fem fantasy bkdk
Every time they cross paths it feels like this
just remembered that one of the first scenes of orv is kim dokja getting ratio'd by internet forum users. truly a protagonist of all time
wait and another neat thing about stray: the way it ties humanity to class! where do you see the most pro-human sentiment in the game? its in the slums! theres the ‘rip humans <3′ graffiti, the robot that cares for the plants because the humans liked them, and of course you find b-12 near that area as well. its also where all the outsiders came from; the ones that are still able to both dream of and actively work towards a better life for themselves and their loved ones, and all the robots in general. even the enemies in this section of the game are biological in nature.
then you have midtown, the middle-class police state area. suddenly the main enemies are robotic surveillance cameras, not living creatures. this is also where you start to encounter robots that are not friendly, and that will sell each other out for profit. there are also robots that will try to keep you out of certain areas, unlike in the slums where you could mostly go where you pleased. for the most part the robots still tend to be friendly here; but not all of them are altruistic, and there’s no real sense of an overarching community.
and finally, you get to the upper levels, the area for the elites, where the upper class stayed literally above it all to run the city… and theres no one there. there are no people. the robots are just robots: they have no names, they make no conversation, they merely complete their assigned tasks as if nothing has changed. i almost expected to find real humans here, or at least a corpse or something in the control room, but… nothing. there is no humanity, in any form. its a pretty, pristine, wasteland.
but down in the filthy, zurk-infested slums, humanity lives on.
Also. Kendrick opened with an unapologetically loud performance focused on Black America with a ton of political messaging. And the women sang “someone better squabble” in almost a mocking tone?? Because so many white Americans only know Kendrick from the Drake beef, and they’re there to see two black men fight, not a celebration of Black Culture.
The american flag literally dissolved into depictions of violence and shooting. And then, once the performers were united in sync again, the audience flashed “WARNING, WRONG WAY”
That has so many meanings, both in the context of the performance being about politics and the path America as a whole is going down—the wrong way.
But also in that specific moment, when black men were working together as a whole, America would rather see them fighting. After that section is over, Uncle Sam mocks Kendrick.
Once the performance turns into a pop song Uncle Sam says, “yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! That’s what America wants—nice and calm! You’re almost there. Don’t mess this-“ and he is cut off by Not Like Us starting. White America is content to watch Black artists as long as the art is palatable to them, but Kendrick disrupted that with the Drake beef, and white America watched because it glorifies violence between black men.
But Kendrick emphasizes that this is not what this performance is about. When asked if he’s really about to do this, he says “It’s a cultural divide, Imma get it on the floor.” And “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.” He is doing this for Black America. Not Like Us has brought folks together when America has tried its hardest to divide and conquer. Hell, Kendrick had Crips and Bloods dancing on stage together at a concert. He’s managed to work through centuries of oppression and trauma to bring Black America together in this moment. This is bigger than the music.
And he brings it back to politics with “yeah, they tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.” There’s a reason he said that with the president in the audience. Kendrick had the biggest stage in the world and he used it to say “They Not Like Us” with the president, a known child predator, in the audience. And the rest of the crowd was screaming the lyrics along with Kendrick.
Kendrick Lamar the man you are
On the journey to getting better but I am gonna complain about it the whole way through
pioneering something called "gritted teeth optimism" where everything is gonna turn out okay even if i have to bite and claw and gnash my way through it