Blambo

*gasp* *cursor hovers over torrent client*

Hear me roar!

Regarding 6): A big reason why I liked HLM was because it contained bits of story and non-violent, direct player interaction, that highlighted and framed the violent action, but I realize now that it was fascinating because at the time that kind of thing wasn't common, especially for the kind of genre HLM strove for. In posterity, it doesn't sit very far on the mechanically progressive scale as I remember. I remember actually on an episode on Idle Thumbs way back when HLM first came out, JP LeBreton commented on how HLM sort of hints that there's a world outside the violence that gives the violence context, but because the majority of the things you could possibly ever do in the game is kill people, the contrast is completely lost. Like a sandwich with 99% peanutbutter and 1% jelly is trying to call itself peanutbutter and jelly by being aware of how peanutbutter it is. RE 2) An interpretation of HLM that I often see and is most substantial and internally consistent is that It requires the player to completely indulge in it to be meaningful. The short bits of nonviolent story (ie picking up the phone, renting a video, meeting with the tribunal) are meant to tease the player and make them create their own interpretation for what's going on, then flip it upside down with the real last level of the game by saying that the violence is pointless and gratuitous. The events aren't supposed to make sense, and the story is supposed to be vague, but regardless the player kills anyway because that's all you're allowed to do in the game. The player's indulgence in the violence regardless of the thin narrative reasons to do so, and that realization is supposed to be cathartic. But just like Fight Club, that moment of looking in the mirror after completely indulging in dumb violence and aggression requires that the audience also has to be in the midst of it. which means that a lot of people won't "get" that moment of catharsis, because a big part of the content itself reinforces their own worldview (video games should be violent, society is overfeminized), and they don't take in anything that rejects it, and also because the creator kind of slides that in as an afterthought. Can't wait for postmortem!

I believe Marnie was also adapted from a book, so that might explain a lot about how it was executed. I really enjoyed Arietty, though! I had a stronger opinion of it before. I remember thinking that it was pretty layered, that it did the classic Ghibli thing of melding environmental themes, a coming of age story, and a things-might-not-work-out-in-the-end-but-life-goes-on message in way that was more taut and more effective than, say, Nausicaa. But I have to rewatch it to supply specific mechanics of what it did well. I also watched Kaguyahime recently and I love it to death. It had bits where it had to verbally address plot points to catch up to its exposition taking way too long, like and that's disappointing considering how subtle and communicative the rest of the film is. I feel like its trying to keep the presentation linear is messing with its storytelling since It isn't that big of an issue on balance though. I don't know how much of my experience is affected by my not knowing the folktale before watching it, and I expect that it's a lot. It feels like a fleshed out version of a well known folktale, almost as if you took, say, Cinderella and gave her agency, thoughts, and feelings. Still it's so good. My favorite cinematic touch Takahata gave was the repeated orthogonal sequences of Kaguya running and escaping. Concerning the podcast: I'd actually be kind of interested in being on if I'm not dragging down discussion due to lack of literacy. Gorm, if you can afford it, I would recommend the Yeti over the Snowball (I bought mine refurb for about 80 bucks). If not, pm me about my mic.

I just finished When Marnie Was There by Ghibli. I liked it, and I cried a bit, though I'm pretty disappointed by how it was directed. I've complained in this thread before about how Studio Ghibli films almost always telegraph their plot points and overindicate, which are mostly silly complaints because these are kid's movies, but this one was just ridiculous. The main character won't stop talking to herself in a way that's unnatural and explicitly expresses her feelings. This annoys me because it doesn't commit to the non diagetic narration like Only Yesterday does, and it doesn't attempt to express the characters' feelings through any other means, like visual cues or character dynamics. It feels like it wants to tell a layered, emotional story but present it as straightforward and milquetoast as possible. It's kind of like it has none of the Miyazaki visual and temporal flair and creativity, none of Takahata's subtlety and edge. It's just weirdly straightforwardly presented for a psychological ghost story. I guess I wanted it to jump around like the Wind Rises did (Miyazaki made a biographical story feel dreamy while Yonebayashi made a dreamy story feel biographical). That said I really like how the story unfolded itself and how it focused tightly on the main character and didn't indulge in the potential lore, and also IDK cartoons are dumb and hard to make.

I have a yeti microphone that I bought while drunk and probably will never use that I am willing to sell/donate to this incredibly nerdy cause.

Maybe to some extent it's more about some climbing instinct than not touching a surface.

Totally granted. I'm not really saying that Fight Club is a masterpiece that profoundly (or even effectively) conveys its intended message, I'm more trying to say that Hotline Miami is (as far as I or anyone I've read can tell) really nothing beyond a celebration of violence and all of its empowering and disempowering effects with nothing more below it, while Fight Club at least attempts to say something. Like I wouldn't put Fight Club and, say, Wolf of Wall Street in the same bucket (which is an "objective" telling of a story wrapped in a presentation that comedically glorifies a way of life). But that's really a moot point in the context of Apple Cider's article, which I think is more about the cultural effects and image that the perceived message of both pieces have on people, correct or incorrect. I really hope I'm not missing something, Apple, I really liked the article! Edit: also didn't mean to derail any shit plugging, please carry on.

I've seen remote casts work well if each host tries to replicate each others' recording situation and record their voices independently, and use some VOIP software that doesn't do the muting thing.

Awesome article, though I kind of fundamentally disagree with you concerning the core themes of Fight Club, which are kind of anti-whatpeoplethinkit'sabout under a fair amount of scrutiny, since Which is a lesson more narratively supported than any popular interpretation of Hotline Miami's violence and message. Though in terms of how it was received, I totally agree with it being the pretentious patriarch's pleasure. Tyler Durden, like Andrew Ryan, still kind of remains the sexist role model for those who don't think more than 3 seconds into what they're watching or playing.

When I was young enough to play that with my friends in China, we didn't even call it lava. It was "don't walk on the ghost ground".

Recently I haven't had much time to enjoy anime so what I have been watching has mostly been very light, half-cour shows. The format seems perfect for pure gag series, but really bad for more plotty shows (Kuragehime was really bad), so I'm not sure if an episode by episode podcast thing is worth doing for those series. Speaking of barf-cour shows I just watched Love Lab because I really like the animation and gags: But beyond that it's just girls spending 13 episodes looking for boyfriends. So boring, so stupid, so impenetrably pointless. Why did I watch all of it. Side note: it also has a crazy amount of joke explaining and indication disguised as tsukkomi, and doesn't make up for it with wit, originality and unpredictability. That kind of thing seems to be endemic, even in shows that I really like and think are funny.

*Cue confused skype interruptions and notification sounds someone forgot to edit out and bad mic quality*

It seems to happen when the guy hits one of the boxes. Also is the guy jumping when he turns intentional? Even if not I really like the transition it gives to turning.

http://www.hover.com/blog/hover-stories-jake-rodkin-from-idle-thumbs/ I might be late to this but using jake's painting for a testimonial is just too funny

Holy shit, bloodborne sounds incredibly hard.

DOTA. I'm Bilbo Bargains on steam (the one with the sniper against the imperial rising sun avatar), someone add me to the guild if that still exists, please!

I feel like a lot of the reason why it's good is because the plot of every epsiode moves forward with the main character trying to fulfill an expectation/ritual in her society and how they don't necessarily fit her and her happiness because of the way she is. Stuff like having the whole "whoops I forgot my umbrella let's share one and get to know each other" plot fall apart highlight how much social dexterity is required for some people to do something that is viewed as easy/natural, and operate within the expectations of society.It also does a lot to reverse/subvert normal slice of life motifs, and give the "quiet dark haired girl" trope some more depth. It's a kind of pandering to a less mainstream, nerd audience that seems less therapeutic and a more "face your problems, they're real" kind of thing. Come to think of it when I watched it originally I really liked it. I think my postreflective detesting moe is tampering with my original reaction to the show, and it's been a while since I watched it.

My perception of Watamote straddles "laugh at the social anxious kid" and "laugh with the socially anxious kid" and could be really mean spirited or comforting depending on how you relate to the main character.

Crusader Kings 2 except you play as a character is an environment that you can see and walk around in is mega cool, but this kind of small scale version of that system for some reason only exists in porn games/dating games/this.

Haha weird that I never noticed that the commander of a huge multinational defense agency is also a mission by mission tactician. It feels less like being in a modern chain of command and more like being a samurai general fighting in every battle.

See this is what I'm talking about!