#Actually it's kind of appropriate because she was kind of traumatized about the whole kidnapping and being experimented on schtick

[oculusxcaro]

Difficult Person VS Likeable Person

"Callous? I'm not saying I actually attacked someone but if I did, believe me, they had it coming."

Tagged byStolen from: @halfghcst Tagging: Whoever would like to do it?

[majaloveschris]

it’s kind of no win situation. He says does nothing and people complain he does something people complain. I really do feel like some (not all) of his fans are gonna hate whoever he’s with no matter who it is///

Look, I will agree there are always a portion of the fandom who won’t be happy.

But this is not that. We are not happy because he running around with a racist and her racist, antisemitic, body shaming friends after spending the majority of his career speaking out against people like them.

We’re pissed that he continues to release dumbass IG stories rather than address the fact that his supposed relationship is with a vile and disgusting human.

When this first started, I laughed at her. Didn’t hate her whatsoever. After the cultural appropriation, racism, antisemitism, and body shaming came out, I disliked her and her friends.

And yes, cultural appropriation is racism. Our traditional costumes and dress are worn for special occasions and specific purposes and she and her friends shit on that, along with some of the most vile comments about Jewish people in general.

But what sealed my hate was when she lied about almost being kidnapped. She spit in the face of every person whose ever had a traumatic experience, using one to gain likes.

Posting shit would be fine if it wasn’t a blatant look at me look at me dump. If this man actually seemed happy and healthy, this would not be a conversation.

He is not happy. He is not healthy. He’s giving a middle finger to every minority, Jewish person, or plus size person that has ever supported him. You still think this is only about a relationship. It isn’t.

And this is exactly the reason why I hate when a lot of people come with the "you just don't like her because she is dating him" or "you just don't like them because of the age gap."

I will never like her or her friends. It's interesting because I think I dislike Justin and Kiko more than Alba herself. However, they are all bad people. I don't believe Chris is antisemitic, racist, or fatphobic, but I understand why some people believe or have the impression. He is supposed to be dating her, and why would you want to date someone like her if you have different values and a different moral compass? I do think this is PR; I do think they aren't dating, but the fact that a lot of people think they are and push this narrative is definitely not good for him, and I'm not just talking about his image but his mental health too.

I'm mad at him because he's gotten involved in this, because this whole thing is happening now, but I still think that if he had known what kind of person they are, he wouldn't have agreed to this. But sometimes, when I look at him, I feel sorry for him, because, just as you said, I don't think he is happy or healthy. Everything that's been going on (Alba, her attitude and behavior, her friends, his posting) is against everything he's ever stood for or represented. I can't pass this, because this is one of the reasons I think this is fake. I know that some people will probably think, "You're stupid, and you shouldn't feel this way," but he seems so desperate.

The whole kidnapping thing was outrageous too. Most women live in constant fear, and the fact that we need to be extra careful every single time we step out of our home or even when we are inside, so basically all the time, is sad and outraging alone, without her little made-up story. There are millions of women out there who are afraid to speak up against people who've hurt them, and I don't know a single woman who hasn't been harassed sexually at least once. She should be grateful that nothing like this happened to her, and if it has, then she should talk about it and encourage other women to do so.

And one more thing about my first sentence. If she hasn't done all of the things we've talked about, not just here but in general, I wouldn't care about their age gap. I know people in age-gap relationships, even with more years between them, and they are more than fine. Both of them are adults, and they can date whoever they want. Just because somebody is in their 20s doesn't mean they aren't ready to get married, settle down, and start a family. He could have a younger girlfriend in the future and settle down with her; I wouldn't care if she was a nice human being. And I'm happy people are focusing more on the person she is than on her age.

[brave-clarice]

“Clarice” Liveblog: Episode 2

Again, some extremely unfashionably late hot takes.

(Special thanks to @kathrynethegreat and @special-agent-pendragon​ for encouraging another liveblog!)

Clarice is working out! And eating junk food! I love it.

and cleaning her gun!

hey, Ardelia is drinking what I’m going to assume is her grandmother’s “smart people tea”.

Krendler disciplining Clarice already is infuriating but appropriate.

“I lost control.” Oh no, I don’t like that. Don’t make Clarice unstable. Her mental and emotional state never had anything to do with her failing career.

getting weird mixed signals from Ardelia. Last week, she obviously didn’t want Clarice to lie/stick to the script Krendler gave her, but now she’s telling Clarice she messed up by not doing so...?

“I better know you if you’re calling this early.” Amen, Ardelia.

I’m in love: this cinematography is straight out of the film (when she’s flying to WV with Crawford)!

“When’s the last time you went back to Appalachia?” “It’s been years.” What??? It has NOT been years--Clarice was JUST in West Virginia last week as well as in Silence, and she arguably attended college there as well. (UVA is at least nestled in the mountains, and you don’t have to drive far outside the Albemarle Valley to hit Appalachia proper.) After all the details about her character they’ve been nailing, they miss this glaring error? 

I like the tiny details she’s noticing (like the guy biting his nails). Not only because she’s an investigator, but because it’s reminiscent of Hannibal’s influence (imo).

Clarice Is Short: The Saga continues

still not getting any creepy vibes off Krendler. He’s going to be much less effective as an antagonist if he isn’t lewd as well as a dick.

I really don’t care for the way the opening “credits” fade out from the death’s-head moth to Clarice’s face. There are MANY animals that represent her, or parts of her, in the books--lions, lambs, horses, and of course birds--so this choice feels empty and lazy to me.

also lazy: having a fellow agent straight-up tell her in episode 2 “you shouldn’t be in the Bureau.” Maybe in two or three years, after some further “Death Angel”-type incidents, I could see this blatant rudeness, but not yet.

“Reesey”? Thanks, I hate it.

this flashback must be of Clarice’s little brother. That answers one question I had last week. That said...Clarice’s brother doesn’t play the same role in her story that Mischa does in Hannibal’s--but this sure feels like a Mischa-esque flashback.

good: they’re finally getting to the source of Clarice’s actual trauma!

bad: this is NOT how Clarice found out about her father. In fact, that whole incident is laid out in detail in the novels, and there’s nothing overly literary/un-cinematic about it, so this feels unnecessary. “The police are here! Something happened to Daddy!” No, bad! Show, don’t tell!

she would’ve known better than to introduce herself to that kid as “Clarice Starling, FBI,” come on now.

were they regularly able to wire tap hair clips in 1993? 

actually, nothing in this show looks very 90s to me so far. I’m sad about it.

so in eighteen months, Ruth Martin has gone from a junior Senator to the Attorney freakin’ General, and now she might run for governor?? At least let her get settled in one position of power first, why don’t you!

yet more Buffalo Bill flashbacks...alas.

are they trying to make this guy another surrogate Hannibal character? He’s commenting on Clarice’s accent and the dryness of her skin, asking about who she “left behind”...it all feels very Hannibal. (I know he’s a Charismatic Cult Leader trope, too--but when played off of Clarice...)

“Ew.” “I hate this guy.” I laughed.

I understand that Clarice probably feels conflicted re: her siblings in the book, but I’m really not digging the flashbacks of this Tim Burton character her brother.

@ the writers: Clarice already has the lamb backstory/symbolism, too. We don’t need this Little Brother stuff.

*shrieking* Mrs. Starling! At the sink washing the blood out of his hat!!! 

...aaand they had to ruin it with the brother’s painfully bad dialogue. Will still be good for gif-making, though.

are we supposed to interpret all these flashbacks as Clarice being incapable of controlling her emotions/state of mind? She keeps losing herself in memories and emerging all doe-eyed and panicky. I don’t like it.

not to be a broken record but...Clarice should be TOUGH. Again, Ardelia only saw her cry once in seven years. But she’s more worked up in this scene than Jodie was in Memphis!

when Mr. Cult Leader shouts “Agent Starling! Agent Starling!” he sounds exactly like Hannibal calling her back to his cell in the asylum. That has to be intentional. 

damn, wish that I could look as good five minutes after I’ve been crying as Clarice does.

I LOVE that Ardelia gets to be the crucial behind-the-scenes book-smart partner to Clarice’s action heroine.

AG Martin’s just playing politics by turning a blind eye to the crooked sheriff. But when her own daughter was just kidnapped and almost killed, she looks like a real hypocrite.

gosh, Rebecca Breeds is great. I already hope she gets nominated for an Emmy.

so Krendler is...doing the right thing???

Clarice’s father was definitely not a sheriff. I hope she’s just exaggerating for dramatic effect. (Maybe this will be clarified later.)

she couldn’t just sit with a manipulative guy without getting emotional, but she’s cool as a cucumber while telling an extended story about her father? HmmMM.

sometimes her mannerisms and facial expressions are so much like Jodie’s that it’s uncanny, like here when she leans forward to confront the Cult Leader.

“She did it.” Damn straight!

another great callback to Silence. this show’s camera crew knows its stuff!

“He’s concerned I have some residual trauma from Bill.” I. Hate. This. Subplot--and all its OOC implications.

“Catherine was close to her father, too.” Ooh, a nice allusion to the novel! Clarice makes note of their “common wound,” the loss of a father, when she’s in Catherine’s apartment in Silence.

she is just SO pretty.

little Clarice looks a LOT like Rebecca Breeds. I hope we see some more of her. 

The Good:

the continuing visual nods to the Silence film via cinematography

Mama Starling!!!

Clarice’s “The World Will Not Be This Way Within the Reach of my Arm” attitude, refusing to leave without helping the victims.

Ardelia Mapp coming in clutch! 

Clarice being, generally, a badass

and using psychological tricks/mind games to pin the antagonist...that’s the woman who disarmed a monster with just a few words.

Rebecca Breed’s acting has been phenomenal so far.

I like Clarice’s haircut a lot better when worn down (though it’s not very practical for fieldwork, so we probably won’t see it much).

The Bad:

the continuing Buffalo Bill-related Trauma Subplot. Ugh.

all the flashbacks to Clarice’s brother (and the not-so-subtle suggestion that her brother is, symbolically, another lamb).

will the real Paul Krendler please come forward? this guy is so TAME.

the other agents’ hostility towards Clarice needs to be toned down slightly so that it can escalate. Otherwise, where’s the tension?

is this actually 1993? I’m not feeling it. Shouldn’t it have a little of that Season 1/2 X-Files aesthetic? Please give me more than once-an-episode references to pagers and fax machines!

that glaring Appalachia continuity error...it’s still bugging me.

I missed the overt Hannibal references, even though they’re not necessary to any part of this episode. A lady can dream!

Overall, I really liked this one despite my various issues with it. It started shakily but built to a great finish. The emphasis across both episodes on Clarice being in the FBI not just to “get out, get anywhere,” but out of a genuine desire to help victims has been wonderful. I just hope they don’t swerve too far into the “too traumatized and emotionally compromised to function” lane. It would be a disservice to Clarice’s character and to her journey (and would smack too much of “Hannibal really did prey on her weak mind/brainwash her”.

Things I’d still like to see: More of her personality. Her hobbies and interests. That she’s cleaning her gun is great! Now let’s see “Poison Oakley” practicing her sharpshooting skills. Or car shopping. Or clothes shopping to show off her “developing taste.” (Ardelia can come!) I’ll take literally anything. Give us more of Clarice’s sense of humor as well. She had some subtle funny moments in the pilot, and it’s nice to see Rebecca smile for a change.

And Krendler? Smear that man in grease! I appreciated a happy ending even though Clarice’s career is, as we know, already in a downward spiral--the last thing we want is for every episode to be a slog, especially when a good chunk of the audience hasn’t read the book and doesn’t know Clarice is doomed to fail in the Bureau.

However... Krendler’s not a “redemption arc” kind of character. Or even a “run-of-the-mill sexist asshole” character. This is a man who spent seven years systematically sabotaging a young woman’s career because a) he was jealous that she solved the Gumb case before him, and b) she wouldn’t fuck him. He was a Justice Department official working fist-in-glove with a serial child molester who was planning some of the heinous vigilante justice imaginable. THAT’S why his very gruesome end at Hannibal’s hands felt deserved--even Clarice thought so! In short, he needs to get nasty.

Anyway, thanks for coming to another long-overdue TedTalk. Fingers crossed that the next one will be more timely (aiming for Sunday night)! 

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 5 of 26

Title: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) (2019) 

Author: Leigh Bardugo 

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Third-Person, Unreliable Narrator, Female Protagonist, LGBT Protagonist (?).

Rating: 9/10

Date Began: 1/31/2021

Date Finished: 2/06/2021

Alex Stern's had the ability to see ghosts for as long as she can remember-- and it's led her life in a terrible direction. At twenty, she is the sole survivor of a gruesome multiple murder case in Los Angeles. In the hospital, she's given a chance to turn her life around. She receives a full ride scholarship to Yale, but in return has to serve as an apprentice to Lethe House, an organization tasked with monitoring the shady magical dealings of the university's secret societies. Determined to leave her past behind, Alex accepts the offer.

But things start to go wrong partway into the school year. Her mentor Darlington disappears under mysterious circumstances. Months later, a young woman named Tara Hutchins turns up dead on a ritual night. Alex suspects the secret societies of Yale are involved in the murder, but no one seems willing to believe her. Going off a hunch, Alex decides to investigate on her own. But the past she's running from threatens to return and change everything.  

“All you children playing with fire, looking surprised when the house burns down.” 

Full review, minor spoilers, and content warnings under the cut. 

Content warnings for the book: Graphic violence, gore, murder, death, etc. R*pe, p*dophilia, grooming, abuse, and associated trauma depicted/discussed. Drug use, including recreational drug use, underage drug use, addiction, overdoses, and drugging without consent. Mind control/altered mental states. Body horror. Depictions of racism, antisemitism, and misogyny.

Ninth House is not the book I expected it to be. It has a generic-sounding concept; urban fantasy murder mystery! Protag with mysterious powers! Secret societies! I really liked Bardugo's YA Six of Crows duology, so I went in knowing she's a good writer and hoping for the best. Ninth House exceeded expectations for sure. This is one of those stories that has a lot going on beneath the surface, full of interesting twists, turns, and all-too-real social issues.

While this might seem like a “dark academia” kind of story, Ninth House is actually critical of the whole concept. The story takes place around Yale, stars college students, and focuses on the real-but-fictionalized secret societies of the university. But these details often feel incidental. Alex’s (and to some extent, Darlington’s) past, the murder investigation, and her ability to see ghosts is more important to the story. The societies are groups of privileged rich kids using magic for stupid and selfish ends. For example, one society kidnaps a dude, performs involuntary surgery on him, and reads his intestines to predict stock futures. Magic is apparently dying, and the societies have built themselves on top of the few nexuses of magical power in New Haven. The fact that a bunch of asshole college kids have near-exclusive access to a limited and powerful resource sure is a big problem. They’re also ultra pretentious, using certain languages or appropriating certain mythologies just because they seem more magical.

That’s not to say true mythological symbolism is totally absent. Water is a notable part of Ninth House, along with its associated meanings -- change, death, rebirth, cleansing the past, and so on. Lethe, the titular ninth house, gets its name from the river in Greek mythology. Anyone who knows its role there will have a fun time with certain story developments. There’s also a lot of tarot imagery not directly addressed in the story. So history/mythology is significant, but it’s not spoon-fed to the reader. 

There’s a lot of social commentary in the story told through a fantasy lens. Probably the most obvious one is r*pe culture and its horrific effects. Considering the numerous scandals centered around sexual violence, especially in colleges, it all feels very timely. There’s also a more general discussion of privilege and how it affects one’s access to a school like Yale. Alex is notably a victim of racism, misogyny, and poverty to some extent. Bardugo clearly did a lot of research about Yale and the social issues in the novel, and this comes through while reading. She even cites her many sources in the acknowledgements. 

While Ninth House is written in third-person, I still consider it an unreliable narrative. At the beginning, we know two major things about the past. (1) Darlington (the deuteragonist) disappeared under mysterious circumstances a few months ago and might be dead. (2) Alex, the main protagonist, was the sole survivor of a multiple murder case, but was cleared as a suspect For Reasons. Other than that, the narrative reveals few specifics about either event until much later in the story. When this finally happens, it changes a lot of things. There is also an interesting, character-driven reason why this information is obscured for so long-- but it's a big spoiler.

Bardugo also takes advantage of perspective limitations when switching between the Alex and Darlington chapters. One character might assume something, only for another character to introduce new context about it much later. This might be a simple concept, but it’s great when executed well. In particular I remember Alex doing something in an early chapter that seems in character at the time. Then a much later Darlington chapter throws it into question with a one-off line. I really like this kind of stuff in stories! It's an interesting way to characterize and worldbuild that's just plain fun to read. 

My LGBT Protagonist tag is a little vague because, while I'm reasonably sure Alex is bisexual, there's no direct confirmation in the story. Her relationship with Hellie does NOT come off as platonic, though. And while I'm pretty sure Darlington is meant to be the romantic interest character, Alex’s interactions with Dawes certainly give me Vibes. I have some suspicions where this might be going. Future volumes will probably address this more.

While I really liked the book, it's not quite a 10 because it's really dark, even for me. There are several (intentionally) disturbing and disgusting scenes that made me uncomfortable. Sexual violence is repugnant, and I appreciate that Bardugo depicts it in such a negative, traumatic light. But unlike Six of Crows (which explores this as well), Ninth House is pretty graphic, and I had a hard time getting through several scenes. It's a personal thing but did affect my overall enjoyment of the book. I can easily see other people having problems, too: it depends on your sensitivity to such content. 

In addition, Ninth House’s pacing drags after the big mid-story reveals. There's two exciting twists in a row, then a good quarter of the book to go after that. It's nice to view the story with new context in mind, but it feels slower and less interesting than the reveals themselves. The story also takes on a predictable "we SOLVED the mystery! ... or did we?" story loop, which I feel I've seen a million times. Alex does some real dumb/out-of-character stuff near the end in order to keep this going. That being said, while I predicted some of the final ending, I think it all comes together in a satisfying way. There's lots of little hints that are fun to go back to; Ninth House is one of those books where looking stuff up as you go REALLY helps. 

Ninth House lays the groundwork for an interesting series, and the ending is obvious sequel bait. I'm interested to see where the story could go based on some of the reveals and conclusions of the ending. There's also the impossible-to-ignore social commentary of the book; I have to wonder if that will continue in future plots, and what form that will take if so. Either way, whenever the next book comes out I’ll probably read it! 

[aot-snk-4238]

SNK Meta Part 2: Ymir

In my previous post, I talked about my feelings regarding Historia's character this final arc. Now I'm going to talk about Ymir, her relationship with Historia, and my feelings about her send-off.

Was Ymir a good character?

In my eyes, yes. When she was first introduced, it was clear that she had feelings for Historia, making her one of the only canon queer characters in the series (assuming Historia reciprocated those feelings, which I'm pretty sure she did). She also appeared very snarky and cynical, but us readers came to learn later on that there was a much softer, sensitive side to her deep down that Historia would be the first to witness. These revelations, including her backstory, helped flesh out her character in a way that made her very interesting and mysterious for me. I especially loved how sharp and intuitive she was. I'm going to quote the wiki on this part, because I think it does a great job explaining her impressive observant abilities. "Ymir was extremely perceptive and could discern the nature of the people around her with alarming accuracy, such as Historia's martyrdom mentality, Reiner's split personality disorder, and Sasha Blouse's desire to look good in front of her peers by hiding her native accent and developing an extremely formal way of speaking. Due to her experiences and belief in self-pride, she tended to rudely criticize people for being untrue to themselves. Furthermore, Ymir was very reasonable, as she knew what to do during her kidnapping situation and reconsidered her options to accomplish her goals." I also enjoyed her interactions with other characters besides Historia. Take Connie, for example. When he lamented over the possibility of his mother being stuck as a mindless titan, Ymir tried to distract him, albeit not in the most appropriate way (ch. 38).

Connie complained about this behavior later on, but Historia defended her, explaining that she was only trying to stray his thoughts from that traumatic discovery. There were a few more moments between these two that were fun to see as well.

😂😂😂. Ymir's looking at him like, "You ruined it, Connie..."

I love the way she pats him on the head. Knowing how much taller Connie's gotten I don't think she'd be able to do that anymore.

This becomes one of the many times that Connie calls her "ugly" when she's in her titan form. Too bad she couldn't talk very well as a titan or else she probably would have had a smartass remark to throw back at him. It's looking back on scenes like this where I wish we could have gotten more out of these two. You can tell she cared for Connie and I know he also cared in his own way.

We only saw her together with Eren once when Reiner and Bertholdt captured them, but it was very interesting to see their perceptions of each other.

Eren found Ymir to be mysterious and wasn't sure if he could trust her, which isn't surprising considering this was the only time they ever spoke to each other. One detail that he couldn't miss, however, was Ymir's undying determination to protect Historia, a goal they would both come to share later on. Meanwhile, Ymir couldn't trust Eren because she found him to be too reckless and hot-headed.

These were my favorite qualities from Ymir, although to this day I still question the rationality of leaving Historia behind considering the situation she's currently in. Historia herself called her an idiot after reading her goodbye letter. Now that I've covered my reasons for liking Ymir as a character, let's move on to her relationship with Historia.

Ymir and Historia

I've loved these two together since the beginning for their complex and amusing dynamic. On the surface, you had the selfish, confrontational tomboy and the girly, kind and beautiful goddess. But underneath were two young women who were dealt a dirty hand early in their life and lead empty lives as a result until they found each other. Their story arcs throughout the Clash of the Titans arc were beautiful and complimentary, and it's part of the reason why it's actually my favorite story arc in the series. Everything from Ymir seeing through Historia's charade and urging her to live her life with pride to Historia telling Ymir her real name and the two of them fighting side by side in chapter 49 was some of the most empowering moments for me and I will forever cherish those parts of the story.

Ymir's departure

And now the part I've been most excited to talk about! Ymir's glorious, memorable and emotional departure.

Her ending...was not what I expected it to be. She left Historia at the very last second and gave herself away to the enemy because she felt guilty for something that was not her fault. Now as we know, Ymir is selfless at heart and she felt indebted to Reiner and Bertholdt for inadvertently helping her return to her human form after 60 years of wandering the earth as a mindless titan. She also decided that Historia might be safe after all after learning that Eren possessed the coordinate. I understand all of that, but what I don't understand is...well...everything else.

This was Ymir's last real appearance. We see that Ymir has willingly chosen to accompany Reiner and Bertholdt back to Marley to give up her titan powers at the cost of her life. Many people weren't so sure if that was truly the last of her though, because her death was not explicitly confirmed for a long time. We spend the next 33 chapters hoping to get something more, and then this happens...

A glimmer of hope. Finally there's a real chance we'll hear from her again, and it's got a lot of people buzzing with excitement. Sure enough, we finally get to see what's in that letter a few chapters later and are given Ymir's backstory. Here's where the disappointing part comes, though. Ymir makes it clear at the beginning of her letter that she will be dead by the time Historia receives it, meaning that this is the only goodbye they're gonna get. The last time they saw each other, Ymir wasn't even in human form. Instead of a proper goodbye, all we get is a short letter. The anime even tried to fix this by giving us Ymir's backstory earlier, but by doing that, her letter was cut short by a lot. All that was really left was, "Hi babe, sorry I left you like that. Oh well, I'm about to die anyway. Sorry we couldn't get married." And then this happened:

Historia touches Ymir's letter and is suddenly bombarded with visions of Ymir's past, including her chained up and about to be eaten. That is definitely not what happened in the manga and its honestly very confusing to me. How was she able to see all of that just by touching the letter? I get that she has royal blood and was able to access memories when she touched Eren, but Eren is a human who just so happens to possess the founding titan. The letter is just a piece of paper. Also, I'm guessing the last thing Historia saw was Ymir chained up so that there will be no need to bring her up again like Reiner and Porco did in chapter 93. I don't blame the anime team for making that change because I'll be honest, when we saw that one panel of her in her death chamber it felt very out of nowhere and I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the chapter after that. So here are my main problems with her death:

1. It was off-screen

If I recall correctly, Ymir is the only major character in the series whose death was off-screen. All we got were her final moments, and there wasn't even any dialogue. That part especially bothered me because you can see that Ymir and Porco are looking at each other and Ymir's mouth is slightly open, implying that she's speaking. But what was she saying? You seriously don't mean to tell me that they both just sat there and stared at each other the whole time. She must have had some last words, but for some reason we never got to know what they were. At one point I even thought that Historia and Porco might cross paths at some point and he would be able to give her closure that way but no. No closure, just a last minute goodbye letter and a glimpse of her final moments that I now consider completely useless and unnecessary because we never got more out of it. I mean really, we even got closure and an on-screen death for Marco for crying out loud. Why give him that kind of attention and not Ymir? Not to mention one of the more recent guidebooks. Her character has the diceased sticker and it talks about how she went back to Marley with Reiner and Bert, but that's it. Not even the guidebook makes it clear what happened next. Yeah she died, but did anything else happen before then? That's what I wish we could have gotten more details on like, I don't know....her final words???

2. It was anticlimactic

We didn't get enough focus on Ymir's point of view after leaving Paradis in order for her death to have any kind of lasting emotional impact. As I mentioned above, it just felt out of place and messy. There was nothing memorable about her death either. It was quite simple and boring.

3. It contributed to an ongoing literary issue that has anti-LGBTQ roots

Yep. I'm talking about the infamous Bury Your Gays trope. Now before I go any further, I am not accusing Isayama of being anti-LGBTQ, I'm just shedding some light on something that's been continuously repeated in countless forms of media, not just anime and manga. Truthfully, I hadn't heard about this trope before reading Attack on Titan, but when I did hear about it, it only made Ymir's death even worse for me. I'm not surprised that it exists and I realize that this is a manga where death is inevitable, but keeping both women alive in the end would have certainly been very refreshing. At this point, all I could ask for is that Ymir and Historia get to see each other one last time. Obviously since Ymir is dead it will have to be through other means and I don't care how it's done. It can be in a dream, a vision or through Paths (which I think would work best). Seriously, there's nothing I've been more curious about than how Ymir would react to Hisu's current predicament and what she would say to her. It would just be great for them to have one last conversation face to face because for me, the letter just wasn't enough. Of course I'm hoping for too much, though. We've only got 1-2% of the story remaining, leaving no room for further closure. It's disappointing and frustrating, but no story is perfect. I'm grateful for the content that we did get, but I hope one day I can find a story like this one where the queer characters get to live for once. I'm aware of other shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Yuri on Ice that give them good endings, but those shows are much friendlier towards younger audiences and aren't nearly as dark and grim.

Conclusion

Ymir was a very intriguing character while we had her, but her death was unsatisfactory and only left us with more questions. I am not going to trash Isayama for it, but I will leave this critique here so I can unload all my thoughts for others to read if they wish, or possibly share their own thoughts. We are coming close to the end of the manga, so now would be a great time to reflect on what we read and enjoy what's left of it.

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP meme from Scream Queens Ep 5 "Pumpkin Patch" (Note: Offensive content, use at own discretion)

The theme was "Let Them Eat Cake," so my dad bought me this foreclosed McMansion down the street, and, like, 500 of my closest friends came dressed in 18th century attire, and, oh, the pool was filled with this, like, caviar slurry. And then at midnight, we just burnt the house down. When the firefighters came, they were actually strippers, and they put out the fire with champagne.

So walk me through this, honey.

Well, as you can see, every pumpkin in the patch is artisanal.

Then we move past the ice sculptures of demonic peeing cherubs, and yes, they will all be peeing vodka and Red Bull.

I'm sorry. Corn maze?

It's just that doing an exact replica maze from The Shining would have taken us way over budget on man power alone.

I told you money was no object.

Well, apparently, one of them died or something.

Do you have any idea what's at stake here?

Okay, well, it's not my fault that some guy died in the '70s.

I am tired of your sad-sack, I'm-a-total-downer-all-the-time schtick.

I'm over it!

Oh, my God, why are you so depressed?

Why do I have to be the homely one?

Just a second, nutbag.

God, do I have to spell it out for you?

You're a weird, psycho lunatic who's gonna end up in an asylum somewhere, staring at a wall, trying to nurse a watering can.

That's it! I can't take this anymore!

That is such a Mary Todd Lincoln thing to say.

You scream "I'm done with you" kind of a lot, and yet you're still standing here.

I think you know you have a good thing going.

You get to bask in my starlight as I do all the work and you get to grumble behind my back about how disrespected you are.

There's the door.

There's the door, bitch!

You did not deserve to be spoken to like that. Ever.

That is bollocks!

Clearly this fake kidnapping is a play to get the sympathy vote. So Gone Girl.

This is the biggest candle night of the year!

I hate you right now!

Halloween is the greatest night of the year. Greatest night. Because on this night, even kind of shy, kind of homely girls dress up like total sluts. I mean, every costume is just a slutty version of something. Slutty teacher, slutty nurse, slutty nun. I saw a girl last year dressed as slutty al-Qaeda!

See, Halloween it's a night for dudes with killer bods to walk around with our shirts off. And it's totally appropriate, as long as we call ourselves gladiators, Chippendales.

I have no idea how you got into this college.

Look, we'll just hang out and play charades!

This cannot be happening!

Hey, what about Black Hairy Tongue Disease? I mean, does nobody here care about Black Hairy Tongue?

What about my pumpkin patch?

I blame you for this.

[NAME], nice boobs.

Join me in saying you are not afraid!

Just baking some cookies for the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.

Uh, they're toenail cookies.

Pink fur coats worn in all weather, my idea. Flapper dresses made out of feathers, also my idea. Oversized sunglasses worn everywhere, my idea, my idea, my idea!

So why are you baking toenail cookies and giving them to children?

Okay, whose side are you on?

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I'm what you call

a "switch-hitter."

Wait, are you bisexual? Because that's what "switch-hitter" means.

Do you mean "double agent"?

What are you writing?

Do you know how big Halloween is in the candle community?

Is this an ant farm?

There's a mom ant, Deborah, who mostly just lies around and she has about 100 husband ants, who come around and give it to her good, which she really enjoys. And then there's about a million sterile daughter ants who feed her and are her slaves. So, an ideal family.

She'd win. And then I'd beg to be her second-in-command, while quietly pull the strings behind the scenes like Dick Cheney.

This plan involves a lot of circuitous logic.

Oh, my God! Those are, like, $100 each!

They're the highest quality candles that can be purchased retail.

What a brilliant and revolutionary idea.

Are you cheating?

This is a clear violation of the honor code.

You must be new here.

Who are you calling?

I'm gonna get you fired.

At least you wore something nice today.

Remember to smile for your mug shot.

I'm burping uncontrollably like Robert Durst.

They'll know I'm guilty!

I'm next in line and in charge here.

You can sum up my viewpoint on this with one word; indifference.

We are her only hope.

Sometimes, in order for a person to achieve their full potential, they have to do things on their own.

I am in charge here!

I love that you're a man.

This is the most sensual song ever written.

We need to do this right now!

I just saw her boobs.

Oh, a salad date is, it's like, it's more casual than dinner, but more formal than coffee.

Whose pants are these?

You know, you're a human being with feelings and needs, right?

Enough about me and my confusion and sad dead feeling inside.

It just really hurt my feelings.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure my so-called friends are the ones that turned me in so I'm just feeling, like, super alone right now.

Man, I am your biggest Instagram fan!

I just think you are a style genius.

I will never be able to repay you for the kindness you've shown me in here.

Besties for life, I say.

Your bail's been posted.

I knew you'd bail me out.

Can I just say what a relief it is to be able to share it with somebody and not feel judged?

You know, I mean, all my girlfriends are like, "That's immoral." "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Ashamed? What the hell you got to be ashamed for?

You should be proud.

I could've lost my job.

I mean, it lasted, like, 45 seconds, and the whole time, it just felt like I was getting stabbed in the abdomen.

I tied him up and I kept my uniform on and proceeded

to read him his rights. My favorite being "You got the right to remain sexy."

Give me some!

You know he's sexy!

That was one of the best nights of my life.

Well, I've already contacted the police department, despite the fact that a person can't be considered "missing" until at least 72 hours has passed.

That's morbid.

I've already hired an investigator.

What, are you two a couple now?

What the hell are you doing?

You sold me down the river, bitch.

Wait, Gary Coleman's parents stole his kidneys?

I would never say that, because I'm pretty sure that never even happened.

Why does ratting me out sound like exactly something you would do?

You know, I've never thought of myself as a killer, but I am seriously considering ramming this pick into the back of your eye socket.

Maybe you'll get your head sawed off.

You have cameras in my room?

I have eyes everywhere, bitch.

The name of my future perfume is Revenge.

How is that something you just happen to know?

That is stupidest thing I've ever heard.

What's the password?

I just can't eat any more of these.

This ain't The Marriage Ref! This ain't Judge Joe Brown! We ain't on the Maury Show! We ain't standin' in line trying to get tickets to Dr. Phil! I am not Steve Harvey, people, and this ain't the Family Feud!

I'm tryin' to catch a killer.

Help me get the spy gear in the car!

How can you promise?

We're in a maze, you don't know where you're going!

I always knew it would come to this.

Why are we doing this right now?

I forgot the flashlights!

What am I supposed to do with this?

This is so creepy.

It smell like booty in here.

I'm getting a nervous feeling in my stomach.

I might start farting. If I cut some, you promise not to tell anyone?

Oh, my boob!

Stay where you are! I'll come and get you!

Ooh, this is nice.

It's really beautiful.

It looks like you just crossed some stuff out and wrote that in in marker.

Okay, can we talk about that for a second? Because it just happened a few hours ago, and I'm still really traumatized.

I need some cheering up right now.

Excuse me, darling, I'm exhausted.

Wait, we need to hear what happened to you.

Just wondering where you find a house with a pit. The market for them would be pretty limited.

Did you escape, or did you kill him?

I've always had a thing for bad boys.

That got way out of hand.

[feferipeixes]

Mizar doesn't exist in heavy Quarantine. Mabel prefers not to get involved, aside from helping children Dipper will bring back. She never makes a name for herself, at least not one associated with Alcor, and the Woodsman wouldn't exist either. Twin Souls wouldn't exist, and many thing like RRR or SYWTBAD would never happen. Dipper is almost always in a 12 year old form, and his alias, Alcor, was something he had come up with while held in the basement, as a way of giving up.

YO GET READY FOR A LONG-ASS POST

Goshhhhh I could so easily see this being the case? Especially if you don’t consider Dipper to ever really make a recovery (like in this post’s version of events). If he’s forever trapped in that “more demon than human” state, if his mind is too broken to make a full recovery, then absolutely.

Mizar doesn’t exist because going with Dipper to enact vigilante justice isn’t really an option. Dipper is too rogue to be good at that kind of thing, and to be honest, in this version, there’s a part of Mabel that screams at her that she can’t trust Dipper not to let her get hurt. It’s not like in main TAU where the two of them knew from the start that they wanted to use Dipper’s newfound magical powers to go around helping people. Here, Mabel gets reunited with a crazed brother who seems to care more about hurting bad guys than helping innocent people, and that makes her very uncomfortable. She’ll help the children he brings back, but to be actually involved with the action is quite a different matter.

And yeah, the non-existence of Mizar has quite a ripple effect on the rest of Dipper’s future. Twin Souls wouldn’t exist because why would it – Alcor’s never been seen with a mysterious female companion. He doesn’t even have the playfulness he exhibits a lot at summons in main TAU, when he decides to mess with people by showing up at summons playing a sousaphone or carrying children. There’s much less of a reason for anyone to see anything good in him at all when all he is known for is murderdeath (although as we know from the real world, that doesn’t really stop people from loving those kinds of people…). RRR wouldn’t happen because, even if he ends up owning Mabel’s soul, he wouldn’t necessarily care too much about growing up with it again. Even if he did, I doubt it would go very well. He could end up stuck in a very childlike state even in his facsimile human body. (Orrrr it could even be bigger angst if you look at it from a nature vs nuture viewpoint and say that Dipper Sterling is pretty human, and that once he breaks apart and becomes Alcor again all of that is lost and his family is heartbroken).

There are so many other Mizar arcs too that just wouldn’t happen. He’d have a lot of other ways to entertain himself over the years, especially if he’s more comfortable with letting his demonic nature loose than he is in main TAU. And SYWTBAD wouldn’t happen because he’s just not whimsical in this timeline. He doesn’t think “oh it’d be fun to make a bunch of friends and graduate from school.” He wouldn’t already be friends with Lucy Ann, so no one would’ve been there to dare him to do it anyway. And yeah, the Woodsman wouldn’t exist. Why would he? Willow didn’t survive being born, so there was no one who needed saving in Caney Patch that day. T_T

And finally yesssssss “almost always in his 12 year old form” is suuuuper angsty and I think entirely appropriate, because it represents how he doesn’t feel like an adult. That’s a rather human concept, anyway, adulthood and maturity, and there’s not too much humanity left in him. He’s got the odd flight of empathy for children and Mabel, but he doesn’t truly feel it. If he ever takes on an adult form, it’d be only because he thinks it’ll help him con a summoner better. Naming himself Alcor while his mind is dissolving is also BIG ANGST. It comes at the point at which he knows he’s never getting out of there, when he knows Ford won’t trust him or believe him and even worse when he’s cognizant enough to realize that something’s happening to his mind, it’s deteriorating and he doesn’t know why and he’s scared. He thinks he’s dying, and in a way, he’s right.

—

All that being said, my hc is that Dipper is able to recover in heavy Quarantine. It’s a long and difficult road, but Mabel and Henry and Stan (especially Mabel) are able to regain his trust. They’re able to show him that it’s safe to be a person, that he’s still Dipper underneath it all, and moreover that he can regain all the love and humanity he lost. And in this version of events, I think things turn out very differently.

Mizar and cultbashing look very different here than in main TAU, but I still think they’d happen after a while. There’s just so much injustice in the world and so many cultists trying to do bad things. I hc that Mabel still gets into boxing and working out in this timeline even before she finds Dipper, so it wouldn’t be like she’s entirely unprepared to go cultbashing with him. He definitely wouldn’t want to do it at first but as he gains more access to his empathy again I think it’d be hard for him not to. There’d be a lot of close calls, and sometimes they’d face something that would set Dipper back a lot (a mean cultist with a binding circle that feels just a bit too tight around his neck) and it’d be another long night with him in his 12 year old form rocking back and forth and Mabel comforting him but not hugging him because when he gets like that he can’t stand to feel constricted.

Speaking of his 12 year old form, I really love the idea that he looks like a 12 year old when Mabel finds him. He’s had no template (Mabel) to age himself up with, and moreover he’s had no reason to change how he looks. He’s just trying to get himself out of this prison he’s been trapped in and as time goes on he cares less and less about his appearance. I hc that his demonic puberty coincidentally happens at the same time as his mind starting to deteriorate, and that Ford takes this as a sign that he was right and that this demon’s masquerade is falling. The awesome @diddlydarndoodles drew newly freed heavy Quarantine Dipper as having blackened hands/claws and his forearms having brickwork markings on them, like he’s a little bit into his void form, and I love this. He’s still Dipper, he’s still recognizably Dipper, but he’s so injured that he’s even starting to forget how to maintain his appearance. And it’s so horrifyingly angsty for Mabel to find him this way when she does. How he looks is a representation of his state of mind and it just goes to show both how small he feels and how injured his mind is. So to me, him starting to take on a more adult look as he makes strides in his recovery is massive. It represents him actually being able to feel like an adult, which, for someone as traumatized as him, speaks volumes and I love it so much.

Twin Souls would be different, considering how Alcor, in many early appearances, looks like a child whereas Mizar looks like an adult. I hope and pray that it would be less of a popular thing, if it exists at all, than in main TAU. The Woodsman might exist, because Willow survives in this version, but Dipper isn’t as involved in the triplets’ early lives (because he’s still recovering, still easily overwhelmed, and until he’s recovered enough to go out and about I’d say any time he spends with the triplets is supervised so that both he and them are safe), and because of this, there might be fewer pro-nats trying to take out the Pines family. Thus, the Caney Patch Massacre might not even happen. If it does, the Woodsman might happen (and I’m sure that would be a Huge setback for Dipper because now he’s scared of what he’s done to Henry), or it might not and everyone would just get a taste of how truly frightening and vicious this poor traumatized demon Dipper can be when his family is threatened.

SYWTBAD could still happen, especially because after he recovers, Dipper is pretty sad about all the stuff he wanted to do as a human and not only never got to do, but never even got to watch Mabel do. Lucy Ann might still dare him to go to college as a demonologist, and he might still do it and just be a lot meeker. He could still make friends, but gosh I think the whole scene with him and Elisabeth and Thomas getting kidnapped would go a lot worse. And finally, RRR? That would totally happen and I think it would be beautiful. He’d again be a much meeker child, but he’d finally get to have an upbringing where he feels safe and loved. I want all the happy endings for this sweet, hurt child.

Anyway! Hope you enjoy this HECK TON of HC’s for two different versions of the heavy variant. If you can’t tell, I love Quarantine AU a lot. ✨

[casually-inlove]

aah i agree im vry disappointed in this chapter ! like its good like usual, but its kind of a let down after the last 5 chapters... ht rly exposed himself minutes before, and comedy aside, MGS answered him by ignoring him, and then saying "were not friends, were not as close as you think we are". it must have been hurtful for HT, its basically a rejection of recognizing HT vulnerabilities. and its totally In character for MGS to say this, so im not disappointed by it 1/?

i mean HT lay his heart down for Mo to see and theyve known each other for 15 DAYS, its too soon for anybody and especially for Mo who have mistrust problems to respond in the same way ? so running away and deflecting the declaration is cool, i wasnt excepting a "ill never abandon u!!" lol. but then HT being cool with this rejection and having a slapstick comedy just after doesnt feel right. mb show HT swallowing and being disheartened, and then put his usual facade and only then have comedy 2/?

would have been good, bc we would have known "oh ht is actually hurt by MGS reaction but doesnt know how to say it, so he plays it cool and change the subject bc hes still not at ease with being vulnerable". a realistic situation would have been "ht tried to be vulnerable but it was too soon, too much for mo who rejected him, so it confirmed ht biased thinking that showing vulnerabilities is bad and it will prevent ht to be vulnerable in front of someone in the near future". 3/?

i mean it could have been a nice although sad conclusion for this mini-arc, especially since ht have been grieving (?) his mother just this morning. a little step back, and then smth else happen and cause ht to crack completely but then mo is able to respond present and its a step forward. ok im daydreaming but that would have been climatic lol. instead this..ah i dont know i feel cheated, i know its ox' work but still haha ! like when they do an abrupt change of scene after an emotional page 4/

its a trick ox use often and after 300 chapters it feels old n cheap. when u engage in a emotional scene, u cant just do "oops i change my mind!!" and put slapstick comedy or ignore totally what just happened and dont have a progression. u have to stay on this road : u cant put traumatizing backgrounds and mafia affairs and mature problems (kidnapping, mother being threatening into prostitution,etc) n just.. not stick with it and making ur characters not traumatized by it and just 'lol comedy'.

sry im kind of monopolizing ur askbox lol, i guess im kind of frustrated ! it just the last chapters were so good and it was a while since ox use this cheap trick of not going through an emotional scene that i kind of forgot how terrible they were at handling transition between drama and comedy. theyre a good artist all in all (or i wouldnt be this disappointed!!), but they have this failing in their writing an it drives me nuts each time lmao. haa i hope next chapter will be better...5/5

Hell yeah, DEFINITELY, that sums up my thoughts. Also, you don't have to apologize, it was an interesting read and I can tell that you feel strongly about it. While I can’t say that I’m flat-out disappointed, as I wrote in my original post, I’m definitely feeling lukewarm and indifferent about the recent ch.

OX touched upon a few serious matters a couple of chapters before: namely She Li’s fucked up goading and the way it unsettled He Tian -- unsettled in no joking manner as follows from his reaction. Then we get He Tian swearing to beat up anyone who dares bully Mo, and the whole profound monologue from the previous chapter. Just as you say, He Tian truly laid himself bare there. One could argue that He Tian listed the reasons he was enamoured with Mo, or one could argue that he subtly commented on the milieu he grew up in, or one can even read it as He Tian admitting/reflecting on his flaws out loud. There are many ways to construe this scene, each of them is extremely meaningful. Not to mention it took HT visible effort to say these things out loud.

The problem which both you and I noticed is that OX left this mini-arc/mini-subplot unresolved. Instead, they abruptly switched to comedic relief. Much like you, I wasn’t expecting a big reaction from Mo -- no grand verbal declarations at very least. What I expected was a panel (maybe a close up of Mo’s face as I mentioned in my original post) that indicated he actually HEARD what HT told him, that it gave Mo some food for thought. 

As you mention, Mo getting disconcerted and doing the tsun-tsun escape is fairly in character for him. Still, a panel like this would have been very welcome to emphasize his confusion and to justify him not gracing the other boy with an answer, ignoring HT showing his underbelly (which is something that doesn't come easy for him, as we readers know). Okay, sure, OX handled it differently this chapter -- we get Mo silently running away and blurting out the first comeback he could think of. No problem. It works to show that HT’s words had an effect on him, albeit it’s much less pronounced, than, say, the Aquarium scene -- again one would have to wonder why: HT’s “don’t abandon me” is just as strong, if not stronger, than “I’m afraid you’ll forget me”, so it follows that Mo should have been just as affected.

The problem is the way an emotionally charged moment quickly fizzled out into comedy. As you said, Mo blurting out “we are not friends, we are not familiar enough, so I don’t care what you think (of me)!” SHOULD have hit HT harder. Just minutes before we had HT being genuinely disturbed by the idea of someone looking to intentionally hurt Mo, seeking physical comfort, being disquieted by the idea of getting abandoned and losing someone he likes, confessing that he admires the other boy -- yet when Mo utters yet another curt rejection of sorts, we are not shown HT’s reaction, which, logically, should have been there. 

And all of that emotional build-up is cheapened by an accidental dick slap comedy. 

Indeed, showing HT being hurt (disquieted? deflated?) and then putting on a cool guy mask, and ONLY then switching to a slapstick humour would have been more appropriate. It wouldn’t have taken a big or an overly dramatic scene either -- just, IDK, show HT’s eyes widening, or his throat clicking, or his posture slumping, anything to indicate that Mo’s words affected him -- that the whole thing mattered to him. Otherwise, it leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth: “so Imma confess to the person I like and swear to protect them and beg them to put up with me -- oh! forget anything serious that I said, Imma touch some dick now”. While I don't have an issue with comedy coming into focus again, I do wish it hadn't been this abrupt. Had there been a better transition between these scenes, there wouldn't be this "lol jk" vibe that I’m getting.

So yeah, I, too, feel a little cheated. OX certainly has an issue with drama-comedy transitions, which are sort of hit-and-miss for me. Sometimes they work well to alleviate the grave mood, other times they appear to be out of place. The recent chapter is the latter case. Dangling a possibility of climatic resolution for the subplot and then intentionally subverting it just doesn’t work in favour of the plot here. It cheapened the emotional part and made the comedy feel much less fun for me. Of course, no one says that writing is an easy task. Plenty of mangakas, for instance, work with writers to strengthen their script and plots, so it’s challenging when a single person is responsible for both drawing and planning the story. OX is undoubtedly doing a tremendous job. Still, I wish they wouldn’t stick to using the old trick this monastically because it's becoming a trite writing device and works against them on occasion. It’s totally fine to keep the comic light-hearted yet it’s not good to ignore the needed dramatic development.

[brydeswhale]

So most of North America is asleep, and I’m going to talk about how much Tamora Pierce hates Middle Eastern ppl.

I first met Tamora Pierce’s gross, colonialist perspective on Middle Eastern ppl in “Woman Who Rides Like A Man”, featuring Alanna! White Saviour, Creator’s Pet, and all around obnoxious early feminist fantasy heroine. I loathe her.

See, it’s Alanna’s job, as it is with so many of these White Heroines(continuing to this day) to teach the Bazhir, a nomadic desert culture that her nice pseudo-European culture has been oppressing for a couple hundred years that “Girls can do magic, too, we’re totally good at it! Girls are as good as boys, girl power, stop oppressing women, no more veils, rah, rah!”

This is kind of a hard job for one White Saviour to do on her own, so don’t worry!!!

White Saviour number two, who happens to be the crown prince of said cute little pretend europe(it’s England, okay, it’s always England, even when it’s the USA), is wandering around whining about having to, ya know, do his job, and it fortunately turns out he is the next incarnation of the head of the Bazhir religion! So he can totally colonize them even more!

And this is very good because of course they are so uncivilized and now the Americans are here to show them how to respect women(even tho at this equivalent time period on earth Islam gave women more rights and respect than pretty much any European country) and be good and not do war, so yay!

This book makes me want to smash things.

Next we have Briar. To start with Briar is a possible orphan. He’s mixed race, his mom was a sex worker, his dad is absent, and he grew up on the mean streets of poor town, where he became an exploited street thief, but don’t worry! Soon he will be rescued from a lifetime of slavery for juvenile offences because he’s useful to rich academics! Isn’t that freaking awesome?!

Of course his peers are nowhere near so useful, so they will be sent to labour in mines and so forth until they die at a horribly young age for the crime of not being useful to rich academics.

(This is the same book where a Black girl is exiled from her ENTIRE culture because Pierce is actually pretty weirdly racist and literally cannot seem to imagine a culture of people of colour that she doesn’t want to either fetishize or take a giant shit on and no, that the banishment was later lifted for contrived reasons does not make it better. Like, the two white girls in this book consist of grouchy Cinderella(who later White Saviours her way through Greco-India) and pretty, pretty princess craft girl. I mean, not fun, but not bizzare and unpleasant stereotype of a background, either.)

Don’t worry, though, there are sequels.

The Bazhir next show up in Protector Of The Small where Keladry “Fantasy land Japanese people like me and taught me their mysterious ways” Has No Last Name because it’s England before last names because it’s always England is going to be the SECOND LADY KNIGHT!!!!!! A big deal!

(I have nothing against Keladry, except her whole thing where she’s totally okay with punishing a girl who happened to be there while two men were fighting over her while making up a contrived reason for it and also how she’s sort of what weeaboos want to be. I also didn’t like the books because Pierce’s weeb shines through, really obnoxiously.)

A Bazhir character shows up in some of these books. Did you think he was here to dispel some myths about the Bazhir and show them in a new and interesting light?

Hah! You dumbass, this is White Feminist fantasy, specifically the series that previously brought you mysterious empire located in the tropics with ambiguously brown empire with lots of slavery!

This Bazhir guy is here to team up with the misogynistic murdery white guy, and also to say and do sexist things, because Pierce apparently can’t imagine him being an actual person. It’s a problem she has.

Briar, however, IS an actual person, but HE’S an actual person who is useful to rich academics, so he’s on vacation in Disney Middle East, AKA Orientalist Fantasy Setting, AKA Chammur in Sotat.

I’m going to pause my rant here.

I LIKE Briar. He’s one of the best characters that Pierce has ever written, he’s funny, caring, interesting, he has history and dimension. I also like the new character they introduce in this book, Evvy, who has a similar back story to Briar in having been homeless, but with a different perspective. She’s cute and sweet and frankly a darling. They’re both human and not stereotypes at all, despite their back stories.

And neither of them can elevate the scenery, imo.

Chammur is basically an American tract on why Agrabah(Disney version) is bad. It’s pretty much a flat backdrop that occasionally tries to enter the real world, but relies too much on stereotypes to be believable.

Of course the villainess is basically a grotesque, racist charicature of a monster woman who likes to hurt people, of course the corrupt city guard isn’t going to do anything, and because it wouldn’t be a Pierce story without a character of colour having a horrifying, traumatic backstory where people who were supposed to care for her are monsters, of course Evvy’s parents sold her into slavery because they liked boys better! Why not!

Pierce loves to use the trauma of people of colour to propel her stories forward. The pages sometimes feel wet with the way she salivates over torturing her characters of colour.

This includes the last book of hers I read, The Will Of The Empress, where she appropriates the bride kidnappings that Uzbekistan briefly became famous for, transplanting it to, I believe pretend Russia? Before using it to show how good one of her main characters was compared to the villainess. I actually don’t remember the ending to this book, I may not have finished it. That was it for me with Pierce. I was done at that point.

Pierce and all the works above tend to show up on recommendation lists for young readers. This isn’t really a bad thing. Despite the racist tropes at play in the above series, they’re... decent? I mean, middle school literary gems, at least. And all her characters are charming and neat, learning without becoming annoying, with personality and fun. Even Alanna eventually learns to begrudgingly accept that brown women should get to choose their own clothing. I would honestly recommend many of her books to kids, if with a strong warning.

But, having said that, it would be nice if more book recommendation lists included some discussion of these issues.

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG: Episode 8

After that brief moment of convergence, OG won’t be catching up with Brotherhood again for a while. Strap in.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 8: "The Philosopher's Stone"

Anguished by the horrible demise of Nina, and disgusted at his first assignment of organizing Tucker's research after learning of the man's death, Ed considers deserting to track down Nina's killer. Luckily, Al finds reference to the philosopher's stone among Tucker's papers. Ed is incredulous that such a thing even exists. Left to his own devices, Al has spoken to Führer King Bradley. Winry, who has arrived at Central to visit, is kidnapped by a butcher-turned-serial killer named Barry the Chopper, who disguises himself as a woman. Ed gets kidnapped as well and his automail arm is taken from him as he tries to free Winry and run away. Forced into a fight for his life, Ed almost kills Barry in an act of maddened desperation until Al arrived to stop him, having the authorities arrest Barry. Ed breaks down in tears, and then agrees to search for the philosopher's stone with Al after talking it out with him. Mustang later allows them to search for it, with the caveat that he be kept abreast of developments. Ed is officially dubbed the "Fullmetal Alchemist" by Bradley.

We open with Ed trying to do alchemy on Nina's bloodstain while sobbing. it's okay I didn't need my heart anyway

Then we get the bit Mustang said in Brotherhood about how State Alchemists aren't so different than Tucker. It's slightly different, though – the comparison he draws is that they both have to cultivate an emotional detachment so they can follow the state's orders.

And Riza actually pushes back! Thank you! She points out that holy crap, they're still just kids, give them a break.

Mustang then walks up and gives the speech to Ed directly. He's incredibly cold and callous, saying he wouldn't be helping anyone by bringing back a twisted chimera even if he could. He tells him the world is ugly and he has to suck it up and deal, which makes Ed furious. Mustang grabs his arm forcefully and says he has to focus on the reason he became a State Alchemist and not get distracted.

So, uh, wow that was a lot darker than in Brotherhood. Much as we saw with Rose earlier, this is a dialogue instead of a monologue: Ed pushes back and is clearly conflicted. We aren't left with a certainty of who's right, or indeed if anyone is right at all. That's a much more powerful way of showing that the world is hard and ugly. This isn't just a loss of innocence, it's a loss of moral certainty.

Cut to the next day. Ed is depressed, but is willing to take another assignment to take his mind off of things. Unfortunately, that assignment turns out to be compiling Tucker's research! I have to wonder whose decision this is. Is Mustang or someone purposefully trying to break this kid?

Ed demands they get Tucker to do it instead, and Havoc tells him he was executed without trial. Ed cleverly recognizes that as a coverup. Havoc warns him not to question the will of the military.

Ed is really spiralling. We see him feeding the chimeras while Al does the actual research, which is a sweet detail.

It seems like this is where they first get motivated to pursue the Philosopher's Stone. Ed dismisses it as a myth, and Al says it can't be if a real alchemist like Tucker was researching it. Ed loses it at him and starts ranting about how evil Tucker was. He runs out and looks like he's about to cry.

We cut to Ed requesting a transfer to the serial killer case, positing that they could have killed Nina. Mustang just dispassionately tells him to finish the work he was already assigned, and that if he wants to investigate on his own, he'll need to turn in his watch. Ed does so without flinching.

Al tries to talk him down, pointing out they're not police. He believes a better use of their talents is finding a way to safely separate chimeras so they can save people if it happens again. Ed doesn't listen.

Ed bumps into Scar, who spares him because he's no longer a State Alchemist. As he walks off, he explicitly thinks to himself that he would absolutely murder that kid if he was. Wow, Scar.

Al is being actually productive and asking around about the Stone. Riza tries to warn him bad things happen to alchemists pursuing the Stone, but Bradley tells him he totally should by the way there are files in the library he could access if a certain someone just so happened to get his State Alchemist status back. He is very kind and fatherly the whole time. Riza doesn't even get to finish saying he's the Fuhrer, but her stiffness and formality around him foreshadows that there is more going on with him.

Ed has been tapping Hughes for the case files. Good use of resources! Kid is learning how to network.

Hughes steals Ed's food and Ed drags the tray away from him. LOL. That's some nice subtle comedy without going into a full-on skit, appropriate for the relative seriousness and plot relevance of this scene.

Hughes suggests the killer could be an alchemist, which makes Ed snap that alchemists aren't killers! Poor PTSD boy.

We cut to Barry infiltrating the kitchens in disguise. The cook tells him Ed is the talk of the town, and once again we get emphasis on how young he is.

Winry is impressed by refrigerated trucks, which are new technology.

Ed finds Winry missing. He's able to figure out she was his visitor by comparing a dropped screw to his automail, then notices the tracks in the road and starts asking about the trucks. When he hears about refrigerated trucks, he connects it to his earlier conversation with Hughes about a car that could hide bodies. Good detectiving! His leaps of logic are clever enough it's reasonable no one figured it out earlier, but not so far they seem implausable.

When Barry knocks Ed out, he takes out his automail arm, because he heard from the cook Ed can transmute by clapping his hands. That's clever!

Barry brings up the war theme:

BARRY: Men have morals, but send them to war and they have no problem slaying each other in the most brutal fashions.

He also says he saw State Alchemists massacring a village.

He cuts into Ed's flesh arm, which I think is really impressive horror – Ed has always made it out okay up to this point by blocking everything with his automail. I think this is the first time he's been really injured.

Ed starts having a PTSD attack to all the violence he's seen, but successfully scratches a transmutation circle on his chains with Winry's screw. Clever use of resources.

Ed looks more muscular than he did in earlier episodes, so let's mark that down as a point for "characters aging realistically".

Ed looks absolutely terrified. He keeps tripping and flailing his weapon wildly without direction.

Ed screams in agony when he forces his automail back in.

I believe this is the first time chronologically we see him do the spike thing with his automail. I think it makes a lot more sense as a technique he discovered in desperation – it's really not a good idea to turn your limbs into weapons unless you have no better options.

It's unclear if Winry pushed herself into the carcasses on purpose or if she just slipped.

Ed has totally lost it, crying and screaming. He nearly stabs Barry but Alphonse restrains him. When he does, Ed whips around and slashes him. Wow, that's dark. Ed has a breakdown but Al stays strong for him.

Al says that without a body, he can't feel the same terror Ed did. He definitely seems to act afraid and emotional in other scenes, so I'm not sure exactly how that works. Perhaps it's related to the idea that emotions are controlled by chemicals, so even if he still feels emotions, they're muted.

Ed was really affected by the fact Al came to save him, because he thought no one would. This is where he makes the decision that they have to stick by each other no matter what, and also that he'll do anything to restore them, even joining the military.

He also says his line about how they're not gods, they're pathetic humans because they couldn't even save a little girl. The delivery is sad, not angry like in Brotherhood, and the fact that he's still affected by this even though it happened an episode ago is a lot more powerful. It shows that this is something he will carry with him his whole life, not something he'll forget when it's convenient.

Cut to Ed requesting his watch back. He says he'll obey Mustang's orders, but he wants info on the Stone. Mustang says that if anyone finds out about their human transmutation, Al will get hauled off to a lab, then explicitly tells this kid who was just traumatized by his little sister getting hauled off to a lab for horrible experiments that he's going to hold that over his head to make sure he behaves. Wow, Mustang. Wow.

Ed is still visibly recovering. There are bags under his eyes and it looks like he's been crying.

Ed's reaction to hearing his title is similar to Brotherhood in words, but his tone is much colder and fiercer. There's additional depth to him getting his title now – it's supposed to be a cool thing he can take pride in, but it's now tainted by tying it to this traumatic incident. "You just saw your little sister get horribly murdered and were nearly murdered yourself by a psycho killer, but look, you got a medal!" The whole thing is a twisted farce, perverse.

Winry takes Ed on a date, but he's still wondering who killed Nina… and then we cut to Scar. Hohoho. He sees Ed has his State Alchemist watch again, and walks off ominously.

Conclusion

I’m really struck by how vulnerable Ed is throughout this. This episode is so raw, so painful, so emotional. There’s an antagonist and a fight scene, but the real antagonist of this episode is Ed’s own trauma, despair, and fear of death. We’re given a whole episode to process the heavy content of last episode and examine what this means for the characters going forward.

I also think it’s worth paying attention to Mustang. He seems to be getting characterized as a much darker and colder figure than in Brotherhood. For all that people say OG is so dark and grim -- and that is a fair assessment -- it actually does have the courage to say that telling kids the world is crap and misery forever and there’s nothing you can do about it is maybe not good behavior. His philosophies are not simply stated, but challenged.

Overall, this episode shows exactly what I like about OG, and may well be my favorite episode so far. Do Brotherhood fans like this episode too, or is this classed as crappy filler?

[thesffcorner]

Split

Split is a horror/thriller written and directed by M Night Shyamalan. It takes place in the same universe as Unbreakable, and follows Casey (Anya Taylor Joy), a teenage girl who gets kidnapped along with two other classmates. She wakes up in a room, and soon the girls find out that their captor might be even more dangerous and crazy than he first appeared.

I’m in a precarious position with this film; I hadn’t seen it when it came out, and now, years later, knowing what the main twist is, and having seen the trailer for the sequel Glass, many of the things in this film fell flat for me. Twists and turns that should’ve been shocking left no impact because I already knew exactly what was happening. This isn’t to say that I didn’t like anything about this film, or that my problems with it were only because I knew the premise and outcome, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that it significantly diminished my enjoyment.

So seeing as I’m about to see Glass in a few days, let’s go over some of the things that worked and didn’t about Split; warning, there will be SPOILERS.

Kevin (and the other 23):

The main drive to see this film from the very first trailers and marketing was James McAvoy, who plays Kevin, and 23 other personalities all trapped in his body. Now, what this film does, is it takes the idea of multiple personality disorder, and takes to a whole new level, where not only are all these different personalities completely unrelated to Kevin, but they are entirely different people. When someone ‘takes the light’ (controls Kevin’s body) their appearance doesn’t change, but their physical abilities do; some of them have diabetes, some have OCD, some are female, some are physically very strong, and some have the strength of a child.

This is all explained to us through the character of Dr Fletcher, Kevin’s psychiatrist who specializes in treating patients who have this disorder called DID.

Now, for the film, this is both a virtue, and a flaw. Because this McAvoy was the focus of the marketing, the scene where the girls realize Patricia and Dennis are not two different people, is meant to be terrifying and confusing; it’s shot and presented like a revelation, a shocking twist. But it isn’t; we already know Kevin has multiple personalities because the trailer and the marketing told us so!

Additionally, why does Kevin have 23 personalities? We never see more than 5 max, and even still we only really follow 4: Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig and the Beast. We get a glimpse here and there of  4 other personalities, but that’s about it. The film could have easily been about 5 personalities instead of 23, but I guess 23 sounds more impressive even if we never see the majority of them.

The 4 characters we do see were all interesting and engaging. I give major props to McAvoy; he nails this part. They all have distinct personalities, mannerisms patterns of speech and even move differently based on the character. I was afraid he would overreact a lot of the scenes, but he is surprisingly subdued, and is a major factor into the film’s creepiness and atmosphere.

Dennis is the ring leader and he has OCD, and is a germaphobe. It’s also implied that he may have pedophilic tendencies, though I wasn’t clear on whether those were his or Barry’s or even Kevin’s. He was by far the most proactive of the personalities and the creepiest; I liked that his germophobia and OCD were products of Kevin’s childhood trauma (since his mother used to beat him if he’d make a mess), and I really enjoyed his increasingly unhinged attempts to convince Dr Fletcher that he was Barry.

His interactions with the girls were also creepy, and there was a prevailing sexual threat in all of his scenes with them which was incredibly unsettling.

Patricia was who the film builds as the ringleader of the Horde, while Dennis was the muscle. She reigns Dennis in, and seems to be the one who came up with the story of the Beast. It’s difficult to tell if the Beast’s sick moral code and dogma come from her and Dennis twisting Dr Fletcher’s speeches on DID patients, or if she accepted them from the Beast himself. She too gets a standout scene where she makes sandwiches and it’s pretty effective. 

Hedwig was the character I liked most, and I can’t believe I’m saying that watching James McAvoy pretend he’s a 9 year old with a lisp was the best part of this film. Gain, McAvoy is rather convincing in the part of a 9 year old boy trapped in a grown adult’s body, coloring all the scenes between him and Cassey in a layer of yikes, especially the scene where he asks to kiss her. But he’s also genuinely funny and gets the best dialogue and scenes in the film, and I enjoyed every time he was on screen.

The Beast:

Now, the Beast is somewhat of a twist in the film, in that he’s not one of the 23 personalities, and many of them (including Dr Fletcher) don’t even believe he exists. Turns out he does exist and he was born on the train on which Kevin’s father escaped from Kevin. I found him being an amalgamation of a bunch of the animals from the zoo where Dennis works clever, like his powers being having skin like a rhino’s hide, strength of a lion, and the agility of a monkey. I liked that he goes after the two girls specifically because of an incident that happened to Dennis, where two teenage girls pranked him. I even liked again, how his philosophy about taking over the world and getting it rid of weak people, people who are not ‘broken’ was really a twisted version of Dr Fletcher’s speech about how through trauma DID patients become more than human.

What I didn’t like was, well… look his powers are fucking stupid alright? He eats people. He is a human man who eats raw flesh and hasn’t died yet. Like… maybe I can suspend my disbelief that one of the personalities has diabetes, and maybe even that the Beast can somehow survive getting shot point blank in the chest, but this whole eating people thing was just so dumb! And the whole debate of who is broken and worthy and who is weak and unworthy was also so dumb. He also doesn’t have any character arc or even a conclusion. It’s just the Beast wants to eat people, and in the end he eats people. The end. There is no climax to his story, no revelation or realization, it’s just he can eat more people now. Great.

Useless Characters With 0 Agency:

I will own up to the fact that I’m not a huge fan of kidnapping plots, and 90% of that is because I hate that no matter how many times the person who gets kidnapped tries to escape, they inevitably must fail, so that whoever does the rescuing can save them at the end. I thought this case might be different, since Casey is, at first, presented like a fairly competent character, and I thought, maybe, she could escape. But boy oh boy was Casey a plank of wood.

First, I understand why she would be having trouble at school and connecting to other peers because of he backstory, but why she was so needlessly rude, mean and uncooperative with the other two girls that are captured was beyond me. The girls are perfectly nice and kind to her, they want her to escape with them, and in a way they are right; three of them, vs one of Dennis is still better odds, no matter how ‘strong’ Dennis might be.

Then there is the fact that she does nothing for over 90% of the film. She attempts to escape once, and even then she doesn’t really; she steals Hedwig’s walkie talkie, and I can’t tell if it’s Joy’s acting or Shyamalan's direction, but he reaction at having her last hope of escape snatched away from her was nowhere near appropriate enough. She spends most of the film being extremely subdued and confused, and even in the very last section, where she does actually take the shotgun, nothing she does is even remotely effective against the Beast.

Also who TF decides running into a cage and locking themselves in, with only 2 rounds of a shotgun is A SMART IDEA? ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN HUNTING HER WHOLE LIFE?

Her backstory was genuinely upsetting and creepy and I hated all of those scenes, but they were effective and achieved exactly what they needed to to set up her character. What I didn’t like or get, was Cassey’s ending. She never confronts her uncle; we never even see him after the last flashback and I guess maybe you could argue that it’s implied that Cassey would tell the police officer what he’s been doing to her, but that’s such a stretch and unnecessarily vague ending that I don’t know why it was there.

Like Kevin and the Beast, Cassey has no character arc. She wasn’t vain or shallow or ‘had felt no pain’ like the other 2 girls; there was no character flaw she needed to overcome. If anything, her character flaw seemed to be that she was passive, but she doesn’t learn not to be by the end; she is exactly the same at the end as she was at the start, except slightly more traumatized.

The other two girls are non-entities. I don’t understand why the film bothers to introduce them only to have them disappear a third way in, I didn’t like that the film punished their attempts to escape and be proactive for no reason and I didn’t like the message. Neither one of those girls were mean or catty or vain; they were regular teenagers. Claire invites Cassey to the birthday party even though she shows no interest to be there, she tries to get her to join them against Dennis, they are never rude to her? If you wanted the audience to hate them, you need to actually give us reasons to hate them; like this it just seems like the film agrees with the Beast that teenage girls are really horrible, just for existing!

I also really hated the wasted time of showing Marcia trying to open the locker with the hanger. Why linger on that scene for so long if you won’t even show us the outcome? We just see she’s dead in the next scene and that’s it. That part genuinely made me angry, because the film had been so good at representing women up until that point, and it was such a disappointment.

Dr Fletcher was probably the worst part. She spends the movie telling us about Kevin’s condition, and talking to Dennis. She realizes quickly something is wrong, realizes that there is something dangerous about Dennis and the fact that he won’t let her talk to any of the other characters, realizes that the Beast is likewise a dangerous thought and does have the good sense to go to the Zoo and seek Dennis out. BUT she’s also dumb enough not to let anyone know she’s going, she doesn’t immediately call the police after Dennis gives her a speech every serial killer would think is a bit much, and doesn’t take any precautions to make sure she’s not followed when she finds Cassey and STILL TRIES TO REASON WITH DENNIS EVEN AFTER SHE SEES WHAT IS HAPPENING! She was a completely useless character; she’s only there for exposition and that’s entirely it.

Pacing:

The very last thing I want to touch on is the pacing. Shyamalan is known for very slow films; he likes lots of slow tracking shots, he lets the camera linger on scenes that could easily be cut, he likes his long establishing shot, awkward pauses in dialogue, etc. These are all stylistic choices; you can argue about their merit, but at the end of the day, if you’ve seen one of his films and didn’t like how slow it is, you won’t like any of them. My issue is that a lot of this film could have used some editing. I already mentioned how the entire subplot with Marcia and Claire is at once superfluous and doesn’t need to take up that much time considering its conclusion, as well ass Dr Fletcher having a lot of circular dialogue scenes in which she just explains DID over and over again. The pacing was glacial; I genuinely think that some quicker cuts and scenes would have benefited it so much, and maybe another draft of the screenplay, tightening up the story and giving the characters actual arcs and conclusions.

Conclusion:

It’s fine. Honestly, I didn’t care much for it, but it wasn't a bad film. There is a lot good in it, but the some of its parts isn’t stronger than some individual scenes and James McAvoy’s acting. I will still watch Glass and I do think you should check it out if it sounds at all interesting; just don’t expect a masterpiece.

[shrapnelstars]

Yeah, I need to finish unpacking my thoughts on the end of Out/last 2. [drags hands down face] Oh boy.

The game felt rushed at the end. Like I said before, they throw way too many chases at you at the end of the game, and as Jack stated in his video as well, they are packed way too tightly together and lose their impact. Chases become annoying after a certain point. The rest of the game could have used a few more actual puzzles and story work.

Long post ahead.

Now that I’ve seen the ending, everything about Jessica should have been cut and made into it’s own separate game. The transitions were cool, but her entire story felt moot in the face of that godforsaken (pun not intended) ending.

The biggest problem with the game is that, once again, like so many other indie horrors, it relies way too much on the damned diary pages. There are elements of the diary that are key to the horror of the world and are critical pieces of information that would punch up the story. Why are the articles about the experiments with the microwaves and Sullivan Kno/th being a shoe salesman who got fucked up by the experiments hidden?! Those elements should have been shown to you in the game at appropriate times. This also plays into the ending, because once you know that the people became more fucked up and hallucinated more extreme shit the longer they were exposed to the rays, you can then piece together that the baby at the end isn’t real. Blake has become just as fucked up as Kno/th at the end, and you can miss that fact.

This game shares a lot of similarities with Bioshock: Infinite, and I do feel that some of it was intentional. I need to go over why Infinite worked and why this didn’t.

Let’s start once again with the diaries. In Bioshock: Infinite, there are also diaries left around that flesh out the world, including diaries of the corrupted prophet that let you know how unhinged he is. There are diaries of doubtful followers of the faith, diaries of rebels, and diaries of regular people detailing life in the town. Here’s the difference: they are audio diaries in Infinite. You are free to wander around while you listen to them. The voice acting gives an extra boost to the immersion, especially if it happens to be a longer piece. The tapes are also found in places related to the subject of the tape. Often, they will be left in a place that the speaker had just recorded them. Comstock’s (corrupt prophet) tapes were scattered everywhere, but there weren’t that many of them, and they weren’t too long. Kno/th’s gospel was found every waking moment, often going on for an entire page or even two. They were also found in some of the most baffling places, like down in the Heretic caves. This leads into a related point.

Screen time. Kno/th was only seen twice in the whole game, and only interacted with the player once. You can hear him preaching over the loudspeaker...during the first hour. His picture is in every home, too. He still comes off as barely having any impact by the end. Comstock speaks directly to you over a giant screen mounted to a zeppelin with louspeakers attached to it. There’s a museum in his honor that details his backstory (that he buffed up to make himself look good), and posters of him everywhere. The follower citizens speak of him constantly, and love him dearly. The rebels speak ill of him and his faith, pointing out how it affects them and what they dislike about him and his teachings. When he kidnaps your friend, you see him torture her and talk to her. At the end, you meet him face to face and interact with him. Outlast 2 was going for a Comstock kind of character with Kno/th. He was supposed to be frighteningly influential, and you were supposed to feel his influence everywhere despite not seeing him too often. The problem was that they didn’t let you see him enough. He was barely characterized because they leaned in too hard on trying to make him elusive, and relegated most of his important information to the diaries. The few citizens you see are mumbling prayers, not talking about how Kno/th impacts their lives.

Player backstory. Booker’s backstory directly ties in to the world. It’s why he’s in the cult town in the first place, and it motivates every action he makes and how he treats his friend Elizabeth as he adventures with her. Blake’s backstory does no such thing. He’s there to find Lynn and is motivated by rescuing her, but nothing about Jessica has any impact on the story or his movement throughout the town. In Infinite, Comstock knows Booker’s full backstory from the outset, and calls him the False Prophet, taunting him about his corruption both to unnerve him and to look even more powerful to his followers. His knowledge of Booker plays directly into the ending of the game. Kno/th has nothing on Blake. He says that Lynn and Blake are the parents of the Antichrist and must be destroyed, but that’s about it. You hear that he raped Lynn offscreen and then wants her and Blake dead before the child is born, but that’s the extent of it. There’s no power play going on. There’s no intimidation. The diaries (once again) let you know that he regularly rapes women and then claims that their child is the antichrist when they get pregnant, but that information has no bearing on the story.

Mindfuck ending. Infinite’s ending is a mindfuck, but it ties into the title of the game and the themes and game mechanics explored throughout it. It also directly resolves the reason Booker came to the town and stops the villain’s reign of terror. (Until the DLC fucked all of that over and messed up the clean ending that was set in place. We’ll talk about that another time.) Out/last 2′s ending is just weird for the sake of weird. Or art. And (hey hey here we go) the diary page is necessary to make it feel less pointless and make more sense.

Enforcers. Marta is a really interesting enforcer who is dropped halfway through the game, only to return in a cutscene where she dies. Unfortunately, this cutscene happens right when you remember that she was ever in the game in the first place. Her characterization is (goddammit) in diaries around her barn. If you read them, you find out that she feels unsure about her role and wants to be forgiven for killing others, but Kno/th does his best to convince her that what she’s doing is right. In Infinite, we have the Songbird. You get breaks from him, but he isn’t dropped. You get to see him tearing the town apart to get you and take Elizabeth back from you. You get to see how much he is devoted to her and loves her. There are children singing nursery rhymes about how he kills naughty children and kids who don’t listen to their parents. There are motivational posters about how upstanding citizens don’t have to fear his gaze. You get to see all of that. It isn’t locked away behind secret walls of text. With Marta’s characterization sidelined like that, she comes off as just a special enemy. One that I love, but one that leaves a lot to be desired.

Do you see the recurring issue here? The diary reliance is what really held this game back. Diaries are not a replacement for storytelling. If time and scale were issues, they could have split this into an episodic series and worked on it a little at a time. Too much focus was placed on Jessica’s story. That’s where all of the effects are, where the most interesting enemy is, and where a strongly built lore puzzle is. (Recording visual anomalies that turn into reversed audio that build up the horror of the antagonist and let you know what he did.) Jessica’s story should have been it’s own game.

Oh, and that’s another manner in which this game is similar to Infinite: The protagonist’s traumatizing past failure as a motivator to prevent him from failing his current mission. Except Blake failed and it became a shaggy dog story. The reveal that he failed and how much Jessica meant to him came a bit too late into the game. From Booker, we know from the outset that he royally fucked up. He’s deep in debt, and he’s hired to find a girl in order to wipe the debt off. He is extra motivated for the task because he lost his own daughter in the past and is trying to find this girl for his backers as a form of redemption. Blake’s fuck up with Jessica isn’t stated until the very end of the game. We know that he feels bad about her death, but his involvement isn’t brought up until the game is basically over. The fact that you don’t get to interact too much with either Lynn or memory!Jessica also hurts here. Interacting with them would have been a great way to show how much you loved them both. Jessica’s moment comes at the dead end of the game, and you don’t get anything with Lynn. You just get told that she is important and that nothing else matters. Show, don’t tell. I was very interested in Lynn and thought that you would be crossing paths with her throughout the game as you both try to get out of the town. She even comes off as strong at the start, but gets damseled immediately afterward, with no word from her ever again until her death scene.

Infinite? You go to rescue the girl, and then she’s the one saving your butt and dragging you around the world for the adventure. You talk throughout the whole game, even while walking and solving puzzles, and you become excellent friends. Players jokingly condemned the game for not having a hug option. That’s how much people loved her and how well she was written.

I still kind of like Out/last 2 and view it in a relatively favorable light, but those were some of the problems that I found with the game and how I felt that they could have been better executed. That game could have flourished if it wasn’t for the damning over-reliance on the diaries.