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xenoredux · 5 years ago

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The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 1: The Birth

Alright, first part of the GNG rewrite aaaaayyy! As with the last rewrite, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Firearms, various kinds of physical trauma, injuries to people and animals, the deaths of people and animals, search and rescue missions, self harm, animal and child abuse, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

THIS ALSO MARKS THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANIME SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY GNG LMAO enjoy

In the year 198somethingidk in the forests of Japan, a white Akita Inu named Shiro ("white") is tailing behind an unusually large Ussuri brown bear dubbed "Akakabuto" ( "red helmet") by the nearby village's populace due to the unusual red tuft of fur trailing down his back. Shiro is followed by his owner, a crotchety old fart named Gohei Takeda, renowned bear hunter and the world's least called out animal abuser (hint: this will become relevant later.)

Before the old man can take aim with his rifle, however, the shadowy mass from the winter darkness barrels towards him. As the dog tries to leap to his owner's defense, Akakabuto smacks off a good portion of Grandpa Point-n-Shooty's face, sending a severed human ear flying into a bloodied patch of snow. Shiro takes this as an invitation to do his best impersonation of Lassie and dives at the monstrous beast, grasping hard atop his muzzle to avoid his claws. From a nearby hill, a small red puppy watches the horror unfold.

While Shiro baits the bear, as is his job as a bear-dog, Gohei fires a bullet into the massive animal's right eye. The eyeball bursts in the bear's skull, but it also stops the bullet from traveling through his brain, instead lodging it into his grey matter and jostling around his nerve centers and pituitary gland. Understandably pissed at Gohei taking the shot, Akakabuto swipes madly at him until both himself and the dog stumble blindly off the edge of a cliff, resulting in what is surmised to be their deaths. Gohei faints in a snowbank, his vision running red with blood, as the unseen red puppy runs back to civilization to bring help.

Five years pass. Gohei continues to raise, train, and hunt with Akitas, but now it's for more then the sake of bringing home bear skins. He believes Akakabuto is still alive, and he wants revenge. The massive scar on the left side of his face is explanation enough for anyone to understand why. He continues to explore the forest near his home, now aided by several new dogs, including one of Shiro's sons, a powerful red Akita named Riki ("power" or "strength") and the same puppy who had saved Gohei's life all those years ago.

Riki has comfortably begun filling his father's shoes, enough so that he's established a reputation as one of the best bear-dogs in Japan. With a title like that, it wasn't long before Riki had been mated to an equally powerful and very pretty red brindle Akita named Fuji, and the buns he'd so kindly plopped into her oven were fit to enter the bakery of life and this analogy sucks

Fuji is not Gohei's dog. She belongs to the Fujiwaras, a neighboring nuclear family who own and operate a ski resort in the mountains. Daisuke Fujiwara, a young boy with a heart of gold and a nose of snot, has been tending to his dog during her pregnancy, and she's finally delivered what is universally understood as The Best Thing Ever: a litter of roly poly puppies! Daisuke is especially taken with the smallest of the babies, a handsome silver brindle boy, because Daisuke is a stuck up dog fancier who believes silver brindles, or Tora-Ges ("tiger striped") make the best hunting dogs. He ever-so-creatively dubs the puppy Gin ("silver") and decides the infant will do him proud someday.

But all is not well in Skiiertown. Gohei's hunt of Akakabuto isn't just motivated by vengeance. The village mayor is currently trailing behind Gohei and his dogs, discussing how the town needs money from tourists and that Akakabuto's alleged presence would surely make some of them go "yeah, no" and leave. Gohei doesn't care about the economy, but he does care that a man named Genji from the neighboring town has been mauled under """mysterious""" circumstances.

As the two oldies argue about which is more important, money or human lives, Riki scents and points out the mutilated remains of two wayward tourists, a young man and his girlfriend. He also runs defensively to Gohei's side, snarling wildly. Everyone looks around, confused. Suddenly, a flash of black and red drops from the tree branches above onto the men and dogs. As the men's screams and dogs' cries fill the air, so does a fountain of their blood.

Soon after, forest rangers in helicopters are dispatched to locate and rescue the missing persons and - if they can manage it, no pressure at all - kill the illusive demon bear before he slaughters more innocents. Daisuke watches the helicopters pass overhead and leaps onto his snowmobile, incapable of not getting involved in anything.

He makes a beeline for Gohei's now abandoned camping tent. Finding it empty, he's about to drive off elsewhere when paramedics emerge from the wall of trees beside him. The mayor, bloodied and broken, is being carried on a stretcher. Daisuke runs up to him and asks what happened to Gohei and Riki, to which he's met with a simple "Akakabuto" as the man slips from consciousness.

Daisuke rushes back home to break the news to Fuji and her puppies about what happened to their doghusband and dogdad. Daisuke holds Gin close and insists Riki can't die until he's seen his shiny Pokemon of a son, to which Gin, being literally like a day old, merely whimpers and wiggles. Gazing misty eyed at the puppy, Daisuke changes his mind. Gohei can't be dead. Riki can't be dead. No mere bear could kill a man like Gohei or a dog like Riki.

Ten days pass. Neither Riki nor Gohei's bodies have been found, but the bodies of Gohei's other dogs, Riki's eldest son Aka ("red") and friend Don, have been located by lodge personnel. The animals were mauled so severely that everyone begins giving up the ghost on this whole "finding Gohei alive" business. Besides that, the cacophanic cries from Akakabuto have frightened everyone into leaving the forest, afraid of becoming the next victims. The bear is greatly distressed - his brain damage leaves him unable to rest for more then an hour at a time, let alone hibernate, and being awake during winter is disorienting him. He runs madly around the forest, roaring and swinging his massive claws at anything that moves and also most things that don't.

While the bear plods around wreaking havoc in the night, Daisuke is dreaming. He dreams of the old man and his dog languishing somewhere in the woods, starving to skeletal husks. He dreams that Gohei, in an act of desperation, raises his gun barrel to Riki's head. The old coot, overcome with hunger pangs and a desperation to survive, murmurs an apology to his dog, explaining a dude's gotta eat. He fires off a shot in Riki's skull, killing his closest companion, before tearing savagely into the dog's flesh with his bear hands. And I do mean bear hands, as Gohei begins to turn into Akakabuto, ripping the dog's flesh, then the Earth itself to pieces.

Daisuke awakens beside a sleeping Fuji a moment later. He's absolutely covered in sweat. He laments on how fucked up his dream was as he reaches out and caresses first Fuji, then Riki's puppies, praying that at least the first half of his dream, the half in which Gohei and Riki are still alive, is true.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Daisuke's subconscious, Gohei and Riki are in fact still alive! The two managed to struggle into a ravine just out of the bear's reach, and they've been holed up ever since. Riki's back has been shredded badly, and Gohei's right leg has been broken, mauled, and rendered useless. Gohei has begun to get sick of sitting on his ass incapable of doing anything, and with an ominous glint in his eye, raises the hatchet he had been carrying in his pack above Riki's head, murmuring something about home cooking...

In a twisted, eerie parallel to Daisuke's dream, the old man brings the weapon down, but not on the petrified dog in his lap. Instead, he's sliced through his own injured leg! Having severed the useless limb from the knee down, Gohei demands Riki eat his flesh, regain his energy, and seek help at the village just as he did when he was a youngster. Riki is understandably not for this, and his resistance in the form of wailing and vomiting is loud enough to catch the attention of the red helmeted hellspawn himself. In an effort to protect his even-more-fucked-up-now owner, Riki does indeed gather the last of his energy to throw himself at the bear.

Daisuke's dad begins leading a patrol back into the forest, saying that even if they're dead, Gohei and his dog's bodies can't be left to stink up the woods. Daisuke cuddles a quickly growing Gin as he asks to go, but he's told to stay home with the puppies. After all, Fuji is coming with the crew to find her doghusband and his owner's corpses.

Diasuke pouts for the 5 minutes it takes the men to be entirely out of sight before shoving Gin into his coat and plopping himself into the seat of his snowmobile, once again refusing to be left out of the excitement. Meanwhile, Riki continues his dual with Akakabuto, experiencing the slicing and dicing of a lifetime at the hands of the fiend.

The battle between bear and dog rages on, and fresh blood from both animals spatters the fresh fallen snow. Daisuke, having vroomed on over, catches sight of this historic event from atop a hill, and without a second thought begins driving down towards the bear. He tells Gin to have a look at his father, and once Gin realizes that his dad isn't the big red bear, he's awed at his old man's strength and resilience. This thought is interrupted by Daisuke screaming a one liner and driving over an incline, sending the snowmobile flying right into the bear's face. Daisuke and Gin both bail from the vehicle, and Gin tumbles out of Daisuke's jacket.

Akakabuto appropriately gathers his bearings before lunging at Daisuke, pissed off that a child has bitchslapped him with a small car. Diasuke screams for help as a bloodied, super manly arm yoinks him quickly into the ravine. It's (obviously) Gohei! He's (as we've established) still alive, and frankly very surprised to see Daisuke here! But Riki's still in unsafe territory outside, as is...

Gin! The puppy has tumbled into the bear's path, and he's too slow and uncoordinated to run to safety. Thankfully, Riki has already thrown himself at Akakabuto to save the little lad he's only just met. Daisuke and Gohei watch helplessly as the dual continues, as does a spellbound Gin.

Riki manages to break away from Akakabuto and snag up his son, but the lack of food and the constant stress on his body have taken everything out of him, and he collapses to the forest floor, Gin clutched in his teeth. Daisuke and Gohei call out to him, encourage him to come just a bit further, begging him to save himself and his son, but he just can't do it, even with the knowledge of the puppy's lineage in mind.

In a final heroic act, Riki works every muscle he's got one last time to leap forward just enough so he can yeet his son into the ravine. His effort works, and Gin finds himself safely landing in Daisuke's trembling arms, but it's too late for Riki. As the dog gazes helplessly at his master, his friend, and his child, Akakabuto delivers a final blow to his side. The red bear sends the red dog tumbling off a nearby cliff, and Riki disappears into the black snowy depths below, followed by a trail of blood and Gohei's cries of anguish.

Pissed beyond words, Gohei drags himself out of the ravine, hatchet clenched in his fist. He's just about to tell Akakabuto to 1v1 him scrub, but then everyone hears something. It's the search party come to call, all armed with guns and thermoses of hot cocoa. Akakabuto takes one look at all those shiny boom sticks and high tails it, leaving a madly wailing Gohei behind.

Daisuke emerges from the hole with Gin in his arms, much to his own father's surprise. As the men gather to take the boy, puppy, and old man to safety, Gohei drags himself to the cliffside and weeps openly for the loss of his beloved dog and closest friend.

In a short while, Gohei finds himself on a stretcher all his own. He congratulates Fuji on her litter and Daisuke on his silver brindle puppy, assuring him that Gin will make a fine bear-dog someday. Diasuke is understandably feeling glum as Gohei is carted off to hospital, but he's emboldened by the old man's words, as is his puppy. Gin is too young to speak or even truly understand what's happened, but he knows something lifechanging has taken place.

Several weeks pass. Gin and his siblings grow larger, large enough for Daisuke to initiate training them for their futures as hunting dogs. The boy has masterminded only the most exhausting, trying test of ability for the young animals today: cross a snowy field to get to him. While his siblings flop through the ice like suffocating fish, Gin's intuitive sense of laziness takes him onto the clean-driven road, where he easily makes his way into Daisuke's admiring arms. Daisuke decides that Gin is a veritable puppy prodigy, and he refuses to ever let him go.

Before he can heap more praise onto the puppy, here comes Shinji, one of Diasuke's classmates and closest non-canine friend. Shinji comes bearing news: Gohei has left the hospital at long last. Not because the doctor cleared him to, but because the impatient inpatient insisted he couldn't wait around with his thumb up his ass (or up the wound in his leg) any longer. Akakabuto has only continued to terrorize and traumatize the village folk and their visitors.

This doesn't surprise Daisuke, who is, at anything, glad that someone still has the gumption to do something about That Asshole In The Woods. Gumption doesn't benefit everyone, insists Shinji. Given Gin's a silver brindle and demonstrably the most protagonist-y out of the whole litter, Gohei will surely come to take him someday. He's Riki's son, after all, and now that Riki is gone, someone will have to fill his pawprints.

Daisuke is preemptively heartbroken, remembering back to the first time he saw the elderly man come back into town with his dogs. Gohei had taken a blunt stick and smacked Don around with it for some unknown insolence that transpired during their last hunt. The memory sends Daisuke's stomach and emotions reeling, and he clings to Gin.

Or perhaps his heartbreak was not so preemptive, because Gohei began chugging along towards the ski lodge the moment he left the hospital parking lot. The old man barges in on the boys' conversation and snags Gin up by the scruff of his little neck. Diasuke's dad notices the commotion and busts into it, telling Gohei the doctor demanded he get 6 months more bedrest. Gohei ignores him, instead striking Gin across the face for no reason but to test how pussy the puppy is. This only causes Gin to begin chewing in anger on the old man's fingers, to which the weirdass only grins.

Daisuke isn't happy about his dog being slapped out of nowhere, but Gohei insists it proves Gin's got a fighting spirit, an inherent gameness. Not like those worthless siblings of his, who Gohei proves aren't worthy of being mentioned outside of the first arc ever again by bopping them both in the face as well. To a chorus of squealing, crying puppies, Gohei leaves, carrying Gin away.

As Daisuke cries after Gohei not to kill the dog, the old man carries the puppy out of sight. Gohei takes the puplet to his cabin, showcasing his collection of bear skulls and animal hides. He leans back from his crutches and informs Gin that he'll be trained in much the same way his father was.

Gin doesn't understand what this means until Gohei picks up a stick and starts beating the everloving shit out of him. Daisuke seems to have had a hunch this would happen, because he's followed Gohei home, and the moment he sees what he's doing to Gin, he's even more pissed then the last time he lost a game of Fortnite.

Diasuke can't keep himself from whining about "animal abuse" and how "it's not good to beat infants" and other special snowflakery, to which Gohei responds by deadass picking up his rifle. He reaches down towards the battered Gin, lifts him up beside the barrel, and fires off a shot into an ancient bear skull on one of his shelves, shattering it to splinters. The gun is so GODDAMN LOUD that Daisuke falls back from the noise, and yet the tiny Gin doesn't even flinch. He seems more mystified by the gun then scared of it, a level of comfort that Gohei remarks Riki took a year of training to achieve.

Gohei says that Daisuke can leave whenever he'd like, because this dog is too suited for the job for him to ever surrender him. Daisuke unhappily ceases arguing, but he insists on staying and watching Gin train, to which Gohei just shrugs dismissively.

The next morning, Daisuke awakens in Gohei's cabin to the sound of Gin's whimpering. He rushes outside to find Gohei trying to forcefeed Gin bear flesh, a strong smelling meat with the world's most uninviting texture. When Daisuke tries to interfere, Gohei punches the 10 year old squarely in the jaw, making it ludicrously hard for the audience to appreciate his presence. Gohei insists he's doing this to get Gin acquainted with the enemy's scent and prove to him his will to live, but all Daisuke hears is "wah wah wah me like torture children".

At suppertime that day, Gohei offers Daisuke some of the soup he's made. Daisuke says he refuses to eat until Gin does. Gin has yet to have eaten any bear meat, and Gohei refuses to back down and feed him anything else. Instead, Gohei supplements Daisuke's meal for a story about a dog he owned long before Gin was born.

The dog was a Tosa Inu named Rikiou ("king of power"), and he never knew fear, common sense, or self preservation. The first bear he ever encountered was too big for him to fight off, and, unwilling to back down for even a moment, it killed him. His head was crushed like a grape. Daisuke wavers on what this story means, but he assumes it means that if Gin wants to survive, he'll take the most logical route to do so, and that his aversion to bear meat will likely grant him more respect for bears' power in future. Gohei had no moral in mind tbh. He just likes rambling about his dogs (okay relatable)

The next morning, Daisuke decides he's done watching his puppy's samurai-training and goes home. He's back only long enough to greet his parents when everyone hears a scratching at the window. It's Gin! He followed Daisuke back home! Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin would rather live with him then with Gohei, but he doesn't receive a chance to make this so.

Gohei comes up from behind the puppy and gives him a swift bop in the side with one of his crutches. He then snags a rope around the little pooch's neck. Gin wails miserably as the old timer takes him back to his cabin for another day of bruising and starving.

Three days later, Daisuke comes to call on Gohei once again, mostly to make sure Gin isn't dead yet. Gin isn't dead, but he IS super weak. Gohei states that the little bugger has stubbornly refused bear flesh for the past few days, which means he's had nothing to eat in nearly a week. Daisuke is at the end of his rope with this insolent boomer and starts kicking and stomping the bear meat around the room.

He straight up tells Gohei to fight him if he doesn't like it when he notices the old man looking past him towards Gin. When Daisuke turns, he realizes that Gin is finally, FINALLY eating! Now that the bear meat's been stomped on, it's soft enough for the little dude to sink his baby teeth into.

Several months pass. One day, Diasuke and Shinji are piddlefarting around town. The two become enraptured with the guns inside a weapons shop. Daisuke thinks out loud about how Akakabuto could easily be defeated if the guy who went after him had a rifle as powerful as these. His train of thought is interrupted by a man and his dog, a German Shepherd, entering the store. The man orders his dog to wait outside, and the animal follows his command with no hesitation.

The boys go to have a better look at the pooch, a young, handsome dog in a brown collar. The dog gazes boredly at the two. Shinji is impressed with the dog's obedience, but since he's neither an Akita nor a brindle, Daisuke couldn't care less.

Tired of gawking at a stranger's dog, the two head back to Gohei's place to peep what Gin's up to. "He's up to eating," Gohei basically says. But what he actually meant was "he's up to learning how to swim without breathing so he can eat the bear meat I've put at the bottom of a water basin". Which, by the way, is what Gin's doing. In fact, Gin will continue doing this exercise of his twice a day every day for several weeks, growing in muscle mass and understanding of how to not die via water inhalation.

In the meantime, Gohei sorta zones out while hovering over Gin's personal swimming pool. He mutters something about Riki training just like this to the boys, to which Shinji politely excuses himself and runs home. God forbid he stay behind to hear an old man ramble.

Daisuke, on the other hand, is a nerd who is intrigued by the knowledge Gohei possesses. He asks what it was like hunting with Riki, to which Gohei chuffs and turns away. He doesn't go into detail about his dog - he's still in mourning - but he does detail what it's like to hunt bears. It's all math and muscle memory, he says, much to Daisuke's disbelief.

Gohei asserts that the simplest way to kill a bear is to abide by The Centre Line Rule, a theory among bear hunters that states that all of a bear's weakest points are down the middle of its body when it's standing erect. Fire a shot off into a bear's chest or gut or forehead from dead center, and you'll learn why it's called "dead" center. Daisuke doesn't know if he believes the boomer, but he rolls the idea around in his head as he watches Gin collect his soggy rations.

After a bit of time passes, Gohei comes to visit Daisuke. He brings little Gin along with him. At first, Gin's siblings are very happy to see him. They rush towards him to play, cheering about how their brother has returned, and he instantly kicks their asses. Gin's siblings are no longer very happy to see him. They run to their mother's side for comfort as Gin comes to a heel at Gohei's leg in an insanely powerful flex on momma's boys everywhere.

Daisuke asks the old hunter what he's doing poking around these here parts, and after scolding him for speaking like a cowboy, Gohei invites him along to watch Gin's first hunting trip. Obviously since something's happening, Daisuke MUST be included.

The three head out to a river gorge nearby to blast some ducks outta the sky. Gohei is taking his sweetass time with aiming and firing, which is very uncharacteristic of him. It soon becomes obvious why, though. As soon as he manages to snipe a bird outta the air, he allows it to fall into the ravine below before commanding Gin to go in after it.

Gin is still too full of vim and vigor to be afraid, so he leaps into the foaming snake of water below, his basin training finally showing some use. From somewhere nearby, a man's voice can be heard barking commands in English, which I cannot transcribe here because I don't speak English.

As Gin braves the rapids, a familiar silhouette also comes down into the gorge. It's another dog, and Daisuke recognizes it! It's the pompous German Shepherd from the weapons shop, and before you can learn how to properly pronounce "nagareboshi", he's snagged Gin's bird up and started making off with it!

Daisuke shouts obscenities at the thieving bastard as Gin follows behind him. For the first time, Gin begins to speak to another dog, though all the humans hear is adorable yipping. Gin tells the dog to let go of his master's kill. The dog makes like he's going to say something sarcastic back, but his mouth is too full to speak.

Instead, the dog continues to bolt, finishing his sprint by climbing to the top of the cliffside and leaping to the other side of the ravine. Little Gin tries to follow suit, but his anime protag powers haven't truly kicked in yet, and instead he ends up missing the mark and tumbling back down into the water below. The shepherd snorts in smug amusement before scampering away.

Gin, Gohei, and Daisuke pack up and start heading home. Gohei is visibly annoyed at the loss of the kill. Even Gin looks forlorn about it. Just as Daisuke begins trying to soothe the two of them, a Jeep drives past. Sitting proudly in the backseat is a dog - the German Shepherd from before! Daisuke and Gin both call out to the thief to return their kill, and the man driving the Jeep stops and gets out to meet them.

Daisuke recognizes the man from the gun shop, but only Gohei knows his name. The young man is called Hidetoshi Sekiguchi, and he's the son of the village mayor, the man who was attacked by Akakabuto alongside Gohei.

Hidetoshi apologizes for the inconvenience regarding the bird, but assures them that it was his kill all along. He tosses the bird's carcass to Daisuke to prove it. The bird's head is missing, clearly having been blasted off its feathery shoulders by the force of a bullet. That bullet came from the shiny, new, powerful-looking rifle Hidetoshi had just purchased.

The young man is a doctor by trade but a hunter at heart, and he's come all the way back from the UK with this new gun and his faithful hunting dog John to kill the bear that mauled his father. Gohei tries to tell Hidetoshi that all the fancy equipment and stuck up canines in the world aren't enough to kill that bear, to which Hidetoshi just patronizingly grins and drives away.

As Hidetoshi and John drive out of sight, Daisuke and Gohei begin heading home. Gin trails a little behind, both spellbound by John's achievement and poise as well as frustrated by his stolen victory. He swears to himself that if he ever sees the GSD again, he won't lose to him once more. He scrunches up his little baby face in determination before following behind the others.

A couple more weeks pass generally uneventfully. Gin continues his training and keeps growing rapidly. Daisuke has tried to keep himself involved in Gin's upbringing, but he's been cooped up inside for a few days now. A blizzard combined with the constant looming threat of Akakabuto makes his parents uncomfy with letting him lollygag around in the woods. So tonight he's chillin' inside with his folks when suddenly they hear an erratic banging at the door. Fuji gets up and snarls, looking more scared then aggressive.

Suddenly, the door flies open and its glass windows, frosted from the cold, shatter. A man tumbles headlong into the living room. A large, bloody gash on the side of his head oozes all over the new rug, horrifying the family for both altruistic and materialistic reasons. Daisuke's father runs to the man's side, trying to keep him awake, while his mother runs to call an ambulance.

The man begins gibbering through bloodied teeth about a monster with a red mane and how his friends and son are still in danger. Daisuke's dad sends his son off to retrieve Gohei, which Daisuke does without skipping a beat because oh my god something he can be involved in, SCORE.

Treading through the snow on his shiny new prosthetic leg, Gohei allows Gin to lead he and Daisuke back to the man. Gohei recognizes him immediately - he's an old hunting buddy, a renowned bear hunter named Shigematsu. Gohei catches the attention of the languishing lad just long enough to see recognition in his eyes before Shigematsu succumbs to his injuries, dying on Daisuke's floor.

Gohei knows he can't stand idly by while Shigematsu's crew are at risk, so he gathers his rifle and his dog and heads out the door. As they leave, Gin looks over his shoulder for an instant at his mother. Fuji gazes longingly at her son as he exits the house. Daisuke and his father follow behind Gohei and head off to gather the same dudes who have been wandering around in the forest looking for bear attack victims for the past several months at this point.

As the group enters the woods, they come across an unexpected sight. It's Hidetoshi and John. Word spread quickly through the village about the man dying from a bear attack, and Hidetoshi wants a chance to fire a few bullets into Akakabuto's ass to make up for his suffering. He joins the men in their hike to Shigematsu's cabin, much to Gin's dismay. Gin still isn't very fond of the callous asshole of a shepherd he's forced to walk beside. John sneers at him, fully aware of how bothersome his presence is.

Meanwhile at Shigematsu's cabin, his remaining friends are trembling and sweating, guns in hand. They know the bear is lurking just outside the cabin somewhere, having a merry little picnic of any men who tried to escape. They inch against the wall only to find it crumbling behind them. A gigantic bear with a red trail of fur down its back roars and swings its mighty paws at the men, shattering their skulls upon impact. Their screams ring through the winter air, entangling with the buzzing of the wind.

By the time the group reaches the cabin, the bear is wandering outside. Gin takes one look at it and leaps into action, ready to be the bear-hound he was meant to be, before tumbling into a snowdrift he can't wiggle out of. John makes fun of the stoopid newb xDDD before using his longer, less silly legs to bumrush the big boogieman of a bear. He snarls and snaps at the predator's face, swiftly dodging his swaying claws.

Gin finally manages to free himself from his strongest enemy yet, the snow, and follows John's example. Only he uses a different source of inspiration for his moves: the memory of his father clinging desperately to the upper side of the bear's snout.

It's already been seen that Gin isn't very agile yet, and the bear takes full advantage of this by smacking him away as if batting at a silver striped fly, sending the puppy squealing into the snow, embarrassed but otherwise unharmed. Daisuke rushes to make sure Gin is alright. The men all open fire on the bear, but the fierce blizzard winds prevent them from getting a good hit on him.

The bear makes a break for it only to be distracted by John. Hidetoshi takes aim while his pet busies the big boy and fires his rifle off square in the animal's chest. The unsteady teddy stumbles with a wail of pain, rolling back into the snow.

As the bear tries to get up once again, Hidetoshi lets loose another bullet into the animal's left eye, finally sending it to bear hell where it belongs. In a moment of catharsis, he lets fly a few more bullets into the dead animal's skull, images of his father's mauled corpse dancing in traumatic fashion around his head. Everyone is still for a moment.

Hidetoshi is about to say something about honor and family or whatever when Gohei interrupts the celebration by pointing out that this animal cannot be Akakabuto. Buty Boy has no right eye, whereas this unlucky fucker had two before getting blown away. Everyone gapes. The striking resemblance the animal has to Akakabuto can only mean one thing: the tyrant has been getting laid, passing his powerful and dangerous genes onto a new generation. A feeling of intense terror spreads through the crowd, and about 50 feet away, a single, glassy eye shimmers in the darkness.

The dogs are shaken from their own stupor by the scent of something wicked this way coming. John and Gin snarl at the large black mass watching the crowd, and the men look to see the forest's resident bastard glaring at them. Akakabuto stares spitefully at the men, taking in all of their scents and faces. His gaze also falls first on the German Shepherd, then on the little silver ball of fur beside it. He can't pinpoint why, but the upstart (pupstart?) looks and smells incredibly familiar.

Furious at the sight of his father's murderer, Gin tries to run towards the hulking mountain of bear. Daisuke snags him up before he can run very far, though, and he settles with barking obscenities at the enemy instead.

Again everyone fires, but it's too late. Akakabuto is wicked fast and not nearly as dumb as his offspring, so he's already gotten the hell outta dodge. Hidetoshi swears out loud, blueballed by fate once again. Gohei tells everyone they'd best go home. Nobody who'd wander into the forest to find that bear at night could make it back out alive, not even him in his golden days.

Everyone begins the chilling, chilly hike to the village. Daisuke sulks coldly in more ways then one, distracted from where he's going by his own dark thoughts about the bear that's been ruining everyone's lives. Because of his lack of focus, the boy takes a nasty fall into a sinkhole the snow covered up, and he finds himself screaming, flailing, and falling into a break in the mountain.

Everyone cries out to him, grabbing at him, but soon he's out of sight. Daisuke shuts up for the first time in his life when his head strikes a rock and knocks him unconscious. He tumbles onto a cliff overhang before truly entering the Earth's core, crumpling into a helpless heap.

All the men are losing their minds over what to do, especially Daddy Daisuke upon realizing the hole is too big for any of the men to squeeze into. Everyone's flipping shit except for Gin, who is gazing longingly into the hole, and Gohei, who is gazing thoughtfully at Gin. The old man has an Aha! moment and throws open his pack to retrieve a rope, which he then firmly secures on Gin's collar.

Everyone stops freaking and asks what he's doing. He rolls his eyes as if it's the most obvious thing in the world - he's sending Gin down to drag Daisuke back up, DUH!

With no better options, the crew send the puppy into the pit. Gin's a pretty clever kid, so he understands his mission well enough. He's lucky, too, and finds Daisuke quickly. He tries to lick the child's face to awaken him, but it doesn't work. Daisuke's alive, but he's out cold. There's no hope of him climbing out himself. So maybe, just maybe...

Gin thinks fast and literally runs circles around the unconscious kid, wrapping the rope tightly around his torso and under his armpits. After a few turns of Ring Around The Search And Rescue Victim, the doglet gives a tug on the rope and a bark up through the tunnel. Nothing happens for a sec sans the sound of unintelligible, excitable speech, but then Gin gets some feedback. The men understood, and they're pulling the rope up.

To keep things really secure, tiny Gin is forced to clench his jaws around the rope and support Daisuke's weight with his neck. His collar digs into the baby fat around his neck, drawing blood, but he refuses to let go of his buddy.

The men give one last hard yoink and pull both of the youngsters out of the sinkhole. Daisuke's dad cradles his child to his chest, announcing that the kid is unconscious but still alive. Everyone cheers while Hidetoshi cradles little Gin, who is also fading from consciousness from exhaustion, to his own chest. Hidetoshi wipes some of the blood from Gin's neck as John watches. John's eyes soften for probably the first time in his life as he sees how Gin has still refused to release the rope. Is this what it's like to be humbled?

Daisuke's eyes slowly flutter open, which elicits another cheer from the emotional crowd. His dad hugs him tightly, gushing tearfully about his son's survival and the little dog's bravery. Upon hearing Diasuke's exhausted response back, Gin's own eyes shoot open and he leaps from Hidetoshi's arms into Daisuke's. He licks the boy's face eagerly, clearing it of the tears that have streamed from it.

Gohei comes to Daisuke's side, his eyes even softer then John's. He reaches down and lifts the puppy up just inches from his face. Gin's tiny tongue flicks out to lick the end of the senior's nose. Gohei brings the dog child to his chest and gives him a gentle hug and a pet on the head. Everyone looks on in disbelief. As long as any of them have known him, Gohei has never pet any of his dogs, let alone hug them. Gohei hands Gin back to Daisuke, allowing the child to hold the puppy close.

As everyone gets ready to head home once more, Daisuke declares his eternal devotion to the silver brindle dog, appreciative of his friendship and forever convinced of his bravery.

----------

End of episode 1, the episode with what’s likely the most non-dog child beating in the series!!! Hope you “””enjoyed””” it!!!

Episode 2: The Invasion

#ginga #ginga nagareboshi gin #silver fang #hopeanuoli #yoshihiro takahashi #ginga words #rewrite #fanfic

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thepapergirlandthespiegelman · 4 years ago

Text

Deadly starstrand and “toxic” people

It’s transparently clear that when Julian asks if we still want the starstrand, even knowing its poisonous properties, that what he really means is: Do we still want him, knowing that he could hurt us? It’s not a subtle metaphor. Not even slightly.

It’s another one of his edgelord theatrics, certainly; it’s not especially original or necessarily deep to try to flirt with someone by employing the “I’m so dangerous~” archetype. But like all of Julian’s theatrics, it has a meaning. You have to draw on what you know, after all. And as we’ll see later on in the story, this isn’t simply donning the trappings of danger for the sake of a seductive aesthetic. Julian really believes that he is dangerous. And he’s not actually okay with that, as much as he tries to pretend otherwise.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the term “toxic person” lately, and this little side story ties in quite neatly to that discussion. The apprentice points out that Julian said that the starstrand’s poison needs to be distilled in order to be potent; this is a simple illustration of the basic principle, “The dose makes the poison.” I think that dosage is actually quite an appropriate concept to bring into play, though I think the relevant related concept is less distillation, but rather sensitization.

When I look back at the “toxic” people in my life, there’s really only been one: my mother. There’s nothing quite like spending the most vulnerable years of your life under the crushing boot of abuse, is there? And enduring that, with little reprieve, for nigh 18 years.

When I reflect on my mother’s behavior in recent years, I often find myself struggling to justify to others how terrible it truly is. After all, I no longer live with her. She cannot physically control me anymore, dictating my living space and when I’m allowed to come and go. A lot of the time, what bothers me these days is no more than a rude gesture, like taking back all of the Christmas presents that she bought for me because I didn’t express sufficient appreciation for them. It is a terribly rude thing to do, yes, but I’m a grown fucking woman. Why should it matter if my mother denies me Christmas presents? I can buy my own presents now.

Other times, what bothers me is nothing more than an inappropriate comment, often some unsolicited advice. Why should it bother me if she nags me about what she believes is the appropriate career path for my partner? Again, it’s terribly rude. It’s inappropriate and disrespectful and annoying. It ignores my partner’s right to self-determination, and it disregards the fact that she has given this advice, and I have acknowledged it, quite a few times already. But it should not feel like a knife is being driven into my soul to hear an inappropriate comment. If anyone else were to say the exact same words that were coming out of her mouth, I would probably laugh, or perhaps smile politely and quickly leave the room.

But that’s the ticket, isn’t it? It’s not someone else, and this isn’t the first time. Whenever she does something irksome, it’s never the first time. She’s been denying me love and autonomy, explicitly and implicitly undermining all aspects of my psychological health, my whole life. It’s one more insult added to a lifetime of injuries; it’s straw after straw after straw being piled on top of a camel whose back has been broken for some years now.

Any of these “poisonings” are things that, individually, a person might be able to withstand with a little to no effort. They do not have massive destructive power inherently. But to someone like me who has been suffering these abuses for years, I find myself nearly brought to tears with unfortunate regularity. My “liver” for this particular variety of abusive behavior, so to speak, is constantly working overtime.

This brings me to my old ex. He was arrogant, took his 4.0 GPA and other markers of academic success for granted, looked down on others who he saw as less intelligent or less virtuous than himself. He frequently took the lead in our relationship, and he employed a variety of different masks in order to make himself more appealing to others, including me...especially me.

Some of these things are inherently troubling, but none of them, I don’t think, are definitive indicators of a truly evil person. None of them are inherently absolute dealbreakers.

But for me, who grew up with a tiger mom who constantly stressed the importance of academic success and whose approval I constantly struggled, but usually failed, to win, the fact that he was academically talented, effortlessly so, and arrogant about these positive qualities, was as catastrophically destructive to me as it was, simultaneously, irresistibly seductive. I became obsessed, often openly, with rectifying what I perceived as my own failings by either using him as a trophy boyfriend (“I may not be that smart, but my boyfriend’s a genius!”) or trying to discover whatever secret he had that enabled him to be not only functional but exceptional. And eventually, these volatilities led to conflict, suffering on both sides, and the end of the relationship, in an unbelievably protracted and painful breakup.

What he had was incredibly, powerfully toxic to me. But I think that a lot of that can be attributed to my particular sensitivity to his particular brand of poison rather than something inherently toxic about him.

I think that this is important to acknowledge, not only because it’s bad to villify people, but also because not all poisons are created equal. Someone once said: “Healers and poisoners are folks with similar skill sets and wildly different philosophies.” x

The very same substance, in differing dosages, applied to different people, can be either salutary or harmful.

I had also been batting around in my brain an idea for a joke post along the lines of, “Millennial/Gen Z love is finding someone with compatible trauma to yours.” But now I begin to think to myself, maybe that just is what love is, period. It’s not novel to say that love is finding someone whose brokenness, whose jagged edges, happen to fit together with yours. I’m sure you can find a myriad of literary musings on this theme. I think, maybe, what has changed is that people are only now starting to talk about this in the (relative) mainstream.

But back to the point: A person who is “toxic” to one might be not only nontoxic to another but actually medicinal. And this is what makes it so brilliantly satisfying that Julian is, in fact, a doctor! Because he does deal with “poisons,” but those poisons are exactly what will heal me. Many (though not all) of the same qualities and actions that made his relationship with Asra a complete dumpsterfire can be shamelessly lavished upon me because I am not only immune to them but ravenous for them.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Julian is lovely, and the writing in The Arcana is shockingly good sometimes. It has permanently raised the bar for all visual novels for me, which is really unfortunate, because I don’t think I’m going to easily find something like this again.

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gement · 5 years ago

Note

Are there any ‘newer’ parts of the Batman & extended family mythos that you are rejecting for your fic? The conception of Damian, Alfred’s daughter, Thomas & Martha having a troubled marriage/cheating, etc? One of the great things about The Batman mythology is a wide and varied tapestry, his religion/spirituality or lack thereof is only one part of it.

What a great question, @meri47. Thank you for the excuse to talk about this. I’m firmly of the “there sure is a lot of Batman to choose from” school, as is anyone who doesn’t want their brains to explode. It’s one of the things that makes him so powerful as an archetype, is you can go nearly anywhere you like without even leaving canon, because the canon has been fanfic of itself for all but the first mumblety years. (I think I might draw that line at ten years. For most properties, really. After a decade, even a sole author is riffing on their own work, and you can never cross the same river twice.)

In fic of large shared mythologies, my personal preference (unless it’s a very specific divergence or missing scene concept) is “everything is true unless there’s a good reason for it not to be.” Especially for something like my current work, where I’m making some big-picture changes and so have a big-picture world to make decisions about, my decisions tend toward “Yes.”

Yes, every disastrous short-term relationship Bruce has had is canon in Earth-93 unless (as with Jezebel Jet) it’s so bound to a specific Future State precluded by my core plot that it’s unworkable. Yes, if it happened anywhere in B:TAS (the Batman I imprinted on), some version of it has happened or will happen. When I learn about new things, I will immediately test them for a way this could happen.

I had read three Batman trade volumes when I started writing this. None of them were from a main continuity unless you count Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, which is, by the way, also an excellent reflection (and source) of my attitudes on canon. I don’t care if you’re standing right there yelling about it, Joker, that version happened too. (The comic of my heart is Sandman, first and forever.)

I had read three Batman trade volumes when I started writing this. I have since read (or skimmed and ditched) about a hundred others, and the majority of those were also not from a main continuity. I learn about main continuity from wiki articles, and mostly sit there shaking my head; it’s like watching someone explain Homestuck. (This is not a bad thing. I still love trying to explain Homestuck. But it’s not really how I resonate with reading Batman.)

Here’s a photo of the works I found most useful/relevant/enjoyable when I spent a week with my first reader continuously ingesting Batman. Seriously, it’s all we did. For a week. Because I needed to know more, to feel like I really had enough grounding.

[Image: Stack of 23 books ranging from A Death in the Family to a board-book titled Five Riddles for Robin.]

They’re sorted top to bottom. I would since move those Legends of the Dark Knight volumes higher (the range of those shorts really stuck with me), place The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told which I had read earlier on the top of the stack, and add Batman R.I.P. near the top. Batman R.I.P. ruled and I want to read more Morrison for sure. But check the top of that stack. The absolutely most important volume of Batman I read, out of a hundred volumes, was Astro City: Confession. The Confessor is a really, really important Batman to me. Batman without poetry is a SWAT team. Batman with all the poetry is the Confessor.

But you asked about a few specific elements of modern continuity:

Damian: His birthday is already recorded in my terrifyingly complete spreadsheet that gives me a rolling calendar of how old everyone is at the point of various events.

Alfred’s daughter: Has barely crossed my radar except for the movie where his daughter was Batgirl, which I’ll go ahead and reject right now. I’ll probably go read about that and then make a decision based on whether it seemed wildly out of character or unworkable for logistical reasons. Otherwise, yeah, she’s in.

Thomas and Martha not being the sunshine and rainbows godlike monuments of Bruce’s memory: Definitely an option. But Thomas being an abusive asshole or going into grimfic about it will not be happening.

Bonus: Pennywaynes? I so very much want to know but my Alfred says it’s none of my business either way and threatened to walk when I tried to dig.

As far as Big Plots, the one I absolutely reject is No Man’s Land. As the current disaster is finally pounding into people’s heads, a city can last about 3 days without its food and medicine supply lines, not a year. It’s just utter bullshit and I can believe that millennialism has wrought scientists who can build freeze guns and heroes so motivated that their joints can take years of swinging between buildings, but I can’t believe a city can run for a year without food.

I’m happy to play 20 Questions on any other major points you’re curious about, but the general policy is “Yes unless there’s a really, really good reason for no.” To my Bruce’s regret, there is no really good reason to exclude Batcow.

[If you’re here without context, the fic in question is Nay, I Can’t Resist Thee.]

#batman #meri47 #my writing #everything is canon #i reject your canon and substitute my own #everything is homestuck #asked and answered #research #Batman: Millennials in Love

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purrincess-chat · 6 years ago

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In your opinion, what are all the things that ML writers could do to fix the show and make it better?

Oh, Lord, how much time do you have?

I don’t even know how to begin gathering my thoughts for this, so if this ends up being a big incoherent brain dump then, uh, I’m sorry. XD

So, first and foremost I guess, they need to balance their main characters better. Why is all of the plot tied to Adrien? Why does Adrien have a more fleshed out backstory than Marinette? This is supposed to be a girl power show, and yet it revolves more around the boy’s life from the girl’s perspective basically. Marinette really doesn’t have a dog in that fight outside of the fact that she was asked.

Marinette needs some kind of tie into the plot that doesn’t revolve around her love interest which is basically all they are willing to give her in this show. Everything about her has to relate back to the boy somehow, and if girl power is their message, then they are kind of defeating the purpose. Sure, they have episodes that are supposed to depict that the girl doesn’t need the boy, but then when you pile on top of that dozens of other instances where she gets pushed aside in favor of the boy, including words coming out of the creator’s own mouth (or off of his two thumbs onto a screen) then it doesn’t exactly hold the same weight.

If your protagonist doesn’t have a tie into the plot, then why are they the protagonist? Take other shows, for instance: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Aang is the avatar and it’s his destiny to keep the balance in the world, She-ra, Adora was destined to become She-ra, it’s in her blood. But you have Marinette who is Ladybug because….the greater good? Some fairy sprite bug thing asked her to be?

The villain isn’t personal for her, there is no mark of destiny that deems that she must be a hero, she’s just kind of there. Even her family barely gets fleshed out in comparison to Adrien’s. I mean, her parents are just blindly supportive of her meanwhile Adrien’s mom is in a magical coma, his father is cold, distant, and neglectful, which for some reason turns his assistant on and makes her want to sacrifice her fucking health even though Gabriel looks like a dried up soft pretzel. They canceled the special where we were supposed to learn about Marinette’s family, and I think that about sums up my point.

Secondly, I think they need to abandon the idea that Adrien is perfect because it’s not doing his character any favors. Thomas is so far up his ass about Adrien being a perfect example to boys that he has actually looped back around and made Adrien a poor example to boys. He gets away with all of his bad behavior because Thomas just covers his eyes if you call it bad behavior, he refuses to take no for an answer from the girl he likes, he thinks standing up for yourself is being unkind to the other person regardless of how unkind they are being to you, he conveniently turns a blind eye to the abuse of his friends, but god help you if you try to assert yourself against your aggressor because “you should just be nice to them and eventually they’ll change” like um, and maybe they won’t, in the mean time, I don’t want to put up with their bullshit!

By insisting on this perfect image, they prevent Adrien from growing because you can’t improve perfect. I have said it before numerous times, but Adrien reeks of amateur fanfiction author’s self-insert OC. He’s described as being perfect, he’s good at a lot of activities just because, he’s wildly attractive, charming, smooth, can generally do no wrong, everything revolves around him, the narrative is constructed in a way that usually puts him above the everyone else. The fact that more people don’t realize that, especially the creator himself, is laughable.

“But Cat, Chat Noir gets mind-controlled and thrown around and is goofy and-” Okay, but when Chat throws a tantrum about Ladybug not returning his feelings, who apologizes sincerely? Who is painted as being wrong in that situation? When Chloe puts a train full of people in danger just to play hero for a day, who does he scold? And of the two, who does the fandom adore more? Bonus: who do the Chibi specials revolve around and pity?

Thirdly, they need to actually delve into shit more. It’s season 3, they’ve only been greenlit for 2 more seasons, and what plot do we have? Gabriel wants to bring his wife back from her magical coma, Master Fu messed up something in the past that led to two Miraculouses being lost as well as their temple to be destroyed where presumably everyone else but him died making him the last member of that magical society. That’s it. We don’t know how Emilie got to be the way she is. We have suspicions, but nothing explicit in canon yet. Same with Fu. We don’t know what his mistake was, only that he made one. We barely know any lore about the Miraculouses, the origins, how they were made, when they started working with humans, why they were created.

If you want my honest opinion, with how slowly they’re dragging out this Agreste plot, they could have accomplished it in two seasons if they actually made every episode count and mean something. We get like maybe 1-2 minutes of actual plot relevant information once every few episodes, if that, and sometimes that “plot relevant information” is just the villain learning that there’s a guardian. Hang onto your asses, guys, they’re really laying it on thick for us.

Seriously, they give us breadcrumbs of plot, and they don’t even go into any of the cool shit (like fucking Master Fu and his ancient magical fight club perhaps??) because obviously the villain’s assistant being in love with him despite the fact that he’s married, has a kid, and is doing all of this to resurrect his comatose wife whom he loves and devotes everything to is WAY more interesting and important than all that froufrou magical ass Chinese bullshit, right? Like, this show has all of this Chinese lore and a biracial lead, and they still somehow manage to make it all about white people. but ya know, the French are proud of themselves I guess

Fourth, chunk the status quoyo out the fucking window. I get that this decision may not have been the writing team’s, but in fact a higher up decision, but it’s still a stupid ass decision. For a show that is trying to introduce deeper plot, you cannot progress anything if you constantly have to set everything back to the way it was at the end of the episode, and that much is evident. The relationships are getting stale, characters aren’t developing, plot is moving at a snail’s pace, all because they are so bound by this idea that everything needs to be right in the end to maintain an episodic format. If they wanted to keep the series episodic, they shouldn’t have gone in for all of this lore and backstory that they say exists, but never tell us what it is because that just leaves a lot of people unsatisfied.

Fifth, for the love of god learn how to write dynamic characters. Not everyone needs to be dynamic, but your main cast should probably be. Adrien, I love him to bits, but he is static as all fuck. Which, again, see point number 2. One of the biggest complaints floating around about Stormy Weather 2 is that the characters haven’t changed. With the exception of Marinette, none of the other characters have really learned anything. Adrien hasn’t, Nathalie doesn’t have enough focus to learn shit, Nino and Alya really haven’t, Chloe sure as hell hasn’t, and Gabriel can’t decide if he’s an abusive piece of shit or a sympathetic, heart broken sad man, so I barely count him.

In fact, 3 of those characters’ “development” just revolves around being in love. Nathalie’s “change” is that she for some reason wants to fuck Gabriel (I guess the whole gray-ass pompadour, candy cane aesthetic really does it for her), and then Alya and Nino’s “change” is that they fuck love each other now which them being a couple has basically just become their entire character. They’re barely separate anymore, particularly in Nino’s case more than Alya’s. I’m sure that Chloe’s bit about having changed juxtaposed with flashbacks of her not being nice coupled with how she wasn’t nice in this episode was just for humor because they like to make the point that mean people will never change, but for some reason they still feel the need to teach the protagonist a lesson about being nice to mean people so that they can change, but they don’t do that, they just think that you should keep hoping. :) :) :)

I honestly think that the writers don’t know what “character development” means, and Stormy Weather 2 was just proof of that. All they did was show that the characters have been in a number of different situations, but none of them have really learned anything or grown from those situations, so it’s kind of a weak argument to say that they’ve changed when they’re all intrinsically the same. Except for Marinette because she is constantly the writing teams’ punching bag in all of these morals of the day cause can’t teach shit to perfect boy cause he’s perfect, but of course they don’t reflect on all of the lessons they forced her to learn, what are we, stupid? No, her only importance to the plot is the fact that she loves the boy that the plot really focuses on, so of course her only significant development of character is that she can talk to him sometimes without foaming at the mouth. Not a peep on how she has learned to overcome her jealousy and hotheaded nature, gained confidence in herself, and learned to maturely accept when someone doesn’t return her feelings, a lesson that a lot of us wish good old perfect boy would fucking learn, but he can’t because he’s perfect. :) :) :)

Another part of the problem with characterization in this show, is that often times characters behave in such a way to push the moral of the day rather than giving them established characters. It’s why Alya only questions Marinette’s sources in Chameleon while she just lets Lila claim a bunch of wild shit without batting an eye because she only cares about journalistic integrity when she can use it to beat down her friend so she can learn a lesson about turning the other cheek. :) :) :)

Sixth, pick up a fucking romance novel every once in a while cause hot damn is their relationship progression a heaping pile of hot garbage. Their love drama is so forced and there’s no real development because of the #status quoyo because they must drag this shit on until we’ve all basically lost interest. I’ve seen more people dropping off the love square in the last half season than I’ve ever seen in any other show. Part of that has to do with Adrien becoming a real “nice guy™” but a good chunk of it also has to do with the fact that they don’t really know how to write love drama or romantic tension in a way that makes you care. We all pretty much know that Adrien is never going to figure it out, even if someone grabs him by the shoulders and screams it in his face that Marinette is in love with him, so why should we care? We know that Chat Noir is never going to stop loving Ladybug, but Ladybug is never going to stop loving Adrien so why should we care? We know the show is never going to break the square because they’re endgame so why should we care about the love rivals?

Seriously, Captain Hardrock didn’t give me a reason to care about Luka or ship him with Marinette. I still stand by my opinion that their chemistry was incredibly forced and inorganic, and it still is, and as much as I love Kagami, I wasn’t convinced that she was interested in Adrien at the end of Riposte either. The only reason we know Luka likes Marinette is because Winny said he “fell in love with her at first sight” on Twitter (which the whole love at first sight trope is bullshit, but that’s a post for another day). Somehow in Frozer Kagami was randomly into Adrien all of a sudden, and no one likes to bat an eye about the fact that she told him to change targets because the girl he likes doesn’t like him back and then at the end of the episode when Adrien admits that he still likes the other girl over Kagami, Kagami is all “well, it’s fine. I’ll wait.” like bitch, again on characterization. A strong and confident character like her would know her worth and would show that boy the door. But of course she would contradict herself because they need her for #love drama later even though we all know it doesn’t matter.

I love the love square, and I live for soft moments between them, but I’m ready for them to turn up the heat and give me some actual drama and tension that doesn’t revolve around Chat being a pouty pissbaby or Marinette fucking up another love confession. Cause when you do that too many times, it stops being interesting. You have to throw us a bone somewhere or else we’re gonna stop caring, and lots of people already have.

Seventh, can we please stop pitting all of the girls against each other while the boys just get to be cool with each other? For a show that promotes itself as being a “girl power” show, there are a metric fuckton of misogynistic undertones to this show. See: why does the plot revolve around the boy even though the girl is the slated protagonist. See: why does the girl learn all the lessons while the boy gets to be right all the time. See: why two teenage girls are “the worst things I can think of” while an actual neglectful father gets to be sympathetic and “do anything for his family” uwu

Seriously, I think making Kagami and Marinette rivals while Luka and Adrien are just chill dudebros is so tired. Girls fighting over boys is tired, especially because we have it not once, not twice, but three fucking times in this show. Chloe and Marinette don’t often fight over Adrien, but in Despair Bear Chloe sure as hell didn’t want them dancing together. Marinette initially follows Lila because she’s hanging off of Adrien, and even at the end of Chameleon, Lila makes it known that she is still gonna try to steal Adrien. Kagami basically tells Marinette that she better stop hesitating or she is gonna steal Adrien away, and we have Backwarder where Marinette is basically plotting to cockblock them even though we had Frozer where she decided she wasn’t going to be jealous of them because Adrien liked her. Again, see: characters behaving in a way that is convenient for the plot of the episode. All of the drama is between girls. All of the women in this show are described as being terrible, the worst things they could think of, never going to stop being mean. Seriously. Chloe and Lila? Worst things Thomas can think of. Audrey is constantly shown intimidating her husband who is extremely corrupt himself, not that anyone bats an eye at that. Nathalie/Mayura was described by Jeremy as “making Hawkmoth look like a baby.” Any time they show a man being problematic, they have to bring in a female to be ten times worse, and the worst part is: they don’t even know they’re doing it. #girl power, am I right?

Eighth, speaking of making people bad, can we stop half-assing redemptions? Honestly, they’re so back and forth on whether or not they’re going to redeem Chloe. First it’s “mean people will never get a miraculous” then dingdong, who’s that? Queen Bee, motherfuckers. Then it’s talk about how they’re not going to redeem Chloe then bam bitch, “why don’t you love me?” But even after that they reset the status quoyo and have her go back to being mean. Even after they give her a second chance to be a hero and do good, she still goes right back to being her nasty self. I think they really highlighted in Stormy Weather 2 how much they haven’t changed her at all, and yet somehow she still gets to play the hero.

Additionally, now we have them trying to make Gabriel sympathetic? Boo fucking hoo my wife is in a coma so I terrorize the fucking city on a daily basis, pity me! Also I neglect my son, verbally abuse him from time to time, and I don’t even let him see his friends or feel any happiness, and even though my superpower revolves around feeling people’s negative emotions, I never seem to care about my own son’s unhappiness, but hey, I’m doing it for his mommy, so that makes me better than the 14 year old girl. :D

Shit or get off the pot, Zag. Either you’re going to redeem these characters, or you’re going to leave them the way they are. Make up your damn mind.

Ninth, be diverse in more than name only. For a show that prides itself on its biracial female lead and its ties to Chinese culture, uhh, they spend a lot of time focusing on not those things. I said it before, but they focus all of their plot attention on rich ass white people drama more than the vastly more interesting Chinese lore they have going on. Their black characters were paired together just cause, and their only real important quality now is that they love each other. Their ship is basically their character now, and we barely have a reason to root for them outside of the fact that they’re canon. They have such shallow relationship development that my feet wouldn’t get wet if I stood in a puddle of it. Can we have more on them, please?

This show is diverse only on the surface. They use diversity as decoration then fill everything else with less interesting shit, and even then they get a lot of shit wrong. It drives one of my Asian friends nuts that Sabine’s neckline is facing the wrong direction. (for those unaware of what I mean, it should look like a y. hers is backwards) They use diversity to pat themselves on the back and say they are diverse, but they have no intention of doing anything meaningful with it. It’s just a gold sticker they wanted to give themselves to draw in an eastern market. It’s cheap, and several of us see through that shit.

And last, but certainly not least: Shut the absolute fuck up on Twitter. Just shut the fuck up. Every time Thomas opens his mouth, he just pisses off more people or makes everything more convoluted. Shut the fuck up. Please.

Now, I know a host of you are going to be like “buhhh, it’s a kid’s show, go outside, hur dur, I’m so smart and mature,” but like, honestly that’s a weak argument. Yes, Thomas’s audience is young now and they may not be able to see all of this shit, but when they get older and decide to go back and watch one of their favorite childhood cartoons, all of that shit is gonna come out. They’re not gonna be so naive forever, especially if our generation is raising them, and just because they can’t see all of this shit now, doesn’t mean that it’s not still there just because they don’t notice? That doesn’t make it any less problematic. One thing I love about several shows I used to watch as a kid is that they aged well. When I go back and watch them now as an adult, I find things that I missed as a kid that I appreciate now as an adult. I can’t say that the same is going to happen with Miraculous, especially in this day and age.

Additionally, kids learn a lot through media. I never believed that I was any less than the boys growing up because I consumed a lot of media that taught me that, and going back and watching it over now, I still get that from those shows. Clearly, if you apply two ounces of logic to this show, it falls apart, and that’s not because it’s a kid’s show, it’s because it’s bad writing. I can always see what they are going for, but they always miss just a little bit. sometimes a lot

A lot of us complain because we are concerned with the message being spread to the next generation because those kids are going to grow up one day and be influenced by what they are consuming now. If we teach our girls that the perfect boy is going to chase after us no matter what we say to them and if we teach our boys that in order to be the perfect boy we have to continually chase after the girl until she says yes, how are those kids going to approach relationships? That mentality is actually something that we are trying to combat in the world. That mentality is why rape is so prevalent because we teach boys that they are entitled to a woman’s affection if they’re “nice” to them, and if she doesn’t give it to them, then she is wrong.

Media has an impact on kids, whether we like to admit it or not. Yes, parents can still teach them, but sometimes things get into your subconscious and it can determine how you see yourself and the world. Lots of kids engage in make-believe play where they put themselves in that character’s shoes and play pretend. I just think it’s important to give them the right things to look up to.

#ml salt #ml spoilers #meta #miraculous ladybug

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recentanimenews · 4 years ago

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Sympathy for the Devilman: The Legacy of Go Nagai's Magnum Opus

I've always had a thing for villains. Unlike my brothers, as a kid I'd always choose the "bad guy" action figures. If they went for the ninja turtle Leonardo, then I'd go for the uber-buff Super Shredder. I personally identified with villainy because of how it connected to the idea of "evil." I personally see evil as a generalized concept that expresses antagonism toward violent and dominant societal structures. Due to a coercive religious upbringing, I now see how my younger self unconsciously found ideologically-oppositional comfort in "evil" art. This eventually led me to one of my most cherished pieces of fiction: Devilman.

Devilman has left an indelible mark on manga and anime creators over the last few decades, inspiring major industry heavyweights such as Hideaki Anno, Kentaro Miura, and Kazuki Nakashima. The series was created by Go Nagai, a manga auteur also responsible for Mazinger Z, Cutie Honey, and Violence Jack (which is a Devilman sequel). Although Devilman retains much of the explicitness native to Go Nagai's usual fare, it uses these graphic elements uniquely to deliver a haunting, unforgettable, and compassionate message.

Let's explore the surprisingly relevant political and social significance of Devilman, along with a few of its animated offshoots. Read on but be forewarned, this article contains major spoilers!

Devilman (original manga, 1972)

via Seven Seas Entertainment

The Devilman manga is a dark antiwar narrative in deep contrast to the standard monster-of-the-day, "evil fights evil" set-up of the anime (which ran at the same time as the manga). Ryo Asuka — who turns out to be Satan, the leader of all demons — helps convince the world that anyone dissatisfied with the status quo could turn into a demon and needs to be killed. Every nation starts a war with each other, and Japan creates the "Demon Busters" to murder anyone suspected of being a demon. This plot twist is the most explicitly political angle in Devilman and a clear critique against the genocide of marginalized peoples. One page features a taste of the global hate brewing around the world: a collective white desire to murder Black communities, the renewal of German anti-Semitism, and hatred for any protestor. There are also many moments that display the horrors of historical genocide when Akira and Ryo travel through time.

Devilman builds additional nuance around this theme with Ryo's character. In the manga's final scene, Ryo describes how demons were once oppressed by God, and that they in turn preyed upon humans in the same way that God preyed upon demons. Ryo recognizes that he continued the same cycle of genocidal hate and marginalization he once suffered. This is a striking moment that functions as a cautionary warning against abusing imbalanced power dynamics, and how even once marginalized groups are still capable of enacting horrors against those with less power.

via Seven Seas Entertainment

Ryo's character also made a groundbreaking stride in the representation of marginalized gender and sexual identities. His true form as Satan is easy to interpret as trans, possessing emotional, mental, and physical traits that defy the standard gender binary. The manga also makes it clear that Ryo considers Akira more than a friend, and is actually in love with him. Amazingly, Go Nagai does not use Ryo's trans-coded self or his queer love for Akira as fodder for insulting or disrespectful commentary from other characters. Ryo's gender-variant form is certainly mentioned, but it's never negatively framed or conflated with his murderous attitude toward humanity. Additionally, the manga never suggests Ryo is evil because of his romantic feelings for Akira (a simple, yet important distinction). It feels all the more impressive when you remember that this was made in 1972. Devilman's subversive portrayal of non-normative gender and sexual identity could still be considered groundbreaking even by today's standards.

Devilman OVAs

The first OVA, The Birth, covers Ryo and Akira's discovery of demon existence, with a very brutal early sequence that shows the bloody survival-of-the-fittest origins of life on Earth (which beautifully expands upon and mirrors the same sequence from the manga). It concludes with a gore-soaked finale where we see Akira's fateful transformation into Devilman. The sequence is filled with face stabs, top-notch body horror, and decapitations galore as Devilman rips apart demon after demon in a nightclub setting.

The second OVA, The Demon Bird, had the same crew that worked on the first OVA and contains a very similar feel. This OVA is more action-oriented than the first since it doesn't spend time on the build-up and exposition leading to Devilman's initial appearance. The animation and art design is probably even better than the first episode, which is most notable during the fight with Sirene. On a side note, the Manga Entertainment dubs for these first two OVAs are absolutely essential if you're seeking a fun evening with fellow anime nerds with a decent sense of humor. Their typically sleazy dubs — where Manga Entertainment excessively hyped up the seedier, more "adult" side of anime in order to market their products as wildly different from cartoons for kids — contain an assortment of unnecessary profanity and generally crude dialogue compared to the Japanese source material, to great comedic effect.

The third OVA, Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman, is based on Amon: The Darkside of Devilman manga, an alternate-universe offshoot by Yu Kinutani. This OVA contains a reworked version of the end of Devilman and has a much darker edge compared to the first two OVAs. This entry in the series has an ugly, grim quality to it – such as the horrific depiction of Miki and her brother getting slaughtered by an angry mob — that initially felt off-putting to me. I started to enjoy it more on subsequent viewings however, when I remembered that, well, the entire Devilman mythos is pretty damned bleak in general. I think the desolate mood would have been more bearable had Akira felt like the compassionate, tragic hero of the manga.

Actually, overall I'd say that Akira's portrayal is one of my biggest complaints about these OVAs. He displays a cold lack of care for human life — like in the Demon Bird when he unconcernedly tears through an airplane while fighting Sirene and allows its passengers to presumably plummet to their deaths — that for me, offsets one of the biggest strengths of Devilman's core: that although Akira has the body of a demon, he never loses the tender heart of a human. With that in mind, let's explore Devilman Crybaby.

Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is my favorite animated incarnation of Devilman, period. I might be in the minority with that opinion, but I think there's a lot to love. Masaaki Yuasa is already one of my favorite recent anime directors — Kaiba, Mind Game, and Lu Over the Wall are highlights — so it's no surprise I'd be head over heels for his take on a classic Go Nagai story.

Yuasa impressively shifts the '70s setting of the original into modern-day Japan: The group of surly highschoolers from the manga are replaced with rappers and smartphones are everywhere. In the hands of a lesser writer, a modern setting would be no more than a cosmetic, surface-level change of scenery to an already-written narrative. In contrast, Yuasa avoids this trap by using the modern setting to make incisive social commentary relevant to our times: social media is the means for both horrendous and beautiful moments in the show. It leads to Miki's murder when she posts on Instagram to defend Akira, but also serves as the online catalyst that unites Devilmen across the globe (in contrast to the original manga, where a set of demon-possessed psychic monks unite the Devilmen). Yuasa explained this in a 2018 Japan Times article:

"Today's situation is a lot closer to 'Devilman' than it was when Nagai wrote it in the '70s," he says. "The popularity of social media means people are a lot more connected, for good and bad – like someone getting shot over a video game. We learn about unarmed black people being killed by police, people being tortured and the rise of nationalism in politics. In Japan, too, where a lot of problems are openly blamed on foreigners.

"But it can also help spread good that we wouldn't otherwise know about. We see people coming out as gay or trans on social media, and there's a greater opening up and acceptance of different opinions and lifestyles."

Another beautiful aspect of the show is how Yuasa amplifies the queer elements present in the manga. Ryo and Akira's relationship feels even more loaded with romantic undertones, and Yuasa also introduces two queer characters unseen in the original manga. One of the characters is named Miki Kuroda, initially portrayed as a jealous antagonistic foil to the Miki we all know and love. Miki Kuroda changes as the episodes progress and she becomes a Devilman, and we eventually see her sacrifice herself in an attempt to save Miki Makimura, who she confesses her love to before dying. It's refreshing to see a queer woman represented in a story that previously had none, and incorporated in a way that feels organic and thoughtfully integrated within the larger narrative.

In contrast to the Akira of the OVAs, I absolutely adore this incarnation. Yuasa did a stellar job showing not only Akira's horny goth-jock side but also his compassionate traits. As the name implies, there's a lot of crying in Devilman Crybaby, and Akira is responsible for at least half the tears throughout the brief 10-episode series. Akira evokes such intense compassion and cares for people around him, which is a noticeable deviation from his cold demeanor in the OVAs. The human heart at the core of Devilman is on full display here, taking the emotional elements from the original and turning the volume up to 11. Though the art style and setting might be drastically different from what you'd typically expect of a Devilman remake, Yuasa did a masterful job honoring the source material while injecting it with fresh life and even fresher modern resonance.

What other aspects of Devilman — or its many incarnations — did you find important or interesting? Let me know in the comments below!

Do you love anime? Do you love writing? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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words-writ-in-starlight · 6 years ago

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Hey do you have any advice for DM's or players? My friends and I are fairly new to this and I would appreciate any advice! Sorry for the bother

IN FACT I DO. Now, again, my DM style could generously be called “freewheeling” and “unprepared” so like...go elsewhere if you want to learn The Numbers. (Can someone explain how to use challenge rating usefully to design my encounters please I’m begging.) However.

IN GENERAL

DnD is a collaborative effort. I’m gonna harp on this one a little, but seriously. DnD, or any other RPG, is a group effort. That means everyone should be having fun, no single person should be controlling everything, no one should be wildly out of tone with the others, and no one should be playing with the intent to fuck over the group.

Host provides the snacks. Traditionally this is the DM, and it’s still sort of generally agreed that, in lieu of a host, the DM is still Snack Bearer, but no matter who you are, if you’re hosting DnD then give your party something to eat. This is partly because there’s a long history of enjoying a salty snack while killin’ dragons, and partly because your average DnD session runs three or four hours and if you don’t eat a meal immediately beforehand or provide snacks, people will get pretty cranky at some point. Everyone needs to be thinking clearly while they fight Y’gathon the Ravenous or whatever.

Loosen up a little. Playing pretend feels awkward at first, and there’s an inclination to make the whole thing a joke as a defense against feeling like you’re being a dumbass. And you’re totally free to make your campaign as goofy and joke-filled as you want! But also try to embrace your character, try to embrace the fantasy world, try to just generally set aside the need to be a “grown up” and just play pretend. Especially if you’re looking to hit some emotional beats, or hit a more serious note than “dick jokes, the DnD party”, it’ll take a little doing to get people to stop feeling shy and awkward about it. This is going to come up again in the DM section.

PLAYERS

Party balance does matter--yeah, seriously. That’s not to say you shouldn’t play exactly the character you want to play! Make that dark elf prince DeviantArt OC you swore would never see the light of day! Indulge your lifelong desire to Animorph--Druids do that! Give your character the angstiest backstory and the most overdramatic appearance you’ve ever discarded for Real Writing! The world is your oyster! But if you party doesn’t have at least a healer and maybe at least one person with more than fifteen hit points (looking at you, All Spellcaster Parties), you may find yourself in a bit of a pinch and your DM may not be sympathetic. If your group is big enough, I’d suggest trying to hit the classic four-person RPG starter party at bare minimum: Healer, Tank, Rogue, Damage-dealer (probably a caster). That’ll cover most situations, both in and out of combat. Get creative from there. If you don’t have enough people (party of three), see if your DM will give you an NPC to fill out that roster--if they won’t, maybe drop the healer and blow 100% of your cash on healing potions. IDK, that’s not my problem. Which brings me to...

There’s no such thing as a boring class. I know, I know, some dude’s about to show up and give me a bunch of crap about paladins. I know. But honestly there are so many options to mod the fuck out of DnD classes that everyone needs to calm down. Homebrew your shit and stop whining. Specifically, this is regarding two categories: Tank and Healer. Nobody wants to be the guy casting Punch when everyone else can cast Wall of Fire, or making sure that your delicate little thief doesn’t get one-shotted before they can net those sweet sweet Sneak Attacks, but honestly the builds are still pretty fun. If your cleric build is boring you, look for a cleric build that’s more interesting! If you don’t like the classic Fighter or Barbarian, rummage around in the alternative paths! Especially the 5e builds have a lot of really cool options right there in the Player’s Handbook, and if those aren’t doing it for you, the Internet has your back. Finally, if what you really want is to be able to just fucking 1v1 the boss or to be Deeply Beloved by your party, Tank and (useful) Healer are your respective tickets to those outcomes. And if you really, really still want to be an arcane spellcaster, try a Warlock for your kinda delicate tank and a Bard for your healer.

Don’t play to sabotage. This sounds obvious, but this is “it’s a collaborative effort” for players, and it’s extremely important. You shouldn’t be playing to sabotage the group and you shouldn’t be playing to sabotage the DM. It’s not going to endear you to them, it’s not going to be funny, and it’s probably going to make your party turn on you in-game at some point, at which point it won’t even be fun for you. If you’re not going into DnD with the honest desire to have a good time and do your best to work with everyone so you all have a collective good time, then let me ask for the sake of your future party that you maybe...don’t. As far as the DM goes, your DM puts a lot of work into your sessions! Probably more than you’re aware of! That doesn’t mean you have to let them put your campaign on rails, but it does mean you shouldn’t go out actively looking for ways to upend their work. That’s just rude.

Share the spotlight. You’re not always going to be the center of attention. Learn to love the other characters in your party and get invested in their arcs! Build emotional connections between your character and the others, so that when they get plot advancement, you get plot advancement! Above all, don’t try to hurry things along so that the narrative gets back to you, if someone else is getting a moment in the sun. A good DM will get to everyone. Just go with it.

You’re gonna have a dump stat--make it narratively interesting. A “dump stat” is that one stat you put your lowest ability score into and subsequently become known for being Absolutely Shit with. Mine is almost always Charisma. My mother is playing a Barbarian: her character is as dumb as a sack of hammers, with the Intelligence score to match. Play into that dump stat! In fact, play into all your stats! Why is your character so uncharismatic--are they brusque or just shy? What part of their backstory informs that? Why are they buff (Strength) and tough (Constitution)? How did they decide to get that way? Why do they have the skills you chose for them? Stats aren’t just numbers on a page, they’re the core of the character you’re building, so make them part of the story. And on a related note, my final bit of player advice...

Give! Your! Character! A! Backstory! Your character DID NOT spring fully formed from the ether (I mean, unless, of course, they did, which is a pretty interesting backstory to be going on with), and the more you buff out your character’s backstory and tell your DM about it, the more they’ll be able to work you into the story they’re telling. I would personally suggest having, like, a couple people who might still be alive out of that backstory, so that your DM has some easy stuff to work with, but bare bones you need to answer the question “why are you [CLASS] and what event brought you to that?”

DM (Under the cut because, like, trade secrets and also this is pretty long already)

You are all-powerful. Not even the rules can tell you what to do. If you want elevators, include elevators. If you want to include house rules, distribute those motherfuckers and use them. If you want a nat 20 to always, always succeed, regardless of circumstances, then it always succeeds, no questions. If you like the Dawn War pantheon but not the Dawn War universe, stuff some deities in your pockets and make a hasty escape to your homebrew setting. You are the DM and at the end of the day, nobody can stop you from changing the rules to suit you. This means that, if you don’t know the rules as well as you would like to, a confident tone of voice and some degree of consistency is just as good! It also means that, until you say it aloud, absolutely everything is in flux--if your characters just are not making progress on the mystery you set up and are continuously interrogating the wrong people, you’re totally free to just give one of those people some relevant information! It’s easy to feel beholden to whatever you previously decided on, but seriously, you’re a god, you can just change stuff to make it work. On the other hand...

You are ultimately responsible for the narrative--and therefore everyone’s good time. That might sound like a lot of pressure, but it’s the truth. With great power comes great responsibility. This means not abusing your power as DM to target someone, to manipulate events to match your preferred outcome, or to dramatically alter the narrative your players are constructing. Ultimately, you are there to give them a sandbox, they’re not here to play out your story. Sometimes in order to let your players do what the party really wants to do, you need to give up some narrative threads that you spent time and effort plotting out. That’s not to say it’s never worth it to put things on rails--especially in shorter campaigns, a party might really benefit from the DM keeping them on track--but a narrative will always be more fun if you build it together, rather than trying to sabotage their attempts to keep them to your planned path. Moreover, as DM, you are the authority figure, so if you see something in-universe or out-of-character you’re not comfortable with or seems in bad faith, say something. I know the rule of improv is “say yes” and DnD is, at its heart, an improv-based story, but you have the responsibility as the DM to ensure that everyone is having fun and sometimes that means saying “fuck no.”

Be a fan of your party. I boosted this one from the Powered By The Apocalypse games, because I think it’s a great rule. Basically, you, as the person running the game, should be a fan of the characters! That means giving them lots of chances for badass moments, emotional connections, and interesting personal plots. The more you as the DM spread around the narrative love and the exciting beats between your party members, the more your players will enjoy seeing each other in the spotlight.

Get in touch with your inner sadist. Remember those backstories I encouraged players to create? Make them tell you every detail. And then make them bleed. Your character has a long-lost brother? Sounds like you just got a convenient villain! Your character’s village was burned down and they’re the sole survivor? Mmm, what tasty opportunities for necromancy. Your character spent their whole life loyal to their king and lost everything defending the throne? Guess who just became the Big Bad? Every person your character includes in their backstory is a leverage point, every place they’ve ever cried is now a destination on the party map, every tragedy they’ve ever suffered is a gift that they’ve given to you personally. The more angst they include in their backstory, the less work you have to do coming up with personal plot arcs. They’ll hand you that shit, all you have to do is take merciless advantage. Have fun.

Make NPCs, and then make your players love them. A helpful tavern keeper! A beautiful guardswoman! A stablehand with a secret! An ornately detailed world is all well and good, but good NPCs are what will make your players get into the game. Are you low on ideas? Spend an hour thinking about supporting characters you love, and then insert them wholesale if your players are unfamiliar with the source media. If you can’t get away with that, rename them, give them a new face, and now you have an NPC. Example: I just met Gilmore in Critical Role! I love him! Now my players have a flirty shopkeep friend named Renwick who’s a tiefling but is otherwise indistinguishable from Gilmore. No one has caught on yet. I’m looking forward to putting his life in danger again to make them Upset. (Did I not mention? The full text of this rule in my mind is “make NPCs, make your characters love them, and then brutally kill them off” but then I’m told I’m a very angsty DM, so YMMV.)

Make failure narratively interesting. This one is pretty straightforward--if your players fail at a task that’s plot-relevant, the failure should be as interesting as success would have been. It may mean your characters spend a lot of time breaking out of prisons, but it’ll also mean that your players will be less likely to fudge dice rolls in order to “win” DnD.

The dice are your friends. Someday your characters will try to fight something they really shouldn’t fight. They will try to enchant something you didn’t give stats to. They will try to do some dumb shit. When all else fails, just roll a fistful of dice, assign purposes to each at random as needed, and wing it. You didn’t give that character a Dex stat and now your cleric is casting Sacred Flame? Roll a d6, that’s their brand new Dex stat, add it to a d20 and confidently report the outcome. Which brings me to my last point...

Confidence is better than actual knowledge. Not even Matt Mercer is right all the time about DnD rules. There is literally too much information and too many myriad ways to tweak it in order to know everything about even a single edition of DnD, let alone the many other RPGs in the world. Keep a computer near at hand for quick rule checks when needed, admit when you’re wrong when applicable, but if you can’t find something quickly and don’t know the answer, make a command decision and then stick to it. As long as you’re consistent, confident, and fair, I guarantee you your players will not complain.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #dungeon master #rpgs #advice from starlight #the CORE of a good dnd campaign is: YOU ARE NOT COMPETING #YOU ARE WORKING TOGETHER AS A GROUP TO BUILD SOMETHING #ONE PERSON'S VICTORY IS EVERYONE'S VICTORY #DMS: DON'T TRY TO SABOTAGE YOUR PLAYERS #PLAYERS: DON'T TRY TO SABOTAGE EACH OTHER #EVERYTHING ELSE WILL COME WITH TIME #god this is so long i'm so sorry this is 2400 words #i should honestly just post each of these individually it would be so much more palatable #but also i don't want to flood my dash forever and ever with dnd advice #i could've gone on i have a remarkable amount to say on this #queue deeper than the sea of stars #Anonymous #asked and answered

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fightersagainstnarccistic · 4 years ago

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Scrutinizing Valkyrie’s Bullshido

Let’s first talk about Randy Packer, who is the founder of Valkyrie and creator of their training curriculum, which is basically like the Scientology version of HEMA.

Randy Packer’s first involvement in HEMA comes from doing rapier classes with Devon Boorman in the SCA, and eventually they started a club in Vancouver, British Columbia together called Academie Duello to teach historical fencing. Eventually Randy decided he wanted to teach HEMA in a different way than Devon did, and so he left Duello to start his own club. He started Nova Spada first and then Scatha Combat Guild, and now Valkyrie.

Devon continued to develop Duello into one of the largest HEMA schools in the world, operating out of a space in downtown Vancouver across from the Gastown district.

Randy did not gain any similar success with his various clubs.

This is all fairly well known information.

What is not seemingly as well known is what exactly Randy wanted to teach and why he was not able to teach that at Duello. And this is very important to understand to put Valkyrie’s current accusations against Duello into proper context.

Randy wanted to start a personality cult around himself that taught bullshido. That is why he left. And now he’s formed one such cult by advertising his school as a “safe space” for vulnerable people, specifically members of the LGBTQ community who may have limited or no prior experience with martial arts and cannot call him out on the dangerous stuff he teaches and believes.

What kind of danger, do you ask?

Let’s talk about what happened in 2008 before Randy left Duello.

Randy decided to have a duel with another Duello student in public with real sharp blades and no protective equipment except sunglasses. So Randy convinced Justin Ring (who is now one of his coaches at Valkyrie today) to participate in a duel with sharp swords where they cut each other for real.

This duel is documented on Justin’s own blog from back then.

https://scienceofdefence.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/duel/

And we’ve documented the entire blog post here in case they try to delete it now but here is a few key quotes from it,

So even as far back as 2008 Randy was able to manipulate a person such as Justin to engage in an extremely dangerous sword fight with him that if any one of them had made just one mistake, could have killed or seriously maimed them.

This is important to take note of. Even that long ago Randy was able to manipulate someone against their own self interest so he could say he had a match with sharp swords using no protective gear. This is toxic narcissism at work, as well as a strong indicator of his mental illness since he put his own life at risk by doing this with Justin.

Now, take note that Justin records the event on his blog as being amazing and positive for him, but was it truly?

Narcissistic manipulators will often use trauma bonding tactics in order to build relationships with other people. And that we believe is precisely what Randy does, and this is an example of one of the ways he recruits his cult members into his sphere of influence; using martial arts as a way to trigger dopamine releases alongside the adrenaline to get people to attach themselves to him.

As quoted from the following article, https://blogs.psychcentral.com/recovering-narcissist/2019/03/narcissists-use-trauma-bonding-and-intermittent-reinforcement-to-get-you-addicted-to-them-why-abuse-survivors-stay/

We’ll talk more about these manipulation tactics the Valkyrie cult uses later. Let’s get back to the specific bullshido they teach as self defense.

You see, Randy does not actually teach HEMA anymore. Actually he feels superior to everybody else in the HEMA community because his art is so much better.

Valkyrie has a reputation in the Vancouver HEMA community that maybe not everyone is as familiar with in the rest of the wider HEMA community. They don’t show some of their more extreme stuff on their YouTube videos however.

Randy has created a cult at Valkyrie that teaches a lot bullshido, some of which is actually aimed at teaching “self defense”courses. Courses that teach things like how to fight gun wielding robbers with knives instead of just running away like a reasonable person.

Swordfighting from a “self-defense or police control tactics point of view”.

Just let that sink in a moment.

This is a neat post here that illustrates some of the rabbit holes Randy goes down in developing his “modern” HEMA inspired self defense stuff,

Sure, Randy, make some kind of magical mathematical equation to prove you can beat a gunman with a sword by being faster than the bullet.

In this blog post from 2014 Randy outlines his updating of historical fencing to make it more relevant for self defense in today’s world,

http://boxwrestlefence.com/blog/2014/10/15/leaving-past-behind/

Randy is making a sword based martial art for "future fighters”.And here I’ll bet you thought we were joking about “Scientology of HEMA” thing, didn’t you?

However they have done some of their more extreme bullshido training at events like Vancouver International Sword Symposium. Here is one workshop they did in 2017

https://www.vancouverswordplay.com/changes-to-viss-instructor-lineup/

The key part of this is “differences between fighting in school settings versus fighting on the street” and “part two will apply the same approach to swordsmanship.”

That will be SUPER relevant if you intend to carry your sword around town to defend yourself in case of a possible mugging, right? RIGHT??

Yet what the session actually devolved into was Kaja and Randy trying to teach people how to get angry enough to make themselves trigger the Fight-or-flight response and enter a “hyper aroused state” so they could practice “realistic sword fighting” by swinging at people in limited safety gear as hard as they could. The workshop was deemed so dangerous for participants it was shut down early.

But Valkyrie doesn’t want you to focus on that part of VISS 2017. They just want you to focus on their newly invented accusations against others in attendance at the event who were very critical about their unsafe training methods (i.e. Academie Duello).

They were also allowed to teach a similar workshop at Swordsquatch last year too, which should really surprise nobody given the organizers are heavily under the influence of the Valkyrie cult.

http://boxwrestlefence.com/valkyriewmaa/the-valkyries-are-going-to-swordsquatch/

This type of training is probably one of the biggest bullshido things they teach right now, and despite their claims of it being “safe” it is anything but.

From the workshop page,

http://www.swordsquatch.org/2019fridayworkshops/2019/5/31/the-violence-ladder-a-stress-testing-model-for-realistic-training-kaja-sadowski

Emphasis on the highlighted parts.

Why the hell does anyone need to learn how to fight in a life or death struggle for historical fencing? Well it’s because Valkyrie thinks sword fighting is relevant for modern day self-defense, that is why. So go do some dangerous bullshido with them where people swing wildly at you while pretending to be in “hyper-aroused states”.

You know actual real hyper-arousal is a state people go into automatically during heightened stages of fear. It is triggered by fear. Even if you feel angry, that anger comes from being in a situation that makes you feel like you are not in control and afraid.

This is the exact opposite of what real combat oriented training is. Real combat oriented training teaches you how to calm down and mitigate the effects of hyper-arousal so you don’t have tunnel vision, so you don’t have severe loss of fine motor control and so you breath normally and don’t hyper-ventilate yourself in a couple minutes. To restore your ability to employ some critical decision making.

And yes, while the military and law enforcement do have some training scenarios designed to allow soldiers and police to experience to experience a degree of stress that can invoke hyper-arousal the point of this training is to weed out those who cannot cope with the stress in an even artificial environment. It’s not for them to wildly attack each other with uncontrolled strikes while pretending to be a berserker.

And they market their training courses as self-defense for women, too.

Three people with no law enforcement experience, no military experience and no experience whatsoever using their martial art to fight against people that truly want to kill them, are going to invent their own training course that is “absolutely unmatched by any other self-defense course in Vancouver”.

Yeah, we rather doubt that, considering the source.

The below post below is a fun one.

Amazing. Who would have ever thought that fucking around with gymnastic tumbling exercises could add “20% more power to my punches”? Clearly you are such a gifted coach that you should be training professional boxers. So why don’t you?

Oh, that’s right. The sport of Boxing requires validating your beliefs in a competitive environment where others could destroy them. And you don’t like that, because it would reveal your nonsense is bullshido.

That would be too honest for you though. So naturally you re-frame this to make it sound like you hate competitive tournaments because they aren’t “realistic enough” for your bullshido to work.

He wrote a blog article about this as well,

https://boxwrestlefence.com/blog/2017/03/14/balancing-reality-and-fantasy-in-martial-arts-practice/

This is basically Randy bad mouthing competitive environments he knows are stress tests that his art will not be able to survive in, as well as Randy feeling intimidated by martial arts instructors who have far more experience with real combat situations given their professions.

From the bottom of the same blog post,

Like most of Randy’s writings this part is is a’bit incoherent and disconnected from the other things he says but looking closely you can pick out that Randy believes only certain types of martial art techniques work depending on the local community. He also thinks reality based martial arts are a “great avenue” to finding new training ideas he can use in his martial art, which is true we suppose but also somewhat contradicting other things he is saying elsewhere in the same post.

Which is probably why the training program at Valkyrie is such a mess.

Here is a video clip of their instructors screwing around with training knives, going full contact, with no protective equipment at all. One takes a hard shot to the throat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRLfEq1a-T4

They call themselves a “safe space” but engage in very unsafe training behavior like this. People wear a gorget to protect our necks in HEMA for a reason yet you do your classes with little to no protective gear while labeling them as “intense sessions”.

Also they use spinning attacks with weapons, here is one depicting some of their “stick fighting” featuring a spinning attack delivered at close enough range the person could be struck in the back of the head if they tried this against a real person that actually wanted to hurt them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFx4Nok19_4

You should also note they disable comments on their YouTube videos so nobody can point out their BS.

But here is a clip of what Randy means by his supposedly high intensity workouts that are so much better than everyone else.

youtube

And another,

youtube

Their conditioning program is....unique among martial arts claiming to be focused on reality based combat.

It is described by Justin Ring in his blog,

https://scienceofdefence.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/in-the-middle/

I don’t know about you but Capoeira and break dancing doesn’t really scream “reality based combat conditioning” to us.

The video below showcases some of this “original” unarmed combat fighting style that Randy teaches. A highlight of the video is around 1:17 where Randy starts crawling around on the ground, while reffing, for some reason.

youtube

You should notice how neither student knows how to do anything but try to attack the other. Neither have learned how to form a proper guard or how slip a punch. Their grappling is also unimpressive for something claiming to be “reality based”, and in reality the mounter could have ripped into his opponent’s testicles many times over with his free hand while the other guy attempted to recover after losing control with his guard. Anyway the guy in guard keeps losing control regardless.

It’s also worth noting toward the end of the above video, the students engage in high intensity free play with rapiers without using any protective jackets. This is fairly dangerous, since just as with foil even rapiers blades can snap, and if they break the jagged broken end of the blade from where it snapped can fly and puncture someone with a lot of force. That is why fencing equipment in both Olympic and HEMA fencing uses puncture resistant materials for jackets and pants.

Also in the process of crossing blades, the blades can chip as they clash against one another, creating small jagged edges that can easily cut open the skin. Therefore no exposed skin should be seen during high intensity fighting with any sword.

While some light driling or slow very controlled sparring without jackets on is perfectly okay, free sparring without puncture resistant fencing jackets is not safe.

Yet this high intensity matches without proper gear is something Valkyrie engages in all the time.

Here is more clips of Valkyrie students and coaches engaging in free play with rapiers without using proper protective equipment.

youtube

And if you still had any doubts at all about whether this was intended to be highly competitive sword play, here is a tournament that they hosted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw1H9z599aE

Again, no fencing jackets were used in the tournament for rapier fencing. The only jackets seen were for side sword fencing.

Here is Kaja in an interview with Guy Windsor. At 18:07 minutes into the audio they talk about Valkyrie’s methods and she says safety equipment is a ‘last line of defense’ in her mind, that she doesn’t want students to feel they are relying on safety equipment during training and that “trust” is more important.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sword-guy-podcast/id1520556121

Safety equipment is not a “last line of defense”. It’s the first line of defense. When you don’t practice proper safety, irreversible damage can occur. Also this is what happens when people rely heavily on “trust” between students and instructors (which is prone to human error), instead of trusting their safety equipment as a first line of defense.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2018/09/man_stabbed_through_the_eye_by.html

You’ll note she speaks with a lot of pauses and hesitation about what specific equipment they use. This is because she is lying about what she is saying, as anyone who has looked at the videos we shared about on how they actually run high intensity fighting can see for themselves. Kaja is at least consciously aware their training methods are unusual among the wider HEMA community because Valkyrie has been criticized for it in the past.

Again at 24 minutes into the podcast, Kaja talks about people getting concussions because fencing masks aren’t resistant enough. Guy is surprised she is referring to rapier fencing as he assumed at first long sword. The missing context here is because Valkyrie does ‘hyper aroused state’ bullshido they end up using more force than they should even with specialty training rapier blades intended to bend in the thrust, and numerous Valkyrie students -- including Randy himself -- have had concussions from training sessions.

(Also to nitpick, their comparison to boxing gloves is inaccurate, boxing gloves aren’t to prevent concussions but rather to protect the bones of the hand from breaking while reducing chance of inflicting cuts to the face, as well as preventing eye gouging attacks that were common to bare knuckled fighting. Using boxing gloves to justify the fencing mask discussion is a bad comparison and the problem is they use more force than is necessary in training)

It is also interesting how she says she has had “5 or 6″ concussions. If we take her at face value that is a lot of traumatic brain injuries for someone who is not a professional athlete. Just saying.

So let’s contrast this.

Here’s some free play fencing at Academie Duello, with Devon Boorman as one of the fighters.

youtube

So who really is a safer environment between these schools?

Also Kaja participated in a supposed “devil’s advocate” podcast debate with another martial artist, Randy King (ironically a different Randy). Here is a link to the YouTube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SENFiYSUrYA

While Randy King tries to setup the debate with it just being a “we might not agree with what we are defending” setup, the thing is Kaja is saying things that Vakyrie teaches in order to defend the argument. Statements such as fighting only being 20% about physical ability and so on, is all part of the rabbit hole of stuff Valkyrie teaches.

Here is some additional insight into how Valkyrie’s training program was created.

Justin Ring would leave Duello with Randy to form a few different clubs, and remains among his coaches at Valkyrie.

On Justin’s blog you will also find his account of some of his training with Randy since leaving Duello and the bullshido that Randy was inventing. Here is a key part,

https://scienceofdefence.wordpress.com/tag/scatha-combat-guild/

So basically, despite no prior experience with modern combatives or even law enforcement or military experience, Randy decided to make his own self-defense martial art.

How original.

Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to invent your own martial art, in and of itself. The problem arises in WHY you are doing that.

Firstly, almost everybody who invents a martial art today is doing so because they don’t want to put in the work to get certified in another martial art. That is usually been the situation.

Secondly, if you don’t have any prior experience with REAL COMBAT such as from the military or law enforcement, you probably have no business inventing your own “self defense” oriented fighting style. Because you have no experience validating your art as effective against people actually trying to kill you, for real. Martial arts that teach realistic self defense are based on techniques originally created by people with extensive experience with people trying to kill them for real. These are the kinds taught in modern militaries today.

Randy has no business inventing his own martial art for modern day self-defense. He has no experience with using his skills to protect his life in real life or death situations. He is teaching Bullshido in the very real definition of the word and he been able to fly below the radar because when people look at his school they think it is a HEMA school and don’t look closer at what he actually does and teaches.

Of course, we have more of his public postings that provide insight into this very unique and special brand of bullshido he teaches his cult members at Valkyrie,

If you still had any doubts that Valkyrie under Randy does not teach historical based martial arts and is leeching off the community to teach dangerous ideas and promote unsafe training habits, read this.

http://boxwrestlefence.com/blog/2020/05/26/gravitas-and-the-rainbow/

Here is yet another article he wrote about why he believes sword fighting is relevant for modern combatives,

http://boxwrestlefence.com/blog/2016/04/26/modern-ancient-moving-forward-with-historical-martial-arts/

The thing here to point out, that those from outside of the HEMA community may not readily realize is that nobody sane is seriously studying HEMA for real combat in today’s world.

The goal of HEMA is to reconstruct lost martial art traditions for modern day sport purposes.

Trying to make sword fighting relevant to combat scenarios of the present day has nothing to do with HEMA!

The “Old masters” are focused on so extensively because we want to recreate THEIR MARTIAL TRADITIONS as closely as possible as part of the sport. Whether they could be “more effective” with your own inventions is entirely missing the point. This would be like saying Kendo or Olympic Sport Fencing needs to change their rules to be more “realistic” and missing the entire point of why people do these sports.

No sane person studies swordsmanship for self-defense or battlefield combat in the present day. Randy’s ideas and the Valkyrie training program taught by their coaches are very eccentric and not aligned with the rest of the HEMA community.

They are leeching off the HEMA community to promote a cult.

Randy is a narcissistic mentally unstable person driven by a deep need to feel superior to other people. That in itself would not be a terrible thing except he has decided to create a cult around himself that teaches bullshido and then turn his cult upon a rival school he is competing for students against -- a school which actually teaches HEMA, and is consequently FAR MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN HIS SCHOOL.

Academie Duello is a well organized HEMA school that welcomes everyone regardless of race, gender and is very accepting of differences. That is why they are successful.

Valkyrie is a bunch of bullshido and ran by abusive narcissists who try to love bomb and bully people into their cult. That is why they are less successful.

And Randy cannot accept this, and nether can his cult followers, either. So therein is part of their motivation to ruin Duello’s reputation. They cannot compete with them honestly so they will now employ dishonest tactics.

Yet the truth remains.

Duello is a legitimate HEMA school; one of the largest in the world.

And Valkyrie is one of the worst schools that does not even attempt to teach historically based martial arts, but instead leeches off the novelty of the HEMA community to teach Randy’s special brand of bullshido.

In the next article we will show how Valkyrie operates as a cult.

Why Valkyrie is a Cult https://fightersagainstnarccistic.tumblr.com/post/624517817683886080/why-valkyrie-western-martial-arts-in-vancouver

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plusdesoleil · 4 years ago

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App-based solution for Covid-19: What can go wrong?!

In the midst of a global pandemic, data-driven solutions have become vital in tracking and controlling the spread of the virus. Several countries, including China, South Korea and Singapore have effectively used app-based contract tracing to contain the virus and curb the rate of infection.

The UK Government and the NHS are also preparing to launch an app following the example of TraceTogether, a Bluetooth-powered app created in Singapore, which was used over 800,000 times and proved to be highly successful in managing the outbreak.

How will the NHS app work?

The smartphone app that the NHSX (NHS unit for data and technology) is working on will rely on the citizens of the UK to download and self-report regularly. If you start to have the symptoms of Covid-19, you report them to the app, which then sends anonymous alerts to other app users that you have been in close contact with. These alerts are meant to notify people that they might be infected too and asks them to follow relevant guidelines even before they get any symptoms. Subsequently, if someone tests positive for coronavirus, they must update the app again and the users who had been in close proximity will get a notification to self-isolate for 14 days.

Currently, two versions of the app are being negotiated:

Technical Challenges

For the app to function properly, it will require over 50% of the population to start using it. Yet, it is unclear how the government will deal with the large number people who do not own smart phones. According to OFCOM “22% of UK adults do not have a smartphone, rising to 45% of adults over 55, and figures on device ownership for young children vary wildly.” Relying on this data will not only give misleading understanding of the situation, but will also increase inequalities, especially if such data can be used for a person to be detained. It will be equally hard to deal with those living in shared accommodations, as it might be ineffective to differentiate between people who live in a single block of flats.

Privacy Risks

Technology-enabled solutions are extremely important in disseminating useful information and increasing citizen awareness on how to fight the pandemic, but we should not ignore the risks that this app might pose towards fundamental human rights such as privacy and data protection.

A group of “responsible technologists” recently published an open letter to the CEO of NHSX and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care outlining the risks, as well as what considerations must be made in the process of launching the contact tracing program. The authors of the open letter talk about the need for more openness about who will build the app, how it will be monitored, what safeguards will be put in place for privacy as well as more clarity on how this data will be collected and processed later.

GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) names a few specific risks coming from the app. For example, if unencrypted data is stored on centralized servers, it can potentially be used by law enforcement agencies to determine when people met. Furthermore, generating new ID code once a day, instead of once every 15 minutes can make it possible to determine how much time individuals spent together or what the nature of their relationship is, which can eventually be used for “social control”.

The app will collect large sets of medical data, which can, in many cases become patient-identifiable information. In the presence of current legal framework, it is unclear how the app will collect or process this data, who will have access to it now or in the future or when it will be deleted. Unlike Australia, where the legislation strictly mandates deleting the data after the crisis, such data in the UK can be stored for a disproportionate amount of time or used for irrelevant purposes. Therefore, strong legal safeguards are required to prevent officials using the data for purposes other than identifying those at risk of being infected.

Apart from the legislation, the NCSC also suggests shifting from the “centralized” model, where contacts are matched on a computer server, to a decentralized model, where matching instead happens on individual phones.

“There can still be bugs and security vulnerabilities in either the decentralised or the centralised models," said Thinking Cybersecurity chief executive Dr Vanessa Teague. "But the big difference is that a decentralised solution wouldn't have a central server with the recent face-to-face contacts of every infected person. "So, there's a much lower risk of that database being leaked or abused.

#covid-19 #coronavirus #contact tracing #app

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iamuberfrau · 7 years ago

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#Metoo, Katz, Intent and Impact

My thoughts on the #Metoo thing as well as The Jackson Katz quote.

There is a lot here.

Regarding #Metoo, bear with me:

First and foremost is the relevancy of the thread that runs through this (and so many other) exercises highlighting intent versus impact. Exercises based in good intentions have the ability to spin wildly out of control. This is does not have to be a bad thing, especially when these moments result in conversations that are based in an effort to broaden people’s perspective and help them see or understand a broader, more inclusive view.

A Few Examples:

ABORTION – in 2004, Planned Parenthood launched the “I had an abortion” T-shirt campaign, with the intent (supposedly, as I was not present at the inception) of demonstrating how many women have had abortions, to attempt to reduce the shame associated with the decision, reclaim power by reclaiming the word / message and to generate conversation, etc.

People lost their minds.

People read into it that women were wearing it as a sense of pride and a badge of honor: flaunting their abortions. Now, while I do not personally see a problem with that particular message, the opposition’s focus of shaming women did interrupt the sale of the shirts as well as the intent of the campaign. However, while probably not achieving PP’s intended goals, women who may not yet have shared their stories finally did. Women who endured decades of listening to family and friends denounce “those women” who had abortions now provided a familiar face to associate with that conversation, healthier conversations happened, and healing ensued (not for all, of course, as is the case with complex decisions). Most importantly, women who were not ready to share their stories did not, and that was/is fine as well. There was no intention of shaming those who chose to remain silent, though that was not necessarily the impact / outcome.

TAKING A KNEE – It is nearly impossible to wrap one’s head around effects and outcomes of CK’s oh-so gentle yet oh-so powerful action. What we do know, however, is that people took it to mean what they wanted and needed it to mean, which, of course, became a twisted and bastardized version of what it meant for him. Moreover, as we know, those interested in understanding and learning more about his motivation and intent did so, and from that came exquisite reflections, conversations and (hopefully) the beginning of healing processes.

MOTHER’S DAY – What could be more simple, non-political and less traumatizing than wishing someone a happy Mother’s Day? Quite a lot, actually. There is a lot of pressure on women to procreate; the value of women is often measured by whether or not they have procreated, women who choose to not procreate are selfish, those who have lost children are to be either pitied or vilified, and the pain of those who are unable to parent (either through genetics or politics) is real and profound. Creating a loving space for and being conscious of the complexities around reproduction does not have to be difficult, yet it is. It is not uncommon for people, prior to wishing me a Happy Mother’s Day, to ask if I have children. I am blissfully child-free and am MOST fortunate that this particular issue is not a trigger for me, though I am surrounded by women who, in the right moment, can become crestfallen and be reduced to tears by that particular question. Having those conversations and helping people to understand the impact of that seemingly harmless gesture and to be more thoughtful / inclusive helps to generate reflections, conversations, and (hopefully) the beginning of healing processes.

Which brings me to

#Metoo – For me, I found the simplicity of the statement to be powerful, to be the sharing of a bond, to connect with people on an additional level, and to support other who chose to step into that place. I had flashbacks to that awesome Valentine’s Day Vagina Monologues show at the Masonic, where, draped in red boas, the audience accepted Eve Ensler’s invitation to everyone who felt so compelled, to stand in unison. As we saw with #Metoo, many people chose to post a more specific message regarding female survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment, some chose to include a broader message that included a less gendered population, men participated in posting and sharing their stories. And many chose to remain silent, which carries no judgement (or at least was not and should not be the intent).

What have we learned?

We have learned about Tarana Burke.

Conversations regarding intersectionality and white feminism surface to remind us that no matter our intent, we can do better.

Reminders to be specific in our messaging regarding those who chose to remain silent: that we have their backs should they not (now or ever) be ready to speak more publicly.

We have been reminded that we have more in common than what divides us.

We have been reminded that we have the strength in numbers that we need to burn this shit to the ground.

And most importantly, (with any luck) is that from this comes exquisite reflections, conversations and (hopefully) the beginning of healing processes.

As for Jackson Katz, I am sure that he is a very nice man with the best of intentions. And yes, his statement and perspective are fairly spot on.

Here’s the thing.

Women have been saying this for forEVER, but now that a man has said it people hear it?

Haven’t women been asking for decades, let’s stop asking victims why they stay and let’ ask men why they abuse?

Haven’t women been trying to point out that women don’t “get themselves pregnant?”

Haven’t women been pointing out for centuries that rape is not a result of what a woman wore or how much they drank but because a man made a conscious decision to rape them?

So while I choose to believe that his INTENTIONS are good, don’t come to me looking for a cookie, a gold star or a pat on the back. Yes, men, you need to step up. You need to be having this conversation with each other, and you need to be holding each other accountable and you need to be calling each other out on your shit and you need to address toxic masculinity and if, within the guise of Jackson Katz you have found something that make sense and you can FINALLY hear the messages that women have been screaming throughout the centuries, then run with it. Step up. Do you job. Get your shit together. But don’t hold him out a some great messiah because you now choose to hear the message.

#metoo #katz #intentvsimpact

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writingwithcolor · 8 years ago

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Black Abuse Victims & Issues with Portraying Nonviolence as superior

So I’m writing the story for a video game for a class project. There are barely any people of color in my class (or my uni for that matter), in case that’s relevant. The premise is that a child is trapped in a German inspired fairy tale. The tooth fairy is evil and trying to kill their parents.

Now, the characters are all unnamed but here’s the gist: Grandma is a German immigrant. Father is her son and he’s white. Mother is black. And Child is never gendered and is biracial. The Father is abusive towards Mother and he ends up actually being the Toothfairy from Child’s nightmare.

I know that there is a double dynamic of power here: male abusing female, white abusing black. I am clearly portraying the father as the villain. The mother is a mentor throughout the game and encourages the child (who the player controls) to choose nonviolence throughout the game. Depending on the way the player navigates the game, Child will either kill Father or cast him out of the family and the house. Grandmother and Mother will end up raising Child together.

I hope this isn’t offensive, I’m pretty sure it’s not, but I wanted to get a second opinion. If I messed up, I would like to know how I could fix it. Thank you for everything. You all are amazing here and I’ve learned so much from following this blog.

Have a great day, Lyle

Your problem isn’t as much a racial problem as it is a problem showing nonviolence as the “preferred” method, along with having the victim suggest that. This seems to come from a couple of confusions:

1- Niceness vs kindness, and where both fit on morality

2- How nonviolence actually works as a tactic

Niceness Vs. Kindness

A lot of people conflate niceness vs kindness, thinking they’re the same, but they have wildly different roots: niceness comes from fear, while kindness comes from love. In the context of abuse, niceness is thinking “if I don’t do xyz they won’t hurt me”, while kindness is thinking “I will not hurt this person back because they are a person and should not be hurt, but I will also avoid being with a person who hurts me and take action to protect myself.”

Niceness means you don’t protest, you don’t make waves, you don’t do anything that draws ire. Kindness means you insist on being treated the way you should be because you are a person and exists. This can mean living by the rules of the more privileged group, while also not hitting back when you are hit for defying “your place.”

Kindness can also be illegally writing visas, throwing a tear gas grenade away from other people, being the face of a resistance movement, or a whole host of other things that are generally not considered “nice” or “moral.” People say they would consider those acts moral when they are passed, but how people are treated for taking those acts in the present day indicates otherwise.

Nice, meanwhile, can be very amoral. It can mean looking away when others are hurt because you don’t want to rock the boat. It can mean not standing your ground and backing away from threats even when you’re in the right because your side is the one where people aren’t getting killed for who they are. It means going with the flow even when that flow is going to bring nothing but pain.

So, just from that principle alone, you can see how easy it can be to twist around nonviolence into passivity, and into taking whatever you’re given no matter how terrible it is. This ties very closely to the “ideal victim” stereotype, where they don’t fight back because they’re such nice people, they’re taking moral high ground by never ever ever fighting or going against the grain… when the very nature of escaping means you have to break rules, somewhere.

Ideal victims often leave real victims feeling alienated, because of this lack of rule breaking.

There’s also no justification for how you treat your abuser after— stonewalling them has people tell you to show them more compassion and give them a chance; giving them a chance and getting hurt again has people tell you it was your fault for getting involved with them again; getting revenge against them is seen as cruel (I’m talking within the grounds of exposing their behaviour and causing them to lose something to face consequences); not getting revenge is seen as not valuing yourself. It’s a no-win situation for victims.

As you can see, the whole concept that the victim of abuse preaches nonviolence is… tricky to handle at best, outright toxic at worst. I know Undertale recently popularized the concept of mercy, but it also treats all options as equal.

There is lots of exploring how your actions affect others, but other than that, the game doesn’t really guide you along from a word of god. By having a Black woman be that word of god, you’re reinforcing things like the strong black woman as abuse victim, which you can read about in the post [Victimized & Abused Black Female Character].

Nonviolence as a Tactic

Which brings me onto nonviolence itself. The tactic isn’t as broad as it seems, and actually isn’t applicable in all situations. Nonviolence— especially as popularized in living memory— comes directly from visual media becoming widespread.

The Civil Rights Movement was so successful long term because it was using tactics purposely meant to be appeals to the public. When you have white-controlled media, no social media, but also have tv in the majority of homes with extremely high viewership… suddenly you have an environment where you can document the brutality that occurs while existing and gain sympathy by not fighting back.

This utterly divided white people because some of them were now able to see that Black people were targeted unfairly, and they weren’t deserving of it because they weren’t fighting back. Others, however, conflated kindness with niceness, and instead of seeing protesters as being kind to themselves by living along equal rules, they saw them as being not nice and deserving of the punishment they received because they broke the law.

Nonviolence in the Civil Rights Movement was 100% public relations, and it worked. Now that it’s “history” (in the form of being taught in history class, not that things are better), people use it as an example of “good protesters.” People think that they were just existing and it was a good thing they didn’t fight back and they just performed the way good victims were supposed to, and those good victims were rewarded by having the law changed.

Nope, sorry, the Civil Rights Movement caused just as many if not more problems than groups like Black Lives Matter because the Civil Rights Movement was built on being a public display of inequality for over a decade (1954-1968). It was a highly organized, highly trained group of activists who went through months of training to be public displays of inequality, and it didn’t come without risk. The Southern Poverty Law Centre has a [Memorial Page for Murdered Activists] for a reason.

Alternative Tactics to Non-Violence

Other groups, such as the Black Panthers, used just as legal but less white-focused means in their activism, and they were just as effective for protecting those they wanted to protect. Because of this choice, modern society kind of hates them and polarizes the “good” marches and sit ins vs the “bad” patrolling neighbourhoods with guns to fight back should police get brutal. But, at the time, both the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party were under investigation by the CIA and FBI. It’s plain and simple the fact the Civil Rights Movement was based on PR that it’s remembered as fondly as it is, which was its intent in the first place.

Even within an abuse context, not fighting back is often more for your own public image than any sort of moral choice (although individual ethics can play a huge role in not getting revenge, but that’s a personal choice for every victim). Because of the aforementioned no cultural support for anything but passively letting abuse happen and waiting for an appropriate time when the stars align and you don’t have to do anything to get out of an abuser’s thumb, it can be impossible to take any action against an abuser (even blocking them is seen as “too much” by general society, and you have to justify they were really that bad).

In Summary

These two factors combined make us iffy about your plot. You have a Black woman abuse victim preaching a “turn the other cheek” mentality as the supposedly moral way, without a visible sense that in context, “turn the other cheek” means “force your oppressor to see you as an equal because you could only strike servants a certain way, and slapping them on the other cheek meant they were no longer a servant.”

— WWC

#Black #Black women #abuse #violence #physical abuse tw #relationships #history #civil rights #civil rights movement #America #American history #Black history #asks #submission #abused black woman

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wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog · 8 years ago

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Why ‘T-Shirt Activism’ Is Bigger — and More Impactful — Than Ever

Google Ghost’s “Nasty Woman” T-shirts have sold wildly around the country. But do the shirts do anything beyond look cool? Proponents say yes. (Photo: Instagram/Googleghostpress)

Who among us has not glimpsed a woman, at least from afar, proudly wearing a “Nasty Woman” T-shirt? Or a “Pussy Grabs Back” shirt? Or any kind of tee that speaks to and with the public, using style and aesthetics to signal the wearer’s insistent lack of complacency about a range of sociopolitical policies?

It started when the outcome of the presidential race was still up in the air. After now-President Trump called former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during the third and final presidential debate, the market for merchandise bearing the new rallying cry of women who had been similarly belittled throughout their lifetimes exploded. Google Ghost’s “Nasty Woman” T-shirt became an iconic, must-have fashion item overnight — plus, the company gave 50 percent of the proceeds to Planned Parenthood — a total of $125,165 since the launch. Also catching on instantly were the “Pussy Grabs Back” T-shirts by Female Collective, emerging in response to the now-infamous Trump-Billy Bush Access Hollywood tape; a portion of those proceeds went to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.

Feminist warrior gear brought to you by @jessicabennett x @agitatedinxenon x @femalecollective ????????????✊????Link in the bio! #pussygrabsback

A post shared by FEMALE COLLECTIVE (@femalecollective) on Feb 19, 2017 at 6:57pm PST

Post-election, similar statement shirts seem to be even more ubiquitous, with “protest tees” dominating the runways in February at New York Fashion Week and brands increasingly paying attention to what can only be described as the “activist market.”

Tag an awesome human because tomorrow we're surprising incredible people who've been vocal about unity and togetherness. #HumanTogether ????: @shrooots

A post shared by Everlane (@everlane) on Feb 28, 2017 at 6:31pm PST

Everlane, for example, the web-based brand founded on the notion of “radical transparency” when it comes to its manufacturing and sales models, launched its “100% Human” collection on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, with $5 from every item sold going to the American Civil Liberties Union. The entire collection practically sold out in a matter of days, and a restock in February sold out in one day. In fact, Everlane, to date, has raised $68,000 for the ACLU through a combination of product sales and a social campaign launched on Twitter in which customers nominate friends to the ACLU to be honored with $1,000 donations by Everlane.

This week, on March 8, Everlane will launch its latest iteration of its 100% Human collection — the 100% Human Woman collection, in honor of International Women’s Day. The brand plans to do more with the 100% Human collection throughout the year, because of overwhelming support from their customers.

Today we're donating to the @ACLU in honor of amazing humans. Tag someone who's name belongs here. #HumanTogether pic.twitter.com/r8TjeSPdmV

— Everlane (@Everlane) March 1, 2017

“The support we have seen through our 100% Human Collection has shown us that now more than ever, our customers not only want to support crucial organizations like the ACLU but they also want to share their values with the world,” the Everlane team tells Yahoo Style. “Whether that’s by simply wearing the tee or sharing on social, the 100% Human message creates a conversation around inclusion and unity.”

Molly Smith, who founded activist T-shirt line I Feel Like Hillz — an online Hillary merchandise store and social forum for people who weren’t only with her but believe they feel like her — tells Yahoo Style that Election Day and the following day were two of her biggest sales days in 2016.

Aaaand this has made my week. ILY @ifeellikehillz pic.twitter.com/BhrhZ47qZD

— Caroline Slason (@CarolineSlason) February 15, 2017

“Sales the week after the election were also huge, because people were so angry — everyone still wanted [the now sold-out] Madam President shirts,” Smith says. And she doesn’t anticipate the anger — and market for such merchandise — subsiding anytime soon.

“Anger, pride, and Instagram are driving this. People want to express their beliefs and show what side they’re on. And social media is their mouthpiece,” Smith says. “Also, Bernie Bros have come back into the fold! There’s a sense that the left is all in this together now.”

She adds that, in her view, it only makes sense to see design and fashion thrive and play a critical role in the post-election wave of activism.

Believe in science, for the next generation of fighters. Proceeds from this shirt benefit @nrdc_org. ???????????????? (@bookholic) #ifeellikehillz

A post shared by I Feel Like Hillz (@ifeellikehillz) on Feb 5, 2017 at 1:27pm PST

“I’ve always believed good design is an agent of progress — it shows that the creator has empathized with the end user. Great design makes us feel good, even when we don’t realize it,” Smith says. “This is true for things as significant as IKEA’s simple homes for refugee camps, for example, and as trivial as a rad T-shirt. Color, typography, and shape are so important in conveying a certain mood, and if people have an emotional connection to something, it’s more likely to resonate with them for the long term. So when we see a well-designed protest sign, street stencil, or shirt, we’re more likely to remember it and feel inspired to share and take action.”

The look that says "Not taking any of your shit today byyyyeee." (@biancamonica) #ifeellikehillz

A post shared by I Feel Like Hillz (@ifeellikehillz) on Jan 26, 2017 at 8:36am PST

That’s a notion that’s been taken to heart by Pamela Bell, one of the original co-founders of the Kate Spade brand. For the past few years, she’s been working to use fashion to advocate for social good through her seemingly prescient line of activist T-shirts and totes, Prinkshop.

PERSONAL IS POLITICAL Roe V. Wade was meant to grant the right for ALL women to have access safe pregnancy alternatives, today lawmakers continue to try and take away that @plannedparenthood @ladypjustice @reprorights #NaralProChoiceNY #prochoice #abortion #birthcontrol #fightback #stopthestigma #womensrights #feminism #advocacy #powerful #reproductivejustice #prinkshop #WearWhatYouCareAbout @samanthajhahn

A post shared by prinkshop (@prinkshop) on Feb 28, 2017 at 2:37pm PST

Explaining Prinkshop’s origins to Yahoo Style, Bell says, “I have teenagers, and they were buying things with graphics on them that didn’t mean anything. I thought: What if you could be your own advertisement instead of having images projected onto you? What if you could wear what you believe in? You can be the ad for that. You can wear what you care about as a badge of courage.”

The timing for thinking about fashion in that kind of way, of course, has never seemed more relevant.

Still, Bell notes, “I don’t take on the negative. I never did a ‘nasty woman’ or ‘dump Trump’ — I try to stay all positive. When you wear something positive and you care about it and believe in it and are positive, that’s when change comes.” She adds that she doesn’t identify as part of the so-called “resistance,” but rather “pro-proactive projections of change.”

And what better way to project that change than through fashion? Bell asks.

“Everyone gets changed into a different outfit every day — that gives you the chance to wear something you care about daily, to send a message,” she says. “We have a flip tag on the bottom of our shirts — you can flip them up and you’ll see a bit of information on the bottom of the shirt that, for example, really tells you about Roe v. Wade [in the case of the brand’s iconic 1973 shirt]. They’re not just shirts — they’re educational tools.”

1973 Women should be allowed to choose for themselves! @prochoiceamerica @plannedparenthood @reprorights #prochoice #roevwade #1973 #protect #abortion #womensrights #wearwhatyoucareabout Shop now! #linkinbio @amguyton

A post shared by prinkshop (@prinkshop) on Feb 23, 2017 at 2:06pm PST

Like so many others in the space — though Bell is unquestionably one of the trailblazers — the Prinkshop line owner also donates a portion from sales of every shirt or tote bag sold to the causes that directly work, organize, and lobby on those issues.

Oh, and regarding critics who undermine the armchair advocacy of T-shirt activism, Bell — for one — is quick to call them out.

“It’s an engagement beyond, ‘Oh, I’ve worn my shirt and done my part. People are taking selfies and posting and spreading the word — there is a movement happening,” she says. “If you’re wearing a high-fashion handbag and you see someone else wearing that same bag, it’s not the same reaction if you’re walking down the street wearing a 1973 shirt and see someone else wearing one. It makes you think, ‘Oh — you’re on my team.’ It created community, and communities are at the forefront of making social change. No one person can do it by themselves. So I’m trying to create a community around these issues, and hopefully people will get together beyond that. I hope people say, ‘I’m grabbing my T-shirt and going to a meeting!’” she says.

YOU ARE NOT!!!!!Ladies! Protect your rights! @ladypjustice #womensrights #advocacy #equality #equalityforall #wearwhatyoucareabout Shop now! #linkinbio

A post shared by prinkshop (@prinkshop) on Feb 21, 2017 at 8:17am PST

She also says that businesses like hers are, fundamentally, “in the basic business of raising funds. We’re making strides in making big donations to not-for-profits that are always, always asking for dollars and grants.” Bell says she started her business “to help support not-for-profits in their own fundraising. We can go to a Center for Reproductive Rights luncheon and sell our products right there and cross generations. Grandmothers, mothers, and daughters are all buying and wearing the same shirts.”

Robyn Kanner, who works by day as an art director for Amazon and designed a T-shirt reading, “Let Trans Women Live,” agrees that T-shirt activism is not solely about making an easy statement and then going back to your business. For starters, all proceeds for that shirt go to Trans Lifeline. And Kanner says that for her, and for many, the road to activism takes place in steps — and wearing a T-shirt is a good possibility for a first step.

“Wearing a shirt doesn’t mean the end all of activism,” she explains. “But the reason I made the ‘Let Trans Women Live’ shirt is because I thought it would be pretty revolutionary for people to be able to walk around wearing a shirt that talks about trans women. Visibility has an impact. In the trans community, the people who show up and talk about this is us. But it would be pretty cool for other people to say it, too.”

Gotten tons of compliments for my @robynkanner designed tee. Proceeds go to @Translifeline! https://t.co/BGbPEHdWcJ pic.twitter.com/Q0Pyb0SnE2

— raq (@raqueldesigns) February 23, 2017

And particularly when it comes to an issue like trans rights, a tee can be a kind of valuable shorthand, Kanner says.

“People who want to tell me they’re cool about me being trans want to come up to me at moments when maybe I don’t want to talk about it. [Wearing the shirt] is a way to talk about it, but on my own time,” she says. “It humanizes the moment — and the more human it becomes, the more people don’t have to stop trans people on the street to tell them they’re cool with trans people. I want trans people to be normalized in the cultural conversation.”

She does acknowledge the level of inherent privilege that comes with being able to wear the shirt in the first place. “You must be able to wear it without fear of physical violence, with having to deal with the moment of someone asking you, ‘Are you trans? And then being able to answer, ‘Oh, I’m not,’ or ‘Oh, I am,’” she said. “But either way, it then sparks a moment of being able to have a really important conversation or moment of being able to say, ‘I think trans women should be able to be.’ And for people in the community, to see people wearing a shirt that says this, it can let us know — especially for those who are not out — that other people are OK with us existing. There’s someone in the room who has their back if they see someone wearing this shirt. And all those pieces are really valuable.”

Honestly, buy the shirt too. I'm donating all the profits to @Translifeline. But they'll need way more. https://t.co/qVKg0qROCF

— Robyn Kanner (@robynkanner) February 23, 2017

Smith echoes that statement, saying she does understand why people criticize T-shirt activism, but she’s still an advocate. “I think that more visibility and engagement on these topics is always better. It starts a conversation that many people in the suburban Midwest, for example, wouldn’t be having otherwise,” she says. “And I reject the idea that people believe their work is done after they buy a T-shirt. If anything, it gets them thinking about what else they can and should be doing.”

My @robynkanner shirt came in the mail ✨

If you missed it the first time, I have some good news! It's back: https://t.co/Ez4CRHfaGK pic.twitter.com/iB5kzDFKNp

— Kelsey Scherer (@kelsa_) February 22, 2017