The Library of Alysaril

this is lovely. i don't have anything really inciteful to say. this book dragged me from a spiral, if only for a moment. and for that, i thank you :)

Something about the imagery in this just resonated with me and I knew I had to play. Despite getting my degree in film studies and having good analysis skills, I definitely struggle to make sense of more-as we call in film-"avant guard" or abstract material. Especially since it's meant to be that way, it's not meant to have a concrete answer for how to interpret.

So I do find it difficult sometimes, however, I was just so drawn to playing through your narrative and I love what I've seen. At first, I interpreted the "character" as an Ai looking in at different parts of humanity, and I interpreted the distorted graphics as the AIs perspective. Faces warped, pixelated and text unreadable, symbolizing the disconnect the AI feels with the human life it is not a part of. "On the edge of understanding" like you describe in the top of this page, but not able to truly be a part of that human life. I also think the text and zine pages could be the AIs processing of events, not necessarily text. But images amongst it's lines of code, and the images could symbolize their memories/processing of events.

However, after reading about your inspiration for this game, I thought of it all in a bit of a different way. the SPC book seems like a very high-level read that isn't something I'm used to, but I get the idea behind it. After thinking of your inspiration here, I also think that it doesn't matter that you and a reader/spectator cannot read the distorted text/lines of code or see the face of the general conquering some other planet, slaughtering some other innocent lives...War never changes, and greed is something that will always persist and repeat time and time again until it is what destroys us. Another faceless dictator declaring war. More senseless violence. More pillaging. It doesn't matter that the faces are distorted (the distortion might even be more fitting, given the nature of it all) because all the violence and greed and senselessness just repeats itself and blurs into one.

I found the repeating library to be interesting as well, and the inspiration behind that super interesting. The concept of the repeating library, of human's tendencies to try to assign meaning and order to things...the theme really played in well with the concept of humanity's justification for its actions. The violence committed due to greed in the world, and how people can justify their own actions through these variable "truths" of the world...Truth is subjective/relative, which in turn means everything and nothing has meaning. I'm not sure how to further explain that but that's what I took from that. Of course, even I am sitting here trying to take meaning from your work, and the struggle I feel to find the "right" meaning for it I think is the point of it.

I think the pieces you wove together from your inspiration are very synergistic and complimentary. You've created your own higher art by juxtaposing elements of the pieces of higher art that you were inspired by, and I really enjoyed trying to interpret them. I wish I could understand the deeper meanings behind all the elements that you have here, but I understand that it is an interpretive piece that I won't be able to fully understand. What I absorbed from this piece could be wildly off from what you were hoping to portray ( I honestly am way off at interpreting avant-garde art more often than not, even though I think the point is that it IS up to infinite interpretation) but that's what I have been able to take from this piece. It's surreal and gives me conflicted emotions, a sense of restlessness, powerlessness and makes me think of my place in the universe. One could take peace in the fact that they won't have all the answers for everything nor have the power to create a world that conforms to their justifications and "truths", as a sort of way of freeing themselves from the burden of assigning meaning to everything and trying to control everything. Alternatively, one could be upset by this fact and do their best to continue their search of making order of the world; to finding proof that the universe that we've accepted as a "truth" is infinite, is actually finite and can be all understood and categorized. That human actions, human thoughts, can be understood and categorized. That our pain and suffering and death can be understood and categorized. That we don't just turn to dust at the end of it, that there is a purpose for our lives and that they will have meaning. That we aren't just specks of dust when considering the timeline of humanity, how expansive the universe is, and how many life forms exist or even worlds exist. I suppose in regards to my own existence, I myself often find myself conflicted between the three concepts/actions/truths: assigning meaning to life/feeling as if life has meaning, realizing it is meaningless and futile to assign meaning to life, and that it is a amalgamation of both and neither.

Sorry for my confused thoughts at the end, and for such a long post. Thank you for sharing this piece with the world. Sorry again if I am way off of what school of thought you were even hoping to portray in the first place. This is the first time in a while that I've thought so deeply about something before though, so I appreciate you challenging my mind. Beautiful work of art; truly one of those pieces that aren't appreciated during their time but become famously known hundreds of years from now. I hope you consider sharing this experience at a showcase or something, there are ways for interactive art like this to be shared at galleries and whatnot. I hope you share it with philosophers as well, I think that this would get a lot of buzz in those spaces. Thank you again for the experience!

Alas I don't have anything clever or constructive to say rn - I just really really like this.

There's something oddly comforting about playing it.

Like petting a lizard.