#i need my bamf character that is meant to be less powerful than their partner fanfics

[doctor-mccoys-sanity]

Does no one use the tag BAMF anymore or?? Bc there’s only 13 Lokius works with BAMF mobius…

[clockmongler]

i posted this on twitter and  i’m gonna post this here:

#DMC5 and the problem with V, aka Why It Felt Like Capcom Came Into My Living Room, Snatched My Wig, and Made Me Kick My Own Cat: an essay 

obviously spoilers

I see a lot of people rolling their eyes about some players saying they grew attached to V as a character. We should be happy he served his purpose as a plot-point and move on. He was a gimmick character. Itsuno wasn't even sold on the idea of people liking him. Why even care?

I'll tell you why: because he was entirely designed - from visuals, to story, to gameplay - FOR you to care. And not just because his ultimate role in bringing back a fan favorite.

Let's go back to 2005. In the pile of stuff that came spewing forth from RE4's Production Hell Bosom were 2 very important games. One was obviously DMC in 2001, but there was a second, less talked about game. A game Capcom wants to pretend they don't remember. But I remember it.

It was called Haunting Ground. You see a LOT of DMC3 in it, from the gothic set designs to the soundtrack, but in tone it's a completely different beast. Haunting Ground is basically what Clock Tower 3 was GOING to be: a hide-and-seek survival horror and not... magical girls.

You played a hapless, defenseless heroine named Fiona Belli. Fiona is a pretty, tiny creature in revealing clothing and is terrified of her surroundings to the point where her panic is a gameplay mechanic. The only things she can do herself are run, hide, kick, and throw things. You aren't wholly meant to identify as Fiona. You're meant to want to protect her. This is stated immediately in the booklet given with the game, and it's something the game actually pulls off incredibly well.

Instead of a gun, sword, or even magic to defend herself, Fiona is given a pet. She is given a white German Sheppard named Hewie, and instead of singularly controlling Fiona, you need to multitask and use the right joystick to also give commands to Hewie.

The entire game centers around the bond between Fiona and Hewie. You feed Hewie when he's injured. You train him by praising what he's done right and scolding him when he doesn't listen. You solve puzzles together. By the end of the game, the two of you have become partners.

But Hewie's biggest asset is physically protecting Fiona. Stalkers will barge into your happy little puzzle-solving time to mutilate poor Fiona for her Azoth (aka her mystical McGuffin) and pressing up on the right joystick sends Hewie into attack mode. By throwing himself at enemies, Hewie is the only thing keeping Fiona from... all the horrific, terrifying things the antagonists want to do to her. If this sounds familiar to you, it's because you're getting what I'm laying down: V is Fiona Belli.

V is a hapless, mostly helpless hero. He's a pretty, tiny creature in revealing clothing who is the only playable character in the DMC series to show any amount of panic and fear over his surroundings. The only things he himself can do is hit things with a cane or run.

Look at every other playable character in the game (yes, even unlockables like Lady and Trish): they're ALL power fantasies. They're cool. They're unflappable. They're witty and wield weapons bigger than Nero's inferiority complex. You're meant to relate and feel COOL.

V is... different. Yes, he's still cool in his own way. He puts on an air of being unflappable. But he's quieter. His humor is dry. His taunts are either to endearingly goof off and tap-dance, play air violin, or... double-over and go into a terrifying coughing fit. You are reminded at every opportunity just how fragile and sickly V is. It causes a slight separation between player and character, like with Fiona, in a way that forces you to not want to BE this person, but to PROTECT this person and I think a lot of people are missing that.

Like with Fiona, V ends up using pets to protect himself. Giant murder-bird Griffon is fiercely loyal and protective, even when being teasing. Aside from Nero, most of V's conversations happen with Griffon, who quickly establishes himself as V's best friend.

Griffon constantly flies you out of harm's way in the form of a dodge. He banters with V in the middle of fights. He asks after his health, and praises him for doing well in battle with adorable little things like "YER A SUPERSTAR, V!!" And while we as a people are forever robbed of having a Griffon Style Announcer, V has a similar, if less obvious relationship with Shadow, the big giant kitty. Griffon does the talking for the other two familiars, but Shadow is also there in battle and out: helping you move, helping you dodge, and even resting at V's feet like you'd see a guard-dog doing. It even has an idle animation of sitting down and just... watching him. It's quiet, but the care is there. Even Nightmare, who's just a blob of death and destruction, feels like a part of the team.

In your last mission as V, you're stripped of all of your familiars and need to reclaim them one by one. This is the point where you truly see just how weak V is without them: he can't run several paces without collapsing in on himself in exhaustion. Dodging causes him to raise his arm in the air in the expectation of Griffon taking his wrist like he would any other time, only for Griffon to not be there. He can whistle for his familiars, his FRIENDS, to come to his side... and they won't. You're alone. V's alone. So getting them back is important not just for protecting V, but because these things have become your friends. You feel a joy and relief when each one comes back to you. You get the gang back together. The boys are back in town.  And then...

So. Back to Haunting Ground. In the end of the game (if you were nice to Hewie and why wouldn't you be, you monster), Fiona escapes the clutches of the last Stalker, who wanted to use her McGuffin to create a fuller, more perfect form of himself. She and Hewie dump his ass into some convenient lava and eventually watch him burn out after having to defeat the real final boss which was that goddamn falling statue. Fiona is stronger. She refuses to be used as the ends of someone else's means. She's her own damn person.

Fiona and Hewie leave the castle they've been trapped in all game together. If you leave the first stalker alive, he'll catch sight of this woman he spent one third of a game terrorizing and she STARES HIM DOWN. She's not having it anymore. So the guy bows to her. And without saying a word, Fiona turns her back to him and walks the fuck away. BAMF of the year. 10/10. She, Hewie, and you worked your ass off for this ending and you deserve it. Go live happily ever after with your dog, girl.

...but now I want you to imagine something different. Instead of Fiona beating that last Stalker, she loses. Lorenzo wins. She is killed and her McGuffin is absorbed into him and this woman you've spent all this time caring and protecting for is no more. You are then given control of another character who is then tasked with shooting Hewie, your best friend. This creature that has protected you and Fiona your entire journey. Your PET. 

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH V.

Yes, circumstances are different. In order for Vergil to take responsibility for the dumbass shenanigans he'd done, V had to stop existing and reform into him and he merged with Urizen knowing that. V can't have Fiona's happy ending. But the point is that we're SUPPOSED to be sad about this. Anyone trying to call people out by calming this IS the happy ending, that V is just a part of Vergil and technically got as best as he was going to is missing the entire goddamn point.

Capcom designed this character, having successfully done it before, for you to get attached. The loss of not only him, but the things that protected him, his friends, even if it means getting something stronger and shinier, is meant to be a painful sacrifice. People are complaining BY DESIGN. It isn't baseless fan-harping over the cute goth boy (...okay, some of it is that). It's more than that. 

And I'll take a formal apology from Matt Walker for the heartbreak, thank you and good night. 

[seshathawk]

The Last Jedi thoughts

Spoilers. Now a week old, posted at the request of @glowyjellyfish.

Good:

-Grumpy Old Man Luke Skywalker

-Force Ghost Yoda, laughing and making fun of Luke and smacking him in the face and setting shit on fire.

-Leia, literally everything she did but also her general presence (ha!)

-Leia actually gets to chit-chat with a contemporary woman in her age bracket. LEIA HAS A GAL PAL EVERYONE. Because of this, this movie passed the Bechdel test. (Do Leia and Rey talk? Now I can’t remember.)

-Presenting Rey and Kylo Ren as mirrors of each other, as both desperately wanting companionship so much that they see what they want in the other despite the complete lack of it.

-The reunion between Luke and Leia was everything I ever wanted. I wept copiously, squeezing my husband’s hand. My sister, next to me, also wept copiously. My husband, who I’ve only seen cry once in my life, was wiping his eyes. A woman somewhere behind us was sobbing aloud. It was so perfect and so beautiful.

-The theme of this movie: I’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.

-Luke, instantly good at all the Force things he’s ever done, closes in on himself in shame when he realizes he’s failed Ben and becomes a hermit for the rest of his life.

-Also, Luke, who used the power of Feelings more than he really utilized the Force, manipulated Kylo Ren using Feelings like a BAMF.

-Sassy Old Man Luke Skywalker

-Stubborn Bastard Luke Skywalker, who we have all missed

-Luke’s face lighting up when he sees R2

-R2 replaying the original Leia message

-Re: Reylo: I saw them bonding. I saw them fighting together. I felt like I could get on board with redemption for Kylo Ren although I still adamantly did not want them to get together. Then at the crucial moment, Kylo Ren proved himself to be a selfish asshole who says the worst possible things in the worst possible way, which to me says that despite all the hand-holding and shared Force glances and life-saving, Kylo Ren is irredeemable and unacceptable as a partner for Rey.

-Finn RUNNING toward Rey and their sweet cheek-smushing hug.

-The code-breaker returning Rose’s necklace to her

-Poe being too headstrong

-Leia slapping Poe

-Leia shooting Poe

-The “Luke”/”Leia” moment a la Empire (which was by itself one of my favorite Star Wars moments, so happy to have it mirrored here)

-There was so much of Mark Hamill in Luke and so much of Carrie Fisher in Leia, I appreciated and loved it so much.

-Anytime any original trilogy music played while Leia was on screen I burst into tears

-Chewie. He feels more and more real as a character with every movie and I love it.

-The Force moment between Leia and Kylo Ren

-Leia’s Force space moment was so cheesy-looking but let’s all be glad we got to see her use the Force like that

-We SO VERY RARELY see Jedi teaming up and fighting together! We only saw it in the prequels, and the acrobatics made it a little hard to watch. It warmed my heart to see Rey and Kylo Ren fighting together. For one beautiful shining moment I hoped that they would turn together to focus on Force-training people without focusing on Jedi/Sith, just make a new team of Friends Helping Friends.

-I am sorry everyone, I know it’s shallow, but I love me some over-the-top couture-ass space costumes, and this trilogy is severely lacking in them so far. I was glad to see a little class and fun in terms of clothing in the space casino.

-Laura Dern

-Captain Phasma’s eye

-Some parts of this movie were REALLY brutal! The constant running of the fleet, slowly being killed off. Kylo Ren deliberately blowing up ships. (OMG BB-8)

-BB-8 being the greatest droid of all time in every possible way

-Finn’s face when he thinks BB-8 flew a ship

-Possibly the FUNNIEST Star Wars movie I’ve ever seen? I doubt I’ll say that again.

-The salt plains = SO BEAUTIFUL

-Kylo Ren vs. Hux was kind of amazing. Fingers crossed that in Episode IX, Hux will shoot him in the back.

-”Rey already has everything that’s in those books.” YODA YOU ARE SUCH A DICK.

-Flying ancient Rebellion ships. “What the hell?”

-If I have a complaint about TFA, it’s that we never had an “I love you”/”I know” moment between Han and Leia, but LEIA SAID “I KNOW” TO LUKE AND I’M TAKING WHAT I CAN GET RIGHT NOW.

-Rey’s parentage being ultimately meaningless. Although I love the idea of her being a Kenobi, I also hate the idea that the Force only shows up in these two families. Also, I thought it was a thing about her waiting for her parents, but she actually doesn’t know her parents, which I thought was a nice touch.

-Luke being so terrified of the pull of the Dark Side that for one second, he’s completely prepared to kill his nephew rather than deal with that again.

-SPACE JEWELRY. 

-I forgot Carrie Fisher’s daughter was in this movie until the credits but I think she was the adorable curly-haired woman who helped Poe with his crafty plans. I approve!

-SO MUCH CRYING

-Luke on the Millennium Falcon

Bad:

-Finn: severely underutilized

-Phasma: severely underutilized

-Rose: severely underutilized

-Costumes: see above note about couture-ass space costumes. I want nothing more in the whole world than to see Rey (and Leia, which I will never see) in some kind of fancy outfit. It doesn’t have to be insane, like, it could be like Leia’s Bespin outfit. SOMEONE BE MORE FANCY PLEASE. Even Leia’s outfits are more dramatic and utilitarian than nice for the sake of appearances. (Also: Laura Dern’s weird cold shoulder turtleneck? Okay.) Please, I need Anakin’s fake refugee outfit, Luke’s weird gold jacket at the end of A New Hope, Leia’s white ceremonial dress, JUST SOMETHING.

-Finn/Rose - PLEASE GOD AND ABRAMS, DO NOT MAKE A LOVE TRIANGLE, PLEASE DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR FOR THESE RANDOM SHIPS

-Rey/Kylo: see above. I can believe that they can form a bond and move forward with that, but I can never believe that Rey would hook up with someone who violated her and killed Han Solo. I would have to see some serious groveling, Zuko-to-Iroh style, to believe that this could even be a possibility.

-KYLO REN PUT YOUR FUCKING SHIRT ON, NO ONE CARES HOW RIPPED YOU ARE

-The opening scene was a little jarring and a little anachronistic. Funny, but anachronistic.

-It’s stupid and I’m selfish but WHERE WAS THE EWAN MCGREGOR FORCE GHOST?

-SO MANY NEW CHARACTERS and yet the existing characters weren’t given a lot of attention.

-I have to agree with the complaints about Finn and Rose’s side plot. While I think it was important for Finn to have a reason to stay and fight and to see what the First Order does on a larger scale that ISN’T about killing citizens (and I hope that that will be instrumental to his character in Episode IX), the fact that the whole thing literally ended up being pointless was a little frustrating. At least they could have gotten that tracker disabled and THEN been caught and posed for execution.

-Rose says she loves Finn (? I guess?) and then kisses him but she’s literally known him for less than 24 hours. Maybe she’s just vulnerable because of the loss of her sister?

-Snoke’s red audience chamber was so intense that it looked fake

-Honestly, in the Rey/Kylo Ren moments I saw intimacy, yes, but honesty and understanding. I saw the potential in Kylo Ren for redemption, which I hadn’t seen in TFA. I saw two young people in similar situations being forced to reach out and touch each other despite not really wanting to. And then I saw the Tumblr reactions and it was hugely disappointing. Could I have read platonic desires for companionship and being equals where there was actually romantic tension? Was there really a reason for Kylo Ren to be shirtless if not to signal to the audience that there’s the possibility of sexual interest on the table? (I saw two people interrupted in their daily lives, whether that meant walking around, working, or getting dressed.) I’m gonna say it again: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THEY CANNOT HOOK UP I WILL QUIT STAR WARS.

-Not a ton, but a strange amount of alien breasts/teats? Not in a sexual way but a funny way? I’m not sure how to feel about that. I thought it was weird. Am I wrong to feel that?

-I know this is silly and selfish, but I really wanted his name to be Ben Organa, not Ben Solo. (Can you imagine the fan uproar if they had made it Organa?) Just makes more sense to me.