#xenogears spoilers possible

[psychoboostedconduit]

what if i moved my xenogears livethread to here ahahaha. sure would be hilarious and funny. anyways uhhhh. **Might** do it. Not sure

peep the previous thread of context https://twitter.com/flamingdeoxys/status/1653130774693183488?s=46&t=Mnmqoxm0L_ES9_q7XSmmNQ

[daydreaming-maiden]

I need to process the stuff I saw in the Xenoblade 3 DLC trailer, I’ll spoiler it all just to be safe.

There’s six party members we know of for the DLC. They’re Matthew, A, Nikol, Glimmer, Shulk, and Rex. We also see Na’el (I think that’s the right spelling?), Alvis, and Riku.

-Matthew is probably N’s great-grandson, with the old guy we saw get killed by N in the trailer being his grandpa/N’s son we saw in the flashbacks. Probably Founder Vandham. He punches people, kinda looks like Mr. Xenogears, part of me wants him in Smash. He’s an attacker, makes sense.

-A has some kind of connection to Alvis. She has an earring that looks like his core crystal, the silver hair, class name seems to be Monado Fencer, and her name is A. She’s probably Consul A, outfit looks like it has elements from Alvis’s outfit and I’m seeing a bit of M’s outfit in there too. She’s a healer, didn’t expect that.

-Nikol is probably Shulk and Fiora’s son, but like Mio he’s not the original, just one of many incarnations of him throughout however long Aionios has been going on for. Probably Founder Ortiz. He’s a defender, we’ll get back to that.

-Glimmer is probably Rex and Pyra’s daughter, and another Aionios incarnation like Mio and Nikol. She has a very Pneuma hairstyle and the green core crystal, I’m also getting Lora vibes for some reason. Probably Founder Rhodes. She’s a healer, seems about right.

-Shulk’s back, he grew his hair out and lost an arm. He’s also a defender now, so lots of Dunban inspiration and maybe passed that down to his kid Nikol. He’s the mentor to Founder Reid but there’s no sign of them anywhere.

-Rex is also back, but he lost an eye. He’s an attacker and he mentioned some meme lines in the trailer, hopefully he’ll tell us the fifth rule of the salvager’s code. He’s the mentor to Founder Cassini, but we also don’t see them anywhere.

-Na’el seems to be an NPC from what we’ve seen. She’s probably Founder Doyle, making her Matthew’s sister. I think it’s lame that Matthew and Na’el look so similar to their great grandparents who were the same gender as they are, like give Matthew the core crystal or Na’el the blue eyes just SOMETHING.

-Alvis is here, he looks so pale get this man to a doctor. He’s got the Zanza-looking wings and still has the core crystal.

-Riku is here for some reason, and I don’t think Nopon are part of the cycle. Why is he here.

The Founders: -Known: Vandham (Matthew), Doyle (Na’el), Rhodes (Glimmer), Ortiz (Nikol) -Unknown: Cassini, Reid, mysterious 7th founder

I’ve seen some people say that A is either the 7th founder or possibly Shulk/Rex’s student, just hard to be sure since we don’t know what those 3 looked like.

With Mio and Glimmer, the only Rex kid we’re missing is Mythra’s. Really hope we get to see them. Since we also see people with the Ontos and Pneuma core crystals, maybe we’ll get lucky and see someone with the Logos crystal yes I know Malos died but anything’s possible.

There’s another thing in the trailer I wanna talk about, and the weird part is that I’ve seen literally no one talk about it.

This is Na’el/Founder Doyle, probably the sister of the DLC’s main protagonist Matthew. And here she is, looking like a member of Moebius with the outfit and mask, including THE ONTOS CORE CRYSTAL. WHY DOES SHE HAVE THIS. WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN HER, A, AND ALVIS. WHY DOES SHE LOOK LIKE SHE’S PART OF MOEBIUS. WHAT IS GOING ON.

[goro-pancake-akechi]

Hello, everyone! The Xeno Sexyman poll is ago! This is similar to the Tumblr Sexyman poll, except that it's done exclusively with characters from the Xeno Series, which includes Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Xenoblade Chronicles. This will be posted to both Tumblr and Discord in Xeno-focused communities. Round one is a total of 64 characters, meaning that it is 32 questions long. Each round will halve the number of characters and the number of questions. The votes for each round will conclude three days after being posted. As this is being posted on October 25th, it will conclude on October 28th. Keep in mind that this will contain spoilers for every Xeno game. Also, it would help if everyone who does the poll reblogs it! I don't mind I want as many people as possible to see and do the poll. Alright everyone, you ready? Vote!

https://forms.gle/Ax1M1DH1ufsAaeV56

[bonjour-ho]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 spoilers

I do really hate how often the game has the main characters have 0 powers of deduction, like sure a lot of their worldview is being changed and there are parts that absolutely make sense, but you think after experiencing xyz thing they could at least be like :O is this new thing possibly related to this

Like every time they were like oh wow We ALSO have Consuls in Agnus that's so crazy ok let's not think on that any further or this or that, every identical thing between the two kingdoms

The whole part of Noah and Mio being a split version of N and M, sure makes sense that Noah and Mio wouldn't know that was possible for two of them to exist at once, but the whole reveal them being like :O who is that he looks just like me like girl come ON you may not know 100% what is going on but let's make those two braincells work pleeeeease

I also hate that having played Xenogears and Xenoblade 1 before this I can see them falling once again into the same tropes they've used every game. This 'romance' between Noah and Mio being some My Name or w/e heterosexual anime, he was corrupted bc he selfishly only wanted to live with Mio forever and didn't care about the world in reality if it meant without Mio like the biggest eyeroll

Anyways Sena is the best character and she deserves more screentime, her little story arc so far has been some of the best character development

THINKING ON THAT how is literally only Mio the only one who was able to think that since Shania betrayed them the City's location would be in danger. Two Braincells.

[n-hospital]

am i crazy or is anyone else seeing this

[pluralmedia]

[About This Blog] | [Project FAQ]  | [Dreamwidth Mirror Post]

Somewhat infamous for being a bizarre, complicated, and incredibly dark JRPG, Xenogears also has a plural character.

Only Xenogears and the information that can be found in the game itself will be covered. While it is technically cannon to Xenogears as the intended form of the game, any potential information that Perfect Works may have on this subject will not be used, as it is not within the game itself.

Due to the fact that this is Xenogears, the full spoiler overview will contain heavy subject matter.

Spoiler Free Overview:

Number of canon plural systems: 3

System types: canonical Dissociative Identity Disorder, malevolent fantasy possession

Personhood: 4/10

Dynamic: 8/10

Narrative Sympathy: 4.5/10

Consistency: 8/10

Edge: 8/10

Singlet Nonsense: 8/10

Overall series grade: 5/10

Full Spoiler Overview Below Cut:

While there are three systems, two of which are barely mentioned and dont feature enough content to make a solid review of them. These two are antagonists hijacking the bodies of other people, one of which gets one moment of wresting control away, and the other has periodic wresting of control away from the antagonist. It is not entirely clear the manner by which they are possessing others, as budget cuts and time constraints rendered the second half of the game a lot less in-depth than intended. The first of the two seems to be a sentient genetic magic virus that possesses a random woman and largely takes over completely when the previous host dies, and the other is a spirit possessing others to subsist without a body. Only the second one behaves in any level of measurably notable ‘more than one’ way, and this is only at the very end of the game that it is revealed. They will not be reviewed in-depth as there isn't enough content to do so.

Plural Character: Fei Fong Wong

System type: canonical Dissociative Identity Disorder

Personhood: While each member of the system is given a distinct self-schema and motives and  demonstrated to be personlike, characters will frequently consider Fei the only ‘real one’, refer to the other headmates as Fei, and related phenomena. One of the system frequently refers to them all as ‘fake personas’ as well. Its important to keep in mind when grading this media that it was published in 1998, and this is very much a product of its time and was relatively progressive and accurate then, and later works by the author are much better with this, but it could certainly be better when graded to the standards of today. 4/10

Dynamic: Has a unnamed, mostly catatonic fragment that was created recently to deal with the trauma the game throws at Fei, Fei who is the current host, Id who is a persecutor protector and former host who took on the majority of the abuse they suffered and seems to vary in age(in the inner world mostly behaves and looks young and in the outer world looks and behaves like an adult), and the original, who is also a little. 

Id loathes the original and refers to him as ‘the coward’ because the original has amnesia for their severe medical abuse and torture but not for the happy memories, and Id can only remember the time of the abuse but not the happy memories. Id is mad the original will not share his memories, and the original dislikes him right back because he is ‘mean’ regarding this. Later, the original stops fronting or paying attention to front completely after accidentally killing their mother with their magic powers, thus forcing Id to become host alone. After ten years of time as host, kidnapped by one of the villains and trained as his assassin, their negligent father catches up to them and fights the kidnapper and Id. It is not explained how, but the game claims Id was ‘sealed inside Fei’ by the father (possible choices feasible in the world include but are not limited to drug-induced programming, Id being so upset and traumatized he split and went dormant on his own and the father just claimed he did it, physical trauma like a knock to the head causing Id to go dormant, and magic) and dropped off the village you start the game with severe wounds. Fei is formed then and has complete amnesia, knowing nothing of his past or his system.

Three years later the game starts, and soon after, Id awakens from dormancy again.

For the majority of the game they have no communication and Fei has full memory blackouts whenever Id fronts, but Fei begins to see flashes of Id and the original talking to him internally and flashes of memory, and this culminates in finally Fei being able to talk to Id and the original and be aware of what the others are doing.

Sometime during the course of the game, Fei unknowingly creates a mostly catatonic fragment in response to the trauma, and only becomes aware of it when he meets the others.

At first they all fight heavily, but over the course of the long conversation in their inner world reconcile.

The dynamic is an in-depth and well-reasoned dysfunctional system, if handwaved in places. Points off for the one proper conversation any of them have at all taking exactly one long and vaguely rushed cutscene explaining most of this section all at once. 8/10

Narrative Sympathy: Its mixed. The narrative sympathizes greatly with Fei, but for the majority of the story Id is considered an enemy and absolute monster and only gets sympathy towards the very end of the game. The original barely has any screentime and the fragment has even less. The game and the characters in the world treat Id like a total monster, and while he did very much kill many many people, many of which were civilian bystanders caught in collateral damage, were retaliatory overkill, or were targets his kidnapper had him kill, he never once attacks the party first and other characters who have done just as horrible atrocities get nice things said about them by others. 4.5/10

Consistency: The narrative for sure doesn't forget Fei is plural at any point, because its central to the plot. Though it seems to waver about language and personhood a bit, so points off for that. 8/10

Edge: This is extremely edgy. Id is the classic ‘murderous alter’, quite literally, given this is 1998 and there is very little media at that point that featured DID at all. Its possible he is responsible in part for the proliferation of said trope even, but Xenogears flopped so badly that its unlikely to be the case. 

It is important, however, to note that the game itself is extremely edgy. Its a game in which has human experimentation, fascism and the horrors of war, systematic violence/oppression, cannibalism, genocide  and other horrors at front focus and it does NOT shy away from digging into any of those. This makes the edginess a little less of a problem as its series-appropriate, but it remains still notably edgy due to Id being one of the edgiest characters in the game.

It is worth noting that there is a scene where an ally intentionally negatively triggers Id out to talk to him while pretending to be evil, which is a particular kind of content warning that most content warning listings are unlikely to mention.

Points reduced for the fact that its reasonable for the kind of story they are in, but still a very high score due to Id being the quintessential murderous alter. 8/10

Singlet Nonsense: There is a lot of this. Most of which is such because it is very dated, rather than out of poor research. It seems to be fairly well-researched for 1998 in Japan, actually.

There is strong ‘final fusion is the only way’ campaigning by basically every character who knows about Fei having DID(as this is what was the common view in the field then), which culminates in Fei and his system choosing to fully integrate after the one and only proper conversation they have with each other- this happens extremely unrealistically fast without much proper considering on the notion of living together beforehand, though all of them explicitly consent to it, which is good. The unification itself is rather unrealistic in other ways as well, as Fei essentially remains the same and the others disappear, Fei only gains a bunch of memories from it.

Id has extremely strong superpowers, though these are reasonable for the circumstance as its system-wide but Id was the only one trained to use them properly, and post integration Fei has access to that might too. Id also, however, inexplicably shapeshifts when he fronts (presumably he is tapping into the magic powers to make an illusion that makes him look how he wants, but its never explained why he can do this exactly), which is much less justifiable.

Switching is also heavily dramatized in many of the occurrences, with lots of flashing lights(This game has a MASSIVE epilepsy warning, there is a HUGE amount of flashing going on) and screen cuts and dramatic head clutching and screaming.

While its fairly good for its time, it does also have two particularly egregious instances of misunderstanding DID, the first is that while the game refers to their DID as DID in almost every instance, there is one instance of a character referring to Id as ‘a schizophrenic’ instead of ‘an alter in a DID system’. Its possible this is, as every other usage of a diagnosis is correct, a translation error (made more likely because it was translated by one sleep-deprived guy on a time crunch because the rest of the Square Enix translation team refused to work on the game due to the controversy the dark content and use of religious themes), but it was also common for older media to refer to DID in this way in general so it might not be. We cannot as of writing this locate any fan japanese translation notes that can confirm this either way.

The second is that a character describes one bit of major evidence to the other characters for Fei having DID as instead of any of the other symptoms he is blatantly showing (many mixed dissociative experiences where he is visibly dazed and out of it, obvious confessed identity confusion, the fact that they saw him switch to Id that one time) that Fei had mood swings (ie bipolar symptoms). Which is just full-stop wrong as bipolar and DID are very much not the same. Unless it was a translation goof and intended to mean ‘acts very different in some situations than he usually does due to passive influence’, which there are a few occurrences that seem to be the case with this, thats a pretty big inaccuracy.

While they get some things right, and much of it was good for its time, there is just so much singlet nonsense. 8/10

Possible upsetting tropes present: murderous alter, persecutor headmate suppression, ableism from those around them, superpowered evil side, shapeshifting alter without reasonable cause, unrealistically quick final fusion, final fusion being pushed, intentional negative switch triggering by an ally, general dated psychology and language

Overall series grade: While in 1998 this was relatively well researched and decent, this depiction is incredibly dated now, and there is so much edge. In today's day its very apparent how understanding has changed. Its important to note that there is strong evidence the creators have kept up with the research to this day and it truly is just a product of its time, as Xenoblade 2, their most recent work, is far more accurate to today’s understanding of plurality. Its likely their depiction in this game was well-meaning and meant to align with the understanding of the times. That said, while its clear they made a good attempt for 1998, the portrayal is bogged down quite heavily by the way they handled Id and the many things that are understood to be incorrect regarding DID now.  5/10

[iaintyourbro]

The Unknown Journey Continues

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

Fic writer tag game thing

Thanks for the tag, @senadimell!

—————

How many works do you have on a03?

One singular fic: Bailuobo. I have posted one other short fic HERE on Tumblr, and one chapter (so far) of one other looooong form WIP HERE (new chapter coming soon). All are in the MDZS/CQL fandom.

What’s your total a03 word count?

On AO3… 1607 words… 😆

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Well, my one and only AO3 fic currently has 129 kudos… so, I guess that one.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I will talk your ear off in comments. I feed on them. The longer the better. Come quench my comment thirst!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I’m going to include my unfinished Tolkien mega fic, my unfinished 1929 Wangxian fic, and my own very unfinished original fantasy work in considering this question. Spoiler—not really—but the Tolkien fic spans from the beginning of time to the end of time and ends with the collapse of the universe and yet the ending is extremely happy so not really that one. 1929 Wangxian’s unfinished ending vacillates between angsty/sad and happy/hopeful so that’s up in the air. My original piece is probably the angstiest, honestly, though I do have an unfinished Xenogears fic that is really dark.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

THIS one.

Do you write crossovers? if so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

OK… when I was 9 I started writing what was, I now know, a self-insert fic that crossed…

(oh God)

Ducktales, Star Trek: TNG, and Night Court.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, but I if I ever want any I’ll post that Ducktales/Star Trek:TNG/Night Court crossover.

Do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Not as of yet. I think there are a couple scenes in 1929 Wangxian that will qualify it as M but not E, so I guess no smut.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t think so, but I have a terrible idea for a Ducktales/Star Trek: TNG/Night Court crossover if you’d like it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but what an honor that would be!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not. On the one hand, that sounds like an amazing experience! On the other, have you ever tried to work with me on a creative project?

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I really can’t pick one. WangXian is my heart right now. I’ve not been a huge shipper in my life, but there are others that are dear to me: Silvergifting, Zelink, I went through a Cloud/Sephiroth phase, a Citan/Yui phase (they’re married so that was convenient), and a very, very long 8th Doctor/a whole lotta people (me?) phase. Heck there was a Scrooge/Goldie phase in 1988 😊.

What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don’t know. I may never finish that original work. It’s also possible one strand of the Tolkien mega fic actually IS the contemporary version of that original work.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I sometimes write good prose, and am, at times, even proud of some of it. I sometimes write good dialogue, especially once I get into flow and into the characters’ heads. If I had to pick one aspect that’s the best I’d say descriptive prose is my number one strength—particularly that of setting, mood, and sensory elements, more so than prose that expresses plot and action. I would love to blend what I love most about Tolkien, Shirley Jackson, and Margaret Atwood into my prose.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. Because I often don’t care about it. Just advancing action is hard for me. I also tend to get locked into things during editing. I struggle with TETRISing lines of prose and dialog back together during that stage, because I may know that something needs to change for pacing purposes or information purposes but I like the way the words sound as they are. I also tend to do the same thing I do with my art, which is overwork rather than let things be, leading to a more stilted end result.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I wrote a short play in Spanish years ago, but that was in a school setting; doing it in a fic setting where people who actually speak the language natively might read it… thinking of that gives me hives. So, of course, now I’m writing fic based on a story that originates in Mandarin: RIP me.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Back to the Future! But again, I didn’t know what “fanfiction” or “fandom” was at the time… It was the late 80s.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Probably THIS one again, because I feel like I actually struck a balance of pacing with ornate but not overly ornate prose that expresses the story and emotions I want without being overly literal. My brain is very literal and controlling… when I’m sober. When I wrote the first half of this one I had had two glasses of wine and man the imagery just flowed. (Don’t take this as an endorsement of irresponsible or underage drinking, kids!)

—————

Tagging @thearrogantemu, @wangxianbunnydoodles, @needtherapy, @cortue, @azaisya. No pressure to respond if you don’t want to. If anyone else wants to play please do!

[hrodvitnon]

Regarding how Viv 'n' San's mental merger in their singular-first-person using final form works, I'm trying to wrap my head around it (hadn't heard of 'Xenogears' before you mentioned it and have looked it up), and I have to ask: are Viv 'n' San in their final form like Blitzwing's personalities in TFA? (rQ9W65cxSKY on Youtube) If yes, d'you imagine theyll get a rep among Titans who only met them post-Ch.17 for supposedly being nutty with the two personalities?

AAAAAH, OF ALL THE DAYS TO LEAVE MY PHONE AT HOME ON A WORK DAY! I COULD'VE BEEN ANSWERING ASKS WHILE SITTING THROUGH SHANG-CHI CREDITS FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME!

*ahem* Yeah, Xenogears is pretty obscure compared to its cousins Xenosaga and especially Xenoblade. I have a weird fascination with the game, considering I never played it. It's ambitious even by PS1 JRPG standards, draws inspiration from Gnosticism and Jewish mysticism, Jungian psychology, Gundam, has been compared to Evangelion... and is just as goddamn confusing on a good day. When someone jokes "you kill god at the end," they're talking about Xenogears. Spoilers for a game from 1998 I suppose.

My comparing the Viv n' San mental merge to 'Gears might not be totally accurate, but the inspiration is absolutely there! The entire "two small pieces" and "broken shards" and "becoming whole" were inspired by such themes found in 'Gears, plus pieces from the soundtrack ("lost... broken shards" and the credits song "SMALL TWO OF PIECES -Broken Shards-"). As a treat, here's the orchestrated version of the latter, from the Myth album:

All that being said! I can definitely see the merged Viv n' San personalities acting like Blitzwing at times, maybe for fun or just to mess with someone, so it's entirely possible they'll gain something of a reputation for being a split-personality nutjob among the Titans... it seems Jonah's mooks thinking Monster X has multiple personalities came true from a certain point of view...

[neon-serpent-llc]

Here’s to 365 days of polygonal worlds, shot point-blank at our grey matter, some catching fire, others fizzling to the void! It must be that oh-so-pointless time to give out video game awards! For the third year running I present a cheeky list of spills and chills like no other (spoiler: Overwatch wins nothing). Anyway, blahblahblah, here's the awards already:

Game I Forgot Existed Until I Looked Up "Game Releases of 2016" Award

Quantum Break

Like previous winners Watch Dogs, and Evolve, this is a shining example of a game that simply vanished after it was released. Probably took hundreds of Artists four years to make, and then *poof* gone overnight. But alas, most games do, eh? Was the TV show any good?

Best Case for Virtual Tourism Award

The Division

Say what you will about the game itself, but this lovely facsimile of NYC is killer. And super accurate. If it weren't for all the invincible, hoodie-wearing street thugs it would be a pleasure to cruise this digital remake of my favorite city.

Genius or Madness Award

Zero Time Dilemma

A game that walks the line perfectly between the two. So clever, and yet maybe too clever? The twists are ridiculous when they work and outrageous when they don’t. Even so, its sheer confidence of going eight steps beyond everyone else, narrative-wise, is so refreshing. Truly a piece of Art that only works in the video game medium. Speaking of Art...

Most Unplayable Work of Art Award

The Witness

Conceptually, The Witness is flawless. Especially once you've seen the "real" ending, that perfectly frames the point of the whole experience (I watched it on YouTube). Unfortunately, to get that real ending is a monumentally painstaking chore. But, this isn't "difficult" Art in the sense that its meaning is opaque or it’ll challenge your worldview. Its simply that I have zero patience for puzzle games. If The Witness is an encapsulation of what it means to be Johnathan Blow, then it's clear that he and I couldn't be more different. And that's why it works as Art.

Don't Want to Be the Guy That Says, "I Told You So," but.... I Told You So Award

No Man's Sky

Even with its countless features, the spiritually-similar Spore got boring fast. How, then, was this bare-bones knock-off, No Man's Sky, going to keep people interested? And that was with the assumption that it would at least look nice. However, it absolutely did not. The novelty of seeing procedurally generated ANYTHING gets old fast, and it's made far worse when you're presented with a never ending stream of ugly, barren planets made of mud and more mud. Next year’s winner: Star Citizen?

Biggest Social Phenomenon Since the Wii Award

Pokemon Go

It didn't last long, but for a month this summer, everyone was out hunting in the parks of the world. Sure, we still mostly ignored each other, but there was a touch of bizarre camaraderie knowing we were all playing the same giant meta game. Like the Wii before it, it was a game-related subject you could talk to ANYBODY about, and they'd not only know what you meant, but have an opinion on the matter. How often does that happen? How odd was it to see a fifty year old business man asking where the nearest Clefairy could be found?

Welcome to the 90s Loading Time Award

Deus Ex Mankind Divided

I think I spent more time riding the subway in this game than I have in real life.

You Don't Know Your Audience Award

Metroid Prime Federation Force

As a new Nintendo IP this would have got tons of attention. Who doesn't like crazy new Nintendo ideas? But as a Metroid game it could only possibly get bad press. Why play as Samus when you can play as more-generic-than-Master-Chief, chibi space marines instead? A top tier faux pas.

They Finally Got it Right Award

Dragonball Xenoverse 2

After decades of awkward DragonBall games, they finally hit the sweet spot for over-the-top action with fun controls and interesting content (granted, I never played the first Xenoverse). In the year of Street Fighter 5, who would have thought I'd prefer the new DragonBall fighting game?

Well Deserved Retirement Award

Dark Souls 3

Still fun despite almost no alterations in what is clearly a formula now, but I'm glad this is the last hurrah, at least for a while. As I said when Dark Souls 2 came out, the magic is less pronounced with each additional entry. None will have that Demon's Souls impact anymore. But when it returns in 5 to 10 years, it'll be nostalgic to see the old tricks in action again.

Everyone's An Asshole Award

Dishonored 2

At least that's what the talking Heart makes it seem like. Half the populace has secretly killed their husband/wife, whereas the other half have burned down orphanages or something.

Late to the Party Award

Steins;Gate

Another game I played years after release. And damn it's good. Far more novel than game, but I don't mind for a story of this quality. Why wasn't I reading this earlier? Haven't got to Steins;Gate 0 yet, but I'm working on it.

Xenogears Disk 2 Award

Final Fantasy XV

Like Metal Gear Solid V last year, another all-around excellent game that suddenly sprints to the end, jumping vast stretches of story in an instant, clashing hard with the slow burn style of storytelling established before that. Much like Xenogears of yore, this is a game that tried to be far bigger than time/budget allowed.

Honestly, I wish these overly-epic games would get chopped in two, a la Kill Bill. At the point where the story would start getting rushed, end part one. Just end it. Then let its sales fund part two, the remainder of the story. Then again, you run the risk of a Too Human situation where you announce a trilogy and then don't sell enough to finish it. But honestly, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear would handily sell enough. I’m sure they’ll make a FFXV-2, but at best it’ll attempt to reassemble the pieces of its predecessors fractured ending.

Didn't Burn the House Down Award

Uncharted 4

The writers said the ending would "burn the house down" in terms of closure. But it didn't, at all, even slightly. Uncharted 5 could EASILY be made based off this exact ending, with no retcons and no changes to the game’s formula. They'd just have to make Drake constantly say, "I'm too old for this shit!!"

It Shouldn't Work, But it Soooo Does Award

Dragon Quest Builders

I don't like Minecraft. As a professional level designer, I find Minecraft‘s game building tools too crude to enjoy using at length (what a snob, eh?). And I don't like Dragon Quest. Too much grind, not enough story. Too simple. But for some reason when you combine the two it's fucking great! Dragon Quest adds the personality, charm, and flavor Minecraft was sorely lacking while also bringing enough story and tangible goals to make the building feel like a game and not like a chore. Plus, the game’s worlds are fairly handcrafted and feature proper level/zone design, which is greatly appreciated. The surprise hit of the year.

Best Game Industry Trend of the Year

Virtual Reality

I'm glad we're all working on it seriously now. Sure, the current headsets are uncomfortable as fuck, (can’t emphasize this enough), but its a step towards sunglasses-size VR in about ten years or so. Plus, by then everyone will be over their VR sickness so we won’t have to keep watering down the experiences we create. It’ll be sweet!

Worst Game Industry Trend of the Year

Infinite Sales

Between Steam, Good Old Games, Humble Bundle, Greenman Gaming, PSN Store, etc there is always a massive, store-wide sale going on somewhere. Wait a year and any game you want will be a mere $10. Why buy an unknown indie game when you can get a supremely polished, lengthy triple-A game for the same price? Indie developers basically need to charge $1 to get anyone's attention. Or make their game free *cough* ULTRAWORLD.

Best Game Awards of the Year

Obvious

Worst Game Awards of the Year

The Game Awards

A transparently corporate affair, the winners have all be carefully selected based on what needs to sell at Xmas. Companies won't even show up if one of their high profile games doesn't get an award. Even setting those complaints aside, it's hard to get interested or excited about a 2016 award show that happens with over a month of 2016 left; when wonderful games like The Last Guardian haven’t even been released yet. Speaking of which...

Game (Experience) of the Year

The Last Guardian

There's a layer of disconnect between the player and Last Guardian. The boy, Trico, and the camera all seem to disobey the player constantly. Many marked this as a flaw, but I think it's 100% intentional and part of why the game is so cohesive, thematically. For me, there's an added sense of surrealism when things are out of control. The chaos of physics interactions seem like they shouldn't work, yet suddenly you've made it to the next section of the castle. Did you really play that last section, or merely guide the chaos? Since you’re playing as a helpless child, lost in towering labyrinthine passageways, this obtuse disconnect feels entirely appropriate.

I feel it's intentional because Fumito Ueda and his team have managed to capture this sense of surreal play for three games in a row. Everyone manages to get to the end despite the feeling of disconnect. Trico is so aloof, yet will always get you where you need to go. Eventually. If everything functioned 100% predictably, God-of-War-precise, it would be FAR less memorable...as an experience. You, like the boy, legitimately struggle to escape the castle. Who has the guts to purposely make their controls imprecise to service the game, and theme, as a whole? It's amazing. A true work of Art. Game of the Year.

Non-Game of the Year

ULTRAWORLD EXODUS

The expansion and finale to whatever the hell this thing is. I liked it, but I think I'm literally the only one.

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

So that's the year, says I. Looking over my list, its clear I didn't play many indie games, even though I complained about people not buying indie games (which is bad Karma for me, but I'll live). As always, if you disagree: good. All awards are pointless, just fluff opinions with a bow on top. Your awards are as good as mine, good as the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, etc etc forever. Til next year!

2015 Awards 2014 Awards

[virginieboesus]

Another 7 PSX RPGs That Every RPG Fan Should Play

The original PlayStation had so many great role-playing games that we couldn’t possibly list the greatest of them in just one post (or even two)! So what does that mean? Well, it means that I’m back again with another 7 PSX RPGs that you really should play if you love the genre! In this article, we are going to look at 7 RPGs that were generally overshadowed by the likes of Final Fantasy, meaning that they didn’t get the attention they deserved. However, with the PlayStation Classic bringing more attention back to the original PlayStation games, now is the perfect time to give these games a try!

So, let’s get started and look at another 7 PSX RPGs that every RPG fan should play!

7. Alundra

In recent years, thanks to the likes of Dark Souls, games that are difficult and unforgiving have become incredibly popular. However, back in the day, that sort of game design would put off a lot of people. That’s what happened with Alundra for most of the people I knew when I was growing up. You see, a lot of people over here at the time got introduced to the J-RPG genre by Final Fantasy VII. That was a game that you could move through at a very leisurely pace and, honestly, doesn’t give much of a challenge (outside of Ruby Weapon).

When they then moved on to other J-RPGs and tried Alundra, the difference in difficulty was a huge jump. This put a lot of them off the game very quickly, which is a real shame. Alundra is a fantastic RPG that rewards your determination! So, if you’re a fan of a challenging game, Alundra is perfect for you!

6. Xenogears

Developed by the (at the time) prolific role-playing game developers of Squaresoft, Xenogears has gotten quite the name for itself over the years. This is absolutely well deserved as well. The game features everything you would expect from a Squaresoft RPG; quality gameplay, memorable and relatable characters and great world building. You can become enthralled in the world of Xenogears very easily. Oh, and if you are a fan of robots and mecha, then Xenogears has you covered there as well!

If you have ever played Xenosaga on the PlayStation 2 or either of the Xenoblade Chronicles games for the Wii and WiiU, they are effectively spiritual successors to Xenogears. So if you have enjoyed those games, you should treat yourself by going back and playing Xenogears. Just be warned that the latter half of the game does feel rushed, due to a strict development deadline.

5. Legend of Legaia

Are you a fan of both RPGs and fighting games? If so, then you may have just found the absolutely perfect RPG for you! Legend of Legaia is a traditional turn-based RPG, but only when looking skin deep. In combat, when you choose to attack, you have to choose whether to aim high or low, and also have to perform combos like in a fighting game. This was an incredibly unique gameplay idea for a J-RPG at the time. Whilst other RPGs have used this idea before, such as with Zell’s limit break in Final Fantasy VIII, the only RPG at the time that I have seen that uses it as the base fighting mechanic is Legend of Legaia.

Of course, the battle system isn’t the only aspect that makes Legend of Legaia great. Whilst it really hasn’t aged well in terms of graphics, the storyline is thoroughly enjoyable and will keep you entertained through the game.

4. SaGa Frontier

With the absolute love that Octopath Traveler got recently (which was well deserved), I think it is the perfect time for you to go back and play a true classic that features different storylines for the characters. SaGa Frontier opens with a character select screen and, once you pick one, you play out that characters story. Then, you get to go back and play through all of the other characters as well. So, as you can tell, there is a reason why I mentioned Octopath Traveler.

SaGa Frontier is a great example of what you can do to make an RPG different enough to stand out, without going too far off the rails that you alienate people because of gameplay. You really should give it a try!

3. Azure Dreams

Whilst this RPG didn’t really sit well with me, personally, I know for a fact that many who played Azure Dreams adore it! The game is a sort of action RPG that also works similar to a rogue-like game. That is, there is a huge tower for you to get through, but every time you leave the tower, your level resets. However, along the way you can recruit animals and creatures to fight alongside you – their levels do not reset. This is a major aspect of progression in the game, adding a lot of strategic thought to the game.

Azure Dreams also features a limited town-building section to the game, where you can reconstruct the town around the tower. This gives access to (again, limited) relationships with NPCs in the town that you can romance. So whilst it doesn’t really master every aspect that it attempts, in my opinion, Azure Dreams definitely does do a lot of very good things!

2. Star Ocean: The Second Story

There really are quite a few Squaresoft games on this list, aren’t there? That just goes to show why I referred to them as “prolific” earlier on and why they were once my favourite game developer. Star Ocean, as a series, has always been really close to my heart. I have adored every game in the series (barring the latest one on PS4, although it was still okay). However, the one game in the Star Ocean series that sticks out above all of the rest is Star Ocean: The Second Story. It’s really hard to discuss what makes the game so great without verging on spoiler territory for the game, because of how much world-building, character development and story there is in it!

However, I think I may have inadvertently explained why I love Star Ocean: The Second Story so much in that very sentence. There really is just so much to the game and it will pull you in, hold you tight and not let you go until long after you have completed everything there is to do in the game!

1. Valkyrie Profile

In the second post in this series of articles, I mentioned Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, a side-scrolling Metroidvania RPG. Well, it isn’t the only side-scrolling RPG with exploration on the original PlayStation! Enter Valkyrie Profile, a beautifully animated and designed 2D role-playing game based upon Norse mythology. You take the titular role of a Valkyrie who is tasked with gathering the souls of warriors in order to help in the coming back of Ragnarok. The game features a great amount of depth for every character, and the battle system is incredibly fast-paced.

In fact, it may take some getting used to if you’ve only ever played traditional turn-based RPGs. Exploration is also really enjoyable, as it feels like you are playing a very well-polished 2D platformer until you get into a battle scene. Because of that, the game never feels repetitive (at least, not to me) so you don’t get burnt out whilst playing it.

And That’s All Folks

Well, there you have it! Those were 7 more great RPGs on the original PlayStation that you really need to play if you enjoy the genre! There are still a huge number of other games in the genre to cover though, so make sure you stay tuned for the next entry in this series of posts!

What PSX RPGs would you suggest to absolutely anyone? Let me know in the comments below!

from More Design Curation https://www.16bitdad.com/another-7-psx-rpgs-that-every-rpg-fan-should-play/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=another-7-psx-rpgs-that-every-rpg-fan-should-play source https://smartstartblogging.tumblr.com/post/180600311825

[japandamandotcom]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lands on the Nintendo Switch with a lush gorgeous open world that screams for exploring, travelling and…did I mention exploring?

First of all, a bit of a spoiler free introduction to this latest instalment in the Xenoblade series. The story revolves around lead protagonist, Rex, who sets off on a journey to save decipher the mysterious past of the land known as Alrest. He meets up with Pyra, a young girl with her own clouded past and secrets as they travel together to Elysium, the fabled land which also serves as Pyra’s home. To be completely honest, the story is full of side quests and invites you to explore this stunning open world, that I found myself forgetting to actually drive the story forward and kept indulging in quests to help out in game characters.

Rex

Pyra

  Now this might be an unpopular opinion here but I much preferred the lush visuals of Alrest and found exploring the land much more enjoyable than doing the same thing in Breath Of The Wild. I think it’s just how green everything is but my eyes found it a definitely much prettier colour palette. Speaking of the side quests, they’re a great way to explore and learn about your surrounding while getting rewards that will come in handy during your adventure. There is a handy fast travel feature that you can use to zip around previously discovered locales but I found it much more fun to run around and see what else I could uncover.

Some of the quests will have you going mad trying to complete them but they never come across forced or leave you feeling frustrated for too long. Sometimes you just can’t complete as you don’t have the abilities yet, you can always leave them and complete them later on for you purists out there who love completing each and everything to find in a game. Levelling up is where the game really comes alive and finds its feet as there’s a ton of customisation options to be found. You can add different accessories to your character to grant new powers or enhance existing capabilities. As you win random battles, you can WP and SP which is used to power up Rex using an Affinity Chart which outlines everything you’ll eventually be able to unlock. And believe me when I say there’s loads to unlock which will probably take you the majority of the game to unlock.

Another unique part of the game are your Blades. Blades are beings that you bond with and act as a fighting partner of sorts. There are Fighters, Healers and Tanks and each of them have their own powers, strengths and weaknesses. Blades can be created using a Core Crystal which are littered all across the land. The Core Crystals also determine what kind of abilities you Blade will have. It’s almost like finding and catching Pokemon but with a way different slant and it’s definitely a very fun part of the game. You can choose different Blades on the fly so if you’re having a hard time beating a foe, it could be possible that you’re just using the wrong Blade or a Blade that isn’t suited to that particular enemy.

Speaking of Blades, you also be meeting characters along the way who join your party, bringing their own Blades to the fray. Nia is a feisty young cat girl with a gorgeous fluffy Blade called Dromarch. You don’t need to always stay in control of Rex by the way, you can also take control of Nia which allows you to travel faster across the land. Dromarch is a healing Blade so you can always opt to stay back in battles and allow Rex to use the powers at his disposal in the best way while you heal without getting injured too much. There were a few times when I couldn’t beat an enemy for hours so I changed to healing and while it was still difficult and took a few goes, it still resulted in a positive outcome.

The characters have a beautiful design to them and really stand out among other characters  in RPG’s. One of the things I didn’t really like initially is the fact that most of the characters have been voiced with British accents. I found that quite jarring and kept turning the sound down during dialogue moments however I’ve since warmed up to the voices. I’ve also just found out that there will be a day one free download which will give the characters Japanese voices which wasn’t available to me during the review period. And while we’re speaking of sounds, the music in this game is beyond amazing and needs to be played with a pair of headphones. The soundtrack duties were handled by Yasunori Mitsuda and anyone familiar with his work will instantly fall in love with the aural treats in this game. After all, this is the man behind Xenogears and Chrono Trigger, both great soundtracks in their own right.

I’ve sunk over 20 hours into this game so far and haven’t even scratched the surface. Make no mistake, this game will take you hours, I’m talking 100+ to complete. But each and every step of the way is an absolute delight and will have you wanting more from this Xenoblade Universe.Ok, so really quickly, the negatives? The voice acting but I’m a sucker and purist for Japanese in JRPG’s. Sometimes one of the biggest strengths, the customisation system and upgrading system, can be confusing for newer players unfamiliar to Xenoblade.

After the stunning Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U, this is a welcome debut for the Nintendo Switch and continues the fine tradition of the Xenoblade saga while being familiar to veterans and easy enough to slide into for newcomers. I don’t know if I’ll finish this game but damn if I’m not having one of the best times ever trying to find out.

Final score: 9/10

Review: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch) Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lands on the Nintendo Switch with a lush gorgeous open world that screams for exploring, travelling and...did I mention exploring?

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

But Whose Deontology?

The Untamed: three-fifths mark

OK, @thearrogantemu​ I finally had a chance to look at a non-work screen for long enough to watch some more Untamed; through episode 30 now! Oh boy. Spoilers for anyone who isn’t this far yet below the cut:

I feel like this show didn’t exactly *hide* that it was interested in poking holes in everyone’s moral system, but it did spend a lot of time... not distracting us, really, but using the other assorted comical, tender, and otherwise emotional aspects of the show to deepen our investment in these characters’ lives and choices before it started really making its moves. I suspect it wouldn’t have had the same effect otherwise.

The long run up is a pacing I’m quite the fan of from almost three decades of JRPGs that start out as light-hearted adventures about teenage angst only to turn into philosophical ruminations on God and the nature of the universe (see my favorite example: Xenogears). Even The Lord of the Rings does something... similar, albeit not intentionally on the part of the author. It’s actually one of my favorite “tropes” in storytelling: the tone shift—the moment the light-hearted and comfortingly simple reveals itself to be something much wider and deeper and which will leave you unsettled in its wake.(1)

I’m really quite impressed with Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. Xiao Zhan manages to believably play the process of aging from arrogant and ornery but innocent and lovable “student” in Cloud Recesses, to the (still arrogant and ornery but lovable) rebellious “hero” during the Wen indoctrination, to the (still arrogant but lovable) young man forced to grow up too fast when his adoptive parents are killed, to the Master of Demonic Cultivation and head of The World’s Most Wholesome Farming Co-op (why cultivate only demons when you can cultivate turnips, too!?).(2) And he manages to play it all as believably the same character, always deeply expressive but also somehow... authentic... even when he is putting on a show: his play-acted irresponsible argumentativeness with Wen Qing; his self-infantilization whenever he wants Yanli to mother him. The latter would be laughable if we were to take it as entirely straight-faced—he knows he is playing childish, and he knows that she knows, even if he does legitimately want to be mothered. Jiang Cheng on the other hand seems to never handle the reality of Wei Wuxian as well as Wei Wuxian handles the reality of Jiang Cheng...

I understand there was some criticism of Yibo’s perceived lack of expressiveness when the show first came out, but I think he’s doing a fantastic job portraying a deeply stoic character whose emotional turmoil is buried under mountains of learned and self-enforced composure. It’s not like he’s missing beats; he’s responding, it’s just subtle. He’s responsible for two of my favorite moments so far: when he first smiles ever so slightly when he sees the lantern Wuxian has made him with the rabbit drawing(3) and the scene of him kneeling in the snow as punishment. I don’t know if it’s the lighting or the fact that it’s one of the few times he’s not carrying tension in his eyebrows, but he looks SO YOUNG in that shot. Honestly, he looks more AT PEACE in that shot than I think he does at almost any other time in the show so far. It feels to me like, in that moment, he has no regrets either about what he did nor about the fact that he should have to atone for it. Like he has internalized some sense that both things are right and can exist in tension. The weird effect of this growth next to Wei Wuxian’s feels like watching one of the two grow older (Wuxian) while the other grows younger (Wangji).

Now, I’m a sucker for every last story where two highly disparate-seeming people move from from some variation of dislike (either on the part of one or both) to friendship to, sometimes, something more (no, no BL here, none at all *looks the other way*). Certainly Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have very different personalities. Wei Wuxian has little regard for rules, authority, tradition, taboos, or social etiquette: he uses Lan Wangji’s ming(4) almost as soon as he meets him! The way he interacts with objects and spaces (and personal space!) shows his lack of reverence/respect for the people and things others expect him to have reverence for. He has no problem questioning what everyone else seems to see as obvious up to the point of outright suggesting the use of dark magic. Because...well, why not?? Because “they said so?”

It’s not that he doesn’t KNOW the rules. Another of my absolute favorite moments is during the Wen indoctrination when Wei Wuxian starts reciting not the Wen clan principles, but the Lan clan principles! Sure, he lacks the expected respect for sources of authority be they personal or ideological, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t KNOW them. He’s obviously naturally talented, gifted, a fast learner, curious, but also—and crucially—he has a very strong moral compass! He does not tolerate bullies, especially when they turn their attention to the vulnerable, like Wen Chao.(5) Yanli notes that their father always favors those with moral integrity and who does he favor? Wei Wuxian.

And this is where he and Lan Wangji are more alike than Wangji initially thinks, and why I love that moment, just after they release the lanterns, when you see, just for a second, the surprise on his face at the content of Wei Wuxian’s prayer: that he always be able to “stand with justice and live with no regrets.” It is, I imagine, the moment when it really hits Wangji that this rebel he finds himself irrationally attracted to truly is *good* despite the fact that he shows no outward signs of respecting the same sources of moral authority Wangji does.

So what is the main difference? Where the rules come from. Who makes the rules? Both of them are pretty sure they know.

Lan Wangji gets his moment to present his source just after their rooftop duel when he catches Wei Wuxian drinking: the Lan Clan principles chiseled right into stone. All 3000 of them. Interestingly, even though Wei Wuxian can and does memorize the code and seems perfectly happy with the notion of moral principles in general, I’ll wager a guess that he is confused by the very idea that a moral code would be so strict and unchanging and inflexible that it could be chiseled into stone *in the first place* or that it would *need to be memorized*. Surely you’d just...”know?” Besides, morality is too contextual to treat this way surely?

As a CLH (Confirmed Lifelong Heretic) my sympathies admittedly lie more with Wei Wuxian than Lan Wangji. It’s not that traditional codes of ethics and conduct are bad things. These are the things that provide stability across entire cultures and peoples. If they’re written in stone, at least that means they’re something everyone has a greater chance of pointing to and agreeing on.(7) And just as Lan Wangji has to learn that there are moral codes that aren’t written in stone and that individual minds can have very clear senses of right and wrong outside of group structures, Wei Wuxian has to learn to temper his arrogance—that his actions, for however right he *thinks* they are, can and do have consequences he would not intend for those he loves, as when he stops himself from calling to Wangji during the hunt. I have a feeling he’s going to be learning more...

Then there’s that whole conversation from ep. 29 as Lan Wangji prepares to leave the burial mounds which is just full of whammies (set, naturally, against the exceedingly domestic reality of the community as a whole and their exceedingly sweet interactions with a-Yuan). Wei Wuxian says: “But let yourself be the judge of what is right and what is wrong, leave others’ comments aside, and care little about gain and loss. What I should do. I know it very well. I believe that I’ll be able to control it well.” And then there’s that moment where you can actually feel Lan Wangji’s heart drop into the pit of his stomach as he presses his eyes closed.

This is the reverse of the moment when Wangji directed Wuxian’s attention to the list of Lan clan principles, so solid they are written in stone.(8)

Then there is that wonderful bit about their respective paths—Lan Wangji’s path vs. Wei Wuxian’s path: the wide avenue vs the one-log bridge. I assume this is a literal translation of the Mandarin. Is it an idiom? If so, I may mangle its meaning terribly and for that I am sorry. But it seems to me that a wide avenue is safe, easy, populated; a single-log bridge is comparatively dangerous and only one person can walk it. Which seems a pretty good metaphor for the differences in whose rule-book each of the leads chooses. Not to mention, with my Western ears, it sounds a WHOLE lot like a “straight and narrow path.” Interesting then, that it is The Master of Demonic Cultivation who is choosing it, while Lan Wangji—with his brightness and discipline and clarity—is following the “easy” way.

So, there it is: whose deontology is the right one? How do you choose?

It’s the epistemological aspect of the question of ethics that Newbigin gets right in that quote I posted the other day. Honestly, I disagree with a great deal (like, a lot) of what Newbigin says in that book, and I think he spends far too much time running himself in ever tighter Calvinist circles, (not to mention I have little interest in missiology and am highly skeptical of evangelism). But! I appreciate that he does, at least, recognize the danger of believing we have insulated ourselves completely from uncertainty or of expecting that certainty is even a thing possible to achieve.

But where do we choose to anchor our axioms? And why? Whose deontology is the right deontology? The rules written on parchment and stone? Or the rules written on our souls? Remembering, of course, that both are fallible. 16 years in the future, will the two leads have changed their minds at all?

And now with any luck, I’ll have a free weekend in which to watch the last 20 episodes, assuming no one wants me to do adult things like house cleaning or completing design projects people are paying me for.(10)

Like how Tolkien switches register from the low and comedic to the high and romantic but you’re fully aware it’s all really part of the same story and suddenly, bam!, you recognize that those aspects of life are somehow not able to be disentangled.

OMG is this an intentional play on “cultivation”? Sometimes I can’t tell what might be getting lost in translation, and I’m certainly too ignorant of Chinese culture, mythology, and folklore to really appreciate everything happening in this show, not least of which due to the language barrier.

He is, interestingly, far more moved by it than the drawing Wuxian does of *him* two episodes beforehand—is this merely the result of the progression of their relationship? This is post-cold springs after all.

That took some research to understand!

The main “vulnerable” character that he never seems to swoop in to save is Meng Yao and I wonder if it’s because he can sense something “off” about him. I felt bad for Meng Yao at first but he always put me on edge. Honestly, is there anyone who trusts Meng Yao as far as they can throw him? *looks at Elrond* OK, anyone except Elrond?(6)

Honestly, before I started watching this I saw that one of the characters was being referred to as Elrond and I wondered, going into it, if I’d know which character it was, and then Lan Xichen walked in and I was like “oh, yeah, obviously!” Seriously, what is it about him? Is it his physical appearance? The way he holds himself? His outfit? His pattern of speaking? How is this person so obviously coded “Elrond?”

Except they don’t really. That’s never how it works.

And interestingly, when looking at his name: “Wei Ying,  Ying is his 名, meaning, baby; Wuxian is his 字, it comes from an ancient prose “喜乐无羡赏,忿怒无羡刑”, which means when you’re delighted don’t reward without restraint,  when you’re angry don’t punish without restraint. Wuxian here means exercise your power reasonably.”(9)

The richness of the world in this show really appeals to me as does the carefully choreographed costume design, productions design, and cinematography (seriously, everyone needs to dress like this all the time; end of story; I have spoken). There have been some amazing shots that I can only assume are drone footage that have been ADRed?

20 years in and adulthood still sucks. 0 of 5 stars. Would not recommend.