#i have other complaints but this is the irredeemable stuff for me

[fipindustries]

scott pilgrim vs the canon

boy you better have this tagged against spoilers because otherwise this is going to ruin a lot of stuff. all im going to say is, this show cannot be watched without having read the comic first so. keep that in mind.

scott pilgrim was the seminal work of my generation, it was the thing that defined us and the internet to a large extent after it came out in full back in 2010. now we are all here back again, in our late 20's, 30's and even 40's to take a second look at this franchise after everything that has been going on.

and this franchise had things to say.

i went in expecting scott pilgrim the comic, this time more lavishly (and faithfully) adapted than the movie could have ever been. suffice to say i was not dissapointed at all because i didnt get that in any way what so ever.

this is in some senses the modern cannibals of the scott pilgrim franchise, perhaps less cynical and bitter. this is an examination of this story from a slightly askew angle. this is a what if that takes itself to another level.

those who say that this "feels like fan fic" are half right, but if so i want to see what fan fics they are reading because i never saw a fanfic that take the world and its characters so wildly out of context, put them in outrageos new situations they would have never been in, do some genuine crack slash ships and yet still feel so genuine, so true to the original. just because none of what is happening here happened in the comic that doesnt mean these arent the characters we know and love and that this isnt the world and the mood and the vibe that that we all grew up with.

the brian lee o malley style is so incredibly hard to capture. its this wonderful mix of over the top anime/cartoony action mixed with incredibly grounded, down to earth, super chill vibe. we've seen the wonders that came out during the 2010's made by other artists inspired by it or directly trying to emulate it, and yet none of them were able to capture it quite right and this show is the bona fide real deal. it made me remember why scott pilgrim captured me so much back when i read it as a teenager, its a mood impossible to reproduce and yet reproduced all the same here in this show.

wonderful.

the animation is of course out of this world. the voice acting could do some work but im willing to let it slide considering that they went with the original cast from the movie.

this story feels almost like an answer to the observation many people made at the end of the comic and specially the end of the movie. that scott and ramona were obviously not meant to last. that they were still too young and too messed up as people and the relationship was probably going to end badly. the show examines all that with raw honestly and concludes at the end that, sure, maybe this is not going to work out. but that doesnt mean they shouldnt give it their best shot.

as i said at the beggining, this has to be understood as an addenum to the comic. it starts as an adaptation, it lulls you into thinking its a wacky what if and ends up being a covert sequel. with that in mind, this show understands that you already understand and know who scott is and what his deal is, so it chooses to focus squarely on ramona and the exes, and let me just say. the exes are the fucking break out stars of this show. i love every single one of them. the fact that each of them get their own little mini arc and a chance to either redeem or at the very least become genuenly sympathetic was absolutely brilliant. these guys are amazing.

this story in general just presents such a feel good, likeable, chill athmosfere, where even villains who seemed irredeemable can still have just a calm conversation with the hero and just chat for a while. share a coffee, wind down.

if i had one single complaint at all is that i was a little sad by the implication that scott wont learn his lesson at the end of the original story and will continue to be kind of a clueless immature douche. but it is tempered by the fact that this story still has a lot of sympathy for young scott and it makes the case that the guy still very much deserves a chance.

so yeah

loved it, great work, it tried to do something super weird and it somehow succeeded. good job 9/10

[youlooklikeabeeandilikebees]

I was surprised to see you put george in absolute best - did you like him the whole time??? I had moments where I loved him but he ended up being too irredeemable for me so im curious to hear your thoughts

he's always been one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite character! a character being entertaining is way more important to me than their likability and I am almost always entertained by george. take owen for example: i absolutely hate him and don't find him likable because he is a smug murderous abuser but i find him very entertaining. the show has lots of great villains who are awful people but we all love them because they are charismatic and fun to watch. I feel the same way about george.

he brings a lot of the show's humor and i like his awkwardness. his nerdyness and intelligence contrasts well with his monstrous side and i like seeing his progression in season 1 towards becoming more accepting of himself. i will also admit that out of the 3 supernaturals in the show, i find werewolves more interesting than vampires and ghosts. i know a lot of fans of the show are more into the vampire stuff and i like it too but i just like werewolf storylines more anyway so that's definitely part of why i like george.

in season 2 we see how much george was affected both by killing herrick and by his relationship with nina falling apart in addition to his guilt about infecting her. even if he's not always at his most likable throughout that season we see character progression. a boring character is stagnant and doesn't change. seeing a character change and grow (for better or worse) makes them more dynamic. a character with flaws is more interesting than a character who is perfect and never does anything wrong. there are characters on the show who i find likable but mostly boring (like hugh or sykes).

i didn't put season 2 george on a lower tier like i did with mitchell because i was still entertained by george in that season, whereas i find mitchell's s2 vampire king storyline one of the least interesting storylines in the whole show (sorry anyone who loves it, just not for me).

HOWEVER i do wish the show had addressed him cheating on nina with daisy a bit more since nina never actually finds out about it (although he heavily implies it in that scene in episode 3x05(?) and i always thought it was weird that nina never confronted him because she is very smart and i would think she'd be able to figure it out). that felt like a totally unresolved aspect of their relationship and seems like a common complaint about george's character. i do find it kind of funny that most fandoms view adultery as worse than murder since i see people criticize george for cheating but never see people criticize mitchell for the box tunnel 20. im guessing it's because mitchell is seen as unable to control himself and will inevitably fall back into his dark side whereas george knew what he was doing (but i do wonder if it being post-full-moon when george cheated on nina was a factor in that decision with the wolf and its more primal tendencies influencing him more than other times of the month. im not justifying george's actions here but it's just interesting that i never see that possibility discussed while mitchell is granted more leeway for what is a much worse crime).

my least favorite version of george is in 4x01 and i agree with what other people have said about it feeling like a weird one-off episode that doesn't feel like the show we know. the whole episode feels like it only exists to kill off george but not before butchering his likability. he's just a husk of himself and his complete detachment from his daughter to the point of not even naming her is really upsetting. i get that grief can do that but i wish the writers would've went a different direction. i would've much preferred them killing off both nina and george in this episode so that we could've seen them parenting together while also dealing with losing mitchell. george comes off as sort of selfish to me in the way that his grief for nina completely overshadow annie's grief for both nina AND mitchell. the episode doesn't leave enough room for annie's feelings. I wanted to see him and annie coming together, not them being driven apart because he barely lets anyone else into the nursery. so he definitely loses likability for me here but i think a lot of that is that it's just an awkward episode that's really more of a stepping stone between 3x08 and 4x02.

i do find it really interesting how the fandom seems to criticize george more than mitchell. i think mitchell sacrificing himself because he knows he will never be able to control himself forever allows him to be redeemed in the end and he is given a heroic send off. george ALSO gets a heroic send off by saving his daughter and killing griffin but for whatever reason people don't seem to view him as redeeming himself as much as mitchell did.

so i guess my answer to your question is that george is still one of my favorites despite where his character ended up because:

he's very funny

i like werewolves and the contrast of his personality to what he is

russell tovey is a great actor who is good at both comedic and dramatic moments

i like his relationships with nina, annie, and mitchell

his character evolves and has ups and downs throughout the seasons

most of all, i am consistently entertained by him

[giantchasm]

Character Ask Game:

Susie 1, 7, 8, 23, and 26 (free question is, who would she hate the most out of the other dream friends?)

Taranza 2, 5, 7, 8, and 23

Marx 22, 26 (free question is, who would be his favorite prank target?)

Apologies if this is too many in one ask.

SUSIE:

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Why WOULDN'T I like Susie? She's my special girl. Honestly, the story of how I really fell for her is kind of funny TBH. When I first got into the fandom, even after playing Robobot, I didn't pay her TOO much mind. I gave her some thought, especially in the context of my Underworld Friends AU and her father's history with her, but it was nowhere near the levels of brainrot I have now.

But then one day something just kind of... clicked for me. I was like "Hey! Taranza (Who I was also not that invested in at the time) and Susie have pretty similar stories. I bet they'd make really good friends. I should write something about that!"

And so I did. (Although I never technically finished it). And I got super invested in those two, both as individuals and as a duo. It's interesting just how intertwined my love for them is. They're characters I got invested in simultaneously. I was a Taranza & Susie fan before I was a Taranza or Susie fan, and I think that's fun.

But of course, with time, I've come to actually love both characters more in an individualized context. That was just the thing that initially instigated the madness for me.

I love the tragedy to Susie's story. I love her complicated backstory and her even more complicated relationship with her father. I love all of the weird body horror cybernetics stuff I can explore with her and just how easy it is to depict her brain as like... exceptionally weird. I love the fact that she retains some whimsy even despite the horrors. I love the fact that she's one of the only Kirby characters with a gun.

I tend to have a soft spot for morally gray female characters who a lot of people have a weird distaste for, so I was always probably going to love her TBH. It's just in my nature.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I answered this one in another ask, so have this GIF of Susie posing cutely over the word "Fatherless" instead of an actual answer.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I could give the obvious answer of "people are way too hard on her and while I understand some discomfort considering the themes of Robobot people definitely interpret her as way more evil and irredeemable than the relatively lighthearted, ultimately hopeful children's' game series ever intended," but that feels like too much of a copout, so let me talk about something else people to.

Or... don't do, I guess?

I hate hate hate when people like... make Wave 3 friend group content and leave her out then slot like... Marx or whoever in instead. Like I know there's no technical canonical friendship between pretty much any Kirby characters, and therefore there's not an actual dynamic between her, Magolor and Taranza people are Ignoring, but all the same it feels like there can be a deliberate attempt from people to avoid wanting to include Susie in their content.

And I think I'd feel differently if these people were portraying the Super Popular Male Characters as hanging out with other girls like the Mage Sisters or whoever instead (They're also technically a part of Wave 3, you know!), but they don't. It's not overwhelmingly common, to be clear, but there's definitely still a Thing where people will exclusively focus on male characters and making them interact with each other instead of bothering to incorporate female characters into any of their group dynamics. And I guess that's more of a complaint about wider fandom sexism as a whole than just Susie herself, but... idk, man.

I guess I'm just saying that if the only Kirby characters you're invested in and make content of interacting is the guys because the girls are either all "too evil" like Susie (Is she that evil compared to her peers?) or "too underwritten" like the Mage Sisters and pretty much the rest of the female cast (It's Kirby. Everyone is underwritten), then you probably have some unconscious biases to address and maybe try to rectify. Because I don't like it and it annoys me.

Putting the rest of this under a cut because it became a long post. I am a wordy person.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

I have quite a few, but here are some of my favorites

The BESTIES

#Women

What remains the funniest image on the planet (Susie & Taranza grieving feat. Kirby and the cake a rat stole from him once)

26. Who would she hate the most out of the other Dream Friends?

Mark. His obnoxious whimsy drives her mad.

(Obvious answer aside, I think she also doesn't get along with DMK. And I think she has a very contentious relationship with both the Mage Sisters and Elfilin at first, although she eventually gets over both. (I know Elfilin isn't technically a Dream Friend, but to me he is. He's like... a part of the group, y'know? The only reason why he's not a Dream Friend is Forgotten Land didn't exist at the time Star Allies came out. He's a Dream Friend in all but name.))

TARANZA:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Taranza has approximately two traits in canon, however, I love them both. This guy is INSUFFERABLY pompous, dramatic and prideful, and this guy LOVES HIS EVIL WIFE. He even has a tragic backstory. What more could one possibly ask for?

Also he's just... like, really cute. He has maybe my favorite design in Kirby. That helps too.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

As much as I bitched about how some people don't do it earlier in this post, there are just as many people who do utilize the Wave 3 group dynamic to its full potential and it's always some of my absolute favorite Taranza content. Buddy's at his best when he's with his pals.

Also, call me a basic bitch, but I still think the divorce/dead wife jokes are funny. Like... not if overdone/made into all that he is, but in a vacuum? Yeah, that shit's hilarious, sorry.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Sanding him down to make him a palpable softboy. I think Taranza is ultimately a good person, but I think he can have an ego sometimes (Yes, even despite his trauma and any insecurities said trauma may have left him with) and can get caught up in things. He's willing to do anything for the people he loves to a dangerous degree, regardless of the harm it causes anyone else. If I see one more person portray him as an innocent victim in Triple Deluxe as opposed to a nuanced, morally gray character I'm going to go outside with a hammer and start smashing tomatoes with a rock. He DESERVES to have flaws.

Also I hate how many people either make his entire personality Sectonia or neglect her importance to him entirely. The latter annoys me more thought because I am famously a #womanhead. It makes me so fucking angry when I see people like... completely ignore his history with her and one-dimensionally reduce her to either his evil abuser or a perfect angel of a love interest he needs to Get Over so he can mash faces with another character they like more. I'm not saying I hate the idea of Taranza moving on, because I don't, but the sheer disrespect most people show Sectonia with the way they write it is like. Staggering. Do better.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

All Taranza images are good Taranza images, but here are some particularly charming ones

This one, which really highlights whatever the hell is wrong with him

World's most precious Muppet creature

And capable of so much unrestrained joy

MARX:

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

I don't actually really read fanfic (I'm more of just a writer), but when it comes to Marx depictions in general, I don't like how most people tend to take him too far in one direction or the other. I feel like people either make him some kind of #lolrandom complete sociopath who only lives to like... exist as a plot device to torture other characters in a way that's exceptionally unfunny or as a sweet, just kind of goofy guy who's not actually that bad, both of which are boring. My favorite Marx depictions portray him as someone who presents himself as a deliberately provocative edgelord but cares deep down and really just wants attention.

26. Who would be his favorite prank target?

Dedede, Bandee, Coo, Susie, Elfilin, and, of course, Kirby, all make excellent targets depending on what exactly he's planning to do.

[blueberry-macaron]

I do tend to believe that's there's just...a lot we're not seeing that is more "yikes". What we do see is relatively low-key but then I'm reminded of the animator they had on staff that would do drawings of Marinette undressed, or even the comic series where somehow Marinette ends up in a dumpster in New York naked. That's *without* mentioning all of the story issues and character choices. This could be the most cursed series since Glee lol.

I totally get that! Astruc gives me a very werid vibe as well. Like how he refuses to even think about people's complaints how that comic panel with the guy named "ghetto blaster" might have been racist, or how he sees no problem with sexualising Marinette (I remember a tweet of him where he showed a little drawing of Marinette in a bikini that he apparently keeps in his wallet, which... big yikes). I don't understand what is going on inside his head and just to make clear, I do not respect this man.

What I meant with my comment on that one post (I assume your ask refers to that) was that the thing about the girls in the show being based on his exes is a rumor and I just don't think it's a good idea to treat those as facts. There's enough wrong with Astruc, we don't need to make stuff up to call him out for, u know? I think making up rumors like that would lead to Astruc (and probably also his fans) taking all those critizisms even less serious, in a way of "those damn haters pulled those accusation right out of their ass, why would I listen to any of their other complaints". I just think it gets nobody anywhere🤷🏻‍♀️

But yeah, whatever his reasons might be, we can still agree that the show isn't feminist at all when the girl characters are treated worse compared to guy characters. The misogyny is reflected in the show's writing. Marinette being the number one punching bad and the reason that everything goes wrong all the time while Adrien is a sunshine boy who can never do wrong is misogynistic. Kagami being mean to Mari while Luka is chill with Adrien is misogynistic. Chloe being portrayed as an irredeemable bitch while Gabriel, a fucking terrorist, will probably get away with everything and will probably be redeemed is misogyny. Regardless if any exes of Astruc have to do with it, it sucks and the show should be called out for it.

[foxwritesstuffsometimes]

(Hey guys, apologies if you’ve seen this already, I’ve been told that some people haven’t had access to the post so I thought it might be best to completely repost it, sorry for the inconvenience ^^’)

In defence of Billy Hargrove (part three: the duffers and the end)

I do not like the duffer brothers. That may not come as a surprise considering my views on the show, but I don’t believe Billy is the only character they failed, and I’ve got a lot more complaints than just with what they did to him. But at the end of the day, right now we’re not talking about their Billy, although I’ll go into their interpretations of the character further on, we’re talking about dacres.

Dacre Montgomery did far more for the character of Billy Hargrove than the duffers ever did. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have gotten the deep, tortured character that a lot of us have come to love, without him, the duffers would’ve made Billy out to be even more of a villain. And I’ll forever appreciate him for that. Some of my complaints are still rooted within the character, but far less of them exist if it hadn’t been for dacre pouring his soul into the character and script. He turned a character that could’ve easily been completely irredeemable into a character that felt real in a way not a lot of other characters these days do.

The duffers, if they’d had their own way, would have turned Billy into a real monster. You can tell that they wanted to make him a lot more one sided than he turned out to be, in interviews they described him as an “irredeemable monster” and they killed him off the first chance they got. In my opinion, their writing is lazy, and their takes on victims of abuse, are frankly disgusting. I may have enjoyed the show, but I cannot say I have a speck of respect for the writers. Billy was 17. And calling him irredeemable made me extremely upset. At such a young age, we are not fully developed, we are growing and learning, and Billy being in a position like that so long, he could’ve easily been redeemed if the duffers had given enough of a shit to do so.

On another note, the other people that I have to acknowledge in the shaping of Billy Hargrove are his fans and the fans of harringrove in general. You have all created such a beautiful range of art and writing within the fanbase, and you’ve all been so lovely and accommodating, you’ve bought me a lot of comfort in a space that’s pretty negative to people who sympathise with Billy. The only reason I’m anywhere near the fanbase anymore is because of our little section of it, and for that I’m grateful to all of you. The antis don’t know what their missing, but neither do they deserve it, so karma is real i guess.

(Thank you all for following along, I appreciate your interactions, but this is all I have to say on the subject for now. Let me know what you think, I’m always happy to have a discussion about others opinions on stuff like this that I’m passionate about <3)

[eyrieofsynapses]

I wasn't planning to split my "hey, so you're gonna see some Star Wars stuff around soon, but I'm not properly rejoining the fandom" into two posts, but here we are. Mostly so that I don't subject all of you to a long explanation.

So: like I said over here, a couple good friends of mine convinced me to watch The Mandalorian, and it's all going downhill into the trash heaps of Star Wars from there. Once I've gotten to a couple other things--which might take some time--I may reblog some GIFs and possibly metas.

Here's the thing: Yes, I might put stuff up. No, I am not getting into the fandom proper again. And I do mean again--as in, I was in it around four or five years ago, quite a while before this blog existed. (You can look at my Ao3 for proof, but... uh... maybe don't. You know how it is with old fic.)

For the sake of clarity, and also because I kind of want to talk about it, I'm going to explain why.

For reference: I've seen all of the movies. I've also seen The Clone Wars up until the newest season. I watched all of Star Wars: Rebels, and that remains my favorite. (No, I've not seen The Bad Batch, so I don't know everything about what they did with Caleb.) I'm also fond of Rogue One despite my dislike of tragic endings. Aside from that, my knowledge extends to a scattered few books, comics, and a few other things. I have, only as of the last few days, finished The Mandalorian's second season; the rest of my knowledge is largely older.

As usual, my attention veered away and I hit my overload point. That's normal, by the way. But there's some other reasons.

First: Star Wars deals a lot with tragedy. I've increasingly found I don't much like too many sad endings, especially when they feel unnecessary. I like my characters whole and safe and happy at the end of the day, okay? Beat them up in between all you like, but... look, I like happy endings. That’s a me thing, by the way, not a flaw in Star Wars itself (mostly). If you like tragedy, go for it! I’m just not a fan.

Second: The Rise of Skywalker poisoned a lot for me. Between that and the way Disney's been beating the shit out of the MCU, I figured the newer Star Wars shows were rotten cash grabs and nothing more. It wasn't until my friends lured me into watching The Mandalorian that I realized otherwise. Somehow, despite Disney's hell-bent obsession with killing everything it touches, there's some good stuff coming out of Lucasfilm yet. (For now.) I am duly impressed.

Third, and most importantly: Whatever TRoS and co. didn't poison, the fandom often did. I've met a lot of awesome Star Wars people. I've also seen a lot of toxicity, especially online.

I cannot tell you how much "oh, this sucked because of A, B, C, and D, and this part is irredeemable, and I can't believe anyone could stand this bit--what do you mean you liked that? Fuck you!" stuff I've seen around. Mind you, I like constructive story critique. But much of the time it was just complaining, with zero positivity or genuine love. (It isn't just Star Wars, by the way; I see a massive amount of this in the DC fandom too. There’s others. It’s common in many large fandoms, I think.)

I get it, it's fair to rant about stuff you don't like. I do that too. I’m not going to say I won’t keep doing it here and there, because I’d be lying. Hell, I have a lot of bones to pick with Star Wars. I can and have torn TRoS apart. But it's one thing to do that, and another entirely to claim that you enjoy the thing while only ever hating on it. In particular, I'm sick of seeing people coming into spaces where people are enjoying the content, and then spoiling it rotten by only ever complaining. That was what really got to me: being in places where people were meant to be enjoying it, only to see endless complaints about everything bad.

That was the thing I really disliked about the fandom while I was in it--there was this constant cycle of people saying they enjoyed some piece of Star Wars media, then turning around and smacking it over and over without ever providing any positive feedback. I'm not here for that. I'm here to smack-talk TRoS, sure, but then talk about a) what went right, b) what could be done better, c) the context of the mistakes and the reason for them, and d) where Star Wars has avoided the same mistakes, because it turns out they've done a lot better elsewhere.

Look, I don't want to hear about every single flaw and nothing else. Media is flawed! That's part of it! Plot holes exist! Problems exist! I get pissed off about them too! I rant with my real-life friends about them all the time! But suspension of disbelief is a thing, and historical context is a thing, and recognizing the fact that writers are human and flawed too is a very important thing. If you've got a problem and you want to say it, say it, tag it, then move the hell on and don't press it on the people who want to enjoy that media for what it is. (Unless those people are being blatantly discriminatory and offensive, in which case, sure, call them out. But don't be an ass about it.)

For the record: I am absolutely down for calling Disney out on its racist/sexist/queerphobic/etc. bullshit. We need to do that, and we need to do it loudly. TRoS fucked up a lot with that, and it deserves to be called out.

But if we're going to do that, we also need to talk about where they went right. We need to talk about how supportive many of the actors were. We need to talk about how Rebels and Rogue One brought in characters of color and treated them right. We need to discuss the importance of Finn and Poe, both for being POC and where their implied romance worked despite its ultimate knock-down. We need to talk about why women like Leia, Rose, Ahsoka, Hera, Sabine, and Jyn--among many others--are good representation. We need to talk about how The Mandalorian and Andor are both led by men of color. We need to talk about the many wonderful platonic relationships in Star Wars. We need to celebrate the good, too.

...er, anyway. I'm gonna hop off the soapbox now.

Basically: I got lucky when I landed in the Leverage fandom and found out how positive a fan space can be, and I don't want to go back to only ever seeing people ragging on my favorite media. Past experience has taught me that the Star Wars fandom does a lot of that. I'm once-bit and twice-shy, so I'm not getting deep in on this. I'm not trawling tags, I'm not getting into arguments, I'm not interacting much at all. If somebody wants to have a positive and constructive conversation, I’m here for it. If I post and someone decides to start an argument for the sake of arguing, I'm blocking and moving on, and that is that.

Anyway. Upward and onward, and all of that. May the Force be with you.

[bellmo15-blog]

Villains In Fiction Act Like Villains? *Gasp!*

So, there was a post I saw on Twitter last night that was poking fun of some of the sillier complaints people have about Disney Star Wars and the post contained screenshots of posts from Ticktok complaining about how certain factions, the Empire in particular, had been depicted in Star Wars media recently and these shots contained a bunch of fickle arguments such as “where is the war in Star Wars” as if people don’t understand that war isn’t all just big explosions and screaming “FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY” at the top of your lungs. You know, it was the stereotypical “Disney Star Wars bad” kinda stuff you’d expect to see at this point. However, there were two particular screen shots in this post that bothered me the most. This shot from opening of The Force Awakens where the First Order assaults the village on Jakku which ends with them all being executed, and another shot from one of the recent episodes of The Bad Batch showing that the Empire has started experimenting on kids with that same episode also showing Cad Bane kidnapping a literal baby.

And these complaints, they got to me. Like they actually got to me and not in a good way. Because ignoring the fact that the sequel trilogy actively goes out of it’s way to show the audience that the First Order is A LOT more brutal than the Empire anyway and this opening assault is a great way of showing that and this wasn’t even the first time in cannon that Cad Bane had kidnaped children, they were acting like the Empire being as evil as it is is a new thing. No it is not! This is the same group of people who killed Luke’s aunt and uncle, blew up an entire planet, tortured Princess Leia for information and would of killed her two if Luke, Han and Chewbacca didn’t show up to save her, Darth Vader killed some of his own men just because they fucked up at their job, blackmailed Lando into luring our heroes into a trap and set up a shield generator on a planet they likely didn’t ask the consent of the local Ewoks beforehand. And let’s not forget the Galactic Empire is also being led by a man who manipulated his best solider from childhood, planned a mass genocide on a group of what’s basically Space Samurai wizards and any Jedi that DID survive often ended up working for this new regime to basically hunt down and kill any Jedi who survived Order 66 and let’s not forget Palpatine basically lied his way into power. The Empire experimenting on children in The Bad Batch is no different from how they acted in the past BEFORE Disney brought the rights to this franchise!

However, this post of the Star Wars fanbase just being the Star Wars fanbase also highlights a bigger issue that extends to all works of fiction. Apparently, we can’t have villains in fiction who are irredeemable assholes that do some really horrible shit anymore. And I really have to wonder, do you people NOT know some of the really horrible shit villains have done in fiction over the years. Do you also know that some of them also have no real motivation to do half the shit they do other than “just cause” or because of “insanity?” This really isn’t a new thing or anything!

Don’t believe me? How about we bring up Green Goblin from the first Sam Rami Spider-Man film? This is a villain who literally becomes a villain though a science experiment gone wrong leading to him going insane and he actively takes joy in the horrible stuff he does. Does he have a reason to continue doing evil shit after killing off the Oscorp executives who screw him over at one point? No. Is he still a joy to watch on screen? Yes!

Or how about Risky Boots from the Shantae series. Does she have any deep or personal or sympathetic reason as to why she does half the shit she does in this series, including kidnapping Shantae’s Uncle, stealing her genie magic out of her, inverting Shantae’s Genie Magic to turn her evil or helping the Empress Siren just for the sake of a ship? As far as we know, no! She just really likes being a pirate and stealing shit save for the one time in the series she had no choice but to work with Shantae to stop the Pirate Master. And that’s fine! Because she’s still an incredibly entertaining villain.

Or what about Bowser from the Super Mario franchise. Does he have any detailed reasons as to why he constantly goes after Princess Peach? No! And yes, there is the Super Mario Bros Movie where he wants to marry Peach but that’s a different cannon altogether anyway.

And what about Commander Tartar from Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion who wanted to commit mass genocide on the entire Inkling and Octoling race just because he wasn’t happy with how they had become the new dominant species on earth and wanted to replace them with a new race?

“But Bellmo, we need our villains to be sympathetic otherwise what’s the point of half the stuff they do.” No no no. You can NOT just sit here and tell me making a villain Sympathetic instantly makes that character likable or justifys half the shit they do. Because even the ones who are do some pretty horrible stuff.

Don’t believe me still? How about Magneto in the X-Men movies? Now one look at this guy and you might think that he has a noble goal. He wants mutants to be respected and the X-Men universe mutants are seen as freaks or monsters. Well guess what, Magneto does some pretty awful shit in these films just for that goal. In the original X-Men he was more than willing to sacrifice Rouge, who casual reminder is ALSO a mutant, just to turn a bunch of people into Mutants despite the fact that we see before this point that it does NOT end well if a normal person get’s forcibly turned into a Mutant. X-2 despite helping to stop a plot to wipe out all mutant on the earth he then ends up turning that plan on its head and try’s to have all non mutants wiped out instead. Last Stand he rally’s a bunch of mutants to his side because of a recent “cure” for mutations and his plan is to literally go to the source of the cure, who is a literal child, and probably kill him two. And that’s not even counting some of the stuff he does in the First-Class saga such as being more than willing to blow up American and Russian boats with mislles, thinking the best way to stop the apocalyptic future we see in Day’s of Future Past is to kill Mystic because her actions in the 70’s lead to what happened and willingly working for Apocalypse because he has nothing left anymore. Yeah, I don’t care how much of an activist for mutant rights Magneto is, if I was a mutant I’d be going straight to the school run by the telepath in a wheelchair. Which is ironic for me to say considering Magneto is arguably one of the best parts of these movies. He’s incredibly well acted and his dialogue with other characters is great to listen two.

“But Gannondorf is a sympathetic villain in Zelda Wind Waker. He had good reason for doing what he did.” Yeah, a sympathetic villain who lied his way into the Hylian Royal family and plunged Hyrule and the Sacred Realm into chaos. And that’s just in the Adult Timeline. Don’t even get me started on how he basically used Zant to try and take over Hyrule again in the Child Timeline or how he actually kills OOT Link in the Downfall timeline.

Look, the point I’m trying to get across with all this rambling is that I don’t get why villains acting like villains is such a shocking thing to people nowadays. What, are we going to complain about Heroes being Heroes next? Villains doing villainous shit isn’t a brand new thing nor do they all have to be sympathy to justify the shit they do either. But then again, we live in an age where media literacy is deader than my hopes for that Sands of Time remake to be finished. I know I said this already a while ago but I swear to God, I will NEVER forgive what a lot of overly critical Youtubers from the 2010’s into now have done to an entire generations ability to consume media.

[personatrash]

Like, maybe it's because I try (mostly in vain) to avoid LB7 spoilers, but I kinda feel like sometimes, people look at what's been datamined or from promotion trailers & drip marketing & think that it's going to be an irredeemable mess of a story with no redeeming qualities & that Nasu should be hung for it because he didnt focus all of his attention on the mobile game instead of the gazillion other things he has to do too, & then they also say to hang Takeuchi because they hate his art & think it's mediocre or whatever even though it actually holds up EXTREMELY well & it makes me wonder like... do you actually like... ENJOY Type Moon properties?

Like, unironically? With no "I hate it because of what it could be" bullshit I've heard used to justify every single last complaint you can think of. Have you EVER seen a Fate & thought "wow! I'm really excited for this to come out" because it feels like all of you just hate play/watch/read fate stuff at this point.

[simstryingtheirbestok]

Non-Sims, CW: anxiety, social media, racism, rape, animated gif (everything we are here to avoid, basically)

I tried joining a Mastodon server and oh my god, no. Absolutely not!

I'll keep it as a follower account, but I never did take well to Twitter and I'm categorically not an extravert and while I do lean pompous, I do also aim to rein that shit in. The idea of making a #hashtag filled #introduction #post about my so-called #interests or my #brand is--it's out of the #question.

I know how to use reddit; for all its faults, which are legion, it suits me. I've been around neckbeards for most of my adult life and I get those miserable bastards. I have also learned how not to take any shit off 'em.

I know how to use this tiny segment of Tumblr; previous forays into it a decade ago, in the social justice space, were not great. Like I don't want to say "toxic," because that was a label that got indiscriminately applied to every tumblr of color at the time by indignant white ladies, and racism by any other name, etc. But two things can be true at once, so the other truth of it was, it was the heyday of "I saw you liked a post by [username] and you should know that 7-1/2 years ago they said [bad shit] and that makes you a trash human, FYI. Everyone please block this person [meaning you, not the original offender] and please, please reblog to save a life."

And you'd be like, but they took a nice photo of a tree though??? I only liked the tree??? I'm fond of birches??? Too bad, you didn't realize they said dumb edgelord stuff on one of the chans back when they were 11, and that makes you wholly irredeemable.

Oh, and then there was the time I used the word "butthurt" and got accused of being pro-rape, and no matter how I protested that I had not understood the term properly and wasn't aware that it meant that--yeah, fun times, especially for someone who's been raped. 🙄

(I genuinely think some of that shit was counterinsurgency, because, well. I also remain unsympathetic to complaints about cancel culture, for the record. Especially because no one has ever actually been canceled.)

The thought of farting out my juvenile opinions on how society should be structured or what have you, in a Twitteresque space--I admit it, I did once think I was making a valuable contribution to society by doing that, but I have since learned that in fact I was an idiot, so--hard pass.

Meanwhile, even just dipping a toe in has ratcheted up my anxiety like no irl encounter ever could, and I include going to the dentist or getting a Pap smear in that. There goes being productive for today. And okay, sure, maybe the six cups of tea I have drunk have also had something to do with that, but mostly I think this is social media anxiety.

Today, that is my excuse for playing my game when I should be doing research. Wilona is not about to beg me for #boosts or hit me with that liKeS d0n'T dO aNyThInG shit.

[tundrainafrica]

Hi Sav,

I want to ask your opinion about aot in general. We know that Aot is a good show and has great stories.

But, do you have any critiques on aot? I'd love to know...

Thank you in advance 😄

Thank you for the ask! I actually am a serial complainer so I LOVE LOVE LOVE answering things like this because I have complaints about a lot of things lmao.

At the same time though, I’m answering this as a Levihan fan.

Occasionally, I would see AOT material and feel this strange disconnect because I think I’ve read and written too much fanfiction that when I actually see AOT material, I’m like ‘wait oh right, Levi and Hange came from there....”

To answer your question though, here are my general complaints about ATOT as a whole.

The general reason why I kinda feel strongly about the story telling being REALLY weak towards the end is because AOT started strong. Like, I’m sure most people can agree that in the anime at least, or maybe in most parts of the manga as well. every panel, every scene HAD purpose, which adds to the overall quality of the writing and the pacing.

The plot twist and the change in genre was also built really well. Yams left enough to speculate and he also created this story where every scene had a purpose in building the overall plot, the plot twists were done incredibly well. He cleverly planted all the hints, most readers wouldn’t have been able to pick up which was created some really great rewatch value for the previous seasons.

Character death wise, he was also incredibly trigger happy but all of the deaths seemed to have had a purpose anyway so I wasn’t too salty about all the characters dying. And most important characters who died anyway, died for one reason, to introduce a villain or to signal an end of an age, or there was a huge build up/foreshadowing leading towards the death which made it stomachable.

Towards the end though, Yams wasn’t writing to actually build some plot twist anymore. He actually had to pull at the threads of every single plot point he planted and write some semblance ending.

No ending can satisfy everyone but for me, a quality ending is supposed to tie all the loose ends in some tight logic manner which Yams low key KINDA failed to do. This explains why when the purpose of writing ‘changed’ from setting up AOT for a major plot twist and a genre shift to actually tying all the loose ends, the quality of writing kinda diminished.

With the amount of questions left unanswered, I can’t help but think Yams was in a hurry to just end the damn thing. (But really, I’m not too blah about it, because the story telling and world building was great overall, it’s just the ending which left a lot to be desired. At least, it’s not ‘Game of Thrones’ BAD lmao)

Tight Story Telling

Story telling is supposed to have a purpose. Every scene, every death, every scene leading to the finale is supposed to have a damn purpsoe and literally, it’s been months and I still think about Hange’s death as one of the most pointless plot developments in AOT.

HANGE DIDN’T. THEY LITERALLY JUST DIED. And every day, I literally try to fathom why the hell, Yams had to kill her, and I have speculations about it. The strongest one being the fact that Yams didn’t know what to do with Hange towards the end of the show and he needed to kill someone to prove the gravity of the situation I guess. And I guess Hange was the best option since she was old or something or she was just so difficult to write that Yams decided to kill them?

And I dunno it just seems like an asspull.

And Hange’s death wasn’t built up at all. Like there were no signs, there was nothing, no character arc which could have made it stomachable so Hange’s death just seems like lazy writing to me tbh and I kinda take it slightly personally because most casual readers I know tend to gloss over Hange’s death?? Which kinda diminished Hange’s character as a whole

And I thought about who could have died other than Hange and I realized, no one was built up to die in that scene? Or there wouldn’t have been anyone in that scene who I would have been okay with dying? Which kinda points to the fact that maybe Yams just didn't prepare properly for that death scene?

Which brings me to my next point.

Consistency of Characters

If a character is prepared for greatness, it doesn’t make any damn sense to put them through shit and kill them in some anti climactic way (Like Circe in GOT style)

And at the same time, most people might not agree with me here but I guess it kinda doesn’t make sense for me to see Eren redeemed at the end for the sake of love? Or him having to do everything for the sake of JUST the love with Mikasa?

It makes sense, I have to admit, there were plot points which hinted to the really strong bond between Mikasa and Eren but destroying the whole world FOR Mikasa? All I’m getting from this is Eren is just some crazy psycho who is overly obsessed with a girl that he tries to destroy the world and his sacrifice was in vain anyway because the world was kinda messed up too.

I personally think it would have been way more stomachable if Yams just highlighted everyone as a whole instead? Like it seems much more believable for me to think that Eren reached points of irredeemable or maybe if Yams just highlighted the fact that Eren did it for EVERYONE, not just for Mikasa. Because I think with the way that Yams wrote it (putting emphasis on Eren’s relationship with Mikasa), most casual readers would gloss over the fact that Eren had no choice. If he didn’t do the rumbling, Paradis would have been overrun.

Mikasa being there and her relationship with Eren WAS built up from the start so it has some place in the ending. But to put it at the centerpiece instead of Eren’s relationship with the whole Paradis which would have kinda made Eren’s decision to just ‘genocide’ everyone make more sense.

Some parts of the ending kinda remind me of weathering with you and I have a lot of beef with that movie.

Which brings me to my next point:

Values Dissonance (????)

Whenever I read or finish something, the final question I ask myself is ‘so what? what is this piece of media trying to tell me?”

For AOT, I think the most glaring message is ‘the cycle of hatred always continues,’ but I don't think that the message was properly built up? Yams went through the love, the relationships and he highlighted them too brightly for me to even properly stomach the 'cycle of hatred' message as the main one.

It seemed like, towards the end he was jumping from one message to the other in a low key sloppy way and there was no consistent message in all of them.

What was Eren’s purpose? What was the purpose of his sacrifice? What was the purpose of the sacrifice everyone was making?

If Isayama’s whole intention was to tell us that the sacrifice was meaningless and the cycle of hatred continues, I feel like there were better ways to build this up than to dangle ‘love’ in front of us and as the centerpiece of the genocide and the finale before the extra pages in some way where it wasn’t even properly built up in the first place.

That 180 from 'okay Eren did all these stuff out of love’ which is kinda overly mushy and kinda crazy already mushy way and suddenly create this message like the ‘world is doomed, seems like a sloppily placed 'plot twist' to me. Like the type of plot twists authors just put to surprise the reader but it doens't seem well thought out in the first place.

Why highlight something as hopeful as love and make Eren start the war over it when you’re just going to create some major dissonance with a plot twist. Like with the values Yams was highllighting towards the end, I feel like it was a roller coaster with a lot of abrupt twists and turns and there was no time to really reflect on the overall message because he was highlighting too many opposing points at once with no clear thread connecting all of them

I don’t know if I make any sense here haha but yeah, those are my general complaints with AOT as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I love AOT as a whole but I guess like all shows it has its flaws especially towards the ending.

And hey Yams, still made Levi and Hange and I think anyone who built a world complex enough to inspire others to write fanfiction and draw fanart is a good author either way.

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts on what I remember from reading but I have been trying to forget a lot of the plot points so I can enjoy it again when the anime comes out. My thoughts might change depending on what I think after rewatching.

[glitchbirds]

i know that there is a question of hypocrisy with viewing some slasher villains as properly irredeemable and not worth making fun joke-y fan content for, but viewing others who are just as bloodthirsty and vicious and irredeemable as perfectly acceptable for those same sort of posts; essentially, finding funny meme posts about krueger to be in poor taste but accepting or enjoying some of those same jokes with characters like michael, jason, bubba, etc. and i do understand why there ARE fans of characters like freddy krueger who complain about this perceived hypocrisy, but i honestly dont think its actually hypocritical the divide that matters to me is whether or not 1: the character is a sexual abuser (because i dont give a shit about jokes about fictional murderers who just have fun stabbing people, but the idea of making dumb joke/meme content for a pedophile or rapist character sits very, very badly with me), and 2: this is something inherently baked into the character- like, not something randomly introduced in one sequel late in the franchise that’s been retconned out of relevance, but something present from at LEAST the early sequels which establish other, now-iconic elements of the character that have lived on over the years. because writers and directors in long-running franchises can have drastically different ideas from their predecessors and create products that clash horribly with the source material and with other parts of the franchise, and i dont think its always necessary to just kind of put up with it and accept everything without complaint- within reason. but if something is introduced early on and remains consistent throughout the rest of the series, you kind of just have to live with that and make peace with it. [disclaimer: this full post is 1500 words long. make absolutely certain you want to click that read more button. also, this talks about multiple incidents of incest + sexual assault + pedophilia in horror movies.]

for example, when i refer to later films in a franchise introducing elements that can be retconned away: halloween 6 introduces a cult that has full control over michael and his actions, who make him impregnate his niece, who is a child; depending on the film cut, this is either done via artificial insemination or not. with that said, halloween 6 is also one movie in a franchise w/ 12 entries total, is the reason for the first proper retcon in the series, and is intentionally distant from the two previous films in its supposed trilogy, only carrying over a handful of elements from 4-5 (and most of those only because it had no choice but to acknowledge them). none of the curse of thorn cult stuff has ever been reused, the movie introduces basically nothing to michaels character, and there are no implications of incest or pedophilia in his prior interactions with his niece in 4-5. with all this in mind, i think its perfectly fair to retcon this film- acknowledge it, yes, wrestle with the fact that it exists, analyze it, discuss what doesn’t work in it, but you can do all that and still not consider it an honest depiction of michael myers as a character, and not consider the film canonical.

another example- in texas chainsaw massacre 3, bubba is implied to have a daughter born of rape with a victim. this is a one-off line, the daughter only appears in this movie, this film’s whole existence is completely ignored by the next film in the series, and honestly, i think most people just honest to god barely know this movie exists. it has no real impact, nothing it introduces about bubba as a character carries over into other films, none of the sawyers it introduces are ever brought up again, it is legitimately the least memorable movie in the entire franchise- and there are a lot of tcm movies that are pretty damn unmemorable. with all that in mind i think its fair to say that no, bubba sawyer does not have a child and is not a rapist, and it is perfectly fine to not consider him one canonically.

but, meanwhile, there’s freddy krueger and the elm street movies. now, freddy was originally conceived as a pedophile, but this was technically written out of the first movie; i say “technically” because there’s still little hints in his behavior towards teenagers as early as the first movie, from the suggestive shot of his hand between nancy’s legs in the bathtub to him waggling his tongue at her through the phone after delivering the “i’m your boyfriend now, nancy” line. i cannot even begin to summarize the amount of analysis film scholars much smarter than me have written about the intended homoerotic subtext of elm street 2′s interactions between krueger and jesse, but i will also note that in order to end krueger’s possession of jesse’s body, jesse’s girlfriend has to kiss him while he’s possessed by+looks like freddy. in the third elm street, krueger disguises as a female nurse- the crush of a teenaged boy- in the boy’s dreams and tricks the boy into making out with him, only to transform into himself and tie him to the bed with disembodied tongues. in the fourth elm street krueger kisses another 17 y/o girl and literally sucks the life out of her, leaving her a desiccated corpse... this is just a handful of minor examples from all the early films in the franchise which otherwise establish major elements of freddy krueger as a character, which have become part of his permanent image in pop culture. basically all of his most iconic moments and lines are in these movies. krueger being kind of fucking creepy about teenagers is a baked-in part of his character and impossible to ignore.

now, with that said, there ARE things brought up in later films that i’m willing to retcon- in freddy’s dead, he’s revealed to have a secret long lost daughter, and there’s like... mildly sexual undertones to some of his dialogue to her, especially when he calls himself “daddy”. this following him disguising as a different character’s incestually abusive father to torment her- it’s really Not Great. on top of that, freddy’s dead is honestly one of the most incoherent and stupid films in the franchise, for many reasons including the backstory stuff it introduces for krueger- including him now being motivated to kill children as revenge because his daughter was taken away from him... because he was killing children. this on top of half-assedly trying to make krueger more sympathetic by showing us his abusive father, him self-harming as a teenager- it really sits poorly with me. so again- this is a film i’m willing to retcon and consider noncanon, to not think of anything it introduces as honestly indicative of who krueger is as a character, to not consider his daughter or the backstory this movie introduces to be canon to the franchise.

SIMILARLY, theres things like the freddy vs jason vs ash comics, which i also dont consider canon for any of those franchises for a variety of reasons. one of those reasons is because the sequel comic series reintroduces krueger’s daughter from freddy’s dead, and turns her from a final girl to krueger’s willing pawn who is now in an apparently consensual sexual relationship with her father. i think its fair for me to say that this isnt canon, either.

but considering that to be too far doesn’t mean that i’m going to pretend that krueger isnt a fucking creep with teenagers throughout the franchise, because that was always, always a part of him. it’s still a part of him- the most recent film in the main timeline, freddy vs jason, included scenes of him making comments like "your eyes say no-no, but my mouth says yes, yes", "the first time gets a little messy", him trailing his hand up a teenage girl’s thigh, him licking the photo of a little girl in the opening... and of course, there’s the elm street reboot, which is the film that tried the hardest to wrestle with and address this part of krueger- and that’s part of why its one of the films i like and respect most in the entire franchise, no matter how much everyone else may despise it.

there are other examples i can talk about, honestly- aspects of the friday the 13th movies i think its fine to retcon out, the fraught nature of certain elements of the childs play movies that apparently remain canon in the new series... but i think ive more or less made the point i wanted to make. i absolutely dont have a problem with people making fun joke slasher content, i even like some of it, but it always gives me pause when i see characters like krueger in the lineup and hes treated as being on the same level as the rest, even though the films do treat him in an oddly comedic manner. we as a society have progressed past krueger, etc etc

[davidmann95]

now that it's over, thoughts on Bendis' Superman as a whole?

pretenderoftheeast said: So, thoughts on Bendis' Superman and Action Comics' tenure altogether and separately now that it's over?

Anonymous said: Best and Worst things about Bendis' Superman run

Anonymous said: Now that it is over, what are your thoughts on Bendis' runs on Superman and Action Comics as a whole?

Anonymous said: Retrospective thoughts on Bendis' Superman as a whole now that it's, I guess, done?

Anonymous said: Hey so since Bendis’ Superman stuff seems to be done, what did you think of the run as a whole?

I decided to hold off a bit on writing on this one, if only so that I could reread the Action Comics side of it since Superman stood out in my memory a lot more. But now I have, and as we’re heading into a bold new era of Superman (and it’s coming in fast - just since I made my Superman in 2021 predictions we’ve gotten Ed Pinsent finally reprinting his legendary bootleg Silver Age Superman, Steve Orlando announcing his Superman analogue book Project Patron, an official shonen Superman redesign for RWBY/Justice League, PKJ’s Super-debut turning out far better than I ever expected, Superman & Lois’s first proper trailer largely taking people pleasantly by surprise, and my learning that there’s a Sylvester Stallone Old Man Superman analogue movie titled Samaritan coming out this summer) we’re ready to take a look back with at least a touch of perspective. I’ll lead with complaints, so everybody who’s been waiting for me to say that Bendis on Superman was Bad, Actually, savor this because it’s as close as you’ll get.

The Bad

* I hate to say it, but rereading that side of the run there’s no two ways about it: the structure of Action Comics as a whole is a mess. It baffled me from day one that it was the more acclaimed of the two books for so long - I guess people are hardwired at this point to think of ‘street’ stuff as where Bendis is supposed to be - because it was immediately clear that Superman had a well-defined story he wanted to tell, while Action was the usual Bendis off-the-cuff improvisation. It’s barely even a story in the same way, and it’s certainly not the ‘Metropolis crime book’ people took it as: it’s 28 issues of Superman and his supporting cast stuffed a pinball machine with the Red Cloud pinging off of each other as we wait to see who falls in the hole at the bottom, and partway through Leviathan and the Legion of Doom and 90s Superboy are tossed into the mix to keep it going a little longer. On an issue-to-issue basis it’s frequently really good, but the core plot of the book is *maybe* six issues stretched out over two and a half years.

* I’ve gone into this some before, but structure-wise Unity Saga also has problems: Phantom Planet rules but either it needed to be cut or the back half needed to be a year all its own in order to accommodate the scale of what it’s attempting. It’s got an interstellar civil war leading into the formation of the United Planets, family drama, Rogol Zaar’s whole deal, and Jon’s coming of age, and I’d say only that last one is really properly served. Even Jon forming the United Planets, while contextually somewhat justified in terms of 1. The situation being so far gone he’s the only one who’d even think in those terms, 2. Things being bad enough that these assorted galactic powers would be willing to try it, and 3. Him having the S on his chest to sell it, isn’t at all built up to within the run itself.

* Rogol Zaar sucks. He’s made up of nothing but interesting ideas - he’s an ersatz warrior ‘superman’ of a bygone age of empires up against the new model, he’s the sins of Krypton as a conservative superpower come home to roost, he’s while not outright said to be definitely Superman’s tragic half-brother and the culmination of everything this run does with Jor-El - but none of them manifest on the page, he’s just a big punchy dude with a dumb design who screams about how you should take him seriously because he’s totally the one who blew up Krypton. Even a killer redesign by Ryan Sook for Legion of Superheroes can’t fix that. There are lots of bad villains with good ideas who are redeemed with time and further effort, but I can’t imagine Zaar getting that TLC to become a fraction of whatever Bendis envisioned him as.

* The second year of Action Comics, after establishing itself in its first as one of the most consistently gorgeous books on the stands, leads with Szymon Kudranski’s weak output and then concludes with John Romita Jr. turning in some career-worst work. The latter is particularly egregious because for that first year Bendis writes a really collected, gentle Superman so him getting pushed into being more aggressive should have an impact, but Romita draws such a craggy rough-looking Superman in the first place that it mutes any sort of shock value.

 * WE NEVER LEARN WHAT’S UP WITH LEONE’S CAR, WHAT THE HELL. You don’t just DROP THAT IN THERE and then NEVER FOLLOW UP.

The Good

* Superman got his real clothes back after 7 truly ridiculous years.

* Bendis fundamentally gets Clark’s voice in a way unlike almost any other writer - even all-around better writers of the character almost never approach how spot-on he is with having Superman speak and act exactly how Superman should.

* Supporting cast front and center! He writes a dynamite Lois, Perry, and Jimmy (even if many of Lois’s more out-there decisions in the run don’t end up retroactively justified the way you’d hope), Ma and Pa are more fun than they’ve been in decades in their brief appearances, he manages to turn having Jor-El in the mix into a positive, and the Daily Planet as a whole has an incredibly distinctive vibe to it like never before that I hope is taken as a baseline going forward.

* The non-Rogol Zaar baddies? All ruled. Invisible Mafia and Red Cloud are both brilliant ideas executed solidly if overextended. Zod as Kryptonian Vegeta, Mongul as a generational perpetual bastard engine primed to be incapable of self-reflection, and Ultraman as “what if Irredeemable but he’d never been a good guy and also he was a Jersey mobster” are the best versions of those characters by numberless light-eons. Lex is on-point in his sparse appearances. Xanadoth as a mystical cosmic monster older than time who still talks like a Bendis character is however unintentionally a hoot. The alt-universe Parasite is a more intimidating Doomsday than Doomsday ever was. And Synmar as an alien culture’s attempt at creating their own Superman and messing up the formula when they make him a soldier can and should be a legitimate major ongoing villain coming out of this run.

* Pretty much all the art other than what I mentioned already. Fabok does a good job bookending The Man of Steel and Ivan Reis does the work of his career anchoring Superman (special props to Reis as well for drawing the first ever non-Steve Rude interesting-looking take on Metropolis), and meanwhile you’ve got Jim Lee, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Kevin Maguire, Adam Hughes, Patrick Gleason, Yanick Paquette, Ryan Sook, Brandon Peterson, and David Lafuente doing their own parts.

* Closely related to the art, all the little flourishes with the powers. Super-speed having a consistent visual with the background coloring changing, Clark internally putting numbers to the degrees of force behind his punches and what situations which numbers are appropriate for, ‘skidding to a halt’ mid-flight before crashing through a window, the shonen-ass major throwdowns as portrayed by Reis, how his super-hearing is handled as a prevalent element. Lots of clever bits that added flavor to what he does.

* While Unity Saga has problems, the whole of what Bendis does in Superman as a means of forward momentum for Clark and his world is excellent. The sort of three-act structure of: 

** Clark is led to question his place in things over the course of a few adventures

** Involvement in the larger cosmos and the impact it has had through and on his family makes him realize the answer to his questions is that he needs to step up in a bigger way because there’s no benevolent larger universe to welcome Earth with open arms, nor a cosmic precedent for everything turning out for the best without some help

** As a consequence of the lessons learned by this change in the status quo Clark is inspired to make his own personal change in revealing his identity (with Mythological basically being an epilogue showcasing a ‘standard’ standalone Superman adventure while simultaneously highlighting his new status quo and how it fits in as a summing-up of Bendis’s take)

…does a great job of shepherding through ideas that lend a lot of forward momentum to Superman of the kind he hasn’t seen in a long time. Not perfect, but far lesser stories with far lesser ambitions have made huge impacts, so I’d certainly hope at least some of this sticks around even if, say, regardless of any retcons to the main line there are always going to be stories with Clark as a disguise and Jon as a kid. Oh, speaking of whom,

* KISS MY ASS, EVERYTHING WITH JON KENT RULED

Ahem. Probably a less confrontational way of putting that.

Do I think there was more gas in the tank for Jon as a kid? Totally, making him likeable and viable was the one really good thing the Rebirth era accomplished for Superman and I expect we’ll continue seeing more of it in the future one way or another. But whether or not him being aged up was Bendis’s decision, or working with marching orders to set up the eventually-(kinda-)discarded 5G, the coming of age narrative here is fire. He keeps the essential Clark Kent kindness and bit of Lois Lane cheekiness that reminds you he’s still their kid, which is a combination Bendis is basically precision-crafted to write, but his trials by fire give him a background entirely unlike the by-the-numbers “and here’s how Superman’s great kid grew up to be a great superhero too” narrative you’d expect while still arriving at that endpoint. If superheroes live and die by metaphors then Jon in here is what it means to grow up written as large as possible: leaving home for the first time (and seeming to shoot up overnight!), getting into the muck of how the real world works, being beaten down by authority wearing faces you’ve been taught to trust, scrambling to get through with the whole world against you, and in the end getting through by learning to rely on your own strength while keeping your soul intact and your head held high, and even managing to speak some truth to power. It gives him a well-defined life story with room to go back to and explore the intricacies of each leg of for decades to come in a way Superman hasn’t had since the original Crisis - someone someday is going to write a The Life & Times Of The Son Of Superman miniseries and it’s going to be one of the greats - and negates any question that he’s earned his stature as the heir apparent.

* Coming out of this, Superman’s world is fascinating. He’s out but rather than giving up his day-to-day life he’s openly spending part of his life as CLARK KENT: SUPER-REPORTER and part of his job on the cape-and-tights side of things is now KAL-EL: SUPER-SPACE-DIPLOMAT, Lois Lane coruns a foundation helping people whose personal continuities have been fucked over by Crisis shenanigans, Jimmy Olsen owns the Daily Planet but is still doing Jimmy Olsen stuff because that’s how he gets his kicks, and Jon Kent is going to college in the future. I’m not anywhere near naïve enough to think that’s how things are going to be forever, or shortsighted enough to think there’s no value left in the traditional setups, but god I hope these developments stick around for a long, long time to come and potentially become the new ‘normal’ as far as the ongoing shared universe stuff goes, because it all feels like the right and promising next steps to take for the lives of these characters. However it got here, for all the pluses and minuses along the way even if I maintain the former very much outweighed the latter as a reading experience, Bendis has a lot to be proud of if that’s the legacy he leaves on these titles.

* The recap pages at the desks!

[doomednarrative]

I’m doing this for fun simply because I'm rewatching them all so,

Here's my personal ranking for Every Gorillaz Music video, based both on song and the video itself:

(This is going to be a long post)

PHASE ONE:

Tomorrow Comes Today: 7/10. I love this song and the video fits its vibe, but its still pretty simplistic and not a whole lot of actual animation and no story, so it gets points off for that.

Clint Eastwood: 10/10. I love this one honestly. Its still so charming after all this time and showcases the band well for their early days. Love the more moody tone of it, and I always love seeing the band actually play instruments in their videos too. Bonus points for Murdoc's laugh opening this one because I love that.

Rock The House: 9/10. Pure fun. I don't have a lot of commentary for it, I just think its fun and I love the song itself too. One point off for Murdoc thrusting his hips too many times for my eyes tho.

19-2000: 10/10. This one was the first Gorillaz video that I saw and it really is just a nice non plot connected video. The 3D animation still manages to hold up because of its mix with 2D animation in my opinion and I enjoy it.

Rockit: 5/10. I like the song but the video is kinda meh.

PHASE ONE MV'S OVERALL: Overall I like phase one and I miss Del. Bring him back.

PHASE TWO:

Dirty Harry: 8/10. 2D is just vibing so hard in this video and I'm living for it. That’s all that matters. (Side note but I love the version of this video they did for the BRIT's as well.)

DARE: 10/10. Noodles time to shine, a perfect song, what more could you ask for?? (Also love the bit with Murdoc at the end of course.)

Feel Good Inc: 10/10. This one is obvious if you know me at all. Murdoc playing his bass is what sells this one for me cause I enjoy the animation. The songs amazing and one I find comforting to listen to, and the mood of the video fits it perfectly. Theres some really fun shots with lighting while 2D is standing at the window too in the tower in here that I've always liked.

El Mañana: 6/10. I love this song but it makes me sad and so does the video.

PHASE TWO MV'S OVERALL: Phase One is iconic for its art style and for being The Beginning, but Phase Two is my favorite of the two for its art. I love how these videos are animated, and even if Demon Dayz is my least favorite album, the songs in these videos are all very good. Pretty solid as a whole all things considered.

PHASE THREE:

Stylo: 10/10 LISTEN, I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HATE THE CGI, BUT I LOVE IT. It’s so expressive, this song is one of my absolute faves, I’m sorry to be such a Murdoc liker but hes so much fun in this video and so expressive and it starts the story off for Plastic Beach. I love it so much.

On Melancholy Hill: 7/10. It’s not a bad video, and I love the song a lot, but...not a lot actually happens in the video aside from the bits with Noodle. Bonus points however go to just how seamlessly it puts 2D and 3D animation together, and for how cute 2D looks this whole video.

Rhinestone Eyes: 9/10. WOULD BE A 10/10 IF WE’D GOTTEN OFFICIAL ANIMATION FOR IT ;-; (The fan animated video for it tho is Very very good and i applaud that whole team.) Amazing song, this video has the most story packed into it so far from all the other videos and it’s memorable from its storyboards for that alone.

Doncamatic: 10/10 Listen...Listen I know its a one off and it doesn't really have anything in it but I’m obsessed because its one of my favorite Gorillaz songs tbh and I love Daley’s outfit in it so it gets a full pass from it.

PHASE THREE MV’S OVERALL: I love every video this phase tbh, none of them are bad. All of them are fun,and even if Melancholy Hill is a little slow, it’s still enjoyable. I love this phase because they all connect and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either.

PHASE FOUR:

Hallelujah Money: 7/10. It’s not at all bad, but I’m as not fond of this song, and the video itself is much too trippy for me. Still has its own merits tho that I won’t knock it for even if it’s not my personal taste.

Saturn Barz: 10/10. Everything about this video is amazing. Character designs and as a comeback for the bands animated counterparts, it was perfect. I loved hearing them actually speak again too it made the whole thing so fun. The song is fuckin awesome and it fits the vibe of the whole video. Bonus points for the more lineless animation style they gave everyone in this video, it was a really neat change from past phases. My one complaint is again stop making me see so much naked Murdoc, I may like him but not like that.

Sleeping Powder: 6/10. I am so split when it comes to the mo cap models. This songs good but the video is again too trippy for me.

Strobalite: 9/10. Would have been 10/10 if Russel got to dance with 2D and Noodle, but other than that its pretty damn good. The mo cap looks way less awkward in here, particularly Murdoc and Russel. Also hilarious that Murdoc made a deal with the devil, and the guy who played him is actually his voice actor irl. This songs too much fun to vibe to as well.

PHASE FOUR MV’S OVERALL: Not much for story, but makes up for it in updated art and great music again. Solid overall yet again. I like it.

PHASE FIVE:

Humility: 20/10. Literally every single person I know who’s seen this video loved it. The animation is Beautiful, the song is so fuckin catchy, Jack Black is in it! What more do you want!! (The only thing I could have asked for was to see more of Ace but that’s its only flaw.)

Tranz: 9/10. I love this song so much but this video is Again just a little too trippy for me. However, we get to see Ace just jamming out in this video and I’ll take the trippiness just for that.

PHASE FIVE MV’S OVERALL: I was surprised there wasn't at least one more video for this phase honestly? I feel like Kansas or Souk Eye would have made for great videos for this phase. That aside tho, both the videos it does have are a lot of fun. My literal only complaint is that I wanted to see more of Ace. Bring him back in the future.

PHASE SIX:

Momentary Bliss: 8/10. This songs fine, but what sells it for me is the video is more slice of life/a day in the life of the studio. I’m always a fan of those moments. Bonus points goes to Murdoc trying to fuckin poison Jamie and it backfiring on him.

Désolé: 10/10: ooooh this song is so beautiful...I love it so much. 2D Noodle and Russel got to have such a fun time in this video and they deserve it. And poor Murdoc, having his little sad times by his asshole self. I love him but I think he deserved it. The others needed a good break from the bullshit and I’m glad they got it.

Aries: 6/10. Video itself is kinda boring, but the song is nice. Murdoc deserved to be left behind in Désolé after what he tried to pull here.

Friday the 13th: 3/10. I don’t care for this video and I really don’t care for the song. Not much else to say.

PAC-MAN: 6/10. Video’s fine, I like some of the little details in it, but it’s nothing special. The song itself is nice tho, super calming, I like it.

Strange Timez: 20/20 MY GOD I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH...VISUALS ARE SO FUN, I LOVE ROBERT SMITH SO I LOVE HIM IN HERE, ITS JUST A GOOD TIME ALL AROUND!

The Pink Phantom: 5/10 I just don’t really care for this song?? I like Elton John but I couldn’t get myself to like this one no matter how many times I’ve listened. 2D got to be happy in this video tho so I’ll give it a pass.

The Valley of the Pagans: 6/10. This song fuckin slaps but the video feels like a boring redo of 19-2000 except for it’s ending. It gets points for giving everyone Plastic Beach feelings at the end and hyping up the video after it.

The Lost Chord: 20/20. Y’all knew this was coming. This was something I’d BEEN hoping for story wise and I finally got it. Was it maybe a little rushed? Yes. But GOD it was such a nice thing to see them say “hey we’ve wrapped up this part of the story for good and want everyone to move on from it, so we’ve given it a properly acknowledged final send off.” And tangibly seeing everyone's emotions laid out about the island and their times there was very nice. And  I know Jamie and Damon have stated Murdoc is irredeemable, blah blah yes I know hes an asshole still, but I WILL think about Murdoc in this video and how he seemed actually regretful and what that means to me and the fact that it was no one else but 2D himself being the one to reach out to Murdoc in the end to save him until my dying breath, thank you very much. And this song?? Fuckin beautiful, it had those Plastic Beach vibes again and felt good for it’s send off song, I love it.

PHASE SIX MV’S OVERALL: I may be a little split on some of them and on Song Machine as a whole, but tbh I love the phase six art style so much and most times the videos were pretty good. Bringing back PB in the end was something I always wanted too so it really does get bonus points from me for that. I’m 50/50 on them overall. The great ones are great, and the meh ones are just kinda boring, so it evens out in the end.

STAND ALONE VIDEOS MENTION:

Do Ya Thing: 10/10. I’ve said before I love the 3D animation and the slice of life stuff, so this one’s obviously a favorite, and you really cant go wrong with an Andre 3000 feature either. 

Superfast Jellyfish: 3/10. This song is kinda fun but I don’t give a single shit about the music video.

Garage Palace: 8/10. Very fun pixel visuals for a change along with a killer song, super enjoyable.

So what’s my final verdict on Gorillaz and their long music video history?

Honestly for a group thats been going as long as they have, I dont think they have too many misses in their catalog. The ones that aren’t as fun are just kinda there, but the videos that really stand out stand out far above the ones that don’t hit the mark as well and in the end it all feels like a good balance. No band has a perfect video every time, but the ones that Gorillaz did well they did amazing on and I enjoy it immensely when that happens.

Sidenotes after watching all of those:

For the love of god please put Russel in the videos more, please, he deserves it and I would love to see him more.

On that note, BRING DEL BACK WITH HIM TOO!!

And speaking of characters to bring back, I want Ace to come back and join Murdoc sometimes, even if its only once or twice more, I need to see them interact PLEASE.

Last note but Jamie, please, I’m begging, show less of mostly naked or fully naked of Murdoc in future videos, we’ve had our fill by now.

[simp-pony]

Queen B + Romancing the ladies

Honestly, I don’t think the direction of Queen B is looking well, especially for people who want to romance the ladies (aside from Ina of course). But a lot of people (including me) is not comfortable romancing the prof. And as a wlw playing this game, I have to share a few thoughts.

So I want to discuss the other female LIs and the other potentials

First of all, let’s start with Zoey Wade. As a confirmed LI since the beginning, her treatment in the series is by far the most disappointing. It’s so tiring to complaint about the same thing all over again each week, but here we are. We got to kiss her since chapter 2, then constantly flirt with her. But she’s being sidelined so hard by turning her to a walking wardrobe and supportive friend who keep pushing us to the prof.

Our first diamond scene happened in chapter 8, and only happened if we bought he dress for the prof.

None of the romantic option brings our relationship to the next level, even though we had the option to confess to her. “Zoey, I want you, not the professor.” (Chapter 9), which is once again, ended up with her pushing us to the prof.

Chapter 10, we did have a cute scene with her massaging us, but it only ends up with us making out on the bed. This is ridiculous when we could hook up with the others so easily if we have diamond scene with them. But with Zoey, we always stay bff. 

Is this an attempt of slowburn romance? This could be handled much better if we get more zoey x mc, hinting about their growing feelings. Zoey is an interesting character. She’s drop dead gorgeous and charming, but there’s never any chance to let her personality shine. At least they could show Zoey being a bit conflicted about pushing us to the prof anymore.  .

Then chapter 11 happened and - I don’t know anymore. It was incredibly painful to see, and honestly it was really hard to finish the chapter. What happened to Zoey was cruel, it’s too much, it’s unnecessary. If this was an attempt from PB for a social commentary, then there are waaay better other ways to address in my opinion.

Which brings us to  Poppy Min-Sinclair. I know, I know, some of you are asking, “Why are you guys so disappointed? She’s the villain since the beginning, you guys are just dumb.” First of all, I’ve explained before that I’m here for the potential. I only played choices because of her and it’s all because I saw snippets of chapter 6. When they hinted that soft side of her, as a wlw, I immediately see the appeal because it has such a big potential to be a compelling enemies to lovers story. You cant blame us for feeling this way when there are tons of straight pairings (with problematic men) with this trope, and they get redemption + end up together. Why can we have the same chance?

However, the way PB literally drove her to the point where she’s completely irredeemable after chapter 11, throwing away all of her potentials. I just don’t understand why they still write hint of attraction between them though. 

Do I ever expect her to be a real LI at the end? Honestly, not really. But I believe that Poppy COULD be a very interesting complex ‘mean girl’, especially after they teased a bit of her family problem in chapter 10. And this would also take Queen B to a very interesting turn with the shift of dynamic. But well, since they choose to ‘basic mean girl’ route - what can I say more aside from ‘wasted potential’

Both Veronica Lombardi and Chloe St. James only appear several times so far. They are far from being an LI, but still, these two being Love interests would open so many more interesting routes for the plot.

I personally can’t see where the direction is going on. The things between MC and Poppy has escalated from petty fights to actual nasty stuff and all of them are just too much for me.

So in short, Zoey got sidelined so hard and now driven away, Poppy is now irredeemable, Veronica and Zoey are not really there. People who want to romance the ladies, especially wlws don’t have many options huh. I really hope that we can still get Zoey back somehow, but with how they handle her character since the beginning, eh, I don’t think it will be a rewarding experience.

Don’t get me wrong, you can still have fun with this book, especially if you love the prof, loves to be bad bitches and wreck shit up.

But from my personal opinion as a wlw who expect that I can at least have a good time romancing the ladies (romance, not casual hook ups), after 11 chapters, I don’t think Queen B is the right book if you’re looking for this.

I’m writing this as a feedback to PB since you said that you value player’s happiness. Well, I’m devastated. I think that there are so many missed opportunities in this book. and I’m just hoping that you’re more serious in giving wlws a well deserved representation in the future. What happened to Zoey certainly does NOT look like a serious attempt in giving us a female LI.

As for now, no, I won’t be playing Queen B again. Like what I wrote before, I don’t think this book is right for me. But I will be lurking, maybe.

This is purely my personal opinion.

[foxwritesstuffsometimes]

In defence of Billy Hargrove (part three: the duffers and the end)

I do not like the duffer brothers. That may not come as a surprise considering my views on the show, but I don’t believe Billy is the only character they failed, and I’ve got a lot more complaints than just with what they did to him. But at the end of the day, right now we’re not talking about their Billy, although I’ll go into their interpretations of the character further on, we’re talking about dacres.

Dacre Montgomery did far more for the character of Billy Hargrove than the duffers ever did. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have gotten the deep, tortured character that a lot of us have come to love, without him, the duffers would’ve made Billy out to be even more of a villain. And I’ll forever appreciate him for that. Some of my complaints are still rooted within the character, but far less of them exist if it hadn’t been for dacre pouring his soul into the character and script. He turned a character that could’ve easily been a completely irredeemable into a character that felt real in a way not a lot of other characters these days do.

The duffers, if they’d had their own way, would have turned Billy into a real monster. You can tell that they wanted to make him a lot more one sided than he turned out to be, in interviews they described him as an “irredeemable monster” and they killed him off the first chance they got. In my opinion, their writing is lazy, and their takes on victims of abuse, are frankly disgusting. I may have enjoyed the show, but I cannot say I have a speck of respect for the writers. Billy was 17. And calling him irredeemable made me extremely upset. At such a young age, we are not fully developed, we are growing and learning, and Billy being in a position like that so long, he could’ve easily been redeemed if the duffers had given enough of a shit to do so.

On another note, the other people that I have to acknowledge in the shaping of Billy Hargrove are his fans and the fans of harringrove in general. You have all created such a beautiful range of art and writing within the fanbase, and you’ve all been so lovely and accommodating, you’ve bought me a lot of comfort in a space that’s pretty negative to people who sympathise with Billy. The only reason I’m anywhere near the fanbase anymore is because of our little section of it, and for that I’m grateful to all of you. The antis don’t know what their missing, but neither do they deserve it, so karma is real i guess.

(Thank you all for following along, I appreciate your interactions, but this is all I have to say on the subject for now. Let me know what you think, I’m always happy to have a discussion about others opinions on stuff like this that I’m passionate about <3)

[prompt-master]

As much as I like the Tokomaru within UDG it is a frustrating game as a whole to play in terms of gameplay. Like there’s stuff the game barely explains to you, the limited mobility, the poor aiming, how certain skills makes it more troublesome when it’s suppossd to help (auto aiming skill). Lack of a dodge roll (I swear I died more times due to how slow you are as Komaru to dodge certain attacks) and many more. You’ll maybe have a better experience just watching the cutscenes and bonuses online.

Yes I have many complaints about the structure of the game but it always gets overshadowed, and rightfully so, by the bigger problems with the game that make it irredeemable to me even with the gay ship.

In short the game feels lazy and uncared for.

The graphics are awful. I've seen people praise them and I honestly don't understand it. The models and enviorment look like they haven't been given final touches which gives the game this beta tester look. The enviorments at times can be just unappealing to look at to the point of it hurting my eyes. The sky for christ sake has a VERY obvious looping stitch because they didn't even bother to properly loop the texture. Komaeda's model constantly looks like he has grey hair cuz they can't be bothered to fix the lighting issues. And don't even get me started on the npcs. Making the corpses and other adults be silhouettes was such a rookie mistake. How can I take the horrific scenes around me seriously when it's so impersonal? Even just looping through a single male and female model would have been better than the silhouettes. The cutscenes that use the models also feel incredibly awkward due to the stiff repetative motions.

Then there's the gameplay. Which was both frustratingly easy and annoying. The gameplay felt very slow paced and lacked action even when being hoarded. I found the puzzles to be too easy personally. Generally I felt bored for a majority of the game. I understand this experience is all personal preference but it was very boring despite the interesting concepts. I wish that the gameplay moved faster and felt more engaging and impactful at the very least.

And quite honestly even if you do enjoy the plot I felt as though the game dramatically slowed down in the middle. I only felt engaged with the game in the beginning and the end. Anything else was only for short bursts between incredibly boring gameplay.

Quite honestly I agree on the cutscene thing. In fact both the cutscenes and the udg episode in dr3 show that udg could have been a really good anime! Since the gameplay isn't very fun or action packed an anime would be perfect for it. Dr3 future should have been a game and udg should have been an anime

OR udg should have kept the original idea. The idea of helping to fight and capture the remnants leading up to the events of sdr2 was a PERFECT way to tie the first and second game into the spin off. Not only that but to meet these beloved characters in their despaired states is exactly what we WANT after playing sdr2. After playing the games you should want to see the remannts and the future of the thh cast. This plot would have been so PERFECT! Not to mention far more engaging. I would adored a game about that. Although with how cheap udg feels I can't help but think theyd have ruined that plot as well. It's unfortunate because going into udg I heard lots of fans saying it was unfairly judged so I really really wanted to like it! But there is so much bad with the game and all of this is the tame stuff.