#tldr I am incapable of enjoying the show for what it is because I can’t overlook the glaring issues with the political perspective it has

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

I have been playing league for over 7 years, I have an extensive knowledge of the game’s lore, I love cartoons and anime, and I am an especially huge fan of the character Jinx, and Piltover and Zaun is my favorite Runeterra location, (hell before transitioning I had such bad music taste that I loved imagine dragons). Despite all of this I’m really not a big fan of Arcane. Like it’s a good show that’s beautifully animated and has multiple scenes of Jinx killing cops that I adored, and you’d think I’d like Caitlyn and Vi finally being together as a couple after like a decade of fan shipping. But I just cannot overlook how the creators of the show looked at the core concept of Piltover and Zaun in lore and we’re incapable of recognizing it as a clear class struggle of wealthy piltovans and the oppressed working class of zaun. Like yeah expecting riot to not try to both sides things was an impossible standard given their frankly abhorrent track record with Shurima’s slavery and Demacia’s mage execution camps in lore. But like watching the shows main creators talk about how it’s so cool that Piltover and Zaun both have their own ways of life seemingly not realizing that one is explicitly the oppressor class and the oppressed class just baffles me. This barely scratches the surface of my complaints. I can’t even bring myself to care about Caitlyn and Vi because they’re both cops. Like idk if people who only watched Arcane realize this but in actual League lore Caitlyn is the chief of police that only serves the Piltover oligarchy and Vi is a class traitor whose entire character was designed as a joke about excessive police brutality. Once again I can’t expect a billion dollar media corporation to actually have good politics, but given that Piltover and Zaun are regions designed to depict class struggle and Arcane just goes “isn’t it so cool how there’s 2 equal but different cities 😊”

[fawnydoe]

Unpopular opinion but I wish Allison’s redemption arc happened during season one and not before it.

Yeah, I think when I first watched season one, this is really prevented me from enjoying Allison’s character: what we got versus what we could have gotten.

(im literally incapable of keeping things short, UNDER THE CUT FOR MY RAMBLINGS)

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that I got over that mentality and started enjoying Allison’s character for what was presented but man...can you imagine how -in my opinion - absolutely stellar it would have been to see that growth for Allison onscreen? Allison, still reeling from the divorce, and struggling to become kinder and distance herself from her rumor?

Like I should probably confess that I love mean lady characters who are vain and selfish and can and WILL make you cry, bonus points if the narrative doesn’t frame them as a villain and just a person with shitty coping habits trying to build up walls. The growth possible from these characters plus all the interactions they can have is just *chef’s kisses* so good. They sort of set it up with Allison: An A-list celebrity who can mind control people? Yeah, I was fucking onboard for this character. I was actually really pumped for the dark shit they could have pulled with her and I was so ready to see her grow.

I get why the writers hesitate to delve into the dark shit Allison might have done, they want you to like this character and there’s already a lot of shit that Allison gets for stuff that isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. It really sucks the other characters are allowed to be incredibly fucked up while Allison can’t even fucking defend herself without people shitting on her. I still want to see Allison’s dark side and I think Emmy Raver-Lampman has said she also wants to go into this side of Allison but that might be my poor memory talking.

The narrative has told us Allison did fucked up things and yeah I kind of want to explore this. Allison rumoring Claire for small things like eating her broccoli and going to bed...kind of implies that she used that rumor for big things too. It’s implication that I might be reading too much into and the writers were like “nope! Just for those things” but I don’t know! I’m legit curious for the person that Allison was before the divorce because I don’t think she was as nice and I want to see it. If they do explore this darker aspect of the character, I’m onboard all the way.

So when the narrative presented her as having that growth, I guess I was just...I don’t know? Disappointed? I think I was too caught up in the euphoria of what could have been that I struggled to appreciate what we got. That’s on me, I can admit that. However, some of the plot lines would have worked so much better had this redemption arc (or at least pieces of it) were on screen.

Allison not using her rumor for anything just gets frustrating at times and while the pay off for it was fantastic, it could have been extraordinary had she struggled more. Seriously? She doesn’t rumor the home invaders trying to kill her family? Have Allison fuck up more with her power, we’ve been told she was heavily dependent on it. Plus, by showing that Allison is struggling to fully wean herself off her powers, that moment where she tries to rumor Vanya in the cabin is built up. The tension is already there now just reinforce Allison’s struggle to resist the desire of using her rumor.

I would have loved an Allison that’s trying to be kind but struggling with old habits and who knows exactly how to crush someone’s spirit with a few words. 

But at the end of the day, I think it’s important to understand this is not the Allison we got and I think that making peace with that was where I started to enjoy her character a more. She does have flaws and the ones where you can tell that her powers have seeped into her behavior (lack of boundaries and her ability to manipulate people without said rumor) are super interesting. 

tldr: I do wish we got a different Allison but I’ve really come to love the character presented to us and I think moping about on what could have been will hinder the enjoyment of said character.

[charm-in-spades]

I envy the RP relationships your characters seem to have. I am at a loss as to how to get to that point. I enjoy the person I primarily RP with, they're very nice, and a lot of fun to hang out with. But neither of us are very creative. I get more excited about RP with other people. I don't want to hurt their feelings because they are a good friend. I don't want to end the characters' relationships either. But more and more, I find myself wanting to quit RP entirely. Just needed to vent.

I apologize for this taking a moment anon. The nature of the question caught me off guard at first and I wasn’t sure how to respond. First and foremost, I appreciate you reaching out to me and if I can provide some perspective I’ll try. I can’t promise I’ll have the answer to all your problems, or the advice for even one of them but I can suggest a couple things that may help as I’ve been in these spots myself. 

I envy the RP relationships your characters seem to have. I am at a loss as to how to get to that point

My first bit of advice is to be careful about perception. It can get really easy to feel discouraged about what it seems other people have on the surface. In this case, it seems to be RP relationships but I think the first thing in understanding about my building with others is that most of my character relationship building isn’t just in character. I’m not sure that we know one another but most people, unless they’re very close to me think, I roleplay a whole lot more than I do, and in reality - my health isn’t actually super up for it and I sometimes (a lot of times) spend more time talking with my partners than I do actually role playing. I would say communicating is key, and it absolutely is but I feel its a bit deeper than that which leads me on to the next part of this which is:  

Make friends - It’s important to note that RP relationships aren’t just IC - they’re OOC too and mine are built with that in mind whether it be romance, friendship, family ties, rivalries, villains. If I’m playing something deep, chances are I’ve made some kind of meaningful contact with the person on the other end of the screen. I used to roleplay in WoW and I was a stealth rogue that had connections forged entirely almost through IC save for guildmates. Did a lot of walk ups and got a /lot/ of RP back then, but precious few turned into quality friendships or dynamics that lasted or persisted when I /wasn’t/ online. 

However, the ones that did stay over time were the ones where I became close with the players themselves. I have many amazing connections and roleplays now, and all of them were forged through both IC and OOC interaction. I watch movies with my RP partners, I ask them constantly about their roleplays and stories, even where I’m not involved so that the person knows that yes! I am ABOUT what ever it is they do. I talk about my roleplays s and try to find common ground for our muses.

I try my damnest to get my friends to meet one another, and invite them into new RPs I think they might be interested. I invest myself in what they do, and support what they do without me. Just like I would in any other relationship. I only know I have good RP because I’ve taken the time to make good friends, and all my partners are like…2+ year partners now. Some going on 3-5+. They do the same for me. Ultimately, establishing that meaningful contact is what is going to show you what kind of relationship your character will have with another player’s. It makes sense right? Standing to reason that if you’re investing time in what the other person is interested in, you’ll find if you guys have similar RP interests to jump on. Now, this second half seems a lot more frustrated in thinking so I’m going to try to address what I can see. 

I enjoy the person I primarily RP with, they’re very nice, and a lot of fun to hang out with. But neither of us are very creative. I get more excited about RP with other people. I don’t want to hurt their feelings because they are a good friend. I don’t want to end the characters’ relationships either. But more and more, I find myself wanting to quit RP entirely.

First of all, whooo chile’ thats a lot. On a blunt note these are issues that absolutely need to be communicated but not before you actually figure out what is bothering you within the scenario. Your words strike me as someone trapped and uncertain of which direction to go, or rather, as if you know what you want to do but don’t want to lose anything else in return. 

You need to figure out first, why these people excite you more than your current RP partner. What is it that they bring to the table that the other person is not? You say both of you lack creativity - but we all know that’s not true, anon. Everyone who roleplays is a creative mother fucker - so both of you are capable of generating story together - its just a matter of investment on a two way street. So the next question is - where is that liking investment?

Is the issue instead that these people supply storylines where you’re otherwise incapable or unwilling to do so with your current partner? Is it the nature of the RP they give? Is it the style of writing? Are you simply just bored because you’ve been with this person a long time? These things you need to be honest with your self about first and foremost. Even if you feel it makes you look bad - figure out what the core problem is. Then talk to the other person. It may not be an easy conversation but it is the right thing to do, and honestly the only thing to do. You got to have some insane integrity with yourself and others in roleplay and you need to be honest about what you’re looking for in an RP partnership the same way you would any other. If your goals in RP aren’t aligned, you naturally aren’t going to connect in storytelling. 

Now, if you’ve a relationship going with this character of any kind - it needs to be discussed that you’re having a hard time investing in RP with them and if the relationship is romantic and /that’s/ the thing you’re urging after - it might be important to take a hard internal look about what you’re after in RP. Because the thing is you’re also not want to separate from this character bond which can easily run into territories of negligence and making an RP partner feel unsafe or unwanted and of course, no one really wants that. For themselves or anyone else. Know what you want and if those things don’t match up anymore? Be willing to let your partner go, or be willing to compromise to get what you both want, because that too is an important part of chilling with someone. Can’t be all about you.

Once you’ve figured out what you’re actually frustrated with, and what you want out of your RP, and why these other people are exciting your RP jimmies, and can self reflect - talk to your RP partner. Period. The same way you’d like to be. 

The TLDR though is: Just…be invested, be honest and be a friend. Be willing to provide that meaningful contact first, and all that lovely honesty to those around you, and you’ll likely find that the RP you make will grow. 

I don’t know that I’ve answered this adequately. Some of it seems self-explanatory, but self-explanatory doesn’t mean easy. It might take time for you to come to terms with what you need or want to pursue in RP. I hope you managed to find what that is. 

- Theo

[thekingofsadness]

Examining DW9′s Liu Shan

This is for dear ol’ @punishedkrauss for being just plain awesome and for @daolunofshiji for being Zhong Hui + beard but with Liu Shan cutscenes. I’m grateful for both of you guys.

OK now into the meat of this. A big obvious SPOILER ALERT is in place because this is Dynasty Warriors 9′s Liu Shan and let me tell you, he’s NOT the same as DW7/8 Liu Shan. I’ll be covering Liu Shan’s story (chapters 10-13 in DW9) INCLUDING his ending cutscene as well as what’s up with his personality. This will all be in great detail so yeah, if you don’t want to get spoiled, don’t read this.

TLDR it’s EVERYTHING I ever wanted from Liu Shan, and more. I love it, and I’m sure you will too.

A lot of characters in DW9 have gotten more character and personality when before they did not. Zhu Ran’s not all about fire attacks anymore, Jiang Wei is just plain bats**t insane (in a good way), and Dong Zhuo now is a genuine, menacing threat. It’s all good and brings out new, interesting facets to characters that were before just one-note and downright boring.

That’s not what happened to Liu Shan. What they did to Liu Shan in DW9 was change the focus of his personality. But to explain what happened to his personality, I gotta explain his story.

Now, Liu Shan’s story is much more based on his historical counterparts actions. He’s a young emperor eager to fill in the shoes of his father and because of a lack of experience, he initially leaves everything to Zhuge Liang—not before, of course, listening to what must be done. He’s ultimately a very passive ruler but that does not mean he is not trying. He makes sure to listen to everybody’s plan because giving his permission and he makes sure to help in the pre-battle preparations whenever he can. Of course, things go great, the Nanman are pacified, and soon the Northern Campaigns against Wei start.

A thing I never even considered but shows up brilliantly is Liu Shan’s concern about rest for people. If you play Liu Bei’s final chapter (chapter 9), it is the death of his sworn brothers that sends Liu Bei to a rage, and he is merciless and tireless until his brothers are avenged but it comes at the cost of rapidly declining health, resulting in Liu Bei’s death. Liu Shan knows this, he is worried about this happening again, and every single time before a major battle, WITHOUT FAIL, he beseeches Zhuge Liang (and later Jiang Wei) to make sure to rest.

He’s basically the group mom, always worrying about everybody’s health because of his unresolved fears about his own father’s death. Unfortunately, his worries are very much valid because Zhuge Liang dies in the Wuzhang plains precisely BECAUSE he worked himself to the bone. Just like Liu Bei before him.

With Jiang Wei now at the helm instead of Zhuge Liang, he plans to carry on his predecessor’s legacies and makes more campaigns against Wei, all of them ending in failure. Jiang Wei motivates the new generation into a frenzy, getting them all riled up for war but slowly Liu Shan understands just how detrimental it all is. Jiang Wei is bringing up everybody’s hope for a battle that cannot be won, bringing more chaos and destruction. Liu Shan tries to reason with Jiang Wei and everybody else but they’re all too caught up in the madness and their own personal agenda with Wei. So they don’t listen to him, and admonish him despite being the only voice of reason. The only person who listens in the end is Xingcai. (Video link here)

With Jiang Wei’s failures, he starts butting heads with everybody’s LOVE-TO-HATE GUY, Huang Hao. Whatever Huang Hao’s intentions are (bad, very very bad), he is trying to be the voice of reason in Liu Shan’s stead, trying to dissuade Jiang Wei from more pointless battles. There are now two factions within Shu and unfortunately, most of the playable cast happen to be in Jiang Wei’s camp. This builds up to Jiang Wei’s final campaign where he’s called back to the capital, Chengdu, because Huang Hao used Liu Shan’s name to bring them back. 

Then the conquest of Shu occurs. Everybody is scattered and Liu Shan is trying to minimise casualties but he feels he is lost. Unlike everybody else, he doesn’t have a role model to guide him, and he feels he is lost, without a purpose. He needs to make a decision once and for all and he needs to make it fast. He defeats the first assault but Jin’s main army is fast approaching. He decides to end the madness by surrendering Shu, basically making sure everybody is spared. Jiang Wei approaches Liu Shan after the surrender, finally understanding his lord’s intentions but ultimately rejecting them.

In Liu Shan’s ending, he is to enter a carriage to go to Jin’s capital of Luoyang, leaving Chengdu behind forever with Xingcai. He tries to give a comforting speech about enjoying life but the peasants, Jiang Wei’s propaganda still fresh in their mind, call him a coward and throw rocks at the carriage as it drives away but Liu Shan only smiles. It’s only in the carriage that he laments his mistakes, feeling guilty for surrendering Shu. Xingcai tries to comfort him but he pushes her away because he is going against everybody’s wishes to keep them safe. Xingcai also feels upset but he comforts her, insisting that it is his fault alone that Shu is gone, a final “please” to tell her that he is responsible and that she should not feel guilty too. (Video link 2 here)

AND THEN THEY KISSSSSSS!!! AW, COME ON, KOEI, WHY DIDN’T THEY KISS?! IT’S MUCH MORE BLATANT THAT THEY’RE TOGETHER SO WHY CAN’T THEY GET THEIR MOVE ON?! I bet they were gonna kiss, I BET YOU CUT IT AAAA—

A-ahem, sorry. Anyway, it’s time to get into the differences in personality between DW9 Liu Shan versus DW7/8 Liu Shan.

The first and most important difference is that Liu Shan is NOT a fool. No one calls him a fool (except the ending, but for different reasons) and he makes no pretense of hiding his intellect. He’s the voice of reason for Shu, he sees the big picture, but everyone except Xingcai are too ignorant to see it. He is passive initially out of lack of experience and remains passive only because he knows he can’t get through to people.

Which brings me to the second difference. DW9 Liu Shan is not as silver tongued as his previous counterparts. In fact, DW9 Liu Shan clearly has a lot of things going on in his head, so many ideas and opinions that he wants to tell the world but the problem is that he doesn’t know how to convince people to his side. He doesn’t know how to express his true feelings in a way that people will understand. It’s the complete opposite of DW7/8 Liu Shan who used people’s perception of him to manipulate their understanding. While DW7/8 Liu Shan is deceptive and manipulative with the best intentions living in the cover of the fool, DW9 Liu Shan is honest but incapable of expressing his feelings, leading others to assume he’s idiotic. He doesn’t know what to say so he’s quiet, and it is this inaction that leads to the spiraling chaos in Shu.

The third difference, is that Liu Shan is not at all lazy in this incarnation. Sure, he gets tired easily, and he definitely does prefer keeping his strength rather than exerting himself, but when hard work is needed Liu Shan will help and with little to no complaints. In fact, he’d be very much happy to help others but thinks his ability to help is limited or that he will get in the way of the more capable, which is why he’s usually sitting around all the time.

I guess the best way to sum it up is that while DW7/8 Liu Shan works with people’s expectations and plays the fool because he thinks it’s easier that way, DW9 Liu Shan actively tries and fails to defy people’s expectations and his efforts to try and help others go nowhere because no one listens to him.

Well, actually there’s only one person who listens to him. And that’s Xingcai. And I gotta talk about this because I am way too obvious about how much I ship those two together. LIU SHAN X XINGCAI IS CANON, BABY! WHOO!

In DW9, Liu Shan’s and Xingcai’s relationship is even less ambiguous than before. She’s his loyal bodyguard and retainer and most importantly, Liu Shan’s only confidant. She’s the only one who listens to her lord and he tells her effortlessly what’s on his mind and it’s hinted at not-so-subtly that there’s definitely something more between the two. She’s not swept away in the chaos of war and listens to Liu Shan, who is probably the only voice of reason left in late Shu. If you’ve seen the first video, she crouches down and puts her hands over his, a pose that is almost identical to the one Zhenji makes in her ending to her husband (video here)

Then there’s Liu Shan’s ending, where she tries to comfort him once again but he gently refuses her help, saying he must carry the guilt. And she’s shaking, equally tormented as he is because she also feels guilty. She may be able to support her lord but she is a soldier first and foremost. She follows orders, not makes them, and she knows she can’t be Liu Shan’s voice when he is silent because she too is bad at expressing her feelings. In fact in the two cutscenes, she doesn’t express her emotions in words but in action. Crouched down and hands over her lord’s hand in comfort, the shake of her body as she takes a shuddery breath to stop herself from crying, the slow loll of her head when she realises she can’t help Liu Shan. That’s how Xingcai expresses herself. And that’s why she too feels guilty in his ending.

A thing that was mentioned briefly towards the end of Liu Shan’s campaign is his remorse for not having someone like Zhuge Liang by his side. In the end, Liu Shan does not have a rolemodel to guide his actions. He only really has himself to motivate him. Xingcai supports him, there is no question about it, but she doesn’t stimulate him or give him ideas about how to go on because she too is equally clueless. And if you think about it carefully, he’s the only ruler without a clearly defined rolemodel and supporter. Liu Bei had Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng and his sworn brothers; Cao Cao had Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and almost all of the strategists; Cao Pi looked up to his father but also has Sima Yi for support and in turn when Sima Yi takes over he also looks to Cao Pi’s rule as inspiration with his wife and sons to help him. All of the Sun rulers have family, by blood or by bond, and that guides them. Even Zhang Jiao has his brothers, Dong Zhuo and his granddaughter Dong Bai, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao, every ruler, EVERY RULER, had someone to look up to. Not Liu Shan.

Liu Shan does not idolise his father. In the game they have few interactions. Liu Bei’s story ends before Liu Shan’s begins and in the end, Liu Bei’s only legacy in Liu Shan is heightening Liu Shan’s fear of people wasting away by overexerting themselves. Zhuge Liang is not a role model. He controls Liu Shan and there’s no real relationship outside of strategist and ruler, and Zhuge Liang dies in the same way Liu Bei did. Jiang Wei is not a rolemodel, in fact if Liu Shan doesn’t dislike Jiang Wei he certainly holds the strategist in some contempt because he’s clearly not at all fine with his bull by the end of the story. And like I said, Xingcai is emotional support only. A steady rock. But rocks can’t give him advice or tell him what’s right and what’s wrong.

That’s why Liu Shan’s final command to surrender is so powerful. Because HE made the decision. Not Jiang Wei, not Xingcai, nobody forced him into this decision, he alone made it. In sparing many lives he ended an era, a kingdom, and he has to take responsibility for that decision. He chose to make that decision even if he knew it would earn him the ire of his people, even if he knew people would brand him a coward and a fool and curse his name until his death. It’s probably the most difficult decision anyone in the game has to make—whether to fight a futile war or surrender and be villified—and he had to make it himself and that is probably Liu Shan’s shining, greatest moment. He’ll carry the guilt and he’ll carry the blame because that, he believes, is what an emperor does and he will carry it until the end of his days.

All in all, Liu Shan is a tragic figure in DW9. He has a fine ability to see reason in a world of madness but no one can see the world through his eyes. He’s not as talented as everybody else but he is still smart and he is still strong and capable but with everybody taking responsibility, he’s forced to keep to the sidelines and watch Shu crumble beneath his feet. It’s not the obfuscating stupidity he had before. He never truly lies, he just keeps to himself because when he tries to open his mouth he’s almost immediately shut down. Even if he did take control, stood up for his beliefs and forced people to listen, there was no way Shu would have survived for long. Perhaps it’s a sin of inaction but ultimately the fate of Shu was out of his grasp from the get go.

I really do love this interpretation of Liu Shan. I liked the sneakiness of DW7/8, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not easy to see the truth behind the mask he wore. In DW9 he is far more sympathetic and far easier to understand his motivations. He’s flawed in that he did not act when he should have, a far more understandable flaw than pretending to be an idiot to manipulate others from the background, regardless of intentions. And I love Liu Shan’s ending. It’s everything I hoped for: Liu Shan x Xingcai moments, bittersweet ending, NO ‘le bu si shu’ scene, it’s perfect! I feel like they tailored that ending to me, like KT was for some reason looking at my opinions and then altered the ending to suit my criteria.

Liu Shan is great in DW9. I love him as a flawed character and I really do think you guys will enjoy it too. It’s a slightly different but refreshing take on his character, more defined by his historical actions than his villainous romanticised version, and his story is heart wrenching. I’m sure that if you didn’t like his character before, you will feel for his struggle and maybe, just maybe, feel a little bit more sympathetic for his plight.