#Polygon Ventures

[lwcmanagment]

Shiba Inu auf dem Vormarsch: Neue Anwendungsmöglichkeiten durch CoinGate Integration

Die Krypto-Welt ist in ständiger Bewegung, und Shiba Inu (SHIB) ist keine Ausnahme. Dank einer bedeutenden Integration des litauischen Zahlungsanbieters CoinGate mit Polygon und Binance Smart Chain haben SHIB-Besitzer nun noch mehr Möglichkeiten, ihre Tokens im Alltag zu nutzen. Von großen Marken wie Nike bis hin zu Dienstleistungen wie Airbnb – die Anwendungsbereiche für Shiba Inu erweitern sich rasant.

Ein Meilenstein für SHIB-Besitzer

CoinGate, bekannt für seine Rolle als Brücke zwischen der Krypto- und der traditionellen Finanzwelt, hat Shiba Inu in sein Zahlungssystem integriert. Das bedeutet, dass SHIB-Besitzer ihre Kryptowährung jetzt in zahlreichen realen Transaktionen einsetzen können. CoinGate selbst äußerte sich dazu begeistert:

“Shibarmy, nutzt eure SHIB, um Airbnb zu buchen, die neuesten Spiele von Steam und PS5 zu kaufen, eure Garderobe mit Nike und Zalando aufzufrischen und mehr.”

Mehr als nur ein Memecoin

Shiba Inu arbeitet kontinuierlich daran, seinen Status als „Memecoin“ hinter sich zu lassen. Ein bedeutender Schritt in diese Richtung ist die Einführung von Shibarium, einer Ethereum Layer-2 Skalierungslösung. Dieses Upgrade, das kürzlich durch ein umfassendes Hard Fork abgeschlossen wurde, soll schnellere Transaktionen und stabilere Gasgebühren ermöglichen und damit das Nutzungserlebnis erheblich verbessern.

Vertrauen der Investoren wächst

Im April sorgte das Shiba Inu Team erneut für Schlagzeilen, als es in einer großen Finanzierungsrunde 12 Millionen USD sammelte. Diese Mittel sollen in die Entwicklung einer neuen Layer-3 Blockchain fließen. Bemerkenswert ist, dass namhafte Investoren wie Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital und Animoca Brands zu den Unterstützern gehören, was das wachsende Vertrauen in das Potenzial von SHIB verdeutlicht.

SHIB-Kurs stabil, aber mit Potenzial

Trotz der wachsenden Akzeptanz und den technologischen Fortschritten blieb der Kurs von Shiba Inu in letzter Zeit relativ stabil. Seit dem 7. Mai schwankte er zwischen 0,00002379 USD und 0,00002227 USD. Doch Analysten sehen Potenzial für signifikante Kursbewegungen in naher Zukunft. Ein Durchbruch könnte den Kurs auf 0,00002558 USD treiben, was eine Steigerung von über 13 Prozent bedeuten würde. Auf der anderen Seite könnte ein Rückgang den Kurs auf etwa 0,00002080 USD fallen lassen, was fast acht Prozent unter dem aktuellen Niveau liegt.

Fazit

Die Integration von Shiba Inu durch CoinGate und die kontinuierlichen Bemühungen, die Funktionalitäten und die Akzeptanz der Kryptowährung zu erweitern, markieren einen spannenden Moment für die SHIB-Community. Mit der Aussicht auf schneller und stabiler werdende Transaktionen und der Unterstützung durch bedeutende Investoren steht Shiba Inu vor einer vielversprechenden Zukunft. Bleibt abzuwarten, wie sich diese Entwicklungen auf den Kurs auswirken werden, aber eines ist sicher: Shiba Inu ist auf dem besten Weg, weit mehr als nur ein Memecoin zu sein.

[xerxestexastoast]

Thinking about that Catly game announced at the game awards and wondering who it's even for. The commitment to AAA realism seems like it's a huge and unnecessary expense for something that's trying to appeal to the virtual pet niche, where we kickstart new projects for well under a million dollars and our pets are 200px square PNGs.

[callmearcturus]

Polygon, The Verge’s sister site dedicated to gaming and entertainment, has been sold by Vox Media to Valnet, a company that owns brands like ScreenRant, GameRant, and Android Police. Some Polygon staffers will continue with the publication under its new owner, while others have been laid off, according to posts online and an internal message sent to Vox Media employees. Valnet owns more than 27 different brands that cover areas like entertainment, gaming, sports, and travel. A recent report from TheWrap includes one former contributor to a site under Valnet’s purview describing conditions as “almost sweatshop-level.”

even the fucking Verge, also owned by Vox Media, going off

“I’m no longer with Polygon,” says former editor-in-chief Chris Plante. “If you’re hiring, please consider the many talented writers and editors now on the market. Every one of them deserves a spot on your staff. I won’t be talking more about the sale because I wasn’t involved.”

oh fuck, chris.

.... a-and Giant Bomb? Giant Bomb's staff is gone?

i mean that's p much it, isn't it? all of the major outlets have jettisoned their staff and are shells of their former selves. all of the places people go to get started in games journalism have been stripped by venture capitalists for every fucking penny.

holy shit i'm tearing up? i.

[foreststarflaime]

A paranoid aroace’s guide to surviving Valentine’s Day

DO NOT LET THAT BASTARD CUPID GET YOU.

Best not to venture outside or anywhere with lots of people today. Too many potential targets for the arrow bastard to attempt to sic on you. Instead lock yourself in a defensible location

Following up on the previous, an apartment a few stories up is ideal—people have to funnel through limited number of chokepoints to get to you. Board up all your windows so he can’t shoot through them. If you live on the ground floor DO NOT go on a roof, the feathery shit can fly, try a basement instead

Give yourself lead poisoning. His gold arrows (the ones that make people fall in love, lead are the ones that sew hate) probably won’t work on you anyways depending on how much of a repulsed aro you are but better safe than sorry

On a similar note, arm yourself with a nail gun. Make sure the nails have as much lead content as possible. Don’t try to beat the little baby bitch at his own game—instead, turn his game into Splatoon and be determined to win.

Sharpened pencils are also acceptable in a pinch if you can’t find nails. Also maybe keep some on you for close range combat

You may be tempted to put up decorations such as roses dipped in blood or severed human hearts on pikes to mock his theming. This can be effective, but better is to still have your decorations up from Halloween. As an aroace that was the day your power waxed the strongest. Keep symbols of it around as a threat display

Do not touch anything gold. Just in case. Especially golden apples marked “for the most beautiful goddess.” That will get you wrapped up in the stupid love polygon squabbling called the Trojan War

Also do not trust the animals. Or suspicious otherwise inanimate objects for that matter

If all else fails, make like a tree

And now a moment of silence for our fallen comrade Daphne 🫡🕊️🍃🌳 good luck all of you out there stay strong

[the-chessboard-is-personal]

why i should be allowed to time travel:

imagine. it's not that far into 1997. you've been hearing stories from that one rich (by comparison) kid in your school about this wonderful game called Super Mario 64. you tell your parents. eventually, they manage to buy you a Nintendo 64 and a copy of the game. perhaps it's christmas, perhaps not, doesn't matter. What matters is you now own an N64, and can play the game that one kid seemed so exited telling everyone about.

you play the game and it's amazing! It's insanely massive and wait, have you gotten farther in the game than that rich kid? They never told you about this level, and wait, where's that ghost level in the courtyard? Why does the castle go on and on and Mario doesn't sound like he did in the recordings the rich kid took of them playing their copy. in fact, there's hardly anything similar! Where's Bob-Omb Battlefield? Where's Whomp's Fortress? Why can't you long jump? Why does no one believe you when you say the star at the bottom of the snow level reappears if you go down the slide?

You get lost in the game, whenever you die or collect a star you're suddenly in a completely different part of the castle. The rich kid didn't tell you about pressing A on the pause menu to fast travel. They didn't tell you that the castle seemed to change sometimes. Did your health meter always look like a piece of bread? Is it supposed to be nighttime in the castle grounds? Even as more people in your school get the game, even as your friends get the game, no one tells you about the golden toad statue behind the castle, or the Yoshi that tells you your deepest fears are inside that cave. You don't go in that cave.

One day your friend comes over to your house and you show them your copy of the game. They're confused, saying it's wildly different than theirs and you must've gotten a limited edition copy or something! How exciting!

The geometry in this part of the castle could only be described as "polygonal chaos". You're scared. Your friend is scared. The game sounds like it's screaming in the only way it can, with soundfonts in background music. Nothing makes sense. You leave and don't go back there for years.

As you grow older, you find people who had similar experiences playing the game. Rumors of a yellow switch float around and you finally venture into that cave. A sign tells you you're escaping reality, asks if you're okay. You jump into a pit and the game tells you it hurts but hey you're back in the castle grounds. You find Luigi, drowning in a red pool. You find the sewers and accidentally anger what resides there by venturing too close. The ground turns to lava.

People say these strange, massive copies of the game are an early beta build, before Nintendo removed "something" due to hardware limitations. You don't find out what this "something" is. People make theories, conspiracies, ideas that would sound completely insane if there wasn't some sort of vague, disjointed proof. Personalization AI sounds so impossible, yet everyone with one of these beta copies seems to experience the game a little differently. Truth is, some time traveler replaced 1 in every hundred or so copies of the game with a ROM dump of B3313 lol

[utilitycaster]

@rowzeoli replied to your post “@rowzeoli replied to your post “Do you think part...”:

There's a lot to tackle on this so I'll do my best to cover it all! So I totally get where you're coming from and to be fair yes there are some things in old articles that I don't agree with any more in deeming people having done things "first" which is part of the issue of not having a collective historical memory around actual play as it moves so quickly. Most of the issue isn't that readership is down it's that AI and venture capitalism is destroying journalism

​

Hey, sorry for taking a bit to respond; it's been a hectic week and I wanted to give it some thought and time.

I'll start off with the good: I really do, again, appreciate you engaging here, and on the strength of that alone I am going to at least give Rascal's free articles a good solid chance for a while; I have been, admittedly, tarring it with the brush of a lot of frustrations (see below) and I know it's relatively new and still finding its place and should get a bit more of my patience. I also should note that while your article did hit on a lot of the patterns that have turned me - and no small amount of others - off of a lot of AP/TTRPG journalism it is by no means the worst example. The things you credited Burrow's End for are, admittedly, more obscure single-episode events within a huge body of work. Or in other words: there are bylines in the space that make me go "oh this is going to be bad" and yours is not one of them.

With that said: I'm sorry, but Polygon's bias is not a matter of time crunch or lack of funding. There is no way that a time crunch or lack of funding would consistently, over years (this was already word on the street at latest when EXU Calamity came out almost 2 years ago) result in a message of "D20 can do no wrong, and Critical Role rarely does right." If it were throwing out harsh criticism or glowing praise for a wide variety of shows, sure, that seems like it could come from not having a lot of time...but this goes beyond coincidence. It's a reputation that long precedes your entry into the field. As some others in the replies have noted, I might have written the most about it on Tumblr, but it's at this point not an uncommon observation. This also isn't an issue for other publications in a similar "nerd stuff" space - there's plenty of articles on, say, Dicebreaker or Comicbook.com that I don't care for, either because I disagree with the opinion or I think the analysis isn't really worthwhile, but those tend to at least have a mix of positive and critical articles about most shows. When I said you could treat Polygon articles like Madlibs, I meant it. And so I think it's great that you are no longer chasing "groundbreaking", for example, is not a solid ground for an article, but this also is showing me that even relatively new journalists are, very early on, starting with this exact formula. In some ways, that's more damning.

I do also want to add that I'm again, sympathetic to the lack of resources and to coming into a field with passionate and nitpicky fans who have been here for years. Not knowing about a single Critical Role one-shot from 2018 is something that I'd have been much more lenient about if it weren't hitting those repetitive notes of "D20 is great/this thing is groundbreaking/look at the production values." But the other article I posted, also from Polygon but not written by you, is, to be honest, pretty inexcusable. I get there's a lot of lost institutional memory...but either being unaware of, or ignoring the fact that there are a huge number of long-running actual play podcasts that play longform campaigns? That's pretty much on par, in terms of whether your audience trusts you, of the New York Times international news desk not being able to locate Russia on a map (though obviously with far less serious real-world ramifications). (The fact that this was written by a prominent actual play scholar meanwhile is like, I don't know, Neil DeGrasse Tyson not knowing how gravity works, but that's a separate topic).

And again, I get these are your colleagues. I have the luxury of being able to run my mouth without putting my livelihood at stake, and that's not true for people within the industry. I do not expect you to say anything ill about them, nor would I judge any specific individual for getting published in Polygon since I get that people are pitching to a number of sites so that they can get paid! But when I say "Polygon's AP/TTRPG coverage is at needs-a-change-of-leadership levels of bad" I am not alone in this, and it's something that has probably been true for easily 3+ years if not longer. Because it's one of the more prominent publications in the space (ironically, due to Justin McElroy of TAZ being a founder, and the fact that its videogame division is quite good and has had some viral videos, it had enviable name recognition among AP fans that it's only squandered since) it really is at a point where hitting that same formula in any AP journalism - claiming everything is groundbreaking, putting an emphasis on high production values, D20 good and CR bad - makes fans go "oh, more of this bullshit." I don't want to say you can't talk about these things - I definitely do not want to say that you cannot criticize Critical Role - but that specific well is has been poisoned for a long time. If someone hits these points it feels, whether or not it is true, that they're trying to be provocative by going against popular fan opinion, but are simultaneously just saying the same thing we've seen a million times before.

I believe wholeheartedly that from your perspective the competition is AI - and I don't want AI articles either. On the other hand, in terms of what I think fans who are in my position are turning to, it's not AI articles (I'm certainly not). If I want analysis, I'm probably, at this point, going to social media; I am not the only person who writes longform meta or analysis for fun, and I'll seek others who do out. I'm not personally a video essay person, but plenty are, and that's out there too. I'm not going there for reporting on news (I think the Dnd Shorts OGL debacle made it clear that actual journalists are very necessary) but yeah, if I want criticism or analysis? I'm going there instead, especially since there often is that missing institutional memory. If I do want journalism, at this point, some of the bigger shows are getting writeups in less niche publications, particularly Critical Role and D20, as is news of more major tabletop games. It's infrequent and it doesn't highlight indie works, but it tends to be, if nothing else, lacking in major errors or obvious bias. If I want to hear from cast members, at least four of the shows I watch or listen to have regular talkback shows, and Dropout regularly talks to AP/TTRPG figures on Adventuring Academy, and a lot of those shows take viewer questions. Which, again, probably not heartening to hear the competition is even tighter, but I guess my point is I hope it's possible, even with very limited resources, to move away from the above "novelty and production values above all" pattern because even that would do a lot of needed work to rebuild reader trust - and I'm going to be checking out Rascal in the hopes that it can.

[pretty-pink-puppy-kiwi]

I'm just a simple transfemme barbarian, and I ventured into your dungeon to loot your treasures. After smashing you (tragic i couldn't defeat you by slapping my heavy girlcock against your big round ass) i see your dropped items. That poor chastity cage won't fit me, but it WILL fit my pretty little mage party member. And the thong looks so cute on her ass, too.

maybe there's an option after defeating you, that I get to rez you, and bring you along in MY party. My thrall, servicing my big musky barbarian cock <3

*you add me to your party so I can fight with you but my big huge round beautiful ass has so many polygons that in slows your computer down and you have to play at ~12 GPS and I dont even do that much damage when I attack.*

*the cg cutscenes where you plow me are pretty fuckin hot though*

[pomniegranate]

It wasn't Sora's first venture into the digital realm that had occurred ages ago. As he pondered this, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, sparking his curiosity about how Tron was faring these days. The sharp, pointed ears atop his head twitched at Pomni's soft, hesitant voice. She was a whimsical jester, her eyes resembling colorful pinwheels that spun with every expression. Among the eclectic inhabitants of this vibrant world, she had fallen into the role of being his guide, as Ragatha encouraged Pomni to show the new guy around.

Stepping outside the expansive digital circus tent, Sora was momentarily blinded by the sun's warmth mingling with the Moon's cool glow, hanging in the sky as if frozen in time. Sun and Moon felt excited and unashamed to inquire whether Pomni and Sora were experiencing a romantic escapade. His large, clawed hand scratched the back of his head, revealing his bashfulness, a trait that never failed to amuse, while his other hand waved dismissively. A sheepish chuckle slipped from his illuminating maw.

To steer Pomni away from the teasing antics of the glimmering sun and the playful Moon—two lively orbs of light that seemed to revel in the chaos—Sora gently redirected the conversation. "How about we make our way to the lake?" he suggested casually, his voice warm and inviting. "I've been curious to see the boat there; it reminds me of home." The memories it evoked filled him with a longing for familiarity amidst this amazing digital circus.

And she was fine with her role; there was something about him that catches a person's eye without meaning: be it his aura, appearance or personality to choose from. He helped her and the others out of a rather sticky situation, so it was the least she could do for him. She didn't really need the push from her friend to do so. Though, Pomni isn't much of the guide type, she'd still do her best to get him accustomed to the world.

A nudge of her head and she led him towards the grounds just located outside the main tent. Sometimes she forgets just how expansive this digital circus actually was; little time was spent actually outside the large canopy, most of it was parading through games the host throws them in and being too tired afterwards to really travel outside. Some polygon food, maybe some time hanging out in the common area then the rest is spent in her room.

But she remembers the sun and moon partnering together simultaneously in the sky. The two AI's in the sea of blue didn't often talk to the players, so she found it odd, standing in place for a moment with an acute raised brow in confusion. Was it something about Sora that made them want to interact? And what were they going on about? A romantic escapade? It was just a little tour guide session!

The jester almost wanted to ask and see if they'd humor her with an answer, but it seemed the other took better at their teasing than she did. She was just kind of ... confused? But the spiked haired man was quick to deter her thoughts into another direction. Pomni was almost grateful for it, her gaze returning to the two brightly lit rocks in the atmosphere as she walked, but allowing her pinwheels to greet him once more. An easier tone shifted back onto her features, focusing solely on Sora and his little musings towards her. She always did like when she made anyone feel comfortable enough to open up about themselves.

⸺ ❝ Oh, the lake is pretty .. nice, I guess? Very digitalized, you know. I haven't actually been in it myself yet. ❞ Her head cants at him, curious to know more; just from his avatar, she guessed she never connected that possibility to him. ❝ Oh really? Do you .. remember your home, any? I always get a calming sense when I'm by the water, but .. I often have to close my eyes and use my imagination to get a more clear picture of what I'm trying to picture. ❞ Her gloves found themselves fidgeting at the yellow puffballs at her chest during the whole duration of their shared experiences.

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

AAAAAAA ur reading house of leaves??? im buying that next week thats so cool! do u have any book recs? or recs in general shows movies etc

I AM!! I'm several chapters in and super enjoying it, although reading it alone in a tiny hotel room in the middle of nowhere was a Distinct Mistake.

As for recs! I'm going to specifically go for stuff that isn't super mainstream, in the hopes that I'll recommend you something you have never heard of before. Here's some stuff for you!

Podcasts

Dreamboy - one-season podcast from Night Vale Presents, definitely one of their less-known ones. Explicit in places, what I would describe as AO3 M-rated sex scenes. A worn-out musician ends up embroiled in inexplicable events in a small town, and also there's a murderous zebra and fossils that want to fuck. It's a musical cinematic podcast masterpiece, I'll always be sad there's only one season.

Apocrypals - nonfiction. Two non-believers read through the Bible and try not to be jerks about it. If you're interested in theology and apocryphal texts but have no idea where to start, this is such a good place. The hosts are delightful, and have a really nice way of taking you through all the various layers of Biblical scholarly nonsense. Considerable backlog of episodes, but worth listening through from the beginning. Weirdly, there's continuity.

Til Death Do Us Blart - five poor fools watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 every Thanksgiving from now until the end of eternity, and report back yearly on their mental state. You may think to yourself 'wow, that doesn't sound like a good time'. It isn't, to the hosts. To anyone listening along, it's fucking hilarious. Nine episodes so far, and it's a single episode per year, so plenty of time to catch up.

Web Series

The Monument Mythos - Several seasons. surreal analogue horror alternate history of America told through a series of videos of varying format. Brilliantly absurd, fucked up, and horrifying by turns (sometimes all at once).

No Evil - ongoing animated series, made mostly by a single person. Please don't immediately wave it off because of the colorful anthropormorphic animals. The mythology is amazing, the animation is sublime, and the music is haunting. The pacing is a bit strange at first, and you may be confused at the way the plot moves, but you have to understand that it's all part of its charm. I think about No Evil way too much.

Dances Moving - you may know Brian David Gilbert from his work at Polygon, and his more recent absurdist Youtube ventures. This is from way before that! It's a fun and gradually heartwrenching musical exploration of a local dance group and what it means to move away from home. Seven short episodes.

ENA - this one is a bit more mainstream, so you may know it already. Who knows what's going on in the world of ENA? Definitely not me. Absurdism at its finest. Bizarre architecture, strange characters, if it's a metaphor I don't know what it's about, but the vibes are immaculate. Three actual episodes of varying length, apparently there's a video game set to come out soon-ish?

An Unauthorized Fan Treatise - serialized story. If you're a fan of internet drama a la Msscribe, you're going to adore it. It's a fiction story about a fictional fandom, and one massively messed up person who decides that two of the lead actors in her favorite show are secretly dating and sets out to prove it with a cited multi-chapter essay. And then it gets wild.

Comics

The Property of Hate - a wonderfully dynamic and colorful webcomic about a young girl getting chosen to become a make-believe world's Hero. Puns and wordplay galore. Absolutely delightful characters and worldbuilding. Ongoing.

Eat the Rich - a young woman goes to meet her boyfriend's extremely rich family, and learns their horrifying secret. Warning: cannibalism. 5 issues, complete.

Beanworld - impossible to describe, but I'll try. An absurdist semiabstract musing on the nature of life and cycles and community, set in a world where the rules are weirdly two-dimensional and you as a reader get weirdly invested in the routines and cycles that the inhabitants follow. And all of the main characters are cute lil bean guys. If you read anything on this list, do this one. (Linked is the only online version I could find, and it's not up-to-date. I own all the omnibuses in print. If you liked what you read here, I recommend tracking them down too.)

Short Stories (in no particular order, and certainly not all my favorites - just the ones I had bookmarked and on hand)

Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse - a young Indian woman looks for marriage in the fantastical, and finds several suitors

Fish (in 13 sections) - an obsessive unpacks a bewildering insult. Just, really fun.

Fandom For Robots - a robot discovers anime, and definitely doesn't have big feelings about it

Informed Consent Logs From The Soul-Swap Clinic - two people decide to swap bodies, for somewhat murky reasons.

The Magician's Apprentice - a young girl learns magic from her mentor. This one's about grooming. But not like that. But also a lot like that. But also it's so much more fucked up than that. (This one is a MEGA favorite, it's by Tamsyn Muir. Who you may recognize as the author of the Locked Tomb series - I'd rec that too here, if it wasn't definitely too mainstream for what I'm going for. Read this. And also read the Locked Tomb.)

The Tale of the Foolish King Who Banished Music - it's a snippet of a longer Doctor Who audio drama, but stands so nicely on its own. Unnerving little fairy tale.

The Spider - 1908 horror story about a man trying to figure out why so many men have spontaneously committed suicide in a specific hotel room. It's basically a TMA statement, in more ways than one.

Video Games

What Did Veronica Dream Of? - strange little rpgmaker puzzle game. Obtuse and weird, and I adore it. I wish I could explain why.

Secret Little Haven - point-and-click about being a trans girl on the internet in 1999. Completely nails the tone it's going for. Period-typical homo- and transphobia.

Linelith - a short (1-hour) puzzle game with no plot and no characters, and yet it contains one of the greatest plot-twists of all time. I'm begging you to play it immediately.

Lingo - puzzle game about linguistics, words, non-Euclidean goemetry, and figuring out an endless series of rules in a constantly expanding world. RIDICULOUSLY clever and good, and I've been playing it almost continuously for the last few months. It's got so much content for such a reasonable price, and the community-made maps add even more content (and are also excellent). If English isn't your first language, you may struggle, but otherwise - grab a bunch of friends and stream it. It's better with friends helping you out, I can guarantee it.

For A Change - a 1999 interactive fiction game about raising the sun in a world where words do not mean what you think they mean. If you're familiar with old text-based games, go ahead and play it - otherwise, you may want to read this transcript of a group of people playing it together instead.

Other Things

Carmilla - the classic 1800s lesbian vampire novella. I read it very recently, and it's extremely good. Absolutely delivers on the lesbian vampire premise in full gory detail, although do be aware that it was written in the context of homophobic fear.

Alberio - very fun light musical about two siren brothers reconnecting under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Mosquitoes - stage play about life and families and physics (theoretical and practical both). Very heavy topics, pulls no punches. The Boson's final monologue always wrecks me.

Ghost Quartet - musical/song cycle/experience about love, death, alcohol, and (of course) ghosts. Lots of cyclical stories and time travel weirdness. All of the songs are incredible.

Yankee and the Foreigners - music group that performs delightful upbeat covers of songs in animal onesies. Their Bare Necessities cover is a favorite of mine.

I'm sure there's lots more things I could rec (not a lot of books or movies here, huh? sorry about that. I immediately forgot everything I've ever read and watched) but these were the things that came to mind when I sat down and wrote this list, so hopefully there's something new and good for you in here!

[salted-anime-takes]

Sword Art Online (S1 & S2; dropped after that)

Author: Reki Kawahara, originally light novels

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Genres (Listed by MAL): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance (vomits), Love Polygon (kills you)

Premiered: Summer 2012

Anime vs. Manga?: You couldn't pay me less than $100 to consume additional content to this series. I'd also need a large margarita.

Salted Genres: stereotypical teen boy fantasy, loser cardboard male mc, harem of women too good for him, jesus christ they had a torture dungeon for main girl in S2 by some grown man obsessed with her???, jesus FUCKING christ they gave Kirito a cousin who is into him but reasoned it off not being totally blood related, why did we let this series get so popular

Major Trigger Warnings: that weird sex dungeon thing in S2, almost incest, shitty writing, shitty love polygon garbage

Can I Watch It Around My Parents?: Just don't watch it. The cultural context isn't worth it. Do yourself a favor and stop thinking isekai will be family friendly when the main audience is incels.

Artstyle: That moe-esque style without any personality and makes all the main characters look 12, and many side characters look ridiculously older.

Personal Review: I will never forgive SAO for kicking off the isekai genre in anime so hard. Fuck yourself, Kirito. Every other anime lead in isekai is just you. Fuck this garbage pile for the isekai boom. Fuck my life

Context: This is the real reason you're here, aside from the scathing remarks you've probably heard a billion times. Why the fuck is this show even relevant? Let's go back to the early 2010s, before half of tumblr could pretend to read. (This is mostly from the Western perspective, so please add anything else happening in the world with this wild popularity jump, because I'd LOVE to hear additional takes.) Several factors were going on. Firstly, Netflix was finally a full streaming service, and most people were starting to subscribe. You didn't have to hope it was on Toonami or go to whatever sketchy websites had anime illegally available (and get every virus known to computer-kind) to get your fix anymore. Well... for a small starting selection. Secondly, while the isekai genre was already a fully developed thing, it hadn't broken into the majority Western anime viewership circles, which barely ventured outside of Toonami at the time. Then along came SAO. Netflix got the rights to the entire first season, and suddenly, it was not only insanely accessible but also something most Western fans had never seen before. You die in the game, you die in real life?! Incredible!!! (Sorry Tron, you weren't high fantasy enough for this crowd.) Thirdly, gaming was finally mainstream, and watching streamers was a new norm. The timing couldn't have been better for its release. And what with the insane levels of ignorance and assumptions most Western anime watchers had at the time of anime tropes, most red flags discussed were merely looked over. We let too much slide in the early 2010s, and SAO was one of the biggest culprits. Fourthly, if you needed a gateway anime? SAO didn't require any sort of understanding of Japanese culture to get, which appealed to a lot of people who didn't want to think outside their box, as was the early 2010s. Despite it all, SAO was easy merchandise. Hot Topic (apologies for the American chain drop) was venturing into nerd culture and including some nice trinkets for the little nerds that hung out with their goth besties, and anime merch- including SAO- was some of the first big hits. After that? It's history. I don't know if anyone who still claims to like SAO actually is banking on nostalgia or just never gained tastes beyond a lameass horny 15 year old boy, but that boom it created gave so many light novel writers the ticket they needed to get isekai as a major genre in today's seasonal anime lineup.

Favorite Character: Asuna deserved better you motherfuckers. She actually did stuff until you get thrown into the most unnecessary slice of life arc where they begin the Sexualization. S2 cour 2 they gave her a genuinely interesting opportunity to be a lead, AND Kirito wasn't there. Still not worth watching.

Fandom: you couldn't pay me ANYTHING to check this.

[postgamecontent]

Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the Week Ending September 21, 2024

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the week ending September 21, 2024. Quite a few new and notable releases to check out this time around, so it's another large article. I've decided I'd rather do reviews as separate articles, so look for those when and if I opt to do them. My resources for such things are considerably more limited now, but I'll do what I can. Let's check out this week in the world of Switch!

Select New Releases

The Plucky Squire ($29.99)

After a storybook hero is kicked out his book, his story's ending is changed to a much bleaker one. In order to set things right, he'll have to explore both 2D and 3D worlds, solving puzzles and completing challenges. This game got some immediate attention due to James Turner, formerly of Game Freak, working on it. The game certainly looks to be intriguing, so let's hope it can deliver on its considerable promise.

Loddlenaut ($19.99)

You play as an interstellar custodian in this relaxed open-world adventure about cleaning up an alien planet. Collect trash and recycle it to craft items and upgrades, raise aquatic creatures, and use your bubble gun to make things nice and neat again. Looks like some good times if you're just trying to chill out with something this week.

I Got Isekai'd into a Shmup ($12.99)

You don't see a ton of shoot 'em ups with four-player multiplayer support, let alone ones with great titles like this. The story about the main character getting transported into the world of a shooter serves as a framing device for the vertically-scrolling bullet hell action. Eight stages, four ships, multiple difficulty modes, and even a bestiary to fill out. You almost want to reward it for the name alone.

Japanese Rail Sim: Hakone Town of Natural Beauty and Hot Springs ($49.99)

Hey, it's one of these. Hakone's a really nice place, so taking a train ride through its scenery is a solid idea. You're driving the train, and this is a mountainous route, so don't relax too much. As you play, you'll be able to view tourism info about Hakone and the Hakone Tozan Railway. Cool. Like the other games in this series, it relies on real video footage. As such, it can feel a little artificial when starting and stopping, but the effect in motion is decent enough.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -Foresight- ($37.99)

Another Touhou roguelike RPG, and these have all been of substantial enough quality that I am not sad to see one more. This is fairly similar to the Mystery Dungeon games, but the progression is a bit kinder. I'm going to be doing a review of this game on the site soon, so look forward to that. It'll be a little bit since I just got my hands on the game today.

Arcade Archives Crime City ($7.99)

Probably not the Chase HQ Universe game that people have been waiting for, but I have a real soft spot for Taito's Crime City. It's a Rolling Thunder-esque run-and-gun action game for up to two players whose playable characters are definitely not based on any particular cop movie duo of the era, no sir. There are also little sections where you move into the screen, like in Contra. Good goofy fun, which might be just what some of you are looking for today.

EGGCONSOLE Star Cruiser PC-8801mkIISR ($6.49)

Oh, this is a big one. This 1988 release offers polygonal 3D visuals, which was quite a sight to see at the time. You're exploring space and planet surfaces, engaging in action-based combat, and following a decent little story. There are some RPG elements here as well. Unfortunately, this game suffers from the usual issue of only having Japanese in-game text, and quite a lot of it. You might want to venture in anyway, just to experience it. Be forewarned that this is a very flashy game, so photosensitive people should probably give it a pass.

Keylocker | Turn Based Cyberpunk Action ($19.99)

A stylish turn-based RPG that incorporates rhythm game mechanics into its combat. In a messed-up future where music is banned, you are a rebellious singer. Seems nifty, and I've been given a review copy so I will be taking a deeper look at it soon.

Pixel Game Maker Series NYANxTECH ($5.99)

I suppose we're back on regular releases for the Pixel Game Maker line, which suits me just fine. This looks like a puzzle-platformer of sorts where you use different buttons to turn platforms on and off. Sure, that seems fine enough for this price point.

The Karate Kid: Street Rumble ($39.99)

There are a lot of people chasing that Shredder's Revenge success right now, and I think it is somewhat ominous that one of the first out of the gate is Game Mill's Karate Kid-flavored take. Play as Daniel, Miyagi, Ali Mills, or Kumiko as you punch and kick your way through locations and battles inspired by the first three Karate Kid movies. The Cobra Kai brawlers from this publisher weren't very good at all, and that makes it difficult for me to expect much here.

Byte The Bullet ($19.99)

Travel through the various systems of a computer to cleanse them of the virus infecting the system in this run-and-gun platformer. You can poke around each of the levels to find interesting secrets, and the game parodies a few popular classics in the genre. This is one of those games that could go either way, and I'm not going to be able to say which side it falls on until I put my hands on it.

Cricket: Jae's Really Peculiar Game ($24.99)

Another interesting turn-based RPG to look into. The main character in this one is trying to fix a past gone wrong to make a better future. Hm, sounds familiar. Battles use Mario RPG-style timing-based commands, so if that's a thing you have strong feelings about one way or the other, make sure to take it into account.

Get in the Car, Loser! ($29.99)

This game describes itself as a "rowdy hot-blooded lesbian road trip RPG" and I feel like you're going to know just from that brief whether you're in or not. It comes from one of the co-creators of Ladykiller in a Bind, and it's been out for a while on other platforms. Generally seems to have gone over well with most. This release includes both extra DLC story chapters, so you get it all in one go.

Home Safety Hotline ($19.99)

One for the horror fans, I suppose. At least the set-up is interesting. You play as an operator at a home safety line, and people will call in with some very unusual problems. You'll need to try to help them with those issues, but you can count on things getting very weird in a hurry. This release also includes the Christmas-themed DLC. Not my thing, but maybe yours.

Matchbox Driving Adventures ($39.99)

You know, I think Outright Games is doing decent enough work in the licensed game area. Like, I'm not going to say the output is always great, but of all the publishers aimed at making games based on popular kids' properties, Outright seems to deliver the most agreeable results. And that's how this game looks, really. Agreeable. If you have a kid who loves Matchbox cars, they'll probably have fun with this.

Booom-Slang! ($14.99)

A quirky twin-stick shooter that offers up both a single-player campaign and a fairly interesting multiplayer mode. Up to four players can compete, but they'll do so with multiple targets in mind. There's more than one way to win, in other words. The aesthetic of this game is something else, and I suppose it could be best summarized as 3DO-ish. I can see some people being into it.

They Came From the Sky 2 ($9.99)

Be an alien invader… again. This is an entertaining action game where you play as an alien craft and need to wreak havoc on the planet. You can stomp things, shoot them, and cause all kinds of general mayhem. This advances nicely on the original game, I'd say. If you're looking for some mindless amusement, this does the job well enough.

Seasonspree ($11.99)

In this game, you play as a tanuki that can travel through time just by walking forwards and backwards. You have to use this ability to help out your friends in this relaxing adventure.

The Town of Nie ($43.22)

A "boys love" visual novel about a human who wanders into a supernatural world. He'll be interacting with some very unusual characters while searching for a way to return home, and perhaps finding love? That will depend on your choices, of course. There's a demo available for this game if you want a taste.

GINKA ($20.00)

This visual novel is about a guy whose childhood friend, Ginka, disappeared five years ago during a summer festival. When he returns to his hometown after a long absence, Ginka is still gone. But wait, here's a girl who looks just like Ginka did five years ago! She has no memories but she knows she loves the main character. What's going on here? You'll have to play to find out.

Aura of Worlds ($14.99)

A very cool roguelite platformer, and I'm not saying that because it has a grappling move. Okay, I'm not just saying that because it has a grappling move. That sure doesn't hurt, though. Really though, this is a game that gives you a lot of options about how you want to handle navigating its obstacles. If you've burned out on Dead Cells, check this out.

BZZZT ($14.99)

A precision platformer where you play as a tiny robot who has to save the world from an evil scientist. A tale as old as time, isn't it? While we have a whole lot of this kind of game on the Switch already, I must regrettably inform you that this one is very good. It's tough, as you would expect. It's even tougher if you're going for all the collectibles. But the controls are excellent, the level designs are clever, and it's very rewarding to play.

No Case Should Remain Unsolved ($9.99)

This is a short detective mystery game where you need to solve a twelve-year old case of a missing child. Examine the clues, connect memory fragments, and try to determine the truth behind this case and why it was abandoned for so long.

Sacabambaspis Chronicle ($2.99)

An odd little game where you play as a fish-thing, eating plankton to grow up while avoiding predators. Somehow there's an online multiplayer mode for up to ten players. If you want something unusual to spend a few bucks on, here you go.

pureya ($5.99)

This is a mini-game collection with more than thirty in total to play. All of them are played with a maximum of two buttons, so they're pretty simple to pick up. And that's a good thing, because you'll only be playing for ten seconds before it changes to the next game. That's the gimmick here. Of course, if you just want to play one game and see how high of a score you can get, that's an option too. Not bad for what it is.

Tamagoneko ($5.99)

A kaizo-style platformer, which is to say a game designed to make you scream in agony at the unfair difficulty of it all. There are one hundred and sixty levels to play, and your task is to rescue all of the kitten eggs in each. Wait, kitten eggs? I don't think that's how that works. Well, not really any of my business.

The Last Shot ($9.99)

Hmm, I don't know what to do with this one. It has a lot of style going for it, and I think having you play as an engineer who has to use their skills to solve puzzles is an interesting set-up in a platformer. But it just doesn't play well, which makes the platforming not so fun, and the puzzles aren't really good enough to make up for it. You might like it better than I did, though. It seems to have decent reviews on other platforms.

That's all for this week, friends. We'll be back next Saturday with another Round-Up, this time featuring a whole new Legend of Zelda game! As ever, I will plug both my Patreon (where you can find lots of cool exclusive articles) and my Ko-Fi (tips help me run this blog). There, plugged. I hope you have a super Saturday, and as always, thanks for reading!

[bitcoincables]

Bitcoin Approaching $45k, Litecoin and BorroeFinance Expected to Rally

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trending higher for seven consecutive weeks, approaching the $45,000 mark. This upward trend has attracted both novice and experienced investors, driven by high optimism and ongoing discussions about ETFs. Traders expect altcoins like Litecoin (LTC) and BorroeFinance (ROE) to extend their gains alongside Bitcoin's rise.

Litecoin, one of the major altcoins, has been in focus recently. BitPay, a crypto payment processor, has integrated Litecoin, allowing users to pay for Microsoft services using LTC. Additionally, Mecum Auctions has started accepting Litecoin as well. These developments have led to increased demand for LTC, pushing its price up to $73.60. The increasing number of transactions and active unique addresses also indicate a rising demand for Litecoin.

BorroeFinance, on the other hand, is an emerging altcoin that leverages artificial intelligence to connect investors with businesses or content creators seeking funding. The platform uses AI to assess risks and match investors with ventures aligned to their interests. BorroeFinance recently launched on the Polygon network, offering a secure and audited marketplace for earning, trading, and funding. The native token of the platform, ROE, is deflationary and powers the functionalities of the platform. In the ongoing presale, over 99% of the allocated ROE tokens have been sold. However, the long-term utility and adoption of BorroeFinance and its ROE token are yet to be tested.

To read the full article, click here.

Hashtags: #bitcoin, #litecoin, #borroefinance, #cryptocurrency

[twinklestarsprites]

Go play EGGCONSOLE

The Switch has basically turned into a game historian's dream come true, with classic titles getting ported, remade, remastered and localized for the first time all over the place. From Hamster's weekly Arcade Archives, to M2's fantastic as always work with Sega Ages, and Nintendo's own library available via their online service, there's no shortage of great titles for anyone who wants to revisit their own childhood, or just dive deep to better understand the past.

What I definitely didn't expect was for classic Japanese computer games to start ending up on the console, much less in North America. For a long time, these games have kinda had a forbidden fruit appeal for Westerners, a last frontier of games that was difficult to navigate due to the language barrier, the aging hardware, Windows cannibalizing all other operating systems during the 90's and of course, few of the games being exported over here, but it's gotten a lot better in recent years, mostly thanks to D4 enterprises.

They started with Project EGG, ostensibly Japan's equivalent of GOG, and after a few other ventures on various platforms, they've decided to port their most classic titles to Switch under the label of EGGCONSOLE, including, as I mentioned earlier, on the Western eShop. This seems odd at first, but considering the vintage of these games, they don't have that much Japanese text to parse, and often using joysticks and controllers back in the day, rather than keyboards, meaning they transfer to typical console controllers rather easily (you can still use an emulated keyboard in-game, if you wish).

As you can imagine, not all of the games have aged super gracefully; the action titles are straightforward enough, but the adventure games or RPG's with more complex systems and labyrinth-like levels are a bit too incomprehensible, though the releases have a lot of effort put into them to make sure you can see what they're all about, from level selects, to savestates to rewinds.

The three titles I've definitely put the most time into are Thexder, Silpheed, and Relics. Relics is definitely the most stymieing of the three, but it's so cool I keep trying to slog through it; it's got a body stealing mechanic which is always great, and a cool biomechanical aesthetic way ahead of its time.

But the two titles that are the easiest to get into are sort of a duology that compliment each other, as they're both by Game Arts and insanely impressive on a technical level; Thexder and Silpheed.

Silpheed is insane. I was aware of the Sega CD release before, but I didn't realize it was a sorta-sequel, sorta-remake of the computer original, and that it was basically Star Fox running on an 8-bit computer. I dunno how they got wireframes and polygons like this on the PC-88, but it's insane. The actual gameplay is pretty good, nothing compared to other shmups of the era and especially now, but the level design is pretty good and the weapon loadout select is pretty great, and adds a strategic wrinkle.

Thexder is a sidescrolling mecha-action title, and again, the technical prowess on display really steals the show. The animation on the robot as he lethargically strides forward, then turns into a plane blasting enemies down with an Itano Circus-type laser really makes the whole experience and feels really satisfying, even if the enemy layouts are a little too insane, at times. It's also nice to have a perfectly emulated version on a console since the Famicom version, developed by pre-Final Fantasy Square, was a bit of a disaster, and the PS3 remake (which included the original) is probably gonna be delisted soon.

It really does fill me with a glee that these titles are so much more easily playable now; you can really see how some of them shaped and molded more accessible contemporaries (such as the streamlined RPG's on the Famicom) while having their own identity that would never really be replicated. I'm super excited to see what other titles they rerelease down the line, though I'd really like to see titles from other platforms, like the PC-98, MSX or X68000. Looking at the upcoming titles, they seem to be sticking to PC-88 for now, but there's always hope for the future. For how much we (kinda rightfully) complain about game companies not doing enough to preserve the past, you gotta pay due respect to the few that are, to serve as a blueprint of what we need more of.

[igkstore]

Polygon Ventures-backed NEWT crypto crashes 44% after Binance and Coinbase listings

[primezone003]

Binance Adds Newton Protocol (NEWT) After Airdrop Reveal

Key Notes Binance adds Newton Protocol (NEWT) to Earn, Futures, and Margin trading. NEWT token airdrop set for June 24, with 10% of supply reserved for rewards. $90M funding from PayPal Ventures and Polygon boosts investor confidence. . Crypto exchange Binance announced that it will be adding Newton Protocol across its various platforms, like Binance Earn, Binance Futures, Binance Alpha, and…

[apuzzledude]

The Reader (Revised)

(Digital Media: Sources and Significance)

CHEN, W. (2024) Cultural Diversity in Media: Promoting Inclusivity and Representation, Global Media Journal, Vol. 22(6), pp.1-2. Doi: 10.36648/1550-7521.22.69.442 [Accessed: January 7, 2025].

In this article, Whong Chen advocates for a push in cultural diversity across various media platforms, along with the long-term achievements that could be possible if certain are overcome, like systematic barriers operated by disenablers of diverse voices, preventing their stories to be shared to the larger world. Chen encourages the media landscape to keep an open mind, bridging gaps between societal groups with a greater understanding and discussion of multicultural perspectives.

There are points made for fairer opportunities in leadership and authentic storytelling, thus rectifying the narrow-mindness of group-making decisions without the inclusion of minority groups, as well as dodging negative connotations with harmful after effects, through the distancing of stereotypical portrayals of minority groups. Allowing authentic stories to reach a wider audience can captivate them on an emotional level, opening the way for a greater increase in viewer loyalty and financial ventures.

Fischer-Lichte, Erika. “The Transformative Aesthetics of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’/Total Work of Art as the Specter Haunting Modernism.” Theatre Journal, vol. 65, no. 4, 2013, pp. 593–603. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24580440. [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025.]

In this essay, Fischer-Lichte ponders on the unproven ending period of modernism and the transition to a postmodern age, and how the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk ties into transformative art across the two movements. She analyses three literary pieces, each in agreement with the notion of art being transformative, albeit with different thought processes, providing greater personal insight into the influence that Richard Wagner left the three authors when dissecting the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, even if Wagner wasn’t the source of this practice, but the one who popularised it. How the term and its idea conglomerates impact the audience, the longevity of bold pieces with this philosophy, and its purpose as a connective tissue between modernist and postmodernist ideals.

Richard, Wages & Grünvogel, Stefan & Grützmacher, Benno. (2004). How Realistic is Realism? Considerations on the Aesthetics of Computer Games. 3166. 216-225. 10.1007/978-3-540-28643-1_28. [Accessed: January 9, 2025]

The three authors propose a pushback in the gaming industry’s excessive leniency towards increasingly more realistic graphics fidelity and physics in games, and the cons that would follow. One of their points denotes that more realistic-looking environments would greatly increase the believability and presence factor. Following that, they detail why the excess of realistic detail in character models would be more likely to prove fruitless results, for two reasons: character models with lower polygon counts achieving the same functionality in animation cycles, and a ludicrous increase in a game’s budget if attention to detail was taken to an unrealistic extreme.

STEDMAN, A. (2024) Inside Out 2 Was the Hit Pixar Needed, but the Laid-Off Employees Who Crunched on It Are Still Hurting [Online]. IGN. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/inside-out-2-was-the-hit-pixar-needed-but-the-laid-off-employees-who-crunched-on-it-are-still-hurting [Accessed: January 5, 2025]

In this article, Alex Stedman, accompanied by anonymous ex-Pixar employees, highlight the volatile and strenuous culture during the turbulent development of Inside Out 2. Following a streak of box office flops from its prior films released during the COVIC-19 pandemic, sources believed Pixar would cease to be if Inside Out 2 wasn’t a smash hit, with many employees processing it as “a life or death situation” for the company. This would cement a work environment of pressure and fear in the company, a tumultuous crunch-heavy that would prove futile to some, as 14% of the workforce would be laid off shortly before the film’s release, as those let go would not receive a bonus payment for its record-breaking success.

Further fueling frustration within Pixar, sources elaborated on leadership’s stubbornness towards allowing LGBT+ themes in their films, pushing unnecessary additional labour onto a workforce haunted by low morale.

van de Ven, Inge. (2021). The Suspicious Comeback of FMV Games (Diggit Magazine). [Accessed: January 9, 2025].

Spotting a resurgence in a once-abandoned genre in videogames, van de Ven analyses the reinvention of the FMV game as a test of players’ analytical skills. Where once titles within this category were derided as “not games”, as other users would sarcastically remark through Youtube comments left on videos about said titles, van de Ven notes the genre’s diversion from Peter Rabinowitz’s ‘rules of notice’: rather than alluding to certain elements as traditional narratives tend to do, the procedural rhetoric here deliberately leaves the player in the dark.

In the selection of FMV games brought up by van de Ven, the titles insert the players in eerie narratives that don’t immediately provide clarity on the characters’ true motives, including the player’s own. It’s through a combination of the player’s patience, observations and investigative analysis that the subtext will reveal itself, providing a level of interactivity not possible with motion pictures.

WU, C. and CHANG, C. (2025) How multiplayer online games can yield positive effects on individual gamers, gaming companies, and society as a whole [Online]. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04690-6 [Accessed: June 19th, 2025].

This article explores the positive cognitive effects and business growth opportunities from playing online multiplayer games, from more than one point-of-view. Self-efficacy is brought up as one ability which can be strengthened through this, such as building confidence to tackle unfamiliar challenges and presenting various opportunities for self-growth. Communication is another skill susceptible to improvements from online multiplayer experiences, as they will encourage players to engage in cooperation towards a mutual in-game objective, often requiring proactive communication.

From a business lens, if an online gaming community can be successfully fostered in the long-term, it may motivate players to indulge in charitable activities by the brand they’ve grown to respect.

SMITH, R. (2022) Finding my family in the found family trope [Online]. The Michigan Family. Available at: https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/b-side/finding-my-family-in-the-found-family-trope/ [Accessed: January 9, 2025]

In this article, Rebecca Smith reminisces her earliest memories reading Percy Jackson and the comfort in which the books brought to them through their execution of the found family trope in fictional storytelling. She elaborates on the trope’s appeal, that of growing an affinity with people which you unexpectedly nurture bonds with, as media that have successfully executed this trope can ignite hope and optimism for spectators to find their people one day.

She assesses that those in a healthy relationship with their biological family also counts towards the concept of a found family- a group of people which share unconditional love and support for one another, and the comfort we can experience upon finding said family in our own lives.

TREGDE, D. (2013) A Case Study on Film Authorship: Exploring Theoretical and Practical Sides in Film Production [Online]. Inquiries Journal. Available at: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1700/a-case-study-on-film-authorship-exploring-the-theoretical-and-practical-sides-in-film-production [Accessed: June 17th]

David Tregde analyses a couple of different facets of authorship: auteur, writer and collaborative. Which approach may be applied to any film varies on the project’s scope and the personalities driving them towards completion. The auteur theory champions the director as the author of the film, trusting their multitude of skills to not just complete the project, but stamp it with the director’s unique style or production methods.

The writer theory is a less glorified variant of the auteur, where the director may write a film’s script from scratch to finish, but with little to no control on the final outcome following that. The collaborative approach is essentially a compromise between the auteur’s individual approach, with the writer’s uncontrollable post-script methods.

M. SHARP, L. (2024) Opinion: Physical Media is More Important Than Ever [Online]. Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Available at: https://bellisariostudentmedia.psu.edu/story/opinion-physical-media-is-more-important-than-ever [Accessed: June 19th, 2025].

This article advocates for the long-term preservation of physical media, as a format that’s been seemingly taken for granted amidst the convenience of streaming services.While some companies like Disney still sell their text physically, in the case of their streaming service-exclusive shows like WandaVision or Loki with expensive collector’s editions, essentially rendering them inaccessible again for those who missed out the first time. 

Many films from the 1890’s to 2024 weren’t diligently preserved for younger generations to access, in addition to the streaming-exclusive titles that are often turned inaccessible through any official means. With physical media, many of those titles would still be able to be viewed without resorting to unofficial means.

LYNCH, T.; DOOLEY, A. and M. MARKOWITZ (2025) Empowered by the Experience: Playing as Female Characters in Video Games [Online]. Cogitatio. Available at:  https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/download/8733/4044 [Accessed: June 19th, 2025].

This article, realised as part of the Digital Games at the Forefront of Change: On the Meaningfulness of Games and Games Studies issue, outlines the human-driven analysis conducted by the authors on female characters in videogames, and how their depictions were received by others. One example is Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series. Where physically strong women are a favoured type in the research, it was also noted that many characters in this archetype would be typically designed with the male gaze in mind, with an idealised appearance for them, which wasn’t as positively accepted. This, in turn, led to other characters following Lara’s controversial approach to female character design in videogames.