#it's also why I find it difficult to motivate myself to watch other star trek shows....Tuvok won't be there. what's the POINT!!!

[bumblingbabooshka]

How’d you come to fall in love with Tuvok? :) (“Fall in love” in a “wow I really like that character” type of way lmao)

I looked up "Star Trek Black Vulcan?" out of curiosity like four years ago and started watching Voyager specifically to learn more about him. If Tuvok wasn't the most handsome man ever I would never have even entertained the thought of watching Star Trek and I'm SERIOUS!!!!!!!!

[novellaquill]

Starling: Starting Over

—

Drabble with OC!Batsis x Batfam

Summary:

Lerina begins to doubt her decision and doubts if she can make it on her own but with help from friends she starts to enjoy her new found freedom. However, an old friend may accidentally ruin it all.

Warning: This talks about depression, mental illness, and other serious topics. If these topics make you feel uncomfortable don't read. There is also cursing.

A/N: You finally get to see what she looks like and are introduced to a new character! Young Justice are mentioned.

—

“It’s all anybody wants, right? Clean slate. A new beginning. Like that’s gonna be any easier. Ask the guy pushing the boulder up the hill. Nothing’s easy about starting over. Nothing at all.”

― Meredith Grey

“Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.” ― Kathleen Glasgow, Girl in Pieces

—

I'm not going to lie this has been hell. My anxiety is skyrocketing,  I've never done this before. I spent nights wondering what my family would say if I ever saw them again. Would they be angry or disappointed? Who knows? Why should I care? I shouldn't, but I do. Dick's birthday is coming soon. I've never missed a birthday before what am I going to do? Will they survive without me? Of course, they will. Will they be okay though?  Again I ask who know? I shouldn't care, but I do I always will. Every day is a nightmare, it feels like you're on your own even though you have people to help you. 

— My best friend Shani gave me a place to stay until I got on my feet, but later on, we decided to become roommates since rent would be cheaper and she's basically my second sister. We got a four bedroom two bath apartment in Star Ciry. Honestly, we didn't need all that space, but Leilei insisted on having a place to sleep when she came to visit, and we both wanted a workspace. Shani mainly just wanted Leilei there so she could get free food whenever she came to visit, that vulture.

Now for the hell part, it's difficult to take care of yourself without having to take care of someone else at least physically. At home, I would remember to eat because I helped Alfred make breakfast for my household. Now I have to remind myself that I have to eat for me. Eating was necessary for survival just another task for me to do. It was hard to find the joy in anything especially when it's for myself. Oh, don't get me started on finding the motivation to do anything. Now that someone isn't relying on you it feels like you can't do anything or find to energy to do anything. When living is a chore with others, and now you're by yourself it feels like you're pushing a boulder up an unclimbable mountain. Maybe I should just go home? I mean what am I going to do out here? Really? Like what's the-"Okay get your ass up," Shani my best friend said dragging me off my bed and into the shower, "You did this at my old place you're not doing it here." "AH! SHIT, YOU SON OF A BITCH THAT'S COLD," I screamed as she drowned my body in the water. "Forget them Lerina you are a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man. Act like it! Now you have a degree in psychology if you saw someone acting like this what would you tell them to do," she asked dismissing the fact that her best friend is still in her clothes and in the shower having cold water pouring down on them. "I'm not a psychiatrist, but I'd tell them to go see one and get to get their life together," I answered pissed. "So what should you do?" "Yeah, I get it. Get out so I can take my own advice." "You're welcome bestie!" "I hate you." — Luckily I did see a psychiatrist. It's kinda fun to talk to him because of my background in psychology, I know the medical terms. I also received a new private doctor so it could be harder to track me. Together my doctor and my psychiatrist found medications that worked for me. Basically all the medicine I hoped to avoid I had to take. I'm on an antidepressant and medication for anxiety, but at least I don't have to take Adderall anymore. I used to as a child, and I haven't used it over a year. I'm officially off it now. I'm supposed to manage my stress, but I went ahead and got one of the most stressful jobs ever. I'm a neurologist! I originally went to school to be a psychiatrist, but that wasn't my calling. I continued the course then switched it to neurology I still love psychology and use the knowledge I learned to read others and give advice from time to time. Let's be honest, it's easier to fix someone else's problem than to fix your own. I didn't want to set a bad example for my patients. It took some time to job hunt and to get the okay from my doctors, but I finally started working. Life has its ups and downs I know that now and after three months my life is coming together. Maybe just maybe I can do this.

—

That naive little fool. Did she honestly believe starting over would be that easy? In only three months as well? Ha! She’d have better luck seeing Jesus and watching hell freeze over with him by her side. Did it not occur to her that her younger siblings would indeed look for her? Oh yes, the batclan began to search for her whereabouts two weeks after she went disappeared and haven't ceased searching since. I bet you curious to why it took two weeks for the clan of vigilantes to look for their missing bat. Well, it all started two months and a week ago. --

Tim noticed Lerina's disappearance the second he entered the Batcave. There was no welcome home kisses, bone-crushing hugs, or dinner. No questions about the mission after being dragged into the infirmary. There was nothing but the pained groans from his fellow vigilantes and the sounds of the keyboard used by Bruce. Tim looked at Jason and Jason looked back a Tim. It was if they shared the same mind that moment, they knew for a fact without a single doubt something was wrong with their sister. "Hey, Alfred did you see Lerina anywhere," Jason asked while getting a bullet wound stitched up "I'm afraid I haven't seen Miss Lerina at all during my return," the butler answered. "She's probably in her bedroom," Dick proposed, "Doesn't she have a board meeting tomorrow?" "Indeed she does but-," "I am certain that Oriel is alive and well," Damian interrupted unbothered by his butler and older brothers' concerned tone. "I didn't know you cared Damian," Cassandra said while putting away her gear, "I don't I believe we should consider taking the time to appreciate the beautiful silence her absence has brought us," he replied with a smirk. "If Lerina isn't here it's for a good reason. Now I want Tim-" "Bruce I'm pretty sure Lerina is missing," Tim interjected. "Nonsense Drake, Oriel is most likely working on father's business files and if not she's with her grandmother. Do Not disturb her I'm enjoying the silence," Damian sneered leaving the group. -- That's how it was for the entire time she was gone. Jason, Tim, and Alfred started their search immediately, however, the others didn't decide to join until 3 weeks later Kamalei complained about not seeing her granddaughter, even if that was a lie. It was then when the police, the league, and young justice were notified of her disappearance. There wasn't even the tiniest unit of dust to point them in the right direction but they continued to search losing hope until someone got a text. "That was Wally," Dick explained as the other began to suit up, "He saw Rina in Star City."

-- "Did you see the news today Rina?" "Oh yes, 'No it's true I am the real Lerina Oriel-Wayne' please," Lerina mocked the latest beauty queen who pretended to be her, "Another demented fangirl craving fame and fortune."  "Yo, but did you see how much money your family was willing to lay down for your return? Nearly fifty thousand dollars! Hell, I'm willing to put lipstick on a pig for that much money," Shani exclaimed powerless to hide the shock that trekked across her body. "Only fifty thousand? A pity I thought I was worth more than that," she shrugged entirely unbothered by the amount of reward money her family was willing to spend for her retrieval. "However, what is worrying is if someone recognizes me and reports back to my family. Are you certain it's safe for me to be out in public?" "I'm sure, you don't stay out long enough for the public to remember what you look like and thanks to papa Bruce's neglection he doesn't have any recent pictures of you. Relax, you're in the clear." Shani responded in a laid back tone, "Now let's go get some coffee-SHIT!!" "What," the older woman questioned, "What's wrong?" "It's Wally he's here! He heard everything and he's coming right at us, RUN!" You didn't have to repeat yourself to get the oldest Wayne to run as if a demon was right on her tail but as a regular human, it's impossible to outrun a speedster. Within a second a livid red head blocked their path. "Wally hi. How's everything with Artemis?" "Don't play that with me Lerina you have a lot of explaining to do,' Wally growled taking off with the pair. -- "That's it? That's why you dropped off the face of the Earth?!" Wally shouted his rage scorching the air. "What do you mean "that's it', Lerina argued, "That's a great reason." "You couldn't have left a note?" No, because I didn't want them to find me!!" "Listen Wally," Shani began getting the attention of her best friend and the speedster, "You're not really being fair-" "HOW AM I NOT BEING FAIR!?" he screamed, "The league, Young Justice, her own family are currently killing themselves to find her thinking that she's in some sort of danger only for me to find out she abandoned them! How am I being unfair?" "I didn't abandon them I left to-" he cut her off, "You left to spite them." "I left because if I stayed they would use that 50 grand to plan my funeral," she snapped her response draining the color from Wally's face."W-w-what?" he stuttered unable to get the words out, "I left to save my life, Wally, I would've killed myself in that house," she said voice cracking, "I didn't leave a note because I didn't want them to carry the burden of knowing nor did I want to face them ever again." He sat down on their couch head lowered and fingers running through his red locks, "SO what am I supposed to do, huh? I already texted telling them I saw you here. They are on their way if they aren't already here." "Well, you don't have to tell anyone you found us," Shani stated. Wally's head snapped up, "Are you saying that I lie to them?" "No, I'm just saying-" "I know what you're saying and it's still a lie. Asking for me to lie to my best friend and the bat clan is one thing but the team and my girlfriend too? You've got to be kidding me." "Artemis already knows. You can't be in Star City without one of its vigilantes finding out," Shani explained "Listen," Lerina said sitting next to him, "You can tell them I was here but by the time you come back I'll be on the next flight somewhere else. Why? I finally made a life where I'm not numb and I can live my life to the fullest. I'm not sacrificing my happiness or my health for anyone. Not anymore. Now you don't have to keep my secret I'm not going to ask you do but if you do I know a senior citizen who is always willing to fill that bottomless pit you call a stomach." Wally sighed putting his face in his palms, "He's my best friend, Lerina you can't just-" "Shh let's talk about something else, how are you and Artemis doing," she questioned. The only response was a groan. -- "Are you absolutely sure you saw her?" Nightwing questioned looking over the city. "You saw the picture I sent, it was her," Kid Flashed answered in monotone. "But?' he asked turning to his glum friend. "There were too many people around during a rush hour. I couldn't catch up." he said sighing in defeat. Nightwing didn't show it but he was distraught and Wally knew this but a new feeling of hope also filled the blue vigilante’s heart, "It's fine man. Thank you for notifying us, we'll keep looking in that area during the time she was last spotted to see if we can find a pattern. Then we'll branch out to the rest of the city. I'm sorry for all the trouble." "Yeah," Wally said as a mixture of  relief and guilt  settled in his stomach, "I'm sorry too."

--

~Novella Quill

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.17: Missions Reviewed, “Inquisition,” “In the Pale Moonlight,” and “His Way.”

In “Inquisition,” Bashir is repairing Chief’s shoulder after a kayaking accident (again) and preparing to go to a medical conference. When he wakes up for his trip he is remarkably groggy and matters are made worse when he is called to ops because Starfleet Internal Affairs, led by a Director Sloan, has come to investigate DS9’s senior staff as someone has been leaking information to the Dominion. 

After some time confined to quarters, Julian is just briefly questioned by Sloan, but all seems well. Returning to his quarters, he finds they have been searched, and he receives a cryptic message from O’Brien that Miles had been questioned for two hours, and ONLY about Julian. In a second interrogation, Sloan reveals that he believes Bashir was actually turned during his time in a Dominion prison, and has sublimated all memories of this, making him the perfect spy. Sloan admits that Bashir’s motivation is to save lives, hence using the genetically engineered think tank from “Statistical Probabilities” to try and convince the Federation to surrender. Bashir continues to deny, but Sloan, seemingly with no accountability to anyone but himself begins to raise the stakes. Things just become difficult when Julian is suddenly whisked away in a transporter, and finds himself with Weyoun on a Dominion vessel. The Vorta tells him that in fact he HAS been working for the Founders, but now he has been compromised. Bashir, still simply can’t remember any such programming.  Soon after though the Defiant arrives, and Kira and Worf beam over to rescue Bashir. When he’s back on the Defiant though, he is treated as a prisoner.  The crew has turned against him. When even O’Brien literally turns his back on Bashir, Julian reaches out to turn Miles back to him, and realizes that O’Brien doesn’t have the shoulder injury he just treated the day before. Everything disappears and a black-clad Sloan is standing with Julian in a holodeck. Sloan explains to Bashir that he runs a branch of Starfleet intelligence called “Section 31” and all of this has been to confirm Bashir’s loyalty for recruitment into the covert organization.

 Sloan promises Bashir will see him again. Back on DS9, Bashir realizes he’s been gone since the morning he woke up (which was actually after just an hour’s sleep to keep him off balance).  Sisko makes inquiries to Starfleet about Section 31, and the admiralty will neither confirm nor deny their existence. Sisko and Bashir decide they want to infiltrate this organization, so if 31 comes calling again, Sisko advises Bashir to join.

The introduction of something that will become a major plot point throughout the rest of Star Trek. Section 31 will of course continue to appear in DS9 for the rest of the show, we will find out they were already operating in the Earth Starfleet in the 2150s during “Enterprise.” Section 31 is responsible for thawing Khan and trying to provoke a war with the Klingon Empire in “Star Trek Into Darkness.” And finally, the existence and actions of S31 play heavily into the second season of “Discovery.” The Kafka-esque feel of this entire episode is perfect, even if it seems like this is something they would generally do to Miles for the annual “let’s screw with O’Brien” episode. Bashir is a perfect choice though- well placed, genetically engineered, has already made friends with men like Garak, and someone who replicates espionage on the holosuite. Can’t overstate how perfect William Sadler is as Sloan either. It’s a pointed discussion. A utopia like the Federation may not be able to exist without someone behind the scenes doing the wrong things for the right reasons.  At least one of out main crew would never do that, right?

“In the Pale Moonlight,” is told entirely as a personal log entry from Benjamin Sisko. He is talking about how “it all went wrong” when he posted a casualty report; the Federation/Klingon alliance is not doing well against the Dominion. Talking with Dax, he realizes they need to get the Romulans to break their non-aggression pact with the Dominion and come into the Alpha Quadrant alliance. Sisko is convinced that the Founders plan to invade Romulus when the main war is done, but will need proof to get the Romulans to act. He approaches Garak to see if anyone can get such records off of Cardassia, but Garak reports back that the Dominion has killed every operative he still as contact with on Cardassia. 

 Garak suggests faking the proof; he can get a blank Cardassian data rod, and he knows a forger who could build a holo program to demonstrate the “briefing” regarding turning toward Romulus. Sisko is resistant…until another casualty report comes, and Sisko realizes perhaps the ends do justify the means. They proceed with the plan which keeps having moral red flags pop up, but finally convince a Romulan senator to stop at the station and see the “evidence.” The senator analyzes the data and discovers the forgery. He leaves, potentially to tell his government that the Federation tried to trick them into the war, likely leading them to join the Dominion. The senator’s shuttle explodes on the way home, and the Romulans discover the forged rod, believing it to be real and the reason the Dominion destroyed the shuttle. Sisko knows it was Garak who killed the senator (and the forger on the side) and had really planned this from the beginning. But when the Romulans attack the Dominion, Garak tells Sisko they may have saved the Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was one senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet Officer. 

Sisko closes out the dictation of his log:

“So… I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover up the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But most damning of all… I think I can live with it… And if I had to do it all over again… I would. Garak was right about one thing – a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it…Because I can live with it…I can live with it. Computer – erase that entire personal log."

I know I say this more than once during this show but: Holy shit. First there’s Avery Brooks’ performance throughout the episode. As he dictates the log he is just mesmerizing to watch. Andrew Robinson as Garak of course is fantastic. This is of course the origin of the internet meme “It’s a FAAAAKE!” from Senator Vrenek. 

And the moral conundrum is really captivating. This is an episode a lot of DS9 detractors use to point out how antithetical they believe DS9 is to “Gene Roddenberry’s vision.” I would argue they forget that classic Trek had many of the same tropes. Watch “Errand of Mercy” and how quickly Kirk and Spock are willing to risk the lives of what they believe to be simple peasants in order to stymie the Klingons. Or “A Private Little War” where Kirk provides rifles to a stone age tribe so the can fight a proxy war against a side supported by the Klingons. Kirk referring to himself as a “soldier” or his line from “A Taste of Armageddon,” “We can admit that we’re killers, but we will not kill today.” Yes, Trek offers a positive view of humanity’s future, but it also uses its science fiction setting to examine the human condition without ever saying humans are perfect. There is no way to examine the human condition without examining what we as a species are willing to do in war. As someone who still periodically has to assess what I did defending my county (and more than once found myself not meeting my own ethical standards) I appreciate Trek asking us to do that, asking us to take a look at ourselves, what we have done, and what we can live with.  I can live with it. I will learn to live with it.

Will you?

“His Way” introduces us to Bashir’s new holosuite program, a swinging 60’s Vegas club and lounge singer named Vic Fontaine. The AI in the program is remarkably astute and quickly sums up everyone Bashir introduces to “Vic.” Even Odo becomes intrigued when Vic looks at he and Kira, begins to ask about their status but shies away. Odo begins to go the holosuite to ask Vic for advice on Kira.

 They run through a series of exercises to help Odo learn to be “smooth,” and eventually program another 60s character, a torch singer based on Kira. Vic actually on his own reaches out to Kira to tell her to be in the holosuite to have dinner with Odo, and tells Odo that they are working with the hologram again.  The two are having a wonderful date when Odo begins to lament that this isn’t the real Kira. When he find out it is he storms out. The two of them meet on the promenade and begin to argue about whether or not they should try it again. “Well then after dinner, I suppose I should try to kiss you then!” Odo shouts. “Maybe!” Kira counters. “Why wait, maybe I should just kiss you now!” “Maybe you should!” and he does.  After five years of mooning over her, Odo and Kira have finally come together.

Oh. MY. GOD. How frickin’ sweet.  This episode is simply adorable, and the whole scene with them on the promenade is just lovely.  Always good to see your OTP (that’s internet talk- “one true pairing”) made canon.  It is just about damn time, and their joining is perfectly executed.  Also, my sincere and heartfelt thanks to whomever on the DS9 writing staff decided we needed to see Kira in a slinky 60s dress perform “Fever” while laying coquettishly across the piano Odo was playing. I just can’t thank you enough for that. 

From the larger Trek standpoint though, we are beginning to deal with questions on the sentience of AI.  Yes, The Doctor over on “Voyager” would seem to have been “awake” long enough to gain a self-awareness, but is Vic simply a hologram, or are these “lightbulbs” a new lifeform as much as Data was on TNG? There are some big SF philosophical questions going on behind this delightfully romantic episode.  

NEXT VOYAGE: Ancient Bajoran prophecy comes back into play as it is Prophet vs. Pah-Wraith in “The Reckoning.”

[sigmalied]

Sig’s Anthem Review

Verdict

BioWare’s Anthem is a genuinely fun and engaging experience that sabotages itself with myriad design, balance, and technical oversights and issues. It is a delicious cake that has been prematurely removed from the developmental oven - full of potential but unfit for general consumption in this wobbly state. Anthem is not a messianic addition to the limited pantheon of looter shooters because it has somehow failed to learn from the well-publicized mistakes of its predecessors. 

Am I having fun playing Anthem? Absolutely. Does it deserve the industry’s lukewarm scores? Absolutely. But this is something of a special case. The live service model giveth and taketh away; we receive flexibility in exchange for certainty. Is Anthem going to be the same game six months from now? Its core DNA will always be the same, but we’ve already begun to see swift improvements that bode well for the future. 

Will my opinion matter to you? It depends. When I first got into looter shooters I was shocked at how much the genre clicked with me. They are a wonderful playground for theory crafters, min/maxers, and mathletes like myself who find incomparable joy in optimizing builds both conventional and experimental by pushing the limits of obtainable resources ad infinitum. The end game grind is long and at times challenging as you make the jump to Grandmaster 1+ difficulty in search of top-tier loot to perfect your build. This is what looter shooters are all about.

If you don’t like the sound of that, you’ll probably drop Anthem right after finishing its campaign. But if you do like the sound of that, you might find yourself playing this game for years.

TL;DR: This game is serious fun, but is also in need of some serious Game & UI Design 101. 

I wrote a lot more about individual aspects of the game beneath the read more, if you’re interested. I’ve decided not to give the game a score, I’m just here to discuss it after playing through the campaign and spending a few days grinding elder game activities. There are no spoilers here.

Gameplay

The Javelins are delightful. I’ve played all four of them extensively and despite identifying as a Colossus main I cannot definitively attach myself to one class of Javelin because they’re all so uniquely fun to play and master. Best of all, they’re miraculously balanced. I’ve been able to hold my own with every Javelin in Grandmaster 1+. Of course, some Javelins are harder to get the hang of than others. Storms don’t face the steep learning curve Interceptors do, but placed in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, both are equally as destructive on the battlefield. 

I love the combo system. It is viscerally satisfying to trigger a combo, hearing that sound effect ring, and seeing your enemy’s health bar melt. Gunplay finally gets fun and interesting when you start obtaining Masterworks, and from there, it’s like playing a whole new game. 

Mission objectives are fairly bland and repetitive, but the gameplay is so fun I don’t even mind. Collect this, find that, go here, whatever. I get to fly around and blow up enemies while doing it, and that’s what matters. Objectives could be better, certainly. Interesting objectives are vital in game design because they disguise the core repetitive gameplay loop as something fresh, but the loop on its own stays fresh long enough to break even, I feel.

The best part is build flexibility. Want to be a sniper build cutting boss health bars in half with one shot? I’ve seen it. Want to be a near-immortal Colossus wrecking ball who heals every time you mow down an enemy? You can. There are so many possibilities here. Every day I come across a new crazy idea someone’s come up with. This is an excellent game for build crafters. 

But... why in the world are there so few cosmetic choices? A single armor set for each Javelin outside the Vanity store? A core component of looter shooters has always been endgame fashion, and on this front, BioWare barely delivers and only evades the worst criticism by providing quality Javelin customization in the way of coloring, materials, and keeping power level and aesthetics divorced. We’re being drip-fed through the Vanity store, and while I like the Vanity store’s model, there should have been more things permanently available for purchase through the Forge. Everyone looks the same out there! Where’s the variety? 

Story, Characters, World

Anyone expecting a looter shooter like Anthem to feature a Mass Effect or Dragon Age -sized epic is out of their mind, but that doesn’t mean we have to judge the storytelling in a vacuum. This is BioWare after all. Even a campaign that flows more like a short story - as is the case with Anthem - should aspire to the quality of previous games from the studio. Unfortunately, it does not, but it comes close by merit of narrative ambience: the characters, the world’s lore, and their execution. 

(For a long time I’ve had a theory that world building is what made the original Mass Effect great, not its critical storyline, which was basically a Star Trek movie at best. Fans fell in love because there were interesting people to talk to, complicated politics to grasp, and moral decisions to make along the way.)

While the main storyline of Anthem is lackluster and makes one roll their eyes at certain moments or bad lines, the world is immediately intriguing. Within Fort Tarsis, sophisticated technology is readily available while society simultaneously feels antiquated, echoing a temporal purgatory consistent with the Anthem’s ability to alter space-time. Outside the fort, massive pieces of ancient machinery are embedded within dense jungles in a way that suggests the mechanical predates nature itself. The theme of sound is everywhere. Silencing relics, cyphers hearing the Anthem, delivering echoes to giant subwoofers… It’s a fun world, it really is. 

As for the characters… they might be some of the best from BioWare. They feel like real people. Rarely are they caricatures of one defining trait, but people with complex motives and emotions. Some conversations were boring, but the vast majority of the time I found myself racing off to talk to NPCs as soon as I saw yellow speech bubbles on the map after a mission. And don’t even get me started on the performances. They are golden.

The biggest issue with the story is that it’s not well integrated with missions. At times it feels like you’re playing two separate games: Fort Tarsis Walking/Talking Simulator and Anthem Looter Shooter. And the sole threads keeping these halves stitched together during missions - radio chatter - takes a back seat if you’re playing with randoms who rush ahead and cause dialogue to skip, or with friends who won’t shut the hell up so you can listen or read subtitles without distraction. I found it ironic that I soloed most of the critical story missions in a game that heavily encourages team play.

Technical Aspects: UI & Design 

This is where Anthem has some major problems. God, this category alone is probably what gained the ire of most reviewers. The UI is terrible and confusing. There are extra menu tabs where they aren’t needed. The placement of Settings is for some inane reason not located under the Options button (PS4). Excuse me? It’s so difficult to navigate and find what you’re looking for. It’s ridiculously unintuitive.  

Weapon inscriptions (stat bonuses) are vague and I’ve even seen double negatives once or twice. They come off as though no one bothered to proofread or edit anything for clarity. Just a bad job here all around. And to make matters worse, there is no character stat sheet to help us demystify any of the bizarre stat descriptions. We are currently using goddamn spreadsheets like animals. Just awful. 

The list goes on. No waypoints in Freeplay. Countless crashes, rubber banding, audio cutouts, player characters being invisible in vital cutscenes, tethering warnings completely obscuring the flight overheat meter… Fucking yikes. Wading through this swamp of bugs and poor design has been grueling to say the least. 

And now for the loot issues. Dead inscriptions on gear; and by dead I mean dead, as in “this pistol does +25% shotgun damage” dead (this has been recently patched but I still cannot believe this sort of thing made it to release). The entire concept of the Luck stat (chance to drop higher quality loot) resulting in Luck builds who drop like flies in combat and become a burden for the rest of the team. Diminishing returns in Grandmaster 2 and 3; it takes so long to clear missions on these difficulties without significant loot improvement, making GM2 and GM3 pointless when you could be grinding GM1 missions twice as fast. 

At level 30, any loot quality below Epic is literal trash. Delete Commons, Uncommons, and most Rares as soon as you get them because they’re virtually useless. I have hundreds of Common and Uncommon embers and nothing to do with them. Why can’t we convert 5 embers into 1 of the next higher tier? Other looters have already done things like this to make progression omnipresent. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, BioWare. It’s already been done for you. 

When you get a good roll on loot, the satisfaction is immense. But when you don’t, and you won’t 95% of the time, you’ll feel like you’ve wasted hours with nothing to show for it. We shouldn’t be spending so much time hunting for useful things, we should be trying to perfect what’s already useful.

It’s just baffling to think that Anthem had the luxury of watching the messy release of several other looter shooters during Anthem’s development, yet proceed to make the same mistakes, and some even worse. 

Nothing needs to be said about visuals. They are stunning, even from my perspective on a base PS4.

Sound design is the only other redeeming subcategory here. Sound design is amazing, like the OST. Traditional instrumentals meet alien synth seamlessly. Sarah Schachner is a seriously talented composer. 

I’m just relieved to see the development team hauling ass to make adjustments. They’ve really been on top of it - the speed and transparency of fixes has been top-notch. They’re even working on free DLC already! A new region, more performances from the actors... I’m excited and hopeful for the future. 

[randomnessunicorn-imagine]

✬ SCENARIOS / PREFERENCES: SECOND MEETING ✬

「 Star Trek DS9 x Neutral! Reader Drabbles  」

{ Every drabble has its plot so I recommend to read the first part and then this one. There will be other parts, of course. Leave a like and share if you appreciate! }

PART 1: http://randomnessunicorn-imagine.tumblr.com/post/181721362583/scenarios-preferences-first-meeting-with-the

🌟  Benjamin Sisko  🌟

The commander was a brilliant man and you liked spending time with him.

Not many days had passed but, thanks to your mild and friendly personality, it was not difficult to earn Sisko's friendship. You were grateful and you did not regret even one moment of the decision you made. This space station was not bad at all, on the contrary, it intrigued you, you were very curious and impatient for something that was about to happen.

"What kind of feeling did you mean last time? By the expression on your face, I wouldn’t say it was a normal feeling.” He said, drinking his coffee.

"Yes, I'm doing research, I’ve not still found anything concrete... That feeling helped me, it brought me here." You answered, making Sisko even more curious.

"Really? Explain that to me, please.” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

You looked him in the eye and knew that you could trust him, maybe you should not have confessed this secret, but you read in his eyes sincerity and curiosity. You smiled, nodding.

"Well, you know? I am for a quarter betazoid, my grandmother was and even my mother has developed some kind of mental powers... Very strange.“ You explained, smiling shyly.

The commander was amazed by your confession but he did not understand how this could have anything to do with your job.

"I would never have said that, now I'm more confused than before." He nodded, taking another sip of coffee.

"I know… It's absurd. My telepathic abilities are not very developed, I have never been very capable to handle it. I have always defined myself as a simple human being.” You explained, sighing, "But sometimes I perceive, I mean, I feel things. Feelings, like the feeling that brought me here. I would define it as a kind of... Invitation." You said, staring at the emptiness inside your empty cup of tea.

"That’s why you’re here. As if, it were a sort of premonition…?” He asked, confused but fascinated at the same time.

"Exactly! That's it. I often see future events during the night, I perceive emotions that do not belong to me, these sensations remain for a long time. This one in particular, it is tormenting me.” You explained, sighing.

"I understand. It's strange. So the only logical explanation you have about your ability is that it can be related to your grandmother. You have developed betzoid telepathic abilities in ways others have never had.” Sisko said, truly interested in what you said.

"You are very perspicacious, commander. I believe it is so but I don’t have a more rational explication. It happened even when I was a child and very often, my visions came true. It's scary." You said.

"And this feeling about the space station worries you?" He asked.

"I don’t know, it's a positive but alarming feeling as well. Something extraordinary is about to happen but then... " you have explained but you are stuck, you were hit by a terrible headache.

Sisko, worried about your safety, was about to call the doctor when he was called by his first officer who told him that a mysterious wormhole was just appeared in space.

.

🌟  Julian Bashir  🌟

A new day begun and the doctor was already in his sickbay waiting for his patients. He hoped it was going to be an interesting and curious day, not that he hoped people would get sick, but he did not like to be bored.

Today, new staff would come to the station, including new members of the medical staff like nurses and scientists, so he was content and he could not wait to know his new colleagues.

At that moment, his thoughts were interrupted by the mechanical sound of the door opening.

"Good morning, Doctor Bashir." A familiar voice spoke, but he was turned and so he did not recognize the person, but it was a lovely voice, he smiled.

"The visiting time has not started yet..." he said, turning around and a surprised expression appeared on his face.

"Are you okay?" You asked and in fact, the owner of that charming voice was you, the person he had met yesterday.

"Yes, I guess you're not here for a check-up." He asked, smiling.

"No, fortunately I have no health problems. I'm the new nurse, but I think I don’t have to introduce myself." You told him, giving him the PAD with your professional information.

He had not read anything about his colleagues because he loved the surprises and now he was really intrigued.

"Oh, I didn’t imagine you were part of the new staff. You didn’t tell me." He said, smiling.

"No, I wanted to surprise you, did I succeed?" You asked in a playful tone.

"You did it! Welcome to Deep Space 9." He said, nodding happily.

"It’ll be a pleasure to work with you." You said, smiling tenderly.

"No, pleasure’s mine.” and he smiled too.

His day could not start better than that and he was sure, next days would be even better.

.

🌟  Kira Nerys  🌟

You spent two days in prison, it was not a great stay and you were really worried for your little sister.

Actually, you were not alone in this space station because you were with your uncle and your younger sister. Your uncle could not be defined as an honest, nice and altruist person. He was the definition of horrible, arrogance and rudeness, so you could not stand him. Your uncle had the bad habit of beating you and your sister, and so many times, you sacrificed yourself and took his violence for her. You just wanted to protect your sister and you could not do it inside a cell.

In fact, you had stolen those gold nuggets for her, to buy something to eat, since your uncle was selfish and so you had to take care of your sister alone.

After 48 hours, you were released even if Kira did not agree and she was afraid you could commit another crime.

Your criminal record was still cleaner than Quark's, the person you robbed, so maybe you had learnt your lesson and she had nothing to worry about.

After your release, you were free to come home and you ran as fast as you could to reach your quarters, hoping your sister was fine but you did not find her anywhere and so you thought she was with your abusive uncle. The only place he could stay was to Quarter’s bar because that man loved gambling.

You found your sister there, she was crying and your uncle was about to slap her in the face when you started screaming.

“You bastard, don’t touch her!” you put yourself between your sister and uncle, taking his slap.

In that moment, the security came and they took you and your uncle, there was also Kira watching and she was not glad to see you there.

“You again, are you searching for new troubles?” she asked, blocking you.

“No, it’s not how it seems, I can explain.” You tried to explain yourself, “I was just defending her, he wanted to beat her, I couldn’t stay here to watch. I didn’t do anything wrong!” you said while your sister was hugging you and crying.

“That little bitch complains and cries all the time, I had to stop her!” your drunk uncle said, and then he was taken away by the security men.

Kira knew you were honest and you were not the guilty one and so she let you go.

“Ok, you’re innocent now but don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did last time!” she said with severity.

“I know, I’m sorry for what I did and I won’t do it again, I’ve not even told you the reason why I stole that gold.” You talked, maybe you needed to vent with someone and you were so desperate that she nodded, sitting with you in a table of the bar.

“Ok, if you want to confess your crime I’m here to listen, but I’m not your friend, I’m giving you the chance to redeem yourself.” She said and then she looked at your sister, maybe she was the reason why Kira decided to give you a chance to explain yourself.

“Thank you, Commander.” You nodded.

Maybe it could not help you to resolve your problem but it could help to heal your nerves from the stress this life gave you.

.

🌟  Jadzia Dax  🌟

You could not forget Dax's beauty so easily, she was the thought that kept appearing in your mind.

Her presence tormented your dreams and your desires. You continued to observe her without ever speaking to her as if you were blocked by a kind of shame, by an irrational fear, perhaps you were afraid of not being enough for a woman like her.

What could you tell her that she did not already know? What experiences could you narrate to her that she had not already lived in her past seven lives? Whatever you had told her, she would have continued to ignore you, finding her PAD more interesting than your words.

You craved her, you wanted to know and love her more than anything else, you knew that this was impossible because the trill race had precise rules on romantic relationships but you wanted to be the exception. Her exception.

You had to be brave and try your luck. This life was an hazard after all and you had to risk it all.

"Hello, do I bother?" You asked Dax, appearing calm but you were so anxious.

Dax remembered you, since she had noticed the way you looked at her and she wondered why you had never talked to her until now. People usually invited her to dinner, everyone was interested in her, but she politely refused all their invitations.

She also observed all your moves, just as you observed her, but she was not sure of your intentions.

After a few seconds, she looked up and looked at you, smiling, and she shook her head.

"No, you’re welcome." her smile was mysterious and fascinating, you would watch her smile for hours but you knew you could not waste any more time.

"I heard you're a Tongo fan, do you want to play with me?" You asked, smiling.

The expression of Dax changed, now she was curious, surprised that you had proposed to play this game.

Maybe you were different from the others, you just wanted to be her friend without ulterior motives or maybe you just wanted to know her. She did not expect it, especially after all the time you spent watching her like a maniac.

Her smile widened and she nodded, "Sure, but I warn you I'm very good at that game, so it will not be easy to defeat me." She replied, putting down her PAD.

Your big chance arrived, you felt so happy that you would jump all over the hall but in the end you just nodded, smiling radiantly, "May I win or lose, it will be a pleasure to play with you, Jadzia Dax." You answered, spelling every letter of her name.

.

🌟  ODO  🌟

Last night was very hard for you, you drowned your sorrows in alcohol and you risked feeling sick. Fortunately, Mr. Odo came before you passed out on Quark’s counter and convinced you to come back to your quarters.

Now that you thought about what happened, you felt ashamed, you did not want anyone to see you in that miserable state but it happened. You were so sad that you did not care about anything anymore, you were still suffering but now you were sober and you regretted what you did. Unfortunately, you knew it could happen again because the wounds in your heart were still bleeding and you might have fallen into the abyss again.

There was something you wanted to do, you wanted to thank that member of the security that helped you yesterday. You have not talked so much with him, but without his help now you would really be sleeping on the floor of the bar, stinking like a drunken bum.

Despite the alcohol and the confusion, you still remembered his face, his austere and cold expression of a strict diligent man, completely loyal to his duty. More people should be like that, you thought, even if you did not know him at all but you trusted him unconditionally, you did not know why. You had to thank him and find some of the honour you lost yesterday.

You dressed and then you came out of your quarters, you looked so different from the sloppy person of last night. Yes, you lost your mind and you kept being afraid, anxious and worried.

Your steps were quick and you walked until you found Odo, he was doing his reconnaissance, so you approached him.

"Good morning, sir!" you said, your voice was shy and then he turned around.

Odo remembered you, but he did not expect to find you here, usually people spoke with him when there was a problem and then his thoughts went to Quark, Odo thought that ferengi had bothered you again.

"Good morning, do you have any problems?" He asked politely.

"No, I'm fine... I wanted to thank you for yesterday, I was in terrible condition. I didn’t want to cause troubles, I'm very sorry. Thank you very much for helping me." You said in a weak voice.

Odo raised an eyebrow, he knew that you were not a bad person and by your insecure voice, he also understood how vulnerable and scared you were.

He nodded, "You do not need to thank me, I just did my duty. I advise you to avoid certain places at night... Well, avoid them every time, actually." He said, looking at Quark's bar with severity, "This station is full of thugs, be careful. "

"Yes, I see. I am grateful that there are people like you who protects this space station. I feel safe, thank you." You said, timidly, and then you showed him a small smile.

Odo was surprised, it was rare that someone thanked him for his job. He realized that you were sincere, he was proud of himself.

Odo just nodded and then returned to his job but he did not forget your words, your smile.

[thekoshertribble]

“Oh, the sound of male ego. You travel halfway across the galaxy and it’s still the same song.” Women of Star Trek Blog Entry #3 “Mudd’s Women”: Eve McHuron

Hi everyone! I’m back. I’ve been looking forward to writing about this episode. Eve McHuron is a great character, and I have a lot to say about her. With that in mind, I’ve broken this blog into 4 parts. It might end up being the longest entry I make so please bear with me.

Part One: Hologram Brides

Ever heard of Picture Brides?

If you haven’t, here’s a quick history lesson: back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, men from China, Korea and Japan immigrated to Hawaii and California in search of work opportunities. Most engaged in hard manual labor, and couldn’t make enough money to go back home. Many of them wanted to marry women from their home countries, so they would have their photograph taken and sent to a matchmaker there. Local families would, with the matchmaker’s help, choose a man they liked and send one of their female relatives over as that man’s bride. These future brides, like their to-be husbands, often made the long journey to seek opportunities they could not find at home.

I know what you’re thinking: okay, great history lesson, but what does this have to do with Star Trek? Well, I’ll tell you. 

When Harry Mudd and his three female passengers are apprehended and taken aboard the Enterprise, Mudd explains they is bound for Ophiuchus III, and that he he “recruits wives for settlers.” Kirk is concerned the women did not come voluntarily, but Eve explains that they are personally motivated : “it’s the same story for all of us, Captain: no men! [My planet] was a farm planet with automated machines for company and two brothers to cook for, mend their clothes...we’ve got men willing to be our husbands waiting for us, and you’re taking us in the opposite direction!” Criminal background aside, Mudd granted these young women with an opportunity they could not turn up - the chance to have a husband, a home, a family of their own, to live a “Little House on the Planetoid” kind of life. Harry Mudd’s passengers, Eve, Ruth and Magda, are essentially like the picture brides of old, (albeit not ethnically.) Although, it might be more accurate to call them “hologram brides” instead.

Part 2: Magda, Ruth and Eve, the Daughters of Lear

English lesson time! Ever read/watched King Lear? Shakespeare’s classic play tells of a elderly mad King Lear and his 3 daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. The first two sisters are greedy, corrupt and power hungry, while Cordelia is kind, forgiving and loyal to her father. Her most notable trait is her honesty - she refuses to over exaggerate her love for her father, as her sisters do.

Now let’s look at Ruth, Magda and Eve. Ruth and Magda, while not necessarily bad people, are more willing to go along with Mudd’s schemes. At his instructions, they seduce various crew members to get information. They also take the Venus drug, which transforms them into beautiful women from their original “ugly” appearances. They are tempted by Mudd’s offers that he will marry them off to rich husbands: “Maggie, I’ll make you a countess. Ruth, I’ll make you a duchess.”

And then, there’s Eve. She immediately stands out for the audience because she is the first to speak. When Mudd and his passengers are escorted from the transporter room to Kirk by Spock, Mudd says some rude things to Spock in the turbolift. Spock, of course ignores it but Eve turns to him and says: “I apologize for what he said, sir. He’s so used to buying and selling people-“ but Mudd cuts her off before she can continue. 

Later, during Mudd’s hearing, Eve explains where she came from (see quote from part one) and why she wanted to leave. Mudd tries to patronizingly calm her down, saying, “fine, Evie, fine” but she cuts him off: “No, it’s NOT fine!” These moments tell us she is not afraid to speak her mind, and she does not accept being pushed aside.

Even more notable is her later (seduction?) scene with Kirk. Mudd sent her to Kirk’s quarters to get information from him. She does a fair job of charming him, and the two share some interesting dialogue too, reflecting some similarities in their characters. But just as Eve tries to kiss him (with Kirk seemingly reluctant to do so) she pulls away and the whole mood changes. She sighs: “Oh, no! Oh, I just can't do it. I don't care what Harry Mudd says. I do like you, but I just can't go through with it. I hate this whole thing!” And with that, she runs from the room, leaving a very confused Kirk behind her.

There’s a lot going on in this scene. (You should go back and watch it, I’m not going to get into it for sake of brevity). But what it tells us is this: Eve has a very strong moral compass. Yes, she likes Kirk, but she won’t seduce him because Mudd told her to.

After leaving Kirk’s quarters she goes to Mudd’s. She finds him there plotting with the Ruth and Magda. She glares at him: “I don’t like you! And I’m not very happy with myself either.” She hates the situation, Mudd for trying to manipulate her, and the part of herself that complied. You have to feel for her - she’s a young woman alone on the frontier, traveling with corrupt strangers to marry another stranger. Like the Picture Brides of old, she’s lonely, desperate, and trying to hold onto her identity. And she has yet to reach her lowest point.

When Kirk is forced to hand the women over to the miners in exchange for dilithium, Eve is the one who can’t adapt. Magda and Ruth practically throw themselves to the men, and are amused when they brawl over their attentions. Eve however, breaks down. Having nothing left to lose, she runs outside into a magnetic storm, practically a death sentence: “why don’t you just run a raffle and the loser gets me?”

Fortunately, Ben Childress, the head miner, finds her passed out and brings her back to his quarters. He puts her on his bed and goes to sleep on a bench. When he wakes he finds her up and about, cooking on his stove. “I ate some of your food so I paid with some chores,” she explains. Childress doesn’t like her food, or her working around the house and complains, but she calmly brushes it off. “Oh the sound of male ego. You travel halfway across the galaxy and it’s still the same song.”

DAMN she didn’t just serve him food, she served him too!

And she proves to be the smarter of the two as well. When Childress says he can’t properly clean the cooking pans without a decent water source, she suggests hanging the pans in the wind to let the sand blast them.

All of these scene snippets tell us what kind of person Eve is: honest, loyal, kind, and clever. Despite her trials she perseveres and refuses to be defeated.

Part 3: Drugs or confidence? (Or...Aliens)

This episode is a bit unusual in that it gives us an ambiguous ending regarding Mudd’s hologram brides, particularly Eve. The Enterprise crew is confused by how intriguing Mudd’s women are. (Seriously, some crew members act like they’ve never seen a woman before - it’s really funny. Spock is super amused.) We get a partial answer through the Venus drug, as we see Magda and Ruth take it and transform from ugly to beautiful.

But with Eve it’s a different story. Mudd gives her the drug, telling her to take it: “it’s not a cheat. It’s a miracle!” But we never actually see her take it. Later, on the mining colony when she is confronted by Kirk, Childress and Mudd, we see her take the drug and transform, but Kirk reveals it wasn’t the drug at all. It was just colored gelatin! Eve is confused, and Kirk simply explains: “there is only one kind of woman. You either believe in yourself or you don’t.”

Okay, so two things:

1. Nice little motivational speech, Kirk

2. But seriously, what just happened?

Right before she takes the “drug” Eve yells at Childress, challenging his idealistic expectations of women: “You don’t want wives! You want this!” She shows him the drug. “I hope you remember it and dream about it, because you can't have it. It's not real!” Then she takes the pill and transforms.

It’s implied that her sudden boost of confidence causes her transformation. Otherwise, she took the colored gelatin pill and experienced the greatest placebo effect in the history of placebo effects...

...but I just can’t quite buy it. Since when has feeling more confident in yourself made you look fantastic in less than 5 seconds? Have you ever woken up, gone to the bathroom and looked at your gross morning face in the mirror saying, “I feel great about myself today,” and BAM you’re all made up for the day? No, of course not! Because that’s not how life works!

The only other explanation I can come up with to explain this phenomenon within the bounds of Star Trek logic is this: Eve is not a human. This is totally possible, considering how many aliens in Star Trek look exactly like humans. So consider this: what if Eve is a humanoid who can control her appearance, consciously or unconsciously? We never actually get a confirmation that she is human, and when McCoy attempts to give her a medical exam, she refuses. So the question of Eve’s transformation still seems open to me. Is it just magical realism or aliens? I really don’t know. Let’s just move on.

Part 4: Final Thoughts

Its implied at the episode’s end that Eve will stay with Childress, or that he wants her to stay, despite his earlier rudeness. I hope that’s not what happened to her. I’ve never cared for Ben Childress, and he certainly doesn’t deserve someone like Eve. I want to imagine that she somehow got off planet and found a husband elsewhere, but with Mudd arrested I think that would be more difficult.

Eve’s character stands out to me because, unlike most of the characters I’ll be writing about in this series, she’s actually rather ordinary. She’s not an officer, a doctor or diplomat. She’s just frontier settler looking for a husband. She’s not trying to explore the final frontier, she’s just trying to live in it. And as this episode demonstrates, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Thank you for reading! It took several days for me to gather my thoughts and write this so please like and share if you enjoyed it. I hope it provided some new perspective on this old episode and I look forward to doing this again.

Next entry: What are Little Girls Made Of?

-ftd

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Kino’s Journey (2003)

Hey, Kino’s Journey is getting another anime! And Funimation is Simuldubbing it! Nifty!

What a good excuse to buy the DVDs for one of my favorite old series, and then review it! Unless I reviewed it already, I honestly can’t remember.

Well, even if I had, what harm can yet another revisit do? There’s always something to learn and examine!

But seriously, this is something I’d recommend to all storytellers. And let me tell you why!

Kino’s Journey is a series built from vignettes within the framing device of the main character wanting to see the world.

Obviously, a framing device isn’t necessary, as Twilight Zone shows.[1] Still, having someone to lend a small element of consistency is good.

However, in a series with a regular cast exploring new worlds and examining, you have to get the degree of that cast just right. If, for example, I find the Captain of the Starship irritatingly uptight and inconsistent with the prime directive, I could find myself too distracted to actually care about the world and story they’re telling.

Which is a shame, because if Star Trek held harder to the Prime Directive and merely acted as observers to alien worlds, intervening only for the sake of self preservation, it’d be more in line with Kino’s Journey and be a much better show.

What makes Kino fascinating isn’t that she preaches the human spirit or cleverly survives adventure, but that she’s a rare example of a True Neutral protagonist.

True Neutral is a difficult character type to write or play, as the chief defining feature of such a character is, well…

True Neutral characters aren’t supposed to make a moral stance, which is a major handicap for generating a motivation. Kiss them, and they have a stone face. Steal from them, and they’ll shrug it off. Stab them, and they’ll just wait to bleed out, right? It’s a motivation for robots.

Well, not necessarily, and fortunately Kino’s Journey tells the best True Neutral-led story in only it’s second episode. A example so stable you can bend horseshoes around it. Seriously, if nothing else, watch the second episode of the 2003 series, because I’m about to dig into it next paragraph.

So, the premise is, while driving through a harsh snow storm, Kino finds three traders stuck and near death, as they’ve run out of food and have consumed their cargo. They’re not in a good position.

Kino is put in a hard position. She’s driven by a desire to see the world while maintaining a non-interference policy, yet if she leaves these three men will die.

So she kills a rabbit for them and feeds them stew. The killing of the rabbit is a further weight, because while she is fine with hunting for her own food, as she understands that the substance that allows her to continue living comes at the price of the rabbit’s life, she isn’t going to eat this rabbit herself, but give it to a third party.

Upon delivering this food to the traders, one of them gifts her a ring as thanks. Suddenly, Kino’s killing of the rabbit has turned into profit, but one of vanity since the ring provides no survival value.[2] Kino accepts it, saying it’ll be her reward for helping.

Over the course of the story, she kills three rabbits, punctuated by draping their hides over a tree branch. So she’s traded three lives for the lives of three strangers.

Anyways, the traders turn out to be slavers, who decide to recoup their loss by selling Kino, which they attempt to do by force. Kino is forced to defend herself, killing the three men she just spent three days trying to save. After which, the narrative makes sure to remind you that, oh yeah, these slavers ate their ‘goods’ to survive long enough for Kino to save them. And shows you the remains.

After which, Kino leaves the ring behind, as she ultimately failed to save the men.

That action, right there, is what makes Kino True Neutral.[3] She accepted the ring under the assumption she’d help the men return home alive, and, though they cannibalized someone they kidnapped and threatened Kino’s life and freedom, Kino technically failed her task, and so forfeited the reward. The whole incident is a wash, but she stills carries a weight as she continues her journey.

Whether she has an opinion on the men’s actions, she was forced to act for her best interests, and didn’t express any moral judgement on the men. She just did what she could with the information she had, with cold detachment.

Which is to say, a True Neutral character can have a motive and even be placed in a moral quandary. Kino’s motivated to see the world and by self preservation. Threaten either of those two, and she’ll be forced into action.[6]

From there, she’s just an observer, which is a great viewpoint character for compilation series. New episode, new location, new cast and story. Only Kino and Hermes to give any continuity.

Hermes is a talking motorcycle. Ah, Anime, right? Well, kind of, but Hermes does fill a crucial role, IE, providing Kino someone to talk to, and be the ignorant companion who Kino can explain to. The fact that he’s a Motorcycle means Kino still gets to cut a lonely silhouette, because by visuals alone, Kino is travelling alone, and Hermes has no autonomy or way to physically interact with the world. Physically, Hermes is just a motorcycle that happens to have consciousness.

Hermes is necessary since, at a bare minimum, you need two for conversation. Even in asides, a character is addressing the audience. When each episode introduces a new setting with new worlds, it’s good to have a way to convey information and character emotions without having Kino turn to the camera, The Office style, and tell us.

Oh boy, the worlds! Well, world, segmented into various countries, which are more of city-states really, but…

Anyways, there’s a low level of surreal magic and vague technological levels. For the most part, the aesthetic is sort of between the two World Wars, but the first episode has autonomous robots and nanobot-enabled mind melding. But that also varies from country to country, and the first episode also shows that geography itself also changes.

Basically, the world is vaguely defined well enough that the viewer is left open to accept whatever premise is needed for the story to function. The stories tend to lean more towards ‘What if’ than outright parables. Sure, there’s a philosophical edge to all of it, but any lessons are for the viewer to interpret. Like its protagonist, the series is content to just observe and not worry about finding answers.

And, like any good compilation series, it’s not afraid to go to dark places. I mean, cannibalism in the second episode is just the start, since we eventually meet a land with a tradition of lobotomising residents as a rite of passage into adulthood, making them happy with whatever job they receive. Refusal means death at the hands of your smiling parents.

Then one country misconstrues poetry from another, and decides to send tanks to wreck the place.

Each episode deserves it’s own analyse, which is outside the scope of my essay. Point is, it’s a good example of going very episodic, telling many different stories, while keeping the framing device within universe.

Though, on a conceptual level, I appreciate Twilight Zone, I never particularly liked it because so often the episode left me feeling uneasy. The protagonist of the episode is so often left in some purgatory. At best, maybe they resolved the conflict, but are left without anyone to believe their tale. At worse, the evil is just as strong or stronger than it was at the start of the episode.

Then, the next episode, a new story. Resolution isn’t common.[7]

Star Trek, meanwhile, has a regular cast who (supposedly) develop over time. But, in the original series, there’s a thick angle of ‘Humanity Prevails’ and uneasing Utopia. There’s a lesson to be learned, and you will learn it.

Kino’s Journey cuts a good middle ground. Consistency with Kino and Hermes, so you have someone to track and to survive whatever the ordeal is. It’s not afraid to show that humanity itself may be the critical flaw, but that it may also be the beauty of the world.

I wanted to discuss compilation series, and I’m not sure how well I did. Still, Kino’s Journey (2003) is great, and I recommend it to everyone. And I was thrilled to see a sequel series appear out of nowhere on Funimation’s Simuldub list. I’d hope it’d be as good as the previous series, but as long as it keeps the same tone and format, that won’t be a struggle.

[THE ‘I WROTE THIS BEFORE THE DUB PREMEIRED’ EDIT: New Kino talks too much, the readaption of Coliseum is atrocious, I have immense reservations]

Thanks for reading. Feel free to send me comments, check out my other work, or possibly support me on patreon.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Even though I still hold on to my theory that Rod Serling is the cornfield kid turned to world hopping to inflict suffering, both as an ironic message and just for evil giggles. [2] Though she could fence it to buy supplies, but that’s still abstract. [3] Okay, there’s an argument for lawful neutral, but I tend to ascribe Kantian Philosophy to that alignment.[4] [4] Utilitarian Philosophies are probably neutral good.[5] [5] CanvasReviews! Comes for jokes about an anime, stay for weird tangents into ethical philosophy! [6] Which means she gets to join Vimes on the ‘characters to study’ list. Just need seven more. [7] I’m betting that, at about this point, Editor Vulpin will try to argue with me.[8] [8] Nope, turns out he wanted to dispute my Star Trek analysis more.

[elliegoose]

Tagged by @eloquentspeeches! Danke sehr

Rules: Answer all questions, add one question of your own and tag as many people as there are questions.

1. Coke or Pepsi: They’re equally good, and there are plenty of sodas that a better than both of them

2. Disney or Dreamworks: Disney

3. Coffee or Tea: TEA

4. Books or Movies: I enjoy both in ways that are too different to be comparable

5. Windows or Mac: Windows. But not out of a sense of superiority. Music programs are just marginally easier to download on Windows. Mac is perfectly fine and I quite like it.

6. DC or Marvel: Eh. I’m not much of a superheros kinda person.

7. Xbox or Playstation: I don’t play console. What do you think i have? Money? Bah!

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I’ve never played either, but Dragon Age looks more fun than Mass Effect.

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Neither. I am a sleep goblin

10. Cards or Chess: Cards

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Schokolade

12. Vans or Converse: Converse, though I’ve never owned a pair. However, I have owned several Vans, and they have all been garbage shoes.

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar: I googled this phrase and all the results were Dragon Age? Unfortunately, in the time between answering question eight and this question, I didn’t start playing any Dragon Age.

14. Fluff or Angst: Fluff, because my heart needs it. I save my being-sad energies for when I’m reading the news and related things. (Because world affairs and politics deeply interest me and I hate myself.)

15. Beach or Forest: The forest, because there are more varieties of forest than of beach.

16. Dogs or Cats: Never make me choose.

17. Clear Skies or Rain: Rain, as long as it’s not constant, or lasts for too many weeks in a row.

18. Cooking or Eating Out: Cooking is wonderful for the activity that is cooking. Dining out is wonderful because I can find food that is far better than anything I could ever make, which I can pay money for instead of spending hours making.

19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: Mmmmedium spice? 

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Christmas/Yule. I like the idea of Halloween far more than I usually enjoy the holiday in any given year. There has only been one time I’ve enjoyed Halloween more than Christmas, and that was years upon years ago. (*ancient man voice* in time immemorial... when i was in middle school... within the last decade.......)

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: A little too cold. I can’t think when I’m too hot.

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Shapeshifting, or possibly something to help me see futures and change outcomes.

23. Animation or Live Action: No preference

24. Paragon or Renegade: I myself am a sweet golden sunshine man, but most of my friends are not and my partner really fucking isn’t, so my sunshineyness is more out of impulse and internal motivation than a lawful morality.

25. Baths or Showers: Showers. I enjoy the concept of baths more than actual baths.

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: I’m pretty apathetic about superheroes. I don’t want to have to think about this enough to... wait, what was their conflict over again? Something about imprisoning other superheros, right? I’ve talked about this before with people. At length, in one conversation. I should remember. Ah well. See, this is pretty illustrative of how much I know about the Avengers franchise.

27. Fantasy or Sci-Fi: Fantasy. I’ve read enough scifi to get thoroughly sick of how many scifi novels use the world as their biggest selling point, to the point where it dominates all other aspects of the story. And digging deeply into a setting, having that be the focus of a book--that’s a great way to speculate on concepts. However, it’s not what I enjoy reading most.

28. Do you have three or four favourite quotes? If so, what are they: To be quite honest, I can never remember quotes and proverbs until they become relevant. At that point, I’ll suddenly remember them, then they will slip back indefinitely into my subconsious until they need to be called upon again. It’s weird. And I am definitely exaggerating the phenomenon, but it’s still a thing that happens to me. It makes answering this question difficult. 

29. YouTube or Netflix: Their purposes are too different (at least in how I use them) for me to want to choose between the two.

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter, but only because I liked it for longer as a small child. I have no love for either franchise anymore.

31. When You Feel Accomplished: When I finish things because I motivated myself to do so, not because I panicked my way through it at the last minute.

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Eh. Both are pretty okay. The worldbuilding in Star Trek makes more sense, but both franchises are still on about the same level for me.

33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: It only depends on how much I love the book (and thus how much money I want to put into it).

34. Handwriting or Typing: Typing, mostly

35. Velvet or Satin: Velvet!

36. Video Games or Movies: Video games, maybe? Again, this is another case of These Two Are So Vastly Different, And Aren’t Fun To Compare And Pick Between For This Reason.

37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon? Both?? Because that would mean more dragons???? Hell yeah??!???!!?!?

38. Sunrise or sunset: Sunsets always

39. What’s your favourite song? I habitually don’t answer this question. Instead, I tell everyone what I’ve been listening to most recently. And those four songs this week have been:  Warrior Concerto by The Glitch Mob  Make This Leap by The Hunts (yes, to all the nobody who noticed, this is the theme song for The Leap podcast on NPR. Damn all who laugh at me. Public radio is good!) Settle for Satin by Alkaline Trio Saints Preservus by Andrew Bird Pls listen to my musics. Links on all the song titles.

40. Horror Movies yes or no: FUCK OFF. DON’T ASK ME THAT. NO.

41. Long hair or short hair: Loooooooong

42. Opera or Theatre: No. Not Choosing.

43: Assuming the multiverse theory is true and every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first?: This is a weird way to phrase the question. Anyway, plop me down on the Discworld. However, it should be noted that if Azeroth wasn’t trying to constantly implode on itself with existential crises and global wars every couple years, I might want to go there, too.

44. Are you scared of thunderstorms? Why?: They Are Loud And Annoying And Should Stop Happening Right Outside My House

45. sleeping in or getting up early?: I love to get up early as long as I feel rested when I do, which is rare

46. Favorite color? Reason why?: Greens. When I was a little lad, I liked blues the most, just because those were my dad’s favorite colors. Over the years, I’ve realized I like greens. However, blues are still wonderful. I own far more blue item of clothing than green ones.

47. Favorite podcasts, and why?: Right now, I’m enjoying My Favorite Murder, and whatever the NPR One app happens to line up for me when I tune in every morning. I also used to be a huge Welcome To Night Vale fan. One day I’ll catch up, but there are so many things slated to be read/listened to/watched before that (don’t even talk to me about webcomics). (This one was my question).

Alright! tagging @theludicrousrival @tracers-scarf @pearsquare @mediocrepresident @petrich0rdia @theangriestlittleunicorn @birras0 @timequaked @daxir @lunarchaoswra. Hello, mutuals! Whether or not we’re actually acquainted, you’re all cool and were in my notifications recently, so you’re getting tagged. No pressure to do this though. Also tagging @thehornedwitch just because she’s that rad, and encouraging anyone who wants to do this who I haven’t tagged to go ahead!