#i don't want them to shy away from discussing character's traumas or putting them in weird AUs or whatever

[petrichorvoices]

we finally caught up on WTNV

[ihopesocomic]

This morning I was in bed thinking about how awful Quite's whole situation was in conjunction with her death. Cause in a prior chapter we're given enough to infer that she's probably been overlooked by her parents in favor of Adement on the regular, and even tho the sisters love each other, we see Adement talk over her too. But then one day, Dad of the Year goes to her personally and tells her to come with him. Quite was probably concerned but also some part of her was maybe hopeful. Her father wants to spend time with her one on one. Maybe this is it? Only for her to be presented in front of some stranger. Then she likely had to listen to her Father talk about giving her to Edge. She probably found out that Edge wanted her sister instead and that this was just Jasper's ploy to not give away his "favorite". After finding that out she'd likely be just as concerned for Adement as she was for herself, but there's nothing she'd be able to do, suddenly Quiet would be attacked. Maybe it was quick, maybe Edge drew it out to prove some point to his associate. Regardless, the last thing she sees is either Edge or the father who only acknowledged her when it was time to try and secure something he wanted for himself.

Proof that you don't need an 18+ rating to present a truly horrific scenario in your comic for your readers to think about, and also that I need to squirrel some cash away so I can upgrade my Patreon tier to read the Quiet Au.

eee thank you so much, anon. This is such good analysis! What you're saying has two components to it:

You can make something for minors and have it be high stakes and "mature" in its execution. Bambi, for example, is indeed a movie with cutesy animals in it but it doesn't shy away from the brutality of nature and humankind. It just does things in a very subtle, artful way that isn't ramming such subjects down your throat. Which brings me to:

Too many folks out there take harsh subject matters and treat it with either insensitivity and carelessness. Which has a major impact on the characters affected. If you don't treat them with dignity, it's very likely that the audience won't and anything you have riding on their deaths is going to fall apart pretty darn fast. And that includes any "trauma" left behind.

We've discussed this before but I'll repeat what I've always said: a death doesn't have to be shown on-screen or on-panel for it to be effective. If anything, what's left to the imagination can be truly more scary than anything any artist can put out there, as anon here has pointed out. Poor Quiet indeed. - RJ

[askmerriauthor]

Jedi: Fallen Order thoughts 2/?

Discussion on "Star Wars - Jedi: Fallen Order". First post here, spoilers and lengthy rambling after the jump.

Honestly, I love this box art so much purely for the facts that 1) I made sure to remove that poncho the instant I could because the game's cloth dynamic rendering had it flailing about wildly as if it were trying to attack the universe through sheer defiance of physics in every cutscene. And 2) see that alien dude on the left with a pistol? In-game, he's an utter coward who never once participates in anything remotely resembling violence and sure as hell never wields a gun. It just reminds me of how Kirby is always given angry eyebrows in the US because marketing people are fucking stupid and think players won't be drawn to the game with an abjectly cute mascot.

So! The story.

As mentioned in my previous post, "Fallen Order" basically wants to tell a Found Family tale about a ragtag group of remnants who leave behind their previous lives and forge a new future together. We have our main character Cal Kestis; a former Padawan who survived Order 66 and has been in hiding for a handful of years. Cere Junda; a former Jedi who's cut herself off from The Force, Greez Dritus; a gambling addict pilot with a troubled past he's trying to leave behind, and BD-1; an annoyingly named but utterly lovable Droid who is far and away the best character in the entire damn game. There's also Nightsister Merrin; the presumably last survivor of the Nightsisters and potentially Cal's love interest, but she basically only shows up in the last 10 minutes of the game and doesn't get a lot of screentime despite being presented as a major part of the cast.

The game takes place a handful of years after the purge of the Jedi in Order 66, where both Cal and Cere's core character thrust is tied into. Cal was a child who survived only due to his master sacrificing his life to save him and has been wracked with guilt and PTSD ever since. Cere, on the other hand, unintentionally abandoned her own Padawan and other younglings, directly leading to their death, corruption by the Dark Side, and almost falling to the Dark Side herself. The bulk of the narrative throughout the game is dealing with the relationship these two have with one another, coming to terms with their own trauma, and moving forward from there. Meanwhile, the overall plot itself focuses around finding a Holocron that has a map and list of Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy, which the gang can use to rebuild the Jedi Order while also keeping it - and thus the children - out of The Empire's hands. The whole series of events culminates in a big showdown between Cere's former Padawan whom she abandoned and became corrupted into an Inquisitor, Cal contending with his own guilt, and the decision on whether or not the gang has the right to interfere with the Force-sensitive children's lives and potentially put them in danger if another purge were to occur.

On paper, it's a solid enough story. The actual execution leaves something to be desired.

Something I absolutely hate in games (which has become frustratingly abundant in recent years) is the illusion of choice. If a player is presented with choosing A, B, or C, that decision should matter. Which path is taken should have impact, consequence, and change the course of the story. If all three routes converge back together at the same outcome regardless of what you picked, then your choice never mattered at all. "Fallen Order' suffers from this. There are fairly sporadic points in the game where you're given the option to choose how Cal will reply to a given conversation, or whether or not to take a certain action, but it doesn't matter at all. The conversation's outcome nor the overall story isn't affected by your choice (or even if you bother to have the conversation at all), and the any time you try to do something other than what the game wants you to do, it'll just reset itself endlessly until you cooperate. You have no choice in the matter, but the game makes it appear as if you do to emulate your involvement.

I absolutely hate this in games. If a game presents you with choices, then your choices should have consequences. Your input should matter. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a linear, plot-driven game where the player has no direct input on the narrative. If anything, that gives the story even greater opportunities to shine because it allows the writers and directors to be in full control of the presentation, characterization, and story.

At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, this is very much a "back in my day!" sort of situation where older games wouldn't shy away from simply locking a player out of content if they chose a certain path. If you pick A, you don't get to see what happens down B or C. If you want to join the Jets, you don't get to join the Sharks. If you want to see what lies down those other routes, then replay the game and make different decisions. Sometimes it was a specific design choice, other times it was a way to handle hardware/programming restrictions. But there's a big notion these days in particular where there's a desire to make sure the player sees all the game's content up front. I anecdotally chalk it up to an increase in non-gamers entering into video game development at management level and making design decisions they're not qualified for, but that's just my own take. Like, I understand the thought process behind it. "We have all this content, so we want to make it a selling point and ensure the player gets to see all of it! If they play our game and miss a bunch of stuff, they might bitch at us and cause reviews". I get it, I do. But it's also bullshit because it directly harms the final product. If a game is good, players will replay it ad nauseum for ages beyond release. So they're going to see all the content one way or another. When the "we have to let the player access all content up front" mind set is in effect, it means the player's choices ultimately don't matter and the resulting abundance of content is quantity rather than quality.

In the case of "Fallen Order", your choices don't matter one bit and it's not even out of a case of accessing content. For some reason the developers put in this vestigial, pointless façade of a dialogue tree and choice system when the game frankly would've been far stronger if it had just been left out entirely. Developers have to invest one way or another. Either make it a fully narrative-driven game and tell a solid story, or make it a player-driven game and put in the effort to make the player's choices matter. Especially in a Star Wars game, as RPGs in this franchise have historically have Light/Dark Side choices, character deaths, and alternate endings based on your decisions. A big part of "Fallen Order"'s story is characters contending with the risk of falling to the Dark Side because of their trauma, but the game itself never actually gives the player any chance to explore that at all. It's a huge missed opportunity either way.

I think that's where a lot of the story's trouble comes from in the end. It's a lot of build up on a good idea that fizzles out and goes nowhere. Cal spends the entire game getting to a point where he's ready to move on, and then the game ends. Cere comes to terms with her past mistakes and tries to redeem her fallen Padawan, only for said fallen Padawan to be killed abruptly and completely cut off that entire story thread. Greez's past coming back to haunt him is shoe-horned in randomly and never goes anywhere. Merrin doesn't have enough time on screen to matter. There are three major villains throughout the game who are just cast aside casually and with no lingering impact for ever having been there. The biggest final boss, who has been the core antagonist and a major point of emotional conflict for the entire game, is discarded with no resolution because this is a Star Wars game and we just can't have one that doesn't feature Darth Vader sweeping in to steal the spotlight.

It's just... ugh. There's potential here. There's obvious, glowing moments of potential where things could've been developed into something really impressive if they were just given the opportunity. It feels like a huge waste and the end result is just a "meh" game that doesn't go anywhere, doesn't contribute to the setting, and could very easily be dismissed entirely from the franchise with absolutely no impact.

[fransartcrap]

Sil, Ven, Gillian, Gorou, Richard, Keiler, Augie because I don't see them in your tags ;0

Oh my god– okalso, Sil is in my tags! But there’s not a whole lot of posts with him.O H K A  Y . .  . putting these under a readmore because L O  RD

Full Name: Sil PoisontongueGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Arabic & gold ancestry DragonbornBirthplace and Birthdate: someplace-his-clan-lived & August 21stGuilty Pleasures: b o o b i e sPhobias: being used, being abandoned, failure, large rats and similar thingsWhat They Would Be Famous For: being rude to their friends, alternatively, blowing their friends up, along with themselves, with a Rod of Wonder on accidentWhat They Would Get Arrested For: family related drama :^)OC You Ship Them With: Aermire, Augustine, and Gillian outside of the campaign he’s in. Temp ship with Limerick (a treasure hunter antag shithead) since he needed character development trauma yaaaayOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Limerick, because he’d definitely do it if it meant he got Sil’s moneyFavorite Movie/Book Genre: romantic comedies or mysteriesLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: he’ll tolerate most anything, except extremely long things with a slow plot… or giant magic ratsTalents and/or Powers: poison breath, turning into a dragon, sorceryWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s fashionable and pretty good looking, he’s fairly entertaining, he has/had a lot of wealth, he’s good at magic stuff, literally a dragonWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he doesn’t know shit about living on his own, he’s vain and gets angry and upset about his clothes being ruined or getting dirty, he’s snobby and judgmentalHow They Change: they lose everything they have and (currently) don’t know where any family they may have left are, they learn how to Get Shit Done, they get actual friends and learn from them, as a whole they become more thoughtful and open mindedWhy You Love Them: Sil is a fun and stubborn character, and I love thinking of scenarios with him. He reacts very dramatically and is very over the top about everything. Also, noodle. 

Full Name: Ven PoisontongueGender and Sexuality: male & homosexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Arabic & gold ancestry DragonbornBirthplace and Birthdate: someplace-his-clan-lived & November 9thGuilty Pleasures: splurging on sweets, particularly fruit ice creamsPhobias: being used, being robbed, drowning+deep waterWhat They Would Be Famous For: their delivery services probably (Ven is a traveling merchant)What They Would Get Arrested For: hiding wanted fugitivesOC You Ship Them With: none in particular atm, but he also had a temp ship with LimerickOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Sil or Triv (grandfather on mother’s side) but Triv is dead and can’t try to kill him anymoreFavorite Movie/Book Genre: romance or sci-fiLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: most horror stuff, he’s a big chickenTalents and/or Powers: poison breath, turning into a dragon, a bit of sorcery, marketing skillsWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s really friendly, big strong softie, he’s also very wealthy, travels a lot and has lots of street smarts, he knows what’s legit and what’s not on the marketWhy Someone Might Hate Them:“boyfriend stealing ho”, he’s kind of super imposing, he’s good at playing the market, he’s the bastard child of his clanHow They Change: they eventually make an effort to cut off the toxic relationships they have, and then work on mending their relationship with their half-brother, Sil, since he’s the only family he ever really cared about since he was disowned by his mother’s side of the familyWhy You Love Them: they’re a real sweetheart, and only really ever mean to do good, but they have rotten luck

Full Name: Gillian CallawayGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Greek & Half- ElfBirthplace and Birthdate: somewhere out at sea & April 26thGuilty Pleasures: buying foods or drinks for random strangersPhobias: being tied down, various bad luck superstitions, falling to their deathWhat They Would Be Famous For: not taking up their mother’s position as a merchant ship fleet captainWhat They Would Get Arrested For: stealing things, most likely books, small musical instruments, and foodOC You Ship Them With: SilOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Limerick, he was kicked out of Gill’s mother’s fleet because of Gill ratting him out on questionable motives and actionsFavorite Movie/Book Genre: fantasy or romanceLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: marriage and not travelingTalents and/or Powers: sailing and managing ships, playing instruments and singing, some illusionary and enchantment magicWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s very down-to-earth and has a serene air about him, he’s friendly and open minded, he has that Dashing Pirate look, loves travelingWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he’s flighty and doesn’t like the idea of commitment, he’s not very good at focusing on certain things for a long time, he has a habit of stealing things he really really really wants but doesn’t have the money forHow They Change: they have a lot of self confidence and self worth problems, which starts to change after meeting Sil, and later Ven, who each encourage him and help him work past a lot of obstacles he encountersWhy You Love Them: Gil is very relaxed and overall he’s quite content. He feels like a wholesome character, and just enjoys taking care of his plants and traveling at sea

Full Name: Gorou “War Bat” OshiroGender and Sexuality: male & pansexualPronouns: he/him or they/themEthnicity/Species: Asian & Tiefling (DnD) Oni (Gaia)Birthplace and Birthdate: A medium sized town (DnD) Aekea (Gaia) & November 14thGuilty Pleasures: making (annoying) rhythmic tapping noises, and smashing stuff with his macePhobias: being ostracized, failureWhat They Would Be Famous For: SMASHWhat They Would Get Arrested For: WRONG SMASHOC You Ship Them With: Richard (Gaia)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: his friend Alice, but it’d actually probably not be intentional so..Favorite Movie/Book Genre: comedy or supernaturalLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: evil antagonist monsters are evil because they’re monstersTalents and/or Powers: he’s pretty skilled in carpentry, pretty skilled in cooking, great at using a mace and at fist fighting, he has dark visionWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s optimistic and easy-going, he loves cooking so he takes picking and making the best foods seriously, he’s pretty cute, he loves chatting with people and is very friendly and polite, he’s 6ft tallWhy Someone Might Hate Them: his race isn’t the most well liked by others, he’s sometimes very very slow making decisions to the point of frustration or negative consequences, he’s 6ft tallHow They Change: They used to be very quiet and asocial, shying away from company and interacting with others and preferring to observe from afar or work by themselves. They took up learning life skills, and started to open up little by little from lots of events with them being set aside for discussions with their mentors. Presently, they’re very level-headed and a sort of peace-keeper, and much more talkative and friendly.Why You Love Them: Gorou is one of my few foodie loving characters, and reminds me of how great it is to just relax and have a good bit of food. He’s a chill character too, and is open minded and thoughtful. He also likes bright teal/cyans, which is a color I like a lot.

Full Name: Richard “Rooster” BelleroseGender and Sexuality: male & pansexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: French and English & VampireBirthplace and Birthdate: Barton & July 19thGuilty Pleasures: scaring the shit out of people as a batPhobias: bright sunlight, vampire hunters, has mild OCD, being aloneWhat They Would Be Famous For: being a vampire, alternatively, being an assholeWhat They Would Get Arrested For: murder probablyOC You Ship Them With: Gorou (Gaia)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Alice or Kir (both friends of his who also fight with him a lot)Favorite Movie/Book Genre: sci-fi or mysteryLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when the female character turns into a damsel because they meet a male love interest who takes overTalents and/or Powers: Vampire stuff mostly, he can turn into a bat and a crowWhy Someone Might Love Them: they’re pretty sharp, always well dressed, has an eye for clean-cut aesthetics, has a pretty big store of money, literally a vampireWhy Someone Might Hate Them: really picky and snobby, has a terrible sense of humor, he likes to spook people, literally a vampireHow They Change: Richard used to be power hungry and an epitome of snobbery, but decades of being alone and having old friends cut you off because of how you act makes you think about things a lot. He tried a lot over a long stretch of time to educate himself on being more open minded and polite to others instead of taking them granted and belittling them. He’s secretly very sensitive about his friends, despite seeming upset with them and arguing with them. He always goes back and talks things over and admits to when he messes up now instead of blaming it on the other person.Why You Love Them: They’re a dumb vampire man and I originally made him as a horrible filler character but now he’s just fun to poke fun at with my other characters. In the set of OCs he’s in, he’s also the oldest and knows the most history and science wise, so he’s just a big angsty nerd. He’s just also a posh vampire.

Full Name: Keiler BlancheGender and Sexuality: male & asexual and biromanticPronouns: he/him or they/themEthnicity/Species: French and Irish & humanBirthplace and Birthdate: ??? & April 18thGuilty Pleasures: getting high only to eat food he cooksPhobias: has social anxiety, being attacked for his hobbies, worries he might accidentally kill someone with his potionsWhat They Would Be Famous For: all the weed he growsWhat They Would Get Arrested For: all… the weed……. he grows……OC You Ship Them With: Augie (??????even I don’t know)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nobody. Yet.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: fantasyLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: redemption arcs for characters that were constantly toxic and ended up being instantly forgivenTalents and/or Powers: basic spells and enchantments, potion brewing, herbologyWhy Someone Might Love Them: they’re very polite, very calm and kind, he’ll hook you up with some dank weed my dudeWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he’s the weirdo on the block, questionable activities, he sets a “less desirable” example for is peers, his familiar was actually another witch guyHow They Change: Keiler was very unmotivated in most everything he did until he got a cat. The cat made him a better person. But then the cat also turned out to be an animagus, which was really awkward. He made him live in his backyard for a week.Why You Love Them: They’re a very whimsical and soft, sleepy sort of character. They remind me of sitting in a small cabin kitchen in the morning with the sunrise peeking through an ivy-bordered window looking out over plant filled garden and porch. He’s got a nice serene feeling.

Full Name: Augie Maes/BlancheGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Belgian and English & humanBirthplace and Birthdate: ??? & June 5thGuilty Pleasures: crumpling paper and plastic, and being a catPhobias: snakes, most large animals, knives and sharp cutting objectsWhat They Would Be Famous For: being a cat for 8 years What They Would Get Arrested For: being a cat for 8 years instead of paying for their classes and rentOC You Ship Them With: Keiler (???????still don’t know)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nobody. Yet.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: comedyLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: sidekicks dieing for main character developmentTalents and/or Powers: basic spells and enchantments, transfiguration, can turn into a cat (specifically cornish rex)Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re very friendly and have a great sense of humor, they’re bright and cheerful, great listener, supportive and affectionate, usually smells like plantsWhy Someone Might Hate Them: they like pranks, knocking things down for no particular reason is a habit now, tracks dirt into everywhere, usually smells like plantsHow They Change: Augie uses his transfiguration skills to hide from his class debt and leech off his classmate Keiler for a long while, pretending to be a stray cat that showed up on the doorstep. After spending a few years with Keiler, Augie started feel guilty, and eventually revealed to Keiler that he in fact not a cat and had been using him for free food, housing, and classes. Keiler of course kicked him out (temporarily), and later Augie and Keiler worked together to figure out how the two of them can get Augie out of debt. Currently Augie lives with Keiler as his roomate and best friend, and helps him with house work and chores more often. Why You Love Them: Stupid fucking cat guy.