#And I says this as someone who particularly prefer morally grey characters over heroes

[holograms-in-the-night]

Thinking about it, Elise's character had it all to be an "antagonist" or to be morally grey:

She had a tragic past, including the loss of beloved people to her (her parents). Their deaths affect her even 10 years after.

She had a somewhat "complicated" relationship with her father. In the game it is not directly established that she doesn't like him, but it is very clear that she holds complicated feelings about him . In the scene where she ressurects Sonic, she describes her father's plan to change time as a "sin". (also all my elise homies dislike the Duke so you get it)

Elise is lonely and sad, which is the easiest path to wake up Iblis.

Elise technically has lost everything, she lost her family and she is doomed to live a life shutting her emotions forever in order to protect her people.

When she met Sonic for the first time, she asked him "why was he saving her", implying that, people only care for her status as a princess, and she is not used to be cared for who she is. Or maybe that's my interpretation. She seemed very uninterested on Sonic in the beginning, while Sonic was flexing in front of her while killing Eggman's robots😎😎

The scene in the beginning where Elise has a vision of Iblis waking up and destroying the city, she appears flying, looking at the kingdom in a serious way. I think it's interesting that she's portrayed like that, instead of portraying her with an afraid look on her face . To me, it implies that Elise's knows that Iblis is inevitable and that there's nothing she can do other than accept such devastating fate.

I think it says a lot of her that despite all of this, Elise always stood for the good. She loves being a princess and she loves her kingdom, even if sometimes she wishes she could be just a normal girl. She has heroic traits as well, and in my opinion, is it one of the reasons why Sonic is interested in her, as Sonic himself is a hero and does good in a selfless way.

"It sounds like being a princess is not that easy"

He clearly shows admiration for Elise's strong will, and it definetly makes a contrast on Sonic's physical strenght. I think it's also interesting that in this game, Sonic helps Elise not only by rescuing her from danger, but also by listening to her, for trying to make her feel better and not judging her for having emotions that others might deem as "selfish" or "not proper from a princess". This is what makes Elise to take the right decision to blow the candle to go back in time, because thanks to him, she knows that they will always be friends even if they are apart, and that she always will make the right decision. She is princess, and Soleanna matters the most to her. She saved Soleanna and the world just like all of the other characters in her own way, by having a strong heart.

Say whatever you want about Elise "being a damsel on distress on the whole game", but narratively? Her being a princess is an important part of the plot, because if she didn't loved being a princess, if she didn't loved her people, Iblis would have destroyed the world years ago. (I do agree that the rescuing elise part could have been handled better at least on gameplay terms, but dismissing her importance as a princess to the plot and reducing her to a mere damsel in distress is so innacurate). It really takes strenght to be like that, and to be able to protect others.

[sseizonsha]

Leon and Survival

Motivations and Guilt as an Agent of Death    

  The Biohazard universe requires the audience to suspend disbelief, particularly in regards to the protagonists surviving events where others would have died. One could argue that this is merely protagonist armor for the sake of thrills and playing the game, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to get a little more symbolic and meta about this fact. 

  Leon is defined most prominently by two things: his tenacity, quick-thinking, and improvisation in the field, and the severity of the loss he experiences when he fails to save people in need. This eventually leads Leon to become the jaded and a little more distrusting version of what he used to be. But what’s most important here is despite this, Leon never loses his penchant for gambling on a snowball’s chance in hell. He never loses his idealism. He never stops believing he can help someone.

    If I could let myself be facetious for a moment: Leon S. Kennedy. Leon Sentimental Kennedy. Leon Self-Sacrificing Kennedy. Leon Serve Justice Kennedy. Leon, ever the Survivor. 

    I have touched on this before in my exploration of Leon’s PTSD, but I really need to stress for anyone and everyone willing to listen: Leon does not take the term “survivor” as a compliment or as something to be lauded, and he prefers not to be referred to as such. At best, he uses it ironically in order to make fatalistic, derisive jabs at himself. The term serves as a reminder of all the people he’s failed and all the innocents he’s lost. This is also why, in Degeneration when defending Claire’s expertise, he omitted the fact that she wasn’t the only Raccoon City survivor in the room.

   For Leon, helping others get to safety supersedes everything, including direct orders from top brass on mission; at the root of it, seeing others get out and survive IS his mission. Take, for example:

The important scene in RE2 leading up to and following Robert Kendo’s death, in which Leon shows serious emotional compassion for Kendo’s family and demands that Ada not keep the truth from innocent people. He explains that helping people is the only reason why he’s even here, that he cannot and will not allow her or anyone else keep the truth quiet. 

 When Leon and Helena are walking through Ivy University and come across the man looking for his daughter. Helena insists that they don’t have time for this, to which Leon responds, “We’re making the time.” 

   There is nothing more important or valuable to him than another’s life. Therein lies the  greatest source of scarring and trauma for Leon: most of the people he stops to help end up dying anyway, and he is left standing over his friends’ and charges’ bodies, asking himself what exactly was the point of it all. 

   One could argue that this signifies Leon being protected by a force greater than himself. But you could also argue that Leon is that very protective force acting upon others. It is a secondary role, certainly, as his main career and role is to protect and serve and keep others alive. But no less important is this one: in which Leon S. Kennedy assumes the role of a psychopomp in the Biohazard universe.

    Greek for “conveyer of the soul,” psychopomps serve a crucial role in most mythologies in that they exist to guide the recently deceased to the afterlife without hitch. It is important to note that many psychopomps do not exist to judge the soul; that they simply guide them to the next stage of passing. They are described as liminal beings: able to pass through both the land of the living and the land of the dead. 

Below the read more I will explore these three defining aspects of Leon as a psychopomp. This is already a long post. Take a breather, maybe. Get some water. Get some sleep. 

Judgement

   One major quality that separates Leon’s character from many of the heroes in the Biohazard universe is that Leon's primary motivation is protecting innocents from villains rather than fighting the villains themselves; his personal stake in this fight is one based on compassion and the need for helping the victims and survivors. He doesn’t waste his time hating the bad guys more so than combating the corruption and greed that they stand for. 

  It is this nonjudgmental quality about Leon that allows him to see the world in shades of grey. He can empathize with motivations even if he doesn’t agree with them, and it’s for this reason why he can work so easily beside people like Ada Wong, Manuela Hidalgo, and Alexander Kozachenko. 

  With Leon as a psychopomp, this grey morality works for another reason: that a number of the characters who’ve died and had an impact on Leon all confessed some manner of sin to him before they died. More than that, they all acknowledge Leon in their own way. Below I will list some notable examples:

Marvin Branagh: Arguably the catalyst for Leon accepting his role in this fight, Marvin is first of many people to die in Leon’s line of service to the cause. When the Lieutenant insists that Leon leave without him, Leon refuses and says there’s still time. It is only when Marvin pulls a gun on him to save himself that Leon relents. Marvin names his guilt: “I tried, Leon. But I couldn’t stop it. We can’t let this thing spread. It’s on you now.” 

Ada Wong: (subverted) Ada Wong is an entire meta post on her own in regards to Leon’s feelings, but she deserves mention here. The pain of her betrayal, “Why couldn’t you just hand over the sample,” was later exacerbated with the knowledge that she chose (allegedly) to die on her own terms rather than allowing Leon to save her. Ada tells him that “It isn’t worth it. Take care of yourself,” before falling to her supposed death.

Adam Benford: The United States President and long-time friend of Leon’s, Adam was prepared to sink the USA’s reputation into the ground for the sake of the truth and taking responsibility. When he tells Leon this confession, Leon responds with surprise but ultimately with support: “Whatever you decide, sir, I’m with you.” Adam validates Leon and tells him, “I’ve always valued your friendship.” I imagine this is one of the last things he says to Leon before he dies by Leon’s hand.

Luis Sera: Did not intend to die by anyone’s hands, including his own, but his motivations for helping Leon and Ashley are driven entirely by a need to repent. “I am a researcher, hired by Saddler....The sample. Saddler took it. You have to get it back.” 

Liminal Beings

   Spiritual guides are so powerful in the fact that they have an uncanny ability to travel between both worlds (living and dead) with ease. The most obvious parallel of this is Leon’s sheer luck in getting roped into outbreaks of undead infections and leaving alive and relatively unscathed. Such an existence is a lonely one. While the psychopomp may have companions for a time ( mission partners or innocents in need ),  a rare few share his ability to travel between spaces; most often than not, those who follow from one destination must remain behind or move on. 

   When the psychopomp travels, it is often within a vessel which few can drive or operate, which is undoubtedly symbolic of the soul’s lack of control. In media and story-telling this is actually a trope known as the Afterlife Express. Leon S. Kennedy is often written and played in tandem with vehicular scenes, regardless of whether he is operator, passenger, or witness: 

The beginning of Resident Evil 2: In which Leon drives his own Jeep (in full control) and ultimately switches to drive an abandoned RPD police cruiser deeper into Hell; it is subsequently crashed into and destroyed by an oncoming semi. Leon is temporarily trapped in Hell and must survive and find another way out (via the endgame train).

The beginning of Resident Evil 4: In which Leon is being driven by someone else into the countryside Pueblo. He is shown to be gazing out the window, contemplating on prior events. It is a recollection of his life’s past---his---but the ones doomed to meet their deaths are the Spanish police, who up until seemed so deceptively in control of the situation. 

RE4: Ada driving the boat to the island. Again, subverted, as Ada does not die but chooses to leave the vehicle on her own terms.This forces Leon to take the controls and steer himself the rest of the way to his next area.

RE4: Mike and the helicopter. He meets and interacts with Leon just long enough to help guide Leon along his path; his death is a subsequent righting of roles. Leon witnessing Mike’s death and promising to honor him posthumously fixes this. 

RE6: The start screen and Lanshiang. Leon rides a train with no known conductor steering the rails. The train is empty, save for himself; then with his companion, then with the soul he is sent to fight (Simmons.) 

RE6: The plane. The pilot is subsequently killed and mutates into a Lepotica. Because everyone on board, with the exception of Leon and Helena, are infected, Leon is forced to take the controls and land the plane as best he can. Leon crashing the plane and surviving with Helena attests to his ability to move between literal spaces; the corpses and zombies destroyed in the plane crash all move on to the next world.

RE Damnation and the tank:  While Sasha drives the tank and steers seemingly to his death against the Tyrant-Class mutant, Leon intervenes.

As a Guide

   Beyond everything else that’s been said---and beyond the obvious that Leon’s primary duties are protective detail and getting his charges where they need to go, Leon's presence serves as a reassuring boon to many of the people he comes across.

   Leon internalizes the deaths of everyone he fails to save. The main issue with this beyond the way it affects him is that Leon lacks the ability to see the reality of hindsight. Events in which an outbreak occurred (Harvardsville, Tall Oaks, Lanshiang) happened in a large enough scale that containment was nearly impossible. Sterilization was more or less the only way to eradicate the issue at hand. With or without Leon’s self-sacrificing and offers to help, the fact of the matter remains glaringly obvious to anyone else: 

   Most of the people caught in the chaos of these events likely would’ve died anyway.

   Leon stopping to help gave these survivors the chance to last longer than they might have otherwise. He took that snowball’s chance in hell and made it count for what it was worth. The truth of the matter is? Although he is written as psychopomp symbolically, he is first and foremost incredibly and literally human. 

   From the symbolic, spiritual perspective, Leon is incapable of realizing that it is not his job to stop all of these people from dying---it is simply his job to be there for them so that they are not alone. 

[golivethemagic-blog]

So I have Feelings About Toy Story 4

So. Hello. It’s been a while since I posted here, huh? Like usual, I’ve been skeptical on Disney as a business: ensuring there will be less movies made more expensive by devouring the competition, not letting Galaxy’s Edge Cast Members tell people where things are outside of Galaxy’s Edge, their anti-union policies…nothing they have been producing lately has felt interesting to me. Tumblr has also gone to shit and over half the blogs I used to follow are gone, but I still like it a hell of a lot more than any other social media site. I still use mobile, but mostly to transfer images from my phone to my computer.

But I saw Toy Story 4, and I have feelings about it.

Disney sure is on a trend of writing movies that have nothing inherently wrong with them but leave the fanbase screaming. While I have no interest in associating myself with the toxic and childish Fandom Menace, I can sympathize with them. Star Wars was a series that they had invested a lot of time and emotional energy into, and to see the series take such a left turn—old characters die or change their characterization completely, new characters take center stage, the black and white morality of the series become much more grey and complex—makes you feel like it was all for naught. This doesn’t excuse ANY of their actions, but I digress.

Toy Story is my Star Wars. And Toy Story 4 is my Last Jedi. And I have feelings about it.

Let’s talk about the good things first. Toy Story 4 is an absolute masterpiece in terms of CGI animation, and even animation in general. I have no idea how animation can improve from here. Most of the time when there was something onscreen that I hated, I was just watching the textures of characters, or how they moved around. The plans the toys hatch in order to move around and save the day are some of the strongest writing this series has ever had. The villain was excellent; just as sinister as Lotso or Pete, but still human (for lack of a better term) and able to be sympathized with. Forky is great, and the montage of him and Woody just walking down the highway was my favorite scene in the whole movie.

It’s good to see Bo Peep back. Her being missing was one of the things I really hated about 3. But I really dislike her redesign. It feels like the creators thought that, in order for Bo Peep to be a strong female character, they needed her to be a Strong Independent Woman. Bo Peep in the first two movies was already a strong, competent character--the fact that she was not an action hero does not change that. She was always kind to the other toys, she worked alongside them despite being so fragile, and she took control of the room when Woody and Buzz were gone. The prologue of the movie showcases this quite well. But also the prologue requires wild leaps of logic in order for the story to start and for Bo Peep to be missing during 3. Yeah, she was not Andy’s toy, but Andy still played with her and relied on her like any of the other toys, and furthermore, Andy’s toys were her friends.  The whole movie I was waiting for Bo Peep to have a wild make-out scene with Woody like she did in the first two, but it just never happened. Because the nature of their relationship had changed so much, it never felt quite as romantic, no matter how many times they relied on Woody looking at Bo lovingly while she was looking at something else (aka, my favorite romance trope. They used it twice.). Now I get that there are 9 years of separation between them, but it wasn’t like there was any bad blood between them before.  

Speaking of wild character leaps, all of the characters seemed to take one at some point. Andy’s toys mostly took a backseat, particularly Mr. Potato Head, who had to rely on archival recordings for his voice. Buzz and Woody spend almost no time together. But we still have Buzz thinking his inner voice is literally his voicebox (Buzz is dumb, but it’s been 20 years. He should know something), Woody sulking that he isn’t the favorite toy anymore (despite, I dunno, THE FIRST MOVIE BEING ABOUT THAT),  Bo Peep accusing Woody of caring more about a kid that doesn’t really like him than caring about his friends, and tons of other small things that didn’t really make me like any character. Towards the end of the movie, Bo Peep asks Woody what’s so important about saving Forky, and the fact that Woody says anything other than “Because he’s a toy, and no toy gets left behind” shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Woody’s character.

And then THAT ENDING…strap yourselves in, kids. I need to talk about spoilers.

Very quick final thoughts for people who don’t want to read under the cut: Toy Story 4 is not a bad movie. It’s a wonderfully animated movie full of action and heartache alike. But’s it’s poorly told. I can’t recommend this to longtime Toy Story fans, but admittedly, it probably wasn’t made for us. There’s a whole new generation of Bonnies to play with now. If you ignore all the character history behind it, it’s fine. But I probably won’t be giving this another watch.

So. At the end of the movie, Woody decides to stay with Bo and travel the world. He says goodbye to everyone and gives his Sherriff badge to Jessie, effectively making her the new leader of Andy’s toys (although Dolly was the leader of Bonnie’s toys and I don’t even think she was in the RV but whatever), and they go their separate ways. On paper, it is a great way to end the series. It is the end of the friendship of Woody and Buzz that was forged in the first movie. Woody isn’t dead or anything, but there’s no possible way that they can get back together except for extreme circumstances. It is the end to Woody needing to be someone’s toy in order to feel worthy. It is the perfect use of the theme that it is okay to say goodbye and let go.

But here’s the thing: I hate it.

Like I said before, Woody’s whole first movie was about him dealing with the fact that he was not the favorite toy anymore and learning to get along with Buzz despite that. Why is not being Bonnie’s favorite such a big deal? Furthermore, Woody admits that he was made “sometime in the 50s”. Let’s be generous and say that he didn’t even become aware until his toybox was opened (debatable throughout the entire series, but sure), and let’s be even more generous and say his box wasn’t sold until the 70s. Who was Woody’s original owner? Why wouldn’t Woody feel bad about leaving them? Why wouldn’t he have experience dealing with the loss of a kid in 3 that leaves him okay to move on in 4? Or why wouldn’t he bring him up as well if he did have problems? Woody was an important doll to Bonnie, even if he wasn’t prime playtime material, because someone had given him to her. Wouldn’t she notice he was missing? And considering how Andy switched back to playing with both Woody and Buzz, wouldn’t she eventually switch to wanting to play with him?  Also remember Toy Story 2, aka the Best One? In that film, Woody seriously considers going to Japan and becoming a collector’s item. But he listens to his show’s version of him sing the theme song, and he realizes how much he’ll miss his friends. Sure, context is different, especially because of Andy, but I feel like it adds to the same point: Why is Woody leaving his friends? Why do we have to have such a sad ending to our childhood franchise? whY aRe yOU ruINinG my C h I l D h o O d pIXAR

The ending feels forced. It feels like they wanted to end the series once and for all. I may not like 3 very much just because of how cynical and sad it can get, but it at least gave us a happy ending. Now? Screw you, Woody and Buzz are a thousand miles away and there’ll never be a Toy Story 5.

With all of this said, I don’t think there was a version of this story I would have liked. I had no interest in seeing the series end with Toy Story 3, I had negative interest in seeing the series end with Toy Story 4. Apparently, there is a Bo-Peep series in the works on Disney+. I think I would have preferred that as a sequel. Instead of being a feature-length film, make a series of short episodes about Bo Peep travelling the world, helping lost toys, and maybe even piecing together where Andy’s toys could have gone. It would have cost like half the budget, and it would have everyone interested in a Disney+ subscription.

Toy Story 4 is not a bad movie. It’s a wonderfully animated movie full of action and heartache alike. But’s it’s poorly told. I can’t recommend this to longtime Toy Story fans, but admittedly, it probably wasn’t made for us. There’s a whole new generation of Bonnies to play with now. If you ignore all the character history behind it, it’s fine. But I probably won’t be giving this another watch.

[mal-likes-biscuits]

Series Behind the Scenes (Diablo: Amor Aeternus)

I wanted to share some of the fun hidden eggs/did you know/lore reference/extra stuff that appears throughout the series, but I didn’t have a chance to mention as I posted.

LONG post: content after the break! (Also, series spoilers. In case that’s not obvious.)

In All Things Light and Dark

Water imagery: all the Aspects have an element associated with them. Wisdom/Death is water/ice, per their arcane spells and the domain itself (Pools of Wisdom). Malthael returns to life in a spot that reminds him of the Pools.

Biscuits are the first food Malthael ever eats. He likes them afterwards because they remind him of the warm compassion he was shown. This carries on into later stories, where he has an obvious preference for baking, but also a lingering soft spot for biscuits in particular.

Fallen angels carry with them some sort of lingering power. One of Mal’s most important but not really mentioned ones is that he can speak/read all languages. It’s about 50% practice and 50% magic. He just knows what things mean.

I probably should have had ice manifest on his hands in the church instead of the arcane glow. However, I also wanted to underscore the difference between his base element/person and the Reaper.

The blades themselves aren’t the cause/fix of his memory loss. He’s suppressing things due to a) an extremely painful death and b) his mortal brain trying to reconcile things with his previously immortal/corrupted soul. His taking up the blades and recovering the past through combat is purely symbolic.

Things Malthael does in the year before Tyrael finds him: scribe, translator, and at-no-pay demon cull-er. He spends his entire savings to buy Talm the farm sickles. 

Tyrael and the companions probably overreact when they see Malthael, thinking he is a Reaper. But he also is super grungy looking and his clothing is all tattered. He’s been sleeping on the streets when he hasn’t been working at the church. He doesn’t look that far off from a corrupted Reaper.

The reason there’s a punisher in Salvos, and a demon swell in general, is because (you may have guessed it) another angel Fell near there, and is now living there. You see undead when Tyrael falls and his angelic power causes chaos. Any remaining Reapers come out of their fugue state and gravitate towards the lingering essence of their master...who is not really impressed to see them.

This does get mentioned elsewhere, but yes: they all drink the mead. They all get extremely drunk. Malthael and Tyrael get dragged into the farmer’s hand-to-hand just for fun fight and end up smacking the snot out of each other for catharsis.

Arcane & Apples

This story came about because I wanted to write a fun one-shot about how Tristram would appear to an outsider.

Also, I felt bad there was a lack of scholarly characters in the series after Cain dies and wanted to bring someone else in.

Farah was originally meant to be an Archivist (based on the April Fool’s content in the game) before I canned that idea, because I have plans for that later that are very different.

Osseus’ name was one he took when he became a proper necromancer. It derives from “ossuary”, or a place where the dead are kept (bones only).

Farah had a cat for most of her life in Caldeum, but she was currently without one or she would have likely brought it with. You see a few cat references from her throughout the series.

Aya and Tyrael were more than a little hoping that Malthael would strike up a conversation with Farah. They were just dodging around the topic most of the time.

Aya almost barfs when Farah sniffs one of Malthael’s journals. She says she doesn’t know where it’s been, but she has ideas from what she’s seen.

Originally Osseus was going to be Xul, until I learned that Xul was the Diablo 2 necromancer. Part of this carried over to my description of Osseus having a rather charming voice, which is more like Xul and less like the actual Diablo 3 necromancer. I’m chalking it up to artistic variance.

The unreadable scrolls about scroll-crafting are going to be important in Series 2.

The prophetic line from Farah’s dream about Malthael ("This man walks the crossroads. One path leads to ruin. The other, survival.") is meant to read as applying to the survival of the Nephalem (or himself), but it also applies to his decision about the Arch in Act 4.

Farah reacting to the tone of Malthael’s voice (beyond just basic surprise) was added in after several edit rounds, when the characters decided they had this Love thing going on in later stories. Still, I wanted to keep it relatively understated.

The "Aya, would you explain mortal courtship?” line was in the very first draft and was meant to be a humorous throw-away line, but, you know. He still doesn’t understand mortal courtship.

A Light in the Darkness

Most of the first scene was added in the final edit draft, because I wanted to up the banter between all of them.

Lyndon and Malthael pretty much subside by insulting each other, like the not-quite-brothers they seem to be. Tyrael is mostly relieved it’s not him dealing with it anymore.

There’s a small suggestion that people have been beaking at Farah for her being kind to Malthael, and this is true; he’s not making that part up. But they try and not whisper about it if he’s around because he would end them. He finds out anyway.

Lyndon isn’t bugging him for that reason, he really just likes pushing his buttons and doesn’t have anything against Farah or them all getting along.

Unlike Osseus, Zaira never changed her name. It’s hers. It’s who she is. That pretty much sums her up.

Zaira happened because I wanted to write a morally grey/lesser evil human character who was nonetheless on the side of good. Sort of like Malthael when he’s the Reaper.

Zaira’s unhealthy fixation that Lyndon mentions has been mentioned on this blog a few times and implied in the story. She is obsessed with learning more about the Reaper of Westmarch, and admires him greatly. Also, had a really weird infatuation with his power, which is what led to her and Osseus breaking up.

Chith never got far enough to even talk about adopting a new necromancer name.

Chith was named by my husband, when I asked him to come up with a name for a necromancer. He thought it was for Zaira’s character, who we’d chatted about in concept awhile earlier. Nope.

The book lady really has no idea she just called the oldest being in creation “young man” until after it happens.

The book lady is also important and is going to be reappearing later in Series 2.

The bit with Malthael arguing with the Reaper part of him (mentally) during the big gem-fight was added in much later, as part of a sweep I did across the series to build up that conflict for his character, as well as establish the level of PTSD flashbacks he experiences.

Born of Night & Beams of Light

This was originally meant to be the second large story in the series, and come fairly closely after “In All Things Light and Dark”.

The idea for the Archshards happened way before Diablo: Immortals and the Worldstone Shards were announced (my reaction to that probably makes more sense now).

I had planned on making Imperius the antagonist for this story from the beginning, based on his character development in Diablo 3.

Originally, the Prime Evil was going to take more complete control of Imperius, and his form was going to reflect that. But I didn’t think a character as strong as Imperius would give in that much, and that a lot of his behaviour would be due to his own issues and not the influence of the Hells.

The “charger” Tyrael rides in the opening chapters is a reference to Tyrael’s Charger from Heroes of the Storm.

I had notes for the scene in Salvos with Malthael drafted while I was writing “In All Things Light and Dark” because I knew he was going to be revisiting Death.

Talm and his family were originally slated to die in Salvos, but I thought Malthael bringing them back alive would actually have a more positive impact on his character, plot-wise. I wanted him to draw on Death out of  responsibility instead of despair.

Malthael’s Death abilities (while mortal) are inspired by the frost magic he uses in Reaper of Souls, as well as by some of the magic the necromancers use in the game series. His Wisdom Aspect form is mostly intellectual abilities (scrying with the Chalice, languages, etc.); his Death Aspect is mage-ish.

The “mental connection” Malthael and Farah use is inspired directly by what Tyrael does with Leah in Diablo 3 in terms of imparting memories and feelings. The mortal angels seem to be at least partially psychic.

A lot of Aya’s character development in the series was inspired by me wanting to write a) a more HUMAN Nephalem and b) how a Nephalem would handle having imposter syndrome. (Since the Nephalem in the game are essentially unflappable.) It is a slight departure from the game characterization, but also my attempt to bring some realism to an overpowered character class.

Originally, Auriel wasn’t supposed to recognize/learn it was Malthael stealing the Chalice until after it was all done, to show that she was willing to help the humans specifically. But the scene ended up being very emotional and affecting and I left it as I wrote it, with her finding out his identity right away.

Auriel’s fate was somewhat undetermined, but I knew she would oppose Imperius. When Chith came about as a character, I decided to have her become mortal instead of dying because I wanted to be able to write a student-mentor relationship between them.

Itherael was plotted to die from very early in the series planning, due to the nature of the Prophecy of the End of Days. Unfortunately, for everyone who is a fan of them.

Auriel’s mortality is one of the more self-indulgent items I wrote into the series, mostly because that could have gone so many different ways.

I really wanted to explore Chalad’ar’s uses, particularly since it seems to be so powerful but isn’t really explained much even in Storm of Light. There’s a lot of suggested functionality, intentional or accidental, with how the user can interact with what they are studying.

Farah helping Malthael with the scrying was a relatively late addition to the story and didn’t appear until I began to write the scene.

Farah’s Nephalem abilities actually extend beyond the Sight, but aren’t fully developed yet -- though they are hinted at when she is able to tolerate Chalad’ar better than some of the others. This will be developed more in Series 2.

My description of the Chalice use/scrying was written before I read “Storm of Light” and ended up being surprisingly close to canon. I had to change very little.

All the various Nephalem classes from Diablo 2 and 3 are represented in the final battle, though not all are named characters. Some of the unnamed Nephalem will be appearing in Series 2 as “new” characters.

The final battle takes place somewhere in the Fields of Misery.

The “Death Knells” described by Chith are a reference to Auriel’s Heroes of the Storm ability that lets her see the “souls” of the dead in order to resurrect them with her ult. This idea will be expanded on in Series 2.

None of the end-battle deaths were planned ahead of time except for Imperius. I let the battle write itself fairly organically and saw what came out of it.

Malthael sees as much in the Caverns of Terror as Tyrael does. Imperius is correct when he says he is thinking about Farah: one of the visions he has is of her telling him that he has disappointed her (which, thanks to some of the mind-to-mind conversations they have had, he does not believe).

The arcane abilities that Aya unleashes on Imperius at the end of the fight are a reference to the wizard’s archon mode in the game. And like in the game, they are taxing and have a cool-down period.

We don’t see Kormac return as one of the souls that Malthael works with, because he is “ready to die” and at peace with how he goes out. It’s in many ways the ideal death he wanted to have as a warrior.

In the original outline I did for the series, Malthael was scripted to die at the end, ensuring Imperius could be defeated. I had a change of heart as his character developed throughout the series, and his redemption occurred in very different ways than I had planned.

Lyndon saving Malthael from death was not scripted at all, but when I started writing that part, it came about naturally. I went back and built up stuff with the two of them for the entire rest of the story to set it up, character-wise.

Malthael is meant to be the “brother” that Lyndon actually manages to save, vs. the one that he didn’t.

The bit with Farah waiting at the water is an accidental but direct mirror/echo of the opening story, where Malthael washes up on the lakeshore. More overt references to this were added in after the draft was completed.

There’s a lot of unwritten material that happens during the Epilogue, including lots of conversations between the characters, patching up, the wake/celebration, etc. This may be material I write and refer back to later, but I didn’t want to include it in the Epilogue because there is so much of it.

I hadn’t actually planned on getting Tyrael and Aya together until I wrote the Epilogue and it just sort of happened. Again, lots of additions/tweaks went into the story earlier to help set it up more overtly.

Malthael hasn’t actually been sitting on that bench for that long. He doesn’t specify when he leaves Farah to go back home.

Tales from Tristram

I wrote “Echoes” about 3 times partially, and scrapped each version, because I thought the chapter kept backtracking on Malthael and Farah’s character development from “Arcane & Apples”. The published version is the 4th attempt.

“Echoes” is also the first time we see Malthael’s PTSD manifest from his POV, post-memory recovery.

"Echoes” also gives the details of him working through the PTSD after fighting himself in Act 1, including some subtle references to the very annoying inner (anxiety) monologue he has.

“Night of Souls” was me writing a Halloween story and accidentally stumbling on pivotal character development for pretty much everyone.

Malthael’s comments in “NoS” about Wisdom angels stargazing is related to the description of the Pools. Even when they are pure they are said to show Balance, and I assume if you went high up enough in the Heavens you would eventually see the stars. It’s an interesting visual balance between light and darkness and very fitting of his role.

Malthael arguing with himself while sitting at the bonfire in “NoS” is an example of how he handles his anxiety when he’s in better control of it; the devil’s advocate voice is a lot more nuanced, and he’s more than able to tell it to be quiet.

“Justice and Wisdom Walk into a Bar” was the original plot idea behind “A Light in the Darkness”. Zaera-d was telling me a story about their DnD group burning down a tavern and I thought it was something the Tristram gang would do. Only they ended up not doing that in Act 3.

The above chapter was also the only real time in the series that Tyrael and Malthael’s sexualities get mentioned directly (though Lyndon hints at Malthael’s in Act 3); I really had to balance it being a humorous scene without actually making fun Tyrael because that was 100% not my intent.

[bagofgroceries]

Thoughts on ME: Andromeda

So I finally completed Andromeda with near 100% completion, and I would like to share my thoughts on it. Spoilers and wordy thoughts under the cut!

I want to preface this with saying that I am a big fan of the riginal Trilogy, and I was very excited for Andromeda. After the first trailer was released with the Johnny Cash song was released I blocked all news, trying not to color my impressions of it even more. I pre-ordered the Special Edition of the game but I didn’t play for several weeks because I was replaying the trilogy first.

As well as you know, adulting. Lame.

Spoilers for the originial trilogy as well.

The Plot

Considering when Andromeda takes place in the ME timeline(during ME:2 before the Shadowbroker DLC ish) they didn’t have many choices plot wise. Unless they wanted to write a Prequel a la Borderlands, and it was hard to live up to the Urgency and Seriousness that the plots of ME:2 and ME:3 had.

Settling a new galaxy is a simple plot that lacks the convulutedness that people complained about with The Reapers, Leviathan and heck even the stupid council.

The Pathfinder

When I found out that ‘Pathfinder’ was a title and role that was basically made up by Alec Ryder I was disapointed. The characters you meet and who you hear talking place a great deal of responsibility on the Pathfinders early on, they seem to have such high expectations for people who haven’t really had a chance to earn it.

The role itself? Okay sure, gotta have one person in charge of exploring and charting who has a varied skillset. I would have liked to have heard more about the other Pathfinder’s qualifications. We know Ryder was an N7, we know Sarissa is a War Hero and the best thing since sliced bread according to Cora, but what about Reeka? Avictus?

Also, who exactly do the Pathfinders report to? Ideally did they report to Garson, and did all the Pathfinders report to her, were they not answerable to their own people? What are the Pathfinders going to do once this new society gets going?

Also a bit curious about how they felt about Sam, considering the history of AI in the Milky Way.

Which leads us to…

Sam

Repetitive messages aside (yes, I know it’s fucking cold on the ice planet away from the heaters, thank you.) I really liked Sam. I thought he was useful, a good addition to gameplay, the voice acting was excellent and his character arc–though not complete–was well written.

Did I like him better when he was EDI?  Yes.

Would I have been sad if EDI had died, more so than if Sam died? Yes.

Do I think that they were trying to rip off of EDI’s popularity, like Star Trek was doing with T’Pol and Seven of Nine? Yes.

I am really hoping that if there is another ME game he evolves differently than EDI did. I would have liked to see more push back against his existence with how upset everyone was about EDI becoming unshackled, and the assurances they needed upon meeting her pre-unshackling. Give me the video where a Quarian Pathfinder was convinced to take a SAM implant. Please.

The Kett

Look. There is no way around the Kett being lazy writing, especially if you want to compare to the original trilogy enemies.

The Geth are great enemies with a well written backstory and a satisfying end to their arc, between Legion and the fact that they actually caused debate and discussion they were excellent.

Cerberus was built up through the three games with a great backstory, like the geth they had shades of grey and were humanized through Miranda, Jacob and even EDI.

The Reapers were. Well, the AI who kill humans to save humans isn’t new but they were still handled well and I like the patched ending of ME3. The Leviathan DLC also helped a lot. They also gave a sense of urgency to the plot and were hard as shit to fight at times.

The Kett were never humanized, we never had shades of grey. They tried with the Exalted bit, but even the Angara weren’t really affected by it. It would have been more interesting if some faction of Angara who were against killing Kett. They weren’t particularly challenging, the Exalting thing wasn’t an interesting twist because the Reapers did it first.

The superiority complex wasn’t interesting because to varying degrees all the Milky Way aliens had it against the humans, the Reapers of course were the most severe. Maybe if I hadn’t played the other Trilogy I would be more impressed, but as it stands…not really.

The Angara

I dig the Angara. I have no salt about them, other than that they are the only species in Andromeda other than the Kett. Their backstory is interesting–not particularly original in Sci-Fi but original for ME (I am not comparing it to what the Salarians did with the Krogan of course). Their religion is fascinating as is their family structure, and I even like their look. I wish their Telepathic (???) abilities were expanded on however.

Jaal is obviously meant as a Proxy for Garrus, but without the years of build up I had no issue choosing Suvi over him.

Gameplay

I was pretty displeased that I lost my combat drone early on, my preferred build was engineer in the previous trilogy and I liked the way they improved the drone in 3. However Peebee finally gives you a bot so. You know, he kicked ass.

I don’t like that I could no longer direct my squadmates attacks, once I realized that I sort stopped caring about their builds or who I brought with me. That being said I loved the dialogue between your Squadmates on the Mako, listening to Jaal ask questions was well done and something I actually looked forward to.

The option for different builds..eh. I never played with it. I came up with a skillset I liked (bot, throw and overload) and stuck with it. Oh, I played with Shockwave, just because I was always jealous of Jack.

I feel like the Research and Development thing was better done with Skyrim and potions. Though, in their defense I’m not a huge shooter person, ME is the only shooter I play and it only vaguely falls into that category. My play style has always ha more of an emphasis on powers than guns. Between Resources, Research Points and mods it seemed like a bit of a chore. But I think someone who enjoyed the building mechanic and guns in general would probably be more into it.

The jumpjets were well done, not much to say there. The improved Mako was, well, improved, and made it much more enjoyable. The map was better, though the unlockable hidden staches were a bit of a pain in the ass.

Acquiring resources was much improved, and I appreciated the fact that you stumble onto more minor side quests. I always thought ME could use more of those AC and Skyrim style.

The scanner was…Not bad actually, annoying when it went off for the same stupid shit in every scavenger hideout, but still a well executed concept.

I could go on and on here, but I won’t.

Graphics

Look. It could be better right? No one is saying that they couldn’t be better, or that using Frostbite was a stellar idea, but they are not near as bad as everyone said.  Granted, Voeld is a strong green tint since the latest patch for me, for…reasons. But it’s liveable.

But Meridian? The Fiends? The Angara? Havaarl? All well done, and nothing to scoff at. When it comes to the facial designs and looks, they are on par with ME3, maybe a smidge higher sometimes, but the animation left some to be desired in comparison.

Fuck you EA, shove frostbite up your ass.

Representation

We needed better LGBT representation, hands down. The Fem!Ryder and Suvi storyline was adorable, I squealed and as a queer lady  I fucking loved it. But we could have used more representation, there really isn’t a lot of debate about that.

However! Women were represented better, not so much on the Nexus but I have seen more female Turians and Krogans in Andromeda than in all three previous games total.

We could have used more POC, especially Woc however.

Main Salt

Where are my fucking Quarians, where are my goddamn Drell? We saw two Drell total in Mass Effect, and you have no idea how much I wanted to see more in Andromeda. Don’t give me any bullshit about them being an endangered species okay, Eos and Elaaden would ba paradise for Drell, they were hands down the most under developed species in ME, even the goddamn Jellyfish got a moviestar.

Five. Count ‘em–Volus, Drell, Quarians, Elcor and Hanar were not represented in Andromeda. Holy shit. That is a fucking lot. Jesus. Did they forget? Were they lazy? Were they rushed? Were they incompetent? Tali’s people would have kicked ass in Andromeda. TVtropes as a great section on the headscratchers section about why the Quarians would have been useful, don’t give me any bullshit on Volus and Quarians needing special accommodations because for one this is a video game, make it work, for two they survive just fine on The Citadel and The Normandy.

Fuck off. I am so bitter about this. Keep Cora, give me a Quarian.

The girl at the end who was apparently raised by Quarians felt like a slap in the face. Knight should have been in a Quarian, it makes sense for her to be a Quarian.

There also should have been more ethical or moral decisions like the previous mass effect games, I don’t feel attached to my Ryder, I don’t feel like I really know her personality. Granted, maybe more time I have with her will help, but we don’t even know if there will be more.

Although her speeches were pretty great overall.

As a wrap up;

The game was good, it kept me engaged to the point that I finished it but I never truly felt emotionally invested.  It was not near as bad as everyone said, but it could use some DLCs(that we are never getting), it improved on some things from ME but feels like it was designed by someone who had read about ME and did not love it like we do.

I want to play  the original trilogy all over again, and I will replay Andromeda–but not anytime soon. Fuck Alien Sudoku.

Oh, Drack, Sid, Vetra and Suvi are the best. Fact.

P.S Avictus you are a disappointment.   

I would love to hear your opinions, whether they agree with mine or not :)

[[/more]]

[crookedtalks]

Bookish Thoughts: Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33789743-absolute-power

Goodreads synopsis:  DANGEROUS WOMEN: TALES OF QUEER VILLAINY—edited and with an introduction by lesbian comics tastemaker Erica Friedman—brings you thirteen short stories of power, destruction and chaos by women who love other women almost as much as they love taking over the world! These 238 pages of deliciously dastardly stories of super-powered villainy are contained in a wraparound cover by artist Agnes Czaja (Anything That Loves) and contain contributions from a group of visionary writers.

Well, this book took me a lot longer than I thought to finish reading. ^^; This is the second anthology I’m reviewing on this blog, and I must say I enjoyed this anthology more than the previous one. I would give this anthology a 3.75 stars out of 4, but it’s not quite a 4 star read - so only a 3 star on goodreads (why no half-star system goodreads??).

I got this ebook from the kickstarter campaign and I was very excited to read it, and to support it, not only because it features queer characters (as main characters) and queer romance, but it is also written by queer authors, which is even rarer, and I feel that it is important (personally) that these books get read and reviewed too. I feel like book reviewers whether on social media platforms like youtube, or book bloggers can do a bigger part to lend their voice to these more neglected books, and I want to do that more on this blog, starting with this book.

I really loved that the queerness of the characters wasn’t the whole/sole plot point for the stories (as if that’s the only reason why queer characters are protagonists) and that the queer characters in this anthology are all spread across a spectrum of moralities (the villains and the heroes). The stories were also very different from each other, with each of the stories having their own colourful worlds and and uniquely powerful voices. Overall, it was a fun ride, much like a rollercoaster at a theme park. I’ll definitely me checking out more releases by North West Press in the future. In bold are the stories that I particularly liked (keep in mind that I have a preference for more serious stories), with a small comment on each of the stories in the collection. 

1. Final Grades by Erica Friedman

This story had a really interesting setting of a supervillain school, which I thought gave the reader a very interesting “frame” going into the story. There’s a plot twist at the end which was not completely unpredictable though, since it was already revealed at the start of the story that only a single person has ever graduated from the supervillain school. 

2. Date Night by Tristan J. Tarwater

Another classic supervillain story, where the supervillain goes on a date which gets interrupted by her sidekick. Her date though turns out to be someone unexpected. A fun, fast paced short read with some somewhat predictable twists (which kept the story moving and interesting) and flashy action near the end.

3. Eden’s Revenge by Missouri Vaun

Unlike the previous two stories, this is not a supervillain story but more of a vengeance story where our protagonist/villain is seeking revenge against the man who caused her sister’s suicide. It was all right, I didn’t really gel with this story as well though for some reason. Part of it could be because I didn’t really care for the protagonist - again, most likely a personal preference thing. Not sure about how I feel about the protagonist’s revenge plan being explained as “insanity” at the end of the story though...

4. Gentleman Jack by Barbara Ann Wright

Our protagonist/villain, a smug cross-dressing robber with charm abilities, meets her match in a stubborn, slightly uptight law women armed with science. This has potential to be a satisfying rom-com plot. I kind of wished that the story was a teeny bit longer just to see their cat-and-mouse relationship develop, but at the same time it ended at a place where it felt right. Great character chemistry.

5. Fallen by Audrey Chase

A much more serious story than the previous ones (which were all pretty light-hearted), which also has the gore factor turned up significantly higher. The grittiness and violence in this story was a refreshing change, and showed how terrifying and devastating a villain’s actions can be. This story, I feel, has one of the more interesting “grey” villains, with less clear-cut motives and “evilness”, which I really liked, but may not be for everyone. I would say this is the first story in the collection that I would peg as a tragedy.

6. The Devil Inside by JD Glass

A reporter visits hell to interview the devil herself, then gets interrupted by a mutiny. It was a fun read at first, with the little quips and jokes (eg. hell monsters needing moisturizers for their dry non-human skin), but it soon got on my nerves when the jokes started to get a bit too repetitive/play too much into stereotypes/too random and irrelevant to the plot, only present to provide some cheap humour, and it felt like the writer is a bit too confident of how funny they are and is smugly rubbing it in your face; however, humour is a very subjective thing and it might just be that it didn’t hit the right buttons in me. I felt like the “twist” at the end was confusing and didn’t make any sense/fit into the plot too. 

7. Glitter Bomb by Emily Kay Singer

A fun, nonsensical read that relishes in just how absurd its own plot is. Obviously, this is not a story you read for a “deep” plot, or even a plot that makes sense, which is fine because the author is obviously aware of that, and plays around with the common “superhero story” tropes, which makes it even more entertaining. It ends with a tidy, sweet and romantic ending (for people who like happy endings).  

8. For Want of a Heart by A. Merc Rustad

Oh man, this story made me cry a few tears. Maybe because for a moment I really clicked with the protagonist and identified with what she was going through in the story. Not a happy ending (no spoilers though!), but I really loved the use of language, in this story for some reason. I feel like this is a bud that could have been expanded into a much longer, more elaborate complex story, with more fleshed out characters and more complex motivations, which in some ways is a shame. Personally, probably up there as one of my favourites in this anthology, although I felt that the ending was a bit rushed which made the reveal at the end less impactful.

9. Absolution by Claire Monserrat Jackson

You can tell that the author has really put some thought in terms of world building - the history that was briefly mentioned, the magic system etc. This story takes place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world where the Fae (fairy-land) has sort of burst through into the human world and caused all sorts of problems, and our protagonist in this story is a spunky (presumably powerful) for-hire problem-solver with magic powers, who has a undead “Afterlife” chain-smoking sidekick. I really liked the characters and the world-building, and there seems to be an entire novella the author has written based on this world, which I will definitely be checking out.

10. So Many Things Seem Filled With the Intent by Jude McLaughlin

Our main protagonist visits the lab of an evil mad scientist with her girlfriend, which is great because all the previous stories have yet to feature an evil mad scientist. This story felt like an small exploration of the “mad scientist” trope, featuring both a “good” mad scientist (our protagonist’s girlfriend) and an “evil” one, but at the same time, the scientist characters felt distinct from each other and developed enough. I liked the sense of rivalry between the scientist characters, and personally I liked the main protagonist quite a bit. 

11. The Prado By Chance by Leia Weathington

Our main protagonist is an underpaid, underappreciated, and unabashedly corrupt FBI agent who one day gets a little surprise on one of her under-the-table “missions”. I like how our protagonist needs to rely mainly on her cunning to manipulate and carry out her plans and not any kind of super power or ability like the other stories; it makes the protagonist feel immediately a few degrees more human and closer to home, especially since greed and corruption are very human in nature. 

12. Jaguar Light by Susan Smith

Our protagonist, a petty criminal who lives in accordance with her desires and fancies, teams up with her nemesis when another villain gains power that gets out of control. I really liked the incorporation of Aztec mythology as the source of power for our protagonist in the story; I also thought that the main villain was pretty lame (and I’m not just referring to her name), because there I didn’t feel any real punch behind her desire for power. She’s pretty flat as a character, and with such weak motivations that I didn’t feel that threatened at any point in the story at all. Her connection to the protagonist was also kind of explained in a one-liner which feels a little too casual. However, I liked the dynamics and contrasts between the protagonist and her nemesis.

13. Chrome Crash by Mari Kurisato

This story is a little messy and hard to describe but I’ll try my best: the story splits into two at the beginning, following the history of two girls with powers who seem to be unrelated at first, but we discover their connection to each other as the story progresses. It sounds vague I know, but I had the feeling of looking into murky water when I was reading this story. One thing that confused me the most was that at the beginning of the story we got a whole chunk of a part of one of the girls’ pasts, which I thought was her origin story at first in relation to the rest of the story, but upon nearing the end I realized that it had no bearing on the original plot of the story at all - it was not an origin story, nor explained any of the character’s personality, traits, trauma, etc, etc, and that whole chunk could have been taken out with no change to the original story. Also, regarding the connection between the two girls as mentioned earlier: the whole time when I was reading the story, I was asking why? What is the purpose of their connection? What I feel, is that this story is some sort of chopped up lite version of another story where important bits that make the story coherent are missing, which is such as shame because I really like the villain characters, small traces of the what is good and what is evil debate, the exploration of the involvement of politics and the military in superpowers etc. It had such great potential.

This review is a lot longer than my usual review and took much much longer than I thought it would to write. I may be slightly harsh in my comments on certain stories, and I’m certainly biased towards some stories than others, so I’ll say again here that I enjoyed this anthology and would encourage anybody who would like to read short stories about lesbian villains to pick this up.