#no shit but you're missing the entire point of his character is that he's infinitely kind

[mymp3]

minato is literally fucking jesus why cant people be nicer to him I'm going to throw a car into oncoming traffic

[beauzos]

7, 16, 21, 25 :3 for aa lol

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

I think this is Klavier for me. To be clear I already didn't really like him in the base canon, but I think this is also because I expected far more of him because of fanon lol. He really ain't shit and it does kind of boggle me that he's SO fucking popular when he's like. this cardboard man.

Now I'm all about adding way more meaning to characters who I think can have way more depth than they do in canon, and Klavier is ripe for the picking there because he IS an interesting guy conceptually, but I don't... like what people do with his character. I kinda just don't get it. Like when I see fanart of him, esp. Kla-pollo art, it doesn't seem like him. It's like he's a different guy. I do not know this man. He's not cringefail and dry enough LOL. And I'm tired of seeing him shoehorned in everywhere.

16. You can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I don't want to complain about Klavier again, so... well with canon I really don't get why people like AA4 so much but I know that's not what the question is asking LMAO. It's more about the fandom than anything.

Here's one. I don't get how a lot of the fandom characterizes Nahyuta. And it's because he's very unpopular and people hate on him, so they make him out to be way worse than he is. Like, he is NOT a very good person but I feel like it gets to a point where people make shit up about him to get mad about, or read everything he does in the most bad faith way possible. Like saying he was intentionally trying to trigger Athena, or that he's horrible to Ema because he expects her to follow his own (insane and unhealthy, admittedly) work pace.

That's not him. I know him and he's not doing it out of malice. He's just a freak LOL. People love mischaracterizing him because they do not like him.

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped

Bearing in mind I love the original trilogy, I do think it's a little overhyped compared to the AJ trilogy. People act like DD and SOJ are monstrous compared to the original trilogy and I'm like... nottt really? The scale is bigger but I don't feel like they're meaningfully all that much different compared to the original trilogy.

I also think TGAA 1 is overhyped only if you view it and 2 as separate games. If you recognize they're a single game split in two (ala LOTR being split into three but is a single book) it explains a lot of the issues. I love TGAA 1 but its cases are a little all over the place or too slow for me. Great game though.

25. Common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

I think this is an obvious answer knowing me but I'm sick to bastard death of listening to people talk shit on SOJ. I fucking love SOJ, it's still my top AA game that isn't TGAA. Like it has some major writing issues but what's there is legitimately so great. The most stacked cast in any AA game. Not a single bad character, not a SINGLE bad case (though the fourth one is getting there plot-wise, but the character interactions are terrific), super fun worldbuilding even if some of it is goofy. Like AJ's backstory is goofy but I LIKE it. It's the most cohesive backstory he has so far and I love his connection to Nahyuta.

Khura'in is such a special place and the Khura'inese cast is spectacular, truly spectacular. They're all my top favorite characters in the entire series.

More specifically, I'm sick to death of people bitching about Nahyuta. He's definitely underwritten and he needed to be more present in the trials because I actually DO feel like his voice is missing a little from these cases, but he's a fucking shining star. My favorite character in the series. I think his concept is brilliant and he's got a terrific design, too. I find him infinitely compelling and so fun to explore in writing.

[sapphire-weapon]

May I ask why exactly you dislike Infinite Darkness? I thought it had a pretty solid story and I found Leon pretty good. I'd love to hear your elaborated opinion. :)

I haven't watched ID since it first came out, so I can't give you a super detailed breakdown of it, but here's what I do remember:

I felt like the writers didn't know what they wanted Leon to actually be in terms of like... which side of his character they wanted to show off. He seems to go through sudden mood swings, and I remember at several points just being like "Dude he's all over the place. Is he off his meds or what's going on here?"

There were a lot of moments that were just logistical nonsense. Again, I can't remember exactly, but I do remember going "so are they ever going to explain that?" And "how the fuck did she even get there?" At several points.

Like, I do remember Leon fucking shooting Jason in the heart for treason, but when Shen May engages in the exact same shit that Leon called treason, he just went "WELL I'LL JUST SEE WHERE THIS GOES IG. DON'T WANNA JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS..." like homie you just fucking murdered a man over this what do you mean???? I know you want to fuck her but Jesus christ.

Infinite Darkness did Claire so dirty that I straight up cannot remember what the fuck she was even doing in it. The only thing I remember about Claire in ID is her getting kidnapped and having to rescue herself. And then she and Leon get into a big dumb fight at the end, AND THE FIGHT ITSELF MAKES NO SENSE

omg it's coming back to me now. If Leon's intention was to withhold evidence from Claire, why the fuck bother to tell her that he'd salvaged the evidence at all?? There was no fucking reason for him to do that. Like, was he trying to just hold it over her head and be a dick about it? What the fuck was the intention there? "hey Claire I got the thing that you've spent the entire plot duration looking for. And I'm not going to give it to you. See? See it in my hand? I have it. Not for you, though. Get fucked."

And then for Claire to get that pissed at him and rag on him for his bad judgement and decision-making and then NOT throw Sherry in his face or mention her at all is like... why. What's the point. Why did you manufacture this stupid drama between them when there was already something there that you could have used that was more organic and would make more sense???

ESPECIALLY SINCE THE WHOLE THING WAS ABOUT HOW UNTRUSTWORTHY THE GOVERNMENT IS AND HOW THEY DON'T ACTUALLY GIVE A SHIT ABOUT SURVIVORS OR RACCOON CITY AT ALL AND

I'm getting mad all over again LMAO

And also like!! The whole thing with Leon having a crisis about how he doesn't feel like a hero YET STILL LOOKS ASHLEY'S DAD IN THE FACE EVERY SINGLE DAY AND THE SHOW GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO SHOW PHOTOS OF HER?? There was no acknowledgement of the fact that Leon actually saved her and did do a good thing, and I don't know why or how they just missed it and instead had to resort to that Patrick jobber to try to tell Leon "no it's OK man you're still a hero to me" like what the fuck

And the fucking

Villainous plot

It was the fucking Jenova Project. IT WAS JUST THE JENOVA PROJECT. Someone in the US government played FF7 and then turned around and went "HEY I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA" and started putting dudes in tubes and fucking with their genetic makeup.

I actually said the words out loud while watching "so is Jason Sephiroth??????"

Shen May's entire character was completely worthless, she accomplished nothing and died for nothing. And Jason trying to give a sad, dramatic monologue while he's a big gross bulging Birkin monster was one of the funniest things in RE ever, and that was super not the intention by the writers for that scene.

It was just a mess. It was a mess of missed opportunities and bad plot decisions made by stupid characters who accomplish nothing.

[tessatechaitea]

Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling

I feel like this is the first appearance of the Changeling logo.

It's as if General Immortus knew that one day Niles Caulder would be just a head! Or, more probably, Grant Morrison fucking remembered this one panel and thought, "I'll turn The Chief into a disembodied head!" Unless it was Rachel Pollack who did that. What am I? The Doom Patrol wiki?

Cliff Steele has just been on another adventure where his body was torn apart. At least I'm assuming it was because whenever he or Red Tornado are in a super hero battle, they usually get torn to pieces. Somebody's got to be and you can't do it to Batman. But Cliff is tired of it and he's ready to retire to a ranch in California. I wonder why Grant Morrison's run didn't take place there? Cliff and Garfield wind up at the New York Zoo because Garfield wants to fuck the lioness and Cliff wants to buy hot dogs that he can't eat.

Based on the repartee between Robotman and Changeling, I don't think the crowd are the only people to mistake Cliff for Cyborg.

The previous caption was a criticism of the writer, Paul Kupperberg. Was it too subtle? I know it wasn't on the level of Ann Nocenti criticism where I once questioned how she survived the surgery that replaced her brain with Jello pudding but sometimes you need a little subtlety in your life. Like when you want to masturbate but all you have on hand are your sandpaper masturbation gloves. I don't know if that final sentence had anything to do with subtlety. I think it had more to do with me introducing the public to my new invention! It, um, needs some work.

I first read Changeling's line as "You're obviously a fat." Not because I often misread the fuzzy text of old comic books but because I saw the kid in the first panel and my brain began thinking, "How do I make a hilarious and inoffensive fat joke about this kid?"

I just realized I should mention the writers and artists of these old issues since they're not on the cover. The artist is Dan Jurgens and I already mentioned the writer. I don't know what inkers do so I don't remember who the inker was. And the one thing I've always refused to do in my comic book reviews over the last eight years is to mention the letterer! Mostly because I always hated reading letters from fans who praise the writing and drawing and then offer a throw away line about how easy the typeface was to read thanks to Costanza or whoever! Oh, and I actually really forgot about the colorist until just now! That was Adrienne Roy! Who better to color some kid green than good old Adrienne! Cliff walks off in a huff when people begin to actually recognize him. He should have thrown in a few "Booyahs" and offered to show off his white noise cannon. Um, wink, wink! I'm not proficient at flirting. Before Robotman can find a quiet bathroom stall to wish he could cry in, Mister 104 attacks! I know. You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking, right? What happened to Misters 1-103? Oh, and probably, who the fuck is Mister 104?! But then I'd be disappointed if a Doom Patrol villain showed up and I recognized that villain. Their villains should get a "What the fuck?!" reaction at least ninety percent of the time. That's another thing the television show got right! How many scenes have Crazy Jane shouting "What the fuck?" and then Cliff responds with "What the fuck?" and then Crazy Jane is all "No, fucking seriously! What the fuck?" and then Cliff is all "What the fucking fuck fuck fucking fuck?!" The show uses the F-word a lot! Luckily Changeling remembers who Mister 104 is and thinks through Mister 104's entire origin for us. It turns out Mister 104 can turn into every known element on the periodic table. He's only Mister 104 because that's how many elements were on the periodic table in 1965 when he first appeared in Doom Patrol #98. Except when he appeared in that issue, he was Mister 103. So either he hadn't looked at a periodic table since 1961 when he first attacked the Doom Patrol in 1965 or Arnold Drake, the original Doom Patrol writer and co-creator, fucked up. Or maybe there was a plot reason for it in the story, like Mister 103 just despised Helium or maybe Superman paid him to never turn into krypton(ite)? Still, this is 1987! He should be Mister 109! I didn't learn all of that from Changeling's thought bubbles! Some of it I learned because Mister 104 mentions that when he last encountered the Doom Patrol, he was left as "a mass of free floating destabilized atoms" and the editor helpfully noted that took place in Doom Patrol #106. In 1987, I would have just thought, "Oh, okay. Whatever." But in 2019, I can use the Internet to find out all about that issue! Suck it, me in 1987 who didn't learn anything new or helpful in any way and who couldn't pretend like you were super smart and knew all about the periodic table because you didn't have Wikipedia like a stupid idiot! Ha ha! Apparently Mister 104 appeared in other comic books I've read (like The Doom Patrol vs. Suicide Squad Special) but it's understandable that I don't remember him. Partly because he may have been going by Atomic Man or Atomic Master and also because he's just kind of stupid. But stupid in just the right way that Doom Patrol villains should be stupid!

Don't read this text if you're trying to avoid spoilers for Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling!

It looks like Mister 103 first takes on the name Mister 104 here. But what's odd is that he tells Cliff, "You might remember me: Mister 104!" And Changeling thinks, "That's Mister 104!" I guess Paul Kupperberg couldn't abide the fact that Arnold Drake fucked up and he had to correct him. I bet he was fuming for over twenty years! He probably got a job as a comic book writer simply to fix this mistake from his childhood! But then, I suppose everything can be explained away by simply invoking Crisis on Infinite Earths. That probably changed things somehow.

That's your argument for why you'r going to win this fight?

During the battle, Mister 104 turns into a lot of different chemical compounds, proving that he was indeed a molecular engineer. But Robotman manages to thwart each of his different shapes with punches, proving that nerds just can't win in physical combat. Eventually, Mister 104 sets a fire that traps the fat kid from earlier who didn't have enough sense to get the fuck out of the way. Interrupting the battle is a scene where Mento plots the downfall of the Teen Titans with the help of his captive, the star of the next issue of Spotlight, Aqualad! Back to the fight, Changeling saves the kid and drops him off by the hot dog stand. He sees some canisters and the fat kid says, "Those? But that's just soda gas!" Who the fuck calls it soda gas? I lived through 1987 and I don't remember ever saying, "The soda gas in this soda really hits the spot!" Maybe calling it carbonated water or carbon dioxide or carbonation would have given the game away too early! Changeling appears as a giant ape wielding cans of carbon dioxide to smother Mister 104's flaming fury. And this time instead of transforming into some other element, he's knocked out cold! Way to go, soda gas! Teen Titans Spotlight #9: Changeling Rating: C+. The entire point of the story was to show that Robotman's estimation of Garfield Logan has grown and that he now sees him as a real hero. I guess the reader is suppose to think, "Yeah! If Robotman can admit that Garfield is now a real hero and not some jerk off jokester who causes more problems than he solves, I should probably think that too!" And since I'm a totally average comic book reader, I'm totally a Garfield Logan fan now! He isn't obnoxious and annoying at all in the way I thought! He's a real hero! Not as big a hero as soda gas but still pretty great!

[oumakokichi]

i love this blog too much for words!!! i'm a MASSIVE fan of both dr and umineko; i'm curious about how you're connecting ndrv3 to umineko, it's super fascinating to me! i'd just like to know more about how the idea of reality vs fiction is addressed in ndrv3 itself, because i haven't been able to play/watch it? thank you so much!!

Thank you so much! I’m so glad there have been so many WhenThey Cry fans coming to my blog lately; I was glad to know I wasn’t the onlyone noticing some parallels!

As far as the reality vs. fiction debate, ndrv3 handles it very similarly to Umineko. DR hasperhaps touched on the idea only once or twice in past parts of the franchise,but ndrv3 goes really all-out with the idea that truth is simultaneously anobjective to be reached, but also a weapon, and a very hurtful weapon at that.

Nothing illustrates better than Gonta’s execution in Chapter4, or the secret of the outside world in Chapter 5, the fact that sometimes byuncovering the truth, you are actually subjecting everyone to something verypainful, blunt, and unchangeable. Ouma has quite a few lines, many of themthrown out bitterly and emphatically in the Chapter 4 trial, about how everyoneelse in the group seems to hate lies somuch, even though lies themselves present infinitelymore possibilities than a “single, unchanging truth,” and even though lies areoften used to shield or comfort people from a harsher reality.

This itself is of course very central to the idea of “magic”in Umineko, where trauma and the harsh, unchanging realities of life are oftenso depressing and cynical that “witches” like Beatrice, Ange, Maria, etc. can’tactually live in the “real world” any longer and have no choice but to use magic as a source of comfort. Magic can be a toolof delusion and can often blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not toomuch—Maria breaking down when confronted with the “truth” of Sakutaro’s deathshows that complete immersion in magic isn’t quite the answer either. But it’strue that life is so hard, and soundeniably depressing, that magic is the only real source of comfort in that,and that people who aren’t “witches” don’t understand what it’s like to not beable to live without that sort of gentle lie being told to oneself.

I think one reason why I’m relatively okay with ndrv3’sending is because the note that it ends on—a very depressing, bittersweet notewhere no matter how you look at it, things have gone horribly, most of theirfriends are dead, and the outside world is still probably undeniably fucked, isbecause it’s very, very similar to the worldview in Umineko. Umineko is itselfa cynical work trying to find one underlying message of why it’s okay to liveon even though the world is shit, andndrv3 actually follows through with a tad more optimism than that, but thegeneral point is very similar.

If the entirety of Umineko was meant to actually be amessage to Ange all along, and a sort of cautionary tale on why she shouldn’tthrow her life away or decide that she’s already irrevocably broken andincapable of living on the way that Beatrice did, then ndrv3 treats all threeof its remaining survivors as “Ange”-like characters of a sort.

By the end of Umineko, Ange is desperately suicidal becausenot only did her entire family die on the island and leave her all alone in aruthless and depressing world, but the majority of them were also horrible people—unforgivable at worst,and amoral at best. When confronted with the red truth of their deaths and alsotheir status as mostly awful human beings, Ange is only able to find comfort inmagic—and in coming to a “truth” of her own, untouched by either the real,unchanging red truth, or the “magic” of others. Her own truth is unshakeable inthe end, because it’s something real and important to her, and it’s the onlyencouragement she has that can convince her to keep living when she’s literallyabout two steps away from throwing herself off a building.

For ndrv3, this message is reached with three survivorstogether as friends. All three of them are the Ange of this situation, and byvirtue of still being together, they already have a slightly less cynical andimposing situation than Ange herself might (then again, outside society and theworld itself wasn’t entirely messed up and thrown into a possiblypost-apocalyptic dystopian society in Umineko, so points to ndrv3 for extracynicism there).

Still, the decision the ndrv3 survivors reach is undeniablythe same as Ange’s own: that even in the face of being confronted with the “truth”that their existences are fictional, that their memories are fictional, thateverything they encountered in the killing game was fictional, fake, andtherefore “unimportant,” they choose ultimately to believe in their own truth.

Saihara as a detective struggles throughout the entire gamebetween the necessity of pursuing the truth, precisely because he is adetective, and in letting illusions and lies rest in peace where they are,because that’s the less painful way. Characters like Kaede encouraged him tofind the truth no matter what the cost, no matter how painful it was;characters like Ouma taught him the importance of lies, and how to distinguishtruth within lies.

By the end, Sahara progresses from a detective who is afraidof the truth itself into someone who pursues it without needing to kill or denyall lies in his path. He and the other two survivors make their own truth, andchoose very intentionally to view their experiences, memories, existences, andbonds with others as real and meaningful. No one and nothing, not even Tsumugiand all her “proof” that they are little more than fictional characters and “horriblepeople” for volunteering willingly to participate in the killing game in thefirst place, can deny the reality and importance of their experiences, and it’sa very, very Umineko message.

As with Umineko, there of course has been controversy withthe ending in particular because many people have taken the message as a sortof slap in the face to fans who just wanted to enjoy the series. But the realunderlying feeling of these messages seems less to me about making fun of fansof the series in general, and much more about the frustration both Ryukishi andKodaka felt in trying to convey certain messages or points across withouthaving these things thought about critically, or people who only want thespectacle of the thing.

The endings of both Umineko and ndrv3 are supposed to leave the reader/playerfeeling very uncomfortable, because you’re supposed to want these characters’journey to end. After an entire journey from start to finish full of pain andsuffering and the depressing reality of life, you’re supposed to want to givethese characters a chance to rest and “put the lid on the catbox,” as it were.Both Umineko and ndrv3 encourage theorizing and critical thinking from thereaders, but don’t want that kind of thinking to only be put in terms oftheories that miss the point or the themes that each series was trying toconvey.

Both are complicated, both are extremely meta works, andboth are very, very fun. If you liked Umineko at all, I think you’ll likendrv3, though certainly ndrv3 has its own flavor of wacky-funky DR times andcan be drastically different from Umineko on some fronts.

But I can say that the series seem very, very similar, andthe recent tweets from someone at the DR staff party confirming that Kodakasaid “ndrv3 was meant as a love letter” only makes me even more certain thatthese similarities were very intentional. After all, Umineko has muchdiscussion about how any mystery is technically a “love letter” from the authorto the fans, and that the mystery itself can only be solved “if one has love.”

If you go into ndrv3 determined to hate it, determined tonot listen to anything from the characters as true or meaningful, anddetermined that Kodaka is just messing around and didn’t make the mystery to besolvable at all, then it probably will stay unsolvable. But if you go inconvinced that all the clues have to be there, and convinced that characterslike Ouma and others have very specific intentions beyond just being evil ormalicious (much like Beato), then suddenly so many possibilities open up, andit’s likely you’ll have a very fun time trying to solve things.

I hope you definitely give ndrv3 a try when the localizationcomes out, or else read a reliable translation when you get a chance! Many of thepeople I’ve seen enjoying ndrv3 the most are also Umineko fans, so I think it’llbe right up your alley! Also Ouma is definitely, undeniably a witch, I can’tstop with this meme because it’s hilarious and also just…true.

[sapphire-weapon]

Do you have a favourite version of Leon, or a close second to RE4R? I really loved his design and and character depiction in Vendetta. He seemed a lot more fleshed out and was overall just really enjoyable to watch imo!

this is a super interesting question that I've never really thought about before.

I would probably say that I don't have a favorite version of Leon per se, so much as I appreciate it when installments actually follow the emotional throughline for his character.

every RE character has a problem of an inconsistent characterization, to a certain extent, because the writing teams at Division 1 change from installment to installment. the reason why RE2make to RE4make feels so coherent is because it was literally the exact same team both times, which almost never happens. in the OG canon, the writers for RE4 were not the same writers as Damnation, and those guys did not write RE6, etc.

the only version of Leon that I straight-up did not like was Degeneration, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of the fandom agrees with me on that. and, I've been over this before -- I get it; I understand why Degeneration was such a shitshow. but that doesn't absolve it.

but like. I'm very critical of Damnation Leon, for example, because he's so fucking annoying in that movie, because Capcom went real hard swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction after Degeneration. Leon is literally the worst part of Damnation; he ruins every single scene he's in. if you were to remove him from that movie, the entire movie would be much better off for it and would probably be able to stand on its own as a genuinely good film. it would've done a wonderful service to Ada's character, too, because she's mostly fantastic in that film -- but Leon's presence drags her down, because it always does.

but even Damnation has moments of brilliance with him -- particularly, the very beginning and the very end. (the sarcastic nod he gives JD when he's tied to the chair is also probably one of my most favorite Leon reaction moments ever, too -- on par with his tantrum at Chris in Vendetta.) his anger and frustration at the US government is so on point and finally exposes just how little he trusts them and how stuck he feels. that was something that was missing from OG RE4 (for, again, understandable reasons), so it was really great to have that put out in the open and expressed.

same thing with RE6. there are moments in RE6 when Leon is absolutely insufferable and/or feels like a scene was crafted without the intention of even putting him in it, so he's just kind of there -- but there's some really brilliant moments with him. his reunion with Sherry will always be a stand-out moment for him, and the entire Tall Oaks section with him being The Professional(TM) to Helena's rookie is excellent, too, and shows real character progression from his own rookie days in RE2.

and Infinite Darkness -- holy shit, his characterization is all over the place in that series. it's like he's three different characters rolled up into one, and he just bounces wildly back and forth between who he's meant to be for any given scene. but that scene of him and Jason in that shitty apartment, sitting across from each other and talking about treason, and then Leon just hauls off and shoots him in the heart -- that is one of the single best scenes in the entire Resident Evil series, period. not only is Leon's character perfect in that scene, but everything about the visual storytelling there was on point to create the perfect amount of tension.

but now that I'm thinking about it -- you're right, in that Vendetta is probably the best example of consistently good characterization that he has. Vendetta doesn't stray or get distracted at any point when it comes to Leon's character, and it follows his emotional throughline perfectly. the only issue with Vendetta is that he's so steeped in his misery that he almost comes off as mean-spirited sometimes, when that's really not who he is.