#that we know all that we know. so many direct parallels both with dialogue and actions. mike/will/lucas/el foreshadowing their s4 roles.

[baphometsss]

Solas and sexual trauma

(TW for sexual abuse)

I did a post forever ago where I questioned what Solas might have meant by 'it has been a long time' in the romance dialogue in DAI. I won't get into the entire post but basically I was wondering if he meant 'it has been a long time since I had a body' as much as or instead of 'it has been a long time since I was intimate with someone'

Given what we know about Mythal's influence on Solas, and the fact that he was her advisor, and that there are plenty of parallels with Leliana and Justinia, it's safe to assume that he also served as her spy. He has been directing his people to spy and steal and lie etc since before DAI. He's able to avoid Leliana's people for a decade, because he has so much more experience than her and knows how she works.

I'm reminded of Flemythal instructing Morrigan to sleep with men for power and influence, while doing it herself (exposing her very young daughter to sexual situations, which is abuse). I think this is a strong indicator of why Mythal married Elgar'nan and later the Alamarri chieftain. She isn't above using her body to gain influence, and I daresay she instructed Solas to do the same when necessary, like she instructed Morrigan to do years later. 'Use kindness where possible and cunning where necessary...' As we know from the romance with Solas, he is quite a private person. As flirtatious as he is with a romanced Inquisitor, this isn't a side that he readily shows off. Even Varric is surprised by his erotica collection in the Lighthouse, and he's known Solas for some time by that point. My point is, despite his cunning, Solas is not in Illario's league when it comes to seducing the enemy, but I don't doubt it was required of him when he served Mythal.

(Sidenote--She groomed Morrigan to sleep with the Warden in DAO so that when she eventually took that child--Kieran's--body she would have access to the old God soul inside him, thus regaining her immortality. I'm kind of pissed off that this plot line was basically sidelined because it would've been super interesting and would've offered more depth to both her character and the dynamics she had with Solas and other ancient elves.)

In any case, I think this is why it's important to me that Solas and Lavellan don't sleep together in DAI. That his 'I would not lay with you under false pretences' literally means that he would not have tainted their relationship with that same kind of abuse when he cared for them so much, when they are so removed from everything he did to himself and others at Mythal's bidding. It would've been too triggering for him and he wouldn't have forgiven himself. That's why the sex scene was going to happen after Crestwood, where he planned to come clean and tell them the truth, because only by being truthful about his identity and plans would it be crystal clear that he was not sleeping with them for influence or power. This is not a decision that he would've made for no reason. How many times did Solas seduce people at Mythal's behest? How did it hurt him? How did it feed into his own feelings of shame, humiliation and self-hate? How badly must he have wanted to keep his first true love safe from all that?

For context, this kind of behaviour is called rape by proxy and involves one person coercing another to sexually abuse someone else. It quite often happens to children, but it can happen to adults under duress and who are being manipulated, like Solas and Mythal and Flemethyal and Morrigan, the latter of whom is canonically groomed and exploited from childhood. You might think this is extreme, but we have plenty of evidence through Morrigan's experience that Mythal was absolutely not above perpetrating sexual abuse. We also know that she had slaves, which is inherently abusive, but that's already been discussed. The point is, Mythal's abuse is canon. There's no room for debate there.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there's a lot of things about Solas that make me think his experience with Mythal was something of a blueprint for Morrigan's abuse. As for why... well, there's a lot of reasons, but you need to have a bit of understanding of the psychology of abuse survivors to understand.

There's this thing that happens when you survive this kind of abuse that affects you in terms of identity and relationships. Whether we like it or not, our relationships are heavily characterised by how we see ourselves. If we look at it through the attachment theory lens it becomes even more complicated. Solas himself says that he didn't have many friends that weren't spirits, and he says in Veilguard that it took him a very long time to gain the support of other members of the rebellion. He is such a lonely person, so it doesn't surprise me at all that he's so attached to his friends in the Inquisition, nor that he elevates their importance so highly, if the music room in the Lighthouse is anything to go by. It's unsurprising because these relationships are characterised by his authenticity as the person he wants to be, which is something he had distanced himself from considerably in order to carry out the work he was tasked with.

It's so important to his character that he has this experience. First he realises that there is more to life than being a tool for your Goddess as he did when he began the rebellion, then with the Inquisition he discovers that people can love him for who he is and not because of what he can do for them. It's also important because essentially, if you're raised in an environment where you are taught, either directly or indirectly, that you exist for someone else's use--to receive their abuse, whether that's sexual, emotional or physical--you never learn how to be a person that exists outside of that role. This is pretty much exactly what Mythal does to Solas and others. The end result is that when you eventually escape -- either by finding independence as an adult or simply leaving the abusive environment, like Solas did when he rebelled -- suddenly you have no idea how to function in the adult world, because you simply have not been primed for it. You've never had any kind of autonomy because even your body isn't your own. You don't trust yourself, because you've been taught to distrust your own judgement to better rationalise the abuse. You don't trust others because you're used to being betrayed and hurt, so you avoid relationships or engage in them in an emotionally detached way. Sex becomes transactional because you believe it's the only thing you have to offer (like Morrigan and Zevran), or you develop an aversion to it altogether because it's too triggering (Fenris). You're more likely to end up in abusive relationships because you simply don't know any other way to relate other than as a victim. Strong people, people with power, make you feel protected, even when those strong people turn out to be abusive too.

So while Solas was never really a child, he was very much like one when he first took a body--we only have to look at Cole and the way Solas guides him to see this vulnerability in action. It's in this state that he was sent into war and formed his first bonds with other people as an elf and not as a spirit. To be completely fair to Mythal, I think that she and Solas and the rest of the Evanuris were trauma bonded by this experience, as many soldiers are by war and political terror. Their survival was being threatened, even if it was kind of their own fault in the first place. The key feature here that Solas and other newly manifested spirits do share with children is vulnerability. Mythal wasn't called the all-mother just because she was married to Elgar'nan. She was guiding them into personhood and shaping them into weapons and tools she could use, as she did later with Morrigan. We are repeatedly told that the way the Evanuris are remembered is very inaccurate and doesn't fully explore how evil they truly were. Mythal is no exception to this just because Solas says she was the best of them; that bar is on the floor.

The other thing you need to bear in mind is that Mythal is portrayed as being considerably more powerful than Solas when she was alive. She was able to go toe-to-toe with Elgar'nan, whom Solas is shown to be defeated by multiple times in his memories, which is why she was able to force him to share power. Mythal defeated Andruil after three days of fighting when she became a monster in 'armour made of the void', which left her no choice. This power exists in her largely because she was willing to do things for power that Solas was not (like binding a dragon to her will), so she always had that over him. If she did not love him in her own twisted way, I don't doubt that she would've killed him long before he became such a headache for her, as Elgar'nan would've no doubt told her to do. So there is a very clear power imbalance here and it characterises their entire relationship.

When you look at the romance or friendship through this lens, it makes Solas's inability to commit to the life he wanted make so much more sense. The Inquisition was the first time in his life that his relationships weren't abusive and twisted. Where he didn't have to assume a mantle like Fen'harel that didn't fit him. He was able to exist outside of these abusive dynamics for the very first time. For survivors of abuse, that's like trying to learn an entirely new language, an entirely new way of relating, and it's extremely difficult not to fall into those abusive dynamics and roles in some way. People literally spend years in therapy trying to learn how to do this. Falling in love with the Inquisitor and/or having healthy relationships for the first time was a learning curve too steep even for him, even with the best will in the world.

I'm also really struck by Trick Weekes' characterisation of Solas as someone who doesn't think he deserves happiness. Whether or not this is factually true is not what I'm interested in; I'm interested in this statement because it is more or less classic abuse survivor behaviour. While there are definitely exceptions, many survivors cannot separate the humiliation and shame they feel from their core identity, and thus sabotage many of their relationships because they don't think they deserve it. That is exactly what is going on with Solas running away from the Inquisitor, even as he leaves clues for them to follow, because he does want to be saved deep down. Of course he does.

Finally I'm gonna leave this quote from Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman here. It's a good book that I'd highly recommend for anyone interested in learning about abuse and the psychology of trauma. It's not a perfect book because it was written in 1992 but it is still a ground-breaking work on the subject. It's also highly triggering so watch out for that.

Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and freedom. But the personality formed in the environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative. She approaches the task of early adulthood――establishing independence and intimacy――burdened by major impairments in self-care, in cognition and in memory, in identity, and in the capacity to form stable relationships. She is still a prisoner of her childhood; attempting to create a new life, she reencounters the trauma.

[mysteryanimator]

Hi there. I’ve seen your posts where you’ve analysed the scenes with Olrox and Mizrak shot by shot. As someone who is into media and is perusing a career in filmmaking, I absolutely loved them! I was wondering if you were planning to do any more of those? Either from season 1 or some from season 2? I think it would be very interesting to see what we can gleam from that.

Thank you so much, it means a lot that you (and everyone else) enjoy these breakdowns a lot!

Major disclaimer once again, I am a student still reapplying all of what I know to shows I enjoy since this is a field I do want to enter. If want to enter it I should probably know how and why it is done in said shows HAHA There are sooo many scenes I want to break down in season 02, the very obvious being Mizrak and Olrox's moments in episode 08, along with every scene they have in that season together! Funnily enough, I'm almost just really drawn to other scenes like Tera and Olrox's interactions (the colours paired with dialogue is the coolest thing ever), and the walk across town with Mizrak and Maria. Also Mizrak throughout the show and how they foreshadowed him being a vampire from the start of season 2 via deliberate shot choices. As you can tell I'm jumping all over the place unable to choose one direction to break down haha (omg especially a parallel between Richter/Annette and Olrox/Mizrak because they do mirror each other not only narratively but also shots too)

Actually, let's poll for that and I'll go from most popular to least popular :D

Also because I don't think I'll cover Mizrak and Emmanuel's conversation (it's chalked with some really nice shot choices) I'm just going to put here how pretty the colors are. Just in general a lot of the night scenes that are this type of blue is something I'm super drawn to in this show. It's so vibranttttt~

Also blue not only signifies night, but mourning/ melancholy/ depression/ despair

Like look how the canvas is split, separating Mizrak from Emmanuel! The trees act to barricade them because Emmanuel refuses to change, even up until death. Symbolized by him being hunched over the cross. A grave. Emmanuel has given up and visually, Mizrak is literally looking down at him. Emmanuel can't even face Mizrak because of his lack of confidence and cowardice to that is an alternate path he can choose, but he won't.

Also funnily enough, both these characters die. HOWEVER. Emmanuel dies out of cowardice and tries to fight death, and technically, Mizrak does too, but his admittance of being afraid is the bravest thing he has ever done (I'll go in-depth if/when I cover episode 08, it was one of the first things I picked up after my first watch, very interesting!)

Anyway sorry for the ramble, hope you enjoyed this tiny analysis of this one shot :D Lemme know if there are any other scenes/shots, in particular, you want me to cover quickly in the long format as well! Either or, I enjoy shot analysis a lot! Hopefully let's see if I can also apply any of the storyboard knowledge I get from these because I know how to apply them to my work, whether or not I can recognize it in the show, which will be a very fun challenge!

[calitsnow]

Is Hong Lu the tea ?

I really like this title but of course I'm not trying to imply that Hong Lu is literally tea but I would like to talk about a potential foreshadowing or metaphor (?) concerning Hong Lu and which takes place in the story Liu association 5.

It is not so much a theory but more of an analysis which serves to point at elements which seem to reinforce ideas we have about Hong Lu and to better understand or even guess what his canto will look like.

Summary:

Hong Lu is = to the tea of this story

The objectification of Hong Lu

Hong Lu is like water

Spoilers further below

I/ Hong Lu is = to the tea of this story

It's time to talk about the frames that initiated this over-analysis.

Frames that appear to be a rather trivial conversation about tea leading to a humorous exchange between the three characters. But is that really all there is to take from this exchange? What if there was a foreshadowing or/and a metaphor hidden behind it?

It's true that the dialogues at the end of this story, where Hong Lu discusses the ability of his left eye to shine, is more memorable. I admit that it was also the part that caught my attention the most at first. However, upon rereading this passage, I find this exchange very interesting to analyze.

So here we go:

I've seen some people discussing that Hong Lu's age is around 30 years (I think), but I couldn't find the post, so I'll rather assume that Hong Lu is between 20 and 30 years old, as many people (including myself) think.

And this is where it all begins, because when I see Hong Lu talking about a tea "fermented for over 20 years in an ideal environment" and described as "nigh priceless," I can't help but wonder if there's a direct parallel to be made with his character.

We already know that Hong Lu has lived a sheltered life, presumably since forever, in an environment isolated from the rest of the world by and with his family, until finally he joined Limbus Company, which became (it seems) his first experience of the outside world.

If we follow the idea that, Hong Lu is over 20 years old and that him joining Limbus Company was his first interaction with the outside world, then we can see his arrival at the company as if he was taken out of the closet, like the tea that was brought out after more than 20 years of fermanting in this "ideal environment".

It remains to be seen whether Hong Lu escaped this "closet" or if he was brought out for a particular reason.

All this to say that Hong Lu's life until the game’s events could be seen as that of tea fermenting for years before serving its purpose.

We can therefore draw a parallel between the fermentation of the tea Hong Lu talks about and the type of life Hong Lu has led so far: Hong Lu is like the tea, and perhaps this image can give us or confirm what Hong Lu's life was like and how it is meant to be seen: that Hong Lu was fermented within this familial environment to produce an individual nigh priceless.

[SD: Now, if I use the term "fermentation/fermented" to talk about Hong Lu, I will, of course, be referring to his sheltered life with his family, but it will be easier to use the same term to talk about both the tea and Hong Lu and to support the parallel.]

What's also interesting is that the ones behind the fermentation of the tea and Hong Lu happen to be the same: Hong Lu's family.

This, I find, reinforces the legitimacy of this comparison.

We can also note that Hong Lu often talks about the tea he savored while still living with his family, so in a way, tea is a reminder of home for Hong Lu or more precisely, his past life.

I know it's not much, but it could still be an indication inviting us to make this comparison or to pay attention to details where tea is mentioned.

Returning to this idea of fermentation, whereas we know that the fermentation of this tea is supposed to give it a unique taste or/and a unique smell, it's hard to say what the goal of Hong Lu's "fermentation" was.

Perhaps to give him a unique "taste," which for Hong Lu would equate to a predefined personality and/or identity corresponding to his family's expectations.

It may also correspond to the fact that Hong Lu was kept isolated from the rest of the world because: rich people's mentality that doesn't want to coexist with those they consider inferior. Who knows…

But ... I can't help but think that there's another reason for this, but it's still too early to really know which one.

II/ The Objectification of Hong Lu

Small parenthesis: Before continuing with the analysis of the tea, I think it's interesting to dwell on this parallel between Hong Lu and a precious object that might make us understand that the question of objectification is a theme that will be relevant for his character.

After all, if in this story Hong Lu is also supposed to be paralleled with, or even "be" the tea, then his status is reduced to that of a precious object brought out for special occasions or to boast to guests.

Moreover, in the same story, Hong Lu lets slip a phrase that might make us think he is reduced to the status of a precious object in his family's eyes, more precisely a precious stone.

Indeed, his heterochromia wouldn't be due to nothing since, if we follow the original plot of *Dream of the Red Chamber* from which his character is drawn, the color and glow emanating from Hong Lu's eye should be due to him being born with a magic jade in his eye (similar to Jia Baoyu (the character Hong Lu is supposed to be inspired by) who was born with a small magic jade stone in his mouth)).

So, a magic jade stone would be in Hong Lu's left eye or something equivalent that might, at least, looks like a jade stone.

And this discussion around his eye (and in a way, his "jade") is probably the first clue showing us that Hong Lu is reduced to this small stone that is the (only) thing giving him value (for his family).

Returning to the idea of objectification, this seems to be supported by the phrase I mentioned at the beginning of this parenthesis:

"To them… I was a gem of a child"

Which might be more literal than one might think.

What's interesting is that this phrase has the appearance of a "false truth" and of something trivial that might be more nightmare fuel than one might have thought if taken under a certain angle.

This seems to be a recurring mechanism in Hong Lu's character (and ties in with the novel's theme) where the first appearance of something can hide the exact opposite. This trivial phrase suggesting that Hong Lu was pampered by his family because he was their little treasure might actually be a phrase hiding a much crueler and darker reality:

That Hong Lu was literally a precious stone to his family and that his value as a human being was reduced to his eye, which seems to be what his family reduced his being to, if we follow this theory.

And Hong Lu seems to be trying to belittle or/and hide his situation.

Hong Lu was summed up to the precious stone in his eye, and that's all he was to his family: a precious gem.

And I mean, I'm fascinated by this atmosphere of falseness that seems to surround Hong Lu: everything seems to be a mirage, an illusion (pun intended).

No, but seriously, I don't know if these are coincidences or over-interpretation, but most of Hong Lu's stories and dialogues (especially those mentioning his family) are steeped in this atmosphere of smoke and mirrors.

It's all the more fascinating that these moments seem to be a glimpse, a warning of what Hong Lu's canto will be: deceptions everywhere. I find it impressive that even in Hong Lu's mechanics / construction and writing, everything brings us back to this impression that we're facing an illusion.

This last paragraph might not have been very clear, but I'm having a bit of trouble describing my thoughts, hope you’d get a part of what I meant.

III/ Hong Lu is Water

So far, this served to show that it was possible to draw a parallel between what's said about the tea and Hong Lu.

It's time now to look at the last element that might give us more to understand how Hong Lu sees himself or the shape his identity crisis will take.

Indeed, we know that each sinner, through their canto, gets through a sort of identity crisis.

They reconnect in a certain way with their identity and face or evolve from a toxic way they had of dealing with their vision of themselves and their identity: Gregor existed only through his mother's expectations and his trauma related to the war and him being dehumanized, Rodya lived through her guilt feeling responsible for what happened to her neighborhood and the view Sonya had of her, Sinclair also lived with his guilt but also his anger towards Kromer, Ishmael lived only for revenge on her captain, etc...

Well, it is still debatable whether each sinner listed and from future cantos are/will be at the same stage of "personal development" and if they all managed/will manage to detach from their past to live for their future (cough, *cough* Gregor).

But I think that, through their Canto, the sinners learn to reconnect (at least a little) with their identity, their true self by "eliminating" what hindered this recognition so far: Herman, Kromer, Ahab...

And I think that's the essential: this reconnection with oneself.

Moreover, I'm not saying that each sinner has renounced their past, forgetting it in a drawer to live entirely differently without it impacting them, but that they have learned to live for a future rather than for and through their past.

A canto thus serves (in part) to help the concerned Sinner reconnect with their identity and their vision of their life/self.

But how would this apply to Hong Lu?

On one hand, I think first by breaking this image of an object that Hong Lu may possess in his family's eyes and perhaps in his own if he was raised with this vision of himself.

But also by tackling this illusory image of himself that Hong Lu displays.

After all, despite the rarity of this tea, the only remark Faust makes is:

"Despite the intense scent, the taste is essentially blank…" and she emphasizes this again by calling it "scented water."

I find that this image of tea being "scented water" is perfectly reflecting the idea that it's a deception, that what we are presented with is actually an illusion.

Indeed, this description could be an excellent example/metaphor of what an illusion is:

"A false interpretation of what one perceives. and Appearance devoid of reality."

The reality of this tea, which is its taste, is masked by an illusion, its scent, which comes across much more intensely to drown out this reality.

I believe this description underscores one of the themes that I think will be very important regarding Hong Lu: this often blurry distinction between what is real and what is an illusion and the idea that what appears true is false, and what appears false is true. This echoes one of the most important passages in the book from which Hong Lu's character is drawn:

"Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true;

Real becomes not-real when the unreal's real."

We have seen many examples with Hong Lu where what he shows/says is either the opposite of what we thought, or the first impression was ultimately not the reality. For instance, when Hong Lu tells his story on the abandoned ship, we first think it’s a horror story before the twist reveals a truth radically opposed to what we thought.

The fact that Faust refers to water as a base is logical since we’re talking about tea, but it could also be an intelligent way to create a metaphor/foreshadowing with Hong Lu's behavior, which remains quite subdued and sometimes seems deceptive/false.

Moreover, this metaphor is made through an element that is more than perfect to describe someone who only reflects an image and is never their own reflection or lacks personality: water.

Transparent water can symbolize a lack of true substance or character. Similarly, a person whose personality is transparent can be perceived as lacking authenticity or sincerity. This transparency is masked by a scent to try to hide this emptiness and show the opposite of what it really is.

It’s a bit like Jack Vessalius in Pandora Hearts for those who know it.

Oswald describes Jack as water, as someone who only reflects an image, without true authenticity or a real identity of his own. In a sense, he is always playing a role.

It is also always interesting to remember that one of the most important characters in the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," Lin Daiyu, who has a close relationship with the main character, Jia Baoyu, is a character associated with the element of water. She spends most of the novel being described as weeping or crying, and this is due to the “debt of tears” she promised to repay to the jade stone that helped her in her previous life when she was a flower. Lin Daiyu, being the reincarnation of the flower, repays her debt by crying in her new reincarnation. Hence her association with water.

But let’s get back to our main point.

Next, what’s interesting is the sentence Faust uses right after to criticize the tea she was served:

“I must wonder though, is there a good reason to pay such a stiff price for… for lack of a better word, scented water.”

We try to mask the transparency of this water with a strong scent, but in the end, it remains an illusion and doesn’t fix the real “problem” of this tea: it’s tasteless, without personality. Could Hong Lu then be just scented water that conveys an image filled with scent (that of a young aristocrat who has had an easy life and has been immersed in wealth all his life) to mask his lack of identity or self/ownness (is that a word)?

Hong Lu is merely scented water; he emits a strong and misleading scent that seems to suggest a certain vision he is or/and others have of him, but in the end, he remains just water to which a scent has been added. Perhaps this water couldn’t develop its own taste because it has been fermenting for over 20 years in an ideal environment, imposing on it a scent that has defined its entire identity.

This could also be seen as a metaphor that ties back to the idea of smoke and mirrors and that this image of a dandy that comes from Hong Lu is just an illusion whose scent is stronger and masks his real "taste".

And it also could be a way to reinforce this idea that Hong Lu try to hide or belittle the/his reality with a stronger "scent", masking the reality with something more noticeable even if it's just an illusion.

Hong Lu should then, during his Canto, learn to renounce the bases that has given him a bit of scent until now, what allowed him to be more than just water, to have an identity, to find a new one/ his true self that would be much more authentic and real.

[jcs-study]

JCS Ideas: Casting

After my recent delightful interaction with @averagecygnet-blog that got me spitballing about a possible closing for Jesus Christ Superstar if I was ever to direct the show, I started thinking about all of the ideas I'd ever had for JCS, both big and small. I've posted about them before, but it's never a bad time to take a second look at the accumulation of notions and play around with them a bit. After all, I've been brainstorming how to stage this thing since the first grade.

So, let's start with some casting concepts, not all of which are meant to co-exist in a single production, but presented for contemplation nonetheless. I've probably had more ideas over time than are presented in this post, but for right now, these are the things that typically rise above the chaos in the theater of my mind's eye.

Cast Size and Age Ranges

A lot of JCS productions over the years have tended to over-stack their deck in cast size terms, at least in my opinion. While it's tempting to throw as many people at the stage as one can, I think the show benefits from the opposite of the Cecil B. DeMille treatment, especially given Andrew Lloyd Webber's statement (in Ellis Nassour's Rock Opera) along the lines that he saw it as an intimate drama of three or four people. With that in mind, while also not literally adhering to the letter of that statement (therein lies madness), I'd strip it down. Severely.

You've got your main leads, JUDAS, JESUS, and MARY, who obviously can't pull double duty. Then you have supporting leads, who can double as the ensemble in scenes where they're not needed as a named character -- people like CAIAPHAS, ANNAS, HEROD, SIMON/PETER (getting to this in a second), and PILATE. Lastly, to boost the overall vocal sound and spread things out somewhat beyond the supporting leads, you have an ENSEMBLE of 6 performers.

Not counting any separate understudies who may not appear onstage (and would add to the overall number), we've just demonstrated that at a base level, you can chunk JCS down to 14 people. 14 extremely hard-working, strong-voiced people.

Now, as for age ranges, I go into this in somewhat more detail in the "My Two Cents" section of the Dramatis Personae chapter in my book -- namely, it's possible to cast along an unusually varied age spectrum, so long as it makes sense and feels "of a piece." However, I personally think that youth should be a key component in casting, because of youthful performers' natural energy and vitality, and because it reflects the reality of "Roman-occupied Jerusalem and environs," as the show's setting is described; from what we know of Jewish society at the time, a boy would have been learning his trade by age 10, engaged at 13 (girls would typically be 12), and married by 14 (girls, 13). Precocious and unconscionable by today's standards, no doubt, but the reality.

With the above, and the fact that JCS was developed -- consciously or not -- with clear parallels to the 1960s hippie movements, including the generational clashes between youth and the older "establishment," in mind, I'd seek out a younger cast, with an average age of 18-25, while capping authority figures (HEROD, PILATE, etc.) at around 45.

Narrative Threads

I say, and not without reason, in my book that one of the biggest problems directors face with JCS is probably its lack of dialogue. Christianity has been on thin ice since the Sixties, but at least back in 1970, most people had basic biblical knowledge, specifically of the New Testament, which meant the decision to dispense with a script (which would traditionally, in theater terms, help things out from an exposition standpoint) didn't matter so much. Today, however, there is a glaring lack of knowledge about the story -- among believers and non-believers alike -- that exposes how underwritten the piece is in traditional terms. (Check out the stats on it in my "Historical Background" chapter; they raise gasps and giggles in equal measure.)

As no production is likely to get a special dispensation to add dialogue (nor, honestly, do I think they should, even though I acknowledge its absence as a likely flaw), I have a tendency in my casting thoughts to try to tie together the show's narrative in a neater bow and paper over the cracks in the plaster, so to speak.

(Plus, as a formerly religious atheist, I'm more familiar with the show's characters than most from a biblical standpoint, which often leads down intriguing paths and gives me a chance to flex.)

Thus, ideas like:

Casting MARY as a trans woman of color. In addition to all the dramaturgical and cultural reasons that @griffinmackleroy's idea is brilliant and worth borrowing, it also works for lazy directors like me. Anyone in the audience (or who is cast in the role) who knows (of) or has lived those experiences can fill in their own backstory, and suddenly I don't have to explain who Mary Magdalene is in exacting detail. They know (of), are, or have been that person, can fill in a lot of gaps with headcanon, and we're off to the races.

Casting three performers to play JUDAS' TORMENTORS, PRIESTS, and SOUL GIRLS in triplicate, in a manner that can be interpreted by the audience either as filling those specific roles or symbolic of fate/destiny/motivation. It's a little avant-garde, but it also sells the basic idea that fate was at play, we're only human, however you want to phrase it. (If you find this is too weird or a step too far in an otherwise conventional -- if small -- production, then you keep the same numbers from above for a tight cast size, but you take the 3 PRIESTS' lines, assign them to a single soloist, and double-cast them as HEROD. That also creates a nice little through-line about the ubiquity of authority, how it is more alike than different no matter what paper it's wrapped in.)

Combining the roles of SIMON and PETER, in principle/for all intents and purposes if not on paper. Two character arcs that go nowhere become one character arc that goes somewhere, and it flies just fine as long as there are twelve bodies (and one JESUS) around the supper table in Act II.

Casting PILATE as a white cis woman, and more specifically, depicting her as a deconstruction of a modern center-left (American) legislator who means well but lacks the backbone to prevent this judicial murder from taking place because of what it means for her political standing. (I alluded to the idea in brief on the blog, but it's much better explicated in the "My Two Cents" section of my chapter on Pilate, which is the primary link.)

Some of these suggestions also help shake up how male-centric the story traditionally is, which is always a plus.

Miscellanea

These are just ideas that didn't fit in the other two sections, so I'm happily dumping them here.

Fleshing Out a Character With a Deleted Song

For once, I'm not talking about "Then We Are Decided," which I could do (and have done) for hours, though this does involve a priest. I'm talking about the slightly more obscure "What A Party."

The JCS completist in me that recognizes any amount of storytelling, in casting and dramaturgy (more about the latter in the next post) alike, can only help the audience has seen the merit in re-adding "What A Party" to the show, though I've struggled with whether or not it was strictly necessary. At last, I've come to a compromise. If I add it, this is how I'd use it: I'd reassign the "party host" soloist, and in the process, create a character that ties two strands of the narrative together.

When considering the setting of the number, I thought of the Gospel story in Luke of Jesus being anointed in the house of Simon the Pharisee and realized that since "What A Party" doesn't explicitly say he's Simon the Leper anywhere in the lyrics (we only know the soloist is that character in John's Gospel from Nassour), we could instead make him Simon the Pharisee: a priest on the council trying to feel this guy out and being unimpressed, perhaps even discomfited, by the drama brought to his doorstep.

Put yourself in his shoes for a second: you're a respectable religious leader, and before pre-judging this rabble-rouser like your superiors, you want to know what he's all about. You're willing to hear what he has to say over dinner, but he brings his whole crew, including 12 hangers-on, at least one person you know (to preserve my SIMON/PETER doubling, I have one disciple's name escape his memory and have the "Judas, Simon" moment be an exchange of greetings between JUDAS and this person), and a woman you suspect to be a sex worker, with all the judgment of your era implied and applied. (It's entirely possible, given the circumstances, that "You know that you're always welcome..." comes with a backhanded delivery.)

Moreover, they party relentlessly and squabble amongst themselves without caring about the impression they make and whose house they're in. Plus, that Peter guy, a former (?) Zealot, has weapons that are setting off more than a few mental alarm bells. "What a party! Lordy, Lordy..." indeed. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Your inner monologue might sound something like:

"Messiah my tuchus! This rock star and his entourage are out first thing in the morning. I give them my best wine, introduce myself, and ingratiate myself with all of them, and they descend into petty bickering and platitudes about living in the present instead of thinking ahead. Feh. They are out of control, and if this is what our people are chasing instead of us, we're screwed."

More than that, we explicitly make this character one of the priests reporting back in "This Jesus Must Die," maybe "The man is in town right now…" guy, watching "Hosanna" and "Simon Zealotes" with concern, and possibly even the first person JUDAS seeks out during "Damned for All Time," knowing his concerns will be heard.

(You might say, if you're well-versed in Hollywood epics, that this character has similar vibes to Zerah in Jesus of Nazareth. Why yes, yes he does, and thank you for noticing. If you must borrow, borrow from the best.)

Double Trouble

This, honestly, is just an idea I think is neat that other productions have adopted and that I toyed with myself in a possible star vehicle take that never got off the ground (for which see here).

I would like JESUS and JUDAS to have the vocal stamina to withstand alternating roles during the performance schedule (i.e. some nights Person A is JESUS and Person B is JUDAS, some nights vice versa), allowing them to play both sides of that remarkable relationship and giving the cast and audience two equally valid ways to see these powerful characters. (From a selfish commercial standpoint, it also really encourages repeat viewings, given the different interpretations each performer -- including understudies -- would bring to the characters, sort of like how the current [at the time of writing] Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard has led some theatergoers to come back for a re-watch and compare Caroline Bowman's and Mandy Gonzalez' performances to Nicole Scherzinger's.)

If it helps you to conceptualize this notion, there is ample precedent. For example, Brian Yorkey's 2011 production at the Village Theatre did this to great effect, with the help of two incredible artists, Aaron Finley and Michael K. Lee. Also, Scott Miller's New Line Theatre did the same in 2006 (albeit with the slightly more stable idea of alternating weeks rather than performances) with John Sparger and Khnemu Menu-Ra.

[mayasdeluca]

Could you rate Marina scenes but only.from s7.

Ik it wasnt perfect and kinda rushed but we had so many cute stuff

Sorry for the delay! This took some time and I'm still not sure of my ranking because some of these were tough. We did get some great scenes despite them ultimately doing Marina dirty in Season 7 IMO. A lot of stuff brushed under the rug/put in wordless montages that was really frustrating after waiting so long for certain storylines to wrap up and come to fruition but this is how I would rank them.

This would be my top 5 and then the rest under the cut:

7x04: truth or scared scene. so good. finally got to hear them express their fears to one another. (crazy how they all ended up becoming reality during the season) and then of course the cuddling scene at the end and carina sleeping in maya’s neck like we all knew she did <3 lovely to see and bonus that it was directed by Stefania.

2. 7x05: in maya’s bunk. top tier. everything about this scene is perfect. carina waiting for maya while wearing her sfd clothes. liam there. maya freaking out when she sees carina’s bloody shirt. carina having to tell maya she can’t get pregnant and maya immediately wanting to fix it and suggesting her eggs. maya finally speaking italian to her wife. i’m so glad we got this and in the 100th episode makes it even more meaningful <3

3. 7x10: we’re pregnant. two babies. i love this scene even if i wish we got more of an initial reaction to them finally seeing each other after all the wildfire stress. but the payoff of carina finally getting to tell maya she’s pregnant was beautiful and so special. the spinning kiss parallel to their proposal scene felt meaningful also. they finally had their moment <3

4. 7x09: i’d rather focus on my hot wife. 10/10 great scene. the foreshadowing of this is definitely evil but it's probably the sexiest thing we got of the season and didn't disappoint. Danielle and Stefania truly delivered as they always do when getting the material.

5. 7x01: Hi little Liam. We’d like to be your moms. I love this scene. Maya being the one to suggest adoption, saying they can still have their plans to get pregnant, listing all the reasons it makes sense for them. Carina being so happy and the way Maya looks at her at the end as Carina is looking at Liam and Liam looking up at both of them. I’ll always wish we got more of the beginning stages of Marina bringing Liam home from the hospital/introducing him to the team etc. but this scene was really good. The start of them finally becoming moms <3

Now the rest. I don't know if the 7x09 cliffhanger technically counts because they don't interact in it but I have to shout it out/put it close to the top because it's still so beautifully done and intertwined both of them together in such an amazing way. Just such a shame that they didn't pay it off that well.

6. 7x09: scene in kitchen. mutual i love you’s finally, the ultrasound picture on the fridge, maya wearing the jacket she wore when they first met. another great scene that gave us so many good things.

7. 7x05: FaceTime maya carina liam. super cute. we got probie and babe and maya in her class A’s. 

8. 7x08: opening montage scene of ivf process/embryo transfer. loved this scene, glad we got to see some of it on tv for once that just involved the two of them. i think out of all their wordless montage scenes in the season, this is the one that actually made sense to be a montage but some of us were so frustrated with them already having a lot of those scenes already that we wished there was dialogue. but i think it was nice seeing the process being done, the way they were looking at each other with complete heart eyes, maya holding carina’s hand every step of the way and then carina explaining things to maya on the ultrasound photo. and i love that it was the first scene of the episode. and then the transition to them at the clinic and maya being all protective of carina moving heavy things? 10/10

9. 7x07: scene in the beginning with liam is adorable. maya testing carina for her meeting about the lawsuit, maya and liam both crying and carina comforting them both. all it was missing was a kiss of some sort, don’t know why they didn’t add that. also carina calling herself mommy felt wrong

10. 7x04: getting locked out of the house. peak comedy. carina saying she wants to fight. love seeing them bicker like an old married couple lol "i’m married to maya bishop, of course my car is locked"

11. 7x06: at the clinic. maya being all smitten at the idea of carina being pregnant. i’m so glad we at least got this since we never got to see maya around a pregnant carina…we were so robbed of that

12. 7x08: over protective maya about the embryo transfer at the clinic and wanting carina to take it easy…adorable. the little bits we got of her being that way since we didn’t get to see it while carina was actually pregnant but i love that carina also reassures her she’s fine and still capable of doing things.

13. 7x09: in the tent, worried wives and ‘see you at home’ short but sweet

14. 7x09: texting scene. lasagna mention. super cute and bonus carina/liam cuteness 

15. 7x06: joe’s bar. annoyed they cut the kiss which was a theme this season but i really liked this scene. maya being a cute yapper while carina amusingly listens to her wife and them talking about mason and their parents and bringing it back to them having their own kids. carina telling maya she’s going to be a good mom…it was just a cute married domestic scene at their place.

16. 7x01: talking about getting house. Carina saying ‘your apartment’ stings even if I get she’s saying it because of the bad memories. seeing Carina with Liam in the beginning and Maya saying she did everything she could to save his bio mom was cute. our house. our home. this scene is cute but the fact that they didn’t just let them kiss properly is annoying and then we got the awkward angle instead. 

17. 7x08: in the lounge talking about liam and the bio dad. love how carina leans into maya’s chest and maya kisses the top of her head. wish it wasn’t so quick but it was a nice scene

18. 7x02: Carina getting sued: Maya being supportive of Carina from the jump was cute and the little touches throughout the scene was so them. and Maya basically making sure everything was taken care of and leading the way once they got the call to get Liam? my heart

19. 7x04: discussing attachment parenting and their different styles. i found this scene to be very interesting and to hear maya's POV of why she felt the way she did and it made sense for her stance to be what it was while carina felt the opposite. thought it was nice to hear them talk about it in a healthy way despite them disagreeing.

20. 7x04: the fight in liam’s room. lots of mixed feelings with this scene. i know people think Carina always pushes Maya too hard but i also think she should be able to talk about the tough things with her wife at times. it shouldn’t just be a ‘therapy’ thing when Carina is just trying to figure out where Maya is coming from. it’s also interesting to me how Maya always goes to bring up Carina’s father whenever she gets confronted with something by Carina, i wish that was something that was addressed. i also understand Maya is still working on herself and so getting defensive and walking out is still something she does and i don’t blame her for that. but part of me does wish we would have gotten to see them grow from this as it was already a step in the right direction after the fighting in season 3 (and we all know how maya handled that) but to finally get to see them ‘fight’ and discuss something without Maya walking away. 

21. 7x08: marina walking into the engagement party and telling the team about being on track to adopt liam. glad we got this moment and the team being happy for them. 

22. 7x02: Marina Clinic Scenes (I’m just grouping them altogether as one since they weren’t technically alone for any of them but still had some moments) love the look Carina gives Maya when she says “That’s what I said” about never having kids. Carina helping Maya with her gown, seeing them work together to figure out the illness the woman had, it was nice seeing them work together in that element like that (though i still think it was a missed opportunity for them to deal with a contagious situation and one of them catching something/worrying about liam but there was already a lot going on plus the suing situation at the end)

23. 7x04: Maya with the drill in the beginning. Carina with liam was adorable but it felt a little forced that Carina just couldn’t get a diaper herself lol

24. 7x07: end scene. having the box hit Maya’s boobs so they can’t kiss? stupid and unnecessary. only good things were the hand holding and amore mio. the double standards between all the couples sex scenes were trash as we’ve all said. 

25. 7x10: the flash forwards. idk if these count but they were fine. Maya’s showing them both giving birth was unexpected but i am glad we got the vision of carina giving birth to their baby. Carina’s only showing some weirdly placed photoshoot was underwhelming though.

26. 7x02: bringing Liam to the station…the fact that this was just a wordless montage really upsets me. I think this moment deserved way more. I get that it was Jack’s moment/episode but Marina had been waiting for this for so long and we deserved to see them excited and having the team excited with dialogue that they were finally bringing their baby home with them. 

27. 7x03: montage scene(s) - if these even count…I think we all know how ridiculous it was that this it the only content they got in the Pride episode and while it was sweet seeing the three of them in their new home and getting to dance and have their moment as a family…they deserved so much better and so much more. 

[agentnico]

Megalopolis (2024) review

My brain is fried.

Plot: A conflict between Cesar, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare.

Going into Megalopolis all I knew about the movie thanks to its marketing and early reception is that it’s directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Now having seen it, I still only know that this movie is directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I am power phrasing of course, but essentially this thing is us stepping into the crazy mind of Mr Coppola and getting lost in his nonsense. For nonsense is what this epic is. You can argue that there are some bold philosophical discussions within it and the theme of drawing parallels between the fall of Rome and the future of the United States is an interesting one, however at the end of the day this is an old man yapping a lot and wanting to be heard when he can’t even formulate a full sentence.

Speaking of sentences, let’s start with the script. FFC has juiced this baby up with Tommy Wiseau levels of herbs and spices, with characters spilling out lines of dialogue that are so outlandish and bizarre in both the delivery and context that for the most part you cannot help but laugh, even though I don’t believe that was Coppola’s intention. I mean really, someone needs to make a count of how many times Adam Driver says the word “time” in this movie. Then there are moments where characters are literally quoting Shakespeare, Marcus Aurelius and Plutarch and other philosophers as if the movie is trying to make a statement, except that it doesn’t have anything of significance to say. We jump from one bizarre scene to other, often being given narrative plot points that are completely forgotten about and never referred to again from the next scene onwards. The whole piece feels like a massive cheesy fever dream, and without a shadow of a doubt I can say I’ve never seen another film like it before nor will I ever.

The stacked ensemble cast also does not fair too well. For one they don’t really play characters, but more so their roles, though they have names, are more so walking metaphors/ideologies, which only adds to the confusion. Adam Driver I believe essentially plays Francis Ford Coppola himself, with Driver as an architect wanting to create his own unique dream city of Megalopolis a reflection of Coppola’s filmmaking passion to direct a unique movie that he himself wants to make, and one that is entirely his vision that no studio interference can meddle with, for better or worse. Driver isn’t great, but I expect he was doing exactly what Coppola was asking him to do, even though it’s really wooden and lifeless. Nathalie Emmanuel as his girlfriend was actually atrocious, delivering each line as if she’s performing in a school play, over enunciating every single word. Giancarlo Esposito….I mean I guess he’s alright, but he’s just Gus from Breaking Bad who’s turned mayor. Jon Voight looks like a drunk Judi Dench, Laurence Fishburne is Adam Driver’s personal chauffeur who for some reason also narrates the whole darn thing even though his character has jack all to do with anything, and Dustin Hoffman walks around a lot looking really lost. We are too Dustin, we are too. The only two actors who seem to know what type of movie they are in are Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf. They are extremely over-the-top and feel like they are really self-aware of the unintentionally funny lines of the script, so they fully throw themselves into the ridiculousness of it all which results in them two actually being really entertaining to watch.

Visually Megalopolis stupefies me. On one side the world building is beautiful with so much unusual and special imagery that really pops, but at the same time it’s also extremely ugly and unappealing to look at. It feels like the special effects are super cheap and could have been done by a toddler, but also it’s a look that’s so different and out there that it’s also fantastical.

The movie is a bloated mess. It’s truly mad, pretentious and up its creator’s own arse. But at the same time I find it hard not to respect the heck out of Francis Ford Coppola’s ambition. The guy literally sold part of his winery business to fund this film, he has worked on it for 40 fricking years, gone through endless production issues and delays, then had issues finding a distributor and getting mixed to negative reviews at the Cannes film festival premiere, to then the botched marketing campaign from Lionsgate as well as that weird controversy about him kissing random women on set of Megalopolis and other inappropriate behaviour…. This movie’s behind the scenes shenanigans would make for a fascinating documentary which I’m certain a streamer such as Netflix will for sure bring to life some time down the road. But again, if there’s anything to take out of Megalopolis is that FFC is a massive cinematic pioneer with his own distinct vision and someone who’s strives to break the norms of filmmaking. In fact I only recently discovered through the Criterion Collection the 1980 samurai war epic Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa, and the interesting aspect to that film (besides it being an absolute blast) is that it was partly funded by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, both of whom wanted to support filmmakers who had something special and different to say, like Kurosawa. So Coppola is no stranger to big cinematic aspirations and has, throughout his entire career, been a leading figure in the evolvement of the film movement, and for good reason is considered as one of the greatest directors of all time. For that reason alone Megalopolis is worth going to see.

Again, I want to emphasise - Megalopolis is not a good movie. But in the current superhero saturated Hollywood climate it’s a different kind of cinematic event, so a perfect palette cleanser for true cinephiles. Even though, let’s be honest. Francis Ford Coppola really did just unload his load all over us and then some!

Overall score: 4/10

[angelosearch]

This has been languishing in my drafts for a while but with the new season of The Bad Batch being dropped today, I thought maybe it would be a good time to discuss...

The Actual and Potential Star Wars References in Final Fantasy VIII

Preface: For your standard nerd, I was a very late bloomer when it came to Star Wars. The first piece of Star Wars media I actually got into was Clone Wars when I was in my mid-twenties. So the first time my husband saw me play Final Fantasy VIII, he kept saying "That's a Star Wars reference!" and I was like "pffft, no way, not everything is Star Wars."

Now revisiting this game as someone who is so into Star Wars I can give you a 60-slide PowerPoint on why I love Thrawn (recent book series version) and identify characters by just their lightsaber, I can tell you: This game has many connections to Star Wars. Honestly, I will probably miss some in this post.

And it is a long one.

But first, the spiritual connection

We all know that the Final Fantasy series is peppered with Star Wars references; perhaps most notably, Biggs and Wedge. However, I like to think the connection between FFVIII and Star Wars is a little deeper.

FFVIII and the first installment of the Star Wars prequel movies, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, both came out in 1999, which means they were both being produced around the same time. They were both extremely ambitious projects in their field. But I think one of the strongest connections is that both the movie and FFVIII were pioneers in utilizing motion capture technology, and, in doing so, completely changed their medium. (If you want to learn more about the importance of motion capture in the history of Star Wars media, I highly recommend the podcast The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks.)

This may be controversial, and I adore Episodes 1, 2 and 3 so I mean this is the utmost affection, but I kind of think of FFVIII as the "Prequels" of the Final Fantasy series. The Star Wars prequel films were reviled by long-time fans of the IP when they were first released, because they seemed silly, because they deviated from what people were used to from the series, because they took big swings, because the dialogue was a little clunky at times, because the nuance of the characters and the politics was lost on some. But, the Prequels are now being appreciated, mostly by those who grew up with them. Sound familiar?

Onto the in-game connections!

I am going to try to move from the connections that I am most certain are intended to least certain.

Biggs and Wedge. This serially demoted bumbling duo from the Galbadian army share names with Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles--two Red Squadron pilots who fight alongside Luke Skywalker.

Piet. Or should I say Piett? The space guy in FFVIII is named after the Imperial Officer Fleet Admiral Firmus Piett.

Only one of the most iconic lines in Star Wars history. When Squall goes to retrieve Ellone from the library mid-disk 2, Squall is spinning out and asks "why me?" As Ellone is leaving, she says under her breath, "You're my only hope." Um, Obi Kenobi called, he wants his Leia recording back.

EXCUSE ME, BUT IS THAT A TIE FIGHTER? Nope, that's a spaceship we briefly see when we are getting into the Lunar Base on disk 3.

Lunar Cry is a deep, deep, deep cut? Screen Rant calls this the biggest FFVIII allision to Star Wars, but I am not familiar with the comic being referenced. It's still interesting though so I'll pull the quote:

The biggest Star Wars allusion in this Final Fantasy game, however, involves the Lunar Cry phenomenon which works similarly to the pull of the tides. The gravitational pull between the moon and planet occasionally brings about the Lunar Cry, where the moon's surface becomes so saturated with monsters, that it creates a gateway for monsters to fall on and attack the planet. This is a direct parallel to how the Beast Wars started in the Dark Horse comic miniseries, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, in which the planet of Onderon and its moon - Dxun - would connect once a year during their orbit. The native monsters of Dxun learned to use the "oxygen bridge" created from this occurrence to travel to Onderon which inevitably resulted in the Beast Wars.

NORG and Jabba. I think they look alike but also have similarities in the way they move and speak.

Martine and Nida. The Headmaster of the Galbadian Garden is named "Martine" in the English version because perhaps it was too obvious to call him "Dodonna" like he was in other translations. Jan Dodonna was one of the first generals to join the rebel alliance in Star Wars. Nida is a bit of a stretch (and honestly I didn't know this one until I looked it up) but there is a character by the name of Lorth Needa who is an imperial lieutenant commander. Like Nida, he controls a big ship (Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger) during an important battle (the Battle of Hoth).

"You can go about your business." I am pretty sure this is just part of a larger trope, but Galbadian soldiers and Storm Troopers are characterized very similarly. They are always masked, ineffectual, silly, and easily manipulated. Plus the soldiers are very weak in battle. Maybe they miss a lot of their shots?

Probably not references, but interesting parallels

Mysterious parentage/separation from sibling leads to epic destiny. Squall grew up an orphan. Being disconnected from his parents and a secure sense of home, along with living in that particular orphanage, made Squall, well, Squall. And then of course is his canon event of being separated from Ellone. Those beginnings set him on his path toward his fate. His mother is dead, possibly dying in childbirth (like Padme), he has forgotten his sister (Luke just doesn't know), and his father, not aware of his existence, is at the helm of a powerful "empire" (like Anakin/Vader). Of course, Laguna's character arc is much different from Anakin's, but I can still see a sort of "Luke, I am your father" moment happening between Squall and Laguna post-game. (Side note: Does that make Kiros and Ward R2-D2 and C-3PO???)

Gold eyes = evil. Palpatine and Anakin (as Sith lords) and Edea (when under Ultimecia's control) and Ultimecia all have gold eyes. Adel is my c-c-c-combo breaker here but I also know there are other evil characters throughout the Star Wars canon that have red eyes. (NOBODY SAY THRAWN.)

SPACCCCEE! Just space. While I am out here Charlie-Day-murder-boarding it (again) I might as well throw this in. Also, sorry sequels, but Rinoa did floating out in space and surviving because of an unseen power (the force of love?) first.

EZRA BRIDGER HAS A GUNBLADE!!! In Star Wars Rebels, Jedi-in-training (AND ORPHAN) Ezra Bridger builds his first lightsaber to have a blaster at the hilt. Also, he later gets a facial scar.

A character's home gets blown up. Sorry Trabia and Alderaan. :(

Idk, I need to look more into this but something about Esthar reminds me of Coruscant. Anybody else get that vibe?

So there you have it! My Venn Diagram of two of my favorite things. That's all the conspiracies I have time for today. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Edited for typos. Of which there were many. My apologies.

[dailyanarchistposts]

It’s pretty rough being an Israeli anarchist these days. On a good day you are dismissed as irresponsible and naive, ignorant of history and blind to reality while your dedicated, life-risking activities are, at best, an easily-absorbed tantrum in the Nanny State. And that’s on a good day. The normal treatment is a bit less savory. You are violently despised, branded a fifth column for Iran and al-Qaida, and all the beatings, tear-gassings and shootings you and your comrades endure are gleefully cheered on, alongside the usual calls to put the anarchists up against the wall.

In his May 24 “Power & Politics” column “Anarchy has its place”, Elliot Jager is just the man to give you a bit of both. After a rhapsody of belittling rhetoric designed to brand anarchists as irrelevant, we are back with the usual vitriol and bad faith: well-rehearsed cheap shots, stock phrases and smug moralizing alongside harangues of abuse and dehumanization of the enemy. Hate, not reason, is behind the accusation that Israelis who take direct action against the Segregation Barrier effectively aid those who would murder Israeli civilians. This is manipulative nonsense.

Get real — as if every publicly dismantled roadblock or hole in the segregation barrier isn’t closely guarded and soon repaired by contractors. At most we’re costing the state some money and man-hours. The main thing that happens is that everybody gets to see our weekly demonstrations violently repressed. Symbolic actions are only the most visible part of a much wider struggle that includes more sustainable actions, from interfaith dialogue to the accompaniment of olive harvesting to joint ecological projects, as well as demonstrations, publishing and educational work. The point of all this is not only to dismantle barriers but to get the army out of Palestine, dismantling the entire regime of occupation with its apparatus of death, imprisonment and confiscation. We are not interested in better managing of the conflict — we want to end it by reconciliation among enemies.

AND THAT’S just for starters. Jager invokes Leviathan, Hobbes’s metaphor for the State. It is the sovereign to which everyone supposedly cedes his autonomy, so as to avoid a war of all against all and a precarious life that is “nasty, brutish and short.” This is what we are told about human nature. Now tell me one thing: If you don’t trust people to get along without rulers, how can you possibly trust them to rule other people? Leviathan is not as Jager imagines it. The cadaverous beast is an artificial social machine of domination, with living human beings as operating parts. We all fuel the matrix of hierarchical and coercive institutions, and we can destroy it by constructing a new society from the grassroots even as we confront injustice. Leviathan speaks from the mouths of those who apologize for having lost faith in their capacity to make their own history. Those who know they can do so reject its easy lies. People with this kind of analysis don’t inhabit cafes and art galleries. And so when Israeli activists get out of their comfort zones and put their bodies on the line for the future, suddenly they’re a threat.

THERE ARE remarkable parallels here to the civil resistance to the withdrawal from Gaza — a self-organized, grassroots campaign of disobedience and direct action if there ever was one, brutally repressed by the forces of the state in the name of majority rule. Many anarchists, by the way, opposed the disengagement — as they would any armed unilateralism toward citizens or non-citizens under military occupation. The truth is that Israeli anarchists are demonized because their actions are coherent and bold. The joint Palestinian-Israeli struggle transgresses the fundamental taboos put in place by Zionist militarism. Alongside the living example of nonviolence and cooperation between the two peoples, the struggle forces Israeli spectators to confront their dark collective traumas. Israelis who demonstrate hand-in-hand with Palestinians are threatening because they are afraid neither of Arabs nor of the Second Holocaust that they are supposedly destined to perpetrate. Notice how everything comes out when the anarchists are vilified: the fear of annihilation, the enemy as a calculated murderer, and victims’ guilt expatiated through the assertion of self-defense and just war as unexamined axioms. And this is threatening on a deeper level than any hole in the fence — but, then again, anarchists didn’t get their reputation as trouble-makers for nothing. Refuse communion at the edge of the Abyss. “Disimagine” this nightmare disguised as reality, where victims of victims victimize each other until one day we are all blown away to Kingdom Come.

We can still break out of the vicious cycle of drawing the justification for present atrocities from the living memory of the horrors of the past — if only we realize that in doing so we are playing into the hands of all those who mean to rule us. AS FOR ourselves, in manifesting our solidarity with Palestinians we have no intention of romanticizing their struggle, or of hiding our opposition to anyone who would rule the peoples of this land. Rather it is a question of starting to practice desertion, refusal, sabotage, attack against every violent authority, all coercive power, and every state.

[finalfantasythoughts]

FFXV Thoughts - Development and Evolution

FFXV is one of my favorite entries in the franchise, in my personal top 3/5 (controversial though that may be). However, it's no secret that the game had a development riddled with problems and the result is felt in various aspects of the game. This also ties to why people prefer the "game" (at least the very limited parts we saw) when it was still Versus XIII or just under Nomura's direction. I wanted to look at some of the issues with the game as well as point out how certain elements from the old trailers translated into the final game, even though certain people try to make it out that XV and VsXIII share nothing but a few locations and characters because the final product didn't align with what they thought the game would be. I'm not going to mention combat really because while a bit oversimplified, I still enjoyed it (my biggest gripe is how awkwardly magic was handled). I know I'm beating a dead horse and some people are over the whole situation, but I had a lot of thoughts and wanted to share them as somebody who played XV years later so I had no expectations for a game that despite being shown off over many years, didn't necessarily reveal much. This will contain spoilers for the whole of XV so here's your warning.

I'll start by saying that one of the biggest losses for me personally was the change of the opening the game in Insomnia through the invasion to Kingsglaive. I see why they made the film and I enjoyed it while watching it, but I do wish we could've played it, as that was pivotal to the story and old trailers suggest it was planned to have a lot of introductions there, both character and plot-wise. Not to mention I'm just not very attached to Nyx and the movie original characters. Noctis' Japanese voice actor even revealed that about half of the original script took place here, which makes sense that it'd be dialogue heavy due to character/plot/world introductions, tutorials, early boss fights, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FF7 OG's script spends something like 30% in just Midgar, for comparison). My other biggest loss is the idea that we may have been able to interact more with Tenebrae at some point (a "leak" claimed it would be akin to a dungeon, but who knows).

I do think it's exaggerated how much changed though, at least from a view of the major story beats. Certain things got recontextualized (Kingsglaive being the largest example), but I think more survived than people think. They even used Nojima's original script as the base of the final game. There are many posts that show all the parallels and references to the old trailers, though they are spread to the game, DLC, anime and movie. It also seems that even a lot of Fabula Nova Crystallis elements were preserved, just using different names and replacing the FNC gods with the Astrals. Some of it, like the "eyes that see the light of expiring souls" (most likely a take on the concept of the Eyes of Etro) seem to have been cut, though Noct and Luna are still chosen ones by the gods, and possibly had near-death moments (Noct in the anime, scene with Luna being abused that was cut). Another plot that seems to involve sleep (rumored to be a dream world or somewhere Noct would dream of dead loved ones, something I believe connects to Hamlet if I remember correctly) was seemingly cut, though there are loose moments where Noctis sleeps/dreams (Luna's death, in the crystal with Bahamut, platinum demo, dreams of the Omen trailer aka why Regis sent him away, etc.). I do agree that the final version was in need of presenting itself better; fleshing out characters, events, and locations would have been beneficial for the story. Instead the guys were taken out of infiltrations and big moments regarding the empire which was somewhat disappointing, as the old trailers and interviews made it seem that they would be consistently involved in the politics/war.

At a time, the keyword of Versus XIII was apparently 'misery' and this was appropriate for all the characters. I would say this is still the case; after the fall of Insomnia, Eos is thrown into chaos and each character suffers. Noct is forced to come to terms with his position, destiny, etc. while trying to process the death of his father (and eventually Luna), destruction of his city, etc. Ignis has to worry about Noct and sees a vision of his death in his DLC, as well as going blind which brings into question his value to combat. Prompto has his birth exposed which throws him off psychologically, killing Verstael, not to mention that he was already self conscious and unsure about being part of the group. Gladio (admittedly isn't as intense as the others) has to worry about Iris post-invasion, his pride being wounded easily by Ravus, and feeling unsatisfied with Noct's shift into king. Other characters like Ravus, Luna, Regis, etc. also go through 'misery' throughout the battles with the Empire. The bleak world described in early interviews is still present, especially after the Starscrourge continues to spread and nights get longer, aided by the empire's manufacturing of daemons and invasions of prominent territories (remember in the World of Ruin section they say Lestallum in nearly the only safe place left in Eos). Nomura also stated that despite this being the main theme, it would still be balanced so as to not make the game feel oversaturated with sad scenes and be unpleasant, which I think is present in the final game. I see people expecting essentially no humor or things that are present in every FF, and personally I don't believe XV under Nomura would've done away with some of these things. In my opinion, this game was going to be okay with getting darker, but I also think people blow out of proportion/had the wrong expectations about how far it'd go.

Another argument I see a lot is that the final version of Noctis is completely changed from the original version, which I don't really agree with. Early trailers with the more brooding, cold and overpowered Noct seem mostly (if not entirely) conceptual, not to mention that Nomura specifically said not to let the trailers fool you into thinking these were good descriptors for his personality and that presenting him this way was a conscious decision (probably because it looks cool if we're being honest). In later trailers, we hear Noct speak and he sounds pretty "shounen" (not a bad thing) and his conversation with Stella also paints him as shy but fairly friendly. Now I think the final game version made some changes and shifted his arc to be more about responsibility than revenge (which is what people seemed to predict his arc would be from the old trailers), but again, I think more was preserved than people give credit for.

Then there's the Stella vs Luna debate. This has always fascinated me because even though the interaction between Noctis and Stella is nice (and I wish we'd gotten something similar with Luna), we know virtually nothing about Stella. In fact, it seems between initial planning stages and the 2013 trailer (aka Stella's last appearance), her role had changed. Storyboards show her seemingly as a childhood friend to Noctis like Luna. It's possible they met but didn't know who each other were and would still "meet" for the first time at the party in Insomnia, but I believe Nomura also said that he didn't really like Stella's character when he made her and that she had grown into one that the he liked over time (including when scenarios would've been finished). Between that and the fact that there was no mention of the Stella vs Noctis fight for years before her replacement, it really seems like once the scenario was more developed, her role had changed. I actually like Luna's character as well, she just happens to be in the camp of characters who didn't have their story presented very well. Looking at the XV media, her story is interesting; she essentially is a hostage to the empire and has a fated role forced on her, which she grows into and accepts. From what we see she's determined and capable, yet also reckless at times, and it's a shame we didn't really get to know her because she was interesting in her own right (and while she was a "strong" female lead, I do think the devs overhyped this fact for how little we end up seeing her and how many lines of hers were devoted to Noctis).

People also complain a lot about the Noctis and Luna romance (and some believe there would be better romance with Stella, but I'm pretty sure Nomura said they wouldn't be romantic). To me, the romance was more so born out of Noctis and Luna's high mutual respect for one another combined with cherished childhood memories. Both of their lives changed after Tenebrae was invaded; Noctis was growing up and learning more about his role to someday be king and Luna was a tool of the empire, replaced her late mother as oracle, and was growing physically weaker due to communicating with the gods (not to mention the scenes of abuse that were cut). The fact that Noctis and Luna desired to be around each other always made sense to me and their relationship was tragic in the way of something that's always out of reach, but I feel like the marketing/a couple scenes made it seem like more of a true love story like other FF games which wasn't really the case.

Another point of contention is specifically derived from the 2013 E3 trailer where it was publicly announced Versus would be XV. That trailer featured a lot of crazy set pieces moving through buildings and the moment leading up to Leviathan that lead people to lament those sections of the game for not looking as it did here. The problem is that those seem to be mock up "target goal" looking sections that seem to demonstrate the level of spectacle the engine could create but no guarantee that it would run properly on PS4. People also complain about the Altissia map size being so much smaller in the actual game, but it's possible that all that map in the trailer would only be "explored" in the scripted event we saw.

World of the Versus Epic is another interesting thing that everybody seems to run with as proof that XV was to be a trilogy. Yes Nomura seemed to hint that XV would not be a standalone title (then not long after said nothing was confirmed), but there are so many possibilities. It could've been more like the VII Compilation with spin-off prequel/sequel games or movies or anime specials, etc. I feel like XV was not going to be structured like the VII Remake, and if it were to get full blown sequels, would be more like KH or X-2, XIII-2, etc. especially since Versus XIII's script was completed in 2010 for a single PS3 title (unless the script got significantly longer). If anything, this "epic" could've been a way to continue using XV's assets to carry fans over until Remake and XVI (I believe Roberto Ferrari said that Versus at one point had a tentative date for release in 2014). The only other point is that Noctis' VA said there were "three times as many scenarios" and so some got cut. Now every game seems to have cut scenarios, and given the fact that FFXV has a shorter runtime than the majority of FF games for main story, the only way I could see a trilogy is if they were all relatively short games. But even then, considering the amount of characters and areas that could've been fleshed out more (not to mention all the script that changed for Kingsglaive), many of the cut scenarios probably could've fit in the game had the team had more time/focused less on the open world.

One other thing that I wish had carried over more was the FMV/CG cutscenes and some of the art direction of the older versions that gave the game a bit more of a grandiose feeling, not that I dislike the final's more grounded take. I have a feeling that the lack of these might come from shifting resources to companion media and the fact that they added different costumes, but I loved the aesthetic and feeling these scenes added to the trailers. The older direction also leaned into a more "Shakespearian" vibe. Those elements are still very prevalent in the final version (there's many posts that explain the Hamlet inspiration), but I think some of the scenes that only appeared in trailers gave the game a bit more of a "dreamy" and tense, mysterious atmosphere that I wished would've been pulled from more. Not to mention the trailers always showed intense fights (Stella and Ravus one-on-one's, Noctis and soldiers, empire and Regis, etc.) which didn't get the same focus in the final game.

Finally, there's the theory that KH4 or a possible game based on the Verum Rex commercial from KH3 will be the "true" Versus. Personally, from what we've seen so far it seems like Nomura is using KH as a space to use some concepts that didn't carry over to XV, specifically things like having an open city space, some of the art direction and some aspects of combat. As I've said, I think the XV universe preserved more of the story than some people think, so between that and the fact that KH is it's own universe that doesn't really use some FF things (empires, FNC lore, etc.), I think he's just entertaining some of the things he still wanted to do something with while also possibly taking shots at XV and SE. Could be wrong once more is revealed, but that's how it appears to me.

Anyway, this has gotten incredibly long so thanks for reading if you got this far! To be clear, I really do love XV but some fleshing out of concepts would've done it good. I'll probably make more posts on elements of XV and how they relate to old concepts/FNC etc. so stick around if you're interested in that at all (as well as posts about other FF games, just in a XV mindset since I recently replayed).

Here are some of the links with good amounts of info in one place, if my info seems incorrect or anything, I apologize

[crystalelemental]

I've actually been playing two games in parallel, depending on whether my wife is using the Switch. Final Fantasy 9 was my turn on the console, but while she's playing, I picked up Bravely Second. I'll be honest, Bravely Default was...very bad, in my estimation, to the point I consider it one of the worst games I've played. But I got both on what I considered good authority at the time that these played and felt like classic Final Fantasy games, and since I own it, I have to beat it at some point. So I've been playing through it, and have finally completed it. If finishing FF9 today was like finishing a delightful meal, finishing Bravely Second is like chasing it with a nice glass of bleach and lighter fluid.

So yeah, I did not care for this game very much! Unless you wanna stick around for me bitching for 15 paragraphs (it's actually 19, I can't believe I went over estimate), there is no reason to read further, I am just venting at this point. But if you do want to hear it, welcome aboard.

Bravely Second is, thematically, fixated primarily on second chances and the means of accomplishing them. Specifically, a big portion of the game is on the notion that you can't change the past, but you can change the future by working on the present to correct past mistakes. The final arc flows around concepts of hope and despair, the notion that nothing can change and falling into anguish and creating greater problems for yourself, or finding hope and moving forward. Conceptually, the pieces are there, and I see what they're trying to do. Bravely Second's problems, at least narratively, come from a complete lack of dramatic weight, coupled with intense cast deficiencies.

I need to talk cast to explain the failure in drama. Bravely Second's primary four suffer intensely from being genericized. I mentioned FF9, and have been playing all of the FF games (through 12) this summer, and one thing that really stands out is that, for every game, characters feel dynamic. They can have quirks and particular frames, but dialogue is varied and organic, in a way that makes them all feel alive. Bravely Second does not do this. Character dialogue is highly repetitive and pigeon-holed into particular gimmicks and tropes with little embellishment. Yew is going to go on about gravy, Edea about her sweets, Magnolia will say something in French then translate for us, and Tiz will have just the worst opinions you're likely to hear. The characters never really grow past these little boxes for themselves, and this hinders the drama.

Aside from trying to experience a profound emotion while three separate people keep unironically using the phrase "my coup de gravy," this creates situations where character developments follow expected and obvious lines. "Aha Yew, don't you see? Your family history is awful and the organization you support has done terrible things to the world, and we wish to unmake them!" This could be grounds for many directions to begin taking things, as we delve into specifics around a theme. But it's always in generic and immediate terms of "my parents died because of corruption" and "I've seen so many things you wouldn't believe." Would you care to elaborate? "No." So it's all met in equally generic terms, as all Yew has to do is go on about how yeah sure, but that's the past, and he's gonna change things going forward! Which flops ethically if you know literally anything about reform efforts or certain institutions, but this is just what happens when your narrative wants to play at being deep while wading in the kiddie pool.

I can't even say the others have relevance. I imagine Tiz and Edea are supposed to just carry over from last game, but there's no real substantial reason for their presence here. Magnolia gets hit hardest, as I can't for the life of me figure out a good reason for her, specifically, to be there. Beyond her job busting Ba'als, it's not like her presence adds much more than just "Yew's love interest." A big thing the game wants to play with is romance and not letting your feelings go unsaid, which realistically only applies to Yew toward Magnolia, but it's not like she presents with much of her own. Which...alright.

It would be one thing to leave it at just "boring concept, boring execution," but there is, unfortunately, more to the problem. Despite its focus on "you can only look forward," your party fails, the Kaiser takes Agnes back in time, and the fairy shit obliterates the moon, leaving you all in a dark, dead world. What is your solution to this? You use some magic time powers to boot New Game+ at the Kaiser fight, use the SP skill, and get your party back, changing the events of the start of the game. Ie, the past. Because yeah, it turns out you can alter the past here. Which thematically undermines the point, and dramatically reduces any tension to 0. We had potential quences to conse, but instead of sticking to your storytelling guns and having protagonists sincerely think of a way through this, you just circumvent the problem like it never happened, redo the whole world so no one died or had anything bad happen, and boom, problem solve. See? Second chances.

This inability to just live with a decision also leads to what I am now calling, without question, the single most cringe scene in any video game ever. Not even in an arguable "cringe is dead, let things be sincere" way, but in a way that's just...sad. The final boss is a literal god of the world, who is tormenting a dead soul for giggles I guess. It just wanted to mess with someone. When you interfere, your party starts winning against the true form, only for it to look directly at the camera and start talking to you. The player. Talking about how making them fight is only hurting them. Then it switches to the title screen where every input moves to delete your save data, until Yew cuts through it, producing the title of the game, now saying "Bravely Second: Send Player," with the SP taken away as a source of time power to show the proper title, "End Layer." We then have to cycle through every antagonist character talking to you, player, about how your actions saved all of them and you can surely beat this god thing, until you do. When I say "cringeworthy," I mean I actually, physically cringed. This then plays into more scenes of some third moon spirit coming around to bring your time compass where it needs to be to save Tiz and shows all the couples getting together, exactly zero of which I care about since I dislike Tiz and Ringabel, and Magnolia and Yew's romance kinda fell stale after like one chapter.

Seriously, the romance aspect sucks. Early on, I was kinda alright with it. A social faux pas had Magnolia interested in Yew from what she clearly thought was a marriage proposal, and it's clear he's taken with her too. While they have a few cute scenes early on, it kinda just...fizzles away into people telling him not to keep his feelings bottled in and to tell her, but they never do anything particularly cute after that, so there's no longer connection. Especially given, again, Magnolia brings nothing to this table aside from "is girl." Zero chemistry hetero romance strikes again.

But now we must shift gears, to possibly the worst part of this game. Throughout the first three chapters, you will get access to side-quests, where Edea specifically must resolve an ethical dilemma between two of the former asterisk holders. Each dilemma will give you the asterisk of whoever you side against. In the early dilemmas, the game just feels like it's throwing softball tosses at you, or it has a really messed up sense of ethics, because you'll get choices like "provide water to the orphans of the desert, or potentially blow up the entire continent in hopes you'll harness free energy for real this time," or "allow this man to pursue his passion career in a field he studied for and excelled in, or force him back into a dead-end job because he needs to learn the value of hard work I guess." Given that choosing the obvious decision results in some gnashing of teeth from the other side, it may be that the game has a fucked sense of ethics, but it could also be they felt they needed to present it like a legitimate dilemma, so I'll let it slide.

The worse ones are the middle ones, where the stakes are far, far lower, but the game kinda reveals it has no clue what it's talking about. One involves the performer and pirate classes. A new song from a famous old composer has come to light, and the pop start girl wants to remix it in her style, while the pirate thinks it should only be performed as is, as a ballad for the men of the sea. In ordinary circumstances, I feel both positions are fair. Different genres arranging music is a thing that happens, but some people do feel like one version reigns supreme because of its artistic merits. The game go over both sides, then hits you with the grandson confirming the grandfather wanted this song to only be in this style, dedicated to the men of the sea. And just like that, problem resolved. The ethical dilemma is no more, the creator specifically requested no alteration to this music. To do otherwise is unethical. So I sided with pirate. Only for the game to spend an insane amount of time harping on "Yeah, that gross girly pop music is so vapid and uninspired," as if (1) that isn't misogynistic as hell, and (2) the actual problem at hand. The game just completely misses the point of where ethics are.

I can't even say that's the worst one. Another is between Monk and Valkyrie. In Florem, they're making a school, but they're deciding whether it should be an all-girls school, or a co-ed school. Given the history of the place favoring women, the co-ed angle is initially posited as a sort of equality measure. Which...correct. Moreover, you can't really have school segregation without creating inequality, it's the entire problem driving private education, homeschooling, an charter schools. You kinda need to dump everyone in the same pot, or the rich will voluntarily exclude their children from the public to receive more favorable conditions to the non-rich. The ethical angle is integration for these reasons. However, the game frames the co-ed side as "students should be able to pursue romance!" This argued from a character literally named "Sweaty Tracksuit." It is so viciously disgusting on an emotional level I almost sided with segregation on principle. But I stuck with the ethical decision, and was greeted with the reveal that Sweaty over here has the hots for the lady arguing for all-girls, and felt a deep sickness in my stomach.

But don't worry! When you go back in time, you can just do these decisions over anyway! How else would you get all classes in one run? Good thing none of your choices mattered!

Ugh. I'm done with this. We have to talk mechanics.

Bravely Default, as a series, wants to emulate Final Fantasy 5. The focus on jobs, the focus on abilities and mixing and matching, they want to be FF5 so bad. But they are not FF5. They are much, much worse. Because they don't understand what made FF5 so good, and want to insert their own idea of difficulty that hinders the experience.

FF5, as a game, is fairly challenging because there are a lot of unknowns, and bosses are rough. However, with a bit of foreknowledge and some experimentation, most bosses can be trivialized without much investment. A major late-game boss, the Omniscient, can be rendered entirely impotent just by having two Reflect Rings equipped. One of the hardest bosses, skeleton dinosaur, can be instantly killed with Raise because undead. Shinryu can be Berserked, allowing Blink to just trivialized the fight. Even early game bosses like Garula can be hilariously circumvented with the right tools. Did you know it can be hit by Pond's Chorus if your Blue Mage learns it in the tower, negating its counterattacks and boosting your damage? FF5 is a difficult game, but the puzzle aspect of its boss fights is you with a ton of tools, against an opponent that will cream you if you don't put together a solid counterplay.

Bravely Second, conceptually, does not do this. Your skills are both largely unavailable, and functionally useless half the time. For example, let's say you picked up Black Mage, but you decide to keep working a different class for skills. When you shift to Black Mage in the endgame, you will find out that the only spells you can use right now are the basics. It turns out, to get the high-level -aga spells, you must grind out job level to 8, something unthinkable in FF5 if you're main is BM. Every aspect of this game involves grinding, and I will get back to complaining about that soon. But the other issue is skills are useless. One combo I hit upon in my choices was Red Mage + Ninja. Red Mage has a skill to grant 1BP when you dodge an attack, while NInja has a skill that caps evasion for six whole turns, wow! I don't think I ever dodged a boss attack. Despite maximized evasion, that didn't translate to any functional effect. Both the points I put into learning Ninjitsu, as well as the time spent getting that Red Mage skill, were meaningless. The puzzle box aspect of solving boss fights is no longer against the boss, it's against your own characters, finding out what you can get access to and what actually does anything.

This leads to grinding. Not just any grinding, mind you! Bravely Second has a system where, if you win a fight in one round, you can fight another right after, with boosted points added. The longer the streak, the better the boost, up to 3x EXP, gil, and AP. This is where the problems start. Early on, I was into this system, because it felt sane. I can farm a bit at each location before pushing on. But this stalled out in Chapter 1, when I realized nothing was as efficient as training on the high seas in the row boat. See, enemies past that point now have an assload of HP, and it is very difficult for one character to win in a single round. Comparatively, it is very easy to do so on the sea. And the level of multiplier made this unquestionably the best AP farming location. The majority of the game doesn't even offer better AP for random encounters, so it's not like single fights later on outpace this. Its bigger problem is scale. Again, FF5 has slow AP gains, but the tradeoff is that you always have your passives when you main a class, and the highest job level is 7. Bravely Second? No passives until unlocked and equipped, and hell no actives until unlocked, also there are ten levels in each class, and the scale is broken. In FF5, when you get 1-2 ABP per battle, and have a 500 ABP need for your final level, that's rough, but achievable. When you get 10 AP in Bravely Second and your seventh level costs 1500 points? You see what I'm saying?

It's not even just EXP and AP, god no. Catmancer, you Blue Mage equivalent, as well as the Confectioner, a sort of debuff-centric class, both require consumables to use their skills. Yes, their Blue Mage, not content to just track down these spells to learn from enemies by having them cast on you complete with Reflect demands, also demands you farm out resources to use them at all. "But they have a skill to search during comba-" I AM NOT DOING THAT! No one should have to do that!

This doesn't even touch on the two major combat issues. BP is everything in this game, and its management is more important than any other form of strategy. Most of the time, your solution is Defaulting to 3BP, then unloading on the enemy. I'm not going to lie, almost none of them can do anything about this. The toughest fights are the two who can. One of them can't if you know his move pattern, the other is only a problem if you continue to use Healing Mist because he'll possess your character and get like 14k HP back each round. The other is that, because of the dearth of actual skills, there's not a whole lot you actually...do. Combat is the same every time, and there's very little variance. You just find the maximum DPS number you can hit and move on with your life. My Ninja never stopped just dual-wield attacking, my Fencer never stopped stance changing, and my mage never stopped Hammer Spellcrafting for 9999 damage. Every fight, without question, went the same way. Which, again, does not fit the FF5 puzzle box mode, where switching your classes and altering your approach to suit the given battle is paramount. It's just a DPS check. It's not even that hard. Once I hit a certain point, I just turned encounters off and swept bosses until I couldn't anymore, and a quick lookup of the most efficient training grounds got me what I needed.

For my final gripe: I have been historically positive regarding turning off encounters. I do not like the random encounter system, I think it's butt when I'm trying to explore and get jumped by enemies I don't want to deal with, only to find run mechanics don't work this game. But turning everything off also yields disappointing results. I couldn't tell you anything about the dungeons in this game, and the exploration phase feels even more annoying because instead of something I'm experiencing, it's just a block to the next boss fight as I try to piece together how to get all the treasure. I do think this game has a bit of an issue where puzzles are overly complex, but even beyond that, removing random encounters entirely does remove a sense of identity from locations.

"It's optional." It's also smart. Because the game inflates HP values like fucking crazy. In random encounters, it's to prevent abuse of the multiplier, but it makes all encounters frustrating as hell. If I can't take down a random mob of three enemies with all four characters unleashing four attacks in a row, then I do not want to deal with that mob. But oddly, this also happens with bosses. While I mowed down the majority, I did notice that, without fail, my mage ran out of MP every single time, while my physical units tended to lag behind the DPS curve. I found this strange, because often, I was at the forefront of the level range recommended for the zone, and I'm only playing on Normal, so what gives? It's possible I failed to maximize DPS somehow, but I think there's another reason. See, there's a way to break the 9999 damage cap, and to sneak in extra damage and actions for free. Through your Bravely Second system. Which you accumulate up to three points of, one for every 8 human hours of gameplay, or by purchasing them with actual, literal human dollars. There are microtransactions in this game. As if things weren't bad enough, they have microtransactions, and I suspect put in some frustrations to try and sell them. It's absolutely possible to do without. I did. But good god.

*sigh* I think I'm done. God I hated this game. Bravely Default stays losing. Can you believe they tried to sequel hook this game, then had to release Bravely Default 2 with an entirely different cast? And that these initial games were so bad, that even though that one is also generic as shit with equal problems, I wound up giving it a pass for managing to be okay?

[childofsquidward]

Books I Read In 2022 (and by read I mean actually liked)

Strobe Edge, Vol. 5 by Io Sakisaka

All couples hold hands in the beginning. But then... they waver. They get confused and their hands slip. At that point you either let go or you hold on.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5.75 STARS)

Spoilers Below!

I mean, it was inevitable, and I apologize if you haven’t read this book, but this is the break up volume.

I have actually never re-read this volume, which is probably why I forgot how much of a character study it ended up being on Ren and Mayuka and I don't know why I was surprised because it's about their damn breakup, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Because I actually haven't thought about this particular volume since definitely 2015 when I first read it, I missed out on Daiki being the best character as always. He's so much more insightful than he is given credit for, truly, Ando and Ren could NEVER. Also, poor Daiki getting caught in the middle of their childish nonsense (that scene was hilarious though, sorry Daiki). You can also tell that Daiki has definitely had to deal with many of these awkward meals with his family where he's always the one trying to diffuse the tension, I really felt for him. And I also appreciate that brief moment of understanding between him and Ren (LET THEM BE BEST FRIENDS YOU COWARDS).

I really appreciated all the different foreshadowing elements to the breakup:

Ren and Mayuka's conversation at the beginning of the book where you can see how it's almost like second nature for Ren to make sacrifices for Mayuka and have his life revolve around her (changing jobs, schedules, getting up in the middle of the night).

What Mayuka's dad said about in response to Mayuka asking about the divorce (I also had the same reaction as Daiki did at that very moment). I appreciated him saying that despite the fact that people break up/grow apart, they don't always regret those relationships and that it doesn't mean that those relationships hold no meaning. I think Mayuka and Ren are holding onto each other for that very reason - this relationship is all that they've known and they don't want to let go, especially Ren.

Mayuka saying that she's finally able to be happy for her dad and wrap her head around the divorce all these years later.

The parallel of Mayuka having an awful love horoscope vs Ninako having a great one. Why don't I get a love horoscope?

Sayuri's speech about people moving forward together and how a one-sided relationship like she the one she had (a direct parallel to RenxMayuka, minus the cheating) has no room for growth.

Mayuka saw right through Ren and made a really tough decision and although I'm really sad that she's hurting, I'm also very proud of her. Ren and Mayuka's breakup was absolutely heartbreaking because I really felt for both of them. Ren trying so hard to prove to her that nothing will ever change and she's the one that ends up changing? Gut-wrenching. The WINGS?! Rude, just rude. Ren imaging his younger self sitting beside him? That was probably the worst of it.

This was definitely a bit of a NinakoxAndo heavy volume as well, although they definitely weren't the central focus, and I kinda liked it? When Ando said, "I didn't take your hand. I just tugged on your sleeve a little" I fucking lost it. Them in the storage room - that's straight out of fanfiction, I love it.

Also, shout out to one of my favourite bonus chapters ever that I forgot was in this volume because I'm clearly a fake fan and also ancient. I wish we got more flashback chapters like this one as bonus chapters!

Scenes that will live rent-free in my head from this moment on:

The fact that Manabu immediately corrected whatever assumptions Ninako made about him having a crush on her was the funniest thing ever, like, how many times has this happened to Manabu? Poor thing.

Daiki's death glare telling Ninako to leave so he can be alone with Sayuri was PERFECT. Not only their faces, but the cloud shape for Sayuri's dialogue vs. the horror movie font for Daiki's were fantastic choices.

The entirety of Chapter 17 because it is perfection, especially the very last panel.

Ren and Ninako waiting for the train. (I’m still waiting for the anime, thank you very much.)

That one specific image of Ando and Mao where they're about to kiss and he tells her that he hates her. God, just seeing it in the manga was chilling, imagine if this was actually animated.

[nick-charlie4]

And now Heartstopper is transfixing me in a similar way. Upon my writing this, I’m re-watching its current eight episode run a fourth time through, and it was released just a little over two weeks ago. I’m obsessed. So obsessed that I felt compelled to write about this amazing show and why I like it so much.

I don’t want to draw too many parallels between Community and Heartstopper, as they are two very different shows, but they do share some important similarities. Both shows feature a core cast of outcasts trying to figure out their way in the world; both take place in a school, one at an American community college and the other at British grammar schools; and both feature a diverse cast. I’m often drawn to shows like this, with Freaks and Geeks another notable example and a progenitor of this type of television drama.

The outcasts of Heartstopper are 14- and 15-year-old kids who are all trying to figure themselves out, who don’t quite fit into what’s necessarily popular, and who all have the largest and most brilliant hearts of gold, who—through all the disagreements, misunderstandings, and arguments—are able to acknowledge their faults, change their habits, express their love, and just be so terribly, genuinely, and thoughtfully friendly to each other. Every episode ends and I’m left just feeling so hopeful that despite all the horror that happens in this messed-up world that maybe—just maybe—we might all be able to get along after all.

Each episode of Heartstopper is also so expertly crafted to the highest degree: it shows when it doesn’t need to tell, and when it does tell, it is through finely crafted dialogue that creates believable and consistent characters; it weighs each scene with its proper due before cutting to the next; it uses light and color with such sensitivity as to paint each character’s motivations before we even hear them speak. The opening scene, for example, sees our geeky, lanky, curly-haired hero, Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), walking through the halls of Truham Boys School, smile on his face as he reads an Instagram message on his phone from someone called Ben: “Can’t wait to see you x.” Charlie continues to make his way through the colorful hallways of the school as upbeat music by Baby Queen plays. We see someone take down Christmas decorations which is all we need to see to alert us that it must be January. But eventually Charlie finds himself in the dark, shadowy, deserted school library. “Ben?” he asks the room, only to discover that Ben sent him a second message requesting to meet up later. Charlie struggles to type in a response, “Okay,” with a smiley and heart emoji, his face suddenly drained of happiness.

It seems a simple series of images and events, but in the space of just over a minute into the first episode we learn with no dialogue that Charlie seems confident that he knows who he is and he has a colorful personality, but something already doesn’t seem quite right with Ben. Ben is shadowy and secretive where Charlie is bright and assured. It’s clear that Ben and Charlie are not on the same page, and we haven’t yet even seen the two of them speak words to each other let alone appear in the same room together.

Meanwhile in the next scene, when we get introduced to Nick (Kit Connor), the other hero of the series, we instead are told through words that he’s a year older than Charlie and that he’s the star rugby player on the school’s team. After Charlie hears this from his teacher to discover that that’s who he’s going to sit next to in form—after having just been rained upon by Ben—we can see the frustration grow on Charlie’s face. However, when the camera pans to the direction of Nick, students moving out of shot to show him sitting at his desk, the camera focusing, a sun beam lighting Nick up in a warm hue, prismatic rainbows appearing to emanate from his comforting face, we immediately feel reassured by Nick’s presence. Tastefully animated colorful leaves wisp across the screen (another signature visual technique of this series), suggesting Charlie’s imagination getting lifted away in the wind as he makes his way to Nick, a giant smile on his face erasing all memories of his frustrating morning, and both boys exchange nervous greetings of hi, the first of countless exchanges of such a simple word that will take on new and deeper meaning as the series progresses. But even though we were told one thing about Nick, the visuals tell us something else entirely. Nick isn’t the average macho star rugby player but someone else more gentle and warm. The scene is also enriched by the music of series composer, Adiescar Chase, whose soft, sometimes poppy, electronic soundtrack creates a soundscape that is cautiously hopeful yet is seasoned with subtle shades of melancholy and doubt.

It makes sense that a show like Heartstopper would be good at showing the story through vibrant images rather than telling through the limitations of words, as the television series is based on a series of graphic novels by Alice Oseman, she too also writing the TV series. At points throughout the episode, for example, the camera uses splitscreen to show various camera angles of the same scene or of two different locations entirely, each vantage separated by white bars, chopping the screen into the characteristic panels of a graphic novel. It’s a very simple technique to allow us to thoroughly process a lot of information in a short space of time, and a lovely homage to the source material itself. And while this is a clever visual technique that allows Heartstopper to show rather than tell, we will also still discover that the writing is just as masterful as the visuals themselves, limitations of words and all.

And while the words used to describe Nick might suggest he is not an outcast to compliment an entire cast of outcasts, the visuals suggest that there might be something deeper within Nick that has been buried and is as yet unseen. That said, when we meet Charlie’s friends it becomes especially apparent that—a least for now—most of the cast is properly an outcast. At lunchtime, we meet Tao (William Gao) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan). Where Isaac is often quiet with his nose in a book, Tao is outspoken and unafraid to express his opinions, something that will get him into trouble later on in the series. He describes the trio as a group of outcasts, telling Charlie that he’s crazy to think Nick would be different from any other rugby player since he’s the star of the team and is friends with a bunch of “loud, gross, year 11s.” Charlie seems undeterred, seeming to sense something different about Nick, just as we did when we first met him in form. This whole conversation is so expertly written and directed; in a few short exchanges and a few underplayed facial reactions, Tao pressing Charlie to, “Be careful!” with Nick, we learn that while this group might be outcasts, they love and care deeply for each other.

The remaining character to meet during this episode to fill out the core cast of heros—at least for now—is Elle (Yasmin Finney), who is a young, transgendered woman who recently transferred to the nearby Higgs Girls School to escape bullying. Tao clearly holds a fondness for her (“You’re allowed to miss her,” Charlie supportively remarks), as he’s been buying two bottles of apple juice all week, forgetting that he and Elle can no longer share lunch together. Since the first episode mainly revolves around Charlie and Nick, we sadly don’t get to see much more of Elle this episode, and we learn only that she has yet to make friends at her new school. But the series will eventually—with one notable exception—give each main character their due. And lastly, I am so grateful that we have a Black trans woman represented on the show who is herself played by a Black trans woman.

As the episode progresses, and as Elle’s introduction reinforces, we are reminded that we still live in a world where queers are ridiculed and feel the need to hide who they really are out of fear of becoming outcasts. When we eventually do see Charlie meet up with Ben (Sebastian Croft), it is hidden away in the music room. And while Ben and Charlie do get to share a kiss, when it is over, Ben straightens up, wipes his lips dry with the back of his hand, and requests that they still keep it all a secret.

And then later, as Charlie and Nick are walking to maths (a great scene that shows the incredible chemistry Joe Locke and Kit Connor already share as Charlie badgers Nick for being chaotic, doing his homework on the way to class, and Nick remarking that that makes him sound much cooler than he actually is), Charlie says hello to Ben as they were all passing each other in the corridor. Ben coldly tells Charlie, “Why are you talking to me? I don’t even know who you are.” And while Ben will apologize to Charlie in a later scene, it’s disingenuous, and Charlie knows it, as he later hides in the art room during lunch, offloads on Mr. Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade), his mentor who is also gay, and who says that he’ll need to talk to Ben, as difficult as that is since he knows how hard it is for Charlie to be honest (at least Charlie is confident he knows he has a hard time being honest). I also felt such loneliness for Charlie when he said he can’t even talk about these sorts of things to his friends, because they wouldn’t understand since they’re not gay. This loneliness is real in far too many of us queers, especially when we’re young, and that reality is meaningfully reflected in that seemingly innocuous comment as well as in Ben’s unwillingness to even associate openly with an out gay boy.

Queers also go to incredible lengths to hide themselves, as later Charlie catches Ben at the school gate kissing a girl. This ends up being the final straw for Charlie who later breaks up with him via some Instagram messages. I found myself cheering Charlie on during this scene while also empathizing a little bit with Ben who struggles to be out of the closet. This is an arc that will continue to play out throughout the rest of the next seven episodes as it addresses the pains we queers feel about the need to lie about ourselves.

Eventually, Charlie unexpectedly finds himself being invited to play on the rugby team after Nick saw how fast Charlie could run during P.E. class. Before Charlie even gets to prove himself to the rest of the boys on the team, he overhears them making disparaging comments about him, that he’s so small they think he’s in year 8, that he can’t play, that he doesn’t like sports, and that everyone knows he’s gay. In due time, however, as Charlie learns how to play rugby and gets better and better, the whole team does seem to warm to him (seem the operative word), but this is another arc that will continue to play out for the rest of the series, coming to a heart-wrenching climax in the penultimate episode.

The episode soon progresses to its conclusion. Following one of the rugby practices, Nick notices that Charlie seems distracted, and so secretly follows him to the music block where he’s meeting up with Ben, who wants to talk to Charlie about why he broke up with him. During an intensely real conversation, Charlie is able to express that it’s fine if Ben needs time to come out but that he still needs to treat him like a human when others are around. Ben grossly tries to force Charlie to kiss him in a legitimately rapey moment, but one of our heroes, Nick, springs out from the corner and forces Ben away from Charlie and tells Ben to piss off.

Nick takes a moment to make sure Charlie is okay, but Charlie only says he’s sorry. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” Nick says, “Sorry,” Charlie responds, to which Nick comments, “You say sorry a lot.” Nick stops Charlie from saying sorry a third time, but Charlie brightens a bit with a subtle smile and remarks, “I kinda wanna say it.” This “s-word,” as Nick will label it in episode seven, will become a recurring trope, reminding us of Nick and Charlie’s first, shared, vulnerable encounter together.

[bylertruther]

i don't like season three when viewing it as a continuation of seasons one and two, but i do very much like season three when viewing it as the prequel to seasons four and five... hmmmmm.

[princessamericachavez]

on the ‘accidental’ buddie

I have to laugh at these 911 writers trying to play coy, giving interviews saying things like “well we didn’t really intend to play into [Eddie’s strong reaction towards Buck’s death/parallels to the well/etc]” because, like, as someone who’s worked on audiovisual that’s not how the production of a tv show works??

What I mean by that is that his episode, and particularly that last call, was filled with a lot of deliberate choices. 

And I mean choices. Choices were made. 

Because someone decided that both Buck and Eddie would be wearing red harnesses for this event. See how Chim isn’t harnessed? Even when he thought he’d be the one going up? That is a choice someone made in the costume department. To have Buck and Eddie tied together by a red string [of fate]. 

That take of Eddie being the one to secure Buck’s harness to the line that would eventually save his life? A CHOICE. And I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. Not only was it in the script (hell, maybe it wasn’t, heavens know things change from the page to filming), but someone in the photography team chose to frame a close-up to it, to take it (and believe me with how expensive those rain effects must have been, they were not doing just ‘any take’ lightly). And- and!! Someone from post-production chose to edit it in. Chose to have it there. 

Eddie and Buck getting hit by the same lighting rod? A CHOICE. And the show runners can shrug all they want and say it only made sense because Eddie was manning the controls but who put him there? When you are writing, you are not leaving things to chance. You are creating a coherent narrative. Things don’t just ‘happen’. 

And sure, yes, I will bite and say Ryan’s performance knocked it out of the park and maybe wasn’t like that on the script. He gave it his all because he knows his character. To say it just ‘happened’ is to undermine his capacity as an actor to make choices both in voice and physical that tell the audience something. Acting is about being hyperaware of those things. 

You wanna know what is intentional, though? The way that scene is edited. THINK ABOUT IT. We see the lightning hit. We see Buck fall. We see the team’s shocked reaction to it. We’ve even seen Buck’s hanging body at this point. And yet, the camera stays on what? On Eddie. On Eddie getting up. On Eddie not seeing. On Eddie ready to get back to usual. And we get that close up —remember what I said about them not wasting on useless takes due to budget?— WELL we get to Eddie and we see his face, we see his reaction. And we go back to Buck. And we’ve already seen it! WE know! But Eddie doesn’t. Up until that moment, it doesn’t hit. And it’s then, it’s when it hits Eddie, that the music picks up and the story keeps moving. 

And let me ask you: why? Television is an audiovisual medium. You use image, sound, and dialogue to create the story. It’s multi-lingual. It’s not just what’s in the script. It’s how you film it, it’s how you edit it, it’s which directions you give the actors and what you choose to use once it’s only you in the editing room with tons of footage. This story they are telling it’s a very very deliberate choice that involves a lot of people (costume, actors, cameras, editors, sound, marketing). 

So when we see Eddie try to pull Buck back up, screaming, before he switches to letting him down? That’s a choice made in several steps along the way, red string and all, for it to get to your screen. When we see Eddie push Bobby out of the way to get to Buck, when we see Bobby pull him back, when we see Eddie looking back twice at Buck’s unconscious body and wipe his face before he gets into the ambulance? Choices, choices, choices, so many choices made by several people who had a ton of options, takes, versions, and chose to go with this one. 

So, I’m sorry, but I cannot, for the life of me, take the writers/showrunners seriously when they say things like “well, I don’t think we really leaned into that on purpose”. JESUS CHRIST. Either stop playing coy or admit you suck at your job and don’t understand the process and that you are underestimating everyone working on this project! 

And, just to be clear, I do not think that’s the case. I believe they are trying to play coy to keep people guessing their intentions. It’s just frustrating because I don’t think they realize that to anyone with a minimum background in audiovisual storytelling... they are just making themselves look bad at their job (when they probably aren’t!). 

(WHERE IS THEIR PR DEPARTMENT?!)

[cottoncandysprite]

I'm still thinking about the Freddie/Wellness Center parallels like. GOD. Strap in besties I told you I could write a whole thesis on these episodes

Their confrontations are framed almost the exact same, with Nandor and Guillermo on either side of the frame. The lighting also inverses each other (mostly teal light with orange on their faces in WC, mostly warm light with teal on their faces in Freddie). Even outside of the dialogue, the way the scenes are shot draw a direct parallel.

But then we get to what they're saying to each other. In both cases, one has crossed a boundary and inserted themselves in the other's life when they didn’t want them to. But while it's easier to defend Guillermo's actions than Nandor's because it's more obvious that he's doing it to protect Nandor (and Nandor's were arguably more fucked up), the situations are way more similar than we give them credit:

Neither Nandor or Guillermo knew the "danger" of the situations they inserted themselves into when they did

They both were acting selfishly under the impression of selflessness. Guillermo didn't know it was a cult, he just wanted Nandor back with him. Nandor obviously just wanted to be with Freddie, but didn't take the more "cruel" route as to not hurt Guillermo

On the other hand, both Nandor and Guillermo thought the other was taking away something/someone that made them "happy" and were rightfully standing up for themselves

Unfortunately, in both cases, they were wrong about what was actually best for them (the cult was a cult, and Freddie was an egotistical cheater) even if they were right in the moment

But even with how similar they are, a few differences stand out. In the Wellness Center, they are sitting side by side, and after a brief moment of tension, they're not looking each other in the eye. Nandor is looking at Guillermo, trying to get through to him, but Guillermo is looking away and likewise not listening. But in Freddie, they're staring directly at each other, and you can see that Guillermo is actually getting through to Nandor. It's a turning point, moreso than the WC scene. As much as we all hate Nandor for what he does, Nandor says sorry, but Guillermo never did.

Also, I mentioned the lighting earlier, but that shows a subtle shift too. While in WC the orange is on both of their faces, showing more equality in their arguments as both are somewhat in the right, in Freddie the teal lighting only reaches Guillermo, implying that he is more in the right than Nandor. Yes I know I'm probably reaching with this but come on

I love that this parallel exists, not just for the angst, but for the way it makes us reexamine Guillermo's motivations and actions in a moment where we were all rooting for him. He's not perfect, in many ways he's also very toxic. Not as much as Nandor, sure, and he ended up being right, but at least Nandor apologized instead of putting Guillermo in a cage. They're more similar than we sometimes want to think about, because as the human in the cast and the one with less power (on paper at least) in the relationship, we want to relate to him. We want to side with him when he and Nandor clash. But should we?

As well, Freddie as an episode recontextualizes Nandor's motivations. Yes, what he did was extremely dumb and cruel and he shouldn't have done it, but his thought process is so skewed that, from his POV, he was doing his best in the situation. And again, he apologized, genuinely, and worked to at least try and fix it for probably the first time in 14 years. The only other times we've seen him even somewhat listen and say sorry to Guillermo were when Guillermo left and he couldn't function without him, and then it was only to get him to come back to work. Freddie stuck with me because it looked like he actually meant it. He listened. He just fucked up so bad that Guillermo justifiably couldn't forgive him.

Anyway I could talk for hours about why Freddie is a great episode actually but also I don't like thinking about what happened to Marwa for too long and I have actual essays to write

[darealsaltysam]

YAYYY thank u ok LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE KRAKOA BENCH SHOT(tm)

so. veryyyy briefly. krakoa was the most recent complete x-men era and it revolved around magneto, professor x (i'm gonna call him charles from here on cuz it's easier), and a lady named moira mactaggert starting a mutant-only nation together. there's A LOT of context to go with it but what you'll need for this is the fact that moira's mutation allows her to relive her life every time she dies

by krakoa she is on her 10th life and has 9 lifetimes worth of experience and she wants to use that to create a nation where mutants can be safe. so she seeks charles out directly so that he can telepathically look at all the lives she's lived via her memories and so they can use them to create krakoa and ensure it endures and mutants dont suffer as much as they have in all her lifetimes. essentially.

SO!! the scene where this first happens (aka charles meeting moira for the first time, her seeing him for her tenth lifetime with him now) looks like this (you dont have to read any of the dialogue it's just the visuals that matter)

A LOT of stuff happens from here on, but ultimately moira ends up one of the central villains for the era. the writing surrounding this is. ehhhh lots of editorial messing that made the story rly choppy but thats normal for comics unfortunately

i like to interpret the text directly as moira turning on mutantkind and krakoa because all her lifetimes have sort of.... started weighing on her and she snapped. on top of that she was essentially forced out of krakoa and lost her mutation for reasons(tm). so everything combines into her harbouring a lot of hatred for mutants which she directs ESPECIALLY at charles.

so, eventually a good bit into krakoa, she tries to kill him/destroy krakoa and dies in the process. and as she's dying we get this section of her hallucinating the bench (and the dialogue here IS actually pretty cool)

BUT! she's not ACTUALLY dead. she uploaded her conciousness into an android and is now not only evil but also a vengeful AI (normal comic book nonsense, dw about it)

in the middle of krakoa it's revealed there are two other mutants on the island (destiny and mister sinister) who have been plotting in their own right. destiny's mutation allows her to look into the future which has in turn made her see both the rise and fall of krakoa and she's been doing scheming of her own from behind the scenes. a part of this is revealed in a section from wayyy in the past (destiny is quite old) which looks like this

what i RLY like about this bench shot is how 1. sinister and destiny are both dressed to imitate charles and moira, but the outfits still fit the era & their personalities and 2. they are flipped in their positioning, showing how they are approaching the fate of krakoa from a different angle

by the end of krakoa, there is. A LOT going on. but all you need to know is there is an evil god outside of time and space that charles is trying to defeat, and he figures out the only way to do so is to prevent krakoa from ever being founded. to do this, he goes back in time to when moira's mutation manifested in her tenth life, aiming to kill her

(if moira dies before she turns 13, her mutation doesnt activate and she wont be reborn into another life, hence why he has to do it then)

the cover for the issue where this happens looks like this;

^ moira is a LOT younger than this in the comic so the cover shows her at this age purely for the sake of the parallel. a lot of comic covers are actually like this! scenes from the comic will be redrawn but the characters' costumes will be from different era as an homage/just something fun, etc etc. it's neat !!

anyway, ultimately, charles is talked out of killing moira by a bunch of mutants who remind him of how important krakoa was to many of them, and how it's worth saving.

and once more, A LOT of stuff im not gonna bother summarizing happens but what you need to know is by the end, the destruction of that evil god i mentioned comes down to moira sacrificing herself so that everyone else can live. charles aims to convince her to do this and for the sake of that they have a telepathic conversation, which is visualized like this;

AND FINALLY!!! to get to moira like this ^ charles was forced to do. a lot of bad shit. he had to essentially gain the trust of this super-evil organization which required him to ACTUALLY kill and manipulate a ton of people using his powers. so, at the end of krakoa once that god i mentioned is defeated (yes moira did actually sacrifice and redeem herself in the end!), charles turns himself in

AND HE DOES IT ON THE BENCH!!!!!!!

ahem. there are two other minor parallels that run between these comics if you'd be interested but this is definitely the central one i love a lot

could i yap to you about a visual parallel from a recent xmen era that i rly love

Please??? Ofc