Film, Book & RPG Review
Repo! The Genetic Opera: As the name betrays, this is a musical - albeit in the way the Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical. In fact, describing it as a sci-fi punky/rock RHPS would not be an unfair analysis. There's the same goth fetish-y vibe, the same scenery-chewing acting and the same vibe of being slightly daft but oddly enjoyable. It's gore-drenched, I should say, but not really in a "disgusting" way - it's too over-the-top to really offend anyone, and I say that as a man with little tolerance for blood. The above description should make it clear if you'd like or loathe this film - and if you're reading this blog I think there's a decent chance you're more likely to be in column A.
The main thing which will catch your eye if you read about this film is it's bizarre casting: Anthony Stewart Head, Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton being directed in a musical by a dude involved with Saw sounds pretty out there, but everyone actually works pretty well. (And gothed up Paris Hilton is... um... well, she appears the middle of this video. See for yourselves.)
What They Did To Princess Paragon: I appear to have accidentally bought Gay Literature. (Memories of Edward's special shelf spring to mind.) A story about a Wonder Woman-expy getting turned into a lesbian in the 90s comic book era and the consequences of that (in particular by a hardcore fan) sounds my kind of thing: but when I saw the author had written books called Fag Hag and Closet Case and that the back cover had a review by something with the word "Lambda" in the title, I was worried I had bought something very obviously aimed at another market. (I don't mean that in a ARGH DON'T GET THE GAY ON ME way, just that some subcultures have literature very much written in a way that only they get. It's like trying to get my mum to watch Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, you know?)
I foudn myself mostly enjoying the book, though, which does double duty as Gay Literature and Story About Nerd Things. What They Did To Princess Paragon is obviously written by someone with a lot of knowledge and love for the comic book world (and indeed, it turns out the writer has even done some comic book writing) and presents it as best it can for the presumably gay audience who won't know as much about it. (Seeing an explanation of the word "fanzine" particularly amused me, but then I guess if you aren't part of a fandom for music/TV show/games/etc then maybe you wouldn't ever hear the word.) It says its a comedy though to be honest it took a while for it to become real, laugh-out-loud funny - the setup is interesting enough but it's a while until it really becomes witty or humourous. The end result is worth it, though.
The gay subculture elements are actually smallish - several characters have a running feminism argument going on but it isn't quite the URGH POLITICAL that you seem to get from some fiction of the type. (There's one darkish piece near the end which feels almost out of place in the otherwise lightish comedy, but it doesn't come entirely out of nowhere so you can run with it.) Would I reccomend this book to other comic book fans? Probably, on the proviso they can hold out until the comedy really kicks in
My Life WIth Master: This indie RPG is perhaps best thought of as Igor: The Serving - All players are the Minions of a Master in a 19th century horror setting, the warped and twisted rejects who serve a Dracula/Frankenstein/Bathory/etc type. Designed to be played over only a few sessions, the game's indie roots mean it has only a few stats and a clear end goal - the game ends when stats get to a certain amount and trigger an endgame where a Minion fights the Master to the death and eventually wins, whereupon the epilogue section uses the stats to determine if characters live happilly ever after, die alongside the Master, become a Master of their own, etc.
The stats might sound a bit silly when I tell you they're called Self-Loathing and Weariness, that the Master and the Village are summed up with Fear and Reason stats and that Love is a stat too, earned for talking to villagers you form connections with..... but it actually ties in quite nicely to produce a game with a clear feel. Horror is a genre I find easy to get wrong - both in the mechanics and also in the actual playing, with more than one person been put off the genre because of shit game experiences at the table - but My Life WIth Master strikes the right tone for the subject matter, especially because it's indie narrative bent means groups get pretty much whatever they want out of it.
I'd liek to play My Life With Master sometime. I'm not sure there'd be much point in playing it more once every so often, since there doesn't seem to me to be much variation to the prmise - but it'd be a cool one to try out.
The main thing which will catch your eye if you read about this film is it's bizarre casting: Anthony Stewart Head, Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton being directed in a musical by a dude involved with Saw sounds pretty out there, but everyone actually works pretty well. (And gothed up Paris Hilton is... um... well, she appears the middle of this video. See for yourselves.)
What They Did To Princess Paragon: I appear to have accidentally bought Gay Literature. (Memories of Edward's special shelf spring to mind.) A story about a Wonder Woman-expy getting turned into a lesbian in the 90s comic book era and the consequences of that (in particular by a hardcore fan) sounds my kind of thing: but when I saw the author had written books called Fag Hag and Closet Case and that the back cover had a review by something with the word "Lambda" in the title, I was worried I had bought something very obviously aimed at another market. (I don't mean that in a ARGH DON'T GET THE GAY ON ME way, just that some subcultures have literature very much written in a way that only they get. It's like trying to get my mum to watch Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, you know?)
I foudn myself mostly enjoying the book, though, which does double duty as Gay Literature and Story About Nerd Things. What They Did To Princess Paragon is obviously written by someone with a lot of knowledge and love for the comic book world (and indeed, it turns out the writer has even done some comic book writing) and presents it as best it can for the presumably gay audience who won't know as much about it. (Seeing an explanation of the word "fanzine" particularly amused me, but then I guess if you aren't part of a fandom for music/TV show/games/etc then maybe you wouldn't ever hear the word.) It says its a comedy though to be honest it took a while for it to become real, laugh-out-loud funny - the setup is interesting enough but it's a while until it really becomes witty or humourous. The end result is worth it, though.
The gay subculture elements are actually smallish - several characters have a running feminism argument going on but it isn't quite the URGH POLITICAL that you seem to get from some fiction of the type. (There's one darkish piece near the end which feels almost out of place in the otherwise lightish comedy, but it doesn't come entirely out of nowhere so you can run with it.) Would I reccomend this book to other comic book fans? Probably, on the proviso they can hold out until the comedy really kicks in
My Life WIth Master: This indie RPG is perhaps best thought of as Igor: The Serving - All players are the Minions of a Master in a 19th century horror setting, the warped and twisted rejects who serve a Dracula/Frankenstein/Bathory/etc type. Designed to be played over only a few sessions, the game's indie roots mean it has only a few stats and a clear end goal - the game ends when stats get to a certain amount and trigger an endgame where a Minion fights the Master to the death and eventually wins, whereupon the epilogue section uses the stats to determine if characters live happilly ever after, die alongside the Master, become a Master of their own, etc.
The stats might sound a bit silly when I tell you they're called Self-Loathing and Weariness, that the Master and the Village are summed up with Fear and Reason stats and that Love is a stat too, earned for talking to villagers you form connections with..... but it actually ties in quite nicely to produce a game with a clear feel. Horror is a genre I find easy to get wrong - both in the mechanics and also in the actual playing, with more than one person been put off the genre because of shit game experiences at the table - but My Life WIth Master strikes the right tone for the subject matter, especially because it's indie narrative bent means groups get pretty much whatever they want out of it.
I'd liek to play My Life With Master sometime. I'm not sure there'd be much point in playing it more once every so often, since there doesn't seem to me to be much variation to the prmise - but it'd be a cool one to try out.