#characterisations and a lack of faith in what really works with this series (which is when it's being genuinely scary‚ not playing with the

[jackwolfes]

I would love to start writing grishaverse fics but I'm worried about not getting the characterisation correct. I've started with a modern au, which was maybe not the best plan considering it's probably harder to keep the dialogue in character when they're not in their normal setting. Any words of wisdom? Since you seem to be so inherently good at nailing all of the crows 😅

your point on AUs is interesting because 1) i am a big big AU writer and 2) i know some people insist that AUs are always automatically less in character which is just emphatically not true and is often times good old fashioned pretentiousness

but i would say that the key thing to AU writing is understanding the characters in their entirety, as well as how their character changes depending on the situations they're in, and adjusting accordingly. i run into this problem all the time with wylan! so in AUs where his entry into the barrel is entirely different i have to reevaluate how like, scared for his life he'd be basically, and how that changes how he relates to other people

for another example - the way matthias changes as a character in SOC is tied to how far away he is from his (for lack of a better term) cult, paired with the love he is met with from nina and the evidence of "goodness" from grisha (jesper & kuwei). so then that becomes: what is the au equiavalent of the druskelle? how long has it been since he's left them? how long has he known nina, has he met jesper/kuwei, has he had closure yet against brum?

i also think it's suuuuper important with AUs to remember that in the books they are all teenagers and all act like teenagers. if you're writing aged up AUs, certain ways they act will necessarily be different - ie all of them, at one point or another, think way too highly of themselves and/or act like immature gits that don't know how feelings work: if you're aging them up you'll have leeway to temper them a bit. interestingly i think the netflix show does this really well, with wesper especially - wylan isn't flushing constantly when jesper flirts with him because he's already a sexually active adult, etc. it's an interesting case study wrt how to age characters up and keep the essence of who they are

anyway i have wildly different confidence levels for the different crows so don't like, take this as gospel, but if you're interested i jotted down a few of the key things that i keep in mind about each of them below the cut:

mh

matthias is funnier than anyone gives him credit for. he doesn't always mean to be but comedy + matthias = winner

if you're writing early matthias: he is scared and lost and angry. he is in a new country he does not know the language of, freshly betrayed by someone he was never supposed to trust, and kicking himself for being stupid enough to "fall for her tricks" (while also being so profoundly in love that he is angry all over again that he is still "being tricked")

if you're writing later matthias: he is just. fucking. trying. he can see that there is something hopeful on the horizon and has realised that he wants it and will do what he can to make steps towards it. i really like writing matthias as clueless but well meaning, where he's a bit thick about a lot of things but really wants to do better! like your cishet uncle at christmas who is REALLY trying to get your pronouns right because he knows it means something to you but just doesn't have a grasp of how they work, yknow?

his faith is SO important to him, especially as the series goes on and he starts doubting everything. when he's in fjerda he's embedded in it but when he's in kerch, it is the literal only thing he had keeping him going. when he joins the crows, he clings to it as if to prove to himself that not everything he learnt was entirely wrong until he can reconcile religion with loving grisha

wve

if you aren't familiar with the signs of autism, research them. once you have, congratulations! you now have a guide to writing wylan van eck.

wylan is infinitely meaner than anyone gives him credit for. i dont mean snarky, i don't mean bitchy, i mean MEAN. early on, he says some fucking savage things without any real consideration for how jesper feels because he just fundamentally hasn't had real kindness from anyone in so long, which means he doesn't know that he doesn't have to expect cruelty back.

he does not want to be doing anything illegal. he'll do it but won't fucking like it - except he will also at the same time be very prideful about what he's doing. so he'll do it, and won't fucking like it, but by god will he do it well and make sure everyone around him knows how clever he is. he doesn't brag, exactly, but he WILL be smug and will not skimp on theatrics when needed.

the thing that made wylan click for me was someone saying that he is not SHY, but he is RESERVED. at no point is he really actually timid. he gets flustered, and fear/anxiety for his life is fucking rampant, but he is at no point shy with his opinions. he just refuses to show his whole hand and is very much like kaz in this respect.

early wylan is just having the worst fucking week, all the time. like every day is the worst day of his life: he's tired, hungry, scared, anxious, belittled, lonely. a part of him genuinely believes that he'll be able to go home again, which makes him resentful of the how bad his life in the barrel is.

underneath all of this wylan is still a profoundly hopeful character. i think one of the most interesting things about him is that he has an unhindered belief that the world is at it's core good, even though it also has bad things in it, and a fundamental unwillingness to settle for other people's cynicism. he's not stupid, he's not deluded, he's barely even optimistic, but throughout the series he genuinely does seem to believe that there will be a happy ending in some way or another.

jf

if you aren't familiar with the signs of adhd………….

jesper to me is just doing his very best to get through life without feeling any negative emotion ever for any longer than he has to. much like matthias, he is lost and scared and angry - but instead of channeling this into a pseudo-facist military cult he tries to stop feeling the bad feelings as quick as he possibly can. he has learnt that bad feelings = the worst, and the way to deal with that isn't to embrace them to understand them and move on [because he has also learnt that "bad" means "should be hidden"] so he tries to not feel them at all. he does not dwell on his mother's death or his father's insistence that a beautiful part of himself is a curse. he squishes it down and tries to cover it with gambling and flirting and anything else that'll get him through - except those coping mechanisms always make him feel worse, which he tries to bottle up and cover with a joke and a smile…... etc etc etc

to emphasise: when he covers things up, he does so in the biggest, boldest and most public ways as if that'll prove to everyone else, as well as himself, that he's fine. he doesn't shut up, he's a snarky asshole, and his whole thing is that he refuses to stop moving because stopping let's the bad feelings catch up.

he is both incredibly cynical and incredibly optimistic, which is a strange juxtaposition to get your head around but makes him really interesting! he's described as having "reckless optimism" and an insane hope that everything will pull through - but so often when he talks to wylan he is utterly jaded about wylan's way of seeing the world.

jesper doubts himself and his talents fucking massively. whereas a lot of the other crows are almost too confident about their abilities to do things, jesper doesn't really put stock into his talents! and this again comes down to the fact he has fundamentally not taken the time to learn and understand why he has the talents he has, and only gets to that point at the end of CK.

ig

inej to me is just very teenage girl, by which i mean: she is funnier than anyone gives her credit for, she likes to be right, she crushes on idiot boys [and gets annoyed about it] and truly cherishes her friendships. she is a TEENAGE GIRL, not an all-caring insightful mother figure, and when she supports her friends she leans on them in return just as heavily.

related to that she is also infinitely more like… proud than people give her credit for. this is also similar to wylan IMO but inej takes great care in whatever she does, and while doesn't necessarily try to get all eyes on her, she DOES want the people she's manipulating to know that SHE is the one in control of their fates. but for all she holds power over other people and the next steps in her life [which is key re: taking control and autonomy of her life in the aftermath of her assault and displacement] it is always chased with the knowledge that at the end of it, her saints have the final say and final power.

i think it's also really important that she just does not believe herself to be a good person. like she doesn't, but she's making peace with that and spends a lot of time trying to atone for that by making the world better than she found it.

nz

nina is a notoriously hard character to get right [and also i haven't read king of scars so can't comment on anything but how she's written in SOC/CK] but one key thing about nina that i think jumps out is that she is just. tired. she's so tired by the start of soc because she does not like life in the barrel. she doesn't even like ketterdam! she fucking hates it! she's doing what she has to to find matthias but does not WANT a life in the barrel. her key goal and motivation is to fucking skip town as fast as possible.

it's also key IMO that she has had a very similar upbringing to matthias. it's very easy to see his indoctrination, and i wouldn't say that the ravkan's are quite as bad as the fjerdans considering ideologies and tactics, but as the books go on nina very much discovers that the way she was raised [taken from an orphanage without a say, raised to be a soldier, told to never question anything/step out of line/consider an alternate view] was also not great, which is why she decides to leave and make change on a local level

nina doesn't really hold back what she thinks, especially when she's upset with someone: she will just tell kaz someone they're being stupid straight to their face.

related to that, she is just low-level irritated at kaz for every waking moment of the series

kb

he's not mean, but he's a sarcastic fucker and incredibly blunt about the truth of things. he genuinely does not care about hurting other people's feelings [key with wylan tbh but seen with all of the other crows]

he doesn't volunteer information if he can help it: he likes to have the upper-hand and the last word, but will never show all of his cards until he is absolutely 100% without a doubt certain he's won something

he would rather be shot in the head than show true vulnerability [see: the "who is jordie" conversation]

that bitch loves a grand gesture. he doesn't have a love language so much as he only knows how to express his feelings by doing things for people [see: buying his crush a big boat]

#uthers bald head #soc #six of crows #advice #fic advice #asks #long post

[smallersocksx]

Pokemon Character Analysis V2: Iris

I wrote an analysis of Iris’ character a while ago. However, a user challenged me to go more in-depth with my analysis and I did have more points to write about Iris as well. I was able to watch episode 65 as well so I’ll be combining my opinions on the episode with this analysis.

As with all my reviews/analyses, I’ll keep them under the cut. So, if you want to keep reading, that’s great!

Introduction:

As many people that have read my previous reviews and know me, may know I am a huge fan of the Diamond and Pearl games and anime series. I will be the first to say, I know Diamond and Pearl wasn’t a perfect series, honestly, there is no such thing as a perfect series. But as a follow-up to DP, Black and White was definitely a let-down for a lot of fans, either because of completely resetting Ash’s knowledge which was honestly an insult to his DP incarnation, his travelling companions or the fact that he lost to Cameron of all people in the Vertress Conference. BW in some aspects left a lot to be desired.

Nevertheless, this post is focusing on Iris, a companion similar to Goh, a lot of fans love to hate particularly because of her infamous catchphrase “You’re such a kid.” Looking back, this was one of the things that did make me drop the series, keep in mind I was 11 when BW started airing. So, hearing a character that is meant to be the same age or younger than you say "You’re such a kid!” Over and over again, got annoying quite quickly.

However, looking back the usage of that infamous catchphrase was probably exaggerated. Whilst, working past that I still didn’t come to love Iris. Considering, Iris is meant to be one of the main characters and similar to Goh, they are meant to be written in a way that makes us want to see them grow, cheer them on and be happy when they succeed. Nonetheless, when you look at the way they are written and their development it just makes it abundantly clear that Iris and Goh are the victims of poor writing.

Iris’ Initial Characterisation:

The aspect that made me drop the series was Iris’ initial characterisation particularly the infamous phrase “You’re such a kid” which as I mentioned in the introduction, with the benefit of hindsight I can see the usage of it has been exaggerated. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that it was annoying. Especially, given when Ash meets Iris, he had defeated legendries by this point, acquired 36 badges (that’s including the Orange Archipelago badges) and defeated the Battle Frontier. Whereas Iris may have had good battling prowess and at one point had a 99-battle winning streak, but, her Axew was a newborn with hardly any battling experience and her Excadrill was refusing to listen to her.

Many people use the defence that Misty called Ash a kid yet she doesn’t nearly receive as much hate. To be fair, when Misty met Ash, he was a rookie trainer and Misty was a gym leader, so Misty at least had the position and knowledge to back her up. However, this was only an issue at the beginning of the series and the insults tend to die down, but, that initial characterisation is what stopped me from watching the series since my 11-year-old self did not have the patience for that.

Iris’ Character:

Just like every person has their flaws, every fictional character has them as well – it's what makes us human. Every single one of our favourite characters has their share of flaws that they acknowledge and eventually overcome for Dawn it was overconfidence, for May her naiveté, Serena her lack of direction, Clemont his lack of self-confidence. The list could honestly go on and on. 

For Iris, it was her immaturity. One could look at the fact, her calling Ash out on his own immaturity, her being hypocritical. However, Iris could have easily been using this as a coping/defence mechanism for dealing with that aspect of her personality.  During her time at Opelucid Academy when she was younger, Iris’ immaturity caused her to struggle with forming relationships with the other students and feel isolated. 

However, just like Dawn and to some extent Goh, Iris struggled with overconfidence in the past as well. After Iris caught Excadrill as a Drilbur, the two battled other trainers and Pokémon frequently culminating in a 99-battle winning streak that triggered Drilbur’s evolution. Iris then battled Drayden without considering the possibility that she was outmatched against Drayden and his Haxorus. Iris and Excadrill subsequently lost the battle and Excadrill closed himself off from his trainer.

In this scenario, it was a combination of Iris’ immaturity and overconfidence that resulted in Excadrill’s loss of faith in her as a trainer. As she never considered, his feelings throughout the battle. Nevertheless, overconfidence, when we meet her in the present wasn’t necessarily an issue as the battle, she had with Drayden was probably a humbling experience similar to Dawn’s losses in the Performance stages of Contests. 

The stepping stones towards Iris maturing begin in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! Which was honestly one of my favourite episodes of BW. Not only as Iris, opened up to Ash and Cilan, but forced her to confront her own issues with communicating and forming relationships with others. Which was honestly a refreshing twist on the rebellious Pokémon story. 

This is what makes Dragonite’s arc and disobedience all the more frustrating as I feel as though, it diminishes Excadrill’s arc and Iris’ development. As Iris, initially, didn’t understand Dragonite’s disobedient behaviour, which, to be fair, I don’t blame her as Dragonite willingly joined her party only to turn around, completely ignore her commands in battle and not even fully acknowledge her as his trainer. 

As I mentioned in the previous section, as the series went on, the insults on Ash’s maturity did die down. This could have been for several reasons, Ash and Iris understandably grew closer as they travelled, Iris began to feel more comfortable with herself and her flaws particularly after her battle with Drayden. I speculate because BW doesn’t really flesh out the characters as much as other series have in the past. 

Although, one final aspect, I find rather strange about her character is her Cryophobia (fear of the cold/ice). Iris’ logic for this fear being that Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types however as Trip pointed out Dragon-types are also weak to other Dragon-types. Yet Iris just shrugs this comment off, and, later we see her battling against other Ice-types and apparently got over this phobia in Crisis at Ferroseed Research! When she was trapped in a room with her rival’s Vanilluxe and commanded it to help them and others escape. I’m aware phobias are meant to be irrational but I have to agree with Trip that even Iris’ logic towards her phobia was a tad irrational. There is a difference between disliking something and being scared of it, as Iris, at one point had stated she disliked the cold. I understand this was probably played out for comedic aspects but it was just strange and stupid. Especially, given the fact in the games and manga adaptation, she owns a Lapras.

Moving on, to the more positive aspects of Iris’ personality. Whilst, Iris may have suffered socially with human characters, she is shown to have found it easier to form connections with Pokémon in general, not just Dragon-types. Iris’ ability to befriend Pokémon, could easily stem from the fact she grew up in a rural area of a, particularly urban region. This aspect of Iris’ character has aided her on several occasions such as Baffling the Bouffalant! Whilst lost in Bouffalant territory, Iris performed first aid on an injured Bouffalant, Iris’ kindness was later rewarded when the Bouffalant helped guide the group outside of its territory. 

Another example of Iris’ ability to empathize with Pokémon, is shown in A Village Homecoming! In which, Iris was able to calm a distressed Hydreigon with the help of her Pokémon. This was honestly, one of Iris’ best moments in the series as it reflected Iris’ growth from her ability to understand a Pokémon’s emotions to her abilities as a Dragon Master. 

In addition to her ability to befriend Pokémon with ease, Iris is shown to be free-spirited (which is probably a result of the environment she was raised in), confident in her abilities and able to speak her mind. Whilst apprehensive of Ash at the beginning, she is shown to care for him as the series continues, this can be reflected in Ash’s battle with Roxie, where Iris opted to act as a cheering squad for Ash similar to what Dawn did for him. 

Iris is shown to be an adept battler, this can be reflected in the fact she once had a 99-battle winning streak and won the Club Battle.  

Iris’ Goal:

Iris’ goal is to become a Dragon Master, however, by the end of Black and White, Iris opts to travel to Johto to battle Clair and following the conclusion of that battle she opts to follow the direction she saw Rayquaza flying. When I look at this conclusion, I’m honestly confused, I have no sense of whether or not Iris is any closer to achieving her goal. Or even throughout the series, we get no sense of how anyone who wants to master any Pokémon typing reaches their goal, a majority of type specialists typically end up in the position of Gym Leader or Elite Four. But Iris never once expressed a desire to be a Gym Leader or any higher-ranking position. Which, makes Drayden decision to choose Iris as his successor, all the more unusual to me. I suppose in one way it gives Iris a position/goal to work towards but given Iris’ free-spirited personality, having someone choose her path rather than choosing it herself feels unnatural.

Additionally, an obvious method to becoming a type specialist is catching Pokémon of the same type you want to specialize in and little more than half of Iris’ team actually consist of Dragon-types. I understand Gym Leaders having at least one alternative type to give their team diversity and cover their weaknesses. As shown by Candice owning a Medicham and Piers having a Toxtricity in his party later in the SW/SH games. But, Excadrill fits the bill more than Emolga as Excadrill is part of Steel-type which covers Iris’ team’s weaknesses to Ice and the newly introduced Fairy-types. That is not to say that I dislike Emolga or anything but it felt like she was an unusual catch.

I think if the writers did a better job as well at establishing Iris’ goals – we understand she wants to be a Dragon Master, but does she want to become a gym leader? A caretaker of Dragon-types (similar to Liza of Charicific Valley)? If they had established this from the beginning, we would have had a better understanding of the direction they wanted to take with Iris’ development.

Iris and her Pokemon:

Now, this is one aspect of Iris’ story that I felt could have definitely been written better, as I mentioned, Iris wants to be a Dragon Master, however, only 3/5 of her team are actually Dragon-types. In addition to this, throughout the series, Iris has attempted to catch Pokémon outside of her type specialities such as Ash’s Oshawott, Tepig and even Team Rocket’s Meowth. Moreover, Iris is meant to be a highly skilled trainer, yet she’s had more disobedient Pokémon than any other main character aside from Axew and Gible the rest of Iris’ Pokémon have been disobedient at some point. Which, kind of reflects poorly on her skills and character. 

Axew:

I like to think of the characters’ first Pokémon or their partner Pokémon as a mirror reflecting their growth. Take May and Blaziken, they mirror one another’s development perfectly as when Blaziken was a Torchic much like May, he was inexperienced and unsure of himself. When Torchic evolved to Combusken, at this point May had won two Contest Ribbons and began to feel confident in her Coordinating skills. Once, Torchic evolved into Combusken he developed that same level of confidence, he didn’t feel the need to compete for May’s attention and wasn’t bullied or intimidated by other Pokémon like Ash’s Corphish. Then Combusken evolves to Blaziken in the penultimate episode, once May had decided to leave the group, travel through Johto on her own and find her own battling style. At this point, May has chosen to become independent and this reflects in Combusken, her first Pokémon evolving into his final stage. My point being I like to think every travelling companions’ ace reflects their character growth and I don’t get that same feeling with Iris and Axew.

The whole point of Iris’ journey was to raise Axew into a Haxorus. For a majority of the series, Axew was Iris’ only Dragon-type and in the sixth episode, he has a dream of evolving into his final stage. After that, the idea of Axew evolving is hardly addressed. As I’ve mentioned, evolving or choosing not to evolve are one method of allowing Pokémon to develop, considering, Axew has expressed a desire to evolve, I think he should have at least evolved into Fraxure before the BW series concluded. As aside from him learning Dragon-type moves and developing as a battler, once, Dragonite’s introduced he’s kind of pushed to the sidelines and doesn’t develop any further. 

Even in Iris’ battle against Clair she opts to use Dragonite instead and develops a telepathic connection with him? (I honestly don’t know). Surely, if Iris is going to develop a telepathic bond with any of her Pokémon it should be Axew, her starter. They could have utilised the battle with Clair as a way for Axew to evolve, they could have still lost but Iris and Axew (or Fraxure) would have developed and deepened their bond. 

In Episode 65 of Journeys, just as many fans predicted Axew had evolved all the way to his final evolution, Haxorus. My only issue with this is why couldn’t he have at least evolved once during his time in BW. I think many fans would have loved to have seen the moment Axew had evolved into Fraxure and later Haxorus. 

Excadrill:

Out of all of Iris’ Pokémon, Excadrill is probably my favourite despite the fact he’s not even a Dragon-type. What I love about Excadrill, is the twist in the rebellious Pokémon story, don’t get me wrong I loved the arcs with Ash’s Charizard and Dawn’s Mamoswine but I love it when they spice up or change the formula. In this scenario, it was Iris’ immaturity and inability to understand her Pokémon’s feelings that caused Excadrill to close himself off. Excadrill’s arc was honestly one of my favourite arcs of BW, as Excadrill acted as the trigger to Iris’ character development. 

Not to mention for a while, Excadrill was Iris’ ace, understandably as in the beginning, Axew was still developing as a battler and Emolga had her little Volt Switch tactic. There’s also the fact, Excadrill helps cover Iris’ team weaknesses to Ice and later the newly introduced Fairy type also being part Steel-type, Excadrill resists Dragon-type moves. Not to mention, Excadrill helped Iris win the Club Battle, battled against Tornadus and Thundrus and drew against Drayden’s Haxorus after losing to the Axe Jaw Pokémon many years ago. Is just a testament, to Excadrill’s strength.

However, I use the phrase “for a while”, since like the rest of the Iris’ Pokémon, once, Dragonite’s introduced they are kind of pushed to the side and don’t develop any further. However, despite the lack of character development following his arc, I still love Excadrill and his story.

Emolga:

Now, Emolga is a Pokémon, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I loved her personality, but my issue is why did Iris need to catch Emolga? Emolga is an Electric/Flying-type, so she doesn’t really aid in Iris reaching her goal nor does her typing contribute strategically to Iris’ team as she doesn’t help cover any weaknesses. Also, aside from her initial disobedience when she’s first caught, Emolga doesn’t really experience any character development, she doesn’t have a character arc like Excadrill or has a rival (aside from Snivy) that she has to overcome. 

I honestly don’t have much to say about Emolga, as they never really gave her story, she just felt like an unusual catch.

Dragonite:

I will be honest; I am not a huge fan of Iris’ Dragonite. Firstly, it felt as though, the writers forgot to give her an additional Dragon-type and just rewarded her with this random Dragonite. Secondly, there is the fact, that Dragonite was disobedient towards Iris despite the fact he joined her team willingly. Thirdly, he single handedly ruins all of the character development Iris had built up to that point. During the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, Iris has tantrums during her battles when Dragonite doesn’t listen to her. His continuous victories, caused Iris to be overconfident, kept using him despite the risks and was surprised when she lost. After the match, Cynthia explains Dragonite doesn’t have complete confidence in Iris as a trainer. My question ends up being, why join someone you don’t have complete and utter confidence in? Did Dragonite see some sort of potential in Iris? I honestly don’t know. I just found Dragonite’s whole arc frustrating as he completely diminished Iris’ development up to that point and undermines Excadrill’s arc.  

Iris has had some of her best moments throughout the series with the other Unovan Dragon-types such as Druddigon and Deino both of which would have been great captures for her particularly Deino as she has a Hydreigon in the games.

Also, HE. SHOULD. HAVE. LOST. TO. DAWN’S. MAMOSWINE!!!! (and I’m not just saying that because I love Dawn and her Mamoswine)

Additionally, for every trainer we’ve had so far, their ace tends to be their starter. However, with Iris at one stage it was Excadrill and later it became Dragonite. During, Iris’ battle with Clair, she develops a telepathic connection with him (I honestly didn’t understand), we’ve seen trainers communicate with their Pokémon, non-verbally but they’ve all tended to be Psychic-types, which is what makes this scenario stranger. Dragonite ends up overshadowing the rest of Iris’ Pokémon and they don’t develop any further after he joins the party. 

If the writers absolutely felt that they had to give Iris a Dragonite, they could have at least done it whilst she was in Johto since Dragonite’s pre-evolutions can be found in Dragon’s Den and Route 45. It honestly would have made more sense than giving her a Gible which isn’t even native to Johto and we haven’t even been given a hint on whether or not Gible is appearing in the next episode.

Pokémon Conclusion:

I know Iris caught a Gible and Episode 65 mentioned she caught a Goodra (which I honestly don’t why they keep giving her the same Pokémon as Ash) but I don’t know enough about either of them to write anything analytically. Generally, I tend to love certain Pokémon because of the way they are portrayed in the anime or whether they belonged to a certain character I liked. Nevertheless, a character’s Pokémon team is meant to help contribute towards their development. However, with Iris’ team it is difficult to say, Excadrill for a short period definitely contributed towards Iris’ growth, but I felt that was ruined by Dragonite’s appearance. It doesn’t help that Haxorus evolved off-screen so we don’t even get to see the build-up towards his evolution. That’s why I feel like Iris’ Pokémon could have been one aspect of her character that could have been written better.

Iris’ Rivals:

We’ve had some amazing rivals throughout the series, some of my favourite rivals include Drew, Paul, Ursula, the list could go on and on. For me a good rival is someone I’m cheering on the main character to beat, I feel disappointed when they don’t and ecstatic and proud when they do. The BW series introduced a plethora of rivals not only for Ash, even Iris and Cilan had their own rivals. 

For Iris, it was a girl called Georgia, who aims to defeat every Dragon-type trainer after suffering a defeat from a trainer at the Village of Dragons. When Georgia, is first introduced alongside Excadrill, I felt as though she was a trigger for Iris’ character development as she unintendedly triggered the events that allowed Iris to repair her relationship with Excadrill. However, it goes downhill, a rival is meant to encourage the main characters to better themselves and work hard to eventually defeat them. Yet, I feel like Iris does this more for Georgia rather than the other way around. Georgia actually captures Pokémon that have an advantage over or resist Dragon-types, rightly complains about Iris’ lack of Dragon-types despite aiming to be a Dragon Master and Georgia actually lives up to her goal by defeating several Dragon-types during tournaments.

If Georgia appeared more frequently and actually battled Iris (because in 2 out of the 3 tournament arcs, she’s knocked before even gets to battle Iris) we would engage with her more as a rival especially if she was someone difficult to defeat. I liked the fact that each of the main characters receiving a rival, however, in story-telling wise they fall flat as after her introductory episode Georgia doesn’t help progress Iris’ character development. Moreover, the characters’ main rivals tend to gain the most development, yet, Georgia hardly develops, she doesn’t accept her losses unless it is a Dragon-type or she blames her losses on circumstances such as the battlefield. Georgia’s pettiness and immaturity, honestly, reminds me of Harley and Ursula.

However, aside from Georgia, characters such as Drayden, Cynthia or Clair I don’t really see as rivals. Firstly, I don’t see Drayden as a rival, I’m not even sure what he’s meant to be, as Iris appears intimidated by him following their battle at the Village of Dragons and her experience at Opelucid Academy. He was the one that recommended Iris go on a journey rather than attend school. Considering, Iris is a child, being treated like this she would get the impression that Drayden doesn’t like her, which, is no wonder she is shocked when he announces his decision to choose her as his successor. In the games, they are shown to be close, as Iris affectionately refers to Drayden as “Grandpa”, I think if they transferred that relationship into the anime, it would have made Drayden’s choice of selecting Iris as his successor feel a lot more natural. 

Cynthia is definitely someone I didn’t see as a rival for Iris, however, given that Iris is a champion now that might change. However, I’ll write with the material I have, it was clear Iris looked up to Cynthia due to her ace being part Dragon-type (which may be why the writers felt the need to give her a Gible). Aside, from their battle and giving Iris advice on her relationship with Dragonite. The two hardly interact, to me Cynthia was more of an inspiration or role model for Iris to look up to.

Finally, we have Clair, who I feel is more of a mentor and role model for Iris rather than a rival. I understand the two had a battle in the BW special, however, that battle felt more like a learning experience for Iris and deepened her bond with Dragonite. To be fair, Clair is an ideal role model for Iris in comparison to Cynthia (despite being a champion) Clair actually specialises in Dragon-types and she is respected amongst other Dragon-users. Although Clair isn’t a rival (at least not in my eyes) as a mentor she helped Iris grow during their brief encounters, the fact that Clair had a cameo in Journeys, shows her contribution towards Iris’ development.

Despite, the fact, BW definitely had a plethora of rivals for the main characters a majority of them fell short, they were either annoying, hardly contributed towards the story or any development or just appeared once. It was refreshing to see, rivals introduced for goals such as a Dragon Master and a Pokémon Connoisseur, as I wasn’t sure how rivals could be implemented for such goals aside from aiming for the same goal as previous rivals. Nevertheless, Georgia was meant to be Iris’ primary rival and aside from her first appearance, she hardly contributed to Iris’ overall development. They hardly battled, Georgia hardly appeared and Georgia didn’t develop much either. All in all, the writers fell short writing a good rival for Iris.

Journeys:

I understand I’m a bit late since Episode 65 aired a few weeks ago. Like many fans, I was impressed by Iris’ growth during her absence, culminating in her becoming the Unova Champion. Although this leaves me a bit confused as to when Iris left the series, she was set to be Drayden’s successor as the Opelucid Gym Leader, now that she’s a Champion does this mean Drayden has to find an alternative successor? It kind of renders the whole homecoming arc in BW, kind of pointless. 

Drayden explains how Iris during her absence from the series continued to meet and battle with other Dragon-type trainers and alludes to the fact she’s caught a Gible (which we knew) and a Goodra, I don’t understand why they keep giving Iris these random Dragon-types that Ash has also caught. Did Iris catch Goodra in Kalos? Did she meet Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four? Anyway, what I like about this whole scene, is despite being Champion, Iris still doesn’t feel as though she has accomplished her goal of becoming a Dragon Master. Whilst, I respect the fact Iris still wants to grow as a trainer, it raises the question of what does it take to become a Dragon Master? Does it differ from person to person? 

Additionally, they’ve explained the ability Iris developed in the BW special, as an ability to read a Dragon Pokémon’s emotions. Which to be honest, I still find it a bit baffling, it's understandable for Psychic-type specialists and to some extent, Ghost-type specialists as Phoebe of the Hoenn Elite Four can apparently communicate with ghosts, but, for the sake of the story, I’ll accept it. 

I was impressed with the battle and comedy aspects of this episode with my favourite moments being the looks Emolga and Pikachu gave their trainers when they were bickering and when Iris and Ash quite literally blew the roof of the gym. I mean to be fair; it should be a requirement at this point that Gyms need an open roof in the Pokémon world just to avoid this kind of incident. 

The battle I was impressed with, subverted some of my expectations and worries, as I thought it would follow the pattern of Ash’s battle with Korrina where Gengar was swiftly defeated and Dragonite took down both of Korrina’s Pokémon. I felt bad for poor Dragonite being intimidated by Iris’ Dragonite (his glare reminds me of Harley’s Wigglytuff) and Ash being the good trainer that he is recalls Dragonite. This bit, I loved as it shows Ash’s compassion as a trainer. We had the bit we were waiting for! Ash actually using Dracovish, I feel as though Dracovish is definitely one of the weaker aspects of Ash’s character in this series as in Episode 63, aside from Water Gun, he didn’t know Dracovish’s moves or the fact he runs faster underwater (although to be fair Dracovish is a new species of Pokémon that people hardly know anything about so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt). I feel if we’d seen Ash training with Dracovish, the build-up to this battle would have been so much better and we could have seen a stronger bond between Ash and Dracovish form.

Part of me is relieved was that Dracovish didn’t go on to defeat Dragonite and Haxorus as the lack of screen-time with Dracovish could not justify that outcome. However, I’m still not satisfied with the outcome of this battle. In my previous analysis, I mentioned that I didn’t want them to pull the same stunt they did with Korrina, and what did they go and do? I understand Ash is also a Champion, however, they built up the fact Dragonite fully accepts Iris as his trainer, her Axew is now fully evolved and is her ace (as he should have been from the start!) and then they go and make her lose! 

Like Korrina, this completely undermines all of Iris’ efforts in her absence and continues my biggest gripe with Journeys being pacing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ash and I love seeing him succeed but when they build up a character returning like this people were kind of hoping Iris would win or draw with Ash (which would at least minimize the pacing issue slightly). In my opinion, a draw would have been a more satisfying conclusion, as it would reflect on both Iris and Ash’s growth during their time apart in a more positive light. 

Conclusion:

This extended analysis has been long overdue and I think it has allowed me to elevate my opinion of Iris but due to some weird writing choices. I don’t feel that same level of attachment that I’ve felt towards other travelling companions. But writing this analysis helped me see that a lot of the hate towards her is exaggerated. As she has had some great moments and development throughout BW. One of my favourite arcs in BW, was Iris restoring her relationship with Excadrill which was one of the most poignant moments of the series.

Overall, this analysis has not only helped improve my opinion on Iris but when a character we’re meant to like is written poorly, we’re less likely to like them or engage with them as well as you would with another character. This is why I’m having such an issue with Journeys at the moment and why I needed to take a little break from it. Although, I may watch the Gary episode, just to see Infernape in action again! Along with the rest of Ash’s Pokémon! 

#pokemon #pokeani #iris (pokemon) #analysis

[focusfixated]

february fic rec round-up

month #02: february - good omens, it, the goldfinch, little women, maurice

(please feel free to reblog)

---

jesus died for somebody’s sins (but not mine) by @lavellington

rating: G

fandom & pairing: good omens - aziraphale/crowley

summary: 'So you're going to start, what – praying?' 

'I already pray,' Aziraphale says, primly. 'I am an angel.'

'Yes, but it's different, what you do,' Crowley says, impatiently. 'It's not all sitting around trying to decipher mistranslated Hebrew, and searching for the Virgin Mary in your tea leaves. You're on the staff!'

notes: sharply beautiful, and a whole-ass queer mood in terms of the idea of awakening, of being able to fully occupy your own self and identity. there is a really lovely thing here of aziraphale finding a new, human way to express his faith and understanding of what god means to him, and it's explored in a way that is both incisive and uplifting. very well-observed, in terms of character, and crafted with such a light touch when it comes to the pace and wit of the dialogue. a joy to read the whole way through.

---

not exactly where i need to be (and yet it seems so close) by varnes

rating: M

fandom & pairing: IT - richie/eddie

summary: Richie runs all the way to Eddie’s. He has a bike but he can’t remember, just now, where he put it. Everything feels real, feels — the gravel hurt his shoeless feet, his lungs burn when he gets tired, there’s a cut on his chin that aches a little. It feels real but things always felt real, with It. You can’t trust how you feel or what you see. That’s the core of the terror of It. That everything is real and nothing is real and all of it can kill you.

notes: a subtle and thoughtful look at how your outlook changes over time, how your life shifts as you grow up, at the ways you can still make a difference. this is such a strong concept, and a masterful execution of a complicated, dimension-hopping story. full of world-building details and wonderfully in-depth character study. cathartic and emotional and beautifully written. 

---

24-pack card and sticker valentine kits by @stitchyblogs

rating: M

fandom & pairing: IT - richie/eddie

summary: Eddie grabs a bottle of Elmer’s and starts tracing each letter with glue. There’s a dopey, sort of proud feeling in Richie, watching him carefully craft the letters of his name. He could of picked Bill or Stanley, gnashing away on the other side of the table with their pinking shears, or the teacher - but he picked Richie. 

notes: structured as a series of valentines from 1984 to 2019, this is such a neat way of telling a story. a brilliant set of snapshots of richie's life, his trials and emotions, the absolutely compelling highs and lows. each segment is coloured by wonderful background details, sharply-observed, and the dialogue flows at such a pace, it sparkles with this characterful wit that is an absolute DELIGHT to read. 

---

feet on the ground, head in the sky by @suzybishops

rating: T

fandom & pairing: IT - richie/eddie

summary: richie and eddie put themselves back together, one long-distance phone call at a time.

notes: just a really lovely story of someone putting in the work to get better. taking the time to heal. learning how to be themselves again. captures the essence of fear and self-doubt - specifically, how richie feels about his writing, and about his potential lack of talent in the aftermath of any magically-boosted success - and leads us on a slow, soft walk towards renewal and acceptance.

---

a renaissance, another day by @tiny-steve

rating: E

fandom & pairing: the goldfinch - boris/theo

summary: Two years after Amsterdam Boris shows up on Theo’s doorstep in New York and he hasn’t had a hit in twenty-four hours.

notes: this is just INCREDIBLE. a deeply-felt, keenly-observed, brilliantly-constructed bit of storytelling. uses gorgeous imagery that is dramatic and sordid and beautifully-drawn, showing us the horror-show of drug withdrawal in a terribly visceral, awful way, but which also clears a path for something that gives us hope for the future, in a story that is otherwise characterised by its trauma. a brilliant end-piece to where the novel left off.

---

the home front by kindkit

rating: G

fandom & pairing: maurice - background maurice/scudder

summary: Alec Scudder and Clive Durham meet again in 1915.

notes: so neatly-conceived and executed. a lovely character study of scudder, full of warm, bright details of the world around him. a really gladdening thing to read and to imagine that, amongst the turmoil, the strength of this connection survives.

---

all this practice and still no grace by @drawsaurus

rating: E

fandom & pairing: little women - jo/laurie

summary: Laurie would have taken any humiliation, tenfold worse than this, to be as close to Jo as he was allowed now.

notes: a fascinating look at the gender-play between jo and laurie, the way they form their roles in opposition to each other. this is such a brilliant dynamic to play with, and is done in a really neat, sharp way, vividly-painted with economic and precise language. this is a look at people who are unsure of themselves, and the way they feel their way through something unfamiliar in an attempt to gain the freedom to get what they want. such a good read. 

---

previously:

month #01: january

#reddie #ineffable husbands #good omens fic recs #it fic recs #the goldfinch fic recs #little women #monthly fic rec round up #maurice #fic rec post #fic recs #good omens #it chapter 2 #it movies #the goldfinch

[neuxue]

So I'm reading your CoS reviews and something jumped out - you seem to think that Egwene blackmailing the Aes Sedai into swearing fealty is different from Elaida because there is no Oath Rod involved. But that's what compells Myrelle & Nisao to keep their oath. Also, you seem to think that there is a distinction about obedience, but if she can assign Siuan to be in charge, they ARE being made to obey, not just be loyal.

(2/4) Another issue with Egwene’s Oath of Fealty in CoS. Elaida had convicted rebels swear the Oath in mitigation of their rebellion against the same authority. It was the EXACT rationale used to make Myrelle & Nisao swear, except Egwene just did it for personal advantage, and Nisao herself didn’t even do anything wrong, she was just facing the same sort of unjust Tower justice as Elayne for the secret of the Kin. What should her priority have been, saving Lan or being holier-than-thou with Myrelle? 

(3/4) More Egwene’s Oath: Egwene’s attitude in the whole morning is very contradictory. The night before she was smug about taking control of minor admin stuff from Sheriam and aghast at the idea of anyone blackmailing AS or AS swearing fealty, but in the AM, she’s mad about the papers on her desk & blackmails AS into fealty. Also she’s in the middle of a false flag operation, tricking people into fighting a war they’d never fight if they had the facts. It seems like Egwene is secretly in the wrong 

(4/4) Final issue with Egwene in aCoS, I promise: How did we get from two books of Rand being the priority in Salidar, both in N&E’s motive for going there, then searching for the Bowl, lying to make them think they need Rand, and suddenly it’s all about Egwene’s power? She’s 18 with no qualifications, and for all she’s supposed to make the Tower help the good guys, she gets mad at N&E because SAVING THE WORLD might cause HER problems & condemns Rand for doing what she did except AS actually hurt him.”

For context: Since answering the previous string of asks about Egwene a few days ago, I have received 12 asks, in addition to these, telling me in less civil language about how Egwene is a hypocrite/evil/annoying/the worst and I’m reading her wrong or giving her too much leniency. Just putting that up front in case I sound impatient, because I do value good-faith discussion but the overall tone of my askbox right now is…not so good faith.

And I really don’t mind if people disagree with me on Egwene. That’s fine; you’re entirely within your rights to do so. There are parts of her story and characterisation that are very, very easy to disagree on. That’s okay! They’re supposed to be! She walks pretty close to some lines at various points (like many characters in the series), and whether she steps over those or not is sort of up to you.

But there’s only so much I can respond to on the same topic, especially because it feels like a) I’d just be rehashing things I’ve already said in the liveblog, b) like I said before, it could just keep going because Egwene’s a main character in a 14-book series and there’s a lot of material there to disagree on and c) we clearly do not see eye-to-eye on her character. That’s absolutely fine, but it again contributes to the…lack of enthusiasm I feel about this. 

tl;dr: I like Egwene, and I disagree with some of the specifics you’ve pointed out, but will also acknowledge that she does some things that are morally questionable and arguably hypocritical, and while I don’t have a problem with that in particular, it’s fine if you do.

More on the oaths, the ‘false flag’ operation, and Egwene’s lack of qualifications below.

1: Egwene’s oath

Yeah, this is one where the line between what she does and what Elaida does (and what Rand and Taim and eventually Verin do) is rather fine. I think oaths of fealty, even with the Oath Rod preventing untruths, leave more flexibility, especially to an Aes Sedai, than a very specific Oath of obedience; we see that in how the Aes Sedai sworn to Rand behave. And I think her wording is that they have to treat orders from Siuan as if those orders had come from her: there’s definitely some wiggle room there, if you want to get into technicalities…which I kind of don’t, really. For me, that’s not specifically the point. I also think Elaida’s and Egwene’s respective positions and rationales make enough of a difference that, for me, what Egwene does falls into the category of ‘morally rather shady but in a way I like rather than dislike’.

And most of it comes down to just that: a very subjective liking of this kind of thing. I like watching characters play around in moral grey areas, or struggle with their own pride, or do complicated or questionable things for complicated or questionable reasons. I like when desperate characters, backed into a corner, find a way out that works but isn’t always easy to live with. I like when characters I like find ways to get what they need, and I will absolutely admit that in many cases this is subjective. The more I like the character, and the cleverer their solution, the more likely I am to enjoy it.

Given that…yes, I like seeing Egwene find this solution and implement it. Yes, it’s politically manipulative and at times morally questionable. Yes, I condemn Elaida for something that I see as different but not hugely different. No, I don’t have a list of technicalities that I can use to draw a clear delimiting line and say ‘Egwene is right because X and Y, while Elaida is wrong because Z’. I think Egwene has more justification for what she does, given her position, her options, and her capabilities…but that’s just what I think. It’s messy and ambiguous and there’s a bit of ends justifying the means here, which again I’m kind of…fine with, in fiction, because I like morally sticky situations. If you don’t like those, or you have a line in the sand drawn at a different point than I’ve drawn mine…yes, I can 100% see where you’re coming from, and I’m not going to change your mind, and you’re probably not going to change mine, and that’s fine.

2: Egwene running a false flag operation and tricking people into fighting

They asked. A general. To build. And lead. An army.

Before Egwene even got there.

They started the rebellion. Well, no, Elaida did by leading a coup, and I suppose the Black Ajah by influencing events in that direction and Ishamael by pushing them to do so…

But the Aes Sedai who went to Salidar fought their way out, refused to recognise Elaida’s authority, set up a centre of power and operations outside of and antagonistic to it, and decided to appoint an Amyrlin, and let’s not forget, asked Gareth Bryne to lead an army for them. One of his conditions, which they agreed to, being that they have to see this through. And then they try to get out of that.

She’s tricking them–or rather, manipulating them; I’m not sure it really qualifies as trickery specifically–into actually doing what they have already effectively committed themselves to doing. 

You say ‘if they had all the facts’. What facts don’t they have? Any of them at any point could look at what Egwene’s doing and see where it’s going, but they kind of deliberately don’t. Egwene’s authority, and her motivation for getting them to vote (vote!) to go to war, is a technicality in Tower Law, which they have every reason to know. That they don’t and Egwene does is… kind of their own problem. Also, that they’re surprised at all by the vote of war in the first place is their own problem given, again, that they started a rebellion and hired Gareth Bryne to give them an army.

Does Egwene try to manipulate the political situation? Yes. Does she try to push the Aes Sedai into action when they’d rather sit and talk about acting and actually do nothing? Yes. Is that a false flag operation? No.

3: Egwene is 18 and has no qualifications

3.1: 

Rand al’Thor is 21 and has no qualifications. Perrin is 21 and has no qualifications. Luke bloody Skywalker is 20-ish and has no qualifications. There’s an entire genre out there filled with characters who are young and have no qualifications, by that definition, and Egwene is hardly less qualified for her role than plenty of other WoT characters are for theirs. In real life, that would be more of a problem. In fiction…eh. Depends how well it’s executed, for me. Some people have a higher or lower tolerance for this, and that’s fine. But it’s not remotely specific to Egwene, so I have a hard time taking it seriously.

3.2: 

Is she unqualified? An important point of context here is that this is the apocalypse. Things are falling apart in ways that no one’s really prepared for. The Aes Sedai are broken. This is sort of a theme across the books: the existing powers and systems and authorities are either in denial, or unprepared, or outdated. We can argue all day about the validity of that narrative premise, but that’s how this is set up. It’s how any of the young protagonists end up in power: because, in this ‘nothing is normal and everything is breaking’ world, no one is specifically qualified and those who can’t accept what’s happening are even less so.

Anyway, let’s look at Egwene. She’s trained under Moiraine and Siuan - political experts and also two of the Aes Sedai who have spent the most time preparing for the coming of the Dragon Reborn and the apocalypse. She’s trained under Amys and the Aiel Wise Ones - political experts, though in another culture. She even, arguably, has military experience in that she’s been trained by the Seanchan to be a weapon. She certainly has a great deal of firsthand experience in foreign affairs, having been held by the Seanchan, spent months with the Aiel, and travelled across the continent and interacted or negotiated with various countries’ leaders and governments. She’s familiar with Tower Law (thanks to Siuan), and highly skilled in the use of the One Power. She’s also intimately familiar with a great deal of the shit that has recently hit the fan: she’s a childhood friend of the Dragon Reborn, and has been front and centre at a number of rather key events lately. Also, she’s got good mentors: Siuan and Gareth Bryne, both leaders or former leaders in their own rights, teach her and vouch for her capability.

3.3:

She’s put into the position she’s in precisely because the other Aes Sedai believe her to be too young and unqualified to think or act for herself, and believe they can use her as a figurehead and puppet. They know the things an Amyrlin is and isn’t legally and technically empowered to do (and if they don’t, that’s on them), and they seem to accept the risk they take in appointing her to a position with those powers, trusting that she won’t be able to use them. That they’re wrong about this is their own fault. The lesson here is: don’t put someone in a figurehead role if you’re not prepared for them discovering that they have actual power, and deciding to use it. Look at historical monarchies, and young monarchs, and what happens to their advisers who think ‘I’ve got everything under control’

4. Everything else you’ve mentioned

The rest is subjective enough that trying to argue it would be an exercise in futility, and I feel like that’s not the point here anyway. For instance, “she gets mad at N&E because SAVING THE WORLD might cause HER problems” is…several degrees into interpretation and subjectivity; I disagree that this is what’s happening here, but the framing of this makes it hard to go anywhere productive. Same with “what should her priority have been, saving Lan or being holier-than-thou with Myrelle” - I disagree with the premise of the question itself, so there’s not much I can say.

So I’ll just…leave it there. Nothing’s stopping you from putting together these arguments as a post of your own, but I’m probably done airing them on my blog, given the sheer volume of vitriol I’ve received in response to the last set of asks. 

#look I do enjoy discussion #and I'm happy to have people disagree with me #but I'm probably done with this one specifically #because I don't see it going anywhere productive #and this is the most civil of the asks I have on it right now #asks #anon #wheel of time #egwene al'vere

[fictionfromafar]

The Untameable by Guillermo Arriaga

The Untameable

By Guillermo Arriaga

Translated by Frank Wynne & Jesse Mendez Sayer

MacLehose Press, Quercus

Guillermo Arriaga is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer whose previous books have been translated into 18 languages. I awaited the release of The Untameable with high anticipation as it is Arriaga's first novel since he rose to prominence as a screenwriter on the Oscar nominated Babel, 21 Grams and the BAFTA winning Amores Perros. Seeing the latter movie upon its release really was my first insight into Mexican life; the clever interplay between three different story lines which are brought together by a car crash remained very vivid for me. By chance I actually re-watched Amores Perros shortly before hearing of this book.

The Untameable is an epic read which clocks in at just over 700 pages and alternates between two storylines. The primary focus is upon teenager Juan Guillermo who lives within one of the lower middle class barrios of Mexico City in the 1960s. The second is the tale of an Inuktitut hunter named Amaruq who starts tracking a wolf in Yukon in the far north west of Canada in an initially undeterminable time. The book also features a series of short passages relating to various historic events and folk stories from around the world the purpose of which later become clear to the reader.

The English translation of The Untameable has been completed primarily by esteemed translator Frank Wynne who has translated many outstanding works from Spanish and French. These include The Blue Hour by Alonso Cueto (shortlisted for the 2013 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize), The Siege by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and all translated titles by Pierre Lamaitre. As is the case for those novels the translation is flawless and the language always fresh. Arriaga’s talants as a screen writer enhance his storytelling which is vividly told, leaving a very strong impression of the key characters and their surroundings

Juan is the first person narrator of his part of the story and we join him at the age of 13 during a hot Mexican summer living at home with his family. This consists of his parents, grandmother, elder brother of 6 years Carlos and their pets, a brindle boxer called King and their Australian parakeets Whisky and Vodka. No sooner do we have a chance to visualise his family setting, than we are ominously informed that he will the only one to remain alive over the next 4 years. Tragically the first to go will be Carlos who we learn will be murdered.

The Untameable is marketed as a coming of age novel which is partly true but it is also so much more. There is an obvious crime, in fact multiple crimes, it’s part a historic novel, part romance and it’s also a tale of long awaited revenge. From the storylines in Yukon it is also a travel adventure. Little wonder that renowned Colombian writer Santiago Gamboa calls The Untameable one of the best books he has read. Juan’s story is always absorbing as it builds to the details that scarred him most, his desire for retribution and atone for his own regrets while the story from Yukon gradually evolves bringing new components to the book which only link at the conclusion.

Juan tells us his story on a mainly reflective basis. We learn how his life was saved through blood transfusions and about his experiences at a private school which his parents could barely pay for. An early injustice he faced is when he is expelled yet a wealthier child is not. It is just the start of an examination of the inequality and misfortune that will tarnish the experiences of Juan and the lives of his family. His older brother Carlos is the most enterprising family member in tough economic conditions. Having received a chinchilla as a birthday present starts to breed them for their fur. There could be scenes that some readers may find upsetting in respect of the treatment of the chinchillas and local stray cats, also in Canada where some animals are trapped. However I would state that these are not intentionally graphic. I interpret these being shown as part of methods to develop and preserve the protagonists livelihood rather than to needlessly harm. The brothers have refused requests to put their dog into dog fighting for financial gain so there are no scenes like viewers may recall from in Amores Perros.

A lot of the interaction with neighbours comes from the boys moving from rooftop to rooftop. While Juan and many of the other local boys were raised without a strong religious faith, another group known as “The Good Boys” follow their twisted interpretation of the bible. Led by Humberto they try to recruit other younger boys and preach to Juan and his friends for a while. Our narrator realises the contradictory nature of their beliefs:

"On the one hand everything that happened was the result of Divine Will: “God willed it so” on the other hand the Devil was lurking everywhere, waiting for the opportunity to tempt Man and lead him from the path of righteousness.”

Effectively this group are “an army in training”, fundamentalists who with the consent of the local priest dispatch punishment to those who are Jewish, Communist or are believed to carry out immoral behaviours such as homosexuality. They attempt to draw Juan and his friends into what is effectively a clandestine death squad. Juan is in denial of their true harm at first as he is far more interested in his discoveries of William Faulkner, Jimi Hendrix and his first regular sexual experiences.

We also learn of the corrupt policeman Zurita. The captain is more concerned with getting a cut from illegal activities than stopping them. As Carlos’ businesses expands into other areas and he continually refuses to cooperate with Zurita, his enterprise eventually makes him a target for The Good Boys. Before we learning of the events that are to unfold Juan uses biblical images to describe how his life is about to change: “then came the plaque of destruction, and the locusts of death devoured everything in their path.”

While Carlos is trying to keep ahead of his enemies by monitoring unknown cars and finding regular hiding places, there is also a battle of wits on the Canadian tundra between Amaruq and a giant grey wolf he calls Nujuaqtutuq. The beast is luring him further northwards where the chances of both finding food are slimmer. Amaruq is under a belief this particular animal is one his grandfather warned him about:

"Of all the wolves you will see in your life, one alone will be your master.”

The descriptions of the landscape in the Canadian scenes are as detailed of those in Mexico City so that you can virtually visualize them. This is a key feature of this book, the details of the settings are always vividly relayed without detracting from the narrative of the story.

The strength of the characterisations particularly mark this book for distinction. Juan sustains our support as the main protagonist throughout his troubles. His grief for the accumulated loss of family members is palpable and his reactions feel realistic. There are very lifelike stumbling blocks at the start of his romance with the once promiscuous Chelo as they borh try to adapt to the terrible circumstances that life has thrown at him. He receives a sympathetic role model after meeting Alives as they both belong to the “community of orphans.” Juan is protective of the family pets and even adopts the fearsome Colmillo who could not be tamed by his owners. Humberto is almost Juan’s polar opposite but there is enough given about his own background to develop him as a convincing character. In this barrio in late 1960s Mexico City it is those that portray themselves as good are those who carry out the most evil of acts. We see Juan wrestles with his conscience and desire for a settled life with Chelo against his determination to exact revenge; knowing that there will be consequences for him. He would be breaking an unwritten rule: “victims could not be aggressors, and if they did, they were declaring war.”

The Untameable is an exceptional novel. It addresses sudden bereavements and attempts at reconciling these during adolescence, it tackles themes of societal inequality and corruption, the complete lack of morality in some locally organised religious groups and more widely the concept of vengeance. It is a fascinating tale with contrasting textures, writing styles and literary references. Its length should not be a deterrence due to the multiple storylines, timeframes and themes within the story. If any of these intrigue you then I would urge you to read The Untameable. Ultimately this is a captivating chronical of one brave boy’s struggles against almost unsurmountable challenges which will hook you in, immerse and captivate you right until the end.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #latinamericancrimefiction

[the-desolated-quill]

The Wedding Of River Song - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Sigh. Okay, let’s get this over with.

The Wedding Of River Song was never going to work. Let’s be honest. This entire arc this series has been handled so poorly that there’s no way Moffat could possibly have tied up all the loose ends in a satisfying way. So at the time I basically resigned myself to the fact that the Series 6 finale was probably going to be a steaming pile of shit. There was always a chance Moffat could have proved me wrong and surprised me with something truly spectacular, but deep down I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

So how was The Wedding Of River Song. Well believe it or not I was actually quite engaged for the first 10 or 15 minutes. The Doctor is zipping around the universe trying to find out why the Silence want him dead (something the series should have been focused on long before this, but better late than never I suppose). This leads to some pretty imaginative locations. I like the idea of ‘Live Chess’ and thought the crypt of the Headless Monks was very creepy (I could have done without the chattering skulls though. Bit too smirksome for my liking). Moffat even managed to wring some genuine emotion out of me in the scene where the Doctor learns about the Brigadier’s death. If you’re not familiar with the classic series, i imagine this scene must have confused you somewhat. For me it was incredibly moving. It’s very well handled, Matt Smith gives a great performance and it seems fitting that the passing of his oldest and dearest friend would be what allows the Doctor to accept his own death.

There’s just one problem with all of this though, and it’s a problem that’s been hanging over this entire series like a dark rain cloud. We know the Doctor isn’t going to die. If this truly was the show’s final ending, a lot of what happens here would have been a lot more impactful. But it isn’t. We knew at the time we were getting another series after this. We knew at the time that they were planning a 50th anniversary special. So all we’re left with is this feeling of mild curiosity as to how the Doctor is going to get out of this situation. There’s no real emotional investment or tension or anything.

But wait. It gets worse. Oh SOOOOOOOOOO much worse!

So the Doctor meets River on the shores of Lake Silencio, but wait a minute. Why does River need to be in the spacesuit? It’s fully automated. She doesn’t have any control over it. And if she’s being held in there against her will, why is she put in prison for it? She’s clearly a pawn of the Silence. Why don’t the Stormcage people go after them? Well here’s the thing, I say she has no control over the spacesuit, but then all of a sudden she does, which was really jarring. But anyway, the Doctor survives and suddenly the whole of time goes wibbly. While the whole concept of time dying is basically just the Series 5 finale all over again, the idea of history happening all at once could be interesting, but Moffat never actually does anything with it. It’s basically just a bunch of anachronisms and other random shit thrown together. Also if all of time is happening at once, how come everyone is capable of having intelligible conversations?

Let’s jump back to River for a minute. Considering Moffat’s one note obsession with her, you’d think she’d come out of this a deeper and more interesting character, but she doesn’t. River Song is not and never has been a character. She’s just a loose collection of character traits that don’t seem to marry up with each other. She’s in love with the Doctor and seems to have a warm relationship with her parents Amy and Rory, but she also frequently describes herself as a psychopath.

Do you see why this doesn’t quite work? And again, would it kill Moffat to Google what a psychopath actually is? You can’t raise one and one of their defining traits is their total lack of empathy. River Song is NOT a psychopath.

And it’s not just River. Characterisation is utterly butchered in this episode all around. Moffat is once again more concerned with tying up the loose ends to his convoluted as fuck series arc instead of actually exploring what the characters are thinking and feeling. River Song is basically little more than a plot device and I will never buy her supposed romance with the Doctor. It’s not Matt Smith or Alex Kingston’s fault. They’re doing their best, but I don’t think even Helen Mirren could salvage anything form this pile of garbage. Rory is once again shoved to the side and the way Moffat handles Amy’s character borders on tactless. A lot of people complained about how Moffat handled the whole pregnancy subplot, and I suspect he added the scene where Amy kills Madame Kovarian to address the lack of emotional followup to Let’s Kill Hitler, but it really doesn’t work. For one thing, it’s too little too late by this point, and another thing, it feels wildly out of character for Amy. Do you honestly expect me to believe that Amy would kill another human, not to save her baby, but as an act of cold blooded revenge? Fuck off Moffat! The ironic thing is I’ve never liked Amy very much, but I think even I have more respect for her character than Moffat clearly does.

The further this episode goes along, the more it falls apart and the more infuriated I became. Once again we see Moffat changing the rules like he did with the Weeping Angels in order to accommodate his crap plot. Remember when River chastised the Doctor for being a dangerous person that millions of people feared? Well now all of a sudden he’s adored by them now and they’re all desperately pleading for him not to die. Well which is it Moffat? You can’t say the Doctor is a feared monster with no justification only to then turn around and go in the complete opposite direction with equally no justification. And that’s not the only thing. River can’t control the spacesuit until all of a sudden she can. The Doctor can’t remember the Silence until all of a sudden he can. Even the series arc itself starts to mutate. Before it was ‘Silence will fall when the question is asked.’ Now it’s ‘Silence must fall when the question is answered.’ Bit of a teeny, tiny difference there, wouldn’t you say?

But if there’s one thing I really can’t stand, it’s the whole lying thing. For some reason Moffat seems to think having the Doctor and River lie constantly makes for clever twists. Well it doesn’t. It’s just cheap and lazy, and it has the consequence of breaking the audience’s faith in what’s happening on screen. See there’s a world of difference between misleading an audience and blatantly lying to them. Were you touched by River’s shock at the Doctor’s death in The Impossible Astronaut? Psyche! She was lying all the time! Were you moved by the Doctor coming to terms with his own mortality? Ha! Gotcha! He had a plan all along and was lying the whole time! It just rips the emotion out of the whole thing and I won’t be inclined to believe anything the characters say or feel ever again. And some lies don’t even make sense. When the Doctor ‘marries’ River, he whispers in her ear about the Tesselecta disguise and then blurts out to Amy and Rory that he told her his real name. But... why would the Doctor need to lie about that? Why not just tell them the plan? It’s not as if they’re going to tell anyone else.

And then we come to the stupid as fuck resolution. The Doctor uses the Tesselecta to fake his death. But wait. What about the fixed point in time? They were quite clear about that. The Doctor needs to die. He’s not dead, so shouldn’t time still be all wibbly? And then he makes the idiotic suggestion that he now needs to step back into the shadows. Easier said than done mate. How do you intend to do that? Presumably you’re still going to be travelling through time and space and fighting aliens. Don’t you think the Silence might catch on to that, you fucking moron?

And the series arc still isn’t finished yet. We’ve still got the Fields of Trenzalore and the Question to deal with, and do you know what? I couldn’t be any less interested. I mean just look at how this arc was handled. Not only is it poorly written and ill conceived, the answers we get to some of the questions we’ve been asking are all so painfully obvious. Who is River to the Doctor? His wife. What crime did she commit? She killed the Doctor. And what’s the First Question hidden in plain sight that must never be answered? Say it with me now, altogether:

Considering all this River Song bullshit started way back in 2008 with the Silence In the Library two parter, was it really worth waiting three years for such an utterly underwhelming conclusion?

You know this actually reminds me of another show Moffat writes for...

What’s that Moffat fans? You thought I was going to let your precious Sherlock off the hook, did you? Guess again my little possums :D

Sherlock is in my opinion the second worst thing Moffat has ever written (the first being Jekyll). It’s an overly produced, convoluted and utterly pretentious pile of rubbish that only bears a passing resemblance to the source material. For seven years people had deluded themselves into think this worthless excuse for a TV show is actually clever and it comes as a blessed relief to see people finally stop drinking the Kool-Aid and realise what a load of utter bollocks Sherlock really is. Fan reception for Series 4 has been pretty negative and some are utterly confused as to how this could have happened. How could such a once great show fall so far? I have an answer for you. The show was never good to begin with. Series 1, 2 and 3 were just as bad as Series 4. The only thing that’s changed is people’s perception of the show. Fans finally started to realise that all these plots and arcs and questions weren’t going to have any satisfying payoff. Series 4 doesn’t represent the slow deterioration of a once great show. It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s a point where Moffat’s bullshit became so blatant and so insulting that not even the diehard fans could possibly justify it. 

The reason I mention Sherlock is because I feel it’s the best example of Moffat’s incredibly flawed approach to storytelling. His whole schtick is teasing bigger mysteries and more interesting stories to come as opposed to, you know, telling interesting stories. With Sherlock, the focus was on prolonging the ridiculous conflict between Sherlock and Moriarty, to the point where character arcs and smaller stories fell to the wayside. The same is true with his series arcs in Doctor Who. Moffat’s first series is about someone blowing up the TARDIS. Then we come to the Doctor dying, at which point the whole mystery of the exploding TARDIS just gets silently dropped. We get a lot of information about River Song’s involvement, but we don’t have time to properly get to know her character outside of all of this because by that point Moffat is teasing the much bigger mystery of Trenzalore, and so on. Arcs are left incomplete and characters left underdeveloped because Moffat is more concerned with teasing bigger and better stories rather than focusing on the story he’s currently telling. And he tries to keep you invested by saying that all the stuff that doesn’t make sense and have been left unresolved might be explained later on. He maintains the illusion that there’s an interesting story just on the horizon, but the fact is you’ll never get to see it because it simply doesn’t exist.

Now don’t me wrong. If you still like Sherlock, that’s your prerogative. I’m not trying to make fun of you. I certainly wouldn’t dream of taking the piss out of the people who came up with the bizarre theory based on wild conjecture and misinterpretation of evidence that there was going to be a secret good fourth Sherlock episode that would solve all the problems of Series 4. They’re not idiots for thinking that. They’re just the ones that bought into Moffat’s bullshit hook, line and sinker. They honestly thought there was an episode coming that would fix everything and explain all the inconsistencies because that’s what Moffat has led them to believe. It’s a deceptive and fraudulent trick I picked up on a long time ago and it makes it hard for me to enjoy Moffat’s so called ‘good’ stories like The Empty Child and The Girl In the Fireplace because once you notice all his tricks and gimmicks, that’s ALL you notice.

Since I started reviewing the Moffat era, I’ve had a few people sending me messages about what an idiot I am and what an undisputed genius Moffat is. I can honestly understand people’s frustration when a smartarse blogger like myself comes along and starts ripping one of their favourite writers to shreds, but with respect, you’re really just deluding yourselves. I’m sorry to have to break this to you, but a writer that relies on blatantly lying to the audience, changing his own established rules and contorting his characters and plots into unnatural shapes to makes his stories work, whilst continuously making false promises that a future episode will one day make sense of all of this convoluted chaos, at the end of the day is just a bad writer.

When I think of Doctor Who Series 6, all I can think of is wasted potential. The Doctor dying, the Silence, and even River Song could have been something really interesting. And while there were some bright spots along the way (The Doctor’s Wife and The Girl Who Waited), Series 6 was ultimately a lacklustre experience, and The Wedding Of River Song just wasn’t a satisfying conclusion no matter how you try and spin it.

#the wedding of river song #steven moffat #doctor who #eleventh doctor #matt smith #amy pond #karen gillan #rory williams #arthur darvill #river song #alex kingston #the silence #bbc #review #spoilers

[adventure-hearts]

tri. Chapter 5 - Recap, Review, Analysis [part four]

(part one ) (part two ) (part three)

Phew! This took way longer than I expected and my thoughts are still convoluted, but this movie was packed. I don’t think it was perfect by any means, but the themes are given a lot of depth, pacing was good, the plot is advancing, and the characters (especially Taichi) had some memorable moments. Above all, it worked far better after a (close) rewatch.

I think it’s up there with Kokuhaku in terms of quality. My faith in tri. continues to be justified!

We have months of speculation ahead of us, so I won’t bother you with a lot of predictions for what’s coming next. I’m sure I’ll come back to some of these ideas until the summer :)

Raguelmon and Jesmon fight each other, and at one moment Raguelmon protects Meiko. This only reinforces the Chosen Children’s belief that there's still a connection between the Meiko and her partner, further strenghtehing their resolve to protect Meicoomon against Jesmon, even if it means going against Homeostasis.

Of course, Homeostasis isn't happy about this, so it takes over Hikari and tells them to stop interfering.

At this point, Homeostasis straight-up threatens the Chosen Children. Moreover, it’s essentially telling them they failed. Homeostasis picks human children to fight its battles to keep balance, but it has no qualms in pushing them aside if they don’t serve its purpose.

No more Mr nice guy! Daigo is done with Homeostasis, and he knows he has been played as well. When he was a Chosen Child, he had to make a sacrifice that resulted in Maki’s partners death, and it destroyed Maki in the process - and (if you believe Hackmon’s words) this was seen as a failure by Homeostasis. This time, Daigo decides to protect his friends. He has been fond of the Chosen Children from the start, and he’s firmly on their side now.

As Homeostasis goes on about how it can do what it wants and how sacrifices are needed, the Chosen Children fight back -- including, significantly, Hikari: the ONE kid who's literally been used by Homeostasis. This is a tremendous character moment for Hikari -- she’s standing up for herself and for her beliefs, and against a supernatural entity at that! We know that behind her sweet, passive attitude Hikari has plenty of courage (surrendering herself to Vamdemon was another defining moments), but it’s so rare for her to actually show that this tiny scene ends up being really significant.

To be fair, this is a pretty weird line, considering their past history. You’d think the Chosen Children are aware that sometimes sacrifices are needed, since it has happened a million times before.

Hikari then accuses Homeostasis of being selfish, which has to be unfair. Homeostasis is hardly doing this for its own benefit, but only to keep the stability between the worlds. Sure, it’s a cruel, impersonal decision, but human morality and concepts of “good”, “evil”, and “justice” clearly do not concern Homeostasis.

Is this another example of how the Chosen Children’s idealism sometimes blinds them to the harshness reality? Are the kids forgetting the lessons from past, or are they just being obtuse? It’s one of the moments where tri.’s ambiguous position to what came before (what its critics describe as cherry-picking) can make it difficult to interpret what the characters are thinking.

However, I think the point here is that there’s a clear difference between choosing to sacrifice yourself (like Wizarmon, Oikawa and so many others) and being sacrificed for the sake of the “Greater Good”, which is Homeostasis’ MO. One is selfless; the other a forceful, unilateral decision. Clearly, the Chosen Children are willing to risk the worlds collapsing in order to protect their friend, Meicoomon, from being sacrificed by Homeostasis, whatever the reasons that may justify this execution. You have to admire the strength of the Chosen Children’s principles – they aren’t willing to watch a friend get destroyed to keep the balance of the world, and are ready to go against Homeostasis to uphold that principle. This isn’t just a moral standpoint -- they choose the team (i.e. love) over The Bigger Picture.

But again, it’s hard to argue that Homeostasis is being evil or even irrational. Taichi and the others being so surprised and conflicted shows how their deep-set beliefs can fail when confronted with though choices.

Generally speaking, I think this is a very important theme in this Chapter: idealism vs. pragmatism in the Chosen Children’s decisions.

*

Once they get to the Digital World, though, Taichi's mind is made – they will protect their friends no matter what, regardless of right or wrong. This hits a cord with Daigo, who's reminded of his own partner, Maki and Bakumon, and how he used to be a goggle boy. He knows what it’s like to be unwillingly sacrificed for the Bigger Picture.

Alphamon shows up again (apparently, he's aligned with Ygrasil) and proceeds to fight Jesmon. A four-way battle of conflicting loyalties ensues between Raguelmon, Omegamon, Alphamon, and Jesmon, which if anything illustrates how complicated the plot of this series is, and how it’s characterised by the lack of a clear, single antagonist.

*

And then it comes the moment half the fandom expected. The Dark Ocean’s comeback!

Somehow, in her despair and a less than balanced mental state, Maki found her way to the Dark World and is looking for Bakumon there. I don't know if she went there through a distortion (as in 02) or if Dagomon's minions called her there - remember, like Hikari, Maki was also a vessel for Homeostasis. Depending on how we read this, parallels with Ken or Hikari become apparent.

(And Maki holding a DARK D3 back in Chapter 3 suddenly becomes even more intriguing!)

Maki is swallowed by the dark ocean, Daigo somehow senses something is wrong. maki drowns further.

*

Hikari's words seem to have an unecpected effect because it's Meiko who hears them. Meiko decides she can't make Meicoomon suffer anymore.

So Meiko makes the bravest, toughest, and probably more logical decision - she realises that destroying Meicoomon would not only stop the problem at hand, but it would ALSO stop her partners suffering. meiko realises there's nothing left to do. The Chosen Children's strategy has failed. She can't handle this anymore, and she wants to put an end to it.

As Sora realises, this isn't a coward's way out: this is a brave, necessary decision. The alternative is for Meicoomon to kill more people, be killed anyway, or end up destroying the world. Ultimately, destroying Meicoomon can also be seen as an act of mercy. Meiko is her partner’s only hope - she makes the “rational choice”, but her decision is made out of love for Meicoomon.

Taichi remembers her words at the school, and he understands that Meiko’s decision is the right one. Remember, Taichi is the only one who knows what is like to have his partner gone bad, and he’s had to face a similar choice before. tri. never references the events in 02 where Agumon was controlled by the Kaiser and Taichi allowed his friends to fight against him, but the parallels are there. 

However, the other Chosen Children don’t get it yet. They're all too blinded by idealism and afraid to hurt one of them, even if it's the only way. They contest Taichi’s decision, but he’s calm and determined.

THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS A TRUE LEADER.

Like Meiko, Taichi realises that if they end Meicoomon themselves, they'll put an end to this and neither Homeostasis nor Ygdrasil will win. In this context, killing Meicoomon (with Meiko’s blessing) means protecting Meicoomon.

Yamato’s negative reaction here is very interesting. Apparently, his refusal to kill Meicoomon seems to contradict a lot of his previous actions. 

After all, back in 02, it was Yamato who convinced Taichi that “Agumon would rather die than to become a slave”, and was willing to fight him. Moreover, since the beging of tri., he’s been chastising Taichi for running away and for refusing to take a stand. In Chapter 3, he was even the one who pragmatically stated that if one of the digimon partners became infected, they would have to fight them, much to Takeru’s horror.

I don’t quite understand this development, unless they just want to inject the mandatory opposition between Taichi and Yamato. I suppose you could read it this way: Yamato didn’t really mean what he said earlier, or at least he was fooling himself about his ability to go through with this though decision. 

 Although for most of tri. Taichi and Yamato’s roles have often been inverted (more on this later), we know that Taichi is actually the more pragmatic of the two, while Yamato is a very emotional person who makes decisions based on feelings. When Taichi suggests killing a friend, it goes against Yamato’s most important values -- friendship and loyalty – and he’s so emotionally upset by the idea he can’t stop to reflect that this is actually a mercy-killing, and lashes out at Taichi, which is usually a symptom that his feelings are in turmoil. Koushirou intervenes and tells that he should already know it. Yamato seems to see the other side of the issue, but the conclusion is so painful that it causes him to howl in frustration. 

Meiko thanks them for doing something so difficult... And then she makes a terribly stupid decision and runs off to the middle of the battle, after Meicoomon. We’ve seen some indication that Meiko’s will to live (and her belief that “she shoudn’t have been born) are pretty strong, and now it seems she intends to share her partners fate. Yamato, Taichi, and Daigo go after her.

Jesmon's attack fails somehow and the ground starts crumbling, opening a chasm that separates Taichi from Yamato and Meiko. In a selfless move, Taichi orders Omegamon to protect Yamato and Meiko and faces the danger on his own.

Taichi and Daigo disappear into the crumbling rock, and Jesmon and Alphamon are gone as well, leaving behind a battered Raguelmon and Taichi’s goggles.

*

Hikari watches the loss of her brother and enters a sort of catatonic state. Her powers start acting up, and Nyaromon becomes Ophanimon FallDown mode. When prophecy spoke of going through darkness to reach power, I’m not sure if this was included. Anyway, it’s hard to argue that this is Hikari’s normal Ultimate evolution in any way - it’s clearly powered by sorrow and pain, that is, (metaphorically) darkness. This darkness now causes the world to go crazy and envolves a battered Raguelmon.

Mystery Man’s words seem to echo that old line: “The brighter the light, the darker the shadow”. Inflicting this sort of trauma on Hikari has consequences that are beyond normal. Was this the plan all along, or happy collateral damage? Either way, I don’t think it’s coincidental that we keep seeing Mystery Man’s reactions to everything that’s happening.

When Hikari gives the order “Take Over”, Ophanimon FM and Raguelmon fuse into a monstruous being with dark wings. The parallels between Tailmon and Meicoomon finally mean something. As Mystery Man talks about destruction, Hikari speaks cryptic words.

The being disappears into a hole in the sky and emerges in the real world. The harmony between the worlds is in collapse. As Ygdrasil planned, the human world will be swallowed by the Digital World.

*

Yamato picks up Taichi's goggles and remembers his words.

He understands that Taichi was willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. I don't know if this is what Yamato meant when he said he “expected too much of him”, but I like to think that it is. Yamato accepts and supports Taichi’s decision. 

In Taichi's absence, the group needs a leader, and this time Yamato realises there’s no time for crying. He’s gone, but the group still has work to do: they can lick their wounds later. Yamato   steps up to the responsibility: he gives an inspiring speech, proving what he has learnt from Taichi as well.  Yamato’s got tough words for his friends, but they are willing to follow him. 

So we have come full circle. Taichi has finally decided to stop running away and has sacrificed himself for his friends. Yamato has decided to honour Taichi’s sacrifice, and lead the others as Taichi would have done. As he puts on the goggles, Yamato symbolically takes over as leader and they get ready to fight on.

#digimon #digimon adventure tri #kyousei

[casualarsonist]

Shorties - Silence review

Edit: Throughout the reading and watching and reviewing of Silence and its source material I was troubled by a feeling that I wasn't quite 'getting it'. Now, years after writing, Josh Keefe's superb delve into Silence's themes, characterisation, and messaging confirmed my suspicions. I still concur that there's an overwhelming melodrama to the film, and at times I seem to almost, *almost* get the point, but Josh's review here is a far more adept analysis of the way Silence subverts the expectation of the hero's journey, and how that message is core to the story of Jesus Christ, and to those that seek to emulate him. https://youtu.be/Yj7SGe7FcYE

Spoilers in the last few sentences. 

Silence is Martin Scorcese’s 2016 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō. It’s a gorgeous, sprawling, and deeply contemplative film, a solid adaptation of a book that unfortunately suffers from a number of ingrained issues Scorcese fails to separate from the source. 

The novel ‘Silence’ was Endō’s way of voicing his alienating experiences as a Japanese Christian. In a country of entrenched cultural traditions, Christianity was brutally repressed in the 1600s, and has remained outside the mainstream for centuries since. Endō found himself searching for answers to his disillusionment and was met only with God’s silence, hence the title of his novel. The book and film follow Jesuit priest Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) as he ventures into Japan on a secret mission to find his mentor whose is rumoured to have rejected his faith. There he sees first-hand the cruelty of the repression, and does his best to try and foster hope in the followers of his religion as he himself begins to question God’s lack of intervention.

‘The Lord blesses all who share with me that delicious tempura prawn recipe...’

What sounds like a rather engaging philosophical premise is actually, in both novel and film, presented to the audience as a series of unanswered and unanswerable questions, which would be fine if it didn’t also depict Rodrigues losing each and every debate he engages in. Endō’s lack of enlightenment is transferred directly to his protagonist, whose beliefs are repeatedly challenged by Japanese prosecutors that make far more salient and intelligible points than Rodrigues ever manages to present, and his circular arguments repeat around the assertion that his beliefs are the truth because he wouldn’t believe them if they weren’t. Meanwhile, a procession of ‘antagonists’ tell him that he is an interloper wandering into a foreign country he’s been asked not to enter and is putting the lives of the Japanese at risk by arrogantly trying to convince people that his religion is the one true religion, and you can’t help but acknowledge how right they are in their assertions. 

Rodrigues is, in a word, weak. He constantly flaunts self-important delusions of moral superiority and piety whilst simultaneously failing to ever construct an adequately convincing argument in favour of his perspective, and yet he is supposedly the mirror for the viewer’s own experiences, the vessel through which we are supposed to identify with the alienation caused by a silent God. And whether you’re a believer or not, the hubris of the main characters and the stilted, silly, superficial dialogue makes it hard not to feel as if the film is failing to say anything of real meaning, let alone lead you along any philosophical journey. In the end, Scorcese offers a more definitive conclusion than the source text, but this gives little closure, only posing more questions itself. 

The problem here isn’t that Silence is a badly-made film, it’s that it’s an impeccably produced adaptation of a deeply flawed novel. ‘Silence’ the novel is referred to as Endō’s greatest work, but whether it’s a cultural difference or simply the difficulty in translating Japanese to English, the fact remains that to a non-believer like me it comes across as melodramatic, waffling, and confused. Some characters are played realistically whilst others are symbolic, some aim for comedy and others commit to two and a half hours of heavy-handed drama, and all the while their actions are accompanied by laughably awkward dialogue and internal monologues that carry themselves with the greatest importance, but only serve to unintentionally erode the integrity the film believes itself to have. 

‘So he ate a buffalo heart, and thus was showered with awards...’

I was troubled when I finished this film because it’s a visual masterpiece, and a damn good adaptation of a difficult source novel: it trims some of the fat, smooths some of the creases, and remains deeply faithful to the image and spirit of the book. For this I took a favourable view. But so direct a conversion is a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to such a niche work and one that I perceive to have many faults, and for this I can’t help but be helplessly alienated. Silence isn’t as affecting as it means to be, nor is it as deep and profound as thinks it is; it’s a well-shot depiction of what happens when naive Christian priests start throwing their beliefs around during the Tokugawa Shogunate. God doesn’t answer. The priest keeps his faith. It’s never really shown what it is that motivates him to keep going other than blind belief, and what message this holds for those seeking help with wavering devotion, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s the understanding that a personal God isn’t defined by one’s adherence to doctrine or by worship of totems (although that’s not an understanding that a man whose life is defined by doctrine ever seems to fully appreciate). Or perhaps it’s all just bollocks. In any case, despite the technical mastery, I can’t say it’s all that compelling.

Just Okay

6/10 

#silence #film #martin scorcese #andrew garfield #adam driver #religion #review #christianity #jesuit #japan #christian #jesus #shusaku endo #drama

[zetalial]

BH rewatch episode 24

Previous Episode          Next Episode

Episode 24: Inside the Belly

Envy has decided to once again grace the series with his presence. We see quite a bit of the Homunculi in this episode actually. Which is very nice. And more Ling who is sadly not yet a Homunculus. He does get eaten by one though! Yeah, a lot of stuff to like.

So we open with Envy. Yay! He’s talking to Marcoh who they’ve just been keeping prisoner so they can turn him into a Homunculus. Marcoh has realised they plan to use the entire country as a transmutation circle and Envy laughs and tells him he’s on the right lines.

Ah, no one can pull of Evil like Envy. He brags about how pathetic and emotional humans are and threatens to kill all the people in Marcoh’s village if he doesn’t work with them. (What they need is for him to perform a human transmutation though. He can’t do that while imprisoned. And I believe they’ve had him captured since around episode 7? Not that they’ve shown him since then. Threatening him to perform it can work of course but they’re being pretty lazy about carrying these threats out.)

Envy is specifically calling humans pathetic for the emotions they have, how they care about others. He is sure that Marcoh will agree because even though it may be illogical to save one village at the expense of the whole country, humans act based on their feelings which the homunculi manipulate. Envy has an interesting and pretty skewed perspective here.

Then we get some Wrath and an early showing of Pride. It’s just Pride’s voice Wrath is hearing (through his shadows though this isn’t revealed yet.) Pride notes how Wrath is looking strangely pleased even though they’re having a setback with the humans having won some small victories in outwitting Wrath and Gluttony. Wrath seems pleased with the challenge and notes that he is ageing and that these young humans could mean good new ideas for the future. Pride warns him not to talk like that, to focus on their goal. He says he won’t mention anything to their Father though. The scene gives us a lingering look at a spider eating a butterfly, foreshadowing the way Pride works in the shadows, spinning his webs.

In the episode proper we get back to our Gluttony fight. He wants to kill Mustang and is being pretty reckless about destroying whatever he can. Ed and Ling mention trying to capture him again but Mustang has decided it’s too risky and goes to blow him up with fire. And Gluttony just eats the fire.

Yeah, that’s when they all decide to run.

Mustang’s injury from Lust is giving him pain again and he can’t fight. Ed creates a Mustang decoy to help him get away and this tricks Gluttony.

While he’s distracted, Riza convinces Mustang to get in a car so they can get away, along with Lan Fan and the doctor. Ed, Al and Ling all decide that they want to stay and fight. Here’s one of these moments that just scream Parental!RoyEd with Mustang worrying over the boys, pointing out that they’re just children and shouldn’t be fighting. Roy in general is characterised as quite noble and caring (pretty different from the manipulative bastard who is terrible at showing he cares – yeah I mean 03!Roy.)

The three of them convince them that it’s their fight too though and Roy reluctantly accepts. (Oh he’s been called useless a few times here.) Before they go though, Riza hands Ed a gun and there’s a brief flashback to him taking the gun from Winry’s hands. He accepts the weapon reluctantly – suggesting he feels that his hands are meant for destruction and violence.

Envy is back and showing off a pretty neat transformation power – he can shift into a dog. Oh and he can sit in a tree without breaking it – isn’t he supposed to be really heavy? I don’t remember that ever actually mattering.

Envy is super friendly, telling them he’s not here to fight, just to pick up Gluttony. ‘Course they don’t want to kill the Elrics but Ling on the other hand can totally die.

Well they begin fighting and Ling fights Envy while Ed and Al attack Gluttony. I’m not sure if they have much of an objective now unless they think they can defeat Envy and Gluttony? Well the Homunculi probably would’ve attacked Ling either way.

Speaking of, while Ling is fighting Envy, we hear Selim reading a letter to Bradley while that family has dinner. It sounds like the kind of letter a kid might write about how his father is a great leader who defends the country but still has time for his family. I’m not really sure what to read into it as it’s unambiguously about the Fuhrer so it seems like Pride is just playing the part of innocent child. The leader stuff could be a reference to Wrath and Ling’s discussion about true leadership a couple episodes ago and the show is trying to hint that Ling is a true leader who cares with those cuts between his fight and the letter reading.

I rather hope that’s not it. Ling’s fine! I didn’t like how he was introduced into the series of course, but my issue is more that Ling’s still young and I’d rather the show was suggesting he has great potential, not suggest its something he naturally possesses already. Hmm, I guess the show could mean that. My issues with Ling’s character are becoming a little complicated to describe. How about this? Any flaws Ling has are being played for comic relief and are not to be taken seriously. Meanwhile his claims about being a good, noble leader have been consistently supported by his two very faithful followers. He’s been consistently bothering the Elrics and without facing any negative consequences. In fact, he and Ed have basically become friends.

Eh, I’m probably trying to read into this a little too much. I might try watching the scene again apart from the rewatch. I should try and articulate my issues with Ling in a separate post maybe. Err that’d be sort of critical though and I don’t want to make lots of posts complaining about brotherhood. (This rewatch is sort of that already, I know. Sorry I can’t help it!)

But I digress. Ling’s fight with Envy is entertaining. I try not to rewatch moments too much but it was totally worth rewinding part of the sequence. Envy has one arm turned into a snake wrapped around Ling’s neck. The other has morphed into a blade. Ling drops his sword, kicks dirt into Envy’s face and grabs the non-bladed part of the bladed arm and uses it to cut off Envy’s snake arm. Then he sort of rips off the blade which was vulnerable where it transitioned into skin. This sequence is all incredibly smooth and fast. I had to rewatch to see how it happened.

Ah, Envy. He seems to have even more powers than his 03!Counterpart. Turning into animals, turning arm into a snake complete with a fanged head while the other arm is a shiny metal blade and of course his monstrous true form. 03!Envy’s abilities did include strength and turning his arm into a sharpened spike but that’s about it (that’s the extent we see at least). It’s amazing how incompetent Envy is, therefore. He seems to never have any idea how to use his powers well. More abilities but he’s lacking 03!Envy’s grace.

This isn’t a complaint by the way. It’s totally in character for Envy to be theoretically overpowered so he’s lacking any actual skill and technique to back his abilities up meaning he’s often outmatched. He usually has to resort to cheap tricks like transforming into an opponent’s loved one to win.

He does this here, naturally. Ling hesitates against Lan Fan and Envy laughs about how emotional humans are, like he did with Marcoh at the beginning.

Against Gluttony, Ed and Al have the advantage as Gluttony can’t kill them. It’s because of their plot armour as they’re both Sacrifices. Which they are well aware of. But finally Gluttony has the chance to swallow Ling!

Ed gets in the way, so Envy tries to pull Ed out and all three of them get eaten! As does some of Al’s arm, as he’d also tried to grab Ed.

We cut to Mustang who is speaking with General Raven. He wants to trust the man so he’s making connections and ‘jokes’ that the Fuhrer might be a Homunculus. That’s when it’s revealed that the Homunculus conspiracy is plaguing the military itself. It seems many higher ups, including Raven, are also aware of Bradley and are working with him anyway. Mustang utters this nice line (this won’t be accurate – it’s from memory): “When he said the enemy was close, what he meant was that we are the enemy.”) Fuhrer Bradley appears too, asking Mustang if it matters that he is a Homunculus.

We get a look at Al panicking as Gluttony sadly tells him he can’t uneat anything as his stomach closes. Then there’s a look at Ed waking up inside Gluttony’s stomach. He can only wonder where he is. That’s how the episode ends.

–

So, nice episode. Envy is great in it. Some nice action. Cool ideas. My little digression about Ling isn’t anything to do with this episode really -it’s purely Ling in general up to this point. Yeah, I’m still not fond of him. Pride’s scenes are a little weird and I think that’s because they’re trying to make the reveal more dramatic when it comes around. You’d think ‘inside the belly’ is referring to getting swallowed by Gluttony but I think that’s a misdirection. It’s really a reference to how Mustang is trapped in a military which is made up of enemies. The military itself is the beast.

#fma #fmab rewatch #I have many conflicting thoughts about Pride #he's a frustrating demon #I'll talk about him more later though #I'm not much good at expressing when I like stuff #please take it as given that the action is always entertaining #I usually write these things immediately after the watch #I was distracted so I wrote this one over a couple days #I hope I haven't forgotten too much #Ugh why can't I just like Ling? #I mean his fighting skills are a bit ridiculous #but they're canon #and I like Lan Fan #meta #myposts

[pureirishnonsense]

Review: Kakegurui

Kakegurui - literally Gambling Addict- is an ongoing manga published by Square Enix, written by Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Tōru Naomura. A psychological drama manga- now with an animated TV series and two spin-off manga- Kakegurui is set in the fictional Hyakkaou Private Academy and tells the story of Jabami Yumeko, a 2nd year transfer student to this prestigious academy for the children of the wealthy and political and societal elite. As of this writing, the Manga sits at seven published volumes and a 12 Episode animated series.

The academy is one where the education provided is one of psychological manipulation, deceit and usury, where to gain ground, one must very literally gamble everything to maintain their social standing and advance themselves. Fortunes are gambled by nearly all, and livelihoods and even freedom are risked. 

We’re introduced with the climax of a game of poker, where Everyman Audience Surrogate Ryōta Suzui has just lost their last hand to another second year student. At this point, the absurdity of the situation is immediately revealed, with Suzui’s narration explaining that losing that game meant he was now in debt, and was a “House Pet” to the school. The next day, the class are introduced to Yumeko, and Suzui’s status as “Pet” is used to dog’s body him into showing her around the grounds. When the subject of gambling comes up, Yumeko’s previously demure and innocent demeanour lifts for a moment, as she laughs and expresses an unnerving interest. Over the course of the first chapter, Yumeko is made to gamble with the girl who bested Suzui in the opening. And in this sequence, the manga and anime’s real strengths shine through.

It serves as a rapid set up for the show’s rather insane premise, and the off the rails proceedings that go on in the story, and offers a glimpse at just what will go on. The manga is filled with completely absurd characters, whose motivations in gambling are broad and varied. The art is crisp, beautifully rendered, and is one of the main selling points. The characters are memorable and interesting. The setting is absurd, strange and unbelievable, but it is very engaging.

Part of this is due to Yumeko and her characterisation. Yumeko is played at first as a demure, friendly and energetic young lady, but when drawn into Gambling, her demeanour rapidly alters, revealing an unseemly love of risk taking and the battle of wits going on with her and her opponents, demonstrating a cold, piercing level of reasoning that details how Yumeko approaches her challenges- which contrasts just how heated and obscene her addiction to gambling really is. Interestingly, the antagonist features as a strong foil to Yumeko- Student Council President Kirari Momobami shares many attributes with Yumeko, but her personality takes them in different directions, and the two demonstrate an amicable respect and desire to match wits, rather than a genuine antagonism, making for a refreshing dynamic between Antagonist and Protagonist.

The gambling sequences are varied battle moments, mostly centered on how Yumeko can determine if her opponent is cheating, and how the mechanics of the game and her opponent’s mentality often lead to her victory. Part Sherlock Holmes’ style deduction and psychological manipulation, Yumeko’s games are very entertaining reads and watches.

The art, as mentioned earlier, is very strong, the characters are expressive, but the true skill of illustrator Tōru Naomura comes during the climaxes of the games, or when characters are in the midst of an emotional showing. The line work becomes heavy and detailed, the shading becomes darker and richer, and the perspective and expressions of the characters become highly exaggerated and distorted, to convey a sense of how each character’s view of reality is so very detached from our own- and tellingly, Suzui is one of the few characters to never show this level of distortion, anchoring him firmly as one of the few not caught up in the madness of the Academy’s gambling addiction.

And yet, despite its dark presentation, the series has an odd optimism and sincerity to it. Whilst each character seems to be decidedly amoral and devious, they are presented with redeeming elements, presented as ultimately people in a rather unpleasant situation. Yumeko is presented as a girl with a serious problem with her gambling addiction, but she seems sincere in nearly everything. She considers Suzui and others as legitimate friends- and does not take kindly when it is implied that they are nothing but tools for her. Characters who are manipulated end up with some reprieve, or finding the strength to stand again, and unrepentant characters end up punished. For all of its dark presentation, Kakegurui has some surprisingly positive twists.

The anime- produced by Studio MAPPA and written by Yasuko Kobayashi- is a faithful adaptation of the manga so far, and the art direction seems simple at first, but truly shines when conveying the climactic moments of the gambling sequences. The characters go from rather plainly, if vibrantly, rendered, to incredibly detailed. Lips and teeth become incredibly defined, and the eyes become nightmarishly exaggerated, creating a sense of unsettling closeness and an unwelcome intimacy. The exaggeration of shade, of expression and perspective are present from the manga, and reinforced by the use of colour, with the focus often on Yumeko’s dangerously gleaming eyes. Episode one ends with Yumeko walking into shadow, her eyes the only thing left in sight.

The opening- Deal With The Devil- is an energetic, jazzy song, set to an oddly desaturated version of the series’ art direction. The animation is dense with symbolism- particularly that of an Aquarium, a banquet where the characters seemingly interchange between seated guests at the feast, or the meal to be devoured. Whilst not the catchiest opening, its bizarre, risque imagery and the definite combination of style and substance to its animation make it very memorable.

The Ending is less so, essentially a strip tease with Yumeko, and it lacks the vivacious and engaging visuals of the first- unless a second year highschool student being doused in water is an image that grips you.

One of my few complaints with the series is its overt tilt into some sexual tones- the Ending animation is especially overt- but Kakegurui is not heavily saturated with it, so it is a minor complaint, and one that has not stopped me from enjoying the series, and heartily recommending it. The art, the characters, setting and the gambling games are all absurd and stylish.

#IrishNonsense Reviews SOmething #I've got to get my thoughts out there #This anime is an odd one #But it's pretty great! #Kakegurui

[randomnameless]

So i finally finished SOV - i mean the main story - and it was...

well at first when i got the game my expectations were rather low even with the good reviews fellow friends gave to the game so i was definitely surprised, in the good way. SOV feels like an old FE, as in it’s kind of subtle about things like humor - eons away from the ham fisted “humour” of Felicia stumbling and dropping plates or something - and characterisation, as in everyone had its own character and wasn’t simply a trope, which i appreciated a lot. Support convos were meaningful, brought backstory (for the ones i did) but not in an infodump way.

So that felt “old” in the good - classical - way, but when a friend who played first FE8 to Fates saw me playing he was like “nah i don’t like this” and well, I can’t really tell him to fig off but the mechanics are, well, not archaic nor outdated, but can be quite frustrating. Maybe it’s just me or I didn’t forge my weapons enough, but Leon/Python by the endgame were locked to perpetual 60ish% of hit and a lot of tiles in the last maps five stupid avoid like +20% which is frustrating. Of course you’re supposed to use mages, because they don’t suffer from the defensive tiles but it’s annoying that you can’t “reliably” destroy things with your mounted archers.

OTOH if 5 range had 100% hit it’d be broken as, idk, a 2 weight tome with 30 might.

But i can understand the “meh” factor coming from those hit rates, mages are paper thin - again it’s good for balance - but for someone who came out of Fates/Awakening it can be disturbing, especially since the speed stat (on the screen) doesnt’ take into account the actual speed you have, as in the tome weights a little bit so in the end you can be doubled.

But I’d say it’s just a habit to take. I was afraid of the hp drain mages had when they use magic but it’s not really that bothering since you end up with a lot of rings, it’s actually more bothersome on healers - Tatiana couldn’t spam fortify she had to be healed because the ring doesn’t recover enough hp - but otherwise it’s cool, besides clerics were actually useful as in they could heal AND fight with Nosferatu, even if Nosfe-tanking isn’t wise because of the low accuracy.

Lack of WTA wasn’t that debilitating, OTOH it felt a bit redundant, i don’t know how to say it but WTA gave more “thrill” or something, here you can send Terror!Kamui in a forest and everyone will miss because of his high avoid and nothing else will make this change (of course in this setting Duma goons are dead). Granted, horseslayers are still a thing to look for (clive learnt it :’( ) and you have skills against certain foes, like the steel lance gives armor slayer or something?

About skills, well they were, imo, well implemented. You can’t double attack with them so they’re not totally broken (save for Alm’s double lion but) and kind of cool.

But what I loved the most was the magic tree, as in everyone learns different magic and not at the same level so it kinds of makes you want to use everyone or at least complementary units, Delthea hits hard and fast, but she doesn’t have the 3 range Thunder spell Mae has (even if Mae doesn’t hit that hard, she doesn’t have Ragnarok but she’s still a super good unit, at least in this run). Sonya doesn’t get Seraphim (i wonder why lol) but she can rewarp, and has Excalibur. The male mages were a kind of letdown though (i was dumb and promoted Kliff to archer, Tobin to mage) even if the Sagittarius spell is rad, they’re nowhere near the level of the priestesses. Even the Saints are all useful, Silque has Warp, Faye has Rescue and Tatiana got Fortify and physic (like Faye), Genny can’t warp but she has Physic, that spell to remove low level monsters and she can summon randoms.

To end this quickly, while the gameplay can be a bit annoying (low hit rates) it’s very fun to play, or at least to test. The map design is meh (endless meadow with some forests and fort) but that’s coming from a “faithfum” remake so it’s to be expected.

Dungeon crawling was - tedious in the last dungeons but wait i still have the optional one damn everyone is hungry - really captivating, you had to watch over your food reserves, find a shrine to save, smash enemies and pots and sometimes hunt for treasure. Honestly, i really liked it. It felt very RPG like!

Naga Mila bless the turnwheel - that thing saved me so many soft resets and I hope it’ll be a staple in the series from now on, maybe pretend that the fire emblem in jugdral was stolen by azel in the prologue and it has this role in jugdral echoes, idk something like that.

Plot wise... well it’s old FE for you, with a compelling story, it isn’t trying too hard like the other 3DS entries and you can feel the lore around like the omnipresence of Mila’s church with people going on pilgrimages or the Duma faithful not being seen as an evil only cult, unlike the Grimleal, but it has normal persons in it - who are eons away from Jedah and his schemes but still part of the religious order like Tatiana (even if quite frankly without her the Faithful would have been an “evil cult” like Loptyr’s one, complete with the guy who tried to stop the evil new leader and was banished (not killed here) in return). Randoms in villages live, they want to fish, to farm, they’re afraid of bandits, they gossip and all...

However, I feel as if the last parts - chapter 4 and 5 - were kind of rushed. Of course chapter 4 has Rudolf’s master plan (tm) so it’s meh in essence, but Celica holds the idiot plot ball even if, well, Jedah is a cunning bastard and her struggles are real, she set on her journey to free Mila so she’ll do anything to save Mila.

Which actually makes me a bit doubtful about chapter 5 where we’re supposed to understand that men don’t need gods/dragons anymore, Clive (or is it Lukas?) tells Alm that without dragons people will starve and all, but he’s all “we will find a way i know it will be hard” like, of course with Duma being mad there is no way things can continue like this, but are people really okay with having to work on a barren land? Isn’t it the problem Zofia had in the beginning of the game, everyone was hungry and then Rigel attacked? It makes me think about FE5 and Dagda, he and Gomez are toiling the barren lands of Thracia and doesn’t bear any fruits, the reason why Gomez returns to banditry, and this is a problem but everything is magically solved when Leif becomes king because in Dagda’s ending we learn that somehow things managed to grow. Yay?

But Valencia will exist by the time Chrom rolls in, so the peasants magically managed to harvest their barren lands without the power of the dragons, yay for them too.

Also Alm wants to kill/seal/put duma to sleep because his power makes people grow mad, but as the narrator put it in the credits (and something Alm forgot) even without Duma people will still thirst for power and do stupid things. Granted it’s not as stupid as burning the only person who loved you into a witch, but it leads you to murder helpless children in a bid to sit on the Zofian throne. So that really made me frown - not in the puzzled way but in the bad way, why is Duma painted as so evil, his power is evil etc? I loved that scene in the temple (Mila vs rudolf) because Mila wasn’t portrayed at sometihng Emmeryn like, she was furious, kind of distrubing/scary and well, you could understand that she will fight/will kill you if she wants, even if she is suposed to be the earth mother, loving etc.

Duma? Nope, nothing to show that he cares or has compassion, he is a dastard who might be mad, only interested with power and turns people into evil people. This is something that distrubs me because Duma isn’t something like Loptyr, evil for the sake of being petty, he was supposed to watch over the humans just like Mila did, hell people were supposed to thrive and be somewhat happy, not crazed. If he is a dastard who only thrives for power and gives powers to people who offer their daughters to be changed into witches, why people worshipped him for hundred of years? We’re not talking about fanatics like Jedah or his army of blue people, but Tatiana, the random villagers, etc...? Heck even Fates tried to paint Anankos as a “good” guy before he turned sour, but nothing for Duma?

:’(

But even if I rant a bit, IMO Echoes is the best 3DS FE, even with its wonky hit rates and rewarping witches. Plot is here, gameplay is fun (i wanted to try to forge so many things) and dungeon crawling is rad. I’d definitely recommend it to friends who can look past the wonky hit rates. It isn’t “classic FE gameplay” but it’s enjoyeable nonetheless, and the voice acting is really good. Usually i wouldn’t care, but this is really nice and i hope it will return.

#FE15 #SOV #i finished it #the main story though #it was fun #even if in the last map the dastard who had a hell tome annoyed me #Sonya managed to kill her dad and her siblings #the awakening nods were nice too #Mathilda is a broken unit #tbh i'm glad i murdered jedah in the swap because that dracoshield came in handy #TFW you forgot to check duma's range and he moves in #i'm oddly fond of Tatiana i can't explain why #Luthier too is cool even if his sister outclasses him so bad #even now i don't understand Rudolf's plan

[spiritcc]

Sherlock Holmes 2013, real talk

Now that the Vague(tm) post is up, I can finally have a real talk between us pals and gals, which is still the same, but now is full of spoilers and has no advertisement value to it. It's been three years now or so, and I still have to talk in riddles all the time, it gets quite tiring, I want to actually discuss stuff.

So here we go, real talk mode on, let's slap some pic before the cut so it would look nice or whatever.

So, let's start with that list I made during the first episode, the top list of episodes. Let's see what I think now: I'm lost. I don't know, it’s been many times when I just wanted to put several of them on one place, because I can't just say "yeah that's the best one full stop nothing is as good as this one ever" because it's certainly not true. I don't think I can make a list now, I can certainly swap it with top-middle-bottom kinda line.

1. Rock, Paper, Scissors/Halifax/Baskerville Hound

These are the top percentile that I really struggle to put on places, all three are great in their own way, none of those is worse than the others.

2. The Mistresses of Lord Maulbrey/The Musgrave Ritual

They're not my best choice, but these are enjoyable and in no sense bad, or even average or whatever. The Ritual is very fun and I love it, but it's a standalone episode that doesn't tie into anything, so it kinda automatically loses importance points on that.

3. 221B Baker Street/Clowns

These go into the average territory, they have their moments, but I don't enjoy them as much. I still think the first episode has little to offer, and I'm still not sure exactly why I think the third one was not this good. Irene Adler, probably.

4. Holmes' Last Case

That's the only one that is legitimately bad in my opinion, I was never fond of it and I'm still not.

So, the fandom of this show is basically non-existent, that happened, it never managed to set off, all that, no rocket science for anyone involved. If somebody does post a thing about the series, it's mostly gifs, or art, or other pictures, so mostly graphic kind of content. That is not bad in the slightest, it's just that nobody actually shares any thoughts here, or pretty much anywhere else across all the platforms I'm on. So what I'm saying is, with the total lack of other opinion, I sometimes feel like what I'm saying about this series misses everyone else's thoughts by a good mile. Does everyone else go as deep as I do sometimes with all that analysis stuff? Does anyone actually consider the plot, artistic decisions, context and so forth? I've honestly no idea. Does it sound absurd to everyone, or ass pull-y? Everyone keeps saying it's good, but they never say why, but then again, there's no side content like *chokes* j0hnl*ck, and the series pretty much gives you no choice but to focus on its plot and other quality material. I don't know, honestly, if you guise are up for some fandom contribution, those kind of answers would be nice. Even if it does turn out that nobody ever gave a shit as much as I did, I would still stand by my points till I evaporate. Yes, I think the show's biggest strengths are its plot, characterisation and the subtext. Can't make a pretty gifset out of that, can you.

When I’ve just finished the show when it first aired, I already thought that the plot was quite neat, but boy oh boy I had no idea what it actually was like. I keep saying re-watch the show because a lot of mindblowing stuff will float, but now that I think about it, all that stuff totally relates to Moriarty. I think the cabman reveal is the biggest one out of the bunch, and again, it’s all about Moriarty. I hope he’s appreciated, he’s not only scary, but he’s a legit genius that’s been there all along and nobody had any idea. Other than that, there are many minor details that are either foreshadowing, tiny Chekhov’s guns or points that finally piece together now that you know the whole plot. All of that comes from one of the ideas of the show that you see just as much as the heroes do and it’s up to you to interpret and pay attention to that information. And yeah, I do think it works quite nicely, if it’s related to the main Moriarty case, then I’ll assure you all the answers are already there in the episodes. Well, there are other details too, but sometimes they’re total asspulls, like that frog poison, it’s completely made up, but it doesn’t serve any actual relevance so nobody cares. 

I don’t really know what kind of canon continuity this show follows, it does establish that the Study goes through first, but then it’s just all over the place. “Never write about Irene Adler” oops shit outta luck buddy that was literally my first story after the Study came out tough shit tough shit. I don’t know, really. The parallels are kind of hard to draw when the canon is scattered in bits and pieces across the series. There’s my Sholto interpretation, of course, but that’s just about it, because the second episode is pretty much the only one that focuses on one canon story. But there are a few details I noticed and forgot to mention as always:

If you follow Watson’s narrative only, it’s pretty clear a point about the canon asspull Moriarty that just kind of appeared out of nowhere was made: in the course of the series, Watson has indeed never seen Moriarty in person. Disguise? Of course, even Lestrade did, but never in person. Lampshaded by the show itself when a few characters said that Moriarty sounds more fictitious than anything else. 

Real life rumor parallels? After Holmes “died” England was raging so hard the queen herself was said to allegedly write a letter to ACD asking him to revive the character. The show: Holmes is dead, the queen pays a visit to his creator, Holmes suddenly comes back to life. I think that sounds pretty neat. 

Nothing to do with the canon, but the whole premise of the last episode - a literal race against the clock, anybody? That’s not even a thing in Russian, this expression, but that still sounds neat in my book. 

So, apart from all of that, acting, right? This series revived my faith in the Russian scene, I know there are loads of talented actors out there, they just don’t have the right material to work with. Here, I think, everyone had a blast, that is a quality show with a very enjoyable script, no matter what Russians think *hiss*. I mean yeah, if Kavun actually gave them freedom to work on their characters, of course that usually does a great job. I’m pretty sure someday I would be able to write a whole paper on Holmes’ character, because he’s so consistent in his quirks and behaviour, that was a character extremely well thought out by Petrenko: he thought of his walk, manners, gestures, sounds, everything. After examining that for a while, it takes less than a second to tell him and his brother apart, you just know the guy so well by this point. 

Then, of course, Panin, Boyarsky, all the other secondary actors, I think these guys were praised a lot of times without me. I’ll tell ya I was actually surprised when exclamations about “PANIN IS THE BEST WATSON!!” started popping up, I mean of course I knew he was amazing, but I would’ve never dared to think it would be on that level. My pride is Howard Ostrom’s opinion that not only Panin is his favorite Watson, but also Boyarsky is his all-time favorite Lestrade. I’m never worried about Panin in this series because he always gets his praise, but I do care about Boyarsky’s mostly underappreciated work here, and man this feels good. I mean yeah I totally get why he’s dislikeable as a character, but I have dreams, Harold, he’s so freaking good in my opinion. 

Then there’s Sholto and oh boy this is bad that I like him, isn’t it. He’s very charismatic, that’s all I can say, but mention one thing wrong and a shitshow will follow. Well, it won’t, nobody watches this series, but still. Can’t really dedicate gifsets to this guy either, especially not putting any quotes up. But you can’t deny his speech was so great in a wrong way. Then there’s Red, Halifax, and many very minor characters that I all like, they deserve some credit. 

That’s what I always considered the main issue about advertising this show, it’s just very hard to do the normal way. That’s why the trailer was not met well, it looked like nothing, some RDJ ripoff, lots of pointless action. But what can you show otherwise, all the things that make this show great cannot be captured by some sort of out of context gifset or an action compilation. How can you show a great plot and gradual character development in a trailer? All the context that piles up to make the series awesome? I really think you can only understand why this show is good is only when you actually see it, like I can’t really pinpoint why exactly, its strengths are not visual. Kinda like the BBC, quite hard to gif the show’s format for everyone to appreciate, that has to be experienced. That’s why I’m not exactly a fan of all those pretentious Petrenko gifs and Watson’s faces: of course they look neat, but that really cheapens the show out of context in my eyes. Watson’s faces are great because like 75% of those were in the background and you wouldn’t even notice them the first time on the grand scale, so to say. As a clueless gifset, it’s just a dude making faces. That’s not what this show is about. But if it helps to attract people, then there’s nothing else I can do, I will continue making those, but there’s barely anything special about that, every fandom does better things. And this show is special, you know it is, it’s very unique but by the fucking god this is so hard to capture for advertisement purposes. 

I am of course extremely clueless when it comes to other adaptations, so I found everything in this show unique and I don’t know how true that is. Apparently the second RDJ movie is like 70% identical to the third episode, or other way round, and I even kinda doubt that the series did not peek there at any point in time. And I felt the third episode the first time round, and it was so unique to me and shit, but apparently fuckity not. Despite that, I still think it’s great because it’s special. I personally love the gritty reality set up, the very blunt way of addressing very sensitive issues Russian-style, love how the plot works out, love Moriarty, I love digging into the details and find out that these were all intentional in my opinion. I like this show because we’re kinda on the same wavelength there, I pick up plot points, emotions and all that pretty fast and never wondered a thing, everything pieces together nicely and I always understood the show like it’s my own kid. Does anybody else have that kind of relationship with this show? I just kind of assumed everybody did. 

Well, the marathon goes on, I really hope it won’t be the last time I actually get an opportunity to talk. Hope it was interesting to an extent, no one else ever actually discussed the episodes beyond just re-telling the plot, and I thought that you know, pretty sure I’m kinda the authority on this business now, I can burp some things out. 

So to summarise, yes, quality stuff, and if I talk about it, I always talk deep, admiring faces or other shallow things is not my area. 

#new russian sherlock holmes #marathon notes

[sulietsexual]

Your opinion on the way buffy the vampire slayer ended? (the show, not the comics, seeing as they haven't ended lol :)

Alright, so I’m going to preface this by saying that I truly believe BtVSshould have ended at Season 5. It was honestly the perfect place to end theseries, thematically and narratively, and, in my humble opinion, The Gift is afar superior episode to Chosen. Not only did The Gift wrap up the overall arcof the season beautifully, it alsoexplored and portrayed ongoing themes of the show and for Buffy herself, withher realisation of death being her gift and her journey as the Slayer coming tocompletion. It would have been a spectacular end for a great series. Alas, thiswas not the case, and instead we were given Chosen, which is nowhere near aseffective as a series finale.

Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely positive aspects to Chosen asan episode. It’s well-written and nicely paced, it contains some decentcharacterisation and features an epic finalbattle, complete with one of the most amazing scores ever composed for BtVS.But narratively and thematically, I really felt the episode fell short.

There is a running theme regarding power in Season 7. The First talks ofit constantly, Buffy herself is struggling with the power she acquires over theseason, Willow is (initially) struggling with her power issues from Season 6and the Potentials are learning what it means to have and wield the power ofthe Slayer. There is also a running theme of choice in Season 7, the Potentialschoosing to stay and fight, Buffychoosing to lead, Faith choosing to return to the Scoobies etc. Both of thesethemes get absolutely steamrolled inthe finale, even though the episode tries to convince you otherwise.

At first glance Chosen looks likeit’s about power and choice, with Buffy offering the Potentials the chance to takeon the literal power of the Slayer and join the fight because they choose to. It’s a nifty idea and woulddefinitely have worked within the themes of power and choice, except for oneglaring narrative choice. Instead of having Buffy activate only the Potentials in her care, i.e. the girls who actually could consider their options and freelymake their own choice to “be strong”,the writers chose to have Willow’s spell activate every Potential, including dozens upon dozens of young girls andwomen who hadn’t made the choice totake on the mantle of the Slayer, essentially stripping all these girls of theiragency and autonomy.

Buffy basically does to these girls what was done to the First Slayer –turned them into Chosen Ones against their will and opened up a completely newworld to them, which they may not have been ready for or even wanted. Insteadof being empowering, the Activation Spell is actually the opposite, as it completelytakes away these girls’ choices. And, as we see with the psychotic Slayer Danain the AtS episode Damaged, not every girl who has been activated as a Slayeris equipped or ready to handle such power and responsibility. It’s really quitedisheartening when you think about it.

Even if we ignore this glaring narrative choice, I still don’t feel thatChosen is a great end to the show. A series finale should emphasise a show’sprimary themes and focus on its’ protagonist (or protagonists) and show thecompletion of their journey, or the start of their new path. Its’ focus shouldbe the characters who have been with the show from the beginning, and it shouldcontain call-backs and echoes to the Pilot, if not narratively then at leastthematically. Aside from a brief scene echoing a scene from The Harvest, Chosendoes none of this.

Because of the screen time sucked up by the Potentials over the courseof Season 7, the finale is mostly given over to them, with Willow, Xander andGiles all ignored and passed over, their storylines and narrative arcsforgotten or clumsily patched together. Dawn and Anya, later-season characterswho are also central to the show and narrative, are also passed over. But thereal insult is Buffy herself and the complete lack of focus on her as acharacter, as her thematic arc becomes all about Spike.

I’ve spoken before about how Spike’s narrative and thematic arc takesover the show in the final two seasons, completely to the detriment of Buffy asa character, as well as her own thematic arc. This is never more glaringlyobvious than in Chosen, which ultimately is about Spike’s journey and sacrifice and his saving the world. Whereas TheGift focused on the completion of Buffy’s journey into what it meant to be aSlayer and ended with her beautiful sacrifice to save the world, Chosen focuseson the journey Spike has built on the back of Buffy’s pain and trauma, andbecomes about his sacrifice to savethe world. Even Buffy’s final moments are focused on Spike, with her giving himhis “reward” by saying I love you and her final word of the entire series is his name. In her own finale, Buffy is usedto prop up and further Spike’s story,with the episode barely giving her own journeyand narrative a second thought.

So, tl:dr, I really don’t like the way BtVS ended and believe that abetter finale and farewell to the series would have been The Gift.

#answered #buffy-quinn #meta #btvs meta #btvs #rachel talks whedonverse

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Book Review: The Mirador

by Wardog

Friday, 30 November 2007

Wardog comes perilously close giving something the benefit of the doubt.~

Sarah Monette has the dubious honour of having replaced Robin Hobb in my fickle affections as the only fantasy writer I'll buy in hardback. The Mirador is the third book in Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths quartet, books one and two of which I have reviewed/admired here and here respectively. Despite the eagerness with which I initially starting reading, The Mirador seems to occupy a rather awkward place in the story arc. There's rather a lot of build up for very little pay off and I was left with a vaguely unsatisfied feeling and only the fuzziest idea of what's supposed to be going on. This was not so much plot related as direction related " I suppose it's foolish to expect narrative sign posts in a series of books themed around labyrinths but, still, reading The Mirador made me feel lost. On the other hand, I'm hesitant of being too critical because of my profound affection for the first two books and I suspect, as with Melusine and The Virtu, the fourth book will contextualise the third to such an extent that my criticisms will turn out to be pointless.

Gosh, this excess of good faith is making me nervous.

The Mirador picks up two years after The Virtu so at least Monette hasn't gone completely George RR Martin on us yet. But nothing much seems to have changed. Mildmay still hates The Mirador. Felix is still wrecked. And they're still not having hot incestuous gay love, dammit. To be fair, I don't think this is likely to ever be the case but a girl can dream, right? The point of this book, inasmuch as I can find it, seems to be setup for book four, which requires sending Felix and Mildmay into exile together, and to demonstrate just how deep the damage done to both brothers by their upbringing runs. The advantage of this is that the book avoids oversimplifications and it is rarely the case that any one thing can be traced back to any other, the disadvantage is that it's as slow as snails on sedatives. It is painful, absolutely painful, to watch Felix and Mildmay's relationship creeping along, occasionally even doubling back on itself or plunging yet further into the abyssal depths of utter failure and misery. It doesn't help that they're both pursuing seemingly unconnected plotlines " Mildmay is trying to work out why his girlfriend was killed way back in book one and Felix is messing around with ghosts " which makes it feel as though they might as well be in different books since it gives them plenty of excuses not to deal with each other.

I was glad, however, to see an increased focus on Mehitabel Parr, first introduced in The Virtu. Part actress, part courtesan, part (reluctant) spy she's just an incredibly cool and entertaining character, and a splendid antidote to those terminally angsty, insecure boys. Like the two preceding books, The Mirador is told through the shifting first person narration of its central characters. After two books of Felix and Mildmay,I was very very ready for Mehitabel, even though Monette's presentation of her voice is slightly assured than that of the other two. The narration, as ever, is utterly absorbing although Felix felt increasingly distant as the book progressed. In some ways, I suppose, he is the most difficult character in that I have always felt slightly unconvinced by his much vaunted charisma and cruelty. This book seems to evade the problem by having most of his exploits in this field related second hand, which is more than a little frustrating. There are only so many times you can deal with Mildmay recollecting an overheard argument and wincing. But Mehitabel's perspective on the two very familiar characters is both refreshing and illuminating.

Like its predecessors, The Mirador is primarily character-driven and, therefore, it seems churlish to complain about the plot or lack thereof. But it really is labyrinthine in the negative sense, in that I found it difficult to grasp where things were going, or why, and what was important or why. Possibly I'm just dumb but there's intricate and then there's incoherent. I am, however, reserving judgement on The Mirador

because I'm just not ready to accept that this could be bad

until the quartet is complete. This is probably not a good time to come new to the series but, if you enjoyed the other two books and you can deal with a few mild frustrations, this is more of the same. Monette's characterisation is as deft as ever, her world dark, detailed and delicious and her linguistic flair makes reading her a genuine pleasure. There's also lots of sex and swearing. Yay.

#Ferretbrain #Sarah Monette #The Mirador #Wardog

[londontheatre]

Phina Oruche – Photo by Paul Jones

Relax. Identity Crisis is nothing to do with the state of the nation in the aftermath of the referendum about you-know-what. The ‘pre-show’ sets the scene very well, with news headlines, mostly from redtop tabloid newspapers, reporting on the passing of 19-year-old Chimaka Nwabunie, a relative of this show’s writer and performer, Phina Oruche. Oruche was referred to as a ‘Hollyoaks star’, and that caught me by surprise. She talks about her time on that soap opera very candidly, before asking the audience to note that exactly what was said should remain within the four walls of the theatre space. I am happy to abide by what I tacitly agreed to. I was aware of her previous modelling work – which she, as I expected, went into some detail about – and there was much within that narrative that I didn’t know about either.

This, then, is an autobiographical account, and a refreshingly honest one at that. Far from playing the race card, Oruche found difficulty in comprehending the supposed ‘courage’ in being a young black model whose face and body were on public display through print advertising and other commercial ventures. For her, there was nothing defiant going on, nothing about taking a stand against white privilege, just earning a legitimate living like anyone else in the working population.

Raised by her Nigerian mother in Liverpool, she was only too pleased to get away at the earliest feasible opportunity. The problem was not Oruche’s mother: she seemed as protective, or even over-protective, as any other doting mother. There was simply a general youthful desire to get out and explore the world at large. The mother (voiced, as several other characters are, by Oruche) belongs to a Pentecostalist expression of the Christian faith, with all the emotionalism and evangelical fervency that sort of religion is renowned for. I mention it as it clearly has had some influence on Oruche, whose performance gets quite physical and passionate at times, and her re-enactment of a revival meeting in Los Angeles years later was so thoroughly convincing that I very nearly thought I had been, as it were, taken to church.

Identity Crisis subverts the usual approach to tragedy in a play, beginning with a death and its aftermath before going on to talk about less mournful times. Oruche has a highly compelling manner and gives a thoroughly absorbing performance. The style of humour deployed reminded me of the Channel 4 series Desmond’s, which ran in the early Nineties. There was a stress on changes of tone and accent to portray different people. No costume changes are involved, which kept things going very smoothly, pausing only for effect at certain points.

There’s even a ‘should I really be chortling at this?’ moment, when the subject of being taken by her own hand came up as she struggled to cope with life’s pressures. I was also impressed by the simplicity and lack of pretentiousness throughout. For instance, just to ensure everybody in the audience understands what’s happening, at one point she almost blurts out, “I’m in California now, by the way.”

There weren’t many props in the show, not that a well-written piece of theatre like this needed many. The video and photographic images are used to great effect and are, unusually for a show with such a strong narrative, extremely useful to the production. It’s over all too soon, really, but this is a sharp and insightful play.

Review by Chris Omaweng

“Identity Crisis was created when my life stopped when tragedy struck. I plunged into a deep, dark, interminable grief. The range of emotions I felt and the questions I posed about life and what my value was, made me feel at times like I was in crisis.”

Beginning with the real life story of the sudden death of Phina’s 19-year-old niece in her house in 2011 and the ensuing press intrusion, this show presents us with 60 images of Phina in fashion and provides an illuminating, humorous and candid exposition of life under the glare of the media spotlight.

Phina portrays nine characters: Black, White, Old, Young, Male and Female, each having an Identity Crisis and explores identity struggles that are common to all of us. Through its simple key staging, the show provides a perfect vehicle for Phina’s larger than life characterisations.

Identity Crisis by Phina Oruche Tue 9 May to Sat 13 May, 2017 Ovalhouse 52-54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW http://ift.tt/OfM9CQ

http://ift.tt/2qZzkC4 LondonTheatre1.com

#IFTTT #LondonTheatre1.com