#Hell ORIGINALLY heroes where literally anyone who did anything remarkable!

[rozunderpressure]

Felix also works way better as a villain because he has bigger stakes, while Chloé is just a bully who enjoys being the hero for attention and praise, a character that realistically could go 2 ways:

1; Grow the fuck up and leave that BS behind her when she gets to America/any new school/college and realizes she CAN just change her whole thing and be whole new person among people who don't know her or 2; Become better at being a bully, in the sense she isn't so blatant and open about it and neither of those options are "big villain" ones, last one is mostly being a shitty rich person...

In fact, allowed to be a hero, she rather be a hero than a villain every time, she is pushed into doing bad stuff once when the first gets her powers (train conductor thing) by Gabe, and even then its because she (frankly, kinda wrongfully it seems taking in account how shit they are) loves her parents, and don't give me some childish shit like "BUT SHE MEAN" or "She selfish!" Like, grow up! Booster Gold became a super hero for money! Does Wolverine seems nice to you? Or Batman? Or Iron Man? Did everybody forgot how Peter Parker's first instinct was to fucking use his powers to make money? (I mean, I guess they are are male as well, so maybe its okay when THEY do it, right? /s) Mean and selfish are not measures of being unwilling to save people, and when you're a hero THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!

When you're a superhero, its what you do, not what you say or even think, that defines your heroism.

Felix and Chloe - two sides of the same coin. SEASON 5 SPOILERS AHEAD

Introduction

As you may know , MLB is far from a decent show. Poor writing choices are common and most characters are inconsistent. But today I want to talk about two characters , Felix and Chloe . This might be a controversial take but I think Felix and Chloe are two sides to the same coin . Both are quite similar in character and personalities but whereas one character receives hate by the fanbase and is slandered by the writers , the other character is loved and gets rewarded for doing bad things. This post will talk about how MLB introduces unintentional misogyny despite the writers claiming they are feminists. This post will also go in depth to analyze how hypocritical the fanbase is. This is not a Chloe defense post or a Felix hate post. This is a post criticizing the writers and addressing the double standards. 

Felix and Chloe - similarities

Credits to @drawing2cope on tumblr. Link - https://drawing2cope.tumblr.com/

Despite what most fans may think - these characters have so much in common. First Chloe and Felix were both Adrien’s only childhood friends growing up. Second, both had a cuddly toy. Third , both had one abusive parent , for Chloe it was Audrey and for Felix it was Colt. Fourth , both had one enabling parent , for Chloe it was Andre and for Felix it was Amelie. ( Side note : the difference between Andre and Amelie is that at least Amelie loves her son and only enables him because she wants to show that she cares for him ) Fifth , both were part of the hero team. Sixth , both betrayed the hero team by siding with HM. The key difference is while Chloe failed , Felix succeeded. Both are bad as each other because while Felix seemed to have better motives, he had more control over the situation while Chloe was being manipulated and used.  Felix and Chloe are both essentially two sides to the same coin - both did bad things for different reasons and both had similar relationships with Adrien .

Why Felix receiving a redemption felt wrong . 

Hot take - Felix character was ruined in Season 5 (and before you delusional Felix fanboys start typing nonsense and sending death threats , read the rest of the paragraph before judging.)  What makes Felix’s character compelling is that he is an anti-hero. He is morally gray and only works for himself. He is on neither Gabe’s or Ladybugs' side. His “ redemption arc” in season 5 came out of nowhere and was badly done. Felix does have potential for a redemption and I am not against it but it would’ve been much better written if his character wasn’t rushed and he was redeemed in later seasons - when he will be an established character. His redemption in season 5 felt poorly written because of how he never proved himself or apologized to Ladybug or faced consequences for his actions. His crimes ranged from SA , assisted terrorism and attempted genocide but only faced consequences for the third crime. Him getting away with his crimes is not a terrible idea if he was portrayed as a villain but since the writers are portraying him to be a hero at the end of S5 , this concept is pretty much ruined. Hopefully , in S6  he turns against the hero team and works with Lila. If you want to read more about my opinions on this Character - please read the post My Thoughts on Felix - anti hero gone wrong on my tumblr.

Double standards of the writers and fanbase

Miraculous ladybug despite being a show that promotes feminism has undertones of misogyny. Felix and Chloe have both done atrocious things - I argue Felix has done worse - but while one person seemingly faces consequences for their actions and is hated by the writers and fanbase , the other character is presented as a tragic hero who doesn’t face punishment and is loved by everyone. Just to make it clear , I am NOT an abuse apologist or a toxic Chloe stan but I can’t just ignore the blatant hypocrisy from the producers.

The writers - more specifically Thomas - says on his twitter Chloe will never change because her actions are deemed too unforgivable and i quote “ Once a bully always a bully” . He also pretty much confirms Chloe will never be Queen bee saying “ Mean people don’t and will never deserve a miraculous”. This rule doesn’t apply to Felix, he is essentially a tragic character who is 100% innocent and deserves forgiveness and ownership of his miraculous despite being a nasty person. I am not denying he isn’t a tragic character - his abuse under Colt explains his motives which made him a compelling anti - hero but doesn’t excuse them. He is also a child too but compared to Chloe - a more malevolent one. The worst thing Chloe did was paralyze the train driver in Queen Wasp to cause a dangerous situation in which she saves everyone in order to get praise. She had selfish reasons but never had the intention of killing anyone. However the worst thing Felix did was mass genocide in Emotion with the malicious intention on murdering all humans. Both are horrible but it's obvious who is worse.

Sure he had better motives of freeing his cousin and Kagami while Chloe only thought of herself but he never apologized to Ladybug or proved himself as a good person to her for what he did. When Chloe nearly killed those people , Ladybug tried taking her Miraculous and it was only after she got deakumitized that she apologized to her and gave her miraculous back. Felix by the end of season 5 got to keep his Miraculous despite not saying sorry to Ladybug or proving himself .She faced the consequence of losing her Miraculous while Felix got to keep his. He has been awful committing crimes such as SA , assisted terrorism , genocide , stalking and kidnapping but seemingly doesn’t face punishment for most of his actions. Chloe crimes although still horrid are much less heinous than Felix's. A terrorist and extremist earns sympathy from the writers but a spoiled bully is painted to be the devil and is the only character to face consequences.

The Double standards the writers have for Chloe are too hard to ignore. Thomas himself mocks a fan who confronts him about the Hypocrisy saying he misinterpreted the show. If Thomas wasn't a hypocrite , he would've answered the question properly instead of ignoring it and mocking the fan . Chloe is no angel too , she bullied Marinette relentlessly, gave her trauma , enslaved Paris in miracle queen and Revolution, inflicted emotional abuse on her friend and nearly killed all those people in Paris in Queen Wasp but at least she is held accountable and experienced Karma. Her bullying Marientte causes Adrien to stop being friends with her and her teaming up with HM in Revolution causes Andre to disown her and send her to live with her abusive mother. Felix easily gave Marinette more trauma by exchanging all the miraculous to Monarch and is partly to blame for how Monarch won but Marinette seemingly forgives him and he joins the team. He even gets rewarded with a girlfriend and possession of his miraculous and still doesn't get his Karma. It's so clear the writers favour Felix while Chloe receives the short end of the stick.

The fanbase is not much better , they slander Chloe, glad she is gone from Paris and sent to live with Audrey because they think she is irredeemable but sympathize with Felix and cheer on when he joins the team. When Chloe does something evil , the fandom label her as Satan and only wishes the worst for her but when Felix also acts in a similar way , the fanbase feel sorry for him and defend him saying he does everything he does to ensure his freedom . The fans say the neglect Chloe received from her mum does not excuse her actions but defend Felix's actions by saying " Colt abused him, He isolated and controlled Felix , Felix is blameless and everything is Colt's fault" . While I agree Colt is horrible , he never told Felix to SA Ladybug or to steal the Miraculous or kidnap Kagami. Why does " past trauma doesn't excuse actions" only apply to Chloe not Felix? The writers think this too sadly by how they demonize Chloe telling the fans parental mistreatment doesn't justify bullying, even having Mylene say in the Derision Flashback

" My mother abandoned me but you don't see me bullying Marinette"

But try justifying Felix's actions with his abusive childhood with the play he acted out in Representation.

The hypocrisy of the writers are painted as misogyny even if it is not intentional because Chloe is female and is robbed of a redemption while Felix a male is deemed tragic and is given a second chance. Ultimately , both Characters are horrible people but one is portrayed by the narrative as a hero while the other is an irredeemable , oppressive monster who needs to go down

To conclude , Felix and Chloe are two sides of the same coin. Both are terrible people that deserved punishment . While I’d prefer Chloe getting redemption , I understand that at the end of the day not all people change. However Felix's character is poorly done in Season 5 and is redeemed out of nowhere. What annoys me the most is how Hypocritical the fanbase and writers are that Chloe is hated for being a brat and is not redeemed because she doesn’t show remorse while Felix is adored by the fanbase and is given a redemption despite not apologizing to Ladybug or facing any consequences. Again ,this is not a Chloe defense post or a Felix hate post, just me sharing my view on this. I'm surprised the fandom isn't addressing the similarities between these two characters . I cross my fingers that Felix either turns on the team and becomes the villain again or is held accountable in S6 and Chloe at least receives closure and becomes a better person in future seasons. But these are just my opinions. I’m not saying you are not allowed to like Felix or dislike Chloe. Feel free to disagree : ) . Don’t hate the characters , hate the writing .Please stay respectful.

[bitch-for-a-rainbow]

So there's a blanddcheadcanons post that says that "Kara is the mortal avatar of Rao" and I really don't like it, especially in the context of SG 3x04 (The Faithful). At best, as was pointed out to me by a friend with whom I discussed this post, the House of El is likely blessed and somewhat sponsored by Rao, which probably doesn't do much but produce Krypton's greatest heroes, given what the word "El" **means** in Kryptonian. I'm interested in your thoughts on this (pls post your answer).

    I reject the headcannon solely because if it were true it would mean Coville was right and I fucking hate that bitch.

     In all seriousness, though, this is an idea I've seen a lot and I'm not a huge fan of. I don't know much about Raoism beyond what appears in the show and that which can be inferred off of the show. One thing I would point out though is that El in Kryptonian (while obviously being intended to mean God by the original comic writers) can mean Sun or Stars, and since the Kryptonians in the show are, as far as I can tell, monotheistic, and worshipped only one particular star, the El family is not necessarily named God. It would, however, signify their enormous prestige on Krypton and contribute to the famous El pride (or rather, arrogance). I’m not sure it would necessarily have to mean anything more than that-- that the Els are a respected house who have produced a variety of successful politicians, civil servants, and scientists. And (this time reaching a little bit) that they are perhaps so old and respected that their house name was once a title. 

      There is a certain allure to the theory, for sure. Kara is a paragon character. She always, always does what she thinks is right, regardless of the cost, personal or global, and regardless of what other people might think of it. She has a very direct moral compass, and there are only a handful of times when she doesn’t follow it, all of which involve saving Lena. Ship who you want, but it is notable that Kara routinely prioritzes Lena’s life over that of others given the rarity of that happening otherwise. She never even considered breaking Rick Thompson’s father out of prison when he kidnapped Alex, and all he’d committed was bank robbery. Kara has lines she does not cross (though murder is clearly not one of them). She is a character that has seen some of the worst that sentient life is capable of, has seen more death and suffering than most people could imagine, and she came out of it with an all-encompassing desire to protect others. She lives to give people hope. Plus, the humor of having Kara-- the one person most offended by the idea of being an Avatar of Rao-- turn out to be an Avatar of Rao is great.

       But, I would also say that having Kara want to do good because she is the avatar of a benevolent god is reductive and not particularly true to her character. It is true that helping and protecting people is a large part of the core of who Kara is. But there is a difference between altruism and the self-destructive, bordering of suicidal desperation to save absolutely everyone that Kara practices. And to anyone who doubts the suicidal bit, I direct you to the season 1 finale where Kara literally goes on a goodbye tour because she thinks if she goes out to fight Non she’ll die. She still goes because she has hope, but that hope is that she can at least save Earth with her life. She doesn’t fight because she is certain in the ultimate victory of good and justice. She does it because she more afraid to lose another family than she is to die. Kara doesn’t become Supergirl and risk her own life because she believes in good, she does it because she can’t stand to listen to people suffer-- because she has suffered. To use Alex’s words in 1x13 “You fight everyday to keep people from struggling like you have.” Notably also in 1x13, Kara wakes up from the Black Mercy and her first words are “Who did this to me?” and then she goes after Non in what could arguably be described as a homicidal rage-- a rage that is fueled entirely for personal reasons, not the greater good of Earth (though that comes as an added benefit), which is.... not very befitting the avatar of a benevolent god. 

     A major part of season 1 is Kara dealing with grief and rage. She nearly breaks a guy's arm in episode 6 because he screamed at her for damaging his car, to hell with the children he'd almost hit with it. In season 3's Midvale flashbacks we see her first put both hands through a lunch table, then attack Jake when she suspects him for Kenny's death. She gets better at controlling it as the seasons progress, but during Crisis she very nearly melts Lex. Also not particularly godly of her. 

     Then there is the fact that so much of who Kara is is shaped by fear: fear of the government, fear of humanity, fear of abandonment, and fear of herself. In her civilian life, Kara is, for the most part, unnoticeable. She's polite, soft-spoken, doesn't wear a lot of bold colors or styles, and is often a pushover. As shown by her encounter with Red Kryptonite, Kara would not dress or speak the same way to people without the pressure of hiding her identity (though much of her dialogue is purely the loss of her "don't be an asshole" filter, some of it is stuff she had every right to say before and just didn't). I have always found that episode to be very interesting purely for the fact that Kara doesn't actually seem to be seeking harm on others so much as seeking their attention. Her argument with Alex is almost entirely about how much she hates having to hide and pretend to be less than she is. Kara drops Cat off the balcony and then catches her. She attacks the police when they point weapons at her but doesn't kill or even hurt them that badly, instead of destroying the car they're using as shelter. Red-K removed her inhibitions, made her angrier, yes, but if her goal was to actually hurt people, she could have done so-- would have done so, and with great ease. She goes to a public bar and uses super strength to smash bottles by flicking peanuts. Why do that at a crowded bar? Why not just flick potato chips at the windows in her own apartment?

      This is Kara at her absolute worst-- but does she seek out the DEO agents who shot her out of the sky? Does she go after Maxwell Lord or Non? No. She tries to make people pay attention to her. Her most shameful and hideous desire is for people to give her respect. (Admittedly, respect gained through fear, but still.). Kara's a nice person-- much, much nicer than average-- but a lot of that "nice" is just her avoiding conflict to avoid attention.

      Kara is a good person. Kara inspires people. But that is because Kara gets up every day and chooses to be good and to inspire. It's one of the reasons I enjoy Non as a villain so much-- he and Astra are Kara's narrative foils. They also remember Krypton and grieve its loss. They also were trapped in the Phantom Zone. But where Kara had the Danvers to convince her that some good people existed and would risk themselves just to help others, Non and Astra had Alura sentencing them to eternal suffering rather than helping them save their planet (through the means they thought necessary) and then landed on Earth and found it headed on the same path as the planet they'd just lost. Kara had people to help her grieve. Non and Astra were surrounded by misery. They lost hope. Kara discovered it.

     Kara is the Paragon of Hope because she has been hopeless. Because she has suffered so much, seen so much, and because she chooses to believe in a better future. She didn't have hope her first time in the Phantom Zone. She didn't even have hope for a while on earth. From what we can gather, Kara's choice to start actually believing in the future was a gradual shift that occurred sometime after Kenny's death and has lasted her ever since. For Kara, hope is learned. She chose to hope and she won't let it go, and to assign that incredible victory off to her being a God is an insult to her growth and to her character. 

   Now I personally thought “The Faithful” handled this concept very well. 3x04 is one of my favorite episodes of television in general, let alone in Supergirl. Season 3 is my second favorite season, and that says a lot for its good episodes when the bad of season 3 is so, so very bad (To say nothing of the episode to episode production value, we have the waste of Argo, Mon El’s return as obviously he’s grown he has a beard Mon El, and whatever the hell was going on with Kryptonian genetic engineering eclipse causing witches). To this day I don’t know why Kara had magic dreams. The show did nothing to explain it and I can’t imagine up a reason. 

     But “The Faithful” works because it highlights the whole paragon part of who Kara is. When you realize that every person in the room of Coville’s cult is a person she has personally saved-- that hits hard. Especially since only a fraction of the people she’s saved would ever set foot inside that building with the totally not-creepy, entirely wholesome way they deliver the invitations. (“Your daughter is special. She has been chosen. As have you.”) It works because it focuses on how the average human must view Kara, the ones who don’t see her argue with her sister over potstickers and crush her phone when she gets mad. It works because of how desperately hard Kara tries to be a human. It works because the writers know that we, the audience, do not see Kara as anything but a regular person with irregular abilities: a kind and remarkably devoted person, but not a god. 

[codevassie]

Superpower TS Fic Recs

[***Let me know if I’ve missed anything on the Content Warnings!]

[**Do Not Ask Authors for Updates!]

[*Leave these authors Comments, please and thank you!]

What You Can Stand by manyfandomsonelog

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary:  Virgil tried so, so hard to avoid becoming a supervillain. He really did. But when your superpower is literally manifesting a person's worst fears, it's a hard thing to avoid. Still, he really, really tried. Even when his own parents feared him. Even when the whole school feared him. Even when he hated himself and his Propensity so much that he wanted to give in. He might've succeeded, if he hadn't met him- Roman Reyes, AKA Roman Spectacular, AKA The Prince, AKA the worst thing that has ever happened to him (which is saying something).

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality 

CW: Psychological stuff, nightmares, bullying, physical harm, spiders, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, brief discussion of racism, self-hatred,  bomb, explosion, blood, injury, bad/abusive parenting, imprisonment, fire,  homophobia, pedophilia mention, discussion of child abuse, evidence of physical abuse, sexual innuendo, anxious thoughts, death, funeral, flashback, reference to sex, fairly aggressive arguing and yelling, public speaking, secondhand embarrassment

My thoughts: My quarantine savior!!! I started the fic like a week into quarantine, so I really mean that literally. The characterization is absolutely fantastic--I love seeing all of them interact. It’s so natural and fun and interesting. The plot is also just wonderful--one thing keeps happening after another and these guys just cannot seem to get a break. The pacing is awesome, and whether it’s a character or plot chapter, you just can’t look away. Log is such a fantastic writer and a wonderful person, so if you like awesome prinxiety, superpowers and secret identities, trust and betrayal, humor and angst, you really need to read this one! 

Rewind by ravenclawicecream 

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: When a group of superheroes show up to kill him, it's just another Wednesday for Virgil Messana. After five years of being on the run, he's used to the idea people want him dead. That fact is just an unfortunate side effect of having the power to destroy everything you touch. What does surprise him, however, is when he finds himself agreeing to join those superheros and become part of the team. It's not long until Virgil learns that all the heroes have chapters of their lives they'd rather keep unpublished, along with events they'd rather not relive. And, as he spends more time with the team, he realizes that he may know certain members much better than he'd originally thought. Virgil longs for a moment to figure everything out but by then it's too late. He's already caught up in a bigger scheme; one where they no longer have the power to control their own destinies. With every movement monitored and every action proven to be calculated, the lines between allies and enemies blur, leaving Virgil caught in between. When the stakes are inevitably raised, the remaining heroes must do all they can to change the future of the world. But time has always been a cruel master, and sometimes the only answer is to rewind.

Relationships: Loceit, Logicality, Prinxiety, Remile

CW: Major Character Death, Murder

My thoughts: Gosh, I wish this one got more love. It’s probably the MCD tag, so understandable, but also take into consideration the time travel tag and perhaps give it a chance? I feel like this fic is setting up for so much, and I cannot wait to see how it all goes down. I have so many questions for this fic which is always a good sign (so many that I may have freaked the author out with my WALL of questions on chapter three don’t worry about it /j). Please. Read. This. 

Powerless by patentpending 

Status: Complete

Summary: “People like us,” Logan had once remarked to Virgil. “Are statistical anomalies.”(Almost) Everyone in the world has powers. As for those who don’t, well, they’re such a small part of the population - only 0.04% - why would anyone care about them?Ever since he realized what people mean when they call him Powerless, Virgil Sanders has tried to fight back against the system that oppresses people like him, Patton, and Logan. When Patton’s bakery is targeted in a hate crime, he finally snaps. With the help of a mysterious sponsor, Virgil becomes a villain, ready to remake a broken society. The only thing standing in his way is the world’s most Powerful (and infuriatingly charming) superhero: The Prince, who is hiding the fact that his gilded life isn’t as perfect as it may seem.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality, Roman/Female Fanon Character 

CW: Classism, Unreliable Narrator, Thinly Veiled Criticism of Society,  emetophobia, violence, gun mention,  implied suicide attempt, dub-con, mentions of blood, graphic depictions of a riot, non-graphic description of a wound, possessive and abusive behavior, kid being kicked out of the house by parent, kidnapping, kinda torture (?), body horror, gore, graphic descriptions of injuries, emotional abuse, police brutality, pain and injury, burning building, swearing, vomiting, murder, panic attack, dysphoria, misgendering, minor character death, major character death, self deprecating talk, mentions of suicide

My thoughts: Well, doing a TS superhero rec without Powerless is just treason. I don’t know--I’m trying to figure out a way to describe it and instead launching up to pace around the room with an instant replay of different scenes in my head. I mean, the grocery store chapter?!?! This stuff lives in my head rent free. The characterization, the banter, the tension, the motives--I can’t describe it y’all. Just, if you love yourselves (love yourselves, please <3) then just go read it. Or reread it. Do that for yourselves. 

Waterspout by Greenninjagal

Status: Complete

Summary: "Hail!” The boy says all smug smiles that Virgil immediately hates. “You’re Recluse aren’t you?”As if there was some other spider themed weirdo who clung to buildings in their free time.“No,” Virgil says, because he can. *** Virgil finds himself stuck on the side of a building in a rainstorm and is helped by an annoying-admittedly attractive-guy.

Relationships: Prinxiety

CW: Mild cursing, storms

My thoughts: This one is very cute. Virgil is a spiderman-like hero who went up a waterspout, and down comes some rain trying to wash him out. Roman comes to help, they banter a bit, and, maybe, there’s a little surprise at the end. I would not mind more of this AU. In fact, I would love it. But that should not discount how wonderfully made a oneshot it is either. The author wrote it perfectly for the length it is, presenting the charm of the characters, great plot and symbolism, and left me wanting more at the same time. Definitely go check this one out. 

Technically. It’s A Secret by supervillain 

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: Virgil Storm, the adopted son of a reality TV star with telekinesis was born without a power. That's been a problem for him all his life. His only friend is Patton Vega, his only chance at romance the irritating Cros Corson--until he gets a job at a top-secret facility, playing babysitter to a bunch of kids with dangerous powers and even more dangerous minds. Kids who happen to be exactly his age.Yeah, this is going to be a piece of cake, especially when the enigmatic villain Believe (aka Roman Torres) takes a liking to Virgil. And even worse, when Virgil starts to more than like him back. Pull in some evil mad scientists, a plague created to decimate the world, a murderous villain, an obnoxious stalker, and the greatest Kinetic the world has ever known, and you're in for a hell of a ride.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality 

CW:  Anxiety attacks, arson, murder, minor character death, blood, spiders, being eaten alive, falling, death, sleeping, fighting, cop mention 

My thoughts: I’m behind on this one, and I wanted to catch up on it before I posted this rec list. Today is the last Friday of the year though, so I decided to just go ahead and do it. I love this fic a ton so far, and I can’t wait to read more. I can tell the author put a lot of thought into writing the world and characters, and that the plot is interesting and deliberate. There’s mysteries unfolding which intrigues me So Bad. It’s a super interesting one, so I’d say go read it!

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 4.15

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, still in the heat of trial 4 (trial 4!!!!!), the vague semblance of a decent person inside Kokichi actually showed himself for all of one sentence before being stubbornly forced back down by the rest of him in his inability to admit to doing anything wrong, we established Gonta’s memory loss and why this makes things especially difficult for Kaito, and after a process of elimination in which Kokichi was still dropping the ball re: tormenting Kaito, Shuichi very directly faced the truth by declaring Gonta to be the culprit, which Kaito was not happy about.

Gonta:  “R-Really…? Did Gonta… really do it…?”

Kokichi:  “Geeeez, is that really your reaction? It would’ve been fun if you went all crazy. …But you forgot everything, so oh well.”

I guess Kokichi was expecting Gonta to go crazy if he’d remembered and would still desperately be trying to protect everyone by hiding the truth. I’d say he probably figured that that’d make him come across as even more evil that way, but really it’s more likely that he simply never even imagined things going any differently.

Kokichi:  “A culprit who can’t remember their murder is pretty interesting, so better than nothing.”

Not just better than nothing, better than the story you had planned. This makes everything several times more cruel and painful for everyone involved, and isn’t that exactly what you were going for here, Kokichi? But of course he can’t admit that his plan wasn’t actually the best possible plan ever.

(On my first time through, when I realised Gonta had lost his memory, I figured that Kokichi had somehow switched his cords on purpose to make things as painful as possible. That would have been an even better addition to his plan, if it had occurred to him that he could do that.)

Kokichi:  “If Gonta remembered, his cover would’ve been blown so fast. Especially since he’s an idiot.”

If you knew this the whole time, why the hell were you convinced he was suddenly a great liar during most of the trial up until this point? Kokichi is just backpedalling and acting like he always knew his original plan was kind of bad while dodging the part where that makes him stupid for trying to do it that way anyway. Kokichi is never wrong about anything, you guys.

Kaito:  “H-Hold on! I-I still haven’t accepted this! This has gotta be… Kokichi’s trap…”

Kaito is making it very apparent that he’s the only person in this room who’s still incapable of facing the truth. There’s no way he wants to come across this way, but he’s growing desperate enough that he can’t help himself.

Kaito:  “I still believe in Gonta! He’s not the kinda person who’d kill!”

Of course he does, because he can’t see the Gonta who actually did this and pick up on any of the subtle signs that show that’s not quite the whole truth! I’ve seen a lot of people call Kaito’s belief thing “blind faith”, and most of the time that’s completely the wrong way to describe it. Kaito’s faith is based in what he intuits by getting a read on people, even if it’s all instinctive and he’s not able to explain why he feels the way he does about someone, so it’s not really blind at all. But right now, thanks to Gonta’s memory loss, it really is nothing but blind faith. Kaito is completely blind in his judgement of the Gonta who may or may not have done this; he’s just choosing to believe in him anyway because choosing not to believe in him when he can’t see a reason not to isn’t ever something Kaito would do.

Shuichi:  “Kaito…”

Again I wish I could let you hear this, because every time in this trial Shuichi has a line which is just saying Kaito’s name and nothing else, his (English) voice actor is completely on point for getting across the appropriate emotions for the moment. This time it encapsulates the frustration that Kaito acting this way isn’t at all the right way to act in a class trial and is just making things harder, and yet of course Kaito would react this way and find this so hard, he’s Kaito, how could Shuichi blame him for that.

Kokichi:  “I already said this a million times, Kaito. You shouldn’t use emotions to re—”

Kaito:  “You want proof!? I’ve got your proof!”

Kaito actually does have proof. Which is pretty remarkable for him, especially since, based on his demeanour, he literally only just figured this out as he said this. And he’s even just set off one of the BGM pieces that usually plays when Shuichi has figured out a thing!

Kaito:  “After Tsumugi and Shuichi heard Keebo’s voice in the mansion, they ran outside. And who did they see out there?”

Remember how I noted during the investigation that Kaito was specifically shown paying attention to a conversation with Tsumugi in which she recounted this part where they ran outside and saw Gonta? Yeah. At the time he had no idea that that particular part of it would be so relevant, so it’s still remarkable that Kaito remembered this and brought it up out of nowhere here when nobody else had mentioned anything to set his mind on this track. As we’ve seen time and time again, Kaito’s detective’s instincts are extremely not great – and yet somehow, in his desperation to defend Gonta and not be running away from the truth, Kaito has managed to produce the best piece of deductive reasoning he’s ever had.

(I mean it’s still nothing special on an objective scale, but it’s a really big deal coming from Kaito.)

Shuichi:  “Gonta.”

Yet, as Shuichi confirms Kaito’s information, he’s only looking thoughtful and not as happy about this as he would be if he thought it could prove Gonta innocent. Because Kaito only heard second-hand that Gonta was “outside” – but Shuichi was there, and he saw exactly where Gonta was standing.

I said that Kaito “has proof”, because from Kaito’s point of view, not knowing exactly where Gonta was standing and assuming he was standing somewhere that’d mean he’d just come up the steps from outside, this could clear Gonta’s name. But that’s not how things really were.

Kaito:  “How about that!? Now you get it, right!? If Gonta was the culprit, there’s no way he coulda been outside the mansion!”

Kaito sounds genuinely sure of himself because he is sure of his argument, since nobody has brought up the possibility that Gonta could have climbed down from the roof. For once in this trial, Kaito isn’t just saying something that he knows isn’t really true.

Tsumugi:  “Now you can’t say Gonta’s the culprit! Congrats, Gonta!”

“Congrats” is a pretty half-assed way of saying “you must be so relieved that you didn’t murder anyone and don’t have to get executed for it”. You’re slipping, Tsumugi.

Gonta:  “What!? Really!?”

Poor Gonta sounds so desperately hopeful here after the heartbroken mess he was a few moments ago. As I said once a while back, Danganronpa often throws the words “hope” and “despair” around so much that it forgets their real meanings. But this moment here is a perfect example of a brief, fleeting moment of hope – for both Gonta and Kaito – before it gets cruelly snatched away from them, making the resulting despair even worse than it would have been without it.

Shuichi:  (It would have been so nice if that were the truth… If Kaito were right, and this horrible trial would just end… But…)

Shuichi wants to believe in Gonta as well, and he’s hating every second of this trial just like Kaito is! But he’s keeping this to his inner monologue, so Kaito still isn’t able to notice this.

Shuichi:  “All the culprit needed was a way to get from the roof to outside the mansion.”

Up until this point, the only proof that Gonta did it was him being the only person with a lack of evidence against him having done it. So it’s pretty painfully ironic that Kaito’s desperate but surprisingly insightful attempt to prove Gonta didn’t do it only ends up drawing Shuichi’s attention to the evidence which finally conclusively proves he did do it.

(Unwittingly leading Shuichi into this is, quite delightfully, the only bit of actual “help” in solving the case that Kaito has provided this entire trial.)

Kaito:  “…”

I realise that almost all of my images in this trial have been “look at this face Kaito is making”, but… look at this face Kaito is making. He was so sure for like half a minute that everything was going to be okay! But if Shuichi says so, then there must have been a way, and nothing is okay at all.

(In fact, I’m pretty sure this is the only time in the entire game Kaito makes this particular face, meaning they went out of their way to draw it specifically for this moment.)

Shuichi:  “Kaito, I know how you feel. I know because we all feel it. But… we have to face the truth. No matter how cruel that truth may be, we *need* to face it… to survive.”

Shuichi is trying to reach out to Kaito! He’s acknowledging how much Kaito is suffering and trying to reassure him that he’s not the only one, to help him find the strength to face the truth. After all, Shuichi knows better than anyone else how hard that is to do alone. This is the first time this trial that Shuichi has expressed out loud that he’s struggling with this, too – but he’s doing it in a way which isn’t him asking for help but rather him using that fact to try and offer help. This is Shuichi being another kind of hero: not only the kind that gets stuff done, but also the kind who supports people. The kind of hero that Kaito was supposed to be.

Kaito:  “Whose side are you on, Shuichi?”

And… that’s unacceptable for Kaito. He’s meant to be the hero and Shuichi the sidekick – he’s the one who should be giving Shuichi support, not the other way around. If it happens the other way around, if Kaito is weak enough to need that in the first place, then that just means that Kaito is no good as a hero to his sidekick at all. If Shuichi is strong enough to be able to give support, then he’s the real hero who never needed Kaito at all.

Kaito can’t allow any of that to be true, so rather than admit how hard this is for him and accept Shuichi’s support, he’s pushing Shuichi away and deflecting from the real issue. This isn’t about sides – Shuichi is on the side of saving everyone, and Kaito knows this, but he can’t have it seem like he’s being the weak one here by not being able to stand with Shuichi on this.

Shuichi:  “Kaito, please!”

Meaning: “Kaito, please don’t make this any more painful than it already is.” But… that’s exactly what Kaito’s doing.

Kaito:  “Aren’t you my sidekick!? Was that… just a lie!?”

It would be bad enough if this was just about them being friends and Kaito thinking Shuichi could have lied to him about that. But like the last time Kaito invoked the word “sidekick”, this isn’t quite about their friendship or about Shuichi being on Kaito’s side. This is about Kaito hating the fact that Shuichi doesn’t seem to need him any more – and now he’s not even sure if Shuichi ever did in the first place.

Kaito isn’t questioning if Shuichi was ever his friend – he’s questioning if Shuichi was ever weaker than him and in need of his support at all, and if he wasn’t, was he just… pretending? He’s thinking that maybe, ever since they began training together, Shuichi was always just patronising him with the whole “sidekick” thing, playing along and humouring Kaito’s need to play the hero while secretly looking down on him – ha ha, look at that idiot Kaito acting like I need him when really he’s the one who needs me, how pathetic.

No, Kaito. No. Not ever. Not even now.

On some level, Kaito was always subconsciously worried about this. Remember how in their very first training session, he said he was frustrated that Shuichi was weak, because Shuichi was also strong enough to save everyone in Kaede’s trial, and how can he be both at once? But the fact that this chapter and this trial have beaten down Kaito’s sense of self-worth so much that he’s now consciously thinking Shuichi could ever have seen him this way is heartbreaking.

(In Japanese, by the way, this line is not “aren’t you my sidekick”, but “weren’t you my sidekick”. In past tense. Which makes this implication even clearer.)

Shuichi:  “Kaito!”

And here, Shuichi’s intonation clearly means something to the effect of, “What!? No! Why would you even think that!?”

But Shuichi didn’t actually say that, and Kaito’s intuition-reading of Shuichi is emphatically not functioning properly right now thanks to his issues, so he doesn’t realise it. And, in fact, it probably doesn’t help that while Shuichi has never actively complained about being Kaito’s sidekick like Maki used to, he has also never actually said anything to the effect of being on board with it, even though he is.

(Heartless Journey has been playing since Shuichi started trying to reach out to Kaito, just in case it wasn’t clear already how relevant this moment is to Kaito’s arc.)

Kaito:  “Fine then! I’ll tear that sorry reasoning of yours apart and wake you up!”

Look at the way this starts with “Fine, then”, as if Kaito is assuming that what he was just saying has been confirmed. And if that’s the case, if Shuichi really wasn’t ever his sidekick after all, then there’s no reason to hold back against him. This is the first and last time Kaito ever insults Shuichi’s reasoning, the reasoning that he’s supposed to have unending faith in and has encouraged Shuichi to believe in so much himself. (And Kaito still does believe in Shuichi’s reasoning, but that’s being forced aside by his jealousy and his desperation to insist that Shuichi can’t be right and Gonta can’t be the culprit because that would just prove that Kaito’s the weak one who can’t face the truth and how could Shuichi ever need someone like that?)

Shuichi:  (I can’t doubt my detective work now. If I want us all to survive, I can’t back down!)

And Shuichi still has that faith in his detective work that Kaito helped him to gain, even now that Kaito is acting like this. Shuichi’s gotten very good at this being a hero thing.

As I mentioned before, this is also my favourite Argument Armament! They exist to make it feel like Shuichi is very directly fighting against the person involved, which is exactly the feeling that needs to get across right here between him and Kaito and it’s perfect for it. They also exist to show how the person involved has become so riled up that they refuse to listen to reason, which is definitely even more fitting for Kaito here than it was for the others.

In fact (aside from the one in chapter 6 because fuck that one, it doesn’t count, look forward to my rant about how terrible it is), this was the Argument Armament that I took the most damage on during my first time personally playing through the game, more than Maki’s in chapter 5 which you’d expect to be harder than this. And that seems appropriate, since Kaito is the most actively lashing out at Shuichi out of anyone who does one of these.

Kaito:  “I’ll never accept this!”

He really won’t. Not until he can see the culprit-Gonta for himself and understand why he would have done this – which isn’t going to happen until after the vote.

Kaito:  “Don’t you know Gonta at all!? He’s not the kind of guy who’d kill someone! Don’t you know that about him by now!?”

This here in the Argument Armament and that one line earlier in this post are the first times in the trial that Kaito has actually made this argument appealing to our understanding of Gonta’s nature. He could have made it any number of times before that, but he never did because he knew it wouldn’t be an appropriate argument to make in a class trial. Here he’s saying it because he’s become desperate enough to use any kind of argument at all.

Kaito:  “Why won’t you believe Gonta!? Why are you listening to Kokichi!?”

This and a moment just earlier are also the only times Kaito ever makes it sound like this is about him being mad that Shuichi is supposedly siding with Kokichi over Gonta or himself. Again, that’s not the point, and Kaito knows it. This is just more last-ditch desperate deflection.

Kaito:  “Aren’t you my sidekick!? Wake up, Shuichi!”

Given the context it’s sandwiched between, and how Kaito is too uncontrollably riled up to be thinking about things with greater nuance right now, this is probably the only instance of “aren’t you my sidekick?” in which Kaito really is only thinking about the apparent surface meaning of “aren’t you on my side?”.

Kaito:  “Who do you want to believe!?”

Of course Shuichi wants to believe Gonta! But unfortunately, while Kaito’s thing about following what he wants to believe managed to help save everyone in trial 2, it’s just going to do the opposite here. “The only thing that matters is what I want to believe” is a lovely sentiment, but only when there’s no proof either way. Right now, there is proof, so even if it’s not what Kaito likes to instinctively use as proof, him following his desire to believe the opposite of what that proof says is simply wilful ignorance and only making things worse.

Kaito:  “Remember what Kokichi has done to us!”

Actually, the only really meaningfully bad thing that Kokichi has done to us (because the Insect Meet and Greet was just a minor annoyance that didn’t even succeed and that Kaito wasn’t even there for) is this right here. Kaito should know this, too – after all, he’s the one who kept trying to get through to Kokichi and stop him from doing anything this bad right up until it was too late.

Kaito:  “Remember how Gonta’s always tried to protect us! How could Gonta be the culprit!?”

Only if he thought it was the only way to protect us, right? No-one brought this up when talking about his motive despite Kaede and Kirumi having killed for similar reasons, but I suppose without the knowledge of the outside world or at least that Gonta saw the outside world, it’s very difficult to imagine how he could have thought of it like this.

Kaito:  “You still wanna accuse him, huh?”

I like how this line makes it clear that everything Kaito’s said up to this point has just been an obviously-hopeless attempt to distract Shuichi and change his mind and make him no longer want to face the truth and accuse Gonta.

“I’ll just have to make you understand, even if it’s by force!”

I also enjoy this non-voiced line which comes up when he starts using the power to block your view and make the minigame harder. It shows that Kaito still doesn’t want to use “force” against Shuichi (whatever the hell that means in a real context outside of a minigame where Shuichi can take damage from Kaito yelling at him); he’s just desperate enough to deny the truth that he feels like he has to.

…Actually, the “force” part aside, I can make sense of how Shuichi would take “damage” from Kaito yelling at him. Health in trials is technically called “Influence”, aka the ability to convince everyone else of the truth. So if Shuichi takes damage here, what it’s really representing is that Kaito’s desperate irrational deflections about how he should just blindly believe in Gonta and not be siding with Kokichi actually are starting to get to Shuichi and chip away at his will to face the truth.

Kaito:  “You keep saying, ‘truth’ this, ‘truth’ that, but… There’s a reason Gonta’s not the culprit! There’s no way to leave the mansion from the rooftop!”

And even though Kaito had a proper logical argument this whole time, he saved that until after everything else had failed. Which, sure, is because that’s how Argument Armaments are supposed to work, but it also makes perfect sense because Kaito already knows Shuichi has some kind of answer for this that’ll definitely be right because it’s Shuichi. So he put it off until the last possible moment and tried everything else he could muster before giving Shuichi this chance to completely shatter his words.

Kaito Refutations: 7!

Kaito:  “Hold on… if they used the toilet paper as a rope to get down from the roof… Then they’d need to tie it to something. But there was nothing to tie it to. I know because… I investigated the roof!”

Kaito. You know the binoculars were on the roof.

This can’t even be put down to Kaito having temporarily forgotten about them, because the fact that he specifically mentions investigating the roof means he’s consciously recalling what he saw when he was there… and the binoculars are literally the only thing on the rooftop itself. His expression also becomes a lot more strained when he says that part – he knows he’s spouting bullshit in a desperate hope that Shuichi will have somehow forgotten about it and won’t be able to prove Gonta guilty.

Kokichi:  “You’re stubborn, Kaito. You’re still going on about this…”

Really, all you’ve got to say is that he’s “stubborn”? No pointing out that he should know that his argument is wrong and is blatantly running away from the truth? Come on, Kokichi. You could do so much better than this.

Kaito:  “Of course I am! I’m gonna believe in Gonta till the very end!”

Of course he is, though. He’s Kaito. He can’t bear to accept the idea that someone like Gonta could have committed murder when he can’t see it.

Shuichi:  “The binoculars on the rooftop. The toilet paper could have been tied there.”

Kaito:  “Gh…!”

Kaito’s reaction to this also very much makes it sound like he knew this already and just really didn’t want Shuichi to mention it, rather than this is a fact that he’s only just realising.

I could add this to the Kaito Refutations counter, but I tend to think of this one as an extension of the Argument Armament rather than a separate occasion. So our final count is seven! Or, if you count it differently from me and include every single individual statement that gets refuted even if some are lumped into the same general occasion, then this plus two more from the Debate Scrum makes ten. Either way, that’s a really big number for one character in one trial. Probably the biggest there ever is, even including the culprits. The writers knew what they were doing, all right.

Kaito:  “…”

Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee… Looks like Kaito’s morale is shot, so this whole thing is done now!”

Congratulations, Kokichi, you fucking did it. Except not really, because you dropped the ball multiple times at contributing to this as well as you could have, and Kaito is never going to change his worldview and stop believing in people either. This is almost entirely about Kaito’s issues with regards to Shuichi and is really none of Kokichi’s business at this point (not that it ever should have been) – but no, of course it is, of course it’s all about Kokichi.

Gonta:  “So… it true. Gonta… really kill Miu.”

Kokichi:  “But I’m the one who came up with the plan!”

Kokichi jumps in to interrupt Gonta really quickly here, like he’s really fixated on making sure everyone knows that all the evil clever scheming and planning, that was all him. Everyone already knew that, but he still feels the need to repeat himself to make sure of it. It’s like he said once earlier – there’s nothing more depressing than an unnoticed prank. He doesn’t just want to mess with people, he wants them to know it was him who messed with them. This need of his to gloat about his “evil” deeds is going to be part of the reason his overall plan fails, which I’ll talk about a lot when we get to that point.

Kokichi:  “Anywaaay… just admit your crime, Gonta.”

And no, he’s not jumping in to take responsibility for the actual crime of killing Miu and therefore take some of the guilt away from Gonta, since he then immediately follows up with this. All the clever scheming was his, but that totally doesn’t make him a murderer, nope, that was all Gonta!

Gonta:  “B-But… why did Gonta do… such… terrible thing…?”

Gontaaaaa. We won’t let you die before you learn the reason! You deserve to know that much at least!

Kokichi:  “Wait, before you start crying… you gotta admit your crime fir—”

So, this is one of the parts that makes me think that Kokichi’s outburst last post about how it hurts him to persecute Gonta was genuine. He cuts Gonta off here when he starts getting emotional, as if there’s a part of him that is actually hurt by knowing it’s his fault that Gonta is suffering like this and so he just wants it to not be happening. Because of course Kokichi can’t actually accept that part of him and face up to the pain he caused Gonta and acknowledge that he did an awful thing. Nope.

(Technically Gonta did already admit he did it a few lines ago, though, so this bit’s a little awkward in how it’s acting like he still hasn’t. Maybe that’s just Kokichi wanting Gonta to be even clearer about how all the blame is definitely his.)

Shuichi:  “Stop. I won’t let you, Kokichi. If anyone is going to get him to confess… it’s me.”

Shuichiiii. He already feels like an awful person as the one stuck with the burden of finding the truth and effectively condemning Gonta to death by proving it – so since he’s already suffering through that, he might as well go all the way with it by also taking this upon himself too.

(And look at how Kaito is emphatically not helping Shuichi carry that burden right now, despite how many times he said he always would. Not because he’s changed his mind about wanting to, mind you, but because he can’t. Because he’s not even strong enough to carry his own part of that burden.)

Shuichi:  “Gonta… I’m going to look back at the whole case one more time, okay? When you’re convinced, you just let me know, alright? Let’s end this together.”

Yet Shuichi’s going about it in such a kind manner! Rather than Kokichi’s assholery and persecution, Shuichi is treating Gonta like a friend and like the confused, hurting victim that he is in this situation.

This would be one of the most well-justified excuses for a Closing Argument, since the idea is supposedly to help Gonta understand everything that happened given that he doesn’t remember. But… it doesn’t really work that way, because it’s still written exactly like a normal Closing Argument and not like Shuichi is trying to carefully and gently explain it to Gonta under these circumstances. Which is kind of a shame – it’d have been really neat if this one stood out among all the others in its tone because it was written like that. Maybe it could have even had him saying “you” instead of “the culprit”, as if he really is directly talking to Gonta. That would have been pretty adorable(…y tragic).

Shuichi:  “After being convinced by Miu, we all logged into the Virtual World.”

We were not convinced by Miu. We were convinced by Kokichi and Monokuma.

Shuichi:  “It’s possible… that this had an effect on their avatar’s personality as well. Because I… I can’t believe that someone so kind could commit murder…”

It seems like this is what Shuichi has been telling himself this whole time in order to justify the possibility of Gonta killing someone. Even he couldn’t bring himself to accept it under normal circumstances! And it does make a certain amount of sense, since there’s both a memory and a consciousness cord, so it follows that if his memory was messed up then his consciousness might have been as well. As it turns out, that’s wrong, and there simply was no consciousness malfunction. But given that nobody could reasonably be expected to imagine Gonta’s actual plausible motive with him still being the person they believe in, it’s understandable that Shuichi would go with this theory instead.

While a lot of the panels of Shuichi’s imagination of Ambiguous Culprit Gonta are going to be very inaccurate, this one of Gonta freaking out over the unknown motive as Kokichi grins evilly to himself is probably pretty spot-on.

Irrelevant side note: the way Kaito’s hair is drawn in this panel always bothered me. It’s not sticking up enough! His hair just looks like Phoenix Wright here – not that there’s anything wrong with Phoenix’s hairstyle, but it’s not the right kind of ridiculous anime hair for Kaito.

Shuichi makes the same assumption Kokichi did a while back that Miu logged Kaito out after walking through the wall, even though it’s silly to assume that because it would have been safer for her to log him out before walking through the wall so he wouldn’t potentially see her do it.

And here’s a collection of evil grins that Gonta definitely did not have while doing any of this. At least this time Shuichi has a reason for imagining these, since he’s telling himself that Gonta wasn’t really the usual Gonta at all.

I like this panel of Miu reaching out to Kokichi as she dies. She knew exactly who really killed her. Or at least Shuichi is imagining as much because he knows who really killed her too. (I mean, not that Gonta didn’t also kill her, but.)

Shuichi:  “Without that one little mistake… we might never have solved this case, because the culprit doesn’t remember.”

Um, Shuichi? Are you forgetting whose fault it is that you solved this case? Not Gonta’s for not hiding the toilet paper properly. It was Kokichi’s fault, for straight up fucking telling everyone Gonta did it. Shuichi only figured out the toilet paper thing after he’d already narrowed down that only Gonta could have done it, and he did that because Kokichi told him to.

Gonta:  “S-Sorry… Gonta not really understand… Cuz… Gonta not smart boy…”

See, the whole Closing Argument really wasn’t put across in a way that would help Gonta understand, was it. Not that I’m sure it would have been possible to have him fully understand everything no matter how carefully it was explained, because that’s a lot of details for him to keep in his head without ever having actually been there. He’s not actually seeing the comic, after all.

Gonta:  “But… if everyone agree, then… everyone probably right. Gonta… trust everyone!”

Gontaaaaaa. If anyone would accept that they’re unknowingly a murderer because of their faith in everyone else, it’d be him.

Gonta:  “Gonta kill Miu… forget everything… Gonta even think he not do anything bad…”

No, Gonta, it wasn’t your fault that you forgot, that part really was just an accident!

It’s heartbreaking that Gonta hates himself not just for killing Miu but also for thinking he didn’t do anything wrong after having done something like that. Not only does he obviously believe you shouldn’t do bad things, but he believes that if you do happen to do a bad thing, then owning up to it and accepting that you did it is also really important. Of course he’d think that way. (Take some fucking notes, Kokichi.)

Gonta:  “Wh-Why…? Why Gonta do such terrible thing!?”

Kaito:  “…”

Kaito hasn’t said a single word since Shuichi proved him wrong about the binoculars, and he won’t until after the vote. It is fitting that they’d choose now of all times to pan to him saying nothing and remind us of this fact, since Kaito absolutely cannot comprehend why Gonta would do this either.

Tsumugi:  “It’s Kokichi’s fault. He… must’ve tricked Gonta.”

Kokichi:  “Huuuh? I totally didn’t trick him.”

Yes, you absolutely fucking did. You’re going to convince everyone that you didn’t once his motive gets explained, but you did.

Monokuma:  “What a buzzkill of an ending. It lacks the rush of previous Voting Times… Well, after so many killing games, I guess it was bound to happen eventually!”

Geez, Monokuma, have some subtlety. No freaking wonder Kokichi figured this whole thing out and has spent this entire chapter knowing full well that the outside world he saw was a lie. (Which is why what Kokichi did to Gonta was very much a trick.)

While the actual reason this game shows the voting results when no previous game did is for the purpose of the final trial where nobody votes, my favourite thing about this feature is that we get to see this voting result here. This entire trial, Kaito’s arc has been about inadvertently showing himself to be weaker than and inferior to Shuichi even though that’s the opposite of what he wants to do. And now here’s a final, tangible, indisputable piece of proof that Kaito just isn’t strong enough to face this truth while Shuichi is. It doesn’t end up mattering because he’s the only one to do it, but if enough other people had been as weak as Kaito is being here, then everyone would have died. That’s not how a hero behaves at all, and Kaito definitely knows this.

It’s honestly a shame that the game even lets you potentially vote incorrectly here (especially given that it forces you to vote correctly in trial 5, so the writers aren’t averse to doing that when it’d help the narrative). If the players suddenly decided to make it so that Shuichi couldn’t face the truth either and was being equally as weak as Kaito, that just completely ruins the entire everything of it. It should have forced you to vote for Gonta even if you try not to, as a representation of Shuichi’s determination to face the truth no matter how much it hurts.

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[Next post]

[whatwewrotepodcast]

Character Profile - Ithuriel

Basic Statistics  

Name: Ithuriel Age: 6 months or eternity, depends how you look at it Nationality: Currently American, formally Divine Socioeconomic Level as a child: N/A Socioeconomic Level as an adult: Low Hometown: Heaven Current Residence: Brooklyn, New York Occupation: Enforcer for Raif Income: N/A Talents/Skills: Proficient with a range of hand guns, good aim, also competent in hand-to-hand fighting, and the use of a spear in both ranged and hand-to-hand combat.   Salary: N/A Birth order: 3rd of 7 Siblings (describe relationship): Technically the other 6 Arc Angels are his brothers and sisters. Previously a good relationship with most of them, though he was closest to Gabriel, Amitiel and Raphael, however his relationship with Gabriel suffered after his fall.   Spouse (describe relationship): N/A Children (describe relationship): N/A Grandparents (describe relationship): N/A Grandchildren (describe relationship): N/A Significant Others (describe relationship): N/A at commencement of TSC Relationship skills: Ithuriel’s relationship skills are not the best. He has a tendency to be prickly and overreactive, and often blows things out of proportion. He can be shy and reserved and hard to get to know. He makes up for these deficits by being a genuinely kind, warm person who never intends to hurt anyone, and generally feels guilty when his actions adversely affect those he cares about.  

More beneath the cut

Physical Characteristics:  Height: 6’2” Weight: 110kg Race: Caucasian   Eye Colour: Golden Hair Colour: Dirty/Dark blonde Glasses or contact lenses? No Skin colour: Fair, but with a bit of a golden hint, tans easily Shape of Face: Sharp, strong jawline, high cheekbones, long, straight nose. Overall impression of hard, clean lines, very little softness.   Distinguishing features: Two large, nasty scars down his back, from shoulders to hips. A pair of stylised Angel wings tattooed on the inside of his left wrist and a tattoo of an ornate spearhead on the inside of his right forearm.   How does he/she dress? Jeans, usually fairly loose cut, blue. Black or grey long-sleeved shirts or t-shirts. Black trench coat, military style boots, a scarf if it’s cold. Always muted tones though, never wears colour, always black/white/grey.   Mannerisms: Often runs his fingers through his hair when he’s troubled. Pinches the bridge of his nose when he’s thinking hard or when things are driving him to frustration.   Habits: (smoking, drinking etc.) Has a fondness for chocolate, but nothing that really counts as a habit per se.   Health: About as good as can be. More than human. Doesn’t suffer from most human illnesses or diseases, has improved healing from injury and is able to survive with less food, water and rest than the average human.   Hobbies: Currently doesn’t really have hobbies, though he does like to people watch. Favourite Sayings: N/A Speech patterns: Tends towards overly formal language, doesn’t use a lot of contractions, does have a New York accent but it’s towards the more upper class end of the scale, and sometimes veers into a very generic, hard to locate sort of American accent.   Disabilities: N/A   Style (Elegant, shabby etc.): Professionally broody chic. Tends towards the shabby side though.   Greatest flaw: His short temper. He had a propensity to explode over minor issues, has a very short fuse, and often says things in fits of anger that he later regrets.   Best quality: A genuine kindness and love for humanity.   Intellectual/Mental/Personality Attributes and Attitudes  Educational Background: None Intelligence Level: Technically very high – he’s an Angel and so has divine intelligence, but his lack of experience in the world means most of the time that intelligence is of very little use to him as it hasn’t got anything to back it up.   Any Mental Illnesses? Technically no, though it could be argued he has a bit of PTSD about his Fall.   Learning Experiences: Everything is a learning experience for Ith. He’s been living on earth for just over 6 months and so everything, from learning how to safely cross the road to making toast are learning experiences of him.   Character's short-term goals in life: Work off his debt to Raif and be able to live his life free of debt and restrictions.   Character's long-term goals in life: Get back to Heaven.   How does Character see himself/herself? Ithuriel has a pretty complicated relationship with himself. On the one hand, he’s quite proud. He was an arc, and as such had quite a high opinion of himself. He was very powerful, there were few who could tell him what to do or how to do it. He was convinced of his own righteousness. However, since his Fall, his sense of worth took a bit of a hit. He still sees himself as ‘better’ than most humans, more moral, more ethical, but he also fell, and that took some of the wind out of his sails. He is now conflicted about who he is and what his existence means, and where he stands in the world.   How does Character believe he/she is perceived by others? Ithuriel doesn’t think much of how other people see him, especially at the start of the story. He doesn’t think much about other people’s internal worlds. However, as he develops, he does start to worry that people think of him as a bit stuffy, a bit uncool, and a bit overly righteous.   How self-confident is the character? Initially very, but he lost a lot of faith in himself and his ability to make the right decisions when he Fell.   Does the character seem ruled by emotion or logic or some combination thereof? Definitely ruled by emotion – probably one of his greatest flaws is letting his feelings get in the way of making the sensible, logical decision.   What would most embarrass this character? Any reference towards sexuality or sexual activity, especially towards the start of the story.   Emotional Characteristics Introvert or Extrovert? Introvert How does the character deal with anger? Very, very badly. Mostly by letting it explode all over the place. He has a short fuse.   With sadness? He lets himself feel it, but only within himself. He doesn’t tend towards being demonstrative about his emotions.   With conflict? Again, not well. He tends to shout first and think later.   With change? He’s gone through a lot of changes recently and considering the magnitude of them, he coped remarkably well. That said, he did struggle a lot with readjusting to his new role in life.   With loss? By suppressing it until it bursts out of him in explosions of jealousy towards those who have that which he has lost.   What does the character want out of life? At the moment, he’s just trying to do with best with what he has.   What would the character like to change in his/her life? He would go back to Heaven and get his wings back.   What motivates this character? Partially the desire to get back to Heaven, though he rarely admits it to himself. Mostly a deeply in-ground sense of what is right and what is wrong and the desire to correct the wrongs and do the right thing.   What frightens this character? The idea of dying alone, in a strange world, and going to Hell. The thought of becoming corrupted and evil and losing the parts of him he sees as ‘good’.   What makes this character happy? Simple things such as chocolate, watching people who are happy, the feeling that he has made the right decisions, Merry.   Is the character judgmental of others? Oh boy yes. Incredibly judgemental, though often he feels a bit bad about his original impressions once he gets to know people.   Is the character generous or stingy? Generous.   Is the character generally polite or rude? He likes to think he’s polite, but often he can be a bit rude, in part because he doesn’t understand social cues very well and in part because he’s just a bit brusque and too self important to worry about the ‘niceties’.   Spiritual Characteristics Does the character believe in God? God literally created him and he knows Him personally, so yah he does.   What are the character's spiritual beliefs? He doesn’t have beliefs, he has knowledge.   Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life? Not really, because Ith doesn’t need to ‘believe’ in things. He knows and understands the truth of the world and the Heavens so it’s not a spiritual experience for him, it’s just his reality.   If so, what role does it play? N/A How the Character is Involved in the Story  Character's role in the novel (main character? hero? heroine? Romantic interest? etc.): Hero/Romantic interest   Scene where character first appears:  

Ithuriel shifted his weight, pins and needles tingling down his legs. He sighed, a brief allowance of impatience.  He was crouching uncomfortably on the edge of a low building, his gaze fixed on the dark street below. It was nearing dawn and the streets were empty with the early morning hush. A biting breeze was whistling around the edges of the stout brick buildings, its prying fingers reaching under coats, lifting hats, and chilling blood. He turned the collar of his heavy trench coat up against the cold, but didn’t dare shift his position. In the quiet, even the slightest of sounds would carry. He’d been hunched on the exposed rooftop for hours now, and he was damned if he was going to risk startling his quarry for the sake of a moment’s release.    

Relationships with other characters: 1. Merry -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the novel).

Ithuriel initially sees Merry as a bit of a helpless human in need of rescuing, though it doesn’t take long before he begins to see her as more of an important tool to use against Moloch. He’s bemused by her and the often flippant attitude she takes towards life. She’s the first human he’s had prolonged contact with and she forces him to re-evaluate the way in which he perceives humans and accept them as individuals rather than one sort of mass that he can judge all together. As they get to know each other better, Ithuriel starts to respect Merry’s independent nature and her bravery in the face of a world that’s much bigger than anything she ever knew before. This respect soon turns to friendship before developing into something deeper.  

2. Belial: -- (Describe relationship with this character and changes to relationship over the course of the novel).

Ithuriel’s relationship with Belial is initially antagonistic. Ithuriel fears becoming what he sees in Belial and as a result tries to push Belial to be better to assuage his own fears of losing himself without hope of return. It quickly becomes important to Ithuriel that Belial choose the right side though this is primarily a reflection of his insecurities. Belial becomes a proxy through which he tries to convince himself that he can still be saved. Over time, this attitude shifts towards a genuine desire to see Belial save himself, and an appreciation for who Belial is as a person.   How character is different at the end of the novel from when the novel began: 

Ithuriel’s arc is one of coming to accept his new existence and appreciate the grey areas that make life so interesting. He begins to see the value in people and the ways in which they can be good and worthwhile without having to adhere to a strict sense of morality. By the end, he has come to realise that humanity is worth saving because of the intrinsic value of life, and all the beauty and wonder that humanity has created.  

[aceandsparrow]

Survivor 34: Finale

[S] Hey, they did invite Varner! [A] I'm not surprised that they invited Varner. That scenario will probably be a good half of the reunion.

[S] "For the first time ever, we brought back 20 of Survivor's biggest game changers." They may not have had 20 players, but the original all-star was a much better group of game changers.

[S] Would people actually vote for Brad to win? Does "do you need the million" play into voting in an all-star season? [A] People would certainly vote for Brad. He'll give a sob story about his wife. And the "do they need the million" never works in the same way that no one ever wins because they "need it the most."

[A] Did Jeff just say Cirie is a "perennial fan favorite"? Who the hell is a hardcore Cirie stan? SHE DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

[S] "In her four seasons, Cerie has done basically nothing." - Jeff Probst, essentially

[S] Sarah's explanation still makes no sense. Why vote Michaela, not Cirie? [A] Sarah didn't vote Cirie because doing so would result in Cirie not giving Sarah her vote. She can explain away voting out Michaela in a way that Michaela may still respect her; Cirie would not only not vote her, she would try to poison the jury.

[S] God I hate Sarah. Get off your fucking high horse. Tai is a bad person because he was going to stab you in the back despite your "generosity?" FUCKING HYPOCRITE!

[A] You all need to fucking back off of Tai. Ya'll are screaming at him for doing the same shit you do on a daily basis. I hope he uses an idol and it gets Sarah or Cirie out.

[A] Tai, don't tell Sarah. That will not get you back in her good graces. She and Cirie will just take you out.

[S] I want Culpepper or Tai to win. Would be fine with Aubry or Troy. Culpepper and Troy have not ever pretended to be anything. Tai is lovable. Aubry is a good game player and has the added bonus of not being Sarah. [A] I always want Tai to win, but acknowledge that he is horrible at this game - he's just naive and lovable. Culpepper winning I'd be fine with - I just don't want him to make final three because his final speech would be all about Monica *gag*. Aubry or Troyzan winning would be an underdog victory in that I constantly forget they're still here and can't name a single major thing they have done all season. Sarah is just a bitch and Cirie is useless.

[S] So theoretically Tai can play both idols, Troy can play his idol, and Sarah has the legacy advantage. Tai can play kingmaker where there is only one person who CAN go home.

[A] Brad, why would you pick Sarah? If you picked Tai and Troyzan, you all could have chatted and realized you could supremely dominate this game.

[S] Wow, Brad. Bad strategy. The angry bully is what made Tai flip last time. This play isn't gonna work. [A] When will Brad realize that making demands and trying to put someone on a leash is not the way to win allies?

[A] Tai, don't do it. Keep your idols. Think about the fact that he just picked Sarah over you for reward. He is using you. He is bullying you.

[A] The fact that Brad wants to make a fool of Tai - not get him out because he's a threat - makes me retract my previous statement about being okay with him winning.

[S] I think this tribal ends with Cirie HAVING to go home.

[S] Poor Tai...he's right though, he does need to toughen up. [A] Tai crying is killing me. I just want to hug him through the screen.

[S] So did he NOT give Brad his idol?

[A] Did Brad just say he didn't lie to Tai? That in itself is a fucking lie.

[S] Even Tai notices Sarah is a hypocrite.

[S] Why do people constantly bully Tai?

[S] Whoever Tai doesn't play his idol for is going home. I think Cirie. Or I guess Troyzan might go home.

[S] I was right. Bye bye Cirie.

[A] The jury's faces pretty much sums up my feelings about this tribal.

[S] You better read the votes. [A] He better still read those votes. I want to know. Tai needs to know.

[A] Oh god, Jeff. Don't give her a chance to give a speech. Let it go. Just snuff the torch and move on. [S] Why are we letting the voted out Survivor give a speech? We don't ever do this... AND STOP CRYING!

[S] READ THE VOTES! READ THE FUCKING VOTES! Boo…

[A] Did Sarah really add "Love Sarah" to her vote for Tai? Fuck off.

[A] Cirie is not a legend. Name one thing she has done - not been around for, but actually DONE.

[A] GODDAMNIT SARAH COULD HAVE GONE HOME.

[S] Cirie crying even now…

[A] Seriously, she gets two speeches? C'mon.

[S] It is just Tai, unless he wins immunity, going home yea? And Aubry praying Tai doesn't win immunity.

[S] Well this was a nail-biter of a challenge.

[A] Of course it was for Monica, Brad. Everything is for Monica. We get it.

[S] Tai going home. Stop worrying Aubry.

[S] Aubry, not Tai? Why? I think Tai would be MUCH better at final, and also Tai will win any endurance challenge, 100%. Brad and Troy should want Tai gone first.

[S] God Sarah, you are absolutely obnoxious.

[S] Bullying Tai didn't work the first time, why would you try it again, Brad? [A] Brad...I'mma shout this from the back for you this time: BULLYING. DOESN'T. WORK.

[S] "That's, like, your opinion man." Troyzan is basically The Dude.

[S] I do not get keeping Tai over Aubry but whatever. [A] I don't get the Aubry vote. I really don't.

[S] That is an ugly looking puzzle.

[A] After that immunity challenge, can we just skip tribal. We all know Tai is going home.

[S] It kills me that Sarah is gonna make final three.

[A] Are you fucking serious?! Brad just uttered "this is my island." What a jackass.

[A] Sarah: "Brad's pretty cocky right now. He thinks he's calling the shots." Me: "No shit." [S] It's not just your decision, Brad…

[A] The jury would destroy Tai. He's all over the place.

[A] Brad didn't make anyone mad? Have you met Debbie?

[S] This is fake drama on the levels of Amazing Race finishes. Tai is going home.

[A] I hope they go to fire. I love fire.

[S] Told you.

[A] Lame.

[A] And now the super awkward final tribal where everyone struggles to insist they were good people. 

[A] Zeke: well spoken, poignant remarks. Andrea: "so, like, ugh."

[S] "Yea, I lied.  But that's only not okay when Tai does it." - Sarah, essentially

[A] I am so glad the jury laughed when Sarah said her "personal relationships were 100% real from the bottom of her heart".

[A] Not going to lie, I'm loving this new final tribal format. Saves me from Brad constantly talking about Monica. [S] I don't like this final tribal format. The players should be advocating for themselves, not other players advocating for them.

[S] I don't understand Michaela's question about what Brad knows about her. How was Brad SUPPOSED to answer that? [A] Michaela's question to Brad was really just pointing out that Brad didn't make personal connections/he didn't know anything substantial about the other contestants.

[S] I am absolutely sad that Debbie is on the jury. Stop talking. [A] Did Debbie just say she's Brad's lieutenant? So we're just ignoring her crazy outbursts about Brad being a dictator? [S] Debbie, you are literally making me want Brad to lose. Also, didn't Debbie hate Brad?

[S] Michaela is so annoying. Sarah is so annoying. Not surprised they are on the same side.

[A] Troyzan, you sitting in the final doesn't mean you played well. People take dead-weight/patsies all the time. That being said, I feel bad for you because you probably did play well, but because you weren't agro-aggressive, newer contestants won't appreciate your game play.

[S] It won't happen, but at this point I want Troy to win.

[A] Hold up. Is Brad wearing a burlap sack?

[A] Also, all of Brad's mannerisms when responding to Tai make me want to punch him. He keeps treating him like a child.

[A] Hailey: "Brad, did you just say you used condescension as a strategy to control..." ME: "YES THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID AND DID."

[A] So Debbie legit just complimented Brad's dictator mentality. Bitch is crazy.

[A] He won't get a single vote, but I'd love it if Troyzan just won because right now it's either rewarding a bully or rewarding a high-horse riding liar.

[S] I think Sarah will win. What a shit season.

[A] I've said it before and I'll say it again because this final tribal once again proves it: they need to go back to a final two format.

[S] Culpepper with mustache but no beard seems weird. [A] Brad looked better in the burlap sack.

[A] Zeke is more excited than Sarah that Sarah won.

[S] Ahhhh Tai and Brad. Adorbs.

[A] C'mon, Jeff. Don't rub it in that Culpepper made a mistake.

[A] That's seriously the rule for a tie? That's kind of amazing.

[A] Man, I wish Troyzan would have won.

[S] Yea I don't miss Sandra.

Next season: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: [S] Why do the seasons ALWAYS have to have a gimmick? Especially tribes based on a common trait. The entire reason Survivor is interesting is because it's a bunch of different people forced to interact. [A] Seriously? Stahp with the gimmicks. Just let it be two random tribes. Also, please leave Fiji.

[S] "Three very different ways of life." Literally none of them are mutually exclusive.

[video-drone-blog]

Videodrone: DOOM

((Hey all, links up top:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/hegelbon Paypal: www.paypal.me/hegelbon (currently working toward RE:7, or whatever you’d like) Twitch: www.twitch.tv/hegelbon

Also, we need a new name for the blog because this one is terrible in terms of google recognition! Suggestions welcome and encouraged. Thank you for your support!))

So, because I care about you all, please note: trigger warning here for like...lots and lots of violence. Because DOOM (2016; I’ll refer to the original as DOOM Prime) takes the series’ tradition of pushing the envelope of violence to the extreme limit and past it a bit. 

Unlike the 2003 sequel that attempted to take John Romero and id Software’s classic shareware/early message board classic FPS series into the direction of survival horror, this Bethesda/id team production is definitely an old school shooter at heart. Any sort of scares are of the “yecch” variety, as opposed to true jumpscares, and the surface psychology of the series is definitely shallower than any survival horror game I’ve played. You point, shoot, tear, rend, and otherwise bloodily shoot your way through a demon-infested Mars and the very bowels of Hell itself. It’s Doom Prime with a makeover and it’s incredibly fun.

It’s also smart as hell.

One of the major issues of bringing DOOM to a modern era of gaming is that the original game relied so very little on story that, even compared to relatively evocative show-don’t-tell games like Hotline: Miami or Ikaruga, its lack of narrative development was glaring. Much like Wolfenstein: 3D or Postal, Doom Prime and Doom II were part of a generation of games that literally needed no development of narrative outside of “Well, you’re in a situation...and that situation calls for extreme violence.” No one was playing these games to learn anything or immerse themselves in a world: they were playing them for the action and the crafting therein.

And boy, was Doom Prime well-crafted. If you haven’t played the original Doom games recently, go back and try them -- they’re easy to find online, for free, in various mods and versions that help you play them on modern PCs and laptops. The levels, especially in the original Doom Prime, are just lovingly and incredibly crafted. They’re marks of distinction in terms of level design, difficulty balance, and consistency of aggression. When the game was initially released, its main legacy was that it was incredibly bloody and unredeemably violent. Decades later, it doesn’t seem so bloody or violent, due in part to graphical changes, but the intent holds up: the level design, and the design’s ability to be redone by players made for a building block series of deathmatches, strategizing, and visual language that had never existed before.

DOOM, instead of trying to outdo or redo its predecessor’s quality moments, simply polishes them in every possible way. The graphics shine, of course, and the frenetic quality of the game -- with hyper-violent “glory kills” built into the survival mechanics of the game -- keys into a weird Gaming Id for anyone weaned on the early PC FPS genre. The level design is careful, often nostalgic, and always pushing the limits of difficulty and aggression. In any combat situation, you find yourself using all of the ammo you have in an effort to just get through, frantically trying to survive just a bit longer in the middle of a horde of demons. And while I’ll touch a bit deeper on the game’s sense of architecture and game reference in a future column, I’ll say here that the secrets, collectibles, and challenges in the game turned a 13 hour game into a 24 hour vision quest. So, well done there, devs.

But the most impressive element of the game’s update might be its story. Because while Bethesda and id (under the new ownership of ZeniMax) didn’t reinvent the wheel and simply built upon the blazing speed and intensity of Doom Prime, they decided to make the narrative of the game a bit deeper. There are two ways the narrative of DOOM expands beyond the expectations that its predecessor gives it: first, it openly aligns the problem of a massive demon infestation with capitalist over-reach into the environment. Mining operations on Mars, taken to their absolute extreme as they mine energy from Hell to power the now-colonized Solar System, are taken to their fullest entailments by Dr. Olivia Pierce, who sacrifices her entire base to demons for power. Samuel Hayden, the robot-CEO who awakens you and sends you against Olivia, eventually shows his own commitment to energy over humanity, as he mourns the loss of every piece of technology your death-fueled Doom Marine destroys. Ultimately he betrays your character, setting up a sequel in which demons and Hayden survive and provide a clear opponent for your hyper-powerful single-minded professional killer avatar.

But why does the Doom Marine want to kill demons so badly? Well, as we find out, it’s not any sort of commitment to energy, capital, or science. It’s a pure instinct. Everything you do in-game, from fulfilling objectives, to uncovering secrets or progressing through a map is dedicated to killing demons in efficient and more and more spectacular ways. Your avatar has no interest in the problems of Hayden’s company or energy use on Earth -- he really just wants to kill demons. So, where’s the narrative again?

Well, it’s in the game’s lore. But unlike a lot of games, the lore in DOOM is really thrust into the flow of the game itself, revealing that the Doom Marine is the resurrection of a long-standing lineage of Doom Knights who have been killing demons over millenia. They draw health and energy from the death of demons (as your character does) and they are the only ones who can stand up to the horde of demons in Hell (again, natch). Your character is woken from his tomb not, as in Doom Prime, as a poor marine put in a bad situation, but as an elemental force, mythologized fearfully by the demons trying to kill you, and truly committed to death, bloodshed, and mayhem in the middle of a fully fleshed out, pragmatic, and carefully plotted corporate and spiritual world.

So the Doom Marine becomes more a representation of a force than a man, and as a result justifies the hyper-violence of the game truly as a thematic choice. Doom Prime billed the extremity of its violence as a selling tactic, and don’t get me wrong, DOOM does also. It’s bloody and spares no expense or hint in letting you know. But in thematizing that violence, layering it into the game’s narrative itself and the logic of the game world, DOOM allows its player a license and motivation to kill demons outside of “well it’s fun.” And this motivation not only fits the game, but effectively performs as auto-critique -- this game is violent because you’re literally playing as a remorseless eldritch horror. You are not given choices you might want as a player -- you cannot choose to save the mining operation, you cannot choose to save demons, you cannot give up. You can only move forward, with every reward making it easier for you to kill. The mythology of DOOM both licenses and traps the player then, casting them in a role that is hyper-specialized, a part of the late capitalist spiritualism of Hayden’s mining operation (another topic for a later column).

DOOM knows it is violent, abhorrent, and intense. It revels in this in its design and execution. But it also directs its enthusiasm back on itself -- you can enjoy the game, but you cannot get any depth from your character because, well, there is none there. You’re a throwback protagonist in a fully fleshed out world, forced to be the one motiveless monster in the room, as even the demons have their reasons for doing what they do. You play in DOOM as the remorseless killer that Romero billed in Doom Prime, but you aren’t even given the honor of being “a space marine.” You’re a tool, like any of the guns you use in the game or any of the mining operation you unwittingly save. That Bethesda and id were able to refocus DOOM to cover the complicity of capitalism, the auto-aesthetic-critique of Doom Prime (Stay tuned for my readings of the brilliant retro levels), and a critique of the epic hero narrative is remarkable. What is perhaps even more remarkable is that they did so by enhancing the world around the Doom Marine and radically impoverishing his own inner world. It is no coincidence that the iconic “face damage” of Doom Prime is missing in DOOM. 

There is no face; the only thing you get is the facemask, a black mirror with nothing looking back. No Gods; No Heroes; Only Money and Demons. DOOM is a fantasia of late capitalism, a fitting critique of the Trump era in which it is produced. Candy that’s enjoyable but cannot be enjoyed -- the most fun game of the year that doesn’t want you to enjoy yourself too much, DOOM is worthy of serious study in a way that an FPS perhaps never has been.

[acoolguyscoollife]

Chapter 2: Irradiated Bananas

“Bullshit.” The word came quickly and unanimously from all three of us. Tabitha was clearly not expecting this response, and her expression quickly turned to a frown. She looked behind her, at the computer, then back at us. A moment or so passed with a silence so uncomfortable that I felt the urge to say anything to make it end. Thankfully I was stopped from saying something hasty and dumb by Tabitha finally responding.

“You don’t believe me? Fine, get on the tables then.” She gestured to the tables that had come out of the ground, and we got onto them, seeing no alternative. I barely managed to fit inside without taking off my sunglasses and almost considered doing it for an easier experience, but didn’t. I wasn’t giving up looking cool no matter what. Very quickly I felt a whooshing feeling, for want of a better descriptor, and I wasn’t where I had been anymore. And it surprised me, because for all intents and purposes, I felt like I had actually moved. So obviously, I began testing the limits of the machine. I burst into a series of awesome, indescribable karate moves, the likes of which have never been seen and would make men weep and woman lust for my… okay maybe I’m getting carried away. The point was, I tried everything I could to break the machine as soon as she connected me to it. When I had finally given up, a glance upwards after I had flopped to the floor in tiredness revealed the other three to be staring at me.

“Should I even ask?” Tabitha said, staring at me with an expression that just screamed tired mother.

“Tryna break yo’ shit, fool.” I replied, before passing out for a moment. When I came to, I hadn’t moved at all, and nothing had changed. I did say it had only been for a moment. “I don’t get it!” I said as I did a cool-ass backflip type thing. Which is to say, I rolled backwards, got stuck slightly, fell onto my side and sheepishly stood up. “So, you weren’t joking? We’re really in some kind of life-replicating simulation?”

“Of course I wasn’t joking!” Tabitha replied, indignantly. “This technology is next level. If it hadn’t been for my mentor, this tech wouldn’t have existed. I-” Tabitha continued to talk, but my mind already began to wander. The technical aspects never mattered to me, it was more the potential of what could be done with technology like this. I could live on an island for the rest of my life. I could spend my life in a video game! This possibility was-

Tabitha

Forgive me, but I feel it necessary to hijack the narrative here for a moment. As the subheader says, I’m Tabitha, the girl who was talking in the story a second ago. Honestly if you somehow didn’t manage to catch onto that, I can’t imagine this bit of the story entertaining you much. However, if you’re interested in spatial-temporal mechanics, then I can guarantee that you’ll be very happy with this-

Cool Guy

BOOOOOOORING!

 Look, there’s some important stuff, and there’s some unimportant stuff. The important stuff is the stuff I’ll end up being re-told in the near future, and the rest of it can just go on Tabitha’s blog or something. The point is, I daydreamed for like half an hour as Tabitha went into an unnecessarily large amount of detail on stuff that I feel like neither of the other two even remember. To avoid this chapter just being nothing but people talking, I’m going to move the “plot” forward slightly by not including the part where everyone stands around aimlessly as the computer started up, and just stick to what happened after.

 “Okay, so do you know the game Apocalypse VII?” Tabitha asked us, half-rhetorically. Part of my whole aesthetic had come from the fictional greaser gang that was in the series, the Cellar Serpents. They wore leather jackets and had a no-nonsense attitude, so obviously I wanted to be exactly like them. Seth, on the other hand, was more of a hero-martyr type kind of guy, always taking the nice path no matter how boring it got. One of the best things about the Apocalypse series was how varied the choices were. You could work for the enemies who originally hated your guts, or you can kill them all. Or maybe convince everyone to work together so nobody dies. Or, if you felt like it, you could just go off and kill some zombies. I was aware that Amy had played it as well, but her methods of playing games like that where you have free choices was… odd, to say the least. The last time I’d seen her playing, she’d created a brothel of every character you can romance in the game. The weird part was how tender she had been in the creation of it, making sure all the characters were well-fed and watered.

“Of all people, why are you asking about video games? You play farming simulators and tycoons.” Seth remarked, and I had to hide my personal feeling of being attacked. Micromanagement Tycoon was a game I had spent a LOT of time on back in the day.

“Well, it just so happens that this machine, given a game’s world, can recreate it on a much more realistic level.” Tabitha pushed her glasses up the crook of her nose as she said this, as Seth gasped audibly in excitement.

“Ymeanwecngointopoclypsevn?” Seth said without a breath in between words. It took me a moment to process his question as being you mean we can go into Apocalypse VII? Tabitha nodded, and it was if a human firework had been lit next to me. Seth literally exploded.

Seth

No I didn’t!

Cool Guy

Seth metaphorically exploded. All I could do was watch as he bounced around, occasionally glancing over to Amy and Tabitha, who returned my uncomfortable expression.

“Are you done?” I asked as he finally began to slow down. He nodded, but his eyes still shone like an excited dog’s eyes. Tabitha had turned away, tapping away at a keyboard she had magically materialised out of nowhere. I would have marvelled at the technology more, but instead I tried doing it myself. I wasn’t sure which hand gestures caused things to materialise, so I found myself doing nothing but waving my hands around aimlessly as I tried to make something happen. I gestured up, down, and all around, doing a strange dance in a vague attempt at being a super-cool hackerman.

“CG, what the hell are you doing?” Tabitha asked, and I looked up to see that I was once again being watched by everyone.

“I wanted to make a keyboard appear.” I replied simply, before turning back to my efforts. Maybe it was the hand signs? I tried devil horns, holding my hands like there was an invisible guitar, and the shocker, but nothing worked.

“You don’t have admin privileges.” Tabitha said, her head in her hands, and I finally stopped, sidling over to Amy as Tabitha turned back to whatever she was doing.

“So, what are you gonna do first?” I asked, half-whispered. The less Tabitha knew about what we were going to do in there, the better.

“Well, first off, I’m finding Franklin and bringing him everywhere with me. I don’t know how carrying stuff works in this game and the last thing I want is to have to lug guns everywhere.” She replied, reminding me about the half-robotic companion you could get in the game. “Then, I’m gonna go to the Whiteguard and sign up. I’m gonna nuke everything I can.” I hadn’t even considered the possibility of nuking things, but the prospect excited me. I could go full Cellar Serpent, complete with a badass hairdo and shades. Well, I already had the shades, but that only added to the excitement. “You?” She asked, turning to me. I didn’t just wanna seem like I was copying her ideas, so I frantically thought of something to say that would be even MORE awesome, and totally befitting of someone like me.

“I’m going to… try the cuisine of the apocalypse.” I finally said. Balls, that wasn’t a very good excuse. Her eyebrow raised, but I quickly changed the subject. “Won’t the nukes break the simulation, anyway?” I asked, and Amy shook her head.

“Weren’t you listening to Tabitha? This stuff is a LOT deeper than your basic simulation. It’s powered by…” I found my mind wandering again as Amy spoke, this time about what the apocalypse’s food would taste like. Probably regular meat, but irradiated. Wait, don’t bananas have a minor amount of radiation? I wonder if radiation tastes like bananas.

Amy

Dude, you have ADHD.

Cool Guy

Look, I can’t help it if everyone around me is boring. And I still want to know whether bananas taste like radiation, or if radiation tastes like bananas.

 But anyway, Amy went on to most likely repeat what Tabitha had said that I had now conveniently missed twice, and would most likely not hear a third time until I had learnt the hard way exactly why there was such a specific difference. But hey, doing things like this has worked for me in the past. Why wouldn’t it keep working in a trans-dimensional situation?

“Voila!” Tabitha cried suddenly, bringing me out of a rousing thought-train about bananas and radioactive spiders, and I glanced over. Slowly but surely, the horizon, which had been dark with some faintly-glowing stereotypical computer lights, was now brightening. Well, I say brightening, but the image that was beginning to come in was more… earthy and dull than that. The price to pay for your games becoming owned by a triple-A company, but hey, at least I didn’t have to wait too long between instalments, and I’ve played games with worse stories.

“Holy shit, it’s happening.” I said, not able to comprehend much else. I had never played a game in VR before, not even with a flimsy plastic piece of cardboard that strapped my phone to my face in eye-burning closeness. This was next level, and then some. I could smell what the wasteland smelt like. I could hear what it sounded like, feel what the wind rushing through the landscape felt like. I could even taste the earthiness of the land… since the four of us ended up suspended in mid-air, causing us to all fall a few feet downwards. I wasn’t sure whether anyone else had landed flat on their face like I had-

Tabitha

No, we pretty much all landed on our feet.

Cool Guy

-but I quickly recovered, pushing myself back up in one of those aforementioned awesome gestures. Looking over at the other three, I could see that our clothes hadn’t changed at all, but thankfully, were all outfits that we could have probably grabbed somewhere in the game anyway. Hell, you could dress up like a psycho clown and hunt for giant moths, I was pretty sure that some basic pre-nuke clothing wouldn’t turn many heads. One thing that was quickly noticeable, however, is that while the videogame characters could easily walk around in a leather jacket all day, it was insanely hot in the wasteland. I took off my signature jacket, sighing as I could feel my overall coolness rating drop by a few hundred percent, and tied it around my waist, which pretty much dropped my coolness to zero percent. Everyone else, however, seemed to be content to stay in the outfits they had been in, not seeming to care about the weather at all. Even Tabitha, in her lab coat, was barely registering the heat, instead running around the environment with a handheld device, looking excited every time it went ping at something. And ping it went, over and over. Ping ping ping, as she ran around the area we had landed in, scanning rocks and sand and little patches of shrubbery. Eventually she reached us again, and the device went pong. She frowned and shook it next to her ear, and the rattling from inside was audible even over the wind.

“What’s wrong with it?” Seth asked, and she looked up at us.

“It’s more like what’s wrong with us. We’re not nearly as safe as I had hoped we would be.” She replied, taking out another device. For a moment I thought she was going to do another weird technical thing, but all she did was take a stylus out and write a few notes down. Right, not everything had to be super futuristic.

“And that means?” Amy asked, trailing off her words in that way of asking the other person to continue speaking. Tabitha was quiet for a moment, before looking up at me and Seth specifically.

“Try not to die.” She finished, turning away and looking over the horizon. Immediately, Seth and I looked at each other, smiles growing as we quickly knew what we were going to reply with.

“Are you saying that if you die in the game…” I began, and Seth was quick to finish as I saw Tabitha visibly bristle at the beginning of the sentence.

“…you die in real life?” Seth finished, barely able to contain his laughter long enough to finish the sentence. Tabitha turned back to us as if she was going to start yelling at us, but seemed to think better of it as she sighed, turning away again.

“Yes.” Her words dripped with irritation, but the serious nature of what she was saying still reached us. Luckily, I knew I was too cool to die. That, and I’d played this game enough times to know where to stay away from. Before either of us could say anything else, Tabitha spoke up again. “Let’s head that way. I’m picking up large amounts of people converging over there.” She put away the retro-looking device with a long antenna (you know, the kind of one you need to push down before putting it away) that I hadn’t seen her take out, and began to walk. Everyone else started following her, except for me. The sense of smell that this world had hit me with was making me very aware of a specific kind of smell. One of ripe fruit. I grinned, and yelled out to the rest of them as I rushed forward.

“It smells like bananas!”