#and said example does not even cover a small portion of the evil things I rp with ai

[numbaoneflaya]

I agree with 99% of anti ai use especially in fandom- I must however confess to using ai for let’s say, the worst rp situations for which there exists none to satisfy the specific situations of which I want to enact. And I would not want to make an actual person be on the other side of said rp, because I am not evil.

[skellebonez]

Monkie Kid Headcanons Part 2: Red Son and Demon Bull Family Backstory

Follow up to this post, with a lot more heavy thinking needed this time. Since these characters technically had backstories in Journey to the West, I wanted to really think over how to work those into what we have in the show (even though it kinda doesn’t 100% work and is really messy if you overthink it since the show throws some stuff to the wayside). This took me multiple days to work out so I hope it at least makes sense.

Warning: This one actually gets very VERY dark with emotional and psychological abuse detailed in the later half, so I am putting all of these under a read more. Seriously. I want you to be aware of this before you click that button. Do not ignore this warning please.

I PROMISE that part 3 will be a lot less heavy. I just wanted to get this out so I could finally move on from it.

First, gonna preface this with the fact we all know Monkie Kid is not 100% accurate to Journey to the West. Characters that are supposed to be dead are alive after all, and Red Son’s existence in the show itself in particular kinda makes no sense when I overthink about him. Red Boy is evil in his first appearance, but comes back redeemed way later in the novel (and with his name changed to that of an actual deity who had already existed outside of JTTW with a completely different backstory).

In reality, JTTW is fiction based on historical events and Monkie Kid is made to be a kid’s show and was never going to be accurate to the novel. Not even adaptations of JTTW are. So basically, I headcanon this: in the show, JTTW the novel exists as a highly accurate and very important piece of historical novelization (a non-fiction novel). But like most examples of real non-fiction novels (like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood), it is not entirely accurate and there are bits and pieces that do not line up. It is, however, incredibly close to 98% accuracy and anyone in it who reads it is impressed.

That being said, Red Son did study with Guanyin for quite a few years (though he was not entirely redeemed like his book counterpart, he was getting there). He actually did learn a lot and was pretty darn happy to be under her teaching at the time. Mostly because he didn’t know what was going on outside...

Unfortunately, later portions of JTTW confirm that Red Son being taken... completely ruined Monkey King and Demon Bull King’s friendly relationship. So that, combined with other events in the Fiery Mountains, it is incredibly likely that is why DBK was so bent on ruling and taking out Wukong for good. He wanted revenge for a lot of stuff Monkey King did.

Before we get into the depressing stuff, I personally headcanon that DBK was actually just. Dead. Completely dead. That is why he went from being covered in floof to being big buff body builder man. Hair does not grow back when you are dead. Removing the staff completely revived him. I needed a silly weird headcanon in here ok?

Since Princess Iron Fan calls him her husband, not her ex-husband as he had divorced her to be with Princess Jade Face in JTTW, I think they either reconciled at some point or PJF... didn’t exist? Since LMK is a kid’s show the later is more likely... but this is my headcanon. Given her personality in the show and book I think it is possible that they mutually divorced due to losing Red Son, DBK remarried, then realized he still loved PIF and wanted to go back to her and she took him back.

We don’t actually know much about PJF so... uh... I like to think she was shockingly chill about it and is just living comfortably somewhere else now. And never wants to see Monkey King again. I hope she is living her best fox spirit life.

Also unfortunately, DBK did not stand a chance and when he was sealed it took a major toll on PIF. She was left alone, her renewed husband either trapped or dead under a mountain and her son kinda sorta still arrested by a deity. This made her more distant to everyone and a lot more cold.

When news of what happened to his father reached Red Son, he pleaded with Guanyin to be allowed to leave her teaching to stay with his mother. He knew what isolation felt like and did not wish for her to feel the same any longer. Guanyin trusted her disciple and allowed him to return to his mother permanently, if he desired. Alone.

This was a mistake. Oh boy was this a mistake. Heaven should have either sent someone else completely or had someone accompany Red Son to PIF to help her because this one decision is why everything in show happens.

At first things go pretty well. PIF is definitely in need of support, but she is ecstatic to see her son again. And that lasts. For a while. Until she starts to project onto Red. She starts to blame him for being captured, for not being strong enough to take out Wukong when he had the True Samadhi Fire, for not being there to keep DBK from leaving her, for not being there to help his father fight Wukong a second time. Everything is Red Son’s fault now.

This simmers for a while before it starts to come forth to the surface. She starts being colder and more distant and giving Red little jabs in their conversations. She says them so sweetly it always takes Red a second to register what she says. 

“Oh Red Son, if only your father were here to see this. Too bad you weren’t there to save him.” “I love you my son, even if you can be useless at times.” “Princess Jade Face would have loved you I bet, but you were far too busy with the celestials to visit. I understand.”

This starts to wear Red down after a while, until he starts to believe his mother. He WASN’T there when he father was defeated, he COULD have taken care of Wukong, he WAS the reason his father left his mother. She was as warm and loving to him as she was when he was a small child when he came back but now? Now she’s as cold to him as anyone else.

She is never outright physically abusive, that is below her in her mind. But other things? Like not having his meals prepared along side hers? Insulting him as casually as saying the sky is blue? Pointing out every mistake he makes when writing or working on a project? Taking his things and “losing” them, only to “find” them days later in a place she told him to look and telling him he needs to be more careful? “Mistakenly��� locking Red Son in his room and ignoring his yells and pleas to be let out? Those are on the table.

And this is when he becomes obsessed with getting back in her good graces and starts to push aside his teachings from Guanyin. He just wants his mother back.

His mother does not come back... but his old self does.

Guanyin does not learn of this until long after it is impossible to convince Red Son to leave his mother. She has the kneejerk reaction to just take him back by force but... for some reason she does not. She lets him stay. Perhaps she does not want to make the wrong decision again. Perhaps she feels she taught him everything she could. No one really knows. She does not discuss this.

After a while PIF does lessen her emotional and psychological abuse, once she is certain Red Son will never leave her. She even starts to treat him nicely, like her son who she always loved, like a mother again, even praises and defends him from others again (and Red Son eats it up because this is exactly what he wanted and just fuels his determination to prove himself and stay in her good graces). And at the time the show begins she has come to terms with the fact Red Son was not, in fact, at fault for anything and even regrets this portion of her life.

Make no mistake, however, her treating him less bad, even well at times, now does NOT in any way absolve her of how she treated him in the past. She is still abusive and she has done nothing that could truly set anything right. She still calls him things like “her sweet useless boy” and pulls shit like the racing episode. It’s not really any better. It’s just not actively as bad as it used to be at the moment.

DBK in show did not notice how PIF had changed because in the pilot he was too distracted with being revived and as the show went on he was too distracted with the power of the White Bone Spirit calling to him.

Upon a rewatch he actually seems to be under WBS’s thrall multiple times before episode 10, such as the racing episode where we can clearly see his eyes glowing with possession blue, and I think this affected his personality a bit. Not much, I think he was still neglectful and cold to Red Son from the get go, but WBS probably exacerbated the worst parts of his personality long before taking over completely.

But I think he sure does notice NOW that the thrall no longer has him. Whether or not he does anything about this is up in the air, however. It is entirely possible he falls fully into neglect and does nothing to stop anything.

Red Son knows, very deep down, that his father is neglectful and his mother is abusive. He knows. He just won’t admit that not even demons are like this to their children. Won’t admit that he doesn’t deserve it, that he never deserved it. Because he loved his mother deeply before he left. He loved her when she convinced him he did. And he still loves her, and his father. He’s stubborn. He doesn’t want to give up on that.

It is going to take a LOT for someone to show him that he deserves better. But having his father back has not been everything he had hoped it would be and now... now it may be possible for someone to reach him. At least convince him that SOMETHING needs to change.

[phoenixyfriend]

What can I do to limit Amazon’s* negative impacts without harming vulnerable communities who rely on their services?

* or any similar company that people are forced to use to survive if they are poor, disabled, elderly, rurally isolated, or any combination of the above

My post on Amazon has been circulating pretty far these past few weeks, and a lot of people keep trying to argue about what can be done right now. 

1. Contact your representatives

If you live in the US, there are several sites you can use to figure out your senators (you have two) and your representative (you have one). Call them if there’s a phone number. Email them if there isn’t. They’re obligated to have SOME form of contact. If your rep is already on your side, they can use your email as evidence for how citizens feel about the issue when Congress is in session to argue. If your rep is NOT on your side, they will see the email as evidence that a portion of their constituency is NOT willing to reelect them if they don’t play nice, and that scares them a lot. Either way, make yourself heard. Harass them if you have to.

(For more local issues, especially things like minimum wage and labor laws, you can find your representatives for your state or city government, like your mayor or governor or county rep, and contact them as well. Make yourself heard.)

Write emails in your own words about one of the following subjects:

Supporting the USPS. It’s the backbone of the US shipping industry, and major shipping companies like UPS, FedEx, and Amazon use it for overflow.

Monopolies and antitrust acts. Reference past antitrust acts leveled against oil, railroad, and telecom monopolies.

Raising the minimum wage. Reference inflation.

Enacting a marginal tax rate on high earners (re: the 1%, but phrased in a way that they’ll take seriously). Reference the marginal tax rates of the fifties.

Increasing disability benefits. Try to work something in about how stringent the requirements to qualify are, and how benefits don’t cover enough for medical care, transportation, assistive technology, and so on.

Increasing social security benefits for retirees. People pay into this fund all their lives as part of their income tax; it’s supposed to benefit them right back! (You can circle back to marginal tax rates and how the rich usually have savings and don’t need social security, but the poor often don’t have savings and rely on it.)

Enforcing corporate taxation. Find some statistics on who paid corporate  taxes in the past few years and who didn’t. Make sure to find a few big names and what their tax rate SHOULD have been. Emphasize how much extra money the government would be making.

Nationalizing the health care industry. Reference how well it works for countries like Canada, Korea, or Sweden, and how often hard-working Americans are bankrupted by unexpected medical emergencies.

Enacting or enforcing higher standards of employee rights. Did you know that minimum wage employees in Indiana don’t have the right to a lunch break unless they’ve been working at least twelve hours?

Legal repercussions for predatory pricing practices. Walmart is the best-known for this, but Amazon does it too, and they’re a fair bit sneakier about it.

Capping rent prices. Housing costs are among the highest financial pressures Americans face right now, and the fact that housing costs have risen SO much faster than the minimum wage is why it’s impossible to rent a one-bedroom apartment on a minimum wage anywhere in the US right now.

Capping upper management incomes. A CEO should not be earning several thousand, or several million, times as much money as their employees. It’s a long stretch (so argue the more achievable things first), but imagine if we could convince the government to say “actually, you can only make up to twenty times as much per hour as your lowest-paid employee.”

Banning police as threats against unions. UNIONS ARE GOOD THINGS. SUPPORT THEM.

Anything else that comes to mind! There are lots of subjects. This list is not an exhaustive one.

2. Vote

Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Vote in every election. Sometimes you won’t be able to vote for your top choice, and that sucks, but remember that our system is fucked and you have to go for the lesser evil that’s still capable of winning. So vote Blue (because ambivalence to our desires is better than glee at our suffering), and then send as many emails and make as many calls as you can to force them to recognize that, since you helped them get into office, they have to honor the deal to actually represent you now.

3. Support small businesses

Okay, so supporting local businesses probably isn’t too easy in a pandemic. You can’t just walk to your nearest mom and pop store to see if there’s an affordable option. That said, if you can afford to do so, try to see if there are small businesses in your area that are doing delivery or curbside-pickup.

If you live in a more rural area, see about ordering from small online businesses for non-essentials. If you’re thinking “hey, I’d like a new scarf” or something, check Instagram or Etsy first. All faults aside, Etsy is only a marketplace, not a seller themselves, so they rely on the vendors using their site to remain in business. (Whereas Amazon tries to drive their vendors out of business to take over their market share.) You can also use Google Shopping, eBay, or Craigslist.

4. Don’t Use Amazon (or similar), but don’t shame people for using it either

Some people rely on loss leaders to survive. That’s a fault of the American economy being a horrifying mess, and I listed a whole litany of the causes above. Money talks, so avoid using Amazon unless there is NO other way to get your product, but if someone you know uses Amazon, and you know they’re struggling, keep your mouth shut. If they’re not struggling, mention your distaste for Amazon but don’t push the issue; they’re more likely to come around if they feel like you’re not passing a moral judgement on them for it.

5. Recognize that many fairly-priced products are more expensive than you’re used to

The example I usually use is fashion. We’re used to a shirt costing ten or twenty dollars, even at places other than Walmart or Target. This price is what we’re led to believe is reasonable, but it’s really a factor of incredibly underpaid workers, usually overseas. If you can’t afford it, feel free to blame the low minimum wage (I certainly do), but remember to take a step back and remind yourself that it’s not that the piece is expensive, it’s that you are underpaid, and the current system is trying to teach you to expect cheaper items as the norm so they can get away with paying even more people less than they deserve.

6. DONATE

Yeah! There are a whole lot of nonprofit agencies that focus on issues that relate to this topic. I prefer to donate to organizations that focus on enacting systemic change through legal or institutional channels, like the ACLU and AAPD, but there are a lot of options, some of which focus on more direct help, or on specific parts of the country. Figure out one that speaks to you, check it against a trusted charity rating system like Charity Navigator, and set up a monthly donation if you can afford to. Constant support can cause compassion fatigue, but consistent support is how you Get Shit Done.

7. March

Join an activist group and march. Sometimes there are other major events going on (hijacking one of the current marches against racism and police brutality in favor of one about monopolies would be in bad taste AT BEST), but there will come an opportunity to make your voice heard by showing up on the street and just yelling with a sign.

Now go forth and unleash hell.

[unholyhelbig]

The Scent of Fire | #HW202

Prompt: Unusual Familiars 

Summary: When the witch trials hit the small town that Chloe Beale calls home, she turns to the only person she can think of; Her Familiar. 

Read it on Ao3 here! 

The scent of fire nipped at her lungs until they burned. Chloe swallowed the metallic taste in her mouth and stared at the cracked wooden floor. Some of it reflected the ash tracked by Father Aspen’s shoes. She tried to ignore the way they looked like faces screaming for the very mercy he preached about each Wednesday and again on Sunday before the sun had even risen to its highest point.

This fire smelled different.

Her mother pressed the only silk handkerchief she had against her lips to stifle what they were all too afraid to mention. It was her nice one, the royal blue one that had their family monogram stitched into the side. Her father brought it home from the city. He brought Chloe a snow globe that sat next to the oil lamp on her school desk.

Chloe wished she had one of her own, that she didn’t have to pretend she couldn’t smell it. The rest of the church sat in an odd silence while Father Aspen wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He smeared ash on his beaded skin.

She moved her own hand against the base of her nose but felt her mother’s razor-sharp nails dig into her thigh. He was scanning the crowd, clutching the podium. Chloe struggled to ignore the strangled sobbing of the woman in the front pew and the half-hearted attempt of her husband to quell it.

“Revelations 21:8 ” Father Aspen had breathed in too much smoke, his voice was gravelly “as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The mother in the front row screamed out again, her cries muffled in pain. Chloe grimaced and turned her face to the side. Her own mother didn’t condemn her this time. Father Aspen was panting with exhaustion and a few around the room spurred his dark smile on.

“This town has been in the unknowing presence of Evil for far too long!” He shouted, calming the room “Miss Prescott is a clear example of what we do to the unholy in Barden. Let it be a warning to clear the filth from our streets and stir the rebellion from our children. Let it be a warning.”

Chloe dug the blade of the knife into the soft skin of the third potato that she had pulled from hard soil. The winter season was upon them, and her stomach clenched at the idea of a quality meal. It would be the last of the year.

It was just the two of them when her father traveled for work. Her mother had quickly closed the door to his study as they returned from church. She was penning him a letter now, she guessed, despite not much ink being left in the little vile. Barden had had its first real witch burning, and that was big news. It wouldn’t be long before it’s second.

“You could have done something to stop this,” She mumbled softly, taking a good chunk of hard skin away from the yellowed vegetable. “Isn’t that your job?”

She had felt the woman’s presence in the church, just beyond the stained windows as smoke coated the air. That scent of burnt flesh wicking into her Sunday clothes. Her familiar lurked and watched and worried like the rest of them.

Chloe heard her scoff “Puritan panic is nothing short of entertaining. Though, what happened to Abby is tragic. Your priest wants to make an example and he would have done it regardless.”

“What comes next?”

“The same thing that happened in Salem, I suppose. They’ll string them up like Christmas bulbs on a Douglas Fir.”

Chloe dropped the knife and let it clank against the cutting board loudly before turning quickly to face her familiar. She sat in one of the kitchen chairs, slumped back on its hind legs with her own feet crossed at the ankles. Beca had a smug look on her face. Chloe would have thrown the kitchen utensil if the demon wouldn’t find it amusing.

“Careful, Chloe, if your mother senses you slipping into madness, she’ll turn to her religion for help.”

She ignored the comment. “What if it’s I they make an example of next?”

She scrunched up her nose as if she were thinking, but perhaps she hadn’t been at all. “Tragic.”

Chloe Beale didn’t mean to fall into witchcraft, just as Abby Prescott hadn’t. A group of them gathered in the graveyard one night, the only one in town. Aubrey Posen had raided her father's stuff and found a book that none of them wanted to touch- but they had. After a few slices of the palm and magic words, they had fallen deep into a habit.

A rush of dark magic made Chloe feel alive. So she read on, she receipted more incantations by the light of oil and the cover of darkness. She had reached the back of Aubrey’s book and ended up with Beca.

“You were supposed to be of some use to me,” She growled under worn breath. “I haven’t yet called on you.”

“No take backs, I’m afraid. A demon can sense chaos from millenniums away. I knew that you needed help.”

“You fed off of the fear.”

“oh, that’s cruel. Maybe I genuinely want to help you, Chloe.” She said “Lay off the witchcraft for a while. I know the feeling of dark magic is intoxicating but if it cooks you like dear Abby then is it worth it?”

“I’ve thought of that.”

“And the verdict?”

Chloe ran her dirt-stained palms against her apron. “I can use it to my advantage instead.”

Beca let out a loud groan and placed all four legs of the chair back onto the dusty floor. The young girl in turn picked up her knife once more and made even cubes of the vegetable before dropping them into the broth that boiled above a lit fire. Witchcraft was no different from cooking- maybe with more consequences than a full stomach.

She heard the floor creak behind her and felt Beca’s hot touch on her hip. Her fingers burned hungrily through her cotton dress and apron. Chloe stopped her task and made her stance rigid. She focused on the iron pot hanging from a little hook on the wall. Her hand clenched the knife.

“Chloe, I am your familiar, whether you like it or not. Though I am here to serve you and patronize you, I ultimately have a say in your actions. After all, we share the same master.”

“I serve no one.”

Beca scoffed and withdrew her touch. It made Chloe turn once more. This time she was mere inches from her familiar. Her features were cat-like, long, and slim. Her eyes dawned the same brightness of a black feline wandering around the barn on the edge of their property. She hadn’t thought of the connection until now.

Beca smelled of ash. Not the same thickness as the particles from this morning before the service, but ash all the same. “Before my God, you served the one you worship every Sunday. That, we both know. The second you spoke those words in the land of the dead, you were bound.”

Beca placed her molten touch under Chloe’s chin, leading the girl's eyes up to hers. Her palms dug deep into the counter behind her and breath caught as if to fight off the scent of fire and old magic.

“Love, I am here to assist you in your ultimate immortality. You’re my master in this battle, but not in this raging war. In order for you to lead, you must not be burned at the stake. Do not abandon your practice or your patience, but don’t feed into it. Not for the next month.”

Chloe swallowed hard “And what of Aubrey?”

“Aubrey is not of my concern. The girl does seem intelligent enough to do the same. Neither of you shall speak of this. Abby was a great loss.” Beca moved her hand away and Chloe cleared her throat. She missed the touch sorely but turned back to her task, mind reeling.

She had moved on to peel another potato. She knew her skin was raw and angry where Beca's hand was. Her fingers trembled, wishing to soothe the ache. The door to her father’s study creaked open and she heard her mother’s footsteps. They stopped near the kitchen. There was a dark and labored silence.

“Chloe,” her mother croaked. She had been crying, her voice was scratchy. “Who were you speaking with?”

“No one, mother”

“I heard you speaking to someone.”

Her voice was accusatory, and more importantly, whatever cracks the ordeal had left this morning were filled abundantly with fear. Chloe lifted her stormy eyes from the task of a solid meal once more and focused her entire body on stilling her breath and her words.

Chloe let out a sharp sigh “I was receipting scripture, mama. The Prescott’s have been a part of this community for a long time. I was quite close with Abigail and I” She forced her voice to shatter like a mirror “I hope she’s found peace despite straying from the house of the Lord.”

Her mother scrutinized her for a long moment but seemed to believe the words eventually. Chloe grasped a ladle and spooned some of the mixture into two bowls. She placed them each on the table before purposely sitting in the chair that Beca had been. It was still warm.

After long moments of silence, she started shoveling spoonful’s of the stew into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully as if to avoid any type of conversation.

She felt the hasty touch of a long black tail curling around her ankles. Her lungs still hissed with the scent of burning flesh, and an even hotter touch.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I Need to Talk About “Problematic Faves” within TWDG [3/?]

Character design, being drawn towards characters we find visually attractive, and how big of a role in plays in our feelings towards them.

“He's a murderer but like.... a cute murderer, y’know?”

This goes hand in hand with the whole first impressions thing we’re talking about, but rather than talking about the character’s traits, dialogue, history, and overall character, we’re talking about physical appearance.

This is something I want to touch on even though I already know the answer to it. It’s just a food for thought sort of idea that I wanted to explore given how much we talk about our favorite characters appearances while discussing them with one another.

Let’s face it: We’re all a little shallow at some point in our lives.

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is bullshit. I pick up that book in the first place because it’s pretty and has sprayed edges. The only reason I put it back it is because I can’t find an actual summary of the book because publishers think we want to read a bunch of “Best book of da year!” by Who The Fuck Cares written all over the place rather than an actual summary...

....What was my point?

Oh, right, character design.

When we’re first introduced to a character, we immediately make a judgement of them based off their looks.That’s not to say that our opinions remain the same based on our first impressions after only looking at them, but it’s something we do initially. 

Game developers, artists, writers, and directors will usually strive to make their characters as visually appealing to us as possible because that’s what makes us go “ohhh they pretty *picks thing up.*” 

There are issues that develop from this, such as unrealistic expectations of what true beauty is and how it actually affects the audience. After taking in so much of this content, I started to wonder if it had any affect on why we have “Problematic Faves” and if there IS something linked within the way we view them as physically attractive. 

While I believe that appearance is an important factor in character development and is what draws us to them, it’s also a bit more complicated than that.

One of the many things I adore about the final season is it’s character design for all the students at Ericson. All of the Ericson kiddos have their own unique looks and manners of which they hold themselves.

Sure we’ve got Louis and Violet, who we all gush about all the time on how beautiful they are. How many times have we talked about Louis’ freckles or Violet’s eyes or just how gosh darn pretty we think they are while incorporating it into writing our fanfics or headcanons or creating out artworks of them?

But what’s great is that they aren’t all “conveniently attractive” or someone a shallow Hollywood director would look at one time and say “there’s our star!”

Willy is a fan favorite among many in our community. What I love about his design is his teeth. He’s a kid growing up in the apocalypse without proper dental care. His teeth are crooked, there are gaps between them, and he’s even missing some. If that same Hollywood director were to look at him, they’d either slap some extreme braces on him or cast him as a tree troll. 

But not everyone has those perfectly straight pearly whites. Some of us have crooked teeth, or we’ve had painful braces to try and straighten them, or we’ve lost or broken a tooth at some point. You know how refreshing it is to see a character as likable as Willy show up with that smile of his while still being considered a fan favorite? 

Speaking of refreshing, what about Ruby? Everyone loves Ruby. She’s not tall and thin, she’s short and thicker. 

I remember seeing nasty posts questioning why someone like Aasim would have any interest in her because of the way she’s built, and that that pisses me off. 

It’s so damn great to see someone like Ruby portrayed the way she is in this game. As someone who IS more on the shorter and heavier side, it’s hard to find a character like this who doesn’t suddenly become slim therefore “prettier” over the course of the story or who isn’t a terrible or whose weight and build is all their character is. The last movie I watched that featured a plus size main character was that god awful Sierra Burgess movie on Netflix and that character made me want to punch things. 

All I can say is thank god for Ruby.

Speaking of which, how about Omar? He’s short and stocky, too, but y’know what? We made this dude a GOD. What does that tell you?

These are examples using more minor characters that fall into that non-”Problematic Fave” tier, but what about our characters that do?

I used to have a strong theory that some characters got more love and attention JUST because they’re more attractive to the audience, even if their character is boring, holds little to no plot relevance, or is an “evil” being beyond forgiveness.  

It’s a theory that I believe still holds some truth, though I think that truth lies more with the younger fans, or those who aren’t quite as mature. 

As someone who has worked around elementary school children, as well as 13-14 year olds, I think I can safely make the assumption that they tend to take things at face value a good chunk of the time.

Pretty person = Good!

Not pretty person = Bad!

That sort of deal. 

So, the question I pose is:

Does a character’s level of attractiveness have an effect on our willingness to forgive some of their more problematic behaviors?

I’m sure most of you read that and said “Uh, is this a trick question? No?”

When you think about the kinds of stories that we’re always told about the beautiful princesses who are pure and good and the ugly stepmothers who are evil and bad, it’s not hard to see why the younger ones would see things as more black and white rather than a shade of gray. 

If the pretty princess poisons her “evil” stepmother during their morning tea, how easily do we forgive her just because we’re told that she’s a pure, pretty princess? We know poisoning someone is bad, but... if the stepmother was ugly and evil, then the princess must have had a reason for doing this, right? So... it’s okay... right?

Is the princess justified in her actions, even if the stepmother wasn’t doing anything more than drinking her morning tea?

I look at that and say, “No,” whereas a much younger person might say, “Yeah. The stepmother was evil.” 

Young children are fascinating to talk to, by the way. They’re sponges who absorb knowledge like you wouldn’t believe but somehow they still take everything at that face value and believe whatever the “good” person says in a story until you help them see the bigger picture. That’s why they tend to be more susceptible to falling for twists. 

But once you explain to them the more complicated elements of the princess and the stepmother, they’re intelligent enough to grasp that the princess is wrong. 

I believe once we grow older and open ourselves up to more complex stories full of gray characters, learning about them through experience, we start to see that beauty isn’t just in the eye in the beholder, but also that it doesn’t mean shit at the end of the day. 

You can have the most beautiful person in the world be your main character, but if that beautiful person drowns a bag full of kittens, suddenly they aren’t so attractive, now are they?

One of a kid’s favorite example of a good-looking antagonist is Hans from Frozen. 

While I think the whole “he was actually evil the whole time haha we fooled you” thing in that movie is garbage, I give it credit for being the first exposure of this concept to young kids, sending them down a path of looking at different characters they see in a new light. 

We like characters who are attractive because, well, they’re attractive. But we’re  also mature enough to know that their attractiveness isn’t solely based on their appearance. It’s merely the seed that only grows with development, personality, and an arc. It only makes up a small portion of why we like a character in the first place. We know that just because someone is good-looking, it doesn’t justify their actions. 

But for those who are still growing out of those black and while fairy tales and just starting to expand their views of different characters while learning that looks can be deceiving, are they more likely to forgive a character or not fully understand that they’re in the wrong just because they’re visually pleasing? 

Another example outside of TWDG that I can give you is Nathan Prescott from the game Life is Strange. I’ve mentioned this game several times before, and even wrote a whole segment on it in my Louis and Violet essay from a while back. 

When I was a young lass, I picked up this game and really liked it. I wasn’t as into it as I am TWDG, but I liked it enough to play every episode as it came out and then check the tag to see what everyone thought. 

While browsing this tag, I noticed that a lot of the fan base seemed young. Makes sense, it IS a game starring teens set in an academy setting and I was young, too. 

But with that, one thing that always bothered me was how a number of young people talked about Nathan. 

Nathan who, if you haven’t played the game, is one of the antagonists. They would gush about this kid, seeming to make up excuses for the appalling things he did and it felt very tied to his looks. 

I’m sorry to any Life is Strange fans who might’ve been one of these young fans... but that really is the impression I got at the time.

Maybe I just didn’t get the hype about this dude who drugged girls so he could pose and take pictures of them because of his weirdly under-explained relationship with the surprise villain of the story, but he doesn’t seem like the type of guy to get all “Poor, precious, beautiful baby boi didn’t deserve this !” about. 

Then again, if writing this has taught me anything, I might have missed something by not being involved with that fandom, but what I gathered was that he didn’t become the redeemable character they all thought he would be and they didn’t like that, so it becomes harder to try and justify the things he did because he didn’t end up being good in the end even though they all thought he would be. I guess. 

But, gathering that a lot of them were so young and going off the content I predominately saw... I don’t know. It didn’t ever feel right. I had suspicions that lead to this theory. That’s what I’m saying. 

This can apply to other fandoms, too, where a group of people will take a character/person they find attractive and gush about how pretty they are rather than anything else that makes them interesting. Not everyone, of course, but I get the feeling you all know what I mean and have come across something like it before. I’m just trying to explain it. 

Or maybe it is just me and you have no idea what I’m talking about. 

Either way. 

Returning back to our “Problematic Faves,” lets ask this question about them in particular. 

How much of David’s attractiveness plays into my love of him? 

I mean, he’s not a bad looking dude. In fact, I dare say that the Garcia brothers are both very attractive guys. I give ‘em both a 10/10. 

But does that actually aid in my actual feelings towards him at all? 

What about the others we’ve talked about so far?

I don’t see many people talking about how pretty they think Kenny is... though his mustache IS majestic and that’s something we all agree on.

And Lilly’s okay. I guess. 

Nate could be a good-looking dude if he’d just put his crazy eyes away.

I believe our best bet it in getting a more clear answer to this question would to be take a quick look back at Minerva.

Remember how I said Minerva was so hyped up based on a two second appearance in the ep3 trailer? Granted, we did have more than JUST her appearance to form this hype around.... but admit it, a huge part of the hype was how good she looked.

She looked awesome.

Hell, just seeing her had me excited to see what she would do in ep3, even though I had the feeling she wouldn’t be an ally.

I used to have a hard time wrapping my head around why so many people love her as much as they do, and I previously thought it was based a lot on her appearance.

Is it ignorant and shallow of me to think y’all loved her based solely on her looks?

Probably. Yes. Yes, it was.

Now that I’ve looked into this further, I see that there’s more to the love and interest surrounding her, but..... it’s kind of what my first thought was? In the beginning? 

Either way, it’s still an interesting idea to consider when thinking about a character you love.

With that said, what if we apply this question to a character who is less of a “Problematic Fave” and more of my “God Tier Fave.”

You all know that Louis is my favorite character across ALL the games. My love for him is vibrant, but one of the many things I love about him IS his character design. He’s a visually appealing guy, and his personality, different traits, dialogue, flaws, and character arc only build onto the attractiveness of his character.

If Louis didn’t look like this, would I still love him?

Assuming that everything else about him is the same, then yeah. 

What if the developers went with the concept art of him that looked like a odd Harry Styles knockoff? Would I still love him?

Again, I want to say that I would, assuming that everything else about him be the same. But going with that certain concept art does take away an important aspect of his character and his relationship to Clementine.

Many of you have told me how much you appreciate the fact that Clementine and Louis represent a sweet, healthy black couple. That’s important to all of us. If we went with the first concept art, then that’s something we’d lose. Would we still ship clouis? Probably, but again, that important element and representation is lost and that would affect our overall opinion of it, even if just a bit.

But, what if Louis looked exactly as he does now, but were to do something awful? Would I still love him?

Well, my first instinct is to say, “Yes.”

In ep3, Louis tells us that he purposely broke up his parents marriage because his father wouldn’t let him take singing lessons. He broke into his father’s credit cards and made it look like he had a mistress, then made sure his mother knew about it. He did this over the course of a year. Then, when the divorce was finalized, he threw his father’s words back in his face: “You get to be happy or you get to be rich. You can’t be both.”

Knowing this, I still love Louis.

What he did was awful, but the reason I don’t hate him or even like him any less is because of how he acted while telling us. You can feel the guilt and remorse in his voice, the shame that he was once a person who thought that was okay to do.

He did that a long time ago, he learned from this terrible mistake he made, went as far as to punish himself by taking on a irresponsible, piano-playing jokester persona who anyone rarely ever took seriously. Louis changed for the better and he’s still a likable, relatable, lovably character despite this.

But in order to dig a little deeper into this idea of attractiveness and just how far we’ll go to try and justify a character based solely on their looks, I then thought:

 “Okay, then consider this: What if Louis and Minerva switched places with him doing all those things she did that made me dislike her? Would I still love him?”

And things got a little complicated.

Because my immediate first thought was “Yes.”

That shocked the hell out of me.

Why the fuck would I be okay with LOUIS acting the way Minerva did, but not MINERVA herself? That makes no sense.

Louis betraying us on the boat by knocking Clementine out and locking her in the cell isn’t suddenly okay because it’s LOUIS.

Louis showing up on the bridge to try and murder Tenn isn’t suddenly okay because it’s him and not MINERVA.

The reality is this: If Louis and Minerva traded places, I wouldn’t love Louis. I don’t care how attractive his character design is, I would feel the same way about him that I feel about Minerva. I love Louis for who he is within the context of the canon game, but if Louis traded places with Minerva, he wouldn’t be that Louis that I love.

The problem with asking myself this is I know Louis’ character and I want to think the best of him. I’m attached to him. I don’t want to imagine him doing anything that horrible because I know that would be an breaking of his character. His appearance has nothing to do with it. 

But my first instinct was to side with him. 

That’s when it all came together.

A character’s appearance is important in the first impression, but our perception of that character’s attractiveness is only elevated or lowered based on the important things: personality, backstory, relationships, flaws, fears, regrets, change, and complete character arc. 

So how does this apply to my love for David?

Well, it eliminates any possibility that I only like David just because he’s pretty.

Perhaps I’m not so shallow after all.

Yeah, that’s the conclusion of this segment: something I already knew. But, I felt it was a concept that could spark some thought about what attractiveness really means while debunking any idiots who may grasp at straws with the insult of, “You only like [blank] and excuse their toxicity because you think they’re hot!”

... except the Life is Strange community might come after me for implying a nicer version of that towards one of the antagonists... but hopefully you understand the point I was attempting to make in bringing that up as an example.

I like David’s design, but him being an attractive dude isn’t why I like him. If anything, his looks being appealing to my eye is at the end of my long, complicated list of why I like him.

Conclusion:

Looks matter initially, and our perception of a character’s attractiveness is either elevated or lowered based on the more important qualities of their character, problematic or otherwise.

[continued in 4/?]

[hawkofkrypton]

Brightburn REVIEW [Spoilers!]

I FINALLY got to watch this bad boy and...

I really liked it!

I was giving an hard time to the folks that banned it from my country but I absolutely take back everything: this movie is NOT, I repeat NOT, for the weak of stomach. Maybe its cause I got so used to PG-13 horror flicks (as my friend who watched with me said, “they don’t usually show these things!”) but this one does not mess around. So here’s your warning.

I watched it with my best friend on streaming last night, she didn’t watch any of the trailers first but we both really liked it.

So, I want to first start with the things I wasn’t a big fan of: Some jumpscares felt unnecessary. I disliked them yes but not the point of nonsensically passionate hatred that everyone seems to feel towards jumpscares for some reason, another popular problem this movie suffers is how the trailer made it seem like it was gonna focus less on Brandon’s development and more on him killing people, which isn’t the case. I HATE HATE HATE when they put the movie’s ending shot in the trailer, it makes audiences believe there’s more after that and when it doesn’t happen then they’ll be disappointed.

A thing this movie really excels at its foreshadowing and the Chekhov’s gun, which is a rule that says “don’t introduce elements irrelevant to the story that aren’t gonna come into play later”.

There are simple things, like Brandon’s cover hanging to him like a cape when he first hears the ship or literal checkhov’s guns when the rifle that his uncle gave to him as a birthday gift is what his dad used to try to kill him, then when Brandon gets wounded by his ship’s metal, which plants the info that “the only thing that can harm him is its own ship, his Kryptonite” to the audiences minds. You guys have NO IDEA how disappointed I would have been if they didn’t do anything with the idea, so I smiled when Brandon’s mum got an eureka moment and tried to kill him with a piece of his ship, which failed miserably, but I’m a lot happier seeing horror characters dying by doing the smart thing than a stupid one, it showcases just how hopeless the situation is.

Speaking of smart, Brandon is a sociopathic little shit, but I thought it was a genius idea to make the airplane crash (with no survivors) into the Breyer farm to cover up his destruction of the house and yknow, murder spree, then act like he was the only survivor. Truly the beginnings of a sociopath and I loved it.

Then there are LESS simple examples of foreshadowing but genius nonetheless: remember when Brandon shows near-encyclopedic knowledge about hostile waps, like how they send their offsprings out to be raised on another territory and then destroy it? That’s what Brandon’s species does. They sent him to Earth to “TAKE THE WORLD”, which makes this entire character even more Earth 3 Ultraman-y than he already is. Loved that little detail.

(Although it would be pretty hilarious if Brandon’s species was actually just creepy but benevolent and the kid being a sociopathic little shit interpreted it in its own way. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first message from a superior that Brandon misinterprets)

I believe that its a lot better when the movie doesn’t rely on jumpscares but creepy ambience and Brandon creepily lurking around his next victim. The movie really nails the horror atmosphere when it needs to, every single shot of the farm with grey skies looked creepy as hell. Then of course there’s all the blood and gore, which for its budget it doesn’t have ANY right to be this well done. The jaw scene isn’t gonna leave my head anytime soon.

The Breyers were trying to have a baby without success when Brandon landed in their lives, leading Ma Breyer to love him and defend him like a real mother should, but it also tragically leads to her being blind to any possibility of its son doing anything wrong. Pa Breyer is also quite tolerant for a good portion of the movie, albeit definitely understanding what’s wrong with Brandon before anyone else does. So the parents are acting wrongfully because plot, but because of their characters.

Brandon’s actor performance as this superpowerful evil kid is nothing short of fantastic. He can switch from sympathetic to terrifying in a whim and he doesn’t feel exaggerated or corny in any scene, he definitely can carry a whole movie where he’s both the monster and the protagonist.

Really digged the scene where Pa Breyer shoots him in the head and Brandon looks at him like he just hit him with a small rock. It didn’t hurt him, except on the inside of course. Then he lasers out the ever living hell of Pa’s face ala Injustice Superman, another bit I loved. Remember how Brandon’s mum was all about “you’re a blessing that dropped from the sky”? Well guess what, he kills her by dropping her from the sky, poetic!

In the ending we see Brandon going on a rampage accross the world, with the media calling him “BrightBurn”, which I was very happy to see that’s his supervillain name, it fits both the location and powers. And the end credits scene teaser more supervillains to come, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds. Like my friend said when we finished watching it, “I want the 2!”

Its not a GREAT horror movie but its still very good and unique. 7.8/10

(Admittedly, watching BrightBurn and finishing The Boys on the same day really gave me a weird urge to shave my hair and wear buiness suits. Uh)

[sabraeal]

He Who Studies Evil [Part 2/4]

Part 1

A prequel to Wanting Is More Pleasurable Than Having (And Other Things Vulcans Don’t Know a Damned Thing About), written for @bubblesthemonsterartist 

There are pleasantries to observe when the runabout docks. Haruka hardly expects them from a group of war-mongering mine managers, but when he steps through the airlock, ensigns flanking him to either side, he’s pleasantly surprised to find a greeting party.

“Welcome,” their leader says, the tallest among them, though none of the Cardassians are what he would consider small. Perhaps not as broad and muscled as he would expect, but then again, alien biology holds a cornucopia of oddities. One only underestimated a Vulcan once before believing in their superior muscle density. “You are invited to meet with Gul Dukat presently.”

Gul Dukat, the prefect of Bajor. A man much maligned by the planet’s population, as far as he can tell, though he doubts the Bajorans would welcome even the most benevolent overlord if he were Cardassian.

He is also the man brokering this peace. The representative Cardassia wished to pit him against.

Already they are trying to throw him off his guard, but no one makes captain without a degree in quick-thinking. “Thank you for the warm welcome. We are honored by the prefect’s invitation and will join him after we--”

“There’s no need,” the ranking Cardassian tells him. “Your effects will be brought to your quarters, and you will go to Gul Dukat. Follow me. You do not wish to keep him waiting.”

Haruka hesitates. The Federation wants this treaty, yes, but allowing himself to be summoned as a supplicant to this Gul Dukat would set himself at a disadvantage, would make this so-called prefect believe that he held all the power in this exchange. A dangerous place to be, when the only thing separating him from an unfortunate mining-related accident was two junior crewman.

“He means that,” Ensign Shidnote mutters, jostling his shoulder in a way that could be easily be an accident, two men in too-close quarters -- except for the way the boy is so careful not to look at him, to pitch his voice low. “Punctuality is a religion to these people.”

He stares, and not for the first time, wonders exactly how that ensign got that scar across his nose.

“Sir,” he adds belatedly, an afterthought.

“I thought the Union didn’t allow religion,” Haruka manages, still rooted to the spot.

“Well.” Shidnote shrugs, sauntering off the docking platform. “Had to replace it with something, I guess.”

It is said Cardassia used to be covered in old Hebetian vaults, a marvel of sweeping architecture, the cradle of humanoid life. But those ruins are all but gone now, instead replaced with the style enthusiastically purveyed by the Union -- tall, imposing buildings; architecture meant to intimidate rather than inspire. Unless, of course, one wished to inspire fear, in which case, the Cardassians had gotten that down to an art.

Terok Nor was a microcosm of that fear, of that oppressive sensation of being watched. Their escort led them across what he brusquely introduced as the promenade, an open area where it seemed brisk trade was conducted, and both the Bajoran workers and their Cardassian overlords could relax for a spell, though never in the same place. Even here, Haruka could not shake the feeling of a hundred eyes on his back, not until he followed the soaring spikes of the pylons upward, up to where the higher level loomed, every banister lined with armor-clad Cardassians.

“It’s a trick,” Shidnote tells him, voice pitched low, so no one but him and Sui can hear. “Meant to make you feel observed. They think it cuts down on the peons getting uppity.”

“And do they?” Haruka asks, trying not to show how much this display unnerves him. “Get uppity, I mean?”

“No.” His mouth curves, bemused. “At least not where the Cardassians can see.”

They meet in a board room, a level field compared to the experience on the promenade, but Gul Dukat is an intimidating presence nonetheless. All Cardassians were broad in the shoulders -- or at least wore armor to make it so -- but the spiny ridges down his neck make him seem even more forbidding than the rest, and the bone at his brow protrudes so starkly that his eyes seem deep-set, more skull than man.

What’s more, every move the man makes says he’s aware of it, that he enjoys the discomfort his presence brings to his guests. Even the other Cardassians are deferential, flinching when his gaze flits over him. This is how the prefect keeps control of this station, even with tension bursting at its seams; he relies on this overbearing mien to get his work done, to keep both the Bajorans and his people in line.

And thus when he smiles, teeth bared in the human way, Haruka knows he has found a formidable opponent.

“Ambassador!” The man sweeps his hand out over the table, laden heavily with food. Haruka has eaten any number of foreign cuisines, but these dishes -- they must all be from this sector from how little he recognizes them. “I hope we have made you feel welcome to Terok Nor! A home away from home, I think you say on Earth.”

“Just so.” The words come out stiffer than they ought; for all that the Cardassians needed this treaty, Haruka could not help but think, as he surveyed the steaming stews and flaky pies and whole roasts of meat he could not account for, that it would be all too easy for a human to eat poison and never even know it.

“Here, let us start with a toast.” The prefect pours a pale blue liquor into fluted glasses, smile still firmly in place. “To our most important duty. May we each serve the State as we ought.”

His own smile pulls tight, but Haruka drinks the wine down. It’s both smoother and sweeter than he expects.

“That’s not kanar,” Shidnote remarks, blinking at the glass. Haruka stares at him, eyes wide.

It’s unfortunate his attention was not the only one the ensign had caught.

“Correct. A fine vintage though, is it not?” Gul Dukat asks, turning the question back to him. Still, Haruka can feel that he captures only half the prefect’s interest, the other firmly on Shidnote. “Springwine, from Bajor. Made from kava juice. I must admit, I have quite a penchant for it.”

“Really.” He keeps his tone even, hand steady. From what they’d heard from Bajor, Gul Dukat is responsible for countless atrocities, but here he is, admitting a weakness for their wine. “I had not expected to hear a Cardassian praise Bajor.”

The man’s smile grows even wider, and Haruka trusts him even less. “The Union would not waste resources bringing Bajor into the modern age if there were nothing of value.”

Shidnote’s mouth pulls tight, but he stays silent. To his other side, Sui looks like he might faint from the very insinuation one might violate the Prime Directive.

“I had been of the impression that its value was to be found in the uridium ore mined from the planet’s surface,” Haruka ventures, keeping his tone conversational, light. He has no intention of provoking the prefect, but he wouldn’t suffer the whitewashing of the occupation right in front of him. “Not it’s culture.”

Dukat’s smile takes on more teeth, not in threat, but in delight. “Can it not be both?”

He makes to serve himself, and the ensigns follow their host’s invitation. Sui delicately arranges his plate with things that look vaguely familiar, while Shidnote digs in with aplomb, serving himself heaping portions of everything at the table. Ah, to be a young man again.

Haruka is more reserved in his appreciation of the spread, taking from the same plates Shidnote does at half the volume. Dukat watches them with unfeigned pleasure as they each take their first bites into Cardassian cuisine. Or at least, his and Sui’s; Shidnote has barely stopped to say more than, “It’s been forever since I’ve had Tuli!” before tipping a half dozen tiny fish onto his plate.

“Careful,” Dukat warns, as Shidnote reaches to take a spoonful of what looked to be souffle. “The station’s replicators make the hasperat especially spicy.”

The ensign’s face falls flat, blank. “You have Bajoran food too?”

“Of course,” he drawls, “I consider myself a connoisseur of the planet’s delicacies. Little...diamonds in the rough, as you humans say. There’s much to admire, if one dedicates themselves to discovery.”

Listening to this man speak sets Haruka’s teeth on edge as much as a dentist’s drill. “I wasn’t aware the Union allowed the admiration of those outside of it.”

Gul Dukat pauses, hands frozen in the act of cutting his pie. Kain would kill him for making such a bald remark, for veering far too close to the sun, but --

But one does not get things done with men like Gul Dukat by playing their game. He’s ceded too much ground, allowing himself to be summoned straight from the docking bay. It’s time to let the prefect know that the Federation will not just lie down in this negotiation.

Dukat blinks, lets out a laugh. “I had not thought a man from the Federation would be so versed in the statutes if the State.”

“I took up some light reading before coming here,” Haruka explains. “A friend recommended one of your classics. The Never Ending Sacrifice.”

“Ah, yes! An excellent example of Cardassia’s literature!” Again, his enthusiasm is unfeigned. “The repetitive epic is our highest form of art.”

The Hebetians must weep for what was lost, if that passed for high art. “It is quite...illuminating. I was surprised to see how highly the family as a unit is regarded among your people. I had always thought your duty was foremost to the State.”

It is an impertinent observation, and if he was at a Romulan table it would have ended in death for one of the men here, but Gul Dukat only continues to smile, unfazed.

“Ah, it is an older piece of work, though its themes have translated well into a more modern age. And besides, is not a strong family that is best for the State?” Dukat proposes, warming to the topic. Of course Haruto would be right in this -- the Cardassians did view a meal as a venue for philosophical debate. “Our children are our future, and our elders mark the path.”

Haruka nods, and his heart pounds in his chest as he decides his answer. “That had been my thought as well. However...”

Gul Dukat leans forward, intrigued. “However...?”

“I heard a rumor,” he confides, “and I’m afraid it made me doubt what I thought I understood.”

The prefect stiffens, smile wrapped tight around his face. “A rumor?”

“Oh, yes.” Sui is still beside him, eyes wide and mouth opened, but Shidnote is blank-faced, watching the exchange with little more than cursory interest. “I heard that you were keeping a prisoner aboard this station.”

“A prisoner? Here?” Gul Dukat laughs as if the very thought were preposterous. “I must admit, my constable is very good at apprehending men and putting them in the brig, but those are dissidents and drunks. Minor crimes, no more than a night in a cell.”

“I didn’t mean a member of this station,” Haruka presses, keeping his tone guileless, almost helpful. “Rumor put it as a Federation prisoner.”

“You cannot believe that,” the prefect says, hardly blinking. “I’m sure there are ships that have taken their adversaries, but Terok Nor is a refinery, not a place for the Union to keep political prisoners.”

Haruka lifts an eyebrow. “Even though it is so close to Bajor?”

“You did say Federation prisoners,” Dukat manages though his clenched teeth, “did you not? As far as i know, there are no...Federation actors on the surface of Bajor. Though I believe we are allowed our...prisoners of war, as you say.”

Haruka lets the lie settle between them. Perhaps there was no official Federation presence on the planet, but hardly a news cycle went by without more reports of losses from those who went to aid the rebels.

“Our articles do allow such things, yes,” he allows, “but I was told this wasn’t an acting member but instead...a child.”

“A child.” Haruka has known sheer cliff faces less forbidding than the tone Gul Dukat takes now. “Preposterous. The Union would never do such a thing.”

“Of course not,” he agrees. “I am only relaying the rumor that has been circulating among the high-ups of the Federation. As a courtesy.”

“Yes. Thank you,” the prefect grits out. “It is most...gratifying to find out what sort of...pernicious propaganda has been spread about my people. You do not believe it, I hope?”

“How could I, if you deny it?” He offers Dukat a thin smile, one that says quite clearly that he has noticed how the Gul has done no such thing.

“Good.” The man must be agitated, to not see through him, even now. “After all, you know how much we revere children.”

“Oh yes,” Haruka agrees. “Cardassian children, at least.”

Haruka had thought he’d known bad mattresses -- after all, it wasn’t as if Federation-issue sleeping bags did much in the way of muting rocks at one’s back -- but it takes only a moment laying on his bed to realize that Cardassians had only mastered the art of torture because they first slept on bed like these.

“Computer.” The room buzzes with silence, and he remembers -- this isn’t the Wistal. There is no computer keyed to talk to him here.

He huffs, swinging his legs off the bed. There’s no other way to do this than the old-fashioned way, then.

His PADD comes easily to hand, and it’s easier still to call up Ensign Shidnote’s service record, far longer than a man his rank should have. He scrolls through all the beginning matter -- born to a freighter family, recruited on mission, other details that seem more and more bog standard now that there’s humans spread all over the alpha quadrant and beyond -- but his eyes catch on the first posting: USS Fortissia under Captain Lido, stationed under Admiral Bergatt and the USS Wilant. Admiral Bergatt, who has been fighting the good fight against the Cardassians for the past half decade.

The would explain a thing or two, save that he should have had no need to contact Bajor --

Something niggles just at the back of his mind. Lido, Lido. He had heard that name before, years ago, and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

It takes only a quick search, and there it is: Captain Amos Lido, with a dozen postings over his illustrious career, the last being the Fortissia at the Cardassian border. Well on his way to Admiral, it seemed, until the mutiny against Starfleet, and his flight into Bajoran space. He’d nearly made it a year working with the resistance, but he’d fallen in with the Kohn-Ma and gotten himself back on the Federation’s radar.

He, like many of his Kohn-Ma compatriots, chose death over capture. His crew had been given the option to return to the fold, so long as they had not worked with the separatist splinter cell. Zakura Shidnote had been one of them.

Haruka dropped to his bed with a groan. Here he was, meant to make peace with the Cardassian prefect, and he’d gone and brought a resistance fighter on board. Potentially even a terrorist.

He reaches for his PADD again, and calls up Shidnote’s file. He flicks past the neatly scrubbed service record, only stopping when he get to the end, when he gets to his assignment to the Wistal, and right there, clear as day, the name on his recommendation --

The tablet drops from his hands, and Haruka scrubs a hand over his face. He should have know, he should have known.

Special recommendation from the Federation, signed by Haruto Wisteria.

[lisagintexas]

Shabbat, September 6, 2019

Friday evening dinner (Erev Shabbat) was wonderful as always! Good singing, food and fellowship!

Shabbat study included messages from a couple of the young men here on the scripture reading which covered Deut. 16:18-21:9, Isa. 51:12-52:12 and John 14:9-20. Aaron who is married with 3 boys and another baby on the way spoke about where Jesus (Yeshua) is in this reading? The most recognized verse is Deut. 18:17 which says, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” Jeshua certainly was a fulfillment of this prophecy. The portion in John 14:10 says, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” Peter quoted Moses in Acts 3:22 as did Stephen in Acts 7:37 confirming Jeshua as the prophet Moses spoke about.

He also so spoke about Deut. 19:20 where God wanted them to “hear and fear”. Although God is full of compassion, lovingkindness, mercy and forgiveness, He is also a God of righteous judgment, and He want us to hear and fear Him and then grow in the love of God. This is the beginning of a relationship of understanding God. God says to remove the evil from amongst us and not to pity the evil person. You cannot disconnect a person from what he has done. Each persons actions affect the whole community and at times that means the evil person is to be put to death according to God.

The last part of his message was about really living your life for God and having the boldness to do so. This comes from having the power of the Holy Spirit within us and leading us to do the Father’s will. We see examples of this in Acts 4:31, 4:13. Peter and John were filled with boldness. The world cannot receive the spirit of truth. Often we hear the phrase that we should hate the sin but love the sinner. But actually scripture says God hates all evildoers (Psalms 5:5). God desires all to repent. The truth is foolishness to the world. Paul asked, “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” Romans 6:1-2. The reading today in Deut. 18:13 says “be blameless”. We should heed the words of Jeshua as the work of God in us, a changed life from being sinners to walking in righteousness is one of God’s greatest works! Here in the land we see the incredible work of God as spoken of by Jeremiah, “‘the days are coming’, says YHVH, ‘that it shall no more be said, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all lands where He had driven them them.’” This is becoming evident to many, but has just begun. Is the power of God evident in that we are living a changed life?

Zach spoke next who is the father of 4 sons, one daughter and another baby on the way. The blessing of children is all around us here at HaYovel and in Israel. I love walking through the streets of Jerusalem and seeing families walking around with usually a minimum of four children. The Waller parents, here at HaYovel, who have 11 children, 8 who are married, have 25 grandchildren and six more on the way! Psa. 127:5 says “children are a gift from God...how blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them.” The Wallers believed God! And so do the Jews. I’m humbled by this outlook. But that is not what Zach spoke about, that was just my insert of something I have learned to think differently about since the time I was having children. Children in Jerusalem...

Zach spoke about Godly authority in a family and in a community of believers. He did a good job explaining the appropriateness of it, and suggested that people should look up to those who are their elders and have a personal mentor in their life. The younger would need to ask the older to be their mentor and often because of insecurities and shame we as people are not willing to do so. It would, however, help to create a healthier environment.

After lunch we had a few hours to relax before ladies bible study and men’s study at 4 pm. The ladies were still taking time to share their individual stories that we began last week. Then we all took our Sabbath walk around the camp before dinner. Here’s a few pictures I took. The big sprawling cities are Arab and the small settlements on top of the far mountains are settlements like Elon Moreh.

After dinner, Tommy Waller spoke to us. Here are some notes I took from his talk. In the reading this morning God speaks to Israel saying, “When you come into the land which YHVH your God is giving you...” (Deuteronomy 18:9), He then gives instructions about how his people are to live. Paul speaks about these same “abominations” in Galatians 5:19-21 saying if you practice such things you will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul says these are against God’s law, but the fruits of the spirit in verses 22-23 are not. Paul was speaking about our inheritance of the kingdom along with Israel, which is the physical inheritance that was promised to Israel. (Eph. 2:12)

Yeshua was the prophet Moses foretold, and the apostles spoke of him as the fulfillment of the Prophet to come. (Deut. 18:17, Acts 3:22, 7:37) God’s warning to Israel about false prophets was that they would teach against the commandments of God. Jeshua was not a false prophet. He said in Matt. 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” And in John 5:46 “for if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” He always spoke his Fathers words, which means he upheld the commandments and laws of God. Picture of at Torah scroll.

He taught his disciple to pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s kingdom is already in heaven, it is the kingdom of heaven that we pray to be here on earth. That’s a kingdom with God as king and his Torah/instruction as the way mankind will live. Many churches have taught and some still teach what is called “replacement theology” meaning the church has replaced Israel. They believe the prophesies and promises that God made to Israel are null and void for Israel and are about the church. This completely disconnects God’s promises to the land and law of God. This is why the instruction of God as we read in Deuteronomy 18:9 doesn’t affect people in replacement theology.

There is a saying currently that “love wins” meaning it doesn’t matter what you do. Abortion, homosexuality, fornication, adultery...it’s all okay, because “love wins”. Well, according to God, who does not change, and who Yeshua never spoke against, it does matter. God says in Deut. 18:10 “you shall not make your son or daughter pass through the fire”. The pagan belief was to sacrifice their children in the fire praying Molech would save them. Also those who did not want their children could sacrifice them to Molech. How does this play out in our society today. Abortion happens because mothers have lost their love for their children. What God says is an abomination is still that. Are perhaps other ways we pass our children through the fire by not really protecting them from the evil of this world? Maybe by what they see on media, or elsewhere and we just hope and pray that they will make it through okay. Or do we protect our children from the evil in this world.

The true prophets spoke about the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David. Amos 9:11 says “on that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down, and repair its damages, I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” Haggai 2:4-7 speaks about God shaking all the nations, and He says, “I will come to the desire of all nations, and I will fill this temple with glory”. Jeshua was zealous for the temple and it’s holiness as he drove out the moneychangers who were desecrating the house of God, saying “it is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’” (Matt. 21:13) He was quoting Isaiah 56:6-7 where it says “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations”.

The prophets foretold the rebuilding of the temple and the Jews believe the Messiah will come and sit on the throne of David. They are surprised when we say we also believe the Messiah will come and sit on the throne of David, and that we believe it is Jeshua the Messiah. (Luke 1:32) The Jews all have their Rabbi’s that they look to as their teacher, and they will say, Rabbi (fill in the blank) is my Rabbi. We say “Jeshua is our rabbi”. Mary called him that (John 20:16). He was a Rabbi and his disciples were his followers. That is still the way it is in Judaism today. Jeshua, our Rabbi, always agreed with the word of God taught in the Torah. If we follow our Rabbi, Jeshua, we will also agree with the Torah. The Jews are praying, hoping and preparing for the Temple to be rebuilt. Is it possible God will use them and the nations to rebuild the temple, as prophesied, so that Jeshua the Messiah can rule?

The end of another great Shabbat with inspirational teachings, great food and fellowship!

[dfroza]

“there is no fear in Love”

but there is the reverential fear of our Creator who is Love. and True wisdom begins with this.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 12th chapter of the book of Luke:

By now a crowd of many thousands had gathered around Jesus. So many people pushed to be near him, they began to trample one another.

Jesus turned to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It permeates everything they do and teach, like leaven. Everything hidden and covered up will soon be exposed. For the facade is falling down, and nothing will be kept secret for long. Whatever you have spoken in private will be public knowledge, and what you have whispered secretly behind closed doors will be broadcast far and wide for all to hear.

“Listen, my beloved friends, don’t fear those who may want to take your life but can do nothing more. It’s true that they may kill your body, but they have no power over your soul. The one you must fear is God, for he has both the power to take your life and the authority to cast your soul into hell. Yes, the only one you need to fear is God.

“What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by any amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.

“I can assure you of this: If you freely declare in public that I am the Son of Man, the Messiah, then I will freely declare to all the angels of God that you are mine. But if you publicly pretend that you don’t know me, I will deny you before the angels of God. If anyone speaks evil of me, the Son of Man, that one can be forgiven. But if anyone speaks scornfully against the Holy Spirit, it will never be forgiven. And remember this: When people publicly accuse you and forcefully drag you before the religious leaders and authorities, do not be troubled. Don’t worry about defending yourself or how to answer their accusations. Simply be confident and allow the Spirit of Wisdom access to your heart, and in that very moment he will reveal what you are to say to them.”

Just then someone spoke up from the crowd and said, “Master, you should compel my older brother to divide the family inheritance and give me my fair share!”

Jesus answered, “My friend, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and from always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.”

Jesus then gave them this illustration: “A wealthy land owner had a farm that produced bumper crops. Every year the harvest was so great it filled his barns to overflowing! He thought, ‘What should I do now that every barn is full and I have nowhere else to store more? I know what I’ll do! I’ll tear down the barns and build one massive barn to hold all my grain and goods. Then I can just sit back, surrounded with comfort and ease. I’ll enjoy life with no worries at all.’

“God said to him, ‘What a fool you are to trust in your riches and not in me! This very night the messengers of death will demand to take your life. Then who will get all the wealth you have stored up for yourself?’ The same thing will happen to all those who fill up their lives with everything but God.”

Jesus taught his disciples, saying, “Listen to me. Never let anxiety enter your hearts. Never worry about any of your needs, such as food or clothing. For your life is infinitely more than just the food you eat or the clothing you wear. Take the carefree birds as your example. Do you ever see them worry? They neither grow their own food nor put it in a storehouse for later. Yet God takes care of every one of them, feeding each of them out of the abundance of his love and goodness. Isn’t your life more precious to God than a bird? Be carefree in the care of God!

“Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more year, or even one day? So if worrying adds nothing, but actually subtracts from your life, why would you worry about God’s care of you?

“Think about the lilies. They grow and become beautiful, not because they work hard or strive to clothe themselves. Yet not even Solomon, wearing his kingly garments of splendor, could be compared to a field of lilies. If God can clothe the fields and meadows with grass and flowers, can he not clothe you as well, O struggling one with so many doubts? I repeat: Don’t let worry enter your life. Live above the anxious cares about your personal needs. People everywhere seem to worry about making a living, but your heavenly Father knows your every need and will take care of you. As you passionately seek his kingdom, above all else, he will supply your needs. So don’t ever be afraid, dearest friends! Your loving Father joyously gives you his kingdom with all its promises!

“Now, go and sell what you have and give to those in need; you will be making deposits in your account in heaven, an account that will never be taken from you. Your gifts will become a secure and unfailing treasure, deposited in heaven forever. Where you deposit your treasure, that is where you fix your thoughts—and your heart will long to be there also.”

“Be prepared for action at a moment’s notice. Be like servants anticipating their master’s return from a wedding celebration. They are ready at a moment’s notice to unlock and open the door for him. What great joy is ahead for those who stay awake and wait for their Master’s return! He himself will become their servant and wait on them. He may appear at midnight or even later, but what great joy for the awakened ones whenever he comes! Of course, if they knew ahead of time the hour of their master’s appearing, they would be alert, just as they would be ready if they knew ahead of time that a thief was coming to break into their house. So keep being alert and ready at all times. For I promise you that the Son of Man will surprise you and appear when you don’t expect him.”

“Lord,” Peter asked, “does this apply only to the twelve of us, or is it for everyone else as well?”

The Lord replied, “A master will delegate authority in his house to a trustworthy and thoughtful manager who understands his master’s desires. And the household manager will serve others what they need at exactly the right time. And whenever his master returns, he will find that his servant has served him well. I promise you, the master will reward him generously and he will be placed as an overseer of everything he owns.

“But what if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master delays his coming, and who knows when he will return?’ Because of the delay, the servant elevates himself and mistreats those in his master’s household. Instead of caring for the ones he was appointed to serve, he abuses the other servants, both men and women. He throws drunken parties for his friends and gives himself over to every pleasure. Let me tell you what will happen to him. His master will suddenly return at a time that shocks him, and he will remove the abusive, selfish servant from his position of trust. The master will punish him and assign him a portion with the unbelievers.

“Every servant who knows what pleases his master yet does not make himself ready and refuses to put his master’s will to action will receive many punishing blows. Every servant who does not know his master’s will and unwittingly does what is wrong will receive a less severe punishment. For those who have received a greater revelation from their master are required a greater obedience. And those who have been entrusted with great responsibility will be held more responsible to their master.”

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze with fiery passion for God! But first I must be immersed into the baptism of God’s judgment, and I am consumed with passion as I await its fulfillment. Don’t think for a moment that I came to grant peace and harmony to everyone. No, my arrival will change everything and create hostility among you. From now on, even family members will be divided over me and will choose sides one against another. Fathers will be divided from sons and sons from fathers; mothers will be divided from daughters and daughters from mothers; mothers-in-law will be against brides and brides against mothers-in-law—all because of me.”

Jesus then said to the crowds gathered around him, “When you see a cloud forming in the west, don’t you say, ‘A storm is brewing’? And then it arrives. And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say, ‘A heat wave is on the way.’ And so it happens. What hypocrites! You are such experts at forecasting the weather, but you are totally unwilling to understand the spiritual significance of the time you’re living in.

“You can’t even judge for yourselves what is good and right.

“When you are guilty of wrong-doing, it is better to agree with your adversary and settle your dispute before you have to go before a judge. If not, your adversary may drag you into court, and the judge may find you guilty and throw you into prison until you have paid off your fine entirely.”

The Book of Luke, Chapter 12 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 20th chapter of the book of Job:

[Zophar Attacks Job—The Second Round]

Zophar from Naamath again took his turn:

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!

You’ve put my teeth on edge, my stomach in a knot.

How dare you insult my intelligence like this!

Well, here’s a piece of my mind!

“Don’t you even know the basics,

how things have been since the earliest days,

when Adam and Eve were first placed on earth?

The good times of the wicked are short-lived;

godless joy is only momentary.

The evil might become world famous,

strutting at the head of the celebrity parade,

But still end up in a pile of dung.

Acquaintances look at them with disgust and say, ‘What’s that?’

They fly off like a dream that can’t be remembered,

like a shadowy illusion that vanishes in the light.

Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies,

unnoticed, whether they come or go.

Their children will go begging on skid row,

and they’ll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.

Right in the prime of life,

and youthful and vigorous, they’ll die.

“They savor evil as a delicacy,

roll it around on their tongues,

Prolong the flavor, a dalliance in decadence—

real gourmets of evil!

But then they get stomach cramps,

a bad case of food poisoning.

They gag on all that rich food;

God makes them vomit it up.

They gorge on evil, make a diet of that poison—

a deadly diet—and it kills them.

No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams

with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks.

They spit out their food half-chewed,

unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for.

And why? Because they exploited the poor,

took what never belonged to them.

“Such God-denying people are never content with what they have or who they are;

their greed drives them relentlessly.

They plunder everything

but they can’t hold on to any of it.

Just when they think they have it all, disaster strikes;

they’re served up a plate full of misery.

When they’ve filled their bellies with that,

God gives them a taste of his anger,

and they get to chew on that for a while.

As they run for their lives from one disaster,

they run smack into another.

They’re knocked around from pillar to post,

beaten to within an inch of their lives.

They’re trapped in a house of horrors,

and see their loot disappear down a black hole.

Their lives are a total loss—

not a penny to their name, not so much as a bean.

God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes

and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see.

Life is a complete wipeout for them,

nothing surviving God’s wrath.

There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked—

what they have to look forward to.”

The Book of Job, Chapter 20 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, April 27 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about the divine gift of a new heart and spirit:

In the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua warned that our righteousness should exceed that of the religious leaders of his day (Matt. 5:20), and he went on to say: “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Here we note that the Greek word translated “perfect” (τέλειος) may mean “mature” or “fully developed” more than morally flawless, though regarding moral and spiritual practice this distinction is not clear cut, especially if by “mature” we mean *godly* in character, as the context of Yeshua’s statement clearly implies (see Matt. 5:1-48). The Hebrew word translated as “perfect” (תָּמִים) can also mean “complete,” but it can connote being “wholehearted,” “sound,” or even healed (שָׁלֵם). So the question arises, does the word “perfect” mean “flawless” or “healed” -- or perhaps both?

Of course we affirm that God alone is truly perfect (Deut. 32:4; Psalm 18:30), completely good (Matt. 19:17), flawlessly righteous (Psalm 145:17), entirely holy (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4), and peerlessly unique (Exod. 15:11; Jer. 10:6-7), but how can we relate to God’s overmastering perfection in the midst of our daily flaws and chronic imperfections? How dare we approach “to offer the bread of God” (Lev. 21:17)?

Followers of the LORD are called to be a nation of priests, a “select people,” set apart to serve God in holiness (Exod. 19:5-6; 1 Pet. 2:9; Lev. 11:45), but it is clear we are blemished, imperfect, blind, halt, needy, and unclean... This is common to the human condition: all of us, Jew or non-Jew alike, are broken, flawed, and in the midst of the inevitable flow of life that leads to death and decay (Rom. 3:23). We are sick with sin and unable to heal ourselves, and therefore we need a radical transformation - “deliverance from ourselves” – that must come through divine intervention and the miracle of spiritual rebirth (John 3:3,7).

Nevertheless in this world the paradox still remains: we are finite yet long for the undying, the infinite; we are in flux yet anchored in hope; we are a “new creation” yet still saddled with the old nature; we are made holy yet we live in the midst of the profane; we are purified yet still need cleansing; we are healed yet are still wounded; we are redeemed of God yet still need to turn to God in teshuvah; we die daily yet have eternal life. Our hearts are to be a divine sanctuary, yet we are powerless to make God appear in our midst...

Perfection haunts us; we often confuse the ideal and the real. Our romantic visions fail us; all of us are strangers, wanderers, in lonely exile. And the question then becomes – how do we embrace the “already-not-yet,” the process, the fleeting days with their poignant moments – within the context of real hope, a vision that heals and brings us real comfort? How do we make peace with our imperfections, our present darkness, and our hunger for deliverance? How do we envision healing in the midst of our brokenness?

Ironically those defects that disqualify us as priests can be transformed (by grace) into compassion for others, and this can enable us to reach out to God in the midst of our flawed existence... After all, the deepest role of the priest is to draw others near to God, but this requires empathy and awareness of the needs of others. Therefore God clothed himself with our frailty, our infirmities, and the brokenness of our sin in order to redeem us in Yeshua. As it is written, we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15). The priest of the New Covenant is a mediator through poverty of spirit and mourning (Matt. 5:3-8). Just as Joshua the high priest was graciously given robes of righteousness in exchange for his filthy garments (Zech. 3), so we are given an imputed righteousness that comes through trusting in “the One who justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). “For our sake God made Him (i.e., Yeshua) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). This is a righteousness that is “apart from the law, though the law and prophets testified of it; namely, the righteousness of God given through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah” (Rom. 3:21-22). Our present groaning for the complete deliverance is a gift given by the Spirit of God crying out within our hearts (Rom. 8:22-23).

C.S. Lewis once remarked, “God doesn't love you because you are good, but He will make you good because He loves you.” This goodness is the miraculous inner working of an imparted godliness, the divine gift of a new heart and spirit (Ezek. 36:26). Awaken to your eternal perfection in the world to come: “You shall be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect” can be read as a prophecy. Do not give up, friends; do not succumb to despair. We must learn to endure ourselves and believe in the healing to come. "Do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:16-18). And may God help us walk in perfect faith in His unfailing love (Phil. 3:14). [Hebrew for Christians]

4.27.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

April 27, 2021

Christ the King

“Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:15)

Of the many descriptive titles of the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps the most significant is that of King because this speaks of His universal dominion. The day is coming when “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:10).

First of all, since He created all things, He is the King of creation. “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:3-5).

In a special sense, of course, He is the King of the Jews. “He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33).

He is also our King of redemption, having set us free from the kingdom of the wicked one. He “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

There is a day coming in which all the kings of the earth shall unite against Him. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron....And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:15- 16). Until then, let us serve Him as King and submit to Him as Lord. HMM

[asiplaythem]

Devil May Cry: Series Retrospective- "DmC: Devil May Cry"

At long last, I sat down and played DmC: Devil May Cry. Well and truly, the dust has settled, the dead horse has been beaten into compost, and the reactionary rages and defenses have died down. And, for myself, I think my fanboy passion for the series has subsided.

A weak Special Edition, a pachinko machine and a bad MvC model later, I hold out no honest hope for the Devil May Cry franchise now. We’ll always have the Temen-ni-Gru Dante...but we’re not getting back together, lets face it.

So now, when I look at Ninja Theory’s protagonist, who I will still refer to as Donte, the fresh insult that he used to be is now replaced with a genuine, tryhard, grittiness that just seems cute in an “ah, bless” kind of way. He’s no longer the sour white whale that ate my favourite character and franchise, he’s just a little fish who flops around in a harmlessly funny way.

....before the massive flaws of the game come forth.

This review is based on the PS3 launch version and does its best to criticize it on its own merits/failings, not merely on fan insult or in comparison to the previous games. But it is after all called “Devil may Cry”, so its existence as part of a wider franchise isn’t ignored either.

Also, fair warning, this is going to be long as hell. Which is suitable, because it feels like hell sometimes...

Technical Qualities

The engine/optimization is dogshit.

Ninja Theory infamously rejected Capcom’s offer to translate their wunderengine, MT Framework, into English so that they could use it. Instead the team built DmC: Devil May Cry using Unreal Engine 3, which was already starting to look dated by 2010 when the game was announced. For perspective, Unreal Engine 4 was revealed to the public before DmC even came out. The likely reason Ninja Theory chose to stick with Unreal was because of a  developer kit popular with young game creators. Unreal 3 was a ubiquitous engine in the last gen of consoles, being the backbone of games like Bioshock: Infinite and the Batman: Arkham series. But you’ll be hard pressed to find any games using it that were as fast paced as the Devil May Cry series.

Off the top of my head, games that use Unreal 3 usually have collision and texture pop-in problems. This is less of an issue in first person or isometric games when player movement and camera angles/viewable space are restrained, but it’s disastrous for something like DmC with its wide angle camera, large open areas, dense enemy count and fast player movement.

On the very first mission, in no more than 2 minutes of having control, Donte got stuck in a wall as I tried to go through the level like a normal player. This was followed by hideous amount of texture pop-in, audio glitches that muted parts of the soundscape, a couple of attacks that didn’t connect with enemies when they should have, and loading times out the arse.

A nasty little secret I only found out from replaying it first hand was that many of the mini-cutscenes (like when Donte looks at the Hunter demon hop around buildings, or does a backflip as he collects his guns) are secretly loading screens, unskippable until the loading operation is completed. All of which are frustrating to have to sit through in such a fast paced game. The way they make such a deal out of the same, generic enemy spawning in by giving it a dramatic close-up every time feels patronizing on repeat fights. “OOOH look! It’s a flying thing again!”. Yeah, no game, these things are easy to kill and I know you’re covering up something with this. Nice try.

Without seeing the development build firsthand, I can’t say for certain why it ran so badly. The release of the Definitive Edition for PS4/XBONE implies that it was a hardware limitation...but....like....that’s what optimization is for; making games run well on older hardware. More on this later, but design choices in level layouts, for instance, can remedy this. You can, for instance, segment levels in a way that stops you from seeing large areas at a single moment, reducing how much the consoles needs to render and thus cutting down load times.

Instead, what we largely got were huge foggy rooms and camera lens flares there to hide unloaded textures. The problem then is that it just, in my opinion at least, doesn’t look very good. Think of how Silent Hill 2 and 3 manage to still look so good due to how they segment rooms with doors you can’t see beyond. Or how the use of fog doesn’t cover up anything that you’re supposed to be looking at. And how they manage to have shorter loading times for it, a whole generation of consoles in the past.

Another trick is to “hard bake” lighting effects into the level’s textures themselves, rather than relying on extra shader operations. It’s more taxing on hardware to emulate, say, the actual light physics of a red spotlight instead of just making the textures of the walls and floor red, using trickery to make it seem like there’s a functioning red light there. Open world games generally don’t have this option, but with Devil May Cry, which is a linear series with rarely changing environments, you can use trickery like this effectively. Instead, DmC has more shaders -many of which look terrible in cutscenes- than it can handle.

Ninja Theory did a bad job of optimizing their game for their primary hardware. Even with the update there were visual problems, audio glitches and collision bugs throughout the entire game. It’s far from unplayable, but it’s ropey for a AAA game.

Level Design

Before I get into the artistic choices, I want to take a moment to look at the more technical, grounded aspects of how Ninja Theory designed levels.

Most of the previous Devil May Cry games are economic with their level design, reusing areas multiple times over with remixed enemy layouts and the occasional change in lighting, music and even textures. This cuts down on development time, saves disc space, and allows the designers to really put care into each individual location. Resident Evil, the Souls games, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are other good examples.

DmC had potential for this with its “living city” concept. The best use of this concept is with Mission 2: Home Truths, where Donte visits his and Vurgil’s gigantic childhood home. As you backtrack into familiar hallways and foyers, the corruption of Mundus’ influence causes walls to crack open, pathways to change shape and different enemies to spawn. It’s a great (re)use of assets that trip up your expectations as a player the first time around. It also uses some Metroidvania style locked doors and obstacles which you need certain abilities/weapons to traverse. The unfortunate limitation of that is that you can literally fly through some levels and skip entire sections of the game upon a replay; Mission 3 requires you to unlock the Air Dash move in order to clear a gap that appears early on, but you’ll already have it on a replay, turning a 20~ minute level into a 3~ minute one.

Sequence breaking like this doesn’t happen in any huge way though, due to how each level is an entirely separate area of its own. Likewise, most of these ability/weapon barriers lead to optional bonus areas that are slightly off the beaten path.

Linear level design isn’t inherently bad, but in this case I think it was a huge missed opportunity. Not only is there a parallel real world vs Limbo premise that has Donte shift from a greyscale, mundane city into a colourful, chaotic image of itself, that Limbo dimension has the ability to change in real time. If the level designers allowed players to shift from dimension to dimension in-game, a la Soul Reaver, or if they had just played up the “living city” concept in a more interactive way, the city would have been much more interesting and, ironically, feel much more alive than it does. Instead we got a linear, albeit pretty, collection of corridors with very little off the beaten path. DmC incentivizes exploration by hiding collectables, but “exploration” ultimately means turning left where you should turn right to find a Lost Soul behind a bin.

One place where they ALMOST got it right is the first Slurm Virility factory level. After a cutscene showing a mixing room, Donte and Kat break from the tour, slowly jog down some empty, boring hallways in to an equally empty and boring warehouse. Dante can’t attack or jump in this section, and there is absolutely nothing to interact with. It’s an unfortunately uninteresting forced walking section, only one small step above being an unskippable cutscene. Kat then sprays her squirrel jizz magic circle on the ground, Donte enters the Limbo version of the level, the room expands and the crates become platforms, and the level really begins from there. For reasons I never understood, Donte then has to take a huge route up sets of boxes and across dozens of different rooms to circle back on the way he came in. On the way back, he backtracks down the Limbo version of the boring hallways of before, except now they’re slightly less boring, with a few enemies to fight and moving walls and floors. Then you get to the mixing room (which is only shown in a cutscene) for a brawl, before moving on.

The reason this didn’t work as well as it could have are twofold. 1: You only see the real world version of a tiny portion of the level, and 2: said portion is boring as fuck and you don’t interact with it in any meaningful way. But hey, at least the idea was there.

Moments where the living city concept is pushed to the side for more one-off but more effectively done ideas can be found in the upside-down prison, the short prelude to the Bob Barbas fight and Lilith’s rave.

The upside-down prison starts off fairly strong, tapping into one of those childhood ideas we all idly wondered about; what if gravity suddenly shifted? The level starts off strong and has moments throughout that give a trippy sense of vertigo. Mostly this is with car and train bridges, but unfortunately loses the point as it progresses. Because the prison isn’t just upside-down, but is also in Limbo, gravity is already unreliable and the bottomless pit below the floor already looks like the sky. Similarly with the lead up to the boss fight with Poison that has you run “down” a vertical pipe, it all looks floaty and weird by default, making further attempts to be floaty and weird just seem...normal. Likewise, the prison is mostly comprised of bland, urban and industrial textures, completely interchangeable with any old warehouse. You quickly forget that you’re upside-down at all.

The setting also well outstays it’s welcome, taking up 4 entire levels to itself with not enough ideas to justify it. There’s even one moment where, after meeting Fineas, you’re told you need to follow a flock of harpies to find their lair....even though their lair is a completely linear set of halls...That says it all really; there was a fun idea in here, but it was executed without the same creativity.

Following that is the tragically short Bob Barbas prelude. THIS is one of the single most interesting concepts in level design I have ever seen. Seriously. I cannot think of any other game that took news graphics and idents and turned them into platforming sections. Even moments during the fight where Donte is dropped into news chopper footage manage to do something brilliantly original, stylish and funny. But as quickly as it came, it’s gone before you know it. It’s a fucking crime that the previous 4 levels didn’t use the same concept to break up the monotony of their urban corridors. They could have had Donte teleport around chunks of the level using the various TV screens with Bob Barbas propaganda on them, hopping across idents until he got to the other side. Shame.

Next up, almost in a moment of clarity from the designers when they realized that could do digital environments and cheesy tv show graphics in their game more than once, we have Lilith’s nightclub. Again, much more interesting than the living city stuff, albeit a bit harsh on the eyes with its lighting effects. There’s not much to say about it beyond “it looks cool”, but it’s worth mentioning that it feels much more focused and fully utilized than the upside-down prison. All in all. the level design in DmC is at odds with itself, marked by its lost potential. The concepts are interesting, but the execution is almost always lackluster, favouring hand-holdy linear hallways with “cinematic” qualities over more interactive, open spaces with a sense of place. For a game that, pre-release, seemed to want to show us a more fleshed out world than previous games, it winds up as little more than a flat backdrop.

But oh well, DMC is all about the action happening center stage, right?

Combat

Combat in DmC is a mix bag.

The number of different attacks available and Donte’s versatility at chaining moves across 5 different weapons is pretty great. I’m a fan of how you can swap special pause combos across your alternate weapons; two quick hits with Rebellion, a pause, then a final triple smash with Arbiter takes a little extra skill to pull off but rewards you with a faster combo than if you just used Arbiter alone. Likewise, little tweaks like how fast Drive can charge now and how it does actual damage unlike Quick Drive in DMC4, or how you can hold Million Stab for longer, are all mostly fun changes. I tend to have a lot of fun with Osiris and find it to be the most versatile weapon for pulling off different combos. Its ability to charge up the more hits it delivers is a good incentive to hook in as many enemies as possible too, even if it means its uncharged state doesn’t do enough damage. Aquila is a fun supplementary weapon, mostly good for distracting one enemy with the circle attack and pulling the rest into range for Osiris. Eryx, however, is rubbish. Its incredibly short range, long charge times and weak damage output really throw it onto the trash pile when Arbiter is right beside it. Also, personal taste, but it just looks stupid. It’s like a slimy set of Hulk Hands. And they don’t even yell “HULK SMASH” when you attack. Previous DMC gauntlets all include a gap-closing dive attack to put you in enemy range, but the Demon Grapple doesn’t work the large enemies you’ll want to use it against. More on that in a bit.

Guns are mostly pointless. Donte can move laterally so much easier than before that long range combat is redundant. Charge shots with Ebony & Ivory are like Eryx in that they take too long to charge and don’t do enough damage to be worth the wait. Also, because you need to be in a neutral, non-demon non-angel, state to fire them, charging them up while you wail on someone only works if you limit yourself to Rebellion. Switching to Demon or Angel weapons resets the charge and limits you to a grapple move.

Which leads to another problem; 4 of your 5 weapons disable the use of guns. I mean, you’re not missing out on much by the end anyway because the guns are boring and ineffectual to use against all but one enemy (the Harpy), but it feels like a mistake. They literally give you guns in cutscenes as an afterthought. Like when Vurgil goes “oh yeah, have this, it’ll kill the next few enemies really quickly then sit in your back pocket for all eternity thereafter”. Donte never feels like he’s earning these guns like he earns the melee weapons, and they never seem to be worth a damn in gameplay.

The grapples are more useful but, again, having two different types feels redundant in combat. Large enemies can’t be pulled towards you, so why not do what DMC4 did and have one grapple that does both jobs; pull small enemies towards you, pull yourself towards larger enemies? The end result in either scenario is to get in melee range, so it shouldn’t make that much of a difference. Considering Aquila has a special attack to pull enemies in, why not offload those moves to the other weapons too? If you want to keep both pull-in and pull-towards moves in combat, why not give, say, Eryx a special pull-in attack so you can swap back to guns easier?

In short; while the combat is versatile and very satisfying to pull off combos with, large parts of it feel badly thought out. The moves and weapons that end up being useless most of the time have enemies spawn after you unlock them, just as an excuse to show how they work.

The infamous “demon attacks for red enemies, angel attacks for blue enemies” gimmick actually wasn’t as bad as I expected. Until I had to fight a Blood Rage and a Ghost Rage at the same fucking time. I don’t think I need to get into it due to how many other people have complained, but it was just fucking infuriating to say the least.

Okay, so.....Devil May Cry 3 did it better. Most people don’t seem to know this, but DMC3 gave you damage bonuses if you used the right weapon against the right enemies, signified by a subtle particle effect. Nowhere in the enemy or weapon descriptions does it explain this, but if you use your head (or just experiment) you can generally figure it out. Beowulf is a light weapon, Doppelganger is a shadow monster, using light on it does extra elemental damage signified by a flash effect with each hit. Cerberus is an ice weapon, Abysses are liquidy enemies, so using ice on it freezes them, signified by an icicle effect. etc But most importantly; it never STOPS you from using the “wrong” weapon against enemies. I don’t think I need to go into how annoying it is when your combat flow is interrupted by your angel weapon PINGing off a red enemy, but god damn it.

Credit where credit is due; Ninja Theory did emphasize the right part of DMC’s combat when they opted to focus on combos over balance. Both 3 and 4 had broken combos and attacks that skilled players could easily pull off, but they would make combat boring and the games all emphasized an honour system to prevent abuse. If you were good enough to use Pandora to break enemy shields in 4, you were good enough to not abuse it.

Then again, a games combat is only as good as its enemies.

Enemies/Bosses

So it’s a real shame then that enemies and bosses don’t push you hard enough.

The AI is atrocious. NO hack n’ slash should have two hardcore enemies accidentally kill each other without you noticing. The mixing room in the Slurm levels pits you against two Tyrants/the big fat dudes who charge at you. There’s an easy-to-avoid pitfall in the middle of this room. Once, on hard mode no less, they spawned in as usual and one accidentally nudged the other into the pit, insta-killing him while I literally stood still and watched...

Most regular man-sized enemies (Stygians, Death Knights, and their variations) have a common problem of just not attacking first, opting to side step around you forever until you run at them. Luckily there usually is one aggressive enemy mixed in there, like the flying guys with guns or the screamy-chainsaw men, so you’ll be forced to dodge into their range, but it’s embarrassing when they’re isolated. You’re left standing there, charging a finishing attack with Eryx like you have your dick in your hand, and these things are just strafing around you, doing nothing. So you miss with Eryx, step forward, and anti-climatically twat them about with Rebellion just to get it over with.

At first I thought this combat shyness was a design choice, but then it happened with the final boss, revealing it to be a pathfinding bug. But more on that later...

So yes, the red/blue enemy gimmick is bullshit and breaks the flow of a room-sweeping combo you have going, but it actually works really well with the Witch enemy who hangs back, projecting shields onto other enemies while she snipes at you from a distance. She’s annoying to hunt down when you’re dealing with 10 other enemies, so you have to prioritize whether you want to plough through them first or clumsily chase her down first. It’s a nice dynamic to fights, adding that extra layer of strategy to mix things up in a less punishing way.

The main difference with the Witch and the other colour coded enemies is that the Witch gives you options. Blood/Ghost Rages do not, and make fights involving them feel like complete chores. You’ll find the one tactic that works, then rely on it every time.

No, the most egregious enemies were the bosses.

All of them, every single one, was terrible. Not including the Dream Runner mini-bosses, there was a total of 6, less than any of the other DMCs, which makes how sloppily designed they were all the more horrendous. Every single boss is formulaic, partitioned out into “segments” cut up by mini cutscenes that have Donte do something sassy when he works them down enough. But each of those segments tend to have Donte repeat the same, boring, tired tactic until the fight is over. Bob Barbas is the worst example; jump over his beams, use that one Eryx attack to slam into the nonsensical floor buttons, wail on him for a third of his health bar, kill 10 minor enemies in his news world, repeat two more times.

No matter what difficulty you’re on, these bosses never manage to be a challenge due to how placid they are. They will always accommodate their little “formula” you need to solve to beat them.

It’s baffling, because the previously mentioned Dream Runner mini-bosses are great. They’re aggressive, reactive, open to almost any combo you can outwit them with, and don’t force you to repeat the same set of steps in every encounter.

Vurgil on the other hand....

So, here we are, the grand finale. The ultimate evil has revealed itself, and it’s your own brother! You’re clearly a badass because you just took down Satan himself along with his army, so surely the only thing left that could challenge you is your more experienced twin.

Well, he would, if his AI didn’t start the show by consistently suffering from that same pathfinding bug that makes minor enemies interminably strafe around you. So far so good for my first playthrough. So I attack him, maybe hit him 5 times before a min-cutscene rears its head because I’ve suddenly made it into the next stage. Same thing happens once or twice. Then, somehow, Vurgil’s model freezes in the air during one of his attacks. He hangs there indefinitely until I attack him again. Then, at the end of the fight where he’s summoned a clone (because he can do that apparently, not that he’s ever so much as referenced the fact) so his real self can take a knee and heal, I’m supposed to use Devil Trigger to move him out of the way and finish the job (though, I don’t understand why the real Vurgil isn’t also thrown into the air). I do so, but the clone lingers on the ground for a moment, trying to attack me before just zipping into the sky; another bug. I attack the real Vurgil, but nothing happens at first. I keep wailing on him, hoping that one of my attacks will eventually collide and then, -Scene Missing-, the final cutscene of the battle plays.

Do I need to say any more? Do you see what a fucking mess the boss fights are? The final battle for humanity, the emotional crux of the story, the update to the final unsurpassed boss fight of DMC3, reduced to a buggy, embarrassing slap fight that gave me four glitches on my first playthrough.

The whole thing bungled the climax of its story. But, then again, was the story really that sacred to begin with....

Concept and Story

I promise I will not use the word “edgy” here.

Satire and social commentary, no matter how cartoonish, is a weird fit in a Devil May Cry game. DMC2 had an evil businessman too, and 4 ended with you punching the Pope in the face, but neither seemed to say anything substantial against capitalism or religion. They existed in a much more fantastical place, where any sort of commentary was aimed at a more philosophical target. “What makes us human? What makes us into demons? What is hell like? Is family more important than what you feel is right?” The previous games are all centered around a much more personal, individualistic identity crisis, and not any sort of populist, society-wide problems.

DmC brings up surveillance states, the most recent economic crisis and late-capitalism, soft drink addiction/declining nutrition, news manipulation, the prison industrial complex, conspiracy culture, populous revolt, some scant mentions of mental institutions, hacktivism, and the Occupy Movement. These topics, all of which are pretty damn serious and warrant long discussions, are simply decoration for a story about fantasy demons secretly running the world They Live style. Hell, it basically IS They Live, only the aliens are demons and the tools of control are more contemporary. (somehow there’s nothing about the internet in there though...)

All in all, its treatment of modern issues is childishly simple at best and cynical at worst. Sure, the game presents itself as defying capitalism and social engineering via advertising, but it then goes on to launch an ad and hype campaign bigger than any of the previous games, spanning across billboards, phone apps, social media promotion, the usual games media rounds and expensive pre-rendered television commercials. Hell, they even had an ad for their ad! All of this amid a gigantic fan backlash and in-fighting with games journalists on whether people were mad about Donte’s hair colour of if they were just outrightly entitled.

The fact that lead designer and writer Tameem Antoniades responded to this backlash and feedback by tweeking Donte’s design and adding in a random moment were a wig literally drops out of the sky onto Donte’s head for a jab at this “controversy” says something about the intent he had with his story; There is no real political statement behind DmC, it simply pulls from what was in the news at the time, and uses it as fodder for an otherwise archetypal plot.

The problem is that it tries to do this while also talking about hellish demons, heavenly angels and earthly humans. Well, mostly demons, because the angels are absent from the plot and Donte doesn’t seem to have any sort of Angel Trigger, and the only named human character is Kat, who doesn’t have much ploy within the story; she’s there to be rescued, and provide minimal help with a pat on the back from Donte. So demons rule the world, the angels are absent, and the people who suffer are us lowly humans. But it’s a half-demon, half-angel who “saves” us all/reduces the city to rubble, while all us humans can do is post about it on Twitter. Doesn’t sound very empowering to me.

The main villain should say it all. He’s some sort of businessman/oligarch/banker/economist/military commander/mayor/Satan, but he makes the undeniable point that he gave human civilization it’s structure. He has a wife he at least somewhat cares about, and a child he has high hopes for. He (and his wife) shows more emotion than any of our protagonists, and they have more at stake than anyone else, with a genuine vision for the future no less. So, when he very reasonably asks Donte what his goal is, all Donte can say is “freedom” and “revenge”, then continue to childishly taunt him when pressed further. I could go on about how unhealthy the obsession with the post-apocalypse our generation has is, but suffice to say; Donte is not someone to look up to.

Donte himself, and by extent his story, has no real ideological motivation behind him despite being dressed up as an anarchist. His motivations and arch as a character are no less two dimensional than the original Dante, but now manage to be over-stated and hamfisted, with an added veneer of “politics”. Vurgil points how much he’s supposedly changed right before the final boss fight, but how he changes doesn’t include a strong statement of intent. What does Donte want? Fucked if I know! Fucked if he knows.

All of this says nothing about how...well....plain bad the writing is. The dialogue is famously cringeworthy and the plot has more holes than a sponge.

If Mundus was hunting Donte to kill him this whole time, why can’t he find him despite having multiple cameras aimed directly at this house? Why didn’t he just kill him when Donte was in the orphanage run by “demon scum”? Where was Vurgil this whole time? Why does Kat need to hit the Hunter with a molotov? Actually, what the fuck is she doing in the real world while this is happening? Are people just ignoring this pixie girl throwing bottles around a pier? What’s that weird dimension Donte goes into to unlock new powers? If it’s his own head, why are Mundus’ demons in it? And why would it change his weapons? Why doesn’t he have an Angel Trigger? If Vurgil can do all that cool shit he does in his boss fight at the end, including opening a fucking portal to another dimension, why does he need to rely on Kat to hop dimensions earlier on? Or rely on anyone for that matter? Why does he have white hair when he’s born, but Donte has black hair until the end? If Mundus is immortal, why does he need an heir? Why does time randomly slow down after Vurgil shoots Lilith? How did Kat know the layout of so many floors in Mundus’ tower? Surely he didn’t give her a tour of the whole building, right? Did Donte and Vurgil fuck the entire planet by releasing demons into earth and destroying world economics and governments? Or are there pre-existing governments anyway?

Seriously, I could go on forever.

Beyond basic plot, logic and diegetic continuity (the rules of DmC’s world, and how it suspends your disbelief), you get into more subjective questions like “is Donte a likable character?”

I, perhaps surprisingly, think he is. He’s such a tryhard asshole for the majority of his game, never stopping to think about what he’s doing or to engage with the They Live world he lives in that he is, honestly, a bit adorable. He’s not someone I’d ever have the patience to hang out with in real life, but he is at least consistent. He’s a total lughead and he almost blows up the planet, but it makes sense that a nihilistic, “act first, think later” bro would do that.

And I think that sums up his story too; dumber than it thinks, but entertaining all the same. It’s a different kind of dumb than the original games, a kind of dumb that stares at the camera wall-eyed instead of with a sideways wink.

Conclusion

As of writing, I consider Devil May Cry to be dead as a series. With no solid news from Capcom on further projects for 7 years now, DmC: Devil may Cry is the swansong of the entire franchise. Well, beyond shitty cameo costumes in Dead Rising 4, or pachinko machines or whatever.

Likewise, more recent hack n slash series like Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising and Nier: Automata have risen to challenge Devil May Cry for its crown, and without something better than Ninja Theory’s efforts to stop them, they’ll probably get it.

DmC is not a complete trainwreck. It’s enjoyable, worth the second hand price and 10+ hours of your time. It’s entertaining in a similar way a bad film is; so long as you don’t expect too much from it, you’ll have a laugh. Let go of your bitterness with Ninja Theory and Tameem and you’ll poke fun at it in a less mean-spirited way then your fan rage wants you to. DMC deserved to end on a better note than this, but.....honestly....fuck it. Capcom probably couldn’t make anything much better themselves these days anyway.

Treat DmC like a pug; malformed and lumpy, probably should have been neutered a generation ago, but funny to look at and play with, even though it’s covered in its own slobber.

[lichlairs]

Checkout our new post over at https://lichlair.com/daily-monster-51-vampiric-mist

Daily Monster #51: Vampiric Mist

Our very first vampire!… at least technically, but considering how we had to cover an actual household item just a couple of entries back, I’ll definitely take it. Let’s see what this monster has in stores for us…

Vampiric Mist

The basics

All things considered, not bad stats for a CR 3 creature. We’re looking at matching +3 DEX and CON followed by a WIS of +1. Unfortunately, if you were looking to make use of any other stats why running this monster, you might not be able to do so considering their STR, INT, and CHA are all at a nice -2.

But let’s have a look at the Vampiric Mist’s durability. After all, that’s a pretty decent CON score, right? Well, not quite… this medium undead only has a hit point pool of 4d8+12 and an AC of 13. Thankfully though, their list of resistances and immunities does somewhat help with this since it does include resistances to Acid, Cold Lightning, Necrotic, Thunder, and non-magical weapon damages. You might have noticed that Fire isn’t part of the list, unfortunately, but the mist does have a single immunity to poison as well as several condition immunities.

As a last couple of points, the mist cannot speak nor communicate in any languages, has a passive perception of 11, and a hovering speed of 30ft.

Despite its low passive perception, today’s monster has a very specific feature called Life Sense which basically translates to knowing the location of any living creature within 60ft of it. Emphasis on living though, keep that bit in mind.

Like vampires in most movies, the mist also requires an invitation into a home before it is able to enter it as explained in their Forbiddance feature. Once that’s done, however, the smallest crack in a window frame will be enough for it to squeeze through thanks to its Misty Form. This ability also allows the mist to share a space with other creatures.

Although Radiant damage isn’t listed under vulnerabilities, the mist does suffer from Sunlight Hypersensitivity, which not only imposes disadvantage on rolls while in the sun, but also drains 10 hit points per turn.

The only attack available to this monster is its Life Drain. On a failed CON save, any creature that isn’t a construct or already undead takes 2d6+3 necrotic damage while our monster heals for the same amount. Once this damage is taken, the reduction lasts until the target takes a long rest. As with most similar abilities, if a creature is reduced to 0 hit points in this way, it immediately dies.

The lore

The Vampiric Mist has been a part of the world of Dungeons and Dragons ever since 1st edition, with only 4th edition omitting it from its rooster. To talk about today’s monster we need to take a quick look at what happens when a vampire is defeated; that is, once a vampire has taken enough damage or has been forced into the light for prolonged amounts of time, their body will simply turn into a fine mist that will (most likely) attempt to flee so that it can return to the vampire’s coffin, where it will promptly reform into a vampire again. Today’s monster, however, is what happens when a vampire is unable to return to its’ coffin upon death. Whether that be because our valiant adventurers have destroyed it or because something doesn’t permit them to return.

While most examples of vampires in media, Dungeons and Dragons included, present vampires as cunning and intelligent individuals that usually pose a big threat for the heroes, once these creatures have been reduced to their mist form they lose all of these qualities that make them so especial. Instead, they are purely driven by an insatiable hunger for blood.

Most common folk see no difference in the threat posed by a full vampire and a Vampiric Mist, however; to them, they are both just as deathly. And while most agree that these beings are what remains of vampires, there are other superstitious individuals who claim that these are the souls of innocents that had been turn into vampires or even simply evil Air Elementals that have been cast out of the Elemental Plane of Air.

Like sharks, it is said that these undead creatures can smell the scent of blood for miles and will be drawn to it like moths to a flame. While most Vampiric Mists choose to inhabit swamps and the like, the smell of blood is enough to have them relocate to more inhabited areas.

The execution

Look, call me basic, but I really love vampires and when I rolled for this one I just went ‘!!!’. The great news about this is that I already know exactly how I would set up an encounter with this creature. That said, I would probably choose to tweak a couple of things depending on the party’s level (stay tuned to the end of this section to find out which bits I’d change), but for now, let’s set the mood:

Exhausted from a day of hard travel across desolate swamps, the party spots what appears to be a small village in the distance. With the sunset behind them, they approach carefully, but begin to notice signs that something isn’t right; all lights are off, and the small streets are completely empty. Upon entering the town, it becomes clear that all townsfolk have shut themselves inside their homes, the sounds of moving furniture against the door and hushing tones from within the buildings.

As the party wanders the streets trying to figure out what’s going on, a door cracks open just wide enough for a single eye to be shown. A frazzled looking woman urges the party to come in before ‘it’ arrives. Reluctant, the group of adventures accept the invitation and follow her into the small home, only to watch from the window as a red mist begins to fill empty streets. Whilst watching, our adventurers question their hostess and learn that a vampire has been plaguing their village for the past few months. It comes every week and searches the whole village as if looking for something, until it eventually finds a victim to suck dry. Just as the woman finishes her explanation, a single shrill scream pieces the tense silence.

I think this could be a pretty sweet encounter to run for your players. Depending on how RP inclined they are, the investigation portion of it could be really cool. Perhaps they discover that the town was build over what used to be the vampire’s crypt and that now, unable to enter it without permission, the Vampiric Mist lurks in the area feeding off of the villagers.

Alternatively, what if your adventurers were to instead find the mist prowling an old cemetery not too far from town? Maybe they investigate the area and find a particularly eerie crypt that has been sealed with divine wards and keeps the Vampiric Mist away from its coffin. If the players were to fall for the temptation and dispel the seals, they might even end up fighting a full on vampire.

In terms of adjustments you might want to consider, I personally think a medium-sized mist just isn’t creepy enough; instead, I would either make it so that there’re several mists (maybe it’s a whole family of vampires!) or upsize the mist so that it becomes that much threatening. On a similar note, depending on the players’ levels, I would also consider making it so that the Life Drain save applies to any number of creatures within its space rather than a single creature.

As always, thank you very much for taking the time to read about my hardcore love of vampires. If you enjoyed this article and would like to be notified whenever we post a new one, do make sure to head over to our social media where you can click that follow button, so we can let you know when we post new stuff. We have new articles every day of the week!

[chaospirations]

A man leaves his house in the early morning and sees an unexplainable sight. A white stick figure runs in front of his vehicle leaving him bewildered.  The figure is as thin as a stop sign post, pure white with no hands, feet or facial features.  This faceless “Stickman” encounter is described by the witness in the video below.

Reported by Jim (James)

Location: small subdivision Northwest of Springfield, Ohio.

Date: June 11, 2018

Time: just after 5AM

Watch the video above, or read the full transcript at the end of this article. 

Before I take a deep dive into this bizarre whirlpool of high strangeness let me just make something clear. I will provide no definite answers here.  There is no amount of scientific evidence that could lead one to the conclusion that there is a population of “stick people” that roam the shadows of the United States or elsewhere.

As far as I am aware, there is no creature in documented science that fits the profile of what the witness described, or others that have claimed to witness these unusual “stick people.” So for the remainder of these NCS notes I’m going to present you nothing but stone-hard opinion and speculation, with a smattering of additional alleged similar sightings.

Most of these “Stickman” reports are of black or dark creatures and have a tendency to describe them in terms of being of a supernatural origin.  Although it is EXTREMELY unusual, the description by the witness makes no reference to something that would not defy the laws of physics.

Biologically on the other hand, this or any of the “stick figure” humanoids do not share physical characteristics of any known animal with the exception of perhaps a stick insect (or walking stick if you will).  These creatures for the most part are absent of some very critical physical attributes common to… well… let’s say creatures that are bipedal in nature.  Just looking at some of the most important features, many of these Stickmen lack hips, shoulders, hands, feet and even faces. The humanoid described above had no observable hands to grasp and no feet to balance themselves when running.  What strikes me as odd about this thing is that it had no observable facial features; no eyes, nose, mouth or ears.   Aside from terrestrial organisms requiring at least a combination of the above to make their way around in the world, the total absence of a mouth or nose would mean there is no normal way for this creature to consume nutrients in the way of food, and respiration without an observable way to breathe in air is possible, but usually on a small and slow scale (many amphibians can respire through the skin). However, running takes an awful lot of metabolic energy, even in small bursts.   If this thing did have lungs, they would have to fit in the incredibly slender torso that was described to be the width of a stop sign post. Then again, just because the witness did not observe facial features, hands or feet does not mean that this thing may not have had them.  The encounter was only a few seconds at the most and it is entirely possible that the focus was on the most observable portion of the subject darting out in front of the vehicle.  The way I am dealing with this sighting is as if it is a biological creature of some sort, although it in no way resembles any earthly animal, and I’ll explain why. As I stated before, in the case of the Clark County Stickman there is no reason to think that there is any supernatural, ghostly, extra-dimensional or magical qualities associated with this creature.  The behavior of this thing resembles what an animal would do when it runs out in front of a car, then finds cover and glances back at the vehicle it for whatever reason decided to run in front of. If the thing would have stayed still, there is a good chance the witness would have never had their attention drawn to it.  

So, when I think of this encounter, I assume that the “Stickman” had some sort of survival instinct that kicked in after it ridiculously stepped out onto the road into oncoming traffic. And that is what interests me about this sighting vs other “Stickman” encounters, as there was no stalking of a witness, no evil, foreboding feelings, and no hint of supernatural speculations.  

The thing ran out in front of the witness’s car.  It ran across the road and hid. The witness lost sight of it.  It left some kind of imprints on the grass. That’s it. If this story is fictional or embellished, there’s very little creativity to it… which IS NOT A BAD THING. 

And as mundane and boring of a sighting you think that might be, in my humble opinion the blandness of the encounter (although it was bewildering to the witness) does lend some credibility to the account.  Sometimes a sighting does not have to be elaborate to be straight-up unsettling. 

It was difficult to find a sighting that described a subject similar to the Stickman of Clark County Ohio.  As I said before many “Stickman” sightings are of dark, black shadowy figures in which many of the themes lean toward a supernatural vibe. 

However there were two somewhat similar encounters I was able to look at, both being witness accounts and neither verified. The first comes from a commenter on a Reddit thread I posted seeking similar encounters like the Clark County Stickman.  Here is their comment:

“In 2017 I was at Ohio University and around 1-2 AM I decided to go to “The Ridges” with some friends (haunted asylum on campus). 

We walked… which was about a 45 minute to an hour walk and once we got there we got a really bad feeling, I’ve been there before and never felt the way I did so we turned back. 

We noticed on the way back we were being followed by a car so we had to try and figure out how we were going to lose the creepy guys that were following us. 

We got turned around and we’re in a courtyard and all the university help phones were all out so we couldn’t call for help and our phones were dead. 

So we peeked around to see if the guys were still following us and all we saw was something that was taller than a stop sign, [two-dimensional] and didn’t really have a face and it was running across the field as fast as a car could drive. 

I’ve never been able to find any paranormal thing to compare it to but this is the closest yet.

Every time I talk about it I tear up.”

When we posted the video on our Reddit page, one responder made this interesting comment:

“So this might be a coincidence but there is a native American reservation in Yakima Washington.

There is a tribal legend about stick who come out at night and try to trick people into following them. 

They talk to each other with whistles, and you can hear them giggling. 

They have the ability to sound like people to help lure their prey.”

A related encounter with a “Stickman” comes from the Reddit page Humanoid Encounters:

“Okay so. Where do I start? I was walking up to my local park with 2 of my friends. 

It was about 9. 

There is a path when you first walk to the park that leads to this elementary school that I used to go to. 

There is a fence on the side of it, its gated and on the other side of the path is just a hill leading to the park. 

There is then a street light on the path. We were walking past this and one of my friends said what’s that? 

We looked and kept walking toward to seem like a dog. It was just frozen and staring at us. 

I got closer and It ran away then and I saw its spine and it was nothing that I’ve seen before. 

It had short legs but was weirdly long. That’s not where it gets interesting tho. We just walked up to the park. 

When we were leaving (about 10 mins later) we were walking and wondered if we would be able to see it again. So we stopped and stared down the path. It’s more like a concrete path. 

Then me and my one friend saw this stick-man like thing running down the hill towards the woods! 

It was going mad fast, it hit the feet. It was about 7 ft tall maybe a little shorter. Point legs and arms… I didn’t really get a good look at its head.

I saw it for maybe a good 4 seconds. It wasn’t really black it was like black and grey, I saw it clear it went in the view of the street light. 

It was just running then before it got to the path it vanished. 

It was terrifying and I got the chills. 

I explained it and then my other friend said he saw the same thing. My other friend didn’t tho, idk why. 

We are going tonight again, at the same time, and to do the same thing and see if we can get it on video. I’ll post a picture of where I saw it later and hopefully a video of proof. 

That was extremely disturbing. I researched it a little last night and came and saw “the black stickman phenomenon”. 

I saw another story like this one on reddit. He said him and his mom saw it run across the road and his dad didn’t.”

Unfortunately, the person who posted this encounter did not update with photos or video.  However, another commenter did reveal that they had had a similar experience before.

“So, I just happened to stumble into this subreddit but thought I’d mention this while I’m here. 

There was one of these lingering around my house when I was 14-15. 

I saw it a few times at a distance but never really got close enough to it to ever see any features. 

It always showed up around twilight hours or just after dark. 

I haven’t seen it in over 10 years at this point though.”

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These sorts of encounters with Stick Men can be extremely unsettling for those who experience them, and can really cause people to reassess what they thought they knew. One good example of this is a commenter on True Ghost Stories Archives who is a self-proclaimed skeptic and seems to be having a hard time reconciling his own brush with a Stick Figure, of which he explains:

“I honestly thought I was crazy.  I’m 33, level headed, and while I won’t rule anything out I generally don’t think much of the paranormal. 

The other night (morning maybe, I keep odd hours) I went outside for a smoke. 

My lawn has a low retaining wall, about bench-height, and a long, sloping road down to the creek, noted for its malfunctioning street lights. 

I saw something walking down the middle of the road. 

I have a neighbor who walks at all hours day or night, I didn’t think much of it. 

As it got closer, it looked like a pencil drawn picture of a man done by a kid. 

It wasn’t black, so much as it was nebulous, like the static on a TV channel. Grey and black moving in a blur, in the shape of the sign that lets guys know which door to go in. 

The street lights flicked on and it stopped, “looked” around (I assume as much, all I saw was its head move) and saw me. 

As soon as it did, it took off down the road faster than my eyes could follow. 

I didn’t tell anyone for a few days, then did the “promise you won’t think I’m crazy” with my girlfriend. 

She said she had heard of similar stories, and asked it I’d googled it. I did, and here I am. 

At least if I’m crazy I’ll have company.”

From “The Truly Bizarre World of Encounters with Real Stick Figures”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there are certain tales of “Stickmen” that are ENTIRELY fiction.   One such story I found on the Reddit forum r/nosleep from 2015, and some may liken “Stickmen” encounters with the Creepypasta meme “The Slenderman.” Also recently, an encounter tale was removed from the Reddit forum r/humanoidencounters after the individual was called out for writing fiction, and the post was locked by moderators. However, many of the stories from sources mentioned above are elaborate and the “entities” are evil and intend to do harm to individuals. 

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Other links concerning “Black Stick Men”

ObscUrban Legend Wikia: Black Stick Men

Cryptid Wiki: Black Stick Men

Paranormal Kativity [YouTube] Black Stickman Phenomena

Blogtalk Radio: The Mothman of Chernobyl & Black Stickman Phenomena | Peck Report Ep.218

Beyond Creepy [YouTube] “The Black Stickman Phenomenon”

The Fortean Slip: The Black Stickman Phenomenon

Mysterious Universe: The Truly Bizarre World of Encounters with Real Stick Figures

Mysterious Universe: Extremely Bizarre Encounters with Truly Surreal Mystery Humanoids

Phantoms and Monsters: The Stickman Entity

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Related NCS Case Files: 

“SLENDERGUMBY:” Humanoid Figure Leaps Through The Forest at the Same Time on Consecutive Nights in Florida NCS Case File #23: Slender-Limbed Shadow Creature  (possible Black Stick Man) NCS Case File # 3: Unknown Pale White Beings in the Midwest

Full Transcript of the Video “Stickman of Clark County Ohio”

[Jesse] can you tell me what your general occupation is?

[James] I am a truck driver

[Jesse] okay how long have you been doing that?

[James] about 16 years.

[Jesse] do you wear eyeglasses or corrective lenses?

[James] no had laser surgery about 20 years ago very good vision.  I get my eyes checked every year.

[Jesse] this sighting occurred in Clark County Ohio, is that correct?

[James] yes

[Jesse] and this was June 11th 2018 is that correct?

[James] yes

[Jesse] and could you tell me the time approximate time that this occurred?

[James] it was 503 a.m.

I was heading to work morning of June 11th 2018 rural

subdivision area low traffic pulling out my driveway… went down the street turned left

at the stop sign.

As I turn left I’m there very short distance I noticed something

running from my right to my left…

as it got to my headlights it was a brighter white, very bright white [it] ran very fast covering probably close to 100 yards in 3 to 4 seconds…

it had a long abdomen a long head I believe it didn’t look like a neck… a long top / head… ran like a person… the legs and arms equal-sized… did not see feet or hands… it ran beside…  it passed a stop sign as it went by and was a little bit shorter than the stop sign…

…got brighter as it was in my headlights, faded out… not as bright as it went by. 

It had rained 2 days, the day before and the day before that so the road was a little damp

and the grass was wet so as it went by… by up in the grass into… behind a pine tree.

As I was turning right on the road it ran down… I could see it behind the tree as I was turning looked over at it… startled obviously not really staring to get a good look but i drove by and did look over there.. as I turned by to head on that road it came from looked in the rear view mirror I didn’t see anything.

My first thought as it started happening was that a car might have been behind

me out where I live in the country. 

There’s very few cars on the road that time of day… would have been behind me I did not see any there was no car… there was no cars in the road anywhere.  no reflections anywhere. 

I went to work that day as I came home I came back the same path the only way in the subdivision… as I came to that stop sign I looked up where it had run and there were long

almost like footprints where the glass had been pushed down and drug maybe three or four or five maybe footprints… as I drove by, I looked at that.

[Jesse] What’s the prevalence of wildlife in that area like deer raccoon I know I live in a […]

South of a suburban area out in the country we do have we have deer we have raccoons

we have all sorts of stuff that crosses [the road] all hours of the day and night and what

were the prevalence of wildlife coming in to that area specifically?

 [James] I’ve seen a few deer and the subdivision trash cans been knocked over by raccoons in the past. I’ve never seen any around I do hear coyote mostly in the fall in the winter but that’s about it really nothing more than that.

[Jesse] have you ever… has any of the other [neighbors] spoken about something seeing

something strange like this? 

[James] couple that I do know and one of them I did really say anything about it they just never seen anything like that…

[Jesse] so what is it what what do you think you saw I mean do you have any ideas?

[James] I don’t know I’ve looked online for stuff like that and the closest thing I can see that somewhat resembles it is all those little stick figure things out like in California and Arizona…

[Jesse] Night Crawlers 

[James] yes… yeah I mean that kind of resembles with the color but I mean those just have

like… they don’t look normal this thing… almost look like a person running that’s the closest thing I can say that resembles it I mean I don’t even know because I’ve been looking all over trying to find something… figure out what it is…

[Jesse} okay ould you describe [the motion] as a person… a person running and would you describe them as just completely unnaturally thin?

[James] like a stick figure I mean it ran by the stop sign… there’s a stop sign there and it was like pretty close to the same width as a stop sign.. oh and just a little bit little bit shorter and just like the the abdomen and the head there wasn’t a neck the abdomen and the head and head were long like longer than a person would be and really the arms and the legs were about the

same length… I mean they’re really short not really short but I mean shorter proportionally than a person would be 

[Jesse] now when this thing ran did it did it run like a person (James: Yeah) or did it have a different gate… okay 

[James] yeah it was just like it was like a person but I didn’t there were no feet or hands or you know… I don’t know the head was just… really long

[Jesse] Was there any facial features on this thing? 

[James] no, it was a it was white and as I ran past my headlights it was brighter it was like a now once I realized you know what I saw… when it went past it was… it wasn’t as bright, but it

was still light and ran behind a pine tree actually and stopped and like as I was going by it I could see it was kind of like still there behind the tree.

That’s that’s when I was the closest to it and as I drove away… yeah I didn’t see anything 

[Jesse] okay… there was no… there was no eyes that you could tell (James: no) no mouth (James: Nope none of that)

[Jesse] when you say the head was longer was the head generally shaped like a person’s head? (James: no) or was it about him a long long oval or… 

[James] I would describe him more like a pencil [laughs] all the whole thing, I mean it was like body, head… I mean they’re all just straight lines and I didn’t see a head… 

My first impression was you know like if you’re sitting in a house on the car drives by you see that light go by in your house or somebody drives behind you and turns? My first thought was I glanced in my rearview mirror thinking it was crazy to see a car at this time of day because I just you know went by… that like that reflection would go by. Obviously there’s no car back there but it just again moved like that… just straight. 

I was expecting to see a car behind me and kind of in disbelief from what the heck I just saw.

[Jesse] so is that why you remembered there was no other traffic is because you checked… because you saw that creature first you thought the crea… the.. the thing… the whatever it was… was a flash from another car’s headlights? 

[James] it was like in between… and I noticed it was going and it got brighter as I got in front of my headlights and as it was going by I looked up in my rearview mirror quick because where we live there’s no traffic at all… I mean I’m actually sitting in my driveway right now I just pulled in and there’s no… no cars around, especially at that time in the morning. That’s why I kind of caught me off guard and I glanced in my mirror thinking that’s weird because I thought it would

have been a car turn exactly the way I just did to be the headlights like that that would have gone that direction.

I wasn’t like scared of it… my first thought was like a… that like a like a person as as something else I mean that was my kinda… my thought i guess… almost you know like when it ran behind the tree it uh you know I was like cuz I could almost see it like peeking through the tree as I was turning right it was in the trees right there because that a person? 

My wife thinks I’m crazy!

[Jesse] you’re not alone… a lot of people see weird things

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[judedoyle]

While the Strike is Hot

It’s an odd position to be in, being vehemently and angrily agreed with by your colleagues. Still, in the weeks since I published my essay on the upcoming Women’s Strike, I’ve become aware that a few women and feminists see me as the voice of “anti-strike” thinking. I was puzzled by this, at first, simply because I think it requires a backbreaking amount of work to read that piece as anti-strike; I explicitly endorse the strike, and say how cool I think it is, at many points throughout the piece. When I’ve seen critiques of my work that I’ve agreed with, I’ve passed them around, in the name of keeping the conversation open. Yet the bad feeling bubbles on -- most recently, in a piece by Dayna Tortorici of n+1, where I am the sole “anti-strike” feminist cited in over 2,000 words. 

I like Tortorici’s work, a lot. I have no doubt that she’s a smart and deeply progressive thinker. Yet I’m flat-out bewildered by her reading of my essay. So, because I am an idealistic fool who never learns -- and because the conversation is more important than the handful of sexist douchebags who’ll inevitably respond to it on social media with whooping and hollering about the cool catfight going down -- I’m responding to her response. 

Now: In order to even get into this, we have to address the elephant in the room. Due to the fact that I (a) supported Hillary Clinton, or (b) reported sympathetically on allegations of fairly severe sexist and racist harassment coming from “the left” during the 2016 primaries, there are several people who view me as a kind of bogeywoman; an emblem of the evil, careerist, “identitarian” feminism that nailed Our Messiah, Bernard of Sanders -- and, with him, all hope of American socialism! -- to the cross at the Democratic National Convention. This argument doesn’t much line up with the facts, or my politics -- for example, the fact that I’ve worked at a labor publication since 2011, and have specifically covered class differences and exploitation between women, the dangers of consumerist feminism, cynical pop feminism and femvertising, and misogyny on the left for years. (Until 2016, you see, it was widely held that these critiques were not mutually exclusive.) But it has served to divert attention from my real arguments and to imbue my every move and word with some kind of sinister resonance for certain people -- the sense that, even if what I’m saying sounds perfectly reasonable, I must have some hidden, malevolent reason for saying it.

Most of the people who dislike me this way have skin in the game, often because they were directly implicated in the harassment allegations, or simply because their work has been criticized as sexist. Alternet’s Ben Norton, for example, did not like the Elle article about the strike, and repeatedly told his Twitter followers I was attacking the strike as part of my role as a “relentless Hillary Clinton propagandist” -- but that’s because Ben Norton once angrily e-mailed me, demanding I change an article because it contained a single sentence critiquing a piece he wrote about Joe Biden, until my editor stepped in and told him not to contact me again. I don’t engage with Norton’s arguments because, well, he doesn’t have arguments; what he has is hurt feelings, and his “critique” is just an attempt to breach the “do not contact” rule by other means. But men refusing to honor a woman’s express wish not to hear from them is nothing new, in a bar or on the street or (in this case) at work. You can’t have a good-faith argument with a bad-faith interlocutor, so I don’t. 

However, one of the inevitable side effects of living through a smear campaign designed to paint you as a sinister, scheming character is that otherwise reasonable people will start to find you sinister, for no good reason, simply because they’ve heard the same groundless accusation repeated so many times. (Someone should ask Hillary Clinton about that.) I’d like to think there’s a qualitative difference between someone like Tortorici -- who certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of person who’d knowingly attack a feminist colleague just so that leftist men don’t have to deal with the soul-scorching horror of being called sexist on the Internet sometimes -- and someone like Norton. I feel compelled to engage, if only to test my own assumption that good-faith debate between feminists is still necessary, and still possible. 

Yet I can’t help feeling that my innate evil seems to be the foundation of Tortorici’s critique, which is entirely based on her deep reading of my true feelings, or my hidden intentions, a reading which is not backed up by -- and indeed, at points, is blatantly contradicted by -- the actual text of my piece. 

For one thing, Tortorici concludes that the piece asks women not to strike, when its actual headline -- one which she quotes -- begins “Go Ahead and Strike.” 

Let’s roll tape. 

When we join other women in a general strike, we do not do so on equal terms. Some of us risk more in not working than others, and for some of us the risk is too much. 

Fair; I agree with every word. 

Some see this as an insurmountable obstacle to women’s unity. 

An obstacle, yes; insurmountable, no. It is, however, very tough to surmount, which is exactly why we need intersectionality -- the understanding that “women” are not monolithic, that we have different needs and different amounts of power, that we are capable of harming or exploiting each other, and that blanket calls for solidarity “as women” don’t do much good unless our strategy is tailored to the reality of different women’s different needs and lives. 

I mean, I don’t imagine that Angela freaking Davis is unfamiliar with these principles; I’m just stating them to re-affirm what I imagine are the common grounds of our debate. 

This point was made recently by Sady Doyle in an op-ed on the Women’s Strike for Elle, under the finger-wagging headline “Go Ahead and Strike, but Know That Many of Your Sisters Can’t.”

... It was?

Also, while I do regret that Tortorici doesn’t like the headline, as someone who works in media, she’s probably well aware that writers don’t choose their own headlines. That said, what’s underneath the headline is an admittedly wide-ranging article that tries to do several things in a fairly small space. 

First, it tries to educate an audience on what a “general strike” means and what a “women’s strike” means. (Elle is a general-readership publication, not an explicitly left-politics publication like n+1 or In These Times; you can’t just assume your audience has read Rosa Luxemburg.) Second, it sketches a brief history of women’s strikes, including the famous 1970 women’s strike that catalyzed the second wave as we know it, in order to show how powerful and cool these things can be when they work. (Why do I want readers to think strikes are cool? Well, I want those readers to strike, something Tortorici seems to miss.)

Third (and this is what Tortorici objects to) the piece interrogates the potential problems and complications of such a strike. It suggests that we can’t just import the framework of the great ‘70s strikes into 2017, given how much gender roles have changed; it also points out ways in which women could betray or exploit each other during the strike, specifically how rich women can betray or exploit poor women. Finally, it calls for feminists to keep these complications in mind, and work together to create a clear, specific, creative vision of what “women’s work” means in the present day, and how we want it to change through our protesting and striking.

The fact that the article is so crowded may lend to its being easily misread. So some good-faith misreadings are genuinely my fault. But it is odd to take the one faintly critical portion of the piece -- which amounts to nothing more than a call for intersectional class consciousness -- and characterize that as “finger-wagging.” As I say in the piece, “these questions aren't meant to undermine the women's strikes, which are (again) exciting for their promise to unify feminist theory and revolutionary practice.” Yet asking questions is being framed as undermining. 

To be blunt, it seems more than a little like I’m being called a nag or a buzzkill. I suspect Tortorici and I agree on rich women’s ability to be exploitative -- it’s just that I’m not supposed to bring it up, for some reason. 

Here, as far as I can tell, is the reason: 

The implication seemed to be that privileged women should feel guilty for striking, and therefore abstain... The alternative course of not striking—preserving one’s daily status quo, espousing instead “a kind of guilty, stagnant solidarity of intention,” as Magally Miranda Alcazar and Kate D. Griffiths write in the Nation—helps no one. Instead, it places some women’s fear of hypocrisy over the needs of those they might join[.]

Here, I have to say, is where Tortorici’s argument really starts spinning out into the ether. She can’t point to a place where I say privileged women shouldn’t strike, for the very obvious reason that I never say it. She’s even conceded that “Doyle endorses the strike,” which I do. 

So she’s arguing that somehow, behind the text of the piece that encourages women to strike, I have subliminally asked women not to strike -- or, at least, that I have felt that women should not strike, without ever actually saying so -- and is left analyzing the implications of the implications of the thing she imagines I wanted to say while saying the thing I said. At this point, any actual analysis of my article is far behind us, and we are dealing exclusively with Dayna Tortorici’s psychic insight into the hidden workings of my soul. 

She does object to one real line: “Without a specific, labor-related point, after all, a ‘strike’ is just a particularly righteous personal day.” Here, for fuller context, is how I expand on that sentiment in the piece:  

A woman with a comfortable office job may be able to ‘strike’ simply by taking paid time off and feel confident that her job will be there when the strike is over. But for women in lower-wage positions with few or no protections, leaving for even a day might mean going without necessary wages, or incurring the wrath of an abusive boss, or even losing her job entirely... [A women’s strike] might [also] mean that a female CEO has to do without her nanny and her secretary, putting her in the position of being the potentially vindictive boss. 

Now, there is one “solution” for this, which is for women with office jobs not to strike. Tortorici and I agree that this would be a comically bad fix for the problem. 

But there is a worse solution, which I point to in the piece: Privileged women can “strike” while still exploiting less privileged women. The nice liberal white woman who runs the cafe can take the day off because she’s so angry at Trump, but tell her female kitchen workers and waitresses (many of them immigrants, or economically vulnerable women working for far less than a living wage) that there’s really no way she can let them off work. The upper-middle-class stay-at-home mother might decide that she’s going on a strike for emotional labor and childcare -- because she assumes she can pass the kids along to a nanny or a day-care center anyway. She might then fire the nanny when she doesn’t show up for work. The college student might strike, and decide to celebrate with a little “self-care” -- like going out for a manicure, unaware that the largely female staffers at the parlor are unable to walk away from their jobs due to the abusive working conditions. (Yes, there’s a call to only support women-owned businesses, but let’s be honest -- how many of us could name the women-owned businesses in our communities off hand? And what guarantee is there that your local manicure parlor isn’t owned by an exploitative woman, rather than a man?)

By calling attention to the inequalities between women, I am not calling on those privileged women not to strike. I am calling on them to strike mindfully, to show solidarity with something other than a red t-shirt or a self-care day. I say this pretty clearly in the piece, something else Tortorici blows past while, somehow, quoting: 

This argument, as Doyle herself concedes (“True, part of the point of a strike is for middle- and upper-class women to stand in solidarity with working-class and poor ones”), is based on false premises... The Women’s Strike isn’t undermined by the fact of difference. 

I think writing that Sady Doyle doesn’t want women to strike, in an article that contains the sentence “Doyle endorses the strike,” is also a pretty interesting example of an argument based on false premises.

The full line is “part of the point of a strike is for middle- and upper-class women to stand in solidarity with working-class and poor ones, protecting them from reprisal by joining in the action.” It may be true that the Women’s Strike isn’t undermined by difference or inequality between women -- or, at least, it can be true. But it can only be true if that solidarity actually holds; if middle-class and upper-class women are well-versed enough in what it means, and clear enough on the power they hold, that they don’t wind up sabotaging less privileged women’s efforts inadvertently. You cannot simply assume this will happen, in the same way that you can’t simply assume everyone knows what the phrase “general strike” means; these ideas are not all that mainstream, even in 2017, and as the Women’s March demonstrated, under all those pussy hats were people with widely varied levels of activist experience. 

The article’s notes about complication are aimed toward getting us all onto the same page. I am calling on (my fellow) privileged women to recognize that they are not just oppressed, but also, potentially, oppressors -- and to make striking possible for all the women in their lives, not just to take the strike as a special day for themselves. In one of the piece’s more controversial lines, I say “protest can be a privilege,” not because it is inherently privileged, because it can be -- and will be until we make protest accessible by supporting each other.  

Now: You can fault me for not making this call clearly or explicitly enough. But I think the organizers of the march and I are probably on the same page when it comes to making it. And I think they’ve done exceptional work on this front. 

Thankfully, much of my Elle article is now out of date; since I first faulted the International Women’s Strike for non-specificity, and for not making plans available for women who could not get the day off, they’ve rolled out detailed plans, with multiple ways to strike, including strike actions for women who can’t get away from work. In response to my original article, two of the organizers also wrote a detailed and thoughtful response in The Nation. I admire their response, because it contains lots of the historical and contemporary analogues and labor analysis I asked for, because it is stringently fair -- it sticks entirely to the text on the page, and even admits at some points that a passage may admit of multiple readings -- and because the fact that it exists shows that the organizers are committed to transparency and responsiveness.

I wish I felt the same about Tortorici’s. As is, I feel like I’m awkwardly wedged in to her (much larger and more all-encompassing) essay because the piece needed a villain -- and that need may have overwhelmed any commitment to an accurate reading of what I wrote. This is particularly frustrating because, as I say, I admire Tortorici’s work -- and because we so clearly agree with each other. 

By withdrawing my work, I show my place in the larger economy; when we all do (or don’t), we invite one another to see how our work is interdependent, see the ways we are compelled to exploit one another. And when we see it, we may be able to say with confidence—as the benefiting and exploited members of this system, speaking together—that this is not the system we want.

What an excellent vision! If I may, I’d like to respond with a quote from another feminist’s endorsement of the strike: 

It may be that, just as all the old revolutionaries promised us, we will discover our power through the very act of striking; we'll see what "women's work" looks like when women stop doing it.

We are at a moment of unexpected possibility. If we're able to seriously discuss a general strike, then any number of previously unthinkable options are within reach. These movements are being formed out of resistance to unacceptable conditions, and yet it might also behoove us to get more creative, and more specific, when we envision the world we want. We may be able to ask for more than we think.

Tortorici and I are not just agreeing with each other -- we are sometimes nearly word-for-word mirrors of each other. We may ferociously, sarcastically, angrily mirror each other at times -- about half of all feminist or progressive activism is just that -- but I don’t think we have to. And even if we have to, it’s not the end of the world. People only fight over what matters to them, and if we’re fighting over the strike, then at least it matters to us both. 

Solidarity between women and feminists is possible. I’d like to think that Tortorici and I, along with any given woman who likes or dislikes my piece, will be acting in solidarity by strike day. But solidarity can only work if we work it -- and it should never preclude discussing the things that matter, or asking uncomfortable questions. 

[mst3kproject]

Not of This Earth

Yeah, I know I said I would be reviewing The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. I didn't say I would be reviewing it next. Since Golden Voyage has turned out to be harder to find than I thought it would, I wish to instead offer a bite of well-aged Roger Corman alien invasion cheese from the pen of Charles Griffith, who also brought us It Conquered the World and The Undead. It's got a brain-eating squid on a string.

We open in time-honoured tradition on a couple of thirty-year-old 'teenagers' kissing in a car, and using 'hip' slang in a way that makes me want to cringe despite the fact that I'm not even sure what any of the words mean.  The girl heads home, but on the way she meets a Man in Black with terrible cataracts and telepathic powers, who drains her blood.  This can only mean one thing.

Yep, constant nuclear war has left the people of the planet Davana with their blood turning to dust in their veins!  Seeking a solution, they have sent an agent, under the name of Johnson, to Earth to gather samples of human blood to see if it will make an acceptable substitute.  Johnson has hired a small-time crook named Jeremy and a chipper nurse called Nadine to look after him while he murders bums, door-to-door salesmen, and random ethnic stereotypes to collect blood for study.  If humans turn out to be useful, we will become the Davanites' blood cattle – if we are not, we will all be destroyed!

This movie is epically MST3Kable.  It is astonishingly not available as a rifftrack, but I can just imagine the fun they would have had with the aliens' stilted speech, the hypnotic block that keeps the doctor from discussing his findings, and Jeremy's enveloping cloud of woman-repelling sliminess.  There was even a bit when a blood sample from a rabid dog was placed in the doctor's fridge and I swore I heard Crow's voice declare careful with that plot point, nurse.

Despite all that, Not of This Earth is not so much a bad movie – it's often quite suspenseful – as it is a weird and unsatisfying one.  The opening scene may be a cringeworthy collection of clichés, but I get the impression that was quite intentional, as we move from there into a story very different from the one we may now be expecting.  There are no two-fisted heroes or pie pan saucers here, and only one ridiculous alien creature (the aforementioned squid on a string). Instead we get a tale with no real hero, no real villain, and no real ending.

Of the human characters, Jeremy is a sleazy crook, Nadine and her boss Dr. Rochelle really accomplish very little and spend significant portions of the film in Johnson's telepathic thrall, and Nadine's boyfriend Harry is barely in the movie at all.  The person closest to being a protagonist for us to follow is Nadine, but neither she nor any other character has an arc in which anything much is learned. The climax of the film comes across mainly as a series of accidents. The death of the female Davanite and her discovery by Dr. Rochelle are accidents.  Harry is unaware that Nadine is under hypnotic control or that Johnson is sensitive to loud noises, so although his actions save her in the nick of time, that too is mostly accidental. At the end the Earth is saved, but that seems like a very precarious situation even before the 'it's not over' ending.

Instead of following any of these human characters, Not of This Earth encourages us to follow and often to sympathize with Johnson, the would-be destroyer of our planet.  Johnson is a dying man on a suicide mission, alone in a strange place and with nothing to lose.  Despite the danger he represents to us, for much of its length the movie refuses to treat him as a villain.

Undeniably, the Davanites' plans do not bode well for the Earth: the best outcome for humanity is that we will be livestock for a planet of vampires, and the worst is that we and everything we know are destroyed.  But the Davanites' own situation is just as dire.  We never see their home planet (that would have been expensive), but we're told that things there are growing ever more desperate.  The female Davanite tells Johnson that there is civil war and people are dying en masse as they run out of blood.  Johnson himself says that death is not something to fear, but his species clearly is afraid of its impending extinction.  Do they not deserve our sympathy for that?

Can we even consider them evil?  The Davanites don't want conquest for the sake of conquest, power for the sake of power, they only want to survive.  If this is evil, then how much more evil are we? History is full of examples of humans destroying other species, or even other humans, out of simple greed – consider the island of Tasmania, where both the thylacine and the native human population were deliberately wiped out by European settlers.  Can we fault the Davanites for trying to save themselves at our expense, when our own record is in many ways so much worse?

In the final scene, Nadine and Harry stand by Johnson's grave and Harry observes that he does almost feel sorry for this man, who had to die in a strange place surrounded by alien creatures.  Nadine replies that she can have no pity for a creature that had none for us.  This is interesting on multiple levels – Nadine is a nurse and pity is part of her job, and she was actively sympathetic towards Johnson earlier in the film.  His actions have disgusted her so much that she can no longer even do that.  It also represents an inversion of the usual storyteller's assumption, as used for example in It Conquered the World, that men are rational and women emotional.  This stands in contrast to earlier in the film, when purely rational Johnson chided the female Davanite for displaying fear.

Does Johnson feel anything towards humans?  At times he seems to.  He honestly appears to like Nadine and Dr. Rochelle and is not actively malicious towards them, but it later becomes clear that he places no value on their lives whatsoever.  He does not hesitate to kill the doctor when it becomes plain that the man knows too much, nor does he mind sending Nadine to her death for the sake of an experiment.  The fate he has in mind for Nadine is actually particularly cruel: the first time Johnson tried to send a live human specimen to Davana for study, the matter transmission device didn't work properly – the female Davanite tells him the subject was crushed to the size of a soda can. Johnson therefore does what anybody does with malfunctioning technology, and tries to duplicate the problem to see if he can find the cause.  Nadine, like Dr. Rochelle, was getting inconveniently nosy, so using her to test the machine gets her out of the way and allows him to watch his equipment in action.  Depending on how much of this Nadine was aware of, maybe it's not surprising that she feels nothing but disgust for Johnson at the end.

There are a couple of other interesting things in the movie, too. Johnson's first human specimen that was supposed to go to Davana was a Chinese stereotype he found wandering around the suburbs.  While this man is at least portrayed by a Chinese actor, his costuming and behaviour are rather racist – yet it seems that the intention of the film-makers was actually the exact opposite.  For the purposes of studying human anatomy, Johnson sees no difference between this man and Nadine.  Male or female, white or not, each equally qualifies as a 'representative human'.  Johnson's telepathic powers enable him to speak Chinese as easily as he does English, and considering how odd his English is, I'd be interested to hear a native speaker's assessment of his Chinese!

Not of This Earth also has in common with This Island Earth that it contains hints of UFO mythology, some of it reflecting what was believed at the time and some of it seeming to predict what would come to be believed in the future.  There is not a single actual flying saucer in the movie, since the Davanites use a Star-Trek-esque teleportation device to come and go, but Johnson himself is an absolutely typical Man In Black.

In the UFO mythos, Men In Black are intimidating, not quite human characters who wear black suits and drive black cars, and often wear very dark sunglasses.  They look and behave as if they represent some official body, and their job seems to be to frighten people who get too close to 'The Truth'.  Sometimes they are said to have hypnotic powers, or to speak telepathically.  They were reported as early as the 1940s, and it seems quite possible that Corman and Griffith deliberately used these stories as a basis for Johnson's appearance and behaviour.

Johnson is also seen to collect human tissues to be sent to Davana for testing.  His victims are found without blood and without eyes, which seems to predict the animal mutilation phenomenon that came to public attention in the late 60s.  This is when farm animals, usually cows, are found dead in fields without blood and with certain of the vital organs missing.  It's often blamed on aliens, but it actually appears to be the result of scavenging birds pecking out the soft bits of a newly dead animal and leaving the surrounding tissues that are not yet rotten enough to easily tear.  If you google 'cattle mutilation', you will find a long, angry YouTube video in which the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe accuse those less crazy than themselves of covering up the fact that this is also happening to human beings. Truly, Not of This Earth was ahead of its time.

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Gambles Away in Episodes 85-91

Hello there! Once again, it's the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Noelle Ogawa here, and this week I'll be your host as we make our way through the many arcs of the shonen giant Naruto. Last week, we covered episodes 78-84, and this time we're going to sweep episodes 85-91. 

This time, we have new introductions and new threats, starting off with the mysterious Akatsuki retreating and ending with Tsunade contemplating a tough choice. We get a little glimpse of the last of the three Sannin, and how that bond has fragmented over the years. Most importantly, Tsunade is confronted with two life-changing decisions, neither which are easy to make. This arc is a pretty heavy one. Let's see what the team has to say about this batch!

The Akatsuki have retreated for now, leaving us with an uncomfortable feeling of something greater out there. What are your impressions of the group, especially Itachi and Kisame?

Paul: I want to know what the political goals of Akatsuki are. Both Itachi and Kisame wear their Village headbands with the symbols defaced, so I'm wondering if – despite being obviously cruel and evil villains – they're also the heroes of their own story, because the current entente system that turns children into weapons in order for rival nations to publicly flex their military muscle is pretty messed up, yo.

Kevin: Early on, Itachi seems like there’s some kind of frailty to him, that he’s incredibly strong but can’t fight for long. Kisame also seems like a competent fighter (albeit with a strange weapon), but otherwise is Itachi’s henchman. Having seen how their characters develop, this is an interesting starting place.

Carolyn: Yeah, it seems to me that they believe in what they are doing. That seems to be a common trope with this show so far, though. Lots of characters who may or may not be bad guys but they have a tragic backstory and a firm belief in what they think is right. David: I understand why it happens for dramatic reasons, but I do kind of wish there were just slightly more straightforward foreshadowing about the motivations for our villains, and this the introduction of the Akatsuki makes the best case for this. On the positive side, Itachi serves as a solid example of what Sasuke should probably not become, complete with a skillset they both can theoretically share. “Look out, Sasuke!” Or so I would tell him, if he wasn’t put completely out of commission in multiple ways so that the plot could move on without his obsessions getting in the way.

Joseph: I’m a big fan of introducing villains and painting them as irredeemably evil only to turn that notion on its head later, so I’m excited to watch them develop. Kisame looks more like he belongs in Arlong’s crew from One Piece, but I dig how they only partially revealed the power of his weird shark sword.

Danni: A shadowy group of super powerful villains after the main character sounds pretty cool, so I don’t really know why I’m not all that interested in the Akatsuki yet. I think I’d like to learn more about their motivations first. For now, though, I’m pretty satisfied with the continued conflict with Orochimaru.

Jared: There’s certainly still a number of unanswered questions surrounding the group. Who else is in it and why are these two out and about by themselves? What’s with the headbands being defaced? Those will get answered at some point I’m sure, but from what we’ve seen thus far, Itachi seems like a pretty big deal with how he quickly he dispatches Sasuke and comes up with a way to escape Jiraiya’s trap. Kisame seems more like his muscle, but has that pretty wild sword.

Kara: This was yet another case of seeing the cosplayer before the character, so now I have at least some context for those coats. Also, Itachi’s presence has been in the background of the story for… 80-something episodes now? This has been a slow burn finally getting to him. I wasn’t disappointed; there’s a lot here I’m looking forward to exploring.

Here we encounter another training arc, where Naruto is trying to master the Rasengan. How do you think this compares to previous training, and do you think it’s being handled well?

Paul: Although the completed Rasengan technique is visually impressive, I'm already sick of seeing Naruto playing with balloons. I wish there were some other aspect to the three stages of the training.

Kevin: During the tree climbing, it seemed like Naruto and Sasuke mastered the technique very quickly due to competing against each other; and during the water walking, Naruto caught on in less than a day, then mastered it when Jiraiya undid Orochimaru’s seal. Mastering the Summoning Jutsu was better, since Naruto had to keep practicing, but it realistically became training for drawing out the Nine-Tailed Fox’s chakra, which boiled down to “run out of energy, then put your life in danger.” For me, the Rasengan training is the first time the show has successfully conveyed how difficult and time consuming ninjutsu training is supposed to be and just how hard Naruto pushes himself to grow faster than anyone else.

Carolyn: As always, I was impressed with Naruto’s dedication to learning and advancing his craft. He is very dedicated despite all of his obstacles and it warms my heart.

David: I was honestly just going to say what Kevin said, so I guess I’ll elaborate a little bit instead. The first time we see Rasengan performed is against a random yakuza guy, which works well for introducing the technique while also not giving away just how important it is. Jiraiya’s explanation to Naruto about how the technique fits him well because it doesn’t require hand signs demonstrates both Jiraiya’s understanding of Naruto’s strengths while also serving as a valid cover-up for how powerful he realizes Naruto can be. Seeing in small, increasing stages what exactly the Rasengan does, while grounding that all in the mechanics of the show we’ve been taught so far, makes the whole process feel much more satisfying than a general “power-up”. And, most important, the scenes where Naruto is just walking around practicing on his balloons are endearing as heck. I’ve been there too, little buddy.

Joseph: I appreciated the mundanity of his practice sessions. It may not make for the most compelling television, but, like Kevin said, it got the point across well enough. Now we can sit back and be duly impressed when he unleashes his full Rasengan potential.

Danni: It’s a little mundane, but I appreciate it. The mundanity of it is helping Naruto mature a bit since he’s beginning to realize that he maybe shouldn’t have been goofing off so much in school. I also like how the balloons provide a good tangible example of what the Rasengan is and how to control it.

Jared: There sure is a lot of Naruto just hanging out in the woods struggling with this portion of training, but it fits considering how big of a deal Jiraiya makes the technique out to be. Plus, using balloons and rubber balls seems like a strange choice, but really works with what Jiraiya wants to teach Naruto so he can understand the technique.

Kara: I really enjoy the fact that Naruto learned the Rasengan in a way that made sense to him — the whole thing with the cat, for example — to the point where even Tsunade looks at it and, while recognizing what it is, also recognizes that it’s different. That’s something I’m liking about Naruto’s progress in this set of episodes: he may not be by-the-book, but he’s working it out for himself in a way that makes sense to him, which is a valuable thing no matter what you’re learning.

We have a fair chunk of time devoted to Jiraiya and Naruto’s mentor-mentee relationship. What do you think of this particular dynamic?

Paul: I don't have much of an opinion about it yet, because Jiraiya has a very “hands off” approach to instruction, and he's not exactly a very supportive or nurturing type. He may be extremely skilled as a ninja, but as a teacher, he kinda sucks. I don’t feel like he’d stick his neck out for his charges in the same way that Kakashi and Iruka would.

Kevin: I am liking Jiraiya more and more as he spends time as Naruto’s teacher. He’s more hands off than Naruto would necessarily prefer, but he knows that Naruto learns best by figuring things out himself, and still keeps on eye on his student to check up on progress and probably make sure Naruto doesn’t do anything too reckless. He’s still not great as the father figure Naruto seems to be looking for, but they’re both still warming up to each other.

Carolyn: Man, hands-off style could be cool. And Jiraiya doesn’t necessarily have to be a father figure to Naruto (though it makes me sad he’s not). But overall I just find him to be a giant jerk. I got very upset about Jiraiya blowing all of Naruto’s money. (He wanted to be responsible and save it!) Good for Naruto for letting that Pervy Sage have it.

David: It’s a trade-off that serves a few purposes. Jiraiya is completely correct to recognize Naruto as being mostly self-motivated; it’s hard to imagine a Naruto who improves because he is constantly coddled, right? At the same time, Naruto clearly desires that kind of relationship, because it’s something he’s been denied almost his whole life (thank goodness for Iruka). And for Jiraiya’s side, it plays into something I think I see developing among the Sannin as a whole - a theme of strong latent abilities not being realized to their fullest potentials. Orochimaru is obsessed with progress, but only to the extent that is helps him, which is why he tries to sabotage the village instead of support it. Tsunade is more capable than anyone else to help others, but also too scared of failure to help anyone but herself, which is why she is hesitant to become Hokage and willing to consider Orochimaru’s current proposal. Finally, Jiraiya is ridiculously charismatic, but so empathetic that he can only see the disadvantages to his presence, which is why he refuses the proposition to become Hokage and can’t commit fully to Naruto’s growth.

Joseph: Despite the fact that he blew Naruto’s money, I feel like there’s a hidden lesson in everything Jiraiya does. Remember when he first started trying to summon and kept bugging Jiraiya to “watch his training?” Even then getting him to do so was like pulling teeth, but the way he leaves Naruto to his work now shows how he’s attempting to foster his independence and prevent him from leaning too heavily on the desire for praise and exterior encouragement. He still has a ways to go, but Jiraiya is improving as a character each installment.

Danni: I appreciate Jiraiya in this batch as more of a goofy grandpa and less of a wild horndog. He seems like a good fit to be mentoring someone like Naruto. Their shared goofiness plays well, and Jiraiya’s apparent callousness is just a front help Naruto become more independent. In the end, he always rewards Naruto for his accomplishments.

Jared: Jiraiya becoming less of just the prototypical perv character has been better and I like how Naruto and him are able to almost keep each other in line. Like they’re calling each other out on their own bs. He’s certainly different as a teacher as it’s more hey, you’ve got to figure this out on your own, I’m not going to hold your hand, which is certainly something that Naruto will need to learn in general. So I think overall it isn’t what Naruto would’ve wanted at first, but it works.

Kara: It was a lot easier to be a Jiraiya fan this week. Like I said before, we’re seeing a lot more of how Naruto learns, and that he and Jiraiya were a lot the same. It was a little thing, but I loved the exchange between them about being the the type that has trouble focusing in class. I think all of Naruto’s teachers so far have been good for him and connected with him in some way, but Jiraiya really seems to “get” him and what he needs to grow.

Your closest loved ones returning from the dead in exchange for dooming your home- Orochimaru delivers a harrowing proposal. Is this a good deal in your eyes? If you don’t think so, what’s something that would tempt you?

Paul: As the audience, we've already seen one example of Orochimaru's Resurrection Jutsu, and it was clear that the people brought back to life were just an image of the departed, dancing like puppets while Orochimaru pulled the strings. Tsunade didn't witness that, and her trauma isn't helping her to think clearly, because the likelihood of Orochimaru betraying her is 100 percent.

I honestly don't know what would tempt me. I'm a pretty simple person, and I'm generally happy as long as my basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, etc.) are met. Maybe if the villain threatened my loved ones, I'd be forced to comply, but I can't imagine voluntarily striking a deal in exchange for some good or service knowing that the end goal was the destruction of my entire community.

Kevin: I legitimately don’t know what I would do in that situation. Sure, the many should outweigh the few, but the few are people who I care about more than anyone else. I would definitely be tempted, and shows how good the character writing in Naruto can get. Put in Tsunade’s position, I could seriously see myself going either way.

Carolyn: I suppose it depends on the situation. It might sound terrible, but I’m sure I would take the deal for my kids in a heartbeat. David: Hard to admit, but I also completely sympathize with Tsunade here, and it’s hard not to see her gambling addiction as a coping mechanism for how her powers that should have been ‘definitely’ useful ultimately failed her twice.

Joseph: It’s a solid proposal from Orochimaru, and I think it’s reasonable for anyone’s gut answer to be “it depends.” With that said, Tsunade knows Orochimaru. One would think despite her emotions she would know he’s a walking monkey’s paw in this situation.

Danni: Why on earth would anyone ever trust Orochimaru?

Jared: I dunno, I think it’d be hard to accept a deal like that when the person offering is saying he’s going to do some big ole terrorism afterwards. Although, if the offer was that my student loan debt was wiped away, I might think differently.

Kara: I actually sat with this for a few minutes, because there are people I’ve lost whom I’d give just about anything to have more time with. That said, not only do I know a Monkey’s Paw when I see one, I also don’t trust people of even a fraction of Orochimaru’s badness to hold up their end of a deal. It’d either not happen, or happen and be awful. I’d probably buckle faster to threats than promises, because I can see him delivering on those.

Jiraiya reveals that Tsunade doesn’t just need to return to heal Sasuke and Kakashi, but also to become the new Hokage. She has a lot of reservations about the position, considering she has a complicated past with the world of shinobi. If you were in her place, would you take the title? Why or why not?

Paul: Tsunade, just like Jiraiya, clearly doesn't want the job. I think both of them realize that to be Hokage means always being willing to sacrifice one's personal well-being for the good of the Village, and neither of them are ready to do that, because Jiraiya is too self-centered, and because Tsunade has already lost so much already. I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility, either. I can barely look after a pet goldfish, let alone a whole community.

Kevin: In short, I would probably take the position, mostly out of a sense of being able to change things for the better so that history did not repeat itself. Tsunade’s idea for medical ninja in every team was eventually implemented and shown to be effective, and adding in that she clearly wants to keep as many shinobi alive as possible, she would probably try to keep the ninja villages as peaceful as possible, and if war broke out minimize the Leaf’s losses. So even though she has a lot of baggage concerning the position, in her position I would try to use that baggage as my motivation to change how the village operates.

Carolyn: I think I would take it, if only because of some sort of misplaced “I’ll show them” attitude and because it would kill me to think I couldn’t help prevent other people from going through the same thing. Which … is super hypocritical in light of my resurrection answer, but there you go.

David: Pretending I was in Tsunade’s position right now, I would take it, but for entirely selfish reasons - I know that jerk Orochimaru is out there trying to tempt me and do even worse, so being the leader of essentially a nation of ninjas would be the ultimate revenge. Definitely not the best reasons to do anything, though.

Joseph: The practical me knows I don’t want that kind of position, but the part of me that wants to be the center of attention would probably win out.

Danni: As someone who doesn’t know any ninjutsu, I think I’d make a pretty bad Hokage overall.

Jared: It’s a bit of a mixed bag because the village is basically demanding she take the position regardless of her feelings. Considering how complicated her feelings are about the village and all of that in general, it makes sense why she’d be like nah. I think to really get into the headspace for that kind of position, you’d really need the type of drive that Naruto has.

Kara: In her exact position? Big nope. Her grandfather was Hokage and she had people around her who fully understood the real responsibilities involved. Between their demises and the way things went in general for the village, I’m not sure I could step into a role I’d held to a certain ideal in very dark, very different conditions. Adding insult to injury. That said, I like Tsunade so far, so I’m hoping she goes for it regardless.

Last up, what are the high and low points for this week?

Paul: My high point was the reveal that Tsunade is absolutely terrible at gambling, because I like it when heroic characters are really bad at some morally dubious activity. My low point was how thoroughly destroyed Sasuke was by his confrontation with Itachi. The poor kid gets physically and mentally traumatized and put into a coma, and Itachi didn't even break a sweat in the process. Sasuke doesn't deserve that kind of treatment.

Kevin: High - Jiraiya coming forward as Naruto makes progress in his training after hiding in the shadows to silently observe. He’s still kinda of a dick to Naruto a lot of the time, but we are seeing more of his caring side that eventually makes him everyone’s favorite ninja grandpa.

Low - I honestly really like the vast majority of this arc so… people not being much more vocal about how the town’s castle is suddenly gone? Sure, we get a few people running away, but that’s the kind of thing that should’ve made much more of a general panic, especially since a giant snake exploded out of it.

Carolyn: High point: Naruto giving Jiraiya the third degree for stealing his money. Tell him what’s what, Naruto.

Low point: The Sasuke meme, actually. It was harder to watch than I was expecting. He seemed very broken.

David: High: Jiraiya wakes up hungover and asks Naruto to fetch him some water, to which Naruto responds by blowing up a water balloon over his face. Low: Honestly this was my favorite batch of episodes so far, and I don’t remember disliking anything, but Jiraiya’s character flaws are very frustrating to watch because Naruto is honestly a great kid who deserves a ton of respect and attention. So, that.

Joseph: High: The gradual development of Jiraiya and Naruto’s relationship is fun to watch. Low: I find it hard to believe the ninja clans had never thought to have a freaking medic on the field until Tsunade suggested it.

Danni: The high point for me this batch was when we found out Tsunade is 50. The low point for me is when anyone acted like that was at all a bad thing and not an incredible bonus.

Jared: High point would be when Tsunade was constantly winning and instead of celebrating, immediately knew that something was about to go very badly. Low point, I kind of felt like parts of how Tsunade was written was very generic in a way that felt too tropey and just taking from a list of bad things that can happen to characters and slapping them on her. With how the series handled Sakura in the beginning and has kind of forgotten about her recently, I’m not that surprised it feels like it’s happening again.

Kara: High point is Tsunade going outside to scrap with a kid. I can respect that, I don’t care if Jiraiya thinks it’s immature. Low point is once again having action take place in an animal interior or reasonable facsimile thereof. I don’t cope with that mess well at all.

COUNTERS:

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 6 (32 total) Bowls of ramen consumed: 0 bowls (33 bowls, 3 cups total) Shadow Clones created: 0 (297 total)

  With that concludes this week! Please join us for this rewatch, anytime, especially if you haven't already watched the original Naruto!

  Here's our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, on April 19th, NICOLE MEJIAS will show us the deadly and legendary faceoff in episodes 92-98.

-April 26th will have DAVID LYNN take us to the Land of Waves in episodes 99-105.

-March 3rd features PAUL CHAPMAN, who will walk us through the inevitable Naruto vs Sasuke in episodes 106-112.

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! See you next time!

  Have a question for next week's batch of Episodes 92~98? Drop it in the comments and you might find your answer in next week's installment!

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[dfroza]

“The seed that flowers into righteousness will always be planted in peace

by those who embrace peace.”

A line as the closing line from Today’s chapter of the Scriptures from the New Testament Letter of James:

My brothers and sisters, do not encourage a large number of you to become teachers because teachers will be held to a higher standard. We all stumble along the way. If a person never speaks hurtful words or shouts in anger or profanity, then he has achieved perfection. The one who can control his tongue can also control the rest of his body. It’s like when we place a metal bit into a horse’s mouth to ride it; we can control its entire body with the slightest movement of our hands. Have you ever seen a massive ship sailing effortlessly across the water? Despite its immense size and the fact that it is propelled by mighty winds, a small rudder directs the ship in any direction the pilot chooses. It’s just the same with our tongues! It’s a small muscle, capable of marvelous undertakings.

And do you know how many forest fires begin with a single ember from a small campfire? The tongue is a blazing fire seeking to ignite an entire world of vices. The tongue is unique among all parts of the body because it is capable of corrupting the whole body. If that were not enough, it ignites and consumes the course of creation with a fuel that originates in hell itself. Humanity is capable of taming every bird and beast in existence, even reptiles and sea creatures great and small. But no man has ever demonstrated the ability to tame his own tongue! It is a spring of restless evil, brimming with toxic poisons. Ironically this same tongue can be both an instrument of blessing to our Lord and Father and a weapon that hurls curses upon others who are created in God’s own image. One mouth streams forth both blessings and curses. My brothers and sisters, this is not how it should be. Does a spring gush crystal clear freshwater and moments later spurt out bitter salt water? My brothers and sisters, does a fig tree produce olives? Is there a grapevine capable of growing figs? Can salt water give way to freshwater?

Who in your community is understanding and wise? Let his example, which is marked by wisdom and gentleness, blaze a trail for others. If your heart is one that bleeds dark streams of jealousy and selfishness, do not be so proud that you ignore your depraved state. The wisdom of this world should never be mistaken for heavenly wisdom; it originates below in the earthly realms, with the demons. Any place where you find jealousy and selfish ambition, you will discover chaos and evil thriving under its rule. Heavenly wisdom centers on purity, peace, gentleness, deference, mercy, and other good fruits untainted by hypocrisy. The seed that flowers into righteousness will always be planted in peace by those who embrace peace.

The Letter of James, Chapter 3 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is chapter 22 of First Chronicles where King David speaks to his son Solomon about building the Temple in Jerusalem and bringing the sacred Ark of the Covenant into the heart of its inner room, which also represents the way we invite the Spirit of our Creator to reside within our own in the True illumination of the Son:

[David Charges Solomon to Build The Temple]

David ordered all the resident aliens in the land to come together; he sent them to the stone quarries to cut dressed stone to build The Temple of God. He also stockpiled a huge quantity of iron for nails and bracings for the doors of the gates, more bronze than could be weighed, and cedar logs past counting (the Sidonians and Tyrians shipped in huge loads of cedar logs for David).

David was thinking, “My son Solomon is too young to plan ahead for this. But the sanctuary that is to be built for God has to be the greatest, the talk of all the nations; so I’ll get the construction materials together.” That’s why David prepared this huge stockpile of building materials before he died. Then he called in Solomon his son and commanded him to build a sanctuary for the God of Israel.

David said to Solomon, “I wanted in the worst way to build a sanctuary to honor my God. But God prevented me, saying, ‘You’ve killed too many people, fought too many wars. You are not the one to honor me by building a sanctuary—you’ve been responsible for too much killing, too much bloodshed. But you are going to have a son and he will be a quiet and peaceful man, and I will calm his enemies down on all sides. His very name will speak peace—that is, Solomon, which means Peace—and I’ll give peace and rest under his rule. He will be the one to build a sanctuary in my honor. He’ll be my royal adopted son and I’ll be his father; and I’ll make sure that the authority of his kingdom over Israel lasts forever.’

“So now, son, God be with you. God-speed as you build the sanctuary for your God, the job God has given you. And may God also give you discernment and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you will rule in reverent obedience under God’s Revelation. That’s what will make you successful, following the directions and doing the things that God commanded Moses for Israel. Courage! Take charge! Don’t be timid; don’t hold back. Look at this—I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to stockpile materials for the sanctuary of God: a hundred thousand talents (3,775 tons) of gold, a million talents (37,750 tons) of silver, tons of bronze and iron—too much to weigh—and all this timber and stone. And you’re free to add more. And workers both plentiful and prepared: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, artisans in gold and silver, bronze and iron. You’re all set—get to work! And God-speed!”

David gave orders to all of Israel’s leaders to help his son Solomon, saying, “Isn’t it obvious that your God is present with you; that he has given you peaceful relations with everyone around? My part in this was to put down the enemies, subdue the land to God and his people; your part is to give yourselves, heart and soul, to praying to your God. So get moving—build the sacred house of worship to God! Then bring the Chest of the Covenant of God and all the holy furnishings for the worship of God into the sanctuary built in honor of God.”

The Book of 1st Chronicles, Chapter 22 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, january 21 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A set of posts by John Parsons about the significance of our personal “Passover” from death to eternal life:

In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Bo) we read about the institution of the Passover and the final terrible plague that was to befall the Egyptians on the Passover night. When we think of this time, we may imagine God “passing over” those houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, though it might better be said that God passed into the homes of those who trusted him, while he withdrew His Presence from those that did not...

To see this note that two different words are used that can be translated as “pass over.” First, God said, "I will pass over (i.e., avar: עֲבַר) the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the LORD" (Exod. 12:12). But directly after saying this, God promised to “pass over” (i.e., pasach: פָּסַח) the homes of those who trusted in him to impart his protection from the plague of death: "The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over to you (lit. עֲלֵכֶם, ‘upon you’), and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt" (Exod. 12:13). In other words, when God would see the blood of the Passover lamb, he would pass over to enter the house and “cover” its occupants from the judgment of death.

The blood of the Passover lamb sheltered people from the plague of death by atoning for their sin by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. The Torah states that “the life (i.e., nefesh: נֶפֶשׁ, or ‘soul’) of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11), and therefore death represents the separation of the soul from the body. The life blood of a sacrificial lamb was therefore offered in exchange for the death and destruction of others. Eating the lamb “roasted by fire” meant identifying with the death offered in exchange for your own; eating matzah, or unleavened bread, signified being delivered in haste, apart from the “rise of the flesh” or human design; and eating maror, or bitter herbs, recalled the bitterness of our slavery...

The first time the word “blood” (דָם) occurs in the Scriptures concerns the death of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by his brother Cain. After Abel’s blood was shed, the LORD confronted Cain and said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Since blood is the carrier of life, it bears the energy and vitality of life: it has its own spiritual “voice.” Likewise, the blood of Yeshua, the true Lamb of God who died upon the cross, speaks on our behalf, and reverses the power of death by creating a barrier that death can no longer cross, since the death of the sacrificial victim “exchanges” the merit and power of life. Unlike the blood of Abel that “cries out” for justice, the blood of Yeshua cries out for mercy (Heb. 12:24). Putting our trust in the provision of God’s sacrifice causes His wrath (or righteous judgment) to pass over while simultaneously extending love to the sinner.... This is the essential message of the gospel itself, that we have atonement through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior, the great Lamb of God (שׂה האלהים). As Yeshua said, "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the One who sent me has eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) and will not be condemned, but has passed over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., "crossed over" [עָבַר]) from death to life" (John 5:24). Just as God's judgment passes over from life to death on my behalf; so His love passes over from death to life on my behalf... [Hebrew for Christians]

1.20.21 • Facebook

It was in the midst of the “dark cloud” that Yeshua made intercession for us (Matt. 27:45). The idea of substitutionary atonement is surely mysterious, but ultimately the message is simple: God loves you and has made a way for you to be eternally accepted -- despite your sin... That’s the “good news” of the cross, after all. That’s what Yeshua meant when he said, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:14-17). Humanity as a whole has been "bitten by the snake" and needs to be delivered from its deadly venom. Just as the image made in the likeness of the destroying snake was lifted up for Israel's healing, so the One made in the likeness of sinful flesh was to be lifted up as the Healer of the world (Rom. 8:3). All we need to do is look and believe. Yeshua died for you so you can live. He stands at the door and knocks, offering to “pass over” your sin and to impart to you his life in exchange (Rev. 3:20). [Hebrew for Christians]

https://hebrew4christians.com/

1.20.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

January 21, 2021

The Prayer of Moses

“O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)

This majestic yet reflective psalm is the oldest of all psalms. The superscript of the psalm identifies it as “a prayer of Moses, the man of God.” While we are not directly told to do so, it is helpful to consider this psalm as the dying song of this man of God as he reflected back on his long life, including the 40 years in Egypt, the 40 years in Midian, and most importantly the recent 40 years of wilderness wanderings. As we survey this psalm, think of Moses pondering his life’s work shortly before he died.

The first stanza of the psalm (vv. 1-2) contrasts the unchanging eternity of the Lord, “even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (v. 2), with the perpetual changes of the recent wilderness wandering in which the people had no “dwelling place” (v. 1). The next stanza (vv. 3-6) notes the frailty of man and the death of a whole generation. But God is the ever-living One; His years do not fail (v. 4). God is also a holy God, justly exercising righteous wrath. The open iniquities and secret sins of all mankind, particularly the people of God, merit His judgment (vv. 7-8).

In verses 9-12 we see the transient, carnal experiences of man contrasted with the permanent, spiritual nature of God. We need to recognize the intensity of His anger (v. 11) and govern our lives accordingly. “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (v. 12).

Perhaps the climax of this psalm is reflected in verses 13-15, where we see the beauty of the Lord our God described as the crowning adornment of human character. The only assurance of the permanent establishment of the work of a man is in its identity with the work of God. Our request of God should be: “Establish thou the work of our hands upon us” (v. 17). JDM