#normal non-plot-important/non-dramatic conversation

[emordnilap-fr]

my mom likes the thing 2011 more than the thing 1982... the betrayal i am feeling is immeasurable

#emord rambles #not fr #not to be an ''ooo old movies are better ooo'' but the newer one really is not good #the camera changes angles faster than cocomelon i swear to god you don't have to flip back and forth every line during a #normal non-plot-important/non-dramatic conversation #also this is typical but it's so fucking dark where are the light source i cannot fucking SEE #AND again again this is me being picky as hell but i considered the fact we never saw the Actual Form Of The Thing as a good thing #revealing it is just one of so many choices i think they shouldn't have made #the biggest choice being: we didn't need a prequel

[tanoraqui]

tanoraqui

Still thinking about an au in which for some reason WWX and the Wens are left to just live peacefully on the creepy death mountain - some detente wherein they don’t leave the mountain ever and in exchange no one tries to visit ever. Borders patrolled by corpses and sect disciples. So A-Yuan grows up raised kind of collectively but mostly by WWX and Wen Qing (the one most likely to tell WWX that he’s doing it wrong), and learns healing-focused spiritual cultivation AND demonic cultivation, and then at some point starts sneaking out to be the terrifying force of righteous kindness he was always going to be

tanoraqui

Righteous kindness but also, like, having picked up WWX’s cavalier confidence (or at least some of the ability to fake it) and Wen Qing’s general attitude of Do No Harm But Take No Shit

Like IMAGINE

tanoraqui

In this au, despite the strict border-by-mutual-agreement that’s the only reason somehow no ones tried to attack, LWJ sneaks in like one a year so he and WWX can make eyes at one another but not actually say anything ever, and Wen Qing and LXC are both EXHAUSTED bc both their dumb little brothers (WWX is a sibling by adoption now don’t @ me) mope for like a week after EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENS, and it’s been /over ten years/.

tanoraqui

Meanwhile Jiang YanLi and JZX are FINE, and JYL somehow keeps up some sort of correspondence with WWX - or at least, he’s faithfully managed to send a birthday present for Jin Ling every single year, and every time, JYL makes her son write a thank-you note and bribes some series of people to get it smuggled back to Yiling

tanoraqui

...which means, honestly, that Jin Ling is probably wildly curious about his uncle the evil demonic cultivator kept trapped within the terrible ghost mountain by the forces of Good and Right, and WILL sneak out one day to try to visit. Optimally, obviously, at the same time Wen Yuan is sneaking out to see the non-mountain world

tanoraqui

The optimal plot is that Wen Yuan ropes Jin Ling into helping him set up WWX and LWJ, because he, too, is exasperated at this point, and Jin Ling ropes Wen Yuan into arranging like a parent trap reunion for the Jiang siblings, and obviously there are monsters and undead to complicate it all

tanoraqui

They kind of acquire Lan Jingyi somewhere, somehow. He’s having a blast

There is a 100% chance that the first Adult(TM) to find them is Wen Ning and they just kind of rope him into whatever the hell is going on at the time

...you know what, I think this is just a good au where JGY fucking died at some point

tanoraqui

Maybe someone threw him down the stairs again and he just broke his fucking neck. WWX is still vilified but between Jiang Cheng not really wanting to attack and Jiang (Jin?) Yanli being AGGRESSIVELY against it, and dragging JZX along with her, they’re left in peace.

tanoraqui

Oh man and Jin Ling has YOUNGER SIBLINGS in this...

Hey for u: Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing can accidentally happen while the Teens are trying to get everyone else to meet

Today at 8:42 AM

@professorsparklepants

I love this it's so goddamn wacky

tanoraqui

I just want teenager-based shenanigans ft. surprisingly competent teenagers and all the adults running around like chickens with their heads chopped off

professorsparklepants

Jingyi: why are you two more calm about this than the literal adults

Wen Yuan: have you met my dad?

tanoraqui

Also to be clear it is not at all hard to convince Wen Ning to join Team: Teenage Shenanigans, bc literally ANYONE in the Burial Mountain village would probably be down if you were like, “we’re engaged in a conspiracy to make Wei Wuxian fucking admit that he’s in love with that Lan guy who visits a couple times a year”

professorsparklepants

"This is my father, and this is his sugar daddy."

tanoraqui

I kinda wanna say he goes by “Wen Yuan” more often bc he’s 100% the baby of the entire remaining Wen clan there, but his adult name or w/e it’s called IS Wen Sizhui, because WWX asked LWJ if he had any suggestions and LWJ said this while maintaining eye contact

professorsparklepants

OH MY GOOOOOOD

tanoraqui

They meet LXC and he figures out what’s going on in like 4 minutes, despite the teens’ best attempts at obfuscation, and instead of calling anyone’s parents is like, “okay, I’m in”

professorsparklepants

#1 wingman...

tanoraqui

Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are definitely both traveling under false names, too? Wen Yuan obviously can’t admit to being a Wen and Jin Ling is making a privileged but slightly helicoptered teen’s rebellious bid for freedom

professorsparklepants

His dad is panicking at home and Yanli is like "boys need their freedom :)"

I saw a post forever ago about how Yanli would be the most hands off parent & Zixuan is an only child who would panic every time his kid fell down

tanoraqui

With a side order of “my mother is the only one who’ll say nice things about the Yiling Patriarch and she always looks sad when she does so I’m going to sneak into the Burial Mountain and either drag him out to see her or force my parents to come get me”

professorsparklepants

"I'm gonna beat up the Yiling Patriarch" "why" "he made my mom sad" "okay proceed"

tanoraqui

^ actual real conversation with WenYuan

professorsparklepants

A-Yuan then repeats the same thing to Wen Qing and she has the exact same answer, verbatim

tanoraqui

Side note: Wen Yuan has never been scared of the undead in his entire life, and probably this will lead to getting into severely life-threatening situations when he doesn’t have more backup than 2 other teenagers

professorsparklepants

Oh absolutely

professorsparklepants

He's so used to tuning out the sound of sentry corpses that one jumps on him and almost punches his lungs out

tanoraqui

Also what if he took WWX’s sword, so he looks like a proper normal cultivator - honestly, what if WWX gave him the sword when he turned 12, or whenever one customarily gives a child a sword in this world. He also has a flute stashed in his robe somewhere but he does know how to use both

tanoraqui

But also, while obviously it’s very important that this is the sword he inherited from his father, it’s never OCCURRED to him to, like, strongly associate it with WWX, in terms of “this would be a recognizable weapon”? Chenqing the flute, obviously, but WWX just left the sword on a shelf all the time

professorsparklepants

He's very good at fooling people into thinking he's a normal rogue cultivator until he busts out the flute

LOL YES

tanoraqui

So the first time someone looks at him and is like, “That is WWX’s sword” he achieves, like, “Who’s Morales? [NOT THAT DUMB]” levels of blank-brained

professorsparklepants

It like, doesn't even occur to him that this stick named whatever will be recognizable to people until it actually happens

"this is the Yiling Patriarch's sword!" "... I've never heard of him"

tanoraqui

“What sword?”

professorsparklepants

KDJAKSNJS

tanoraqui

“Oh, THIS sword? I...found it. In a stream.”

tanoraqui

Also...at some point...once the teens have admitted their identities to one another...and possibly gotten into a couple other increasingly public shenanigans...they run into a bunch of concerned people searching from the Jin or even Jiang sect - JC being there would be PERFECT - and Jin Ling is like, “aaahh, no, I don’t want to be dragged home... kidnap me.”

WY: what?

JL: pull out the flute, summon a couple corpses, shout that you’re the dread son of the Yiling Patriarch, and pretend to kidnap me

WY: ...yeah okay

AND THEN THEY DO THAT

professorsparklepants

The dumbass energy...... off the CHARTS

tanoraqui

They’re 15 and neither of them has ever faced consequences but in...actually not too different ways

They’re 15 and neither of them as ever faced consequences nor most of the real world

Oh my god is Lan Jingyi the most sensible person here

They’re going to DIE

professorsparklepants

JXHAKAJAKKQHSJA

JC and Yanli immediately see through this probably

"dumbass kid just doesn't want to go home. I'll break his legs."

tanoraqui

I think Yanli does but I have minimal faith in JC’s ability to think logically at any time

He’s still angry at WWX for leaving

professorsparklepants

Stomps to Yiling to demand his nephew back & wwx's like "lol, A-Yuan left two months ago"

Okay my shift is starting later

tanoraqui

/snort

Though, bold of you to assume that WWX isn’t also running around anxiously somewhere like “oh god, oh no, my son is missing; I must find him”

professorsparklepants

Sizhui is a responsible boy, I don't think he would leave without telling at least ONE person where he was going

tanoraqui

Ok but it was Wen Qing who thinks it’s good for WWX’s health to stop brooding and go run around like a headless chicken instead, optimally if he runs into his totally-not-a-boyfriend-Hahahaha-why-would-you-say-that

Alternately it was, like, Granny, which, ditto

No one on this mountain is going to stop WWX from going out to cause trouble and hopefully get laid, is my point

tanoraqui

Also, the cultivation world has been basically at peace for 13 years and the reason is that this is an ideal AU where JGY is dead and whenever trouble starts to stir politically, NHS and JYL meet eyes across the room and mentally Rock Paper Scissors over who has to manipulate everyone into calming the fuck down

Neither of them actually wants this job; they’re just good at it and recognize both those aspects in each other

professorsparklepants

LOLOLOL

That is.... so goddamn in character

tanoraqui

concept: JYL and NHS are friends and no one else understands it, or attributes it to JYL just being that nice, bc NHS still generally acts useless

professorsparklepants

Nhs actively wants to be useless and life is conspiring to make sure he can't

tanoraqui

a little less dramatically useless, but why ruin a good thing when you're having fun and it's useful

professorsparklepants

Lol

tanoraqui

but JYL fucking identified him as Actually Competent one time when he couldn't hide it, so now sometimes they get tea together and bitch about politics and stupid people

professorsparklepants

He's the only person who can correctly identify when she's talking shit about people, because it's VERY subtle and her brothers & husband are too busy thinking she hung the moon to notice

tanoraqui

JYL striding into Nie sect HQ (whatever it's called) and tossing her coat over a chair. "You would not BELIEVE what my brothers are doing now."

NHS: *probably knows, because he's found that the minor investment of effort in maintaining a very good spy network pays major dividends in helping him avoid greater work* *immediately sits up and pours her a cup of very expensive tea* Oh, girl, dish.

professorsparklepants

Question: are they also friends with lwj...

tanoraqui

yes but he's obviously not invited to hte political gossip sessions

professorsparklepants

I'm trying to imagine lwj making eye contact with them at some meeting his brother dragged him to and both of them struggling not to break into hysterics

tanoraqui

but they both know that he sneaks into Yiling to visit WWX a few times a year, and every single time, JYL sits him down within a couple weeks and aggressively debriefs him as to her brother's condition

professorsparklepants

I'm sure she tried to get him to take treats in

tanoraqui

for sure

it's hopeless, though, bc there's no really predicting WHEN he'll go? It's basically just "every 4-6 months when LWJ's resolve breaks"

professorsparklepants

Too bad she's not a stress quilter instead of a stress baker

tanoraqui

she gets him to go at an actual arranged time, bearing pork soup, like once, for WWX's 30th birthday or something

professorsparklepants

:)

tanoraqui

omg lit brain: LWJ of course is hte WORST for getting gossip, but JYL has pieced together a reasonable amount about the people her idiot baby brother (#2) is now living with. And she's mildly despairing as to idiot baby brother #1's ongoing refusal to get married and have an heir or three. So she, if not actively connives, then certainly siezes the first available opportunity to set Jiang Cheng up with Wen Qing

tanoraqui

basically, this au is PEAK romcom

tanoraqui

...also, for max happiness, i'd like to think that WWX made some strategic raids to rescue additional Wen refugees and bring them back, so there's a properly populated village and they didn't all just die

professorsparklepants

!!!

Good... Good thoughts

Good because 1. more people die and 2. The Yiling Patriarch will attack your village and steal your people away!

tanoraqui

(romcom being exclusively adults-focussed; the teens initiate it all but Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are both so delighted to have an Additional (But Cooler) Family Member that they comfortably cousinzone each other instantly)

professorsparklepants

*nice*

tanoraqui

...i feel like i keep characterizing Jin Ling as an only child, when really he ought to have a small horde of siblings

maybe they just...couldn't conceive more. shit happens. pregnancy is hard.

professorsparklepants

That happens sometimes

#mdzs #the untamed #ficlet #my fic #lan sizhui #jin ling #lan jingyi #(not actually here much; rip) #wen ning #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang yanli #nie huaisang #lan xichen #wen qing

[i-could-be-so-much-more]

So I just finished watching The Wilds on Prime, and I got some thoughts... like I really enjoyed it, some of the plot twists got me good, others were entirely predictable... I just.. got some thoughts (spoilers ahead) (I would insert a ‘read more’ break but I have no idea how to on mobile, I’m sorry)

What’s the weird obsession with Pink? Was it supposed to be a running joke? Is there a point to be made? Did she sponsor the show? She comes up literally at least 4 times, and as far as I can remember is one of the only named music artists?

While I entirely agree with the feminist rhetoric, it felt a little ham-fisted. Like I do think a patriorical system is what’s wrong with the world, I do think too many men have too much power, and statistically female led countries are doing better in most/if not all areas (especially with COVID right now), and cataclysmic change and reform is very likely the only way to balance the scale. But for Gretchen to be so convinced of her cause that she would run such a risky study, it just takes me out of the realm of believing.

Plus the whole ‘being a girl in high school sucks’ thing is also pretty ham-fisted, like yes it does it really fucking does, and yes it ties into the feminist themes. But it also made me roll me eyes a bit, especially in the first episode, I genuinely thought about turning it off. And I definitely think it will turn some less than liberal minded people away ... and like obviously they’re not the intended audience, but also if we exclude them from the conversation we’re not going to finish the discussion..

That final plot twist at the end was so glaringly obvious. It kinda killed the mood, I’m not gonna lie.

The fact they set Dot up to be the other confederate when it was Nora was actually pretty good, like I was lowkey rolling my eyes at how glaringly obvious it was that it was Dot and then they completely flipped it and I was straight up that shocked cat meme

I know I’ve just been talking about obvious twists, but if there was any setting up of Shelby/Toni, or if it seemed obvious to anyone else before they kissed, then somehow I completely missed it. I really enjoyed them, their beef at the beginning, and then their growing relationship, it was really lovely

I really think they missed the mark making this SO... teen. Like the way they were trying to make it.. relatable is kind of my biggest issue with it, it didn’t feel is the tone matched the narrative, so I spent like 25% of my watch time trying to decided if I was actually enjoying it (I was, I think)

I’m not normally a fan of non-linear narratives (mostly because most shows don’t do it well and it end up being more confusing than entertaining,) but they did pretty well here; revealing enough to keep you watching, building up the characters’ backstories in the right order so it fits in the narrative and builds the story of the island. They made some good editing choices with it, the story board was a*

Where they chose to end of the series was pretty rubbish ngl.. I don’t see how they’re going to have another whole series worth of story to tell. If Leah has gotten out, the secret is out, clearly they got A LOT more story left on the island (what happened to Martha, how Shelby went from a positive person discovering her sexuality to a dissociative unstable wreck (that could’ve been just the eventual exposure of the whole shebang I suppose though), how things went down after Rachel gets attacked) but it just feels like they’ve not got a lot of story to tell outside of the island... I feel like either they should’ve lobbied for a few more episodes and made it a 1 series deal, or revealed Nora as the confederate to the audience earlier, and made that the cliffhanger at the end of the episode where the plane flys overhead and started season 2 from there... then you’ve got the mystery cliffhanger as well as the dramatic one... I mean, I might be wrong maybe they’ve got a lot planned for the next series, I just hope they don’t stretch it thin or over complicate it.

I hope they don’t flip it on it’s head and make the boys camp(s?) more successful. I know I said the feminism is heavy-handed, but I also don’t want them to kill the message. For all the trauma they’ve put these girls through, I hope the study is at least a success for Gretchen, because she’s gone about it completely wrong, but I still agree with her cause.

This sounds like I’m really shitting on the show, but I honestly really enjoyed it. I think it’s important to analyse media and enjoy things critically. This show does some important things for POC and LGBT representation, empowering women whilst not putting them on pedestal of perfection, showing imperfect women (the decision to actually have them dirty and sunburnt throughout and then skin damaged after), challenging sterotypes, starting discussions about the real damage of patriarchy. I hope they stay true to message and maybe get a little clearer on how to demonstrate that message, in the next series ☺️☺️☺️

Ps, I got more thoughts I’m just tired

#The Wilds #The Wilds Prime #I’m honestly open to discussion about this #I’m not trying to shit all over the show

[okay-victoria]

Writing Dialogue

While some choices in dialogue will come down to style preference, most fanfic dialogue suffers from a much earlier problem of being done incorrectly, no matter what the stylistic preference. Once basic spelling & grammar is mastered, and assuming the fic contains more than a handful of dialogue, I think bad dialogue is the thing that kills my enjoyment the fastest. I can handwave plotholes and understand emotions that weren’t conveyed right, but I can’t read people having a conversation that doesn’t look anything like an actual human conversation.

Problem 1: Too Much Drama

We want our scenes to pulse with energy! Of course we want the dialogue to be dramatic! The problem here is, what makes for good dramatic dialogue is not people yelling powerful words at each other very passionately. What makes for dramatic dialogue is mostly the importance of that scene to the plot & the characters, so to achieve dramatic dialogue, the best thing you can do is not overly rely on the dialogue itself to be dramatic. Set up a dramatic situation, and then people don’t have to yell. They can say a few basic sentences and the audience already knows why it is important and why the characters care so much.

Have you ever seen the scene in The Room where Tommy Wiseau yells “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!” Did you actually find that dramatic or did it just make you laugh because it was overdramatized? That’s what dramatic dialogue does to a story. Unless your characters are middle schoolers exclaiming it out in the hall between classes, chances are, older and more mature characters aren’t going to do a lot of yelling or make weirdly dramatic statements like the world is ending.

One of the biggest offenses on this count is overusing exclamation points and overusing emphasis. Exclamation points should be used very, very rarely, as should telling your reader what words are meant to be emphasized. Your character’s mood should primarily come through action - are they slamming doors, pacing back and forth, collapsing into a chair? Dialogue tags like “shouted” or “replied angrily” can be used to help, but should not stand on their own as the only thing portraying mood.

Instead of looking like this: “OMG! Can you believe it! Drama! Let me scream all the drama out in a monologue!” Lisa screamed, it should look like *Lisa kicks off her shoes, one leaves a mark on the wall* *Lisa slams bag down on counter, opens fridge for beer* *Lisa’s boyfriend stands frozen, as this is not normally how Lisa comes home from work. “This thing happened.” *Lisa collapses into kitchen chair and sticks head in her hands.* *Lisa’s boyfriend comes to put a hand on her back*. “One sentence reminding reader why Lisa is upset about this”.

Problem 2: Too Little Drama

Alternatively, you get scenes that sometimes look like two college roommates got high and are trying to acquire a pizza with as little effort as possible. Let’s say, for example, you have one character that has a crush on another character, and they are trying to find out information about them. While maybe the character learning this information is going to do something with it, so it’s important to the plot in another way, so the conversation itself does not need to be dramatic, it might end up looking like this:

I met Crush after class and we walked together. “What’s your favorite color?” - “Red” - “Do you like dogs?” - “Yes. Did you do the homework?” - “Yes. Math is my favorite class. How about you?” - “P.E.”

Like with the above, setup and action are everything. If you set up the scene where we know in advance how long it has taken Karen to get up the courage to talk to Chad and things like that, and then include actions in between the dialogue to show that she is nervous and therefore not very talkative, like her glancing up at him briefly but looking away as soon as he makes eye contact, or have her analyze Chad’s mood and wonder if he’s annoyed, etc, the scene can be made much more meaningful without needing to be a “dramatic” scene.

Problem 3: Dialogue is written like exposition

This tends to go unnoticed by some authors who are otherwise decent, and for me really ruins an otherwise decent story. The writing within the dialogue tags is written well, it just isn’t written like dialogue. It is written like exposition/narration.

In exposition: This project was doomed from the beginning. The improvements might look nice on paper, but the law of diminishing returns was going to stop it before it really started. Sounds...not excellent, I just pulled an example out of my ass, but fine.

In dialogue: “I think this project is doomed already,” Bob said, looking around the meeting room. “The improvements might look nice on paper, but the law of diminishing returns is going to stop it before it really starts.”

...sounds like Bob is kind of a psycho, or possibly your most pompous and hated coworker. Who the hell says “Law of Diminishing Returns” out loud if they aren’t a professor? The longer the dialogue and more flowery/technical/big vocab it becomes, which often *adds* to exposition, the worse and more unnatural the dialogue becomes.

Dialogue should not feel the same as the “speech” when a character is thinking. We tend to be fairly limited in how we express ourselves, use shorter and more simple sentence structures, more basic vocabulary, and haven’t memorized what we are going to say, so it doesn’t come out eloquently.

The one real exception to this that isn’t really dialogue, but is speech, is if you have a character making a speech or presentation, which they have prepared for in advance, and it is reasonable for them to give it uninterrupted.

If you want to make a point of one of your characters sounding like a total tool when they speak, you can also do this to achieve that and make it immediately clear to the audience why everyone hates them, but unless that’s what you’re going for, avoid this at all costs.

Problem 4: Dialogue is otherwise unnatural

Always, always, until you’re pretty damn sure you’re pretty damn good at it, say your dialogue out loud.

Would that personally really say “What is that?” or is it “What’s that?” Along the lines of not needing to use emphasis as much as you might think, if you were, say, in Scotland and just saw the Loch Ness monster pop out and want to ask your companion what it is, “What is that?” is fairly unnecessary. “What is that?” suffices. The simple fact that you didn’t use the standard contraction means the character emphasized the “is”. If you just see a piece of mail on someone’s desk that you are curious about, you’re going to say “What’s that?” and it won’t sound like you are dramatically asking about a generic piece of mail.

There are lots of very minor and small things that can easily go wrong in dialogue of this nature. It’s really important to say to yourself: if I was in this situation, how would I say it? Read it like you are acting it out in a movie and see. Also, question if a person would even say a sentence like that to begin with, or if they would be more or less direct in their approach. More direct is appropriate in many cases because people are usually trying to communicate clearly. Even if they are lying, they usually just say a direct statement that is a lie, they don’t dance around it indirectly and give hints to the other character. More indirect is appropriate when a character is trying to have a difficult conversation - we don’t tend to give tough advice or be directly rude, we try to work around it to make it sound better.

Because people want to have “exciting” or “cool” dialogue, they will often also give characters great rebuttals all the time, where they have these snappy conversations. This *can* work, but it’s really hard to pull off well, so in general I’d limit it to having a character having the occasional good rebuttal than a conversation of back-and-forth snark. Honestly, most of us just can’t think on our feet that well, and unless you’ve built the case that these characters can [ie, they’ve been married 20 years and are having the same arguments over and over so have it all thought out] it just seems very unrealistic.

Problem 5: Underutilizing dialogue tags

If you have two characters speaking, theoretically, if we know who the first speaker is and they switch off, a reader can follow the conversation indefinitely and know who is speaking.

In practice, that doesn’t happen. We like to be occasionally reminded. Personally, I try to max out at four consecutive lines of untagged speech, so no more than:

“Hey” said Kyle when he saw Brad.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Partying, bro, what did you think?”

“Haha, true. Do you think Lindsey will be there?”

“Man, you have such a crush on her,” Brad laughed.

Problem 6: Overusing dialogue tags

Conversely, in a conversation that is easy to follow, every single line does not need to be followed by a variation of “X person said”. If you are going for a tight back and forth conversation where neither character is thinking in between, you want to gum it up as little as possible with extraneous non-conversation. Hit us with occasional dialogue tags, and that’s it.

Problem 7: Not breaking dialogue up

This is somewhat of a style question, but in general, conversations should only be quick back and forth when that’s the point, but otherwise should generally pause briefly to “show” people doing actions, give some character thoughts, or otherwise break it up so the entire scene isn’t just a conversation.

Also, you can use these pauses as a way of showing hesitation/actual pauses that happen in the conversation.

Problem 8: Huge breaks between dialogue

This is something I am probably the *most* guilty of myself, because I’m writing a story where characters analyze the other characters a lot, so sometimes they’ll pause and think for a while in between. I haven’t quite arrived at the level where I’ve figured out how to get that all to flow in a way that breaks the dialogue up nicely, but not so much it is jarring and you’ve forgotten what the last thing a character said was.

But, anyway, definitely something to keep in mind. While a scene shouldn’t usually be all conversation, breaking the conversation up too much makes it feel like it isn’t a conversation at all.

#writingtech

[badbookopinions]

Legendborn - Tracy Deonn

I liked this, though not as much as my 14-year-old sister, who is obsessed. 

Bree Matthews, mourning the death of her mother, is going to a pre-college program at the University of North Carolina. When a party gets attacked by monsters and members of the student body fight them back, Bree is embroiled in a world where the bloodlines of Arthurian legend have been charged to protect the world from evil. Searching for the truth behind her mother’s death and her own powers, Bree breaks into the good old boys club to find some answers.

If you have ever in your life had a strong opinion about the Mortal Instruments, positive or negative, you need to read this book. I’ve spent a lot of time reading about secret societies related to myth/religion and girls with undiscovered powers who become part of them. It’s a fantastic twist on the story to emphasize the privilege and power those organizations have - and then have a Black girl as the powerful person to join. It makes the story more relevant, the objections against her joining more interesting, and makes the organization itself more realistic. (I’m looking at you, perfect angel-blooded Shadowhunters who never do anything wrong even though we can see them doing it.)

Overall, this was a very strong start from an author I’m excited to see more of. I thought the characters were interesting, the concept fantastic, and the plot twist at the end was STUNNING. 

I especially loved the contrast between the white, Welsh-based magic practiced by the Order of the Round Table and the African-American Rootcraft passed from mother to daughter. I loved seeing the differences between their ideologies and practices, and can’t wait to see more.

That’s not to say this book was perfect, though - the plot especially suffered from clumsy pacing and tropes. Bree is always running away from important conversations or falling asleep or crying - often multiple times per chapter. The story takes place over a few weeks and in this time Bree and Nick are widely accepted to be in love (I hate insta-love as a trope). Monsters attack in a few hundred words at the end of chapters in ways that screw with the whole pacing. 

And I had some issues with Bree at the beginning - she seemed to exist largely as an audience stand-in with no real personality traits except that she was angry and had a goal. We saw her start to develop into an actual character nearer to the end of the book, though, and hopefully this continues.

Also in a university no one fucking studies at all. Which I hate. Unrealistic. 

Plot: tropes everywhere. Which, one one had, I thought it was really interesting to see how some of those deconstructed and related to a Black main character - the bigotry she faced was five times more interesting than people disapproving of Clary being ‘normal.’ The reveal of the secret society as elitist and super-white, which we all objectively knew but was so wonderful to see played out. On the other hand, it occasionally made the pacing a mess and introduced the insta-love I detest. And I think I sense a love triangle coming up (though my sister is convinced they’re best friends) that I’m really not looking forwards to - unless Deonn takes advantage of Sel’s bisexuality and makes the triangle work out in the non-coward’s way. But I’m definitely reading the second book, because, again, THAT PLOT TWIST. 

Characters: tropes here, too. Nick: good guy with a tragic backstory and a heart of gold. Sel: bad boy with a tragic backstory and a heart of gold (although a bad boy who doesn’t treat Bree like shit, so he has that going for him). Alice Chen: the supportive best friend with way too little page time. Bree herself: everygirl, complete with extra anger, witty commentary, and a secret power (so, wish fulfillment everygirl). The other pages: a rich set of dudes with a couple character traits each. This makes it sound worse than it was - the characters are largely likeable and their relationships are interesting. I think the mentors of this book were the characters I’d like to see expanded more on - Bree’s story progresses largely thanks to the Black women who mentor her through her powers, and every time they interacted with Bree it was delightful.

Setting: I would like to know more. This was very well-done. I’ve already mentioned how I loved the contrast between White Arthurian magic and Black Rootcraft, but I’m going to do it again because it was so cool. I think Deonn could take a few steps back on the excessive capitalization, though. 

Prose: occasionally artsy in a bad way. Especially at the start, before it really gets going with the plot, I was annoyed by Bree’s dramatic descriptions of grief and anger. She’s got this metaphorical other person inside her named After-Bree who she blames all of her anger on in a way I found really clumsy at the start. It hits its stride by the end, though, and when certain flashback chapters are told in flashes/verse, I ate it up instead of cringing like I probably would have at the beginning of the book.

Diversity rating: very very very good. It’s a story about the legacy of slavery and being Black in the South of the U.S., and it’s clear in the all-white order and the Black people Bree surrounds herself with (with the exception of Alice, who is Taiwanese). It’s also got a ton of queer rep in the background - in particular, someone nonbinary, a wlw and mlm couple, and Bree’s alternate love interest is bisexual.  

#legendborn #tracy deonn #young adult #mythology #Black characters #casual queer rep #urban fantasy #on race #school stories

[atreefullofstars]

This season of The Mandalorian has some discontinuities in tone, subject matter, and theme. They're glaring to me as a storyteller--it's like looking at a page of text with some lines sharpied out and words replaced. The only way I can make sense of it is as hasty, clumsy edits to a script whose messages Disney had to muffle late in production.

Spoilers for Season 2 Episodes 2  and 7.

In episode 2, the protagonist is supposed to ferry, functionally, a pregnant woman to another planet in exchange for information. There are some glaring holes in this story.

-Why does she need him specifically to take her to what looks like a fairly busy port? Why not any other transport? Surely it would be more reliable and safer to take some innocuous ship? -As they travel, there's a tense encounter with what are essentially two police officers from the New Republic, and in the scene as shown, this is because Mando is wanted. But during the radio conversation, it's very apparent that Mando and the woman don't want them to know the woman is there. Why, if Mando's record is the problem? -Also this issue with Mando being afraid of getting pulled over arises only in this episode, and is treated as resolved when these individual police officers decide to let him off. Why doesn't he have these issues while traveling throughout the rest of the season, since officially there's no reason the overarching problem of his record should have been fixed by this? This suggests the problem was developed to help along the plot of only this episode--which makes no sense given how storytelling arcs about him and Grogu work throughout the rest of the show.

Meanwhile, there are hints at something unstated.

-It's important to the woman to get to the new planet so her baby can be born. The Watsonian explanation given for the rush is that the eggs are unfertilized, have a shelf life, and this is her last chance to have a kid for unspecified reasons. But from a Doylist angle, these complications only exist to give her a time limit for getting to the new planet. They could have been fertilized eggs which could be born anywhere, or she could have not been pregnant at all--surely she'd still want to go to her husband. The setup is carefully arranged to create the goal "we must get to the new planet in time for the child to be born."

-The woman gives an impassioned speech about how her husband sacrificed to make a life for them on the only planet hospitable to their species. In the show as presented, it's a little bit of a non-sequitur; the things she's upset about don't quite line up with the actual situation. Nor is it made clear at any point why this is the only planet for them, what they're running from elsewhere.

-Oh yes, and, rare for someone in the Star Wars universe, the woman doesn't speak Basic.

All of this makes sense if the woman in this story is illegally crossing a border to the in-universe equivalent of America. Check being coded as an "alien" by not speaking the language, the sentiments about creating a better life for them, the need to get over the border so her baby is born in the new home and has citizenship. I would bet a great deal that there was an original version of the script in which the New Republic officers were essentially Border Control and the tension of that scene came purely from the need to keep the woman hidden. And of course, this answers the question of why she couldn't just take any old transport to her destination.

This is really obvious; I'm sure someone else has commented on it; and normally I'd think "not everything that's not stated explicitly is a plot hole." But there are clear signs here someone tried to move the script away from this. There's NO mention of laws or refugees or illegal border crossings, when there are a lot of natural places for those word choices to crop up. The "better life" speech is WAY too text to have been intended as subtext when written, and that scene where they're pulled over doesn't even make SENSE without the illegal alien thing having been made explicit. Something got patched over here, and the seams are very visible. What this looks like to me is someone wrote a really poignant episode about the plight of people crossing the border, and Disney said "NOPE, no sympathetic illegal aliens." Which already had me pretty peeved.

The thing that pushed me over the edge into writing this, though, was watching episode 7 tonight.

Y'all, the attackers on the road make. No. Sense. They called them pirates, but what kind of pirate only wants to blow up the cargo, and keeps coming when a bunch of their comrades have died? Let alone a whole crowd of them on foot trying to attack the base itself? What are their motivations?

And in Doylist terms, how the hell do they fit into this story? Because they are completely at odds with the themes of this episode. Before this scene, the camera lingers on apparently human, civilian natives beside the road, and Din Djarin talks about how they've been subjugated equally by the Empire and the Republic. After this scene, Din Djarin's old commander talks about how people think they want freedom, but what they really want is order imposed by a ruling force. These bits of dialogue set the theme: freedom from oppressive, occupying forces. What do some random road pirates have to do with that?

And the other theme, of what principles Mando will bend or break to get Grogu back--it's a little weak, isn't it? Taking his helmet off is not a small gesture, fair enough, but it's also not really worthy of that "principles" speech Din Djarin gives.

But what if, instead of pirates, the attackers on the road were rebels? Human, like the planet's native population has been established to be. Blowing up the trucks as an act of deliberate sabotage, not nonsensical piracy. Leading a dramatically underpowered attack on the base out of desperation and a desire for freedom. Doesn't all this suddenly make a LOT more sense? Suddenly, the theme of freedom is continued through the action scene that takes up such a big chunk of the episode. Suddenly, those characters have a believable motivation. The base would still be blown up afterward, and that would have mattered more as a gesture: not just revenge on Din Djarin's part for people long dead, but as a powerful blow in the fight for freedom. Something like that really would justify wiping the slate clean for the guy, not to mention explain why he would want to stay on this planet.

And if they were rebels against the empire... suddenly, Mando is not a lily-white good guy. He's willing to kill even good people to get Grogu back. He'd be the reason the uprising failed. It would justify that talk of principles, and it would demonstrate how much he cares for Grogu, but it would be a distinct bit of tarnish on that shining armor, which I suspect is why Disney clumsily scrapped it. That, and the fact that stories about uprisings against occupying oppressors don't play well with the political powers Disney has been courting.

Think I'm imagining this? I had laid out this theory to my husband in detail while we watched. And then the credits rolled.

In the credit artwork, the people on those skimmer vehicles the "pirates" were riding were human.

There is something going on here. Disney is axing plotlines that don't fit their agenda. It leaves holes behind. And the shape of those holes is ugly, friends.

Is anyone else seeing this?

#mandalorian critical #disney critical

[snapshotsinsidethehotel]

Urges Of Nostalgia (Chapter 2)

Here’s the second chapter for the previous story. You can find it here if you want to check that one out first!~

I tried my best to sound professional and reasonable, hoping that this will help in avoiding his burst of anger. Unfortunately, it didn't go my way. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when Michael showed clear annoyance. He was about to reply before Jerry interrupted him with a clap. We turned to him and I thanked him in my mind for saving me in that situation.

Chapter 2:

"Michael...I can see where you are heading with this entire thing, but don't you think it's too unlikely? The school clearly said to everyone who enrolls that we will be staying here until we graduate, which is about..ten years or so? It's unbelievable to hear already, but that doesn't mean our parents forgot about us.."

"I agree with Donny. The entire thing seems way too fictional to be true. What are we talking about, a mystery novel plot? I think you need to lay off the coffee and take breaks during study, my guy. Your brain is probably mixing up reality and fiction now."

Michael crossed his arms again and sighed loudly. He stayed silent and started to collect his cool. His eyes lit up as he remembered something and started to rummage through the other stacks of paper on the floor. He gave each of us a copy of the same five newspaper pages and smirked.

"Read it. I believe you all love the phrase, seeing is believing. So why not give it to you all to make sure you all are by my side!"

I carefully watched Michael as he walked to the open windows. It was already midnight, and my dorm was still far far away. Ignoring the future of walking alone in the cold night, I looked down at the pile of papers on my hand.

'Tragic disappearance at Matanoeo Camp', 'Mysterious vanish of all students', '30,000+ Students gone missing', 'Kidnapping or Something More? : Matanoeo Camp', 'Boarding school students disappear one by one'

I stared at the array of newspapers being displayed. How...Why? These can't be official news! I gulped as I continued switching through the different papers with fear rushing through my blood, trying to deny it. I looked up at everyone else who also had the confused face. Alexander scanned the room as well and spoke up.

"I'm..No...I know that the world isn’t that fine and dandy out there, but nobody out there believes we're still alive?! Mom doesn't know i'm still alright? All alone.."

His voice broke at the end, maybe out of sadness? or fear? I hesitated to talk but Michael's eyes were focused on me, almost as if they were mocking me. This prompted the others to turn to me with their hopeful eyes searching for someone to guide them. Sheesh..As if I even understood the entire thing. I cleared out my throat and set the papers that I was holding down.

"Erm... Listen. I don't totally understand whatever is happening right now, but um..Michael. Where did you get these papers? I'm not a believer, but i'm a bit curious about this. For all I know, it could have been from someone in our school trying to be funny"

Through my shaking hands and nervous voice, I managed to string together those words. It wasn't from the heart, but rather from the incomprehensible rummage from my brain. I could see Michael slowly giving me a soft smile and he walked back to the table with the others.

"First off, thank you for giving me a chance to explain myself. These documents were handed to me by a friend. You see, that friend...is the son of the principal. He's been on our sides before you all even enrolled here, as he was the one who found out about this revelation in the first place!"

The sounds of gasping and confusion escaped from all our faces, including mine. But after a moment, I started to laugh a bit from our stupidity. All eyes were on me again, I really should've gotten used to it by now.

"Guys..Michael is the student president for goodness sake! It should be expected that he would at least be on good terms with the principal's son!"

Michael nodded and smiled, approving of my understanding. He fully calmed down and was much more happier than he was when they first arrived. Alexander grinned while leaning on his arm,

"The principal had a child? I thought he was one of those creepy old men you see in horror movies."

He remarked with a snarky tone while brushing his hair back. This increased the laughter and the general mood, helping everyone become a tiny bit closer. The only thing missing in this lively mood was a handful of drinks and then everything would be a normal house party!

"Hahaha, Hey! Why is it specifically us, by the way?"

Kurt blurted out through his laughter. This immediately caused everyone to quiet down and think...Something nobody enjoys doing when you're having fun. Michael's smile grew increasingly wider and he stood up again.

"There it is. I was wondering when one of you will mention it. All of you have a record of missing class, and I assume it's due to you all skipping it.  Don't you dare try lying to me as I've been researching all of you for a long long time now. And so! This will help me in my little plan"

Jerry looked up from the papers when he heard that this relates to plans. I quietly laugh, knowing that Jerry loved making plans from the bottom of his heart. It used to annoy me back then, but I've gotten used to it after years with him around. He continued to stay silent to the rest of Michael's rambling speeches, which I wasn't listening to either. Suddenly, Michael stopped talking and scanned the room again.

"I have decided to escape from this prison. Maybe help others out if they want to, but my main goal is to get this circle of people to leave this place. I have hope for all of you, since you all know the reality of the outside world compared to the other ignorant students. It's an ambitious idea for one man to handle alone, so I have decided to ask...No! BEG for your participation in this so called 'project'. I will assign you all roles so that this entire thing will go on successfully"

For the first time, I could feel calm around the student president. He radiated determination in his plan and his tone held no fear. It assured me that nothing will go wrong with whatever his plan would be, which would've been a one out of one hundred chance. Even so, I was reluctant to go along since the others still held skeptical looks. Kurt kept switching between the papers and Michael, his dramatically worried face quickly change into an annoyed one.

"You mean this entire thing was so you could get US to help YOU to escape? You should've just gotten your little section to help you instead of us idiots or whatever way you think of us. Don't go on about how amazing your idea is if you don't actually have one in mind!"

He stood up as well and slammed the papers down, glaring at Michael who also became irritated. It was honestly surprising how quickly those two could change personalities in a second, as if they were long lost non-identical twins.

"You're misunderstanding me, Kurt. I suggest you listen more than talk, It might be beneficial for-"

"Yeah right! Get off your high horse and show me the proof of the plan, you don't need to act all highly!"

I stood up since they were starting to get closer and I didn't want to get involved with their own problems. I made my way over to Kurt's seat and made myself comfortable, since he had walked closer to Michael.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a secret thing? Why are they yelling?"

Alexander continued his talk when I sat down besides them, curious about their conversation.

"Shouldn't you stop them? This is turning into a sleepover at this point"

I asked them, confused about the entire situation. The two smirked and nodded at their newly formed plan.

"Michael, Jerry, please take your seats first. You must be professional in meetings"

He demanded them as if he was copying Michael's leader tone. This worked surprisingly well and the two went back to their designated seats, apart from Kurt since I was currently in his spot. Once they were there and were both calm, Jerry started.

"Anyways, let's bring it back to the reason why we're here. As Michael has mentioned, he has a plan for us. But what are those plans? Apart from the escaping part, how can the others and me help the plan progress?"

I chuckled inside and started to remember those times when he had a schedule for the both of us, and forced me to follow them no matter what. If he doesn't approve of this plan, Jerry would do everything in his power to make it correct. Details was the number one important thing to him, so I was obviously internally excited about this.

Michael was panicking by the looks of it, but he smiled again and grabbed an empty bond paper from underneath again. He stood up and motioned Jerry to sit down, so that he would be the only leader in this meeting. He wrote our names and stared at it for a bit.

"I have assigned you roles. These roles will aid you all in the future, and it's based around your skills and talents rather than personality"

He continued writing our roles and showed it to us again. He had assigned himself as obvious leader and spy, Kurt as the medic of the team, me as the supplier, Jerry as the planner, and Alec as the fighter.

Everyone was confused with their roles, as it was vastly different from our skillsets. As for me, how was I able to get the supplier role? I wasn't that good at convincing people to do anything, let alone giving me their stuff. I was dumbfounded! The others were equally as confused and shocked while looking at the piece of paper.

"Okay...Okay! Let me explain myself for a second. Kurt, your dad is a doctor so you must've learnt something from him"

Kurt furrowed his brows and shook his head, trying to interject but Michael continued on.

"Donovan, although you don't talk a lot, you know how to make some good friends. Influential friends too! We'll find a way to get in contact with them, and your help would be appreciated"

I smirked sarcastically, because although my other friends were good at getting supplies, I just felt like a useless road to get to the ultimate destination.

"Alexander, I've heard about your pain tolerance, which is amazingly high. You'll be great during whatever battles!"

Alec stared at him without commenting, not minding his position in the team.

"And Jerry, best for last! You can make our plans, thank you!"

Michael cheerfully proclaimed, which made Jerry a bit annoyed. Kurt was fuming in the corner, but I tried to ignore him for now and focused on Jerry's increasing anger. I almost started laughing when Jerry erupted,

"Michael, I understand that you're just a single guy and not everything will be finished especially if it's this big of a project, but isn't the plan the exact point you invited us all here?"

He was trying his hardest to stay calm, obviously so. Michael only smiled again and nodded, walking closer to Jerry.

"Yes, Jerry. But if you truly want to leave to see your family again, please help us all. I've focused all my attention attempting to collect these documents to make a plan, but I realized that there weren't any time left to form a good plan. So if you could make a plan by tomorrow, it would be highly appreciated!"

Jerry stared confusedly at him. I felt the same, since there was no chance that a normal high-school student would be able to finish a functioning plan by tomorrow. Exams and homework were already piling on, and adding a difficult task to the mix would complicate things further for Jerry.

"Come on now man. Jerry can't handle that, he's only a single guy too! Couldn't we all just work together to make this or something? I mean, we all have the same ideas"

Kurt ran out quickly as soon as the offer was given, but his room was just two floors away anyways. We followed him outside so it doesn't become awkward again inside the room. Alexander waved goodbye as he climbed the pole up to his dorm room.

I tried my best to back up Jerry, as he had done for me before. Michael nodded and agreed, but still seemed hesitant. He got out of the seat and walked over to his bed and sat down.

"I dismiss this meeting today. We may continue tomorrow, but I am not sure. Be careful out there men, it's only going to get better now"

"Heh..This was a rough night, wasn't it?"

I turned to Jerry, who was still admiring the stars. He smiled and nodded without talking, just focusing on the stars as we continued walking. He was probably tired and was too bewildered by the odd offer earlier, so it was understandable. When we arrived at our room, Jerry plopped onto the bed and fell asleep directly which contributed to my theory of him. I walked aside for a bit, just thinking of this rare chance to go home and see my parents again but at a high risk cost.

I'm not even sure I remember my parent's real names due to how long I've been staying here, which makes everyone else my brand new family. Maybe they truly did forget about us? Or they truly did believe I died... This wasn't going to end well, but what other chance do I have? I wanted this. I stared at the roof for a moment before I stood up and walked back to the room.

The idea of being a supplier seemed like hard work, but everyone had a hard time with their own set roles so what can I do but complain? It bothered me to no end, and I ended up not sleeping for the remaining hours of night.

--

#[January] Snapshot! #[Hall Of Memories] Series Edition! #tw kidnapping #tw kidnap mention #reminder that this is pretty old so go easy on me-

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recap: “Cordially Invited”

Only a week late, folks! Can’t say I’m surprised, what with the holidays underway and my normal schedule all topsy-turvy. Still, at least now there’s a little something to fill the RWBY-less hole this Saturday. Always a silver lining.

We begin the episode with our group discussing their upcoming dinner---Oscar included! We’re off to a great start. We learn that Jacques supposedly just wants to “break bread and hash things out,” but anyone with two brain cells to function together know that’s a load of BS. What frustrates me is Ruby’s attempts to spin this as a good thing because they supposedly want Ironwood to start “opening up” to “these people.” Yeah... there’s so much wrong with that. Normally Ruby’s optimism is one of the personality traits I love most about her, but lately that optimism has been twisted into naivety at best, that pro-protagonist perspective at worst. We saw this in Volume Six where the optimistic “We’ll find some way into Atlas!” became an attack on Argus. Now, Ruby’s “Maybe this won’t be so bad!” is functionally an attack on Ironwood. The responsibility lies with him to achieve that good outcome: he needs to open up to the horrendously corrupt abuser that Weiss at least suspects might be involved with Salem. Note that Ruby doesn’t extend those same expectations to herself and her team. She doesn’t claim that they all should “open up” to Jacques in the name of crafting better relations. No, she immediately jumps to having Weiss spy on him in order to get ahead in the game. For the record, I don’t give a damn if the group commits “bad” actions against Jacques (more on that below) because again, Jacques is an evil, corrupt abuser. Rather, it’s just that continuing issue of hypocrisy. Ruby expects Ironwood to “open up” to him and make peace over dinner, but only expects herself and her friends to give him what’s for. Insert [Ozpin and Ironwood must never keep secrets or tell lies, but we’re allowed to] here. Same song, different tune. 

Oscar at least points out how idiotic that perspective is from a practical perspective. He doesn’t call Ruby out on the expectation that Ironwood make nice with the man they want to keep Weiss five billion feet away from, but he does acknowledge that such expectations can’t be fulfilled at this time in this place. Jacques has tailored this dinner to benefit him and him alone. He will control the conversation, so good luck getting around that.

Weiss: “I think my dad would do whatever it takes to win.”

Ruby: “And we should do the same.”

Granted, “whatever it takes” comes to mean spilling some food which obviously is in no way comparable to Jacques’ entire existence. The viewer doesn’t know that’s coming though. When we first hear them, these lines are another nod to the closing gap between the “heroes” and the “villains”---whether we’re defining a “villain” as someone like Jacques or someone like Ozpin. The theme is there. The group is willfully adopting the same choices as those they oppose. If Ozpin is going to lie to us then we’ll lie to Ironwood. If Jacques is going to do whatever it takes then so will we. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As I’ve mentioned in non-recap metas, RWBY has now created a harsh world where by-the-book heroics will only hurt you in the end. If Ozpin had never kept secrets I don’t believe he would have achieved that extraordinary time of peace. If Blake and Yang hadn’t killed Adam they still would have a murderous abuser stalking them. We clearly have a story where the concept of a lesser evil exists...it’s just that we’re continually turning around to insist that the group is somehow better than everyone else for also doing what they have to to survive. 

Which brings me to the fact that if Blake and Yang told everyone else about Robyn, we get not indication of that here. The only nod to last episode’s huge decision was Robyn’s shock that Jacques doesn’t already know what the Amity tower is for, but she’s cut off before she can reveal anything in front of Ironwood. So until proven otherwise... here’s another secret. Not just from an adult in a position of authority, but from the rest of the team as well. Given that Blake hid her faunus status and time in the White Fang, Yang continues to hide her knowledge of the Spring Maiden, both of them are helping to keep at least three major secrets from Ironwood, and are now keeping the Robyn secret from everyone else... no leg to stand on. Not to be dramatic on main, but if either of them ever pulls another, “How dare you keep secrets?!” I’m gonna go absolutely feral lol.

Anyway, back to the plot.

There are no new models of the group in fancy dinner clothes. I in no way had my hopes up for that, but it was fun seeing the posts theorizing about it and I can understand others’ disappointment. That definitely would have been a nice surprise, if an insane amount of work for what amounts to ten minutes of screen time.

Instead everyone just shows up in their normal gear and we get a telling exchange between Ironwood and Winter where she informs him he’d have to pay her to smile. I’m really glad she got a lot of attention this episode, both because we expect as much with her returning to the Schnee manor and because, if she’s going to become the next Winter Maiden, we really need to develop her character some. Even just setting up that she might become a Maiden demands that Winter be more than just Ironwood’s second hand and Wiess’ big sis. Who is she on her own? We start getting a glimpse of that here.

Before her outburst though, the group arrives en masse looking like a small army knocking on Jacques’ door. They’re greeted by Whitley who comments on that, asking Ironwood how large he thinks their dining room table is. Absolutely humongous, obviously. Not really the point though. This is clearly Rooster Teeth poking fun at their own massive cast, which would be more enjoyable if the number of characters didn’t constantly hinder the story. Personally, I’d prefer that they actually tackle underdeveloped or mostly dropped characters (like Maria) rather than just joking about it, but anyone keeping up with these recaps already knows that. If we’re not going to get a better structured story I’ll take some jokes here and there. Laugh about it when you can.

Although, I will say that Rooster Teeth does a good job with a minor character here, namely Klein. Whitley makes a dig at Weiss over how he was let go. Wonder how that could have happened. Klein, to my mind at least, was always meant to be a one shot sort of deal. He was introduced to help Weiss escape and once he’d achieved that was no longer useful to the story. It makes sense that we left him behind, but it’s nevertheless wonderful to get a bit of closure. Sad closure, but closure nonetheless. Now, if Rooster Teeth wants to keep him out of the picture we technically have a complete story. We know who Klein was, what he did, and what happened to him in the aftermath. Yet by keeping him alive and away from the Schnees, there’s always the potential that we’ll run into him again someday. I’m quite satisfied with that balance. It’s much better than what I was expecting, namely for Weiss to return home and conveniently not run into him because that would complicate things. Here we’re given an in-character explanation for his absence. Of course Jacques would fire him.

Finally, in the realm of massive casts and character development, I’ve got to admit that I’m disappointing with Penny being there. Simply because it once and for all shatters the hope that this well-executed frame job will amount to anything. If she’s attending a dinner with Jacques Schnee then things are fine. I said that I wasn’t convinced of this “Penny might be deactivated!” consequence before and I’m definitely not convinced of it now. Theoretically another consequence could have been Ironwood losing his council position, but we don’t see that either. Jacques references Ironwood’s inability to catch whoever hacked them at Beacon and his inability to catch whoever attacked Robyn’s supporters as reasons for being untrustworthy, both of which stand without the frame job. It’s incidental. Tyrian could have just killed everyone as Tyrian and it would have had the exact same effect. All the framing has done is make Penny sad (which hasn’t led to any development yet) and get Pietro to spill the beans about her aura (which could have happened in a thousand other ways). I was so pleased at this setup and the ingenuity of the villains, wondering what sort of impact this framing would have, but now we see the impact is minimal at best. If you frame a character for murder but have no other major character questioning their guilt and they’re out in public two episodes later... what was the point of the framing? Penny’s presence here is disappointing. Not because I don’t love Penny, but simply because of more missed opportunities. At this point I’m wondering why they bothered to bring her back at all. We’re not going to have Ruby grapple with the resurrection of her friend. We’re not going to deal with Penny taking the heat for Tyrian’s murders... Why is she here?

Also, not to distract from these important questions but... that.

That.

Friends, I cannot quite convey how confused I was at first. This is obviously supposed to be akin to the Jaguar ornament but... that’s a raptor, right? Have we seen raptor-type grimm? Am I missing something?? Yes, yes I am. Turns out RWBY Rex is a thing I never knew about and I can now only assume this is another Easter egg. Either that or I’m still missing something. Which is always possible. Either way it made me laugh. 

The group heads inside and then splits, Ironwood, Clover, Winter, and Penny going into the dining area. Clover makes a quip about needing luck and Qrow points out that he’s already been invited. I can easily see why so many people are shipping them, but as a hardcore ozqrow shipper myself I’m already biased to view this as friendship. Maybe if we see more of Clover and he doesn’t die like everyone thinks he will I’ll find space in my heart for a dual ship. Either way it’s sweet. As much as I’d like Qrow to acknowledge the best friend he already has two feet away in the body of a kid he hasn’t treated particularly well, I’m nevertheless here for Qrow having healthy and supportive relationships.

We also get to see him refusing a glass of wine. Thank you! Again, it’s pretty late in the game to introduce this and we’re still given no insight into why Qrow is willing to battle his addiction now when he’s succumbed to it for most of his life, but at least they’re maintaining the work needed to stay sober. Qrow politely refuses the offer (from a faunus waiter. No surprise there given Jacques’ racism) and removes himself from temptation by offering to patrol the grounds. Very nicely done. The other Ace Ops join him, warning the newbie huntsmen not to wander off, not to break anything, and make sure you’re available if Ironwood needs you.

To which Yang provides the counter point that they should wander off, they should break things, and all the rest. Jaune later says, “What was that about breaking things?” Admittedly, these lines originally rankled. Because as much as Jacques deserves all the snooping and breaking our team can dish out, I maintain the position that they need to act more responsibly, especially now that they’re officially on the job. We’ve already got Blake and Yang deciding to go behind their bosses’ back. We don’t need them aggravating a situation when they’re the ones who want Ironwood to do that “opening up.” Jacques controlling the situation aside, Ironwood is even less likely to make headway if his guests are off causing trouble.

Which is why I’m so thrilled they didn’t. I’ll be blunt and say straight out that this was a fantastic way to do things. They’re allowed to get food. Nothing wrong with that. We already know Nora is a big eater and tends to be impulsive. If she just happens to pile a plate crazy high, it just happens to hit another guest, and she just happens to douse Whitley in wine? Well... who could have seen that coming? It’s a way of causing mayhem without endangering others or their mission. It achieves the one very specific thing they need: give Weiss an opening to sneak off. No one went overboard. No one else actually snuck off to break things. It was an all around smart plan. Unlike the group attacking Cordovin or Weiss dumping a racist in the trash when they’re supposed to keep a low profile, this is the kind of decision making I can get behind. Something that demonstrates the maturity the group continues to insist they have alongside keeping their playful personalities.

Also, just look at Ren’s smile. That might be the first smile we’ve gotten from him all season. That’s a blessed image, right up there with Oscar stealing hors d'oeuvres the second he walks through the door. Our farm boy is hungry and he’s going to milk Jacques’ wealth for all it’s worth.

The other thing this scene gives us---besides the joyous image of Whitley drenched in wine and Weiss’ amusement over it---is the split screen technique. On the whole I think Rooster Teeth chucks this in too often. There have been many times since the beginning of Volume Six, especially during fight scenes, where the split screen doesn’t feel necessary to me and is even at times quite distracting. Here though? I think it works. The split screen montage used to show the many people involved in, say, a heist is a pretty common technique and it adds another spot of humor to this situation. They’re plotting and executing their food spill with all the sincerity of a bank robbery. I’m here for that.

As Weiss heads upstairs we turn our attention to the meeting with Jacques. It goes about as well as anyone expects. A lot happens in that short span of time though. Robyn sarcastically points out that she should just be happy to have been “invited to the table” and though there’s another black woman across from her, it stands out to me that Robyn, a comparatively dark skinned woman to the rest of the group, says this while the shot poises her between two very white, powerful men. Even the phrase “invited to the table” has gender and racial implications for the audience watching, outside of Robyn’s in-world characterization as a Robin Hood type focused on class. Going off of these themes, we also hear Ironwood reassuring Jacques of their safety by claiming that “Penny is completely under my control.” This, hands down, is the worst thing I’ve seen Ironwood do this volume. Sure, things like the embargo and the supplies have objectively worse consequences, but the story has done a lot to demonstrate the “greater good” justifications behind those choices. We might not agree with Ironwood, but we’re supposed to understand that (until proven otherwise) he has good motivations. Here? That comment is pretty horrible. Ironwood refers to Penny as if she’s a weapon or a tool, a young woman who he believes he literally has control over. It’s a fascinating look into his perspective and a pretty logical one as well. Here’s a man who has put so much faith in his technology, from amassing an army to protect his kingdom to relying on prosthetics to get around. He asked his team to create a new security measure and they did... they just happened to create a person along with it. I’m not sure Ironwood fully understands that yet. He trusts Penny enough to bring her into his own inner circle, but he likewise thinks he can manage her like he would a gun or a vehicle, dictating whether she has friends and announcing that she is under his control. I hope that this is something the writing explores and helps Ironwood work through, rather than just letting it sit as generic evidence that he’s a bad (as opposed to flawed) person. I think Ironwood would realize his mistake and work to correct it if someone pointed out the issue, in the same way we’ve seen him considering, settling, and agreeing with the issues the group has seen fit to yell at him lately.

What interests me most about this whole interaction is (shocking) this continued debate regarding secrets and trust. Overall Rooster Teeth has actually succeeded in creating a decently complex situation here. We know that (again, until proven otherwise) Ironwood has only good intentions and we likewise know that Jacques is now connected to Salem. The information the audience has makes us biased. We know who is supposedly good and supposedly bad. At the same time though, the actual issue appears to be removed from that. Jacques’ side---notably expressed through a new character who acts as a more neutral party---points out that from where they stand there’s no reason for this embargo. We know there’s a reason. Ironwood knows there’s a reason. Because we all know about Salem. But the other council members are making entirely reasonable demands given the information they have: why are you continuing to hurt both the people and our relationship with others? What’s the justification? You can’t give us one? Then why in the world would we let you keep doing this? It puts us in the discomforting position of knowing Jacques is an evil slim ball manipulating the conversation while likewise having to admit that his side has a point. You can’t just announce Salem’s existence because that would make things exponentially worse, but keeping her secret has its definite downsides.

Where Jacques’ party doesn’t have a good position is in his insistence that because Ironwood hasn’t caught these various perpetrators he can’t be trusted, equating trust with results. There’s only so many ideas, resources, and luck that can lead you to catching someone like Tyrian. I understand that knee-jerk reaction, the idea that because someone hasn’t succeeded you should replace them with someone you assume will, but in situations like this you only have so much control over the probability of success. Claiming that Ironwood not catching criminals is indicative of an inability to lead is flimsy, but as we’ve seen, Jacques is a manipulator. He tosses these assertions out as if they’re facts. He and the others continually cut Ironwood off, refusing to let him defend himself. It’s not at all surprising that Winter, someone who suffered under his abuse, eventually explodes with, “You can’t just buy trust like everything else! You have to earn it.” Winter is someone I’m particularly interested in seeing react to the group’s secret keeping because from her perspective, she and Ironwood have earned the group’s trust a hundred times over. Again, provided the story isn’t hiding something from us and Winter is secretly in on some plot with Ironwood, we’re seeing this volume how she’s done the work her father couldn’t and it still wasn’t enough. Her peers, including her baby sister, still decided they weren’t going to trust her with secrets that are intimately tied up in their current work and choices.

  Frustrating moral questions aside, something I really loved about this scene was the character setup and the cinematography. Having Jacques with his two allies on one side, Ironwood mirroring that on the opposite end of the table, and Robyn sitting poised between the two, the audience still unsure whose side she’ll fall on. That aerial shot showing off the distance between them all? Excellent visual storytelling.

We get a quick conversation between Winter and Penny which I don’t have too much to say about. Merely that I love Penny for checking up on Winter and I love Winter for correcting her assumption: I’m not saying you wouldn’t understand because you’re a robot, I’m just saying these problems are very specific to me and being in this place. That was particularly reassuring after Ironwood’s comments. Penny ends the scene by saying she doesn’t understand why Winter wouldn’t want to follow her heart. Perhaps an odd comment coming from someone who almost blindly obeys the orders she’s given even when she doesn’t agree---such as not making more friends---but then, it may well be a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation. Just because Penny isn’t sure how to always follow her own heart doesn’t mean she can’t encourage others to do the same.

We return to Weiss who, after getting past a curious server, makes it to her father’s office. I feel like this is the scene people are most invested in, considering that I’ve seen a LOT of posts lately trying to demonize Willow for her comment about Whitley. Here’s what people need to remember about Willow moving forward: she’s as much a victim of abuse as Weiss is. She is, presumably, Jacques’ first victim, fully entrenched in his abuse by the time her kids started coming along. As a mother does she have a responsibility to her children? Absolutely, but that doesn’t erase the fact that she’s simultaneously a woman attempting to survive domestic abuse.

(That’s another stunning shot hell yes.) 

Initially Weiss takes the side of the posts I’ve seen, painting her mother as someone who made a conscious decision to let the abuse happen---another abuser herself, one out of passiveness. “Some of us are trying to do something about it,” Weiss says, emphasizing that she’s better because she’s doing what her mother never could: fighting back. Ignoring for a moment the highly dubious insistence that abuse victims must simply ‘do something’ about that abuse (it’s not that simple at all), Weiss quickly realizes that she was wrong. Her mother has been doing something, namely setting up hidden cameras around the house for some spying of her own. Why? “For our safety.” To make sure that if Jacques ever goes farther than he already has, Willow will know about it and can take appropriate steps. Is taking precautions against something worse better than leaving a situation that’s already horrific? Of course not, but as said, abuse isn’t just something you can fix. Even if you know it’s happening. This is a woman doing all she can and what someone is capable of in an abusive relationship is based on them and that context, not what others believe is fighting back “enough.”

Willow then reassures everyone, Weiss and the audience alike, that she doesn’t expect Weiss to be the family savior.

Willow: “You haven’t come back to stay, have you?” Weiss: “No.” Willow: “Good.”

That first line potentially reads as a plea. We might have gotten a scene where Willow is disappointed that Weiss isn’t coming back because she doesn’t want to face this family alone. While a very human and understandable desire, it’s likewise not okay to expect another abuse survivor to return to their abuser after they’ve gotten out. In that hypothetical scene the fandom would have a basis for going, “No. That’s... not okay.” But we don’t get that. Willow is thrilled that Weiss both got out and has no intention to return. She wants her daughter safe. That parental instinct outweighs any selfish, human desire to not suffer this situation alone.

Keep the above point in mind when we read the line, “No matter what happens, Weiss, please don’t forget about your brother.” Willow isn’t telling Weiss to return to the house and save him. She’s not even telling her to forgive him. Just don’t forget him. Remember that he’s not a mini Jacques. He’s another young abuse victim. He’s just like you. When we look at the family dynamic it’s clear that in some ways Weiss had a leg up from her brother that helped her get out. Namely, she had Winter. They’re the ones who are close among the siblings and thus Weiss had a role model to follow. Winter, however she managed it, got out and forged her own path. We then see throughout the series how closely Weiss emulates that, from going into combat herself and having Winter train her. The two actions---fighting and escape---are connected in Weiss’ Volume 5 short. Winter tells her that if she wants to get out she has to get better. That’s your route.

In contrast, Whitley has shown no interest in combat and thus doesn’t have that path to emulate. He’s not a girl and is thus automatically treated as the next Jacques, not the next Winter or even Willow. Most importantly, Whitley doesn’t have a close relationship with an older sibling to guide him.

That’s all Willow is asking of Weiss: be for Whitley what Winter was to you. Don’t forget about him. Don’t pretend he doesn’t exist. Don’t fall into the lie Whitley himself believes, that he’s set to be the next Jacques. He’s really an abused 14-15 year old who has suffered through everything we have. So if there ever comes a time where Whitley falters in this belief or you’re given an opening... please treat him like your brother, not your father.

I think that’s a perfectly reasonable thing for a mother to ask and we can easily see via Weiss’ expression that she’s coming to all these realizations too.

“Of course [Whitley doesn’t want anything to do with you.] You left him alone. With us.” That’s not an accusation, it’s a fact. As established, Willow is happy that Weiss got out, but like with so much in RWBY the best decision doesn’t mean it’s a consequence-free decision. In this case the consequence is that Weiss and Winter left their little brother alone with their abuser. They had to for their own mental health and their safety, but they nevertheless did it. So if there ever comes a time when they can help alleviate that consequence, please do. 

It likewise doesn’t escape my notice that, again, Whitley is a guy. Just like the fandom was unwilling to accept Ozpin as an abuse victim, people seem hesitant to accept Whitley as an abuse victim either. From what I’ve seen (and there are admittedly always exceptions) Whitley’s shitty behavior hasn’t gotten an a fraction of the sympathy Weiss’ shitty Volume 1-3 behavior got. They’re three years apart at most. If Weiss is a victim then so is her little brother. Don’t let the Jacques’ genetics and learned behavior fool you. 

Finally, we end on Watts. The man who continues to be THE most dramatic bitch in this entire series.

We watch as he shuts down the system keeping Mantle warm. Rather than rain, snow starts to fall. Whether this will be just another generic thing going wrong to make the people angry and Ironwood seem incompetent, or whether there’s a more dangerous downside here (we did hear from Weiss about the deadly temperatures...) remains to be seen.

And that’s it. You know, I think that’s the first time in nearly two volumes where I ultimately had more good things to say about an episode than bad. It’s a holiday miracle!

Until next Saturday ;)

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #rwby recaps

[themockingcrows]

Tapping With Blue Eyes Ch. 6: Tainted

This chapter is SFW This chapter is available on my AO3

Werewolves, despite their general rarity, are not to be trifled with.

     “You going to tell him?” Dirk asked with an amused smirk. “Or do I just get to see you every day.”

     “Depends. How long are you planning on hanging around botherin’ me?”

     “I’m not bothering you. I’m coming in when you’re not even busy and having a nice conversation instead of fighting and causing a scene,” Dirk said, gesturing to the nearly empty shop and to his cup. “And I’m a paying customer no less. Common courtesy says that some casual conversation is warranted.”

     Dave made a face at him, and went back to sweeping.

     “I should tell him about you creeping around here.”

     “He’d have a fit, and Jake would be amused.”

     “...What, does he not know you come here?”

     “Jake’s.. How do I put this,” mused Dirk, swirling the contents of his cup before taking a sip. “He’s enthusiastic, but he doesn’t plot things like this. It’s too public. Swatting at you here wouldn’t do much good.”

     “Does he know or not.”

     “He knew I came here before,” Dirk admitted. “But he doesn’t know I’m still coming by to say hello like today.”

     “Right. Say hello,” Dave muttered sourly. 

     “That’s what I’m doing, yes. It’s not often I get to speak with other taps. Especially ones that are just normal humans.. I keep expecting you to be something else.”

     Dave glance dup from his sweeping with a frown. “Why’s that? Do I give off a non-human vibe or something?”

     “More like most people would assume James’ son would wind up with a powerful tap. He’s quite special in his own right, if he taps into his potential he’d be quite a threat. ..Except for you.”

     “What do you mean except for me?” Dave asked, frowning deeper. “I’m not a liability.”

     “You’re not. You’re a limiter AND a liability,” Dirk said, sipping his drink again. “I’ll explain more another time, Jake’s going to get antsy if I’m out of range too long. Here’s my number, for if you’re curious and want to know more,” he added, taking the receipt from the coffee out and jotting a phone number down on it. “I can help you learn more about why you’re holding him back.”

     Dave took the number by crumpling it up into a ball with his fist.

     “Right. Yeah. Sure. How considerate of you,” he said, stuffing it into his apron without a second thought.

     “Hey now, I didn’t say it’d not be worth your time. There’s ways you can help him more,” Dirk said with a smirk, this time showing the pointed tips of his teeth. He looked just as angular as before, but somehow far more wild like that. It was somewhat unnerving to look at, the same instinctive fear that John’s fangs sometimes brought out in him still. The inhuman edge of it all.

     Stuffing the number deeper into his work apron, Dave sighed a breath out when Dirk finally left, rubbing the bridge of his nose and wishing he had his shades on during work hours. What a fucking mess.. Hopefully that douchebag wouldn’t be coming back every day or something stupid like that. He finished his shift up before texting John for his pickup, waiting in the back room till he got a return text to come outside. So had become their habit for security’s sake. There was a snack waiting for him, along with a bottle of apple juice, and John’s worried eyes looking him over from head to toe. He was still weak, especially with work bearing down on top of everything, but nowhere near as gray faced as he’d been in the last few days and was only getting better.

     “Have a good shift?”

     “Eh. It was a shift,” Dave said as he buckled in and cracked open the juice for a few thirsty gulps. Phew, that sure hit the spot. “Same old same old.”

     “No interesting characters come through? Must’ve been a slow day if there wasn’t at least one old person complaining that a plain cup of coffee wasn’t listed anywhere despite it being on the list,” John snickered, pulling out of the space he’d parked in, checking behind him by bracing an arm on Dave’s seat and twisting around for certainty before pulling forwards to the street. 

     The number felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket already, burning a hole through the back of Dave’s head, but he held his tongue. This wouldn’t end well.. But then again, neither would keeping secrets at a time like this. He fiddled with the window, the radio, his seat, trying to psyche himself up.

     “What’s wrong? You’re squirming like you’ve got the worst wedgie of your life,” John snorted.

     “Uh. ...Dirk. Came into the store earlier,” Dave said.

     The car screeched to a halt so quickly that Dave’s body pressed hard into the seatbelt, hard enough he’d be surprised if there wasn’t an indention in his skin of some kind even through his work clothes. John frowned and turned on him, concerned, trying to check him over.

     “Fuck, really? Jesus. Why didn’t you mention it first thing?” he asked. “He didn’t try anything, right? Jesus, if he knows where you work that’s not safe, I don’t know what to do if Ja-”

     “It’s fine. He didn’t try anything, just talked and left. Apparently Jake doesn’t know he came there, if he’s to be believed,” Dave said, sitting patiently through the literal pat down before reaching up to grasp John’s hand so he could nuzzle it. “Chill. It’s alright.”

     “It’s not alright,” John insisted, finally putting his hands back on the wheel and leaving for the main road back to Dave’s apartment, looking twice as suspiciously at passerby now that he was on high alert.

     “Okay, okay, it’s not alright. But it’s not as bad as your brain’s makin’ you think, I can guarantee that,” Dave said, watching out the window. The number. The phone number. He had to mention the phone num-

     “What did he say?”

     “...That I was holdin’ you back.”

     John looked over and lifted a brow before snorting and shaking his head. “Holding me back? As if, hah. If anything, I’m going twice as hard in everything because of you being around. Learning wards and all that.. I didn’t really have a reason to worry before.”

     “Maybe because you’re worryin’. Because I’m not able to offer much in return.”

     “If you wanna be crass, you offer tasty as hell blood in return. But you offer plenty of things in return, Dave. Don’t let him get in your head, things are fine how they are between us,” John insisted.

     “You sure I’m not like. Some weak-ass that’s just a statistic waitin’ to happen?” Dave asked, frowning. “I mean, dude’s a werewolf and that asshole feeds off him, doesn’t that give him a boost?”

     “Well.. yes. But I don’t care. Who wants to drink dog blood anyway, yuck. And you’re not a weak ass! I already know what happened when we were at Dad’s and he tested you.”

     Dave frowned at him, not quite believing, but more than happy to let things sink down and dissolve naturally rather than be propped up for another round of No, You. He sighed out through his nose and watched the scenery till they stopped at his apartment, walking into the building with clasped hands that only dropped when it came time to unlock the door.

     John strode past to go check everything out, ensuring the wards were in place still. Dave went to the bathroom and then went to go change, all the while thinking about the number and how he’d manage to talk to Dirk while under guard. Try as he might, the curiosity was really eating at him.

     What if it was true? No matter what John said, he was inexperienced in these matters, he was a hindrance no matter what he wanted to think. No amount of movie knowledge was going to help against the real deal in the heat of the moment, and even the things he’d been taught weren’t going to save him in a two on one fight. He raked his hair out of his face as he dropped his apron and shirt, pulling on a comfortable tee and some baggy sweatpants to slouch around in, wanting to get off of his feet after the long shift.

     Before he could leave the room John came in behind him and laced his fingers together over Dave’s stomach, cuddling up close to his back as he fondly nipped the side of his neck.

     “Hey. Really though, are you okay?”

     “Yeah, yeah I’m just tired man.”

     Tired and fibbing. Tired and lying. Tired and hiding potentially important information. The reaction in the car had been strong enough that the curiosity only got more intense. He knew he was going to poke the hornets nest, all for the sake of some outside information and perspective in this. Dirk, enemy or not, seemed to be the calmest person in this entire bullshit situation. Maybe vampires were just naturally dramatic and this was all more of a fucking game than it felt like.

     ...Or maybe it was more serious, and Dirk just didn’t have any allegiance to Jake beyond being his tap.

     Dave felt the pressure behind his knees before registering he was being lifted up, carried into the living room like a princess and being sat down on the sofa. “Here,” John said. “Go ahead and chill out, I’ll make something for you. Want spicy?”

     “Mm. Not in a spicy mood,” he admitted. “You’re gonna spoil me rotten at this rate though.. Wanting another meal?”

     “Not so soon, duh. Gotta build back up before even thinking of it,” John chuckled. 

     Dinner was stir fry with shrimp and plenty of veggies, heavy on the ginger and soy sauce. Movies carried Dave and John through the evening, till finally there was nothing left but bed. ..mostly. Dave turned his volume down on his phone while John was in the bathroom, added the number from his apron to his new message screen, and sent the first text before he could stop himself at a cool 11pm.

              - hey

     The first reply came when John came back and climbed into bed, left unlooked at for a while in favor of scrolling instagram for a time. They showed each other things back and forth on their screens, different memes or interesting posts, things on tumblr being reblogged one way or the other in a conga line to make sure their friends saw them. Comfortable night routines that ended with John snoring with his head against Dave’s chest, his long body curled up on his side to keep his feet from dangling over the far bottom, safely out of grasp of whatever demons decided to take up residence rent free under his bed this week Dave noted.

     Hey. After finding out vampires were real, as well as werewolves, the boogeyman and shit hiding under his bed would just be another square on the bingo sheet his life had recently become. Can you blame a guy for believing?

     The text was still waiting for him when Dave slid the screen over quietly to peek.

             - Hey. Finally get curious?

             - i don’t know you tell me

             - Are you wanting information, or to be antagonized?

             - oh wow i get a choice

             - The gist of it will be the same either way: you’re a liability. If you were anything but human, you’d be more useful than you are to your fangy boytoy.

     Dave didn’t know what he expected. The bluntness was something he could appreciate at least, instead of being babied or sweet talked. It was quick, to the point, and fairly brutal.

             - ive heard as much already 

             - you got any new info for me or can i delete your number now

             - I’ve got new information in the form of an offer, if that piques your interest.

             - offer

             - like what

             - Like the offer to help you be something more than human.

             - You seem like a nice guy, Dave. I’ve got nothing against you. This beef is Jake and John’s business, not mine particularly. 

             - All it’d take is a good infection bite, and you’d be able to be like me. Consider how useful that’d be for your partner in the scheme of things.

             - Wouldn’t you like him to be as prepared as possible, stand as good a chance as he can in this pissing contest?

     Dave frowned at his phone and glanced briefly towards John’s sleeping face before typing quickly.

             - bullshit i already know thats a lie

             - im on the up and up man

             - a bite from you would just make me a feral piece of shit not whatever you are

             - Ah, damn. Should have acted sooner than I did.

             - werent you literally just saying you had nothing against me and then you pull this shit???

             - Having you trust me would have made a lot of things easier. Namely it could have also gone a long way in making sure Jake kept you alive instead of disposing of you when the time came to get John’s food source away from him.

              - bad dog go to the yard and think about what you did

     Dave muttered to himself as he blocked Dirk’s number, hurriedly switching back over to Instagram when he felt John shifting against his shoulder. Sleepily, he cracked his blue eyes open and looked Dave over a few times, squinting against the brightness from the screen.

     “Mmn… Why’re you still up…?”

     “It hasn’t been that long since you went to sleep,” Dave said, kissing John’s forehead automatically before even thinking the action through. Felt natural, felt right, fuck it. “Go back to sleep, I’ll pass out when I can.”

     That was apt. There was a lot to digest now. He’d need to put his foot down on any future visits from Dirk, maybe alert his manager that the new regular customer was actually stalking him, avoid his presence. It’s not like he knew his entire schedule, right? He just… kept turning up on the days he was working, at the right times, like clockwork. Somehow.

     Fuck, maybe this was bad. Maybe he should tell John after all.

     Yet the idea of waking him up now seemed entirely out of the question, not now that he was cuddling up again and closing his eyes, warm and pliant and relaxed. This was the kind of bomb someone dropped when they were dealing with a fully conscious person, not late night “Oh, by the way” conversation.

     Sighing, Dave scrolled a while longer before setting his phone aside and rubbing the bridge of his nose, fending off a late night headache. Too much thinking… One more glance to John, already unconscious again and drooling on his shoulder, and he finally settled down to sleep as well.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

      When he woke up the next morning it was to John leaving his entire arm tingling like the static on a television set and an ache in his head from thinking too long into the night. Even his dreams had been stressful, and looking at a bright screen so late at night in the dark certainly hadn’t helped things settle down at all in his mind. Really, he just wanted to forget it ever happened, chalk it up as a shit experience, and deal with it later.

     First, he needed to rescue his arm.

     “John. John. John. Earth to sack of potatoes currently cuttin’ off all the blood to my fingers to the point I can’t flip you off properly, can you maybe roll your fangy ass over and gimme some breathin’ room.”

     Nothing but soft snoring.

     Grunting, Dave struggled and finally yanked his arm out from underneath John’s weight, and sat up to rub his arm from fingertip to shoulder till the stinging went away and the blood flow returned to normal. He unplugged his phone from the charger and took it with him to the bathroom, scrolling out of habit and checking his emails, continuing to do so once he’d finished and washed up. Breakfast would be his treat today, and that meant something simple but tasty. He got out eggs and had just started to fry them and some breakfast hash up when John finally made his way out of the bedroom with bleary eyes behind his glasses. The vampire sniffed, stretched, and went to take a seat at the table before splaying out over the top like a sunning seal.

     “Good mornin’ to you too,” Dave said.

     “Mmmmorning,” John yawned. “Man I slept deep last night… did you finally get to bed at a good time?”

     “Eh. Tried but it was kinda hit or miss,” he said, flipping the eggs over so the tops would cook just a little bit. Sealed and perfectly over medium, nary a runny white to be seen, Dave slid the first two eggs and some of the breakfast hash onto a plate for John with some toast. He cracked two more eggs onto the skillet before delivering the dish, rubbing John’s upper back idly. “Woke up to you deadarmin’ me though. That was fun.”

     “Ah, fuck, my bad. Thanks,” John said, realizing silverware was needed. He stood up to go get two sets, leaving one opposite of where he sat for when Dave’s food was done. “So what’s the plan for the day? You’ve got work?”

     “A few hours, yeah, but not a long shift. And it’s not till later,” Dave said.

     Things were calm, peaceful. John was awake and calm. Maybe he could just-

     “...So. Dirk came to where I was workin’.”

     John choked on a piece of hash before swallowing and dropping his fork on the plate, planting his hands on the tabletop as if he were about to stand up and… what. Fight? “What? When? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

     “A few times,” Dave said, pointedly ignoring the incredulous look John was flashing his direction in favor of trying to distinguish every last flavor in the hash. Hm. Bit too salty but it worked fine with the eggs. “Nothin’ happened though.”

     “STILL! Why didn’t you let me know, this is dangerous shit Dave! Did he say anything? Do anything weird?” John fret, mind racing a mile a minute, already trying to come up with what the fuck to do next if any number of things had happened. Dave LOOKED okay but-

     “He gave me his phone number,” Dave said.

     “...What?”

     “He gave me his phone number, and we talked briefly. Don’t worry. It was bullshit. He was tryin’ to tell me I was holdin’ you back, offerin’ to “help” me. It was a crock of shit and he dropped the act when I pointed out I knew better already.”

     John relaxed a bit, but still seemed on edge as he lowered his hands back to his lap, trying not to sulk. Something that big and he hadn’t been told about it? What else was there that wasn’t being mentioned?

     “Before you ask: I already blocked him. There wasn’t anything to gain, so… cut’em loose.”

     “Nothing to gain?” John asked, confused.

     “The way he talked before, he was actin’ like nothin’ was personal. That he didn’t have any beef with me, that this was between you and Jake mostly,” Dave said, crunching toast after mopping up more egg yolk. “I thought it might be interestin’ if he was kind of doin’ his own thing aside from Jake and your issue.”

     “I’ve got no idea if that’s true or not,” John admitted. “It might be for all I know, I don’t know how close they keep their business to their relationship or how he acts as his tap aside from being one. But it’s not just a Jake and Me thing: you’re at risk too now, remember?”

     “How could I forget. When’s the asshole gonna leave town already.”

     “When he gets bored of antagonizing us and being a dick,” John grumbled, slowly going back to eating.

     “Maybe Christmas’ll come early. I’m gonna go take a shower so I can be a lazy piece of shit around the living room without smellin’ myself till work,” Dave said as he finished up his meal and rose to deposit the plate into the sink. 

     “You mind if I get your laptop out and play a game?”

     “Knock yourself out, you know the password,” he said, gesturing a wave of his hand without looking back as he left the room to get a change of clothes before closing the bathroom door.

     The pressure in here felt different somehow, though Dave was pretty sure he was just going crazy at this point. He’d noticed it briefly earlier, and every time he’d come into the bathroom since getting back home, how different it felt… but there was surely nothing to it. John had warded everything thoroughly, right? Maybe this was just a side effect of it being in a smaller space. Still, he looked to the window as if it would betray him before cracking it open to let the eventual steam out and turning to pull his shirt off.

     The window opened wider, and Dave froze in place, arms up over his head tangled in his shirt, face covered. He heard a step, then a second one as the window creaked under someone’s weight and then eased.

     “Dave?” John called. “Is everything okay?”

     Of course he felt it too. He’d have to be crazy to not feel the presence that now filled the bathroom. Dave had already put two and two together: John had been warding in here when he’d gotten interrupted to go open the window in the bedroom. The job hadn’t been finished. He’d interrupted and bitched and now look at what the fuck had happened.

     “You know, for a human you’ve got a pretty nice figure,” Dirk murmured from behind him. “Might want to tell him everything’s okay or things’ll get messy in here.”

     “Yeah,” Dave called. “Yeah, it’s. Yeah.”

     “Points off, not convincing,” Dirk hissed softly, but John didn’t call again so perhaps things were fine after all now.

     “What do you want,” Dave said, slowly lowering his arms but not turning around, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise up as he slowly looked to the side without moving his head, trying to catch a glimpse in the mirror of what was happening. He could just barely make out Dirk’s face, the dark shades he wore, the angular nose, the front of his lips. When he smirked, he could see hints of sharp teeth.

     “To give you a fair chance to get out of this,” Dirk said. “Jake’s outside right now waiting for me to take care of business… but I don’t like taking advantage of people in the bathroom of all places.”

     “Kind of you. What’s the catch,” Dave muttered.

     “You only get a head start. If I catch you… well. Let’s just say our conversation from last night won’t matter much anymore.”

     “And if you don’t catch me with your freakish speed shit?”

     “Then this round is a draw and I’ll accept my losses.”

     “And John?”

     “You assume I believe he’d let me chase you for fun with no rebuff? Please. I know what I’m doing, Dave.”

     “...How long do I have.”

     “You had thirty seconds, you’re down to about twenty five now.”

     Cussing under his breath, Dave jerked out of his frozen state and reached for the bathroom door, launching out and past a startled looking John.

     “Dave! I was jus- Where are you going!” he called out, turning to watch him run to the livingroom and fling open the door, rushing out to the hall. A shape rushed past him then, a blur to most watching, but to John he could see clearly enough to make out the stupid shades and blonde hair of someone who had no right being in this apartment. Snarling, he took off after him. “DIRK.”

     The elevator door closed before Dave could reach it, and he didn’t trust waiting for any length of time. Instead he grasped the railing and started to rush downstairs that way, jumping the last two steps with bare feet before turning the U bend and continuing to repeat the pattern floor by floor. He could hear John’s bellow from above, and could hear something uncomfortably close behind him. Daring to look up as he ran, Dave saw what could only be the blurry form of Dirk rushing down after him, two flights up.

     John dove for Dirk when he rounded a corner, dropping several stairs at once to tackle him with his full weight against the landing wall, succeeding in latching on around his neck and shoulder hard enough to gain purchase on before starting to punch towards his face with everything he had. The impact had been jarring enough that neither of them had their full wind, but something Dirk had that John didn’t was a muzzle full of sharp teeth as he started to shift in the other’s arms. His shirt fell away as his chest expanded and fur grew, arms bulking up, hands gaining claws, feet leaving his sneakers behind as they changed. A pair of ears lifted up into view, sensitive and laid back aggressively. John got a solid punch in before reeling back and releasing his hold, startled, not wanting his hand mauled by the beast who was rapidly bending its bones into a new position with soft pops and creaks.

     Dirk snarled at him and bared his large teeth once before perking an ear up and jerking away from the vampire to look down the stairwell. Several flights down, Dave was looking up, checking for where the enemy was. He could see the color drain from his face as he jumped the barrier and leapt down with lifted arms, catching onto the rung of a nearer floor before hefting himself over. John, unwilling or unable to risk doing the same, was stuck scrambling down the stairs anew in as many flashes as he dared, shouting for Dave to keep running as fast as he could.

     Didn’t need to tell him twice. The blonde was nearing the ground floor on shaking legs and veered for the front exit, not even knowing where he’d go next. Go in circles around the building until John got done zipping downstairs? He knew he could go fast, but that had been on fairly even ground before, not on stairs. Dave knew he himself could go ridiculously fast when pressed, that had to account for something, right? Maybe he had regrets about not joining track in some other life, but this would surely make up for any lingering thoughts. He raced for the front door and threw it open, almost running face first into someone.

     “Fuck, I’m sorry, I jus-”

     “No worries, chap. I take it John’s in there still, hm?”

     Dave could feel his stomach drop when he heard John’s name. The man in front of him looked… well. He looked a great deal like John, actually. Messy black hair and tan skin, broad shoulders and long arms ending in sturdy looking fingers. His eyes were wicked green and he wore an amused expression on his youthful face, one that brought unease to Dave all anew. He took a step back, then another, peering over his shoulder to see what his options were.

     Shit was what they were. Dirk, or the pale beast he assumed Dirk was, was coming towards him with John hot on his heels. It was obvious the vampire hadn’t seen who was in front of Dirk, the beast larger than its human counterpart and hurriedly barreling along, as nobody was slowing down. Thinking fast, Dave turned and ran towards Dirk as fast as he could before dropping to his knees and ducking down when he lunged.

     The wad of werewolf and vampire hit the opening of the door at an angle, Dirk rebounding to hurry along after Dave again on all fours, while John was stuck flat on his ass in front of Jake.

     No. No time. No time, had to get Dave away from the infectious one. Could he fend off two people at the same time? Had to get back into the apartment. No, the apartment wasn’t safe anymore, how had they gotten in!

     “DAVE! DAVE GET THE KEYS! THE KEYS!” he yelled, giving Jake another look before getting up to follo-

     “Ah ah ah, where do you think you’re going cousin! We finally meet up and you don’t even say hello, how rude! I’ll have to get on your father about teaching you some MANNERS,” Jake said, having caught John by the back of the shirt before yanking him back as hard as he could. Choked into obedience, John turned, preparing to fi-

     Preparing to get hit in the nose with enough pressure he was pretty sure he heard a cracking noise. Another hit, this one to the chest, forced him back into the building at an unsteady pace. A third punch, aimed for the side of his face, was finally blocked, giving John enough time to zip back away from Jake with a hiss. He could only pray Dave was getting the keys, that he was safe, that he was faster than Dirk. Going downstairs was one thing, but going up could be exhausting.

     Dave was halfway back to the apartment and his chest and legs felt like they were full of fire, yet he didn’t dare stop. Stopping now felt like a death sentence, especially with Jake around and James’ convincing play acting before. Would getting the keys even help at this point? He knew where they were, hung on the table beside the door where John always dropped them, ready to go and ready to not get lost. It was just a matter of avoiding every single thing downstairs. He heard vicious breathing below him, barely there visible cues of where Dirk was, and Dave pushed himself faster than he’d gone before.

     The door was just ahead.

     Lunging, he grabbed the keys, and slammed the door behind himself, hearing something heavy slam into the wood, nearly buckling it. The ward held, but for how long? How long would it take him to just go to the bathroom window again? Would he leave at all? Would he just be trapped inside, waiting for John to hopefully be able to get back upstairs?

     Hyped up on adrenaline and smelling a nosebleed coming on, Dave stared at the door like he was staring down destiny. The dive had worked before, maybe it could work again. Another battering ram lunge at the door and he dared to peek out the peephole, watching Dirk size up his target for another try.

     Just needed to time it.

     Needed to time it.

     Dave picked a song out of thin air and let it play in the back of his head, a quick tempo and heavy beat to match his thundering heart. 3. 2. 1.

     When Dirk lunged, Dave threw open the door and dove face first for the were’s feet, trading places with him before trying to catch the top of the stairs. He fell, ass over teakettle, till he hit the bottom before getting up and running. He heard scratching and thudding catching up with him, but there was only so much he could do. He had the keys. He had to get to the bottom of the stairs.

     He was so tired.

     He was only human.

     Good and fast as he was, he was still only human.

     With a bark like a demon, Dirk caught up with Dave around a corner, snapping near his shoulder and startling him. A misplaced step of a tired leg, a hard shift in balance, a fall, and Dave rolled down the stairs once more. Less prepared this time, the landing was hard on his side and arms at the bottom of the current staircase, making him grunt as he tried to get up, death grip still on the keys.

     Dirk was on him in an instant, huge hands shoving Dave down and pinning him by the upper arms so he could loom over him. His lips curled back to expose sharp fangs, long and dangerous.

     “It’s nothing personal,” Dirk rumbled. 

     Despite his struggling and kicking, the teeth sinking into the section of his shoulder where it connected to his neck hurt unlike anything Dave had experienced before. It was close to the sensitive space John fed from, a place that Dave had found himself starting to be tender towards even during cuddling, and now it felt like it was being ripped apart. He could smell blood, and down below a few floors he could hear yelling. When Dirk lifted his red tipped teeth away from him, Dave felt cold in the center of his chest, chilled despite the warmth at his neck.

     “You’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

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

      John, waylaid by Jake, was having a hell of a time trying to keep up with him. It was like a boxing match, something he wasn’t prepared for, and when it wasn’t up close punches being thrown, it was bites being exchanged or intimidating circling.

     Jake moved faster. He hit harder. Every time John threw a punch Jake knew how to dodge and return volley or cross punch him, undoing any bit of progress John felt he’d made. They both bore bite marks, tears in the flesh, but John was the one far worse for wear. He could feel it in his face and the swell of his eye, the way his glasses sat skewed on his face, the way his ears rang when he breathed and his nose whistled.

     It all changed when he smelled Dave’s blood, however.

     “DAVE?” he shouted, opening himself up for one more punch to the face.

     It had to be Dave’s blood, he knew it too keenly now. And the only way to smell blood was if he was hurt, or worse-

     “DAVE!” John shouted again, focusing on Jake and squinting, darting back to avoid a hit to the stomach before throwing a right hook with all he had, connecting square into Jake’s face hard enough to send his glasses flying and stagger him a few paces back.

     “Dave, hold on! I’m coming!” he shouted. Fucking daytime, of course most of the neighbors were at work, and the ones who weren’t probably were just waiting for the crazy shit to stop happening outside in the echoing stairwell. As if they had any idea of just how much crazy shit was happening in reality.

     Dirk was already off of Dave by the time he made it to the correct flight, having fled further upstairs to collect his shoes and make his way out the window the way he’d come. The apartment door clunked shut ominously out of range, but John couldn’t think about that, couldn’t remember Jake down below who might be following him at this very moment. All he could focus on was the smell of blood, the ripped shirt, the bruises. The fact he looked terrified, curled up in the corner of the stairwell with his hands around his own neck, just made his blood boil all the more.

     He’d pay for this. They both would, both of them would pay for what they’d done today and John was going to make goddamn sure of it.

     “John,” Dave finally croaked. “...John, he bit me.”

     It took a second to register what Dave said, what he meant, but when it caught up in John’s mind it made his legs go slack and sent him down to his knees.

     “It. ….No. no, no, no he didn’t,” he insisted, “let me see. He didn’t bite you, he couldn’t have, it-”

     “He bit me,” Dave groaned again, slowly lowering his hands to reveal where the blood smell was coming from. It was on his hands, on the edges of his ripped shirt, all stemming from a terrible looking bite wound.

     John’s baser instincts were warring with themselves, half fascinated by the scent and the sight, wanting to sample it, wanting to drink him dry. The other half was enraged that someone had harmed his tap, and wanted to get revenge right that second.

     “Shh…. Shhh it’s gonna be okay,” was all he could think to say. As for what to do… he spotted the keys by Dave’s feet and scooped them up before carefully picking Dave up as well. “We’re going to my Dad’s house.”

     Maybe he’d have some kind of answers, some kind of hope that this wasn’t as bad as it looked. He walked upstairs and opened the apartment, finding it empty. A quick trip to the bathroom and John sat Dave down on the toilet seat, wetting a washcloth and handing it to him while he focused on closing and warding the window thoroughly. He pointedly avoided looking in the mirror till he absolutely had to, and even then it was only to wash up and straighten things as well as he could. They bandaged Dave’s neck and got him in a clean shirt, grabbing a few things in a bag for the trip.

     The tension was gone when they locked up and left the apartment again, Dave on John’s back with one arm holding the bag over John’s front and the other holding on around his neck. Jake was nowhere to be seen, Dirk was gone, everything was peace and quiet again as if their entire life hadn’t just been upended. They made it downstairs safely, ignoring the specks of blood from the fight with Jake at the entryway that he hoped someone would be able to take care of soon, and out to the car before John pulled his phone out and dialed the familiar number of his childhood.

     “Dad?” John said when the warm voice answered. “...We’re coming home.”

#homestuck #johndave #john egbert #dave strider #jake english #dirk strider #my fic

[uh-velkommen]

A Speech About Skam for my Public Speaking Class

*note: has been dumbed down for disinterested americans and a 5 minute time limit*

When was the last time you’ve seen an accurate portrayal of Ramadan being celebrated in the media? Or an latina casually slipping spanish words into english conversations? When was the last time you’ve seen teenagers in t.v. shows look and act like actual teenagers? Most of the time when people are facing hardships in life, they look for solace in television shows or youtube videos. We as humans like to know that we are not alone in what we feel and go through. However, turning towards the media for such things has proven to be useless for marginalized people. Movies and television often fail to give the underrepresented a proper voice. When I was in highschool, struggling to understand why a love interest constantly wandered in and out of my life without remorse, I never thought that I would see a character from a web-series deal with the exact same experience. I never thought that I would come to understand said love interest because of something I had seen online. Something of which they knew nothing about. When I came across a Norwegian web series/tv show called Skam, I realized that I haven’t been giving enough attention to what I would see on t.v. I never gave thought to the possibility of seeing people I could relate to, deal with issues that I have dealt with. Skam was a show that had the realism and representation that a lot of media lacks nowadays. It showed me characters who used modern slang and celebrated cultural occasions. It showed me a diverse cast of African Americans, Middle Easterners, Latinx and Hispanic people, Every letter in LGBT including P. It showed me Muslims and Christians co-existing. I saw women and men of all shapes and sizes. It was eye opening.

Skam is created by Screenwriter, Julie Andem. Andem wrote, produced, and directed the show which aired season one of four in September of 2015. The show is basically a drama centering around a group of kids who go to the same high school. Andem's goal when coming up with this show was to give teenagers an accurate portrayal of what it is like growing up in the center of Norway. She had students who actually attended Hartvig Nissen High School (grades 11-13) audition regardless of their previous acting experience and then proceeded to use the school as a set location. Skam talked about many real topics that teenagers deal with such as, Relationships (Sexual, Romantic, Friendships, Family), Substance abuse, Eating disorders, Sexual assault, Feminist ideology, Religion, Intersectionality, Homosexuality, and Mental illness.

The way the show was presented was very different from what Norwegians were used to. Andem made the show as interactive as possible to allow viewers to fully immerse into the stories even to the point where normal people would mistake the actors for their characters on the street. Each of the characters had actual social media pages that were updated frequently either to progress the story or to add more depth to a character. The show would also release screenshots of conversations and group chats the characters would have with each other as a way to give the viewers access to the characters’ phones. Lastly, rather than making the viewers wait until the end of each week for a new episode, we would get clips throughout the week. The clips would correlate with real time so if something important were to happen to a character at 1 o’clock p.m. we would get a clip at 1 o’clock p.m. Usually the monday through thursday clips would act as build up to something dramatic that would happen on friday. Weekend clips were rare but whenever they were released, they wouldn’t contain plot altering details. The point of all this was to allow the viewers to coexist with the characters and it gave us a sense that we were part of the story.

The show became internationally popular during the third season in mid 2016. It was about a 16 year old boy’s struggle with religion and his sexuality. Because the show was only targeted towards norwegians, non-norwegian viewers could not get access to the show as easily. This led to people finding ways to save the episodes and photo releases, translate them to english or add english subtitles, and then re-release them through hard to find websites to avoid copyrights. After the show blew up all over the world, Andem, unable to keep up with such fame, decided to release one more season as a finale to the show in 2017. However, that was not the last time we would hear of Skam. In early 2018 there had been talk of making the show more accessible to it’s international viewers. This was done by creating carbon copies of Skam, set in different countries. The characters and plot lines would stay the same and the new show-writers, with Andem’s permission, attempted to maintain the essence of the original Skam and it’s realism. The best part of these remakes, is that they were adjusted to fit their countries’ cultures. Season one of the Skam remakes all aired throughout 2018, taking place in Austin, Texas. Paris, France. Rome, Italy. Madrid, Spain. Berlin, Germany. Antwerp, Belgium. And Utrecht, The Netherlands. Funnily enough, each of the remakes have become subject to the Skam treatment in which the episodes were all taken and translated by random polylingual citizens of said countries.

Skam and it’s counter parts have been excellent at displaying what it is like to be a teenager in today’s culture and society. Even if you find that you have aged out of its target audience you can still find comfort in the episodes. Older people have mentioned the nostalgia they feel from watching. The overall message that Skam has pushed to convey is Alt Er Love. Norwegian for, Everything is love. The show has taught us to accept everyone for their differences. It has shown us how to overcome our struggles and to seek help in others. Skam was truly created for everyone and that is why it will always have a place in my heart.

#skam #druck #skam remakes #skam dutch #skamnl #skam españa #skam spain #skam austin #skam italia #skam italy #wtfock #skam uk #me

[doktorpeace]

Top 5 Games Of The Year #1

[Downside Ballad - Pyre OST] 

Pyre is something really, truly, special and let me prove that to you by just describing it in the most literal sense. It is, essentially, a Basketball RPG and Visual Novel about escaping Purgatory. Not only is it wholly unlike any other game I’ve ever played or, really, even heard of before but works; it takes such a wild concept and turns it into absolutely one of the best, most unique, most touching games I’ve ever played in my life. To sum it up here right at the start, because this is going to be very long, Pyre is a game that combines a beautiful visual aesthetic and tangible, easy to parse, always expanding lore to build a cohesive, believable setting for its world and inhabitants. It then fills that world with fully fleshed out characters, so fleshed out in fact you will miss content in your first go round, because of the nature of the game it is impossible to see all of the content for every character in a single run which I’ll get into more later. It conveys itself to you in the style of a visual novel for the most part, giving a lot of time for character interactions, dialogue, and a conveyance of the world at a pace that keeps the game continuously fresh and easy to digest. It caps off each set of interactions with a gameplay segment, called a Rite, which are the ‘Basketball’ segments I mentioned before. While that’s a bit of a simplification of what all the gameplay has to offer in terms of depth and strategy it’s still a pretty apt way to describe it. Cap everything off with a unique and memorable piece of music for almost every major NPC and major part of The Downside and Pyre takes so many seemingly disparate elements and so many ostentatious ideas and turns it all into a cohesive whole basically without error and for that it deserves so much love and praise. The Downside and every location therein is so distinct and memorable it’s incredible and I think it’s helped by how colorful it is despite the narrative purgatory and harshness it has. Every location stands out from one another based solely on color palette and design. I’d like to just post a few examples:

This is helped by each Rite arena having a unique layout as well, integrating the uniqueness of the overworld and carrying it over into gameplay. The geography of The Downside has an almost dreamy, impossible to exist feeling about it from start to end which contrasts in a good way with how well realized the setting is. Part of what helps each location and every Rite feel unique is that every single place the party travels to is in and of itself a monument or major landmark of some kind. Be it the largest ship to ever crash in the sea, the remains of a titanic scorpion which once wandered the deserts near the beginning of the game, or even just where many of the Downside Imps reside every location has a tangible existence to it. This is helped by one of the smartest conveyance features I’ve ever seen in a game, and it really takes advantage of the visual novel style presentation of Pyre. Every single time a proper noun is used in conversation the text is highlighted in a bold red text and highlighting that text, be it about a person or a place or an event, the game will reveal just a snippet of information which clues the player into key information as they play in a non-obstructive way. In fact, this is used for one major character to convey the meaning of all of their dialogue, as they do not speak english.

Then, once the player has met said person or been to that place, or heard a bit more about that event in another conversation a full page or more gets added about it to the Book of Rites the player has from the beginning of the game, giving the player an optional chance at more reading to invest themselves further into the game world. Some of these pages open solely through gameplay challenges as well; Lore about the stars which you follow and the constellations in the sky and the major locations will only unlock by playing the game in ways relevant to that information. All of this information can be obtained in a single playthrough and, to me, represents what a ‘100%’ run is for this game, a great reward in my opinion. The more you want to interact with the world the more it opens up to you, 179 pages of optional text in all and as someone who read every last drop of it I promise you it’s interesting and worthwhile as a reward, it would take far too long to go into detail about here.

[Strange Voyage - Pyre OST] The inciting incident for the plot is that the player, yes you as the point of view character is intended to be literally you, has been breaking the law by knowing how to read and keeping books. The game lingers on this only in an opening cutscene, showing your collection being burnt before cutting to you exiled and sure to die in The Downside. Being as the player themselves are intended to be involved in the world and setting the game never asks for a name but instead only asks for your pronouns. He/Him, She/Her, and They/Them are all options and as a minor details I personally like that She/Her is the default, most games with features like this assume male as default. Regardless, this changes nothing mechanically about the game every character interaction with you stays the exact same, they just use the proper pronouns used to refer to you by. It’s a nice little option. Your importance to the characters who save you is immediate and thus your ability to be invested is as well and your importance comes from your crime: You can read. You, the player, are literate in a world where literacy in illegal and that allows you uniquely to read The Book of Rites, a magical book in the possession of the other protagonists (the reason they have it at all is explained later, it’s not just a Way Too Convenient happenstance though I will not reveal why here in order to avoid spoilers) which can be used to determine the next location a Rite will be held. Thus, from the very start putting the onus of deciding exactly how to get from point A to point B on the player. This immediately gives the player a reason, but a mundane and believable one, to be special and to have decision making power in this situation. You’re not some god touched, ultra special, prophesied savior. You are defined by this literacy so strongly that your special title is ‘The Reader’ which carries different connotations to different characters. Ultimately you’re just you. It’s good writing and I love it. The game then focuses on the journey you take with the other starting characters Jodariel, Rukey, and Hedwyn travelling from the furthest point south in The Downside, hitting all of the major locations along the way to conduct the Rites being held there, and travelling as far north as possible to the place where special Liberation Rites are held. These Rites are always between your team The Nightwings, and the best scoring team in that Liberation Cycle. The lore based reason for your team always competing is given in the song played during these Rites and is expanded upon through other lore, including a major plot twist at the end I won’t spoil but in short The Nightwings are the team all others are measured against. The writing surrounding this works well enough as a means of never excluding the player from the most important content in the game, while also giving good reasoning for your team to be unique. As their name implies, these rare and special Rites are used to determine the worthiness of a single individual, one selected from each team, to ascend back up into The Commonwealth with all of their crimes forgiven. As one could imagine this can result in some INTENSELY bad blood between members of The Nightwings and other team’s players. Imagine you’ve worked your ass off succeeding in these Rites, surviving a downtrodden and harsh purgatory with little in the way of food and you get ONE STEP away from finally being free, only to be rejected at the last minute. It’s gonna sting and it’s GOING to change how these characters feel about each other. Since everybody in the plot has been here longer than you have and they’ve all got relationships and opinions regarding each other. Some as simple as hating a whole team and some deeply nuanced and seeing them slowly open up to the player is another nice treat that helps the world feel oh so real. [Vagrant Song - Pyre OST] The pacing through this first half of the game is absolutely superb. You’re introduced to every playable party member you’ll receive, of which there are 9 in total, given an extended opportunity to interact with them and learn about who they are, their motivations, the crimes they committed to end up here, just a whole lot about them though not all join quite yet. While you won’t learn all of this immediately and, oftentimes, can miss major information on a character if you manage to have them Liberated that’s a purposeful part of the game’s structure. You can’t always see everything or know everything about someone, even if you really want to. It drives home the quality of the writing just a little bit more while also giving the player real, meaningful reason to play through the game again. From here on though, the game’s pacing enhances dramatically and the player is really given the reigns to decide a lot of things. I won’t go into too much detail since it spoils a big part of what makes the latter half of the plot special but basically a lot more Rites than normal begin occurring at once. Typically only a couple can happen in a night, since it is based on the glow of certain stars imbuing their respective landmarks with the magical power needed to perform Rites at all. Since so many are happening at once the player can really dictate what characters they get to see and where they get to play a lot more and that’s great from a gameplay perspective. While I felt the pacing of the game got a bit too fast compared to the first part and initially found it jarring Pyre never loses its poise and the player will quickly get into a groove with their newfound freedom. Plot events are still meaty and there’s a lot of unique little dialogues the player can miss simply by not bringing certain party members to certain locations against certain other teams. It’s all very granular and means no two playthroughs will be alike. Before I forget a little thing I love about this game is how The Blackwagon, the home you all share, starts kind of plain and bare but every character you get adds a little personal something to the interior and as you travel through the world it gets filled with all sorts of nick-nacks. It helps flesh out your party members and the world while also making the Black Wagon feel genuinely lived in, it’s nice. Also, if you highlight any given personal item of a party member it’ll tell you what they’re currently doing, so even if you can’t talk with them that day you can still get just a little bit more flavor text out of them.

The game has variable endings in both major and minor ways. I would consider there to be about four ‘major’ variations on the ending, all of which are determined by your overall success in the Liberation Rites. There are then somewhere around Two Hundred Million end state variations depending on the player’s choices, successes in Rites, what they learned, who specifically they freed, and more. While the player could get all of the main variations in just a few playthroughs this sheer dedication to detail gives every player something to feel accomplished for that’s all their own. All in all, I could gush about Pyre’s writing for hours but I think that will suffice for now. I think it goes without saying as well that Pyre is a visually stunning game. The  almost paint-like models and dreamy appearance of everything is beautiful to see in motion. Every animation is clear, every particle effect stunning, every location beautiful, and every character expressive. Pyre is a beautiful, gorgeous game and I wish I could give it the description it deserves but frankly I don’t have the words to. Hopefully just the pictures I provide throughout this review will help sway you but trust me, if you like playing games for their visuals, their character designs, their environments, just how pretty everything is Pyre won’t disappoint you. [The Eight Scribes - Pyre OST] About the gameplay itself Pyre manages to build a Sports RPG that, at least to me, didn’t feel like a ‘Sports’ game in the colloquial sense. It felt involved, tactical, and had enough of a fantasy element to it to make it stand head and shoulders above its contemporaries. Pyre’s gameplay is deep, balanced, and most importantly fun. All 9 of your playable party members feel different from one another, in part thanks to the amazing variety of body types at play lending themselves to intrinsic gameplay differences, and they each add something valuable to the three man team composition that each Rite is conducted with. This combined with each map in the game being just a bit different also means the player is constantly incentivized to try new team compositions and to not fall into just a comfortable rhythm. 

Rites are contests with no time limit. The only goal at hand for each team is to extinguish the Flame of their opponents, which is essentially their basket. To do so each team must try and carry an orb that spawns in a neutral position to their opponent’s flame with any member of their team, leaping with force into it. The Flame of each team has a standard worth of 100 and most of the time your goal is to earn 100 Points or inflict 100 damage depending on how you look at it, though there are variables which can make this number higher or lower for both the player and their AI controlled opponents. Each character lowers the flame’s value by a different amount, usually inversely proportional to their speed and size. Your largest, slowest, hardest to navigate party member, Jodariel, can snuff an entire flame in just two or three scores meanwhile your faster, easier to score with units such as Sir Gilman and Ti’Zo typically lower a flame by 15 or 20 points.

[Talon Sheath - Pyre OST] Importantly, however, is to note that scoring with a character removes them from the field until another goal is made. This means the team that scored last must now play 2 against 3 and, if they continue scoring, will continue to play at that disadvantage for the entire game after the first score. This system, like so many others in the game, ensures the player never gets too comfortable relying on ‘old reliable’ strategies and must constantly think and play to their fullest. Alternatively, characters can both pass and throw the orb to facilitate team based play and allow for advanced strategies and unique abilities to be made use of. Throwing the orb into the Flame of an opponent takes a bit longer and is harder to do than jumping into the Flame and also nets less points BUT keeps the scoring player in the game, since they were not banished by the Flame. This opens up a lot of playstyle variety and strategy on its own and is a very smart feature in my opinion.  While playing a match each team can only move any one character of the three at a time, and while it’s nigh instantaneous to change who you’re controlling it does make for an interesting, almost chess-like approach to gameplay. To make this more clear there is no AI to control the teammates you’re not actively playing as, they simply stand there until you choose to move them around again. Some characters are only really good in movement where others can easily be useful just standing still it creates a unique gameplay feeling which keeps the tension high and thus player involvement up. It’s hard to describe exactly how it works, but trust me, it works quite well. [Path to Glory - Pyre OST]

Banishment is another major part of how matches are played in Pyre. Each character has a different attack or set of attacks that, if they connect with an opponent, Banishes them from the field for a time and it is possible to have an entire team wiped out at once, leading to free goals. In addition to their dedicated attacks characters also have a stat called Presence, generally tied to how large they are and their demeanor, which causes them to cast a flaming shadow in a circle around them. If any opponent so much as touches the ground in this area they are instantly banished, allowing large characters to function as ‘goalkeepers’ in a sense. Note that I said touches the ground, however, some characters can leap a VERY long distance to undermine all but the absolute largest of Presences given good spacing and timing. This mechanic functions well, but can sometimes be frustrating since the AI can be VERY good at making called shots or long distance snipes to take out characters. Just flinging the orb into opponents can banish them as some characters, that’s fun. Interestingly as well a character’s Presence Aura disappears while they perform an active attack which in and of itself is a good balance for characters with exceptionally large Auras.

Each character has a few major stats: Glory, which determines the damage they deal to the Flame anytime they extinguish it. This is generally inversely proportional to a character’s speed, but some characters who are particularly righteous still score very well even while being fast such as Pamitha. Presence, which as mentioned before determines essentially their defensive capabilities. This is generally tied to the character’s size, though Ti’Zo the imp has an extremely large Aura regardless of being so small. Quickness, which determines their speed. Generally the smaller the better, but the fastest character of all, The Vagabond Girl (Who for the purposes of this review will be called ‘Fae’ from here on because LITERALLY everyone I know chose that name for her) is of an average size. and last but not least Hope, which determines their respawn timer after being Banished by an opponent. This is entirely informed by the character’s personality and thus has nothing to do with their other statistics. It is also the most fickle stat, being the one most prone to both temporary and permanent changes. These stats can be adjusted by Charms, each character can hold one and every character has at least one completely unique to them that no one else can use. Charms generally just raise stats to give an edge to a character, but they also can give access to unique options such as a farther leap, augmenting a character’s special abilities, the ability to cause earthquakes by jumping, the opportunity to instantly respawn after being banished once per play in each match, and more. Characters can also be adjusted as they gain experience, known as Enlightenment in this game. As you play through characters will slowly gain access to four permanent and major adjustments to their playstyle. There are 8 options with many being mutually exclusive. These are permanent changes with I believe only a single opportunity to respec a single character on any playthrough so the decision is tough especially since often all the options presented are fun and interesting. For some characters these upgrades push them to one role or another but for others, like Hedwyn, it can take a relatively mediocre and unspecialized character and make them into an absolute powerhouse. Other things that can adjust the character’s stats include your dialogue options with them and about them to other people, plot events, and who is Liberated at the current time. Most of these are temporary but sometimes you can have permanent effects on your teammates, for good or ill.

[Never to Return -  Pyre OST]

Now to get to perhaps the defining trait of the gameplay side of things, the event around which the plot revolves: Liberation Rites. As I touched on before these Rites are used to determine if a character is worthy to go free from The Downside and return to society at large with their crimes forgiven. This does have gameplay ramifications which are permanent in each playthrough, whoever goes free is removed from the game. Be they your teammate or your opponent they are gone for good. For you this means no more talking with them anymore, no more finding out about them except by secondhand accounts which are generally less detailed than the source, and no more using them in future Rites. Only your three most experienced party members are options for Anointment on any given Liberation, too, so don’t think you can just send your least favorite party member who you’ve been neglecting; You must give up someone of great value to you every single time. It’s a tough decision which, again, drives replay value AND the narrative along letting every last element of the game coalesce in a meaningful way. One might decide to keep their very favorite character around a little longer so they can help in more Rites and so they can talk with them more, since every character has unique dialogue all the way up through the very end of the game, but then you may risk them never going free as there are not enough Liberations to go around. It’s a tough decision every time and there are no right answers. It’s a great, amazingly considered concept from a narrative and gameplay perspective and it was well worth building a game around. I would like to talk briefly on each party member, but not too much since I want to keep them special. I will only talk about eight of the party members here since two of them are spoilers in and of themselves. Hedwyn is the closest thing to an ordinary person you get in your party. He’s a kind, level headed man who’s always there when you need advice. While initially he might seem boring compared to the other options Hedwyn ultimately surprised me with how much I liked him though in terms of gameplay he’s definitely the most plain party member. Not the worst, far from it, but definitely the most plain. His role in gameplay initially starts as an ‘all rounder’ kind of character but eventually he blossoms into a supportive role, acting essentially as a cheerleader for your other party members, giving them AMAZING boons just for taking the field with them and honestly that fits his personality so well. Jodariel is a Demon, she has managed to survive in The Downside for a very, very long time compared to most. She’s gruff, very slow to open up, and generally quite harsh and realistic. All that said she’s still quite personable if you have the drive to get to know her. As a result of being down here so long she’s also got a lot of ties to the other teams you’ll be facing giving her some of the most interesting relationships in the game. She’s kind of a team mom, too, and very self sacrificing over the course of the game. In terms of gameplay I think Sandra puts it best:

She is arguably the weakest party member you receive on the whole but she is far from useless. She’s a great auxiliary party member and slots well into just about any team of three characters. Defensively she’s a monster as well, her Presence stat can reach ludicrous levels, making it impossible for opponents to score in any way other than by throwing the orb or banishing her first. She’s quite fun to use on the whole. Rukey Greentail is a Cur (yes that is his species name) and is quite the rogue. He’s got that kind of disposition where you just know this jokester is hiding something from you but he’s very good at deflecting attempts to pry so he’s slow to open up. He, like Hedwyn, is actually quite kind from the get go though his snarkier more eccentric personality can make him harder to read and get along with at times. Ultimately though he’s a good guy, he’s just also kind of greedy. Early on in terms of gameplay he will absolutely be your offensive star. He’s fast, he’s got a long jump, and he can dart right through enemy defenses and only gets better at it as you go. I tend to find he has kind of a reverse bell curve of effectiveness. He’s incredibly good early on, then in the middle of the game most other characters overtake them as they can fill multiple roles on a team compared to his specialized speedy offense, and then he unlocks the ability to double jump and shit absolutely hits the fan. Rukey is a great long term investment and is the character most able to just ignore enemy defenses and terrain difficulties in order to seal the game for you. Fae is another human, like you and Hedwyn, though she’s a bit more in line with the world you find yourselves in in terms of personality. She’s very out there, having visions and a very deep interest in and almost idolization of The Eight Scribes and their lore, giving her almost a religious aspect other characters lack. She’s difficult to parse and doesn’t develop as much as the other characters but her relationships are developing at the same time yours are, since nobody knows her before she joins you. Seeing how the party members get along with her over time is a treat. She’s an endearing character, just a bit of an oddball. In terms of gameplay she has ridiculous mobility and overall really good stats. Though she doesn’t gain as much from her personal upgrades as most other characters she’s still consistently useful since she has can run VERY fast and leap VERY far. Like Rukey she’s almost entirely offense oriented, but she can be used for other roles more easily thanks to her superior size. Also you get to choose her name when you meet her and all of the options rhyme with ‘Gray’. Everyone I know chose ‘Fae’ and I gotta say it’s a very fitting name for her personality.

Ti’Zo is a Wagon Imp and a natural resident of the Downside. Having never been to the Commonwealth and also not of a typically ‘intelligent’ species he cannot speak in human language. Thankfully he is very expressive, so you can always understand him anyway.

He’s been a member of The Nightwings for longer than almost anyone else and thus actually gives some good insight to the Rites themselves and the history of The Downside. He also has complex relationships with some other party members and enemy teams. He’s just a great wellspring of character and completely avoids the annoying ‘Mascot Character’ bullet. In terms of gameplay he’s the most different party member you get. His attack hits a MASSIVE area but also banishes himself, he has a huge presence, high hope, his Glory can be raised through his personal upgrades to great levels, and he’s fast! So what’s his downside? His movement is in set bursts. As you move around with him he jumps from place to place and you cannot adjust his jump mid arc. He takes a lot of commitment to play but I would argue he’s one of the strongest party members overall since he’s just so good at everything. Honestly it makes sense given how long he’s been conducting Rites, but still! [Knights of the Sea - Pyre OST]

Sir Gilman is a Wyrm Knight and he’s about everything you would expect. He’s honorable, a good and true person, and loyal to a fault. He’s also maybe a bit too forthcoming which can get him in trouble sometimes. Nonetheless he’s great to have around and is a funny guy, too. Despite his seemingly carefree nature he does a lot of introspection and worries about the choices he’s made in his life giving him a hidden bit of sadness that’s interesting to tap into. Gameplay wise Sir Gilman is a great, well rounded character. Though his presence is small he is great defensively, with perhaps the safest attack in the game, a teleport that damages everywhere between where he starts and ends. He can easily defend your Flame and wipe out whole teams. He’s also amazing offensively as he’s quite fast and has a good leap, but his orb throw is very slow and easy to intercept making his offense a bit one dimensional. Overall Gilman is a great party member who slots comfortably onto any team. Pamitha is a Harp with a troubled history and a great desire to make good out of the mess that is her life situation. She’s had a rough lot in life, growing up in a society that demands everything of you, something she still struggles with growing past. Despite that she’s got a fun loving personality and is pretty personable, she just has a hard time gaining the trust of your other party members, especially given the conditions she joins under. She’s an interesting nut to crack open and she’s got a lot of depth but I feel that goes without saying. In terms of gameplay she’s unquestionably the best party member in my opinion. Like Ti’zo she’s not really bad at anything but unlike Ti’zo she can fly. Flight is exactly as overpowered as you might anticipate in a basketball game. Once she has the orb she’s basically already scored. Pamitha is absolutely incredible and can do anything the player needs. She can win whole matches entirely on her own without breaking a sweat. There are two other playable party members, but I’ll refrain talking from them here. I’ll just say they were both among my favorites, one in particular holds a lot of context to the game as a whole, so getting to meet them will be a special moment for anyone who decides to play the game after reading this! All in all your party members are diverse, well balanced, and interesting. They truly are the draw for this game and though I didn’t anticipate liking them all so much truly they all, each and every one, surprised me with their depth and just how well realized they were. I love the cast of Pyre, well and truly. Additionally there is one quasi-party member, the above mentioned Sandra. Though never playable she does offer you help and advice through the game. She’s snarky and has a very negative personality though even from her you can eke out a friendship if you’re consistent in talking with her. She has an extremely unique perspective I won’t spoil, but she has character specific challenges, one per party member, which require you to beat her 1 vs 3 in a challenge built just for that party member. Succeeding unlocks a unique Charm for that character and they’re great moments of progress and inspiration for each and every one. Sandra’s a tough opponent though, so don’t take her lightly. While all of her content is optional, it’s good bonus content and I’d absolutely recommend talking with her anytime possible and taking her on with all of your party members as the chances arise.

[In The Flame - Pyre OST]

The last one I want to talk about is you, The Reader. While you aren’t playable in Rites directly you do control the Rites, and this game controls really well. Regardless of if you prefer a controller or a keyboard and mouse the game feels good. I played with a Keyboard+Mouse setup and was able to unlock every singleplayer achievement on my first run, though some did take multiple attempts. You have the option to restart Rites at no penalty at anytime as they’re being played, keeping the stakes from getting too high, but savescumming is obviously not within the intent of the game. Still, it’s an option if you wish to use it. Overall Pyre is not too hard of a game at default, but there are 12 Constellations which unlock over time, all of which make the game harder should you choose to make use of them. In exchange your characters get 3% or more bonus experience per each one in use. These range in effect from ‘Make the AI faster/better’ to ‘Damage your own Flame at the start of a match’ to giving opponents basically hacks, such as allowing them to keep their Presence Aura while holding The Orb, which normally is not allowed. These can add a severe challenge to any match in the game and are worth exploring, since winning a match with any given one active unlocks more lore in your book! Still, the customizable difficulty means no player should get bored or find the game too tough or too easy. As you may have noticed I’ve been linking to some of the game’s absolutely stellar OST throughout this review and, frankly, it’s one of the best OSTs I’ve ever heard in a game. It’s about 2 hours long despite the game itself being relatively short in length. The sound design of the gameplay itself is really great too, but again I’m not really skilled at being able to say why. Still, everything from moving around to scoring, to banishment sounds impactful and distinct. Even different body types cause different sounds while moving which is a great touch. The game also has a multiplayer mode in which you can play any combination of ANY named character from the main game including some who never showed up in a Rite! It’s good fun with a friend and a nice bit of extra content once the main game is finished. Really, there’s a lot more I could talk about. I haven’t even talked about the many, many NPCs but they’re quite lovely and distinct too, each readily coming back to my mind as I think about the game. Pyre is a game with so much depth, so much to it despite being only about a 15 hour game in total. Please just, play this game, it’s a complete package in every sense of the word: Great gameplay, stellar soundtrack, gorgeous art design, AMAZING writing, and an awesome concept all rolled together, it’s not often such a thoroughly and completely amazing game comes along just to blow you out of the water. It is such a special game with so much to give! It’s $8 dollars on Steam right now and its soundtrack is just an additional $3. Supergiant Games truly knocked the ball out of the park with this one, I truly feel Pyre is something special and stands head and shoulders not just above Supergiant’s other products, Bastion and Transistor, not just above other Sports games like Golf Story, not even just above other Visual Novels. No, Pyre stands above every single game I played in 2018. I love this game and you owe it to yourself to experience all of the great, unique, and amazing things it has to offer.

#Pyre (Game) #supergiant games #Dok's GotY 2018 #keep in mind this is of games I played this year and not games that came out this year

[hextrals]

rant post.

This episode was a mess for lots of reasons, and I absolutely need to rant about the reasons why, so here it is fellas.

1. This just fucking sucks.

Not only was this episode’s “reveal” painfully obvious from basically the very beginning, it’s also just disgusting. So we have this forth alien, this big bad, right? We don’t know who it is, we’re in anticipation. And who does it turn out to be? The brown muslim man of the group. Like, seriously? That creepy terrible person is a muslim person of color. Fan-fucking-tastic. Not only that, but the entire plot now is basically: the brown muslim man pretends to be someone he’s not, kills a bunch of people, acts incredibly creepy and makes the white people look bad for something he’s done. This is blatantly ignorant, outrageous and plays into absolutely terrible stereotypes. Unexcusable. Absolutely yikes.

P.S. For those who put Noah being muslim under question – please stop questioning tiny details, they just divert the conversation into a wrong direction. Because: a) even if Noah isn’t muslim, he is still a brown man, so that’s still plenty of racism for you, and b) even if Noah isn’t muslim, Karan is, so this still ends up playing into awful islamophobic stereotypes no matter how you look at it.

2. The only reasonable explanation is Maria has a clone.

So, what happened in this episode with Maria/Candy doesn’t make any goddamn sense. The whole “I don’t want you to leave” is just SO out of nowhere.

Let’s just recap what happened before. Maria and Michael have had a certain amount of banter. They obviously know each other, but they’re not close. Some people can argue that they’re friends – and honestly what you think about that simply depends on your definition of friendship, which is different for everyone – but surely we can all agree that they’re not close friends and don’t know much about each other. They had perhaps one moment of closeness, which was Michael comforting Maria that one time, but even then he’s done it mostly because he “gets it” and they clearly haven’t spoken about it. It was a “I understand feeling shitty and needing a shoulder to cry on, so here you go” rather than a “hey, tell me what happened, let me help, let’s get closer” type of thing.

Then, they hook up once, both clearly feeling nothing more than physical attraction towards each other. And let me remind you physical attraction and romantic attraction are two rather separate things, which not only often don’t align regarding a specific person (e.g. you’re physically attracted to a bunch of people – the ones you meat on the street, celebrities, etc., but you have romantic feelings only towards one person, in rarer cases a small amount of people), but also sometimes don’t align in general. What I mean by that is every person has a romantic orientation and a sexual orientation. For many people, they are the same (for example bisexual and biromantic), but for some people they aren’t (for example, pansexual and aromantic, or asexual and homoromantic). What I’m trying to get at here is: Michael and Maria obviously chose each other not because of some sort of connection they had (because – evidently – there was no time and/or reason for them to connect), but because they both know the other one is hot and attractive (some might even argue that Michael chose Maria because she’s Alex’s friend specifically, which is debatable, but possible, and disproves any sort of connection between the two even further). But just because they deemed each other attractive enough to fuck, doesn’t mean that they’re anywhere near developing romantic feelings towards each other. In fact it didn’t seem so at all – both vibe-wise and considering what Maria said multiple times both to Michael and Alex.

Speaking of what Maria said. First of all, the “it will never happen again” right after the hook up? There was zero amount of pressure on her to say something like that. She didn’t know about Malex, she obviously wanted it to happen the night before - it was all fine. And even though she didn’t have any feelings for Michael, they seemed to have a nice time together and casually repeating it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Still, Maria felt it necessary to make sure Michael knows something like that won’t happen again. And I don’t see any reason for Maria to lie about that – she clearly meant it.

Later on, when she’s talking with Alex and finds out that not only is Michael Alex’s current infatuation, he is also “the museum guy” and someone Alex feels hopeful about, which clearly means that Alex is in love with Michael (has been for a long time) and is still holding out hope for it to work out. Maria sees all that and assures Alex that it will never happen again, which is - of course - said by her to comfort Alex and assure him that she won’t hurt him like that again (which she realizes she did, even though unintentionally). But, also note how she’s repeating her previous words she said to Michael, and – as I’ve explained before – there was zero pressure for her to say them back then. So, this reads as not only her saying something to comfort Alex, but also simply stating what she’s already decided long ago.

While she’s trying to comfort Alex, there’s obviously a certain amount of pressure on her, since it’s an entirely new and a rather stressful situation. But, Alex isn’t asking any questions. And, Maria assuring him that it will never happen again would be quite enough. In fact, that’d leave some room for thought – some could then argue Maria has some sort of feelings for Michael, but is simply stepping away for Alex’s sake, which is why she didn’t mention anything about how she feels and simply said what she’d do. I don’t see it like that, but some might. However, with the first sentence, Maria also adds something incredibly important – she says it didn’t mean anything. Which to me seemed like clear cut truth at the time, especially because Maria had no reason to lie, since it wouldn’t be a very nice thing to do and she wasn’t really backed into a corner where she had to confess what she feels about Michael. She also doesn’t feel like the kind of person that would lie about something like that, because this is obviously important to Alex and the truth does hunt you down, so her lying about that really seemed out of question. Until this episode.

Not only did Maria say she doesn’t want Michael to leave completely out of nowhere, it was clearly so serious and dramatic that it’s much closer to “love” than “crush”. And, I don’t see Maria having a crush on Michael, but even if you think that all the scenes they had were full of romance and feelings, they’re most definitely not enough for her to develop anything more than a crush. So where the absolute hell did this whole thing come from? Hell, probably hell.

P.S. I would also like to point out that Maria repeatedly said no and never again to Michael/about the situation with Michael. The fact that they’re now showing that she wanted something with him and has had feelings for him this entire time plays into the terrible trope of women not really meaning “no” when they say “no” and encourages people to just push further (which is also kind of what Michael did) until the woman finally “breaks” and “finally tells the truth about how much she’s in love with you”, which… Fucking YIKES.

3. Michael, and whatever he is these days?

Honestly, Michael’s entire character was yeeted out of the window a couple of episodes ago, so I won’t talk much about this, but I just want to say that this episode was just him yeeting out further and further from what he originally was. All I’m gonna say is: Alex clearly left after he found out about Michael’s plans to leave, Michael clearly saw that, Michael also clearly still wants something with Alex, sooo…. Watcha doing, son? Make a fucking decision instead of tossing yourself around between two people like you’re a fucking ping pong ball. Also, what kind of decision is it again? Between this one person you’ve hooked up with once and whom you’re barely friends with, and this person you’ve been in love with for ten years, with whom you want to reconnect and who clearly wants to reconnect with you, even if it’s taking a while, which you understand entirely, because you know that it’s taking so long due to that person’s trauma that – and I can’t stress this enough – isn’t his fault? Yes, such a hard decision, no clear answers there, sir – absolutely not.

4. What is bisexuality, again?

So, I don’t know how many genders Michael is attracted to, but there are dozens of genders under the non-binary umbrella, so we gotta see him having a relationship with all those too, or otherwise he’s not a real bisexual!

Jokes aside, I mean come on! We were promised no tropes, and yet what are we going into? Slutty bisexual that can’t decide between two people of different genders. That’s what everyone knows to avoid, when writing bisexual characters, and you went right there. Moreover, instead of normalizing his relationship with men, because he clearly thinks he’s a part of “gay for you” story with the whole glitch thing and all, you put him in a millionth relationship with a woman. You’re just fucking up all ‘round, aren’t ya?

In conclusion, this episode was a MESS this was LONG and I’m ANGERY. Thanks for nothing and bye.

#roswell new mexico spoilers #rant post #long post

[concerningwolves]

Writing Deaf Characters | People are People

I am a HoH person who has issues with the represention of deafness in media, and the lack of representation in general. I would love to see more deaf characters, but without the encumberments, so here is a guide on how. This is part two of two. Speech is Speech is a  guide to writing signed language and the technicalities around it. People are People is an outline of the characterization of deaf characters and the tropes that absolutely need to be avoided.

The age trap

Characters are stereotyped into a set of traits that stem from their deafness, and are highly dependent on their age. For example, the old grandma who’s deafness is incorporated into her sweet, amicable character. “Sorry dear, didn’t quite catch that.” She says on the end of almost every sentence, and it’s supposed to be funny. Maybe it is a bit funny in a comedy skit put together by a deaf comedian, but when done by hearing people it is mocking, verging on cruel. The same is also seen in sweet, naive deaf children who are shy “because they can’t hear.”

I do understand that this character trope is really easy to fall into. I used to do it too, unthinkingly; in fact, I myself probably fit the “shy, deaf child mould” on the surface. You’re not a bad person for making this mistake, because a lot of people do. Nobody has ever thought to ask if it is wrong.

How to get around this? There are other ways to make your elderly grandparents lovely, quaint people than cramming them into the "sweet, going deaf and dentures" archetype, which frankly, is getting a little boring. You could even make them deaf/HoH from birth, have them use signed language- (even if not deaf from birth)- and throw in a fun bit of conversation where they learn the new slang from their grand-child/the MC. The representation would be such a treat for our community, and make the characters that much more interesting for your readers!

As for the children, give them character. It’s as simple as that. Deaf children may be quiet because they are told off for shouting, or mocked for never saying anything in spoken English at all; I know that’s what happened to me. Make your children quirky, and you can show that through their hearing aids/implants- in fact, please do! I knew a boy in the year below in first school. He was profoundly deaf, as was I, and he such a personality to him. And he used his hearing aids to shout that out proudly: mismatched coloured moulds for his aids that were semi-transparent and filled with glitter. Someone else I knew of- (an art teacher friend of an art teacher)- steampunk modified their hearing aids and honestly? Iconic. That being said, remember not to focus only on them; this is just a point that you can build from. People are people!

The shock of spoken language

This plot trope/device is one that just makes me incredibly sad. The deaf character uses signed language, and that makes them happy. They speak in their own language, but the hearing people act like this is not enough. The deaf character then uses spoken language, and woah- it’s a miracle, they speak perfectly, they’ve achieved greatness, what a wonder! Acceptance!

I think this stems from the “deaf and dumb” character trope seen in a lot of the literature of the 20th and earlier centuries. This was a character that would garner reader sympathy through pity for their terrible situation. They were usually unintelligent, simple girls who were tragically pretty despite their horrid imperfection. What woe! And then they spoke at a moment of intense emotion, and it was this huge deal. Although this was something that upset me as a young child reading literature in an archaic language I only just understood, I realize that, as above, this is something that has been hugely normalized.

If you are going to have your non-speaking character speak, there are a set of conditions to keep in mind:

Imperfect speech. They won’t speak incredible, perfect English, unless they’ve had extensive speech therapy and used spoken English before.

Not for your validation. The non-speaking character must choose to speak of their own free will; not to make an adult or hearing/speaking person happy. If you go down this route, make sure that you, as the author, stress that this is morally and ethically the wrong thing for that person to do.

Not as a dramatic device. Don’t have your non-speaking character suddenly speak out at a moment where you want your readers to feel Emotion, such as a horrific event or a death.

Not an acheivement or a big deal. If they use spoken English, they use spoken English. It isn’t a massive deal or event to be focused on. Doing so would do that little thing of making signed language inferior, as I made a point of in post one.

In Summary

Flesh your characters out. Give them dimensions. Extend them from their deafness. Explore different angles. Treat it as a part of their identity without retracting from them as them.

It’s important to know that although the general community treats deafness as a blessing at the most, or at least as a part of their identity and as a culture of its own, not everyone shares this. Some people chose to have implants, and some choose not to. Some people with implants still used signed language, and others use spoken.

There are different types of deafness and hearing loss as well, from hidden hearing loss to nerve damage. Here is where you can read up on these: [X]

The deaf and HoH community is as varied as any other community in any other place. There are deaf clubs and dicoes, organizations, companies, and events. All sorts of things. My favourite is the one time the National Deaf Children’s Scoiety decided to take a bunch of deaf children out on sailing boats in high wind, me in the boat with someone who only used sign. Language, support and openess differs from country to country, and if your deaf character is in a fantasy world, play with that!

What kind of hearing aids are offered, if at all? What are the stereotypes, conceptions and mis-conceptions surrounding deafness? What is the sign language like? If you’re inventing a spoken language, invent a signed one too!

Research the community in the country where your book is set if in the real world, and find out what it is like. Decide what kind of deafness your character has, too.

Is it a genetic deafness? Does is come as a part of something else? Was it from birth, or is it gradual? Hearing family, or non-hearing family? What kind of hearing loss? Read up on  the types and decide.

And last of all, if you’re a hearing person and you do write a deaf character and follow these guidelines, you’re brilliant. If you’re a deaf/HoH person who has anything else to add, feel free. Input is always valued.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and best of luck to everyone with their writing.

This is part of my weekly advice theme. Each week I look at what you’ve asked me to help with, and write a post or series of posts for it. Next week: settings and character development/rebuilding characters (including heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and every other kind of character).

#writing #writeblr #writing advice #writing help #writer help #writer advice #characters #character building #writing reference #deaf character #character design #fantasy #speculative fiction

[feministdisney]

Consent in Animated Shows & Movies

Since the issue of consent has been at the top of conversations lately, I thought it might be interesting to link this back to kids’ media. I think in some scenes (like the Gaston one below) it’s really easy to see how responses like “but she never said no, so it’s on her if something happens!!” are just not cutting it. This is not meant to be an exhaustive review, since there are hundreds of movies and shows to consider, so feel free to chime in. 

(note: since this is discussing movies, there may obviously be spoilers.)

May We? Asking is a Great Start:

Frozen’s kiss scene at the end was a good example of consent. He makes a verbal request to make sure it would be desired on her end, and I’d guess he would have stopped if she hadn’t said “no” but also looked disgusted by the request. Because: consent is a multi-step, dimensional, ongoing process, not a piece of paper swapped across desks in class that says “will you consent? please circle yes or no.” and then you never think about it again.

As far as other Disney movies go, I was fairly pleased that most of the kissing scenes I reviewed (with the obvious exceptions below) seemed to show the idea of enthusiastic consent. It would be great to see both verbal and non-verbal consent shown together more frequently so that people stop seeing it as some dramatic, silly thing that only takes place on comedy skits about over-the-top feminism, but rather, a great tool to have, especially if you don’t know a person that well and may misread one or the other. 

(if I missed any obvious bad moments in movies, though, let me know, since there’s a lot of them!)

Saying No Without Saying “No”:

The Gaston Proposal scene in Beauty in the Beast (Youtube link) is a great example of what consent DOESN’T look like, the sort of behaviors women do to “softly” say they’re not interested, and what qualifies as a coercive tactic. It’s worth stating that Beauty never says “no” to Gaston - she doesn’t even really say a variation of it. In fact, she says things that could be interpreted positively, on the surface; “Gaston; what a pleasant surprise.” 

Would any person really watch this scene and believe she’s “leading him on” or that she’s “into it” though? That her not immediately running upstairs should be taken as a sign that she wants to be in the room with him? Every time he proposes something, she attempts to de-escalate the situation with her joking comments and by taking a few steps away from him. Gaston, meanwhile, continues to follow her around the room (even though she’s obviously moving away from him) and when he doesn’t get the response he wants, instead of leaving, he continues to escalate his body language and get closer to her until he’s got her pinned against the door.

Trust Can Be Used to Manipulate; This is Not Enthusiastic Consent:

Several people referred me to Steven Universe Season 2 Ep 11 and I could see why - it really does hit on the concept of consent and manipulating people into giving a “yes.” Pearl tricks Garnet into being Sardonyx with her (they combine powers... I haven’t watched much of this show so sorry if I get the terminology wrong haha). I think the show does a good job of conveying how Garnet feels and had lines like “I just wanted to share a few more victories with you.” (to justify the trickery)

“Those weren’t victories!”  

“We’re so much weaker than you...fusing with you is our one chance to feel stronger!” (justification given by Amethyst for trickery)

The point is clear that even if your goal is something that would normally feel good for both parties, manipulating people in order to get it does not result in a nice, “shared” moment. Whether you intentionally get someone drunk to lower their guard and make them more likely to say “yes” when they’re originally saying “no,” and/or ignore multiple verbal/non-verbal cues that they’re not ready or interested in moving forward because you think more pushing will eventually result in a yes, you are responsible for creating a situation where consent has not been enthusiastically given.

And since Pearl and Garnet have an ongoing friendship, the point is also clear: in this type of situation, you are using someone’s trust in you as a tool to manipulate them.

The Best Plots Don’t Ignore Consent:

People often get very upset over the idea that the scene presented in Sleeping Beauty is completely non-consensual. They forget this is a fictional storyline, in which “he HAS to kiss her to save her” is not an excuse, if that requirement itself has been made up.

From a prior consent-related note I have posted, about Sleeping Beauty:

Sleeping Beauty only works as a positive romance because we know how it’s supposed to end. Handsome nice prince rescues the lovely sleeping princess. He kisses her to wake her even though this is an action she can’t consent to.

This doesn’t mean the prince is a bad person- it means consent wasn’t considered important enough when they made this movie, that it would alter that scene more from the original.

Consent wasn’t considered a “big deal” because we KNOW she likes him from that one scene where she did, and we presume she wouldn’t disagree with him (which is often used to excuse actual crimes, rather than happy-ending story plots)… because kissing is romantic and that trumps making sure a movie’s plot is fully consensual.

Worth noting, the actual story of Sleeping Beauty (though it exists in several forms and variants, as many fairytales do) is really disturbing:

The version of Sleeping Beauty with its chaste, true-love kiss that most of us remember from Disney or the Brothers Grimm derives from a 17th-century Italian tale called Sun, Moon, and Talia by Giambattista Basile, based on folk legends dating from the 14th century. In these early versions, the sleeping princess is raped and impregnated by a passing king – but it all ends well because after she wakes and recovers from the initial shock of finding she has twins, he returns and marries her.

Via The Guardian. You might find this article enlightening

Snow White experiences a similar tale.

The Loss of Consent - Betrayal:

Maleficent goes back into examining consent with the loss of Maleficent’s wings. Stefan drugs her and rips her wings off her body. While this scene is brutal, it is successful in conveying, through metaphor, what sexual assault can be like as an experience. Her pain isn’t just the literal pain of having this done; it’s the betrayal of a friend that causes much of the long-lasting sorrow that follows her through the rest of the film.

To quote my review linked above:

Later in the movie, Maleficent brings Phillip to Aurora for the sake of kissing her, because none of them watched Frozen and realized it could be Maleficent. His lines are pretty much everything anyone’s pointed out about that film from a critical feminist perspective.

“It wouldn’t feel right,” he says as the fairies urge him, chanting KISS HER! in unison.

“But I’ve only met her once,” he hesitates again. And finally, another pause, “What was that about the curse?” (dialogue should be pretty close but might have errors since I accidentally wrote it on top of other notes I took)

Finally, he does kiss her, but I think his hesitation was important for what it established about the questionable nature of the scene. His hesitation, and the way the scene is set up, makes the kiss and the premise behind it seem questionable to us – a call-to-awareness that is missing from the first film.

And it’s also important to note that, in this retelling, his kiss isn’t rewarded with her waking up. (Note: though Maleficent also kisses her, it’s on the forehead, which I think has a somewhat different connotation esp. when the prince had previously expressed a desire to get to know her better, and Maleficent’s kiss is performed without expectation).

But anyway, please let me know your thoughts! This is not meant to be the end-all, just a jumping point.

#disney #consent #feminism

[jupitermelichios]

Smallville Recaps: S1 E1 “Pilot”

I realised I never actually reviewed the first 2 episodes of Season 1, so I’m going back to rewatch them and share my (mostly confused and angry) thoughts.

Hey Smallville, Goldeneye 007 called and it wants its CGI back. (Actually that's not fair. The PS1 had way better graphics than this. I think this may have been done on a ZX Spectrum.)

Huh, weird that our first non-CGI shot of the show is a teaser for Green Arrow that won't pay off for several seasons. Also Lionel trying to bully his son into not being afraid, because he really is the worst parent.

I love that Lana's aunt Nell clearly hates Martha and Jonathan exactly as much as they deserve.

“Where are her parents?!” Jesus Jonathan, take it down a notch. She's with her aunt, it's not like the kid's just been abandoned!

So apparently Lana has magic powers in the pilot?! She pretends to grant Martha's wish for a baby like 3 minutes before they find Clark.

Jesus fuck is this a horror show?! Why is there a naked teenager crucified in that Cornfield begging passing children to help him?! What the actual fuck Smallville?

Oh good, and now the kid is dead and probably so is Lex. What a way to start your show!

Remember kids, if you look up and see a large meteor flying towards you out of the sky, it's important to stay exactly where you are so that your 4 year old daughter can watch you die and be traumatised by it, and not, for example, take two steps to the left and survive.

They kid they chose to play baby Clark is a) about 7 and b) possibly Latino?! I mean, it's not the weirdest casting choice in this show, but it's still fucking weird.

I love that Martha's first thought upon finding Clark is 'yoink, this is my baby now!' and not 'oh shit, we'd better try and trace this kid's family.

To give the writers their due, having Lex loose his hair because he was present as a kid when Clark's spaceship crashed is actually a pretty genius idea.

Flashfoward to Clark being... 26? 15? I have no idea how old he's supposed to be. Wait he's in highschool. 18? Seriously, I have no idea.

Why do Teen shows all think “really wants to play sport but can't because of his special powers” is a super relatable plot, especially to the kind of teenagers who watch Superhero shows. Speaking as someone who has been in a  teenager in their life, it's really not!

Okay so a) Smallville's population has gone up by 20,000 in ten years, which seems a lot, and b) Smallville's population is 45,0001. How?! There's 1 high school, apparently only 1 junior school since they've all known one another since they were 5, no theatre, no cinema, and a single factory employs like half the adult population of the town, and the population is 45,000?! The nearest town to me growing up had 1 high school, 2 primary schools and a cinema, and that had a population of 3,000!

“You can't play football, that's suicide.” The actor playing Clark is ten years older and two foot taller than everyone else at the school, but sure. Suicide.

Apparently the naked dude crucified in the cornfield thing is a Smallville tradition that Chloe has  never heard of before this exact moment. Also what he fuck kind of high school tradition is that?! That's some fucking Cabin in the Woods ritual bullshit right there. The football team are probably all going to turn out to be demons in disguise or something.

Lana having a kryptonite necklace is actually a pretty good idea for the whole love triangle thing. If Lana's parents hadn't been killed by a kryptonite meteor hitting them. As it is, she's just coming off as really weird and super morbid.

“Which are you Clark, man or superman?” “I'm still figuring that out.” Good line if you know he's got powers. If you don't know, and you're just making a weird Neitzche joke (you know, like teenagers do) then it just makes Clark sound like an absolute nob. Which he is, of course.

You know I said Whitney is the best human being in the Dramatis Personae? The major exception is in this episode. But even here, his first line isn't asking Lana to do his homework, it's asking Lana to read over his homework because he was up super late finishing it. Because even in the pilot, Whitney is secretly a super-nice dude. (Apart from that whole naked crucifixion thing.)

Lex's character introduction: driving a very nice porsche while dramatic rock plays. Okay, so we're supposed to think Lex is the coolest character, right? That's definitely what I'm getting from this.

Holy shit, Clark is actually being selfless and saving Lex from a car crash. That may be the only nice thing he does all season.

Ah, the introduction of Clark's habit of watching Lana change through his telescope. Because Clark's a totally relatable guy, and a hero.

“Hey your lucky charm, isn't that the thing that killed your parents and a bunch of other people and gave Lex alopecia?” “Yeah I figure just because it's always been super unlucky up till now, maybe it'll be lucky this time.” That's some fucking weird figuring you're doing there Lana.

“Hey you look like that Scarecrow kid” is a weird way to greet someone who you had a direct hand in putting into a coma twelve years ago.

Oh good, naked crucified kid from the opening now has superpowers and he's back for revenge. Question – why has he waited 12 years?!

Lex brought Clark a truck. And so begins the tradition of Lex buying Clark inappropriately expensive gifts because he doesn't understand how friendship works.

Making Jonathan Kent irrationally hate the Luthors was a really weird writing choice. Really weird.

Wait, Clark doesn't know he's an alien?! How the fuck did he think he could do any of this shit?! What have Jonathan and Martha been telling him all this time????

Oh man, I'd forgotten Lana's habit of riding horses through graveyards. Like normal teenagers do. If I was Nell I'd be seriously worried about Lana.

Lana thinks visiting her parent's grave with flowers is weird, but Clark hanging out in a graveyard where no one he knows is buried is totally normal.

Clark is pretending to hear dead people. Nothing like a séance with a girl's dead parents to really set the mood.

Clark just walked Lana home. She arrived by horse. And walked home. What happened to the horse?!

“Hey you want to go to the dance with me?” asks Clark to a girl in a long-term relationship who he's only ever had one conversation with. You know, like normal non-stalkers do.

Until proven otherwise, I'm going to assume that the writers decided the Luthor family would all be into fencing because they thought Lex would look hot with a sword. And they weren't wrong.

“Do you believe a man can fly,” is one of the strangest pick-up lines I've ever heard, but oddly it seems to be working for Lex.

Chloe sees a guy she's never seen before in a town of 45,001 people, and just assumes he must be some kind of immortal and starts checking 12 year old school year-books. You know, like a normal person does.

Chloe tells Clark that she's been investigating strange goings on in the town, Clark responds with “You should have told me about this.” Fucking why Clark?

And now we see literally the only bad thing Whitney ever does, and it's weirdly jarring. He's such a nice dude in all the later episodes, but now he's beating Clark up, stripping him to his boxers and trying him up in a crucifixion pose in a field for the sake of some cheap jesus imagery. Also giving away the necklace that he knows is super important to Lana. What the fuck writers?

Man, school dances in 2001 were wack. I mean, we all remember slow-dancing to Linkin Park kock-offs right? That was a totally normal highschool experience.

Fun fact – if you electrocute a car, it will start. And none of the electrics will be fried. Because that's how cars work.

Wow, villain gets convenient amnesia may be the laziest fucking 'we've run out of time to resolve the plot' get-out I've ever heard.

Okay, so Whitney is captain of the football team. And Lana and Whitney are Homecoming king and queen. But they definitely aren't seniors, because it's going to be seasons yet before they graduate. How the fuck old are these people meant to be?!

You know, fantasizing about slow dancing with Lana may actually be only relatable thing Clark ever does. Good for you pilot episode.

#smallville recaps #charlie watches a thing #smallville #s1e1 #the character assasination of whitney begins #protect whitney 2k18 #disappointed they didn't stick with the super goth characterisation of Lana #i'm honestly kind of digging it #it's all very byronic

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 90: Restaurant Wars

“Thanks for calling Fish Stew Pizza, we do fries now.”

After a streak of episodes about neglect, mourning, disability, consent, and harassment, I think I’m ready for a goofy one.

Restaurant Wars is the stupidest episode of Steven Universe, and I don’t say that with an ounce of ill will. I do say this with the knowledge that Say Uncle exists: non-canon goofs are what they are, but this story takes place in continuity so it is official that Steven once saved the boardwalk by turning his house into a restaurant and making better food than two food professionals. That will never again be a thing that didn’t happen in his life.

From the start, there’s no attempt to hide the silliness. The conflict begins with Fryman and Kofi screaming “RESTAURANT WAR” at each other and cutting to black. The episode is presented in a series of titled vignettes and never stops treating the Fryman/Pizza feud as seriously as a...

...I can’t even finish that sentence, the principal characters here are named Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza. We don’t even know Fryman’s first name, and Kofi’s last name is the word “pizza” and he runs a pizza shop. This is so, so, so dumb. I love it.

A huge strength of this series is its ability to balance depth with humor, the big term serialization with the normal daily life of a magical kid. It sometimes swings hard at plotty episodes, but rarely does it swing this far in the opposite direction. I’m not talking about Restaurant Wars being a townie episode, because plenty of townie episodes affect the overall plot and develop important characters. Steven’s connection to humanity is critical to his status as a child of two worlds, so while alien stuff might be cooler, there will always be a place for the mundane in the actual plot. 

This is a matter of tone, and Restaurant Wars is the tonal opposite of a plot-heavy story that expands the characters and lore. Uncle Grandpa and Log Date 7 15 2 and Kindergarten Kid have a similar devotion to comedy, but we still get arcs for the characters within them. Nobody grows in Restaurant Wars. The conflict’s resolution is about returning to the status quo we saw at the beginning of the episode, not moving forward or learning critical information. The single consequence is that Ronaldo gets dumped by a girlfriend we didn’t even know he had until moments before it happens, which is just deliciously cruel. 

This might actually be my favorite Ronaldo episode, if I’m including episodes featuring him on top of episodes where he’s the focus: it’s not that I revel in watching him suffer (not fully, anyway), but Zachary Steel is really good at making that suffering funny, from his livid “Do you know how much BLOGGING I haven’t been able to do!?” to lasting despair after his surprisingly real girlfriend breaks up with him. It’s a welcome change of pace from his smug buffoonery, and it’s such a surprising and mean joke for the episode to end without throwing him a single bone. This subplot alone is worth the price of admission.

The breakup, like everything else in the episode, borrows its tone from the cheesiest anime melodrama anyone could ask for. There may be a reference to a more specific show, but I’m frankly not huge on slice of life anime, and despite how much I love writing about Steven Universe I draw a line at doing extensive research about friggin’ Restaurant Wars. Regardless, we get the drawn-out gasps, the kabuki emoting, the dramatic camera flashes, the works. It’s not just anime stuff—the vignette titles evoke the sort of Ken Burns parody you’d see in a show like Community, let nobody say Lamar Abrams and Katie Mitroff don’t have eclectic comedy tastes—but even a casual like me can see the Japanese influence here.

This is the sort of episode that only works every once in a while, because it’s so much compared to the general mood of the series. I understand anyone who dislikes Restaurant Wars, because it’s really different and nothing happens and it’s unbelievably stupid. But dammit, I can’t stay mad at it. Its timing is perfect, in the middle of a stretch of Beach City episodes that have been varying levels of stressful. It’s not interrupting anything or wasting your time for a second by pretending to be anything it’s not. The crew just wanted to tell a stupid story about grown men feuding over who gets to make what food, and that’s okay.

It helps that we get a better look at Fryman and Kofi, two adults that Steven understandably doesn’t hang out with very often. We already know Kofi has a temper, but Fryman until now has been defined by his gruff acceptance of how weird the world around him is, and it’s fantastic to see him revved up. My favorite joke of the episode has Steven explain that Fryman’s supposed to do fries by acknowledging his name and absurd hair, only for Fryman to not realize his hair is shaped like fries. These ridiculous names and his ridiculous character design already exist, so they might as well be used for a ridiculous story.

To be clear, this better look doesn’t actually mean much for their characters, because in a normal episode I doubt Kofi would try branding people with an iron. Again, this isn’t an story about growing, so at best we understand by the end of it that these two take their jobs seriously, but that’s something we already knew. Perhaps it would be funnier to use more established characters for something this zany, but I think we benefit from the flexibility that comes with relative blank slates: Restaurant Wars was never going to be believable, but it would be even less believable if people we knew acted this out of character. 

Their kids get a nice amount of focus as well. I love finally seeing Jenny and Kiki hang out with Ronaldo and Peedee, even in this situation. I get why they wouldn’t normally interact, as Peedee is an anxious kid and Ronaldo is Ronaldo, but these are neighboring families that each have two siblings who work in their dads’ food shops. Add in the fact that both families seem to have single fathers (although Jenny and Kiki are lucky enough to have the world’s greatest Gunga) and the Frymans and Pizzas have a lot in common. 

Unlike their parents, we get grounded character moments here that show these four probably have some history together. The highlight is Jenny stage whispering her doubt about Ronaldo’s girlfriend to Peedee, who immediately agrees; these are people who are able to stand the guy enough to hang out with him, but know he’s usually full of it. Jenny gets a sweet moment supporting Kiki, and Kiki’s people-pleasing attitude might be “helpful” here, but her focus on the needs of others above her own will be addressed in our very next episode.

There’s really nothing else to talk about in an outing like Restaurant Wars, but I have two stray thoughts for this stray episode. First, I’m glad it happened after Greg got rich, because even if it’s not mentioned it at least adds some realism into the conversion of Steven’s home. Second, I’m baffled by the pairing of the mundane pizza bagel with the revolutionary fries filled with ketchup, but I’m not exactly gonna be taken out of the moment by a strange plot point here. I’m glad I live in a world where this episode exists. But I'll also be glad to get back to the actual show. 

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

This is by no means a favorite, and it’s not an episode I’m ever gonna rewatch outside of a binge or for reviewing purposes, but come on. It’s not hurting anybody.

Top Fifteen

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

No Thanks!

     5. Horror Club      4. Fusion Cuisine      3. House Guest      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

#restaurant wars #steven universe #su #steven universally #review