Slave Stranding
“Mama? Are you there?”
“I’m here, Sam. And call me Mommy.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes. And these are my beautiful mindless toys: Softman, Hardman, and Dogman. Missing a cat though. Care to join them?”
“Hmmm… nope. Schedule’s packed. Lots of deliveries ahead. Got to make America whole again.”
“It’s too bad you’re stranded here with me now…”
I mentioned Hideo Kojima and Death Stranding a few days ago on the commentary to my piece Banned. It was just a passing reference though. Today is the real deal. I haven’t played it yet but I know Kojima’s games are always strange and character’s names even stranger. This man gave us the likes of Solid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, etc. Now, in this new adventure we have people like Deadman, Heartman, and Die-Hardman. It’s nuts.
There’s also a character called Mama, voiced and mo-capped by Margaret Qualley, daughter of actress Andie McDowell. She’s the one in the pic above. After watching her trailer online, I came up with this silly take. If Kojima can have fun with silly names, why can’t I?
Zero Resistance
Aloy held the overriding spear against the forehead of a brave Nora, smiling as his mind turned to mush.
“Stop!” The Matriarchs shouted. “That forbidden power should never be used on humans.”
“But it’s fun…” the former outcast retorted. “The new dawn will be of mindless servitude.”
She entered Mother’s Heart and continued the reprogramming.
This one I played. Horizon Zero Dawn was fun while it lasted, and quite a beautiful game to look at, too. In case you’re not familiar with it, in this adventure, we are thrust into a post-apocalyptic world where humans have reverted to tribal-like societies and the world is overrun by animal-looking machines. The main hero – Aloy – is an outcast that, after discovering an old piece of technology in some forbidden ruins, gains further insight on the nature of themachines and sets out on a journey to change the world as she knows it. I could say more but I don’t want to spoil it in case you wish to play it for yourselves. You can find it at quite the reduced price nowadays.
One thing I’ll say though. At some point in the main quest, she discovers a way to override machines, that is change the machine’s default state of hostility toward any human to a state of combat friendliness toward the human who overrode it. In a way, she “enslaves” these machines even if only on a temporary basis and that ability inspired this one.
Let’s face it: why stick to machines when it’s way more appealing to brainwash and enslave other humans? 😉 Yeah, I turned Aloy into an evil little thing because therein lies part of the fun of the fetish, don’t you agree? Like I said, I enjoyed the game but the thing that stood out the most at the time was the soundtrack. It’s really, really good, and you should get it.
Very Funny
“Won’t those dogs stop howling?” Trent complained.
“They’re not dogs,” Valerie noted. “They’re Diana’s hypnotized boys.”
“Very funny. Work is waiting so see you later, dear.”
The moment he left, Valerie called her friend:
“It’s me. You were right, he doesn’t remember. Of course, I want to continue the training. We’ll be there at eight.”
I don’t know if I ever told you this or not, but there’s a dog training facility/hotel about a hundred meters from my place. It’s been built inside an old garage and I see dogs going in and out all the time on my way to and back from work. I want to believe they’re well taken care of inside but the truth is I constantly hear them bark and howl and often they seem to be in major distress. As an animal lover, I don’t like it one bit but the place is legit and no one else has complained so…
Today’s piece was inspired by that place and also by the fact that I saw a young couple leave their sweet Labradoodle there. What’s funny was that as they were leaving, I thought I saw the dog’s leash on the guy’s neck…
Hunted
“We’re being hunted…” Chau-Ri said.
“I know,” Venar nodded. “We’ve entered Wood Witches territory two miles ago.”
“How do we evade them?”
“We don’t. They’re relentless predators. With luck, they’ll just ravage your mind and enslave you.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I was captured a long time ago…” Venar smiled before disappearing into the forest.
Conversion pieces are hot. Sleeper agents are hot. Evil witches are hot. Dark fantasy scenarios are hot. Do I really need to type more? Didn’t think so.