#I have beaten both acts 1 and 2 though. Very poorly.

[hrokkall]

(Stumbling out covered in blood) hey guys

[haberdashing]

I Am Destruction, Decay, And Desire (4/?)

Martin finds out that Jon’s going to meet with Jude Perry and acts to intervene. It goes… poorly.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

on AO3

Martin had never been a fan of the old idiom that time heals all wounds. In his experience, if time made you forget about certain wounds, it was only because newer ones took precedence. That being said, however, by the time Martin returned to the cafe where the life he’d known had ended just twenty-four hours ago, his mood was as least somewhat better than it had been the previous night. He still was all too aware of what had happened, but it didn’t sting quite as badly as it had when it was fresh.

He still had a purple smudge on his finger that had not in fact washed out during his bath, or rather his mostly-unsuccessful attempt at the same, but that was... fine. It would be fine.

Martin had made a point of being on time to the meeting he had arranged, but even so, he saw as he had arrived that both Jon and Jude had beaten him to the punch, having taken a seat at opposing sides of an outside table.

Jon was wearing the same ridiculous fluffy pink coat as he’d worn the day before, though if it was especially chilly out Martin couldn’t feel it, and Martin felt a pang as he got closer and saw that it was still visibly stained where his waxen hand had brushed against it.

As Martin approached the table where Jon and Jude sat, he found that that same coat he had fixated upon was apparently the current topic of discussion.

“Look, I lost my normal coat, and i-it’s cold. Some of us actually feel it, you know?”

Martin’s stomach sank a little further at that confirmation that it was indeed cold out, that he simply couldn’t feel the cold anymore, that that was yet another sign that he was no longer human. (Even if it was kind of amusing to watch Jon get so indignant about that coat, of all things...)

“You wouldn’t shake my hand.” There was a strange grin on Jude’s face as she spoke, a grin matched in intensity by Martin’s growing certainty that this conversation was going to be... well, simply “uncomfortable” was probably a best-case scenario, now, wasn’t it?

Martin pulled up a chair and sat down between Jon and Jude; Jon glancing his way for a moment before returning to staring at Jude, and Jude nodded vaguely in his direction but didn’t otherwise acknowledge him. That was fine, though. There were worse things to be than overlooked.

“Well, no, I’m not stupid! I saw what happened-”

Jude’s grin only got even wider as Jon spoke, and evidently he noticed, as he switched conversational tracks quickly enough.

“L-look, will you stop that?”

The wild grin turned to biting laughter, though only for a brief moment. “Oh, alright. Ah… I hate explaining jokes, but, um… Imagine you’re, um… a butcher, and one day an injured little lamb walks into your workshop, and strides right into one of the mincing machines, but when you go up to it, knife in hand, it shakes its head and tells you ‘I’m not stupid’. Do you get why that’s funny?”

“Right.” Jon didn’t sound the least bit amused even after the explanation, but honestly, Martin didn’t exactly blame him. “But no more abattoir metaphors, please.”

“Suppose it’s not really me, is it? Would you rather be a really stupid piece of firewood?” Jude’s grin and the playful tone in her voice suggested that she was amused enough by her own jokes for the three of them.

And then Jon just... plunged ahead, asking questions about names and dates and places that Martin by and large didn’t recognize; perhaps it had been foolish of him to assume that Jon’s research, Jon’s search for answers, would have stopped just because of a little thing like, oh, being on the run for murder. In hindsight, Martin knew Jon well enough that he really shouldn’t have been surprised that the man kept searching for information come hell or high water, kept seeking out danger even when he was already knee-deep in it.

Really, the surprising part was that Jude actually cooperated, more or less. Sure, she protested, she threatened, but she also answered Jon’s questions in the end.

(Some might have found it even more surprising that Martin managed to remain little more than an onlooker in the conversation, but not Martin himself; he was too used to it, too used to being overlooked and underestimated, and honestly, given the circumstances, he didn’t much mind not being the center of attention at the moment.)

“Yes, yes, I understand, you could easily kill me, I’m at your mercy...” Jon barely blinked an eye at Jude’s latest not-so-veiled threat, a reference to a statement Martin actually did remember and a man who ended up horrifically burned because of the events within it. Martin doubted anyone else could sound quite so bored when being threatened with agonizing pain and disfigurement by a woman who had already proven that she could easily make good on such threats if the mood struck her. “So... why haven’t you done it?”

“We’re in public.” Jude, for her part, seemed more amused with the situation than anything else, the grin on her face sneaking its way into her voice once again.

“Well-” Jon started to say, but Martin interrupted before Jon could finish the thought.

“That didn’t seem to stop you before, now, did it?” Martin didn’t bother hiding the aggravation in his voice--it was one thing to discuss weird happenings Martin wasn’t privy to without including him in the conversation, but ignoring the events of yesterday, ignoring the very relevant fact that Jude had burned him in a setting every bit as public as the current one, went a bit too far for his taste.

Jude tilted her head to one side, and both she and Jon looked Martin’s way for a long, silent moment; Martin couldn’t read the look in Jude’s eyes, but Jon’s contained something like guilt, or perhaps pity.

“I was a bit careless there, wasn’t I?” The upbeat tone of Jude’s voice was only slightly dampened, far from the apologetic tone her words might otherwise have signified. “I shouldn’t have given you time to scream. If I moved fast enough, I could-” Jude turned her gaze back at Jon as she continued to speak. “-reach through your chest like runny wax, and hold your heart while it cooked, and no one would even notice.”

“Right. R-right.” Jon finally sounded at least slightly affected by Jude’s threats rather than just bored of them; perhaps it was the graphic nature of this one that did the trick, or perhaps being reminded that Martin was now living proof that Jude’s threats weren’t empty ones was enough to make the seriousness of the situation start to sink in. “So why don’t you? Does your ‘god’ not want you to?”

“...mmm, hard to say. When I look at you, I feel that burning liquid pain, eager to flow out and purify your rotten carcass...” Jude glanced over at Martin, and her gaze looked almost conspiratorial, like she was expecting him to be in agreement, but all Martin felt upon hearing that was a bit sick. “But I feel that a lot.”

“Oh.” Jon looked a bit peaky, and if Martin had to guess, he felt at least as ill as Martin himself did upon hearing the graphic details of Jude’s desire to burn and destroy. “M-more or less than normal?”

“Hard to say when every nerve ending’s on fire. Hard to tell degrees.” Another glance Martin’s way, looking for something in him that wasn’t there. (Or wasn’t there yet, at least--Martin thought back to Prentiss’ statement, how she could recognize that something was wrong before becoming little more than a worm-filled husk. Maybe that’s where he was now, in the in-between period, no longer human but not yet monster.)

“Third degree, maybe?” Jon muttered, the words probably meant mostly for himself rather than for the benefit of his conversational partners, but Martin still snorted with amusement, though Jude looked more annoyed than amused (apparently in her mind, she was the only one allowed to make jokes in this conversation).

“Sorry, sorry, it was a...” Jon trailed off before finishing his sentence, and when he started speaking again it was to start on another train of thought. “I have a god too... right?”

“Is that another joke?” Jude’s wry grin was back, despite the fact that what Jon had said didn’t strike Martin as a joke, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that any laughter in response to it would have to be at his expense.

“N-no, I... I’m new to this. Everyone keeps calling me ‘Archivist’, like I’m special, and that... that I serve the Eye. Trying to kill me for it.”

“Yes.” Jude leaned back a little in her chair.

“S-so... i-it’s like your ‘god’, right?”

“Oh please, your god is nothing!” Jude wrinkled her nose, apparently disgusted by the mere thought of comparing the two “gods” on equal terms. “The Eye, Beholding, Ceaseless Watcher...  whatever you call it, that’s all it does. It watches and knows, sitting bulbous and comfortable in the ignorance of infinite knowledge. I serve a reckoning, a surging tide of destruction and pain.”

Martin could feel his pulse racing as Jon breathed, “The Lightless Flame.”

“The Desolation. Blackened Earth. The destructive, agonizing heat of burning flesh and land scoured of life. The light, the comfort of fire stripped from it, leaving nothing but the terror of its approach. When it triumphs, it will leave The Eye a burned and shriveled husk that sees nothing but its own agony.”

Jon spoke up again, starting to get into yet another tiff with Jude by the sound of it, but Martin wasn’t really listening as the two went at it, too preoccupied by dissecting the information Jude had just given him about the “god” she worshipped, the power she had pulled him into serving by force.

Martin rather preferred the term Jon had offered up for it to those Jude had given; lightless flames could still provide warmth if one didn’t get too close, after all, while desolation, blackened earth... those phrases spoke only to landscapes with all the life in them stripped away, spaces emptied by force of any comfort that might once have been found there.

The mere thought of it made Martin’s stomach turn a little... and yet, part of him wanted to agree that their “god” was the better one, the stronger one, destined to reign superior, even if all it could cause was destruction and pain.

Martin hoped, distantly, that he hadn’t reached the point where all he could cause now was destruction and pain.

[princepondincherry]

Wish RWBY was better? Try ATLA

To start: Yes, I’m aware ATLA and even LoK probably have much larger fandoms than RWBY already. I think they also have more content and were produced with a larger budget, which means we have to give RWBY some slack. It doesn’t mean criticism isn’t valid.

Since Avatar came out on Netflix, I watched both shows, and I can’t help drawing parallels with RWBY since they’re both animated shows I’ve loved about badass kids/teens with magic powers. And Avatar is SO MUCH better. For instance, inter-party conflict. The Gaang argue ALL THE TIME, and it’s just presented as the normal state of affairs, not some dramatic, crazy detail when one sibling has a slight disagreement with the other sibling. And as much flak as the Mako relationship drama gets in Legend of Korra, at least it had substance to it. We still don’t really know what the problem is with Ren and Nora. Oh, and The Last Airbender handled an unwanted kiss forced on someone who didn’t think it was the right time for romance SO MUCH better, with an immediate, “I SAID I was confused!” and the instigator having a scene right after where they called themselves an idiot, instead of the Renora kiss being presented as romantic or something.

Now I kinda want to write a list of things I feel Avatar does better. There’s a poorly-argued word vomit below the cut:

- The dead mother thing--Salem mentions Summer once with no details, and Ruby completely breaks down? What? Like, grief is fine, but this has literally no foreshadowing since the songs don’t count as full canon, and it made no sense given Ruby’s established (ha) character and the situation. Katara would have flown into a rage, and it would have been so much better.

- Arguments with adults on your side--Pakku was set up as an asshole teacher from the start, and he when confronted with the consequences of his misogyny, he changed his ways for the better. Zuko arguing with Iroh is never intended to have Zuko be in the right. Korra argues with Tenzin all the time, and usually they’re both right, but have to come to a better understanding of each other’s perspective that helps them grow as people. In fact, this conflict drives a lot of the story for the first two books of LoK. Unfortunately, RWBY seems incapable of this sort of nuance. Qrow is just drunk until he isn’t, but then later gets Clover killed, and Ozpin is supposedly just awful.

- Arguments with adults who should be on your side but aren’t--Long Feng SHOULD be on the same side as the heroes, defending the Earth Kingdom, but he isn’t for pretty stupid reasons. But, unlike Ironwood shooting people like a maniac, Long Feng is against the heroes for stupid reasons that (mostly) make sense in-universe: he wants to remain in power. (I still don’t understand why he didn’t just quietly explain that he had the real power in the city, not the king, and shuffle the kids off to whoever was running the military defenses that allowed him to pretend there was no war. I guess he thought if he just gave them the cold shoulder long enough, they’d go away?) Whatever problems there were with Long Feng’s storyline, at least he was consistently written as a bad guy. In contrast, Ironwood is inconsistently written as a good guy who has all the trappings of a tyrant but doesn’t act like it AT ALL, except when he occasionally does something extreme like shoot Oscar. He’s written (I guess unintentionally?) as a subversion of the military tyrant, except when he suddenly acts like one again. It’s like they were shooting for a Tarrlok (sketchy government official who’s both bad for the obvious reasons AND worse than he appears beneath the surface, even though he often works for the side of good) but actually wrote Suyin (someone who could easily be a totalitarian dictator, but decided not to be because of her moral principles, and is actually nice), except occasionally she attacks her allies for disagreeing with her.

- Costume design--I loved Ruby’s, Weiss’s, Ozpin’s, Qrow’s, and a few other original costumes, and Ruby’s had some very solid costumes. However, Volume 7 was terrible. The animation looked weird on Weiss’s braid, Jaune’s hair was awful, and a bunch of them weren’t really dressed for the weather. In contrast, the Avatar characters change outfits whenever it’s appropriate. You know, like real people. (If this is a “3D animation makes outfit changes harder than 2D animation” thing, then maybe 2D animation is just a superior art form when you’re on a budget.)

- Consistent power levels--Katara starts weak and gets stronger. Aang starts as only an airbender and consistently gets better at everything else. Toph invents metalbending and gradually gets more proficient with it. In contrast, RWBY’s Volume 1-3 feats are often better than their later feats, and Aura strength blatantly depends on plot. Yang’s gotten *slightly* better at fighting, Weiss learned a new skill and promptly got her butt kicked by focusing on it too much, Ruby supposedly learned hand-to-hand combat but really just did a headbutt, and RWBY SOMEHOW beat the most premiere team in Atlas after training with them for a few weeks. Sure, Toph, Katara, Azula, Aang, and Sokka are all ridiculous prodigies, but they’re established as such from the beginning. Katara still loses soundly to Pakku before he trains her. (Despite the memes about her kicking the ass of the patriarchy, he’s obviously going easy on her and still crushes her.) Aang gets beaten by Ozai without his OP special ability. Azula gets beaten easily the one time we see her go up against an adult (Iroh, on the ship in the beginning of book 2). And Toph is more like Pyrrha than anyone on Team RWBY. Honestly, this is one of my weaker points, but I still stand by the fact that the Avatar kids’ victories felt much more earned.

- Bad Fights--Yes, I know, heresy. I actually think the best of RWBY’s fights (RWBY vs. Torchwick’s mech, Ozpin vs. Cinder, Pyrrha vs. Cinder, RWBY vs. the Nevermore, Qrow vs. Tyrian) are somewhat more exciting, visually interesting, and (sometimes) emotionally charged than even the best of Avatar’s fights (Aang vs. Ozai, Zuko vs. Azula, Kya vs. Zaheer, Korra vs. Zaheer, Tenzin and his siblings vs. Red Lotus, Suyin vs. Kuvira). But my actual point is that RWBY’s bad fights are BAD, whereas I can’t even think of what the worst Avatar fights are. Sokka vs. Zuko in episode 1 was pretty bad, but that was more of a gag than a fight. Umm...Big Glowy Korra vs. Unavaatu was kinda cheesy, but I still liked it. Meelo fartbending vs. the Equalists? Idk. Meanwhile, RWBY has the Scuffle of Haven, that time Ilia seriously hurt Sun somehow, Qrow vs. Tyrian vs. Clover (visually impressive, but made NO FUCKING SENSE), Oscar landing a massively-telegraphed blow on Neo...well, okay. Maybe there weren’t that many awful fights. I still think I came away from more RWBY fights disappointed, but I can’t really argue my case very well.

- LGBT representation, normalized to the time period--Yes, Korrasami never got past handholding in the finale, but somehow Yang and Blake haven’t either? Even though it’s 2020? Actually, this is a symptom of a larger problem:

- Romantic relationships being ignored--Why won’t RWBY explicitly confirm anything? The RWBY cast are closer in age to the LoK cast than the ATLA cast, but it feels the other way around. Kataang was both heavily present in ATLA the whole time and by no means taking over the plot. And, okay, there was Jaune/Pyrrha, but she’s dead now, so the most-developed ship is Renora. Who held hands, then didn’t talk about their relationship at all for a full volume, and then had a nonconsensual kiss handled worse than the Kataang kiss in Ember Island Players. I’m glad there haven’t been any Romantic Plot Tumors in RWBY, but something would be nice. Or just don’t bring it up at all if you’re never going to develop the relationships.

- Sibling relationships--Yang and Ruby were great as sisters in the early volumes, but lately it’s just been Yang deciding to yoke herself to Ruby’s judgement, until suddenly she’s not anymore. I feel like they barely talked in Volume 7.

- Villains--If Salem wants to kill everyone and collect the Relics, why hasn’t she? She’s invincible! Ozai at least was still human, but he left to handle things himself as soon as he got a power-up. More vaguely, I just find Avatar’s villains more interesting than RWBY’s most of the time.

I’m aware that some/most of these are unfair. It’s more intended as an incoherent rambling to get my views out of my head than as any sort of persuasive argument.

[theharellan]

101 DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS | not accepting

for the sake of reducing the number of ooc posts i’m answering these all in one and just @ing the people who asked the questions! thank you for them all!

if you sent me one of these btw and rbed this meme yourself and i didn’t send you something, please let me know! i want to send you things back and must have missed you reblogging the meme. this includes non-mutuals.

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? | asked by @kaaras-adaar & @dreamerlavellan​

Sort of by accident, actually. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in university (2011) and summertime is generally a time of inactivity and depression because I cannot tolerate the weather here. My dad happened to own Origins and I picked it up because??? Fantasy? RPG?

Starting the game I saw you could play as a dwarf, who have been my favourites in fantasy since a child as The Hobbit is among my favourite books. Then after that I fell in love with the worldbuilding for dwarves and Gorim, my first actual Dragon Age love. I was more or less hooked after that. DA was actually not my first Bioware game, I was obsessed with Jade Empire as a kid so like Origins appealed to me immediately despite being far less fun to play than literally any other Bioware game I’ve ever played. The characters and world more than made up for it.

I beat it relatively quickly and my dad bought Dragon Age II which had come out earlier that day, actually against my suggestion because I’d heard it wasn’t good. And in this instance my dad forgetting something I said turned out for the best because I ended up enjoying DAII more in some respects. While it took me a while to join the fandom as a content producer I was a consumer and certified DA trash from then on.

2. Have you finished all three games? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

Kskjdfs yes. I’ve beaten each at least 4 times, but probably more like 8. The only thing I haven’t played are some of the Origins DLC because as much as I enjoy my replays I am so ready to be out by the end of the game (and I have the worst luck with Awakening bugs) and I also don’t have Sebastians DLC b/c his never goes on sale individually and I refuse to spend more than like $4 on him.

3. How long did it take you to finish the series? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I honestly don’t know. I think it took me like a week to beat Inquisition without 100%ing it, I’d say my first playthroughs all probably took about that long. I tend not to do everything in my first playthrough. Like shard collecting didn’t happen until round two, etc.

7. Favorite DA:O backstory? | asked by @dreamerlavellan & @fatefaulted

I’ve played through all of them and I enjoy them all except Cousland, but my favourite is Aeducan. I enjoy the politics, the culture, the aesthetic of Orzammar. I love Gorim Saelac and the surprising amount of depth to this character who is designed to be thrown away after the prologue. I love how it ties you to the Darkspawn threat in a bigger way than any of the origins accomplish. I love how it ties you to the Orzammar plot later in the game, and playing Aeducan first is probably one reason why I adore that branch of the game. It’s a good origin that establishes its world really well and has great characters to boot.

11. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game. | asked by @dreamerlavellan

I just want to share pics of my girl and Solas’ future husband.

Ian Lavellan, non-Inquisitor written by @theshirallen

Thora Cadash, dwarven Inquisitor and default Inquisitor for this blog written by... me lmao.

22. Favorite DA2 party combo? | asked by @fatefaulted

My main Hawke is a mage Hawke, so this party is horrendously imbalanced, but: Varric, Merrill, Isabela. They all just like each other and I think that’s neat. Although in act one my favourite is probably Carver, Merrill, Isabela / Varric. Unfortunately the game doesn’t want me to have a warrior in my party.

24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

It’s hard to pick between In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn. I love seeing the red lyrium’d companions and the dark future of Thedas, and speculating on what happened in the intervening year. I love reflecting on what it must do for the Inquisitor to see that and have it be undone. I think it sets up the rest of the game really well, and in ways Champions of the Just doesn’t do quite as well.

In Your Heart Shall burn is a simpler quest but I think the power and emotions in the quest are so raw. Playing this the first time was riveting and I was on the edge of my seat. The triumph of closing the Breach, the strangeness of your first encounter with Cole (whose appearance at the gates is another reason I prefer IHW tbh, I think it’s more tension building than Dorian’s), Corypheus, crawling through the snow. Capping it off with The Dawn Will Come and the journey to Skyhold idk, it’s just such an emotional high point in the series that every time I replay I get goosebumps.

25. Favorite DA:I place? | asked by @fatefaulted

It’s a tie between the Frostback Basin and the Emerald Graves. I love the lore in both, as elf trash I prefer the lore in the graves especially if I can include the Din’an Hanin into that category. But the Avvar lore and Ameridan is also Very Good, and while I adore the giant trees of the graves the Frostback Basin clearly was able to have more resources poured into its design, and as a result the different sections of the map have so much more character.

A close runner-up is the Hinterlands, as I think the quests there are fun and it feels like home. I enjoy returning to it. Which is good, b/c I’ve played through it... a lot... I think loving it might be a coping mechanism, but also I love the vibe of the early game that’s best captured in the Hinterlands.

32. Favorite DLC mission overall? | asked by @fatefaulted

Trespasser is up there with Shivering Isles as my favourite DLC ever produced. Its hits every emotional beat I think it needed to hit, set up the next game with greater detail and intrigue than the initial epilogue, and I’m honestly dying to get to replay it again on Thora despite what it does to my nerves. The first time I played it I could feel my heart beating faster like wtf me.

37. Blood magic: yes or no? | asked by @hopewrought​

Would I use it myself? No. Morally I think it can be reprehensible but also neutral, much like any other magic in the game. In certain characters I think even if used for good it may encourage unhealthy habits, but I think it can be learned to be engaged with in better ways.

59. Who was written really poorly? | asked by @theshirallen you can’t hide behind anon I know it was you

Oghren fucking Kondrat. When I think about the reasons Origins is my least favourite game he is among them. With Oghren there was a really good chance to portray an alcoholic abuse victim, suffering from severe mental health issues, and still mourning his wife, with the respect it deserves. Instead he just... is a gross sexist dwarf and his alcoholism is mostly played for jokes. And then he comes back in Awakening and... continues to be a gross sexist dwarf whose alcoholism is mostly played for jokes.

There could have been some really interesting stuff with Oghren, the Warrior caste of dwarves I think would suffer from issues similar to qunari warriors, where when they can no longer fill the purpose society has dictated they must serve, what then? They can’t do anything but fight. There could be comradery with Sten, or perhaps Zevran or Alistair, or any of the companions who have had the path their lives took dictated to them by societal forces they had no say in (even if they are happy with that direction). There are snippets of good stuff in here, the line “let us show them our hearts, Warden, and then show them theirs” is one of the best of the good-byes the game offers us imo. It’s a shame about what came before.

Like there are other characters, such as Sera, who I think were done dirty by their writers, but Sera at least got some growth in the DLC and there were attempts to address criticism of her character. Oghren in Awakening was just kind of a take two of an already poorly-done arc.

60. Who do you wish had been given more story? | asked by @hopewrought​

I wish Briala had more, like that she had some impact on the story in universes where Gaspard isn’t crowned with her as his puppetmaster. She and the elves reappears in that but not if you reunite her with Celene or exile her, and I think it would’ve been neat. I also wish she’d had a chance to interact with Solas in some small way given how many parallels were drawn by one of his own agents during Masked Empire.

I also wish we had more about dwarves in general in 2 and Inquisition. We get some great lore in Inquisition that was set up in 2, but with our only dwarf companion being Varric, who honestly has a relationship with his race that at times is comparable to Sera’s, it pulls a few of its punches. I really think they have dwarves set up to be important players in the next game, with their architecture featuring heavily in the dev diary, buuut no dwarves to be seen. So who knows. Just give me dwarves in the next game who aren’t Varric Bioware pls. Let me kiss one maybe.

61. Favorite NPC? | asked by @kaaras-adaar​

I’m not going to count advisors even though they kinda are NPCs and I’m going to answer one for each game so uhh...

Origins - Anora

DA2 - Feynriel

DA:I - Krem

Bonus - Lord Woolsley, the only unproblematic DA character

63. Best story moment? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

It’s a tie between the journey to Skyhold and the talk with Solas at the end of Trespasser and the resulting disbanding of the Inquisition (if you so choose). I really can’t separate them because I think the reason Trespasser works so well is how it calls back to the very beginning of Inquisition and that moment with Solas in the snow. It’s triumphant and sad, something’s ending, the fellowship is breaking, but you know all of you will continue to work towards a better world apart.

In DA:O I think it’d be saying good-bye before the final battle and in DA2 I think the moment where you can tell the Arishok he was right to take in the elves who killed that guardmen is good. Probably one of the reasons why I think Hawke-Arishok work so well as a protagonist-antagonist combination.

81. Favorite fanfic? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, actually. Save what I read on here, which I do count, but idk if other people do.

My favourite writers to read are @theshirallen​, obviously. Joly wants to tweakIan’s personal quest but I think the version they have written now is still very good and you can find it here. I love reading Peace’s stuff and find their smut especially spicy in the best possible way, you can find a Merrill/f!Mahariel piece here! Gaia doesn’t write on Tumblr much these days, but she wrote a wonderful Tug/Sketch (the companions from Leliana’s Song) that you can find here.

I follow so many talented writers and I can’t list them all but here are a few I can fire off real fast: @theshirallen / @ghilannainguideme / @seahaloed / @sabraelin / @valorcorrupt / @mercysought / @hopewrought / @ofrevas / @skyheld have all moved me with their words at some point, be it in fic or rp.

82. Favorite fanart/fanartist? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

Again I just can’t choose jsdfks.

The easiest way is to just link my Solas fanart tag. Obviously this favours Solas artists, however, so also here’s a link to thedaswlw where there’s a boatload of amazing fanart all of wlw.

Of people I’m mutuals with I know @abracafockyou, @kaaras-adaar, @dalathin (currently inactive but I gotta link them), and @syntharts​ are all very talented artists.  I’m also a big fan of destinyapostacy, nipuni, elbenherzart, starscollected (on twitter), and many more.

97. What’s your favorite DA mod? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​ & @hopewrought​

I’ll chose one as many as I want to apparently from each game again, b/c why not?

DA:O - I have to admit I find this game hard to mod because nothing can really salvage the gameplay or look of the game. I need Better Dwarf Model so I don’t have to look at the odd dwarf proportions in the game (the women have arms for days). Mostly I have armour mods. I like Grey Wardens of Ferelden so I can match Alistair in the final batte and have everyone in uniforms in Awakening. I do like Kirkwall Exports because I can put Zevran in the robes of the notorious pirate tho. I haven’t used this mod yet but I also love this mod I retweeted this morning.

DA2 - Again, I don’t mod 2 very much. You could probably make some kind of chart for correlating my enjoyment of a game versus my urge to mod it, with the more I love a game means I want to mod it more. With 2 I enjoy the combat and overall design of the characters more so I mostly use a couple of tweaks, my favourite is Ishs Scarf for Merrill which just adds a cute blue scarf to Merrill and hides the fact that elves in this game have weirdly long necks. Oh and a mod to fix the weird hand dirt.

DA:I - Equal Opportunity Solas mod, I bought the game again on PC just to use it. Being able to play Solas/Ian for screencaps was everything tbh. Other mods I enjoy are More Banter, which while I have better luck with banter it is nice to be able to count on it. I installed it this latest pt and I have heard location comments that have never triggered before. Black Hair for Everyone has changed my life because finally Thora doesn’t have grey hair. No Dirt Buildup is also amazing, as the dirt can cause some really weird blotting on PCs that’s especially noticeable on dark-skinned Inquisitors.

99. Where would you live (Ferelden, Orlais, Free Marches etc?) | asked by @heysales​​

Probably Ferelden. It is fantasy England and hey if I make it past Inquisition maybe nothing will ever happen there again. Somewhere in the Free Marches might also be chill. Not Kirkwall. Maybe Starkhaven? Honestly tho I just want to live in the Frostback Basin. Have a spirit friend. Shake hands with nugs.

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say? | asked by @dreamerlavellan​

If I met Thora I’d tell her I’m proud of her. She’d be confused, but that’s ok.

[popwasabi]

Lockdown Lookback: Catching up on the past months’ Pop Culture

Aaaaannnd we’re back!

It’s amazing what a little pandemic can do to shake you out of your creative cobwebs but if we’re all going to die, I want to make sure all my pop cultural hot takes are up to date at least.

Many of us are already on lockdown and many major movies including “007,” “Black Widow” and ummm I guess “Mulan” are all getting pushed to the backburner as no one is leaving their God damn homes unless they’re told to!

(Didn’t realize the thing I wish I had more of in the apocalypse would be sweatpants...)

But there’s still plenty to talk about from the previous months and other hot topics I have been meaning to write about but just hadn’t found the time or energy for. Life has been hard I think for just about all of us these days thanks in no small part to this pandemic. For me personally, I’ve had two different vacations canceled because of the virus and currently working understaffed at my job which is considered essential. Not to mention my therapist is on call only at this time and both my martial arts schools have been suspended, so I can neither talk nor punch my feelings out of my system.

So, I might be just a LITTLE on edge at the moment.

(My internal monologue for most of these past few weeks, more broadly years...)

Anyways, I digress, you come here because you like to read my highly unprofessional takes on pop culture and genuinely to those who have cheered me on from the beginning thanks, you guys are my prime motivators. But anyways let’s talk about all the shit I was supposed to write about these last two and a half months.

 “Birds of Prey” was a hot, but needed, mess

Earlier last month I got to see the sort of sequel to the much-maligned “Suicide Squad” in “Birds of Prey and the…waaaay too long of a title for me write here.” I had cautious optimism for it because it looked strange and off the beaten path of most comic book movies and seemed to promise at the very least a fun time at the theater but it’s still also a DCEU movie so the floor was pretty low on its possible quality as well.

In the end, the movie is kind of bit of everything; the best and worst parts of the DCEU. 

In terms of the good, it’s definitely outside the box, a sort of fem Deadpool first person story as told frenetically by Harley herself. Margot Robbie is, of course, still quite great at this role and you can tell she’s having a blast as this character. The humor is mostly good and visually the bright colors and cinematography pops on each screen and on that front there isn’t much to complain about.

But as a DCEU movie it does suffer from some narrative imbalance partially due to it’s psycho storyteller but mostly, and more than likely, due to corporate editing that probably axed an entire dance number that I was honestly looking forward to from the trailers.

(Seriously, I actually wanted to see the full unedited version of whatever hell this ended up being.)

It’s definitely in the “could’ve been better” camp of comic book movies but you know what? I’m still glad it exists. You know why? Because comic book movies dominate our blockbuster culture right now and if the genre wants to survive, at least artistically, it needs some outside the box films like this. I HATED “Joker” but I appreciate that it opened the door for stranger, more unique takes on a genre that is getting increasingly more stale. This movie falls into that unique category too.

(Also, to all the faux-intellectuals and alt-right nerds making a culture war out of “Sonic” vs “Birds of Prey” *kindly* reevaluate your lives please...)

We’re at the point now where comic book movies should be getting weirder, not more formulaic, and that means swinging for the fences even if a couple don’t quite make it out of the ballpark. If it takes a few not so stellar takes on the genre for Hollywood to greenlight a truly fantastic one I’m all for it.

In any case “Birds of Prey” doesn’t quite end nor continue the DCEU’s recent hot streak but it is enjoyable enough to where I would be more than open to a sequel. It’s worth a watch.

 The Mandalorian and The Witcher: Two shows about violent mercenaries and fatherhood

Both these shows are old news at this point, but I did want to talk a little about both for a bit if you would have me.

First, “The Mandalorian” which was Disney+’s flagship production to begin its streaming chapter late last year is definitely a more than welcome addition to the galaxy far, far away. It’s pretty easy to feel fairly jaded about Star Wars these days given how flat the new trilogy ended but for what it’s worth “The Mandalorian” was a good mix of nostalgia bait and something new and interesting for fans to chew on. Its production value is obviously top-notch, no doubt because of all the Disney money pumped into it, it’s well-acted and thrilling and fun from start to finish. It plays heavily on the genres that influenced the series, primarily westerns and old samurai flicks, and fans of those will certainly enjoy the homages to them all.

The series was something of a coming out party for Deborah Chow who directed two of the season 1’s best episodes. Her steady hand, eye for details and tributes to Asian cinema throughout really gave the series an extra kick at times and showed how Star Wars can evolve still. Chow is set to helm the upcoming “Kenobi” series and one can only hope that she *really* leans into the samurai genre for that show.

(Hopefully, there are some “Yojimbo” vibes in there somewhere...)

The Mandalorian’s best and worst parts though are its semi episodic nature making each episode easy to digest as a one-off but also lacking some narrative tension between each. It plays kind of like a Saturday Morning cartoon to both its benefit and detriment with bite-size easy to digest plots and dialogue for the viewers but not offering a ton of depth beyond that.

The Mandalorian himself is also kind of a Gary Stu. His armor is basically impenetrable and far and away the best killer onscreen typically, making more than a few action scenes lack real stakes and tension. Baby Yoda certainly helps at times to make him more vulnerable and puts him in precarious positions plenty of times but outside a few moments (mainly episode 2 and to a lesser extend the final episode) he’s just a little too overpowered to be a more interesting character.

But this show and frankly the Star Wars series as a whole is meant for kids, no matter what the neckbeards try to tell you (violence =/= adult), and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Plenty of kids productions can be both great and even sophisticated and while I wouldn’t say “The Mandalorian” is either of those it’s a good and fun kids show for the fans.

(And yes I’m aware that the books, some comics, and games have touched on more adult stuff, you weirdos. But how would you describe the overall tone and presumptive audience of the movies and TV series as a whole, guys??)

As far as “The Witcher” goes it also has a bit of an episodic style to it as well with an overarching, albeit, convoluted story that runs parallel to it. The first 3-4ish episodes can be classified as a quasi “Game of Thrones” clone leaning perhaps a little too heavily into the tropes of that series. Once the series finally starts leaning into its real identity, a dry-witted hack and slash fantasy, the series is much more consistent both tonally and narratively.

Henry Cavil is solid as Geralt of Rivia and the supporting cast of Joey Batey as Jaskier, Freya Allen as Ciri and even more so Anya Chalotra as Yennefer are all great in their respective roles delivering some great moments throughout the season.

(And lest you forget this earworm...)

“The Witcher’s” early season struggles keep it from being as tonally or narratively consistent as “The Mandalorian” but where the monster slayer beats the bounty hunter is that it has overall more compelling drama and has more to say, leaning much more heavily into the thematic greys of the plot. There are tons of problems with “The Witcher” on a story-telling level but you can definitely say it cares more about adding some depth in between the more pulpy aspects of the story which is something you can’t say as much for in “The Mandalorian.”

Of course, I’m partially overselling “The Witcher” a bit here, it’s not anywhere near “Game of Thrones” best (yet at least), and on the flipside one could argue that “The Mandalorian’s” more subtle sense of story-telling does its themes better. But when it comes down to these two shows you get somewhat similar story-telling ideas, mostly involving both characters and their smaller counterparts, in two very different genres with equally diverging conclusions to their respective seasons. 

(🎵 Toss an “Oof” to your Witcher...🎵)

All in all, they’re both good and worth a watch and I think they deserve a chance to evolve and hopefully showcase more of what they have to offer moving forward.

“Parasite” wins Best Picture! Many people have some hot takes, including the president...

Last month one of my favorite films of 2019 “Parasite” won Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that is becoming increasingly relevant as elites and celebrities alike are getting front of the line testing despite being asymptomatic in the middle of pandemic and think they can assuage our concerns and dread by poorly singing “Imagine” together within the comfort of their McMansions.

It’s about as a good time as any to revisit this movie, I mean where else are you going to go during this timeline, and at a later date I’ll write something more extensive about it eventually (hopefully) but first here’s a helpful video on one particular thing that came out after director Bong Joon Ho took home the night’s top honors:

 “Cats” is still a fever dream of madness

Back in late December, I watched “Cats” for science, as I had AMC A-List and a friend crazy enough to join me. I figured it would be bonkers and unlike anything I had seen before in the worst way but even then, I don’t think I was truly prepared for what I ended up seeing that fateful night.

I remember quite vividly going to the bar inside the theater and ordering a stiff drink beforehand to numb the pain and the bartender asking “So what are y’all watching tonight?” and beginning to laugh manically like an insane asylum patient at the innocuousness of the question. Walking into the theater was like that feeling you get before getting on a particularly scary-looking rollercoaster at Six Flags but instead of the pre-ride jitters eventually subsiding to the eventual fun and joy of the ride, only a deep sense of existential dread built up and sustained itself through what felt like six hours of the most baffling thing put to screen in front of my eyes ever.

(The music that played in my head as I exited the theater...)

Have any of you watched the Stanley Kubrick movie “Eyes Wide Shut” before? You know the scene when Tom Cruise is walking around in his mask observing the strange occult sex orgy going on around him at the mansion? That’s kind of what “Cats” felt like except way more terrifying, somehow MORE sexual, and definitely crazier.

(Is...this some type of...intepretative dance to summon an eldritch horror??)

There’s a voyeuristic terror that comes from sitting in that theater room as you watch bipedal humanoid looking felines dance to confusing songs about “Jelicle” cats (whatever the fuck that means) and all other manner of things that should NOT take human form throughout it’s near-endless runtime. A lot was made about Rebel Wilson and the disgusting roach people she consumes but NO ONE warned me about the frankly HORRIFYING mice children in the same scene!

(I am not perusing the internet to find that image again for y’all. I have enough nightmares each night...)

The saddest thing about the whole movie is everyone, save for Ian Mckellen who seemed to be acting as if a gun was pointing at him offscreen and Judi Dench who looked 100 percent like a geriatric in her digi fur, was giving the movie their fullest effort in what can only be described as a Titanic-sized level of hubris by all parties involved. This movie really needed a “Chaostician” involved in evaluating the production for studio heads and shareholders because there were definitely NOT enough people on this project wondering whether or not this film SHOULD exist...

(Dr. Ian Malcolm coming to Universal Pictures to access the film.)

What has “Cats” wrought upon this world? The universe has been clearly out of balance since this movie came out and while I’m not saying it’s director Tom Hooper’s fault, I’m not saying it isn’t either.

“Cats” is one of those things, much like The Matrix that cannot be simply described but must be seen to believe. It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen onscreen but with the right group of people and a few stiff drinks it’s certainly an experience you won’t forget. Consider it for your next Google Hangout during this apocalypse.

  Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts on the last few months. Going to try to be more consistent going forward especially given how much more time I have now to write, for better and worse. But more importantly, just want to say stay safe y’all. It’s going to be a process to get through this and while things are more likely to get worse before they get better there will be a day when this all ends and some normalcy may yet return to our life but in order for us to get there we need to remain vigilant. 

So stay at home, wash your hands, and if you want to watch movies just order it online for now and we’ll just wait until aaaallll this blows over…hopefully.

Don’t panic...

[scripttorture]

Torture in Fiction: The Umbrella Academy: Episode 1-6

I tried to start this saying I was only going to review episode 2 which has a prominent torture scene. Several hours later I am… significantly closer to the end of the series. So I thought I may as well include what I’ve watched.

The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix original series based on an independent comic book. With great acting, excellent music and a cast of deeply flawed characters it was (I understand) quite a hit.

I’m enjoying it a lot more then I thought I would. It’s violent but it’s also ridiculous in a way few stories but superhero comics tend to commit to. There’s a 60 year old man stuck in the body of a thirteen year old after travelling to an apocalyptic future and being in a thirty year relationship with a mannequin. And I just- I love comics.

This series feels very much like a superhero comic book on screen. With all the good and the bad that goes with that concept.

But I’m not here to tell you what I think of the superhero genre and it’s relationship with violence. I’m rating the depiction and use of torture, not the series itself. I’m trying to take into account realism (regardless of fantasy or sci fi elements), presence of any apologist arguments, stereotypes and the narrative treatment of victims and torturers.

Umbrella Academy is the story about a group of very damaged people with super powers. Adopted as babies (born in extraordinary circumstances) by a millionaire ‘adventurer’ six of the Hargreeve children were raised to be superheroes. The seventh, apparently without powers, was isolated in a world of talking chimps, robots and extraordinary abilities.

The story starts with Reginald Hargreeve’s death and the five surviving children (including one who’d been living on the moon, apparently for years) meet for the funeral. In the course of this ‘Five’, teleports back from the future.

While the story overall focuses on the way an emotionally abusive and neglectful upbringing effects all of the major characters I’m going to be focusing on the clear instances of torture in and solitary confinement in some of the episodes.

Both Luther and Five are subjected to extreme solitary confinement. Luther is isolated on the moon for four years, Five is isolated as the last person alive for several decades.

Five stops up in a donut shop late at night and sits next to a tow truck driver. They have a brief conversation and the driver leaves. An armed gang then attacks Five. He kills them and two more people (Cha-Cha and Hzael) are sent after him, apparently by the same organisation.

Believing they’re looking for a man in his 50s they go after the tow driver. They torture him and while they eventually believe that he isn’t Five, they continue to torture him to get information on Five. The driver tells them everything that happened the night before.

Later Cha-Cha and Hazel mount a raid on the Hargreeves estate looking for Five. They don’t find him but they manage to capture his brother Klaus.

Klaus is an addict (what he takes is not explicitly defined) and talks to dead people. The two are linked throughout the story with the heavy implication that Klaus avoids sobriety in order to escape his powers.

Klaus is tied to a chair for about a day and a half. He’s beaten, strangled and ‘waterboarded’. (Cha-Cha calls it waterboarding but didn’t actually carry it out properly. I’ve assumed that was for the safety of the actors).

Klaus escapes and shows no mobility problems after being cut off the chair. He then spends several months in 1968 (as you do). On his return his mental health problems seem to be no worse then they were before he was tortured.

I’m giving it 0/10

The Good

The actual forms of torture shown in The Umbrella Academy are reasonably realistic. They’re not always accurate to the time period or place, but when time travel is involved I’m willing to let that slide. The electrical torture shown, with a battery and bulldog clips, could be taken directly from Alleg’s accounts of his experience at the hands of French troops in Algeria. The stress positions and strangulation are shown realistically. And while the waterboarding isn’t shown realistically I think it was done this way to protect the actor and allow him to breathe.

The Bad

I’ve covered solitary confinement before. The estimated safe period for most people is about a week. While both Luther and Five has a strong sense of purpose during their confinement (and this seems to be a protective factor) that wouldn’t help a lot when they’re confined for such an unrealistically long period. At four years Luther should be a complete mental and physical wreck. At several decades including puberty, Five shouldn’t be able to interact normally with people and should be more obviously mentally ill then Klaus. Both of them are shown without symptoms and this downplays the damage of torture that’s routinely depicted as harmless.

Umbrella Academy shows torture ‘working’ with victims giving up accurate information if only you know how to hurt them. This isn’t true. Torture can’t result in accurate information. This kind of misinformation encourages torture in real life.

Klaus’ response to torture is to thank his torturers for inflicted pain with the strong implication that he’s enjoying being tortured. It’s implied that he’s turned on by pain so ‘can’t’ be traumatised or hurt by torture. This is ridiculous and insulting to both the BDSM community and torture survivors. BDSM practitioners don’t stop feeling pain and they aren’t immune to trauma. There is a world of difference between a consensual and non-consensual encounter. Personally I think this kind of portrayal is akin to suggesting that victims can’t be raped because they’ve previous enjoyed sex. It’s unacceptable.

Klaus is held in a stress position for at least a day. This is a survivable time frame but on release he should have significant mobility issues and should have needed help escaping. Instead he’s perfectly capable of making his way out with a heavy time-travel device. He can walk and move his arms freely. This completely ignores that the way he was held is torturous.

Neither Cha-Cha nor Hazel show any of the mental health problems typical of torturers. They’re portrayed as competent and able to investigate effectively, even though they torture. Torturers are not good investigators and torture consistently undermines effective investigation. Realistically a character can be one or the other, not both.

Cha-Cha and Hazel are also depicted as good fighters and generally skilled. In reality torture produces a deskilling effect in torturers, they get worse at what they do.

Cha-Cha and Hazel are shown as obedient to their superiors, only targetting people who have information or are ordered as targets. This isn’t how torturers operate. They disobey orders, ignore superiors and target a wide array of people who usually have nothing to do with anything the torturers are supposed to investigate.

No one in the series so far has shown any long standing mental health problems as a result of torture or isolation.

No one has shown any memory problems as a result of torture or isolation.

The end result is that the series suggests torture doesn’t have any long term effects at all.

Overall

I think this series really highlights something I’ve been saying a lot on the blog: It’s very easy to find realistic depictions of how torture is carried out and it’s very hard to find realistic depictions of the effect it has on people.

These episodes, and I suspect (from what I’ve seen) the series more generally handles torture terribly. It’s unrealistic and it’s parroting a lot of tropes that either excuse torture or belittle survivors.

That didn’t get in the way of me enjoying the series outside of these scenes. There are a lot of great characters and character moments.

But none of that excuses this senseless repetition of torture apologia.  

For a series that works so hard to highlight the effect of childhood emotional abuse it downplays the effects of physical abuse at every turn.  

It uses torture as a short cut in the plot. It portrays torturers as smart and restrained badasses.

It basically does virtually everything I advise writers not to do.

And this comes about simply by repeating the same old genre tropes without bothering to look up the subjects involved.

There are other ways to have your bad guys find out the information they need to know. There are other ways to establish them as terrible people.

There are realistic ways to show people resisting torture, which don’t diminish the pain they suffered.

I think what I want to stress most of all is that this apologia is unnecessary. It doesn’t add anything to the story. The fun stuff, the super heroics, the ridiculous time travel escapades and carefully choreographed fight scenes can all happen without apologia as the background noise.

For once- I’m not really mad. I’m disappointed. That these tropes creep into genre after genre, put down roots and keep coming back up. The mainstay of this story wouldn’t be any different if they took out torture or even used it in a more realistic way.

Five’s isolation in an apocalyptic wasteland doesn’t last. He’s picked up by an agency of time travellers and offered a job. This could have happened more quickly, especially since the time he spends alone and the time he spends with the agency are both poorly defined.

Luther’s trip to the moon functions to build a wall between him and his siblings. And again, that could have happened in a much shorter time frame.

Cha-Cha and Hazel could have just interviewed the tow truck driver for their information. They’re shown conducting successful interviews later.

Klaus’ resistance could have been framed as natural and there are several points in his dialogue already that could have supported that. The story could have used the fact that Klaus genuinely does not know where Five is.

In the end The Umbrella Academy’s use of torture is a waste of narrative space. None of these torture scenes are essential to the plot and every single one of them is handled badly.

It’s an example of a narrative that wasn’t prepared to commit to showing the consequences of torture.

We can all do better.

Edit: I forgot the full title. Oops.

Available on Wordpress.

Disclaimer

[serendipitous-magic]

Hey, I just wanted to ask, while we wait for the completion of the first chapter of the season we should've got, what is your primary reason for writing this project? Is is it because of the lack of certain relationship dynamics, or maybe presence of certain ships? Or is the writing quality of season 3 in gerneral just that subpar and poorly executed?

My primary reason for the fix-it rewrite is simply this: I do not believe that the S3 we got did justice to the story or characters at all. And I want the characters, the story, and the fans to have the S3 that the story should have gotten. (That sounds very pretentious, looking over this, and I’m not trying to be like, “Oh, I can write the story that we all deserved, no problem, let me just bust out my magical writing skills since I’m clearly the only one able to fix this mess (adjusts monocle and swirls a martini).” That’s not what I’m trying to say lol. I would simply like to try my damndest to give us that, whether I entirely manage it or not. And hey, shoot for the moon, right?) 

Let’s just forget ships entirely for a second. Hell, let’s forget the audience entirely. Regardless of what fans wanted, let’s consider this: the canonical seasons (1 and 2) were fantastic. The characters were complex and well-developed, and they felt like real people. The plot was fascinating and the storytelling was top-tier, with enough complexity and symbolism and background details and authenticity to captivate a huge fandom. The acting was on point. The writing was great. The whole show (the canonical seasons, that is) felt real. It felt like we were watching real people struggle against real events, and that authenticity and emotional connection was, I think, a lot of what made the show so great.

My main reason for my rewrite, honestly - more than being for the fans or even for my own satisfaction - is that I feel like the characters and story that we all know and love deserved better. The characters themselves, as characters, deserved so much better than (gestures angrily) that. (I won’t go into a whole ‘nother rant, because y’all know what I’m talking about.) The story deserved better. The writing was just... bad. Like, straight-up, it was just bad writing all the way around. It all felt like an over-the-top, cheesy B-list 80s movie, and not in the good way. While the dialogue of S1 and S2 felt like we were seeing and hearing real people talk and interact and react to things, the writing of S3 felt like a stageplay written by 13 year olds. Nothing against 13 year olds - it’s just, a professional TV show that was that good in the first two seasons really should be better than that, you know? So much better.

There were so many loose ends that S1 and S2 left hanging that S3 just straight-up ignored. There were so many wonderful, authentic, intriguing relationship dynamics - positive and negative - that they could have explored. There were so many aspects to the characters and their lives and their struggles (as a result of the events of S1 and S2) that would have been so fascinating and emotionally impactful if they had taken the time to address and explore that. And they just... didn’t. S3 completely abandoned any and all emotional connection with the characters - both between us (the viewers) and the characters, and between the characters themselves. The entire plot was driven by empty drama and meaningless action, with very few moments of real emotional connection anywhere. I’ve said it a lot and I’ll say it again: S3 is not the same show as seasons 1 and 2. It’s a completely different thing. The atmosphere is different. The aesthetic is different. The themes and morals are different. The acting is different. The writing is different. The characters are completely different people (I’ve beaten the phrase “paper-thin caricatures” to death, and I shall continue to do so). The construction of the plot is different. It’s a completely different show. From a storytelling perspective, it really does seem like we never actually got a Stranger Things Season 3 - what we really got was a show of the same name, with characters loosely based off of the ones we know, but the thing we got? It wasn’t Stranger Things. It just wasn’t.

And speaking of, I’ll touch on ships now: yes, of course I’m completely dissatisfied with the treatment of... uh... all the ships in S3? I mean, that’s an entirely separate rant in and of itself, but I’ll just say: it’s not just byeler. Ofc I’m gonna be writing byeler into my rewrite, because (gestures at my blog) I’m a byeler shipper. So. Yeah, of course. But besides byeler, S3 treated all the ships so badly tbh - even the ones that were “together” during the season. Even mileven! I don’t ship mileven, but I was pretty disgusted with how S3 treated that relationship. They played mileven for empty drama, and they didn’t even do a very good job at writing their relationship. (Again: that’s another rant.) And Jopper? WTF was up with Jopper? Who wrote that? No, seriously, who wrote that script. I just want to talk. Even Lumax, who were arguably the most stable and better-written couple in S3 - even they were very snippy with each other and apparently broke up and got together like 5 times in the span of half a year, and... It just seemed like all the ships were written so poorly, even the ones we were supposed to root for.

So, yes: another reason I wanted to rewrite S3 was to give the ships what (I think) they deserved. A respectful relationship built on teamwork and friendship for Jopper (which is definitely heading towards romantic, though it’s stalled a bit by both of their stubbornness and by Joyce’s mourning for Bob). An arc for mileven which allows them to see the negative aspects of their relationship, both grow as people (especially El, who really needs space to develop as a person), and retain their (amazing!) friendship. An arc for byeler that acknowledges and addresses their lifelong friendship, the bonding they went through last season, Will’s sexuality, Mike’s sexuality, etc. And so forth.

Reason #3(ish): the plot of S3 felt sloppy, based on empty drama and action (as I’ve said repeatedly lol), and it did not address many of the interesting loose ends left by S1 and S2, and I would like to address that in my fix-it. What happened to all the (many, many) hints about Will having powers? What happened to the Mind Flayer being a terrifying and fascinating villain/monster (without turning into a goo-monster for CGI flexing)? That guy said that Brenner is alive - is he? What about that Party trying to grow up too fast to escape and leave behind what happened to them as kids (except for Will, who’s trying to cling to the childhood that was stolen from him)? (We got a little bit of that in S3 but it was like... never addressed? Never resolved??) What happened to the Upside Down - like, the physical place itself? Why did we need to introduce Russians (like, literally just “Russians,” as a vague, stereotypical concept) as a villain when they already had good, solid villains established? Why the sudden “MURICA, CAPITALISM IS GOOD, RUSSIANS AND COMMUNISM BAD, DID I MENTION MURICA??” theme? Why? Why did they drop all the interesting loose threads from the canonical seasons only to shove in completely unnecessary new villains and drama that frankly just bloated the plot and didn’t add anything to the story that had been established in seasons 1 and 2?

Look, I could go on and on and on. 

TL;DR: My reasons for this re-write project are as follows:

1) I felt that the story and characters themselves deserved better, and so did we as viewers and fans. S3 did not even feel like the same show as S1 and S2, and I wanted to at least try to write a story that would do (better) justice to the story and characters.

2) All the ships were treated terribly in S3, in my opinion, mileven included, and I wanted to a) treat them better in my rewrite, and b) yes, make it gayer. A lot gayer. Because I’m gay and I can. So (throws confetti).

3) I wanted to address some of the interesting loose threads left by seasons 1 and 2, and cut out a lot of the bullshit that was shoved into the plot unnecessarily in S3.

[docmurph12]

Ok so advisory warning on part 2 of my CATS review.

I know very little about stage production compared to my self study knowledge of filmmaking. I am reviewing, in this second part, a film. Of a stage show. So I am not sure how this is going to turn out, other than I'm going to get a good look at how this is supposed to be, instead of what was delivered. I am also hoping this filter helps me clean up my final verdict on the 2019 war crime that was CATS. Buckle in, here we go!

Ok right away, the music is 100% better. I'm not being beaten over the head with dated instrumentation, and this thing is almost 20 years older than the movie. Wtf guys.

I have to say I dig some of the humor in the opening song. Like having a shoe thrown at them and everyone singing out of key as they are singing about cats being angelic vocalists singing Strauss and Handel. Shits funny to me.

So I'm noticing that this is going to be pretty much un-doable without ballet. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. That's not to say that is a bad thing, i just wasnt expecting it to be so dependent on it. As far as the performances are concerned, so far it is a spectacle.

I have to say I hate this Rum Tum Tugger piece. The dude is like Prince with bad timing and a weak falsetto. I hate to say it but Jason Derulo might actually have done a better job.

Ok I give up. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK with the Rumpus cat? Matter of fact, that goes for this whole thing. Seriously.

God I have so many questions about camera use here. How many cuts did they have to incorporate to account for all the moving pieces? Was this done over the course of a constant single performance? How many vocal parts got done in ADR? Did they recreate this when it was done in front of an audience?

Ok I have to say, that overlay effect was definitely done in post. Still pretty cool though.

We have officially COMPLETELY jumped the shark in the end of the third act. Fucking force lightning shooting ass Mr. Mistofoles.

There is a TON of repetition in the music. If I hear the words Jellicle, Mistofoles, cat, or deuteronomy one more damn time I'm going to.....lemme get back to you I still have 20 minutes.

Oh interesting, easter egg on set. The license plate of the car on set reads TSE-1. T.S. Eliot. Neat.

This is REALLY long winded. The last 10 minutes feel like 2020.

God-Kitty really nailed that last note. Fucking righteous.

Ok so I think I have what I need for a comparison and final verdict on the film. Here we go.

I don't know why anyone thought we needed this. In any forum. On any version of Earth. I will say that I can greater appreciate some of the performances and aspects of the movie more now. For example:

Rebel Wilson really took absolutely less than nothing and made it work out. She worked seemingly outside of her realm but nailed it, at least as much as one can in this arena.

Francesca Hayward's character was kind of a nice fleshing out of a character that previously existed. I like how she had a more central role in the film. She really was a dazzling performer in her own right. I just wish it wasnt obscured by the fur suit atrocity that made a wonderful ballet performance REALLY difficult to watch at times. For that matter Idris Elba's Macavity needed the additional material they gave him and I can...appreciate what he did with it. Just keep the goddamned trench coat and porkpie hat on.

Speaking of the story, I really hate the lack of a flow that both versions of the story had. The attempt to sew the vignettes together into a more understandable story didnt really work out as intended. To second that, I think to make this work you absolutely have to go one way or the other. This has to be either a stage production or a film. It cannot be both. If they focused on making a movie instead of some fucked up hybrid of stage and screen it might have come off better.

My final thoughts? Repetitive and poorly constructed music, dated poorly in context. Poor execution in storytelling, especially when you consider it adapted a series of vignettes adapted into a stage script into a screenplay (wrapping my head around that hurts). This wasnt anything anyone needed outside of the pages of a T.S. Eliot book. The performances were alright, but can't we piece together another more effective epic or comedy or literally anything? Or here's a crazy idea, maybe something original!!!!

Final Verdict- The 1998 stage show on film was watchable at parts but it's still fucking CATS. D.

The movie? Taylor Swift was out of place, quality actors had a small rep tarnishing, music was BAD and VFX was set back probably 5 years. And its Fucking CATS. No grade for CATS. If I had to give it a grade it would be incomplete. I'm going to go brain bleach with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot before I get into my next request (Avatar the Last Airbender, for those wondering. Yes that one.)

[spiftynifty]

On Let’s Voltron, the showrunners, and fandom

On Thursday an interview came out on Let’s Voltron, the ostensibly final interview with the showrunners of this now-completed show. Within an hour a few tweet threads appeared and incited a new wave of hatred and anger towards the showrunners, mostly by people relying on these tweet threads rather than listening to the interview themselves.

I don’t like secondhand info that sparks outrage; and having watched both AB interviews and seen how outraged people got over them, without having seen either, I strongly suspected that this interview was nowhere near as incendiary as the tweet threads suggested.

And lo and behold, I was right. Much of what was reported in tweets was misconstrued, or lacking the additional information that listening to someone’s tone provides. I didn’t hear two snarky showrunners smugly enjoying the chaos that their truly lacklustre season provided. I heard two people who were exhausted and beaten down by both the expectations of the fandom and the limitations placed on them by people with more money and power. They didn’t call Shiro “boring”, they referred to their initial vision of him as boring. They didn’t say he was repetitive, they said his backstory was repetitive of other characters’ in the series and was cut. There was one salty comment from JDS about how Voltron and Atlas merging was cool but everyone was too bummed about s8 to appreciate it, but there’s a dark humor to it that reads to me like a man struggling to joke about something neutral and positive in a season that was poorly received by fans and many critics alike. The vast majority of the interview is not much we haven’t already heard, though there is a very telling segment that lasts about 5-10 minutes where they discuss the heavy limitations on representation in cartoons. Ezor and Zethrid were allowed to exist, they say, because they were secondary characters. And female. The words “main heroes” with an S, are repeated several times by LM when describing who was and was not allowed to be LGBT. She explicitly states that wlw is one thing, but mlm is a whole other battle.

As disappointed as I am in the mistakes JDS and LM made, I find myself feeling very defensive of them as I see the people who once defended them from ants now begin to exhibit ant-like behavior themselves. “They should never be allowed to work in animation again” says one tweet. “They never gave a shit about this show” says another. “S8 was their explicit revenge on fans.”

It makes me unbelievably sad to read this. JDS and LM made mistakes. S8 was objectively terrible. Their attempt to shoehorn in “bonus” representation backfired terribly. They’ve been upfront about Voltron never having been planned with a happy ending in mind, and buckle down hard when confronted with the notion that killing Allura was a bad move.

But as they’ve said many, many times, this show was a labor of love for them. They worked their asses off to pitch something grand to Dreamworks because they were fans of the original and wanted to do it justice. But then they got the show and proceeded to get buffeted around for 4 yrs by dreamworks and the rules of a pre-existing IP and half the story ideas they come up with get shot down by execs for any number of reasons. People have latched onto the fact that the last third of the series wasn’t properly planned from the beginning, but I’d like to remind people that the plan they had for s3-6 was completely upended by one (1) executive call. The showrunners have said that they purposefully left things out of the bible to make it harder for execs to say NO to something well in advance. They were, as my director frequently calls it, “playing the game”, the careful balance of trying to tell a good story while also pleasing the client demands for a robot toy show. It’s a fight. Part of playing the game is leaving decisions so late that it becomes far too late to be changed by executives. But the downside of this is sometimes running out of time to do the things you want to do.

I’d like to point out too that in the interview at one point they actually say, “we knew who our audience was. They [the marketing people and higher ups] didn't.” So for 4 yrs they struggled to make the story they wanted to tell, they lost directors and writers, because the demands were way too high and people were burning out and leaving in an industry where being overworked is so par for the course that burnout is just a constant state of being. In other words, it takes extreme amounts of stress for people to burn out, and there is a certain mentality in this industry of burning out being a sign of weakness. When 2/3 directors left (one of them without the safety net of another offer) they put a bit of their reputation on the line-- and left anyway. And through it all JDS and LM, like any creators, were just trying to tell the story they wanted to see, scrambling to manage executive demands, working on multiple episodes at once and trying to maintain the storyline through them, losing people to burnout, having to rewrite entire scenes when voice actors weren’t available, and fighting for the show to be better than it was. 

I'm not absolving the showrunners of guilt, I'm just feeling bad that this is where they ended up because at the end of the day they genuinely were coming from a place of good intentions and a desire to tell, from their perspective a good story. And they did fight for rep, to the point that when initially Shiro was not allowed to be gay, they considered getting up and walking away and ending the project but they stayed because of the crew who would have been summarily put out of work. They weighed the importance of having that representation vs the jobs of 100s of people. That’s how important it was to them. 

Obvious, they didn't stick the landing, and it’s fair to say they outright screwed it up in a massive way that’s going to be remembered for a very long time. On the Shiro front they didn't have time to, in a way that would have felt genuine and agreeable for everyone. Keith was never ever going to be allowed. Maybe if Shiro and Keith had both been women, it would have been, which is a sad thought on the state of this industry and the kind of gendered homophobia that still exists in media both animation and otherwise. JDS and LM didn’t think far enough ahead on this, didn’t think outside of their pool of internal knowledge as non-LGBT people. As terrible as it is, it’s important to note they did this not out of a place of malice or vengeance, but an earnest, if misguided attempt to try and diversify the landscape. It did a lot of damage and they should not be rewarded for this move; but they also shouldn’t be being painted as the mustache-twirling villains so much of the fandom tries to make them out to be.

I hope this has been a huge lesson for them on the importance of stepping outside of your own situation when creating minority characters and properly discussing these characters with multiple people in real life who fall into those categories. No one LGBT person can or should speak for the entire community, as we’ve well seen with certain crewmembers.

Killing Allura is a much harder act to forgive because that was something they had time to think about and plan for and it should have been the more obvious lesson. There was ROOM to ask someone outside of themselves, “does this work”. There was room to be educated on why this was a terrible move both socially and narratively. There is room and time now, and dozens of articles about this very issue, that both showrunners should be reading and absorbing especially as their next projects involve a host of diverse characters. Their insistence to buckle down on the Allura Issue to me reads as; they haven’t learned anything from this, or taken the time to understand people’s pain about it. This is something that desperately needs to change especially as they continue to make movies and presumably TV shows. I do hope it’s something that will.

All this to say, please listen to the interview yourself before adding to the hate mob. If you’re still angry after listening to the interview yourself, that is your prerogative but I encourage you not to transform that anger into venomous hatred against the showrunners. The show is over; as fans we can transform this space into whatever we want it to be since Voltron is effectively ours now. Is attacking the showrunners, as ant1s have famously done for years, the image we really want to hold onto going forward?

[ultra-dattebane-blog]

How is Shōto Todoroki similar to Hinata Hyūga

Many people in my inbox have been asking me this for quite a while now—"why the hell, is the blunt, handsome, and strong guy, Todoroki Hinata?", in my Naruto AU.

I can assure you, it’s not just because I ship Tododeku (well, maybe it is..) but it’s not just that. I’ve thought about it, and although they are two completely different characters with different personalities, I still see similarities of their background and maybe personality.

Here are some reasons!

1. Like Hinata, Todoroki was expected great things and endured gruesome training

As two people that were expected some much from their father, and of their father’s reputation, Todoroki had also endured and struggled with gruesome training at very young ages.

They were also seen timid by their fathers and doubted—with no intention of being called their child. Hinata was to be the heiress as the oldest of her family, and Todoroki was seen with potential based on his quirk, and both had no chance to endure training that they had never asked for.

Additionally, they both didn’t even have the intention in harming their own family as well, despite their demands and gruesome personality of their fathers. Later on, as they grow, they chose to become their OWN person that will be acknowledged by their fathers and family.

2. The two have persevered because of the protagonist

Both Hinata and Todoroki were comforted by the words of the outspoken protagonists, Naruto and Midoriya, when the two were at difficult positions, at the verge of questioning of what the kind of person they were, almost doubted and negative.

Todoroki knew once Midoriya has outspoken his words of kindness to him, he knew that he had a fate he could chose for himself; with or without the acknowledgment of his father of his Ice quirk to him—overall, he decided to be the person that would shackle on himself and see his fire quirk as a burden.

Same goes for Hinata—she realized how Naruto was alone, with no family, no parents to comfort him in his need—with no love. She understood him because of the lack of attention she had from her father, no love whatsoever.

Later on, both perceived to be their own character on follow the same goals/conviction as the protagonist is

Todoroki wants to be a hero that will be admired as his own individual—like Midoriya.

Hinata follows the same ninja way as Naruto’s—to never go back on her word and strive to be stronger.

Although Midoriya has inspired most of his classmates—I think Todoroki is the one out of the most who has persevered the most, compared to Uraraka...

3. Both had acknowledged the protagonist (with their potential as an individual) since day 1

Since the very 1st day of hero training, Todoroki was quiet, but acknowledged Midoriya when he had saw him fight against Bakugou. Though he commented poorly, he kept minded of Midoriya’s quirk, unlike everyone else, and besides Bakugou of course...

Keep in mind, no one else focuses on what Midoriya’s quirk is, only rarely, mostly when Midoriya’s injured. Besides Bakugou, Todoroki notices the bond Midoriya has with All Might, and sees how his quirk is similar to All Might’s based on his previous actions. From the attack at the U.S.J—to the Calvary battle of the Sports Feastival.

Todoroki acknowledged Midoriya, not just as a rival, but as a person with their own potential to persevere, win or lose—and his reckless personality as well...

Hinata acknowledged Naruto before Iruka did, initially, she was the first. She noticed how Naruto had faith in what he did, whether is was reckless, hesistant, or idiotic. Unlike everyone else, who had feared him and didn’t want to bother with him. Hinata never saw him as a threat and is grows feelings for him because of his heroic acts that inspire her.

4. Both inherited powerful/beneficial powers that they thought were a burden

Todoroki use to have a hatred over his left side, inheriting his father’s quirk. And although that’s the case, it is the one of most powerful and skillful ones to have out of all, combing Ice with it, and compared to the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t acknowlegde the quirk, and sees it as a burden to have, considering of what his mother had gone through to endure a quirk marriage with his father. When he had met Midoriya—who tells him to claim that power and give his all in the Sports Feastival, to prove himself as a person worthy of becoming a hero.

Todoroki succumbs to his words, and uses his power, knowing that he would have to use both powers in order to become a hero, and use them for HIS own purposes.

Hinata inherits the byakugan from her clan, the Hyūga, and never did like having them—most of the time she was teased and ridiculed of her lavender eyes. But, Naruto defends her and reassures that there is no reason to be bullying or doubting her of her abilities, despite being outnumbered and beaten up numberous times in outcome.

Hinata later on tries to put her part when he becomes a genin and joins Team 8 with Shino and Kiba, trying not to be a burden to them and using her inherited ability to accomplish and assist her teammates of any sorts. She knows that if she wants Naruto to acknowledge him, she will have to exceed her powers and benefit the ability she was given.

5. Despite everything, they care about their family deeply

Although they had endured the gruesome training, the ridicule, the backlash of feeling weak, with no support or emotion of love from their father’s or siblings or others—they care for their family.

Todoroki knows his siblings couldn’t do nothing to stop what he endured. His mother pouring boiling water, the isolation of being with them, reckless training at a very young age, or the abuse of his mentality, along with his mother’s. He cares for his family, because he knows that not every family can be perfect through a portrait, or even be perfect. He knows they’re only human, and it takes times for things to be fixed, and a progress of development will come soon.

He has quite a hard time believing his father’s development (HINT HINT, SPOILER), but knows that at the end of the day, he is still his father. Although he doesn’t understand his father, and had the right to hate him, there is a part of him that knows his father will change the family and TRULY redeem himself to him, his siblings, and mother.

As for Hinata, she too is willing to protect her family and clan, despite everything, and she gains faith and trust from them. Even if her attempt to protect her clan leads to her death, she is willing to do so and redeem herself as a skilled and improved Konoha ninja. She was even willing to go into the clutches of Toneri, right before Naruto’s eyes, who then got a broken heart, to save her younger sister that was under custody. She too, tries her very hardest to not only be acknowledged by her clan, but to protect the ones she loves and cares deeply for.

Welp! That’s all I wanna write! I got many more, but I’m too lazy to continue, and I’m typing this on my phone, so—Yeah, my fingers are becoming numb...

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows Vol 2 #10-12 Thoughts

Previous thoughts here.

Even though issue #10 is a done-in-one and issues #11-12  two-parter, to all intents and purposes the three issues form a three parter, issue #10 acting as a kind of precursor to the latter issues.

  First things first the elephant in the room to address is Ryan Stegman as the writer and by extension the artists filling in for him.

  Whilst neither Stockman nor Level are the measure of Stegman, they both do respectable jobs, with Level’s art in particular being a better compliment to Stegman’s. This isn’t to say Stockman’s art is ill suited because like in issue #5 his style excels at expressive almost Rugrat looking child characters and issue #10 features one such character as the lead.

  Stegman for his part, whilst he may be working off of ideas leftover from Conway, does a surprisingly good job. There are some problems with issue #11-12 I will talk about later, but issue #10 is great and over all his dialogue, pacing and handling of the characters is solid, shockingly solid for someone who I do not believe has much (if any) writing experience. This applies to his writing contributions to issues #8-9 too.

  His work is not as layered or as nuanced as Conway’s but it’s still good, still cuts to the heart of this series (family) and still delivers on the emotion when needed.*

This arc as a whole provides a decent enough wrap up to the over all subplots across the series and the 12 issues as a whole did a good job in the pacing department.

I despise decompressed storytelling but RYV up to this point has handled it really well. The first 4 issues were the guiltiest in this department but their style of pacing was justified. Beyond that it’s been done-in-one stories or else two parters or in this case a pseudo three parter. This keeps things nice and breezy and makes you feel like things have actually advanced quite a bit since issue #1.

Of the three issues though it must be said issue #10 was the strongest and most interesting.

I said back when I covered issues #8-9 how I appreciated that each story across the series was mixing up which characters get the focus (last arc being Peter and more noticeably MJ) and that continues here. Whilst technically Normie is the lead character of issue #10 it’s Peter and Annie who’re the Parkers getting all the focus here, and it’s adorable.

  This is something we haven’t seen before outside of that back up from issue #1 and it’s nice to call back to that (along with the fact that Peter pumps Annie full of sugar when MJ’s away). The clever part of the story is how the focus upon Peter and Annie is complimented by the Lizard and Billy’s opposition to them. This recalls Mr. And Mrs. Spider-Man #1 from 2009 but also emphasises the key point of this story: Normie’s loneliness.

The whole issue is an exploration of Normie, his attempts to live up to his father and grandfather’s toxic legacy and how that quest and their absence in his life has left him alone and unprepared. He thinks he’s grown up to cope with the challenges facing him but he is still ultimately a sad little boy who misses his family.**

In particular in this issue and the next two Normie’s problems are highlighted when contrasted to Annie. Annie expresses gratitude for having a loving family like Normie lacks, calls out Normie on the depressing state of his young life and behaves (comparatively) more like a real child of around their age.

But it is also Peter’s treatment of him with small sympathy that highlight’s Normie’s childishness and pitiful emotional state. We see his anger is born less from a desire to honour his legacy, or even plain old revenge but more a childish anger about just not having his parents (specifically his Dad around). And Stegman and Stockman just sell it!

You see the shades of Norman and Harry’s vendetta cropping up in him but just from a different angle. This permeates through the arc actually and both directly and more subtly recalls DeMatteis and Buscema’s Harry Osborn arc from the early 1990s.

It’s not just fun or coincidental references either it taps into the idea of how family legacies can be toxic which is contrasted nicely with the family dynamic of the Parkers.

This comparison and contrast between the Osborns and Parkers deepens in issues #11-12.

The most obvious example to bust out is the one already drawn (but done better here imo) from the Venom arc. That of MJ and Liz Allan both being mothers who will go to extremes for the sake of their children, with their confrontation in this arc being pretty juicy.

But we also see it in Peter’s protectiveness over Annie too. In another potentially genius call back to Spec #190 by DeMatteis and Buscema (and possibly RYV vol 1 #2), a rage fuelled Peter beats the crap out of the Rhino due to him threatening his family. This is both a realistic reaction for a parent to have and also very true to Peter’s established character in both RYV and the 616 universe, and something not displayed much in RYV vol 2.

In a way this arc marries (if you pardon the pun) the kind of extremes Peter was shown to have regarding Annie from vol 1 with those MJ had been given in vol 2 as the story shows both becoming aggressive in pursuit of rescuing Annie.

In having Peter hunt down Annie, Annie confront and attempt to redeem Normie and MJ get to the bottom of her Venom situation with Liz, issue #11 does a great job of closing out the over arching story of volume 2 by having the Parkers all equally be the focus. Issue #12 kinda does the same thing by involving the X-Men and similarly the use of a Regent power draining mech helps tie-back into the original RYV.

Issue #12 in regards to balancing out the family has a few more mixed results, but it depends what you want out the conclusion.

The story again provides us with a nice change up in the dynamics as it’s more Annie and Normie’s story than it is Peter and/or MJ’s. So it’s something different, but for a wrap up arc maybe having the Parkers fight all together was more thematically appropriate.

It certainly isn’t poorly done though. Annie comes into her own, Normie is believably redeemed and the story has a great message about how words can sometimes win out over fists.

There is also a great twist (kind of) in having the background character Ms. January wind up as the main villain, allowing for Normie to be redeemed and allowing him to break the Osborn Curse of which the arc is named after. It also ties back into the theme of family as Ms. January’s actions stem from a kind of motherly instinct towards Normie.

The action is pretty decent as are the stakes.

Giant robot = Bad.

Giant robot vs a powerless Spider-Man and Mary Jane = Very bad

Giant robot vs a powerless Spidey and MJ whilst it also has the powers of four of the X-Men = How ARE they gonna get out of this one?

Speaking of the X-Men, the arc handles them in a way I appreciated. Not only does their presence recall RYV #1 but it also ups the stakes whilst not allowing them to take away any of the spotlight from the Parkers.

Specifically Annie who comes into her own as I said and this then leads into a pretty organic transition into the new 8 years later status quo.

So...all great right?

Well...not exactly.

Let’s put aside how the Goblin mech having the X-Men’s powers was somewhat underutilized. Let’s put aside even how as I said it maybe should’ve been better if all three of the Parkers were involved in bringing down the threat.

Let’s instead talk about the three big elephants in the room.

Elephant #1: Venom

When I finished RYV #9 even though MJ was still wearing the symbiote I presumed that she’d beaten it and was going to get rid of it. Seemed like the obvious and natural ending to that arc right?

Right...except that didn’t happen.

I was truly surprised when I saw MJ in the suit during this arc. It got me thinking her absence and trip to the hospital in the prior issue made more sense.

But narratively it served little purpose here. It gave MJ something to do in issue #11 I guess but equally MJ could’ve gone to confront Liz without the symbiote simply to learn why  Liz had done what she did.***

So why did MJ keep the costume? My suspicion it was purely to justify her still wearing it in Venom-Verse and thus milk MJ in the suit more given how the marketing department (or whoever) were the people who pushed that onto the series in the first place.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem if not for the fact that it’s disposed of so cheaply and easily in issue #12 and you have to No. Prize why she couldn’t have gotten rid of the suit earlier.

The Fantastic Four were mentioned in issue #10 and since they were the guys who got Peter and the symbiote separated in the first place you’d think this wouldn’t be a problem. The ONLY explanation I can dream up (and this isn’t present in the story mind you) is that the symbiote was altered somehow by Liz to be resistant to fire and sonics, hence why in issue #9 MJ punches a flamethrower or something with no problem.

Elephant #2: Ms. January.

Conceptually a background character turning out to be a villain in a twist is great. Problem is we never learn why.

At first it seems like Ms. January just cares for Normie that much but not only is this an offhand motivation in the first place but more poignantly Harry (not Normie) is brought up more than once by Ms. January in issues #11-12.

So it has something to do with him but we never learn what exactly.

She just switches on everyone, goes nuts and it’s because of Harry.

????????

I think this is an example of Stegman being an artist more than a writer tripping up, it may well have been Conway’s original plan for Ms. January to be the final boss but he hadn’t fleshed that part out and Stegman just plugged it in.

Elephant #3: This arc takes waaaaaay too much stuff from Spider-Girl.

I love Spider-Girl. She is my second favourite Spider character behind Peter himself. Her series was a triumph and an underrated all time classic.

And one of the key parts of that series was Normie Osborn being a sad lonely young man self-destructively trying to live up to his father and grandfather’s legacy as a Goblin, and avenge what he perceived as his father’s death due to Spider-Man. The subplot wraps up in Spider-Girl #27, my favourite issue of the series, in which Spider-Man’s daughter is captured and at the mercy of Normie, calls him out on his BS, expresses sympathy for him and with kindness talks him into changing his ways, finding redemption and becoming an ally to her.

Sound familiar?

Here is the thing, putting aside how Spider-Girl did it better, there is nothing wrong with repeating the same ideas to an extent.

But it is the fact that they repeat the redemption part and the manner in which it happens that is the problem. No Normie isn’t borderline suicidal in this story but he’s still on a path to destruction and still has Annie at his mercy and she still is the one who redeems him.

It would’ve been a better take had it actually been Peter who talked him down.

The comparisons to Spider-Girl are not helped by many fans feeling RYV and Annie supplanted Mayday in certain respects and more poignantly that from here on in the series would be borrowing waaaaaaay too many elements from Spider-Girl, starting with the epilogue to this issue where Annie becomes a teenager.

So...in a lot of ways this arc had the weakest writing of RYV up to this point, but I think it’s strengths in spite of it’s weaknesses combine to render it stronger than the X-Men arc and thus only the second weakest arc of the series thus far. In particular I have to commend them for making so much of it work as they did in spite of Conway leaving.

I doubt I’d be complaining this much had I read these at the time of their release though simply because back then these would’ve still been infinitely better Spider-Man than Slott’s clownshow.

Were I to give issue #10 it’s own grade it’d be an A-.

But the 3 issues collectively get a B-.

  Good, worth a read but very flawed nevertheless. 

  *Which is very damning when you consider Stegman, an artist, was a better Spider-Man writer in 3-5 issues than Slott was across 10 years.

  **Also the story explains why Normie seems more intelligent than he should be, it’s because of the Goblin formula which helps resolve what otherwise would’ve been something of a contrivence.

  ***Speaking of which how did Liz know Spinneret would’ve taken her bait about the symbiote? Not saying there is NO explanation but we don’t really get one ever.

  P.S. How the Hell can this random orb contain Peter’s powers? His powers stem from being altered on a genetic level!

[persephone-damnedqueen]

Mid Season Thoughts on the Fall Anime Season 2017:

Ugh, it’s already November, and we are halfway through the Fall season, and you know what that means.  Yup, mid season thoughts.   I know, ALREADY.  Ugh, this year is just flying by.   With most of these series hitting their 5th or 6th episode, I’m able to go into more details about the shows I’m loving, and hating this season, thus far, (as spoiler free as possible).  Keep in mind, I am only watching about 22 shows this season, so if you see something I’m not watching or should be, tell me!  Also, please remember this is solely my opinion and if yours differs from mine, I’d love to hear it.  So without further ado, let’s get into it.  

Net-juu no Susume:  Studio Signal.MD

Dropped.  Alright, so I feel like I have to mention this.   I’m a serious gamer.  More specifically, I love me some MMOs.  How much you ask?   Well, so much so that I actually met my husband on World of Warcraft.  Insane right?  I mean my god you do not want to see our /played time on that game.  So, needless to say, I am a bit critical on gaming anime because of this, because I know what it’s like.   This anime was just… . cringey.  I found myself sighing every chance I got and by the 20 minute mark, completely turning it off.  Everything about the first episode was just  … bad.  There’s really just no redeeming qualities… well, one line said by the Guild Master which was something along the lines of “you have no idea what her irl gender is.”  I laughed.  It’s accurate.  85% of female toons you see on wow are actually guys. Anyways, moving on. 

Evil or Live:  Haoliners Animation

Dropped.  Mmmm  I had such high hopes.  After reading the summary, I will admit, I was hyped for this show.  On Paper, this show sounds wonderful.  I thought it was going to be some horror psychological thriller that at the end of it left you questioning the very meaning of the world around you or something.  Instead, what happened?   I …don’t even know.  The series starts off with massive amounts of Live Action, which, while being completely unexpected, I didn’t mind so much; the series became an instant drop for me when the MC and Co were clearly showing a break from reality and needed actual mental help, was beaten instead.   It wasn’t “horror” or “edgy” it was just poor writing.  Needless to say, I have dropped it.

Just Because!: Studio Pine Jam

Dropped.  Did I make it through the first episode finally?  Yes!  When did I fall asleep this time? Episode two.  The pacing on this show is what kills it for me.  It’s so fucking slow.  Ugh, I hate dropping it because it’s really pretty to look at, but I can’t deal with that pacing.  Moving on.  

Sengoku Night Blood:  Typhoon Graphics

Dropped.  I watched two episodes here before calling it quits.  Let me save you the time.  Girl goes back in time and gains a harem.  A Vampire Harem.  You heard me right.   

Urahara:  Studios Emt^2 and Shirogumi

Dropped.  Instant Drop.  Fuck, that animation is fucking trash.  You have two studios working on this series, and the animation still looks that garbagey?!?!  How?!?!?!  I can’t even with this… Ugh, nope, moving on. 

Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-Bitch na Ken:  Studio Diomedea

Dropped.  This show is annoying.   I started watching it with hopes of it doing two things.  One, fill the hole in my heart that was left when Hajimete no Gal ended; and two, explain what the hell a Sho-Bitch is. Two episodes later, I still have no idea what a Sho-Bitch is.  While the art is generic, the characters are bland and too common; also, the comedy too forced at time and repeatable.  Yes, we understand main waifu really just wants to figure out what Haruka likes, and obviously misinterprets everything, but does that really have to be the joke every single time?

Imouto Sae Ireba Ii:  Silver Link Studios

Dropped.  Hahahahahaha, why is this show so popular this season?  Seriously, find someone who isn’t talking about this show.  It’s official, this is Silver Link’s answer to A-1′s Eromanga Sensei.   My god this kid is OBSESSED with imoutos.   It’s a bit repetitive for my liking, but I totally see why people think it’s hilarious.  Needless to say though, as entertaining as it may be, I dropped it.  

Omiai Aite wa Oshiego Tsuyoki na, Mondaiji:  Studio Seven

Why am I still watching this you ask? *Nervous Laughter*  It’s grown on me.  It’s so bad, don’t get me wrong here, but like. . . . Will Nano and Souji get married?  Yes, but it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.  Rofl.  Who am I kidding?  I’m trash, but this is my guilty pleasure for the season, and it’s only four minutes each episode.  I DON’T JUDGE YOUR LIFE CHOICES.  

Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara:  Creators in Pack

Not dropped yet, shocking right? Well, not really, I’m only watching it for the cocktail recipes.  I feel like this anime is top notch for being bad.   Like, it has spot on animation, considering the studio and that it’s a short, it’s unique at the very least, but nothing happens.  Really, nothing happens.  It’s the same premise each episode that is repeated heavily and the downfall of the series.  Wife comes home, tired, husband makes her drink, wife gets drunk.  The end.  

Ousama Game The Animation:  Studio Seven

I feel like you have to watch the truly terrible series in order to appreciate the good ones.  This series is bad.  My god it’s bad.  Poor writing, poor animation, blood for the sake of blood, just overall bad.  And what makes it worse?  It’s one of the two survival game anime airing this season, the other being fantastic.  After sitting through both weekly, this one just fails. . . .Except Mamo.  Mamo is perfect.   I love you Mamo.  

Black Clover:  Studio Pierrot

Ugh, do they ever stop yelling?  Pierrot has killed this series.  Plain and Simple.  Honestly, there is so much I could go into, like the terrible voice acting, horrible pacing, stereotypical characters, or decent animation, but I feel like all of that is just beating a dead dog.  Everyone in the community has already mentioned all of this, so why reiterate?  I’ve been told the manga is a billion times better, and I might one day start it, (especially since I own the first seven volumes haha), but for now there are only two reasons why I am watching it still: one, because my husband really likes the series, and two, because you have to watch the bad series to appreciate the good ones.  But, for the love of all things holy, please stop with the yelling.  

Konohana Kitan:  Studio Lerche

MY CUTE LITTLE FOX GIRLS.  

I love this show.   It’s so adorable, and Yuzu is fucking adorable, and this entire show is adorable.  The tone of this show is just so fucking adorable and leaves you feeling so happy.  Did I mention it’s adorable?  No?  It’s adorable.   Ugh, I needed this show.   

Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World:  Studio Lerche

I’m watching the dub.  YEAH, I’M WATCHING THE DUB, WHAT’S IT TO YOU?!  Every season, I typically pick out one or two dubs per season to watch; last season it was Boku no Hero Academia, (Yeah, I watched it subbed too, WHAT’S IT TO YOU?) this season it’s this.  And, no it’s not just because I heard Ian Sinclair had a role in it!  So, what are my thoughts on it?  I like it.   I like it a lot.  It’s different, everything from the beautiful animation done by Studio Lerche, (yes I really like Lerche.) to the wonderful story line.  It’s different, and when you’ve seen as many anime as I’ve seen, different is very much appreciated.  How’s the dub you ask?  Surprisingly, pretty well done.  Lately, I’ve been feeling like the quality of dubbing has gone down with as many as Funimation does in a season; they mostly just feel rushed and poorly executed, if you need an example just look at Juuni Taisan.  It’s nice to see that that isn’t the case here.   

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou:  Studio White Fox

It went in a different direction than I thought it would.  This show is genuinely good, and is definitely worth the watch this season, but more so if you like episodic Slice-of-Life series.  While I still haven’t permanently given up on the hope of the series taking that darker more philosophical route, I am actually satisfied with the way it is going from here.  I am also fascinated with the fact that they aren’t actually the last humans alive, and I think that makes this series just that much more unique than the majority of the moe post apocalyptic series out there.   I guess the only major downfall of this series is the terribly done 3D animation.  I mean, dear gods they need to take a page from Inuyashiki or Children of the Whales because they know how it should be done.   But overall, I am actually happy with the first part of the season, and looking forward to the rest.  

Mahoutsukai no Yome:  Wit Studio

The hype killed it for me. . . . 

Yes, this series is really good.  I’ve already admitted it’s contender for Anime of the Season, and the best thing this studio has done, period. (Fight me SnK fans).  But, this series has been so hyped up that I dread watching the weekly episodes.   It just exists for me right now.  I know, “but Persephone, this show is just SO good, how could you not be in love with it?”  Meh, it’s a phase, I’m sure once the hype dies down, I’ll like it more; for now though, I’ll keep watching it weekly, but if you need me I’ll be in the corner hyping up Juuni Taisen.   

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau:  J.C.Staff

Children of the Whales, because fuck that long title.   After many recommendations, I picked it, and oh my god am I glad I did.  First off, the art style is beautiful.  It looks like nothing this studio has ever created, it’s easily one of the best animated series of the season.  I bet most people didn’t even notice it’s in 3D because that’s how well done it is.  The plot is captivating, and makes me scream either “What the Fuck?”  or “No!” at least once per episode, (thank you for holding up to the ‘Drama’ tag).  Netflix needs to step up their game and release the damn episodes weekly, just saying.   Also, Best Closing of the season.   I can’t skip the closing.  Period.  It’s beautiful. Don’t wait.   Watch it.  It deserves more hype.  

Blend S:  A-1 Pictures

My moe blob this season.  This is one of my favorites.   Why wouldn’t it be right? Cute moe girls doing cute things?  Perfection.  I think why I like this show so much is solely because of all dark, dramatic, depressing or actiony shows I am watching this season, this one can leave me with a smile on my face.  It’s the palette cleanser you watch when you are sad or just want a better mood.  It puts a smile on your face and I need that, especially this season.  Plus, it’s also just really good; and, not to mention, I got my token beach episode, so I’m happy.  

Inuyashiki:  Studio MAPPA

This show destroys me.  MAPPA, what the fuck?  Why are you making me feel?  Alright,   The opening few minutes of the first episode made me feel.  Fuck, I almost started crying.  It was depressing and yet the story was just relatable and beautiful all at the same time.  Then. . . it got weird with the whole alien, mecha space thing.  Then, more feels.  What did episode two do to me?  I broke down.  Hard.  That scene in the second episode was fucking hard to watch.  I honestly don’t think there’s been a scene that’s been that hard to watch since the puppy scene in Elfen Lied.  That’s how hard that scene was to watch.  That was also the moment I knew I was hooked.  Now, we are coming up on episode six, and I’m still just as hooked.  This is without a doubt one of the best of the season, and definitely the darkest.   

Juuni Taisen:  Graphinica

Without a doubt my favorite non sequel of the season.  I’m addicted.  I love everything about this show.  It’s fucking intense and filled with plot twists and betrayals and deaths and gore and just epicness.  Is it a bit predictable?  Well, yes, but what do you people honestly expect when there are twelve main characters, twelve backstories and twelve episodes?  Also, DID YOU SEE MY BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PYSCOTIC USAGI?!?!  BEST BOY 2017.  YEAH, FUCK YOU FIGHT ME.  

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru:  Washio Sumi no Shou:  Studio Gokumi

My God, am I a whore for a good drama filled Magical Girl series.   Seriously, it’s my crack.  Ugh, add on gorgeous animation to top it off, and I’m set.  I loved season one.  I adored it, and now that this part has just finished airing, I can say without a second of doubt, this season is better than the first.   Just watch it.  Take my word.  Watch it.   Oh, and 

*Screaming as loud as possible while crying hysterically*  

GIN-CHAN!!!!!

Osomatsu-san 2nd Season:  Studio Pierrot

I feel like this show is the hardest show to talk about.  I mean most of what this show is can be summed up with a simple “What the fuck am I even watching?”  But, let’s see what can be said about this.  My gods this show is a gift.  This has to be one of the underappreciated comedy gems to come out in the recent years, and it fills me with joy knowing that it still shines just like the first season did. I love the more focused episodes on each of the brothers and even the parents.  With just the first part out right now, I can still say without a doubt that I am enjoying this season more than the first.  

Shokugeki no Soma:  J.C.Staff

It’s about to go down.  I repeat:  It’s about to go down.  The hype is real with this show.  This is hands down without a doubt the best season of Food Wars period.  As a manga reader I can tell you everything is true to the manga and perfect.  I need more Food Wars in my life.  This is amazing.  ALSO, MY SON IS ANIMATED NOW AND HE’S FUCKING GORGEOUS, AND I’VE WAITED FOR YEARS FOR HIM TO BE ANIMATED AND HE FINALLY IS AND I’M SO HAPPY.   

3-Gatsu no Lion 2nd Season:  Studio Shaft

My Gods, WHY IS NO ONE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS?!?!?!!  I fucking LOVE this show.  This show makes me feel shit I didn’t want to feel.   You know a show is amazing when every episode you don’t know if you want to cry because it makes you so happy, or curl in a ball and cry because HINA AND REI ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN LIFE AND DESERVES ALL THE HAPPINESS THEY CAN GET.  Without spoiling anything, episode three and four destroyed me; I’m talking like near Koro-sensei level of destroyed, and that alone makes it a gem that’s hard to come by.  Hina and her development in this arc is fucking amazing, and my gods don’t even get me started on Rei.   Ugh, it’s perfect and deserves all the praise.  

Gintama.  Porori-hen:  Bandai Namco Pictures

Like what even was life before Gintama?  Was there even life?  Was that actually living?  Any anime season with Gintama airing is a good season, regardless, yet once again Gintama keeps bringing us more and more quality comedic gold, proving yet again why it’s the king of comedy series.  This arc is hilarious, like seriously, is there someone out there who doesn’t like this arc?  Exactly, I rest my case.   Thank you Gintama.  

Ballroom e Youkoso:  Production I.G.

This has to be one of the best sport anime I’ve seen in a long time, and without a doubt, the best sport one of the year.  I love Sport anime, and I think that I.G. has proven they know how to do a good sport anime.  I mean with Kuroko, Haiykuu, Prince of Tennis, Diamond no Ace, (Do I need to go on?), there was never a doubt that it wasn’t going to be anything less than amazing.  But, damn.  They outdid themselves here.  I’m impressed.  All I’m left with each week is the need for more.   It’s really good.  Fuck, it’s really good.  Seriously, why are you not watching it?   Also, Fuck you Chi-chan.  You are still worst girl 2017.  Yeah, Fight me.  

So, yeah, those are my thoughts so far on the Fall Anime 2017 season.   Let me know yours, and if there is anything I’m not watching, and should be, then please tell me!  I love recommendations.  

[slapegg]

Quick Critique: Battle Chasers: Nightwar

Before I even get to the meat of this: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, IT IS VERY BROKEN. Again, even if you loved the comic and love turn-based RPGS: DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY MONEY, THEY RELEASED A BROKEN GAME.

Joe Mad is one of my favorite artists and I read the Battle Chasers comic pretty much just to see him draw pretty things. I only just read it a year or two ago, so I thankfully avoided the whole incident of him bailing on the series and leaving it unfinished after a main plot twist. The actual story (and most of the writing) is kind of just Dungeons and Dragons meets generic anime stuff, but it had enough moments and unique ideas here and there to make the comic series worth it, even this many years after its initial release. So Battle Chasers the comic is pretty good. Battle Chasers the video game, however, is a steaming pile of garbage.

This game is so unfinished and slapped together that I'm just going to list out a stream of the constant issues it has: It crashes. A LOT. It's not just one thing going wrong, it crashes all over the place and multiple times at different spots (inventory screen, leaving a dungeon, changing screens, and so on) I actually had a crash during the ending credits It locks up every time I try to enter the Arena forcing me to force close the game I finally managed to enter the Arena (apparently some of the difficulties work and others don't), it's a series of battles with a 20 minute time limit, I'm doing the hardest difficulty to get the final prizes, get through multiple rounds where I'm one turn away from the entire party dying or I lucked out and a character dodged an instant kill move, I'm at the last boss with 2 minutes left on the clock, deliver the killing blow with 23 seconds left on the clock, I get the Playstation level trophy for completing the Arena, the game showers me with prizes, I leave the Arena, I open the menu, the game crashes and upon relaunching sets me back at the beginning of the Arena having made no progress at all and with none of the prizes. I think I just instantly skipped over anger, sunk back in my chair, and whispered "mother fuckers" to myself for a few minutes After a battle, I lost the ability to interact with any objects. Seeing as how the dungeon required me to flip a switch to advance, I had to quit the game. This happened multiple times Frequent hitches and freezing for a second on the map, exploring, and in battle Menus aren't responsive for a few seconds after opening them I had a story scene fail to load and the game just displayed a screen full of that "missing image" pink I had a different story scene fail to load but I still got the subtitles. This one was a major story sequence so it wasn't repeatable the next time I played the dungeon so I would have liked to have seen that The voice acting is Sega Saturn levels of bad. They're horrible choices for the characters but then poorly acted on top of that. And they apply random odd filters over the readings. There's a scene in the open air in a town where your characters talk to each other but Gully sounds like her lines were recorded in a particularly echo-y bathroom. The only character I cared for was The Collector, a sinister but gleeful little monster that is likely eating the remains of dead bosses that you bring it. The Collector deserves to be in a better game than this one The text size is WAY too small The walking speed is slow. If you doubled the walking speed, it would still be too slow Battles are slow both in animation and action speed and how many hits it takes to kill a grunt enemy The core combat system is tedious and relies far too much on crits and applying status effects. Most end game fights devolve into who can apply the most debuffs to the other team and then spamming special moves that gain extra traits if the enemy has specific debuffs The music is so laid back that it (rightfully) just seems uninterested in being a part of this game, even during battles. The soundtrack is so forgettable and uninteresting that I usually turned the game audio almost off and listened to the BBC while I played. The Shipping Report pretty much matches the pace and excitement of this game Totally unnecessary crafting mechanics By the time you get enough crafting materials to build a weapon, it's worse than what you get from dungeon crawling You can't sort your crafting materials alphabetically, so when you're looking up how many of a quest item you need, have fun sorting through that mess Totally unnecessary fishing mini-game Every time you enter battle, the UI flashes a move description. I think it's loading the last thing you used in the previous battle Occasional multiple second pauses at the start of a battle before the UI will display or you can interact with it in any way Clunky menu UI Loot-based drops that do nothing to make the game more interesting Loot that isn't even interesting or exciting because most of the equipment is very similar and the vast majority of what you find is just crafting materials you won't use Major side-quests and items that are gated by random loot drops. You have to hope the characters show up on the map and then hope they drop the item you need (usually multiple times) or else start a dungeon from scratch and do it all over again Semi-randomized dungeons where the actual rooms barely change but their order does, so combined with the need to grind, the dungeons get really boring and just have you looking for the exits rather than rewarding you for exploring. Later dungeons even repeat pieces of earlier dungeons Items in shops are stupidly expensive for how little they change your stats and for the piddly amount enemies actually pay out or what items sell for. While spending a night at the inn cost me 40 coins, selling a purple rank weapon only got me 17 coins. It's actually faster to play through the whole first dungeon and get the health and mana refill before the boss than it is to grind out the money to stay a night at the inn for a large chunk of the game Just about every item you find in the wild will raise one stat but then lower multiple other ones so you kind of just have to pick one stat for a character to use and min/max the hell out of it Items in your inventory will mark themselves as new even though you've seen them before Items in the world will still sparkle as if they're unchecked even though you already have them If you have to close and restart a dungeon (say because the game crashed or locked up), it will acknowledge that you've been through the rooms but respawn the enemies past a seemingly random point. I had one dungeon where the objective was to kill two mini-bosses, I did so, saved the game in case it crashed at the boss, and upon reloading it, the mini-bosses respawned even though I had the objective that said they were dead checked off Every time the game crashes, it resets your super meter. So you can go through a dungeon, build up your meter, save it for the boss fight, the game crashes, you reload at the boss, and now you have no meter and you're at a serious disadvantage Perks and equipment will unequip themselves (this may be related to all the crashes) I met an enemy without warning that was vastly stronger than anything I'd seen in the game before, I could only do 80 damage to it per turn, and every turn it could heal itself for 84 health. And for some reason I wasn't allowed to run away from the fight so I had to sit there for 10 minutes turn by turn hitting the enemy, watching it heal, and letting it whittle down my party's health. Dying then made me lose a chunk of my money Apparently those are special enemies that offer a special reward if beaten, but it wasn't until I was at the final dungeon that I ever saw them again. I don't know if the game was broken and would no longer spawn them or what Another dungeon had a bunch of enemies that I tore through with no problem, and then I got to the boss and it killed each member of my party in 1 hit. Dying, again, made me lose a chunk of my money. So the lesson is to never sell anything until you can fully afford the thing you're trying to buy because you never know when the game is going to throw balancing out the window and punish YOU for it I don't think you can manually save without quitting the game. But quitting the game dumps everything it loaded into memory or something because when you load the game back up, it can take 40 seconds to load into your first battle. Given all the crashes, you have to save and quit often, so get used to watching the first 15 seconds or so of the opening cutscene because you can't skip to the title screen until that plays out The trophies aren't properly proofread and sometimes won't award when you earn them and instead pop the next time you load the game If a character dies from a status effect at the start of their turn, the UI is not graceful I would love to hear some kind of justification on the game's balancing because the way it's set up is that you beat a dungeon, unlock the next story dungeon, but you're not actually strong enough to progress the story yet, so you have to go back and grind the dungeon a you've already finished to level up a bit. You pretty much have to beat each level on each difficulty before you can move ahead, so by the time you're ready to move the story along, you're really, really sick of the previous dungeon Characters not in your party don't gain any experience from battle, so the game actively discourages you from trying new characters. I was level 10 when I unlocked Knolan, but he was only level 9 and the more I use my normal team, the further Knolan falls behind, so I have no reason to ever add him to my party. Changing team members just means you have to redo all the grinding you've done to level them up and hope you get some loot drops for them. Maybe it's just how I play the game, but there's really only one viable team. You HAVE to have Calibretto on your team because he's the only decent healer. Garrison is the only one that can do any decent damage. Gully is slow and focuses on defense, while Monika has high evasion, good damage, and can bog enemies down with stat debuffs so Monika is way more useful Doing end game clean up, I used my weaker teammates because my main team stopped earning experience from the early dungeons, I met those special pirate enemies with this team, was happy to have a chance to fight them, but the pirates scale to your strongest team not the team you're actually using so my level 9, 12, and 17 characters got destroooyed by the level 30 enemies The team couldn't even do New Game + properly. Starting NG+ causes you to lose all your items, so all that time you spent on random drops to get the ultimate weapons and armor was totally wasted. It's completely unnecessary to do this because all the weapons are level gated. So if you reset the character levels, you stop them from having access to the top gear from the start, but once they level up, they get their hard earned weapons back. That would have been the competent way to handle NG+ here New Game + starts you off with the whole team, but it doesn't properly handle that you've unlocked characters before their normal unlocking event, so the shops won't sell you their perk bonus or costume items. Even if you come back at the end of the game when you'd normally have those characters, the game still treats them like they haven't been unlocked yet

Even with its many, MANY glaring flaws, they have the audacity to not actually finish the game's story. You slog through all of this, beat the final boss, and the ending is barely more than "hey, buy some DLC or a sequel".

So, yeah, don't spend money on this game. The perk system is kind of neat though. You get points when you level up and you can cash them in on an attack path or a defense path. As you buy perks on each path, every 20 points you spend unlocks a bonus perk that can offer some substantial stat boosts. You can respec for free, so you can mess around with different choices as you slooowly grind out levels or boss fight currency to get more points.

Battle Chasers is bad but not in the way that most low budget games are bad. The art's great so the game looks fantastic and draws you in. It's the quality design sensibilities and usability in the game that are godawful, the gameplay is as dry as it comes, and it's an unfinished mess. Everything about this screams that the team got a slew of crowdfunding money but then nobody on the team actually knew how to make a good video game so this got rushed out the door without proper testing or fixes to hit a deadline. Battle Chasers makes me question whether Playstation cert matters. If this game, with its constant crashes and 100% reproducible lock-ups, can be released for sale, then clearly nobody is checking the actual game or doing anything remotely resembling quality control.

[manifestoonmoralmanlove]

Captive Prince 3rd

Remember those nice things I said about book 2? HAHA! Forget them because book 3 starts stupid and sticks with it.  The story-writing is the worst out of the three.  It’s only saving grace is that it does not dwell on the infuriating slave culture and child fetishication of the 1st.  Major spoilers below and talk of child abuse, slavery, non-con and etc.

               Allow me to air out my biases for those who may not know me well.  I’m very fussy and have a hard-time turning my brain off and just enjoying mindless action fluff.  While I tried…to do so and it MOSTLY worked for book 2…I just couldn’t suspend belief that many fucking times for this one.

The major flaws of this book (and albeit series) are as follows:

1.)    Really obnoxious Marty-stewosity which is the worst in this book.

2.)    That makes no sense!  Like I can give you 5 reasons without even thinking hard about it why that would be super fucking impossible!

3.)    These big plot twists that were so fucking obvious I literally thought it was stated outright in the text but was not.  These include:

a.)    Laurent knew Damen was the prince of Akielos THE WHOLE TIME! GASP!!!!

b.)    Jokaste’s child could be Damen’s? GOSH GOSH THE DRAMA!?!?!?!

c.)     Laurent was bad-touched by his uncle as a child.

I’m basically gonna go through the story in a linear manner and tear the different scenes to shreds. OH DANG HERE GOES!

               Damen’s old friend and military commander (Nikandros) run into each other and Nikandros pledges that he’s going to help Damen take back the kingdom from his evil brother.  Damen promised to go fight at a super obvious trap on the pathetic explanation from Laurent of, “Just trust me.”  Because Damen’s a moron he does so without a 2nd thought, doesn’t even consider retreating when Laurent’s forces don’t show up, and because he’s a Marty-Stu they win this obviously lop-sided battle.  In fact Damen, nor his horse gets so much as a scratch, and they ride straight through the middle of battle and decapitate the enemy commander.  This was a poorly done scene beyond that because the author made no effort to make it tense.  At no point is it even hinted that they’re losing the battle, Damen does not 2nd guess himself, and they talk (only afterwards) of the casualties.

               Meanwhile Laurent was captured, which is the reason he did not come to Damen’s aid. Apparently the only person captured was Laurent, everyone else is 100% fine.  No mention on how someone snuck into his force and nabbed him either. Then the regent (the big evil baddie) gives Laurent (his #1 enemy) to the viciously incompetent Govert that Laurent has already beaten in battle.  By the way Govert is just hanging out with Guion (who has no real relation to Govert at all) and there is 0 security at this place.  While Govert’s entire personality can be summed up with the word, “rapist” He appears to have no sexual interest in the physically perfect Laurent.  Also Laurent beats the perfectly healthy and well-trained warrior Govert while Laurent is tied up and has both a head and shoulder wound.  Oh and Laurent kills Govert with one blow that could have easily been mitigated since he swung something as clumsy as a fucking chair. I get really wanting your main character to make it through such bad odds, but jesus fuck if they can handle these situations easily you’ve shot yourself in the foot when it comes to tension or investment.

               Damen and Laurent meet up and Damen is rightly upset at how Laurent’s promised help didn’t come. (I guess without Laurent there his force just decided to sit there and cry instead of carry out the past orders because I’m sure nobody else could possibly know how to do military things.) However Laurent has the fucking nerve to chastise Damen for yanno beating ridiculous odds and serving him a key victory.  Laurent then demands that Damen give his kingdom a huge chunk of his kingdom and if he does not agree that he will not share proof with Damen that Damen’s brother did a bad thing for KING EVIL the regent…..Not that yanno Damen is living proof of the awful things his brother’s done or anything.  Damen caves like a house of cards and it makes no fucking sense:

1.)    Damen has no head for diplomacy and never expressed any plan on regaining his kingdom besides, “Beat up the baddies.”  So he’d likely just shrug this off because the price for it is too high.

2.)    Why would you trust Guion? LOL TURNS OUT YOU CAN’T!

3.)    Even if Guion wasn’t going to betray it simply becomes a he said vs. she said.  His word is NOT TRUE PROOF!

The only reason that exchange even happens is so when can have some relationship drama.  The drama of fighting a losing war just isn’t as fucking interesting as Damen pouting that he can’t fuck Laurent after Laurent essentially stabbed him in the back.  Golly you sure are an empowered king there Damen! It should have just been Laurent saying he only fucked him to get something out of him.  Which would make Damen rightly pissed, and distrustful while Laurent pouts that he can’t actually like someone because his uncle was mean.  This stupid-fuck powerplay only makes Laurent look like a bigger piece of shit.

Meanwhile Laurent easily wins over a nation he’s blatantly manipulating because he can drink, sit around with a slave, and play a sport.  Every single fucking conversation ANYBODY has is about how Damen and Laurent totally had sex once for the next 6 chapters or so.  What also happens in these chapters?   They treat slave bands as engagement rings.CAUSE LAURENT GETS A MATCHING ONE OH GOSH SOUL MATES!!!!!

Hey Captive Prince? Teahouse called, they want their putrid idea of equating slavery to marriage idea back.

BAD FAPS it’s not nearly as bad as Teahouse….but the fact that Damen keeps on one of the slave bands is pretty fucking suspect.  I can picture him not selling one of the arm/neck band if it has sentimental value. Which really it shouldn’t have much due to the awful shit Damen went through. The fact that he once got to sleep with his crush (who had him raped and nearly killed) shouldn’t negate any of it.  However, to keep it ON his body is a huge bad move because it’s hard to hide and therefore everybody else will to get a constant reminder about how their king was not only enslaved but so ~proud~ about it he refuses to take it off.  NOT REALLY SCREAMS STRONG COMMANDER THERE!

But finally something of importance happens!  Through the campaign they come across Jokaste the queen of Akielos.  She is left behind by the fleeing army because she just gave birth and is ~too sick to transport.~  But of course they speak no further about HOW she is sick, it doesn’t interfere with her ability to be sassy, and yanno they decided it was better to leave THE FUCKING QUEEN in the hands of their torture and rape-happy enemies instead of risk her death in transport.  HAHA YEAH OKAY!

So Laurent and Jokaste get to sparring with their snark.  Which…allow me a derail…the series seems to celebrate the fact that Laurent is regularly verbally cruel tying that with wit, strength, and diplomacy. Berating people for their sexual proclivities is hardly WITTY it just makes you a bully.  

Jokaste drops the bomb that the child she just gave birth to is Damen’s.  (Though there’s literally no way she or anybody could know for sure, since it’s 100% confirmed she was sleeping with both Damen and Kastor at the time of conception. But oh afterwards she confesses it wasn’t his afterall. HAHA COULD YOU EXPLAIN HOW YOU KNOW? OR HAHA GUESS NOT!)  Damen has a big crisis about how his son is in the hands of the enemy.  Yet he spends no time worried about being a dad or the safety of his child.  He just pouts a bit about how he misses his own dad and then Laurent pity-fucks him. The timing here is pretty poor in my opinion and the sexual/romantic reconciliation should have waited for the very end.   The writing very clearly favors the ship over the war/actual story.  So when they bang it feels like it’s functionally over.   Speaking of which the sex scenes aren’t nearly as clearly and well written in this book than the 2nd…though I will confess the ~bonus~ sex scene in the 2nd book was pretty bad too.

So they decide to trade Jokaste for Damen’s supposed baby and must sneak into the heart of the enemy territory to do so.  While it makes no functional sense for the two most important people to go on this crazy dangerous mission…I get it…this is the WOO action part and our protagonists should be there.  However the writing literally comments about sending a couple of other people who make no sense to go with and they even say as much in the text.  Eluding the enemy soldiers is pretty poorly explained. They also attempt to shoe-horn in a side romantic couple.  Problem is, there are two vague lines about it, we learn 0 about their personalities, and neither gets any lines of fucking dialog.  I don’t think you even tried.

The climax of this story is that they finally get to Kingsmeet. (Yes, a place where kings’ meet is literally called Kingsmeet. I literally scoffed out loud when I read this.)  It is important neutral ground (even though it’s deep in  Akielos territory) and anybody  will be executed if you draw your sword or attempt to harm anybody here.  

From here until the end is just a series of events that are infuriatingly stupidly written and I could write a page for each event but at this point I’m just going to summarize in a bitter way.

Laurent and Damen walk straight in (without Jokaste) and Damen then acts shocked that Laurent plans on trading himself instead of Jokaste for Damen’s baby.  Why is this dumb? OOC and a colossally stupid move for Laurent.  Damen’s preposterous stupidity at marching in and not being like, “lol where’s Jokaste?”

Laurent’s uncle brags about raping Laurent as a child which SHOCKS Damen into trying to slice his head off.   Why is this dumb?  How did Damen not suspect this? Damen knows ACUTELY how any violent action will lead to his death but still does it.

The Regent would be 100% in his rights to decapitate Damen (his #1 enemy) but doesn’t in fact just lets him go.  He doesn’t because Laurent claims he will behave? REALLY THAT’S FUCKING WORTH LETTING YOUR YOUR POWERFUL ENEMY WALK FREE? HAHA OK!

The Regent makes Laurent stand trial instead of outright executing him.  To look good I guess? Even though he’s only ever done things underhandedly.

Damen (somehow) makes it to the trial and successfully defends Laurent to the point that everyone turns on the Regent. Why is this dumb?  This trial should clearly be manned by his staunch supporters. They just heard hours of witnesses talk about how awful Laurent is and how great the regent is.  Yet two witnesses , who easily could be lying, change the whole course.  Even if people were eager to turn on the Regent, the risk to do so at this point is astronomical. Even if successful, which is super unlikely, it is LIKELY that Laurent would have them executed for all they did to defeat him in the past.

Lord what a disaster! So now let’s talk a bit about the ending.  Damen confronts his brother, his brother stabs him, Laurent kills the brother, and they live happily ever after.  The book literally ends right after his brother is killed.  It felt like a very abrupt ending and the fight scene was definitely rushed through…again…leaving no tension.

In fact, I agree with a lot of other’s analysis of this book.  It simply was rushed through.

TL;DR

Inconsistently characterized Marty-Stus whine about not banging through a series of really improbable poorly-written events.  It had no tension where it needed it, the relationship development was clumsily handled when it easily could have been fine, and it was very rushed with an abrupt ending.  This, I’d argue, is barely better than the first simply because they don’t glamorize slavery as much.

[pixelatedlenses]

So it’s the 20th in Japan, but the 19th in America, and that means that this still counts. I hope I can accurately convey my feelings. Please understand the meaning of this, and honestly, if you have any statements of the “But Japan bombed Pearl Harbor!” or “But Japan was a colonialist country” variety, don’t comment at all. Japanese-Americans and their Diaspora are significantly different from Japan and the actions of the former Imperial Army. Japanese-Americans often fought against Japan and the former Imperial Army and definitely fought against the Axis Powers. Do not discredit that history by saying, “But all Japanese!” anywhere on my blog. Today, and this blog, are not the place to have that very important conversation concerning Japanese imperialism in China, Korea, and Southeast Asian, which yes, is very important. As a historian who focused on that very thing for their thesis, I will tell you it is necessary to engage in that conversation. There’s a lot to unpack and discuss, especially considering recent dialogue between both countries and rising tensions that stem from the 1906-1910 forced colonization of the Korean peninsula. That is something that we must discuss.

But not today, and not in this moment of remembrance.

Today is about Japanese-Americans and their respective diaspora specifically, about interment, and remembering why we cannot let another people become a scapegoat and captive in America again.

If you didn’t come here with that intent, please accept this blessing in the form it comes. Also, forgive me: this is a five page blessing that goes into a lot of discussion. The blessing’s still there, it’s just tucked between a bit of a reflection.

Some articles to read:

From the LA Times, an article about survivor and member of the 42nd Regimental Combat Team Tokuji Yoshihashi, age 94.

From CNN, an article by George Takei talking about Japanese-American interment from a personal point of view. I recommend also reading up on his play Allegiance which focuses on Japanese-interment.

From The Japan times, a general article discussing current measures to establish designated, government recognized days, and additional measures, for Day of Remembrance.

Note: These are only a few resources, but I encourage you to seek information and open dialogue to learn. We remember because we don’t want to forget horrible grievances, and learning allows us to keep from treading that ground again. Find your local Japan-America society, go to universities or Japanese Community centers, and respectfully allow yourself to be taught about this part of American history so that you can become an ally and understand a bigger picture.

Today is Day of Remembrance in memory of the thousands –tens of thousands, to the sad tune of 120,000 American citizens– . It’s the 75th anniversary, and many who lived in the camps still are alive, living testaments to racism in America that is currently seeing an ugly revival. It comes in the form of White Nationalists calling for persons of Muslim faith to be put away in camps, in anti-Semitism, in the school-to-prison pipeline that steals away innocence. It comes in racism blocking change.

As I made my commute from Minami Fukushima to the station this morning, I listened to the final chapter of Book 1 of Harry Potter on Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. It’s become something I really enjoy lately –shoutout to @hpsacredtext for such a quality product, all the way from Fukushima City, Japan– and have felt has revived my spirituality through the use of a pop culture medium being used to reflect on ourselves through religious practices.

The focus of the podcast was love, in many different forms.

I had to pause it before they got to the type of reflective practice they were going to use, and before they give a blessing to a character: both are parts of the show I rather like, and almost look forward to each listen. However, in the spirit of HP and the Sacred Text, I want to offer a blessing, in my own, small way, of love to Japanese-Americans on this day.

It is, of course, a blessing of love.

I want to start with the fact that it is, in its own right, interesting that this day comes during Black History Month. I don’t think I ever noticed this growing up because honestly, my education about Japanese persons was limited to social media and what I understood from poorly written textbooks: it wasn’t until college that I got a Big Picture education. Black persons have often been imagined to be composed of grief: a grief of a lost heritage, of a lost land, of being taken, used, called chattel, then ignorant, then colored, and now thugs, of being continuously beaten down by society so that we will settle into “our place” and one day, ascend to become good persons, productive members of society, but always remember that we’re still Black, and therefore less. It’s a quite privileged image to see a people as constantly overcoming and therefore strong: it kind of excludes the fact that many Black persons feel incredibly deep pain from that forced rhetoric.

In the words of many Black persons greater than I that have come before me, that’s some mess if I’ve ever heard it.

But above all else –above a fetishized image of the sexualize image of Black persons, above self-serving guilt about our pasts, above a month where we’re barely the spotlight– we are made of love, and that is a fact I’ll take to my grave. It is writ into the fine lines and creases on a grandmother’s face, put into her cooking and the warm hugs she offers. It is in the smiles of the multitudes of black women who are living their lives, lights up in the eyes of black men facing adversity. It is in our children who are the future, in a black child’s victory for the entire community, in a president that made it possible to have a 2nd, 3rd, 20th, 50th Black President, in a light that shines through a national community of brown and black bodies, eyes looking ahead towards an even brighter future.

I feel that the same light, the same pervasive brightness and power, is in Japanese-Americans also, because it wasn’t so long ago that we were cut from the same cloth: dangers to society, hated, and forced into captivity, made to be scapegoats for a war that wasn’t there, and forced to atone when they were American citizens. For a long time, persons of Asian Descent –Chinese persons in the 1800s, Japanese persons in early part of the 1900s, then Korean and Vietnamese persons in the latter part of the century, and now, persons in the Middle Eastern regions – have been the target of hate. This has always been alongside Black hatred: I’d dare say that the hatred of Asian-descending persons and African-descending persons almost always occurs alongside one another.

This has not changed, of course, since 1942. As my grandmother would say, the shackle’s just aren’t visible anymore, but just because you can’t see something don’t mean it doesn’t exist.

75 years may seem long, but my grandmother is 94: she saw this, and many other acts of hatred, exacted upon Japanese-Americans. She saw the One Drop Rule be extended to Japanese persons: one drop of Japanese blood, and you were suddenly the enemy. One Drop, and you needed to be contained.

(I should add that I came to realize, shortly before I left for Japan, that my grandmother is first generation also: first generation born free. Perhaps that why this day of remembering persons of captivity is so important: I’m only the third generation, and just recently –only since really, the late 1980s, but more the 1990s – got to experience what freedom with all rights attached feels like, and it’s still an ongoing struggle to keep those rights. My hope is many generations will continue to experience rights and that one day, they will be a part of their being and no blood will be shed to protect them. I will most definitely fight for that future knowing I won’t see it: it’s worth it to me.)

Sadly, she and I and many people around the world are both seeing the return of that sickening thought as it’s exacted upon persons of Muslin faith, primarily from the Middle Eastern regions. Once more, the One Drop rule is coming into play. One Drop, and you’re suddenly a terror that needs to be contained. One Drop, and you lose the right to exist as a free person, as an American. You’re labeled a threat. One Drop is enough to damn you to being exclusively bad: it’s a hideous truth that has made a return, notable especially during last year’s political race, and with the ascension of a transparent, White racist businessman bent on excluding as many “bad people” as he can.

(I even live near a former site where German-American persons were held: two places actually, one of which is a beautiful lake, the other of which held Japanese-Americans exclusively. You’d never guess that thousands of Japanese-Americans waited there, assumedly wondering why they were there and where they’d go. Texas, being a state of big empty places, is of course, riddled with former camps and forts that hold the memories of Japanese-Americans alongside German-Americans. Regretfully, little to nothing is taught in Texas schools, though with its vicious desire to repress anything that’s not family friendly, it should come as no surprise that Texas Education administrators want little to do with its continuously ugly history.)

So I want to give you a blessing.

I give a blessing to all the Japanese-Americans that will get asked, “But yeah, how much Japanese are you?” today, to the people that will get asked to read Chinese fortunes, write their friends name in kanji, read a stranger’s tattoo, or otherwise be pushed into a racist box. I give a blessing to people who are white-passing and are told it’s “cool” you’re Japanese, to Japanese-Americans who are called Chinese, to Japanese-Americans who have ever been told their lunch smelled weird, have been policed by others about how much of their own culture is theirs, have been told that they have no right to it because they’re not Japanese enough. I give a blessing to Japanese-Americans with parents from Japan who have heard teasing remarks, to Japanese-Americans who feel distance for being American and Japanese. I can’t imagine that struggle: I’ve never had to have it. But I’d imagine that it aches sometimes.

I give a blessing to older Japanese-Americans that may still struggle to love America when it betrayed the trust of its citizens.  I give a blessing to all Japanese persons who lived in those camps and still say the pledge, who sing the anthem and feel pride for their country, who want to make America a place for all. I give a blessing to first generation, second generation, ongoing generations of Japanese descending persons who struggle to be mixed in a world that wants things Black and White. I give a blessing to all who are a part of the Japanese Diaspora and are proud, who need representation and work to create it, who can’t create and wish for it.

Most of all, I offer a blessing of protection in these dark times when a percentage of America wants a return to internment, wants to see groups of people labeled and placed away, partitioned off from society. I offer all Japanese persons a blessing that they never see that day again, whether for Japanese persons or for Jewish persons: for Black persons, persons of the Muslim faith, or anybody who is marginalized, brown, black, and different. I pray that your children, your families, your friends keep strong hearts and know that we will not let that happen. I do not want another Executive Order to take us back to fear mongering and scares.

We cannot let that happen again.

I give a blessing from the bottom of my heart that you’ll find what you need and feel that American is Your America through and through. I hope that you will let love in its many forms guide you, and let that keep you and let your head lay peaceful at night.

Love is what will get us through these dark times, when racism, White Nationalists, White Terrorism, and fear by all is so prevalent. Love from white allies, from Persons of Color, and for a future where Our America is a colorful tapestry of heritage, languages, culture, and representation will help to enact the change to break down racism and open up dialogue.

God be with you, and also with you. Lift your hands up and rejoice because we will all rise together.  This is my blessing to you, Japanese-Americans. I see you, I hear you, and I proudly stand with you. Go forth in glory, for you’re Our America. You make up My America, a Land for All. Hate will not win when we band together. Hate cannot prevail in the face of rightful justice. Hate cannot prevail when peoples –formerly oppressed– do not let hate rise up.

Hate will not be the victor.

That is my blessing as we go forth.

Amen.

[iced-blood]

I don't want to make exuse for the mind crush of Yami in the manga, but in the same time...Kaiba has literally pushed all his buttons. Kaiba is gone a lot too far in the manga. Even if it excuse nothing of course.

Okay. Look. Apologies ahead of time, Anon, but this has been a long time coming. I am not angry. I am tired. This will cover more than you’ve addressed.

I keep telling people that I don’t work with the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga’s canon. I keep telling people that I work with Duel Monsters canon. Every post I make, barring very few exceptions, is marked with the “duel monsters” tag to reflect this. Those exceptions are tagged “manga” or “season zero,” depending on which variant of canon I happen to be using.

I am very, very clear and consistent about this.

But people keep asking me about the manga, anyway. Apparently it isn’t clear by my rampant avoidance of manga continuity in my fanfiction — which is where you will find the vast majority of my engagement with this series and fandom — that I hate it. Well. I do. I hate the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. I understand, embrace, and adore what it represents. And you will never hear a bad word about Mister Takahashi’s artwork from me. He’s a wonderful artist and I am in absolute awe of him for that. But the actual product of Yu-Gi-Oh! — in terms of storytelling, character interpretation, character growth, and consistency of its own rules — infuriates me.

A lot of people prefer the manga. It may even be safe to say that a majority of Yu-Gi-Oh! fans prefer the manga. And I’m sure there are any number of things about the Duel Monsters anime that infuriates them. The animation quality, perhaps. Or the watering down of various plot elements. The sidelining and borderline ruination of Katsuya Jonouchi’s character. All versions of this story have flaws and, for many, I’m sure the anime’s flaws outweigh the manga’s.

That is their prerogative. You will note, I hope, that I leave such fans to their business. My opinion on their preferred canon is not useful to them, so I don’t go out of my way to give it. I would have hoped for the same courtesy in return.

Anon, you were polite in your approach, which is more than I can say for others who’ve confronted me about this topic. With this in mind, I will endeavor to explain why I take issue with the argument you present here, as well as why I don’t like this line of discussion. That may not be what you were looking for in a response, but it’s what I have, and it’s what I will offer.

A note: just because I don’t like the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga doesn’t mean I haven’t read it. I will be using Chapters 1, 9, 10, 24, 25, 27, 39, and 40 to explain my position here. So if anyone reading this hasn’t read the manga, but intends to, keep this in mind before clicking the Keep Reading link. Understand that this is going to be long, it is going to be critical, and I am not open to debate. I have been approached, in my space, and this is going to be my final word on everything I have been avoiding since I started this blog.

If that interests you, then read on. If it doesn’t, then let us part ways here. No harm done. I wish you the best.

Now, then. Let us begin.

The Case Against Inconsistency: Katsuya Jonouchi

Like any story, Yu-Gi-Oh! has various themes that define it. Whether outright stated or just implied throughout, they exist. And one of the things we learn, throughout the story of Yugi, Atem, and their various friends, acquaintances, and antagonists, is this: how people conduct themselves determines their success.

It’s a classic Good VS Evil paradigm, and it’s one that a lot of us are familiar with. How does it play out? Well, in theory, what this should mean is that people who conduct themselves fairly, with honor and integrity, prevail. And people who conduct themselves poorly, with deceit and bitterness, will not. I think that a fair amount of fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! will agree with this idea.

Good people succeed. Bad people fail.

Yu-Gi-Oh! uses its duels like another anime would use a fight scene. When Naruto — or Goku, or Ichigo, or Kenshin, or whichever shonen action hero you fancy — comes up against a new opponent, we expect him to win. Why? Because he’s the hero. He’s the Good Guy™. And that’s how this is supposed to go, right? The hero is supposed to win because if the hero loses, that isn’t fair.

The world isn’t fair, people say. And that’s true. This is why we look to fiction. Or, at least, it’s why I look to fiction. In fiction, the world can be fair. And in a fair world, the good folks win. So that’s what we want to see. We want to see the hero struggle, sure. We want the fight to be hard-won. But we still want it to be won.

In this story’s case, we have Yugi Mutou. He’s our hero. And when we’re introduced to him, we’re given a clear indication of why we’re supposed to root for him.

When Our Hero™ is confronted by Katsuya Jonouchi here, right in the first chapter, it’s clear who’s supposed to be sympathetic. Jonouchi is a bully. Taking Yugi’s things away from him and goading him to fight for them. For a story that sets itself up in a high school, this is pretty standard. This is Episode 1 territory. And Yugi, bless him, sets himself up quickly as the good guy. He hates fighting. He hates violence. And those are traits we, as people living in a “proper and civilized” world, should admire.

Hiroto Honda doesn’t come off looking much better. But notice here that, even though Jonouchi and Honda are both antagonizing Yugi, he’s not exactly condemning them. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism. Maybe he’s just scared of getting a rise out of them, because they’re set up as bullies and Yugi is set up as a favored victim. But regardless of why he acts the way he does, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that a lot of people reading this story are going to relate to Yugi, in this moment, before they relate to the other two.

Then, we’re introduced to the second sympathetic character in this opening scene. Anzu Mazaki is quickly established as (1) Yugi’s friend and (2) someone that Jonouchi and Honda are afraid of. This is (tangentially) important to note.

If Yugi has someone willing and ready to protect him, and that someone has the edge over his bullies, then is he honestly afraid of them? Maybe he isn’t. Maybe that’s the point. He doesn’t like dealing with Jonouchi and Honda at this moment, but this presented a question in my head: does he fear them? Are they enemies to him?

Given what happens later on in this chapter, the answer to the former is kind of up in the air, but the answer to the latter is most likely no.

But anyway. A bit later on, we reach the first major point to which I want to draw specific attention. The first major moment that is relevant to why I have take issue with the idea that “Kaiba has literally pushed all his buttons.”

Jonouchi, still angry that things didn’t go his way in the intro scene, has opted to steal a piece of the Millennium Puzzle — which we all know is an immensely important part of this story’s mythology — so that Yugi will never be able to complete it, even if he gets it most of the way there.

The puzzle represents Yugi’s only real goal this early on: he wants friends. He’s heard from his grandfather that the Millennium Puzzle grants wishes, and his wish is for friends. What I mean to point out is that Jonouchi’s behavior here is an immense violation of Yugi’s privacy, and a serious blow against Jonouchi’s integrity. I’ve been robbed before. It’s an absolute travesty, and I have extremely limited sympathy for people who would steal like this. Taking food from a store because you’re starving? I know that’s a classic tactic and maybe it’s a cliché at this point in the game, but still. I’m probably not going to judge anyone for that. Desperate calls and all.

But stealing someone’s most prized possession because you’re sulking? That’s … pretty black-and-white awful in my book.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m going into this much detail about plot elements that occur before Seto even shows up. Others might be wondering how I can say that Jonouchi isn’t worthy of sympathy for what he’s done here, considering what Seto does later on. Well. I’ll get to that.

But for now, consider these points from the remainder of the introduction: Yugi defends Jonouchi and Honda, getting himself beaten up in the process. It’s thus established that these two boys — who are implied to have been bullying Yugi for at least a little while now — are Yugi’s friends. In spite of what we see in the beginning, and in spite of how Jonouchi in particular acts during his introduction, Yugi considers the both of them friends.

The Case Against Inconsistency: Seto Kaiba

Now, then. What about Seto Kaiba, you might be wondering?

When he’s introduced in Chapter 9, there really isn’t much to be said about Seto, other than there’s something off about him. And he really, really wants Sugoroku Mutou’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

I want to draw your attention to the first moment when we really sense what’s being set up with Seto’s first chapter.

When Seto can’t trade for, or buy, Sugoroku’s card … he decides to steal it. Now. Generally speaking, we would be expected to understand that this is an Objectively Bad Thing™, right? Of course it is. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. I just covered this.

But recall the specifics: Yugi’s been stolen from before. Does he know that? No. Yugi never figures out that it was Jonouchi who stole that pivotal piece of the Millennium Puzzle. Not directly. But the point I’m making here is: we know it was Jonouchi. We, as the audience, know what happened to the last person who robbed Yugi.

… Absolutely nothing.

This is what I mean when I say that the manga is … weird about enforcing its own rules. Seto Kaiba is set up as a villain for doing the exact same thing Yugi’s own best friend did in the first chapter. Now, let’s look at the other part of Seto’s introductory equation, which occurs when Yugi confronts him about having stolen his grandfather’s prized card.

Seto gets irritated that Yugi won’t let this whole thing go, and clocks him across the face. Now. Seto is not shown in a sympathetic light here. I’m not trying to claim that he is. My point with these scenes — aside from transparency — is simply one of consistency.

Aside from the fact that Seto is rich and Jonouchi is not, there is effectively zero difference between them right now … unless you want to count the chronological order of their respective sins. Jonouchi antagonized Yugi, then stole something important to him. Seto stole something important to Yugi, then antagonized him.

Unless you want to get pedantic, in other words, Katsuya Jonouchi and Seto Kaiba are — textually speaking — the same person. The same obstacle. And given what happened to Jonouchi at the end of his chapter … shouldn’t we expect Seto to get off relatively lightly, too? Isn’t that what we know about Yugi Mutou? That he’s a forgiving soul? That’s what I took from the first chapter.

But what happens?

Well, of course, at this point in the story, we’ve been introduced to The Other Yugi™. Atem, as he will come to be known, the spirit trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle, who comes out and possesses Yugi’s body to extract vengeance — or justice, depending on your point of view — on people who trespass against him. We know very little of what Atem is honestly about during this section, though. We don’t even know his name, or have a nickname for him yet.

What we do know is that Atem plays games to make his points. Games which reflect the nature of the players’ souls. Games which exalt the righteous, and condemn the guilty. So what does this other Yugi do? He challenges good old Kaiba-kun to a game of cards.

There are a few important points to make about this duel. I’m not going to be giving a play-by-play. Instead, we’ll go over the highlights. First: when Seto realizes that he’s losing the duel, and can’t defeat the spirit, he decides to cheat.

And because this is a Shadow Game, or a Dark Game … a magic game, in other words, Seto is punished. But instead of just disqualifying him and ending the duel, which is what would actually happen if someone cheated like this �� it goes on.

That’s … that is not part of the rules. Nowhere in the initial buildup to this match did Atem specify that Seto’s cards had to have his “heart” in them. And nowhere in the rules of this game does it say that a monster’s attack can be negated by pontificating at it.

Again. This was not established in the beginning of the duel. The rules do not state that a monster that doesn’t belong to the user will be destroyed. Atem did not make this clear when they sat down to play. This is plot armor. Or, rather, a plot weapon. Again, Seto is being punished for cheating. Of course. I cede this point.

But Atem directly benefits from these breaches of the rules. So, by continuing the duel and ultimately winning, he is also cheating. You can’t just decide something like this. Atem did not create this game. He does not have the authority to unilaterally declare how alterations to the rules are decided.

“Well, that guy cheated, so I’m going to cheat, too. And it’s okay when I do it, because he did it first.”

Are we in grade school? That’s the argument being presented, and it doesn’t matter. The duel is canceled and you start over. That is how you handle this. You don’t just arbitrarily alter the rules while the game is ongoing.

But even if you do … you certainly don’t do this when the game is over.

Seto Kaiba is forced, magically, into a literal psychotic break. He is forced through his own death at the hands of the monsters that died throughout the game. Atem claims that Seto shouldn’t worry, because “it’s only one night’s worth of nightmares … an illusion!”

That? Right there? That is horrifying.

Seto cheated at a game of cards. He didn’t commit murder. Is cheating acceptable behavior? No. But the punishment does not fit the crime. Atem condemned a child to his own hallucinatory execution. A child who, you may recall, we later find out grew up in a criminally abusive household, and has just escaped it.

Anon, you acknowledged that Atem is not to be excused, so this next part is not directed at you, but at everyone else who likes to act like Seto Kaiba should be hanged for what he did throughout the manga, but “oh, Atem’s growth is so wonderful and inspiring!”

The above example of other fans’ behavior is facetious and exaggerated and should not be taken seriously. But regardless of how I might view this whole paradigm, it doesn’t change the facts: either they both have crimes to answer for, or they both have redemption arcs worth celebrating.

I do not care what you think about Seto Kaiba. I do not care if you like him. I do not care if you hate him.  I do not care if you like or hate Atem. I do not care about Death T. I do not care about how long Atem spent trapped in the Millennium Puzzle. I do not care that Atem sacrificed his life for his country. I do not care that Atem died as a teenager. I do not care how much he eventually grows as a person. I do not care that Seto started this. I do not care that Seto cheated. I do not care that Seto lied. I do not care about any of that.

THIS IS OBJECTIVELY DISGUSTING.

Don’t tell me why you think Seto deserved it. Don’t excuse this. Don’t ignore this. Don’t you dare come into my space and tell me this is irrelevant. I will never let this slide. Seto Kaiba is a child, and he just got what little emotional equilibrium he had, after having survived Gozaburo Kaiba, shattered because he cheated at a game of cards.

Recall, if you please, my previous point.

Katsuya Jonouchi stole from Yugi Mutou, and antagonized him.

Seto Kaiba stole from Yugi Mutou, and antagonized him.

One got a best friend out of it.

One got tortured.

That is not acceptable, and it is not justice.

The Case Against Inconsistency: Mokuba Kaiba

Are we done? No. No, we are not.

There are fewer points to make in this section, so it will be shorter, but there are still important notes to take into account before we move on to the main event.

I always say: you don’t get one Kaiba without the other.

In Chapter 24, we’re introduced to Seto’s little brother.

Baaaan.

Mokuba is portrayed, initially, just as unsympathetically as Seto is. Like his brother, this kid presents a threat. A pretty substantial one, if those weapons are real. And given the early manga’s penchant for wanton violence, they probably are. For a story about children’s games, there’s a lot of … not-so-child-friendly elements to the opening chapters.

Naturally, given that this is a series about games, there have to be stakes. And Mokuba is very quick to establish what those stakes are.

And Atem is equally quick to accept them. Now, look. Obviously brandishing CEWs, assault weapons, and butterfly knives at people are entirely unacceptable actions to take, but these aren’t even teenagers we’re dealing with. Atem is a bit too gleeful for my tastes here, considering he just promised to torture a 10-year-old boy.

These are grade-schoolers.

Grade-schoolers who, aside from Mokuba, are obviously unnerved (and possibly frightened) by the spirit of the Puzzle. Now, I’m not saying it would have been smart on Yugi’s part to deny these kids whatever they wanted. But this is why you have a cursed pendant with a ghost inside it to help you out.

But, perhaps it isn’t fair to say that Yugi’s new vengeful friend should have worked harder to dissolve the situation. Maybe that’s not the right argument to make. After all, Mokuba started it. And who knows what he might do if he’s denied?!

Well. Considering what happens when Atem wins this game … I don’t think he really avoided any potential consequences by going along with what his attackers wanted.

See, you say that, Atem, but I don’t believe you when you say that Mokuba isn’t your enemy. You’ve treated him the same way as you have every other enemy you’ve come across in this story. The only net positive we can say here is that Mokuba doesn’t die.

Now. What’s my point with bringing this one up? Well, one, I don’t think the 10-year-old kid should have been forced into a confined space. What if he’s claustrophobic? What if his father used to lock him in his bedroom? What if, what if, what if. Atem doesn’t know anything about this boy except that he’s lashing out on his brother’s behalf.

And two: when you play with fire …

Obscenely rich, angry, chronically abused fire …

You get this.

The Case Against Inconsistency: Mind Crush

When the chapter that opens up the oh-so-infamous Death T starts, we get treated to two bits of information that are … extremely important to all of this. We are first reminded of what Atem forced Seto through, at the end of their first duel.

And then we are shown that Atem was wrong about his own consequences. He said, and I quote:

“It’s only one night’s worth of nightmares.”

Remember that? And yet, we see that Seto has had that nightmare at least twice. Time is nebulous in the manga, so it’s difficult to figure out how often he’s had this nightmare, but that isn’t important. He’s had it multiple times.

This is a problem, because our hero said it would happen once.

But it didn’t happen once.

Why is this such a big deal to me? Because when your hero’s entire problem with an antagonist is how dishonest he is, you cannot afford to be dishonest yourself. But here, Atem is shown to have been either ignorant of his own abilities, which is reckless, or outright lying.

Which is hypocritical.

My point is not that Seto Kaiba is blameless. It is not that I want people to stop paying attention to his faults. My point in all of this is that Death T — to which Anon is referring — did not happen in a vacuum, and Atem was partially responsible for it. Death T was not constructed to beat Yugi Mutou in a game. It was, and is, not a sign of Seto’s unhealthy obsession with victory.

Death T was a direct result of two things: Gozaburo Kaiba, and the “Experience of Death” penalty game.

Seto says nothing about losing. He says nothing about being beaten. His whole motive for Death T is to stop “that nightmare.” What does this mean? That if he had not had that nightmare, he would not have that motive. Would he have done something else? Maybe. Probably, even. But we’re not talking about possibilities. We’re talking about what happened.

And what happened is: Seto cheated at a game, was punished by a hallucination, had nightmares about that hallucination, and figured out a plan to stop them. Would Death T have worked? No. Is it acceptable behavior? No. Am I saying Seto Kaiba should be absolved for what he put the main cast through? No.

I am saying that it wasn’t just Seto Kaiba who was responsible for this.

There was also Gozaburo Kaiba, who tortured his adopted son to mold him into the heir that he wanted.

And Atem, who tortured his classmate to mold him into the opponent that he wanted.

You aren’t going to find many people willing to give Gozaburo Kaiba the benefit of the doubt. He’s pegged pretty constantly for the villain he is. Seto is also held accountable for the horrible things that he did. Death T was, and is, an atrocity. But Atem’s hands are not clean. He directly antagonized an unstable teenager with PTSD, one with the resources, the conviction, and the warped sense of right and wrong (courtesy of his aforementioned abusive father) to push right back.

Was it right? No. Was it fair? No. Was it acceptable? No.

So why talk about it?

Because when you say things like “Kaiba has literally pushed all his buttons,” you absolve Atem of what he did.

Atem tortured, and killed, several people in the name of justice.

The Kaibas were just the first of his victims to fight back.

Seto Kaiba pushed Atem too far? Fine.

Atem pushed him too far, too.

And only one of them ever gets taken to task for it.

If it makes me the Devil’s Advocate to focus on that, and harp on it, and get angry about it … so be it. I’m used to being the voice of dissent. And just so you all understand: I don’t like the way Seto is portrayed in the manga. I hate it. I hate him. That’s why I don’t deal with him. That’s why the anime is my focus. That’s why I don’t talk about the manga. I don’t like Seto, I don’t like Atem, I don’t like Honda, I don’t like Otogi, I don’t like Pegasus, I don’t like the Ishtars.

I don’t … like … the manga.

But, that being said.

No matter what he did.

No matter how far he went.

This is not heroic.

This is not worth celebrating.

This is not my Yu-Gi-Oh!

And I’m done talking about it.