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inthegrimdarkness · 7 years ago

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In order to help out anyone new to the 40k fandom I’ve created a guide to my favorite aspect of 40k, Chaos.

The Warp

The Warp, or Immaterium, is a realm parallel to ours where the laws of the material universe don’t apply. It is where souls go after they die and it is shaped by the collective consciousness of all sentient beings in the universe. Every thought, fear, hope, Dream, and nightmare becomes reality in some way or another within the warp. Psykers draw on the warp to bend the physical universe by essentially merging it with the warp, and as the warp is shaped by thought so does the psyker now shape the physical world with their mind and emotions.

Chaos as a force

Around the time the Necrons and C’tan plunged the universe into near eternal war, humanity began to take shape. Humans, above all other races, have a very malleable and volatile psyche. This, combined with the now near continuous misery of the denizens of the universe, began to take its toll on the Warp. The reflection of the sentient beings became darker, and the beings created in the warp became a reflection of that darkness. Now, the Warp is hideously mutated from what it once was, a festering hellscape filled with eldritch horrors.

Gods

The most powerful beings of chaos, they are created out of the emotions of mortals. As they are each born from singular mindsets, they, while sentient, are entirely single minded and dedicated to one purpose or aspect of the greater force that is chaos. In many ways they represent the corruption of noble virtues, or the reflection of humanity’s deepest fears and darkest hopes. There are thousands of Minor chaos gods and four major ones.

Daemons

Daemons are creatures created by chaos gods to serve their own interests. They are created of warp energy and shaped by the god that creates them. They cannot be killed as they are as eternal as the god that gave them “life”. They, like their god, are entirely single minded and dedicated only to one aspect of chaos or chaos as a whole. Some are mortal champions given near god-like power and immortality in exchange for their service to the dark gods.

Khorne

Khorne embodies the emotions of rage and hatred. His followers collect skulls in his name and relish in unending war. They butcher their foes and are consumed with fiery burning anger. Khorne also represents the corruption of the noble virtues of battle. His followers do not kill indiscriminately. They seek out worthy opponents and leave the weak alone. They will also never try and win through deceitful means, only choosing to fight using their skill and power in a fair battle. But, they are corrupt, and need to prove their battle worth by butchering every foe they find. Khorne is obsessed with blood and skulls, and his followers compete to present their master with the most impressive skull trophies.

Nurgle

Nurgle embodies the despair, suffering and dread of mortals who know they are doomed to die. He represents death, disease, despair, and suffering. His followers spread misery on a full scale, infecting planets with horrible poxes and relishing as their inhabitants die in agony. His daemons and followers look like rotten corpses, diseased and distended with organs spilling out and grotesque horns sprouting from their flesh. He himself, unlike the other gods, truly loves his followers, thinking of them as his children. Thus his followers and daemons regard him as Papa Nurgle. He sees his diseases as gifts that he bestows among the Galaxy, those that embrace his “love” find they do not die or suffer from his diseases, rather they are simply transformed into hideous creatures that please Nurgle. Those that reject his love, however, find they are wracked with suffering as his horrible diseases claw at their innards and doom them to a terrible death. People rejecting his love outrage his followers, who see spreading Contagion as a way to force them to let the maggot king worm their way into their hearts. Accept his love, or die. His daemons and followers, as they are creatures that cause despair, themselves have nothing to be distraught about. They are shielded from despair by the god of despair, and are, despite their morbid appearances, extremely jovial.

Tzeentch

As chaos is in many ways unending volatile change, Tzeentch is in many ways the god that is the truest expression of chaos. Like chaos, his motives and goals are incomprehensible and nonsensical, and he is as likely to work for his own interests as against them. His daemons are known to covertly assist the forces of order as much as be a thorn in their side, so long as it accomplishes some incomprehensible end game. He represents the volatile nature of the universe, and the corruption of noble ambition. The ambition that twists a noble leader into a despotic dictator. The need to change or improve one’s lot in life, using any means necessary. Deceit, treachery, betrayal, all are pawns in Tzeentch’s great schemes. As sorcery is often the most powerful and volatile agent of change, it is the preferred method used by his followers and daemons to achieve their goals.

Slaanesh

The dark prince, she who thirsts, all are names the prince of chaos accepts. He/she was actually created by the Eldar rather than humanity. As their empire became too arrogant and self indulgent, Slaanesh began to take form in the warp. The streets of the Eldar cities ran with blood as they indulged in the most despotic of their whims. With a birth scream that rang through the Warp and killed most Eldar on impact, Slaanesh was born. The god of dark desire, twisted indulgence, ecstasy, perfection, hedonism, and excess. Feeding off twisted fantasies and self gratification, the self obsessed followers of slaanesh crave sensation, and are willing to inflict all manners of horrors upon the world to satisfy their own cravings.

Malal: As chaos is chaotic by nature, without rhyme or reason, it’s followers and gods fight amongst themselves as much as they do the forces of order. Malal, or Malice, embodies chaos’s nature to turn against itself, destruction for the sake of destruction without thought to ones own interests. While most gods fight for some end goal, Malal simply exists to cause anarchy for the sake of anarchy, and despises the other chaos gods even more so than the majority of chaos entities despise each other.

Chaos undivided

Gods, daemons, and the psyches of the mortals that empower them are all part of chaos undivided. Many legions and Warbands see chaos as a force in which the gods and daemons are merely different aspects of the same idea. All of the gods empower and fight against each other. The ambition of a warrior of khorne seeking to change into a daemon prince empowers the god of change and ambition Tzeentch. The perverse pleasure a plague marine takes in death and suffering empower the God of dark pleasure Slaanesh. The blood that flows from the wounds of those carved by Noise Marines empowers the god of blood and violence Khorne. The mounds of dead bodies created by the daemon engines of the Thousand Sons leave flesh for the god of Death and decay Nurgle. The gods are not truly as separate as they themselves would like to think. As such, most chaos sworn warriors do not devote themselves solely to one entity but to the force of chaos as a whole.

#warhammer40k #warhammer #chaos #chaos gods #chaos space marines #nurgle #tzeentch #slaanesh #khorne #daemon

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 3 Review: Clash! Class A vs. Class B!

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This My Hero Academia review contains spoilers.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 3

“You’re not alone.”

Each season of My Hero Academia is structured around a major story arc that ideally brings Izuku Midoriya and company closer to their goal of becoming professional heroes. The anime has a tendency to rotate between arcs that involve rampaging villains or the continued training and competitions between U.A. High’s heroes. “Clash! Class A vs. Class B!” officially kicks off My Hero Academia’s Joint Training Arc, which allows Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A to intermingle with Class 1-B’s students.

Class 1-B has lurked in the background throughout the anime’s first four seasons and a select few characters like Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Itsuka Kendo have already made an impression. A major perk to these episodes is that it’s genuinely exciting to see these familiar faces return. There are so many characters in this anime and it’s not uncommon for someone to vanish and never be seen again or simply get forgotten. It’s reinvigorating for these seemingly abandoned characters to now play major roles and it retroactively makes My Hero Academia’s narrative seem that much bigger since this reunion has been teased since season two.

It’s a big shift to suddenly have the series manage an additional two-dozen characters, but it gives My Hero Academia a restorative burst of energy that helps make this U.A. High material feel more exciting than tedious. This extension to My Hero Academia’s roster does succumb to some exposition that surrounds these characters, but it’s implemented naturally and doesn’t drag “Class A vs. Class B!” to a halt.

Part of the fun with these new characters is that there are definitely Class 1-B students that feel like bizarro versions of some of Class 1-A, but they’re not just a direct reflection of the heroes that we’ve grown to love. These similarities are meant to create tension or camaraderie between the two groups of heroes and there are also individuals like Manga Fukidashi and Kojiro Bondo that feel wholly distinct from anyone out of Class 1-A.

Another compelling wrinkle to all of this is that the focus on Class 1-B is meant to highlight a new group of allies, but the real standout in “Clash! Class A vs. Class B!” is Hitoshi Shinso, from Class 1-C. Hitoshi Shinso first appeared during the height of the Sports Festival when he faced off against Midoriya and it seems that he’s more determined than ever to break through the ranks of Classes 1-A and 1-B. Midoriya can’t wait to see how much Shinso’s powers have improved and this season is already positioning him to play a major role in what’s to come.

“You are not alone,” is a message that’s conveyed to Midoriya in relation to his One For All Quirk, but the sentiment is arguably even more applicable to Hitsho Shinso. He’s welcomed in with open arms and is ready to prove that he deserves this opportunity. He’s from Class 1-C, but his desire to fit in and be the very best is an ideology that’s held by every student at U.A. High.

Hitoshi Shinso seems primed to become an important hero, but the mystery around him should not be underestimated, especially when this season has already introduced concepts like traitors and double-agents. There are obvious similarities between Shinso and Shota Aizawa, right down to their attire, but he also bears a strange resemblance to Tomura Shigaraki. Shinso as Shigaraki’s illegitimate child would be a fascninating development and very on brand with the other ideas that this season is currently exploring.

It’s still very late in the game to introduce a surprise of this level and it’d likely cause more eyes to roll in dismissal than widen in excitement. It also seems highly implausible that U.A. High doesn’t have a competent vetting process to learn about Shinso’s history. Shinso likely isn’t evil, but he should still be a fascinating wild card through this season. His Brainwashing Quirk is the perfect ability for a villain and if he’s not aligned with Shigaraki then he might become his next target because the League of Villains could accomplish a lot with that Quirk.

Shinso’s casual demeanor makes him an early favorite between both classes and he’s turned into a rogue element in this competitive training exercise. Classes 1-A and 1-B are divided into teams of four students, but one group will have Shinso added to their party. This is one of the more interesting elements to the proceedings so far since Shinso can be viewed as a beneficial additional teammate, but also a liability since he’s a hero that no one has any experience working with before. “Class A vs. Class B!” lays out the logistics for this massive competition, but the action doesn’t begin until the episode’s final act when only a few minutes remain.

“Clash! Class A vs. Class B!” is light on combat, but the episode’s strength lies in how it prioritizes this unruly cast of characters. The battles barely begin this week, but the teams are divided in a way that shows off certain Class 1-A students that have increasingly receded into the background, like Momo, Fumikage, and Tsuyu. This arc also wisely separates most of 1-A’s most prominent heroes so that characters like Midoriya, Bakugo, and Iida are all on individual teams and not just grouped together. It’s exciting that this season won’t just spotlight Class 1-B’s heroes, but also some of the worthy underdogs in 1-A.

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An unexpected element to this clash between classes is that many of these characters have lingering trauma from their previous showdown during the Sports Festival. It helps give that old material greater significance now that the fallout from it informs the current relationships in this joint training exercise. I also really love that there’s a callback to the super peaceful School Festival from the end of season four.

Class 1-B recontextualizes this sweet achievement for Class 1-A with the knowledge that Class 1-B’s absurdist pandering play technically won the School Festival. These characters all have legitimate powers and accomplishments to fall back on, but it’s ridiculous in the best way possible that this previous incident of fun and games becomes part of the catalyst that sets 1-A and 1-B at odds with each other when their mock fight begins.

Midoriya is eager to show off his skills and get another shot at Hitoshi Shinso, but he also can’t fully move on from the past. His prophetic One For All dream continues to haunt him and his discussion over the experience with All Might reintroduces the idea that One For All is a Quirk that’s actually sentient, to some extent. The war between “feelings” and “power” is addressed in response to Midoriya’s Quirk and the “impossible dream” that it teases. Midoriya has a decent understanding of this concept, but it’s still a difficult lesson for many heroes to comprehend.

Midoriya is forced to spin in circles with his thoughts, but the biggest insight that both he and All Might reach is in relation to the morbid “Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory.” This is a principle wherein a parent passes down an even more powerful and destructive Quirk to their offspring and that this generational process can be just as much of a way to genetically manipulate and corner the superhero market as it is a way to organically create a family. Children naturally relate to the idea of a character’s legacy living on through their descendants, but the “Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory” takes this same inspiring premise and turns it into an extensive form of brainwashing and manipulation.

Endeavor is in the process of turning his reputation around, but it’s crucial to remember that he’s been candid over how Shoto’s birth was largely just a cruel bargaining tool in his long-running strategy to surpass All Might as the Number One Hero. Both Endeavor and Shoto have grown beyond this point, but this disturbing Quirk theory gains more weight when there are already practical examples in My Hero Academia that can be looked at.

My Hero Academia’s fifth season seems most interested with this principle in relation to the original One For All and All For One, but the theme of “vestiges” is already entrenched in so many aspects of this new season. Hopefully this season will continue to unpack the fine line between creation and destruction and the fluid nature behind the duality of heroes and villains.

“Clash! Class A vs. Class B!” sets up promising developments, but the episode flies by and once the credits start to roll it feels like barely anything has happened. The very beginning of the first fight gets teased, but it’s easy to picture a more efficient version of this installment that actually concludes the first fight and sets up the second. “Class A vs Class B!” covers a lot of the same material from the previous episode when it comes to Deku’s dilemma and it even feels like a recap at times.

Midoriya’s concerns over his connection to One For All also don’t make for the smoothest of transitions into the training material. It’s possible that this episode could have more substance to it if the One For All saga was condensed to last week’s entry or at least heavily reduced here. It’s clearly not the end of that story, but its focus here just drains the rest of the episode’s momentum.

Of course, once it’s clear how long this Joint Training Arc is supposed to last it will be easier to assess the effectiveness of the pacing in these earlier episodes. At this point it’s unclear if season five will cram several battles into each episode or if the plan is to let these encounters properly breathe and devote at least one installment to each battle.

This is inherently part of the problem with training and tournament arcs, but My Hero Academia has gone through this type of material enough times now that they should have a good sense on how to plot out the first half of this season. “Clash! Class A vs. Class B!” is light, fun, and consistently entertaining, but there’s a feeling of emptiness when it’s over.

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This episode is one big reunion between two groups of powerhouses, but these heroes can finally prove how much they’ve grown now that the pleasantries, peacocking, and introductions are over.

The post My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 3 Review: Clash! Class A vs. Class B! appeared first on Den of Geek.

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onimaruxlr · 7 years ago

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Morbid Curiosity Incarnate: A VN Hater's Trip Through Muv Luv Alternative (And Only Muv Luv Alternative)

Warning: Spoilers for the whole dang Muv Luv franchise below, including Extra, Unlmited, Alternative, Total Eclipse, Schwarzesmarken, and probably Exogularity

I hate visual novels. This statement alone probably invalidates whatever I have to say next for some people, and will probably make others question why I paid $40 USD for one. I can't honestly say that I have a good answer to that question.

What I will say, is that I definitely did not go into Muv Luv Alternative blind. Far from it. My first real interaction with the franchise in general is poking around at it after seeing it's rather unique creature designs randomly on the internet, which was shortly before the anime adaptation of the spin-off Total Eclipse began. These creatures, the Beings of Extra-Terrestial origin that are Adverserial to mankind (BETA) have quite a unique look to them. Almost like the midway point between something like the monster design in Silent Hill and the insectoid enemy design in a giant robot anime. For whatever reason they stuck in my brain like a strange artistic splinter.

I would attempt to watch Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse with... mixed results. It was not an anime that was particularly well made. Honestly the most memorable part of it for me in hindsight has been the thumping Koda Kumi opening song. It tries to do a somewhat classical bait and switch with it's opening episodes, transitioning from the idle (but strangely militaristic) lives of well-to-do high society Japanese girls in the 1990s to a nightmarish siege against man-eating invaders in it's first two episodes, but it stumbles in execution. I think this can largely be boiled down to the visual side of the show as the writing is not particularly bad per se. The whole production kind of reeks of a lack of passion, or talent, or both.

My interest waned at that point, until news about another adaptation of supplementary material--this time for the Schwarzesmarken light novels--hit the airwaves. Schwarzesmarken, while not a classic, fared a bit better due to it's different take on the conflict with the freaky alien BETA. This time the story was set closer to the alien's initial invasion, in the 1980s, in an alternate universe East Germany that is isolated from the USSR due to the rapidly expanding borders of BETA territory between them. It's a story heavily flavored with espionage and politics, along with another dose of giant robots vs alien action, that ultimately concludes as a satisfying ride for anyone willing to deal with the... less than tasteful details around how certain female characters and are treated by the East German State Police.

Schwarzesmarken taking place in an entirely different location, with no Japanese characters, in an alternate historical setting elevated my interest in the franchise to a new level. As a matter of habit, I tend to look up details on fictional settings as a pre-bed ritual to help me relax and fall asleep. I've done this before for the worlds of Harry Potter, Star Trek, World of Warcraft, Star Wars, and some time after Schwarzesmarken I started doing it for Muv Luv.

What I found in those character profiles, those timelines, those records of these fictional events really captured my imagination. What became more clear to me as I learned more about the story of the original visual novels that started all was how influential they are. I feel pretty safe in saying that things like Attack on Titan, Re:Zero, and Madoka Magica might not exist without it's influence. Hell, there's a good chance that the novel All You Need Is Kill (which was later adapted into the Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow) got a second wind thanks to the popularity of the Muv Luv Trilogy and the ideas that they stirred up in the minds of the Japanese audience.

It just seemed too interesting, too important, and too intriguing to deny for much longer. Thankfully long before my interest had reached it's apex, a Kickstarter had been run to fund an official English version of the visual novels, and wouldn't you know it, the launch date was right around the corner. It was time to go all in, swallow my disdain for the format, and check this story out in detail. But... maybe not that much detail.

No Time For Love, Dr. Kouzki Here's the broad strokes of what informed a controversial decision I would make when engaging with the franchise in an "official" capacity: the Muv Luv trilogy is the story of Shirogane Takeru, a not particularly unique protagonist in a not particularly unique gal game setting, who after romancing the girls of his choice in the initial part of the story (Extra) then wakes up in a dystopian version of his home town that has been ravaged in an alien invasion. His school is now a UN military base, his classmates, all now military cadets hoping to become pilots of the series flavor of mecha, the Tactical Surface Fighter, to fight the menace that has already killed around 84% of humanity's population. He also enlists, not really sure what else to do, and gradually starts to mature into a soldier with a desire to help retake Earth so that humanity might live to see another day.

He fails.

He ends up looping back to the beginning of his experience in this strange alternative (eh? eh???) world trying again, with his resolve hardened.

The game is split into three chapters: the typical gal game harem full of hi skool hijinks (Extra), the initial sci-fi story (Unlimited) and the conclusion of said story (Alternative). I didn't play Extra because frankly, gal games bore me to tears. The setups are so cliche, the characters act so ridiculously, they're so melodramatic and overly drawn out, there's just... no part of it that appeals to me, typically speaking. Maybe if they were all 4 hours long maximum, with more (better) art assets and more branching story arcs, but that's not what most of them, are. And Muv Luv Extra is in no certain terms a typical ass gal game. The original release was actually pornographic, which might have contributed to it's relative lack of notoriety in the west. Extra might be better written than most, with consistent and well thought out characterization, but nothing that happens in it was of any interest to me. At all. I'm not the type who enjoys comical harem romance anime, or breezy slice of life stories unless they're particularly hillarious. Muv Luv Extra did not cut that particular mustard.

The fact that you have to play Extra (TWICE) to unlock Muv Luv Unlimited was part of the reason that I didn't play it, either. The other reason is that... well frankly, Unlimited is about 6 parts prelude, 4 parts progress. It shows the story of the world invaded by the BETA far, far away from the front lines. The characters never actually engage enemy forces. You never even catch a glimpse of what the aliens look like. From a narrative standpoint, Unlimited serves a singular purpose: it sets up a deadline, and it sets up stakes. Going into Alternative after playing Unlimited sets you up with the knowledge that if you don't do things significantly different this time around, humanity is more or less doomed.

I just didn't want to spend hours of my time going through that phase of setting up the stakes. Although in this case, I did watch a Let's Play of certain portions of it, skipping through any scenes that seemed particularly inconsequential. There are bound to be people who think that skipping over bits of characterization is heresy, and to be honest, I'd normally agree with them. I'm one of those people who sees red whenever a story is criticized for being too episodic, with character development taking prominence over not progressing the plot. What's wrong with spending a little EXTRA (eh? eh?) time with characters that you like? Well, to be frank, this simply isn't the format for that. That kind of casual engagement would probably not bother me as much in a TV show or a comic, but in a VN it feels like a chore. Part of the problem is the reams and reams text; even the top examples of the medium often are criticized by fans as being a bit overwritten.

So when Muv Luv Alternative launched on Steam, it was time to push past my reservations about the genre, push past the reservations other people would have with me starting with the final chapter of the trilogy, and see if my interest in the setting that was stoked by reading Wikia entries would translate into enjoying a visual novel.

You Don't Know Me, But I Know You Oddly enough my tenuous grasp of the events in both Extra and Unlimited added weird element of immersion to the story, considering that when the protagonist awakens at the beginning of Alternative, he doesn't really quite have his full memory of past lives intact. He does have certain broad details down, which he decides to use as a means to further his agenda of saving this world. After all, he knows it's future to a degree, and if he can change it for the better, maybe mankind isn't doomed. In a parallel fashion I knew a lot of unconnected nebulous details from watching that Let's Play and reading online, so together, we set out to change humanity's ignoble fate.

The first part of the story plays out a bit like that certain type of fantasy fiction: the "proficiency gained through supernatural means" gimmick that (initially) allows the hero to succeed with relative ease. Takeru breezes through his harsh military training, looking for little ways to push the world towards a more positive outcome. This part of the story is well done because it is thankfully brief, given that it is largely treading over past events while Takeru tries (somewhat unsuccessfully) to keep the fact that he knows the future a secret from almost everyone he knows.

Things don't really start to diverge until around chapter 6, which sees the mad scientist at the core of all the story's major events, Kouzuki Yuuko, start to take Takeru's claims of far flung future knowledge more seriously. This is where an element that will be in the background of the story from this point on starts to become more tangible; the mechanics of how Takeru is living out these different lives, and how he carries information back and forth. It's clever play on the fairly typical device of playing through different routes in these types of stories, and one that will yield devastating results later, but sometimes feels a little navel gaze-y and superfluous, at least at these early points.

The first major deviation from the events of Unlimited is a coup d'etat being carried out in Japan's capital by rebel forces who resent the UN and the US's involvement in Japanese politics. This event taps into one of the elements that makes the setting of Muv Luv so interesting; the way that, in this world where humanity is threatened by an alien species, political differences don't just go away magically. This is partly because the threat is distributed unevenly; the initial alien invasion is in western China, and for the most part radiates out from that point. In essence, the history of the BETA invasion is about mankind watching their neighbors get eaten because they would rather reserve their strength to fight when the enemies arrive at their own borders, despite the gradual increase in strength it would mean for their eventual foes. You could almost say that it's a condemnation of the isolationist policies, except for the fact that whenever there is international cooperation, it's muddied with brinksmanship, manipulation, currying of favors, forced bearing of debt, and all kinds of other political shenannigans.

There are times when Alternative invites the same criticisms people (usually non-Japanese people)have cast on Isayama Hajime's Attack on Titan, of glamorizing a highly militarized vision of an Imperialistic Japan. And while there is certainly an air of hoo-rah patriotism to the depiction of the Empire of Japan depicted in the story, much like the above manga (whose author has cited Muv Luv as inspiration) it's not quite so cut and dry. Takeru, who is originally from a Japan that is functionally the same as ours, has trouble relating to the intense patriotism that has been born from 30 years of warfare against an alien race. The rebellion mentioned in the previous paragraph is depicted as being carried out by people who are trying to do the right thing for Japan because they care about their country, but the game never fails to point out the fact that they are indulging in political quarrels against their fellow countrymen while hordes and hordes of Brand X Zerg are waiting on the Asian mainland to come and eat them all alive. Even the Americans, who are frequently presented as opportunistic, overbearing, and self-interested to the detriment of all around them are depicted less as hand-wringing supervillians and more convinced that their way is the right way, regardless of the cost (especially if they don't have to pay). It's not exactly nuanced, but it is definitely multi-textured. Personal interpretations may vary, but I think it's fair to say politics in Muv Luv are complicated enough to not be as simple as "Japan roolz; Not-Japan droolz."

Komm, süsser Tod 2: Organic βoogaloo Once the detour into world-building and character-building via human VS human conflict wraps up is when Alternative officially enters into fully unknown territory. And hoo, boy, is it a doozy. I won't go into particulars about what happens at this point, but Alternative does something interesting from a narrative standpoint: it shows that character development is not necessarily a straight line. In so many stories that's the case, which is understandable since time economy is always a concern, but in this one instance, the endless verbosity of visual novels offers something unique: it offers a character a moment of total, understandable relapse into a earlier, more loathsome state of being.

Something bad happens to Takeru in this part of the story. It ends up torpedoing all the confidence and determination that he had built up through his "past lives" and makes him question his chosen mission of saving this warfare ravaged alternate world. Even worse is his response; by indulging in self pity and trying to escape what's happened, he causes a spiral of bad karma that follows him around like a monstrous, man-eating ball and chain, amplifying his misery time after time. It's only after he's confronted by multiple flavors of existential dread and suffering that he comes to the realization that he has to deal with what has happened. Once again, the story's meta-textual use of looping timelines and alternate branches comes into play here, acting as a metaphysical slap in the face that forces Takeru to overcome the terrible things that happened or risk exponentially worse events spiraling outward from his own poor choices. I'm sure a lot of people would find this section to be grim to the point of distasteful, but for me, the mixture of space-time fuckery, personal tragedy, and metatextual determination comes together in a way that is quite frankly, some real riveting shit. It was at this point that I was pretty sure my forty dollars was well spent. But the fun (?) is far from over.

Eishi gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses At this point, the narrative elements of the story kick into high gear. Takeru and his supporting cast are now officially commissioned giant robot pilots in the UN military, and join a special operations team under the direct management of the aforementioned mad scientist and executive officer, Kouzuki Yuuko.

I'd like to take a second to talk about Yuuko in particular. To me, she is arguably the second most important character in this saga. Sure it's Takeru's story, and other characters that I won't mention by name because this essay is too long already are major factors, but Yuuko is the one that gets my attention, and it's not just because she's a sexy lady in a lab coat. There are no shortage of "magnificent bastards" in fiction who are depicted as all-knowing, all-seeing, all-planning cutthroat manipulators who will do whatever it takes to win. I honestly think, at least as far as my immediate memory goes, Yuuko might top them all. While she comes across as a technobabble-spouting sassy older lady most of the time, there is an underlining theme to her character where she is the one doing the real "dirty work" in this conflict. And yet in spite of the morally repugnant things she reveals whenever she feels like testing Takeru's resolve, there is an inescapable feeling for both Takeru and the reader that her actions are necessary evils. She makes Ozymandias from Watchmen look like a Scooby Doo villain, and you accept it, because it's not about some vague notion of the Cold War escalating (which never even happened in real life); humanity is on the brink of extinction, and if it's going to take a few heinous actions by a seemingly ruthless mad scientist to keep the human race alive... who is anyone to argue against her?

Also introduced at this point are the girls who consist of the rest of Takeru's squadron, who are somewhat cheekily pulled in from other visual novels published by game's creators. This part is weird for me on a few levels. Firstly, I like the designs of these girls a lot more, because their characters were designed by an artist other than the person responsible for Muv Luv's primary cast, which is full of hyper anime-stylized razor sharp haircuts and facial features. But there is a part of me that turns up his nose a little bit at this kind of naked service to fans who have played other games by the publisher. It'd be one thing if they were just faces in the crowd, but all of them have pretty fully developed personalities that are on display, and I can't help but think of this part of the game as "Meet our expanded roster of lovely âge heroines; wouldn't you like to pick up the games they are from and get to know them better?" That being said, I've been guilty of indulging in this kind of fan service in other venues, so I can't bring myself to wholeheartedly condemn their inclusion, especially since I generally like them more than Takeru's own classmates!

There is one other character who gets introduced at this point, whose existence essentially splits Takeru's attention in two: by day he's the TSF piloting ace with extra lifetimes of experience creating masterful military manuevering, and by night... he's dealing with this character. I won't go into details about what the deal is, but I will say this: Muv Luv is, at it's core (in case the title didn't tip you off) a love story. In spite of all the aliens, and politics, and giant robots, and cross-dimensional intrigue, it is a love story in the same way that the original Macross is a love story... but even moreso. And while I generally roll my eyes at love stories, the way that this character is handled, and the events around them and how they interact with all the other aspects of the game I mentioned... well, I might not be their biggest fan, but their contribution to the story is pretty damn valuable.

If you're going to war, fight with bows, spears, and swords At this point the game is poised to enter it's final stretch. A few additional heartbreaks are thrown on the pile, along with a plot twist that ensures humanity's doom if immediate action isn't taken. The final battle is launched, and if it isn't won, mankind will be extinct either by the hand of strange aliens or through their own desperation in short order.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the specifics about what happens at this point, because it's probably the part of the game that has the most lavish production values, so you should probably check it out if you're at all interested. What I will talk about is a realization that I came to once the game was over.

After a blowout ending and a few last plot twists of the knife, there is an epilogue to the game that functionally flashes back to the harem hijiinks of Extra. And when I got to this part I was baffled with what I was seeing because... I had just sat through the story about a desperate push for our species' survival against hostiles from beyond the stars that cost a man a few of his friends and several shards of his sanity. Why are you showing me this anime nonsense? Why do I care who woke up in who's bed? Do you expect me to believe that there would be fifty new transfer students on the same day? Why!? What?! Who!?

But after thinking on it for a while I came to realize that, as far as I can understand, the game was showing you a "happy ending." A version of the events far removed from alien menaces or political strife. A world where Takeru didn't have to become a battle hardened veteran trying to save the world. Instead he can be... some fucking goober who has like twenty chicks fighting over him for inconceivable reasons. Hm. This doesn't seem right. Shouldn't I be happier? Shouldn't I be glad that there's less gloom and doom?

Looking back at it all, the thing that got me interested in Muv Luv as a whole was... morbid curiosity. First it was being impressed with the freaky alien designs. Then it was interest in the detailed, but dreadful alternate timeline of events that unfolded since the BETA invasion. And finally, by actually playing Alternative, I got a front row seat for one man's persistent cross-dimensional psychic trauma. And when that was over... I didn't care anymore. I don't care which girl he ends up with. I don't care what kind of silly hi-skool antics they will get up to in this alternate version of events. The second the horror ended, so did my interest. And I felt a twinge of guilt at feeling this way.

But when I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that on some level, morbidity and curiosity are best friends forever. As soon as we're cognizant of what it is, we can't help but wonder... what is death like? When it will come for me? How can you best avoid it? What are the worst ways to die? What are the best? Will that person die before or after me? Why? What makes us different? There are countless different directions that considering mortality and it's toils can lead you down, and while this is some elementary shit to point out, that is what makes many stories interesting. And while I might feel guilty when I enjoy the tale of how some poor sucker in real life had to overcome a nightmare scenario and came out of it all scarred and fucked up for it... if I start letting the bad fallout from fictional stories bother me too, I may as well give up on the concept of narrative and just play fighting games all the time. And the fact that Muv Luv Alternative resonated enough to make me even think about how ghoulish it was to get so much amusement from what I had just seen is probably a sign that it did something remarkable, because the last time I felt this way about anything was probably when I read the 13th volume of Berserk.

Epilogue: Space... The Final Battlefield So yeah, I liked Muv Luv Alternative pretty good, in spite of the fact that it was a VN, in spite of the fact that it was wordy as fuck, and in spite of the fact that it had an epilogue that left me cold and made me question if I was some sort of sociopath. The series has an ever-expanding amount of side material, which may have been obvious from what I mentioned earlier in this essay, but I'm genuinely curious about what will happen next. I don't think I'll indulge in a lot of said side material; side-stories are on the side for a reason, after all. But if we ever do get a fourth chapter of the "core" story, one that takes place beyond the events of Alternative, with happenings that are comparably significant...... maybe I'll have to visit my local recruiter and re-enlist. War's not over 'til it's over.

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insidethemagickingdomrpg · 8 years ago

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Congratulations KATT! You’ve been accepted as JOSS ROSE who’s the newest cast member at Disney World. Please complete everything on the CHECKLIST and send in your account within 24 hours. We look forward to having you on board!

★ OUT OF CHARACTER

name/alias: Katt

preferred pronouns: they/them

age: 21

time zone: EST

activity level (1-10): 6-7/10 ; I’m currently in college and in the end of April and beginning of May, due to finals, my activity might drop

anything you want to add: I don’t know if you have a trigger list, but can I request flashing gifs and mentions of mental illness (specifically eating disorders, self harm, and suicide) be tagged accordingly? Flashing gifs tend to make the dash hard to scroll as I have migraine style headaches and they’re made worse by anything with a strobe-effect/quick flashing

★ IN CHARACTER

desired character: Joss Alex Rose

faceclaim: Melissa Benoist

characters pronouns: they/them & he/him

age/birth order: 24 / Oldest

birthday: September 2nd

hometown: Plant City, Florida

sexual orientation: fluid

ships: Joss/chemistry

anti ships: Joss/forced

apartment choice: apartmen 2; studio

job choice: costume design

three positive traits: creative, driven, independent

three negative traits: fickle, withdrawn, jaded

quote: “Everyone is born to die. We might as well make the most of it.”

★ TWEETS

@jossisarose: if I had a dollar for every time someone misgendered me I wouldn’t have to work

@jossisarose: I think I need to invest in a new sewing machine, mine might have just caught fire… #designerproblems #bymightimeandid

@jossisarose: I understand I have feminine features, doesn’t discredit my gender or my pronouns, give me a fucking break

★ BIOGRPAHY

TW: instance of misgendering and reference to Joss’s dead name early on

Joss Rose wasn’t always who they are now. Once upon a different time, Joss was Jocelyn and “she” was troubled. Or so people liked to think. Born the oldest of a set of twins, to a single mother, Joss never really fit into gender norms, or societal norms, for that matter. Whether it was going without a bra until long after most girls started wearing one, a disinterest in anything outside of their art, or an increasingly morbid sense of humor, Joss was an outcast from day one. Small town life was often the bane of Joss’s existence.

As a child, Joss enjoyed Little Mermaid, but more importantly, Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. Joss related to Melody on a level that they didn’t quite relate to Ariel. It sparked a love of all things mermaid, and all things Disney, in them and their art portrayed this. Their mother, Millie, taught them to sew and crochet, two activities that seemed to be the only “feminine” thing about their interests. They would alternate between drawing and painting to crochet and sewing, often designing their own clothes.

They weren’t necessarily nerdy, but they had their loves. Mostly it was things like Harry Potter, Doctor Who, or other such media, but they also had a love of sports, predominantly hockey. They were a huge Tampa Bay Lightning fan and would often go to games when they had the chance. They were an excellent runner and ran track all throughout middle and high school.

However, in school they often struggled with anything involving other people, but especially changing for PE and track. The idea of getting changed in front of other people unnerved them. It was when they felt most vulnerable, most exposed. It was also when they felt the least like themself. Seeing a female body under typically masculine clothing really hurt, but living in a small town, that was only known for a festival based on strawberries that often invited country and Christian musicians, being anything but straight and cisgender was asking for trouble. More trouble than Joss needed.

In high school, as their sense of self wavered further they withdrew into themself, their passion for costume design became even more apparent. They started cosplaying, attending conventions all over the state of Florida, as a way to be themself, without being themself. They tended to cosplay male characters, taking pride in their ability to pass a male, but refusing to think anything of it, in terms of how they felt. It was this that led them to find a college with a crafts department, where they could major in costume design.

With an early acceptance letter to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, Joss took off. Moving from small town life, to big city, took Joss by surprise. They were in a place where people who weren’t straight and cisgender were more widely accepted, which made trying to find themself much easier. As a freshman, Joss began to experiment, with a lot of things. Between sexuality and gender identity, they found out a lot more about themself than they were ever expecting. This included the realization that they were trans.

For Joss, the idea of being anything but a female made perfect sense. They tried a lot of things over the next few years, in an attempt to figure out just who they were. They knew they didn’t identify fully as male, and definitely had no intentions to transition, but for the longest time couldn’t figure out just how they felt. Outside of gender being a completely social construct, they needed a label. It came in the form of the terms “genderqueer” and “non-binary” as well as the idea that there was an area between female and male. To Joss, being both agender and male made more sense and they quickly began to explore it as a full identity.

By the time Joss graduated, they had legally changed their name, going with a gender neutral name, as a way to alleviate the pressure from being misgendered, which quickly became a sore spot. Given their more feminine features, being called by male pronouns was a difficult thing to get across, especially given their decision to not transition. When they discovered the singular they as a pronoun, Joss jumped at the chance to use it. While it’s still hard to get people to use it, and they often encourage people to use male pronouns if unable to use it, the singular they felt right.

Returning home to Florida after college was a bit of a hassle. Small town life didn’t suit them, so they moved to Orlando. They had interned with Disney the summer of their junior year and quickly went about applying to be a costume designer for them. Between their active cosplay collection, and the work they had done as an intern, they managed to land the position. Working behind the scenes, making costumes, doing alterations, it was Joss’s dream job, particularly because it meant not having to worry, too often, about being misgendered by other people.

★ WRITING SAMPLE

RFP

#accepted

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snkret-photography · 5 years ago

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Me No Know

It’s been a while since we’ve done this. How are you? No, stop, take a minute and check in with yourself. How are you? Are you where you want to be in life at this particular cross road of space and time? Are you dragging yourself if you’re not? Are you comparing yourself to your friends on social media and using that as either the reassurance that you’re doing things right or that you have failed in some capacity? Do you now want status, both material and societal, that you before didn’t consider? How are YOU doing… if the world stopped tomorrow, did you live today? If you had the foresight of how you would die, of the day, of the journey, would you stay where you’re at, with who you are, with everyone around you?

My short answer is no. Not because I don’t value myself where I’m at or the people in my life, but because foresight is an answered path. It’s a drawn-out timeline where the ending is definite. The only variation is in how you get there which leaves itself open to the perils of human anomaly. But if you already know how something is to play out, why stick to the road paved in an all-terrain vehicle? I always say that in life, we are guaranteed a singular thing from the moment we are born, it is the only thing every person undeniably has in common and cannot give variation to: we will die. The time, manner, place, etc. is all up to the path but the death is absolute. Morbid, I know, but bear with me. So, at the point when I can see everything play out, even if I’m satisfied with the climax, the resolution and everything in between… I know what’s going to happen. So why not explore the unknown and say, “where is the variation I can add to this timeline that I would enjoy?” It’s almost the idea of prematurely addressing your deathbed regrets.

Do you care how I came upon this hypothetical and requirement of introspection? If you do, and you guessed therapy, you’re wrong. This actually happened post conversation with a friend when we were just going over where we were in life since time has brought its fair share of blessings and obstacles. And she said something that a lot of my friends say, “I look up to you so much. You’re so independent and strong, I feel like you just have your shit together and I’d never be able to do that.” Let’s break this ALL the way down. Synopsis: this makes me super uncomfortable to hear.

“I look up to you so much.”

Don’t do that. Just don’t. I always strive to be a great influence in people’s lives and provide them with any guidance, care, and support that is within my ability to provide. But let’s just address the problem with it: we’re in the same age group. We are equals with different paths and standings. And also, I don’t want my friends looking up to me. If you like something I’m doing and you want it, ask me how I did it so you can get there too; onlooking is a sure fire way to set a ceiling for yourself because the moment you see someone doing something you want to, you either try to imitate or appreciate but rarely to you try to elevate to and above such a level. I like to keep my circle tight for the simple fact I can only absorb so much information at a time and I learn a great deal from my friends. I admire different things about their personality from work ethic to community involvement and ability to balance. All things I had to learn by watching friends operate and adapting the practice to my life. The type of people I look up to are my mom, my sister, my old boss… essentially black women who worked their ass off to get where they are but would never let you catch them looking tired. It was actually based around these 3 women in particular that I learned I didn’t have to struggle to chase my passion along with the fact that I had time to figure out how I wanted to execute with it. I’ve watched my mom and my sister both chase their dreams and even though everything didn’t pan out in the original scheme, things ended up better rather than worse which taught me the value of tenacity. My old boss is an accountant who lifts and does figure shows and taught me not only the balancing of paying for your essentials and fitting in what you love in, but not sacrificing quality of work just because that’s not your long-term plan.

“Take a beat, put on a game face, keep your options open.”

“You’re so independent and strong.”

Why you trying to gas me? But then again, aren’t we all? Let’s take a solid look back at the process it took to get to wherever you are in life, was that cupcakes, roses and 6-pack abs? Doubt it, even my wealthier and more privileged friends have some deep issues that I just look at and be like, “don’t be mad when I syphon this for a storyline.” But seriously, we have all been through something that another person would fold at. It’s all a matter of perspective and circumstance. One thing I think people always discount when they give this type of praise is the necessity based on the situation. Yes, I am independent, for the most part, but I have no one out here in New York so should I fail, I have to get myself up… quick. I can’t afford to take hits like I did when I was in undergrad or had I stayed in Maryland. The support system that says, “you have time to process, grieve, and regroup” does not exist for me at this stage. I have to do all of that and show up to wherever I have to be at and dominate whatever I’m doing there. Most of my friends live at home with their parents, thus your check can go to all of the things my check goes to minus survival which is honestly an overlooked luxury. I’m sure your parents are annoying but financial freedom is a privilege that some of us would kill for. So sure, I live alone but I can’t afford to travel regularly or even to half of the places I want. People always bring up budgeting and payment plans and yaddie fucking yadda but personally, I care about where I lay my head and what I put in my belly far more than I do interacting with the world outside. Which is where the factor of priorities comes in. I care more about my independence and agency than I do for experiences. And the experiences I want to have along with the bigger life plans I have require far more time than a 7 day cruise to Bermuda where I pretend like I’ve been to a foreign land but really just sat on a boat to go interrupt someone’s homeland, learn nothing about their customs or lifestyle, and eat a bunch of food that you can get in America with strangers. Traveling for me equals immersion and developing an understanding of how a new set of people live and operate, not faking some life for the gram and then complaining about being too broke to do other things yet still always having money to “travel”.

On the front of being strong, let’s lump this into the next topic.

“I feel like you just have your shit together and I’d never be able to do that.”

I stopped drinking because my reason for drinking was twofold: (a) I needed to feel something and (b) I needed to numb everything. I still think about my exes frequently. I still consider reaching out to old friends I’ve lost throughout the years. I’ve looked at an empty fridge and had nightmares for dinner and breakfast. Nothing gives me as much fuel as being in a situation I don’t want to be. And until very recently, and even still to a degree, I’ve had to cope with being in situations I didn’t want to be. Surrounded by people who added value in lessons but not experience. Doing internal battles with myself in the midnight hour even though if I fall asleep at this exact moment, I can survive the next day on 2 hours of sleep. Working jobs that bring me no fulfilment yet was the best of bad options. Learning how to listen to my body physically and spiritually and the balance of logic in making decisions. My point in all this is: I’m still figuring it the fuck out and until I die, I will still be climbing this mountain. Now, I say this from the most arrogant muscle in my body, or muscle group if you know me well, some people are really bad at figuring it out. But then again, so am I. It took me 24 years of existence to learn the value of emotional intelligence and that I can’t pander the wants and desires of people who are louder than my own. As a matter of fact, it took me 24 years to learn that loud people often say nothing of value. And also took me 24 years to learn that people who are very forthcoming with establishing the parameters of what makes them comfortable often lack the intuition to reciprocate. I am just now learning to establish boundaries and I feel like I got another 5 years to go until something really clicks. But there are people that are great at establishing boundaries. There is you, who is great at something someone else is just now learning the value in. We are all ahead in something.

So how was your check-in? Did you drag yourself through it? Was there at least a little appreciation for where you’re at, who you’ve became up until this point and where you’re headed? No? Stop onlooking… go know your value. Go re-enforce the value of those around you. It takes a village to raise a child. Eventually you become part of the village… but we never really stop being children. Take care of yourself.

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