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aboveallarescuer · 4 years

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Daenerys Targaryen in A Storm of Swords vs Game of Thrones - Episode 4.1: Two Swords

In this series of posts, I intend to analyze precisely how the show writers downplayed or erased several key aspects of Daenerys Targaryen’s characterization, even when they had the books to help them write her as the compelling, intelligent, compassionate, frugal, open-minded and self-critical character that GRRM created.

I want to make it clear that these posts are not primarily meant to offer a better alternative to what the show writers gave us. I understand that they had many constraints (e.g. other storylines to handle, a limited amount of time to write the scripts, budget, actors who may have asked for a certain number of lines, etc) working against them. However, considering how disrespectful the show’s ending was to Daenerys Targaryen and how the book material that they left out makes it even more ludicrous to think that she will also become a villain in A Song of Ice and Fire, I believe that these reviews are more than warranted. They are meant to dissect everything about Dany’s characterization that was lost in translation, with a lot of book evidence to corroborate my statements.

Since these reviews will dissect scene by scene, I recommend taking a look at this post because I will use its sequence to order Dany’s scenes.

This post is relevant in case you want to know which chapters were adapted in which GoT episodes (however, I didn’t make the list myself, all the information comes from the GoT Wiki, so I can’t guarantee that it’s 100% reliable).

In general, I will call the Dany from the books “Dany” and the Dany from the TV series “show!Dany”.

Scene 1

While seeing show!Dany with her dragons is always enjoyable on its own, I have some problems with this moment. The first is that we'll begin season four with show!Dany worrying about her dragons' behavior here and, later, end it with her locking two of her dragons away. These scenes don't focus as much on show!Dany herself as they focus on her relationship with her dragons, which I think is quite a problem in comparison to how ASOS and ADWD (which will be the book that the writers will adapt starting from episode 4.6) begin and end:

Dany begins ASOS hopeful and happy that she's finally going to Westeros. She ends the book disillusioned because her efforts to help the former slaves didn't pay off like she expected, so she calls off her dreams of home in order to stay and fulfill (what she thinks is) her moral duty as queen.

Dany begins ADWD distraught because she's still dealing with the nobility's backlash and retaliation against her authority even now that she has tried to be conciliatory and rule in peace. She ends the book a) disabused of the notion that peace is possible and b) directing her eyes to Westeros again.

As we can see, these two books begin and end displaying Dany's multiple dilemmas: home vs duty, other people vs herself, peace vs war, conciliation vs use of force and so on.

In the show, while her last scene in the season four finale at least highlights her compassion towards her people, I'd argue it still mainly focuses on her relationship with her dragons (which is only one of many issues that Dany deals with in the books) rather than on grappling with the questions above in a way that centers primarily on show!Dany herself, like the books do with Dany.

My second problem is that having show!Dany be concerned about her dragons' behavior that much earlier than in the books poses another problem:

In ADWD, Dany ultimately failed in protecting her human children during her tenure because she chose peace with the slavers and was, therefore, detached from her dragon children, from her Targaryen heritage and from her identity as the Mother of Dragons. By meeting Drogon again, getting in touch with who she was and choosing fire and blood (war), she will be able to protect her people again and be a better mhysa. Ultimately, mother of dragons and mhysa are complementary parts of who Dany is.

In the show, however, the dragons begin to seem troublesome before we get to Meereen, before show!Dany begins to rule and before the issue of peace vs war becomes a major dilemma for her. This happened for two reasons: a) D&D are bad writers who dismiss themes as only being necessary for eighth-grade book reports (here, I imagine they probably just wanted to add more shock value to show!Dany's plotline) and b) D&D think that peace = good (even if it privileges a status quo that normalizes slavery) and war = bad, so killing slavers = bad, dragons = bad and continuing on with an anti-slavery revolution = bad (failure to understand reason 1 of why Dany's storyline matters).

My third problem is that, in the books, it's clear that what really upsets Dany is not that the dragons are eating goats, but rather that, as they grow and become more independent, the chances of her dragons a) hurting other people or b) running away increase:

“They have been wild while you were gone, Khaleesi,” Irri told her. “Viserion clawed splinters from the door, do you see? And Drogon made to escape when the slaver men came to see them. When I grabbed his tail to hold him back, he turned and bit me.” She showed Dany the marks of his teeth on her hand.

“Did any of them try to burn their way free?” That was the thing that frightened Dany the most.

“No, Khaleesi. Drogon breathed his fire, but in the empty air. The slaver men feared to come near him.”

She kissed Irri’s hand where Drogon had bitten it. “I’m sorry he hurt you. Dragons are not meant to be locked up in a small ship’s cabin.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

There was no sign of Viserion, but when she went to the parapet and scanned the horizon she saw pale wings in the far distance, sweeping above the river. He is hunting. They grow bolder every day. Yet it still made her anxious when they flew too far away. One day one of them may not return, she thought. (ASOS Daenerys VI)

Her dragons were growing wild of late. Rhaegal had snapped at Irri, and Viserion had set Reznak’s tokar ablaze the last time the seneschal had called. I have left them too much to themselves, but where am I to find the time for them? (ADWD Daenerys I)

If I look back, I am doomed, Dany told herself … but how could she not look back? I should have seen it coming. Was I so blind, or did I close my eyes willfully, so I would not have to see the price of power?

[...] At Astapor the slaver's eyes had melted. On the road to Yunkai, when Daario tossed the heads of Sallor the Bald and Prendahl na Ghezn at her feet, her children made a feast of them. Dragons had no fear of men. And a dragon large enough to gorge on sheep could take a child just as easily. (ADWD Daenerys II)

Before what happened to Hazzea, she was okay with the fact that they were hunting and devouring sheep:

Viserion sensed her disquiet. [...] “You should be hunting with your brothers. Have you and Drogon been fighting again?” (ADWD Daenerys I)

Her dragons had grown too large to be content with rats and cats and dogs. The more they eat, the larger they will grow, Ser Barristan had warned her, and the larger they grow, the more they’ll eat. Drogon especially ranged far afield and could easily devour a sheep a day. (ADWD Daenerys I)

Basically, this is my way of saying that, if they needed to have a scene where show!Dany is uneasy about what the dragons were doing, they should've shown them almost harming one of the people in her retinue or something along those lines (rather than being shocked at seeing them hunt and eat), for that would showcase her empathy like in the books.

My fourth problem with this scene is that we see part of it from show!Jorah's point of view:

JORAH: They’re dragons, Khaleesi. They can never be tamed. Not even by their mother.

In the show, he gets the first line of show!Dany's season four storyline, he gets to be anxious about the dragons before show!Dany is (which undermines how reflective she is in the books) and he is the one who warns her of their wildness when, in the books, she is aware of it without anyone having to tell her. It's another subtle way of undermining show!Dany's agency in comparison to her book counterpart, unfortunately.

My fifth and final problem is that, well, this scene was written by the same people who thought that it was necessary to have show!Dany's dragons taken from her in season two (which never happened in ACOK) and show her going "back to being a really frightened little girl" because she is "so defined" by them. It's the opposite in the books: the dragons only turned into weapons to fight against slavery because of her choices. So, with that in mind, I don't like how they made them so important in her first and last scenes of the season when they never were in the books. And all of this conflict feels superfluous in retrospect, when one remembers that show!Dany doesn't struggle to control them in the last three seasons at all.

DAENERYS: Ser Barristan.

BARRISTAN: Your Grace.

DAENERYS: Where’s Daario Naharis? Where’s Grey Worm?

BARRISTAN: Gambling, Your Grace.

DAENERYS: Gambling?

I have problems with how show!Barristan and show!Dany are being portrayed here because it feels like the show writers switched their characterizations when we consider what we know of them in the books.

First, why is show!Barristan holding his laughter about this situation? In the books, Barristan clearly dislikes Daario and his influence on Dany:

On the day that he returned from his latest sortie, he had tossed the head of a Yunkish lord at her feet and kissed her in the hall for all the world to see, until Barristan Selmy pulled the two of them apart. Ser Grandfather had been so wroth that Dany feared blood might be shed. (ADWD Daenerys VII)

“This is your gift? A scrap of writing?” Daario snatched the parchment out of the Dornishman’s hands and unrolled it, squinting at the seals and signatures. “Very pretty, all the gold and ribbons, but I do not read your Westerosi scratchings.”

“Bring it to the queen,” Ser Barristan commanded. “Now.” (ADWD Daenerys VII)

“...Poor Daario, her brave captain … she will never forget him, no … but better for all of us if he is dead, yes? Better for Daenerys too.”

Better for Daenerys, and for Westeros. Daenerys Targaryen loved her captain, but that was the girl in her, not the queen. [...]

Her love for Daario is poison. A slower poison than the locusts, but in the end as deadly. (ADWD The Kingbreaker)

Now, Barristan is a product of his misogynistic society and I do think he's wrong for thinking (in the last quote above) that Dany's love for Daario is a sign of immaturity, but my point here is that he wouldn't be laughing about something that Daario was doing behind Dany's back; in fact, he would've most likely informed her as soon as he learned about it because he respects her authority.

Additionally, he's known for lacking a sense of humor and not being relaxed, which makes this scene even more OOC for him:

The old knight was a good man, but sometimes very literal. It was only a jape, ser, she thought, but she sat on one of the pillows just the same. (ADWD Daenerys II)

“She needs a spear,” Ser Barristan said, as Barsena vaulted over the beast’s second charge. “That is no way to fight a boar.” He sounded like someone’s fussy old grandsire, just as Daario was always saying. (ADWD Daenerys IX)

Second, why is show!Dany being portrayed as the uptight one here? In the chapter that they are drawing from, there are several moments displaying her carefree side:

“Five, were there? Well, that’s a confusion. I could not give you a number, my queen. This old Plumm was a lord, though, must have been a famous fellow in his day, the talk of all the land. The thing was, begging your royal pardon, he had himself a cock six foot long.”

The three bells in Dany’s braid tinkled when she laughed. “You mean inches, I think.”

“Feet,” Brown Ben said firmly. “If it was inches, who’d want to talk about it, now? Your Grace.”

Dany giggled like a little girl. (ASOS Daenerys V)

He tried to spare me the sight of the dead children too. He should not have done that, but he meant it kindly. And Daario Naharis made her laugh, which Ser Jorah never did. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Besides admiring Daario's sense of humor and swagger, Dany also appreciates that she can let go of the burdens of queenship (and luxury) and be more spontaneous and frugal when she's with him:

In Meereen I was a queen in silk, nibbling on stuffed dates and honeyed lamb, she remembered. What would my noble husband think if he could see me now? Hizdahr would be horrified, no doubt. But Daario ...

Daario would laugh, carve off a hunk of horsemeat with his arakh, and squat down to eat beside her. (ADWD Daenerys X)

Unfortunately, the show never allows any of those aspects of Dany's characterization to come across onscreen because the writers wanted show!Dany to appear very stoic, which we know because Emilia's said in an interview that they wanted her to "sit up straight and don't smile, you're not funny", which is quite a shame; not only the writers would've been more faithful to the books by allowing her to smile and laugh and enjoy herself, it would've made show!Dany more endearing.

Ultimately, I think the change in these characters comes down to a) D&D not really understanding any of the characters of the books and b) their sexist assumptions that men are funnier than women and that powerful women are all ice queens.

I also need to talk about how show!Dany's connection to the Dothraki, the Unsullied and the freedmen is being undermined onscreen in comparison to what we get solely from ASOS Daenerys V.

In the show, the Dothraki only appear briefly in the background of this episode to never be seen again through the rest of season four and the entirety of season five.

In ASOS Daenerys V, we see how Dany's time with the Dothraki influenced her when she judges the slavers' reaction to her army or assesses the way that Oznak fights:

They are pissing on slaves, to show how little they fear us, she thought. They would never dare such a thing if it were a Dothraki khalasar outside their gates. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Oznak zo Pahl charged a third time, and now Dany could see plainly that he was riding past Belwas, the way a Westerosi knight might ride at an opponent in a tilt, rather than at him, like a Dothraki riding down a foe. (ASOS Daenerys V)

We also see her interacting with her khalasar and considering that her bloodriders a) are too important to send to fight against Oznak and b) aren't the most adequate men to send to Meereen's sewers:

Her bloodriders were in such a fever to go meet him that they almost came to blows. “Blood of my blood,” Dany told them, “your place is here by me. This man is a buzzing fly, no more. Ignore him, he will soon be gone.” Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo were brave warriors, but they were young, and too valuable to risk. They kept her khalasar together, and were her best scouts too. (ASOS Daenerys V)

“When cowards hide behind great walls, it is they who are defeated, Khaleesi,” Ko Jhogo said.

Her other bloodriders concurred. “Blood of my blood,” said Rakharo, “when cowards hide and burn the food and fodder, great khals must seek for braver foes. This is known.”

“It is known,” Jhiqui agreed, as she poured.

“Not to me.” (ASOS Daenerys V)

“These sewers do not sound promising.” Grey Worm would lead his Unsullied down the sewers if she commanded it, she knew; her bloodriders would do no less. But none of them was suited to the task. The Dothraki were horsemen, and the strength of the Unsullied was their discipline on the battlefield. Can I send men to die in the dark on such a slender hope? (ASOS Daenerys V)

So, despite not getting enough characterization to be set apart as their own individuals because of GRRM's racism, the Dothraki people's influence on Dany's decision-making is still clear. Unfortunately, this is completely absent from the show.

On HBO, when show!Dany passes by the Unsullied, they are shown standing still in silent ranks for no reason while their commander show!Grey Worm is on a contest against show!Daario because the writers wanted it to happen, even though it doesn't gel with his characterization (more on that later).

In ASOS Daenerys V, when Dany passes by the Unsullied, a) they are shown separated in groups that are either training (along with Grey Worm) or bathing and b) we get information on their hygiene practices:

As they rode past the stakes and pits that surrounded the eunuch encampment, Dany could hear Grey Worm and his sergeants running one company through a series of drills with shield, shortsword, and heavy spear. Another company was bathing in the sea, clad only in white linen breechclouts. The eunuchs were very clean, she had noticed. Some of her sellswords smelled as if they had not washed or changed their clothes since her father lost the Iron Throne, but the Unsullied bathed each evening, even if they’d marched all day. When no water was available they cleansed themselves with sand, the Dothraki way. (ASOS Daenerys V)

It's lovely to see Dany returning the Unsullied's greeting, which is another example of how she (relatively speaking) sees lowborn people as equals to her:

The eunuchs knelt as she passed, raising clenched fists to their breasts. Dany returned the salute. (ASOS Daenerys V)

We also get to see the Unsullied cheer for Belwas after he won his duel:

The besiegers gave him a raucous welcome as soon as he reached the camp. Her Dothraki hooted and screamed, and the Unsullied sent up a great clangor by banging their spears against their shields. (ASOS Daenerys V)

We get to see Grey Worm openly objecting to Daario's suggestion that the Unsullied are immune to the boiling oil that the slavers would probably throw at them if they tried to storm the gates. While he and the Unsullied would still do this if Dany had given them the command, this is a subtle sign of his character development because it displays that, unlike with the slave masters, he's at least now able to speak out about the risks that he and his men would face:

“...We can storm the gates with axes, to be sure, but ...”

“Did you see them bronze heads above the gates?” asked Brown Ben Plumm. “Rows of harpy heads with open mouths? The Meereenese can squirt boiling oil out them mouths, and cook your axemen where they stand.”

Daario Naharis gave Grey Worm a smile. “Perhaps the Unsullied should wield the axes. Boiling oil feels like no more than a warm bath to you, I have heard.”

“This is false.” Grey Worm did not return the smile. “These ones do not feel burns as men do, yet such oil blinds and kills. The Unsullied do not fear to die, though. Give these ones rams, and we will batter down these gates or die in the attempt.” (ASOS Daenerys V)

And then, we see Dany deciding not to endanger the Unsullied's lives (similar to how she sought to prevent too many former slaves of Astapor from dying in the battle of Yunkai), which highlights both her compassion and her intelligence (since she shows knowledge of the Unsullied's particular strengths to conclude that they shouldn't be sent to the sewers):

Dany sighed. “I will not throw away Unsullied lives, Grey Worm. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Sadly, the show ignores all of this.

On HBO, show!Dany walked past the freedmen on her way to meet show!Daario.

In ASOS Daenerys V, Dany chose to go meet the freedmen because she didn't want to spend time distracted by her feelings for Daario:

“Missandei,” she called, “have my silver saddled. Your own mount as well.”

The little scribe bowed. “As Your Grace commands. Shall I summon your bloodriders to guard you?”

“We’ll take Arstan. I do not mean to leave the camps.” She had no enemies among her children. (ASOS Daenerys V)

We learn that the fighting men were provided with weapons from the other two cities and were now being trained (though not at the particular moment that she chose to meet them):

South of the ordered realm of stakes, pits, drills, and bathing eunuchs lay the encampments of her freedmen, a far noisier and more chaotic place. Dany had armed the former slaves as best she could with weapons from Astapor and Yunkai, and Ser Jorah had organized the fighting men into four strong companies, yet she saw no one drilling here. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Besides the fighting men, we also get information on children and women:

They passed a driftwood fire where a hundred people had gathered to roast the carcass of a horse. She could smell the meat and hear the fat sizzling as the spit boys turned, but the sight only made her frown.

Children ran behind their horses, skipping and laughing. [...]

Dany had stopped to speak to a pregnant woman who wanted the Mother of Dragons to name her baby[.] (ASOS Daenerys V)

Then, there's also how the freedmen perceive and act around Dany:

Some of the freedmen greeted her as “Mother,” while others begged for boons or favors. Some prayed for strange gods to bless her, and some asked her to bless them instead. She smiled at them, turning right and left, touching their hands when they raised them, letting those who knelt reach up to touch her stirrup or her leg. Many of the freedmen believed there was good fortune in her touch. If it helps give them courage, let them touch me, she thought. There are hard trials yet ahead ... (ASOS Daenerys V)

Instead of believing that she has a "glorious destiny" (like the show writers put it), Dany's actual thoughts display that she only allows the freedmen to revere her because it helps them to feel safe; this is another sign of her empathy, not of her self-gratification or entitlement as many often think.

Finally, the chapter shows the freedmen killing a man for Dany:

Mero went sprawling, blood bubbling from his mouth as the waves washed over him. A moment later the freedmen washed over him too, knives and stones and angry fists rising and falling in a frenzy. (ASOS Daenerys V)

In the books, the former captain of the Second Sons, Mero, hid among the freedmen and bided his time to kill Dany out of revenge for having been deceived by her in Yunkai. Barristan defended her and defeated Mero with a stick, which then led to the freedmen ultimately killing him for their mhysa (and to Barristan's identity and Jorah's treason being revealed).

On HBO, because a) show!Barristan's identity was revealed right away and b) show!Mero was killed by show!Daario (who is part of the Second Sons onscreen rather than the Stormcrows onpage), this scene never happened, making this another example of Dany's connection with the freedmen being undermined from books to show.

If the writers really cared about "the people who may be suffering the repercussions of the decisions made by those heroic people" (which was their justification for leaving show!Dany out of the picture in the second half of the episode where they had her decide to kill thousands of innocents out of nowhere), they would've shown the (already limited) interactions between Dany and her khalasar, the Unsullied and the freedmen at the very least. In fact, if the writers really cared about them, they could've gone further and explored characters that GRRM himself didn't:

“Nine, the noble Reznak said. Who else?”

“Three freedmen, murdered in their homes,” the Shavepate said. “A moneylender, a cobbler, and the harpist Rylona Rhee. They cut her fingers off before they killed her.” The queen flinched. Rylona Rhee had played the harp as sweetly as the Maiden. When she had been a slave in Yunkai, she had played for every highborn family in the city. In Meereen she had become a leader amongst the Yunkish freedmen, their voice in Dany’s councils. (ADWD Daenerys II)

Rylona Rhee was a character whose existence we only learned about in ADWD, after she was already killed by the Harpy's Sons. As the quote shows, though, she represented the Yunkish freedmen's interests in Dany's court and had a lot of potential as a character that GRRM didn't tap into. The show could've easily improved this... Think about it: if Rylona was among the Yunkish freedmen, this means that she met Dany at the end of ASOS Daenerys IV (which, in the show, was episode 3.10). From that point until ADWD Daenerys II, the entirety of season four and the beginning of season five went by (this happened because the show writers reaaaallly stretched out the events of ASOS Daenerys V and VI and parts of ADWD Daenerys I and II). This span of time would've been the perfect opportunity to introduce Rylona's character, flesh her out and give us more information about the freedmen.

Now, the show writers would've never done something like this, of course; they only cared about the lowborn people's deaths and the shock value that would come with them, not about their motivations and lives in general.

DAENERYS: How long have they been at it?

MISSANDEI: Since midnight, Your Grace.

DAARIO: Ser Worm is stronger than he looks. But I can see his arms beginning to shake.

DAENERYS: What’s the prize to winning this stupid contest?

DAARIO: The honour of riding by your side on the road to Meereen.

DAENERYS: That honour goes to Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan, as neither of them kept me waiting this morning. You two will ride in the rear guard and protect the livestock. The last man holding his sword can find a new queen to fight for.

I already talked about my first issue with the scene, which is that it portrays show!Dany as rigid and strict while it ignores that her book counterpart is allowed to be playful and not take herself seriously in several moments in the books, including in this chapter (see above).

My second problem with it is that ... why would either show!Grey Worm or show!Daario think that this contest would give one of them "the honour of riding by [show!Dany's] side on the road to Meereen"? Did they forget that this choice is show!Dany's to make? Did they forget that she is their leader? By comparison, this is what Grey Worm says when Hizdahr tries to give him orders after Dany departs Meereen:

Hizdahr’s blunder with Grey Worm had cost him the Unsullied. When His Grace had tried to put them under the command of a cousin, as he had the Brazen Beasts, Grey Worm had informed the king that they were free men who took commands only from their mother. (ADWD The Queensguard)

Considering that Grey Worm only respects his queen's authority in the books, I doubt that he would've accepted to join this contest because he would know that its "prize" is worthless to begin with. Same goes for Daario. Unfortunately, this goes in line with how the (sexist) writers of this show have show!Dany's men make decisions among themselves and forget that show!Dany is their liege (another example: show!Barristan asking show!Jorah (rather than show!Dany) to take part in the battle of Yunkai), which is something that would've been fixed by simply paying more attention to the books. Unfortunately, this will only get worse as time goes on.

DAARIO: You like this girl? Must be frustrating.

GREY WORM: You are not a smart man, Daario Naharis.

DAARIO: I’d rather have no brains and two balls.

I'm fine with the show introducing a romantic relationship between show!Grey Worm and show!Missandei (which doesn't happen in the books because Missandei is 10-11), but it bothers me that the writers thought that the very first scene suggesting that show!Grey Worm has feelings for show!Missandei should feature show!Daario making an eunuch joke. Not that this would've been better if it weren't the first scene hinting at MissWorm, of course, it's needlessly offensive regardless and, while GRRM isn't immune to stuff like this either, it's true that this doesn't even happen in the books to begin with.

Scene 2

DAENERYS: Have you ever been to Meereen?

MISSANDEI: Several times, Your Grace, with Master Kraznys.

DAENERYS: And?

MISSANDEI: They say a thousand slaves died building the Great Pyramid of Meereen.

DAENERYS: And now an army of former slaves is marching to her gates. You think the Great Masters are worried?

MISSANDEI: If they’re smart, Your Grace.

This detail about a thousand slaves having died while they built the Great Pyramid of Meereen is a show only invention.

Show!Missandei telling show!Dany that the Great Masters should be worried about the latter's army if they are smart is also a show only invention (which leaves a really bad taste in my mouth in retrospect, since this original bit of dialogue most likely stems from their impression that show!Dany is "becoming more and more viable as a threat" based on her campaign in Slaver's Bay, which will also inform why, six years later, they'll think that it's okay to say that show!Dany's actions in King's Landing were foreshadowed by her "willingness to go forth and conquer all [her] enemies"; failure to understand reasons 1 and 2 of why Dany's storyline matters).

It makes no sense that the writers felt the need to add original lines when we could've had what ASOS Daenerys V actually gave us:

When she looked over one shoulder, there it stood, the afternoon sun blazing off the bronze harpy atop the Great Pyramid. Inside Meereen the slavers would soon be reclining in their fringed tokars to feast on lamb and olives, unborn puppies, honeyed dormice and other such delicacies, whilst outside her children went hungry. A sudden wild anger filled her. I will bring you down, she swore. (ASOS Daenerys V)

As the quote above shows, Dany's discomfort with the Meereenese slavers' privileges and traditions stems from the fact that they only have these things to begin with because they've maintained and benefitted from the slave trade for centuries. That's why she no longer enjoys eating puppies:

“...We give each boy a puppy on the day that he is cut. At the end of the first year, he is required to strangle it. Any who cannot are killed, and fed to the surviving dogs.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

“Good dog in Astapor, little queen. Eat?” He offered it with a greasy grin.

“That is kind of you, Belwas, but no.” Dany had eaten dog in other places, at other times, but just now all she could think of was the Unsullied and their stupid puppies. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Or why she asked Jhogo not to use the whip inside Astapor:

He stopped before a thickset man who had the look of Lhazar about him and brought his whip up sharply, laying a line of blood across one copper cheek. The eunuch blinked, and stood there, bleeding. “Would you like another?” asked Kraznys.

“If it please your worship.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

“Make way for the Mother of Dragons!” But when he uncoiled the great silverhandled whip that Dany had given him, and made to crack it in the air, she leaned out and told him nay. “Not in this place, blood of my blood,” she said, in his own tongue. “These bricks have heard too much of the sound of whips.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Or why she considered banning the tokar, though she ultimately kept it in an attempt to help to make peace with the slavers:

Walking in a tokar demanded small, mincing steps and exquisite balance, lest one tread upon those heavy trailing fringes. It was not a garment meant for any man who had to work. The tokar was a master’s garment, a sign of wealth and power.

Dany had wanted to ban the tokar when she took Meereen, but her advisors had convinced her otherwise. “The Mother of Dragons must don the tokar or be forever hated,” warned the Green Grace, Galazza Galare. “In the wools of Westeros or a gown of Myrish lace, Your Radiance shall forever remain a stranger amongst us, a grotesque outlander, a barbarian conqueror. Meereen’s queen must be a lady of Old Ghis.” Brown Ben Plumm, the captain of the Second Sons, had put it more succinctly. “Man wants to be the king o’ the rabbits, he best wear a pair o’ floppy ears.” (ADWD Daenerys I)

Or why she was intent on keeping the fighting pits closed:

“Ask her if she wishes to view our fighting pits,” Kraznys added. “Douquor’s Pit has a fine folly scheduled for the evening. A bear and three small boys. One boy will be rolled in honey, one in blood, and one in rotting fish, and she may wager on which the bear will eat first.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

“Why?” she demanded, when Ithoke had finished. “You are no longer slaves, doomed to die at a master’s whim. I freed you. Why should you wish to end your lives upon the scarlet sands?” (ADWD Daenerys II)

Or, finally, why she chose to replace the previous throne for an ebony bench:

Her audience chamber was on the level below, an echoing high-ceilinged room with walls of purple marble. It was a chilly place for all its grandeur. There had been a throne there, a fantastic thing of carved and gilded wood in the shape of a savage harpy. She had taken one long look and commanded it be broken up for firewood. “I will not sit in the harpy’s lap,” she told them. Instead she sat upon a simple ebony bench. It served, though she had heard the Meereenese muttering that it did not befit a queen. (ASOS Daenerys VI)

All of these examples highlight that Dany struggles to accept the Meereenese slavers' culture because of her desire to end slavery and achieve equality. The quote from ASOS Daenerys V above could've easily been added in the show during a conversation between show!Dany and show!Missandei like this one.

Now, one could argue that this couldn't have happened in this episode because show!Dany hadn't yet a) seen the one hundred and sixty-three dead children, b) arrived in Meereen, c) seen the Great Pyramid and/or d) faced the risk of her people starve during the siege, all of which increase her righteous anger and determination to move forward with her crusade and do justice. That's true, but it leads to another question: why didn't they let this episode begin with show!Dany in Meereen like how ASOS Daenerys V begins, that is, with her having to face Meereen's champion?

Meereen was as large as Astapor and Yunkai combined. Like her sister cities she was built of brick, but where Astapor had been red and Yunkai yellow, Meereen was made with bricks of many colors. Her walls were higher than Yunkai’s and in better repair, studded with bastions and anchored by great defensive towers at every angle. Behind them, huge against the sky, could be seen the top of the Great Pyramid, a monstrous thing eight hundred feet tall with a towering bronze harpy at its top.

“The harpy is a craven thing,” Daario Naharis said when he saw it. “She has a woman’s heart and a chicken’s legs. Small wonder her sons hide behind their walls.”

But the hero did not hide. He rode out the city gates, armored in scales of copper and jet and mounted upon a white charger whose striped pink-and-white barding matched the silk cloak flowing from the hero’s shoulders. The lance he bore was fourteen feet long, swirled in pink and white, and his hair was shaped and teased and lacquered into two great curling ram’s horns. Back and forth he rode beneath the walls of multicolored bricks, challenging the besiegers to send a champion forth to meet him in single combat. (ASOS Daenerys V)

That's a problem that I have with how they adapted ASOS Daenerys V. The chapter can be divided in a list of four parts, which goes like this:

How Dany deals with Meereen's champion (this happens in episode 4.3)

Discussions on how to take Meereen (this never happens in the show)

Dany's thoughts on/flashbacks with Daario and Jorah (this more or less happens in episode 4.1; some are show only inventions)

Dany a) meeting her children and Mero and b) finding out the truth about her knights (a never happens; b happens in episodes 3.1 for show!Barristan and 4.8 for show!Jorah)

Despite being a chapter jam-packed with action and drama, the show adaptation diluted its impact by 1) fragmenting it, 2) overfocusing on certain parts over others, 3) creating new (and often unnecessary) scenes and 4) displaying its events out of the intended sequence. Problems 1-3 were already present in the adaptation of Dany's first four ASOS chapters, but I'd argue problem 4 is more serious in ASOS Daenerys V.

In the case of this particular scene, again, because it takes place before show!Dany reaches Meereen (and because the show writers never understood reasons 1 and 2 of why Dany's storyline matters), we don't get to see how her problems with the Meereenese slavers' culture are tied to their practice of slavery. This, unfortunately, is another case of the show undermining Dany's characterization from page to screen.

DAENERYS: You were told to ride at the back of the train.

DAARIO: Yes, My Queen. But I need to speak to you about something important. A matter of strategy.

MISSANDEI: Your Grace.

DAENERYS: All right, what is this matter of strategy?

DAARIO: A dusk rose.

DAENERYS: Would you like to walk at the back of the train instead of riding?

DAARIO: And this one’s called lady’s lace.

DAENERYS: Would you like to walk without shoes?

DAARIO: You have to know a land to rule it. Its plants, its rivers, its roads, its people. Dusk rose tea eases fever. Everyone in Meereen knows that. Especially the slaves who have to make the tea. If you want them to follow you, you have to become a part of their world.

DAARIO: Strategy. Harpy’s Gold. No tea from this one. Beautiful but poisonous.

DAENERYS: You are a gambler, aren’t you?

DAARIO: Your Grace.

This exchange is adapted from this part of ASOS Daenerys V:

On the road from Yunkai, Daario had brought her a flower or a sprig of some plant every evening when he made his report ... to help her learn the land, he said. Waspwillow, dusky roses, wild mint, lady’s lace, daggerleaf, broom, prickly ben, harpy’s gold ... (ASOS Daenerys V)

I have some problems with it, though. The first is that they have show!Daario tell show!Dany that she has "to know a land to rule it". In the books, at this point in time, Dany does not have any intention to stay and rule Meereen because she thinks that abolishing slavery was enough on its own; she only changes her mind after seeing the aftermath of the sack of Meereen, hearing news of Astapor (where her council was deposed and slavery is being reinstalled by a former slave named Cleon) and Yunkai (which was rumored to be making alliances with sellswords to defeat her) and understanding that her anti-slavery measures can be easily undone if she leaves so soon. Additionally, I dislike that they chose to only adapt a (veeery brief) scene from the chapter where she's shown to lack knowledge. Why not also adapt, for example, the scene in which she chooses Belwas to fight for her against Meereen's champion and we get to see her whole line of reasoning for doing so? That they even added the detail (that isn't in the books) about how a ruler should have knowledge of the region (which show!Dany doesn't yet) only adds salt to the wound, since it subtly indicates that the show writers themselves find her ineffective as a ruler when she certainly isn't.

The second problem is that show!Dany's feelings for show!Daario are not that clear onscreen in comparison to what we get in the books:

Dany found herself stealing looks at the Tyroshi when her captains came to council, and sometimes at night she remembered the way his gold tooth glittered when he smiled. That, and his eyes. His bright blue eyes. On the road from Yunkai, Daario had brought her a flower or a sprig of some plant every evening when he made his report ... to help her learn the land, he said. Waspwillow, dusky roses, wild mint, lady’s lace, daggerleaf, broom, prickly ben, harpy’s gold ... He tried to spare me the sight of the dead children too. He should not have done that, but he meant it kindly. And Daario Naharis made her laugh, which Ser Jorah never did.

Dany tried to imagine what it would be like if she allowed Daario to kiss her, the way Jorah had kissed her on the ship. The thought was exciting and disturbing, both at once. It is too great a risk. The Tyroshi sellsword was not a good man, no one needed to tell her that. Under the smiles and the jests he was dangerous, even cruel. Sallor and Prendahl had woken one morning as his partners; that very night he’d given her their heads. Khal Drogo could be cruel as well, and there was never a man more dangerous. She had come to love him all the same. Could I love Daario? What would it mean, if I took him into my bed? Would that make him one of the heads of the dragon? Ser Jorah would be angry, she knew, but he was the one who’d said she had to take two husbands. Perhaps I should marry them both and be done with it. (ASOS Daenerys V)

As one can see, Dany's crush on Daario is significant for highlighting a) how Dany is a romantic person who associates sexual attraction with love and marriage (hence why she compares Daario with her first husband) and b) how her feelings for Daario are tied to her desire to find a home or, in this case, someone who she can rely on (hence why she remembers the prophecy of the three heads of the dragon when she thinks of him).

It was particularly important to display her crush onscreen because of what happens later in ADWD. Unlike what certain people think, Dany's dilemma between Daario and Hizdahr doesn't just represent the choices that she needs to make as a ruler (war or peace), it also illustrates the clash between her main motivations, home and duty: Daario is the former (what Dany wants for herself) and Hizdahr is the latter (what Dany thinks she must do for her people).

Unfortunately, this doesn't come across in the show. To be fair, at least we get to see show!Dany shyly smiling here, but this will be undermined later. In episode 4.7, show!Daario will say:

DAARIO: Never met a woman who didn’t like wildflowers.

In episode 5.7, this is how show!Dany will answer to show!Daario's marriage proposal:

DAENERYS: Even if I wanted to do such an inadvisable thing, I couldn’t.

Then, in episode 6.10, this is what she tells show!Tyrion after rejecting show!Daario:

DAENERYS: Do you know what frightens me? I said farewell to a man who loves me. A man I thought I cared for. And I felt nothing.

I wouldn't be surprised if the show writers made these changes because they a) are among the readers who think that Dany is unlikable/irresponsible when she expresses her romantic feelings for Daario in the books (whereas I happen to think that that makes her more relatable) and b) wanted her to appear more regal (based on their ideas of what that means, of course) in the show because she's older, but, regardless of why they did so, this is quite a problem: if show!Dany isn't in love with show!Daario, her conflict becomes much less pronounced in comparison to her book counterpart's (which, as we'll see later as the show progresses, it did).

JORAH: There’s one on every mile marker between here and Meereen.

DAENERYS: How many miles are there between here and Meereen?

JORAH: One-hundred and sixty three, Your Grace.

BARRISTAN: I’ll tell our men to ride ahead and bury them. You don’t need to see this.

DAENERYS: You will do no such thing. I will see each and every one of their faces. Remove her collar before you bury her.

This is my favorite moment of the episode because it's a major example of how Dany's leadership style is defined by her desire to protect the ones who can't protect themselves (which applies to both book and show versions). Now that she wields power, she won't remain passive when she sees injustices occur, in fact, she'll want to confront them in order to remember why is it that she's fighting:

“I will see them,” she said. “I will see every one, and count them, and look upon their faces. And I will remember.”

By the time they came to Meereen sitting on the salt coast beside her river, the count stood at one hundred and sixty-three. I will have this city, Dany pledged to herself once more. (ASOS Daenerys VI)

Being a queen is not about self-gratification for Dany, it's about her responsibility and duty towards others, which is what this scene ultimately reinforces.

That being said, there are still some problems with the scene.

One, while the scene on its own does illustrate the kind of ruler (and person) that show!Dany is regardless of what the show writers were intending, I think that their primary intention was to provide shock value with the sight of the dead children (which is also the most likely reason as to why they succeeded in depicting how horrific the Unsullied's training was). If they had intended the scene to showcase show!Dany's selfless motivations like in the books, they wouldn't have later stated that her war in Slaver's Bay was defined by "that willingness to go forth and conquer all your enemies" or by how "she's not seeing the cost" (failure to understand reasons 1, 2 and 5 of why Dany's storyline matters). Unlike them, Dany knows that some wars are morally righteous because there are cases in which the status quo is not worthy of being uphold, especially not one that allows children to be murdered without their killers being punished (which also informs her views on Robert, his supporters and the Baratheon regime in general).

Two, the show leaves out the fact that, in the books, the Meereenese slavers burned their own city's lands in order to prepare for Dany's arrival:

The Great Masters of Meereen had withdrawn before Dany’s advance, harvesting all they could and burning what they could not harvest. Scorched fields and poisoned wells had greeted her at every hand. (ASOS Daenerys V)

This is important for two major reasons.

One, it raises the stakes of the conflict in the moment. If Dany continues to besiege the city for too long, her people will starve. If she gives up on conquering Meereen, on the other hand, not only slavery will remain, but her people will die of starvation on the way back to Westeros. If she wants to protect the freedmen that followed her, then, her only choice is to take Meereen.

Dany set great store by Ser Jorah’s counsel, but to leave Meereen untouched was more than she could stomach. She could not forget the children on their posts, the birds tearing at their entrails, their skinny arms pointing up the coast road. “Ser Jorah, you say we have no food left. If I march west, how can I feed my freedmen?”

“You can’t. I am sorry, Khaleesi. They must feed themselves or starve. Many and more will die along the march, yes. That will be hard, but there is no way to save them. We need to put this scorched earth well behind us.”

Dany had left a trail of corpses behind her when she crossed the red waste. It was a sight she never meant to see again. “No,” she said. “I will not march my people off to die.” My children. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Two, it raises the stakes of the conflict in ADWD. By scorching the fields, the slavers deprived Meereen of one of its main sources of income: olives. Now the city's economy is stagnant because it has neither olives nor slaves (because, as we know, Dany abolished slavery) to sell:

For centuries Meereen and her sister cities Yunkai and Astapor had been the linchpins of the slave trade, the place where Dothraki khals and the corsairs of the Basilisk Isles sold their captives and the rest of the world came to buy. Without slaves, Meereen had little to offer traders. Copper was plentiful in the Ghiscari hills, but the metal was not as valuable as it had been when bronze ruled the world. The cedars that had once grown tall along the coast grew no more, felled by the axes of the Old Empire or consumed by dragonfire when Ghis made war against Valyria. Once the trees had gone, the soil baked beneath the hot sun and blew away in thick red clouds. (ADWD Daenerys III)

“The sea provides all the salt that Qarth requires, but I would gladly take as many olives as you cared to sell me. Olive oil as well.”

“I have none to offer. The slavers burned the trees.” Olives had been grown along the shores of Slaver’s Bay for centuries; but the Meereenese had put their ancient groves to the torch as Dany’s host advanced on them, leaving her to cross a blackened wasteland. “We are replanting, but it takes seven years before an olive tree begins to bear, and thirty years before it can truly be called productive.” (ADWD Daenerys III)

However, because the show didn't bother to depict how the slavers destroyed their own city's fields, we don't get to see neither a) how it becomes harder for Dany to sustain a siege (and how conquering Meereen became her only choice if she wanted not only to free the slaves, but also to protect the freedmen that came with her) nor b) how, later, she struggles with reforming the city's economy (which is one of the many ways that the show adaptation undermined her political arc in ADWD).

For this review, there’s no comment of mine on any Inside the Episode because D&D’s Inside the Episode 4.1 doesn’t talk about show!Dany’s storyline. I’m not commenting on show!Dany’s clothes either because she’s wearing the same clothes from season three and I’ve talked about them before in past reviews.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #asoiaf vs got #asos vs got #daario naharis #grey worm #rylona rhee #barristan selmy #s4 #a storm of swords #a dance with dragons

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ladyandtheghost · 5 years

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How “The Dany-Show” ruined GoT at the core: 3-point system

1. Sansa vs. Cersei:

How is it possible that we had a million reunions - many of them involving secondary characters for fluff and fan service with zero impact on the plot - but these two women who had so much drama, so much unresolved business, never saw each other again? This is where you would have found the good story to tell and a major plot strand to resolve: the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters. This is what started it all, this is where it should have ended. This is the story they should have focused on.

So why didn’t they?

Because Game of Thrones was already dead and gone and the series had become The Dany-Show and nothing but The Dany-Show.

Every character, every story arc, everything had to be directed towards Dragon Barbie and her drama. So of course there was no time or space for anything that was not related to the The Dany-Show. Basically a black hole that sucked all the great storylines and characters into its dark void.

Massive loose plot strands like the Stark-Lannister showdown were left to rot, because it was far more important to show off that CGI budget for gratuitous dragon shots and inane conversations between secondary character including sex jokes on the main.

There was literally more screen time allotted to the dragons than to Cersei...

After four seasons of Sansa and Cersei constantly referring to each other and the day they would meet again (willingly or not), it’s scandalous that they shoved so many characters back together for pointless reunions that were more or less blatant fan service (Bronn and the Lannister boys, really?!) but the big conflict, the personal drama that was playing out between Sansa and Cersei - that had actually taken on political dimensions now - did not even get a single scene?

Wrong choice.

I mean can you even imagine how Lena and Sophie would have acted the shit out of their reunion, because I can and it makes me furious that we were robbed of it. When two characters have so much unfinished business, so much foreshadowing and so much history that still isn’t resolved, the least you can expect is to give them at least a half-assed resolution - but we did not even get that, because it had nothing to do with The Dany-Show. Because all the characters have to only think about Dany and relate to Dany and if there is to be a conflict between female characters, it has to involve Dany and no one else.

Poor Lena deserved better than to be reduced to playing a two-dimensional shadow of Cersei Lannister who was little more than a prompt giver to The Euron Greyjoy Side-Show (because sex jokes!)

Also Bonus fuck-up: the prophecy of the YMBQ? Cersei died in the arms of Jaime, if anything Dany’s attack had given her back the one person/thing she cares about. So how exactly did Dany rob her of “all you hold dear” when Dany’s attack caused Jaime to literally drop Brienne like a hot potato, declare his undying love for Cersei and run back into her arms for his final moment?

Before that, Sansa had already “taken” Jaime into her services together with Brienne. He’d actually switched sides to serve “another queen” (just not Dany) and at least this prophecy made sense for two seconds but of course the YMBQ had to be Dany because it’s The Dany Show, whether it makes sense or not...

They just didn’t care anymore, did they?

2. Little...who?:

So we have half a dozen characters rolling up to Winterfell who knew Littlefinger and his dirty business, and Arya, Sansa and Bran are about to go:

Only for some reason: NO ONE asks.

There is not a single reference to the fact that the Stark kids found out that Littlefinger is the mastermind behind 90% of everything that has happened since S1 and that he was executed for this. It’s like it never happened and he never existed and neither did all the important plot points before S8.

Did Jon ever find out that Littlefinger betrayed Ned and conspired with the Lannisters to bring down the Starks?

Did Tyrion ever find out that Littlefinger framed him at the Purple Wedding?

Did Varys ever find out that his nemesis was outsmarted and defeated by three teenagers?

Nope. Nope. And nope.

Ain’t we all?

A character who’s been hailed as MVP by a huge part of the fandom because he knew how to network and play the game™ that is advertised in the title like no other, isn’t even mentioned again. One of the most popular theories re: S8 was (ridiculous as I found it myself) “Littlefinger isn’t dead” because many people felt he was still important to the story and there was also a lot of unfinished business with other characters he was connected to...Jon, Varys, Tyrion, Cersei, Sansa...

Instead, Littlefinger himself, his death and every plot point he was ever involved in was simply erased - because Littlefinger and his relation to these characters had nothing to do with, i.e. did not contribute to...you guessed it...The Dany-Show and therefore POUF, he never existed...

3. R+L = who gives a f***

But you know, these are minor grievances compared to the fact that Jon’s character was not only dumbled down and turned into a complicit in genocide...

Jon’s parentage story arc - you know, THE big revelation and PLOT TWIST - was turned into a side note, a five-minute mini drama that was more about how this will affect poor little Dany and her feelings.

They gave us scenes of Dany waxing on about how Jon’s being the one true king stresses her out because she wants the throne and what she expects him to do about it - but they ROBBED us of the moment Jon tells the Stark siblings that he is not truly their brother, but their cousin.

Because who cares about how Jon feels about this and his “siblings” coming to terms with the fact that:

their father Ned Stark had kept Jon a secret from everyone

that he had not fathered a bastard and betrayed their mother

but saved the one true heir, at cost of his honour,

they lived with the Targaryen crown prince and raised him under everyone’s nose...

No, no, the important thing is how Dany feels about it all and how it affects her.

After the huge build-up, the theories, the overt foreshadowing, even more infuriating - after throwing poor Elia and her children under the bus and making Jon legitimate...

After literally EVERYTHING in this series leading up to the moment when everyone would know who Jon Snow truly is...it had no effect on the story whatsoever, besides contributing to Dany finally revealing the full extent of her insanity (which was only a matter of time anyways)

Heir to the Iron Throne? Targaryen Prince? Rhaegar’s son? PTWP?

The point is: Drama for poor little Dany because her nephew doesn’t want to fuck her anymore is the actual heir.

You can’t even say that it led to her advisors finding out and betraying her because that is something they should have done ages ago, at the latest when she burned the Tarlys. It gave them a legitimate alternative option, yes, but it was not the first time they thought she needs to go...

At least R+L=J served one good purpose: it rubbed Dany’s nose in it that she is not special at all. She is NOT the last Targ, nor the “princess that was promised” - and it was never her destiny to rule, she was only ever the “aunt” of the prince.

Sadly, this is again ALL about Dany and her feelings and how everyone else reacts to her in light of the news that Jon is Aegon.

So R+L=J is not even about Jon in the end, it’s just another element of The Dany-Show. And once Dany is gone, it’s like R+L=J also got erased (just like Littlefinger and the Stark-Lannister-conflict)

...because let’s just send the Head of House Targaryen and last of his line beyond the wall again just because the murderous army of the mad tyrant, whom he heroically freed us from, demands it...and of course we have to wrap up the last five minutes of this shitty episode.

Conclusion:

D&D just REALLY didn’t care anymore once The Dany-Show was over and it’s painfully obvious to see. The good news is that all of these plot points that got erased/dumbled down/ignored^^ are things that are important to GRRM, which gives me hope for the last books at least...

#game of thrones #sansa stark #jon snow #anti-daenerys #anti-dany stans #anti-d&d #cersei lannister

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lulusoblue · 4 years

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so I did some maths when this topic came up with friends in chat (because fanfic requires the smallest of details when you are obsessive and anxious of quality lore checking), and I figured out that Elizabeth never gets past the age of 20 in Infinite and its DLC not counting the bad future where she was injected with a spinal shock collar for 70 years.

So to the rest of Columbia, Elizabeth is 18 at the start of Infinite, July 6th 1912. This is presuming that Comstock would claim Elizabeth was born on the day he kidnapped Anna, October 8th 1893.

I looked up the stages of baby development and compared baby Anna’s behaviour - recognises Booker, some attentiveness to surroundings - to that based on what we see within the game, and she can’t be any more than a few weeks/month and a half-ish old, I’d need to check. Presumably, Anna’s true birthday would have been at earliest in August in this case, so Elizabeth’s true age is a month and a half older than the birthday I presume she’s been given (if Comstock even let her HAVE a birthday in isolation which I wouldn’t put past him).

So Elizabeth starts the game at age 18, three months from her birthday as the Lamb of Columbia and actually a month or so shy of her true birthday. We don’t know exactly how much time passes from the fairgrounds to Emporia in-universe, probably no more than a few days based on the radio snippets we hear, but by the end of Infinite she’s definitely 19. Booker is jumped forward 6 months by Old Elizabeth, from where Songbird takes Elizabeth back to Comstock to the operating theatre in Comstock House. Since we have to go with the “rough” time measurement, Booker interrupts the procedure at Comstock House in January or at latest early February in 1913.

I wouldn’t say any more than 24 hours passes at this point, as there’s no transitions to suggest more than a day passes between freeing Elizabeth and confronting Comstock on his airship. We hit the ending, and Elizabeth attempts to erase Comstock completely by drowning Booker.

In Burial at Sea, Elizabeth arrives in Rapture on the 8th of October 1958. We can presume this is right after attempting to purge all the Comstocks as she’s still in her blue dress, and since she has merged with every other Elizabeth according to the story, she would likely set out for her revenge on the last Comstock as soon as possible. She then goes about blending into Rapture and learning as much as she can, then goes to work under Sander Cohen to get information on his child trafficking and Sally’s current location. She then goes to Booker on the 31st of December 1958.

Elizabeth only spends less than 3 months in Rapture after the events of Infinite, so by her false birthday based on if she stayed in Columbia she would be 19 years and 7-ish months old, and based on her estimate true birthday month she would be 19 years and 8-9ish months old. This isn’t even considering how being an omniscient being might affect how she ages, which we also don’t really know about the Luteces.

So, Elizabeth never even reaches a full second decade before she goes through a multitimeline trauma compilation, which then drives her on a merciless revenge quest that nearly gets an innocent child killed, which starts with her entering an adult book shop to trade her Columbian attire for Rapture attire with an employee of a peep show, then has to go to work under the man complicit with child kidnappings and who is actively trafficking said children so she can get information from him, then gets stripped of the powers that helped free her to make amends for the aforementioned child-gets-doomed-in-the-revenge-plot scenario, then has to suffer in a 4-8 hour lowest point DLC that includes every major male character from the first game ramping the assholery up to 11, THEN goes through an ATTEMTED LOBOTOMY WHICH NO OTHER - read, *male* - PLAYER CHARACTER HAS HAD TO GO THROUGH, and she goes through this harrowing journey for the slightest chance of some small redemption by getting bludgeoned to death by a player avatar’s primary melee weapon of choice.

I don’t know how finding out Elizabeth’s age for the duration of Infinite and its DLCs being 19 for the most part ended with me getting angrier at Ken Levine’s writing for the character he says was “like a daughter” to him - I don’t even know why I obsessed over this and ranted about it to my friends in the first place - but it did I am indeed angrier knowing this. Bad enough when I presumed she was at least of the average legal drinking age by BaS, now I know thanks to timeline investigation that she was barely a young adult when she went from Disney Princess in complete social isolation her whole life to broken traumatised abused and bloody corpse in the span of less than a year.

I don’t know how to end this post so I guess the conclusion is we have another small log added to the fire of “Levine hates the women he has to write for”.

#bioshock #bioshock infinite #elizabeth comstock #burial at sea #episode two what episode two #i don’t know why this special interest in particular has me going into a hyperfixation rabbit hole of small things #but it does #this has the exact opposite mood of figuring out how tall eleanor is #i find out eleanor’s true height i’m elated #i find out elizabeth’s true age i’m depressed and enraged #i don’t think any of this confirms that levine hates women #because we already knew that WITHOUT elizabeth’s age being a factor

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openheart12 · 4 years

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Hi, yes, hello beautiful! Can you write a fic where MC accidentally sends Ethan her entire fanfic folder by mistake 😂🤣

How To Get Away With Fanfiction

I’m reliving my embarrassment 😭 but it is done and idk wtf happened with this lmao. This is also to make up for earlier kmjhygfd

Only tagging @ao719 @oofchoices @loveellamae @burnsoslow because no one else should have to read this unless they click on the read more and if they do... god bless. And thank you to Maroe for helping me come up with some of these ideas!

It had been a long day at work when Dr. Gertrude-Sue Claws made her way home to do the one thing that relaxed her; writing fanfiction.

She had thought of the perfect idea for Spirit and Rainbow Dash and her fingers flew across the keyboard.

There was something about the multi colors in his mane and tail that drew him to her. He lived by the phrase, “hump ‘em and dump ‘em,” which he planned on doing with Rainbow Dash, but not without consent because horse jail wasn’t fun. He had heard the horror stories from his human friends, Kurns and Bryce.

“Rainbow Dash,” he neighed.

“Spirit…” She neighed back in response, she knew all about his...extracurricular activities. He was the biggest fuck horse out of the herd. Ever since Rain had died from drowning, god bless, he hadn’t been the same. It was also why he paid more attention to Rainbow Dash because she had Rain in the first part of her name.

“Let’s do this,” he smirked with his horse mouth.

“Fine…” She turned her back to him as he reared on his hind legs and mounted her, letting out a series of neighs.

She laughed silently to herself before moving on her Owen Hunt fic and she knew how much she was going to enjoy this one especially.

Owen was walking through the halls when he saw five women stalking towards him like cats, one even had whiskers drawn on her face. “Anitah with the h, get him!” He heard one of them command and watched as she came up to him, kicking him in no man's land. He felt them drag him into an empty exam room.

“MAROE! You got the chainsaw?”

“Nah bruh, Bears and Rams were in charge of that,” she explained.

Anything but Krista, cocked her half shaved eyebrow at Burns and Ella. “Y’all got the chainsaw?”

“No, but I have the cream for the burn I’m about to inflict,” Burns snickered to herself at her own joke, the others joining in before getting back to business.

“Burns, Ella, go scope out the cafeteria for some good food because I can’t kill in good faith on an empty stomach and as me and Ella say, we always get food first,” Anything but Krista said, turning her attention to the two people left, throwing them both a knife. Then proceeded to stab Owen numerous times, but making sure not to hit any major organs yet.

“We need a blender,” Anitah with the h announced.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Anything but Krista and MAROE said at the same time, looking at each other and bursting into laughter at the jinx.

“If that was making a human smoothie, then yes. We’ll show him that no one messes with Derek Christopher Shepherd,” Anitah with the h said smugly, pulling a blender out from behind her back and plugging it into the wall.

“You...you pulled that out of your jacket?” MAROE asked in a surprising tone.

“Y’all don’t keep blenders in yours?” Anitah with the h asked as if that wasn’t common, but it was good to know that she was always prepared.

Suddenly, the walkie talkie came to life, “Team Bears/Rams to Team CA, what y’all want from here? Over and out.”

“Team CA to Team Bears/Rams, we want CookOut. Over and out.” Anything but Krista responded. “It’s about time y’all tried a little piece of heaven,” she looked at Anitah with the h and MAROE.

“That’s a negative ghost rider, the closest CookOut is on the other side of the country. Over and out.”

“Well you better get on your way because you two also need to try a little piece of heaven, we’ll save the good stuff for when you get back. Over and out.” The trio resumed their slice and dice game, taking a short break to play Choices because the latest chapter of The Nanny Affair had just been released and even Owen wasn’t going to keep them away from Sam Dalton.

A couple hours later, Burns and Ella arrived with the food, handing out their respective trays to their respective orderers, they were able to keep the milkshakes from melting by their cold hearts.

“Ahhh gimme my milkshake,” Anything but Krista snatched it from Burns’ hand, earning a slap on her hand from her adoptive mother and a threat of taking away her pony...again.

“Yooo this shake hits different,” Ella exclaimed.

“You could even say that it slaps,” MAROE added making her squeak.

“It’s the one good thing North Carolina has to offer for me,” Anything but Krista chimed in, fist bumping Anitah with the h because the struggle was real. The cows really did outnumber the people, they just hoped that there wouldn’t be a cow revolution because that would be awful except the yeehaw folk would probably survive since they did have a song called “A Country Boy Can Survive.”

“Burns, we left you the honor of picking the perfect weather for us to dispose of the body which is more like liquid at this point. We need rain, thunder, and lightning to erase all of the evidence. Watching “Forensic Files” has finally come in handy. And Ella, we need you to pretend to be a nurse or something to help us get out of here. I’ll be honest, I haven’t thought that far ahead…” Anything but Krista admitted, but they expected that from her so they already had a plan in place.

“If anyone happens to see Derek Shepherd, I ask that you tell me,” MAROE added.

“Not if I find him first,” Anything but Krista said.

“He’s like fifty four years old…” Burns said being ever the good adoptive mother.

“Then I call Spencer Reid!” Anything but Krista exclaimed.

“I have Lucifer then,” MAROE challenged knowing that would get under her skin.

“Children, calm yourselves.” Burns shook her head.

“Hey, I’ll be eighteen in like a number amount of months,” Anything but Krista said.

“I’ll be eighteen before you,” MAROE said, sticking out her tongue.

“I’Ll Be EiGhTeEn BeFoRe YoU,” she repeated, placing her hands on her hips and doing that Spongebob meme. After thinking of a better comeback, she grabbed her knife she used on Owen earlier and plunged it into MAROE’s back.

“Et tu, Brute?” MAROE said with shock in her voice before her body crumpled on the ground.

“Yes, bye bitch.”

The other three just stared as the blood drained from her body before turning their attention to Anything but Krista. They were the epitome of 👁👄👁.

“What? She wanted to “due” anyway. And at her funeral we can play “To Be So Lonely” because well she will be lol.”

“Anywaysss, we gonna get food or what?” Ella asked as she covered Owen’s body with a sheet.

“Wings?” Burns suggested and they all agreed. After arriving at the restaurant, they were very shocked to see MAROE sitting at a table waiting for them.

“It’s the trying to kill me for me,” she said upon taking their seats, glaring at Anything But Krista specifically.

“It’s the stealing my fictional husbands for me,” she retaliated.

“It’s the acting like children for me,” Burns' authoritative voice came.

“Sorry,” they both murmured as they looked over the menus to order their food. The rest of their lunch going smoothly, their victims already forgotten about. Don’t mess with hangry chicks who hate Owent Cunt.

“So who’s next?” Anitah with the h asked.

“Ahh you’ve gotten the first taste of blood and now you’re addicted,” Burns observed. She would make for a good profiler for the FBI at Quantico. She would have a cool nickname; Cunt Punter.

“Why not just kill everyone we hate?” Ella questioned.

“That’s a great idea! I say we kill Guy and Vanessa,” Anything but Krista suggested.

“And Landrat!” MAROE added, the whole group agreeing, finishing their lunch before getting to their killing spree.

Gertrude-Sue was laughing at her made up characters and story when she received an email from Ethonk Remy to send him a folder that she had. Goggle Drive was acting stupid so she didn’t realize that she had shared her fanfiction folder with her boss before it was too late. She saw a little giraffe pop up in the right hand corner telling her that he was already viewing what was inside the folder.

“Holy donkey claws,” she cried out loud, smacking her hands against her face.

Meanwhile, Ethonk was going through her folder when he came across a document and his eyes went wide. “What are they doing with the dog?” He said to himself.

Wonder pets, wonder pets

We're on our way

To help a friend and save the day

We're not too big

And we're not too tough

But when we work together, we've got the right stuff

Gooo wonder pets yaaaaay!

The phone

The phone is ringing

The phone

We'll be right there

The phone

The phone is ringing

There's an animal in trouble

There's an animal in trouble somewhere

“What the hell are Wonder Pets?” He continued inspecting the different documents ranging from murder of one Owen Cunt, horses having sexual intercourse, Wonder Pets stuff, four kids and a dog where they did questionable things with each other, a sponge and a starfish were high on marijuana, a game where Gertrude-Sue had made him and her a family that looked way too realistic for his liking, two bunnies who kept hopping around with one of their little brothers, and multiple documents about Matthew Gray Gubler, Tom Holland, Tom Ellis, Patrick Dempsey, and Harry Styles which were all quite disturbing.

He took out his phone to call her. “Hey uh, Gert, what is this?”

“Oh well you see, the funny thing is that I accidentally sent you the wrong folder so if you could just pretend like this never happened, that would be fantastic. Okay thanks bye. I’m sending you the right one this time.” And she hung up, ready to throw herself off a cliff at her stupidity.

One thing was for sure, she would never make this mistake again.

#CA chronicles

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animatedminds · 4 years

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What If: Every Character In Dragonball FighterZ Had a Dramatic Finish? (Pt. 4 - Final)

Well, here we are at the end. For the last four days, this blog has been going over each of the characters in Dragonball FighterZ - the tragic, bereft ones without Dramatic Finish - and imagining what moments from their history would work best in Arcsys’ glorious animation style.

So far we’ve gone through near the whole franchise, with only a few characters left - and there’s no time like the present to give those few remaining characters their chance.

As before, this isn’t so much a request for all these characters to legitimately get Dramatic Finishes - Arc System Works’ animation is too intricate and time consuming for that to be a reality - as much as speculation of what might have been. Though only a few of the characters in the roster can have a Dramatic Finish, most of them can definitely carry one in my opinion, and at the very least it makes a great excuse to go back and watch a few classic Dragonball clips. It’s worth noting again, as well, that on this list we’re looking for appearances in Dramatic moments: not necessarily wins. Across the list there have been quite a few characters whose best, most cinematic options have been losses of theirs. If you want the whole list, no lines, no waiting, no need to go back, check out the SoundCloud cast of the whole thing - or if you prefer to sit back and read here’s Part 1, Part 2 and - of course - Part 3. But let’s get on with it. Last time we finished off Dragonball Super (with one exception), and UI Goku himself hit the stores... that is, without the Dramatic Finish we were expecting (that went to Blue Goku). What’s left here are the extras: additional characters, interesting ideas that don’t fit anywhere else, that sort of thing. But first, one thing needs to be settled with the last remaining Super character...

That, right. Goku (Ultra Instict) himself!

As you might have figured from what I just said - and the previous entry - the Dramatic Finish that came with the latest DLC turned out not to be an Ultra Instinct Goku Finish with Kefla, but was actually given to Goku Blue instead. This not only knocked Goku Blue off the list (just as well since - as I went through last time - the option I thought of for Goku Blue and the option I thought of for Hit were one and the same) and, naturally means we had to put Ultra Instinct Goku on in his stead.

This is a little tricky, as some of Goku’s best moments in the Tournament of Power have already been snapped up by the game. The Surfing Kamehameha moment with Kefla is of course the stand out, but there’s also already a Goku vs Jiren Dramatic Finish (with Base Goku). They’ve repeated themselves before - giving a Vs Freeza Dramatic Finish to both Super Saiyan and Base Goku (and I’ve already suggested what is effectively a third, albeit starting with Blue Vegeta), but it still makes this an odd thing to approach.

As seems typical, I ended up with two big ideas. You guys might not like this ruling so much, since the first is an overall very solid moment, and the second - my main idea - is a little unorthodox, but bear with me.

For the first idea, a picture perfect Dramatic Finish, I’d go with the moment Jiren attacks the stands, along with Goku’s enraged payback.

For those who haven’t seen the arc, the Tournament of Power is odd among Dragonball major storylines in that there isn’t really a “bad guy.” Everyone is fighting on equal terms in a universal storyline, for fear of having their universe erased if they lose (stakes which - spoilers - turns out to be semi-fake, or at least more than they think). Everyone in the tournament, moral or amoral, is neutral to one another... but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their hang-ups.

Jiren - the final boss - is a being who suffered hardship in his youth because he felt he wasn’t strong enough, and so dedicated his life to obtaining more power. Goku - anime protagonist that he is - claims that his power comes from his friends and Jiren, who couldn’t care less about friendship, doesn’t exactly like that, especially when Goku starts winning. So he throws a fit and tries to blow up Goku’s friends to prove a point. Goes without saying that Goku didn’t exactly like that either. This moment is very self contained, cinematic and strong, with quickly established stakes and an epic conclusion, which makes it a perfect Dramatic Finish - in fact, it might not have been a bad place to end the original arc itself. You would pretty much have to do it on the Galactic Arena stage - which is a FighterZ original - as the lack of a Tournament of Power stage means there’s no other place for Goku and Jiren to have a battle of the scale we’d need while also letting his friends be there in the firing line. But, that being the case, you would simply have it start - as all Dramatic Finishes do - with Jiren getting knocked back, he rants about how friendship is easily erased and shoots a blast as the stands, Goku deflects it, and goes to town: a fight ensues a la the Super Broly Dramatic Finish, with a couple extra dramatic shots, and ending with an uppercut and massive Kamehameha that takes Jiren out. End with a shot of Goku standing over Jiren, but on a much less cheerful note than the Base Goku one.

All in all, it’s a pretty great idea. One only has to look at the clip to see that. So what’s my other option, which I would prefer? Well... we’ve seen so many good Dramatic Finishes in the game, I kind of think the Dramatic Openings could use a little love, don’t you? I’ve already suggested a few, but mostly as side ideas. However, this one could serve as the most epic opening in the game, if done well. The moment where Goku goes Ultra Instinct for the very first time:

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Against Jiren again, of course.

The hypest moment of any transformation is always the moment the hero unlocks it. The point where they’re pushed to their limit and tap into that power they didn’t know they had. The God and Blue transformations were elaborate and offscreen, respectively, so this was really Super’s big transformation moment, and it was definitely hype.

Much earlier on, Goku tries to finish Jiren off with what he hopes is his ace in the hole - the Spirit Bomb. Jiren, having none of that, just flings it back... the resulting war ends with Goku losing: the blast slowly overtakes Goku before detonating in a truly spectacular way, and for a moment it looks like Goku is done.

That is, until he steps out of the transformation... changed.

It would definitely be the most elaborate Dramatic Opening - with the same amount of scene-work and modeling you would expect from a Dramatic Finish, but it would be worth it. The Dramatic scenes have in general become more and more spectacular over the years, but most of the Openings were early and so missed out on it. Still, the best thing about the Dramatic Openings is that they really get you energized for the fight to come - make you feel like it’s about to go down, and this scene would absolutely accomplish that. Not to mention, it would go perfectly alongside the Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan transformation openings as well.

But both options work pretty well, and either way it would be a great way to let the newest content in the franchise continue to shine. If Moro shows up later in this season, I’ll be surprised, but you can bet they’re will be some options off of that. But with Super now officially done, we move on to the truly extra candidates. Starting with...

Android #21

The villain of FighterZ’s story mode herself: a terrifying android who, thanks to a few infused traits from the Buu line, seeks to consume all life on Earth - while at odds with her own good side.

Since literally her only content ever is FighterZ’s story mode there’s not much to pull from, but luckily the choice for her is an absolute no-brainer. I’ve mentioned before that you could give her a decent Dramatic Finish with Android 16 - using any of his death scenes - but the best option is simply to take the end of the story mode, modify it and give it to us as a Finish of its own.

That’s right, we’re talking about the moment where Good #21 sacrifices herself to take Evil #21 out for good.

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And, on the unique side, it would make this the only Dramatic Finish to trigger off of a mirror match - which is something rather impossible for anyone else.

You would need Goku on your team, of course - in a climax reminiscent of Kid Buu’s death, the moment involves Goku charging a Spirit Bomb while #21 holds her evil self off. Once the bomb is ready, Goku lets it fly - but Evil #21 is just powerful enough that she can resist the explosion. All seems lost, until the good half, knowing that she still holds the malice within that could lead to her becoming like her other self one day, tackles her evil embodiment - resulting in both being eradicated in a blazing explosion.

It’s a simple moment, sans all the dialogue, and the would be very simple to adapt to a Dramatic Finish: arguably, you would barely have to alter anything that isn’t already there (well, besides making the models fully animate in the “in between” moments, which would probably take some doing). Granted, one would have to have played the story mode to know what’s going on, but it’s not as if Dramatic Finishes aren’t fairly lore heavy in the first place.

And with her settled, we move on to the next questionably canon character without a Dramatic Finish, and one that was pretty hard to think of one for...

Goku (Dragon Ball GT)

... I don’t want to say “why couldn’t this have just been Kid Goku?” I really don’t.

However, for the purposes of this list, him being GT Goku makes it almost impossible to think of a Dramatic Finish. There’s the rumors Omega Shenron is going to be appearing later on in the season, but so far those are only that: rumors.

Otherwise, Goku doesn’t really get much in the way of awesome fighting moments against the rest of the game roster. He fights against Gohan (and adult Goten, which for obvious reasons isn’t happening) when the latter was under Baby’s control, but that doesn’t really have a conclusive end - let alone a dramatic one. He fights Vegeta in the same way, but Baby Vegeta is very much a different character from any other Vegeta we’ve got, far past the point of finagling, so the reference wouldn’t work.

Thus, I’ve mostly been going with “why not just pretend GT Goku is Kid Goku” for this list and any future Dramatic Finish. It came up in the Tien section, if and when Roshi appears it’s my suggestion for him as well, and it works far easier than trying to shoehorn a GT scene into the game.

With that in mind, I’ve already noted a great option in the first part of this: the end of Tien and Goku’s first fight, on the Tenkaichi Budokai stage. It’s epic, it’s a classic moment, and it’s lots of fun. Honestly, it’s GT Goku’s best option for a Finish.

But to give a new idea, I’d love for them to do something small but sweet for GT / Kid Goku. Something that would be both a cool call back, and a neat fighting game classic moment as well.

I’m talking about Goku and Krillin’s fistbump:

This still takes some finagling - that’s Kid Krillin you see above you, who is a lot smaller than his adult version (though not by much, you’d think). And there’s also a moment like this in Super between adult Krillin and and what would be in Base Goku in FighterZ terms, which would probably work even better (if anything, they could make this opening between Krillin and Base Goku and have GT Goku stand in during the flashback) -

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- but if we’re talking about GT- sorry, “Kid Goku,” giving him this moment would work fairly well too. It’s another moment geared towards presenting a classic reference from the series’ oldest days, and gives us a sweet Dramatic Opening vs a tense and spectacular one.

It also doubles as a decent fighting game ref. Having characters who in lore are friends enter a fight with a simple fistbump or some other sign of respect is an enduring opening idea that’s most often seen in Street Fighter - which has often had Ryu and Ken begin fights this way.

This kind of small but sweet reference has somewhat gone out of style these days, along with a lot of the nuances you got with sprite-based fighters, but if it could be done more, I’d actually love to see it.

Here, for this case, you would simply have it happen on the Tenkaichi Budokai stage, and either have them walk onto the stage together and fistbump or - to save on animation costs - just begin with them doing it and jumping back to fight. For the full Base Goku version, doing that with a flashback of Kid Goku (a la GT Goku standing-in) doing the same, and then back to them as adults.

That and the Tien Finish are really the best GT Goku’s going to get unless something changes in the future, and both are pretty neat ideas, so that’s as far as we’re going to get with him.

And that’s the whole roster: with this list, now everyone has a Dramatic Finish. So I’ll end it instead with a truly extra suggestion: a Finish for a character who already has one, but which would be a very different kind of Finish that would still be pretty neat.

Kid Buu Destroys The World

I’ve already suggested something like this for Blue Vegeta’s Dramatic Finish - a finish in which the bad guy wins, and blows up the planet. It’s something that’s oddly cool to think about. Dragonball has many fantastic moments, including ones where the bad guys get ahead - King Piccolo blowing up Shenron, Nappa wiping out Goku’s friends, Cell crippling Vegeta and humiliating Trunks - but in the end, we mostly talk about the heroic ones.

So why not flip the script and just do one where everything goes to hell? Literally, for the evil people who happen to be on Earth.

Buu doing this is even more iconic than Freeza, imo, because while Freeza has been destroying planets for longer, it was always planets that weren’t our heroes’ own. He killed off Namek, but when he tried to come back to Earth and do it on the good guys’ home turf he got eviscerated - it wasn’t until a long time after that he was finally able to pull it off, and by then the heroes had a means of instantly undoing it. I still think Freeza vs Vegeta is a good choice for a potential Blue Vegeta Dramatic Finish, but if you’re approaching it from a “let’s make a Finish were it all goes horribly” standpoint, Buu is the standout moment.

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For this, Kid Buu wins against Super Saiyan Vegeta or Goku. After the customary knockback, Buu grins, and laughs, and creates a planet destroying ball of energy. Goku and Vegeta run, but can’t get away - for bonus points, you could have Gohan, Goten + Trunks, and Piccolo on the ground, just out of saving range as the two are forced to instant transmission away. Cut to a shot of the planet as a whole, just before it all goes up.

Then, in the empty nothing of space, Buu reconstitutes, and flies off for more destruction. The end.

It’s a very different feel from the rest of the Dramatic Finishes, I think, which is why I felt it deserved to be on here even though Buu already has one. It’s just a fun, extra idea of the kinds of interesting things they might decide to do with Dramatic Finishes in the future.

And that’s everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed sitting through my nerdy listing habit. This was a lot of fun, going through all these Dragonball moments, remembering this and that and finding the most epic things each of our favorite characters have done. This isn’t even touching the iceberg for most of the cast, but if they do someday decide to give more of the rosters Dramatic Openings, none of these would at all be a bad place to start.

But if you think I’ve got the wrong idea, let me know. If there’s some moments you think would be better, give ‘em a try! Keep playing FighterZ if you have it, and simply stay Sparking if you don’t. The sky’s the limit for Dragonball, maybe even farther, and sometimes I think we haven’t seen anything yet!

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yourdailykitsch · 5 years

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Taylor Kitsch on '21 Bridges' and Taking Pride in 'John Carter'

The actor, who has experienced ups and downs, notes his high-profile Disney flop has had a "mini-resurgence" in recent years: "People stop me all the time for that."

[This story contains spoilers for 21 Bridges]

Taylor Kitsch takes everything in stride — including his career. The 21 Bridges star became an overnight sensation in 2006 via NBC’s critically lauded TV series Friday Night Lights, whose devout following refused to let the football drama die after each underviewed season. Because of his breakout role as fullback/running back Tim Riggins, Hollywood quickly created movie star expectations for Kitsch, but once his first two blockbusters, John Carter and Battleship, vastly underperformed at the box office, Hollywood quickly threw the baby out with the bathwater. Fortunately for Kitsch, he soon found his footing with a string of well-reviewed performances including HBO’s The Normal Heart, Lone Survivor and True Detective.

While Kitsch couldn’t control the expectations placed on him, he appreciates the ups and downs as well as the continued opportunities to jump back and forth between leading man and character actor. In his latest movie, 21 Bridges, Kitsch plays a supporting role as Ray Jackson, a war veteran and small-time criminal who’s being hunted by veteran police detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman). Soon, Kitsch will return as the lead in Neill Blomkamp’s Inferno.

“I could honestly give a fuck if I’m fifteenth on the call sheet or first,” Kitsch tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I see myself as a character actor first, and it really boils down to that. I love coming in and playing a flashy guy like Ray and supporting Chadwick… So, I have no problem doing one scene if it’s something worthy or something that makes me uncomfortable.”

Oddly enough, Kitsch has noticed a recent resurgence for Disney’s John Carter, one of the films that didn’t meet box office expectations.

“I think it got another life when it went on Netflix not long ago… People stop me all the time for that, especially in Europe,” Kitsch says. “Maybe, at the time, it was more of a knee-jerk reaction of ‘let’s see how we can bury this and everyone that has a part in it.’ Over time, I think you take a breath and understand that it is what it is... I guess people who watch it now for the first time can take a lot more away from it than people did at first… I learned a ton on that movie. I honestly don’t see it as a failure.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Kitsch also discusses his upcoming lead role in Neill Blomkamp’s Inferno, his memories from the series finale of Friday Night Lights and his experience on True Detective season two.

My favorite part of movie robberies is the mask choices, and in 21 Bridges, your character, Ray, wears a skull bandana of sorts. If you ever performed your own make-believe robbery, what would be your go-to mask?

Ooh. It’s funny because I do it in Savages as well. There was a long debate — and no one knows this — but we were going to wear old man masks. We screen-tested it, and I was just hoping that [Oliver] Stone would go for it. But, they went away from that, obviously. I would probably do something more enveloping — more like a full head thing. The old man mask — I was dying laughing in it. It’s a little more self-deprecating, and maybe a fuck you to whomever is coming after you. I’d probably go in that kind of direction. Point Break had all those President masks, and that was a lot of fun because you’re along for the ride.

It seems like there’s less and less crime drama these days — at least on the big screen. Do you also get that sense within the industry?

Without a doubt. I notice it with scripts to be honest. It’s the stuff that I grew up on. This is kind of an ode to those thrillers: the Heats, the Serpicos, the Dog Day Afternoons, the Mean Streets. Obviously, I’m not comparing it to those classics, but I think we all know the game has changed with the studios and their direction. I think I’m doctoring up the stat, but I think 21 of the last 22 number-one movies have been superhero, or sequel, or prequel, or something like that. Original content from major studios is getting rarer and rarer to hit theaters. Hopefully, this does well, and we can keep making these types of movies.

There's the cliche that villains or antagonists think they're the heroes of their own story. Actors are also taught to not judge their characters. With that in mind, did you find a way to humanize Ray Jackson even though he’s one of your most ruthless characters?

I think you have to. You have to erase your own judgements like you said. It’s imperative to go in with a clean slate as much as you can. That loyalty with Stephan James’ character, Michael, is a beautifully tragic thing for Ray, and that was my hook into it all. He is a stone-cold killer, but for me, personally, he’s willing to literally die out of loyalty to Michael and the guilt over losing Michael’s brother overseas. There is humanity, and it is gray. You’ve gotta tip the hat to Brian Kirk, our director, as he really gave me the reins and that responsibility to go there with him. We reworked it a bit to infuse that. If Kirk called me and said, “Your character just kill cops,” literally anybody could go do that role. You always want to make it as deep as you can. That’s why we do this.

Ray also reveals he’s in recovery at a certain point in the film. Besides loyalty and guilt, was that character detail another major draw for you since it gave you something else to play?

It was everything. It starts with this stone-cold guy that you don’t think is gonna crack, and to see that, to understand that and to relapse because of the circumstance, that is everything. The scene at the vault was a pivotal scene — to see him start to unravel. He also mentions the loss of Michael’s brother in this moment. This guy is human, and you have to show that.

My screening was so loud that I couldn’t hear Ray’s final line, but it seems like he died trying to take all the blame off of Michael. Before giving your thoughts on his death scene, do you remember the final line?

Of course. It’s “Michael, he’s not like me.” That was two takes. It was one of the last scenes and my only scene with Chadwick (Boseman). That’s literally his last breath. Thankfully, we shot that later in the shooting schedule. Kirk and I really worked on that in the script: what would he say, how do we want to end him and make this an earned beat in the film, especially for Ray. We really didn’t rehearse, but we talked about that moment when I signed on and then we reworked it to that. There was a little bit of luck with Chadwick’s character in that moment, which really grounds it. I think he was gonna lose that gunfight if that innocent guy doesn’t come around the corner. Ray was just trained on those steps. And, just as important, the moment where he lets go of the woman. He’s dying, and he knows it. Ray dragged his hand across a handrail and wall so that Chadwick would follow his blood, giving Michael more time. That’s why Ray told Michael they had to split up; Ray didn’t want to tell him he was gonna die.

You've handled weapons in plenty of past projects. Did you have to do weapons training again, or have you maintained those skills over the years?

You always want to press the refresh button. A lot of these weapons are different as well. It’s repetition, repetition, repetition. I feel I have a good base for it. I feel very comfortable with it, but I don’t really handle weapons unless I’m working or the job calls for it. I don’t do a whole lot of that when I’m at home. I just practice those reloads, learn how to unjam and all those kind of things. You want to be comfortable, and you want it to be a part of you so you don’t even think about it while you’re working and in character. It’s a great tool to have.

Do you ever try to avoid using the same style or moves as Lone Survivor’s Michael Murphy or True Detective’s Paul Woodrugh?

To be honest, I’m not that conscious of it. The characters are just so different. I had the same Navy SEAL teach me the handgun stuff and the M4 stuff — from Lone to True. They just say, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Take your time. You’re in no rush. Make sure you have the target before you shoot.” I think it’s more what’s behind the eyes in that sense. The movements are usually pretty similar if you really train with a gun. Certain people may have their own movement, but SEALS or police officers know the second you pick up a gun if you know what you’re doing or not.

Is 21 Bridges the most night shoots you’ve ever done?

I did a series [Shadowplay] in Europe right after this, and we did a crazy amount of night shoots on that. I don’t wish it on anybody. You literally kind of lose your mind. When you’re a month in, your off-days are messed up because you don’t want to screw up that pattern. You’re doing these scenes at 4 or 5 in the morning. You go to bed at 9 a.m. and you’re up at 2 p.m. or 2:30 p.m., hopefully you can work out first. Then, you’re on set rehearsing the scene during the daylight, and the second it gets dark, you’re shooting it. It’s tough on the crew; it’s tough on everybody. It’s obviously a huge part of this movie since it takes place in five allotted hours. So, you know what you’re signing up for.

When it comes to shooting on location, do you prefer shooting all over a major city, or are you most partial to remote locations around the world?

Whatever suits the script. I will take locations any day of the week over a fucking studio. I’m not a huge fan of studios, but I understand you have to use them. 21 Bridges was all on location, and I love that. It just puts you in the moment, and you’ve got all these factors that you probably wouldn’t have to deal with in a controlled environment.

You're an actor who can be a leading man and a character actor as needed. When making choices at this point, are you less concerned with the type of role as long as the writing, cast and filmmaker are compelling?

Obviously, I’ve had great lows, great highs and this and that. I’ve worked with some amazing people. That’s always been the target — just be scared, be uncomfortable and take risks. My next one with is with (Neill) Blomkamp, and it is the lead. My character is basically in every scene of this movie, but the character and the tone of this is what draws me. I could honestly give a fuck if I’m fifteenth on the call sheet or first. I see myself as a character actor first, and it really boils down to that. While kind of impossible, if David Koresh was seventh on the call sheet, I still would’ve done Waco. I love coming in and playing a flashy guy like Ray and supporting Chadwick, a guy who’s been doing great work and is an even better guy. So, I have no problem doing one scene if it’s something worthy or something that makes me uncomfortable.

Jumping back a bit, I’ve heard a surprising number of people celebrate John Carter in recent years and how it deserved a much better fate. Have you noticed how well Carter has aged?

I think it got another life when it went on Netflix not long ago, maybe a year ago or something, but, yes, to be blunt. People stop me all the time for that, especially in Europe. It’s had a little mini-resurgence. Maybe, at the time, it was more of a knee-jerk reaction of “let’s see how we can bury this and everyone that has a part in it.” Over time, I think you take a breath and understand that it is what it is... I guess people who watch it now for the first time can take a lot more away from it than people did at first. It’s always flattering, and I learned a ton on that movie. I honestly don’t see it as a failure. I have great memories from it, and I still talk to a bunch of the cast. It is what it is, right?

True Detective has helped fill the big screen’s crime drama void, and I actually enjoyed your season from an actor and character standpoint. Was that a great experience regardless of how it was received?

Yeah, it was. I still check in with Nic once in a while to see how he’s doing. Selfishly, probably, because I’d love for him to write me something. (Laughs.) Going back to that first beat, these noir movies or shows aren’t really getting made much, and Pizzolatto is a beast. I’d work with him again in a heartbeat. I loved his process. I watched True Detective Season One, and I remember saying, “This is the kind of stuff I want to be a part of.” Obviously, it worked out, and I’d do it again. But, yeah, I’m a huge fan of Pizzo, and we got along incredibly well. I’m still grateful for that opportunity.

I’m not gonna ask you about a Friday Night Lights reunion or revival since you’ve been pretty consistent about not being interested.

Right. Thank you.

Since the finale is where you’d prefer to leave things, what do you remember most about those final couple scenes of yours with Adrianne (Palicki) and Derek (Phillips)?

It was sombering — metaphorically, literally. Doing that sunset scene on this house they were trying to build is such a metaphor. I like that they left it open, and that’s very FNL. We made the audience work for everything, and I love that process. I try to keep that with me in everything I do. It was just a beautiful moment, and you’ve gotta tip your hat to [showrunner] Jason Katims. He was really receptive to our ideas and applied a few of them. I’m still best friends with Derek Phillips, who was obviously Billy Riggins for five years. He actually came to Prague and visited on my last gig. I’m a big supporter of his, too. We laughed a lot, but it was just sombering, not just with that scene, but because it was over. It was a 5-year run against all odds. I don’t remember a day where we weren’t being told it was going to be canceled. I think we ended up on 25 networks, on 16 different days and at 12 different times. (Laughs.) That allowed me to just enjoy the process because it can be taken away from you in a minute.

Is there a Friday Night Lights cast group text?

No, we’ve moved forward. I'm still in touch with (Kyle) Chandler, Connie (Britton), Derek (Phillips) and (Jesse) Plemons. I wish everyone all the best, and it all ended on great terms.

You touched on it already, but how did Shadowplay go?

Well, I think. I’ve seen a baby teaser of it, and it’s beautiful. I love that period piece. Nina Hoss is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with. The cast is great including Mike C. Hall. It was a long shoot; we were all just exhausted, but I can’t wait to see how it turned out.

What else can you say about Neill Blomkamp’s Inferno?

It’s about a guy who loses everything and will do anything to get it back. There’s some beautiful undertones with addiction and immigration. It’s something that I can’t wait to dive into. It’ll be very challenging; it’s emotionally raw.

#taylor kitsch #21 bridges #Shadowplay #infero #friday night lights #True Detective

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mimiplaysgames · 6 years

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So... Who is going to die in Kingdom Hearts III?

Speculation over the course of how Kingdom Hearts III will play out has been buzzing lately due to certain comments that director Tetsuya Nomura has made during a panel at the latest KH3 demo event (I will spell out those comments after the jump in case anyone just doesn’t want to look at anything spoilery). Now, fans are left to ruminate over the pieces and the reasons why x and x character may kick the bucket.

In this specific discussion, what I have to contribute is the writer’s perspective. Here, I will not attempt to convince anyone as to why x and x character will certainly die. I am instead going to gather supporting arguments for a major character’s death and its disputes, leaving the choice up to whichever lovely person ends up spending the time to read this. The writer’s perspective is one that is certainly overlooked. Instead of only relying on lore and literary analysis, the writer’s perspective is useful in understanding how the Death of a Major Character works, and how it relates to character and plot development, which, unbeknownst to probably many people, are MAJOR factors in deciding who is going to die.

This essay will first define what makes the Death of a Major Character tick and other core writing concepts, and then we will go through each major protagonist and the arguments for/against their deaths based on overall plot progression. What I hope to achieve is to stir discussion. I would love to read anyone’s suggestions or ideas about other arguments or lore that I have overlooked!

All information used in this is canonical, official, and known to the public. No leaked information was used.

So... who will die?

WARNING: Spoilers for the entire series. And one for Game of Thrones and Harry Potter.

ALSO WARNING: Very, very long.

First, a writing lesson! How do you kill off a major character?

1) Death is always foreshadowed. Yes, it is. It doesn’t only serve to create tension or danger as an element on its own. It is a writer’s job to plant seeds of awareness of such a possibility - for the basic reason of avoiding pissing off consumers/readers/viewers/players. Which is bad. All creators/writers/directors/designers strive to avoid doing this.

But wait, what about surprising deaths? Always foreshadowed, too. It can be simple and seemingly innocent, such as a character telling another character to “be careful.” Or it can be unrelated, such as a character reflecting on the loss of something that has nothing to do with death, or a character reflecting on their own dreams for the future. The latter two gives off a sense of heaviness without directly meaning to be. But it is always foreshadowed.

The reason for this is while consumers/readers/viewers/players enjoy being surprised and to be on the edge of their seat anticipating what is coming next, they DO NOT ENJOY being tricked, manipulated, deceived, or betrayed. Death is upsetting, for reasons that are human and natural to all of us. Death of a major character that consumers have gotten attached to is upsetting. Death, being the ultimate finale, robs a character of any promise that we expect them to achieve. Which leads me to the second reason...

2) Death should have meaning. What does this mean? How do you define what makes a death meaningful? Two ways: symbolically and logistically.

The symbolical reason could be anything. It could be a direct symbol of a theme, or a concept. It could be literal of a conversation that same character had moments earlier. It could be a representation of the psychological development of another character related to the dead one.

The logistical reason is related to plot development. The death of one character should make a tremendous impact of the course of another, major character’s development to the point that it affects the plot, or it should dramatically change the course of the plot progression overall. The most shallow plot-related reason to kill off a character is to exemplify the severity of a battle. Challenging a living character’s development and changing the plot structure should be long-term in order for it to have actual meaning.

Robbing the significance of the death of a major character would leave the consumer to accuse the death of existing purely for shock value. As you can probably guess, this is bad. This would upset the consumer purely for the reason of upsetting and emotionally manipulating them - and they are smart enough to realize this.

**If you are on the avant garde side and think that these kinds of rules are limiting of creative expression, I invite you to think about Ned Stark’s death from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin is called a genius for not only challenging our understanding of what it means to define a main character, but for challenging our understanding over how characters are protected by Plot Armor. What you will find is that he did not pull this off by ignoring the above two rules. He just toyed with them. This is an example of how a writer effectively breaks the rules.

**Considering how I said earlier that consumers do not enjoy being tricked, we should quickly cover Nomura’s comments. He said that the ending of KH3 will be difficult to swallow. He said that resolving the fight against Xehanort will have severe consequences, and that “Light will be defeated. [The game] will have a darkness to it.” This was done during a panel discussion, a PR event. This is essentially a business promise to consumers of what to expect in the final product, much like how a writer plants seeds of awareness that death is coming. I have noticed that there are some people who are denying his statements by saying he is trying to trick us on purpose as some sort of stunt. This would put him in a precarious position which could threaten his career, actually. He will then be accused of lying. Overall, while this certainly may be a possibility, it’s a really unstable method that may bring him more consequences than he would expect. I honestly wouldn’t bet that he is lying to us. But what I will do is cover an alternative possibility as to what may happen in case there is no major character death.

Now that we have discussed the mechanics of death in modern storytelling, let’s cover two other concepts: Chekhov’s gun and consequentialism.

-Chekhov’s gun is a term that is credited to Anton Chekhov, a renowned Russian playwright who was at the height of his career in the 1880′s. It essentially states that elements of a story have to be necessary, and that you cannot deliver false promises to readers (remember what I said about consumers hating to be tricked?). The reason it is called Chekhov’s gun is because of a specific example he used: If you were to describe a gun in an earlier chapter, it must go off at a later chapter. Otherwise, forget mentioning it altogether (the only exception in modern storytelling is that a detail mentioned should have something to do with character development - but even so, this character development should have relevance to the plot).

What this means is that story elements that are alluded to need to be resolved, or not be mentioned at all. And if Nomura cares anything about essential elements of storytelling, he will stick by this, unless he wants to throw it out the window for who knows whatever reason.

-Consequentialism is the idea that a character will be important enough to affect the plot in substantial ways. I do not mean as a tool or a plot device either. I mean in such substantial ways that if they were erased, it would demand the majority of the plot to be rewritten. A consequential character is one whose actions actively change the plot or create new scenarios. Consequentialism is very important in determining who is going die because this is normally our first cue as to when a character is finished. In other words, when they stop being consequential, we subconsciously realize that they are no longer useful.

Now that we have covered some core writing concepts, let’s go over a couple of major themes of Kingdom Hearts, which should be considered when mulling over major character deaths.

-Sacrifice: This is present in every. Single. Game. Particularly the willing kind. Sora sacrificing himself to save Kairi, and Riku sacrificing himself to save Sora in the original game. Naminé sacrificing her desire for friendship and connection for Sora, and Riku sacrificing his most precious memories to keep the ones he made in Castle Oblivion in CoM. Roxas and Axel sacrificing their existence for Sora, and Riku willing to sacrifice his friendship in order to keep doing his thing in KHII. Xion sacrificing her existence for Sora in Days. Aqua sacrificing her life for Terra, Ventus choosing to sacrifice his, and Terra’s life being taken away from him in BBS. Riku willing to sacrifice his life for Sora again in DDD.

There is a clear give and take with all of these examples (Sora seems to be the winning character in many of these). Sacrifice is given in order to gain something. A willing sacrifice is indicative of the strength of the heart. This essentially means that if a major character is going to die, it is mostly likely going to be sacrificial, and it will be for a reason.

-Obsession leads to destruction: Obsession or a narrow-mindedness towards a goal or idea essentially leads to destruction of the character who is obsessing or destructiveness of those around them. Riku’s descent into darkness. Terra being possessed. Sora losing his Mark of Mastery exam. The Foretellers turning on each other. Xehanort, being the one to obsess the most, is the sole reason for the destruction of all the worlds (which essentially means that this will be also be a factor in his own destruction).

This could be a compelling reason for why a major character would die. Yes, this implies that a major character would struggle with darkness, but we already know that Kingdom Hearts defines character development through a struggle with dark elements of their own character (darkness in general). Meaningful and deep character development doesn’t exist in any other way in the series.

-Memories hold our bonds: This is certainly indicative of normal human behavior. We form relationships through the memories shared (ex. see Naminé and her lack of friends; see Xion and her lack of existence; see the fact that Xehanort lost his memory and it barely affected his ambitions because he has no friends). To lose memory means that the friendship is therefore broken, and it becomes non-existent, as if it never happened. This is not related to death directly, but it is something to bring up.

Now it’s time to get into the meat and bones of all of this, and the reason why you’re reading this essay in the first place. First, a disclaimer: As stated before, I am not attempting to predict what is definitely going to happen in Kingdom Hearts III. I am merely collecting reasons for/against character deaths. This is meant to be a reference, a resource for readers, to either contribute a different perspective or to ignite further discussion. Look at it as a starting point, if you want.

Let’s move on to the characters. First, our main contenders.

Sora

Support for: No, NOT OUR PRECIOUS. But seriously, considering how so many characters have sacrificed something for him, where is the return on investment? WE KNOW that Sora is willing to sacrifice himself for others. He always tries, that’s what makes his heart so strong. From a theoretical standpoint, Sora is the main hero - the one to go on the longest journey. According to Joseph Campbell, the professor of literature who wrote The Hero of a Thousand Faces, the hero’s journey is marred by a significant event that depicts the death of the hero as the end of that journey, which is found in the majority of mythologies and most fantasy stories. Just think about any fantasy hero who went through a literal death or a symbolical one after his achievements. Furthermore, Sora views the Keyblade as a tool to give everyone else a chance to be happy. Who is one of the people that he wants to make happy? Roxas. We already know that messing with hearts in general bring grave consequences - we haven’t seen something positive come out of that. It is also implied that he needs to wield darkness to do it based on the trailers. What if bringing Roxas back means that Sora can no longer exist? Or, try a different scenario. What if sealing Kingdom Hearts requires a blood sacrifice? What if using the Key to Return Hearts requires a sacrifice? If Sora had the choice to make another person happy, and bless them with a peaceful life, HE WILL DO IT, no matter the cost. He views himself as part of something bigger. He already has an understanding, then, of how big this truly is. He is the one character who will be the quickest to give himself up for others. Furthermore, Sora will eventually achieve Mastery, since he is on that path anyway. Beyond that, what is left for him?

Dispute(s): Despite what Campbell says, many contemporary stories usually reward heroes for their good deeds. It’s a particularly cruel disposition to kill Sora, considering how benevolent, kind, warm, and necessary he is. He accepts others as they are, with no judgment and no expectations. He is the healing source that others need. If anyone needs a connection or a bond to get them through things, it’s Sora that they can rely on. If there is a character that is the true representation of happiness and hope, it’s Sora. I understand that Nomura said that the ending will be difficult - but Kingdom Hearts is not a nihilistic series. In other words, the tone and mood of the series is not designed to bring us a completely destructive and hopeless ending - this is the same as tricking the consumer (hence, why tone is so important in writing). I am aware that this point does not protect Sora from death, which is indicative of how hard it was for me to find legitimate reasons against it - however, I will get back to him at the end of the essay.

Riku

Support for: No, NOT OUR OTHER PRECIOUS. Riku is Sora’s foil, Sora’s shadow, Sora’s other half. Symbolically, Sora and Riku are two halves of the same coin. Nomura makes tremendous strides in showcasing this throughout the series, and repeating the significance of their friendship. You do not have to be a shipper to notice this - Nomura makes it a major theme and to deny this is to ignore the primary source material. The two even appear together in any game they are a part of - even if separate, one is doing something for the other. In other words, they cannot be separated even when fighting or when physically distant. The reason why I mention Sora is because Riku considers himself as someone who has to look after him. If Sora were to do something reckless such a sacrificing himself, Riku is the ONE true appropriate character to stop him and take his place. This may be the series’ intended sadness - that death would finally separate the two, as a response to their friendship being such a main element to the story as a whole. It’s not only this factor: Riku’s character arc for the most part is already finished. He has become Master. He has built a resistance to darkness. Aside from his missions, what is there left for him to do? The trailers even show him forsaking his Way to Dawn in exchange for a new Keyblade as representative of his finished development. And still so, he keeps being reminded by Ansem that he will fall anyway. Furthermore, I understand the implication of the fact that they are never separated - it implies the possibility that BOTH of them may die together.

Dispute(s): It is a particularly bitter pill to swallow to kill off a character like Riku. Of all the characters, Riku is the one to offer a sacrifice the most often. While his sacrifices are nowhere near as tragic as the ones given up by the Wayfinder trio, it’s the consistency of his offerings that add a tragic and hopeless element to it. It’s the concept of how he has given up so much already - so why ask him to give up more? However, considering that I am starting this argument with an emotional appeal, it shows that I had trouble finding legitimate reasons against his death, too. But let’s think of a different scenario. Since Riku is Sora’s other half, it stands to reason that Riku is also a fitting replacement as a leader and main hero should Sora sacrifice himself (which is still a separation of the two). But I will get back to Riku at the end of the essay, as well.

Terra

Support for: Whether you think that Terra is a manipulated victim deserving of compassion and understanding or you think that he’s a genuine idiot in desperate need of redemption, Terra is indisputably a wildcard among the cast. The series has been blunt about Aqua and Ventus’ whereabouts, but purposely kept mum about Terra’s. This secrecy lends to several different and conflicting theories about his whereabouts and his return. He is the one character closest to Xehanort, and therefore may play a large role in the death of the primary antagonist. And while Terra sacrificed his body and ability to live, it wasn’t done so willingly - it was taken from him by force. So where is his contribution in accordance to one of the main themes of the series? Let’s consider a couple of scenarios, such as the theory that Xehanort is still using Terra’s body. Considering that the Master has failed in expunging Terra’s heart from the body, what if Terra was the one to bring Xehanort down with him, in some heroic suicide? Another theory suggests that Master Xehanort and Terra-Xehanort are two of the 13 Seekers of Darkness, as though they are separate entities. If that is the case, then we know that Terra’s whole body and heart have traveled in time to be one of the 13, so what does that mean for Terranort’s elimination? If Terra is Ansem’s Guardian, then that is a fractured heart given up to darkness. Since that has already been destroyed before, destroying it again would be inconsequential to the plot as a whole, so this particular one wouldn’t matter to the overall plot. Keep in mind that these are current theories based on current information. Considering the instability of the lore of the series as a whole (aka, all the retconning), it is quite possible that Nomura may come up with elements that we are completely blind to in order to make sense of Terra’s return and eventual sacrifice. But the main reason why he is associated with death is because Xehanort will eventually die - and Xehanort is an obsessive character, whose own obsession puts Terra at risk.

Dispute(s): Considering that death should have meaning to it, there seems to be a robbery of it by finishing Terra off. In other words, what is the point exactly of Sora and/or Riku going through all the trouble of saving Terra if he is going to die anyway? It’s labor with no reward, which cheats the consumer (especially a video game player, whose storytelling experiences are tied with achieving goals in a game). Furthermore, unlike the Destiny trio, the Wayfinder trio haven’t received the reunion that they so desperately want. We know they want this, and we have an expectation that it will happen, and while it may be tragic to take this away from them, it is taking it away from them purely for tragedy’s sake (shock value/emotional manipulation of the consumer). Continuing on this trend, there are certain suggestions that Terra has a definitive role to play that will rob him of meaning if he were to die. He promised to set things right to Aqua and Ventus as his lingering and fractured emotions and thoughts stayed with his armor. Aqua sacrificed herself for him to give him a fighting chance. Robbing him of both his promise and his chance ruins the promise made to the consumer that it will happen. While this does not necessarily protect him from death (meaning, he could die after he fulfills his duties), the probability of him dying lessens to a significant degree if he is brought back to redeem himself because his character arc suddenly switches to being the fixer as a foil to Xehanort - unless of course KH3 makes subtle threats to his life again, in which case Xehanort has reason to kill him if he is an efficient foil.

We have gotten through the most likely characters, so let’s continue on to other contenders.

Ventus

Support for: Ventus is easily the largest question mark in the entire cast. What started out as a simple concept has become complicated as KHUX dropped a bomb on us and revealed that Ventus existed during an age eons ago. We don’t know what Ventus knows. We don’t even know if it’s the same Ventus as we recognize him. Undoubtedly, according to Chekhov’s gun, whatever Ventus knows, or whatever his contributions are to the events in KHUX, they will be tied to his role in KH3. What remains to be seen is how this is related to the possibility of Ventus dying. What we do know, however, is that he is willing to accept death if it means that it would benefit the worlds. What we also know is that Ventus’ plot progression cannot be discussed without the inclusion of Vanitas (quite a strange conundrum - what did Ventus do in the past to be able to give birth to such a spiteful, angry, hateful darkness? Yes, I am aware of the novels - more on that later). I will discuss Vanitas a bit more in detail next, but it depends on whether Vanitas can be purified - or will Ventus have to kill (at least a part of) himself? The union of Ventus and Vanitas also keeps being implied to being (somewhat) catastrophic. We don’t know it as anything else otherwise. So if their union is no longer necessary to form x-blade, then what does it mean now? If he is not necessary, then why is Xehanort trying so hard to find him? Not only this, but considering Ventus’ immaturity, and inability to gain personal experience because of sleep, this puts him as the one most vulnerable to be obsessive to fix a problem or to hyper-focus on saving Terra and Aqua (and obsession leads to destruction).

Dispute(s): As part of the Wayfinder trio, Ventus will be motivated to fight for a reunion, which keeps being referred to (and therefore it will happen). Not only this, but we know now that Ventus and Vanitas are not necessary anymore to form the x-blade, so therefore are no logistical means for Ventus to die either (under the ignorance of his involvement in KHUX). While the union of Ventus and Vanitas was implied to be harmful before, now that they are no longer the means of forging the x-blade, there is a possibility that the danger of their union is now just a red herring. It could be reduced to nothing more than Ventus needing to keep control of himself (much like how Terra needs to regain control of himself).

Let’s divert our attention to quickly cover...

The Case of Vanitas

Vanitas is in a precarious position, being that he has two distinct characterizations. The primary source material (the games) depict him as sadistic, unsympathetic, and incredibly spiteful. If he was acting selfishly - if he wasn’t following Xehanort around - Vanitas could be described as a sociopath. The secondary source material (the novels) depict him as a victim of horrible abuse with his own twisted perception of the world and of his relationship to Ventus. He has a need to merge with Ventus in order to feel whole (we have to keep in mind that we CANNOT call the novels an adaptation - that’s an abuse of the word and its definition). These kinds of characterizations are incredibly different and seemingly conflicting. They certainly can work together if KH3 plays its cards right and spends the screen time. However, for the majority of players who have never been exposed to the secondary material (and if KH3 never explores it), a redemption arc for Vanitas will not make sense. What does this mean? Death. In relation to Ventus, we can see this as Vanitas having to “die” as we know him in order to be whole again, or Ventus possibly dying in order to rid the world of Vanitas. Vanitas is also an obsessive character, who, similar to Xehanort is to Terra, puts Ventus at risk through his own obsession.

Let’s get back to our main focus.

Lea & Isa

Lea and Isa’s history is parallel to Sora and Riku’s, where Nomura explores how he defines a friendship that failed to stay together. I am not going to suggest that both of them have to die together, but being that they are linked, I am hoping to tackle our last likely contenders all at once.

For Lea -

Support for: Ah, to kill off our lovable, red-headed, fiesty know-it-all is an easy way to make players sad. It would certainly have a tragic element to it considering Lea’s history and how he was forced to work for Xemnas. But more importantly, it’s his role as that extra, new Keyblade wielder. There are 7 Guardians of Light, and while most people will include him on this list, his gray morality and overall consequential role to the plot dilutes the definition of a Guardian in comparison to a character like Terra. I am not suggesting that Lea is incapable - merely that he is an oddball in comparison to the rest. He is also just so willing to be sacrificial as well - he considered sacrificing his life for Roxas, and ended up doing so for Sora. The other characters will spend time questioning his morality, and what better way to prove the strength of his own heart? It may not even go down this way. He could be collateral damage in the final battle, á la Fred Weasley.

Dispute(s): Killing him off may subject Nomura to a certain anger from the fandom, partly because there isn’t a real convincing foreshadow to his death. While yes, he will always be there to get have his friends’ back (even if it means standing in the way of fire), many suggestions related to Lea are arguably related to hope. This promise of having his friends’ back was made to Roxas, indicating a role that Lea will play in getting Roxas back (or at the very least, a factor in Ventus’ development). We also know that he is slowly remembering Xion, and so his existence will play a factor in this, too. In other words, Lea is very much the support character that many of the others will need to rely on. The suggestion that he may be collateral, especially if there is no meaning to it, would easily put him in the shock value category. In other words, what purpose would killing him serve? What message does that send? Also, the term “lea” means “an open area of grassy and arable land (suitable for growing crops).” Lea is the earth that supports the Salt Ice Cream trio, who also have not been given their reunion (more on Roxas and Xion later).

For Isa -

Support For: The name Isa is the Arabic form of Jesus, and a name like this is quite on the nose. While we may use literary analysis to sympathize with Isa as to how he was manipulated into the Organization, and how he is being controlled by Xehanort, Isa is not designed to be sympathetic. He is bossy, mean, rude, cold, and jealous. He has done nothing so far, like Riku, to redeem himself, and this puts him the gray area of being irredeemable so close to the end. His bond with Lea is deeply fractured, as they are two former friends fighting on opposite sides of a war. If Evil Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, were to fix this fracture, considering that he does not show qualities that would paint him as deserving of Lea’s loyalty, a willing sacrifice for the purpose of saving or protecting Lea seems fitting in this case. His death would also support Lea’s survival.

Dispute(s): He is another character that I had trouble finding legitimate reasons to spare, but let’s consider the mark of the Recusant’s Sigil on his face. Any other time we see this sigil, it’s through a temporary means - clothing, magic attacks, or a rearrangement of a name. Isa is the only one to bear it on such a permanent level (by normal human’s standards). The series makes a point, however, that even the body is malleable. Since we do not know the full role the Recusant’s Sigil will play in KH3, and how Isa in particular will relate to this, sparing his life can enrich our understanding of it. However, I recognize that the Recusant’s Sigil theory supports the idea that he will save Lea (and thus betraying the Organization), which fits the idea that he will die more so than he will live. I also recognize that Isa is not necessary at all to understand the meaning of the Recusant’s Sigil - that falls directly on Luxu and the Master of Masters.

But wait, x and x character are not on this list! What gives?

Let’s trudge through the last few characters, who are either highly unlikely to die or fit into a weird definitive space.

TRIGGER WARNING: Keep in mind that I will cover two very controversial characters in this section, and I WILL address their controversy and lightly touch upon why they are controversial. You know who these are. If you are a fan, keep in mind that I am discussing the writing process - colloquially yes, but academically. I have to be critical where it is appropriate and required. I expect this to be understood.

Kairi

Support for: Let’s get two concepts out of the way: First, Kairi is the kind of character that writers will create to fulfill incredibly specific purposes That’s putting it nicely. If you want me to be frank and use my education* to define her, she is a plot device. This cannot be disputed considering the massive amounts of evidence - but that’s an entirely different, very long lecture on its own. All writers create plot devices - many will spare a character from fulfilling that role by creating an object instead, like the One Ring, the Elder Wand, dragons - but in Kingdom Hearts... well congrats, Kairi. Her whole existence in KH3 is going to be tied to the summoning of Kingdom Hearts, due to her being a Princess of Heart. This does not mean that she is consequential to the overall plot - it only means that, for Xehanort, she is one of the tools needed to forge the x-blade (consequentialism, agency, and character development in relation to the series are also entirely different lectures on their own - if anyone wants to learn more, I’d be happy to indulge). Furthermore, she is the only character to not have sacrificed anything. Secondly, let’s go back to Chekhov’s gun. The one element that every game alludes to is Kingdom Hearts. It is discussed among other characters what they think it means, or what they think it does. But the truth is, we have never seen it in action. Definitions of Kingdom Hearts come from an age of fairy tales, diluted from time and misunderstanding. So, we don’t actually know what it does or what’s inside aside from a vague description that it’s the light of all worlds. It has been unattainable to us this entire time. This heavily suggests that it will be summoned so that we can finally see it. It means we will get a chance to see the x-blade in ACTION, since we don’t know what that looks like, either. And for Kairi, she is going to be consumed. We don’t know if that means death, per se, or if she and the other Princesses will be part of a ritual. Nomura did say that light will be defeated - since Kairi is indicative of pure light, then his statement pretty much defines itself. However, considering that it seems so certain that she will be consumed, why is she in this category?

Dispute(s): I have mentioned before that the series is not designed to be nihilistic, hopeless, or full of despair. An ending like the summoning of Kingdom Hearts with no resolution is the same as betraying the consumer - it is unsatisfactory, given the amounts of efforts players have put into achieving happy, bittersweet, or hopeful endings. We may witness a catastrophe happening, and the 7 Guardians may fail to stop the summoning (thus, Nomura’s statement about light being defeated can be interpreted this way), but it cannot stay a catastrophe. This robs all of the main characters from their goals. If catastrophe was truly the ending that the series was pertaining to, it would have been foreshadowed through its tone already, beyond the Master of Master’s Book of Prophecies. Tone is everything. And it’s a Disney game. What this essentially means is that we will see a reversal of fortune in relation to this in some form. Maybe the worlds will all blend together, or maybe they will stay apart. Who knows. But it’s definitely not all death and despair. In relation to Kairi, it means that she may have to be saved by Sora and company (which may end up leading to Sora’s death) as a means of sealing Kingdom Hearts. In other words, she’s a retconned key to unlock Kingdom Hearts, and a retconned key to lock it back up again (going back to calling her an object and all - and if it wasn’t her, it really could have been anybody). Going back to her lack of sacrifice, it makes no sense that she would willingly sacrifice herself to choose to summon Kingdom Hearts. Not only this, but if pure light is needed to rebuild the world (and since we know of no other young children), the light of the Seven Princesses may be necessary here. I do recognize the possibility that Kairi may choose to sacrifice herself for Sora, but since she has no character development, this truthfully is going to hold little value to many fans since there has been no foreshadowing to this. There would also be a lack of meaning here in comparison to a character who is already closely tied to the theme of sacrifice (such as Sora, Riku, Ventus, etc).

What I mean to say is that MEANING can only be created through characters who are active in the plot and undergo well-developed character development. This is because this gives us, the consumers, a reference point so that we can determine what is meaningful in relation to the events in the overall personal journey that a character went through. And no, training to fight is not personal development. That is shallow development, because actual personal development would deepen and challenge our understanding of her. In other words, she will be the same person despite her training, because training is not a personal trial for her - she will continue to be someone who loves her friends, someone who wants to be involved, a broken record, etc. This is emphasized over the fact that Kingdom Hearts defines character development to be tied to struggling with darkness considering how all the other characters developed. She’s pure of light with no darkness. This means that sacrifice or death for her is just not fitting to give to her as a role and cannot create meaning, unless you want to make this a symbolic tie to how light in general has disappeared. It can very easily argued and challenged by skeptics though that this is still a shallow symbolic tie because her light doesn’t MEAN anything in terms of behavior, psychology or plot development. It’s just a broad, vague concept that was ignored for most of the series. This is inconsequentialism. This also suggests that if she were to die, it would be meaningless (therefore, shock value).

Meaning for her specifically doesn’t exist, but it does for Sora. What this means is that yes, she can die, but it holds no message for us as consumers. It would be a plot device to drive Sora, which is something that I don’t think Nomura will go for, mainly because Square is already aware of the backlash that can happen by fridging a female character for the sake of a boy. Especially a flat character. That suggests that she has no purpose to exist except for Sora, and Square already went through this song and dance with all the controversy surrounding Final Fantasy XV. Fridging her also cheapens her death from any real meaning because it’s all meant for Sora’s development without saying anything about her, since she has no development. Again, this is shock value - especially if it’s going to happen in the end of the game.

It terms of actual meaning and consequentialism, this brings me to...

Aqua

Support for: I found little in support of her death. Considering that there is no foreshadowing to it, and that despite consistently wanting to give up in the Realm of Darkness, BUT SHE NEVER DOES - the only way for her death to have any meaning is if Terra and Ventus were to die as well. Then she could rejoin them in the afterlife, and that could be their reunion. In this vein, yes, this would essentially mean that Terra and Ventus are safe from death through their association with her.

Dispute(s): Aqua defines herself as a wayfinder to others, someone to be a guide. In relation to Sora and Riku, she is the ONLY other character to fit as a leader. She is incredibly consequential to the plot, being that she is the only one who knows what happened to Terra and she is the only one who knows where Ventus is. In other words, she is one of the most important characters to the plot progression of KH3. Plus, any references to her character progression have been positive, about how she will push forward, how she will be a light to others. Yes, she could die after the fulfillment of her duties, if Nomura really wants to be depressing, but this could draw possibly the most ire from fans. This would be mainly because of the lack of meaning. What is the point of saving her if she is going to die? Hasn’t she suffered enough? What about the Wayfinders? Isn’t their purpose to represent an unbreakable connection? What is the point of that connection if she dies? It is not that she is more deserving to live than other characters, such as Sora or Riku. It has more to do with the reality that we expect the Wayfinder trio to reap some sort of reprieve after all they went through. We expect this because the series has always given back to those who have sacrificed enough. Killing her would therefore be done for shock value for the purpose of saddening fans. Since this is still a Kingdom Hearts game we are talking about, just because it will be a darker game doesn’t mean that the game is going to be a total curveball. Unless of course, Nomura wants to change the tone of it and turn it into a curveball for the purpose of shocking fans - which will not fly by many. Fans are smart enough to notice.

Here is where I get apprehensive, though - Nomura has already shown to be emotionally manipulative, so it doesn’t mean that Aqua is totally safe. Which brings me to...

Roxas & Xion

Support for: So, I have just finished explaining how the series is forgiving to characters who are sacrificial enough, and of course these two will spring to mind. Of any character that underwent a death already and been revived in some form, Roxas and Xion are two who have yet to come back. There are many fans who think they shouldn’t. Fans like these are aware that their return may serve no purpose. This is the concept of consequentialism in action. Roxas was consequential until he wasn’t anymore. Xion was inconsequential to the plot as a whole, which means that her character had only one specific purpose: to be emotionally manipulative to the player (do not take this as criticism of her if you are a fan - if she serves no role to the plot, then this is the only reason left for her existence. I am speaking of the writing process here, not her personally). Inconsequentialism is the fancy academic term why some fans accuse their return as fanservice. They are asking: what purpose do these two characters serve? What meaning does their existence, their living, really have? The truth is that it will all be tied to Sora. Xion is tied directly to Roxas and her return would not be possible without him because no one remembers her. Sora wants Roxas back. How does this relate to their deaths? If we can assume that bringing Roxas back (and therefore Xion by extension) is risky, then that means that their return is in conflict with Sora’s safety. But this is conflict beyond just the surface-level understanding that Sora is in danger - here we have inconsequential characters threatening the existence of a consequential one. Overall, on paper, it sounds like a bad idea. So what does death look like for them? Either Nomura will make Sora fail to bring Roxas (and by extension, Xion) back, or he succeeds at a huge cost to himself, and Roxas and Xion will make the willing sacrifice to spare him.

Dispute(s): Roxas and Xion really fit into a strange space, because much like how meaning is stripped if the Wayfinder trio die, there will be a feeling of emptiness if Sora put all this effort into bringing Roxas back only to be fruitless in his efforts. It also contradicts the concept of Chekhov’s gun entirely - especially in Xion’s case. For a character that the plot says everyone forgot, BBS, Re: Coded, and DDD all make an effort to remind us that she still exists. She will return, and because this can only happen through Roxas, Roxas will return (unless Nomura really just wants to toss this concept out the window, of course). I have already mentioned earlier that Riku serves to be a fitting replacement as leader in place of Sora should Sora kick the bucket. Roxas is a character that can appropriately fit this role as well, a counterpart to Sora. Another scenario is that Sora finds a different way, a way through light, in order to bring them back so their return doesn’t have to threaten him. We do not know if the Key to Return Hearts will be used to bring Kingdom Hearts back to its former glory, or if it allows the wielder to split hearts into two with no consequences, or how data plays a role in building Roxas and Xion bodies. All of these are possibilities.

Naminé

Support for: She is another character that exists in a strange cloud of space. Unlike Roxas and Xion, her return is not guaranteed, given that Kairi has no expressed interest in finding her. Other characters seem to go on the assumption that she is gone for good. The last time we saw her, it was a data-copy. Instead of really dying, evidence points to her never coming back at all.

Dispute(s): It seems a bit out of character for someone like Sora to never consider bringing her back in some way, even though there has been no indication that her heart is with him. If he wants to make everyone happy, then surely isn’t Naminé included? He also wanted to thank her personally, as indicated when he chased her in DDD, only for it to be a dream. If she doesn’t come back, then he never gets that chance - although that could be a tragic reality as a consequence of messing with the heart. Being that there has been no indication of her coming back, this is a small tragedy that can certainly happen, since we are not expecting her to.

And here is where we finish with going through all the characters.

Well, what if no one dies?

Ever since these kinds of doomsday comments by Nomura, it has been a doomsday response by many fans. Which is ironic, considering that death really doesn’t mean much in Kingdom Hearts, even for someone like Ansem the Wise, who was right next to an explosive device and he survived anyway. So what is left? Here is one idea that I will argue may happen, which include arguments as to why I personally believe that one or both of them may die:

Sora and/or Riku will lose all their memories

I write this under my personal expectation that if any characters are going to be the ones to sacrifice the most, it will be Sora and/or Riku.

In Kingdom Hearts, losing memories is worse than losing a limb, and is equivalent to dying. The whole purpose of existing, and the whole point of having a heart is to feel feelings and to build relationships with one another. Sora and Riku are two characters whose friendship we have watched develop the longest. Sora has been together with Donald and Goofy almost the entire time. Similarly, Riku is tied to Mickey. This tie to the most iconic Disney characters of all time is indicative of just how their characters define the meaning of Kingdom Hearts as a whole. If you want to pick something to be representative of all of Kingdom Hearts’ themes, it’s them. Like a Greek choir telling us the story. Like Rosencratz and Guildenstern, but way more involved (sorry, obscure Hamlet reference). What I am saying here is that many fantasy stories will rely on characters that act as twins, or represent twin-like concepts, whose relationships are indicative of how the nature of the plot is going. Examples? Merry and Pippin. Cersei and Jaime Lannister. Fred and George Weasley. C-3PO and R2-D2. Cecil Harvey and Kain Highwind. With characters like these, you look for when they are separated, when they are together, how they are feeling, what they are facing, their commentary on the events around them, the decisions they make, etc. The genius of Kingdom Hearts is that it’s the main heroes who also fulfill this role. It’s a lot of pressure.

One of them losing their memories severs the friendship that we have spent the longest observing. We know that this will be considered a huge loss to either of them. If both of them lose their memories, it severs their many connections to EVERYONE else. It has meaning because it’s a testament to what the cost of protecting the light is supposed to mean, especially from characters who have done so much for everyone else already. This testament is especially true for Sora, whose entire purpose is to build connections and to heal others - to make them smile, and it acknowledges that his heart is connected to everyone else. His friends are everything to him, and losing his memories is therefore a huge loss.

This testament is true for Riku, who for Sora is a figure meant to look after him - someone that Sora has expected all his life to be there, and to lose this friendship would be a tremendous loss to Sora if he survived it. It holds meaning because far beyond anything we have ever seen Kingdom Hearts do, this is truly the meaning of death and loss, done in a way that is meant to make us able to recognize that, yes, this is very bad. It is a resolution that would acknowledge why Nomura puts such a strong emphasis on the two of them, including how he tried to tie “Dearly Beloved” to them. Death or loss of memory is truly tragic in this case. It can be argued that loss of memory is worse than death, because at least the dead are grieved over.

So, that’s all that I have. I would LOVE to hear other people’s ideas for other alternatives to death! Who do you think is going to die and why? What kind of lore would you tie into those theories?

If you read all the way here, THANK YOU for getting through this monstrosity!

*In case anyone wanted to know my credentials, I graduated with a degree in Creative Writing/Literature and Psychology from a prominent and respected university in this field in Florida.

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slingsendarrows · 6 years

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I have coloreds in my family😒😒

Let me preface by saying Duncan, British Columbia is a predominantly white city. So much so when a person of color, especially a black person, moves into town the attention and active noticing is palpable. This is not necessarily an issue because headphones exist, my playlist is fire and my ignore game is always on 💯. I stare right ahead and go about my business as if my blackness does not matter (it does) and make no obeisance with regards to comforting the Whites with my presence.

My race experiences in western Canada have been more about willful ignorance than stupid hate. I’ve moved in majority white spaces most of my life and on most days, we good. I don't feel anxiety or tension with regards to the space I occupy and how I move in it. However, some experiences leave you questioning your senses and the limitations of logic and reason.

I recently took a part-time job at the local liquor store. Needless to say, I am the only black employee and in addition to the First Nations lady, the only other person of color. Today a customer dropped by to make his selection of alcoholic purchases, and as I was ringing him up, he decided to strike up a conversation. Most of these interactions involve asking, "Is that all for you? Did you find what you needed today?" Followed by bland responses such as "Yes, I did. Thank you!" and "What dreary weather we're having."

But today was different. This disheveled gentleman started off by saying, “So, how long have you been in Duncan?” Subtext: “You’re a Black I haven’t seen before. I make it a point of knowing all the Blacks because you know, I’m a White who is down with Blacks and I need all Blacks to know I am racially/culturally aware. At first my dumbass was unaware of what was happening and figured this was going to be regular cashier/customer banter, so I responded, "The first time or this time around? I just moved back to the island." Which of course he ignored, barrelling onward to his main point, "There are not a lot of colored people in town, and I usually know when there are new dark people." That's when I clued into the fact I was dealing with a particular level of white ignorance and casual racism.

"I grew up in Texas," I responded. His face changed slightly, disappointed I hadn’t provided a more exotic point of origin. A probability I instinctively gleaned from his "dark" choice of words. Normally, I am happy to share my heritage, but I was not going to give this White the satisfaction of other-ing me. Because let's face it, he does not give a shit about where I am from really. He just wants to make sure I fit in his ready-made box: black, dark, Africa, got it, I know things. This was not my first rodeo.

Like most of his kind in these situations, he would be damned if he couldn't relate and show he understood this Black. He is always, after all, for the Blacks. So he found another path to connect. "My son is married to a black woman from Texas. She's the same color, dark as you." Why does it always boil down to color? Because that is the whole-ass point of these Whites doing this shit. They want you to know, to really see, that they don't care about color by pointing out your color and assuming all it represents, meaning they care about color. Like I said, racial biases, like racism, are inherently stupid. "Which part of Texas?" he forged ahead.

"Dallas." At this point, all smiles were gone, and I just needed him to get the fuck out of my face. But it was a slow morning, and the universe often conspires to test my patience. "That's where she's from!" his face brightening up excitedly. Dammit, dammit, fuck! I should have said White Settlement. I saw his next statement coming like we all saw the Drake-secret-baby-blow-up coming. "Do you know (her name)?" he continued. "Dallas is a large city. Many people live in Dallas," I tried, offering him a logical life raft in my most Marvin voice (R.I.P. Alan Rickman). He laughed it off like it was a minor inconvenience. As if that would not impede my ability to know of this particular Black. Forget the geographical size of Dallas and the population therein. Let's consider age group, peer circles, or time period. When was she in Dallas? For how long? Common sense would not deter this White. He acted, as most Whites of his kind are prone to, as if there is a newsletter distributed to all Blacks announcing a weekly prayer circle, led by Oprah with Beyoncé directing the choir (if only).

Luckily another customer appeared and he departed with, "You should look her up on Facebook," laughing merrily as he exited the store. And hopefully from the rest of my life. I frustratingly mused over all the petty and trolling retorts I could have used. "Do you know Mr. Rogers, he's a white man that filled up my gas this morning? He lives in Duncan. You should look him up!" NOT ALL BLACK PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER, WHITES!!!.

The fact that this has happened to me more times than I can count is fucking frustrating. And yet, the Whites keep doing this shit and expecting me to skip along to this false play of racial-wokeness as if I am not aware it is bullshit, disingenuous, and lazy. But I have to be polite and understanding. Take their hand and let them know, I understand they did not mean to be so racially stupid and inept, and accept this level of daftness because they mean well, or their old, and oh, did I mention this town is so white. I’m done with all that. Now I am trolling the Whites as a public service. The only way I figure they will see how ridiculous this ultimately is if I am just as ridiculous. You're welcome, Whites!

After such experiences, I often conduct a social experiment by sharing it with the black and white people in my life. The moment I start this story, black people already know where I am going and how it plays out. We empathize for the moment, chagrined by the prevalence of such idiocy, and shrug, knowing it is unlikely to change and tomorrow will be more of the same.

White allies, however, will go out of the way to justify the behavior of their compadres. Whether it's assuming all black people know each other, touching our hair, or using, albeit poorly, the latest black vernacular. Suddenly I need to consider the possibility of dementia, limited interactions with black people, and such an overwhelming fascination with my latest hairstyle they can't resist putting their measly hands on it. The onus is on me to give racially ignorant Whites the benefit of the doubt. Fuck my feelings. Fuck my experiences.

I understand the desire to explain away these behaviors. They don't want to believe this is indeed problematic. They don't want to consider their past actions and similar faux pas could be construed as casual racism. They are not racist. You need to believe them. And if you think this White's specific act is racist, then oh gosh, have I been racist all this time? Yes. The answer is yes.

The fact that you feel I should cater to and understand where you and/or they are coming from more than they need to respect my personal boundaries and not treat my personhood as an extension of their racial awareness/curiosity exposes the arrogance of racial power structures. And that is the problem. That will always be the problem.

I should make it easy for you. I shouldn't complain too much. It’s not a big deal. You wouldn't mind if a stranger put their hands on your hair. As if you can equate our experiences in this larger white supremacist world.

But you have to take responsibility for your part in the system. You may not wear white hoods, march in the streets, hate black people, or burn down churches, but you are perpetuating this dearth of racial understanding when you expect me to justify why strangers shouldn't feel warranted to touch my FUCKING HAIR!!! Why isn't my discomfort and annoyance enough? Why do I have to further rationalize my frustration all while comforting you and parroting back your desire not to be seen as racist?

I honestly wish more people cared about not actually being racist than being perceived as racist. You expect me to educate you on blackness while ignoring my individuality, not to mention Google has been around for over 20 years now. Google it!

You want me to decode why Midler's racist statement was largely well-meant because females have historically struggled similarly to black people? How? Where? When? Were white women stolen, raped, separated from husbands, children, mothers, and fathers enmasse and forced to raise their oppressor's children? Were black women complicit in slavery's stronghold as they condoned the violation of their vagina sisters believing themselves the epitome of beauty and pure womanhood? Was white history erased like black history to the point where a disturbing number of people believe black history begins with slavery, as if Africa is not the birthplace of humanity and we are all descendants thereof? Was it black women’s tears that sent many black men to the lynching tree? Are OBGYNs institutionally disinclined to believe the pain for white expectant mothers as they do black mothers? (Ask Serena Williams). Is there a pernicious angry white woman trope that seeks to dismiss white women's voices? Does the failure of white communities rest solely on the shoulders of white women as does the failure of black communities on black women? Has the feminist movement historically diminished and ignored the unique experiences of white women as it has black women? My color- and vagina-based experiences are not one and the same. And no, your age does not excuse your ignorance and racism, Bette! It really doesn’t.

Stop requiring I make you feel comfortable with my existence and kindly cease and desist this need to justify the causal racism I have had to navigate all my life. Just say, I don't know what that's like (because you don't) and/or I am sorry you had to deal with that. Your desire to explain away these behaviors by fellow Whites just shows how little you actually care about my individual experiences and how much more you would like to comfort and delude yourself into believing faced with the same set of facts we are all enduring the same experiences. No, the fuck we are not!

It's okay to say you don't know or understand. Diminishing my experiences because in your heart of hearts you want to believe that this racist experience was well-intentioned adds an unnecessary burden to an already burdensome life.

White privilege isn't about freedom from hardship. We all have difficulties and challenges in our lives. But we also all share certain levels of privilege (i.e. being able to read and write, having a job, access to health care, ability to travel and explore, eating regularly, clean water, etc.). White privilege is about exemption from specific experiences by virtue of skin color. Nobody questions your nationality even if you are a first-generation whatever; nobody assumes your behaviors and attitudes the minute they see you; nobody is worried about you being a terrorist based on your religious beliefs (can we talk about The Crusades or more recently, colonial evangelism?). You are you. I just want to be me.

Actual knowledge is achieved when we become comfortable in the disquieting discomfort of our limited understanding. I don't know everything. As such, I have learned to simply say, “I don't know enough about this to have an opinion.” And that is okay. Let’s all do the same.

#the whites #black experience #monolithtour

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drsheffieldmd · 3 years

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HERE’S WHAT THESE SEVEN WRINKLE TYPES REVEAL ABOUT WHO YOU ARE

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR WRINKLE TYPE REVEALS ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY.

While wrinkles are usually considered undesirable, they have their benefits and tell the story of what wrinkles reveal about you.

We purchase creams and serums to make sure our creases cannot be seen. But no matter what we do, we’re all going to have a few wrinkles in the end.

But that’s fine – it can be considered as a bonus.

Fine lines are often just as attractive as rosy-cheeked looks. Eye crinkles and laugh lines can often make a person seem more endearing.

In this article, we’ll look at different kinds of wrinkles, the factors that cause them, what you can do to slow their progression, and why you shouldn’t think of them as imperfections. But also what wrinkles reveal about you.

OUR WRINKLE LINES

Most of us are bound to develop ‘the elevens’ at some point in our lives – these are the vertical lines on our forehead that usually pop up when you’re thinking hard about something. Others may develop crow’s feet, which gives them a look of constant joy and emotion.

Here are the most common creases:

Marionette lines: They are vertical lines on the chin. Droopy cheeks lead to the formation of jowl wrinkles

Lip lines: These are vertical hatches located around the lips

Laugh lines: These are also known as nasolabial folds and form a parenthesis-like structure around your upper lip

Crow’s feet: They radiate from your eyes’ outer corners

Worry lines: They come in the form of an ‘eleven’ shape between the eyebrows

Forehead lines: They form horizontal lines across the T-zone’s top.

The furrows or folds bedecking our faces are generally classified into the following categories: static and dynamic.

Static wrinkles: They occur due to the effects of gravity and cause the skin to lose its elastic nature. Wrinkles associated with jowls tend to be static in nature.

Dynamic wrinkles: They occur due to repetitive facial movements. For instance, puckering the lips frequently around a drinking straw can cause these lines.

Over time, dynamic wrinkles transform into regular static wrinkles. The smile lines will morph into nasolabial folds once your cheeks start losing their plumpness with a gentle plummet during your middle age.

WHAT DO YOUR WRINKLES INDICATE ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY

While the appearance of wrinkles has already been researched multiple times, we’re going to deal with another little-known aspect. Did you know that your wrinkles have a message for the world? Instead of rushing to erase them, how about thinking about the revelations they have in store?

Many studies have tried to analyze how people react to a person with facial creases. Some wrinkles can ruin your poker games forever while others can give you God-like bluffing abilities. If you’re a person who wears their emotions on their sleeve and what wrinkles reveal about you, fine lines can amplify the emotions you feel.

They reflect our general disposition

Our faces reflect our emotions even when we’re neutral or resting – wrinkles are actually responsible for this to a great extent, as per the latest research studies.

People with a positive disposition will find it especially true. People who are constantly beaming may develop facial laugh lines/crow’s feet due to smiles that spread to their eyes. It can build their impression as joyful or happy individuals.

THEY MIMIC RBF OR CONTEMPT FOR OTHERS

While some people have a cheerful face by default, others may have default expressions that come off as angry. In fact, ‘Resting Bitch Face’ or RBF is a colorful little phrase to describe the phenomenon of wearing an angry or contemptuous expression by default.

Researchers have looked into this phenomenon closely using a software tool that analyzed hundreds of different facial points for the determination of emotional expressions. This tech revealed that some individuals had an unusually intense look of contempt in their images, even when they were being neutral.

Some wrinkles, such as marionette lines, may accentuate your RBF by making it seem like you have a downturned mouth. Lip lines, worry, and forehead lines generally indicate displeasure with the people or environment around you. This test was devised by the researchers to help you understand if you suffer from RBF.

If the answer comes back as true, it’s time to accept and own it. Remember that you’re not obligated to keep smiling for others all the time. Plenty of celebs have a steely, cold look. But most of them acknowledge that it has helped them many times in their career.

But if you’re in a situation where RBF is of no particular use, slide your mouth’s corners back by a little, evoking a completely neutral face that’s neither a grin nor a scowl. A micro-eye squint can also help you out.

SINCERITY

If you have crow’s feet, don’t be worried – they show people that you’re a genuine person, as per a recent research study.

Duchenne markers are eye crinkles that we occasionally make when we’re expressing strong negative or positive emotions. The mind uses it to determine the strength of your emotions.

As wrinkles are generally a product of repeat facial expressions, having crow’s feet may seem more authentic to others. Bunnies also have a similar effect since our noses are often wrinkled when we wince in agony or make a wide smile.

Wrinkles can actually reveal:

Your sincerity and authenticity

Your resting face

Your default mood

PROTECTING YOUR FACE FROM FOLDS

What wrinkles reveal about you eventually be etched with lines whose severity is dependent on many factors such as lifestyle and genes. While fighting against gravity’s effects or our genetic makeup is a futile task, it is possible to protect ourselves against skin damage, which may cause wrinkles to pop up earlier than expected.

Here are 4 ways to ward off those pesky wrinkles:

Eliminate crease-causing habits

Select products based on your skin quality

Make healthy skincare and lifestyle choices

Repair and protect your skin

Repair and Protect

Did you know that the sun is responsible for an overwhelming percentage of all skin damage-related issues? To protect your skin against the sun, apply sunscreen that has an SPF rating of 35 or higher. Wear UV-resistant sunglasses, hats, and appropriate sporting gear wherever possible to minimize the chances of sun-related skin damage.

Your exposure to the sun adds up over time. It’s best to take no chances and have sunscreen on every time you step outside the house.

Free radicals, UV radiation, and air pollution can cause severe oxidative damage to the body, resulting in premature wrinkle development. Skin damage can be prevented and minimized by using antioxidant-rich serums such as Vitamin C, etc.

Leading a Healthy Lifestyle Can Help Immensely

Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to sleep for 12 hours every day with cucumber slices on your eyelids or cut alcohol out of your lives completely! However, it’s a known fact that people leading a healthy lifestyle often look years younger compared to their peers.

Go wild whenever possible, but always be careful of your limits.

Here’s how you can lead a healthier lifestyle to prevent skin damage:

Reduce your stress levels

Sleep well

Exercise regularly

Avoid cigarettes

Lower your alcohol consumption

Make sure you’re always hydrated

Reduce your sugar intake

Eat a healthy diet

While what you eat has a major impact on your skin, the occasional nachos treat is fine.

Making small changes, such as adding a few anti-aging antioxidant foods to meals and snacks will go a long way. Consume booze and sugar moderately since they can accelerate the body’s aging processes.

Smoking is a hazardous activity that makes you look much older due to all the puckering your lips have to do while smoking, not to mention the toxic chemicals.

Stress reduction, ample rest, and exercise can go a long way in reducing and reversing aging processes in the body. It’s worth it.

Select products after considering the quality of your skin

Our hectic modern lifestyles mean that reducing stress and sleeping 8 hours a day is often a pipe dream for most of us. Chronic illnesses and other factors may hinder you from exercising regularly.

And yes, superfoods aren’t always that pocket-friendly either. Here’s where skincare products can help you out:

If you don’t have any wrinkles yet, keep it simple. Rosehip oil is a powerful multipurpose skincare product that serves as a collagen booster, antioxidant, brightener, and moisturizer simultaneously.

If dry skin is turning out to be an issue, hyaluronic acid-based products can moisturize your skin and boost its elasticity. This will ensure your skin has a plump and pampered appearance.

If your skin has been sagging too much lately, Vitamin C-based serums and retinoids can fight off those creases. They can prevent wrinkles from popping up and reduce your under-eye circles and fine lines. Go for products that use a combination of these two ingredients.

Moisturizing your skin can work wonders. Go for shea butter products that can smooth and soothe your skin to repair damage caused by oxidative stress, thus preventing further creasing issues. It’s also capable of smoothing and softening existing lines on your skin.

Eliminate crease-making habits

Eliminating wrinkle-making habits and making some changes to your behavior can go a long way in helping you retain smoother skin.

Here’s a bunch of stuff you can do:

Stop furrowing your brow or squinting excessively.

Stop rubbing both your eyes.

Don’t rest your forehead, cheeks, or chin in your palms.

Stop squishing your face on your pillow when you sleep.

Sleeping on the back can prevent creases from popping up on your skin. You should also avoid resting your chin and face in your palms when you lie down on your stomach or lean forward while sitting at the table. These positions are known to cause skin creases.

Relax both your brow and forehead while working, reading, or studying. Releasing these two muscles can ease your headaches as well.

If you suffer from allergy-related itchy eyes and other issues, consult a doctor to resolve your issues immediately, so that you stop clawing your face all the time. Wear shades if it’s a bright day. If you find yourself squinting all the time, go for an eye checkup to see whether you need new contacts or glasses, find out what wrinkles reveal about you.

PREVENTATIVE BOTOX

These are botox or botulinum toxin injections that can be used to prevent creases and wrinkles. They have been used for over 20 years now to prevent aging signs from popping up on your face. These procedures are generally done before fine lines and wrinkles start appearing on the skin. Botox happens to be the most widely requested cosmetic procedure carried out in the US.

Injecting Botox before your fine lines get worse can help you nip the problem in the bud. The best candidate for a Botox procedure is a young person who has started seeing faint lines on your skin. Those lines are soon going to evolve into a wrinkle if you don’t deal with them on time.

If you’re in your late 20’s or 30’s, you should consider going for a preventative Botox procedure. People with lines or expressive faces should consider this procedure after the age of 25.

Preventative Botox procedures involve injections made into your face, which prevent wrinkles from popping up.

Botox works well for most patients, provided it’s done by a competent, trained professional. The most commonly reported side effects are bruising, swelling, and pain at the injection site. In some rare instances, Botox may have toxic effects and cause muscle weakness or other complications.

Botox procedures cost between $400 – $700 and aren’t covered by most insurance policies.

The effectiveness of preventative Botox procedures may vary widely. While it won’t eliminate your wrinkles permanently, they’ll be faint enough not to bother you.

WRINKLES ARE ONLY NATURAL

Fine lines are a perfect representation of the best moments of your life that were spent laughing and grinning with joy. Each one of them has a story to tell. Embrace your wrinkles and live with pride – do not be ashamed of who you are and find out what wrinkles reveal about you !

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homestuckexamination · 7 years

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What is Time in Homestuck? What is its function, its purpose, what are timelines, what defines the Alpha and doomed timelines. How do timeloops work?

Time in Homestuck takes from a couple of theories about the workings of Time and Parallel Timelines. So, Time itself doesn’t have any Function, much like in real life, instead, Space and Time are treated as the two main building frames of a physical reality, to the point where the Universe Frog requires a Space and Time players to actually even be possible to be created.

Going in detail though, according to Homestuck’s Interpretation, there’s an Alpha Timeline that marks a path that must be followed, but there are alternate realities, sometimes required by the demands of the Alpha Timeline itself, where divergent Choices and Actions from the various characters have led to a deviation from this path that needs to be followed. A Time Loop is nothing more than ensuring no Paradoxes are created while following this Alpha. For example, according to the Alpha Timeline, Lil Cal ends up in Jack Noir’s possession, and eventually is shot through a meteor portal into Alternia. This is a stipulation that must be followed, so in the Timeline where John dies because Terezi sent him to see Typheus early? We learn with John’s ghost, that Typheus didn’t actually just insta-murder him, he gave him a Choice, to Die for the benefit of the Timeline. The thing that doomed the Timeline wasn’t John dying- It was Dave prototyping Lil Cal. Davesprite needed to exist, because without Dave preventing Lil Cal from being prototyped, Lil Cal would become a sprite, and thus never get to Alternia. This is the kind of Paradoxes Stable Timeloops want to avoid, and the reason this Timeline leaves behind a Doomed Rose. We see in a couple of occasions, Daves dying when a Time Loop is broken- When Dave screws up Time-Travelling, he creates an offshot Dave that doesn’t become ‘future Dave’, instead it’s its own iteration of Dave unrelated to the Alpha Timeline, and as such, Doomed to die. Davesprite manages to become un-Doomed by Prototyping himself into Davesprite, and thus becoming an integral part of the Alpha Timeline, rather than a Doomed Version.

Of course this still leaves the question of what the Alpha Timeline itself is. After all, we see dead God Tier Trolls, implying that actually becoming god-like is somehow not Alpha, and thus rendering the explanation of the Alpha Timeline being the ‘best’ or ‘most beneficial’ path impossible. No, in fact, the entirety of the Alpha Timeline is filled with Death and Suffering and awful things and characters being erased off the story.

This is because the Alpha Timeline is, in reality, a Time Loop that favors the Lord of Time, Caliborn. All the Alpha Timeline does is ensure Lord English is created and does what he does in the story, after all, he IS the Lord of Time, and he Commands Time itself. Paradox Space bends to his will.

[S] MSPA Reader: Mental Breakdown is a quick example of one of the Alpha Timeline’s most important devices- Lil Cal. A Juju which contains the Essence of Lord English, and needs to follow an EXTREMELY specific path to reach where it needs to reach, dividing in two at one point to become an Entry in Caliborn’s Land, through which he spreads his influence, and in which he eventually becomes trapped, and an Exit in the Lil Cal Dave has, which eventually ends in Gamzee’s Possession, and is ultimately used to convert Jack Noir into a Proxy for Lord English.

Everything in Alpha Timeline is delicately crafted to eventually lead to Caliborn’s Rise. Lil Cal is not just the Entry and the Exit, the Vessel for His Soul, it’s also the only reason why Caliborn manages to achieve full, unconditional Immortality. When he reaches Yaldabaoth’s Boon, he uses the Juju Breaker Crowbar to obtain Inconditional Immortality. Crowbar which he’s had since before he actually met ‘Crowbar’ from the Felt. Crowbar which was gifted to him by Gamzee of all people, the Troll who raised Calliope and Caliborn. Gamzee needed to be there to raise the twins, and he offered the tool that would eventually grant him Immortality. And how did both Gamzee and the Crowbar get to Caliborn? Through the Black Hole created after killing the Jack Noir possessed by Lord English through Lil Cal. Black hole which ALSO absorbed a majority of LOTAK, including its core, where the Denizen Yaldabaoth himself was, making it seem like everything relevant to Caliborn’s Session arrived there in the first place only thanks to Lil Cal.

Similarly, even the God Damn Retcon favors Lord English, even though it seems like a Canon-Breaking tool, even though it seems like something meant to bypass the Alpha Timeline in the first place, it’s actually a necessary tool for Lord English’ creation- Without the Retcon Powers, John would’ve never reached Caliborn’s Masterpiece, becoming stuck in the House Juju with the other three Betas. He wouldn’t have led the Kids that would, in turn, defeat Caliborn and suck his Soul, ARquius’ Soul and half of Gamzee’s into Lil Cal to create the amalgam known as Lord English. And without the Beta Kids stuck in the House, it would’ve never been filled in, and thus become the double-edged sword that would eventually cast Lord English into the Breach.

But of course even the Retcon favors Lord English- After all, he kills the Author. Caliborn interacts with Hussie through the Command Prompt, and physically smacks the website around on several occasions, as well as glitches the cartridge containing the data to continue the story. Doc Scratch and Vriska seem to be the only other characters in the comic to even be aware of the existence of Hussie as the Narrator- With Scratch being part Lord English, and Vriska literally getting angry at Hussie for switching the narrative just as she was about to reveal the House Juju, and tearing it back from him to show everyone what was in the Juju Chest. A Villain that messes with the Narrative itself would definitely still benefit from a tool meant to break the narrative. And in the same way, when the Villain of the Story has control over not just Reality, but the direction of the Narrative, the only two that can oppose it are a Character who Knows they are in a Story and Wants to be the Protagonist, and a Protagonist who Can Alter the Narrative and just wants to be Happy.

As such, Homestuck takes the idea of ‘parallel timelines’, and throws us a scenario in which an evil entity has basically overwritten Free Will through imposing himself in a very specific path, so if I had to give a short answer to the question of what “Time” and “The Alpha Timeline” is? I’d have to answer, The Alpha Timeline is Homestuck in itself, both the story and the struggle of the characters as they navigate through it.

( From this point downwards, these are my THOUGHTS and opinions, and may not reflect what’s strictly Canon or what may happen in the future )

This ties in to my thoughts on why I think Act 7 is good, contrary to what many in the Fandom seem to believe. We’re shown Caliborn’s rise to immortality, the beginning of his journey towards becoming Lord English, and eventually becoming the big villain of the story, contrasted with Vriska inserting herself in the role of the Heroine, even though everything was already set in the story for this exact same culmination and all she did was take the spotlight by opening the Juju Chest, and the Release of the Kids from the Alpha Timeline to live in Earth-C, free of the influence of Lord English, of the grasp he’s had on their choices and their existence.

Already at the very beginning, John himself states it clearly.

It is your thirteenth birthday, and as with all twelve preceding it, something feels missing from your life. The game presently eluding you is only the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. His coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. His riddle is Absence itself. It is a mystery dispersing altogether, like the moon’s faint reflection, with even one pebble of inquiry dropped in its black well. It is the most diabolical riddle of all.

When the Kids cross the threshold of the Door to the new Universe, the story ends canonically, because they’ve escaped the Time Loop known as the Alpha Timeline, they’re beyond English’ Realm. They are no longer Stuck, and they’re free to make their choices without fearing the creation of an offshot Timeline or worrying about what may happen in the future.

It’s my belief that the fact we see Caliborn with the Ring of Life Calliope has, that two Nannasprites exist without one dying, and a few other details such as Caliborn stating seeing himself surprised at the Kids appearing to face him using John’s Retcon Powers, means that this is not following the Alpha Timeline at all by the ending. John’s ‘I’ll do it’ has sparked many theories about this being the conflict that sparks John to want to go back to fight Caliborn, but it has always seemed nonsensical to me. John is depressed, Terezi is looking for Vriska, but for most of the part, they’re happy. They’re content with having gone through the hardships of the Game, and now being able to just live their lives. I could maybe see John using a fight with Caliborn to mask his emotions, but I can’t see him convincing Rose, happily married to Kanaya, that they should go back to beat up the stupid asshole that keeps Trolling him through Snapchat, using his highly dangerous Retcon Powers.

To me, it always felt that this was the result of a Timeline we didn’t see, but may see in the Epilogue, and even though there are ways to make it work, it ties perfectly well to this theme of breaking out of the Alpha Timeline, that by the end of the comic, we wouldn’t even be following the Timeline that spawns Lord English, and rather, the one the John we’re following, seeing master these Retcon Powers, creates following Terezi’s Instructions.

Ironically enough, this Timeline ends as an empty victory for both John and Terezi. John, with his adventure over, and having never seen inclined to even think what he may want to do after it’s over, is now left alone with his thoughts, the trauma he’s went through, and missing his father, while Terezi, who in the Game Over Timeline thought all she needed to be happy was Vriska, realizes that even that is more of a patch for some deeper self-steem issues, and yet continues to try to chase after her around the crumbling Paradox Space for no avail for years.

It’s my belief, when the Epilogue comes out, that we will see a distinction between the Timeline in which John reaches Earth-C, and the one in which they all go to Caliborn’s Masterpiece, as well as have Terezi return to Earth, not with Vriska, but with Davepeta, Sollux and Aradia, who are still potentially alive and out there. But that’s mostly because I don’t think Vriska should survive the encounter with Lord English.

Vriska herself, in this case, climatically becomes what she’s always wanted to be, the protagonist, only by her desire to be as such. She treats the Game of SBURB like a Game, and similarly, she treats Homestuck like a Story, a Story in which she wants to be seen as the Heroine. Not for Noble or Heroic reasons, but merely for the hell of it. She becomes the perfect Counterpoint to Lord English- The man who set the Alpha Timeline, whose existence jeopardizes the entirety of Paradox Space, the unseen, mysterious hand behind every event. Lord English becomes the Villain of the story, and Vriska takes advantage of it. A story needs a Villain and a Protagonist, and with John more focused in his Friends than the Big Bad, she steals the role for herself, which would make seeing her never actually return, all the more fitting. Act 7 is the Finale. It’s the End of the Alpha Timeline, the End of the Story that is Homestuck. So of course, once the curtains are drawn, both Villain and Protagonist are out of the picture entirely.

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xiaoning-pan · 4 years

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Innovative Idea: Use Of “In Game” Mobile Marketing to help marketing in the - Traditional Automotive Industry

Why is In-game marketing useful?

In-game marketing is useful because, unlike traditional media, it is so immersive in society. As the quality of video games has improved over the years, the number of people playing mobile video games has increased accordingly. As earlier noted, the current situation, grappling with the pandemic reality, has significantly led to high demands of mobile games and, in consequence, made in-game marketing one of the most effective mobile marketing strategies. In addition, brands can easily collect data customers' data regarding their preferences and choices.

What Issue the Traditional Auto Industry Face for Doing Marketing?

Currently, the pandemic- induced crises have limited people to their homes. As such, people's visitations to dealerships stores have reduced significantly, thus necessitating brands to seek relevant alternatives to reach their customers and, most importantly, to give them a virtual experience of a test drive. Thus, the importance and effectiveness of in-game mobile advertising. Second, promotional email ads are no longer effective; they have become monotonous, and as noted, a significant portion of the targeted audience has normalized skipping them. Additionally, people do not pay much attention to car adverts on social media platforms since there are treated millions of car pictures every day. Lastly, watching a car from a website does not give the prospects a good experience of what it is like to own one, fortunately, in-game mobile marketing has proved a solution to all issues.

How to bring the strategy come true? What will the brand benefit from this?

Speaking of details, MYcar is a new racing-themed mobile game I design. Different from other games, this game has added completely real car customization options. It is built based on the Unreal 5 game engine to achieve a high degree of similarity between the virtual vehicle in the game and the real vehicle (including the player can see different vehicle color changes at different light angles), at the same time, the sound of the vehicle will be presented using Dolby audiovisual. To clarify, this is a mobile game that can satisfy players to complete entertainment, customization, test driving, and even purchase of cars. MYcar will cooperate with major car brands. Most people have experienced the joy of test drives and customized car details at a car dealer. So why can't these funs be realized in the virtual world

MYcar will classify the car brands and put the customization options of each brand of car into the game, depending on the brand with which I have reached a cooperation. In other words, all the car purchase options that customers have in the car dealership will appear in this game. Players can choose different appearances, interiors, rims and even engines.

This is how the vehicle will appear after the player has customized it

After making these choices, the player's exclusive customized model will appear in the game, and MYcar will implant the vehicle into the game with the most realistic degree of restoration. Players can use their mobile phones to control the vehicles in the game. When the vehicle is driving, the player can hear the same engine and brake sounds as they actually are.

At the same time, players can even see different appearances and interiors of the car in different weather and light. All these designs are based on the latest generation of game engines.

All in all, the customer has completed the vehicle customization and test drive in the virtual world while playing the game. These are no longer limited to going to a car dealer.

If the player is satisfied with the vehicle, they can click on the link to obtain vehicle information and quotation, and can contact the car dealer through the customer service channel in the game. When the game develops to the final stage, customers can even use the game to place orders and pay. This game can satisfy both B2B and B2C. The traditional automobile industry will undergo tremendous changes. "In game" mobile marketing will be used for the ultimate purpose. What a car brand needs most is the customer's preferences and interests in order to achieve accurate marketing, and MYcar can easily obtain customer information, so I can profit from the car brand. At the same time, major car brands will require advertisements in the game or videos to explain their advantages, but these advertisements are completely different from those annoying advertisements. Their trigger will be when the player customizes the vehicle, for example, when the customer upgrades leather seats or upgrades the engine, the video will pop up at this time, and the content will be the brand designer or engineer explaining the construction of the vehicle, and this will helps players understand the difference very well. Players will enjoy these advertisements, because they have proved their interest in the brand when they choose to customize a certain brand of car, and at the same time, they have seen details that they have never understood before. This provides a high level of interaction between players and brands. Finally, when customers watch them, I can get data and create profit at the same time. With the continuous development of technology, more and more advanced virtual reality devices will be born (such as virtual reality glasses). The game will be compatible with these devices and provide customers with the most realistic car exhibition.

1. “Game of Peace“ published by PUBG Corporation

I am a big fan of mobile games. One that I like most is the Game of Peace, which is a mobile game developed and published by PUBG Corporation. In previous years, I have seen PUBG collaborate with different brands in in-game advertising. In the recent past, however, the Corporation had gone the extra mile in their in-game ads. Instead of showing ads (pop-ups, short videos, or texts), the Corporation has now incorporated the various cars from different brands in their games. Maserati and Tesla have seen the business opportunity’ and both utilize mobile marketing to place advertisements in this game. They modeled real cars in 3D and implanted them in the game in the form of vehicle skins. Players can get them through a lottery. It is worth noting that the appearance and interior of the car seen by players are exactly the same as in the real world, and even the same exhaust sound is heard when accelerating. It seemed to have completed a test drive while playing the game. This design provides customers with the most authentic experience and interaction.

2. Release of Maserati MC20 (https://www.maserati.com/international/en/models/mc20)

On the promotional page of Maserati MC20, they made a virtual Nettuno engine(Engine used on MC20), at the same time, people who browse the web can click on it the sound of the real engine can be heard.

3. Unreal engine 5

(https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/a-first-look-at-unreal-engine-5)

On the website of unreal engine they introduced a new game called Land of Nanite. This is a game created with unreal engine 5, and it uses a new technology called Lumen. Lumen is a fully dynamic global illumination solution that immediately reacts to scene and light changes. The system renders diffuse interreflection with infinite bounces and indirect specular reflections in huge, detailed environments, at scales ranging from kilometers to millimeters. Artists and designers can create more dynamic scenes using Lumen, for example, changing the sun angle for time of day, turning on a flashlight, or blowing a hole in the ceiling, and indirect lighting will adapt accordingly. Lumen erases the need to wait for lightmap bakes to finish and to author light map UVs—a huge time savings when an artist can move a light inside the Unreal Editor and lighting looks the same as when the game is run on console. The most important thing is that unreal Engine is free to use. Only when the business is profitable through games or other interactive ready-made products and the total revenue of the product exceeds $1,000,000 USD, the business needs to pay a 5% royalty fee.

Work cited

Zulkifli, Nurul Aziidah, Mohd Faizun Mohamad Yazid, and Mohd Farid Shamsudin. "How will the market players in the automotive industry strengthen their market positioning during the pandemic Covid-19 outbreak and recession." Journal of Postgraduate Current Business Research 1.1 (2020).

“A First Look at Unreal Engine 5.” Unreal Engine, www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/a-first-look-at-unreal-engine-5.

Khullar, Kunal. “PUBG Mobile: Exclusive Maserati Ghibli Skin For Dacia Spotted.” News18, 26 Jan. 2020,

www.news18.com/news/tech/pubg-mobile-exclusive-maserati-ghibli-skin-for-dacia-spotted-2474047.html.

Business Of Apps. Global mobile game advertising and monetization in H1, 2020 [white paper]. 27 July 2020. https://www.businessofapps.com/insights/global-mobile-game-advertising-and-monetization-in-h1-2020-white-paper/. 2020.

Chaffey, Dave. Mobile marketing statistics compilation. 01 September 2020. https://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/.

Kumar, Vikas, and Saurabh Mittal. "Mobile marketing campaigns: practices, challenges and opportunities." International Journal of Business Innovation and Research 21.4 (2020): 523-539.

Marrs, Megan. What Is Mobile Marketing & Why Does it Matter So Much? 21 July 2020. What Is Mobile Marketing & Why Does it Matter So Much? 2020.

Papadopoulos, Savvas. "Effects of in-game advertising on brand awareness in virtual reality game interactions." (2020).

Statista. Smartphone users in the United States 2018-2024. 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/201182/forecast-of-smartphone-users-in-the-us/. 2020.

Tong, Siliang, Xueming Luo, and Bo Xu. "Personalized mobile marketing strategies." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 48.1 (2020): 64-78.

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slumberseason · 7 years

Text

I got some Thoughts on the latest chapter, specifically Asra but I played Julian’s too (I’m coming Nadia please wait for me)

Spoilers for both Asra and Julian’s Chapter One routes below

Julian:

Listen.... who does this man think he is

like seriously because he was putting on the MOVES on my apprentice

Then again Rafael put the moves right back on him but STILL

There’s so many chances for you to take things forward and ofc I took them all lmao

So you got moments where Julian would joke/tease/flirt with Rafael and then get flustered when Rafael would ‘push’ back and flirt too which was the best thing that has happened since sliced bread

Of course it also led to Rafael finding out that Julian has a pain kink and BOY did he take advantage of that (’Let’s dance... wait nevermind’, Julian says, becoming increasingly turned on as Rafael prods his open wound)

However the guards kept cockblocking them big time which was both funny and annoying >:(

But I’ll forgive it because Julian apparently has a nice mother hen to make sure he just sits the fuck down and sleeps for a minute and it was cute as hell

AND IT LED TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES SO FAR

Rafael, climbing over Julian to pin him onto the bed: “I was told that I had to pin you down [to make you sleep]“

Julian, obviously into it: “If it’s you pinning me down I won’t object”

Me, the human being not expecting this while she was eating dinner: “Fucking? In front of my salad?”

HOWEVER IT ALSO LED TO A SCENE THAT MADE ME SO SAD

Julian, with his dumb sad wistful face: “If only we had time [for a real relationship, which he wants]”

Me, the human being with emotional whiplash: “Crying? In my salad? It’s more likely than you think”

ANYWAY I bought the book for ten dollars because I will replay it a billion times to cry while I wait for the next update

Asra:

Listen what the fuck is going on with these boys and breaking my heart

After the last update where Asra erased Rafael’s memories I was very suspicious of him because NOBODY erases my boy’s memories because they have commitment issues

but

holy

shit

This chapter took my emotions, put them in a blender, and drank it like a smoothie

Within the first thirty seconds of the first mini chapter I knew it was gonna be a wild ride

(btw I love Faust and if anything happened to her I would kill everyone in the room and then myself but MOVING ON)

I replayed it twice to get all the choices and holy fuck guys

One, I really appreciate that Muriel fan service because his exasperation with Asra’s decisions is a Big Mood

Two, NADIA DESERVES BETTER GODDAMMIT ASRA

Three, Julian really wanted to get with Asra and it’s a really good look into their relationship pre-game and why they both seem so bitter/on bad terms with each other (PROBABLY because SOMEONE with soft white hair avoids talking to the apprentice he loves and soft of takes advantage of Julian’s willingness (god i just want these boys to be LOVED))

Four, Lucio is a major ass but he’s still gonna be my icon because I love rude pissbaby trash apparently

Five, wwhat the FUCK WAS THE SCENE IN THE MARKET because it was Rafael in the past, with Asra putting the moves on him (’I am blinded by your beauty’ excuse me while I weep into my hands) WHICH APPARENTLY DIDN’T BOTHER MY APPRENTICE so like... at that point/memory, it was normal for Asra to gush about how much he adored Rafael to the point that Rafe wasn’t even fazed. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BOYS WHERE RAFAEL FORGOT THAT (or is it a vision of the future? what is real anymore tbh)

THEN shit got real because Asra took me to the fountain version of Narnia and

oh boy

Asra ‘I am afraid of commitment’ Lastname admits that Rafael should get his memories back (memories, PLURAL, stop taking things from my apprentice son please for god’s sake) but he has to be careful because apparently he can have ‘irreparable damage’ and at this point i am crying

THEY KISSED IN THE RAIN LIKE A NICHOLAS SPARKS NOVEL AND IT WAS GLORIOUS AND I BURIED MY FACE IN MY SLEEVE TO CONTROL MY EMOTIONS

then Asra was like ‘lol bye’ and I have emotional whiplash

ANYWAY I bought his book too and I am pumped to spend all my money on these good routes like holy DAMN

#I'M SORRY MOBILE USERS #the arcana spoilers #i just.... what the fuck is going on

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messiahsmarketingwxxp820-blog · 5 years

Text

10 Things Most People Don't Know About Internet Marketing

Online marketing is the same as typical marketing, others are not. Here are 7 points you need to understand your online marketing succeeds. When you create Xu duplicate, you must take the time to comprehend what works and also what does not. There are 2 errors nearly every amateur internet search engine copywriting.

Effective charitable companies make use of the Internet to market philanthropic program.

To aid firms enhance their electronic marketing results, I likewise had extensive, widely applauded and also won the AOP Award for best technique, author e-consultancy Guide.

Online marketing is really difficult, and there will certainly be, you require a professional search engine marketing solutions to defeat your competition in the website traffic battles. Please consider our seo business with the help of your job. Free quote solution search engine optimization, web design, pay per click advertising and marketing, seo as well as PPC collection, search engine optimization training courses and online brand network evaluation.

Online marketing is still essential to any kind of company's total marketing method. Discussed before with all the benefits of internet marketing, people still acquire magazines, billboards went out to check to see their mail, view TELEVISION, and purchasing. Despite exactly how fast-paced and also large web of communication, individuals head out together, talking about going to the health club. Thus, while Internet marketing is absolutely valid and also essential, demising particular worth of the expense of conventional marketing any business, lots of potential consumers. One more point, when we say that internet marketing, it is not only numbers we choose to click advertisements. The list also includes protection, marketing, advertising socials media, teams, discussion boards and also numerous others. Accordingly, the online marketing activities can impact the number of individuals revealed. Nevertheless, one drawback is that people started to turn into one of the, and also would certainly also review the advertising and marketing info advertising or recognize (also people in the safety and security checklist), and erase without opening them. When a person on the web, they wish to review/ create e-mail, chat with buddies, check out and upload/ reply remarks, play enjoyable games. As a web marketing objective is to build a top concern for Internet users. Also, try and also spam as well as unrequested e-mail and also advertising, increasingly more individuals far from Internet advertising as a whole, unless they are some specific content. A range of Internet marketing approach is complimentary as well as paid online marketing can make even more cash. 12-month Internet Millionaire Review - Russell Brunson is a 12-month millionaire scams?. As the marketplace one of the most debatable books, and also now the Internet millionaire's 12 months still comprise a major buzz everywhere. A wonderful professional online marketing earn money online. Internet marketing can be a financially rewarding sector, if some big Internet-related skills and also knowledge development to do so successfully. Have to additionally identify and create the needed approaches to earn money online. Ppc advertising and marketing, on-line advertising and marketing and also link exchange programs, is marketing, can be used to make the Internet sector to make money online there are some essential programs.

Internet marketing are not the outcome of a well-defined, integrated net method; instead, they are a feedback to rivals tasks or consumers need. Via the site has actually existed for more than a year, marketing personnel and elderly administration will naturally question its effectiveness. This is typically the point in a meaningful Internet marketing approach requires to become apparent. Consequently, starting in the amount of digital marketing technique, is when a company's existing web site, which is to review the existing website and also its function is to enhance the performance of the future. There is no proof that the growth and also execution of an approach to be considerably different technique to electronic marketing. Strategic planning for enterprise growth or calculated marketing to comply with the well-known framework must still be. The structure offers a logical order to follow up to make sure that the strategic emphasis of all development tasks included. It can be claimed, however, with the e-market strategy for a highly sensitive procedure of rapid reaction mode, the events on the market requirement. Soviet-style five-year preparation application does not seem to fit, the very best method is a brand-new process of electronic marketing strategy is a continual improvement. Inspect fee (2002) pointed out that ecommerce or e-marketing approach process versions tend to agree with the following functions:

There are numerous methods to market your product making use of a large number of online with Google AdWords or Yahoo's Overture advertising and marketing network, ebay.com, members network, price per click marketing. Additionally, there are lots of 2nd rate price of sales and also incomes per share network. You require to have a great mlm method, making use of the Internet to offer internet marketing device. With Internet marketing firm, will certainly aid you to obtain your internet site in search engine marketing and also optimization services supplied by many of the results, but at some point you need to identify what type of network marketing will give you the very best of a line of product. It utilized to be you purchased CPM (expense per thousand) in large-scale campaign Web site as well as hope that the great efficiency of these advertisements and also get website traffic to your site. Now, there are several choices, there is generally a for each and every occasion much better than the various other run. It shows up that using network marketing the very best way to get return on investment price per click internet marketing tool, the tactical point. Google AdWords as well as Yahoos Overture CPC programs have controlled the world of internet marketing in the past 2 years, they only get bigger and also more powerful. Network marketing business have sprung up to aid novices find out just how to utilize AdWords and Overture to the most effective of their capacity to rope. If you intend to develop a brand name, after that the cost per click will not be online marketing services. Instead of the on-line brand name, you will certainly go to a CPM project, is a straight line expenses. The targeted advertisements, as well as now there's online advertising and marketing costs results from leave the tv and also radio have been gradually transferred to the Internet. Why do you want, if you are promoting with the radio or TV, you can in fact track the private results of the job online. Our company believe that lots of ad networks and associate program will progressively go out in the following a number of years, while Google and also Yahoo Zhudao despite their very own, targeted search results page and also more per click advertising network. Net modifications rapidly, any business want to maximize their internet marketing visibility needs to adjust and also get used to the latest innovation.

Network marketing is the 3 abilities: transportation infrastructure, marketing, application development, marketing approaches as well as consents. Practical ability of the network in sporting activities marketing when three similar shift handbook transmission, driving an automobile, both in mechanics.

Online marketing coincides where you live, because it is a global market.

They do not have banner advertisements, because they are cheaper than print. In Facebook, due to the fact that their kids that they ought to be. If you begin what you desire for your website's organisation focus as well as you concentrate all energy on assisting to boost the initial results of this objective, Name of the Dong Xi you Keyi attempt, to see if they are how they work. Or you can consider things, claimed: "I do not see exactly how it can help me accomplish my objective. Currently, if you neglect something, it is feasible that they will actually become exceptionally crucial, and also you 'regional workers recognize that you slipped up. however only the bigger mistake is neglected, since you are overriding, or try to do whatever hafway as well as accomplish absolutely nothing.

Multi level marketing is not just big budget plan or the entire company's IT department. We have created in Newfoundland and Labrador website, then that can appear in more effective rivals excluded from the market itself. We can do the very same for you, to establish an on-line existence to sustain your other. This allows you all the seamless integration of marketing tasks, you end up being a far better profit growth in your website capturing. With complete Internet marketing technique and a strong website design, your company has the potential to end up being a global player., Kok River, some in Newfoundland and Labrador, or any other parts of the globe neighborhood, asking them to do, they can help your web site style, as a money-making makers efficient. Our company believe that your response in Lorne Park and also associated companies will certainly seek to get you.

Online marketing is clear, the next inquiry is usually, "Yes, but where I start?." For brand-new and also existing consumers a straight entry point. In the days passed, and when individuals want to discover a business, they turned to the yellow web pages. Today, your consumers will certainly find you on the web, if you are not there, they will resort to the next thing, they did discover: 1,

Multi level marketing is your rival doing? Exactly how do your rivals in the domestic significant online search engine rankings? What kind of traffic from their very own website? Use the right tools, this important details can be found in your competitors.: What is it your product or service for the customer to solve or do not offer any type of good? In what means you can best illustrate this advantage? Clear and also constant details on the positioning of your items in the market based upon a solid understanding is extremely essential to all offline and also online marketing efforts.: How much cash can you get customers and still earn a profit? What is each customer, you obtain the value of life span? This is the solution you need to figure out the efficiency of any internet marketing program running on essential issues.

Web marketing is tipping over themselves attempting to move bucks from offline to internet marketing. I believe the idea is that multi level marketing will give them much better to lower the U.S. buck in a tight financial returns. While it is definitely a strong approach for mobile Internet, it pays to place it a little idea, the very first: Verify your infrastructure. Offline bucks in your move to online, to guarantee that you can in fact make use of every one of the on-line customer support. Do you have in location of? You can promptly change the landing page as well as website duplicate? No sense, if you put in to send out site visitors to a website, drawing money from on-line marketing. If you are from offline to online cash like 2 weeks to generate a 5:1 return, reducing the Prozac and also hesitate to find back. The greatest mistake I see their budget plan, the business's change, is that they believe this is a line 'run as well as do' points. Marketing professionals and also their employers believe they can produce a landing page or start a PPC campaign, and after that ignore it for a month. And also this cycle operates in print or television, it will certainly not function online. Line is extremely, highly repeated, and requires constant attention. So you conserve a great deal of marketing cash into the workforce.

Characteristics of network marketing is absolutely a good start in the Internet market, but if you do not know just how to drive web traffic to your site, these points will be wasted.

Search Engine Optimization Senior Account Manager applicants need to have at the very least the seo, link building, PPC 3 years of experience, and also can hit the ground running. Knowledge and also ability to function proactively without supervision is needed, you must have the ability to service job administration. You also need to be able to interact with consumers the highest degree of seo. Sales helpful, however not required, because this capability is the main approach and client administration function. We are a small busy Swiss organizations and also roll up their sleeves and also complete the work is vital. The method we function, we are extremely flexible, however this is a permanent setting at our head office in Bristol, England, Bristol in the UK so you must be near or on, such as showering, Swindon, Chelten Burnham, Gloucester.

Net internet marketing professionals located in the blog, web designer discussion forums as well as on-line magazines. com, where you can learn more about the current Google updates the new technique can make money web site. Acetylcholine maravilla is the President as well as Chief Executive Officer powerhomebiz. One on entrepreneurship, in order to step by step details.

Internet marketing is simply also various to discuss in this article. If you access the Internet value-added solutions, internet savvy, you will see just how much of this marketing can enhance your organisation kind.

Internet marketing is online marketing, network marketing, mlm. Web marketing is extremely vital, yet the chaos of development with social networks, I highly advise paying attention skills is to know how to do twitter, Facebook and also YouTube. Numerous marketing media, relying on the 3 to take home the bacon just. The structure is a long listing of multi level marketing, a needed component of success. Checklist building just indicates that an individual list, you can connect consistently through e-mail. In order to begin constructing a listing, you first need to establish what is called a capture page. Pages, your site visitors will certainly be asked to offer some totally free presents, to share their names and email. It can be a cost-free record, e-books, video or presentation software. Several sellers additionally offer totally free digital can get daily early riser ideas and also alerts.

0 notes

beausmarketingtamv085-blog · 5 years

Text

What's The Current Job Market For Internet Marketing Professionals Like?

Online marketing is the same as conventional marketing, others are not. Below are seven points you require to recognize your online marketing is successful. When you compose Xu copy, you should put in the time to comprehend what jobs and also what does not. There are two mistakes almost every amateur search engine copywriting.

Effective non-profit companies make use of the Internet to market philanthropic program.

To help business boost their electronic marketing outcomes, I likewise had extensive, widely commended and also won the AOP Award for ideal practice, publisher e-consultancy Guide.

Web marketing is really difficult, and also there will be, you require a skilled internet search engine marketing solutions to beat your competitors in the traffic battles. Please consider our seo business with the help of your job. Free quote solution search engine optimization, web design, ppc marketing, search engine optimization and PPC collection, seo training courses and on-line brand name network analysis.

Web marketing is still essential to any type of organisation's overall marketing strategy. Stated before with all the advantages of internet marketing, people still acquire magazines, billboards went out to inspect to see their mail, watch TELEVISION, and also buying. No matter exactly how hectic and vast web of interaction, individuals head out with each other, discussing mosting likely to the health club. Hence, while Internet marketing is definitely legitimate as well as crucial, demising specific value of the price of standard marketing any business, lots of prospective customers. Another point, when we state that online marketing, it is not only numbers we pick to click on advertisements. The list additionally includes security, marketing, marketing social networks, groups, discussion boards as well as lots of others. Accordingly, the online marketing activities can impact the variety of people exposed. Nonetheless, one downside is that people started to become one of the, as well as would even check out the advertising and marketing information advertising or know (also individuals in the protection listing), and also erase without opening them. When somebody on the net, they want to check out/ compose e-mail, chat with good friends, read as well as upload/ respond comments, play enjoyable games. As an online marketing goal is to construct a leading concern for Internet individuals. Likewise, attempt and spam and unwanted email and marketing, a growing number of individuals away from Internet marketing as a whole, unless they are some particular web content. A variety of Internet marketing strategy is free and also paid online marketing can make more money. 12-month Internet Millionaire Review - Russell Brunson is a 12-month millionaire fraudulence?. As the marketplace among one of the most questionable books, as well as currently the Internet millionaire's 12 months still comprise a major buzz almost everywhere. A great specialist web marketing generate income online. Online marketing can be a lucrative market, if some large Internet-related skills as well as expertise advancement to do so successfully. Should likewise determine as well as develop the needed methods to earn money online. Pay per click advertising, on-line advertising and marketing and web link exchange programs, is marketing, can be utilized to make the Internet sector to make money online there are some important programs.

Web marketing are not the outcome of a distinct, incorporated web approach; rather, they are a reaction to rivals activities or clients demand. Through the website has actually existed for greater than a year, marketing personnel and also elderly monitoring will naturally question its efficiency. This is normally the factor in a meaningful Internet marketing approach needs to become apparent. Because of this, starting in the sum of digital marketing strategy, is when a company's existing web site, which is to evaluate the existing website and its function is to improve the performance of the future. There is no proof that the advancement and execution of a strategy to be dramatically various technique to electronic marketing. Strategic planning for business development or strategic marketing to follow the well established framework should still be. The structure gives a logical order to follow up to make certain that the strategic focus of all advancement activities included. It can be stated, nonetheless, with the e-market method for an extremely sensitive procedure of quick reaction setting, the occasions on the market need. Soviet-style five-year preparation application does not seem to fit, the very best approach is a new procedure of electronic marketing method is a continual enhancement. Inspect cost (2002) pointed out that e-commerce or e-marketing method process designs tend to agree with the complying with functions:

There are numerous means to market your product using a a great deal of online with Google AdWords or Yahoo's Overture marketing network, eBay, members network, price per click marketing. On top of that, there are lots of second tier cost of sales as well as incomes per share network. You need to have an excellent internet marketing strategy, using the Internet to offer online marketing device. With Internet marketing business, will certainly help you to get your website in internet search engine marketing as well as optimization services given by a number of the outcomes, yet eventually you require to determine what sort of internet marketing will certainly offer you the best of a product line. It utilized to be you acquired CPM (expense per thousand) in large-scale project Web website and hope that the great performance of these advertisements and get website traffic to your site. Now, there are many choices, there is usually a for each event better than the other run. It shows up that making use of network marketing the most effective way to get roi expense per click online marketing device, the tactical factor. Google AdWords and Yahoos Overture CPC programs have dominated the globe of network marketing in the past two years, they just get bigger as well as more powerful. Mlm business have sprung up to assist newbies discover just how to utilize AdWords and also Overture to the best of their ability to rope. If you want to build a brand name, then the expense per click will certainly not be online marketing remedies. Instead of the online brand name, you will certainly most likely to a CPM project, is a straight line prices. The targeted ads, and also currently there's online advertising investing is because of leave the tv and radio have been gradually moved to the Internet. Why do you desire, if you are marketing with the radio or TELEVISION, you can really track the individual outcomes of the job online. We believe that many ad networks and also associate program will progressively fade out in the following numerous years, while Google as well as Yahoo Zhudao despite their very own, targeted search engine result and also even more per click advertising network. Internet adjustments swiftly, any type of business wish to enhance their online marketing existence requires to adjust and also adapt to the latest innovation.

Network marketing is the three abilities: transport facilities, marketing, application advancement, marketing techniques and also consents. Practical capacity of the network in sporting activities marketing when 3 comparable change handbook gearbox, driving a car, both in mechanics.

Online marketing coincides where you live, since it is a worldwide market.

They do not have banner ads, since they are less costly than print. In Facebook, since their children that they must be. If you start what you want for your website's company emphasis and you concentrate all power on helping to enhance the preliminary outcomes of this objective, Name of the Dong Xi you Keyi attempt, to see if they are exactly how they function. Or you can check out points, claimed: "I do not see how it can aid me accomplish my goal. Currently, if you overlook something, it is possible that they will in fact come to be exceptionally essential, as well as you 'neighborhood employees realize that you slipped up. but only the larger error is overlooked, because you are bypassing, or try to do every little thing hafway and complete nothing.

Internet marketing is not just big spending plan or the entire firm's IT department. We have actually established in Newfoundland and also Labrador website, after that who can appear in a lot more reliable rivals left out from the market itself. We can do the very same for you, to develop an on-line presence to sustain your other. This enables you all the smooth assimilation of marketing tasks, you come to be a much better revenue growth in your site shooting. With total Internet marketing strategy as well as a strong web site design, your company has the prospective to end up being an international player., Kok River, some in Newfoundland and also Labrador, or any other parts of the world area, inquiring to do, they can help your internet site design, as a money-making machines efficient. Our team believe that your solution in Lorne Park and linked firms will seek to get you.

Online marketing is clear, the next inquiry is normally, "Yes, yet where I begin?." For brand-new and also existing customers a direct access factor. In the days passed, as well as when people intend to locate a company, they relied on the yellow web pages. Today, your consumers will certainly find you online, if you are not there, they will resort to the following thing, they did locate: 1,

Network Marketing is your rival doing? Exactly how do your rivals in the residential major internet search engine rankings? What kind of traffic from their own website? Make use of the right tools, this beneficial info can be found in your competitors.: What is it your services or product for the customer to deal with or do not give any type of good? In what methods you can best illustrate this advantage? Clear and constant info on the positioning of your products out there based upon a strong understanding is very crucial to all offline and internet marketing efforts.: How much money can you obtain customers and also still earn a profit? What is each client, you get the worth of life span? This is the solution you require to determine the performance of any mlm program working on vital issues.

Online marketing is tipping over themselves trying to change dollars from offline to internet marketing. I believe the concept is that internet marketing will certainly provide much better to lower the U.S. dollar in a limited financial returns. While it is certainly a strong approach for mobile Internet, it pays to place it a little thought, the initial: Verify your infrastructure. Offline bucks in your move to online, to guarantee that you can in fact use every one of the online client service. Do you have in area of? You can swiftly adjust the landing web page as well as site copy? No sense, if you put in to send site visitors to a site, sucking cash from online advertising. If you are from offline to on the internet cash like two weeks to create a 5:1 return, reducing the Prozac and reconsider ahead back. The most significant error I see their budget plan, the company's transformation, is that they assume this is a line 'run and also do' points. Marketing professionals as well as their employers assume they can produce a landing page or begin a PPC campaign, and after that forget about it for a month. And also this cycle works in print or tv, it will not function online. Line is extremely, extremely recurring, and also calls for consistent focus. So you save a lot of advertising money into the manpower.

Qualities of network marketing is certainly a good start in the Internet market, yet if you do not know exactly how to drive website traffic to your site, these points will be lost.

Seo Senior Account Manager candidates need to contend least the seo, web link structure, PPC 3 years of experience, as well as can hit the ground running. Knowledge as well as ability to work proactively without guidance is needed, you must be able to work with project management. You also need to be able to interact with consumers the highest degree of seo. Sales valuable, yet not necessary, because this capacity is the primary strategy as well as client management function. We are a small hectic Swiss organizations as well as roll up their sleeves as well as finish the work is important. The way we work, we are really adaptable, but this is a full time setting at our headquarters in Bristol, England, Bristol in the UK so you need to be near or on, such as showering, Swindon, Chelten Burnham, Gloucester.

Web online marketing experts discovered in the blog site, web designer forums as well as on the internet magazines. com, where you can discover the latest Google updates the new technique can earn money website. Acetylcholine maravilla is the President and also Chief Executive Officer powerhomebiz. One on entrepreneurship, in order to detailed info.

Online marketing is just as well countless to point out in this post. If you access the Internet value-added solutions, web savvy, you will certainly see just how much of this marketing can raise your company type.

Multi level marketing is online marketing, internet marketing, network marketing. Online marketing is extremely vital, however the madness of development with social media, I highly suggest paying attention skills is to understand exactly how to do twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Lots of marketing media, relying on the 3 to take home the bacon only. The structure is a long list of multi level marketing, an essential component of success. Checklist building merely indicates that an individual listing, you can connect consistently by means of e-mail. In order to begin building a checklist, you first need to establish what is called a capture page. Pages, your visitors will be asked to supply some totally free gifts, to share their names as well as email. It can be a free report, electronic books, video or presentation software. Numerous sellers likewise offer free digital can get daily early riser tips and alerts.

0 notes