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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Darkwing Duck: My Valentine Ghoul Review aka A Bad Episode Even by Valentine’s Day Episode Standards

Welcome back Darkwings of the Night. It’s time to go back to St. Canard for the very review that got me to finish up my look at the episodes that should’ve lead up to Just Us Justice Ducks and the episode itself last month. While I probably COULD have reviewed this one before finsihing that as continuity’s pretty loose here, I wanted to see Negaduck’s proper introduction first. So was it worth it?

Yeah while I was glad to get one of my retrospectives done and free up some room for other stuff, this episode..was an objective disapointment and might be even worse than “Brush with Oblivion”. If your curious to know why and aren’t already lobbing a harpoon at me for bashing an episode you liked, join me under the cut.

On PAPER this episode sounded really good. Negaduck trying to seduce Morgana back to crime and in general after Darkwing once again neglected her is not at all a bad premise and the in episode conflict of Darkwing’s obnoxious supscioson of his girlfriend being an ex con, COULD’VE been really interesting. But there’s a reason Could’ve was in all caps folks: This episode is not very well put together and it’s gender politics have aged like fine santa liquor left split in a bathtub surronded by toxic waste for 20 years, and tastes just as bad. Trust me I know. My colon still hasn’t recovered. So let’s get into WHY shall we?

So we open with a date in a graveyard with Darkwing and Morgana, unsuprisingly though Darkwing isn’t the fondest of their meal which... look like someone scrambled the Star-Spawn of Cthulu. He’s going to be pissed.. especially once I try some. Look i’m very curious and very hungry.

But things take a turn when Darkwing brings up diamonds, because he’s fully insensitive enough to bring them up in front of his girlfriend. She does take the truth in stride: he’s not proposing he’s simply hung up on a case of diamonds going missing, and no solution and thus might have to cut the date short. She offers to go with him but he shoots her down, saying the last time she helped she turned him into a rutabega.. instead of you know TRAINING her and helping her on her aim. Then the episode looses me.. and about how long into the episode are we exactly? Not taking the theme song into acount?

Yup. It takes around 2 minutes, with some change. for the episode to become absolutley terrible. But first off Morgana suddenly flies off the table claming he dosen’t trust her for being a former criminal and zaps him in vengance.. which is assualt. Cartoony assault sure but it still hurts and his reactoin is STILL pure feer as he’s turned into some kind of ball... I mean.. it’s not like he can’t fight crime like that. Some of the best have done it.

But still she goes to physical violence at the drop of a hat this episode and Darkwing seems more than a little afraid of that happening again. Just... wow. I thought, having finished the Legend of the Three Cablleros, i’d be done with writing so poor a character comes off as a domestic abuser, mental in that case phsyical here, but here we are. Now this is untetional so I don’t blame the writers as much.. but I still heft some blame on them for being SO bad at writing a woman that she can’t get angry without phsyically attacking her partner or grasping the implications there.

Oh and it gets worse. Yes, it somehow gets worse from “Morgana attacking darkwing for upsetting her”. Darkwing proves to be pretty vile himself, as when Morgana accuses him of not trusting her due to her criminal past.... he says “You know what they say once a crook always a crook. “

My.. fucking.. god.... the show is stacking unfortunate implications on top of itself like lego bricks. And yes attitudes towards prisoners were much worse back then, I get that. Dosen’t make it tolerable to HEAR someone spouting that bullshit, let alone our protaganist. And while it doesn’t make her right to shoot lighting at him, as she does after this or attack him before... it does mean he’s a massive, mentally abusive dick who refuses to trust his partner who reformed FOR HIM, just because she used to do crimes. It takes a special kind of bad writing to screw up so badly that two of your heroes are immensley unikeable in the span of minutes but they did. CONGRADULATIONS DUMBASS!

So yeah Morgana breaks up with him and he tries to go after her and Gosalyn, who was there the whole time with eek and squeak, decides she needs to get the two back together.

I mean at least Gosalyn MEANS well. As a result despite her helping them not being a good idea, she’s one of the most likeable characters in the episode. At least for now. The most likeable?

Yes. REALLY. Now granted he’s as much of a bastard as always; After seeing Morg’s tantrum he wants to seduce her back to evil to help with his diamond scheme, unsurprisingly he’s the one stealing them and his plan to do so.. is not all that bright as he fakes being good to get into her good graces.. forgetting that he’s going to need to show her he’s bad again for any of his plan to work, as during the climax i’ts revealed he’s using a candy company as a front for diamond smuggling. Now granted that.. is actually really clever as no one’s going to think to check a shipment of choclate boxes for diamonds unless their tipped off and he even mentions starting a candy company earlier, so that being his scheme dosen’t come out of left field and i’ts a clever misdirect that you’d THINK he was lying about the Candy Company. But while Negsy doesn’t’t escape the contagious case of stupidity everyone’s got this episode, he’s still entertaining as ever and Jim cummings manages to make saying “Well be the best of pals” pants crappingly terrifiying. So Negaduck is a delight as always even if his plan makes little sense, as his way of going about it is still clever: he fakes being good and both uses this to make darkwing jealous, thus making him seem irational, and to provide a shield and also forces himself on their valentine’s date. He even gets past Morgana rightfully beign supsicous by playing to her past. So yeah not the best plan OVERALL but damn if he still isn’t awesome. They visit a carnival, ah feels like home, though this one has a freak show where MORGANA feels like she’s home. After trying to fry Darkwing and making him look like the bad guy Negaduck manages to seperate the two in the tunnel of love then use darkwing’s own jackassery against him by claming he left saying once a crook always a crook. He hten.. comes on way too strong, first asking if she’s thought about going back to crime when they get back to her place and then isn’t resceptive when he just tries to fully turn on the charm. Oh and Darkwing walks in and thinks his gilrfriend is cheating despite her not returning Negaducks affections because he’s a douchebag. Gosalyn is in the house at the same time as after Negaducks earlier deception, Eek and Squeak flew her back to Morgana’s house to use the Necronomiduck, which talks like he just walked out of Beast’s house because of course he does, and gets a love potion.. which they accidently spray on Darkwing instead. So we do get one of the few GOOD parts of the episode where Darkwing acts all buddy buddy to negaduck and Negaduck even gets rid of him just by telling him to go jump off a cliff. And the combination of Drake acting all sachrine again, much like posiduck, and Negaduck’s clear annoyance and confusion is just comedy gold.

Sadly that ends and Drake returns and a fight breaks out with Morgana accidently freezing darkwing and when trying to freeze negaduck, he simpy reflects it back the obsconds with her ice cube.

While Gosalyn and co thaw her dad out, Negaduck explains the whole choclate scam and Morgana refuses and they fight, with Negaduck covering her in chocolate.. then darkwing when he shows up as you’d expect. Darkwing however has buzzsaw cufflinks, a wonderful 60′s batman type gag, and saves them both.. btu the love potion ends up on Gosalyn who covers her dad and possible step mom in frosting

Thankfully it wears off fast, and morgana gets the idea to put the love potion, which is air born into the gas gun, finally getting Darkwing to trust her and blasting Negaduck, then suckerpunching him when he gets close. Oh and despite her plan being VERY obvious , Darkwing STILL questions her flirting with the guy.

So the day is saved and we end with him questioning her order at dinner that night and her .. attacking him. And Gosalyng saying “Well you always hurt the ones you love”

Final Thoughts: .I do not like this episode. I do not like it on a moat, on a boat or with a goat or in any way shape or form even though that breaks the ryhme. Reviewing it only had me finding MORE problems with it. Morgana and Darkwing are so unsympathetic here, with her violence towards him making it seem like “Aw all couples are just the woman chasing the man around with the frying pan.. or lighting bolts in this case” even though that’s sexist as hell at BEST and makes light of domesdtic abuse towards men at worst. Darkwing gets off no better, being THAT kind of asshole who assumes just because someone used to be a criminal they always will be. Which even in pastiche makes no sense as I can name tons of superheroes, a who USED to be criminals or villians: Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Luke Cage (Before becoming a superhero), Scott Lang Ant-Man, Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Cassandra Cain, Simon Baz, Mach 10, Songbird, Quicksilver, Rogue, Wonder Man, and Emma Frost. And that’s not getting into the number of heroes, including many on this list, who went evil fo ra bit and came back from it.. some of whom are on this list. Usually his black and white insanity schick works but the episode does nothing to punish him for it and instead makes Morgana seem just as irrational by attacking him.

While this episode dosen’t use the love potion badly, thank god, with morgana even calling it a bad idea.. i’ts all I can give it outside of negaduck. The love potion and negaduck gags are both great.. but everything else is just so toxic and odious it makes it very hard to enjoy. And so.. this wins the DUBIOUS honor of being the worst Darkwing Duck episode i’ve seen so far. The plot’s weak, filled with horrible outdated ideas even by the time this was made, and no one is likeable, even Negaduck wears out his once he starts getting a bit too pushy with morgana. All in all a waste of potetial and a good episode. Until the next rainbow, this episode can step on a rusty railroad spike and get tetnus.

#darkwing duck #drake mallard #gosalyn mallard #morgana macawber #negaduck #jim staring #disney #disney plus #valentine's day #ducks

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kob131 · 4 years ago

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1q5Hk7u9aw

Ah FMF, even when you’re not Genwunning RT writing, you’re still not good. So Why am I covering his video on a ‘bad review’ of Netflix’s Death Note? Well this was used in the video of a Youtuber I once respected and I’m pretty sure he started adopting FMF’s bullshit so I’ve decided dissect the video to showcase that he’s bad at this no matter what the subject and why he shouldn’t be listen to.

Before we even begin, FMF begins his video with saying ‘this is just my opinion’ even though his video is titled ‘A response to a bad Death Note review’ and he has a visual counter system for what the original video gets wrong called ‘Wrong/Illogical’ which aren’t opinions. Honestly, it comes off as FMF using this as a shield to prevent criticism.

So his first point against Cosmonaut Variety Hour is that he complains about the pacing, talking about how Netflix Light gets the Death Note 2 minutes in, meets Ryuk 8 minutes in and kills his first victim a little later. FMF says that the anime had Light following a similar path. Which is true...only because FMF cuts off Cosmonaut’s final part: where he states a short while later Light gets a girl friend (Misa/Mia). This completely changes things, as how many minutes into the anime does Light get a girlfriend?

Well, each episode is about 22 minutes long with episode 1 being 23. Light and Misa part ways about 3 minutes 15 seconds into Episode 14. However, about 2 minutes 40 seconds of each episode is opening and ending. So let’s do the math.

22 * 13 + 4.25 = 290.25

2.66 * 13 + 1.5 (the opening is about 1 minute 30 seconds) = 36.08

290.25 - 36.08 = 254.17

Each .01 is .6 seconds. so 17 X .6 is 10.2

the time to getting Misa is 290 minutes and 10.2 seconds. In the movie? Let’s just say 30 minutes for simplicity’s sake (it’s more like 27 minutes and 11 seconds). That’s a net difference of 260 minutes and 10.2 seconds. WELL over double the length of the movie. So Cosmonaut’s point makes sense, if a bit ill explained.

Also in this point, he says it doesn’t make sense because Cosmonaut said ‘I like it wasn’t two hours’ ... when anyone with awareness could tell that wasn’t an actual like, it was a potshot at the movie’s poor quality that it was short.

The next point is that Cosmonaut complains about the movie not fleshing out Light, Mia and Ryuk. FMF says the exposition before finding the Death Note is about explaining Light’s life situation. ... This is a really dishonest response because he cuts off Cosmonaut explaining himself, up to and including how he would have found the few scenes with Light, Ryuk and Mia interesting if they were all more fleshed out. Not only is this stuff not helping because only one third of his point is addressed- Light’s life situation is mostly technical and meant to build up his motivation whereas Cosmonaut is talking about Light and the others as people. It’s reliant on FMF either missing or misinterpreting the point, neither of which is acceptable.

Also, in the bit he doesn’t show, Cosmonaut says ‘I’m not saying make this two hours. For the love of God, don’t make this two hours long’ with an image of a man having a heart attack, which should have informed FMF than part of his previous point was based on taking a blatant joke seriously. ... Yeah.

Next point is...Nothing. No seriously, Cosmonaut says ‘spend some time making your main character likeable or relatable in any way’ and FMF just says ‘You can’t just say there’s nothing to like.’ He doesn’t even give an example whereas Cosmonaut does, showcasing that infamous scream of Light’s (given, FMF cut that part off.) He also considers this wrong by the way. Not in my words, his ‘Wrong’ counter goes up.

His next point is about when Cosmonaut says the logic of the movie is being dumb because Light chose the name Kira. FMF claims that the logic is sound because Light makes a dumb decision and he gets immediately figured out. Issue is that A. He cut Cosmonaut mentioning that Light in the anime never actually choosing the name (setting up how the name choosing is dumb) B. That it doesn’t get immediately figured out until L figures it out (a character meant to be smart) and C. The movie itself never treats the name as being a dumb decision, in fact the police are stated to have fallen for it. Nothing here functions.

The following point is ... another dishonest one. Cosmonaut says that L finding out that Kira’s name is a misdirection doesn’t make him look smart, it makes him look dumber than Light. And FMF responds by saying ‘that doesn’t make sense because L used the death of the first victim to find out where Light was, like the anime version did!’. Thing is, Cosmonaut is saying it makes him look dumb, not that he is. You normally don’t notice this because both involve discussing L’s intelligence, never realizing that FMF is talking about something different. This is a fallacy called ‘pivoting’: you see politicians doing this a lot. He’s being dishonest again.

Before we move onto the next point, I wanna point out that he skips Cosmonaut bitching about the movie giving L a reason to eat candy and how it doesn’t make sense. Thing is, Cosmonaut says that the movie is stating candies can keep you awake for 48 hours but the clip he shows doesn’t say that. It was 41 hours and the topic was keeping his mind focused. You’d think FMF would jump on this since he IS wrong here...but no, he doesn’t. Trust me when I say this becomes important later.

fMF;s next point is another case of cut context. He shows a clip of Cosmonaut saying some scenes were likely cut with an example of Ryuk saying he’s disappointed and that he said Light should give up the Death Note while FMF responds by saying Ryuk already informed him. Thing is, Cosmonaut is talking about Ryuk SAYING Light should give it up instead of INFORMING Light he can give it up like FMF says, playing a clip where Ryuk says as much (’I asked politely but you didn’t hear me: let the note go!’) and Cosmonaut even rebutes FMF’s point, saying what Ryuk did before was inform him of an option but not insisted on it (in fact egging Light on). Again, relying on cutting off his argument.

His point afterward is short but correct: Cosmonaut says L should be surprised Light knows his name and FMF shows that they revealed it earlier. I think it’s also the only point so far that he hasn’t cut off.

The next is one that FMF doesn’t cut off but is still rather sneaky. Cosmonaut says the movie is making the case for Light Turner being smart and FMF says the movie is making the case that Light is poor, has iffy morals ect. This is the scene that most people point to saying the movie says Light is smart here. FMF is trying to disprove that by giving an alternate interpretation. Thing is, why would anyone pay to have their homework partially done by a dumb person? That...doesn’t make sense. And Light has 15 customers at least, since he was found with at least 15 people’s homework on him when he was found after being punched (something FMF tries to use to say ‘see? He was punched for trying to be clever! The movie’s not saying he’s smart!’) so he should know this.

Afterward, he tackles Cosmonaut’s point about Light cracking under pressure by saying the pressure is mounting on him. I could understand this (ignoring how I’ve made this same point to him about RWBY...) except that in the anime even more pressure was on Light and he never cracked like this. Is Light Turner a different character? Yes...but no one mentions this.

“‘Lust for power’ is one of the most basic human motivations in the world.” is his next counter argument against Cosmonaut, who says ‘we never learn why Mia wants to kill everybody.” I’m afraid I can’t let the RWBY thing directly slid anymore because this standard could really affect his work: Cinder has the EXACT SAME motivation and no one buys that shit. We don’t buy it because there has to be a reason BEHIND the lust for power. Even Dio had this (he wanted power because of his fucked up childhood.) So he really should be calling this out himself. ESPECIALLY if he’s called out Cinder before.

Next up is FMF going on and on about how the movie shows Light isn’t smart (Err, no. Getting punched was suppose to show how crooked the system was) and how L is making this a game for his ego (he...never prove this beyond showing L refer to this as a game. Nothing for ego) in response to Light being called dumb... And why wouldn’t he be considered smart? He outright says L refers to him as smart and while he says it’s for his ego, not only is the homework thing logically about him being smart but the character Turner is adapted from is notoriously smart so that’s just...logical.

Next one is fucking weird. Cosmonaut says the rule about the Death Note’s burning page makes no sense and FMF says that while he agrees with it, he tries to insert a counter by saying that ‘taking Ryuk at face value, it might not work at all.’ ... The rule wasn’t said by Ryuk, it’s said in the Death Note. Ryuk was saying that he can only do it once. He fucked up a point he says he mostly agree with.

Next part is Cosmonaut saying it’s stupid that Watari only has one name and is using his real name and FMF says that it makes sense as Watari needs to be contacted to get to L...ignoring that you could just have a private number. And before someone complains at me since he says its an opinion: that ‘Wrong’ counter goes up and that ain’t an opinion so I’m not buying it.

The next part brings up that Light got Watari’s name from his dad, something Cosmonaut says L should have known better because L wasn’t a suspect yet while FMF points out that Light wasn’t a suspect yet. ... This is still calls L’s intelligence into question as he was giving out his partner’s name out so it can be researched...and he has the man undisguised with him in the open (which is how Light gets his face).

Next part I’ll give: This version of L is emotional so FMF is right...if he had taken the time to establish this is suppose to be a video looking at the movie on it’s own. FMF, you need to give context.

Next two are basically the same: Cosmonaut bitches about Light not giving a reason for not wanting to killing Watari and FMF cities ‘we don’t kill people’ and ‘survival instinct’ for why he would want to kill L as reasons...which brings up: wouldn’t killing Watari also fall under ‘survival instinct’? Kill L’s ally/possible avenger?

The next point is really stupid. It’s bitching about the moment where Watari dies, Cosmonaut saying that it doesn’t make sense that Watari doesn’t reveal L’s name while FMF says that Ryuk could have interpreted his ‘dealer’s choice’ to kill him without revealing the name to fuck with Light...Ryuk’s never acted to fuck with Light like that before (could have interpreted the names being written to mean [Reveal Light’s name to the world] too) and ‘dealer’s choice’ refers to the type of death, not what everything in it means.

He then mocks Cosmonaut for saying a scene of Ryuk saying ‘dealer’s choice!’ disproved what Cosmonaut said before. Ignoring that I have personally seen him pull this on RWBY- He does this same thing here NUMEROUS TIMES with Cosmonaut. It still doesn’t make sense because Ryuk, when Watari’s circumstances are written down, mentioned the cause of death SPECIFICALLY. That’s why there’s an issue.

Afterward Cosmonaut bitches that Mia can’t get the Death Note because he needs to live it alone for seven days while FMF corrects him as he shows Light can just give it up. Nothing really bad here (in a vacuum). Same with the ‘finding Light’ thing that comes after (in a vacuum).

Next is FMF being suspicious again. He cuts up Cosmonaut’s argument about why there is so many police at the pier and why the are there that he cuts out a part of Cosmonaut’s point (that they found L so there’s no reason for so much force there). And his ‘within reason’ thing pops up again even as he doesn’t afford Cosmonaut that. Same with the ‘L said Light is Kira and he took my gun’ counter to Cosmonaut even though in any other circumstance he would have ignored that.

Next is...confusing AND bullshit. Cosmonaut says that, with Light writing that if Mia takes the Death Note she dies, the Death Note is never shown to have these kinds of deaths. And FMF says that...it wasn’t the Death Note. ... Even though the end, Light did write that down. FMF tries to justify this by saying Mia was forced to do it by the Death Note by referencing her saying ‘I love you so much’ and looking shocked when getting the Death note...what he DOESN’T show you is Light saying ‘If you love me, you gotta trust me. Don’t take the book’ before her line, Light getting distracted by his dad afterward, panicking when she takes it THEN her looking shocked as she said ‘What?’. FMF is pretty much LYING at that point.

Cosmonaut has this really big point about Light’s plan from the movie’s climax where FMF attacks some of the aspects. One is him saying Light needed to discredit L to get off the hook (even though he never shows the part about the criminal being brainwashed into doing Light’s dirty work to clear his name.) He brings up Watari not knowing where L’s orphanage is...even though he could have learned about it off screen.

And we end with him making a technical error: he says that the page L has also has the rules/instructions on it...and I can’t tell what it says. So it’s as good as worthless.

Cosmonaut did make a few mistakes and FMF could have made an actual good video by addressing how he doesn’t explain the points he makes against the movie...but that isn’t what he did. Instead of going for smaller but truthful criticisms, he goes for big, flashy and ultimately fault at the VERY best and disgustingly manipulative at worst. All of this without mentioning his hypocrisy with RWBY (example: he ignores anything that doesn’t happen on screen and gives no logical concessions to the show while demanding Cosmonaut do that.) Even when giving him some credit, the man makes it so his targets always look better out of it because he’s so dishonest and manipulative.

Honestly, no one should look to him for inspiration or good points. Because even with a video as bare bones and basic as Cosmonaut, he makes it look like a work of Robert Ebert.

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commentaryvorg · 5 years ago

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Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.18

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

Last time in trial 5 (trial 5!!!!!!) as we spent a lot of time discussing the logistics of the plan, Kaito’s cause of death was thrown into question, leading to a clever bit of misdirection which was probably written by Kokichi just before he died about how an unknowable culprit was totally the point of the plan, Kaito basically told everyone that Monokuma doesn’t know who did it, which had equal chances of being Kokichi being stupid and full of himself or Kaito being clever and gunning for the next-best outcome since the best one is almost certainly out of reach, Shuichi figured out Kokichi wasn’t the mastermind (rendering Miu and Gonta’s deaths now completely pointless), then Kokichi ruined his own plan by posthumously gloating about how evil he is, causing everyone to make the mistake of thinking their real enemy was Kokichi and not Monokuma, and so Monokuma joined the party.

Monokuma: “Now, where should we start? We’ve already established what Kokichi is after…”

Note how Monokuma has still not explicitly admitted that he doesn’t know who the culprit is. He’s only vaguely alluding to it here without outright saying it. I really do think that he’s literally not allowed to admit it.

Shuichi realises that now that we know Kokichi’s objective was to fool Monokuma, it might explain why he would bizarrely show a video that apparently proves he crushed Kaito.

Monokuma: “Then what kinda mistake was Kokichi tryin’ to get me to make?”

They made a big deal about how Monokuma is supposedly participating now like just another student, but he’s still kind of not. He could just tell Shuichi, “so, hey, I’m not even sure if Kaito is the victim, I don’t trust that video but I don’t know how it could be faked, figure it out for me”. But it seems he’s still not allowed to participate so directly and is instead just asking vague questions to point Shuichi in the right direction.

Shuichi: “There must be a reason you went out of your way to show us the body being crushed.”

Exisal Kokichi: “No reason, really. That’s just my twisted personality.”

Shuichi: (You’re lying again, Kokichi. There’s a method to your madness.)

Shuichi is still sure that the person he’s talking to here is Kokichi. That will change very soon.

(It might kind of partially be “Kokichi” he’s talking to anyway in the sense that this is probably scripted. But then again, maybe not – again, he’s using Kokichi’s nature as an excuse for a lie, which is not really something Kokichi ever did?)

Shuichi: (Taking the video of the murder but keeping the victim’s identity hidden… What does it show? What doesn’t it show?) “…The victim.”

Maki: “Huh?”

Oh man I never properly noticed until now how Maki is the first one to react to this, aaaa, of course she is.

Shuichi: (Is it even possible?)

This single line, on my first time through, absolutely fucking broke me.

I’d been convinced for a while that Kaito definitely was dead after all, this was the absolute truth, it’s sad but we’ll just have to deal with it and keep going. And then suddenly, for the first time in over an hour, this line was the narrative acknowledging the possibility that Kaito could be alive after all. This wasn’t a relief. This was utterly terrifying, because it was still only a possibility, and there was every chance that this hope would be crushed and snuffed out yet again, which would hurt even more than it had the first time, make me feel stupid and foolish for daring to hope again in the first place. And yet, even the tiniest most fragile possibility of Kaito being alive was infinitely better than the alternative. I couldn’t not hope, despite how terrifying it was.

For me, this case was the absolute best hands-on experience of hope fighting against despair (the real meanings of those words), more than anything else in Danganronpa has ever been. I am so, so glad I managed to be unspoiled for this game so that I could have that, and so sad that I am never going to be able to feel that way while watching this case ever again. Rewatches are great for a lot of things, but some experiences of fiction are literally once-in-a-lifetime.

I admit that I read this line as a desperately hopeful “is it even possible (that Kaito could be alive after all)?” when it might actually just be meant as a more logistical question of “is it even possible (that the video could have been faked)?”. But even if it’s the latter, that still suddenly reopens the possibility that Kaito is alive, so Shuichi has to be thinking that here, one way or another.

Shuichi: (No, that’s a question for later. For now, we know that…)

Regardless, Shuichi is amazingly good at pushing his emotions aside and just focusing on taking the logic one step at a time. While there’s got to be a part of his mind that’s desperately jumping up and down going Kaito might be alive!!! (first-time-me knew exactly that feel and that’s why I can confirm that Shuichi is showing incredible self-control right now), he’s refusing to let it have a say because it’ll cause him to think irrationally and maybe come to the wrong conclusions. The Ultimate Detective can’t let himself be biased by what he wants to be true.

Tsumugi: “Then it was some other dead body that got crushed by the hydraulic press?”

Maki: “What?”

Maki Roll! She sounds hopeful!

Himiko: “Where would he even get another body?”

Keebo: “There should be plenty to choose from if you reuse the body of a former victim—”

Perhaps because they know the story of DR1 now, they’re jumping to this conclusion instead of considering the other possibility that there was one other living person there who could have been crushed instead. I personally immediately assumed that if Kaito was alive then that must have meant somehow Kokichi was dead and Kaito was in the Exisal, but that might be thanks to the narrative argument that that’d make the most interesting story, which these guys of course don’t have.

Exisal Kokichi has a whole scripted speech here about how switching the victims was definitely impossible because the footage wasn’t edited. I think it was around this point that first-time-me finally realised that the camera has a pause button!!!! and that actually totally made it possible for the footage to be faked and Kaito to be alive. This helped a lot in making me somewhat less terrified, because I’d gone from hope that was completely baseless into hope with an actual basis behind it, some way that I could see to reach the outcome I wanted. Even then, it was still only a possibility and there was still always the chance the game could pull the rug out from under me again – but it was a much firmer possibility than a few moments ago, and that was good.

Exisal Kokichi: “Also, if the victim was switched, then that would mean Kaito is still alive. We already discussed this sooo many times. The chance of that happening is imposs—”

…Says Kaito. Heh. Imagine how amused he must be to talk about how impossible it is for him to be alive.

This is definitely scripted, though. The only reason there’s ever been to be sure that Kaito is dead is the footage, but he’s talking about this like it’s a completely separate argument from what he was just saying about that. Like Kaito is obviously just this reckless idiot who’s inevitably going to fail pathetically and get himself killed, and the idea that he could have escaped death and succeeded at something is ridiculous. Like that in itself is proof Kaito must be dead. This is a narrative that Kaito would never choose on his own to promote – but Kokichi had been known to join in with said narrative occasionally, and so it seems he did in the script as well.

Maki: “…It might be possible.”

Exisal Kokichi: “Huh?”

Maki Roll!! He says it’s impossible, but the impossible could be possible if it’s Kaito! She’s finally trying to claw and fight her way into a better reality rather than just accepting the awful one she’s stuck in! And Kaito must quietly be so proud to see Maki latching onto this possibility, to have stopped feeling that unshakeable despair and be looking for a better outcome.

Maki: “There could be a trick to make the switch possible. We just haven’t noticed it yet…”

Exisal Kokichi: “Ooohh, and what trick is that?”

Maki: “…”

Exisal Kokichi: “See, you don’t know, do you? I already said it’s imposs—”

It seems like right now Maki’s hope is still completely baseless. But even though it’s baseless, she’s desperately holding onto it anyway! That’s such a big deal coming from Maki!

Shuichi: “Maki’s not wrong. There is a way it could be done… So we can’t just give up here!”

Shuichi sounds here like he’s already figured out the trick. But I kind of doubt he has, because you’d think this would be the one time where he wouldn’t hesitate to voice his deductions and would immediately explain the whole thing. So in fact, Shuichi’s hope is probably also still baseless, and he’s just doing a better job than Maki of making it sound like it isn’t, to try and keep her hopes up. How very Kaito of him!

Maki: “Hey, Shuichi… I’ll think harder about this as well… So… can you confirm whether or not the victim switched places? If Kaito is… alive or not?”

Maki’s voice sounds so full of emotion here! She’s not holding anything back and is finally letting herself desperately reach for this possibility, now that it seems possible after all!

Maki: “I don’t like the thought that I killed Kaito… I don’t… want that.”

This is the first time Maki has mentioned that she didn’t want to kill him! She’s talking about what she wants! She’s talking about how she felt about killing someone! She’s not just a heartless killer! Her feelings and desires matter!

It’s also in this moment that Maki starts crying, which is the first time we’ve ever seen her do so. She is having emotions and being a person! Kaito must be so proud of her, and so relieved that she’s finally letting herself feel this instead of locking it all away.

Himiko: “Okay then, let’s talk about the possibility that Maki Roll mentioned.”

Tsumugi: “Himiko, if you call her that again—”

Maki: “…Yes, please.”

Maki Roll!!! I absolutely love that this is the moment she accepts that nickname from Himiko. It’s not just that she’s tolerating it; she actively wants Himiko to call her that! She’s desperate for anything that’ll remind her of Kaito and help her feel the way she did back before she thought she’d killed him, just so that she can hold onto that hope!

Tsumugi: “Then let’s all talk it over together!”

Shuichi: (Together…)

…

Kaito: “And don’t forget… you’re not alone! Don’t try to do everything yourself. It’s only gonna wear you out. When times are hard, you gotta rely on your friends.”

…

Shuichi: “Yeah… I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

FRIENDS!!! It’s probably thinking that Kaito might be alive that spurs Shuichi to remember what Kaito said to him, and it’s so lovely and appropriate that the feeling that his best friend might still be here is also accompanied by the reminder that he’s not alone and he’s got other friends he can rely on too. Did you know that this game is about friends.

Exisal Kokichi: “Geez, you guys are a stubborn bunch. There’s no trick.”

And yet you’re still the most stubborn person here, Kaito! He has to have been so thrilled to see the change in Maki just now, and to see everyone working together, and Shuichi letting his friends support him (even if he has no idea that Shuichi was specifically thinking of his own words about that). But no matter how much this might make Kaito feel like he wants them to succeed, he still has to oppose them, and he’s still going to give that everything he’s got until the very end.

Maki: “The person in that video… Was it really Kaito?”

Everyone else in this debate is making fairly logical suggestions for what could be off about the video. But Maki’s voice just sounds full of desperate hope, and this doesn’t even read like a logical argument and doesn’t have an agree spot like the others (surely she can’t really be arguing that it’s not actually Kaito that we see there; it is very unmistakably him). This is her still being so stuck on the is Kaito really alive after all??? that she can’t even think logically like she usually does.

Shuichi: (If we put our heads together, we can find the smallest hope… We won’t fall into despair!)

Finally the narrative is using these words correctly! Yes, damn right thinking that Kaito might be alive is hope! Damn right that him turning out to be dead after all would make them despair! Shuichi’s still having wishful thinking to be saying that they definitely won’t fall into despair, since Kaito’s survival isn’t confirmed yet, but that’s precisely what hope is!

Keebo: “There’d be no way to stop the hydraulic press unless someone used the ‘Force Stop’ button.”

Maki: “When you say someone… you mean Kokichi, right? He was the only one there.”

Exisal Kokichi: “… Hm, actually… maybe I pressed it by accident? I don’t really remember…”

You would imagine that this response would be scripted, but it seems oddly vague for one of Kokichi’s calculated lies to hide the truth of his plan, so I’m not actually sure about this one. Maybe it’s just the vagueness in his tone of voice which strikes me as off? If Kokichi were really here delivering this line he’d probably sound a lot more gleefully sure about his unsureness.

Monokuma: “There’s also the question of how the bodies got switched while the camera was rolling. That would have clearly been caught on camera.”

It almost kind of sounds like Monokuma has already figured this out and is just leading Shuichi into saying it. But then again, if he’d already figured this part out here then he’d probably have been capable of figuring out the whole trick by himself and wouldn’t have needed Shuichi’s help at all.

Shuichi: “Ah, I see. It wasn’t just the press that stopped…”

Monokuma: “…Eh? Huh? Whaddaya mean?”

…Yeah, maybe not. He seems genuinely confused here.

By the way, can we talk about the fact that after the press stopped and the switch happened, the press then descends for the killing blow faster than it did before? I saw a fic once which surmised that during the switch, Kaito fiddled with the settings of the press as best he could to make it go faster, in order to make Kokichi’s death as quick and painless as possible. Not my idea, but hell yes, headcanon absolutely accepted.

Tsumugi helps explain why the video’s odd camera angle was necessary for the trick.

Tsumugi: “If they were recording it like normal, they would have used a better angle.”

Maki: “And if it was recorded at such an odd angle, then that proves a trick was used.”

It technically doesn’t prove it. It could just be that Kokichi had no idea how to frame a decent shot, or that he just wanted us to think a trick was used. But Maki’s latching onto anything that makes it more likely that Kaito is alive and trying to insist that it’s proof, because of course she is. I love how desperately she wants this.

Himiko: “Camera angles, huh? Looks like your cosplayer experience is finally useful.”

Tsumugi: “Well, cosplay doesn’t really come up all that much in class trials…”

Yeah, and maybe it should stay that way, hm?

Shuichi: “When the press was stopped, you couldn’t really see who was inside it, correct?”

Except for his VERY VISIBLE ARM which isn’t actually visible there in canon and we just have to pretend we can’t see, araghrghrghr.

Shuichi: “That was intentional. The body is mostly hidden by the press, making the swap easier.”

In reality, it’s not “mostly” – he’s completely hidden by the press at this point. “Mostly” is what we see in the flawed localisation version, and that would not be enough to convincingly pull off the switch. (I checked the Japanese, and he does indeed still say “mostly” there, even though it really isn’t.)

I suppose one could argue that it was teeeeechnically possible to co-ordinate Kaito’s and Kokichi’s arms to be in similar enough positions to each other that the switch might not be noticeable to the human eye in the split second before the press descended again. But the fact that Shuichi never talks about how that could have been possible – which would be a very important point to cover – basically makes it canon that the arm isn’t actually visible, despite what we localisation-players see in the video.

Tsumugi: “I wonder if they used that tripod in the hangar to adjust the camera’s height.”

What tripod in the hangar? She’s talking like there was one there that we found during the investigation, but… there wasn’t? (If there wasn’t, it doesn’t have to be a plot-hole; Kaito could have taken it with him into the Exisal to hide it.)

Maki: “Then… that logic is correct, right? Kokichi used that video angle trick, and switched the victim in the hydraulic press. In that case, Kaito is—”

Maki is the first one to summarise this discussion and get to the point that this means Kaito’s alive, right? and it’s adorable.

Shuichi: “Himiko, the different body you mentioned… What are you talking about?”

Himiko: “The bodies from the other cases. Kokichi’s the mastermind, so he’d— Nyeh…? Wait… The mastermind…?”

Shuichi: “Yeah. Kokichi isn’t the mastermind, so… I don’t think he’d be able to produce a body to switch out.”

Maki: “…What?”

It seems that most of them, Maki included, were still casually assuming that Kokichi pulled a case 5 from the first Danganronpa and swapped in an older dead body. Which makes sense for them to think, since their heads are full of Hope’s Peak right now, and they also still haven’t shaken off the impression in their minds that Kokichi is the mastermind even though it’s been disproven.

But that would be a rather boring story if it were true. That’d mean that Kokichi is the one in the Exisal after all, and sure, Kaito’s alive, but he’s just hidden somewhere in the school, completely oblivious to the trial going on, still just an unwitting pawn in Kokichi’s plan with no agency of his own. That’s no fun at all. Kaito deserves better than that, narratively speaking. Kaito would have wanted better than that, to be more of a hero than that in his last day alive, no matter what it meant he had to do.

Keebo: “Well, Monokuma? Do the rules allow for a body to be reused?”

Monokuma: “Very well. I’ll answer that.”

Exisal Kokichi: “…You’re giving in pretty easily.”

Monokuma: “Well, it’s crucial information to make the trial fair. This discussion is pointless if it’s not clear what the culprit was allowed to do, right?”

Exisal Kokichi: “Ah-haha, you’ve a convenient mastermind. But I guess that makes defeating you worth my time.”

Not sure this last line of Exisal Kokichi’s is actually scripted. “Worth my time” seems like one hell of an understatement for how Kokichi really felt about defeating Monokuma and the mastermind, given the desperate, twisted lengths he was willing to go to for it and how much more passionately he was gloating about it in the script earlier. This might just be Kaito trying to ad-lib an approximation of how Kokichi feels about this, based on said earlier scripted speech, and not quite getting into it enough.

Monokuma confirms that it was impossible to re-use a dead body.

Shuichi: “…” (Kokichi and Kaito were the only ones in the hangar at the time. If they were the only ones present during the body-swapping trick… Then the real victim was…)

Shuichi looks intensely worried here as he realises this. His narration makes it seem like he’s being shaken at the realisation of who the victim was, but that doesn’t really make sense. He’d already accepted at the beginning of this case that one of the two of them has to be dead, and he was quite happy for Kokichi to be dead if it meant Kaito was alive.

What Shuichi’s really got to be horrified about here is the realisation of who the culprit is. He’s just approaching that topic in the most indirect way possible in his mind because he still doesn’t enjoy facing painful truths like this.

If you get this question wrong and say the victim was a third party, Maki has an extra line to fill Shuichi’s silence as he explains to himself why that’s not possible.

Maki: “If there were no other bodies… then how the hell?”

She is so confused. Kokichi being the victim would mean that Kaito has to be the killer, but obviously it’s completely impossible that Kaito would ever do that, so this is clearly an unsolvable conundrum.

Maki: “…What’s wrong, Shuichi? Who did Kaito switch places with?”

And back to the canon voiced lines from getting it right, Maki sounds somewhat frantic. Either she’s worried that Shuichi’s silence means he’s realised something that proves Kaito didn’t switch with anyone and is dead after all… or perhaps, somewhere deep down she’s also realised the truth and is even more afraid of admitting it than Shuichi.

Shuichi: “Maki… I think I missed something very important here…”

I enjoy the sense given here that Shuichi and Maki’s excited hope of a few minutes ago has come screeching to an awkward halt. They were all so focused on the idea that Kaito was still alive and figuring out how to prove it was possible that nobody took a step back to look at the bigger picture and realise the full implications of what it would mean if Kaito really was alive. In some ways, this is actually worse than Kaito being the victim.

(It’s not, of course; it is immeasurably better. But they’re not looking at this as a narrative. They don’t mind if Kaito doesn’t get to be a hero and just want their friend to survive and preferably not be a murderer.)

Shuichi goes on to deduce that Kaito and Kokichi were working together. Which really kind of makes more sense being deduced after figuring out that Kaito was the culprit, in order to then establish the how and a tiny bit of the why. But nope, Shuichi’s leaving that conclusion until the last possible moment.

Shuichi: “I can’t believe I overlooked this!”

Overlooking them working together until now isn’t something to be kicking himself about. The notion that Kaito and Kokichi would ever co-operate is inconceivable enough that of course it wouldn’t ever come to mind until you have basically conclusive proof that it must have happened, and he only just figured out that proof. Which means that really Shuichi is kicking himself about not having considered during all of his hopeful deductions earlier that if Kaito is alive then he almost certainly killed Kokichi. Shuichi still isn’t willing to think about that directly.

Shuichi: “If they switched places while the press and the camera were stopped… then the person who turned the camera and the press back on was the original victim.”

Even as he’s explaining the switch, he’s using these vague placeholder terms despite knowing full well who he’s talking about. He does not want to say it.

Monokuma: “Geez, this culprit’s a real jerk.”

Heh. Only to you, Monokuma.

I love the way he says this at the point where it is 100% clear that he’s talking about Kaito. It’s some delightful irony, knowing that really this culprit one of the least jerkish people around, and yet also he has been acting like a jerk for most of this trial, all for the purpose of pissing off Monokuma and saving his friends.

Monokuma: “…So, have you realised whodunnit yet?”

Maki: “…”

Maki’s distant, worried expression here makes it clear that she very much has.

Shuichi: (The culprit of the case… If my detective work hasn’t failed me, the culprit is inside that Exisal…)

Exisal: “…”

I love that it no longer displays it as “Exisal Kokichi” here. This is the first time Shuichi has looked at that Exisal without making the assumption that it’s Kokichi in there.

Actually, that’s also an interesting point. Despite how much Shuichi was desperately insisting Kaito could be alive at the beginning of the trial, he never properly extended that to figure that if Kaito really was alive, then he must be the one in the Exisal. He never even acknowledged the possibility of that until now. Partly that’s because he never truly believed Kaito was alive back then, of course. But perhaps it was also that thinking Kaito was in the Exisal was almost as bad as thinking he was dead – because that’d mean Kaito was actively deceiving them for some inconceivable reason.

The question the game asks you here in this accusation screen is “Who is in the Exisal?”. Not “Who is the culprit?”, even though Shuichi knows full well that that’s what he’s proving here. He still does not want to think about that and would rather think of it as proving that Kaito is alive after all.

(First-time-me, meanwhile, was elated to have reached this near-confirmation that Kaito was not only alive but had been inside that Exisal the whole time. It’s not just that his friends are going to get to see him again, but also that he’s been playing an active, integral role in this whole trial, fighting as hard as he can to defeat Monokuma and save everyone. This is exactly the narrative Kaito deserved.)

Shuichi: “If the two of them switched while the press was stopped… then the culprit who started the hydraulic press again and crushed Kokichi… must be Kaito!”

Instead of just straight-up saying “Kaito is the culprit” after you make the choice, Shuichi goes on to re-explain the victim switch, except using actual names this time, in order to end on the conclusion here that the culprit is Kaito. It’s like he still can’t bring himself to admit it unless he justifies to himself that this has to be what happened.

Shuichi: “I don’t want to believe it either… but it’s the only way any of this makes sense. My detective work has led me to the conclusion that Kaito is the culprit.”

I like how Shuichi stresses it being from his detective work. The Ultimate Detective may have figured this out, but Shuichi Saihara alone would never have been able to conceive of the idea that his best friend would kill anyone.

Exisal: “…”

Kaito’s being very quiet during this whole part. It is possible that Kokichi didn’t cover this eventuality in the script – more on that later.

(Kaito’s probably feeling incredibly proud of Shuichi for figuring it out, even as he’s also thinking, “well, shit, what do I do now?”. He’s still not about to just give up and admit it, of course!)

Tsumugi: “Hey, answer us! If you really are Kaito, then—”

Maki: “I’m the culprit.”

Shuichi: (Huh?)

Maki: “There’s no way that Kaito can still be alive… Because I’m the culprit.”

It is so heartbreaking that Maki would rather have a narrative where Kaito is dead and she killed him than one in which he’s alive but he killed anyone at all. She said just before the investigation began that Kaito being the culprit is even more impossible than him being dead, and she still desperately wants that to be the case.

(And note how she’s not trying to get the best of both worlds by arguing that she killed Kokichi and so Kaito is both alive and spotless. Which means that even though she’s not admitting it, she knows that if Kaito were alive then he’d definitely have killed Kokichi before the poison could in order to protect her. The only way for him to conceivably not be the culprit is if he’s dead, therefore that has to be the truth.)

Maki: “I saw it with my own eyes. Kokichi drank the antidote that he stole from Kaito… There’s no doubt Kaito died.”

She makes this argument, but it no longer holds any water. Now that we’ve established that Kokichi’s plan was to die while making everyone think he was still alive by having Kaito pretend to be him inside the Exisal, obviously Kokichi needed Kaito to live and not himself, so obviously he would have wanted to give Kaito the antidote. As soon as you realise that, it’s clear that him drinking the antidote was a lie.

Maki is smart enough that she’s got to have realised this. She’s only making this argument because it’s basically the only argument left to make, even though she knows it’s wrong.

Maki: “And he died because of my poison arrow.”

She’s also insisting that, given Kokichi totally drank the antidote, Kaito definitely died because of her, never mind the possibility presented earlier that Kaito was crushed to death by Kokichi. (Which is actually fair, because that’d mean Maki would still bear the responsibility for Kaito’s death since he would have died thanks to her either way. Look who’s not trying to run away from her responsibility in killing someone.)

Himiko: “But you told us you didn’t want to kill Kaito and—”

Maki: “Yes, I never wanted to. I wanted to believe that I didn’t kill him. But… the truth speaks differently. In the end, I was just running away from the facts.”

She’s still willing to acknowledge at this point that she didn’t want to kill him – and yet even then, she’d still rather have killed Kaito despite that than think that he could have killed anyone.

Shuichi: (Maki, are you…? Trying to protect Kaito? If he’s the culprit, you’re trying to help him get away?)

That doesn’t make any sense, Shuichi. There’s nowhere to escape to, as far as both you and Maki know. If Kaito is the culprit, then there is absolutely no way he’d want to get away with it, because it’d get everyone else killed. The only circumstances in which he’d ever be trying to do that is if he’s (inconceivably) not actually the person we believed in, in which case he wouldn’t deserve anyone trying to protect him. Maki is smart enough to realise all this, too.

What Maki is doing here is running away from the truth that Kaito did it. She knows he must be the killer, but she just can’t bear to accept it. Just like Kaito was with Gonta last trial. It’s ironic how during the investigation she accused Shuichi of being the same way about the “truth” of Kaito’s death, but in the end, she’s the one who’s ended up acting most strongly that way.

(Kaito’s got to have realised that this is what Maki is doing, especially since he was guilty of it himself once before. On the one hand he must be happy that she wants to believe in him this much, but on the other hand he massively regretted doing this kind of thing to Shuichi last trial and it has to hurt to see Maki doing essentially the same. And of course, he still can’t say anything to make this situation any better.)

Maki: “There was only one antidote, so it’s more likely he died from my poison arrow. This is the truth…”

Exisal Kokichi: “It’s not decided yet. I could’ve still killed him with the hydraulic press.”

This is the first thing Kaito’s said since a while before Shuichi accused him. He was probably intending to just stay quiet entirely, but not when Maki is happy to make herself into the murderer in order to run away from the truth. He must really just want to tell her that she didn’t kill anyone because he killed Kokichi, but he’s still being stubborn and refusing to give up on the plan even though it’s almost completely hopeless now. Nonetheless, he can still try and help Maki just a little by reminding everyone that even in his version of events in which he is totally Kokichi and Kaito is totally dead, it’s possible that Maki technically didn’t kill anyone at all.

And again, this is not even remotely what the real Kokichi would say here – he’d be jumping on the idea that the horrible murderous Maki seems to want to think she killed Kaito and cruelly taunting her about it. Yet again, Kaito’s making it pretty damn clear that he’s not Kokichi. Nobody picks up on this even now that they’re aware it really probably is Kaito in there, but still.

(Kokichi would also have loved to gleefully rub in the idea that Kaito killed someone despite how much they all trusted him… but him hypothetically doing that here gets a bit paradoxical.)

Exisal Kokichi: “Either way, those are the two options. Monokuma knows the answer, riiight?”

Monokuma: “…Huh? Are those the only options?”

Yup, definitely just those two options, not any options that involve Kaito being alive and having done it. Kaito is blatantly ignoring the entire conversation they just had deducing that he did it and is taking the opportunity from Maki’s desperate deflecting confession to keep trying to push his narrative onto Monokuma even though it’s near hopeless. He is so damn stubborn.

Also note him again implying that Monokuma actually doesn’t know the answer, since proving that is really what Kaito’s been trying to achieve this whole time given that he knew the main goal would fail. This is probably not scripted, after all – I highly doubt Kokichi predicted that Maki would do this. Kokichi assuming that anyone would believe in someone else is difficult enough for him at the best of times, but even more so when it’s Maki the horrible backstabbing assassin.

Maki: “There’s no mistake… Kaito is dead… I… killed Kaito… There is absolutely… no doubt. That’s… the truth.”

You very clearly don’t really believe that, Maki.

(It’s okay, though. Kaito is still the person you believe in! And him being still alive means you’ll get to talk to him one last time!)

Shuichi: (Ah, I thought so. Maki is trying to protect Kaito.)

No, Shuichi, she’s not! If she were doing that, she’d be stupid!

Shuichi: (I understand how she feels, but if Kaito is the culprit… Why did he agree to Kokichi’s plan?)

Exisal Kokichi: “…”

Shuichi: (I can’t imagine that Kaito would do something so selfish…)

Because it’s not selfish, obviously! The reason why Kaito is doing this should be quite clear. We’ve already established that the point of Kokichi’s plan is to fool Monokuma and “defeat” him. That would be something Kaito would want to do too! Kaito is also trying to defeat Monokuma! Is that not enough, Shuichi?

Shuichi is an amazing detective in terms of piecing together the facts from the evidence, but it seems he’s not always that great at figuring out people and the motives behind their actions, even when those people are his closest friends. (Meanwhile, figuring out the people more than the facts is what Kaito is best at! He and Shuichi complement each other so well.)

I’m also a little disappointed he’s stopped viewing the Exisal as just “Exisal” when it’s not speaking and actively sounding like Kokichi. He knows it’s not Kokichi in there now!

Shuichi: (There must be a reason for it. I truly believe that…)

At least, even while Shuichi is taking way longer than he should to figure out this reason, he is still as certain as he ought to be that there is a reason and Kaito is still definitely on their side. Shuichi may be rather slow on the uptake here, but that never for a second makes him not believe in Kaito.

Shuichi: “You saw him drink it right in front of you, but you couldn’t confirm he actually did it. So maybe… there’s another possibility.”

Maki: “What… are you talking about? Impossible… That’s… impossible…”

Another possibility that means that Kaito killed someone? No, can’t be possible. Can’t be.

Maki: “There is no other possibility! I killed Kaito!”

Definitely no other possibility. She is definitely not already aware of exactly what this possibility is.

The point of Argument Armaments is always that the subject already knows the final bit of proof and just starts yelling furiously to try and stop Shuichi from actually getting to prove it. Usually this is because the subject is the culprit, so of course they know what the proof is. But I love that this even applies to the two times in this game that the subject isn’t the culprit and is just desperately defending someone else – both times, they already know they’re wrong and just can’t bear to face it.

“Don’t reveal the truth… anymore!”

This is one of Maki’s lines for the thing where she blocks your view. She knows full well that what Shuichi’s about to reveal is the truth and just doesn’t want him to force her to accept it. And she’s in a slightly less stubborn amount of denial than Kaito was last trial, since she’s at least vaguely acknowledging this in her words. That would be because Kaito was not only running away from the truth but also running away from the fact that that was what he was doing, whereas Maki here does not have quite as many layers of issues over this and so is willing to acknowledge on some level that she is running away from the truth.

…Yep, Maki’s Argument Armament definitely has button patterns that aren’t quite as difficult as Kaito’s. (I know this without having to go back and check Kaito’s, because I am quite familiar with how his goes.) I mentioned last trial that I found Kaito’s the hardest, and it seems that isn’t just me; that’s a thing the game developers did on purpose. They are both very similar situations, but Kaito definitely did have more issues and more denial going on than Maki does here, and I love that the writers got that across in the difficulty, too.

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cepmurphy · 5 years ago

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“No such thing as privacy here.” – Kerblam!

Ryan’s about to face the most horrifying threat of all: going back to work.

Kerblam! is an admirably well-constructed episode, with every single element turning out to be relevant to the plot or its themes. This starts from the fact the Doctor has made deliveries before (thus explaining how the System knew to contact her specifically) and the moment when Ryan pops the bubblewrap in an apparent gag scene, and extends even to Charlie’s introduction – entering a room right after a scene where his hacked robots have claimed his latest victim. He is literally coming back from that into Graham’s scene! And it’s a well-constructed episode that tells us how systems and organisations will not be well constructed!

We’re first misled into believing this is a story about cod-Amazon eating its workers and while it twists away in the end, the company Kerblam! is explicitly a crap place to work. This is a place where you’re told “I hope people feel it’s a privilege to work at Kerblam” right before a robot puts a tracking device on your ankle. You can’t talk and interact with your fellow workers without a robot reminding you, in faux-friendly tones, that you need to pick up the pace. Nobody knows what anyone else is doing. The higher-ups don’t trust each other. You can get lost in the stacks and nobody would know if you died. Even when everyone’s on break, the robots watch like guards.

And as well as being clear this is crap, the episode is clear this is not so different to real warehouses right now. Ryan is not phased by the GroupLoop trackers because he’s already worn them in Sheffield. He knows the score. Just like in our world, workers like Dan put up with the grinding indignities because they need the money. All of this is hidden by clever marketing and a smiling corporate logo. Kerblam! isn’t holding a mirror up to our world but a window.

What causes this? Amorality. We’re told over and over about “the System” as something separate to the workers and even management, and eventually seemingly nasty executive Jarva Slade admits he’s not in the charge – the System is. There’s no people running the company anymore, “there’s only the System”. This does leave upper management of real such companies off the hook but is a good, powerful metaphor for what it feels like for most of the people working there: nobody is in control, the company is just sustaining itself, the processes have taken over. The System isn’t even a malevolent computer system like WOTAN or BOSS, it’s barely sentient, it’s just doing what it was told to do. It cannot factor humans in correctly or be humane, it’s only a computer system and the humans, over time, have allowed it control.

The Doctor will say at the end that systems aren’t good or evil, it’s how people use them. Here, we have people leaving systems to their own devices and finding, too late, there’s little way for humans to get back in. And the humans who could are too divided from each other to try.

(Let’s go back to Slade and talk about a grand bit of misdirection: when the Doctor responds to his bullying of Kira by snapping back, and trying to pressure him to reveal anything he knows. When he reacts with fear, we think she’s onto him. But Slade thinks this means the Doctor is killing people and is threatening him that he might be next!)

But this is Doctor Who S11, and once again the threat is a human and not an ‘other’. Charlie is a great unexpected villain but the signs are there. He’s startled and worried to have Graham around. He’s working the job we’re told means you can get around anywhere unnoticed. When the Kerblam Man arrives during the blackout, Charlie approaches it saying he can fix it (and how does he know how to do that?) and its “rampage” only starts when he’s near it; in the background, after he’s saved, we can see he’s not surprised a Kerblam Man tried to kill him. He tries to talk the others out of parts of their investigation or following him to find Kira. He also doesn’t know much about interacting with humans and has some weird views on women, and there’s a lot of dangerous men who turned out to have weird creepy views on women.

“Have you smelt her?” he asks Graham about the girl he’s been eyeing for months, and that’s played as a comedy beat but consider what sort of person does that.

Charlie’s motive is entirely understandable: he wants to stop automation and have humans back in work & charge of the systems. We’ve spent most of the episode being shown that’s a good thing and the story ends with Kerblam! restructuring to employ humans and be better. But Charlie’s move ‘for the people’ is for ‘the people’ in abstract. The actual workers are just fodder for his experiments. And these are co-workers, people he may know – but they don’t matter compared to his greater good. “For the cause!” The human threats in the previous episode and in the following The Witchfinders take the same view, a trilogy of people with grand ideas willing to wade in blood.

(Both this and Punjab also show these to be radicalised young men, another nod to right now)

There’s a bum note here though: the System killing Kira.

Now, this is set up well – right from Kira saying she can’t believe the System let her keep her job after her first week, while the camera shows us a Kerblam Man watching her from the shadows. The System has clearly been keeping her around because it knows Charlie’s infatuated. The System grabs Kira at the point when its attempt to outright kill Charlie has been thwarted, and is noted to be a message (which the cast think is directed at the group in general). The actual kill is delayed to ensure Charlie will see it – and Ryan immediately clocks that he knew the bubblewrap was lethal, leading into the reveal. And we know the System is blunt when it comes to fulfilling its objectives, so it makes sense it would think this would work at getting through to Charlie.

The problem though is that everyone reacts with horror and disgust and then this stops when the Doctor says the System has a conscience, that it’s resisting. The problem is the Doctor is not disgusted or note that this is an amoral thing the System has done – other characters know it was wrong, the death is constructed to horrify us, it’s clear the writer and director and everyone else making the episode know it’s wrong, intend for us to think it. So why is this not mentioned? Was a line cut?

This is the only quibble, though it is an annoyingly big one. The rest of the episode remains intricately made, attacking multiple targets at once, and full of character beats – Yaz being the first person to say they have to help someone in trouble and realising Dan saved her life, Graham trying to coax Charlie with paternalism, Ryan’s frustrations at being stuck in space-work, the Doctor against injustice. (She’s changed her view on conspiracies from Arachnids but let’s be fair, when she said she “loves” a conspiracy she was socialising with Yaz’s dad, not reacting to missing people)

And god those robots look creepy. Fixed insincere smiles and permanently chummy voices coming at you. Brrrr.

#doctor who #doctor who reviews #doctor who s11 #Jodie Whittaker

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recentanimenews · 5 years ago

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Astra Lost in Space – 03 – This Is NOT It!

Aries has heterochromia. It’s a detail I never noticed in the first two episodes, until it was explicitly mentioned this week. I thought I was so sure they were the same color, but I looked back on those episodes, and sure enough, one of her eyes is more yellow; the other more green. My eyes just…didn’t notice.

It’s a subtle and clever way for the show to communicate not only that one’s eyes (or other senses) can fool them, but that things could be going on right out in the open and we may not even notice them until it’s too late. The same goes for Kanata, who both suspects and doesn’t suspect everyone. Like us, he may suspect Yunhua and Ulgar the most, but just because we know the least about them.

On their twenty-fourth day in space, Zack anounces that the Astra has arrived at Planet #2, Shummoor, but the rest of the crew is too busy shooting the breeze, which should be seen as progress. Then Funi (and her puppet) start talking about how she was adopted the same day she arrived an an orphanage, and how she overheard adults saying “put her on Beego and we’ll illuminate them all.”

Change “Beego” to “B-go (or 5)” and “illuminate” to “eliminate”, and it sure looks like everyone was put on this ship because they wanted to get rid of them in one fell swoop. With this theory afoot, Kanata decides to tell the others that there’s a traitor in their midst. Ulgar finally reveals something about himself: he’s the estranged son of the school vice principal, a man able to transfer students and choose who goes on what team.

I loved that this exchange marked the return of the haunting music that backed up the first episode’s cold open; a piece that captures both the unfathomable size of space and the equally unfathomable variety of perils it offers. And yet the greatest danger to everyone may be someone among them, not anything out there.

All this talk of a traitor is too much for Quitterie, who loses her composure, even pushing Aries away when she tries to comfort her. The fact is, no one can prove they are or are not the traitor. So Aries decides to table that particular dilemma for now, and have some snacks before heading down to the planet.

Both in this defusing of a volatile situation and in the insight she offers vis-a-vis the possibility of the traitor being on the kill list themselves, making theirs a suicide mission—Aries proves she’s far brainier and tougher than her space-cadet-with-a-photographic memory exterior would suggest.

In the midst of the discussion about this potentially suicidal traitor, another act of apparent sabotage goes down: a hole is blown in the ship’s hull, rupturing a water pipe.

Charce finds fragments and determines that it was an accident, not treachery from one of their own: a meteor pierced the hull, causing damage that if not repaired will spell the end of the ship. It’s actually comforting that it was a truly random, chaotic event, something that happens in space all the time, and something even the traitor did not expect to happen when it happened.

After reciting a couple more lame, vague “survival tips,” Kanata quickly and decisively assigns tasks to each member of the crew, each according to their strengths as he knows them. And after the events of last week, where he made decisions and acted when no one else could, the crew responds by going along with his assignments without protest. He also instills in everyone a palpable sense of “we can do this” by dint of sheer charisma.

The crew springs into action…well, all but Yunhua. Yunhua gets water in her face and some of it ends up down her throat. Because water forms balls in zero-G, she starts to drown, but Quitterie, the closest thing to a medic on the crew, acts quickly to save her, absorbing the water with a cloth. Yunhua is left alone to rest, and while it’s highly unlikely she meant to almost drown, I couldn’t help but think she was up to something arranging to be left on the bridge with no one watching.

Once a series of cables connect the backup generator with the gravity reactor thingamajig (technobabble), the system still throws and error due to a weird bird/bug-like critter flying about that the computer does not recognize. If they can’t nab it, they’ll plummet to their deaths.

The resident marksman, Ulgar, volunteers to shoot the thingy with Luca’s glue gun, as Luca and Kanata keep him steady. He succeeds, and the ship’s gravity and power are restored, halting its death dive into the planet’s atmosphere. Thanks to the talents of the individual crew, and their ability to work together as a unity under Kanata’s direction, the latest crisis is averted.

But that doesn’t change the fact there’s a traitor in their midst. As Luca praises Ulgar’s marksmanship and claims that with a real gun he’d be “unstoppable,” Kanata retorts that guns haven’t been legal in a very long time. And yet there Ulgar goes, into his quarters, to pull out a case containing…a gun.

Could it be as simple as one of the most obvious suspects in the crew actually being the traitor? Or is the reveal of the gun more misdirection? Like Aries’ different colored eyes, the answers may have already stared me in the face long before I discover them for myself…

By: braverade

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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purplerakath · 6 years ago

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Spot the Difference - Lola & Imogen

So we have a girl with an absent and ineffectual mother, who gives her daughter the barest glimpse of care or concern. And an overly doting father who gives this same girl everything and more. Someone who gives this girl the room to define themselves. This girl also has an in-your-face aesthetic and a desperate desire to be seen and remembered by all those around her.

...Yeah, I just described Imogen and Lola.

Now let’s talk about what separates them.

Earnest little Faerie

Lola is... Lola. I wish there were a better way to start this, but Lola’s never suggested to be anything other than what you see. She’s a little hyperbolic, going too big, too far, too loud. But that’s it. There’s no moments where her clever disguise comes apart to show anything other than more Lola.

The closest to deceptive Lola has is her confidence. She can take over a room like she owns it, and then in the next moment show she’s terrified and has no idea what she’s doing. But those are few and far between, and how long it takes for her disguise to shatter is so short, it’s clearly not meant to last.

She’s too mature for her age, and completely immature. Aware of all her body can do and no idea what it can do. She’s too loud and too quiet and it’s all a contradiction but an honest one. Lola just not doing all the internal math to connect everything together.

Dishonest Unseelie Princess

Imogen, meanwhile, is nothing but lies. A constant structure of misdirection and exaggeration meant to play into and play around the people near her. Where Lola stays Lola with whoever she talks to (a little rewording to make her feelings sound like their’s), Imogen puts on a disguise of whoever she feels is the right person for who she’s talking to.

Imogen was a different person dating Eli, than she was befriending Bianca, courting Fiona, flirting with Adam, and adventuring with Jack. She changed in big, and small ways, most of this was just the writers making her fit into other themes, other plots, other things. But she never felt ‘ooc’ to who she was, because who she was wasn’t ever really discussed. We saw glimpses of it, here or there, but never a clear picture.

Summer and Winter Fae

(Yes, I’m sticking to the theme.)

So the one hand we have two characters who are the same, and on the other one detail that puts them as opposite as the sun and the moon. The design notions for their costumes and hair cover that too. Imogen’s color schemes are usually central on dark colors, or if not have very dark accents. Lola has worn black... once? I think, it was a black skirt with a bright yellow top?

The point is Lola’s colorful and bright to contrast Imogen’s dark and striking.

Now, this doesn’t extend to their dialog, Imogen has some of the brightest and happiest dialog and expressions ever. Cristine is amazing at goofy faces, Imogen and Lola got used in the same way a lot of time, the ability to just give them a few lines that are just innately weird, charming and nonsense. it was a good way to break-up scenes that were a bit too- bland. (’Be careful with Julio, he’s testy with new people.’)

Their inner concern about being liked is also shared, although expressed in different ways. Lola and Imogen have abandonment issues, Lola’s expressed directly (she constantly asks people to validate her when she feels she somehow has failed), and Imogen indirectly (she’s built up all these layers of defense for some reason, she has to be hiding herself from something). You can tell where someone is close to the mark with Imogen cause she makes that horrified worried face in the background (the whole exchange between Mo and Marisol over Imogen’s dad).

Lola has those moments too, but usually they aren’t needed as, at some point, she’ll just bust open and start asking someone to validate her. Usually not Shay or Frankie as both of them are the ones invalidating her. In 305 she’s talking to Tiny because Shay and Frankie ruined girl’s night. In 308 it goes to Yael because Shay and Frankie spent Lola’s entire pregnancy test gossiping over how horrible this is.

Why this matters?

It’s a good point of discussion to see what two characters share to really explore how different the differences are. Two characters having a lot in common, but one glaring variation is good for understanding character construction.

Lola and Imogen started in the same place, with the same backstory, but one decided to keep it 100, and the other became a queen of lies. And that, innately, is interesting. I love it, I love thinking about how different it is.

#degrassi #degrassi next class #lola pacini #imogen moreno

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fullmetalirin · 6 years ago

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Fullmetal Alchemist OG vs. Brotherhood: Hughes’ Investigation (OG 25, BH 10)

1:1 comparison this time, so Brotherhood comes across a little more favorably.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 25: "Words of Farewell"

Deciding to follow Scar to get clues about the philosopher's stone, the brothers take Winry with them when she notices that Rush Valley, a town best known for its automail shops, is en route. As they leave, Hughes investigates the fifth laboratory, discovering a connection between it and the war in Ishbal. He confronts the key suspect in it, Juliet Douglas, but is then attacked by Lust. He escapes the two women and tries to telephone Mustang with his information via telephone booth, only to be attacked by Envy, disguised as Ross before he assumes Gracia's form to deliver the death blow. Hughes is posthumously promoted to the rank of a brigadier general. In a flashback, Mustang and Hughes conspire together to ensure the tragedy in Ishbal never happens again.

We open with a flashback to just after Ishbal. Mustang is a mess. He's planning to resurrect the people he killed. Hughes apparently wasn't there, and scolds Mustang for going to the front lines if he couldn't handle the consequences.

Mustang's gun takes focus in the shot when Hughes says there are easier ways to kill yourself.

Mustang says the only reason he didn't try it was out of fear for his own life.

Bradley notices Hughes is sticking his nose where he shouldn't and pays him a visit to say he already investigated it and it's all handled. His coverup is that Grand was working with Ishbalan radicals, which seems like a pretty dubious story. Given Ed's reaction to Ishbal, possibly the truth of the massacre was kept from the public, so it's not unbelievable Ishbalans would work with Grand.

Hughes has found a list of higher-ups other than Grand who are also connected. The shot focuses on Sloth in the background, calmly writing something.

Bradley encourages Hughes to pursue the matter, I guess to lull him into a false sense of security.

Bradley says Sloth is the only one who knows Marcoh's safe location. We already know from episode 22 that she's working with the homunculi, so this may actually be intended as misdirection – see, Bradley didn't know, maybe he's still a good guy… Which of course is brilliant, because that's just how plausible deniability works in real life.

Hughes notices Sloth's nametag doesn't match the name Bradley called her by.

Brosh is listening in on the strategy meeting, but Ross says she doesn't want to get involved in any more crazy stuff.

Ed says he's given up on the Philosopher's Stone and wants to find another way to restore their bodies, so they're going to ask Izumi for help. Armstrong realizes this is because he doesn't want to place the others in the way of danger.

Comedy when Winry talks about Rush Valley.

Elicia is sad to see Ed go.

Cartoon skit when they talk about how mad Izumi would be.

Ah, what they actually plan to do is get Scar to tell them the secret of Ishbal's Stone. Since Ishbal didn't have alchemy, they think they might have used an alternate method. Seems like grasping at straws, but they are pretty desperate.

Al says Scar isn't a bad person, but Ed can't forgive him for using alchemy to kill.

PTSD dream with Scar and Kimblee. It's an actual dream, very distorted.

The master tells Scar he's wrong to seek vengeance while outside, an Amestrian gang wrecks their camp.

Scar kills them. Once again, the skulls are not visibly damaged in the character models.

Ah, Hughes is pointing out how odd it is that the homunculi are destroying people who get close to the Stone if they want people to make one.

Sloth calls Hughes to say she'll escort him to Marcoh's location. Hughes figures out that her given name matches that of the soldier who started the Ishbal war. That soldier was not only supposedly dead at the time, but continued to rise through the ranks poshumously.

Hughes confronts her on this. What was his plan here, exactly?

Why does Lust only extend her claws halfway instead of killing him outright?

Hughes notices her tattoo.

I do have to wonder why Envy doesn't shoot Hughes in the back while they're running? It's possible he wants to see what Hughes will do, I suppose.

Hughes calls Mustang only to discover he's already left for Central.

Hughes coldly cuts Envy-Ross’ throat, which is a really strong image that really cements how brutal and effective Hughes can be when he wants to.

When Hughes dies, we finish the flashback from the opening: Mustang tells him his plan to become Fuhrer.

Mustang says he's tempted to use human transmutation to bring back Hughes.

Mustang cries, and pretends it's the rain. The sky is clear.

We end with the Elrics reflecting on everything Hughes has done for them. Dramatic irony!

Ed sees… Hughes' ghost…?

Credits roll at the end, so I guess this is the end of season 1.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 10: "Separate Destinations"

Führer King Bradley appears at the hospital and warns the Elric brothers to be careful around the military, and he then exits through a window to evade his subordinates. Edward and Alphonse decide to go to the town of Dublith to visit their alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis, to ask her for information about the philosopher's stone. They agree to take Winry with them when she notices that Rush Valley, a town known for creating the best automail in the world, is on the way to Dublith. Meanwhile, Hughes links the problems in Liore, the fifth laboratory, and the Ishval civil war. He discovers a connection, but is then attacked by Lust. He escapes her and tries to contact Mustang with his information at a public telephone booth, only to be pursued and gunned down by Envy, disguised firstly as Ross, and then as his wife Gracia. Hughes is posthumously promoted to the rank of brigadier general while his murder is investigated by Mustang, who concludes via Armstrong that a high ranked member of the military may be responsible for ordering Hughes' death.

We open with a flashback to Ishbal, and we get the full speech. So Mustang was openly talking about treason while in a crowd of soldiers. Okay then. We also get a shot of Mustang's super fireballs, similar to the flashback in OG.

Bradley looks directly at him and gives him a death glare. So Bradley apparently knew about this the whole time and at no point tried to kill Mustang, because…?

We cut to Mustang in the present day instead of Hughes because of course we do. He's about to move to Central.

Cartoon shift when the heroes reflect on their leads apparently deadending.

Same scene with Brosh and Ross.

Bradley pays Ed a visit. He gives the same "You know too much LOL J/K" speech he gave Hughes in OG. Ed and Al remain in cartoon form throughout the scene.

Bradley claims there's an enemy faction infiltrating the government. The Stone researches went missing only days before the Fifth Laboratory's collapse, not years as in OG.

Bradley tells everyone to be cautious, but keep investigating.

Comedy as Bradley's subordinates call for him and he sneaks away.

Cartoon face as the brothers freak out about Izumi.

Skit with Winry wanting to go to Rush Valley is very similar, but we see the map and locations more clearly.

Hughes tells Ed to marry Winry. Stop being creepy, Hughes.

Hughes reiterates that Winry can stay with them whenever she's in Central.

Gracia tells Hughes to come home safe. Ohoho.

The brothers really are intending to visit Izumi, apparently? Similar cartoon skit when they talk about how she'll kill them.

There have been rebellions in the north area as well. Hughes is worried the government will be overthrown. Oh no…?

Less of Sheska, but also less of Hughes abusing her. She's just in the background looking tired.

Hughes' logic is much less clear. He just mutters something about the uprisings and human sacrifices and wonders who ordered everything. He for some reason doesn't think it's the Fuhrer, because he thinks he needs to tell him immediately.

Lust ambushes Hughes in the archive room. How do they even know he knows anything dangerous at this point? If this is all it takes to get you killed, they should be killing all the heroes at this point.

Hughes notices the tattoo, and we get a closeup shot in case you didn't.

Hughes is much more badly injured by Lust's attack, visibly staggers and collapses.

I think this is our first confirmation homunculi can survive lethal attacks?

Hughes talks to the telephone operator, who sees that he's bleeding. I'd say that's shoddy planning on the villains' part, but Hughes proceeds to tell her nothing, so the idiot ball's just getting passed around today. Even if he didn't trust her, he could have had her send a coded message to Mustang or something.

Hughes doesn't want to use an internal line, so he goes to the phone booth.

Hughes has to give a code to connect to Mustang from an outside line. This is where he drops the photo: he needs to open his notebook to get the code.

Envy-Ross pulls a gun on Hughes while he's in the phone booth. Why did he even bother transforming? Given what happens later I guess they were planning to frame Ross, but why does Envy put up an act? That this is so obviously not Ross completely ruins the effect. Envy also does not just shoot him immediately, because…?

And Envy is still talking. Why.

No shot of Envy looking at the photo.

Hughes yells "WHAT ARE YOU?!" when Envy turns into Gracia. I'm sorry, that completely ruins the effect of the scene for me. If he had time to talk he had time to throw the knife. Less is more.

We cut away for the gunshot.

Mustang actually does pick up, and Hughes clutches for the receiver before Envy just hangs up. Why didn't Envy use Hughes' voice to screw with Mustang? That would have been actually clever.

Envy sneers about humans being idiots. Except he's in his default form in a place where anyone could see him, so methinks the pot is calling the kettle black.

Hughes' family photo gets covered over with his blood. It works I guess, but I feel like it's over-the-top.

And Hughes gets last words apologizing to his family for being late. Too much.

We see the scene with Ed before the funeral. I don't like that. I think it has stronger impact at the end, especially since it leads us effectively into the next arc.

Elicia's tone is less even: she starts off pretty calm and ends hysterical. I think that's too much like how an adult would behave, not a child. We do get more focus on Gracia crying, though.

We get a date on the grave. Hughes was born 1885, making him 29.

Mustang says the same line about human transmutation, but he adds that he understands how the Elrics felt when they did it.

Nothing about him wondering why Hughes didn't tell him the Elrics were in trouble.

Riza explicitly points out it's not raining, which I think dilutes the emotion of the moment.

We end with Mustang investigating, which I believe is covered in the next OG episode. Armstrong can't tell him who the suspects are, so he deduces someone higher up must have issued a gag order. He also deduces from Armstrong telling him the Elrics were in Central but didn't find the Stone that it's related to the Stone, which seems like more of a stretch.

Conclusion

Mustang's taking over Brotherhood again. He's the subject of the beginning and ending, rather than Hughes.

I'd say that plotwise, Brotherhood is tighter here, but OG is stronger tonally. As usual, Brotherhood feels rushed to me. Everything proceeds too fast; we don't get a clear sense of just what Hughes was onto, and as a consequence it makes less sense why the villains are targeting him specifically. OG feels more professionally directed; the cinematography and the flow of the action just work better for me. Hughes revealing a specific important detail also makes this worthwhile to the audience; his death was not in vain.

I find it notable how different the flashback is in OG. There it's a moment of vulnerability and human weakness. Much like Mustang's suicide attempt, it truly shows how affected he is by his sins. In Brotherhood it's just a vehicle to deliver exposition.

The addition of the Ishbal camp scene in OG is probably a controversial move. I can understand people who feel it's distracting, but personally I like having multiple plates spinning in an episode.

It's annoying how much time the villains take killing Hughes, though, in both continuities. Why were they giving him so much time to investigate, when they already knew he knew too much? Why didn't they just have Envy walk up to his office in disguise and shoot him? I get the impression Sloth was trying to lure him away from witnesses in OG, but that shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. This whole thing is framed like they really are outside infiltrators and not controlling the entire government; it's subterfuge for the audience's sake, not for the characters'. Knowing Bradley is also in on it, he could have just, I dunno, arrested Hughes and rushed an execution without trial. “On what charge?” “I’m a dictator, there doesn’t have to be one!” Who’s going to stop him? It’s not like he can even be assassinated!

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma 2003 #liveblog

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vldrarepairs · 7 years ago

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Kidge ( Keith and pidge)

Thank you for the ask! I really enjoy Kidge, and I thought a rival hackers AU would be a lot of fun for them! I hope you enjoy! :)

The first time Keith heard the name Pidge Gunderson, he barely gave it a second thought. Like most things in life, it didn't affect him or anyone he cared about. Pidge Gunderson was just another new recruit looking to make a little money and a name for himself. Keith had been doing this for years, and he didn't exactly mesh well with many people outside of his core team, so the chances of him running into Pidge again after the initial welcome thread was slim to none.

Unfortunately, Pidge obviously had no idea how to stay in his own lane.

Keith had spent months working on the job Pidge finished overnight, which was frustrating enough, but Pidge's assurance that really, it hadn't been that hard only made it that much more infuriating. He vented to one of the few people in charge that he could stand, and thankfully Shiro agreed to talk to the new guy about it.

Pidge Gunderson had the nerve to come back with a simple, "I thought we could work on any job. There's no rules about claiming things."

Which was technically accurate, but also technically rude.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it," Keith sent in a private message to Shiro, despite about twelve messages urging him not to.

The next day, four jobs Pidge Gunderson had expressed interest in were done by none other than the Red Paladin.

Keith never was a fan of being subtle.

Katie was still somewhat new to the world of being a white hat. After years of dabbling on the less legal side of things, her brother had introduced her to a friend of his who ran a group that did things within the limits of the law. Matt assured her it would be a safer and more lucrative way to spend her time. Given how expensive colleges were, she couldn't exactly argue with that.

Shiro gave her a crash course in how to do the work, meeting her a couple times in person to help answer any questions and make sure she felt comfortable with the group.

Of course, that was all before the Red Paladin issue came up.

Honestly, it was Red’s own fault for not doing his homework and missing the obvious shortcut she found in about ten minutes of research. Besides, Shiro never told her any rules about people claiming jobs. It was first come, first served.

Red, however, seemed to have a different understanding of how the system worked, because finishing four jobs in a row just because she was interested was a pretty clear declaration of war.

"Listen, don't worry about it. I'll talk to him," Shiro assured her in a private message.

"It's fine. Really." She smirked as she responded. "Let me handle this."

Katie staked an unofficial claim on a job that she knew would take months before quietly working on at least twelve more that Red had commented on. If Red was trying to scare her off, he really had no idea who he was dealing with.

Keith was almost impressed. Pidge really knew his stuff, but so did Keith. Sure, misdirection worked in Pidge's favor once, but Keith only had to make sure it wouldn't happen again. After all, he had years of experience on his side, and Pidge was new to this.

He took to working on jobs in the hours he noticed Pidge was usually offline, even communicating through private messages with his fellow paladins to consult on some of the more difficult projects. Yellow Paladin was especially helpful, offering up suggestions and resources that often made the difference between rubbing another win in Pidge's face and losing to him again.

Red was smart, she'd give him that. He worked out her schedule and his was so erratic that she didn't have a chance to repay the favor and work during his off hours. So, she tried something decidedly sneakier.

She made friends with his inner circle.

As it turned out Blue Paladin had a bit of a grudge against Red, and he was happy to feed her some information about what Red was working on. Apparently, Red had a knack for making enemies, which really didn't surprise her at all.

With Blue helping her out, Katie started evening out the score, sniping a job or two minutes before Red was finished. One time, she managed to finish a second before Red did, and that victory was probably her favorite so far.

Keith had no idea how Pidge was doing it. Somehow, she was honing in on every job he started, including several he never even mentioned in public. Someone had to be telling her what he was sharing in private, which meant it had to be a fellow paladin.

Yellow Paladin would never help her undermine him, and neither would Shiro, which really only left one possibility.

Honestly, he should have realized it sooner, because Blue had always bragged about being his rival, always ranting about how they were always neck and neck. Really, he was barely in the same league as Keith, and they both knew it, but normally Keith could ignore him without a second thought.

Now, he could finally use Blue to his benefit.

Red must have figured out her source, because overnight, everything Blue told her turned out to be wrong. That put her back at square one, but luckily she had a few months of work under her belt now, so she was a little more familiar with the system. Even better, she was a little more familiar with Red now. She knew what kind of job he liked best, and she knew what he tried to avoid.

Katie waited a week, pretending to follow all of the bad advice Blue sent her way, letting Red get just a little too comfortable, letting him think he'd managed to trick her.

Then, she sniped a job from his favorite client right under his nose.

Pidge was clever, but he definitely wasn't smart. Keith hadn't exactly held back before, but after losing the perfect job, he was ready to break some rules.

He was halfway through the plan when Shiro called him. Shiro never called him.

"We need to meet."

"In person?"

Shiro was quiet for a moment. "Yeah."

Keith's stomach dropped, and he swallowed back a rush of anxiety. "Okay."

"What's Kerberos?"

Matt sighed. "It's a top secret project. Dad and I were both asked to join in. It's supposed to last a year."

"And you're going where?" Katie asked, frowning.

"That's confidential," her father answered, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "But, we'll check in whenever we can."

"This is a huge opportunity for us." Matt smiled. "Shiro's going, too."

"But..." Katie shook her head. "What are you doing?"

"Confidential. Sorry." Matt made a face. "I wish we could tell you."

"Can I go, too?"

Matt and their father shared a look. "No." Her father sat back. "I'm sorry."

"But, we'll tell you all about it when we come back!"

"That doesn't make any sense." Keith scowled, his grip on the lukewarm mug of coffee tightening the more he and Shiro talked. "You're going to a secret place to work on something secret for a year?"

"This is a once in a lifetime chance," Shiro explained, patient and gentle as ever. "I wish you could come with me, but-"

"Why did you say yes?" Keith snapped.

"Because I want to go."

Silence filled the space between them, and Keith could hardly breathe past the pain and pressure building in his chest. "Fine."

"Keith-"

"It's fine."

Shiro grabbed his hand. "Listen. I'll check in, okay?"

"You just said you can't communicate with anyone on the outside," Keith pointed out, perhaps a little harsher than he meant to.

"You think that's going to stop me?" Shiro's lips quirked into a familiar smile, and Keith finally relaxed.

"Okay. But, who's in charge of the paladins while you're gone?"

"I think we both know the answer to that." Shiro leaned forward. "Try to go easy on Pidge while I'm gone, though, okay?"

"No promises," Keith grumbled.

Matt checked in a few times a week, often with a quick text from an unknown number. Katie treasured every word, happy to hear from them, and relieved to hear that Matt was enjoying the work.

Red even seemed to have forgiven her for stealing his work. They stayed out of each other's way, which meant a steadier stream of work and less wasted time. Overall, things were going well.

Until the day she received a phone call from an unknown number.

Normally, she ignored calls she wasn't expecting, but she was hoping for some news from Matt, and maybe he found a way to call for once. So, she answered, "Hello?"

Matt's voice barely cut through a burst of static. "Katie?"

"Matt?"

"Katie!" His voice was rising with an undeniable note of panic. "Something's wrong. You have to send help. We're-"

The line cut out, and Katie frantically tried to call back, her fingers shaking and tears building in the corners of her eyes. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. The line was out of service, and Matt wasn't answering on the device he'd been using to text her.

An hour later, her mother received a call, informing them that Matt and Sam Holt died in a tragic accident. The details were classified and they were so sorry for their loss.

Katie glared at them, puffy-eyed and shaking with rage. This wasn't an accident, and she had no intention of letting them get away with saying it was.

Keith woke up to over four hundred messages from Pidge Gunderson.

Most just consisted of his screen name, urgently asking him to reply, but when Keith reached the top, his heart stopped.

"My family was involved in a project called Kerberos and now people are saying they're dead. I need your help. This wasn't an accident."

The next message was a link to an article about an explosion at a government facility. Three men had been lost, and authorities were investigating the source...

No remains found...

The fire had destroyed everything...

His chest tightened more with each word he read, but he couldn’t look away. Finally, he skimmed through the rest of the messages before scrolling down to the most recent one, sent as soon as he’d logged in. "We need to talk." Then, there was an address. The same place Shiro had asked Keith to meet him, right before leaving for that stupid, top secret project.

Keith barely took the time to change before bolting out the door and heading to the coffee shop. If Pidge was telling the truth, Shiro was...

No.

Shiro couldn't be. Shiro had to be fine. This had to be a mistake. It had to be a different Kerberos project. Shiro had promised to come back.

Katie kept an eye on the door while she worked. She was on her fourth cup, and her fingers trembled when she reached for another sip. Still, she couldn't stop. Matt and her father needed her. Even if Red didn't show up, at least she could say she tried.

The door chimed, admitting a disheveled man with a red jacket and fingerless gloves. He scanned the shop, finally settling on her and pausing only briefly before looking elsewhere.

"Red?" she asked, just loud enough to catch his attention.

He frowned and approached. "Pidge?"

She nodded.

"I thought you were-"

"I know." She glanced back at the screen. "Shiro thought everyone would take me more seriously if I used a fake name and let people assume I was a guy."

He was quiet for a long moment before he took a seat across from her. "You knew Shiro?"

"He's my brother's friend." She blinked back another irritating wave of tears at the mention. "He introduced me. And they went to Kerberos together."

He flinched and stared down at the table. "So, Shiro's really..."

"Matt called me and said something was wrong." She swallowed, hoping it would help with rough, desperate edge in her voice. "He said he needed help. It wasn't an accident. And I don't believe they're dead."

Finally, Red let out a long breath. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t question her at all past that. He just relaxed and pulled out a laptop of his own that he set on the table in front of him. "What do you need?"

#voltron legendary defender #vld #kidge #sort of #au #rival hacker au #I honestly thought this would be funny #but then kerberos got thrown in and #well anyway #it's a fun concept #and I hope you enjoy!#sorry for the super long wait though #my writing #Anonymous

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flyingcatstiel · 6 years ago

Text

Salty Ask list!

@60r3d0m said on this ask:

hmmm particular arcs...maybe purgatory? human cas? mark of cain? how did you feel about those?

I didn’t mention these because either I think they’re popular enough or I don’t like them. Let’s see. I watched the show live, with tumblr fandom, since 8x01. So, my opinion of all these arcs is tinted by our expectations at the time and how they matched up with the show. The problem with Supernatural is, that the show never lives up to fandom speculations, never surprises me in a good way. I love good story. I can enjoy a good, clever story even if Cas is not there. Unfortunately, the show never delivers on its potential.

Purgatory. The idea was marvelous - Dean and Cas alone in purgatory, so much potential for talks, adventures. What if they meet some old adversaries there? Gordon, Emma? The reality - obligatory chaperone and new best friend Benny spent more alone time with Dean than Cas. I think, that was our clue, our hint, that the show will never deliver proper deancas, only tease it. They were pretty honest about it, promoting Benny more than Cas at SDCC. But we didn’t see it at the time. I think Purgatory arc is popular in fandom for it’s aesthetics and very sexy Dean. I know that the other half of fandom has successfully bleached out “”Where’s the angel?” lines out of their brains and they think that Dean spent all time there eager to get back to Sammy. So, they also like it. In conclusion - purgatory arc was too short. Another example of how the show created something they didn’t expect fans to like so much.

Human Cas. First of all, a supernatural being losing their powers and adapting to human life is a staple of genre TV. When you see this trope, you have expectations - jokes and philosophical musings about human nature, insights in what makes us human. Parallels with people having hard time to adapt in other cultures or coming back from war. It’s a treasure trove of genre TV. Some TV shows are based only on this trope. Third rock from the Sun. Spike in season 4 of Buffy, etc, etc. Add to this the fact that for years TPTB told us that the only reason why Cas is not around more, is because he’s too powerful. In season 9 Cas was human and bros had bunker. My and fandom expectations were very high for human Cas arc. But when you are SPN, all you get is urination jokes and most of human Cas happening off screen. I was so pissed of about urination gag because it excludes women - Cas is experiencing this huge paradigm shift and it is male body coded. Cas centric 9x03 is an atrocity and the only episode I tag with ”for ts”. With years, my opinion is changing about 9x06 as well. I love Steve!Cas if only for his blue vest, but the episode was another successful con by Carver. Let’s just say that framing the episode around ”jilted lover” note was a very clever way to misdirect fans from the fact that 9x06 didn’t tell us anything about how Cas survived after 9x03 or if even Dean gave him a bit of money&ID cards before kicking Cas out. This was another clue that the show is not interested in telling Cas’ story for Cas sake or developing proper, sub textual deancas story where Dean actually cares about Cas. In conclusion - I was interested in human Cas story at the time, but, after seeing how the show executed it, I’m against it.

Mark of Cain. I actually don’t have much opinion about this. It was too long, to convoluted, too many threads. We got very short demon!Dean arc, we got Sam doing very bad things that were never mentioned again, we got what the heck they’re trying to do with Cole arc, we got Cain and Colette parallels that went nowhere, we got Cas and Crowley parallel nobody was asking for, we got Dean beating the shit out of Cas that was resolved by Cas beating the shit out of Dean. We got random drunk hunter Rudy getting spot next to Cas in Dean’s mirror of regrets. We got Dean killing Death and that changed nothing in the show universe. A whole season and half and it ended with the worst season finale IMO, 10x23. That’s when destiel meta community fell apart and we lost some really good meta writers. Hiatus after season 10 is when ”anything goes, let’s just have fun fun” approach to meta started. So you could definitely say that Mark of Cain left its mark on destiel meta community and we are still living in its shadow.

The way I see SPN the show now is something like a random collection of lovely things, precious stones, marbles = great actors, lovely character scenes, some great cinematography. They’re catchy, precious. Then fandom comes in and weaves a tapestry and incorporates all these trinkets. Fandom makes story, connects the dots, fills in the gaps. The problem with SPN is that fans have to spend way more effort to make a coherent picture than the fans of some other shows. SPN elements are so self contained, that you can make a destiel tapestry while other fans make their wincest tapestry from the same bin of trinkets! It’s just a matter of picking and choosing right trinkets and ignoring the ones that doesn't fit.

#60r3d0m #salty ask list #my fandom history #flyingcatstiel has thoughts

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ganymedesclock · 7 years ago

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Given your talks about Zarkon and Shiro's views on leadership, what do you think Lotor views as proper conduct from a leader?

An interesting question!

I think that one of the emerging patterns in a lot of Lotor’s speeches- I’m thinking of s3e1, and s3e2- as well as his other behavior is... Lotor enjoys the idea of taking care of others. He wants power, but mostly to guarantee his own safety.

It’s worth noting that Lotor respects the paladins more than the empire- he’ll manipulate both, but in Throk’s case he specifically set up to humiliate Throk and used incredibly condemning language. “Your tactics are stale, and in the end, your own aggression is your undoing.”

Lotor’s whole party during s3e1 is using Throk as a strawman to symbolically attack the empire- its entire means of operation. S3e1 as an introduction to Lotor, the primary things it tells us about him are that he’s clever, a strategist and an innovator in a way that we haven’t seen so far, quite dangerous to be on the wrong side of, and that, on an ideological level, he hates the empire. He hates everything they’re doing and how they’re doing it. And while to the empire, he acts encouraging, and like he’s equally conquest minded- talking about how it’s only practical to let non-galra serve, and that this will better further the empire...

“The masses are easily manipulated” and his mention of the New Empire in s3e2 tells us that he’s actually much more interested in burning the empire to the ground.

So I think it’s fair to say Lotor has a fundamental ideological difference with Zarkon. It’s not just that he wants to do what Zarkon’s doing but with him in charge, he’s got a lot more problems with the empire besides that they’ve left him out in the cold.

Now I’ve made a claim here that Lotor respects the paladins more, even though he also manipulates them, and I think what’s worth noting here is... Like Sendak, Lotor twice counts on the paladins to leap to the defense of their allies- behavior embodied not only by their legend, but by Shiro’s leadership style and sense of noblesse oblige.

Unlike Sendak, it’s very clear Lotor does not view this as a weakness. On Puig, we hear Lotor criticize the paladins for actually not being there fast enough.

Lotor also acts to protect the Puigians in Voltron’s absence. His generals go in specifically taking hostages but not harming them, and Lotor never once threatens those captives. He also releases all of them upon leaving the planet. This is the main point where I think Lotor respects Voltron in a way that he doesn’t Throk- everything else the same, Lotor chooses to spite Throk when it doesn’t serve him (don’t merely exile him from the fleet, separating him from his allies, but put him in the worst possible post you can think of after publicly embarrassing him)

...while he lets the paladins make relatively comfortable exits. He could have done all sorts of nasty things to Puig, he could have attacked multiple coalition planets, but once Voltron’s taken the bait, he lets them have the planet and its people, unharmed, no strings attached. He even makes a point of engaging them well beyond Puig’s atmosphere so civilians won’t even be endangered in the crossfire.

Lotor views it as important to protect people. And this is an attitude expressed strongly with Team Sincline- you have your group, and you take care of the group.

The biggest trend to how Lotor treats the rest of his team is that unlike Zarkon, who takes questioning as an insult, Lotor seems to overwhelmingly encourage questioning and for the generals to seek information.

So roughly, to Lotor, a leader should be, before all else, transparent to his allies. Deceit, misdirection, and cruelty are useful assets but they’re not things you use on your friends. There’s a difference between friend and foe, that boundary is rigid, and your friends should know what you’re up to.

Lotor, as a liar and a tricky fellow, ironically values honesty very highly- as honesty and sincerity is the currency by which he indicates people are important to him. When his trust in the generals is shaken, the first obvious sign of it is that Lotor closes off to them. That’s when he starts into “just, do what I say,” and even then he means it as “I’ll explain once we get there”- Lotor not being straightforwards to his team is a very worrying thing for him.

The other thing the rift gate exhibits at Lotor is that, similarly to Keith and Shiro, Lotor tends to internalize perceived failings.

We saw this scene between Lotor and Zarkon, a ruse in which Lotor basically begged Zarkon to care for him. “Please don’t leave me again, I’ll change! I’ll be better! I’ll be a good son, like you wanted!”

And while it’s a lie, we also see behavior with some very similar undercurrents come out of him genuinely.

“Okay, guys, we had a rough time, we lost Narti, you’re probably not trusting me, but- look at the rift gate! I made this, and we’re going to use it, and it’ll be great, and we’ll have all these resources and make a complete recovery, and you won’t have to leave me because I’ll be a good leader, like you wanted. ....Guys?”

Lotor’s response when one of the generals appears to betray them is to pull out assets to try and encourage the others to stay with him. He not only isn’t plotting against them the way that Ezor and Zethrid suspect, he’s actually completely unprepared for a second betrayal.

What this suggests of Lotor’s thought process is that losing Narti went something like this:

“Narti betrayed me. I must have failed her somehow by being the wrong kind of leader. That means the rest of the team is probably doubting me, too. This is my fault, it has to be something I did, I need to make it up to them. I need to show them the most impressive thing I have, and give them immediate results, to prove I’m Worth Following.”

This suggests Lotor’s mindset is set up similarly to Shiro’s- he views his role as leader to be something he has to earn and pay for, rather than something others must pay him for. And just like Shiro, Lotor hates Zarkon and hates the empire, which is rooted in a fundamentally selfish mindset.

Uniquely, however, Lotor appears to focus mostly on providing. While Shiro focuses on safety and emotional wellbeing, a desire to take care of others, Lotor seems to view his duty as a leader as that it’s his job to give power to the generals.

While the others are doubting Lotor, Acxa says “Lotor will protect us,” and that, again, would suggest another way Lotor and Shiro are alike. But in Lotor’s case, his perspective is much more modified by his sense of powerlessness.

Lotor doesn’t feel like he lives in a good universe. That he is most prepared for, and thrives in, inhospitable settings and cruel company, tells us that this is how Lotor views the world. People will hate him unless he gives them a reason not to. The universe will hurt him if he shows it his soft side.

So the kindest thing Lotor can think of doing for someone? Is to arm them. Because they all live in an inhospitable hellscape and being safe is something you earn by being able to beat up the first thing that comes along to collect your organs.

There’s a lot of insight here we don’t really have, and, I think I’ll be very interested to hear what the “virtues” of Lotor’s section of Sincline are- or see if he has positive interactions with any of the Voltron Lions. But definitely, Lotor’s perspective seems to align much more with Shiro’s- which is probably why he has a lot more sympathy for the paladins than his father’s empire.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Lotor #readmore #Anonymous

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my-mystic-messenger · 7 years ago

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Why Rika is poorly executed character and villain

See, here is the thing - and please don’t take it the wrong way - but in a fandom like Mystic Messenger where the fanbase is predominantly underaged, the general consensus tends to be off, in my opinion.

People say that there is no right and wrong in opinions and to some extend that’s true. What someone else thinks is bad can be golden to you, however there is a difference to personal opinion and critical one. Critically speaking, I don’t think Rika is a well executed character or villain and here’s why:

Writing:

So to explain my point for why I think Rika is a poorly written character and villain I will use a list I found of what makes a good villain as well as villains from other movies that I would actually consider good villains. Let’s start by determining what the most important thing is for a good villain: their motivation! Why they act the way they act can make or break a villain, because it does so much more then tell you why they do it. The motivation gives you their backstory and makes them human and relatable, which is very important. A really good villain, in my opinion, has to be so clever and manipulative it will make you question your own morals. A good example of such a villain would be Light Yagami from Death Note, who despite being a serial killer of unimaginable magnitude still has a large fanbase and many people who support what he did, in fiction as well as in our world. His motivation is to actually do good and the nice thing about Light is, that he does not have one of those silly, over the top backstories. He’s just a cop’s kid who saw how the system never allowed his father to actually safe people, so he takes matters into his own hands. However, there are even villains who have absolutely no motivation or known backstory and are still highly enjoyable, I call them the psychotics. It is something that is much harder to pull off and often times fails, but if done right can be amazing. Best example; the Joker. We know nothing of his past and even the bits and pieces of his ‘traumatic childhood’ he tells us about are presumed to be lies and manipulation. Because he is psychotic with no motivation other than chaos he’s unpredictable and keeps us on his toes. Rika, on the other hand, is neither of those despite trying to be both. She is definitely psychotic and with a twisted mind, but she isn’t the 'fun’ kind like the Joker and she most certainly isn’t as clever about it or half as unpredictable. He actions are foreseeable and have been done over and over before. Be it her torturing and manipulating vulnerable people into her personal slaves or the whole shtick of I’ll try to make everyone you care for believe I’m actually the good and innocent person in all of this to make you look bad. I mean “The important thing is not to discredit her message, but discredit her” is literally a quote from the Handmaid’s Tale. A book written in 1985 that in one sentence summarizes Rika’s obviously unoriginal actions. Then of course there is this whole thing about wanting to allow people to be their dark selves, but yet again has been done and done better. That’s kind of a Lucifer thing to do, in every media ever created, and Rika does it poorly as well. Again, she says she does it for others – which would be a Light thing to do – but actually does it for herself – which would be a Joker thing to do – because she can’t handle her own darkness. However she doesn’t do it for fun, she does it because she’s weak which discredits her as a villain immediately. Also, let’s be real, what has Rika really achieved? She started a cult, sure, but she never tried to actively harm the RFA. She didn’t have some kind of greater plan beyond trying to get them to Mint Eye where they’d mostly live peacefully. What she did was manipulate a bunch of innocent, mentally unstable people into joining a cult. Even in a hero-villain story of a smaller frame like Mystic Messenger that’s hardly interesting. Scientology does the same thing and I don’t call them villains, just idiots.

Motivation isn’t all, of course. Remember how motivation gives us backstory? It does in Rika’s case too, sadly as I mentioned before Rika is a walking, talking cliché. Boohoo, my parents didn’t love me and I was bullied at school. Haven’t heard that one before.

Beyond her ‘tragic backstory’ being unimaginative as hell, the whole things is also highly convoluted, messily executed, rather unrealistic despite being such a simple premise and beyond all that does not excuse any of her actions. Like no offense, but people who choose to adopt a child – which is a messy and expensive process usually very carefully planned and thought through – abusing said child doesn’t make sense. Not to mention that there would be social workers checking on them regularly. Also, honey, this is a bit personal but I was physically and verbally abused by my mother my whole life. I was bullied in school until I graduated and I too am mentally ill. It still doesn’t make me relate to Rika and her bullshit at all. Those things usually make people kinder, because they know better than to mistreat others the same way they were mistreated or it makes them aggressive and lash out. Rika again tries to be both and fails at being both. At this point I’d also like to add that for a website like Tumblr where everything has to be PC and unproblematic, I find it quite strange that a mentally ill person like Rika is allowed to call her mental illness a bad, evil darkness. Just saying. Then again, motivation and backstory aren’t everything. Neither Moriarty nor the Joker have those and they are still some of the best villains in history. There are other traits a villain should have and I have a list. Let’s have a look:

✓convinced they’re the good guy

✘ has many likeable qualities

✓a worthy enough opponent to make your hero look good

✘ you like when they are on stage/appear

✓clever and accomplished enough that people must lend him begrudging respect

✓can’t be a fool or a bumbler

✓has many of the same characteristics of the hero, but they’re misdirected

✓should occasionally be kind, and not just for show

✓can be merciless, even to the innocent

✓persuasive

✓stop at nothing to get what they want

✓proud, deceitful, vengeful

✓jealous, especially of the hero

Now looking at this you might say hey, Rika has a lot of those! That makes a good villain right?! Wrong, because Rika has a lot of those! This is like checking off a very obvious bullet point list to make sure you got everything right.

That is precisely why Rika is so goddamn flat and boring, because someone sat down, made sure to stuff everything from this list into a character and call it a day. Worst of all, not only do they follow a well-known grid, they aren’t even innovative about it.

I could go into detail about all the things on the list she does have, but then again sadly enough, those speak for themselves and there is very little to elaborate on. I mean the fact that I cannot elaborate on bullet points already gives away just how poorly the character is constructed.

However, there are two things not checked off that are rather important to talk about and in my opinion outweigh most of the other bullet points anyway: “Likeable qualities” and “liking when they appear in the story.” Neither of which can be said for Rika. Name one (1), likeable trait Rika has. I can’t think of a single good thing about her, not a single one. She isn’t funny – like the Joker or Loki – she isn’t extraordinary intelligent – like Hannibal or Moriarty – and she doesn’t make you question your morals like Light or hell Jigsaw if you will. Beyond being a cliché villain, she’s also a failure as a character. Ever character, even the worst villain, have likeable traits. Rika has none. She literally doesn’t have a personality, if you think about it. All there is to her is her tragic backstory, her mental illness and her darkness. That’s it. As for liking when they appear, you better believe that whenever Stayin’ Alive plays I think of Moriarty or that I care more about Loki than I ever did about Thor. Whenever I got a VN with Rika I rolled my eyes and tried to get through it as fast as possible. She was boring, repetitive and talked in this silly metaphors that were so utterly basic I’m sure that if I dug through my writing during primary school or early teens I’d find something similar. She sounded more like an angsty teenager than a well through out villain. So to summarize, before the writing part gets even longer, she is hardly original, has no abilities of her own and instead uses goons for all her work, has no personality and no redeeming traits. What usually makes the movies and shows interesting – hero and villain going head to head – was by far the worst part of the V route. If I ever have to read a conversation between V and her again, I’ll smash my head.

Design:

Now one might thing that there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to Rika’s design and even less to criticize and there really isn’t much I have to say on the design itself, but more so the three designs of Rika we have and the changes in design and personality in the V route.

Rika has three main designs. Her main-main design – that brown dress – her Mint Eye grown – that thing she wore in the secret endings – and the latest addition that sleek, black dress with that pretty mask that still makes me wonder what the point of it was, MC didn’t know her anyway.

Let’s start with the main design. Frankly, it’s quite basic, although I get where they were going with it. The colours are all light and pastel, trying to make her seem approachable, sweet and innocent. Long wavy hair and that big bow on her chest add to that whole lolita-childlike innocence thing.

The dress is brown, because brown is a simple, 'cheap’ colour probably supposed to show how humble she is, that she doesn’t dress up herself to invest more of her money and time into people who need it more than her. I get it, I’m still not a fan of the design.

Everything about her is too light and similar in colour. Rika kind of drowns in that dress. Like her blonde hair faints into even lighter colour she fades into the dress. Compared to the vibrant designs of everyone else, she sticks out like a sore thumb and they could have done better.

Also, that whole looks like an angel but it actually the devil thing is like yet another cliché they knocked off with Rika. It’s like those little Grady twins from the Shining or ever Yandere in every anime ever. Yet another unimaginative rip-off.

Her second design, the whole Mint Eye ruler gown thing, not particularly pretty design wise as well as having a confusing colour palette that has literally nothing to do with neither Magenta – which is her code name in Mint Eye, right? - not you know mint?

Also the whole now I am evil therefor I give up my modesty and wear fancy ass clothes to show how much better I am than everyone else also leaves this Mean Girls vibe in my mouth. Especially when you consider that it looks like a pastors robe so it’s like Mean Girls meets God complex.

Again, it’s not horrible but better and smarter choices could have been made. What really ticked me off through was her third outfit, what that kind of said about Rika and how her behaviour changes while she wears that black dress.

Let me preface this by saying that sex isn’t a bad thing. It’s a natural process, it’s enjoyable and it brings life. While I personally think people should wait a little longer and be a bit more modest to fully enjoy the experience, there is nothing wrong with sex itself. Oversexualization, on the other hand, is a problem.

Throughout the entire V route I was actually shocked how sexualized the entire thing was compared to the main game and it made me so uncomfortable, especially when Rika was involved since they’d worked so hard to establish her as this innocent, childlike girl.

Be it the strange photo series that she shot with V or her dress that became black, tight and with a very suggestive cut out on her chest. Now mind you, I don’t have a problem with sexy characters, but I do have a problem when innocent characters become sexy once they turn evil.

Her being overly sexual in the V route to show that she’s given up her innocence and everything good is nothing new. Anyone reading comics or watching superhero movies knows that female villains are always overly sexy instead of practical. I just hate the message behind it.

It leaves a foul taste in my mouth that a game supposed to be for young girls basically, subconsciously teaches them that being sexy is dirty and evil. Even worse, however, is that she not only becomes overly sexy, she becomes lesbian!

You cannot imagine how I fumed at that bad ending. I really wanted to toss my phone against the wall. A previously straight established, innocent character becomes a prying, sexualized lesbian once they turn evil. Grade A writing, Cheritz. Grade A.

You have an entire route with Jaehee where you can’t romance the poor woman and never get so much as proper CG together until the DLC’s where it’s still a thing of blink and you miss it hidden romance and yet we have this whole thing with Rika.

To me, honestly, that was a double slap in the face. Being sexy isn’t evil. Seduction shouldn’t be a goddamn weapon. Prying on someone physically is fucked up, no matter the gender, and being lesbian is not a fucking trait you unlock when you turn evil.

Once again, nothing but clichés, overused tropes and at this point even harmful messages for a young, impressionable audience that really makes me question decisions that are made in the Cheritz headquarters.

Voice Acting:

Finally, we get to the voice acting. This time I really don’t have much to say other that I found it weak, especially compared to the other voice actors who did amazing jobs while having much less to work with than Rika.

Every actor dreams of getting to play crazy characters, because you can really go bonkers with it and do things normal characters can’t and wouldn’t do. You can be creepy, over the top, crazy and hysterical. You can scream and shout and then split seconds later switch to eerie and quiet.

Playing a villain properly is one of the hardest things to pull off, but also the most fun and rewarding. While voice acting makes it a little easier, since you only have to focus on your voice instead of every single body movement, it’s still the most fun and with lots of options.

Rika didn’t do any of those things. Even when she had that whole breakdown towards the end of the V route I was majorly disappointed at how subdued and small the whole thing was, especially in comparison to the actual CG.

That is why I really thing Rika’s voice actress did a poor job, because she didn’t even take into consideration what CG’s she was working with, let alone the facial expressions of the render in the general game. Her voice acting never freaking matched!

So we have a CG where Rika is on the floor, bawling her eyes out and obviously screaming in agony and the voice actress just…doesn’t do any of it. There is way too much almost calm talking in the middle of a break down and honestly I’ve cried and screamed more about series finale’s than she did in what was supposed to be a heartbreaking and defining moment. Talking about subdued and calm, I also don’t think that the voice actress worked a lot with the voice to begin with, just read the texts mostly as herself, since Rika sounds the same no matter the situation or the render. That feels out of place especially when she has that freaky render where her eyes get all black and spooky but he voice actress just keeps on talking like normal, the render changes back to her sweet personality – showing how twisted she is – but the acting doesn’t change along. It’s just a job poorly done especially in comparison to say V, Jumin and Yoosung, who in my opinion did the best jobs despite having little to work with in some cases. The others were good too, but those three really stood out. V, because despite having very little lines in comparison and being a relatively calm character managed to convey every single emotion necessary and always perfectly fitting to the render. Despite not being a big fan of V, his voice actor really tugged at my heart. Jumin, because he is such a cold and calculated character and gives you so little to work with – something the voice actor even talked about – and yet he gave him this vulnerability and human side with just his voice. The things this voice actor made me feel…oh boy. Yoosung’s voice actor literally made my jaw drop when I heard him speak in the Valentines Day special. While Yoosung was still almost a child with a high voice during the main route here he actually sounded like the same boy but older! Then I heard the guy speak and he sounds literally nothing like Yoosung and you manage to capture something so youthful despite not having that voice and then capturing it while aging it up at the same time is just amazing work. In comparison Rika’s voice acting was just as bland and boring as her character. Which is ironic, really, because Rika could have been and should have been the most interesting and facetted character of the whole game. Instead her side-kick stole her spotlight every time. Sad, but hey I love me some Saeran.

Conclusion:

3000+ words in and I have not written a single positive thing about Rika and I still can’t think of anything positive to say. The only time she made me feel any kind of emotion was when her theme was playing, because that is literally the only good and emotional part about Rika.So, after having read this piece I’d really like to know why people consider her a good or eve interesting villain, because to me she clearly is neither.

#mystic messenger #mysme #Rika #analysis #request

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kitten1618x · 7 years ago

Text

GoT Afterthoughts 7x03 The Queen's Justice (Jonsa Edition) SPOILERS

I’m sorry for the delay, but ffs this is LONG! Well ...now we know that this week's episode title was def. referring to Cersei, let's get to it.

We begin this week with foreboding music -Jon and Davos riding the crashing waves onto the shores of Dragonstone -which I still highly prefer the exterior to the interior -though, I suppose it fits the "mood". Little bit of banter between the boys, and after a friendly introduction and a smiling face, Missandei asks for their weapons. A skeptical and non-to-pleased looking Jon obeys, then turns to watch warily while the Dothraki take their rowboat as well. Okay Gendry, you can row up at any time now ...we may need you as the getaway boat.

So they proceed up the long winding staircase (which has more steps than Dany does titles) and not even a full 3 minutes into the episode, Sansa is already brought up in conversation. I'm dead serious - 02:30 minute mark on the dot. I actually only know this, because at this particular moment, I paused the DVR to grab a snack -but I like how in what is supposed to be such a J/D-centric episode (er-meh-gerd they're finally meeting!!!), Sansa takes precedence. Good call D&D ...I see what you did there.

Now about that conversation -is it odd that Tyrion would bring up Sansa in passing conversation with Jon? No, not at all -she is a connection that they both share, but ....

T: Sansa, I hear she's alive and well?

J: She is.

T: Does she miss me terribly? (clearly he's attempting a bit of a joke here).

J: *silence as he stares down at Tyrion like he damn well better explain himself*

T: *looks over his shoulder, to see that Jon is not amused, quickly explains* A sham marriage, never consummated.

J: I didn't ask.

T: Well it was, it wasn't. Anyway, she's much smarter than she lets on.

J: She's starting to let on.

T: Good.

So, what exactly was the point of this conversation? If Tyrion just wanted to know if Sansa was well, and the narrative wanted to establish how clever Sansa is, they could have done that without all that "missing me and marriage sham and unconsummated" banter in between. We as an audience already know all of these things, so how does that little nugget of information help in furthering the narrative? To put it quite simply -it doesn't. Again ..I see you D&D, I see exactly what you did there.

A bit more banter between the boys -Tyrion's ironic statement about Starks not faring well in the South, as to which Jon replies that he's not a Stark (shut up baby, yes you fucking are!) and BOOM! Cue: Drogon swooping down over the crowd, and Jon and Davos hitting the deck like a bunch of dropped wet rocks. You will NEVER convince me that was coincidence. Dany is in full control of her Dragons now, and that was a total (cheap) intimidation tactic.

PS: Jon is wearing leggings! Show me tha booty!

Cut to Varys and Melisandre perched high above on a cliff and watching the welcoming committee march up the guests. Varys prods her on why she won't greet them considering she spoke so highly of Jon Snow. She replies with how she's "brought fire and ice together and she's done her part" -I believe this is a deliberate misdirection from the writers. We already know that Jon is fire and ice on his own -the characters do not, and you know the dark ship is going wild over this line right now, but don't any of you pay it any mind. It's like a magicians trick -slight of hand ..look over there, while we do this over here.

Varys still has a healthy skepticism of this religion and these priestesses -and I'm still 1100000% with him. Melisandre is going back to Volantis (spelled right??) it seems -but will return to die -just like Varys. Ohhhh prophetic. And damn but these red witches get under his skin! Why???? I must know!

Poor Jonny-boy walking into the throne room looks nervous AS HELL, with the Mad Kings daughter perched on that wiggy-ass throne, and half of Dany's face is bathed in shadows, and she's once again cloaked in all black -shadows, darkness = symbolism at its finest folks. Hiding ones face half in shadow is a popular trope to emphasize that someone has a "sinister side" , and wearing all black is also a trope - "evil wears black."

Now, for arguments sake (and because I like to play devils advocate -the Nights Watch also wear all black, and Jon did too -however, Dany's wardrobe went from bright white (innocence and purity) to black upon coming to Westeros.

So as Missandei rambles off all 101 of Dany's titles (like I swear they do this purposely to annoy us at this point), Davos shoots back with "This is Jon Snow and he's King of the North". (See this juxtaposition they just shoved RIGHT IN OUR FACES???). LMAO -by the way, I just fucking adore Davos! He is a damn precious dewdrop, and I will fight you if you say otherwise!

D: You are here to bend the knee?

J: I am not.

Who else screeched with glee here? Huh? Huh?

Bend the knee. Bend the knee. BEND THE KNEE.

I'm not going to rehash this entire exchange, but a few important things that stuck out to me:

Jon's primary focus is "us", "we" -he's concerned about saving people.

Dany's primary focus is "Me, me, me!!"

It is interesting how she asked that the father's sins not be passed onto the daughter -reminiscent of Jon's own words regarding the Karstark and Umber children. I wonder if this is a sort of foreshadowing that by not being more wary of Dany's Targ temper, it just may bite him in the ass later.

Also Dany is a hypocrite. "Don't blame me for my ancestors -blah blah blah, but bend the knee because of my ancestors." Sigh.

I'm insanely curious why Jon didn't want Davos to tell them he'd been resurrected -or why Melisandre left that little tidbit out too???

Jon is now essentially Dany's prisoner.

Dany's narcissism is growing by the day. I can't believe people don't understand what GRRM (D&D) are deliberately doing with her character! This is an actual quote: "Do you know what kept me standing all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any god, not in myths, and legends. In myself. Daenerys Targaryen. The world hadn’t seen a dragon in centuries, until my children were born. The Dothraki hadn’t crossed the sea, any sea. They did for me. I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms. And I will."

Varys delivers the news that Dany's fleet is gone, and then Theon is fished from the sea by his people. And let me slip in here that if you're one of the people bashing Theon for jumping overboard because he so clearly suffers from PTSD -you're a shit, and you need to stop. That's not something that just suddenly disappears ...he will struggle with that for whatever is left of his life. He's gonna rescue Yara ...I just know it.

Now we're in Kings Landing and Euron is parading Yara and the Sand Snakes through the city. Like, I'm so torn, because I hate this dude, but I also kinda love him? His teasing of Jamie is PRICELESS, if not highly inappropriate. It's also pretty clear to me that Cersei has no intent on marrying him. In typical Cersei fashion, she'll keep him at arms length while she uses him, and then dispose of him when he wears out his usefulness -clever girl that she is.

And now we're in the dungeon where the Sand Snakes are chained -after a bit of tormenting them, she takes Tyene the same way they took her daughter -with a kiss of death. As a mother, I truly feel for Cersei here as she talks about Mrycella -for both of these mothers actually. Say what you will about Cersei, but Lena is a fucking GODDESS! She owns this role so well. Like, I can't stand Cersei, and yet, I literally cheer for her sometimes. One thing is for certain -people better stop underestimating her ruthlessness. And my God, the Sand Snakes -magnificent acting with no dialogue!

After a romantic romp with her dear brother (and damn, Jamie has a sweet ass), she boldly allows the servant to see them together -she's queen now, and apparently has no more fucks to give. It's time for the Lannister's to pay their debts, and she's off to meet with a rep. of the Iron Bank. Using the sharp negotiation skills she inherited from Tywin, and the same "foreign invader/mad Kings daughter" approach that she used to sway the Lords, it appears she gets what she wants and the Iron Bank will extend her the credit she needs - "gold wins wars."

We jump back to Dragonstone, where our brooding prisoner/hero is staring forlornly at the sea. He's a Northern fool who didn't listen (to Sansa). Tyrion tries to appeal to Jon's good side, and talks up Dany a bit, while simultaneously trying to help him. He's looking to strike an alliance -"use each other to further your own needs approach", and after a somewhat comical conversation with Dany (thank God because we need a bit of levity surrounding her scenes) -he urges her to let Jon mine the dragon glass. I think Tyrion does truly believe Jon is telling the truth. The knife in the heart comment comes up again -and again, I wonder why Jon didn't want them to know about his resurrection -but clearly, it's important because it was brought up again.

Now Jon approaches Dany who's gazing off towards the sea and watching her Dragons soaring in the distance. Sounds kinda romantic, right? Well not really, as during most of this conversation they stood facing opposite directions, barely making eye contact -save for a few moments. Shipping goggles are fully affixed here, but compare this to the way Jon and Sansa are always staring into each other's eyes (usually in softly lit rooms). Just sayin'.

Jon comments on Dany's Dragons, and she tells them that she named them for her brothers -Viserys and Rhaegar. This made me smile. And what I find so amusing about this, is just a few nights ago, I had a Nonny send me an ask referring to the general audience possibly forgetting that Rhaegar (Jon's daddy dearest) was Dany's brother --well, there you have it, Nonny, the narrative just delivered your reminder. Heh heh heh. ;) I don't think that Dany believes Jon about the WW/NK yet (and really, we can't fault her) but he is getting his dragon glass, and in the meantime, it keeps Jon hanging around -more time to woo him to their side.

And we head North to Winterfell (finally) to see that the Sass QitN is pretty freaking good at this ruling stuff. Like really, did we ever have any doubts? She's preparing for the enemy coming from both sides, because she's clever as hell (and I'm so proud of her!!!). Can't-take-a-hint Lord Creepyfinger is at it again -whispering in her ear with his creepy-creep-ness, and our girl once again, deliciously puts him in his place. Look, this constant talk of Cersei with Sansa, and the fact that she's lived and learned from her -plus this emphasis on how well she's taken up the helm at "ruling" and caring for her people, all while Tyrion, Jon and LF are all saying how smart she is ...I'm really starting to get the feeling that Sansa is THAT queen. Ya know -the one from Cersei's prophecy ...

"You'll be queen, for a time. Then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear."

I usually try not to get tin foilish in my recaps, but this is the Jonsa edition after all, so bear with me. Sansa has literally learned from the master of ruthlessness, and I truly believe all this emphasis on that this season, is setting up the fact that Sansa will be the only one clever enough to see through Cersei's scheming, won't underestimate her, and in fact, be the one to bring her down. Sansa, if not indirectly, could be linked to all of Cersei's children's deaths (all she holds dear):

She was betrothed to Joffrey, who after he cruelly tortured her for a time, discarded her for Margaery. Being the clever old bird that she was, Olenna got Sansa to open up about Joffrey's cruelty, which ultimately led to his death.

Thrusting Sansa into a marriage with Tyrion who then were both accused by Cersei of murdering Joffrey. Sansa escapes due to LF's scheming, leading to Tyrion's trial by combat with Oberyn as his champion. When he is killed by the Mountain, Ellaria exacts revenge on the Lannisters by killing Mrycella.

Due to Joffrey's death, Tommon becomes king, and takes his brothers widow for a wife -the same family responsible for Joffrey's death -who only murdered him because Sansa confirmed his cruelness. Tommon falls hopelessly in love with Margaery, and upon her death, commits suicide.

It's also important to note, that Cersei is technically the one to blame for the deaths of all of her children, although she will never see it that way. While I was studying up on this prophecy, I also stumbled onto this from one of the book wiki sites:

When will I marry the prince?

Cersei is talking about Prince Rhaegar, whom Tywin Lannister intended to offer her to for marriage. Maggy tells Cersei that she will never marry the prince, but will marry the king. This foreshadows King Aerys refusing Tywin’s offer, Robert’s Rebellion, and Cersei eventually marrying Robert Baratheon after he is crowned king.

I just find highly coincidental that Cersei was almost wed to a Targaryen prince (and Jon Snow's father, to boot), and if we're all correct in our assumptions that Jonsa is in fact endgame (it is, by the way) then Sansa will take that from her, too. Which also strangely ties Sansa to -going from in the beginning of the story, wanting the prince who was actually a bastard, to getting the bastard who is actually a prince. Just sayin' ....

Okay, back to the show.

Bran has arrived at Winterfell! I repeat BRAN HAS ARRIVED AT WINTERFELL!! And we are treated to yet another beautiful Stark reunion -minus "the nuzzle" -I repeat MINUS THE NUZZLE!!

They are catching up in the Godswood, and the first thing out of Sansa's mouth (when she's in what she perceives is a safe space, and she's allowed to be vulnerable) is "I wish Jon were here". Ship them or not, there's a reason that they both mentioned each other in this episode -if only to remind us (the general audience) that they are, indeed, on each other's minds.

Bran is quite emotionless, and I guess I get it. He needs to disconnect and emerge himself completely in this whole 3-eyed Raven deal, because the NK is coming, and he doesn't have much time to hone his powers. In light of their reunion, the writers chose to have him bring up the horrors Sansa suffered at the hands of Ramsey Bolton -to prove his power. I've seen some speculate that this was in fact Bran seeing a future Sansa wedding, and this very well may be, as he admitted himself that it all comes to him in bits. Part of me REALLY wants to believe that, but I think this had more to do with choosing something that would shake Sansa enough to know that what he says is true (cuz come on, he does seem a bit eccentric and cray, peeps). Or maybe it's both? Take it for what you will.

Jorah has been successfully cured of his greyscale, and he is off to find his Dragon queen -and just ffs, I ship them so hard !!! They (Jorah/Sam) will meet again -although, I hope it's not on different sides of the battlefield. *cough* Targbowl.

Sam doesn't get rewarded, but you can def. see that the Archmaester IS proud of him. Oh my heart!

And we're back to Dany's war room. Two allies are down, her armada is gone. She wants to take her Dragons and go burn Euron's fleet -oh, I'm so shocked! But, her wise council talks her out of it, and Tyrion narrates the scene of Casterly rock being taken, while quoting his bro, Bron (like -I can't wait for these two to reunite). The siege is successful .....or is it? Well, NO -because Cersei is a BOSS!

Euron has effectively taken out the rest of Dany's ships, and trapped GW and the remaining Unsullied at Casterly Rock (which by the way, is gorgeous, and it's about time we see it) -with limited supplies, and no one to come to their aid, they will likely die.

So where is the rest of the Lannister army? Capturing High Garden, of course (and now Cersei will have their riches, as well). The battle scenes are skipped, and we see Jamie seek out Lady Olenna, who admits to being outsmarted. She warns Jamie that Cersei will be the death of him, and calls Joffrey a cunt (lmao, I love her), before swigging down the poison Jamie offers her. And right before the credits roll, she SAVAGELY admits to Jamie that she was behind Joffrey's murder, and she wants Cersei to know that. Daaaaaammmmmnnn!

And that concludes my Afterthoughts ...see you next week.

Oh, and Jonsa is endgame -spread the word.

#got afterthoughts #got recap #jonsa #jon x sansa #got season 7 spoilers #spoilers

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jyndor · 7 years ago

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I'd love to hear your Mara head canons. Bonus points for ones set in the universe where Cassian basically adopts her.

LOL wow this is late. And long enough to warrant two parts.

I like to think that, in my own little canon world, the best bits of Legends and Disney!canon come together like good wine or sex, and the worst… well, they can grow dusty on the cutting room floor.

Some back story, before the main course:

In this ‘verse, we have a Mara Jade who is ironically rescued from the Last Command by her former master when he decides he’s had enough of her. The Emperor is a fuckboy, and when he tires of his little experiment in favor of his slightly less messy Inquisitors, he has Mara killed by a bounty hunter, and to ensure success, he locks her connection to the Force away in the deepest parts of her psyche. She is thirteen, lean muscle and tiny, a weaponized ballerina, but the bounty hunter takes pity on her and instead, like Snow White lore, lets her go with a vibroblade and a warning to never return to her former master. How he tricks the Emperor, I don’t know.

Mara spends a year on the run, taking on the alias of Arica Alie, a runaway with no real skills or purpose. She lies and cheats her way to the Outer Rim. But without the Force, she must rely on her own innate resourcefulness and cunning. This alone is a story I’d love to write.

A couple of notes: in this ‘verse, Mara is the only Hand because she was the experiment/sacrificial lamb. One of many kinds of agents, yes, but the only Emperor’s Hand. Kept in the shadows so long that no one misses her when she’s gone.

When Cass met Mara:

I assume Mara is a year or so younger than Luke/Leia, so when she is fourteen, they would be fifteen and Cassian Andor, who is 26 in R1, would be 22 (assuming the twins are 19 in ANH). I also assume that Cassian is a favorite of the Council (especially Draven) and therefore he rises in the ranks fairly early. I’d place him at Lieutenant when they meet, although not for long. I also like to think that Kay has been with Cassian for a long time, maybe since he was a teenager.

Their meeting goes like this: Cassian is on a mission, executes a wavering informant and is seen by a homeless girl in rags. The unwritten protocols are clear–the girl has to die, and it’s certainly not something he hasn’t done before. But something holds him back. Maybe it’s the Force nudging the fuck out of him, maybe it’s the clever glint in her green eyes. Maybe it’s just his conscience.

He offers her a bite to eat in a nearby hole-in-the-wall pub. The girl looks at him like she knows what he’s thinking, like she’s been in his shoes–which is absurd, except for how it’s not. He knows a child soldier when he sees one.

(Later, she will tell him that she never let the witnesses go. Even the sniveling alley girls.)

But she’s really hungry.

Over some sort of stew Cassian doesn’t look too closely at, he offers her a ticket off the streets. Cassian is a recruiter for the Rebellion, so I don’t think it’s too out of the ordinary for him to think of bringing her with him. Except it’s different, because he doesn’t know anything about her.

Just that she’s a fighter.

And after a year on the run, heartbroken and lonely, Mara is desperate. And there’s this feeling of rightness, something she has never experienced.

So yes, she goes with him.

Kay is not happy about it.

Spy Lessons:

As far as interrogations go, it’s quite pleasant. There’s no beatings or truth serums, no torture of any kind. So Mara really has no trouble opening up to the Rebels. With a few exceptions.

1. She does not tell them her former title. After a few well-placed misdirections, General Draven assumes she was an Inquisitor before leaving the Empire. There are rumors of Inquisitors, not of the Hand, and she enjoys the way Lieutenant Andor stands just a bit taller when his superior praises him.

2. She does not tell them how well she (thought she) knew the Emperor. Not out of misplaced loyalty, although she will never want him dead. He raised her, and he gave her everything she wanted, and she still doesn’t know the extent of his cruelty. In time, this will change. But not for a long time.

3. She does not tell them she has not felt the Force in a year.

Andor is there some days. Mainly she speaks with Draven, who is calculating and sharp. She respects him, but she was trained in interrogation at ten years old. She knows this game.

When he tells her she can stay, she sees Andor smile (clearly despite himself).

And then comes the fun part: boot camp. She is out of shape but not out of practice. Hand-to-hand combat comes naturally to her. She doesn’t see her recruiter too often in the early days.

The tricky part is making nice with the other recruits. They’re older, physically stronger and mostly male. She doesn’t have much experience being herself around people. She pulls from her bag of personas–Arica Alie, the dancer, who is flirty and artsy and a bit fun; Celina Marniss, the clever schoolgirl with political aspirations–the traits that she knows work well on teenage boys. Mara Jade herself is cold and sharp around the edges, and vulnerable. Lonely.

But when Cassian Andor is around, she is a little less so.

She does see in him things she herself has felt, but differently. Of course, he doesn’t know just how similar they are–how, even so much younger than him, she carries the burden of death on her shoulders, the chains of sin in the name of a greater cause.

They eat together when he’s on base. He tells her cleaned up stories from his missions. The blood is on his hands, and she sees it because she understands. And she absolutely doesn’t tell him that his boss has her doing extra work on the side. Exercises in intrigue.

For his end, Cassian isn’t an idiot. He knows what Draven thinks she used to be. He sees her scores and how fast she is going through her courses. It will be less than a year until she is given orders. And he’s certain he knows what she’ll be doing.

Draven says it sometimes. “The girl’s skills will be wasted on the front lines.”

She’ll be in the shadows for her whole short life, and it’ll be his fault. A girl like that should be in the light.

Someday he’ll tell her his misgivings, years in the future, when he has a bad back and a high rank, when he can no longer do the dirty work himself.

But for now, he watches her beat the shavit out of boys twice her size and praises her like he’s supposed to.

When she graduates in three months time, he’s there for the ceremony like no one was there for his.

The Spy and the Saber (or the interim years, or the blossoming of a friendship):

Cassian is promoted shortly after Mara is swept up by Intelligence. It’s unrelated to her recruitment, a mission that could have gone terribly wrong but didn’t because of some quick thinking on his part.

Captain Andor sees Private Jade on base rarely during the first year of her service. He hears stories–rumors, really–of an agent so ruthless, so thorough and exacting they are called the Saber, and he knows it’s her, this little girl whose always been more than that.

And so one day, when she’s sixteen, he tells her what he’s heard. And she doesn’t deny it, although she is a little flustered by the nickname.

He tells her about becoming a Fulcrum.

After that, she trusts him. She treasures his friendship. She even likes Kay (who tolerates her enough).

They go on one mission together once before he goes rogue.

While he begins to hear whispers of the name Erso, she starts to hear talk of a superweapon.

When he sees Jyn Erso for the first time, Mara Jade is on a mission of her own. Scarif happens, Rogue One is MIA and presumed dead. Alderaan crumbles to nothing. And a grieving Mara watches the tiny band of pilots fly out to defend Yavin, finally opens her eyes to just how cruel the Empire is.

And that is it for part one of my headcanons.

#operaticspacetrash #operaticspacetrash2 #mara jade #cassian andor #eeeh time for work

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