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littlefreya · 3 years

Note

omg i just stumbled across "jerk" and i think if i don't get more of your august walker pieces i'll die 😭😭 seriously i love a good hate fuck and more importantly, I LOVE YOUR WORK!!

Hey, bb!!! Thank you so much for this. Jerk actually has a part two called Easy Prey 💖

Anyway, since you asked for more August, here is my August Walker Masterlist

One-shots

Smut 🔥🔥🔥

Velvet Chains - Soft!August x Reader (smut. August Walker as a sex-worker, sexual intercourse, unprotected sex, loss of virginity, a depiction of bodily fluids, soft!August themes, a tinge of angst and August’s monster c… ) - For a generous fee, August Walker is yours. A man devout to pleasure, who will worship you for an entire night and make sure your first time is more than memorable. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Prince of Darkness - Devil!August Walker x ofc (DARK! NonCon, kidnapping, stalking, breeding, exhibitionism, loss of virginity, supernatural stuff, sex in a cathedral, mention of heaven and hell.)🎃 NEW 🎃 The Devil ascends back to earth in search of his bride.

Dangerous Games - August x Reader x Walter Marshall (Smut, sex, MaleDom/FemSub, cockwarming, orgasm denial, male masturbation, praise, degradation, facial, mentions of DP and anal) You’ve got yourself into a perilous situation with two dominant men. Now the question is: which punishment will you choose.

More under the cut

Destroyer of Angels - August x ofc (Smut, Non-con, breeding kidnapping, loss of virginity, ) The cruel Duke August Walker takes what he wants and what he desires above all is a young maiden

Nice Day for a White Wedding - August x Reader (Explicit Smut, maleDom) What made you think you can get away from August?

Violent Delights - August Walker x Reader (Smut, facefucking, rough oral, depiction of bodily fluids, some eventual fluff, MaleDom/FemSub.) You will give August what he wants, you will let him fuck your pretty little mouth and come down your throat. His pleasure - is yours. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Poison Honey - August Walker x Reader ( Passion, romance, sexual innuendo, a “thrill of the chase” if this may trigger anyone and mild alcohol use.) Everyone around you is too busy getting drunk and making out, while you are just dying for this dreadful Christmas party to be over. But just as you plan to leave, you catch the eye of a very hungry August Walker. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Elevator Ride - August Walker x Reader (grinding, public fingerfucking, exhibitionism, depictions of sex, orgasm denial.) Riding the elevator with Agent August Walker, you believe he would never dare try anything with all these people around, but oh, darling, you could never be so wrong. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Pink Umbrella - August x Reader (Fluff to smut, soft!August Walker, DD/LG, thigh riding, gloves fetish (it’s a thing now), dirty talk, a tint of angst and slight twist ending.) August is on a mission in beautiful Paris and had you join the ride, but while he wants you to stay safe at the hotel, you have other ideas.

Midnight Special - Artie Walker x Reader (Romance) The end of the summer annual BBQ is usually boring, but this one is about to take an interesting turn. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Hood Ornaments - August x Reader ( unprotected public sex, rough, maleDom/femSub, hair pulling, anal play, creampie, depiction of bodily fluids, profanities, praising and degradation, glove fetishism, exhibition) August fucks you at the parking lot while wearing leather glove

Jerk - August x Reader (male masturbation, lewd language, mentions of rough sex, degradation, anal and oral (both male and female receiving), depiction of bodily fluids and slight angst.) August sits alone in his office, thinking about the one he can’t have.

Easy Prey - August x Reader (dark, kidnapping, bondage, dubious consent, teasing, dirty talk, gunplay, sweet degradation and praise ) Direct sequel to Jerk. Ring or not, August promised himself that he will make you his, in whatever mean possible and he kept that promise.

The Big Bad Wolf - August x OFC ( abuse of power, rough cage fucking, hatesex, unprotected sex, hinted breeding, risky creampie, possessive behaviour. On the safe side it’s borderline dub-con.) If there is anything August enjoys it’s breaking those who resist him. Now trapped in his little cage, the little bird has no where to fly to

Daddy’s Girl - August x OFC (Explicit Smut, hatefucking) She walks around pretending she is better than him. August is going to show her who is the king around here.

Afternoon Delight - August x Reader (smut, daddy kink, Cock warming ) You leave work early and come home to find August pleasing himself in your shower. His Princess - August x Reader (Explicit smut, daddy kink, creampie) August works too hard and all day long, you miss him and decide to tease him with some photos of you in lingerie Thanksgiving - August x OFC (Explicit smut, public fingering) August Walker, the hardened CIA agent is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for a thanksgiving dinner. She’d rather forced him into it. Now, how sorry is she going to be by the end of the meal? One more touch before we die August x OFC (Explicit smut, romance) Set in a cabin on the mountain, August and his woman make passionate, desperate love. Sense Challange - Touch Bourbon and Candy August x OFC (Explicit Smut, daddy kink) After a frustrating day at work, August just wants to sit down and enjoy his princess, in any way possible.

Sweet & Spicey August x Reader (Sub!August, oral, Smut + Fluff ) You get to pay August the favour and finally take control

Nasty - August x Rader (Explicit Smut, meta-voyeurism) August is fucking you and forcing you to watch while he is doing it. Basically, the dirtiest thing I’ve ever written.

The Director - August, Sy, Henry, Walter, Geralt x OFC (Explicit Smut - gangbang, breeding, anal, basically everything) He said no one touches her but him, but he is willing to make an exception, as long as it’s on his terms.

Crimson - August Walker x Reader (Smut, period Sex, mentions of blood and such, dom possessive behaviour, slight breeding kink.) 🎃 NEW 🎃 Having Period sex with August

Black Tears - August Walker x OFC (First-person POV, smut + angst) 🎃 NEW 🎃 There cannot be peace without first a great suffering, but how much suffering can a person endure?

Fluff 🌈🍧🧁

Kiss it Better - August Walker x OFC (3rd person POV Fluffy, sticky, gooey fluff and floof with a tint of naughty suggestion) 🎃 NEW 🎃 August takes care of his girl after she fell

Monster August Walker x OFC (Romance) They call him a monster, but he is your monster

Shelter - August x Reader (Strictly soft sticky fluff) Lazy morning cuddles with August 🎃 NEW 🎃

Something Wicked - August Walker x Reader (Fluff) August sleeps tightly and you decide to exploit the situation. 🎃 NEW 🎃

Angel, can you hold me? - Soft!August x ofc (Angst to fluff) Bad guys need to be held as well

No More Tears - August Walker x OFC (August’s POV, Angst) On a cold autumn night, August muses over the girl he lost.

Series

The New Order mini-series - August x OFC, Smut, romance (completed) FBI Agent Lizzy has no idea that her dominant boyfriend, August Walker, is a dangerous terrorist. Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|

Stalker Walker 🎃 NEW 🎃 Drabble series, August x Reader (Smut, stalking) [ 1 ][ 2 ][ 3 ][ 4 ][ 5 ]

#henry cavill #august walker #august walker x reader #august walker x ofc

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atlas-the-worldbuilder · 3 years

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Final thoughts on Pokemon Sword/Shield

So in case you weren’t aware (which is most of you, I’m sure), a few months ago I started a Pokemon Shield blind Nuzlocke Run. And recently, I completed the main portion of the Nuzlocke by defeating the Champion. Having played through the game, though, I thought I’d give my final thoughts on it as a Pokemon fan, a gamer, and as a storyteller.

The Story & Characters

In all honesty, I rather enjoyed the main story of this game. The Pokemon League has always been presented like a professional sport (at least in the anime/cartoon), so it’s fun to see the games taking that perspective and rolling with it. It felt like an actual tournament/championship, to compete for the title in an officially organized manner, rather than just running a gauntlet of preset combatants.

In addition, I liked how they incorporated both the gym leaders and our rivals into the league story as not only combatants, but also as individuals with their own lives and aspirations. Marnie and Team Yell are adorable, Hop is... mostly tolerable, thus far, but by far my favorite rival character has been Bede, the Psychic/Fairy trainer. His haughty and prideful demeanor make him a delight to defeat, and his arc is a wonderful story to see unfold. I’m really curious to see what he gets up to in the after-story! The Gym Leaders are also fun to meet and battle; the Pokemon games as a whole have been gradually attempting to give more and more character to each of the Gym Leaders you meet, beyond just trials to overcome on your journey to victory. And while I always have a soft spot for the Hoenn & Sinnoh gyms, I like that they opted to have the Gym Leaders return in place of having more Elite Four members to fight I only wish I could get more opportunities to get to know them better, cuz there’s some standout leaders from this batch which I truly enjoy!

My biggest complaint with Sword/Shield’s story, though, has been the “Heroic Quest” plotline which has become increasingly common these days. I like the character of Sonia the researcher, and Oleana is satisfying to watch lose, my biggest complaint has been the pacing of the plot; the first 2/3rd’s of the story are us teaming with Sonia to gradually get the backstory revealed to us, and then in the last half hour, right as the Tournament’s getting underway, all the villains suddenly crawl from beneath the floorboards and run amok while you have to chase them down! There didn’t feel like there was a proper buildup explaining why the villain wanted to summon the legendary Pokémon, especially one which we heard next to nothing about! This brings about an interesting idea, however... what if instead, they had completely forgone any Legendary-Summoning stories until after the league? Honestly, I was way more invested challenging the gyms and fighting the champion than I was stopping the literal POKEMON APOCALYPSE from happening... so what if for future games, they saved those for after you became champion? As a sort of test of your skills, to prove your worth to bear the mantle you have taken! Maybe it wouldn’t have meshed well, maybe they needed to show of the game mascot more, I dunno... it’s just my thoughts.

The GamePlay

THEY FINALLY LET US TURN OF THE GODS-FORSAKENED TUTORIALS!!! PRAISE THE ALL-FATHER!!!

Ahem... In all honesty, I think I’d grown a bit too used to the 2nd screen of the DS-series games, but after a couple days of getting used to the mono-screen style again, I am pleased to say I found it very easy to settle back into. Though there are still some features I wish would make a return (the HM moves as opposed to public transportation, poison’s effect while walking, wild double battles, etc.), there are alot of fun mechanics introduced and remedies to older problems that have been introduced!

I think one feature which hasn’t had much said about it is the introduction of the Poke-Jobs system; this system allows you to send your Pokémon out on timed “away missions” to gain both experience and items. In the old days, if you wanted to passively level your pokemon, the only real option you had without introducing a second player was the Daycare center, and they could only raise two pokemon at once... and you had to pay for it. With Poke-Jobs, though, I can send anywhere from 5-10 teammates out for whatever amount of time I want them to be out for, and then come back later to see them lively and with goodies to show for their work! At first, I didn’t think I’d get much use out of this system; I, like many players out there I’m sure, prefer to guide my pokemon’s training personally, honing their movesets and guiding their levelling and points the way I want from them. But as I progressed further in my Nuzlocke, and as my daily life became busier and busier, I found myself sending my backup teammates out on jobs to keep them on par with my main team. Given that the Move Deleter/Tutor and Name Rater are now services that have been rolled into the Pokemon Center, yet another good thing this series has done, I found it much easier to keep my reserve Pokemon prepared in case I needed a substitution. Some Nuzlocke “Purists” may call that taking the easy way out, but... frankly, I don’t have the willpower to do that much grinding. I’m here to play a game and have fun doing it, dammit.

The Wild Area is another thing I’ve wanted to see from Pokemon for a long time - taking more steps to make the regions seem like an open world, with vast sprawling environments full of pokemon and secrets to uncover. I’ll admit, though, the execution is... not entirely perfect. While open expanses are fun to explore, the Wild Area did seem a bit... flat to traverse. And while the weather mechanics translating into battle are fun to deal with, the same sets of wild pokemon appearing did start to wear me down. I think what the Wild Area really needed, in the long run, was a system similar to how Black/White/Black2/White2 did - having seasonal progression ingame, where different pokemon would show up during different seasons, making the different places unique and novel all over again throughout the year. And for the record, many of my gripes with the Wild Area were addressed in the Isle of Armor’s expansion island. VASTLY superior, and much more fun to navigate and traverse.

...I’ll openly admit this: I was not a fan of Mega Evolution when it was first introduced in X/Y. I felt it was fine enough to see Pokemon battling without power boosts or “digi-volving” or whatever you wanna call it. When Sun/Moon Introduced Z-Moves, it felt like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, I ended up not using it very often. If I had to have a power boost to my pokemon, I would want it something that couldn’t be used as a crutch when the going gets tough - something that has a limited usability, and offers benefits specific to the time it’s being used. I say this because I initially approached Dynamax the same way: as just another power boost to level the playing field and shake up the battle meta which I don’t keep track of. However, after barely surviving all 8 gym leaders without using a single dynamax pokemon, I decided to give it a chance: after having completed the Isle of Armor’s subplot and gaining access to the Max Soup, I fed it to my Toxtricity Spike, and started running dynamax raids. As I started using it more and more, I started gaining a certain appreciation for it that I hadn’t before; this was something written in to being a unique cultural effect! This literally is imagining Pokemon as Kaiju! And for the most part, it works! While I still feel mega-lvl-power-boosts in pokemon are a huge waste, at the very least I can say Dynamax didn’t leave me with too bad a taste in my mouth. I do hope, however, that Dynamax stays a Sword/Shield exclusive power; given it’s cultural importance in Galar, and how Mega-Evolution was in the previous generation, I think having power boosts specific to regions works better than having the same stuff used across the board for every meta onwards,

What Do I hope for the Future?

I can’t say for sure if they’ll release a sequel game for Sword/Shield, but if they do... I would want them to make these minor changes:

Hold off the Heroic plot for after the League plot; devote the main first half of the game to just the gyms and league story like was done here, and then save meeting uber-god-tier Pokémon for after you’ve claimed the title of Champion.

Having said that, fix the pacing of how the Eternatus/Darkest Day subplot feels as it’s being played out. Offer us more insight into Rose and Oleana’s mindsets as they go about their business, and give us more coherent exposition from our field trips with Prof. Sonia.

Fix how the Wild Area looks - give it more variations for each sub-region and offer more varieties of habitats, like in the Isle of Armor. Or, alternatively, try to implement a seasonal mechanic to make the same areas change over the year, opening new paths and new avenues to explore!

Let Bede defeat Oleana. Give my boy some closure.

Allow us to see and interact with the Gym Leaders outside of the gyms more. I had, like, barely 2 lines of dialogue with Nessa, and even less for Milo. Not asking for a whole lot, just a bit more to tie us into who they are as people. Piers is best big brother. <3

That’s all I had written for now. If y’all want a biography of my champion team for my Shield Nuzlocke, let me know, and I’ll scrap a post together! <3

#Pokemon #Pokemon Sword Shield #Demotivated Review #Video Game #Atlas the Worldbuilder #nobody's gonna care about this #but that's ok

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jcmorgenstern · 4 years

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jcm meta 2020 edition

not to be fake deep on main but i think i may have found a way to make some vague amount of sense of the 3b edom flashbacks and the wild inconsistency between 2b and 3b’s versions of jonathan’s backstory. this quickly devolved into tracing a reading of Jonathan’s character arc identity through his appearance. Rambling and “i can do #deep lit crit takes on a fire exitinguisher” nonsense to come

So in 2b, Jonathan says to Valentine that “the demons” burned him because he was “too beautiful for this world, too human.” This clashes poorly with the 3b flashbacks that show Lilith burning him out of a misguided sense of love (when she says she is his true mother when he first arrives in edom and holds him and and it burns), or for disobedience (he talks back to her in the throne room and she burns his face, seemingly purposefully).

The first backstory, told to Valentine, can easily enough be written off as a lie or an unreliable narrator situation. Jonathan isn’t particularly good at telling the truth or expressing himself even when he wants to (unless he’s talking metaphorically about himself while giving spurious advice in 2b?). I don’t think it’s particularly realistic for him to tell Valentine the full truth, anyway, especially when he plans to kill him. His axe to grind in that scene is with Valentine, anyway, not Lilith, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to focus on her as his abusive parent figure (also it’s pretty clear they hadn’t even thought about her yet). One traumatic past at a time, so to speak.

The big inconsistency is the crispy elephant in the room. In 3b, Jonathan has some nasty but mostly cosmetic burns; in 2b he, well, IS a burn. Additionally, at 28 years young, Luke does not make a very convincing 13-15 year old. Bowlcut or no.

I’m not defending what was clearly laziness or lack of budget to hire an actual child actor. But if you think about it, blonde bowlcut 8 year old Jonathan may be the last image of himself he has before escaping Edom and taking on Sebastian’s face, as past that his face and identity have been completely burned away. Sebastian looking like a grown-up version of his younger self (blonde, blue eyes, fringe) supports this reading—before waking up as a redhead in 3b, the last self-image he has is of himself at 8 years old.

Thus, Luke being in the 3b flashbacks can be read as Jonathan filling himself as he is, trying to fill that gap, the years of not even knowing what he would look like between childhood and adult rebirth. (How’s that for a shitty puberty?) I’ve likened the body horror of being a Walking Burnt Drumstick to Frankenstein’s monster—he is viscerally hideous to others, cut off from human connection, and made monstrous by that isolation. It’s also a representation of the lack of identity—his identity as Valentine’s demon son is destroyed and eventually replaced with that of Lilith’s son (and, as the red hair suggests, Clary’s brother, something that is….uh, overwhelmingly important to him). It’s also an embodiment of the fundamental childishness of his character—his identity, emotional ability, and self-conception is physically stuck between childhood and adulthood, and he isn’t fully either one.

He’s narrating the 3b Edom flashbacks to Clary, actively constructing and interpreting his own past. These aren’t reliable narrations by any stretch of the imagination—in fact, I think they function better if read as a construction or fictionalization of his experience. Bits and pieces of many memories: tossing a ball in the throne room, Lilith saying she will love him like no one else, telling him about Clary and the Morningstar sword, a prince trapped in a tower, being burned. Revising his past to see himself not as Valentine’s son, or Lilith’s, or even just his own person, but Clary’s brother.

Thus, bowlcut Luke sulking around with mildly convincing prosthetic burns pretending to be 15 can be read as Jonathan’s attempt to fill in the gaps in his own memory, to construct for himself an appearance that draws from both and bridges the gaps between his childhood self and his reborn adult self. The (very bad) bowlcut from his childhood, the face and hair color of his adult self. In doing so, he attempts to reconcile the two identities, the two separate parental traumatic experiences (Valentine and Lilith).

We can see in live time how absent any strong parental force in his life, he turns to the next best thing—his sister—and begins enfolding her into his constructed identity. Clary is the only one who can save him from Edom with the sword, their shared blood being the key, never mind he escapes completely on his own with Clary none the wiser. The childish fairy tale of princess rescuing the prince in his tower from the evil stepmother.

There’s a sad kind of way the twinning bond is an echo-chamber of sorts—Jonathan is looking to Clary to complete him, to give him direction and purpose, the way Valentine and Lilith did. Except the way the bond works, she can only parrot his own unfulfilled motives and wants back at him. (See the fic ouroborous by xanisis, be sure to use promo code crispyboy at checkout). This is why both Jonathan and dark!Clary become increasingly hysterical about protecting the bond—each are profoundly unfulfilled by the increasing loneliness and solipsism of Jonathan’s longing for connection, which makes them both hold on ever harder.

Through this lens, it’s almost apropos that Jonathan’s worst fears—becoming something truly inhuman, truly monstrous—comes to pass. All struggles and suffering cease when he’s reborn yet again as a “god” in the Seelie Court, bleached blonde, sprouting wings, and emoting like a brick wall. He takes up the Queen’s ambition to rule and pursues it soullessly, mixed with a confused conception of revenge—against Clary, seemingly now the avatar for the world that wronged him, not much more than a ghost of himself. (Incel territory is neighboring).

Ultimately, Jonathan and Clary’s only moment of connection where she isn’t projecting his own emptiness back to him is as he dies. Her kindness isn’t killing him, but validating the one human connection he thinks he has, completing the fictionalization of their relationship he’d developed to make sense of his experience (which, honestly, is a lot of disjointed abuse backstories held together with dental floss). As if symbolizing this completion, Jonathan’s body (in true YA fashion) magically turns back from the white-haired emptiness to his original reborn appearance, the red hair and green eyes that marked him out in his eyes not as the unwanted child but as Clary’s brother.

tldr i missed overanalyzing this damn show specifically churning out thousands of words on this stupid mother sisterfucker

#jonathan morgenstern #i love a crispy boy #is this even coherent? unknown #have it anyway

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themyskira · 5 years

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So....have you read the latest Avengers #20, about the current version of She Hulk? How do you feel about that?

I’ve made a point of avoiding Jason Aaron’s Avengers because I truly can’t stand what he’s done to Jen. He took a character who, for all her more recent traumas, for all she can struggle to balance her legal career with her the pitfalls of being a publicly known superhero, loves who she is and embraces being green wholeheartedly -- he took Shulkie and turned her into Lady Bruce Banner, retiring lawyer whose inner ragemonster is just waiting to break loose. It’s some deep-seated bullshit and I’ve been trying my best to simply wait for it all to pass over.

But it was hard to ignore Avengers #20, because this was the issue where Jason Aaron went right off the fucking rails. I mean, he really went full Aaron Sorkin on his readers, and that isn’t a compliment.

Classic She-Hulk: Charming. Witty. Sensational. The Jolly Jade Giantess. The sassiest super-lawyer in all of Brooklyn. More laughs than a barrel of Deadpools. Fun. For years, that’s how the world described my client. Until the accused came here and flushed all that global adoration down the gamma-irradiated toilet.Jason Aaron She-Hulk: Rrrgh. Objection. Some still like--Judge Jen: Overruled!Classic She-Hulk: The accused would like you to believe she’s not at fault for what happened to my client. That these changes in her personality are the unfortunate side-effect of her new powers, which were awakened inside her by some meddling space giants... and that since that happened she's been doing her best to regain control of herself. To do right by my client and give the world back the gorgeous, green, fun-loving bombshell they know and love. But that’s a complete lie, isn’t it? ... Ladies of the jury, I ask you... is this the face we want to present to the world? After everything we’ve worked to accomplish over the years, is this the sort of muscle-bound downer of a Hulk we want to be?

This sequence takes place in the context of a mental simulation being used by Jen in an effort to build her control over her powers, but in truth it’s just three long and excruciating pages of Aaron taking petty swipes at fans who are unhappy with his portrayal of She-Hulk. Through this exchange, he deliberately frames criticisms of his She-Hulk as shallow, over-the-top and sexist, suggesting that those of us who dislike his barely-recognisable ‘roidmonster Jen simply don’t understand good writing and that we just want a fun sexy green bombshell to wank over.

(Also implicit in this, and indeed throughout the comic, is the view that classic She-Hulk is less meaningful as a character because her comics are frequently humour-oriented. ‘Funny’ is situated in contrast to ‘deep’, ignoring the fact that Jen’s best writers have found room for both, and that Aaron’s She-Hulk fails to be either.)

And that sets the tone for the whole issue. From that point on, the entire comic is just Aaron transparently editorialising that no, you guys just don’t get it, my She-Hulk is better and deeper and more feminist than your She-Hulk.

“I was an omega-level threat in the charm department. I was the Hulk you’d want to have a glass of pinot with. And the craziest part was, my powers, for the most part... made me happy. An incredibly rare occurrence in my line of work. I actually enjoyed being a hero. I loved being the fun Hulk. I loved it a whole helluva lot. So how come I don’t miss it?

“There’s a war on. And the trolls have taken Australia. I’m part of the team that’s taking it back. These trolls come from a faraway realm, but I know their kind. They would’ve laughed at the old me. Made crass jokes even as I was taking them down. This time, nobody’s laughing. And I love it with my all big, green, glowing heart.”

The frustrating thing is, he’s right on the cusp of something genuinely interesting here.

Men who speak angrily and aggressively are apt to be seen as tough, forceful and strong-willed; women who do the same are more often viewed as shrill, nagging, hysterical, bitchy. Many women consciously or unconsciously learn to mask their anger, make ourselves smaller and less threatening. Asserting yourself can be the difference between being seen as the ‘fun girl’ and the humourless bitch.

And the sexual harassment he references -- the sexist jokes, the propositioning, the devaluing of women’s capabilities -- not only are these things that many women, from the most disadvantaged to the most powerful, face to different degrees, they’re relevant on a meta level to the portrayal of women in comics.

All of these themes would be ripe for exploration in the context of classic She-Hulk. Jen is a fun-loving character whose life isn’t governed by rage and the need to control it the way other Hulks are, but that doesn’t mean she can always afford to lose her temper -- as both a woman working in a profession rife with sexism and ‘old boys club’ attitudes, and as a female superhero in the public eye, “you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” takes on a whole different meaning.

Conversely, we might also think about Jen’s privilege in this regard -- that by virtue of her public profile and influence and general ability to grind men into a pulp without breaking a sweat, she doesn’t face the same level of discrimination as other women. That other women (particularly women of colour and LGBTQI women) don’t have the same freedom to express their anger as she does, not without consequences. And that -- as both the superhero She-Hulk and as the high-profile lawyer Jennifer Walters -- she is in a position to help other women to be heard and ensure that their anger is answered with change.

As for historical sexism in comics, there’s no better antidote to the male gaze than hiring more women and nonbinary people.

None of that seems to interest Jason Aaron. Rather, in defence of his roided-out Girl Bruce, he seems to be saying... what? ‘I have fixed sexism by making Jen so buff that men are too scared to undervalue or sexually harass her’?

(Which, by the way, they still do anyway.)

Next, we get this exchange:

Deadpool: Why’d you stop being funny? I mean, you were really good at it. You were like... me before me.She-Hulk: Rrgh. Rather be free.Deadpool: How’s that?She-Hulk: Free to be ugly.Deadpool: Um, wait, can’t you be both?

So, the implication is that before now, Jen wasn’t “free” to be her whole self -- that she had to be the fun, funny girl to avoid being seen as too angry and threatening.

And aside from the fact that, as I said, I think there are many more nuanced ways to explore this without negating Jen’s characterisation -- this is just lazy goddamn writing. It’s not an idea Aaron has explored up till now, nor is it reflective of the ways in which Jen has been portrayed in the past. It’s just a messy retcon jammed into the story to justify the ‘superiority’ of Aaron’s version of the character. Once again, the writer is speaking through the characters.

We also see Aaron once again implying that being “ugly” -- by which he means physically imposing, buff, not resembling a typical comic book pinup girl -- ‘frees’ Jen from the constraints of sexism, which is full-blown outrageous.

You think that men only sexually harass women they deem attractive? Really? You think that sexism stops at catcalls and underestimation? You think that Jen, a female superhero in the public eye, isn’t going to be subjected to ugly sexist slurs no matter what she looks like? That is as insulting as it is naive.

Later, Aarons-via-Jen engages in some meta-criticism of the fact that She-Hulk has traditionally been portrayed not as a huge, buff ragemonster but as a sexy bodybuilder (and retconning in a shit-ton of sexual harassment while he’s at it, because remember, sexism only affects women society deems conventionally attractive).

“Cousin Bruce said something once, a few years back... about how envious he was of me. How easy he figured I had it. When he hulked out, he became a giant, deformed monster who couldn’t even wear normal clothes. While there I was looking like a bodybuilder who’d just been spray-painted green. I could wear suits, walk down the street without people running and screaming. Teenage boys hung posters of me on their walls. Must be nice, Bruce said to me, to be that kind Hulk.

“I’d never wanted to punch my cousin so bad. And that’s saying something. I told him about the parts of being me that he was oblivious to. About all the times I’d been hit on during team-ups. The bad guys who’d cop a feel when we were fighting. The sleaze ball who published photos of me topless when I was in the Fantastic freaking Four. (I’d really rather you didn’t Google that.) No paparazzi ever followed Bruce around taking photos of his butt while he was fighting the Leader. I told him... looking like a big scary monster didn’t seem so bad to be sometimes.”

And here we really get to the thesis underlying Aaron’s argument, the reason he feels She-Hulk needed a complete overhaul.

Like most superheroines, She-Hulk was shaped by the male gaze. It’s fair to say that played a lot into her original character design as a green Amazonian bombshell, whose appearance and comparative level-headedness stood in stark contrast to the huge, monstrous, rage-driven Hulk whose powers she inherited. Heroines in cape comics are supposed to be ‘fun’ and ‘sexy’ (as judged by the men they were typically being written by and for). Jen’s body has frequently been the subject of titillation and her promiscuity has frequently been the subject of crude humour.

Aaron seems to view this as the flaw at the heart of the character, and it’s something he’s set out to correct -- by making her the gigantic, buff, scary, angry Hulk she was never allowed to be at the outset. Sexism thwarted! Strong Female Character accomplished! Give yourself a pat on the back, Jason.

Except, here’s the thing.

It’s true that Jen has often been depicted through the lens of a male sex fantasy.

It’s also true that many readers have embraced her as a female power fantasy.

As the super-buff, super-strong, seven-foot-tall She-Hulk, Jen doesn’t feel the need to bite her tongue or moderate her opinions or diminish herself out of concern for how others might respond. She doesn’t have to hide her confidence or her sexuality. Through her transformation, Jen gains the freedom to embrace all that she’s been repressing -- the brilliant, witty, brash, assertive, body-confident parts of herself she’s always kept hidden from the world.

In looking at Jen selectively through the lens of sexualised artwork, instances of bad writing and a frankly snobbish undervaluing of humour comics, Aaron zooms right past everything that makes her such an appealing and empowering character to so many readers.

Which brings me right back to Deadpool’s comment earlier in the issue: Can’t you be both?

If your complaint is that Jen is portrayed in a male-gazey, overly sexualised manner that de-emphasises her strength and physical power, hire an artist who will draw her as the buff, badass giantess that she is.

She-Hulk doesn’t need a gamma power-up or a brutish alter ego to be formidable, she’s She-Hulk ffs. And stripping Jen of all her femininity in the process of turning her into a ‘roided-out tank raises some dodgy gendered assumptions in itself.

(For me, Peak Jen is a giant buff green woman in a bright pink designer suit. Not only can she be both, she already was.)

And hey, just gonna throw this one out there again, if your complaint is that since her creation Jen has been predominantly written and drawn from male perspectives for a male audience, resulting in some sexist and oversexualised portrayals, how about you hire some goddamn women and nonbinary people to write and draw her?

This is not the Great Feminist Reimagining of She-Hulk that you think it is, Jason Aaron. This is a slightly more pretentious rehash of that time David Goyer dismissed the character as a “giant green porn star”. You’re trying to ‘fix’ Jen by negating everything that she was previously, which is quite simply bad writing.

And when you find yourself dedicating a full issue of a comic book to calling your readers stupid for not liking your treatment of a character, that feels like a pretty sure sign that you’ve fucked up.

#whoops i tripped and wrote an essay #comics talk #she hulk #jennifer walters #jonsei93

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hellyeahheroes · 5 years

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Best Ongoing Team Books of 2018 - In text because I cannot make it in video

Okay, so my mic is broken, I have barely time to make it work with how many ever hours I’m working recently, so screw it. Last part of my promised list is long overdue anyway, so I’ll just drop it as a text. Apologies for this but yeah, sometimes stuff just piles up. I hope you’ll still enjoy my picks and check the 3 parts that made it to the video

Welcome to Best Books of 2018, the long-awaited final part. I’m terribly sorry it took me so, so terribly long but I had been forced to take many over hours at my day job and it just ate in my time. The rules are as before. The book must still be ongoing in 2018, even if only for a single issue. It also must have more than two issues published in two thousand eighteen. However, if a book got relaunched as effectively the same title, they count as one. This time we’re doing team books. So if you can, go check those titles out at your local store.

Number Ten: Super Sons and its continuation, Adventures of the Super Sons. Work of writers Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason with artwork by Carlo Barberi with issue twelve of the first series draw by Tyler Kirkham. Super Sons continue to be an absolute joy. The greatest asset of this story is that Jon and Damian are written as a pair of actual kids, with behavior we would find too childish with other people but appropriate with them. Which only adds charm to an already book that captures joys of being a kid and going on adventures and that embraces silver age weirdness with all kinds of strange stuff, from a bunch of alien kids idealizing Earth supervillains and modeling themselves after them to an alien versions of Cain and Abel and their House of Secret Mysteries. It is a book that you can just pick up, relax and enjoy, lose yourself in fluffy fun. Its time is limited as Adventures is just a mini but I think if there is one title on this list that is just pure escapism, bar themes touched in an issue where our heroes meet their future selves, it is this one.

Number Nine: House of Whispers by writer Nalo Hopkins and artist Domonike Stanton. One of my favorite out of the new Sandman Universe books, it tells a story of a spell gone wrong that results in the tied fate of goddess Erzulie from Vodou religion and girl named Latoya. The former ends up trapped in the Dreaming, cut from her worshippers and desperately needing to come back before she starves without worship. The latter loses her soul in the same accident and now is affected by Cotard’s delusion, a mental disorder that makes a living person believe they’re dead and worse, she can spread it like an infection. While absolutely fantastic with the weaved narrative I will say that at the time it might be even too heavy as the parts that deal with people affected by the delusion, especially Latoya and her girlfriend Maggie, often feel so outright depressing I had to put the book down and take a break. It is not a bad thing, not every comic book has to just make you feel entertained, especially not one aiming at evoking different emotions. But I need to recommend this one with a warning it is not for everyone as people who already feel down might only feel worse. Still, if you are looking for a book either heavily using themes from religion by far underexplored by literature and pop culture in a respectful way or for a book that might leave you shaken and made think, appreciate your life even, this is a book for you.

Number Eight is a tie: Justice League Dark by writer James Tynion the Fourth and artists Alvaro Martinez and Daniel Sampere as well as Justice League Odyssey by writer Joshua Williamson and artists Stjepan Sejic and Philipe Briones. Two of the new Justice League titles have their problems, I’ll admit it. The main villain in Justice League Dark comes off as invincible for the sake of it and the establishment of the Sisterhood of the Sleight hand only to destroy it rubs me the wrong way and Odyssey feels to have missed its impact moment due to delays and artist change. However, both books are still excellent in what they set to do, opening this new age in Justice League books and bringing them back to the flagship role. Be it dark atmosphere of JLD that isn’t mitigated by inclusion of either Detective Chimp or Wonder Woman, in fact it is a stroke of genius to have her confront the darker side of magic, or the outlandish space opera of Odyssey, with super likable cast playing game of cat and mouse with Darkseid himself, the books do bring new to the table and truly make the Justice League currently one of the strongest if not the strongest lines in the big two.

Number Seven: Rogue & Gambit and its continuation Mr & Mrs. X by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Pere Perez on the former and Oscar Balduza and David Lopez. I’m counting it as one book even if an important part, the wedding, took place in a different title and was fairly controversial. But Kelly Thompson has really shown that she feels the two and their relationship and uses as much of their history as possible to build on and inform said relationship. It is in how natural it comes off as, how strong their bond is but also how unafraid of testing it through their adventures Kelly Thompson is that really makes this book so unique. With the cancellation of X-Men: Red and Exiles and with how Uncanny X-Men and Age of X-Man seem in a contest who can drop more balls, this book is now the best ongoing in the X-Line and you will be doing yourself a disservice if you won’t check it out.

Number Six: Justice League by writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion the Fourth and artists Jim Cheung, Jorge Jimenez, Doug Mankhe, Mike Janin, Francis Manapul, Fazer Irving and Guillem March. This book decided to bring the Justice League back to its greatness and to my great surprise, it succeeded. Scott Snyder’s over the top imagination is a perfect fit for this title and in just a few issues he proved he is not afraid of breaking established boundaries and showing us that cosmology of DC Universe is much greater and more amazing than we might have thought, that everything we thought we know hides more secrets and there is always a new adventure right behind the corner. It asks important questions that, while not intended to be political, by Snyder’s own admission, I feel are still questions about life, a current state of the world and our expectations and ourselves. Upon seeing how flawed the world is, how flawed other people are, how flawed, in the end, we ourselves are, what is a correct course of action? Deny it and try to grind yourself into the idea of perfection you want to be even if it is impossible? Embrace your worst and care only about yourself? Or accept you have flaws, that you feel pain and trauma and realize you can still be a good person regardless? That is the theme of Justice League that makes me enjoy this book so much.

Also, they have hired Ferdinand the Minotaur to work at their cafeteria, that’s awesome.

Number Five: The Dreaming by writer Simon Spurrier and artist Bilquis Evely. The Dreaming is in peril. Dream of Endless has left his dominion, there is a hole in it through which strange things come, citizens find themselves in state of unrest and all beloved characters, from Lucien and Matthew to Merv Pumpkinhead and Eve to Cain and Abel are set on a course that will challenge them and will change them in unexpected ways, all while old faces like Glob and Brute come back and new ones like mysterious Dora and merciless Judge Gallows leave their mark on the place. The Dreaming plays with obvious political undertones but on a meta sense, it is another case of what Simon Spurrier is driven to do, to deconstruct the darker corners of comics and try to explore questions of responsibility and morality through it like he did with Legion and X-Force. This new, heavier, darker take on the Dreaming sucked me in instantly and I really hope the ride Spurrier has prepared for us is a long one.

Number Four: Exiles by writer Saladin Ahmed and artists Javier Rodrigues, Rod Reis and Joe Quinones. Exiles had another short-living comeback and it saddens me to see that it has already been cancelled, though not before qualifying on this list. I love Exiles as a series and a concept and the return with all-new cast and Blink was a welcome one. With adventures that are in equal parts fun and serious and characters with such amazing charm as a cartoon kid Wolverine or Valkyrie. What’s more is that the book had such amazing creative artwork, with Rodriguez especially giving it his all and creating some amazing visuals that truly matched increasingly crazier visions that Ahmed has weaved in front of him through the script. This was a top-notch creative team that I sure hope we’ll see them team-up once again on another project in the future. Meanwhile, while brief it it was still a pleasure to come back to this team of weirdos and outcasts hopping between dimensions, one crazier than the other.

Number Three: Wild Storm by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Davis Hunt. Now here is a book that benefits from its stated twenty four issues run. Wild Storm is a slow burn. But it is by far one of the most glorious slow burns in the history of comics. Ellis continues to create a gritty narrative that combines aliens, conspiracies, secret agencies, technological inventions and movie-like decompressed storytelling into a chilling, dark story that absolutely dominates with the atmosphere. The vision of Wildstorm Universe Ellis and Hunt created for us is absolutely captivating and the feel of the world at the verge of total war between two agencies that long time ago stopped caring for common folk, while Jacob Marlowe, Jenny Sparks, and John Lynch, each in their own way, race to stop them or deal with problems they unleash, is unlike any other. There is plain and simply no other book like this on the shelves right now and it is very unlikely there will be such a book soon after it ends.

Number Two: The Terrifics by writer Jeff Lemire and artists Ivan Reis, Evan Doc Sharner, Joe Bennett, Dale Eaglesham. Out of all New Age of Heroes Books this is undeniably the best one. A loving tribute to the original Fantastic Four stories that finds a new quality through use of characters that may fill similar archetypes but are different enough that each brings their own thing to the table, creating new dynamics that liven up known narratives while at the same time the artists manage to get creative, especially the issue that divides each page into a sort of camera following each of the four protagonists one panel per person and uniting them and dividing as they join together or split up, pushing the very boundaries of graphic storytelling as we know it. It is also a book full of warmth and joy and optimism we often do not see in books like that. It is truly a title that has a heart and imagination on its side and it is using them to their full potential.

Honorable Mentions: West Coast Avengers, Champions, Teen Titans

And our Number One is Runaways by writer Rainbow Rowell and artists Kris Anka and David Lafuente. It couldn’t be anything else. Runaways this year was plain and simply the best book on the shelves. Kris Anka’s beautiful art brings to life Rainbow Rowell amazing heart for these characters as she lets them face new challenges in their lives, creating story if teenagers at the verge of adulthood as they try to wrestle less with supervillains and more with their own fears and insecurities and this feeling of childhood and innocence lost for superhero life they never wanted, all as they try to rebuild and maintain their family. It is a story where greatest victories are not supervillain battles, which they seem to win by a fluke most of the time anyway, but to take a step forward, overcome your fear and doubt and admit to yourself that yes, you are worthy of happiness and you will be happy. In that Runaways is without a doubt the book that speaks to me the most and one I wait for every month. I cannot recommend this book enough.

So here are my final picks. I’m exhausted. I will say that recently all stuff in my life made working on the videos harder, especially now that i’m trying, against any better reason to record myself and I might not be able to do it as regularly. I might think of reinventing the format and maybe relegate the channel to a different role in relation to my blog, which I think is by now much more popular. I still have learned a lot in that time of doing these videos and I wish to continue, maybe with a more focused vision. Thank you all for being so long with me and putting up with my nosense and rest assured, I shall return.

- Admin

#Runaways #The Terrifics #Wild Storm #Exiles #the Dreamind #Justice League #Rogue & Gambit #mr. and mrs. x #Justice League Dark #Justice League Odyssey #House of Whispers #Super Sons #Adventures of the Super Sons #Marvel #DC #Vertigo #Sandman Universe #Dark Matter #New Age of DC Heroes

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trainedarmodon · 6 years

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What I'd Play at GP Richmond

First I'll start by saying I haven't been able to think of anything interesting to write about recently. I was going to write the follow-up to my previous Tron article on why control was bad in Modern. But unfortunately Gerry T beat me to it and I agree with all of his points to where I don't believe another similar article needs to be written. Then I was busy with GP Providence and SCG Baltimore prep. But now I'm back and I'm discussing something I'm dying to talk about.

As the title gives away I unfortunately won't get to make it to GP Richmond. I wasn't able to secure the time off of work to go down and unlike every other tournament when I can just drive down the Friday before the GP starts, the format I care about starts on Friday. But not being able to go hasn't stopped me from spending some time thinking of the list I think I could of used to win the whole thing.

What to Expect?

Before I go into detail about my list however let's go over what I expect the metagame to be at Richmond. Obviously with Legacy people will bring their pet decks that they've been playing for years but for the people trying to make a meta call and adjust to what's been happening in the format recently I expect three decks to be represented more than most with two others not to far behind.

1. UB Death Shadow

The break out deck of Pro Tour 25, this deck has been seeing a lot of play on MTGO ever since. This is the tempo-yist Delver deck available right not it does the tempo game better than RUG due to its much harder to answer threats But what makes it better than many other decks is its power to switch roles when needed as it can play the control role extremely well if it's initial plan is being hampered.

2. Colorless Eldrazi

This is by far the best Chalice deck at the moment because of the pressure it applies after locking the opponent out. Also with less to almost no 4 color decks being present anymore the value of Blood Moon and therefore Mono-R Prison has gone down.

3. Death and Taxes

This deck is a great entry point for the format and with its most recent success I expect lots of players to choose this one for Richmond. Obviously it helps that this deck is also very good right now as it can be adjusted for any field.

I expect the next two decks to see significantly less play but still have their fair share of the metagame percentage.

1. Grixis Control

Honestly in my opinion this deck isn't very good and I'd much rather play Grixis Delver in the "Sukenik" style. But a lot of great and well known players usually pick decks that give them an edge when they are the better player at the table and Grixis Control does just that.

2. Sneak and Show

Traditional 8 put into play effect and 8 Fatty package of Emrakul, the Aeon’s Torn and Griselbrand. Straight to the point sneak and show which no one currently seems to agree with me on. I think Omniscence has lost a lot of stock as a card. When all the other top deck options can grind a game out when necessary the Show and Tell player just needs to end the game and not durdle around.

Choices, Choices Everywhere

Now enough of what I expect, time to show you where I ended up if I was able to attend.

4 Stoneforge Mystic

3 Snapcaster Mage

4 True-Name Nemesis

2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

2 Blood Moon

1 Umezawa’s Jitte

1 Batterskull

4 Brainstorm

4 Ponder

4 Force of Will

2 Spell Pierce

2 Pyroblast

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Council’s Judgement

1 Supreme Verdict

4 Flooded Strand

4 Scalding Tarn

1 Arid Mesa

1 Volcanic Island

1 Tundra

1 Karakas

3 Plains

5 Island

1 Mountain

Sideboard

2 Surgical Extraction

2 Flusterstorm

2 Disenchant

2 Meddling Mage

2 Containment Priest

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Council’s Judgement

1 Dack Fayden

1 Supreme Verdict

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Explanations

Now I know there are some things that stand out immediately but I will be going over the decklist card by card.

4 Stoneforge Mystic

Wouldn't be Stoneblade without it.

3 Snapcaster Mage

I believe 3 is just the correct number if the game is dragging on long enough that you need the 4th to get back into it you've more than likely lost already. And if you're already ahead any card can do just as much as another Snappy.

4 True-Name Nemesis

First of the rather strange choices. I'll start by saying I think Vendilion Clique is overplayed, overcosted for it's effect and underwhelming. I believe this deck needs to close out the game quickly after establishing control. We are a midrange deck after all. Playing the 4th hard to answer threat just makes sense especially when we can make up the percentage points for our combo matchups in other ways.

2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

Typical number. You don't want to draw to many 4 man sourcerys that don't immediately win you the game. But Jace is the most powerful Planeswalker in legacy so we have to play him because he gets pretty close to winning the game even if he doesn't outright do so.

2 Blood Moon

As I mentioned before the value of Blood moon has gone down significantly since before the bans. So if people are expecting less and less of this card that is the time to play it. The likelihood of people being prepared is lower meaning the chance of just getting free wins in higher. Also this card completely locks out UB Shadow which is better then Back to Basics because of how cheap all of the answers and threats are in that deck. It also completely shuts down Eldrazi, Lands, and unless it was played around Grixis Control. Shutting down three of your tougher matchups is good enough for me.

1 Umezawa’s Jitte + 1 Batterskull

Usual equipment package I don’t think Sword of Fire and Ice is actually very good right now in anything other then the D&T matchup where Jitte already is good enough.

4 Brainstorm + 4 Ponder

Usual cantrip package, haven’t tested any number of Preordain yet and most likely won’t as I don’t play enough to see the marginal percentage gains or losses.

4 Force of Will + 2 Spell Pierce

Usually 4 Force for the unfair matchups. Now for Spell Pierce, I’m playing 2 instead of the usual 1 because I cut the Clique so we needed an extra card for combo decks and also with the growing popularity of Grixis control K-Command is reentering the format. Paying 5 for K-Command while possible is rather unlikely and I feel we can take game 1 against Grixis as long as we avoid the complete blowouts. I also chose a second Pierce over the 1st Fluster main because of Jace. A resolved Jace is so hard for our deck to beat with usual lists only running 1 or 2 answers main and if the opposing Jace gets to activate twice we are probably just dead. So the easiest way to deal with it is before it hits the board.

0 Counterspell + 2 Pyroblast

Time for probably the most situational and tournament specific decision. I chose to put 2 Pyroblasts main instead of the usual Counterspell because out of the 5 top decks I expect this card has game against 3 of them. Shadow, Grixis and Sneak and Show. Pyro is also obviously good against any blue mirror as well so there are a lot of other matchups it's also good in. Another reason I really like Pyro main is it gives us 2 more clean answers to an opposing Jace or True-Name which by far are the hardest cards for our deck to deal with.

4 Swords to Plowshares

Don’t play white if you aren't playing 4 Swords.

1 Council’s Judgment

Answer to Chalice, Trinisphere, Planeswalkers, TNN, Leovold and much much more. I was playing 2 but with the 2 Pyros main I felt it was ok to cut to 1.

1 Supreme Verdict

Another argumentative chose where I’ve seen others play a Path to Exile instead. I feel that path is just terrible if you want to go either the Blood Moon or Back To Basics route. I also like Verdict because it gives you a 1 outer in a lot of situation you would usually be dead. Facing a Shadow and Gurmag and they are holding counter…GOTTEM. Chalice on 1 against 3 Eldrazi....GOTTEM. And so on.

1 Basic Mountain

We have red cards main and need a reliable source of mana that can be found in the face of Wasteland

Sideboard

2 Surgical Extraction

Usual choice, very good in a lot of combo matchups.I think 2 of these is enough since we also play Snappy.

2 Flusterstorm

Good in combo matchups and fair blue mirrors. Two is more then enough since after all it can’t answer every threat but it is still insane.

2 Disenchant

Chalice, Trinisphere, Ensnaring Bridge, Search, Counterbalance, Jitte, Batterskull and the list goes on.

2 Meddling Mage

More for testing then anything but like I said I don’t value Clique very highly meaning we need more cards for combo matchups and this card does work.

2 Containment Priest

Reanimator matchup, Elves any Zenith deck, Sneak and Show and Vial decks although I usually don’t bring it in much against those.

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Shadow and Grixis. Allows you to play the control role while constantly deploying threats.

1 Council’s Judgment

More of what I said before. An extra one just in case, you can never be to prepared.

1 Dack Fayden

Grindy Matchups, the Mirror and Death and Taxes. It’s spicy I know but it feels so strong.

1 Supreme Verdict

Gotta have a backup plan for your backup plan.

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Insane in grindy matchups and also good for making ground blockers when that is relevant like with Eldrazi. Just sit back and keep making dudes till your opponent dies.

And that is the abnormal list I would of played this weekend at GP Richmond. Hopefully this can be useful to someone there as a last minute swap or after the tournament is done to see how this would fair against the decks that came out of the tournament.

#MtG #magic the gathering #magic: the gathering #gprichmond #GP Richmond #legacy #competitive #competition #article #decklist #Thoughts

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feralknights · 6 years

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OB64 PTS#6

Unfortunately I didn’t proofread this as much as I probably should have. But, after reading the notes, chatting with folks, getting opinions from others, and having a bit of a rough night I finally decided to put it all down: My feelings and opinions about OB64 and the current direction of Paladins: Champions of the Realm.

So if you've read the fourm post that I'd written, you'd know that at the moment I have a lot to say about Paladins OB64, and very little of it is positive. We're at the 6th iteration of the PTS, with it getting an eleventh-hour push-back another week for more bug issues, card balancing, and now the inclusion of what they're calling a "Classic" mode where the cards will be balanced as they are for Competitive.

Apparently I've garnered something of a reputation with members of the community about my essay-sized feedback; I go on and on with my points, and in almost every post I make sure to highlight and emphasize a few points: I am not a professional player, I am not a competitive player, and I try to play Devil's Advocate with everything that I suggest on any champion or item adjustment in the game, no matter how insane or unreasonable.

Early on, I expressed sentiments to members of the development team-- those I am fortunate enough to speak with-- that I often times like a shake-up of the system. Essence being reverted to gold sat all right with me, though if you remember, I was actually a staunch defender of the Essence system. Yes, it added grind, but it retained a spirit of player agency and decision-making that helped bring me in and keep me in.

Then, the patch notes were released. I spent an hour reading them again, and then again, and then again, trying to figure this out. I actually said out loud, "what is their goal here?" The most vocal components of the community across almost every platform of social media I followed the game on were crying out for a scant few things: Bugfixes, matchmaking, and balance. Vivian and Lex were the two most hated champions on the PC circuit; I was regaled with stories constantly about Skye being an auto-ban in competitive from my nephew, an avid console player.

Instead, we were served up this: Cards Unbound.

We were told that feedback complained about the complexity of a 5-card, 4-point card, 12-point deck system was just "too high" for players. We were told that this would be "more free than ever." Then we also got a really cheeky jab at Battlefront 2's decisions on how to monetize content after being a $60 buy-in game. Having spent a fair share of money on the game in the last year, I can definitely say that that particular comment left a bad, lasting impression on me; I was a Tier 3 founder within a few days of starting the game when they initially offered the pack.

The PTS iterations continued to roll on, leading us up to that 5-- PTS5, where I was hoping that they would provide us with a fair, balanced version of the Casual gameplay or just an announcement that they would scrap the system altogether. Instead, we were left with card changes, balance notes that made absolutely no sense, and a version of the PTS that was so buggy and insane that streamers from pro to casual were remarking on how bad it is. Youtube content creators practically rioting, and conspiracy theories flying left, right, and center.

I really don't want to buy into the conspiracy theories. They breed fear. They breed paranoia. People start connecting dots that aren't there. I do realize that we are in an insane world in 2017 with world leaders that lie and change lies as quickly and easily as they draw breath, but I'm a person that tries really hard to give people a second chance and asks for the data. I want to see the metrics and data; I want to know what's going on.

The things I can see: The bug fourms are riddled with people reporting bugs, but I have yet to see much more than *very faint* praise for the Cards Unbound system. At the time of this writing, the main patch notes thread is currently 122 pages, with scattered pages and posts from fans that are exasperated and tired of fighting Hi-Rez with this. The subreddit is still on fire with people upset with the changes; the OB64 additions video currently sits with an overwhelming 11k dislikes and a petition to have OB64 shelved has broken 7,700 signatures and it's only climbing.

I think this, more than anything, shows that a significant part of the recurring, constant playerbase loves this complexity. They love the depth that Paladins provides versus it's competitors. Personally, I loved throwing down at least five bucks every patch cycle or so, charging into the game and seeing what changes were lined up and how things shook out. I'm a Skye main, so not only am I a rare breed that deals with way too much shit in the playerbase, but I am one that would look at all of these changes with a critical lens, asking myself "how can I get past this one champion's buff? This new champion and this specific card combination?"

I'm not afraid to admit it: Skye is what brought me into playing Paladins in the first place, but I stayed because of the world, the depth, and the complexity. I'm borrowing and paraphrasing the words of Skillup from Youtube as I have in my prior posts, but I believe it bears some repeating:

"It's a statement to the industry that I hope other developers take note of: Gamers aren't idiots. We don't need our hands held all of the time. Complexity and depth should be embraced, not feared."

I've met more people that were intrigued by the 12-point system of Paladins and the open beta experience than driven away from it. Even friends that were afraid of the complexity acknowledged the depth and what it brought to the table in terms of customization and decision-making-- even if they weren't up for playing it, they still admired it. They admired the product, and even folks that felt burned about the Tribes treatment felt that the system was something rich and diverse and good and something that the now-flooded "hero shooter" market needed in order to remain competitive and make a name for itself.

I remember reading the Q&A responses from the subreddit, and how they felt that players that should be in competitive are in casual rather than comp, and how they wanted to encourage and incentivize people to take the step to finally playing competitive. Unfortunately, that's still not me: I don't care about comp. As dramatic as it sounds, and as I've said before, I absolutely despise draft picking with every fiber of my being. I don't care about the competitive experience in Paladins, let alone any other game, be it League of Legends, Overwatch, Team Fortress, Battlerite, or even the few fledging times people tried to make Conclave a thing in Warframe. I just don't care. I've even said as much to Hi-Rez staff members in casual conversation; the only thing that would make me even remotely consider broaching the Competitive queue would be if they added a Skye skin as a seasonal reward. However, considering she is far and away not a meta darling-- and how certain casters react when she was picked, something that still ires me to this day if only because casters should be more professional and objective-- I don't see that happening anytime in the next few years.

I remember feeling almost singled out, and even made a mockup: 'Bring back casual, make an unbound queue.' Boom, done. But even then it wouldn't be what I actually wanted, what actually kept me playing Paladins for so long even as someone that does not play or even particularly enjoy competitive, PVP-driven FPS experiences: That 12-point card system.

PTS6 almost solves that, but it still feels like something of a slap in the face.

I don't mean that to sound dramatic, either, but it feels wholly limited and punishing because I don't want to play Cards Unbound. I won't get those First Wins of the Day chests. I won't get access to Onslaught unless I put myself into Unbound mode. And then rather than simply leaving it branded as "Casual," they made the conscious decision to call this mode "Classic," as though it were the game mode that Paladins fans have known and loved for over a year-- a maneuver that was undoubtedly made for marketing purposes, as folks that come in with the Cards Unbound system would think that this is what the game always was, and what folks would eventually come to accept. Plus, I won't get the same rewards for playing "Classic Mode." Rather than treating Casual as a focal-point experience, it's being treated as a tacked-on afterthought that feels like it's meant to appease people on the fence rather than address the problems that people are having with the system.

But this all comes back to the same thing that I keep grappling with? What is the mission of Cards Unbound?

I wasn't here for the closed beta phase of Paladins. Point in fact, I came in kind of late compared to many people; I came in roughly around OB35-36, well after the era of Skye reigning supreme and champion balance being somewhat insane. Even then, through all of the ups and downs of my favorites, I loved playing the game. I didn't know about the closed beta systems and mechanics, and when I had heard them, it left me stunned that the system started with something that sounded so haphazard and unfocused and managed to sharply refine into something that was so simplistic on the surface, yet so complex as soon as you start digging into it. I understood why the pros grabbed on with both hands, why teams flocked to it, why HRX2017 was such a big deal.

Paladins actually made me give a shit about esports.

CU feels like a bold, drastic step that should have been considered-- or implemented-- during a closed beta phase or even an alpha phase. This is something that should have been done over a year ago, or an iteration of the prior level-as-you-play system from a year ago. This feels like something that should be used in a game that is specifically not Paladins. But, the company is so driven and committed to it that I don't think they're going to heed the vocal playerbase-- and to be fair, it feels like a vocal majority rather than the vocal minority-- that I doubt they're going to pull back from it right now.

I think PTS6 hits a place where I can finally sigh, throw up my hands, and say "I guess." For all it's faults, for everything I feel is wrong with it, it's at least finally offering me a balanced casual experience even if I'm being shortchanged on my rewards and the investment of my time. As a tier 3 Founder, I don't have to worry about buying Champions anymore, so again, the so-called "Classic" mode will offer me the trade of "worse advancement" for "balanced gameplay," though I still have to put the word "balanced" in those accursed quotation marks. For as much as I can say, "I guess," I still don't like it.

I really wish I had a better solution, something that allows Hi-Rez to move ahead with their system. I wish I had that much input or leeway on the company as a fan, a player, an artist, fanartist, and content creator, but I know I'm just one teeny tiny part of the machine. I just keep coming up short; I really don't have a better offering of how to balance the system, or restore trust, or even restore the player agency that a game like this actually requires in order to flourish.

What I can say, though?

Community management and public relations needs to step up. Please don't get me wrong here, either: CMs have an incredibly tough job and they have to deal with a lot of hate, flaming, and bullshit, but they can't be silent day after day. The team needs to be in front of this literally every single day, talking to the community, hosting more Q&A threads, developer livestreams, and actually showing that they're listening to the input. They may be getting positive feedback that is steering the current state of the system, but in large part a lot of this could have been avoided:

The company should have been transparent in their goals and plans for this system months in advance.

2017 has been a turbulent year for gaming and developers. Players are more savvy and less willing, especially in Western markets, to deal with developers that try to do things that they feel are short-changing or otherwise screwing players out of what they feel is a fun, fair, balanced experience. “Transparency” and “trust” are two critical, key components of free to play gaming that I feel are unjustly overlooked or treated as unfeasable. That is not the case at all. As I noted earlier, gamers aren't idiots: Transparency builds trust. Being willing to course correct because you were open and honest with your playerbase creates options, opens doors, and makes your players more willing to trust and invest their time-- and money-- in the company and the game.

The community should have been involved in shaping Cards Unbound.

This is a dramatic change. The community should have had input on how to shape this system over the course of weeks and months, rather than having an ill-conceived, ill-balanced, and frankly ill-executed system being dropped on their lap on a Wednesday afternoon. I am not against the *concept* of a Cards Unbound system, but I feel like the system would have worked perfectly well within the 5-card, 4-point card confines they currently have. I think Legendary cards having points and level values is a mistake. This is a system that, like the Wrecker change, should not have left the PTS cycle. It still should not leave the PTS cycle. Honestly, I do openly implore the development team to just release the art assets in as OB64, then for OB65 heed the needs of the community: Focus on balance. Focus on bugfixes, and be willing to list not just the most pertinent, but all of them.

Seriously. All of them. There are more people than you think that are interested in knowing what and where the bugs were. Allowing the players that level of trust to know where your mistakes are will make them more willing to quickly jump up and report the things that they see on a broader scale, and acknowledging those bugs quickly and effectively would foster a lot of trust with them.

The company should keep the "eject" button on the table for the patch.

I realize that is the crux of my personal opinion, but I feel that this is something that still needs to be reiterated, put on the table, and stated. We don't have the metrics on player retention over the last few months, we don't know what the feedback is actually like beyond a quick glance at the fourms, and most tellingly, I cannot recall the last time that Hi-Rez has sent out a player survey to email boxes or had linked in the game's main screen/UI for over twenty patches. Operating solely on what we can see-- the fourm announcements, a scant offering comment or three subreddit-- people are, bluntly, *pissed*. I realize that Hi-Rez has done a lot to get OB64 ready, and I realize that there's a lot on the line for them to push what they have, but at a certain point there needs to be a willingness to say, "Maybe we should pump the brakes."

So, with all of this, at the end, all I can really say about OB64 comes down to a scant few things: I like the skins. I like the visuals. I'm glad we're finally getting lore. I'm really hoping Skye isn't just a cookiecutter villain or spy cliche. I've heard Mal'damba might be more morally gray and pretty interesting. I just ... look at the rest, sigh, and go, "I guess."

Balance changes that don't make sense. Champions that still have innate caut at ridiculous levels. Skye having her LMB damage reduced unnecessarily while also losing her 25% movement bonus in Hidden without anything to compensate for her kit being hit so hard. "I guess."

I don't want to feel "I guess." I want to have the same feelings I had for the last twenty patches, excited, ready to go, and continuing my hatred for anyone that picks Lex and Vivian. I'm willing to give the patch a go. I want to keep enjoying Paladins, but I don't want to see the playerbase pick up and leave. I don't want to see people hating on the game. I want to see Paladins succeed. I want a Paladins Worlds 2020. I want to be there for the game, as a community creator, commentator, blogger, or more. I love this game, and I've met a lot of amazing people through it. I've had my audience explode because of it, and I value what I've been given through it.

I just... don't want "I guess."

edit 12/14/17: Touched up a little bit of the grammar and some spelling errors, sorry about that. I was having A Night!

#paladins #paladins champions of the realm #palablog #ob64 #rambling?

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zenosanalytic · 7 years

Text

Discovery: Lethe II

Ok so, first off, I just want to say that this was Everything I ever wanted Trek to be :|

Intimate, ambiguous, detailed examinations of non-human cultures

POLITICS >:] >:] >:]

diplomacy as heroic and dangerous

A Starfleet and Fed where Feelings and mental health are just as important and valued as strategic or tactical concerns.

relationships and The Personal tied directly to principles, institutions, and larger events

exploring relationships, personalities, ethics, and what it means to be alive in the World through symbolic, fantastical situations

positive, life-affirming, sympathetic, casual sex portrayed without objectification or exploitation

tortuously sympathetic villains

damaged people behaving badly and portrayed with nuance and sympathy

Trauma affecting people, affecting the World through people, and people dealing with Trauma in various ways with various levels of success and healthiness

AMANDA!

Sarek being a bad Dad

Sarek being locked in a glass-case of Emotion

People being called out on their Shit

Science officers being all “Fuck it; let’s get Weird!”

Concise, confident, tight sci-fi writing. For example: the basic idea of the mind-meld-machine is established clearly and crisply, and doesn’t degenerate into technobabble, or rely on magic disguised as tech(quantum! nano! tachyons! etc, etc). Everything clinks together, everything runs smoothly, nothing snags, contradicts, or confuses

This ep really impressed me with how incredibly savvy the crew making this show is, and how much they think about how the fanbase will potentially be reacting when they see the eps. There were moments in previous eps like this, but Lethe is repeatedly fan-conscious, and without ever endangering the 4th wall. The “Disco” sweats can be explained -it’d be easy for NBC to promote “Disco” as the preferred nick in the fandom without seeming to- but the writing for Ash in this ep, and how it interacts with the theory that he’s Voq, is just so obviously aware that people would suspect this.

The rest of this got kinda long, so I’m putting it under the cut.

Catching Ash

When Lorcas says “you fight like a Klingon”, Ash responds not by joking or treating it as a compliment(which you might expect given his ingratiating lie about his kill count), but by trying to explain it away and apologize for it, like he was worried by the comment, and in a way -“Klingon guards beating on me for 7 months, I was bound to pick something up”- that emphasizes his awareness and toughness; calculated to appeal to the sort of person Lorca has shown Ash he is. The things he says to Burnham about loss and death; the potential irony of having him, twice in the episode, emphasize and explain humanness; the way his concern for Burnham conveniently ingratiates him to Lorca(by following his orders over the mission) and builds an emotional bond with someone Lorca obvsl considers an asset; all of these have both innocuous and foreboding interpretations. There are even these little subtle touches to his performance that aren’t entirely out of the realm for a human, but oddly Klingon-aggressive: how he hits the table to emphasize the here-and-now when talking to a stranger; his sarcastic dismissiveness towards Tilly and Burnham’s discussion of her emotions. And then there’s his speech about death, failure, and loss to Burnham, something that could have easily come out of the mouth of a Voq trained to act like a human.

Even the title of the episode can be read as playing into this. Titles so far have been thematic; sometimes even used in the episode themselves. Lethe, of course, is the River of Forgetfulness in Greek Myth, on the shores of which the Dead leave the memories of their former life. But who is “Crossing the Lethe” here? Who is doing the forgetting; who is putting their past life behind them? The ep is about Sarek and Michael’s memories and bond, not the denial or loss of them. The final scene in sickbay establishes that Sarek has not forgotten the Meld which saved him in the nebula anymore than the past which binds him to Michael; he lies to avoid the shame of his betrayal, of facing the harm he’d done to Michael(a person he loves), and all the emotions that act and knowledge dredges up in him(not a terribly Vulcan way to behave, lying to avoid consequences).

The point of Michael’s role in all of this is that she hasn’t forgotten any of it. Nor has Lorca forgotten or placed anything behind; his inability to forget and refusal to heal is the engine of his subplot, of his trauma, and of his villainy, in the ep and in the series as a whole. Lorca’s attachment to the Pain he has Chosen drives him to manipulate a friend, to abandon her to torture and degradation, to push, manipulate, and oppress his crew, and to sleep with a phaser under his pillow at night.

But, if Ash is Voq, all this talk about his humanity and about what is is to be human, is a rejection of his Klingonness; a kind of forgetting. It is the final step in a deliberate, decisive setting aside of his past life for the sake of his mission to save and unify the Klingons under T’Kumva’s philosophy. And there’s another aspect to Lethe, too, which could potentially play into this; lethe also means “concealment”, and is the negated element within the Greek word for truth, alethia(lit. “unconcealment, unoblivion, unforgetfulness”). Lorca and Sarek are both concealing and dishonest in this episode but, if Ash is Voq the Torchbearer, it would also apply to him as well. It’s a very nice meta-element to the ep, a kind of non-subplot-subplot, and their deliberate cultivation of it shows an awareness of and desire to engage with the fandom which I appreciate.

Ok, so WOW; that’s a lot of text!, but I’m not done yet.

Our Faces, Our Selves

This ep had some truly great Tilly moments. The gesture she does when she says “personality” was Endearing and characterizing as Hell. Whether it was written in or if Wiseman added it herself, it’s a wonderful example of the non-aggressive physicality her performance has displayed so far. Also -though technically a Burnham moment as well- the contrast between her natural stride and the precise form Michael runs in was both Fun and Great. “Computer, green Juice, extra Green”; Perfect u_u “*whispered* computeraddsalsa... Ohmygod you are so scary!” Magnificent u_u u_u “Oh Kaaay >:|... He actually is, though.” Majestic u_u u_u u_u

The intent to make Cadet Tilly the “Emotional Heart” of the show is extremely obvious, but it actually works because of just how well executed in basically every respect(even something as small as allowing her face to be blotchy and blemished invites audience attachment) it is. And because her personality is basically that of a puppy-dog, and puppies aren’t terribly subtle either, the obvs intent doesn’t grind up against her characterization, or Wiseman’s performance. Her humor is effortless, natural, youthful, and casually disarming. The interlocking web of support between her and Burnham -Burnham teaching her the discipline of excellence and pushing her to pursue it; Tilly engaging her emotionally, sometimes even pushing, without being disrespectful- is convincing, earned through time and interaction, and endearing. That she is simultaneously in awe and protective of Burnham, yet cognizant enough of her weaknesses, and at ease/trusted enough with her, to prompt socialization when she balks out of anxiety, awkwardness, and shame, is entirely believable. And her FACE! The ways Wiseman uses her face, the subtle little things she does, in this episode are just... So Wonderful. I kinda feel like going back over the previous eps just to see if I missed similar work in them.

Frain’s face work as Sarek in this ep is equally impressive. We see more of it in the third contact, but for some reason it’s the stuff in the second contact that stood out most to me. At that point it hasn’t yet been made explicit that Burnham has an incomplete understanding of the event and Sarek’s reactions to it but here -in the minor hesitation and stony, unnatural setting of his jaw and torso as he too slowly turns away from the director; his blinking look and respectful nod to Michael; the blink-and-you-miss-it shaking of his jaw and lips; his emotion-controlling intake of breath before he breaks the bad news; his gulp and the tension in his eyes as he looks at Amanda, the pleading tone as he offers his dishonest explanation; the sorrow on his face and shameful lowering of his head as Burnham asks to leave- we see the first signs that things aren’t as they appear.

And then the third contact. In the initial struggle with Burnham his eyes are particularly important, though the angle obscures them somewhat so this is mostly done through blinking. When she asks “is it worth dying over” there is a flash of stubbornness -he opens his eyes wider, raises his head to look at her straight- followed immediately by a lowering blink and assessing rove of his eyes over her face. As she says “let me in” he blinks and looks down, considering. As he says “I never lost faith in you” he rapidly blinks two or three times, then squints. Finally there’s this little tongue-flick he does on “I will show you”, a mannerism usually associated with consideration or nervousness, that just really stood out and sold his discomfort to me.

Then his talk with the director! When Frain says “Acceptance with honors is her due” there is this wonderful chain of expressions, starting with a raise of the eyes and forehead on “Acceptance” and ending with a slight clench and drawing back, then jutting of the jaw on “due” that just screams pride, assurance, and arrogance. Sarek knew that, by the logical terms of Vulcan society, Burnham had more than earned her place. Then the blinking drawing back of his head at encountering the Director’s racism; his contained, hidden affront at not just the personal insult to his child, and thus to himself, but at the illogic of the Director’s bigotry, yet obviously too common and accepted to challenge publicly if he can voice it so openly to someone of such high social rank. So Sarek dodges the subject; moves it back away from race and the personal onto ideological grounds, hoping to turn the situation around by trapping the Director in the essential contradictions of his position while subtly seeking to defuse his anti-human bias by dehumanizing Burnham via discussing her as a work rather than a person. His face conveys this too; he turns and dips very slightly it to the left, looking partially side-eyed and from under his brow at the Director, conveying cleverness but also a self-satisfaction, as if he’s looking both at the Director, and above him at his vision of wedding Human and Vulcan cultures. The Director out-maneuvers him by turning his argument around; bringing Spock into the discussion. At “Twice” Frain snaps his head up, as if struck. Questioning Spock’s relevance his head shakes, his eyes tighten. At “Non-Vulcan” Frain gives an almost relieved negation, shaking his head, closing his eyes with brows angled down, saying “Spock is” only to be cut off by “Half-Vulcan”. Then the deepest cut; the Director, smirking, goes on to call Spock “another one of your Experiments”, not only insulting him by dehumanizing his children, but also through sarcastic irony; the Director’s tone and face expresses a suspicion Sarek is emotionally attached to them, thus his statements are also mocking these “unVulcan” feelings Sarek might have for them. And then Frain’s wiggle of the lips and blank eyes at “not-quite-Vulcans” just... DAMN!

Ok that bit was... also very long, so I’ll stop there X| But, like I said, EXCELLENT face work, both enough to convey to the humans watching his feelings, and the sort of Vulcan disciplined suppression Trek fans would expect, and I was really impressed by it. But before moving on, I just want to point out a clear but subtle irony here. Green’s performance as Burnham is far more controlled in her reactions to witnessing this racism and anguished betrayal, keeping it mostly to her eyes, and the ever-present tension between her brows. The rest of Green/Burnham’s face remains disciplined and contained in a way Frain/Sarek’s does not, nor that of the Director. Basically, her self-possession out-Vulcans both of the Vulcans present, disproving the Director’s racist arguments. Just really excellent physicality in this ep, even on the smallest details.

Sympathy for the Devil

This was a really great ep for Lorca, too.

I feel like it’s pretty clear that Lorca’s the central villain of Discovery(as much as any one person is “The Villain” rather than nebulous concepts like “misunderstanding” and “arrogance” and “cultural chauvinism”), but he’s a very well and ambiguously written, sympathetic villain. That, inevitably, invites the audience to sympathize with him and forget that he’s the villain. With the Tardigrade set free and Spore-Drive Displacements no longer getting top-billing it’s been awhile since the audience has seen him directly harm other people. It’s been two weeks since we saw him goad his crew by playing the anguished, fearful, dying screams of human colonists over the com. And last week we saw him being friendly with SF Command, being captured, having his weaknesses taken advantage of to torture him, and seeming to think his way out of a terrible situation with insight and daring. We also saw him betrayed by Mudd, and learned his tragic backstory. All of this invites sympathy, and the forgetting of his past misdeeds.

And at first the ep reinforces that. We see him testing and extending his trust to Ash, showing concern for Burnham, risking his ship to both save a long-loved character(Sarek) and protect the protagonist, and finally reconnecting with an old friend through nostalgia and positive, respectful, mutual affection.

But under all of this -except re: Burnham and Sarek- there is a disturbing tremor. The angry, cold and calculating way he crushes that cookie; his private order to Ash; how quickly and masterfully he makes his meeting with Cornwall about their friendship, then escalates its intimacy, step by seducing step. And, just as inevitably, that tremor eventually explodes into a quake that shakes it all down. Rather symbolically(this series LOVES symbolism ^u^) it is Cornwall’s tracing of his scars which triggers his breakdown. In an instant his facade of control collapses, and Lorca goes from driven and in-control to a shaken man on the edge of breaking, sweat-sheened and begging not to lose his ship.

His trauma, in itself, only sympathizes him more of course, and how he deals with it -suppression and bluster when he can hide it, frantic deal-making and pleas when it is revealed- does so as well, to a point. Lorca is revealed once more as a manipulator, but he hasn’t yet harmed anyone. His renewed professions of concern and respect for Burnham sound like Sarek’s manipulations in reverse, but it takes the last scene -the camera panning to focus on his phaser after Lorca had abandoned Cornwall to the Klingons, paraphrasing her own words to justify it to Saru, the audience knowing that she was the only person who knew how far he had fallen and could remove him from command- to retroactively make them, and his scenes with Burnham at the start of the ep, Sinister. By casting aside an ally, friend, and lover the moment she became a threat to his power and ambition, the show reminds the audience of just how villainous and dangerous this tormented man truly is.

There’s a lot more to talk about here -I particularly think this was a very insightful episode about how this show conceives of Vulcan culture- but I think I’ll give the other issues their own posts.

#Star Trek #ST: Discovery #Lethe(Episode)#Lieutenant Ash Tyler #Sylvia Tilly #Sarek #Captain Gabriel Lorca #zA's Outside Viewing #zA's Trenchant Literary Criticism #TV Shows #Acting #ST: Disc Theories #ST: Disc Analysis #analytic posts

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liquidhunny · 6 years

Text

“Thank you” to my duo partner

This is a letter that I NEVER posted or go to send to Jihoon... I’ve written this draft MONTHS (August) in advanced .. I just didn’t have the heart to send this before or today when he actually left for training.. See you in 2 years..

His PM to me before he left tonight: https://twitter.com/hunnybaes/status/927380137217101826

My response to it, but he never got to see since I was too late..: https://twitter.com/hunnybaes/status/927388378798071808

Have to say that no matter how insanely bad this game is, I’m glad LoL got us to even meet.. league bonds many friendships, and I’m really grateful Jihoon is a part of my life.

----

**Letter to my long distance duo partner // best friend**

We’ve known each other (online) for 2 years already, and I feel alot of things have gone unsaid. I talk to you every chance I get on facebook.. and it really means alot to me that you’re doing ok. TI started to remember the day we met..through “League of Legends” and we were somehow pushed into a Skype call within friends of friends. I remember how we added each other.. you claimed yourself the greatest Ekko main, and deemed yourself the BEST Wukong jungler back in that meta. Its funny how .. we’ve come so far as friends. Even tho you are not in my ADC in game, you still back me up in game no matter what role. Take any role, I’ll still be the support and save your ass instead of my own ADC keke

I remember the day when we talked about esports-- comparing yourself to Faker, the same day Easyhoon had the same irl name to you (and I compared you to him despite whining you were “just like Faker” in NA). We bought each other skins on league, you convinced me to play rpg or Overwatch while you were in Korea during break so we would still do the most “duo” thing possible lol I have the memories where we would actually fight and yell at each other, and blamed each other if we did something wrong personally to losing a ranked game. I love the fact that after that charade, we would make up and go back doing what we do best: just keep playing co-op games with each other. I actually had fun teaching you some words that you didn’t know yet.

I also have to thank you my duo.. that you were there for me through thick and thin. You were there for me when I was dumped..even though you told me I should have put my foot down first..but I ended up doing the cowardly thing and let my feelings eat me inside. Venting to each other on our own personal matters. I felt like you get me.. how I feel .. It made me love you as my best friend.

I still remember when you FINALLY made it to Gold last year on the league season border deadline..and I remember you called me half-asleep proudly claiming you made it with nonstop grinding ranked games. I remember when you were debating which university to go to before you graduated high school. I remember the day while you were back at home, you decided to get a job and saved up for a laptop before heading back to the U.S. for Wisconsin University. You made sure it was compatible to play league wherever you go and still do homework with it. As days go by, I remembered the day you told me you had to sign up for the military service back at your motherland (since you were past due, and personal issues).. I braced myself for that moment since you would be leaving me in May. The week you were about to leave, that day what I felt like that was the last time I would have a conversation with you, you gave me good news: I got to have you and play league with you till next year. Bad news was: you could no longer visit me in California. As long you got to stay here longer, I took what I got.

2 weeks ago, was when you said you had to leave earlier than expected. Yet again, my heart dropped. I didn’t think you would have to go so soon. You said you had to get your airplane ticket soon.. I remember saying I would try to make it as Twitch Partner//Affiliate and make it to Gold with you in ranked before you left. I only finished 1 out of the 2 promises I made..I just got made into to Twitch Affiliate..I felt proud to tell you my hard work accomplishment too.

Even with all these memories and you don’t start your service till 2 or 3 months now, I just want to say THANK YOU for all the memories. I have recorded vods from my stream back when we play ranked and tried to show off your Talon. This letter looks like I’m saying Goodbye to you, but its not. It’s just that I’m going to miss playing league with you for a whole 2 years. I’ll miss you. Best of luck in your service. Come back to me ok?

#personal #league of legends #letter #best friend #memories #thank you #rant

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elizabethrobertajones · 7 years

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Am I the only one that doesn't want mopey, grieving Dean drinking his sorrows away? I want Purgatory Dean, hellbent on finding and saving his angel and fuck you if you get in the way. I want him to fight for Cas, determined to finally, at long last, be the one that saves him. I think we compare Dean and Cas' relationship with Dean and Sam's too much without taking in account the different history that shaped them. Also, Cas has been saved via deus ex machina too many times by now.

I would like to see both, tbh. We’ve had Purgatory and we know Dean WOULD fight for Cas. And we had season 7 but it was sort of accidental that Dean’s depression and drinking were linked to Cas and Cas came back, because at least initially he was genuinely mourning a character who wasn’t coming back and it was written in such a way because Dean’s loss was resonant because Cas wasn’t coming back.

I’m not saying that they don’t write real grief when they know the character is coming back, such as when Sam or Dean mourn each other, but by having Cas gone for like 15 episodes and at least some of them with the writers knowing he was gone, Cas was an obvious factor in Dean’s sadness and it wasn’t caged in anything, really. The only thing is they had 100s of reasons for them to be depressed that season and took away *everything* and gave them a load of other stuff to worry about on the side, so Dean’s sadness wasn’t targeted right on Cas, because he had to worry about everything else too. 7x01 was the only episode where his feelings were mostly targeted on Cas, before he even lost him, when he was the current problem to solve.

I think it was nice that over season 11 Dean stopped drinking while he was working on saving Cas, because he was seriously focused and motivated to save him. But he had something to swing at there, some reason to “keep grinding” - if he feels Cas is lost in such a way he can’t be brought back, it would be interesting to see season 7 equivalent grief written in this current narrative where Dean’s feelings for Cas are so incredibly front and centre when they interact, and though they have other stuff to worry about, say Jack’s powers mean more useful dimension hopping and plus a sense that Mary wouldn’t just *die* and she’s lost in the way of Sam not looking for Dean in purgatory - another realm but one you may or may not be able to crack… She’s not *dead* gone, she’s just *gone*. Anyway, it would be interesting to see Dean take this grief full on because he doesn’t know how to bargain his way out of it and they KNOW angel blades are such a final way to kill something. It has this air of weight to it that your run of the mill death doesn’t really have.

And if Cas’s death seems final to him AND they have a ton of other problems, mourning Cas would be very interesting to see him break over it like season 7 but in a way where the narrative is more intentional. I mean like, yeah, how many times can he mourn his friend, but… Eh. I don’t know. If they’re going for angst they might as well go all the way. I’m not precious about Dean getting horrifically hurt or going to bad places in the name of the story because I find that makes the characters significantly more interesting to talk about, and I feel like Dean has completed essentially his entire point as a character per his original set up by confronting Mary, and is now in a gentle retirement to wipe up whatever’s left on the plate, which to me is essentially the subtextual performing!Dean stuff being visually resolved in a way not just meta writers can see like the grenade launcher did, although I kind of consider that resolved too in the sense that 12x22 finished baking Dean and he’s just left to be iced with whatever comes next for him.

Fresh raw angst on top of New And Improved Dean Winchester Who Is Somewhat At Peace With His Family seems like a great way to test him and his behaviour, and he HASN’T had his alcoholism magically cured and it’s not like he’s learned coping mechanisms, he’s just got an inner peace now about SOME things, so this is all from a totally different direction than the family realignment that needed to happen - this is his romantic subplot resolution, essentially, trope wise >.>

And it’s like, his last space to be truly messed up if we’ve resolved the core of Dean’s family angst to a significant degree. Making good with your mother’s death and letting your brother grow up is GREAT and that was 2 of the hugest things Dean ever did but it just means the core blood related family have realigned and fixed their dynamic. Cas as the found family element didn’t resolve HIS feelings about the Winchesters - rather self-destructed literally AND metaphorically on the guardian angel thing, which has been a BAD stance for him because as 12x19 showed it’s NOT how to be integrated into the family and causes all their problems. Dean likewise hasn’t come to terms with his bisexuality or being in love with Cas, truly, because they’re not together. So it’s his big unresolved source of anything huge and unspoken in the way that ALL the family stuff got literally spoken at last this season.

I’m not saying they’ll obviously make it canon or anything, but this is Dean’s remaining drama llama card to play, so… I expect the most drama llama-ing Dean can do about it :P

#Asks #this is such a bundle of mixed metaphors in a kettle #oh well #season 13 speculation #season 13 wishlist #destiel #dean analysis

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appreciatedanhowell · 7 years

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It's So Meta Even This Acronym

"What, you expect us to say something in summary? You haven't even written the damn story yet," Dan said, scowling.

"Come on, play along," Phil urged, "There's no reason to get on their bad side."

"I'm not helping them peddle this stupid thing."

"I think you just did."

Chapter one

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: strong language

Read on ao3

Excerpt: Dan poured himself cereal and headed to the lounge, where he flopped onto the couch. He couldn't watch anything new—Phil wasn't up, and probably wouldn't be for a few hours. He settled for an old episode of Steven Universe and started on his cereal.

A couple of episodes had played when he realized he was staring at the screen without seeing anything. His bowl was empty, sitting on the coffee table. Again, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What had gotten into him? He felt strange the past few days, but it just kept getting worse. Every moment was worse than the last: fuzziness, confusion, disorientation. Maybe he was getting sick.

Dan sat in his sofa crease, scrolling through tumblr. He had a word document in another window, so he could claim he was writing a script for a video. He scowled as he came across another “rip Dani Snot On Fire” joke. He was really beginning to regret the rebranding. It had seemed so necessary, but it turned out to be so much work. Changing all his social media, changing the links in all his video descriptions, contacting everyone he'd ever done a collab with to ask them to change his information. Maybe he should keep the placentas in the trash but give up on Daniel Howell. It would be months before anyone really knew him as that name…if they ever did. That stupid teenage screen name might stick with him for life, no matter how hard he tried.

He sighed loudly, hoping for sympathy from the man on the other side of the couch. But Phil was absorbed in something on his own laptop and didn't seem to hear. He was still in Star Wars pajamas and Dan had to recheck the time. It was three in the afternoon. They'd been slipping into the habit of slobbing around, sometimes not even changing into real clothes.

Dan realized he'd thought the word “pajamas” instead of “pyjamas”. He shook his head slightly; he'd been spending too much time on the American-dominated internet. He found himself using ‘miles’ and ‘dollars’, too. There was no escaping the Americanisms. Maybe he'd do a video about that. He was certain someone had made a compilation video of every time he used an Imperial measurement or American word. He opened his document of video ideas and jotted it down. He frowned. It was thin, but maybe he could at least shitpost about it.

He stood up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing two glasses of Ribena. He frowned as he walked back to the living room. Wasn't he supposed to be decoupling himself from Ribena? He couldn't—

Wait. He'd said living room. Had he ever said that before in his life? It was the lounge.

He sat the two glasses down on the coffee table. It caught Phil's attention and he mumbled a thanks before grabbing it and drinking. He was actually writing a script for a video. Dan took another drink then stared blankly at his screen.

The day stretched on. Dan started looking for games for their next video. Phil tapped away at his script. There was evening, and there was morning. Tuesday.

Wednesday saw Dan wake up unusually early. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and groaned. Why was he up at—he checked his phone—seven in the morning? There was no reason for this stupid consciousness.

He gave up with a sigh and threw off his greyscale bedcovers. There was no use sitting in bed trying to sleep when he clearly wasn't tired. He shivered as he sat shirtless. It was unseasonably cool for…fall? He frowned. It had taken him several seconds to remember what season it was. What was going on with him lately?

He got dressed—okay, so it was only a t-shirt and sweatpants. But it was better than pajamas. He ran his fingers through his hair and brushed his teeth. Staring into the mirror, he frowned at himself. It had been a weird couple weeks and his face was showing it. Purplish bags sat under his eyes and he looked paler than he should. He splashed water on his face and some color returned to his cheeks. But his complexion was definitely less olive and more pink than usual—he looked like Phil.

Shaking his head, he flipped the light off and shuffled to the kitchen. He poured himself cereal and headed to the lounge, where he flipped on the television. He couldn't watch anything new—Phil wasn't up, and probably wouldn't be for a few hours. He settled for an old episode of Steven Universe and started on his cereal.

He opened his laptop and pulled up his email, intending to respond to business emails. He had gotten through exactly two when he decided he was fed up with them. There were a few too many pointed “Daniel Howell”s to be entirely professional. Why wouldn't people leave him alone about it?

He logged into his Internet Support Group email for shits and giggles. There were hundreds of thousands of unread messages. But these ones weren't overwhelming. He was under no obligation to answer any of them.

He tried to pick earnest ones to read. The funny ones were best read and reacted to on camera. But he probably wasn't doing another ISG for months anyway, and he liked he use relatively fresh ones when he did, so what did it matter? Whatever. He clicked on another with the subject “Should I go to grad school?”

It explained that this student had just finished her degree and was planning on going to a four-year graduate school. But she was feeling burned out. But there were literally no jobs available in her field with only a bachelor's degree. After a lengthy explanation, she said she had been listening to everyone's advice. Her sister told her to stay in school, but a close friend told her to take a break. And somebody once told me—

Dan broke out laughing. He couldn't stop himself—they'd caught him completely off guard. He wiped the corners of his eyes and starred the email to show Phil.

As if on cue, soft thuds echoed down the hall. Phil was tired, he'd seen that Dan was awake, and so he didn't care that he was all but stomping. He fixed himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal and made his way blearily into the lounge.

“Couldn't sleep,” he mumbled by way of explanation. He looked it. His glasses were askew, his hair rumpled, and his mouth set stiffly, as though he'd been grinding his teeth.

“Sorry,” Dan said, moving the television remote to beside Phil's bowl. “Anything you want to watch?”

“This’s fine,” he nodded at the screen and pressed a button to resume the episode that Dan had paused.

Dan considered showing him the ISG email he'd read, but figured that he'd wait until Phil woke up a little. He wasn't known for his early-morning sense of humor. No, even on the tour, his raven-haired friend—

Dan actually snorted out loud.

“Hmm?” Phil said, not bothering with a full question. Dan shrugged off the feeling of déjà vu.

“Have you ever noticed the fandom leaking into your real life?” Dan asked him. Phil looked blankly at him, so he continued. “Like when you see something on tumblr or read something in fanfiction enough times that you start to incorporate it into the way you think?”

“I don't think so,” Phil said, frowning a little in thought. His voice was still gravelly with sleep. “What happened?”

“I just referred to you as my ‘raven-haired friend’ in my internal monologue,” Dan said, halfway between amused and embarrassed.

“What the heck,” Phil said, laughing. “Stop reading so much fanfic.”

“I know, I know,” Dan said, “Besides, that would require us being friends.” Phil stuck his tongue out at Dan, who just laughed.

“You know, maybe I get it,” Phil said after a moment of thought, “I've seen you portrayed so many times that sometimes I catch myself thinking you're a nice person.”

“What a crock of shit, you never think that.”

“I did once.”

“Psh, when?”

“Do you think I would have wanted to meet you if I knew you were such a dick?”

Dan reached over and kicked Phil. Not hard enough to hurt, though. Maybe.

The more years that passed, the more they were comfortable teasing each other. They'd grown more secure in their partnership and they'd both become more confident; Dan from 2009 would have been devastated to hear his idol call him a dick.

Then again, Dan thought, 2009 Dan wouldn't have thought his idol would prank him with habanero gummy bears. Or put a banana peel down the back of his shirt on camera. He still hadn't gotten revenge on Phil for that. He'd have to come up with something fittingly awful, but still believable…

Dan spent a few seconds staring at Phil's profile as the latter scrolled away on his laptop. Phil looked tired too. His jaw was still tight. It looked like he'd had several bad nights in a row. Maybe the new house had a gas leak too, Dan thought bitterly. At least it would explain why he felt so strange.

“We should do something,” Dan said suddenly.

“Like what? Why?” Phil asked, surprised, as he looked up from his laptop.

“I don’t know,” Dan admitted, “Something. We’ve been cooped up for too long. It’s weird.”

“We just came back from Vidcon,” Phil reminded him, “Traveling halfway around the world and back isn’t exactly cooped up. And since when do you have a problem staying inside all day?”

“Since the tour,” Dan said, “It’s just one giant letdown since then. Relaxing was good for a while. Now it just feels like nothing.”

“Okay, then, what do you suggest we do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, let me know when you have an idea.”

“Come on, I know you’re just humoring me. Don’t you want to do something? I feel like I’m imploding.”

Phil sighed and closed his laptop. “Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what you’re on about. You’ve been happy to stay put for months now. Did something change?”

“I don’t know,” Dan admitted, rubbing his forehead, “I feel strange. Like something is different or there’s something in the air. I was kind of hoping you’d know what I mean.”

“Tell you what,” Phil said, “I have the next game picked out. We’ll shoot a gaming video then do something. Get out of the house. Whatever you’d like.”

“Can’t we do it now?"

“No. Work comes first.”

Dan groaned. “Yes, Dad.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“I’ll stop when you stop acting like a dad,” Dan said. He pulled himself off the sofa and started to walk to his room.

“I wouldn’t have to act like a dad if you acted like an adult,” Phil said to his back. Dan looked back and stuck his tongue out at Phil. “You’re proving me right!” Phil said, laughing. He, too, had to drag himself up and to his bedroom.

The gaming video went badly. Humorously badly, hopefully. They’d played GeoGuessr and probably offended a wide variety of viewers. They were both well-traveled; who’d have thought they would do so utterly horribly? Dan had bragged about doing geography at A level and then failed spectacularly. But it was a Dan vs Phil and Phil wouldn’t let his win go to waste, so they’d just have to hope that no one was legitimately offended.

Phil turned the camera off and plugged it in to let the footage upload to the computer.

“So, you wanted to go somewhere?” He asked Dan.

“What about the park?” Dan suggested.

“You hate the park,” Phil pointed out, frowning.

“I changed my mind. Just for a bit, okay? Then we’ll order in tonight.”

“Pizza. And you’re paying.”

“Fine,” Dan said, “But we’re leaving right now. So you can’t weasel out of this.” He walked out of the room to put his shoes on.

“What is with you?” Phil asked to his back, shaking his head.

He followed Dan and shoved his shoes on. The younger man waited at the door, bouncing slightly, impatient. When Phil was ready, they stepped out and began the walk. The wind bit at Dan’s face, but he’d left his jacket at home intentionally.

Maybe if he got cold enough, he’d remember how much he hated being outside. He’d want to go back in and hibernate with his laptop. He’d stop being so restless. Or maybe the fresh air would revive him. He wasn’t sure which he wanted more. Anything to stop this bizarre ambiance that apparently only he could feel.

#phanfiction #dan and phil #fanfiction #writing #daniel howell #amazingphil #phil lester #dan howell #chaptered #phandom #plz give me validation #this is the first i've written in a while #and the first writing i've ever posted on tumblr

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pretty-eyes-jaeger · 7 years

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Thoughts on SNK 90.

This is honestly just me giving my thoughts and reactions. There is little theoretically merit, but some if you squint, (and most of it is reiterations of theoretical things I’ve said before.) You most certainly don’t have to read this cause my opinion matters 0%. But I wanted to say something, so here it is.

First of all, good things.

Historia is the best queen ever and is doing such a good job.

The kids finally seeing the ocean made my heart so happy. Sasha and Connie pulling Jean down with them into the water? Best panel I’ve seen in a while. EMA smiling at the waves and shells? Yes. Life is good. We got our beach episode, friends. Let’s celebrate that.

Now on to the more reflective piece of this post.

At first, the time skip and the end of the titans left me a bit jarred. It felt too fast, too simple for the way the story’s been going. But in retrospect, it probably makes sense. The real threats now are not the “normal” titans anymore; it’s Zeke and the Marley Warriors across the ocean, poised to attack Paradise or whatever the island is called. This marks the end of the first fight: getting out of the walls. Now that fight has given way to a larger one: getting off the island.

Now, I will say that I’m still a little unhappy with that larger fight, solely because I fell in love with the series in which the titans were the end-all, be-all “bad guys,” and there weren’t any war dynamic going on and what not. But now that we’re progressing down this path, I’m learning to get on board with it. We still have titans to fight, (Reiner, Zeke, their other friends perhaps.) And that battle should be good when we get there.

Another key moment: Flocke’s speech. He voiced an argument that’s been raging on this website for months: Did Armin deserve to live?

Flocke’s opinion is not out of line, I think. He’s the only one who survived Erwin’s death charge. He’s the one who dragged Erwin’s mostly dead body to Levi. He has that same fighting spirit as Eren and Marlo; he just has his own set of principles that clearly differ from Eren’s. His reasoning is legitimate: Why did Captain Levi sacrifice our brilliant commander for this kid? Now, Flocke does not know Armin. He does not know about Armin’s involvement in Trost, the 57th expedition, the fight in Shinganshina (the city proper, that is,) or anything else. So yeah, he’s gonna be upset that he dragged Erwin to that roof only for the commander to die because he looked up to Erwin and believed that the man who led the charge for so long deserved to live.

Levi’s silence on the matter is interesting. We all expected Eren to react of course. But Levi had a moment where he could’ve jumped in and explained his reasoning to the kids. Levi did not try to justify his choice, though. He didn’t say anything, letting Flocke speak instead. Levi’s always been very judicious with his words. He doesn’t say much; he’s more a man of action. But his whole person looks weighed down, most likely with grief of losing someone so close to him, or guilt at letting Erwin die, or even just exhaustion from the burden of everything he’s dealing with (including Erwin, the final mission, the basement, telling the public, etc.) Yet, even though it’s clear he’s upset, I don’t think Levi wholly regrets his decision. Erwin went into Shinganshina ready to die, prepared to give up his life for the cause. Levi let him have that, let him die on the battlefield in glory. Levi gave Erwin what he wanted: freedom from this cruel world. Therefore, he can’t wholly regret his decision.

And Armin’s agreement with Flocke is also warranted: Armin’s never been all that confident in his abilities regardless of his skills. He’s always felt a little unimportant, questioned his place. And the kid’s probably very confused right now, you know, with the whole weight of eating another human being on his shoulders. I’m sure we’ll have some fun scenes regarding that knowledge eventually.

Which leads me to the rant portion of this reflection:

The thing that’s been grinding my gears so much, mostly reading meta/reaction posts not even the chapter, is that ERWIN ISN’T THE ONLY ONE WHO DIED IN SHINGANSHINA. If we’re going to ignore the fact that Bertholdt died to keep Armin alive, if we’re not going to talk about that at all, then Erwin doesn’t get a funeral either.

I’m still really mad that throughout the whole serum debate, VERY FEW PEOPLE recognized that we were losing two major characters. Everyone’s eyes were focused on Armin and Erwin; few saw that Bertholdt was dying regardless. Maybe that’s my bias because Bertholdt was/is my favorite character. But maybe that’s why I’m so passionate about this. If I can still enjoy the series when my favorite character is not only dead but ignored by most of the fandom, I think all you Erwin fans can learn to get over it too. Maybe that’s insensitive to say, I recognize that. But it’s not that I don’t sympathize with you, I do, cause I lost my favorite too. And it would be really nice if we could mourn the two equally.

Besides, you get your Erwin closure with Levi and Hanji and even Flocke’s speech. We Bertholdt fans have nothing since Reiner’s out of the picture for now and Annie’s still in her crystal and it’s clear that none of the main 104th had much of an opinion on watching him die. No one’s mourned our boy yet. But life goes on.

Is this super relevant to the chapter? No. But I think about this with every chapter I read. We still have no Titan Trio backstory when they were the first “antagonists” introduced. We’re still guessing at their motivations and pasts and thoughts, while the main characters continue to villanize them on account of their actions. Actions are not necessarily in line with a person’s thinking. Yes, the Titan Trio have done bad things. But they are not bad people. They are children who want to go home, like EMA. They are children who have been forced to do terrible things, most likely brainwashed from birth to believe that murdering the people of the walls is an act of heroism. These three are some of the most complex and sympathetic characters in the series, and yet they are often written off as evil or ignored in favor of the main characters.

That’s another thing I want to comment on quick. I “love” (read the opposite of that) seeing posts that Armin’s going to turn “evil” now that he has Bertholdt’s memories. First, I don’t think Armin can access Bertholdt’s memories. That’s a thing that happens because of the coordinate and progenitor titan and royal bloodline, all of which Armin does not have. Second, Bertholdt is NOT evil. He’s done evil things, yes, but he’s just a shy teenager trying to survive. He is not inherently bad. Bertholdt’s memories aren’t going to turn anyone evil, they would only help Armin better understand his motivations and reasoning for doing what he did. Seeing Bertholdt’s memories would make him more sympathetic not only to the audience, but most likely the characters as well.

The other pieces missing are Ymir and Annie. Annie will most certainly come up later, I know she will, and I’m really interested to see how that goes down. I want to see how she reacts to everything that’s happened. I want to see what they tell her and what information they withhold. I want to see her reaction to the fate of Bertholdt and Reiner and their mission. I want to just see Annie again and where her story will go.

Then there’s Ymir. Part of me thinks she’s dead. Another part refuses to believe that. Either way, some closure would be nice. Even if she is dead, I want to know how it happened, and I hope it was the most Ymir-worthy death she could have.

#lauren just rambles about the latest chapter and inevitably gets into fav character discourse #snk 90 #snk thoughts #snk #wooooooooooo

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