I'm slowly thinking more and more about a SR/DBH crossover because of you 😁

For a crossover, would you replace cyberlife with ultor or vice versa?

Yes! I love questions about corporate entities in crossovers (in DBHSRs case I guess since Kiki is a Fallout reboot and there's a ton of Fallout references in Saints Row and you can literally play as a Super Mutant/Nightkin or a ghoul if you really want to bro and have time to dick around with customisation The stuff is all there so I guess she's also a mashup?)

No.

And here's why;

I tailored my crossover run to be a path continuation rather than a full DBH AU (everything that happened during my playthrough happened largely unchanged except for some very minor details to make DCs nonsense writing at least somewhat make sense/plus THAT Connor ending is my favourite to play with.)

I think Ultor buys out Cyberlife at the beginning of the 2039/2040 financial year after consumer confidence wanes/stocks plummet and it just becomes another subsidiary of The Ultor Corporation (because a confected revolution for profit is actually fucking gross and a stupid business model in the first place/there's some after game "revenge" fuckery)

swallowed by the very corporate machine it attempted and failed to become. Kamski fades into obscurity.

Meanwhile in the Southwest. Marshall Defense Technologies have patents on their own products for "defense retail" as I think they probably branded it in literature, but like it's arms dealing, everyone knows it. Plus I think personnel probably have prosthesis, cybernetics and robotics covered by insurance and stuff. Marshall International maybe in a Starr regime?

Tagging @ltcolonelcarter in this too.

Noodling about the Next Thing

I've begun to work on my next OFMD story.

Actually, I'll probably bounce between writing two completely unrelated stories, because I suspect one will inspire the other. 

The first one comes from a fair amount of meta in the OFMD tag correlating characters with modern corporate culture, which has a certain amount of huh, "Pirates don't produce anything. They don't make things. They're pirates," but I love a good fusion. 

But corporate AU made me think of "Pretty Woman," which is a pretty classic fandom trope. Enough is never enough. Corporate raiders. Venture capital world. I suppose by extension all the other 80s movies focusing on greed and consumption.

Making Ed the corporate raider weary of all that allows for some fun space to flip the nice things discussion. That Ed would be perfectly familiar with nice things (if still probably from a very poor initial background). He's (as Ed tells us in OFMD) become very wealthy from his raiding. What he lacks is time to enjoy these nice things and the permission to stop accumulating. Enough is enough. 

Where it breaks down is Stede's arc doesn't really work as a prostitute with a long history of being attracted to losers/abusers. There is a character I could see that working for, but it does mean moving the romance from Corporate Raider/Prostitute, to Corporate Raider/Raidee with side commentary from a character in the Pretty Woman role. 

Also, I can imagine a lot of careers for modern Stede, but running off to become an exciting venture capitalist isn't really one of them. 

I suspect this is going to be one I'm going to merge in various meta as I see it. Exploring toxic masculinity, harmful gender roles and stereotypes, narratives about work itself (including sex work, not "working"/the nuclear family), the corporate narratives about "qualified" personnel that result in most C level positions being cis, white men, who have similar MBAs, and therefore miss what a more diverse community can bring.  

Also, Ed and Stede will share a bubble bath. 

Also, I'll probably be hammering on for what will feel like forever.

The other story will be a Lucius backstory tale a la the Frenchie story, and in the same continuity. It'll have elements that I already included in "On This Ship We Share (Our Bedding)", but play up Lucius as pickpocket. 

It's funny how often I read meta that goes on about Lucius as upper class, when he's a pickpocket good enough to steal a knife from Spanish Jacquie. There are plenty of reasons that Lucius could know how to read and not be upper class. Literacy was much higher in the 1700s than it would have been centuries earlier because of increasingly cheap paper (made from recycled rags), printing presses, and a push by Protestants for people to learn how to read so they could read the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. People also started reading adventures, crime dramas and romances, etc. I mean sure, many of the characters OFMD can't read, but it wasn't just an upper class/clerical thing by that point. 

Mind there I'll have to do some thinking about how Lucius ends up with the well honed emotional tools that we see him with. He's confident enough to face Izzy down during Izzy's power play, but not confident enough to go, "Look, of all the people on the ship I have a very specific job and scrubbing barnacles isn't it, find someone else to do it." Mind you, it took me probably 20 years working (and dealing with all sorts of guilt about being a "team player") to establish some boundaries. But then again, I never thought, "I've decided to act like I'm cute" either, which is pretty awesome. 

So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals. 

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong. 

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day. 

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.) 

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.  

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.  

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.  

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon. 

Persona 5 Thoughts (spoilers for everything)

I didn't have high expectations when buying Persona 5 several months after its release. Many of the Twitter games people I follow had already expressed mixed opinions, the common thread being a strong opening that doesn't last after the first dungeon. For me, it is a JRPG with enjoyable mechanics that is bogged down by a disappointing story.

I never played a Persona game before, but I have a fair amount of Shin Megami Tensei experience under my belt. When other reviewers complained about the game's difficulty, I came in with a good idea of what was to come. Insta-kill attacks, paralyzing status effects, and random encounters that went poorly due to bad luck were all commonplace in old SMT games, and Persona 5 never turned out as difficult as those. Building a team of personas mixed with the Phantom Thieves party members was a fun puzzle for each new dungeon; every time I made it through a difficult boss it was with a sense of accomplishment rather than relief that I could move on.

Persona 5's UI needs no introduction, it may be one of its most popular features. While it looks cool, I hope that isn't the only takeaway other JRPG developers get from its praise. Persona 5, like many SMT games, has a very snappy menu. The simple act of pressing X to attack an enemy or use an item has a tactile feel that many other JRPGs lack. Its largest accomplishment is that you don't feel like you are just using a menu. You never have to wait too long, and rarely any attack animation lasts too long. The only exception I can think of is when one particular enemy was only weak to physical attacks, which meant that every normal attack led to the several-seconds-longer critical hit animation. Many JRPGs that I enjoy significantly more than Persona 5 - such as those in the Kiseki series - could benefit from faster fights.

Beyond the fighting mechanics, running through the dungeons and fast traveling between maps kept the game moving at a brisk pace. The detective vision that Joker gets early on in the game is a welcome addition - highlighting items and environments you can interact with - although it also felt like a band-aid over a larger design problem that plagues most RPGs. I still haven't decided whether I like the safe room system. On one hand, having limited windows to save your game is a classic method of retaining tension when playing through a dungeon - if you could save at any time this game would be too easy. On the other hand, like most people who have graduated from college, I don't have much time to play video games, and losing 30 minutes of progress can ruin a night. While it never turned me away, I can see why other people would get frustrated by Persona 5's harsh battle penalties combined with a limited save system.

Persona 5's story and characters, unfortunately, fizzled out quickly for me. Kamoshida was a highlight villain in terms of personal involvement, and is a great choice as the first big bad to fight. Part of this is how believable he was - this was someone that could be in your neighborhood, that could be in charge of your kids. He carried himself well around the adults, and often manipulated the kids enough that they would feel like the bad guys, and he the victim. Making him confess to all his crimes was rewarding to me personally, not just because it was a goal that the game laid out for me. After Kamoshida, the villains quickly devolve into cartoon territory. Not every bad guy needs to have ten layers of depth, but the lack of any made going after them feel much more hollow than Kamoshida.

What I found especially disappointing was how Persona 5 handled the concept of Palaces. Early on, Morgana explained that palaces are a result of a person's distorted desires. This explanation was vague enough that the writers could have dived into what exactly a distorted desire entailed. Desires are not inherently bad things. While this concept is somewhat explored in Futaba's and Sae's palaces, it never goes far enough to ask how a desire that could have been born with good intentions could hurt the person and others around them. Instead, we get cookie cutter bad guys that want money and power because... they are bad guys.

I also didn't find myself caring much for Persona 5's cast of social links and party members. I definitely have favorites, with Yusuke, Sojiro, and Hifumi being my top 3, but the story rarely takes a dive into any character's motivations or goals. I'm not the first to write this criticism, but it feels as if once each new character's introductory segment is done, they are reduced to flat character tropes. I liked everyone well enough, but I also don't see myself missing anyone from that universe. I longed for the world building that I've come to expect from other series like the Kiseki games. Talking to NPCs in Persona 5 is a chore, no one says anything interesting nor does it go anywhere. Again, not every RPG needs 50,000 lines of dialogue to achieve a meaningful plot or world, but Persona's Tokyo feels routine and lifeless compared to other, quieter settings.

For all the relevant commentary Persona 5 has - public apathy, a predatory older generation, the effects of corporate greed - it has a distressing lack of self-awareness. Any time I turned on the game, my Playstation 4 eagerly reminded me that I couldn't record footage for most of the game. While I didn't care to record myself blankly staring at fusion screens for an hour, the simple fact that I couldn't decide for myself thanks to a corporate decision made me feel like a lot of the commentary fell flat on its face. Criticisms of Persona 5's social commentary go much deeper, but I don't have the vocabulary to voice them. Other writers much more learned than me have done a better job already.

My time with Persona 5 clocked a little under 100 hours, and I don't regret the time I spent. The dungeons were fun, the music is amazing, and while the characters were nothing spectacular I did enjoy their company. It's not a game that I see myself replaying anytime soon, but if I did, I would be interested in trying with a harder difficulty while skipping over most of the story.

Some random points:

- I love most of the soundtrack, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Madarame's palace. I can put that music on loop for a whole day and not get sick of it.

- While I liked (and relate to) Kawakami the most out of the romance options, the circumstances around her social link were so off putting that I couldn't stand it. I ended up going with Hifumi.

- I was aware of Shido's palace being the infamously bad one, but I didn't feel like it was as long as other people said. Then again, I've already been badly burned once by Trails of Cold Steel 2, where finishing the "Final Dungeon" meant you had 15 more hours of game left.

- Gating social links behind Guts/Kindness/etc is lame.

- Mementos sucks

- what if it wasnt akechi who betrayed you but like if mishima was getting freaked out b ythe cops and so he ratted you out and its like a whole thing. just asking questions