Subject: On Isaac
Author:
Posted on: 2013-12-24 18:52:00 UTC
It's a computer game, yes; more specifically, a metaphor-drenched top-down roguelike that will dominate you and make you like it. You're a child fighting off monsters with your tears.
It's that sort of game. =]
On a silent pool
The pond-skater pounces;
Jaws close on nothing
My name is Wobbles The Clown, or very occasionally CCC, colourcodedchaos, and other things. I have an idea for an agent who might be interesting to read about, though it does involve me actually getting permission, and I also have memories of the Fic That Shall Not Be Named (LOTR edition). I wasn't even particularly squicked, which is probably not a sign of a healthy mind; rather, I was just bored. Same with Forbiden Fruit, though there my sole memory is wondering why the author wanted to make sure that her fruit were received by the Vice-President of the United States. Oh, and the gay panda getting high in an enormous tree (a beech, to be precise).
I think in haiku a lot; I find it relaxing to pare my thoughts down into a very spartan style, and it makes me think about words and the connections between them. However, it also means that sometimes I converse in haiku without thinking. I apologise in advance if this annoys anyone.
Clowns need other clowns
To remind them of the times
When nobody laughs
I apologize for my late arrival. I, as High Arbiter of my order, welcome you with open arms and gifts of great worth.
I bequeath to you this sword, forged from the embers of a dying sun and sent adrift for untold eons in the vastness of the cosmos. I name it Shamath, the Joy-Bringer. May it serve you well in your quest.
If ever you should desire comfort and food, seek me out beyond the edge of time.
My time is coming. The Archon rises.
Usually, the only swords I have are ones I've made from balloons at parties. I shall treasure this gift, more so since it was made for me by a stranger to bring merriment and laughter.
I cannot offer the same calibre of gifts or skills, but should you have a children's party in need of entertainment, I'm your girl. =]
Interestingly, your choice of name's meaning is not unique, at least in broad terms. The legendary blade of Charlemagne, lord of all the Franks across Europe and founder of the Holy Roman Empire, was named the Sword Of Smiles, Joyeuse in their tongue. It ties into the concept of katsujinken, the life-giving sword, which is itself a part of the Japanese view of weaponry as an extension of the self. I should probably shut up before I bore you to death.
I've got some...
Um...
Some turkey from the Christmas dinner
All gifts are gratefully received. I'm fairly certain there's a relevant New Testament parable concerning a beggar woman, but it's been years since I had anything to do with that particular storybook so I could be wrong. =]
I'm 99Hedgehog but call me 99. Here, have a Sunrifle!
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Sunrifle#.Urk8qvQW1Cg
The Emperor Protects!
It's very pleasant of you to give me that interesting bit of xenotech; I wonder if I can train my Meditite in its use. I shall find out later, after Rastamouse has finished.
Alas, 99, I'm more suited to the Adepta Sororitas than the Astartes (The only exceptions to that rule are generally to be found in 40K badfic, so...). Thank you very much for being so welcoming, and I'll leave you with the thought that I used to play an infantry-heavy Guard army and in one 5000pt game I failed entirely to hit anything. At all. Not a single hit was rolled that day.
I began sacrificing chickens to Nuffle after that...
Welcome to the Board! Since it's plastic-replica-of-swords-from-the-Hobbit time, have plastic!Glamdring.
Take a look at our PPC Constitution, which is highly interesting and important for you to read, and some other links above as well.
A question: how did you find the PPC, anyway? Just curious. :)
Once again, welcome, and enjoy the PPC!
~Autumn
I shall now have to construct a tiny plastic model of Beleriand to hide it in. =]
I read the constitution, and some other stuff as well, before posting. How I found the PPC has been discussed elsewhere, but it boils down to the fact that, after C*l*b*i*n left me unmoved and unsquicked, I started looking for other fanfic to snark and stumbled upon this place.
(Though I'm not sure I'm qualified to say that, considering my inactivity...)
Please accept this humble traffic-cone-yellow ski boot. You never know when you might have to ski one legged through Siberia like James Bond.
- Len
I'll treasure it. As you say, it might come in handy, and even if it doesn't it fits and is funny. I might have to rejig the toe so that it extends into the middle distance, though. =]
Lovely to meet you, Recruit Wobbles. :) Nice haiku, by the way. Let's see...I can gift you this copy of the Hobbit, a Bled pen, a dragon egg, and a Chicken Jockey. How'd you find the PPC?
Interesting. I'm learning a lot about colours today. One wonders how many are out of space, as it were...
As for how I found the PPC, it came about because I read C*l*b*i*n and had no emotive response other than mild boredom. I got into snarking, hung around Twilight Sucks for a bit (Guess what we reviewed!), stumbled onto the site from there and here I am. Hopefully, I might be a bit more use to this august body some time soon, but it'll keep. For now, I'll be content to watch, read, learn, and receive inspiration from my elders and betters. =]
Nice to meet you! Please accept my gifts of a potato cannon, a basket of Russet potatoes, and an Official University of Doctor Who sweatshirt.
Haiku? Interesting...
I shall get to work making some small crash helmets and capes for the potatoes. You wouldn't happen to know if oil paint'd make for good moustaches on the average spud-about-town, would you?
Thank you also for the OUDW sweatshirt. I will continue the fine tradition of my hometown by wearing a branded top from a university I've never been to. I see UCLA and Harvard sweatshirts all the time where I live.
That being a deprived commercial port in south-east England...
You're British?! Interesting. I would not have guessed; I haven't spotted any British spellings in your posts. There are actually quite a few Brits here (BTW, I'm NOT one of them; I'm Haitian-American.)
If you want to know a bit more about our backgrounds, look for a thread that I started called "The World of PPC."
...in Japanese, most words actually do have quite a lot of syllables in them, so the 5/7/5 rule for syllables in English really doesn't do much justice to the form (and it further doesn't allow for especially good English translations of traditional Japanese haiku). Generally, haiku is supposed to punctuate a feeling or a sensation in just a few words, and following the 5/7/5 rule in English can lead to incredibly clunky examples that say too much. So when writing haiku in English, most professional poets I've known personally actually tend to play fast and loose with the 5/7/5 rule in the name of preserving the aphoristic quality.
If you really want to go overboard, that's what haibun is for. But for haiku, you want to go more for "saying a lot by saying little".
Now that the side of me that was somewhat active in the Boston poetry scene has satisfied itself, I'll move on to the actual introduction...
Hi there! Welcome to the PPC! We love newbies here, so take your shoes off, leave your sanity at the door, and come right in!
As a welcome gift, I give you the music of one Luigi Dallapiccola: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb6PxV6f4C4
I was aware of that; you'll note that the one at the start of my OP doesn't quite conform to the metre, and I'm also aware that kireji are necessary for it to work as-intended. It's just that I'm no good at writing haiku poetry, and mainly use it to streamline my thought processes. It's the very rigidity of the metre that makes it so well-suited to that purpose.
Anywho, thank you for the music. It's very beautiful, though I confess to preferring the self-important bombast of military marches; they appeal to my sense of the absurd, and they make me laugh. If I may respond with something I like that's rather different:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge5_gLtSWd4
Thank you for being so welcoming, and I hope I can be a credit to the board. =]
By which I mean, a word in Japanese-language haiku that separates the two main images of the poem. =]
It's just that a lot of people don't really know that, so I figured... y'know.
Hm... On the music front, you say you prefer the bombast of military marches? Hm... What about I further gift you with this little Alban Berg ditty that sort of takes inspiration from military marches but is something kinda different: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQYNIfxLqw8
It's generally a fairly safe assumption; however, I make it a point to research stuff, even if the only thing I'm researching it for is to help me concentrate for more than eight seconds at a time. =]
The Berg is lovely, too.
Hello and welcome!
I give to you a lined Infinite Notebook, featuring urple covers and wilver binding. Make sure you don't blind yourself!
About clowns: I know some very nice ones, and I can't comprehend why everyone seems to be scared of them. I guess personal acquaintance sort of fixes that, in my case, though it still leaves me with a lingering sensation of unease in the presence of contortionists.
-Aila
Ooh, it's like Christmas! Well, technically it is Christmas, and has been for a while if you believe certain types of department store. Thank you for the notebook, and for your acceptance of my clownery. =]
Contortionists are people too. Just, you know, more bendy.
As a girl who does aerial but doesn't have her splits, well... Yeah.
They're probably jealous of you for other reasons and in other ways. For instance, I bet the average contortionist-about-town'd think "Hey, I'd sure love to do aerial."
Now, see, I can't say that in my head without thinking of something completely different. Badfic has changed me...
I'm afraid that all your newbie gifts are peppermint - peppermint fudge, candy canes, a red pen (you'll need it!) and scratch & sniff stickers.
Any fandoms?
Er... none. This is not to say that I don't get involved in traditional fandom activities, like writing terrible fanfiction and complaining about pairings we don't like, but I don't like the term.
I'm fairly knowledgeable about the Harry Potter series, classic literature in general, and The Binding Of Isaac, a game you should play. Does that count? =]
I think most here have been indoctrinated into Harry Potter. And if the game is a computer game or a puzzle, I might even try it: I'm notoriously bad at point and shoot.
So many games, so little time! I'm stranded in Myst 4 Revelations right now (Dang crystal tuning, how do I tune the crystals, Sirrus? Tell me, you thieving kidnapping plundering smug snake!) but I know what to give a try when I finally have free time!
I would recommend to you and anyone else out here to download play these two freeware gems, if you haven't already!
The first is Star Control II: the Ur-Quan Masters, which is available here (http://sourceforge.net/projects/sc2/files/UQM/0.7/uqm-0.7.0-1-installer.exe/download?use_mirror=ufpr&download=). Imagine if Mass Effect was made in 1992 and was about ship-to-ship fighting instead of on-foot combat, and that's this game in a nutshell. It is probably one of the very first games with proper dialogue trees, being much older than Fallout, yet providing you with similar freedom and some rather clever writing as well. The combat and RPG parts have aged somewhat (though the planet-scanning still beats either Mass Effect once you level up the lander), but it's still addictive and fun.
The other game is Iji, which can be gotten from its creator's website (http://www.remar.se/daniel/). It is a freeware Metroidvania with surprisingly complex plot, no fourth wall (diaries left behind by aliens outright say which buttons are to be pressed to activate abilities, for instance), hacking minigames, weapon crafting (not to DS3 levels, of course, but still), ridiculously epic last and second-to-last boss fights (others aren't bad either) and the choice to walk through the game without killing anyone, which is reflected in the dialogue throughout the game. It's not without flaws (basic enemy AI could with improvements), but on the whole, I would say it's great.
It's a computer game, yes; more specifically, a metaphor-drenched top-down roguelike that will dominate you and make you like it. You're a child fighting off monsters with your tears.
It's that sort of game. =]
...to The Legend of Zelda (first game) in terms of interface and dungeon structure.
The Emperor Protects!
TBoI shares a layout with early Zelda dungeoneering, and very little else. As far as I know, the first Zelda game did not discuss at length (almost solely through the mechanics and items within the game) the dangers of becoming trapped in your own head. Indeed, in that respect it forms a trilogy with two of Edmund McMillen's other games, Time Fcuk and Aether.
Aether shows what happens when you leave the "real" world for a world of your own making, becoming so tied up in it that friends and family hold no meaning any more and your escape has become your prison. Time Fcuk shows that this prison can be escaped only through self-discovery and what Maslow called self-actualisation. The Binding of Isaac, on the other hand, shows why it is necessary to escape the prison and demonstrates the detrimental effects such a jail has on young people in particular.
Now, I'd link you to an article discussing this in more detail, but it's probably just too dull for Christmas reading. Besides, I'd have to actually find it, which'd be more trouble than it'd likely be worth. =]
Can't give you the link now, but type "twinfinite isaac" in Google and it should be the first result you get. If you check out the comments, you can find a rather long, fan-wankey comment I wrote a while ago with my perspective. That said, Edmund himself prefers to say that while the Twinfinite theory explains the underlying symbolism, it's up to each player to decide what EXACTLY happens to the characters at the end. Plus, The Rebirth is going to add even more endings, so...
All in all, glad to see another Binding of Isaac fan here! I don't usually tend to say this, but few balancing niggles aside, this game is near-perfection, and can't wait as to what Rebirth has in store!
More items will interact. Spoon Bender & Brimstone. Inner Eye & Dr. Fetus. -Polyphemus- & Dr. Fetus. The list goes on. Ah, the joys of following Edmund McMillen on Tumblr...
Seriously though, if as much stuff stacks in Rebirth as is purported by your man McMillen, then I might have to start nicking copies of the items and seeing what they do to PPC agents...
You're quite right about the Twinfinite article, McMillen's response, and the quite astonishing levels of fanwank in your comment (assuming we mean the same one). Me, I just enjoy thinking deeply about the game's mechanics and the metaphors inherent in them, especially the ones that sorta require glitches, like Brimsnapping. It's fun! =]
I knew he had Formspring and followed him on there for a while before he quit his account :( . From there, I learned that Edmund plans to have about 100 new items, 100 new enemies and 20 bosses, as well as several new characters crammed into Rebirth! Some effects are going to be pretty unprecedented: he revealed an item that makes your tears orbit Isaac much like blue flies, for instance. Wonder if that'll stack with Ipecac...
Oh, and yes, that's me, breaking records for fanwank since 2013! Honestly, though, I find it quite astonishing that someone could create a roguelike with this much gameplay and story integration: literally every item/mechanic can be traced back to his real-world childhood or his current condition in the basement. I'm a bit at loss about the bombs in the game, though: why exactly would he imagine this fairly specific item that's unlikely to have been in his house, unlike more everyday keys and coins? You could say that's because he played Zelda in his childhood of course, but I hope you have a more satisfying explanation!
The way I see it is that bombs are found in video games, and we know that Isaac plays them; the Game Kid is the primary reference, but SMB Super Fan, Dr. Fetus, and the various Gishes knocking around (both as items and enemies) are also proof too. The clincher's the arcade, one of the few rooms in the game that will not deliberately hurt you; Isaac might think that getting an enemy in a treasure room isn't fair, but he definitely sees arcades as safe space.
See, it's my belief that Isaac had a fairly normal childhood up until the death of his sister (ending 12); after which, Isaac blamed himself for everything bad that happened. His father was utterly unable to cope and left the household, while his mother slowly got angrier and angrier with him. I don't think she's trying to kill him (although if you read Dave Pelzer's autobiographies, his mother does stab him with a kitchen knife; I can't help but wonder if that's where McMillen got the idea from); I think she's becoming stricter with him out of her own grief, which also made her turn to God as a source of comfort and salvation. The opening cutscene is more important than people think it is; we must remember to view them through the eyes of a child, who believes he is being punished unfairly for being grounded and having the odd toy confiscated.
Think about the order of the levels and what they represent. Isaac starts low and goes lower until the end of the Depths/Necropolis, wherein he fights his perception of his mother as an unknowable titan aiming to crush him. Then come the Womb/Utero levels; in these, Isaac is trying to analyse his own feelings of guilt, confronting his mother's own feelings on the matter in his head over and over again until he realises that they all stem from maternal feelings of protection and the fact that she thinks she failed her daughter, as shown by the transformation of Mom's Heart into It Lives. After that, the child has a choice; go down, or go up? Fall or rise? Sheol's levels are hard because Isaac is wallowing in his own perceived damnation, and the fight with Satan shows that nothing has changed - the similarities with the Mom fight are pronounced for precisely this reason. The music in the levels is muted and downbeat, demonstrating the depths of Isaac's misery, misery he feels is deserved. When he overcomes Satan, the ending demonstrates that nothing has changed for him; he is still in the box described by the Twinfinite article, resigned to his fate as a bad child.
However, should he choose to rise into the Cathedral, the rooms are hard for a different reason; Isaac, rather than accepting his fate, is trying to change it. The music is similar to Sheol, but more hopeful; angelic rather than demonic. He is trying to change his mind and get rid of the toxic beliefs he held. This is also why the rooms here are harder than the ones in Sheol; it's much more difficult to change your mind than it is to stay set in your beliefs. It's also felt in the change in final boss battle; the fight with Isaac is almost a bullet-hell boss, and there are no other boss battles like it earlier in the game. This is Isaac trying to change how he sees himself; and for Isaac, it's almost the hardest thing he can do.
If you have the Polaroid, however, the metaphor becomes slightly altered. Isaac can now go through the Chest upon breaking his self-image and rebuilding it into something stronger, represented by the four golden chests in the starting room. As long as he has the means to do so, Isaac is able to make himself stronger, and though the rooms are the hardest in the game by far (because Isaac is confronting more and more uncomfortable truths about himself), there is more reward at the end of it. Finally, with the boss ???, he confronts the root of his problems; the corpse of a child, blue with rot. ??? represents his grief, from which stemmed the majority of his self-esteem and self-image issues portrayed by the fight with Isaac; the character model curled on the floor in the centre of the room is ??? rather than Isaac, the boss's first stage also produces flies, the symbolism is obvious. However, like the fight with Isaac, the body rises in a Jacob's Ladder, slowly but surely ascending to Heaven and granting Isaac salvation in the process. He believes God has forgiven him, and in believing so, forgives himself. It's about as triumphal as a game like this can get. All of this is explained by the final ending, which you only get by defeating the boss.
This, I believe, is why items change your image throughout the game. I think that TBoI is a game about the perception of the self, and the effects of the various passive items on Isaac's body are a discussion on how external stimuli affect the self-image of a vulnerable child. The more you progress through the game, the more you pick up, the more you change, the more you can grow. This is how I think it ties into the "box" theme touched on in the Twinfinite article; Aether showed what happens when you don't get out of the box, Time Fcuk showed you can get out of the box, and The Binding of Isaac says that it's difficult to do so but the most rewarding thing you can do.
By the end of the Chest, Isaac has achieved self-actualisation. He has overcome his fears, his doubts, his guilt, and his shame. He is at peace with himself and with his God. He has earned his happy ending, and through understanding how it is a happy ending, we are exhorted by the game to get that ending for ourselves, no matter how hard it might be. KBO, says Edmund McMillen. KBO.
Of course, Rebirth could throw this all out of the window in an instant, in which case I'll look ever-so-slightly ridiculous. =D
I doubt that the Emperor likes having underlings who cannot tell "its" from "it's"!
Welcome, new person
To the PPC's web board!
Saneness: optional.
Ah, haiku! Takes me back to (not-much-)simpler times back in law school. (What law school has to do with haiku, ask me later.)
Before I give you your newbie gift, allow me to ask you a few questions:
1) How did you run across the PPC?
2) Have you read the Consitutution and the Original Series?
3) What are your fandoms?
4) Where'd your username come from?
As for your newbie gift,
*rummages through bag of holding*
Here, have a Meditite! A perfect companion, I believe, for someone who who likes honing his thoughts down to 17 syllables.
Hope you stay around.
The PPC's a fun group
As you will soon see
If I may set out my responses in the order you gave (I'm sorry if I sound brusque):-
1) Funnily enough, it was after I read C*l*b*i*n and was... bored by it. I started getting more into fanfic-snarking and stumbled upon this place by way of the Twilight Sucks forum.
2) Yes and yes.
3) It's a tricky one, this. I don't really go in for fandoms; if a story is non-canonical in some way, I will research the original text until I find out why. That said, while all books are equal, some are more equal than others; I grew up devouring the Harry Potter series and the Discworld, and there are some things I can't get on with, like Twilight or anything written by Victor Hugo. Hugo, hélas indeed...
4) I'm sick to the back teeth of the only clowns in modern fiction being ironic in some way - and I'm especially tired of Pennywise and The Joker being held up as exemplars of clownkind. Thus, I began to develop the character of Wobbles: an entertainer of Candide-like optimism (in a job not even Voltaire'd inflict upon Candide...) who just wants people to be as happy as she is. She's not been to many possible worlds yet, but her life seems to inhabit the best one.
Also, just FYI: I identify as female, ta. There aren't that many female clowns. I wonder why that is...
Anyway, thank you for making me feel welcome and I shall befriend the Meditite forthwith. Expect to see both of us riding off into the sunset together, possibly on tiny unicycles. Don't worry about me leaving in a huff, either.
A clown does not shirk
From an opportunity
To make someone smile.
=D
You didn't mention it in your original post, so I defaulted to "his." Sorry again!
It's usually the one doing the apologizing who gives the gifts, if anyone, but hey! I won't turn down free candy!
Watch out on the Board.
No extra effort needed
For no-message posts.
I'll remember that
But hey, think of it like this:
Kindness pays kindness.