#rec 208

[guessthatrec-poll]

Guess That Rec Season 4: Round 4, Poll 1

Which sounds more appealing?

#193

#208

Voting ended onApr 26

Rec #193

aren't you just SICK of all cool adventure media having romantic subplots? aren't you TIRED of so many popular series only having boring, cishet and white characters? well, this indie series, set in an incredibly creative medieval fantasy-esque world that completely takes advantage of its worldbuilding, not only has no romance in it whatsoever, but also has all different kinds of queer and poc representation! two of the protagonists are poc, and many important members of the accompanying cast are similarly minorities in some way, with none of that being portrayed as their whole personality! it's all about adventures and relationships between characters, with no romantic focus whatsoever, but lots of complicated dynamics (including friends to enemies, enemies to friends, mentorships, betrayals, alliances, secret identities, platonic yandere behaviour, and more)!!! not to mention the sheer amount of diverse mental health representation - with one of the main characters beind adhd-coded and another having implied ocd, as well as a few of the side characters being confirmed neurodivergent by their actors! the length of the show may be a little daunting, but it's worth binging for supporting independent creators and appreciating good representation, especially in a genre and media type where that's rare to come by.

Rec #208

Do unique takes on the Greek gods interest you? Loving homages to CRT-era television? Intense deconstruction of Catholicism? Road trips through apocalyptic settings? Doomed romance that could end in CANNIBALISM? If so, you’ll HAVE to check out [TITLE], a serialized multimedia story with an ensemble cast of diverse characters! (For those worried about hiatuses or cancellations, don’t worry– it has reached a conclusion!).

And while the government-defying found family is compelling, this story’s greatest strength is EASILY its worldbuilding. It’s solarpunk meets retrofuturism meets cottagecore with a dash of disco! The implications of the alternate history are thought-out in such detail that even the designs of postage stamps are considered. And of course, there’s still plenty of fantastical elements (for all of you romantasy lovers~)-- otherworldly storms and abandoned technologies of the past!

[guessthatrec-poll]

Guess That Rec Season 4: Round 3, Poll 2

Which sounds more appealing?

#204

#208

Voting ended onApr 5

Rec #204

Ever yearned for a simpler life? Then this game is the escape you need: travel this exciting, beautiful world and learn all about the flora and fauna in this open world masterpiece. It's like Stardew Valley meets Pokemon Snap: build your own home, manage your resources, and learn about fantastic new creatures! And don't worry, it won't get monotonous-- there is TONS of lore to unpack, and the map is HUGE! If you're looking to get away from the struggles of modern life an solving mysteries in a beautiful world, then this game is for you!

Rec #208

Do unique takes on the Greek gods interest you? Loving homages to CRT-era television? Intense deconstruction of Catholicism? Road trips through apocalyptic settings? Doomed romance that could end in CANNIBALISM? If so, you’ll HAVE to check out [TITLE], a serialized multimedia story with an ensemble cast of diverse characters! (For those worried about hiatuses or cancellations, don’t worry– it has reached a conclusion!).

And while the government-defying found family is compelling, this story’s greatest strength is EASILY its worldbuilding. It’s solarpunk meets retrofuturism meets cottagecore with a dash of disco! The implications of the alternate history are thought-out in such detail that even the designs of postage stamps are considered. And of course, there’s still plenty of fantastical elements (for all of you romantasy lovers~)-- otherworldly storms and abandoned technologies of the past!

[guessthatrec-poll]

Guess That Rec Season 4: Round 2, Poll 4

Which sounds more appealing?

#206

#208

Voting ended onMar 22

Rec #206

Man, don’t you miss the good old days of gaming? I've got an oldie but a goodie for you: a platformer that left a pretty noticable mark on the gaming world. It's pretty cathartic to just jump around and defeat enemies without having to worry about cutscenes that are like half an hour long to advance the plot. But don’t worry, if you’re a lorehead the characters still have plenty of background info for you to sink your teeth into! Also, did I mention that the soundtrack is full of instant classics and pushed the console’s capabilities to its limits?

Rec #208

Do unique takes on the Greek gods interest you? Loving homages to CRT-era television? Intense deconstruction of Catholicism? Road trips through apocalyptic settings? Doomed romance that could end in CANNIBALISM? If so, you’ll HAVE to check out [TITLE], a serialized multimedia story with an ensemble cast of diverse characters! (For those worried about hiatuses or cancellations, don’t worry– it has reached a conclusion!).

And while the government-defying found family is compelling, this story’s greatest strength is EASILY its worldbuilding. It’s solarpunk meets retrofuturism meets cottagecore with a dash of disco! The implications of the alternate history are thought-out in such detail that even the designs of postage stamps are considered. And of course, there’s still plenty of fantastical elements (for all of you romantasy lovers~)-- otherworldly storms and abandoned technologies of the past!

[guessthatrec-poll]

Guess That Rec Season 4: Round 1, Poll 8

Which sounds more appealing?

#207

#208

Voting ended onFeb 28

Rec #207

spooky gothic horror, queer themes of identity, secrets and mystery, an aro-coded male protagonist PLUS: two guys who share one bed ;)

Rec #208

Do unique takes on the Greek gods interest you? Loving homages to CRT-era television? Intense deconstruction of Catholicism? Road trips through apocalyptic settings? Doomed romance that could end in CANNIBALISM? If so, you’ll HAVE to check out [TITLE], a serialized multimedia story with an ensemble cast of diverse characters! (For those worried about hiatuses or cancellations, don’t worry– it has reached a conclusion!).

And while the government-defying found family is compelling, this story’s greatest strength is EASILY its worldbuilding. It’s solarpunk meets retrofuturism meets cottagecore with a dash of disco! The implications of the alternate history are thought-out in such detail that even the designs of postage stamps are considered. And of course, there’s still plenty of fantastical elements (for all of you romantasy lovers~)-- otherworldly storms and abandoned technologies of the past!

[guessthatrec-poll]

Gonna try Discworld for 208? It's probably not, but I don't have any better ideas, and the stamps made me think of it.

Guess noted!

[guessthatrec-poll]

I think 208 might be Lore Olympus

Guess noted!

[guessthatrec-poll]

Out of the recs still in the tournament that aren't mine, I count only five that remain unguessed. So I'll try to make guesses for all of them right now so that everyone else is sure to get at least a really bad guess before they leave the tournament!

(By the way, I did this last round too with unguessed recs that were losing, which means the only recs that had no guesses when they were revealed were mine - and I don't care that much because I have so many recs and plenty of them have gotten guesses. So don't worry too much about that. Also, I'm honored that I got to make that one spectacularly incorrect guess on the Spiders Georg rec. XD)

#208: Man, whatever this is sounds wild and awesome, but I have no clue what it might be. I'd be tempted to guess one particular media I'm familiar with, except that I submitted that media to this very tournament and duplicates aren't allowed, so it can't be that… And anyway, it doesn't quite fit. So I will guess Lore Olympus, which I still haven't read despite my good friend encouraging me to read it like 10 years ago, but maybe could fit based on the Wikipedia description?

#217: Again, I have no clue. So my ridiculous wild guess will be Julius Caesar (the 1953 movie), which I have not seen. Some parts of it fit, so who knows, maybe the others also fit somehow? Like, Romans are just kind of inherently gay, and surely there is at least one 100+ episode melodrama about Julius Caesar, right?

#220: Why do I want this media to be Yugioh Abridged?? The two queer men of color would be Yugi (Japanese) and the Pharaoh (Ancient Egyptian), and "Ancient Egyptian culture" is definitely important to the plot; Japanese culture less so, but I mean the series takes place in Japan I guess?? Friends to lovers could be Yugi and the Pharaoh, rivals to lovers is Bakura and Marik, fake dating is maybe the Pharaoh's date with Téa? Plenty of characters meet other characters' family members, and Yugi/Pharaoh share a body, so just like Jekyll and Hyde, they have "only one bed". It is definitely queer, and I'm not sure if it's "iconic", but among abridged series specifically, I guess it is? I will be shocked if this one is correct (especially since it's web video rather than something you read), but it's too funny not to mention!

#222: The thing about the protagonist being a mature woman and "a bit of a gamer tbh" immediately makes me think of some isekai manga based on an otome game or something? I know nothing about it, but based on some descriptions and vibes maybe I'll try I'm in Love with the Villainess?? Again, this is almost certainly wrong.

#246: I want this to be some ancient Greek or Roman thing somehow, like Pseudolus from last season. Everyone in Athens was basically gay by modern standards, right? So this could be a dialogue by Plato or something and it would still qualify! And Plato was very critical of democracy in his political theory, IIRC… Though the girlbosses seem extremely questionable. But then again, those could be the female Greek deities, implicitly included when "the gods" are mentioned, or some bullshit like that?? I highly doubt it is correct and haven't read most of Plato's works, but I'm going to guess that #246 is one of Plato's dialogues just for the hell of it.

Guesses noted!

[guessthatrec-poll]

As the submitter of 208, I'll wish 207 good luck and guess it as Jekyll and Hyde (or whatever the full title is called. I've never read that myself though)

I actually have another submission in this tournament too but I don't have any guesses for it lol

Guess noted, and spirit of healthy competition appreciated!