A lot of stories aim to be real. Or as real as you can be while being a, y’know, story. The challenge here, of course, is figuring out what real is. One interpretation of ‘real’ is realistic. No spaceships, because spaceships are far from commercial right now. No superpowers or superheroes, because those aren’t things.… Continue reading The Honest Truth
Tag: Ulysses
Can Art Be Fun?
I’m still reading a bunch and my current book, Extra Lives, is essentially critical theory on video games as literature. This divide between what makes something ‘art’ is something I’m kinda big on, so it’s a fascinating read. There’s one thing that Tom Bissell says which struck me: that because video games must be, by… Continue reading Can Art Be Fun?
But What Does It All Mean?
When The Lord of The Rings was first published, there was a lot of talk about its relation to the second World War. It got to the point that in the foreword to a later edition, Tolkien explicitly said that no, it was not in any way an allegory of World War Two. Tolkien wasn’t… Continue reading But What Does It All Mean?
Another Life
I’m me. That’s pretty obvious. I’m a biracial guy in my mid-twenties who lives in New York. I’ve had my own relatively interesting life, but at the end of the day it’s mine. Barring some crazy The Matrix or Total Recall-esque invention, I’m only ever going to live my life. It’s the only experience I’ll… Continue reading Another Life
Narrative Contracts
Early on in Borderlands 2 the player encounters a fence of electricity in between them and their goal. Claptrap, the voice over the radio, tells you there’s a fusebox on the other side and that if you run fast enough, you won’t take damage from the fence. Your objective changes, now saying to run into… Continue reading Narrative Contracts
I’m Going To Use The Word ‘Intertextual’ Because I Want To
Intertextuality is a fun word to say. It’s an even funner concept: it’s the idea that one text will reference another. And I've been on a vacation of sorts this week so I'm going to write about it. See, when intertextual literature lets its world be informed by the outside. Chuck, for example, uses it to… Continue reading I’m Going To Use The Word ‘Intertextual’ Because I Want To
