Latest Posts by nesterov81 - Page 4

Alternate title: “Ideology, A Triptych”

Paris during the 1937 International Expo

via reddit

As someone who has an interest in sf/fantasy depictions of WWI, I’ve been puzzling for years as to why authors dabbling in steampunk have been reluctant to tackle the conflict. My own theory is that steampunk is, at heart, an American creation, and the Great War is an event that has mostly vanished from the American consciousness. For most American writers, steampunk is a fantasy world set in an imagined version of 19th-century Britain or America which draws more from other stories than from reality, and the question of international politics and war doesn’t really come into it. That said, I have found British authors working in steampunk to be far more willing to broach the subject of World War I, both because the war had such a huge impact on the British national psyche, and because it ties into the greater question of what Britain is, its relationship to the empire, what role Britain has in the world after empire, and so on. As for examples, two authors stand out to me. While a hard sf writer by trade, Stephen Baxter’s steampunk excursions always seem to be haunted by the war. His 1993 novel Anti-Ice is for the most part a romp about a 19th-century excursion from the Earth to the Moon thanks to the titular substance, an exotic form of antimatter. However, by the end of the book the use and exploitation of anti-ice has led to Britain, France, and Germany locking themselves into a Cold War-style nuclear arms race. His 1995 book The Time Ships is a sequel to the The Time Machine that riffs in all manner of ways on HG Wells’ work, but the middle third of the book is set in an alternate 1938 where the First World War has dragged on for decades, transforming Britain into a dystopian state influences by Wells’ most pessimistic views. (While I haven’t read Baxter’s 2017 followup to The War of the Worlds, entitled The Massacre of Mankind, some of the elements I’ve seen, like a police-state Britain and a bloody Russo-German war in Eastern Europe, suggests that the Martian invasion of the original book has become the Great War of the sequel’s world.) For something a little more literary, Ian R. MacLeod’s Aether duology, The Light Ages (2003) and The House of Storms (2005), is set in an England where a magical substance called “aether” has locked the country (and by extension the rest of the world) in a sort of static industrial revolution for centuries in some ways reminiscent of Keith Roberts’ Pavane (1968). Change does eventually come to this static eternal England, sadly in the form of a civil war whose depiction draws heavily from that of the Western Front.

I didn’t include it in the list of favorite stories because I like it more in idea than in execution, but Caitlin R, Kiernan’s story Goggles really hit me hard.  She says it was her idea of where all steampunk is leading, but most authors don’t want to admit: the conflict that became World War I in our world destroys the steampunk world in technologically advanced nuclear fire.  I read it yesterday and I can’t get the concept out of my head.

Daily Kuvira #46 - memes never end

When you can’t remember if you locked your giant killer robot.

He has special eyes.

At first I was kinda confused as to why no-one said anything about Jonathan’s eye situation but then I realized that people know him as the night shift doctor…

I’ve been playing Vampyr lately and despite it’s flaws I think it’s a good game. I’m currently on chapter four, so, about half-way there! Also, I just noticed that I misspelled Pippa’s name, but oh well, I’m too lazy to fix it.

First Eric and Hannibal mocked him with ominous threats, then he met his real father, then this...man, Questlove had a rough day.

:3

Could you make one daily Kuvira a drunk Kuvira?

Daily Kuvira #31

Tbh I don’t know much about drawin’ drunks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But Kuvira probably rarely drinks and when she does she’s the ultimate giddy dumbass.

Eeeeeee I love it!:D

I've got another sketch idea for you: Kuvira as Captain Kirk, and Bataar as Spock! (It's a bit of an in-joke; Todd Haberkorn, Bataar's VA, also played Spock in the online fan series "Star Trek Continues".)

Daily Kuvira #30 - NEEEEEEEERRRRRDs

You can tell this was Baatar’s idea.

Also bonus from my fav podcast:

I’m both disgusted and entertained. Of course, as both a Simpsons fan and a sadist, I have a challenge for you: * Cloves * Tom Collins mix * Frozen pie crust

Dooooooooooooooo it.

Finally. The great taste of Worcester Sauce in a soft drink!

(and I know. It’s pronounced “Woostah”)

Willem seems so disappointed in this fact...

Even more than Betterman? How is that possible?

It’s taken me 30 minutes to take down notes on like 2 minutes of this scene happening. I don’t know that an anime has affected me as much as this has.

Daily Kuvira #16 - Autumn

Taking time to get away from the city.

And perhaps visiting a friend….

I used to think that, but a few years ago an old opinion piece completely changed my mind on the subject. To summarize the piece’s argument (in case the site ever goes down), the key differences between superhero movies and westerns is that:

1. People go to see superhero movies because they like certain characters; people went to see westerns because they like westerns. To put it another way, if you want to see a western, the genre is broad enough that you can see all sorts of different movies. But if you want to see a superhero movie, you usually just want to watch Batman acting like Batman and doing Batman things, or Cap acting like Cap etc...

2. Westerns were small enough and cheap enough to make that directors and writers could experiment widely within the genre; modern superhero movies are so expensive that's there far more pressure to play it safe just so you’ll earn your money back.

3. Great characters usually only have a handful of truly interesting stories. A controversial point, but I think this gets at why superhero films tend to focus on either origin stories or constantly feel like retreads of the same ideas. 4. The actor is the draw of the western, while the character is the draw of the superhero film. With the western you can make different movies that emphasize different aspects of the actor’s persona or even have him play against type, while in a superhero movie the actor is something of an interchangeable widget that takes second place to the character. 5. At the end of the day, the audience doesn’t really want innovation or personal films all that much. This is only a crude summary of the piece’s arguments, so I really recommend reading the linked article above.

Superhero movies are the cowboy movies of our time.

“Cats that look like Lenin” really should be a thing.

Котик революционер

I love it! Thank you so much (and that is a very dignified chapeau of high revolutionary pedigree)!!!

For your daily sketch, could you draw Kuvira in a Soviet Red Army uniform from the Russian Civil War (pointy hat at your discretion)?

Daily Kuvira #9

I hope I was accurate. I’m not the best when it comes to historical fashion. hhhhh

For the Daily Kuvira thing (and I thank you for that~), maybe a sleepy Kuvira? Or a sleepy Kuvira that's too stubborn to admit that she's tired.

Daily Kuvira #6

Long night…

Looky looky @coppermarigolds! Now that’s interesting: Bataar Jr. isn’t sitting with his family in the gallery. I wonder if he’s been scheduled for a later hearing, or if Suyin has...“arranged” matters so that he’ll be serving a lifetime sentence in “exile” in Zaofu in exchange for not facing trial. Both theories are plausible, given what we have seen of Suyin’s character. Hmm, Kuvira still believes that her cause was a just one, still considers the other powers hypocrites for their attitudes towards her and the former Earth Kingdom (which they are), the divide between her and Suyin (a divide, ironically, for which Suyin herself still refuses to take responsibility)...it’s still early to tell, but it looks like this comic is bringing us some of the issues that weren’t handled that well in Book 4 and which the Kuvira fandom has discussed extensively. It’s still too early to tell, but at the moment there’s reason to be optimistic for this comic.

The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Part One PREVIEW PAGES!

After the new Korra graphic novel trilogy was unveiled yesterday, today we have our first preview pages courtesy of Entertainment Weekly!

And they. Look. Amazing.

The new artist, Michelle Wong, has done a STUNNING job bringing the Avatar universe to life.

Equally as exciting is that it appears the story is full steam ahead, picking up directly where the tumultuous Earth Kingdom plot of Book Three: Change and Book Four: Balance left off. Kuvira is on trial for her crimes as leader of the now-defunct Earth Empire, and she’s not backing down.

In these pages, she also has a quick reunion with her sometimes-foster-mother Suyin Beifong.

It’ll be really interesting to see where these plot threads go, especially considering the intriguing points mentioned in the official description for Part One:

Korra must decide who to trust as the fate of the Earth Kingdom hangs in the balance!

On the eve of its first elections, the Earth Kingdom finds its future endangered by its past. Even as Kuvira stands trial for her crimes, vestiges of her imperial ambitions threaten to undermine the nation’s democratic hopes. But when Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin don’t all see eye-to-eye as to the solution, drastic measures will be taken to halt a new march to war!

All in all, these pages just look beautiful– the art style, on-model characters and facial expressions, and detailed backgrounds, in tandem with a plotline directly continuing from the series, really make it feel like we’re back in the show again. Can not WAIT to get a whole trilogy of this.

Ruins of the Empire Part One is coming May 21st, 2019.

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Avatar: Legend of Korra Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Kuvira (Avatar), Bataar Jr. (Avatar), Suyin Beifong (Avatar), Gnatha Chavran, Ailing Fengtian, And some more minor OCs Additional Tags: Epistolary, Politics and War in a Time of Revolution!, Yet another fill-in fic for B3 and B4, Inexplicable Dream Sequences Summary:

A week before setting out for the state of Yi, in a state of some minor disquiet, Kuvira sits down and recounts all that has happened to her over the last three years.

Well I guess it’s time to chip off the rust and draw some Kuvira again jesus.

I’m a touch surprised you didn’t know about the Red Army in BF1. When DICE released the “In the Name of the Tsar” DLC, they added “Tsaritsyn” and “Volga River” as maps explicitly set during the Russian Civil War. Kinda wish we could have done some fighting along the Trans-Siberian railroad line, but I suppose it would be harder to justify the inclusion of armored vehicles en masse.

i didnt know battlefield 1 had the red army in it so i was pleasantly surprised when i quickmatched into tsaritsyn on the red army side. i took a horse from the camp and ran around a tank and threw grenades at it until it exploded, then got caught in level geometry and watched a dude leisurely deploy a mortar and turn me and my horse into gravy. on my next spawn i threw gas grenades into a house and choked out 4 dudes, and got into a shooting match across a hill with my extremely comically bad fedorov-degtyarev against a sniper. good game.

I am so goddamn excited for this, and I eagerly await the return of Punished Akira.

we recorded anime club today. it should be up in the next few days. it’ll be an incredibly raw episode with lots of hollering, and some more, Madiha Lore

You’re not an awful person, Madiha. You’re passionate about what you believe in and you stick to your principles, but you’re always willing to be open-minded, which is so hard to do in this day and age. That doesn’t sound like a bad person to me. I am probably the last person who should be an amateur counselor, but remember: those negative thoughts you have are not. true. They are years of insecurity and fear twisted by depression into a cudgel that give you a false view of reality and convince you that you deserve to be unhappy. Nothing they say is true.

We do not think that way about you.

You deserve to be happy. You will be happy. Whenever those thoughts start to roll in, remember that they are do not reflect reality and they are lying to you. Hold on to that. (This is really weird for me to write, but it tears me up to see you burdened with so much and know there’s almost nothing I can do about it.)

im really afraid im just a like, completely awful person but just utterly deluded in my own goodness that i dont see why everyone hates me

I’m a tad late but hey, first drawing for the Lin Beifong week!

Day 1: Youth

She must have been a lot to handle, but a hella cute baby

So it would seem that the only place we could go after season 1 was “to hell.” I am frightened, yet wait for the podcast with bated breath. (At this point, I’m half expecting that Hitoe has developed a wicked morphine habit to overcome her curse and have friends again.)

spread wixoss went from 0 to kakegurui level demon lesbian horny in no time

Welp, I did it.

I finished playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time. Even though I’ve seen tons of LPs over the years, the game still hits like a Mack truck.

Ah, but you see:

1. Any man can go out and buy one cake and spend something like US$12 on a cake, but it takes a man of true genius and cunning to steal US$480 worth of cake and not even get a police reprimand.

2. For Lex, it’s not enough that he has forty cakes. EVERYONE ELSE MUST HAVE ZERO CAKES!!!

And That’s Terrible!

“Order.

Kuvira is driven by a fierce desire to protect and guide the citizens of the Earth Kingdom and persistent on achieving national unity through the use of military force. She displays mastery in the use of metalbending, and also demonstrates considerable physical strength.” Art by KDEJ.

the Knights of Ren

Welp, this is it, the final episode of Selector Infected WIXOSS. Time to ride into the Valley of Death one final time, bottle of Jack in my left hand, loaded gun in my right.

Transmediacrity Anime Club, Ep. 16: Ultimate Fucked Up Lesbian Move

WE REGRET OUR WORDS AND DEEDS.

Topics include: WIXOSS FINALE!; Real anime club experiences; banned from the library for tiddy; legit weeb cred; hashtag blessed; weird shot of Ruuko’s clothed ass; Iona’s reaction to Ruuko emailing her; Yuzuki and Mayu both don’t know shit; incoming Madoka shit; DUBS VS. SUBS; LRIG wish consent; Hitoe the tough weenie; breaking down the Ruuko mom scene; explode with WIXOSS energy; Japanese immigration; Epic Bacon Girl Ruuko; Izanami from Persona 4; Iona’s fan event; the card texts in the Yugioh anime; Ulith’s dub lines; the opening theme of the final episode; killing yourself for your friends is the most beautiful thing; Ruuko Nukes; Ulith and Tama DBZ shit; analyzing the Ulith bloody mouth scene; reinforcing each other’s sexual pathologies; Black Desire; White Hope; should’ve memorized every line of the oath; dueling wishes; battling with you forever; Transmediacrity defeated; Simoun sucks; news stuff.

Ending theme is “Akira” from the Selector Infected WIXOSS OST.

Send us questions and game jam submissions!! Rate us on iTunes!

Email us at transmediacrity@gmail.com! 

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Special thanks to Velt for our cover art! Check her art here. (Not worksafe.)

You can find us at:

Madiha: Twitter, Tumblr, Mastodon, The Solstice War.

Esther: Twitter, Tumblr.