#that's already been established. and it highlights something about their character that they return to that phrase

[aroaceleovaldez]

im really not a fan of Rick's recent trend of recycling bits of his writing that got a good reaction the first time and acting as if that's a valid substitute for. actually bothering to write something original a second time around. It's clearly just there as a callback and nothing more.

It's "Nico's rage exploded" and "Percy's rage exploded" with the exact same paragraph formatting. It's CoTG having titles like "My Singing Makes Things Worse, and Everyone Is Totally Shocked" (reference to TLO, when Percy says he thinks his singing would cause an avalanche) or "Pretty Much the Best Good-Night Kiss Ever" (reference to TLO "Pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time") or any other number of near word-for-word references to the first series. It's Nico calling Percy "seaweed brain" in Un Natale Mezzosangue (when Percy says in TTC that anybody but Annabeth calling him that is a major offense). It's Nico and Will falling into Tartarus in TSATS word-for-word referencing Percy and Annabeth in House of Hades, despite it not making any sense for their characters (and otherwise being written as Percabeth 2™). It's the show making huge changes but keeping random "fan-favorite references" (mostly overusing "seaweed brain" and "wise girl" and emphasizing percabeth) only because they're popular in-jokes and considering that a faithful enough adaptation to market it heavily as such. It's lazy writing.

And it's a disservice to the series and to the audience, because it clearly shows Rick doesn't have original ideas anymore (though given all his writing is heavily derivative to begin with, it begs the question how much was original in the first place and how much he has difficulty when he doesn't have a structured mythological plot to work from) and that there is an expectation that the audience will just sit down and accept that behavior hook-line-and-sinker. Everything recently is clearly such lip-service to the audience, either in retcons that are overt speaking-to-camera acknowledgements of things he's been criticized on or wink-wink-nudge-nudges of community in-jokes that have no business in the actual text (see: over-use of ship names in canon). Especially since Rick tends to be about 5 years behind on the fandom uptake. It's just so disappointing to see.

[mister-e-muss]

Time for another back log report. Here’s the games I beat in Spooky Month 2024!

Bayonetta-

Platinum games is known for making high-quality action games with both style and challenge. And if there’s anything Bayonetta has, it’s style. The combat is fun and smooth, and the soundtrack is amazing. I will say though that some of the plot could have been expanded a bit. While the Cereza/Bayonetta twist is easy enough to spot, the ramifications of it in the final act come almost out of nowhere: not because it doesn’t make a certain amount of sense, but because there really isn’t enough clear explanation of how it works. That said, I need the rest of this series injected into my veins posthaste.

Shin Megami Tensei V (Chaos Route)-

I wonder if you can spot a pattern yet. :P.

I hate for Vanilla SMT5 to become the Xenoblade X of its series, but a lot of the same sentiments do apply. Namely, that I give this game credit for everything except the story. It’s not that the story is bad, it’s that it’s absent almost entirely. For the first area, you’re given just enough to grasp the premise, which works because of how mysterious and isolated the game makes you feel. The second major arc even works well because it quickly establishes that you cannot return to normalcy. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the third area that I thought ‘Huh, I’m three quarters of the way through this game. I feel like maybe more should have happened by now.” And then the finale just kicks off with little to no fanfare or frills. A lot of people will say that side content provides a more full picture, and as a Xenoblade X fan, I’d be okay with that, but even that mostly just tells you about the demons’ personalities, which you already see plenty of. The Khonsu quest line is engaging, but why was it a side quest? Why was Miyazu’s entire character just to be motivation for Atsuta (that isn’t even mentioned past area 2 mind you) and then motivation for Khonsu in a side quest?

On a different criticism, I’m not wild about how strict the level-scaling is. I get that it incentivizes doing the side quests and exploring for more experience, but it also brings the pacing to a screeching halt, especially when you’ve already found the end-of-area bosses. The Ueno area in particular is guilty of this because while it’s cool to have three bosses you can tackle in any order, it’s less cool when you have to grind to take on even one of them, when previous games could let you just respec and still have a fighting chance.

The music, however, is something I can praise without reservation. Special mention goes to Ueno and the End Credits theme. It’s not as overall foreboding and atmospheric as IV’s, but I’d rate them pretty similarly. V’s soundtrack has a lot of fun dissonance and mismatch, which creates this feeling of chaos in its world and gameplay.

The exploration is also excellent, with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, and rewards that more often than not, felt worthwhile. I’d like to highlight the Miman as an example of a checklist done right. Sure you could scour the map for each and every one, but your not required to. Even finding all 200 Miman wouldn’t give you enough points to max out your character. For that matter, you are only told the total amount overall. On a first run through, you would have no idea how many areas and MPSM (Miman Per Square Millimeter) there are. There’s an NPC you can pay to make their locations known on the map but, and this is crucial, you only run across them near the end of an area, after you’ve probably already collected a fair amount.

In summary, I enjoyed this game. I am glad, however, that Vengeance exists, and will probably be using that for any subsequent runs.

Final Fantasy VIII-

This is one of the more divisive entries in the series. The narrative that surrounded this game for a while was that they followed up the best game of all time with the worst game ever. Thankfully, as with X and XIII, people have long since reevaluated that stance. As for myself, I enjoyed my time with it, but I can’t say it ever stole my heart.

Final Fantasy VIII truly is its own worst enemy at times. I like a fair amount of the ideas in this game. It has good ideas. It has too many good ideas. It has too many good ideas that work against each other. For example: The enemies level up alongside of you, forcing you to look more seriously at the junction system. Fair enough, but why then is the character who gets the last hit in rewarded with more experience? It created this frustrating state for me where my party physically couldn’t be over-leveled, but every character not named Squall Leonheart was under-leveled.

The story, I won’t lie, is messy. Part of it is because not much is really explained at first. I appreciate the fact that the characters don’t talk about stuff they already know, but a place to read just what the Sorceress War was would have been appreciated. Hell, they have a library, and they already had a console to learn about the GF’s, why not expand one or the other? I will give credit for the use of amnesia: mainly that all of the characters who have amnesia don’t remember that they have amnesia. There’s also a particular brand of crazy stamped on this game; one where gun-swords can be standard issue, space ships are built to look like dragons, and the enemy army board ships by making Evel Knievel motorcycle jumps.

I’m not entirely sure where I would rank 8 among the final fantasy games I’ve finished. Maybe I should play it again, just to be sure. :)

Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney (As part of the trilogy)-

The more I play the Ace Attorney games, the more I understand how much people love them. As one post put it, being able to dramatically call out people on their BS in such a way that they break down appeals to people.

The only criticism I can truly level at this game is how they handle the new ‘Perceive’ mechanic. I don’t know if it was easier in the DS version, but the extreme close ups make it very difficult to see what your meant to spot unless you already know where to look.

[timeagainreviews]

The Monster Makeovers of Modern Who

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I would get back into the swing of things and talk about some monsters! No, not Rishi Sunak. Of course, I mean the monsters we actually enjoy! Daleks! Cybermen! And other horrors from the beyond that don’t try and turn trans people into scapegoats for their lack of policy. They say what you really mean- EXTERMINATE! Honesty, transparency, efficiency. Words so alien these days they belong only in Doctor Who! Mr Sunak, you’re so vain. You probably think this blog is about you. But it’s really about fashion. Specifically- makeovers!

I’ve been interested in filmmaking ever since Levar Burton took us to the set of Star Trek on Reading Rainbow. Like Doctor Who, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” had its own makeover to attempt. They needed to establish a new look from the original series, while still implying continuity. Whole teams came together to reimagine the look of the ship’s interior, the look of the aliens, both classic and new, and even how the characters should dress. It’s truly inspiring to see these crews at work. These passionate people did their best with the available budget and resources. That said, I plan to deconstruct some of the makeovers of modern Doctor Who villains on an aesthetic and (at times) narrative level.  It’s just a bit of levity for the horrors of Halloween, so let’s have some fun.

While the topic of updating classic baddies remains subjective, I’d like to think I’ve highlighted ways in which it can be objective. There are no hard rules to the process, but perhaps there are guidelines. I’ve noted a list of classic Doctor Who monsters that have since returned in the new series to discuss which designs I feel were successful and which ones missed the mark. Some of the criticisms I express will already be known to you. The Paradigm Daleks were notoriously reviled amongst fans. But hopefully. some of my opinions may surprise you. I’ve decided to exclude certain redesigns like the Movellans due to their lack of screen time. And while the Ood and Minotaur are cousins of the Sensorites and Nimon respectively, they’re technically not a proper redesign. I will however be covering the cousins of the Silurians- Homo-Reptilia, as they are very much meant to serve the same purpose. I’m presenting this list in alphabetical order, but some creatures will be listed together as a subspecies of another. Buckle up because this is going to be a long one!

Autons

As a child growing up in 90s Kansas, one of my favourite places to visit was the mall. The mall my grandpa used to take me to was known for its extravagant features. One of my favourite things, however, was a clothing store that used mannequins that interacted with the space around them. I don’t mean they moved, but rather that they were dynamically posed. My favourite leaned against the shop window with the palm of its hand. I had never seen that sort of display before. It made them feel as though they were merging into the real world. They were hip if not a touch creepy. I couldn’t tell you the name of the store, but I remember those mannequins. And aside from a granite finish, they looked like the Autons from 2005’s debut episode “Rose.”

Had the Autons returned looking like 70’s mannequins, they would still look creepy. But it would evoke more of a kitschy retro shop than something from a London high street. The creepiness of the Autons isn’t anachronistic, but rather in being timely. The less we notice them, the better. They wear their mundanity like a tiger wears stripes. You only noticed it move when it’s ready. This is a roundabout way for me to say they are brilliantly redesigned. They look modern, and you wouldn’t even notice them if you weren’t predisposed to Doctor Who. They’re exactly the featureless dummy you expect to see in a shop window. The moment their hand gun opens, you would be taken by complete surprise.

A benefit of the Autons coming first alphabetically is that it allows me an opportunity early on to address performance. Because like they say- looks aren’t everything. A Doctor Who baddie is so much more than a costume. And a minor sticking point for me is that the Autons can seem as though they hired a bunch of pop-lockers to stand around in sweaty suits. I’m reminded of the movie theatre scene from “Human Traffic,” where the employees mechanically go about their work. It’s a small grievance, but I wish they would have created a less familiar form of movement than the robot. They’re a hivemind and yet each dancer is doing their own form of popping. I know it costs time and money to do, but it would have been cool to see those dancers come up with a more alien system of movement. It’s not as though the ballet dancers chosen to portray the Weeping Angels were performing pirouettes. 

This problem persisted into the Moffat era with Roman Autons. While they were under the impression that they were human, they moved about and spoke like humans. But the moment the Nestine consciousness takes root, their bodies move into a sort of robotic marching. Suddenly whirring can be heard from alien actuators and servos that make no sense for living plastic. Once again, it feels as though they would rather speak in a familiar voice of filmmaking than create one. We all know that little android sounds and robotic movements mean they’re mindless automatons, hell it’s the root of Auton. But the idea of living plastic is so much weirder than a robot. I would love to see them lean more into that.

Cybermen/Cybermats/10th Planet Cybermen

Having started my foray into Doctor Who with Paul McGann and then moving on to the 2005 series, most of the baddies on this list were brand new to me. When I did finally work my way to classic Doctor Who, I was a bit surprised to find the early Cybermen leaned more into the “men,” aspect of their name. Not only were they more articulate than repeating “Delete,” ad nauseum, but their bodies were less robotic. They moved like men. The Cybermen may be the first time I looked at a Doctor Who villain and thought “Oh the old versions were much better.”

This isn’t to say that I disliked the RTD Cybermen, but rather, I find classic Cybermen more effective. While the Cybus Cybermen felt dangerous and militaristic, they lack the humanity present in the Tenth Planet Cybermen. They remind me of the zombies from Return of the Living Dead- they’re smarter, faster, and they feel like the reanimated body of a dead person. You do get glimpses of this in these Cybermen, like in “The Pandorica Opens,” where you see a Cyberhead open to reveal a rotting human skull. The glimpses of the conversion process also imply a deeper dread of body horror.

I would argue that the Moffat era understood the walking dead aspect of the Cybermen better than the Davies era. In “Dark Water/Death in Heaven,” Moffat even pays homage to Return of the Living Dead by reanimating a graveyard of corpses with tainted rain. By this time, the look of the Cybermen had been streamlined from their Cybus look to their svelt “Nightmare in Silver,” look. I liked this redesign as it reminded me of the 80’s Cybermen with their silver space boots. They look more like men than robots. This slimmed-down look was realised even further in the Chibnall era, while also going for a more classic head style. As much as that era of the show disappointed me, its Cybermen were fantastic.

Not every Cyberman update aimed to reinvent their look, however. The updated look for the Tenth Planet Cybermen in “World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls,” merely added detail to their original appearance. Much like the Type 40 TARDIS the 12th Doctor steals from Gallifrey, the idea was to modernise the look for the high-definition cameras of the modern age. Because of this, these Cybermen may be my favourite of the modern era. It was a risky choice to change their bare hands to flesh-tone gloves, but I understand the decision. I had always liked that the Tenth Planet Cybermen’s hands were bare skin. Historically, hands are one of the hardest things to reproduce in robotics. It also felt that the Cybermen’s hands were the last remaining vestige of their humanity. None of this is lost with the inclusion of gloves. These Cybermen are a nightmare to behold. They languish in physical pain, calling out for solace. The conversion process is still traumatic and bloody. They are horrific.

Another element of the Cybermen that was updated for the new series were the Cybermats. The look of the Cybermats, much like the Cybermen, has always changed, so it’s hard to feel too precious about a redesign. And their appearance in “Closing Time,” is no different. I’ve always liked the look of the modern Cybermat. Their eye shape is a pleasing nod to the Cybermen’s eyes while also calling back to their original appearance. Their segmented tails give an armoured appearance which evokes small creatures like armadillos and insects. My only real complaint about these little munchers would be their very organic teeth. I always figured the “mat” part of their name was meant to be a play on “rat,” so if you were to give them teeth at all, why not rat teeth? What tiny creature was converted to make these little abominations? In the classic series, I never really thought of Cybermats having anything organic about them. You could argue that the Cybermats from “Revenge of the Cybermen,” were snakelike, but I never really thought of them as organic. Regardless, I’m now trolling eBay for one of the 1:1 replicas they sold. 

Daleks/Davros

Before their return in 2005, the Daleks made the briefest of cameos in the 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie, sort of. Since we only ever hear their voices, we have no idea what the Daleks would have looked like. Judging by those voices, it’s safe to say they probably would have been a bit of a departure from their general appearance throughout classic Doctor Who. Especially when you consider that adaptations in the ‘90s were known to go for new extremes in design. That’s not to say they would have been bad. The Eighth Doctor’s cathedral-like TARDIS interior was a far cry from the brightly lit round things of the ‘80s TARDISes, and it’s probably my favourite interior. But there is no denying it would be challenging to redesign the universe’s most iconic monsters.

By this measure, I consider the black and bronze Daleks of the RTD era to be a stonking success. Their redesign is mostly effective because it doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel. It maintains the overall silhouette of the Dalek in a way that makes it immediately recognisable. The changes we do see feel utilitarian, lending these Daleks a tanky quality. You can imagine these Daleks as a product of war. They’re reinforced for battle and feel powerful. Honestly, zero notes. I can’t find a single area for improvement. They even look good in other colours and attachments. Even the mutant inside the casing was given some much-needed continuity in appearance. Where the mutant of the classic series often changed in appearance, it’s now established that Daleks are one-eyed brain squids under all that metal. Simple as can be. No need to change anything.

Enter the Paradigm Daleks. As I said above, the Paradigm Daleks aren’t exactly well-received by the fandom, and not without good reason. I’ve seen at least four different Mighty Morphin’ Power Daleks mash-ups of their big reveal in “Victory of the Daleks.” But is being a big colourful hate machine that bad? I will admit, their silhouette is a bit chonky, giving them bumble-bee bums. But their eye stalks look lethal and their voice modulation fills me with dread down to my stomach. The creepy goat eye nestled in the end of an eyestalk that looks like it would cut to the touch is a great change. I also really like the idea of them having different roles indicated by colour rank. What the hell is an Eternal Dalek? I still want to know. 

The biggest issue with the Paradigm Dalek redesign is that unlike it’s predecessor, it seems to miss what is actually scary about Daleks. For starters, Daleks have no concept of elegance, so why the clean lines on the casing? Those neck louvres (that’s what I’m calling them), are far too stylised. Gone is their tank-like appearance, save for their brutal eyestalks. They made them taller as to appear more formidable, which further bolsters why they miss the mark. If you can’t make an hate-filled monster covered in armour scary, the problem isn’t height, it’s writing. Also, we stan a short king in this house.

It’s hard to take the Chibnall-era Dalek redesigns too seriously, because neither of them ever felt like they were meant to be permanent. One was meant to look like a Dalek made of scrap metal, because it was, while the other was the bi-product of two evil forces- the Daleks and the Tories. The “Revolution” Daleks do look a bit like a bootleg toy of a Dalek you could win at a fun fair. Or the result of an AI prompt for the word Dalek. Regardless, they’re fit for purpose and don’t affect my opinion one way or the other. If they had stuck around, I may feel a bit different.

Not to be excluded from the redesign process is the Daleks’ crazed creator- Davros. By the end of the classic era, Davros had a bit of a Rickety Cricket thing going where every time we see him, he’s progressively more mutilated. In the end, he was just a Futurama-style head in a jar. The Davros of the new series is back to a more classic silhouette. His one arm has returned as a cybernetic limb, while the other remains suspiciously under his keyboard. Typing one-handed eh Dave? He’s been given some gimp leather to wear, and his chair has taken on the same armoured look of the Davies Daleks. Much like the mutant inside the casing, Davros has been given a baseline appearance and it's an effective one. Couple that with Julian Bleach’s perfect performance, and you’ve got another success.

Ice Warriors

Who doesn’t love a good Ice Warrior? They’re forever cool (no pun intended). While not always villainous, they are fierce and formidable. They’re also a bit weird. The original Ice Warriors stood taller than your average Doctor Who alien. And there is something about their deep green carapace that feels believable. These battle-hardened reptiles wore their outer shells like armour. At the joints of these plated segments sprang tufts of fur. From a costuming perspective, these patches would have been used to hide seams and add points of visual interest for the average black-and-white television. From a narrative perspective, the hair only added to their weirdness. In short, I like the classic Ice Warriors very much.

The Ice Warriors are also the first classic baddie redesign I had to wait to see. By the time I had started watching Doctor Who, Matt Smith was filming series six. The Ice Warriors don’t make their return until series seven, which gave me ample opportunity to imagine what they would look like. What we got was bang on what I had hoped for. They leaned into the weird and won in a big way. When “Cold War,” aired, there was a bit of contention about the reveal of an Ice Warrior outside of its armour. Perhaps it’s because their helmets possess a sort of Judge Dredd quality that in turn causes people to think you can’t show Ice Warriors without their helmets. But they’re going full Stallone and it’s fine. Dare I say it’s even a bit cool? 

A sticking point for me on the redesign was the lack of their stupid Lego Minifigure hands, which I love. But when you see their long skinny fingers reaching with their claws out, you might need to give the suit some fingers as well. Their reptilian aspects are also celebrated in their redesign. The Empress is a ferocious take on the look of the commander rank Ice Warriors. I said in my review of “Empress of Mars,” that the guns that turn people into cubes were a bit silly, and I still feel that way. And sure, I would have appreciated the odd "Ssss," at the beginning of an S word. But in the end, they allowed the Ice Warriors to shine for what they are, and that’s all that matters.

The Macra

One of my least favourite Pokémon designs is Raichu. You have Pikachu, an almost perfect marriage of form and cuteness. How do you improve on such a design? You can’t. This is why Raichu’s little curly-Q ear tufts and embellished lines look less like an evolution, and more like someone who didn’t know how to stop drawing Pikachu. Or when to stop spelling bananana. You just can’t improve on perfection. Now you’re probably wondering two things right now- 

Why the drive-by on Raichu?

What does this have to do with the Macra?

To answer the second question- “absolutely nothing.” And that’s the point. There was no perfection to mess up in the case of the Macra. The originals looked like a pile of playground equipment. The only place to go was up. First order on the list- does it look like a giant crab? Yes. List over.

Changing the Macra by devolving them into dumb beasts only adds to this winning revamp. Why were they at the bottom of the motorway of New New York? Had their nefarious plot backfired reducing them to mere monsters? It’s a great little incorporation of characters lesser showrunners would have called "embarrassing." I love the Macra. I love that they didn’t overdo the Macra. I love that they don’t tell us everything. Whatever crab rave they had going on down there will be lost to time. Or until Big Finish takes a crack at it.

The Mara

I will admit, this one is a bit of a cheat. It’s one of two on this list that you may think of as a cheat. But hey, they brought the Mara back in the web short “The Passenger,” for the season 20 Blu-ray release. I’m counting it! I’m also counting it because the Mara have been updated not once, but twice to a modern CGI standard. Plus it gives me a chance to talk about “Snakedance,” which I will always relish.

The practice of replacing old footage with newer CGI is not without its detractors. George Lucas released the special edition of the original Star Wars trilogy in 1997 and people are still arguing about it. I’m in two minds about it myself. I like some of the changes they’ve made to Star Wars, ‘60s Star Trek, and even Doctor Who. I dream of the day when they take a crack at Babylon 5. But it also has its limitations. I would be upset if they updated the model shots of Scaroth’s ship in “City of Death.” But in the case of a goofy pink snake puppet? Fine by me.

That is not to say I don’t find the snake puppets of both “Kinda,” and “Snakedance,” charming. They certainly are. But they’re also so very distracting. There’s the suspension of disbelief and then there’s the stifling of laughter. If you can get past the snake, you will see both “Kinda,” and “Snakedance,” for what they are- some of the best of Classic Doctor Who. The CGI snake does exactly that and nothing more. It’s not even a fancy CGI model. Someone probably downloaded a rattlesnake asset and coloured it pink, and that’s absolutely fine. It’s another Macra situation. Does it look more “snake,” than “snek?” Yes. List over.

The Nestine Consciousness

In the words of Vito Corleone- “Look how they massacred my boy!” Ok, maybe massacred is a bit harsh. But even by series one standards, that CGI pool of molten plastic is pretty damn awful. I say this with a handful of caveats. Yes, this was essentially a pilot for the relaunch of the series. Yes, the production crew was brand new. No, the budget wasn’t huge. You could probably list more reasons, but my point is made. They did their best.

I don’t need to ask why an amorphous blob was easier to depict than a giant space squid. Hell, it was too expensive in the '70s. We only ever saw it’s tentacles back then! I had to use Andrew Skilleter’s illustration from the Target novelisation of “Terror of the Autons.” Mostly because the show never shows the entire squid and also because Skilleter owns! But the kid who grew up on ‘90s Nickelodeon and Beetlejuice in me will never think of a pool of goo as an upgrade from a space squid. It’s just not gonna happen.

As returning readers may have noticed, in the “rad vs. trad,” debate, I have always sided with rad. I like Doctor Who a bit weird. So weird that I am arguing that something is weirder than a glowing vat of sentient plastic. But here I am. The beauty is that RTD explained the change as a devolved form of the Nestine Consciousness. Maybe it was temporary. The squid may return yet! Furthermore, Doctor Who audiences have been watching Talking Tree and Raccoon movies in the intervening years. People are more open to weird these days. Add a bigger budget and we may see the comeback of the cosmic cephalopod!

Rutans

This is the other entry on this list that you may feel is a bit of a cheat. The above illustration on the right comes from an official Doctor Who video game titled “The Gunpowder Plot.” It is a redesign of the Rutan Host for the Matt Smith era. Seeing as their new design is meant to represent the style of the modern series, I’m counting it.

As redesigns go, this one had a lot of wiggle room. Usually only mentioned by name, the only time we ever got to see a Rutan onscreen was “The Horror of Fang Rock.” Throughout most of the story, the Rutan looks like a quenelle of green jelly sloughing slowly up the stairs of a lighthouse. When I was five, my trip to Cocoa Beach was cut short due to an outbreak of jellyfish. The one I almost stepped on with my bare foot looked a lot like that. It’s not hard for me to imagine a little green blob as dangerous.

It feels almost too perfect then that the Rutan redesign would land somewhere in the vicinity of a jellyfish. While they are capable of shapeshifting, tentacles do add to their base physical prowess. You can imagine one of them holding their own against a Sontaran. You can imagine one wrapped around one of their potato noggins and it being lights out. Whoever worked on that game has done the show a favour if they ever bring the Rutans back. Green electric jellyfish will do just fine.

Sea Devils

Back when I reviewed “Legend of the Sea Devils,” I mused that it followed the tradition of Sea Devils stories being “not very interesting.” So it came as a bit of a shock to me back in June when Doctor Who Magazine readers ranked it the eighth-best story of the Pertwee era. What were they seeing that I wasn’t? Because by my standards, it’s about two episodes too long. My thought is that people love it mainly for two reasons- cool vehicles and the Sea Devils themselves. Much like the St Paul’s Cathedral shot from “The Invasion,” the shot of the Sea Devils emerging from the sea is doing most of the heavy lifting. Such is the legacy of effective imagery.

The element of the Sea Devils’ look that has aged the poorest has to be their netted tunics. They look dingy and cheap. I imagine on some level, they helped, as Adam Savage would say, “hide the crimes,” of the costume department. The costumes weren’t playing on camera so maybe they added the netting. I’m just speculating here. After all, their cousins, the SIlurians, walked around in the buff. The next time we see the Sea Devils in “Warriors of the Deep,” they’re decked out in a sort of Samauri attire. Just because they lived underwater doesn’t mean the Sea Devils were unaffected by Feudal Japan. Nobody seems to have cared about this change in costuming. Or perhaps they were busy recoiling from the Myrka. The Silurians remained true to their nudist lifestyle.

Other than the Daleks and the Weeping Angels with Paul Dano’s face of the Chibnall era, I rather liked most of its character redesigns. I particularly liked the Sea Devils. I like that they kept their big fishy eyes and turtle beaks. And did you catch that adorable Baby Sea Devil from “Defenders of Earth?” That thing looks like a cross between Grogu and my own pet tortoise and I would kill for it. Like the Dalek update of the Davies era, they kept the silhouette intact and simply gave it a more believable appearance. Are the eyes a bit more cartoony? Yes. Is that fantastic? Also yes.

The major change to the look of the Sea Devils are their costumes. They’re a sort of mash-up of Asian influences with little references to the netting of their first appearance. If you’re a big fan of the Sea Devils, I think it would be hard to complain about their appearance here. Their bismuth-encrusted swords are a nice addition (just don’t let them touch your skin). You can imagine them as swashbuckling monsters who once ruled the sea. Now if only someone could come along and give them a proper adventure to star in!

Silurians

Much like the Royal Family, Doctor Who writers get a lot of leeway out of the word “cousin.” It covers a multitude of sins. Such is the case when dealing with the Silurians and their cousins- Homoreptila. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it line of dialogue that I unfortunately missed the first time around. I was too busy blinking in disbelief at how depressing Broadchurch with lizards could be. It wasn’t until revisiting the two-part story “The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood,” that I finally heard the line explaining the discrepancy.

Why that matters is that it’s the reason I had a two-year chip on my shoulder about the Silurian redesign. This isn’t to say I thought they looked bad. The makeup job on the modern Silurians is very good. They just don’t look like Silurians. It bothered me because one of the things I liked about Doctor Who is that it often set itself apart from Star Trek. Star Trek aliens are more often than not- rather humanoid. This has always felt like a storytelling device more than anything. Less makeup equals more of the actor’s performance shining through. Doctor Who, on the other hand, asks its viewers to see something relatable in something inhuman. You can still make this complaint against “The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood,” because it does feel like they wanted you to see the human inside the Silurian costume. They couldn’t resist the Spielbergian desire to give the lizards soulful human eyes. 

Any design change seems to stem directly from this need, so it feels difficult to judge them otherwise. Even their dehumanising masks were more of a measure to save money on facial prosthetics, though they do add an air of mystery. Those black-eyed masks were downright exciting until they took them off to reveal a very human face. Had they gone with those masks as their faces, I might have been able to overlook the exclusion of their third eye. It would have been very easy to modernise as well. Many reptiles and amphibians have what is known as a parietal eye on top of their heads. They can even sense fluctuations in light. Incorporating one into the design would have been very easy. That said, the ridges on their heads are in keeping with their original design and very striking. Especially on Madame Vastra.

Along with their masks, these Silurians are different in that they are no longer nudists. They now wear clothes. It makes sense that they did this. Their new humanoid appearance makes clothing essential. No need to adapt “The Lusty Argonian Maid,” for television. The costumes aren’t bad either. The netting feels like yet another call-back to their other cousins- the Sea Devils. Even their new guns do a good job echoing the disc-shaped guns the Sea Devils carried but with the aesthetics of the modern era. All in all, this redesign is fine, but I still yearn to see a proper Silurian in the modern style.

Sontarans

Tumblr user “zagreus-eats-your-bread,” once said of the Chibnall era Sontarans- “Big fan of the redesign. They finally look like absolute shit again. He looks like a knee.” While to some, that sounds like faint praise, I couldn’t agree with their sentiment more. The Sontarans looked awful in classic Doctor Who and I love them for that. There was something unsettling about the way Linx’s tongue would pulsate in “The Time Warrior.” The whiskers poking from his brow and mottled face only added to his vile appearance. His helmet towered over others as he sized them up. A striking foe if there ever was one.

It’s odd then, that the Davies era decided to make the Sontarans squat in stature. They even explain that it is due to the high gravity of Sontar that they’re so short. Their bodies developed for load-bearing. It made sense narratively and wasn’t really a problem. Like I said above- we stan a short king. The problems arose sometime in the Moffat era. The Sontarans had gone from dynamite in a small package to comic relief. I hesitate to blame Strax, but he is when this started to happen.

Cynicism is likely the cause. Writers looked at the Sontarans and said “Ha, potato head and a short body!” One of the fiercest races in Doctor Who history was reduced to an army too stupid to realise that an invisible tank left them completely visible inside. It’s like when people think of the Daleks as embarrassing because they look like pepper pots and completely ignore the fact that they’re also genocidal maniacs. This is why I appreciated Chris Chibnall’s desire to add some ferocity back into the Sontarans. Their stature had returned to that of the classic look, which is fine. Unlike the Daleks, there was a precedent for a tall Sontaran. And yes, they looked like shit again. We could see the Sontarans as a threat once more. Oh, they’re stuck in an off-license eating chocolate like Augustus Gloop? Oh. Right.

Time Lords

I hemmed and hawed about whether I should include these guys or not. Do I add the Master while I’m at it? But in the end, many Time Lords are monsters and they too received a makeover. Though it isn’t much of one. In fact, I once read that aspects of their costumes were reused from the classic series. You could argue that their biggest redesign happened somewhere between their first appearance in “The War Games,” and “The Deadly Assassin.” They started out looking like a cult that formed in the basement of an Apple Store. But somewhere along the line, they got seriously into collars. It was the ‘70s after all. People’s shirts were 30% collar back then.

Sadly, while the overall look of the ‘70s Time Lords carried on into the modern era, they abandoned their love for colour. Rassilon being the Regina George of Time Lord society decided that we only wear red on Wednesdays. And seeing as they’re time travellers, it’s always Wednesday somewhere! So the Time Lords left their saffron and purple robes at the cleaners. Even the citizens of Gallifrey are shown in “The Day of the Doctor,” wearing variations of red and white. Everyone fell in line and fashion suffered.

When we see the Time Lords in “The Timeless Children,” they’re now wearing very stylish Cyberman headgear. Their red hoods have now been replaced with gold numbers laser-cut with Gallifreyan writing. I would call it a fashion breakthrough if not for the fact that everyone was still decked out in drab silver. I don’t want to see the Time Lords again until they take a page from the Fifteenth Doctor’s book and learn to diversify their wardrobe. Yas hunty! Werk!

Zygons

If you’ve not been to Neil Cole’s Museum of Classic Sci-fi in Hexham, you should do yourself a favour and change that. It’s a great day out, and if you’re lucky, Neil might even be available to chat. Something I learned when talking to Neil is that he has some rather strong opinions about the redesign of the Zygons. Primarily, their head shape. Throughout this article, I’ve praised some of the redesigns for their adherence to the basic silhouette of the baddies. If you were to show me either version of a Zygon in a silhouette I would identify them both as Zygons, but dammit Neil, you’re right. The head just isn’t right.

Initially, I thought it was the mouth shape, which is definitely different. When they redesigned the Zygons for “The Day of the Doctor,” my thought was “What happened to their kitty cat faces?” You may not see it, but I have always looked at classic Zygons and thought “Aw, there’s a Mister Kitty!” And they replaced their little button nose and philtrum with a set of far more human features. Seriously Moffat, what is it with you? They’re aliens! Let orange squid men covered in suckers have cat faces!

The top-heavy ridge of their heads gave them a sort of lumbering look, which may have been the impetus to change them. The Zygons of the 50th anniversary needed to do a fair bit of running. But it also detracts from the iconic lines that made them so striking back in 1975. Below the neck, the design choices make a lot of sense. Like the Ice Warriors, the goal seemed to be to add more texture and detail. The ribs seem more defined as do the suckers. Even their bio-tech devices are appropriately slimy and detailed. When they find Kate Stewart in that purple bubbly skin poncho, none of us are offering to trade places with her. Unless that’s your thing. Don’t let me yuck your yum.

My main qualm with the modern Zygon is less with their design and more with their physiology. The Zygons have always been squidgy shapeshifters. But since when do they turn people into smouldering balls of staticky hair? They tried to explain that this was a new development of technology, so why is one of the refugee Zygons able to use it on himself? It’s not as though the Zygon’s body is not already teeming with venomous stingers. If you’ve ever read Mark Morris’ “The Bodysnatchers,” you’ll know exactly what I mean. Mark does such a good job delving into the physiology of the Zygons that he set the standard by which I judge all future Zygon depictions. It’s seriously great stuff.

Aaaaand we're done! Phew! This one took a long time for me to write. I wanted to return with a bit of a long one because I haven't written anything in a while. My sister came to visit from July to August, so I had been very busy. Then I got ill, yadda yadda yadda. Expect to see more of me soon as I plan to cover the 60th Anniversary Specials and beyond. I may even review some classic Doctor Who in the meantime! Stay safe and take care!

[inhuman-obey-me]

Are y'all excited for nightbringer

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes with...reservations. We think. We think we're excited?

(spoilers for Season 4)

We haven't been too active for a bit and thus we never did jot down all our thoughts about how Season 4 panned out in Obey Me, but the simple summary is: they dropped the ball.

Now, not everything in Season 4 was a waste -- we did defend Lesson 70 back when it released, and there were some other nice nuggets of information throughout those twenty lessons. We met new characters, finally got the Simeon reveal (if a bit anticlimactically), and MC became the first official non-demon member of the RAD student council, which, as a reminder, is the governing body of the entire Devildom, so that's a pretty big deal.

However, Season 3 had a relatively flat writing progression with not much of a climax, all in service to setting up a bunch of things in Season 4, and many of those things were then...not used well, to the say the least.

Raphael was built up to be an antagonistic character, but we kind of got a wet mop instead. Season 3 also made a big deal about MC needing to become a trained sorcerer and how difficult something like teleportation and summoning would be, but teleportation is learned basically immediately, and summoning Lucifer, the most powerful of the demon brothers, across realms, on the first try, is highlighted for all of about ten seconds and then never really talked about again.

They built up Simeon's situation for almost all of both seasons combined, but rather than actually becoming a "fallen angel" (aka demon), it's revealed as simply "not having angel powers anymore" and only properly clarified later that he's now "human" -- which we still have a million questions about, because it has been fairly well established that angel physiology is much closer to demons and far different than that of humans, so what does that actually even mean? Even within Season 4 itself, Mephistopheles is first introduced as somewhat hostile to MC and non-demons at large, but he too is reduced to little more than another comedic fool by halfway through.

So, suffice it to say, we don't presently hold the highest opinions of the OM writing team...

With the little we've seen of Nightbringer so far, we are already seeing a bit of possible retconning -- for example, RAD not existing before the Celestial War, when lore wise it did exist and is discussed in Lucifer's base UR card Devilgram, The Glory Days. But with everything we've said here, we can't really be surprised that Solmare seems to constantly forget their own lore. So, how much more will be retconned in Nightbringer? Who knows!

The devs also just did an AMA, which confirms that they will not be continuing the main story in the OG Obey Me game, but instead eventually continuing it in Nightbringer. How they're going to connect the story which involves MC going back in time disguised as a demon to where they left off at the end of Season 4 is a mystery, but we'll find out soon enough...hopefully.

Also, we worry that seeing the characters fresh from the Celestial War might very well increase misinterpretations in the fandom when it comes to the characters. No offense to most of the fandom but, uh, we don't think the Seven Demon Lords of Hell from actual demonology need to be treated as angsty precious meow meows that need to become angels again to ~heal~ them. The excessive woobification we sometimes see of these characters is, hmm, not quite to our taste, and a big reason we keep to our own little corner. <3

But, all that said, that deep desire of ours to see OM actually embrace its demonic backdrop and the much darker world it has been suggesting forever, is exactly what we're excited for in the new game! The art and plot they've shared so far is right up our alley, and we're at least minimally hopeful for the seeming return to darker content that they've been avoiding since the initial backlash in the game's early days.

The opening animation is beautiful and the prologue video they've shared is interesting (more Barbatos lore?? More Barbatos lore!! More Solomon lore???). We're hoping that we'll get more fleshed out history on both the characters and the world, especially if we'll be learning more about the Great Celestial War and the aftermath, including the creation of Satan. It'll be interesting to see (or at least, we hope we'll see) the character progression of the immediate post-fall angels suffering the grief of their transformation and loss of their home, to coming to accept their new lives as demons even if we're not thrilled that it's probably MC coming to the past to play family therapist yet again.

And the Ruri Tunes demo was pretty cute back when they did that one-stage beta, so that should be fun? Even if, thematically, a rhythm game seems maybe like a bit of a strange choice for the darker direction this story is taking...but then again, dance battles were kind of weird thematically in the first place anyway.

We'll also finally get a canon layout of the House of Lamentation, so if nothing else we'll at least have that? Please confirm there's more than just one bathroom.

[bluebudgie]

Ok we finished. Onion:

Can't really add much that hasn't been said already. It was fine. Didn't hate it. Didn't love it.

The scope the story was trying to tackle just doesn't fit with the release size and schedule. Introducing an entirely new world with a new species that is supposedly so far removed from everything ever known and then solving their eternal conflict in the span of a few spread out story missions just doesn't work.

I really think if we keep this release schedule the stories need to be lower stake, or in a familiar environment with already established lore so no big setup and character introduction is necessary.

Gameplay was serviceable though imo underwhelming seeing some of the really creative missions we've had in the past (thinking about that Kourna(?) stealth mission).

Music was ok. Felt a bit like PoF-lite stylewise, not super memorable but it works.

I think my biggest gripe is actually the maps. I just. I'm sorry. I don't like them. At all. They're nice in concept and they look pretty but they feel empty and pointless. Traversal feels awful, there is nothing really to discover, and stretching the third map out over several months when the map parts aren't even very distinct from one another didn't really work for me.

That said, the return of chak was exciting and made me happy. I'm also very happy we got a chak ranger pet. Yea. That's probably my highlight overall.

I hope the next expansion has something to do with that ominous letter from Anise to Livia.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Mothra vs Godzilla: A Lesson in Nonviolence

The 60s are actually considered a golden age for Toho's kaiju movies. Aside from having branched out into exploring a number of different kaiju aside from Godzilla (Atragon, War of the Gargantuas etc.), we also saw the establishment of 3 members of what is widely considered to be the Big 5 of Toho's monsters (Godzilla having already debuted in 54 while MechaGodzilla would debut in the 70s). These are, of course, Rodan, King Ghidorah, and Mothra.

Mothra herself is the topic of today's post since Mothra vs Godzilla is widely considered by many to be the cream of the crop of this portion of kaiju movie history. Released in 1964, the story revolves around Mothra's giant egg washing up on the shore of Japan due to a hurricane. Mothra naturally wants her egg back (especially from a pair of greedy corporate honchos that wants to make a fortune off the thing), but shit hits the fan when it's revealed that Godzilla's been caught up in the hurricane and literally buried in a construction yard.

Naturally the JSDF steps in to try and stop Godzilla, throwing virtually everything they have outside of the kitchen sink at him. Jets. Tanks. Battleships. A repurposed powerline and electrified nets. Except not a damn thing works and all of them only serve to make Godzilla angrier and angrier. Mothra's the only one who stands a chance against him, but even then she's weakened from age and despite putting up a decent fight isn't able to defeat the enraged reptile.

The good news is that Mothra's egg safely hatches into a pair of larvae who continue the fight against Godzilla. Now considering how much punishment the dinosaur has taken, how exactly do the two manage to defeat him once and for all?

Wrap him in a cocoon and push him off a cliff, sending him plummeting to the sea below.

Admittedly it seems...underwhelming. But it also highlights a difference between how Mothra and the military handled Godzilla. The military wanted to outright kill Godzilla. Now while Godzilla's an undeniable threat, it's initially because of his sudden appearance and the military continuing to piss him off. He's not even the most hateable character in the film, with Kumayama and Torahata (those two scumbag CEOs) taking the cake. At most he's a violent monster who's enraged by mankind refusing to leave him in peace.

Which actually does speak to his origins. Remember, he was a stand-in for nuclear weapons, and no amount of firepower can do that.

The Mothra Larvae on the other hand? They're more focused on stopping Godzilla rather than killing him.

The silk's restraining, but it's not tough enough to hurt him. Hell, Mothra herself was able to claw her way out of her cocoon just fine in her debut film. And it's not like it's choking him either. He's still breathing fire. Pushing him off the cliff wouldn't actually do any damage since...well he's amphibious so he's not in danger of drowning. Hell, it's not even the first nor the last time he took a plunge off the cliff and came out just fine. Chances are he'll be able to claw his way out with no problem.

But again, it wasn't about killing Godzilla. It was about stopping him. Wrapping him in a cocoon and returning him to his natural habitat means he'll have ample opportunity to calm down without anybody bothering him. Rather than trying to stop him by violence, Mothra (or her offspring at least) stopped him in a nonviolent manner. Rendering Godzilla a nonthreat for the time being, and stopping the carnage.

After all, you can't exactly stop something spawned by some of the worst weapons humanity has to offer by throwing more weapons at him after all. In this case, it was the exact opposite of that. Which honestly makes this one of my favorite films in the series.

Helps that Mothra not killing Godzilla pays off big time for the world in the long run.

[kariachi]

Yeah sorry still a bit on In Charm's Way.

This episode was honestly wasted in a lot of ways. We have-

A returning villain

Who takes advantage of Kevin's issues

In a manner that highlights a flaw in Gwen's character and actions

And could have served as a catalyst to give her character growth and Kevin a degree of healing

Leaving them and their relationship stronger in the long run

And just nothing was done with that shit. Instead we get Kevin being betrayed and mindcontrolled by someone he thought he could trust, made to turn against one of the people he cares about most, and it being turned into a 'poor saintly Gwen, Kevin did her so wrong' situation. (Sorry, sticks in my craw that an episode where Kevin goes through so much shit and in the end his story is about how he should have just 'known' what Gwen was up to and he's a bad boyfriend for not (Here's a hint, kids, if somebody tells you you should have just known what was going on with somebody else without being told anything, it's bullshit. You can't read minds and neither can the people around you, use your words.))

Like, just- This shit could have filled a multi-episode arc all on it's own.

Picture for me- an earlier episode establishes Kevin making a new friend. WoG is that In Charm's Way takes place over months, so you can put it towards the beginning of the season. Maybe Kevin shows up to pick Ben up for something and has this new chick with him, 'oh this is a new friend of mine, she needed a lift to X and it's on our way so-'. Also take a bit of time out of the same episode or a close one to establish that Gwen isn't spending as much time with Kevin as she normally would, brushing off date offers she would normally go for with vague excuses, and that it really isn't helping Kevin's worries about her leaving him. Really set shit up early. Over the next several episodes give us some more references to this new friend, as well as an episode where we the audience learn what Gwen has going on. Maybe she brings it up to Ben, or maybe Ben already knows and brings the topic up himself, trying to get her to take some time off like he does in original episode. The point is, for the purposes of this thought experiment, setting the scene early, making sure it's established that this is what's going on and it's been going on for a while.

Finally, we reach where things come to a head. A two-parter. The first part focuses on Kevin, this new friendship, the reveal of Charmcaster and her deception, the mind control. You build this up, and if you did the set-up right you should have audiences tense as hell when things between Kev and the new chick ramp up- because they know what's going on but they also know Kevin doesn't know and how it's been effecting him- and get a physical reaction at the kiss. Only to then fucking blindside them with the mindcontrol and the reveal that it was Charmcaster the entire damn time. Make it all hit like a fucking truck. End it off with the Tennysons discovering that Charmcaster has him under her control to act against them.

The next episode you start off with the Tennyson's trying and managing to break Kevin free of Charmcaster's control. He's very blatantly in an even worse place than he was at the start of the season, after spending it slowly improving in part due to this new friendship, but he manages to tell them what the fuck happened. He doesn't join in on the final fight with Charmcaster because he's had a fucking Time and nobody wants Charmcaster near him- he'll get his back come Hit 'Em Where They Live- but the others do go and Gwen kicks her ass. Make it a good fight though, drawn out, you want plenty of action yes but also you want to give Charmcaster time to wave Gwen's part in all this over her head. To taunt her with that kiss, with Kevin's doubts, with how Gwen's actions hurt him and made him an even easier target than his issues already did.

Because I'm sorry, you don't spend months building a fake friendship with somebody's partner, then try to move it into a romance, then mindcontrol them to start shit for you, unless you're actively trying to make it as emotionally painful as possible for your primary target.

She brings up the sudden drop in time spent with Kevin, Gwen counters with an 'I've been trying to help him', and only for Charm to visibly blindside her with a 'he doesn't know that, he thinks you're abandoning him'. And it has to have a visible effect on Gwen, we're going for character growth we didn't get in canon and I want to see the realizations hitting her.

She wins the fight, kicks Charmcaster's ass six ways to Sunday, the day is saved. They return to where they left Kevin, still visibly upset in the moment before he notices their return and tries to throw on a facade of being fine, and Gwen immediately gets him in a bear hug.

(For bonus points here, spend the prior episodes making explicit the WoG that in his matter chimera form Kevin is 90% sharp angles and just tears up everything he touches. Gwen's reassurances aren't just words his brain can twist back against him, this is real, tangible proof that his condition will not stop her.)

Kevin goes to apologize only to, to his confusion, be cut off by Gwen apologizing, and explaining what it is she's been up to. Admit that she should have told him, she'd known how worried he was already, but she hadn't wanted to give him false hope in case she can't find anything. He's visibly relieved, apologizes for doubting her. She promises to work on keeping him in the loop, he promises to try to have more faith in her, Ben cuts in to tease Kevin about when did he become such a sap. Kevin makes a comment about 'man, you've seen the books I read'. Cut to credits with the trio laughing, end of episode, the day is saved, Kevin and Gwen's relationship has been moved in a stronger direction, both of them have promised to work on themselves in their own way with their own shit that needs worked on, everything's good.

And like, I know that we never would've gotten something on that level, the show isn't about their relationship and they would have never dedicated that much time and effort to it, but you see what I mean? There's much potential for character and growth and hitting home and nothing is really done with it. Nobody comes out of the episode better, we don't really learn anything about anybody, all it really does is reintroduce Charmcaster at both Kevin and Gwen's expense- Gwen because it gives her a flaw the show refuses to acknowledge (one of many) and Kevin because it throws his issues into the forefront and puts him through the wringer, just to essentially go 'Kevin is bad and needs to be better'.

Fuck, even if they had just cut out the whole 'Charmcaster builds a fake relationship with Kevin' thing and instead just have her show up and mindcontrol him without it. Have the first chunk of the episode show that Kevin and Gwen are on a downward slope- Kevin's mental health is in the shitter, not helped by Gwen spending less time with him for reasons she won't tell him even after he's asked, and Gwen hates how things are going but can't stand the thought of disappointing him if she tells him what she's up to but fails to find a solution, is clinging to a her own insistence that she will figure something out soon and that will fix everything. In the middle chunk the team encounter Charmcaster, and as part of the fight she mindcontrols Kevin. At first she's pitting him against Ben, but once she starts losing the fight against Gwen she retreats and takes him with her. The Tennysons have to track them down, worried as hell the whole time, and that takes us into the final portion. Charmcaster pits Kevin against Gwen this time, it'll hurt Gwen more anyway for him to do the job. They fight, but Kevin is vicious and has nothing holding him back while Gwen is reluctant to go all out because she loves him and it's not him doing this.

He's winning, Ben is occupied, she's doing everything she can to try to snap him out of it. 'I know you're in there somewhere's, declarations of her affection, apologies for past transgressions, begging. Finally, if this is it she's at least going out or losing him with a clear conscience and anyway she's desperate, she hugs him and apologizes for not telling him that she's only been distant because she's been trying to help him. Again, we look to the WoG, she's tearing herself up, while the show won't do blood you can see when he shakes her off, rounds on her and

The mindcontrol breaks. It's magic, blood spilled with intention can do some shit even if you don't show it.

Kevin immediately falls apart with apologies, conscious of everything but having had no control, and she's full of reassurances, holding onto him, leaning their foreheads together, still visibly tearing herself up but as before this is a moment of driving home that his condition will not stop her loving him. She cups his cheek, goes 'wait here, babe, you've had a long day', turns around, and proceeds to storm over and kick Charmcaster's ass six ways to Sunday.

The episode ends with the day saved, things cleared up between Gwen and Kevin, and the promise that things are going to heal and go smoother as time goes by. Ben ends the episode with a quip about fighting Kevin having gotten old years ago, maybe. It's all good.

Just.. So much potential...

[ihatetaxes99]

 Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, it is I, everyone's favourite favourite part-Irish, part-English, part-Welsh twat with yet more demented rambles to indulge in. I wish to talk about a problem I have felt with Boku No Hero for quite some time, one that I feel above all else has tarnished the series in regards to its quality of writing. So, here I am, jotting down my thoughts lest my head combust with it all. I shall try my hardest to keep the vociferous language to a minimum, if not outright eliminated, for I don't have much interest in hyperbole tonight. A basic little rundown of what I think may well have been the nails in BNHA's sacred palms.

 Spoilers below the cut. But I'm sure you knew that already.

 I would argue that this particular issue has been present in the manga persistently since Bakugo's non-sacrifice in Jaku. However, it only became truly evident to me in Chapter 295. The return of Mirio Togata. And hence, I introduce the problem.

 Horikoshi has taken to writing scenes based on their emotional appeal- or 'cool factor'- first, and logic second. Yes, BNHA is a superhero shonen set in a far-future Japan, but that does not excuse it from following its own logical consistency. Every fictional world has its own logic, and that can be as different from ours as it could desire, but it must stick to that logic. In BNHA's case, Quirks have had relatively little impact on society as a whole aside from the obvious, it's still very much a world that can be compared to our own twenty-first century experience. This is all to say that yes, prioritising grandiose set pieces over common sense is not something that can be hand waved away, as this is not a series such as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which is built on an inherent silliness.

 To better explain my point, I want to take a look at a few scenes that in particular highlight my frustrations. First of all, Togata's return. It's cool, he's kicking ass and taking names (not that poor Sako has any ass to kick at that point), and it's a huge moment for fans of his character. However, upon relatively brief inspection, it falls apart. Togata recovers his Quirk by having Eri rewind his body, a rather ethically questionable act that can further the already-established questions into the morality of UA and the Japanese government that this arc did serve to push. However, the act itself is never shown, nor are any potential consequences. Eri, a girl who is far too traumatised to use her Quirk, is never shown actually overcoming that fear. Neither character seems to struggle in any way with what happened. Furthermore, Togata just appears on the battlefield from nowhere, conveniently at the best possible time. What compelled UA to make such a choice? It's implied that Aizawa is now her legal guardian and with him on the front lines, who gave consent for Eri to undergo this process, in spite of the dangers to both herself and Togata? All of this to send one extra soldier into the war, a soldier who, for all his flash, only served to arrest a man who most likely would have died had he not been captured and hospitalised. Mirio Togata looks cool, his Quirk is cool and seeing him in action again is no doubt intoxicating for his fans; But the simple fact of the matter is that the terms of his return make absolutely zero sense. This is also without mentioning the fact that him reattaining his Quirk spits in the face of BNHA's main themes of taking life's harshness and making the most out of a bad situation, even when you've lost everything. Togata faced a tangible loss in the Hassaikai Arc, a loss that could have haunted him for the rest of his life. But he was content, and he refused to indulge in self-pity. He made the most out of his bad situation. Now, none of that matters anymore. And he hasn't even done anything of any relevance since then. 

 Exhibit B, Kaina Tsutsumi's death. I am aware that she technically is not dead (somehow; Clearly Horikoshi never realised that giving everybody absurd plot armour doesn't do anything to reduce the distraction of the protagonist's), but let's face it, she won't be returning again, so she may as well be. Tsutsumi is a character I rather enjoyed while she was around. A former government agent, the same breed as Hawks, who realised the depraved depths of her indoctrination and fought back against the system, only to be tossed into Tartarus for it. It's a fascinating idea, one that capitalises upon my love for gritty, grounded government conspiracy plotlines. What becomes of it, then? Well, Tsutsumi is blown up by All for One for disobeying his orders. How does she disobey them? After making clear her distaste for the blind optimism in the hero system displayed by indoctrinated youth, she is swayed to the side of 'righteousness' by Midoirya's blind optimism in the hero system. It is well established that Midoriya is the exact kind of person Tsutsumi despises, with his blind faith in what has been preached to him as justice and his somewhat self-absorbed hero complex, so for him to convince her, a hardened nihilist who had spent the last decade in one of the worst prisons in the country, of the light in the world by demonstrating exactly that is… Well, there are words to describe it that I'm not willing to say right now, so let's just settle on frustrating, shall we? A falling, burning Tsutsumi, caught by Hawks, the shot of her rain-swept face smiling warmly as her head blows apart is a catching visual, and that visual is what the whole scene is built on, once again sacrificing any actual internal or external logic, as well as what has been established for the characters involved. 

 For the final example, I want to illuminate the events of Chapter 377, the most recent to be leaked. I shan't be sharing any direct spoilers for this chapter here, but I wish to bring it in, for it perfectly embodies my point. A certain character reappears, a character with a relatively loyal fanbase, who has not appeared in many years. This character's return is no doubt cause for jubilation for some, but once again, the shock and awe of a beloved character coming back to the story is a mask for the lack of underlying logic for their return. This character's return was not in any way foreshadowed before the final few pages of the chapter. Considering that they are seen next to Tsukauchi, one would think that he would have bothered to at least hint at this at some point in the setup for the current war (even just a vague line like "We've got a few bargaining chips we can use, some strings to pull…" would be preferable to nothing). The fact of the matter is that their return has one purpose; The story's writing explicitly failed in that it made Skeptic too powerful of a threat. He is far away from any of the battlefields, has complete control over UA's systems and is clearly insane enough to kill everyone inside if given the chance. This is not something the story can allow, so it pulls out this character to correct how Horikoshi wrote himself into a corner. Of course, one should also note that, while they were shown to be fairly tech literate, to suggest that they are on par with Skeptic is utterly absurd. Once again, the wow factor is given more care than the quality of writing and internal consistency.

 There are many more examples I could call upon. Bakugo's death and subsequent revival, the explosion of the Creature Rejection Clan mansion, anything involving All for One lately, the Stars And Stripes fight, I could go on. It's sloppy and it's lazy and it's killing the series that once stood at the top of the world. BNHA, like so many other shonen manga, is going out with a depressing whimper. It's almost as bad as Beastars. I said it. While it was never a perfect series, it did once have strong writing and consistency and that is why I still cherish a lot of the manga prior to the Jaku/Gunga Raid Arc. 

 For that reason, I wish to give an example of how in the past, Horikoshi avoided these pitfalls. The My Villain Academia Arc is heralded by many as the peak of the manga, and I am inclined to agree. Although not perfect, it has the strongest characterisation, world building and emotional draw of the series. So, I would like to take a moment to discuss how it ends. A powerful image. The great Re-Destro, always well-dressed, always immaculate, reduced to a naked, exhausted old man, bowing down to an angel of death, Tomura Shigaraki, the being he towered over mere minutes prior. It's a powerful image, one of my favourites in the series. In spite of that, Horikoshi does not use this image as a substitute for substance. Everything behind it is logical. It is well established that Yotsubashi's two key loves are for his ideology and human life, so in ceding control to Shigaraki, he is, in his mind, preventing further deaths and handing his future to who he sees as a fully liberated individual. As we soon see, this was a fatal mistake, for Shigaraki used the MLA as another tool in his path and ultimately discarded them once he was done, but it is clear to see why Yotsubashi saw it as the best option. The internal logic is consistent and sound. It's an example, one that wow factor does not have to be a substitute for satisfying storytelling, and that Horikoshi is far better than his recent output suggests. The man is ill, he's exhausted and he no doubt wants this Godforsaken series to end so that he can start writing something that he has passion for once again. I cannot blame him one bit. The reason I have written this is not to point and laugh at Horikoshi's failings; It is put into writing the heights that BNHA as a manga has fallen from, to its current point of mediocrity. No matter what, it will always be a series with moments that I shall hold dear. It was once something special, under that façade of bland shonen garbage and as much as that façade becomes the true face in the current state of the manga, I shall never forget how much it has helped me in the past.

 Thank you very much for reading and I wish you a pleasant day. If you disagree, please don't hesitate to share why; Healthy discussion on opposing viewpoints is how media thrives.

[singofsolace]

Thoughts on The Rebound (2009)

You know what’s messed up? Double standards in Hollywood and film. Double standards, and a heaping bucket of irony, is what’s messed up.

I���m currently watching Catherine Zeta-Jones as Sandy in The Rebound, who, at the reckoning/climax of the movie, is brought to heartfelt tears because she feels she has to end her loving, healthy, and enthusiastically consensual relationship with her 25 year-old nanny at 40 years old (after an emotional-whiplash reveal of a pregnancy they thought was viable turning out to be ectopic) because the relationship “doesn’t make sense” and “will never work” due to their age difference... meanwhile, in real life... Catherine Zeta-Jones started a relationship with a 53 year-old man when she was 28, and has been married to that same man for 23 years…?

Like, this whole movie’s “dilemma” of a 40 year old woman with a 25 year old man would be a lot more convincing if they hadn’t cast Catherine Zeta-Jones in this role…? Like… what??? (Should I be able to ignore that it's CZJ? Maybe. But I can't.)

After all, Justin Bartha is playing a grown ass adult who has already been married in the plot of the movie. He’s not a child, and shouldn't be treated like one…? He also has other profitable job offers, which he originally turns down, but could (and does) canonically still return to, so the issue of Sandy technically being his boss, and the relationship being improper for that reason, rather than just the age difference being the problem, is basically a non-issue, because he literally has a better job offer on the table from the beginning, and is choosing to work for her instead, but could leave at any time if he wanted to.

And then at the end, they act like a five year time jump solves the problem? Which, if they'd actually established that Aram was profoundly emotionally immature and not ready for fatherhood/had growing up to do, I would be somewhat more accepting of the argument that him traveling the world for five years (in an admittedly weird and gross eat-pray-love white-savior montage of clips) and turning 30 really is the "magic" number that makes this relationship okay... but that's not the story they wrote? They wrote a grown man who said himself that he was ready for fatherhood, and genuinely wanted to be with this woman, regardless of age...?

I think if they wanted the 15-year age difference between grown ass adults to be a genuine problem and source of conflict, they should've made different writing (and casting!!) choices, for goodness sake...? Like show all the moments where the age difference becomes a problem--the moments where they clearly aren't compatible because they don't understand each other's references, or because Aram wants more children and Sandy doesn't because she feels she's too old, or something. Instead, they show us two people who seem incredibly sweet and happy with one another, who are largely on the same page about what they want, but the one "immature" thing highlighted about Aram is that he reads Harry Potter books...?

God. I'm so annoyed that this movie got made the way it did without people questioning these things. It doesn't help that CZJ looks younger than 40, and Justin Bartha was actually 30 in real life. Am I really supposed to be upset about a 30 year old man having sex with a 40 year old woman? Please.

And all of this is being treated like a huge "issue" when CZJ was literally romantically involved with Sean fucking Connery's character in Entrapment when he was 69 and she was 29...?!? People certainly raised their eyebrows at a 40 year age difference, as they should, I think, but there were never any scenes within the movie of Sean's character crying about how it would never work between them...? The movie just accepts that CZJ is a consenting adult at 29 and moves on, even if we, as audience members, don't...?!?

Ugh! What bothers me is that I actually liked this movie, despite everything. Like, I thought it was incredibly sweet and touching, even though the main "conflict" is absurd to me. It's like I'm crossing my arms and scowling while watching, but still begrudgingly enjoying it, which I think is down to Justin Bartha and Catherine Zeta-Jones being charming together, regardless of the circumstances.

Anyway... give The Rebound (2009) a watch and let me know if you agree with any of this.

[shayminlucario07]

Post-clearing Bayonetta 3 thoughts

Obligatory (And obvious) spoiler warning!

So... people really didn’t like this game? Like, actually? Why?

Is it because of “Straight Bayonetta”? If so, I have news for you: Bayonetta’s relationship with Jeanne has always been deliberately ambiguous, just as much so as her relationship with Luka was in the previous two games, so like. Read it however you want- if you want Cereza and Jeanne to be a thing, they can be! Bisexuals do in fact exist!

Is it because people didn’t like Viola? Because... I mean, fair, I guess, since the narrative didn’t exactly do her justice, but she’s also the Cerezita/Loki of this game, which means she was never going to be as fleshed out as the other characters. And, frankly, if there’s going to be a Bayonetta 4, she’ll pretty obviously be the main character- which I’m totally here for, to be clear- and that’ll actually give her the chance to DO something.

Is it because of the Homunculi/Singularity plot being underdeveloped? Because... that’s kind of the case with every Bayonetta antagonist. The only reason Balder works as well as he does is because of the retroactive adjustments in Bayonetta 2, since he was... not exactly three-dimensional in Bayonetta 1. And the only reason Aesir worked is because of Loki, you know. BEING half of Aesir.

Is it because of how little focus the alternate Bayonettas got? Because... yeah, I agree, they deserved more emphasis than they had, but the thing you have to remember is- regardless of what the narrative in Bayonetta 3 implies, there’s no way to be sure that ANYONE is actually gone- Bayonetta 2′s storyline was literally about Cereza trying to bring Jeanne back from the dead, so like. As far as I’m concerned, resurrection has already been established. Also, when your story goes to multiverse level storytelling, all rules are out the window- not that there ever were any, since it’s Bayonetta, and rule of cool dominates everything, spectacle above all is the entire concept of the series.

Ultimately, my thoughts are thus:

It sucks that we have more limited weapon kits, but the weapons we did get are awesome in their own right and frankly, the acquisition of them is much more narratively effective than every other Bayonetta weapon except the guns and maybe Alruna, since. They actually HAVE A ROLE in the narrative. Also, the concepts were pretty great overall- though I could’ve done without having like, four separate slow weapons, but hey, we got Ignis Araneae Yo-Yo and Simoon and there’s a weapon named Ribbit-Libido BZ55, so, who actually gives a shit.

Some of the demon designs were... weird (Looking at you, Gouon and Clock Tower) but the returning demons were a delight to see reimagined (BAAL ZEBUL MY BELOVED YOU ARE THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE ENTIRE GAME) and while I’m kind of mad we didn’t get to see Sheba or Omne again, I also didn’t really expect it in the first place. At least we didn’t get a repeat of Khepri using Butterfly’s body model.

Demon Slave was a fantastic concept- in my opinion, a total step up from Umbran Climax, even if it did mean having to give up meaningful torture attacks- and I especially loved Wink Slave, because like. It’s like a Wicked Weave but EVEN BIGGER and AFTER A WICKED WEAVE. They took the best part of Umbran Climax and made it a normal gameplay move! Fantastic!

Viola’s combat was... weird. Not being able to move and shoot took an adjustment, and I don’t think I’ll ever know how to use the block properly for Witch Time, but it was at least successful in making her feel distinct from Bayonetta, which they never quite nailed with Jeanne and Rosa. She definitely could’ve used more polish in the gameplay department, though.

Speaking of Viola... she suffered from Luca syndrome (Admittedly, rather fitting) in that she was played for comic relief a bit too much to work as well as she needed to. I love the idea of her inheriting the name Bayonetta, but... she doesn’t quite feel like she’s actually THERE yet. She doesn’t have the badass level yet. Also, Cheshire should’ve had actual story in 3, and not just had it be locked behind Cereza and the Lost Demon.

Jeanne was neglected in a frankly depressing manner. Her missions were... fun at first, but overstayed their welcome, and honestly, the most memorable Jeanne moment was Jeanne Beta-Three/Egyptian Jeanne. She deserved better and she CERTAINLY deserved to live- she should’ve been alive to be Viola’s mentor in whatever the next story is.

Ah, Cereza... While I’m sad to see her die, frankly, they could bring her back in the next game and I wouldn’t be bothered in the slightest. It’s Bayonetta, who cares, there are no rules- just look cool and it’ll do everything it needs to. Make Bayonetta 4 be about Viola going to Inferno to bring Cereza and Luka back to the human world, and have her beat the shit out of Queen Sheba to do it. Full circle to the fullest, this time instead of killing God at the end of the game, we’re killing Satan. I’m 1000% in. Also, there’s no way that she’s supposed to be the alternate universe Cereza from the Records of Time in Bayonetta 2- They literally reference the Aesir storyline directly and how the Eyes of the World no longer exist, which is why the Multiverse fracturing happens and why the entirety of Bayonetta 3 happens at all.

Luka was... kind of weird, but not in the way people seem to think based on everything I’ve seen. First and foremost, the idea that the Bayonetta-Luka relationship came out of nowhere is simply untrue- she was always flirting with him. She put Rosemary in her perfume at the end of the first game SPECIFICALLY because of what he said- that’s what that meant! People were just blinded by the concept of Witch Lesbians, which is fair! (Let Bayonetta have both, y’all. Let her have her cringefail ambiguously-part-faerie boyfriend and her badass motorcycle-riding, literally-Joan-of-Arc immortal-ish witch wife. She deserves that.) The whole Lukaon thing was... not well developed, but frankly, I think that’s mostly because of how much the game tried to do. And really, none of the alternate universe things were that well developed, so if you’re going to criticize aspect of that, criticize them all.

Speaking of the alternate universe things- I loved all of them. Tokyo Street-Witch Bayonetta was perfect and I absolutely used that outfit the entire game, because hello, Chinese Warlord Bayonetta was awesome and it was super fun to see her lead an entire army, Egyptian Princess Bayonetta was super cool and it was amazing to see how she actually managed to have a full character arc, going from bonding with her first Infernal Demon to sacrificing herself to save Bayonetta Prime by the end, and French Thief-Magician Bayonetta- Masque*DeMasque Bayonetta, if you will (Hehe Ace Attorney reference I make myself laugh)- was an utter delight, even if she had the most tragic death. And she allowed us to see Rosa again! And she was the only Bayonetta to be blonde! Where did those genetics come from? No clue! Egyptian Bayonetta seemingly inherited Balder’s silver hair, so no clue where French Bayonetta’s blonde came from, but at least we know how/why Viola was blonde. (Also, we deserved to see a variant of Balder. Just one. It’s not fair that we got to see Rosa again but not him. Anti-feminist, dads and moms should be equally important (THAT’S A JOKE DON’T GET MAD AT ME)) I’d love to see more from any of those Bayonettas.

Sigurd was... not good, but he wasn’t really any worse than Aesir or Bayo-1-Balder would be without other characters to make them work better, and frankly, it’s probably a good thing there wasn’t an attempt at making Sigurd more well-developed, because the game was already pretty over-saturated. Singularity as a final boss was underwhelming compared to Jubileus and Aesir, but that’s honestly probably just because there was no summoning of Queen Sheba/Omne and no Infiniton Climax (Bring back the Big Bang Bonus!).

The setpiece segments of Bayonetta 3 were better than 1 and 2 by a landslide- at least, in my opinion. Even if you just focus on the setpieces from the Deadly Sin Ritual Summonings, they surpass the first two on theatrics alone- ESPECIALLY Baal Zebul. Bayonetta just randomly breaking out into a rhythm minigame with an opera-singing frog-princess-demon? PERFECT. But also... Mega-Godzilla-Sin Gomorrah rock-paper-scissors boss fight? Shockingly fun! Phantasmaraneae being upgraded to The Phantom (Devil May Cry reference! FUCK YEAH! Just make them the same universe PLEASE) and... low-key being implied to represent the Big Bang explosion? And the fight where you’re switching between him and Malphas? Fantastic. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON QUEEN BUTTERFLY. Madama Butterfly was badass enough on her own, but MEGA MADAMA BUTTERFLY USING THE CLOUDS AS A BATHTUB FOR A BOSS FIGHT? Immaculate. How does she relate to Queen Sheba, though? I wonder... (More Inferno lore Platinum please and thank you it’s the least developed of the trinity of realities)

And for one final note- Being able to CHANGE BAYONETTA’S HAIR COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. WHY WAS THAT NOT A THING BEFORE. REDHEAD BAYONETTA.

[otomes-world]

Loyal Knight

Anon said: Hello love! I hope you're doing well, May I request this prompt for Rook or maybe Idia? Thank you ❤️ 30. “I`m chronically ill... with jealousy”

Life is full of mysteries, unknown things that are waiting for someone to discover them. Who else, if not a humble hunter and just a connoisseur of everything beautiful, would know about this? Watching the newly minted prefect of the onboro dorm had become his new hobby.  Of course, she didn't have the charisma of the lion king or dragon king. Like with her appearance she could not compete with the lord of poisons.

However, there was something in her features, something that constantly escapes the ordinary gaze and at the same time lures it.  Perhaps it was the very highlight. Maybe it was because she was a 'famous' treasure that hidden on the seabed. The hard-to-reach, but at the same time so attractive that many put their lives on the line for the opportunity to see it with at least one glance. Not to mention raising it to the surface and taking it for themselves.

However, these were just metaphors. Comparing a lady with an object was bad manners. This was not what a true gentleman should do. Rook Hunt preferred to count himself among them.

Even now, being in the class, he could not take his eyes off the girl sitting on the grass under the tree. She probably just finished an assignment assigned by the director or some other teacher, and was resting. Even though they were meters and several floors apart, Hunt could clearly see the folds in her clothes, disheveled hair and a tired expression on face. For him, this had become a familiar picture, however, as for the rest of the students. Many had become accustomed to the existence of an unusual student and already ceased to attach any importance to this.

Except of him.

"Rook Hunt, what has caught your attention so much that you allow yourself to be distracted during my lesson?" The blonde's thoughts were distracted by the teacher's voice, in which tired notes slipped. He looked up from the window and spread his arms in a revealing gesture, preparing to answer, but seeing this, the teacher immediately continued. "It doesn't matter. You can keep on."

Saying this, the man returned to the lecture, while a stream of whispers swept through the class. Basically, it contained surprise how the teachers so easily let away the vice-leader of Pomefiore. However, they could be understood. Rook was in this college for the third year and managed to establish an eccentric nature. Ignoring the next portion of gossip, the hunter just turned back to the window and, resting his head on his hand, looked down with a smile.

The picture below hadn't changed much. This time, a long tail with a tassel at the end was wrapped around the girl's forearm. This was another unspoken gentleman among the entire stream of students. The noble lion king reluctantly took the prefect under his wing. Thanks to his peculiar attention, the number of the lady's admirers had significantly decreased. Only the most courageous and purposeful ones left.

Could Hunt call himself a lucky owner of these qualities? More than enough.

Fight for the hand of a beautiful girl, what could be more romantic. Rook was not a knight, only a modest hunter, but for the sake of such a young man was ready to change his profession for a short while.

"H-Hunt-san?.." A cautious uncertain question, asking one which already regretted to do it. "A-are you aright? You have s-s-scary, I mean! Strange expression on your face."

Hearing this, Rook immediately turned to Octavinelle A-kun, whose eyes were already running from one corner to another and student was ready to rush to the door at any moment. This man had always been controversial. However, the character of his only played into the hands of the head of his dorm, for whom the student became a spy and a simple collector of information.

"That's right, Monsieur, I've been sick for a long time," Hunt said grammatically.

"Y-yes?! Then.."

"I am chronically ill.." continued the vice-leader of Pomefiore, not allowing the young man to finish his sentence. "... with jealousy".

Hearing the end of the sentence, Octavinelle Ah-kun stared at the blond with a lost gaze.

"H-hunt-san?.."

"To be more precise, the whole thing is in a disease that ruined millions and at the same time made billions happy. You guessed it right, Monsieur. Exactly! It name is love! An insidious villain who pushed me into the abyss of unknown feelings and at the same time presented something without which I can no longer live."

"That's how.. I.."

"You don’t understand, right? Oh, I didn’t understand myself. I didn’t understand until the simplest truth visited my tired mind. However, this does not mean that I lost my grip. I’m sure, Roi d’Effort will also be glad to hear it,” saying this, Rook narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling. "Will you be so kind to convey this to him?"

The completely bewildered student immediately nodded and tried to move away from Hunt as far as the distance between the tables would allow. To this, Hunt only replied with his famous look and glanced briefly out the window. The prefect was gone.

However, this was not a problem. He can always find her later. After all, it was the duty of a knight to accompany the princess and protect her from adversity and self-proclaimed admirers.

[matan4il]

Buddie 408 meta

In the first call of the ep, Buck and Eddie were paired up as partners and with the jumper call, we see them having parallel conversations about the problems that dating has introduced into their lives. That’s on top of the parallel dating timelines that I mentioned in my 407 meta and continues in this ep. Basically, no matter where the show takes them, it also links them together, even through the small things. Always.

* * *

During Ana and Eddie’s ‘big date’, we learn that he spends his time solving math problems, which… what kind of a date even is that? And the flirting in the scene doesn’t quite work for me personally, because not only do we not know Ana as a character, we also don’t know them as a couple. ALL we’ve had so far is flirting, but where are the bits where they connect, where you can see how they fit as people in real situations? When a show is invested in a Love Interest, it gives us those scenes. Not just heavy handed flirting. Same goes for Ana meeting Chris at the end of the ep, we don’t know what she’s like with him, only that he loves her because she used to be his teacher, which is a very lazy way of establishing their bond. And the most meaningful scene in the ep? Didn’t involve Ana or Chris with her. She’s still not being invested in. So yeah, she’s around, but she still doesn’t feel like she’s meant to be long term.

I found it jarring (in a good way!) that right after his date, not only does Eddie come home to Buck (let’s not talk about how Buck walks into the scene a bit like a revealed love interest would, for example like Athena’s walk into the restaurant revealing her as Bobby’s date in ep 110) and it then plays as such a domestic scene (given the bit of teasing with “you’re late!”, and how Buck is shown to be so great with Chris, as well as being there for Eddie), the fact that this happens right after the almost completely contentless date is a contrast that emphasizes just how much more meaningful this relationship is. It also served as a reminder that while Eddie hesitated in re-introducing Chris to his own mother, while Eddie was now unsure and uncomfortable telling his son about the woman he’s dating, when he met Buck, there was no hesitation. Just like Eddie instinctively knew he and Buck would have each other’s back, he knew he could trust Buck when introducing him to his son. Again, the comparison screams how meaningful the Buddie bond is and has been since day one! This is not how you sell a new Love Interest to the audience. Or get shippers to stop shipping.

And I couldn’t help but notice that Eddie’s date gives us a scene of both Buck and Eddie returning home. Eddie is completely comfortable and happy when he returns to his house, because he’s in his element, seeing Buck and Chris (other than the moment when he doesn’t feel comfortable telling Chris about Ana). Buck in comparison is highly uncomfortable returning to his loft, due to Veronica being there and his sense of Albert’s betrayal. This continues the theme of showing that really, Buck’s home is with the Diaz boys.

* * *

In contrast with Ana, Taylor has been back for only one ep and already has been shown more as a character on her own, getting a mini redemption arc, as well as having a more developed and multi-faceted history with the guy she’s been brought back for. Taylor will clearly continue to show up, and I think a friendship between her and Buck could be interesting. At the end of the day, I can’t ignore that the biggest thing she said to show she does know Buck isn’t what she spewed in a moment of anger. It’s that he already has meaningful relationships - with the 118. Which of course includes, as this ep highlights, Eddie and Chris. Who knows? Maybe at some point, she’ll get to say something about this to Buck.

* * *

Speaking of friendships, I love so many of the platonic ones on this show. Athena and Hen’s just rules, Bobby and Michael’s is so freaking pure, and now I’m also adoring Buck and Albert’s. I LOVE that Al chose friendship over romance. That we got the show saying good friendships matter more. I love that Buck got to see his friend putting him first. I wanna take a sec to applaud this! (that Al and Buck are roommates as well and still less domestic and each other’s partner than Buck and Eddie are is just a bonus)

* * *

The date scene’s only meaty part is establishing the problem Eddie has: he’s not comfortable yet with telling his son about Ana. Normally, him resolving that would have been the climax of his story arc in this ep. Instead, his coming to terms with having to tell his son about his dating is played semi-comically, against the backdrop of the guy whose jumping from the roof the team is betting on. His scene of talking about it to Chris isn't the climax either, since it isn’t the one where Chris gets to open up and share his feelings, allowing emotional progress. Instead, that climax scene happens between Buck and Chris. And why would Eddie’s dating dilemma climax happen with a scene between his son and his best friend? Showing us how deeply they’re tied together? That’s not how these stories usually unfold... (another symbol of that is that dating stories with an interrupted kiss are usually resolved by seeing the couple getting to kiss after all before the end of that storyline, but Eddie and Ana don’t get that)

Not to mention that when Buck talks to Chris, he already knew about Christopher’s outburst, meaning he was updated about this right away, despite this being the night of his weird double date (not for example the next day), and Eddie had to have told him before he told Ana. Buck is SO Eddie’s real partner. I also found it interesting that what Chris confesses is his fear of more people he loves leaving. But who is he scared will leave? Eddie dating doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere. And Chris can’t be that afraid of losing at some point this new person that he doesn’t even yet know if he’ll like. So who might drift away if Eddie starts dating? It’s “Dad’s friend”, whose house is the place Chris chose to run away to. The guy whose reassurance - that he will always be in Christopher’s life - is what calms down this confessed fear.

And if that doesn’t say everything about how central Buck is to Chris as more than just his dad’s friend, consider the fact that Chris’ fear of being abandoned parallels Buck’s as he had expressed it to Maddie in 316. This scene might have used the word ‘friends’ for Buck and Chris, but in every other way, it presented them as a family (and by extension, Eddie too). And this is a show that repeatedly points out how real family matters more than anything else, in whatever form it may come. That it’s a bond that cannot be broken. And that’s what these three have.

Thank you endlessly to my amazing friend @bicepsie​​ for making her incredible gifs for this meta post! xoxox Also, if you like my takes on Buddie, you can find more of my meta and fics for them here. Thank you in advance for any like, comment and of course reblog, they all help so much! As we go into this break in eps, I’ll still be here, making content and answering questions for anyone interested. Have a pleasant hiatus everyone and be well! xoxoxox 

[snow-in-the-desert]

Dramione Recommendations

Ok so, 2020 has been A LOT but on a personal note one of the most surprising things to happen was me discovering Dramione fanfiction and becoming unashamedly obsessed with it. I really didn’t see that coming but I’m here now and I’m here to stay. 

I think I started reading in the Dramione fandom around mid July last year?? (In all honesty I’ve lost any true sense of time’s progression at this point so I could be well off the mark with that) And I’ve decided to compile a list of all my favourite fics I’ve read so far. Why? I really just want to gush over all the amazing writers I have found through this fandom because y’all deserve it. 

Side note: If any of the authors actually sees this post just dm so I can buy you coffee or post you writing supplies or something idk I feel like that’s the least I can do for all your amazing work x

Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing

Ok I have to start with RN because this fic is pretty much the sole reason I decided to create an account with A03 or a tumblr or just decided to get involved with this fandom at all. 

I headcannon this story hard. But I think even if you aren’t a fan of Dramione you should just read this because it is so unbelievably good and well written and poignant and Draco’s sarcastic personality in this is truly a thing of beauty in this - I relate to his inner monologue’s on a deep personal level. 

I could rave about this story any time, any day of the week, just ask me. In fact, maybe I’ll just start a HeyJude19 fan club to fulfill that urge.

There are so many elements that I love but for the sake of brevity, RN is a beautifully told story of Draco and Hermione finding love and healing in a post-war HP setting. Heyjude19 had the very special ability of making me want to simulatenously laugh, cry and swoon with the power of her words. Just stop what you are doing and go read it now if you havent already, ok?  

I also really enjoyed reading Bells on a Hill, Beers, Potions and Unwise Notions and A Shift in Focus, if you are looking for smaller fics, definitely give these a go. They are all funny and heartfelt stoires that will make your tippy toes wriggle with glee. 

The Rights and Wrongs Series by @lovesbitca8

The Right Thing To Do, All The Wrong Things and The Auction are the holy trinity of Dramione writing. I have christened it thus, so mote it be. And frankly I’m not interested in any other opinion than that one, thank you very much!

After reading this series I don’t think I’ll be able to look back on the orginal HP books without thinking of Hermione’s and Draco’s memories of their time at Hogwarts in these fics as anything other than strictly cannon. 

So many things to love about this series but I think one of the major highlights was Hermione and Draco’s use of occlumency. LoveBitca8 created such beautiful visuals with how occlumency works as a magical practice and seeing Draco and Hermione so devoted to eachother to the point of safeguarding their inner most feelings to protect eachother was unbelievably romantic and poetic. 

Also the smut is divine ;)

Manacled by @senlinyu​

My heart will never be the same after reading this story. Like I actually can’t think about this fic without getting a lump at the back of my throat. I have never felt so emotionally ruined after reading anything, compared to the likes of this fic. Just please, please read it. To badly quote HP, reading Manacled will make you suffer but you’re going to be happy about it.

The flashbacks are a rollercoaster in of themselves but the way Hermione inadvertently refers to them when she is still in a state of memory loss was so heartbreaking to read. My heart still aches for them both. Also its a truly satisfying to see Draco and Hermione written in a way were they are both so fiercly protective of one another. They make my insides go soft. 

I also really enjoyed Snow Fall, Now Is A Gift and All You Want by the author but to be honest anything written by Senlinyu is always thoroughly enjoyable and worth a look. 

The Erised Effect by @adaprix​

Ada is QUEEN of dramione smut but ‘The Erised Effect’ is top tier. Its equal parts funny, romantic, sentimental and oh so sexy. Ada really knows how to build and build on sexual tension and doesn’t disappoint on the final delivery. I’m a big admirer of her writing style and just veraciously read whatever she posts but ‘The Erised Effect’ is just golden. A must read. (Also Pansy’s sexual fantasy in this story is a visual I don’t think I’ll ever be able to remove from my brain so thanks for that Ada)

Also quick side note: Adaprix’ stories were the first I read when I was looking into this fandom and it was enough to get me hooked on the pairing from the get go so I have that to thank Ada for too. I remember devouring all the stories she had posted to A03 and when I was done I was like... now what am I supposed to do with my life?? And that’s basically when I began to look deeper into the fandom and thus the course of my life in 2020 changed for the better. 

Some other stories I love by her are Break for Me, All My Sins, The Big 4-0, The Fucklust Series and The Flat in Bath. 

Clean by @olivieblake​

This 6th Year AU where Draco and Hermione work together on a class assignment and end up falling in love had me feeling all kinds of ways when I read it. I almost don’t know where to start but I think one of the stand out things for me was how immersed I felt in reading it. 

Hogwarts is captured really well, you get a good sense of class atmospheres, character nuances and behind the scenes of events that happen in HBP but from a Draco and Hermione’s perspectives. It’s well executed and intricate tapestry of a fic. With an excellent plot twist ending! 

Also Hermione and Draco’s relationship in this is equal parts fluffy and smutty and it just ticks all the right boxes that you want to see for those characters ;)

Breath Mints / Battle Scars by @onyx-and-elm​

The angst in this one is just *chef’s kiss*

God I love this fic. The way Draco is portrayed is very true to his defensive and tetchy character in the original books but he is also given so much more depth. The way his diary entries are written are just so well executed. It’s a true testament to the author’s creative writing skill. And I LOVE how even though Draco is clearly in such a messed up place, he still has a basic level of self respect and dignity that he won’t tolerate being used or undervalued in his relationship with Hermione. 

Yep, I really love Draco’s characterisation in this one if you can’t tell.  But Hermione is also well written too. Her stuggles and trauma of returning to Hogwarts after war is described in a believable and grounded way. And my heart definitely ached for them both. I just wanted to wrap the pair of them in a big fuzzy blanket and tell them that everything will be alright. 

WANDS OUT! by @persephonestone​

This murder mystery / Dramione / Theo x Harry / AU crossover is everything I didn’t know I wanted until I read it. I felt like I was picked up and plonked right into an alternative dimension where all the characters of HP are just living it up in an Agatha Christie novel. 

It’s a funny and clever story that I found refreshing to read amongst all the other fanfics that are usually cemented in the HP timeline or universe. Theodore Nott in this fic is perfection he should be written like this in every fic from now on in my opinion. I couldn’t stop giggling any time he had a scene in the story.

And the ‘only one bed’ trope in this fic is 10/10. I don’t want to give spoilers but ohmygod. It hits all the right notes. 

The One With Technical Difficulties by cassielassie 

Cassielassie has an excellent three part series of Dramone called ‘The One with...” but I have to give special credit to this story in particular for one main reason. ELEVATOR TROPES. I can’t get enough of em. I think I have my early childhood viewings of NCIS to thank for my obsession with elevator tropes they just do something to me that simply cannot be explained with mere words. The palpable sexual tension of being in a broken down elevator with an ‘enemies to lovers’ pairing, a heated arguement breaks out followed by a discovery of mutual feelings and a romantic embrace...

Eugh. It gets me everytime. And this fic is no exception. I loved it for all the reasons I’ve already stated above but also for the attention to detail in Draco and Hermione’s careers makes this one particularly immersive. The dynamics between them established in this one-shot are convincingly portrayed and the chemistry between them is so undeniably hot. 

The Light is No Mystery by @masterofinfinities​

Yooo if you want to read a dramione fic that is a deep dive into Pureblood culture and Post-War recovery but is also a perfect allegory for discrimination and today’s political landscape of moral grandstanding for votes then look no further than this one. 

This story has a bit of everything. Intrigue, mystery, ptsd and recovery, enemies to lovers / secret relationship, government conspiracy and humour, to name a few. I eargerly await every update to this story and am anxious to know how it ends!

The Eagle’s Nest by HeartOfAspen 

Finally! A fic that gives me the Ravenclaw representation I crave. I think I could recommend this fic on the lore depicted of Ravenclaw house alone. ‘The Stacks’ and Rowena Ravenclaw’s own ‘come and go room’ are just such cool details that I could see being real in the HP universe. 

This fic is so cosy and makes me feel like I’m just popping back into Hogwarts for another year. You get to see all the usuals like prof. Mcgongall, Nearly headless Nick, PEEVES, Hagrid, as well as learn more about minor characters from the other school houses. The story follows Hermione going to her day to day classes and there are interesting concepts about magic and alchemy that are explored. 

Draco and Hermione’s relationship in this one is of course very fluffy and heartfelt. But it’s the attention to detail that really makes this fic outstanding and the experience of reading it feels fleshed out and true to HP universe.

A shorter fic by HeartofAspen that I recommend is one called Set in Stone, it has an adventurous, Indianna Jones vibe to it, that I am so down for. 

Teachable Moments by @purplesugarquills

In this fic Hermione is an innocent little virgin determined to learn everything about sex. And Draco Malfoy is her tutor. If that isn’t enough to get you on board then I don’t know what is. Both Heartfelt and Steamy. PurpleSugarQuills writes smut so well but it’s the progression of their growing attachment and the nervous treading of new uncharted waters of romantic relationships for both of them that just adds a whole other level of feels to the story. Also chapter 9 is like reading poetry - its so good. Eugh just give it a read if you haven’t already.

Les Pèlerins by @pacific-rimbaud

This story is high art. It’s transcendent. Reading this story feels like the emotional equivalent of standing around a hundred glowing fairy lights, sipping hot cocoa and being wrapped in the loving embrace of a s/o. I can’t speak my praises highly enough or even become passably coherent in my words when I try to articulate a review. 

From the very first paragraph I felt like I was just whisked away on a Parisian holiday and I’ve never even bloody been to Paris but damn it if this story didn’t make me feel like I was there. The writing style is just so tactile and intense it’s like I could feel the cold winter air brush against me as I read it. Eugh I just completely fell in love with the story and the writer. 

New Year’s resolution. Read everything PacificRimbaud has ever posted online. 

[doctorofmagic]

The Death of Doctor Strange #3 - Review

Apologies in advance for taking so long to write this, I had a crazy week. BUT we keep winning and that’s what matters.

Okay but first, I was reading the summary from last issue and it says Clea is a sorceress from the Purple Dimension, not the Dark Dimension? Probably a typo since in Jed’s interview, he said Clea was Dark Dimension’s SS.

Next we see what I already posted in the preview post: Stephen’s autopsy performed by Jane (💜). Also Stephen and Jane were not only involved with the lame Grim Reaper but also the actual personification of Death back in Valkyrie - Jane Foster #6-7.

I haven’t commented on this yet but I absolutely adore Thor addressing Clea as Lady Clea. Poor girl doesn’t even have a surname so I think it’s just fair (and very sweet of him).

Next, Stephen joins the Avengers and reveals that his soul was stolen and, for that reason, there can’t be a Sorcerer Supreme.

My thoughts on this are a bit controversial because... Chronologically speaking, Earth was without a Sorcerer Supreme for years before Stephen earned the title in Triumph & Torment. True, the Ancient One died and left his powers to Stephen before becoming one with the Universe and Eternity. BUT it doesn’t mean Stephen became Sorcerer Supreme after his demise. Besides, the Ancient One was brought back to life, which means his soul is not inhabiting the aether, as far as I can understand what aether means. Lastly, a Sorcerer Supreme doesn’t need their soul to return to the aether (or die?) for a next Sorcerer Supreme to rise. This would conflict with Jericho earning the mantle in New Avengers v2. Unless, of course, by aether, Jed means the mystic atmosphere/balance, regardless of people’s spirits. Ahh, more questions than answers, as usual, which is fine. Let’s move on.

Clea wonders why the warlords fled to Earth and Wong replies with a good reason. They know Earth is special because it has its heroes to defend it. Time and time again some stories highlight that there’s something special about this planet in the Marvel universe. Funny tho how Stephen doesn’t know Galactus yet. Bonus points for Wong mentioning Annihilus because while heroes were fighting each other in the Civil War, Richard Rider was there saving the galaxy against Annihilus so I appreciate the recognition, Wong 💜 (I know he was referring to the Fantastic Four as well but I had to point that out too ‘cause Rich, my beloved 💜).

Oh, this Stephen doesn’t know they [redacted]. The angst smh

Okay so neither Jed or Lee confirmed this moment was inspired on Master of the Mystic Arts #25, but they both liked my tweet. I’ve been waiting for the three of them to hold hands like that since this issue! I’m so glad!

Here Tony is probably making a reference to the tie-ins. London is probably the Black Knight/X-Men issue, while the Tiger Division will appear in White Fox. By the way, for those who don’t know White Fox, she’s one of the original characters created for Marvel Future Fight, along with Luna Snow, Crescent and Sharon Rogers. Aero, Swordmaster and Wave are also OCs from another Marvel game. They’re all well-established in the 616 universe ever since their debuts.

While the Avengers will solve the mystic threats, Clea, Wong and 60′s!Stephen will investigate the murderer. Clea sends Flibbertigibbet to find them. It reminded me of the fairies that lived in the Sanctum but I suppose this is a different spirit.

And now we head to the BEST part of this issue, the pinnacle of my existence ever since I started this blog. Crying over Cleaphen finally paid off! This is retribution for every wrong Mark Waid has done to them. This is retribution for Cullen Bunn ruining their marriage since Fearless Defenders. This is MY MOMENT, I’ve waited for this FOR YEARS jfc, THANK YOU, JED AND LEE. THANK YOU, I OWE YOU MY LIFE.

First of all, let’s start by fixing v5. Also I’m not crying, you are.

So it seems that, when Stephen died and his soul was stolen, Mephisto decided to make Clea suffer further and gave her memories back. He wanted her to suffer and be miserable. Well, this is Mephisto’s face when he realizes that giving Clea her memories back is the reason why they got back together:

This whole page is everything to me. EVERYTHING.

“Because a man who had your heart-- and lost it? He could be called nothing else.”

YEAH, NO SHIT, STEPHEN. In his defense, it was also the writers’ fault. He did neglect her at some point, as I’ve explained in this post, but it was not intentional. Stephen has always, ALWAYS loved her more than anyone else. Maybe he did take her for granted but there was also A LOT in his mind.

And then... They... They... Kiss!!! *sobs*

I love this part. I love every single trait that Jed uses to portray Stephen. Because back in 2012, Stephen would totally take advantage on her because writers wanted him to be a dog and a jerk. He’s not like that. Stephen is a being of love. He may not love Clea yet but he believes in love. He’s righteous and virtuous. He’s kind and passionate. This is my Stephen.

It’s not ideal because, well, not regular!Stephen, but it’s a start. I do believe they’re going to go back together. It feels like closure, the way they talked and shared their feelings. I need this. I need Clea and Stephen to be happy. They’re both loners, they’re so much more when they’re together. They’re everything to me. They deserve to love and be loved.

Okay, so next Flibbertigibbet returns and tells them where the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation are. To no one’s surprise, they head to Castle Mordo.

I’ve seen some atrocities out there, like an article saying that Clea is the culprit because she didn’t send Flibbertigibbet to look for the murderer instead of the stolen artifacts. I have two answers for that.

First is, there can’t be a Sorcerer Supreme if Stephen’s soul is not back to the aether, right? But they NEED a Sorcerer Supreme, and thus they need the Cloak and the Eye. Those are fundamental artifacts to the Sorcerer Supreme. Not that they’re required, but they do help a lot.

Second reason is, what if the culprit is in another dimension? Say, if they’re actually Channok, as I first theorized back on my first review. Same goes for my second suspect, Silver Dagger.

So you see, they have two reasons to look for the artifacts first.

The last act shows two moments happening at the same time. While the Mothers invade the domain of Dagoth to offer him as food to the Child, we learn that Mordo, being the lame character we all know he is, sold his soul AGAIN for more power, this time relying on Umar, Dagoth, Aggamon and Tiboro. Stephen sensed it with his third eye and exposed his ass AS HE SHOULD.

And here we’re able to see Stephen going APESHIT. I don’t blame him, tho. I know Stephen doesn’t kill (usually) but he has done it before. I don’t believe he will do it this time but his words alone made Mordo shit his pants, and this moment is also everything to me because Mordo deserves nothing but being portrayed as a coward that he is.

HAHAHAHAHA I love this so much.

Lastly, I know the chapter left many questions. But my thoughts are: I don’t think Mordo did it. He could never, he’d brag about being the one who murdered the Sorcerer Supreme, as he’s been trying for ages. I believe he took advantadge on the Mothers’ assault and stole the artifacts (remember how the Cloak was still under Stephen’s body?)

Who did it then? I still think it was either Channok or Silver Dagger. Both have grim smiles and bad intentions. Besides, his hands were stolen. This is why Channok is my first option. Because the spell remade Stephen’s hands thanks to his library of forbidden spells, so maybe he wants retribution. Like a demon claiming a soul when the deal is due. But it could also be Silver Dagger using it as trophies or for some darker purpose. We’ll have to wait for now.

ALSO MY APOLOGIES, ANON, I really had a tough week, but things are better now!

I knew I could trust Jed. Sadly, issue #4 was delayed but Lee Garbett got us on his IG. I’m very glad Stephen and Clea are in good hands. I can’t never get enough of DODS. I NEED MORE!!

[narutakijune]

About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

[h50europe]

Why the myth about Steve's PTSD doesn't add up and other inconsistencies

In the last few episodes of H50, PL tried to sell us a mentally broken Steve suffering from PTSD. Only the whole thing came a bit too late. The clip you see is from season 4 and ended up - no, not in the series - but somewhere on the floor of PL's editing room. And why? after Kurtzman and Orci departed, along with their writers, PL took the helm and started turning Steve into a super-soldier. He stylized him into something that wasn't meant to be. Instead of developing the characters, PL began to incorporate more and more hair-raising action sequences into the series and then let Steve fight on the front lines. There was no mention of Steve's mental state, and a lot was explained by PL with: it just happened "offscreen." Yeah, sure. PL can't create a decent character. He can only produce stereotypes and one-dimensional beings. Like Adam. What potential would that character have had had he been turned into Five-0's antagonist? But no. So his role remained diffuse and monotonous. Sometimes even tragicomical.

Back to Steve. When SEAL Team started on CBS, PL also lapsed into SEAL mania. If someone who writes fanfiction were to produce as much garbage as this man did, he would be chased away from every writers' platform in disgrace. PL's Super SEAL also had to rescue his team members from a blazing inferno. Not man by man, no, he flew a helicopter right into the danger zone and lifted a whole cabin out of the burning jungle. If lunacy had a name, it would be PL. While the action became more and more exaggerated and unrealistic, the same happened to the protagonists. After the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, PL completely lost his mind. And please, don't blame the writers for the nonsense that was thrown at you. A series stands and falls with the showrunner. He dictates what he wants and passes it on to his staff.

And so, lovable Steve became a soulless robot who only showed feelings here and there. Danny diminished more and more into a sidekick. McDanno became a ship that drifted anchorless through a stormy sea and threatened to capsize again and again. From season 8, it became a reboot of the reboot. PL tried an ensemble show and failed more than miserably. Often the actors just stood around bored. At least that was the impression. The only highlight was episode 8.10. A feast for all McDanno fans. But even here, the outcome of "who shot Danny" was more than insubstantial.

Wait, there was something about SEALs... Oh, yes. Junior appeared on the scene and became Steve's lapdog. I really wondered when there was going to be an episode where he would fetch sticks for Steve. Luckily we had Eddie for that. And because he thought he was so clever, PL invented the episode speed dating. How many subplots can you squeeze into one episode at the same time? In some episodes, you couldn't even take a look at the bag of potato chips without losing the thread.

The case of the week became the yawn of the week. There were so many loose ends that PL then came up with something called retconning. That's what you do when you're no longer satisfied with what was once established in the series years ago, or it no longer fits. But PL went one step further and did the same with the characters. The more the series was dragged out, the more the characters deteriorated and became OOC. It means, often, they were not recognizable at all. And that's where we come to Steve. Because PL, in his desperation, didn't know what else he could do to Steve, and so he killed Joe White. He did it in such a cheesy way with a fake sunset that it made you sick.

Of course, one episode later, there had to be another gig of PL's favorite Barbie. He stuck a fake beard on poor Steve/Alex, so he couldn't even hug Danny/Scott properly. The episode also raised more questions than it answered any. And Steve? He still didn't suffer from PTSD, even though he had now lost Joe White and a fellow SEAL. Everyone is dropping like flies, except for Steve, who is standing like a rock. No matter what. He doesn't need in-depth talks with Danny, nor psychological care, nor any sleeping pills. No, he's doing great. He also opens a restaurant with Danny because apparently, the carguments are already getting on PL's nerves. Unfortunately, this plot device leads into nirvana. The idea was nice, but nobody thought it through to the end. And the merry-go-round continues. Until we get to season 10, where it gets even more absurd. Now PL is almost bombarding us with McDanno episodes, or at least it should seem that way. Oh well, he's already planning for season 11, so a new character has to come on board quickly. While in the beginning, Steve's mother, Doris, dies.

Alex was allowed to take on the subject. Of course, only under the strict eyes of PL. He then nullifies Alex's idea that Steve kills his mother. Because a good soldier and Super SEAL won't do that. Little does PL know. THAT could have been the opening of a PTSD scenario for Steve. However, apart from that, this episode would have had any potential for a multi-arc. Just imagine Steve chasing his mother across multiple episodes. Again, PL stepped in and butchered Alex's episode. You can really feel sorry for the guy. PL at his best or worse? He just can't help it. And then, on the very last meters of the series, he brings someone new, who is allowed to cruise around with Steve most of the time. Because Danny was kidnapped by Wo Fat's widow, PL also invented quite late to have some villain at his disposal. This wannabe mastermind must really have been living under a rock somewhere if she wasn't even mentioned by her husband or appeared earlier.

Because towards the end, PL obviously ran out not only of steam but also of ideas, everything culminated in a wildly illogical scenario. Steve has to live through a dramatic day with Eddie, who stands as a metaphor for Steve (as I said, PTSD was never a thing for Super SEAL), Danny bangs his brains out in a ladies' room with a complete stranger, who dies shortly after that in an accident with Danny's rental car. Apparently, there was no budget to turn the Camaro into scrap metal. Danny then also goes home alone, ignoring the incoming emergency vehicles. Everything remains open at the end of the episode. While Steve expresses his gratitude to Tani and Quinn and says, he would be just as lost as poor Eddie without the dog and all of them. The strange thing is that you never notice anything until that sentence. A few forced dialogues are supposed to make the drama visible, but they all happen way too late or are so poorly written that you miss them.

PL had decided early on to make Steve a Teflon hero. That also means he didn't need to put much substance into the character. Which you can clearly see if you compare the first three seasons to the rest of the series. But towards the end, PL wanted to turn the tide and forcefully rewrote Steve's past. There is a huge difference if you compare Steve from seasons 1 to 3 with Steve from season 10. It is only a sparse remnant of what made this character so great. This change in Steve's personality also affects his relationship with Danny. The witty, affectionate banter degenerates into a snappy, humorless bitch-fest that takes all the joy out of it.

The final two episodes could have been written for any other crime show. As mentioned, we have Cole, who even gets a book'em Cole from Steve, which can only be described as out of line. And it begs the question, was that what Lenkov originally had in mind? Danny out of the show and Cole in? Was the last episode, which mainly featured McCole, something of a test run? Did all the McDanno moments happen only to tear the two apart eventually? Was the real final scene the one where Steve and Catherine take Danny's coffin back to Jersey? Was Danny not supposed to survive? Was that the real reason Steve wanted to get out of Hawaii because he wanted to pay his respects to Danny? And would he really have returned to Hawaii later? Or would he have turned his back on Hawaii? To me, this ending is more plausible than what PL served us. Then, Steve handed over his credentials to Cole instead of Danny, his second in command. Honestly, you can't make the end of a series any more sloppy and dumber than that. And I won't even lose a word about the last 1:30 minutes because I think everything has already been said.

No PL, mission absolutely not accomplished. You created Teflon-Steve. You never wanted him to show any weakness. You turned him into a superhuman who can survive anything. Only to pull the rug out from under him on the last few meters to the finish line and spit on his legacy. How can you dismantle such a great series and its characters like you did? How much do you have to hate something to do that? In the final interviews, the showrunner didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Everyone who grew up with the series from day one knows that its end was wrong on all the possible levels and that the showrunner is solely to blame for that. It takes a fair amount of egoism and carelessness to drive 10 years at full throttle against the wall. Not many people can do that. Whether you can be proud of that, however, I doubt.

My respect if you have made it this far. Each of you gets 10 extra brownie points for it.