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doyouknowhowtowaltz · 3 years ago

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What do you think about original OTGW series? I personally like plot in general, characters and setting, but jeez, like 40% of the show is mindless nonsense filler for me

Please do come back and tell me which parts specifically you find to be filler, I'm curious to hear which episodes/parts specifically they are.

As for my thoughts, (on only the show, don't get me started on the comics) I think the show's a pretty good balance of levity and darker tones, there are two episodes I'm not a huge fan of, though I generally think that OTGW gets away with maintaining a pretty dark tone by having moments of silliness and joy to counter dawning horror. I can, however, break down my thoughts episode by episode.

Old Grist Mill: This episode is a solid opener, it introduces our characters, sets the tone for the series and brings us into this world where Wirt and Greg are as lost as we are. The core traits of Wirt, Greg, and the Woodsman are all shown, Wirt is an awkward older brother, Greg's a little kid, and the Woodsman is odd, attached to his lantern, but well-meaning.

Hard Times at the Husking Bee: The perfect episode. I think I've been pretty transparent that this episode is my favorite, and I have thoughts a laundry list long but I'll try to trim it down. This episode is probably the best example of that tightrope between levity and creepiness that OTGW walks, it is in turn, creepy and delightful, ("Murder? Oh, no, chuckle, not that. But for those other crimes," sums it up really well). It alternates between lighthearted with the opening of the episode, to much more sinister in the barn scene, to more relaxed as they work off their sentence, to the momentary terror of "We're digging our own graves.", to the releif of the skeletons coming to life, but you're left with the aftertaste of the realization, this is an afterlife. Yeah, I could talk about this episode for longer, but I'll cut it short.

School Town Follies: Ok, this one... I only have real issues with two of the episodes of OTGW, and this one's probably the main one. For one, this episode feels the least narratively cohesive with the rest of the show, not just in tone, but also the way it gets told. In every other episode a problem is introduced at the beginning of the episode that gets solved/semi-resolved by the end of the episode, but not this one. Most of the episodes also have their own climatic incident, and unfortunately, the gorilla attack doesn't really have the same narrative weight as say, Wirt riding out of the dark lantern to save Beatrice or "Maybe you're digging your own graves!". However, I will give this episode credit, it build's Wirt and Beatrice's relationship, and shows Beatrice Wirt's not just a pushover, and characterization wise, this episode's so important to their relationship, being that its the Start of Beatrice getting attached to the boys.

Songs of the Dark Lantern: I think one of the biggest strengths of the Beast as a villain is that despite not making many appearances, he still presides over the story, he's woven into everything even when he's not there, and it gives you the impression he's really something to be feared. (Maybe that's why I have such an issue with School Town Follies, since there's no reminder of our series' main antagonist) This episode is emblematic of that, this is the first time anyone but the woodsman speaks of the beast and it gives suddenly makes him not just the ramblings of a weird old man, but a force to be feared, and this coupled with the singing in the woods helps to really drive home that there really is a monster in the woods. This episode is also really strong for Wirt, at this point we don't know about Sara yet, but the show gives us little hints with the Lover's Song, not to mention we find out why Wirt resents his little brother so much. This episode is a lot of exposition, with just a little action at the end and another confrontation with the woodsman, but its very well balanced and woven into the story.

Mad Love: This is an excellent episode, its easy to be distracted by the Tea barons and Fred, but the scene in the closet with Wirt and Beatrice is the crowning achievement of this episode. Not only do we get a look into Wirt's character, what motivates him, what he's really like, and it turns out, he's just some guy, just a teenager with teenage problems. We also learn that Beatrice used to be human (Though there were hints earlier) and what motivates her. This scene is vital because it's the strongest bonding moment between Beatrice and Wirt, and Beatrice, just like the audience (who already had some clue) realizes Wirt's just some guy, sweet, well meaning and awkward, and some guy. And its hard to send a guy to his maybe-death when you start to see him as a person rather than a way out.

Lullaby In Frog Land: I know I've mostly just been saying these episodes are great, but this is a great episode. I've seen this episode get written off as filler before but I'm going to strongly disagree. The first half of this episode set on the Ferry sets a good tone. It's also, one of the last truly lighthearted segments before the show takes a turn to the dark(er). Wirt and Greg (but mostly Wirt) are finally somewhere semi-safe, home is within their grasp, and they can relax, goof off, because the threat of the beast/being lost has receded. Beatrice is not feeling so sunny, she feels guilty, worried, because despite her best efforts, she's gotten attached to the boys, and she doesn't feel great about handing them off to Adelaide, the show even shows her trying to talk Wirt out of it, and I think that contrast between Wirt's cheer and Beatrice's guilt is an excellent set up for Adelaide. Jason Funderberker (Frog)'s song is one of the best in the series and adds to the dreamlike quality of the Unknown.

And then, in the same episode, Adelaide. Beatrice's line about thinking she just wanted kids to do yardwork is one of my favorites in the show, because it mirror's the woodsman's "I didn't know!" about edelwood. If Beatrice really thought that was all Adelaide wanted, she wouldn't feel so guilty, she wouldn't go to call off the deal before Wirt and Greg could get there, but she's been willfully ignoring that, trying to justify it to herself, and we know why now too, because Beatrice needs the scissors to make her family human, and it was so much easier when she didn't really know the boys, they were just some mark to con, but she can't ignore it any further. Beatrice's betrayal is also what makes Wirt start his slide into melancholy which makes him an easy target for the Beast in the coming episodes, honestly, yeah, just a great episode.

The Ringing of the Bell: Alright I'll come out and say it, I'm biased towards this episode. This episode definitely doesn't have the same narrative weight as its 3 predecessors, but I like it anyway. Lorna has so much potential and I could talk about her for hours, but I think the main draw of this episode is the way it parallels episode one. To cut a long comparison short, the boys are lost, the monster they meet in the first episode turns out to be a harmless dog, the kindly(?) woodsman eventually turns out to be someone they fear, and in this episode, the boys are lost, Wirt tries to be a leader and ignore the fact Beatrice just betrayed them, they meet a young woman who seems harmless and her terrifying Auntie, who in turn turn out to be a cannibal and her well meaning care taker. But the end of this episode is its strong point, with their narrow escape and Beatrice's betrayal, Wirt has started to give up hope (The very thing that the woodsman warned him not to do) in a very realistic way for a teenager. In the end , the woodsman's attempt to save the boys, the way he, like Beatrice is no longer able to ignore the cost of keeping his "daughter"'s soul lit pushes us closer to our inevitable climax. And really, the reminder of our main antagnonist speaks for itself:

"There is only me, there is only my way, there is only the forest, and there is only surrender"

Babes in the Wood: I don't like this episode. Actually, I'll amend that, I don't like the cloud city portion.

The opening of this episode has what I think is one of the best depictions of mealoncholy I've ever seen in an animated show. Wirt's withdrawn nature, he's clearly wrapped up in his own head, tired of Greg and the forest and the reminder of anything else. Wirt lashes out and though I havent mentioned Greg much this is a good episode for his characterization. Greg reacts like a young child, he's not unaffected by Wirt, but he doesnt react the way another teenager might.

And then... Cloud City, look, I understand why this section is here, its the last truly lighthearted section in the show, but I personally have never been a fan of it, so I'm going to breeze past most of it and talk about the one part I actually like, Greg's wish. Greg's wish is another one of my favorite peices of the show because even if we don't know exactly what he wished for, we can get the gist of it, but moreso its what he doesn't wish for that impresses me. Throughout the show, Greg wishes for a magic tiger, or to become a magic tiger, thats one of the thing he asks Beatrice for when she says she owes him a favor, thats what he tries to command Lorna to turn into when he has the bell, he brings it up a lot, but when he finally gets given the opportunity for a magic wish, he uses it selflessly, like a proper leader. It's very sweet.

The end of this episode is also great (I really don't give this episode enough credit I guess) with Greg walking off with the Beast in the first time one of our protagonists interacts with him, Greg selflessly sacrifices himself and allows Wirt to go on and Wirt wakes up, and actually acts like the brother he should be running after Greg before falling into the lake.

Into the Unknown: Arguably the best episode narrative wise, we finally are given the context for our story, and it makes everything else fall into place, why Wirt treats Greg the way he does, why Wirt is the way he is (Spoiler, its because he's a teenager, and teenagers are like that) we are introduced to Sara, and the episode balances its internal emotional stakes with the rest of the show, not serving to lower or distract from what's at stake in the unknown, but instead expanding on it clarifying, solidifying our reason we want Wirt to make it back home.

The Unknown: What do I say about this episode that hasn't been said before, it nails every plot beat. From Beatrice caring for Wirt enough to entrust him to her family to "I was never any good to him alive", to Wirt's love, his apologies to Greg, to Wirt standing before the Beast, his voice cracking, but not cowering.

I know the potential for Wirt to blow out the lantern is immense, but within the show itself, I like it better that the Woodsman blows out the lantern. In OTGW, everyone's got a torch to burn, their own personal burden/goal. Beatrice's is her family, Greg's is the rock he stole, the Woodsman's is the lantern/his grief, and Wirt's, its his teenage love yes , but here, where there's no one else to look after him, Wirt's is Greg. They have their own burdens to bear, to look after, and they have to make sacrifices, to decide whether hurting other people is worth their goal. The Lantern is the Woodsman's burden, his to repent for, his to extinguish, so Wirt leaves it to him and Wirt takes on his own responsibility, taking care of Greg.

Lantern scene aside, this episode's simply good, that's all there is too it.

Its a good show, it has some issues, but pacing wise at least? I think it does pretty well.

#otgw #over the garden wall #wirt #the woodsman #beatrice otgw #i’m not sure I would call any of this filler though

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o-w-quinlan · 3 years ago

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Digimon Adventure: (2020) Final Thoughts

Considering I stopped reviewing this series episode by episode months ago, they’re more positive thoughts than you’d expect, though still not all that positive.

To summarize, this is an entertaining series with plenty of individual good aspects and great episodes that nevertheless leaves me cold as a whole. Much as I enjoyed following it week to week, I can’t say I recommend this series to anyone but hardcore Digimon fans, or hardcore fans of the wider “monster” genre.

Action

It felt appropriate to start with this, considering a focus on action was what the initial interviews promised, and they delivered in spades. It wasn’t perfect or too consistent, there were several times when the Digimon not evolving when they could just broke any tension the fights had, but this series had some of the best fights in any Digimon anime. Anything in the first 3 episodes, Greymon/MetalGreymon vs MetalTyranomon, SkullKnightmon vs Greymon and Garurumon, Mugendramon vs DoneDevimon, Mugendramon vs WarGreymon, Millenniumon vs the dragons, Omegamon vs Abbadomon Core… all of them among the best things the franchise has to offer in terms of action scenes, which after so many series where fights were solved by having a protagonist Digimon evolve and one-shotting the enemy, comes as a breath of fresh air (to be fair, this series also had a lot of that, but it had actual great fights to compensate).

Worldbuilding

Another thing promised in interviews was the use of Digimon from all over the franchise, and not only did they deliver, but they also included plenty of references to the “null canon” to enrich the experience for the most hardcore fans. The series made sure to constantly emphasize the savage nature of the Digital World, bringing back the Tamers worldbuilding of Digimon consuming weaker Digimon in hopes of achieving evolution. Along the way we saw a lot of allies fighting back against this status-quo, from things as overt as Leomon organizing a resistance or Petaldramon protecting weaker Digimon from the all-consuming Entmon, to less dramatic stuff like weak Digimon settling down to live together, or the mere presence of a restaurant where everyone can rest for a while of the hardships of their world.

The biggest flaw here was in how the series handled its antagonists. With very few exceptions, every single enemy Digimon in the series lacked dialog, whereas nearly every single ally Digimon could speak normally, and this disparity cheapened the whole thing, because instead of coming across as “this mentality is normal for this world”, it came across as just your normal “everyone lived together in harmony until the villains attacked”, which is very much not what the series was telling us.

Characterization

That brings us to the next point: the lack of personality for most villains. I joked elsewhere that Minotaurmon from episode 19 was the most compelling villain of the series, and that’s not completely a joke. Almost every single villain of the week was flat, plenty of the “main” villains were lacking in dialog (Algomon in the first few episodes, Nidhoggmon, Millenniumon) or turned mindless halfway through (Devimon, DarkKnightmon). Negamon/Abbadomon in the final episodes managed to benefit from this by being the embodiment of an “instinct”, but in general this meant a mook-of-the-week like Minotaurmon managed to be a highlight among the villains simply by having dialog and non-trivial desires.

But what of the protagonists? The popular opinion is that everyone is far blander than they were in the original series, and I agree. But rather than comparing it with the first series, let’s look at what it had to offer to us. Where in other Digimon series, the backstories and issues of the protagonists and their reactions to what’s going on around them make for most of the drama, in this series the drama comes from the villains trying to destroy everything, and for the most part that means the protagonists only need to be distinct and charming on their own, no necessity to create conflict between them. There is an overall character arc for all of them, though: accepting and interiorizing their new duties towards the world they had ended up stranded on, getting to know and love the Digital World. Was this well done? Not really.

Taichi and Takeru, for example, were so much the embodiment of the stock shonen hero that accepting their place in this new world didn’t really reveal anything about them we hadn’t already seen from their first few appearances.

Jou got stuck as an unfunny punchline 90% of the time, to the point of damaging his few “serious” moments in some of his focus episodes. His development of becoming assertive was compelling in theory, but it got muddled with so many unfunny and uncomfortable hotsprings jokes that the impact was lost.

Hikari started as an even more blatant plot-device “mysterious character” than she was in the original series, before unconvincingly changing to cheerful little girl afterwards (the whiplash between her in episode 33 and her in episode 34 was something else), and only really managing to settle into a compelling character in her last focus episode (58, defending the Digitamas from the Bakemon and SkullBaluchimon, which to be fair is a great episode and probably the best showcase for Hikari as a character in any product or continuity).

Koushiro was mostly fine, although we all remember the several times the series seemed to promise it might do something with him (his uneasiness when his family was mentioned, or that line about having to “face the darkness of his past” in the HerakleKabuterimon episode) that ended up being nothing.

Mimi is the fan-favorite, being charming in nearly all her appearances and having some of the best focus episodes, and it’s mostly deserved. If there’s anything I criticize from her, it’s that her focus episodes don’t really add up to anything.

Yamato was fine, started out as a stock shonen rival before becoming the single most chill “lone wolf” in any Digimon series, probably because of what I said before of the conflict between the protagonists no longer being the source of drama. He gets a slow development of caring only for his brother to starting to care for other Digimon for the sake of Sora and Gabumon to caring about the Digital World just as much as everyone else.

Sora was made fun of by a certain section of the fandom for having the worst focus episodes early on, and I agreed, but having finished the series I can’t get rid of the impression that her focus episodes, while perhaps not that good on their own, when taken as a whole explore her character the best of any other. Yeah, this mostly means exploring her compassion (these are not very multi-dimensional characters), but they deepen and deepen both her impact on the Digimon she saves and how she is impacted in turn by them, moving her away from saving others through her combat prowess to saving others by empathizing with the grief of another caring soul, and by the end I honestly ended up considering her my favorite character (despite none of her episodes making it to my list of favorites).

As for the Digimon… it’s following in the footsteps of other Digimon Adventure products by not really having much of interest for the Digimon themselves except for Tailmon.

Overall, for the most part the main characters were decent, but besides Mimi and ultimately also Sora, I don’t think they’re very memorable. All of them start out promising, but never really improved from that promising start (again, except for Sora).

Pacing

And now we get to the biggest problem of the series: Pacing. I’ve seen it stated elsewhere that this series was more episodic than most (any?) other Digimon series before it, and part of the backlash it got was from not being as serialized as fans expected it to be. This isn’t exactly true. From episode 16 (Eyesmon) to episode 24 (DoneDevimon), this series was as serialized as any other Digimon series has ever been, with nonstop escalation that demanded you keep watching it week after week. Then, from 25 to 35 (Angewomon) or 36 (BlitzGreymon), it pulled slightly back from that never-ending escalation, but was still pretty serialized. It was only afterwards that it became heavily episodic, and by that point it wasn’t expectations set up by previous series that hurt it in the eyes of the fandom, it was expectations set by this series itself in its first half.

Not that the episodes themselves were bad. Honestly, I found myself significantly more entertained by the episodic later half of the series than the serialized first half. Maybe it was because they didn’t feel the need to convince me they were the most exciting, tense thing I had ever seen when they were clearly not (hello, Mamemon episode), or maybe it was that there were more than just endless fights to them, but I normally ended up those episodes entertained and satisfied, whereas with a lot of episodes from Eyesmon to BlitzGreymon, I mostly just felt frustrated after watching them. I agree with the criticism that, when seen as a whole, breaking momentum so hard for so long after months of never-ending escalation wasn’t the right choice, but when seen week after week, I can’t see this change of approach as that bad of a thing.

Conclusion

I think that sums up the series for me. On a weekly basis, it’s pretty entertaining. It’s when seen as a whole that the problems really become clear. There’s been some speculation in the past few weeks of how much the current situation in the world might have impacted the series, but ultimately, I have to judge what actually happened, and I can’t help the impression that this series ultimately left me with nothing of substance after it was all said and done. Like, I enjoyed this more than, say, Appli Monsters, but Appli Monsters have things that stick with you after it’s over. Not so much here, unless you’re a hardcore fan that loves the Omegamon lore this added (which I am, btw; love that Omegamon lore). I don’t think I can recommend this series to anyone who isn’t a hardcore Digimon fan, or at least a hardcore fan of the wider “monster” genre.

One thing I’m grateful to this series for, though, it’s the commercial boost it has given the rest of the franchise. I’m not going to credit it for all the successes it currently has, after all the Card Game would have fell off by now if it wasn’t genuinely well-done and the Vital Bracelet happened because of years of the virtual pet division progressively building up its audience after it had nearly died off, but it’s undeniable they wouldn’t have sold as well without this anime advertising the franchise week after week. Next week, we’ll have the first episode of Digimon Ghost Game, the first time since 2001 that we have a Digimon series being immediately succeeded by another. If that isn’t a sign of how well the franchise is doing right now, I don’t know what is.

Favorite Episodes: 1 (Tokyo Digital Crisis), 6 (The Targeted Kingdom), 12 (Lilimon Blooms), 20 (The Seventh One Awakens), 32 (Soaring Hope), 42 (King of Inventors, Gerbemon), 49 (The God of Evil Descends, Millenniummon), 56 (The Gold Wolf of the Crescent Moon), 58 (Hikari, New Life)

#digimon #Digimon Adventure:#Digimon Adventure 2020

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lizwontcry · 3 years ago

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Fic Writer Review

Thanks for the tag @cheesybadgers :) :)

(I'm gonna do the AO3 version 'cause I have more stuff there)

How many works do you have on AO3?

Um... 133? I'm fine! It's fine.

What are your top 5 fics by notes?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5174777/chapters/11921108 - Coming Around Again - Gwen Stefani/Blake Shelton (look I went through a phase okay)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5813326/chapters/13396783 - Blind Item - Gwen Stefani/Blake Shelton

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249018/chapters/61208128

Ride - Jesse/Walt

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34083892/chapters/84791023

Muscle Memory - Jesse/Walt (woohoo, not even finished posting the whole thing yet)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/356897/chapters/577987

Pandora's Box - Penny/Sheldon

What’s your total Tumblr word count?

1,039,100 (um wow)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Sometimes it takes me a while but I try to respond to all of them these days. I haven't always. But now that comments are few and far between, I like to acknowledge that I received it and it meant a lot to me.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I'm gonna say The Reverse Crush Conundrum - https://archiveofourown.org/works/337353/chapters/582178 -

Sheldon and Penny have that magical happy ending and I'm proud of it.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Ride - https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249018/chapters/61208128 It has a bittersweet ending because Jesse gets to be happy in Alaska but also Walt is dead, ha.

Do you write crossovers?

I wrote a Ghost Whisperer x CSI crossover once when I was in the middle of a Problem with both of those shows -

The Distance of the Dead - https://archiveofourown.org/works/149402/chapters/214040

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Oh yes, one of my Sheldon/Penny fics certainly caused a commotion among the Sheldon/Amy community, ha. I posted it three years ago and still get hate for it occasionally (it's also my one-shot with the highest kudos soooo)

Green Light - https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461592

Do you write smut?

Do I ever not write smut?

If so what kind?

Most of the time it's porn with feelings, lots of touching, so much kissing, but also quite explicit when I feel like I can get away with it. I resisted slash fic for so long for whatever reason and when I finally got into it, I can't stop writing it now. Which is possibly and/or probably problematic.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, no one wants claim my weird shit, ha.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think I've been asked about it before but I haven't seen it.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I used to say it was Grissom/Sara (woooo CSI premieres tonightttt) and Sheldon/Penny but I think I have to go with Walt/Jesse and/or Bryan/Aaron at this point, based on both the amount I've written and how long this hyperfixation has lasted so far (we're almost going on a year and a half here). The heart wants what it wants.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Ohh man there's a few. https://archiveofourown.org/works/4437278/chapters/10081616 - The Sliding Door Hypothesis (Sheldon/Penny) deserves to be finished but I ran out of steam. Same with You're Back (Grissom/Sara) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/3199556/chapters/6957857 - but Grissom did end up coming back and then I didn't feel a need to finish it which is disappointing.

What are your writing strengths?

I'm stealing this answer from @cheesybadgers - I think I’m good at characterization and introspection re: the characters’ thoughts, feelings, motivations etc.

Pretty much sums it up, ha.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a huge problem with repetition. I use a lot of the same words and phrases in literally everything I write. It drives me crazy! Also I'm just not very good at describing kissing anymore, which makes me sad. I want to write the best kisses, damn it. Also I'm not that great at visual descriptions of things like my bestie @yoporkchopsandwiches is. I want to describe the view from a mountain and it's all "Everything looked smaller below, it was pretty and scenic." Help.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it's great if you can pull it off, but I am not fluent in other languages so that's not really my jam.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

If we want to get really technical, I wrote some embarrassing cringy Baby-Sitters Club parody stuff when I was like 11 years old and I first learned how to use a computer. But we will not speak of that.

In 2004 I watched CSI for the first time and I noticed that Grissom and Sara were really flirty together ("Chalk. From plaster.") and I was so intrigued that I searched for them on the interwebs and it was then that I discovered fandon/fanfic and my life was forever changed.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Ohhh that would be Muscle Memory - https://archiveofourown.org/works/34083892/chapters/84791023

It's been a year-long journey, from just thinking about the concept to plotting it all out and then taking my sweet time writing it. It's over 100,000 words, the longest story I've ever written, and I'm very proud of it. I have a favorite story in every fandom I've written in but this will be forever be my favorite, I am pretty sure of that.

No pressure tags: @yoporkchopsandwiches, @huesos-sangrientos @whatwearewillbe and anyone else who wants to play!

#fandom #fanfic #MM

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bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

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Hey, any comic recs to ensure that I get Dick Grayson character right? Other batfam included, if you're willing. I'm trying to make sure I don't write a character completely ooc, because that drives me up the WALL when I read that. However, since I dubbed you the #1 Dick Grayson person, I thought I'd ask you to make sure I do him justice rather than a smear campaign or something lol! Thanks! ALSO TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TITANS SHOW! That's all xD

LOL thanks I appreciate it, but while I’m good for the rants, for actual comics recs I would go to the likes of @northoftheroad, @hood-ex, and @nightwingmyboi because they’re a lot better than I am at knowing where to find specific stuff and comprehensive reading lists! I tend to jump all over the place in terms of my go-to comics for Dick.....I’m always on about Robin: Year One but I’m like eh Nightwing: Year One is pretty trash tbh. I prefer pre-Flashpoint continuity overall but I did enjoy some of the early Nightwing Rebirth stuff and before that the pre-Forever Evil New 52 stuff had some good beats. But for the most part, my favorite Dick Grayson tends to be him as a member of teams like the Titans....he shines most in ensembles, I think, because his strengths ultimately are that like...he gets people, he knows how people work, and he knows how to get the most out of the people he’s with, how to make people gel and get in sync and become more than just the sum of their parts.

(Speaking of nightwingmyboi, haven’t seen them posting in awhile, anyone know what they’re up to? Hope everything’s okay!)

Which brings me to the problems with the Titans show. There’s a lot I like about it - Anna Diop and Ryan Potter in particular - and a lot I was never gonna like about it - I’m heavy on the Ugh why must Dick Grayson be a cop ever why is that a thing make it stop. And so while I don’t think Brenton Thwaites does like, a bad job with the role or anything, there was always kinda a ceiling on how attached to or invested in his take on the character I was ever gonna reach.

But Season 2. Oof. Let’s talk about Season 2, and how so many of the problems with it are identical to the problems that surround Dick in the comics, but also aren’t limited to just his character or DC and just as equally show up in all kinds of media. Like, I could have (and probably did) offer an identical rant about the role of Scott McCall in TW’s S5.

The problem is one I’ve kinda taken to calling in my head “The Ensemble Lone Wolf Effect.”

This is when writers have a character they nominally want to be part of an ensemble....but that they repeatedly go back to the well of “this character should however spend most of their time on their own, or are more natural on their own, or just wants to be on their own, or also sometimes they just deserve to be on their own cuz they suck for Reasons we decline to specify.”

But its that thing of wanting it both ways....believing a character honestly NEEDS to be a loner or off on their own for the sake of their story, but also still wanting to utilize them as part of an ensemble, not willing to actually MAKE them a solo character, and so it kinda creates this never-ending feedback loop wherein they pay lip service to the character being part of an ensemble, but that’s never really on display, which creates a lot of unnecessary conflict among characters that’s to NONE of their benefits.

(And honestly in the comics, you could apply this to pretty much all the Batfam at times...not just Dick. They do it with Bruce ALL the time, they’re doing it with Damian right now, did it with Tim with Red Robin, Jason most of the time he’s not with the Outlaws and Cass most of the time she’s not with Babs or Steph or the Outsiders. As well as Babs herself at times).

Basically what I’m talking about here is like....so much of the drama in S2....and specifically the parts that most every fan I saw had issues with....came about not organically, because it made sense for the characters to behave that way, but solely in order to launch a specific plot, that the writers clearly wanted for S2:

And that was Dick Grayson off on his own, at his lowest, facing his demons on a solo journey of self-discovery the writers clearly deemed necessary before he could find himself as Nightwing and rise to his most heroic self.

Now the thing is....this isn’t inherently a bad plot or a problem. The problem lies in how they went about it.

Because rather than looking at the overall story and saying okay, that’s what we want to do with Dick Grayson, that’s what we want for HIS story, now how do we get that and where do we take it from there, rather than looking at that as just a STARTING point, and engineering a plot that grows OUT of that.....

The writers just started out by viewing that as an ENDPOINT, and reverse engineered a way to get Dick TO that point first and foremost....at the expense of so many characters who then basically turned on him and held him solely responsible for the things many of them also had a hand in....purely to get him off on his own and isolated.

But that was never necessary!

Because Dick’s character contains multitudes when it comes to guilt and self-blame, everyone knows that. He never needed anyone else to blame him for what happened to Joey because he blamed himself. So the second they conceived of the plot “Slade wants revenge for something Dick at least blames himself for”.....they had all the ingredients needed for Dick to decide proactively that the best way to protect everyone was to put distance between him and them, that he should try and hunt down Slade on his own, solve this between just the two of them.

And that should have been the STARTING point, for that narrative journey of self-exploration, not that journey resulting as an ENDPOINT in and of itself from Dick being FORCED into a kind of isolation by the others all blaming him.

Because now see what ripple effects result:

Now, the other characters are just as able to focus on their own individual storylines as they were in the show, with the additional concern of wanting to ACTUALLY find Dick and figure out what’s going on with him or tell him they still want to help....without this in any way needing to distract them from their own storylines, practically speaking, or cut into Dick’s narrative alone-time, because as part of the equation you ALSO have Slade, who has his own wants and agendas, not to mention tactics. And Slade’s perfectly capable of and willing to work with others, or utilize the long game, or engage in a game of cat and mouse as a distraction...there are numerous ways that you could engineer a plot FROM these motivations that allows him to keep the rest of the Titans distracted and even targeted individually, without allowing them to group back up with Dick or Dick to even know that they’re in danger and that his attempts to avoid that backfired.

You want the characters isolated and divided? The PLOT can do that for you. You don’t need the characters to do that to themselves.

IMO, most if not all stories are meant to advance characters, first and foremost. Take Characters A-Z and leave them different from how you found them. Move them to a different position in their lives as much as anything else, from where they began. The goal is character DEVELOPMENT.

What this means, in my book, is that the plot should serve the characters, NOT the other way around. The plot should grow FROM the characters and what they would or would not do....the characters should never have to be forced to FIT INTO a plot.

That’s backwards.

There shouldn’t be any need to reverse engineer a certain starting point, characterwise.

Just like....start the plot, plotwise....and from the moment you first introduce a single plot element, prioritize how would the characters react and BUILD from there.

The only engineering you should need to do is how to get to an eventual END point....which is still all about the forward momentum, not backing your way into anything.

Its one thing to have an endgoal for your plot, a point in character or narrative development that you want characters to reach. But its all about perspective. About keeping that what you’re working towards rather than something that you like, have to reach before you can even really BEGIN.

Which is what Titans S2 did. The real GOAL of the season in terms of Dick’s storyline, was his solo journey of self-discovery. But there’s a million different ways they could have LAUNCHED that journey, without it having to be the forced and contrived outcome of events and character decisions that literally only existed to initiate a journey that never required a forced initiation.

And so all this narrative energy gets utterly wasted and expended on stuff that it just flat out doesn’t need to be spent on in the first place....instead of just putting that same energy to use building forward-facing storylines for ALL the characters, that don’t require contrived spats of disharmony when the goal of such moments isn’t even the disharmony but rather just that they’re kept apart, the end RESULT of the disharmony.

Imagine what S2 could have built if instead of wasting time, characterization and energy on getting to a point they could have simply started from if they’d simply looked at it that way and chosen to just....start. If they’d applied all that to building across the board, everyone’s story in service to their own character first and foremost, no tangled feedback loops making characters regress or cycle through the same behavior or narrative positionings over and over again in order to not get in each other’s way or cross paths at a time when the show didn’t want them to cross paths....because rather than make all these characters work at cross purposes, they’re all on the same page, they still want the same things....you’re simply engineering from their own natural characterizations and organic decisions and reactions, ways the PLOT can be utilized as a TOOL, to keep them moving forward in their own respective chapters, WITHOUT their characters having to be bent out of their natural shapes or forced into niches that don’t really suit them, just to keep them, PREVENT them, from more naturally or organically making a choice or action that would ‘get in the way’ of the plot.

Bottom line......the plot is supposed to be there to advance the characters, because the characters are what we come to stories for. The characters are who we invest in, relate to, ROOT for.

The characters aren’t there to advance the plot. We’re not here to yell yeah, I really hope the writers do whatever it takes with characters, no matter how backwards or unnatural it seems, just to get that sweet sweet and oh so specific ending we want that is in no way dependent on how invested or not we ACTUALLY are in the characters by the time it arrives, in order for it to actually be effective or not!

Lol. Y’know?

So yeah, that’s my biggest gripe with Titans so far. I’m still eager to see what happens between Kory and her sister, and although I’m not thrilled it seems to be becoming Batfam Straight Outta Gotham rather than like, Titans: The Show, I admit I am curious about what take they’ll go with for Babs. As I still pretty vividly recall that weird as hell Birds of Prey show the CW or UPN or WB or whatever it was at the time did for one season, where Babs was honestly not terribly adapted despite the show otherwise bearing like, zero in common with any existing DC property or character (do not even get me STARTED on their takes on Dinah and Helena, no, blehrrible, those were bad, those were like super bad)....anyway, I’m kinda curious even if it wouldn’t have been my choice for what direction the show should take. Not that I have a specific one in mind, just, yeah. And I also kinda would not hate if we got a new Roy Harper now, to replace the not!Roy of Arrow, because I don’t know him, no seriously, who is that, its not Roy Harper.

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surprisebitch · 4 years ago

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Okay, the notorious Pseudo-singularity Agartha. 9/10 people I talked to told me to skip the cutscenes but being the curious cat I am, I needed to know why this is the singularity that is most despised that even Japan hated it.

So first thing’s first..

Good things:

The setting is really pretty. The art for the scenes were well-designed aesthetically. Really good art.

Christ*pher Col*mbus being exposed for who he really is.. evil.

Astolfo and D’eon’s comedic relief in this mess of a singularity

Wu Zetian and Scheherezade being great additions to the servant roster. Penth is on thin ice because i resent the writers for adding her and not Patroclus or even mentioning Patroclus in the story when it comes to Achilles. Like homophobia is strong in this one.

BAD THINGS:

SOOOOO MANY??? I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!!! But I’ll try to sum it up in a few bullets why I really hate this singularity

LOUSY WRITING reduced every character into being one-dimensional tropes. This is the biggest problem Agartha has because you have all of these really great servants with such interesting historic backgrounds and in this freaking singularity, they were just reduced to having ONE PERSONALITY TRAIT with NO COMPLEXITY AT ALL.

Let’s start with Fergus Lily... Like literally, Fergus’ my room lines and interlude would NEVER EVER SAY THE THINGS FERGUS IN AGARTHA SAID. Also, Mincelse was lazy af that he just thinks Fergus can be that wish fulfilment harem protagonist with no redeeming qualities. I was so mad as well that he literally butchered Fergus’ characterization and could’ve made Agartha the experience where Fergus learns how not to run a kingdom. Instead we get this writer ruining the emotional moment by hitting on Schez and making an extremely heteronormative statement.

Wu Zetian and Schez deserve BETTER in terms of character exploration and motives. Instead Schez pulled a Daenerys in the story and went 180 due to it not being her fault but the writers. The plot twist would have been amazing and reasonable but there was no proper buildup leading to it. And then Wu was just reduced to being a loli sadist when the Empress in history has also been considered one of the smartest and brought prosperity to China.

Also Astolfo and D’eon.. while they provided comic relief. They were just that. Astolfo’s and D’eon’s stories dont get explored. It’s a shame!

Dahut too.. like instead of getting a new servant, we really wanna taint Drake huh smh and her monologue was confusing af

Out of Character moments

Don’t get me started on Mash really making Astolfo and D’eon’s gender an issue. I know she’s not transphobic so lets blame the dumbass writer

Da Vinci really “teasing” KID FERGUS A LOT and insinuating he wants to have sex with every woman. Jfc Da Vinci would NEVER. like first of all, he’s A KID

Emotional moments getting ruined by cheap comedy tricks. I already mentioned Fergus but there are other really ill-timed try hard humour that took place. Also, incoherent writing and even repetitive dialogue.

The setting of women oppressing men could have been handled better and with care. Instead you get something that’s from a kinkdom fetish coupled with gratuitous rape, violence, and a subtle dig at women empowerment. M*nase should choke.

TL;DR: Agartha could have been a great singularity if it had a better writer who actually cared about the lore of these servants or characters. Instead, you get something that is shallow, lacking depth, and was obviously written to fulfil Minase’s sick fetish. So much lost potential and it’s infuriating that we really had a singularity that could have been iconic. Instead we get something that’s trash.

Do I regret reading it? No. I now know why this singularity is awful. It was worth knowing how bad it is and now I have a proper opinion why it is bad.

#agartha #fgo #fate grand order

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tsukikoayanosuke · 3 years ago

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7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 27, 35 & 39

[It’s a lot again 😅 hope you don’t mind :D]

I might be going way too far with these answers, so please bear with me ^^’

Sorry for the long rambles but these are my answers!

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Oof. This is hard. There’s actually a lot of paragraphs that I like throughout the writing process. I can re-read and just pick which is my favorite, it’ll be different every time.

But, I think the thing currently going on with TW:OPT can be summed up in this Once Upon a Time… (I was being dumb and I thought prose is just poetry without rhyme)

So, this drabble is written on the run. There’s not really deep thought and I can’t even remember why I wrote it in the first place. From the date I posted it on Tumblr it was in the middle of Octavinelle Arc.

But, in this small crappy prose-poetry, it has one of the themes in TW:OPT: happy vs sad ending. This is something that I want to build since in the early stage. The theme of TW:OPT is second chances for the reincarnated villains, giving them a happy ending, something way better than the original ones.

So, if you look for example the two lines about the Queen of Heart:

The Queen of Heart was forgotten by Alice like it was just a bad dream

The Queen of Heart will always be remembered by Alice as his dear friend and the greatest queen

The first line is what happens to the original Disney Alice’s Queen of Hearts, while the second line is what happens to Riddle, the current reincarnation of the Queen of Hearts. It’s a good change for Riddle’s life.

However, like everything, there has to be something to balance it.

After all, good endings cannot exist without bad endings.

Can the good guys really live with the bad guys in harmony? After all, all Disney movie always has “good wins, evil lose” theme. If the “evil side” wins, wouldn’t that mean the “good side” loses? Is that even a good thing or even possible?

After all, the One-Eyed Captain found his happy ending to sail away once again. What will happen to him in his next life?

This line becomes the question. What will happen to the already-set happy endings? Would they just disappear to change into bad endings to keep the balance?

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I’m debating between many dialogues, but I think the one piece I’m most proud of is in Chapter 97. I'm cutting a lot of the narration and just focus on the dialogues because it becomes too long.

Riddle: What happens that day? The day when everything went downhill. Azul: Didn't anyone tell you already? Riddle: I want to hear it from your or Jonah's mouth. What happened that you must curse him? Azul: Pretty simple, really. I told him not to come here that day, and he did To make it worse, that boy was stupid enough to go back against our agreement. Riddle: Just that? Azul: Oh, please, dear Crimson Ruler. I don't want to hear that from you. Have you forgotten about your reign before? Riddle: I know what I did was tyrannical, but I want to be better. Azul: Because of the captain told you too? Riddle: No. This is my choice to change. Just like it was your choice to curse him. He trusts you, you know? He knows that you wouldn't go back against your own words, which was why he was willing to sign another contract with you. Azul: If he trusts me that much, why is he against me? If he trusts me, why did he choose to save his stupid friends than agreeing with me? Tell me, Riddle Rosehearts...Why does he choose you instead of me?

We all know what happened during Octavinelle Arc and I don't deny that this sounds cheesy or slightly ooc. And let me just say this, there's no intention of this become a love triangle or whatsoever.

There are two things I want to highlight in this exchange: Riddle's growth and Azul's decline.

Riddle, after everything happened in Heartslabyul and Savanclaw arc, finally putting his foot down on where he wants to stand. He wants to be a better person, more than just the feared Crimson Tyrant. That's why he's helping them. Not because the boys are breaking the rules, not because someone tells him to, but Riddle is willing to risk it all, even his unique magic (as we see at the end of this chapter and the next) to save his friends. Again, this might sound ooc and I apologize, but from my perspective, this is a logical step of development for Riddle.

Meanwhile, Azul is showing more and more decline from this until the end of Octavinelle Arc even Scarabia Arc. For Azul who knows how easy people can leave and mock when you have nothing, seeing Jonah leave him and siding with the anemones is basically a betrayal. He can't think rationally when it comes to the betrayal and we see how brash he can be with anything related to Jonah throughout the arc where all of their interaction nearly kills Jonah.

If Riddle-Jonah is a coming-of-age story, Azul-Jonah is a broken friendship story.

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

This is a hard one to write. You might think I’ll just answer with TW:OPT, but honestly, all multi chapters fanfic has their own difficulties, so I can’t choose which is the hardest.

For Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure, where I do treat this as a novel-writing practice, keeping the consistency with the theme, plot points, and characterization.

For Private Tutor, Angel of Death, Philza Minecraft, actually coming up with new ideas is hard because I don’t based this on anything, and just write anything once a week. In addition that I’m still new in Dream SMP fandom so characterization won’t be the strongest thing.

For both TWST MC Hybrid AU and Magical Girl AU, giving the massive cast equal spotlight and actually not getting lost is quite a challenge. Both AU has seven main characters and I need to give them the same amount to screen time.

And don’t get me started with those smut. I won’t be talking about it because I’m keeping it family friendly. Those has their own problems XD

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

As I said, every fic has their own problems, even one shot. So, I’m looking through my works and trying to figure out which fic I wrote the fastest but had the most fun.

I think I’ll go with A Wish for a Proposal because the comfort in this fic with Ace going heads over heels for Deuce and being doki-doki all the time. And the kiss under a shooting star, AH! Poetic cinema~

I do enjoy when I wrote how Ace thought keeping a toy ring as childish but he ended up using it to confess to Deuce and thinking that it’s not as childish as he thought.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

There are good writing advice that I had head, one of them came from On Writing: Great Character Descriptions! by Hello Future Me. He has so many good advices in writing and I highly recommend him.

He said that “when describing characters it’s good to focus on their movements that can tell the readers of who the characters are”. As someone who has many troubles in writing physical description, this is actually a great alternative, especially when you want to go thought the “show don’t tell”.

After watching the video I tried to write something. I ended up writing Jonah’s father, Benjamin, in Chapter 137

The owner of the inn was an old man who, coincidentally, also shared the 'Argentum' surname. Benjamin Argentum was a man with slouched back from the burden of the world, white strands on his reddish-brown hair and tired, but kind, black eyes. He walked slowly with his walking stick, claiming that his knees were never that strong since a cart accident during his younger days. The way he speaks was gentle like everyone's favorite uncle/grandfather, along with the delicious appetizer that he had prepared a few minutes ago on the reception table. The spices he used reminiscent of the spices Jonah used in his Ramshackle Kitchen. There was no way all of these were coincidences. Crowley wouldn't doubt if Jonah Argentum ever grew old, he would be looking exactly like the warm innkeeper.

I want to highlight how Benjamin is a kind old man ("He walked slowly with his walking stick, claiming that his knees were never that strong since a cart accident during his younger days”, ”The way he speaks was gentle like everyone's favorite uncle/grandfather”) but has his own problems (”a man with slouched back from the burden of the world”), and very similar to Jonah (”The owner of the inn was an old man who, coincidentally, also shared the 'Argentum' surname”, ”The spices he used reminiscent of the spices Jonah used in his Ramshackle Kitchen”, “Crowley wouldn't doubt if Jonah Argentum ever grew old, he would be looking exactly like the warm innkeeper.”)

It’s not the best descriptions, because most of the example used highlight only one most recognizable feature while my description highlight nearly everything. I still need some practice.

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

“Write what’s mainstream”.

Here’s my problem with it: sometimes anything that’s mainstream is not my thing. I like to challenge what we are given and give it a spin.

I mentioned before that growing up with Indonesian TV Series that only centers around love, riches, and cheating, I grew tired of it. That was why I once tried to make a script for a group of friends creating a classical music band and mental problems.

I’m not the first one to make an adaptation of TWST, but I think I’m one of the first, at least in AO3, that make an adaptation with Male MC. Among the Female MC or Female Readers story with a hint (or too much) of Romance, I want to give something for the small group who wants Male MC or something more platonic to read.

I always want to push slightly further, trying something that I haven’t seen at first glance, giving varieties. I will admit that would always doubt whether me writing something different is even worth it or not. But when I saw that yes, this is worth it, I gain more confidence and become bolder in my twist.

Going against the mainstream is risky, but we'll see whether it's worth it or not.

16. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Oh no... Does it have to be a romantic pairing?

Okay. I don't really have an OTP. I mean, I like ROnah and JonAzul, but I don't think I can't live with writing only about them.

So, romantically, I don’t know. But, this doesn’t help with platonically either because I find enjoyment in writing all relationship. Just pushing the limit of my writing, you know?

So, I don’t think I can answer this because I’m a coward XD

27. How do you feel about collaborations?

A mixed bag.

So currently I'm in at least 2 collab projects: TWST MC Hybrid AU and Arisu in Alternate Wonderland. In the former, I'm the group leader, while in the latter, I'm just a writer.

Both sidea are different experiences. With AiAW, it's definitely lighter because this is basically retelling TWST but with seven Yuus. However because of this freedom and the possibilities of anything, I cannot predict whether my oc action will affects in the future or how they would interact with other ocs in the project.

With Hybrid AU, since this is a fantasy au, anything can happen. Plus as the main writer, I can see and plan clearly which event will be important and setting the characters' arc. It's definitely harder to organize because of the various idea that we want to write.

So, yeah. Collaboration can be two things for me: a scripted roleplay or a freestyle roleplay

35. Would you ever kill off a canon character?

*looking at draft for TW:OPT Book 2*

Maybe...?

39. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I remember when I was a kid, I wrote a fanfiction where it only features OCs, and someone gave a review, ranting about the lack of canon characters. I, of course, sulked a bit but then just keep writing.

However, what I usually do when it comes to comments is take them into considerations. During Scarabia Arc I got a comment that the Jonah-Azul therapy moment is kinda weak, and rereading it, I can see that. Which was why the next part of the therapy Arc I tried to connect them further. So compare the JonAzul scene in the last part of Chapter 124 with the first part of Chapter 126. At least for me, I prefer the latter because there's more intimacy.

#40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers #the captain is answering!#the captain's rambling

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meadow-roses · 5 years ago

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Okay I'm here to confess a sin, I don't care much for Aqua. So I'm really curious what are the fanon misinterpretations of her?? With Ven it's funny, like I saw I saw in an incorrect quotes blog. Ven: People think I'm an angel. Terra: ...I have no idea how.

Yeah, most mischaracterizations can get pretty amusing, trying to imaging so-and-so actually saying such-and-such. XDD But anyway, thank you for asking! I was actually just talking to August about it last night but wasn’t sure typing anything out would be worth it because who would read it??

Quick disclaimer, I am not Nomura. I do not claim my opinion is right and I know who these characters are, as they are not mine. What I AM saying is, characters are my passion in storytelling. I love sitting down and thinking over a story, mulling over what they said and did and how they reacted, so I can feel like I really know the characters. I began playing BBS after knowing the basic plot, and having met the characters and “knowing them” from the fanon. Through playing the game, however, I became confused, because the character interpretations I had understood were so, did not match the way they acted in the actual game cutscenes. Playing through Aqua’s storyline especially, I was struck with a compelling and interesting character, completely different from who the fanon had told me she was.

First I just want to say, cause this is the one that gets me the most: Aqua’s greatest fault is NOT HER SELFLESSNESS. Aqua’s selflessness is her STRENGTH. I personally know people who are selfless to a fault, and Aqua does not behave like that. From what I see playing BBS, Aqua’s greatest fault is pride. She thinks that no matter what, she is always right. (if you want to hear all of the reasons why her fault is pride I have more, this is just three) She refuses to listen to any of the explanations Terra and Ven give her, because she “knows better than them”. After defeating Maleficent, Aqua misses her opportunity to destroy her (as she wanted to) because she has to gloat in her face about the power of love. Ventus, who knows Aqua very well, even tells her, “You’re letting this Keyblade Master stuff go to your head.” I don’t think he’s just saying that cause he’s mad about being treated like a kid- he actually knows Aqua, and is worried she’s getting carried away by her pride. (yeah he doesn’t deal with it maturely but he’s Ven and that’s one of his faults) Another of her flaws is actually impatience- she’s just soooo much like Eraqus- she leaps into action without pausing to think at all what the consequences are, or if she even should be interfering at all. She’s also very judgmental. All this to say, Aqua is usually right. She has a strong innate sense of right and wrong, she knows her own mind and is not easily swayed by anything that goes against that. Her problem is, she’s just too stubborn and prideful and it gets her in trouble. (the main reason why she hates Vanitas so much. He offends her by making her feel like she isn’t in control of the situation.)

Okay, so. “Aqua is a kind young woman who’s sense of right and wrong never wavers.” Not much personality to go off of in that one sentence, but it does tell us the most core parts of her being. She was raised to quickly determine right from wrong with her innate sense of justice nurtured to an almost purist level. She cannot STAND for “light to mar darkness”. She is Eraqus’ prize pupil. We can pretty much easily tell from watching the mark of mastery exam scene- there is absolutely no doubt in Aqua’s mind that she is not ready, that she could possibly not be what Eraqus is looking for. That likely means she rarely fails to meet his expectations. **She is confident and secure in who she is, and how the world works** even though she’s never been out there to see it. Aqua’s storyline follows a young girl who has lived a very sheltered life, and is just as naive as Ventus and Terra are, she’s just not as quick to accept she could have been wrong.

One of my favorite scenes is her conversation with Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. This is one of the few moments we see Aqua not being a “Keyblade Master” and actually acting like the confused young woman she is. Her purist attitude is questioned- darkness can never be destroyed, only conquered, (which on an interesting note also was what needed done with Vanitas too. 🤔) and for once she is at a loss for what to do. The Fairy Godmother in her wisdom, realizes this is not a lesson that can be taught, it must be learned through experience. In other words, Aqua’s gonna have to TRY to destroy darkness to protect the light, and lose, before she’ll realize and finally admit, that she was in fact wrong.

People like to characterize Aqua as “the STRONG one”, “the perfect one”, “the one who never did anything wrong”, and say “she never deserved this”. Aqua is strong. She is too strong. She is not adaptable and does not know how to bend and shape her worldview when it comes out that she was wrong. Aqua is NOT perfect. If you say she is you do her an injustice. No character should ever be perfect that is just ridiculously DULL and does Aqua and Nomura an injustice. Aqua did a good deal wrong throughout BBS! It’s actually my opinion the three of them being driven apart was entirely her fault. She pushed them away by refusing to listen to any explanation they tried to give. Basically, “do it my way or we can’t be friends”. She didn’t deserve it, those years in the Dark Realm, losing her friends like that despite her best attempts. But she did need it. Aqua needed to lose everything, and find herself completely helpless, to really become a Keyblade Master, who knows how to wait, listen, and show compassion. Real quick so the whole thing isn’t negative lol, Aqua’s strengths.

She is Brave. Personal danger is not a worry for her when the things she has sworn to protect are in danger. She is Confident. There is no whishy-washy decision making. She makes a plan, she sticks to it, and no one with their beguiling words can pull her astray. She is Kind. Her ultimate goal as a keyblader is to protect the weak. “To protect the things that matter, like my friends” which I think is something that should be at the core of every keyblade wielder. She is Selfless. Aqua will do. anything. it. takes. to protect the light, and her precious friends. Her life, her safety, is of little importance if she can secure the safety of another.

Honestly, it can be nicely summed up in the one sentence describing her in BBS: “Aqua is a kind young woman who’s sense of right and wrong never wavers“ u_u

#thanks for the ask!#I hope I didn't ramble too much lol #i just love talking about characters #aqua #kh #text #ask #asks #answered #bbs #birth by sleep #birth #by #sleep #kingdom hearts #kingdom #hearts

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italkaboutbooks · 4 years ago

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An in depth review of Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman//Part 1

So...I usually don’t do this kind of thing. Normally on this blog I just give simple, non-spoiler reviews. And then I give that certain book a stared rating out of five. And then I move on with my life.

But I’m starting to realize, that I may not be able to do that. At least, not for the YA sci-fi novel Aurora Rising, written by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.

I have a lot of thoughts on this book. I have read many reviews by other people about this book. The reviews I read were very mixed. Some people loved it and gave it 4-5 stars, and others hated it giving it 1 star. But for me, I cannot sum up my thoughts on this book with a rating out of 5, or any number for that matter. No, I have to get into the nitty gritty of this book, and explain every thought I ever had about this book.

So this is very obvious, but this will be an extremely spoilery post. I am not holding back on the spoilers, you have been warned.

Intentions

I feel like when analyzing everything Aurora Rising did, you have to understand what the authors intended it to be. Because I personally believe that Aurora Rising is just meant to be a fun time. It’s not meant to be profound, or deep, or revolutionary. I think Kristoff and Kaufman just wanted to write a light-hearted sci-fic novel about teenagers in a space academy. When I read the synopsis of this book, I could easily tell just by the tone that this wasn’t a book to take seriously, and it was just supposed to be a fun time.

And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. If you like reading stories that are just fun, good for you. I understood that when I read this book, and I think that’s why I gave it 4-stars on goodreads. Because I enjoyed it. But a part of me has to ask, does writing stories solely for fun, take away something from the story? It’s a debate that has no end, and I understand that, but here’s what I think.

Stories intended for fun? Totally cool. Sometimes we just want something fun without any messages that challenge us, even though those are extremely important. But sometimes I can’t help but wonder, especially in reading this book, what if you changed this or improved on this? Because that would make the story have more meaning.

One could argue that the most profound stories are the ones that are also fun and light-hearted. Take Disney and Pixar for example. Ignoring the questionable stuff that they as a corporation are, they have movies that are fun and light-hearted, and yet are still meaningful and can withstand time. Basically, stories can do both. Be fun and meaningful at the same time. And this might be the main problem with Aurora Rising.

Personally, I think Aurora Rising is a fun story, with little sprinkles, tiny sprinkles of meaningfulness. However some reviews said that the authors didn’t really care about making the readers care, and a part of me agrees with them. Because Aurora Rising is intended to be fun, and while that is enough for most people, and myself. I can’t help but wonder, how much better it could’ve been.

Plot

The plot of Aurora Rising is pretty basic in my opinion. However, I saw a reviewer say that it completely ripped off Firefly so...that’s disappointing to hear. Especially since these authors are apparently big names. Tyler Jones goes to a space academy, and misses the draft, a.k.a the event where graduates choose their coworkers for the job they’ve been working for years to get. Tyler misses the draft, because he received a distress call from a ship that’s about to explode, but there’s a sleeping girl there.

So Tyler gets grouped with the “worst of the worst” reputation wise and there’s also a poor girl who is trying to cope with the fact that literally everyone she knows is dead, and that she’s been sleeping for centuries.

So this girl does some creepy things and it turns out she has a bigger role to play in the fate of the world and Tyler and this gang of misfits get themselves wrapped up in it.

Pretty simple, really. There’s not much I can say on the plot. It’s not bad, it’s pretty basic. I don’t really care for basic plots. As long as the characters are great, whether they’re likeable or intriguing, I’m fine. However, I have one huge problem with the plot. And that is the ending of part 2.

The novel is separated into three parts.

Specifically, chapters 18-24. Let me try to explain to you what happens, because it had left me so confused.

So, Aurora (the girl who was asleep) keeps having strange visions. It had led the group to a black market planet essentially. The person who runs this “planet” is a criminal, I believe, who has the strongest security in the universe. The main gang is trying to break into the “criminal’s” place to steal a statue from him. There’s also a murder hungry beast that guards the place. Basically, it’s a suicide mission.

Cat, one of the characters, does not agree on following through with the plan, and for good reason to. They get into a fight about it, and Cat storms off to a bar to drink her feelings away.

While she’s at this bar, getting drunk (not a good state to be making decisions btw) the GIA comes to her. All you need to know about the GIA, is that they are looking for Aurora, and they are not going to be nice to her when they get her. They are here, because they want Aurora, and they tell Cat that. They also tell her that if she just gives them Auri, then her other crewmates, will be fine. Off the hook.

So, this girl is leading the people you care about into a dangerous situation, and people come up to you and say that if you tell them where that girl is, everything will be okay. Oh, and you’re currently drunk, and not thinking straight. What would you probably do? In this situation, I would say that you would sell Auri out.

When I read this scene, it seemed pretty simple to me. Cat was going to reveal Auri’s location, and the GIA would take her, and everyone would be pissed at Cat. But that’s not what happened.

We don’t get a scene of Cat actually selling Auri out.

The chapter ends, and in the next chapter, Cat is back with the others, going through with the plan. So I was thinking, “okay, she sold them out, but she obviously hasn’t said that, but then the GIA is going to come, and the plan would fail.”

But here’s what happens.

Cat, Tyler and Auri get super close to their goal. And the the person who ran the place caught up to them. He isn’t happy because they were breaking and entering. Then, the GIA comes, and I’m thinking that it’s game over. Cat betrayed them. They’re like, “we just need Auri but it’s okay you can beat the others up.”

Cat goes, “That wasn’t the deal.” And Tyler goes, “what deal?”

Cat basically confessed that she sold the squad out, and Tyler is rightfully upset about that. They get into an argument which turns into a fight. The GIA takes Auri away, and now I’m thinking, “Cats mistake caused Auri to fall into the wrong hands. The third part is going to be them saving her. Maybe Cat will have an arc surrounding this.”

You wanna know what happens next? The GIA agents take out the “bad guys,” and take off their masks to reveal that they were actually members of the squad all along.

What? What??

How did this happen? Does this make any sense to you? If you have read the entire book, did you understand what happened? Because I don’t have a clue how any of that made any logical sense.

Listen, I know what an unreliable narrator is, and I’m not saying it’s bad. However, if your story is so confusing that I don’t even believe that an event could’ve happened, you did something wrong.

I literally skimmed through the book again to remember what happened and I’m still confused and upset.

I think what happens is that Cat does sell Auri out, but she tells the squad what she did. And they’re apparently cool with it, and don’t get mad at her. None of these scenes are shown, so two of the members go to get GIA disguises, and it turns out that everything went according to plan all along, even though the readers are lead to believe the opposite.

I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate it because it just leaves you asking what was genuine characterization and what was just “acting” to go along with the plan. Like, did Cat actually get upset at the plan originally? Was that fight when Tyler finds out Cat sold them out a genuine fight of betrayal and anger? I don’t know. A part of it may be because I’m dumb, but I think this part in general was also way too confusing for its own good.

Not to mention that it throws out an opportunity for a character arc in Cat, that was thrown out of the window and replaced with something much cheaper in my opinion.

Personally, I wished that Cat did betray the squad and Auri does get taken by the GIA. But during the heist, Auri saves Cat (that’s an actual event btw,) from a monster. This could make Cat regret selling Auri out. Then, Cat could go and personally save Auri, as a way to amend her actions and give her an arc. I think that would’ve been much better.

But we didn’t get that. And it’s what I hate the most about the plot. I have more complaints about chapters 18-24, but we’ll get to those later.

So I’m now looking over what I just wrote, and I’m realizing that I need to split this up into more than one part. So this is part one of my deep dive thoughts on Aurora Rising. If you want to see part two, I recommend following me. Hopefully, I don’t make you regret that choice.

Part 2// Part 3

#bookblr #book reader #book review #ya book review #books on tumblr #books #bookblogger #aurora rising

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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 Known By Its Song

This is a re-posting from Nov. 18th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Five years on air and RWBY still has the ability to make me stupidly emotional. This episode was no exception.

Our title, "Known By Its Song" comes from the old saying that "A bird is known by its song, a man by his words," presumably referring to times when a man's "word" was equated with his honor. We begin the episode with Qrow--someone who is notably both man and corvus, a dichotomy that the episode will later comment on--who is out keeping his own word to Ozpin, searching for other huntsmen and huntresses to help them in their battle against Salem.

...and he's a complete drama queen about it.

Yes, in retrospect this is a Very Serious Situation, but getting a montage of Qrow literally bending over backwards in frustration before finally collapsing to his knees? Pretty hilarious. The first bar he visits, looking for someone named Shiro, doesn't go well at all, but for two minutes at least we can chock everything up to Qrow's semblance: the bartender doesn't know where Shiro is, he's not allowed back until he pays what he owes, and that debt is apparently high enough to warrant Qrow getting a knife thrown at him through the wall. Yeesh.

As his mission continues though, it becomes clear that there's far more at play than a bit of bad luck. Qrow is conducting his search in the poverty stricken areas of Haven, which is both a wonderful bit of world building and a perfect bit of characterization. After all, Qrow had a life of raids and disreputable behavior before he hooked up with the Ozilluminati. Any friends that he goes "way back" with are bound to be, if not criminals, then other huntsmen and huntresses with equally dubious pasts. The area where Qrow expects to find his friends is drab and gray, a sharp contrast to the beautiful seating area he'll rest in later, complete with holographic technology and a water garden with lily pads. The houses are boarded up and falling apart. The people wear filthy clothes, spend their time betting on street fights, and have some rather horrific injuries--hello, one-eyed weapons seller. What really completes the picture is a sign outside the bar proclaiming that there are NO FAUNUS allowed. Here in the U.S. racism has long been used as a means of pacifying those at or below the poverty line. Struggling to survive? Facing a government that cares little about whether you eat or your kids go to school? Well at the very least you're still white! It's a horrific truth about this country, but a truth nonetheless, and for once I'm glad that Rooster Teeth is forcing their race analogy back into the narrative. As flimsy as it still is, it does make sense that the most poverty-ridden parts of Haven would also be one of the most overtly discriminatory. This is just a more blunt version of what we saw back in Atlas during Jacques' little charity ball. He makes speeches about faunus who complain about dangerous working conditions. Bartenders in Haven slap up signs on their wall. It's the same thing with a different face.

Not that Qrow has time to worry about that right now. He runs through name after name learning that each person is missing--or worse. His search comes to an end when, frustrated, he reams out a guy right before a little girl toddles up, asking if this strange man knows where her Mommy is. I find it rather poignant that it's in this moment, one of his worst, that Qrow actually resists his flask. Perhaps he wants to keep feeling whatever emotions rose up from that little encounter. I think he hates himself just enough to go that route.

I also find it reassuring that for all his talk about how he can't get close to others because of his semblance, Qrow does know a lot of people. He's popular in his own way, making allies, acquaintances, and friends on both sides of the fence, so to speak. It's a punch to the gut when we see him back among Haven's upper class, staring at a mission board like the one we saw in Beacon. Every name up there--all these people he's come to care about--are missing, gone on search and destroy missions and never returned. Just as the viewer is beginning to realize why Shiro hasn't payed his debt, that it probably has nothing to do with a sleazy nature, Qrow is back at the bar. He pays off the money Shiro owes and tells the bartender firmly that "His name is clear" now.

I'd be more moved by this scene if I wasn't distracted by how the hell lien works in this world. Seriously. It seems straightforward enough at first glance. Different colors represent different amounts, right? But then here's Qrow throwing down a single card that pays off the16,000 debt. That seems like a random number. Who makes a 'bill' worth that exact amount? Unless Qrow payed him more than the minimum, or that was acting more like a credit card.

I don't know. This is the fantasy show that has yet to introduce languages other than English. You can't look too closely at RWBY's world building.

On to things I can actually conceptualize: Yang and Weiss are finally having their talk with Raven. Who was surprised by the setting that includes a decorative tea set and low table? Not me. I've seen a bunch of comics these last two weeks depicting that conversation exactly as it occurred, at least aesthetically. How did we know? Something something Yang's Asian influence. Again, don't look too closely. The point is that Raven is starting a very ironic conversation regarding "truth."

I actively dislike this woman.

Her attempts to manipulate Yang two episodes back were pretty blatant, but kudos for better subtly here: by insisting that Yang needs to question everything--including Raven--Raven actually positions herself as both wise (the one to gift Yang with this advice) and trustworthy; as the only one to admit her own, potential duplicity, she paradoxically comes across as the most honest. Too bad Yang's too smart to fall for her mind games. Or too straight forward. Weiss is the one talking herself in circles about whether magic might actually exist or not. Yang has a laser focus that nothing can penetrate: find Ruby.

I said last time that Raven was going to either drop some crazy plot twist about Ozpin, or just catch the girls up on what we already know. Looks like Rooster Teeth went with option two. Raven (taking her sweet time and being real vague about it) sums up what we've learned this season, if not earlier: Salem is a person that exists and is a Big Threat, she wants to kill off all of humanity (which presumably includes the faunus?), magic is a thing, and Raven just happens to know someone who can "come back from the dead." Wow. Wonder who that could be!

She does actually drop a few tidbits of interesting information. She reveals that she and Qrow entered Beacon to learn how to kill huntsmen and obviously only one of the twins was dissuaded from that goal. Her comment that the entrance exams were "child's play" is particularly fascinating because I'd always assumed there had to be something beyond just sending in transcripts and not screwing up initiation. Which begs the question, how did Jaune get past an exam of that caliber? Did Ruby just skip it with Ozpin's permission? Presumably.

In the end though, no matter how much Raven might want Yang to believe her "truth," her overwhelming bias shines through. The fact that she claims to have info on Ozpin and makes the beginning of the conversation all about Qrow hints at those feelings of betrayal. She ends the conversation on Tai--an insult that finally has Yang losing her patience. And throughout the middle Raven emphasizes that Salem is an entity that can't be stopped. Her beef with Ozpin (according to this conversation at least) isn't that he's inherently evil, but that he's convincing people to fight with him in an impossible war.

The problem here is that Raven is the only one who sees this war as "impossible." I've touched on this before, but Volume 5 is pulling strongly from that mission in Mountain Glenn, back when Oobleck got Team RWBY to think about why they wanted to be huntresses in the first place. Yes, on the surface that episode seems to confirm Raven's belief that most enter the life for money, fame, or power: Blake wants tools to fight for equality, Weiss wants to break away from her father, Yang wants an exciting life--they all have ulterior motives. But Raven didn't watch the full episode, all the way to when the girls acknowledge this around the campfire and make conscious (if silent) decisions not to be overly influenced by these motivations. They're fighting first and foremost because it's the right thing to do. Raven sees them as the "poster children" of Beacon academy, naive kids who are too blinded by their ideals to realize how cruel the world is, easily manipulated and then sacrificed by Ozpin. But she's the one who's blind here. The girls know more than they let on, they've acknowledge their failings and the world's... and they've decided to fight anyway.

For Team RWBY/JNPR fighting Salem isn't impossible. It's just incredibly hard. Ruby, their leader, is the embodiment of this belief, reminding Oscar last episode that they have to keep moving forward. And it’s a sign of growth: Team RWBY is what Ozpin once hoped Team STRQ could be. Raven hates Ozpin because she sees a man sacrificing pawns to an unbeatable foe. Ozpin's allies love him because they see a man doing everything he can to defeat an incredibly powerful foe. But not an invincible one.

Of course, we don't have all the information yet. Raven says that she hates Ozpin for one more reason, for "what he did to my brother and me." The pacing of this scene is important, because Raven's second in command tells Yang and Weiss to go "see for themselves" what this horrible sin is and it's then that we get Raven soaring through the air in her bird form. It's been a big question for a while now: how can Qrow and Raven transform if they have other semblances? The reigning theory was that it had something to do with their tribe connection, but now it seems that this was, somehow, Oz's doing.

Oz is the Wizard theory, anyone?

Why Raven views being able to turn into a kickass bird as a bad thing, I don't know. Some aversion to magic perhaps? Is there a downside here? I’m rather confused as to how this is something bad... And I'd actually always assumed that Ruby and Yang knew about their uncle's ability, but we learn otherwise here. Why keep it from the girls then? Is it just because it's personal, like a semblance? Or does Qrow also view his transformations as something tainted... unnatural even? I hope this aversion is addressed. Perhaps it will tie back to this volume's focus on semblances. In that, if Team RWBY is truly Team STRQ 2.0, then Ozpin might well gift the girls with new abilities too, just as he did for Qrow and Raven. He's already admitted that there are heights to reach beyond merely unlocking and practicing your semblance--heights that he can perhaps unlock.

Which raises another interesting possibility: Could Summer do something extra? ... can Tai?

(And then here's prodigy Ruby with semblance, silver eyes, and potential magic powers on the way. Don't overload the small child lol. There needs to be some struggle.)

In the end, if Raven had hoped that her little talk would get Yang on her side she was very mistaken. She opens the portal and Yang drives them through without hesitation, right when Qrow is agonizing over what's happened to all his contacts. His panicked "Raven?" transforming into a simple, happy "...oh" was a blessing in two words.

Then. Then we're given the scene that watered my crops, cleared my skin, and has done all my other writing for me. Ren, Nora, and Ruby happily cooking up a huge dinner together, expecting a whole slew of fighters to show up with Qrow and intending to feed every one of them. Ruby burning the food despite Ren's warnings. Hearing Qrow calling her and knowing what was about to happen. It’s all great.

I really love that Ruby was so nervous when she caught sight of Yang. Despite her letter last volume where she admits that running off to Haven was reckless, we haven't seen much about her thoughts on that decision. It all comes tumbling out here though. That a part of her regrets it, how sorry she is that she didn't wait for Yang, she should have tried to do more...everything. Not that Yang blames Ruby for any of that. She takes one look at her crying sister and runs to hug her, saying only, "I love you."

And Weiss... oh Weiss. How dare you question your place here. She looks discouraged for only a moment before Ruby (always perceptive) calls her over.

The episode ends with this.

And we're officially halfway through the volume. We've got Team RWY back together, much sooner than I expected, honestly.

Now it's time to find Blake!

Other Details of Note

Of course Weiss can tell the difference between a crow and a raven. I mean yes, that was necessary for the plot, but still.

Weiss' "I know that you're really obnoxious" in response to Raven's attempts at hospitality. Pfff drag her.

Weiss' eye roll when Raven said she wouldn't be as "nice" next time they meet. Please.

Weiss' overt concern for Yang and saying straight out that it's okay if she's not okay and my god she was on fire this episode for someone mostly sticking to the background.

Yang telling Raven not to talk about "my family" that way. Raven is no longer a part of that picture and I want to cheer at how Yang is handling all this so far.

I also appreciate the contrast, visually, between Qrow's transformation and Raven's. Their 'reveals' are done in opposite directions and for opposite purposes: Qrow transforms while flying left to right across the screen and attempting to save his family; Raven transforms right to left while trying to keep Yang from hers. Nicely done there.

I forgot to mention this last time but... can we lay off the Nora + food jokes? It was funny before we learned she starved for most of her childhood. So yeah, comments about how she's going to eat everything in sight aren't so much a joke as a sign of trauma. Let the poor girl eat what she likes.

Yang cradles Weiss in "Lighting the Fire" the exact same way she cradles Ruby here. Yang is confirmed big sister to the entire RWBY/JNPR group.

Oscar's confused look that melts into understanding, courtesy of Ozpin. It's a subtle moment, but just another indication of how they're synching up. Lovely detail there.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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themattress · 6 years ago

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Wow. Tomoko Kanemaki SUCKS!

I decided to be masochistic and read back through the KH2 novels by Tomoko Kanemaki. And I just have to say: that there are actually people out there who like her writing and consider it to be in as good or superior to the games astounds me. These books are awful.

When they just straight-up adapt the game to text like the KH novels and the COM novels (except for the R/R one, but R/R sucks anyway), it’s fine. They even do the visits to Land of Dragons, Beast’s Castle and Olympus Coliseum better than the KH2 manga does, plus swaps in Agrabah for the far more important Port Royal. But that’s the only good thing I can say about them. In literally every other regard, the game and manga are infinitely superior.

The main problem is simple to sum up: Kanemaki is a fanfic writer. A pretty stereotypical KH fangirl. This in of itself wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t adapting the games, but she is, and when she combines the game adaptations with her own fanfic based on what she wants to see, there is inevitably going to be a clash between them. The story written by Kazushige Nojima that she is adapting to novel form does not gel at all with what she writes, and as a result she has to either change that story (to the detriment of both it and its characters) or she neglects to change it even when it directly contradicts her own writing. This happens so much that it really makes for an excruciating reading experience. So let me list all of my problems with these novels point by point, to clarify just why Kanemaki’s writing fails so hard.

- I’ll get the biggest one out of the way right off the bat: Kanemaki is obsessed - and I mean obsessed - with the existential plight of the Nobodies, which includes the Draco in Leather Pants treatment to Organization XIII (”Is it really wrong to seek what you’ve lost?” is asked at one point, as though it’s a profound question. Um, when you’re doing so by inflicting that exact same loss upon millions of innocent people, yes it is!) The worst part is that characters (usually Namine, but Axel, Riku, Saix, Xemnas and even Ansem the Wise get on it at some points) are constantly repeating the exact same angsty inner monologues and internal (and sometime external) quasi-philosophical debates about Nobodies. I’m not kidding, it’s usually word-for-word. “Is it right for Nobodies to exist?” “Nobodies have nowhere to go or call home”. “Do Nobodies really lack hearts?” “What defines a heart?” “If Nobodies don’t have hearts, then why do they feel such-and-such?” “Why were Nobodies even born?” “Nobodies aren’t meant to exist, but does that still mean...?” And so on and so on, blah, blah, BLAH. Hearing this over and over and over and OVER again throughout my reading of the novels doesn’t make me more sympathetic of the Nobodies, it actually makes me less sympathetic and want them to go away so I don’t have to keep reading the same damn woe-is-me grade school-level existentialism! I want to keep reading about Sora, Donald and Goofy, damn it!

- Three characters who were mostly on the sidelines in KH2 somehow get a majority of time and focus here: Riku, Axel and Namine. They are even forced into an apocryphal trio together. They are basically treated as the de-facto secondary main characters next to Sora, Donald and Goofy, with their actions and development being given equal importance. Actually, that’s a lie - Riku, Axel and Namine are honestly given more importance. There is so much wrong about this - not only does the trio not feel organic and reek of bad fanfic, but each character in it isn’t well portrayed at all compared to the game or even the manga.

- Riku had the most potential, since he’s always a major character and a more talented writer could’ve come up with more feasible things for him to have been doing off-screen during KH2. But what Kanemaki has him do is ridiculous. If it’s not just stalking Sora, Donald and Goofy as a silent protector (which is the least interesting thing you could do with him), it’s bullshit with Axel and Namine, or fighting Saix midway through even though Kanemaki still keeps Saix’s later line of “Didn’t Roxas take care of you?”, or having him fight Xemnas in the Old Mansion only for Ansem the Wise to show up and Xemnas then just...retreat for no reason, letting Ansem live and thus ensuring the later destruction of his Kingdom Hearts like a dumbass! And through all of this, she frequently makes Riku default back into snarky, arrogant asshole mode, which doesn’t fit his character at this point at all. Also, while I saw no deliberate yaoi bait in the writing of the KH2 game, it’s definitely present in these novels.

- Axel. Oh my God. Anyone who hates what was done with him as Lea in the games, you should blame Kanemaki, since she actually ran with that kind of writing and characterization for him in these novels long before that happened in the games. He is treated as a totally trustworthy good guy who is a great friend to Roxas, Riku and Namine. The one dick move Kanemaki has him make is quickly backtracked on and then swept under the rug. His whole villainous role is whitewashed at every turn, from both what he intended with Roxas (legit deciding to kill him is changed to attempting a murder/suicide so that he can die with his best friend) to everything concerning Kairi (no, he didn’t kidnap her at all, that point is hammered in frequently, he was going to take her to Namine and they’d then see Sora together! And he didn’t want to turn Sora into a Heartless, that was a wrongful assumption on Saix’s part! And Saix summoned those Dusks on Destiny Islands, not Axel! Axel is chivalrous and heroic and does everything possible to protect and save Kairi! Gag me.) It’s so obnoxious, and beyond removing all of the character’s edge, it’s a blatant case of giving a character a major role in a story that they aren’t supposed to have one in just because he’s a favorite of the writer.

- Namine is an equally blatant case of this, but her case might be even worse. Not only is she THE source of the repetitive woe-is-me existential Nobody monologues and debates, with her whole character arc being changed to revolve around this which honestly makes her unintentionally unsympathetic and annoying, but this portrayal of her has a negative effect on her in both fandom and canon. In terms of fandom, a cult of bad apples (usually yaoi fangirls who already hated Kairi) arose around Namine following KH2, declaring her as superior to Kairi in every way and worthy of being the real main heroine of the KH series. Not only is this false, but it arguably got started because of these novels (translations of which had made their way online long before they were localized), where a character who literally only got 10 minutes of screentime in the game literally gets transformed into the main heroine and one of the most frequently appearing characters in general, even if her “character development” is horribly written and amounts to her being a mouthpiece for Kanemaki’s views. Then again, maybe they just projected onto Namine due to her introverted, fond-of-drawing nature, and Kanemaki was just one of them and thus produced something that kept them going. It’s a Chicken/Egg type of thing, I guess. But whatever the case, what it did in canon was worse. Kanemaki was the first to write for Namine after KH2, in 358/2 Days, and her characterization of her translated in game form to the stagnant caricatured plot device that Nomura then realized was easy to write for and convenient for making other convoluted plot turns happen.

- Come to think of it, Kanemaki’s partnering up with Nomura for Days probably did a lot more harm than just with Namine. Because her obsession with the “What Measure is a Non-Human?” trope never truly leaves the series after Days. It doesn’t pop up in BBS, since that was being worked on before Days, but everything afterwards is sure to feature it in some abysmal way or another, whether it be Nobodies, replicas, data copies or beings of pure darkness. The “Nobodies have hearts after all” comes straight from her writing (even if she had it as a needless overcomplication of the original idea that strong hearts can share feelings with those without it and thus serve as a heart for them too, while Nomura’s retcon is just “Nah, the body can regrow a heart, Xemnas lied”.) A lot of KH3′s worst writing might have not existed had Nomura not picked up on Kanemaki’s fixation with woobified “non-beings”.

- Sora honestly feels like an afterthought for Kanemaki. She’s so eager to write new fanficcy material for other characters, but not for the actual main protagonist, who only gets straight-up game adaptation. Oh, except that some of his lines that were “mean” to the Nobodies (and thus “OOC”, as both KH2-hating anon and Kanemaki seem to think) are changed or cut out.

- Y’know how the KH2 manga made Kairi even better than her game portrayal? Yeah, well this novel makes her far worse. First off, her defiant “you’re not acting very friendly!” to Axel is cut because Axel is whitewashed in that moment (he even readies himself to defend Kairi from the Dusks which Saix summons). Later, she does not get away from Axel because he was never kidnapping her to begin with here. She then realizes that he’s really a good person before Saix kidnaps her, with Axel desperately trying to protect her. She then only shows up toward the end when Axel once again comes to be her hero (again thwarted by that dastardly Saix), with her moping about how she can do nothing to help the brave, noble Axel. (I feel sick just typing this...) In the finale, not only does Kanemaki not take advantage of the potential Kairi development that the game relegated to optional text boxes, but she actually destroys Kairi’s entire arc long before BBS did by making one of her few additions to Kairi be an inner monologue she has on the shore of Destiny Islands alongside Mickey, Donald and Goofy just before Sora and Riku make it back, where she’s just wishing with all her heart that they’ll come back because “We’re here waiting for you. We’ll always wait for you.” BULL-FUCKING-SHIT. Kanemaki, just like Nomura and Oka, clearly has no interest in Kairi as a character on her own. She is used here as a plot device for the character development of Axel and Namine, characters she is interested in, even though Kairi had more significance and screentime than them by far in the actual KH2 game. Geez, even Nojima tried with her!

- Roxas is written just fine during the prologue, since his scenes are just lifted from the game. But when he resurfaces in the final novel, added material make Axel be the most important thing on his mind. Even his final thoughts as he makes the full merging with Sora is that he hopes to meet Axel again. More deliberate yaoi-baiting, and more shoving Axel down our throats. Hell, that last novel is even named “Anthem - Meet Again / Axel Last Stand”. God damn it, Kanemaki, Axel was not important to KH2. It’s not his story. Get over it already!

- Hey, remember how in the game DiZ/ Ansem the Wise did a total character 180 due to offscreen reasons when he came back after the prologue? That was dumb. The novels add new scenes for him, so Kanemaki could actually rectify this issue....OR she just repeats it, since the first new scene she gives him also has him in 180 mode due to offscreen reasons!

- Xemnas and Saix both have their levels of menace neutered thanks to the existential angst of the Nobodies affecting them too, with none of their inner monologues bemoaning their fates really adding up with their actions. The game let you make up your own mind as to whether you found them sympathetic despite their monstrous behavior, but Kanemaki is clearly trying to force the sympathy angle, and it really lessens them, especially Xemnas.

- Really, only Xigbar, Xaldin, Demyx, Luxord, and the trio of Hayner, Pence and Olette were written completely accurately out of the KH-original cast. Nothing felt out of place with them.

- Other nonsensical fanficcy events besides what I’ve already mentioned include bringing stuff from COM (like Repliku) back up frequently instead of keeping focus on the story at hand, a totally different version of how Namine and Axel split from Riku following the prologue (one that continues making Namine unintentionally unsympathetic), Riku having Mickey make the promise after the prologue before Kanemaki’s own 358/2 Days retcons this to happening before it, Riku meeting with Maleficent in Hollow Bastion, Mickey meeting with Axel in Hollow Bastion, Axel being the one to wake Goofy up after his “death”, Axel having a sort of odd friendship with Pluto, Ansem the Wise being the one to provide the box of clues for Riku to give, Axel pretending to betray Riku and Namine so that he gets let back into the Organization and thus be able to rescue Kairi, meetings between the Organization where they talk about totally different and less interesting matters than they did in the game, and having Namine stalk the group throughout the finale as she thinks her last pretentious inner monologues. Also, given its subject matter and how it plays during Days’ opening, I swear to God that Kanemaki created the Axel/Roxas ghost scene that Nomura added to KH2:FM. That it shows up in the last novel, word-for-word, a month before KH2:FM’s release, proves this.

- The misplacement of Disney Castle. This one REALLY bothers me. She places Disney Castle between Beast’s Castle and Port Royal in the third novel. This makes no sense whatsoever, since not only was this meant to be Maleficent’s re-introduction to Sora, Donald and Goofy, but now it comes after Maleficent already made an alliance with Sora and his friends at Hollow Bastion! And then all of a sudden, she’s no longer keeping the Nobodies at bay and is back to self-interested villainy! And there isn’t any dialogue explaining this away or anything! We still have Maleficent saying “If it isn't the wretched Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys!” as if she hadn’t agreed to temporarily join forces with said wretched Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys! Way to ruin one of the best Disney world visits, Kanemaki!

- The whole finale and especially the ending itself, which were so powerful in both the game and even the manga, has no power in the light novel style of writing Kanemaki uses. Part of that isn’t Kanemaki’s fault, since so much of the finale’s greatness is visual and that obviously can’t be recaptured in text form. And yet she still makes some baffling pacing decisions, with stuff like the aforementioned Namine stalking passages throwing the whole thing off, LOL moments such as Riku himself outright admitting that he has no idea where he got Kairi’s Keyblade also breaking the immersion, character alterations like to Xemnas and Kairi ruining the effectiveness of things they do, and a truly WTF-inducing final chapter where the entire Secret Ansem Report is put before a novelization of both the credits scene where Sora sees Kairi’s drawing in the Secret Place and the epilogue scene where they get the King’s letter.

Overall, these novels just don’t feel like Kingdom Hearts II to me. Even the KH2 manga, the middle of its first half notwithstanding, felt like it. This does not. And that’s because whatever the faults in its narrative, KH2′s story was first and foremost a fun Disney/Square crossover adventure starring Sora, Donald and Goofy, with angsty existentialism merely being one of its themes and meant more for players to think about and discuss rather than the characters. The novels tell a story about angsty existentialism starring characters who think about and discuss it, with Sora, Donald and Goofy’s adventures being a passionless afterthought. That there are people who honestly think that Kanemaki doing this “fleshes out the characters” is shameful. Constant angst and grade school-level philosophical circle-jerking is not character depth. It is pretension of depth, hence the word “pretentious” which fits perfectly here. It takes a lot more than talking and expressing feelings at length to constitute character development. It requires meaningful actions, and it requires some form of growth and change. Kanemaki’s characters are largely static, simplistically characterized beings who spin their wheels in terms of both actions and growth. Riku does not change: you can barely tell he has any kind of depression or has experienced any kind of humbling. Axel does not change: he’s a great guy from the start and has no internal problems to overcome, only the external one of being separated from Roxas. Namine does not change, she goes through the same questioning and angsting over her existence and the existence of other Nobodies until the last minute where the answer just suddenly comes to her (in fact, it was apparently in her all along and she just forgot it. Shades of Sora’s dumbass “Power of Waking” arc in KH3 here...) Any actual development that happens with some characters (like Ansem the Wise) comes straight from the game...and Nojima didn’t write that all too well either! There is just very little that’s enjoyable about the KH2 novels to me, and Tomoko Kanemaki’s writing is to blame for that.

In the words of Lemony Snicket: I highly advise you to not read these books.

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts II #Anti-Tomoko Kanemaki #Bad Writing #Opinion #Analysis #Truthbomb #This has been a PSA

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faelapis · 7 years ago

Note

For the fandom comparison ask, Madoka vs Majora Mask

comparison under the cut!

Which has the better protagonist: madoka, in light of being an actual character with a personality. she’s not the most interesting girl in the world, but i think she serves the story well. you kinda need someone like madoka to star in juxtaposition to how dark the world is. sorry link, i love you a great deal, but 99% of that is due to the character i’ve built up in my head.

Which has the better villain (spoilers for both): the incubators are a great threat with interesting motivation, but the ending sort of sidelines the idea of them as “villains”. the real problem in madoka is the rules of the game. you change the rules, you change the way the players behave - so in the very last scenes of the last episode, they aren’t… all that threatening anymore, but without a reform arc. it’s not cheap, it makes sense, but it’s not satisfying in terms of their characterization either.

as for majora’s mask: skull kid has some genuinely emotional moments. in the end, he doesn’t get what he wanted (the four giants staying), but he finds a new friend in link, and the fairies forgive him. the latter ends up being one of the messages of the giants, and indeed the game, even if the theme of forgiveness is kinda cheapened with the 11th hour “sentient mask” twist. yes, that twist is foreshadowed by the other bosses and their masks, but still.

the characters don’t ignore what skullkid did, though. it’s left ambiguous how much of his actions was his own resentment and how much was the mask, which i like. we know some things (like robbing the happy mask salesman) was him. when it comes to the mask itself, it’s an interesting monster, even if they don’t have much character outside of their little speech to link when giving him the fierce deity mask. they do perceive link as the “bad guy”, or maybe they’re just toying with him… but it’s just an interesting little moment. not much more.

so… i’m gonna give majora’s mask the point, but more for skull kid than majora!

Which has the better plot: madoka. i don’t feel like i really need to explain myself here, but i will say this - my pal @gaytog said earlier that it’s “suffering for suffering’s sake”, which… i’m not sure i agree with?

the individual characters don’t really become better from it, no, but it was never supposed to be the “character building” kind of suffering. the hopelessness and cause of the suffering itself is supposed to be problematic. it’s the rules of the game that pollutes the role of the magical girl. and yet. we’re seeing the world from the pov of a character who is an idealist, who refuses to stop believing in the heroism of it despite all evidence to the contrary. being a magical girl is supposed to be a good thing, and she doesn’t give up until that becomes true. even if it means she has to fight for all eternity.

majora’s mask has a good story and some of the sidequests are connected, but… it still feels like a plethora of stories about grief, not one plot. the deku people don’t care about the goron plight, the gorons don’t care about the zoras, the zoras don’t care what’s going on in ikana. everyone are just dealing with their own shit. that’s fine, but not great, and in a game so heavily about this shared dread and tragedy about to befall everyone, it’s a little weak that the characters are barely aware of what’s going on outside their own bubble. maybe that’s part of ~the point, but still. point stays with madoka.

Which has better cinematography:

…c’mon. i know madoka isn’t like, on the level as something like a ghibli movie, but it’s still pretty to look at. yes, there are some frames that don’t look great, but the same is true for, yknow, steven universe, and i still admire both shows for their use of visual symbolism, art style, color schemes and hand-drawn animation. (+ let’s not forget, even in the polished 3ds version, all the character models in majora’s mask aren’t great either).

Which one is more fun: this one’s pretty much impossible to be fair with, since one is playing a fun video game and the other is just… watching a show. a tragic one at that. so… point goes to majora’s mask!

Which one makes me think the most: madoka! majora’s mask has some interesting storytelling and is a goldmine for the kind of 2edgy theories i love (and i do have a soft spot for the whole “is link dead?” thing), but watching madoka for the first time is an excellent trip, where you slowly realize plot twists in that great “…i’m starting to have a terrible feeling”-way. it gives you just enough hints to what’s really going on without being obvious about it.

Which do I watch when I want to relax: i mean “watch” isn’t even the right word with majora’s mask, but… it still gets the point? it’s a sad game and the “three days remaining” mechanic is stressful as heck, but it’s still a game i can pick up, play one or two sidequests or a temple, and feel satisfied for the day. i even think it’s fun to tempt fate by waiting until the last millisecond to go back in time. with madoka, it doesn’t feel right unless i watch the whole thing. it’s a show that’s greater than the sum of its parts, and i need to reach that ending to really be satisfied with it.

Which do I watch when I want it to consume me: madoka, because i always feel the need to finish it, unlike majora’s mask. still, MM is certainly consuming when i do take the time to play through all of it. it’s one of those games i will gladly 100% every time, getting all the masks, items and heart pieces.

Which is my favorite: ahHH this is hard : D i don’t really have a clear favorite, but i’m gonna go say majora’s mask right now. there’s no “gameplay” section of this ask meme, unfortunately, but it’s a better ~overall experience, i think.

#tiny break from hiatus to answer one more of these #not su #pmmm #madoka #majora's mask #zelda #gifs /#nintendo

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retphienix · 7 years ago

Video

youtube

Usually I spend this final post talking at length about every part of the game, and sure this will be a lengthy post but honestly? This game gave me something to talk about at every turn. I've already said it all, and don't really see a reason in repeating myself here beyond summing things up.

The final boss was... fine.

Honestly that's about how I'd rank her. She was fine. Multiple forms, some deadly attacks. If this was any other RPG I'd say she was "fine", but it's worth mentioning that "fine" in FF8 is nearly god-tier because every encounter is usually utter garbage.

She even managed to kill me once because I got a bad trio and remained cocky, resulting in two dying and Squall (my third) sitting at 1000 HP using his Limit Break instead of healing.

I lost because of my ego on that one, but she gets the credit I suppose.

The story throughout was usually passable. I feel it was stronger at the start, was performed better towards the middle (with things like the garden battle and space scene which still ranks as my favorite moment in the game), and obviously dumb at the end because the weak plot points from the middle become the main emphasis.

It feels like some of the plot was left at first drafts or written by different people without consulting each other, and it's annoying to follow.

Like the GF memory issue brought up in the orphanage scene was, in my opinion, totally fine! It would have been MORE fine if it CONTINUED to be important to the story.

If GFs ended up being the reason Edea turned evil through brain rot, and the final boss ended up being the GF inside of her, I'd be saying the story was pretty decent to good!

Instead they latched onto possession which was unbelievably stupid and only made worse by saying it's not just possession, it's FUTURE possession.

At that it was still "passable, but disappointing" to me, because I much prefer expanding on the GF idea. But it just got worse!

All of a sudden the reason Ultimecia is doing this is revealed and it's just dumb.

Time Compression means nothing! It's a plot device with no form! It has no reasoning, it has no real world equivalent, it MEANS nothing and we're never given the slightest hint as to WHY she wants this or even WHAT this is.

If you would have said she was evil because evil is cool I'd be more forgiving, but this plot point and LITERAL GOAL of the antagonist means NOTHING.

The characters started out as cardboard and slowly became actual characters (with some exceptions who merely became decorated cardboard).

I started this game utterly amazed that such an unlikable character was made the main protagonist, but as it's wrapping up I must admit I like Squall and friends.

Squall explained why he was a little craphead and has begun (and in some cases succeeded in) growing out of it and becoming a better person who's willing to trust.

Rinoa becomes much more serious compared to her reveal in the plot and towards the end she's a key part in major plans necessary to defeat Ultimecia instead of just dipping her toe into making a change.

Irvine mostly just goes from acting like a playboy to fawning over Selphie. There's a little more to it, but not as much as I wanted from him.

Zell mostly just becomes a more emphasized version of himself, and that's fine too, but he's in the same boat as Irvine.

Selphie remains pretty much unchanged, but at least she gets a little backstory with Trabia in which I became curious if she's always been a beacon of optimism or if Trabia made her into one. Saaaame boat.

Quistis only gets any characterization at the very beginning with her getting fired from her position, and a small bit when her infatuation with Squall is explained to be a misinterpretation of forgotten emotions. She's "interesting", but she got the least out of everyone here. She's not only in the same boat as the majority of the main cast, she's captain of the sucker.

The characters are arguably the weakest part if you ignore the god-awful gameplay, but I ended up liking them more than this writeup implies.

I LIKE Squall and Rinoa and hope they enjoy each other's company.

I LIKE Irvine and Selphie for being who they are and wish the same.

I LIKE Zell as a character, and I WANT to know more about Quistis.

That's a pretty big difference from Disc 1 where I generally didn't like anything that was going on.

The gameplay is TRASH~~~~

I've said so many things on it, so I'll leave it at just this.

They innovated in a lot of ways. They added a lot of things. They tried to emphasize a feature that was extremely well received in 7 (summon animations) but they just messed everything up.

Features either ruin balance or ruin another feature. Half the features work against each other. Most of the features appear to have been developed in bubbles without knowing or testing with other features.

Some features exist for very specific reasons like enhancing world exploration, but they just don't work. (That being enemies leveling with you, as it unbalances literally every boss and it makes leveling in itself counter productive to getting stronger.) While others are solutions to non-problems, like replacing loot with draw spots (lowering the excitement value).

It's bad. Like really bad.

And if the best thing I can say about the gameplay is either "On paper it's interesting" or "You can skip most of it by using this broken feature to negate all the rest" or "Just throw Encounter-None on and never fight again", then I don't think I need to explain how bad it is.

As for the ending itself, my interpretation is pretty definite and good enough for me.

Squall gets lost in the compression and, as Ultimecia hinted towards, it begins to delete him from existence.

Earlier in the game they say the safest way to make it through the compression is to believe in each other and keep their bonds and relationships in mind at all times because they don't belong in that time so time will try to erase them if nothing IN that time is bound to them (so stand together or vanish apart).

Since Squall is bad at that kind of thing, he gets lost. When he gets lost he begins to doubt because he has a history of losing everyone around him, and when he doubts he begins to be deleted by time itself.

The memory loops and distortions are that process happening in his brain as it not only began because he failed to hold onto his friends, it makes it harder to rebound because it deletes all those memories in the first place.

Once it finally deletes his memories we get that meme'd up void face and he falls back and sheds a tear, a husk of a man. This is cemented by the feather he caught falling easily to the ground as if it had fallen straight through him.

Squall is gone.

Follow that by Rinoa refusing to give up and proving this is a two way street, just because Squall failed to believe in everyone strongly enough doesn't mean she can't do it for the both of them. She believes so hard he comes back, the end.

I gave it a less than serious tone towards the end there, but in all truth I'm serious in my interpretation.

Continuing beyond just Squall's freakout, I liked the ending. It suited the goals we all had and it showed some MUCH. NEEDED. CHARACTERIZATION- that would have been fantastic to experience in the core game! *cough*

They got to choose when they went back to, so Laguna chose to go back to marry Raine and lived up to this current time again?! THAT'S GOOD STUFF.

Irvine being Irvine in ways I WISH were in the main game because LOOK AT HIM. HE'S BEING A TOTAL DORK AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT.

Zell choking like the dork he is and then immediately starting a fight, just FANTASTIC stuff there that I wish there was more of.

Selphie and Quistis showing that they care about their friends through the traditional "Save you from choking and mock you for it" way.

Selphie even stole Irvine's hat. It wasn't much, but if she did more "silly" things like that we might have had an excuse to understand her more and get more character out of her. The most I recall is singing on trains and hijacking the Ragnarok, that’s not enough.

There are so many little good things in this game overshadowed by miles of poorly thought out mechanics and glossing over details in the story that shouldn't be, or deciding to follow through with unbelievably bad plot points.

I WANT this to be better because some of it IS good.

But I would be lying through my teeth if I said that all made up for the gameplay. The only reason I’m remotely singing these praises is because (ironically) it’s so broken you can ignore 90% of the gameplay and just play through the ridiculous story to find the good bits.

In the end though. I'm happy.

If you would have told me beating FF8 would make me happy as a kid, I'd have believed you because I liked it then.

If you would have told me this when I was wrapping up disc 1 I'd have called you a liar.

But here I am.

I'm happy with the end result, despite the poor turns the story took, despite the lack of sufficient characterization for the main cast, despite the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE gameplay, I'm content and happy with this.

And now I know so much about the inner workings of this piece of garbage that I could probably beat it in no time flat with almost no fighting outside of boss fights. lol.

#RetPlays #FF8 #Final Fantasy #Final Fantasy 8

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tardispowered · 6 years ago

Text

Book Review: Harvest of Time

Summary

Spoiler Warning: There will be spoilers. This is not a good review to read if you don’t like those.

The Good: This is a well written book, fun and fast paced. It felt like a third Doctor adventure, the voices being spot on and characterization on point. I also loved the addition of Eddie McCrimmon (and it is not made clear if there is a relation) as a no nonsense oil rig boss who loves and respects her men and they her. I love that Jo was given plenty to do, too and UNIT was integrated very well.

The greatest draw for me and source of greatest entertainment was the dynamic between the Doctor and the Master and how they played off one another. Not only where they hilarious with the banter, it was sincere too. These are two old frenemies who are sometimes more one than the other. The Master is portrayed with the delightful Degaldo style hamminess but with a sincerity, too. There is a sense he could be more if he chose it and he’s not just a stock character that the Doctor opposes every other serial or so. It was nice to see the Doctor’s own feelings on the matter. You really get the sense that they were friends, even if things are held still at arm’s length and have a professional distance as is the style of that era—and three’s own personality to boot.

The story overall is just a great read with a nicely constructed plot and several moments were I said: ‘oh shit!’ with glee and/or trepidation. A great tension and sense of urgency builds up, too, and it kept the pages turning to see what would happen next.

The Not So Good:

While I wouldn’t say it falls apart at the end, it does get a bit more wobbly.

The biggest moment for me was the Master’s impassioned speech about how he wasn’t evil, honest. That it was an outside force but that he was trapped in that zeitgeist of negative influence (coming from the outside) but in that moment he was free! That he had the potential to be something completely new! And it was in the Doctor’s hands to save him or not.

It would be one thing if it was a trick or that the Doctor wasn’t certain that it wasn’t—but then it goes on to say that the Master’s plea was genuine and the Doctor felt bad for not being able to help him in order to do the hard thing.

The problem is that it is presented as a real desire and, other than the outburst being weirdly emotionally skewed, it doesn’t fit. There’s not a lot of lasting consequence. The Doctor feels bad and that’s it. The Master is back to his evilly zeitgeist. (Which also doesn’t make much sense how it’s presented because if the evil comes the influence of his incarnations, he certainly had a hand in making them evil.)

Also the idea that this decision of the Master’s welfare being very much in the Doctor’s hands is very Moffatt-era NuWhoish kind of thing. Like he is the only one to decide this, and the only one who can because of who he is and so on. Which I get gives him a Momentous Decision, but at the same time there’s not a lot of build up to it nor emotional pay off. It’s there. He feels bad. The moment ends. It also doesn’t really work. Especially with the pulled back style of storytelling. In other words we never get really intimate with either of them to see how this thing plays out in their heads.

Aside from that, from a world building standpoint and given what we know of regeneration, slippery as the Master can be—it’s hard to believe he has so freaking many of them. I mean more than thirteen sure I can buy. Twenty. Twenty-five. But that was kind of a zoo.

Also, as much as I enjoyed Eddie McCrimmon and the twist was pretty cool—somehow it was hard for me to marry her Red Queen self with her regular self. Granted the Red Queen had been alive for aeons but they seem like two different characters. I feel like mostly my problem was that Eddie seemed to go from someone tough and interesting into something that’s just the bearer of the specific plot point.

Finally, the ending was a little too pat for me. I think a large part of it has to do with the book pulling just a bit too far back in order to give an authentic third Doctor experience like what you’d see in a serial. There is a Status Quo reset button that’s contrived as hell (though necessary so I don’t mind so much), and while the immense loss of life was acknowledged, it wasn’t all that deeply felt. (Though deep enough to be satisfying on a basic level)

Conclusion: To sum up, I feel like this book starts off with great and interesting and fascinating ideas; especially in regards to the Doctor/Master relationship—but it never pushes quite far enough to where it would be really interesting (and thus shake the status quo)

Still, despite the quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would read it again. What I found wrong with it doesn’t detract much from the fun I had with it and while it doesn’t go far enough for my tastes, what was there was interesting and thought provoking and pretty funny all told.

Definitely going into my canon library.

Four out of five stars.

#doctor who #doctor who books #doctor who: the harvest of time #third doctor #the master #sharon reviews #book review #canon library #four out of five stars

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symphonicwinds · 8 years ago

Text

Sophia Reviews: Persona 5 Confidants

I keep seeing people posting thoughts/opinions of each social link confidant of p5, but I noticed a lot of them were based on not 100% runthroughs, aka they didn’t finish everyone’s social links and don’t 100% understand everyones character arcs. And I guess I wanted to talk about everyone/my experience going through EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN SOCIAL LINK besides caroline and justine’s or else I wouldn’t have a reason to NG+ to full competion.

This discussion only covers the development/characterization of each confident within their own link, and the overall quality of the social link and their benefits to the gameplay. This does not include how I feel about the character as a whole, especially the ones with a significant amount of screenime in the main story. Me not liking a confidant’s link =/= me not liking them as a character.

I should also mention that I flip between the words “social link” and “confidant” a lot. For those of you who haven’t played past Persona games, social link was the word for confidant before Persona 5 decided to get Edgey™ and change the name.

This is the first of a series; because I tend to talk a lot and there are 21 stinkin’ confidants in the whole game, I will be dividing this into parts. This is part one, and it covers Arcanas 0 (the fool) to 4 (the emperor). I will release them as I finish them, with 5 arcanas at a time. Stay tuned for arcanas 5-10, tomorrow!

PSA: BEWARE OF SPOILERS. This is a spoiler-tastic discussion, since this discussion includes late game/end game social links. If you haven’t beat the game yet, please, good lord, please do not read this until you’re done. Don’t do that to yourself.

0. FOOL - IGOR

Igor’s link was probably one of my favourite social links, mainly because of the twist of Not Igor towards the endgame. I know some people dislike auto progressing social links, but I think it worked just because of the twist. I played persona 5 blind (besides using a confidant guide because holy shit there would be no other way I would be able to do that in my first play through otherwise), so I legitimately didn’t pick up on the Fake Igor thing. I also played persona 5 with the Japanese cast because I’m a fucking weeb I’m learning Japanese right now and holy shit I need all of the listening practice I can get. I knew the voice was off but I figured they didn’t want to impeach on the original talent of the previous voice actor, who had died.

Honestly, I still don’t 100% understand the final arc, in the rebirth v staying the same, and I’ll revise this section once I do get a comprehensive understanding of it, but I liked the idea of the Protagonist breaking free from his chains to the point where it’s visually shown in the velvet room. The fact that he only breaks free from the velvet room’s chains by the time the reveal happens was really interesting to me, and the fake igor plot was really intriguing because it completely changes your perception of the game.

As a social link, on the gameplay side, Igor’s is great, but also expected. More personas, extra EXP when fusing personas. You get these as the story progresses, so you can’t miss out on them.

I. MAGICIAN - MORGANA

Again, another story progressing confidant. I do like Morgana as a character, and I especially think that he is much better than Teddie, but I kind of found Morgana’s confidant to be slow moving. Igor’s social link was similar in that regard, but it’s expected to be because the beginning of Igor’s social link is more mechanical/for the sake of the game than actual character development. And the effect of the twist is compounded by that. The highlight of Morgana’s social link was definitely his disappearence, as it helped resolve some character issues along with advancing the plot along. I also didn’t like how everything came together at the very last second; again, this works with Igor because you don’t expect Igor to have growth/his own character, but Morgana does, so the pacing of his social link was kind of rough. Obviously this is because it was tied into end game plot points, but I wish his dreams were more explicit, or that he learned a bit more about himself over time, rather than shoving it at the end.

Morgana’s unique confidant boost is the ability to create infiltration tools, which are really useful in your Palace runs. You will not be able to miss out on getting this, but it is a great individual benefit. He also receives the standard party boosts but he lags behind other party members in this regard because he doesn’t reach rank 10 until the end of the game, making him the last party member to get maxed out. Obviously this isn’t as much of an issue if you didn’t max out all of your party members beforehand, but because of that he was always backup for me, besides during boss fights.

II. THE HIGH PRIESTESS - MAKOTO NIIJIMA

I guess I should start this off by saying that, Makoto is best girl.

Makoto appealed to me, mainly because I related to her the most, out of pretty much the entire cast. I sympathize with her dynamic with Sae, her desire to be “useful”, and her struggle with creating an purpose for herself, rather than doing what other people tell her.

In terms of her social link, I really liked her dynamic and relationship with Eiko, as they were really great foils to each other. Persona 5 is great at having minor NPCs/other characters affect the character growth of their confidants, and Makoto’s link is no exception to this. I really liked how Eiko and Makoto helped each other grow, and watching them bond was sweet, especially since you know that Makoto hasn’t really had any friends prior to joining the Phantom Thieves. I think the biggest thing I enjoyed about Makoto’s link is how subtle it is; she doesn’t have a huge fundamental change as a character, but rather, she gains the resolve to follow her dreams. Ann’s link functions in the same way, but it’s a bit less subtle than Makoto’s.

Makoto’s romance exclusive scenes were great, but they weren’t spectacular. As someone part of the Queen’s Guard (Makoto fanboy/girl), I liked them a lot! And getting her flustered was absolutely adorable. My only gripe with Makoto’s romance option is that it is too subtle. While this works for her character development, I kind of wish her feelings for the protagonist were more apparent. Her confession felt kind of forced, especially in contrast to other romanceable social links. Once you romance her, it’s great, but the confession itself is kind of flat.

Makoto’s social link bouses are the same as any party members, so they’re very useful! Her unique attribute is letting you see enemy drops, which I never found to be that useful.

III. THE EMPRESS – HARU OKUMURA

I really, really want to talk about Haru, because all of the discussions I’ve seen around her sum up to be “She was okay, but I didn’t really finish her link.”

LET ME AMEND THAT FOR YOU.

I do like Haru as a character, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate her gentle, sweet character. I also think it’s hilarious that she uses an axe and a machine gun as weapons. But I don’t think her character was handled very well, especially with her father’s death.

I know, for story reasons, that we couldn’t have Haru out of commission for long for the sake of her grieving. But Haru never openly grieves about her father’s death, and it seems like she’s completely unfazed by it. I understand that grief comes out in different forms, and it is explicitly shown that Haru stays with the Phantom Thieves to avenge her father, but there is no sadness shown. The death of a parent, especially your only one, can’t really be “gotten over” in the span of a week or two, it’s something that follows you for the rest of your life. I understand that Haru didn’t want to bring down the rest of the team, but I kind of wish that in her actual social link she does show signs of distress behind closed doors. Of course, that would probably make her social link busier than it needed to be, especially since she already has so much going on, but I feel like that should have been addressed.

Haru’s link is essentially her trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future, between trying to dissolve the arranged marriage between her and Sugimura, figuring out who to trust in the swarm of advisors trying to help her manage Okumura Foods, to her own life goals and aspirations outside of her father’s company. And while these are all great ideas, ultimately I feel like Haru’s link was too overloaded with different problems for each issue to develop in the best way possible. And because of that, completing Haru’s link left a lot to be desired for me. I think what’s there is fine, and I especially enjoyed Haru developing her passion for gardening and later coffee making, but I wish there was more time to explain or to go through the other issues presented in her link. I also think that the whole “Sugimura lied to you about your engagement” resolution felt like a cop-out to what could have been an interesting story in itself.

One more thing I wanted to mention: Haru’s social link does succeed where Makoto’s doesn’t where it shows Haru slowly falling in love with the protagonist, cumulating in an adorable “denial” of her feelings for him. It genuinely hurt me to turn Haru down, because I had already romanced Makoto.

Other than the standard party bonuses, Haru’s confidant also allows you to grow veggies a la Persona 4 Golden. The veggies are great, especially because they’re SP healing items. What makes this better than Leblanc coffee is that it doesn’t take time out of your day to plant and harvest your veggies, as Haru essentially does it for you. While it’s not absolutely vital to plant veggies, especially when you can make coffee/curry at Leblanc, and you probably have SP adhesives at this point of the game, it’s definitely a good bonus.

IV. THE EMPEROR – YUSUKE KITAGAWA

Yusuke is another one where I love his character, but his confidant wasn’t my favourite.

While there aren’t any major glaring flaws like Haru’s link, Yusuke’s link just wasn’t as memorable to me. I know a lot of people love his link, and I know a lot of people wanted him as a romance option but really the true OTP is Akechi/Protag, but I think his link was…okay.

I do appreciate Yusuke’s internal struggle; either “selling out” to earn a living or staying true to his ideals, while trying to figure out the true meaning of beauty, but it didn’t really resonate with me as hard as some of the others. I’m not entirely sure why? Perhaps I don’t relate because I’m not an artist. However, I will say that, while it didn’t personally wow me, Yusuke’s link objectively was well done. Yusuke is a comic relief character in a lot of ways, and his social link had a great balance between comedy and more serious moments. I also really like how Yusuke always appreciates the Protagonist’s company, and this social link does a really good job at showing the bond between Yusuke and the Protagonist, rather than the social link just happening while the Protagonist is just there.

I also want to disclose here that, I have no idea what Yusuke’s sexuality is. While I don’t necessarily think that he’s straight, I also don’t believe that Atlus intended on making him queer, just because Japan is still incredibly conservative about sexuality. And from the way his character is presented, he seems more eccentric more than anything else; he doesn’t strike me as queer in the same way Kanji from Persona 4 does.

Yusuke’s confidant bonus, besides party skills, is the ability to duplicate skill cards. If you manage to get a good skill card, this is a fantastic skill to have. I personally didn’t utilize this as much, but that was because I didn’t use or obtain that many skill cards during my playthrough.

#sophia's thoughts #persona 5 #p5 #p5 spoilers #igor #makoto niijima #morgana #yusuke kitagawa #haru okumura

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