#in terms of foiling I mean like in the sense of their duality and what they seek

[pompompurin1028]

kinda want to put Nikolai and Dazai in a scenario and see what happens

[mofffun]

Translator's note on suzuracles post-wedding dialogue

It's hard to direct-translate Suzume's tone indicators to English so I could only do my best to imitate her playful tone at the end of each sentence (even though the content/first half is serious she kept the lovestruck persona ending it in "wah~!")

This passage is a bit difficult to me so I checked the dictionary twice. I spent a long time on Suzume's last line. I can't be sure if it is i-u-hou (the speaker) or i-u-kata (the tone+diction) but combining Suzume's tone I think it's the latter one. And, "tsumi". I'm aware of the better-known from W as "sins" but the word has duality and what is sinful may not be illegal, what is illegal may not be sinful (off-track). And we are talking about a morally grey character.

Analysis

The most intriguing suzuracles to me is, they might be the closest in position in terms of sacrificing their personal self for their country, to present a public persona yet they could never confide in anyone, not even to each other, especailly not, even though they knew the other is in the same position as themself. Yet, they have lived under the same roof with each other longer than they did with their own family. That real? not real? love into hatred? hatred into love? into mutual understanding? The quantum state of it is the most captivating to me for them as foils.

I think Suzume is conscious in keeping referring to Racules as "Racules-sama" instead of in second person to keep a distance between them. Let alone "anata" in the "[my] husband" sense. It's okay to love "Racules-sama", it's easy to play the innocent captive of "Racules-sama", but she has seen Racules. Late at night, in between schemes, behind polite threats. Can one fully hate a worthy opponent?

observations:

ラ 「間に合わせだ。売ったところで二束三文にしかならない」

ス 「私を何だと思ってらっしゃるの！？私とラクレス様の愛の結晶に、値段などつけられませんわ」

Racules is testing Suzume. He has no need to play games with her. He knew she was there for Toufu to profit from the start (alt-shugod aid to Toufu in wake of Wrath of Gods).

Translated: Hold on to the ring (game-changer item)

ラ 「…時に君の正気を疑うことがある」

ス 「無理もありません。ラクレス様への愛が、私を狂わせるんですもの！」

ラ 「愛ではなく、憎しみだろう。スズメ・ディボウスキ」

Racules is letting himself show, if a little, if vulnerability, to gain her trust? Suzume DYBOWSKI. DYBOWSKI. THIS MAN CALLED HIS NEWLY WEDDED WIFE HER FAMILY NAME. He knows Suzume will always put Toufu/Dybowski before him or Shugoddom, but she's the only one he can count on now. Because she said it herself, her devotion (to "Racules-sama") is mad unwavered.

ラ 「国のため、道具にされ続け、それでも正気でいられる道理は何だ」

Convince me Racules is not talking about himself. Do, try.

ス 「…トウフの女は、地に足ついてこそ。信ずる道を、踏み外したりはしませんわ」

This line is so hardcore?? More importantly, I can totally see Kamura-san's delievery. Quiet at first, the cold in her eyes, then the naive switch grin at the end!

ラクレスがふっと微笑む。 ラ 「やはり度し難いな」

Suzume managed to make Racules smile! It doesn't specify if he was amused or relieved Suzume caught his metaphor. This is what we are talking about the actor filling in for the script. Then Yano-san's performance can be interpreted a thousand ways based on each viewer! A more literal translation of 度し難い is "beyond help". I think it can also mean the person is beyond salvage as in nothing can change their determination (positive). Racules is talking about himself too! if wryly!

Translated: "you are part of my plan. don't ever change."

ラ 「その指輪は、太陽を浴びて輝く。目を焼かれぬよう、気をつけろ」

Racules-sama, can you be more obvious. Put the wedding ring under the sun to read my secret message, just like I did with what Vetaria left me in my spin-off. The fire imagery!! (re: inferno, re: takamina's "he who shines on the world must burn himself to do so" tweet!!)

[ammonitetheseaserpent]

AAAAAAAA I NEED TO TALK ABT THE NEW EP-

I didn’t think the ep would give me something to talk about so quickly (I’m only just putting this post out now bc I had to get my thoughts in order) but this episode gave the Collector a whole new layer to their character and aaaaaaa I need to talk about it! They’ve further expanded this character’s status as a foil to both King (via the new Collector species) and Luz (via the Collector reliving her adventures as well as his use of character-trope-y terms when describing Eda). They’ve got DUALITY just like I’ve been sayiiinnnng! And we can finally see more of what Dana meant when she called him morally grey!

First of all, the Collector is ah. very messed up - no fault of their own, though. He’s a god raised by a collective who (from what can be gleaned from this ep) view and treat mortals more like servants or items than people. Then he was under the thrall of Belos - and while he clearly wasn’t solely responsible for twisting the Collector’s morals, it definitely couldn’t have helped to be around someone who didn’t view anyone currently around him as people.

Now though, through their interactions w/ their first good influence in King, we see the more “good” aspects of them shining through - ones that kinda conflict with what they were taught. On one hand, they’re oblivious to the level of fear they cause, but on the other, he’s vehemently opposed to the idea of actually hurting people (Titans at the very least). On one hand, he has no qualms about and sees no issue with turning people into living puppets, but on the other, their interactions with François tell us that he does have some sense of boundaries. Granted, there’s a high likelihood that, where they are right now, he’d only be this caring and considerate to Titans (who are only like. a few steps below the Collectors), but the capacity’s still there.

The biggest difference between him and the rest of their kind, though, is that he’s a child - a deeply traumatized child. We don’t know much about what they’ve been through (yet), but it’s clearly left one hell of a mark. I’d also like to refer to a previous post, where I mentioned that them being a child/having that sense of malleability and innocence is a double-edged sword. It’s the thing that means they see (almost) no issue with how the others taught him to think and act - but it also might be the thing that allows him room for their mind to be changed, for him to be shown the error of their ways and what they’ve been taught. And I really want to see how that plays out - how those little good-aspect-seeds might grow, how he might grow because gggrrrggggrfhgf they’re such an inTERESTING CHARACTER-

[kdtheghostwriter]

The Dust Up in Jaku

You sure are!

Okay, housekeeping first. I don’t often go here. In fact, this is my first proper visit. I’m caught up with the manga entirely to be clear. I just don’t always go looking for feedback. This blog is miscellaneous, tailored mostly to my whims at the time, but it’s known primarily for its monthly posts on Shingeki no Kyojin. That series is ending soon. These posts have been for practice primarily. A way for me to keep my writing chops warm for other projects. They’ve been incredibly helpful in that regard. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do to supplement that practice after the series conclusion. I don’t see myself doing monthly meta posts anymore. I started doing One Punch Man write ups a couple years ago and doing the occasional meta for big plot developments is probably the ticket. But then there’s BNHA.

My Hero Academia is a bit more…shall we say ‘aggressive’ in its storytelling. That’s what I’ve seen in this latest arc anyway. I’m a fan. And I figured, hey, I can dip a pinky toe in the fandom for a bit. So, before reading any further, please note that this will read as the perspective of a reader that has one eye on the story and doesn’t spend a great amount of time in the discourse.

Okay so let’s start with the obvious or what should be the obvious. Bakugo isn’t dead just yet. If for no other reason than Gran Torino getting spiked by Shigaraki only to supply a sassy quip moments later. You don’t die in a shonen series without permission. Besides that, though, no one I’ve seen seems to be asking the important question here.

What is All For One’s idea?

We saw him reach out to Tomura who was himself on the verge of death and took full control of his body. Those telltale black tendrils have seldom caused bodily harm on their own and there’s little evidence to believe they’d start now. We then can make one of two assumptions.

Quirk theft: AFO has the ability to steal and redistribute quirks and Shigaraki made clear that stealing One For All was his main goal in this fight outside of surviving. Bakugo is one of the few people who know about this secret war and he more than anyone there would recognize that losing OFA to Tomura would be in the nicest terms a disaster.

Forced Quirk Activation: Considering that Kacchan is a walking napalm bomb, this is another possible disaster. Using a massive explosion to escape the battlefield at this moment has some very “I’ll get you next time, Gadget!” energy.

And Tomura has to escape this. I’ll explain that later. But first I must laugh.

No, that’s not Garou after his first hour in the Monster Association. Tomura has been annihilated over the course of this fight. He’d probably be dead two or three times over if it weren’t for his fancy Deadpool Healing Factor which itself wouldn’t be working if Eraser Head wasn’t out of commission.

Shout-outs to Aizawa by the way. There’s a reason Tomura stopped in the middle of the battle to tell him how cool he was.

Anyway, more to the point: Shigaraki can’t beef it here. Don’t get me wrong, as tragic as his story is, there really is no other option currently than to destroy him. The only other course of action is to say, “Please, Tomura, don’t make this entire city and the innocent people living there disappear into dust.” Which…yea. On top of that, he’s the series antagonist and the clear foil for our hero Deku. Narratively it just wouldn’t make sense to have him climb that mountain before he’s ready. And he’s still not ready. His arms are thrashed yet again from his current onslaught.

For anyone having trouble visualizing this, imagine Shiggy as a red rubber ball and Deku is a paddle, smacking him repeatedly. I have this great picture in my head of the news chopper zoomed in on Deku as he calls out every state and major city in the contiguous United States. Jokes aside, the art is phenomenal. This panel in particular really hammers home the aforementioned duality like so many haymakers to the face. The damage is stacking up faster than his regeneration can supply but All For One has stepped in to take the reins, surely saving his neck but that isn’t the only reason Shiggy will see his way out of this spot.

Yeah! Remember him? This big fucker is still on his way. And he’s got the League of Villains in tow. Why is that detail important?

The only thing more important than a major plot event like this is the aftermath. You can easily develop your characters through the way they react to the events that occur to them. Somebody has to break it to Tomura that Twice is gone and I don’t envy the one who gets that job.

Also…lol okay, I don’t wanna do the trolly thing of “oooh Dabi’s a Todoroki!” but c’mon man Dabi’s a Todoroki. I’ve barely paid attention to this subplot and even I know that. Shonen series are by their nature very melodramatic and it would only make sense for such a massive bombshell to be dropped now, in the midst of life-or-death struggle, with direct implications for the Number One Hero and his children – one on each side of the law. Point is! None of that can happen if Shigaraki bites the big one so I’d expect the dusty lad to keep kicking for now.

The same goes for Bakugo, although, he may have early retirement in his future. The main reason Kacchan can’t die here is because, despite what you may think of him as a character – and I’ve seen enough discourse to know that many many people are not fans, such is your right – having a teenaged bully redeem himself by sacrificing his life is a bit much. Especially when you consider this little nugget.

All Might has him pegged here. I would never endorse someone telling another person to kill themselves even when done ironically but Katsuki was a child and children say any manner of dumb, reckless things. More than that, children lash out when they’re scared, and nothing scared him more than being surpassed by Midoriya. All Might goes on to point out that Bakugo earnestly helping with Izuku’s training is his way of atoning for his past behavior. I agree with that stance and I think it’s more than enough. He knows he was wrong and more recently he’s discovered that he knows he wants no harm to come to Deku. Bakugo learned a big lesson in this chapter; by extension, Deku must learn a lesson as well.

Then there’s this geek.

Disclaimer: I don’t hate Endeavor so much as I’m apathetic towards him. He’s the Number One hero by default and it shows throughout this arc. Even here, we see the rookie Kacchan barking orders at him and Shoto and coming up with a pretty solid plan to finally end this damn fight. It didn’t work, but that has more to do with outside interference than inexperience, and it’s not like Endeavor was rapt with ideas to begin with.

I will defend him slightly, however. Some people have gone so far as to call him useless in this fight and I wouldn’t. Shigaraki got a massive buff even if he’s only at 75% capacity. Enhanced speed and strength, plus a healing factor means he has a threshold that Endeavor just can’t overcome. The days of one guy taking on the Final Boss is long past gone. Even so, this must be pretty mortifying for a guy so obsessed with climbing the ladder. His second real test as the top hero and he gets his ass kicked for an hour or more by a shaggy kid who forgot his lip balm at home. LOL is what I’m saying.

Thanks for indulging that aside. Back to Deku. The very first panel of this chapter is a nurse warning him that repeated injuries could result in him losing the use of his arms. Naturally, this follows with Deku smashing Shigaraki in the face five or six times in a row. The combination of Float and Black Whip is keeping the villain suspended in the air where his disintegration    quirk can’t reach the support team below. A fact that Deku points out when Bakugo shouts at him to disengage. This is a great bit of dramatic tension, because neither one is wrong. Izuku’s body is falling apart. I mean, Tomura’s is too, but Tomura can lowkey ignore that and if he reaches the ground, everyone is screwed anyway.

This plays into Bakugo forming the plan with the Todorokis in the first place and then intercepting AFO’s attack on behalf of the helpless Deku. He sees One For All as a cursed power, but he’s smart enough to know that this power is the only chance they have of winning. He then saves his friend to help them win.

Now we come to the bit that has me more interested than even Kacchan’s fate. That being Izuku’s reaction, both in the moment and after the battle is done. As previously noted, Deku is not in less danger now. He’s emptying the tank right here despite possible long-term damage to his body.

The implications of that statement are terrifying. More so coming from a teenaged boy that hasn’t even made it through a third of his life yet. The legacy of OFA is dark and bloody. It was Bakugo who pointed out that the previous holders of the super strength quirk all died young – all murdered at the hands of Tall, Dark and Faceless. Toshinori would have suffered the same fate if it weren’t for a time sensitive cocktail of rage, survival instinct and adrenaline. Deku is sipping from that same cocktail right now and he’s in better shape than All Might was (barely) but it’s clear that he cannot 1v1 a boss with a replenishing health bar. Perhaps if he could sustain an attack without his limbs exploding like Squidward after too many Krabby Patties? Oh well.

My Hero Academia is an origin story. The story of the hero Deku and his journey to number one. With that in mind, we know he can’t lose but he doesn’t necessarily have to win. Not here at the very least. I have no clue how this arc resolves itself but finding out is going to be much fun.

[bloodraven55]

Analysing Blake’s Taste in Literature

Okay so this title is a bit misleading, but basically I want to go through each of the books that Blake talks about in the latest issue of the DC comic and consider what they might be referring to in terms of her character and the wider story. Other people have already figured out what real world novels they match, but I want to look at their meaning now.

First, we have THE CORPSE DOCTOR, which Blake describes as being about “the horror and responsibility of creation.”

This one seems fairly simple to me. The God of Darkness created the creatures of Grimm, which are certainly horrifying, and both he and especially the God of Light refuse to take responsibility for humans, a.k.a. their creation, and their part in causing the world’s problems, choosing to abandon Remnant entirely instead.

As for how this relates to Blake specifically... well, she’s always been the member of the team with the strongest sense of purpose, and she’s been politically active since she was a child, meaning that she feels the most social responsibility of the main characters. And she signed up to fight Grimm as a way to atone for her past, meaning that she is fighting both the Grimm, which are a physical manifestation of horror, and her own personal demons, which are a mental/emotional/psychological manifestation of horror.

Second, we have THE UNDEAD, which Blake describes as being about “[one’s] fear of other people.”

Again, to me this is quite clearly pointing to racism against the Faunus and prejudice in general, suggesting that those who are bigoted see people who are different to them as subhuman somehow.

Blake’s link to this story is even more blatant since most of her life has been spent in the White Fang working to achieve equality for her people and her desire for justice for the Faunus is one of the most defining parts of her character.

Third and last, we have THE VAMPIRE COUNT, which Blake describes as being about “the fear of the other, contamination, and the loss of control over women.”

Now there’s a bit more to unpack here to let’s go piece by piece. Where the first two titles mostly touch on more generally applicable themes, this one is almost exclusively dealing with Blake’s deepest personal issues.

For a start, “the fear of the other” represents her fear of becoming like the monsters she seeks to fight— like Adam. Then “contamination” symbolises Blake’s previously established belief that she is a toxic influence on others and that she poisons the lives of anyone she gets close to. And finally, “the loss of control over women” is a blatant statement regarding her breaking free from Adam’s abuse and manipulation.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that she talks about that book specifically with Yang, Adam’s foil and her current love interest who he becomes exceedingly jealous of because she’s a symbol of Blake’s power to make her own choices. Totally a complete accident and not some sort of message whatsoever.

Anyway that was my take on what the various books that Blake talks about mean— oh wait, there's one more to cover, and it’s maybe the most interesting. I am of course referring to THE MAN WITH TWO SOULS, which is the book that Blake gives to Yang, and which she describes in Volume 1 as being about someone with two souls that are “each fighting for control over his body.”

Now the most obvious application of this to the show’s narrative is as foreshadowing for the Ozpin/Oscar situation, which it definitely is, but I think it applies to Blake herself too. We know from Monty’s notes that Blake is both Beauty and the Beast in one, so I believe that this story is also meant to be a metaphor for her duality in that regard, particularly since the novel is so strongly connected to her throughout canon.

Okay, that's actually the end now. Hope y’all enjoyed my little analysis here.

[morievna]

Parallels between Yuki and Ugetsu and what they tell about past and future

In my earlier posts I alluded to fact that I find similarities between Yuki and Ugetsu – now I want to dig this topic more deeper to show what I exactly mean by this. After all one of reasons why I love Given so much is it how different couples foil each other at many levels. It is almost as we are presented the same struggle in different ways. This struggle is about finding balance in life - between music and love/normal life. Or if to put it in more abstract terms – between spiritual and mundane aspects. In this meta I intend to depict parallels between Ugetsu and Yuki and then use them as base to speculate on the latter’s choices. At the end I will try to predict how it can be handled in Mafuyu’s story-line in the future.

Since it is heavy topic I want to put disclaimer that I am no psychologist and I will look on this mostly how it was presented in narrative. Just keep it in mind that it is my interpretation and feel free to disagree.

Both of look here as they were in their own world, aren’t they?

Warnings: long post, spoilers and mention of suicide

Parallels between Yuki and Ugetsu are mostly indirect and tied to how they are presented in their relationships with respectively Mafuyu and Akihiko. Let’s start then from very beginning of these couples:

As you see both Akihiko and Mafuyu are in dark/shadow place in literal and metaphorical way. Both of them had problems with parents and were not getting enough love from them – Mafuyu had abusive father and Akihiko’s parents were neglectful and caught in their own drama. Their lives changed significantly when they met “light” (both Ugetsu and Yuki are standing in sunlight), who provided them with attention and love. Apart from it there is also motive of mutual understanding  - Yuki empathized with Mafuyu because he had no father, and Ugetsu was first to recognize that Akihiko is delicate/sensitive person deep down. As trivia I want to add that these both encounters took place in summer.

No matter how they turned out later it is important that at first these relationships were positive for both parties and allowed them to find love, belonging and safety in their lives. We are shown Yuki acting very protective around Mafuyu a lot in flashbacks and it was Ugetsu who offered his house to Akihiko when the latter was homeless due to parent’s divorce. After all there is reason why both Akihiko are Mafuyu are having trouble of letting go of past and treasure these memories despite the pain.

Both pairings have strong soulmates vibes:

We are literally told this by Hiiragi and it is emphasized by ginkgo's leaves, which symbolize duality. In Akihiko/Ugetsu case it is shown too in a bit subtler way – they are almost always in black/dark and light/white clothes (something that anime picked up too) and in color illustrations are often used red and blue/green, which are complementary according to color theory. And stands count as well – Yataragasu (symbol for sun) and squirrel (symbol for earth).

By opposites we should take into consideration not only personality traits, but what I mentioned at start – mundane and spiritual (music) aspects. In other Kizu Natsuki’s original works there is similar pattern in couples too – where one person has more down-to-earth attitude and second one is more thinking of ideas in abstract terms. I like how this was put in words in blurb from “Yukimura-sensei to Kei-kun” – as providing spiritual nourishment to another person.

Both Yuki and Ugetsu’s talents are called in similar terms – something special and otherworldly. Unfortunately, this had not only inspirational but negative effect too– Akihiko abandoned his dreams and I assume that Mafuyu probably too felt overwhelmed since he waited for Yuki’s initiative to work together on music instead of actively asking about it.

Both Mafuyu and Akihiko are making strong association between love and instruments played respectively by Yuki and Ugetsu – as if guitar and violin was symbolically token of love. Just think how Akihiko compared explicitly his love to Ugetsu to love for playing violin in chapter 27. In addition to holding guitar all time in beginning Mafuyu’s songs are thematically connected to Yuki – first about pain of losing him and second about acceptance of his death and moving forward. It is a bit fascinating how music can be both positive and destructive. Thanks to music Akihiko and Ugetsu got to understand each other, but it also effected in split when it wasn’t balanced in life like in Mafuyu and Yuki’s case. It is a bit alike a Force in Star Wars.

And just like in Star Wars – without balance everything falls apart:

Though Akihiko is talking about Ugetsu and Mafuyu here, I think the same applied to Yuki. We know that after going to high school Yuki went to job to buy guitar. It was highlighted that it was expensive model, so he must spent a lot of time working to obtain it. And don’t forget that in his house single mother was only source of income, so he probably helped in paying fees and things like that too. To sum it all up he spent considerable amount of time on job to buy guitar and then later probably even more in studio playing  – his life was basically dedicated to music at this point, no wonder that Mafuyu felt out place and strain appeared in their relationship.

And I think I don’t have to point out examples about Ugetsu spending really most of his time on music? Even though he got talent, he is practicing really hard to be at the highest level.

So let’s move from music to normal life.

It has similar vibe, doesn’t it?

Since both Ugetsu and Yuki are very immersed in music their basic needs are taken care by respectively Akihiko and Mafuyu. We have multiple instances in story where Akihiko is worried about Ugetsu’s well-being (like eating properly and so on). With Yuki there is only that one occasion, but I won’t be surprised if there will be more if we get more flashbacks.

Of course remember that both aspect are equally important and it very important to have them covered in life.  According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs we must find every one of the elements needed to seek fulfillment and change through personal growth.

And as you see love is very important too – we see in Given what happens when it is missing – apathy (Mafuyu), self-neglect (Ugetsu) and losing sense of living (Akihiko).

So we have parallels covered. I think that they clearly intentional and can be used as some kind of base to figure out more about Yuki and his mindset and choices. But firstly let’s take closer look on Yuki chapter 11.5

Judging on clothes – winter ones – it seems that it took place shortly before their argument. Even though they are together there is this vibe of being distant from each other. It is bit hard to put into word feeling of this scene, but it seems like some form of goodbye from Yuki like he wanted to make more memories so Mafuyu wouldn’t forget him easily. There is clear implication that he was feeling lonely. It may be a bit of over-interpretation, but I consider it interesting that Yuki got most of piercing in high school – after spending most of his time apart from Mafuyu. In some way it can be interpreted as sign of internal pain, since Akihiko got his piercing after first breakup with Ugetsu. I think it is safe to assume that Yuki felt depressed due to loneliness and separation from Mafuyu – losing his balance in life and music could not sustain him.

Before moving to their argument, firstly let’s take closer look on reasons why Ugetsu broke up with Akihiko. Because it is not simple as love for music was just more important for him.

This decision can be examined on three levels:

Identity / afraid of change – Ugetsu’s home is such great metaphor for him – ascetic, isolated from rest of world and dedicated solely to playing music. To me it feel like he thinks that music should be his priority because he has nothing except for it and it is only thing he is good at. So he thinks that he has to put music as first, because he is nothing without it and nobody would give him attention if he doesn’t play at the highest level. Accepting his feeling to Akihiko as equally important would mean that he has to change the way his was living and identity he build for himself.

Self-guilt –he blames himself for Akihiko abandoning his dream about playing violin as pro.

Loneliness – he has no friends and his family doesn’t seems to be supportive or take active role in his life either.

I want to highlight that it was bad decision, which caused only more pain for them both. Deciding arbitrarily what is good for another person and breaking up without telling reasons is bad. It is even underlined in narrative – Ugetsu thinks of himself as coward and lowest of low. Mafuyu thinks of this as wrong too (and again another parallel):

But saying “right words” would be talking about his insecurities to Akihiko, showing vulnerable side and stopping to run from his feelings – Ugetsu was not ready for this and took “easier” path to stop suffering by pushing away Akihiko. To me it looks as he wanted to turn back to state before knowing him, but obviously it didn’t work since love changes people and shutting out feelings is not something easy.

So keep all above in mind and now let’s take look on argument between Mafuyu and Yuki:

Identity / afraid of change – even though Mafuyu stressing out that music is tearing them apart, Yuki didn’t acknowledge this and simply want Mafuyu to trust him. It all sounds that Mafuyu felt betrayed, but is seems that Yuki didn’t want to change his attitude towards spending so much time on music and acknowledge this as something wrong – so I think that music is as much important to him as to Ugetsu.

Self-guilt – during this argument Yuki had learned how much this is causing hurt, so I am assuming he too thinks that “his existence fundamentally means suffering” for Mafuyu. Like you know thinking that Mafuyu words “Would you die for me then?” meant that Mafuyu would be better or happier without him.

Loneliness – despite having friends and supportive mother Yuki is pretty alone in this – it doesn’t looks that he tried to get help or talking with them. Even though Hiiragi was just observant Yuki didn’t try to talk with him. Just look below –from the way Yuki patted Hiiragi’s arm it looks to me as Yuki tried to pretend that everything was okay.

Unlike Ugetsu he can’t turn back literally before knowing Mafuyu since they meet as kids, so this is out of option. So he decided wrongly that there is another way to permanently “end suffering” for both of them. I want to repeat what I stated earlier – it is just my interpretation and maybe something else affected him too. But looking at major themes of story – how different characters has dilemma between music and life/love I expect Yuki’s story be something similar like that. I hope too that I sounded too judgmental – I am aware from my personal experiences that changing and fixing flaws is not that easy and sometimes reaching for help from others takes a lot of courage too.

God, it was hard to write I got so emotional. Okay I recovered so moving out to:

Just to make things clear – I don’t think that Ugetsu is going to die or something like that. Parallels are often used to emphasize differences in the end. I think that he is going to make amends and seek forgiveness for hurt he caused from Akihiko. His story resembles how redemption arc are usually done, but this is big topic for another time. I firmly believe that he will get happy ending, especially since Akihiko is very forgiving.

Since Yuki isn’t protagonist we will see rest of his story through Mafuyu’s eyes. I think there are two ways:

As mentioned before Mafuyu wanted to write song together with Yuki. I suspect that this wish will be fulfilled in different way. In recent chapter Hiiragi wanted to work on some Yuki’s song together with Ritsuka. Again because Yuki was special when it comes to music I don’t think it would be easy task. It is possible that we would get to see them all together working on this as some kind of collaboration between these two bands. Who knows, maybe even we get to see Mafuyu singing it. The tone and lyrics of this song would give us new information on Yuki too. And it would be interesting to know if this song was meant by him to be gift for Mafuyu. Besides, since Mafuyu seeks often Ugetsu’s advise on music I think he will be involved too. Honesty I think that just writing new song for Given by Mafuyu could feel a bit repetitive, so this way could make things more interesting.

Some alongside this way I anticipate that Mafuyu would open up more and talk about his bottled feelings about Yuki. Probably first to Ugetsu, with whom Mafuyu feels understanding and thus mirroring chapter, where Ugetsu talked about his relationship with Akihiko. Then later with Ritsuka. To be honest I feel like waiting for this so long. Main reason why I want this to happened – I think it would be good for Mafuyu to express it all during normal conversation (not just through music like before) to make final peace with past. And to solve Ritsuka’s issues with jealousy for good. I would also love to see Mafuyu introducing Ritsuka to Yuki’s mom and/or inviting her to LIVE performance.

Secondly, I think that near end of the story we will get dream sequence with Mafuyu and Yuki. To show their final goodbye, which they didn’t have chance to do in real life. It would signify that finally Mafuyu had forgiven himself and Yuki, made peace with past and is ready to embrace wholeheartedly present and future with Ritsuka. Kizu Natsuki pulled out similar thing in her other work “Links” so I think it is quite possible. After all subtitle of Given is - “I cannot say goodbye I am still drifting in your echoes” - I think that showing their final goodbye like this would wrap story really nicely. Because in the end the core themes of story are healing, forgiveness and finding love.

So it is all for today - thanks for reading. To end it on bit lighter tone I will borrow Bob Ross’s words:

[tacitwhisky]

Jon of the Kingsguard: Story Autopsy

While not the first jonsa story I posted, Jon of the Kingsguard is the first I wrote. The initial concept isn’t original to me: I can’t find it now, but an ask reblogged by asoiaf university offhandedly mentioned Jon joining the Kingsguard and how it would complicate Joffrey and Sansa, and that immediately got me thinking. Jon going south is such an interesting context for him, and the way he interacts with being in the capital and the more southern view of knighthood and duty, while still being fundamentally being the same person, was really intriguing to me.

Another driving idea behind the story was the concept that Jon and Sansa both start in this fic and canon not valuing the other: Sansa is status conscious and looks down at Jon because of his birth while Jon is dismissive of her feminine pursuits (there’s a good meta here that talks about how Jon is very supportive of tomboys like Arya or Ygritte, but tends to not like traditionally feminine women because of Catelyn). That duality of the two, their mutual dislike for superficial reasons, was really fascinating to me, and I liked the idea of their arcs mirroring each other as they learn to value the other (I quote the relevant part of a related meta here, if you’re interested).

I also made the decision early on to ignore the parts of asoiaf canon that weren’t conducive to the story: no white walkers, no war of the five kings, no Hound, no Petyr or Renly or Stannis. Partly this was a decision I made just for my own sanity, but mostly because paring down and narrowing the scope of the world was the only way to truly let the premise of Jon joining the Kingsguard breathe and develop fully.

The Original Vision: Or, No Plan Survives First Contact With The Page

My original vision for the story was as one of those lyrical oneshots that gracefully dip in and out of events and time, and that’s how I originally started out writing it. It was one of those stories that just gripped me and wouldn’t let me work on other stuff until I’d gotten it out of my system. I wrote the first third of it in about a week, the words just flowing one after another.

I got as far as the first time Joffrey hits Sansa, but then realized I wasn’t quite happy with how Jon and Sansa’s dynamic had developed so far. Ironically enough for a jonsa fic, I felt like the two hadn’t interacted enough. By that point I’d run out of steam for the story though, and decided to just set it aside with the vague idea of maybe turning it into its own original story at some point.

(Which, for the record, wouldn’t work: there’s simply too many things specific to the asioaf world in the story, and a lot of the background of the plot would have to be expanded for it to make sense on its own. Joffrey, for example, would need actual scenes of him being horrible earlier in the story rather than only showing up onscreen right before the end, Danaerys kind of reads like a deus ex machina, etc.)

I let the draft sit for almost a year, until I’d gotten over my hesitation over spending writing time on fanfic and written and posted Tipsy in a Red Push Up Bra (have I ever mentioned that I dislike that title? Because I do, but could never come up with something better). At that point I decided to take a look at Kingsguard again, and fix the things I didn’t like in what I’d already written before moving forward.

Adding The Jonsa Spice

Most of the process of second drafting was simply adding more interactions between Jon and Sansa. Which again, is odd that I didn’t do in the first place, but whatever. I’ll run through a few here.

“Do you know where Arya is?” Sansa tosses her hair, the red-bronze sheen of it flashing in the light, a quiver wobbling the edge of her voice. “She’s going to ruin everything.”

Jon sighs and whistles Ghost to him. It will be worse for Arya if she’s late. “I’ll help you look.”

Originally Arya popped up before the second paragraph above, and Sansa dragged her off and that was the end of the scene. I’m not really sure what I was thinking, because the story inherently needs a scene at the start to show the status quo of Jon and Sansa’s relationship where they actually interact and talk. It’s just a basic tenet of writing.

They reach the stables, and Nymeria pads out to nose Ghost and Lady. Sansa’s nose wrinkles at the sudden scent of horse and hay, and she lifts the hem of her skirts above the churned earth and mud. And where is your prince now, he thinks darkly, or is trudging through mud a job only for bastards? 

I find it endlessly hilarious how extra Jon can be, and the general saltiness between Jon and Sansa in these first few chapters was a huge amount of fun to write. This scene also emphasizes Sansa’s initially chivalric view of the world. I love any fic where Jon and Sansa are cast as knight and lady, and here they go on essentially a quest, even if it’s a mundane one. That’s what this is about:

Once out in the yard again Sansa makes to walk off, but abruptly turns on her heel and gives Jon a swift courtesy. “Thank you for your aid, Jon.”

It’s also just a nice character beat for her: Sansa never forgets her courtesies even if only to Jon.

Chapter two also had a couple scenes added and expanded. The scene with Jon and Sansa in the sparring yard was entirely added in the second draft both to give them more interaction, and to punch up Jon’s sense that something is going on between Sansa and Joffrey that he doesn’t understand. That feeling finally blossoms in the wedding scene, which is also the emotionally largest addition to the second draft: the bedding.

Carefully, Jon lowers her into the bed, and only then does Sansa look at him again, eyes trapped, the line of her jaw clenched and sharp and fragile as a shard of glass. The night’s wine has left Jon’s mind murky and slow. “Your grace,” he mumbles, tongue thick, meaning to step back. Her hand flashes out, fingers clutching his sleeve. “Don’t call me that,” she whispers, eyes pleading, “please don’t call me that. I’m still Sansa.”

In the original draft Jon lays Sansa on the bed and just… leaves. Really odd decision on my part, and even just this short interaction pulls the whole chapter together and solidifies what Sansa’s going through in a tangible way. It’s honestly one of my favorite moments in the story now, and really sets the groundwork for their relationship.

Alayaya

Maybe the biggest addition in terms of word count I made in that second draft oddly enough doesn’t include Sansa. The entire second half of chapter three where Jon visits Chataya’s brothel with Tyrion is a second draft edition. Part of the decision to add the scene was pacing: once I gave up on the idea of this fic as a oneshot, crash cutting from Jon deciding to join the Kingsguard to Joffrey’s coronation felt really jarring.

The other part was to just explore Jon’s headspace: in canon Jon is a tightly wound ball of expectation and duty, and piling knighthood and it’s hangups around sex on top of that would ony make it worse. Which itself ended up being a larger part of the story than I initially planned. 

Jon flushes. The girl is beautiful, freckled and lushly curved, with long red hair brushed to a copper sheen that reaches to her hip. As if she can feel his eyes on her the girl glances up at him, a slow, wicked smile turning the corners of her lips. There is nothing of her but for the red of her hair that is like Sansa, yet her smile coils something sick in Jon’s gut, and for a moment he can again feel Sansa’s fingers tangling in his sleeve, the fragile weight of her in his arms, the way her eyes had pled with him

Jon wrenches his gaze away. I am no Joffrey. He downs the goblet in a single swallow, tongue barely recognizing the smooth ripple that marks it as Arbor Gold. “Not her.”

I’ll talk more about this in the next section, but I wanted Jon’s feelings for Sansa to be ambiguous here, especially with how tangled up they are in ideas of chivalry and duty and westerosi patriarchy. You can read this scene as Jon shying away from attraction to his sister, as Dancy being a figure of temptation for his honor, or as Jon simply still being traumatized by the bedding and worrying he’ll be like Joffrey.

“I am bastard too counted your Westorosi way.” Alayaya tilts her head to the side as she returns to where he stands. She hands him his cup. “My father was a summer islander like my mother, a sailor passing through Kingslanding on his way to Braavos. But among my people there is no shame in bastard birth, for the gods made not only us but our desires too, and in that way we bastards are a gift of the gods.”

“I’ve never felt a gift.” Jon laughs, the sound more hollow than he expected.

I hadn’t originally planned for it, but Alayaya’s views on her own bastardry (which aren’t canon, but are a reasonable extrapolation) are a great contrast with Jon. Here she’s offering another way of viewing his bastard identity, a way of freeing himself from its shackles, but Jon just isn’t there. Stories are all about contrasts and foils, and Alayaya is a great one for Jon. Not to mention what surprisingly good chemistry they have.

To Romance Or Not To Romance?

In the notes for the first chapter I wrote:

I went back and forth quite a bit on whether this should be under the Jon/Sansa tag or not. Ultimately I did decide to put it there (for now), because I think if you’re into Jonsa you’ll enjoy it, but do note that the romantic elements of this story are not at all overt, so fair warning.

This pretty accurately reflected my initial mindset on how explicitly romantic the story was going to be. Being the first jonsa story I wrote, I think I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the incest facets of it (to be honest it’s still not an attractive part of the pairing to me), and they think of each other as brother and sister for most of this story. Even without any romance I was still driven to write the story: I generally find intimate platonic relationships as interesting as romantic ones.

As I finished retrofitting old chapters and writing new ones, more and more feelings started to show up between Jon and Sansa, until I realized that there was really no holding it back: this was going to be a fic where they had romantic feelings for each other far before they find out their cousins. Still, vacillating back and forth on how blatant to be about their attraction to each other is something that hounded me as I moved past the material I’d originally written, and kept moving itself earlier and earlier into the story.

Relationship Progression

The story can actually be broken into several distinct periods in the evolution of their relationship. The status quo when the story starts is Jon and Sansa are mostly salty at each other because of how few things they have in common and their general disdain and resentment. Neither of them have anything really like attraction for each other, but the underlying situation is there: they’re simultaneously too distant to really feel like siblings, but also too close to see each other as potential romantic interests.

The saltiness begins to give way as Jon begins to see more than just the image Sansa projects (her crying into his shirt over Lady), comes back a little bit in chapter two, and then gives way even more as he begins to see how not-perfect her life is.

“Joffrey is to break lances with Ser Loras.” There is something queer in Sansa’s voice, an uncertain edge to it that Jon cannot place. “He asked I watch.”

He bites his lip, but does not know what to say. Since she’d been old enough to curl up in old Nan’s lap Sansa had dreamed of marrying a lord like Joffrey, a shining prince with flashing blue eyes and gold hair. This is the song she’s always wanted: and she is not his sister in the way Arya is, in the way where he can ask her what troubles her. 

It’s still very opaque to him though until the end of chapter two:

The gale of voices of the ladies holding Joffrey aloft in the corridor is louder now, the sound pulsing in Jon’s blood. He reaches up and wraps his hand around Sansa’s fingers, and it takes all the will he has not to kneel in that moment and swear to her by the old gods and the new that he will protect her from Joffrey and the Lannisters and all the realm. But this is not a song and he is not a knight, not any more than he has ever been a Stark. Carefully, he untangles her fingers from his sleeve and gives them a tight squeeze. “Sansa,” he says meeting her eyes, and later he knows he will tell himself it is the wine that makes him step forward and brush his lips against her forehead. “Sansa Stark.”

This interaction is the start of an underlying, recurring tenderness in their relationship that will only grow over the course of the story. On a side note, this scene is also yet another invocation of the knight and maiden motif, and how Jon’s sense of duty is conflicted by his bastard identity.

Jon and Sansa’s relationship is kind of on hold for chapter three (Jon visits the brothel) and four (Arya leaves), and then picks up again in chapter five (Joffrey first hits Sansa), though they’re still not particularly close in that chapter, still at a sort of wary distance. The attraction element is beginning to strengthen though, like in this moment:

Sansa blinks and looks away, out to the window. For a moment she looks so like a maiden from a song waiting in her tower for some brave knight to come save her that it cuts Jon to the bone.

Which is a bit much for your sister.

Chapters six and seven are the next stage, when Jon and Sansa are drawn closer because of the situation they’re going through together: they’re really the only other person either of them can depend on and trust. But just as much as that kind of situation can forge a bond, I also wanted to show just how ugly abuse can be in tearing people apart.

Not to get pretentious, but one of the inspirations for that and the scene I’ll go into next was a section in Anna Karenina where she and her lover are shunned from society, and she starts to cling and become jealous of him even as he begins to resent her. Desperation and loneliness aren’t always pretty, and often don’t forge a bond.

Trauma and Abuse

Sansa giggles. “What do you think, Jon? Would fucking me keep you true?”

The words catch Jon like a slap. He drops her hands. “That isn’t funny, Sansa.”

This scene is a really pivotal one, bringing to the front a lot of the underlying elements of the story so far: how abuse can tear people apart, the latent attraction in Jon and Sansa’s relationship, and showing the emotional toll Joffrey’s abuse has taken on Sansa.

Ironically for such a pivotal scene though, it isn’t one I originally planned. I don’t remember how the idea first came to me, but I do remember that I initially rejected it for being too shippy and clashing too much with the tone of the story. But the idea stuck with me, and in execution I just tried to make it clear that Sansa isn’t so much jealous as simple insecurity and desperation: as much as Jon has been beside her, he isn’t the one undergoing abuse, and Sansa is very, very aware that he has a choice in whether to stay with her. As she says, he can leave the tower whenever he wants even as she’s trapped there.

She rolls her eyes. “I could make you happier than she makes Jaime, you know. All the court says I’m more beautiful than her. I’d treat you gentler too, let you use me like one of your whores and never once complain. I’m sorry I have all these bruises, but you can give me one of your own if you want. Would doing that make it easier for you? Would it make fucking your sister sweeter? I want it to be sweet for you, Jon, truly I do, so sweet you’ll never leave me, so sweet you’ll strike me at even the thought of another man in me.”

This is Sansa, in a moment of desperation beginning to lose her grasp on what a normal relationship is, conflating abuse with love, and embracing the idea that her only value to men, even Jon, is her appearance. It's a bit of a nod to what Cersei in canon tells Sansa tears aren’t a woman's only weapons, that she also has one between her legs. Just as later Jaime will be a good foil for Jon when it comes to why the knight saves the maiden (which I’ll go into in a bit), Cersei is the other side of the coin from Sansa. Not exploring that dynamic between Sansa and Cersei in actual scenes is actually something I kind of regret not doing, though I didn’t think of it till too late; if I was ever to expand or turn this into an original story it’s something I’d definitely include.

There is a dull roar in Jon’s ears as he reaches up and clasps Sansa’s face between his hands, jerks her eyes back to meet his. “I will never strike you.” The words are sharp, short, harsh, but Jon needs her to understand, needs her to know beyond the flicker of a doubt. “And I will never leave you, Sansa. I swear that, swear it before the sight of gods and men, swear it by the old gods and the new. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever, not until I draw my last breath and the life leaves my body and the crows come to feast on my eyes. You are my heart, Sansa. You are all I have. Never doubt that. Never.”

This is really the only way I ever thought about writing Jon react. There are other ways that might make sense, but needing to give Sansa comfort in that moment is the only thing that felt truly right to me.

Would Fucking Me Keep You True?

One of the techniques Martin uses a lot in asoiaf is a short phrase that gets stuck in a character’s head and repeats whenever they’re feeling a particular emotion. This is a technique that really works for me because it’s something that happens to me in real life (hurrah for mental illness), and “would fucking me keep your true?” is the one that crops up the most in this fic. Mostly it’s because it’s just such a good shorthand for the for the tangled and complex feelings Jon has for Sansa and his sense of duty and understanding of knighthood.

That tangle of feelings is what marks the next section of Jon and Sansa’s relationship through till the last chapter; as indefinable as it is, it’s the only solid and true thing in their lives, and it’s what Jon clings to after he leaves Sansa and sets off to find Dany and bring her back.

---

This post got much longer than I thought it would, so I’m going to break this off here and finish it up in another post down the line.

[coldtomyflash]

What do you think about Killer Frost? Like the concept of her... of Caitlin becoming evil... maybe not what the show has done with her, per se, but... the idea of her.

Thanks for your patience on this one. I’ve been collecting my thoughts on it, because it’s a broad question that actually cross-sects a couple of seasons, different versions of a character, and there’s the issue of the meta-textual analysis of the character versus the within canon one.

I’ve broken them down below the cut, but the tl:dr for anyone who doesn’t want to read a full analysis: the metaphor for dissociative identity disorder that Killer Frost represents is ableist and bad, but the narrative for the character is unarguably the best she’s had and lends something to the team and the conflict. There are ways they could have navigated all of this better though, and them chickening out of making Caitlin into Killer Frost full time is where we lose the most in canon from what this story could’ve been.

Metatextually, I’m not sure I like what they’ve done with Killer Frost. This is largely because it’s ableist, and it’s sexist.

On the ableist front, Killer Frost represents the science fiction version of dissociative identity disorder. It’s pretty blatantly the case - she’s an alter who takes command and who’s actions Caitlin has little to no recollection of, though Caitlin is aware of her prescence and some of what she gets up to (e.g., that she went to Burning Man). She comes out to protect Caitlin more often than not, and when Caitlin ‘sleeps’. And she remembers all of what Caitlin does.

They are distinct identities sharing the same body, and not in a way where each has ever existed separately but where Frost explicitly developed out of Caitlin. 

It’s science-fictiony because it involves metahuman powers, hair colour changes, and isn’t really that in keeping with actual practice of people who have DID, and it’s ableist because it’s a very toxic representation of DID. Pretty much everyone who has DID has suffered typically pretty severe abuse and pretty much always in childhood. Symptoms manifest through that and over the lifespan, and not when a person gets magical (metahuman) powers. 

Also, representing what basically amounts to DID as evil and villainous and uncaring? Not good. People with DID are victims, not violent and cruel and cold-hearted. This issue is repetitive across most representations of DID in media, including the movie Split. 

So… I have issues with that, ultimately. Mostly in the “stop making mentally ill people evil” vein. Even if it wasn’t a perfect representation of DID, I know they’re basically trying to pretend it’s not DID - “she’s a metahuman, it’s different, that’s why it is this way”. Which to me falls a bit flat, particularly with how they’ve done it, but if she wasn’t evil then the overall connotations wouldn’t be so bad.

(And yes, she might be ‘less’ evil moving forward, but she started as a villain and it’s only because she has a ‘good’ side that she stopped hurting people and trying to kill them, so???)

And it’s sexist too. Why? Because The Flash has done this before, but only with female villains. Remember Magenta?

Basically the same deal, though at least they represent her storyline of abuse in a much more accurate and respectful manner. The DID likely existed before the powers, but her powers manifested largely through only one of her alters and gave that identity the power to fight back against the abuse instead of just suffer it. 

But guess when else we also saw this?

Anyone else sensing a theme here? Eliza’s (Trajectory’s) issues came about as representing an issue of addiction, but it seems like Velocity made her have hallucinations of an alternate identity that she became after she took the drug. Also just a really terrible and ableist way to represent drug addiction, hallucinations, and potentially alters.

Note that we’ve never seen any men on this show have quite this same pattern of issues. Like women, powers may exacerbate their underlying angers and resentments, but they don’t seem to manifest these issues on The Flash the same way that female villains do. And I’ve talked about this before with these three characters, but let it said again:

“…things like Velocity or meta-powers… make (in this case) nice and sweet women turn into demon harpies but it’s not “their fault, that’s not who they really are, it’s the drug/powers.”

Basically, it’s a tired trope, and given that they’ve only had it play out with female characters, it smells a little like “all women are [secretly] crazy/hysterical” misogyny.”

So that’s… one side of the Killer Frost coin. And of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, it’s definitely the Ugly. But a within-canon and narrative evaluation goes in a few different directions instead.

Within-canon, Killer Frost is the most interesting thing to happen to Caitlin and was narratively necessary to make her add to the story instead of being sidelined by it.

First off, Caitlin’s narratives were… floundering, before this. I don’t think I need to explain why rehashing her constantly finding love and losing it and grieving over and over became a very tired plot and ultimately made her character feel like she wasn’t even that secure on the team eventually.

Earth 2 Killer Frost was (to me) the most exciting part of S2 for Caitlin. An evil version of her, one who became conflicted, one who disavowed even her own name, one who saved the team but was still selfish. One who was so diametrically opposed to Caitlin as this intense foil.

This was interesting. This was fresh.

So when, in S3, they set Caitlin on the path to being Killer Frost, I was pretty excited. The team was (is) overpowered in terms of metas, and losing Caitlin and making her a villain was an exciting way to balance that out. Not to mention that she finally got a story that didn’t revolve around falling in love and grieving, but which was about herself and an internal struggle. While I still hate the “powers make you evil / powers gave her DID and her alter is evil” element they went with, the narrative balancing act gave her character more purpose to the main/ongoing story than she had had in a long time.

For the first time since helping find Ronnie in S1, Killer Frost as part of Caitin meant that she was driving her own story and driving the plot instead of helplessly strapped to whatever direction it took her.

And then, of course, Caitlin died, and to ‘save’ her, Julian stole her meta-dampener and caused her to go “full Killer Frost”. This isn’t just my idea, I read someone else say that Caitlin truly died at that moment, and I think that’s something to consider. 

The problem with the narrative moving forward is that this was a turning point for Caitlin and should have remained The turning point, the definitive one.

Narratively, I think it would be useful if we could conclusively think of this moment as the death of Caitlin and the birth of Frost, full stop and forevermore. It would take care of a lot of the DID stuff, to be totally honest. It wouldn’t be that Caitlin and Frost are two separate identities or that Frost is an alter of Caitlin, it would be that once the cold (her powers) gripped Caitlin’s heart, she was fundamentally altered and became different. Still kind of a “powers make you evil” story but that’s at least balanced out by how many people we’ve finally seen with powers who aren’t evil (though seriously, more benign metas, please).

This complete change into Frost wouldn’t have ultimately changed much in S3, if anything. We’d seen Caitlin use her powers for good ends, before becoming Frost, and we’d seen E2 Killer Frost use her powers to help the team and for semi-altruistic acts (well, mostly helpful revenge) as well as selfish evil ones. We also saw Frost help the team get Barry’s memories back, and hesitate more than once. It was often like she was trying too hard to be evil, to be ‘Killer’ Frost.

It was too much. Even Savitar knew she wasn’t truly evil.

So we could have accepted after the end of S3 that it wasn’t that she was evil, it was that she didn’t know what else to be or how else to live up to this legacy and navigate the powers she didn’t want and which changed her. This would be especially with all the anger and resentment she’s built up over years of job loss and grief and being used and having some post-traumatic stress from being kidnapped (thanks Zoom), not to mention not being fully in control of her own brain and body once she got powers, and then Julian disrespecting her wish to die without becoming this.

So this scene at the end of S3…

…would still stand. Everything pretty much stays the same until then, I would argue. The only thing I would add is that she would say that no, she’s not Killer  Frost. She’s never going to be her E2 counterpoint. She’s just Frost. And that would be her proper name moving into S4. 

So the major problem now is that Season 4 is missing the boat again with this character.

Because now we have Caitlin ‘back’. We lost her and thought she was dead and forever altered and now that’s been essentially retconned. Her saying she isn’t Caitlin and isn’t Killer Frost was pointless. That duality is back.

And because of that, we’re essentially re-hashing the S3 struggle between her and Frost, though Frost isn’t ‘evil’ per se at this point. Her and Caitlin manage to navigate their differences in a much better manner. But honestly? I don’t know they wrote it as there being anything to navigate. I don’t know why we saw this:

Cold without powers. What does it add? 

I mean, I understand: Caitlin is a team member, and there is sentimentality there. It’s a hard pill to swallow if she were truly ‘dead’. But it was the implication of S3. And the best scenes of her in S4 so far have been Frost. It’s been Frost interacting with other ladies in particular, but especially Frost interacting with Iris.

This shit, right here. I would have preferred a narrative where Frost listens to Iris and almost no one else, because Iris is the person who’s death she almost orchestrated and Iris is the one who killed Savitar and set Frost free of his manipulation in doing so.

Wouldn’t it be so neat to see Frost slowly become friends with Iris and make amends to her for that? To become genuinely close in a way that Caitlin never managed to be with Iris? To tell it like it is and have more cutthroat ambitions and comments than Caitlin did, not because Caitlin didn’t think them, but because Caitlin was too soft to voice them. Have it become more clear over time that Frost is so much of what Caitlin was, just without the inhibition. Have it become clear over S4 that Caitlin isn’t dead (but she is, but she’s not) because Frost is still her. 

Caitlin the bartender was dull. Frost the team anti-villain (antihero?) is narratively rich.

And can you imagine Cisco and Caitlin in this scene in episode 1 if she was still Frost instead?

Him basically saying “I know that you’re different, but you’re still my friend” and her accepting that yeah, okay, she is different, but maybe she can still help the team. Note, this wouldn’t be Caitlin saying it, it would be Frost. The identity, the person, who wreaked all this damage, acknowledging that yes, despite the cold in her heart, she is willing to help them.

And I mean… maybe Cisco wouldn’t go to her immediately, in that case. Maybe he’d wait until they unstuck Barry from the speedforce and he was unwell, and then Cisco would ask Caitlin to help him with that, to see if something was wrong with Barry that she could detect or figure out. 

And that’d be when she realizes that even though she’s hurt these people, she can also still help them. (And wouldn’t that say something more about culpability and about making amends and learning to be a better person despite your anger and coldness?) The rest of her arc with Amunet and everyone else would still hold true, it would just be all Frost all the time.

(Of course, in a perfect world such as this, Dibny wouldn’t be a main/recurring because Frost would already create enough friction on the team as-is, especially the first time she meets Harry. Not only did she help cause HR’s death, she’s also so much like the Killer Frost from E2 who helped Zoom, and Harry might have a Reaction to that. In my dream world we’d also still have Wally around but now I’m getting off track. I’m also super curious how Cynthia would respond to Frost, to be totally honest. See, there’s just so much potential!).

So that’s… all I have to say about that. :)

[joshwrites]

Persona 5

Persona 5 asks the powerful question of what if you had the power to make a difference? It’s not new territory for the nearly 15 year old series, but for it’s first outing in a while it asks the question with a renewed sense of vigor. We’re far removed from the sleepy small town of Inaba and are asked to navigate Tokyo and track down villains with far bigger ambitions than a murder mystery.

Persona 5 starts you off on the downturn. Your protagonist is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and has his life uprooted when he’s expelled and has to find a different school. You’re dropped into a high school where you don’t know anyone but everyone seems to know you. Your supposed criminal record is common knowledge and you’re met with stares and whispers as you walk the halls. But everything changes when, in typical Persona fashion, you discover an alternate reality that manipulates the real one. The rules are completely different here; when you’re held down by the powerful and pushed to your limit you rise as a Phantom Thief swashbuckling antihero with a myriad of monsters from the Shin Megami Tensei series at your command. You’re a phantom thief now. You may not be able to budge the higher powers in the real world, but here you’re on an even ground with them. Success in the “Metaverse”  will affect the real world in positive ways: criminals and the corrupt lose their ambitious edge and will feel the full weight of their actions and how they affect others. Their minds will be broken, and they will turn themselves in. 

Combining this setup with a tale of a few key students being tortured by an abusive teacher in a situation that’s happening under the school’s radar and you have a spellbinding first chapter. It introduces the mysterious Anne and the rebellious Ryuji to your party as you help them fight back against their abusive gym teacher both in the school and in the metaverse. The game takes a while to get going during this layered introductory chapter, but once it does you can feel the time Atlus spent during these 10 years improving the mechanics. The dungeons have moved away from the dull corridors and randomly generated mazes of previous games, opting for deliberate design and navigation puzzles instead.  The “heist” aesthetic contextualizes a stealth attack mechanic which cleans up the imprecise act of attacking enemies in the overworld in previous games.

The UI in combat treads the knife’s edge between gorgeous and efficient. Streamlined button commands and an expanded “baton pass” system that allows you to chain attacks of different party members together combine with insanely satisfying feedback in terms of sight and sound to make turn based combat feel better than it ever has before. Stunning all the enemies with their weaknesses to execute the series trademark All Out Attack has never been more satisfying. Finishing the fight with this mechanic even rewards the player with a stylish victory pose featuring the party member that lead the charge as a cherry on top. The aesthetics work together with the systems to make for a satisfying gameplay loop even as the enemy mobs you tear through start to repeat. But the game doesn’t stop when you’re not in the Metaverse. Persona 5 continues the series’s themes of duality and asks you to live the most convincing day to day life you can inbetween heists. The game asks you to keep up on your studies and continue to maintain a growing list of relationships. In the same way the Metaverse can interact with your day to day, the reverse is also true. Doing well to maintain your relationships rewards you with bonuses to take with you into the fight, whether that be a growth in power from your party members, discounts in shops, or new side missions to tackle within the metaverse. Who you’ve chosen to spend time with factors into a variety of things up until the game’s finale, encouraging the player to interact with those systems. It makes for a good supplement to the dungeon gameplay that suits the game’s themes of duality.

There’s one final pillar of Persona 5’s systems: Momentos. A randomly generated dungeon in line with the previous games. Side quests, items, and enemies that wouldn’t fit into the game’s main dungeons end up here. Side conversations exclusive to this mode make navigating it more interesting than it ought to be, but it comes up short compared to the game’s main dungeons. It’s nowhere near optional either, despite my initial impression, so it’s in the player’s best interest to put time into it. It’d be unrealistic to expect the game to maintain a perfect momentum over it’s runtime of more than 100 hours, but unfortunately key parts of the game start to decay as time goes on. The fires of rebellion that the first chapter spark lead to an emotionally satisfying conclusion, but cutting so deep in the first chapter means that the game can never measure up to pack the same punch in the future scenarios. Some come close: The fourth arc deliberately flies in the face of the structure of the first 3  and asks you to use the Metaverse to accomplish a completely different type of goal. It combines a unique setup with some of the most interesting dungeon design in the game and a strong central character to create one of the series’s standout sections.

But some arcs falter, especially later on in the game.The basic premise of taking out a corrupt public figure largely remains the same from chapter to chapter, but the game racks up a roster of increasingly lacklustre villains as it progresses. As the scales become less personal and grandiose, the impact of their actions lesson. The game alleviates this around this by throwing out a couple of chapters where the situation is really close to the protagonists: The Casino arc and the above mentioned Pyramid, but others can’t help but feel like a slog. The space station is a notoriously poor example of the gameplay loop falling apart. An unconvincing premise combine with some of the most dragged out dungeon design and some really poor character writing to create a legitimate low point, but the game dips into all of these pitfalls in other places.

Characters seem to pick up and drop traits entirely depending on certain contexts. I was a little relieved that Ryuji seemed to be dodging most of the traits that defined the typical Persona “best friend” character before he goes full tilt into those traits later on and becomes more and more used for comic relief. A similar thing happens to Yusuke, a character that gets a surprisingly touching arc in his debut chapter early on but is practically considered disposable by the game after that. The game doesn’t seem to have an idea of what to do with these characters after their(usually) strong initial debut, so it ends up treating them as a loose end aside from exaggerating their worst traits for comic relief or to manufacture drama in the game’s lowest points. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but the sheer amount of time you spend reading listening to these characters means these issues stick out in an RPG more than they would in a traditional action game. I did get attatched to some of these characters, so I know the writers aren’t completely clueless, but it makes it all the more frustrating when they get shortened or recieve unsatisfactory development. The biggest example of this lies in one of the plot’s key players. The game’s recurring antagonist from early onward is aGoro Akechi. He’s a young detective with a strong moral code: That justice should always be put in the hands of the professionals that lead society’s judicial systems. This puts him at odds with our protagonists in a simple but intriguing way as slowly works his way into the group and even gets close to stopping their activities. He’s a great foil that puts a lot of pressure on the heroes. The game decides to throw this all out for the sake of a twist that reduces Akechi’s character to a series of poorly fleshed out tropes that moves him closer to the game’s other antagonists but further from it’s themes. It’s one of many disappointments that make up the game’s plot in it’s latter half. The dungeon and combat design also takes a hit in the latter half of the game. It leans less and less on interesting visuals and design and more on the corridors that made up the older games. The combat encounters get more grindy and repetitive up to and including some overly long boss fights. It feels as if the game was prioritizing reaching a certain playtime average over actually making a product that stays tight and engaging. It would explain the contrivances in the plot later on too. This filler is unfortunately really frustrating in a game that gets so much right.

The game manages to wrap itself up well enough. The lengthy encounters continue up until the final boss, but the story ends on a surprisingly heartfelt note that makes you reflect on the high points of your adventure. The game has a powerful message of how we should try our best to make a difference and not succumb to apathy, and despite the shortcomings in the latter half I think it gets this idea across well. The characters have “awakenings” before they get their powers: Moments where they snap, exhausted of being pushed around by higher powers and give into a newfound rebellious rage. The fantasy of becoming a powerful phantom thief and tearing apart society’s most powerful with sheer willpower is endlessly appealing, and the game is careful to make sure the player understands that making a difference in the outside world matters just as much, even if it’s a little more difficult.

On the whole it’s a game that’s more than the sum of it’s parts. Despite it’s shortcomings, Persona 5’s heart is so firmly in the right place that it’s likely to steal yours.