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Author: Phoenix Simms

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Melinoë, the protagonist of the videogame Hades II. She wears an orange mini dress and has her hair cut into a blunt bob. Her left arm glows with a mystical light.

The Triple Goddess Effect

By Phoenix Simms • February 2nd, 2023

Like Hades protagonist Zagreus, Melinoë is also connected to an Orphic hymn, this time one that sings of her as a “saffron veil’d” nymph that inspires both night terrors and madness in people.

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Greta, the female gremlin from Gremlins 2, poses in a sequined red gown and pink feather boa, a large red flower pinned to her shiny green mane of wavy tresses. Her makeup is flawless on her scaly green face.

Gremlin Girl Energy

By Phoenix Simms • January 5th, 2023

Greta is both a problem and a potential solution to that problem, but when read under a more feminist-revisionist lens, she’s charmingly camp, she’s a 90s icon and she’s absolutely that bitch.

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The prince of Hades rests a large blade across his shoulder while showing off his well-muscled chest.

The Prince of Hades Laughs with a Mouthful of Blood

By Phoenix Simms • December 8th, 2022

Zagreus is definitely a liminal figure trapped in a purgatorial space – and this metaphor extends to the entire setting of Hades.

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A still from Vampire Hunter D shows the hunter on horseback in front of a full moon, the horse rearing up and the hunter's cape flying outward like bat wings.

Half-Humans and Half-Lives

By Phoenix Simms • November 3rd, 2022

At the throbbing heart of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is a fear of different beings mixing to create a monstrous one.

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Acquiring Phantomilian

By Phoenix Simms • October 5th, 2022

Games have their own form of communication and language and, in some instances, they include constructed languages, or conlangs, that are foreign to their players too.

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In a detail from the cover art of Javy Gwaltney’s Into the Doomed World, a lone tombstone sits in a large grassy field lit by sunset, mountains and trees rising behind it.

The Hopeful Disharmony of Into the Doomed World

By Phoenix Simms • September 8th, 2022

Phoenix talks to Javy Gwaltney about Into the Doomed World, his new short-story collection about 30 self-aware NPCs in a world that’s been sentenced to a slow apocalypse by its player.

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In key art from the Doom series, the marine protagonist squares off against a large demon, legions of fighters gathering behind each combatant.

Catharsis through Carnage

By Phoenix Simms • August 3rd, 2022

Despite DOOM being about ripping and tearing your way through various hellscapes this iconic first-person shooter is (paradoxically) pure escapism and catharsis.

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In key art from the videogame Okami, a white fox rendered in stylized ink leaps toward the viewer.

Retracing My Writer’s Statement

By Phoenix Simms • June 30th, 2022

For this Unwinnaversary Phoenix compares her past writer’s statement/interests to her current state of affairs.

Revving the Engine
In a screenshot from the videogame Pull Stay, a man in glasses and a plaid shirt holds a mug of coffee. His face seems to be illuminated by computer glow.

Network Effects

By Phoenix Simms • May 26th, 2022

Pull Stay is personal, pulling from solo developer Nito Souji’s experience as a hikikomori, his unique sense of humor and his favorite genre of beat ‘em ups.

A sepia-toned, pen and ink drawing of a telegraph machine.

A Near Miss for International Communication and Progress!

By Phoenix Simms • April 27th, 2022

We have never been more aware that a man is a social creature and part of a very large web of interconnections in this world!

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