My dear People,
I shall not keep you long. I am writing this post for a Purpose. Indeed for Two Purposes!
First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that three years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable bloggers. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
Secondly and finally, I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT. I regret to announce that - though, as I said, three years is far too short a time to spend among you – this is the END.
I am going.
I am leaving NOW.
GOOD-BYE!
There was a flash of light, and when it faded, no one was sitting at the computer.
Filby was never seen in the blogosphere again.
Okay, now that that's over... yeah, it's true. Barring the unforeseen, I'm done blogging.
Part of it is this: I've signed up for the U. S. Job Corps, and on Tuesday, I'm moving out of my family home to go live in a dorm. Wireless Internet will be much more difficult to come by there, so my computer time will be sorely curtailed.
But more to the point, my heart just isn't in it. Lately I've been updating only once a month, if that. I used to be fairly active in the comics blogosphere, but sometime around the spat between Ragnell and Valerie D'orazio I got fed up with drama and rivalries; it became less fun, somehow. Plus, now that I have a Twitter account, I can do all my ranting about pop culture in quick, two- or three-paragraph bits instead of having to come up with a page-length post.
I'm not cut out for writing. Which is not to say that I'm giving up. I'm just, ah, strategically withdrawing while I look for something at which I'm more suited. ;)
Like I said, three years is too short a time. I've made a few good friends just from blogging, and I'd like to take the time to acknowledge some of you.
DAVID WYNNE - You inspire me. Really. A workaday stiff like yourself writing and drawing a damn good webcomic on a regular basis - and not only that, but becoming a published author - gives me hope for my own endeavors. But more importantly, you're a good friend. I don't think I know anyone with a stronger moral core than you. I know I can count on you for moral support... even if you are a dire grump. Thanks.
(And for the rest of you lot, check out MindHack TODAY!)
DJ BLACK ADAM - YOU ROCK. You're the coolest guy I know, no lie. Author, DJ, filmmaker, superhero! Is there anything you can't do? I value your insight on current events, and your thoughts on comics never fail to entertain. You've even changed the way I think about Christians and Christianity. One thing, though: when your plans for world domination come to fruition, leave me a spot as Viceroy of the Bahamas, huh?
AMI ANGELWINGS - You are wonderful, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. When you're happy, it brightens my day. Your enthusiasm for the things you like always makes me smile, and your commitment to what's right is inspiring. I've learned a great deal from you about a lot of things I'd previously taken for granted. I don't want to embarrass you, but you've been a huge influence in how I see the world. You're far more awesome than you give yourself credit for, and not a day goes by that I don't want to give you a great big hug. Take care of yourself.
In addition to my friends, I'd also like to give a shout out to some of the people whose blogs I've followed: Tom Foss, Sally P, Loren Javier, Linkara, Dokebi, K-Box, Steven Padnick, and many others. Even though few or none of you will likely read this, I want to say how awesome, entertaining, and informative you all are. Rock on!
Now, words to the contrary, this isn't the absolute end. I won't be updating this weblog any further, but I will keep checking in on my friends' blogs and leaving comments when I can - just expect the frequency thereof to drop a bit. You're also all welcome to follow my Twitter feed, either on my LiveJournal or directly on Twitter.
Once again, I want to say that it's been a blast. I've had a lot of fun here at Bag End. Even as I walk off into the sunset, I'll never forget the times I had here, even as I look forward to the road ahead of me.
Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Not as long as we're around to keep having them.
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
What D&D Means to Me
I remember about twelve years ago, when I first discovered Dungeons & Dragons – not playing it, just looking at the rulebooks at bookstores and enjoying the pretty pictures – my mother told me that she felt taking on roles in RPGs "left you open" to demonic possession. This weirded me out, because she’s a very liberal, anti-establishment lapsed Catholic, albeit with a mystical worldview. She based her assumption on a friend’s daughter who played Vampire and got involved in the then-popular goth subculture; this young woman had a history of mental illness, and if she ever acted out her problems through the game, those problems were there to begin with and just looking for any outlet. I suspect my mother had also heard some of those alarmist reports from the ’80s about RPers committing suicide.
For my part, I’ve rarely had an opportunity to actually play D&D or any other tabletop RPG, but my mere exposure to such games has had such an impact on me I barely know where to begin. Poring over various Monster Manuals and Fiend Folios piqued my interest in world mythology. Delving into the worlds of Planescape and its fractious Factions opened my mind to philosophy and new ways of thinking (I like the Athar, personally). My immersion in words and statistics improved my literacy and math skills. Wandering the lands of Ansalon, Faerûn, and the Flanaess broadened my own creative horizons.
Without D&D, my world would be a far poorer place. I’m forever indebted to the late Mssrs. Arneson and Gygax for their gift to the world.
For my part, I’ve rarely had an opportunity to actually play D&D or any other tabletop RPG, but my mere exposure to such games has had such an impact on me I barely know where to begin. Poring over various Monster Manuals and Fiend Folios piqued my interest in world mythology. Delving into the worlds of Planescape and its fractious Factions opened my mind to philosophy and new ways of thinking (I like the Athar, personally). My immersion in words and statistics improved my literacy and math skills. Wandering the lands of Ansalon, Faerûn, and the Flanaess broadened my own creative horizons.
Without D&D, my world would be a far poorer place. I’m forever indebted to the late Mssrs. Arneson and Gygax for their gift to the world.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Crossing Over
I'm fairly into both American and Japanese comics, and there's something that's struck me about them, vis a vis one another. (Nothing against European comics; I just haven't had much exposure.)
Comics from both support a very wide range of storytelling genres and subgenres. Looking just at the geeky/speculative fiction end of things:
Japan: Giant robots, magical girls, super martial artists, transforming heroes, hero teams (sentai), etc.
America: Superheroes, space opera, gothic fantasy, cyberpunk, espionage, etc.
Of course, especially in this day and age, you can see any of those subgenres in either country, but certain genres still predominate in different nations. But I've made an odd observation: English-language comics are way more quick to cross genres.
For instance, looking at Japanese comics, there's practically no chance you'd see a comic that mixes robots, magical girls, and martial arts. Can you imagine a cross between Gundam, Sailor Moon, and/or Dragonball that isn't a parody?
Conversely, in the DC Universe for instance, you have an almost ridiculously huge array of different genres all coexisting: Superman, Princess Amethyst, Angel and the Ape, Sergeant Rock, Swamp Thing, the Phantom Stranger, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, etc., etc., etc. - just by reading their names you can tell that if there were no shared DC Universe, there's no chance any of them would ever cross over, yet they all still make regular appearances in crossover events.
Why is this? I'd say it's a weird trick of publishing history. DC and Marvel both started out publishing comics that had nothing to do with each other, but with the emergence of the superhero genre we started getting crossovers, crossovers became superhero teams, teams begat shared universes, and by the '70s or '80s almost everything each company had ever published was deemed to have a corner in those universes to themselves in case a modern writer had an idea for them. Nothing like that ever happened in Japan, where almost all comics are self-contained, or maybe part of a single author or franchise's greater universe.
None of this is to say that one is an inherently better set-up than the other... but I have to say, a universe where John Constantine, Claw the Unconquered, and Captain Carrot's Amazing Zoo Crew can rub shoulders is a lot of fun.
Comics from both support a very wide range of storytelling genres and subgenres. Looking just at the geeky/speculative fiction end of things:
Japan: Giant robots, magical girls, super martial artists, transforming heroes, hero teams (sentai), etc.
America: Superheroes, space opera, gothic fantasy, cyberpunk, espionage, etc.
Of course, especially in this day and age, you can see any of those subgenres in either country, but certain genres still predominate in different nations. But I've made an odd observation: English-language comics are way more quick to cross genres.
For instance, looking at Japanese comics, there's practically no chance you'd see a comic that mixes robots, magical girls, and martial arts. Can you imagine a cross between Gundam, Sailor Moon, and/or Dragonball that isn't a parody?
Conversely, in the DC Universe for instance, you have an almost ridiculously huge array of different genres all coexisting: Superman, Princess Amethyst, Angel and the Ape, Sergeant Rock, Swamp Thing, the Phantom Stranger, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, etc., etc., etc. - just by reading their names you can tell that if there were no shared DC Universe, there's no chance any of them would ever cross over, yet they all still make regular appearances in crossover events.
Why is this? I'd say it's a weird trick of publishing history. DC and Marvel both started out publishing comics that had nothing to do with each other, but with the emergence of the superhero genre we started getting crossovers, crossovers became superhero teams, teams begat shared universes, and by the '70s or '80s almost everything each company had ever published was deemed to have a corner in those universes to themselves in case a modern writer had an idea for them. Nothing like that ever happened in Japan, where almost all comics are self-contained, or maybe part of a single author or franchise's greater universe.
None of this is to say that one is an inherently better set-up than the other... but I have to say, a universe where John Constantine, Claw the Unconquered, and Captain Carrot's Amazing Zoo Crew can rub shoulders is a lot of fun.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
About Captain Planet
Lewis "Linkara" Lovhaug is a cool guy who reviews bad comics. I really enjoy his video segment on That Guy With the Glasses, "Atop the Fourth Wall", and recommend y'all check him out.
Anyway, he reviewed a Captain Planet comic...
...which started me reflecting on the show it was based on. This post is adapted from my comment on his video.
I liked Captain Planet and the Planeteers when I was a kid, though I'm fully aware of its flaws now. I guess I just liked anything with action and superheroes, plus the lessons it delivered were in line with my family's values - we were and are a bunch of blue-collar New England Democrats, and respect for the environment is something I believe in.
But the problem, as many people have said, is that Captain Planet slams you over the head with its message, appealing to cheap emotional responses, while getting half of it wrong. I'm basically a socialist, but I'm mature enough to realize that capitalist CEOs aren't mustache-twirling villains - they're human beings just like me, and more often than not believe that they're doing right.
If you want to see what a good environmentalist story looks like, watch Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. The proto-capitalist "antagonist" has noble motives and actually helps people in her own way by giving them employment and shelter. The conflict between her and the nature-worshiping protagonists (who can be seen as eco-terrorists) is far from cut-and-dry. Even the nature spirits themselves are not "good" - they're dangerous, alien creatures who can be downright monstrous.
On a less serious note, I always felt sorry for Ma-Ti, the Planeteers' fifth wheel. Everyone always gets down on him for having a stupid ability. What kind of dumb power is Heart, anyway? But when I think about it, he'd potentially be the most powerful of all the Planeteers. I mean, his powers include clairvoyance, telepathy, and mind control. Just think what he could do if he had the imagination - and the ruthlessness - to use that power to its full potential!
If I were writing Captain Planet? I'd set it 15 years in the future, where Ma-Ti has gotten fed up with being the butt monkey of the team. He's become an extremist and used his ring to become a Communist dictator, controlling the hearts and minds of the masses. The other Planeteers struggle against their former friend, but they dare not summon Captain Planet, for without Heart to guide him, the planet's avatar has become a mindless force of destruction, nature's wrath incarnate.
That's what kind of dumb power Heart is!
Anyway, he reviewed a Captain Planet comic...
...which started me reflecting on the show it was based on. This post is adapted from my comment on his video.
I liked Captain Planet and the Planeteers when I was a kid, though I'm fully aware of its flaws now. I guess I just liked anything with action and superheroes, plus the lessons it delivered were in line with my family's values - we were and are a bunch of blue-collar New England Democrats, and respect for the environment is something I believe in.
But the problem, as many people have said, is that Captain Planet slams you over the head with its message, appealing to cheap emotional responses, while getting half of it wrong. I'm basically a socialist, but I'm mature enough to realize that capitalist CEOs aren't mustache-twirling villains - they're human beings just like me, and more often than not believe that they're doing right.
If you want to see what a good environmentalist story looks like, watch Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. The proto-capitalist "antagonist" has noble motives and actually helps people in her own way by giving them employment and shelter. The conflict between her and the nature-worshiping protagonists (who can be seen as eco-terrorists) is far from cut-and-dry. Even the nature spirits themselves are not "good" - they're dangerous, alien creatures who can be downright monstrous.
On a less serious note, I always felt sorry for Ma-Ti, the Planeteers' fifth wheel. Everyone always gets down on him for having a stupid ability. What kind of dumb power is Heart, anyway? But when I think about it, he'd potentially be the most powerful of all the Planeteers. I mean, his powers include clairvoyance, telepathy, and mind control. Just think what he could do if he had the imagination - and the ruthlessness - to use that power to its full potential!
If I were writing Captain Planet? I'd set it 15 years in the future, where Ma-Ti has gotten fed up with being the butt monkey of the team. He's become an extremist and used his ring to become a Communist dictator, controlling the hearts and minds of the masses. The other Planeteers struggle against their former friend, but they dare not summon Captain Planet, for without Heart to guide him, the planet's avatar has become a mindless force of destruction, nature's wrath incarnate.
That's what kind of dumb power Heart is!
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Mister Sulu is the Man
I saw a trailer for the new Star Trek movie, and apparently it has a scene with John Cho as Lt. Sulu, fencing.
I am considering seeing it for this reason alone.
The Naked Time - the one where everyone gets a virus that makes them crazy and Sulu runs around shirtless, attacking people with his foil - was my favorite, favorite Star Trek episode of all time, of all the series. Sulu is pretty much the coolest guy on the Enterprise. Forget Captain Jerk - Hikaru Sulu is the smoothest cat in the 23rd damn century.
Part of this is my man-crush on George Takei talking. That man is so awesome. He was just so dashing, you know? Plus his activism for gay rights in the last decade is wonderful. John Cho has some big shoes to fill, but I like him too - he was great in Howard and Kumar go to White Castle.
So yeah.
Edit: "Howard"? Yeah, Howard and Claude go to Arby's... *facepalm*
I am considering seeing it for this reason alone.
The Naked Time - the one where everyone gets a virus that makes them crazy and Sulu runs around shirtless, attacking people with his foil - was my favorite, favorite Star Trek episode of all time, of all the series. Sulu is pretty much the coolest guy on the Enterprise. Forget Captain Jerk - Hikaru Sulu is the smoothest cat in the 23rd damn century.
Part of this is my man-crush on George Takei talking. That man is so awesome. He was just so dashing, you know? Plus his activism for gay rights in the last decade is wonderful. John Cho has some big shoes to fill, but I like him too - he was great in Howard and Kumar go to White Castle.
So yeah.
Edit: "Howard"? Yeah, Howard and Claude go to Arby's... *facepalm*
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Considerations on the House of Koopa
Okay, taking my last post and running with it...
Koopas, like all reptiles in the Super Mario Universe, are a hermaphroditic species. There are no "female" or "male" Koopas; the concept of gender was only recently introduced to them through cultural exchange with the Mushroom Kingdom. Koopas that have visible gender identifiers are just imitating humans.
Koopas don't mate for life, which is why Bowser's never been seen with a mate. Instead, he's had several partners who sired his children like so:
1st mate: Ludwig
2nd mate: Roy and Morton
3rd mate: Wendy
4th mate: Iggy and Lemmy
5th mate: Larry
As for his last child, Junior, Bowser decided he wants an heir to mold perfectly in his own image, so he somehow impregnated himself, possibly with the aid of his Magikoopas. This is why Junior looks almost exactly like Bowser did as a child: he's basically a clone.
Why does Bowser keep abducting Princess Peach? Not because he's physically attracted her. It's purely symbolic in that he's holding the heir to the Mushroom Kingdom hostage. His occasional attempts to force her to marry him aren't for the sake of procreation but just to consolidate his power over both nations.
Why does Junior occasionally refer to Peach as his mommy? Because he's a dumb kid who doesn't know where hatchlings come from.
So there ya go. Irrefutable proof that I need to get my brain checked.
Koopas, like all reptiles in the Super Mario Universe, are a hermaphroditic species. There are no "female" or "male" Koopas; the concept of gender was only recently introduced to them through cultural exchange with the Mushroom Kingdom. Koopas that have visible gender identifiers are just imitating humans.
Koopas don't mate for life, which is why Bowser's never been seen with a mate. Instead, he's had several partners who sired his children like so:
1st mate: Ludwig
2nd mate: Roy and Morton
3rd mate: Wendy
4th mate: Iggy and Lemmy
5th mate: Larry
As for his last child, Junior, Bowser decided he wants an heir to mold perfectly in his own image, so he somehow impregnated himself, possibly with the aid of his Magikoopas. This is why Junior looks almost exactly like Bowser did as a child: he's basically a clone.
Why does Bowser keep abducting Princess Peach? Not because he's physically attracted her. It's purely symbolic in that he's holding the heir to the Mushroom Kingdom hostage. His occasional attempts to force her to marry him aren't for the sake of procreation but just to consolidate his power over both nations.
Why does Junior occasionally refer to Peach as his mommy? Because he's a dumb kid who doesn't know where hatchlings come from.
So there ya go. Irrefutable proof that I need to get my brain checked.
Mario Musings
It's kind of weird how King Bowser has like eight kids but we've never seen their mother. I got to thinking, though...
Yoshi is referred to as male, but lays eggs.
Birdo is supposed to be biologically male, but spits eggs out of her mouth.
Is there something we don't know about reptiles in the Super Mario Universe? Could gender be merely a social construct to them? Does Bowser lay eggs?
I... I think I broke my brain. :(
Yoshi is referred to as male, but lays eggs.
Birdo is supposed to be biologically male, but spits eggs out of her mouth.
Is there something we don't know about reptiles in the Super Mario Universe? Could gender be merely a social construct to them? Does Bowser lay eggs?
I... I think I broke my brain. :(
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Battle for Terra
Here's the trailer for an upcoming animated film, The Battle for Terra.
It's very good to see an American animation studio making a film with a mature, complex storyline. However, it seems like they can't let go of more family-friendly style elements, such as cartoonish character designs. Not that I have a problem with that - I loved The Incredibles - but it clashes with the subject matter. On the other hand, I realize that it's very hard to make realistic 3D character models that don't look downright creepy (see The Polar Express).
I'm afraid that this movie is going to do poorly businesswise, though. The Animation Age Ghetto is still in full effect. Don Bluth's Titan: A. E. failed miserably back in the '90s, and Ralph Bakshi's output is likewise regarded dismally. (This may because Bakshi's work is mostly crap, but I digress.) Sadly, American animation is a long, long way from reaching the widespread acclaim the medium sees in Japan.
Still, as I said, it's good to see someone trying. I wish the filmmakers the best.
It's very good to see an American animation studio making a film with a mature, complex storyline. However, it seems like they can't let go of more family-friendly style elements, such as cartoonish character designs. Not that I have a problem with that - I loved The Incredibles - but it clashes with the subject matter. On the other hand, I realize that it's very hard to make realistic 3D character models that don't look downright creepy (see The Polar Express).
I'm afraid that this movie is going to do poorly businesswise, though. The Animation Age Ghetto is still in full effect. Don Bluth's Titan: A. E. failed miserably back in the '90s, and Ralph Bakshi's output is likewise regarded dismally. (This may because Bakshi's work is mostly crap, but I digress.) Sadly, American animation is a long, long way from reaching the widespread acclaim the medium sees in Japan.
Still, as I said, it's good to see someone trying. I wish the filmmakers the best.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
16-Bit Memories
I'm honestly not a big video game player. I get bored quickly and I don't really have the patience to play through a game with an intricate story from beginning to end. That said, I was into video games back in the early-to-mid '90s on the NES, SNES, and N64, and to this day I enjoy the culture of video games, especially through the Let's Play phenomenon on YouTube.
Anyway, this YouTube channel has a plethora of tracks from recent video games, but the ones I like best are the songs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo's nostalgia-laden masterpiece. Most of them are revamps of classic video game songs, and I just wanted to share some of my favorites.
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was one of only two games with really involved narratives that I ever got into (the other being its sequel, Majora's Mask). The medley here brought some great memories flooding back.
Click here for more!
Anyway, this YouTube channel has a plethora of tracks from recent video games, but the ones I like best are the songs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo's nostalgia-laden masterpiece. Most of them are revamps of classic video game songs, and I just wanted to share some of my favorites.
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was one of only two games with really involved narratives that I ever got into (the other being its sequel, Majora's Mask). The medley here brought some great memories flooding back.
Click here for more!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I Salute You, Professor
I just want to affirm loud and clear how much I love J. R. R. Tolkien.
Honestly, The Lord of the Rings expressed some views on race and sex and class that I consider unconscionable. I just want to get that out in the open. It wasn't a perfect book and Tolkien wasn't a perfect man.
But Tolkien just had such skill with English, such a grasp on the intricacies of language, that made my mind soar. His lifelong exercise in world-building is an enduring inspiration to me as a would-be creator and as a dreamer. He is truly one of my heroes.
Thank goodness we had you, Professor Tolkien. You made the world a richer place and English a richer language.
Honestly, The Lord of the Rings expressed some views on race and sex and class that I consider unconscionable. I just want to get that out in the open. It wasn't a perfect book and Tolkien wasn't a perfect man.
But Tolkien just had such skill with English, such a grasp on the intricacies of language, that made my mind soar. His lifelong exercise in world-building is an enduring inspiration to me as a would-be creator and as a dreamer. He is truly one of my heroes.
Thank goodness we had you, Professor Tolkien. You made the world a richer place and English a richer language.
Apologies
Sorry for the lack of activity, folks. I've been in a real funk for the last month, largely due to unemployment and the first anniversary of my father's death this past Saturday. I've been consuming about the same amount of pop culture, but I haven't felt up to writing much about it. I've kept active following my friends' blogs, but mine has gone fallow.
I'm just posting to let y'all know what's up with me and why I haven't been around much. I'm not giving up blogging, but expect activity to remain on the low side for the foreseeable future.
While I'm here, I also felt like sharing this keen portrait I found of one of my favorite video game villains, Porky Minch from Nintendo's classic RPG, EarthBound.
Porky Minch -Practice- by ~Bagatelle on deviantART
Très fly, Monsieur Minch. I find the sheer repugnance of an obese 13-year-old asshole strangely refreshing in a field dominated by whiny, conflicted pretty boys. If you have the time, I highly recommend this guy's playthrough (with commentary!) of EarthBound, one of the shining gems of the Super Nintendo.
So yeah, that's all I have to say for now. Excelsior, y'all.
I'm just posting to let y'all know what's up with me and why I haven't been around much. I'm not giving up blogging, but expect activity to remain on the low side for the foreseeable future.
While I'm here, I also felt like sharing this keen portrait I found of one of my favorite video game villains, Porky Minch from Nintendo's classic RPG, EarthBound.
Porky Minch -Practice- by ~Bagatelle on deviantART
Très fly, Monsieur Minch. I find the sheer repugnance of an obese 13-year-old asshole strangely refreshing in a field dominated by whiny, conflicted pretty boys. If you have the time, I highly recommend this guy's playthrough (with commentary!) of EarthBound, one of the shining gems of the Super Nintendo.
So yeah, that's all I have to say for now. Excelsior, y'all.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
More Good Cosplay
Green Goblin Costume by ~jacemoore on deviantART
See, this is what Gobby should have looked like in the Spider-Man movie, I'm just saying.
(Oh, and happy Valentine's Day, everyone!)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
In the Grim Dark Future There are Only Dudes
As an aside, before I get going, I'm now on Twitter. If anyone wants to friend me, I'm listed as "filbypott".
~~~
This is an interesting article on the exclusion of women from wargaming, focusing on Warhammer 40,000.
I've been reading the Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books, and I must say it's been fun. I enjoy immersing myself in a new world, and the more fleshed out the better. But one thing I noticed almost immediately was the exclusive use of male pronouns in the text, and that stuck out at me. Dungeons & Dragons has alternated between male and female pronouns since 3rd Edition was released in 2000 and Magic: The Gathering has always used "he or she" or "his or her" to refer to the player since its inception in 1993; as such, I've come to view gender-inclusive language as the rule rather than the exception, and coming across exclusive use of "he", "his", and "him" in a game book published in 2007 put me off.
It's not just that, though - Games Workshop seems to go out of its way to exclude female characters in the game world, too. In 40K, apparently the process for creating Space Marines just doesn't work on women, making them an all-male fighting force. In Fantasy Battle, female Skaven are neither sentient nor even humanoid - they're just giant rats for the males to mate with. Greenskins in both settings reproduce asexually, though they all happen to look male and individuals are referred to with male pronouns. And all that kinda bugs me.
Which is not to say that it's a barren wasteland for women, of course. As the article I linked to notes, the Sisters of Battle in 40K are an all-female army that wear sensible armor and aren't a horde of man-hating feminazis (God I hate that word). The various Elves and Eldar factions in both games get lots of female models. According to the tie-in novels, the Imperial Guard in 40K is co-ed (good luck finding any female soldier models, though). So, given that Games Workshop obviously doesn't actively hate women and includes them in some capacity in their game universes, it's mystifying that they aren't more accommodating of female players.
And this isn't just political correctness on my part, either. It's just a poor business model. Sure, sticking to gender-exclusive language may help assure the most immature players in their market that Warhammer is a boys' club, but if they suddenly stopped playing in protest if gender-inclusive language were adopted, would that be such a big loss? As we've seen in the RPG sector over the last decade, women can be gamers too, and as long as GW writes exclusively to a male audience, there's a big untapped market they're simply ignoring. And that's just bad business.
This is an interesting article on the exclusion of women from wargaming, focusing on Warhammer 40,000.
I've been reading the Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books, and I must say it's been fun. I enjoy immersing myself in a new world, and the more fleshed out the better. But one thing I noticed almost immediately was the exclusive use of male pronouns in the text, and that stuck out at me. Dungeons & Dragons has alternated between male and female pronouns since 3rd Edition was released in 2000 and Magic: The Gathering has always used "he or she" or "his or her" to refer to the player since its inception in 1993; as such, I've come to view gender-inclusive language as the rule rather than the exception, and coming across exclusive use of "he", "his", and "him" in a game book published in 2007 put me off.
It's not just that, though - Games Workshop seems to go out of its way to exclude female characters in the game world, too. In 40K, apparently the process for creating Space Marines just doesn't work on women, making them an all-male fighting force. In Fantasy Battle, female Skaven are neither sentient nor even humanoid - they're just giant rats for the males to mate with. Greenskins in both settings reproduce asexually, though they all happen to look male and individuals are referred to with male pronouns. And all that kinda bugs me.
Which is not to say that it's a barren wasteland for women, of course. As the article I linked to notes, the Sisters of Battle in 40K are an all-female army that wear sensible armor and aren't a horde of man-hating feminazis (God I hate that word). The various Elves and Eldar factions in both games get lots of female models. According to the tie-in novels, the Imperial Guard in 40K is co-ed (good luck finding any female soldier models, though). So, given that Games Workshop obviously doesn't actively hate women and includes them in some capacity in their game universes, it's mystifying that they aren't more accommodating of female players.
And this isn't just political correctness on my part, either. It's just a poor business model. Sure, sticking to gender-exclusive language may help assure the most immature players in their market that Warhammer is a boys' club, but if they suddenly stopped playing in protest if gender-inclusive language were adopted, would that be such a big loss? As we've seen in the RPG sector over the last decade, women can be gamers too, and as long as GW writes exclusively to a male audience, there's a big untapped market they're simply ignoring. And that's just bad business.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Blood for the Blood God!
I've been reading up about the Warhammer miniatures game, which I find kinda interesting. By which I mean the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle, not the sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 spinoff, which I honestly don't like much at all. 40K's main faction, the Imperium, is basically Nazi Germany cranked up to 11, with its god-emperor and its genetically engineered "master race" of Space Marines, yet it's portrayed as this good and heroic beacon of light, and the whole thing just turns me off. On the other hand, that kind of militarism doesn't bother me as much in Fantasy Battle's pseudo-Dark Ages setting, and the fact that it takes itself far less seriously is a big plus - I've heard it described as equal parts Tolkien, Moorcock, and Monty Python, and I'd say that about fits.
That said, I have neither the money nor the inclination to buy what amounts to an army of dolls that don't even come pre-painted. It would be cool if I could find some kind of shareware similar to Magic Workstation that lets you build your own virtual armies and play online, though.
That said, I have neither the money nor the inclination to buy what amounts to an army of dolls that don't even come pre-painted. It would be cool if I could find some kind of shareware similar to Magic Workstation that lets you build your own virtual armies and play online, though.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Fantasy and Racism
...or, "How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Goblin".
This is something that's been rattling around in my tiny li'l brain for a while now.
You know what bothers me about a lot of fantasy fiction? The way "goodness" or "badness" is often conflated with how something looks. If something is "beautiful", it must be good; if it's "ugly", it must be bad.
This goes back all the way to mythology, of course, but in modern fiction I think The Lord of the Rings is the ur-example. The elves are beautiful by the author's standards, with lily-white skin and shining eyes; of course, they are the good guys. Conversely, the orcs and trolls are vile monsters, and their evil manifests outwardly with lumpy countenances and coarse, dark skin. You can see the undertones of racism there. Tolkien was a good writer, though, and he managed to subvert this idea within his own mythos. In his backstory, some of the elves were murderous kin-slayers. The heroic Aragorn was scruffy and looked "foul" to the hobbits, while the Dark Lord Sauron was described as achingly beautiful before he was reduced to a disembodied spirit who only appeared as a red eye in people's minds. No luck for the orcs, though: they remain downright demonic, every one.
Tolkien was a good writer, but flawed. Needless to say, most of his successors have possessed his flaws but not his talents. Dungeons & Dragons is a perfect example: elves and dwarves are inherently "good" and even nameless non-player characters are valued (i.e., mourned for roleplay XP), while goblins and orcs are inherently "evil" and just there to kill for XP unless the DM goes out of his/her way to give a goblin NPC a personality. This extends even to their game stats: elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings all have abilities that can be used both in combat or in roleplay; while goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, ogres, and other "savage" humanoids have stats that are purely combat-oriented. (The exception is kobolds, who have a bonus on mining and trapmaking; perhaps for this reason, D&D went out of its way to push kobolds as a viable player race toward the end of 3rd Edition's lifespan.)
The thing that prompted me to write this post is this page on the subject of goblins in D&D, written half tongue-in-cheek from the position of a goblin advocacy group. In the 3rd Edition Monster Manual, the combat tactics of goblins is described thusly:
“The concept of a fair fight is meaningless in their society. They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other edge they can devise . . . goblins have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, tending to flee the field if a battle turns against them.”
Meanwhile, in the same book, we have the elves' strategy:
“Elves are cautious warriors . . . maximizing their advantage by using ambushes, snipers, and camouflage. They prefer to fire from cover and retreat before they are found, repeating this maneuver until all of their enemies are dead.”
Exactly the same thing as the goblins, but described in more glowing terms while the goblins are portrayed as cowardly and craven. It's a total double standard. This dichotomy reminds me of two news articles I saw side by side in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, with one showing a black "looter" and the other a white guy who "found some supplies". I'm not comparing goblins to black people, nor do I think that D&D is worthy of the same kind of outrage as the news articles. I just think that both are symptomatic, to very different degrees, of the institutionalized prejudice in our culture.
Perhaps because they're the designated antagonists in most fantasy, I find goblins and orcs much more interesting than elves and dwarves. Surely there's more to them than mindless violence. What if they have some moral justification for their aggressions against humans and elves besides just being inherently evil? Or, heck, what if they're not all that violent at all and their reputation is just propaganda from books written by humans? (Yes, I have been reading Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes, why do you ask?)
In the D&D campaign I'm very sporadically working on, I try to go out of my way to give goblins and hobgoblins and ogres actual cultures and a place in the setting that goes beyond violence. There are still evil goblins, but they have reasons for their actions. There are also quite a few good goblins, and evil dwarves, and so on. Basically, no race is tied to one moral alignment. They're people, not monsters.
So, yeah. This post turned out a bit longer than I intended, but it feels good getting my thoughts out of my head and onto the (web)page.
This is something that's been rattling around in my tiny li'l brain for a while now.
You know what bothers me about a lot of fantasy fiction? The way "goodness" or "badness" is often conflated with how something looks. If something is "beautiful", it must be good; if it's "ugly", it must be bad.
This goes back all the way to mythology, of course, but in modern fiction I think The Lord of the Rings is the ur-example. The elves are beautiful by the author's standards, with lily-white skin and shining eyes; of course, they are the good guys. Conversely, the orcs and trolls are vile monsters, and their evil manifests outwardly with lumpy countenances and coarse, dark skin. You can see the undertones of racism there. Tolkien was a good writer, though, and he managed to subvert this idea within his own mythos. In his backstory, some of the elves were murderous kin-slayers. The heroic Aragorn was scruffy and looked "foul" to the hobbits, while the Dark Lord Sauron was described as achingly beautiful before he was reduced to a disembodied spirit who only appeared as a red eye in people's minds. No luck for the orcs, though: they remain downright demonic, every one.
Tolkien was a good writer, but flawed. Needless to say, most of his successors have possessed his flaws but not his talents. Dungeons & Dragons is a perfect example: elves and dwarves are inherently "good" and even nameless non-player characters are valued (i.e., mourned for roleplay XP), while goblins and orcs are inherently "evil" and just there to kill for XP unless the DM goes out of his/her way to give a goblin NPC a personality. This extends even to their game stats: elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings all have abilities that can be used both in combat or in roleplay; while goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, ogres, and other "savage" humanoids have stats that are purely combat-oriented. (The exception is kobolds, who have a bonus on mining and trapmaking; perhaps for this reason, D&D went out of its way to push kobolds as a viable player race toward the end of 3rd Edition's lifespan.)
The thing that prompted me to write this post is this page on the subject of goblins in D&D, written half tongue-in-cheek from the position of a goblin advocacy group. In the 3rd Edition Monster Manual, the combat tactics of goblins is described thusly:
“The concept of a fair fight is meaningless in their society. They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other edge they can devise . . . goblins have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, tending to flee the field if a battle turns against them.”
Meanwhile, in the same book, we have the elves' strategy:
“Elves are cautious warriors . . . maximizing their advantage by using ambushes, snipers, and camouflage. They prefer to fire from cover and retreat before they are found, repeating this maneuver until all of their enemies are dead.”
Exactly the same thing as the goblins, but described in more glowing terms while the goblins are portrayed as cowardly and craven. It's a total double standard. This dichotomy reminds me of two news articles I saw side by side in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, with one showing a black "looter" and the other a white guy who "found some supplies". I'm not comparing goblins to black people, nor do I think that D&D is worthy of the same kind of outrage as the news articles. I just think that both are symptomatic, to very different degrees, of the institutionalized prejudice in our culture.
Perhaps because they're the designated antagonists in most fantasy, I find goblins and orcs much more interesting than elves and dwarves. Surely there's more to them than mindless violence. What if they have some moral justification for their aggressions against humans and elves besides just being inherently evil? Or, heck, what if they're not all that violent at all and their reputation is just propaganda from books written by humans? (Yes, I have been reading Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes, why do you ask?)
In the D&D campaign I'm very sporadically working on, I try to go out of my way to give goblins and hobgoblins and ogres actual cultures and a place in the setting that goes beyond violence. There are still evil goblins, but they have reasons for their actions. There are also quite a few good goblins, and evil dwarves, and so on. Basically, no race is tied to one moral alignment. They're people, not monsters.
So, yeah. This post turned out a bit longer than I intended, but it feels good getting my thoughts out of my head and onto the (web)page.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Who is Waluigi, anyway...?
The Genealogy of Mario: As Explained to me by Japanese 6-year-olds.
Just a cute, funny read I found on the Internet.
Just a cute, funny read I found on the Internet.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
When Cosplay Goes Right
Cosplay - dressing up as fictional characters, usually at fan conventions - is not something I'm into. I don't engage in it because of the negative associations that most people hold toward the hobby, because I just don't have the body type to pull off most characters, and because I just hate being in front of a crowd. That said, I recognize that while most cosplay is crap, some of it is actually pretty good. There's bad cosplay, and then there's good cosplay.
And then there's pikminlink.
Without a doubt the best cosplayer I've ever seen, pikminlink brings Link from The Legend of Zelda to life. Thanks to the intricate detail of the costume (which must have cost a small fortune to make), you can really believe that everyone's favorite elf-boy has stepped out of Hyrule and into reality. It's not just a costume, it's art.
And guess what? She's a girl.
Check out her deviantART gallery for her in several variations on Link's costume and as several other characters, plus some original art.
And then there's pikminlink.
Without a doubt the best cosplayer I've ever seen, pikminlink brings Link from The Legend of Zelda to life. Thanks to the intricate detail of the costume (which must have cost a small fortune to make), you can really believe that everyone's favorite elf-boy has stepped out of Hyrule and into reality. It's not just a costume, it's art.
And guess what? She's a girl.
Check out her deviantART gallery for her in several variations on Link's costume and as several other characters, plus some original art.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Gray Gamers
This is a very interesting article on the subject of senior citizens who play video games.
I'm not much of a gamer - I haven't spent much time with a video game since I beat The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask almost ten years ago. I have lots of friends who are into gaming, though, I enjoy watching gameplay videos on YouTube (ProtonJon is awesome), and the gaming subculture is pretty much ubiquitous online so it's not like it's a foreign concept to me.
Anyway, one of the things that bothers me about the gaming subculture is the constant undertones (and overtones...) of ageism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and general smallmindedness. There's an assumption among a lot of gamers that the only demographic that matters is the 18-to-25-year-old straight males and that anyone who doesn't fit in there has to identify has a "girl gamer", a "gay gamer", and so on. Games that are marketed specifically towards women are insulting in how stereotyped they are. When games include strong female characters who aren't eye candy, male gamers complain about the lack of T&A; if a game ever included a strong gay character, there'd be rioting in the streets over "the fags" ruining "our video games"; and as of today the only transgendered video game character I'm aware of is Birdo.
It's good to know that there's a place for senior gamers - according to the article, 19% of gamers are 50 or older, and that was in 2005. It's proof that games aren't a fad, but have become a legitimate, mainstream form of entertainment just like movies and sports, and as the current target demographic ages, the percentage is destined to keep growing. For my part, I look forward to the day when I can sit down with my nieces and nephews and grandkids and play some Final Fantasy XXV while waxing nostalgic about the halcyon days of A Link to the Past and Super Mario World.
I'm not much of a gamer - I haven't spent much time with a video game since I beat The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask almost ten years ago. I have lots of friends who are into gaming, though, I enjoy watching gameplay videos on YouTube (ProtonJon is awesome), and the gaming subculture is pretty much ubiquitous online so it's not like it's a foreign concept to me.
Anyway, one of the things that bothers me about the gaming subculture is the constant undertones (and overtones...) of ageism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and general smallmindedness. There's an assumption among a lot of gamers that the only demographic that matters is the 18-to-25-year-old straight males and that anyone who doesn't fit in there has to identify has a "girl gamer", a "gay gamer", and so on. Games that are marketed specifically towards women are insulting in how stereotyped they are. When games include strong female characters who aren't eye candy, male gamers complain about the lack of T&A; if a game ever included a strong gay character, there'd be rioting in the streets over "the fags" ruining "our video games"; and as of today the only transgendered video game character I'm aware of is Birdo.
It's good to know that there's a place for senior gamers - according to the article, 19% of gamers are 50 or older, and that was in 2005. It's proof that games aren't a fad, but have become a legitimate, mainstream form of entertainment just like movies and sports, and as the current target demographic ages, the percentage is destined to keep growing. For my part, I look forward to the day when I can sit down with my nieces and nephews and grandkids and play some Final Fantasy XXV while waxing nostalgic about the halcyon days of A Link to the Past and Super Mario World.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Winter Anime Thoughts
Happy New Year, folks!
I'm not as into anime as I used to be. It's mostly a result of having less free time than I used to - I can barely keep up with comics now for the same reason and I've just dropped RPGs as a hobby. I also feel like my tastes have matured a bit, such that I need more than wicked sweet action to keep me entertained for more than five minutes. Even at the height of my interest, though, I never followed the anime "scene" and actively kept an eye on upcoming schedules. I did get sucked into a few series because of their popularity (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Ouran High School Host Club in particular) and ended up watching each episode as it came out, but I don't have the energy to do that nowadays.
That said, I'm looking forward to the coming anime season for the first time I can remember solely because of Axis Powers Hetalia, a webcomic-turned-anime that I was turned onto by chance on TV Tropes Wiki. In a nutshell, it's a series of gags about world history in the last 200-odd years starring various nations anthropomorphized as handsome young men, mostly revolving around the relationship between Germany and Italy, hence the title. It's potentially very offensive in how it skips over all the blood that's been spilled in the World Wars and other conflicts, not to mention the various national stereotypes, but that's mitigated by the fact that the author really knows his history and geopolitics and gives every country his fair share of ribbing. I'm a bit of a history buff so I'm sure I'll get quite a bit out of it, but for various reasons I can't get into the manga, so I'm hoping the anime will give me something to latch onto.
Anyway, I've also taken a look at the rest of the 2009 winter season, which is laid out in this image (which Photobucket has regrettably shrunk). The only things that particularly appeal to me are a remake of the underappreciated mid-90s superhero action anime Birdy the Mighty and a new season of The Slayers, the perennially popular fantasy comedy that's been going strong for nearly two decades. Nothing else jumps out at me as something I'd watch, but one show does stand out for just how utterly braindead its premise is:
That is quite possibly the stupidest idea for a TV show I have ever seen.
I can only wonder how the planning phase of this waste of ink went...
"Hmm. Who's our target demographic, again?"
"Sex-starved male shut-ins with no understanding of women whatsoever!"
"Gotcha. So we need a whole mess of gorgeous, submissive young girls who are inexplicably head-over-heels in love with a nerdy loser and an excuse to shove them all into a contrived romantic plot. What've you got?"
"Okay, so, like, the girls are all actually soda cans, and they need carbon dioxide to survive. And how do they get it? By kissing this guy. It's scientific!"
"Uh... pardon the pun, but are you sure they'll swallow that?"
"As long as we flash some panties every five minutes, they'll swallow anything!"
"...Give this man a raise."
I'm not as into anime as I used to be. It's mostly a result of having less free time than I used to - I can barely keep up with comics now for the same reason and I've just dropped RPGs as a hobby. I also feel like my tastes have matured a bit, such that I need more than wicked sweet action to keep me entertained for more than five minutes. Even at the height of my interest, though, I never followed the anime "scene" and actively kept an eye on upcoming schedules. I did get sucked into a few series because of their popularity (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Ouran High School Host Club in particular) and ended up watching each episode as it came out, but I don't have the energy to do that nowadays.
That said, I'm looking forward to the coming anime season for the first time I can remember solely because of Axis Powers Hetalia, a webcomic-turned-anime that I was turned onto by chance on TV Tropes Wiki. In a nutshell, it's a series of gags about world history in the last 200-odd years starring various nations anthropomorphized as handsome young men, mostly revolving around the relationship between Germany and Italy, hence the title. It's potentially very offensive in how it skips over all the blood that's been spilled in the World Wars and other conflicts, not to mention the various national stereotypes, but that's mitigated by the fact that the author really knows his history and geopolitics and gives every country his fair share of ribbing. I'm a bit of a history buff so I'm sure I'll get quite a bit out of it, but for various reasons I can't get into the manga, so I'm hoping the anime will give me something to latch onto.
Anyway, I've also taken a look at the rest of the 2009 winter season, which is laid out in this image (which Photobucket has regrettably shrunk). The only things that particularly appeal to me are a remake of the underappreciated mid-90s superhero action anime Birdy the Mighty and a new season of The Slayers, the perennially popular fantasy comedy that's been going strong for nearly two decades. Nothing else jumps out at me as something I'd watch, but one show does stand out for just how utterly braindead its premise is:
That is quite possibly the stupidest idea for a TV show I have ever seen.
I can only wonder how the planning phase of this waste of ink went...
"Hmm. Who's our target demographic, again?"
"Sex-starved male shut-ins with no understanding of women whatsoever!"
"Gotcha. So we need a whole mess of gorgeous, submissive young girls who are inexplicably head-over-heels in love with a nerdy loser and an excuse to shove them all into a contrived romantic plot. What've you got?"
"Okay, so, like, the girls are all actually soda cans, and they need carbon dioxide to survive. And how do they get it? By kissing this guy. It's scientific!"
"Uh... pardon the pun, but are you sure they'll swallow that?"
"As long as we flash some panties every five minutes, they'll swallow anything!"
"...Give this man a raise."
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