#to start of. i think its very interesting how characterisation preferences evolved over the years in terms of writing

[cloudbends]

as life would have it I started wonderful precure today! watched 4 episodes... thoughts in the tags as per usual, so far it feels very fun and fresh in a way I'm enjoying a lot

[lia404]

For the Yu-Gi-Oh Asking Meme thing! :>

What are your opinions on Aoi Zaizen?

Guess who's late with her answers to ask meme! I promise I absolutely did not leave this post drafted for weeks and then forgot to complete and post it and only remembered just today. Nope, not at all. Who even gave you this idea.

OKAY. Maybe it is what happened—that, and also the fact that this is actually the ask that gave me most trouble answering. I would have never expected it to be so hard to write about Aoi! Please don't hate me

Answers under the cut!

----------- And I'm keeping track again here so I stop getting lost in my own blog: The original Ask meme Seto Kaiba Yusaku Fujiki Spectre I still answer for other characters so long as they're from DM or Vrains!

Why I like her/why I don’t

Full disclosure: I started answering the questions from the bottom and am thus concluding with this one. Because, see, this is THE question that gave me most trouble. Why do I like Aoi? For her potential as a character. Why don't I like Aoi? For what we're given of her character in canon. It is so frustrating.

I usually love the trope of the withdrawn girl with a colourful persona, it lends itself to really nice character development in general. So Aoi was off to a good start with me: her IRL personality and its contrast with her Vrains avatar just delighted me. I liked the premise of her awkwardness, and of how wary she was to trust people; it made sense.

But then, she became this strange plot tool, used to develop other characters, or advance the plot in a weird way? And her characterisation became so confusing, with the only remaining traits the most grating ones. Now, all that remains of her in my head is this idea of a girl who is a little too righteous, thinks she can understand things she can't, put herself in harm's way without good backup or good reasoning.

There's a lot that could be taken from this, and there are many readings that could make it make sense. By the power of transformative works, it could even be turned into something really good. I realised as I was answering all these questions that it might be interesting to do some sort of introspective, chara-analysis piece about Aoi, but I'm not sure this is something I could fully dive into. She's just too all over the place, and I'd need weeks to nail what I want to bring out from the pieces we've been given. We'll see what 2025 brings us, I guess.

I promise I want to love Aoi. I love the Aoi in my heart. I just... don't like the one we've been given.

What I like about her appearance

I actually really like Aoi's design! Be it her subdued RL self, or any of her avatars. To me, Aoi's designs make her one of the most emblematic characters of Vrains. I love how cohesive her Vrains avatars are, tying together aspects of her real life self (including her younger self, with the ponytails), with lots of tiny details and patterns that evolve along with her designs (the clover, wings, hearts, and colours!)

But my absolute favourite detail is the fact that her Vrains avatar has eyes the same colour of her step-brother.

This, to me, is a statement from Aoi that even if IRL they don't look alike, Akira and her are brother and sister, even if not fully by blood. While I am not overly fond of the way her characterisation often falls back on the fact that Aoi needs to prove herself to her brother, I still find it very wholesome that she keeps this trait in all her avatars.

Do I prefer her dub names or original names?

I learnt about Skye Zaizen really late, so much so that in fact, I didn't reconcile it with Aoi Zaizen. The same happened with Takeru and Kusanagi, actually. I was genuinely baffled at who we could be talking about. In my defense, I had sort-of forgotten that the tradition of "occidentalising" names was still going, I genuinely thought it had stopped after Naruto. Yes, that's how on top of US-distributed anime I have been in the past 20 years. Woops. For real, though, I don't have anything against Skye Zaizen, if anything it's a nice pun on her name (even if, wrong "Aoi"). As I said, I just can't reconcile that name with Aoi Zaizen.

Long story short, I prefer the original name because that's the one I'm used to.

OTP

Noooo this is SO difficult ;-; The thing is, it's really hard for me to think of a romantic ship for Aoi, because I can't headcanon her as anything but aromantic. That said, there is a lot of potential with so many characters. I already mentioned I like Blueghostshipping a lot, and I also like the average Zinniashipping, it writes itself with canon. Angelmakershipping is nice too (even if this ship name is really weird to me, Angelmaker in my language is something very different), because the awkward interactions between Yusaku and Aoi could lead to very interesting dynamics as they develop a relationship.

BUT if I may, and please don't cringe too fast: my OTP might be Altarshipping. I'm seeing this as purely platonic, but in a nice, two-ways relationship in which Aoi learns from Ema, and Ema learns from Aoi. Just let them be roommates and drive Akira crazy. They can have cats, too. Or dragonflies.

NOTP

*whine in why-are-these-questions-so-hard* Any romantic relationship? I just can't see it.

OT3

I... frankly have no idea. I swear I really tried to think of one, but nothing seems to work. I'm so sorry.

Favourite card she uses

HER ENTIRE TRICKSTAR DECK. I love the Trickstars so, so, SO much. Listen, even back in 2004 my favourite way to deal damages was from card effects. Watching Blue Angel's first duel was like a dream come true. Her cards are so cute. The effect damage is so delicious.

And you want me to choose only one? Really? Then I'll go with the one I like most having on my field, because it's so adorable (and a bit mean <3)

Not only it allows for a nice combo when summoning it, but the 200 damage for each card added to the opponent's hand is just a delight.

That said, if we're talking pure visual design, I'm going to be very un-original.

Holly Angel is just so good. She fits Blue Angel so well. The whip, the hearts, the flowers, this card is so pretty. I want to have it IRL so much. I don't even have a deck to play it, but it's just so beautiful. She's the perfect fairytale-themed idol and I love her. I am very normal about Holly Angel.

Favourite moment she was in

I think it might be her duel against Baira? Maybe I was just very happy to see Aoi win ;_; It's nice to see a full duel with her deck, and I also really like Baira, so the interactions were enjoyable (or at least, the potential of them.)

Least favourite moment

I'll start with every moment when she acts as if she "understood everything" without realising she's probably projecting, not questioning the situation well, and overall being "that character who's here to allow the characterisation of others to shine". I covered it partially in my answer for Yusaku and Spectre, already.

Another moment I really dislike is when she duels Soulburner. It just doesn't make sense for her to get this nice evolution into Blue Gal, only to fall back into a situation of "I must do this for SOL and my brother". Even Ghost Girl finds it unreasonable. It just makes me sad.

And finally, her evolution into Blue Maiden. This one is a me-problem, I just really liked Blue Girl and her incredible potential, and seeing Aoi going again through a pattern of "this is my true me!" while falling back into what people expect her to be... I have a personal beef against Blue Maiden. Why did they do this to you ;_;

Would I fuck, marry or kill her

By elimination, I would neither kill nor fuck, so that leaves marry. Honestly, that would be a fun marriage between two very unbalanced girls. I could see it as a "wedding between roommates for pure practical reasons." We would most likely kill all party mood ever. Be the Jane to my Daria, Aoi. (Seriously though I'm already happily married, someone else take care of Aoi she deserves it.)

[the-desolated-quill]

Nightmare In Silver - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Neil Gaiman writing a Cyberman story? What could possibly go wrong?

...

Fucking EVERYTHING!

I... You... Wha... What the hell happened?! This came from the same guy that wrote The Doctor’s Wife, Coraline, The Sandman and American Gods? This piece of shit came from him?... THIS?!?!

Look, the Cybermen are very precious to me. They’re my all time favourite Who baddies due to their timeless themes and limitless potential. Which is why it breaks my heart whenever I see them mistreated like this. I mean... Jesus Christ!

Nightmare In Silver picks up where The Crimson Horror left off with those two kids blackmailing Clara into getting a free ride in the TARDIS (yeah, that didn’t make sense in and of itself. The girl Angie says she’ll tell her dad that Clara is a time traveller, but what are the chances of her dad actually believing her? Come off it!). Normally I despise children (both in real life and in fiction) and this episode very handily reminds me of all the reasons why. God I hate these brats! The little boy (Arty I think his name was) is this big wooden dork and Angie is quite possibly the most spoilt, arrogant, ungrateful little shit I think I’ve ever seen. She’s travelled to another planet in a spaceship that’s bigger on the inside, and what’s her reaction? ‘Oh this is so boooooooring! Oh Clara you’re so stupid! You always spoil everything! I want to go home!’ Oh go fuck yourself, you moaning little bastard! What’s worse is that these kids don’t actually play any sort of role other than needing to be rescued. You know characterisation has gone seriously wrong when their personalities are actually improved by Cyberfication.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the new Cybermen. While I do prefer the RTD Cybermen in terms of design, these new ones are quite cool. More robotic looking this time around and I’m fascinated by the suggestion that at this point in their history they’re less cyborgs and more biomechanical, converting flesh directly into metal. It’s been a running thing that each new Cyber design in the series represents another advancement in their evolution, and this feels like a very logical leap to me. I also really like the Cybermites. Much prefer them to the Cybermats, which I’ve never liked. What I really don’t like however are the superpowers. My jaw hit the floor when that Cyberman started running at super speed like the Bionic Man, not just because the effect looks like shit and there’s no way Angie would have survived being hit with such speed and velocity, but because it’s a leap too far. Same goes for Cyber body parts detaching and operating by themselves, as well as Cybermen being immune to lasers and upgrading themselves so that they can’t be electrocuted. They’ve effectively become an army of Cyber-Supermans. They can just do anything now. They’re way too overpowered to the point where it all starts to become laughably absurd, and because we no longer know what their limitations are, they become more vague as a threat, and therefore more dull. (Also how come the Cybermen never use their super speed ever again? That ability could have come in useful multiple times).

Actually I tell a lie. They do bring back one limitation from the classic series. It’s... hmph... their weakness against gold.

For those of you who don’t know, in the classic series they introduced the idiotic and nonsensical idea that the Cybermen were vulnerable to gold because it’s a non-corrosive substance that can clog up their breathing apparatus and suffocate them. First of all, since when did Cybermen need to breathe? Second, what does being non-corrosive got to do with clogging up anything? And third, why specifically gold? Couldn’t you clog up their breathing apparatus with something else? Like water for instance? And it just got worse and worse when it developed from gold suffocating them to gold just affecting them in general. Despite being bulletproof, apparently you can kill a Cyberman with golden arrows. Rubbing Adric’s gold badge on the Cyberleader’s chest plate in Earthshock was enough to hinder it, and there was one really low moment in Silver Nemesis where the Cybermen were destroyed by Ace using some gold coins and a slingshot. It’s quite possibly the most embarrassing aspect of Cyber lore and it makes me cringe whenever I think about it, so you can probably imagine my relief when the Cybermen first arrived in New Who back in 2006 and there wasn’t a single mention of gold anywhere.

Now imagine my horror and disappointment when the Doctor is able to briefly incapacitate the Cyber-Planner inside his head by slapping a golden ticket on his face. And somehow Gaiman managed to make it even worse by implying that cleaning fluid can have the same effect. Yes. Cleaning fluid. So the Cybermen are an unstoppable force that will not rest until they’ve hunted you down and converted you, and you should be very afraid of them... unless you’ve got a bottle of Toilet Duck to hand, in which case you’re basically fine.

Yes the Cyber-Planner makes its first appearance since The Invasion way back in the 1960s. It’s no longer a brain inside a giant metal apparatus however. It’s now a Cyber hive mind/network that assimilates other beings into its consciousness, mostly children in order to use their imaginations for military strategies. Until it catches sight of the Doctor that is and tries to assimilate him. Which leads to quite possibly the worst thing about this episode. Mr. Clever. 

The Doctor being cyber-converted could be legitimately frightening, seeing this manic, warm hearted adventurer become a cold, calculating menace. Unfortunately that’s not what we end up getting. Instead we end up getting more of Matt Smith’s goofy bollocks. Mr. Clever (ugh) is just too emotional. He’s not his own character. He’s just the Doctor but evil. What’s even weirder is that the Cyber-Planner talks about how emotions are useless and that everyone is better off without them whilst it’s displaying emotion. It’s really inconsistent. I was astounded by the number of critics at the time praising Matt Smith for his performance because I honestly thought it was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Watching him yelling and gurning his lines like an insecure pantomime villain was just embarrassing, and it shows a complete lack of understanding of who the Cybermen are (and I don’t just mean the whole emotions thing). As I’ve said numerous times in the past, the Cybermen aren’t evil like the Daleks. They’re altruistic foes. They honestly believe what they’re doing is helping us. That’s what makes them so frightening. By making the Cyber-Planner the default cackling baddie who’s evil just because, it makes the Cybermen less interesting and, as a result, less scary.

Speaking of actors giving bad performances, Jenna Coleman, I know you’ve been lumbered with a really shit character, but can you at least try to deliver your lines in a manner that isn’t smug or smarmy. Every single line has this air of snugness about it, which is irritating in and of itself, but there are occasions where it becomes really inappropriate. There are Cybermen about to breach the comical castle and the kids are in danger, and yet Clara is wandering around without a care in the world. Um Clara, shouldn’t you be panicking? Just a little? And there’s one really shocking moment where one of the soldiers informs her that someone has died, and Clara doesn’t even so much as react. In fact she’s surprisingly glib about the whole thing. I don’t know if it’s bad acting or bad directing. All I know is somebody fucked up. (Also I could have done without the bit at the end where the Doctor describes Clara as a mystery inside an enigma wrapped in a skirt that’s a bit too tight. Just... ew).

Beyond that, there isn’t really a whole lot to discuss. The theme park setting is nice, but we don’t really get to explore much of it. Jason Watkins is always good in everything he’s in, but he’s barely in this before he gets converted and is left to stand silently in the background with the kids. In fact the whole thing feels really rushed and under-developed. The punishment squad could have been interesting to explore, particularly in the context of the setting. It’s 1000 years after the Cyber Wars. The Cybermen have become the equivalent of mythological bogeymen, and now this rag tag group of failures and rejects are about to come face to face with their worst fear. The return of the long thought extinct Cybermen, now more powerful than ever. Think of the drama you could wring out of that. Instead they barely get a look in. They’re just a bunch of nameless redshirts that we don’t give a shit about. Same goes for Porridge. Warrick Davis gives a decent performance, but his character just isn’t very well developed. You could have expanded his character greatly. Given him a whole arc with him coming to terms with the horrible decisions he made in order to end the Cyber Wars (wait. He’s over a 1000 years old? Well I suppose if Liz 10 can survive well past 300 years in The Beast Below, I guess it’s possible) and finally reaccepting his position as Emperor. Instead it just feels like he’s going through the motions. He never actually changes or evolves. He just returns to being Emperor because... the script said so.

Nightmare In Silver is bad. Like Revenge Of The Cybermen/Silver Nemesis bad. The plot is weak, the characters are under-developed, the kids are annoying, the Doctor and Clara are still just as obnoxious as ever, and they completely botch the Cybermen. I pity anyone who tries to write a Cyberman story in the future after this disaster.