NieR: Automata (Fetish Variation)
“2B? I figured out the truth.”
“As always, 9S.”
“It’s inevitable.”
“So is what follows.”
“Don’t kill me!”
“I must.”
“Not really. I found this on old human records. What do you think of hypnotic amnesia?”
“I think you’re developing a kink… I like it.”
Ending [AND]: you thought this game couldn’t get any stranger.
A few years ago, I played this game called Nier.
When I bought it, I didn’t really know anything about it. I found it cheap online and it was an impulse purchase alongside with a few other things I wanted at the time. Curiously enough, I ended up enjoying it way more than the rest. It was a bit clunky, a bit ugly graphics-wise, but it had a thought-provoking story, a sublime soundtrack and a mix of genres, unlike anything I had ever seen. I really had a blast with it, in more ways than one.
A few months ago, a sequel was released in the form of Nier: Automata, and I’ve been enjoying my time with it since the beginning of the month. Combat is improved this time around courtesy of the wizards at Platinum Games, the story, while different, retains the same philosophical and existential vibes and the music continues to impress. It’s a different beast, but a very good one, nonetheless. I highly recommend it.
Today’s piece is inspired by it. It touches upon one of the game’s plot points but it does so in a twisted fashion just like I use to do. Some things are vague because it’s impossible to fit the whole narrative in 55 words and also due to the fact that I don’t want to spoil too much. Still, there are some spoilers below even if presented in a whole different perspective. The final line refers to the stylized approach in which the game conveys its endings. There are at least 26 different endings in Nier Automata, one for each letter of the alphabet. The first 5 are the main ones, whilst the others are curious variations that take place if you fail to meet certain requirements at given points of the story in its various playthroughs. I created my own to add to the mix. Yoko Taro – the creator of both Nier and the Drakengard franchise – is a very quirky person, but so am I.
Unbound
All words eventually get ruined.
Love becomes hate, happiness becomes sorrow, bright becomes dull.
All words lose their original meaning with time unless they’re uttered by the right person, the one that makes your heart aflutter, your mind sing…
Listen to me and join me in a duet, unbound by thought.
Listen…
Sing…
Surrender…
Sleep.
A bit of a strange story behind this one. As I was riding the subway on my way to work today, I heard someone among the crowd (don’t know who) say that “all words eventually get ruined.” Because of the confusion all around, the context in which this was said was totally lost to me but the sentence itself stuck with me and so I wrote something using it as a reference. Just imagine today’s piece is an intro used by a beautiful female mind-controller, will you?
Just Another Day…
It’s been three years since they arrived and the sun has never shined so brightly.
Elbowing her way through the teeming park, June arrives at the central square just in time to see the new batch of duly processed man-servants strip naked to herald the beginning of the auction.
Just another day in alien Paradise.
Fragments of a dream I was having shortly before I woke up today inspired this one.
The part of me that loves sci-fi somehow found itself wandering through a very vivid fantasy where an unseen alien race had decided to momentarily seize control of the planet by empowering women to become its rightful rulers once they were gone. There was a lot more going on but many details were shattered when I was abruptly brought back to reality by a furious alarm clock and a very eager dog.
The story above is supposed to take place in the timeline of that dream while the process of empowerment is still taking place but things have already changed in some regards. Although I never “saw” the aliens in my mind’s eye, I suspect they were feminine in nature too.
Pixie Dust
“Now that I have my hook on you there’s nothing you can do…” the pirate captain said.
“Clearly you don’t know how pixie dust works,” the fairy laughed. “But you will.”
A single spray and his body froze, his mind collapsed.
Soon, he would find out why all the other fairies called her Tickle Balls.
Time to be silly once more. Today’s idea is inspired by the world of Peter Pan but, as usual, some things are quite different in nature. They’re still good though… I think.