine is having a hard time right now, and it was so lovely seeing a wild one flourishing, and thinking about what that would look like in my garden.

Next, Field Sagewort (Artemisia campestris)

According to Wikipedia there are 10 known subspecies but I wouldn't even know where to begin figuring out which one this guy is. However, one of the last names of the researchers who discovered the subspecies glutinosa is "Gay" and I think that's notable.

Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica)

She is literally everywhere at the Pinery, ringing most campsites and hanging around much of the trails. I was told she was poison ivy growing up, and only learned this year - taking this photo - that she's harmless. She does look quite similar to Poison Ivy, but you can tell she's not by the bottom of the middle leaf in each trio, in addition to size of leaf in adult plants, and how tall she can get (Over six feet). This is great news for me, because it means poison ivy is that much less prevalent, that much less tall, and the world is that much less scary of a place. Unrelated, for being named "fragrant" sumac, I've never detected a fragrance around her. Perhaps leaves must be crushed, or wood burned?

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Another native cherry? In Canada? Another native cherry. In Canada. Her cherries are smaller than Sand Cherry's though, despite Chokecherry being a far larger plant. These photos are of two separate groups of Chokecherry, and I totally thought they were different species! I'm still half expecting somebody to re-ID one of them as something different, because the second one's leaves were all smaller and curved, while the first one's leaves were all larger and flat. They did live in vastly different environmental conditions though, so that probably accounts for it.

Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Beautiful tree, and when those pastel berries come out like flowers, it is a grand sight to behold indeed. I just love the shade of green on these guys, and it goes so well with the shade of grey that their bark is. I thought they were a juniper though, but they're called a cedar, but their scientific name has "juniper" in it? I'm really confused. These guys were by far one of the most common trees to meet there.

Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)

I don't know about where y'all live, but in my province, this fella is in parks, backyards, gardens, everywhere. I've always been told they were "Wild Grapes", so its nice to have a little more detail. I hear that their grapes do the job, but that foreign grape species give bigger, sweeter grapes that make better wine. I've never tried their grapes myself, but they usually have little sprouts that you can chew on, and those taste pretty good.

Some sort of Sedge?

Did not match well any of iNaturalist's suggestions. They are a mystery to me. I can only pray that one day they will reveal their secrets to me. Key characteristics are that the leaves all start from the bottom instead of periodically branching off of a stem, long hairs at the base but not anywhere else, and a faint purple stripe on each leaf.

[thechcoman]

WIBP Nier Automata Week 4

One thing I usually cannot STAND in most JRPGs is how so many of them try too hard. This can apply to their gameplay, the story and the presentation as a whole. Instead of focusing on just making a good game with a good story and good gameplay, they always feel the need to make the combat as over-complicated and as cluttered as possible. The same usually applies to the story, ignoring the base foundations of a decent story and instead only focusing on overly complicated themes and philosophy. If not this, they focus too much on the plot and events, and not enough on the characters. There are numerous other problems with JRPG stories that I won’t get too into here, but generally speaking, most stories from JRPGs in the past decade or so tend to be not so great. This isn’t always true, but many do fall into these familiar traps. The designs of the characters tend to be cluttered and over-designed, and most of the music either sounds like generic J-pop, generic rock, or generic orchestral music.

Many JRPGs tend to feel similar in the modern day because of this. Yet, ironically this is all usually done in an effort to stand out. Back during the days from the NES all the way up to the Playstation 2, JRPGs actually were the reigning kings of storytelling in games. While there were good, story-based games that were made in the west, those weren’t all that popular in comparison to the JRPG-craze. However, once western games started to become popular and had better stories, JRPGs started to slowly fall by the wayside. In an attempt to stand out, many JRPGs started implementing more complex battle systems, and tried to look cooler; prioritizing things that look stylish over things that look good and played well. It’s repeatedly a problem.

Nier Automata is a JRPG in recent years that manages to take all of these frustrating aspects of JRPGs and make it into something that’s not only truly great, but also something worth talking about and has got me thinking about subjects and topics that I don’t normally think about. This is, in my mind, the mark of a truly great piece of art. It even manages to have its story and gameplay be completely integrated in a way where the story is not only enhanced by the gameplay, but only works as a game.

While playing through the game’s main story and sidequests, I began to notice two different reoccurring themes: one about the purpose of fighting and it’s necessity; and the other being questions about how much someone values their memories and the memories of those around them. These two are someone connected in this game. Is it worth sacrificing your memories to become stronger to protect what you value most? Is it worth it to be unable to fight and protect what you love to preserve the happiness of your memories, especially in a world that feels devoid of happiness? These are some of the questions that Nier Automata raises. Whether or not the answers to these philosophical questions are actually answered or not by the end of the game is yet to be seen however, and it’s something that makes me look forward to playing this game each week.

For this week I’d like to provide a few examples of these themes being seen throughout the game.

First and foremost, in the main story, we see extra information given to us during the “forest king” section of the story on this second playthrough. We learn more about something that felt odd on the first playthrough, and was kind of out of place. Towards the end of the forest section of the game, you find the “forest king” that many of the various machines have kept mentioning and well…this “forest king” is just a machine child. It was…odd, especially since a moment later, the child was killed by A2.

Now on the second playthrough, we get some backstory on this. We learn that the original forest king, who was wise, kind, and generous, had died giving up several of his parts to his followers to make them stronger and better. Before he died however, his followers took his various memories and implanted them into the mind of a machine child, and then plan to raise the child and so when he grows up, he will be able to rule them as the forest king once more.

In this section of the story, we see the theme of memory appear. We see how much the forest king’s people value the king’s memories of his subjects, along with them valuing the memory of the forest king himself, believing preserving his memory is important to preserving…well him. Here we see a metaphysical concept taken quite literally – the idea of immortalizing yourself through other’s memories of you.

This all also ties into the theme of why people fight, as we see the various subjects of the forest king throughout the forest area who attack you. They will say things like “Fight for your king!” and “This is what you’ve trained your whole life to do!” This, like many things throughout the game, parallels to the main characters, in that they are androids built purely for fighting and have a cause to fight for that’s probably futile (since it’s fairly obvious that the humans on the moon are either dead or don’t exist, even though the game hasn’t officially revealed that yet).

Let’s look at another example of these themes within the game. There’s a sidequest in the game focusing on a character from the first Nier game, named Emil. Emil asks for your help in finding specific flowers called Lunar Tears. Every time you find one for him, he manages to recover a little bit of his memory with each flower. We eventually learn that he’s actually a being from back when humans were around, and was built as an ultimate weapon; his purpose was to fight. He had friends and was a nice person, and when the aliens invaded, he tried to fight back to protect his friends by cloning himself thousands of times over. However, with each clone, his memories slowly began to disappear, in order to increase his fighting prowess.

I feel as though this entire sidequest is summarized and perfectly encapsulated in one single line. When 2B asks Emil about a certain memory (I don’t entirely remember what they ask about; I wish I wrote it down), Emil responds by saying “I don’t know. I didn’t need those memories to fight.” It was honestly the line that made me realize the existence of these two reoccurring themes and nudged me to look closer and more analytically at the game’s story. Here, Emil has sacrificed his memories to protect the ones he loves and holds dear…except once again, his friends end up dying anyways and he’s unable to protect them. Emil chooses to cast his memories aside to get stronger, but in doing so forgets the purpose behind his constant fighting. The game is trying to create a connection between fighting and memories, much like with the whole forest king section. Now that Emil’s fighting is over, his memories would be the only thing that remained and the only thing that matters, yet ironically, he no longer has those memories that could be considered precious.

There are countless examples of this connection made between memories and fighting, such as the sidequest “The Wandering Couple” In this sidequest, two androids that are in love want to escape from the resistance created by androids on the surface (Non-YorHa androids) as romantic relationships aren’t allowed, and they ask your help to do so. Eventually the quest has you helping them get money to pay for someone to get them out, but that person betrays them and nearly kills them. After helping them both, the man asks to have his memory reset so that the resistance will take him back and he doesn’t have to live in fear on the run. The woman agrees and his memory is formatted…only for the woman to then take him and say that she plans on updating him with programs designed for battling and fighting so that they won’t be in danger and that she needed him formatted to do so.

Another sidequest  that exemplifies these themes is “Amnesia”, in which an android wants to take revenge on the one who killed her friend, and at the end of the quest, we find out that she killed her friend, and blocked the memory out of her mind. She’s apparently an execution-model YorHa Unit (YorHa being the organization of androids created by humanity that 2B and 9S work for, in case you don’t remember) that was created in order to kill traitors, which he friend apparently was, and the event was so traumatic that she blocked out the memory.

Or how about the main characters themselves? 2B becomes upset at the beginning of the first playthrough when 9S doesn’t remember sacrificing himself to save her, since he didn’t upload his memory to the YorHa bunker and instead just got a new body. At the end of 2B’s playthrough we learn why she was so upset when 9S is going to do the same thing again: she doesn’t want the 9S that she had grown so attached to, to die off and lose the 9S that currently exists; the 9S she cares about. The thing is that he’s sacrificing himself in both occasions either due to a battle or to end one, once again, creating this connection between memory and fighting.

So what is the game trying to say with this connection? Well, this is just a guess, but I believe that the game is trying to tell us that memories are what make us who we are, and that they are the most important things to us. However, I also believe that it is trying to say that the natural state of humanity and of existence as a whole is one of violence, hatred and fighting. However, the memories we create and the connections we form with others transcends this natural state of violence and hatred. That our love for others is too important to let go, lest society and people in general fall apart, like it does in Nier Automata. We see time and time again that people are unhappy in this grim state of the world; that we are depressed because we keep sacrificing our memories to become stronger and fight more, yet not realizing the cost of doing so. And on the occasion in that the memories try to be preserved, like with the forest king, in the end the machines still resort to violence, as the memories that they try to preserve are within the mind of a child who could not possibly rule them properly. As such the machines go back to their original purpose – violence and fighting.

Through this, there is also a lesson that goes hand in hand with this idealogy. The idea that we have the power to defy our fate. If our fate is to be destructive and to fight and kill, yet we overcome this destructive and violent nature, we defy our fate, and have the ability to choose how to live our lives, despite our inner natural states and overall purposes in life.

There’s so much more to talk about with Nier Automata and it’s various themes and moral philosophy, but this post is getting to be incredibly long, and anything else I would say would just be redundant at this point.  As I play more of Nier Automata, I will continue to search for potential examples of these two themes within the narrative of the main story and the sidequests as well. With that being said, I’ll see you all next week.

[ddarker-dreams]

Lock, do you listen to music while writing ? If you do, what genre of music do you usually write for HWR ? also if it's ok, can you talk about the six most wealthy family in survosia and the religion :D for oc purpose? Hope you're doing well today Lock !

the can of worms you've opened by asking this omg ... i hope you don't mind what you've gotten yourself into. AHEM . let's see if i can stop myself from rambling. i listen to the nier soundtrack when writing for HWR!! specifically nier replicant/automata's ost <3 gets me hype and in the mindset for writing the series.

okay okay so...

referring to my scuffed map, let us delve in. there are six provinces, each of which are represented by a noble family, who ultimately report to a king who sits in the capital (srosa). the only exception to this is winthros, the lil sliver, due to their main noble family starting up a rebellion and getting curb stomped by the others families. they lost lots of their land and stature in the process. i have a basic rundown of each of the areas description, i'll put it under the cut for the sake of my follower's sanity.

Ovetta

Ovetta has the most isolationist approach than the other territories. It’s a mountainous and cold region, boasting expansive forests covered in snow year-round. The people there tend to stick closely to tradition and don’t think highly of the monarchy. Soil is devoid of the necessary nutrients to sustain crops, so hunting is a common practice. The usual goods shipped out from Ovetta tend to be animal meat, prized sap from Leafus trees that are native to the region, and lumber. There is more collective civilization in the areas bordering Retheros and Evest. People further north tend to be nomadic, moving from different areas, building and abandoning settlements. The Last Keep is considered sacred ground, the area where Regalia was given to humanity. A family spanning generations — the Quin — guard and maintain this ground, where only high ranking government officials may visit. It is said that this is where the goddesses speak to their people. Ovetta is the area most associated with the goddess Veathias.

Vaxis

Vaxis is considered one of the most revered territories for their contributions to modern medicine. It is governed by the long-lasting Avalor dynasty, the current head of the family being Victor Avalor. Vaxis serves as a hotspot for the scientific field. Numerous cities boast world-renowned universities. It is the second most populated territory after Retheros and considered to hold the second most influence in government affairs. Vaxis holds a science expo every year, titled Vax Grand, where the brightest around the world are invited to display their research. It is the single event that allows foreigners to visit on special visas. Vaxis is the area most associated with the goddess of the same name, Vaxis. (She wasn’t too good with naming stuff and is thought to have named the region after herself). 

Evest

Evest falls just short of producing the highest amount of commerce, lagging behind Retheros and Vaxis. It similarly has a high place in the academic world and holds the most historic landmarks. Evest exports large amounts of prized fabrics. The plant native to the region, Wispos, can create fine threads that are largely sought after for their value. These threads can also be used to form strings of instruments, creating a unique, high pitched noise with noticeable vibrato. Evest’s capital, Villa, is an oceanside city. It holds the largest harbor in all of Survosia. Evest is the area most associated with the goddess Aovilla. 

Winthros

Winthros is a hilly district haunted by the past. The people of Winthros are openly antagonistic towards the other provinces, rooted firmly their disgraced loss in a civil war conflict nearly a century prior. The noble house at the time were forced to surrender much of their land as a consequence for their part in the war. The region has a scattered population, small towns making up for most of it rather than bustling cities. Centuries ago, it flourished under a precious gem rush, far surpassing the other territories in wealth and influence.

Now Winthros is a shadow of what it once was, placing bitterness in many of the inhabitants. 

Winthros is the area most associated with the goddess Onella. 

Camiera

Camiera has been given nicknames such as “Survosia’s Prized Gem”, and for its natural beauty. The rich culture was birthed in Camiera, a place where the arts thrive like no other. Survosia's oldest theatre can be found there, and is where countless classics are performed. Festivals and parades are common year-round, the most notable festival taking place on the last day of summer. The festival, The Mother’s Blessing, holds cultural significance for all Survosians. It is said that every Survosian, no matter their region of birth, should attend the festival at least once. The people of Camiera are described as friendly and accommodating. Waterfalls are in abundance in this region and hydropower is common as a result. Camiera is the area most associated with the goddess of the same name, Camiera. (She’s a touch vain). 

Retheros

Retheros is the bustling, industrious, and most populated of the six territories. It serves as a melting pot of sorts, creating its own unique culture from fragments of the other regions. The Royal Palace and Capital all reside inside in Retheros. It is the territory with the most developed urban life, boasting the highest population in Survosia, and putting out billions of Jenny each year. A growing criminal problem serves as a pressing problem for Retheros. Cities like Hiiro, Montel, and Feros boast the highest crime rates in Survosia. Public transportation is widespread and commonplace. Railroads connect every major area in Retheros, making it the easiest place to get around. Retheros is the area most associated with the goddess Surki.

The Religious Lore (basically the survosian's holy text but sparknotes version... yes i wrote a bible for a chrollo x reader fic don't look at me like that)

Yitrositia (Yih-troh-see-truh), an omnipotent being, was a collection of energy and emotions formed into an empathic creature. She desperately longed to fill the world with virtuous beings like herself, lonely beyond all imagining. She feared that one day, formed from her hands, might squabble against one another. So to prevent this, Yitrositia created one daughter from a fragment of her soul, or more specifically, her tears. Tears of joy over the possibility to have someone precious to share her time with. Vaxis (Vah-kshis). To make her a most perfect creation, she transferred Vaxis almost all of her wisdom, and in turn losing much of her own sensibility. Vaxis and Yitrositia were content for some centuries. Vaxis was capable of logical reasoning, and Yitrositia balanced her out with empathy.

Yitrositia, now lacking the same wisdom that she had before, would often entertain the idea of producing more daughters from her soul. Vaxis would remind her of why she had only created one daughter in the first place, saying that should her mother create more, it’s destined for failure. Yitrositia eventually went behind her daughter’s back and created two more children. Camiera (Cah-mee-ah-rah), imbued with Yitrositia’s playfulness. Aovilla (Ah-oh-vee-luh), imbued with Yitrositia’s love. Vaxis expressed the betrayal she felt for her mother going against her wishes, but slowly eased up as she began to appreciate her new siblings.

The three siblings seemed to be in relative harmony, but they began to ask for more from their mother, who was easily swayed by them. She asked each daughter what they wanted their next sibling to be like. Vaxis wanted another reasonable voice, and thus, Onella (Oh-nell-uh) was imbued with logic. Camiera asked for Surki (Sur-kee), imbued with joy. Finally, Aovilla asked for Veathias (Vee-ah-thee-us), imbued with curiosity.

Yitrositia loved her children dearly but had been reduced to a shell of her former self to maintain them. As she had feared initially, the siblings began to bicker amongst one another. They wanted creations of their own to watch over, but could not decide how. Vaxis and Onella believed an iron fist to be the best method of ruling, Aovilla and Surki believed this approach was harsh. They wanted to be friends with their subjects and allow them to prosper on their own. Camiera and Veathias expressed sentiments on both sides. Yitrositia was pained by the sight of her beloved children growing further apart from one another.

The goddesses used the technique in secret that their mother had utilized for their creation. Their abilities were no where near as potent as Yitrositia’s in her prime, and as such, the resulting creations were far more fragile than the goddesses. These creations became known as “improper vessels” or “humans”. Even with their many imperfections in comparison to the divine, the goddesses took to them, and sought to prove their methods of ruling to be superior over the others.

Clashes of opinion and territory became inevitable. Although the goddesses all took their people to different corners of the continent, their self-isolationist approach were not shared by the free willed people. Miniature skirmishes became commonplace. Eventually, human blood was spilled and sunk into the soil, angering the goddesses into action. Thus began a time of war. All the while, Yitrositia remained abandoned and forgotten by the six children she poured everything into creating. With her power too diminished to interfere herself, she instead sought out the sixth strongest families. She offered them a deal — something akin to the power of the gods themselves, but in a way mortals could digest and utilize.

She instructed them to cannibalize her prodigal children’s hearts, which were formed by her tears; the sole source of the god’s miraculous power. They gathered their forces and led a charge against the divine. Overwhelmed, the wayward gods fell victim to their people. Each member of the six families ate the hearts as instructed. Power scourged through their veins, molten as magma, a rush that heightened their abilities and reaction time. As revenge for their people’s betrayal, the gods cursed anyone who would use this ability to experience excruciating pain and disfigurement.

This would be where some branch off in their beliefs — some people think that the goddesses weren’t actually killed, but that the humans who consumed their hearts absorbed the evil brewing within them which came as a result of their amassed power. Then there are those who argue that goddesses went into a long slumber and by the time they awoke, they mellowed out, and decided to peacefully guide the descendants of their original people as reparation for the trouble they caused. Others think that the goddesses permanently perished after having their hearts consumed. Their stories still continue to live on and influence the lives of many believers to this day regardless. 

Six Major Families

House Quin of Ovetta. Their single child: Blase Quin.

House Avalor of Vaxis. Led by Lord Victor Avalor and Lady Dinara Avalor before her death. Their three children, from eldest to youngest: Estella Avalor, [First] Avalor, and Violetta/Ash Avalor.

House Linarie of Evest. Their two children, from eldest to youngest: Lyra Linarie and Mina Linarie.

House Colevine of Winthros. Their single child: Yavatta Colevine. (HWR Reader killed her dad and Estella killed her mom WHOOOOPS)

House Brelanno of Camiera. Their single child: Calder Brelanno.

House Othena of Retheros. Their three children, from eldest to youngest: Zohar Othena, Adar Othena (he got a special mention in the story because the lore of him running off and starting a motorcycle gang made me laugh, and yes, i wrote a short story of HWR Reader talking to him), and Marianna Othena.

to give a basic rundown of these mfs, they all really hate each other, but don't have to interact that often. colevine is a rare case since they're figureheads more than anything, thus they're relatively disposable. hence why HWR Reader was fine with killer lord colevine in the first chapter and her suspicion over him having enough money to host a grand party.

if you managed to get through this ... i applaud you. thank you for giving me an excuse to ramble about my worldbuilding.

[amicusverborum]

NieR timeline, based on Yonah’s diary entries

3463 AD

December 6 - NieR, 15, brings a chick home for Yonah, 6. She starts coughing up black blood from the Black Scrawl

3464 AD

June 6 - Hap borth NieR, now 16

3465 AD

January 4 - Yonah goes to look for “a flower” and ends up “causing trouble.” Presumably when she goes to the Lost Shrine

April 5 - NieR writes from Sea Front

April 14 - NieR writes from a city where “people talk with special words”

June 6 - NieR turns 17, hap borth

July 20 - NieR says he is now friends with the King of Facade. Despite his visit there being in April. Maybe he didn’t consider them friends until going back for side quests

August 1 - NieR sends Yonah a letter describing the Aerie, because for some reason he never described it after visiting twice??

November 22 - NieR tells Yonah about the arguing red bag couple

3466 AD

February 14 - Yonah gets a letter from Emil talking about NieR. So this is probably one of if not the last entry before she gets taken

Things of note to me:

1. The first half of the game takes place over a year. I know the game wants to give you a sense of flow and that it was probably much longer than it seemed, but I didn’t expect ~14 months.

2. At the beginning, the only thing NieR does between the Lost Shrine and Sea Front is the first visit to the Aerie. Which means for his first three months with Weiss, they did... basically nothing. Just side quests. Great period for domestic fic. Then, over a period of nine days, he went to Sea Front for the shaman fish, went to the Junk Heap to improve his weapon, went to the Aerie and got Kainé, and then made it to Facade. (Alternatively, that April 5 date is actually for the year before during “The Red and The Black”, which does fit into the time frame he would have been going to Sea Front, but I have doubts that he was writing letters in that time. If it is the year before, then the events from Sea Front to Facade can be much more nicely spread out. I suppose it’s also possible that the April 5 date is during a side quest and Yonah just felt like writing about the ocean that time.)

3. After the first visit to Facade is another long dead period. Assuming he tells Yonah about the red bag couple right after meeting them, the only major thing that happens in the months between April and November is the trip to the Forest of Myth. I’m starting to understand why Weiss keeps griping about the lack of focus.

4. Almost three months from when he tells Yonah about the arguing couple to her entry in February, with only the trip to Emil’s mansion of note. In this time, Yonah has become pen pals with not just Sebastian, but Emil too. The Shadowlord’s rampage was not immediately after the collection of the last Sealed Verse as the game implies. a) I see even better why he lost patience if D&P had a charged up Grimoire Weiss and then just sat on it for weeks. b) I see time for slumber parties with Emil (let me dreaaam).

Obviously there’s some plotholes and things not lining up, but that’s been a known thing. In “The Red and the Black”, Yonah gets the Black Scrawl diagnosis, but in the game she has had symptoms for about a month and doesn’t get the diagnosis until after the Lost Shrine and it seems to be a surprise to NieR.

Whatever, I have an approximate timeline, I’m happy.

[smalltownfae]

Let’s talk games? I don’t play often, but sometimes I am in the mood for it. I have been currently playing Ori and the Blind Forest and I just finished The Witche’s House (loved it). Due to that I wanted to make a list of games on Steam and Switch I still need to play by more or less how long they take to finish.

Angels of Death Episode.Eddie (1 hour)

Price (1 hour)

Alicemare (2 hours)

Grimm’s Hollow (2 hours)

Mad Father (3 hours)

Portal (3 hours)

My Big Sister (4 hours)

Yume Nikki (5 hours)

Finding Paradise (5 hours)

The Sexy Brutale (6 hours)

Undertale (7 hours)

Fran Bow (8 hours)

Portal 2 (9 hours)

Lego the Hobbit (9 hours)

Tell Me Why (10 hours)

Grim Fandango (11 hours)

Yooka- Laylee (15 hours)

Tales of Monkey Island (16 hours)

King’s Quest (20 hours)

Nier: Automata (21 hours)

Hollow Knight (27 hours)

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (28 hours)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (30 hours)

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (34 hours)

NEO: The World Ends with you (40 hours - no wonder I haven’t finished it yet)

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (71 hours)

Also, games on my Steam wishlist:

My Friend is a Raven (15 minutes)

Tomorrow Won't Come For Those Without ██████ (1 hour)

What Remains of Edith Finch (2 hours)

When the Past was Around (2 hours)

Untitled Goose Game (3 hours)

Pinstripe (3 hours)

Never Alone (3 hours)

Misao (3 hours)

Inside (4 hours)

Impostor Factory (4 hours)

Oneshot (5 hours)

Little Nightmares II (6 hours)

Unravel (6 hours)

The Case Book of Arne (6 hours)

Owlboy (8 hours)

Celeste (8 hours)

Forgotton Anne (8 hours)

Jenny LeClue- Detectivu (10 hours)

Child of Light (11 hours)

Ghost of a Tale (11 hours)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (12 hours)

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights (13 hours)

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (21 hours)

Omori (21 hours)

AI: The Somnium Files (24 hours)

Spiritfarer (25 hours)

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch  (45 hours)

[timtanhuynh]

Nier: Automata - Talking head (10 hrs played)

The YoRHa commander is probably going to become a villain, if the game's intro and her recent attitude are any indication. The talk around the bunker is that some androids are open to peace negotiations with the machines. I wouldn't be surprised if there are no humans at all, and only a select few like the commander are aware of this fact. I've done a few quests for the machine named Servo(?) and 'sparred' with it a few times. This third sparring was the toughest, and it was startling to see its new and imposing form. I've now realized that bringing its requested parts has been enabling this transformation. I'm sure that we'll ultimately fight to the death and not just until it taps out. I later went to the shopping center en route to the forest zone in search of the forest king. Seeing one of those talking heads with the creepy, grinning face was unsettling. I had the same reaction as 9S: I wanted to kill it. Are those things organic or are they human-made like the androids? I found one of the three photographed spots as part of a particular quest. I accidentally-on-purpose walked into it and trigged a scripted conversation. The mini-map highlighted a range, but the game didn't explain how to register being at that spot. I thought that I might have to manually capture or scan a specific view like in the Arkham games. I hate when games have poor instructions or record-keeping. Anyway, I've stopped somewhere outside the castle. The area reminds of Shadow of the Colussus and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.