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#and i'm really conflicted about the ending of the death cure
unavailable-fan · 1 year
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Some thoughts on the maze runner book series with slight spoilers probably
The maze runner book series and the movies are both interesting, but the best things about them don’t align at all, so people generally hate either books or movies, and sometimes both  I like the books more because of the things some people hate them for (though the second book was really testing my patience, especially in the middle)  and its so easy to hate some of the decisions Thomas makes, that it becomes this distinct feature to like about him as a protagonist since books follow his thoughts almost like his pov it turns this story into a story with unreliable narrator (kinda? at least it can possibly be seen like this?)  his thoughts contradict his actions quite often, and despite being convinced he’s “the smart guy” he clearly does the first thing that comes to his mind, and sometimes it even works surprisingly well i’d say he clearly has the spirit of a scientist, always ready to question something and to run and test his theories(mostly on himself, scaring everyone around) , but Theresa is the one with a mind of a scientist  And the funny thing is that they’re not even scientists - when they’re teenagers who lived in isolation in a postapocalyptic world in a really questionable environment from a very young age just to be a part of a big experiment, but from their perspective it’s more than just an experiment - it’s their whole known life  The books describe an experiment, and every part of the plot adds to this one idea of “the chosen one = the test subject”, and the movies have different perspective on the whole major thing that started this plot in the first place And it’s not a bad thing, on their own these movies can be quite entertaining, some of the point from the books are actually interesting to see in this sort of adaptation (though some of these details don’t work together and break this version’s logic, it can be overlooked, adaptations can be hard to make), but it’s a different story which looks like a story from the books only on the outside Books have completely different vibe and allow readers to be stuck in this situation with the protagonist, to suffer from the lack of important information just like the heroes with small bits of outside information to make it more interesting, and it helps building this sense of something incomprehensible, of knowing something is going wrong but nothing able to understand why, of being watched and controlled by someone, just like an experiment subject - and it’s unsettling,  it’s scary, it’s a psychological and physical torture  - and that defines these books for me But this format hurts the way characters are described - and it’s even addressed a few times how little the protagonist knows about a lot of people surrounding him - and for some readers this results in a lack of connection with the characters - because it takes some thinking and imagination really to get how weird and illogical some Thomas’s decisions look to anyone but him, and a lot of attention to actually get the differences in others’ personalities and their reasoning of their action -but it’s there at least at some degree it’s kinda like “show, don’t tell” but the light are all out - so maybe it was better to tell And, personally, i like it, it’s free “open to interpretation” thing  Also characters do have different way they act and react to different situations and a whole lot of traumatic evets thrown at them, and they change with the story - so they have different endings of their personal stories - and some interactions are painfully beautiful  (or beautifully panful in this case)  And it’s generally easier to explain some of the more stupid decisions in books, because all the events happen during a really short amount of time Some may complain about weird pacing - but it does convey the perception different of time in different situations  And the repetitions of the same ideas, especially in the first book, kinda help  convey how people subconsciously return to some thoughts if something about them seems off - and it also can be explained by some of the experiment’s conditions and the whole amnesia thing  Anyway - the first book is definitely worth reading - and it has all the good things + it feels really comfy for some reason and then hits with a bit of unreality - and that’s an interesting experience  And i just really wanted to share some thoughts on the series
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You're Losing Me Analysis
Ok, you got me, enough people messaged me with cute gifs and pretty pleases asking for this analysis to motivate me to finish it. So, here it is, my lyrical analysis of You're Losing Me.
I will stick to my interpretation of this song NOT being about a romantic relationship, the poll I did a while ago showed that most people interpret it to be about a romantic relationship breakdown. I will explain why I don't think that, but if you do, the main lyrical themes will still apply. (Colour coding of main themes at the end)
Before any lyrics, this songs starts with two sounds: A heartbeat and a massive sigh. Like, a really big one, you can even hear the inbreath. Something I've only ever experienced when someone is really, really exhausted and annoyed. I've sometimes made that noise when I'm standing in the pieces of something my children have broken, after I've told them a thousand times not to break it. The non-verbal expression of 'I f*cking told you this would happen'. So, before we even hear any words, I'm able to tell that this is about something that has happened before. We've been round and round this thing a million times. This breakdown has been a long time coming, a death by a thousand cuts if you will ;)
The heartbeat also sets the scene for the main lyrical theme before the first verse starts: A patient in an emergency situation, I envision a hospital room with a heart monitor. Over this heartbeat (and minimal production) we hear Taylor addressing her audience by saying
You say, "I don't understand," and I say, "I know you don't"
The You and the I are having a disagreement, but it's not so much an argument, as a miscommunication. They don't understand what she's saying but Taylor was already expecting that. Immediately, the first line confirms what the sigh was already indicating: This is not a new issue, we've been here many times before so Taylor is well aware that this communication isn't working. Then in the next line
We thought a cure would come through in time, now, I fear it won't
She introduces the medical theme in the lyrics with the word 'cure'. The metaphor is that the relationship that's being described here is the patient that's dying in hospital. This theme is incredibly present throughout the entire song, there is a constant 'brink of death' threat, with mentions of 'gashes', my face was grey' and 'too far gone to bring back to life'. And then, of course, the chorus is the culmination of this with the repetitions of 'Stop, you're losing me' and 'I can't find a pulse, my heart won't start anymore'. This gives me images of an emergency room situation where the patient is flatlining and the doctors are trying to revive them. Or maybe a battlefield, as the last line of the first verse introduces the secondary theme of war or combat with 'You might just have dealt the final blow'. Taylor has of course used the war imagery many times before when talking about conflict, such as in All Too Well ('I'm a soldier who's returning half her weight'), Call it What You Want ('I brought a knife to a gun fight'), The Great War, and the Archer ('I'm ready for combat').
So, despite the initial resignation, Taylor is fighting with the person/people she is addressing here. They are the one that's injuring the patient to the point of near death. And in the chorus she is telling them that, asking them to stop, because the relationship is dying. But we don't yet learn what she is asking them to stop doing. She does, however, show the problem in the relationship when she says:
Remember lookin' at this room, we loved it 'cause of the light Now, I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?
It's a WE versus I situation: We used to love this room, but now I (and only I) am left sitting alone in the dark. And only I get to make the decision about what to do with all the stuff we built together, because you're not even here to sit in the dark with me. Also, notice the light versus dark comparison. You are only there for the light (easy) parts, and not the dark (hard). In that context, I am inclined to interpret the room in this line as her stages and the light being the spotlight. We loved standing in the light together/You loved seeing me in the light, but now you've left me in the dark. This is why I really think this song is about the relationship with her majority fanbase and not a romantic relationship. Since 1989 she's written about her romantic partner in a way that makes it clear that this person is with her through thick and thin, on reputation we had End Game and New Years Day, the ultimate song about being there after the party when the glitter fades and it's not glamorous anymore, and in CIWYW she literally says her lover's 'starry eyes sparking up my darkest night'. So, I don't think it's her partner who is leaving her in the dark here, it's the fans. And the 'everything we built' is of course the fame/sold out stadiums etc. And that theme continues in the next verse:
Every morning I glared at you with storms in my eyes How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dyin'?I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick
Now the picture is becoming clearer as to what the 'you' here is doing that Taylor is asking them to stop, or better what they're NOT doing. She's glaring at them, sending signals and biting her nails, using all forms of non-verbal communication, but they're not being received. Or she's being willfully ignored. The 'I sent you signals' is a screaming parallel to 'I gave so many signs' from Exile and 'sending signals to be double-crossed' from Evermore. And I think in all three cases, it is referring to queer flagging. And just like in High Infidelity (a similar song thematically) she says 'There's many ways that you can kill the one you love/ the slowest way is never loving them enough', here she's saying 'How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dyin'?. Both boils down to the same thing: Your ignorance is killing me and it's a slow and painful death. She ends the verse on the medical theme which has now slightly shifted to Taylor being the dying patient ('My face was grey' - corpse) and the relationship being sick. Over the chorus we still hear the heartbeat though, so she's dying but she's not dead yet.
Let's talk about the bridge. This is juicy, as Taylor's bridges always are, but this one, of course, had the one line that sent all the swifties into an angry rampage against Joe Alwyn. But we'll get to that. The first line is in fact my favourite:
How long could we be a sad song 'Til we were too far gone to bring back to life?
She calls the relationship a 'sad song'. And that's obviously an interesting thing for a songwriter to say, and I've seen many good interpretations of this line, but mine is this: Taylor is the girl who made her name as the young country singer who writes sad breakup songs about her past relationships. And she owned that for a while, until she openly discussed how much it trivialises her writing and that songs are more than just the person she's writing about (not as simple as a paternity test etc.), but have people stopped making her songs about men? When the Joe breakup hit the news, wasn't the first thing the swifties said 'Oh, the next album is going to be soooo sad...."?? So...for some people she still is, and will always be, just the girl who writes about breakups. And she's saying to those people 'how long can this relationship last if that's all you'll ever see me for?' She also, once again uses the medical theme of 'bringing the relationship back to life' when it has in fact died multiple deaths already. But this time it might just be 'too far gone' to be revived.
I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier Fighting in only your army, frontlines, don't you ignore me I'm the best thing at this party (You're losing me)
She also continues the war/combat theme with being the 'bravest soldier' who is bleeding whilst on the frontline 'fighting in only your army'. This is also important. Taylor is the soldier but she's not fighting for her own cause, she's fighting in the other person's army. She's making herself bleed, for the other person's sake. Much like a closeted gay person pretending to be straight for the mass appeal. It's making me bleed for your benefit, but you don't even notice, DON'T YOU IGNORE ME!! And then we get to the ultimate bait and switch line:
And I wouldn't marry me either A pathological people pleaser Who only wanted you to see her
Where you will all shout at me 'How can it not be about a romantic relationship, it has the line about marrying!!!'. Relax, I think this is intentional. What an easy way to make the whole song sound like it's about a breakup with just one line when the rest of the song suggest something else (to me at least). I don't see this as being about a literal marriage proposal, more like a 'I wouldn't choose me either'. Very much along the lines of Anti Hero, I'm the problem, why would you choose me, but I'd still love it if you did. And she even says in the next part 'I have nothing to believe, unless you're choosing me.'
And I'm fadin', thinkin'
(POV changes, addresses self:) "Do something, babe, say something" (Say something) "Lose something, babe, risk something" (You're losing me) "Choose something, babe, I got nothing" (I got nothing) "To believe, unless you're choosin' me"
So in the imperatives, the direction of address changes and she's now thinking to/addressing herself with these commands: 'DO something, SAY something, LOSE something, CHOOSE something, RISK something.' Almost like she's trying to jumpstart herself into action. This all screams BE BRAVE to me, especially the 'say something' because in the previous verse she was communicating in all these non-verbal ways (glaring, signals, nail biting) and that wasn't working. She's telling herself to be brave and SAY something, make it unmistakably clear, but that may well mean risking something and losing it. Also, choose something babe, you can't play both sides forever. In the last line she then addresses the audience again by saying 'I have nothing to believe unless you're choosing me.' She wants to be chosen by her audience as her authentic self, not as the 'sad song' girl. Once she's said all those hard hitting truths, what follows is a massive pause, a moment of total silence. Like the moment when you've finally said all you wanted to say and now you're waiting for the reaction. And when you almost think the song has ended, we get the heartbeat again and one more chorus.
SILENCE You're losin' me Stop (Stop, stop), you're losin' me Stop (Stop, stop), you're losin' me I can't find a pulse (HEARTBEAT STOPS) My heart won't start anymore
In this last chorus the Stops are now echoed twice to increase the urgency in this plea, it sounds almost like she's saying 'stop, stop stop! It's really about to be over!'. And it is, as the heartbeats stops on the word 'pulse' and the patient has finally died. She concludes on what we have just witnessed 'My heart won't start anymore' but there is no 'for you' this time, because the relationship is dead now. No more coming back this time.
Thematically, to fit into the concept of midnights, this could be a song set in early 2019 when she was planning her coming out, or it could be more recent, as an internal counter piece to Anti Hero. I hope this lived up to what you hoped for, people who asked so nicely :)
blue - medical theme/imagery
orange - direct address to audience
green - war/combat theme
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danses-with-dogmeat · 8 months
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A is for -- Arcade Gannon
Here it is!! The first prompt of the 2k event 😁 And this one was like... perfect? Again, everything was randomized, but this one was just on 'easy mode' for me, I guess, but I'm not complaining! Arcade really is always such a treat <3
I'll be starting a masterlist for the event here, so it's easily accessible for everyone, as well 😊 I hope you all enjoy!
--
Pair: Arcade x M!Six
Dialogue Prompt: “You’re not okay. You’re shaking.”
Word: Aid
Rating: SFW
Category: Fluff
Word Count: 1.2K
Arcade shook his head, eyes closed as they peered into the bright blackness behind his eyelids, arms folded over his chest as he faced out towards the sound of the moving river. 
On the nights especially, he’d noticed, he could hear it rushing, albeit slowly, subtly, but still… His ears trained on the sound, waiting, rather impatiently, for the telltale clattering of the barge returning from the Fort. 
It had happened a few times, since his banishment to this dusty patch in favor of Six “going in alone,” that the barge had returned with a measly few numbers of legion pigeon-heads. But no Six. 
Still. Three days later, and no Six. 
Days…
Days, he’s had me sitting here. Camping here. Camping... I don’t even really know where. 
Ipse mihi mors erit.
Why does this always happen? 
Boy, do I know how to pick em, huh?
But really. You’d think I’d learn my lesson, sometime. I’m an intelligent man. A doctor, and yet, I can’t cure my own damned love-sickness. 
Bleh.
Arcade took a deep breath, trying and failing to expel his worries to the hot wind as it swept by the cliffside. It was no use though. 
How couldn’t he take me along? Why?
Not only am I his damned partner, but a doctor. Which, okay, who could make any use of a health professional in a potentially dangerous situation? 
And I’m… well, sometimes I’m a decent shot–
No guns at the Fort.
Okay, well, I’ve gotten out of my fair share of tussles. This one could work out too. Maybe. 
But dammit, he didn't know. Couldn’t know, from all the way out here. 
Six, please… 
Arcade stopped himself from hoping, thinking that would only damn the courier further. 
Instead, he released another sigh, and let his arms fall down to his sides. 
Then, his ears pricked, a movement sounded behind him, and Arcade’s head was turning, eyes wide and hardly prepared for a conflict, but raising his fists in defense anyhow. 
“Arcade, thank goodness.” 
The doctor hardly had time to blink, as Six collapsed forward and into him, arms wrapping so tightly around his body, he was afraid he might suffocate. 
“I was worried you’d have left…” Six whispered as Arcade slowly unclenched his prepared fists and returned the hug with an uncharacteristic vigor. 
“Yes, well, you certainly kept me waiting long enough to think about it. Multiple times.” He tried to keep his voice from quivering with relief as he spoke, “In fact, I’ll have you know…” 
Arcade’s thoughts interrupted his intended quip, at the feel of his partner in his arms. The way he’d changed. 
Six was slighter now, malnourished, he was twitchier, and though his partner’s arms were strongly secured around him, it was a sort of tightness that shouted desperation in its most base form. Without even seeing his face, Arcade felt a sort of fear– no, dread– pouring through Six’s embrace that he’d only ever seen with patients so near to death that there was no saving them.
“Six.” Arcade whispered softly as his hands began to tentatively smooth over the rigid planes of his partner’s body. “Why don’t you, ah, let me examine you.” 
He began to pull away, but Six’s grip was like wrought iron. 
“What?” He whispered, his voice feral. As though letting go would truly mean his end. 
Arcade gulped, his jaw clenched tight.
“There… just seems like there’s something wrong, amor. Well, more than usual, anyway.” Arcade added, trying to keep his tone lighter, despite the circumstances calling for a more somber timbre.
“I’m fine, Arcade.” Six ignored his play at levity, still retaining an intensity that put Arcade on edge– over the edge, even. 
“Please.” Six’s voice broke briefly as he continued his plea, “Just let me–”
“You’re not fine, Six. You’re shaking.” This time, the doctor pulled away more gruffly, catching his partner’s eye before he had a chance to protest. “You look half-starved, you’re twitching like a jet addict, holding me like you’ll fall apart if I even think about letting go…” 
Six still didn’t look like he’d yield, his hands still clenching painfully to Arcade’s forearms as he tried in vain to pull back and away. 
“It’ll make me feel better, if nothing else.” He tried one more time, “Let me take care of you, Six. For once.” 
“You take care of me.” Six whispered defensively, avoiding his partner’s eyes, despite Arcade's efforts. 
“Yeah, only when you complain loud enough.” Arcade threw him a half smile as he slowly slid his arms out of Six’s death-hold. Their hands clasped together when they met, and the doctor gently pulled his companion to the stump nearest to his measly camp’s center. 
He hadn’t wanted to risk making a fire all these nights, but there was a hint of a place for one dug out in the earth near to his tent. The stump beside the would-be fire pit had been his seat for the few days he spent here, looking out towards the river, desperately wondering when his partner’s barge would appear.
And yet, it never had...
“This time you’ll get it on the house.” Arcade told him, humor thrust into the words to try and keep the atmosphere light. 
But there's certainly loads more he's not telling me.
The doctor could hardly breathe as Six finally, reluctantly, sat onto the stump.
With time, maybe. Oh, sed ita me sollicitat.
Arcade's hands shook as he began the examination, running his fingers over Six’s shoulders, his back, his sides, his chest.
“Tell me if you feel any pain.”
Six only stared ahead, his body jerking in small tremors, the shadows under his eyes emphasizing the hazy gloss to them, but through it all, he managed to nod in understanding. 
Arcade swallowed hard, his panic rising as he found little physically wrong with the courier; yet, undoubtedly, there was something out of order. 
He’d never seen his partner so passive before, so quiet, so stern. With furrowed blond brows, Arcade grabbed his stethoscope out from his tent and began to check his breathing and heartbeat. 
There… There was a problem. 
Six’s heartbeat was off the charts, his breathing more rapid than any seated person’s should be. 
“Hoc non potest esse… Six, what happened?” Arcade whispered as he knelt before his partner, bright green eyes meeting fogged windows as the doctor caught his gaze. 
The courier shook his head. 
“I’ll be fine,” He rasped, “Just need to get away from here. Need… some time, just with you.” 
Arcade’s chest ached as Six’s hand grasped at him, as he slid down to join his partner on the ground at the foot of the stump. Kneeling in the dirt, Six pulled him into another tight hug. 
“That…” Arcade began, his hands settling around his partner once more, this time truly allowing the relief to settle in. 
He’s back. Six is here. 
He's... different, but he's back with me again.
We’re going to be okay. 
Spero...
As much as he wanted to pry, to try and help his partner further, to understand all that happened, all that was going on, Arcade couldn't help but admit that the courier's idea was more than idyllic.
With a deep breath, he expelled the built up worries as best he could. For the time being.
“That... sounds wonderful, Six.”
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scintillyyy · 1 year
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Do u have some good recommendations for Tim Drake comics/issues/storylines that show some important parts of his personality, values, and his relationships with his family (both biological and adopted) and friends, and Steph? Preference toward older appearances, ofc.
can i rec the entirety of post-crisis canon? no? well here's a bunch anyways.
i don't know if they're good, but i am happy to recommend though this might not be a complete list <3
obviously where you need to start is the a lonely place of dying storyline where tim gets introduced. essential. this consists of: batman #440, the new titans #60, batman #441, the new titans #61, and batman #442 in that order.
as a one-off issue following this the new titans #65 has tim dropping in on dick for special robin training. dick is a little annoyed <3
the rite of passage storyline introduces tim's parents, their acrimonious marriage, and janet's death. it runs from detective comics #618-#621. fair warning ahead of time: it is racist in its depiction of haiti and voodoo. nobody likes that.
batman #455-#456 cover janet's funeral and tim officially getting the go-ahead to get off probation and officially become robin. tim calls her mommy :(
batman #480, to the father i never knew, is excellent as well as it delves into tim and jack and tim's internal feelings about his father.
knightfall/knightquest/knightsend is the first really big event of tim as robin. you see some bruce and tim dynamic here, especially in knightfall, along with some tim and jack. it's not super short though. if you're focused on bruce/tim/jack you can probably skip the crusade portion of knightquest (as that focuses on azbats - though the first issue of that, detective comics #668, is the direct prequel to tim's robin series #1) whereas the search portion of knightquest focuses on bruce's search for jack drake and shondra kinsolving (fair warning: shondra is treated awful by the narrative). knightquest ties together and ends in robin #7. knightsend is fairly important, imo, because we finally bring bruce, dick, and tim together to finish off azbats and retake the mantle. and it leads us into....
the prodigal storyline, where dick takes the batman mantle temporarily and works with tim as robin while bruce is away. absolutely required reading. THE dick and tim story of all time. so, so, so important. if you read anything, read this. i cannot stress that enough.
the contagion storyline has tim get ill with the clench. i like the whole thing, but big focus on batman #529 (when tim actually gets sick), the batman chronicles #4 beggars banquet (where tim dreams about his family while dying), and robin #28 (where dick is super worried about tim, but tim already got the cure)
honestly, moreso than contagion, i find the legacy storyline much better for dick/bruce/tim as they go traveling to find the real cure for the clench and dick and tim go to paris together <3
nightwing #6 has tim visit dick in bludhaven, it's cute!
robin #45 showcases jack at his worst and dana at her best. and robin #47-robin#51: some issues have an eye-roll war storyline, but these issues show jack being extremely worried about tim as tim has run away and gone missing and some very interesting dialogue from jack about everything. tim is also very conflicted at this time whether he should continue being robin or not.
cataclysm is another long one, but i'm going to shout out to nightwing #20 (tim teases dick, later tim goes home and hugs jack). in the aftershock portion of the story batman #555-#556 have some good tim and bruce moments.
nightwing #25!! nightwing #25!! dick and tim go trainsurfing together. i cannot rec this issue enough.
i love no man's land with my entire being, but that one is a beast to get through. robin #67 has tim and dick entering NML together and they're delightful. robin #68-70 have some decent bruce and tim moments. robin #72 is when tim calls jack to tell him where he is and robin #73 is where jack goes to the press to get tim out of NML.
post NML robin #74 is where jack sends tim back to boarding school. it starts with dick and tim tho <3
gotham knights #8-#11 is the transference storyline and is good dick and tim and mid bruce. gotham knights #15 poison ivy attacks a charity function his dad and dana are attending. some fairly interesting bruce and tim here, re: tim's email to bruce that he ends up deleting.
obviously so far as tim's friends, read the entirety of young justice (1998). as a part of this, the sins of youth storyline is very, very fun. tim meets jack in a bar and spits beer on him in sins of youth #2, jack kind of talks up his son to the guy he doesn't know is his son, proving me right that the drakes are very good about bragging about their kid to anyone who will listen and not so good at actually saying any of that to their son's face. the batboy and robin story is very fun too.
bruce wayne: fugitive/murderer is a "fun" time that clearly shows the break that starts to happen between bruce and tim around this time and the tension in their relationship. shout out to robin #98 and gotham knights #26.
the robin #100 issue touches on the recent tension between bruce and tim, and tim is given a lot to think about with his dad losing the company and them having to move downtown. this also makes tim reminisce about his childhood a bit with his parents. spoilers: when they were home they spent time with their son doing things together.
robin #124 and #125 delve into jack finding out about robin. he doesn't take it well. he is angry and devastated.
and finally identity crisis. i won't lie--it is a goddamn mess of a story that ruins many characters. however, for tim & jack specifically issues #5 and #6 are jack's death and the fallout from that.
teen titans #27-28 have tim thinking about jack the first father's day after his father died. unfortunately, rob liefield does some of the art on this.
nightwing #110 have tim and dick at a rockier place because dick's life is imploding, but god dick just loves timmy so, so much and they miscommunicatr so well <3
the batman: face the face storyline delves into bruce finally adopting tim after OYL.
robin #152 deals with tim finally moving into wayne manor. tim and bruce's relationship is on the mendm unfortunately it's also evil cassandra arc (gdi dc), so you have to deal with that.
robin #163 is tim and bruce's first father's day after the adoption.
the resurrection of ra's al ghul storyline is essential dick and tim reading as well. beyond essential. highly, highly recommended.
as far as stephanie: she's introduced in detective comics #647-649. she's peppered through tim's early robin series, and i'll be honest...when chuck dixon is writing the two of them, they're both not great to each other (because chuck dixon has a conservative agenda and they're both negatively affected by that. most of their worst moments together are when chuck is trying to give us an after school special lesson. actually, feel free to ignore all of chuck's after school specials. that ain't tim, that's just a mouthpiece.). it's not a dynamic i personally find super fantastic or my favorite relationship, but i don't hate it by any means. they're written at their best in lewis's run on tim's robin series from #101-#120.
as far as tim and cass, cass shows up to help tim get out of NML in robin #73 and they're very cute. tim was creeped out by her at first, but by the end thinks she's super cool. they live together in bludhaven for a bit following war games starting robin #132 but tim's robin series is also being written by willingham at this time, so, alas. monkey's paw. it's been a bit since i've read cass's batgirl series so i unfortunately don't have issue numbers off the top of my head, but whenever tim showed up there is was usually pretty cute!
anyways, these are a lot already, though i know there's way, way more. but we're starting to get to the end of post-crisis here. red robin should only be read if you fully understand dick and tim's relationship and if you make sure to read blackest night: batman #1-3 around red robin #6 so you can understand that even at their rockiest, tim and dick are ride or die for each other and love each other more than life itself. as far as damian and tim go, you'll probably get the best out of the gates of gotham storyline.
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catchthesehandsmystra · 2 months
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Some Tav lore dump cause I'm on that good brain rot. Introducing my main Tavs, Eve and Olive. Spoilers for Act1 and 2
Eve:
Chaotic good; doesn't have a plan but got the spirit
Druid, Circle of the Moon. Fav wild shape is bear and spider. She likes to look intimidating. Multiclass eventually as a barbarian as she's gotten more Angier and short fused cause a certain goddess
Is quite a fan of Halsin and his work. May have fangirled when she first met him. Doesn't hurt that he's so beefy and hot
Polyamory but fell for Gale enough where she isn't bother about being monogamous. Plus, she's too busy trying to fight Mystra.
Would have punched Mystra if she ever saw her. What do you mean you told your Chosen to kill himself???
Totally hooked up with Astarion that one time but ended it with him cause the man had googly eyes for the leader of the pack. Actually became a good friend of his cause of how earnest she was
Fell head over heals for Gale. She likes smart men, plus, listening to him talk and lecture is hot to her. She's not the smartest person, so it's nice to be with someone who is. Gale's way with words? Mr. I've got a practiced tongue? She was a goner
Mighty insecurities about how others respond to her looks. She knows she's pretty, but it annoys her that it's one of the only things people care about.
Looks sweet and innocent but regularly digs through dead bodies and viscera for supplies. Her circle regularly studied dead animals and people for information and understanding of nature ethically. She would be a doctor or mortician in another life.
The type to respond to a dare by upping the ante.
Sleeps top less much to the chagrin of the camp. Nudism was a common thing in her former circle. Gale is not bothered by it at a certain point.
Olive:
Said leader of the pack. Reluctant cause why is everyone going to her for advice and decision making???. She just helped a few people, and now everyone decides she was the leader?
Monk, Way of the 4 Elements. Possible multiclass as a rogue cause Astarion influences. Plus, really good dex
A durge trying her best to stop being so stabby. Regularly throws up and self hurt cause she really is disgusted by her thoughts. She moves her tent far from camp after a certain night in Act1.
Neutral good or True neutral.
Initially, she was not into helping others besides her camp cause turning a mind flayer is kind of dire, but if helping someone benefited them with finding the cure, then fine, she'll help.
However, after seeing what happened to the tieflings in Act2, she became more assertive and vowed to get them safe. It becomes a turning point in how she responds to conflicts and her role as the leader of the camp. Talked her way through all the bbg in Moonrise
Most actions are done for the good of the camp or by guilt. Altruism isn't her Forte, but it doesn't hurt to do if it's on the way. Miss. "I'm not being nice I'm being efficient."
Fuck the gods.
Confession immediately after the orthon fight was cute cause she talked her way out of orthon encounter. Astarion found it extremely terrifying, impressive, and kinda hot. She was a sobbing mess after confession, she had fallen hard for him and didn't know how to deal with happiness. They started sleeping in the same tent from then on.
Enemies to rivals to lovers Astarion. Mostly cause of trauma bonding. Didn't care about him cause she doesn't like overly flirty people. But after bard death, her guilt gave way to sympathy for Astarion's own problems. More lax about his "evil" side so long as it's within reason and doesn't go too far. She knows he's mostly all talk
Astarion had some competition cause everyone in camp ended up having some form of a crush on her. Plus, she had a crush on Wyll but squished that after the bard night.
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Never cared for sex. Likes makeouts and the occasional Astarion whispers of sweet nothings. Only slept with him 1 time before confession cause she could tell Astarion needed to, even if she didn't know why.
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Ngl, my art doesn't do justice on how beautiful Eve
Olive is a bit easier but her tattoos are difficult. I do like how her skin tone can go from light blue to green depending on the lighting in the game
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A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 079 - Attack on the Medical Storage Station
Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 5 - Cold Station 12
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The cold open to this one was great. It was a simple history lesson between Arik Soong and the Augments as children, but it did wonders in establishing Soong's ideology and how he indoctrinated to him. It's really good because what he said is technically the truth, humans apparently do fear genetic modification, but the way he twists that to his own cause is just great writing.
After the intro, we cut to Enterprise in the modern day, and the crew have touched down at that same location from the flashback. Of course, since the augments and soong are going to "liberate" more Augments, they're not here.
Archer finds some old recordings of Soong raising the Augments, particularly a birthday party, which confirms his parental love for them is real, and I'm still really excited to see how that dynamic plays out. Later we cut to Soong on the stolen klingon ship, and he deerly misses Raakin, and is genuinely saddened by his death. The way Malik also manipulates the way he tells the story, to make it seem like an accident is beautifully sinister.
The Crew also encounter one person who was apparently left behind in the colony. They over power him quickly after he attacks, and take him aboard enterprise. Phlox does some analysis, and apparently he doesn't have any of the other Augment's enhancements.
The augments and soong are heading to Cold Station 12, a Human and Denobulan run facility where the Augment embryo's are stored. Apparently, we're finally going to meet Phlox's friend Dr Lucas who's the director of the facility, and Phlox also has briefly worked there before, and he requests to be part of the boarding crew. While these preparations are being done, however, the augments arrive at the facility and easily overtake it.
Smike, the non-augmented augment is an interesting character. Him coming to terms with the fact that everything he was told about earth is wrong is an interesting character arc. And phlox's personal concern over his friend is also excellent.
We also get some more insight into Archer's father, who was briefly brought up in the previous episode, who died of a disease that could have been cured by the kind of genetic engineering that Soong is fighting for. Putting the conflict so close the archer personally is really interesting. I'm excited to see where he lies on the topic by the end of this arc.
Malik and Soong are still fantastic as villains. I'm still loving Soong's energy, and I'm starting to see lines drawn between where the two stand on certain issues. The methods of torture he uses to get the codes for the Embryo's out of Doctor Lucas are genuinely terrifying. Throughout the episode, Malik and Soong's disagreements push closer and closer to boiling over and I just can't wait to see who wins out when that happens
The Enterprise crew that gets transported onto the station are very quickly captured, and Soong's reunion with Smike is really touching. I like that Soong is playing the cognitive dissonance game over the other Augments treatment of Smike, and not seeing it as the obvious flaw in his ideology that it is. His genuine parental love is still there, and it's just a really interesting trait to have Soong happily support Smike's decision to work with the Enterprise crew, even if it's going against his own goals. Soong is a really fascinating character. Malik however, has other plans for smike, and kills him while Soong is in the Embryo storage.
At the end of the episode, Soong gets away with all of the Embryos, and Malik also decides to take some alien pathogens with them to use as a weapon, and we're left on another cliff-hanger as they escape and all the pathogens on the station are also set to release and kill everyone on the station.
This episode was another excellent one. A lot my conclusion here is gonna be exactly the same as yesterdays, I'm just loving this arc's themes and particularly it's villains. Soong and Malik are just really fascinating characters.
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licantropa · 6 months
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So I've been thinking about your post about Capsize's death and how it didn't really have a narrative point. As well as Kiwi's tags about it seeming to mostly be to motivate Jordan. And I just have been mulling it over in my head a bit to keep as much of the story the same without killing Capsize, and I think the narrative works betters if Furia made Capsize sick?
So like, if we wanna be as in keeping with canon as possible, Furia strikes her once, but then rather than continuing to attack, he just laughs when Capsize (and any of the others) attack him back. Then have a little announcement like "Capsize feels weakened" for them to actually realise he's done something. And you can still have Furia do his whole "I'm stronger and better than Dianite" bit.
They then travel to Ianerea where Ianite would reveal that the sickness Capsize received will kill her, and at her current level of strength the only way she has to "cure" it, is to pass it to someone else, which Capsize would wholeheartedly refuse to do. Like it invites other people to try and "save" her, but puts Capsize more squarely in control and gives her a voice in the situation.
In my head, this lets Tom have a motivation to help Capsize, lets there be a time crunch on saving Ianite, and still has Capsize present in her own narrative (meaning she can call bullshit on Jordan if he tries any "I must save my girl" stuff).
You can also probably still develop Redbeard, since Capsize is weaking and could die, so he needs to pick up some slack or keep having Capsize pick up his when she's not in a condition for that to be reasonable.
Then in the finale, to have reasonable explanations for the pirates not joining in the void jump, Ianite reveals that she can cure Capsize, but it'll take quite a while so Capsize will have to remain at the temple in the end (... and then they kiss). Redbeard can either stay with Capsize or, if you want an independence arc or to just still have him need to say goodbye to his sister, ask to be returned to Ianerea to help rebuild his home. Bing bang boom, the characters are all tied up, they just need to be mentioned in Ianite Dreams in Season 2.
And this is kinda all like thoughts I've just been milling about, trying to stick vaguely with the same narrative progression as canon while not killing off a character.
I have the idea that this could also have the addition of Dianite trying to get Tom to go off the rescue Ianite plan by saying he'll cure Capsize if he gets her to forsake Ianite to add just some more conflict.
(Apologises for the ramble, you just like caused thoughts).
Helloooo!
I really like this! Specifically because it gives Capsize agency in what happens to her, even if what happens (death) is something everyone wants to avoid. And it gives both siblings an opportunity to be in the narrative.
That last bit is crazy, I’ve always imagined that if Capsize had lived, Dianite would tell Tom to kill her, but trying to gain her as a follower to save her is a fucking cool concept. If he can’t have one captain, suppose he’ll settle for the other.
I can definitely see how this would all play out and I really enjoy it!!!!
Although, when I read your addition to the post and Monty’s tags, my brain went in the opposite direction. In his tags, he says that killing her off was to make Furia seem like an actual threat and I agree with that. But they could have done that with Capsize all the way back near the beginning. If the writers had wanted to kill both pirates, they could’ve done that while also not sacrificing Capsize’s character.
When she killed Redbeard, it stays permanent. This cementing Capsize as a violent character, and getting worse when she finds out Red had been lying and her attitude towards Jordan (the real reason her ship sunk and not telling her the truth about that) gets significantly more and more aggressive.
She dies at the finale in the final fight with Dianite (because dying to Furia is stupid sorry), not being able to see her journey to its end. Her death should be something of her own doing, even if it’s being done by another character (idk if that makes sense). It’s a tragedy through n through. Redbeard does end up as cannon fodder for Capsizes development but to be fair he hadn’t even been a character until after her death.
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edgepunk · 3 months
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If you're still up for talking about your Spider-Man AU, I would love to hear more about your ideas for Connors! I really liked that you kept him and Peter having a close relationship from university (something that I wish had been true for the game, but oh well) and that he seems to be an actual character with his own thoughts and agency rather than just showing up to move the plot forward and drop exposition, so I'd love to know more about things like his backhistory and relationship with Peter, what's going on between him and Norman and the symbiote, the smaller focus you mentioned regarding his conflict over what he did, and anything else you want to talk about!
I'm always up for talking about it!!
I feel the same, it was a shame that Peter and Connors didn't know each other personally outside the whole Spider-Man - Lizard shebang. Which is why I wanted Connors and Pete to have a closer relationship, so Connors saving Peter didn't seem out of obligation, but more so of him being emotionally invested in Peter's well-being. Him saving Peter using the symbiote was more of a "spur of the moment" thing when he wasn't thinking clearly, all he wanted was to keep Peter alive since he grew on him during their university days, and he was something like a nephew to him. If Peter had time, he stayed with Connors after classes helping him out in the lab and worked as his teacher assistant for a short while. (ngl I took that from the game because I thought it was Connors that Peter helped with teaching before the second game got released)
Curt and his family were brought into the bunker by Norman who assigned him to a project where he was supposed to study the symbiotes to be able to defeat them and/or use them as weapons. He's conflicted about it, but he knows that if he refuses to cooperate with him, he'll kick him and his family out of the bunker. The safety of Martha and Billy is his top priority, which unfortunately results in Norman having some control over him. But he doesn't have much choice since all of them being kicked out of the bunker would most likely result in their deaths. Despite Norman acting all like "ahhh I built these bunkers, so humanity and our brilliant minds survive" he's still a manipulative corpo weasel.
Him giving the symbiote to Peter didn't halt the project - quite the opposite, it pushed it further into the "using them as a weapon" direction and before Peter left, he thoroughly scanned him and asked him to do some physical exams. Throughout the story, Peter's group would discover other bunkers with scientists and people living in them, so he'd stay in contact with Peter and monitor the symbiote's effect on his body while simultaneously working on a "cure" on how to separate them without killing either of them. The cure is not what Norman asked of him to do, but it's something he's working on in secret out of guilt.
So, despite being a side character, he's pretty important. Would he have successfully created a cure? Hmm maybe. But it wouldn't be the deus ex machina he was hoping for. That's my way of saying "idk if I want a happy or sad ending"
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anhed-nia · 1 year
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BLOGTOBER 10/12/2022: THIRST (2009)
As I have a healthy respect for Park Chan-wook, I was embarrassed to realize that I couldn't really remember very much about this movie. Even when I've found his movies less successful emotionally or narratively speaking, they usually leave a stamp with their images and atmosphere. In my attempt to rectify the gap I had with THIRST, I remembered that there is just something about the whole movie and its motivations that eludes me. This may or may not be my fault.
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Park Chan-wook's adaptation of the oft-adapted Emile Zola novel Thérèse Raquin, which he wrote for the screen with frequent collaborator Jeong Seo-kyeong, concerns a Catholic priest whose drive toward martyrdom accidentally renders him a vampire. Beset by ennui, Sang-hyun (the great Song Kang-ho) subverts his suicidal impulses into a more noble-sounding act of self-sacrifice, participating in an experimental vaccine test for the treatment of an Ebola-like virus. This nearly kills him, but he suddenly revives when he receives a blood transfusion—and thereafter he learns with horror that he has to keep drinking blood to continue staving off the virus. Though Sang-hyun feeds only on comatose hospital patients to avoid terrorizing or killing anyone, this doesn't totally cure him of his guilt, and he feels worse still when his "miraculous" recovery makes him into an involuntary faith healer with a powerful psychosomatic effect on his congregation. One of his new "patients" is an old friend, Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun), who lives with his overbearing mother Mrs. Ra (Kim Hae-sook) and his wife, the sullen, seductive Tae-ju. Soon, Tae-ju tells Sang-hyun that she was adopted as an orphan by Mrs. Ra, and she has been treated like a slave by the family all her life—especially by the sickly and feeble-minded Kang-woo, who does all sorts of perverted, sadistic things to her. With Sang-hyun and Tae-ju's inevitable affair comes the revelation that he is a vampire, and when Tae-ju witnesses his supernatural strength, she convinces him to kill her husband. The traumatic experience of the murder weakens the couple's bond, and Sang-hyun tries to resolve this by turning Tae-ju into a vampire, but this changes her into a remorseless monster—though perhaps she already was, as it turns out Kang-woo had never victimized her at all.
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So that's a mouthful right there. On the one hand, THIRST is a familiar story about the moral conflicts of the vampire, wherein the monster clings to his humanity by "rescuing" his lover from her torment, and feeding in what he considers to be the least harmful way. There, Catholicism is leveraged to emphasize the guilt felt by the sinful creature that was once a man. On the other hand, we have a tawdry melodrama about a pair of selfish lovers who sacrifice another person to their forbidden affair, only to realize that their relationship can't bear the weight of their crime. There are connective threads throughout the piece: Intermittently, someone opines bluntly that suicidal ideation and ambitions of martyrdom are essentially the same. Occasionally, characters debate each other about whether an afterlife is possible, or whether death is the end. In the beginning, Sang-hyun notes the psychosomatic reactions of the faithful who beg him for healings, and then after the murder, he and Tae-ju struggle to convince themselves that the mocking apparition of Kang-woo that ruins their sex life is all in their minds. However, repetition of ideas doesn't always equal coherence, and I'm not sure all of these various philosophical musings really add up to a unified statement about anything.
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While these diverse themes compete for dominance, the most consistent thing about THIRST is that it is intensely repulsive. In a way, this is refreshing for the vampire subgenre, which is so often sexy and elegant. Diseased blisters, peeling fingernails, bloody vomit, gnarly acts of flagellation, the snot-smeared Kang-woo sweating and farting and humping air, and even Sang-hyun's relatively sanitary method of feeding all make for an extremely queasy two hours and thirteen minutes. Sure there's a lot of steamy sex in the middle, but somehow, this tends to make the experience all the more noxious. Maybe that's part of the director's point—that we're supposed to participate in Sang-hyun's guilt (however wavering that guilt may be), that moral revulsion is the main mood here. But still, it was hard for this viewer to determine who she is meant to care about, and what she's supposed to hope will happen to them. Sang-hyun is a pious fop and a hypocrite who condemns others for their suicidal thoughts, while using the loophole of martyrdom to justify his own self-destructive urges. Tae-ju is at once infantile, and also cold and cruel, which we forgive when we think she's being abused—though that delusion is soon dispelled, and we're just left wondering what her problem is.
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The Zola novel on which this is based met with disgust upon its debut, being called "putrid" by one prominent critic, so maybe all this ickiness is an appropriate way to honor the source material. Still, I'm not sure what Park Chan-wook is driving at, if THIRST isn't just a grand demonstration of abject cynicism. The moral conflict that he explores so deftly in his Vengeance trilogy seems to be replaced here by pure disillusionment. Familial love is rotten and incestuous, romantic love is just selfish ego-stroking, self-sacrifice is an act of vanity, and the body that gives and gets orgasms also produces pus, blood, mucus, and gas, while taking sustenance from the suffering of other living creatures. Sure, the movie is beautiful and inventive visually, aided by great performances from the ensemble, but I'm not sure what it ultimately wants from me. It's funny, sometimes when I see a movie that is populated by unlikable cretins and fueled by misanthropy, those things are exactly what I love about it. Other times, I can't tell what I'm supposed to get out of all that bitterness and loathing. THIRST, despite its creative pedigree, falls into the latter category.
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Things I think will happen in Season 3 of The Owl House
(This will contain spoilers!! If you're not caught up on The Owl House leave the post!)
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Eda will have a breakdown of sorts within the first episode. Think about it, Eda has been separated from the two people she had when she had nothing. King was taken by The Collector to play Owl House, and Luz, as well as Amity, Hunter, Willow, and Gus, were pretty much forced into the Human Realm. And Eda won't have a clue. Not only has she lost her arm, and not only is the love of her life near death due to the Draining Spell, but she doesn't know where her partner in crime/adoptive son, and her apprentice/honorary daughter are.
Going with the last one, the father's of the Witchlets are gonna be just as terrified. (I'd say parents, but Odalia doesn't count, and we don't know if Perry is a single father or not. I'll make edits as needed! :) They have no clue where their kids are. And, Darius is obviously going to worry about Hunter's wellbeing. So, in an effort to get their kids back, Eda, Darius, and the Dad Squad might team up to figure something out, and maybe make a portal to the Human Realm.
Camila will be happy to meet Amity, and will likely try to show her (and the other Witchlets most likely) embarrassing photos of Luz when she was little.
There will be a huge focus on the Whittebane brothers, and an instance of Hunter having a panic attack seeing the statues in Gravesfield. Luz, Hunter, and the others will want to tell everyone who Philip Whittebane really is, and people like Jacob Hopkins won't accept that. So, there could be conflict there.
The Witchlets will have to go into disguises, similarly to how Luz used to always hide her ears to not get attention in the Demon Realm. (There's plenty of fanart of this already and I love it.)
Eda and Raine will have a wedding, but this'll be more toward the end of the series. And we'll finally get a Raeda kiss >:(
Belos will come back somehow, and... I feel he'll be a nuisance. He's so maladjusted to life as it is, and he definitely won't be ready to see what the Human Realm is like. I can only imagine how angry that man'll get over seeing that Witches are popular in human culture. Plus I'm pretty sure people would try to drive him out of Gravesfield, especially after Luz and the Witchlets reveal the truth. (And because you know he's going to say something fucking stupid and get his ass kicked.)
King... I feel will pull some sneakies. He knows how Eda's curse is affecting her. So... he might tell The Collector to help Eda get rid of her curse. And he'd also tell them that Lilith shares the curse with her sister now. And if The Collector actually is able to cure the curse, King might request that he not recapture the Owl Beast. (And not capture the Raven Beast.) Why? Eda made amends with the Beast. So... they could be like Eda's funky pal. A Clawthorne family Beast if you will.
At the end of the series, Alador will likely move somewhere with Amity, Edric, and Emira, so that they can start anew without Odalia.
The Demon Realm will be rebuilt, and will have access to more Human Realm things now.
Same goes in reverse for the Demon Realm.
Camila will take la chancla to Belos. She will ensure that man sees Hell if she can.
I'm probably leaving out a lot lmao, but I wanted to get my thoughts out here. I may add onto this post, I'm not sure yet. If you have anything you think will happen in Season 3, feel free to let me know! :)
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bestgothband · 1 year
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ROUND 1 SIDE A IS MOSTLY DONE! (except for one poll...)
There were a few heated matches, like The birthday poll, Christian Death vs The Cramps and to some extent The Cure vs. Type O Negative. However most of these were pretty static with one band in the lead the whole time. Except The Birthday Massacre who briefly overtook The Birthday Party. Anyway here's a list of the winners along with some commentary:
The Birthday Party (as I said, The Birthday Massacre was briefly in the lead!! I'd say quite an even matchup, even if by the end there was a 13,2% gap between them. Also this was by far the most popular poll with 83 notes and 650 votes)
Killing Joke (let's be honest This Cold Night didn't stand a chance. sad !)
The Cramps (NOW THIS WAS HEATED,, I don't remember whether Christian Death was initially ahead or not, however by the end there was a 19% gap between them. Also shout out to the one person who forgot the cramps is a band from the 70s and said it's a band for Wednesday fans. funny as shit)
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry (nothing to say here really)
Sisters of Mercy (A lot of people wanted Strawberry Switchblade to win, but most of them were normal about it. Except for one person,, who is blocked, because this is just a fun poll, let's be normal okay?)
Altar De Fey (1 note flop post lmao, no one was really passionate about this)
Lebanon Hanover (this wasn't really a competition but I'm sad about the ink bats,, that's what I get for randomising polls)
Fad Gagdet (the only people who tagged this with something wanted Christ vs. Warhol to win :<)
London After Midnight (Well. It sweeped hard. 96 fucking percent)
The Cure (unsurprising. apologies to type o negative for putting them against fucking the cure)
Corpus Delicti (unexpected sweep since Selofan had more submissions)
Velvet Condom (second least popular poll, with 69 votes. nice)
Belgrado (the least popular poll, with only 56 votes)
Specimen (a lot of people were conflicted. a criminal matchup.
She Wants Revenge (fucking slay i love this one. shout out to vision video tho)
Linea Aspera vs. Bell Tower Bats will end in 16 hours and Side B will end in 2 days!
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demonsfate · 6 months
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I remember the whole Xiaoyu/Heihachi debate on the Tek subreddit as well. I always thought some people got weirdly defensive about that even though you had some great (and valid) points. It's like they become blind when the same logic applies to other characters/situations. And that's why I don't like seeing arguments on the Tek6!Jin topic bc I know I'm not gonna like what I see.. like people will say "yeah well *I* Like this Jin and I'm a Jin fan!!! He's never been a goody-two-shoes hero!!" If you like him in 6 that's all fine and dandy but truth is Jin was never like his dad at all and they tried to make him Kazuya 2.0 but they don't see that lol
I really dunno why there were some who got defensive about that. I guess 'cos there are a lot of Heihachi fans. But my point wasn't even entirely about how Xiao was affectionately a child abuser, power hungry, selfish, criminal "grandpa" and crying over his "death." But I was also just saying how it conflicted with her Tek4 depiction/story where she was becoming very suspicious of Heihachi after the email she received from Jin. It showed that Xiao, despite being seemingly childish, has a good head on her shoulders, and can be quite smart. Although never said, considering that Jin had disappeared for 2 years, and had sent her that email out of nowhere - she likely put two and two together and figured Heihachi had something to do with Jin's disappearance. Even if her ending is noncanon in Tek4, it's still bizarre for her to go back to being "I LOVE GRANPA HEIHACHI!!!" in Tek5. Though, Tek5 amped up her immaturity and naivety A LOT. I'm glad it seeeeems like they may be fixing that in Tek8? Hopefully.
When it comes to other websites, I am pretty much done with arguments about Tek6!Jin. I'll bitch about it here because Jin's an important character to me. But like, it really is pointless arguing with most ppl most of the time just because it's always the same. It's either what you said, or "well it happened so it's canon and that's just what Jin is now." OR worse "Jin's a Mishima and they're all bad so he was never really good based solely on that and not anything else his character has ever done." I understand maybe being interested in stories where there are "no good guys" - but that just wasn't what Jin was intended to be (idc what Harada had tried to say in the past)
Any argument about Jin's characterization in Tek6 can be shot down fast just by showing how he acted in the previous games, like I did a week or two ago, and how they're complete contrasts. Even if ""character development"" exists - there's no way Jin would've changed that suddenly and that differently. It's unnatural.
Anyway, people can like whatever they want. We're all entitled to our own opinions. But like, Tek6 is the opposite of why I fell in love with Jin's character. But beyond the issue of Jin being out of character and the "bad guy," he's just a bad character in Tek6. The writing for him was sloppy and inconsistent. His goals are ridiculous and farfetched, and has you coming up with better alternatives than starting a war. His characterization is all over the place as he'll go from "I'm going to mercilessly kill you, go fuck yourself and your dead family" to "I had no choice but to do this, I feel guilty about it, but what else could I have done?" Although lots of ppl point out his goals of ""saving the world"" from Azazel, as well as curing the devil gene, most people forget that he also did this because of CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS. Yes, there's a part in the game where he actually tells Lars that he took control over nations because "government bad" and that the people are terrified of those who rule with an iron fist. Because you know, Jin isn't just another tyrant ruling with an iron fist - in fact, even MORE merciless than the leaders of the world given that he's completely taken over the world and hasn't shown a lick of compassion towards anyone but his own goals. He doesn't even fake compassion ffs. It just SHOWS you how messy his character was even if we ignore what the character was before. It also further confirms that, yes, there was definitely creative differences regarding the character in the writing room.
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annalyticall · 1 year
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Thoughts on Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Trilogy
Well. It's over.
I'll keep it real with you chief, Mass Effect 3 was by far my favorite of the three games. That might be controversial given what I know about the divisive endings (basically the only thing I knew before I started these games), but as a newcomer to the series, Mass Effect 3 had a lot of what I was looking for from the previous entries. I also realized that fundamentally I can't compare these games to Dragon Age because the truth is I still like the Dragon Age games more individually but I do like Mass Effect more as a unified trilogy.
Again, I played Shiv Shepard, colonist Sole Survivor, Sentinel, and Paragon. I played her with survivor's guilt in ME1, with a burning hatred of Cerberus for bringing her back from the dead (and for the Akuze thing) in ME2, and a mix of burning hatred of Cerberus and a survivor's guilt over Earth in ME3. I don't think I ever mentioned this but I intended Shiv to be Irish/Korean, full first name is Siobhan
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You see that bit of red? Those are renegade points I got every time I talked to the Illusive Man.
Major Story Decisions: Continued relationship with Kaidan, let Mordin cure the genophage, killed Councilor Udina myself with Kaidan on my side, secured peace between the geth and quarians, killed the Illusive Man myself, and chose the Destroy ending (which I'll get into later). I entered the war with 8000 war assets and the only character deaths I saw were the scripted ones (Mordin, Thane, Legion, Anderson, presumably EDI). I also beat James' 182 pull-up record.
The Pros and Cons lists are a little tricky for this one since I found a lot of the good came with some bad and a lot of the bad came with some good, but I'll try to keep it all in neat bullet points.
Pros
Satisfying Ends. From Mordin curing the genocidal disease he helped perfect to the control-hungry Illusive Man driven crazy by the same control he sought to have, everyone gets a nice and neat bow on their character arcs that had been set up since the beginning, or at least since Mass Effect 2. Honestly, playing ME3 made me like ME2 more than I had before since I could now see the consequences of my actions on the characters I grew close with in the previous game. Speaking of...
Consequences. Moreso than Dragon Age, it's fun to see how much my choices from previous games impacted my experience throughout the trilogy following a single character and her friend group. Of course, it's not going to be perfect - I AM miffed that my major game-ending decisions of ME1 and ME2 like saving the council, rewriting the geth, and destroying the collector base ultimately resulted in very little change in the story. Weirdly, it was the lesser decisions that mattered most - keeping Wrex alive, preserving the cure data in Mordin's loyalty mission, not cheating on my ME1 love interest, resolving Legion's and Tali's hostility, and reuniting Thane with his son were all very effecting choices on my story since they all add up into a pool of possible outcomes rather than dichotomous decisions (it makes sense Kaidan might trust me a little less in an armed standoff if I cheated on him I guess lol). And I appreciate that even the minimal choices were at least represented as war assets.
Gameplay. ME3 had the best gameplay of all games by far. I think it's telling when I could spend over 3 hours in the combat center just trying out different modes. Unlike in ME2, I didn't feel as restricted in playstyle with the introduction of a bonus power and a healthier shield. My favorite bonus power was Aria T'Lok's Flare, a large biotic blast critical in any fight with bunched-up enemies. I'm glad I got that one early on because it helped me survive so much of the game.
It looks good. Not that I hated the graphics in the last two games, but this one had some nice cinematic angles, richer colors, and grander set designs that made it more immersive for me to get into.
Pace and Scope. ME3 really pulled off the feeling of scale in a galaxy-wide conflict. It didn't hold back with its bang of an opening as we survive the reapers attacking Earth within the first 10 minutes, then slowly we see these behemoth machines devastate every other alien homeworld and invade more of the map in each story arc until it culminates in a grand final stand. I was worried the game would, in a sense, "nerf" the reapers since it took so much to take down just one reaper in ME1 and a single half-built reaper in ME2, but although we kill many more reapers in ME3, each one is an earned spectacle that requires either a lot of combined firepower or a giant thresher maw to do the job. Side note, I do like the irony of my sole survivor Shepard getting saved by the thing that killed her whole squad in the past.
Romance and Friendships. Listen, I don't think I've praised a Bioware game on its romance since Dragon Age Origins (Alistair my beloved) and while this game is still a little sparse in the romance department, the DLCs more than make up for it with a lot of great content for the love interests. I enjoyed the flirty, lively banter and the cute domestic scene in the Citadel DLC (Kaidan my beloved), and how worried he was about Shepard's safety in the Leviathan DLC. But even outside those addons, I liked the quiet moment shared before the final Cerberus mission, and while I typically cringe at Bioware sex scenes, I found this one to be, uh... tolerable. The romance in ME3 felt like an oasis after the lonely desert I suffered through in the last game lol. As for friendships, I loved the little platonic dates you get to go on with your squadmates both in the base game and the Citadel DLC. I never felt closer to these characters than I have here.
Cons
Contrived Means. Although I enjoyed the satisfying ends to many subplots and character arcs, I didn't enjoy the somewhat forced means it took to get there. I can forgive the last-minute sabotage that doomed Mordin to die since ultimately the end it led to was most fitting for Mordin's story. However, I took issue with a lot of the geth/quarian buildup, mostly involving Legion and the reaper codes. To be honest, I LIKED the geth being a completely alien hivemind and existing as a neutral anomaly that takes effort to understand and accept in ME2. The focus of becoming an individual (the original question the geth asked was actually "do these units have a soul", not "does this unit have a soul" as ME3 claims) undermined what I thought was compelling about Legion and the geth in the first place. Also, Legion's sacrifice felt unnecessary, especially when the reason for the reaper code upload not working was flimsy. And don't even get me started on the Citadel...
The Citadel. Holy shit, what happened there? I'm not talking about the Citadel as a location - I liked exploring the Citadel more in this game than any of the other games - I mean the Citadel as a plot device. For one, I was very surprised to learn the Citadel was the Catalyst when it was already an important plot device in ME1, where it was revealed to be a secret reaper mass relay. Now it's the key to a giant super weapon against the reapers whose original designers are never specified? Okay? But my biggest issue was that it was inexplicably "moved" by the reapers in the last mission despite millions of people living on it, then we can use it to blow up the reapers, destroying the Citadel and I assume most people still on there, so we're basically condemning millions of people to die and never get to see the impact of that decision. Granted, this is not much different than the weird 300K Batarian mass murder Shepard commits in ME2, but the difference is that these people are people we knew and spent a good amount of time helping and building relationships with throughout the game. What happened to Captain Bailey? What happened to Kolyat? The game never bothers to address that.
Kai Leng. Now, I don't expect every character to be wonderfully fleshed out. I accepted Kai Leng was just a plot device to stand in the way of Shepard and her goals, but his presence still left a bad taste in my mouth. He's never mentioned in any of the previous games, then he's introduced here as having a badass reputation despite his best move being a shield. He is so painfully one-dimensional compared to literally any other character that killing him didn't even feel good. I think it would have been cool if Kai Leng was someone else, maybe a character scorned by Shepard in the past who wanted revenge. Or, he could have been another character revived by Cerberus and abandoned in favor of Shepard, which was hinted at in his video logs but wasn't completely followed through on. I guess maybe I just wanted it to be Evil Clone Shepard from the Citadel DLC because even she was more compelling. What a waste of Troy Baker.
Let Me Speak. It's complicated because I do think ME3 has some of the strongest dialogue in the series (I didn't have the same jarring Talk No Jutsu problem as I did in ME1 because even when you're talking down a literal war, the dialogue feels earned and natural). However, the cutscenes went on noticeably longer without any input from the player character. It was frustrating since I felt like sometimes Shepard was railroaded into saying or doing something I wouldn't have chosen to do otherwise, but so is the burden of being a finale, I suppose.
Femshep Romance. Listen. I like Kaidan's romance. I like Garrus' romance. I like Liara's romance. If you chose to romance any of them in your playthrough like I did, that's great! You get a good romance. But if you're playing femshep and don't choose those 3 options... you don't. Thane dies early-ish in ME3 (which, I mean, I guess that could be good if you like inevitable tragedy) and Jacob cheats on you (which is terrible and I have NEVER seen in a video game romance before). And if you want to romance a girl? You get Liara or some minor side character, and that's it. You don't get Tali, Ashley, Jack, Miranda, or any of the several other female options that male Shepard has access to. Even in ME3, a male Shepard can romance Kaidan if they want a male companion to romance. Ashley doesn't get the same bi treatment. It's kinda sad just how limited femshep's options are for romance compared to their male counterpart.
The Synthesis Ending. Yes, I chose the Destroy Ending for rather complicated reasons that I will get into, but after watching the outcome of the other endings, I have a bone to pick with Synthesis. I discuss my opinion on the endings in a later section if you want to skip to that.
The DLC
Omega. It was fun. Not much more I can really say. I liked Nyreen as a character (and it was nice to finally meet a female turian) but I also felt her sacrifice was rather hollow. Aria grew on me and I was able to get her to spare Oleg at the end, but really, the shining star of this DLC was earning her Flare ability.
Leviathan. It's a double-edged sword because while I liked the expansion of reaper lore (and the extra dialogue with the LI and EDI) I also think that overexplaining the reaper backstory ruined a bit of their mystique. It also had strange implications for the ending, as the reaper AI explains its purpose in a more convoluted and obfuscated way than the Leviathan does, so it adds to the frustration of the limited ending dialogue choices given to call the reaper AI out on its vague statements.
Citadel. This is possibly the best DLC of any game I have ever played, I'm serious. With the exception of maybe Trespasser from Dragon Age Inquisition, never have I thought a DLC was so perfect for the story it was accompanying. Granted, I think the idea of taking forced shore leave is a little laughable when the fate of the galaxy is at stake, but I digress, the DLC was near perfect otherwise. It had fun in-jokes, meaningful time to spend with squadmates past and present, great scenes with the love interest, and, yes, I did spend 3 hours in the combat simulator just to get the rare One and Only achievement. And that pistol? It was the only thing keeping me from dying to brutes and banshees during the last Earth mission. I am not exaggerating when I say most of my enjoyment of this game actually comes from this DLC, and I consider its bittersweet ending to be the real ending for Mass Effect.
The Squad (including past Squad members)
Kaidan. Once again, I am listing the squadmates in relative order of how much I liked them, and Kaidan skyrocketed to the top within the last 30% of the game. I mean, I had to like him enough to romance him in ME1, but ME2 made me sour toward him, and even at the beginning of this game I was a little bitter that he was still so prickly about Shepard's forced involvement with Cerberus. However, after the hospital and the initial awkwardness of rekindling a strained relationship, I fell in love with his character all over again. He's not quite as deep as the other characters, true, but his human and down-to-earth presence is SO needed in a cast of complicated and eccentric aliens, and the random things he says are some of the only things I ever laugh at in this game. It almost makes me grateful for the mid-series break, because, for all the frustration, the relationship feels earned by the end. He might not surpass Alistair for top Bioware romance for me, but he comes close. Also, the unconditional reassurance he gives once realizing Shepard had actually been clinically dead and may not have been completely the same when she was rebuilt by Cerberus was so nice to get after the accusatory headache that was the Horizon mission in ME2.
Garrus. Admittedly, I don't think Garrus adds much to the narrative of ME3. Even when helping me cure the turian-ordered genophage he doesn't have much stake in the story, and then he has almost none after the genophage is cured. But that doesn't really matter when his purpose is actually just to be Shepard's rock. He is such a good friend and his presence is so comforting that I wish I could take him on every mission even if he's got nothing relevant to say. His farewell to Shepard at the end was the only other farewell besides Kaidan's that made me tear up. Shepard said it best: there is no Shepard without Vakarian.
Tali. I still love Tali, but she was shafted a bit by the lack of screen time she had in this game. It's a shame that she comes to the crew so late, although I guess it's understandable given that she's an admiral now. Still, I loved seeing her wistfulness as she dreamed of her new home on Rannoch, and her time in the Citadel DLC was very fun.
Mordin. Despite his fourth-place ranking on the list, I think Mordin is THE best-written character in Mass Effect. He has one of if not the best character arcs, and he's so likable that I can't not love Professor War Crimes. His singing as the building was falling down around him... it was so sad but a perfect way for him to go.
EDI. Her earnest and heartfelt quest to understand what it means to be human was endearing to me, and her relationship with Joker was great. I brought her along most times if Garrus or Kaidan didn't make sense to take. I am heartbroken that my chosen ending means her death, but it was a sacrifice I still decided to make, especially after she said she was willing to give her life to save the person she loved.
Liara. While I like Liara, I still feel like there's something missing in her character that I can't quite put my finger on. That said, I like the friendship she has with Shepard. There's an implication to their interactions that suggest she never stopped having romantic feelings for Shepard even after I turned her down in ME1, but I like how she still wants to be a close friend to her rather than be bitter about it.
Thane. I think the story did him justice, giving him a pivotal role to play in the amount of time he had left. The prayer read as he was dying sincerely touched me. He wasn't my favorite in ME2 but ME3 gave him a boost for me.
Legion. Despite some inconsistencies I noticed in his writing, I still like my little robot guy. RIP, buddy, sorry your sacrifice was kind of for nothing.
Grunt. Similar to Thane, ME3 (and especially the Citadel DLC) made me like Grunt more than I did upon his introduction to the series. He wasn't as important, but his enthusiastic welcome and his "last stand" made me feel like a proud mama.
Samara. I liked Samara enough in ME2 to try to flirt with her, so I was excited to see her again in this game, but unfortunately, she didn't have much to do. Then again, she doesn't really need to, given that her arc is to accept being a mother to her remaining child rather than her jailor. I still felt like there was lingering unspoken sexual tension between her and Shepard though...
Wrex. It was good to see Wrex again, and I sincerely love how the game portrays his openness to cooperation as the key to saving his people.
James. I feel like James fulfilled the Krogan Companion role for me in this game, which is: I like him, but not enough to bring him anywhere. His flirting was rather alarming to me at first since I had every intention of reuniting with Kaidan and didn't want to turn James down so early, but when it became clear that he wasn't serious about any of it, I liked playing along, though really femshep doesn't have a choice in the matter.
Javik. Don't get me wrong, Javik is incredibly interesting and I think he's a critical companion to take on a lot of missions because the Prothean perspective is so unique and necessary in some instances (seriously, how did Liara not realize her goddess looked suspiciously similar to Javik). As a person, though, my Paragon Shepard didn't really gel with him. Also, my Shepard is rather sentimental and values memories, so I may have accidentally doomed Javik to a tragic post-game death with that memory shard. Oops.
Kasumi. Speaking of dooming people with memories! I told Kasumi to keep her lover's memories last game, which felt meaningful to my Shepard at the time since it happened before Horizon and I was still playing a lovesick Shepard who missed Kaidan and could empathize with her situation. That was, uh, maybe not the right call to make, and I'm a little sad that I basically condemned Kasumi to waste away her life reliving the past.
Miranda. I don't really have a lot to say about Miranda. She lived in my game, and I thought it was a good end for her character to finally fight back against her father. But she is rather bland to me, and I almost wish they kept her the cold-hearted bitch she was introduced as, just more sympathetic. You know, kinda like...
Jack. I like Jack A LOT more in this game than in ME2. I think putting her in a teacher role was a perfect decision that displays her impressive growth as a person and her ability to overcome her traumatic past to give future generations of biotics a better life. However, she is still Jack, and her inherent abrasiveness meant I always felt like I was walking on eggshells picking dialogue options with her.
Jacob. Unlike almost everyone else on this list, I downgraded Jacob. I didn't mind him so much when I was playing, really - I liked that he was having a baby and that meant he would get the chance to be a better father than his own was, and I liked the little get-together I had with him in the Citadel DLC. I thought he was still a little boring but nothing offended me. After learning he can cheat on femshep though? Yikes, dude.
Zaeed. I wouldn't say I hated him as I did in ME2. He was just... there.
Miscellaneous. I liked Samantha Traynor MUCH more than I liked Kelly Chambers, so I was glad to see her fill the role. She was resourceful and a bit awkward but not annoyingly so. Let's just say, if I was actually in the ME universe, I'd probably be Traynor. Steve Cortez was also a great addition. I grew to care about him a lot, and I'm glad Bioware gave us a face for the person driving our shuttle around lol. Diane Allures is, uh... there. Dr. Chakwas and Joker are great as always. That goes without saying.
THE ENDINGS
I want to preface this by saying I thought the ending before the ending, aka the Illusive Man standoff, was well done. I was a renegade every time I talked to him, meaning for my last action I was able to shoot him point blank and he was able to give an ending speech about how he wished Shepard saw the Earth as he did. I thought this was an interesting angle for my Shepard to take since she was so Paragon in ME1 that she was able to talk Saren down. Having the ability to do the same with the Illusive Man and not taking it gave me the chance to show some growth in my Shepard, finally willing to put her foot down and abandon the moral high ground when dealing with the person who both resurrected and ruined her life.
Now to the final endings. I will not be discussing the Control ending, as I immediately dismissed it as a possibility. It was what the Illusive Man wanted, and if my Shepard was anything, she was staunchly contrarian to Illusive Man's ideology. That's to say nothing of what I think of it, which is - eh. I think it's a good ending for a renegade Shepard, and possibly a paragon Shepard that wasn't as anti-Illusive Man as mine was. Still, the other two endings are what I want to talk about.
I will also not be calling the reaper AI the Star Child because I think it's misleading. To me, the child-like appearance seemed like a ploy to appeal to Shepard, and I didn't want to forget that this is essentially the same AI that appeared on the Arrival DLC asteroid I hurtled into a mass relay just to tell me he was going to destroy me. With that in mind, when he gave me my options and explained what synthesis would mean, I took a long, long time deliberating on what to do. The game presents this option as the unquestioningly best one to take. After all, it's the hardest ending to obtain, it's the option the reaper AI clearly favors, and it's the default platform you're standing on when it comes time to choose.
But here's the problem: if I were Shepard, even a paragon Shepard, even a Shepard who loves EDI and respects the geth, as mine did, I would not choose Synthesis. Because I can't trust that what he says would happen. I asked him why it would work this time around when all their other attempts at synthesis were horrific failures, and all he said was "they were not ready. You are ready." Even for a seemingly all-knowing AI, that's not enough to convince me to fling my body into a particle beam and potentially give up on this one and only chance to stop the reapers for good. Of course, as a player, I can use context clues to know that it WOULD happen. I'm playing a video game after all, and this choice is presented honestly to the player. But I decided to think as Shepard at that moment, not as myself.
He's also... wrong. He says conflict with synthetic life is inevitable, but it isn't. My Shepard knows this. She obtained peace between the quarians and the geth, and she's watched as EDI grew into her own kind and compassionate human consciousness. So while it sucks that they will have to die in the destroy ending, I ultimately chose it because 1) my Shepard can actually see it happen and know that she sacrificed her life for something real, not just a promise of what could happen, 2) destroying the reapers was what the whole galaxy unified to do and they didn't agree to anything else, and 3) destroying the reapers gives organic life a second chance to live and learn from their mistakes and to do better by synthetic life in the future. Maybe, in the wake of Shepard's sacrifice, the galaxy would see that they can work together, and ensure any future synthetic life will never be abused as the geth were.
But there was another reason I didn't choose Synthesis: it didn't make sense. I'm not talking about its practical application, although the space magic it takes to imbue technology into the DNA of every living organism in the galaxy is a little hard to stomach even by Mass Effect standards. I'm talking about its thematic purpose. Throughout all of Mass Effect, the main message has been that working together and sympathizing with people fundamentally different from you is critical to making positive change in the universe, DESPITE the differences. Synthesis, as a solution, is suggesting that conflict is inevitable until you ERASE the differences. This isn't letting people take the time and effort necessary to truly learn about and understand others, this is a no-effort solution that negates that very core theme. It's like saying there would be no conflict in the world if everyone on Earth were of the same race and nationality, because, one, that isn't true, and two, that solution erases so many beautifully diverse cultures that would have existed otherwise. To me, the Destroy ending allows the galaxy to rebuild what was lost while preserving most of the diversity that is so important to keep, especially since the diversity that was lost, namely the geth, theoretically CAN be rebuilt.
There's also another thematic problem: the conflict between synthetics and organics was not the main conflict in Mass Effect. Sure, it took up a lot of screen time in ME1, but it always felt secondary to the conflict between all other organics. There were tensions between the alien council species and the humans, there was tension between the krogan and the turians and salarians, there was tension between humans and humans, there was tension everywhere you looked. Your role was to be a mediator, a shepherd. You guided the people toward a better understanding of themselves and others, and by doing that, you were able to achieve impossible things together. Synthetic life was only a piece of that puzzle. But by making the conflict ONLY about synthetics and organics, it undermines the things we learned about other organics. If this solution was only meant for the quarians and humans, maybe it would make sense - these species have already achieved AIs that they could come into conflict with. But WHY should I make this decision for the krogan, an alien species not even close to developing AI advanced enough to go to war with? Why is it fair to them that I'm rewriting their DNA to ensure they never see a war that they might have never seen anyway? Haven't they already seen enough outside meddling in their bodily autonomy?
So I chose Destroy. And since I had enough war assets, I was able to avoid mass devastation, and somehow Kaidan seems to think Shepard is still alive. Oh, look, I guess she is. Not sure how that's possible, but I'll take slim hope. Overall, I was satisfied with my ending, although I was sad that I had to deny life to the synthetics that wanted it.
Then I watched the Synthesis ending and saw that it was basically perfect. Besides Shepard dying, everything is just better. Everyone understands each other now, there's no more disease, no more death, EDI is alive, and apparently, everyone is just cool with their new DNA. It was a utopia. And I thought that kinda went against everything I saw in Mass Effect. Sure, there are good choices, and some are definitely better than others, but rarely should there be perfect or easy choices. I'm not saying Synthesis should be a bad ending, by all means, make it a good one. Make it the best one, even. But it shouldn't be perfect. Maybe some people are upset that they were genetically altered against their will (hell, my Shepard had an existential crisis about this after learning how she was resurrected by Cerberus, and it's not a fate she would have imposed on anyone anyway). Maybe the husks and other synthetics that were once organics live a hellish existence in between existences and can never reconcile with their living loved ones. I dunno, something. Like I said before: thematically, it doesn't follow what was learned in the narrative, and therefore should not be the perfect solution to problems that the solution had nothing to do with.
I want to stress that I'm not judging anyone who chose the Synthesis ending. I deliberated it a long time for a reason: it is a promising conclusion if you want to avoid Control and you want to save EDI and the geth. I totally understand that. I just think the way that choice is presented and executed by Bioware is clunky and counterproductive to the narrative. I've also seen people dismiss the Destroy ending as genocide, and I won't argue that. It IS genocide, if you consider synthetics a valid form of life in this game, as I did. But I chose it anyway because doing so would stop the reapers who were the Ultimate Genocide Machines, and if there was any situation where genocide could be justified to stop genocide, uh, I guess that would be it. Sure, Synthesis would finally give organics a chance to understand and cooperate with the reapers, but that is only on the basis that everyone fundamentally change themselves at the request of the reapers under threat of mutual annihilation. The reapers had made no effort to truly understand and sympathize with organics outside of their one-sided conversations with Shepard until this point, so I didn't really feel bad I was killing them all, to be honest with you.
Okay, so, those were my thoughts on Mass Effect. This took a whole day to write. As frustrated as some parts of the game made me, I loved the rest, and I'm very glad I played it. Giving it a score like the other parts feels wrong, since I know now it's all part of a whole, but if I had to give it one, I'd say 8.5/10. I'll be missing my crew for some time, I think. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my thoughts on this franchise!
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Now onto Andromeda...
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dreamofme9 · 2 years
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Merlin Season 1 Episodes Ranking
@weakforarwen got this great idea to do a ranking of the episodes, so I'm tagging along!
1. The Labyrinth of Gedref : Excellent characterisation for Arthur in this episode, showing his growth as a person and leader, while not forgetting his good heart. The Merlin & Arthur scene with the poison is excellent. I am a sucker for Merlin interacting with the magical community, and I liked seing a positive magic creature for once.
2. The Poisoned Chalice : The great Merlin & Arthur scenes elevate this episode to this position. I liked that Arthur was the one doing the saving for once. I loved how Merlin brought LIGHT to Arthur's quest. It felt symbolic. Though I feel this episode happened too early in the season. I'd have put it in the place of episdoe 8 : i think it's too early for Merlin to do magic while on his death bead when he had only gotten his spell book a couple of episodes ago, and kind of too early for Arthur to react as passionately about Merlin as he did. Nimueh had great potential as a villain but she was underdeveloped.
3. The Moment of Truth : Fantastic episode, no surprises it's up in the top 3! Every character was given time to shine and we got to see Merlin's homelife.
4. Le Morte d'Arthur : Really good episode for Gaius & Merlin both for their relationship and their character development. Merlin being ready to sacrifice his life for Arthur was touching, as was his quest to right the wrong of his mother's and Gaius' potential deaths. The lightning strike was amazing! Merlin interacting with the magical community is my jam! Nimueh was interesting as always, but they could have done so much more with this episode! Nimueh could have talked about the Purge and told Merlin about Arthur's birth, setting up an interesting conflict for season 2. Gwen and Arthur were adorable and Uther's devastation at his son's death was one of the most powerful moments of the season.
5. Excalibur : Excellent episode. The family drama was good. Uther shined in this episode, as he became much more than a 2-d evil king. The scenes between Merlin & Uther were chilling.
6. Lancelot : I love Lancelot as a charcter and I'm forever grieved that he didn't appear more in this show. His relationship with Merlin gave me life. The identity fraud was hilarious. Hell, the way everybody was lowkey in love with Lancelot was adorable. Good, fun episode.
7. The Gates of Avalon : This episode is kind of a tie with The Mark of Nimueh. Interesting episode overall, though the plot wasn't very engaging for me. The Sidhe were interesting magical creatures, with their own society and agenda, and it's a shame they didn't appear more. The best part of the episode was Arthur sinking into the lake and Merlin's desperate chase to save him.
8. The Mark of Nimueh : Good episode for Gwen overall. The gang works together to save her. Gwen line in the cell "Please don't forget me" just murdered me and I wanted to hug her so, so much. Good approach to the magic ban. But I hated how Gaius approached his search for the cure and how he basically abandoned those pleople to die. That's not what a physician is supposed to do. He could at least eased their suffering. Worse is that the narative kind of supports him.
9. The Begining of the End : A very important episode retrospectively, but not very engaging as an episode. Kid Mordred used to freak me out. It's also the begining of a trend with Merlin & the Great Dragon that I particularly dislike. I think that Kilgharrah was wrong from a moral point of view to urge Merlin to kill Mordred and later Morgana, but Merlin did nothing to ensure they wouldn't become his enemies.
10. The Dragon's Call : Not bad for a pilot and introducing the basis of the universe. The iconic scenes with Merlin & Arthur are hilarious, as is Gwen's meeting with Merlin in the stocks. But Arthur and Morgana flirting is something I'm trying very hard to forget.
11. Valiant : The magical "monster of the week" was boring. The only good thing was Arthur immediately believing Merlin and apologizing fir firing him in his own stilted way.
12. To Kill the King : I hated this episode. First they kill Gwen's father for no reason that to cause drama, then Gwen's grieving is completely brushed aside because oh Morgana needs to make her first attempt on Uther's life. This episode should have dropped the Morgana plot and focused on Gwen, her family, the fact that Elyan is not there, the unfairness of the magic ban and how far Uther's paranoia reaches. Uther as a character was a driving force of the show, but they should have killed him earlier. Maybe not in season 1 but certainly during season 2.
13. A Remedy to Cure All Ills : Edwin is a creep and and not even the tragic backstory can redeem his creepiness. Boring episode.
This was fun!
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ceriseisland · 2 years
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Top 10 minor/secondary characters in pokespe (Gym Leader/Elite 4/Team members/other NPCs).
10. Bill. Love how he keeps getting caught up in dexholder events against his will, especially in the yellow arc. He's just a poor college grad who didn't sign up for this
9. Trevor. Idk why but I like how he's the narrator of XY. I feel like he could have gone through an interesting character arc had XY been better executed
8. Norman. I've talked before about how Norman is a much more nuanced character than people give him credit for, and I'm also surprised just how many people I've talked to who feel the same way. While he isn't a good person, it's cool that people recognize that he's at least an interesting character, which is a definite shift from the way people used to view him
7. Blaine. Like ive said before I love how he does some mad science and bonds his body to Mewtwo then sets himself on fire to cure himself of it. What a madlad. Also his arc in RBG about accepting Mewtwo from the way Red interacts with it is great for the overall narrative of the series. He deserves all the screen time he gets
6. Cheren. Honestly adjusting Cheren's personality from the games to have him be the friend who takes care of everyone makes him so much better as a character, especially his friendship with Black. I used to dislike Cheren's mini joining-team-plasma arc, because it doesn't make sense and is really indicative of how BW views itself by the end, but now I think it's just funny. He's like hey I'm evil now. Okay I'm done being evil
5. Steven. His death hits hard and I appreciate that. Having him die in Wallace's arms gets me every time, especially with how Wallace calls the president and dampens the news that the threat is over with the fact that their champion is now dead. I also think it's funny how he starts out as the noble champion who sacrificed himself to save everyone to a millionaire who misspells his own name to the son of a ceo who hurt a group of indigenous people and drained the life energy of his own pokemon. Like yeah, of course ORAS is about the needless conflict between the two groups but also what the Stone family did to the draconids was way worse than what the draconids did to them, so the vibes Steven gives off have slid down a slope, but maybe that's just me
4. Emma. While I don't think her parallels to X are that well executed, I get what he was going for. I think she could have been great if Kusaka had cared about giving X any sort of structured growth. Also she's precious and I want to protect her
3. Lorelei. I think it's interesting that it seems like Agatha influenced and possibly manipulated her beliefs as a child. I'm sure she always would have hated people, but I doubt she would have gotten to "all people need to die" without help, which is something Agatha doesn't seem to truly believe either, except it lines up with her real goal of sticking it to Oak. In that way she makes a good parallel to Green, especially with Green's line to her about being guilty of fighting the wrong battle. It also makes her comeback as a good guy in FRLG even better
2. Wallace and Winona. I love love LOVE how they function as parallels to Ruby and Sapphire's relationship in RS and the emerald arc. It's a plot device I've never seen elsewhere, where two mentor figures have a relationship that mirrors whatever state the protagonists' relationship is in. It's also adorable how they act like Ruby and Sapphire's parents post-RS. Their little found family dynamic is so important to me
1. Courtney. Not only is she a great character but the function she plays as a parallel to Ruby is great too, with how they refect each other's worst traits. It also makes their friendship cool, and adds weight to her redemption. Genuinely one of the best characters in the manga. Wish she would marry me :(
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horizon-verizon · 1 year
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Have you seen / played The Last of us II. If yes, what do you think? Personally, I don't like Abby, and especially her relationship with Yev, which is so forced that it's borderline absurd. I hope they will develop this part more in the adaptation. Because, it's fucking stupid that Abby suddenly decides that Yev becomes everything to her, in just two / three fucking days. Clearly, it was just a reminder of the Joel & Ellie relationship, but it just sucked.
I did see Part II, but I barely remember how she actually bonded with Yev. I'm planning on rewatching. Can't answer for that.
However, I remember liking the overall story while still missing Joel. I like how how it continues from Ellie's struggle to forgive Joel for essentially putting himself above the world and denying her wish while still loving him. Also how we lean more into the dark side or risk of love and it's loss: revenge.
In a dystopia (defined as "an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic" OR "a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding"), people will form strong bonds and find some sort of hope in each other, biologically connected or not. It is what makes them the same and safe. Revenge is maybe inevitable in a context like this, even for Ellie.
Ellie is an example of a person who also has bigger hopes of ending human suffering though partially because she lost so many people to the fungus and the former society's dissolution, while Joel's interests conflict with hers as he simply wishes to survive with those he loves around him. They see each other as parent-child, but she would have (and does) have so much resentment and rage because her hopes were dashed, her desire to fulfill what she thought was her purpose has now gone to the way side and she felt she would never have another opportunity like that again. And she feels that Joel betrayed her trust when she has trusted in him, him knowing that she would have wanted to risk herself for this cure that she knows could come to nothing whether due to human stupidity, miscalculation, or ineffectuveness.
To have her lose Joel before she could really come to terms with that and reconcile, Joel is taken from her. And perhaps she feels she has to make up for "abandoning" him, reconnect in a twisted way, as well as give herself a new purpose through revenge for his person who raised and protected her. But even in my words, it shows that it's both about Joel and not about Joel -- purpose.
And one scenario where that love for someone conflicting with the "love" for humanity ends up destroying the regard for oneself, blinding them into abandoning themselves and others in a perpetual cycle that can only be stopped by an active choice.
IDK, I liked the twists. I and thought that it was actually very natural for the story to go the way it did. Again, did I miss Joel? Of course! I believe that that is kinda the point of his early death in the game. He hangs over us and Ellie like a lead shadow, her memory and grief urging and pressing her to travel outside of the place where Joel took her to keep her safe and have her develop something like a "normal" life. She made the choice to leave that life, that safe haven to right a wrong, when she hadn't ever confronted the first wrong, which can never truly be confronted because Joel is dead! Crazy writing, loved it.
We at first root for her because we liked Joel and how he died was brutal...and then we come up against the fact that his death was also a revenge killing?! A woman avenging her father, using the rationale of how her father was more "important" than Ellie because he was getting a cure? Abby, with her own hypocrisies that mirror Ellie's and Joel's, when we all know the tri reason she killed Joel was for her father, as the show's Kathleen pursued Henry and Sam? What?!
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