#so like the US remake of Utopia

[black-and-yellow]

It's here. The long-awaited bug DTIYS. I've changed some stuff. It's not a contest anymore - that means no prize - but it also means no deadline. I wanted something more casual, since I haven't been online in a while, and I thought the idea of deciding on a winner would be too stressful, so it's just for fun now.

I'll be reblogging all the entries, so make sure to tag me. Also use the tag #bnydtiys2 so we can keep everything in one place.

Here's the 'rules': Redraw the original image in your own style (no tracing etc). Use them tags. You can change the background if you don't want to do the bug wing, or change the posing slightly, but try an keep it recognisable. Keep the colour theme cause I think it looks sick and the tag will look so nice if everything's got a splash of yellow yippee. No deadline so take as long as you like. Take years if you so wish. If I'm still alive then and haven't succumbed to Tummy Hurt, I will give it a reblog. Don't worry about quality. If you're not usually an artist but still want to participate, go for it. There's no prize. If you'd rather me not reblog your entry, just say so in the tags. Say something like 'bny if you reblog this i'll say mean things about your tarantula' and that'll definitely catch my attention. Have fun. Or don't, you can scream the whole way through if you'd prefer. You don't have to follow me it's not like I'm gonna check.

[transgenderer]

So there's an octavia butler short story, the book of Martha, where God gives an author (closely patterned on butler herself, but possibly intentionally less creative) infinite(?) power to remake the world, to fix humanity and/or its problems before we destroy ourselves. After considering a variety of options (it's possible she's only allowed to modify human nature? But the story never stares that. Maybe she's just not good at considering all her options) she just gives everyone extremely pleasurable dreams. So they're less ambitious I guess. And in general have nicer lives

Anyway this story has stuck with me in two ways. The first: so, assume you're not just gonna like. Give humanity infinite resources or whatever. How do you make a utopia? Well to me the answer seems obvious, based on my experience of my own psyche. The human mind needs more affection. It's too easy for annoyance or some petty issue to overwhelm affection. And then we are cruel and selfish and all this stuff. Like. Idk, I feel like I've experienced moments of clear-eyed saintlihood. My brain produces that...outlook/emotion/whatever. But it won't stick there, of course. But it feels like it wouldn't be too far a jump to just get the human brain to stick there more easily. Still let us access other states, for variety. Give us some sense of others freedom or whatver, so our care for each other doesn't make us all busy bodies. But like. It would only take the tugging of a few chemical strings to fix human nature. A little less rage, a little more philia.

This is of course an important piece of evidence that if there is a god he doesn't love us. He could have made us full of lovingkindness. He could have made us not want to hurt and humiliate each other. But he didn't. Because all that nastiness helps us succeed in the social games that increase our mating frequency, or selectiveness, or whatever, presumably, and so selective descent with modification doomed us all forever. Or, God is real but cares about something else. Maybe beauty. Maybe he feels the glory of war is worth it.

But the second thing, is noticing which parts of our world feel like a Martha has already been there. I was looking at the sky on the train home today (hmabhrg! There was a William Blake exhibition), admiring it, and I was struck again by how...excessive, superfluous, overflowing, decadent, additional it is. The sky could just be a simple blue, fading evenly to black. Clouds could always be blobby and indistinct. We could all be congenital shortsighted, so they were always blurry. But instead they're just this part of the world, detached from all the specifics of earthly life, that is achingly beautiful, most nights! Sunsets are so beautiful it's cliche, it's boring! That feels like a gift from a Martha. Someone a bit uncreative trying to fix the world in a way that doesn't shake it up too much

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 2, poll 3

Propaganda:

Sazed's Copperminds, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson:

Copper bracers called copperminds that contain many, many forbidden books. They are accessible only to Sazed, a scholar specialising in religion and also a member of the Skaa rebellion.

‼️MAJOR SPOILERS‼️

At the end of the trilogy, the world is literally about the end, and Sazed becomes a god and uses the knowledge in his copperminds to fix/remake the world.

ART's archives, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells:

"My onboard archives are extensive. Why haven't you sought access to them?" Of course a research vessel would brag about its research library. Why wouldn't it?

Sunai, The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Cando:

He contains a living AI god referred to as an Archive. He is a relic who can interface with other archives and falls in love with a cute boy when he normally runs away from all attempts at intimacy and keeps being like oh? I...like him?

Merlin's Library, The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne:

None

The Scholomance Library, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik:

The library inside the Scholomance is so cool. It’s open to a void above, and is the safest place inside the entire school. The sections are mostly in the same place every time. But the shelves can stretch out and fill up with more books

The Thunderhead, Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman:

It contains the collective knowledge of humanity and is a perfect, almost-sapient AI that doesn’t follow the “utopia is actually dystopia” trope

[zorubark]

I think what many Pokemon Legends game ideas get wrong, i think at least, is using a legendary for the name of the game, like "Legends kyurem" or "Legends Zygarde". Many times people use the third legendary of the main three for the title, but Giratina wasn't the one to get a Legends game, in fact it would have made more sense to have a Legends Giratina as a parallel to platinum, since it released with the Sinnoh remakes.

The one who got the spotlight was another important, but not heavily featured pokemon, Arceus, a mythical pokemon. So I think there's a higher chance for the next Legends game to feature a mythical with predominance. In Legends Arceus there was also many mythicals that we could catch without needing special events, making them more acessible, so maybe the Legends series will in general make mythicals more acessible?

I was thinking of a Kalos Legends game and I think Pokemon Legends Hoopa would be the best choice, it can teleport you back in time with it's rings, without the need for Arceus intervention. In ORAS because of Hoopa's rings we can catch legendaries from other regions and their themes aren't updated because they're supposed to be from the older games' timelines, this happens in USUM too, so I believe Hoopa is too interesting to not use.

Diancie and Volcanion should also appear, Volcanion has so little lore, the most interesting thing it has is the fact that in the southern part of the Kalos region, Volcanion is revered, people believe that a steam explosion caused by Volcanion created the plain where they live. This probably references the region of Occitania, the mountainous region that covers most of southern France and whose regional flag Volcanion takes its design from, which is really cool.

Diancie could also be integrated in the plot, maybe instead of her needing to make a new Diamond Heart for the Diamond Domain, the very first Diamond Heart could be made, or Diancie can be born, either works. Diancie is said to have been born from a Carbink that had undergone a mysterious mutation, the mutation could be related to the main story somehow.

In fact, I thought about a villain that wants to make everyone immortal, thinking it will create a Utopia, their plan will fail but create consequences in the region. Since Xerneas/Yveltal wake up every thousand years, I imagined the story would take place one thousand years before the events of X and Y, and the region would be medieval themed.

For Unova, it has no mythical with reality bending abilities and I sadly can't imagine anything except a Legends Kyurem, how is Victini, Meloetta or Keldeo going to hold an entire game like Arceus did? Genesect wasn't even created until recent events in the Pokemon world.

Because each mythical of Unova has a piece of history, it's hard to choose just one, they complete each other in a way

Some people speculutate on Johto remakes because of the many hints towards johto relevancy, and I think the Mythical main pokemon theory fits for Johto! Legends Celebi could work

I hope someone sees this theory and uses it for imagining new pokemon stuff or coming up with a Unova Legends game since I couldn't. I think a medieval, victorian, or early to middle 20th century Unova game would be really good, specially because if it were to be medieval, it could make kinda what Arceus made with Team Galactic and make Team Plasma into real knights, the Unova region has lots of medieval stuff and I think it's even better than Kalos for a medieval game

[thewittyphantom]

Next came the very unlikely team of Scud and Joey, followed by the slightly more likely team of Mokuba and Sera, and the returning team of Kaiba and Yugi to close it.

Joey: Jeez...Why do I gotta team up with dis guy!? Scud: I never wanted to team with you either, Joey! I wanted to team with a champ! Joey: Any champ who'd join with you would be a chump! Scud: You've got some nerve talking to me like that! Joey: And you're getting on my last nerve! Just stay outta my way! (they lose) Scud: I knew you were trash, Joey! Joey: You're one ta talk! You stunk more than a skunk! Scud: Instead of fighting with words, we can settle this in a Duel. Joey: I was hopin' you'd say day! Let's Duel, Scud! Scud: I said we could settle this in a Duel - not that I'd actually Duel. I'm outta here! Joey: Hey! Get back here!

Mokuba: You're Aigami's sister, right? Sera: Mokuba...You know who I am? Mokuba: Of course. KaibaCorp has eyes all over the world. But how about we forget your magical mumbo jumbo for today and just Duel for fun? Sera: ...Very well. I will work with you - just this one time. Mokuba: You know...Anyone tell you that you seem mature for your age? Sera: I'm sure no one has ever said that about you. (they lose) Mokuba: Even though we lost, I could tell you're an expert with these cards. Sera: Thank you. Though what you call cards, we call magical talismans. Mokuba: Magical talismans? No wonder I think you're all weird. Anyway, unless you're off to another dimension or something, we should play again sometime. Sera: ...Okay. Mokuba: See ya! ...Oh, by the way! I like your other avatar better! Sera: .........

Aigami: Oooh...I believe that you and I are on the same wavelength. If you feel like I do, you must realize that this awful world needs to change. We are the Plana. The ones who will remake this world into an era of peace. Allow me to let you in on a secret. My real name is Diva. If you so desire, join us in our quest to create a utopia.

[beardedmrbean]

Same anon and about the Scarlett Johansson thing playing as the android. As someone who was able to get the first movie ultra 4k copy at a cheap price…yeah it made sense. The major of the first film had a European look vs her later incarnations. Also Johansson was black widow at the same time, and both characters have themes of having a facade while trying to maintain their humanity.

Sorry just like…anyone watch the og film? Not to mention in the GITS universe heavily cybernized people can get any body they want if they have the right connections and money.

Whoops sorry, been getting the blu rays of the tv series and such. So I know the lore.

Sorry autistic ranting, but black activists, people will enjoy African stuff. Just drop the fetishized version of Africa (hmm i was thinking about making a book called “The False Eden” on how black Americans was raised on Africa being a utopia before Europeans colonization ) properly researched African kingdoms and such.

I mean sure the whities my glamorized the Spartans and Romans…but at the end of the day most will acknowledge while those two don’t exist anymore.

Sorry

>Sorry autistic ranting,

That got a laugh, thank you I needed it.

I don't know enough about the comic/manga ect adaptations to know how the characters are "supposed" to look, except when it came to Ghost in the Shell and people were pulling out the comics and the previous adaptations and saying 'hey dum dum this is how she was here why are you bitching' which we all know why they were bitching (racism shhhh it's a secret)

ScarJo thing they just didn't care about source material, waiting for someone to remake James Clavell's Shogun so people can bitch about the character based on a man named William Addams

The book shifts names around but you'd have to be incredibly dense to miss Toranaga being the stand in for Tokugawa.

Miniseries they made for it in the 80's is beyond outstanding and I always recommend it to anyone learning Japanese because they don't give you subtitles and 93% of the cast is Japanese and don't use English, I picked up a little here and there watching it all the different times.

John Rhys Davies is in it too good stuff

Tangent over.

We did do that with the Greeks and Romans for sure too, oddly nearly all of the people I've ever seen point out that Jesus wouldn't have been white aren't white themselves I've only seen a few people try to argue that he was pretty even split between LDS (Mormons) and racists that hate anyone that isn't white completely missing one of the points Jesus was trying to make about love.

Just drop the fetishized version of Africa (hmm i was thinking about making a book called “The False Eden” on how black Americans was raised on Africa being a utopia before Europeans colonization ) properly researched African kingdoms and such.

If you get around to this I would love a copy, not even for the humor of it it's a interesting concept to run with.

[themoonking]

possible culprits for the genosha attack. sound off with your thoughts if you want.

master mold - could just be a secret third master mold ai operating on its own. iirc master mold has only ever been controlled by someone else in the original series, but master mold / the sentinels acting on their own long after the sentinal program has been shut down isn't new in a general sense. this would also tie into madelyn / jean's vision of master mold causing untold death and destruction far more than the very quickly resolved conflict in episode one did. the episode one vision also included the "happy nation" song and cable's lines from episode five, meaning that it was clearly more about the destruction of genosha than it was fighting master mold in the desert.

cassandra nova - the "godzilla sentinel" was used in the comics by cassandra nova, and was also used to attack genosha much like it was in episode five. given that charles xavier is not currently on the planet and magneto is / was currently an x-man, cassandra nova might be a way to flip the script without having professor x himself be the villain. good magneto, evil charles-adjacent figure. however, cassandra nova is potentially(?) the villain in the upcoming deadpool & wolverine, and the creatives behind both deadpool and x-men '97 have made it clear they don't want their projects being connected to other projects, so they might steer clear of having the same main villain in two x-men properties at one time. however, it could just be a case of parallel thinking and neither party knew what the other was working on.

apocalypse - in the opening theme, the new scene they chose to include was a reanimation of cable fighting apocalypse over that little cube, and then in the episode itself cable himself appears (with the little cube) and mentions a "he" that's coming. apocalypse wants to tear down the world to remake it in his image, and starting an all-out human / mutant war would achieve that.

magneto??? - to be clear i think this is the least likely possibility, but it's still a possibility, so i felt i should bring it up. it's possible that this was an inside job by magneto to "justifiably" resume his previous method of dealing with human / mutant conflict. this would not be the first time an animated x-men series has depicted magneto setting up and advertizing genosha as a mutant utopia only to orchestrate a horrific attack on his own people in order to kickstart a human / mutant war. however, i don't think this is likely given the way that magneto has been written in x-men '97 thus far. other versions of magneto, sure, but it just doesn't seem in character for this one.

BONUS mystique - there's a somewhat popular theory that val cooper is secretly mystique. i can see the possibility, though i don't think there's much concrete to support it right now. if she is involved in some way, she's likely not working alone, and instead is working with apocalypse or magneto.

[thecocacolacorporation]

So I am saddened and disappointed and wrecked because I did not enjoy Iron Council. Like, I knew it (probably) wasn't going to topple The Scar as my favourite in the series, but I felt like I was SURELY going to enjoy it.

But alas, I did not.

And here is why.

There is something about London. People from London (lots of them) struggle to see other cities, other places (particularly those also in the UK) as being fascinating and wonderful and varied in their own right.

My source for this is 'being from the Rhymney valley'.

Explaining to London friends that, yep, we are not a cultural wasteland, and yes, we have gays, and you bet, there are non-white people here and MOSTLY everyone is pretty chill (can't speak for everyone's experience of course, YMMV) is quite frankly a bit exhausting.

It is with that background, and the knowledge that New Crobuzon IS London, that made Iron Council rankle me somewhat.

Here you have a story about a group of people, horribly wronged by the Government, through remaking or poverty or other forms of cruelty, who manage to wrestle power away from them, steal away from the city and the parliament that treated them so badly and make a new successful life where they no longer have to fear such punishment, and succeed in creating Bas-lag's version of a socialist utopia.

GREAT! AWESOME! LOVE IT!

Except, when threatened some 20(?) odd years after their successful escape, these people and their children, decide to haul ass back to this city to defend it in what is in all probability an absolute suicide mission?

We can talk about the other implications, but first and foremost, I find it really hard to believe.

Are we meant to assume that a bunch of Remade and sex workers and convicts and labourers who RAN AWAY from New Crubuzon raised their children with stories of how darn brilliant it is, that when offered the chance, the kids leapt at a chance to save the city?

I can't buy it I'm afraid.

I'm sure many of the councillors did have some good stories to tell of New Crobuzon, but surely it would mostly be overshadowed by the tales of mistreatment and hurt? Surely it would end up being this pretty horrid sounding place in the eyes of their children? They can literally see people all around them who have been cut up and remade for servitude or just sadism; who would want to go to the place that does that?

This brings me back to the London point. People from London seem to think it is the centre of the Universe.

'When you are tired of London/You are tired of life'

What is there to save or preserve or delight in outside of its boundaries? Despite its cruelty, despite its historic wrongs, who would not lay down their lives for its hallowed streets?

It reminds me of something a teacher said to me while I was in school. It was around GCSE time, I had put in my preliminary choices a few days previous and got cornered by my French teacher. Why had I not put down French? 'You are a natural linguist! Think of where learning a language will take you! Lots of companies in London want French speakers!' and when I suggested 'hey, what if I take Welsh instead?' she kind of smiled half heartedly and told me that wasn't for me. A waste of time. It is eerily similar to something a teacher said to my mother when she was a teen. 'Welsh is for thick kids. You will move away'

The idea that some of us don't want to move away is still sits uneasy. Some of us are happy here. Some of us don't think its a mark of failure to stay where you were born.

And London is often the place to go when you want something you think Wales can't give you.

I thought for a while that, as each of the Bas-lag novels plays with the 'Save the City' trope, that this one was going to go with a 'don't save the city, save the people' message, but that was not to be. It felt impotent. It felt needlessly hopeless. I wasn't touched by the councillors' sacrifice, I wondered if they had all had lobotomies before making the decision to return.

London always has to win.

Cutter was right. The end.

(I might write an equally long post about other things I did not like about this book but I am tired and my leg hurts)

[jadbalja]

On mass culture eating itself, the current creative desert, etc. (part 1B)

A: [regarding Gibson] his near-future work is political and not particularly emotionally resonant. Can't really get into it. I also don't like Chloee Moretz - which had a lot to do with my reaction to that show K: Although those were direct remakes. Constellation is basically kind of stealing from a show called Infiniti, which was excellent (but not released in the US.) K: I don't really know who she is outside of that show. I just found the world-building a bit shallow. "Oh no, there's been a pandemic, a nuclear explosion, and kleptocrats run the world." Not very imaginative. A: I got to Ep. 8 of that French show you liked - with the monsters and vaguely Cowboy Bebop vibe K: Lastman? A: there's a surfeit of sci-fi out there. "The Kitchen" is barely worth the term sci-fi, but it's a recent British offering A: [Lastman?…] yeah K: Lastman is great. There is a Season 2 also btw. A: hmm mm I have to get through some other material first A: I'm working through For All Mankind right now so other stuff is in abeyance K: I've seen The Kitchen on I think Netflix or Amazon but haven't watched it yet. A: don't bother, unless you basically want current race politics pasted onto a future reality which is more or less an unimaginative resource crunched dystopia K: I liked For All Mankind A: so far it's been good - I'm waiting for it to spring forward in time to the near-present A: the forced Latina janitor's daughter is a math genius thing seemed a bit off. But that was the only thing. K: Sometimes it do be like that, though K: There's a character in the latest season I find annoying. But it's still good sci fi. K: Although I feel the initial conceit - that the Russians got to the moon first, and how that affected the space program - gets a bit diluted as the show progresses. A: yes I'll stick with it A: well, I like that it's seen as a stimulus and not the carrying theme. After all, that would be the reality too A: in this reality, Robert Kennedy wins the presidency, goes hard for the moonbase. They find water (which we still haven't located 100% in this reality) and go from there A: back to Neuromancer - this guy J D Dillard - his work so far doesn't tell me much and also doesn't inspire confidence he can handle this material K: Yeah I see he did the remake of "Utopia" which doesn't inspire confidence. K: Actually, like Neuromancer, it was extremely untimely. A: [Actually, like Neuromancer, it was extremely untimely. …] spectacularly, given it was in the midst of the pandemic. I did watch that season. Never watched the original British version K: I watched the original, season 1. It was good. I started the second season but didn't finish it. But the second season had a couple of Game of Thrones actors in their pre-Game of Thrones eras. K: Another very hard to find Blu Ray, the second season. Oddly, there is no UK version, despite it being a British show. The only country that produces it is Germany.

[fabiansociety]

people talk about sequels and remakes but i would a thousand times prefer endless sequels than the glut of prequels we're getting. think about what happens after the story ends, i pray god

this is particularly baffling with something like star trek. you can do literally anything, take that universe any place, why are you so scared to use that power? jump another 200 years into the future and figure out what a utopia for 2024 looks like, g'damn

[beguines]

No wonder capital is so careless with our earthly home and so ready to destroy it in nuclear explosions—perfect embodiment of the victory of the spirit over the earth-matter—as creative as the first act of God! Big Bang . . . reduced to its power-hungry essence, dismembering this earth of mankind in its god-like aspiration to be free from all constraints. Faust in an astronaut/space-worker suit, a superman who does not need any-body, determined to have his will, not just on earth but in the universe as well.

A society of angels motivated by religious-patriotic concerns. The adventure of space colonization will not be a "New America," however, in the sense of being a ground populated by castaways, indentured servants, and slaves. The need for total identification with the work-project, total obedience, total self-discipline and self-control, is so high that, according to NASA, even the old forms of reward should be ruled out: "High monetary incentive should not be used for space colonization recruiting, because it attracts the wrong people". Work without a wage. This is the ultimate capitalist utopia, work becoming its own reward and all refusers are cast out into the cold stellar night. Capitalism has finally reached its goal and its limit.

Silvia Federici, Beyond the Periphery of the Skin: Rethinking, Remaking, and Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism

[rosewaterbaptism]

good retconning is like. this thing was problematic and we’re gonna fix that. for example, 1960′s star trek had chris pike saying he’s not used to seeing women on the bridge of his starship even though he’s supposed to be living in an egalitarian future utopia. that’s kinda sexist, no? you’re telling me this guy isn’t used to seeing women in high ranking positions in a world that has moved beyond misogyny? so in the 2020′s remake they put Lots of women on the bridge of his starship

bad retconning is like everything else

[lochnessies]

hi there. I promised you a game rec list a while ago, but for reasons I won't get into I didn't get to it until now. I apologize for my tardiness & hope you'll still accept this.

I'm just going to give a brief description of the games and some highlights; you can use Nintendo's eShop website to find out more. dekudeals.com helps with pricing and sales, howlongtoplay.com will give user-submitted average play times, and in you need them, I usually use guides primarily on gamefaqs.com or Steam Community pages, depending on the game. It's Black Friday/Cyber Monday so many of these games are on sale for cheap right now FYI.

Also I tried to stick to games that I think are fairly easy/beatable for beginners or have easy modes; afaik you don't have experience with mechanically difficult games so I don't want to recommend hard games that you can't reasonably finish.

in no particular order, just typing them up as I go:

Transistor An action rpg with a unique pause mechanic, following Red and her companion/lover boy through a Klimt-esque futuristic utopia following her companion's death. Very great and fluid both artistically and gameplay-wise.

Iconoclasts A puzzle-focused exploration side scroller in which you play as Robin the mechanic and her big ol' wrench. It was made by one guy over seven years, and I love the art and gameplay. The story is great, and can throw you for a loop sometimes. Normal may suffice, but if it's giving you trouble you can switch difficulty any time by reloading the game from the title screen.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country Ok I know XBC2 has a reputation™ but the standalone prequel expansion is good (albeit a little odd plot-wise so just go with it). It's a command-based real-time JRPG in which you explore two very pretty and rather big maps as Lora, Jin, and the companions they meet on the way. The characters are honestly all charming and I love the gameplay and exploration. Be sure you buy the standalone game (which is on sale as I'm typing this) and not the DLC version of this game. If you like it, you can check out XBC1's remaster, which is a more involved, more challenging, full length game that can easily clock you over 100hrs.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers Full disclosure, this is clearly a turn-based JRPG for children, so it's very simple and easy, but it's really fun. The game stars Sherry, a nine-year old girl who finds a robot after time has stopped in her British-esque town. Maybe not the most impressive game, but it's very silly and charming.

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action A cyberpunk visual novel with bartending game elements, like the name suggests. You play as Jill as she mixes drinks and changes the lives of the myriad of unique customers that come into the bar. The visuals and story/character writing are really good. Since the two dudes that made this clearly like anime, there's a lot of cute women. Can be crass at times though, but I don't think it's excessive.

Trials of Mana (2020 Remake) A 3D remake of the previously never localized Seiken Densetsu 3 for the SNES, an action JRPG where you choose and swap between a team of three characters (with slight story and dialogue differences between what characters you pick and in what order). It might be a bit dated by today's standards but was novel at the time, and well, I really like it. The gameplay is relatively simple, with great visuals and music and an enjoyable enough story and charming cast. Two of the mc's VAs played really similar characters in FE: Three Houses, lol.

Collection of Mana aaaand if you like ToMr, you can try out Collection of Mana, which is a triple pack of the first three Seiken Densetsu/Mana series games: Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana, and Trials of Mana. I've played the games but haven't played this pack in particular, but I haven't heard of any issues with it. There's also Legend of Mana Remaster, which is sold separately. Five whole Mana games! Sheesh!

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019 Remake) Admittedly I'm loathe to recommend well known Nintendo games, but the original LA on the Gameboy is one of my absolute favorite games. tl;dr It's a top-down dungeon-based exploration game where you play as Link after he washes up on a strange island with charming inhabitants. It might be somewhat more difficult and involved than some of the other games on this list, but I think it's worth playing.

The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories A side-scrolling puzzle game where you play as J.J., who gets separated from her best friend Emily while visiting Memoria Island, and has to mutilate herself to progress forward. Yeah. It's not as edgy as "self-mutilation" would make it sound, but it gets dark. Fun, pretty, and with a unique narrative that is worth playing for. Not surprisingly, there's some heavy topics involved, such as suicide and bullying, so, ya'know, warning.

Gorogoa A puzzle game with stunning, hand-drawn visuals that took iirc 9 years to complete. It's clever, unique, and incredibly gorgeous. I wish I had more to say, darn.

Return of the Obra Dinn  A puzzle game centered around a "who done it"-esque mechanic, you play as an investigator piecing together what happened to the passengers and crew of British merchant ship, Obra Dinn, by examining snapshots of its violent end. Mechanically it's easy to control but ngl it can get hard to solve, haha. I haven't really played a game like it, it's unique. Obviously not for the light-hearted, many of the deaths are gruesome.

The Silver Case 2425/No More Heroes "Trilogy" So this is actually six games, and 1) I don't actually know if you'd like them because they're very niche and very mature-content-y, and 2) if I recommend playing one I would recommend playing them all. BUT Grasshopper Manufacture is my favorite developer and I am obligated to shill, so all six games get quarantined in this singular extended entry. The Silver Case and The Silver Case: The 25th Ward (sold together as The Silver Case 2425) are visual novels with the unique "film window" presentation that take place in Kanto's 24th and 25th Wards, respectively. You either read the story from the perspective of The Wards' Heinous Crimes unit, an elite police force that tries to stymie "heinous" crimes, turtle-loving reporter Tokio Morishima, who gets asked to investigate a mysterious individual and gets caught up in a much larger plot, and 25th Ward's exclusive Postal Service, who uh, sure as hell don't deliver mail. Two horrible, bloody, disturbing, confusing, captivating stories about urban crime and politics accompanied by great visuals, memorable dialogue, and bitchin' tunes. No More Heroes 1, 2, TSA, and 3 are four slightly different beat-em-up action games spanning 14 years of the life of no-good otaku loser, Travis Touchdown. Known for their harsh punk style, unique visuals, great soundtracks, crass asshole protagonist, and memorable boss galleries, the NMH games have managed a cult follow-yadda yadda I slipped into PR talk that I can't keep up sorry. NGL I kind of have the feeling that you'd personally hate this game but. IDK. NMH1 is my, like, fifth favorite game, and save for NMH2 I really love the rest of this whack-ass series. So, worth it to me to mention, ig. At the very least, you can play both series separately, bc only NMH3 references TSC a minor amount, so nbd if only one (or neither, really) series interests you. But really, they're games about awful people and awful things, so if this doesn't sound appealing, feel free to skip it, ha.

Anyway, sorry this is a bit long/wordy. Anyway, if you have any questions about this list or in general re:video games, feel free to hit me up via ask or DM any time. Oh, and have a nice holiday today, btw.

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holy shit that’s quite a list!!! the missing: j. j. macfield and the island of memories, return of the obra dinn, gorogoa, and the silver case games really caught my attention 👀 i’m definitely going to check those out! thank you! 💞💖💕

[serovolk]

utopia us remake posting sorry 

i saw the like chad uk virgin us remake chart and one of the complaints was making arby a bad character .. can i say . so far. i kind of prefer us arby to uk arby .. i know its not the best kind of rep ever but like . he is soo me (autistic) and he was just a silly little guy in the us version. im barely into the uk version to be fair and i liked lee more than rod but i will not take speaking ill of mr john arby hes very special 2 me!!!!! i liked him a lot more than some of the other characters who just suffered w failed arcs like i know s2 got cancelled so a lot of dev was lost but i liked how his storyline was wrapped up maybe im just a simple person idk i also kind of liked the us ver having an actual comic to focus stuff around because i know it was an active choice in both series whether or not to feature the art but the strange draw and sort of weird assortment of people attracted by the art in the us version makes a lot of sense i do wish they had been more upfront about crediting the artist seeing as the series revolved around . u know. the art, (its joao ruas btw!! check out his stuff) but overall i dont see why it gets as much hate as it does (yet) so. idk . i like to talk :heart: and i dont have any mutuals who watch/ed it so im jsut rambling

[pinkrosealice]

Ok so this is mostly just wild speculation on my part but since most of this is likely to be disproved in the next 24 hours I figured what the hell might as well put my ideas out there.

So in the Sixth Lostbelt, a Lostbelt deeply tied to Morgan and her nature as Fairy I might remind you, we are introduced to these beings called Mors. These Mors are described as dead fairies and referred to as "the black algae that pollutes the world with its existence, the curse of Britain, killer of fairies ". Now after reading this I couldn't help but be reminded of the info we have about PHH Morgan, who is said to have " inherited the primeval curse that lurks in the British Isles in the form of blackened magical energy of the same kind of Excalibur Morgan's " I can't help but fell like there is some sort of connection between the two, the Mors and this blackened magical energy and further I also can't help seeing a parallel between the duality of the Mors/ Fairies and the duality of Morgan/ Vivian and Excalibur/ Excalibur Morgan.

Also when thinking about the possible relationship between Morgan and the Mors (who are basically fairy ghosts) it reminded me of PHH Morgans connection to a certain Magus family who specializes in dealing with the spirits of dead things, the Blackmores.

Now granted that last idea probably won't really amount to much as the Mors and Blackmores are probably only similarly named due to their shared conection to the latin word for death, for reasons that should be pretty clear. There is also the fact that the Blackmores only got their name because of their history with Gransurg Blackmore who was from Austria of all places and probably doesn't have any connections to the Fairies of Great Britain. Still though if you look into it, Arthurian /Fairy lore in the Nasuverse seems to have quite a few connections to figures that in the Tsukihime timelines are known Dead Apostle Ancestors.

You have the easy one in Fou/ Cath Palug and Primate Murder, but going back into looking at Gransurg we know that he is one of the key participants in the Aylesbury Valesti the ritual said to revive The Dark Six. This ritual, set for some reason in a town in England (my pet theory is its set on the isle of Britain because its the "Navel of the World" in the Nasuverse) is believed to have started what was basically the overcount 1999 equivalent in the world of Fate/EXTRA and probably involved the Harweys. The Harweys just like Gransurg have ties to both the Aylesbury Valesti AND Arthurian Britain as shown by their Sword Camelot: Castle of the assembled brilliant Holy Sword codecast/spell.

As an almost completely unrelated aside Sword Camelot seems to fallow a naming convention of stuff related to Camelot and Saber's time as king and her knights. We have Sword Camelot: Castle of the assembled brilliant Holy Sword, Lord Camelot: Now is a Castle of Distant Ideals, Camelot Image: Fleeting Forgotten Castle and now most recentlly with Morgan we've got Lordless Camelot: The Now Unreachable Utopia.

My point is Nasu seems to be deliberately showing us things in part 2 of FGO that are connected with Tsukihime and by extension its upcoming remake, we have stuff like Fou and Primate Murder, Sion as our newest member of Chaldea, what are basically True Ancestors in Lostbelt 3 and of course what is all but certainly ORT in Lostbelt 7. Also remember that True Ancestors are a kind of fairy and we have all these connections between fairies and King Arthur and King Arthur and DAA stuff which is naturally connected with True Ancestor stuff.

Basicly how my theory is goes is this. The nature of fairies and Arthurian Britain within the Nasuverse have an, at this point a mostly unexplained relationship with the True Ancestors / Dead Apostle Ancestors and that understanding this relationship is THE Key component in understanding BOTH the Timeline split between Tsukihime worlds and Fate worlds and the plot of / major story changes from the original in the upcoming Tsukihime remake. AND it is my belief that a Huge amount of info explaining the sofar unexplained relationship between Fairies/ Arthurian Britain and Nasu Vampires will be reveled to US in the soon to released Lostbelt 6 part 2.

Sorry if this was rather chaotic. I hope I made my points clear and that my info about what we do know for certain was correct. So any thoughts?

[mk-wizard]

Optimus Prime is always the hero...?

Hello, fans. If you recall, a while ago, I brought up that in the IDW comics, Megatron tried to stay on the straight and narrow, and actually succeeded at it. So much so that even burying the hatchet with Optimus was on the table. In short, we have seen in the comics and in War for Cybertron that Megatron has what it takes to be a good guy because he is complex and not black or white.

In the midst of that, I got asked by a random person a while ago in a passing comment that I feel I still need to answer because it was just that interesting and worth giving thought. I warn you that this question may seem controversial and the type of thing that you would only expect to happen in wish fulfilment fanfiction, alternate universe or the Shattered Glass series, but trust me when I say it does merit thought because Transformers has become a very vast universe over the years and the characters have become very complicated. If it is possible for Megatron to go good, then is it possible for Optimus Prime to go bad?

I admit that if you asked me this question five years ago, I would have flatly told you “no” and kept it at that, but after writing an adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde my way that delves into the complexities of morality and how it affects our actions for better or for worse, it got me seriously thinking how it could possibly play out. After giving it some thought, I have come to the conclusion that it is not only possible for Optimus Prime to be an antagonist in a story, but a very compelling one.

To understand this, you need to be aware that an antagonist is not necessarily a villain or malicious. In fact, some of the most iconic and possibly destructive antagonists meant well, but did terrible damage either because their vision became an obsession that blinded them or because they had unresolved issues that caught up with them. In the case of Optimus, as good as gold as he is, it would be a bit of both. In both Prime and War for Cybertron, we see a very serious flaw in him that is too great to be ignored. Optimus is both incredibly stubborn and very set in his beliefs which can has proven to be both a disadvantage and a danger to those around him. He has a lot of trouble accepting facts if they conflict with his ideals or morals of how he believes things should be. It is a flaw that Wonder Woman also struggled with except unlike her, he is not as flexible when it comes to accepting that he is wrong. Optimus is so stubborn to the point where he will burn himself with up to ten packs before finally accepting even only the possibility that maybe he should stop playing with matches. This also reveals that Optimus has an egotistical side and while it is one that is with good intent in that he wants everyone to be happy and safe, but he is not willing to admit his vision just doesn’t work and in fact, hurts people. 

For example, he believes Cybertron and its solar system would be a happier and more peaceful place if all Transformers were Autobots which I think everyone can agree with me when I say that this vision is not realistic nor true. Being an Autobot will not automatically make you a safer person to be around and swearing allegiance to the Prime doesn’t mean you will actually live by your oath. Also, for a lot of bots, the Autobot lifestyle was the source of a lot of pain and hardships such as for the slaves, gladiators or poor. To them, switching to another faction was their salvation. You cannot expect to go back to being Autobots when another lifestyle was how they got out of the hole. Another thing to consider is that some Transformers are law abiding and good, but just don’t want to be Autobots because honestly, why should you stop being who you are in order to prove you’re a law abiding citizen? Imagine going to a new place, having a clean record and wanting only a quiet life, but you’re denied entry simply because you refuse to renounce the faction you were born, raised and created an identity behind. This is essentially what Optimus did to the youngling Wedge who was initially a Deceptcon and while Wedge was too young to realize it then so he did without seeing the gravity of what he was asked to do, but imagine what is going to sink into his head when he realizes what he’s done. 

Then you’ve got Transformers like Junkions, Maximals, Predacons, Insecticons (more recently), Pretenders and possibly more where being the faction they are is rooted into their CNA (Cybertronian DNA). They can ONLY be what they are and even they change a symbol, everyone will still see that these bots are not Autobots and will inevitably have an impact on society. Not to mention it is pretty darn cruel for the law to command someone to wear a mask or pretend to be something when their own biology screams that they are something else. The implications and oppression behind such a notion is just harrowing. Before I digress any further, the point is that Optimus’ spark is in the right place and on paper, it sounds like the ultimate Utopia where nobody feels the urge to conquer anyone because everyone thinks, looks, acts and believes the same, but... that is not the way the real world works. In the real world, evil is not an event you can just prevent. It exists everywhere even within the Autobot faction and being different is not just a basic right of all people it is nature and evidently, the will of Primus. This makes Optimus Prime famous quote “freedom is the right of all sentient beings” all the more ironic because deep down, his own view of the free world isn’t really free at all.

This brings us to the next point which also has a huge influence on Optimus that we have to consider and how it opens up the possibility can you could play an antagonist role in general. He is very traumatized by the war and this comes up subtly in Prime and in the Rescue Bots. Optimus uses the term “Decepticon” as another word for “evil” and he isn’t the only bot who has been through the war to do this. It is a realistic type of trauma that even the noblest of heroes will exhibit and just the fact that he would not even welcome a child like Wedge into a loving home unless he converted to Autobot is telling at how extensive this trauma is. This means that Optimus has a stigma towards Decepticons that is so severe that affects his judgement and even his actions. Chances are, it has also affected the way he sees factions and Decepticons. I highly doubt he would be willing to be friends with one even if they were harmless which is something that does get explored in the IDW comics a little. It is also only a matter of time before he starts having other episodes, PTSD and other things that will set off his paranoia further. This has nothing to do with him being good or bad. Optimus is a good person, but he isn’t perfect and war changes a person.

As the evidence and character development suggests, I think Optimus can make a very good antagonist for the right story and maybe, just maybe, there should be a series where is. Keep in mind, I say antagonist not bad guy. Optimus should never be painted as a bad guy not even when he makes bad decisions. He is not Unicron who has malicious intent and he isn’t Megatron who solves everything with hostility. Optimus Prime is a guy who has been scarred emotionally and physically, and doesn’t want that to happen to others to the point where he will inevitably go too far at times. That is normal and actually, to be expected. However, unlike most TF antagonists, he would eventually listen to reason and want to make a compromise, but not without some conflict. After all, learning to adapt after the war and remake Cybertron is a battle within itself and it is only now that Optimus along with other bots have a chance to finally begin healing. That will take time and work.

Since Hasbro is doing a prequel series, it is possible that they will do an epilogue series that deals with this and I don’t think it is a bad thing to show kids that war leaves scars. Learning to stop reacting to every bit stress with hostility is a real struggle for veterans.

Anyway, all of this is just my opinion and I would like to know what yours is. Do you think Optimus Prime being an antagonist could be possible?

Thank you for reading and as always, stay safe.