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もののけ姫 Princess Mononoke (1997) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

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Meet the Soras

Regular Sora, his character growth ended after Namine gave him brain damage.

Kairi-Sora, the only character shipped with more Rikus than normal Sora.

Teen angst Sora, he really likes Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4. (and ice cream)

Sora-Kairi said stick rights

Goth Sora. No mom, its not a phase

Veteran Sora, probably killed a girl.

Tron Sora, the best one.

Days of Future Past Sora, he knows whats in the box.

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"Here is the secret: there is no love in the past. Only the present. The past is made of static images, distorted memories, demented nostalgia. This, the present — with all its possibilities, innumerable hits and misses — is far superior. It is a *living* organism."

1000xResist is a story about animus, first and foremost; animus of the alien, animus of the human, and the meeting of the two that becomes both and neither. It is about the weight of history, that must be understood and erased simultaneously; the idea of "freedom" as portrayed in the title is the agency that comes with knowledge of the past while having the willingness to let go or to even annihilate parts of it, that this is the messy, oftentimes violent cycle of history that has embodied human development since history began (the invention of the written word).

It is difficult to sum up the game in any other context. On it's face, it's a lesson as to why gods-no-better-than-men are not really gods at all. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this game posits all religion as a product of flawed human perception of past historical events, but 1000xResist is adamant in portraying authority and its legitimacy as being founded in roots that are quite juvenile, helmed and peered by people as flawed and as blind as those that they lead. Simultaneously, it tackles the fear of state repression in the context of power and violence, examining the interactions of a state and its people, its capacity to influence behavior, shape itself and its constituents, and ultimately, the willingness to alter the trajectory of the human species. And yet one might very well argue that there is no humanity to be seen anywhere in 1000xResist.

But even with the arguable death of the assemblages of cells, organs, and other biological traits that we associate with humanity, humanity persists in 1000xResist, if only in the shadow of the clones that were created in their image, in the ways they were raised by the sole remaining human, and the ways in which they replicate the same patterns of social stratification, flawed governance, and the omnipresent dynamic of power and violence to set up and maintain an order and legimitacy that could be called "governance."

Through the eyes of the last Watcher, players see a flawed human, Iris, govern her clones with all the competence of a teenager whose rash decision-making throughout her life and circumstances made her the sole frame of reference for the species that would ultimately succeed humans. I hesitate to call them humans themselves; they are more like echos of them; fractals that possess the whole as but a small part, a legacy of a species whose difference in form is not quite divorced from their shared substance. It makes the nature of any sort of analysis very philosophical and abstract, and difficult to make assertions in meaningful ways; but 1000xResist itself does not fall into these intellectual mazes. To its credit, it is able to capture all these implications and notions in stunningly relatable characters.

Through the eyes of Blue, we see a society that the Watcher inadvertantly created with her murder of Iris, one that allowed the First-Watcher-Made-Principal to ursurp her governance and engineer a new society from the ashes, one that introduced as many problems as it seemed to fix. And in the midst of that revolution are older generations caught up in the upheaval and left behind. This too, 1000xResist actively brings to the forefront; the prevalence for a ruinous nostaliga to impede future progress, the brutal measures that are required to enforce these changes until it has calcified into a new normal, for the old generation to die and the new generation to take over. This too, is a legacy left to Watcher and Blue from the humanity that created them.

Iris herself is born from the circumstances of Hong Kong Chinese who lived through the riots that erupted as a result of its integration back into the broader mainland, into the People's Republic of China. Iris's parents survive those crackdowns and then emigrate to Canada, where they attempt to start a new life and a family in the shadow of that time. Much of the game's themes, ideas, and commentary is centered around this event, and it is a tale that I could grasp intuitively, being product of much the same history myself as the son of immigrants that emigrated from communist rule in the mainland after the nationalists fled to Taiwan. This is also where my criticism of the game also stems from, ironically enough; I could write whole essays on personal reflections of my own experiences as immigrant Chinese and the growth of my political opinions, but that would be beyond the scope of this review here.

And for the record, I appreciate 1000xResist's creative scope and vision. It reminds me a lot of the masterpieces of Russian literature that emerged from the nihilism of its pre-20th century roots, a point of irony given that it lived on the other side of the only time in history when communism became a true political force in the world. Like Tolstoy and Dosteyevsky, 1000xResist is able to capture the vast breadth of the complexity of the human condition, while also being able to convey at the same time its stunning simplicity. The human condition can be grasped of everyone regardless of age; the sense of brokenness to the state of things can be keenly felt from the youngest child to oldest adult. Every system of thought devised under the sun has introduced as many problems as it has fixed those of its forebears. If this view has been impressed upon the European view of history, having lasted centuries, then it is all the more prevalent in China, the only continuous civilization to have existed for millennia. 1000xResist has the advantage of being created by developers raised with this historical perspective. Chinese classics are thousands of years old, and this same throughput, the cycles of revolution, reform, and rot can be read in the creative works from authors that lived in various dynasties throughout all of China's history. 1000xResist takes this perspective in its totality and boils it down to an intuitive and yet deeply powerful message.

Sometimes you just can't fit everything in the backpack.

What we choose to leave behind and what we choose to keep, collectively, as a species, is the act of engaging in politics, whether that be in goverance or in war (which is merely politics by another means). In the midst of that impossibly complex dialectic rise leaders in positions of power, equipped as circumstances and efforts dictate, to enact those changes. At the same time, knowing that it is flawed doesn't mean that we can simply turn away from it. This political dialectic is inescapable, and to run from it is to surrender to its force upon your life. 1000xResist posits that in the midst of this ethical quagmire, there is yet an objective virtue in resistance, a responsibility for everyone to engage in civic discourse, and more radical measures in the face of less-than-ideal circumstances. This is the thesis that 1000xResist proposes.

For this alone, I would put this as a 9/10 game. It's only flaw, as I see it, is in its inability to offer a clearer framework from which we can understand an objective notion of progress. Though speculation on my part, I suspect that the developers may push back against the possibility of such an understanding, a liberal notion that I have since grown admittedly frustrated with, especially now the current circumstances being what they are.

There is, I think, a tragic point of irony in the roots that catalyzed the masterpiece that is 1000xResist; it is a product of its time and circumstances, and find myself disagreeing with some of its philosophical commentary at its ending, and its implications in choosing what to include and what to leave out. To violently remove the current expression of violence only reinforces the necessity of violence in statecraft; to remove an autocrat with unilateral force is simply to reiterate what is already known; there are decades where nothing happens, and then there are weeks where decades happen. There can be no clear view from which we could understand notions of progress beyond mere change in form.

Had the game taken (perhaps ironically) a more Marxist approach to its framing and understanding, I think there would have been potential for 1000xResist to state a truth that I have only seen thus far in Disco Elysium, which is the necessity in understanding dialectical materialism as a framework for building towards a better future, a classless, moneyless society that has at its heart, a single principle of each according to their needs, from each according to their ability.

That all being said, these critiques do little to detract from the masterful artistry of 1000xResist. It's overwhelmingly positive acclaim is well-deserved, as it is able to convey, with wit, weight, and wonder, the vast complexity, beauty, and tragedy of the human condition. It is both a celebration and a lament. It is a true tragicomedy that reaches to up the stars and into the deepest abyss.

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so itchio has shadowbanned any games tagged with 'nsfw', 'adult', or 'erotic' so they don't show up in searches, and several devs have reported that their r18 games have been removed from the site with no warning

you know, maybe the internet shouldn’t be controlled by payment processors and terf lobbyists. and maybe people should be more concerned about this rise of censorship on queer media.

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To all our loved ones outside the planet called Gaza

Gaza is not just a city, it is a land of generosity, dignity, and strength.

A small place in geography, but vast in unity and compassion.

Muslims and Christians live together like one big family.

Families are interconnected through generations of marriage and shared struggle. There’s no home that hasn’t opened its door to another in times of hardship.

Gaza is not only about the sea, fish, land, olives, palms, and agriculture,

it is full of doctors, engineers, teachers, traders, workers, and skilled professionals from every field.

People who work hard, dream big, and simply want to live in dignity.

Even during war, if basic goods were available, even at high prices, we would still stand together and support each other as always.

But today, the issue is not just that prices are high,

the problem is: there’s simply nothing to buy

And the prices? They're not just expensive, they’re — astronomical.

Not to live well, just to stay alive

Even a wealthy person, if they’re not corrupt, can’t survive under these conditions.

Believe us, it’s not easy to ask for donations.

It’s not easy to say, "We are starving"

But this is the truth, everything we owned has vanished in the wind

The war left us with nothing.

Gaza is not a memory, Gaza is still standing, and still worthy of life

Show your humanity

Support Palestinian families

Support my family 🙏💔🇵🇸

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itch is removing all of their adult games now

Oh things are fucking dire huh. There won't be any storefronts left

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favorite character from any media BUT it has to be a woman. in the tags now go (pls talk to me about your favorite fictional women pls pls pls pls)

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pretending to be an animal on the internet is actually one of the greatest things in the world i think everyone should do it

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Going for a walk/flight ^^

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Would You Fuck This Furry?

Aaron is a gentle giant who always tries to make people feel comfortable around him, even to the point of keeping his eyes closed so as not to intimidate people with them. He's very trusting once he likes you, but get on his bad side and he can be incredibly coldhearted. He mostly works as a bartender, but he's also the leader of the Resistance against the inhumane medical company Resoom.

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There is no nuance button, if your answer is some variation of ‘I would if X’ then the answer is yes.

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Ok, as funny as it is to clown on someone trying to claim Undertale isn’t woke or political…

No. Just no. The original post is a complete misread of Asgore.

I cannot understand how you can go through his boss fight in the Neutral path and believe the narrative thinks he’s just a pathetic joke. Pitiful to an extent sure, and clearly in the wrong, but he’s given such striking empathy by the narrative, and ends up being one of the most compelling characters in the whole game. Because Undertale gives all the monsters a chance to reflect and change without reducing them to an evil caricature. I do not understand how you can play that sequence and think the intended takeaway is ‘let’s all laugh at the stupid patriarch.” Much as I think that would be a worthwhile subversion to make, that’s just not what’s happening in Asgore’s case.

And, no, I’m sorry but it IS weird how quickly the Pacifist ending skates over his wrap up. Hell it’s weird in regards to Toriel too. Going back and confronting her past, her grief, and the person she used to love who has gone on to do something awful should be such a culminating moment hit both characters…and she quickly scolds him and we move on. I don’t think that’s some intentional subversion that tells us Asgore’s a silly white man, because the rest of the framing doesn’t read that way. It feels rushed.

It’s really frustrating that discussion of Toriel and Asgore is caught in such a limiting binary. You either get weird misogynistic rants about Toriel is a bad person, or dismissive takes that frame Asgore as merely a joke. When that’s simply not what the game is doing for either character.

As for Deltarune, I admit my initial concern was that Asgore was being reduced to just a gag, in a way that felt needlessly mean spirited. But especially after playing Chapter 4, that the game is showing that there’s more to what the guy’s been through. I have full faith that the writing will be able to demonstrate that Asgore is handling his divorce poorly for all concerned…without just making him a punchline.

It’s just too bad that I don’t have faith in the fandom to do the same.

No, Toby doesn’t hate Asgore, even if his wrap in the Pacifist ending could have been done better. But the fans sure as hell do.

also i keep hearing about how toby fox "hates asgore" and how hes direspected by the narrative and his trauma doesnt get attention and lemme just say.

yeah thats the fucking point

Asgore is the patriarch of the underground, a big (literally) white man who's in so much pain, literally a king. He's the kind of person that stories always focus on and care about to the exclusion of everyone else. How many stories have you seen that treat the King, the Husband, thr Father as the most important person in a story? It's soooo deliberate that we're presented with this tragic man who's burdened with power, and the narrative (and Toriel) have no respect for him. It is an exicit, stated plot point that him wallowing in his misery has done nothing but prolong the suffering of every monster in the Underground. Everyone in game talk about how great and nice he is but all he's done as king since Asriel and Chara died is sit in his empty house waiting for kids to kill.

Undertale is so great because it questions who's important and worth saving. Its a game where you talk to random encounters and help them with their problems. The point is to reject normative notions of whose perspective matters and say that you need to take responsibility for the power you have over others.

ITS THE POINT!!!! ASGORE BEING UNIMPORTANT AND IMASCULATED AND HIS NOBLE MANPAIN BEING SHOT DOWN IS THE POINT!

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Save your Tv! 📺

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Kairi in Dream Drop Distance 💗

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Requested by anon

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It’s unfortunate because movies 1 and 2 had me hopeful that they were gonna be the only piece of Sonic media that actually remembers that GUN are supposed to be the bad guys. After the games completely walked that back from Shadow the Hedgehog onwards.

And like, in theory, they kinda do? I’d still consider Sonic 3 the best of these movies. But it’s also where you notice all the little things that pile up designed to soften them. Maria’s death is indirect, accidental and less graphic. GUN are much less trigger happy and reactionary, so their role is less antagonistic than in Adventure 2. Gerald is way less tragic and sympathetic so we think less about GUN’s role in shaping him into this villainous madman.

It’s unfortunate because I do enjoy the third movie especially, it’s a fun kids’ action movie and in some regards I actually think it has a better story than Sonic Adventure 2. It’s less cluttered, plot and character beats make more sense and Shadow’s character gets more room to breathe. But it definitely downplays some of the more interesting and timely parts of the game and that’s a real shame

That the Sonic the Hedgehog film series has increasingly felt the need to soften its source material's implicit criticism of state and police authority is very funny, because how gutless have you gotta be that an E-rated video game about a cartoon rat fighting evil robots is too political for your taste?

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sammy and maxy

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i can't get over this stupid fucking animation. i love how comically high the framerate is compared to all of his other animations. blud looks like he's boutta roundhouse kick silver the hedgehog