More human than human

[morsla]

I'm going to put in a Tabletop blurb for Arcanacon '09, as it's been a long time since the the last one...

The theme is *punk, and the obvious subgenre to pick would be Steampunk... but I've run and played in Steampunk games pretty much constantly over the last six years. I've also been on a Shirow kick lately, so I'm looking at posthuman cyberpunk for something a bit different. I'd like to look at the blurry line between human and non-human, in a world full of augmented humans, biorobots and sapient computers. I figure I'll start by watching & re-watching a bunch of films, and take it from there.

Any writers or artists I should keep an eye on? This might finally make me get a borrowing card for the Rowden White library...

I've also been really enjoying Infinity lately. It's a skirmish-level anime themed wargame that leaves most other systems I've tried for dead. The game strongly favours teams of ten or less figures, so it neatly avoids the temptation to paint up fifty-odd models... it also has a nice system of reactive orders that all but get rid of the "I go, you go" system.

Plus it has remote-op drones, electromagnetic weapons, hackers scrambling enemy mechs, airborne deployment and thermoptic camo. It's like the writers were locked in a room full of Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police and Ghost in the Shell, and not let out until they turned the whole lot into a game. It's been out for a couple of years in Spanish, with the English translation arriving some time last year.


EDIT: Since when has a four-storey column of flame coming from the gasworks across the road been completely below the notice of the people in this neighbourhood? I just ran outside to find out what the hell was causing it, only to find parents and their toddlers calmly playing in the park next door. "Look at the pretty fire mum!"

Judging by the bored-looking people in overalls standing next to the source, I'm going to assume that this is just some sort of routine that I've missed seeing for the last three years in this house...

Comments

[damien6.livejournal.com]

You can think of a *bunch* of cyberpunk films that have augmented humans and biorobots and sapient computers?
Really? What like? 'Cause I can hardly think of any apart from... A.I. mostly. Well, good films anyway.

In book form, Transmetropolitan is the most nasty wild cyberpunky world in comics. And the Rowdy has the complete set.

Also Jeff Noon. He has a collection of super-short stories called Pixel Juice, more biological based technologies, some really interesting concepts.

But that's all pretty obvious stuff...
I'll see if I can think of more later.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I was mostly thinking of the Ghost in the Shell setting, actually - the original film, the sequel (Innocence), and the Stand Alone Complex series. The sort of themes that I'm interested in seem to get a lot of coverage in anime and manga, but there's very little in the western film world - lots of portrayals of technology as different/alien/outside, but not as many where the tech is ubiquitous.

[damien6.livejournal.com]

Ah, anime. Entirely different kettle of fish, and one of the best mediums for cyberpunk.

I think cyberpunk needs mediums that can handle the density and complexity of information necessary for that kind of world. Comics work well, and anime - I guess still less of a budget than live action for a similar kind of story. Online media would be a natural home to cyberpunk also.

Ghost in the Shell rocks in so many ways, but I find it really hard to engage with it in an emotional sense (as opposed to appreciating it in a detached way for the ideas). I guess 'cause a lot of what the characters are going through seems so painful, and the main character is so... naked. And not just in a physical sense, but emotionally invaded in so many ways. It's a pretty stark world to live in.

Anyway, I'm just waffling, and still can't think of other worthwhile cyberpunk worlds...

[harkon.livejournal.com]

Damn you, you'll be the death of my savings... Fortunately since I haven't rolled a die in anger for a very long time, I think I might be able to resist buying into this... Out of curiosity though, what is the stocklist/pricing like? I can't seem to find anything at MilSims. Are the rules the rules provided on the website or do they have a book now? Also are the minies prepainted?

As to your request, I have a soft spot for Johnny Mnemonic. Razor girls with laser lashes make for good times if not good movies. In terms of comics, The Surrogates was a 5 book series I saw on a show and it looked good. Basically it is a world where everyone lives jacked into a robot body proxy.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

There's a rulebook (which I don't own yet) - the beta rules are available on their website, along with all the army lists. Miniatures don't come painted (and some can be a bit fiddly to assemble) - Mind Games have a bit of stock, and I know someone who imports the figures in monthly shipments.

Mind Games are only stocking the complete Yu Jing faction (the most popular one), plus the starter boxes and new releases.

I still haven't seen the film version of Johnny Mnemonic. I liked the short story too much to risk seeing what they did to it, especially by adding Keanu Reeves to the cast... I should probably take another look at it though.

When is Natural City showing?

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

The film was a bit plastic to begin with, and hasn't aged well...
Keanu: "I can hold 80 gigs of data in my head"
... wow, that's almost $50 of harddrive.

[drwally.livejournal.com]

Don't bother with the movie version of Johnny M. The short story was something like 15 pages of white-hot prose, which they had to water down into a wasted and interminable 90 mins.

Appleseed - the recent remake, is lots more fun and visually appealing. There's also a 'sequel' out now that may be available to order from Madman...

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I had my doubts about the film, as you'd have to put a lot of filler in to fill the time...

I've heard some good things about the Appleseed remake - will have to track it down.

[drwally.livejournal.com]

Quite frankly it was a major disappointment.

As for Appleseed, the plot is iffy (as is every Shirow plot adapted to movie, as his plot and story is incredibly dense and detailed and suffers from the condensing required to screen), but the action sequences are freakin' nuts.

The GITS:SAC series are killer; with a complicated story arc and some stand alone eps that cover a lot of great issues, such as the man-machine interface, what it is to be human, and moral/ethical issues with brain hacking and such.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I saw a few episodes from SAC 1 back when SBS were showing it (I think they only aired 13 episodes though) - I'll head in to JB next week to see if they have the complete series.

Appleseed as action eyecandy is fine by me. I love complicated plots, but sometimes you just need to stare at exploding things with the volume turned up.

[harkon.livejournal.com]

It seems I misread the guide (wrong week's Greenguide) and it unfortunately aired on Monday at midnight. Incidentally it seems that Monday night has become random Asian movie night or something because this coming monday it is Steamboy.

[harkon.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it myself, but the TV guide rememinded me there is a Korean version of Blade Runner called Natural City you might want to check out. I am imagine it would have less Nordic antagonists and more brooding and intense glaring.

[virtual-munkee.livejournal.com]

OMG COOL!

PS Gasworks and 4 stories of flame..OMG COOL! :P

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

David Mack - Kabuki - enough said.