#& even being able to name that part of my identity itself has taken massive amounts of growth & perseverance

[panb1mbo]

finally caved and bought "i'm glad my mom is dead". i bought it like a day ago and I'm halfway through only because i am restricting myself from devouring the entire thing in a sitting. i was working last night and it took everything in me not to finish it then.

[yamithediaperdork]

Let’s all go to (baby)jail! (Miraculous ladybug and cat noir)

Nathaniel Kurtzberg yawn loudly and rubbed a eye as he finished cleaning up the main playroom. at age 16 the two time akuma villain had struggled to find then lucked into a job that would help pay for his art supplies over the summer break. at first he'd been thrilled but the truth of the matter was, while playing with the kids that came to rainbow cloud Daycare was fun, and they all loved his sketches he made for them, at the end of the day he was normally too damn tired to do any art for himself. Not helping things was the fact he was suppose to be on the afternoon shift, but one of the other workers had called in sick and as low man on totem pole, Nate got to fill the morning shift and would still have to do his afternoon shift. 'and the stupid evening shift didn't clean up before leaving, again.' he thought glumly. the only other worker on was up in the office, taking in phone calls and the like, or at least that's what Johnson claimed. Nate had a feeling the chubby slob was really just watching YouTube videos on the office computer but since he was the boss's son, there was nothing he could really say or do. all and all it was looking like it was gonna be a shit day, but straitening up and dusting off the brown slacks and white shirt that was his uniform, Nate tried to force a smile on his face. 'no sense in taking out your bad mood on the little ones.' He reminded him, looking at the clock and noting it was almost opening time. there was a heavy knock on the front door and despite the place having a no early drop off rule, Nate wasn't shocked some upper class twit would be dragging their kid by already. shaking his head and making his way to the door he opened it and took a step back in semi concern as some sort of love child between a body builder and a gorilla was standing there, glaring. "Can..Can I help you?" Nate asked, a tremor in his voice though he thought the man looked almost..oddly..familiar. The mountain of muscles made a grunting noise and then held out a letter, which Nate took with shaking hands and glanced over it as the missing link walked towards a fancy black car, leaving Nate hoping that he wasn't leaving cracks in the pavement.

' To which ever wage lackey receives this, my son had been enrolled in your little day care as out of all of the daycare's in the city, this one has the most success with it's potty training. My son despite being older then normally allowed into your daycare and into your potty training program has been allowed due to the frankly massive amount of money i have paid to brush aside all concern's. he's to be treated like any other toddler who's failed to keep his pants clean and know that while i have high hopes this will pay off, no fault will be placed upon you as the boy is simply lazy, and i suspect is doing it just for fun. PS: Don't be scared to spank him if he acts up, he's old enough to know better.

Signed Gabriel Agreste. '

Nate raised a eyebrow as he finished reading, that last name, it could really be.. and then he looked up and grinned ear to ear as of all the people he could of expected to see being enrolled in the daycare's award winning potty class, it was Mr. supermodel himself, Adrien Agreste! The Blond boy was CLEARLY not happy as he was escorted out of the car, pouting and looking down at the ground and muttering something as he was handed a large light black diaper bag with 'Adrien's diaper bag' stitched on the side in white. he was dressed in Black velco sneakers and white socks and wearing a pair of light black shorts to match the shade of his diaper bag and as Nate looked, it was clear to see the shorts were puffed out by a bulky diaper. the diaper itself was over the top of the waistband and was a cream white, it had been visible when Adrien's white t-shirt rode up for a brief second. The shirt itself amusingly had text on the front that ID'ed Adrien as a crybaby brat and while Nate couldn't make out what Adrien was muttering about apparently the gorilla had had enough and gave the blond a firm swat on his padded bottom, making the blond cry out. The gorilla pointed towards Nate and Adrien looked like he wanted to complain, but wisely kept it to himself and carried the large diaper bag (which seemed to be so loaded with extra diapers and the like it took the blond using both arms to lug it) towards the door. '...Oh..today just got a WHOLE lot better.' Nate thought. "hi little guy, welcome to Rainbow Cloud. follow me instead and we'll get you alll set up." Nate said, even as Adrien gave a dirty look.

For Adrien, his hell had started in the last two weeks in school when in the span of 3 days he'd had 6 wetting accidents and woken up having messed the bed twice. Thankfully he'd been able to cover up the accidents so no one had noticed, but naturally his father had found out about him having changes of clothes brought to him, not to mention the bed messing had been impossible to hide. A trip over his fathers knee and 20 minutes with his nose in the corner, and Adrien had been warned NOT to let it happen again or steps would be taken. the blond picked up on the threat and had nodded, promising he'd take care of it and for a day and a half, and carefully controlling his fluid intake he'd been golden. it had been during a pep rally when disaster had struck, he'd been sipping at a soda in the crowd when a loud bit of pyro had gone off and the sudden boom, and the extra bit of fluid had resulted in his flooding his pants, though since they were out in the field the urine had thankfully gone into the ground. thinking quick before anyone noticed he 'accidentally' spilled his soda on himself, soaking his pants even more and joked about his butter fingers and got permission to go and change. His father hadn't been fooled for a second, and when his bodyguard can brought Adrien a change of pants, he'd also brought him a pair of puppy print pull-ups. Knowing better then to argue the part time hero had wore the pull ups, though he could see there was no way anyone could tell under his baggy tan pants, he'd been sure the world knew for the rest of the school day. Further disaster struck on the drive home after school, his father apparently had made it clear no after school fun even if it was Friday, as they got stuck in a traffic jam. trying to ease the sense of doom, and pretty sure he was going to get anther spanking when they got home, Adrien had been watching TV in the back and munching on some rainbow chip muffins he had stashed in a compartment back there, when the urge to go number two hit him like a ton of bricks. he'd been making use of diarrhea medicine to help keep his bed clean and actually hadn't gone number 2 in the day or so as a result, but apparently he'd pushed his luck. squirming and trying to soothe the cramps, he'd begged and pleaded for his body guard to either get them out of the traffic jam, or let him out of the car to use a bathroom, but the doors stayed locked and he'd of blown his secret identity if he had just turned into cat noir and forced his way out. (not to mention he wasn't sure if the pull up would stay hidden with Cat noire's much tighter clothing, and if he was gonna fail at going poopie on the potty it was somewhat better to do it in his civilian clothes, instead of his super suit) the belt and pants had been digging in and Adrien thought MAYBE if he took them off (the back windows were tinted after all so no one could look in) that might buy him the bit of extra time he'd need, and so in just his t-shirt and puppy pull-up, he ended up kneeling on the spacious floor of the back seat, leaning on the seat with his upper half and groaning and pounding a fist, trying desperately not to fudge his pull-up. For all of 20 seconds it felt like it might of worked, then they hit a pot hole, and well that was it. game over. The boy howled and cried as he made softball sized lumps in the back of his pull-up and a rotten stench had filled the back seat. Thankfully (or more accurately, amazingly) the Pull-up hadn't leaked then he was forced to stay in his kneeling position, so that he didn't smush his smelly load and risk leaking out all over the expensive seats. Thankful for the private parking they had, Adrien had been led inside quickly and no one had seen, but instead of being given a chance to clean up he was presented to his father who had wrinkled his nose in disgust. One LONG lecture later, he was allowed to shower, then was spanked and out on time out and put in double pull-ups. For the rest of the remaining school year Adrien could of counted the amount of times he actually made it to the bathroom on one hand. Pull-ups during the day, with him having a pack at the school, and diapers once he got home. thankfully Hawk moth had found something better to do during that week then making villains as Adrien had been put more or less under lock down. it wasn't that he didn't think he couldn't of snuck away from his body guard, but there was also the fact his pants had been taken away, and he was given a pair to wear to school, and any modeling gigs he had booked. rocking the diaper and shirt look around his house was one thing, but he pictured having to turn back after fighting a villain and being stranded in down town Paris in the thick white diaper his father preferred him in. Adrien had figured this was going to be his summer, under house arrest till he could get his bladder and bowels to fall in line but his father had other ideas. "Clearly you're not even making a effort to use the washroom, from what I've seen you just sit on your behind and play your little games while stinking up my house." his father had said. "well I'm not going to let you be a lazy little potty pants and make it so i have to come home to a house smelling like a diaper pail. I've enrolled you in a daycare that will help you get back your control." "But..But..Dad you can't! I can do this! I'll fi-" "I didn't ask for your opinion on it young man, I already took care of it. you'll be going every day, Monday to Saturday, and I expect you to do your best with their 3 week potty training program. You'll either shape up and prove what I've been saying, that your just lazy and been doing this for attention and stop in short order, and then can just stop going once you've proven you can be a 'big boy.' Or you'll prove what you've been saying and you really can't help it and you'll be potty trained..again. Hopefully it'll stick this time." Shopping for the supplies had been mortifying but today as Adrien looked at the face of a semi friend, it seemed like a delight compared to the day that laid ahead of him.

"So little guy, this is the main indoor play area, though we have a playground in the back." Nate said, clearly taking delight in following orders to the letter. "and over here is a area you'll be getting VERY familiar with, hopefully to great success." Adrien followed Nate's gaze and whined loudly, it was a wall lined with 5 training potties, and had a dry erase board above each one. they had tape on them to form a grid that displayed days and times, with room for someone to draw to write something in. "Your daddy must be very eager to get you potty trained, not just anyone gets the full experience.we only focus on 5 kids at a time but if your enrolled in it, your daddy must of paid top dollar." Nate said and then gave Adrien a pat on his padded rump, making the blond sulk even more. the diaper bag had been taken from him and was over by a changing table, so his hands were free at least but all that had meant was whenever they walked anywhere Nate had made Adrien hold his hand. "I will warn you that since your technically one over the limit, you'll be waiting in line to use any potty thats free. I'll be keeping track of your potty progress for you on a card you can take home and show your daddy, so give it your best ok champ?" "..Nate come on, you know I'm not one of these little to-" Adrien said, finally having enough and turning to give the smaller boy a piece of his mind. "Before you dig yourself a nice deep hole, You should know I have full permission to spank your butt if I need to.and we've been told to treat you just like any other little guy struggling to learn how to keep his pants free." Nate said quickly. "..Of course you have. My father is a fucking asshole." Adrien groaned, rolling his eyes then yelped as a hard swat when on his padded rump. "Bad boy! no swearing! Little boys who swear and cuss get their mouths washed out!" Nate said, shaking a finger at him. a mental image of himself with soap suds around his mouth and blowing bubbles popped into Adrien's head and he whimpered. "I.I'm sorry! I didn't know." he said quickly. "...I'll let it go THIS time, but next time, they're gonna be calling you bubble breath. got it mister?" Nate asked. Adrien swallowed his pride and nodded. "right, now going on with our little tour..give me your hand little guy..that's better. anyways, over here is our arts and crafts corner where we'll-" As Nate droned on Adrien whined and found himself oddly fighting the urge to suck his thumb.

Johnson came out and met with Adrien, chuckling lots. Adrien had felt a brief hope spot that maybe he'd be looking after him  but Johnson made it clear he wasn't the type to deal with dirty diapers, so he put Nate in charge of the big baby. As parents started to drop off their children Adrien found a place to try and hide for the most part, which while normally Nate would of raised a fuss and made sure he stayed where he could be seen, having one of Paris's top models in diapers and at a day care might of caused a few issues. It was easier to let him go and hide and the oldest kid being dropped off today aside from the ex model, now pamper packer, was a 5 year old so it was unlikely their parents would believe them or they'd recognize him. Still it didn't stop a few of the children from spotting him as he was hiding under one of the crib, twin brothers age 4 who peered under the crib having seen him. they were dressed in a blue t-shirt and green cover-all's for one, and a green t-shirt and blue cover-all's for the other, both sporting brown hair in mushroom cuts. "Um, Your not 'pose to be under there." blue shirt said, trying to keep his voice down low. "you'll get in trouble and lose your cookie at snack time." "Oh uh..well..I got permission from Nate so it's ok." Adrien said, which, technically was true. it wasn't like Nate didn't know where he was. "wait.." Green shirt said, furrowing his eye brows. "Your kinda..big ta be in here.. how old are you?" "oh uh.." Adrien paused, not wanting to say his real age, but needing to think of something to keep the kids from asking too many more questions. "I'm 9." he said. "hehehe ya don't hafa be shy if your hear and 9 silly. we hada this one um.. " blue shirt paused and looked to his brother for help, and green shirt leaned over and whispered in his ear. "10 year old who was here, and git this! he was here cuz he was a potty pants! me and Joshie were potty trained at -2- and this big kid wa-" "Gawy! you know you're not 'pose ta pick on big babies!" green shirt, or Joshie Adrien supposed, scolded his brother. "Aw come one, it was sooo funny! he kept going " and in place of saying it, Gary blew a raspberry. "in his diaper and bawling like a baby!" "heh.. it was pretty funny." Joshie admitted. "O-Oh yeah.. ehehe..that does sound funny." Adrien said weakly, now really hoping the boys would leave, or at least praying they wouldn't notice his bulky diaper butt. "why dun you come out and we can go and play toys. ya needa hit the toy chest fast if you wanna git a good toy." Joshie said, with Gary nodding and stoking his chin as if his twin had given sage like advice. Adrien chuckled at how cute the boys where being and seeing how the parents were starting to leave he started to crawl out sadly for our hero, the back of his diapers, just under the waistline, but on the seam, caught on a nail. So eager was Adrien to get out and show off (and maybe make this stay SOMEWHAT bearable)  that he didn't notice. Had he but noticed, he might of been able to get away with just a hole in the shorts but atlas, at the high speed he was scooting out the shorts gave way to the nail like a hot knife though butter. Gary and josh both paused as they  heard the ripping noise, and Adrien was blushing bad as he stood up, his hands going behind his back, feeling the slick plastic of his diaper and frantically trying to get the two sides of the massive rip together. "You uh, heh..you OK?" Gary asked, giggling a little. "Did you rip your shorts or was that like a BIG fart?" Josh asked, already holding his nose just in case. "I uh..we;ll." Adrien was very shy and found himself realizing just how much he hadn't appreciated the shorts being in tack. "He totally ripped his shorts. dun worry big kid! I got ya!" Gary said then cupping a hand to his mouth he shouted. "NATTTTE! DA NEW KID RIPPED HIS SHORTS!" Gary hollered, then gave Adrien a thumbs up. "...Oh this isn't going to end well." Adrien muttered.

End part one.

[kdtheghostwriter]

SNK 115  - “OMW”

I mean...

Let’s be real. As far as Deus Ex goes, I’ve seen more preposterous this week.

If any of you are wondering why this post took so long, it isn’t for lack of time I assure you. This chapter was…a lot. And god damn, Isayama, I wasn’t expecting to dig up my Junior Year debate notes for this one blog post but here we are lads. Quick recap before we get into writers’ mumbo-jumbo.

Flashback

Deus EX

#HeelFloch

Sad Hange

RESURRECTION

We all know Isa loves his religious imagery. He isn’t quite as egregious as Zack Snyder (who is, tbh?) but it’s definitely a thing. He also loves mythology of all types. And while Norse mythology seems to be his area of expertise, it isn’t mine - which is why seeing Stupid Sexy Zeke emerge from his Titan Incubator made me think of another Stupid Sexy God from the Ancient Greek Canon.

I speak of the Goddess Aphrodite, who has dominion over love, beauty and its various trappings. Admittedly, this comparison is drawn in relation to aesthetics only. Zeke’s aloof temperament doesn’t really mirror that of the Greek goddess. Even though Aphrodite did technically help start the Trojan War but that’s neither here nor there.

Zeke’s appearance from the steam of the felled Titan is nearly identical to the foam that appeared during Aphrodite’s spontaneous conception in the Ionian Sea. For the sake of transparency, I must point out that long ago, a fanfic author by the name of Homer relayed to us that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. This is not technically wrong but it is quite boring. And it was also pre-dated (shout-out to Hesiod). Uranus, the primordial god of the sky, got into a spat with his children as deities are wont to do. This particular dust-up ended in Uranus being castrated by his son – the Titan, Cronus – who usurped the throne. The disembodied testicles fell into the sea like a pair of primordial bath bombs and out of the resulting effervescence appeared a full-grown Aphrodite in all of her Tumblr-banned glory.

Zeke, with nothing left of him after the explosion than a head and torso, was taken into the gut of a waiting Titan. Let me clarify, here. He was not eaten, no. The mindless titan scooted itself along the river banks and inserted the dying Zeke into its stomach cavity. Then OG Ymir with her trademark PATHS Magiks,  crafts the golden boy a brand new body and sends him on his merry way.

Like I said up top: of all the examples of Deus Ex, this isn’t even the third-most severe I’ve seen. The implications of it are…a lot. And it actually makes sense if you consider what we know about Titan Biology.

Back to the beginning. Once upon a time, the Founder Ymir Fritz made a deal with the Devil of All Earth that gave her untold power after coming into contact with the “source of all living matter.” With that power, Ymir became the Progenitor of Titan Power. Upon her death 13 years later, her soul was split into nine pieces and connected via a metaphysical system known only as PATHS. These PATHS transcend space and time and bind together every subject of Ymir, even those who have been long dead.

We also know that the Titans themselves are a conundrum of theoretical physics. Their mass and energy are created from nothing. They generate massive amounts of heat, but don’t appear to need fuel. They have no digestive system and regurgitate the contents of their stomach when it becomes full. Even though they are huge creatures, their actual limbs and body parts are incredibly light. Even though Zeke has little recollection of what happened to him post-explosion, he’s likely smart enough to infer, as we can, exactly how and why he emerged from the carcass of a Titan with a brand new body.

This is all before we mention that Zeke Jaeger is a part of the Fritz family tree. The Royal Family line that descends directly from Ymir herself.

I also thought about Lazarus of Bethany while reading this section. Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus, the lad from Bethlehem. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Jesus was told that Lazarus had fallen ill, but has business and doesn’t set out until a few days later. Jesus and his crew arrive in Bethany only to discover that Lazarus has already passed away. This leads to the Gospel’s shortest verse.

Jesus wept. [John 11:35, KJV]

Perhaps the better comparison for her is to Abraham (with the whole “making a great nation” stipulation). But! I’m trying to do something pithy here, so bear with me.

The story of Lazarus might be the Good Book’s most well-known resurrection (besides that other one). The idea here is that the world’s most Holy Figure decided that this man’s time on Earth wasn’t done. Jesus was too late to heal Lazarus and felt so guilty as to weep. Lazarus was then called forth from his tomb, still wrapped in his death robes.

For the Eldian Empire, no figure is more Holy than Ymir Fritz. She’s the Founding Titan and, if this chapter is to be inferred upon, her spirit still influences the will of her subjects to the day. An entire cult has formed with the sole purpose of returning her to her former glory. I should also point out that Zeke essentially committed suicide.

Like, yeah, maybe the injuries were a bit too extreme for an old shifter to be able to regenerate from, but even if that’s the case there would have been the telltale signs of an attempt to do so, like Pieck in Liberio. There wasn’t even that. He was so tired of the fight – so done with Levi torturing him – that he was willing to abandon his years-long plan entirely and sacrifice his powers to the shadows of death. He chose to die; the Founder chose differently.

The rainstorm clearing to make way for the sun. The beautification of Zeke Jaeger. The visage of his tall, strong frame standing firm as his hated rival lays broken and mutilated at his feet. It’s all very hard to miss. Who knows where his head is at following this? I do, however, finally know why I get so many Spidey Sense tingles whenever Zeke opens his mouth.

  The name is Immanuel Kant: German scholar and one of the godfathers of modern philosophy. I first learned of Kant and his teachings as a teenager on my high school debate team as I prepared my cases for the Lincoln-Douglas competition. It was my first tournament and I placed second out of dozens of students. After I was done for the day, a girl came up to me and gave me congratulations for understanding Kant. I thanked her, but the truth was that I didn’t fully grasp Kantian philosophy until I got home that night and studied a bit more. Kantian ethics can be hard to grasp because they are often in conflict with each other. (Gee, that sounds familiar.)

Kant’s ethics are deontological in principal. This is a fancy way of saying that the main concern is the Deed That Must Be Done. It is a separation of morals from emotion. Kant rejected the Utilitarians of the day and their schools of thought regarding the inherent “goodness” of an action. Specifically, he had a big problem with Determinism, saying that things like free will were inherently unknowable; also, basing the morality of a decision around perceived outcomes was impossible, because consequences existed outside of physical existence and therefore could not be quantified. Kant set out to quantify the question of moral relativism with his most famous work: The Categorical Imperative.

This is a terribly complex system that has been repurposed and reinterpreted countless times over the past two centuries so I’ll spare you any ballywho. Basically, CI is the inverse of Consequentialism where everything but the consequences matter. Saving a person from drowning isn’t inherently a good action unless there is a logical reason for doing so. This is admittedly a very simplified summation, but even the expanded version leads to some dissonance of reason.

If we look at the Abstract of Categorical Imperative, it tells us: “Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself.” This line is very similar to the Golden Rule, which Kant famously opposed. The American scholar Peter Corning pointed this out, saying, “Kant’s objection is especially suspect because the Categorical Imperative sounds a lot like a paraphrase…of the same fundamental idea. Calling it a universal law does not materially improve on the basic concept.” To borrow an idea myself, it’s like playing the Super Mario theme in a minor key. It’ll sound more dour than usual, but it’s still the Mario theme. Joking aside, what’s important here is that the whole point of CI is to quantify the question of morality and it appears to do that in part by using the qualitative philosophy of the Golden Rule.

Another big beef came from Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. He felt that Kantian autonomy was insufficient in holding people to the standards of CI’s universal truths. In his words: “Kant was of the opinion that man is his own law – that is, he binds himself under the law which he himself gives himself. Actually, in a profounder sense, this is how lawlessness or experimentation are established.” In other words, if the only thing that matters is reasoning, you can justify almost anything to serve your immediate reasoning.

EXAMPLE

Here is where the dubious nature of the Categorical Imperative fully rears its head, as it displays BOTH the morality and immorality of Zeke’s plan.

On one hand, this plan is fucking awful. There are numerous and many arguments to be made against it; working solely in the context of Kantianism, it is irrational to presume that sterilizing the Eldian people will lead to a more peaceful world. It relies on a ludicrous number of assumptions – the least of which isn’t that Marley will one day stop being a total bell end. Besides that shit, it violates the nature of Kantian philosophy by attempting to foresee the outcome of the situation.

The other hand? It actually makes sense. CI says that only reason matters. It’s ethics through the lens of rational thought. No matter your thoughts about the Great Titan War, how it started and ended, whether or not the Eldians’ preceding subjugation was just or not, it’s a fact that the Titans have caused a great deal of suffering for many people. Only one race of people can transform into these beasts, so the idea of stripping their ability to reproduce isn’t a great leap to make. It is rational specifically in the context of this universe.

(Apologies for any details missed. I haven’t read any Kant in several years and this is a very condensed version of a concept I would encourage you to look into further. Thinking about this all now, the fact that I ever made it to out-rounds while arguing any of this is frankly absurd.)

It makes sense then, finally, why Yelena is so devoted to Zeke’s plan. Titans destroyed her home and slaughtered her people. The rational course of action is to remove this weapon from the hands of those (Marley) that would abuse them. And if those same perpetrators get screwed over during the course of this plan then…[Shrug Emoji]. She claims what she wants is justice. What she really wants, of course, is revenge. Just like her sensei, Jaeger-san, who wants revenge still. Which Jaeger, you ask? The answer is yes.

Situations have been reversed. The volunteers (and Onyankopon) are seated at the head of the table while the officers of the Garrison and Military Police that held them captive are under their thumb. Color-coded armbands are divvied out to the Eldian forces, juuuuust in case you forgot which period of history we’re sending up here. Armbands are assigned based upon when a person surrendered to the Jaegerists. Those higher ups (and Falco) that partook of the wine get their own special armband, because Everything Is Awesome!!

Then there’s this fucking guy. Before I revisited the world of epistemology, I had a much less astute take prepared about character psychology and the concept of the “Double Turn.” I may still write that as a separate post; it won’t do any good here. Reiner didn’t appear, firstly (even though it appears that he and the Warrior Unit are on Paradis), and the visage of a disembodied child using Titan Magiks to bring Zeke back from the precipice of death brings up some very real questions about how real the Curse really is. We don’t know how Ymir Fritz died originally. Given the way mythology tends to work, I’d say patricide is highly plausible.

As usual, all we can do is speculate. One thing that doesn’t need speculation is Pieck. As usual, she’s right on time. As expected, she’s exactly right.

 Stray Thoughts

- As I noted last time, Levi was sent flying into the river. Evidently, he had enough strength to make it back to shore, just not much more than that. I suspect he’s alive for now but, goddamn did he get messed up. Levi underestimated Zeke’s suicidal tendencies, just as Zeke underestimated Levi’s tenacity. For two fellas that spent months in direct contact with each other, they have almost no clue.

- Not to stir the pot here but, here’s an in-story example of Kantian Ethics in case you’re still not quite sure. On the roof in Shiganshina – if Kant had been there (lol) – he would have disputed Levi giving the serum to Armin. Not for the reason you think. Categorical Imperative is all about reason. The reason Levi chose to save Armin is because he refused to rob his loved one of their humanity and instead chose to let him rest as opposed to reviving him for the sake of continuing a senseless, endless war. As Momtaku has said before: Levi chose Erwin over Armin. This was a choice made on emotional, borderline selfish, grounds and thereby irrational, which in Kant’s eyes makes it immoral. Just a little extra nugget for you. Discuss, friends!

[zaraegis]

Over 2k Words of Elaborate Undertale Headcanons

There are like, a lot of these, and getting them into words was kinda hard

that is why it took so long

also this is five pages in Word so longpost under cut

firstly: the Void and inventories-this is largely adopted from scrollingdown’s headcanons

there is a place, or nonplace, or metaphysical state of (non)existence, called the Void. the Void is not real. Like, that’s its defining feature; it’s where paradox flotsam and reset timelines and things that aren’t real go. The universe’s garbage bin and error handler and general catchall for things that need to exist for causality reasons but don’t. And where all sorts of various random nonsense are, because everything in the Void can change, and interact with other things in the Void, including itself, and twist and change or just not affect things it normally would.

That includes all the laws of physics and common sense.

The Void is where all the deleted/dummied out rooms are, along with the Gaster followers.

It’s also the location of inventories, and the ultimate source of all magic, which leaks into the world in lines and nodes and monster souls, and the souls of humans who’ve spent enough time around monsters or in areas charged enough with the kind of magic monster souls give off/have to gain magical ability.

Inventorying something is the process of using some DT and some magic/soul power to mess the metaphysical ‘tags’ of an object, dropping it into the Void. The DT is vitally important, as it forms into an 'anchor’, keeping the Voided item from changing properties and 'encoding’ a way of fixing the corrupted metaphysics and dropping the item back into reality at will, allowing the DT to be reused at any time.

The inventory-user 'claims’ a small bit of the Void with their DT, allowing for a certain number of inventory slots. The maximum size of an item that can fit in a slot, the number of identical items that can go into the same slot, and other inventory properties vary depending on the person.

The Box System is artificial inventories, which link to the soul of whoever is using the box to help them access their items.

Putting people in inventories is possible but requires a great deal of trust; the Annoying Dog suddenly being in Frisk’s inventory was probably a bad experience! Suddenly, there is a DOG in their SOUL VOID POCKET DIMENSION and it’s not even stasised it’s awake like a party member! And it stole Toriel’s phone and took it to the Void.

The Underground is less real than the Surface, allowing Frisk/Chara to SAVE and LOAD much easier and giving a lower threshold to the ability to use magic; post-pacifist Frisk probably went a few days unable to SAVE, not because of a lack of determination but rather because all their magic was tied up in keeping their inventory working, especially without Charrator helping them.

I had to include the Charrator pun it’s so amazingly bad.

The least real area in the Underground is Waterfall, which is kind of an eldritch location. There’s the giant plank structure nobody lives in, the Temmies which are reached by phasing through a wall and walking on air, all those deleted rooms and stuff, the echo flowers including the room full of them that creeps Papyrus out so much be pretends to be a voicemail, the alien geometries of the map (look up a map of Waterfall sometime; the Disproportionately Small Gap room connects two horizontally distant rooms…with a horizontally tiny room), the weird hydrology, Gerson who leans on the fourth wall all the time and has infinite cloudy glasses implied to have belonged to a fallen human, the weird puzzle rooms like the dog artifact, the dog that gets IN THE PLAYER’S INVENTORY WHAT THE HECK and gives you some kind of…inventory virus item?? where using it fills your inventory with more dog residue items and sometimes edible items that aren’t inventory virus items??

anyway…more weird Waterfall stuff…Gaster is here, for some reason, in a hallway that is usually not there-like you normally just, skip that hallway, walking from one end of it to the other without crossing the intervening space. The disappearing water is bizarre; nothing leaves the Underground so where is the water going?  The plaques about monster history are just scattered at basically random, what the heck, why are they not all clustered on a wall or in a museum? What’s with the random abandoned statue that looks a lot like a Boss Monster that’s supposed to be holding something and is surrounded by shattered statue bits? It sorta maybe looks like a memorial statue, like the one that was in the CORE that Mettaton got rid of, but it’s just abandoned in Waterfall? Three of the four ghost monsters we see are definitely from or currently living in Waterfall, and ghosts are really weird.

And, finally: What’s with the giant black abyss in the middle of Waterfall? It’s like someone punched a hole through it into the black edges of the Void.

Or maybe that’s exactly what they did.

Gaster’s followers mention a risk of Alphys going the same way he did-which would be a really odd risk if the CORE is the creation Gaster fell into, as Alphys doesn’t really have much to do with the CORE.

It’s more likely to be something inventory-box related; Alphys links Frisk’s phone to two separate box systems, and she works with DT.

So: Alphys invented the box system. Gaster nominated her for his successor, stole most of the credit for her work, and created Something based on the box system, and it punched a hole in spacetime in the middle of Waterfall and took a significant and semi-randomly-distributed chunk of Waterfall out. 

But why would he do that?

Maybe he was hiding something. Something big, and terrible, and he wanted people not in on his dark secret anyway to be unable to find out, and his attempts to erase it from the minds of others went horribly, horribly right.

In the True lab, there is a weird machine at one point. The weird machine has, as part of its design, what looks like a dark red SOUL-like the colour Frisk’s, and presumably Chara’s, flickers to during invincibility frames.

At no point does anyone in the game acknowledge that it looks like a SOUL.

It’s entirely possible that that SOUL is Chara’s, stolen by Gaster and used as part of the CORE-the part that intersects with the True Lab.

It’s not being used to break the barrier-probably for good reason; at the end of the Asriel fight, when he breaks the barrier, he notably says he’ll break it then let everyone go free, but lets all the souls go free as he breaks the barrier, as if doing so is a required part of the process.

Also, in the epilogue walkaround, all the coffins in Asgore’s basement tomb are open and empty. Chara was taken out of theirs to be buried in the Ruins, so that’s them accounted for; but it’s like all the other fallen humans got up after Asriel broke the barrier and walked away.

My headcanon for both those weirdnesses is that the Barrier was meant to be broken by willing human magicians working together-with all the human souls willing, and at least one alive. And it has a failsafe-smashing it open with only the souls of dead humans would result in it exploding or something and bringing down the cavern roof. So Asriel had to resurrect everyone and use their power to open the Barrier at the same time-and the Barrier would react noticeably and negatively different to the soul of a dead human, such as Chara.

Their SOUL was the only one checked against the Barrier after death, and it was assumed that the process of merging a single human soul with a single boss monster soul, and then the merged soul dying again and having the boss monster part of the soul disintegrate, damaged the soul somehow and made it unfit for breaking the Barrier with. So Gaster 'borrowed’ it for 'research’ and 'scanning’.

And just didn’t give it back, instead integrating it into the CORE.

A process which woke Chara up-and let them haunt anywhere the CORE’s light and power reached.

Gaster realized that he had an angry royal spirit haunting his power generation infrastructure, and this spirit might be able to figure out how to manifest properly and tell on him, or try to murder him. But he had a solution worked out. He’d toss their mind into the Void and make people forget all about them.

His machine was more unstable than he realized. It may have even dragged in beings from the world of Deltarune and given them bizarre powers; I’ve seen theories that the skelebros, or at least Sans, are from Deltarune, which would certainly explain why Sans has a concept of Hell.

Chara was partially forgotten. Most notably, their name was totally erased; nobody except for Flowey/Asriel, raised from the dead by a massive amount of determination (metaphysical inertia, stubbornness made substance, anchors in the Void) ever uses their name, and Frisk (who overpowers Flowey, DT-wise) can fill in the name-shaped hole in reality left behind. Asgore mostly remembers having only a son, and usually doesn’t mention his adopted child because usually he doesn’t consciously remember them. It takes many monsters working together to tell the story of the Royal Siblings in even a short format, since they have to overpower the memory effect.

Chara themself was slammed into unconsciousness and remained unconscious for, possibly, years.

Until Frisk lands on their grave, and a link between their souls is formed, waking Chara up.

(The technicians working on the CORE note that they’re using less of the CORE’s capacity than they have since Alphys became Royal Scientist. Chara feels better than they have since they were alive. And Frisk thinks that wow their ghost buddy narrator sure is draining like half their magic gain. Probably necessary to help with inventory management, SAVE point management, healing at SAVE points, and all those little illusionary head’s-up display and information box things.)

(Nobody except Undyne and Flowey remembers that there didn’t use to be a Waterfall Abyss. Undyne assumes that it’s no big deal, since nobody else cares about it. Flowey’s long since given up trying to make people remember anything about how weird Waterfall used to not be.)

(And the universe tossed a random related thing into the gap of why, exactly, Alphys was royal scientist.)

Incidentally some headcanons that aren’t part of that big headcanon tangle up above-

Mt Ebott isn’t the only place that monsters are sealed away. There might be monsters already living on the surface, from other barriers being broken; or maybe there’s a big road trip in the post-pacifist future of mage humans going around breaking barriers.

Different sealing locations have different monster demographics, different monster species, etc.

Most monster species have few members and little genetic diversity per sealed population, but they do have a lot of magic-based reproductive medical tech etc; using genetic data from members of one species to shuffle genetic data of a member of another species, asari-like, to allow for cross-species reproduction is a commonish thing, as is cross-species offspring carrying.

boss monsters are either a. the result of human-monster hybridization, or b. monsters that usually have litters of kids, not just one, but…big screwed up royalty family tree+terrible luck=toriel and asgore being the last two boss monsters in the Ebott Underground and then having a singleton child

also they’re all lop-eared as babies but most of them grow out of it, toriel and asgore are baby-faced

time on the inside of a barrier tends to pass differently from time outside of the barrier, usually slower (the barriers are meant as time capsules) but eventually the temporal gradient gets too much and it gets faster inside than outside

monsters still live in the underground post-pacifist; it only goes empty during Asriel’s boss fight. at first this is just, gotta get infrastructure and stuff set up, book hotels or whatever, logistics!! you can’t pack up and leave yet, citizens, it’s a whole day’s walk at a dog monster or human’s pace to the nearest town, there are logistics

and then it was like…the surface isn’t that much better, really? not that it’s bad more like the problems the Underground had were…mostly due to being sealed off, and it’s much better now there’s things like trade, and the option to move

and then there were also climate concerns and people going Actually I’ve Lived Here For 200 Years And I Don’t Want To Change or whatever (plus, also, Gyftrot)

and so the Underground became more sparsely populated but not empty. Some of the residents are humans, moved in from the Surface, as well.

all sealed monster populations are really good at things like recycling and so on. like they basically totally obsolete the local recycling plant in like two weeks and that was all setup time.

frisk is mascot not ambassador, asgore is not actually 100% right on what the word ambassador means in English since they’re keeping up on modern English based on what wound up in the trash and that includes phrases like “ambassador animal” so asgore, naturally, assumed the word had become something more like “mascot”

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

I want to use Star Wars to discuss my feelings on modern Spider-Man

SPOILERS for the Last Jedi coming up.

 Okay so anyone who’s been following me for a while should be aware I hate Slott’s run and modern Spider-Man in general (a few exceptions not withstanding).

 Often times I’ve heard my criticisms and complaints shot down or countered (even with people who’s preferences for Spidey echo my own) with the argument that I am biased in favour of the type of Spider-Man status quo I  grew up with and that now I’m older I just don’t like the new stuff and am letting my biases taint that.

 Obviously this most obviously manifests in the form of ‘you just don’t like it because Spider-Man isn’t married anymore’. Similarly I hear comments like “You only like Renew Your Vows BECAUSE Spider-Man is married in it’.

 Here is the thing. Ever since 2006 or so I’ve made a very conscious effort to try and draw lines of distinction between what I critically evaluate and what I simply like or dislike.

 As I define it, liking and disliking something is involuntary. It’s sit back consume a story and let yourself feel about it however you are going to feel about it. It’s something you can’t really help or control.

 Critical analysis is a little different because you are really looking for points of praise or condemnation. That’s you looking at a story and really asking what it is trying to do and how well it succeeds at doing that whilst being aware of what you personally enjoy and do not enjoy but trying to rise above that.

 One is subjective and the other is trying to be as objective as possible.

  I place zero stock in the lazy post-modern notion that the latter is beyond all possibility and does not exist. Writing is a craft and human beings are biologically geared to tell and consume stories. It literally chemically stimulates us. It’s why jokes work. Jokes with no set up or pay off do not work specifically because the human mind is geared towards that construction. Similarly it is the reason so much of human culture relies upon a rhythm involving the number three. For whatever reason that number and rhythm just resonates with us. So yeah, objectively good and objectively bad storytelling are a thing although it’s not a one size fits all thing. Depending upon the genre or the intentions of the story the criteria for its success or failure can change. A romantic comedy and an action thriller don’t have identical criteria for what makes a good story within those genres.

 Anyway, in a sense I always have 2 opinions on any given story I consume. One opinion on how good it was and one opinion on whether I personally enjoyed it and I do my utmost to NOT conflate the two. Of course there are happy instances where my enjoyment is in line with something being good or stems from the fact that it is good.

 Star Wars is always my main example to demonstrate this.

 From a critical point of view I can write you long essays on why A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back are such powerful movies that succeed at what they are trying to do and why Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are such bad examples of storytelling and filmmaking.

 I can tell you why Revenge of the Sith from a storytelling/filmmaking point of view has a lot of problems that means at the end of the day it isn’t really a good movie, just better than it’s predecessor prequels.

 However I can also tell you from the bottom of my heart that Revenge of the Sith is unquestionably my absolute favourite Star Wars movie, although I could only offer speculation as to why that is. For whatever reason I just adore that film more than all the other SW films even though I fully recognize it’s flaws for the most part and agree it’s inferior to the original trilogy.

 And I do this with Spider-Man too.

 The Death of Jean DeWolff from a strictly storytelling (not social/political POV though) is utterly fantastic whilst Spider-Man Torment is garbage. But I am indifferent to the former whilst I adore the latter, likely due to nostalgia.

 I have nostalgia for Spider-Man Torment but I have taken enough of a step back to really look at it and recognize it as mostly a mess by an artist with no experience writing trying to put out 5 issues worth of what he thinks would be kewl.

 I do not think it’s good. I just like it is all.

 So then we come to the modern era of Spider-Man and Star Wars and I’ve noticed more than a few similarities between the latest movie and the last several years of Spidey comics.

 Namely that there is a clear division within the audience, with the majority displeased with the content but nevertheless often drowned out and dismissed by it’s protractors, chiefly int he form of professional critics.

 Now in my view, most professional film critics are much more qualified to do their jobs than most ‘professional’ comic book critics. I’m of the opinion most film critics frankly forget that part of their jobs is to actually try and look at the film a bit more objectively than everyone else as opposed to just throwing out their own preferences for or against it and passing it off as coming from an enlightened place. But nevertheless I believe in their analytical abilities more than your average comic book reviewer on places like CBR who I thoroughly disbelieve have any really noteworthy experience or qualifications to analyse literature at all.

 To make matters worse, whilst I’m uncertain if this is an issue within film criticism as well, comic book criticism has the huge problem of having a vested financial interest in being supportive of the companies output and agenda no matter what. When the EIC of Marvel has/had a regular column on CBR’s website you should be able to tell they’re not going to be honest or accurate in their evaluation of Marvel’s output. This is why for any faults you can come up with about it, smaller fan driven sites are usually going to be more honest and even handed with their reviews of titles.

 Film criticism isn’t like that in my view and if a film sucks or a critic doesn’t like it is more likely than not that the film is going to get slated.

 The flipside to this is when a film that is aggressively and obviously bad gets praise and, as has been explained by other people more learned than me, this has a lot to do with critics living in a bubble due to their job. A film that is bad but subverts expectations is likely to hit more with critics than general audiences because critics see so many films that the tropes, formula and usual tricks become stale to them as they grow more desensitized to them. I love Disney movies but make me watch Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and a few other movies like that in one day and I’m likely going to love something subversive among their canon much more.

 This is a massive component to the Last Jedi’s generally favourable place among many professional critics. It very deliberately subverts expectations and critics reacted positively to that because it was so refreshing for them. Refreshing to the point where they were willing apparently to forgive the films numerous and serious problems. Perhaps the most serious of which was its complete and utter betrayal of the core defining philosophies of the Star Wars films as a whole and of one of it’s most central figures, Luke Skywalker.

 Closely tied into this is the fact that whilst professional critics have probably seen other Star Wars movies, probably liking at least A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, statistically it’s unlikely that many of them, let alone anything close to a majority are fans to the point where they really spend any amount of time thinking about the movies after throwing out their reviews for them.

 I regard anyone with any interest in a story they’ve consumed to be a fan of said story but there are degrees of fandom. Whilst the 5 year old who just got done seeing A New Hope is 100% a fan it is foolish to argue they are fan to the degree as the 20 year old who has seen all the movies, written essays about them, dived into the expanded spin-off material and otherwise thought a lot about the franchise. Which isn’t saying older fans are MORE fans of something than younger ones.

 Case in point. Joe Quesada wrote a Spider-Man story that totally betrays the character and the defining philosophy of the series despite being a fan for longer than a sizable chunk of it’s readership.

 My point is the majority of Star Wars fans DON’T like Last Jedi precisely because being blunt about it, they think about Star Wars more than the average critic and actually know much more about it.

 They also see the film on two levels and prioritize both whilst critics only look at it on one of those levels, or at least prioritize that level above the other. Those levels being the film as an entity unto itself as well as part of a larger story.

 Film critics look at Last Jedi as a film unto itself more than they look at it as a sequel to the Force Awakens and apparently pay little mind to its place within the soon to be 9 film saga. For them the here and the now is absolutely the most or only important thing whereas for fans the here and now is 100% important but the past movies and broader universe is equally important.

 Now of course it is not JUST film critics who’ve praised Last Jedi. Non-professionals, including some fans (casual or otherwise) have as well. But in my observations thus far it is interesting to note that most people of this group are either rather young or decidedly older.

 In other words non-professional proponents of the Last Jedi are either people for whom the experience is rather formative in their history and relationship with Star Wars or people who statistically are much more likely to be cynical and jaded about...well most things in like actually.

 Which makes sense because for the former group they’re more likely to be impressionable and lack developed critical evaluation skills and are just hyped about seeing a rousing special effects driven action flick on the big screen. Meanwhile for the latter group the film’s cynicism likely speaked to them and was offering something new in a film franchise where they’ve believed they’ve seen all they can. Plus even if they are older that doesn’t mean they’re particularly good about analysis and can therefore not see how the film is in fact rather derivative in various ways.

  And as I said for these proponents of the movie the loud cries of defiance over the Last Jedi from the majority (and yes, it is the majority) of Star Wars fandom the primary tactic against detractors is to delegitimize their complaints. Mainly through deriding them for being too in love with nostalgia or recognizing that things need to ‘change’ and ‘be new’.

 This is all eerily echoes countless examples I’ve witnessed within Spider-Man fandom.

 ·         Professional critics not actually that familiar with the franchise heaping praise upon the latest issues mostly because it’s new to them and because they prioritize the quality of the latest content over the bigger picture (a bigger picture they aren’t necessarily invested enough in to properly criticise the latest work).

 ·         Newer fans who honestly don’t know enough about the franchise to see the problems in the latest material that is formative to their relationship with it.

 ·         Older fans who’re jaded and therefore supportive of taking the franchise in ‘new’ directions, even if those directions aren’t actually that new at all and overall damaging.

 ·         Fans basically tricked into seeing something flashy and ‘cool’ and generally a novelty as representing legitimate quality.

 ·         Delegitimizing the majority of fans who’re detractors of the material on the grounds that nostalgia is blinding them.

 Just using Slott’s run as a microcosm of this (because he is not the be all and end all of modern Spider-Man) we can see people fall all over his stories for being ‘new and fresh’ because they’re so used to what they perceive as the ‘standard’ Spider-Man.

 Street level, every man, limited gadgets, Bugle cast, down to Earth stories etc.

 So when Spidey is suddenly Doc Ock, or a tech billionaire, or dating Mockingbird it seems like something innovative when it isn’t.

 It’s a selling out and throwing away of the core values of the character and series just like Last Jedi was.

 You can be new and innovative whilst still respecting those.

 And it is stories like the ones I grew up on, the ones that these pro-Slott/modern Spidey fans use to attack fans like me, that prove that.

 Spider-Man returning to college. Harry Osborn dying. Peter becoming a teacher. The rise of Venom. Spider-Man marrying Mary.

 This mostly respect the core values of the franchise whilst still innovate something new that can challenge the character(s).

 They aren’t novelty for the sake of it and they are much more subtle than the flash nonsense Slott throws out.

 Which brings me to the fundamental lack of self-awareness and analysis of the ‘you just don’t like it because it’s not what you grew up on’ bullshit defenders of modern Spidey throw out.

 It’s a convenient argument to shut down all debate because it seemingly applies to everyone equally. You are only praising to criticising this thing because it is in line or out of line with the version of the series from when YOU were growing up. So your words mean nothing you are being a biased idiot, there is nothing wrong with this new stuff.

 But people are rather hypocritical about that now aren’t they.

 Because it’s blatantly obvious, rightly or wrongly, that there is a clear cut narrative at play within Marvel and within fandom in support of Marvel’s stance.

 Stan Lee/Ditko era Spider-Man when he was in high school is sacred, post high school Spider-Man is less sacred but still pretty sacred (especially the MP Trilogy and MJ’s introduction). Roger Stern Spider-Man was good. Death of Gwen Stacy is good. The marriage was bad. Everything in the 90s was bad. Everything else doesn’t matter at all except for everything post 2008 which has all been good.

 When you have multiple people within Marvel talking about how Spider-Man is defined by youth and the marriage was a mistake because of that and the Ditko run (especially when he was in high school) gets referenced more than literally anything else that isn’t the MP trilogy or Gwen Stacy’s death.

 So the ‘your childhood is blinding you’ argument already has a few cracks in it doesn’t it. It’s clear that there IS a quality judgement being made about different parts of the franchise by Marvel itself. Which is particularly galling because it’s blatant that post-OMD Spider-Man is essentially a gigantic nostalgia trip for the creators involved to recreating THEIR childhoods in direct reaction AGAINST the ‘wrong’ directions Spider-Man went in after whatever period they stopped considering the story legitimate.

 And in addition to that hypocrisy fans and creators will lambast whoever points this out and accuse them of doing the same thing if they do not consider post-OMD Spider-Man ‘legitimate’.

 But there is the rub isn’t it.

 There are genuinely incredibly strong valid reasons for NOT considering post-OMD Spider-Man legitimate in the grand scheme of the series much as there are totally valid reasons for not considering Last Jedi legitimate or a selling out on Star Wars’ core values and philosophies.

  The big one is that One More Day literally created a new alternate timeline meaning there are two distinct versions of the characters in play, a clearer watershed line in the franchise than anything else in it’s history. But even beyond that post-OMD Spider-Man has time and time again aggressively gone against the defined characterization and established intentions and philosophies of the Spider-Man franchise as a whole. I’ve already spoken about stuff in Slott’s run, but even the notion of Spider-Man as a representation of youth is anathema to what happened in Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s run on the character and the broader character arc for Peter Parker across the decades. In particular his becoming married as this is clearly in line with aspect of the Stan Lee run.

 Marriage is a responsibility and responsibility is the entire point of Spider-Man’s first ever appearance. Responsibility to family is clearly conveyed as a major priority within the Lee/Ditko/Romita run as Spider-Man is chiefly motivated by how he failed his father figure and strives to do right in supporting his mother. Later he tries to support Gwen Stacy whom he has ambitions to marry and to whom Lee originally intended him to wed. Even Mary Jane is first mentioned within the context of her becoming Peter’s wife someday. And of course his big three villains within the Lee run are in various ways tied into family dynamics. Doctor Octopus is associated with Aunt May. Norman Osborn is the father of Peter’s peer and friend Harry and their father/son dynamic is key to both characters. J. Jonah Jameson is introduced to us as admonishing Spider-Man in support of his own son John Jameson, the first person Spider-man ever saved as a superhero.

 The notion that finding a Spider-Man story or run that undercuts and sells out on the Spider Marriage to be bad merely because you have childhood nostalgia for it is ridiculous because the Spider Marriage itself is very strongly tied into the core philosophies of the series.

 It’s just as stupid as admonishing someone for being blinded by nostalgia for Return of the Jedi if they found Luke Skywalker’s characterization and direction in Last Jedi to be wrong and anathema to the series.

 In summary:

 No, this stuff isn’t strictly subjective.

 Yes people can be blinded by nostalgia.

 But no, that doesn’t mean they’re beyond capable of seeing things as what they are.

 Yes, their nostalgia CAN be in line with the objective reality of a piece of storytelling.

 Fact is that on a story telling level Last Jedi AND post-OMD Spider-Man have precious little redeeming value.

 Both sell out the characters and core philosophies of the franchises for the sake of shock and novelty and are therefore objectively bad examples of storytelling.

[daresplaining]

MCU Danny Rand Week: Day 7

(Free Day) Flipping the Script

    The final day! We hope you all have enjoyed this week as much as we have, and thank you to @defenderspositivity for organizing this awesome kung fu party event.

    Now, let’s talk about vengeance.  

    We talked yesterday about 616 Danny’s standard characterization as a friendly, positive guy-- something that can make his introductory arcs a bit jarring for newer readers. That’s because this lightness is the result of a massive amount of character development, through which Danny, mostly due to his supportive friend group, heals from a period of extreme darkness. It takes a certain type of nine-year-old to react to their parents’ brutal deaths with, “I’m gonna murder the guy responsible!”, and that’s exactly what happened.        

Nu-An: “We know of your father’s fate, my son-- and the fate of your mother as well-- and our hearts grieve openly for them! To lose one’s parents is to lose the roots of heritage. Still, we shall try to make you happy here, Daniel! If there is ever anything you want, merely name it-- and it will be yours!”

Danny: “There’s only one thing I want, mister... I want revenge!!”

Marvel Premiere #16 by Len Wein, Dick Giordano, and Glynis Wein

    Young Danny in the comics is a haunted, angry person-- somewhat disturbingly-so for his age. Later writers have made sure to emphasize his love of K’un-Lun, the fact that he thinks of it as his home and has people there that he loves, and that he didn’t just spend the whole time waiting to get out. But his life, from the moment Harold Meachum drops his dad off a cliff, is guided by a desire to enact vengeance, and this is the reason that, ten years later, he is compelled to leave his home to get Harold out of his life once and for all. In the comics, Iron Fists often take time to visit Earth-- some writers have implied that it’s even expected-- so this in itself is not an issue. And as much as this choice hurts him, Danny knows that he will not be able to move forward, find happiness, or dim the pain of his trauma without completing this revenge quest. And for that, he has to leave K’un-Lun.    

Danny: “To eat of the fruit of the Tree of Immortality and dwell among the eternal people of K’un-Lun forever [...] I want to, August One-- believe me when I say that-- but I cannot! Tomorrow I am going back to civilization-- to find Harold Meachum, the man who murdered my father!”

Nu-An: “Then all the years you have spent among us have not dimmed the fires of revenge in your heart, Daniel!”

Danny: “No, Yu-Ti-- they have not!”

Marvel Premiere #16 by Len Wein, Dick Giordano, and Glynis Wein

    There’s great irony in Nu-An-- who, as Danny finds out later, is a pretty vengeful guy himself-- having these conversations with him, but that’s a topic for another post.

    Thus, Danny returns to Earth with a purpose, and bee-lines for what is now just called the Meachum building (A burning question: Why is it only Rand Enterprises in the show? What’s the story there?). He battles his way through a ridiculous gauntlet of death traps before finally reaching Harold Meachum-- a man who has been psychologically destroyed by ten years living in fear of this exact thing happening.     

Harold: “[...] I was obsessed-- with an overwhelming fear of death-- driven to the brink of insanity with gut-sick worry and tension-- paranoia-- every cancerous neurosis you can imagine. And so I spent a fortune designing those death traps and hiring assassins to stop you-- because I just couldn’t believe you would be unconquerable. But I was wrong-- wrong about you... and wrong to try and stop my death. I see now... that I deserve it.”

Caption: “Then he is silent, and you try with every fiber of your being to hate him. But you cannot. You cannot hate-- or kill-- one who is less than a corroded shell of a man. You can only pity him... Pity him... and leave him, as he left you and your mother, to die his own slow death.”

Marvel Premiere #18 by Doug Moench, Larry Hama, and P. Goldberg

    Finally, Danny’s mercy breaks through his rage. He sees Harold once more as a person, rather than the monster he has been picturing for the past decade. And he finds himself unable to kill someone who has already nearly tortured himself to death with regret. This is not the closure he needed, but it is a step that allows him, eventually, to find peace and move on with his life. 

    The Netflix show has taken this simple, straightforward plotline and done something brilliant. 

    MCU Danny’s origin story, while essentially the same (parents die, ends up in K’un-Lun, becomes Iron Fist), has been changed in one key way: the circumstances of his parents’ deaths. In the comics, Wendell Rand is compelled to try and return to K’un-Lun,where he lived for a time when he was young. He decides to take his family-- his wife Heather and nine-year-old son Danny-- and his best friend/business partner Harold on a little hike through the Himalayas. The rest of them don’t believe Wendell’s stories about a magic city in another dimension (which is... fair), but they go anyway, because... it sounds like fun? They want to be supportive? This has always been a weak part of the story. It makes perfect sense that the creative team for the Netflix show would opt for a more believable situation. In the MCU, Harold doesn’t push Wendell off a cliff and then abandon Heather and Danny to die in the mountains. They die in a plane crash. Harold is not even there. And that’s all well and good (we find the comics version more exciting, but the plane crash is ultimately more believable, so we’re fine with it) and they very easily could have made that alteration and then continued the story as it is set up in the comics. Instead, they acknowledge the fact that Harold’s absence, and the uncertainty inherent in something as seemingly accidental as a plane crash, would change everything.          

    Netflix Danny is still traumatized by his parents’ deaths. He still desperately needs closure. But without a target, without someone to blame, without an embodiment of his anger that he can kill, he has no idea how to find that closure. All he knows, after fifteen years of trying desperately to cope with his trauma, is that that closure cannot be found in K’un-Lun. And so, rather than submitting himself to another fifteen years of psychological torture, stuck in a place that he loves but that cannot help him recover in the way he needs, he heads back to Earth when he has the chance, hoping to find something, anything there that will help him heal.

    But this lack of a specific goal means that he spends his entire time on Earth reacting, hitting out wildly in the hopes of finding something to make his decision to leave seem like the right one. He fights to maintain his identity when Ward and Joy try to strip him of it. He fights to get himself into Rand Enterprises, even though he doesn’t have a clue what to do there. And the instant any information arises that involves his parents, he drops everything else to chase it. He is lost and adrift, and all of this is made more effective by the fact that he, and thus the viewer, doesn’t fully understand his own motivations. One of the main mysteries of the show is, in fact, why Danny left K’un-Lun, and he doesn’t know-- or at least, he isn’t able to face his reasons yet, because they are tied to so many raw emotions that he is repressing. 

    As the Iron Fist, in a universe in which Iron Fists seem, generally, to not leave K’un-Lun (with Wu Ao-Shi as a notable exception!), Danny needs to justify his decision to abandon his post. He clearly states that most people in K’un-Lun no longer believe in the Hand, so he can't be blamed for not seeing security as an issue, but he still knows that leaving was wrong, and feels terrible about it. He can’t accept that he left because of vague trauma about his parents that he doesn’t know how to cope with. So he shields his motivations-- for himself and everyone who asks-- behind other explanations. He came to New York because he missed it. He's staying because he needs to fight the Hand on Earth. But the more time goes on, the more people question his behavior, and the deeper he sinks into his own conflicted feelings, the more obvious it becomes that this is all about his parents. And when finally, finally he is confronted with the fact that Harold was responsible for their deaths, the combination of emotions this generates-- finding a focal point for his rage, but finding it in someone he has so desperately trusted this whole time, one of the only parental figures he has left-- makes his final explosion that much more heartbreaking and extreme.        

    Instead of starting off with the revenge quest and moving forward, this rearranging of circumstances turns the revenge quest into the climax of a long, emotional battle of self-discovery-- adding power to it and leaving both long-time comics fans and new viewers guessing. It’s a brilliant move, which reinvents Danny’s origin, shifts his psychological journey in ways he’s is still recovering from post-Iron Fist Season 1, while still maintaining the spirit of the source material.   

[sunmonkey]

Why Mad Max: Fury Road Is The Most Amazing Movie Ever

This is a long ramble. This movie is worth it. For those about to read this in its entirety, I thank you. This hasn’t been edited. It’s right from my brain pan to your eye sockets. Livin’ dangerously!

Two parts to this monster:

Part The First: Creative and Technical Merit

Part The Second: Jungian Psychology

So, to begin:

Part The First: Creative and Technical Merit

There are a couple of principles that good cinema is built on:

Show, don’t tell.

For every action, there is a reaction.

Be as concise as possible (macro and micro).

In late, out early.

Have interesting and wide arcs for your main characters.

Pivot the plot (reversals) in unexpected ways.

MM:FR has this all in spades. By my estimation, from a technical and creative aspect, it is one of the tightest movies ever made. There is hardly ANY wasted screen time: each shot, each spoken line, each cut, conveys a necessary detail that keeps the movie moving in a forward direction. Some examples of each of the above:

1. Show, don’t tell.

Well, the whole movie is based on this. The largest amount of exposition is in the scene with the Many Mothers, and even then it’s only a few lines spoken off-camera. If you look at the nature of the alliances throughout the movie and how they swing (Furiosa learning to trust Max, Max deciding to stay with her and the Breeders, Nux’s change of heart, the Many Mothers coming along for the ride) they all happen largely without dialog. They are set-up by circumstance, and usually conveyed by a look, or simple action. We never learn about so much, it just IS and is taken as fact. How do they farm bullets? How was the aqua-cola pumped up? Etc etc. No need to explain, everyone in the MM:FR universe believes in it, thus so do we.

2. For every action, there is a reaction.

This can be considered on two levels: what is shown on screen (the action) and then how it is cut together (the editing).

First, the action. For anything that happens onscreen, there is a reaction. If someone shoots something, you see the result of that. If someone hits someone, you see the result of it. If someone insults someone, you see the result of that. And generally, the actions/reactions are so tightly knit that they bleed together to create a steady flow of forward movement (both specially and emotionally). The amount of planning that had to take place at the story board level is staggering.

Considering the massive amount of cuts that are made in an action movie, and the sheer amount of spectacle and movement and amount of objects to tackle, I am not sure how the fuck George Miller is able to keep the user anchored in the action, but a lot of it is by matching action within the frame and across cuts. This is a tough concept to explain without having the movie in front of us, so I think I’ll leave it here.

3. Be as concise as possible (macro and micro).

The movie is tight. There is no lingering. It makes a point, and instantly moves on. The movie does it at a high level (taking place across an afternoon, a night and morning) and at the shot level: it never belabors or repeats a point. It makes it, and moves on. It does this by making sure that a shot, even if it is only a second long, conveys the information necessary for the viewer to understand what has happened. Furiosa grimacing as she removes the knife, the straps popping on her prosthetic arm holding onto Max, the look of dismay on Toast the Knowing (Zoe Kravitz) as she is captive in Immortan Joe’s truck. That 30 second sequence is so brilliantly executed it makes the hairs stand up on my neck every time I see it.

4. In late, out early.

The audience doesn’t need every set-up, and doesn’t need every resolution. MM:FR keeps us going at a good clip. It takes us 15 minutes to figure out what the hell Furiosa is up to, and even then we need to piece it together for ourselves. Max collapses in the tornado-mega-storm, but we don’t need to see the storm die out. Furiosa collapses on the dune, but we don’t wait around to see people consoling her or any of that gobbled-gook: we see the emotional notes that matter, and we get out at the peak.

5. Have interesting and wide arcs for your main characters.

Max goes from raving lunatic without a name to a fully-restored Max. Furiosa goes from homeless and without a family to having a home and a family. Nux realizes his destiny (to die in War) but does it for the right reasons (to save lives, not end them). There are some brilliant arcs in this movie, and the fact that they develop and are conveyed with such minimal dialog and in the midst of massive amounts of action, is genius.

6. Pivot the plot (reversals) in unexpected ways.

Max and Furiosa go from enemies to allies literally in two shots. Once faced with superior forces, they need to work together. The green place is dead. Oh, let’s go back, its green there. The journey ends where it begins, but all is changed. So good.

Part The Second: Jungian Psychology

OK. This aspect of the movie is utterly brilliant, and provides an amazing amount of depth and nuance. I have a feeling you might think I am blazingly nuts, but I swear on a stack of bibles that 1) what I am about to say is all true and 2) I have zero doubt this was all very much intentional and excruciatingly mapped out.

So, on the surface, this movie is about Max’s journey from insanity to sanity. But. How the movie maps to a patient’s journey, and the processes going on within the psyche, is rich in allegory and archetype, spanning Jungian philosophy, Faustian imagery and modern psychology. Bear with me, this is a bit of a mess, but I’ll do the best I can to keep it orderly.

We first meet Max (this is bookended with the last scene, so keep this in mind). We meet Max on his own, in a wilderness. He’s stark raving mad. He’s hearing voices, eating lizards, crazy-eyed and unkempt. He’s captured by the War Boys. As he is led away in chains, his hat falls off which is a fairly common metaphor for losing one’s mind / identity (hats are widely accepted as a way to hide thoughts or persona, and in a wider sense represent the mind. People who are looking to change themselves often will turn to hats, or doing extreme things with their hair: cutting, dying, etc.) Right then, we know Max has totally gone insane.

This is reinforced as he is chased through the Citadel. He’s hallucinating, hearing voices. He truly has been reduced to an instinct. There is no super-ego left. He’s pure impulse.

The Citadel itself is a metaphor for the mind. Hear me out. In dream psychology, water is used to represent the sub-conscious. Things in water are taken to be ‘hidden’ in the subconscious. Moving water usually means contents are being shared between the conscious and the subconscious. Angry water (big waves, rushing rivers) can represent strong division or stresses in the psyche. As a model of the mind, the Citadel is chugging away. It is bringing subconscious contents up from the deep, and storing them. But there is a crazed asshole running the citadel, and he’s is blocking these contents from getting to the places it needs to. You have the mega maniacal and ultra-testosterone warlord in charge of the mind. All the feminine parts are slaves to him. No good. This is a lack of balance and this leads to psychosis, and yes, you can see that the society that exists under Immortan Joe is barely functional. Definitely not rational.

It’s also worthy to note a few more details about the Citadel: the room where they Wives were kept was large and dome shaped, like the brain pan (even with a little pool of water in the middle, running out of where the mouth would be) and locked in a vault in the back of this room is a vault full of books (memories!), guarded by a feminine aspect (Ms. Kitty).

OK. So. We are introduced to Furiosa. She is the anima. The anima is the female part of Max. Every man has an anima. It is the female part of the male psyche. It lives in the subconscious, is considered an autonomous personality, and it can be argued it totally rules us (females have the animus, which is a male personality, and it runs the same way). Now, the anima is wiley. It is mischievous and tough to tame, and when it is out of balance with the ego, all sorts of problems arise. Obviously, Max, in his crazy state, is totally out of whack with his anima (Furiosa).

As we head out of the Citadel, we are really heading into Max’s psyche. This is his journey, and his attempt to heal. With him are going all of the psychological agents that comprise him: his anima (Furiosa), the better angels (or feminine aspects) the Wives, and he is hunted by dominant male elements that represent rage, and machismo, and all manner of things he really already has in spades; in other words, the other part of him that doesn’t want to heal.

Jump to the first time Max sees the Wives, standing beside the truck. This is the first step in his healing. How do we know? Well, there is water here, and although it is just a trickle (a hose), it means that elements in Max’s subconscious are starting to flow, even just a little bit. Splendid brings him the hose, held in front of her pregnant belly. The water represents rebirth: in this water is the power to be reborn, to heal. Max drinks of it greedily (he desires to be well), but he’s not nearly ready for this step: his anima attacks him (which the anima is want to do! it is tricky and treacherous!) and he responds like an animal. His first attempt at healing results in him getting his ass kicked. He would be done in by the anima if he didn’t get a bit of help from Nux and the threat of death (killing the anima, which would end poorly for everyone.) He doesn’t and we move on.

Furiosa and Max make an uneasy alliance before going into the canyon lands. They are forced into it out of necessity: they are now hunted by three massive search parties, and they have no choice if the organism is to survive (an easy way to think of this is that everyone in the War Rig is an aspect of Max’s psyche.) Max, and the anima, has realized that in order to survive, it has to find a way to work with the other. The canyon land is a metaphor for a maze, for the torturous path that this represents. There is no easy way (in fact, Max says, “No, stay outta there”. He doesn’t want to face this ordeal, these memories, its too painful and difficult) but they have no choice. The organism doesn’t want to be destroyed.

The death of Splendid is another shedding and a step forward. She’s pregnant with a boy. While it is rebirth, it is Immortan’s child, and as such is malignant. Splendid and the child have to be removed (like a cancer). The imperfection of Splendid is also reflected in her scarred face. She’s carrying a link back to the original crazy, and that link has to be severed. And so it is, when Splendid falls from the War Rig and is run over by Immortan Joe.

We go through some more struggles as Max continues his journey deeper into his psyche and into the subconscious. The chase through the marsh, the bleeding and the bathing in mother’s milk (a ritual cleansing?), the finding of the tree (growth and rebirth, as above so below [branches and roots, heaven and hell, conscious and subsconsious], a rich symbol of rebirth and growth in dream imagery and in alchemy) which in this case is dead but still proves instrumental in continuing Max’s spiritual journey.

And finally he reaches the green place. The subconscious. But in this case it is dead. Toxic. Black and infested by crows. This shouldn’t be a surprise: Max is crazy, and has hidden all sorts of terrible stuff down there. Of course nothing can live there. But, just because this is so, doesn’t mean it can’t be salvaged. And so they push through and come to…

The Many Mothers. Goethe’s Faust introduces the concept. From Wikipedia: “Faust enters the "realm of the mothers" — variously described as the depths of the psyche or the womb — in order to bring back the "ideal form" of beauty for the Emperor's delight.” Mephistopheles warns Faust to “take courage, for the danger’s great.” The realm of the mothers is fraught with peril.

And so it is in Max’s world. He’s reached the end of himself. The deepest part of his subconscious. All that is there is barren sand and the Many Mothers. They’ve never met anyone out there they haven’t killed. “Headshots. All of them. Snap. Right in the medulla.” Talk about danger. But luckily, Max at this point has befriended his feminine aspects and his anima, and they vouch for him.

And what also do they find there?

Seeds. The potential for regrowth. Healthy seeds, and so many kinds. But these fresh, viable psychic contents can’t flourish this far down. They need water and light and room to grow. They need to be brought back to the conscious so they can flourish. But, at least Max has found the treasure, the keys, as it were, to regrowth.

He almost loses it when the entire party decides to keep going deeper. Like the idea of limbo in Inception, there is a point where going “down” simply isn’t productive. There isn’t anything there. In Mad Max, it is thousands upon thousands of miles of salt. The ocean floor. Literally, nothing. You can’t delve any deeper than the Mothers. There is only one way back to sanity: and that is the way you came: up.

Luckily, Max has now assembled all the parts he needs to repair his psyche. He still has to install them in their rightful places and as such has a tough journey, but at least he’s got a chance. And so the party begins the journey back to the Citadel (or the brain, or consciousness, if you will).

I’ll skip ahead now to the exit of the canyon lands. Much of the negative overwhelmingly destructive male bits are killed (culminating in the spectacular death of uber idiot-manchild Rictus and Nux’s sacrifice to that the part can be reborn. They exit the canyon land in what is not-very-subtle birth, coming out of the pelvis of the rock arches as they collapse.

It is interesting to note that they are now in Immortan Joe’s truck, which is very quick and silver. Quicksilver, aka mercury, was a favorite of the alchemists, and a powerful symbol of psychic transformation and transferral of libido–psychic energy moving between the conscious and subconscious.

At this point however, the anima is almost dead. In taming that portion of him and bringing her to the conscious, Furiosa has been spent. Bled dry. She murmurs “home”, realizing that her true home is the conscious (the Citadel), not hidden down in the subconscious with the Mothers. And it is with this realization that enables Max to finally join with her, fusing the male and female portions of himself and creating a healthy unity. This unity is carried out quite literally through a blood transfusion, thus in some ways you could say Max and Furiosa bodily become one, if not spiritually.

And as they unite, Max is finally healed and remembers his name and identity. Max. My name is Max.

(Which is how the movie starts, with the VO introducing Max, “My name is Max”, before he loses his hat, and sanity, in the early scene).

But we are not quite done. We have to come out of the psychic world and back into the real one. As all of these united elements are carried aloft to the Citadel (brain, self, ego), Max steps from the platform. Where he was previously standing, is now to be found a little lumpy curiously twisted creature, the physical manifestation of Max’s insanity. But he’s left it behind. He’s healed, and so we come OUT of Max’s psychic world (just as we entered it at the beginning of the movie) and we find Max on his own. But this time, he’s no longer in a wasteland, but instead in a sea of people, and he’s grinning. Max has found his way back into the world.

The movie ends with a quote:

"Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland, in search of our better selves?" -The First History Man

The answer of course, which the movie has just spent 100 minutes exploring, is “deep within our selves”. That’s the only place where you can find a better you, for if you don’t fix what’s broken, you’ll go insane.

[recentanimenews]

Fight & Save The World With Your Friends In God Eater 3!

  God Eater 3 is the third in a line of hybrid action/RPG hybrid games by Bandai Namco, and God Eater's premise is much more stylized and more in line with its inspirations taken from the more post apocalyptic end of anime and manga, complete with an anime OP that wouldn't seem out of place in the God Eater TV anime. While many have compared the series to Monster Hunter in the past, the game itself is so much deeper and after working through the game, I'm a fan. Here's how Bandai Namco describes the game:

All of sudden, unknown life forms called “Oracle cells” begin their uncontrolled consumption of all life on Earth. Their ravenous appetite “devour” and remarkable adaptability earn them first dread, then awe, and finally the name “Aragami.” In the face of an enemy completely immune to conventional weapons, urban civilization collapses, and each day humanity is driven further and further toward extinction. One single ray of hope remains for humanity. Following the development of “God Arcs”—living weapons which incorporate Oracle cells—their wielders, the “God Eaters,” appear. In a world ravaged by mad gods, these “God Eaters” fight a desperate war...

     The game is split into pre-defined areas and you'll face off against monsters of varying sizes and scales. You’ll also hunt monsters with a time limit ticking away in the background and slice key body parts from the monsters and bosses to use them to craft more powerful upgrades for your weapons and armor to use as you progress through the game.

  The game starts as your character is forced to become an AGE (or Adaptive God Eater), a human who’s been biologically bound to a giant weapon. The world in God Eater has been overrun by monsters known as Aragami, and weapons—called God Arcs—are the only instruments capable of slaying them. God Arcs are multi-faceted weapons that possess multiple forms that can be accessed in battle and even modified outside of battle to serve more specific needs. The crafting of items and weapons is key to making progress in the game, and it's easy to get bogged down, but the game doesn't make the process tedious, which is a welcome relief. 

    I should point out that God Eater 3 allows you to customize your character as well when you first start the game, you have a choice between a male or female AGE and you can also customize hair, facial features and accessories, with more options being added as you progress during the main Story mode in the game. As you can see from my custom character, I decided to model her after a particular Android found in the Dragon Ball universe! 

  The bulk of the game is through the optionial side missions, which there are plenty of. I will say that the meat of the game isn't in the Story Mode, but in the missions outside it, such as Extra Episodes, Certification Missions, Time Attack, and Special Missions which are unlocked during the course of the game.

      However, the main problem I found with this is that while God Eater 3's Story Mode is supposed to serve as the training ground for the mechanics of the game so that you can open up the Extra Episodes and all of the additional content, it does a poor job of engaging you to get invested in the story. By the end of the Story Mode, I wasn't invested at all and I merely wanted to finish it out to get to the next set of missions.

  The narrative is supposed to be about how the AGEs are the last line of defense against the Aragami threat and the world is on the brink of collapse, but you'll quickly forget about it once you start playing the game because the narrative is built around constantly talking to your AI partners in your rolling base/prison cell that serves as the nexus of the game. 

      There are eight melee forms, four gun-based forms and three shield forms for your AGE character, but you’ll need to customise your God Arc with blueprints and monster materials before you can access them. Items and enemy drops are based on a percentage, and luckily the percentage calculation isn't designed to punish you for being successful.

  If there is a drawback to this system, it's that the tutorial missions don't do enough to emphasize that you need to loot each and every enemy and scout every inch of a mission area to make sure you grab everything you can for future upgrades and crafting. Another drawback I found is that even with the generous drop percentage, the game can be very selective in what kinds of blueprints and monster materials get dropped, forcing you to replay missions multiple times if you're looking to craft a particular weapon or item for a specific mission, which does get tedious unless you enjoy grinding.

  God Eater 3 also introduces a new style of special attack called Burst Arts. Similar to the Blood Arts found in God Eater 2, these moves see your weapon grow an actual mouth and take an actual bite out of your enemies, which is really neat to see in action. Once you learn and add Burst Arts to your character, you can then access a variety of ground, air and step-based special moves that do massive damage with flair.

     You can play through the entire Story Mode with AI companions or you can cooperatively tackle missions with up to three other players, locally (yes!) or online. There’s even eight-player raid missions, where you’ll take on much larger Aragami as part of a much bigger team. In fact, God Eater 3 on the Switch emphasizes co-op play as the ideal way to play the game, but it does not go out of its way to require you to play the game as such, since I was able to play through Story Mode and ancillary missions without feeling like I needed to find a partner, though it does make certain missions much easier to complete and rank higher if you do.

      God Eater 3 on the Switch is a really fun action RPG that caters to people that are into monster hunting games, but really goes out of its way carve out its own identity. This latest installment's focus on co-op really makes the game shine, since it encourages teamwork and strategy. So if you've been looking for that co-op game experience, look no further!

  As an aside, as someone living with a physical disability, I appreciated the customization in the controls for the game, since I found myself playing the game more often in Portable mode than I normally would. Games of this type don't usually allow for in depth customization and it's incredibly appreciated. I would like more developers and publishers to allow for deeper control customization on Switch games to accommodate different control styles and even complete customization to play such games more easily for those with physical disabilities. Being able to swap between multiple control types makes it easier for me to play in Portable Mode for instance, and having different controls for being in battle and out of battle makes things much easier. 

  I had a ton of fun with God Eater 3 on my own and I'm convinced that the focus on co-op, with local multiplayer support will make the game a much easier sell for friends looking for an action game to play and complete together!

    REVIEW ROUNDUP

+ Third entry in series keeps the action consistent and Switch version rarely suffers slowdown despite being a port

+ Story Mode builds to massive amount of post-game content

+ Crafting weapons and items is made much easier and less tedious  

+/- Controls are decent, but camera during combat could use a toggle to make missions easier

- Narrative in Story Mode is incredibly thin and wasn't engaging enough for emotional investment

  Will you be picking up and playing God Eater 3 on the Switch? Let me know in the comments!

Humberto Saabedra is a freelance writer and general Jack of All Trades. He can be found on Twitter @vdeviance for general industry musing and politics and @hsaabedra for a more personal look into his daily life. He also sporadically writes on his blog at vdeviance.rocks.

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