#having to see him suffer through bad plots & being the third point of the triangle 😭

[dengswei]

honestly monster next door is everything i've been begging for for big for YEARS like i don't think you'd understand the importance of this drama to me and probably to big too really like i'm just rambling right now because i can't put it into words probably but big deserves this and i hope this is just the beginning of his success & recognition because it's what he deserves after not being recognised for so long

[betweentheheavesofstorm]

i keep thinking i’m done beating this dead horse but no, because i’ve now read an interview with Kester Grant that explains, Well, a Lot.

 I’m also pissing myself because on her Agent’s site bio, she’s listed as being born on December 5, “alongside notorious British rebel Guy Fawkes” which strongly suggests that SOMEONE involved thought Guy Fawkes was born on November 5.

I then looked at her About page on her own website, where the note is “Death-day of notorious British rebel Guy Fawkes celebrated annually in the UK by giant morbidly ironic bonfire's & firework displays” which is ALSO wrong because he wasn’t even brought to trial till the following January ?? the fireworks commemorate the gunpowder plot aka the actual thing that happened on the 5th of november ohh my god  kester grant use wikipedia challenge 

Anyway, this is gonna be a Long Post, so I’m gonna put the quotes + commentary under the cut:

Firstly, Marius DID appear in an initial draft, only to be deleted later:

He was present in the first draft of the book when I sold it to the publishing house and I just struggled every time I had to write a scene with him. All the scenes with Marius and Enjolras St. Juste (it was Marius originally as well as St. Juste, and St. Juste was just a secondary character) and I was saying to my husband ‘if only I could write this scene with just St. Juste it would be 3 million times better’ [...] So I said to my editor, “listen, could I cut Marius?” and she said “absolutely!” and everything was just three million times better and now we just have St. Juste who became the amazing star that he is and I love him.

so we did get Marjolas, just the other way round than we normally do. 

On her writing process:

I had the idea for The Court Of Miracles and I wrote it in six weeks to apply for a competition called Pitch Wars where you get mentored by two published authors and then at the end of the mentorship of two months they help you edit it.

Really? Written in six weeks? you certainly couldn’t tell...

Then, when asked about research:

I started to do research on a 48 hour flight from the States to where I live now in Mauritius [...] So I had this raging fever and I had a million tabs open on my computer and I was just eating the history of Paris, from this origin all the way through to Napoleon’s fall. And taking notes and getting ideas.

honestly her having a fever while doing the research suddenly means EVERYTHING makes sense 

On how she came up with the Guilds:

Then I went online to see what kinds of crimes there are and I looked up laws. I had a whole list of different crimes and said ‘okay, we can split these into guilds’ and then I thought if you’re two young girls living in a criminal world, who is the most terrifying criminal?’ and obviously it would be the human trafficker. So automatically I was like ‘okay that’s your big bad guy. That’s your Shere Khan’.

what kind of crimes there are

Being in the first person is interesting because I don’t normally write in the first person. Being of a certain age, I’m 35, everything I’ve ever read in England was written in the third person, but I knew I was writing a young adult book, or at least one bordering on young adult, so I had been advised to write in the first person, which I hated. It was completely unnatural to me but I think it’s worked very well for Nina. [bolding mine]

once again, you definitely can’t tell that she hates the first person !! not at all!! also that’s definitely not the sort of thing you should say in an interview?!

I have since been told, from my best friend and all of my siblings, that Nina is actually like me and of course it was easy to write her because she does what I would do.

ohoho it’s self-insert o’clock! and, as Briar pointed out, it’s just a wild coincidence that her self-insert is also universally beloved by the Hot Young Men of the novel. (Not that in fic I’m against self-inserts - but once again, this is published !) 

There’s going to be two sequels [to The Court Of Miracles] so there might *hint hint*, be a bit of jealousy or triangles or things between [Ettie and Nina]

personally i’m delighted by this! we already have a love square, what is it gonna become? a tetrahedron? is the dauphin gonna suddenly fall for Cosette? or Montparnasse, or Enjolras St. Juste????

Nina, if pushed a certain way, if she allowed herself to go a certain way, could easily become very similar to [Kaplan, the villain]. I’m not saying she would become a human trafficker but Nina is basically a walking PTSD case. She’s like Batman! She’s like Samuel Vimes in Ankh-Morpork [in Discworld]!

nina is like batman. right, got it.

Originally the book had the history of Paris by the Dead Lord in between every single chapter and I think it was a bit too weighty and a bit boring in places. So my editor said ‘let’s scrap that’ and I said ‘okay but then I’m going to put the short stories in’. 

you know, her editor dropped the ball in a lot of places, but at least they got rid of that, because I was skim reading the folk story bits as it was

I have another book coming out next year, it’s basically like The Jungle Book but on speed.

this is the bit that made me almost spit peppermint tea everywhere because who the fuck describes their own work like that

and finally, last but not at all least, here’s her overview of the French Revolution:

I mean the nobles [in The Court Of Miracles] were always monstrous in a way but they have become 100 times worse because they saw what the people of France were about to do to them. Which historically, the people of France, the revolutionaries, led the terror – they murdered everyone right left and centre! Then of course the revolutionaries famously turned on their own.

There was terrible suffering that led to the revolution but the revolutionaries were all mental. They literally murdered each other because they were so paranoid! Robespierre got rid of the Roman Catholic Religion entirely and then invented his own religion! Look it up its called the Cult Of The Supreme Being!

Then there were three guys who had joint power who were supposed to form an equal government. One of them rose to power and his name was Napoleon and he became a dictator. Although he was a dictator who took over almost all of the world, the people of France loved him. [Then] the people of France themselves in a strange turn of events turned on him in the end and betrayed him. Otherwise, he might still have been in power for years and years. And Napoleon is a big feature in Books Two and Three… just saying…

napoleon!! we’re getting NAPOLEON in the next two i am so genuinely excited because I have no fucking idea what she’s gonna do 

[yeniayofnymeria]

GRRM's Original Outline "What has changed?"

Hello,

Now you all know Martin's letter he wrote in '93. When this letter was written and sent to the editor, the first 13 chapters (200 pages) were already written. In addition, the book consisted of three volumes of the first stage, but as you know, but its 7 volumes now.When we read the letter and the first 5 books, the first comment made was very different and different from the first outline; one or two things remain the same. But is it really? Here I would like to discuss this with you. I think I will go through the events step by step and you will make your own contributions when you read. Let's start!

1. Stark-Lannister war. It's remain, nothing changed.

2. (Dany) Targaryen's 7K invasion with Dothraks. It's still did not happend but we know Dany has Unsullied and some sellswords and next book, she will have Dothraks too. She will linger a little more in essos and then come to the West for the conquer. It's remain too.

3. The Others. GRRM said " Their story will be [sic] heart of my third volume, The Winds of Winter. " It's remain too.

4. Five Main Key Characters (Jon, Arya, Bran, Dany and Tyrion). " In a sense, my trilogy is almost a generational saga, telling the life stories of these five characters, three men and two women. The five key players are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three of the children of Winterfell, Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow." It's remain too.

5. Fall of the Starks. " Things will get a lot worse for the poor Starks before they get better, I'm afraid. " Yes, indeed it happened.

6. Dead of Robert and long may live new king! "Ned will discover what happened to his friend Jon Arryn... will have an unfortunate accident, and the throne will to brutal Joffrey, still a minor." Yes, it happened too. This substance remained the same too.

7.Sansa and Joffrey. "Sansa Stark wed to Joffrey Baratheon, will bear him a son, the heir to the throne, and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue. " Sansa betrays his family anyway but she did not wed Joffrey or bear his son. This substance has changed a bit.

8. Bran's coma and dream and greenseer and dead of Robb. " Young Bran will come out of his coma, after a strange prophetic dream... He will turn to magic, at first in the hope of restoring his legs, but later for its own sake... Robb Stark will die in battle." 

Bran's the same, but Robb's got some change. Robb doesn't die in a war against Joffrey, Jaime and Tyrion. But he really wins a few battles at first (against Tywin. So there's no Tywin in the first place) and then he dies at the Red Wedding.

Bran's in a coma. So Jaime and Cersei are standing exactly. This shows that Jon Arryn's death is due to his learning of the relationship(Jaime-Cersei). So Joff was a bastard in the first outline too. Ned died for the same reason.

Tyrion did not burn Winterfell but fought against Stark army and became Hand of King. Jaime fought against Robb too and lost, was captured. This part is different in some ways, but the same in some ways.

9. Jon Snow, The Wall and Lord Commander. " Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night's Watch "

Jon goes the wall and will became lord commander but Benjen was lord commander in the first place but it seems he dies anyway or disappear. It's remain.

10. Helping family and Jonarya Love. " When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Wounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night's Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon's anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving ... until she realizes, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night's Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon's true parentage is finally revealed in the last book. "

Winterfell is being burned by Greyjoys. Cat is not with Stark children, he is with Robb. Bran and others run away and went to the Wall. But Bran and others did not take refuge in the black brothers. Jon has something to do with Arya again. He wants to protect and save her(FArya). He can't do it because of his vows and he's in a lot of pain... And we know who is Jon's real parents.

Jon and Arya love... It's still too early to say anything about it. When Arya goes to the wall, the love between the two emerges. Arya escaped from KL as in the first outline. But instead of going home, she drifted into her own adventure. Arya has been trying to get home and Jon all along. She'll probably go straight to the wall when she gets back from Braavos. There are so many hints about Jonarya love in books. ( https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/125364-jon-arya-hints-and-overall-significance-of-their-relationship-including-part-3/ )

11. Beyond The Wall and Bran-Cat-Arya. "Abandoned by the Night's Watch, Catelyn and her children will find their only hope of safety lies even further north, beyond the Wall, where they fall into the hands of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, and get a dreadful glimpse of the inhuman others as they attack the wilding encampment. Bran's magic, Arya's sword Needle, and the savagery of their direwolves will help them survive, but their mother Catelyn will die at the hands of the others." This part has undergone significant changes. Despite this, some small parts remained.

Arya is not with them, Cat neither but she dies anyway (and came back but as fire wight not ice wight). Bran never meet Mance(yes, Mance exists) and see others but he sees deads and met Cold Hand(ice wight) and BR and Singers. I guess Rickon is not exists.

Arya has Needle, that's mean Jon gave her it anyway. And direwolves...

12. Dany, Viserys and Drogo. “Over across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen will discover that her new husband, the Dothraki Khal Drogo, has little interest in invading the Seven Kingdoms, much to her brother's frustration. When Viserys presses his claims past the point of tact or wisdom, Khal Drogo will finally grow annoyed and kill him out of hand, eliminating the Targaryen pretender and leaving Daenerys as the last of her line. Danerys [sic] will bide her time, but she will not forget. When the moment is right, she will kill her husband to avenge her brother, and then flee with a trusted friend into the wilderness beyond Vaes Dothrak. " Only 5% of this part has changed.

13. Dragon Eggs and Invasion Plans."There, hunted by [unclear] of her life, she stumbles on a [something about dragon eggs] a young dragon will give Daenerys [unclear] bend [unclear] to her will. Then she begins to plan for her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms." This part has changed 95%.

14. Tyrion's Fate. "Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones, finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king's brutality. Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders. Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he's at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow."

Yes, it seems this part almost completely changed. But Tyrion has been betrayed by his family in every way(Tysha thing and attempt to kill), just it changed "how it will be" This betrayal caused him to change sides. Only on Targaryen side instead of Stark. But Tyrion will probably be on the Stark side too.

Tyrion is exiled to Essos, not north. Jaime's not the bad guy in the story, Cersei is. Joffrey's dying. In the first Outline, Jaime kills everyone, so Sansa is dead. In the present story, Sansa is still alive and her story continues. They're not named, but probably Joff's siblings are in the first outline and they're dead.

There's no competition between Tyrion and Jon(Arya). It's hard to expect it at this point. We need to wait for the next encounter, but I don't think it will. Unlike the first otline, Jon and Tyrion are good friends. If GRRM designs a love triangle like the first one, maybe they can be enemies. Or maybe he changed the third candidate for that love triangle. (However, if you read Mercy POV, GRRM is waving its hand to this love triangle there.)

In general, the outline / skeleton remains exactly the same, even the characters' motives are more or less the same; there are big changes in a few places, but not so big changes in the remaining parts. Same affliction, betrayal and so on that will ensure the development of the character. Situations occurred in one way or another. It's just that things have gone differently ... but betrayal comes from the family again and (Jon) he's suffering because he can't help the family.

He keeps his end.

GEORGE: […]As I write these last two books, I’ll be moving towards the ending I’ve known since 1991/

“Some major characters — yes, I always had plans, what Tyrion’s arc was gonna be through this, what Arya’s arc was gonna be through this, what JonSnow’s arc is gonna be. ”

...

I don’t want to reveal what I’ve planned for some of these characters, but I’m pretty well on track with most of the major characters. It’s minor characters like Bronn that assume greater importance.”

At Balticon 2016 he said he knows who sits on the Iron Throne at the end.

A year later, in a video interview he continued by saying he has always known the fates of his main characters, who lives or dies, marries who...etc since 1991 when he began writing.

That's all. Thank you for read and sorry again for my bad English. Bye.

[steven-falls]

Steven Universe Future Critically reviewed: Little Graduation (An underwhelming end to the LarSadie arc)

Basic synopsis: Sadie reveals she has a new partner, Shep. Steven takes the news badly, believing that there are unresolved feelings between Sadie and Lars. But what about Steven’s own feelings?

‘Oh no! Our ship!’

Wow, this has got to be Steven Universe’s craziest use of foreshadowing yet!

So, the LarSadie ship that sailed through rocky waters for the past 5 seasons has finally sank. Am I as devastated as Steven that the two of them couldn’t work things out?

 Nope.

 To be honest I’m pretty glad. Lars was always kind of dickish to Sadie, and Sadie’s best character moments tended to be in episodes where Lars wasn’t involved. So nothing but a net positive for Sadie that she’s moved on.

The conclusion that the audience are supposed to come to is that yes, Lars and Sadie not being together is for the best. The two of them have chosen different life paths, and seem content with the paths they’re taking. But we’re also supposed to sympathise with Steven to some degree; it’s a bittersweet ending that the two of them couldn’t work things out.

 But I honestly just don’t care. 

The main reason being that I had no investment in Lars and Sadie’s relationship whatsoever. 

I think what really stunted the Lars and Sadie arc was how it was shackled to the Steven only perspective. They actually lampshade this in the episode. When Lars and Sadie explain how they have already discussed their relationship with one another, Steven exclaims ‘but I didn’t see any of that!’. This being a nod to how the audience only sees what Steven sees. It’s meant to be this cute little in-joke, like the crewniverse is saying: ‘Ha ha we know the Steven only perspective is something our audience has issues with but we’re still not doing anything about it!’ I didn’t find this amusing, I just found it irritating that they would point out limitations in their storytelling methods without actually doing anything to try and fix them.

‘We can take what we’ve learned to other planets!’

Alright settle down you store brand Steven wannabe.

In theory, I think the way the Lars and Sadie arc was concluded is quite nice. They live separate lives now, but are still happy for one another. What I think is lame is that instead of seeing how their relationship developed first hand, we instead have to settle for being told all this happened off screen. This is a textbook case of telling instead of showing. 

Like, the only reason we, the audience, weren’t allowed to see Lars and Sadie’s private conversations was because Steven wasn’t there to witness them. And it's always going to be more satisfying for an audience member to see how a situation or relationship develops first hand rather than just being told ‘oh yeah, by the way, while you were gone this happened.’

I already stated that I don’t particularly care about Lars and Sadie. But if I have to sit through an episode about their relationship anyway, maybe actually getting to see an intimate conversation between the two of them would have given me a reason to care.

Ew, Buck’s eyes are gross

Steven’s mere presence limits how much you can develop Lars and Sadie’s dynamic. Because Steven always has to be there, anytime the crewniverse want to do a Lars and Sadie episode they first have to invent a reason for Steven to get involved. Which means he takes up screen time away from all the other characters, who are already less developed then he is because they aren’t around as frequently.

And what makes this worse is that Steven’s connection to Lars and Sadie is a little flimsy. He’s just some kid who was customer at the shop they used to work at. It’s kind of weird to use Steven as the viewpoint for their relationship when he tends to only see one specific facet of their lives.

Which leads me into my second issue with Lars and Sadie. That they as characters, and by extension their relationship, was too far removed from the main plot of the show. 

You’d think Lars having to escape the tyranny of Homeworld would have made him a more integral presence in the plot, but it really didn’t. We barely got to see any of his escape from the gempire. I’m still not sure how he even managed to get off homeworld in the first place. 

This problem isn’t unique to Lars and Sadie, other relationships have also suffered because of the Steven only perspective, a prime example being Lapis and Peridot. I actually think one of the best developed relationships in the show was Rose and Greg’s. We got to see that relationship unfold first hand from Greg’s perspective, rather than it being filtered through Steven acting as a third party observer. I’m not even saying they’d have to write Steven out of entire episodes, just don’t have him be the focal character in every single scene. But considering this is the final season of steven universe, It’s obviously too late for any of that.

At the end of the day, I’d say my biggest criticism of this episode is the rather lackluster send off to the Larsadie arc. And considering this episode’s purpose was to conclude the Larsadie arc,  that’s a pretty bad thing for the episode to fumble.

I realise that was a pretty lengthy tangent about Lars and Sadie, but considering this episode is supposed to act as a conclusion to that arc I feel justified in harping on about them. But what were my thoughts on the graduation itself?

Padparadscha and Fluorite’s teachers must of had the patience of a saint. 

One thing that jumped out of me was that while a lot of characters attended this graduation, most of them were awkwardly silent throughout the whole thing. With Sourcream, Buck and the off colours not getting any lines. I know the reason is because they don’t want to pay all these voice actors to have only one or two lines in an episode. Why bother giving Sourcream and Buck lines when you can convey everything you need to through just Jenny? But it gets pretty noticeable when all these characters are facing certain death and have nothing to say about it. Especially for the off colours, who don’t even get to talk at their own graduation. This may seem like a nitpick, but noticing stuff like this takes me out of the episode as I become painfully aware of where the production is cutting costs. 

Also apparently the cool kids are still all teenagers? They seemed to be pushing they’re late teens back when Steven was 14, they’re really stretching it now. And it doesn’t help that none of them have visibly aged.

The  jacket for phone idea is cute and all, but it’s completely impractical. What if I need to answer a phone call or reply to a text? Do I have to unzip the jacket everytime? Wouldn’t the jacket just fall off the phone? Either that or it would partially cover the screen, which would be annoying. This business isn’t getting my investment that’s for sure.

And of course, I got to talk about Shep. Finally, the show has some actual non binary representation, you don’t have to settle for a boy and girl literally fusing together anymore. 

Shep’s gender is so ambiguous that they’re able to get past all censoring. I don’t think it would even register with any conservitive parents watching that this is supposed to be a queer character. They can’t complain about a same sex couple in a cartoon if it’s left completely unclear what Shep’s sex is. 

Although, I do have a fear that foreign dubs of the show might portray Shep as a male.

Shep is also ultimately the one who saves the day. They make an accurate diagnosis of Steven’s issues, despite barely knowing Steven. Which is pretty hilarious to me as being the unlicensed therapist is usually Steven’s role. 

I’m sure this was an intentional subversion on the crewniverse’s part. And it does give Shep an actual character moment, without it they’d just be a love triangle plot device for the episode. But I don’t like this trope of some stranger swooping in and having an answer to your life's problems; I think the advice Shep gave would have been better suited coming from someone who actually knows Steven.

‘It seems like your sad about your friends drifting away, so you trapped us all in this dome to keep us from leaving’

Like yes, that’s exactly what’s happening, but I don’t understand how you know enough about Steven’s life to come to that conclusion.

I also can’t get over how everyone casually dismisses that Steven nearly killed them with magic he couldn’t control. None of them seem to see this as an issue that could get worse in the future.

And of course it does, as Steven’s angst magic ends up taking a deadly turn again in the very next episode ‘Prickly Pair’. Which is what I’ll be discussing in the next review. Hopefully my opinion of that episode won’t be as… prickly.

[gojira007]

So About That Slap

So I was originally just gonna do this as a comment on @thankskenpenders‘ post but

a)       I’d already reblogged that post twice to highlight the on-point comments from @robotnik-mun and @starsandpawprints so doing it yet a third time with my own comments felt kinda tacky?  Plus their comments wound up feeding into my own so doing this as my own post means I can refer you more easily to both of what they had to say (read ‘em here ‘n’ here respectively)

b)      This got kinda super-duper long

And just to preface this with some stuff that I do think is important for context

1)      I do not now nor have I ever condoned or approved of the way Jon Gray or Karl Bollers were treated over what happened in this issue; the harassment they’ve both faced even now about this plot point is utter bullshit on every level and I want to be crystal clear that none of what I say or how I feel here is meant as an attack on them at any level

2)      I’m very aware that this is older than Old News; the comic is literally over, the moment itself happened 15 years ago, and even at the time it wasn’t really The Biggest Deal no matter how the fandom took it.  This isn’t meant to be any sort of Definitive Final Word or whatever on the whole thing; it isn’t even necessarily meant to be Me Venting My Anger. But I do have Feelings on it even all this time later and hey!  Since the topic’s come up again?  I felt like putting them down.

All that having been established?  Let’s dive right in!

So I’ll say upfront I actually agree with a lot of what TKP has to say on the matter!  Not just that the reaction to it as a whole was ridiculously over-blown at the time (and I will admit upfront that at the time my feelings on the topic were pretty raw), but that textually speaking, we’ve been building up to this for a while!  On The Page, there is in fact a lot that informs why Sally does what she does the way that she does (and for that matter I actually do think Jon Gray’s art for the scene really works; I know some have complained that the zippy cartoony look undercuts the drama of the scene but I actually think it places the exact right emphasis on the intensity of the emotions and the violence with which they swing as the scene progresses)!  For that matter I agree a lot with what @starsandpawprints said about how brutally unfair the situation is to Sally when you actually step back and take a look at the circumstances surrounding it!  And to be clear?  I’m a big Sally fan; not only am I already inclined to relate to and sympathize with her character but I think that notion of Sally struggling with these exact sorts of personal issues is a fascinating and worthwhile story to tell with her that could have lead her down some interesting and meaningful paths.

However, I also think @robotnik-mun is onto something when he points out that the overwhelming majority of the audience saw Sally’s actions as unsympathetic and unreasonable.  Only I’d take it one step further: the problem isn’t simply one of perception, but of framing.

For one thing?  As much as we’re all picking up on how ill-considered Max’s choice to put all of this on Sally’s head now of all times is, nothing within the comic itself actually suggest that this is meant to be taken as a poor choice; although Alicia airs her concern over the matter, nothing in the comic suggests that Max’s confidence that Sally can handle it is meant to be regarded as unfounded or foolish (we even get an absolutely-adorable shot of Sally looking super-happy and flashing the V-for-victory sign to go with it), even as it does ultimately prove to be mistaken.  Likewise, there really isn’t anything in this comic or the prior comics that specifically goes into detail about the strain Sally’s relationship with the rest of her friends is under; we may perhaps infer that fact if we’re so inclined from the bare facts but the truth is nothing in the “Home” arc thus far has really delved into it with any real detail.  Which makes sense!  Sally isn’t our point-of-view character here (which poses a problem of its own admittedly but we’ll get to that), we only have so much space in any given issue of this comic, it’s easy to see why that element wouldn’t be deemed relevant enough to go into detail on.  It just also means we the reader aren’t given any reason to view that as a factor in Sally’s emotional state of being; all we have to go on, all the story focuses on, is her fear of losing Sonic again.

And the thing is?  That’s kind of just how she’s been written for a while now.

Again: at the strictest level of what’s on paper, the idea that Sally is suffering from PTSD (and quite possibly Depression, something the fantastic @sally-mun has explored in some really interesting ways) is pretty easy to support, but in the framing I’m not entirely sure it scans.  This exact kind of Emotional Reaction when it comes to the idea that she’ll lose Sonic has in fact been THE go-to Thing Sally has been doing for the last few years in the comic at this point; what happens with The Slap really doesn’t seem all that far removed from how she acts during all that asinine Love Triangle Nonsense with Mina right up to her teary farewell to Sonic in #125.  Which in turn makes it feel a lot less like this is the repercussions of deep-seated trauma rooting their ugly head but rather that as far as the writing is concerned this is just sort of how Sally handles this stuff when it comes to Sonic, which is to say poorly.  Indeed, even the way she’s restricted to staying in Knothole away from the fighting feels less like an example of her parents being unfair, and more like the entirely right course of action to protect her from her unstable Emotions, No Matter How Hard It May Be.

In other words, I don’t necessarily think this is a case of us being meant to sympathize with Sally that we just misunderstood; I’m really not convinced we actually are meant to sympathize with Sally here.

Which isn’t to say that one can’t!  Again, there’s a ready-made case that one should!  It also doesn’t mean I think this story hates Sally and wants us to hate her too.  But a story is more than just raw data, and whatever we might be able to infer from that data, what reactions and feelings the story wants from us comes down to how it attempts to guide us through that data, and in this case it is really hard for me to see that being done in a way that is favorable to Sally much at all.  We as the readers intrinsically know that she cannot be right to ask Sonic to stay: Sonic cannot be meant to Not Be Out Fighting because he’s the Main Hero of the book and that’s just flat-out what he does, to say nothing of the fact that it’s what he wants to be doing, and as the main character his is the point of view we’re generally meant to take, with the book again doing nothing to indicate that we shouldn’t in this case.  Meanwhile, with no real reason to think of all the other factors that could be influencing Sally’s state of mind here, we’re really only left with the one explicit reason she offers, which is that she wants Sonic to stay with her where he’ll be safe.  Not in and of itself an unfair feeling, but in this context?  With a War going on that the rest of the story keeps insistently reminding us about?  As part of a story where we saw that a single year of Sonic’s absence was enough to drive the Freedom Fighters to the brink of destruction?  It’s exceptionally easy to read it as Over-Emotional Sally putting her need for Romantic Security over the safety of the rest of the planet. And while I don’t know that I think the story quite intended it to land that harshly?  It’s really easy for me to feel like it at least wants us to be thinking in that direction.

Because the thing is we get zero insight on what else it is that drives Sally to this point otherwise.  @thankskenpenders put it really nicely during a look at #88: “for a long while now, the main action the writers have permitted Sally is a series of sudden emotional outbursts. We rarely see the action from her perspective, as Sonic is the protagonist and the audience viewpoint character. So instead of being about Sally’s emotional struggles, it becomes about how Sonic can never please Sally.”  By much the same token, what could have been a story about Sally finally breaking under the myriad emotional and psychological pressures that have been building up inside of her in the year she spent stewing in the belief that Sonic was dead while the rest of the world slowly but surely fell apart without him instead becomes a story about how unfair it is for Sally to expect Sonic to be something he fundamentally isn’t simply to make her feel better.  We aren’t given her point of view; nothing prior to this story (and only one thing after this story prior to Flynn about which I have Decidedly Mixed Feelings but I’m trying to keep us focused only on what has already happened up to this point so I won’t go into that here) attempts to delve deeper into her mental or emotional state at this point in time; the framing of the story provides us no context to Sally’s reaction save the apparently-overwhelming strength of her Romantic Attachment to Sonic.  Is that basically business as usual with this comic?  Absolutely; that TKP quote above is in reference to an issue published four whole years prior to this one!  

But that’s precisely the problem for me.

The Slap stands out as especially bad to me because it is the final breaking point where all the problems baked into the approach the book has taken to writing Sally over the years-simultaneously unapproachable and out of focus as a Main Character and yet constantly present, rarely if ever allowed to actually do anything of consequence but always available for a Big Emotional Reaction-came home to roost.  It was a culmination of the bad direction they’d been taking her in for a long time, and as a result it felt the most difficult to reconcile with the character as I’d understood her; back in the day this marked the first point at which I basically dropped out of the comics for a while, keeping my finger on the pulse via online scans and fan reviews but absolutely not going out of my way to pick up and buy new issues as I’d been doing consistently for about as long as I’d been a fan prior to that point, and it was because I really just didn’t understand what they were doing with Sally’s character, my favorite character, anymore at all.  These days I’m more sensitive to the Behind The Scenes realities that drove this choice, and also just older and more mature in general such that it’s not quite as upsetting.  But I won’t lie (in case the preceding near-2000 words didn’t convince you already): even now I think it’s a pretty bogus choice all things told.  One that could have worked?  Sure!  One that did?  I don’t think so at all.

[jacereviews]

Review: Young Justice (Season 1)

Cartoon

When I was a child, the in thing as far as superhero cartoons was Teen Titans. Years after its cancellation, the show Young Justice appeared to try to fill its shoes, however by the time it came out my interest in cartoons had waded. Alas on the dawn of the third season, a friend of mine suggested watching through it, and here we are. From 2010 to 2012, Young Justice season 1. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: We start off following the sidekicks Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy, who are to be officially inducted into the Justice League. However, rather than full access they’re given second class status. To prove their worth they strike out on their own, and come to find a facility creating a Superman clone. After freeing the clone the Justice League decides to give them a bit of recognition, allowing them to form their own team. The show follows this team and their adventures, especially as they get tangled up with the conspiracy that created the Superman clone. After the two part first episode, most of the episodes follow a similar formula. Bad guy does thing, our main cast steps in and saves the day, and at the end we see a line of monitors talking about how their plan is still in motion. Over time the plot slowly advances and our lead cast grows their team. The problem I have with this is that it’s formulaic and can be very fatty. Episode 18 “Secrets” for example, is entirely pointless. It doesn’t connect to the plot or develop characters, and has one of the stupidest villains I’ve seen to boot. A lot of the show could’ve used more creativity or innovation, or just allowed plots to be more than one episode for more flesh. While it rarely had “bad” episodes, it didn’t have many great ones. Tried and true plots can do with some more spice. A lot of times due to the limited nature of the episodes things just get solved by convenience, this felt especially egregious. Speaking of, the season finale, while climactic, lacks much resolution. The series however was good with foreshadowing, a lot of small details early on that felt a bit weird were turned into full points later on, much to my surprise. There’s a good amounts of secrets and twists, but like the main villains of the show, they’re pretty crammed into the second half. As far as humor goes, the show’s decently funny. It has one of my favorite running gags in a cartoon.

5/10, while solid and effective, this series could definitely have used some creativity and ambition.

CHARACTERS: As with most cartoons, the burden of the series is put on characters rather than plot. In that regard it’s hit or miss. Most of the characters have some pretty solid bases but have some problems in execution. Robin is pretty solid the whole way through, the 13 year old Dick Grayson’s one of the more level headed team members, though can be immature and picked up some batmanisms. Aqualad was a personal favorite of mine. He became the team leader because of his calm consideration and responsible nature. He’s not perfect, but he had a warm charm to him. Kid Flash quickly became the comic relief, sometimes his incompetence got overbearing, and his love triangle antics could be grating but was rather likeable. Superboy was probably the character I had the most problems with, somehow edgier than Shadow the Hedgehog, there were too many “Superboy loses himself in a rage” moments. For as cool as he was I wish he would’ve grown out of those faster, his anger makes sense with his backstory but that didn’t make it enjoyable. Delayed entrances to the team include Miss Martian, who was supposed to be your airheaded pretty girl but green. While not particularly interesting until her backstory later down the line, she was generally pleasant. She did have a problem of being sexualized in uncomfortable ways on occasion, but I’m sure that’s a plus for some. Rounding out the team (as they appear in the opening) is Artemis. While charming in her relationships with others, the show spent a tad too much time obsessed with “her secret dark past” which led to the audience being unnecessarily suspicious of her come the introduction of the mole subplot. While generally most of the characters were likeable, how they were handled was imperfect. I specifically recall in episode 3 where Miss Martian came to a conclusion that the team and I’d assume a majority of the audience agreed with, and when proven to be untrue the whole team just turned and snapped at her in a very forced manner. It feels like the writing team doesn’t know how to handle romance and drama that well so a lot of these parts feel expedited and unnatural. Episode 11 for example. The first ten episodes hinted at some one-sided romantic feelings between two characters and the slight possibility that they might be returned, without much development between the two characters, they just start making out in episode 11 in a very forced and uncomfortable manner. While some of the couples do have good chemistry, it never gets to the openly romantic point in a natural manner. However these are simply a few pieces of the many forms of character interaction. In interactions other than team conflict and romance, the series does fine. As side characters go there is quite a few. I prior mentioned Speedy, who decides to do his own thing rather than join the team. As Red Arrow we occasionally get episodes that follow what he’s doing, however he suffers from similar problems as Superboy, coming off as too much of an asshole at times. Like Superboy he’s likeable, but sometimes he’s just obnoxiously angry for someone trying to be a hero of justice. The team is mentored by Red Tornado, who’s personality begins and ends with robot with a sense of justice. However, his simplicity makes him endearing in episodes with focus on him. The series gives a lot of focus to Captain Marvel, which I personally rather loved. His secret identity of Billy Batson allows him to have some interesting interactions with the team, and I found him to be a joy on screen. The only problem is he was stuck on what I refer to as “The Jobbing League.” Zatanna became a semi-prominent character towards the end and I found her to be a pleasant addition to the cast of personalities, but not overly remarkable. There’s a surprising amount of focus given to Doctor Fate, which I just found to be pretty cool. His appearances were usually kind of unexpected and always came with sick moments up until he too became part of the Jobbing League. As far as leaguers go, Batman was quite endearing with his role as a mentor. He spent the series trying to get Superman to bond with Superboy and it made him quite endearing. Otherwise the League had the Jobbing League problem. Many a time for the sake of stakes members of the League just got completely thrashed in a way that’d occasionally challenge suspension of disbelief. Other than that, the amount of leaguers on display was quite nice

6/10: There’s a lot to like here but there’s also a significant amount of problems.

VISUALS: When I first started episode 1, I knew I was in for a bad time when i could see an animation error in less than 30 seconds. This holds true for a good portion of the series, being filled with derpy faces, bad CG, and awkward walk cycles. While action scenes are well done, the animation can get lazy in any other type of scene. As for art, I’m not a fan of the style, it’s fine but feels a tad on the lifeless side. The insistence on CG models for a lot of things was quite obnoxious however. The characters all look distinct, but most of them don’t look interesting and I don’t think they’d fare well on the silhouette test. All in all not much to say in this regard.

5/10: While it’s passable on average, any high moment has to compete with the amount of mistakes made.

SOUND: When it comes to music, it’s very indistinct. While the music did it’s job fine it never rose above the call of duty or stood out in any memorable manner. The opening and credit songs are incredibly forgettable and indistinct. The voice acting on the other hand was done pretty well, aside from the Flash in the first two episodes I never found anyone’s voice to sound problematic. The lines were delivered with emotion and even shared voice actors were distinct in different roles. I wanna give a shout out to episode 3′s Mister Twister for sounding cool as heck. I kinda wish he showed up more just so I could listen to him again. Sound effects and diegetic noise were on point. All the gadgets and gizmos sounded right, with alien things sounding alien.

7/10: A job well done. The one notable goof was outdone by some small victories.

FINAL SCORE: 6/10

This series has a lot of problems, while not bad it’s by no means great. I imagine any fan of superhero cartoons will find it fine, it’s not going to bring anyone into the fold. I’m interested enough to continue with the series, but of all things on my plate right now this is the one I have the least love for. If the premise interests you it’s worth a shot, but it’s no must see. 

[gamearamamegathons]

Trauma Center: Second Opinion: Surgery-Induced Rage

[Content warning for surgery stuff, and also bugs/spiders]

Circe here! I've covered two chapters this time, so there's a lot to get into. Let's get right to it. The first part of chapter 5 is just about treating a huge outbreak of GUILT. This gives the game an excuse to re-use a lot of its previous surgeries, just more difficult. First off, we have to handle five Kyriaki cases in ten minutes. This is actually pretty tense, but I'm glad I didn't lose. There's only so much fun you can squeeze out of doing the same surgery five times in a row. After this, they make a big deal out of there being a new airborne strain of GUILT, but it's actually just triangles again. This time, if you let the mist leave the surgery area, the infection spreads and you lose. But there's no reason for there to ever be a risk of that happening, so that plays out exactly the same. This game actually seems to pull that trick a lot, making a big deal about mutations that change the gameplay in barely-noticeable ways. Case in point, we now have a Tetarti case that they say is stronger, but I actually didn't notice a difference. There's some plot stuff about politicians obstructing the distribution of our GUILT treatment drugs, but that gets handled so it's not really worth making much of a fuss over.

Things get a bit more interesting afterward, when Delphi operatives break into Caduceus. The doctors make the logical step and decide that they should catch the intruders. This is a big government operation, are there no guards or anything...? Well, Dr. Meyers confronts one of the infiltrators and gets a picture of him, but she's infected with a new GUILT in the process. Introducing Paraskevi, which is a bit of an interesting one, and kinda fun to deal with. It's a sort of segmented worm thing, and we have to stun it with the laser, and cut it in half with the scalpel. We have to keep doing this until it's small enough to remove, creating new pieces moving around in the process. It's also burrowing through her organs, and if it reaches her heart, it's instant game over. So we just gotta get them all before that. They say you should stop the Paraskevi before it burrows, but it doesn't seem to telegraph that before it does. I eventually figure this out later, but we'll get to that.

We find out that the infiltrator was actually Dr. Blackwell, who is Angie's father who left his family behind 13 years ago. It looks like it's time to go raid Dr. Blackwell's lab, so naturally Derek and Angie are going with. There's a huge exchange about whether Angie's emotions will get in the way, but Angie insists she wants to go. I could complain about this scene, but it's not worth the effort, so let's move on. When we reach the Delphi lab, it looks like Delphi's higher ups have evacuated and left their researchers to die. Which seems like a bad move, these aren't just generic replaceable flunkies, but whatever. Naturally, we won't allow even the bad guys to die of GUILT, so we start treating one of them. Inside his organs, we find...well, basically little bugs crawling out of him. Gross. This surgery isn't very complicated, you just laser them as they come. When a lot of them clump together, they can form a larger blue bug that does a lot of damage to the patient, but if you keep at it, you'll clear them out without too much trouble.

The big one is the next surgery. We find Dr. Blackwell himself, infected with his greatest creation, Savato. This is the strain we just dealt with, but this time there's a whole boss monster here. It's basically a spider creature that makes a web around the victim's heart to drain their energy and make it stop. We have to cut away the webbing, but it *melts scalpels* so we gotta just keep getting replacement scalpels every time we cut a strand of web. Naturally, it can create more of the little guys, but they're not too hard to clean up as you go. After this part, you have to laser off a protective layer on the Savato's body. Once this is burned off, you can cut it with the scalpel. We have to repeat this a few times, and then we get a serum which can kill it. Injecting the serum causes it to flip out and start making lacerations everywhere, so Derek automatically uses his dark magic. Even then, though, it's too fast to kill, so you have to figure out that you need *double* dark magic to stop time completely and kill Savato once and for all. Uh, hope you didn't use up your healing touch already, that would suck. To be honest, Savato isn't that hard and even a little bit boring, since you have to laser it a lot and there's not a lot of visual indication of how long you have to laser it to get rid of its protection completely. But I guess it's not a big deal.

After this, we get Dr. Weaver's final episode. We see her at the Delphi lab pre-raid, where she's treating a researcher infected with Kyriaki. While she's doing this, we also see the medium-sized blue Savato again. But she's told to keep them alive while she treats the Kyriaki, because they need to be extracted to use as samples. This is a bit annoying, but not too bad as long as you keep the patient's vitals up. After the Kyriaki are gone, you get a serum to stun the Savato and extract them. After this, Dr. Weaver is told to evacuate, and they let her go since Delphi doesn't need her anymore. However, she kept the Savato samples, rather than handing them over. Seems like kind of a massive oversight that they just forgot to ask for the samples, but oh well, I guess.

The next section is mainly text, which is weird. I think this may be the bridge between the original content and a new remake-exclusive chapter, which would explain it, I guess. It's pretty sloppy, though. Basically it says that Delphi were exposed, and Dr. Blackwell cooperated with the investigation, so Delphi were effectively wiped out. Their home base was a fortified ship, which housed their leader Adam, who's essentially just an emaciated GUILT host at this point, I guess. It's weird. After this, we flash forward a few months, after Caduceus has largely been successful in eliminating GUILT.

Derek and Angie travel to Caduceus's European branch to see some new research they're working on. It looks like they've created a treatment for regenerating cells, which sounds pretty neat. We also meet Dr. Weaver again, going by her real name, Dr. Kimishima. The characters explain that there are still cases of GUILT cropping up, and they suspect that Delphi splinter groups are to blame. We treat a Tetarti strain that actually *is* harder, because rather than seeing their colors, we have to go by the toxic mist they emit, which is correctly color-coded. It's a neat idea, and not too tough to handle. Tetarti treatments are pretty chill, no matter what gimmicks they add on. Unfortunately, Derek collapses after the surgery. It looks like he, too, has been infected, and Dr. Kimishima will have to treat him.

This surgery is kinda tough, because we have to deal with Kyriaki and Paraskevi at the same time. This is right near his heart, so we have to deal carefully with the Paraskevi. Luckily, they're smaller this time, but it's a bit hectic between the Paraskevi and a much more aggressive Kyriaki. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Dr. Kimishima also confesses her involvement with Delphi, and explains that she traded her services and the Savato samples to Caduceus Europe in exchange for immunity...so that's why she's here now. Good to know.

After this, we learn that the regenerative treatments are actually created from Adam's GUILT-infected cells. I don't see anything inherently bad about repurposing a disease for healing purposes -- that's the entire basis of vaccines, after all. But the other characters seem very unhappy about this development. After this is revealed, we move on to a conference where Caduceus Europe goes into greater detail on their research. There's a very strange exchange where they explain that the government wanted this research to heal soldiers, and Hoffman claims disapprovingly that this would 'remove the risk of sending men to war'. He seems to think this is bad, even though the soldiers wouldn't even be fit to fight after this treatment, they just...wouldn't...die. I don't know, I guess it's an anti-war message, after a fashion, but I can't really get behind the sentiment that soldiers should suffer more. It's not like governments care about what happens to them after they're no longer useful, so this whole angle seems...confused, and it's never brought up again.

Whatever, let's cut to the money shot everyone's waiting for. They bring out a patient who was treated with this stuff, but then something goes wrong and his...blood...explodes...it's not really clear. Point is, GUILT-infected blood just got over a room full of the best doctors in the world and that *seems bad*. Derek is immune because he was infected once before I guess, so he's gotta get to work. The first GUILT we gotta treat is Pempti, and again, they claim it's different somehow, but this one seems to play out...basically the same as before. Maybe it takes more hits? If you keep it under control, that really doesn't make much difference...so...eh.

It's the next surgery where things really get fun, and by 'fun' I mean welcome to hell. In this episode, we have to do four surgeries in a row, in ten minutes. But unlike the last one of these, they're all different, and they're mostly very difficult rather than pedestrian Kyriaki treatments. First up is triangles, and you might think this would be the worst one, but with some practice, I actually managed to do it without a lot of difficulty. After that is Kyriaki, and there's nothing to make it any more difficult than before, so this is the one easy one. Next up, though...the third one is Deftera. You might remember that Deftera is the one where you have red and blue moving tumors, and we want them to collide so we can suck their fluids out. This surgery has some issues. First, the patient is bleeding everywhere, so there's blood pools obscuring the area that we have to suck out to do anything with the stuff underneath. All the while, there's four Deftera are spreading tumors everywhere, and it basically comes down to sheer luck if they collide in a timely manner, and if the same-colored ones collide, it makes everything worse. And it's just straight up random. Worse yet, when I try to suck out the Deftera's fluids, sometimes I just get interrupted for no apparent reason. And don't forget, once you've weakened the Deftera enough that they can be cut out, they start wreaking havoc and doing major damage. If the patient is below 30 vitals or so when that happens, they basically just die. And because so much is happening, if you ever have to stop to recover vitals, you're going to fall behind and never catch up. I tried to reduce the load by using the healing touch, but somehow I was having a hell of a time inputting it correctly, so I was just wasting time while the patient bled out.

Readers, I am not an angry person by nature. But this really, really...really...pissed me off. The combination of the unfairness of the surgery combined with the fact that I have to repeat two unrelated surgeries every time I failed was really pushing me to my limits for the first time in this entire game. For my mental well-being, I eventually caved and switched the difficulty to easy. It's good that I did, too, because the fourth surgery requires you to deal with another Paraskevi, except this one is right next to the heart and full-sized. This is where I figured out what should've been perhaps easy to understand in hindsight: a Paraskevi piece will only burrow if it's left un-stunned for too long. So as long as you take caution and regularly re-stun all pieces present, you'll be fine. On easy mode, anyway. Still, just to tie off this hideous episode with a bow, I did lose at this surgery once more before finishing off the whole affair.

After that, the 'final boss' is a bit anticlimactic. We find that Hoffman was infected with Savato, so we have to fight it. This strain has a gimmick where the web can hurt the patient more if it goes for too long without being cut, but that barely made an impact, and it played out pretty much the same as the last Savato. Long, but not all that hard, in the grand scheme of things. After that, we get the epilogue, and there's not really much to say. It's the happy ending you'd expect, more or less. Caduceus Europe is very sorry that they tried to create a new life-saving treatment, and promise to never do it again. Derek and Angie go home. Beyond that, I'm not invested in these characters to be that concerned where their lives end up after this, but it seems like they're doing fine, so, you know. That's good.

Beating the game unlocks a new set of extra-difficult postgame surgeries. I...may just skip these. We'll see. But either way, we're not quite done with Trauma Center: Second Opinion yet. Join me next time, when I pull together the threads of the game's narrative to form a coherent whole that I have only hinted at until now.

[its-btrz-blog]

Shades of Magic (by V. E. Schwab) Series Review

Shades of Magic is a fantasy trilogy by author V. E. Schwab (a.k.a. Victoria Schwab) published by Tor Books between 2015 and 2017. The three books are A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows and A Conjuring of Light.

[The author has stated that she uses Victoria Schwab to publish YA books, and the V. E. Schwab is used for adult releases. However, I'll list it as YA in my review index, since to me these books aren't on the adult category. There's a barely explicit sex scene on the last book and that's about as far as “adult” themes go.]

What made me want to read it:

Fantasy books with great ratings and possibly the most gorgeous covers I've seen lately. Synopsis promising four alternative, color-coded Londons and traveling between them. There isn't much to dislike.

What is it about (no spoilers):

In this universe, four parallel Londons exist (or existed, in the last case): White, Grey, Red and Black. Only very powerful magicians, called Antari, can travel between them. Kell, one of the last Antari, is the ambassador from Red London who delivers messages to the dangerous White London and the Grey London who lost its magic.

As a side occupation, Kell smuggles little trinkets from one London to another, which he finds out, can have dangerous consequences. As he escapes from one of these transactions he is forced to take Delilah Bard, a thief from Grey London, to his own London, where she will help him set wrongs to rights.

What I thought about it (no spoilers):

These books have one of the most interesting concepts for world building I've seen lately. And it actually translates well into the story. Each London, aside from it's color, has characteristic smells and the color isn't just for “oh it's Red London because the buildings are red”. It's associated with life and magic and power and the value placed in each of those. In that, I think the concept was well used. I was also happy to see that, although each city is named London, the world around them is completely different in each dimension. So there really is only London in common. There aren't four Frances, the kingdoms of London are different, only one being located in Great Britain. We only see something of the world of one of the Londons, but it's still good.

Moving on to the characters: we have Kell, an Antari; Delilah, or just Lila, who is from Grey London, the one without magic; and Rhy, Kell's foster brother and crown prince of Arnes, the empire in which Red London is located. There are more, but I'll focus on these, since I could say they are the most important throughout the three books. I'll say right away that, by the time I got to the end, I felt like the main characters were exactly the same as in their first pages. We got them, and we kept them until the end with little to no development. Some angst in there sometimes, but it didn't seem like they took any great lessons from their trials.

OK, Kell first. He is, supposedly, the main character. And in the first chapter I thought he looked really promising. Unfortunately, he turned out to be one of the more washed out characters I've seen in a main role. He has some problems with acceptance and with his foster family and his role as a power figure, but other than some switches between “I'm only their tool” and “They're my family and they love me” we get little depth. I feel this could have been more explored, other than the angst it occasionally provides.

Then we have Lila. For all the focus she gets, from narrative and other characters, she is, in my opinion, the real main character. And I don't feel the story gains from it. See, she is a type of character I keep seeing everywhere and that type doesn't work for me: orphan with tragic past, cool loner, only cares for herself, obviously coolest/toughest around. Add it to the “emotions are weakness”, and “I'm too cool for rules” tropes and you have Lila. I'm tired of these types of characters. They disregard rules and others' emotions and needs, don't care for consequences and want to be feared by everyone. Of course, in the end they are the reluctant good guys, acclaimed by everyone, although we never really get their motivations (Lila wants freedom but then she just decides to help Kell because… I don't know?). The narrative also tries too hard to make her likable and something she isn't. It's shoved in your face how cool, bad ass, strong and independent she is, in an obvious effort to make her some paragon of female empowerment. What I see, is a childish and selfish character, who never learns from her mistakes or thinks about consequences (which is understandable since, you know, she suffers none from her rash actions) and who only wants to do whatever she feels like while looking cool. If you think I'm being repetitive, well, wait until you read the books. In short, her character irritated me.

Finally there's Rhy. He's a prince, he's somewhat spoiled and sometimes only seems to be there to have lots of lovers and be an object of Kell's worry and brotherly affections. Still, you can kind of like him, because he knows what he is and seems to be able to sometimes ground Kell. It's also through him that you can get a feel of international politics and of what's at stake for the kingdom, so he's not a useless character.

As for the plot, you can see clearly this was intended to be a trilogy. The first book has an interesting story that stands on its own and leaves room for it to continue, despite it being obviously a preparation for the series. It has no romance so the focus is entirely on its world and characters. With the second book, the quality diminishes. It is very, very obviously, nothing more than a preparation for the third book. Some stuff happens, but you never feel like you are progressing towards the end of a book or reaching some sort of conclusion. It is merely an introduction for what is to happen next. Personally, I found it hardly memorable. There's a stunning (not) revelation that's been made obvious since the first book but hardly anything more. The third book, I found dull and only in the last 150 pages, more or less, did it feel like things were progressing. For the rest of the book well, I'm not sure. There's also this use of convenient magic artifacts that happen to do exactly what you need them to do. It allies with the magic here, that doesn't seem to have many definable and tangible limits because on the main cast you are either the most powerful magic user alive or have no magic. It's mostly… according to convenience of plot.

The stylized prose (I have no other name for it) works well a couple of times, like shorter chapters with a lot of dramatic effect or with some cinematic effect, but it grows tiresome fast. After three books you're saturated of it. It's overly repetitive and dramatic and it hinders me. Honestly, you don't have to write like you're writing for children, but at the same time, there is a point where it's too much. There needs to be some balance between simpler writing in most scenes and using the stylistic effects when they actually do something for the reader.

Finally, I have to mention. Why does every YA series need a forced romance? I like books for what they are. If it is a fantasy, give me a fantasy. And it was working well in the first book. But then we have the predictable, boring and artificial romance of the main characters. It really feels forced, out of place and just there for the sake of it or because it was expected. All it added were some boring and irrelevant flirting/kissing/sex scenes. The romantic entanglement involving Rhy, although sort of an already established fact, had some tension and conflict in it and thus it was somewhat interesting. Two boring characters in a forced relationship are not interesting.

Conclusion:

For the series as a whole, my rating is of two stars. It's not a bad series but it's also not all that it is made to be. Maybe the low rating is a way to show my disappointment for a hyped-up series that didn't live up to my expectations.

It is a decent fantasy book, YA/New Adult, that knows what story it wants to tell and has its own distinguishable world. Considering what I've read, I find it a solid read in the genre, perhaps a bit more mature (this is a good thing) than the average. (There are no love triangles! No petty girl rivalries because of men!)

[Reviews for each book are here, here and here.]

Note: I’ve seen some good things about Vicious and This Savage Song. I’d like to know if they’re worth trying.

[midoriko-sama]

What did Hiccup do to be the Badass Chief™? I'm guessing some Cattongue stuff again

…

So basically the answer to this question is the first half of Niflheim’s plot. Buckle up, sonny. Here we go.

Hiccup and Astrid have a few very happy years. They have one daughter, Frida, and Aetta is practically theirs. Then Aetta is eight and Frida is three, Astrid is pregnant with their second (third) child in her eighth month (round about; I’m not sure I’m no @e–wills​ guys). And shit hits everywhere.

The heirs of all the tribes except Loki (Tuff and Cami’s son) and Frida who are only three are on one of Gobber’s islands.They are having an overnight stay without dragons to learn wilderness survival. Phlegma is with them, and Astrid goes for her very last flight to visit Aetta.

Frida and Loki are the only ones spared the ordeal. But Aetta is there and Thug’s son Jarl, as is Spit. And all the first children from all the tribes being taught.

The Orcfang tribe (or Skullcrushers - I am unsure on the name) swoop in, on information one knows not whose (Hint: It’s Drago), and capture them all.They intend to sell them all off to slavery. Including a very pregnant Astrid.

Unfortunately for them. The minute they approach the cage, she slaughters every single guard. In front of the children.With her bare hands.

The leaders of the tribe are so entertained that they make a sport of it.She can keep herself and he children unsold and herself unraped of she keeps winning.If she loses even one bought, she will be raped her unborn child killed and the children sold. And the older girls, probably, raped. Brutally.

She doesn’t lose. But she suffers greatly. The first time she’s called before the tribe leaders she stakes her claim as a chief wife, and they laugh in her face. They try to kill her there and then and she kills three people before they bring Aetta in and hold her at knife point as they chop Astrid’s hair off for daring to make such a claim.  It is humiliating, and Hiccup loves her hair; the psychological trauma of it all begins as they methodically divest her of her dignity.

She’s even more savage after that. She kills many, many people and suffers many injuries.  She loses the pinky and ring finger on her ring hand to an axe blow in one fight. And she almost gives up. Because now she can’t even wear her wedding ring again.She doesn’t because of the children, and because of the baby still hanging on inside her.

Through all this she doesn’t stop hoping for Hiccup. Hiccup meanwhile was alerted to the happening when Stormfly limped back to Berk. Rushed to the island, found the signs of battle and the disaster, rallied the other chiefs. And he says this one phrase that is just so metal. He’s panicked and furious and terrified and Frida is asking for mummy. And everyone in the great hall on Berk is yelling. And he says something on the lines of ’a slave takes his revenge right away. A fool never takes his revenge.’

And the thing is, these fuckers have no idea what they’re up against, because Drago is using them to test the strength of the archipelago. He sent the Orcfangs/Skullcrushers to kick the metaphorical hornet’s nest to let someone else see how bad it stings. This tribe are slave traders from a small island near Norway. They don’t know and don’t care about foreign tribes, and Drago slipped them the information. Told them that easy targets would be on that island. He wants to kill the heirs, the future of the tribes, and de-stabilise them, and check the strength of their response in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately for the Orcfangs/Skullcrushers (oh, you guys name them. Pick one of the two names), they are about to find out you don’t fuck with Hiccup Haddock.

Remember how he killed the Berserkers? That pales in comparison. Astrid is in captivity for six weeks. Between her closeness and the stress she goes into labour. Lucky for the baby, the child took after Stoick. Not so lucky for Astrid, they care enough about their prize fighter to get her on her feet again, and not about her future. Astrid will later find she cannot have children again (sort of, she does have another one, but he’s a surprise accident - Hiccup Haddock IV). In any case, the birthday of the chief’s eldest daughter is approaching. Ships with goods land on their island, and entertainers. One of them is a street flute player with one leg.

That is Hiccup, yes, scoping the situation. And he finds out where everyone is being held.The night before he just sits for a few moments with Thug, crying with happiness that he has a son and his wife is alive. All their children are alive. What he doesn’t know is that the chief plans to take Dunkr and give him to the his daughter as a gift, a plaything of sorts.

Astrid goes back to her cell after another battle to find Aetta bloodied, Gustav and Thug’s son also hurt. And Dunkr gone. 

And Hiccup is leading this operation and already his mercy was at an all time low. Astrid breaks out of the prison cell before she can be rescued, intending to find her son and kill them all. Her husbands already on it.

As Hiccup’s commander of the joint  allied tribes, not even Thug can dissuade him from giving the order.

They take the village first. The chief and leaders of the tribe live in a fancy moated castle. And they make it easy for the allies, because they don’t even realise that anything is wrong and that they’re being invaded on silent, deadly reptiles. And Hiccup orders everyone killed; man, woman and child. No prisoners. No mercy.

When they break into the cell and find Aetta with her hands broken and her nose bruised her teeth kicked out, Jarl bloodied and Gustav injured and they tell them they took Dunkr and Astrid went after them…

Yeah. Once they see that, it’s over. It’s done.Everyone is ordered dead. The people in the village are still civilians… but they’re all killed. Not one left.

They first round up the people in the village with stealth. Kill all the soldiers first. Then sneak into the cottages and kill the sleeping people. Hiccup kills all the babies in the cradles himself.

Astrid hears the commotion and assumes they found out she escaped. She hides in a barn but Hiccup sees her and pursues.The barn is dark. And Astrid is thin, her hair shaved. He doesn’t recognise her.

Only just avoids killing his wife. He sees the frost bite scar on her ear from her time  at the shrine in Winter. And once she realises it’s him she’s hysterical. She doesn’t want him to come close and see her. But she wants to hold him so badly. And she wants to find her SON, they took her son…He manages to calm her, takes her out. The others have meanwhile rounded off all the remaining men. They strip the men of their guard uniforms and half their force walk Hiccup and the other chiefs at spear point to the castle.

Astrid is standing there beside him, tall and proud and furious.They burst into the hall on the birthday feast and the chief is all ‘wtf is going on!’ At which point one of the ‘guards’ informs them that they ‘captured these invaders’ And then Hiccup introduces himself and demands they give him his son. And his daughter. And the sons and daughters of six fucking other tribes.The chief pisses himself because he’s heard of Hiccup and the Battle of the Berserkers at least.

Hiccup says he’ll go if they give him Dunkr. Once they do, he goes oops. I fucking lied.

A signal goes up. Snotlout comes in with the joint dragon riders and break in through the windows. The ’ guards ’ kill the others and Hiccup participates in the slaughter. Astrid can only hold her baby and cry at this point. Though she does kill one of the soldiers personally. He’s the one who tries to rape her most often. Head of the guards, and arrogant prick who always thought he’d have first pick with her. Astrid is still very beautiful, even after two kids and horrid mistreatement.

They kill everyone except the chief. Him they drag back to Hopeless, the Meathead island, for torture/information. Jarl had half his ear cut off defending Aetta (there is a crush triangle going on there between the kids, sorta. Aetta has a crush on Gustav but she’s a little girl to him [he’s 14 about], and Jarl has a massive crush on her. Jarl is Thug’s son… He wins out in the end). We only saw the nice side of the Meatheads because they are on our side. They are not a forgiving tribe.

Hiccup’s last order is for Snotlout to stay behind with a group of dragon riders and make sure that anyone from the tribe who was off fishing or journeying or escaped into the woods, and returns to the island or village, is also killed. The tribe is essentially wiped off the face of the earth, and rune rocks are left at every port and landing mark, a well as at the village and castle, telling what happened on the island. It basically tells anyone who lands there ‘This tribe committed horrid kidnapping and attempted murder of the heirs of the Barbaric Archipelago. They pissed Hiccup Haddock off, as well as the allied chiefs. Now they all be dead. Ye be warned.’

That is why people in the Barbaric Archipelago Do Not Piss Off Hiccup Haddock.

Want more sadness? Ask more Niflheim questions

[adventure-hearts]

analysing the tri.angle

Remember when people thougt we were getting a “love triangle” in Chapter 4? Well, that didn’t last long. What we did get, though, is far more interesting.

@skuag​ asked me to write about the parallels between Soushitsu and Episode 26 of Digimon Adventure, and so here’s a brief analysis of the Taichi/Sora/Yamato scenes in both of them. Beware of tri. spoilers.

Considering how every moment in tri. or takes us back to Adventure and 02, it’s hardly surprising that a Chapter focusing on Sora should have strong parallels to Sora-centric episodes from the original series, like Episode 26. In fact, both episodes focus on Sora going through a deep emotional crisis, and both include in a new Piyomon evolution. 

However, most crucially for many fans, tri. Chapter 4 also happens to mirror a very famous scene from Episode 26 — which happens one of the most famous moments in Taiorato history. The basic framework is the same: Sora is upset, and Taichi and Yamato try to comfort her, each in his own way. 

Let’s look at the similarities and differences between the scenes in Adventure and tri.

In Episode 26, Sora has an emotional crisis about her mum’s love and her Crest. Taichi and Yamato approach this in radically different ways. Here’s an example:

Taichi: “I don’t unerstand this at all! Man, girls are so much trouble!

Yamato: “Don’t make fun of her, Taichi.”

Taichi: I’m just kidding!

Later, Sora explains what’s going on and breaks down in tears.

Taichi: Hey, don’t cry! H-hey, Yamato… What should I do?

Yamato: If she wants to cry, then let her.

In short, Taichi doesn’t really understand why Sora’s so upset about this, but still tries to convince her PicoDevimon is lying and to cheer her up; on the other hand, Yamato just tells him to let her cry. This makes Agumon and Gabumon point out comment how mature he is (well… in comparison to Taichi). The basic idea is that Yamato is more emotionally attuned than Taichi.

Fans of Taichi/Sora and Yamato/Sora have longed used this scene to show why their favourite ship works better and/or to disprove the other ship. Indeed, the two boys react to Sora’s tears in opposite ways, so it makes sense that many people look at the scene and decide that this shows which of the boys "gets” Sora best — and, ultimately, which couple would be more compatible, romantically. 

Of course, the scene takes place between three 5th graders, so it’s hard to see it as an indication of romantic feelings of any kind. From my (admittedly biased) perspective, the scene mainly serves to indicate the differences between Taichi and Yamato, and to illustrate the different dynamic between each of them and an emotionally complex Sora.  For instance, a Taichi/Sora fan may find Yamato’s aloofness too cold, while a Yamato/Sora fan may read the exact same reaction as proof that he understands her on a deeper level. 

There are many possible, valid readings of this scene — enough to support your own opinions about the Taiorato “triangle”.

In Soushitsu, though, the circumstances are slightly more complicated. 

Now, Taichi, Sora, and Yamato are teenagers, with all the emotional and psychological transformations this implies. They now know each other inside and out. Sora and Yamato may or may not have a bit of a romantic past (at any rate, they’re closer here than in Episode 26: she’s dropped the -kun!). Taichi and Yamato are currently undergoing a bit of a rough patch in their own relationship. 

Even Sora’s reasons to be upset are slightly more reasonable than being angry at her Mum — Piyomon, the one person who puts Sora first, is directly telling her to leave her alone. No room for misunderstandings here. Meanwhile, everyone else is happily reconecting with their partners and blithely ignoring Sora’s suffering.

So, when Sora leaves the group and sits by the water looking gloomy, she has every reason to be sad.

Miraculously enough, Taichi and Yamato notice this, and decide to tackle the problem as a team. Their first approach is a complete failure. Yamato breaks the ice and asks Sora what’s wrong, and she coldly deflects. Since Yamato’s repertoire is probably exhausted at this point, he urges Taichi to try... but he only blurts out something about food. Yamato face palms. Taichi sighs and tries a more gentler approach to ask whats wrong… Sora just says they’re stupid.

Now, you can’t blame Sora for this. Taichi and Yamato are being obtuse as hell for not realising there is something wrong with Piyomon. But hey, to their credit, at least they noticed something — the other kids are fast asleep and don��t seem too bothered that she’s is going through a crisis. Nice friends you got there, Sora!

Which brings us to the second scene. Yeah, Sora is really upset about Piyomon giving her the cold shoulder (wing?). But she’s also upset that no one else seems to notice that this is happening. Everyone was apparently too busy to care about Sora’s issues — even Taichi and Yamato.

Sora: “You two sure can’t read the situation. You guys have bad timing and always fighting. Everyone only thinks about themselves!”

(I can’t help but to feel that this “everyone” is a little jab at the other five, as well. But it’s mostly about these two.)

Essentially, Taichi and Yamato’s attempts to comfort her utterly fail because they really are being selfish and unable to grasp the elephant in the room. Sora interprets this as them not really caring about her and her feelings. Because, if they did, wouldn’t they have gotten what’s really going on between her and Piyomon?

So, Sora is angry, she doesn’t communicate, and both boys are completely lost. And the main difference lies there.

Unlike Episode 26, Sora doesn’t say what’s bothering her. Taichi and Yamato can’t read her mind or the situation, so how can they provide reassurance? Taichi still can’t handle these situations well, but he can’t refute the reasons why she’s sad because he doesn’t know what they are. And Yamato can’t say “let her cry” because… well, now he doesn’t know what she’s crying about, does he? This time, crying may not be as cathartic as it was then. The same approaches may not apply here.

Mind you, the differences Taichi and Yamato’s personalities are still pretty clear — Taichi is more blunt and positive, Yamato is more emphatic but has trouble expressing feelings. And they’re both imperfect idiots.

But they’re all stuck in a rut — because Sora doesn’t come clean and explain, and Taichi and Yamato are totally lost. At this point, asking Takeru for help doesn’t seem a bad idea. Remember, in episode it was Takeru who knew the right thing to say, and he was the one who made Sora feel better. 

Similarly, in tri., Takeru is clearly better at expressing emotions than his brother. Heck, maybe Takeru is simply more sensitive and better at handling women people. Maybe Sora kinda needed to hear “I really like you” at that point? But alas, plot gets in the way and nothing gets solved until much later.

The third Taiorato scene in Soushitsu illustrates the crucial difference between these two stories. In tri., Sora gets over her crisis on her own. She doesn’t confess to Taichi and Yamato, and so they don’t help her get over it.

So, when Taichi and Yamato apologise for upsetting her (lbr, at this point they probably still have no idea what’s wrong or what they’re apologising for) … Sora can truthfully say everything’s fine — because now she is fine.

In my opinion, it’s actually a pretty brilliant conclusion because hey, yeah, these two are kinda dumb, but at the same time Sora understands that they do care about her. At least they tried. Anyway, now her problems with Pyokomon are over, so she has that emotional support, which she apparently can’t always get from her childhood best friend and her unclear-it’s-complicated best friend. Sora can stand on her own.

To me, the main difference between these two episodes is clear: in Soushitsu, Sora doesn’t get resolution by opening up to Taichi and Yamato and being comforted by them. She gets there on her own (with a bit of Meiko’s help, because at this point Meiko is the only one who actually seems to understand the Piyomon situation). The situation has parallels with Episode 26, but it develops rather differently. 

If you’re looking at the Taiorato scenes in Soushitsu to find clues about “which of the boys understands Sora better”, you’ll be disappointed. I think the point is that, at this moment, none of them do. It really isn’t about “Taichi / Yamato fits Sora better”. It’s about Sora overcoming an emotional crisis, independently.

Soushitsu shows that both Taichi and Yamato still have a long way to go before they can understand and communicate feelings. And, above all, it shows that they can be pretty self-centered when it comes to Sora. Their intentions are good, and their affection for her is palpable — but man, they do need to grow up and start appreciating her more. 

In the end of the day, I think most fans probably be happy with the shippy implications on both these scenes — sure, the text is super platonic, but it also highlights the appeal of all sides of the Taiorato tri.angle.

[kbrown78]

My Thoughts: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Continuing immediately after the events in Snow Like Ashes, this sequel totally ups the stakes and improves almost every aspect of the previous book. Looking back, I really loved this book. It's not perfect, the villains are weak and it's a bit predictable, but the characters are amazing, the world doesn't feel like a typical YA fantasy, and the themes are well addressed in this book.

World building: In the previous book I liked what I saw of the world, but there wasn't much to go off of. This book vastly builds on what was previously shown and creates new material too. In this book Meira travels to seven of the eight kingdoms, and what I loved about them was the each one felt distinct and unique, and I could tell each one apart. Ventralli people wear masks and focuses on the arts. Yakim focuses on knowledge, and has something like a meritocracy. Summer is a brazen desert and it's cities are in a constant party. Honestly it's more like an orgy, considering Meira first the Summer King Simon in a brothel. That's another thing I liked about this world, was that it shows the darker aspects like slavery and brothels, but it doesn't focus on them and deter from the main story. I also liked that there wasn't just male rulers, there are also female ones, like Meira, and they're never shamed for being a female ruler. Part of this is due to in some kingdoms female rulers are the ones able to wield their conduit, but that's good that it wasn't all male in the first place. There's also a secret group called the Order of the Lustrate, from the kingdom of Paisly (which is the only one that Meira didn't go to), that knows everything about magic and their world's history. This group started out as small piece of the plot but becomes pretty important in the last chapter of the book.

Characters: Like the previous book, Meira was one of the best things in this book. Meira is a complex character who is now in the position of queen, which she never expected to be in. Since her country is still recovering from Spring's invasion, she has to balance out what is best for her country, but is still stubborn and wants to do things her way sometimes. On her quest to end magic, she starts to become afraid of herself and her magic, and starts isolating herself from friends to protect them. She get's called out one this and pretty quickly realizes the error of her ways and changes. So she is someone has a strong sense of morality, cares deeply about her people, is a strong character but isn't ashamed to get help from those around her, and is a well rounded character. We don't see as much of her fighting in this one, which I liked because it showed that she is still capable of being interesting and getting things done without fighting. I really loved her! In this book, Mather gets his own perspective and while I certainly enjoyed reading from his POV, I don't think it contributed anything new to his character. He, like Meira, is struggling with his new reality but he has a strong sense of duty and honor, so he always tries to do what is right in whatever position he is in. Next are the two most prevalent side characters, Ceridwen and Theron. In the previous book, Theron is a kind hearted prince who also tries to work for the greater good and is also depicted as fairly intelligent. In the start of this book, he still suffers from the trauma Angra caused him, and believes the solution to end all the corruption is to let everyone have magic, even though Meira makes it clear she thinks this is a bad idea. This is what causes him to be corrupt because him and Angra have similar back stories in that their mother's died because of their fathers, and both felt that magic was the only solution. In the end it's kind of revealed that Theron's good intentions were what allowed him to be corrupted by the Decay, and because he still believes he is doing the right thing he can't be healed. So I found that an interesting take on his character because he isn't exactly regressing, the readers are just being shown the flaws in his characteristics and philosophy. Now Ceridwen is the princess of Summer, and is unable to wield their conduit. She's honestly like a more extreme version of Meira. She is a fighter, doesn't care what people think of her as long as she achieves her goals, and has a very strong sense of morality (almost black and white). She works to help free slaves, doesn't like to indulge in brothers parties but knows she has to only to avoid suspension, and her best friend is her male servant (who is also gay). I like the Children of the Thaw, a young group of rebels who aren't willing to lay down as Cordell takes over Winter, I liked Nessa's family (can't remember their names), and I liked Alysson because it's revealed almost too late that there is more to her than meets the eye, and she a back ground mother. Giselle, the Queen of Yakim, is an intersting character, because she believes in a system of merits but is rather strict and unapologetic about the choices she makes, like selling slaves. She's also fairly intelligent and I hope that there is more of her in the third book because I could see her being a valuable ally. The last one the side character I liked was King Jesse, Ventralli king. He's usually described as weak, and doesn't want to use his conduit for any reason. This allows his snake of wife Raelyn, to usurp him. But for those he cares about, like Ceridwen and his children, Jesse is willing to be strong and take control. The characters that I didn't like include Sir (for reason's I've already talked about), Noam (just a greedy bastard who needed to die), and Raelyn (so evil and it's unclear as to how exactly she was able to gain power).  

Relationships: So in the previous book, there wasn't much romance, and in this one romance still wasn't the focus, but it came in the form of a love triangle that I actually enjoyed. In this one there is still that love triangle going on, but it becomes pretty obvious that Mather and Meira are going to be end game. I was okay with this because Theron was doing some shitty things and started acting pretty possessive of Meira and kissing her when she was mad at all the backstabbing he's been doing, but I didn't enjoy the love trangle aspect because of how obvious it was that Mather and Meira are going to end up together. Don't get me wrong, I like them together but I just don't have a strong emotional pull for them. There's also the forbidden romance between Ceridwen and King Jesse, and it's clear the Ceridwen and his children is the only thing Jesse really cares about, but again I wasn't pulling for them. The familial bonds became more relevant in this book, and I'm not sure how I feel about them. Starting with Meira and Hannah, Hannah also didn't want to treat Meira like a person, let alone her own child, and went from wanting Meira to die with her in the past to using her to fix her mistakes in the present. Also all communication between the two is through some kind of weird magic bond, so this is an odd relationship that borders on toxic. Next is Mather, who is actually the son of Sir and Alysson. Sir is a terrible father, no surprise there, but Alysson actually cares for Mather and supports him where ever she can. Unfortunately that relationship isn't really developed because Alysson gets killed off right as Mather is starting to really see what an amazing mother she could be. There also a point in the story where Mather has to pick between the Children of the Thaw and obeying his father, and he chooses the Children of the Thaw, so that speaks volume about their relationships. Lastly there's Theron's relationship with his father Noam. Noam is obviously a greedy piece of shit, but Theron still defends him but in the climax, when Theron is fully possessed, he kills his own father, so that's just a little messed up. Overall I think the familial aspects in this book were weak. Onto my favorite relationships in the entire series, the friendships. I loved the friendship between Meira and Nessa because while Nessa is an innocent side character, who also has a great relationship with her brothers, and Meira clearly cares about her and wants her to have a life in peace, Nessa is the one to call Meira out on how she is “protecting” everyone by cutting them off and that that's wrong because it's their life to choose what they do with it and sometimes you need support to get through your struggles. Meira and Ceridwen's friendship was another one I liked because they are quite similar and want what is best for their people, but at first they aren't sure if they can trust each other because they have to approach their goals peace and freedom in different ways, so this also felt like a well fleshed out relationship where it wasn't just about serving one person. They also struggle with being Season rulers in love with Conduit rulers, and the difficulties that come with romance. For Mather, he also develops a quick friendship with Phil, who introduces him to the rest of the Children of the Thaw, and I love bands of underdog rebels. While the members aren't all as well developed as Meira's group of friends, they at least have their own identity and the ones that are unlikable, like Kiefer, have good reasons to be unlikable and I don't hate them.    

Writing: In this book the themes were much more prevalent then in the previous book. The biggest one is power and how magic and choices equate to power. There are clearly rulers who use their position and magic for their own selfish gains, and if common people had magic than those corrupt rulers could be kept in check, but Meira knows that letting everyone have magic isn't the answer either because small evil acts build up into something toxic. But there's also the other extreme end with Jesse, who is able to wield his conduit but refuses to, so his evil wife is then able to take control because she is willing to give orders and their citizens listen to her despite the fact that she doesn't have any magic. So where does the power lie? Well the solution that the book offers to this question is that a person's individual choice is true power, and doesn't require. Another important theme was the recovering process from atrocities. Many of the older Winterians, like Sir, think that ignoring what happened and not starting any fights is the way things need to be, but the younger generation want to fight off Cordell to keep the kingdom that they just won back. Like the previous issue, both sides have pros and cons, so it's about trying to find that balance. The Thaw ultimately conclude that in order to heal and break out of their frozen state, they need to let go of the past and fight for the future. I don't like how this issue was handled as well as the previous one because Cordell was obviously corrupt from the beginning, so letting them take more and more power in Winter was just Sir being in denial that Cordell wasn't going to be another Spring. I think there is also an underlying theme of balance, which might be explored more in the last book. I think that the topics presented in this book are deep and relevant issues and I thought they were discussed in a good way as the book progressed. This book is in dual perspective, Meira and Mather's, and this was also done well because each voice felt unique and contributed important points to the plot. There was also improved diversity in this book, with more POCs and a relevant homosexual character, which was also an improvement from the previous book.    

Dislikes: There wasn't a lot that I disliked about the previous book, and I think there was even less that I disliked about this book. Most of the things I did have issues with were continuing from the previous book but I wasn't as bugged by that as I could be because I both think it was well handled but also because I was more willing to forgive it. The first issues was how predictable the story was, especially with the villains, but Angra still actually being alive was a twist I didn't entirely see coming, but Theron being corrupted was pretty obvious. The other thing that frustrated me to no end was Sir. I just cannot stand this guy. He essential made it so that Cordell could take control of Winter, is still condescending to everyone around him (particularly Meira and Mather), and shows no remorse over this. Like I kind of wished he had stayed dead in the previous book.

Final Thoughts: I really loved this book. It wasn't quite a 5 star read, but it was so good that I went out and bought the final book so I could just marathon read the entire series. Also having now completed the series, this one is definitely my favorite book in the series.

[franpaccio-blog]

1UP Reblog: Four Reasons to be Excited for Pandora’s Tower

Pandora’s Tower was released in the US a couple of weeks ago. Just as I suspected, It didn’t make a lot of noise.

But If you own a Wii (or a WiiU) that’s just sitting there collecting dust, stop complaining and get it. It’s really good. If I had to review it, I’d give it a 7.5/10. A real 7.5/10, not a fake one that you give games nowadays to say they’re bad without saying it.

Anyway, here’s a thingy I wrote for 1Up a year ago. I thought editing it a bit and reblogging it would have been a nice idea. I hope it gets you interested in the game.

                                 ///////////////////////////////////////////

The Last Story is about to thunder across the U.S. skies; the beautiful Xenoblade Chronicles has struck. While the incredible community effort of Operation Rainfall probably isn’t entirely to credit for the U.S. release of these games, it certainly didn’t hurt. Operation Rainfall comprised three games, and unlike the first two the third – as yet unannounced for American audiences – has met with a tepid reception in Europe: Pandora’s Tower. The Last Story and Xenoblade came from established creators Hironobu Sakaguchi and Tetsuya Takahashi, men who built their reputations with titles like Final Fantasy and Xenosaga. Next to such legacies, Pandora’s Tower seems comparatively diminished and unattractive – and its clearly limited budget certainly doesn’t help.

But beneath Pandora’s Tower modest looks beats the heart of a great game.

The Scar

The game’s plot revolves around two lovers, Aeron and Elena. The former is a deserter, running from the horrors of war. The latter is a kind girl who has been struck by a horrible curse that transforms her into a beast that feeds on human flesh and is thus wanted by the Elyrian Kingdom army.

For an action RPG, Pandora’s Tower has quite an immense and detailed world… one that you won’t visit but throgh well written dialogues and forgotten documents retrieved during your adventures that will certainly tickle your imagination, making the tale’s setting unbelievably genuine.

The game takes place entirely in a very small environment, a complex called “The 13 Towers”: A forgotten fortress held afloat by 12 chains pierced into the surrounding cliffs. These chains prevent a huge chasm that scars the land of Elyria from widening and opening a path to the netherworld.

The tale starts when the two fugitives find refuge in a observatory used in ancient times to monitor the arcane experiments taking place in The 13 Towers. Little do they know that their escape has kindled the flame of war across the entire continent. And even if these events are nothing but a distant echo, the story will change significantly according to the couple’s actions, leading to multiple unpredictable endings that will not only affect the fate of the main characters, but also the balance of the entire world.

The Hunger Game

Pandora’s Tower is a very delicate game, but it can also be brutal. It knows how to reward the player, but at the same time knows how to punish mercilessly, and Aeron and Elena are the ones who pay for your mistakes.

The cursed mark on Elena’s back slowly sends her through a horrible transformation that seems to have come straight out of David Cronenberg’s nightmares. When she mutates, even the plants alongside her suffer, becoming grey and sickly. To keep his beloved sane and stop her metamorphosis , Aeron has to explore the tower and obtain monster flesh to feed her. The detail that went into creating realistic pieces of dripping monstrous meat and the cutscenes that show Elena consuming them are hands down the most disturbing thing that you’ll ever see in a video game. Some are so horrible I had to skip lunch while playing – and meatballs, my favorite food, were served that day.

What’s worse is that, as the game progresses, the heroine begins to enjoy her meals, leading to sickening moments that almost outdo the famous scene from eXistenZ in which Pikul enjoys his Chinese “special.” According to Toru Haga, the game’s director, this idea came while eating lunch on a train to work. Eating is, after all, such a normal action, part of everyone’s daily routine, and transforming it into a disturbing, painful experience is a smart way to both impress the players and help them empathize with Elena.

The game is a love triangle with death.

Aeron can interact with his belle in a variety of ways reminiscent of dating simulations, but Elena is not the typical damsel in distress, and does her best to fight her disease, while hiding the anguish of being in such a state to avoid burdening Aeron further. She even has a central role in the gameplay. Give her presents, and instead of just greedily accepting them, she will convert them into useful items: She can cook, sew bigger inventory bags, even translate documents from unknown languages.

Elena is a vivid character, beautifully portrayed by the numerous cutscenes…and these change depending on how your bond with her develops. It’s hard not to care about her, and developer Ganbarion succeeded in transferring the drama of the couple onto the player’s shoulders. You will want to make sure she’s okay.

But make her unhappy and… Well, you don’t wanna end up devoured in the name of love, right?

The Silent Protagonist

Aeron is a man of few words. His actions speak for his heart and cut through his silence. His feelings are always clear thanks to his body language, and particularly his deep, expressive eyes: Note his kind love and determination with each intense stare at the suffering elena, or the modesty that surfaces when he looks away away shyly when she is happy and grateful.

And yet, Aeron is as lethal as he is sweet. He can cut a path through horders of enemies using a variety of weapons with exquisite expertise - from swords to scythes, each with a distinct move set and stats that can be improved via forging.

The gameplay is simple; you can combine basic attacks together or unleash a number of special charge moves that differ from arm to arm. But what makes it fresh and original is the Vestran chain, a sub-weapon capable of interacting with enemies in a crazy amount of ways. You can bind monsters’ legs to make them fall, then drag them or strangle them; you can tie them to pillars to stop them from advancing, or even steal their weapons and lash back.

The game gives its best in the battles against the tower masters, often peaceful Shadow of the Colossus-like creatures – have fun with the moral implications – with interesting patterns to learn to expose their weak points via chain interaction.

Exploration is equally inspired, and the game doesn’t handhold the player, but lets him free to explore the environments and solve Zelda-flavored puzzles, often forcing him to rely on mere observation to understand the level layout and how to proceed. It makes Pandora’s Tower harder, but also gives the player the thrill of understanding every riddle on his own. If Castlevania’s developers would try this game and see how Gambarion made wise use of the Vestrian chain’s whip-like gimmick, they’d finally get an idea how to create a 3D title worthy of the series’ name.

Pandora’s Tower is a game with a lot of heart, and it makes up for its limitations with inspired art direction, a superb story, and pristine level design. Let’s hope that Nintendo presents the game at E3 so everyone can give it the chance it deserves.

                                 ///////////////////////////////////////////

Of course, last E3 is long gone. But the game is out, why haven’t you bought it yet!?