#and then when their fanbase thought of a far more reasonable explanation they acted like we were crazy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mariaiscrafting · 3 years

Note

ahhhh ty ty ty <3

ok, so I think that what makes Dream act this way (iykyk) is how dreamwastaken became so big so quickly. and by quick I mean fucking lightning speed.

he didn't have enough time to learn enough about cc etiquette, especially in these three aspects: influence, boundaries and fanbase/stans/whatever you call it. I'll try to explain it:

• Influence: Does he know the influence he has? Like, when he hears that he is the myct with the largest fanbase, does he really process that? I remember he talked about not being able to control all of his fanbase and there's bad apples everywhere -- which is true, and that only like 1% of his fanbase breaks his boundaries (that include sending hate for him, harassing, doxing, etc. yk, basic twitter culture lol) but, honey, with your big ass fanbase, 1% is still a lot of people. As a content creator you *have* to be aware of that.

let's take the hbomb situation. First off, as a streamer, it's you that set the mood of the stream. Even if he was only messing around with his pals, even if they did say to do not send hate to hbomb, dt dunking on him created a toxic environment, which caused his fans being toxic towards hbomb and you know what happens next. Hell, when this happened, I was watching Tapl and he was watching them and he was crying laughing over them screaming bc they were just. so loud and so aggressive that it was kinda ??? Sirs, this is literally a Minecraft Stream lmaooo

my point is, that was not the road that dreamwastaken, 21M fans, should've taken. he don't condone his fans actions but he knows his fans are diehard and will always be on his side, he should be more careful before stating negative opinions, especially if its towards another person.

• Boundaries and Fanbase: He posted a list of his boundaries a while ago, idk if you know or seen it (btw please george copy your bestie for the love of god <3) but I'm not talking about those boundaries, I'm talking about the basic boundaries between cc and viewer. boundaries that, in my opinion, should exist between cc and viewer. I get that Dream is an open person, an oversharing type of open person if I may add, but I think he should take a step back regardless. When I heard that he was taking a time from twitter, I genuinely got so glad, not because he couldn't start any drama then, but because it would do so so good for his mental health. I'm not even that fond of him, it's just that for me, any cc taking a break or outright leaving twitter is a win for me. I know how RSD is hard to deal and honestly letting shit out it's better but dream you have dt you have bbh so please don't make things worse online 😭 I know how good can be to feel validation from millions of people but. it's not a good idea, especially in the state that his fanbase is on rn (this topic is kinda sensitive to talk abt for me bc people be outright ableist and hide it as criticism like. say that shit's not helping his reputation and whatever without acting like he's fucking. manipulating his fanbase for being affected by his rsd💀 or, on the other hand, don't say that hes just being adhd🤪 when he's just being an asshole like damn that's a Him thing bro lol)

(omg it's so big I'm so sorry and theres a part two I'm so sorry tumblr user messed-up-gal ToT) - morango 1/2

pt. 2:

Dream is the proof that the people who loves you can be your downfall. istg. Have you noticed that every drama that Dream enters, people usually get more mad abt how his fanbase reacts (85% they'll react in a bad way) than Dream himself? it's not always, but its definitely more likely. I'm not saying Dream is saint, he Is petty and his ego does him dirty and made him choke multiple times before,, But! i dont think hes a bad guy. he's literally just a dude. ok, he's a 21yr old white gamer man that has a trumpie past (maybe?? idk. I think hes cured now ig lol) so he's bound to do some shitty things but he still tries to get better and hopefully he'll mature. 21 is old enough but it's still so young, yk? I kind of lost my mind during the end and my eyes are literally begging to be closed so tl;dr: Its gonna be hard for him to become a better cc bc his fans don't let him be criticized (by infantilizing his adhd symptoms or the mob mentality as soon as someone says anything abt him), the honest criticism get lost between lies from antis that don't know shit, he still has a lot of growing up to do and overall he became famous too fast and he needs to learn things even faster bc as soon as there's not a single one dream hater on sight they'll turn their back and attack him instead lmao I hate twitter i definitely have more to say but I'm tired and my memory is shit. just-- hate dream if you want, love dream if you want, nobody is obligated to have an opinion but I wanted to express mine. have a lovely day! -morango 2/2

Aight, there's a lot to unpack here, so Imma try to only go into the points I have something to add to (here's what I talk about in each paragraph, if you want to jump to a specific point):

Speed of Dream's rise to fame

The "bad apples" in the Dream fanbase

Post-MCC HBomb stream

Not condoning versus actually condemning his fans

Manipulation & RSD

Criticism of Dream, his fanbase, and his brand

The “just a dude” argument, flipped

First, I agree that one of the many factors that has resulted in the current image Dream has set up for himself, the way his fanbase functions, the ways people hate on him, and the way the Dream brand functions, is the speed of his rise to fame. It's unique, and there are probably a hundred social/psychological angles that could be used to examine the exact effects of that speed upon all of these facets of the Dream Name; did rapid fame beget the rapid rise of unrighteous hatred, did those waves of hatred then instigate the rise of a surprisingly overdefensive fanbase, did that rapid fame get to his head and/or result in an inability to appropriately handle all the after-effects of rapid fame, etc.? That point you bring up, about how the speed of his rise to fame requires him to learn even more quickly, is so interesting to me. I think that maybe Dream expected to get pretty famous pretty quickly, hence the preparedness in regards to some mechanics of influencer fame- merchandise, business-building, networking, knowing how to manage his fanbase to best benefit him. But I don't think he expected to get this famous this quickly. This is all speculation of course, as are this entire post and your ask, but I think that he just couldn't anticipate having to learn how to handle enmasse controversy, waves of antis, or every Youtuber speculating/knowing about him; and yeah, that results in him having to learn all of these things very quickly, lest he allow his whole brand and fandom to fall apart.

Second, I disagree with the frequent argument that Dream's fanbase is only marginally toxic. Personally, I think that the circumstances of Dream's fame, his personality and management of his fanbase, and his brand of content have resulted in the very specific kind of stan that Dream stans are. I don't think this is simply a case of "all fandoms have a small percentage of assholes who take it too far;" rather, the nature of the community itself breeds the kind of mentality of "an asshole who takes it too far." I only even know this because I was a Dream fan (kinda a stan, I'm ngl). At one time, I watched every single Dreamwastaken & Dream Team video multiple times; I listened to the Manhunts on repeat, as though they were podcasts; I followed mostly smiletwt and dttwt accounts on mcyttwt; I had upwards of 10 tabs for AO3 DNF fics open on my phone at a time; I watched DNF and Dream Team Being A Family-esque compilations on repeat; I watched every George and Sapnap alt stream I possibly could; I went out of my way to defend Dream against Redditors and Twitter antis regarding the cheating scandal. For the latter half of 2020, and a couple months of 2021, I lived and breathed this part of the fandom; so when I say that Dream stans are a whole other breed than any other kind of mcyttwt stan, I say that because I used to be like that, too. I usually use parasocial very loosely or ironically, but Dream stans are genuinely one of the most parasocial fanbases I have ever seen or been a part of. The level of investment Dream stans have in this man's life, the lengths they will go to to defend him, the amount of psychonalysis and digging they do on his life and character, the amount of emotion he can evoke in them- it's taken to another level, man. This isn't just characteristic of a fraction of his fanbase; this is what the fanbase is like as a whole.

Third, I partially disagree with your take on the HBomb thing, but not in the way one might think? I actually empathize with the way they reacted much more than I thought I would, simply because I suspect I have RSD (also suspect I have ADHD, have for several months now) and I can see myself getting insanely frustrated because of something like that. Like yeah, it was "just a MC stream" or "just an MC game," but that's kinda disregarding the fact that something that might seem like "just a [insert inconsequential thing]" to a rational mind might have a major emotional consequence/take a major emotional toll on someone with RSD, or really anyone who gets easily impatient/angry about video games (Sapnap reminds me of many of my friends, in that way). The issues I, personally, had with the way they handled the HBomb situation is that these are simply explanations and reasons for my empathy; they are not excuses. I have no excuse when I get irrationally angry about something inconsequential in my own life, for a couple of reasons. One, because I am an adult and I need to learn how to handle my reactions and manage my own anger. Two, because as someone with many mental problems, it is my responsibility to learn coping mechanisms to ensure my own emotional stability and livelihood; this includes learning whatever I need to handle RSD- whether that be isolating myself from others when I know I will become violently/passionately angry about something, creating and sustaining a support system that can get me through bouts of extreme emotion, finding healthy emotional outlets for my negative emotions that won't harm myself or others, or a combination thereof. I don't think what they said about HBomb post-MCC was an irreversibly horrible thing, or anything. I think there were errors committed by two men who should be fully capable of foreseeing and preventing those errors, but I don't unconditionally hate Dream or Sapnap for the post-MCC stream or comments. I just wish they had made amends quickly, publicly, and sufficiently, because the greatest consequences from the whole thing weren't even from those two criticizing HBomb themselves; they were from the waves of backlash because of their immense influence on the MCYT fandom, which could've been prevented, if they had acted maturedly and responsibly after the stream.

Fourth, you’re right, that he doesn’t seem to condone his fans’ behavior. I detest the frequent anti argument that one of the reasons Dream should be criticized is because he explicitly uses his fanbase to attack others, or something of the sort. Personally, I think he created his fanbase in a very specific way and interacts with them in such a way so as to benefit him as much as possible, yes, but he never actually tells his fanbase to go and yell at or harrass anyone. Still, there is a significant difference between not condoning something and condemning something. It might seem unfair, and it might be annoying of me to say this, but I truly think that someone with this large a fanbase, especially one as overzealous as Dream’s, needs to be condemned every single time it goes on some kind of rampage/harrassment campaign. Either that, or Dream needs to make a definitive, permanent statement against any kind of harrassment of others on his behalf. I know he’ll occassionally make the odd tweet or serious stream addressing something his fanbase did, but one of the many reasons his fanbase keeps doing the same damn thing is because he’s so lukewarm and spotty about this condemnation. A fanbase like his needs to be given explicit guidance and boundaries for the numerous things they do in his defense- harrassing/doxing antis, harrassing people who criticize him who aren’t antis (respectful criticism, other CCs, other MCYT stans, etc.), harrassing the people he critcizes (i.e., HBomb), speculating about his personal life (his relationship with his gf, his mental health/ADHD, his romantic life, his childhood, etc.), and speculating about his relationships with his friends and colleagues. My personal ideology is that, if you have significant influence over someone or a group of people, you are at least somewhat responsible for the things those people do or don’t do, if it at all relates back to you. I’m so fucking tired of the argument that CCs aren’t responsible for what their fans do. Obviously they aren’t responsible for every single one of their fans, and obviously they can’t fully control their fans at the end of the day. But I think there are certain things that reach such a level of extremity that does make those CCs responsible. This can be measured by either scale or intensity; that is to say, if a CC’s fanbase does things on an extremely large scale, or one person from/a fraction of the fanbase does something really extreme, then the CC is made all the more responsible. Another CC I’ve always had trouble discussing with other people on this subject is Pewdiepie, in particular, about the extremists in his fanbase. Because the things a small handful of his fans have done in reference to him and/or in his name were so fucking extreme, I thought Pewdiepie had to take at least some responsibilty. Along a similar vein, because the things Dream’s general fanbase does are so widespread and on such a massive scale, Dream has to take at least some responsibility.

Fifth, okay. Hmmm. I want to tackle this point you made about the ableism he faces in some criticism of him carefully and with empathy, but not coddling. One, I do think a lot of the criticism he receives for the ways he handles criticism (post-cheating Tweets, reactions to John Swan, post-MCC HBomb stream, etc.), disregard his RSD and can be oftentimes ableist. I’ve actually encountered people irl who criticize this aspect of Dream’s character, and have had to explain to them their disregard for how ADHD/RSD affect neurodivergent people’s reactions to criticism. But - and this is a big, and very controversial but - I think mentally ill/disordered people can 100% leverage their mental illness/disorders for the sake of manipulation. This is actually something I’ve learned from a psychiatrist, regarding the ways people I know and I handle our anxiety and depression. This manipulation can be unwitting or intentional, but it is entirely possible, and the possibility shouldn’t be entirely dismissed as ableist. Living with a mental illness or disorder that others know about/that you are very public about puts you in an interesting position to receive frequent sympathy, empathy, and/or pity. I’m not saying that empathy for Dream having ADHD/RSD is entirely unjustified; on the contrary, I have frequently expressed how I can relate to his ADHD symptoms and have defended him for expressing those symptoms, both on mcytblr and in real life. I am saying that Dream fans tend to use his ADHD as a kind of shield for a lot of criticism levied against him, including the supposition that he could be manipulating his fanbase to defend him because of his public expressions of RSD. So yes, my theory is that Dream knows how to levy every aspect of his life for his personal gain and for the growth of his brand, and that includes his ADHD. I think he has courage for his openess about his ADHD, I think his openness has contributed to the rise in awareness of mental health and empathy for neurodivergent people within Gen Z, and I think at least some of his expressions of RSD publicly/online weren’t intentionally made public. All that being said, I also think he has to know just how much his fanbase cares about defending him for his ADHD, and I think he has to know that some of the things he does related to his neurodivergence endear him to his audience, in a coddling, baby-ing, mildly ableist sorta way. Maybe this is all incredibly presumptuous of me. Of course, I can never know the real intentions behind any Dream video, Tweet, or stream. Maybe I’m just projecting, because I can see myself doing just this, if I had the maturity I had circa 2018-2019. Idfk know, man.

Sixth, I actually agree with you here, people probably do get more mad at his fanbase than him. Dream puts out content pretty seldomly, considering the frequency of content output for other Youtubers/streamers in his field/at his brand size. And yet, he has received masses of criticism. Considering that the things Dream himself does/says do not entirely correlate with the amount of criticism he receives, I think it’s a logical assumption that a lot of that criticism actually goes back to the size of his presence online, rather than the man himself. That is to say, because of the massive community he’s amassed, the exponential growth of his fanbase, their presence on every single social media site and in virtually every single Internet space/fandom, and the size of his metaphysical presence in his fields, Dream is much bigger than the man himself, so the criticism he receives will, at least in part, be a direct or indirect result of all these other aspects of the Dream brand. Something I don’t think many Dream fans/stans, or even most MCYT fans in general, understand, is that Dream isn’t just “one guy” in the eyes of the Internet- at least, not anymore. He hasn’t been for nearly a year. Like Pewdiepie, Mr. Beast, and other CCs who have amassed similar levels of fame and wealth via Internet content creation, Dream is a brand now, and most people will treat him as such. He isn’t just some uwu soft boy playing Minecraft anymore. He is on a whole other level from any other MCYT in his friend circle or colleague interaction bubble. His words will never again live in a vaccum or private bubble, his friend circle will never again be under anything less than intense scrutiny, his past actions will never again be simple mistakes or silly errors, his words will never again be casual tweets or streams for laughs among a couple thousand followers. Dream’s name represents something much bigger than just the one man. As such, all aspects of his brand, including his fanbase, will tie back to him and, ultimately, to any general criticism of him.

I’m not saying I like any of this, and I actually think the evolution of influencers from people to a marketable brand with similar mechanisms, responsibilities, and liabilities as a corporation is some kind of late capitalism nightmare fuel; I’m just stating my own observations and theories as to why so much anti-Dream criticism seems to be directed at his fanbase, rather than him.

Seventh, he’s just a guy, you’re right, but I think a lot of the antis on Tumblr understand this more than you know. As I’ve seen it, the sentiment among much of the “DSMP stans DNI” crowd seems to be that of “Dream/other MCYTs are such ‘bad’ people, so why do their fans stick to these mediocre, racist men, when there are so many better people to watch/better content to consume?” We know this argument is flawed for many of the obvious reasons - the conflation of all MCYTs’ actions regardless of individual identity, the equating of a CC’s fanbase’s morality to that of the CC they enjoy watching, the exxageration of any error MCYT CCs have committed as bigotry/racism, the fundamental misunderstanding and misinformation that led antis to believe this exxageration of the facts, etc. But I want to focus on the general, underlying sentiment of, “why not watch someone better, when your creator is problematic?” Sometimes, I ask this of Dream stans. Yes, being mildly ignorant, getting involved in the scandals Dream has, and being a right-leaning/libertarian centrist in the recent past all seem like harmless things, all things considered. One could say Dream isn’t nearly as bad as many antis who are misinformed seem to believe, and that there are much worse CCs Dream stans could be watching and creating fan content for. But I think what Tumblr antis wonder is, aren’t there also much better MCYTs/CCs people could be watching and stanning? Because he’s just some guy, right? Is his content truly so exceptional or is he really so exceptional a person, that people have to stick by him, despite the things that spike up regarding his current or past actions? I think that’s what made me finally decide to stop watching Dream. I realized he was just Some Guy. The Dream Team was a comforting dynamic to indulge in, DNF was a cute ship to read and speculate about, and Manhunts were fun videos to watch; however, once the Reddit posts came out and I read them in-depth, the cost-benefit analysis tipped over to the “not worth it” side for me. I realized Dream’s content, while fun and comforting, was not entirely unique, and wasn’t worth sticking around for, given what I then knew about his past political leanings. If he is just Some Guy, then there are a hundred more like him out there. There a hundred more ships, a hundred more found family dynamics, a hundred more entertaining and skilled Minecraft players. So while I agree with you on the point of people being allowed to love him regardless because he is just a guy, at the end of the day, I think that, if we are to believe that sentiment or use that argument in such a manner, we should also understand the flip side- that, if he is just some guy, why is it worth sticking around? To that I say, maybe because people just enjoy the simple things they enjoy.

Anyways, I wholly agree with your tl;dr. Thanks for that insanely long ask, this was a fun thing to keep me occupied while I’ve been at work, facilitating Zoom sessions this whole morning.

#ive been writing this on and off since 830 am est SHEESH #dreamwastaken #dream critical #eh i think im relatively lenient of him here given my past posts ab him #but still just in case the blacklist tags for yalls convenience:#discourse #/neg #asks #long post #long posts #this a LONG one bois #morango

21 notes · View notes

1990jeevas · 3 years

Note

I know you posted it days ago but you said something about wanting to rant about either karl or his fanbase and its been itching at my brain. Ive no clue whats happening or what is happening at all cause no one seems to be making clear points?? Or explaining anything?

Obviously you do NOT have to talk about it im sure it might be a sore point to rant because people can get SO needlessly rude to others over it. But if you want to idk explain? Just rant? Im definetly curious what it was over or about.

The "you dont need to talk about this" is amplified by the fact i am DAYS late and you are probably over it by now.

okay hi yes im happy to talk about this but i think i should preface with two things:

1) even tho it may seem like im biased towards him or being very defensive of him im actually a super casual karl viewer and the only reason i am super defensive of him sometimes is bc we act a lot alike irl and that is mainly because of our neurodivegency. when i say a lot i mean we share traits like "annoying" stimming (jumping around, making loud noises, repeating the same phrases until everyone is sick of hearing them), the difficulty reading situations, the very obvious issues with volume control and not just bouncing from subject to subject to subject as we fucking please. basically anything you've seen karl do on stream that is Very Neurodivergent ive done the same in my own way which is why i get defensive when i see people calling him annoying or saying they dont like him, usually for these types of reasons. that being said, when i say im a very casual karl viewer, i fucking mean it. i usually only watch him when he's streaming with other ccs i like or when he's doing chill alt streams bc even with the annoying donos, he's pretty relaxing and comforting when he's just fucking around by himself and he isnt trying to get as hype as he would on a main channel stream. so yeah, it may seem like im biased and sure, i guess i am on some level, but it's not coming from a place of me hyperfixating on him or me even loving him as a cc, it's coming from me being a neurodivergent who likes him just enough to get upset when i see people basically being casually ableist towards him.

2) i dont have all the facts or even a great understanding on what the fuck has been happening recently with his "drama"...mostly bc he talked about it on his priv, which im not on, and people are gatekeeping the tweets, as they always do, and basically making you "dm to see them" (which is already a problem in and of itself bc apparently in these tweets he said he didnt want them being ss and shared, yet they are being shared thru dms over and over and over again like. at that point just stop withholding the information and post the fucking shit, you clearly dont care that he said "dont share"). additionally, most of the threads ive seen on this situation havent actually explained the initial issue, just talked about his apology (a lot of people have said "it's bad" but havent said why and with no screenshots ((i havent asked for someone to dm me them and i still havent seen them posted, which is mildly surprising, but incredibly frustrating at this point)), i only have a few basic details i can actually assess it on) or they talked about the initial issue in very vague details so um. excuse me trying to explain this now, but ill try and make it make sense with how little ive actually pieced together.

(oh, also, here's my first rant about the ableism in this fandom which is way more broad. this is a pretty different rant from that one, but they're both pretty big reasons why i hate this fandoms treatment of karl)

so basically the problems started with mr beast being apart of a charity stream that donated either to autism speaks or to a similar company, im unsure on that part. im also unsure on if the people participating in the stream actually knew of this or not bc, from what i remember, the money was being donated to a separate organization that was like. under the bad company or some shit like that, idk how stuff like that works and also i read about this shit months ago bc this originally happened months ago and just sorta came to a head recently.

anyways, i think karl was supposed to be apart of this stream but pulled out of it right before (that or these were two separate streams and karl was supposed to participate in the first but pulled out while mr beast did both?? idk. regardless karl did not actually participate, just mr beast). from there people started doing the guilt from association bullshit they always do, this was also doubled by the fact that the chris being racist stuff came out sometime around then and basically he got dragged all over twitter for "being ableist" and "supporting racists" and i cant remember if he actually apologized when this originally happened or not. i vaguely remember him apologizing about something back then but i genuinely dont know if it was this or something else.

basically that died down eventually, a good chunk of people unstanned him but him and honktwt didnt end up getting the lovely lil technotwt treatment and they still havent yet, surprisingly. good for them honestly ajsksk

but now we get to the past few weeks and apparently something happened with him "laughing at someone saying the r slur" (it was mizkif, i believe), specifically when it was directed at other people, which is a big yikes, obviously, but when karl was called out for this a lot of people kind of. made this into a situation that it wasnt bc um. basically karl didnt laugh at it, he gave a few nervous giggles, as people often do when in a situation like that (and karl specifically said he does this in the one part of his apology tweet which i did stumble upon, although it wasnt the important part of the apology thread bc why would it be) and people fucking crucified him for it. they quite literally dragged a neurodivergent man for supposedly "laughing at the r slur" when he can literally reclaim it and also he was just nervous laughing.

and this is where the situation just gets really bad because they. basically forced him to admit that he was autistic on his priv to apologize for this. i havent seen the screenshots of him saying this, but i saw people discussing it and i am frankly so fucking pissed about this because sure, it was a bad situation, and i understand people wanting an explanation, but an apology? for a neurodivergent man nervous laughing at a slur he can reclaim? and then forcing the man to admit something he literally said in that tweet he didnt want people to know which is why people were being so gatekeepy about it while also LOUDLY discussing the situation, as if that wouldnt drive MORE PEOPLE to look for screenshots and ways to get ahold of this information? and then people had the audacity to call it a "bad apology" when they had quite literally just violated his privacy by forcing him to admit something that he shouldnt have needed to share in the first place if he didnt want to, which he didnt.

and this is why im so pissed off. karl is already constantly picked at and made fun of and called annoying for his neurodivergent traits, things which he literally cant help, things which are generally harmless, and now he was forced into a situation where he can now be further picked at and made fun of and called annoying bc they forced him to admit something private instead of just understanding and accepting that he had been nervous laughing at someone using a slur he has definetly been called for his neurodivergency.

tldr of my thoughts: yes i think karl needed to address this situation, it definetly looked bad, but twitter stans have this sense of entitlement with their ccs and because of that, they consistently take it way too far and harm the people they claim to care about so dearly. we've seen it happen time and time again with dream, but this is the first time ive seen them basically force someone to out themselves to make their apology "valid" and most of them still seem to not want to accept it anyways, which just makes me feel bad for him bc now that info is out their and people are just disregarding it to continue "holding him accountable".

anyways, i think that's all i can really say on this topic rn tbh, if anyone else knows this situation better please feel free to lmk clarifications and ill add them in since, like i said, i know fuck all thanks to twitter being so goddamn hush hush about the important details while simultaneously being the loudest mfers about how much they hate karl now instead of just fucking unfollowing and moving on.

thanks for the ask and im sorry if this is confusing!! i just think this is one of those weird situations where like. i think karl deserved some criticism for what happened and how he handled it or at least he shouldve been asked to address it but that just. isnt what happened, at all. he was harrassed. karl got harrassed and because of that he handled this situation even more sloppily than he probably wouldve and exposed private info about himself that he didnt feel comfortable doing and it just. fucking sucks tbh.

#shit self #asks #karl jacobs #discourse #fandom critical #mcyt fandom critical #dsmp fandom critical #ask to tag #ableism #only reason im even saying what he said in those tweets is bc this situation literally makes no sense otherwise and basically everyone on #twt already fucking exposed this shit to people in and outside the fandom by bitching #long post #bangerz

21 notes · View notes

nowis-scales · 3 years

Text

Pre-Verdant Wind Endgame Update

An Update on the ol’ Three Houses Verdant Wind playthrough, since I’ve been neglecting documenting my journey properly for a bit:

• My current placement is Ch.20, so I’m only a few chapters away from the last one. It’s kind of a weird thought because I feel like I just hit the timeskip, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will feel well-paced out. In terms of writing, I’m known for being a bit of a stickler for good flow. It’s why all of my fanfics take so long to update! I have to make sure my flow is perfect.

• The fact that they have been giving background information on characters has been so amazing. Learning that Raphael’s sister’s name was Maya and getting to hear about her has made me irrationally happy.

• Also, just generally, holy shit people sleep on Raphael and Leonie. Raphael often gets shoved to the side, and Leonie is treated like her only trait is liking Jeralt, and for me it all just culminates in the question of “so did you like... not do their support conversations, or...?” Seriously. I think Leonie might be one of my favourites in the game so far, and I adore Raph. He’s so sweet!

• The Flame Emperor reveal for some reason gave me “and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” vibes. I liked the venom Cherami Leigh had there as Rhea, too. I think I read from someone that in Japanese, Rhea’s actually super calm in that scene. I don’t think I have a preference towards the anger or the calmness, honestly. I think I just liked how smoothly the emotion came across. Plus, I’m a little biased, I’m fond of Cherami as an actress. I haven’t found a performance from her I haven’t enjoyed yet.

• I was really confused as to why Seteth showed up in my house after Chapter 12ish I think? I wasn’t expecting him to just be there after the paralogue, but I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I do like him! I just never use him, because I recruited Bernadetta and Sylvain, so I kinda have a full roster going...

• I was also confused in the Gronder Field fight because I couldn’t see what people meant about Bernie getting set on fire. Then I remembered Bernie wasn’t on the hill because she was with me. I recruited her. Whatever this proves about me, I don’t know.

• I did end up beating Marianne’s paralogue! It actually wasn’t as hard once I levelled her up a bit and classed her to a Holy Knight. The big thing with her in that paralogue seems to be that she needs a decent amount of power and movement to really get by, so that’s what I’d recommend for anyone else playing it. Using rescue will also probably help you out, but I tried to avoid using Flayn there because it’s kinda easy to kill her.

• Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the support system. In some ways, I think it’s better that not everybody has that forced S-Support. Oftentimes we were either squeezing a love confession out of two characters who were unlikely to have one, or characters with decent potential might get snubbed because their connection was less apparent to the writers (and unfortunately that still does happen in the case of same sex S-supports in 3H). Having the conversations only go to a certain point is helpful, but at the same time, the inherent romantic undertones of several of the A-supports do make things feel strange. If it weren’t for the fact that I know characters can have only one partner as their paired ending, I would think lots of them were in a polycule. Nothing wrong with that as long as everyone’s comfortable, but because I know they can only have one person in their ending, I find it pretty jarring.

• I think it was interesting that they went to do the fights for breaking into Enbarr and then taking down Edelgard back-to-back. I’m glad they did, honestly, because while I don’t usually like to do two fights next to each other unless I’m grinding, it doesn’t mess with the suspension of disbelief. It would be stupid to break into Enbarr and then just run right back to the Monastery.

• I have still not completed the randomized quest from just after the timeskip. You know, the one I was yelling about with the weeds? Still haven’t gotten any weeds. I think I might just have to give up on it. It’s hilarious that my luck is so good that it’s actually bad.

• The fact that Byleth is praised for having more of a personality than Corrin is the biggest slice of bullshit I have heard from this fanbase in a long time. Byleth is literally designed to be a silent protagonist with nothing going on with them – they even came up with a story reason for why Byleth is such a blank sack of meat! In the kindest way possible, I don’t think most people realize that they are implementing whatever personality they want onto Byleth. Personally, I don’t find anything relatable about being stoic, calm, and not inclined to anyone (until plot happens, of course). I’ve always been the overly enthusiastic and caring type, with a tendency towards nervousness. Trying to relate to Byleth was like trying to relate to the experiences of a cactus. While I definitely don’t think Corrin is the strongest of the modern FE avatars – that award goes to Robin – they still had some things I could understand and relate to. If you’re not the type of person who loves the cool, “I fight for my friends” types like Ike, though, you’re likely to have a hard time relating to Byleth. If you can manage that type of character, then you’re more likely to have present them with a personality of their own.

• Actually, while we’re on the topic of Byleth getting praised for things Corrin got dragged for, the fact that Corrin is still cited as the character who receives the most “player pandering” is ridiculous too. Do a lot of characters like Corrin? Yeah! But most of them who do are deeply traumatized in a way that inclines them specifically towards Corrin. The Nohr siblings cling to each other due to their abusive childhood, the Hoshido siblings all in some capacity seem to suffer from abandonment issues (oldest) and/or attachment issues (youngest), and the official foursome of retainers have also had some sort of abandonment struggle in their past (forced separation from parents, murdered loved ones). While the cast of Three Houses needs therapy and is traumatized too, there is no reason why the inclination moves towards Byleth. Bernadetta feels safe around them just because. Edelgard is obsessed with them just because. Marianne learns to feel better about herself just because. Why are there so many exceptions for Byleth, and so many just without explanation? I don’t hate Byleth by any means, but these two things make my opinion of them lower than it would be otherwise. It kinda sucks that my image of Byleth is tainted by the fanbase’s hypocrisy, but I know I can’t have everything.

• The gameplay overall for 3H has been pretty fun! I love the addition of the Demonic Beasts, as annoying as they are to fight. There’s a charm to having some of your stronger units working to take on the soldiers blocking the path, meanwhile your army’s more intermediate strikeforce works to keep them safe by bringing down the beast. Once you get the hang of it, gameplay with the new additions is fun. The only thing I don’t use is Divine Pulse, but that’s because I’m on Casual and usually when I want to rewind, I want to just plain start over. So I use the old “turn off and start again” trick.

• Edelgard’s death scene was actually pretty good. I must confess that I went out of my way to avoid Edelgard in the academy phase, as I knew how hard the game was going to hit me with the “she’s obessed with you” thing and I wanted to see how wonky it would feel if I didn’t speak to her much. I was right that it’s incredibly awkward in terms of writing when you haven’t spent the time with her, but surprisingly, her death scene still holds up. Good voice acting, animation, and music. My only beef with it is something they have done in FE before, and it’s something I wish they’d stop. If a character is dying, you either let them have a few last breaths after their last lines or you kill them mid-sentence. It’s probably just a personal nitpick, but hearing them get their last word out without struggle and then immediately die just makes me aware of how badly the directors wanted the whole line to be in there. I can totally understand it but I find it so troublesome in the grand scheme of things that I just can’t.

• I also like that in the fight against Edelgard, they tried to make it ambiguous who had the key. Immediately as it told me that, I decided it was Petra and ended up being right. I was kind of sad to kill her though, to be honest. I don’t know her well, but she’s probably one of the Eagles I like more.

• The fight against the Death Knight at Fort Merceus ended up being surprisingly pretty easy. In fact, while I paved the way for most of my army, Nader ended up making it to the Death Knight just as Claude did. He did most of the damage – I’m not kidding, the Death Knight was down to 1 HP – and then Claude took care of the rest. It was a weird fight. They said impregnable a lot leading up to it.

• I understand why they kill Dimitri off-screen at the Gronder Field fight, but I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Again, Salli Saffoti does a good job doing Hilda’s voice for it, but I would have liked to see it animated. It was also nice to have that little rapport with Dedue! If only we could have allied with the Lions a bit more. Everyone always says Claude and Edelgard have similar goals; however, it’s their methods that differ. Claude seems to align himself a bit closer to Dimitri, so I’m usually a bit confused by the idea that Edelgard and Claude would work together. I was spoiled on enough to know her background and story, and even so, I think that her methodology is just a bit too violent for his tastes. But that’s just my two cents.

Alright. I think that’s about all I can drain out of my brain from the top of my head. With that, I am off to kill the slithers! We’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

#koto plays 3h #spoilers fire emblem three houses #spoilers FE3H

2 notes · View notes

spartanlocke · 4 years

Note

Idk why tumblr made me unfollow you again. But ANYWAYS, can you explain the battle of Azeroth? I’m looking at the wiki but I’m confused. I’ve never played WOW but I’m curious (and afraid) of why Battle of Azeroth is another example of this Blue Skin Fetish Man at play.

(Tbh I should probably delete that comment cause I realized that unless you’ve followed WoW’s story for years, you won’t know how badly BFA contradicts everything to the point of receiving the title of “bad fanfiction.”)

This is the shortest way I could explain BFA and it’s still very long, because if I went into detail explaining every single flaw I could beat haruspis’ record for word counts. So, this is less of an explanation and more of a list of aspects that gave it the Blue Skin Fetish Man’s Fanfiction title. Here we go:

Battle for Azeroth revived the faction war - a decades long feud between the Horde and Alliance - despite it contradicting and invalidating previous expansions. Blizzard spent years writing the faction war arc for it to conclude in Legion with the Horde and Alliance finally putting aside history and uniting. Not just “Oh we have to work together it’s convenient.” but actually uniting. Aside from two faction leaders who hate the shit out of each other (Genn and Sylvanas), there was no conflict between the Horde and Alliance. There was barely any “faction” content at all. The war had pretty much ended, and it was clear from previous expansions it had been leading up to this.

But instead of respecting this, Blizzard went “Actually let’s bring the war back” and had the Horde attack the Alliance unprovoked. How did they make this work? They threw out everyone’s personalities. Out of all the Horde leaders, the only ones who’d actually want a war are Sylvanas (who proposed it) and maybe Gallywix, if he thought he could make a profit. Saurfang, Lor’themar, Baine and Ji Firepaw are all either pacifists, aren’t in a position to deal with a war, or straight-up hate war. So Blizzard just tossed their personalities and made them blindly agree. Aside from Saurfang, none of them even have opinions on the war, they’re just doing what their Warchief Sylvanas tells them to.

The Alliance, meanwhile...only four leaders are even present in the story, and they’re completely incompetent. Mind you, the Alliance is vastly more powerful than the Horde. Some of their leaders are the most powerful magic-users alive, and they straight-up have a space-ship that can shoot lasers. If WoW were written realistically at all, the Alliance would’ve maimed the Horde years ago. So instead Blizzard made half of them absent from BFA, and the ones who are present are dumb as shit and forget they’re demi-god tier magic-users.

...Or they don’t forget, and are nonetheless beaten by Danuser’s self-insert, Man With Bow, who has plot armor thicker than a bowl of oatmeal. (Seriously, this dude went up against a powered-up Tyrande and her demi-god husband and got out without a scratch. It was so bad it became a bitter meme.)

Which brings the next big problem: plot armor. Like I said, this is a fanfiction, so alongside everyone acting out-of-character for it to work, we also need plot-armor, AKA the script. This is where Blue Skin Fetish Man comes at play. This whole expansion happens because Sylvanas wants power, and she’s an extremely cunning tactician....or so we’re repeatedly told. Instead of making her actually do anything clever, the plot simply works in her favor. Every. Single. Time.

The Alliance attack her city in retaliation? She blows it up. Was this an intentional trap to kill important Alliance leaders, or just “If I can’t have the city no one can”? No one knows! Horde is trying to get a powerful empire of trolls to join them, but the trolls don’t want to? Alliance attack trolls for no reason, kill their king, and his daughter join the Horde for revenge. Horde loses their ship fleet? Alliances loses theirs, too. Horde suddenly decides This War Is Bad, Actually and team up with the Alliance to take down Sylvanas? She was gonna ditch them anyway because the faction war was never part of her masterplan. Also she made a deal with a death god to get power in exchange for everyone killed in the war, so she’s basically a god now. And no this wasn’t explained in-game. She’s too busy being a Flawless Tactician for us plebs to possibly understand her motives (which Blizzard never even gave us hints to.)

Naturally, the fanbase didn’t like this. Even if you didn’t follow the story like I did (I’m like, one of the 2% of people who know Blizz was writing the faction war arc to eventually end.), there was just SO little reason for the Horde to agree to reviving the war that pissed off just about everyone. Everyone is also pissed that every time Blizz wants to cause faction conflict, they make the Horde start it.

But that won’t stop them from demonizing the Alliance for retaliating against the Horde! A big example was having this character who didn’t care about the faction war, saying he joined it because Jaina “went too far” when she was literally just protecting her people from a Horde assault.

...Wow, that still ended up being pretty long, but I needed to explain how Battle for Azeroth not only contradicts lore, but so shamelessly contradicts logic that it can only be described as “Steve Danusar’s fanfiction.” It threw anyway everyone’s personalities, ignored everything written in previous expansions, then made every plot-point happen because the script said so instead of giving logical reasons. And they didn’t even bother to look at fan theories and go “Uh yeah, yeah that’s totally what we planned.” They just...didn’t care! They didn’t bother to make sense in the slightest!!!

All this, because Steve Danusar wanted Sylvanas to become the story’s antagonist - instead of N’zoth or Azshara, who’d been built up as the antagonists for OVER FIFTEEN YEARS. And mind you, in Blizzard, the antagonists are THE main characters of the story. They’re the poster boy, plot-roller, and favorite of the writers. Everything is about them - even the merch. Sylvanas fans will tell you Blizz did this because they hate Sylvanas, but I assure you it’s quite the opposite. Blizzard absolutely loves their antagonists. (Also, you know, Danuser is the HEAD WRITER AND HER #1 FANBOY.)

...The only difference here is that Blizzard has the tendency to give out-of-jail-free redemption “arcs” to characters they like, even when they were merrily committing genocide five minutes ago. They’ve done this every expansion since WoD; Grommash, Illidan, and Saurfang. And next will probably be Sylvanas, in some poorly-foreshadowed “plot-twist” that reveals she was just “helping us” all along. All the characters will go “Holy shit you were helping us.”, forget she has a higher body-count than Garrosh, and proceed to praise her as a savior while all her victims are either forgotten or told to hush.

...Or she’ll maybe just die in the first raid to make room for The Jailer guy, but Steve Danuser has shown to be so shamelessly horny for her I doubt he’ll let her die.

(Oh, also the whole “N’zoth and Azshara” thing? Turned out just to be a side-plot to give Sylvanas more power, since she’s partially responsible for N’zoth’s death, she gets tribute...uh, sorry, “power” from it. These two had been hyped up for nearly two decades. Turned into plot-tools. For Sylvanas. Who is once again the center-of-attention for the oncoming expansion, SylvanasShadowlands. Which isn’t even out and is already written terribly.)

#asks #battle for azeroth #world of warcraft #i could've written this way better but i've been writing for like 30 minutes and i'm tired #i hope you can put this mess together yourself #lover-of-robots-and-aliens

17 notes · View notes

cblgblog · 5 years

Text

I have just…so many problems with Irondad, some of which I’ve seen expressed already, some not, and I need to say this at least once.

I don’t believe the common anti-Irondad thing that says Tony never cared about Peter. He did, in his very Tony, very problematic way. He loves Peter, I think, very much the way Howard loved him. We only got glimpses of Howard as a dad, mostly from Tony’s perspective, but we can make assumptions here. Howard probably thought Tony was the greatest thing in the world, and a blast to hang out with. Whenever Howard wanted to be a dad. He would’ve loved teaching Tony things, showing him off, having fun with him. But when Howard didn’t want to hang out? When Howard was working on something important? No, sorry, dad mode off, go away, Maria come get him. We see that with Peter and Tony. All Peter wants is acceptance, another mission with Tony. He wants validation. But he can’t even reach Tony because Tony’s put Happy in charge of him, and Happy doesn’t want to deal with some stupid kid in Queens, at least during Homecoming. It’s a very Howard move, parenting/mentoring when it’s convenient.

Which, you know what? Not in and of itself horrible. Tony would learn what he lived, and follow it. It makes sense, generational patterns and all that. It could’ve led to an interesting story, about Peter or someone else in Tony’s life pointing out the parallels, and then Tony has a moment of realization and tries to correct. I wouldn’t have loved that story, because Peter’s storyline being so connected with Tony’s at the expense of his own has always bothered me, but it could’ve been done decently.

What do we get instead? We get Tony paying lip service in Homecoming to wanting to break the cycle, and then totally failing at that 5 minutes later. He was mad, he was scared, that’s legit. People say unfair things when they’re reacting out of fear. But he tears Peter down for what happened on the ferry, and makes him feel like shit. Why? Because Tony had the FBI involved, Peter was meant to stay away, and he didn’t. Well how the hell was Peter supposed to know that? He can’t talk to Tony at all. Happy’s been ghosting him for months. The last time he thought Tony was there for him, it was one of the suits, Tony was still off in Tony’s world. How would Peter ever think that Tony had heard him this time, and was taking action? Tony didn’t tell him as much. Happy didn’t. All either of them would need to do is send a text saying hey, I hear you, I’m on this, I have people on this. But Tony is Tony, he can’t tie his shoes without Pepper, and he has either a hyperfixated attention span, or none at all, depending on the day. He either forgot to tell Peter, or worse, didn’t think it necessary. And if he was a proper mentor, if he knew Peter at all, he would know that Peter’s sense of responsibility was going to kick in there, unless he had reason to believe things were going to be okay without him.

Tony doesn’t know Peter. He puts an instant kill function on a 15-year-old kid’s suit because he thinks it’s a cool feature, and he enjoys building cool things. If he knew Peter at all, Tony would know that Peter’s a no kill hero. You can argue that those advanced features weren’t meant to be hacked into, so it’s not Tony’s fault. Except it is. Tony admits in CW that he hacked the Pentagon in high school on a dare. He knows that genius boys do stupid things. He knows teenagers don’t follow rules. He knows that if you tell a kid not to do a thing, you’re just guaranteeing he’ll want to do it more now. Tony may not know exactly how smart Peter is (I’m sure he doesn’t), but he has enough of an idea that safety measures, actual measures, should’ve been in place. Instead of a hackable training wheels protocol? Just keep those features off his first suit, save them for the next model, when the kid’s ready. We know Tony doesn’t mind building new models of suits. But Tony doesn’t do that, because Tony.

Yeah, the instant kill came in handy in Endgame against Thanos’s army. Still doesn’t make it okay.

Again, it reeks of Howard style parenting. You didn’t use this awesome thing I gave you right? Here then, I’m taking it away. No talks, no explanations or compromise or Tony training Peter to avoid the mistakes he so wants Peter to avoid, just, we’re done. Which is exactly how Howard probably would’ve handled it. I let you in my lab once and you broke something you didn’t know how to use? Okay, well, never doing that again.

To be clear, I don’t blame Tony for yanking the suit, exactly. It was a very human, kneejerk reaction. And more importantly, it allowed Peter to show that he did not need Tony’s toys to be a hero. The problem is that Tony, as usual, never gets to realize his mistakes. Peter yells at him a little right before the suit gets taken about not being listened to, but Tony doesn’t retain any of it. It doesn’t matter. He never has a moment of, what I did here was not okay and this is why. What do we get instead? Him telling Peter at the end of Homecoming how Peter screwed up, but hey, you fixed it. You were dumb, but you fixed it. No acknowledgement that Tony screwed up anything. Because, of course not. The lesson for Tony isn’t hey, I went too fast with this kid, he wasn’t ready, I didn’t prepare him. There is no lesson. Tony, as in basically every appearance since Iron Man 3, learns nothing.

Oh, and the Homecoming ending. Yeah. Tony sees no problem with having a 15-year-old move into the mansion and go full-time Avenger. His aunt, his guardian? Nah, why would she mind that, it’s fine.

I’ve talked elsewhere about my problems with Infinity War Irondad, but basically, most of Tony’s interaction with Peter there involves telling him to shut up, the grownups are talking, you’re not supposed to be here, you’re too young and dumb. Even when Peter absolutely helps the team. Also, too young and dumb? He wasn’t 5 minutes ago, when you were going to make him an Avenger, and he was the one smart enough to realize this was a bad idea. Tony’s so mad Peter didn’t listen to him and go home. If he’d truly listened, he’d have been an Avenger at the start of the film, so he’d be there anyway.

The dusting scene with him and Peter? It hurt. It was brutal and beautiful. That’s because Tom Holland, and yes, RDJ, can act, not because it was earned by the narrative of the last three movies.

As for Endgame. That photo Tony has of him and Peter goofing off. So cute, right? Probably taken at some point before May knew the truth, as a hey, we need a cover story for your aunt, but, you know, it’s fine. I don’t doubt Tony loved Peter. That he grieved Peter and felt his loss for 5 years, and maybe that’s part of why he’s such a good dad to Morgan. But he didn’t love Peter the right way. He did it selectively. He missed him when he was gone, but didn’t pay enough attention when he was alive. The hug near the end was beautiful, but unearned.

And then there’s May and Ben. May does not deserve to be villainized, killed off, or flat-out ignored the way she is in so many fanon interpretations just so Irondad can be a thing. May helped Peter prepare for his homecoming dance last minute. She got him dressed, taught him how to tie a tie, taught him to dance. All while Tony was back to ignoring him. But assume for a second that this had happened earlier, when Peter was still technically in Tony’s good books. Assume for a second that he’d been able to reach Tony and ask for advice, because he’s scared and excited and needs help. Tony would’ve made a few jokes about spiked punch, a few more crude, sexist jokes about Peter’s date, and signed off. May dropped everything and spent hours helping this kid, reassuring him. May is so unappreciated and flat-out abused by some of the fanbase, and it’s gross.

And Ben. Who’s Ben? Have we even heard his name in any of the movies Peter’s appeared in yet? Oh, we got his initials on a suitcase in FFH, not even a verbal acknowledgement. Great. I am not advocating an origin story. We’ve seen it, we know the basics, it’s fine. But Ben has been shown, for almost 60 years, to be the most influential person in Peter’s life. Losing Ben the way he did shaped Peter’s whole life afterward. And we have yet to see a photo? An old video? A 30 second flashback scene? We don’t know any of the MCU’s version of how Ben was killed. At all. Are they for some reason going with a rewrite where Peter had nothing to do with it? Don’t know, because it’s been 5 movies so far and they’ve given us nothing. Ben’s death regularly tops lists of the most influential deaths in comics, and we have nothing. Instead we get scene after scene of Tony perpetuating a dysfunctional relationship with Peter, and never facing consequences, or even realizing it.

By the way? Ben, if he’s anything like any canon version ever, would hate Tony. Ben is consistently shown before his death to be a very hands-on parent. He doesn’t understand most of Peter’s science stuff, but he encourages it, and stays involved as much as he can. He, barring a truly monumental canon rewrite that we know nothing about if it happened, taught Peter that great power means great responsibility. Contrast this with Tony, who as stated, pays more attention to building Peter cool suits than he does Peter. Who, on being confronted by a mother about the death of her son, caused by him, does what? Immediately wants to shift all responsibility to the government, so that the next time he screws up, he can say he was just following the law. Who was confronted by a grieving mother, and then 5 minutes later came into May Parker’s home and lied to her face. Something he continued to do, and would’ve continued, if May hadn’t found the truth on her own. He lies to her, takes her underage son (yes I’m saying son because she and Ben raised that boy, not Tony) out of the country without her knowledge. He threatened to reveal Peter’s identity to get him there. He does not tell Peter that the Accords would’ve done that anyway. He doesn’t tell Peter much of anything about why he’s there or what he’s fighting for. Either because he knows that telling the truth means not having Peter on his side, or because he simply doesn’t care to. Either way is gross, manipulative, disgusting, and would have Ben Parker rolling in his grave.

Yeah, it was fun having Peter in CW. Some of his scenes with Tony are genuinely fun. The above points though? Still stand.

So yeah, Irondad. in theory, okay. It makes sense that Peter would want guidance, a mentor after Ben died. It makes sense he’d look up to Tony. They could have addressed Howard’s shitty parenting via Tony’s shitty parenting, and maybe told an interesting story with it by contrasting Tony’s parenting style to Ben’s. Irondad in actual canon? There’s no parenting. There’s child endangerment, verbal abuse, and no payoff to any of it. The most we get is Happy admitting in FFH that Tony was a mess, but not for all the right reasons. He gets called out for other things, if you can even say he’s called out. Not for his awful treatment of an impressionable minor who’d lost his real father (Ben, assuming they stick with comics and have Peter lose his parents at a very young age).

I will never stop saying that Peter deserved better. I hope he gets it now that Tony’s gone.

#anti irondad #anti tony stark #at least tony's individual story started out good #Peter and Tony had a bad relationship to begin with #peter parker

159 notes · View notes

aesthetic-survivor-of-twd · 5 years

Note

U know what, im glad u feel this way too because i know u arent bias. I like Kent alot but his i "like violet and Louis equally" always seem like a way to calm fans down rather then it being true. If he likes violet more, fine. She a great character. But with the trailers, the bonus stuff and all the violet x clem pic he reblogs defiantly tell a different story. And u know what? Thats fine. But just cut the whole i like them equally. Cause his actions says something different.

I’m glad you know that I was coming at the topic with a non-bias perspective. I may love Louis, but I also ship Violet with Clem as well. I just like to take things apart from a neutral stance because I often feel like that’s where the most logical and grounded explanation is. Because it allows you to see things without clouded judgement.

The thing is though, is that I actually do think Kent likes Louis with Clem as well (yes i’m being serious). Because in the early episodes he reblogged a lot of Louisentine fanart and during the first AMA he stated Louis was his 2nd favourite character after James (in the Telltale forums before episode 1 dropped). And I recall him entertaining so many Asks regarding the ship/Louis as well where he defended the route. Based on what he reblogs and posts, he definitely seems to like the Clem/Louis/AJ family dynamic as well.

If Kent does in fact prefer Violentine, I actually don’t think it’s as drastic of a gap as many people think it is (and i’ll explain why it might also seem that way in the game near the bottom).

I don’t think it’s entirely a case of Kent having a bias as much as it is that Kent sees Violentine as the most popular ship due to statistics (and he stated as such) and from a marketing standpoint he wants to try and appeal to that side of the fanbase more when it comes to extra content under time constraints - which I still think is wrong given the reasons I mentioned in the previous post - but it does explain part of why he acts that way.

Then there is the fact that Kent himself is a gay man, and as we know from his posts about James - having that kind of representation is really important to him because it’s the type he wanted as a kid (like a lot of us do). So I think by nature he has more of a personal attachment to Violentine in a way and more or less advertises it (in the trailers, for example) because of that.

Now i’m not defending Ken, I admittedly do get the impression he isn’t being entirely honest when he says he likes both ships evenly and is in fact, just trying to keep the fandom calm from blowing their lids of at the staff members.

But at the same time, I feel like it’s not entirely on Ken either for how things ended up.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this during the season and I actually think part of the Violentine focus also comes from the fact that the writers for her character are far more active and involved in the game than the ones for Louis are.

For example, the minigame during the Violet date was a concept thought up by Mary Kenney (who was also the lead writer of episode 2) and it was designed by her as well. She is also the most vocal writer on Twitter for TWDG. On the Louis side of things, we don’t really have that. Lauren is sweet and occasionally talks to us on here but the other dude (Adam?) who is seemingly the major writer for Louis and is more in charge of his character direction - is silent on everything fandom related. I feel like if he wanted to write a mini game for Louis he could have.

Now i’m not saying that they couldn’t have still provided Louis some more content to balance it out (as in Kent could have added some direction)- they really could have. But I do think Violet’s writers being more enthusiastically involved in her route is also the main reason why she got more content in general. From what is seems as well, the Violet route in episode 2 was also written first (as Mary was the lead writer) which may explain some things regarding the budget and also the trailer for episode 2 in general (as well as the trend of the popular choice in the previous episode affecting the next episode’s trailer).

Like I said, I agree with you that Kent probably does have more fondness for Violentine and that him saying he prefers them equally does more damage than good (it just invalidates and dismisses people’s feelings on the subject) - but I also thought it was worth explaining a few other factors as well regarding the development of the game since I don’t think Kent is the main reason why the imbalance is a thing (it’s a combination of things). It’s also a little more complicated than that.

With that said however, I still refuse to believe they couldn’t make a piano key (i’m literally tempted to make a 3D model of one right now just to prove my point lmao).

#twdg louis #louis twdg #asks

11 notes · View notes

rookisaknight · 5 years

Text

MBTI and the Seeds

Religious bullshit, meet personality bullshit. I took to 16personalities for a direction on this and was actually pretty convinced by the majority of the results (which is whack because 16personalities almost always gets at least one letter off), but I have an unfathomably large amount of information about this test stored in my grey matter so I’ll be hopping off a bit to fill in my own blanks. Also notable is the severe trauma each of the Seeds have been through

This is going under a cut because it's a long post and honestly might be more worthwhile as a reference for myself and how I write the Seeds, but I can’t be the only personality nerd in this fanbase.

Jacob Seed: ISTJ. The Logistician

I wasn’t sold on this one initially given that Jacob seems far more comfortable with out of control situations than most Js generally are, but I find the overall profile fits him better than ISTP. My explanation is that his time in the juvie, the military, and the foster system has forced a maturation of this particular function due to constantly feeling out of control, which makes him more open to adaptation than he would have been otherwise.

Strengths:

Honest and Direct: Notably Jacob is arguably the least manipulative Seed. He “tricks” you in a sense with the conditioning but that is more a strategic concealment than any deception. Unlike the other three, Jacob does not pretend that his actions come from any sense of love or divine calling. He is always straightforward with the deputy, even if that doesn’t restrain his cruelty.

Strong-willed and Dutiful: Basically see all of the Book of Joseph, as well as his “you think I care if I die” comments. I lump very responsible under this.

Calm and Practical: I don’t think I have to explain this part. Jacob never reacts from an explicitly emotional place. The “did you think you were free” is the closest to losing his temper I think we see from him. He has expectations, and failure to meet them will be punished. He doesn’t see a need to get emotional about it, preferring to detach himself

Create and Enforce Order: Well, culling the herd is an unconventional tactic, but...

Weaknesses:

Stubborn: As Joseph said, Jacob has been getting into it since he was a kid. Even with the brother, he’s willing to die for, he explicitly argues with him. And even in the face of his own death, he refuses to rescind his own philosophy, or even demonstrate any regret for the path he’s chosen.

Insensitive and Judgemental: Jacob’s a shithead no I will not elaborate

Always By the Book: an illegal paramilitary cult, yes, but one that holds to Jacob’s exacting standards.

Often Unreasonably Blames Themselves: Loath as I am to woobify Jacob at all, there’s a pathos to him. As Joseph says, he thinks of himself as a “weapon without a purpose. A soldier without a legacy”. As a child, he protected his siblings and as an adult, he views himself as little more than a meatshield. There’s a sense that he objectifies himself, reduces himself down to simply the function of violence and protection, and those high standards mean that he views death as simply another failure.

can bastard be a personality type

Joseph Seed: ISFP- The Observer

The test originally gave me INFP, but I find that unconvincing for two reasons. One, INFP’s are predominantly defined by an open-minded approach to life and to ideas, which doesn’t fit well with a guy so convinced he got religion right that he was willing to kidnap and murder people. Two, while Joseph is definitely contemplative and deals with the symbolic, his “visions” are not flights of fancy but are in some sense practical. He doesn’t really appear to engage in thought experiments, merely interpret sensory (or in this case extrasensory) information that he is presented with.

Strengths:

Charming: The man runs a successful church for a reason, and it can’t just be good cheekbones and dogwhistling

Sensitive to Others: Joseph has a keen insight into other people’s emotional state, which is what makes him so effective at manipulating them. He tends to meet people where they’re at with a certain deftness that would be impressive if he didn’t use it the way he did

Passionate: about the LORD. No, but I’ll give this to the man, he’s certainly got a vision, and sticks to it with intensity.

Curious: I think anyone working in the business of people has to have an inherently curious mind, and while Joseph may believe he has all the answers, his fascination with the Deputy to me indicates that he has an inherent draw to things that disrupt his world. I also think about how he would get in trouble as a child for seeking out forbidden material, such as Spiderman comics. those Satanic webs...

Weaknesses:

Fiercely Independent: He’s developed a supportive community now but Joseph has always marched to the beat of his own awful, awful drum, which has gotten him kicked out of at least one job and lost him at least one set of foster parents. He doesn’t seem to need people as much as he acquires them

Unpredictable: Sometimes with blood, sometimes with forgiveness, it's hard to say how Joseph will respond to disruption on any given day. Where the spirit leads, I suppose.

Easily Stressed: This one I’ll actually argue that his turbulent history and the demands of his job have at least taught him to cover this up, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t cracks in the armor. “yOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!!!!!”

Overly Competitive: He’s a sore loser with a tendency to punish people for failing him (see: Faith and the statue)

Fluctuating Self-Esteem: He’s dealing with a joint worldview where he is at once God’s chosen and a “no one from nowhere with nothing”. How much of that is genuine we may never know, but I don’t think the fluctuation is outside the realm of possibility

John Seed: ESFJ-The Consul

I was a little on the fence about N vs S but ultimately found that John’s a bit more concrete than conceptual.

Strengths:

Strong Practical Skills: I mean, the man orchestrated a hostile takeover of an entire county, he knows how to get things done when he wants

Strong Sense of Duty, Very Loyal: This part is likely underdeveloped given how tempestuous forming relationships was for most of his life, but given how bound he feels to Joseph its clearly in him.

Good at Connecting With Others: He’s a shitstain, but according to Joseph he had business connections everywhere and was basically a walking secret storage bin. John can probably be very charming if you don’t know how he spends his weekends in the bunker.

Sensitive and Warm: again, underdeveloped given his background, but there’s clearly a lot of emotions broiling just below the surface given how volatile he can be and how easily Joseph can access them. Joseph also describes him as a very sensitive kid, for what that’s worth

Weaknesses

Worried About Their Social Status: The boy is a climber

Inflexible: He holds pretty firmly to his headcanons on Hope County (for fuck’s sake John Nick’s sin isn’t Greed, its Sloth) and has a very definite view on how things should be. Not to mention he seems very particular, just based on the state of his home and his clothes. He has rituals and habits, and will not deviate.

Vulnerable to Criticism: If you say anything about his future receding hairline he will cry. He just will. Not to mention I’m citing that look he gives you when you’re apparently costing him paradise by not converting

Often Too Needy: He will either get attention or he will die trying.

Too Selfless: Honestly, selfless isn’t the right word here, but I’ll copy the way 16 personalities describes it because I think it fits really well for John. “ Consuls sometimes try to establish their value with doting attention, something that can quickly overwhelm those who don’t need it, making it ultimately unwelcome. Furthermore, Consuls often neglect their own needs in the process.” John is a deeply selfish person but he does act like someone who tries to get affection by giving everything of himself, often to the point that he makes the other person uncomfortable.

I literally love this dramatic edit it's so good

Faith Seed/Rachel Jessop: ENFP-The Campaigner

I have nothing to add, it just fits. At the most, I think Faith is a little more pragmatic than she lets on (given that whole “if violence is the only language you choose to speak”) but to me, that can easily be an extension of the ENFP’s ability to connect emotionally. It means they know how to cut people off

Strength

Curious: I mean you don’t end up in a cult willingly without a little curiosity. Faith also seems mildly intrigued by the Deputy’s resistance, and while this eventually culminates in frustration with our intractability, I believe there’s a genuine investment in the journey to conversion

Observant: Faith is cued into her public perception, both from the resistance and the cult, and consciously constructs it. She also shares Joseph’s ability to tune into emotions and exploit them.

Energetic and Enthusiastic: How much of her ray of sunshine persona is constructed for the benefit of converting people will probably never be answered, but I don’t believe it can be constructed whole cloth. I think Rachel always was a person with a lot of heart and enthusiasm for her passions, even if it's not as constant as Faith Seed wants you to believe

Excellent Communicators: There’s a reason she’s regarded as the Siren. She can talk people into things even they don’t want to do. Certainly left me shook

Know How To Relax: *insert weed joke here*

Very Popular and Friendly: Again, her Siren persona may not be 100% genuine, but you can’t fake that level of charisma

Weaknesses:

Poor Practical Skills: Listen, Rachel is smart as hell (definitely smart enough to develop a drug and orchestrate mass production thereof), but her planning skills? Not great. Up until Burke gets taken out of the Bliss her plan seemed to be “talk with the Deputy over and over until they change their mind”. She kicks it up a notch after she finally gets annoyed with us but it seems a bit more “making it up as she goes”, and she falls back on strategies that have worked for her before but aren’t really effective for the Deputy. In fairness, I don’t think any of the Seeds are strong in the planning department

Overthink Things, Get Stressed Easily: Unlike with John and Jacob, Faith doesn’t really let us in to see her darker side. She prefers to speak of her flaws in the past tense. Yet clearly anxiety has been an issue in her life, given how deeply her isolation sat with her and her sense of worthlessness. Using drugs as an escape from stress also makes sense for her character, at least from my perspective

Highly Emotional: Faith communicates in emotional terms, manipulates people through emotions, and unlike someone like Jacob Faith loses her temper. She shouts at us, demonstrates her frustration very openly, even screams at us that we couldn’t possibly understand her.

Independent to a Fault: Her personal history gives her some interesting codependent issues with Joseph but based on what we hear of her from Tracey Rachel resented anyone trying to control her, even if they had her best interests at heart, and was perfectly willing to burn bridges over people questioning her choices.

If people are interested I can develop these out more. I may eventually do these for the police force members too but frankly, we’re given less to deal with for them, in particular with Joey and Staci, so who knows.

#far cry 5 #fc5 #joseph seed #jacob seed #john seed #faith seed #rachel jessop #mbti #headcanons

92 notes · View notes

pip-personalispolitical · 5 years

Text

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖆𝖗𝖞𝖊𝖓

The last female characters in the show have essentially been reduced to three houses; Stark, Baratheon, Targaryen. These houses hold considerable power by themselves, coupled with their remaining matriarchs (because let’s face it, Jon isn’t running anything other than away from his feelings) they’re a pretty formidable bunch.

Disregarding the pitting of powerful women against each other in a totalitarian struggle for the throne in the vein of oh so trendy, female power, this week’s episode was rife with misguided notions of women, power and madness. Patriarchal tropes clung to the once fierce and pragmatic women, altogether terrifying and brilliant, and reduced them to poor plot twists and insanity.

It was predictable, and awful, highly entertaining and I hated it. I hated it because this has a massive audience that has huge influence on Western society, it should be commented on, especially when the fanbase is so intelligent and loyal and when it’s such a huge part of our soecity (Sorry, it is.)

𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔳𝔢

I’m gonna get right into it. Full fledged, partially feminist but mostly just pissed off review of this episode and continuing storyline for The Mother of Dragons.

Sansa and Ayra are the only two female leads left unscathed by bouts of madness. They remain in the show, they are quiet and astute, or emotionally void and impossibly silent. Above all else the crucial performance of their femininity is intact, they are well-mannered and unobtrusive and that is seemingly why they are still there. Some of their power steams from utilizing the tropes of femininity to ensure they have stability and respect and maintain the little power they have.

Sansa is not only playing the Game of Thrones but the tiresome Game of Patriarchy. Seemingly internalising her struggles and extending gratitude to traumatic abuse as a means of betterment seems, at the least, in poor taste and at most, horrifically ignorant and damaging. The implications are that because of what a man did to her, she is a better person for it. I think she is better, and not “still a little bird”, only because of what the show keeps telling us is that she’s smart now, not showing us. You might even go so far as to say that Sansa is only granted trust and smarts because she learnt it from a male peer.

Sansa Stark has swallowed internalised misogyny down with her favoured lemon cakes; yes, she has learnt how to manipulate those around her and use her strengths to gain favour, all whilst being very pretty and very quiet. Except when it allows heror her family more access to power. You all know what I’m talking about - snitches get stitches, little dove. All the while claiming The Dragon Queen is an untrustworthy threat (Jon asked you to keep how many secrets? One? The same one your Father kept for...how many years? Oh. Yeah. In the words of Sandor Cleagane, fuck off.)

Thus, leading me - a rabid feminist and Targaryen loyalist - to believe that unless you play by the rules in Westeros, whatever you want is unattainable and you are unworthy and frankly, too damn emotional. The only way for these characters to survive is to shut up and play along.

And let’s keep in mind that all of these characters are white, the people of colour on the show can be the sweetest, most benevolent characters in the universe and they still get decapitated. Characters who aren’t “nice” or “good” and are people of colour are portrayed as savages, emotionless killing robots that are above all dispensable and grateful to their white saviour. Someone who spoke about this more eloquently and in depth is Raine (SP – my apologise I can only guess at it based on phonetics), who wrote into the Pod-Cast: A Cast of Kings (S8E5, 7 minutes in.)

Dany simply doesn’t play by these rules.

Being a Targaryen at heart, I wondered what it was that Dany was doing so differently to be considered such a threat, or a borderline mad queen, chasing after the impossible affections of the inhabitants of Westeros. Dany plays by Targaryen rules, she plays with fire and blood. Their trump card of entitlement (a hereditary bloodline that has mostly held male monarchs) that condemns her as power-hungry but serves male claimants as entitled.

Her overt assertions and unfiltered desire to reclaim this birth right, as many before her have, is suddenly chased by the idea of being deserving, a prerequisite that eludes the patriarchal figures in her family. This leads me to think it’s not what she’s asking for that is so unconceivable, but howshe’s asking for it that is so outrageous. Apparently, even Khaleesi can face issues of likeability[i].

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔦𝔫

These rejections of arguably patriarchal rules and the strong emotions of a woman are tediously wrapped up with notions of madness and hysteria, and prove disappointing for one of the most well written female characters in fantasy.

While we have to take into account the budget and time of the show, it feels breathless. The otherwise thoughtful and complex plotlines have been twisted to deliver shocking twists with little substance.

Dany’s previous actions in the show haven’t led to the web of whispers surrounding her, there is no reason for people to expect her to act like a mad queen up until this very last moment. To deny these people were doing so and lying to her face about it would be further gaslighting, so Tryion, in my book, did the right thing. Dany’s decisions have constantly been ridiculed, along with her sanity and emotional state.

In a defence of her actions, she has fought endlessly, scraped her way to the throne, sacrificed her time, her armies and her children to find herself left alone at the last moment? (Who can relate?) Her powerful allies have fallen, and those that claimed they would serve her do very little of what she asks. Seriously. Jon, you just couldn’t shut the fuck up for a second?! Starks and their honour, SMH. It is maddening.

Aside from it making no narrative sense (she has always avoided bloodshed and taken warnings about the mad king, her father, to heart) it just sucks seeing two of the best women reduced to Motherless tropes. Because Seven Hells, what is a woman if she is not reproducing? Insane!

As if the coin had been tossed and landed face down - Dany loses it within a split second. Hats off to Emilia Clarke because she sold it and the storm of emotions that ran across her face in milliseconds. This black and white contrast seems unfitting for a character that has faced each loss, personal and political, with tenacity, she has learnt from each of these losses. D&D have taken a survivor that has been gaslit, abused, groomed and baited and “made her mad with ambition.”

Additionally, it lends to the idea that women’s emotions are incomprehensible and irrational. We are told that in expressing anger we are inhibiting the ability to be heard - hello tone policing. This bout of madness is signalling her downfall, her failure to comply with a more docile femininity. Any woman with too much power will not be able to handle it and if she can she is mad and must be stopped. Period.

They failed to give her the credit she so deserved as she tried (and arguably failed) to grasp the politics of war. Worst of all, the scene played out so poorly that the audience had to be told this was her moment of “choosing violence,” like Cersei. The only way this was credible was thanks to Emilia’s performance and explanation in behind the scenes footage.

She explains how hurt Dany is, how angry and alone she is, and these feelings have culminated at a time she has gotten exactly what she wanted, and realised it’s not what she thought it would be. With liminal time, Dany grieves. Her grief is sorrow turned anger, anger turned dragon fire, dragon fire turned ash. It looks different to any other characters on the show and she has allowed it to kill her. And when you put it like that, it’s fucking traumatic.

It’s not like it’s nothing that pushes her over the edge, but in diagnosing Dany with madness, her agency is stripped from her. Dismissing her actions by saying it’s in her blood is implying it’s inevitable despite the great character growth and progress she has made. While the books clearly hint at this, the show does not...well, not successfully. It’s feasible and I’m not at all against the idea of her going mad, but the connotations of it seem reductive.

Daenerys could have been the most beautiful mad queen we’ve seen since Maleficent, reigning her vengeance on us with fire and blood, but D&D wrote off her brilliance with 30 minutes of relentless slaughter. Her power has always been something to fear, she plays the game she need not play to gain favour and credibility as a leader, and when playing by their rules fails her and she doesn’t feel like playing anymore (as it’s gotten her nowhere – does this remind you of anything? Patriarchy? Internalising misogyny?) she’s crazy.

The most irritating aspect of this all is that it has been written to further the narrative of do-gooder MoodiBoi of Westeros, Jon Snow. To add insult to injury, her sacrifices are motive for madness while Jon’s make him a martyr; an unwilling hero bound by the same strain of honour that has gotten both him and his uncle killed. Like, I’m bored?

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔣 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫

It’s undeniable, Ayra is a badass. She killed the fucking Night King. But for some reason, Daenerys isn’t granted the same nuance she is. Ayra is unforgiving and gritty, she is cloaked in darkness and weaponry and this darkness is welcomed. While Dany’s darkness is terrifying - perhaps simply due to the scale of devastation she is capable of - whereas Ayra’s is welcomed and accepted. Maybe it’s just too easy for Dany to sit the throne with dragons and is considered unfair? Like, I dunno, any white-het-cis man trying to attain a position of power and control.

Perhaps it is because Ayra’s power is overtly masculine, her power is demonstrated solely in her physical skills and capabilities, whereas Dany’s overt power is dragon fire, and flows, sometimes in reverse, between decision making, politics, emotions, bloodlines and betrayals. This is a character arc, it isn’t a clean narrative and that is why it’s so compelling. (Sidenote: let’s not disregard the ability to raise, bond with and fly fatherfucking dragons.)

Ayra undergoes numerous inescapable traumas, all early in life, but so does our darling Dany. The only difference is Dany strays from physical demonstrations of power. Her focus is not individualised, it’s pinpointed to political hotspots.

No, not all female characters have to express their power and emotions in the same way, nor should all female characters be powerful, but in a show with dragons, is it so far-fetched to have more than one successful female ruler?

𝔄𝔷𝔬𝔯-𝔞𝔥𝔟𝔶𝔢

It seems as though the show has room for only one type of ‘empowered’ woman: the power hungry one. Whether she uses cunning, childless violence or fire and blood, they all seek power. Enough to hold what they consider their claim, two of them have already paid with their lives for their loud and unrelenting anger, the third is most likely going to sit the throne, quietly, thankful for the years of gaslighting and abuse. Looking at you, Sansa Snarky.

The only praise I can sing is that this is actually a testament to her power and great restraint, it has taken 8 seasons of abuse, disbelief, dehumanising, control and betrayal for her to reach this point and use this force that she could have used moons ago. Which, judging by everyone’s shitty ideas and plans, she should have done anyway.

While Daenerys Stormborn isn’t perfect (er, hello white saviour/messiah complex) she is compelling and pivotal in the series. This woman isn’t inherently good or bad. The character is made of grey, shifting uncertainties and wavering moral, struck by tragedy and bloodlines - she is simply made of magic - Dany is, after all, the Mother of Dragons, and she deserved better.

𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰

1] Likeability: I define Likeability as a set of performances that are highly gendered, and ensure the maintenance of the feminine by condemning behaviours exerted by non-males; typically being loud, having a sexuality (lol seriously) opinionated, successful and ambitious. I believe likeability sits on the axis of heteronormativity and femininity; or rather within the heterosexual matrix. They rely on each other for their respective maintenance. The highly feminine woman is more respected and well liked. It is a social currency women have to pay in order to attain certain things, such as respect or power.

2] https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/its-time-embrace-feminisms-anger

3] https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/09/how-pop-culture-tells-women-to-shut-up/502187/

4] A Cast of Kings: Available on all streaming sites. S8EP5 Review.

1 note · View note

squirenonny · 6 years

Text

Clone Shiro Theory in Season 5

Okay, so this mess was inspired by talking with several people on Tumblr and discord about the Clone Shiro Theory in the wake of Season 5, as well as seeing posts in the fandom tags. And...I’ve noticed some common themes in arguments against this theory.

Please note that this is not meant to be a direct rebuttal to anyone, more... working out for myself why I’m so convinced that Shiro is a clone because I’ve got all these nebulous thoughts running around in my head and I need to organize them somehow. So feel free to read, respond, reblog, ect, but also feel free to ignore this completely if Clone Shiro isn’t your thing.

Season 5 spoilers and a very long post under the cut.

I’m going to break this down into three parts:

I. Why a clone and not something else (mind control, magical spyware, ect)

II. Why I won’t accept anything but clones at this point without crying foul

III. Clone Shiro vs Galra Keith

I. Why a clone?

I think at this point there’s no way to deny that something happened to Shiro in Operation Kuron. We’ve seen Haggar spying through him, the headaches are a recurring theme, and his behavior has changed to the point that he’s going behind his team’s back and lashing out at the team in ways he hasn’t before.

With most of the proof, you can make several arguments. Haggar’s mind-controlling him directly, but he still is Shiro. Haggar’s spyware is giving him headaches that’s making him more testy than usual, but he’s still acting under his own free will. Ect. But I think there is enough evidence to give the clone theory specifically an edge over other explanations.

Shiro’s hair grew roughly a foot during his captivity between seasons 2 and 3. There’s no clear answer on how long this was, but it seems like a fairly short time period. At the start of the season, Keith is still raw over Shiro’s disappearance, and though they’ve done a few missions without Shiro, they haven’t run up against anything that required Voltron. Which... considering how often they form Voltron both before and after this period, suggest to me that we’re talking a time frame of weeks at the longest. Then episodes 1-3 happen in pretty quick succession, with the lion switch and Keith immediately charging off, almost out of spite. We pick up with Shiro a day or two before episode 3 (which is where Shiro finds Voltron and then loses them.) He spends another week chasing them before Keith and Black find him. All told, this is probably in the realm of one month since his disappearance, maybe two. For reference, human hair grows on average half an inch per month. Shiro is shown to have significantly more hair growth in this time frame than anyone else gets in the entire series--even people who have been prisoners for extended amounts of time. Matt and Sam each get maybe a few inches, and Shiro’s hair was kept short during his stint in the Arena. This tells me that Shiro’s hair growth for The Journey is not an artist’s exaggeration to show that he’s had it rough. If it is, then it’s sloppy, and the animators on this show are typically pretty attentive to detail. If this is intentional, I can only conclude that Shiro has been in captivity for far longer than the timeline allows and/or the clone was grown in a short time and the accelerated growth also affected his hair.

Calling attention to the difference between Shiro(s1-2) and Shiro(s3+). These, I’ll admit, are more suspicious than damning, but they’re worth mentioning. The animators made a deliberate decision to give Shiro a new look after his return. We’ve seen people in different outfits, and Allura has a few different hairstyles (up, down, mice poofs), but no one has changed their “default” outfit like Shiro has, only their armor or other special outfits (pajamas, swimsuits, ect), and no one has gotten a new haircut, except Pidge (in backstory, as a plot point) and Sam and Matt (compare to Shiro on the Kerberos mission vs post-escape in s1.) They want you to be able to tell the difference between Shiro 1 and Shiro 2. At the same time, they call attention to this change by having Shiro comment about his “weird headache.” The writers also made a point of having the Galra refer to Shiro differently in the context of Operation Kuron (Subject Y0XT39 vs Prisoner 117-9875.) From a writing standpoint, this is a strange choice--not necessarily significant, but likely so because both designations are mentioned in passing and without context, so tossing both out there without reason is more confusing than world-building. And in-universe, it tells us that the people in charge of Operation Kuron couldn’t or didn’t want to refer to prisoners by their already-assigned number. Possibly this is for internal organization--i.e. if not all subjects were prisoners or if they had completely random prisoner numbers. But if it is clones, they would need new ways to identify them, since they’d all have the same prisoner ID. Again, not proof, but suspicious.

Shiro appeared in the Voltron bond. And it seems as though the Shiro with the team didn’t. Not just his head is fuzzy about it. He wasn’t there. Did you notice how Shiro-in-the-bond was translucent, only seen from a distance, and almost completely lacking in detail in the head area? Maybe to obscure the fact that he has his old haircut (both from us and from Lance)? Did you notice that he didn’t appear with everyone else, and how desperate he was to communicate with his team? There are two Shiros. The only question is whether the distinction is physical (clones) or mental (mind control with the real Shiro’s mind completely suppressed by Haggar’s persona)

Following up on this point, Shiro himself is questioning things. If this was a case of mind control, of Haggar taking over Shiro’s body, there is no way she would allow her puppet to question his own identity. If she has direct control, she certainly wouldn’t mention it to Lance, and if the real Shiro is still in there waiting to take his body back, she absolutely would put safeguards in to make sure her controlled personality stays in place.

And of course, the single biggest argument in favor of Clone Shiro: Operation Kuron = literally, “Operation Clone.” This can’t be a coincidence. It can’t. With everyone working on the show (how many of whom are anime fans and have at least a rudimentary familiarity with Japanese pronunciation?), and with Lauren Montgomery having talked about how Laith is a much better ship name for Keith and Lance, because Laith means Lion, I do not believe that they accidentally chose a name for this major plot point that means “clone” in Japanese (which is either Shiro’s native language or at least connected to his heritage.) I also don’t believe that it was chosen as a red herring to make us think this is all about clones when it really isn’t, because the target audience (which is, what 8-12 year olds?) will not pick up on that hint. It fails as a distraction for the core demographic, which makes me think it’s far more likely that it was meant as an easter egg and the writers didn’t necessarily intend for people to pick up on it. It’s like... This post about English name symbolism in FMA. It’s a clever nod to character traits for people who are in the know, but then you give that same name to an English speaker and it’s almost laughably on the nose. For people who don’t speak Japanese (most of Voltron’s audience) and don’t have social media to point it out (unfortunately, comparatively little of the fanbase), “Operation Kuron” is a subtle nod. In a novel, where people likely won’t engage with the fandom until they’re finished, it would work. Hell, for people not actively engaged in fandom, it works. The problem is that we’ve had months upon months and the power of the internet, so now everyone knows that JK Rowling named her werewolf Wolfy McWolfenstein the Galra named their secret clone project Project Clone. That isn’t bad writing. It’s perfectly fine writing tossed to the wolves of a global fandom that loves to theorize.

(Also, I was curious, so I checked, and “Operation Kuron” is called the same thing in the Japanese dub, so lol if it’s not clones, Dreamworks is going to have some explaining to do.)

II. Why having the answer be “Not Clones” at this point would be bad writing

Okay, see, this is way more subjective than part I, which was already pretty subjective. But here’s the thing. Dreamworks has set up Clone Shiro, almost blatantly so. I can forgive the fact that this twist is obvious to the Tumblr fandom, at least, because (a) the show is for kids, so the foreshadowing has to be a little bit more obvious, and (b) you cannot judge subtlety based on thousands of people working together to figure things out. Most of the fandom figured out Galra Keith before season 2 dropped. Some people hated it, but then, some people were incredibly resistant to the Clone Shiro Theory--still are. It feels like everyone and their grandmother figured these twists out way in advance, but if you took away the part where we all screamed about it and laid out our arguments? If you somehow reached out to the viewers who aren’t involved in fandom? I’ll bet you good money that a lot fewer of them have picked up on the hints. (And if they have, they aren’t nearly as certain about it.)

But if we get to season 6 and suddenly find out Shiro has been Shiro all along, just with magic in his head letting Haggar watch him? I’m going to be disappointed, because that resolution is almost guaranteed to leave plot holes. How did Shiro get recaptured/how did he disappear from the Black Lion in the first place? Why did his hair grow so fast? What’s with the change in behavior (I’m not talking about the snappishness and arguing with Keith and Lance, I’m talking about directly undermining the very teamwork he’s been the single biggest proponent of from the start by going behind the team’s back again and again)? Why didn’t Black accept him at first? Why did he have to prove himself to her again, after they’d been more closely bonded than anyone? Why was the project named Operation Kuron? Why did Shiro see another, hollow-looking, him on the exam table in that flashback? Why hasn’t he used the bayard yet?

The show might explicitly answer some of these, but I think we all know by now that it won’t slow the pace long enough to explain all of them. The clone theory explains or implies answers to almost all of these (especially if you couple it with “the original Shiro is stuck in the astral plane” or some such.)

So, no. Clone Shiro isn’t a twist at this point. Maybe it’s just me, because I’m usually pretty good at picking up on foreshadowing and figure out most twists ahead of time, especially if I’m given time to ruminate. But I’m fine with not having big, shocking reveals. Something doesn’t have to be a surprise to be interesting. I don’t have to feel like I was clever for figuring it out. I can’t wait for season 6 because I’m desperate to know that both my sons (Shiro and Ryou) are going to be okay--because I think, at least, that the Shiro with the team right now is not being set up as a villain. He may become a martyr, but he’s meant to be sympathetic, regardless of where he came from.

In the end, I don’t mind that the Clone Shiro Theory seems obvious, because the foreshadowing is aimed at kids and the adult fandom is bound to pick up on those hints faster. And clones explain everything so well that I honestly don’t think any other answer would make for a satisfying conclusion to the Kuron arc.

III. Clone Shiro vs Galra Keith

Okay, now this is interesting, because these are the two main theories that the fandom swarmed. One turned out to be true, and I honestly think the other will be proven right in June.

Also interesting is that, in terms of episode count, they both are paced about the same. It’s just that the Galra Keith plot happened over the course of 1.5 full seasons, while the Operation Kuron plot is going on 3.5 half seasons. Same number of episodes, but more spread out and with more breaks in between. Galra Keith was dropped into a single seven-month gap with a growing fandom and then confirmed immediately with the next batch of episodes. Operation Kuron was introduced in August, fans jumped on it, season 4 dropped, the fandom was split on it (because, admittedly, s4 didn’t add anything to the argument that couldn’t be explained by trauma and/or mounting pressure on Shiro), fans wrote a shitton of Ryou hcs/fic and drew a lot of Ryou art, season 5 dropped, with major new developments but no confirmation, and now we’ve got another break. At the earliest, it will be confirmed or debunked in June, a full ten months after it was first hinted, and with three season breaks for people to theorize, create fanworks, and otherwise dig into Camp Clone.

Can you imagine if the first two seasons had been done like that? (Note: I know I’m fudging the midpoint of season 1 a little bit, but bear with me here. I want to do a thought experiment.)

Season 1: We get hints of Keith’s knife and the major red flag of Keith opening doors that have been implied to be species-locked, so Hunk has to use a Galra arm to get past one door in the same episode Keith uses Galra tech with no problems. There’s also the word of god that says Keith is an orphan, so speculation runs wild. The fandom is split, with a small but vocal group on Team Galra, a vocal opposition, and a whole bunch of people on Team “Can’t we just wait and see what the writers have in mind, guys? We don’t have to fight!”

Season “2″: Little movement on Galra Keith Theory specifically, and both sides have arguments for what little we do get. Are those purple patches the effect of Galra heritage or is that supposed to tell us Quintessence does freaky things? Does Zarkon’s, “You fight like a Galra soldier,” mean anything (and is there a comma there/does that change the meaning? I can only imagine the comma drama if that had been one of the only new points for debate after three months.) The only major development is explicit confirmation of the species lock on Galra tech. All this is exacerbated by growing concerns in the autistic fanbase who worry that Team Galra Keith is starting to twist the legitimate autistic traits to support their own theory. (Believe me, I was there, and I was scared of Galra Keith for a good long while because of this.) The debate starts to turn bitter.

Season “3″: Ulaz shows up, we see Keith’s knife, we have Keith worrying that Zarkon “imprinted” on him, and though nothing comes of that, it still says something that the writers are even willing to acknowledge the theory. The season ends with no clear answer, but by now most of the fandom is on Team Galra. There’s been fic. There’s been art. There are headcanons and metas galore. The evidence is all laid out, and there’s really no denying it at this point. Some people are angry about it, and lots of people are hoping for Altean Keith or something, just because it would still be a surprise.

Season “4″: The Galra Keith reveal happens in episode one or two, and literally no one is shocked. Some people are angry, everyone is pissed that there wasn’t more fallout after four seasons of buildup. But we all knew it was coming.

Think, in contrast, how the Clone Shiro Theory might have gone if we hadn’t switched to half seasons. (In a hypothetical world where the theory is true, and it’s getting revealed next season.)

Season 3 now covers everything through Naxzela. Operation Kuron is huge in fandom discussion, but it’s partially overshadowed by everything else that happened--Keith joining the Blade, Lotor’s offer of talks, Keith’s near sacrifice, Matt’s return... Fewer people are as adamant about the clone theory because we’ve already seen Shiro back in the Black Lion and fighting alongside the team. There are lingering doubts, and people still lay out all their arguments, but it’s less splitting hairs and more the broad range we saw with Galra Keith, from adamant arguments on either side to a broad, casual fanbase in the middle who doesn’t know if it’s gonna happen and honestly couldn’t care less but sure as hell likes to play around with the idea. Like with Galra Keith, there is some evidence that’s either straight-up confirmation or lazy writing (Keith opening doors vs kuron meaning clone) but for the most part people are still uncertain.

Season “4″ drops and hits us all hard with new evidence. People are getting behind the Clone Shiro Theory in earnest now, but somewhere near the end of the season it’s confirmed, forestalling another round of theorizing. Lots of people are caught off-guard, lots of people are edge-of-their-seats “Holy crap, is that actually true??” The major, irrefutable pieces of evidence (Ulaz, Keith’s knife, his nightmares vs Shiro lying to the team, Haggar’s spying, Shiro calling out to Lance in the bond) are immediately followed up by confirmation.

Can you see how the spacing of the episodes drastically changes the perception of the theory? In all honesty, Galra Keith and Clone Shiro feel extraordinarily similar in terms of pacing, evidence, and alternate explanations--it’s just that Keith’s story happened much quicker, in fandom time. I can’t fault the writers for that. I just think half seasons were a bad idea, especially when the show was clearly written with full seasons in mind.

TL;DR Version:

There’s enough evidence that specifically points to clones that I’m 99% convinced that Shiro is a clone at this point. That last 1% is reserved for skepticism because, while I don’t believe the writers could provide me with a different explanation that fits as well as clones, they might try in the name of pulling one over on the viewers.

Galra Keith and Clone Shiro are set up in a very similar manner, and the latter suffers primarily from half season releases and a fandom who knows what tricks to look for.

The fact that the show is geared at a younger audience and so isn’t going to be super subtle is not a mark against it, but unfortunately if you’re active in the fandom, there’s a good chance you’re going to see a solid argument re: upcoming plot twists that spoils the surprise.

#voltron #voltron season 5 #operation kuron #shiro #kuron #voltron meta #voltron spoilers #season 5 spoilers

82 notes · View notes

sparklyjojos · 6 years

Text

Let’s Read & Suffer: Tsukumojuku by Maijō Ōtarō [part 12]

Today`s recap: This. This is why this recap is called “Let`s read & SUFFER.” (tw: csa, gore, torture, eye horror, all of the above rolled into one)

(this part is infamous for a reason, please heed the warnings)

STORY 3 PART 6

As promised, Tsukumojuku went to Okubo's house. The garden in the back seemed to be where the corpses of his victims were hidden, no doubt a lot of headless women. Probably lots of boys, too.

Looking through the basement window, he saw a bed and various tools that must have been used on the victims. A military uniform from the Vietnam War was hanging on the wall. Okubo probably wore it for the power fantasy while torturing his victims. There was also a flag and decorative sabres of the Korean People's Army, and similar kinds of incredibly fucked up memorabilia.

When Tsukumojuku rang the doorbell, Okubo opened him wearing an apron, acting friendly led him to the kitchen and offered him croquettes. Tsukumojuku said he wasn't hungry (he wanted to go home, fast) and sat on the table.

Which was a pretext Okubo was waiting for to hit him for ‘misbehavior’, then drag him into the next room, kick him repeatedly in the face, and completely unleash his sadism. (Desperate to destroy beauty because of his own ugliness, Tsukumojuku thought.)

Okubo then took Tsukumojuku’s eyes out and put them on the.dresser.

Tsukumojuku still clearly saw everyhing that happened to him next.

(But it wouldn't be long, right? Okubo surely would be spent and done soon. It'd surely end soon. ...But it didn't.)

[Again, I really don’t want to describe all the horrors that Okubo unleashed on him: let’s just say it got to the point where skullfucking was involved, and Tsukumojuku detachedly noted that it didn't hurt that much, since the brain doesn't feel pain. JESUS CHRIST, WHAT AM I READING. The fact that Tsukumojuku survived this makes me sure he really does have some sort of insta-regen powers.]

---

After this horrifying part, Tsukumojuku was allowed a break to go to the bathroom, clean himself up, and put his eyes back in.

What he had intended to happen was that Serika and Seshiru would surely come to kill him, having had enough of hiding and escaping (he wasn’t naive enough to think they felt anything but hate for him, even after he’d helped them). They would definitely come here... And then he'd trick Okubo into killing them before making him faint and thus getting rid of two birds with one stone. This was why even through all the terror he couldn’t afford to just make Okubo faint -- if the twins happened to show up when Okubo was out cold, they’d kill Tsukumojuku easily.

But it was getting late, and the twins still hadn’t appeared.

---

Tsukumojuku was then taken to the basement, handcuffed to the bed, and tortured even worse.

(At one point he looked at the nearest mirror-like surface, and realized that somehow, beaten up and mutilated, he was still too beautiful. Even he himself felt dizzy just glancing in the mirror.)

Finally Okubo implied that he was going to kill him, and Tsukumojuku decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore to wait for the twins to show up. He attempted to trick Okubo into looking into his eyes, but as the man had already fainted once because of him, he wouldn’t fall for it again.

Okubo went out of the basement for a second, and Tsukumojuku thought: Alright. Now or never. Once the man got back, he'd have to at least glance at his face when trying to cut his throat. There was a chance.

But Okubo really had learned his lesson. He returned with a circular saw rather than a knife, and was closing in not looking at Tsukumojuku at all. He crept closer and closer, Tsukumojuku trying to do something, anything to get free, the saw buzzing right next to his neck--

The door flew wide open. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU BASTARD?!”

It was Seshiru.

Seshiru and Serika, dear Seshiru and Serika. The army knife that had allowed them to escape was now pointed at Okubo.

Okubo instantly charged at them, and chaotic battle ensued. Seshiru plunged the knife into Okubo's side and held onto it even after having his stomach slashed horribly, tried to stab Okubo’s head but his side got caught by the saw’s blade, and he only didn’t get cut in half because Serika smacked Okubo on the head with an electric baton she’d probably stolen from the police. Finally the knife was plunged into Okubo’s throat, and once he fell to the ground, Seshiru kicked the abandoned saw towards him, killing him for good.

“What the fuck did you do to my baby brother?!” Seshiru yelled again, ignoring the blood pouring from his no doubt mortally wounded stomach, and plunged the knife into Okubo, again, again, again, not stopping for even a moment.

With tearful eyes, Serika released Tsukumojuku from the handcuffs, and he asked her if she’d heard of Seiryoin Ryusui. She didn't. Good. Tsukumojuku hit her with her own electric baton, and she fell on the ground unconscious.

Seshiru finally stopped and looked at him. “What are you... doing?”

Tsukumojuku approached him without a word.

“Even when... I helped you with all my heart...” Seshiru managed through the blood bubbling in his throat.

“I was going to kill you from the very beginning, Seshiru. I had promised it back then. But still... I’m happy that you called me your brother. Even if not a single one of us is a Kato anymore. ...Seshiru, do you know the author Seiryoin Ryusui?”

“...no... I don't...”

“I see.” Tsukumojuku took one of the sabres decorating the wall and stabbed it into the X mark on Seshiru’s chest, staying calm on the outside but with internal turmoil.

(”I loved you Seshiru I loved you Seshiru I wanted to become your brother”)

After a long quiet moment, Tsukumojuku swapped his clothes and wallet with Seshiru's. Using the sabre he cut off Seshiru's head, and put it in a bag he’d found in the basement. He slung the bag over his shoulder, picked up still unconscious Serika, and left.

---

Using a public phone at the Nagoya station, Tsukumojuku called the police. “This is Kato Seshiru speaking,” he said. [Note: he’s using Seshiru’s proper name kanji here -- 聖思流 -- rather than katakana like he always did.]

He said he wasn't going to surrender, but explain what was happening. The investigator, Okubo Kengo, was the real murderer in the throat-cutter case, and the police would find a lot of evidence if they checked his house. He, “Seshiru”, had witnessed Okubo killing the great detective Ryuuguu Jounosuke, and after that him, “Seshiru”, killed Okubo in return.

Yes. Him, “Seshiru”, killed Okubo. The murdered boy called Ryuuguu Jounosuke was actually his dear little brother, Kato Tsukumojuku. (He felt safe making this claim: since the police would have a lot to do once they found out about all of Okubo’s crimes, nobody would think to check the identity of that one corpse too carefully. Kato Tsukumojuku would be declared dead).

After hanging up, he got a taxi. Holding still deeply sleeping Serika close, he looked at the passing scenery lost in thought.

“My name is Kato Seshiru, Inugami Yasha, a great detective, and I’m the brother of Serika, Kirika Mai, a great detective.

We are going to the Illusionary Castle to meet Seiryoin Ryusui.”

STORY 3 PART 7

In the middle of the night, a phone rang.

Emiko stirred awake and picked it up. It was Tsukumojuku. “Where are you now?” she asked. Far away, he said. “Wha? Where?” On the way to Seiryoin Ryusui, to settle things. “No, it's fine... just come back home...” Had she been sleeping? “Yes, sleeping a lot. What time is it? Why are you out at this hour?” He was already far away, seeking Seiryoin out, and he wasn't coming back. “That's stupid.” It was. “You should be more selfish sometimes.” I love you, Emiko, he said right before she hang up.

She must have drifted back into sleep, just like the children beside her; a deep, deep sleep.

He then went into Emiko's dream and wanted to continue the conversation, but she was angry with him and they fought. Even in a dream she somehow managed to hang up on him. “Be more selfish,” she repeated.

You are cursed. Crops don't grow from your soil. You will wander around the earth. But those who kill you will suffer vengeance seven times over.

END OF THE THIRD STORY

---

IMPRESSIONS:

Hey uh, so this was. Fucked up as hell. Believe me, this recap skips --a lot-- of pages full of graphic csa and gore. Was all of that really necessary, Maijo? Was it really? You could convey the same thing using just a small percentage of these descriptions.

All you need to know about this part is that it’s quite infamous in the fanbase. Now I truly understand some tweets I saw, back from around the time when Jorge Joestar was released, that were made by people unsettled after learning Tsukumojuku showed up in it. (”Wait, you mean that Tsukumojuku is in it? From the incestual gorefest book? Are the Jojo novels rated R now?!”). Although, for a lot of people Tsukumojuku being there was actually the reason to buy the book in the first place because they liked him so much, so... go figure.

Guess who will never be able to reread that one part of Jorge Joestar where Kars explains how “brains feel no pain” without immediately getting reminded of this chapter which used the exact same style of explanation, urgh urgh urgh nope

You know things got bad when you’re actively cheering for Seshiru. For fucking Seshiru. How did you manage to make me feel bad for Seshiru after all that he did in the First Story, Maijo Otaro. How.

Just like the Second Story ended with Adam and Eve, this one ends with Cain and Abel (Genesis 4):

11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

>>>>NEXT PART>>>>

#sparkly reads tsukumojuku #long post #maijo and jdc stuff #hoooo boy was I questioning just what I got myself into while reading this #csa tw #gore tw #this is the end of story 3 btw

3 notes · View notes

moon--melon · 7 years

Text

[OLD] Theory on Darkiplier

@markiplier (This theory goes far down the rabbit hole oh my god. One of these days, I’ll actually get Mark to see this stuff :P)

Ever since the release of A Date with Markiplier, I’ve wondered what Darkiplier’s true intentions and motivations were. After Markiplier TV, I was convinced that I had a pretty good explanation.

I think it’s safe to say that, personality wise, we know the most about Darkiplier (Next to Wilford Warfstache). Since Dark has only been in a few videos with little dialogue, his character hasn’t had time to develop fully yet. Thankfully though, Mark helped out by explaining who Dark is in this video: Mark on Darkiplier. (This video comes from a livestream)

I’ve seen many different portrayals of this suit-wearing version of Darkiplier (a.k.a. the official version), and some versions I’ve seen of him have him giving in and turning good when true love is shared with him. In my eyes, Dark is a demonic entity from another realm who cannot feel any human emotions. He can express them, but he cannot feel them, if that makes sense. Basically, Dark can replicate/fake human emotions such as caring, only to manipulate others:

“[Darkiplier] he’s a social manipulator” Says Mark ( Mark on Darkiplier ) “He is….he is literally 100% manipulative. He leads you into this false sense of security and wants you to trust him because he wants to take advantage of you”.

“In my mind, Darkiplier is an entirely different person from me, but much like Warfstache, doesn’t obey the laws of physics. He exists in—like—another world entirely and bleeds through into this one” This statement confirms the fact that Dark is an entity from some other universe/realm/reality/whatever you want to call it.

“…that was my clue to reveal that…he is NOT your friend”. Mark clearly wants to get it through our heads that his version of Darkiplier (the one I personally consider to be canon/official) is pure evil, and could never feel any type of love or compassion for anyone or anything, other than himself.

Now that the definition of Darkiplier’s character is out of the way, it’s time to discuss what I personally think is going on. (This is my headcanon story thing :P)

A few years ago, as Mark’s channel gradually gained popularity, a certain someone observed from afar: Darkiplier. During the old days of Mark’s channel, Dark (whose real name is unknown), meticulously watched and analyzed the YouTuber’s growth. Feeling like he could gain something from this, Dark revealed himself to [2012] Mark one day, requesting a partnership. Using his manipulative skills, Dark promised Mark to help him create quality content for his fans, …but of course, there was a catch. Dark wanted…to be let in. Dark wanted payment for the service he’d be providing, and that payment would be the power from the love of Mark’s fans (I theorize it to be). Although reluctant, Mark agreed, and thus began a collaboration full of lies and manipulation. Mark, quite literally, made a deal with the devil.

Videos such as: Don’t Blink, Don’t Move, and Raspy Hill, were all created with the help of Darkiplier. Things were great; Mark was gaining more and more views and subscribers as Dark assisted him with scary video ideas, thus allowing the community of fans to grow. Overtime, Dark awaited Mark’s end of the deal, but being anxious and unsure, Mark kept putting it off, always promising to Dark that he’ll eventually allow him to do whatever he needs so that they’d be even. (Dark’s payment is probably something along the lines of…possession, or stealing power. Something demonic and manipulative, of course).

As the fanbase grew, …so did some theories and ideas. Fans started creating their own versions of Darkiplier (not being aware that Dark is an actual entity, and not a creation of Mark’s), basing them off of the scary videos Mark has created (with the actual Dark). Obviously, since this was a fandom like any other, some fans took the idea of Darkiplier and changed it for fan fictions and suggestive fan art. As Dark ignored this “insolence”, Mark…took notice of it. With every new piece of Darkiplier fan art, Mark slowly drifted away from Dark, not wanting anything to do with him anymore, …or the deal that they agreed on years ago in 2012.

All Mark did was joke about Darkiplier, eventually making this video in August of 2016 to tease the idea of him even more: relax.

Finally, in October of 2016, Mark took it a step further by taking on the persona of an emo teenager on twitter, who he called “the canon Darkiplier”.

As a result of this, Darkiplier was furious. Tired of this mockery, Dark finally decided to act his revenge on Mark.

As a final act of trickery, Dark pretended to collaborate with Mark on the A Date with Markiplier video. But in reality, Dark used this opportunity to get a certain message across. Being an idiot, Mark just thought that this was a part of Dark’s scary act, so he didn’t cut it out of the final video.

In the Darkiplier route, Dark says this: “Did you miss me? I missed you…very much” this is him speaking to the fans, attempting to gain their trust, wanting to use their love against them. Dark refers to the fact that it’s been so long since him and Mark actually did a video together, so we, the fans, haven’t seen him in a long time: “I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again…” .

Dark acknowledges the fact that he’s being made fun of by Mark, and that he’s been replaced by that ridiculous emo character: “I’ve been pushed aside…replaced…mocked”. Then he refers to the fact that Mark ignored him, and didn’t ask for help while making the A Date with Markiplier Video, so Dark himself had to offer his help, and only then, did Mark collaborate with him again: “ …and then he had the gall to not invite me to his little adventure with you”.

Fed up with everything, Dark tells this to the audience: “No more…never again”. “I’ve been waiting patiently! He promised he would let me in…again. I’m tired of giving people a choice”.

After the success of A Date with Markiplier, Dark secretly continued with his plan, …deciding that he…needed help to accomplish his cruel objective.

Back in the day, while working with Mark, Dark met Wilford Warfstache. But before officially meeting him, the devilish entity watched Wilford, just like he did Mark. After shooting and killing his girlfriend, her husband, their dog, and their neighbor, Wilford burned the house down and ran away, evading the police [Source: The Warfstache Affair]. Dark took interest in this, seeing potential in the journalist, who was now a wanted criminal.

Unfortunately, Wilford was apprehended by the police on a rooftop, after being shot down [Source: The Ned Affair]. Sitting in jail, after leaving the hospital for his wounds, Warfstache was visited by Dark. Dark promised to get Wilford out of jail, IF the mustached murderer agreed to help him. (During this time, Dark and Mark were still working together, so Dark just wanted Wilford so he could have another person to manipulate and use) Warfstache agreed, and the two became “friends” ever since.

When Dark started developing his plan against Mark, he asked Warfstache for assistance, and he gladly agreed to help.

Back when Dark and Warf first met, Dark started to observe more and more people. None of them were too special…they were just people who could possibly be manipulated for Dark’s own gain. To be specific, they were: a doctor, an author, a superhero, a gameshow host, a robot, and a salesman. Sound familiar? Well, they should. Being busy with Mark, Dark only kept those people in mind, deciding to observe them later if he needed to.

Well, after A Date with Markiplier, Dark remembered all of those people. Thinking he could use more fools to manipulate for his big plan, he decided to recruit them. Lucky for Dark, most of those people were down on their luck.

The superhero, named Silver Shepard, quit his job of being a superhero to pursue a career in entertainment, but was having a hard time in doing so.

The author, now known as “The Host”, was having conflicting thoughts with himself, that being the reason why he changed his status name.

The robot, named Google, used to be owned by a man named Matthias, but was thrown out when the owner had a baby.

The gameshow host, named Bim Trimmer, was left without a job when the TV show “Hire my Ass” was cancelled.

These 6 people (which includes Dr. Iplier and Ed Egar) were perfect for Dark’s plan. So, he visited each and every single one of them, promising them whatever they desired if they followed through with the plan. They all agreed.

At the end of Markiplier TV, we see Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache having a meeting with Google, Dr. Iplier, The Host, Bim Trimmer, Ed Edgar, and Silver Shepard. Markiplier TV was created by Wilford; it was his contribution to the plan. This is made evident when Dark asks Wilford: “How is this supposed to help us take back control? …We are the heart and soul of this channel after all”.

This is all for the big plan. Yes, they’re baby steps, but Dark definitely has something up his sleeve. If I haven’t already made it obvious, Dark doesn’t care about any of the people in his group, not even Wilford. Many people I’ve talked with think that Dark and Warf are actual friends, but why would Mark emphasize the fact that Dark is a social manipulator, and then show Dark having a genuine relationship with Warf? Dark is using Warfstache, and everyone else in the group, even the highly intelligent AI: Google.

Speaking of Google, he also has his own little way of contributing to the big plan in this video: Google Gets an Upgrade. In this video, Google v1.0 [Blue] upgrades, which results in him multiplying. In doing this, he creates Google v2.0 [Red], Google v3.0 [Yellow], and Google v4.0 [Green]. ((V stands for version. I numbered them in order of appearance)).

Mark is a clever guy. I don’t think he’s adding all these little details by accident. Maybe I’m just being overly analytical, but notice how Mark links Markiplier TV at the end of Google Gets an Upgrade. I think that’s no mistake. It’s a very telling clue. It suggests that the two videos are most definitely connected.

Now, that’s just what I think. I’d love to hear your theories on the matter! I’d also love for my silly little theories to get spread around. I know it’s hard for Mark to see everything on here, but reblogging this could definitely help out. Likes are always appreciated and hoped for, but reblogging gives a better chance of Mark seeing this!

Thank you

#markiplier #darkiplier #youtube #my art #lore #theory #markimoo #wilford warfstache #markiplier fan art #markiplier tv #markiplier ego #egoplier #fan art #teamiplier #googleplier #google irl #doctoriplier #bim trimmer

17 notes · View notes

horrorbutgay · 7 years

Text

NDRV3 Demo Analysis w/ Full Game Spoilers!

(My friend Elfi/Apri made this and jesus fuck shes a fucking genius please love her)

First off, let me mention that I immediately went into sleuthing mode while I was playing the demo for about 4h (both English and Japanese), because I'm aware that even DR demos have a decent difficulty level to its case writing (judging by suspicion not necessarily incriminating Hifumi The Harmless in the demo until the manga came into the picture with the full story) and this demo seemed too easy if you don't give it some proper thought like most of the unspoiled fandom is still not used to doing. From what I managed to piece together with the clues shattered throughout the demo and based on the knowledge of the full game's content, I'm convinced Naegi is the correct culprit vote like we all thought, BUT (huge but) paying attention and giving it some thought grant you the speculation that he could've actually had an accomplice outside of the protagonist room. And that accomplice is no less than the scheming mastermind of the game: Shirogane Shirogane Tsumukweeeen. (Yes, that Despair Arc dub meme never gets old) Let me start my explanation with the clarification that this demo is clearly another in-universe promotional method for V3 like the Maki, Kaito and Ki-Bo poster. It's like a popular show treating its fanbase with the kind of sneak peek preview to let them know what to expect. I also want to clarify that people were indeed able to enter the protagonist room before the gym announcement, because how else would you explain Tojo being able to clean the whole dormitory? This leads me to the conclusion that Tojo likely got her hands onto a master key from Monokuma with Tsumugi's aid and she locked the doors of all the rooms after cleaning them. Yes, Hoshi was there too, but so was Yumeno for a bit and that still doesn't mean they entered the dormitory later. Considering how Ultimate Dedication Kirumi is able to afford wasting time on introducing herself if she was supposedly in the middle of cleaning when you just arrive at the dorm, it's quite safe to assume the job was already done at that point and that is why the protag room is already locked if you do try to open it before going to the gym. In fact, all the rooms are locked. Kaede clearly was the last student to wake up, and Tsumugi being the only one with the ability to confirm Kirumi's alibi - despite Hoshi and Yumeno presumably being at the dorm as well - is a major hint that the clean-up was pretty much done waaay before you awoke, got past all the other students from the AV Room onwards to the dorm, and finally listened to the introduction of those three. I say three because I honestly think Yumeno was in the kitchen at first and only appeared in the dorms once the body discovery announcement was made. Anyway, Kirumi obviously locked the doors for safety and privacy measures once the clean-up was done. I believe Hagakure's "corpse" was already in Kaede's bathroom at this point, and here's why Tojo probably neglected to inspect and clean ALL of the bathrooms: As someone who comes off on the surface as a trustworthy and supportive person, not to mention that she acts as a huge fan of a maid's work, Kirumi is inclined to believe her if Tsumugi simply insists for example that Monokuma told her that all the bathrooms were taken extra care of to be spotless. As I've established, there is no breathing room for the player after the gym announcement, so Tsumugi had to be the only character present while Kirumi was cleaning the dormitory. Because she simply admires Kirumi's work as a maid due to how much of a geek she is, so she had to keep watching and this doesn't seem suspicious to you at all without fullgame spoilers because they always made Tsumugi out to be a bland motherly "heart on her sleeve" nerd type of girl. It is entirely understandable that Tsumugi - as the MM getting her lifetime dream of a writer debut on TDR come true - wants the killing game to start as fast as possible, and this is emphasized in the full game by how she gives them a two days time limit right off the bat to commit a murder or else they'll all be mass murdered. In the full game, this doesn't work out so well and she doesn't like how Kaede gets so well along with Amami in that bonus scene (explaining why Kaede believes in his innocence to be the MM in Case 1) without even knowing about his impressive SHSL Survivor status as the only survivor of V2. And Rantarou also turns out to be better at nail painting than the Ultimate Cosplayer thanks to living with twelve sisters at home, making her outraged with jealousy. To push her over the edge, time is running out and a mass execution would be a boring and way too quick end for the season, which would affect the ratings. She can't allow that, so she goes with the two characters she passionately dislikes so far to get them out of the picture and continue the show. Arguably, she would've even been fine with any vote that wasn't her because the MM being executed would also end the show too early. Kaede and Saihara were the prime suspects, so even though she framed Kaede for also trying her hardest to expose her due to the same reasoning and she conveniently set a death trap with a similar method to how she decided to kill Rantarou (remember, the heavy iron balls were in the warehouse available for anyone to grab), Saihara would have been fine too. Kaede works better though, because she is legitimately convinced of her guilt. Shadowing her as the demo first culprit is a nice nod to the full version and it makes perfect sense in context, and I'll explain why right now. No, sadly enough, there are no chances of that but that info is (preferably?) not spread through the fandom and only on the wiki. Turns out that when you enter Amami's research faculty, you discover a recording of himself before the memory manipulation process (there's a vast difference with that and brainwashing :')) in which he reveals that he is from the previous killing game and he was the only survivor there. That likely makes him more worthy of the SHSL Survivor status in the fanbase's eyes. Especially Tsumugi lmao She's a full-on critic Anyway, I liked clearing that up for the people here, but now onwards. I'm almost 100% sure that Kirumi would vaguely hint towards this exchange of words happening between her and Tsumugi if the player voluntarily approaches her after she decides to stay behind with Hajime, but that's something I'd have to check with a replay. Hajime and Makoto actually being in the demo/in-universe preview episode is also a great treat to hardcore fan Tsumugi. Especially Makoto, the protagonist of her favorite cast. We already established before that Tsumugi is going back to the original and she wanted to recreate the DR1 cast & killing game whilst simultaneously criticizing the flaws of her favorite game/season (the reality tv killing game started with reboots of the original fictional material with real actors, as evidenced by the collage sequence if you manage to read through all of them.)(edited) I initially thought of them possibly being Tsumugi's cosplays, but that ended up being too far-fetched for my taste and some of the 53 seasons do involve aforementioned reboots of originally fictional source material. It's just a little too fastly skipped on in the collage for the most part after the first ten entries.(edited) And just who from the cast do you think even Tsumugi would detest despite being a DR1 stan? That's right: Yasuhiro Hagakure. This passionate hatred is even further emphasized by there not being a Hagakure parallel in her fanfiction. She likes her casts well-rounded. But that doesn't explain the revealed fake death at the end, so let me continue my theory. Tsumugi invited Hajime, Makoto and Hagakure along to the live preview of her writing and acting debut on Team Danganronpa. Because she arranged the perfect protagonist who's like no other and ideal to keep milking the series, on top of that that person is also female, the actors for the OC leads (who obviously also survived in their portion of a reality tv killing game to stay faithful to the omnipresent motto of keeping the MCs alive, despite the vast differences in the rest of the survivor sets for DR1 and 2 which I'll tackle in a bit) are brought back to their roles to guide Kaede and introduce the nostalgia Tsumugi is going to include in the upcoming season. Ah, and before anyone comes up with a "Rantarou" rebuttal for the sake of completing the DR1 parallel, keep in mind that his personality mainly stems from the previous season and there are some characters (like Gonta) that even Kodaka admitted he has never written before because Tsumugi managed to give a sense of uniqueness to the cast.(edited) And the remaining students also managed to drift apart from the character arcs she so thoroughly planned for them, but that's meta for another day. Remember the "fake" AU leaks that I eventually explained to be V3's version of the (either tv or game) outcome for the events for 1 and 2 in their universe? Well, Hagakure dies in that. Probably also the first victim, explaining Monokuma's fourth wall breaking comment that this is actually his second time dying. It's a double-sided statement that you won't catch up on if you haven't practically finished the game. His character was basically recycled with a look-alike actor in order to fool the audience with that pretense of Danganronpa just being a cool TV show (more on that in that ending meta I plan to discuss here some time) - I assume they do this with all previews of new seasons once the audience started doing some digging on the real people behind their beloved characters or perhaps the real names were initially not even included in the credits (like when they did the reboots) until they started with new storylines to not run out of ideas, keep profiting and take the thrill a step further) - and because he therefore wouldn't have experience with acting like Hagakure, Tsumugi left him out of the preview until it was time for his body discovery. Being the comic relief character he is supposed to be, Hagakure's actor was fortunate to be able to be used as a fake death with the plot convenience of Ultimate Detective not entering the crime scene in the demo. All this clearly explains the black screen ending scenario where the returning characters all wonder if their acting was good, and Hagakure suddenly rushing in to reveal it was a fake death. TDR is teasing and deceiving you, the unspoiled viewer anticipating their announced renewal for another season, because deception is what it's all about with V3's Truth vs Lies theme. A neat manner to let the world know what to expect. TDR probably also uses these previews to test the results of the memory manipulation used on the cast and the audience's reaction on seeing this cast in action. The company wants to know if Tsumugi's adjustments are sufficient or if there's anything left to mold their personalities for in order to appeal the whole cast to the audience, explaining the pleasant surprises like Tenko initially being hyped up as the discourse character yet actually being the most morally good female of the cast. Seriously, the best part about V3 is that it all (even the promotion) comes full-circle if you give it some proper thought. The entry is filled with a never-ending cycle of full-circle moments which are able to blow your mind when you finally connect that cycle. Spoiling, fourth-wall-breaking game promotion before the game is even out. It's incredible how far they planned ahead, honestly Anyway, let's continue. There's some necessary details left to make the full picture. So basically, Tsumugi arranged this whole scenario with the three of them, and considering how safe it is to assume how passionately Tsumugi despises Hagakure, they might as well have even had to resort to a compromise to give Hagakure's nobody actor a planned fake death as long as Tsumugi makes sure nobody enters the protagonist room. The fake crime scene they set up must not be exposed. There's obviously frozen blood bags in TDR's various morgues from all the reality tv killing games, so they used the dead Hagakure's blood to shroud the new actor in. This is all done to make the timing so fresh and in case they cannot prevent the Ultimate Detective from investigating the crime scene. Saihara would definitely catch up on fake blood, after all. You can supply blood in a fresh manner by sustaining them in frozen blood bags. Common scientific knowledge. And it makes sense to supply their blood because TDR started these behind-the-scenes kidnappings and schemes up with running out of ideas and the reality TV reboots of their original source material. No way would the ratings - which are so important to them because they're making a good living off of this show and it can't end in their eyes - stay unaffected by a simple reboot, hence the new survivor sets that I will headcanon as being part of the TV reboot from now on. This indicates that they kept the strengths of the original entries, but they twisted the story of the games like we already were informed of by Tsumugi. They're greedy and huge perfectionists, so those previously fictional characters really had to be brought to life. That's where the development of the futuristic technology comes in. More on TDR specifically in my ending meta though! :P Well then, let's further detail how this off-screen plan worked so well in case the realization is not hitting someone yet. The knife is actually just twisted in a gaping hole from his shirt being stabbed in his abdomen non-fatally, so I suppose it makes sense that it looks so real once he plays dead and they add real blood on him. Implying that the fandom or the in-universe audience will spend that much doubt to it with how legit it looks, but Saihara definitely would inspect the corpse more as it's his duty. It's a huge plot convenience that Saihara does not bother to do so, likely because he's already made up his mind on who the culprit is like all of us did from the start: Naegi Makoto. And while he is not exactly wrong, he's dense to the major foreshadowing of an accomplice due to a lack of evidence. A nice mirror to the real first case. Tsumugi truly is a master puppeteer, and I still view her as a controlfreak because the term means that she is obsessed with maintaining her control of something. And that is emphasized in the game multiple times once Monodam, Angie and Korekiyo turn the planned pattern for the killing game around in chapter 3 and so onwards. Back to the demo: after the preparation process is done, Hagakure is left alone in the bathroom waiting for his scene to act like a corpse, not allowed to make a noise.(edited) Tsumugi and Makoto split up; former approaches Kirumi to start cleaning as soon as possible (probably convincing Monokuma to give the SHSL Maid a master key) in order to avoid anyone meeting Hagakure; the latter goes to check on Kaede in the AV Room in order to continue the plan "smoothly" as he mentions later in the class trial. Wanna know why he had to part ways with Kaede when all the students are demanded to go to the gym? It's simple when you've gotten this far. Since Tsumugi cannot possibly ignore this order from Monokuma and come out of the shadows with her real personality, Makoto is the one who needs to proceed with the last phase of the plan: splashing the actor playing dead in freshly kept blood from the frozen blood bag for his original predecessor. Hagakura is the one who got the kitchen knife and might as well have been the one to non-fatally stab himself, but that's just a small detail and it makes sense that the cast without the detective (thus inexperienced with murder cases) would legitimately assume his death to be for real just upon the sight of a drenched murder weapon and the excessive amount of fresh blood.(edited) And this is exactly why the blood confirms the time of death being a few minutes ago when they were all at the gym. Lastly, this also explains Makoto's hair dropping at the crime scene. Stuff like that commonly happens, especially when you're in a rush and they probably had to fake a convincing struggle in the short period of time they had. He was obviously able to access the room because he was the first one to receive the keys due to likely being the only person not to be infected with sleeping gas alongside Hagakure.(edited) I can't connect where Hajime's part comes in though, so maybe he wasn't involved - which I can understand cuz a fangirl prefers cooperating and interacting with her favorites - or perhaps his only contribution was (unknowingly of Tsumugi's elaborate scheme) aiding Tsumugi and Kirumi with his confidence and experience in order to convince Monokuma to hand over that master key for the maid to do her job. I really believe Hajime's actor was kept in the dark because unlike a personified Naegi, the personified Hajime wouldn't be lured to a route as corrupt as the former took by being willing to do anything to keep living off of TDR's unquestionably high salary if you survive AND return to the show. No, this actor only thought he was hired again for nostalgia's sake, because that's what we all assumed as well. And Hajime was the most intended as a returning lead to guide Kaede on the road of leading her group and passing the leadership onto her, despite not being her instructor like Naegi but that's all according to plan, of course. This is my demo headcanon. This is my conclusive interpretation of the demo

#ndrv3 spoilers #drv3

4 notes · View notes

miss-musings · 7 years

Text

TBL: Retconned Kaplan

There is a subject of contention among The Blacklist fanbase – Kaplan’s ‘turning’ against Red b/c of her affection for Liz (because she was once her nanny). I would like to argue that the whole thing is definitely a retcon.

A very long meta below the jump.

With the premiere of 4x16 and 4x17, suddenly, the dynamic between Kaplan and Red wasn’t about Kaplan’s loyalty to Red, and saving Liz as a way to protect him from himself. No, it instead ‘turned’ her into Liz’s former nanny who had this parental kind of affection for her young charge.

If I went back to the beginning of the series, it would take me a long time, but let’s just look at all the information that Kaplan told us about why she “betrayed” Red and helped Liz fake her death.

In 3x18, we are given very good indications that Kaplan had something to do with Liz’s “death.”

She gives Liz concerned looks from the front seat as they are driving in the car, and even remarks how Liz and her family deserve better than what they’re getting.

She has that sly conversation with Nick before Red walks in about doing something with little risk.

There’s that ominous shot of her looking at Liz holding Agnes, again looking concerned.

She goes to talk to Liz and Tom alone after Liz doesn’t let Red see Agnes.

She had access to the medical equipment, the body, etc. She gives Liz’s “corpse” one last serious look before zipping up the body bag at the end.

Now, I don’t really have a problem with Kaplan being the one who organized Liz’s “death.” I wish they’d have built it up more earlier in the season, but they did a decent enough job with it in the episode itself that I could see her wanting to help Liz after having a baby and after been placed in such danger. (Plus, Megan Boone deserved her maternity leave and they had to ‘writer her out of the show’ somehow. They didn’t have to “kill” her, but… I digress.)

Following the revelation that Liz was actually alive (which surprised the characters but not the audience), the writers basically beat us over the head with not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE FUCKING SCENES where Kaplan explains why she “betrayed” Red. Because, ya know, we need to be spoon-fed that information about 800 times, because we iz dum.

Now, I certainly could see one, or even two scenes where Kaplan and Red talk about this. The first to spell it out for Red, who takes things to heart, and clarify it for the audience. And then a second time in S4, maybe to reiterate the point for any new viewers who skipped over parts of S3.

But, let’s just break these scenes down one-by-one.

EXPLANATORY SCENE ONE

Here’s a transcript from the scene where Red confronts Kaplan on the flight down to Cuba about how and why she helped Liz fake her death.

Red: How?

Kaplan: The ‘how’ won’t change anything. … I suppose I knew what I would do that afternoon in the car on the drive to the mobile I.C.U. That poor girl. So afraid. Always looking over her shoulder. In the dark about who she was and why it mattered. But it wasn’t just about Elizabeth anymore. Her child was already paying the price for her association with you. …I saw my opportunity. (Flashback Kaplan talking to Liz: I know you’re afraid, sweetie. You should be. Agnes will never be safe in Raymond’s world. The question is… how are far are you willing to go to protect her?)

Red: I saw her die.

Kaplan: You saw what the doctor allowed you to see.

(More details about how they did it, blah, blah, blah….)

Red: Had it really come to that?

Kaplan: She loved her daughter that much… Yes, Raymond. It had come to that.

EXPLANATORY SCENE TWO

In the next episode, 4x01, after Red has been giving Kate the silent treatment, Kate confronts him in a Cuban cafe as they’re waiting for information and tells him the following:

“It was excruciating to watch you mourn Elizabeth’s death. To know that I was making you endure that. Yes, I betrayed you. But only after you had betrayed her. Raymond, you have to change. I took Elizabeth from you, and now I need your help to get her back. And once you do, and I know you will, you have to let her go.”

EXPLANATORY SCENE THREE (AND 3.5)

Then, in 4x02, as Tom is torturing Nikos for information about Mato (who is holding Agnes), Red apologizes to Kaplan that they had to resort to such violent methods with her friend. Kaplan starts again about why she betrayed Red:

“I didn’t just give you my friend as an act of contrition. I’m not sorry for what I did. I betrayed you for the same reason that I just betrayed Nikos: to keep Elizabeth safe. Just like you asked me to all those years ago when you first put her in my arms as a baby girl. Only now she has a baby girl of her own. And your existence in their lives puts them in constant danger.”

And in a short scene between Kaplan and Tom, we get this little nugget from Kaplan:

“In my desire to make life easier for your baby, I betrayed Raymond.”

EXPLANATORY SCENE FOUR

Then at the very end of 4x02, when Red “kills” Kaplan, she again reiterates that she betrayed him for Liz’s and Agnes’ sake:

Kaplan: “I dedicated my life to you. You entrusted me with everything you value. Your freedom. Your life. A child. I have never failed you. What you see as a betrayal of your trust was actual a fulfillment of your wishes: to protect your interests. No more, no less.”

Red: “You presumed to decide what was best for me… I can’t trust you. Ever… I’m standing before a stranger. And yet, I know you believe you did what was best for Elizabeth…”

EXPLANATORY SCENE FIVE

And if ALL that wasn’t enough, we get yet ANOTHER scene where Kaplan explains why she helped Elizabeth and Agnes in 4x08 where she exposits to Cabin Dude about how and why she got shot.

“The man you saw in the picture was my employer. He lost his way. At least that’s how I saw it. He placed a lovely young woman and her baby girl in terrible danger. Not deliberately, mind you. He loves them deeply. But enough to blind him to the reality that his very presence in their lives constitutes a threat. Not just to them, but to himself as well. I tried to help them. All I managed to do was to place her and the child in even greater danger. My efforts earned me a bullet in the head.”

ANALYSIS

Here’s the kicker: as Kaplan says in that first explanation… Liz was always in danger, always in the dark. DURING ALL THAT TIME THEY SPENT TOGETHER FROM 1X10… KAPLAN NEVER BOTHERED TO HELP LIZ “ESCAPE” FROM “RAYMOND’S WORLD” BEFORE.

It was ONLY because Agnes was now in the picture that Kaplan felt like she should act.

If Kaplan really, really had cared about Liz in a parental kind of way from the beginning, I imagine she would’ve told Liz to get out a long time ago, and she would’ve helped her do it.

No, the impetus for the whole thing isn’t Liz. It’s AGNES.

“AGNES will never be safe in Raymond’s world.”

Liz’s reason for leaving Red was Agnes. Kaplan’s reason for helping Liz leave Red was Agnes. There was no other reason given in this conversation.

And notice how through all these explanations, Kaplan’s reasoning flips back and forth between protecting Agnes and protecting Liz. Now, yes, I realize that Liz and Agnes are basically inseparable at this point. To protect Liz is to protect Agnes, and vice versa. But, theoretically, there is a way to keep Agnes safe without ‘faking’ Liz’s death… adoption. But, that option is out from the viewers’ perspective because we just did this whole rigmarole of how Liz was considering adoption and then decided not to. But, Kaplan doesn’t know that. No, based on her conversation with Liz in the 3x23 (where they flashback to 3x18, shortly after Agnes’ birth), Kaplan’s immediate plan was to fake Liz’s death.

So, by this logic and Kaplan’s own admission, she’s not looking out for one or the other, but really she’s looking out for both mother and daughter. But then, why not fake both their deaths??? Then, it would make perfect sense for Red to let Tom fade out of the picture and then Tom could run off to be with Liz and Agnes in secret. After Liz’s “death,” basically Red's whole reason for existence is Agnes. And if she’s “dead,” too, then there’s no reason for him to hang around the Keen family post-3x18. Kaplan had to have known that whenever Tom ran off with Agnes that Red was going to follow and/or ask questions. But, fake-killing a newborn and her mom is a little harsh, I guess, either from Kaplan’s perspective or the writers’, so…. that’s a no-go.

Anyway, Kaplan’s reasoning at this point is: save Liz from Red by faking her death, spirit Agnes (and Tom) away so they can all be together in secret, safe from Red and all the bullshit and danger he brings with him.

And she reasons all this to Red as a “fulfillment of his wishes,” which I can only assume means “keeping Liz (and her family) safe.” After all, that’s what Red’s been about since the pilot.

Yet, notice how Kaplan flips back and forth between admitting she betrayed Red and saying she didn’t. She’s trying to justify it by saying that what he did to Liz and her family was worse. She betrayed him only after he betrayed Elizabeth… She betrayed Red to ultimately fulfill his wishes… He had lost his way… He was endangering them.

This is, of course, completely glossing over the fact that Liz wasn’t in danger at the church because of Red. In fact, Red and his team were the ones protecting her. Liz was in danger because of WHO SHE IS (or rather because of who Kirk thought she was), with no reference to her connection to Red. This isn’t to say that Red hasn’t placed Liz in danger — Kaplan is actually quite right on that front. But, I guess because Liz was the “victim,” and she was pregnant, and her wedding was getting interrupted, and Red wasn’t explaining jack-fucking-shit, it was all basically his fault. But, let’s give Kaplan the benefit of the doubt and assume she didn’t know why Kirk was after Liz or that Kirk was really Rostov.

So, in all, the writers bothered to hit us over the head with five explanations, with some conflicting information:

Did Kaplan do it for Liz or Agnes, or both? I assume both, because they’re basically intertwined at this point, even though Kaplan can’t seem to decide on who she was really looking out for.

Did Kaplan feel guilty about what she did? She didn’t like seeing Red mourn Elizabeth, but she also says she’s not sorry for what she did. Maybe she is guilty and doesn’t want to admit it?

Does Kaplan admit to betraying Red or not? She probably thinks that she didn’t REALLY betray him, but fulfilled his wishes, but realizes that Red will see it as a betrayal, and thus says she “betrayed” him with mental air quotes around that whenever she says it to him.

When exactly did Red betray Liz from Kaplan’s perspective? Liz was in the dark about who she was and why it mattered, and Red was “endangering” her from Day 1. I mean, Liz got freakin’ kidnapped in 1x10 because Anslo figured that Red had some connection to Liz. So, from the time that Kaplan first met Liz in 1x10, Liz was in the dark and in danger, thanks to Red. Why not fake her death then?

No, this was all a writers’ ploy to get Boone off the show for her maternity leave (which, I certainly don’t blame her that the writers chose to write her character off this way), and simultaneously create “drama” between Kaplan and Red, and between Red and Liz (which has never been satisfactorily addressed even a fucking season later).

I suppose in-universe, you could chalk it up to Kaplan being frustrated and under-the-gun and not planning Liz’s escape/”death" with very good foresight, and then, when Red confronts her about it, she tries every reasoning she can to try to get back on his good side, using Liz and Agnes as sort of emotional leverage (ie, “See, I did it because I care about the people you also care about, so please don’t shoot me.”) Yet, in a scene with Tom, Kaplan admits that Red doesn’t know what to do with her, and she’s not going to make it any easier or any harder for him.

WHY IT’S A RETCON

But, notice, I mean: REALLY NOTICE, that during all this bullshit, Kaplan NEVER. ONCE. mentions anything about being Liz’s nanny, agreeing to work with Red on Day 1 only to keep Liz safe, openly admitting that, if she had to choose, she would Liz over Red any day of the week, or that Red agreed to that wholeheartedly.

In the five fucking scenes we get of explanations on why Kaplan did this, including one that came after she was shot in 4x02, she never says anything about the 'supposed’ backstory we saw in 4x17.

(So, while I’m not ruling out Kaplan in S4c as being an unreliable narrator post-GSW, her explanation to Cabin Guy doesn’t include anything that hints at the 4x17 connection/reasoning.)

In all her explanations, Kaplan puts her protecting Liz/Agnes through the 'lens,’ if you will, of Red. Even when he’s not there, she gives her reasons about, revolving around and through Red. It was never about saving Liz to save Liz. It was about Red failing Liz, endangering her, and Kaplan choosing to 'act against him’ (from his perspective) and save Liz.

Let’s run through those explanations again, quickly, and see how often her reasoning revolves around Red, and not Liz.

The ‘Red’ Lens

The ‘how’ won’t change anything. … I suppose I knew what I would do that afternoon in the car on the drive to the mobile I.C.U. That poor girl. So afraid. Always looking over her shoulder. In the dark about who she was and why it mattered. But it wasn’t just about Elizabeth anymore. Her child was already paying the price for her association with you. …I saw my opportunity. (I know you’re afraid, sweetie. You should be. Agnes will never be safe in Raymond’s world. The question is… how are far are you willing to go to protect her?)

“I dedicated my life to you. You entrusted me with everything you value. Your freedom. Your life. A child. I have never failed you. What you see as a betrayal of your trust was actual a fulfillment of your wishes: to protect your interests. No more, no less.”

“The man you saw in the picture was my employer. He lost his way. At least that’s how I saw it. He placed a lovely young woman and her baby girl in terrible danger. Not deliberately, mind you. He loves them deeply. But enough to blind him to the reality that his very presence in their lives constitutes a threat. Not just to them, BUT TO HIMSELF AS WELL. I tried to help them. All I managed to do was to place her and the child in even greater danger. My efforts earned me a bullet in the head.”

###

Now, notice how much you/your/yours/he/him/his language in these explanations refers to RED. Not to Liz. Not to Kaplan. Not to Agnes. TO RED. Like, a shit ton. Even when he’s not fucking there, she’s talking primarily about Red. (Which I guess you could argue is because he’s in Cabin Guy’s photos; but, then why doesn’t she go on this long rant about how awesome Liz and Agnes are, and then say briefly that Red put them in danger, and she had to get them out??)

No, the focus is on Red. How he (supposedly) endangered them — although, as we discussed, he wasn’t the impetus for *this* particular attack, but he’s certainly endangered Liz several times before…. always doing everything he could, even offering himself in exchange for her, to keep her safe. It’s about how his world was affecting Liz and Agnes. How he had even ENDANGERED HIMSELF. HOW HE HAD BLINDED HIMSELF. How Kaplan was doing what she did not only out of concern for Liz and Agnes, but ultimately out of concern for Red himself.

The focus in all these monologues and dialogues about why Kaplan (and Liz) did it in focusing on Kaplan’s relationship with Red, and Red’s desire to be in Liz’s (and Agnes’) life.

That’s it.

Throughout all this bullshit, never do we get an indication of Kaplan’s deep parental affection for Liz (and grandparent-like affection for Agnes); a hint about Kaplan’s desire for vengeance against Red; or Kaplan’s desire to 'clean’ away the filth that she saw in Red and his organization that would endanger the lives of his associates, including Dembe.

It’s about Kaplan and Red, and Red and two ladies he loves that he also supposedly endangers.

The dynamic between Kaplan and Liz, or Kaplan and Agnes is very rarely mentioned. Let’s compare the explanations again, this time with any connection between Kaplan and the Keen gals bolded.

The ‘Nanny Kaplan’ Lens

###

Not nearly as much, and I was being generous here. She really mostly emphasizes how concerned she was about the Keens in the first explanation (and a bit in the last one). That’s the only time I ever see anything resembling Kaplan’s affection for Liz and her daughter. After that, it’s pretty much all as I said before: the dynamic between Kaplan and Red, and the dynamic between Red and the Keen ladies.

I think you guys know the rest of the story – once Kaplan starts coming after Red, and Red starts coming after Kaplan – the dynamic starts 'turning’ much more into Kaplan’s hatred for Red, how she resents him for 'using’ her, how she was loyal to Liz and her family before she ever met him or became involved with him, how she loves Liz and Agnes like they’re her own family, to a degree.

Now maybe Kaplan’s memories/flashbacks in 4x17 were a bit wrong or fuzzy or a case of misremembering things… again, she’s had a serious head injury, she’s on drugs, etc., which the writers were very good about pointing out to us multiple times throughout the episode. But, when Liz remembers Kaplan’s affirming words to her in 4x18,it confirms Kaplan’s backstory as Liz’s nanny back in the day, if nothing else.

So, using all this, it’s pretty clear that Kaplan’s whole 'nanny’ backstory was a retcon. Her out-of-nowhere "betrayal” of Red so they could write Liz out of the show while Boone was on maternity leave; her weak plan to “protect” Liz and Agnes; her strange reasoning once the truth came out; her emphasis on how Red was endangering them, without any reference to Kaplan’s own past with the Rostov/a family or her first agreement with Red that she would always choose to keep Liz safe, even if it meant going against his wishes.

Compare all the above explanations to the dialogue that Kaplan and Red have at the end of 4x17:

Kaplan: I’ve been thinking about you.

Red: Happy thoughts?

Kaplan: I realized I was so wrapped in helping you build your empire, I lost sight of why I joined you in the first place. Somewhere along the way, I stopped serving Liz’s needs to enable yours.

Red: They are one in the same. They always have been. What we’ve done, we’ve done for her.

Kaplan: I believed that, Raymond. Like a pied piper you made me believe. But when I did what I thought was best for her—

Red: It wasn’t best. You almost got her killed, and you betrayed me.

Kaplan: No. I kept my word to you. When you hired me, you told me to choose Elizabeth over you, and I tried to help her disappear to a safe place with her newborn daughter. And for that, you put me down like a mad dog. For the last two decades of my life, you had me convinced I was helping keep Elizabeth safe. But, really, I was helping you become a monster.

###

Notice how Red doesn’t deny Kaplan’s explanation. He doesn’t say, “No, you never said that. We never agreed to that, etc. etc.” No, in fact, it’s the opposite. He agrees that everything they’ve ever done was for Elizabeth, confirming, to some degree, the conversation they had in the shadowy flashback in 4x17. She joined his empire to help Elizabeth. He doesn’t deny that. The 'nanny’ thing, while it’s not explicitly brought up, is implied to be true as well. She had an affection for and a loyalty to Elizabeth, and so she joined Red in his crusade to build an empire, all in the name of protecting her.

This was never brought up before in the show. NEVER.

Red and Kaplan should’ve had this conversation on the plane in 3x23, or in the field in 4x02. But, no, they didn’t.

Instead of Kaplan trying to convince Red like the friend that she was that he was endangering these two ladies he loved so much, now Kaplan and Red’s every conversation together sounds like two divorced parents fighting over their kid. “No, you didn’t do what was best for her. I did!” “No, you endangered her even more than I did! You being her life is worse for her than me being in her life is.” As someone who grew up with divorced parents and heard them having many conversations of this nature, it’s really getting annoying and just downright sad.

In Conclusion

I know the writers are free to do what they like. It’s their show, and no matter what I write here in this meta, it’s not going to change what they’ve already done and/or decided to do with the show.

But, they can’t and shouldn’t try to deny — if anyone ever asks them — whether this was a retcon, because it clearly was. They are not only shifting focus with these characters and their choices, but they are also shifting tones. It was no longer about serving Liz as a way to help Red; no, now it’s about how corrupt and evil and dangerous Red has become, and he can’t admit that, and he’s not going to leave Liz’s life willingly (even though he’s offered to walk away several times), so Kaplan has to make him leave by forcing his hand — either by letting him get killed by his associates, or having the task force out him and he gets captured. Never mind how this places Liz and the people on the task force in danger. Never mind how this affects Red’s associates, like Dembe or whomever, who maybe aren’t the best people, but they don’t deserve this bullshit.

I think I’ve written enough on this. I want to hear what you guys think. I know several arguments can be made in favor of the Kaplan-nanny storyline all along, but I don’t believe it. By the writers’ own admission, the Kaplan backstory was never part of the endgame and was a relatively new development in the story. Which is unfortunate, because it’s pretty clear from the way S3b and S4a were written that this plotline should’ve went in an entirely different direction. I wanted to see and hear more about Red needing to let Liz go, and live her own life, how he was endangering them. Yeah, let Red walk away, and let’s see what happens to Liz and Agnes. Are they safe? Will they be endangered further? I’m not being sarcastic; I seriously want to know whether they would be better off if Red wasn’t in their lives, as Kaplan argued in S3b and S4a.

So, what are your thoughts, fellow Blacklist fans? Was this a retcon? Where do you think they will go with this storyline? Does Kaplan being Liz’s nanny weaken the show, or strengthen it? Discuss!!

P.S. There will be an addition to this meta, which I’m in the process of writing, comparing how TBL handled Kaplan’s “turn” into a pseudo-parental figure, and how another show handled a similar plotline.

#the blacklist #nbc the blacklist #lizzington #keenler #anti keen2 #raymond reddington #red reddington #reddington #elizabeth keen #liz keen #masha rostova #agnes keen #agnes reddington #mr kaplan #kate kaplan #mister kaplan

71 notes · View notes

writingguide003-blog · 5 years

Text

Critics assemble: our writers pick their favorite superhero films

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/critics-assemble-our-writers-pick-their-favorite-superhero-films/

Critics assemble: our writers pick their favorite superhero films

Batman v Superman v Captain America v all of the X-Men. Which cape-wearing, civilian-saving adventures are worth cheering?

Given the repetitive influx of superhero films in recent years, youd be forgiven for wanting very little to do with anything involving a cape, a mask and a post-credits teaser for a long time. But wait, the R-rated Wolverine sequel Logan hits cinemas this week and critics agree that its worth getting over yourself for.

Many are saying it will join the ranks of the all-time greats but what else should be on this list? Here are seven of the best from Guardian writers.

The Incredibles

Photograph: HO/Reuters

Was 2004 the superheroes annus mirabilis? That was when Marvel Studios initiated its ambitious plan to self-finance its movies, buy back the rights to characters such as Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, and begin the 21st-century wave of superhero films, hugely popular with the public, but often patronised and dismissed the way westerns used to be.

But something else happened in 2004: the release of Pixars glorious animated superhero homage The Incredibles. Thats a film which doesnt fit easily into the superhero fanbase-constituency, and is part of neither the Marvel nor DC tribe (unless you count the fact that Pixar, like Marvel, is part of Disney). And Im conscious that in calling it a homage I may even now be denying it full superhero-film status. But a brilliant superhero film is what it is riffing on the X-Men and Fantastic Four with superb characters, a great supervillain, a terrific story and a sharp satiric theme on the subject of excellence, and the nature of risk, jeopardy and the state.

Mr Incredible (voiced by Craig T Nelson) is a lantern-jawed, barrel-chested superhero who plies his trade in the 1940s, the superheroes postwar first-generation comic book heyday. He is fighting alongside his fiancee, Elastigirl (Holly Hunter). When a member of the public sues him for preventing his suicide, it triggers a legal nightmare forcing the government to outlaw superheroism and to relocate supers to other cities with new identities and bland normality. Twenty years later, he and Elastigirl have suburban lives and he works in insurance a nightmarish perversion of his former calling. They have two kids whose superpowers they have to conceal at school. But then a new villain emerges with a secret connection to the Incredibles past, forcing them to reclaim their vocation and their destiny.

It is rightly celebrated for the superhero costumire, Edna Mode, voiced by the director and writer, Brad Bird, who thinks that capes are a bad idea and is passionately committed to her contemporary vision: I never look back, darling; it distracts from the now. There is a wonderful passage on the phenomenon of supervillains monologuing huge third-act set-piece speeches in which the villains talk about themselves and their awful vision.

Actually, in 2017, the non-talky streamlined all-action superhero film is pretty much against both capes and monologuing and also against Edna Modes injunction against looking back. Superhero films love origin myths, elaborate retro sequences from the past and all-around ancestor worship.

But as it happens, and incredible as it may sound, The Incredibles has a brilliant action sequence, as exciting as anything in any live-action superhero film or action film. Elastigirl and the two kids are flying in their plane to an island from which the errant Mr Incredible has sent a distress signal. Then she is attacked by rockets. The subsequent chase scene and midair explosion are absolutely nail-biting.

It is witty, smart, visually ravishing, and its generic insights are celebratory, not derisive. What a great superhero film. PB

Batman

Photograph: Allstar/Warner Bros/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

I have to be honest: I am not the worlds biggest superhero movie fan. Put another way, when they took off in the late 80s, I thought they were a fad that would blow over in a few years; more fool me. In fact, the elevation to ever-prolonging ubiquity is one of the great mysteries of contemporary cinema: how this genre, that for years was considered only good for doltish teens, and treated with equivalent lack of respect, has steadily evolved into the mainstay of the global film industry. Be that as it may, I prefer the funny, candy-coloured type of superhero movie (Spider-Man, Thor, Deadpool) rather than the furrowed-brow earnestathons (Batman Begins, Captain America, Man of Steel) Ive never seen a superhero movie weighty or nuanced enough to justify the heavy-duty treatment.

But as films as opposed to moving comic-books superhero movies tend to fall down pretty hard. There are great sequences, brilliant set pieces, very nice shots but they rarely hold together, still less allowing actual narrative subtlety to intrude on the scene-shifting. The first and still, by my reckoning, only time that a superhero movie seemed way ahead of everything else was the first Tim Burton Batman, from 1989. A tour de force of design, cinematography, and cinematic texture, it was light years ahead of (the nevertheless highly enjoyable) Superman films that had blazed the superhero trail in the 1970s and 80s. Burtons brilliance was to make everything else look redundant and in many ways, nothing has changed since. AP

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Photograph: Moviestore/Rex

Heres a conspiracy theory: someone at the Academy purposefully shuffled those envelopes to detract from the much bigger scandal earlier in the evening: the snubbing of Garry Shandling in this years Oscars In Memoriam montage. I hope my choice of the Marvel movie in which he cameos as a sinister Hydra disciple will go some way to righting this wrong.

Shandlings 15-second appearance in this sequel to the first film featuring the weed who becomes the most fantastic hunk is one of my chief reasons for picking it; the other is its literally the only superhero movie I can ever really remember enjoying.

This is obviously a personal deficit, but perhaps it is, actually, a better superhero movie than most? There are terrific action sequences, for a start: that initial heist, fuelled with sexual tension between the Cap and the Black Widow, plus the most wonderful punch-up in a lift. Plus, vegetables to accompany all that meat and beef: a properly thought-provoking investigation of the morals of surveillance and the ethics of vigilantism in a democratically accountable society.

But perhaps what really clinched it for me as an Avengers movie I could get along with was the relative dearth of Robert Downey Jr. The more you can minimise this man, the more I shall like any movie. CS

Thor: The Dark World

Photograph: Allstar/Marvel Studios/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

Many are hailing Logan for stretching the boundaries of what a superhero movie can be. Its dramatic, fervid, and realistic in its violence. But lets not do away with whats core to comics culture: deep, dank nerdery that ought not be allowed to see daylight.

I love comic books rich in lore and steeped in mythos, swirling in and out of realms with names impossible to spell. Thor: The Dark World stuffs two handfuls of delicious dorkiness into its maw, one rich in fantasy, the other in science fiction. Is the Asgardian bio-bed a quantum field generator or a Soul Forge? The answer, of course, is that it is both.

Thor: The Dark World has portals and Kronan Rock Men and invisible spaceships and a ray that can curl you up into a singularity and zap you into another dimension. A liquid totem called the Aether is almost in Malekith the Dark Elfs nefarious grasp, just in time for the quinquennial cosmic event known as the Convergence. Oh, God, I need to stop typing and grab my asthma inhaler, this sort of talk gets me all worked up.

In the middle of all this, theres the bickering romance between the sharp and sweet doctor played by Natalie Portman and her hunky blonde blue-eyed spaceman, Thor. When they reunite during a battle, the first thing she does is yell at him for never calling. When they visit Thors realm, Dr Foster quickly bonds with Thors mother. They may as well be eating intergalactic coffee cake. And there are still some who say mixed marriages cant work?!?

Thor: The Dark World is a rush of Absolute Comics mainlined direct to my amygdala, with a profound purity that few other modern superhero movies allow themselves. It is Worthy. JH

The Dark Knight

Photograph: Allstar/Warner Bros

While Batman Begins was a refreshingly coherent, mature and dark-hued film about the Caped Crusader (a relief after the eye-punishing gaudy excess of Batman & Robin), it was far from a masterpiece.

There was a major villain problem (a somewhat gimmicky last act switcheroo that didnt quite have the required impact) and a major Katie Holmes problem (needs no explanation) and as a result, it was a promising franchise-restarter but not the home run we might have hoped for. Three years later, Christopher Nolan returned, lessons learned and homework done, with a sequel that rose far above its generic peers and, despite the creation of the hero-packed DC and Marvel universes since, it easily remains unsurpassed.

The Dark Knight moves like a fiendish thriller, one that confidently pushes the boundaries of the superhero genre in a way that comic book fans may be familiar with but which for cinema-goers such as myself was a revelation. Its a breathtakingly brutal film, packed with staggering PG-13 violence and a bleak worldview thats unrelenting, grounding fantastical characters and situations in a world that, for once, is depressingly easy to relate to.

That villain problem? Easily fixed. The casting of Heath Ledger in the role of the Joker might have been initially unpopular with fans, who couldnt envision his leading man looks buried under cartoonish makeup, but his performance was dynamite, an Oscar-winning fireball of anger and anarchy. That Katie Holmes problem? Replaced. Maggie Gyllenhaal added depth and a genuine emotional connection which led to the shocking finale carrying even greater weight. Its one of the rare examples of a superhero film where each devastating act of violence or aggression has a lasting impact. In Nolans Gotham City, life and death both mean something.

It might be to blame for the dreary drudgery thats bogged down many ensuing superhero adventures but it remains a ruthlessly entertaining example of just how daring and necessary the genre can be. BL

Watchmen

Photograph: Clay Enos/Photo by Clay Enos

It may be difficult to credit given Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice recently picked up a gaggle of Razzies, but Zack Snyder was once seen as the coming man of comic book movies. His 2009 adaptation of Alan Moores sprawling graphic novel about an alternative 1980s in which Nixon remains in power and superheroes are real remains a high point of the film-makers career and proof that given a decent script, he is capable of producing eye-popping cinema beyond that of most his contemporaries.

The bravura opening montage, set to the strains of Bob Dylans The Times They Are A Changin, is unequalled in comic book movies. The casting is impeccable: Jackie Earl Haley has never been better than as the hardboiled, morally immovable vigilante Rorschach, a gurning, spitting man out of time whose psychological torment is written on his face whether wearing that famous mask or not. Patrick Wilson is wonderfully understated as the taciturn Nite Owl, a superhero who looks like an accountant with middle-aged spread, while Jeffrey Dean Morgan is perfect as the leering, sneering, cigar-smoking alpha male scumbag the Comedian, a role which surely won him the part of the villain Negan in The Walking Dead.

Naysayers argue that Watchmen is too close to its source material, bar a sensibly altered denouement. But Moores story is so epic in scale and splendid in its unexpectedly detailed rendering of the inner psyches of costumed crimefighters that Snyder was really only required to add visual flare. If there is a Citizen Kane of superhero movies, this is indisputably it. BC

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Photograph: Allstar/20th Century Fox

The best thing about this time traveling entry into the vast annals of X-Men history is the absolute disregard Bryan Singer had for newcomers. If you hadnt been paying attention to his line of mutant entertainment over the last decade or so, youd feel a bit like Kyle Reese being spat out into 1984 with no clothes and no idea what was happening. That slightly manic pace, which feels like its borrowed from a daytime soap opera, plus the period costume and references to Vietnam, Nixon and the height of 70s cold war paranoia made this a strangely daring superhero film.

Instead of something that tried to set out the basic idea of what the X-Men were and what they were all about a concept most grandmothers could probably grasp by now this just got straight into the internal machinations of a group that makes the EU look harmonious. Of course, the old themes of good and evil doing battle, and overcoming personal demons (in this case addiction for Professor X) are there, but it was delivered in a knowingly strange way. You could even argue the hectic feel and funny but slightly smug lines set the stage for the least superhero-y superhero of them all, Deadpool. Singer knew fans were au fait with the concept of time travel, and would love to see Magneto and Professor X as their younger selves, so he threw it all into a blender and Days of Future Past came out like a perfectly mixed bit of superhero bechamel. LB

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

0 notes