#she isn’t really meant to be very important/feature in the story events much whatsoever

[fell-court]

I really need to design Ajisai, actually

[banshee-king]

‘Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior’ Book Review

So I finished this book a while ago, but I’m only getting to the review now because reasons. Anyway, I’m going to split this review into 4 categories; Characters, Plot, Structure, and Misc. Characters is about the people and personalities of the story, plus character grow/arc and all that. Plot is the events of the story. Structure is the sentence/paragraph/chapter/overall structure of the writing. Misc is special details that should be taken into consideration, in this case, it’s the new lore that this book adds to the whole of 40k, but also how this story fits into the overall narrative of the Ynnari. I guess I’ll each a score out of 5, but I won’t do an average for the total score, since each category isn’t necessarily worth the same, and since some of these categories blur together. Anyway, spoilers ahead…

Characters: 2/5

A little less than halfway though the story, every character is put through a hallucinogenic test by the Harlequins. This test probes at each person’s weakness, which they’ll need to pass for their upcoming quest. The Harlequin Shadowseer prophesised that one would fail their test, and this is foreshadowed to be the Visarch who saw the bloody hand of Khaine, which is a symbol for betrayal. This ‘betrayal’ comes near the end of the book where the Ynnari find Eldanesh’s tomb, where the Warshard of Khaine Guards. The Warshards radiates an aura of bloodthirsty madness, which affects almost all the Ynnari army, including the Visarch. But like, there are hundreds of other Eldar present? Was this really a betrayal if the Visarch was forced, and also wasn’t the only one? Also, nothing amounts to this, the Visarch’s character doesn’t learn anything, other than the fact he lacks the same incredible willpower as the other major characters. All he does is momentarily attack Yvraine for bit. They lose nothing, learn nothing, develop nothing.

As for the Autarch Meliniel, in his test he saw Biel-Tan fall and he had to act but couldn’t do anything. Then when facing the Warshard, he resisted the urges and fought the shard of Khaine. As a reward, he gains the ability to turn into an Avatar of Khaine… despite the fact that a wraithlord also fought the Warshard, Iyanna crippled it by throwing her spear into its neck, and Yvraine did the finishing blow. But yay Meliniel? I have no idea how this relates to his test, or why Khaine would reward an Eldar for resisting him. Wouldn’t Khaine reward an Eldar for giving into their bloody urges? Also, Meliniel does very little of importance throughout the book. His defining moment is leading a couple squads of Eldar against some Genestealer cultists and being forced to flee. Yay for Biel-Tan’s greatest Autarch. Overall, like the Visarch, his personality doesn’t change, he learns nothing, and his character isn’t developed.

Now for Iyanna, she is the best character in this book, and the reason why I give the Characters section 2/5 instead of 1/5. If she were to be the main character, I’d give 2.5/5, but she wasn’t, and her underused role doesn’t make up for everything else. Unlike other characters Iyanna has an actual character arc. She has emotional vulnerability, and an actual character flaw. After loosing her family, she has become incredibly isolated and lonely, yet she won’t admit that to herself. She doesn’t want to face her sadness. This leads to her trusting people she shouldn’t, because she yearns for a new family, a new home. In this book she faces the hurtful truth and accepts the feelings she’s been hiding, she realises that she has a home/family with the Ynnari. This also aligns with the Harlequin’s test she faced earlier, so her story is more coherent than say Meliniel’s. I feel like her story could have been done better, it’s not perfect, but in comparison, Iyanna is so much more interesting than every other character in this book.

And now for Yvraine herself. I actually have a lot to say after thinking about this for a bit, so I’m going to put my thoughts about Yvraine/the Ynnari in a separate post. In short for this review, Yvraine lacks personality, an adequate character arc, she lacks chemistry with the antagonist, and she lacks emotionally investment or impact on the reader. Yvraine was present in this story, that’s it, great, but I honestly wish this entire book had been set through Iyanna’s eyes, because Yvraine’s perspective doesn’t add anything and the page space could have been better spent on Iyanna.

Finally, special mention to Iyasta and Telathaus, Azkahr, and Idraesci Dreamspear, for also being in the book, and having very little purpose whatsoever. I almost forgot they existed. As for the antagonist characters, they work well with Iyanna, Sydari was threatening/intimidating and a good foil for her. Yet they don’t really work well with the rest of the cast. The Warshard was important for the Visarch and Meliniel but wasted on Yvraine and the rest, and overall felt tacked on to the end of the book.

Plot: 2/5

The story of this book is better than Fractures of Biel-Tan, yet I still have some major gripes. My first one was that nothing was really gained. Iyanna’s character was grown and developed, Meliniel got the power to transform into Khaine, but that wasn’t the point. The original goals were to find the fifth Cronesword, and to form an alliance between Iyanden and this new Craftworld. Neither was accomplished. Iyanna reconnecting with her family and getting closure was great and all but it wasn’t on the agenda of the Ynnari’s goals, and this book is meant to be about the Ynnari.

This book suffers from the same problem that so many Eldar books do, it doesn’t seem to understand what its audience wants. The only people reading this are fans of Eldar, so a story that feature two groups of Eldar killing each other isn’t great. A bunch of Eldar die in this, as if they don’t die enough already when they’re the antagonists. Like seriously, there’s a squad of Howling Banshees in this book that did very little and could have nearly survived, but just had to die at the end, because we can’t have an Eldar book without an obligatory Banshee killing.

Like this book kills the Avatar of Khaine twice. TWICE! The first one gets corrupted by Genestealers, and the second one is said to be the greatest shard of Khaine ever, and it stills dies. Like BL now has to get creative with how humiliating they kill off Khaine. I swear they’ll make Khaine die of childbirth before they let him be cool. The fact that this mystical manifestation of the concept of murder and strife is now some toy that Meliniel can activate with the push of a button is even more humiliating. Making Khaine serve Ynnead is also degrading.

Additionally, the whole point of getting Iyanden’s Ghost Warriors to go with the Ynnari was pointless, as was the conflict of getting the noble houses to rally their warriors. In terms of worldbuilding and showing their culture it was fine, but the book could have easily been rewritten to not include them. The Ghost Warriors only show up for one battle near the end, but it’s so one sided, that you could have easily changed it so that the Ynnari won on their own. Iyanna tagging along was fine, but how many pages were wasted on the politics of Iyanden, when it ultimately didn’t go anywhere? Too many characters had plotlines that didn’t go anywhere, too much time was spent worldbuilding things that didn’t matter to this story, just too much stuff could have been cut out in general.

Structure: 2.5/5

Again, this book is better than say ‘Fracture of Biel-Tan’, but it’s not great. It’s more coherent/straightforward, the descriptions of things and locations were good, dialogue was fine, but the pacing was a little weird. They don’t reach Zaisuthra until halfway through the book, despite being the main focus, and the plotlines that go nowhere don’t help. The battle between the Ynnari and the Zaisuthrans is also incredibly short and is glossed over too much for my liking. I just feel unsure what this book was trying to showcase. If this book was exploring Iyanden or Iyanna than so many chapters feel pointless. If Yvraine was to be the main focus than why was so much time spent elsewhere. Meliniel feels like he should be a major character, yet he has such a small presence, and none of his scenes seem connected to his final test against the Warshard.

I mean this book is called Ghost Warrior, but it features them so little. Spiritseer would have been a batter choice in my opinion. I just feel like this book was messy, and the overall story would have been so much more concise if it wasn’t trying to show all these characters/worlds, without actually putting the time in to do them properly.

Yet my worst complain has to be the second person intro. I really didn’t like the introduction to this book that spoke directly to me the reader. I want to escape into this fictional world, not have a conversation with the author. When it talks about tales too complex to retell here, or asks if I would doubt the reliability of the narrator, it just annoys me. I don’t need to be told “we join Yvraine in the garden of Nurgle”, just show me it. Another striking moment was when the Ynnari landed on Zaisuthra, and the book basically said “imagine that there was suitable festivities because I can’t be bothered describing it”. Like, this book’s structure is fine, acceptable, but it’s nothing to write home about.

Miscellaneous: 2.5/5

Although I complained about the worldbuilding not feeling like it belonged in this story, or dragged down the pacing, it was good. I liked the snippets of lore we get from this book, I like the portrayal of Iyanden and Zaisuthra. I really don’t like the entire plotline of the Warshard however, I wish it didn’t exist, and I’m not looking forwards to seeing that in other books.

However, this book also added questions to things I thought I understood before, and that’s not good. Although I’m still going to mark it off against this book for complicating a matter that wasn’t complicated before, I’d like someone to answer this for me, do the Eldar still worship their gods? Specifically Craftworld Eldar here, because this book pointed out how strange it was for the Zaisuthran’s to still be worshipping the “Old Gods” like Asuryan, Isha, or Vaul. Yet they don’t worship Cegorach apparently? I know they wouldn’t worship Ynnead because he’s so new, but I’m now confused as to who worships what. Like Iyanna thinks the Gods abandoned them in the War of Heaven, and the Ynnari don’t care when destroyed Zaisuthra about crushed the monuments to dead gods. Yet is Craftworld Iybraesil and Yme-Loc not dedicated to Morai-Heg and Vaul respectively?

I’m so confused. I enjoy the little bits of worldbuilding in this book, but the Warshard and perhaps this… I just… if GW has made the Craftworld Eldar atheists, I’m going to be so pissed.

Conclusion:

This book is bad. I really want to like the Ynnari and Yvraine, but there’s just so many problems. Like I don’t even think this book is that well written. Even if you want to know about the Ynnari, this book doesn’t add much that the others don’t. I don’t even give that much insight into the Ghost Warriors. Read if you want to learn about Iyanna, otherwise just skip in my opinion. =/

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

[Review] THE OPEN HOUSE Is Just A Vacant Spot In The Neighborhood

Have you ever, like, noticed how weird open houses are? Apparently, I didn’t think they were, until The Open House hit Netflix on January 19th and I was able to see for myself what the horrid consequences of hosting one would be.

The Open House centers on Netflix original 13 Reasons Why and Don’t Breathe star Dylan Minnette and his mother, played by Piercey Dalton (The Orchard). The two find themselves in a hopeless situation following a family tragedy that leads them to move into a relative’s empty vacation house where they are “besieged by threatening forces”.

Being acquired by one of the top streaming services out there (that turns out horror gems like a mining valley), starring a currently very popular teen star, and entailing a simple ‘haunted house’ premise means The Open House would surely be good, right?

Wrong. Oh, so wrong.

Before I rip through this, because there is A LOT of ripping to do, my overall point here is that The Open House ultimately fails because it tries to be everything its not. What viewers need to know first and foremost about The Open House is that we, the horror community, have seen this before. Every part of this movie from the ‘stylish’ camera angles to the final ‘twist’ is taken from another, better film and artist.

It’s obvious in the film industry, that writers and directors draw influence from somewhere. That somewhere is almost always previously existing films ranging from actual plot to directing techniques. At this point almost all horror tropes have been covered or touched in some way, but it takes a special filmmaker to take a practical plot line, like a haunted house, and turn it on its head. Writer and director, Matt Angel (Ha/lf), is not that filmmaker. What he has done with his first opportunity to write and direct an official feature length horror film wind’s up mocking the talent and creative storytelling techniques used by those that have come before him.

The only positive and redeeming qualities The Open House has, that I would like to get out of the way, is the decent acting and the pretty intense score. Both, however, are quickly undermined by the forced ‘style’ Angel tries to cop from films ranging from Get Out to Funny Games. I admit I don’t know much about cinematography, but I know enough to sense a director’s certain style and I know when enough is enough. Each important shot in this film is different from the another, borrowing from well-recognized angles like James Wan’s panoramic scene movements to M. Night Shyamalan’s trademark perspective angles. Angel overuses distinct techniques almost as if to cover the spread of what’s popular in horror right now. False style and a narrative lacking any meaning and depth is not exactly what viewers want.

Basically, it feels as though he watched the most popular horror and genre films of the last ten years, put together some shallow and pretentious formula, thought ‘Easy, I could do that!’, and made this passionless, pointless Frankenstein of a movie to get himself out onto the scene.

I imagine him working on this was a lot like that scene in Scream 3 where Scott Foley’s director character rants about wanting to make a love story, but he has to make a horror movie first because the studio is making him to do it. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system, I feel it’s necessary to go through the narrative, step-by-step in order to really justify why I feel this way toward a harmless, but wasteful, Netflix addition. No one likes negative reviews and, hopefully, no one likes to write them. I can find the good in most films from wide releases to the most obscure C-rated horror movie, but if I’m deeply disappointed I like to detail exactly why.

SPOILERS (which are only necessary to review a movie that is this bad)

Minnette’s character, Logan, and his mother, Naomi, are quickly hit with grief following the sudden traumatic and accidental death of Logan’s father (it’s incredibly similar to the opening sequence of Disturbia). We learn through many passive-aggressive comments made by Naomi throughout the movie that this has left her and her son in financial stress which we later learn was because of her husband ‘not caring’ enough to leave her and Logan well-off in the event of his untimely death. No insurance? Don’t middle-aged women typically murder their husbands to cash-out on their life insurance policies? Anyways…

Her nameless sister offers up a vacant vacation home that she and Logan can live in because she can’t afford the bills alone which Naomi takes her up on. The catch? They have to be out of the house whenever an open house is scheduled, which sounds to me like a much bigger hassle than finding a job on my own. We never hear from the sister character again, not because she gets caught up in some sinister situation or anything, but because of true carelessness on Angel’s part.

Logan and Naomi make their way up to the mountain mansion, nearly hitting a phantom figure out on the road in the dark (here I would cite all of the movies this scene is a ripoff of, but we don’t have that time). I won’t even do a review the disservice of ranting about jump scares. I feel, typically, it’s a staple tactic for a scary movie (how else can a general audience truly get scared without them?), so I am not drawing attention to the fact that it was a cheap thrill because The Open House has plenty of those, but that it was both important to the twist at the end and so unimportant at the same time.

  Deciding to stop at a gas station in town, we are introduced to two of the most useless character written for effect and for the sake of being red herrings: the old, loony, invasive neighbor who knows entirely too much about everyone, Martha, played by Patricia Bethune (Longmire, True Blood) and the odd, all too forward and friendly store clerk Chris, played by Sharif Atkins (White Collar). The entire scene, and really any other scene including Martha or Chris, is heavy with the feeling that something is off about them.

Martha mentions the death of her own husband and recognizes Naomi and Logan from pictures her neighbor, Naomi’s sister, showed her in one scene. In later scenes where she is randomly walking their lawn in the dead of night she does not recognize Logan, and later after that she drops in unannounced with banana bread and confusingly mentions that her husband is alive to Naomi. In one of her final scenes, Martha appears on the road Logan is running on (oh yeah, he’s a runner) and creepily insists on driving him home after he gets sick.

One minute Chris is just a sweet, possible love interest for Naomi much to Logan’s dismay, and the next he is awkwardly showing up at the house and requesting to see the inside. Just for the reader’s information, this house has no significance whatsoever other than the fact that it is big. There is no back story, no ghostly history, no one murdered Old Man Anderson with an axe in the basement, or anything like that, so I was very puzzled as to why this man would want to look around and why Naomi would let him. How this happens I don’t know, but Naomi loses track of Chris going in and out of the rooms and just assumes he’s left.

I only summarize these scenes because they have absolutely nothing to do with the plot whatsoever. They mimic the oddities of the characters seen in Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Shyamalan’s The Visit, but serve no purpose other than to lead viewers into thinking there is something there that there really, truly isn’t. I don’t think Matt Angel fully understands the way a red herrings is meant to be used in a film.

Halfway through this mess Logan begins to notice strange things happening around the house. Supernatural-type strange things. His cell phone, glasses, and cereal bowl appear and reappear. Doors open slowly within the frame (very similar to Paranormal Activity and that iconic scene in The Strangers). Naomi is plagued, and I mean plagued, with every woman’s worst nightmare while taking a shower: cold water.

The pilot light is blown out more times than I could even stand to keep track of. Each time this happens, towel-clad Naomi, goes down to the pitch black basement to relight it (each time a gimmick of Lily Taylor’s match-lighting scene in The Conjuring). Logan is, of course, equally plagued with memories of his father’s death and with vivid hallucinations of him in the basement.

On top of all of this they are shooed out of their house by a bossy real estate agent and her eager assistant twice for open house showings. Twice. Each time providing us with less than pivotal scenes involving Logan and his mother included just to move things along. Always looking for the twist before it comes, I was getting the feeling that possibly Logan and his mother were not really there themselves, maybe they were dead the way The Others perfectly tricks you? Maybe that has something to do with them having to be out of the house? Unfortunately, not even that was the case. The narrative of this story has all the makings, turns, and questions that eventually transpire into a huge twist at the end, but it is far from sophisticated enough to execute one.

Eventually the disappearance and reappearance of things in the house takes a toll on the relationship between mother and son. There is a pretty harsh explosion over the crumpling of a family photo where Naomi and Logan lash out at one another kind of out of nowhere. There is no development to either of these characters nor growth or lack thereof in their relationship so it’s more of a scene to roll your eyes over.

While watching this I found myself thinking that something has to be going on. There is going to be some revelation in the end to tie all of this weirdness together, that’s usually what happens with a divisive genre film, and it will all make sense. What the audience gets is the ‘twist’ mirroring that of Housebound and The Boy. Logan and his mother are finally met with the malevolent force in the third act. I’ve cut out a lot of details, again for the sake of time, because they have absolutely nothing to do with the development or ending whatsoever.

The cause of all the seemingly supernatural happenings? A faceless, nameless stranger has been living among them in the house slowly stalking and playing with the mother and son before deciding to end both of their lives. The entire finale of this movie is an absolute disaster resulting in huge flaws from the stranger knocking Logan out cold and dosing him in water causing him to freeze to the ground unable to move (and run!) to Naomi stumbling into the sharp end of Logan’s frigid, shaking knife-holding hand. With icicles literally brandishing his eyebrows, Logan escapes into the forest, but the stranger eventually catches up and strangles the life out of him. The stranger departs and the audience, if they haven’t stabbed themselves with their own knives yet, watch as he trucks off into the unknown past another open house sign.

Angel’s message throughout this wreck of a story is just simple: you never know who will come in and stay if you have public open house showings. This stranger is apparently an open house killer and the story we were fed just so happened to center on this mother and son going through a grievous (yet unimportant to the plot) time in their lives? I’m sorry, but the whole “Because you were home” reasoning behind The Strangers does not work here. The story tries so hard to match the incredibly powerful and dreadful ending of Funny Games, but it falls extremely flat and frozen. You’ll need to watch The Open House to get the full effect of that last joke.

Angel tried to incorporate too many parts into his Franken-movie and, unfortunately, all of the parts did not fit well together. It wound up being a mixture destructive only to itself. The dead father motif combined with the odd, very weird neighbor characters, mixed with the supernatural-happenings-actually-being-a-person-in-the-walls ending made for a very sloppy, depth-less, empty story. I find myself encouraging others to watch it just so that we can discuss all of the horrible things wrong with it.

The disappointed audience is left with questions, but not in a good way. As much as it wants to, this film is not the equivalent to that of modern ground-breaking genre films that leave their audiences with conversation bits and thoughts after they end, but instead it left us with the question we all hate asking ourselves once the credits roll: What the hell did I just watch?

The real irony here is that The Open House is indeed like a real open house: it’s vacant, and empty on the inside, the details are staged to make it look like something it’s not, it’s represented by a company name you recognize and trust, you feel optimistic going in, but wind up running out screaming because there is a deal-breaker looming beneath the surface. It’s not usually a psychotic, murderous squatter, but it happens. Huge dealbreaker.

    The post [Review] THE OPEN HOUSE Is Just A Vacant Spot In The Neighborhood appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street.

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[shinneth]

Gem Ascension Tropes (Peridot-specific: P - Q)

Reference:

Primary Peri Post ▼ Primary General Post ▼ Full Article

Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality: Justified, as Peridot and Steven are 13 and 14 respectively (until It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is; then they’re 14 and 15) and haven’t been an Official Couple for very long. However, Steven’s hormones (fully in effect since his Plot-Relevant Age-Up) and Peridot’s devotion to him make them both self-aware that they’re moving along faster than they should and really can’t help themselves. This is addressed as early on as Chapter 5 of Act III, but that brings up another factor that the Dawn of a New Era brought about by the events of GA are forcing them both to grow up too fast with crushing levels of responsibility hanging over them both. Just under a week removed from GA confirms the pair have gone as far as second base and are eager to go past that in This is Who I Am. Then it completely goes off the rails in It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is (3-4 months removed from GA) where they’re not only well into third base, but are desperate to go all the way. They ultimately succumb to that in Chapter 2… sort of.

Pensieve Flashback: Chapter 1 of Act III features three flashbacks of Peridot’s Homeworld days – all of which she is forced to watch by White Diamond, who surrounds all sides of her with screens of these memories that were ripped directly from her mind. Present-day Peridot has to discuss her past with White Diamond as she watches these moments against her will.

Photographic Memory: An ability Peridot gains post-ascension. Often paired with her Mental Picture Projector power to provide exposition.

Phrase Catcher: Although it’s technically not a catchphrase (and technically Lapis is the one who came up with the term originally), Peridot often refers to Steven as her “center of gravity” as a Term of Endearment across the GA continuity. Once Peridot adopts the term, she’s the only one who uses it… until Chapter 5 of Act III, when Steven refers to her as this for him. This moves Peridot so much that she actually needs alone time with him despite already having some not that long ago. Much later, in Plans Change, Garnet also uses the term to reference the importance of Steven in Peridot’s life even in regards to her leadership abilities, though this only serves to embarrass both Steven and Peridot. The latter insists that the term just sounds awful coming out of anyone other than Steven or herself.

Physical, Mystical, Technological: The Technological to Lapis’ Mystical and Bismuth’s Physical.

Platonic Life-Partners: With Amethyst, and formerly Lapis.

Please Wake Up: The moments leading up to, and the actual moment Pumpkin dies in Chapter 8 of Act III have Peridot invoking this trope, though she almost entirely loses her ability to speak coherently once Pumpkin dies. She speaks incomplete and fragmented statements while she’s internally processing the reality of what just happened. Following that is an Angst Nuke.

Plucky Comic Relief: Per canon, she’s still this. Granted, it’s notably downplayed given the circumstances, as Peridot pretty much has to become more serious and professional as an authoritative figure (the central theme of this story is Peridot starting as this trope and transitioning to Hero Protagonist, after all). However, she still has a good number of moments, and her pluckiness serves to get her team motivated and optimistic in a mission they can very easily screw up and fail.

Poisonous Friend: After her actions in Chapter 6 of Act III that ended up getting Steven willingly involved in a very violent, sadistic method of In-Universe Catharsis (aka hack at White Diamond’s neck in hopes of snapping it clean off her body), Peridot not only sees herself as this to Steven after coming to her senses, but White Diamond blatantly accuses her of being this as well. This plays into White’s goal of crushing Peridot’s ego to make her submissive again so she can be more easily coerced into fusion. Later in Chapter 8, Steven (as Pink Diamond 2.0) adamantly tells Peridot (as Chartreuse Diamond) that she isn’t a toxic influence on him at all, and that his actions are his own.

Power Crystal: Emerged with the components of one that was made whole by White Diamond’s manipulation. A broken splinter of Yellow Diamond combined with White Diamond’s diamond dust embedded in Peridot’s gemstone forms a brand new diamond. In full bloom, it merges with said gemstone and rests directly in the middle of it; this is a permanent change and marks Peridot’s ascension from a low-caste worker gem to a Diamond. Peridot effectively becomes two gems simultaneously and gains a great deal of power (though capped unless she shifts into Chartreuse Diamond) while doubling as being her lifeline just as much as her mundane gemstone.

Power Floats: Can do this post-ascension, though Peridot still prefers to use a metal platform when she takes to the sky.

Power Incontinence: By far the biggest case of this for Peridot was her inability to fuse, even with Steven. It’s heavily implied that despite her ascension, Peridot wouldn’t be able to fuse with anyone else due to being an Era 2 gem – as well as a kind of gem that logically should never have any reason to fuse, given that Peridots are not meant for combat of any kind (and fusion on Homeworld was solely done for combat purposes). While she was finally able to fuse as Chartreuse Diamond in Chapter 8 of Act III, there was a lingering concern she would only be able to fuse in that form. However, Steven’s Epiphany Therapy proved to work on Peridot just as it did for Chartreuse; once Peridot was able to forgive herself for her many past crimes and accept that she did deserve to experience fusion, she and Steven finally fused successfully and became Sphalerite in the final scene of Act III.

Power Limiter: A natural variant in Peridot’s limitations of her base form. While she is vastly more powerful and versatile compared to her abilities pre-ascension, and Peridot might be able to share most of the same abilities as Chartreuse, the range of effectiveness is greatly limited while performing as Peridot… simply because she’s in a form that can’t channel the kind of power a Diamond can. If Peridot pushes herself too hard, she can risk harming herself in the process.

The Power of Love: This is what kept Peridot from falling apart on Day 1 of the rescue mission. Her boundless love for Steven kept pushing her to follow through on her vows, even when she wanted to give up and go home. It’s pointed out several times In-Universe how Peridot made something that’s usually a point of vulnerability into a power source. That is, until White Diamond finds a way to make it a weakness in Act III. Still, Peridot’s love for Steven shines through and helps way more often than it hurts. Somewhat subverted as Peridot and Steven have trouble fusing – love alone isn’t enough to make them compatible. Steven had to dig deeper to get to the root of Peridot’s problems to make Iridescent Diamond a reality, but love is still in play as Steven’s efforts just further prove to Peridot how he’s a beacon of light in her life and can only make sense of things she doesn’t understand with him around. When Steven helps Peridot finally move on from the guilt of the past weighing her down, she can’t help but fall even further in love with him.

The second point happens early in Chapter 8 after Pumpkin dies. It’s mixed in with the Heroic BSoD, but this trope is largely what fuels the Angst Nuke.

Power Perversion Potential: Peridot has an idea to use just a small bit of willpower to make Steven unable to ejaculate for a while with the intent of building towards a stronger orgasm in the long run, which Steven consents to. And… it definitely had the intended result when Peridot dispelled him.

Pragmatic Hero: Contrasts with Steven’s All-Loving Hero; while Peridot has changed so much to the point that who she is now is a vast departure from her Pre-Earth Manipulative Bastard persona, she still remains an objectivist who knows better than to love everything and everyone unconditionally. Most times she attempts to adopt this attitude ends up blowing up in her face (see also: Lapis). Since she is fiercely protective of the ones she loves, Peridot has no qualms whatsoever about doing immoral things if it’s literally the only way she can assure the safety of others. She has more than once butted heads with Steven over this, and while those were ultimately minor spats, This is Who I Am Chapter 5 proves there is a part of Peridot that has more than some lingering contempt for Steven for making light of not only her embodiment of this trope, but others who share her ideology… 

5XG: “You hate murderers. Anyone who takes the life of another, you hate on principle. The cause or circumstance is of no concern to you and never has been.

The Bismuth told me how events played out when you first met her. After knowing by this point how the Diamond Authority were responsible for committing multiple acts of global genocide, how this very planet was on that list, and were prone to shattering members of their own court on a misdemeanor or even on a whim. You were aware of all of this.

Yet you admonished the Bismuth for daring to create weapons made for wiping out an enemy with lethal force; legitimate ways to justifiably defend yourself against an enemy you know would not hesitate to take your life if they had an opening. You stood there, and you actually labeled her as one who is completely indistinguishable from White, Blue, or Yellow Diamond. A loyal ally of your maternal unit whose focus was always on doing her best to defend her friends and loved ones, who only fought when forced to by the Homeworld gems… to her face, you belittled her convictions and you said there was no difference between her and the maniacal, genocidal dictators that you yourself were defending against along with your loved ones – just as the Bismuth herself.

I honestly don’t blame her for trying to kill you that day. You should have died.”

Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: Shown in Chapter 1 of It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is when Peridot’s exhaustion (both mentally and physically) makes her unable to concentrate her willpower, even for a simple task like cleaning a minor mess. To a lesser extent, it was also present in This is Who I Am Chapter 2 when she Forgot About Her Powers from the shock of getting ambushed by an alligator. During the previous chapter of the aforementioned story, Steven heavily implies this trope was why Peridot was unable to fuse with him during the main GA series until she learned to forgive herself towards the end of Act III.

Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The slew of derogatory words Peridot has for Steven after first reuniting with him are delivered like this, with a weak punch to his shoulder after every name she calls him.

Punctuated Pounding: The moment Steven and Peridot reunite in Chapter 5 of Act I, Peridot unleashes this on Steven while crying into his chest; punctuating every name she calls him with a punch. However, being that she’s severely injured at this point, Peridot’s blows don’t hurt Steven in the least, and he just takes it in stride. 

Quiet Cry for Help: The narrative in Chapter 4 of Act I notes there is a brief, vulnerable look in Peridot’s eyes as she turns to face Bismuth and Lapis, who just screamed at her to not shatter the helpless poofed gems in her workstation, which Peridot was “teasing” and looked ready to follow through with it until her friends intervened. She’s described as looking lost, confused, on the verge of breaking down, and silently crying for help. That expression only lasts a moment before Peridot slips back into Heroic Safe Mode and mocks her friends for thinking she was really going to do it.

[urdnotgrunt]

asa “ace” ryder // biotic // pathfinder

under the read more is the me:a 30 day countdown ryder meme that i meant to do over the actual days oops, just to introduce you to my new child and some of her family!! not all of the prompts are answered, i’ll gradually be answering them eventually.

30 Days: Will you play SisRyder or BroRyder first? Why? How does your Ryder define their gender?

sisryder bc i most always play feminine characters. i’ve taken that opportunity every chance i’ve gotten since pokemon crystal back when i was a kid. ace identifies as feminine.

29 Days: What is your Ryder’s name? Why did you pick this name - is there a meaning or origin story behind it? Do they go by any nicknames? What would you name their sibling, father and mother if you were able to choose?

asa “ace” ryder. i really liked the of “ace ryder,” so from there i just had to figure out a name that could actually have that nickname (opposed to just being called that bc of some reason or another). i happened upon asa and loved it. her one and only nickname is ace.

28 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance or create a custom Ryder? If custom, describe your Ryder’s physical appearance (hair color, eye color, skin color, height, weight, facial features, any scars or tattoos, racial origin, etc). If you have art and/or a face-claim, feel free to add them here.

definitely custom, i always go custom when it comes to appearances. ace’s face has dark green eyes and is full of freckles. she’s about 5′10″ with a plump, pear shaped figure. her most notable feature is her dark brown curls, which she leaves them be, as they tend to behave better that way. as for the tattoos, she has the constellation of the phoenix under her right breast. her face claim is lauren johnson.

27 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance for Ryder’s sibling or customize them? Describe your ideas for their sibling’s and father’s physical appearance.

i’m definitely going to be changing them (ace’s fam ain’t white lmao). her brother is very much a military guy, with close cropped black hair and a generally stern face. he has freckles sporadically peppered on his face, but not nearly as many as his sister. he has dark hazel eyes, loooooong eyelashes, and is the same skin color as ace. his form, while possessing some muscles from military training, is rather lanky. his fc is evan ross. their father looks strangely unlike them, as both of the ryder siblings take after their mother. he is bald (by his own volition, he swears) with light brown eyes and darker brown skin than his children.

26 Days: Do you have a specific class profile or mix of class profiles in mind for Ryder?

ace is a biotic, so she’s going to be mostly an adept with a few soldier skills.

25 Days: Describe Ryder’s favorite combat style. Bioware call Peebee a “gunslinger” and describe Liam as a “close-range fighter” - how would you describe Ryder’s combat role/strengths? What are some of their favorite biotic/tech/other abilities?

ace’s fighting style could be termed “going-with-the-flow” as she tends to fill any of the pockets that her squad mates lack. long-range? singularity. mid-range? shockwave. close up? biotic charge. basically, ace has thought of ways in which to use her biotics at any position, and in this way, she’s very much a support fighter and quite well-rounded. her absolute favorite ability is shockwave.

24 Days: Which squadmates do you think will best compliment Ryder’s combat style? Alternatively, who do you plan to take out most in the field?

with asa, since she has biotics handled, she’ll be aking more tech and soldier based squad mates out. this’ll probably include drack, jaal, liam, and vetra (bc vetra).

23 Days: Which weapons or category of weapons will Ryder prefer? Describe their favorite loadout.

anything relatively easy to wield and load quickly is good to ace. that being said, an assault rifle or pistol will be the two she gravitates toward.

22 Days: Will Ryder craft? What are you most excited about crafting? Do you have any names in mind already for weapons?

so ace isn’t particularly savvy when it comes to tech stuff (that’s more of her brother’s thing), but she’d love to learn how to craft things!! she’s gonna be asking liam so many questions, i feel bad for him lmao

21 Days: What are Ryder’s personality traits? Describe 5 strengths and 5 flaws.

strengths:

optimistic

friendly

compassionate

sociable

friendly

flaws:

intense

dramatic

disorganized

absentminded

erratic

20 Days: What first impressions does Ryder tend to give people? Do they have any ‘odd’ or specific mannerisms, habits or other quirks? How do they present and carry themselves?

asa is a very optimistic and joyous person. she prefers to try to think of the positives rather than get bogged down by negative feelings. she also displays her emotions quite...loudly. her brother calls her a drama queen, but she prefers the term “emotionally adept.” she’s no good at stealth missions due to her face being a canvas of emotions, but she tries (oh how she tries). also, asa (suffering from adhd) tends to skip over things in conversation. and by skip over things, i mean she thinks she’s said them already, because she’s gone over them in her head, but hasn’t said them aloud. her mind is a fast moving place and her mouth can rarely keep up.

19 Days: Where would Ryder fall in the classic Paragon/Renegade morality system? What would their D&D alignment be? If you know their personality type in any personality typing systems (such as MBTI and Enneagram - you can find various type descriptions and tests using Google), feel free to add and discuss them here.

ace is definitely more paragon, but as she lets her emotions define her, she can have her renegade moments as well. her alignment would lean toward neutral good.

18 Days: What qualities does Ryder like and dislike in other people? Are there any things they particularly appreciate or can’t stand?

ace tends to gravitate toward people in general; she will talk to anyone. but the people she most enjoys interacting with and those who eventually become her good friends are often interesting and don’t mind a bit of fun. but honestly, asa has friends who are outrageously different. it doesn’t much matter to her as long as they’re not actively mean to others, haughty, or have a “better than thou” attitude.

17 Days: List some of Ryder’s favorite things - colors, food, music, etc. Is there anything of this nature that they hate? Do they have any hobbies or skills outside of combat?

asa isn’t pick about food whatsoever, she’ll pretty much eat anything. but she LOVES baked goods, especially cupcakes.

16 Days: How would Ryder define their sexuality?

ace’s a lesbian bc girls. no but seriously, she’s never been attracted to guys in a romantic or sexual way. she’s been in one realtionship with a guy, and it turned out that they were both totally not into each other’s genders. they ended the relationship as friends, and were still in contact with each other when ace left for the andromeda mission.

15 Days: Delve into the Ryder family background - how is/was their relationship with their father, sibling and mother? Do they get along, hero worship, close twin connection, sibling rivalry, was it strained, was it distant, etc.

14 Days: Describe some important or formative events in Ryder’s history. How did these impact and shape them?

13 Days: Why did Ryder join the Alliance military? Later on, what were Ryder’s reasons for signing up to the Andromeda Initiative? Were they seeking adventure (or glory, or a challenge), wanting a new start, running from something, following their family, trying to secure a future for humanity, did they simply feel railroaded into it, etc.

12 Days: How will Ryder feel upon waking up from cryo? Relieved, excited, scared, impatient to get going, lost, etc.

11 Days: Once in Andromeda, what are Ryder’s goals? What drives them?

10 Days: Will Ryder ever miss the Milky Way? What things and places will they miss most?

9 Days: Did Ryder have any notable friends or connections in the Milky Way? How about past relationships? Which friendship or relationship was the most significant to them?

8 Days: How does Ryder feel about aliens? Are they uncomfortable, wary, intrigued, curious, intimidated, not bothered, etc? In the Milky Way, where did they stand on humanity’s place in galactic society - Earth first, Terra Firma, human superiority, peaceful cooperation, pro-galactic integration & unity, etc? How will they feel upon discovering that there are sentient alien races in Andromeda?

7 Days: Ryder’s father gave the twins informal N7 training in the past. How did Ryder feel about this (pressured, resentful, grateful, motivated, overworked, excited, etc)? What are their feelings on “N7” as a symbol? How do they relate to it, if at all?

6 Days: Does your Ryder know your Shepard? What do they think of Shepard? Would they get along? What would Shepard think of Ryder?

5 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, who do you think Ryder will get along well with? Who do you think they will get along best with? Why?

4 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, is there anyone you think Ryder won’t gel so greatly with, dislike or otherwise come into conflict with? Why?

3 Days: Do you plan on romancing anyone with Ryder? If so, who? Why? What qualities would Ryder find attractive in a partner (if applicable)?

2 Days: Provide a “famous quote” from Ryder that sums them up as a character (like the ones for the squadmates in their official character profiles).

1 Day: Which song/songs would be “theme songs” for Ryder? Are there any symbols you associate with Ryder? If you’ve created a moodboard for them, share it here. If not, what sorts of things would be on their moodboard? Describe their aesthetic. What Hogwarts house would they be sorted into? If you’ve written fanfic involving Ryder already, share it here. [you don’t need to do all of these, they’re merely intended as creative exercises]