Thought splurge.
We don't specifically know how long Chell is in stasis for, but we do know that Gordon was in stasis for around twenty years. There's nothing to say that Chell was not in stasis for a similar or the same length of time. So my thought of the day was, when Gordon sleeps, Chell sleeps.
This also made me wonder, as it's not mentioned anywhere in Portal 2, how or when the stasis technology was developed. Of their notable achievements, only the portal device gained any attention, becoming their main development area. As far as I would think, portal technology probably wouldn't assist with stasis, unless you are holding a person outside of space and time in the space between portal exits (?). Rather like one might expect G-Man to do it...
G-Man's appearances in the Half Life series are often accompanied by crows, the birds also being a large feature of Portal 2. If we are to take Valve's hints as read, then G-Man is or was around in some way in Aperture. Is G-Man responsible for guiding Aperture's seemingly impossible technological advancements, and for opening our dimension to the demons from beyond via the Borealis before Black Mesa?
G-Man is of undetermined origin. He does say in one speech that the weapons Gordon carries are property of the government, though not which government. He certainly seems not of this Earth,
Hm.
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Constants and variables (and rule 63) - Bioshock
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Stoob/works
Recently saw a few vids on YouTube discussing gender and women in gaming, covering the usual topics of motivation and 'gender stereotypes' and so on. I do wonder if the 'damsel in distress' figure that is becoming more prevalent in gaming must always be female and the protagonist hero male. It has been said of Bioshock: Infinite that it is of its time, and so the former Pinkerton would obviously be a man, and some have gone as far to say that a woman wouldn't sell her child like Booker does (a key point of the tale).
I do have some reservations about using time-period alone to justify gender roles, as history shows us there are many strong successful, and even brutally minded women in the past. So the Pinkertons were probably mostly men, I don't think that could be argued against; that said, I don't doubt that there were women in the ranks, at various levels of militancy. The 'Pinks' infiltrated other organisations with moles, for example, so why not a woman for this role? Also, just because female that doesn't mean they can't appear apathetic; not every woman has to gush their emotions all the time.
On the other side, could Elizabeth work as a boy, and so the 'damsel in distress'? I don't see why not. Being stuck in a book tower for his whole life, I'd doubt he's going to be the beefiest of young men, and he'd have the same level of naivety and innocence due to his isolation. Motivations for Paris might be a bit different, though it's not stated categorically what Liz's fascination is beyond it being 'Paris'. No reason why he wouldn't have a similar idealistic view of Paris, like we saw in Burial at Sea part 2.
The scene at Battleship Bay. Hm. You don't see too many lads dancing with so much glee, and this is quite a 'Disney-fied' scene, but again, stereotype is stereotype. Though that did make me think, what song would Fink have stolen, instead of Cindi Lauper's 'Girl's just wanna have fun'? I've gone with 'If I were a boy' by Beyonce. It just felt right that the AU where Booker is Brooke and Elizabeth is Elijah, to choose this song.
So the result of all that was an exceptionally short scene with gender reversal, and a tune on the old calliope.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/956733/chapters/7213550
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13045465
Recently saw a few vids on YouTube discussing gender and women in gaming, covering the usual topics of motivation and 'gender stereotypes' and so on. I do wonder if the 'damsel in distress' figure that is becoming more prevalent in gaming must always be female and the protagonist hero male. It has been said of Bioshock: Infinite that it is of its time, and so the former Pinkerton would obviously be a man, and some have gone as far to say that a woman wouldn't sell her child like Booker does (a key point of the tale).
I do have some reservations about using time-period alone to justify gender roles, as history shows us there are many strong successful, and even brutally minded women in the past. So the Pinkertons were probably mostly men, I don't think that could be argued against; that said, I don't doubt that there were women in the ranks, at various levels of militancy. The 'Pinks' infiltrated other organisations with moles, for example, so why not a woman for this role? Also, just because female that doesn't mean they can't appear apathetic; not every woman has to gush their emotions all the time.
On the other side, could Elizabeth work as a boy, and so the 'damsel in distress'? I don't see why not. Being stuck in a book tower for his whole life, I'd doubt he's going to be the beefiest of young men, and he'd have the same level of naivety and innocence due to his isolation. Motivations for Paris might be a bit different, though it's not stated categorically what Liz's fascination is beyond it being 'Paris'. No reason why he wouldn't have a similar idealistic view of Paris, like we saw in Burial at Sea part 2.
The scene at Battleship Bay. Hm. You don't see too many lads dancing with so much glee, and this is quite a 'Disney-fied' scene, but again, stereotype is stereotype. Though that did make me think, what song would Fink have stolen, instead of Cindi Lauper's 'Girl's just wanna have fun'? I've gone with 'If I were a boy' by Beyonce. It just felt right that the AU where Booker is Brooke and Elizabeth is Elijah, to choose this song.
So the result of all that was an exceptionally short scene with gender reversal, and a tune on the old calliope.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/956733/chapters/7213550
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13045465
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Mass Effect (Liara T'Soni)
Unfortunately where Mass Effect is concerned, this is where I belong in the realms of fandom, or weirdness as others might call it. Well, it was ME that brought me to write fan fiction so I think that says a lot about my feelings on the franchise. As game franchises go, this was the one that brought me to the whole world of 'fandom' and all the strangeness that goes with. I was also exposed to many other fandoms, usually via banners protesting the end of ME3, and I just fell right into it.
Now, I said in an earlier post about waifus (common term for a perceived relationship with a fictional character) but I will say that that is said with tongue firmly in cheek. As much as I 'love' the character of Liara T'Soni, I do know where reality lies. You might think that that qualifier is not necessary, but then, you've probably never been to the Bioware Social Network, where it escalated to the point where whole areas of the forums were shut down due to the vitriolic attack and defence of different fanbase's preferred love interest from the game (there is a romance element to Mass Effect).
Our first encounter with the lovely Doctor Liara T'Soni is in the first game, where she is initially introduced as a kind of 'damsel in distress', stuck fast in an ancient technologies' trap. The actress, Ali Hillis, gives an almost ethereal quality to Liara's voice, and certainly part of the character's charm. She is 'asari', another species from our galaxy. Liara is blue, with tendrils on her head as opposed to hair, and in the original game has markings akin to pink freckles; the freckles become darker over the series perhaps to show that she is maturing. That she is blue and quite alien (though not bodily...) doesn't make her impenetrable (no pun intended), and she is reserved and understated.
In the first game, when you have some free time aboard the SSV Normandy (the protagonist, Commander Shepard's craft) you can go around the squad and have a chat about stuff, potentially opening new missions. Liara's conversations revolve around her culture much more, telling us that despite her being 109 years old, she is still relatively young for her species; asari can live in excess of a thousand years. She tells us how her discoveries into the long gone 50,000 year old Prothean Empire are ignored by scholars due to her maturity, not quite being a 'maiden' yet. Asari go through three stages of life, very much akin to the triple goddess Earth Mother religions of the early pagan Europeans: the asari go through Maiden stage, Matron stage then Matriach stage. Though the early pagans labelled them Maiden, Mother and Crone, so slightly more flattering terms from Bioware.
I've come this far down and failed to mention something rather unique about the asari, for those who may have not had the pleasure. They are an all female race, relying on a form of pathogenesis to reproduce. As such, they may mate and produce off-spring with any other species. Now this gives them a sordid reputation across other species, that they'll have sex with anything. This specific issue is part of the dialogue with Commander Shepard.
Shepard: "So... you'll have sex with anything?"
Liara: "Now you see how rumours get started!"
Yup, they chose the perfect character for some Kirk style shenanigans. I don't think though that this is what quite David Bowie had in mind...
Now, I said in an earlier post about waifus (common term for a perceived relationship with a fictional character) but I will say that that is said with tongue firmly in cheek. As much as I 'love' the character of Liara T'Soni, I do know where reality lies. You might think that that qualifier is not necessary, but then, you've probably never been to the Bioware Social Network, where it escalated to the point where whole areas of the forums were shut down due to the vitriolic attack and defence of different fanbase's preferred love interest from the game (there is a romance element to Mass Effect).
Our first encounter with the lovely Doctor Liara T'Soni is in the first game, where she is initially introduced as a kind of 'damsel in distress', stuck fast in an ancient technologies' trap. The actress, Ali Hillis, gives an almost ethereal quality to Liara's voice, and certainly part of the character's charm. She is 'asari', another species from our galaxy. Liara is blue, with tendrils on her head as opposed to hair, and in the original game has markings akin to pink freckles; the freckles become darker over the series perhaps to show that she is maturing. That she is blue and quite alien (though not bodily...) doesn't make her impenetrable (no pun intended), and she is reserved and understated.
In the first game, when you have some free time aboard the SSV Normandy (the protagonist, Commander Shepard's craft) you can go around the squad and have a chat about stuff, potentially opening new missions. Liara's conversations revolve around her culture much more, telling us that despite her being 109 years old, she is still relatively young for her species; asari can live in excess of a thousand years. She tells us how her discoveries into the long gone 50,000 year old Prothean Empire are ignored by scholars due to her maturity, not quite being a 'maiden' yet. Asari go through three stages of life, very much akin to the triple goddess Earth Mother religions of the early pagan Europeans: the asari go through Maiden stage, Matron stage then Matriach stage. Though the early pagans labelled them Maiden, Mother and Crone, so slightly more flattering terms from Bioware.
I've come this far down and failed to mention something rather unique about the asari, for those who may have not had the pleasure. They are an all female race, relying on a form of pathogenesis to reproduce. As such, they may mate and produce off-spring with any other species. Now this gives them a sordid reputation across other species, that they'll have sex with anything. This specific issue is part of the dialogue with Commander Shepard.
Shepard: "So... you'll have sex with anything?"
Liara: "Now you see how rumours get started!"
Yup, they chose the perfect character for some Kirk style shenanigans. I don't think though that this is what quite David Bowie had in mind...
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