#and sometimes a robot is a friend who chooses to deal the killing blow to themself so that someone who loves them doesn't have to

[randomidiocyncrazies]

The thing is. i go bananas over Oozora Yuujin in part because he's allowed to exercise his will and autonomy in his last moments, but only because Leviathan let him. like, sure, it'd have been cool to see Yuujin overcome Leviathan's control (love it when a brainwashed/controlled character overthrows their abuser), but as epic as that would've been i don't think it would've fit Yuujin's function in the show. like... from beginning to the end, Yuujin had very little real agency—he was presented as a character with autonomy, but once you peel his layers back, the situation becomes really ambiguous. I mean, he was literally calibrated to appeal to Haru. and while Yuujin's bond with Haru was genuine enough that he peeked out from behind YJ-14's control, he was never able to actually fully slip Leviathan's leash when the big L wanted to keep him under control.

So. Yuujin can save Haru only because Leviathan let him go, and Leviathan only did that bc Haru made a choice as per their agreement (and Haru's choice involves sacrificing Yuujin for the liberty of humanity). Yuujin is in control during his final moments, but that control was a gift based on someone else's actions that he had no control over; he was grated that control not because of anything he did, but because Haru (the protagonist) fulfilled Leviathan's bargain.

And yet. Yuujin's final act to save Haru from having to execute that choice is no less meaningful; i think it's meaningful because of how limiting his agency actually is. in that final moment Yuujin finally has the freedom to make a choice—the first and last choice where he wasn't a puppet dancing to someone else's tune—and he chooses to execute his termination with his own hands, so that someone who loves and cares for him wouldn't have to. Haru might be the one who chose humanity over Yuujin, but it's Yuujin who pushes the button of his own free will in the end.

(i've said this before, but i find Yuujin fascinating as a character in a similar way that Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena is interesting, but they're kind of opposites. Yuujin is introduced as a 'protagonist' that our protagonist looks up to, and presented as someone with autonomy, but we spend the show realizing how little of that he actually had; Anthy is presented as a helpless damsel without agency, but throughout the show we slowly realize how powerful she actually is.)

[sk-lumen]

Need serious advice about setting boundaries or communicating when dealing with a person who:

Is a parent

Has unhealthy communication methods -- it takes very little for them to start full-blown screaming, shouting out all your 'negative' things/mistakes/past, can continue to scream-criticise you even after you've gone silent, for WHOLE MINUTES even if you've shut up, will not accept anything that even hints at them making a mistake

You can't trust since childhood coz u made the mistake of confiding in them with a serious issue as a young teen --- mental related --- and they belittled and invalidated you, and since then pretended you never confided in them and have NO IDEA how you've been coping without them or ANYone else for years... Yeah thanks, parent, what u said back then made me think I was the one at fault and so I stopped trusting even friends coz yeah, when ur own parent doesn't give a damn, why would anyone else?

Is a master at silent treatments without explaining what EXACTLY they're punishing you for, then when theyre in the mood, will start talking to you as if they hadn't ignored you for days. Lol I'd rather be water boarded I think. Especially for all the damage this caused when I was a child

Won't openly talk about what they want, yet expects ALL FHE TIME others (in the family) to know what they want, then will complain/scream/angry for AGES about how no one cares, no one gives a damn... And when someone asks them what they want, they either say: nothing, or "you should know! Can't u see?"

Upon asking them to please talk normally, will blow a fuse, and lose it --- happened multiple times today

Literally will use me as a scape goat to unleash their frustrations upon. Even when I leave the room, I can hear them b*tch about how much of a failure I am etc. The trigger being anything that bothers them, from a phone call to something other siblings did, bla bla. I limit my time with them... But it's like, it feels impossible to have them treat me normally, without ridiculing or criticising me. I'm already a very low self esteem person... This doesn't help AT ALL

In short, refuse to tell/ask/discuss important stuff, and getting mad randomly that no one read their mind, bcoz everyone's 'old enough to have enough sense' to know what they 'should' do... Eg will not pikc up the phone when we call them from the store to ask when what the needed isn't available, so what other alternative can we get... And then when we get home, will instead blame us for being fussy and not getting the alternative, completelt skirting around the issue they didn't deign to pick up the phone... I mean, I don't get it. In the past I HAVE in fact asked them to just openly tell me what they want/expect from me to make them happy... Got passive aggressive answers like "don't you know? Are you dumb?" Bla bla

Passive aggressive to the max when they've lost it

Expect me to drop anything I'm doing and immediately cater to them, and expect me to help them in their hobbies (while simultaneously, as I learned many years ago to much heartache, not being interested or even pretending to be interested in my hobbies. The disinterest taught me very quickly how much what I wanted meant, leading to years of self-invalidation. Luckily I've learned it really is them, not me. My hobbies are valid)

Will not talk about why they're feeling angry, what causes it. Instead will blame me, who's like the golden scapegoat in our amazing family, by saying :YOU made me negative. They've said it many times now... It hurts a lot, when I'm also struggling with my own issues which I ofc can't confide in them about :)

Today I manned up -- the outburst of hatred happened again! Over a simple thing. It was NIGHTMARE and made me angry/sad/frustrated/triggered---, and so I told them to stop talking like that... Boy was that the wrong thing to say... I don't think I can accurately tell u what happened afterwards...

Usually children learn communication skills from the parents... I at least learned to recognize the unhealthy ones, and what NOT to communicate like lol. Like, other parent is even worse, believe it or not. But that's another complex situation

I'm not bashing on the parent. Lord knows I even have that much of a right huh? I hate myself eveb more when they invalidate me if I try to show how MUCH THEY HURT me after a 'communication session'. As in, heaven forbid me if I BE SILENT afterwards and DON'T wanna listen to their retardation. Nope. Even then they provoke me, rage at me, you know how sometimes enraged people hiss vitriol thru gritted teeth? Yeah, that's what they did today after I stayed silent and tried to ignore them an hour later after the 'session' when they wabted something. It's like they don't even need me to say a word and will carry on and on for minutes 🤢

I feel alone, helpless and at a loss what to do

I want to move out. Due to severe mental issues I can't even move out rn coz it scares me even more. But this has to stop. Things are only okay if I'm absolutely passive, say yes to whatever they want, kill my wants and needs, and become a perfect robot bred to cater to them (parent)

I hope you can help me out, dear

Hi darling,

It sounds like you’re in a considerably toxic environment. I'm sorry you're going through this. Know that this is not normal, nor is it how a parent/child relationship should be. In case there's any doubt, let me start by saying you deserve to be supported, respected, listened to, to have your needs met. You deserve to live in an environment that offers you all of these things.

With that being said, from the many scenarios you’ve mentioned you’ve already tried reasoning and setting boundaries, to no avail. There is only so much you can do on your own, if the other person in the equation is not meeting halfway or at all. After all, a healthy conversation involves two people, not just one.

Here's my advice, in this order:

Calmly and maturely asking the respective parent to have a serious discussion with you and to listen to what you have to say. Share how their actions and behaviour is making you feel, let them know you care, and make sure to mention several solutions for the issue as well. If this doesn’t work…

Bring up the subject of needing help from outside, such as the assistance of a specialist/therapist. Family counselling can shed a lot of light on toxic behaviours that are ingrained from childhood (both in their case and yours), on fears your parent may have, stress from their work, whatever is causing their outbursts and anger - because there is always a reason. Behind anger is sadness, and behind sadness is some need not being met, or an underlying fear, trauma, etc. This is not a justification for their behaviour, they are responsible for it; this is simply the fact of how energy dynamics work. People bottle up their frustrations, fears, etc, and let them out on those closest to them, to whom they feel superior. It’s not fair, and it’s not healthy, but it is frequently how this pattern works. If this solution doesn’t work either…

Then unfortunately, all you can do is focus on yourself. If they refuse to meet you anywhere along the road, you have to pack up your things and go your own way. Literally or metaphorically. They may be your parent and you may love them even in spite of their behaviour, but you cannot hold yourself responsible for anything they say or do; that is on them. In those cases, you have to prioritize your own mental health and wellbeing, and focus on moving out. If your (home) environment is toxic, you have to focus on first changing it. That’s vital. Only afterwards can you start healing, refinding yourself, reclaiming your self-esteem and confidence, your sense of worth. As long as you stay stuck in a toxic environment, you cannot really heal; if there is abuse of any kind (physical, mental, emotional), the causes are still there, leading to re-traumatizing.

If for whatever reason moving out is not (yet) an option, I would emphasize seeking some sort of counselling for yourself, if nothing else. You need an anchor, some sort of support that will help you along your path until you do get out.

Now, I don’t know how old you are. I am going to assume you are over 18 and of age, so only mind my advice if that is the case. (As disclaimer, I don't provide advice to minors as it's not the scope of my blog nor am I specialized/focused on that area.)

I understand moving out seems scary because it is unknown, but with that line of thought you may wait another 10 years in the same situation. Wouldn’t you wake up 10 years later already having done the hard work on moving out, finding your independence, claiming your sense of individuality and moving on from this sort of environment, this phase in your life?

Sooner is better than later, but do so with mindfulness and care over your mental health, of course. I know it’s scary. But being an adult requires some difficult decisions at times, and setting boundaries begins with choosing your wellbeing and doing what needs to be done, even if it is something uncomfortable short-term, but highly rewarding and beneficial long-term.

Hope this helps... and wishing you much luck, clarity, gentle guidance and comfort.✨

PS: Lately I've been receiving longer and longer letters in my inbox. As solution, I was thinking of having longer asks/letters redirected to my blog where there isn't any length limit, and readers can more comfortably browse both my tumblr and blog - and those requesting advice can share and receive a more in-depth response.

-Lumen

[tohruhondaismydaughter]

I've just discovered there's people who hate Kakeru. Not dislike or don't get the hype about him but genuinely seem to hate him. Now obviously personal preferences are a thing but I seriously don't get where this hate could be coming from because with

1. Akito- phyically assaults people (including kids), held a teenager hostage for daiting & trying to take a box of her's that Akito already knew was empty & also stabbed someone after they tried to help her & left them to potentially die

2. Shigure- regularly makes perverted "jokes" about people who are underage (including the 16 year old girl who lives with him & cleans/cooks for him + he's family) & admits to manipulating everyone around him for he's own selfish goal regardless of how it could hurt others & that he dosn't really care about being kind even to the people he supposedly loves + he likes messing with people he knows are already terribly anxious & he also won in the end while never having to actually sacrifice anything important to him or really learn anything of value

3. Ayame- abounded he's brother to abuse till he was almost 30 & says various inappropriate things in front of & towards High Schoolers

4. Kagura- pretended to love someone 3 years younger then her who she saw as beneath her in a violent (though it was obviously in out-dated slap stick) way until she was like 18 & then slaps Tohru so hard she becomes uncounsious

5. Kureno- enabler of Akito despite no longer being supernaturally bound to her & knowingly fell for a High Schooler

6. Hatori- enabler of Akito & erasers people's memories when told to regardless of how he knows it'll hurt others

7. Katsuya- knowingly married (& later impregnated) isolated & homeless 15 year old Kyoko when he was in he's 20's after meeting her as a teacher in her middle school

8. Ren- everything about her

9. Kyo's sperm donor- everything about him

10. Momiji's parents- how they handled the situation

11. Machi's mum- raised her daughter like a robot, replaced her, insulted her entire personality, acussed her of attempted murder with bassically zero evidence, kicked her out of her home, cut her off from her sibling & only ocasnially calls to insult her leading to her developing a rather unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with her damaged mental health

12. Machi & Kakeru's dad- cheated on his wife, made he's kids fight over thier inheritance before getting another child & then treating the first two like they no longer exsisted

13. Kakeru's mum- took years to realise that she shouldn't use her child to get money/power from an affair

14. Haru- got a little too insistent about phyical affection from someone who he knows is super emotinally scarred (I still love him though just don't think certain scenes with Rin were handeld as delicately as they probably should have been) & can get rather harsh to random people when he goes dark (the worse case of this being when he grabbed Tohru's arm)

15. Rin's parents- belong in hell

16. The Sohma maids (especially the old one)- are part of the reason Akito became as messed up as she did + just straight up seem to not view kids or the zodiac as human beings with thier own feelings or rights

17. Uo's mum- straight up abounded her young daughter after getting into a new relationship

18. Yuki & Ayame's mum- narsastic, dismissive, controlling, litrually sold one of her kids to thier abuser in exchange for wealth/status, never apologised or even acknowledged what she had done

19. Akira- pursued a relationship pretty much out of pure lonleyness, went along with the suppression of Akito's biological gender, didn't do enough to protect Akito from he's wife's abuse (though in he's defense he was incredible sickly), last few things he told he's child before dying was that he was glad he had her as proof of he's relationship with Ren (AKA the person that had made it clear to Akito that she hated her guts) & that she was special due to being god & her bond with the zodiac was her birth right & would always be there (leading Akito to obviously feeling possessive & intilted over the zodiac & base her entire identity on her position as their god)

20. Kyoko- neglected infant Tohru for months due to her depression after Katuya's death & was even planning on killing herself to be with him again before finally coming to her senses (I love her & I tottally get why she did what she did but if it weren't for gramps little Tohru would have been in one hell of bad situation)

21. The Yuki Fan Club- just thier entire attitude towards Yuki & any girl that interacts with him (I get that it's obviously a delibretly over the top anime gag but irl the way they behave would be seriously disturbing & I'm pretty sure might even be illegal now what with all the photos taken of Yuki without he's knowledge)

22. The former school president- he's creepy fravriotisim towards Yuki (& later he's son) & he's flat out harrasing of anyone wearing the school uniform in a none tradishinal way or anyone with an unusual hair colour (despite him bassically admitting that the school officials had already said that Momiji, Haru & Kyo's appearances were ok)

23. Kimi- I like her & she's obviously iconic but honestly the way she treats Machi kind of borders on bullying sometimes for me

24. Hiro- he's a child & I like him but when we first met him you can't deny he was being a grade A shit to Tohru, Kisa & everyone else (& he fucks up again with Tohru during the beach arc)

25. Rin- love her so much but the first time she met Tohru she did try to kick her in the head while in her horse form which you know isn't great & she was rather antagonistic towards Yuki for no real vaild reason

26. Kyo- using Yuki as a scape goat he's entire life even when he knew none of the terrible things that had happened to him were actually he's fault, hurting Tohru in he's true form (I get that he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it still wasn't good) & rejecting Tohru after everything they had been through in the way that he did (again he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it's still an incredibly low blow & I think he knew that as he tragically wanted to hurt her, similar to what he did in the true form scene, badly enough that she would finally choose to give up on him)

27. The entire zodiac (outside of Kagura & maybe Momiji)- it is revealed that the zodiac are supernaturally inclined to look down on the cat & that they know about Kyo's tragic fate yet do not plan on trying to stop it from happening as he's suffering is thier one true reprieve in the curse as no matter what happens to them they will never be as "low down" as the cat yet once the curse finally breaks for everybody almost nobody even thinks to apologises to Kyo for how he was made to be an outsider since birth

28. Naohito- decides to hate Yuki out of jelousy because he has feelings for Motoko (who clearly has feelings for Yuki) despite Yuki showing no romantic feelings for Motoko & barley sharing any kind of connection with her at all which is obviously not fair as just because you happen to be liked by someone who is liked by someone else dosn't mean you should have to except being seen as a bad person (especially as in Yuki's case he never tried to encourage Motoko's obsession with him & in fact barley notices her exsistance as they aren't in any of the same social circles & she follows the ridiculous club rule of not speaking to him without another fan club member present)

29. Yuki- rather judgmental over how others choose to present themselves in regards to gender norms

30. Momiji- I love him but he did try to take advange of Tohru not knowing how old he really was to bath with her & did actually mange to use this fact to sleep along side her one night before she found out how old he actually was (now obviously Momiji is a wonderfully kind person & clearly would never actually do anything to hurt Tohru but let's be real if someone did that to you irl you'd be pretty creeped out & understandably have a hard time trusting them again)

31. Yuki & Ayame's father- has always been complety missing from he's kids lives (& even seemingly he's wive's) despite being mentioned to be still alive & well enough to work

32. Uo's dad- getting dumped for someone else must suck especially when your left with a young child & I know he did eventually clean up he's act but there's no changing the fact that he's years as an alcholic messed up Uo really bad & could have led to her death if Kyoko hadn't stepped in

33. Kazuma- I know he had good intentions & I love him but there's no denying that he did ignore Kyo's right to free will when he removed he's bracelet & though the plan ended up making he's life better if it had gone wrong in any way then Kyo had pretty much admitted (at least to himself) in S2E9 that he would have probably killed himself that night which would have clearly destroyed Tohru

34. Kyo's mum - she was obviously treated terribly by her husband & I do feel sorry for her but her way of dealing with the situation really damaged Kyo

Your really telling me that the character you have the most issues with is a boy who said a few horrible things to the MC when he was 15 in service of someone he loved who was in pain, got told by said loved one that what he'd said was wrong, felt bad about it, befriended a lonley teen that was close to the MC, quickly grew to genuinely care about them & made them come out of thier shell, wanted to help he's half sister but knew he wasn't really the right person for the job, realised that he's new friend was, encouraged the friend & he's sister's growing connection, learned how good of a person the MC has been to he's new friend, admits to he's friend that he'd been horrible to the MC in the past but just dosn't know how to go about rectifying it (especially as she dosn't seem to remember him), introduces he's friend to he's GF (further expanding the friend's positive social circle), finally bumps into MC alone & is shocked to find out that she dose now in fact remember him & even appoliges to him + thanks him for bringing her friend out of thier shell before he comes to he's senses & assures her that she has nothing to apologise for & then visits her in the hospital when she gets injured & even goes shopping for a gift to give her beforehand (even if he dosn't end up getting her something that actually fits her personality because well duh he dosn't really know anything about her).

Out of every questionably moral thing in the series this is really the hill you wanna die on?

I just honestly can't understand it. Sure he's not perfect but then no one in the series is. That's kind of the entire point of the story, that anyone can do things that hurt people but that it's what you choose to do going forward (even if it takes you a long time) that's important & Kakeru, eventually, chose to try to do the right thing. He tried to understand Yuki even though the guy didn't seem to like him at all, he chose to check up on Machi even though she seemingly hadn't made any sign of wanting to deepen thier sibling bond, he chose to finally talk to Tohru instead of continuing the ruse that he'd never spoken to her before, he chose to come clean about what happened to Yuki despite the potential of ending their friendship (& you can't tell me once he'd realised how much Yuki cared for Tohru the very real possibility that Yuki might hate him if he found out what he'd said to her wouldn't worry him at all) & he chose to visit Tohru in the hospital instead of just wishing Yuki luck or hoping Kormaki would go so he could avoid feeling uncomfortable.

You don't have to love him or even like him but I really don't think he deserves this amount of hate (especially incomparsion to some of the other characters I've listed).

[startselectscreen]

Gears 5 Video Game Review

3 STARS OUT OF FIVE

Ah Gears of War, the franchise that popularized the cover-based mechanic built to regenerate health and shoot locusts from cover to cover. It’s what generated the basis of fun with its horde mode and online competitive matches and of course, the chainsaw lancer which never cease to be satisfying everytime that goes off. Those 360 games were just a blast to play from the never-ending shooting gallery of locusts to the witty and awesome banter between Marcus Fenix and his COG friends, sure there are some douchey moments, no thanks to Dom but everyone just feels like space NFL quarterbacks with their hunky space armor and chainsaw lancers - its just awesome.

However, afterwards the GoW 360 trilogy ended and games like Judgment and Gears 4 appear, it really lost its charm and appeal, its just the same old Gears game streamlining the cover-based mechanics and just basically another shooting gallery of disappointment to say it at least. I mean, having Marcus back as this “old retired” COG alongside a squad of new kids just has been done before and sadly Epic and eventually The Coalition really didn’t entice new fans but still feed into their old Gears fanbase. Now with Gears 5, it just feels like another disappointment and I feel like they really did not improve much since Gears 3 although there is a new Escape and Horde mode which seems more playable like before the 360 games.

The game picks up right after Gears 4, you start as JD, Marcus’ son as he, Del, Marcus and Kait from the previous Gears, want to launch a rocket into outer space and activate the Hammer of Dawn so the COG can be able to combat the Swarm. It is very much a controversial and risky move as it can also affect tremendous human casualties. The game starts as JD but you mostly play as Kait Diaz as she constantly gets headaches and hallucinations from her mother’s amulet and heirloom which somehow is connected to the Swarm. She and her squad goes and ventures through a perilous journey to find the root of her problem and stop it. Much like the Gears game, there will be sacrifices and climatic movie style moments,

The gameplay didn’t really change since GoW 3, it’s the same “stop and pop” action and some new additions. Again, it’s just another Gears’ shooting gallery of never ending Swarm enemies until you have reached the next checkpoint and then rinse and repeat. It’s really the same old conventions and they seemed to downplay it to death. There seems to be only a few new weapons and as well as old and new enemies with painted weaknesses that you hit before killing them. However, it is nice to have corrupted Baird’s DeeBees in the mix of Swarms, it seems to be a nice combination of facing bastions shielding Scions and huge creatures as a new way of creating intense action rather than just jump from cover to cover. It is just a nice touch to the gameplay. 

The AI of your teammates however aren’t as smart as the developing Swarm despite having a new ability to target them, it seems countless of times, the AI will just run to the enemy without taking them down and in harder difficulties such as Experienced (Hard), it seems to be a hindrance of trying to revive them one by one as they stupidly get picked off by Swarm while you are trying to survive Wardens and Swarm drop-shotters that will blow up you instantly. Although, the first Act seems nice, when you are fighting in the settlement that you received a distress call of a Swarm invasion, you can summon Baird’s robotic reinforcements and you have the choice of picking Guardians or Sentinels which is fun, albeit only for the first Act and afterwards you mostly are facing the corrupted versions and they really don’t tell you why they are corrupted, although there are just malfunctioned. Again, it just feels like the AI, the part of the gameplay seems really outdated with the typical fixed gun sequences that seems to be aggravating due to annoying cooldowns from those sequences. Granted, it makes those moments hard with no moment to breathe but there are a lot of them and it is not due to its spiked difficulty that I’m playing. And of course, enemies like Brumak and others still the typical video game painted coloured sections where you shoot to take them down. 

One main component of the campaign is Del’s, well your trusty robotic friend, Jack as a companion in this game. Introduced by Baird, this new robot is an upgrade from Dave’s short yet untimely demise and still has the cute Wall-E charm to it. These flying robots have been in previous Gears’ games but they are part of the COG army and not playable at all. This new companion has a set of abilities whether passive, combative or defensive that will greatly benefit you against the Swarm. Ranging from Shock, Stim, Pulse and passive abilities that can camouflage, instantly revive and so on, it’s pretty much an arsenal of useful perks in your disposal. These abilities aren’t restricted to a RPG-like tier trees but will require an amount of components to unlock them which can be found during both the main and side missions in chapters. In addition to the three unlockable abilities, there is a fourth and final skill that unlocks only through main and side quests that is the ultimate perk of that specific ability (i.e Shock final unlock can freeze enemies for a period of time and such). During gameplay, you can toggle these two sets of abilities, combative and defensive which when used has a cooldown timer after you have used either of them. It really is a life saver to have these abilities, especially stim which can buff up your health and can be upgraded as an instant revive while you are down. Other useful things such as retrieving weapons/ammo from hard to reach areas or in an intense dogfight or laying shock traps/mines can really save you from those large, intimating Swarm creatures from decapitating you

Another new addition to the game is revealed in Act 2 as open world and unfortunately there is a lack of one or rather bland and boring one. They chatted a big deal of a Gears game being open world but it resulted in a couple of side quests and activities that only rewards more components, big weapons and main components for abilities/parts of them in some cases for Jack and nothing more. These quests are only there for them, nothing more, whether or not you choose to pursue them is up to you. At first, it does feel like a stripped up version of the recent God of War’s open world as these main and side missions can be identified with yellow flags by them indicating there’s something to be done as well as the banter between the squad “to go check it out.” Like God of War, you have a method of transport to reach these areas, a skiff which looks like some sort of ski sledge with a parachute in front that accelerates how fast you ride from the wind. The skiff can seat four with you controlling and driving the skiff and mostly Del who sits and navigates, although you do all of the work. The navigational seat be used in Co-op where players can only mark the map (which you yourself can do while driving). Also, you can stow two weapons (heavy weapons like RL-Salvo Rocket Launcher to the Tri-Shot Gatling Gun) on each side of the skiff that can be used in these missions, it’s like a small storage space for your guns but only can be retrieved after you dismount from the skiff. The map itself seems to be an illusion of being an open world game, but it just feels linear, in Act 2, when you reach those communications' towers in part of the main mission, you can scan for these side missions in some sort of frequency mini-game that only appears in this whole Act, sadly not afterwards. It is also attributed that the skiff can take damage and in later cases, explode and kill everyone as there are sandstorms and obsoletes you’ll need to dodge and maneuver and it feels intense much like in combat with the Swarm.   

From a graphical standpoint, the game still delivers. Forgoing the brown and gruel colours of the Gears’ trilogy on the 360, it feels very vibrant and impressive much like the previous game. Each Act really delivers distinct areas to explore in this “open-world” game and it really looks pretty as you ride your skiff throughout the snowy terrain of Act 2 to feeling like Doom or Total Recall in Act 4 with its red sandy desert. It’s too bad that they didn’t make it more open-world to fully realized its graphical potential as it is resulted in a lack of activities to do. Nevertheless, each locale looks great even though it has been done in other better games. It’s also nice that they put nice touches to the characters during these Acts whether having Kait, Del and others wear winter jackets to Act 3 where they wear goggles and less clothing for the hot red sandy desert. The dynamic lightning only looks nice in main missions as the sudden change of effects change when you enter them and it feels weird with a short cut scene to substitute a loading screen in the mix. It does not hinder the visuals at all, the game looks pretty as it is and characters and enemies’ design with the Kait and his team as well as the opposing Swarm just looks menacing as hell. 

Unfortunately for the powerhouse of a game, it falls short on its technical problems. There are always problems with Early Access games, sure and the developers are fixing the bugs/glitches and problems with aspects like the online multiplayer matches whether its Horde, Escape or versus mode but it really is aggravating that I still experience these problems two days after the release. Things like the game freezing at spots reverting back to a save checkpoint, some bad audio clicks and the worst of all, seeing the “fail to load save” pop-up and doing the whole chapter again. The “always online” component of the game is a nice trend to prevent illegal privacy but sometimes people like me have a spotty internet connection and I sometimes get disconnected at parts of the game where I finished a brutal firefight and have to do it all over again which is annoying. 

Speaking of online, I didn’t really play it, after ten hours of finishing the campaign, I'm really not inclined to pursue Horde or Escape mode as I have a spotty internet connection. As part of a pre-order, you get Sarah Connor and a T-800 Terminator to play online alongside a roster of characters from the main campaign and surprisingly, Spartans from Halo Reach. You can customize them, their banner and taunts for the online aspect and thankfully, I will never touch them. Everyday, when you log in, you can also receive a daily cache of points and other perks, maybe cosmetic items for your character. However, Horde and Versus mode feels like they finally brought back the fun part of those 360 games and implement it with better features as what was said from them. Escape mode is basically an intense firefight where you and other players have to kill waves of enemies in some sort of Swarm hive mind while green gas is approaching behind you in a race to the finish. It seems like a challenging effort but requires a set of friends to really make it in this mode. Also, you and two other players can play the main campaign as Co-op where one of the players can even control Jack and his abilities, making it gameplay interesting. 

Other than that, Gears 5 is really a disappointment. The same, derivative combat that has made popular with its cover-based, has done better in other games since then. The game also promises open world which doesn’t have up its expectations with a bland and boring yet beautiful landscape to ride in and from a few side missions. It’s just sad that the Coalition didn’t really implement new features and only maintain it for Gears’ fans and not new players, well only Jack as a Co-op option but again it still suffers from the old “stop and pop” action even in harder difficulties, it just feels last-gen to me with the AI as well. Should it be recommended, only to Gears fan who are really interested in its online multiplayer and the ten hours of the main campaign just feels repetitive and boring to say it at least. 

[howtohero]

#124 Superhero Civil Wars

Sometimes friends fight. It’s a natural part of a friendship’s lifecycle. Perhaps one of the friends made a really disparaging “yo mama” joke. Maybe one of the friends refused to share their super cool, limited edition, skateboard (again, it’s a collector’s item, and you don’t know how to skateboard, I have plenty of junker skateboards you can use to practice if you’d like). Mayhaps one of the friends whooped the other in Shooty Shooty Army Men 3 for the Gamestation so bad that their friendship just disintegrated. Nick, if you’re reading this, I forgive you for being such a sore loser that time I totally whooped you in Shooty Shooty Army Men 3 for the Gamestation. When it comes to friendly spats, superheroes are no different.  

Well they’re slightly different. You see superheroes, by their very nature, are very dramatic people. You kind of have to be when you dress in all the colors of the rainbow and create fireworks from your fingers. It just goes with the territory. So when they fight with one another they do it in a very dramatic way. When two superheroes get into an argument it becomes a whole gosh darn international affair. Every single superhero in the world is forced to choose a side in these two morons’ petty argument. If you want to stay neutral you have to somehow get off the planet. Magna Carter once stowed away on a UKSA rocket ship just to avoid having to choose between Ultiman’s pro-double-dipping-if-you’re-the-only-one-eating-from-the-garlic-mayo-at-the-superhero-salad-bar-which-is-definitely-a-thing team and Hatman’s double-dipping-is-wrong-on-principle-and-just-because-no-one-else-is-eating-garlic-mayo-now-doesn’t-mean-somebody-isn’t-going-to-come-in-later-and-want-some-garlic-mayo team. 

Once the battle lines are drawn one team will inevitably have to go on the run. Sometimes it’s because the governments of the world inevitably end up falling on one side or the other (and any government with a superhuman head of state has to be sorted onto one team or the other unless they want to flee the planet/dimension). There may even be a law passed that essentially makes one of the teams illegal! (Though again, everyone here is a vigilante, you’re all illegal anyhow.) Other times it’s because they’ve studied war history and understand that armies who are constantly on the move and fight through guerilla warfare (or as in the case of Team Hatman, gorilla warfare thanks to the Gorilla Twins) have a better shot at winning than the ones who make public appearances eschewing “the importance of having the freedom to double dip if it’s not hurting anybody you gatekeeping, beanie-loving twit.”

If the fight goes on without either side seeming to give up any ground, then the fight may escalate. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how a fight about dips could possibly escalate further than half of the world’s superheroes having to go underground to protect their rights to have unsullied garlic mayo, but these superheroes are petty as anything and they will refuse to admit they’re wrong unless made to. So one side will start building a prison. Yep. A prison to imprison the people who wish to restrict their garlic mayo usage. And not even a nice prison at that! These superhero prisons are the worst of the worst. They have to be if they want to be able to hold people like Titanium Pig Man or La Varox (the French volcano woman). So these prisons have state-of-the-art power dampeners, tiny cells, and robot guards who have never particularly cared for the concept of hats anyway. (In the robots’ view, hair is this amazing, unattainable thing, so anybody who decides to cover that hair with a hat is a fool who deserves to be imprisoned.) 

But of course, such prisons would not be able to stand in view of the world’s common folk, who know and love these superheroes. So they’re often built in pocket dimensions. This way they’re far away from the public eye and also even if the captured heroes manage to escape (which is unlikely, there’s a hallway full of moving chainsaws on the way out,) they’d still be stuck in another dimension! Brilliant!

With the team that’s on the run’s numbers quickly dwindling, due to either being captured or not caring enough about garlic mayo to risk getting thrown into another dimension, it is likely that they’ll seek to bolster their numbers in other ways. Depending on how kind the public has been to Para-Folk since their introduction to society, the fugitive team might have luck reaching out to some disenfranchised members of the various Para-Folk species. They also might not. Sewer-mutants, for example, generally don’t even like garlic mayo, so you’d have to appeal to them on the merit that double dipping at a public event is unsanitary… and, well, they live in sewers. It is also likely that, in desperation, the anti-double dippers will turn to the supervillain community to give them an edge. I’m sure that will end well.

On the flipside though, the pro-double dipping team will also turn to the aid of supervillains. Specifically, supervillains that they’ve captured and placed in the horrifying pocket dimension prison who are so desperate to get out that they’ll cut a deal with the dippers to work for them in exchange for being placed in a regular Earth prison when the civil war is over. Because apparently dragging every single superhero in the world wasn’t enough for these two knuckleheads, now they’ve gone and brought in supervillains too. (They make individual garlic mayo packets this doesn’t need to be an issue! {Spoken like a true anti-double dipper.} What?) 

With each side continually raising the bar and raising the stakes (and raising the roof at those classic pro-double dipping raves which are definitely the real deal. {Don’t try to pretend you’re a pro-double dipper now all of a sudden.} Excuse me!) The only way to resolve these issues is to one have good no-holds barred epic clash between the two opposing sides. Hatman finally steps from the darkness with his lieutenants, Cowboy Rockstar and Captain Patriot (a shrewd choice, as the appearance of Cowboy Rockstar, the coolest person to ever live, will undoubtedly sway many more heroes to Hatman’s side {You’re so transparent}). Ultiman comes to meet him flanked by Armored Atlas and, what’s this? Hatboy! (A terrible blow, Hatman’s own child sidekick has sided against him in this horrible horrible war). With all of the main players on the board the fight can begin. There will be punches, scratches, scrapes, one lunatic brought a sword to this thing. It’s wild. As the fight goes on more and more superheroes and villains and assorted para-folk will emerge to join the fray. That one guy who assumes that everybody who wears a costume is a secret werewolf will probably make an appearance and shoot a few guys. Someone will reveal that they’ve stockpiled a ton of some other superhero’s weakness. Personal secrets will be shared and insults will be hurled. Someone will throw a truck. A classic maneuver. 

These fights should be held in an out of the way location to cut down on collateral damage and also because come on, this is a bit embarrassing. Some place like an abandoned harbor or perhaps an abandoned airport will do just fine. You should not, under any circumstances, be throwing down in like Times Square or something. We can’t be putting innocent lives at risk. Don’t be foolish. 

Eventually though, as with all things, this ridiculous civil war must come to an end. One good way for these things is for one of the team leaders to go and have their mother change their name to the same name as the other leader’s mother. It’s a very nice gesture and it is sure to do away with any lingering negative feelings. Another thing you can do is create an entire new universe. This way there can be one reality where double-dipping is allowed, and one where it is not. I think you’ll find that most disputes can be solved by simply creating a new reality. Sometimes these disputes are ended when someone accidentally gets killed (no one important don’t worry), leaving the other heroes with the sobering reality that hey, maybe it doesn’t really matter what people do with their garlic mayo (as long as they don’t double-dip! {I knew it!}). Sometimes these disputes never end until one of the team leaders just up and decides to take over the entire world and then enforce his team’s views on everybody. Regardless, these things can’t last forever. 

[windfighter]

02. In the hands of the enemy

Reynir woke up to a bunch of voices in his head. He tried to slap his hands over his ears, that helped sometimes when he had trouble focusing his powers, but his hands where tied behind his back. He blinked a few times, closed his eyes and took deep breaths to gather himself. Was he alone? The voices were getting clearer, but his head was throbbing and it was hard to zero in on one of them.

”Come on, what are these made of?!”

Sigrun's voice was outside of Reynir's head and he opened his eyes again. The room was dark, but he could see shapes spread out around it. Sigrun's voice seemed to come from the shape mounted to the wall. It was struggling, pulling at something.

”Do I have to chop off my hands? Because I will do it.”

I don't want to chop off my hands.

Reynir shook his head and focused on the shape. He needed to clear his head, use his skills to their advantage. He sat up and the shape stopped moving.

”Hey Psy, you up?”

”Almost”, Reynir answered.

”Can you tell where we are?”

Reynir shook his head, which made the throbbing get worse and all the voices got louder again.

”Took a hit to the head, it's all muddy.”

moving get run don't let them what plan hurry got it need to out

Reynir leaned against the wall. Sigrun pulled at the restraints again.

”I think they're coming”, Reynir offered.

Sigrun let out a string of colourful words. Reynir chuckled at it but then the word gun echoed in his head and he choked on his laugh. He kicked the shape closest to him.

”Can't move”, the shape answered. Mikkel.

”Why do we keep you around if we can never put you in the front when we need it?” Sigrun asked.

Because of my powers.

Mikkel audible rolled his eyes but ignored Sigrun. He tried to turn to Reynir, but he was covered in restraints and settled to call Reynir's code-name.

”Psy, any intel? What are we facing?”

”Bad guy of the week.” Reynir closed his eyes and tried to focus. ”I can't hear what they want from us. They have weapons and there's at least 6 people out there. One or two are coming this way.”

”I hate when the bad guys have weapons. Pyro? You up as well?”

Silence. Sigrun let out a loud whistle and the other shapes started moving. Another wave of disorganized thoughts flared through Reynir's head but he quickly closed his mind to it.

”I hate the name Pyro.”

”Come up with a better once we're out of here. They have weapons, think you can deal with it?”

I'm too pretty to die!!!

Reynir had to hide a chuckle. Emil shrugged.

”Depends on the weapons, really. A flamethrower? Definately. A battle hammer? No way.”

Lalli and Onni sat up as well, looked around. Onni glared at Reynir. Reynir didn't need to read Onni's mind to know he blamed Reynir for their situation.

”Lall... Shadow, can you get my...”

The lock clicked. The door opened with a bang and they all fell still. Reynir tried to focus, tried to read the people that entered the cell. A loud scream echoed through his head, made the throbbing headache spike and he had to turn away. Sigrun pulled at her restraints again.

”You won't break out. It's a special material based on spider's silk.”

”Science hasn't been able to solve that yet”, Mikkel commented.

”Underground science works on... different ethics.”

”You are a bunch of cowards!” Sigrun pulled harder against the restraints. They stretched slightly, then forced her back into the same position. The scream in Reynir's head fell silent, he could follow along again. Their captors weren't scared, weren't worried.

”They know about us”, Reynir realized.

There were two of them in the cell. More of them waiting outside. Reynir could hear at least 10 different voices, 10 different minds, apart from those of his team mates. One of them held a gun, which Emil should be able to take out once it fired, the other one had a bag and there was something... incredible evil over his mind. Reynir couldn't penetrate it, but he didn't need to. The person stepped into the cell, up to Sigrun. She tried to kick him, but her legs where tied up as well. His hand reached towards her throat and then he backed away again.

”We would have done this while you slept”, the gun-wielding maniac said, ”but we figured this would be more exciting.”

There was a metal collar around Sigrun's neck. Bag-man moved again, quicker this time and Reynir's eyes couldn't keep up with his movements. He felt something press against his throat, fall into place around his neck. The image of an explosion passed though his mind and he felt sick.

”Bombs”, he whispered.

”You catch on quickly”, Maniac said and walked closer, placed the gun against the back of Reynir's head. ”Now for the fun part.”

Reynir swallowed, looked at his teammates. The opening of the gun pressed harder against him, Maniac leaned closer.

”You get to pick who dies first.”

Images of his friends blowing up danced across his mind, put there by Maniac and Bag-man. Bodyparts splattered around the cell, blood covering the walls, covering Reynir. Reynir's breathing got quicker, his eyes got wet. He couldn't.

”Picking yourself will only force them to watch their friend get killed, do you want that?”

Maniac's breath was hot against Reynir's cheek. His friends' voices shouted in his head.

Pick me all of them ordered. Stall, get out of here. Reynir didn't dare look at any of them.

”They're all trying to order you around now, aren't they? Trying to tell you who to choose, what you should do. Aren't you tired of it? Don't you want to just go ape-shit?”

I might heal. Reynir couldn't pick Mikkel, they would need him when they got out and no one could heal from getting blown up. I can stop it. Reynir trusted Emil, but it wasn't a safe bet. It just needs to ignite, then I can redirect it. So much could go wrong with that plan. Once I get out of here I'll kick their asses to hell, drag them back and kick them there again. Sigrun wasn't helpful, but nothing could be helpful in this situation.

”If you don't pick...” New images flashed through Reynir's mind and his stomach turned. Torture. ”...we'll go the hard way.”

Bag-man grinned, the evil radiated stronger from him. He lifted his hands. TEN echoed through Reynir's head, bold, bright and heavy and increased his headache. Reynir's breathing got even quicker. Lalli just stared at him, didn't say anything, didn't think anything. Onni's thoughts were filled with ideas of how to get out, none of them functioning. Onni... Onni, can't you do something? Reynir asked even though Onni couldn't hear him. Onni was strong, a magic-user, but somehow they must have neutralized his powers or else Onni would have been on his way out already.

NINE in big bloody letters. Reynir glanced at Emil, but he couldn't tell in the darkness how ready Emil was. And even if Emil was ready, and Reynir went with Emil, could he be sure Maniac would actually let Reynir choose?

EIGHT. Reynir glanced at Lalli. Lalli had melted into the shadows, disappeared from view and only visible because his restraints were glowing.

”Why are you doing this?”

Reynir needed to stall, needed to find a way out.

”My friend thrives on death”, Maniac answered. ”I'm getting paid.”

SEVEN.

Reynir considered haggling. Maniac was quicker.

”There's nothing you can say to take me out of the deal. And my friend can definately not be persuaded.”

SIX. The counting got quicker. Reynir had to think quicker as well, still needed to stall, still needed to decide. He didn't want to see anyone of them die.

”Why isn't your friend talking?”

”An accident. He's very sensitive about it so if you mention it again our happy fun times are over.”

A new voice appeared inside Reynir's head. It was far away and he couldn't quite make it out.

”The two of you have any names?”

”None we would tell you. How about the red-head? Aren't you tired of her always jumping into fire and dragging you with her on missions way out of your skillset?”

Reynir glanced at Sigrun. She looked dumbfounded back at him and he wanted to shake his head but the handle of the gun hit him hard in the back of his head and he fell forward, got pulled up again.

FIVE. The new voice seemed to be coming closer.

”Or the pretty one, who never quite seem to accept you as part of their group, who keeps giving you the cold shoulder every time you offer your friendship?”

I'm sorry. Emil seemed sincere, but Reynir couldn't look at him. You are a friend, I'm just bad at friendship. Emil straightened his back. I'm ready. Say my name. Reynir shook his head.

FOUR.The new voice was close enough that he could make out its sound. An excited scream with numbers and equations floating around it.

”The grumpy one, who constantly judges you, constantly tells you you're not strong enough? Aren't you mad at him? Don't you want to get back at him, show him who holds the cards now?”

THREE. Reynir's stomach threatened to escape. Almost there. Right left left right. Eeeeeeeee.

”The big one, too busy flirting with the red-head to notice you exist. Too busy dismissing your every word to ever listening to you. Does the world really need him?”

The world did and Reynir wasn't going to pretend otherwise. He straightened his back. There was really only one person he could choose.

TWO. Reynir swallowed. He had made up his mind. Maniac pulled the gun down, just a centimeter but it was no longer pressed against the back of Reynir's head. aaa, wrong floor, up up up.

”Or the quiet one? Who never lets you get close, never lets you befriend him? Who looks at you like someone looks at a dog who pooped on their shoes. Does he deserve to live more than the others? Haven't you sometimes wished he would just disappear?”

ONE. Reynir took a deep breath, prepared to tell them who he had chosen. Screams shot through his mind, then a loud crash echoed through the room. Bag-man fell over and the room was lit up. One robot, two robots, three robots arrived through a hole in the floor. Shots were fired and Reynir ducked to the floor. A bullet hit his collar and the collar fell off with a clang. He kicked it away, pushed himself in the other direction.

”Sorry I'm late”, one of the robots said and Reynir's body relaxed, he felt his soul leave his body and get dumped straight back in it. Fire was dancing across the ceiling, filled the hole in the floor, covered the door and stopped anyone from escaping. Maniac's clothes were on fire, Bag-man was down, blood flowing from a wound in his chest. One of the robots grabbed Reynir, wrapped around him. Not robot, armor. One of the armors opened the faceplate and shot him a smile. Tuuri.

”I'll try to cut it less close next time but this place is a maze!”

More robots arrived, grabbed all of them, and then crashed through the door, the fire sizzling out behind them. Maniac fired at them, bullets bouncing off the armor. Reynir closed his mind, didn't want to hear the screams from the people they passed by, the people they took down as they flew. He didn't want to hear his teammates offer consolations after Maniac's words. He wanted to hide, curl up and recenter himself before facing them.

”Almost out!” Tuuri's cheerful voice called through the coms.

Skylight had never been so sweet. They kept going, flew along a river, dove into it and eventually made it back to their base. The armors pulled away, went up to podiums near the walls and powered down. Everyone was looking at Reynir, everyone a little singed, a little bruised, a little bloody and a little tired. Mikkel put a hand on Reynir's shoulder and Reynir could feel Mikkel's powers looking him over.

”Are you okay?”

Reynir wasn't, but he smiled.

”Always.”

[kittyrossa]

this is a sequel to my post about fanon versus canon keith, but with a tighter focus on keith and shiro’s relationship, especially in S2, and how fandom misinterprets it, especially in S2. the misinterpretations can be boiled down to two points:

keith doesn’t care about anyone on team voltron except for shiro

shiro has favoritism for keith that puts keith above everyone else on team voltron

both of these are just — so simplistic and so superficial, and ultimately simplistic and superficial readings of keith and shiro as characters. so let’s try to do a deeper summation of their S2 character arcs:

keith is dealing with the discovery that he is galra, and the fear that this may endanger team voltron/alienate him from team voltron (again: huge expansion of that here)

shiro is dealing with the discovery that zarkon used to pilot the black lion, and the fear that he is too weak/unworthy to be the new black paladin

if you ignore or downplay either arc, you’re automatically going to ignore or downplay why S2 focuses so much on what they give each other! they give each other humanity, stability, and protection.

humanity

have you ever noticed that keith and shiro are the only paladins who don’t talk about wanting to reunite with family?

for keith, we now know that this is partially because his family is a big question mark — when and why did he get separated from his dad, and does he even have memories of his mom?

for shiro, his backstory is more about his time as a galra prisoner. we also have glimpses of his garrison era: a “senior officer” and the chosen pilot of the kerberos mission.

lance calls shiro a “hero” and a “legend”, and then calls keith his “rival” — even after keith becomes a “dropout”, iverson still reminds lance that keith had been “the best pilot” in his class. if keith and shiro didn’t have a pre-series relationship, “garrison golden boys” is what our main pre-series impression of them would be. they would exist more as pedestals for lance instead of people with their own backstories.

and true, their shared backstory is still mysterious! i’m writing this at a time when only S1 and S2 are released, so we don’t yet know how keith and shiro met, or what their exact relationship was, though we can guess: a combination of mentor/student, friends, and found family.

keith: patience yields focus.

shiro: that really stayed with you, didn’t it?

keith: you’ve given me some good advice. if it wasn’t for you, my life would have been a lot different.

“patience yields focus” is established in the first episode of S1 (keith repeats it to himself to find the red lion, as shiro advises); and the first episode of S2 confirms that this is something shiro has instilled in him. keith is aware that he can be impatient — a hothead — and so he turns to shiro’s “patience yields focus” to slow down and look for a new angle. this is further confirmed by cast and crew, who have more access to backstory than we currently do:

lauren montgomery (showrunner): obviously in the original [keith] was the leader guy, and we just wanted to start him in a different place. he looks up to shiro, but he’s definitely not the leader that shiro is at all. and so he’s got a lot to learn, he’s still very impulsive, very rash, and he’s got a hot temper.

joaquim dos santos (showrunner): it gives him a good place to grow, too. he latches onto shiro at times because shiro’s sort of the only thing that can really calm him down and keep him in check.

(source)

steven yeun (keith’s voice actor): i actually think that [keith] was in more or less ways called upon to be a leader from the beginning. that’s not to say the leader of voltron, but to say that shiro always took him under his wing. keith always hoped that he could reach a place where shiro was and hopefully more. i think shiro saw that in him and tried to stoke those flames and cultivate that within him. there’s a nice history that he and shiro have where if shiro were to ask him to do that, he would understand where it was coming from.

(source)

the idea of keith becoming leader — of shiro passing the torch to him — is where canon gets extremely misinterpreted!

when does shiro first suggest that keith take over as leader? after seeing that keith is able to revive and fly the black lion (on top of the crushing blow that zarkon not only used to fly black, but still has the ability to take control of black and sever shiro from the cockpit)

the second time shiro suggests that keith take over as leader? after confirming that zarkon is tracking voltron through his connection with the black lion (shiro may have weakened that connection by fighting zarkon in the astral plane, but he hasn’t removed the big target on his back: zarkon still wants the black lion, is still capable of finding it, and therefore still capable of hurting, and killing, shiro)

shiro is a human being! he is not a robot, created solely to lead voltron with mechanical neutrality. he is a human being who, not long ago, was a prisoner and gladiator champion, and is still plagued by nightmares that he is a monster and a broken soldier. being a leader does not strip him of this humanity — of insecurities, of vulnerabilities, of awareness of his own mortality.

look at what he says to zarkon:

shiro: you can’t pilot the black lion after everything you’ve done! you can never lead voltron again — you’re no paladin!

doesn’t that sound an awful lot like sendak’s mind games? real or hallucinated, shiro is completely shaken by them:

sendak: we’re connected, you and me. both part of the galra empire.

shiro: no! i’m not like you!

sendak: you’ve been broken and reformed. just look at your hand.

shiro: that’s not me!

sendak: it’s the strongest part of you. embrace it. the others don’t know what you know. the others haven’t seen what you’ve seen. face it: you’ll never beat zarkon. he’s already defeated you.

shiro: i’m not listening to you!

sendak: do you really think a monster like you could be a voltron paladin?

shiro: STOP IT!

amongst other prisoners, shiro has the reputation of “a legendary gladiator, undefeated in the ring”, and haggar says that he could have been “their greatest weapon” — but “champion” is not a title that shiro is honored to embody, not like “defenders of the universe”. when ulaz frees him, he says that shiro, as both “a fighter and a leader”, gives hope. this is the legacy that shiro wants: someone who helps people, who saves people. not a monster — not someone who spreads blood and violence and destruction.

it’s unfortunate that pidge is another character that shiro is accused of “favoring”, since that is quite the warp and twist of “bonded by their ties to sam and matt holt and the desire for them to be safe.” shiro’s first “good” memory of his time as prisoner is that he acted to save matt, and pidge is tearfully grateful to him — shiro gives her hope for the survival of her family.

and now, shifting back to keith — shiro, at some point in keith’s life, became a presence that still gives keith his own sense of hope. keith’s very first scene is saving shiro, his eyes widening and shimmering: a humanizing balance against the hand-to-hand combat and knife-wielding and lance seeing him as someone who “one-ups” him. shiro makes it impossible to reduce keith to a hothead with no personal connections or emotions, and in return, keith reveals that shiro brings hope not just on a grand “saving the universe” level, but on a personal “you changed my life” level. neither of them descended to earth as gods, fully formed as mythically skilled pilots; before they even knew what voltron was and before shiro even left for kerberos, they were just everyday human beings that connected to each other. and once they do join team voltron, you can see telltale signs of that connection: playful nudges, shoulder touches, private smiles, full-body hugging, and yeah, this is just physical stuff. the emotional stuff is a whole other thing!

stability

allura says that the lions “choose their pilots — it is a mystical bond that cannot be forced. the quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion.”

the black lion is:

the decisive head of voltron

the lion that needs a pilot who is “a born leader” and “in control at all times — someone whose men will follow without hesitation”

the red lion is:

temperamental and the most difficult to master — you’ll have to earn its respect

faster and more agile than the others — but also more unstable

the lion that needs a pilot who “relies more on instincts than skill alone”

in just this breakdown, it’s clear how black could be mentor-like to red: “in control” where red is “temperamental”, “decisive” where red is “unstable”. we may not know every last detail of keith’s backstory, but in his own words, shiro is someone who helped him find a different direction. shiro didn’t put out keith’s fire, but (as steven yeun says), shiro taught keith how to tame his flames into a source that lights a path rather than burns it. keith, before shiro, probably lost any solid presence that could provide that.

steven yeun (keith’s voice actor): [keith] operates a little differently than the other paladins. he’s not the only one with a difficult family history, but his centers around the way that he is. he’s hotheaded for a reason, and he’s very talented without a lot of ways or things that he can use to express that. his naïveté mixed with his sheer will to make things happen for himself means his hotheadedness may be viewed as a defense mechanism. he comes from an obviously difficult and mysterious past that pushes him to be great … keith thinks with his heart often, and sometimes his heart is very fiery, and i think that leads him to brash decisions. sometimes they’re right, and sometimes they’re wrong.

(source)

it’s fair if you’re thinking, well, this is all too vague to be concrete: we need to see keith’s past to fully understand shiro’s impact on keith.

but i’d argue that we do see shiro’s impact! there’s a strange fanon myth that shiro “coddles” keith — that shiro never calls keith out, that shiro lets keith get away with anything and everything.

off the top of my head, shiro:

tells lance and keith to focus on the mission whenever they butt heads, sometimes literally (“save your energy for fighting zarkon!”); he doesn’t hold back when keith initiates, nor does he single out lance when lance initiates

tells keith that people have to want to be part of a team, they can’t be forced (when keith scolds pidge for wanting to leave and find her family)

tells allura and keith that no matter their intent (saving the team), it’s even more dangerous for them to separate themselves from the team, as the team is always stronger together, and he repeats this to keith when they’re alone: “when you and allura ran off, it put us all in jeopardy”

tells keith that he needs to learn self-discipline and control his emotions, especially if he’s going to be a leader someday (when keith blows up at the others for not being as devoted to the marmora mission)

it isn’t “coddling” or “favoritism” that shiro doesn’t see keith through a black-and-white lens (completely “cold” or completely “hotheaded”). and it isn’t “coddling” or “favoritism” that shiro knows keith is willing to work on himself. “patience yields focus” is direct proof that shiro feels he can give keith advice that keith will take into consideration. it isn’t an “in one ear, out the other” situation.

in response to all of the above, keith amends his behavior:

in the keith versus lance example where keith had initiated the fight (“gotta be quick!” and darting in to take lance’s drone shot), keith initiates teaming up with lance in the later drone battle, alerting lance to targets and replying “good eye!” when lance alerts him right back

he listens attentively as pidge explains why she now wants to stay with team voltron, and says “good to have you back on the team” with a smile that pidge warmly returns — a complete tonal flip of their earlier argument

he and allura apologize for running off, acknowledging that shiro was right — “we thought we were doing the right thing,” admits keith — and even before that, keith does everything he can to quickly get himself and allura back to the team, with results both disastrous (blowing up their pod) and miraculous (unlocking a long distance mental link with red)! the next time keith goes off on a mission alone, it’s only after informing the entire team of his plan and asking for pidge’s help with cloaking the pod (as opposed to escaping with a stolen pod and without telling a soul); shiro is still worried, but takes the heads-up for what it is and tells keith to stay in contact — he’ll give keith cover and clear a path for him (teamwork!)

in his first mission with another teammate after the marmora mission, keith tries to control his emotions as he leads hunk through the weblum, providing clear instructions and encouragement; some impatience still shines through, but the mission is a success and hunk acknowledges that keith is actively trying to reach out and encourage him

i mean — can anyone blame keith for shiro being the person he “desperately wants to see”? as explored in my post about keith’s S2 arc, the marmora trials reveal that these are keith’s hopes and fears:

THE HOPES: having family; connecting to family; feeling that he belongs with a family and knowing exactly how he belongs, whether it’s found family (shiro; team voltron) or biological family (his dad; his mom)

THE FEARS: losing family; but that wanting family — that hoping for it, that pursuing it, that expressing that he wants it — makes him selfish and will distract him from being a paladin of voltron + the greater good of saving the universe

keith sees shiro in the mindscape because he’s the person he’s closest to, yes, but that just scratches the surface: he sees shiro because he knows shiro will help him zone in on the right focus.

now, there’s a small catch: hologram!shiro is not the real shiro.

josh keaton (shiro’s voice actor): it’s not really shiro, it’s keith’s perception of the worst [case scenario]. you get an insight into what his biggest fears are … being alone. and it seems like he’s constantly scared that he’s gonna do or say something wrong, and [then] he’s gonna lose shiro.

(source)

here’s a visual breakdown of expectation versus reality: hologram!shiro is calm and collected. he doesn’t react to keith being in both physical and emotional pain — he just congratulates him for lasting so long, like a detached instructor; he doesn’t ask how keith is feeling. sure, he gives keith a hand to help him stand, but he doesn’t linger: he instantly puts distance between them. “we’re all the family you need” sounds mechanical instead of heartfelt, a professional plea for keith to keep his focus on the mission instead of genuinely making keith understand how much he cares about him. he walks out as soon as he feels that keith isn’t going to listen, not even turning around as keith yells “shiro! wait!” and tries to stop him.

the real shiro, of course, wears his heart on his sleeve: his face is wrecked with fear and concern, and he doesn’t stop holding keith after helping him up. “keith, are you okay?” he only lets go because the blade makes it clear they’re not going to let keith leave with his knife, and shiro immediately charges to fight them singlehandedly. he doesn’t, not even for a second, consider siding with anyone but keith.

that being said, shiro doesn’t always wear his heart on his sleeve.

shiro: if you’re going to be a leader, you’ve got to get your head on straight.

keith: i’m sorry. i’ve just had a lot on my mind.

shiro: i know. we all have.

keith isn’t the only one that can be guarded. as black paladin, shiro strives to be “a born leader who is in control at all times” — he does his best to cope with his trauma internally. unless it involves information that can help their mission, he doesn’t open up about his time in prison, let alone how much he fears that what he’s done as “champion” makes him an unworthy paladin. when fear slips through the cracks, it’s from a triggered memory (and keith is almost always the first person to notice that something is wrong). this is a big part of why shiro clashes with slav, who does not attempt to hide how he copes with being a tortured prisoner.

shiro isn’t on zarkon’s level, though. zarkon thinks that weakness is an infection that should be cut off before it can spread. he refers to voltron and the black lion as weapons to wield, and claims that both shiro and keith are too weak to know how to use them. zarkon relies on singular power and intimidation to rule, and with the exception of haggar, does not appear to have personal advisors to assist him, or even, really, any personal relationships. we don’t even find out that his son exists until the end of S2.

zarkon: you have no idea how to command a weapon like this!

shiro: no one commands the black lion!

zarkon: you dare lecture me? do you think the black lion would allow such a feeble creature to pilot it? only the powerful can command it!

shiro: you’ve forgotten what’s most important between a lion and its paladin. it’s not about power. it’s about earning each other’s trust!

this causes shiro’s bond with black to strengthen while zarkon’s weakens, and in the following episode, red shows keith the same devotion after keith wakes up from the mindscape, choosing saving the universe over reuniting with his family. keith and shiro are both extremely passionate about their roles as “defenders of the universe”, and though they can be guarded about their own past and their own trauma, they each hope that the other will trust them as sources of stability.

shiro, being leader, does not only do this with keith — he has close relationships with pidge and allura and is sensitive to the burdens that they try to keep private: “owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin” (pidge) and “you should be resting; i know how you feel, but you have to step away for a while” (allura). but he’s a human being, not a robot, which means he can be self-contradictory — he doesn’t always follow his own advice.

he also isn’t a mind-reader, so as well as he knows keith, he still needs keith to talk to him. before the marmora mission, shiro has no idea what’s going on in keith’s head, even if he’s the only person to notice that something is going on. where others may see keith standing apart from the group as keith just being aloof or antisocial, shiro picks up that keith has anxiety about something, and isn’t convinced when keith acts like nothing is wrong:

shiro: is everything okay?

keith: yeah. why?

shiro: you just seem a bit anxious.

keith: i’m fine. just tired. like you said, i should — get some sleep.

this is a war, but shiro shouldn’t have to approach being leader the way that zarkon does. caring about people is not a weakness. shiro should not be forbidden from being close to someone or forced into emotional distance: into depriving keith of the emotional support that has canonically turned keith’s life around for the better.

which doesn’t mean that he deprives the others of emotional support! it just means that shiro has been aware of keith’s need for guidance even before voltron, even before kerberos, and that doesn’t translate into “isn’t aware of keith’s flaws” — it translates into “better awareness of where keith’s flaws come from, and how to approach them”, something the others aren’t as tuned into yet.

and you know what the best part is? keith gives shiro that same emotional support!

of course, the same goes in reverse: keith can’t know what shiro doesn’t tell him. when shiro looks troubled in the healing pod, keith doesn’t understand: “he just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards. what dream could be worse than that?”

even though keith can tell when shiro is vulnerable, he doesn’t know every memory that flashes through shiro’s mind, nor how unstable the memories can make shiro feel. keith tries to open a conversation when they first reunite (gentle and tentative, but still curious). shiro, however, is as lost as keith is:

keith: so, what happened out there? where — were you?

shiro: i wish i could tell you. my head’s still pretty scrambled. i was on an alien ship, but somehow i escaped. it’s all a blur.

shiro changes the topic to “how did you know to come save me when i crashed?”, bewildered but in awe, and this is actually a good point to segue from. because shiro gets profoundly moved by saving people and being saved, and this can sometimes lead to shiro losing focus on the bigger picture and bigger risks.

the first example doesn’t cause any harm, though it has the potential to: they’re on sendak’s ship, and pidge wants to rescue the prisoners, saying they can’t just leave them there. it’s hurting shiro too, but he says they don’t have time — in war, you have to make tough choices, and right now, that choice is to find the red lion and leave. it isn’t until pidge reveals that sam holt is her dad that shiro changes his tune, telling pidge he’ll come with her and that keith will find red on his own. keith doesn’t like the idea of going by himself, but off he goes (“patience yields focus” on his mind), and everyone gets out alive.

the next two examples are more complicated:

shiro says that they aren’t going to destroy zarkon’s empire overnight and that hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake — and then allura gets captured, sacrificing herself to save shiro. shiro immediately changes gears: they’re going in fast and without warning, and they’re not leaving without her. hunk points out that shiro had said this would be a suicide mission, but it’s keith who flat-out suggests that they shouldn’t go on the mission at all: “we’ll be delivering the universe’s only hope to the universe’s biggest enemy.”

when shiro recalls that ulaz had helped him escape prison, he’s determined to find him again. everyone objects to this, especially allura, but it’s keith’s objections that are obviously colored by a personal history with shiro: “shiro, are you sure you can trust this? i mean, after all the galra have done to you, they — they took your arm. you know i trust you, shiro. but this doesn’t feel right.”

keith almost does a boomerang of “patience yields focus”: he gets why shiro is emotionally moved in both of these examples, but fears his judgment is clouded by those emotions. and like keith learns from shiro’s call-outs, shiro goes through a trial and error period: in future missions, he constantly points out the dangers of bringing voltron to places where zarkon can track them and take control of the black lion.

also, this is a more comedic example, but still relevant: keith is right there with the other paladins in pulling faces at shiro when allura says she doesn’t need shiro’s permission to go on a mission. it’s small, but it’s further proof that keith doesn’t object to shiro being challenged, whether he or someone else is doing the challenging.

i think all of this can be misconstrued as “keith and shiro advise each other to keep their emotions in check, which means they don’t care about each other’s emotions.” they absolutely care! but they’re painfully aware of how not having control can lead to chaos, and in a way, they overestimate each other’s hold on having control. this is partially why they’re so adamant about each other’s leadership strengths: they each see the other as someone who can attain stability and inspire it in the rest of the team.

but once the marmora mission happens and keith’s fears are laid bare, shiro doesn’t ask keith to be leader again. and while keith does work on applying shiro’s advice, he still unwaveringly thinks of shiro as leader and black paladin, as he has from the beginning: “shiro’s the head.”

shiro: your father must have trusted [the galra] once. zarkon was the original black paladin, wasn’t he?

allura: that was a long time ago.

lance: wait, what?

keith: didn’t you see how he stole the black lion right out from shiro? or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? shiro’s bayard? you know, the black one?

lance: whoa, what did you do?

shiro: i’ve got zarkon’s bayard.

keith: you mean you’ve got your bayard.

the mutuality of keith and shiro’s stability is perhaps best summed up in this parallel:

SEASON ONE

keith: it’s good to have you back.

shiro: it’s good to be back.

SEASON TWO

shiro: good to have you back, keith.

keith: good to be back.

whatever happens to them, whatever they win and whatever they lose, they have each other to come back to. and there’s an in-universe example of someone noticing this: allura, who has her own relationship of stability with shiro as co-leaders, witnesses shiro hugging keith goodbye, just as she hugs coran, her own found family. she knows that shiro has been traumatized by the galra, and it’s his word that she trusts in reaching out to the galra as allies. and here she sees shiro trusting keith, enough to hold him close and to want him to be safe. again: this is a relationship that helps to humanize keith and shiro, not only to the audience, but to the characters that notice it.

protection

keith: after getting booted from the garrison, i was kind of — lost, and — found myself drawn out to this place. it’s like something — some energy was telling me to search.

shiro: for what?

keith: well, i didn’t really know at the time, until i stumbled across this area. it’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event — some arrival happening last night. then, you showed up.

it’s a common headcanon that keith got booted from the garrison after the kerberos mission was announced a failure due to pilot error, killing shiro and the holts. the timeline adds up: pidge doesn’t become a garrison cadet until after she starts investigating, and by that time, lance has just been made fighter pilot (“hasta la later, keith!”); lance himself says he was upgraded to fighter class “thanks to [keith] washing out”, and iverson describes the situation as “had a discipline issue and flunked out.”

however that “discipline issue” manifested, it’s rather touching that keith — no matter how “lost” he felt — still managed to remember “patience yields focus”, throwing his entire concentration into following the lion’s energy and all of the cave clues about an arrival. and that was without even knowing that shiro would be the arrival.

so, imagine how devoted keith is to protecting shiro when he knows it’s shiro! actually, we don’t have to imagine it, because it’s such an ongoing thread. it happens a lot, y’all.

MONTAGE!

as soon as he realizes that this is shiro, that this is shiro alive and back on earth, keith doesn’t linger: he’s emotional, yes, but he snaps to it and cuts shiro free and lifts him up; and though he’s bemused by the involvement of lance/hunk/pidge, he adjusts to having them on his bike, coming up with an on-the-fly steering strategy and flying off a cliff just to outrun the garrison and get shiro somewhere safe

even though shiro can’t answer keith’s questions about where he was and what happened to him, keith notices shiro’s memory trigger on sendak’s ship (and thus begins a pattern)

shiro has another memory trigger while fighting the altean gladiator, and despite having just himself been knocked out by the gladiator, keith resurfaces to put himself between the gladiator and shiro, sword drawn and pushing against the gladiator’s staff — all of this as he looks back at shiro and asks if he’s okay

keith notices a robeast coming to arus while he/lance/hunk are separated from pidge and shiro, and instantly goes from relaxed to panicked: “oh no! we gotta get to our lions!” you see the first sign of keith taking leadership, too: “lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there!”

he then realizes that shiro has zoned out while facing the robeast, remembering him from the gladiator ring: “shiro, we gotta move! shiro, are you there? shiro!”

after the castle has clearly been corrupted by the galra crystal, keith’s first thought is that they’d left shiro with sendak, hinting that he knows this could put shiro in some form of danger (even if he doesn’t know exactly what’s said in sendak’s mind games): “sendak … wait — has anyone seen shiro?”

he doesn’t object to shiro and allura going on a mission alone, but his face is scrunched up with some sort of worry that eventually reveals itself as “how are you going to get shiro on board?”

when they go to central command to save allura (a mission that keith is already aware of being Peak Risky), he tells the others to save her without him because “shiro’s in trouble! i’m going in!”; he again asks “shiro, are you okay?!” as he hears shiro’s grunts of pain while zarkon overpowers the black lion, and simply tells lance that he’s going to do “whatever he can”, not even stopping when he knows it’s zarkon and that zarkon is the original black paladin (and remember, this does not remotely shake his view of shiro being the true black paladin and that being shiro’s bayard, thanks very much): literally the only thing that stops the fight is shiro regaining black and scooping up red — “i got you, buddy!”

you can basically put the entire first episode of S2 in this bullet point, but i’ll try to summarize: once he gets used to his post-wormhole surroundings, keith starts worrying about shiro; tries to get in contact with shiro and smiles and laughs when he does; worries about shiro’s wound; recalls “patience yields focus” to come up with a plan to get to shiro; tells shiro to stay with him and lets out more relieved laughter when he sees the black lion; and, as a final desperate measure, approaches the black lion and asks to be let in: “i know i’m not shiro, but he’s in trouble — we need to help him”

once shiro is safe and sound, keith still asks after his wound and doesn’t find shiro’s jokes about it funny — and really becomes 100% serious when shiro starts talking like he’s not going to make it (“stop talking like that”), which happens again when shiro brings up leader!keith a second time: “why are we even talking about this? nothing is going to happen to you”

he stays by shiro’s healing pod as his wounds heal, and looks openly soft and relieved when he wakes up; seeing shiro wounded so recently probably adds even more ammo to keith’s fears that ulaz is untrustworthy (“they took your arm”), but once he knows that shiro had been right, he’s the one to track down shiro and comfort him about ulaz’s sacrifice, apologizing for not trusting ulaz

when they get back from the space mall, keith looks around and, not finding shiro, asks where he is; and as soon as shiro gets back, he asks him if he was able to form a stronger bond with the black lion

several factors lead to keith’s decision to give up his knife, but what makes him regain his strength and tell everyone to stop fighting is seeing shiro activate his galra hand against the blade of marmora

remembering last time, keith is attuned to shiro during the big battle with zarkon, yelling “fight it, shiro!” as zarkon yet again tries to control black and invade shiro’s mind; and when it looks like shiro has passed out and zarkon has succeeded, keith gets himself together and directs the team: “something’s wrong with shiro — guys, we can’t let zarkon get the black lion!”

he notices shiro isn’t moving after the battle and he and pidge carry the black lion back to the castle, where — well, you don’t need me to remind you of keith’s desperate run to the empty black lion as he calls out for shiro, but: yeah, that sure does happen! :(

keith is a mirror of the red lion. on the surface, they are both hotheaded; fast; impulsive; instinctive; and difficult to open up. but at their core? they channel all of that not into destruction, but into protecting who they love!

and keith protects people beyond shiro (click for detailed examples)! keith 100% cares about people other than shiro, and shiro being his closest relationship doesn’t negate that, just as allura and coran’s relationship doesn’t negate them caring about the paladins.

but don’t forget the framework of the virtual mindscape. shiro walks out, and the mindscape becomes keith’s dad, whose dialogue implies that he and keith have been separated for a long time: “so many years have passed. don’t you want to catch up?” keith says of course he does. the setting is the desert shack — the last place keith could call home or his own. add the loaded baggage of keith not knowing where his knife comes from, or, apparently, much about his mom, and you get the image of someone without a lot of stability in his past. this hasn’t made him resentful of people: slow to open up to anyone and everyone, yes, but still yearning for connection and for people to call family. shiro, in the absence of traditional family, has become the closest presence. of course keith is protective of him, of course he fears losing him! he’s lost family before and he’s lost shiro before!

think of how much it means to keith that his fears aren’t reality: that shiro isn’t going to abandon him because he makes mistakes, or because he doesn’t always do or say the right thing. it cannot be overstated that this isn’t “coddling” or “favoritism”: it’s being a friend; it’s being family; it’s not giving up on someone. shiro doesn’t look at the fact that keith has been omitting things from him — the knife, and his fears about it — and decide to leave keith to fight that fight on his own. he may not completely understand keith’s past, but he’s willing to protect keith’s right to explore it; he doesn’t think it makes keith selfish, or someone to walk out on. this doesn’t change with the galra reveal, no matter how surprised he is: it only makes him hold keith closer.

when shiro talks about something happening to him, it’s because of his own fears. he isn’t saying ��i’m going to willingly leave you”, he’s saying “i may fail” — and it’s a complete sign of trust that he thinks keith is someone who can pick up those pieces and put them back together. this isn’t the garrison. this isn’t about keith being “the best pilot” in his class. sure, he relies on keith’s flying to get them out of tight spots (asteroid fields, black holes), just as he relies on hunk’s strength or pidge’s hacking or lance’s sharpshooting. but it’s so much deeper than that.

i mentioned that without their relationship, keith and shiro “would exist more as pedestals for lance instead of people with their own backstories.” and i think some people still see them that way; and i get it, because lance’s fears are what some deem the most “human” — not all of us can relate to being alien orphans or alien prisoners, but can relate to not feeling as valued as other people (or one specific person). that’s completely valid, but, to me, becomes invalid when it turns into acting like keith and shiro aren’t human, or like their “alien” plotlines strip them of humanity and all that comes with it, including flaws and fears. a lot of us can also relate to PTSD; to struggling to maintain stability; to not just biological family but to found family; to fears of being alone and abandoned.

think of how much it means to shiro that after a year of captivity and having to fight for survival, he knows he can rely on keith to protect him. sometimes keith does it without being asked, like fighting zarkon, and sometimes shiro asks him to, like fighting the lizards. it’s true that shiro looks at the whole team as fighters that are stronger together — who can win together if they work together — but on a personal level, he has been shown that keith doesn’t want him to fight alone and that keith not only wants him to survive, but will fight for him to survive.

like i said: this post is only being written based on S1 and S2. i don’t know what’s going to happen in S3! shiro’s disappearance is a major curveball for keith; he’s going to want to find him and protect him, now more than ever. i’m sure mistakes will be made. i’m sure he’ll have to be reminded that patience yields focus. he’ll need help, and he’ll have to let in that help. the ideal is that he won’t internalize everything as his own burden: that he’ll work with the others, because unlike shiro’s first disappearance, keith isn’t alone — he has a team, and he has to be willing to open up to them. they’re never going to be what shiro is to him, but they can develop relationships of equal strength!

keith and shiro are flawed people and therefore their relationship is flawed: they both need to work on communicating and on not bottling up emotions. but even so, they have a mutual understanding that the other will be there for them throughout those emotions (bottled up or exploded), and that’s so important after everything they’ve been through.

shiro: thanks for saving me.

keith: you’d have done the same for me.

[ramajmedia]

Man of Medan Review: Scary Sailor Stories | Screen Rant

Man of Medan, the first entry in Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology, brings a strong multiplayer focus to the cinematic horror of Until Dawn.

Developer Supermassive has a strong pedigree in cinematic horror. Until Dawn combined the filmic presentation of the best Quantic Dream titles with tight writing, top-tier acting talent, mind-blowing facial capture animation technology, and a genuine love of genre storytelling. All these elements combined to make Until Dawn a surprise hit that put the developer on the map. Followup efforts Hidden Agenda and The Inpatient were less successful, with a frustrating reliance on gimmicks like PlayStation VR and PlayLink undercutting the twisted mysteries at hand.

For their latest project, Supermassive is going back to basics, returning to the realm of pure cinematic horror. Man of Medan is the first entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology. Like Until Dawn, Man of Medan stars a cast of attractive young people thrown into a harrowing horror scenario, while the player is tasked with the responsibility of trying to keep them alive during their numerous trials.

Related: The 10 Best Choose Your Own Adventure Games

From the start, Man of Medan offers three ways to play: single player, online multiplayer for two players, and a local, "pass the controller" mode for up to five people to enjoy. In single player, the character switches between the five playable characters as the game progresses, and their decisions (and performance during Quick Time Events) determine who lives and who dies. While this mode offers a more traditional experience for fans of cinematic games, the true magic lies with two-player online co-op, called Shared Story Mode. The host can team up with someone on their friends list and play through the game as a team. Sometimes, the two players will be together, but some instances will have the players split up, leading to some asymmetrical scenarios.

While playing solo, the pacing can slow to a crawl as the game switches from one character to the next, showing them all getting scared in their own distinct ways. In multiplayer, however, it's much more streamlined. Each player will still have plenty of chances to control every character, but the whole thing moves by with a palpable energy, and communicating with a partner is key to unraveling the game's central mystery. Communication is also important key in interpreting certain events, since they may only be seen by one player, and not the other.

It's best to experience the game the first time via two-player co-op before giving it a shot in solo play. After getting a fairly thorough understanding of Man of Medan, it's jolly fun to gather a group of friends and act as something of a dungeon master during Movie Night, casting friends in the roles they feel best suit them. Each playthrough of Man of Medan takes between 4-6 hours (a bit less in two-player), but each adventure has a different outcome, especially with the inevitable wildcards which arise in Movie Night. In any given playthrough, all five heroes may survive, or all five might die. In our first go-round, two of the would-be survivors were killed in the final third of the game, but a thoughful (and lucky) second playthrough saw the whole team survive to the end.

The cast of Man of Medan is comprised of a mix of talented actors. The most well-known actor in the cast is Shawn Ashmore (Quantum Break, X-Men, The Following), though he plays an equal role in the ensemble alongside everyone else. Intermittently, Man of Medan will give players a brief respite, returning to the library of "The Curator." Played by The Crown's Pip Torrens, The Rod Serling-esque host of The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Curator is happy to address players directly and tease, encourage, or criticize their choices at various checkpoints in the game.

The facial animation is just as good as Until Dawn, if not better, and every closeup on a character in distress feels like a work of art. The full body animations, by contrast, can sometimes feel a bit robotic, but it's never outright bad. Best of all, Man of Medan runs at a much better framerate than Until Dawn, courtesy of the Unreal Engine 4. There are still plenty of dips here and there, but it feels considerably more stable than its predecessor. Even on PlayStation 4 Pro, textures can take a moment to pop in; this can sometimes lessen the impact of a sudden jump scare when a skeleton face jumps out in front of the screen before its low-res placeholder textures are replaced by the real deal.

Man of Medan is best enjoyed with friends, and part of that is because the main story is pretty thin. Four friends with varying interpersonal dynamics hire a sea captain (the fifth lead) to bring them out to a supposed crash site. After an encounter with a small band of scary pirates, everyone winds up on a mysterious ghost ship. It's a pretty straightforward premise, and the excitement doesn't come from the cliche narrative, but from how much fun it is to have a degree of control over how characters react to these cliches. There is a secret to the horrific events on the ghost ship, but it's so clearly telegraphed ahead of time, it hardly qualifies as a twist.

There is a lot less player agency in Man of Medan than in Until Dawn. There are fewer game-changing binary choices to make, and the QTE events are comparatively simple. There are still plenty of divergent paths and countless possible outcomes, but it doesn't feel as sprawling as its obvious progenitor. Perhaps this relative simplicity was the price Supermassive chose to pay in exchange for its unique and innovative multiplayer mode. For fans of co-op games, it was absolutely the right choice, but for players who prefer going solo, Man of Medan feels distressingly simple, and a big step backwards.

Man of Medan is an adventure best enjoyed with a friend in Shared Story Mode, and then enjoyed with many via Movie Night. Playing alone creates a decidedly lesser experience, but it's nonetheless a must play title for fans of cinematic adventure titles. Supermassive Games plans to create many more entries in The Dark Pictures Anthology; while certainly not without its flaws and shortcomings, Man of Medan is a strong starting point for future titles, and we're eager to see what The Curator has in store for us next year.

More: The 14 Scariest Video Games Of All Time

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Screen Rant was provided a PlayStation 4 digital copy for review.

source https://screenrant.com/man-of-medan-review/

[katieiscunning]

MTMTE Annual #1: Carbots in Carbots on a Carbot

Yaaaaaaay Annual time wooo

Nah, don’t listen to me. I just don’t want to have to write a double length summary.

OR MAYBE I DO because this issue starts with Rodimus, Whirl, Skids and First Aid are all fighting giant metal insect monsters. Or are they?! As it turns out the insects aren’t big- they’re tiny. The gang has been shrunk to kill them, and even better, they’re hunting them down inside Ultra Magus’ head!

In the end, despite their efforts, there is only one solution. The insects are on his mouth pistons (so are their faces liquid metal or what? I don’t even know. I don’t even want to think about it) and as Ratchet says:

 This ends with him getting bullied by the rest of the crew because these millenia old robots are children. Poor Magnus.

Meanwhile, Tailgate’s quest to become an Autobot is going well. He’s getting a provisional badge and invites Cyclonus along to the ceremony. Cyclonus thinks that’s stupid because caring about things is for losers. Yeah, sorry Magnus, Tailgate is getting my sympathy now.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Swerve ends up down in the engine room and remember Ore? The robot who got stuck in the wall way back in #1?

And now my sympathy (and horror) is for him instead.

Drift asks Rodimus if he’s prepared his speech for Tailgate’s ceremony. Of course he hasn’t, and when Drift offers his first piece of constructive criticism ever, Rodimus gets angry, then jealous. They’ve almost reached the Crystal City- the place where Drift stopped being a Decepticon and found religion- and even Roddy isn’t self centered enough to not know that compared to literally anyone else, he’s a poor choice.

Magnus comes in, upset about people making fun of him. He’s also worried about the Crystal City’s radio silence, but I’m sure that’s going to be nothing.

Even though Swerve hasn’t shown up- he’s still down in the basement with poor Ore- Rodimus starts Tailgate’s ceremony. And awwwwwwww

Grumpy samurai monster demon robot hiding how much he cares.

But there’s no time for cuteness. Down in the hospital, the robots who are still unconscious after the early season crash-teleport, start moving. More specifically, their clutch their hands over their ears so tight that they almost crush their brains. Then, Rodimus gets momentarily possessed. Then, Swerve calls them from the basement to report Ore’s undeaden-ing. And then, the Galactic Council shows up in a ship with a lie for a name. 

These robots have such bad luck with timing.

Cybertronians are pretty much the most hated creatures in the universe, which makes sense since their war almost destroyed it. The Council ship’s captain tells them they’re trespassing and worse, that the planet below is deserted. Drift believes none of this, which doesn’t matter because a second later the council decides to prove their point directly and teleport some of the main cast down to the surface.

Swerve is, meanwhile, having the universe’s most awkward conversation.

I’m really curious now about how exactly they form words. Like I’d always assumed that they at least partly shaped sounds with their mouths and tongues since they (generally) have mouths and tongues, but it looks like it’s more of a loudspeaker system?

And maybe I’m overthinking something really pointless to ignore the gut clenching horribleness of everything happening here but whatever shut up.

Aided by some mistaken identity they very quickly get onto the subject of much Swerve hates himself. Which I guess makes sense when you’re trying to stop someone from getting upset and making the engines explode but still? Kind of self centered. Anyway, what’s good here is that it gives us a chance to see just how very, very much what he did has messed Swerve up. Sometimes this comic feels as though it’s ignoring or softening emotional blows, so the fact that we get this chance to see some interiority is cool. Plus, Swerve’s self-loathing is a complicated part of him that we’ve seen played on even before he shot Rung so this is more than earned.

Down on the planet Drift is not coping well. 

In fact he’s coping so not well that he decides to take his roborage out on THE PLANET ITSELF. It reciprocates.

Magnus was left out of the mass teleport. Instead he was taken onboard the Council’s ship . As it turns out, they’re fans of his work.

That expression there is uh… is sure something.

Under the earth, the gang find another reason for Drift to be upset. As it turns out the Crystal City guys weren’t really honest with him. They’ve got a buried Metrotitan, which is- well, basically a really really giant robot but I’ll let him explain:

Thanks Drift! And thanks to you too Ratchet, for keeping things nice and non ridiculous when talking with your samurai hippie car friend about the giant multidimensional city robot you’re both standing on. Nah, that’s unfair. I really do enjoy Ratchet’s done-ness and how consistent he is in his desire to apply it to everything.

Cyclonus mentions that this isn’t his first encounter with a Metrotitan, and then, with some prompting from Rewind launches into a whole art-changed creation-story telling extravaganza.

I have never read a Marvel Transformers comic from the 80s, but this art is beautiful and striking and sort of makes me want to except I really can’t deal with more continuity right now.

Drift and Ratchet have… different reactions to the story.

What I like about this is that despite it being very much the wrong time for a serious conversation about belief, despite them both graduating from ‘angry’ to ‘shouting match’ very quickly, there’s not a concrete right/wrong dichotomy. Because, yes, Ratchet’s being an asshole, but he’s also at least partially right about Drift.

Still a bad time to say it though.

For once Rodimus is the mature one, breaking them up. Of course he breaks that winning streak a second later by asking Chromedome to read the Titan’s brain.

Chromedome’s past before Rewind was bad. And meeting him hasn’t fixed him- we’ve seen that illustrated over and over again through his general sadness and self-destruction. It’s nice to see the day to day business of dealing with depression being portrayed as that: a day to day thing. That said, him choosing to open up to Skids here is a liiiiittle out of nowhere, and for a comic that normally handles character beats so well it’s odd. But maybe looking at his adorable husband befriending the grumpiest demon robot is making him feel like sharing.

Rodimus has to face something he never expected: semi-criticism from Drift.

It would be awesome to spend more time on that, but Chromedome sticks his fingers into the brain, the Metrotitan shoots lasers from its eyes which shoot through the planet and into the Council ship, leading the Council to decide that this has all been a tricksey Cybertronian trap and prepares to burn the Lost Light into cinders. They send Magnus back since he’s totally not going to join them, while the crew realise that Ore’s resurrection and the reanimation of the robots in Magnus’s mouth are both results of all the ambient energy from the Titan… and Cyclonus works out that what Rodimus wrote on Tailgate’s chest way back at the start of this annual was a message from it too- it wants to be set free. But they can’t do that without losing their chance for Chromdome to needle him again and find out all of his ancient secrets- including a way to complete the actual quest that they’re supposed to be on.

Jesus there is a lot in this comic.

Rodimus, taking a moment from insisting that they need to do the Mnemosurgery despite the fact that it’ll kill the Titan, contacts Swerve to insist that he tell Ore that he’s dead. The shock might be enough to supercharge the engines and free them from the Council. However, because Swerve has learned that listening to Rodimus is a bad idea, he refuses.

It’s pretty awesome. It’s awesome enough, actually, to get Rodimus to change his mind. 

As it turns out, the Metrotitan teleporting to freedom frees the Lost Light (and really frees poor Ore, who vanishes off into the ether with him). Everything is solved and good and nobody is dead. We end with a final beat back in the Council ship, with the captain remarking to his overseer that the Cybertronians are unstable and that this is the perfect time for a regime change. And, that when asked to join them, all Ultra Magnus did was smile.

Hopefully not this smile again though, or they’ll skip talking next time and just nuke Cybertron. 

Oh man that was certainly an annual.

Jesus.

In my summary, the pacing feels weird. A lot of building then a very fast climax. This was not due to my frustration but in fact was a clever technique to show you how it is in the comic. Obviously that’s a little unsatisfying, but everything being tied up so quickly also means that meat of the text gets enough room to breathe.

And man, this is a meaty text.

The central theme here is that it means something different to be a ‘good’ person than it does one who does the right thing and that the former is more important. Swerve disobeys Rodimus because it’s right, Rodimus saves the Titan because it’s right, Magnus stays with the crew because that too, is right. All of these choices are bad for people in general but good for the people that you care about. Is that something I agree with? I don’t think it can be. But in terms of how you measure someone else, in terms of how you judge someone, it’s hard to say that those choices are wrong.

The character beats here are fun, with a lot of interaction between Drift and Ratchet, between Rodimus and Drift, between Cyclonus and Tailgate and Rewind. I think maybe Cyclonus is the character who comes out of this with the most development actually. His moments are just plain delightful: he’s cute with Tailgate and happy to be badgered by Rewind. 

Speaking of him, it’s a shame we didn’t get a final beat with Tailgate here- it’s one of the things that leaves the conclusion of this annual feeling a little lackluster, honestly- there’s no conclusion to his arc here. But I can overlook that. It must be difficult to up your page count without going full on graphic novel and Roberts did a decent job.

The art… dammit I couldn’t draw big weird looking robots and I feel weird judging other people for it but ugh, it’s not great. It’s not bad either, but MTMTE generally has a high standard and this just isn’t there. Sometimes, like when Drift causes the cave in, it’s actually a little difficult to tell what’s happening. On a more personal level, the faces aren’t as expressive as the characters need, but they don’t really have the robot-ness that Nick Roche is so good at either. Ugh. 

Buuut the flashback was beautiful. Let’s look at it again.

Next time: DECEPTICONS! 

You can get on this fun train by buying the comics over here: https://www.comixology.co.uk/Transformers-More-Than-Meets-the-Eye-2011/comics-series/7279?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC90b3BSZXN1bHRzU2xpZGVy

Written by James Roberts, Art by Jimbo Salgado and Emil Cabaltierra, flashback art by Guido Guidi, published by IDW.