#second of all can anyone name a single reboot that was equally as good and popular as the original

[theriverdalereviewer]

ENOUGH WITH THE REBOOTS AND SPIN OFFS ENOUGGGHHHHH

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-4th Place

To anyone who plans on making a reboot of their favorite show in the future, you might want to take notes on this next pick. Because if you ask me, this next series that I'm going to talk about is the best example of how to do a reboot properly.

#4-Ducktales (2017-2021)

The Plot: Scrooge McDuck is the richest duck in the world, who made it big by also being one of the greatest adventurers of all time...ten years ago. Sadly, after an unfortunate accident with the family, Scrooge is forced to live the life of a normal businessman-er-duck. Up until Donald Duck asks Scrooge to watch over his nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. What starts off as a single day of babysitting soon turns into a life of adventure as Scrooge gets back into the adventuring spirit to show his new family what the world really has to offer.

Now I want to make one thing clear: As of the moment of me writing this review, I have seen a total of zero episodes of the original Ducktales. That being said, despite my limited knowledge of the series, I still think it’s fair of me to point out how this is hands down the best reboot as of late (and I’ll explain more as to why that is later). And besides, from what I’ve heard from fans who have watched the original, Ducktales (2017) is a pretty faithful adaptation of the beloved franchise. The reason is that I believe this show remembers the two most important rules of making a reboot.

The first rule of a reboot is to try something new while still being faithful to the source material. Doing something like that is simple as a writer just needs to keep what the fans love and change what they hated. And trust me when I say that the writers of Ducktales (2017) knows how to do just that. For the most part, the show is about a family going on crazy globe-trotting adventures while still learning that family is the best adventure of all, much like the original. As for the characters, most of them keep their fun personalities. Scrooge is still a stingy miser with the heart for adventure, Launchpad is still the lovable idiot who can’t fly a plane, and Donald Duck still remains the one who gets stuck with all the bad luck. Then some characters have their personalities/roles revamped into something that improves upon the original. The best example is Fenton, who is still the wannabe superhero but is now a scientist in this show, wherein the old one was just Scrooge’s accountant. This way, both the hero and the man-DUCK-who’s behind the mask are equally capable of saving the day. There’s also Mrs. Beakley, who was originally a nanny that nagged Scrooge’s ear off for putting the kids in danger. In the reboot, she’s treated more as the anchor of reality to the more oddball characters, who also used to be a kick-butt super spy in her younger years. It is still the same role, but a different interpretation.

Now, some characters receive grand changes to their original personalities. But from what I’ve heard, those changes are made for the better. And there are no characters that need it more than the children. More specifically, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. This show does something that I’m eternally grateful for, and that’s giving each of these three their own distinct personalities and quirks. For years I couldn’t for the life of me tell the triplets apart. They had the same design, the same voice, the same personality, and the only difference people had to go off of are their different colors (which really didn’t do much to help). Here, they have different designs, voices, and now defining character traits for each of them. Huey is the smart and responsible boy scout, Dewey is the annoying attention seeker, and Louie is the best character in the entire show, and I WILL FREAKING FIGHT YOU ON THAT! And let us not forget the most appreciated change: Webby. From what I’ve heard, fans hated the original Webby, as she was nothing more than just the stereotypical girl of the group. Here, she’s given an actual personality and a fun one to boot. Webby is the ecstatic thrill-seeking adventurer who is skilled in combat training (thanks to her grandma) and is (of course) a socially awkward girl who wants to make friends. Like I said, this show took the idea that the fans hated and changed it into something that they’ll love. Which makes sense why the writers mastered this because they themselves are real fans of the show.

It is clear how much the writers are fans of the Ducktales franchise as they filled Ducktales (2017) with many references. And not just references to the original series but also references to the classic comics by Carl Barks and even the NES video game from the 1980s (seriously, this show will make you feel things about the “Moon Theme” you wouldn’t think was possible!). Even the show’s animation seems to be a homage to both the cartoon and comics. Not only do the characters and backgrounds have a more comic book style to them, but the characters also work on a mix of realistic and cartoony logic. And let me just say, it is refreshing to see characters in a Disney show have cartoon logic to them since Wander Over Yonder got canceled. And it’s not just Ducktales that the series reference, but even classic Disney movies (of course) and other shows in the Disney Afternoon lineup. And when it comes to these references, it’s more than just a subtle wink to the fans. The writers actually go out of their way to write a story around these beloved characters, so people who don’t get the joke won’t be one-hundred percent lost. For instance, without giving anything away, the writers found a brilliant way to reintroduce Darkwing Duck in this universe that feels right for this famous character. And if you ask me personally, these are the best ways to handle references for a reboot. Make them work within the story, even if you don’t fully get the joke.

This brings me to the second most important rule of a reboot: Make a quality product even though it is based on something else. Let us pretend that the original never existed. Would Ducktales (2017) still be as good as it is now? Personally, as a person who has never seen the original, I think it is.

This is another show that mixes slice of life episodes with adventure ones, similar to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And just like Friendship is Magic, both are equally interesting because the characters themselves make them so. No matter what situation the Duck Family are in, the audience will care about it because the characters care about it. In fact, I think Ducktales (2017) handles the mix of slice of life and adventure much better than Friendship is Magic. In MLP: FiM, the adventure-based episodes force the characters to stick to their simple personality traits to move the story forward, and character-based ones help them grow. In Ducktales (2017), because the characters regularly go on adventures, they grow as characters no matter the situation. For example, my favorite episode is “The Great Dime Chase” where the main plot is Louie finding Scrooge’s #1 dime after accidentally spending it. While in that same episode, Dewey and Webby try to solve a mystery around the boys’ mom. We get a great lesson about the importance of hard work and a fascinating plot of an overarching mystery within the season, all taking place within the same episode. Both are interesting, neither feels as though it overshadows the other, and the characters develop along the way.

Another thing this show mixes well is comedy and drama. A lot of shows recently tried way too hard to find that perfect mix. Ducktales (2017) is one of the few examples that nails it. The comedy is hilarious, the drama is endearing, and neither feels like it’s prioritized over the other. The show starts off with this mix as well, where others that I’ve talked about seem to start off as purely comedic only to take themselves more seriously later on. That isn’t entirely a bad thing, but I feel as though Ducktales (2017) is the best way to go about the method. That way, fans won’t be complaining about how much “better” the show used to be in its first batch of episodes, much like Star V.S. the Forces of Evil.

Unfortunately, while I recommend this show, it’s not without its fair share of issues. Or rather, issue, as there really is only one problem I have with it. And that problem can be summed up with one name: Dewey Duck. For the most part, I dislike Dewy. Because he’s nothing more than a Ben Schwarts character. No disrespect to Ben Schwarts himself, but lately, it feels as though he only plays the one character from time to time: The egotistical attention seeker slowly and surely learning to be a better person who realizes that not everything is about him. That’s the character he plays in both Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), and it’s the character he plays here. And the thing about these characters is that they’re not as lovable as Ben Schwarts thinks they sound. In fact (and, again, I mean no disrespect to the actor. I’m sure he’s a lovely person in real life), every single one of these characters comes off as kind of annoying rather than as the lovable rapscallions I’m sure they’re meant to be. However, there is one thing worth mentioning about Dewey. While he’s portrayed as annoying when used for comedy, Dewey is surprisingly a compelling character when used for drama. The thing is, he’s rarely used for dramatic moments and is meant as a source of comedy. Hence why I said I disliked him for the most part.

Other than that, there aren’t really that many problems with the show. Well, there are, but they’re mostly nitpicks that the series more than makes up for. Is it weird that the kids are voiced by adults? Yes, but the actors do a great job at being sincere and have great comedic timing than any kid could have. Are there changes to characters that fans might not enjoy? Probably, but I have yet to have seen anyone that has annoyed me as much as Dewey has. Are the villains just evil for the sake of being evil? Yes, but that’s not really a big deal. In fact, a villain doesn’t need a heartbreaking backstory as to why they’ve become so evil. They just need to have a great personality that’s fun to watch, which every villain in the show has (aside from season two’s antagonist who’s basically a Disney surprise villain. And I hate them with a fiery passion). Does it feel as though the show suffers from “too many characters” syndrome? It sometimes does, but each character has such a fun and unique personality that I find it hard to forget most of them.

So really, Ducktales (2017) is the best reboot in recent memory. This is crazy, seeing as how lately it feels as though Disney doesn’t even know how to properly reboot their own movies to save their lives. This is why I feel as though people should take notes on what Ducktales (2017) does if they ever feel like rebooting something they loved as a kid. Because this is more than just a retelling of the same story that people know by heart. This is a fantastic show with even better characters, stories, and tone. Whether you’ve been a fan since the beginning, or a part of the new generation of viewers, odds are you’ll be screaming Whoo-Ooo with every episode.

(Also, a word of warning to those who haven’t watched the show yet: Beware the theme song. Trust me when I say it’ll be stuck in your head until the day you die)

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs “terminator: dark fate,” part five

HEY, time for our industrial end sequence!!  This time, it’s on a dam because we had fire and machinery in previous films, and we’re switching to a different element.

(this means that the next film would have ended with a FOREST fight scene, right? Right.)

[parts one, two, three, four]

The NPCs run for cover. I have no idea what dam this is supposed to be! It looks like Hoover, but I honestly have no clue where they are at this point.

Carl and the chassis are fighting in the water. Then the oozy metal part comes up and grabs him from behind! I hate it when they double-team like that.

Wow, they just barely keep from going over the edge there. Oh, wait, too soon...

Sarah dislocates her shoulder. Ow. Grace pops it back in. Sarah gets another "Fuck!"

The Rev-9 vaulting out of the water is just like in the beginning....

"No, no, Grace, really...?" YES GRACE. She yells back at them to wear their seatbelts!!! WOW... Sarah snarks back at her because what good is it if you can’t get a one-liner in right before you go over the edge into the abyss and certain death?

OH my god the Rev-9 on the windshield is so fucking scary right there they are UNDERWATER in the DARK aaaaaaaaah.

Okay, I'm not sure how if they would have survived that in real life, but fuck if that underwater fight scene isn't as cool as hell.

A legit complaint I've seen is that the bulletproof vests would weigh them down too much to get to the surface with the air they have, but... I mean come on, if that's your only factual complaint about this movie, I think they did a good job.

Cut to them on top of the dam again, wow that was fast. This scene with the three badass women battered and bruised and clinging to each other.. MY HEART. MY POOR HEART!!

Ah, here it is... Grace's power source! The EMP substitute I’ve been waiting for. Then Carl shows back up.. with a weapon for Sarah. Triumphant theme music. The whole family is here. Oh, and meds for Grace. YAY. wouldn’t want to pass out halfway through the climactic fight scene.

Wow, this functionally dysfunctional found-family is only together for like half a day and I need a million TV episodes about them STAT.

Oh, of course it's a hydroelectric dam...so generators!

Oh, hey, Grace gets her chains from the poster! Nice.

Murderbot bonding time! The Rev-9 talks to Carl: "You and I were built for the same purpose. And Legion is the only future." SO MANY FEELS ABOUT THIS.

"I know she's a stranger to you. Why not let me have her?" POLITICAL QUESTION OF THE MOMENT, KTHANX. But also proof that even though the REv-9 is good at mimicking humans and predicting humans, it still doesn't UNDERSTAND humans.

"Because we're not machines, you metal motherfucker," Sarah snarls. And I think we're up to six fucks for Sarah at this point? I've lost count.

Have I mentioned that the splitting Terminators are creepy? Have I? HAVE I? Because they are.

Oh, dear, Sarah Connor confronting her nightmare of flaming death murder skeletons again.

Geeeeee, I wonder if that turbine will do anything...

Oh, Grace is stabbed, I guess she's gonna pull the power source out and take him down with her... or not. But at least now Dani’s going to object way less about self-sacrifice, since she’s already doomed.

I don't know why the REV-9 goes back to one; I feel like he's stronger and fights better in two parts? But you do you, I guess.

Pretty sure it's not over yet because Dani still hasn't done anything against the REV-9 herself. Oh, good, and Sarah gets to relive yet another nightmare of a metal skeleton stalking out of the flames. ONLY THIS TIME IT'S ON FIRE, TOO. (I guess that's the polyalloy bits melting away??)

Yep, Grace is gonna sacrifice herself to save Dani from the REV-9 and remove her power source. Oh, wow, Dani has to stab her and pull it out herself. That's gonna cause some more trauma. Another round for everyone!  

Dani gets to go after the REV-9... but it goes badly, because drama. Sarah yells for Carl to wake up, and it works!! He distracts the REV-9 long enough for Dani to stab him in the eye with the power source and... I guess that sets it off???

[why the hell didn't they augment Grace with more than one of those things? Maybe Dani will fix that in the future when she gets there. maybe that's something to add in fix-it fics. And where did they get them? Did they take them from destroyed Terminators and weld them into humans?? What happened?? ]

Carl and the REV-9 fall into the abyss together, because OF COURSE THEY DO, because just when Sarah has learned to forgive/accept Carl as he is, she has to lose him because RULE #1: SARAH CONNOR MUST ALWAYS SUFFER. And the REV-9 rips his flesh off and they both die when the EMP goes off, and it mimics the lightning flash in the beginning.

Oh, so yet again, Sarah Connor has to stand and watch a Terminator she cares about die in a fire. GOOD JOB PACKING ON THE ANGST, PEOPLE.

"For John." OH MY GOD, WAY TO GO OUT IN STYLE AND ALSO MY HEART.

The difference between this and the first film is that Sarah isn't alone at the end. The difference between this and the second film is that Sarah and Dani are... not equals, exactly, but they are more equal than Sarah and John were at the end of T2. They're veteran and leader, not mother and son. Dani and Sarah understand each other in a way that no one--not even John--can because of what they've suffered and lost. The cycle repeats, and yet it’s subtly different each time

cut to Grace as a kid on a playground, oh now there's some loaded symbolism in this francise, lol. And there's Dani looking through the chain-link fence at her right on cue, like Sarah looking at her might-have-been kids in T2. Is this where the filmmakers got the idea that Dani is Grace’s “mother”? LOL, nice try, guys.

She walks over to the car where Sarah is waiting for her. It's a Jeep, just like the one she drove to Mexico in at the end of T1. She tosses Dani the keys and moves over to the passenger seat AND IF THAT AIN'T A STATEMENT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

"I won't let her die for me again," Dani says. "then you need to be ready."

Dani puts the car in gear and they drive away down the eucalptyus-lined streets of the California suburbs where everything is green and tranquil and beautiful, and while the movie ends perfectly here as is, I can also see how they would have linked it into a trilogy like they'd originally planned. But alas, this is probably the end until the all-but-inevitable next reboot.

And THEN the credits roll, and we get the main theme at the end, and I jut have to say, it's not the same as in the other movies, where we had to listen to the whole thing first THEN we heard it in the film itself. But nobody has the goddamn patience for credits anymore, which is why Marvel started sticking bonus scenes in theirs to keep people in their seats.

...but wow are these credits long. Oh, well, the music's good and I learn random tidbits this way, like how the writers have little imagination when it comes to naming minor characters, and just give them the same name as their actors (Diego, Gabriel, Alicia, etc). 

sadly, all the deleted scenes and bonus content is on the blue-ray and not the DVD sigh.

So. Was this a perfect film? No. It was written by committee, and I think it shows. Did it deliver what I hoped for--Sarah Connor being a badass, snarky dialogue, and cool action sequences? Yes. Did I enjoy watching it? HELL YES. Will I be thinking/ranting about it for a long time. YOU BET.

Was it "necessary"? Of course not-but is ANY piece of art ever really "necessary"? Who cares! It was fun, and it was thoughtful, it was interesting to me, and it was wayyy better than most of the recent rounds of sequels and reboots. 

And to be honest, if they can make a bajillion Fast and Furious movies, and James Bond, and John Wick, and Mission Impossible and Karate Kid action flicks featuring men (not to mention Star Wars and remakes of every single animated Disney film AND a three-part Hobbit movie trilogy), I think I can enjoy a female-led action movie with zero guilt whatsoever without having to justify its existence to anyone.

(I can’t think of a single other action film with three badass female leads, who have complete character arcs and aren’t sexualized for the male gaze... and if there is, I want to watch it STAT)

[backtozeon]

Dear Fans of Watchmen, Hello there. My name is Damon Lindelof and I am a writer. I am also the unscrupulous bastard currently defiling something that you love. But that’s not all that I am. I am a twelve-year old boy being handed the first two issues by my father. “You’re not ready for this,” he growls with a glint of mischief in his eye. My parents have recently divorced and he has gone rogue, so there I am in my bed, flashlight beam illuminating pages, watching the Comedian fall again and again and again. The old man was wrong. I am ready for this. Because this was written just for me. I am thirty-eight. A man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. The filmed adaptation came out less than a year ago, but that doesn’t matter. I tell him I am not interested and that perhaps he should let sleeping dogs lie with hopes they will eventually be run over by a car tire, bursting their stomachs. He does not get the reference. I am watching my father haggle with a man in a wheelchair. I am fifteen years old and we are at a comic book convention in New York City, long before attending a comic book convention was something anyone wanting to ever have sex with another person would admit to. I definitely want to have sex with another person. My father finally harangues the merchant down to thirty dollars for a guaranteed authentic screenplay of Watchmen, soon to be a major motion picture! Now, he reads aloud from the script as “The Watchmen” battle terrorists at The Statue of Liberty. Something is wrong. The old man’s brow furrows, scanning the text in a mixture of disappointment and rage, a child who has just been told that Santa didn’t bring him presents this year, then robbed the house and beat up his parents. “What the fuck is this?” my father mutters. It is the first time he swears in front of me. Another man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. I am forty now. I tell him someone else asked me to do this a year ago and I declined. He inquires as to why I said no. I tell him that Alan Moore has been consistently explicit in stating that Watchmen was written for a very specific medium and that medium is comics, comics that would be ruined should they be translated into moving images. The Another Man pauses for a moment, then responds – “Who’s Alan Moore?” I am twenty-three and living in Los Angeles. My father flies out from New Jersey for my birthday and gives me a present, a new edition of the “graphic novel” that is Watchmen. He explains to me that this is the publisher’s way of retaining the rights to the characters. He tells me that Dan and Adrian and Jon and Walter and Laurie are all serfs, working the land for a Feudal Lord that will never grant them freedom. My father is more than a little drunk.. More so, he is a hypocrite for buying me the new edition. “I know, I know…” he says, that same mischievous glint from years ago obscured by now thicker lenses, “But it’s so goddamned good.” Yet Another Man offers me the opportunity to adapt Watchmen for television. “Just a pilot,” he says, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I am forty-three now and I am thinking about something I read about Orthodox Judaism. While most religions are cultivated by evangelizing and conversion, Orthodox Judaism doesn’t solicit. If someone from another faith wishes to become an Orthodox Jew, they are rejected. If they are stubborn enough to ask again, they are denied even more harshly. But should they have the audacity to ask a third time? The door cracks open. And if they’re willing to invest an immense amount of time and effort and sacrifice and faith, they are embraced into the fold. Why am I thinking about this? I have said no to Watchmen twice now. This makes me Orthodox Judaism. I crack the door. And now I’m a hypocrite too. I am standing over my father’s hospital bed. I am twenty-nine, the last age at which I will consider myself “young.” The breathing tube was removed two hours ago and they said he wouldn’t last longer than fifteen minutes. It’s a cliché. I’m living a trope. He is unconscious and unable to impart final wisdom nor tell me he was proud all along, even though he never said it out loud. There is no beeping machine showing his weakening heartrate. My father is beyond machines. I hold his cool hand and try not to pray to God because he detested the very idea of God so instead I pray to his gods. I pray to Cthulhu. I pray to 42, the Eternal Cosmic Number. I pray to Dr. Manhattan, far away in a galaxy less complicated than this one. The television is on and the Lakers win the championship. My father never cared about basketball. He didn’t even know the rules. When he dies, I finally understand that I don’t know the rules either. No one does. I am forty-five and I am writing a letter to the fans. The fans of Watchmen. It’s unnecessarily wordy and an exercise in oversharing, but nothing gets people on your side more than telling them about the moment your father died. Sharing such intimate details with strangers feels needy and pathetic and exploitative and yucky and necessary and freeing. I am also looking for an elegant way to escape from this device of quantum observance, a device appropriated from Mr. Moore so that I can speak to those fans from the bottom of my cold, thieving heart. Perhaps I could switch from referring to them in the third person and shift into the second, thus bringing them closer to the first? Would that be amenable to you? First and foremost, if you are angry that I’m working on Watchmen, I am sorry. You may be thinking I can’t be that sorry or I wouldn’t be doing it. I concede the point, but I hope it doesn’t invalidate the apology, which I offer with sincerity and respect. Respect. That’s second and twicemost. I have an immense amount of respect for Alan Moore. He is an extraordinary talent of mythic proportion. I wrote him a letter, parts of which are not dissimilar to this one, because I owed him an explanation as to why I’m defying his wishes and to humbly ask him not to place a curse on me because he knows magic and apparently, he can do that. His response, or whether he responded at all, is between he and I. Suffice to say, even before I sent it, Mr. Moore had made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want anyone to “adapt” his work. To do so is hubris. Worse yet, it’s unethical. There are a million ways to rationalize unethical behavior – I could argue that Mr. Moore’s partner, the brilliant artist, Dave Gibbons, is equally entitled to authorize access to his masterwork and that he has been kind enough to offer us his blessing to do so. Or I could offer that Mr. Moore cut his veined teeth on the creations of others; Batman, Superman, Captain Britain, Marvelman (he’ll never be “Miracleman” to me), Swamp Thing and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, not to mention The Charlton characters upon whom his Watchmen characters are based… So am I not allowed to do the same? No. I am not. I am not allowed. And yet… I am compelled. I am compelled despite the inevitable pushback and hatred I will understandably receive for taking on this particular project. This ire will be maximally painful because of its source. That source being you. The true fans. I once said that if one were a true fan of something, they weren’t allowed to hate it. A prominent writer took me to task for such heresy, arguing that just because one was the creator of a show, this did not permit them to pick and choose who was and wasn’t a fan of it. The writer went on to win a Pulitzer for television criticism. I went on to get snubbed by the Razzies for Prometheus. As such, I concede this point, too. After all, even the most fervent lifelong fan of, oh, let’s say the New York Jets, is allowed to shout at the top of his lungs, “YOU SUCK OH MY GOD YOU SUUUUUUUUUCKIII II” and do so while wearing a replica Namath Jersey he purchased for an ungodly sum of money that may or may not have constituted his entire first paycheck on Nash Bridges. But the point. The point is, you love Watchmen. That gives you the right to hate it, too. Because no matter what… You’re still true fans. But to quote the immortal P.W. Herman… “I know you are… But what am IT’ What am I? I’m a true fan, too. And I’m not the only one. What I love most about television is that the finished product is a result not of singular vision, but the collective experience of many brilliant minds. I have the pleasure of sitting in a Writers Room each and every day that is as diverse and combative as any I’ve ever been a part of. In that room, Hetero White Men like myself are in the minority and as Watchmen is (incorrectly) assumed to be solely our domain, understanding its potential through the perspectives of women, people of color and the LGBTQ community has been as eye-opening as it has been exhilarating. We’ve committed to doing the same in front of and behind the camera. And every single person involved with this show absolutely adores Watchmen. But in the spirit of complete honesty, we also sorta want to… uh… Disrupt it? Except I hate that word because now it’s not disruptive anymore. And how can I present as punk rock when I’m now cozy in bed, spooning with Warner Brothers, HBO and DC? Truth be told, everyone there, particularly Geoff Johns (who is as true fan as it gets) has been extraordinarily supportive. Sure, it’s fun to kick around the comic corporate overlords for exploiting writers and artists, but we all know what happened to Jack Kirby and we’re still first in line for every Marvel film. So… how do we answer the challenge of when it is appropriate to appropriate? Which brings us to the most important part. Maybe the only part that really matters. Our creative intentions. We have no desire to “adapt” the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and they will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however be remixed. Because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along, it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with Watchmen. The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr. Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica. To be clear. Watchmen is canon. Just the way Mr. Moore wrote it, the way Mr. Gibbons drew it and the way the brilliant John Higgins colored it. But we are not making a “sequel” either. This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built… but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens. Most importantly, it must be contemporary. The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and Thatcher and Gorbachev… ours needs to resonate with the frequency of Trump and May and Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless. And speaking of Horsemen, The End of The World is off the table (THE LEFTOVERS! NOW STREAMING ON HBO GO!) which means the heroes and villains — as if the two are distinguishable — are playing for different stakes entirely. The tone will be fresh and nasty and electric and absurd. Many describe Watchmen as “dark,” but I’ve always loved its humor -worshipping at the altar of the genre whilst simultaneously trolling it. As such… Some of the characters will be unknown. New faces. New masks to cover them. We also intend to revisit the past century of Costumed Adventuring through a surprising, yet familiar set of eyes… and it is here where we’ll be taking our greatest risks. Risk is imperative. I need the feeling in my stomach before I leap from a great height without knowing the depth of the water below. If my body should shatter upon impact, at least it was in pursuit of glory. And let’s be honest… Isn’t there a small part of you that wants to see me explode like a fleshy watermelon? But hopefully, there’s also a part that wants to experience something sort of amazing. As for what I want? I want your validation. I also want not to want it. I’ve given up the opioid highs of Twitter, but continue to score my methadone in the threads of Reddit and the hot takes of morning-after recappers. I’ll be reading and watching and listening to what you have to say because even though I wish I didn’t… I deeply care about what you think. Which brings us, Thank God, to the end of the missive. Endings. I’m GREAT at them. A wise, blue man once said that nothing ever ends. But maybe he wasn’t wise. Maybe he was just scared and alone and sad that he would outlive everything and everyone he ever loved. So I hope this isn’t the last time we correspond, fellow fans… after all, it’s just a pilot and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But maybe… if everything works out the way I hope it does… and if you’re willing to give me a chance, it’s not the end at all… It’s the beginning? With Respectful Hubris, -Damon

[idiopath-fic-smile]

Fic: R

Fandom: Les Mis

Pairing: Enjolras/Grantaire

Prompt: Enjolras fights for android rights. Grantaire is an android being mistreated by his current “owners.”

Notes: Commissioned by Vee, for Vee’s BFF. Hope you enjoyed it!

Fic:

Enjolras and Courfeyrac were clear about their budget, but the robot-seller is still yammering on about his latest models and their various special features, as if he can smell the privilege wafting off Enjolras like stink from a junkpile. Enjolras lets his eyes drift away from the counterfeit luxury ‘bots in their slightly dubious packaging. There’s a work table in back littered with spare parts--a kind of bloodless carnage, backlit by the blue buzz of a neon sign. Hired muscle by the back door, a sure indication this place isn’t legal. As if that wasn’t clear enough.

If his parents knew he was here--well, it’s just as well Combeferre finally managed to remove the tracking chip from Enjolras’s ankle.

He’s glancing around, trying not to look like a man casing the joint, when his eyes land on a raggedy off-brand Model R. The ‘bot is staring right back at him with blue, blue eyes. Probably not a display--not flashy enough, except for those eyes. A worker drone, maybe. Shabby clothes, a nest of tangled dark hair that probably hasn’t seen a comb since the date of manufacture. No shoes.

No shoes.

Robots are programmed to feel pain, to discourage them from dangerous activities that might lead to injury, or otherwise violate the warranty. The shop is cold and the rough concrete floor is full of debris, but the ‘bot is barefoot.

It’s hard to watch, and Enjolras instinctively looks away for a second. When he looks back, the Model R is still watching him, whirring a little the way a ‘bot does when it hasn’t been properly rebooted in a long, long time.

Enjolras must make a face, because then Courfeyrac is following his gaze.

“Excuse us,” Courfeyrac interjects to the seller--Enjolras didn’t catch his name, and doesn’t care to.

Courfeyrac and Enjolras step to the side, out of earshot. The ground is sticky with what looks to be old oil. Enjolras thinks again of those bare feet.

“Are you sure about this,” says Courfeyrac in a low voice. “He’s in bad shape, we might have more luck picking something in better condition--”

“What about our goals,” Enjolras whispers back. Buying and rehabilitating robots is expensive, time-intensive, inefficient. Until the Amis de l’ABC have the people and supplies to mount a proper rebellion, they must be careful with their resources. That means stepping in for the direst cases.

Courfeyrac nods once, decisive. “We’ve made our decision,” he announces to the seller. “We’d like the Model R, please.”

“Sirs,” the seller stammers, “really, we have any number of better specimens available today, for only a simple down payment plus--”

“The Model R,” says Enjolras in his most commanding tone.

The ‘bot is silent on the way outside, except for that terrible whirring. Up close, it sounds more like a fork caught in a garbage disposal. His movements are jerky and stiff, like a wind-up toy--or like every joint hurts. He is silent on the sidewalk, silent as Courfeyrac unlocks the car, silent until they’ve climbed inside and the car doors have shut behind them.

“Am I going to be scrapped for parts,” he says in a low, scratchy voice. He’s only half-asking, must have come to the conclusion back in the shop. “‘Cause I should warn you, I’m already a chimera. You’ll have a hell of a time finding compatible pieces.”

Enjolras studies the ‘bot’s face in the rearview. No expression. No expression, but he waited until Courfeyrac and Enjolras were strapped in and out of arm’s reach to mouth off. It’s got the air of a survival tactic. Enjolras feels sick.

“We’re not scrapping you,” Enjolras tells him. “We won’t hurt you. I know you have no reason to trust us yet, but we’re here to help.”

“Isn’t that sweet,” the ‘bot deadpans. In the whirring, grinding pause that follows, he blinks jerkily, as if shocked at the lack of repercussion, and Enjolras wants to murder everyone who has ever owned him.

“That reminds me,” Courfeyrac says cheerfully. “You need a name.”

“R,” says the ‘bot.

“Not your Model, a name.”

“Like a human.” The ‘bot sounds wary.

“Like you, the way you were meant to be,” says Enjolras. “Society acts like servitude is just part of the natural order, but inequality is man-made.”

“I’m man-made.”

“Haven’t you ever wanted a name?” Courfeyrac tries. “And don’t say R, I mean a real name.” The other ‘bots the Amis have freed all volunteered a name right away, as if they’d been holding it in secret for a while. This one just blinks again, slowly.

The pragmatic approach seems best. “If you don’t want a name, what should we call you?”

“You’re just trying to trick me into naming myself,” the ‘bot fires back. “How about… Zero-One-Zero-One-Zero-Zero-One-Zero.”

“What’re the odds that’s a capital R in binary,” mutters Courfeyrac.

“It is,” says Enjolras.

“Wait,” says the ‘bot, “I’ve got it!” The edge of a smile creeps into his voice. “Grantaire!”

The same thing but in French, but it’s also the first flash of real life from him.

Courfeyrac and Enjolras exchange a look.

“Why didn’t they give you shoes?” Enjolras blurts out, and Grantaire does the blinking thing again.

“Why would I need them?” says Grantaire. “I wasn’t allowed to leave.”

Enjolras makes a mental note: first order of business: to allow Grantaire to recharge and restart at least twice. Second immediate order of business: get him some goddamn footwear, the sturdiest available.

It takes three different complete reboots for the whirring noises to stop.

It takes two sessions with cream rinse, detangler, and combs before Grantaire’s hair will lie down into relatively orderly curls, Feuilly reports grimly from the bathroom. As one of few freed robots among the Amis, it’s his task on the theory he’ll go about it with the most sensitivity. Enjolras had pictured poor Feuilly trying to coax Grantaire into the warm suds like making a cat take a bath, but Feuilly shakes off Enjolras’s gratitude, laughing,

“Oh no, he loves the bathtub, that’s not the problem. I’m not sure how I’ll get him out, frankly.”

Enjolras remembers then that most robots below a Model H are cleaned, if ever, by a quick hosing-off in the garage.

“Tell him he can stay in as long as he wants,” Enjolras declares, and Feuilly nods, smiling.

It takes nine separate arguments to make Grantaire accept his new boots, donated by Bahorel and yet still in surprisingly good condition.

Despite the initial protests, Enjolras later sometimes catches from the corner of his eye Grantaire perched on a kitchen counter or the arm of a sofa, swinging his feet and admiring the scuffed black imitation-leather. They’re well-made, thick soles, strong enough to carry him away from anywhere.

For the first five or six months, Grantaire waits to say anything snarky until he’s clearly out of hitting distance from any human.

The first time Grantaire leans into Enjolras’s space and announces, “I’m sorry, but your logo is terrible. It looks like something one of you sneezed,” Enjolras wants to hug him.

And well--that’s the problem, isn’t it.

By that point, Grantaire’s every motion is impossibly, inhumanly smooth, like a dancer but moreso. All those resets. He must’ve gotten used to compensating, as much as possible, for the rough control he had over his own body. Now that those limitations are gone, he’s left with a surplus of grace. Knowing this does not detract from the effect. If anything, it only adds to it.

Enjolras catches himself watching Grantaire all the time. For a while, he thinks it’s only aesthetic appreciation.

Then comes the day Grantaire laughs--actually throws his head back and laughs--and Enjolras thinks, ‘...oh.’

Damn.

It’s not fair to come to Grantaire with this. The power imbalance between is immense, hard to even resolve into words. Grantaire’s not legally a person.

It’s an impossible problem.

Then comes the night Grantaire catches Enjolras watching. They’re halfway through a meeting, Grantaire milling around in the background, and their eyes connect, Grantaire staring right back at him again, like back in the shop except this time the steady gaze doesn’t read as low memory but intensity. Enjolras doesn’t remember a single point anyone makes for the rest of the two hours. Grantaire stands in the back of the room and looks back at him, knowing.

The arguments really start in earnest, then.

(That night: “But if you feel the same way--”

The same way. Everything would be easier if Grantaire could just hate him. Enjolras swallows. “It doesn’t matter.”

Weeks later, an hour before dawn: “What do you mean, I can’t consent? Do I strike you as terribly obedient, Apollo?

Noon, with all their friends around them: “Humankind brought robotkind into this world,” Enjolras is saying. “We, all of us, have the duty, the responsibility, to fight for their equal treatment under the laws, to do right by them, to listen to their demands and answer them--”

A withering glance from Grantaire. “How’s that working out?”)

Grantaire prods, Grantaire provokes. Grantaire makes a scene at meetings and mealtimes. Maybe Grantaire thinks he is daring Enjolras not to want him. That’s not how it works.

Enjolras is miserable.

It takes a full year for Enjolras to run into Grantaire in an unguarded moment--the middle of the night, hot as Hell, AC broken, nobody’s asleep--and realize: Grantaire is miserable, too.

“Listen,” says Grantaire, quietly. “Just--please, listen.” No irony. No sarcasm. It’s worrying.

“Yeah?”

Grantaire takes a deep breath. He doesn’t need to; his air circulation doesn’t involve anything like lungs. It’s a habit picked up over the weeks and months from his friends. Enjolras waits.

“Either you think I have a soul or you don’t,” says Grantaire.

It’s Enjolras’s turn to blink at him. “What?”

Grantaire continues, resolute. “You can argue for our rights and our--complexity, our capacity for emotion, our freedoms, or you can say, ‘Poor little Grantaire, he can’t really make any decisions on his own. Poor Grantaire, he thinks he’s in love, like a human--’” He breaks off, shaking his head. He’s vibrating a little. Not like a stuck fan. More like there’s more inside of him than can fit.

“If you were a human,” Enjolras says, gently as he can, “an organic human that had spent his whole life as somebody’s property, I would absolutely still be saying no to you--”

“But I’m not,” Grantaire snaps. “I’ve had seven full resets, I have literally erased my trauma. It’s not present in my mind anymore. You can’t apply human rules to me, and I don’t mean that how those assholes do when they say we shouldn’t be allowed to--drive, go to school, eat at restaurants, whatever--I don’t believe that the likes of Feuilly or Cosette are worse than you, less than. But we are different. And I am fine. I am fine, and I am standing here, telling you I have feelings for you. Now, you can do with that what you want. But at least stop pretending you’re protecting me, because you are not.”

There’s a pause. For a second, Enjolras thinks Grantaire’s overheating again, but it’s just the ceiling fan overhead.

“That’s--quite a speech,” says Enjolras weakly.

Grantaire shrugs a shoulder with that familiar, easy, inhuman grace. “Feuilly helped,” he says.

“Thank him for me,” says Enjolras vaguely, and then he steps forward and they’re kissing. His fingers are in Grantaire’s hair, and Grantaire’s hands are solid and steady at his waist and they’re kissing. Enjolras breaks apart to smile like an idiot at Grantaire and ducks back in again. Grantaire tastes like the sour-sweet candies he’s always stealing from Joly. He tastes warm and alive.

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - Rundown of Insanity

Engine was wandering the aisle of the grand library, glancing along the knowledge and memories of many. He was always on the prowl for some information or another, and this day was no different in that regard. He carried a book on constellations and the worlds within, something about gravitational tides and finally a volume on wormholes, and other theoretical movements through spacetime. He often looked at such things when bored. A small orange lit machine with black chassis followed him over shoulder, humming softly. He finally approached the grand table and placed down his stack of books. It was only then that he realized he was not alone. There sat a small, black hooded figure with pale white fingers that thumbed through a book of her own. Engine glanced up one way and saw carts with books, ever ready to be put back. The stacks were growing since Damien had gone. In the other direction there was a large chair with violet velvet as a cover. It stood empty. He returned focus to the table. “Ds isn’t here at this hour, I expected that it would be empty here.”

Alexia didn’t raise her head, instead her eyes remained locked to the book as she used a single fingertip to move through to the next page.

“We haven’t had the chance to talk, I am Engine. Engine Distortion.” He held a hand out for several moments. The only sound was that of a page turning. “uhh… You can call me En.” Another page. “And you are Alex, gotcha. Good talk.” He grabbed the back of a wooden chair to pull it out.

“-ia.”

“What? Engine lifted the chair and slowly pulled it out to hear her soft voice.

“Not Alex. Alexia. Alex was a duality, my misguided form from before. Back when I would wear something passionate and feel things like remorse and desire.”

“Oh. Uh, My apologies, I will remember.”

“It's not a big deal, people keep forgetting. Jhet was the only reason I didn’t use the name before, but when he tore himself out of me…” She stood. As she did so, Engine noticed that thing about her. As she timidly reached out a hand to him to return his shake, his eyes wandered to the split of her cloak where the dark, gaping hole still seeped from her chest.

He shook her hand. “I won’t forget. I’ll keep a note.” He reached into his vest and pulled out his bound book to jot down.

“I have questions.” She sat.

“What’s up?” Engine's eyes and ears bother perked up. He liked questions.

“Our history. I know there were the four of them. Techtonica, Alexander, Aqua and Mikael, who went by Scythe then.”

Engine nodded. “I guess I can give you the rundown. Artisan and Mikendo go by new names now but yeah. Then Darkside showed up and he created a disparity. He appeared in a nightmare where he invaded us.”

She nodded. “Yeah… the demon shows up and then we change. A new, fifth personailty appears.”

Engine added, “Unless you don’t believe in possession, then Darkside is the fifth an-“

“I believe him. I was that fifth persona, a second female after Aqua. When I was forming, she… She violated my form.”

“I heard it was with a sword, yeah. Then her and Techtonica faced off, and the two of them shattered one another. Pieces went everywhere, Mikendo and Artisan changed themselves to try and equalize. Sorrow appeared shortly after, and following him was… Zeke? He changed to Shado, and the Corona, who later became Nero.”

“You are jumping ahead. Another appeared then, Zane. The open one.”

“Yeah, but he would appear and vanish a lot over the years. We think he is a bit of all four of them.” Engine flipped a pen between his fingers. “He appeared the first time with all his body parts, but literally the next time someone saw him a couple of weeks later he only had the one arm.” Engine put a finger to his forehead as he pondered. “I think then it was Jaxx and his little sister Laila. I think Sorrow used one of Tech's old beasties to make him, which is why he appears like he does. The two of them were put in a suburban setting outside of the Sunken City and they distracted Nero by making him think he was awake. Laila lasted until the illusion broke, but Jaxx never stopped being a guardian after that.”

“You all call it the Sunken City… why not call it by it’s name?”

Engine tilted his head. “Hasn’t part of it always been under water?”

“Hmph. So Jaxx appeared and there was a small gap of time before… something called Adds.”

“A girlfriend. She also had a breakdown, but at the time we were dealing with the twins, so the relationship ended abruptly. That was when Puppet appeared. He manipulated Mari into thinking she was a full person, but one who lived under his thumb. Some kind of ridiculous power fantasy made possible by a book that contained another fragment, Vedroh; a manipulator who took pleasure in inflicting pain. Mari made herself an online persona to try and escape Puppet and through messages Clora was able to reach her and they put him into the Bin where he can’t hurt anyone.”

“It says here he’s gone.” She looked down to the lines in her book, but the description of him reminded her of Jhet

“Now you are jumping ahead; Mari later annihilated him in the bin. We met another girl named Alice. Nero really liked her, so he took her as his lady and they stayed together for a few tense months, people always interfering and saying “you aren’t good enough for her” and other such things. Later I realized it was the other way around, but not until she went to some kind of high school party drug orgy. The entire relationship was full of lies. Between the pain of that and Adds suicide attempt it crackled off another piece who became Emie.”

“Emmalie was a fragment of self harm, yes?”

“Emie was a fragment of pain. Its different, but she never stopped hurting. Like a burn. Acidic. Infected. She was very sad.” Engine glanced around to make sure Darkside hadn’t returned quietly.

“So then this says you found Husk. Later, Hush.” Her gaze returned to Engine.

“Yeah but he didn’t ever move or speak. We thought he was just an empty shell Tech left behind. We were getting into High School then, and that is when we started spending time with L- KZZT!!

CONNECT ERROR. REBOOTING… CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.

“So that was that, but after she was gone Duske and Dawne spawned.”

Alexia leaned in to examine the lensed machine as it refocused and tried to float once again. “what .. Is this?”

“Oh, that?” Engine placed a hand under us and lifted the machine. “That is Vox. Audio uses it to record certain moments, or as a security function. He also has Animus and Oculus, but right now Animus is in the city below. This one follows me around sometimes.”

“I see…” Her red eyes narrowed at the machine before she moved her attention back to Engine. So what about these other two?”

“Dawne stood for compassion, where as Duske stood for solitude. They worked in tandem after the separation so we could have a time where we drowned in affection and a time where we drowned in isolation. It helped us learn and grow, but they had a limited purpose and folded inwards after, but the combination of the two also broke down and ended up in the bin. I imagine they got used up later.”

“And after?”

“Afterwards we met our partner, and from there Damien was born. He was created to be able to manage relationships but he was damage upon creation, since we didn’t have a lot of practice trying to shape each other back then. He ended up a bit like Zane, and then Damien Bane instead fell in love. Aqua returned through Husk to try and break Nero out, because Husk, we later learned, acts like a door to the bin. After that, Sorrow decided Nero couldn’t have a place in his life anymore and forced him into the bin.”

“but Nero became Bastion.”

“In time. First, he created a bunch of fragments from the bin and birthed them into the mind. They were antitheses, made to oppose the already existing individuals. I remember he made a couple to oppose the twins. They degraded though. He created Crucible, a being of serious tension; he opposed the zen Mikendo and cut off Skeith's arm before he was defeated.”

“I see he has both now. When did Skeith appear?”

Engine blinked, unsure of how to answer. He opened his booklet and looked through a few pages before closing it. “I… don’t know. He is shaped after a golem and I know he is a small piece, Apathy.” He placed the booklet on the table and continued. “When Crucible was sent he came with another, Kaje. He was also created from a beast, and was made to oppose Jaxx. Kaje preferred Sorrow's order and killed Crucible so he could stay.”

“Kaje is a turncoat? Admirable that he found his own way rather than following others.” Alexis brought a thin finger to her cheek, tapping as she leaned on her hand.

“Yeah, he was the best of them… then came Agony Bane.”

“Bane? As in Damien Bane?”

“Yeah Alexia, like that. Agony came in with ferocity. He appeared during a spar between Mari and Mikendo. Ever since Tech died and he stopped being named Scythe he didn’t get to fights much so they made it a plan. The colosseum is just below our Library here so Damien watched the fights. When Agony appeared, he broke Mikendo's ribs and Mari's leg. Damien's weapons are all arcane, so he used a small bomb that slowed time and came between Agony and Mari, brought his special red shotgun up under his helmet, and pulled the trigger to disperse him. Mikendo and Bane both said he looked just like Damien underneath. It was sometime around then I was born. I didn’t know much about the attacks so I’m not sure when.”

“So what about you? This books said you were made as a lover.”

“I was made FOR love, but not solely as it. I am mostly a fact-loving analytical engine of ideas and questions, with a tiny piece of a spirit once used by Puppet to control Mari. He's latent.” Engine pulled up his sleeves and scratched at his tattoo as it quivered.

“I see. Were there more attacks afterwards?”

“No. Techtonica called through Husk and then they, together, retrieved Nero from the bin. People changed a lot afterwards. Husk became Hush, Nero became Bastion. They got rid of Emie and then later on Clora tried to destroy herself. After that, you showed back up and Jhet came from you. Afterwards Tech consumed him and returned so I think that's it.”

“I see…” Alexia nodded, looking from the book she had to the journal the Engine held. “Hey, can I-“

“No.” Engine spoke with a smile as he slipped it into his vest.

[silvermoon424]

The Sailor Moon paper I wrote for my gender studies class

Last week, I mentioned the presentation I did on Sailor Moon for my gender studies class, and how my professor was so impressed by Sailor Moon’s themes that she told me she wants to show it to her kids. Anyway, I promised that I would post the paper the presentation focused on once I finished writing it, so here it is!

I drew quite a bit from a previous paper I wrote on Sailor Moon, but I also included a lot of new things. Particularly, I added sections on how femininity is often negatively portrayed in the media, Haruka’s gender nonconformity in the manga, and the presence of the Outer family.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

It seems as though more and more frequently, the lack of female-centric media is being called into question. It appears as though the majority of movies, tv shows, and other media feature a male protagonist, with female characters being relegated to the sidelines. Even if there is a female protagonist, it often feels like she doesn’t get to develop strong relationships with other female characters. The lack of deep female relationships and overall female representation in media is indeed unacceptable; the same can be said for the lack of representation regarding LGBT people. However, I feel as though we should praise a particular series that not only delivers on those things, but proves that doing so can lead to massive success. It’s called Sailor Moon (known as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon in its native country of Japan), an anime (cartoon) and manga (comic book) series aimed at girls. Sailor Moon is so impressive because it provides positive portrayals of femininity, female relationships (both platonic and romantic), gender nonconformity, and even non-traditional families.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which means “Beautiful Soldier Sailor Moon” in Japanese, was created by a female Japanese mangaka, or manga artist, named Naoko Takeuchi. The manga debuted in the girls’ magazine Nakayoshi on December 28, 1991 and ended on February 3, 1997; the animated adaptation premiered on March 7, 1992 and ended February 8, 1997. From the very beginning, Sailor Moon was a smash hit; originally intended to only consist of a single arc, its popularity caused Takeuchi to expand it to five arcs. In addition to the original anime and manga, Sailor Moon’s enormous popularity has resulted in, as of 2017: A series of stage musicals, 31 in all; three movies with theatrical releases; a live-action series that comprised of 52 episodes; numerous rereleases of the manga and anime; many video game spinoffs; many foreign-language dubs; and finally, a new, updated anime reboot entitled Sailor Moon Crystal that is ongoing.

Sailor Moon revolves around an ordinary 14-year-old girl named Usagi Tsukino who befriends Luna, a mysterious talking cat who gives her a magical brooch. After saying a transformation phrase, the brooch enables her to transform into Sailor Moon, a beautiful soldier who fights against evil and protects good. Usagi and Luna must work together to find both the Legendary Silver Crystal, an artifact of enormous power that the antagonists are also searching for so they can conquer the world, and the missing Moon Princess, who can use the Silver Crystal for the sake of good as her birthright.

Along the way, Usagi makes friends and allies who assist her in her mission. The first is the studious and shy Ami Mizuno, who becomes Sailor Mercury. The two later meet a fiery shrine maiden named Rei Hino, who awakens as Sailor Mars. After a period of the three fighting alone, they meet the strong yet sensitive transfer student named Makoto Kino, who becomes Sailor Jupiter. Finally, they encounter a bubbly aspiring idol singer named Minako Aino, who had already awoken as Sailor Venus and later joins the team with her own cat, Artemis. Together, they’re known as the Sailor Soldiers (or Sailor Scouts, popularized by the English dub of the series). Usagi also meets and falls in love with Mamoru Chiba, a high-school student who assists the Sailor Soldiers as the mysterious Tuxedo Mask. It’s eventually revealed that Usagi herself is the reborn Moon Princess, Serenity, and Mamoru is her lover from her past life, Endymion.

The series goes on for four more arcs, although the basic premise of the Sailor Soldiers fighting against evil always remains. Within the second and third story arcs, five more Sailor Soldiers are introduced. Chibiusa, Sailor Moon’s daughter from the distant future who travelled back to the past in order to train alongside her mother’s past self as Sailor Chibi (which means “small”) Moon; world-class violinist and artist Michiru Kaioh, who can transform into Sailor Neptune; famous racer and notorious flirt Haruka Tenoh, who becomes Sailor Uranus; Sailor Pluto, an immortal goddess who was originally the guardian of time but later became a human named Setsuna Meioh; and finally Hotaru Tomoe, a chronically ill and misunderstood girl who later becomes the dreaded Sailor Saturn.

These characters are what Sailor Moon can attribute its phenomenal success to, as well as  its overall themes of female empowerment and optimism. Before Sailor Moon and, indeed, to this day, superheroes are predominantly male and geared towards a male audience. Not only that, women and girls are underrepresented in entertainment media as a whole and femininity is often portrayed as weak (or at least weaker than masculinity). Traits and qualities that are usually associated with women and femininity are often devalued, scoffed at, or are, again, at least portrayed as being weaker than qualities associated with men and masculinity. These feminine, so-called “weak” qualities include cooperation, mutuality, equality, sharing, empathy, compassion, caring, vulnerability, a readiness to negotiate and compromise, emotional expressiveness, and intuitive and other nonlinear ways of thinking (Johnson 7).

Moreover, female characters are usually less multidimensional than male characters. The documentary Miss Representation examines this lack of representation and how girls and young women in particular are affected by it. The documentary argues that, because media propagates such limiting portrayals of women, teenage girls are left feeling powerless and unrepresented. And it’s not hard to understand why that is. As Miss Representation demonstrates, women are rarely the main protagonists in films and tv shows. When they are the protagonists, their stories are rarely about finding one’s destiny or saving the world the way it is for male protagonists. Adding insult to injury, even if women are action heroes, they are usually hyper-sexualized. Femininity is limited to its sexual aspects for the benefit of male viewers.

With all of this in mind, it becomes apparent just how much of a game-changer Sailor Moon herself was. In her article “Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls,” Anne Allison elaborates on this concept:

Sailor Moon is popular for both the female and superhero parts of her character. As such, she is something of a hybrid, embodying conventions both of boys’ culture- fighting, warriorship, superheroes- and shoujo (girls’) culture- romance, friendship, and appearance… The show’s creators have merged two features that have traditionally been kept fairly distinct; the masculinity of a fighter and the femininity of a romantic…. Sailor Moon is a warrior who retains, rather than revokes or transcends, her femaleness. (273) Not only is Sailor Moon a warrior who fights against evil alongside her teammates, she’s also a beautiful, sensitive girl who dreams of romance and shares close, loving relationships with her family and friends. Although Usagi becomes much more focused and determined after she transforms into Sailor Moon, her femininity is still readily apparent.

This weaponization of femininity is most apparent in Sailor Moon’s attacks. Her most powerful weapon is the Silver Crystal, which often emits sparkles and pink bursts of light when in use. Sailor Moon also uses pink, ornate magic wands to utilize her attacks, which present themselves as hearts made of pink energy, bursts of rainbow colors, and sparkly feathers. Sailor Moon may be a warrior, but she doesn’t fight like a conventional one. In fact, instead of beating enemies into submission, she prefers to love and heal them instead. One of the major themes of the show is that Usagi’s unparalleled ability to love and forgive is her true strength and the source of her power. In fact, in the very last episode (“Usagi's Love! Moonlight Illuminates the Galaxy”), Usagi redeems the final arc’s main antagonist by appealing to the goodness that remained in her heart instead of just killing her. All of these traits are associated with traditional femininity.

All of these traits associated with Sailor Moon immediately endeared her to a wide audience. She instantly connected with Japanese schoolgirls in particular, in large part because of her approachability. The “Sailor” part of Sailor Moon comes from the fact that the Sailor Soldiers fight in modified versions of sailor fuku (also known as seifuku), or school uniforms that are based on naval suits. The majority of Japanese middle and high schools implement sailor fuku as uniforms, so Japanese schoolgirls were able to easily relate to the Sailor Soldiers and were excited to see girls who looked just like them fighting as heroes (Choo 279). Sailor Moon’s approachability is not limited to appearances, which is what allowed the series to connect to millions of people worldwide. Each of the ten Sailor Soldiers are completely unique and have their own personalities, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. The cast is so varied it’s guaranteed that almost anyone who watches the series will find at least one role model or a character to look up to. Instead of struggling to find a female character to connect with, viewers were now presented with ten to choose from.

Additionally, Sailor Moon became so popular because it completely reinvented the magical girl (or mahou shoujo) genre. Before Sailor Moon, most magical girls only used their powers for mundane or personal purposes. Sailor Moon introduced the concept of a magical girl warrior, a mix of traditional magical girl elements and sentai (Japanese-style superheroes, such as the Power Rangers) action. What resulted was a type of magical girl who used her powers to actively fight against evil. Not only did the Sailor Soldiers have flashy, pretty transformation sequences and wear cute, feminine uniforms like the protagonists from previous magical girl series, they fought like the Power Rangers. This hybrid magical girl/sentai style became enormously popular and soon other series began trying to emulate Sailor Moon’s success (Allison 262-267, 272-274).

Furthermore, Sailor Moon provides a wide array of strong female relationships, both platonic and romantic. What we typically think of women’s experiences in friendships and women's virtues- emotional expressiveness, dependency, the ability to nurture, intimacy, and so on- are prominently featured and celebrated in the series (Kimmel 375). In fact, the friendships that the Sailor Soldiers share with one another- specifically, the friendships between the five original girls who are collectively known as the Inner Soldiers- is one of the main themes of the series. They aren’t just teammates who support each other in battle; in fact, much of the series’ screen time is devoted to the girls’ everyday lives as they go to school, go shopping, study, and hang out together, just like ordinary friends.

The deep and intimate bonds of their friendship are shown in full in Sailor Moon R: The Movie, the series’ first theatrical release. Towards the end of the film, the main antagonist, Fiore, speaks of his loneliness; the Inner Soldiers (sans Usagi) all think of how they have also been lonely, shunned by their classmates for being different or strange. At the movie’s climax, in order thwart Fiore’s plot of sending an asteroid to hit Earth, Usagi is forced to use the full potential of the Silver Crystal; doing so is incredibly dangerous for her, as using too much of the Silver Crystal’s power exhausts one’s life force. The other Sailor Soldiers immediately rush to help her, resolving to combine their powers so they can all return to Earth together. As the girls join hands, they think of how much Usagi means to them, and how she saved them from their loneliness with her love and friendship. With her friends’ support, Usagi is able to destroy the asteroid before it hits Earth. The film makes it clear that the Sailor Soldiers’ bond with and devotion for one another is what makes them powerful. This is in stark contrast to the many movies and tv shows that depict women as natural enemies who compete with each other to be the most beautiful or to win the man (Miss Representation).

Platonic relationships aren’t the only kind featured in the series. In fact, Sailor Moon is significant for its prominent representation of LGBT people. Most notably, two of the Sailor Soldiers, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, are actually lovers who share a close, loving relationship. Within the series, their relationship is treated as something as something completely ordinary; their closeness is never questioned or objected to, and the other Sailor Soldiers sometimes comment on how perfect they look together. In one episode (“Episode 95: Let Moon Help With Your Love Problems”), they even enter a couple’s competition and blow everyone away. But what’s more important is that Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune are given ample characterization outside of simply being lesbians. Their sexualities, while part of who they are, don’t dominate their characterizations; in other words, they’re gay characters who are treated like normal people instead of stereotypes.

Aside from being a lesbian, Haruka/Sailor Uranus is also presented as gender-nonconforming in the manga. Haruka identifies as a woman, but her gender presentation often changes; she easily switches between pants and button-down shirts to short skirts and flowing blouses. At one point in the manga’s third arc (“Act 32: Three Soldiers”), Michiru/Sailor Neptune says “Uranus is like a man and a woman in one. She has the strengths of both genders; it is her special advantage as a soldier.” Michiru isn’t saying that Haruka is physically both male and female; she’s saying that Haruka does not choose to present as either totally masculine or totally feminine, but rather a combination of both. Haruka’s gender nonconformity isn’t portrayed as strange or off-putting; rather, it’s explicitly stated that it’s her strength as a Sailor Soldier. What’s more, nobody ever questions Haruka about her androgyny; rather, the other characters just accept it as a part of who she is. This portrayal is very admirable, especially considering how gender nonconformity is usually handled in media. As Leslie Feinberg explains, “Those of us who cross the ‘man-made’ boundaries of sex and gender run afoul of the law… We have grown up mostly unable to find ourselves represented in the dominant culture” (Feinberg 147). Although character like Haruka is unfortunately hard to find, at least she’s able to be a good representative for gender-nonconforming people.

Aside from all that, Sailor Moon even features a very positive portrayal of a non-traditional, lesbian family. This is significant, because as Stephanie Coontz explains, “For 150 years, the married-couple nuclear family based on male breadwinning and female domesticity has been the main set of instructions on how we should organize adult sexual relationships, raise children, and meet interpersonal obligations” (118). When people- especially LGBT people- attempt to deviate from this familial norm, many immediately protest it; they do so because they argue that children raised by gay or lesbian parents will be not be as healthy as children raised by heterosexual parents (Kimmel 183-184). In reality, however, gay and lesbian couples provide a model of family life in many cases. For example, homosexual couples are more likely than heterosexual couples to share housework and child-rearing responsibilities (Kimmel 185). Moreover, research shows that the children of same-sex parents are just as emotionally healthy, and as educationally and socially successful, as the children raised by heterosexual parents (Kimmel 186). It’s the quality of person’s parenting, rather than their sexuality, which determines how well a child will develop.

In the final chapter (“Act 38: Beginning a Journey”) of Sailor Moon’s third manga arc, Sailor Saturn exhausts her powers and is reborn as a baby. Because she has no family, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto decide to adopt and raise her. Several chapters later (“Act 44: New Soldiers’ Dream”), we see that Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru (the reborn Saturn) have formed a loving, stable, and healthy family. Hotaru (who by now is a young child, as her powers have caused her to age at an accelerated rate) refers to Michiru and Setsuna as her “Mamas,” while she calls Haruka “Papa” due to her more masculine appearance. The manga also states Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna all share the housework and child-rearing responsibilities; in fact, all three of them wear promise rings to symbolize their dedication to raising Hotaru and being good parents to her. Thanks to their love and support, Hotaru grows up to be a much happier, more outgoing, and stabler girl than she was in her previous life. Just like real-life research indicates, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna’s gender and sexuality did not negatively impact their ability to raise Hotaru. All that mattered was the quality of their parenting.

For all these reasons and more, it’s easy to see why Sailor Moon is such a beloved series. It brought audiences what they sorely needed: Strong and brave, yet relatable, female superheroes who encouraged them to be themselves and provided something to aspire towards. Moreover, it provided positive representation for LGBT people (including gender-nonconforming people) and even debunked stereotypes about them, such as the idea that same-sex couples cannot properly raise a child. The series also provides a healthy view of female friendships. Rather than portraying the Sailor Soldiers as rivals or making their relationships with each other shallow and insignificant, the series consistently characterizes their relationships as strong, meaningful, and loving. When keeping all of that in mind, it becomes clear that the series is just as relevant and needed in 2017 as it was back in 1992. Its themes of love, friendship, hope, and female empowerment will always be needed by not only girls, but by boys and adults as well.

Works Cited

Allison, Anne. "Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls." Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. New York City: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. 259-78. Print.

Choo, Kukhee. "Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’ Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana Yori Dango and Fruits Basket." Women: A Cultural Review 19.3 (2008): 275-96. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

Coontz, Stephanie. "How Holding on to Tradition Sets Families Back." The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families. New York City: Basic Books, 1997. 109-22. Print.

Feinberg, Leslie. "To Be or Not to Be." Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. 2nd ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2004. 147-50. Print.

Johnson, Allan G. "Where Are We?" The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2014. 3-25. Print.

Kimmel, Michael. The Gendered Society. 6th ed. New York City: Oxford U Press, 2017. Print.

Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, 2011. Netflix. Web. 28 Apr. 2017

[oldschoolgameshowguy-blog]

TJW = WTF?

A CBS Classic is Revived But Changes Nearly Everything (And Not In A Good Way)

“From Hollywood…it’s the game where knowledge is king and Lady Luck is queen...”

Sadly, the “knowledge” is largely gone from TBS’s revival of “The Joker’s Wild”, a classic CBS game show that rewarded actual book knowledge with cash and prizes of up to $25,000. Entertainer Snoop Dogg brought back a new version of this Jack Barry vehicle in October of 2017 and for those who remember and loved the original, this one is a huge disappointment. First, though, let me comment on the few plusses the show has.

It’s worth watching the show - once - to see the beautiful new set. Barry would have been proud (even envious). The designers created a stage that’s colorful, lively and engaging. You even hear slot machine sounds like you’d hear in a real casino. The 1990 revival had its own technology-driven machine – three TV monitors where the category wheels would “spin” but they weren’t terribly exciting to watch. At least with modern technology, the new Joker machine is something truly impressive.

Sadly, that’s where the list of positives end for me. There’s so many things about the new version of the show that I disliked upon viewing the premiere. The audience. The questions. The changed flow of play. And most certainly the host. If you’re a fan of Snoop Dogg, you’ll probably hate everything I’m about to say and dismiss me as a “hater”. Fine. But if you don’t know Snoop, you may agree with me. 

Snoop’s persona – at least on the show – is that of a drug-friendly casino operator party guy with a streetwise sense of humor. That, of course, is nothing like Jack Barry or, really, any other quiz show emcee of any of the classics. Even Gene Rayburn of legendary “Match Game” fame was wild and wacky without seeming stoned. And I don’t find Snoop’s manner appealing – in the context of a quiz show. As a music performer, not being all there can add to an artist’s charisma. But not for leading a vehicle like this. (Michael Strahan of ABC’s “The $100,000 Pyramid” would have been a finer choice to helm this revival. Frankly, I can think of at least a dozen other people I’d rather had been at the helm of the new “Joker”.)

Snoop is supposed to be the main draw for the show - but with the original, it wasn't about the host. It was about the game, at least for the viewers. Jack Barry was an affable host, like many emcees of the day, but he wasn’t playing a version of himself, and a seedy one at that. He was actually trying to clean up his image, having been implicated in The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950’s. He needed to be squeaky clean. Luckily, it worked.

A good game show host - to me - knows how to set up tension and the big moments. Snoop seems too high - or high acting - to be tense about anything. It’s all about laughs, money, and that “big-ass” slot machine. If you’re watching a game, as a viewer, you don’t want to be going, “What just happened?”

Snoop has famously said “The Joker’s Wild” was one of his favorite shows growing up, and that he used to watch it with his grandmother. Why was it a favorite? Was it the big money? The set? It looks like that the oversized slot machine what fascinated him because I don’t get the impression it was the intellect displayed by the contestants. I don’t think Snoop would have done so well as a contestant on the CBS original.

The new version of the game is not a general knowledge quiz – at least, as you’d see on “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek. (I wish there were more examples of knowledge game shows on American TV but they’ve all but disappeared – American TV producers presume that the average viewer doesn’t find book smarts entertaining. When I was growing up, viewers had more selections – among the better of them, “The Who, What or Where Game” and “College Bowl”. Even shows like “Gambit” or “Hollywood Squares” had questions where viewers could learn something factual.)

On the new version of “Joker” questions are more about streetwise subjects or comedic themes. The category names are too silly to recount here, but I was reminded of the equally frivolous names chosen for categories on the 2000 “Pyramid” revival with Donny Osmond (which I was glad to see bite the dust). Sometimes it’s possible to be too cutesy.

Even the 1990 version with Pat Finn, disappointing as that was, had quiz questions about real topics – they were given as definitions, where the player had to define the person, place or thing Finn read off his cards. The message Snoop’s “Joker” sends is that there's zero value in knowing school subjects or facts. With who made it into the White House in 2016, this show is suitable for a “post-fact” era.

New “Joker” isn’t even the same game structurally. Designed to fit within a single-half hour, with no carry-over champions (even the current incarnation of Family Feud with Steve Harvey lets families stay five days to win a new SUV), this version of “Joker” is a contest to see who can amass the most money during game play, not whether they can reach a particular amount. That dramatically changes the game. There are fewer moments for natural tension. A wrong answer to a question can’t be picked up by an opponent for credit, as in the original version. There is no “final spin” rule if a player reaches the winning amount before players have had an equal number of spins. And a three-Joker spin is lame, as it only counts for $500 towards a daily total. There is no Joker’s Jackpot, no five-game big payoff, and no sizzle associated with getting Jokers anymore, no matter how much the audience joins in with “Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!!”

Speaking of the audience (and the players), in scanning with my eyes, I didn’t see anyone present over the age of 30.  Just a soundstage full of twenty-somethings. Snoop is probably the oldest person on that stage. The original “Joker” wasn’t so narrow in its appeal, and that might have been part of the reason it was a classic – you could see students, fathers, mothers, teachers, artists, young adults, older adults, everyone. It seems that Snoop’s version of the show basically says, “If you ain’t a club kid, or you don’t dig me, you too old.” I think lots of college students across the country who tune in “Jeopardy!” daily would disagree. (I was also non-plussed by the standing ovation at the beginning of the show – I remember when standing ovations had to be earned.)

If you ran the original CBS version of “Joker” now, it wouldn't connect with Snoop’s target audience on the TBS version, because that target audience doesn't value book knowledge – at least not in this arena. Get outta here, nerds – you’re not wanted here.

I am also not a fan of “lovely assistants” unless they “work.” It seems that these days, a female assistant (it’s always gotta be a female) is comely and attractive but doesn’t necessarily have much in the way of personality. Catch 21’s Nikki was pretty but bland also. The last show with a “lovely assistant” I could handle was “Wheel of Fortune” - Vanna White may be long in the tooth, but she has depth and seems more real. On the original CBS version, Jack handled the entire show, solo – and even the 1990 revival with Pat Finn was a single-star affair.

How could this version of “Joker” ever have been green-lighted for production? Simple - times have changed. Broadcasters and production companies are greedier than ever, and ever eager to push the envelope to get a new generation of viewers, and the eyeballs advertisers covet. I suppose some of that is to be expected, but taste seems to have been lost with it. And it borders on sacrilege to take an old brand and put something else entirely with it - it’s just wrong.

“The Joker’s Wild” was never intended to be a comedy game show. There have been other game shows that were expressly designed as humor vehicles - “Make Me Laugh”, “The Hollywood Squares”, “The Gong Show”, “Match Game”, “Every Second Counts”, “Can You Top This?” - but taking a venerated quiz and turning it into a comedy vehicle isn't a good idea. If I had my way, this show would have been called something else.

Another part of the problem is that the industry itself has changed since the 1970s - indeed, the concept of entertainment is more than TV and radio - and producers, accountants and suits are greedier than ever, wanting a guaranteed success. Most folk under 30 now have TV, streaming music, social media, gaming consoles, and dating/hookup apps to entertain themselves. And so TV has to have bigger and bigger spectacles to push the envelope – witness, a game show with open drug references (“420”).

And then you have what I could call “new generation” producers – folks whose interest is in leaving their own mark on a classic genre rather than respecting what made the genre work – it’s all about them. I have seen revivals come and go in recent years, but they never stay. They all have to be edgy. They all have to be “explicit”. They all have to be bawdy. I dare one game show packager out there to bring back a classic (I’m thinking “The Big Showdown” from ABC) without retooling every g’damned thing from top to bottom for an exclusive 18 to 24 aged demographic. If I had the independent wealth and connections, I’d do it myself but...here I sit, typing a blog instead.

Richard Kline’s company tried to redo “Joker” in 1990 by changing nearly everything and it was a flop – only after several months in did they try to retool the game with classic “Joker” rules, but it was too late then. However, having seen this new “Joker”, that ‘90 version is no longer the worst.

TBS is a cable channel so they can show offerings like this. I just cannot imagine CBS running this - except as a gag. If Snoop’s “Joker” gains traction, look for an SNL parody one of these coming weekends.

If you wanted to have a game show in a night club - and all that implies - you'd get Snoop’s reboot of “The Joker’s Wild”. With the exception of the beautiful new set, there is little that a fan of the original CBS “Joker” will enjoy. “Jeopardy!” or quiz show fans can rightfully wince. And TBS? Nice gimmick, guys, but you better promote the hell out of this show to your millennial “base” to make it a commercial success.

Meantime, I will stick to reruns of the classic CBS show on You Tube.

GRADE: F

[bluebeirry]

Episode 5: Propaganda

Post on Ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11432868

Part of my “Correct the For Want Of A Nail AU as we go along” Challenge

Synopsis: Go's thoughts after learning that he's going to be playing a role in the trivialization of the tragedy Hanoi seeks justice for.

This chapter is about 40% Hanoi AU, and 60% AU where the entire content of this post is true:

http://bluebeirry.tumblr.com/post/161592473590/vrains-arc-v-continuation

Apologies to anybody who wanted pure Vrains fanfic.

By some miracle, Go managed to get invited to the public ceremony hosted by the City on the very first March 28th after his debut on the dueling scene.

It wasn’t a big role - he was only to partake in one of the exhibition duels, then sit on the podium for the service. All they needed him to be was an entertaining duelist, and then just quiet window-dressing to show the people that the city’s method of mourning had its supporters.

He’ll play the part, of course. Go knows that doing anything that would get him labeled “subversive” when he’s only just starting to make a name for himself is more likely to hurt him than not. There’s enough “crazy celebrities” out there, and the people running magazines have plenty of experience in destroying careers and reputations.

Go is young, but he’s not stupid. He knows that one day he’ll have enough sway to say what he truly means, to share his knowledge with the world.

But there’s more than one type of fame. Even if he wins every duel, if the public thinks he’s a crackpot they’ll watch his battles and then smile and nod blankly when he tries to speak honestly. His entire mission, his entire purpose, completely redundant.

People are stupid, they don’t want to listen to anything they haven’t already heard.

Although Go knows it’s not that simple. It’s not that people are stupid, it’s that a person doesn’t have the time or the energy to pay attention to everything that’s important in life. Very few people can do the research and educate themselves fully on even a single issue in their lives.

They find an expert they trust to summarize the problem for them, putting their approach to life in the hands of a stranger.

Go has no intention of being “that person my favorite news caster mocks a lot.” Granted if he’s to make a stand that’s bound to happen sooner or later, but if the world has already formed its opinion of him then the detractors will have less ground to stand on. First impressions are crucial, and the trick is making sure as many people as possible think favorably of him before their other idols and icons begin telling them to hate him.

He knows that’s the way the world works. He knows life isn’t fair. Just being right won’t make people believe him.

And yet…

He knows it will be hard to sit there on the podium and listen to the speaker preach on and on about “remembering our losses” and then telling Den city to “forgive and forget.” As though the memory alone is enough. As though there aren’t thousands, millions of victims still suffering from their nightmares and losses.

It’s like the pacifists and the preachers don’t know about the civil wars still raging the world over. As though the Great Reboot didn’t leave millions of Fusionite war criminals running free, all four worlds pretending that peace equals absolution. Like they don’t live in a City-State surrounded by dozens of other City-states, allied but separated by geography and governing.

As though a full third of their population isn’t gone forever from starvation or radiation or any death that wasn’t directly caused by Solid Vision weapons.

First-hand experience takes precedence over second-hand knowledge, and yet despite remembering nothing of The Invasion Go knows in his gut that he understands the cost of that war better than most of those who lived through it. It makes him furious to think about it, to know that he’s going to have to stand by and watch as the “leaders” of Den city preach ignorance and passivity.

There’s a more optimistic side to Go that wonders if the speakers really mean anything they say, or if they’re just doing whatever they must to keep the representatives from Pendulum, Synchro and Fusion happy.

If it wasn’t so horrible it’d be hilarious that his world has taken help from the people who destroyed it, but what else could they do? Pendulum would withdraw its donations of food, supplies, and trained specialists to anyone who started refusing aid from Fusion. Keeping their hands clean while offering sadistic choices in the name of peace.

Most, if not all of the civilizations that stand now are only functional because of the aid they got from those dimensions.

SOL Technologies is as much of a boon as it is a threat. The only reason why Hanoi hasn’t thoroughly destroyed their chief opponent is because doing so would remove everything that makes the city independent. Becoming the largest producers and exporters of dueling equipment has made Den city strong enough to function without aid, but that doesn’t mean the cities they sell their goods to don’t still rely on donations for survival.

It’s a cruel, cruel world, where survival of atrocities is bought with silence.

That’s why Hanoi exists. That’s why Go has a job to do- to remind the people what they sacrificed in the name of survival. He knows that one day, in two, five, maybe ten years, he’ll be the one speaking at the podium. He’ll talk about recovery and healing, but not forgiveness. And he won’t pretend this whole world is recovering.

Oh, he won’t be too blunt. Even when the people trust you, they can still be frightened off by shows of passion. He’ll wear a normal nice outfit, just one red scarf of solidarity. He’ll smile for the cameras.

He’ll talk about how the world was hurt, for the small children with families unable or unwilling to speak of it, and to bring the memories forward in everyone else. Then he’ll talk about where they are now, how their city is alive and blossoming.

But Go will remind the people that they were the ones to make themselves strong- not Pendulum. That they, the Xyzians, fought alone for most of the war. That two weeks of a fragile, two-man alliance isn’t the same thing as a long-lasting history of mutual trust and respect.

Perhaps Go will be able to convince Kurosaki to come in person. He has always admired the man for refusing to support the dependence forced on Xyz, even if he

And that Den City has been lucky- regardless of the stupid and outright suicidal decisions Go knows SOL Technologies has made in regards to the Cyverse, he’s going to have to give them credit for protecting and strengthening their world as a whole.

Japan has a fairly strong infrastructure, but bands of raiders still terrorize Mumbai, New York is ruled by an ever-changing collection of warlords, and Seoul is almost always under siege from its neighbors. Their world has been raped, and the people of Den City have been told “Ignore it. You have food, your family has a home, why care about anything else?”

On the same day that an alien dimension invaded their home, Go wants the people to remember that their world wasn’t always enslaved by other dimensions.

He’ll stop there, but Go wants the people to hear his words and think. To realize that something is terribly wrong with the world. To realize that things can change, should change, must change. For all the resources Hanoi has been giving to the Ignis, Go is one of the few who keeps his mind on Hanoi’s true goal, the reason they existed, long before the Cyverse did.

Yusaku spends sleepless nights building digital traps, and Aoi rushes to VRAINS every time the Ignis shows up, but Go is the one who’s task will continue after the Cyverse is gone.

No matter how dangerous that thing may be, once it’s dead the threat will be gone. Go is trying to tackle a problem that’s much, much more complex than the one that the other five are so occupied with. Even if the stakes are lower, Go’s battle is infinitely fiercer.

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Originally posted on the Rikodu Blog.

Reboot Develop 2017 was amazing. Let’s get that out of the way first. It was by far the best conference Team Rikodu attended so far. Looking back at the experience and attempting to answer why I felt that way, I got to thinking about what makes a great conference for an indie dev in general. Read on for some thoughts on what really matters to an indie when going to an industry event.

Before we talk about what makes for “the best” of anything, let’s add some context. People go to conferences for wildly different reasons so the conclusions I’m about to share are only relevant if you’re in a similar boat as our little studio. For Rikodu, the main reasons to go to conferences right now are:

We are actively looking for publishers and/or investors. This is the #1 priority for us at the moment and we’re doing our best to find the right people to talk to and pitch our game.

We are also looking for ways to increase our game’s visibility. Any kind of recognition, be it in the form of an award or some article in the press, helps further that goal.

For anyone in a similar situation, Reboot was an awesome conference. I can sum up all the reasons in one single word: opportunity. For all its organizational woes (there were a few but these things always take a few editions to iron out) there was an abundance of opportunity to find what we were looking for at Reboot.

Photo by Sebastian Bularca

So if I were talking to someone who is organizing a conference (Dev-Play 2017 is not that far away) and they would ask me what I would recommend to make the conference attractive to budding indie developers like us, here’s what I’d tell them.

Kind of a no brainer but if you’re a developer looking for funds and exposure, these are the people you want to talk to. If I know there are publishers/investors going to a conference, I’m very inclined to attend. At Reboot I talked to no less than 10 publishers, many of them big names, and that’s not even counting Sony and Microsoft.

Having your conference in Dubrovnik certainly helps attract a good crowd. If your conference isn’t in some amazing, world-renowned location you’ll just have to get creative. Good parties? Special events? I don’t know, I just make games man! But as an organizer I hope you’ll find a way.

And hey, since you’re doing all this work to attract the right people, I hope you won’t forget to let us all know that these people will be there. Or maybe even hype up the fact that you’re focused on attracting this crowd and are actively trying to create opportunities for developer-investor meetings.

By now we’ve been to three indie showcases and a timed indie showcase slot. To explain them briefly, these are dedicated areas where indies can expo their games and anyone can come by to play them.

Here’s what I liked about all of them:

They were free

They allowed us to get at least some amount of people to play our game and get feedback

Sort of good, if rather random way, of meeting people and making connections

And here’s what I’ve seen go wrong at various conferences or, dare I say it, completely ruin an indie area in one case:

Very difficult to access some parts of the area. In one particular case, there were cramped rows of indie tables. To get between two rows, you would literally have to squeeze through both the exhibitors and the unfortunate souls who were already trapped in there. So if you weren’t lucky enough to get a spot in one of the exterior rows, which I’d say only 10% of exhibitors did, you had very few people come over and play the game.

Way too little space per exhibitor. I mean, I know it’s free and all, but please give me enough space to have a decent monitor, a couple of controllers and absolutely minimal branding material. I’m not asking for a lot, just a decent 1m wide desk area. Think of the children! And the non-mobile game developers!

Entire area hidden away in some dark corner. The indie area is where busy conference goers, speakers and attendees alike, might go in the few and hectic breaks in their conference schedule. They don’t have a lot of time so make sure that the area is in their way where they can see it and easily get off their path for 5 minutes to check it out.

It all comes down to making it really easy for attendees to find and enter (or just stumble upon) the indie area, as well as ensuring that all exhibitors have the same level of exposure and access – to the extent that that’s possible.

Photo by Sebastian Bularca

Reboot was absolutely stellar on all of these fronts, with a central indie showcase that people had to bypass almost constantly, with decent-sized expo desks and with a very nice area layout that gave all exhibitors equal exposure. Job well done Reboot!

I’m being Captain Obvious again but I think this is important. It’s so easy to just throw together an “Indie Award”, announce some winners at the end and call it done. Well, fear not! I’m here to correct the delusion that that’s a job well done and provide some helpful tips!

Here’s my list of 7 things to do if you’re organizing an Indie Award:

Make sure your jury is prestigious but, even more importantly, try to make sure that they actually play the games! Otherwise it’s just a popularity contest or a “who makes the nicest trailer” competition.

Really think about your categories. Wait, you do have categories right?

Make the Awards ceremony a big thing! Plenty of ways to do this but just make sure that lots of people attend and you make a big deal out of awarding the winners and the finalists.

Line up a journalist or two to interview the winners. They might do it on their own but they could also be busy. It would be really cool if you as an organizer talked to attending journalists and made sure they’ve got this booked in their schedule.

Market the crap out of the award both before and after the event. For a fledgling indie studio, it helps to even be on a list of “also ran” at a prestigious conference. And hey, all those back-links might come in handy for you too.

You create content all throughout the year to market your conference, right? So why not follow up and write some articles about winners and participants of the last edition while you’re preparing for the new one?

Prizes are the least important thing! Yeah, it’s cool to win and we really had fun with the Oculus we received for winning the Reboot Pitch but material things aren’t really what I’m after when we’re competing. Unless you’re offering cold hard cash (which is always useful), spend the energy on the other points.

Reboot got a lot of these things very right. They could go a mile further by increasing the exposure of their award winners but overall I think they understand that this has to be a big deal for it to matter.

Maybe it’s just me but I like pitching sessions a lot. I mean, we did win two of the three we attended and we were runner up for the other so the results definitely influence my memory of the events, but I really think pitching sessions are great for all participants.

First off, as an indie dev, you’re guaranteed to get the attention of people who can really help you out. Pitch judges might be exactly the connections you’re looking for or they might be able to introduce you to other people you want to talk to. It’s a limited time but the stage is yours and it’s easy to approach attendees after the pitching session.

To top it off, it’s also a great opportunity to receive feedback from people who know the industry well. It’s a unique perspective, that of the seasoned judge who has seen many pitches and loads of games in various stages of development, and it’s something any aspiring dev should take advantage of.

Photo by Sebastian Bularca

Reboot had not one but two pitches, with one organized by Nordic Games Conference. Both had really great judges and I definitely took advantage of the opportunity to talk to most of them. Needless to say, any good indie conference should have a pitching session.

Ultimately, no matter how good a conference is, it’s still just an opportunity. It’s up to us developers to make the most of it. That’s a topic for another article but suffice it to say that shyness is not an option. Most devs aren’t really prepared to act as salesmen but that’s exactly what you gotta do when you go there. I’ll let Alec Baldwin close for me.

If you want to read more of this wisdom from the trenches, follow Rikodu and the development of Second Hand: Frankie’s Revenge at http://ift.tt/2qn5g6v well as Facebook and Twitter.