#anders is protagonist material

[justcallmecappy]

Exploring the missed potential of Anders' character

Anders was an interesting character with a backstory and a set of characteristics that would have been amazing if explored further, but I believe his character's potential was tragically squandered by bad narrative choices and poor writing.

Here's a list of how I think his narrative potential hadn't been fully explored:

His name really isn't "Anders" -- it was a name given to him when he arrived at the circle at age 12 and was so traumatized he refused to speak, not even to say his name. BioWare has never revealed Anders' birth name. We also know that he has Anderfels heritage on his father's side, who migrated to Ferelden as a boy. It could have been revealed, through his birth name, that he has some connection to an Anderfels-related plotline: he could be related to the First Warden, or his family could have prominence or influence in the Grey Wardens of Weisshaupt.

Anders is a mage, a Grey Warden, and a host to a Spirit of Justice. This combination of spirit healing (already a rare branch of magic), Blight magic, and a connection to a Spirit of the Fade has never occurred before in known canon. Anders being connected to the mages, the Circle, the Grey Wardens, the darkspawn, and Fade Spirits means that there is a whole world of possibilities to explore with that combination, so many things you could do with his character.

Leveraging off Anders' connection with Justice, a potential key to finding the cure for the Calling could have involved possession by a Fade Spirit. (We already know Fade Spirits are essential to curing Tranquility -- perhaps there's more we could do with that.)

Anders could potentially be a companion to both the Hero of Ferelden and the Champion of Kirkwall, depending on your World State. If your HoF didn't die during the Archdemon battle and continued to Amaranthine, Anders (together with Justice) is the only NPC companion who has traveled with both the HoF and Hawke, and is also a potential love interest to Hawke. (Zevran and Isabela also are NPCs acquainted with both the HoF and Hawke, but only Anders has been a party companion for both.)

Anders could potentially be the only known Grey Warden to have met both the Architect and Corypheus.

Anders could have potentially have battled demons in the Fade three times: his Harrrowing, the Blackmarsh sequence in DA Awakening, and the "Night Terrors" Feynriel rescue mission in DA2. Considering these experiences, plus the fact he has his own in-built Spirit GPS in the form of Justice to help him navigate the Fade, Anders has the highest potential to be the one to rescue Hawke/Stroud/Loghain/Alistair from the Fade (if left there in DAI and has the potential to be rescued).

Anders may have political connections to the throne of Ferelden, if Alistair was made King, and was present at and endorsed Anders' conscription into the Wardens.

If your Warden was Mahariel, Anders would have a common connection with Merrill. If your Warden was Amell, Anders could have an extra connection to Hawke, having known their relative. A Warden Amell or Surana could also have an added layer of their relationship with Anders, having grown up in the same Circle together. (Anders just has a lot of connections to famous people and an extensive network that would have made everyone on LinkedIn jealous, is what I'm sayin 😆)

Anders being a prominent figure in the mage rebellion could also have been explored further -- especially in relations to Fiona, who was coincidentally another mage advocating for mage freedom and with a connection to the Grey Wardens and Alistair.

I just think it's tragic that Anders had so much potential -- arguably one of the characters with the most potential in the overall plot -- and yet BioWare squandered all that potential to push their brand of "grey morality".

The narrative and writing could have framed Anders as a heroic character -- it would have been so easy, the chances were right there -- which would have opened up the chance to explore the potential of his character further in subsequent works, but instead in DAI, BioWare doubled down on slandering his character to drive the point home that he was a villain, and closing off further exploration of his character post DA2.

#anders #anders dragon age #anders da2 #dragon age 2 #dragon age meta #da meta #bioware critical #jennifer hepler critical #mage rights #pro mage #anders positivity #anders is protagonist material #my meta #anders meta

[moliathh]

This had been irking me so i have to say it. I know Hellsing is a horror media with a LOT of flashy action scene, however, it is unjust to see it as solely gore and fights. I've seen complaints about how adding a "romance" in will reduce the quality of the story as an "action horror". (specifically speaking is between Alucard and Integra because of course in the end of the day this is just ship war, not a serious discussion whatsoever) I would argue that Hellsing is never ONLY about the actions. Yall might have already noticed how Alucard is too OP, and it was not even because he got any tricks up his sleeves. He is simply invincible, his mechanism is just that hes a "deus ex machina". He did NAWT need to start out with zero and levelling up like your common action anime protagonist. It's not a first time a central character is overpowered in an unreasonable way. A way you could interpret this trope is that it was not about battles, not the physcial one, but the development in their characteristic, their thoughts and emotions and ideology all that stuffs. A classic example is Sir Gawain and The Green Knight (TGK), where all of their (physical) battles are nonsense and did not mean anything in terms of combat, they dont even fight each other, even the climax (the decapitation of TGK) was dismissed into a looney tunes moment. BECAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS NEVER ABOUT THE BATTLE NOR PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, it was the internal struggle and maturing in character. THAT is what's happening in Hellsing IF yall look pass the very flashy facade of gore scenes Hirano put up. READ BETWEEN THE LINES, because he's not gonna hand it out to you on a plate. If you want to see how each character developed you have to look closely at their reactions and dialogues, not how they fight.

SO, imo, it's reducing the quality and message of Hellsing to interpret it solely as an action horror media, not the other way around. AND MIND YOU, romance subplot and action horror can coexist. For what does the character fight? A higher ideal? Power? Fun? Love? All that is noteworthy to think about when you engage in a media display many fight scenes. DONT YOU WANNA KNOW WHY THEY FIGHT THAT HARD ???? and in this case it is VERY obvious that Alucard is motivated by Integra. LIKE it cant be more obvious

And I'm so tired of seeing "Alucard only listen to Integra because of the seal and shes a Hellsing". Bestie, he literally ripped Richard's hand off, we dont even know the extent of the seal, like how far? or can it REALLY control Alucard? Besides, if you have read The Dawn you would see what a damn lazy ass Alucard was, Arthur sent him on a mission and he didn't even bother to walk on his own and just sleep safe and sound in his coffin until he felt like waking up??? Compare that to his enthusiasm to beg Integra on four just for her order and even purposefully tick her off by asking about her enthusiasm for war, oh and did we collectively forget this

(This is the Dark Horse eng scan if i remember correctly? i might be mistaken idk)

Sure it could just be a mere parallel, "The woman he personally desired" might only means Mina Harker and not directly Integra herself, I see. But, why bother choosing this parallel, and RIGHT after this panel he went STRAIGHT to Integra to ask for her order.

You know how enthusiastic he is with a fight and everything was already laid before him, worthy enemies and all. Yet he would not act without her words? I did not see him needing permission before ripping Richard's hand off... Also the seal did NAWT ask him to do all this

There are more of his sickening and excessive display of obedience but i don't have time to pull the panels out yet, but we all know its there since Alucard's submissive attitude and Integra's bossy demeanour is one of their most appealing traits, I know, because it is literally one of the BIGGEST selling points and running joke of the fandom, funnyyyy how people always love to call Alucard a sub and use words such as "freaky" and "slutty" to call him as if he didn't reserved this treatment for ONLY Integra. Sure Integra is a demanding boss to even her enemies, and it works like wonder everytime, because she's Integra, she mastered Alucard, others are just piece of cake to her. But that's not the same case with Alucard. Major literally said "She is the only authority Alucard recognizes". And have Alucard extended the phrase "My master" and all the begging and insinuating jokes to anyone else? It's so convenient isnt it, to just take one specific trait of Alucard's personality and make it his entire character without considering to WHO he directed those innuendos to.

Oh and I haven't walk us to the final chapter yet, like the seal did NAWWWWWTTT asked him to call her "Countess" (or Count, depending on the translators) and literally he could accept his death becoming a paradox? Wasn't Alucard had been craving an end for a long while now? Why the need to return just because Integra asked him to??? Be serious for a moment here

Also a personal interpretation of mine that could be a stretch or just pure delulu is that, in the manga AND the anime adaptation, the last word Alucard said after goodbye is "Integra" (In both Japanese and English dub, the word order is exactly the same), not master or "Integra HELLSING". The same goes when he addressed how he can kill without remorse but the decision is in her hand, he also said "I am a monster, now regarding you, Integra". To me that is an indicator for how he CARED for her not just because she's a Hellsing or his master but she's Integra, from the first of their meeting it was very clear, that Alucard wounded A HELLSING to protect Integra.

So... even non-romantically, you cannot deny that Alucard voluntarily worked for Integra. They DO care about each other a lot, even platonically, their bond is almost like soulmates with how well they trust and understand each other. I just don't like it when people keep side-stepping the depth of their relationship just because you don't like to ship them romantically. These are the canon informations you can't just seriously unironically say that there was nothing there.

And oh don't even get me started on the "But he is a vampire, the enemy of her family and he hates Hellsing because of Abraham something something stockholm syndrome something she's ace coded she's lesbian coded she swore to be a virgin until death she wouldnt throw it away for the enemy of her family etcera etcera" you're saying it as if ace people aren't allowed to date or have sex and you're saying it as if Alucard isn't canonically genderfluid. Why always view the ship as solely heteronormative while they were never conventional to begin with. And MIND YOU, i thought everyone love the enemies to lovers trope?? they were BARELY stockholm syndrome at all did we forget about the Bird of Hermes analogy as a metaphor for loyalty voluntarily given.

If you care so much about "monsters and humans are forbidden" and "they are not canon" maybe treat every ship with the same attitude since MOST of hellsing most popular ships fit into that exact two sentences above, maybe except Pip x Seras is canon, but they're also human x monster, so what now???? Just hate on a ship all you like, I hate ships too and I hate them because I don't like them, that's all, no need to do extra mental gymnastic to prove the ship is "wrong" or their shippers are "wrong".

#rant #talking mostly about alucard x integra #so im gonna tag the ship name in case there are people who dgaf or doesnt want to read about alutegra #alucard x integra #alutegra #giggle a bit whenever ander/card and ser/tegra shippers drag alu/tegra for the reasons that their ships also have #like brostie we should be uniting in delusional not fighting #i dont hate the ship but i dont bother dragging them #are you really sure you wanna come for the ship that contain two of the protagonist trio and had MUCH more interactions than your ship #im not saying more screentime means higher possibility of romance implication #however i would not come for a ship with more official material than mine because it is a losing game #are you really sure you wanna go there #so pissed i wrote this down so fast i didnt even misspelled insinuating and innuendo

[kaltacore]

merrill dragon age isn't The Character in terms of being the guy with the juiciest backstory details or protagonist material but she is The Person. The Heart. she was working on one of the most important researches of elven history and no one believed in her. not her keeper, her teacher and mother figure. nor her clan, the only family she's ever had. nor hawke's friends, the only people who were surrounding her for six years. the only person who can actually place their faith in her is hawke but if they don't she won't mind. she is used to it, being on her own. and, despite everything, she believes in people. she knows it matters. better than anyone.

she has never heard a nice word from fenris, but she still tries to cheer him up from time to time. she has never heard a nice word from anders either and she still feels for him. varric annoys her when he tries to distract her from the eluvian, but she appreciates it because she knows he means well. aveline refers to her work as senseless and potentially dangerous for the city, but she is still happy for her when she falls in love.

if hawke sides with mages in the last straw merrill is the first to support them. "I believe in you, hawke", she says, when everyone else is consumed by doubt. and then she's the only one who openly suggests sparing anders. so he can put things right.

she knows the feeling. when you're on your own and everyone thinks you're beyond salvation, undeserving of compassion or understanding. and this is the best she can offer for people she cares about: her unconditional faith, her sympathy, a second chance. the things she was desparately looking for and never had. she believes in people because she knows: there's no one else to believe in them

#going through my screenshots and every time i see 'i believe in you hawke' i want to explode #she's an unacknowledged genius but also she's the brightest person in kirkwall with the heart of gold #and i wish we talked about her smartness and willingness to discuss and defend her opinions more #but she's also genuinely such a good person. not in the 'haha silly pretty and clueless naive girl' way #but in the 'thoughtful and caring and compassionate woman who tries to learn from her mistakes and deepest regrets' way #her banters are full of these themes. believing and second chances and atonement and it just makes me feel things #if i were to put it all in this post it would be practically endless because i really lack the ability to shut up #spiraling back into my merrill brainrot. i love her i love her i love her so much #merrill #dragon age

[catesartworks]

Isekai Maid Asks Pt. 4

Hello!

I have some asks below the cut that I got in my inbox I've gotten over the following months. Sorry it took so long!

Thank you so much for reading! Glad you like it :DD

Emilie most likely sees Claire as her own person, rather than an extension of Phoebe or King Dimitri (Claire's parents). Claire was born as a replacement for her elder brother, who was assassinated, and wasn't very close to her siblings or parents.

I think Emilie just saw a lonely child who needed someone.

Deliliah and Saoirse were lovers, definitely. Way before Saoirse became Caravaggio's mistress, Saoirse was dedicated to Delilah. Their relationship will be explored in season 3.

King Dimitri abolished the monarchy by purges. The aristocracy had tried to assassinate him because of his volatile personality and short temper. They wanted to replace him with a distant cousin. So he found a select, small group of nobles who would do his bidding, and started with killing any relatives that could pose a succession risk to him. Then, he killed all nobles (plus their families) who participated, or he thought participated in planning his assassination. He confiscated their properties and wealth afterwards.

In a way, yes. It was about Phoebe and Clara working through their own grief. Phoebe and Clara were co-protagonists.

If Clara survived and lived into older age, I think that Bridgette would still exist, but she wouldn't be "aware" like Clara is. She also would probably have a different name and life events that aren't influenced by it. Thing is, Bridgette is a bit of a glitch, and can theoretically have a second body on "standby." If Clara somehow was alive when she shouldn't be, she could even pass "herself" on the street! But most of the time, Bridgette's just born again and birthed normally. So she gets a hard reset and has to experience life all over again.

Pepper's daughter, Lily married into the Limpette aristocracy to get revenge for her mother. She had loads of blackmail material by the time she was older, and she was able to get compensation for her mother's wrongful death. Currently, Lily's descendants are quite rich, but fragmented due to some being loyal to Teffrah, and the others, the Kolt/Limpette aristocracy.

There are a bunch of other countries surrounding the three main ones. There's multiple continents as well. But I don't want the scale to get too big, so if I introduce new countries they probably won't have the same attention as Limpette and Teffrah. But I will have them mentioned in season 3.

Thank you so much! Yeah, I wish I had some of those stones too, hearing sensitivity can huuurt. ( T 0 T )

Thank you!

As for the "you were the whole character all along" trope I don't think I will use it since my story is really complicated/confusing sometimes, and I'm not entirely sure I could pull it off! ( T w T )

I tend to drop the really bad ones, but Iris: Lady and Her Smartphone was one of the first Otome Isekai I read, and while I still have a ton of love for it because of nostalgia, I also know that it uses some pretty terrible tropes that have come to haunt the genre.

The whole fossil fuels thing was just ughhhhh! They had a renewable resource, the magic stones and they just...pollute their world like we do because of Iris.

I finished it until the end, though....so...haha

It depends on the genre, or the setting. I think the main characters (Bridgette, Marina, and Shellie) would really thrive in a futuristic setting.

And I did make a jokey image "what if the maids were in a horror action survival webtoon?" where Lord Anders exploded because of a demon apocalypse, and the only people who could survive were maids.

I didn't finish it, tho

Thank you!

Yeah, I noticed that. I think as long as the maid is being compensated, it's fine but so much of the time I'm just thinking "you guys need to hire more people." Especially in "Divorcee's Dessert Cafe".

Neither would have any time on their hands for the level of product their making, not to mention the main character is always running off with the princes so many times I'm just wondering how she even manages a store.

But it's a fantasy a lot of stories have, not just in manhwa so it's nothing new. People fantasize a lot about opening bakeries, even though the reality is waking up at four every day and dealing with terrible customers.

Thanks for reading Isekai Maid! I really appreciate it. ( ^ w ^ )

#this isekai maid is forming a union #this isekai maid #webtoon #webtoon canvas #tapas comic

[open-hearth-rpg]

Open Hearth Video Roundup - October 20, 2023

Welcome to the weekly Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page.

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes (Session 10 of 12) Shane runs for Blake Ryan, Brandon Brylawski, Mark (he/they), and Puckett The agents, badly hurt and fleeing the recent ambush, hope to find comfort and safety at the Dorchester House. But the hospital has secrets and dangers of its own.

The Mecha Hack: Ares Station Q (Session 1) Anya Reyes runs for Bryan, Steven S., and Travis Allison Today in Roleo Time, another game in English, we play The Mecha Hack! a game about pilots trapped in the middle of a war in an unknown planetary system. The Pilots have been stationed for a few months at Ares Outpost Q, the farthest outpost on the planet protecting a series of Transparent Aluminum mines, material used by the Collective to create much of the galactic infrastructure. But they are not alone, Kaiju lurk everywhere.

The Mecha Hack: Ares Station Q (Session 2) Anya Reyes runs for Bryan, Steven S., and Travis Allison The Pilots are sent to deal with a Kaiju nest nearby to Station Q. During the attack several of the eggs hatch and start to fight back, costing blood, oil and steel to the pilots. Meanwhile a mysterious sound announces something is about about to show up over the heads of the Pilots.

Star Trek: Fate of the Quadrant (Session 5) Alun R. runs for Lowell Francis, Paul Rivers, and Will H Personal Log - Stardate 48301.6 - Lieutenant Keenec Reporting: We've been at Gamma 7 for nearly a week for re-supply prior to embarking on our patrol of the Delera Sector. I've spent the time recalibrating the micro-settlement circuits in the food replicators, which seem fine to me. I've also had a chance to work with the team studying a recently recovered Dilithium-Herbert-Matrix that resembles the Horta contacted by the USS Enterprise and could be a new sentient species. Unfortunately, I got a little over-excited and the team asked me to leave. There's a 'difficult' local commander, a group of Bajoran religious dissidents, and a memorial service for the loss of the USS Intrepid over a century before. Then...territorial Tzenkethi; a deeply disturbing subspace signal; and eight (currently quiescent) threats...

Free from the Shadow: Samurai Fantasy (Session 2) Lowell Francis runs for Cale P, Elle, Mike Minutillo, and Sherri We see the clans enact some of their first moves, working to establish influence and gather resources to cover their shortfalls. Then the four protagonists join together, for many different reasons, to find out information about the vanishings plaguing the borderlands and locate a missing shugenja for the Azalea Crow clan.

Girl By Moonlight: Divine Engines (Session 2) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack The alarm sounds as a new Leviathan approaches the Last Bastion. Our heroes scramble, the first test for this new configuration. Will the new pilot survive? Will Tav reveal that he is not person they knew? How will Manon handle battling a divinely necro-tized version of her lost homeworld?

Star Wars Saturday

Solar Blades and Cosmic Spells (Session 2) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Ethan Harvey, Sherri, and Steven Watkins The raiders are defeated, but a greater threat is uncovered.

Off-Calendar Highlights

Heroes of the Hearth: Fresh Faces (Session 2 of 2) Madelancholy runs for Paul D. and Rob Fletcher The townsfolk hear from their loved ones and of their failures in the distant battle, and secrets are revealed as the threat nears. We close out characters in this two-shot's conclusion.

Hearts of Camelot: Once and Forever (Session 4) Madelancholy runs for Chris Greenbriar, David Miessler-Kubanek, and Rod Santos Sir Bertilak offers the terms of the favor in return for his hospitality, and Ydelles makes an incredible counteroffer. Sir Elio and Sir Granit react with surprise and dismay at their friend's acceptance of changed fate. The characters continue their knightly path in their own ways in this next episode of David Adrian Randall's hack of Hearts of Wulin, Arthurian-style!

#ttrpg #rpg #rpg actual play

[byneddiedingo]

Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in The Lady From Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)

Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloan, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia, Erskine Sanford, Gus Schilling, Carl Frank, Louis Merrill, Evelyn Ellis, Harry Shannon. Screenplay: Orson Welles, based on a novel by Sherwood King. Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr., Rudolph Maté, Joseph Walker. Art direction: Sturges Carne, Stephen Goosson. Film editing: Viola Lawrence. Music: Heinz Roemheld. 

Like most of Orson Welles's Hollywood work, The Lady From Shanghai is the product of clashing wills: Welles's and the studio's -- in this case, Columbia under its infamous boss Harry Cohn. And as usual, the clash shows, sometimes in Welles's brilliance, such as the celebrated shootout in a hall of mirrors at the film's end, and sometimes in his indifference to the material: Is there any real excuse for the farcical courtroom scene that so violates any sense of consistency in the film's tone? Welles miscast himself as the protagonist, Michael O'Hara, a two-fisted Irish seaman, complete with an accent that he must have picked up in his youthful days in the Dublin theater. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Rita Hayworth, was forced upon him by Cohn, whom he angered by having her cut her hair and dye it blond. Her Elsa Bannister is the epitome of the treacherous film noir femme fatale, but it's hard to say whether the screenplay -- mostly by Welles -- or Hayworth's limited acting ability prevents the character from coming into focus. The real casting coup of the film is Everett Sloane as as Elsa's crippled husband, Arthur, and Glenn Anders as his partner, George Grisby. I use the word "partner" intentionally, because the film dodges around the Production Code in its hints that Bannister and Grisby are more than just law-firm partners, evoking the stereotypical catty and mutually destructive gay couple. Welles insisted on filming on location, which means we get some fascinating glimpses of late-1940s Acapulco and San Francisco, shot by Charles Lawton Jr. and the uncredited Rudolph Maté and Joseph Walker. In short, the movie is a mess, but sometimes a glorious mess.

#The Lady From Shanghai #Orson Welles #Rita Hayworth

[thehungrycity]

WIP Storybible: Day 13

From @the-wip-project

Yes, I am picking this up again! I only have two days left to go, so why not?

Theme, message:

What is the theme of your story? 

My Sara Hawke universe is ultimately about making the choice to pursue freedom, but it takes different forms for the three protagonists.

Since Bethany and Carver was born, Sara's life has been about preserving the family. She carries that with her, despite attempts by Bethany to see that she doesn't need to take on this role. Her entire arc is dominated by her need to attempt to control external circumstances in order to secure her family's future, not acknowledging the agency that her family members possess to change their own situation or her own inability to materially effect the external circumstances. It is only in the last half of the last act of the story that she finally, finally makes a choice that leaves that behind. Which also finally acknowledges the agency that Bethany has been demonstrating all along.

Fenris's life has been obviously been dominated by a lack of freedom. But not by an inability to choose - we learn from the banter that he considered but rejected suicide. It is a limited form of choice, but it is a form of choice. So in many respects he is much further along on his journey than Sara, because he recognises the ability to choose. However, even despite this, he finds that he keeps falling into old patterns - rage at his Master and his apprentice, hatred of mages, and the desperate desire for a secure relationship. His character arc has him confronting these emotional responses, trying to work out how much of it is trauma and needs to be let go, and how much of it is stable ground for building a future on. Isabela and Aveline both give advice that suggests his relationship with Hawke is a crutch that is limiting his freedom. In the end, he comes to accept that he cannot and does not want to control all of his choices, but that what he has chosen is leading him to freedom.

Anders' life has also been constrained, by the Circle, then by the Wardens, and now by his fugitive status. He also makes a rather significant choice, which we all know about. His arc is about how he gets there. If I do it right, there will be lots of little moments all the way through the story that add up to his ultimate decision that it is worth sacrificing his freedom, his future, and those of the innocent bystanders, for what he sees as the greater good for all mages. And that is a devastating choice. His choice is made in despair, but it is not illogical. I want to trace the route of that logic over the course of the story.

#wipstorybible

[princessshikky]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags

@squirrelwithatophat tagged me, and I'm just going to pretend I'm fashionably late to the party or something.

As far as I understand, you just name 10 of your favorite characters from 10 fandoms? Is that it? Also, I'm not going to rank them, it's not a "top 10", they're all my favorites.

Chi Xiaochi, "Don't pick up boyfriends from the trash bin"

One of the best protagonists ever, and here's why: he's extremely ruthless, calculating and manipulative, cruel and vindictive... but he's not a villain protagonists, he actually has a solid moral compass and a strict code of ethics. He's never needlessly cruel, and while he may initially come off as a jerk because of his cynicism and a devil-may-care attitude, Chi Xiaochi is actually a very kind and caring person. But when he's dealing with his "targets", who are awful, horrible, no-good scum-of-the-earth, CXC is absolutely the scheming bastard. And it's glorious. Also extremely rare in a protagonist, which makes CXC stand out.

Oh, and he's very proactive, which can't hurt. Love me a proactive protagonist.

2. Wen Ning, "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation"

A sweet, gentle zombie whose superpower is turning into a roaring berserker when he feels like it. Also he's extremely loyal, nice to people, and he once made a grown-up man cry just by talking.

3. Anders, "Dragon Age 2"

Anders is my favourite Bioware character, period. He's the person who spent years being brainwashed by a corrupt theocracy, defied them at every turn, risked his life to provide free medical care to refugees, then went out of his way to try and start a revolution against said corrupt theocracy. And it was awesome. Honestly, the chantry boom on its own would've been enough to make me love Anders even if he were a homicidal maniac, but he's also very caring, brave and devoted person. And gorgeous. And passionate. And is the real hero of "DA2", because while Hawke just runs around and does crime, Anders is there peacefully (and not-so-peacefully) protesting against the people who would execute him for his mere existence.

4. Luffy, "One Piece"

Again: love me a proactive protagonist who does stuff and moves the plot instead of waiting for stuff to happen to him. And Luffy's awesome.

5. Sir Lancelot of the Arthurian Legend

I love almost every iteration of sir Lancelot (let's just all pretend "The mists of Avalon" don't exist, ok?). He's perfect. Nothing else to say.

6. Ned Stark, "A Song of Ice and Fire"

Ned is a fundamentally good person, which makes him an awful politician and costs him in the long run... but you know what else that makes him? A perfect husband/father material.

7. Iskander, "Fate/Zero"

A charisma that literally moved armies. The only person to weaponise the power of friendship. Also Iskander is surprisingly smart, and a lot of his seemingly stupid and rash decisions are well thought-out, once you stop to think about them.

8. John Gaius, "The Locked Tomb"

The Evil Overlord done right. Like, he's extremely obviously evil, he's literally a necromancer waging war against humanity, and yet I can totally believe people are standing in line to join his army. Hell, I'd stand in line to join his army! John Gaius is what you get when someone reads "200 things I'd do if I became an evil overlord" and says "Hey, that sounds perfectly reasonable, I'm doing that".

9. Alexander Tiedermann, "Dark"

Perhaps one of the healthiest, sanest, nicest characters in the whole show. I also love how he's initially presented as a cold, uncaring mogul only to be later shown as a loyal and caring husband and father and a decent human being overall. Considering how most of the cast are awful people, Alexander was a breath of fresh air every time he was on screen.

10. Hob Gadling, "The Sandman"

I just like his story arc. The immortal human who never gives up on humanity, who never loses hope, who loves this life and this world, whose endless optimism and perseverance impresses even the beings who stand above gods. Neat.

#mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #don't pick up boyfriends from the trash bins #dragon age #da2 #da #dragon age 2 #one piece #dark #the sandman #fate/zero #the locked tomb

[historyhermann]

Librarian-soldiers and the never-ending "library war" against censorship

From the name itself, I knew that Library War (known as Toshokan Sensō in Japan), based on a set of manga novels by Hiro Arikawa, was obviously going to be about libraries. There are two live-action film adaptions of the series, one in 2013 named Library Wars and another in 2015 named Library Wars: The Last Mission. The first film adaption was praised by my good friend/colleague, and fellow librarian Jennifer Snoek-Brown as amazing, especially as it is inspired by the Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries put out by the Japan Library Association, first in 1979. She noted that the movie led to the "discovery of a series of popular novels about defending libraries." As for the anime series, Rebecca Silverman of the Anime News Network noted that the core of the series is "about the people working against censorship rather than the censorship itself," tackling the issue that some people declare something immoral and seize it without any other reason. [1] Some reviewers called it a "classic high concept show" that is the equivalent of Fahrenheit 451 with more guns, [2] even comparing protagonist to Iku Kasahara to Yomiko Readman in Read or Die, while others noted that the series is simply a library war, as "people actually go into war over books, censorships, media influences and other stuff." Apart from this, some called it fun, especially for book lovers, those interested in military shows, and said it inspires viewers to "stand up for their ideals and protect their rightful freedom of expression." This series is more than a fun, and wonderful anime, which can get intense with armed, militant librarians. While it only has 24 fan fictions on Archive of Our Own, I had to watch this series in its entirety.

This coming of age police drama is set in a Japan (in the year 2019) where "freedom of speech is not a right, and censorship is at an all-time high" with two groups (the Media Betterment Committee and the Librarians) fighting each other. More specifically, in this story, the Japanese government passed a law allowing the government to censor films, magazines, books, and other media deemed "unacceptable," enforced by the Media Betterment Committee (MBC). [3] It also passed the Library Freedom Act, meaning that libraries can be "safe repositories for even banned materials," with people able to go there to find "any available media," whether it is banned or approved. This means that the libraries can counteract the MBC, with the protagonist, Iku (voiced by Marina Inoue), a member of the Library Militia, and en route to become part of a self-defense unit of armed librarians, or "book soldiers," named the Library Task Force. Charlie Jane Anders of i09 once called Iku one of the heroic librarians saving the world, with going to library school meaning "basic training and learning how to use a rifle to protect books." And hence our story begins here.

There is a lot I could say about the series. Each episode [4] continues the story of the push and pull between the librarian-soldiers of the Task Force (and Militia) and censors of the MBC going after "problem books," with Iku growing into an "ally of justice," beginning to fulfill her mission as a person who safeguards "expression of freedom." At the same time, she is searching for the man who saved her all those years ago, who she calls her prince. Often there are fierce battles to defend the books and materials in the libraries, kidnapping of librarians by the censors, and defense of a museum, in the last few episodes, where the people believe they can fight the forces of censorship nonviolently. In the ending part of the series, especially, is interesting as public opinion turns against the library, with people wanting censorship of materials and protesting outside the base where the librarians live, train, and work on a library. I suppose you could say there are "battle scenes...drawn with detailed settings and overwhelming visual beauty," and storylines which describe "the pleasant daily actions of the library members" as stated on the show's official website. [5]

Logo of the Task Force in the series

While the war between the librarian-soldiers and censors continued, unresolved, at the close of the series, the librarians are portrayed as the defenders of freedom of expression, since their military unit is "dedicated to protecting books from being confiscated," if that wasn't clear already at this point. The censors, who are part of the Ministry of Justice, aim to crack down on all works said to be "offensive to public order and morals." [6] The librarians-soldiers, on the other hand, have an independent budget and manage personnel on their own, with those soldiers either engage in library operations, defense of the library facilities, or logistical support.  The task force, which Iku is part of, are an elite of the defense personnel, a special forces of sorts, working at specific libraries at the request of those libraries, and engage in a "wide range from normal library operations to large-scale offensive and defensive battles." Specifically, the librarians have five articles which govern their activities, with details that can be supplemented at any time, part of their library freedoms, to be precise:

Article 30. Libraries have freedom in collecting their materials. Article 31. Libraries secure the freedom of offering their materials. Article 32. Libraries guarantee the privacy of users. Article 33. Libraries oppose any type of improper censorship categorically. Article 34. When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.

Iku, a series protagonist as shown on the show's official website

This somewhat mirrors the ALA Code of Ethics which upholding principles of intellectual freedom and resisting all efforts of censorship of resources at the library, protecting the right to privacy and confidentiality of every user. Interestingly, not mentioned in the above list, but in the ALA Code talks about providing the highest level of service to all library users, respecting intellectual property rights, treating all co-workers and colleagues with fairness, respect, and good faith, not advancing private interests at the cost of others, distinguishing between personal convictions and professional duties, and striving for excellence in the profession. However, you could argue the library facilities run by the librarian-soldiers do try and provide a high level of service, treat each other with respect, strive for interest, not advance private interests at the cost of others. Even so, for these librarians, their personal convictions and professional duties (if you could call them that) are intertwined, and I honestly don't think they really care about intellectual property rights, but just about providing access to their materials in whatever way possible. This connects to the part of the show's official website including cast saying, in Japanese, what books they would protect if they were actually librarians in the show's environment, if I'm understanding it correctly.

In the end, this series not only shows the value of libraries, and librarians, but their role in society as fighters for free expression, freedom of information, and against censorship, among other virtues.

© 2021 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Also, see the review in the same publication of the manga novels.

[2] This is made clear from the old official website for the film.

[3] As noted on Wikipedia, while it is often called the Media Betterment Act, other translations call it the Media Improvement Act, Media Enforcement Act or the Media Cleansing Act.

[4] This is summarized from translations of episode descriptions from https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/episode.html

[5] This is coming from a translation of https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/intro.html

[6] This whole section is translated from https://www.toshokan-sensou.com/yougo.html, with the article translation taken from the Wikipedia page for the show.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Library Review and Wayback Machine

#library war #japan #anime #reviews #censorship #Youtube

[theart2rock]

Code Orange kündigen The Above für September an

Die zweifach Grammy-nominierte Band Code Orange hat heute ihr neues Studioalbum "The Above" angekündigt, das am 29. September 2023 über Blue Grape Music veröffentlicht werden soll - immer kompromisslos in ihrer kreativen Vision. Es ist das erste neue Studioalbum seit dem von der Kritik hochgelobten Album Underneath" aus dem Jahr 2020 und wurde von Jami Morgan und Eric Shade" Balderose selbst produziert und von Steve Albini produziert. Die Band veröffentlicht außerdem den brandneuen Track "Take Shape" und das dazugehörige offizielle Video. Der Song enthält den unverwechselbaren Gastgesang von Billy Corgan von den Smashing Pumpkins und ist eine Reminiszenz an die Zeit, als Musikvideos noch von größter Bedeutung waren, und verbindet Nostalgie mit einem modernen Twist. Inspiriert von einer Ära, in der der Film seine höchste Qualität erreichte, die aber allmählich dem digitalen Zeitalter weicht, macht "Take Shape" da weiter, wo "Grooming My Replacement" aufgehört hat. Der Protagonist, gespielt von Morgan, entkommt seinen Gefangenen und landet in einer technikfarbenen, an die Truman Show erinnernden Inszenierung der Realität. Unglaubliche Filmaufnahmen führen das Video durch eine Reihe von Kulissen und Bühnen, die in einer von Vanilla Sky inspirierten Dachszene enden. Das Video wurde von Max Moore (Vein.FM, Knocked Loose, Coheed and Cambria, etc.) und Jami Morgan gedreht, was Morgans Regiedebüt darstellt. Morgan sagt über den Prozess: "Ich habe etwa anderthalb Jahre lang an dem Konzept für dieses und andere Videos gearbeitet, die noch kommen werden. Ich bin so dankbar, dass ich von Max Moore und unserem Kameramann Eric Robbins lernen durfte. Sie haben mir erlaubt, jede Minute dieses Prozesses mitzuerleben, von der Einstellung über das Scouting bis hin zur endgültigen Farbgebung. Es war eine Offenbarung, so tief in die Materie einzutauchen, und ich habe auf diesem Weg eine neue Liebe gefunden. Ich könnte nicht stolzer auf das Ergebnis sein". The Above" ist das bisher schwerste Album der sechsköpfigen Band aus Pittsburgh und ein gigantischer klanglicher Sprung voller Wendungen, wie ihn nur Code Orange vollbringen können. In den 14 Tracks mischt die Band Heavy Music, Grunge, Trip-Hop, Hip-Hop und mehr zu einem nahtlosen Ganzen. Morgan führt aus: "Wir wollten, dass das Album einen mit Melodie, Aggression und Freude überspült, aber es war genauso wichtig, dass man, je genauer man hinschaut, umso mehr belohnt wird. Es sollte sich anfühlen, als sei es in der 'analogen' Welt verwurzelt, aber mit Fäden der digitalen Realität, die alles zusammenhalten. Wir wollten, dass der Sound und sogar der Aufnahmeprozess selbst diese Vorgabe widerspiegeln, also haben wir Steve Albini von Electrical Audio engagiert, um die realistischste und unverfälschteste Version der Band zu erhalten, und haben uns sogar zum ersten Mal in unserer Karriere alle zusammen in einem Raum aufgenommen. Tracklist: 1. Never Far Apart 2. Theatre of Cruelty 3. Take Shape (feat. Billy Corgan) 4. The Mask of Sanity Slips 5. Mirror 6. A Drone Opting Out of the Hive 7. I Fly 8. Splinter the Soul 9. The Game 10. Grooming My Replacement 11. Snapshot 12. Circle Through 13. But a Dream… 14. The Above Weblinks: codeorangetoth.com www.facebook.com/codeorangetoth Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

[beansprouts]

some tidbits about Oliver Hawke

(in honor of finishing my second run-through of DA2 yesterday)

character theme is Pieces of the People We Love by The Rapture: Oli, even more than my other DA protagonists, is defined and shaped by his people and how he protects them. He loves every single one of his companions in some kind of way.

This makes him a delightful foil to Varric: both are centrist determined-to-see-the-good-in-everyone types, but whereas Varric is an observant commentator who prefers to tut wittily on the sidelines, Oliver is a caretaker who inserts himself into conflict to try to diplomacy his way out of everything. The blue Hawke narrative can be seen as an ultimate deconstruction of this sort of selfless hero who believes compromise is always possible. Dragon Age 2 is a tragedy in every sense.

Oliver is definitively an archer. He started hunting wild fowl on his farm in Lothering with his dog Dane when he was a boy. His aversion to conflict and determination to see everything peacefully manifests in his preference for ranged weaponry, and every time the game ended a cutscene with him wielding a dagger (since he is technically a rogue), I was thrust out of immersion, lol.

After the events of Dragon Age 2, he sets up an Archery Guild in Kirkwall. He, Sebastian, and Charade meet up to discuss tactics and fletch arrows in friendly company, and Varric uses it as a sort of tax shelter. The activities of the guild cement a reputation for the bow as folklore’s weapon of choice for heroes in the Free Marches.

In my second playthrough I’ve adopted the fanon practice of shaping Hawke’s experience over the long time stretches of the narrative: so Oliver flees Lothering with short hair and some stubble, grows some sideburns over the course of his first few years, starts wearing red paint on his face after besting Corypheus, and finally grows a full beard after becoming the Champion of Kirkwall.

While in the Vimmark Mountains, he broke his nose and spent the entire confrontation with Corypheus with his face covered in his own blood. This was painful and kind of embarassing, darkly ironic considering how much Hawke’s blood represents power in Legacy. So after this experience, he dabs red face paint on his face as a reminder.

Hawke is good at talking compromises out of people (most obvious in the blue-hawke-only ability to get Orsino and Meredith to stop fighting at the beginning of Act 3) and he has great diplomacy skills. But his charisma does not at all extend to his personal life. Love alone is not enough-- sometimes being a big-hearted awkward bisexual with a tendency for polyamory can only cause more heartbreak in the long run. I may or may not have projected this onto him from myself, rather too much for my own comfort

He and Fenris fell deeply for each other. They are two awkward men with big hearts who would lay down their lives in a heartbeat to protect the other. Thank you Kirkw(all) mod for letting Oliver fall in love with others too while he patiently waited for Fenris to be ready for romance between acts 2 and 3.

Merrill is in love with Oliver, and they slept together once (rivalmanced), but he wouldn’t say he loved her because he was too conflicted about her blood magic, which caused her to run off, leaving them both broken-hearted.

Oliver and Anders have a lot of unresolved sexual tension. It didn’t manifest in-game (even with a rivalry, all of Anders’s romance is extremely high commitment) but I headcanon that they have made out a few times while drunk.

Among others, I also headcanon Oliver hooking up with Isabela’s friend Martin the smuggler and the templar recruit Margitte. Ultimately, though, he is a romantic at heart, and finds more fulfilment from long-term romantic commitments than short-term sexual encounters.

Canonically, Hawke keeps a journal, which Varric reads for material when immortalizing him through his biography. Oliver Hawke has also gotten in the habit of keeping death notebooks: all of the information he can find on the people he has had to kill, as a form of recompense to them but also as a reminder that their lives have meaning and he should never resort to violence unless absolutely necessary. The practice started with an ongoing diary he keeps addressed to Carver, whose death he still blames himself for. If Oliver wasn’t already thoroughly broken by the end of the game, having to write Anders’s death notebook would have cracked his heart like a walnut.

#dragon age #da2 spoilers #spoilers #blue hawke #Oliver Hawke

[justcallmecappy]

The Andersmance as a narrative of hope

One thing I've noticed while in the Dragon Age fandom is the prevalent interpretation of the Anders romance as a tragedy, or a romance that's inherently tragic. Anders acts behind Hawke's back, destroys the Kirkwall Chantry no matter what choices the player makes, the player sees this as a huge betrayal, and — despite having romanced Anders, and/or being mage-sympathetic — they decide to execute or banish Anders as punishment for his 'crime'. Tears are shed; it's all dramatic and tragic and angsty.

While I sometimes appreciate tragedies, I would like to posit a different perspective: The romance with Anders is a story of hope; a story of standing up to insurmountable odds and overcoming them. The romance with Anders can be approached as one with a happier ending, where Hawke and Anders are the heroes.

Before I elaborate, a disclaimer: These are my own opinions. I understand some players prefer the Andersmance as a tragic romance, and to each player their own. I am not here to dictate the choices you should make in-game or how you approach your playthroughs, merely to present a different perspective to one I've seen very often.

Also, this post is critical of the rivalmance with Anders — more on that later.

The Andersmance as a narrative of hope relies on two perspectives:

Firstly, the Chantry is an authoritarian institution who are the antagonistic force that the heroes need to oppose and take down. There is plenty of meta that explores and supports this.

Secondly, Anders is a heroic character:

He is a healer who set up a clinic providing free healthcare for the marginalized and downtrodden people of Kirkwall who otherwise have gone overlooked by their own Chantry.

He let a Spirit of Justice into his body, simply to help Justice continue to exist in the physical world when he would have otherwise disappeared into the Fade.

He regularly risks his safety and security by helping mages escape abuse in the Gallows and have a chance at freedom via the Mage Underground.

These are all acts of someone who is kind and compassionate, and, yes, heroic.

He is not a villain who needs to be stopped. He is the hero of the story who needs help and support as he challenges systematic oppression. He's Katniss Everdeen standing up to the Capitol; he's Luke Skywalker opposing the Galactic Empire.

Hawke is that supportive pillar, that safe harbor, that source of unconditional love for Anders in his times of struggle. "The one bright light in Kirkwall" who stands by Anders' side as they face insurmountable odds together.

In World States where Leliana becomes Divine Victoria, this means Hawke and Anders' struggles were not in vain. Through their actions, they sparked a series of events that culminated in the abolition of the Circles.

Anders' prophetic speech about how, "Ten years, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no Templars to tear them apart" carries so much more weight, because loving Hawke gave him hope for a better future that Anders actually gets to witness in his lifetime.

Do you know how powerful such a love story is?

Their love literally changed the world for the better.

They loved each other, that love gave them courage, and now future generations of mages are free to find a love as strong and precious as the one Hawke and Anders share.

Of course, the condition of this is that Hawke loves and supports Anders wholeheartedly, meaning that this obviously takes the Friendship route for the romance. The rivalmance where Hawke downplays Anders' struggles, breaks Anders' spirit, undermines Anders' confidence, and tries to convince Anders that his cause is needless has no part in this narrative of hope; in fact, I would go so far to say that Hawke is the villain in that version of the story.

Personally, stories of hope have always strongly resonated with me. I gravitate towards stories where our protagonists are presented with challenging obstacles (whether they be internal, external, or both), and things may seem bleak at first, but they bravely carry on, and by the end of the story the characters have made themselves better people, and/or made the world a better place.

Anders and Hawke had many chances to turn away and ignore the plight of mages and just get their own happy ending, but they didn't — they carried on, because they were the heroes, and they knew all mages deserved to be free as they were.

#andersmance #handers #anders x hawke #hawke x anders #dragon age 2 #anders #anders dragon age #anders positivity #dragon age romances #da meta #my meta #chantry critical #da fandom critical #rivalmance critical #andersmance as a narrative of hope #i don't buy into bioware's narrative where they frame anders as a villain not for one minute #anders is so compassionate and brave and heroic #anders is protagonist material

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark- Review

One incredible story is not enough to make this mostly uninspired Clone Wars themed anthology worth picking up.

(Review contains minor spoilers)

It’s been a big year for The Clone Wars. Twelve years after the cult favorite animated series started, it finally came to a conclusion earlier this spring on Disney+. Lucasfilm Publishing smartly capitalized off the hype for this long awaited finale with an anthology comic series released through IDW Publishing and a young reader collection of short fiction, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Stories of Light and Dark.

On paper, the idea of a collection of short stories centered on the heroes and villains of The Clone Wars sounds incredible. I personally love short stories and From A Certain Point of View was maybe the most creative Star Wars book of the last decade. (I can’t wait for its sequel this November.) The talent assembled for this project is similarly impressive. You have veteran Star Wars writers like Jason Fry, Zoraida Cordova, and Rebecca Roanhorse alongside standout science fiction and fantasy writers such as Yoon Ha Lee and young adult stars like Sarah Beth Durst and Preeti Chhibber .

It’s disappointing then that Star Wars: The Clone Wars Stories of Light and Dark feels like a mostly phoned in endeavor. The editorial decision to make each story a retelling of an existing episode of the television series does a lot to hamper creativity to begin with. Rather than finding new tales to tell with these iconic and beloved characters, the writing talent assembled is forced to recant existing narratives and hopefully inject some life into them in the process.

The level of creativity in tackling this limiting editorial decision varies from writer to writer. Lou Anders, Tom Angleberger, and Rebecca Roanhorse opt to tell their stories in the voice of their characters through smart uses of first person point of view. Anders manages to inject his take on “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General” with the indignant haughtiness that made the series’ take on the Count Dooku so fun. Angleberger and Roanhorse have their characters (Bane and Maul respectively) recount their stories to another character and it’s fun just seeing the inner monologues of these different villains.

Others opt for more direct rewriting of their assigned episodes. These by and large make up the more boring or frustrating reads. While Jason Fry manages to turn “Ambush” into a discussion of Yoda’s relationship to the Force in wartime and Greg van Eekhout peppers in new bits of dialogue into the already jampacked “The Lawless,” most of these revisitings are unimpressive. The most frustrating proves to be Yoon Ha Lee’s take on season four’s incredible Umbara arc. Lee is a talented writer of military focused science fiction so his taking on this story makes perfect sense, but “The Shadow of Umbara” can’t help but feel phoned in. It feels less like an adaptation but instead a heavily truncated transcription of four episodes of content. The complex character dynamics are stripped down. The emotions are lost. The horrors of war are nonpresent. It’s beyond disappointing.

The most inspired take of the collection comes from Sarah Beth Durst who reorients the point of view of season five’s “Young Jedi” arc to Katooni. Katooni was already a standout character in this story and getting to step into this fledgling Jedi’s thoughts and really get to understand her fears, hopes, and insecurities adds a nice flair to the narrative. There’s also just a certain joy in seeing the next generation of Jedi in awe of Ahsoka. Very relatable.

It’s a bizarre product and it leaves you wondering who exactly this collection was targeted to. The stories feels so disparate and also dependent on the continuity of the series to make sense for a new reader and fans of the show are unlikely to get much out of this book due to the familiarity of the source material.

And then there is “Bug.” The final story in this collection is somehow a must read despite it all. E. Anne Convery spins an original Star Wars fairy tale out of the traumatic aftermath of “Massacre.” Centered on a nameless young girl forced to work for her abusive innkeep parents on a backwater planet, “Bug” feels instantly compelling in its deft weaving of familiar fantasy tropes with Star Wars back droppings. When a strange old woman arrives fleeing the war, our protagonist’s world begins to expand and strange magic seems to spill from every corner. Convery writers her Dathomiran visitor with the right amount of wonder and fear and she feels right at home alongside any number of fairy tale witches and sorceresses. “Bug” proves to be an incredibly enjoyable genre play but also a blast of a story in its own right. It feels like the kind of bedtime tale you could read to an adventurous child at night and it hints to a larger world just outside its doorstep.

It’s a shame then that I have trouble recommending paying for a $17.99 book just for one stellar short story. If the entire collection had showcased the same level of freedom and creativity as its final piece this may have been something really special. But unfortunately, what we are left with is a mostly forgettable collection with one diamond in the rough. I guess I have to wait until FACPOV in November after all.

Score: C

#Star Wars #Star Wars books #review #reviews #The Clone Wars #Star Wars: The Clone Wars #Clone Wars #Lou Anders #Preeti Chhibber #zoraida cordov #Jason Fry #Rebecca Roanhorse #Greg van Eekhout #Anne Ursu #Yoon Ha Lee #Tom Angleberger #Sarah Beth Durst #E. Anne Convery #Zoraida Cordova

[dgcatanisiri]

I’d say I’m about two thirds through Tevinter Nights now, and... I’m getting this uncomfortable feeling about how BioWare will be approaching Tevinter in DA4. It seems like some elements of Venatori will still be around, and I’m deeply concerned that they’ll be trying to pin the worst of Tevinter’s misdeeds on them, as “well, they’re Tevinter supremacists! They’re the root problem, get rid of them and Dorian’s Lucerni faction can make things better!”

And it’s just... No. That is a symptom. A potentially lethal symptom, true, but in reality, removing the symptom and not the cause will just make the symptoms return later in a new form. 

But no, the way BioWare is approaching it is to give a very obvious boogeyman, bad guys who are taking these things “to an extreme,” and ignoring the underlying issues.

I mean, that’s basically how they had Dorian framing things in Trespasser: “I’ll find those giving Tevinter a bad name and I’ll kill them too.” Except... That’s everyone in the Magisterium. That is, barring (arguably, as I’ll get to in a minute) Dorian and Mae, every Tevinter citizen of power and note. And, yeah, I’m going to have to lump Dorian and Maevaris in here as well, because they are part of that power structure, part of the problem. They may now be trying to turn things around, but that’s the most recent development for them, not based on the pattern of behavior. Dorian was still a slavery apologist in Inquisition. Maevaris’s fantasy dream in the Until We Sleep comic included slaves waiting on her. That they want to enact change is good, but this is still a recent development for them both and there’s a lot of room for them to stumble and slip, especially with a society surrounding them not holding their new and improved attitudes to scrutiny. 

But... Based on history, based on the use of the Venatori in Tevinter Nights to this point (I’ve made it through The Wigmaker Job), it leaves me with the impression that BioWare is going to try and pin all the blame about Tevinter’s worst ails on the Venatori, on Venatori sympathizers.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting here, looking at the power and influence of the Venatori in Inquisition, and I’m just “...there is NO. WAY. they do not have some support in the highest halls of power in Tevinter.” Which the Magekiller comic confirmed - and it only says that Archon Radonis is against it PURELY in the name of keeping an Exalted March from being called on Tevinter, and opening them up to assault by the Qunari. Not that he himself doesn’t support it, but that he sees the Tevinter position as endangered by it. 

*sigh* I get that genuinely dismantling corrupt and horrible power structures in an ongoing franchise with diverging paths is not simple, especially when we have the fandom that got all pissy about not being able to stop Anders from destroying a single Chantry. But BioWare keeps bumping up against the reality that is portraying horrifically corrupted institutions as “worth stabilizing” in the name of preventing greater chaos, which... Sometimes, you HAVE to rip out the rotted foundation, or the society as a whole will collapse. 

I mean, I’m the guy who thought that Inquisition should have led to the collapse of the Chantry itself, and I’m more than content with the idea of it happening to Tevinter. But BioWare... just won’t commit.

Like... make it a cornerstone of the game, a key component, a story that, despite your efforts (or even because of!), these things fall apart, and the successive game is dealing with it. There’s good, solid material here!

I’ve said before, BioWare likes to talk about being able to “change the world” of these franchises. The problem is just they can only allow so much of that change to maintain cohesive storytelling in successive games. So what they SHOULD be doing is, rather than have these massive, world-changing protagonists, keep things localized, and focus on the WHY the characters do something, rather than the WHAT of their actions. 

#dg rambles #dg plays dragon age #bioware critical

[daughter-of-the-prophet]

Areida Hawke (TV Tropes)

Action Mom: By Inquisition, Areida and Anders have two sons. Three-year-old Karl and one-year-old Malcolm.

By Trespasser, they have a third child. A one-year-old daughter named Leandra.

Action Survivor: Along with her younger brother, Carver, Areida survived Ostagar and managed to outrun the darkspawn horde to Lothering. She also obviously survives the Blight, getting to Kirkwall, and thence the entire story.

Adaptational Badass: Played with. Areida is already a certified badass, but Varric is often found telling stories in the Hanged Man that exaggerate it to truly ridiculous levels. By Act 3, there are people claiming that Areida uses the Arishok's skull as a gravy boat and sleeps on a bed of dragon bones.

Adaptational Dye Job: In Universe example. Areida has brown hair while in Varric's book, her hair is black.

Adaptational Ugliness: Another In Universe example and more like adaptional plainness. In Varric's book, Tale of the Champion and the story's prologue, Areida's physical appearane is badass and tomboyish looking, complete with boyish short hair while in real life, Areida is much more prettier.

Varric likely change Areida’s physical appearance in order to protect her identity.

The only physical description of Areida that Varric kept in his book were her striking blue eyes.

All-Loving Hero: Areida is unfailingly kind and compassionate to those around her. However, one of the most tragic parts of the story is that, no matter how loving and heroic Areida is, she cannot prevent the deaths of her brother and her mother or prevent Thedas from collapsing into war. It's really not her fault at all, but she’s the one that history will blame.

Almighty Janitor: Before becoming Champion, Areida is just a citizen/noble of Kirkwall. She has no special titles or ranks nor is she interested in getting one. In fact, Aveline gives her a bit of a hard time for not petitioning for a title. Areida prefers to run things from the ground, as this gives her the freedom to act without going through political red-tape. By Act III, this is actually given as the reason why the nobles want Areida as the new Viscountess, because instead of political posturing, she is the only person who actually manages to get things done.

Ambadassador: The Arishok is willing to speak Areida and only Areida in Act II, mostly because the Arishok views her as the only one in the entire city of Kirkwall worth respecting.

In Act III, Areida mentions that she’s occasionally been called upon in her role as Champion to "rescue" visiting foreign heads of state from having to put up with Knight-Commander Meredith for too long.

Animal Motifs: Hawks, of course.

Her "Mantle of the Champion" armor has spurs and talons. Additionally, it has a beak-like hood and belt buckles shaped like hawk beaks/skulls.

Carried over in Inquisition, where Areida's tarot card is a hawk with the city of Kirkwall on its wings, weighing it down. 

Asskicking Equals Authority: Areida defeats the Arishok in single combat and is rewarded with the title of Champion...

Authority Equals Asskicking: ... And becomes even more badass as a result.

After becoming Champion of Kirkwall, it is implied that Areida has enough authority that the Templars purposefully choose to ignore Anders and Merrill, two of Areida's well-known Mage friends because of this. And if Meredith hadn't been able to seize power in the wake of the Viscount's assassination, Areida would likely have been declared Viscountess of Kirkwall, not merely Champion.

Audience Surrogate: Oddly enough, Areida fits this in Inquisition more than she did in her own story.

Badass Creed: When Tallis tells Areida that the Qun could give her a purpose.

                          Areida: "I have a purpose. I protect Kirkwall."

Badass Family: Both the Amells and the Hawkes are ridiculously badass.

Badass Normal: Along with Carver, Areida actually survived the fighting at Ostagar.

Compared to the other two protagonists, Areida is not a Grey Warden and has no magical mark, but she is simply a normal fighter.

Badass Unintentional: In the beginning of the story, Areida is just trying to protect her family. When she gets to Kirkwall... it doesn't go well.

Beauty, Brains and Brawn: In a trio with Bethany and Aveline, Areida is The Brains; She becomes the de facto leader of both the Hawke family and her Ragtag Bunch of Misfits in Kirkwall, making the major decisions and guiding the others.

Because Destiny Says So: Areida becoming Champion of Kirkwall. Invoked by Flemeth during the Destiny trailer:

                                 Flemeth: "There are men who struggle against destiny, and yet only achieve an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. And then, there are men who embrace destiny... and do not show their fear. These are the ones that will change the world forever."

Belated Happy Ending: In Inquisition, after stopping the ritual at Adamant Fortress, Areida travels to Weisshaupt (having unrevealed issues at the time) to explain things. Trespasser reveals in the epilogue that Areida has indeed come back from Weisshaupt and returned home to Kirkwall, helping out the newly appointed Viscount Varric and getting to enjoy her Champion of Kirkwall title without the political turmoil of the Dragon Age II years. She's also living happily in the Hawke estate again with Anders, their three children, and her sister Bethany.

Benevolent Boss: Areida doubles the wages of the Fereldan workers in the Bone Pit along with protecting the workers from dangerous creatures that threaten the mine. It's also mentioned that Areida donates most of her earnings from the mine to help the Fereldan refugees and those orphaned by the Blight. She also lets Bodahn and Sandal stay at the Estate, despite insisting that Bodahn doesn't owe her anything for saving Sandal's life in the Deep Roads. Areida also frees Orana from slavery and offers her paid work as her maid, with it mentioned in Act 3 that she also encouraged Orana's musical talents and paid for her music lessons out of her own pocket. She also treats Bodahn, Sandal, and Orana like they are part of the family.

Berserk Button: Areida is diplomatic and kind most of the time but she will become agressive if anyone dares threaten to harm anyone in her family, especially her mother and younger sister.

The only other time Areida ever raises her voice in anger is when Meredith brings up the fact that her mother was murdered by a blood mage as they argue at the beginning of Act 3 about the fact that Meredith has become a tyrant towards the mages.

Beware the Nice Ones: Areida might attempt to be reasonable, but she's the Champion of Kirkwall for a reason.

Big Sister Instinct: Areida is protective of both of her siblings, but she's obviously more protective of Bethany.

The first thing Areida does when Ser Wesley identifies Bethany as an apostate is get right in his face with fire in her eyes.

Areida gains Feynriel’s trust by openly admitting that she's spent her entire life protecting her sister from the Templars.

It's heavily implied that Areida joined the army at Ostagar simply because she wanted to keep an eye on and protect Carver.

Big Good: Areida is this to the people of Kirkwall. As Varric's narration makes absolutely clear, she is the only person in Kirkwall actively trying to make the City of Chains a better place for everyone to live, and repeatedly puts her life on the line in order to go out of her way to help people.

Boyish Short Hair: She has straight boyish short black hair in the prologue and Varric's book about her. Her hair is actually brown, a little bit longer, and more wavy.

Break His Heart to Save Him: Averted. Areida does not break up with Anders but she doesn't bring him along when she goes to Skyhold either. Areida is not happy about leaving him behind, but she is not willing to take the risk that Corypheus will affect Anders' mind again.

Broken Ace: Despite being powerful and well-respected, Areida can't help but feel she is a Cosmic Plaything.

Taken even further in Inquisition, where she admits that she no longer uses the "Champion of Kirkwall" title, given her failure to stop any of the madness.

Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Increasingly, Areida becomes the Gentle Girl to Anders' Brooding Boy as time goes on.

Bullying a Dragon: Place this kindhearted, affable woman in front of enemies, and let them see that she's entirely capable of slicing them with her daggers. Next to no one seems able to get the hint that they should tread carefully to avoid trying to start a physical fight with Areida. 

Despite being well-known as the Champion of Kirkwall by Act III, the amount of people who try to murder the person who defeated the Arishok in single-combat is particularly baffling.

Calling the Old Man Out: Downplayed, as Areida never really yells or talks angrily at Leandra, but she points out that the Hawkes are only in Kirkwall because they fled the Blight, and therefore they're not entitled to have her family's wealth.

The Caretaker: As head of the household since Malcolm's death, Areida's primary motivation has been and continues to be looking after Leandra, Bethany and Carver. Unfortunately, as the story goes on, she fails to protect her brother and mother through no fault of her own. This extends to her companions as well. Her need to take on other people's problems is borderline unhealthy.

                   Hawke: "Your problems are my problems."

                   Fenris: "Unlucky you."

The Champion: Areida is this towards Bethany. When Ser Wesley realizes that Bethany is a mage, Areida's immediate reaction is to step in front of her sister and give a Death Glare to the Templar that informs him that he will have to go through her first.

For the entirety of Act 3, this is Areida's official title - Champion of Kirkwall - and she commands a high level of respect from almost everyone because of her devotion to protecting the populace. It's noted in supplemental material that "Champion" is a special title used only by the city-states in the Free Marches.

Characterization Marches On: In Inquisition, Areida has become very anti-blood magic. One could assume that the Mage/Templar war was the catalyst to make her despise blood magic between the second and third story.

Child of Forbidden Love: Areida's maternal grandparents disowned her mother for getting pregnant with the child of a mage and then running away to elope with the mage, making Areida this along with her younger siblings.

The Chosen One: Areida's actions ultimately change the face of Thedas forever. Word of God has even stated that because of this, Areida is one of the most important people in Thedas's entire history.

This trope is averted in-universe, however; as there is no Big Bad orchestrating everything behind the scenes, there's also no good counterpart to Save the World from the villain. Areida is just a Rags to Riches refugee who's sufficiently badass enough to gain a measure of political and financial clout - and even that can't stop the tide of unrest that consumes Kirkwall. Varric speculates to Cassandra on the complexities of whether Areida's presence was for better or for worse.

Cosmic Plaything: Sorry, Areida, but being The Chosen One doesn't preclude you from being Destiny's bitch.

Country Cousin: Rural Ferelden-born Areida is one to the noble Amell family.

Cruel Mercy: Played straight in Mark of the Assassin when Areida decides to spare Baron Arlange instead of having him killed. Areida had mopped the floor with Arlange after he attempted to murder her and her companions for having the audacity to kill the alpha wyvern first during the hunt. Despite Tallis pointing out that Areida is the "Champion of Kirkwall" and eats people like him for breakfast, Arlange still doesn't learn his lesson. The next time he tries to kill her, Areida isn't so merciful.

Deal with the Devil: Areida is forced to make one of these with Flemeth - help her with her Thanatos Gambit in exchange for getting the Hawke family and Aveline to safety. By the end of the story, there seem to be no negative consequences, at least for Areida. Considering Areida's Cosmic Plaything status, this could actually count as a minor Plot Twist.

Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:

The reaction of pure shock on Meredith's face when she enters the room to find that Areida has defeated the Arishok. Cassandra even has this reaction of utter disbelief that Areida did so in single combat.

Cassandra reacts with similar disbelief in Legacy when Varric tells her the tale of Areida defeating one of the first darkspawn in existence - one of the Magisters who brought the Blight to Thedas in the first place. Admittedly, it's hard to blame her.

Flemeth invokes this during the Prologue, claiming Areida successfully piqued her interest by killing the Ogre.

The Dutiful Daughter: Areida's entire motivation in Act 1 is to simply provide for her mother and gain enough money to win back her mother's childhood home.

Earn Your Happy Ending: It's revealed in Trespasser that Areida eventually returns to Kirkwall as its Champion, and helps rebuild it with Varric as the new Viscount.

Even the Girls Want Her: A lot of female characters come on to Areida.

Eye Take: Areida's reaction to Aveline needing three goats and a sheaf of wheat.

Facial Markings: In the prologue and Tale of the Champion, Areida has a red blood smear on the bridge of her nose.

Failure Hero: Fails to prevent her brother’s death in the beginning of the story. Fails to prevent the Templars from taking her sister away to the circle. Fails to save her mother from a serial killer. Fails to stop the Qunari attack on Kirkwall. Fails to prevent the Mage/Templar War. Fails to properly kill Corypheus. Essentially, Areida tries to stand against massive wave after massive wave and most of what she achieves is getting soaked to the bone. Even her one unambiguous success (the Deep Roads expedition which makes her filthy rich) turns out to have disastrous effects in the long run thanks to her discovery of red lyrium. The best that can be said for Areida is that her actions at least prevented bad situations from becoming many times worse. In Inquisition, the Nightmare demon taunts Areida with the fact that nothing she did made a big difference and that she couldn't even succeed in saving Kirkwall.

Though the ending of Trespasser reveals that she eventually returned to Kirkwall as it's Champion and helped it rebuild. Her efforts did amount to something, it just took a long time to get there.

Family Eye Resemblance: Areida's striking blue eyes are her most notable physical feature that she inherited from her father, Malcolm. This may have been how the Catra from Legacy knew she was his daughter.

Field Promotion: When it becomes clear that Meredith's going to keep bickering with Orsino over who's leading the assault, Orsino suggests following Areida as a compromise.

Fighter, Mage, Thief: Areida is a rouge who specializes in fighting with a dagger in each hand.

Fight Magnet:

Areida can't even drop off a piece of mail without fighting more faceless, rooftop-hopping enemies with pointy weapons than most 80's action movie heroes did in their entire careers. Delivering a piece of mail? Mercenary horde! Meeting a contact late at night? Random assassin attack! Taking a talisman to an altar on a mountain? Legions of undead and giant spiders! Going for a stroll on the beach? Tal-Vashoth squads, raider groups, and packs of feral mabari hounds! And Areida can't go a week without running into one insane mage or another. This is lampshaded extensively, too. Bodahn comments that he's never had to clean up so many bloody footprints in someone's house before. 

Varric lampshades this in Legacy:

                      Varric: "The day you go to the beach is the day an armada of angry demon pirates show up." 

Folk Hero: Varric's exaggerations are the retelling of the Champion's story through the public's eyes.

Fluffy Tamer: Inverted. Mabari choose their owners and Maximus chose Areida.

Friend to All Children: Areida doesn’t react well when it comes to children being hurt. Discovering that a deranged serial killer has been targeting the elven children of Kirkwall, simply because they are "too beautiful," is enough to make the diplomatic Areida so utterly furious she vow to slit the man's throat.

After Areida becomes a Noble in Act 2, it's implied by Aveline that Areida has donated a large amount of her reclaimed family fortune, in order to help her fellow Fereldan refugees and the children orphaned by the Blight. She also gives money to a specific beggar in Darktown who asks for help in feeding her children.

From Nobody to Nightmare: From at least some people's perspectives after Dragon Age II.

Generation Xerox: Areida greatly resembles, and takes after, her father, Malcolm Hawke.

Like her mother, Leandra, she starts a romantic relationship with an apostate and goes on the run with him while pregnant with his child, though unlike her mother, Areida didn’t know about her pregnancy until one month after she left Kirkwall. 

Good Counterpart: To her Uncle Gamlen. Both are heads of the household and sole breadwinners, responsible for looking after their siblings and parents, as well as belonging to a family that has fallen on hard times. However, Gamlen blames others for his misfortune while attempting to bribe, cheat and swindle his way back into riches. By comparison, Areida immediately demonstrates that she is willing to roll up her sleeves, get her hands dirty and actually do some work in order to change her situation.

It should be noted that the latter is partially because Areida didn't really have much of a choice. She was perfectly willing to rely on Leandra's noble roots to house them in Kirkwall, but was forced to roll up her sleeves and work when it became clear that Gamlen's bungling and fraud had cost the Hawke family the option they thought they had. Still, we never hear Areida complain.

It's also worth noting that Uncle Gamlen can be something of a Jerkass at times, but he's not really evil, and he does love his family even if he's a bit incompetent. 

The Hero

Heroic BSoD: After her mother dies, Areida spends the next few cutscenes in a depression.

Heroic Self-Deprecation: When she shows up in Dragon Age: Inquisition, it's clear that Areida has been hit hard by her frequent failures. In their first meeting, Areida honestly doesn't understand why Inquisitor Rosabelle Trevelyan would even want her help.

Hero of Another Story: Despite being the protagonist, Areida oddly enough qualifies for this, due to the Framing Device being set in the present day and depicting Cassandra's attempt to glean the truth about Areida's tale from Varric's recollections.

Highly Visible Ninja: Areida’s “Mantle of the Champion” armor is a very practical armor, secured with a series of straps to her body without hampering her mobility.

Honorary Aunt: She becomes an honorary Aunt to Aveline and Donnic’s daughter, whom they named after her. She is known as “Aunt Reedy”. 

Hurting Hero: Just look at some of her TV Tropes entries. There are certain points in the story where Areida is depressed. The most notable example is when after her mother dies. This is upped considerably in Inquisition, where after four years of constantly being on the run, her failure to stop the Mage-Templar War and failing to kill Corypheus have done irreparable damage to Areida's self-esteem and left her lonelier than ever.

Hypercompetent Sidekick:

To Viscount Dumar in Act 2, routinely stepping in to deal with the Qunari on his behalf.

Likewise fulfills this role opposite Tallis in Mark of the Assassin, being mentioned as one of the reasons she chose to seek Areida out.

To Athenril's smugglers during her first year in Kirkwall. Athenril's group of smugglers went from a minor thieves' guild to rivaling both the Carta and the Coterie during the year they had Areida among them.

I Am Your Opponent:

Invokes this towards the Arishok, indicating that if he wants to take Kirkwall, he has to go through her first.

For his part, the Arishok consistently treats Areida as a Worthy Opponent and the greatest threat that exists in Kirkwall. During his attempted coup d'etat at the end of Act 2, he tries to eliminate her before anyone else. When that doesn't work, he challenges Areida outright, complimenting her with the title of basalit-an - an outsider worthy of respect.

I Was Never Here: Areida's apparent work ethic, typically taking jobs that involve acting beneath anyone's notice. Throughout the story, Aveline, the Viscount, the Templars, and even the Arishok all use her as a neutral third party agent so that if she get caught, she can claim plausible deniability in that she isn't doing anything officially sanctioned.

In Mark of the Assassin, Along with the fact the Areida is basalit-an, Tallis implies that one of the reasons she sought her out was because she can operate under the radar.

Iconic Outfit: Her "Mantle of the Champion" armor is an in-universe example. She’s still wearing it by the time of Inquisition. 

Indifferent Beauty: A lot of different characters comment on Areida's beauty, even Varric, who's already spoken for . Areida knows that she's considered attractive looking yet she doesn't seem to take any particular pride or interest in it. The only time she takes interest in her own beauty is when Anders comments on it.

It's All My Fault:

Areida thinks this after Carver is killed by an ogre. She even silently agrees with her mother when she lashes out at her in grief that it's her fault. Areida still blames herself for Carver's death even after her mother apologizes to her for lashing out at her for it.

She takes this attitude again after her mother is murder by a blood mage serial killer, believing that she could have prevented her mother’s death if she had watched over her more closely. 

And again in Inquisition when Corypheus returns. This is one of the reasons why she wanted to perform a Heroic Sacrifice in the Fade.

Knife Nut: Areida can practically dance with her daggers.

Lady of War: Areida is a soft-spoken, graceful, complete and utter badass.

Last-Name Basis: Practically everyone refers to Areida by her last name. More than once, Areida will introduce herself as such; apparently, she prefers being on a last name basis. However, in salutations of letters from family members, Areida is addressed by her given name.

This is actually a little amusing when you hear the party members refer to Bethany by her first name and then immediately after, in the same sentence, refer to Areida by her last name.

Even Anders always call her Hawke. The only ones who don't are the members of her own family, who instead use affectionate nicknames. For example, Bethany calls Areida "sis".

It's also a little weird when Areida has Bethany in the party and characters still say things like "So, you're Hawke." Bethany never mentions that she is also a Hawke. Of course, in many cultures, the eldest child and head of the household is addressed by their family name, so this makes some sense. 

Played with in Legacy. The Carta attempted to abduct both Areida and Bethany, hedging their bets that one of them has to be "The Hawke", since they were tasked with finding the blood of "The Hawke"... and they were a little unsure which Hawke was actually required?! Taken further when it is reveled that Areida and Bethany’s father, Malcolm, was also called "The Hawke", which leads to some conversations, where all three are known by this title, completely interchangeably. So in other words, Malcolm was "The Hawke", Areida is now "The Hawke", and Bethany could be "The Hawke"! should anything happen to her older sister.

This trope is averted by Orana, Areida's elven maid. As a former slave, she's been instilled with the unconscious urge to refer to someone in authority as "Mistress". This is despite Areida's insistence that she's not a slave anymore and is free to refer to her by her actual name.

Legacy Character:

In Legacy, the Carta frequently refer to both Areida and her late father, Malcolm, as being "the Hawke".

It becomes more confusing as Bethany is referred to by this title too.

Like a Son to Me: Areida invokes this towards Sandal. Bodahn worries in Act 3 that he's starting to get on in years and he doesn't know what will happen to Sandal after he is gone. Areida assures him that Sandal will always be welcomed in her home.

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Just like her mother, Areida starts a romantic relationship with an apostate and goes on the run with him while pregnant with his child, though unlike her mother, Areida didn’t know about her pregnancy until one month after she left Kirkwall. 

                        Gamlen: “I hear you moved that apostate boy into your home. You really are your mother’s daughter.”

Living Emotional Crutch: She serves as an emotional anchor for a significant number of her friends, either at certain points or throughout the entire story. This is especially pronounced with Anders, Merrill, and Fenris.

Lonely at the Top: Played with. Her friends mostly stick around, but Areida's family doesn't. As she gets closer to glory, Carver dies in Lothering, Bethany gets sent to the Circle, and her mother is kidnapped and murdered by a blood mage serial killer. Every step up the ladder Areida takes, she becomes steadily more alone. By Act 3, only Gamlen, Charade, Bodahn, and Sandal, and Orana are left. It makes Areida's offer for Anders to move in with her in Act 3 much more poignant.

Love Martyr: Even though Anders flat-out lied to Areida and the other companions and tricked her into helping him start the final battle in the first place, Areida commits to him before the final battle, even though this means being hunted as a fugitive along with the most wanted man in Thedas.

She also has this towards her Uncle Gamlen in a family type way. Despite the fact that he acts like a jerk towards her most of the time, Areida loves her uncle and is willing to protect him, as shown in Act 3.

Magnetic Hero: Arguably moreso than Ilona Cousland. While in the first story, the party is tied together by a common cause, this is not the case here. Although some companions develop friendships, it's their bond with Areida that keeps them working together as a group. Legacy reveals that Areida inherited this trait from her father.

Besides her regular companions, it's shown that Bodahn Feddic vowed complete Undying Loyalty after Areida rescued his adopted son, Sandal, in the Deep Roads, becoming her man-servant and official Team Dad of her estate, despite Areida's protests that it really wasn't necessary. Areida's elven maid, Orana, was a former slave that she rescued from an insane Tevinter Magister. Orana is naturally bewildered when Areida informs her she's now free, proceeds to offer her a job... and more astoundingly, is actually going to pay her for her service.

Meaningful Name: Both the Hawke and Amell family names derive from birds of prey. Flemeth lampshades this, telling Areida that when the time is right, she should not be afraid to leap, as it only then that she will learn how to fly!

Amell literally means "Power of an Eagle", which becomes very apropos considering her (former) high status in Kirkwall. Likewise, it also is very apt given the family's return to prominence through their scion, Hawke.

Memetic Badass: Areida is an in-universe example, at least through Varric's storytelling.

Modest Royalty:

Despite being acknowledged by the Viscount as the legitimate heir to the Amells, Areida turned down the title of "Lady Amell" because she wished to make the Hawke family name as respected and earn the title of "Lady Hawke".

Unlike her mother, who was born into wealth, Areida hates socialising with the aristocracy. After becoming Champion of Kirkwall, it's mentioned that she only attends formal banquets held in her honour because she has to. Truthfully, she'd rather be down at the Hanged Man with her friends.

Must Make Amends: For releasing Corypheus and failing to kill him. She joins the Inquisition because of it and it's one reason why she was willing to sacrifice herself later in the story.

My Greatest Failure: Areida's inability to prevent her brother from being killed by an Ogre, as well as prevent her mother's murder.

Nay-Theist: A variation. While Areida appears to believe in the Maker and Andraste, she often appear to be highly skeptical of the Chantry and affiliated organisations like the Templars.

Neutral Good: Invoked by Aveline, who expresses her annoyance that Areida has never sought any kind of position in Kirkwall society in all the years she's been in the city. Areida repeatedly states that her only concern is the welfare of her friends and family and that she'd rather stay out of Kirkwall politics, only becoming involved when she absolutely must.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!:

Several horrible events in the story are indirectly Areida's fault. In fact, Areida seems to know that she does this.

              Areida: "Summoned a horror. Of course. Why wouldn't I do that?"

In Legacy, Areida causes Corypheus to inhabit a nearby Grey Warden after defeating him, who then goes on to become the main villain of Inquisition. That particular screw-up hit her hard.

Areida's look when she realizes that she helped gather the ingredients needed for Anders to construct the bomb that blew up Kirkwall's Chantry, an act that kills off the only people who could have brokered peace between the Templars and the Circle mages in Kirkwall. Congratulations Areida, you just helped a terrorist murder innocent people in order to start a war.

Areida and company discover the Primeval Thaig, leading to the discovery of the cursed red lyrium idol. Because of the fact that the red lyrium idol has been brought to the surface, numbers of huge clusters of red lyrium had formed in different places by the time of Inquisition.

Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Of the three Hawke siblings, Areida is the Nice to Carver's Mean and Bethany's In Between.

Noble Fugitive: Played straight at the end of the story, where Areida is forced to leave Kirkwall after the outbreak of the Mage-Templar War.

Non-Idle Rich: Despite being independently wealthy by the end of Act 1, Areida seems content to make up for her lack of an actual job by doing pretty much every available odd job in the city.

Not So Different:

To the Qunari, which is lampshaded several times. The Saarebas "Ketojan," in Act 1, says that if Areida submitted to the Qun, her role wouldn't change; later, the Arishok claims that Areida is what the Qunari would be without the Qun.

Tallis later hints at this; Since the Arishok declared Areida as a "Basalit'an", all Qunari now know and respect Areida as an equal.

Tallis claims that the Qun could give Areida a role and purpose. Areida's response?

                         Areida: "I have a purpose. I protect Kirkwall."

Number Two: In a way; starting in Act 2, the Viscount relies on Areida more and more to keep the peace between Kirkwall and the Qunari. This is because the Arishok views Areida as the most "promising" individual in the city, while the only words he will deign to say to the Viscount is "Begone!". By Act 3, Areida is Kirkwall's Champion and the single most influential noble in the city.

Oblivious to Love: Areida is unaware of Fenris' feelings towards her and she never finds out about it.

Occult Detective: Only in Kirkwall could seemingly innocuous jobs frequently end with Areida battling Blood Mages, Demons, Walking Corpses, and all manner of "weird shit".

In Varric's personal quest in Act 3, Varric calls on Areida to help him investigate a haunting at Bartrand's mansion, because having grown up in a household full of magic users, she has a lot of experience with all kinds of "weird shit."

One-Man Army: When Kirkwall has a problem, they send Areida.

Being reduced to a guest character in Inquisition has done nothing to reduce Areida's status as one of these.

Only Sane Employee: Comes with the job of being Champion.

Only Sane Man: As with the first story. Given that the Dysfunction Junction is out in full force here, though, it's actually quite likely; Areida manages to come off as this to her companions at times.

Outlaw Couple: At the end of Dragon Age 2, Areida goes on the run with Anders who triggered the endgame and is now possibly the most wanted man in Thedas.

The Paragon: Areida is a selfless, caring person who always puts the needs of others first.

Pet the Dog: Areida interacts with her Mabari, Maximus, numerous times in the story, despite it having no bearing on the plot.

Phrase Catcher: The Hanged Man patrons cheer "HAWKE!" every time Areida subsequently enters the bar.

Platonic Life-Partners: With Varric. Areida's friendship with Varric in particular is arguably the closest one in the entire franchise.

Protectorate: Areida invokes this in Mark of the Assassin.

                                Areida: "I protect Kirkwall."

Prodigal Hero: Played with in that Areida wasn't the one who left Kirkwall years ago; her mother Leandra was. Yet, after Leandra and her kids return to her origin city, it's Areida who winds up becoming its Champion.

Properly Paranoid: Between II and Inquisition, Areida suspects Corypheus's involvement in the strange behavior of the Wardens despite believing him to be dead. Being romantically involved with Anders, Areida takes this as a cue to get him as far away as possible.

Rage Breaking Point: Despite her standard lines about not wanting to hurt anyone being uttered in a way that indicates that may not be her first instinct, when Leandra is kidnapped in Act 2 and Bethany is kidnapped in Act 3, Areida's whole demeanor changes and the amount of anger in her voice that still seeps through her Tranquil Fury indicates how fast you should be running away right now.

A good example is when Meredith drags the fact that Areida's mother was brutally murdered by a blood mage, into her incessant anti-mage crusade: "Leave my mother out of this." Knight-Commander or no, if there was one moment in the story when Meredith's stoic demeanor was a mere facade, that was it.

Rags to Riches: Over the course of the story, Areida goes from penniless refugee to noble to the Champion of Kirkwall.

Reasonable Authority Figure

Refusal of the Second Call: Qualifies as one In-Universe because things are pretty awful in Kirkwall, and eventually Areida disappears because she's had enough. The reason that Varric pretends not to know where Areida is during the second and third story is because he feels that his friend has been through enough. He only resorts to calling Areida in when it's absolutely unavoidable.

Rich Idiot with No Day Job: According to Aveline in Act 2, Areida refuses to actually get a position of authority.

Right Man in the Wrong Place: Areida became one of the most notable figures in Thedas history almost completely unintentionally. The plot of the story explains how she managed to find herself in these situations. This is stressed more than in the first story: the Framing Device consists of a borderline conspiracy theorist who thinks Areida planned almost everything from the start, and Varric, who was actually there and has to explain how much more complicated it was.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: After reclaiming her family estate and becoming a noble at the beginning of Act 2, it turns out that in the three-year interlude, Areida was helping improve life in the lower towns and coming to the aid of those in need, regardless of social standing. The Viscount even comments that that kind of attitude hasn't been seen in Kirkwall in a long time.

Seen It All: Varric reckons that having grown up in a house full of mages is the reason why Areida is unfazed by all the "weird shit" she witnesses on a regular basis.

Shrouded in Myth: The entire frame of the story is clearing up what happened and what didn't.

Varric intentionally spreads stories about Areida (with some embellishment) to create a mythic shroud. By the end of the Dragon Age II, people are cowering in awe from the woman who supposedly slew a dragon with a rusty spoon and uses the Arishok's skull as a gravy-boat. 

Equally subverted when some antagonists in the story don't believe the stories they've heard about Areida, only to realise that those are the ones that are actually true. 

Due to the tales about the Champion of Kirkwall growing with each retelling, Cassandra has been forced to seek out the source, Varric, in order to discern the fact behind the fiction, due to her believing that Areida worked to begin a Civil War between mages and templars that is beginning to engulf all of Thedas. Unfortunately for her, he turns out to be something of an Unreliable Expositor who feels he has no reason to trust her (and the most significant lie wouldn't be uncovered until well into the sequel).

Shrine to the Fallen: After Leandra's murder, Areida refuses to disturb anything in her mother's room, even after it’s been three years.

Spiders Are Scary: When the party in Inquisition finds themselves in the Fade, Areida is the only person other than the Rosabelle to see the demons as spiders.

Stupidity Is the Only Option: A surprising number of quests requires Areida to hold the Idiot Ball in order for things to play out the way the writers want.

When Areida learns that a serial killer is targeting Hightown women, Areida can't even try to warn Leandra... who then goes out for her weekly get-together with her brother and is promptly kidnapped by the killer, becoming his final victim.

During On the Loose, Huon's wife asks Areida for protection because she fears for her life. Areida notably says she'll come back for her after dark, and the player has to leave the alienage and come back in order for the quest to trigger. Lo and behold, leaving her alone for so long gives Huon ample opportunity to return and kill his wife, which Areida and her companions witness just as they walk through the alienage gates.

When Anders asks for Areida's help finding ingredients to a magic potion that he claims will split him and Justice, and the ingredients sound oddly similar to real-world bomb ingredients, Areida has no choice but to take Anders at his word and help him.

In Legacy, after Areida kills Corypheus, Larius acts obviously possessed, strongly implying that Corypheus body-hopped after Areida slew him, but she and her friends have no choice but to stand there and watch him go on his merry way. It makes Areida and Varric's insistence that they were sure Corypheus died in Inquisition sound more like they're trying to convince themselves.

Supporting Protagonist: In an interesting twist, although Varric is narrating Areida's story, over the course of the plot, it becomes apparent that Areida really wasn't the central figure or instigator of events, but just the Right Person in the Wrong Place. This is especially telling in the third act, when it's really about Anders causing the Mage/Templar war.

Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: While Areida gets along fine with Stroud at first in Inquisition, the revelations of what the Grey Wardens have done and are doing infuriates Areida, leading to a back and forth What the Hell, Hero? between the two of them, with Stroud responding by calling out Areida's part in the beginning of the Mage-Templar War.

Thousand-Yard Stare: Areida sports one after her mother's very gruesome death.

Übermensch: Areida's actions change Thedas forever. On the other hand, it's very clear that, in the end, Areida had very little actual effect on major events.

Uncertain Doom: In Dragon Age: Inquisition, she heads to Weisshaupt to inform the First Warden; the Epilogue mentions that the fortress has fallen silent.

Happily, as of Trespasser, the second part has been removed, as it is stated that Areida has returned to Kirkwall alive and well to help Varric run the place.

Uncle Pennybags: After Areida regains the family fortune, she uses it to help the poor and downtrodden in Kirkwall, double the wages for the miners in the Bone Pit (much to the chagrin of her business partner), fund their Lady of Adventure pursuits, and often pay for rounds of drinks down at the Hanged Man. See Benevolent Boss.

Unflinching Walk: Implied in Dragon Age Inquisition. She heads for the Grey Wardens' main fortress of Weisshaupt in the Anderfels to help sort some things out. When Rosabelle asks Varric about the whole affair during Trespasser, he reveals that he doesn't really know what's going on at Weisshaupt, but considering who they're talking about, he fully expects the place to blow up in a spectacular fashion rather sooner than later while Areida strolls out of the inferno without looking back.

Uptown Girl: Areida starts out as a refugee with nothing but the clothes and weapons on her back, but after becoming nobility by Act 2, Areida becomes this when she starts a romantic relationship with the apostate, Anders.

Warrior Princess: By Act 2, the asskicking Areida becomes part of the nobility of Kirkwall, and is thus rightfully entitled to be called Lady Hawke (in addition to Champion).

Warrior Therapist: Areida is this with her friends frequently. Particularly prominent with Fenris, where most of their interaction has Areida politely listening while Fenris talks about his life and why he has such utter hatred of magic. It practically is a therapy session.

What Beautiful Eyes!: Areida's striking blue eyes are considered to be her most attractive feature. So much so that they were the only physical description of her that Varric kept in his book about her. She inherited her eyes from her father.

What the Hell, Hero?: In Inquisition, Areida is enraged by the Wardens' actions, their use of blood magic, demon summoning, and the part they played in the death of Divine Justinia and lets Stroud know this very clearly.

World's Best Warrior: Though not without contention, Areida seems to fit this trope above any other character apart from maybe Ilona Cousland. Areida is renowned worldwide (thanks largely to Varric's Tale of the Champion book) as one of the greatest fighters alive and even with this renown, many people still express disbelief in some of the victories she won, particularly her defeat of the Qunari Arishok in single combat and an ancient Tevinter magister. Even her friends acknowledge her superiority in terms of battle prowess. Ilona Cousland and Rosabelle Trevelyan are both contestants for the title, but both of them had an additional edge (Ilona was the only person that could stop the Fifth Blight and Rosabelle was the only one that can fight the Breach). Areida is known solely because of her combat ability.

Worthy Opponent: In Act 2, the Arishok deems Areida "Basalit'an" - an outsider worthy of respect.

                   Arishok: (To Areida) "You alone are Basalit-an." (To the nobles) "This is what respect looks like bas! Some of you will never earn it!"

In Mark of the Assassin, Tallis tells Areida that this is how Areida is considered by all Qunari; she clarifies that they do not think of Areida as an enemy, but as an honourable outsider worthy enough to parley with or request assistance from.

You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She frequently invoke this.

You Can't Go Home Again: Areida's Doomed Hometown of Lothering is destroyed by the Darkspawn horde at the beginning of the story. It's eventually rebuilt at some point over the next seven years, but by that time Areida is pretty enmeshed in Kirkwall's problems and has begun to set in roots. However, her mother comments that Areida and Bethany "are Fereldan to your toes," and dialogue in one minor quest has Areida state that despite her role as Champion of Kirkwall, she will always consider Ferelden to be her home.

Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: This is Areida's response whenever she is complimented by a Qunari and is told that they're Not So Different.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #Dragon Age: Inquisition #Areida Hawke #Hawke #female hawke #fhawke #champion of kirkwall #TV Tropes

[yuvilee]

22nd October 2019 Student-led seminar 1

Text: Lefèvre, P. 2008, The Congo drawn in Belgium. The Representation of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi in French-language Belgian Comics, in McKinney, M. (ed.) History and Politics in French-Language Comics and Graphic Novels, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, pp.166-185.

Table of content:

Introduction: A Short Biography of the Author Main part:  Tintin - An unexpected Ambassador Belgium's ninth form of art - Lefèvre's antagonistic examples A Better Representation in Contemporary Narration My personal conclusion Notes: Books and articles Picture(s)

About the author: Pascal Lefèvre, born April 15, 1963 in Belgium is a renowned Belgian comics historian and theorist. His doctorate in 2003 was about 'Willy Vandersteens Suske en Wiske in de krant' (1945-1971) which made him the first to receive a doctor's degree in comics in Flandern. Not only does he publish analytical historical essays and books but he also creates comics himself. He was a researcher with the Belgian Comics Center in Brussels and thus contributed to diverse exhibitions and documentaries.

Tintin - An unexpected Ambassador

Sindika Dokolo(1), a collector of contemporary African art, recently held the exhibition 'InCarNations - African Art as Philosophy' in Brussels, Belgium until the beginning of October this year, with classical and modern pieces chosen from his personal collection. In doing so he is raising a number of questions that do not fade in relevance, such as who gets to portray African art and culture? On this basis for discussion, Belgium is working on its colonial past, of which there is a lot in Belgium and its former colonies, as Pascal Lefèvre delineates in his tract.

Even in the so-called 9th form of art, a similar discourse, tailored to the medium and the narrative, is continuously present.

A more recent example than the one from Great Britain cited by Lefèvre is the controversy that was rekindled in Sweden in 2012. For a long time it dominated (social) media and even spread to media abroad, like The Guardian(2). Its emerged from Hergé's comic ‘Tintin in the Congo’ that was to be removed from a YA (young adult) section in a library due to its naïve and openly racially portrayal of the indigenous people of Congo as they appear cliché and thus suggest an anti-African stance(3).

Hamelberg describes In an interview with The Guardian the problem as 

‘(...) there are several layers that are problematic, (...) there are the early books that are blatantly and openly racist, like ‘Tintin in the Congo’. (...) there were things that would have been considered racist today but that were quite normal in Hergé's time.’(4)

In my opinion, Hamelberg has certainly addressed an important point with this statement since the first comic publication of Tintin was in a different time and era. Nonetheless, it is important to process and learn from the past just like France tried semi-successfully with a law in 1949.

Should young readers be denied this critical argument in order to protect them, to present them with a perfect world and shielding them from reality? In my opinion, this discourse should rather be actively encouraged and supported by guardians.

Belgium's ninth form of art - Lefèvre's antagonistic examples

In my point of view, Belgium has produced a large number of fantastic comic artists and boasts openly with its long-established comic culture - yes, they call it culture. Some other more conservative nations, in my opinion, are still having a hard time accepting this, even in the 21st century. That's why I was very pleased to see The New York Times revive their bi-monthly best-seller list for graphic novels due to high demand by readers after taking a 2-year break(5).

The reason why a discourse seems to me more important than ever becomes clearer when Lefèvre compares Hergé's ‘Tintin in the Congo’ with, for example, ‘Blondin et Cirage’ created by Jijé. Here we have a boy and his adoptive brother as equal protagonists - but Cirage is depicted with clown lips that are strongly cliché-oriented and for me, at first glance, appear as a shockingly racist illustration.

There is a striking dissonance between the representation and the narrative, which portrays heroes that are needed nowadays.

But why is the imagery still so caricatural? 

A possible aesthetic and representational solution, in my opinion, can be to replace humans with animal shapes, which can be used as an indirect depiction of the problems of racism without resorting to real stereotypes and clichés.

To this point I would like to mention ‘Blacksad’(6) which is similar to ‘Maus’ by Art Spiegelman(7). This graphic novel takes place in an alternative universe similar to an exaggerated post-war period in the USA where Nazi-like propaganda and racial discrimination is omnipresent. The main character, a detective in the guise of a black cat, is confronted with the very same problems of our reality but avoids most of the stereotypes associated with the depiction of human characters.

Above: Blacksad: Arctic Nation, Page 5

A Better Representation in Contemporary Narration

As an illustrator, I am often faced with the question of how to create cliché-free and ethnically correct representation in my stories. Is there ‘the’ right way? I believe not. But there are approaches to different comics, graphic novels, children’s books, and other media such as movies that can be analysed for its reason for success.

Looking at more recent depictions of Afro-ethnic protagonists and their approaches, I would like to talk about Marvel's ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’(8) from 2018. 

The young protagonist Miles Morales is not the first black Marvel character but the first Spider-Man with an ethnic background, as you might imagine it to be a familiar representation of the typical New Yorker.

But has this raised negative headlines? On the contrary I believe. Many reviews of large-scaled and well-established newspapers spoke of this at most in a side note(9). The focus in media reviews was on the narrative, the humour, the ingenious and particularly refreshing animation, and especially the fact how effortlessly the very message comes across that everyone can be a Spider-Man(10).

In my opinion, all those awards(12) such as a Golden Globe were justified for this comic book adaptation. The humorous and encouraging portrayal of an (almost) everyday hero depicts effectively a positive role model, which just happens to be black-skinned, without that fact ever becoming a central topic.

As an artist of narrative stories it is important to always keep this message and task in mind. I always need to think about this as an illustrator while creating my stories, be it a graphic novel, a comic book, or a children’s book. At the same time, I need to be able to talk to my publisher about the best approach and their ethical stance. 

What emerged in France after 1949 to be negative self-censorship, I now have to see in reverse as a task to actively counter, to examine my art for equality, gender equality, diversity, and ethnic correctness.

But what are those rules exactly? Are they written down somewhere like the French law mentioned above? Unfortunately, I will never get ‘the’ ultimate correct answer to this question, while my art is at the mercy of many viewers and views.

My personal conclusion

I need to keep the above considerations in mind when creating a narrative to address children and young adults as my target audience. For myself, I see three options:

I do not have to get involved in the discourse and could avoid it altogether. As a responsible artist and adult, I could provide material for educational purposes along with my own work.

The clear opposite would be to create work that decidedly enters the discourse and actively participates in it, which requires a strong voice and a broad-based argumentative basis.

Or I could try the middle ground to go alternative routes such as animal representations to express an opinion but simultaneously avoid direct, confrontational depictions.

All of these options could work or backfire. Due to new media and especially social media, the audience is potentially larger and opinions (whether qualified or not) spread faster than in Hergé's time. See #TintinGate(13).

Although Hergé is put in a bad light here, I will remain a fan of his comics, because even this type of art must exist as part of our culture in order to encourage a discourse, like the one right here, and to serve as a cautionary tale and exemplification.

Notes:

Books and articles

Bozar, 2019, InCarNation - African Art as Philosophy, Bozar, viewed 19 October 2019, <https://www.bozar.be/en/activities/154489-incarnations>

Palme, J. 2012, Tintin racism row puts spotlight on children's literature, The Guardian, viewed 19 October 2019, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/15/tintin-racism-sweden-row>

Chukri, R., 2012, Vad handlar Tintin-gate om?, Sydsvenskan, viewed 19 October 2019, <https://web.archive.org/web/20121010041224/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/kultur--nojen/vad-handlar-tintin-gate-om/>

cf. Palme, J., 2012, Tintin racism row puts spotlight on children's literature, The Guardian, viewed 19 October 2019, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/15/tintin-racism-sweden-row>

The New York Times updates and expands its best-sellers lists 2019, The New York Times, viewed on 19 October 2019 <https://www.nytco.com/press/the-new-york-times-updates-and-expands-its-best-sellers-lists/>

Guarnido, J., Canales, J. D., 2004, Blacksad 2: Arctic Nation, Dargaud: Paris. Also available online in english: https://viewcomiconline.com/blacksad-vol-2-arctic-nation/ 

Spiegelman, A., 2003, Maus : a survivor’s tale. London: Penguin.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018, Blue-Ray, Sony Pictures, Hollywood, Los Angeles, directed by Ramsey, P., Persichetti, B., Rothman, R.

cf: Scott, A. O., 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseʼ Review: A Fresh Take on a Venerable Hero, The New York Times, viewed on 19 October 2019 <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/movies/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-review.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fa.o.-scott&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=94&pgtype=collection> Here the only reference to his ethnicity is: ‘But we haven’t seen a Spider-Man like Miles onscreen, which is to say a Spider-Man who isn’t white.”

cf: Loughrey, C., 2018, Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse review: It makes the case animation beats live-action for comic book movies, The Independent, viewed on 19 October 2019, <https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/spider-man-spider-verse-review-live-action-marvel-comic-book-movies-soundtrack-a8679761.html>

Bramesco, C., 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review – a dazzling animated caper, The Guardian, viewed on 19 October 2019 <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/28/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-review-a-dazzling-animated-caper>

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was awarded with (samples): Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, 2019, Best Animation at the 76st Golden Globe Awards, 2019, Best animated Film at the Critics’ Choice Movie Award, 2019, Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form), Hugo Award, 2019, 46th Annie Awards, won in 6 categories, BAFTA Award for Best animated Movie, 2019, Best animated movie, at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 2019, Best animation Movie at the Producers Guild of America Awards, 2019,

#TintinGate: cf. Palme, J.

Picture(s):

Guarnido, J., Canales, J. D., 2004, Blacksad 2: Arctic Nation, p. 5, Dargaud: Paris.