Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 3h

Still in early game, but Metaphor ReFantazio definitely feels like an expansion and evolution of some of Persona 5's themes.

P5 had a running current of "social reform" and how to achieve it/whether it's actually possible to fix society which Metaphor puts front & centre.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4h

Chiang Kai Shek: "Jesus and Job didn't need to light up and neither do you."

Mao Zedong: "Socialism tastes good - like your cigarette should."

Treats Hog (Good) 류강 대™🪨🕯️ @karnesmellagio.bsky.social · 12h

The nationalists tried to get the Chinese to stop smoking and the Communists saw it as a right of all Chinese to smoke a cig. This explains why the civil war ended the way it did

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 1d

Letterboxd users splintering into factions over whether it's more praxis to spend a week binging John Ford, Coen Brothers, or the Star Wars Prequels.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty sure the dead king who is now the Moon from Majora's Mask is going to be a problem going forward.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4d

I know it's definitely not going to be that easy, but it's just funny to see the protagonist's organisation get straight to business.

(I doubt the twist is that Louis is actually a good guy. Hashino twists tend to be more "now that you beat the personal villain, here's the true villain.")

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 2d

Love that the first Murdle book ends on "Murder At The Movies!" and then the second one's like "Can Logico deduce who'll win the bloody civil war he did nothing to stop? BTW, it will change nothing. It's just about proving he (& you) are just that smart."

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 3d

Eito has Eric Cartman energy.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 3d

If you like depressing Russian stuff @viperwave.bsky.social then you'd get a kick out of Second Hand Time, a set of interviews with the last Soviet generation.

Also recommend Strugatsky Brothers' Hard To Be A God. Dead Mountaineer's Hotel gets grim too for an attempted murder mystery/sci-fi mashup.

1 1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 3d

Fun video with a good point on some audiences' trouble accepting that, within a certain story's context, not every mystery will have a clear explanation given at the end like it's a detective novel.

You never leave the house. Of course you're not going to discover why the Sun suddenly hates mankind

Rocky @viperwave.bsky.social · 3d

Last nights wonderful NO IM NOT A HUMAN stream that almost 200 people attended (Thank you!) is now up on Youtube if you missed it. Please enjoy it everyone youtu.be/vN2ojgoDJtg

No, I'm Not A Human (FULL) | KEMONOFRIENDZONE

YouTube video by KEMONOFRIENDZONE

youtu.be

1 9 34

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4d

I know it's definitely not going to be that easy, but it's just funny to see the protagonist's organisation get straight to business.

(I doubt the twist is that Louis is actually a good guy. Hashino twists tend to be more "now that you beat the personal villain, here's the true villain.")

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4d

Still on the early hours of Metaphor Refantazio but love how quickly the story just throws bombshells at you.

"This Louis jerk killed the king. BTW, he also poisoned the prince who is also your friend. Now go kill him."

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks. I already went Strength build because that's reliable enough for the difficulty I'm on. But good to know there's late-game advantages.

Might go for Magic in a New Game + if I ever have the time for another playthrough. Still need to do it for Persona 5 Royal.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 4d

Remembering back when there was this huge embrace of the Fast and the Furious movies that then immediately died upon contact with Fast X.

Nobody raves about "family" anymore.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 6d

Probably going to go Strength build in Metaphor ReFantazio since that's usually a safe bet in SMT-style games unless Magic build had something particularly special about it.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 6d

One Bonobo After Another.

Mr. Chau @srirachachau.bsky.social · 6d

Jane Goodall was actually the only one keeping the apes in control. Now there's a power vacuum

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 8d

Thinking of that Scorsese/Schrader interview where they talk about critic friends hating the film because they couldn't stand how much Travis Bickle sounded like their own darkest thoughts.

The Black Casebook @blackcasebook.bsky.social · 9d

Boy has this aged well.

2

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 9d

PTA already said OBAA's more inspired than based on Vineland, but love the contrast between Brock Vond "looks of JFK/James Bond, soul of Nixon" & Lockjaw being the dorkiest sadist in America.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

*Seishi Yokomizo's Murder At The Black Cat Cafe.

Why does it take so long to spot minor spelling errors?

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

Admittedly I have a bias as I myself wrote a murder mystery built around a time-loop which obviously didn't get picked up.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

The Man Who Died Seven Times is a fun, light-hearted time-loop detective story. As much, if not more, about solving "why is my family Like This?" as Whodunnit.

Would recommend if you like Knives Out or really any mystery built around dysfunctional families.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

Spent the weekend reading Japanese murder mysteries.

First was Seishi Yokomizo's Black Cat Cafe Murders, two Kosuke Kindaichi short stories paired together, and second was Yasuhiko Nishizawa's time-loop tale The Man Who Died Seven Times.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

Spent the weekend reading Japanese murder mysteries.

First was Seishi Yokomizo's Black Cat Cafe Murders, two Kosuke Kindaichi short stories paired together, and second was Yasuhiko Nishizawa's time-loop tale The Man Who Died Seven Times.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 10d

It's been a few days but now sure One Battle After Another is up there with The Master & There Will Be Blood for my favourite Paul Thomas Anderson movies.

1

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 11d

I've seen "Inside every revolutionary, there is a policeman" be attributed to Gustave Flaubert a lot (particularly Orlando Figes 'A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891–1924'), but it's never actually sourced.

Is there any evidence he actually said or wrote that?

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 11d

One gag I wish The Boys committed fully to was the idea that Homelander's a Film Guy.

Should have a scene where he forces The Seven to watch Rio Bravo with him or reveal he's got a secret Letterboxd account with takes so chaotic that it's actually popular.

2

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 12d

Started reading Murder At The Black Cat Cafe, the newest English translation of Seishi Yokomizo's Kosuke Kindaichi series.

Hadn't realised it was actually two short stories paired together. Just finished the first chapter which promises a spin on the "faceless corpse" concept.

Dr Ben Sayle (100/100) @bensayle.bsky.social · 12d

Finished The Judas Window by John Dickson Carr (republished by British Library Crime Classics'). One of the 'big' Carr books & a very, to use the novel's own phrasing, 'mechanics'-heavy whodunnit.

Definitely recommend if you're interested in the puzzle-solving side of mystery.

1