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alpaca-clouds · 8 months

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Some Punk Genre Ideas

Writing that horribly long Punkpunk genre overview, that obviously missed some of the punkpunk genre, I could not help but think that there are some punk genres that are somewhat missing or could be defined. That is genres, that kinda use the punk idea and mix them with certain scenarios or retrofuturism. And I would argue, that these genre already somewhat exist in one way or another, but have not quite been defined.

Once again, I will go with this idea for punk ideology – and with the presumption that this somehow should play into the genre.

[Punk ideology] is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, imperialism, conservatism, anti-globalization, gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, class and classism, gender equality, racial equality, eugenics, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity

Please note: While I absolutely think that there is a ton of stuff that could be explored in regards of retrofuturist ideas based around non-white cultures and technologies (for example by defining more punk derivatives from Amazofuturism and Afrofuturism), that is nothing for my white ass to talk about. 😉

I will start with three anime derivates – that have most certainly inspired this kinda storytelling before…

Mahoupunk

As a genre: The magical girl genre is ripe for deconstruction, and sees more and more of the sort even in western media. While traditionally the genre often concerns young girls and their magical powers in a story of self-discovery and coming of age, it also usually has a lot of potential in terms of both who the magical girls fight and who they get their powers from. I propose that Mahoupunk could feature both stories of magical girl powers being used by those in power for oppression with others – both Magical Girl and normies – trying to fight this system, or of Magical Girls awakening in a dystopic world (possible Cyberpunk), trying to change it for the better. The wide variety of the way magical girl powers can be used would allow for a variety of storytelling opportunities, given the powers can be used both in terms of combat, but also in terms of mutual aid.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic could play around with classical magical girl elements against a rather dark and gloomy backdrop. We see this already a lot in magical girl deconstructions, with the pastel colored magical girls with their hearts, ribbons and flowers against a dark skyline.

Punk-Factor: As I propose it, the genre would play around a lot with the question of “Who has power and who uses it for what?” The magical girl powers – or those, who distribute it – can be a tool of the powerful and the oppressors, but they can also be a tool for those who fight against this kinda oppression. And this fight against oppression and the trial of helping others are most certainly punk elements.

Examples: My Otome, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Note: The idea here kinda comes from my frustration over the lack of magical girl deconstructions. We have dark magical girls, yes, but most of them tend to be “magical girls but dark and gritty and people die”, rather then exploring the themes about magic and who gives it. Yes, Madoka and Uta~Kata kinda explore this a bit, but it never goes further into the who gets and who controls magic – the way that some of the following genre explore those themes.

Mechpunk

As a genre: Admittedly, this almost feels like cheating because the Mecha-Genre has been deconstructed about five hundred times already and kinda already does this on the regularly, which always makes me surprised that so few people dare to put it on Cyberpunk lists for example. What I propose as Mechpunk could also be called Gundpunk, because, let’s face it, Gundam has my ass pretty much covered. In a world where SuperRobo-style Mechas are the most effective type of war machinery, they will get used to oppress people and uphold the (often capitalist) status quo, while not rarely people from the lower classes might find themselves forced to pilot these suits. But being the effective war machines, they also can be used to break the cycle. As such the pilots might need to navigate their way between political strive and the fight for a better world.

As an aesthetic: Again, this genre feels like cheating, because at least a forth of all the Mecha anime out there play it like this – but it also has found its way into western media like this. I feel, we should embrace the aesthetic of the SuperRobo and those neat overstyled pilot suits, though. Put that in front of a rather dystopic cyberpunk backdrop and it plays a lot with the contrasts.

Punk-Factor: Again, fighting the system of oppression definitely qualifies as punk. I would also be super interested in seeing stories, where the Mechas are used in more creative and productive ways, such as mutual aid.

Examples: Basically two thirds of all the Gundam series out there, Bokurano, Iron Widow

Monpunk

As a genre: While the other two are examples of genre, that have been played around with a lot, I also have to talk about my kinda favorite anime subgenre, that has been explored too little so far: Monster taming. While not the first of its kind, Pokémon is probably the most influential part of the monster taming genre, but there are a ton of others out there. While it is obvious that this genre is heavily inspired by Shinto believes, I find it almost sad, that there are rarely any deconstructions – but Monpunk would be one of those. Monpunk would explore both the spiritual and the ecological aspects of the monsters. The creatures, that are inherently linked to their human partners, are exploited – be it by the system or their human partners themselves. Pokémon itself allows itself for such readings, and I would go as far that at least Takeshi Shudo’s novels can be read in a way that the Pokémon and trainers are exploited by a capitalist system. The genre could explore the bonds between humans and creatures, both as friends, but also as an exploitative relationship. It could also feature characters getting aware of the exploitation happening.

As an aesthetic: Something that to me really works well about the entire monster taming genre is the contrast between humans and creatures, so this is something that could be used in the design aesthetic. Slick human designs with kinda futuristic outfits meet wild creatures, that are monstrous and feature natural elements.

Punk-Factor: As so nicely pointed out by that Wikipedia description of “punk ideology”, there is also an aspect of animal rights and environmentalism to punk, which could be explored within this genre. And of course, going the Pokémon route, this could also be super interesting as a comment on capitalist systems.

Examples: The Pokémon novels by Takeshi Shudo, Kaiba, MyHiME

Note: While the capitalist reading might also work with “merch bound mons” (like the cards in Yu-Gi-Oh and its derivates, or the Beyblades), I do not think that this kinda story would quite work with what I imagine here.

Did I choose the genre based on starting with the letter M? No, I did not. It just happened to turn out that way. But I kinda find it fitting.

There is the general thing of course that a lot of western media still kinda struggles with these ideas in general. We do not get a lot of books or movies based around these genre in western media, even though I know there are quite a lot of writers who write about it. I think this is partly, because it is seen as “childish”, but partly also because people do not quite get what it could look like outside of the visual medium, which at least the mechas and mons heavily rely on in their storytelling.

Still, I would absolutely love to see these kinda stories told in all sorts of media. And god darn it, book publishers. Give those magical girl stories a chance.

Moving away from anime/manga inspired ones and going back to some more history inspired ones:

Knightpunk

Note: I know I am not the first one to propose something along these lines. I have seen the title Castlepunk and Plaguepunk thrown around quite a bit. But there is an argument to be made for a world developing technology from the medieval feudal setting onwards, with stories being told within all sorts of time periods.

As a genre: The defining feature of Knightpunk would be that it is set within an anachronistic feudal setting. There are kings and queens and nobility who hold power. The world has duchies and landlords (who actually hold land and not just houses). And most of the population are considered uneducated peasants used for menial work. While technology has improved, there are still some of the problems going around like the danger of famines. The church, too, has some hold over the people, threatening them with eternal damnation. And the knights exist to uphold the status quo. The central conflict of these stories would feature characters trying to either find a way they can exist in peace – or actually overthrow the system. There also could be stories told about the value of education, medicine and moving forward as a society.

As an aesthetic: I would argue that as an aesthetic Knightpunk already exists. There are a ton of stuff that play around with medieval fashion and of course armor and adding modern day or even futuristic elements to it.

Punk-Factor: Playing it as I imagine, the stories would be quite punk both in terms of featuring counter culture, and in terms of tackling themes of standing up against a corrupt system.

Examples: Nimona, Jupiter Ascending, Code Geass

Druidpunk

As a genre: I am surprised this is not a thing yet – but maybe I should not be that surprised after all. Druidpunk takes inspiration from the time between about 200 BC and 500 AD, with both the Roman colonization of Western Europe and the later Christianization of the area, which also included Pegan hunts. This might also be used as an inspiration for more futuristic settings build on those ideas. But the central conflicts arises from the violence that Roman and later Christian forces inflict on the Celtic population of these areas – and it would feature conflicts both of faith and of power within it, seeing that this Celtic population would often be seen as second class. It would also play around with Celtic ideas of fae and magic in a way of fighting the oppressors, as well as with ideas about the value of preserving knowledge through stories.

As an aesthetic: There is a respectful way to go about this aesthetic and one that is less so, and in this case I think both are kinda alright? You can go with playing with the aesthetics of real Celtic people of the time, maybe given them some visual updates and just lean more into stuff like the Celtic knot and what not. Buuuuuut, you also could just take your average Dungeons & Dragons Druid aesthetic and dial it up to 11. Bonus points if you use this against a more downplayed Roman aesthetic.

Punk-Factor: Admittedly, despite it featuring kinda a fight against colonization, I would argue this is a bit less punk and more about the general idea (and my frustration with how little we see written about this time from this perspective).

Examples: I don’t know if there are any books like this. You tell me.

Guillotinepunk

Note: How is this not yet a thing? I really tried looking for something along the lines of this idea, but… it does not seem to be a thing so far?

As a genre: The history of the French Revolution is a complicated one. Other than what you have been told, it did not quite fail, rather it petered out and then there came Napoleon, took part of the ideas and threw away others. But what if we use the ideas of the French revolution and tweak the setting a bit. Maybe this is retrofuturist and the Revolution just continued. Maybe the revolution happens within a more modern setting – but similarly as it did in reality. But there is strive and class struggle here. The people are rising up against the nobles, who have suppressed them for so long. Heads are rolling and for a moment things seem great. But as the revolution continues, the disagreements between the revolutionaries will become more and more clear, with factions turning against each other and a battle of ideas starting.

As an aesthetic: There are guillotines and there is the fashion of the upper class of the epoche, but taken to an extreme, that we did not quite see in reality. This might be mixed with anachronistic elements, that come to play within the aesthetic. Maybe some military aesthetics mixed in there as well.

Punk-Factor: I would argue that the French revolution is pretty darn punk. You know, those punk ideologies from above? Most of it was aspired to by the revolutionaries. Though I would argue this genre would be just a bit more, as it would also consider the rifts between different parts of such a movement – and how they might or might not be mended.

Examples: Cake Eater (2022) – I still think there gotta be others, because it is so obvious. But I cannot think of any right now.

Tsarpunk

Note: Yes, I am aware that Leigh Bardugo already coined this term, that so far is mostly used to describe anything written by her. However… You might see this coming, but… Let’s add a bit more punk to it, shall we?

As a genre: Tsarpunk could play around with Russian society before the revolution happened. There is a tsar and there is the nobility who owns, at the point, also most of the factories that are becoming more common. A lot of the poor people are serfs under them. There are people, who are willing to rise up against the system – and some of the nobility find themselves drawn between the faction of the tsar and the potential revolutionaries. Steeped in Slavic mythology, there might also be magic and creatures, that court the line between fantasy and horror elements.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic could mix up the entire Slavic influence a lot more. Aesthetically Slavic culture is very interesting, as it has a lot of intricate elements. There could also aesthetic influences be drawn from Clockpunk, as such mechanations are tied to Russian of the time a lot.

Punk-Factor: Again, Revolutions tend to be pretty darn punk, so playing up the revolutionary angle will give some punk points in my book – though if the revolution is less played up, it might also be less punk as a potential genre.

Examples: The books of Leigh Bardugo, but I would also argue that in a way The Witcher qualifies as well.

If you left me to it, I would probably be able to name some more ideas for historically inspired punk genre. After all, there is a ton of potential there, even if we just look at European history. Especially given the parts that we are looking at so far. (Note to self: I kinda wanna write something about how some of the punk genre could do more with the general idea and setting…) I do also think that kinda the issue with how some people are tackling the punk genre so far is too much of “fantasy/scifi, but with [insert historical setting]”. Instead of going: “What if Cyberpunk, but [insert settings]?” So, there is not as much as theming happening, as there could be. And I do not even necessarily mean those anti-hierarchical/anarchical punk themes. But also more general… themes. You know? THEMES!!!

Also there is a kinda genre, that would also make for an interesting exploration…

Vampunk

Note: Alright, I admit it, this is here because of my near constant vampire obsession, but I also think that vampires are a wonderful vehicle to tell punky stories, based on the simple fact that vampires inherently serve often both as the oppressor/exploiter and the marginalized.

Let me start with talking about the duality of vampires.Vampires inherently are dependent on somewhat exploit humans in most scenarios, given they need to drink human blood. As such vampires have always an incentive to somehow keep humans around and somewhat dependent on them. Often enough they are kinda equaled to nobility or in more modern settings with CEOs and boards of directors. At the same time vampires in most settings also need to keep themselves hidden, fearing some sort of anti-vampire inquisition, with this often being kinda a vague metaphor for queerness.

As a genre: Vampunk would feature a world that has some Cyberpunk features. But the world is secretly run by vampires, who work as the world’s CEO and board members, using their positions to get easy access to the blood they need to survive. However, within the vampire society there is also a large divide between the haves and the have-nots. While the upper-class vampires have power, control and all the blood they can want, the lower-class vampires often barely scrape by, their access to blood regulated through those above them. As such lower-class vampires need to figure out, whether their true allegiance should lie with the vampire upper-class or the humans so unwittingly exploited by them.

As an aesthetic: I think the best aesthetic for this would be something along the lines of Gothic Noir with maybe some punk elements within it. A gothic aesthetic is a no-brainer for this genre, though.

Punk-Factor: The genre could be very much played for punk factors, by playing these stories were much as a class struggle and around the realization that the lower class of any privilege group has as much in common with the marginalized than with the privileged upper class. It should be noted, though, that one has to be careful in this genre. The Victorian vampire had some roots in antisemitic myths and if not threat carefully constructing a genre like this might lead to unintended antisemitic readings.

Examples: Daybreakers (2009)

Fun fact, I find it weird how Daybreakers was universally loathed when it came out in 2009, but recently I actually see a lot more appreciation for that movie. And I think it shows those ideas pretty well. I would also argue that the latter Underworld movies had some of those themes. And I would also argue it is different from usual vampire fantasy on the basis of being more thematically dense. I am kinda hoping that Castlevania Nocturne goes into this direction.

Finally going to some outright futuristic ideas. Things that might kinda exist already as parts of the other punkgenre (mostly Cyberpunk), but are kinda worth exploring on their own. And yes, those again have anime examples, because…

Virtupunk

Note: This definitely is a kind of genre that already does exist but has not been explored in the punky way a lot so far. At least not intentionally.

As a genre: Virtupunk is set in a world that has some Cyberpunk features. Corporations rule a good part of the world, though it might even look like our everyday world. (Because we life under late stage capitalism.) Technology has advanced enough that virtual reality is a thing in one way or another. As such a lot of people interact with the world at least partly through the virtual reality. But even this reality is owned by corporate interest. The virtual world is a thing all on its own, though, in a way that even those corporations running it do often not quite understand. Within it AI is developing faster than anticipated – and only some people seem to understand the importance of it. The protagonist fight – at times with the AI and at times against it – to retake control of this new virtual reality. A central theme is, though, how the virtual world, that kinda functions as a metaphor for the internet, allows people to connect and organize.

As an aesthetic: While I will argue that this is definitely something that exist as a genre, there is not much of an aesthetic so far. Generally, of course, VR headsets will play into this, but not all versions of this genre interact with the virtual worlds through this. The virtual worlds themselves can often be somewhat strange and crazy, breaking with established rules of the real world.

Punk-Factor: I would argue that the central punk theme in this kinda story is even less about the “rising up” part, but rather about the connection and the means of organizing. Though there will usually be some aspects about “taking back the virtual world”.

Examples: I would argue that the main example here is Mamoru Hosoda’s kinda “internet trilogy”, with Belle being the strongest example here. .hack// does definitely also qualify. Also: Serial Experiments Lain.

Augmentpunk

Note: Now, this is a thing that appears in Cyberpunk a lot, but is barely ever thematically explored. Which I find kinda sad.

As a genre: Like Virtupunk, Augmentpunk borrows a lot from Cyberpunk, though its setting tends to be a lot more toned down. The technology taking over in this kind of stories is Augmented Reality, which might either be accessed over devices such as glasses, contacts or masks, or even be just somehow inherently accessible. The AR exists within the real world – mostly – as an additional layer. Depending on how anti-capitalist the stories wants to go, it might feature the constant barrage of advertisement the characters are put under. More often, though, this genre will explore how AR makes the lines between the real and the virtual blur, at times completely destroying concepts of reality.

As an aesthetic: Augmentpunk loves playing around with the idea of overlaying different layers to reality. You will find a lot of holographic images floating over the world and characters in this aesthetic, often contrasting colorwise with the designs of the characters otherwise. There tends to be in general a contrast between a more mundane world and a strange augmented reality.

Punk-Factor: Usually these stories to not go far into the punk themes. There might be a bit with anti-capitalism or something about our addiction to technology, but that usually is about it. It still is something I enjoy, though!

Examples: Dennou Coil, Accel World

Those are just some ideas that I have. I would also be super interested in seeing what other ideas you guys have. How could we interweave those punk attitudes with other genre/settings?

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knuckle · 8 months

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on some more gentle book criticism it's wild that both of wu zetian's love interests in iron widow are highly educated & there are references to the aesthetics and structures of a scholar system, but there is utterly no casual reciting of classics, tactics, nor poetry from anyone. there are references to adapted forms of the classics, but it doesn't inform how characters talk or think (li shimin seems more like a guy who never got education than someone who memorizes poems to the point it destroyed his vision). I understand the whole "peasant frontier girl half literate" thing to an extent (even though it feels an odd choice) but there aren't even like idioms really. it feels very simplistic & uniform in characters' speaking style, and the world, language, and culture all read very flat because of that. tacticians like sima yi, an lushan, and zhuge liang too might have a more creative way to call someone a bitch or what is the point of reimagining them in this world is all I'm saying.

i think there was also a big miss of not even referencing half of the incredibly funny things that a star studded historical fiction cast could provide like zhuge liang never did something funny with a feather fan? no one had to bother him into working? no pranks with corpses? where is his ugly intelligent wife?

why not posture that an lushan's son gave the thumbs up on his murder? historically accurate and hilarious

honestly, the book shouldn't have been marketed as a reimagining of historical or quasi historical figures at all because if you know or care anything about chinese history/culture it's massively immersion breaking & xiran jay zhao should have just leaned into a fully dystopic "fallen" society with only the worst aspects of chinese culture surviving, deliberately so because of the way the populace is controlled and managed, without any dressings of valuing scholars because they clearly didn't feel confident enough or want to put in enough work to actually mesh chinese literary classics or more than a skeleton of historical context with characters that bear the names of legends.

every character could and should have just had an original name so i'm not frequently disappointed that, for example wu zetian who weaponized her children to become regent and curry favor views motherhood as the most restrictive shackle on a woman or that li shimin who assassinated his brothers in a tactical power play and expertly maneuvered the aftermath, getting his father to abdicate to him and becoming one of the most competent emperors in history, would just stand by helplessly with a bloody murder weapon while he was carried off to a death row labor camp

#iron widow

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retrieve-the-kraken · 7 months

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9 favourite books

Thank you @gwiazdziarka for tagging me (and thanks for all those book recs, I’m adding all of them to my list, except for the ones that I’ve already read), and I agree, maybe all of these won’t be my absolute favorite books, but they’re either books that I think about a lot, or books that have a special place in my heart, but not necessarily something that I go back to over and over.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exúpery

This one is definitely a favorite. It’s a book that I’ve reread many times, because I feel that it has a different feel every time, depending on what I’m going through at that moment. Also a classic. Love it so much that I’ve started to collect editions in different languages; so far I have Spanish (of course), French, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Euskera (possibly one of the rarest), and Swedish (of course, because I intend to be able to read it by next year).

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Also an absolute favorite, classic down-the-rabbit-hole type story that takes place in London Below. Fell in love with it, with the world-building within an already existing world. If i actually had to list 9 of my favorite books, pretty sure the whole list would be Neil Gaiman, but this book is both entertaining and comforting, so I pick this one. The BBC radio drama adaptation starring James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer is also excellent. Still waiting for the book sequel, though…

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

The most charming book in history, composed entirely of letters between an aspiring writer and rare books collector in New York and the manager of a rare books bookshop in London. Their relationship is platonic, and yet one of the most romantic things I have ever read. The movie adaptation is equally charming and it has Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench in it. Read the book first, then watch the movie, then cry endlessly. Rinse and repeat.

Like a Hole in the Head by Jen Banbury

You should know that I get a lot of book recommendations from TV shows, so I decided to hunt down this book when Monica was reading it in more than one episode of Friends (felt like a subliminal message). And it was fucking worth it. Also a book about a book. A dwarf comes into a bookshop where the protagonist works, to sell a first edition of Jack London’s White Fang, and only after he’s gone she finds out just how rare it is. Heist plot ensues. It’s equally strange and exciting, mind-blowing and cathartic.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

Very melancholy, this book is a collection of essays, poems and short stories published posthumously, as Keegan died in an accident at 21. She was very talented and could write convincingly about many things. Can’t even pick a favorite one out of the collection, because they’re all very good in very different ways. Very bittersweet.

Los Caballos Estornudan en la Lluvia by Dimas Lidio Pitty

Another short story collection (the title literally translates as “Horses Sneeze in the Rain”), from a Panamanian author, from the region where I spent my childhood summers, which still holds a very special place in my heart, and which has a mysticism about it that he helps preserve in these stories. Dimas Lidio Pitty was very good at magical realism. One of the stories in particular is so brief, but it’s incredible how good it is in such a short narration.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I’m a huge fan of classic dystopic science fiction, and this one has got to be my favorite. The narrative is interesting, moves along at an excellent pace, and it covers everything. Another book about books too. If you haven’t read Fahrenheit 451, the premise is simple: in this dystopic society, firemen don’t put out fires, they start them… to burn books. Book banning to the extreme. What happens next? You need to read it to find out.

El Misterio del Solitario by Jostein Gaarder

I have been obsessed with this book (The Solitaire Mystery in English) by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder since I started reading all his books when I was a teen (I don’t even know how I came across him, I just picked one up one day and went with it, it wasn’t even Sophy’s World, it was Through a Glass, Darkly). Of course Sophy’s World is probably the most famous, and it was very good, but this one is so strange and magical that I read it several times ages ago, and it was such a comforting book, and now I would like to reread. Maybe one day soon I’ll read it in Norwegian!

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Another classic and favorite, which I have also read many times. Some people like Alice in Wonderland, some like Peter Pan, I like the Wizard of Oz. I like anything Oz related, the movie, the musical, Wicked (the musical, not the book, tho), everything. But the source material is still where it’s at.

No pressure tags: @makingupachangingmind , @voldiebeth , @raincitygirl76 and @phoebenpiperx .

#booksbooksbooks #booklove #book recs #i love learning about what people are reading or have read or love to read #give me all the book recs #i wish i could have a book club with everyone here

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chaosmenu · 28 days

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1984 sucks fahrenheit 451 sucks let me write the next political dystopic classic

#op

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beevean · 10 months

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I read your tags about Silver, and I hadn't considered that yet... so maybe you are right, haha. I just find it a shame; I love the idea of external Sonic media broadening the world and diving into stories the games can't tell simply because those are restricted to a game format the story must be tailored to. I really find it unfortunate that current external media like Prime kind of seem to fumble the ball for me with trying to have Sonic go through developments he does not need in the first place. And then if the premise also does not catch my attention on top, and the other characters allegedly got mangled as well... It does not make me unhappy, it's just a kids' show in the grand scheme of things, but again, it's just a shame. I want to love it and enjoy it, I really do, but so far it seems that things that would help make me love it, like IC characters and nice interactions between them, might not be in there.

I'm very salty that in 32 years, the only adaptation that tried to stick close to the game universe and tried to expand it has been IDW.

Yeah.

Even good adaptations are not very faithful - I like the OVA as many do here, but there was no need for the Land of Sky/Darkness and the odd catpeople populating it. Sonic X was basically a reverse isekai lmao. AoSTH was Looney Tunes Lite, SatAM was a huge exaggeration of the Classics' environmental message turned into a dystopic world, Boom was its own odd AU, the movies are very loose retellings of the games so far and set in the human world like X, and Underground was Underground.

And Prime keeps the tradition by being about the multiverse, and too bad that no universe can be as fleshed out as the canon one for obvious reasons. And it pretends to have depth by adding unnecessary "character development", which results in characters that are actually not the characters I've grown fond of.

I think the ideal Sonic adaptation should simply be slice of life stories, something cute like Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (this sounds so weird out of context jfdskfhk). Or like the last IDW issue - I liked seeing Knuckles and Amy travel through Angel Island to put an ancient artifact to its place, all while bantering. It was cute! It was about characters I care about! It was about characters that in the game barely speak to each other! It was about a location from the games, a game that I played and I can recognize and I want to see more of! That! I want that! Why does everyone insist on creating AUs that have nothing to do with the canon series? D:

#sonic the hedgehog #trust me friend: i've learned my lesson after netflixvania #sometimes... seeing your faves in a bad adaptation... is a worse insult than them being shafted

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lokiinmediasideblog · 2 months

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The drugged pie makes so much sense because TVA agents, despite having their memories erased, are still shown to be capable of empathy and individual critical thinking and it's unrealistic that at no point any of them stopped and went "idk maybe sending children to be eaten by the smoke monster for the crime of being one minute late to arrive at home it's fucked up". I understand radicalization relies on dehumanizing your targets something something the nazis something something, but Mobius got to turn heels with no conflict just because he learned a specific information, so I don't buy radicalization alone is the sole reason why everyone was complicit

Yea. And B-15 also turned on the TVA pretty quickly. Plus, drugged food is a CLASSIC DYSTOPIC SCIFI TROPE. It'd be such a shame not to use it.

#anon asks #the radiactive looking pie #the pie is a lie #loki series critical

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scratching92 · 1 year

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So, in light of everything with WOTC, I think I’m gonna spend this year exploring other games systems. I’ve already kinda been bouncing off of D&D for a bit, but I think now’s a good time to actually commit to either playing or running games in new systems like I’ve been wanting to do. And since I’m sure there are others who might want to hear about some other TTRPGs, I figured I’d share a short list here. In no particular order:

Genesys - a setting-agnostic RPG that makes use of Narrative Dice, which generate not only success and failure, but also positive and negative complications that lend themselves to interesting narrative consequences. An example I like to use is attempting to bluff your way into a mob’s headquarters, so you lie and pretend to be a member of the mob named Jerry. You roll a success with threat, so they successfully buy into you being Jerry, except as it so happens Jerry’s in shit with his superiors at the moment, so you get dragged off to be disciplined instead of having free reign to look around. If you’ve ever played the Star Wars RPGs by Fantasy Flight Games, the system is near-identical, save a few small things here and there.

I’ve run a game or two of the system before, but I’d really like to go back to it at some point and maybe run a short campaign for some friends.

Lancer - a space opera tactical mecha RPG. I’m actually running a game of this in about two weeks or so! The mechanics seem really neat, but one thing I was not expecting when I read the core rulebook was the lore. My god! The Lancer setting just has... so much, I don’t even know where to begin. Earth (or Cradle, as it’s known in the Lancer setting) is a socialist utopia trying to share its utopian project with the diaspora, which is fraught with dystopic corpro-states, myriad worlds in various states of technological development, hacker-cults, and a bizarre paracausal entity that stole one of Mars’ moons (and isn’t even the only one of their kind!). It’s absolutely wild.

Fabula Ultima - an RPG inspired by classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. I only learned about this one a few days ago, admittedly, but I’m kind of already in love. It has a sort of job system in place where characters have access to 15 classes, which they can take levels in as they level-up and add skills from those classes. It’s also very collaborative with its narrative and worldbuilding, with both the GM and the players having a say in what the world is like prior to play. I’d like to play a few sessions of this when I can, because it looks fun.

These are the three main games I’m interested in playing this year, although I’m gonna be on the lookout for any others that might be interesting.

#Tabletop Roleplaying Games #TTRPG #Genesys #Genesys RPG #Lancer #Lancer RPG #Fabula Ultima #Please share with me your own recommendations!#These are just the three that had the most impact on me when I heard about them/read their rulebooks

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lumeha · 1 year

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Omg if you don’t mind would you share your top board game recs??

Okay I'm actually a bit of a - normie in terms of board games, my favourites tend to be either some traditional or shorter games, or card games (or. you know. zooming uncomfortably close on seven wonders)

But !

... Here are some of my faves since I've started playing a lot more actively, that are *not* just traditional card game, though I would 100% recommend everyone try out Koi-Koi because it's a good two players game and I'm a sucker for it okay

All links go to Board Game Geek

Regicide - 1 to 4 (?) players

For this one, you only need a basic 54 cards deck, but the authors of it have an actual deck created specifically for it that looks insanely pretty. You have to face the Jacks, Queens and Kings of the cards, and each suit has a different effect, that you need to use to the best of your abilities to defeat all of them.

It's a pretty challenging game, but it's genuinely really fun, and I've played it a lot over on Board Game Arena recently

Spicy - Bluffing / 2 to 6 players

A variant of Cheat / Liar, but look, 1 - I'm a sucker for pretty cards, 2 - it's a damn efficient variant. You have to get rid of your hand by putting cards face down at the center of the table. The first player picks a suit (pepper, chili or wasabi), and you have to announce out loud the card you are putting face down. And if someone suspects someone else of cheating, they have to contest either the spice or the power of the card that was put down, and if they picked the wrong one... well, the liar can win the confrontation.

It's a very good twist on the classic, and frankly the cards just look amazing.

Sea Salt and Paper - Collection / 2 to 6 players

Last card game I swear. But. Hey. Sea Salt and Paper is a card game where you have to collect cards to get points, and when a player decides to stop the round, they can either stop it, and everyone count their points... or they can declare a "last chance", and bet that, despite having one more turn, no one can beat their current hand.

Better if you're playing with daring people who don't hesitate to "last chance" you though

It's a Wonderful World - Drafting and Engine Building / 1 to 5 players

So. Hm. Another one of my favourite game mechanic is drafting (yeah I love Seven Wonders). It's a Wonderful World combines drafting with engine building, and it is wonderfully (ah) efficient at it. You are building your own dystopic empire, and try to beat your opponent through science, militaristic power, ancient discoveries, and gathering generals or finance people.

Being able to kind of annoy your opponents through the drafting mechanic is (chef kiss) I just like some interaction in my engine building game

(also it's on Board Game Arena and that's fantastic)

Azul - Drafting / 2 to 4 players

... Honestly I feel like if you like board games, you probably know about Azul but. I'm a sucker. I love Azul. Genuinely a game that I love from the materials (those tiles) to the mechanics. I think it's considered like one of those abstract euro games ? IDK.

Azul is pretty, it's a pretty easy game to explain, and I've had a lot of fun playing it with all kind of people, which makes it an easy rec for me.

I don't love having to count the tiles every time it comes back though lmao

Some honourable mentions, just 'cause : Hanabi (limited communication cooperative game), The Red Cathedral (not played enough to fully rec but it's interesting, ressourcement management and building), Living Forest (sorta drafting and ressource management to save a forest, it's v pretty) and District Noir (a two player bluff / collection card game) (I told you I love card games)

#barks.txt #I swear I'm made of 80% card games :/#love cards........#but yeah #other board games too but u know #I'm actually a card player before everything else apparently

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dustedmagazine · 1 year

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Ladytron — Time’s Arrow (Cooking Vinyl)

Photo by Wendy Redfern

youtube

Ladytron already had their big comeback. The formed-in-Liverpool, now-international quartet took a few years to assemble their starkly dystopian 2019 self-titled record, shortly before the rest of the world became dystopic in new and interesting ways. Ladytron was practically the model of (one version of) a triumphant return: bigger and bolder and weightier than ever, a real Statement (but with tunes). Everyone’s senses of time seem increasingly fuzzy, but the gap between its release and that first period of chaos and uncertainty seems vanishingly small in retrospect. In 2023, though, no matter how cautious or reckless any of us are being, the simple fact is that living in a still unmanaged pandemic (not to mention… everything else) has become in some way routine. None of the systems of power, control and repression that Ladytron evoked have gone away, but the horrible truth is that humans will adjust to just about anything, even constantly shrieking alarms. Fittingly enough, the first record Ladytron have made in this new normal is less about noticing those structures and more about limning the small moments of beauty, joy and freedom that can still be found within them.

This thematic and tonal shift doesn’t require much of a change in sonics. Mira Arroyo and Helen Marnie’s vocals still feel like each syllable is carefully placed, calibrated to summon up emotions without necessarily directly expressing catharsis. The music sticks to the same general lane Ladytron have trafficked in since they (plus Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu) moved away from the straightforward throwback synthpop of the first two LPs with 2005’s dreampop-adjacent Witching Hour. That record really unlocked Ladytron’s sound and they haven’t exhausted its possibilities yet; the pulse and stomp of opener “City of Angels” or the sparkling twilight balladry of “Misery Remember Me” are classic examples of what Ladytron has always done well and why it’s good to have them back.

Especially on the back half of Time’s Arrow, though, there are some new wrinkles. Has Ladytron ever had a song as plainly joyous as “The Night,” with the synths surging warmly around Marnie almost cooing “so let’s go crazy”? It’s followed directly by “The Dreamers,” a little more downcast but still sounding like the soundtrack to running away with someone. Elsewhere “California” almost pleads for the titular state to “make us happy” (albeit on a track that sounds like slowly sliding down the side of a glacier). As you dig into the lyrics none of the songs here are facilely happy, or in denial about the same emotional and structure issues Ladytron brought to the surface. But if that last record was about coming to terms with living in an ongoing disaster (ecological and otherwise), Time’s Arrow is more about navigating life after that kind of realization. The day in/day out still happens, time’s arrow (as Arroyo sings on the closing title track) still glides through your heart.

As is common on Ladytron records, Marnie sings most of the songs but Arroyo’s couple of leads are crucial. In addition to time another big throughline here is the always-shifting power memory, and on the first side’s “Flight From Angkor” she faces it directly: “memory's a hall of mirrors / echoing for years.” Things keep happening, and the longer they do the more hazy our grasp on that moment of realization we had gets. What is there to do but draw together, find safety and community where we can, try to change things, and dance?

Ian Mathers

#ladytron #time's arrow #cooking vinyl #ian mathers #albumreview #dusted magazine #synthpop #dream pop #dystopia

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nicklloydnow · 6 months

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“Dearest Martha,

We knew each other a very long time. Exactly a century in fictional terms, several decades in reality.

From the first discussion I had with Dave Gibbons at, of all places, the San Diego Zoo, about the two of us working together, when I didn't even know your name, I knew that you were a noble, and quintessentially American, creature.

One thing I've always loved about my country is its indomitable spirit, and you were indomitable from the day you were born. The deck was stacked against you: you were Black, female, and impoverished, but nothing ever stopped you. To date, you are the most heroic creation I've ever had the honor to write.

Dave and I fell in love with you early and often. In fits and starts, we told your tale. We hit a crisis early on: puffed-up with self-importance after the success of The Dark Knight Returns, I mischronicled your first adventure as something too on-the-nose political, too self-consciously serious, and, in a word, dreary.

Dave quit. You were almost stillborn, baby.

It took Lynn Varley to straighten my brain out and advise me to reconfigure your story, to bring absurdity and sarcasm and adventure and boyish joy to it, and to win Dave back. Dave's instincts and Lynn's wisdom brought you back from the brink, Martha. It's hardly a coincidence that Lynn shares your birthday, in day and month, if not in year.

So, Martha, my sweetheart, you've been both daughter and mother to me. You've been noble in your every decision, your every aspect, and you've been, unfailingly, a writer's dream: a character who wrote herself.

From housing-project prisoner to drugged-out victim of an insanity ward, from soldier to explorer to savior of the world, to mother of a new generation worthy of your name, you always, relentlessly, wrote yourself.

As Dave does, I miss you, Martha. And I will always love you.

Frank Miller

New York City, 2008”

“Despite being an extremely successful commercial work, and arguably the series that really put Dark Horse on the map as a home for adventurous comics creators bored with the Big Two, the Martha Washington epic is curiously underrepresented in comics criticism, generally liked but not held in anywhere near as much esteem as the creators’ other contemporary works. The character of Martha Washington will occasionally pop up in lists about strong women characters, or POC representation, or bleak sci-fi, but it’s treated as almost a footnote in the careers of Miller and Gibbons. For Gibbons, it serves as a personal and ambitious attempt to stand outside the shadow of Watchmen before the artist shifted towards more commercially inclined series. For Miller, it’s the exact line of demarcation between his classic Formalist Auteur Era (Daredevil, Dark Knight Returns, Ronin) and his hyper masculine Abstraction Auteur Era (Sin City, 300, Holy Terror). Martha Washington is the most human character Frank Miller ever wrote and the last time you can see him caring about a character more than experimentation and style, and not coincidentally it’s one of the last times he would share basically equal creative autonomy with someone.

As Gibbons and Miller both explain in the introductory text in the complete Martha Washington collection, Miller convinced Gibbons to work with him on the series by pitching him the story of Martha “on a mission to prevent an evangelical Elvis clone [from] nuking the rest of the United States from deep in the Arizona desert.” For Gibbons, this offered a giddy respite from “our recently successful dark dissections of superheroes,” so he started working on designs and plans based on that treatment. But when Miller’s script finally arrived, Gibbons was horrified by how dark and gritty it had become, missing the surreal humor and absurdity that had first caught his eye. Miller admits that the project would have been “stillborn” if Lynn Varley hadn’t convinced him to take Gibbons’ concerns into consideration and rework the entire project. The work that Miller and Gibbons eventually created is an incredible hybrid of these two spheres, brutal and unflinching yet curiously warm and tender and goofy. Not unlike life itself, in other words.

What’s especially clear throughout the series that make up the Martha Washington epic is that Miller and Gibbons and their various colorist collaborators truly love Washington as a character. And it’s not hard to see why. Washington is an epic hero with all of the tragedy and none of the hubris. If she has a tragic flaw, it’s that she has hope for humanity, but that’s also the ingredient that makes her continue long past the point her many enemies expect her to fall. As Washington herself puts it in a survival mantra, “When things get bad like this, you just keep telling yourself ‘This won’t kill me, I won’t die here, this won’t kill me.”

(…)

This is why Washington is such a uniquely potent dystopic protagonist. Gibbons draws her not as a cold superhuman brute or insensitive sex warrior (and notably Washington encounters and defeats characters who represent both of these tropes) but as a bold and powerful black woman with a wide emotional range to reflect her equally wide array of physical talents. Many of the most memorable scenes in the series are simple one page depictions of Washington crying in solitary peace after making a difficult decision (like her first foray in the senseless Amazon War between PAX and the rogue Fat Boy Burger corporate state), or multi-panel sequences showing her reaction to a trauma shifting from shock to acceptance to strength (the killing of a basically nonverbal bully who had just slain her adolescent mentor). So many dystopic and post-apocalyptic works gives us protagonists who are blank slates or emotionally cold, indicating that survival is only possible if you shut down everything that makes you human. But with Washington, Miller and Gibbons reject this premise and provide an emotionally open yet brave and strong woman who survives because of how much she values that which makes her human.

As that anecdote about Martha Washington’s gestation shows, a huge amount of Martha Washington’s humanity is due to Gibbons’ vision for what would make this project work and ability to weave that into even the most ambitious of Miller’s ideas (as well as minimize the tone deafness of Miller’s worst concepts– the less said about the gay Nazi terrorist group, the better, though it’s hard not to think of them as predecessors to the dreaded Nu Fascist icon Milo Yiannopuolos). Gibbons rightfully continues to get acclaim for the patterns and precision focus he brought to Watchmen but while that series and Washington share dystopic themes, Washington also serves as a foil to the unfeeling, repetitive nature of that landmark work. Washington is still just as ambitious and epic but there’s a chaos and looseness to it that makes it far more exciting and filling. Miller’s script gives Gibbons ample opportunity to show off his range as an artist, with issues taking place in locations as diverse as the densely overcrowded urban centers of Chicago and New York, the equally claustrophobic but less populated world of the Amazon and the far more desolate realms of the southwest and outer space. But beyond that, it also pushes Gibbons’ talent for realistically rendering human expression to new extremes, with many of its climaxes getting delivered via small panel beats and compressed close-ups of reactions. It’s a detailed work that never feels overbearing, that demands innumerable rereads but never makes that feel like a chore.

(…)

The Washington series is at its best when it focuses on these personal, human tragedies and how they spark the larger, more apocalyptic events filling out the background of the series. Though every Martha Washington release is worth reading, there is a significant difference in mood, tone and aesthetic in the initial Give Me Liberty series and what followed in its wake. The clearest difference comes with the departure of masterful colorist Robin Smith, who was brought on to the series to give it a more “European” feel. Smith’s coloring recalls 2000 A.D. and Heavy Metal but it also fits perfectly alongside the adventurous work Gibbons and Miller’s peers were doing at DC in the same era, particularly Tim Truman’s Hawkworld and Howard Chaykin’s The Shadow: Blood and Judgment, both of which utilized their painterly textures to depict grimy urban decay and freakish figures in ways that felt raw rather than realistic.

(…)

Yet the conclusion of the series, Martha Washington Dies, brought Miller and Gibbons full circle, reuniting them with the fearless and eternally optimistic Washington on her final birthday. A century old and still stoic, Washington knows death is on the way and what surprises her most is that she isn’t alone but surrounded by people she cares about. She chooses to spend last day inspiring them, not holding back about how dire their situation might seem in yet another apocalyptic scenario but focusing on the human capacity to overcome hopelessness. And in her final moment, Washington transforms into a literal beacon of hope, dying and then immediately being reborn as a lightwave leading on the troops. It’s not exactly a happy ending but it’s a perfect ending for the type of warrior Martha Washington is, eternally focused on overcoming all challenges and abiding not by law but by what’s best for humanity. In times like these, that’s perhaps better than a happier story or an unrealistically revolutionary text.”

#frank miller #dave gibbons #martha washington #graphic novel #comics #comic books #dark horse #batman #sin city #ronin #300

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