#that's some impressive character development coming from a tyrant...

[sphireath-wisp]

Sypnosis: Being transported into the historical manhwa you were reading is no fun, is it? What's even worse is that you're the villainess in this story! But wait! Something's off. You've tweaked the story and changed the course of fate. What route will you take now?

Warnings: Strong implications of F! Reader (since we're talking about manhwa), not proofread, Alternate Universe, (kinda) close resemblance to the original plotline of the OG universe

Where are we? -> Prologue

The glaring headlights face you head-on, almost entirely blinding your field of view. Everything feels like it's in slow motion, you can't run in time and neither can you stop now. You can hear the engine of the car, it's pitiful that you didn't get the chance to say goodbye to your loved ones. However, you don't get the chance to think about any of that now - your body has lunged forward due to the car crash.

'From rags to riches,' they say, but this is all much too sudden. Whether you consider yourself lucky or not, you've been graced with a few more conscious minutes and the pain that comes after is unforgivingly quick. The grainy asphalt against your back is uncomfortable. The car screeches to a halt beside your limp body and the driver shouts out worried yelps. You don't know whether the liquid pooling beneath your body is rainwater or blood.

Black dots your vision before you hear any sirens. Perhaps the afterlife will give you some solace. It's a thought you entertain and it comforts your fear of death. Eyes fluttering shut, you can't find the energy to open them again. You've died. You would've died. You, by right, should've died.

So then... where exactly are you? Maids left and right shoot each other cautious, but worried glances. Stumbling your way past the maids and out of bed, you find yourself in front of what's supposedly your vanity, much too luxurious and intricate than you're used to. A face that's not yours looks back at you and, this time, your memory doesn't fail you.

"Ah," Even your voice sounds alien, smooth like the sweetest of honey. Your head turns back to the maids gathered in your room, the grandiose bedroom, the spacious canopy bed, and... your uncanny reflection. You've been reincarnated, but out of all the strange possibilities and probabilities, you've been bestowed a chance to live the life of a Villainess in the novel you browsed through on a whim.

(Name), a tyrant at their peak, and a ruler doomed to meet an early death by the guillotine with the jeers of your people. Your consciousness is now bound to the body of a cold-blooded heir of the Mortalis Kingdom, and you must take up their name as your own.

With a hand on your beating heart, with your body burning up more than it should, you feel yourself collapse. "Your Highness!" the maids scramble around you like a flock of bewildered fletchings, but they all hesitate to even graze your skin. "You shouldn't leave your bed, your grace. You've only just got over that terrible fever!"

Ah, so that's why you felt so tired. No worries, you'll spend much-needed time recovering and resting to your heart's content. Plus, you can spend all that extra time planning your next course of action without a disturbance - you'll need it! The Elysian Kingdom, ruled by the angels, already have a sour impression of you, (Name). Where do I even begin with the demons in the Umbryss Kingdom? You're such an easy puppet for them to take over Mortalis! Thorns overwhelm your path to a long life and the revolution that will take your head isn't far!

Will you make it?

Hi! In case I was too vague, let me explain the world I've created simply for those who are confused.

Mortalis -> Human World

Elysian -> Celestial Realm

Umbryss -> Devildom

In this world, you are the villainess in line for the throne, the direct descendant of the ruler of Mortalis. I'll introduce each character slowly and give them time to develop. Please note that there will be an overlap of characters in various chapters, BUT - of course - each character will have their own chapter to star in.

Note that demons and angels DO NOT exist in this universe, but magic does! Remember that these are spin-offs so the characters won't be the exact same as canon.

Tag list: @honeymoo-cafe, @whatever-fanfics

[red-balloon12]

My actual thoughts on TADC Ep.2

(Spoilers below)

1. This was a cool episode! I like how it explored the whole thing with NPC’s and them just being there to defeat. I felt bad for Gummigoo. Him not having memories and stuff. It’s no wonder why him and Pomni connected so quickly……oh god there’s going to be a lot of “fanservice” fan art of him (and him with Pomni), isn’t there…HOOOO GOD- But I admittedly didn’t feel as attached to Gummigoo as a lot of the other fans. Not that Gummigoo was a bad character, but I knew he wasn’t going to last as a permanent character so I guess that’s why him getting poofed by Caine didn’t affect me as much (and why I’m not mad at Caine as much. And I guess I’m also just…very biased against GummiJester as a JesterDoll truther….I’m so sorry-)

2. Caine was a lot more pushy in this episode. Before he made the activities seem optional (though the activities themselves had a way of finding and including Zooble against their will). Bro really wants to impress and entertain the crew.

3. I don’t like how sidelined Ragatha was in this episode (I really just want her to go Buck wild and kill Jax-) But she also seems to REALLY want Pomni to like her. And I think it’s because she empathizes with Pomni. According to Kinger, Ragatha had a hard time adjusting to the circus so maybe Rags doesn’t want the same for Pomni. So she tries to make her feel welcomed (even though it was counter productive) I honestly felt bad for Ragatha when Pomni showed up with Gummigoo.

I’m glad they didn’t show her getting jealous but I can imagine Ragatha feeling dejected because she tried so hard to befriend Pomni only for Pomni to make fast friends with someone else. But I’m not totally giving up hope. Also a lot of people were righ about Rags being the type of person to bottle things up. That toxic positivity is bound to run out at some point. (I can’t wait to see her snap).

4. I really liked how Pomni was in this episode. Her stepping up a little to help Gummigoo, the facial expressions and stuff. As much as I love Ragatha, she DID come off as a bit patronizing which I’m glad Pomni called her out for it. Her friendship with Gummigoo was also really heart warming and I did kinda feel it when Caine made Gummigoo just disappear like he did. Also Pomni is canonically stretchy and she has chompers. Very cute. I also find it very interesting that this is the second time Pomni was separated from the group and missed out on the majority of the adventure. Maybe this will change as time goes on and Pomni gets more comfortable with the activities, I hope.

5. I also really liked Kinger in this episode. The writers seemed to shift his personality a little, making him more wiser. He also seems to have good memory when it counts. I appreciate he also tried to help Pomni. Emphasis on the “try”. I love him. He’s just doing his best. Also his plushie is SO FUCKING CUTE OMG!

6. I don’t have much to say about Gangle except LET THIS WOMAN BE HAPPY PLEASE! PLEASE JUST LET HER HAVE HER HAPPY MASK! Also let Gangle also go wild on Jax. She deserves it.

7. I liked the princess. She looked cute! Also you can’t tell me Ragatha has a small crush on her. (A little side tangent: BunnyDoll/Ragatha x Kinger shippers confuse the hell out of me. You’re going to look at Ragatha, someone that’s based off of Raggedy Anne who’s ALSO SAPHHIC AF, and tell me that she’s into men? I don’t fucking think so-) I honestly thought the princess was going to turn out to be an evil tyrant that was going to manipulate Ragatha to accomplish some goal…idk where I got that from-

8. (Probably the one you’ve been waiting for) Jax. My opinions on Jax hasn’t changed all that much. I’m still don’t like him. But damn did they turn up the “asshole” meter on this guy. I mean…I expected it since Gooseworks said he was going to get worse, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast. I also am starting to understand the sentiment if not wanting a particular character to have development/redemption. I don’t want an excuse to actually like this dude. I want him to get worse actually. (That or he severely gets chewed out by the others…mainly Ragatha or Pomni. That’s like…the only way I can remotely start to like him.)

But I’d be remiss to ignore that one scene before the funeral. He obviously cares for the others but puts on a front for….some fucking reason. It does make me wonder if it’s out of concern or maybe…guilt? I’ve heard a theory that Jax played a part in why Kaufmo got abstracted. Idk how true that theory is but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. It would also explain him not going to the funeral despite feeling bad. (I wanna point out how funny it is that everyone thought that one screenshot of Jax sitting was going to be an angst moment. But no, it was just him being mad there was no bloodshed lol) But yeah, I’d still like for this due to get punted, please.

9. The ending. Zooble surprised me a little. I thought they were going to be the actual angsty character with a soft side and I was kinda right but I was surprised with how considerate they were putting together Kaufmo’s funeral. It made me appreciate them a little more. And I like there wasn’t a gag where no one had anything to say because they all didn’t care about Kaufmo. They all really do miss him and I think that’s heartwarming. And the ending that parallels the beginning where Pomni is falling only to be caught by everyone (except Jax lol) was the nail in the coffin. Pomni finally realizing she still has friends despite loosing Gummigoo. It’s why I’m not giving up on her friendship with Rags. I still believe they’re going to bond the most. Especially now knowing they both had similar experiences when they first came to the circus.

10. Can we take a moment to appreciate the animation? It just seems more crisp than the pilot which I didn’t even think was possible since that animation already looked clean af. Literal eye candy. (Pun intended)

Overall, I’m very interested and exited to see more. 8/10 episode. (Also F’s in the chat for CainexPomni/Caine fans. Yes this includes me.)

[regaliasonata]

Also character ask ZIGGY

Character Ask: Ziggy Grover

First Impression

-Definitely falling under the average green ranger stereotype of being the silly but less engaged member of the team, though that is quite alright cause he'll probably give some positivity to the team due to the state they are in via the season

How I Feel About The Character/Impression Now

-.....I love this twink and honestly me and everyone else should love him, the fact that he was in a mafia, managed to escape, gave medicine and supplies from said group to orphans in needed AND GOT OFF SCOT FREE WITH HIS TOASTER BOYFRIEND speaks volumes.

Favorite Moment

-So far has to be that scene between him and the cartel where he's got that serious face, I'll have to go back and fully complete RPM but seeing Ziggy look so cold is amazing.

Idea For A Story

-okay think of this....Ziggy as a Peter Pan type character who was reborn in another world that raises orphans or children who've passed early and they live in this alternate world with magic, at the same time he's an assassin that's teaming up with Dillon and Tenaya(who also have powers based on fairy tales) to steal ancient treasure from a tyrant king in order to rule the rule, Once Upon A Time walked so this can run.

Relationships

OTPs

-Ziggy/Dillon....obviously, can't have a happy twig without his grumpy muscular emo boyfriend.

-Ziggy/Scott, Ziggy/Flynn. Both these work really well in my opinion.

-Crackship idea if this crossover was ever a thing...Ziggy/Jarrod/Dillon/Casey, imagine all that chaos together with those four like(I'd pay to see a one shot of this tbh). Heck not even a crossover needed because JKP exists in the RPMverse and assuming the entire team is alive then this could fly, crazy twinks and the emo duo.

BROTPs

-Ziggy/Dr.K, honestly feel like he understands Dr.K and they are really close when it comes to hearing each other out, plus Ziggy might actually get her to enjoy some hobbies.

-Ziggy/Casey...seriously Disney fucked us over from ever getting this interaction, be happy with marvel I guess but imagine the send off you could've had.

-Ziggy/Tenaya, she needs earplugs every time he talks about Dillon...

Unpopular Opinion

-Kinda wish we got even more of a backstory for him or seen Ziggy encountering other green rangers. I feel like both him and Trip would get along quite well to be honest.

One thing I wish would/had happened in the show

-....We serious? That Jungle Fury/RPM crossover obviously because ALL THOSE INTERACTIONS AND SUCH WOULD'VE BE LEGENDARY.

-Even if he didn't end up with Dillon we should've had Ziggy kissing some guy.

-Imagine a scene of Ziggy hacking Venjix down with his axe after he found out the program's intention for Dillon, or if Venjix succeeded and Dillon died...it would've been brutal like Ziggy would be shown Venjix why the cartel kept him around🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡

Headcanons

-The RPM team technically has sentient zords because in reality they hold secret Engine Souls like their Go-Onger counterparts. This is actually a result of humanity evolving and without the vitality from Earth's nature so their animal spirits evolved into Engine Souls, thing is the team hasn't unlocked them but when they do the zords will be able to talk(a little fib of my JFAU movie arc idea with RPM cause we deserve that crossover).

-Ziggy's fingernails can turn dark green because of Venjix exposure, some humans after being exposed to the virus during their apocalypse developed small traits via their survival(Scott having sharper canines, Summer being able to detect metals for tools, Flynn when growing out his hair has white highlights and can absorb radiation, Gem and Gemma can see people's dreams and Dillon can purify dirty food and water).

-Ziggy sleeps with a huge dolphin as a pillow or just something to hold whenever he's sad. If he can't morph then he'll fill it with rocks and beat down venjix monsters with it.

-Sometimes when he would leave the dome(before the world began to return to normal) he'd walk miles until making it to the ocean since it wasn't fully destroyed and enjoyed watching the waves. Plus that spot is the only one in the world where the stars in the sky are still viewable.

-After RPM Dillon, Tenaya and Ziggy ventured out into the world to see what needed to be fixed, they built a railroad and it oddly began to glow with energy. This led to the team getting powers via trains and soul power with imagination, humanity's will to keep going(ToQger adaption), villains born from the deceased malice of humanity aim to take advantage of this world and others leading to the team having bigger stakes than last time.

[imonoyte]

Why NO PATHS ARE BOUNDS is the best fic ever, an essay

First of all, the author made everything so much more twisted and painful, of course my love for the original story, plot and characters remain unchanged it's just insanely satisfying to see it all exacerbated

×the amount of pain xie lian had to go through is astronomical and the consequences on his personality and punctual dissociating is really well depicted

×all the "perfect" sides of the characters are deconstrustructed like hua cheng's selfless behavior toward xl, his tendency to let him do what he wants all the times but in the fic he opposed him a few times over his own safety but still; lan chang is not the perfect mother that loves his son despite what he came out to be, she's resentfull and did harm,

×in contrary, all the hatefull sides of the bad characters who have few little chances to be appreciated have explaination arc if not redemption, for exemple shi wudu from my impression from the original tgcf is a family-first but piece of shit type with the water tyrant title and what happened to he xuan but there in npab it's clearly more complicated than that and oh my day i absolutly love the progress in relationship between he sheng and shi wudu excuse me i almost could've started shipping them both it bring so much comfort to witness them having each other's back and omg THE HUG !! THE PROTECRIVENESS !! THE TALKS !! please i love them;

the developement of bai wuxian story just fall right into the plot, what happened for jun wu to be that way

there's also qi rong's character who is despicable even more than he was and lovable, even more than he was, his humility toward mu qing brought tears to my eyes

Pursuing with Mu qing, the absolute love of my life that i would defend against all who is so so so sooo... I just love him and his progress and ouch his backstory was hard take but also it makes more sense in a way that he hadn't moved on after 800years, i'm not saying the original back story's lacking but it feels like some things were kept unsaid because i believe mu qing and his good heart must have been pushed in a corner way more painfully repeatedly for him to be so deeply wounded like we dont really know the extend of his past bullying

It's so well written and makes so much sense sometimes some elements could just fit right into the original story like why pei ming and hua cheng are the only one xie lian ever found attractive in the story, it just makes so much sense to me now like ?? pein ming being the zeus of tgcf and hua cheng being powerful fatherless makes it all possible plus that makes he xuan and hua cheng family by extend and that's just *intense screaming*

- he xuan coming back as the water master and the story FINALLY finally introduce us to a Thunder master

-hua cheng offering the armory to xl for him to profect himself and all of them being made by hc himself just feels right

(There's probably way more but i can't find them at the moment send help)

And the new original characters reng song the absolute perfection also i loved how lan qianqiu became a more central characters than he was in the original and their bickering was the epithom of cute, huz cheng's past and all the story around the forge i say it shortly but yk how much this weights in the story

Of course the additional nsfw scenes that we've all been craving for and everyone falling in love it's just too cute and ling wen and the rain master ? Absolute chef kiss

On a personal note i love depictions of body horror and monstruous behaviour and body changes and i was SPOILED on this side

%starting with the shackles, on the ankle, neck and eyes, constricting him, his breathing, his sight, his life. Plus blind are characters and stories from the point of view of blind characters are one of my favorite this days thanks to another kind white clothed cultivator; when they started thinking of a way to destroy the shackles it was horrible omg and just basically xie lian's level of pain tolerence and vision of normalcy and casually almost saying he got his eyed gouged out several times

%the animalistic/ bestial traits of the ghost kings like fangs, long nails, snarling, baring their teeth, please when he sheng brought shu wudu behind him to protest against to punishment almost turning feral i loved it.

That's it, that's the word, i love when they turn feral, when they embrace insanity and great amount of pain bring that out of them and this fic was perfect in this very aspect i think

And EXCUSE ME dragon hua cheng was the cherry on top of the cake it's one of my absolute favorite and it was beautifully described

Continuing on body horror and gory stuffs xie lian being hanged from his shackled, the pain, the screaming scenes, mu qing's qi deviation, yin yu's death... so well written

Let's not forget the perfect addition of the mdzs elements that fitted so naturally in the story, so fluid and logical in the telling, I love Zidian btw

On a more joyfull note, the growth of the characters, the humour, most of them were lovable, despite all the angst it's easy to just fall into it and enjoy the ride (then the angst is back and you just cry but oh well).

It's still followed the tram and order of the story and it's really pleasant to read your tgcf favorite scenes incorporated in a new not so divergent plot

In short y'all need to read no paths are bound on ao3 by CataclysmicEvent

[lampmanliveblogs]

Them's the Breaks, Kid Addendum

So here it is, the long-awaited follow-up post to episode fifteen that I promised you oh so long ago. A whole two days ago. Time sure flies, huh?

To be honest though, I don’t have a whole lot to say here. The only thing of note that I caught while rewatching the episode that I didn’t catch the first time through were Gilbert and Harvey’s first appearances. Harvey can be seen in the establishing shot of the IFWOT and Gilbert can be seen standing in line to get his badge.

There is more stuff I noticed and that I’m going to talk about, but a lot of that was brought up in several asks that I got sent, so I’ll bring those things up there. For now, I’ll talk a bit about my thoughts on the episode overall.

I was quite surprised that we actually got an origin for how Eda and Raine met. I figured they probably met at school, got along, and then things developed from there. Which I would have been fine with it if that was the case, but it was a pleasant surprise to see the Raeda origins (I think that’s the ship name?). I of course enjoy the love story between Eda and Raine and seeing how it all started was nice.

Like I said in the proper liveblog, seeing just how well Eda and Raine clicked with each other really helped cement just how deep that bond of friendship and love was… as well as add to the tragedy of their breakup and the sweetness of their reunion… and then the tragedy of Raine having to keep Eda away because they don’t want to risk her getting hurt.

We also got to see a bit of Hieronymus Bump and what he was like as the vice-principal of Hexside. Even back then he was trying to help his student flourish like some kind of responsible adult or something.

We go to see young Terra and turns out she was always Like That. Way too enthusiastic at the prospect of murder. She’s also held the position of Head Witch of the Plant Coven for over thirty years now, which is pretty impressive. 

We got to see a few new glyph combos Luz has learned… including two in particular that should remind her of a certain tyrant she’s met. And although she’ll definitely refuse to use the petrification combo and probably the hellish hand thing combo, the wind and water fountain combos seem useful. A whirlwind has several uses in battle and while the water fountain might not have many applications in combat, I pointed out that it can be used to supply clean drinkable water if need be. That’s enormously useful. You know, if you’re in a desert or on a hike or something.

Oh, and let’s not forget that we in this episode finally got to that scene my sister has been talking about for so long! The reveal of the traitors! Raine has been using their whistling to cast subtle bard spells to alter Terra’s terrible tea. And they’re working with Darius on a plan to stop the Day of Unity.

Now, during the reveal, I said that I wasn’t sure about Eberwolf if he(?) was in on it. But when I talked to my sister she implied that he is, so I’ll be working under that assumption from now on.

Like I said I would, I went back and rewatched Eda’s Requiem and part of Follies at the Coven Day Parade. Let’s start with Follies.

With the new context of Raine actually not being under mind control, some of their actions and the things they say take on a slightly new meaning. The seeming inconsistencies in their memories that I was confused about for example. Raine telling Eda to leave and maybe travel for a bit also makes a lot of sense; the entire point of all this was to keep her safe. I will say this though, Raine is a really good actor cause they didn’t break character even once, only coming close to it once Eda had left when they teared up a little.

As for Eda’s Requiem… I wanted to see if I could find any hints towards Darius and Eberwolf being the traitors and aside from one little detail I’m going to talk about in the answer to an ask, I found… not much else.

Assuming that I’m right in my suspicion that Eberwolf is in on the whole ”overthrow the Emperor” thing, then it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense for the two of them to go after Raine to capture them. They’d want to recruit them for the cause. There are a few possibilities.

One possibility is that Belos knew or figured out Raine was a traitor. Thus, they had to make it look like Raine was under mind control in order to get them close to Belos and be of use to their plans again. A bit of a risky gambit, but hey, it worked (hopefully… you never know with these evil Emperor types, this might all be part of his masterplan).

Another possibility is that they were being watched (and knew it) by Kikimora, who did show up soon after they captured Raine. Thus they couldn’t afford to let them escape or the like, lest they draw suspicion upon themselves.

Whatever the case, I’ll probably find out in time. The end of the season is drawing ever nearer. The Day of Unity comes and your world is already lost and all that.

Whatever the case, I’ll probably find out in time. The end of the season is drawing nearer and the Day of Unity fast approaches. Let’s hope our heroes can figure out a plan in time…

Wow, this actually ended up being a bit longer than I thought. Still, like I’ve said multiple times throughout, there are more things to be said and I will say those things in response to some asks and comments I’ve gotten. Which I will get to… tomorrow.

(i should also get around to updating the masterlist and adding all the links and stuff… meh, I’ll do it tomorrow too)

So until next time, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

<--Previous Episode: Reaching Out

Masterlist

Next Episode: Hollow Mind-->

[linkspooky]

Wild Tiger - Gojo and Yuji

If Megumi and Geto together represesent the black yin, then their respective counterparts Yuji and Gojo both embody the white yang. Thus, Yuji and Gojo as mentor and student are two characters who are very similiar in nature. Rather than passive, feminine,  yin standing in the shadows they both are active, masculine yang standing in the light. More on the foiling between Yuji and Gojo underneath the cut. 

1. The Strongest

There are a lot of similarities between both Yuji and Gojo you can point out right away. They are both light haired. They are both the more lighthearted person in the duo, the cheerful, silly ones in comparison to their dark haired more self serious counterparts. Yuji and Gojo both tend to come off as normal teenagers, they drop pop culture references, flirt with girls, read manga. If Geto and Megumi tend to be the more brooding ones, removed from the world around them and stuck inside their own heads it’s Gojo and Megumi who are actively taking part in the world as much as they can.

Basically, in any situation they’ll be the ones less inclined to take that situation seriously, whereas Geto and Megumi are prone to be the ones to take the situation too seriously. Despite the fact that Yuji and Gojo are the more childish of the duo and act like teenagers (Gojo acts like a teenager even as an adult, isn’t he impressive) and more prone to being emotional rather than overthinking there’s also a serious level of distance between themselves and their feelings. 

Gojo notices this about Yuji right away, despite the fact that curses are by some definition “alive”, Yuji doesn’t show any hesitation at all in fighting against them and killing them. It’s odd for what was a normal teenager before this point to act this way, to not even be a little scared by curses. Gojo marks Yuji out as one of the “crazy ones” like him right away because they both suffer from this disconnect between their head and their heart. 

Yuji and Gojo are parallel. Yuji’s craziness is Gojo’s craziness. They even go on similiar journeys before becoming the strongest. In the beginning of Yuji’s character development, and the flashback chapter for Gojo they both experience the same thing. First, a near death happens at the hands of an enemy. Until this point Yuji and Gojo have always been the strongest. Yuji has always been like olympic levels of athletic (for some reason), both Yuji and Gojo were always good at whatever they tried when they were younger and never tasted a serious defeat. 

That is until they experience their near-death and taste weakness for the first time. 

After this point they both flip. Rather than being humbled by their near defeat they become arrogant. Yuji’s flip is more literal, he flips from the dominant personality Yuji, to the other personality within him the curse Sukuna. Gojo, after unlocking the secrets of reverse jutsushiki and perfecting the unlimited becomes more arrogant. These moments are meant to be paralleled to each other, we’re supposed to see Sukuna’s arrogance in Gojo’s apparent flip after becoming the strongest because they both quote the same text “ Tenjou tenge yuiga dokuson. It means “Above heaven, under heaven, I am alone worthy of honor”.

These scenes are further paralleled, because they also fail to save someone. Gojo fails to save Riko, because he let Toji through when he promised Geto that he would cover his back as the strongest.

Yuji similiarly fails to save Junpei, after offering him a chance to come back to Jujutsu High with him and fight together. They also both fail to save the person they wanted to save for the same reason, because they failed to take the situation seriously enough and got sloppy. Yuji forgot Nanami’s warning to him to watch out for the patchwork faced spirit, and Gojo got so arrogant he dropped his guard around Toji.

After these failures however, Yuji and Gojo’s solutions is always to become prouder rather than to humble themselves. They always end up seeking out more and more strength. When Yuji loses Junpei, his response is to flip to being angry and killing Mahito. When Gojo loses Riko, his response is to go on a power trip. They always both double back on strength. This is a parallel to this. 

Which is why Gojo and Yuji click and get along so well, they think the exact same way, they both are convinced the solution to every problem is to just try to be the strongest so you will never lose. Yuji and Gojo have this weird understanding of each other, Yuji thinks Gojo is an admirable person and is always listening to him just because he’s the strongest, Gojo thinks Megumi should learn to swing for the fences more like Yuji. 

2. I Alone Am the Honored One

Yuji and Gojo’s strongest character trait is both their pride, the pride they take in themselves, the pride they take in being the strongest. However, pride isn’t a sin. It is for the both of them a strength and a weakness. Yuji and Gojo are both people dedicated to improving themselves, to lifting themselves up to be the best individuals they can be. While they’re obsessed with becoming stronger, they also use their strength pretty unselfishly. Megumi and Geto are both people who choose who to save. Geto only cares about sorcerers, Megumi only cares about what he arbitrarily deems as good people.

 Gojo is someone who is constantly working to save the masses, he does the most missions out of all the jujutsu sorcerers and is constantly busy exorcising curses for the sake of everyone to the point where his job is his whole life. He also, doesn’t just force everyone to submit to his strength by killing all the higher ups until he’s left. He’s not a tyrant. He works within the system to help people because he’s always choosing his actions along the lines of what will help the most people possible. 

Gojo and Yuji are both self centered people who use their strength in an unselfish manner, though for different reasons. Yuji is emotionally moved to helping people, and Gojo is tied down by using his powers responsibly. However, despite using their strength for the sake of other people they are also both strongest when they are alone and this is a weakness for them. 

They both make the same decision and the same mistake in the Shibuya arc, which is to run off ahead alone even when they have back up they could have waited for because they assume that everything will just be better if they handle it entirely by themselves.

Gojo goes all the way down to the subway alone and gets boxed. Every fight that Yuji faces alone in Shibuya arc (against a name character that matters) he loses. He loses to Choso, as a result of deciding to run ahead of Megumi instead of waiting for backup. He was completely losing to Mahito, and would have died had Todo not shown up to give him backup. Kamo Noritoshi Sr. even tells this to Yuji directly to his face, you alone are not enough. 

Yuji fails to get Gojo’s box back by himself, and once again has to be saved by people working together as a team, the Kyoto students led by Utahime (somebody Gojo dubbed as weak) showing up to interrupt the fight. Yuji and Gojo are both the most active characters always running off to save people, however strength isn’t enough to save people, especially when they’re acting alone. This leaves both of them feeling insecure, because they try alone, and fail alone, they believe that they themselves are not enough. 

These scenes once again are parallels. They try to save people, and then when they fail hold themselves entirely responsible. Their habit of acting alone also comes from this distance between themselves and their emotions which I described earlier. Yuji and Gojo only see themselves in their utility to the other people around them. Yuji has to be doing something in order to help others. 

Both Yuji and Gojo are consumed by what I am going to dub the “chosen one complex��� where they have to believe there’s a reason that they’re given such tremendous strength. They have to use their strength in order to help others. Otherwise, why do they exist? Neither of them allow themselves to exist unless it’s in service of others. Yuji can’t live on unless he’s helping people like his grandfather told him. Gojo HAS to hold the whole Jujutsu World on his shoulders. 

In other words they see themselves and their relationships with others in this way. People can’t simply like Yuji and Gojo, they need to need them. Yuji is surrounded by allies because he is useful to them, because he’s strong enough to be around them. They see everything even themselves through the lens of strength. Nobody would want to be with them if they were weak. Geto didn’t like Gojo, they were only together because they were the strongest together.

If you’re not strong people will leave you behind. That is the only way Yuji and Gojo can comprehend their tangible connection to other people. That’s also why we see a similar emotional denseness for both Gojo and Yuji. It’s not that Gojo is uncaring, he does actually take notice of people’s feelings and tries to be considerate in his own way.

They both notice small little details about people while missing huge ones. Gojo noticed something was off about Geto because he was interested in him and observing him that close, but he took him at his words that he was fine when he was in the middle of his mental breakdown and was caught completely offguard by it. There’s an entire chapter about the small little details that Yuji notices about people. 

However, Yuji and Megumi fail at basic communication and are constantly hiding secrets from each other, the same way that Geto and Gojo once did.

They are at the same time extremely observant, and emotionally dense, and this is entirely about how they see themselves. Yuji and Gojo can only exist in service to others. They’re only going to be surrounded by people if they are strong enough. Which is why they also wish for what is exactly the same thing. Yuji wants to die surrounded by people, and Gojo wants allies that are just as strong as he is. However, they both go about it in the entirely wrong way. What Gojo wants is people who are as strong as him to be equal with him. However what Gojo needs is to emotionally open up to people and allow other people to be equals with him on an emotional level because they don’t need to pass some physical test of strength. 

Gojo and Yuji are both characters who want to be surrounded by people, and yet they’re always running off ahead of everyone else to die alone. That’s the contradiction about themselves they need to fix, in order to keep living as more well balanced people. That’s why they both need Geto and Megumi as the other halves of the equation, because they can’t solve it on their own. 

[goldensart]

One of the things I was always curious to see more after the toyline’s end was how the MU inhabitants would adapt to Spherus Magna. It was such an interesting concept to have a completely different lifestyle. The ones that would be most interesting would be the Turaga. I mean, they are leaders, but now there is a much bigger world to cover, so I had some ideas of what would each of them be doing.

Vakama: One of the easiest to make, in my opinion. He’s a leader, a guide, but he’s also a storyteller, and now he has 2 species worth of new audience memebers to tell his stories to. Not to mention that, now that they don’t live in a barren wasteland, both Glatorian and Agori have started to have more babies, which means he constantly has new generations eager to hear his stories. He also keeps active as a leader, being a calm guide others go to when needing  guidance. He’s also a reliable Turaga that makes other leaders, like Raanu, calm and hopeful about the future of their tribes. Still,  within him, the heart of a craftsman still lingers, and while some of his siblings might tell him its a waste of time, every now and then a suspiciously high quality kanohi shows up in the warehouse. 

Nokama: Calm and serene, yet strong, Nokama still guides any villagers that prefer to live near bodies of water. The most spiritual of the 6, she attracts those who seek knowledge. Being once a teacher, she takes this with stride, as with their civilization being a union of various different cultures, there is a lot to teach, both from the old worlds of Bara Magan and the MU, and from the newly reformed Spherus Magna. Few things make her happier than the expression of awe her students have when she explains a new concept. Seeing the flame of curiosity light up in their eyes makes it all worth it. Still, old habits die hard, and stubborn is as stubborn those, so new students are advised to behave, lest they get a stern lecture.

Matau: Easily the most easygoing of them all, to the point some wonder if he should be considered a leader at all. Luckily, he is more than capable. With Spherus Magana being safer than Le-wahi, his security-related responsibilities are greatly lessened, meaning he has more free time, to the detriment of others. Be it pushing for the developement of crazier and crazier vehicles, or playing pranks on other leaders, he always has the time for a laugh, which makes him quite popular with the younger Agori, Glatorian and Matoran. Some might say this makes him a bad influence on them, but his easygoing demeanor means  that whenever a villager needs advice, but considers their problems to unimportant for the other leaders, they got to Matau, knowing that, be it a scolding or reassurance, he will tell them what they need to hear, and make them laugh with every word. He walso has an amazing singing voice.

Onewa: Basically a blessing in the early days of the new village, his skill in moderating arguments made sure the union of cultures went as smooth as possible. This skill continues to this day, acting as a judge between disputes. He is so succesfull some joke he could have stopped the Core War had he just sat down with the elemental Lords to talk it out. He also keeps the culture of sports alive in the new village. Organizing leagues between Matoran, Agori, Glatorian, and even Toa (sometimes even mixed teams), and making sure the games are all fair. Be it Kolhii, Akilini, or even the gladiatorial matches the Agori and Glaotrian insisted be kept, though now way less lethal, if there is a sport to be played, Onewa will make sure it is played fairly. Also known for making amazing sculptures that go for thousands of widgets. That said, stone is not easily changed, and his anger still lingers beneath. Those unfortunate enough to have provoced it say that while his judgement skill could’ve stopped the Core War, they also say that even the Great Beings couldn’t stop his anger.

Whenua: While all the Turaga were happy to lead their people, his joy when arriving to Spherus Magna was compared to a Muaka in a Rahkshi den. Still a leader and guardian to his people, Whenua’s calling was to uncover and catalogue as many of the secrets of Spherus Magna’s spast as possible. Quickly organizing and bulding what is now called the Archives Museum, which eventually grew bigger than even Metru Nui’s Colusseum, he led similar-minded individuals in the search of memories from the distant past. From the earliest tools made of exsidian, to the first recorded conflinct, long before the Core war, he uncovered hundreds of memories the planet itself had forgotten. One of his proudest moments was the discovery of a bone that was incrdibly old, something that didin’t exists in the entirety of the MU; a fossil. With energy he hadn’t had since he first transformed into a Toa, Whenua led teams and organized dig sites, uncovering thousands of bones and stories. And as a Turaga of earth, it was easy. The earth spoke to him, telling him its memories, of when had the bones joined it. Whenua was able to date them to the dacade. He created an incredibly complete fossil record, uncovering evolutionary lineages, making discovery after discovery. Amongst his favourites were the fact that the rock steeds are distantly related to the creatures of Bota Magna, pinpointing the moment in time when the common ancestor of both the Agorit and the Glatorian first divided into groups that would become the species, the moment were the Skrall had evolved so much they could be considered a new species. From the evolution of species, to relics of civilizations older than the agori, whenua’s Museum held knowledge of everything the past could give. And the inhabitants of the mega-city knew who to go with when having questions, for Whenua was the speaker of the past, and the past is the best teacher one could have.

Nuju: Guiding those who preferred colder places, Nuju kept his mannerisms and character. Still speaking only in the language of birds, though thankfully appointing a translator, Nuju continued to look for any signs of what the future might hold. From star-gazing, to bird-watching, Nuju became an expert in predicting things like storms migrations, and even an armed conflict or two. Population movement, air pressure, for those who paid attention, the future was an open book. Still, while he kept the horizon on sight, his eyes were firmly on his people, looking for the future, but never forgetting about the present. Using his knowledge, he warned and prepared for hardships to come, saving countless lives. This skill made him popular with tribe members anxious about the future, many coming to him asking what to expect. His answer, while found unsatisfactory by some, was what many of them needed; “I can’t tell you how the future will go, all I can do is prepare myself for it as best as I can, and to take it when it comes”

Dume: The least joyful arriving on Spherus Magan, Dume had no interest in knowledge, teaching or stories, for him, only one thing mattered, the safety of his people. For thousands of years he had kept the city of Metru Nui safe, and this one would not be different. Still, he only had failed his city once, and that was a wound he would never forget. When ruling Metru Nui, he had kept his distance from his people so, when he was replaced by Makuta, nobody was close enough to him to notice. And so, the tyrant had free rign over his city, eventually leading to its doom. He wouldn’t fail his new city that way. His distance had given him the strenght to protect his city, but it had also been its downfall. And, while he now had 6 Turaga and other tribe leaders to rule beside him, one could never be too cautious. Organizing extreme security measures; passwords, secret codes, etc. Dume made sure he would never be replaced again, and if he were, it would be instantly obvious. He even kept a few bodyguards close to him and, while never becoming close enough to be called friends, it was the closest he had being to another beign since his Toa team. And this worked, as any time his people were threatened, Dume faced the threat with a will that would make a Toa of Iron blush. No matter the enemy, no matter the danger, Dume stood fast. This gained him a reputation , both with his people and his enemies. Rumors spread about him, some said he was once a Toa of iron that had willed himself tthrough a furnace and came out a Toa of fire, other said that he had stared down the Shadowed One himself. His reputation amongst his enemies was no less impressive, Skraall, Bone Hunters and Dark Hunters alike spoke in hushed tones about the “Red Judge”, who would command a legion of Toa to capture anyone who disrupted his peace,never to be seen again. Others claiming him to be a Toa, a Makuta, or even a Great Beign in disguise. Dume never cared for any of these rumors, all he cared was that his people were safe. 

[oasis-nadrama]

Umah’s End and Authoritarian/Gender Politics

Oasis Nadrama, 17/05/2022 [Content warning: Blood Omen 2 spoilers, authoritarian violence, gendered violence, romanticized feminicide]

Blood Omen 2 is a strange game. It was not conceived by the main writer of the Legacy of Kain series, Amy Hennig, and it shows. Its story is deeply flawed, but also considerably enriched the overall mythology of the series (the Hylden, for example, were originally invented for this episode, and then integrated in the Soul Reaver 2 plot).

Either or not someone appreciates the story of Blood Omen 2 is up to them, but there is one specific part of the story which always disgusted me: Umah's death.

Umah is a pretty interesting character. Despite her hypersexualized character design (her bat-shaped thong is an accessory of legend), she manages to leave a lasting impression as the only significant female character in the entire series, as well as arguably the only truly rebellious, anti-authoritarian (even if not anarchist by any stretch of the mind) figure in Nosgoth as we know it.

Umah first acts as Kain's mentor when he wakes up with amnesia, she guides him into a changed world, and progressively discovers his bottomless arrogance, his monstrous ambition. She allies with him following Vorador's order but also according to her own goals, including her freedom and survival. She finally betrays Kain at a crucial moment, taking from him the Nexus Stone, a precious artifact. She claims she doesn't trust Kain and don't see the difference between his projects for Nosgoth and the current tyrant's, and then runs away to defeat by herself said current tyrant, the Sarafan Lord.

She is mortally wounded when Kain finally manages to catch up. He could save her by giving her some blood, but he refuses to do so, and ends up finishing her. The final exchange unfolds as follows: [video version]

------------------

UMAH Kain... I'm dying...

KAIN Yes.  You are.

UMAH I need your blood... Please... You can save me...

KAIN I know. (He reaches down and takes back the Nexus Stone, kneeling down beside her.) Tell me, child.  Do you see me ruling Nosgoth?

UMAH Yes... Yes, I see it now...

KAIN And do you believe that Nosgoth rightly belongs to me?

UMAH ... I do. I do believe it, Kain.  Please...

KAIN Then you may die, knowing the truth.

Kain rears his claws back, and plunges them into her chest.

UMAH No!

KAIN You should never have betrayed me.  You could have been my queen.

UMAH Kain...

Umah falls back, dead.

KAIN Now you have left me alone.

------------------

This is not an "illogical" scene by any reasonable measure. In fact, it may be the one scene of Blood Omen 2 which represents an entirely spot-on moment of character development and deliberate darkness.

Kain's and Umah's entire arcs and personalities lead to this scene. The tyrant coming back, thirsty for power, and the rebel dreaming of freedom. The cold, uncompromising, twisted and sadistic killer, and the relatively lawful and down-to-earth free mind. It is hard to imagine their relationship ending a different way. Their last scene is, surprisingly enough, pretty well-written, and the high note of the game. (Compare with the involuntary comedy that is Janos' last moments facing the Sarafan Lord for example.) There is also an interesting facet of Kain which is developed in the last dialogues of the game, where he develops denial about Umah's motives, reframing it as the execution of a "spy". Despite knowing well enough the brave vampire was not a traitor to the cause of the Cabal, the wannabe emperor declares to the Sarafan Lord "even Umah, your latest spy, is dead". And when the enemy expresses understandable confusion and truthfully answers "I have no spy called Umah", Kain calls him a liar. This is an important moment because it shows us Kain (at least in his Blood Omen 2 interpretation) is not a courageous individual. He cannot face his own actions and their implications. He cannot face the truth of Umah fighting for freedom and himself being yet another despot eliminating every individual and faction who would dare to oppose him. Kain is, in fact, a coward.

It is also well-understood that Kain is NOT a nice character. In fact, way before this episode came out, he was already well-known for killing his subordinates on a whim, going as far as ordering the execution of his beloved and lawful right hand man, Raziel (even if we discover later in the series he had no real choice in this one death penalty). During the course of Blood Omen 2, his murderous and lackey-killing aspects are highlighted, as well as his terrible ambition.

Kain is not a hero. He's an anti-hero. He is not meant to incarnate particularly ethical values.

Yet, there is something different at work here this time. Different from all the usual mindless massacres and violent revenges the game is so generous with. Let's talk about politics.

This tragedy plays right into the central themes of the game - Kain's ambition, arrogance and endless violence. Even the main antagonist mocks Kain for such traits. The story is ABOUT these things. And the murder of Umah is the pinnacle of said thematics: a demon's hubris, bringing death to his loved ones. The FOCUS is on Kain's actions here.

It is a very authoritarian scenario. The dictator eliminating the political opponent, inflicting the ultimate penalty to silence and stop any attempt at liberation.

It is also a very gendered/feminicide scenario. The brutal, unsubtle oaf kills the subtle woman because she dares to defy his will.

What's more, Kain kills Umah after making her beg for forgiveness, after extracting from her betrayal of her ideals, touting the perspective of a salvation he never intended to deliver. Visually, the camera obligingly focuses on Umah’s battered and cut body. While this is not the only time in the game where a character is visibly wounded, the depiction of Umah’s last moments is especially bloody, providing a kind of sadistic spectacle. (In early versions of the screenplay, Umah’s final moments are dealt with in an even more barbaric manner, further exploiting the cruelty potential of this sequence.)

Furthermore, Kain kills Umah while establishing "You could have been my queen", "You have left me alone", and closing his eyes painfully, which is more than disturbing! First because there's never been an established romance between them, not even some lines of flirting, so Kain is projecting his feelings onto Umah here, saying she could have been his queen but seemingly not even considering she could be... not interested. Then because it re-centers the scene not on Umah's ideals and tragic death, but rather on the male anti-hero's feelings. In the end, her own death is narratively not even about her. Her death is about Kain's ambitions and feelings, and unforgiveness towards betrayal. Her death is used to deepen Kain as a character, to fuel his development. (For more detailed texts about such narrative processes, see S.R. Holliwell's long analyses Kojima Women.) And finally because it romanticizes man-on-woman violence in a "sentimental” context, giving it "reasons", making it "logical" and even deserved.

This murder may be well-written, and it may make sense in the universe of the game, but it is a patriarchal scene in its codes and delivery. This moment turns Umah into an object (literally, a corpse) to reinforce Kain's character while denying her agency and dignity.

It is a moment of extreme authoritarian repression, toxic masculinity and misogynistic violence.

[borisbubbles]

Character analysis: Vivienne de Fer (Dragon Age Inquisition)

So, if you’ve wondered where I popped off to the past two months or so, I’m going to give you an answer - I finally bought Dragon Age Inquisition (legit on my gaming wishlist since its 2014 release) and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. 

The main draw to this game however, isn’t so much the gameplay (if you want a game that feels similar but has better gameplay - Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is what you’d want instead), but the storytelling and particularly the character development are top notch. All nine companions are fascinating and fleshed out in such a realistic manner I’m still gasping in awe on my fifth playthrough.  Thus, a post on it is in order. It’s a bit different from my usual content, but don’t let that discourage you - clearing my head from Dragon Age will allow me to let Eurovision back in and continue my unfinished 2020 ranking.  In this post, I will be analyzing one of DAI’s most interesting characters - none other than Madame de Fer herself, Vivienne.  Now, I’m under the impression that this is a rather unpopular opinion but I absolutely love Vivienne. And no, I won’t apologize for it. As a Templar-thumping elitist with a icy, sardonic demeanor the sheer ‘Idea Of A Vivienne’ is meant to make your head spin. Dragon Age has always been a franchise in which mages are a socially surpressed group and to be confronted with a socially confident enchantress who likes Templars and seemingly supports the social shunning out of her own ambition is the walking embodiment of flippancy. 

and yet, I feel a lot of sympathy for Vivienne. 

Yes, she’s a bitch. She knows she’s one and she’s a-ok with it. I won’t argue with that. Sadly, the “Vivienne is a bitch” rhetoric also drastically sells her short. Vivienne is highly complex and her real personality is as tragic as it is twisted. 

Madame de Fer

So let’s start with what we are shown on the surface. Vivienne is a high-ranking courtier from an empire notable for its deadly, acid-laced political game. She seemingly joins the Inquisition for personal gain, to acrue reputation and power, and eventually be elected Divine (= female pope) at the end of the game. She presents herself as a despicable blend of Real Housewife, Disney Villain, and Tory Politician, all rolled into one ball of sickening, unctuous smarm. Worse, the Inquisitor has no way to rebuke Vivienne’s absurd policies and ideas. You can’t argue with her, convince her to listen to your differing viewpoints or even kick her out the Inquisition. She has a way with words where she can twist arguments around in such a fashion that she lands on top and makes the other person look like the irrational party.

“Thus speaks the Inquisitor who has made so many mature and level-headed choices so far. Such as releasion malcontents upon the population without safeguards to protect them should they turn into abominations. Very wise. I rearranged some furniture. Lives aren’t thrown into jeopardy by my actions. Perhaps a little perspective is needed.”

She’s Cersei Lannister on creatine, Dolores Umbridge on motherfucking roids. If you look at merely the surface, then yes, Vivienne looks like the worst person ever created. I love a good anti-villainess however, and she’s definitely one. 

Yet, she never actually does anything ‘evil’? Yes, she is ‘a tyrant’ as a Divine, but 1) the person saying this is Cassandra, whose dislike for mage freedom is only matched by her dislike of being sidelined 2) Divine Vivienne isn’t bad to mages either? (hold that thought, I’ll get to it). She never actually sabotages the Inquisition, no matter how low her approval with the Inquisitor gets. She never attempts to stop them, no matter how annoyed she is. She’s one of the most brutally honest companions in the cast, in fact. (It always surprises me people call her a ‘hypocrite’ - you keep using that word and it doesn’t mean what you think it means.) The ‘worst’ display of character is when she attempts to break up Sera and the Inquisitor and even then - are we going to pretend Sera isn’t a toxic, controlling girlfriend with a huge chip on her shoulder? I love Sera, but come on.  

Vivienne is a character where the storytelling rule of Show, Don’t Tell is of vital importance. The Orlesian empire is an empire built around posturing and reputation. Nobody really shows their true motivations or character, and instead builds a public façade. It’s like how the Hanar (the Jellyfish people) in Mass Effect have a Public name they use in day-to-day life, and a Personal Name for their loved-ones and inner circle. Vivienne’s ‘Public Visage’ is that of Madame de Fer - this is the Vivienne who openly relishes in power, publicly humiliates grasping anklebiters with passive-aggressive retorts, the woman who is feared and loathed by all of Orlais, and this is the Face you see for most of the game.

The real beauty of Vivienne’s character and the reason why I love her as much as I do (which is to say - a LOT) are the few moments when - what’s the phrase DigitalSpy love so much - Her Mask Slips, and you get a glimpse of the real woman underneath the hennin.

This is the Vivienne who stands by you during the Siege of Haven and approves of you when you save the villagers from Corypheus’s horde.

This is the Vivienne who comforts you when you lament the losses you suffered.

This is the Vivienne who admires you for setting an example as a mage for the rest of Thedas.

This is the Vivienne who worries about Cole’s well-being during his personal quest, momentarily forgetting who or what he is. 

This is the Vivienne who, when her approval for the Inquisitor reaches rock bottom, desperately reminds him of the suffering mages go through on a day-to-day basis because of the fear and hatred non-mages are bred to feel towards them and how this can spiral into more bloodshed without safeguards. 

This is the Vivienne who shows how deep her affection for Bastien de Ghislain truly is, by bringing you along during his dying moments. I love this scene btw. This is the only moment in the entire game where Vivienne is actually herself in the presence of the Inquisitor - needless to say, I consider anyone who deliberately spikes her potion a motherfucking psychopath ^_^)

“There is nothing here now” fuck I *almost* cried at Vivienne, get out of my head BioWare, this is WRONG -- people who delude themselves this is an irredeemable character. 

So, who is Vivienne really?

Understanding Vivienne requires recognizing that the mask and the real woman aren’t the same person. I think her relationship with Dorian is the prime example of this. I love the Vivienne/Dorian banter train, obviously - an unstoppable force of sass colliding with an unmovable wall of smarm is nothing short of a spectacle. However, there’s more to it than their highly entertaining snipes. As the incredibly gifted son of a magister, Dorian represents everything Vivienne should despise, and should be a natural enemy to her. And yet, she doesn’t and he isn’t.. Their gilded japes at each other are nothing more than verbal sparring, not dissimilar to how Krem and Iron Bull call each other names when they beat each other with sticks. In what I think is one of the most brilliantly written interactions between characters in DAI, I present Vivienne’s reaction when the Inquisitor enters a romance with Dorian:

Vivienne: I received a letter the other day, Dorian. Dorian: Truly? It's nice to know you have friends. 🙄 Vivienne: It was from an acquaintance in Tevinter expressing his shock at the disturbing rumors about your... relationship with the Inquisitor. Dorian: Rumors you were only too happy to verify, I assume. 🙃 Vivienne: I informed him the only disturbing thing in evidence was his penmanship. 🙂 Dorian: ...Oh. Thank you. 😳 Vivienne: I am not so quick to judge, darling. See that you give me no reason to feel otherwise.

Madame de Fer can never be seen directly expressing approval to a relationship between the Herald of Andraste and an ‘Evil’ Tevinter ’Magister’. By this subtle, subtle conversation, Vivienne indirectly tells Dorian that she considers him a good match for the Inquisitor and approves of the romance. It’s one of those reasons why I could never truly dislike Vivienne - between the layers of elegant poison lies a somewhat decent woman who never loses sight of the bigger picture. Not a good person maybe, but not one without some redeeming qualities.

The crux of Vivienne’s personality is that she, like all DAI companions, is a social outcast. She’s a mage in a fantasy setting where mages are psionically linked to demons, and grew up in a country where the majority religion has openly advocated the shunning and leashing of mages (’Magic exists to serve man’ - the Chantry is so, so vile in this game.). Vivienne’s “gift” was discovered so early in her life that she can barely remember her parents. Vivienne grew up in a squalid boarding school, learning from a young age that she’s dangerous and her talents need to be tamed and curbed. She is also terrified of demons, as her banters with Cole point out:

Cole: You're afraid. You don't have to be. Vivienne: My dear Inquisitor, please restrain your pet demon. I do not want it addressing me. Inquisitor: He's not doing any harm, Vivienne. Vivienne: It's a demon, darling. All it can do is harm. Cole: Everything bright, roar of anger as the demon rears. No, I will not fall. No one will control me ever again. Cole: Flash of white as the world comes back. Shaking, hollow, Harrowed, but smiling at templars to show them I'm me. Cole: I am not like that. I can protect you. If Templars come for you, I will kill them. Vivienne: Delightful. 😑

Vivienne’s Harrowing is implied to have been such a traumatizing event to her that she’s developed a pavlovian fear of demons ever since. (Hence her hostility towards Cole.). Vivienne is fully aware of the inherent dangers of magic, and projects this onto all other mages. 

Besides, given how Dragon Age has a history with mages doing all sorts of fucked up shit, ranging from blood magic, murder, demonic possession and actual terrorism (yes, *ElthinaBITCH* had it coming, but let’s not pretend like Anders/Justice was anything other than a terrorist), Vivienne’s policies of controlled monitoring and vigilance are actually significantly more sensible than the options of ‘unconditionally freeing every mage all over Thedas’ and ‘reverting back to the status quo before the rebellion’. They’re flawed policies, obviously. When Vivienne says “mages” she pictures faceless silhouettes foremost and not herself. Regardless, unlike Cassandra and Leliana, Vivienne is aware of the fear others harbour for her kind, and how hard it is to overcome such perceptions.  

Additionally, Vivienne’s a foreigner. She is an ethnic Rivaini, a culture associated with smugglers and pirates (Isabela from DAO and DA2 is half-Rivaini). This adds an additional social stigma, again pointed out by Cole:

Cole: Stepping into the parlor, hem of my gown snagged, no, adjust before I go in, must look perfect. Vivienne: My dear, your pet is speaking again. Do silence it. Cole: Voices inside. Marquis Alphonse. Cole: "I do hope Duke Bastien puts out the lights before he touches her. But then, she must disappear in the dark." Cole: Gown tight between my fingers, cold all over. Unacceptable. Wheels turn, strings pull. Cole: He hurt you. You left a letter, let out a lie so he would do something foolish against the Inquisition. A trap. Vivienne: Inquisitor, as your demon lacks manners, perhaps you could get Solas to train it.

This is the only palpable example of the casual racism Vivienne has to endure on a daily basis - Marquis Alphonse is a stupid, bigoted pillowhead who sucks at The Game, but remember - Vivienne only kills him if the Inquisitor decides to be a butthurt thug. She is aware that for every Alphonse, there are dozens of greasy sycophants who think exactly like he does, and will keep it under wraps just to remain in her good graces. 

Finally, there’s the social position Vivienne manufactured for herself, which is the weak point towards her character imo. Remember, this woman is a commoner by birth. She doesn’t even have a surname. Through apparently sheer dumb luck (or satanic intervention) she basically fell into the position of Personal Mage to the Duke of Ghislain. Regardless, ‘Personal mages’ were the rage in Orlesian nobility, and the prestigious families owned by them like one may own a pet or personal property. By somehow becoming Bastien de Ghislain’s mistress and using his influence, "Madame de Fer” liberated herself from all the social stigmata which should have pinned her down into a lowly courtier rank and turned the largely ceremonial office of “Court Enchanter” into a position of respect and power. This is huge move towards mage emancipation by the way, in a society where, again, Mages are feared and shunned and are constantly bullied, emasculated and taught to hate their talents. Vivienne is a shining example of what mages can become at the height of their power. Power she has, mind you, never actually abused before her Divine election. Vivienne’s actions will forever be under scrutiny not because of who she is, but because of what she is. The Grand Game can spit her out at any moment, which will likely result in her death. 

Inquisitor: “You seem to be enjoying yourself, Vivienne?” Vivienne: “It’s The Game, darling. If I didn’t enjoy it, I’d be dead by now.”

Whether Vivienne was using Bastien for her own gain or whether she truly loved him isn’t a case of or/or. It’s a case of and/and. The perception that she was using Bastien makes Vivienne more fearsome and improves her position in the Grand Game, but deep down, I have no doubts truly loved him. Remember, Vivienne’s position at the Orlesian court was secure. She had nothing to gain by saving Bastien’s life, but she attempted to anyway. That Bastien’s sister is a High Cleric doesn’t matter - Vivienne can be elected Divine regardless of her personal quest’s resolution. She loved him, period. 

No, I don’t think Vivienne is a good person. She treats those she deems beneath her poorly, like Sera, Solas, Cole and Blackwall (characters I like less than Vivienne), which I think is the #1 indicator for a Bad Personality. But I don’t think she qualifies as ‘Evil’ either and I refuse to dismiss the beautiful layering of her character. I genuinely believe Vivienne joined the Inquisition not just for her personal gain, but also out of idealism, similar to Dorian (again, Cole is 100% correct in pointing out the similarities between Dorian’s and Vivienne’s motivations for joining, as discomforting it is to her). 

In her mind, Vivienne sees herself as the only person who can emancipate the mages without bloodshed - her personal accomplishments at the Orlesian court speak for themselves. Vivienne isn’t opposed to mage freedom - she worries for the consequences of radical change, as she believes Orlesian society unprepared for the consequences. Hence why she’s perfectly fine with a Divine Cassandra. Hence why her fellow mages immediately elect her Grand Enchanter of the new Circle. 

Hence why Vivienne is so terrified by the Inquisitor’s actions if her disapproval gets too low. The Inquisitor has the power to completely destroy everything she has built and fought for during her lifetime. Remember: Vivienne’s biggest fear is irrelevance - there’s no greater irrelevance than having your life achievements reverse-engineered by the accidental stumbling of some upstart nobody. This is the real reason why she joins, risks her life and gets her hands dirty - the only person whose competence Vivienne trusts, is Vivienne’s own. 

Even as Divine Victoria, I’d say she’s not bad, at all actually. Vivienne has the trappings of an an Enlightened Despot, maintaining full control, while simultaneously granting mages more responsibility and freedom, slowly laying the foundations to make mages more accepted and less persecuted in southern Thedas. Given that Ferelden is a feudal fiefdom and Orlais is an absolute monarchy, this is a fucking improvement are you kidding me. (Wait did he just imply Vivienne is secretly the best Divine - hmm, probably not because Cass/Leliana have better epilogues - but realistically speaking, yes, Viv should be the best Divine and it’s bullshit that the story disagrees.) 

Underneath the countless layers of smarm, frost and seeming callousness, lies a fiercely intelligent and brave woman, whose ideals have been twisted into perversion by the cruel, ungrateful world around her. Envy her for her ability to control her destiny, but know that envy is what it is.  

The flaw in Vivienne’s character isn’t so much the ‘tyranny’ or the ‘bitchiness’ or the 'smarm’. Her flaw is her false belief that she is what the mages need the most. Her belief that her competence gives her the prerogative to serve the unwashed mage masses... by ruling over them. For all intents and purposes, Vivienne is an Orlesian Magister and this will forever be the brilliant tragedy of her character. She was created by a corrupt institution that should, by all accounts fear and loathe her but instead embraced her. It’s that delirious irony that makes Vivienne de Fer one of the best fictional characters in RPG history.  the next post will be Eurovision-related. :-) 

[mst3kproject]

The Giant of Marathon

For some reason, probably because I've seen them all so many times, I thought I'd already done all four Film Crew episodes.  Evidently this is not true.  Here's one, and if you haven't seen it... wow, Mr. Honcho was not exaggerating about the thousands of sweaty men.

Philippides of Athens is the greatest athlete there is, having won the entire Olympics. With the games over, he returns to his day job as commander of the Athenian city guard.  Followers of Hippias the exiled tyrant are plotting to take control of the city with help from the invading Persians, and they try to seduce Philippides to their cause by offering him wine, women, and homoerotic wrestling (it was ancient Greece, after all).  Philippides refuses to be seduced, and sets off to secure the help of Athens' old enemy Sparta in opposing the Persians.  His mission is a success, but upon his return a spy tells him that the Persians are planning a sneak attack on the harbour of Piraeus.  Can even Philippides get there in time to deliver the warning?

I don't actually know if it were possible to win the entire Olympics in ancient Greece.  I know there were several events and at least one of them involved reciting poetry.  The Battle of Marathon was in 490 BC and a table on Wikipedia suggests that there could have been up to twelve different sports, but some of them were only for children.

The Giant of Marathon touts itself as a tale of epic battles, daring deeds, and political machinations.  I'll get back to the epic battles and daring deeds, but what stands in for the political machinations is mostly a bunch of people pining.  Unimpressive villain Theocritus is pining for the beautiful Andromeda, whose father has promised her to him but she thinks he's a dick.  She's pining for Philippides, who is also pining for her but thinks she's one of Hippias' followers, so refuses to speak to her.  Meanwhile Theocritus' concubine Charis is also pining for Philippides because he's the only man who ever refused to fuck her, I think.

These relationships are important to the plot, too.  Andromeda's love for Philippides is one of the reasons her father refuses to join the traitors, and when Theocritus realizes he cannot have her, he ties her to the prow of his ship to force Philippides to watch her die.  Charis' crush on Philippides leads her to her death, as she is executed for spying.  Yet none of it is ever developed beyond 'these two pretty people saw each other and now they want to bone'.  Philippides declares his love for Andromeda after a single five-minute interaction.  Charis has seen Philippides twice, and both times it went badly, when she decides to betray Theocritus.

Why do the writers hang such important plot points on the 'love' between people who have barely spoken to each other?  I can't decide if it's because they're lazy, or because they're hacks, and I lean towards a combination of the two.  There is absolutely no subtlety to the writing in The Giant of Marathon at all.  Everything is told, not shown.  We know that Theocritus and Creusus are traitors because they talk about it, in dialogue that's clearly written for the audience, not as anything that sounds like a natural conversation. We know that Charis and Andromeda are both in love with Philippides because they say so.  The only thing we're really shown is that Andromeda hates Theocritus, which comes through in her body language (though we are also very much told), so props to actress Mylène Demongeot for that much.

The movie doesn't care about any of this character stuff, anyway.  It just wants to get straight to those epic battle scenes, and it's very obvious how much work and time went into those as opposed to everything else.  The battles are lengthy and elaborate, full of impressive stunts and props and miniatures being destroyed all over the place.  We get to see Persian chariots run down Greek infantry, and while I'm pretty sure this would have been orchestrated so the stuntmen didn't get hurt, I'm not nearly so confident about the unfortunate horses (and neither was Bill).  There are ships in flames and injured men screaming as they fall overboard.  There are even some pretty good deaths, like the guy who was hit in the eye with an arrow.  The desperate last stand of the city guard against the entire Persian fleet, with the Spartans arriving just in time to save the day, is very tense indeed.

I get the impression that this is what somebody really wanted to put on screen, and they did a decent job of it, but pretty much the entire rest of what ought to be the story is just an accessory to the fighting stuff.  It's as if the film-makers wanted so badly for their fight sequences to be epic that they forgot what makes epic-ness – which is the characters and their stake in the events. We don't know any of these people, none of them have anything we might call a personality trait, and so we don't care.

The focus on how epic it all is makes I seem a little strange that the battle ends on a shot of dead Persian guys floating in the water. You'd think they'd want to end with something that more decisively shows the Athenian victory, maybe the men cheering as the Persian ships turn around and flee.  Or perhaps some kind of victory celebration, which could mirror the celebration of Philippides winning the Olympics in the opening and call back to the scene where Philippides asks the goddess Athena to protect her city.

Instead, we cut to a shot of Philippides and Andromeda walking across the farmland together.  This feels a little too sudden, and is also a poor fit with the rest of the movie.  The only time we've seen Philippides on his farm is when he's gotten disgusted with the politics of Athens and returned to the countryside to sulk.  If the farm is supposed to be a place where he's happy and at peace, the movie never establishes it.

So that's political machinations and epic battle sequences, let's talk about some daring deeds.

Unlike the Hercules and Maciste movies we've seen in the past, The Giant of Marathon wants to be grounded in real-life history.  This means that while the script does reference gods and mythical heroes, none of them ever appear and there is no hint of them working behind the scenes to bring events about.  Likewise, Philippides is not a demigod, so we avoid several of the tropes associated with the genre.  Nothing important ever happens (or fails to happen) because the hero was asleep, and he never bends prison bars or drinks a love potion – although a love potion is mentioned, as if to draw attention to this.

This doesn't leave Philippides a whole lot of scope for daring deeds, and when they try the results are a little lackluster.  His main feat is, of course, running all the way from Marathon to Athens (the proverbial forty-two kilometres) to let them know of the impending attack, but while this ought to be the highlight of the movie it's shot in terrible day-for-night and we have nothing to suggest how far this is... I think the writers just assumed everybody knows the length of a marathon.  If we'd seen the army tired from making the march earlier, we would have a better sense of it being a long and tiring journey even at a walk or with horses, and it would seem that much more formidable as a distance for one man to cover before sunrise.  Of course, showing us these things is apparently beyond the scope of The Giant of Marathon's writers, but you'd think they could at least have a character say something like, “it's twenty-six miles!  He'll never make it!”

His other major daring deed is when he pushes giant boulders down a hill onto the attacking Persians.  This is kind of weird because Philippides is not Hercules or Maciste.  He's good at track and field, but we haven't seen any evidence of him having godlike strength, and this is a universe where gods don't seem to do much anyway, so it comes out of nowhere.  The rocks are huge – there are similarly-sized ones at the park near my house and I know one guy couldn't move them no matter how buff he might be.  Did somebody just forget that they weren't making a Hercules movie?

Between the battles and the various plot twists, The Giant of Marathon could have been a pretty fun sword-and-sandal movie, but it's like a tower without a foundation.  The fights have nothing to hold them up, so we just can't get into it. Also, what the Underworld happened to Hippias? We see him once, chatting with the king of Persia, and then he vanishes and the movie decides weaselly little Theocritus is the big bad instead. I'm sorry, but if you've got a character with a name as cool as 'Hippias the Tyrant', you really can't just drop him like that.

The Best Brains liked to complain about the tinyness of the costumes in these movies but honestly, nothing here is as off-putting as actual ancient Greek sports would have been to the modern viewer.  When I was in university I TA'd for a course called Introduction to Greco-Roman Civilization. It was an adventure in several ways – the students were mostly dumb freshmen who spent the lectures playing Farmville, and the professor didn't give a shit because she'd just been denied tenure.  I don't know how much anybody learned in that class, but I'm sure they all recall how, after the professor told us that Greek athletes stripped naked and covered themselves in olive oil before wrestling, somebody raised a hand and asked if they removed their body hair.  The professor cheerfully told him that they did not, so next time we see a Greek vase we ought to remember that these guys were much sweatier, oilier, and hairier than terra cotta can possibly convey.

[floater0352]

TL;DR warning: TFATWS Ep. 6 / Finale There’s a lot to unpack in this series finale, and I sure as hell am not the expert to do this, but I thought I’d highlight some particular issues I have. Much of this, admittedly, will be coming from the high character tenors of the previous episodes, whereas this episode is really where the “MCU kind of movie denouement” kicks in. If you can call/criticize something as “Disney formula” writing, this might be it. Did it hamper/dampen my enjoyment of this series? Not THAT much, but it really stands out and suggests it could have been better. So let me do a few numbers. 1. PRO: A very acceptable execution of selling not only Sam’s first outing as ‘Captain America’, not only the affirmation of Bucky Barnes’ commitment to heroism, but the apotheosis long-denied to Isaiah Bradley. I’m getting the impression much of the gushing here in Tumblr will be focusing on that--and to an extent, I am in agreement.  their characters were very well fleshed out and to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There may be still other things I would recommend as a better laid-out recognition for Isaiah (something more faithful to the Truth comic miniseries), but that’s a minor quibble compared to the others below.  

2. CON: Falling into the trap of a “GOT-layout” series ending Ok, that description might be too harsh. After all, point # 1 is near perfect. 

However, and this is a very big HOWEVER... A really good show does not rely solely on giving your main characters the best ending possible. Their supporting cast deserves at least a fair amount of character development (understandable motivations, a good appreciation of their character arcs, more moments which make you empathize with them especially if you are trying to experiment with moral ambiguity on their characters). The fact that the action sequence ate up more than half of the final episode’s near-50 minute runtime really prevented any further character development moments. How, to some extent, this became insufficient with Karli Morgenthau and John Walker become really apparent in the end.  3. CON: Under-served Character Denouements Karli and the Flag-Smashers, in practice, were basically given the “Killmonger” treatment: they’ll have to die, but the validity of their moral argument will be recognized. As someone with a very limited set of fandoms I follow, the only other place I’ve seen this done is Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. The protagonist cast was left to die, but the tragedy of their situation led their world to improve things for the better. (For those familiar with this fandom, many will understand that this did not go down well.) Compare this, in turn, to how Breaking Bad gives even the supporting cast and side-characters understandable character endings.

The reason of complaint here, being, that this kind of story flow robs these characters of agency not only in their tragedy--but also how they choose to go out. Sympathetic tragic characters, to an extent, are at least given some dignity in how they go out. The fact that Karli and the Flag-Smashers are practically disposed of by a) Sharon, now fully revealed as the criminal Power-Broker and b) Zemo, whose butler is no less capable in extreme action even while he was in prison further highlights how they are basically reduced into ‘plot elements’, not a fully-realized group/faction of people.

John Walker, for his part, is also given very little to do (and indeed, what little he was able to do in the entire fight sequence is laughable). Even his one spark of “good choice” (seeking to save the falling vehicle’s occupants), even if he failed, was ultimately overshadowed by Sam’s more flamboyant rescue. One might be able to make argument, perhaps, that that is the point: Walker’s arc in this episode, perhaps, is to finally learn why exactly he can’t become Captain America: because he remains primarily a soldier, and only good at that. Witnessing Sam arguing and pontificating in front of the cameras, perhaps, is what hammers it home to him--and why perhaps his last scene in the series is him accepting his new role as U.S. Agent. If his world is going to be small and he is going to be pigeonholed into what he is good at, so be it. If he can’t be Captain America (now that he knows why exactly that symbol is powerful, and what is required of it), he’ll find his way with people who will let him be what he can be. Notice, however, how even between these two underserved characters, John Walker has a more understandable progression. I don’t think I’ll really be able to fault ‘left-wing’ viewers of the show who will be left dissatisfied by this ending (especially those who are sympathetic to the Flag-Smashers’ demands--especially as to some extent (due to my own line of work and leanings, I’m kind of one of those). And then there’s the reveal of Sharon as the Power-Broker--its own can of worms, but I’ll fold it in the next item. 4. MIXED BAG: How the show’s social layout closes

The fact that the MCU’s undercurrent politics remains to be “institutions are bad, mob/grassroots action will always be misguided, let media-chosen/private individuals and orgs show you the ‘right way’ of doing things”--it isn’t really as helpful as it could be. The show basically ends with Sam and Bucky’s individual arcs and moral world-views affirmed. It is definitely a happy ending for them. It is, however, pretty difficult to swallow that it ends well for them when the bigger picture is left unaddressed.  (For those who may be interested in this line of critique, this video essay, “Imagining the Tyrant” by Kyle Kallgren / Brows Held High / oancitizen should be helpful.)

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in 2 instances: the setting of Walker’s rechristening as U.S. Agent, and Sharon’s “pardon” scene--now that we know she is in fact the Power Broker. Both events happen in the U.S. Senate Committee hearing hall--basically making the statement that even with a new Captain America that is more ‘home-grown’ and closer to the ground and common people (even as he literally flies high), the institutions of the U.S. government is still as impervious and clueless to its corruption and enabling of crime and injustice. Criminal elements like Valentina de Fontaine and the Power Broker foster the underground economy with impunity, and the U.S. government allows them to for a number of unbuilt/unestablished reasons. 

It’s a valid/backed-up argument to make, and with historical/real life basis at that, but this is the kind of plot development difficult to credibly sell within a 6-episode miniseries already crammed with character arcs--and it shows. Compare this, for example, with how the Netflix series The Punisher built throughout its Season 1 run how exactly can black market profiteering grow under the CIA in a believable way. There, you see exactly what needs to happen for a previously-established upstanding character living in a grey environment to turn grey--even full on black (be it Frank Castle/the Punisher himself, Dinah Madani, or even Billy Russo). I’d want to chalk this up to the possibility of merging/reintroducing that world--and by god, imagine Jon Bernthal’s Punisher returning in this kind of gray area--interacting with Captain America AND the Winter Soldier, as this series is now likely to be titled--should be very interesting.

---- These are the top points in my head after my first watch of this finale. I may be rewatching this again--who knows if I get to come back. Still, it’s been a pretty meaningful ride. P.S. I should probably admit to my Filipino background here again, but it’s hilarious how the closing shot of this series (Sam and Bucky having a party with their family/community near the Louisiana seaside) is basically how mosts 80′s/90′s era Filipino action and comedy films end (either a beach party or a wedding/outing near a beach/swimming pool). The presence of Pinoy shout-outs in this series (”Amatz” and “Isang Tao, Isang Mundo”) really emphasize how this might not be an accident.

[heinzpilsnergonewild]

Vegeta’s Character Analysis Looooooooooong Read

Oh my, what can I say? I just really love to write long essays in a language that isn’t even native to me, lol.

Well, nobody’s perfect, I guess. ... Were you expecting a Cell joke here? I may not be perfect, but that doesn't mean I have to be that predictable.

Ahem, anyway.

This isn't exactly a psychological analysis of the character - more like, hmm, a storytelling analysis. Or something in between, really.

You may not find anything fundamentally new in this text, but I definitely had fun writing it, haha.

It's mostly amateur. I have a useless psychology degree, but not a literature one.

My classic rant about vegebul fics is included, of course.

Summary: proper psychological analysis requires a single continuous personality, which Vegeta simply doesn’t have.

The more I think about Vegeta, the more I come to the conclusion that he is only pretending to be a consistently evolving character.

In fact, he's a bit like 10 different characters in one, which abruptly replace each other (and that's without considering the difference caused by the voice actors’ approach and the changes in his looks). Essentially, Vegeta's a collection of disparate images, arbitrarily lined up by Toriyama and hastily glued together. And the beginning of this line is so far from the end of it that these two extreme images cannot be perceived as belonging to the same person. Well, because human psychology just doesn't work that way.

(Not that Vegeta is unique in this respect – it’s a common feature of characters in long stories that authors compose as they write. Still, his case is quite extreme and interesting as example.)

I mean, take Vegeta in the Saiyan or the Namek arc. He's a complete psychopath. He clearly doesn’t suffer at heart from the unnecessary violence (as, for example, Guts from Berserk). His behavior looks like something natural for him, not an unhealthy defensive reaction. He enjoys it, he smiles happily, killing and torturing weak innocent people. And such a degree of psychopathy is not something that can be healed by a couple of deep personality crises or years of peaceful family life. Vegeta's redemption arc works through strong emotional impact and forgetfulness of the audience, but makes very little sense when viewed in retrospect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps the biggest, hmm, splitting of the personality occurred with Vegeta right after the Namek arc. Toriyama had already made a small retcon of the character’s motives before (to include Vegeta in the context of the Freeza army after the Saiyan arc), but it didn't feel that drastic.

You see, until Vegeta was invited to Bulma’s house…..

(Gosh, Toriyama, you could’ve done it more subtly, really. Vegeta killed Yamcha, threatened to kill Bulma, gutted Zarbon in front of her eyes, slaughtered an entire Namekian village... Oh well.)

…Ahem, anyway, right up to Bulma's invitation, Vegeta looked to me like a character who, hmm, has a life of his own? I mean, you have always felt that his motives and behavior were generated by the bizarre social system, not related to the little world of Goku and his friends. Simply put, Vegeta was a natural product of the big space civilization, an organic part of it. His whole personality was formed by it, all his plans, motivation and ambitions were associated with it. And although in the Saiyan arc, he gave the impression of an independent entrepreneurial chief at the head of a small hierarchy, in the Namek arc it was revealed that Vegeta is actually far from independent. He lost his throne and his people, he was in slavery to the tyrant all his life, and wants to take power for himself. So, his social background and the motives caused by it post factum get much more complex. But in short, Vegeta wanted a highest possible position in the hierarchy he knew. In this way, he was… social? His belonging to the Saiyan race was only a small (although important) part of the overall picture. Because the Saiyans were dead, but the Freeza Empire was alive.

But when Toriyama realized Vegeta's popularity and decided to keep him in the story after Namek, it came as a blow to the character's personality. Apparently, the author simply couldn't come up with an elegant way that could keep the character in all its complexity around, and therefore did a very clumsy thing. He roughly cut Vegeta out of his social context and almost forcibly glued him to the main character group like a poorly done appliqué. But although you see rough edges and glue drips, the story moves on rapidly, distracting you with Freeza and Future Trunks, and you don't stop to think about what happened. This is how, almost imperceptibly, Toriyama changed Vegeta's motives (and, consequently, the basis of his personality). Yes, Vegeta's saiyan pride was also significant part of his character previously, but when it became his sole and central motivation after Namek, you feel like a very big and important piece of him has been arbitrarily cut off. This wouldn't have happened if Toriyama had followed the logic of previously established social motives, rather than his desire to make Vegeta a convenient figure. Now, bound hand and foot by the author, the character is forced to behave as the plot requires.

Still, all this can be justified by the fact that Vegeta experienced a deep emotional shock as a result of death, which forced him to rethink his life priorities and wait for Goku (especially in the manga, where he just lived with Bulma for a whole year after Namek, without even trying to use dragonballs) ... And then he waited for the androids (despite the final death of Freeza and his father, which was an excellent chance to try to take over the decapitated empire). Anyway, this rationalization doesn't negate the fact that the character, as a result, has lost a significant part of the fire that he demonstrated in the Namek arc. His new energy, the energy of obsession with surpassing Goku, turns him into a new character – bitter, marginalized and focused on training.

(Ironically, the very splitting that made him a less attractive character in my eyes allowed vegebul to take place. After all, imagining the romantic relationship of the nice Bulma and Vegeta at the height of his villainous ambition is really difficult. That just would be a psychologically implausible story.)

In the Android and Cell arcs, after brief glimpses of the SSJ superiority, Toriyama turned Vegeta into a plot tool, whose personality flaws he could use to spoil the situation favorable for the heroes. As a result, Vegeta continued to be an angry and unhappy character who has lost most of his charisma, but on top of that, he also started to be really annoying. ... Still, also kinda amusing thanks to his truly impressive inability to draw obvious conclusions from the ego bruises he gets.

(If you ask me, the character's biggest contribution to the Cell arc was to ignore the existence of condoms, lol. Although strictly speaking even it was an achievement of Future Vegeta (RIP). But seriously, Vegeta's relationship with Trunks turned out to be one of the few things that I was really interested in about this part of the story.)

And then there was Goku’s death and the 7-year-gap. ... At the end of which Vegeta still didn't look like a happy man who has found his place in the world. Even though he had seven whole years (and a spaceship) to change something. I mean, this is the case when it'd be logical to expect changes in the character, but for some reason they didn't really happen (or they did, but veeery quietly and unstable). I mean, Vegeta trains with Trunks, yes. And he's married to Bulma now, apparently (which we learn only at the end of the arc though). And he hasn’t killed himself yet, which means that he sees some meaning in his existence. Hurray, I guess?.. The problem is that when we first see Vegeta after the timeskip, he keeps walking around with such a sullen expression, as if Goku had died just yesterday. (Remember Vegeta in the Saiyan arc? He smiled quite often. For the wrong reasons, but hey.) Basically, Toriyama tried to sit on two chairs at the same time here - 1) keep Vegeta as recognizable as possible (because he hasn't decided what to do with him yet) and 2) keep him around (which doesn't make sense for the character if he hasn't undergone significant changes during the timeskip). And the result of this hesitant approach is an undesirable effect - it feels as if Vegeta hasn't built a new life for himself all these years, but only waited for Goku to return.

As if the man is unable to evolve without Goku's influence. Until Kakarot does or says something, or is just around, everyone else in Vegeta's life and his own reflection has little or no meaning. Old social ambitions? His wife and child? New insights gained from life on Earth? Pffft. Goku is able to destroy the seven years’ worth progress (no matter how small it may seem) in one day, and at the same time, one fight with him is enough for Vegeta's character development to jump forward explosively. It sounds like a solid ground for shipping, but In fact it’s just a direct consequence of the author's poorly chosen narrative structure.

The thing is, Toriyama tend to avoid romance and slices of life, and shows Vegeta's personality mainly through fights and their consequences. And at the time Goku just turned out to be the only significant character for Vegeta, the fight against whom could be used as an excuse to develop the character in front of the audience. Well, Toriyama couldn't get Vegeta to fight Bulma or himself, you know.

I believe that the plot structure chosen by the author (rapidly changing action events immediately after a long timeskip) is not a very good basis for a redemption arc. For a good redemption, a character had to have screen time during which small changes accumulate gradually, between the big points. And Vegeta simply didn't have it. Besides, the scheme by which Vegeta develops is really messy. Because at first, Toriyama kinda froze his development at the neutral point (thereby partially devaluing the influence of Vegeta's family on him). Then in one moment, the author abruptly reversed even this the-end-of-the-Cell-arc development with Majin Vegeta (this time completely devaluing the family factor, because the betrayal was Vegeta’s conscious decision). God, how I hated the Majin Vegeta idea. And in the next scene, the author made a quick retcon, which gave the family’s influence the status of a ground for Vegeta’s personal growth again for no apparent reason. It's as if a huge bundle of family values was post factum squeezed into the character in defiance of everything that we just saw with our own eyes. This is a complete narrative mess.

But... oddly enough, Vegeta's redemption still manages to work, and work spectacularly. My guess is that it's because by that time the audience is already SO sick of Vegeta, frozen in his bitter anti-heroism, that it desperately wants the author to finally do something new with the miserable guy. Well, at least get him out of his misery. So people are willing to accept it in any possible form.

... And the author chose the form of a powerful emotional catharsis. The explosion was legendary, haha.

I don't even know if this is a good reason to call Toriyama a genius (after all, he found a very clever way out of a difficult situation, in which he found himself thanks to his own bad decisions.)

The only thing I'm sure of is that despite everything I was very sad because of Vegeta's death. I didn't even realize that I had become emotionally attached to this asshole until he made such a spectacular exit, lol. As if something had broken inside of me, and all the analyticity of my mind couldn’t prevent it. I was surprised when I found myself crying really hard - usually my emotions don't reach this level due to fictional stories. (Well, maybe it was due to the fact that my own father was dying of cancer at that time, and the moment just triggered my emotions. ... Oops, it seems a little too personal, doesn't it? Well, at the end of the day, this fact is an integral part of my unique dbz experience. Come to think of it, in dbz, fathers die regularly).

But while this scene greatly affects emotions and forces a new viewer (or reader) to truly reconsider their attitude towards the character for the first time, the absence of a neat gradual movement towards this moment weakens its influence somewhat.

At this point, Vegeta’s character splits once again (perhaps the last time within DBZ). You simply cease to understand who this man really is and who he was before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, when I look at all the images of Vegeta in general, I come to the conclusion that I like this character the most in the first two arcs and in the end of the last arc. Two directly opposite moral poles.

(Funny enough, because my initial reaction to Vegeta and Nappa was annoyance: "Well hello, the next stereotypical villains who like to chat and laugh maliciously instead of simply killing their victims." (Still, against the background of Freeza, Vegeta turned out to be a much lesser evil in every sense, haha). You see, usually I'm not a person who likes villains. Basically, I only distinguish such characters from others as a result of romance or redemption. It’s only after that I begin to see aesthetics in their villainous charisma as well.)

And now, in retrospective, I believe that at the beginning of the story Vegeta is at the maximum of his vitality and charisma. Especially compared to his ever-crisis moody version (who supposedly lives happily with a loving family). In the Saiyan arc, he's objectively the most powerful character (Freeza didn’t even exist in Toriyama's head at the time). Vegeta is domineering, playful and unpredictable, but most importantly - his self-confidence is fully justified. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. He's really in control. These are, if I may say so, quite exciting qualities in a man, haha. Even if he looks like an evil dwarf in stupid armor and bullies some weaklings. I'd even say his demeanor in the Saiyan arc (especially with the voice of early Horikawa) is suspiciously easy to translate into a sexual context (well, until he loses control and gets hysterical, lol).

The Namek arc, placing Vegeta in a broader context, somewhat spoiled his original image (after all the big words, it turned out that he was running errands for Freeza all this time), but gave him a more interesting background and a strong drive. He had ambitions and a socially significant goal, and he actively and passionately fought for them against a clearly superior enemy. In addition, his inability to defeat Freeza by brute force forced him to use his brains from time to time, and not just pull another power up out of his ass, as is now traditionally done in DragonBall. (Needless to say, I consider high intelligence to be one of the most attractive traits). All this made his position in the plot as interesting as possible. He literally sparkled with energy.

Well, we know what happened next. Brain Death, an eternal chase after Goku, and an off-screen family life on a backwater planet that Vegeta is supposedly happy with. Until he suddenly became a really beautiful character without a proper justification for this (well, at least the explosion was spectacular). Really, I like the general concept of redemption, and yet... the way Toriyama portrays it in the story just doesn't work convincingly enough for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another point I’d like to cover in this already too long essay ahhh I'm a monster is Vegeta’s personality in fanfiction.

Reproducing (?) Vegeta is a bit like playing with a lego set - his personality and behavior is always the result of a conscious reconstruction, which is based around a specific point on the long contradictory line. Depending on which end of the spectrum the chosen point is, the author is forced to shade facts related to the opposite end, or to give new context to Vegeta's past (or future) actions. It's always noticeable when the author extends the later, sympathetic Vegeta's image to an earlier segment of the story. Apparently, it's possible to kill the person who raised you (with an evil smile on your face) just because the situation was too stressful lol. Likewise, when the authors allow Vegeta to remain a charismatic psychopath, the story wouldn't work without ignoring some parts of the later canon.

(And, of course, there is always a "medium" type of Vegeta - Vegeta from the 3-year-gap, whose personality is almost entirely based on anime fillers. Yay, here comes the promised vegebul rant

Honestly, I'm pretty tired of this "gravity room exploded again woman grrr" type of Vegeta.

Because if you take the manga, we have no idea how Vegeta actually behaved with Bulma and her parents, what his training regimen was, and what he did in his free time besides unprotected sex. People elevate his rudeness and irrational self-torturing to the absolute because of all these filler patterns, but this is just one of the possible versions of the events and the character's behavior during this time (albeit partly canonical). But... there are also alternatives. There are smart Vegeta, curious Vegeta, civilized Vegeta. Honestly - I don't think Bulma would've married him later if there was nothing in his personality that’d make communication with him enjoyable. I mean, she's a rich modern woman, she doesn't need a husband just for convenience and Vegeta is a marginal freeloader anyway. And if we subtract good looks (which people often attribute to Vegeta) from the equation, then the idea that he has no interest in anything other than training and cannot maintain an interesting conversation becomes completely unconvincing. Toriyama clearly didn't attach much importance to the fact of their marriage, and generally avoided romantic scenes as if they were on fire (and, perhaps, did the right thing), but these two just had to be capable of adequate and mutually pleasant personal interaction in order to take this step.

In general, Toriyama's lack of attention to most aspects of the characters' lives other than fighting and training, on the one hand, can be considered a drawback of DBZ, but on the other, it creates a lot of room for fans' imagination. But not everyone uses it. Most authors generally repeat the same tropes over and over again and don't try to look at the three-year-gap from a new angle, although the canon provides all the possibilities for this. Because of this, fics in this genre often seem boring. But in fact, it's not the setting itself that is boring, but only dusty formulas in the heads of the authors.)

Ahem, so where were we?.. Oh yes.

Actually, Vegeta's inconsistency is a very handy character trait for the authors, as it minimizes the chance of accidental OOC. Indeed, it's quite difficult to make someone to behave out of character if he has many different canon versions of himself, lol. On the other hand, this leads to the fact that the character seems to... kinda disintegrate. You never see his whole face, because he simply doesn't have it. As a result, Vegeta turns into a mosaic that must be reassembled each time. And I keep staring at this crazy kaleidoscope like an idiot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that's... quite a lot of contradictions in my relationship to Vegeta, haha. Still, life without contradictions would be somewhat boring, I guess.

Thanks for your attention I suppose?..... lol, as if someone really got to this point

The End.

P.S. 1: The antisocial version of Vegeta who doesn't understand stupid human rituals and hates crowds, but puts up with it for the sake of his family is my spirit animal, haha. This is just so damn relatable to my autistic personality. Maybe I'm an alien myself.

P.S. 2: Actually, my favorite dbz character is Piccolo. Yep.

[martvota]

Reading “The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” by Suzanne Collins [1]

✴ The switch of perspectives, an utterly rotten setting, the return of various symbols, something about proper character crafting and should we even like Coriolanus Snow? ✴

The first thing I’ve noticed was that people worried Collins might try and give Snow a redemption arc or use the new book as an excuse for his latter actions but I wouldn’t fret – doing so would only invalidate the universe she has built, would make one of the most important characters inconsistent. No proper writer wants that.

If anything, the way I see it, the book is intended to give us more insight on the beginnings of the system and state we (along with Katniss and Peeta, and all the rest) already know. Which is somewhat fascinating, as all well-crafted universes are.

We are given some more information on the civil war/First Rebellion that has spawned the Treaty of Treason but it (mostly?) doesn’t come in form of a history class; it flows quite freely with the main character’s thoughts and other characters’ conversations. There is no excessive detail or raw facts. Instead, we are presented with broken memories and broken homes, traumas, political and economical outcomes – and none of it is impersonal. Susanne Collins has successfully portrayed a society that has just experienced war. The streets that remain ruined years after “peace” has been achieved, the fierce… nationalism, I’d say? Though Panem is technically one state. What I meant was the approach of Coriolanus’ grandmother, almost teary-eyed over Capitol’s completely false glory, extremely hostile while speaking about the Districts. The “us versus them” mentality, the extremely protective kind of patriotism (post-war patriotism, I’d say). The state is trying to lift itself up, the old money families are attempting to regain their riches, and they are choosing the most cruel tactics to achieve that. 

We got to know the situation in the Districts thanks to the previously published books – but this time we are taking a look at the Capitol at its least glorious (and if the Capitol hungers, then it’s easy to say the rest of the country is dying of starvation).

That being said, I think it is crucial to remember whose perspective we are adopting for the sake of the novel. In this case, it is young Snow’s so – a ruined upper class family’s heir, raised to believe that he deserves what is the best solely due to his surname. Yes, he is to become the cold-blooded tyrant and killer of millions. No past excuses those crimes, ever.

But we have to keep in mind his upbringing, his origin – he has never been taught to empathise, only pity or detest; he has never been taught to respect people from the Districts unless that brings him gain (and even then, such respect should be faked – think of his beginnings with Lucy Gray).

So of course he was not crafted for us to enjoy. In fact, painting him as an obviously likeable, misunderstood boy would make for a redemption arc or an excuse, wouldn’t it? Instead, we are given a young representative of an extremely corrupt system, by no means its victim but rather product. He might not be a straight-out villain just yet but this book is our chance to observe him grow into one, all the while remaining not entirely bad nor good – he is remarkable at many things and it shines through the pages; he is remarkable at playing the protagonist. He is not one, he was never supposed to be one, and a great feature of this book is that the narrative tricks the readers into forgetting that fact.

If we are looking for a just and compassionate lead, this novel is not the right place for our search. Few of the characters are outrightly bad, as in, even the ones we’d expect to have no remorse whatsoever show some of it every now and then (and I am mostly talking about the Capitol’s citizens). Which is good – I’d say it prompts the reader to question, why would they do that? ( ← I might touch upon that in another post or add examples in reblogs. )

The only actually good characters I am seeing so far are Sejanus and Lucy Gray, but I believe that might have been the author’s intention.

Speaking of which, I have seen someone accuse Collins of (perhaps unknowingly) attempting to lessen the value of a compassionate and vulnerable stance (such as the one displayed by Sejanus) in the eyes of the reader, due to the way the lead character views it as. I disagree – the reader should not agree with any of the ideology Coriolanus follows from the very beginning of the book. Him being the main character doesn’t mean that the author agrees with his views. And if the reader falls for that narrative for a moment, then that is completely okay – the way I see it, it mainly shows that the character has been written properly (he does with the real life audience the same thing he does with the fictional people around him, tricking them into looking at things from his perspective).

Besides, there is plenty of wake-up calls (though once you get lured in by the narrative they may become less striking), such as the bizarre scene where teenagers are brainstorming how to make a mass execution more interesting. Under a teacher’s guidance, in class, just freely exchanging ideas that will later take a toll on the lives of thousands. That’s terrifying.

Or the entire concept of the monkey cage, the message it conveys; they are locked up in a rundown zoo, out in the open for other human beings to view and mock – as if they themselves weren’t human, as if they were humanoid. Similar, but not developed enough, not bright enough, clever but not intelligent and never equal. And then the privileged masses that put them there dare to act afraid.

That’s disgusting. That’s cruel and absolutely outrageous, and I love how Suzanne Collins has not given up on her expert usage of symbols (another example: the names, but I could go on and on about that), even if I do think some of those metaphors could have been disguised better and not just served on a platter.

( I’m aware this review might come off as void of criticism but it was completely unplanned— my first impression, if you will. )

I though I would wait with voicing my opinion until I finish the book but now I’d rather update this post as I go, as not to forget anything.

I found out about this prequel by pure chance, just because I had been meaning to give the HG trilogy another read after a long break (so chances are I wasn’t and won’t be able to pinpoint all the allusions to the saga).

[xelbleedsglitter]

I Finished A Manga

And watched a movie. Once again tucked under a read more for your comfort and convenience and existing likely only for the entertainment of myself and @anthropwashere

what the fuck

My impression of the final arc of the manga is that the author had to find a way to best wrap every dumb thing he'd ever come up with in several layers of plastic wrap in order to appear as though it was one whole. Since it's plastic wrap, eventually you can't tell what it's holding together anymore, how many pieces there are, etc, but if you start unravelling, you are left with Holy Fuck What On Earth Was That. This is weirdly also not a criticism, I guess. If I had to retcon everything I'd done for ten years with the knowledge that the old stuff was already public and printed in thousands of books, I'd have to make a saran wrapped pretzel with an ankh on it too.

I dislike Kaiba even more now! This arc did not help my feelings about him in the slightest, especially since he was basically a cop.

also gonna go with a hard No on the Blue Eyes White Dragon Plot Device Woman, no no no yikes, what the Fuck

I think if even One Person had said, 'wow the monsters in our souls look like nothing from our world' then how mismatched they were from the trappings of Allegedly Egypt would not have been so jarring for me

Egyptian names filtered through Japanese filtered through English, hooboy

Appreciated actually being able to read the Pharaoh's name before he yelled it out.

"The mummy is playing the game with us." I'm sorry, w hat

Playing card game as the NPCs in table top RPG of a dead king's memories on top of a diorama made by Satan's landlord body because he likes making models and his dad owns a museum while an ancient pendant hangs like a disco ball designed to project realistic versions of ancient mythology soul fighting Satan in a trenchcoat and changing but also not changing the fabric of reality maybe????

Everyone's father has the same goatee, and I think 80% of the fathers we know about get murdered (by their own children!), so now I'm left with wonderings about the author's father as well as his shoe collection.

I don't. I don't think we needed Zorc, or really any of the extra souls in the Ring? I feel like the rage of the sole survivor of a concentrated slaughter/genocide could have been enough and more interesting.

Got the eerie feeling I was supposed to be sympathizing with or relating to the Pharaoh and his Priests, but I was firmly on the side of 'revenge on society for melting the bodies of everyone I've ever known down into magical jewelry' man. I mean, he's part of the Bakura Cinematic Universe, so of course I'm biased, I guess, but I was sitting there like, "Why are you booing him? He's right!" the whole time. I guess dragging the king's father's corpse across the floor was a dick move and is probably why we needed to extra manhunt for this dude, but I feel like I could have been spared like a dozen pages of indecipherable monster explosions if someone had just been like 'fuck, hold the ancient egyptian phone, we maybe owe this dude some airing of grievances, the mass murder was bad form'

speaking of the phone, Ancient Egyptian Bound Book was what made me put it down for several minutes. After everything else I endured, that it was not a fucking scroll of papyrus just shattered what will power I had to continue pretending it was Egypt. Not the dragons, or the stupid hair, or 'why are we all trying to murder the war orphan who is justifiably pissed as fuck', the Book.

Walk Walk Fashion Baby. Everyone wearing cute fucking slippers and excessive amounts of rad ankle bracelets and pinkie rings. Yeah, I'll take that, you all look cute as hell at least from the knees down.

Pharaoh trying to get out of a bad situation by appealing to Yami Bakura's commitment to staying in character while RPing, thank you, what a good. Movie stuff , that is, the Dark Side of What The Fuck Is Happening Movie:

I'm glad Yugi grew up, look at him go! He got taller to fit all his new confidence in himself. Also, Fashion. We love a choker and black shirt.

Many people got to Fashion! Love alternate wardrobe options.

Kaiba continues to Get Worse??????? I understand that he's a fan favorite, I just think whatever makes him appealing to everyone else makes me want to see him get punched in the throat. So every time I felt like the narrative and the visuals wanted me to think he'd gotten more badass, I was yelling "WHY" at the screen. He just seems like a tyrant dictator with too much money. That is everyone else's speed just like mine is homicidal revenge and dead things, I guess.

I suffered from not understanding who or why the fuck until like the last ten minutes, despite the thoroughness of my immersion in this weirdly specific hell for two weeks. Also, despite saying it was a manga continuation, it clearly was banking on you knowing more shit about the anime/real life card game than I ever knew, so I spent a long time either confused about what the fucking stakes were with Aigami/Diva (...why did he even need two names???? what purpose did that serve???) or bored as hell (Kaibaaaaaa).

Yay, Bakura for like five minutes, though. Even though the narrative and everyone in it only cares about him as plot vessel. He comes back from another dimension in the middle of a fucking stadium and no one is like 'shit, dude, what happened over there?' We are focused on the card game. The last thing he was doing was breaking the fuck down over things he'd blacked out, but Yugi is playing a cardgame while Kaiba insults him at the presentation of the new iPhone, so fuck off I guess. His voice actress getting some time to do Evil Laugh is always appreciated, though.

Bakura didn't even get to express a generic post gradation goal like everyone else, why do you guys even hang out with him or take him anywhere then

I feel like vinegar about this.

Mokuba being voiced by a 77 year old lady is just fantastic news to me. Also, his haircut and suit, yes, good for him. Cute.

why was it a movie about another new rando though, just make a movie developing the cast you already have, why do we keep adding more tragic orphans

just to kill them, usually

Yu-Gi-Oh: where orphans and fathers with goatees go to die.

[violethowler]

The Elephant in the Room

In my previous essays, I have covered how the Kingdom Hearts narrative follows Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey, as well as how various characters and story elements tie in with the overarching themes of the framework. Before I can continue to dig further into other themes and archetypes, there is something I need to address first. While I have avoided directly touching on the topic in my previous essays, I have now reached the point where it is no longer possible to talk about the Heroine’s Journey in full without acknowledging the elephant in the room: 

Romance.

In ongoing serialized stories such as TV shows and video games, conversations about potential relationships in canon are often treated as inconsequential to the overall story. Something that is separate from the main plot. At worst, I have seen fans who openly center a ship in their analysis and theories be dismissed and criticized as biased - or worse, delusional. They are treated as being so obsessed with their pairing that they try to make everything about their ship and jump on any excuse to declare that it’s viable in canon. 

Among the Kingdom Hearts fandom in particular, this has often taken the form of someone trying to dismiss other fans’ hope for a ship to be canon by saying that the series is about friendship, not romance.

While friendship is absolutely an important theme in the Kingdom Hearts series, to insist that this is mutually exclusive from depicting the development of romantic relationships ignores the continued presence of canon Disney romances in almost every game in the series. In each “main” game where Sora is playable, he has directly or indirectly been involved in getting those Disney couples together in the KH universe. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the series to turn the tables and give some attention to his romantic interests for a change. 

A story having other major themes is not mutually exclusive from showcasing the development of a romantic relationship. There are many popular movies, shows, books, comics, and video games in which a romantic relationship plays a central role in the narrative but there are still other plotlines going on that are equally as important as the romance. This is especially true for Disney and Square Enix.

The reason why it’s impossible to fully talk about the Heroine’s Journey without acknowledging romance elements is best encapsulated by this quote from She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson about her show’s endgame pairing in an i09 interview after the release of the final season:

“The show’s not a romance show. It is about a lot of things. It’s about choice, destiny, fighting, tyrants, you know, all of these other things. I grew up with so many stories—like sci-fi and fantasy—that I was so passionate about. And it would be considered no big deal to have the hero get the girl and to have a kiss at the end, without it suddenly becoming a romance or ‘Oh, the shippers got what they wanted.’ It was just a part of the story. And to actually see it be a central part of the plot and to fulfill the arcs of the characters in a way that felt satisfying. I really want to take it beyond ‘Oh, the shippers got what they want.’ Like, it’s not just a ship for me. It is a plot point. It is the necessary conclusion of each character’s arc, separate and together.[1]”

While not every story known to follow the Heroine's Journey features a romance for the main protagonist, those that do make the romance an integral part of the narrative. It’s not something thrown in at the end to please shippers, but a central component of the story. Therefore, when analyzing a Heroine’s Journey story, it is vital to acknowledge and discuss textual support for potential romantic relationships in order to have a full understanding of the narrative.

Even if one is not aware of the Heroine’s Journey, Sora’s repeated interactions with Disney romances indicate that there is a high probability that he will be in a romantic relationship himself by the end of the series. Every story I know of that follows the Heroine’s Journey broadly adheres to a pattern in regards to how the romantic relationships of a main character are set up.

By examining the series through these patterns, we can narrow down who Sora’s endgame romantic partner will be. 

Because the themes and character dynamics emphasize resolving internal conflict through balance, the Heroine’s Journey lends itself extremely well to Beauty-and-the-Beast, rivals-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers relationship dynamics. A major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the main character learning to accept themselves, and since the Animus as a Shadow figure can represent the parts of themselves that they haven’t accepted yet, it is simpler to symbolize that self-acceptance via a romance with the Animus rather than attempting to build a separate relationship on top of the existing story framework.

For these reasons, the Animus is more often than not the main character’s endgame love interest, their feelings for each other made into critical aspects of their respective character arcs. The only Heroine’s Journey stories with romance that I know of where this wasn’t the case are ones where executive meddling resulted in the finale being rewritten to kill off the Animus despite established narrative set up for them to have a happy ending together[2], while the protagonist was either forced into a relationship with a different character or left single.

And like I said in previous essays, the one character in the series who fulfills all criteria for the Animus role within this storytelling framework…. 

Is Riku.

[Image Description: Sora supporting Riku as they walk toward the ocean on the Dark Margin at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. End Description.]

As mentioned in my earlier analysis, this narrative framework emphasizes the importance of balancing contrasting attributes, which fits in extremely well with Kingdom Hearts’ focus on balance between light and darkness. For stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey in a visual medium, that dichotomy is often incorporated into the characters’ look. Height differences are common, while their color schemes and outfits are designed to make them complement each other. Further adding to the focus on balance between light and darkness, the visuals of the story frame the romantic leads with imagery associating each one with light or darkness to create Yin-Yang symbolism when they are finally in balance. 

In Re: Chain of Memories, Vexen openly calls Riku the “Hero of Darkness[3]” as a counterpart to Sora’s role as the “Hero of Light”, and their combination attack in Kingdom Hearts II utilizes moves that reflect both elements. In the Ultimania for the original game, Tetsuya Nomura said that Riku’s look was intentionally designed to balance Sora’s[4], and the contrast between their respective color schemes is maintained in each of their new outfits. In Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, Riku wears white and blue, while Sora in those same games wears black and red. Two different pairs of contrasting colors. Kingdom Hearts III has them both in outfits that are primarily black and grey, but still emphasize the blue and red that have been part of their respective outfits since the first game. 

In a Heroine’s Journey, the love interest is typically an active character in the story and usually serves as the deuteragonist. This fits with Riku having been a mandatory playable character in multiple games since 2004. In addition, series producer Shinji Hashimoto said before the release of the HD 1.5 Remix collection[5] that the main focus of the series is how Sora and Riku develop both as individuals and as a pair, which fits with how the central conflict of the Heroine’s Journey revolves around the dynamic between the Protagonist and their Animus. 

A common viewpoint held by many fans of the series is that Kairi is Sora’s love interest, and it’s not hard to see why people get that impression. He has sacrificed himself to save her in two separate games now. He’s charged enemies head on in order to rescue her whenever she’s been captured. He even got down on his knees and begged for her freedom when Saix demanded he show how important she was to him. Multiple characters have talked about how special she is to him, and Roxas refers to her as “that girl he(Sora) likes.” 

However, there are multiple elements in the narrative that point to them not being the endgame romance. Kingdom Hearts III foreshadows the final shot of them sitting on the paopu together at the end of the game with Sora disappearing from the cover of the 100 Acre Wood storybook, textually framing Winnie the Pooh as a parallel to Kairi. While many fans regarded their sharing paopu fruits in the base game as the beginning of a relationship between them, he still only refers to her as a friend in Re:Mind, and even compares his bond with her to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy. 

Sora also does not treat his promises to her with the seriousness he would if they were going to end up together. The promises to return her lucky charm and to come back to her that he makes in the first game are never treated as anything urgent when he awakens in Kingdom Hearts II. Instead, he declines the opportunity to return to the islands and check in with her in favor of searching for Riku. When Kairi says in The World That Never Was that they’ll be together every day, Sora agrees, yet he was content to spend the rest of his life on the dark beach at the end of the game as long as he was with Riku. 

Meanwhile, the most consistent theme regarding Kairi in relation to the Destiny Islands trio is the idea of childhood friends drifting apart as they get older[6][7]. This is particularly highlighted in Kingdom Hearts III, with Kairi writing letters to Sora that she never sends, thereby keeping her thoughts to herself. Merlin also emphasizes this when he talks about forging new connections after Sora’s visit to 100 Acre Wood. This parallel frames the ending of Re:Mind as the two of them recognizing they’ve drifted apart and choosing to put in the effort to renew their friendship by spending time together.

On a structural level, her portrayal does not fit with how love interests are typically depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, both as an individual and in relation to the main protagonist. There is no contrast between her and Sora’s designs or roles the way there is between his and Riku’s. Her color scheme is predominantly pink, which does not have the same contrast with Sora’s red as Riku’s blue. Because she’s a Princess of Heart, there is no dark and light contrast, and the combination attack she shares with Sora in Re:Mind only utilizes light-based moves. It took 17 years after her first appearance in the series for her to be made a playable character, and even then, playing as her is not mandatory. They are never portrayed as equals, and she is not an active force in his emotional growth. 

The Heroine’s Journey was crafted for narratives revolving around identities that have been Othered by society for one reason or another. Murdock designed her template as a tool to help women deal with being shamed by society for expressing and pursuing their desires. In a similar way, LGBTQ+ people also face stigma from society for expressing and pursuing their desires. So it makes perfect sense that a framework for narratives of people overcoming internalized stigma against important parts of themselves would be ripe for stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists of any gender.

As mentioned in previous essays, stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey challenge the biases and blind spots of the audience. A relationship between Kairi and Sora does not challenge anything because she has largely been regarded as the endgame love interest by default since the beginning. Meanwhile, a romantic relationship between Sora and Riku challenges players to recognize heteronormativity within themselves and in the media around them. It challenges people to examine the lens through which they perceive the story and rethink how they look at what’s happening in the narrative.

In summary, the portrayal of Kairi and her bond with Sora is not consistent with how love interests are commonly depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, while the portrayal of Riku and his bond with Sora is. If Sora’s story is going to continue on this storytelling formula to the end, the structure of the Heroine’s Journey narrative leaves Riku as the only thematically viable candidate for the role of endgame love interest. 

Now, as some people bring up in conversations about Soriku, there is a potential obstacle in the form of corporate executives. It is entirely possible that Disney will drag their heels and try to force the development team to downplay or remove any open same-sex relationship the series may try to depict. They do not have a strong track record of LGBTQ+ representation that isn’t a minor character who only appears for one scene. Given that their last IP to follow the Heroine’s Journey - the Star Wars sequel trilogy - crashed and burned at the end, executive meddling is my greatest fear for this franchise.

But the thing to keep in mind is that Tetsuya Nomura is stubborn as hell. One of the reasons the long gap between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III was because he was holding out for permission to include Pixar movies in the game, outright refusing to start work on KH3 until they were given that go ahead[8]. If you want further proof of how stubborn he can be, this is how he described the meeting where he first pitched the series to Disney in a 2012 interview with the late president of Nintendo[9]:

Iwata: Their ideas were different from yours, naturally…

Nomura: Yes. They appeared to believe that we would make whatever they wanted us to make and came up with rather specific requests such as, "We'd like the game to feature this character." They were really excited, explaining their ideas... To be honest, though, I wasn't really interested in any of them. (laughs) 

Both: (laughter)

Iwata: You wanted to borrow Disney's characters in order to make a new game that could compete with Mario 64, and you already had a vision of what this game would look like. I suppose their ideas didn't fit in with this vision.

Nomura: They didn't, no. In the end, I actually stopped a presentation halfway through. We didn't have that much time, and it looked like it was all going to get taken up by various Disney presentations. So, I interrupted them and told them the conclusion by saying, "I won't make such games."

Talk about nerves of steel. This man basically said “we do this my way, or we don’t do it at all” TO MOTHERFORKING DISNEY, AND. HE. WON. If there is any human being with enough force of will to make the Mouse House cave in and allow the depiction of an openly LGBTQ+ relationship in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is Tetsuya Nomura.

I cannot say with 100% certainty how things will go. But everything I know about storytelling patterns and narrative structure is telling me that Kingdom Hearts is a textbook Heroine’s Journey with a romance between Sora and Riku at its core. A relationship between the protagonist and the Animus does not truly begin until the “Integration” stage at the end of the Journey, and we are rapidly approaching the point in the narrative where the two leads traditionally become aware of and acknowledge their feelings in order to be on the same page for the finale.

Sources: 

[1] “She-Ra's Noelle Stevenson Tells Us How Difficult It Was to Bring Adora and Catra Home” May 18, 2020

https://io9.gizmodo.com/she-ras-noelle-stevenson-tells-us-how-difficult-it-was-1843419358

[2] “Death of a Dark Youth, Desecration of the Animus”; December 20, 2018. https://www.teampurplelion.com/death-of-a-dark-youth/

[3] Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Square Enix, 2007. 

[4] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[5] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players;” September 24, 2013.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players.

[6] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[7] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/

[8] “Edge Magazine Features Kingdom Hearts III Cover Story”; January 9, 2019. https://www.khinsider.com/news/Edge-Magazine-Features-Kingdom-Hearts-III-Cover-Story-14331

[9] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 2: It’ll definitely be fun”; April 2012. 

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/1

[pomegranates-and-blood]

the new chapter of those who weave rips!! (although i don’t think it’s showing up in the tags jsyk) freydis shines so bright in this chapter and GOSH I love your freydis so, so much. she is so good!

the way she sized up the reader was excellent. i loved that even though ivar never really bothered to know her, freydis knows him very well, and it means something to her that the reader is someone who could love/be loved by ivar. that understanding between them brings such an interesting layer to them becoming sister-wives!

you prob have to be in a fairly sunken place to be befriending the other woman (dissolution of the marriage privately aside), but in the weirdest way, having someone who could understand her was just what she needed, and it hit me to see how much she perked up after they became friends🥺 I also adore how similar freydis is to ivar in her desire to have something to tie her in a tangible way to reader. ✨pretty interesting✨

you did such a great job of developing their relationship in this chapter though, 6k words well-spent imo! watching the reader coax freydis out of her shell was both delightful and satisfying. it was really impressive how strongly you were able to characterize them in just a few scenes, their dynamic is just stellar. I can really see how&why they would love each other and I love them as a result! it was a fantastic chapter that did an amazing job of establishing freydis&the reader, can’t wait for the next chapter to break my heart!!

Omg sweetheart, thank you so much! Idk what you mean about the tags, but I suppose it is just tumblr being tumblr lmao

I'm so glad to hear you like my rendition of Freydis! I tried keeping true to her character and inherent shadiness of her lmao, while kinda making her a bit more vulnerable after these years and all that has happened to her during them

Yeah, Freydis is of course very observant, and since the beginning she kinda figured Ivar out (to me she did from that first moment in canon, and it shows when she meets Ivar again in Kattegat, she says exactly what he wants to hear, and if I ignore Hirst just writing her as a plot device, I can pretend it is because she is smart enough to chameleon her way through life. Problem is, she has a man fall in love with something she kind of isn't, like the whole deal with Narses in Nostalgia. Under the cut I'll post a short thingy that I'm proud of when it comes to my take on Freydis, it's from Her Own, and it’s relevant to that idea of her being loved for something she isn’t), and she knows what it is like to love Ivar and to be loved by him, so she is, much like Aslaug in that little snippet of Hope I shared a while ago, testing the Reader, seeing if she bends or breaks.

It's very fun to write, because Freydis is in a strange limbo, and that only continues throughout the rest of this. She cares about the Reader, and she feels understood by her, she finds herself not so alone now that this woman (that by all accounts she should hate, and maybe in some level she does) came into their lives; but from Freydis' perspective, she is witnessing Ivar be towards the Reader as he was towards her, look at her like he once looked at Freydis, and Freydis doesn't have this lasting and selfless love for Ivar that may make her say 'okay, as long as he's happy'. Hell no, Freydis, to me, is selfish, and that is part of the reason I love her. She was married to a tyrant that burnt people alive, but she didn't bat an eye until he touched something/someone she cared about by taking Baldur from her.

I'm sorry for the rant (I deleted like the length of the previous paragraph's worth of useless Freydis talk my brain just continued to tell me to type out lol), thank you so so much for your kind words! I'm so happy to hear their relationships and their dynamics were well established in this, that is my main goal, since Sight is only the beginning!

You're too kind nonnie, thank you so so much for your support!! Love ya!

“You expect nothing for yourself, but you’ve revealed everything to me.” I have revealed nothing, she wants to scream, you haven’t let me. He continues, “You are all goodness. All truth.”

What makes her heart feel like it is being squeezed tight in his fist is that he looks like he believes what he is saying. She isn’t all goodness and doesn’t want to be, she hasn’t ever told the whole truth.

She wants to yell and scream and demand that he look at her, that he look at her face and see more than the woman he is proud to have made his wife and see the wear all those years of suffering have left etched in the angles and creases; that he look at her body and see more than the vessel for his child and see the scars and the mark of hunger that after months of life as a queen she feels hasn’t left her body.

She wants to be seen, seen as more than fragments of glass put together however he sees fit, seen as more than whatever image of her he sees even when looking directly into her eyes.

But it is better to be wanted like this than to not be wanted at all, she knows that much. And so she smiles, and pretends the tears in her eyes are for him, and tells him what he wants to hear. It wears on her, to see love and feel like she’s seeing it thought the cracks in a wall even when it is looking directly into her eyes, to feel love and see it accepted and embraced as long as she can be what he wants her to.

(It's from Her Own, a one shot I made of an AU where she survives past 5x20 and escapes Kattegat)