Footballers in Shirow-verse: lots of meta and a quick omake
I blame zanoranna and apologize in advance to Masamune Shirow.
For those of you unfamiliar (which may be many of you), Masamune Shirow (spelling deliberate) is a mangaka (Japanese comic artist) whose works (for the purpose of this document, Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell, though there are others, many of which are absolutely wonderful) are some of my favorite things ever. They explore the future of the world and its technology, especially the concept of transferring the human mind and soul to a non-human body (creating cyborgs). These bodies are more powerful and awe inspiring than even the most well trained human bodies, but the process itself is emotionally very jarring for many who go through it.
So as inspired by this comment thread, the general idea of these fics is this: we know what was happening in certain areas in Shirow's works, the insane politics and fascinating personal lives of a handful of characters in a technologically advanced society. Meanwhile, in Europe, we explore the future of sport, through the eyes of a handful of characters (currently football players).
Now a lot of what Shirow predicted for the fate of the world (especially in Appleseed) is wrong, of course - the USSR collapsed under its own weight and he hadn't predicted the future of the Internet, just to use two examples. Still, the general concepts - particularly the advancement of cyborg bodies, from the humanoid-but-distinct models in Appleseed to the denser-but-otherwise-indistingushable models in Ghost in the Shell - are what I'll attempt to preserve. (I'm also going to deviate pretty heavily from his data book timeline, and basically claim that Appleseed happened first, then a world war to destroy Olympus, then Ghost in the Shell after, as in terms of increasing technology that's what makes the most sense to me.)
Shirow predicted the increasing power of the European Union and at least one attempt to unite the entire Earth into a single government, an idea that fascinates me as a football fan. Much of what makes football so interesting is the fierce protection of boundaries both large and small, after all. In this 'verse, that increasing centralization is represented by, who else, FIFA itself. On the surface, they continue to attempt and fail to be the impartial football governing body they claim to be. Underneath, they're in cahoots with the EU proper, to attempt to unite Europe under one banner and thus have the power to go up against the various superpowers of the new world...but how?
There's on episode in Stand Alone Complex with a hint of the answer: in episode 16, Batou spends time undercover, gathering information on a former Paralympic boxer - who is at least partially cyborg. (Interestingly, there is no boxing at the Paralympics, but we'll ignore that.) It's unclear how popular the sport really was (Batou was a fan, but Togusa had never heard of the guy despite his numerous accolades), but the boxer mentions "media attention and implant sponsors", so that's probably a good place to start.
So in my take on Shirow-verse, the amputee segments of the Paralympics have grown exponentially as technology has advanced; games with such advanced bodies are faster and more dramatic to watch. (This is actually sort of happening already, at least in running, where blade-augmented runners have become comparable - if not even faster - than their fully flesh and blood counterparts.) This trickles down to the national level, as major clubs (i.e. all the ones we hear about in European footie) sign contracts with implant makers to sponsor the amputee divisions of their clubs.
Then, of course, replacing (almost) the entire body becomes plausible - and the possibilities seem nearly limitless. At first the new bodies are recognizably cyborg - basically what were the amputee segments of these games becomes a set of Hecatonchires (or similar) cyborgs playing - but then the technology advances further, to the point of, well, looking pretty close to 'normal' humans. Of course, what we see in Shirow's manga are paramilitary forces - the elite of the elite, with bodies probably classified to the civilians who just play football.
...Maybe.
FIFA, of course, wants profit. The more exciting and dramatic and interesting the games are, the more profit can be made; plus, all these new implant manufacturing corporations represent a very useful opportunity. So why not allow human-looking full body cyborgs to play in the "normal" leagues? It's technically illegal, of course; so everything that would let a cyborg play must happen under the table, and many of the bodies are provided illegally, through rings normally used by terrorists. And the EU is interested in this, not to stop FIFA, but to get military-level hardware into the organization, which would then assist them in overthrowing the current fractured political structure.
Our heroes, all played by current footballers, do not want this to happen - even though some of them will be cyborgs of various degrees. There's a variety of reasons - some degree of purity in the old game, some sense of local pride in city and province and country that they do not want destroyed - but certainly all are fans or players in this 'verse, and love the game deeply.
And well, because this is written by me, and because it seems no one's asked the question in cyberpunk before (at least not very deeply) - I'm going to consider this an AU of Pia-verse, rather than football proper. Yup, genderqueer!Philipp/Pia strikes again. In an homage to the Major, ze will mostly be called "das Kapitän" (das instead of the usual der article being a deliberate bit of gender subterfuge, though this is subject to change - any genderqueer German speakers feel like discussing pronouns?) Ze's pretty much fully cyborg, and actually regularly alternates between two bodies, male and female, Philipp and Pia. Ze prefers this over having one androgynous body (which in this 'verse is the "standard" treatment for gender dysphoria of hir type) for a variety of personal reasons. Hir dysphoia was diagnosed and treated when ze was fairly young, which meant no time to actually play professionally - but the time spent in recovery was spent training, learning about the 'Net enough to be a wizard-level hacker (on par with the Major and the Laughing Man).
Ze is as loyal to Germany and to Munich as ever, and particularly to FC Bayern, one of the few clubs left that refuses to take on a cyberized division. (1860, taking the opportunity to finally make more money than Bayern, is completely on FIFA's side on this one.) When on the 'net, ze picks from a couple of avatars, some masculine and some feminine - but all usually wearing *some*thing representative of Bayern, being such a huge fan.
Body switching, especially as much as Philipp/Pia does, requires a witness to ensure the Ghost is properly transferred - someone ze trusts completely and utterly. This, of course, will be Bastian. I imagine him mostly cyborg but not entirely, perhaps starting out as a human player before a debilitating injury sidelines him. He'll never fully get hir desire to change gender, but he doesn't question it. He's flattered by hir loyalty to Bayern and to the purity of the game - and is fascinated by Philipp/Pia as a human being - and so will follow hir to the ends of the earth.
Other players will fill out this part of the cast, with varying levels of implanted technology and their own means and motives. I'm fascinated especially by the Appleseed-era cyborgs, who are humanoid but definitely distinctly not human-looking, though they obviously started out like anyone else. Since emulating life is difficult, I imagine these bodies are more common for civilians, even rich ones like footballers. I'd also like at least one or two characters who manage to be fully human (other than perhaps cyberbrains), as one part homage and one part foil to our otherwise "enhanced" cast.
I'm not sure what specific incident would call our heroes to action, or where the plot will go. (I am not very good at plot. I tend to watch/read things for setting and character more than plot, which shows, I think.) But I think this universe will be fun to play in, at least for a little while, as it combines so many things that I love.
*******
and now it's time for a gratuitous omake!
For those who don't know, the Tachikomas are a set of nine spider-like tanks with AI. They're very capable in terms of their paramilitary function - nimble and with plenty of firepower - but their AIs are curious and child-like, which makes them kind of...cute, in their own way. :3 They have a lot of information about the world but can't make sense of the strangeness of human beings. They synchronize their memories regularly, so they have a unified memory, so it can be hard to tell them apart - though they eventually grow individuality over the course of the series.
As non-humanoid tanks, of course, they are about as gender ambiguous as possible; they use generic non-human pronouns in the show. They are aware that males and females exist, of course, and that humans create some robots that project a specific gender identity. (The "girls" referred to are helper robots, assisting the humans in daily tasks, all identical generic-looking ladies.) Most of their fellow members of Section 9 are men - but the leader, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is a woman. She is almost entirely cyborg, so in theory she could choose a male body, but well, she chooses to be female; perhaps in terms of pure damage output she is not as strong as a couple of male cast members, but she is still extremely capable in her body, graceful and powerful in equal measure.
Batou is fully cyborg, very much male, and projects himself as a hardass though really he's very affectionate to the Tachikomas. He continues to lift weights as a hobby, even though his cyborg body renders them pointless - especially since in terms of pure power he's probably the strongest one on the team. Togusa is almost entirely human (except for the necessary brain modifications required to work with Section 9) and is also male; he doesn't really think highly of the Tachikomas, considering them "just machines" (at least at the beginning).
Batou and Motoko have talked about this before, in front of the Tachikomas no less - and Motoko promptly hacked into Batou's brain to make him punch himself. XP
***
The Tachikomas stand around the maintenance bay, with one away getting some repairs done.
"You know, I wonder why all the girls are, well, girls."
"Well they have to look human, right? So why not be female?"
"Why couldn't some of them be male, though? Haven't some visitors found it disorienting to see the same face on them all?"
"Well the redundancy makes it easier to replace them when necessary, but that's not entirely it, is it?"
"Hmmmm... Well, Batou-san said that the Major would be stronger if she had a male body, right? So maybe the girls are female to present a less threatening image!"
"Ooh, that makes sense, that makes sense!"
"But then why is Togusa-san the one who goes on most of the missions where being nonthreatening is necessary? Shouldn't those go to the Major, then, if female bodies are less threatening than male ones?"
"But Togusa-san is fully human and worked in the police before! Being nonthreatening is natural for him, so maybe that's why?"
"Still, if the Major wants to be female but needs to be strong, why doesn't she just switch to a male body now and then?"
The Tachikomas flap their arms about, looking defeated.
"Humans make no sense sometimes! Augh!"
"Yeah, this is really nonsensical!"
"Uwaaaa!"
The Tachikoma who was being repaired wheels back in, looking triumphant.
"Comrades! The techs let me go on the 'Net while I was being repaired and I found something very interesting!"
"Ooh, ooh!"
"Synchronize with me! Synchronize with me!!"
"Let me just tell the story first so that it'll be easier to synchronize later, okay? I was looking into the bank accounts of that sports organization, FIFA. I heard the Major saying they may be housing illegal cyborg components, so I decided to check it out! But I wasn't the only one looking, apparently."
"And they caught you? Tsk, tsk!"
"Well the person looking was a really great hacker, like the Major! Ze was very careful that others weren't spying on hie!"
"Ze?"
"That's what I'm trying to get to! I found myself standing in a football stadium next to the person - some sort of simulated room ze was making. Ze was kind of strange looking - defintiely human, too fragile to be male, too strong to be female, and ze spoke with a Germanic accent." The Tachikoma replays the conversation, imitating the voice it heard fairly effectively.
" 'And who might you be?'
" 'I'm Tachikoma! Who are you?'
" 'You can call me das Kapitän.'
" 'Um...isn't the correct pronoun der?'
" 'Heh, you know German? You're pretty smart. I don't really like being considered masculine, so I don't use der.'
" 'You use a neuter pronoun even though you're human? Interesting!'
" 'Yeah, well. There's not that many people like me around, but they do exist, and they're as human as anyone else. So what were you doing looking through FIFA's firewalls?'
" 'Ehm...a private investigation, I guess.'
" 'I guess that's fair. Well, you be careful, Tachikoma.'"
"So that's when ze disconnected?"
"Yup!"
"Pretty strange. But still, hie's a person without a gender but with a Ghost!"
"Yeah! That's kind of awesome!"
"I wonder if we'll meet hie again..."
This post was originally posted at Dreamwidth. Comment wherever you prefer.
For those of you unfamiliar (which may be many of you), Masamune Shirow (spelling deliberate) is a mangaka (Japanese comic artist) whose works (for the purpose of this document, Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell, though there are others, many of which are absolutely wonderful) are some of my favorite things ever. They explore the future of the world and its technology, especially the concept of transferring the human mind and soul to a non-human body (creating cyborgs). These bodies are more powerful and awe inspiring than even the most well trained human bodies, but the process itself is emotionally very jarring for many who go through it.
So as inspired by this comment thread, the general idea of these fics is this: we know what was happening in certain areas in Shirow's works, the insane politics and fascinating personal lives of a handful of characters in a technologically advanced society. Meanwhile, in Europe, we explore the future of sport, through the eyes of a handful of characters (currently football players).
Now a lot of what Shirow predicted for the fate of the world (especially in Appleseed) is wrong, of course - the USSR collapsed under its own weight and he hadn't predicted the future of the Internet, just to use two examples. Still, the general concepts - particularly the advancement of cyborg bodies, from the humanoid-but-distinct models in Appleseed to the denser-but-otherwise-indistingushable models in Ghost in the Shell - are what I'll attempt to preserve. (I'm also going to deviate pretty heavily from his data book timeline, and basically claim that Appleseed happened first, then a world war to destroy Olympus, then Ghost in the Shell after, as in terms of increasing technology that's what makes the most sense to me.)
Shirow predicted the increasing power of the European Union and at least one attempt to unite the entire Earth into a single government, an idea that fascinates me as a football fan. Much of what makes football so interesting is the fierce protection of boundaries both large and small, after all. In this 'verse, that increasing centralization is represented by, who else, FIFA itself. On the surface, they continue to attempt and fail to be the impartial football governing body they claim to be. Underneath, they're in cahoots with the EU proper, to attempt to unite Europe under one banner and thus have the power to go up against the various superpowers of the new world...but how?
There's on episode in Stand Alone Complex with a hint of the answer: in episode 16, Batou spends time undercover, gathering information on a former Paralympic boxer - who is at least partially cyborg. (Interestingly, there is no boxing at the Paralympics, but we'll ignore that.) It's unclear how popular the sport really was (Batou was a fan, but Togusa had never heard of the guy despite his numerous accolades), but the boxer mentions "media attention and implant sponsors", so that's probably a good place to start.
So in my take on Shirow-verse, the amputee segments of the Paralympics have grown exponentially as technology has advanced; games with such advanced bodies are faster and more dramatic to watch. (This is actually sort of happening already, at least in running, where blade-augmented runners have become comparable - if not even faster - than their fully flesh and blood counterparts.) This trickles down to the national level, as major clubs (i.e. all the ones we hear about in European footie) sign contracts with implant makers to sponsor the amputee divisions of their clubs.
Then, of course, replacing (almost) the entire body becomes plausible - and the possibilities seem nearly limitless. At first the new bodies are recognizably cyborg - basically what were the amputee segments of these games becomes a set of Hecatonchires (or similar) cyborgs playing - but then the technology advances further, to the point of, well, looking pretty close to 'normal' humans. Of course, what we see in Shirow's manga are paramilitary forces - the elite of the elite, with bodies probably classified to the civilians who just play football.
...Maybe.
FIFA, of course, wants profit. The more exciting and dramatic and interesting the games are, the more profit can be made; plus, all these new implant manufacturing corporations represent a very useful opportunity. So why not allow human-looking full body cyborgs to play in the "normal" leagues? It's technically illegal, of course; so everything that would let a cyborg play must happen under the table, and many of the bodies are provided illegally, through rings normally used by terrorists. And the EU is interested in this, not to stop FIFA, but to get military-level hardware into the organization, which would then assist them in overthrowing the current fractured political structure.
Our heroes, all played by current footballers, do not want this to happen - even though some of them will be cyborgs of various degrees. There's a variety of reasons - some degree of purity in the old game, some sense of local pride in city and province and country that they do not want destroyed - but certainly all are fans or players in this 'verse, and love the game deeply.
And well, because this is written by me, and because it seems no one's asked the question in cyberpunk before (at least not very deeply) - I'm going to consider this an AU of Pia-verse, rather than football proper. Yup, genderqueer!Philipp/Pia strikes again. In an homage to the Major, ze will mostly be called "das Kapitän" (das instead of the usual der article being a deliberate bit of gender subterfuge, though this is subject to change - any genderqueer German speakers feel like discussing pronouns?) Ze's pretty much fully cyborg, and actually regularly alternates between two bodies, male and female, Philipp and Pia. Ze prefers this over having one androgynous body (which in this 'verse is the "standard" treatment for gender dysphoria of hir type) for a variety of personal reasons. Hir dysphoia was diagnosed and treated when ze was fairly young, which meant no time to actually play professionally - but the time spent in recovery was spent training, learning about the 'Net enough to be a wizard-level hacker (on par with the Major and the Laughing Man).
Ze is as loyal to Germany and to Munich as ever, and particularly to FC Bayern, one of the few clubs left that refuses to take on a cyberized division. (1860, taking the opportunity to finally make more money than Bayern, is completely on FIFA's side on this one.) When on the 'net, ze picks from a couple of avatars, some masculine and some feminine - but all usually wearing *some*thing representative of Bayern, being such a huge fan.
Body switching, especially as much as Philipp/Pia does, requires a witness to ensure the Ghost is properly transferred - someone ze trusts completely and utterly. This, of course, will be Bastian. I imagine him mostly cyborg but not entirely, perhaps starting out as a human player before a debilitating injury sidelines him. He'll never fully get hir desire to change gender, but he doesn't question it. He's flattered by hir loyalty to Bayern and to the purity of the game - and is fascinated by Philipp/Pia as a human being - and so will follow hir to the ends of the earth.
Other players will fill out this part of the cast, with varying levels of implanted technology and their own means and motives. I'm fascinated especially by the Appleseed-era cyborgs, who are humanoid but definitely distinctly not human-looking, though they obviously started out like anyone else. Since emulating life is difficult, I imagine these bodies are more common for civilians, even rich ones like footballers. I'd also like at least one or two characters who manage to be fully human (other than perhaps cyberbrains), as one part homage and one part foil to our otherwise "enhanced" cast.
I'm not sure what specific incident would call our heroes to action, or where the plot will go. (I am not very good at plot. I tend to watch/read things for setting and character more than plot, which shows, I think.) But I think this universe will be fun to play in, at least for a little while, as it combines so many things that I love.
*******
and now it's time for a gratuitous omake!
For those who don't know, the Tachikomas are a set of nine spider-like tanks with AI. They're very capable in terms of their paramilitary function - nimble and with plenty of firepower - but their AIs are curious and child-like, which makes them kind of...cute, in their own way. :3 They have a lot of information about the world but can't make sense of the strangeness of human beings. They synchronize their memories regularly, so they have a unified memory, so it can be hard to tell them apart - though they eventually grow individuality over the course of the series.
As non-humanoid tanks, of course, they are about as gender ambiguous as possible; they use generic non-human pronouns in the show. They are aware that males and females exist, of course, and that humans create some robots that project a specific gender identity. (The "girls" referred to are helper robots, assisting the humans in daily tasks, all identical generic-looking ladies.) Most of their fellow members of Section 9 are men - but the leader, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is a woman. She is almost entirely cyborg, so in theory she could choose a male body, but well, she chooses to be female; perhaps in terms of pure damage output she is not as strong as a couple of male cast members, but she is still extremely capable in her body, graceful and powerful in equal measure.
Batou is fully cyborg, very much male, and projects himself as a hardass though really he's very affectionate to the Tachikomas. He continues to lift weights as a hobby, even though his cyborg body renders them pointless - especially since in terms of pure power he's probably the strongest one on the team. Togusa is almost entirely human (except for the necessary brain modifications required to work with Section 9) and is also male; he doesn't really think highly of the Tachikomas, considering them "just machines" (at least at the beginning).
Batou and Motoko have talked about this before, in front of the Tachikomas no less - and Motoko promptly hacked into Batou's brain to make him punch himself. XP
***
The Tachikomas stand around the maintenance bay, with one away getting some repairs done.
"You know, I wonder why all the girls are, well, girls."
"Well they have to look human, right? So why not be female?"
"Why couldn't some of them be male, though? Haven't some visitors found it disorienting to see the same face on them all?"
"Well the redundancy makes it easier to replace them when necessary, but that's not entirely it, is it?"
"Hmmmm... Well, Batou-san said that the Major would be stronger if she had a male body, right? So maybe the girls are female to present a less threatening image!"
"Ooh, that makes sense, that makes sense!"
"But then why is Togusa-san the one who goes on most of the missions where being nonthreatening is necessary? Shouldn't those go to the Major, then, if female bodies are less threatening than male ones?"
"But Togusa-san is fully human and worked in the police before! Being nonthreatening is natural for him, so maybe that's why?"
"Still, if the Major wants to be female but needs to be strong, why doesn't she just switch to a male body now and then?"
The Tachikomas flap their arms about, looking defeated.
"Humans make no sense sometimes! Augh!"
"Yeah, this is really nonsensical!"
"Uwaaaa!"
The Tachikoma who was being repaired wheels back in, looking triumphant.
"Comrades! The techs let me go on the 'Net while I was being repaired and I found something very interesting!"
"Ooh, ooh!"
"Synchronize with me! Synchronize with me!!"
"Let me just tell the story first so that it'll be easier to synchronize later, okay? I was looking into the bank accounts of that sports organization, FIFA. I heard the Major saying they may be housing illegal cyborg components, so I decided to check it out! But I wasn't the only one looking, apparently."
"And they caught you? Tsk, tsk!"
"Well the person looking was a really great hacker, like the Major! Ze was very careful that others weren't spying on hie!"
"Ze?"
"That's what I'm trying to get to! I found myself standing in a football stadium next to the person - some sort of simulated room ze was making. Ze was kind of strange looking - defintiely human, too fragile to be male, too strong to be female, and ze spoke with a Germanic accent." The Tachikoma replays the conversation, imitating the voice it heard fairly effectively.
" 'And who might you be?'
" 'I'm Tachikoma! Who are you?'
" 'You can call me das Kapitän.'
" 'Um...isn't the correct pronoun der?'
" 'Heh, you know German? You're pretty smart. I don't really like being considered masculine, so I don't use der.'
" 'You use a neuter pronoun even though you're human? Interesting!'
" 'Yeah, well. There's not that many people like me around, but they do exist, and they're as human as anyone else. So what were you doing looking through FIFA's firewalls?'
" 'Ehm...a private investigation, I guess.'
" 'I guess that's fair. Well, you be careful, Tachikoma.'"
"So that's when ze disconnected?"
"Yup!"
"Pretty strange. But still, hie's a person without a gender but with a Ghost!"
"Yeah! That's kind of awesome!"
"I wonder if we'll meet hie again..."
This post was originally posted at Dreamwidth. Comment wherever you prefer.