[name redacted], eldritch abomination encased in human flesh. Enthusiast of music, aesthetics, coffee, select games retro and modern, animation from all corners of the earth, fluffy mammals, fantasy, sci-fi and horror, and generally an edgelord. General-purpose blog for stuff I'm fond of. ~Autumn, Cityscapes, Space, Goth, Cyberpunk, Guitars, Metal, Industrial, Post-punk, Lovecraft~
Outdoor in sun perfec t place for president to do speech! Outdoor very warm very soft put old man on green lawn under sun. Put old man in warm sun. no problem ever in warm sun because good view and audience can see long speech. Nice podium outdoor sunny perfect place for old president can trust warm sun to give nice view to President good luck to President. friend sun.
"He glared at him with anger in his eyes, but behind that longing and sorrow over things left unsaid, a subtle but desperate yearning for things to be different, and with just a hint of roasted nuts right at the end."
I found it really compelling, so I'm presenting it here in my own words)
The creative project Metal Gear Solid V (not 5, this is an important distinction) by noted game developer Hideo Kojima is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) that features a very well-made video game titled Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Within the context of the ARG, the player is enjoying the game as a character in-universe, which is in fact a training simulation. While the video game itself is technically narratively incomplete (with an entire final mission known to have been unfinished), in the meta-narrative of the ARG, MGSV is a complete experience.
To understand the apparently unfinished story of the game, I would say that it is necessary to be familiar with the story of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, as well as the lyrics to the song "The Man Who Sold The World" by David Bowie. That's probably definitely not a comprehensive list, but they are essential pieces of media. One could argue that the themes of the non-fulfillment of vengeance to satisfy Venom Snake and Miller, and its inability to take away their pain, somewhat holistically completes the game story, but the confirmed unfinished final mission for Chapter 2 puts it in a literally unfinished state. But whether the video game itself is complete or not is not the point of the overall ARG project and its meta-narrative.
All of this points heavily to the conclusion that, in the context of the MGSV ARG, the Patriots created an AI-powered virtual reality experience to once again create their own version of Big Boss, the very Big Boss who we last actually saw in-game at the true ending of Peace Walker, who would have vanished for 21-ish years until the time of the original Metal Gear for the MSX-2. The player is given access to this experience, the video game called MGSV:TPP. Furthermore, the entire point of MGSV as a project is twofold: that the video game itself acts as a wish-fulfillment for those gamers who really wanted to embody the idea of a badass military man (their idealizing of Big Boss), while the ARG element simultaneously frames those particular gamers as uncritical victims of the Big Bad Shadow Government controlling them and their perceptions of reality for their own purposes. The player gets to embody Big Boss, while the Patriots get their own trained copy of Big Boss- Punished "Venom" Snake. This is why the game is not Metal Gear Solid 5, a sequel in the main series of Metal Gear, but rather Metal Gear Solid V, a very well-made and cleverly-blurred spin-off.
To understand MGSV's meta-narrative, one must at least contemplate several things:
-The general inconsistencies of MGSV (the video game) with its own internal narrative and the narratives of previous games in the series; the impossible feats of technology and supernatural powers seen in V relative to the rest of the series and for its time period; etc.
-The themes of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, the manipulation of one's own perception and sense of identity, and the commentary of the real-life use of first-person shooter video games to train and recruit future soldiers for military enlistment. These themes are spread all the way across the series from Metal Gear for MSX-2 through MGS4 and Peace Walker.
-The end of MGSV (the video game) literally shows Venom Snake booting up an MSX-2 to implicitly begin playing the original Metal Gear. That feels like a huge hint as to what's been going on.
-Most importantly, the story of 1984 by George Orwell. Note that MGSV (the video game) is set in the year 1984, with posters put up around Mother Base that literally say "Big Boss is Watching". That couldn't be a more blatant reference if it tried.
Deep Lore Speculative Write-Up: The Legend of Zelda's Oracle Duology
(A little bit of a fan-fictional writing exercise. I hope you find it enjoyable!)
Long, long ago, when the ancient Hylians first returned to the surface of the world of Hylia, many Hylians left the lands that would become unified as the kingdom of Hyrule, and would be followed by others later- Gorons, Zora, and Deku. Outward they traveled, and settled other lands to call home. To the southeast was the establishment of Holodrum, and to the southwest, Labrynna. Accompanying these travelers were priesthoods to the goddesses, acting as spiritual guides. Priestesses of Din traveled with the eventual founders of Holodrum, Nayru's priestesses accompanied the founders of Labrynna, and the priesthood of Farore split its numbers between the two. These priesthoods would serve as spiritual leaders to these fledglings countries, and for a long time, the lands would be blessed by peace. Each priesthood would occasionally raise an acolyte with latent sacred powers who would eventually come to protect their lands alongside any hero who would rise to meet whatever danger encroached. These powerful acolytes would be called 'oracles', and would be named after their priesthood's respective goddess. Even long after these priesthoods would vanish, such oracles would be born into the land when they would be needed.
The overall peace would change when monsters and demons became common in the world again, and as the nation of Hyrule underwent much turmoil and salvation. During the first great wave of demon invasions, the peoples of Holodrum and Labrynna would respond in their own ways- the former would depend upon the power of the sage-warriors of Din to protect them, taking refuge in the Temple of Seasons until the danger would finally pass, while the latter would organize a standing army commanded by a royal family, whom the sages and priestesses would serve and advice. The sages of Farore would seek and defeat evil in the furthest wilds of both lands as well as the lands between them, protecting all the vulnerable who lived there. Through all of their efforts, the two lands would prevail at establishing and maintaining peace and stability, and thus carried into the future strongly.
However, sages and priestesses from all three nations could sense that no nation would experience a permanent peace, and advised the people to always be ready for the day evil would return. The darkest of these dark premonitions foretold that, many centuries from then, the worst demonic evils to ever plague Hyrule would creep into the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna. The members of the priesthoods knew their numbers were dwindling and thus, they would not be around forever. Therefore, they laid the groundwork for future oracles and heroes to protect their lands when the need arose, ensuring that these saviors would have access to all of the sacred powers that they needed.
In Holodrum, the priesthood of Din pleaded with the fae spirits of the passing of the seasons to aid them, and received support from them. They prepared their Oracles' sacred tool, the Rod of Seasons, such that its true power could be unlocked for any hero or Oracle who took it to each of the four towers of the temple. They cut down specific trees in certain places such that their large tree stumps could be used as a place for a hero or oracle to channel the sacred powers of nature and call for temporary changes in seasonal climate. Additionally, they crafted their own sacred anti-demon sword, in resemblance to the function of Hyrule's Master Sword, to aid the future oracles and heroes. They hid this Noble Sword away within a sacred forest in the region of Tarm to keep it away from the reach of evil, and shared their sword-crafting methods with the inhabitants of Labrynna.
In Labrynna, the sages and priestesses crafted a musical tool- the Harp of Ages- to enable a hero or an oracle to travel back and forth along the flow of time across the ages. They permanently marked the ground of the country in various locations, enabling the opening of time-travelling portals. Explaining the urgency of their mission to the various locals- Gorons, Zora, Deku, and Tokay- they peacefully laid their groundwork to preserve Labrynna's future. As well, having received the knowledge of crafting a sacred Noble Sword from Holodrum, took the time to craft their own holy blade. Having no sacredly-protected place to hide their Noble Sword away, they entrusted the blade to their first hero, who would keep the blade safe and entrust it to others for safekeeping when their time was approaching its end. This would become a tradition designed to keep the blade available for the next hero who took the mantle.
All of this preparation, and yet the priesthoods of Din and Nayru were still uncertain if it would be enough for all future disaster prevention. Therefore, the wild priestesses of Farore proceeded to offer their own aid, following the ways of the ancients of Hyrule preparing tests for their future chosen hero. They would create sixteen relics- eight for each nation- half of which grew and stored the sacred powers of nature whereas the other half would cultivate storage of the sacred powers of time. Called the 'Essences' of Nature and Time, these relics were hidden in sixteen constructed labyrinths hidden across both lands, each of which also housed various tools, weapons and tests for any hero or oracle seeking the Essences. The native Subrosians in the fiery depths beneath Holodrum, as well as the native Tokay on the island off the coast of Labrynna, agreed to host a labyrinth each.
Finally, as a means of watching over the lands and coordinating defense efforts in times of need in the future, the oracle of the Farore priesthood planted the seeds of what would be called the two Maku trees- guardian spirits who would act in the stead of the dwindling priesthoods. One would watch over Holodrum from his grounds in Horon village, while the other would protect Labrynna in her home at the northern end of Lynna village. If a future hero or oracle, or both together, would bring the eight essences of their land before their Maku Tree, that great tree spirit would produce a seed that would grant the adventurers the means to dispel any evil power which sought to block their path, that they may pursue and defeat any demonic entity responsible for the great ills of the land. With her work finished, this Oracle of Secrets would in time pass away peacefully- yet this would not be the end of her being or duties. Her spirit would bind to the two Maku trees to dwell within them, in order to emerge to aid future oracles and heroes.
Emissaries would be sent to the Hyrulean royal family to inform them of all the preparations taken, and requested that aid might be sent to these lands when the darkness finally descended upon their lands. Upon reaching an agreement, a sacred pact was made to ensure this future cooperation, prompting divine destiny to hopefully intervene as well.
These great efforts would not be wasted, for Hyrule's greatest plague of evil, that of the demon king Ganon, would indeed creep into Holodrum and Labrynna with the reincarnation of the Gerudo dark witches Koume and Kotake many centuries later. Reaching their powers to the Dark Realm of the demons hidden deep beneath the surface of Hylia, they would summon two great demonic entities, a Dragon and a Fairy, to petition them for aid in the resurrection of the evil Ganon. They granted these two entities additional power, official titles of servitude, and instructions to spread chaos and suffering in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna. Thus, Onox the Demon Dragon and Veran the Demon Fairy would encroach upon these lands as the General of Darkness and Sorceress of Shadows, respectively. Holodrum's seasonal climate would be thrown into chaotic disarray, causing hunger and strife for all, and Labrynna's past era would face terrible troubles, affecting its present time. Twinrova, as the two dark witches were called as one entity, would use the psychic despair of the peoples produced by these troubles to begin a terrible demonic ritual of resurrection. Their plans for the return of the demonic Ganon were underway.
It was as this time was approaching that the Triforce was in possession of the royal family of Hyrule, hidden away in a sacred temple hall beneath the castle. The spirits of the Triforce would call to the newest incarnation of Hyrule's chosen hero, Link, beckoning him to find them and accept their quests to aid Holodrum and Labrynna. Having been transported to these lands by the spirits of the Golden Power, Link encountered Onox and Veran as Twinrova's plans became underway. Around this time, Hyrule received word of the other nation's troubles, and Princess Zelda herself traveled alone to bring her aid and her messages of hope to the people.
Working with the Maku trees of each land, as well as with Zelda and the spirit of the Oracle of Secrets within the trees, Link gathered all of the Essences of Nature and Time across the labyrinths, aided the Oracles of Seasons and Ages, and would defeat Onox, Veran, Twinrova and the eventually resurrected Ganon. His prowess as a true hero proven with the completion of his work, he sought to continue his journeying, crossing the seas in search of further adventure. To this day, both nations thankfully have since never known such terrors as that of the Demon King Ganon.
LLM psychosis is simply the democratisation of being surrounded by yes-men and unctuous toadies, an experience previously only accessible to dictators and kings and cult leaders and venture capitalists
