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linkspooky · 4 years

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What do you think of Mahito, his role in the story's future, and what he might represent? I can't stop thinking of how he literally acts as an antithesis to Yuji (besides being his primary foil), humanity and the narrative itself and how that might mean that he is the main antagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen.

What are your thoughts on the new JJK chapter? With what Mahito said to Yuji at the start of the chapter?

Answering these asks together. Thank you both for sending them!

I’m going to center this analysis around Mahito’s statement that you are me, and his role as antithesis to Yuji as the anon stated above. There are two big ways you can interpret Mahito’s statement. They are the same in the sense that they are character foils, that Mahito is the Jungian Shadow to Yuji and all of his actions. The second one is based around the idea that Jujutsu Kaisen at large plays with Budhism, and BUdhist ideas, it’s an argument that Mahito and Itadori are spiritually the same. Not contradictory forces but complimentary, the whole of them each containing parts of the other. I’m not the best at explaining japanese budhism, because I myself am not a japanese budhist, but I will try my best under the cut.

1. Spiritually the Same

So, Mahito’s arguments are ones that require a certain amount of abstraction to make sense.

For example, is saving people the same as killing people? No, obviously not.

Alright, there’s your answer. Let’s go home, give me notes please. To understand Mahito’s argument you have to understand how far away from other living people his perspective is.

Mahito positions himself as a third party observing from afar. From his position everything has a tendency to look the same. Let me explain: if every living creature has a soul, then what gives weight to human souls?

Heart, weight, both of those are words that are essentially trying to give human lives “worth.” Are human lives “worth something?” Are they more worthy than the lives of animals, plants, curses, etc. The way Mahito sees it everything has a soul. Even plants have a soul. However, there’s nothing too different in the souls of humans, from the souls of say bugs. The only difference he himsel sees is that humans have a capacity for reason.

“The so-called dignity obtained by human reason”, humans assume their lives are more worthwhile, more dignified then say, the life of your dog, because a human has the intellectual capacity for logical reasoning and a full range of emotions on display, and your dog has been barking at his reflection in the mirror for twenty minutes because he thinks it’s another dog.

Ideas of good and evil are not natural laws of the universe. They are made up by human reason. They only exist because humans said they do, and give reasons to them. Mahito’s perspective is a natural one on the world.

The reason that humans are different from monkeys is just a quirk of evolution that enabled them to gain more brain mass over millions of years, and then gained higher amounts of intelligence. Everything else was reasoned out, ex posto facto. Humans come up with reasons why things happen after the fact, but they just happened. Humans just happened to evolve.

If the natural state of the universe is chaos, and there’s no foreseen hand guiding everything, then things that happen just happen. There is no particular meaning to them. You can make up a meaning, but who is to say one invented meaning is more important than the other?

There’s life on this planet, because we just so happened to be a certain distance away from the sun to enable an ideal climate for liquid water on the surface. Therefore, life is not some necessarily some thing that needs to be protected. It’s just there.

If both Mahito and Yuji are fighting up with their made up value of life, Mahito believing there is no value, and Yuji believing there’s value worth preserving, then Yuji needs to actually make an argument. If no objective right or wrong exists, Yuji needs to prove why he’s right, rather than insisting he’s doing the right thing without thought.

Yuji and Mahito are each other, because they both embody an ideal in the way life should be treated.

When Mahito is saying this, it’s because Yuji gives weight to human lives, but not weight to the light of curses. That is to say, Yuji is fixated on the idea of giving humans a “good death” because he believes they’re owed that dignity, but will absolutely brutalize and tear curses to pieces. This is something Gojou commented on in chapter three, HUH ISN’T IT WEIRD THAT YUJI DIDN’T REALLY GROW UP SURROUNDED BY CURSES AND ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS GIVE HIM A KNIFE AND POINT AT THAT AND SAY GO KILL THAT THING AND HE DID IT.

Let’s say it wasn’t a curse for a moment. Let’s say Yuji wrestled and killed a tiger with his bare hands and afterwards you saw him skinning it. From a certain perspective his actions might look brutal. You killed and skinned a cat. Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t do this to a human. From a certain perspective his actions might look justified. There was an old lady nearby and I didn’t want to maul her. However, if you believe spiritually that humans are nothing special and all living things have equal dignity, Yuji killing and skinning that tiger is a violation of that dignity.

Yuji believes that humans have dignity and wants to perserve that dignity even in death. That’s not objective fact though, that’s his own personal belief that he’s fighting for.

The official translation even has Yuji call it a natural death rather than a good death. However, is Yuji just imposing what he believes to be good and insisting it’s the natural order of the world instead?

Mahito’s argument is essentially that there is no right or wrong, and therefore the two of them are just both presenting ideas. If the order of the world is one where creatures constantly consume each other in order to survive, then what is so wrong about the curses fighting it out with humans against who becomes top dog? Curses are shown to have sentience same as humans. They don’t have human kindness, or compassion but they’re capable of assigning thoughts, and reasons behind their actions the same way humans do. What makes one life more worthy for another? Mahito’s words are a challenge, to come up with some reason to defy him.

However, there’s a flaw in Mahito’s argument.

Mahito’s argument is one that states nothing is a reason. All life is equal therefore one life doesn’t matter or is worth more than the other. However, then he uses that to give himself moral permission to do whatever he want.

What do I mean by he needs moral permission?

Mahito is justifying his actions, excusing his actions, the same way that Yuji is.

The appearance of the black flash this chapter signifies that the universe is a neutral party to both Yuji and Mahito’s fight. The universe is indifferent to both of them. However, Mahito presents himself as someone who is also indifferent, and objective, when he’s not.

Mahito isn’t doing what he does for no reason at all. Mahito does it because he loves humans, while Yuji does it because he hates humans. Mahito tries to give permission to Junpei, he tries to give permission to himself. His views are not that of a true nihilist, because a nhilist wouldn’t seek permission like that. Mahito’s are that of a moral nihilist. All life is worthless, therefore I can do whatever I want with it. That’s not an expression of nihilism, or the abstract idea that there are no set goals or values to life. That’s just Mahito giving an excuse to why he wants to toy around with human life.

(Also, I don’t really understand japanese budhism from the perspective of a japanese person, so please feel free to correct me on any of this, I’m just trying to go off of what was presented in the story! I’d love to hear other people’s perspectives).

But basically what I’m talking about is expressed here by Mr. Yoshimura if you read Tokyo Ghoul.

If all life on this planet is just trying to survive, and in compettition with one another to survive, then the taking of all life is equally evil. A human killing a curse for survival, and a curse killing a human for survival is the same FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE.

However, I would argue that this assertion that “Life is Evil” is being said by a PERSON and that person is making a VALUE JUDGEMENT. Evil is an idea same as good. Life is neutral, life is random, life is indifferent, life is just atoms smashing around in pure utter chaos but it’s not necessarily evil and definitely not in the way Mahito takes it to be.

2. We’re like the Same Dude

The second is that Mahito and Yuji are character foils. They are characters in a narrative who are meant to reflect each other, specifically that of the protagonist, and their shadow.

Jung stated the shadow to be the unknown dark side of the personality. According to Jung, the shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to psychological projection, in which a perceived personal inferiority is recognized as a perceived moral deficiency in someone else.

If Yuji and Mahito were two parts of the same whole person, like two halves of the brain, Yuji would be the sensible, reasonable half, and Mahito would be the one acting on pure emotion and instinct.

Mahito and Yuji are both curse/human hybrids. They are both individuals that blur the line between humans and curses. Mahito is specifically, a curse that was created from the human fear of one another which makes him the most human of the curses and the most adept to change or growth. Yuji is a normal kid (as far as we know) who swallowed a finger, and his entire body became curse energy. He is half curse, and half human, in the regard that he is Sukuna and he is Yuji at the same time.

Yuji and Mahito are people who both embody a vague area between human and curse, a curse that acts like a human, a human that acts like a curse in vice versa, however they choose to cling onto different apsects of their being. It’s ambiguous whether or not Mahito is a humanlike curse, but Mahito himself defines himself as only ever being a curse. Just like Yuji sees himself as a human too, he sees himself as Yuji, and not Yuji and Ryomen Sukuna at the same time.

It’s Mahito who encourages the others to act more like curses, to live on impulse than desire, instead of trying to restrain themselves for the sake of reason. However, this is ironic, because the reason that Mahito is getting raised up as the leader of the curse family is because he is the mirror to humans, and is the most humanlike of all the curses.

Mahito wants to be a pure curse, but his path requires him to become more and more human. Yuji wants to be a pure human, but his path in ingesting fingers will require him to become more and more curselike as time progresses. He will over time become more Ryomen Sukuna and less Yuji Itadori until the time comes for him to be executed after ingesting all twenty fingers. They are like opposite reflections in the mirror, clinging onto opposite parts of themselves.

It’s even shown in their foiling in the Junpei arc. They both encourage Junpei to do the opposite things. Mahito encourages Junpei to follow his baser instincts and curse other people, to resent them for what they have done to him.

Yuji however, applies to Junpei’s sense of reasoning and higher thinking. He suggests there’s a better plan than Junpei’s simple acting on. He asks Junpei not to do what he thinks is best in the moment and lash out on those feelings alone like Mahito suggested, not to follow his instinct to curse, but rather try to follow reason to find who is really at fault and then punish the correct person. Yuji appeals to the fact that Junpei have both empathy for the people he’s randomly lashing out at over his own pain, and that he has the ability to separate himself from his pain and try to search for what’s right instead.

These are opposite ideas, and Mahito and Yuji clearly look at the world with completely opposite perspectives. However, these perspectives don’t contradict, they are complimentary. The existence of a shdaow doesn’t mean the conscious mind is right. The existence of the consious mind doesn’t mean the shadow isn’t there. In other words, light and shadow don’t negate each other, light cannot exist without shadow.

In less poetic words. Whenever you make any action, your good intentions are equally as valid as your bad ones. There’s no such thing as a person without bad intentions. Anything can be seen from a both good and bad light. What Mahito argues to Yuji, is that Yuji was ignoring all along how dangerous an individual he was. Yuji uses his powers to save people, and he wants to become strong, but as has been pointed out in the manga before having all that strength collected in one person can be used oppressively and violently.

This is what Getou says to Gojou. If he was Gojou he’d have the power to kill every last human being alive and spare only the sorcerers. Gojou is someone sitting on all that power. Power alone doesn’t justify itself. Equally as important is the choices and the reasoning behind wielding that power. What Mahito was pointing out, and what the plot is emphasizing is that Yuji was wielding that power, especially the power of Ryomen Sukuna in a way that was poorly thought out.

Which is the point of this scene when Yuji realized the scope of Sukuna’s rampage. Yuji didn’t seriously think of the possibility that he was a walking bomb waiting to go off. This was brought up as an argument in the Kyoto arc, that it might be safer for everyone to just kill Yuji now so Sukuna doesn’t have the chance to get out. And then. Sukuna got out. And that’s what happened.

Mahito isn’t saying that Yuji is good or bad, he’s saying Yuji hasn’t thought about what good or bad even is. Yuji only ever saw the good intention of his actions, he saw himself as a person saving others, and because of that he didn’t think properly about the risk he inherently carrying. He didn’t realize how dangerous of a person he was for carrying Sukuna around like that. Mahito is the unacknowledged shadow of Yuji’s actions, following him through the plot, and punishing him for his ignorance.

Yuji is a good kid, but sadly the nature of the universe being true neutral good intentions don’t always lead to good results. It’s just a burden that Yuji has to think about, and carry with him as he moves on. Which I really, really want him to do. Yuji can think more, live on and live with his regrets, and still try to do the right thing even after enduring all of this because that’s what makes him human.

Just like how all reasons for fighting are made up, humans are able to make up whatever reason they want to keep fighting. It goes both way. If all lives have equal weight. You don’t have to take it from Mahito’s perspective that they’re worth nothing. You can also take it from Yuji’s perspective, that every life is worth fighting for, worth living, because you and I are worth just as much as one another.

#Anonymous #jjk meta #this is going to be really abstract and nihilistic because it's mahito #sorry #jujutsu kaisen meta #mahito #yuji itadori #itadori yuji #yuji analysis #yuji meta #metasks #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen mahito #jujutsu kaisen theory

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

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Humans are Space Orcs, “Secret dreams.”

The conclusion of the Glass tower series. I hope you guys like it. I did something a little different than I usually do, but hopefully it is entertaining.

Have an amazing day! :)

“He has me.”

The Vrul council spun in place comical looks of shock plastered over their faces, so comical that they could almost be read as shock by your average human.

What they saw was in fact, a human, but not a particularly average one.

Commander Adam Vir Stood just before the lip of the drop messaging the palms of his hands which were red and inflamed.

One of the council members floated forward, “How?”

The human looked up dropping his hands to his sides, “You are going to have to be more specific, “How did I escape your guards, how did I get up the tower, how did I know where you were?”

THe council chamber remained silent as the human walked a few more feet onto the floor. Around the room the Vrul guard and council shifted nervously as the predator approached them across the open floor boots thudding softly as he did so. Light poured in from one side of the glass enclosure bathing him in a warm yellow glow.

“How about, all of the above.” The Vrul council member said floating calmly at the edge of the circle.

“Well The first is simple.” He held up his hands and began to clap very slowly, as he continued he began to add soft rhythmic variations to the beat finally joining his voice tying the rhythm together. As soon as he began variations on the rhythm the entire room grew unsteady, and as he added his voice they began to lose muscle tone slouching to one side.

He stopped almost as soon as he began and they perked back up immediately, “Dr. Krill calls it rhythmic syncope with secondary resulting cataplexy.” He glanced over at his friend, “If I remember correctly. I am not a doctor of course. I guess this is a result of having unconnected cortical hemispheres that are required to do manual pattern recognition in an auditory setting. It tends to overload the neural network, and since your auditory function is located close to the motor cortex, it can have secondary side effects. I simply used this to get past your guards. No one could touch me as long as I kept up some sort of rhythm, not exactly difficult for a human.” The room was very silent as he motioned back towards the hole, “As for getting up here.” The human held up his hands, “Primate, I was originally evolved for climbing. The guide wires were a little small, and my hands kind of hurt, but I’m not complaining.”

He stepped a little further into the room next to krill now.

His guards backed away.

“As for knowing where you were…. Well i find that the ruling class, no matter the species, likes to put themselves above others, figuratively but often physically.” He looked around the room, “Pretty true to form I think, up here in your glass tower surrounded by sunlight while those below work in the long arm of your shadow.”

“What do you want, human?”

“Why do you force yourself into business that is not yours?”

The human folded his hands behind his back, “I had hoped you would understand my point by way of demonstration but it seems that the subtle nuance of posturing has no bearing on you, so let me explain in simple terms. I talked my way onto your planet, and now I have proven that you cannot stop me. With the simple clap of my hands your are immobilized. At any time I could have walked away with my friend unhindered.” He looked around the room, “YOu must understand at this point that I still could. You wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

Krill could see by their posture that they understood very well what kind of threat the human was.

“And I will if I have to.”

The Vrul managed to remain surprisingly calm, “Then why haven't you.”

“Because the Dr. wasn’t the only one affected when our species came together.”

There was a silence around the room as they looked on in confusion, “What do you mean, human.”

The Commander looked down at his feet hands still clasped tightly behind his back, “You think humans are barbaric, aggressive, angry, shortsighted and impulsive.” He looked around the room, “And by comparison I can’t argue. In fact, my first impulse when you took my friend from me was to rain hellfire down upon you.”

“Hellfire?”

“Hell, a mythical place where evil humans go after they die to suffer, filled with an ever burning fire. The phrase to reign hellfire means to bring continuous misery and pain down upon someone. In essence,I wanted to react in the most barbaric aggressive and violent way possible, but I didn’t”

He was walking in a circle now feet surprisingly soft against the grouf for a creature his size, “Do you understand why I didn’t?”

They did not answer.

The Commander pointed at Krill, “Because of the doctor. While you say he was being coerced into being more human, you must also understand that he was teaching me to be more like you. You are more tempered, more logical, less emotional , and now here I am, and I ask you to hear me out logically, and maybe you will find that becoming more human isn’t so bad as you say.”

Around them the room held still as the council members looked between each other.

Eventually the pale vrul made a gesture, “We will hear you.”

The human nodded his head, “Thank you….” He turned in a tight circle staring out one of the windows and towards the darkening horizon cast with long shadows from the sun, “WHen Dr. krill first stepped aboard my ship neither of us understood the other, he was afraid, and we were…. Difficult to handle. But since coming aboard the Dr. has taught me valuable lessons, lessons without which I would not have survived as long as I have in this position.” He turned around to face them, “He taught me, that sometimes duty is more important than my own entertainment. That means sometimes I have to buckle down and act like an adult, I have to be tempered and logical and serious because sometimes situations call for it, many situations do. He taught me to analyze my decisions before reacting on pure instinct, in this way there can be diplomacy without insult and action without catastrophe. He taught me to think about what kind of effect my personal actions have on others.” He glanced towards krill who was more than a bit surprised to hear what the human had to say, “WHat I am trying to tell you is without the Dr. Aboard my ship human relations with the Galactic Assembly would have dissolved long ago. IF ou are to remove him you would be endangering yourselves and that of the entire galaxy.”

The council looked on.

“Let us see how concise you can be, human. What will convince us these words are true.”

The human raised an eyebrow, “I have already demonstrated the truth of my words. Despite my abilities, I came to you relying on good faith that your logic would allow me to speak rather than forcing violence. The Dr. is the single greatest reason that I have come here to speak with you rather than just stealing him and walking out those doors.” His voice grew in volume and force as he continued, “I am here to play by your own rules. I did what the good doctor would have wanted and I chose the logical decision, to steal him away, or reign down violence would cause irreparable damage in political relations between humans and the GA. Rumors about humans would continue to be rife with our acts of barbarism and careless violence. This right now was the only way I could convince you that we are a species worth listening to.”

The sun had cut behind the horizon, turning the sky to a pale pink.

“Please, I am begging you to see sense, The doctor means a great deal to the humans of my ship. To punish him would also be to ruin relations with one of the most powerful species in the galaxy. To keep him with us would mean good interspecies relations, and it would also continue to temper the behavior of humans therefore making the galaxy a safer place for everyone involved.”

The council looked between each other.

A dark Vrul leaned forward, “The human….. Speaks a surprising amount of sense .” They glanced towards the psychologist, “and what do you think. Is the human being deceptive?”

The psychologist looked on, “What reason would he have to speak to you if he could simply walk about with impunity. And take what he wishes. Besides, this human does not strike me as the kind of human to use such deceptions.”

“And you, doctor, what have you to say.”

Dr Krill had been very quiet for much of the discussion, but now lifted his head, “I admit I am both surprised and impressed. The command- Adam…. I fully expected Adam and his crew to do something rash, to come in here guns blazing as the saying goes…” He glanced towards his human companion, “IThis proves to me what he says is true. They have grown a lot in my time with them, There is a term out there that describes the humanizing phenomenon, or the tendency for those close to humans to act human, but I find the argument to be a fallacy. Humans change just as much as the rest of us, but it's less noticeable because humans are every characteristic you see in other species, they are just as economic as the Tesraki, as bureaucratic as the Rundi, as warlike as the the Drev,, and as logical as we are, so we don’t notice when they change, but the greatest trait of a human is their adaptability. Any good human can adapt to survive in any place and with anyone human or otherwise.”

Now that he had some space, he began to walk head down in contemplation, “I have spent a lot of time with humans, perhaps the most time anyone has spent in conglomeration, and I do not regard my change as something to be feared. I regard it as a move towards adaptability, for thousands of years our species has remained in a stagnant state of fear, controlled and crippled by our own need to survive.”

He waved a hand, “How many Vrul are off-planet at this moment?”

Silence for a moment and then, “Close to 100 maybe less.”

“Exactly and what would happen if our planet experienced a catastrophic destabilization, change in weather pattern, gamma burst, literally anything.”

The council shifted nervously.

“I will tell you what would happen. 99.9% of our species would be obliterated in one moment, and those remaining would be unable to bounce back. The bottleneck would send our species into a downward spiral that would end in extinction. In fact that is the least of our worries considering that our habitable zone across this planet is the equator with thirteen cities, a single change in climate could wipe out our whole species.” he turned to Adam, “And what would happen if earth was destroyed?”

The human grimaced, “It would really suck, but there are almost as many humans off world living on Mars, and other settlements that…. Well we could rebuild. Even if our solar system took a nosedive we would still probably have enough people to keep our species going.”

“My point exactly. I have proven the one thing that our species has needed all along. Adaptability. Adam, what did your species do, when things became to cold for them?”

The human shrugged, “We put on a coat, or we made our houses climate controlled. You can live anywhere if you can control the temperature.”

“You hear that, there is no reason we cannot do what they do, to make our species more robust. We have the technology to fly in space, so by nebulon we have the ability to climate control and indoor space. For too long we have been letting our environment and our fear control us. Perhaps it is time to start experimenting with our own survival.”

There was murmuring about the council chamber with the sun growing lower on the horizon and the shadows growing longer.

“I wish to speak as well.”

There was a movement of surprise from the assembled Vrul as the psychologist stepped forward onto the floor.

“Do you know where I was less than two cycles ago?”

More silence.

The creature scuttled over to the window and pointed out at the city, “That bridge there over the river…. No I wasn’t standing on it. I was under it sinking towards my own death.”

Muttering of shock.

The vrul continued to speak raising their voice over the cacophony, “That human and his companions saved my life!” He pointed towards Adam, “As a child they saved my life, and brought me back from something no one yet thought possible.”

Krill and Adam exchanged a shocked glance.

Adam shook his head mouthing, “I did NOT see that coming.”

“When I fully recovered, I dedicated my life to determining the psychological reasoning for why someone would do something so reckless for another person. And the further I dug the more stonewalled I found myself because I was asking the wrong questions, showing so much interest in a topic that was not important, it did not ‘further the species’. In private I found this to be true in almost every field, the systematic suffocation of new ideas, and different thought processes that would lead our species towards more than just survival. Yes, I administered the doctor’s test, and you know what I found”

No one spoke.

“I found NOTHING!”

Looks of confusion.

“Yes he is an alpha and that makes him smart, but he is no different from other alphas, not in any sense. This humanizing phenomenon is the propaganda of fear from those who are not willing to admit that the Vrul are more capable of surviving than we are given credit for. We are being convinced by our own fear that we are weak, and need to protect ourselves where we can. But now aren't we proven that false? We have walked on other worlds, death worlds no less and we are still surviving.” The Vrul spun in a wide circle, “Dr. Krill isn’t different because his curiosity makes him a danger, he was different because he was the the only one who didn’t think to hide it. Here you are sitting here thinking that Vrul don’t secretly publish research, and work on personal projects.” The Vrul barked with laughter, “In fact I bet some of you are guilty of that very same sin. It’s just that you believe you have a species to protect, and that fear has crippled your thought process.”

The council had sat quiet during most of this, but now they began murmuring among themselves, “Are you advocating becoming like the humans?”

Adam stepped in then cutting off the psychologist who was stumbling with their words, “Don’t change yourselves, council. But do not be unwilling to allow in those things that would further or lead to the natural progression of your species. Expand, grow, humor the secret dreams of your people. Don’t model yourself after anyone, but take a lesson in survival from a species that perfected the craft….”

He stepped closer to Krill, and Krill stepped closer to him, a united front.

“Stagnation is your greatest enemy”

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i-believe-in-soriku · 4 years

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Essay Part 2: The Deepest Relationship

Now that I have explained how Riku is a strong character with is OWN development and his OWN personanity, I can talk about his relationship with Sora. Sora is also a developed character, even if his evolution is less spectacular than Riku's. I'm not here to talk about Sora so I'll probably give you links to wonderful analysis I've read.

If I mention that, it's because I want to point at something which is very important in terms of writing. To write a relationship between two characters (or more, but here it's two), the two characters involved must be developed. That's important to understand the dynamics between them, why they like each other, why their relationship exists and why it works. And this rule applies to all kinds of relationships.

Indeed, those conditions are filled with Sora and Riku's relationship.

Actually, the producer himself admits that their relationship is the very heart of the series:

"The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up."

Now, let's see how their relationship works. Because it works. Whether you see it as friendly or romantic doesn't matter, it works the same.

The two of them were childhood friends. It is told in BBS and KH: they used to spend all their time together, inventing stories and dreaming about adventures. They kind of promised to protect each other at the really early age of 4 and 5.

Aqua: Sora, do you like Riku?

Sora: Of course I like him, he's my best friend!

Aqua: Good. So then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost--or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone--you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe. That's your job, Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?

*Sora nods*

As they grew up, a distance has settled between them. I have already talked about what caused that distance. KH is not the best moment of their friendship but, believe it or not, it is essential to its development. Both guilt and love pushed Riku to seek to make amends with Sora, to protect him:

Sora, on his side, wasn't resentful against Riku at all -all he wanted was to find his friend back and make things the way they were before.

But it soon became clear to them that such a thing was impossible. Too many things had changed due to Riku's actions and the hardships they had to face. They had to stick the pieces back, and tried their best to do so. Sora tried to find back Riku during CoM and KH2.

Sora (beginning of KH2): Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku. Then he and I can go back to the islands together.

Riku tried to help Sora recover his memories and he watched his friend during his sleep.

And it didn't mattered to them that one year has passed, their goal never changed. When Sora woke up, Riku kept on protecting him, Sora kept on searching for him. Both of them wanted to recover something that mattered to them - that is to say, their best friend. Is it forced? No. It follow the events of KH. It is the consequence of what happened before.

When they finally find each other during the events of KH2, the feelings expressed by Sora (happiness, relief) and by Riku (shame, doubt) underline how much they care about each other.

Sora: Why didn't you let me know you were okay?

That's not like Sora's and Kairi's reunions, where all we can see is a promise - something that Sora and Riku also share - and mere relief, joy. I don't say Sora is not happy to be reunited with Kairi and vice-versa. It's just that when they do, the poor development Kairi is given prevents these scenes from being as powerful as Sora's and Riku's reunion(s).

Indeed, when they found each other in KH2, after a rough fight with Xemnas, what is the first thing that happens between them?

A heart-to-heart conversation.

That is sweet, and illustrates that, yes, they share a special bond. But what I like the most with this scene in the Dark Margin, is that it's the undeniable proof of what I've said before.

Those boys are trying to line the scattered pieces of their frienship up - and the way they do it is simple, touching. They are just being honest with each other while talking about their past feelings for each other - and also the one they experience in the present moment:

Riku: What I said back there...about thinking I was better at stuff than you... To tell you the truth, Sora... I was jealous of you.

Sora: What for?

Riku: I wished I could live life the way you do. Just following my heart.

Sora: Yeah, well, I've got my share of problems, too.

Riku: Like what?

Sora: Like...wanting to be like you.

Riku: Well, there is one advantage to being me... Something you could never imitate.

Sora: Really? What's that?

Riku: Having you for a friend.

Sora: Then I guess...I'm okay the way I am. I've got something you could never imitate too.

That is so sincere that I don't get why people keep on saying that their relation is forced.

Their story, however, is not over yet. Dream Drop Distance is the the highlight for the writing of their common story. I have already written a post about their bonds in KH3D, so I'll resume what I said, and add new elements. DDD is pretty smart because it depicts the link between Sora and Riku even though they're separated during almost the whole game.

At the beginning of the game, Riku and Sora are at Master Yen Sid's Tower, and he says that they have to pass the Mark of Mastery Exam. It is really important to Riku, but for Sora, it is quite useless. Still, Sora decides to pass the exam with Riku in order to motivate and support him.

Sora: But that's a formality, right? I already proved myself. Me and the king, and Riku--we can take on anything. Right, Riku?

Riku: I don't know. I think that in my heart, darkness still has a hold. Walking that path changed me. I'm not sure if I'm ready to wield a Keyblade. Maybe I do need to be tested.

Sora: Riku... Then count me in. Put me through the test! Just watch--me and Riku will pass with flying colors!

This element shows that the two of them trust each other. Which is the proof that their conversation on that dark beach has definitely recovered their bonds - their trust in each other, the fact that they can rely on each other no matter what.

That is an evolution, not just a "return to the way it was before". Because the dynamic between them has changed. Sora is the one Riku rely on. Sora is the one "in advance". Sora is the one confident and cool. (at least in Riku's eyes). But Riku is not jealous anymore. That's different.

The game has also a lot of interesting scenes. In Traverse Town, for instance, we """learn""" (in case it wasn't clear until that moment...) that Sora is Riku's most important person.

Beat: I just...wanna protect the one person who matters.

Riku: I know the feeling.

On Sora's side, by his own words, they are always together, even when they are separated:

Sora: Don't worry. He's with me--even when it might seem like he's not.

In La Cité des Cloches, the Quasimodo/Riku parallel shows that Riku his still holding back stuff inside of him.

Quasimodo: Master Frollo--he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, Riku.

Riku: I was...speaking from...personal experience.

Given the context, it is clear that it is a reference to Riku's feelings for Sora, especially if we take a look at Quasimodo's feelings for Esmeralda, and Esmeralda's and Phœbus words.

In Monstro, Riku says that Sora is his conscience, and even talks about "his stupid grin", what's.. extremely tender?!

Jiminy: You must have somebody--a friend you can talk to?

Riku: Yeah...actually, I do. That stupid grin he's always wearing--he's the best teacher I could ever have.

The Symphony Of Sorcery is also full of elements, like the fact that Sora considers that Riku is always there for him...

Sora: Don't worry. I've got a friend out there who will help. He's always picking up the slack for me.

...which was actually proved in game:

So yeah, the game does not only say that Riku is here for Sora, it actually shows that. And the fact that they share a "heart song" is purposely here to illustrate how strong their relationship is.

Mickey: It's like each of you is holding on to a little part of the other. Your hearts are always in tune, so they're free to sing.

Mickey even says that, when they're together, their heart are "free to sing". And it is true: they can be their true selves together, they know they can trust each other, they are comfortable with each other.

Riku being Sora's Dream Eater is a major point in his character but ALSO another proof that he cares really much about Sora and that it is instinctive, natural - he doesn't even realize it until someone points out this """detail""".

Another scene that, for me, is important to proove that their relationship is NOT forced is the moment when Riku is named Master. Sora is not upset, he's sincerely happy for Riku:

Sora: I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors. This is just so awesome!

Watching his reactions, it's easy to see that he knew how important it was to Riku:

And finally, KH3 is the consequence of this development. Riku and Sora have achieved a balance together, between trust in each other and independence. In this game, Sora wants to protect Riku, Riku wants to protect Sora - and he actually found the strenght to do it. Riku cheers Sora up, believes in him, the same way Sora did for him before:

In the end, Riku is, once again, the one who's saving Sora. In fact, I would say they constantly save each other - sometimes save and being saved is the same thing.

So, yeah, I don't know if it was clear... but what I meant is that every single KH game where those boys are present - that is to say the large majority of them - shows how they both evolve individualy but also how their relationship evolves to become something better, something greater. The way it is written follows a perfect logic, a dynamic that corresponds to the state of the two characters and the context in which the action takes place.

Once again, regarding the care that is taken to tell their story, it is unfair to say that their relationship is forced. ESPECIALLY if it is compared to Sora's relation to Kairi. It is simply incomparable.

Intro • Part 1

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rirururu · 5 years

Text

Why Zenitsu is my Favourite Character in Kimetsu no Yaiba

NO SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA

Yeah, it’s pretty cool that the guy can one-shot anything he sees. Let’s just get that out of the way. It’s hype. He’s like a Pikachu version of One Punch Man but with his personality in the supreme opposite end of the spectrum which consequently makes him just as funny and badass to watch. I think that’s initially what draws most people to his character on a surface level. Heck, that’s what made him so endearing when I was introduced to the series as well. But he’s evolved into so much more than that for me over time.

AKA. That in-depth analysis post that I make every year that is way too long because I want to talk about something so badly but no one else is doing it.

I remember catching up to the manga a few weeks ago and not being able to choose who my favourite character was. They’re just all so good. It was at some point that I realized while flipping the pages, to my (pun intended) shock, Zenitsu was and probably always has been the character I looked forward to seeing the most. It’s like he snuck up on me and was already clinging before I even noticed he was there. Sure the running gag where he fights while sleeping is amusing to watch. Sure the Thunder Breath is an amazing technique. He has a great design to back all of that up, not to mention that his backstory tugs at the heartstrings. But change a few words around and you could apply that reasoning to basically any character in the series.

There lies my dilemma where I couldn’t decide on a favourite of the cast. What stuck out to me and started setting Zenitsu apart from the rest was how he fought. Of course, this isn’t the only reason I like him so much. However, I feel that a lot of people misinterpret his fighting style so it seems best to use that as a starting point.

Sadly, the fact that he needs to be unconscious in order to battle and that his conscious personality is so abhorrently pathetic compared to his sleeping one isn’t new to anime and has been done countless times. Like many people, I expected the usual revelation of Zenitsu having a split personality or alter ego or “dark yandere side.” I’ve seen either it or some variation of it so many times in anime, manga, and video games. I mean, how else would anyone explain his ability to fight while sleeping? It’s the easiest way to have any of it make sense and is the route most stories like to go.

It very quickly seemed like the path his character was taking would be entertaining but ultimately not unique in any way. Seeing as most characters of his type rely on the gag / fighting style in order to remain zany and popular, he most likely wouldn’t develop much past it either. But as the series progressed and very early on (ie. where the anime is now), you come to realize that this simply isn’t the case.

To begin with, it’s apparent just by watching episode 17 that there is no crazy side of his mind at work here. When Zenitsu sleeps, he fights. When he fights, he's dreaming. He states here immediately after waking up that he had such a wonderful dream about being powerful like he’s always wanted. He had a dream where he was strong enough to defeat the demon and brave enough to make decisions. But evidently, that’s exactly what he was doing in reality. When he dreams, he’s the one controlling his own body in the outside world and making judgements on what to do in battle.

How does he do this without say, ramming into a tree about 5 seconds in? He reveals pretty early after his introduction that he’s always had amazing hearing. It was so advanced that it creeped others out and drove them away. One statement he makes in particular is that he can recognize entire conversations that are happening around him even as he’s sleeping. Now, that’s interesting. Why did the series bring that up if it wasn’t important? He can sense someone’s presence, emotions, and even intentions based on sound alone. It’s perfectly logical that, just like Tanjiro, he’s able to detect his surroundings except using his ears instead of his nose. He most likely goes one step further to project that into his dreams in order to fight without any eyesight.

In other words, there is no alter ego. It’s all him. Zenitsu’s just that good. When he sleeps, he’s culminating everything that he trained and all of his hopes and wishes towards becoming a better person who doesn’t run away into that one moment. When he sleeps, he rids himself of all of his fears and doubts so then his body can fight completely on instinct and clear-minded focus. He can do it. But his low self-esteem and fear of dying alone gets in the way. It’s only inevitable that it does. After all, he’s been told his entire life by everyone except one person about how useless he is until he actually believed it. He can’t even stomach accepting compliments on his strength.

That isn’t a normal reaction to being told that one is strong. That scene did a pretty good job of highlighting the contrast between how Zenitsu (very happily) embraces praise on being great versus how he completely rejects the idea of anyone thinking he isn’t a useless coward. It says a lot that his image of himself is so bad that his own body and mind developed this unique way of fighting and force him into losing consciousness as a defense mechanism whenever there’s a threat of death nearby.

Of course, the series makes it no secret that this “running gag” has taken a toll on Zenitsu’s mental health. He always awakens believing that everything he just did only happened in a dream, which explains why he clung to the idea of Shoichi being the powerful one so vehemently. He never gets the chance to confront his fears properly. Subsequently, his hate for his cowardly self grows even bigger each time it happens and so does his belief that he just can’t do it. And that’s what really gets to me. The sleep-fighting is not just a running gag. It’s a snowball effect. The series uses what seems like a gimmick that is so worn down in anime to the point of becoming a troupe and turns it into a young boy’s ongoing uphill battle against his own mind and hate for himself.

That’s why it’s so important that by the end of the series, Zenitsu learns how to fight without sleeping at all.

Yup, that’s right. His character seems to be heading the exact opposite direction of where I thought he’d go because of how counter-intuitive it is. For the sake of his own growth, he has to overcome and be rid of the zany gag that was what initially drew watchers to him in the first place. Eccentric traits such as this are usually a safety net for stories that aren’t confident enough in their plot or characters. It’s how authors get more sales. But Zenitsu isn’t written out to be a butt monkey badass for views. He’s written as a real person. He’s failed. He’s succeeded. Some people believe in him while most don’t, but what really matters is that he starts believing in himself.

Zenitsu as a character really speaks to me in that sense. He can only do one thing. After all these years of training, he can only perform one single attack. It’s discouraging to work so hard and only be able to achieve one goal while others can reach triple the amount with half the effort and time. It’s easy to start running away and thinking you can’t do anything right because of that.

Despite the poetry that shounen anime like to wax, that’s the reality for most of us when our lives are on the line. We complain and laugh about how annoying Zenitsu is when he imitates a whiny baby that screams in fear at everything, but the fact of the matter is that the way he acts is the most realistic given his upbringing of people looking down on him, his past filled with failures, and the effect that his continued sleep-fighting is having on his well-being. Why should he die in this war if it’s inevitable that he can’t win and there are other people much better for the job? It’s a chillingly accurate impact that living in a world where it’s so easy to die at the hands of a demon can have on someone.

However, because Zenitsu never gave up, he managed to hone that skill with the intent of at least becoming the best at that one thing. Thunder Breathing First Form is meant to be a straight one-strike attack. If driving school has taught me anything, it’s that the faster you’re going, the more the most minuscule of mistakes can spiral into gigantic deviations in movement. Yet he’s taught himself how to use Thunderclap and Flash six times in a row (hence six fold) and in six different directions / distance of his choosing in such quick succession that it looks like he's using it continuously. We even saw how his fifth step landed him perfectly on a thread so he could bounce off of it for the finishing blow.

Just imagine how much dedication and training it takes to have that kind of control. He grew up with nothing. He’s trained so hard just to be able to do one thing. Now he’s going to make his “dream” of being powerful enough to help people into a “reality” on only that and that alone. His eventual development away from relying on sleep-fighting is a representation of it. And that’s when he officially started ascending into becoming my favourite character.

#kimetsu no yaiba #kny #demon slayer #zenitsu #agatsuma zenitsu #meta #rant #discourse #gif #long post

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pinnithin-writes · 3 years

Text

Good Jokes

Chapter 20

The room they wound up in seemed to breathe. The walls moved in a moist, rhythmic pattern and the space was lit with a low purple bioluminescence. Tommy stumbled for a few moments on the spongy, uneven floor, fighting off a wave of nausea as he supported himself on something that was like a pillar. While the portal spat out the rest of the team behind him, Tommy cast a look over their new surroundings.

This place appeared more organic, the colossal ribcage of an extraterrestrial whale. There was not a single item from Earth in sight. The walls glistened with a sheen that was like oil on blacktop. He paced the room, unsteady and observant, as a bright flash of light heralded his companions’ arrival.

“Hello, Gordon,” Dr. Coomer said, just barely staggering to his feet as the man in question landed on the other side.

Gordon groaned. “Hello. Hello,” he said, voice thin and weak. “I’m sick of teleporting. I don’t wanna do it again, man. I don’t wanna d-”

“Teleportation sickness is a common side effect,” Coomer interrupted, sighing heavily as he gained his bearings.

“How do you know that? He’s... we don’t-”

Bubby offered Gordon a hand through his speculation and pulled him to his feet. “Hello, Gordon.”

“Hello,” he responded. “Where’s Tommy?”

Tommy angled his chin at the sound of his name and rejoined the others. “I’m right here.”

Gordon gave Tommy’s hand a light squeeze of acknowledgement as soon as he was within reach. Tommy was slow to return the gesture - he was studying Gordon’s face, which was steadily growing uneasy as he took in their surroundings.

��Look - look at what I found,” he said, releasing Gordon’s hand to indicate the ribcage of spires. “These look like, ah, huge columns that they use for construction for their fucked up alien construction technology.”

Gordon fidgeted as he passed a glance overhead. “I don’t care,” he said, then quickly clarified, “like, like I’m not saying that to you, Tommy, just - I just don’t-” Gordon sighed in frustration. “I wanna be out of here. This is all a fuckin’ scientific marvel, and we can write notes about it when we get home later, but now-”

“Look,” Bubby interrupted. “This all reminds me of the time that-”

He vanished.

Gordon, Coomer, and Tommy exchanged a perplexed look.

“What? Oh, what is happening?” Gordon wondered to no one in particular.

Bubby manifested as quickly as he’d disappeared. “And then I - Where did I go?” He cut a glance to the three men staring at him.

“Where did you go?” Gordon asked. “What did you see?”

Bubby paused, gears turning in his head while the room breathed around him. “...Shit’s fucked, man,” he concluded uneasily.

Gordon’s shoulders shook in a nervous chuckle.

“The rules of this place are different from ours, Gordon,” Coomer deduced. “They - oh.”

He hunched over suddenly, clutching at his chest. The breath hissed out of him in an agonized whine, and then his joints rearranged themselves in a sickening series of cracks. The scream Coomer uttered made Tommy’s blood run cold. He rapidly averted his eyes.

“D-Doctor Coomer?” Gordon whispered.

The scrambled collection of limbs that was Dr. Coomer rebuilt itself with a heavy crunch. “So we need to be careful,” the boxer finished brightly, as if nothing had happened.

“What w-” Gordon’s sentence crumbled into a panicked, stuttering sound as his eyes went round. “Shit. Nothing means anything anymore.”

As he said this, both Bubby and Coomer folded in on themselves in a horrifying collapse of pained cries and impossible contortions. Gordon, panicked, darted a glance at Tommy, as if he thought he might deteriorate into this agonizing meaninglessness, as well.

Tommy returned his gaze with a tight-lipped grimace. He could feel the intent of this alive place, how hungry it was to pull him apart piece by piece, but he’d be dead in the ground before he let himself become interdimensional roast pork in Benrey’s homeland. I’m not going anywhere, his eyes told Gordon.

Gordon returned his stare to the other scientists. “What is happening to you two?” he barked.

Bubby quickly righted himself, flicking his usual cool look between Gordon and Tommy. “I want to get moving,” he said. “Let’s go, Gordon.”

“Why do you keep making those sounds?” he persisted.

Coomer rolled his neck like he was just waking up from a nap. “Come along now, Gordon,” he said, beckoning for him to follow Bubby into a nearby hallway.

Gordon looked to Tommy again, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he gave a hesitant nod. Perhaps Bubby and Coomer would lose themselves here. If that were the case, it would be sad and unfair, but in the end, they still had to push forward. In the end, Tommy still had Gordon’s back. In the end, they were still going home.

His expression was tortured, but Gordon nodded back. They headed out.

---

It was the same song they knew so well by now, but Xen put it in a different key. Run, hide, shoot, watch your buddy’s back. Grapple with the horrifying ordeal of imminent mortality. Wipe the goo off your shoes. Tommy shouldered his rifle and his own fragile heartbeat as well as he could in the belly of this beast, but Benrey’s watching eyes made the whole trip that much more nightmarish.

The entity was toying with them, phasing in and out of the walls in increasingly unrecognizable shapes as he followed them through Xen. Tommy latched onto his own annoyance so that fear couldn’t override his nerves, but ignoring Benrey was much more difficult now that he was ten stories tall and threatening to eat them alive. He tried to keep an eye on Benrey, the aliens, their deranged teammates, and Gordon all at once and found himself coming up woefully short.

Not to mention he had to watch out for himself, which was something he still wasn’t used to. The latent static in his body that signified the blood in his veins hadn’t wavered since passing through the portal. He kicked himself with the reminder over and over. He could die, Gordon could die, they all could die out here. Keeping it in mind while trying not to dwell on it too much was proving more difficult than it seemed. Benrey was practically licking his lips in anticipation.

At least Bubby and Coomer seemed relatively stable after their initial breakdown at the start of this trek. Their surefire aim and superhuman instincts pressed them down the path at a decent clip. Forward. Always forward. Climbing ramps and clearing gaps and dodging arcs of electricity. This place was organic-adjacent; almost alive, almost watching them, and Tommy wasn’t sure whether the stray gunfire they popped off mattered or if it was just making their environment more enraged.

His brain grasped for context and he contemplated how this place came to be. How long had it been here? Was it older than Earth? If Benrey called Xen home, were there other denizens here like him? Lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed Gordon losing his footing and slipping into a vat of caustic green fluid.

He hurried belatedly to haul him out of the stuff, struggling until Coomer joined him and grabbed the man’s other arm. To Tommy’s ire, he couldn’t quite bend the laws of physics in a plane where physics was busted beyond repair. He was glad he could rely on the boxer’s strong hands to help him pull Gordon free.

He emerged, coughing and spluttering, and Tommy steadied him by the elbow until he was able to right himself. “I thought you guys had left me for dead,” he panted.

Tommy wiped slime off on his slacks. “No,” he stated flatly, because there was no other response to an assumption so preposterous.

Dr. Coomer slapped the man’s shoulder congenially, spraying them both with the green liquid. “We’d never leave you, Gordon,” he assured him.

As Gordon turned to fish his glasses out of the vat he’d fallen in, Tommy idly voiced his thoughts. “I can't believe this is what life would be like if - I - if… If mammals evolved with moon shoes,” he guessed.

“Yeah.” Gordon murmured after a pause, flicking the water off of his frames with preoccupation. He passed a questioning look to Tommy, no doubt wondering if he could clear his lenses like he’d done so many times before, and Tommy had to give an apologetic shake of his head in return.

Not here. Not now. He felt so fucking useless.

Bubby reemerged from the hall he’d been exploring, beckoning to them ardently. “Over here,” he urged.

“And to think,” Tommy went on as he fell in line with the others, “that if gravity was just a little lower on our planet that all - we would live like this.”

He wasn’t even sure if it was something he’d logically concluded or if his mind was just cobbling together some kind of sense out of glue and thumbtacks in an attempt to right himself. It felt kind of silly, saying it out loud. But perhaps the silliness itself was a comfort.

Gordon, at least, acknowledged him. “Our brains would develop different,” he agreed, pulling up short when the hallway emptied out to a chasm. The walls were ringed and red like a trachea, and Gordon grimaced with distaste. “Aw don’t tell me this is another portal - oh shit what is that?”

The team collectively followed Gordon’s horrified stare to the creature descending on them through the ceiling. Benrey was no longer lurking, now, and he defied the structural integrity of what made up a human body in a grotesque pinwheel of bone and sinew. Tommy wasn’t even sure he’d recognize the thing as Benrey if it weren’t for his familiar, grating voice echoing through the chamber.

“Yo, friend! Welcome!”

Quickly, they took cover from the entity’s sharp, flailing limbs, pressed hard against the walls of the vertical structure despite the wetness. Tommy racked his rifle, even though he knew the hollow points were worth jack shit at this stage, while Gordon hissed out a repetitive, “What is that? What is he? What is he? What is that?” through his teeth beside him.

Coomer angled a sharp nod at Tommy and the two of them leaned out from the corner to take aim at the entity. Benrey disappeared as quickly as he arrived with a dark, echoing chuckle.

“Where’d he go?” Gordon asked. “You guys saw that, right?”

Coomer sighed and lowered his weapon, looking sick. “Oh, I’ve seen a lot of things I’d like to forget here, Gordon,” he muttered.

---

Higher up in the column that breathed around them, conveyors of colossal blue barrels rolled past. Tommy was reminded vaguely of a production line, though he dreaded to think what sort of creatures were being assembled at this organic factory.

“Look Gordon, barrels!” Coomer pointed out helpfully.

“Oh thank god, something familiar,” Tommy murmured. “They have barrels, just like we do.”

“It’s not - that is not like any barrel I’ve ever seen,” Gordon answered. “That’s like a barrel out of Donkey Kong times twenty.”

Tommy snorted. Of course Gordon was thinking about video games even in this nightmare. Gordon flashed him a brief, cheeky grin of acknowledgement - a burst of humor and then back to business. Tommy wished it could last.

Benrey continued to play cat and mouse with them as they traversed the cathedrals of Xen. They squeezed themselves through a network of vents that made Tommy feel like a blood cell in an artery, emerging on the other side to meet a yawning hole of darkness that hummed at their presence, hungry.

“Aw fuck, another one of these portals.” Gordon grumbled. He paused, eyeing the rectangle of starlight, before checking with the others. “You guys ready?”

Bubby shrugged. “Yeah?”

The man’s voice went quiet. “Okay,” he said, almost inaudible.

Coomer piped up cheerily in an attempt to reassure. “As long as I’m by your side, Gordon, I’m ready for anything.”

“Same to you man,” Gordon replied gratefully, the ghost of a smile touching his lips.

The walls reverberated with Benrey’s heavy contradiction. “That’s a lie.”

It was a spine tingling, teeth-chattering declaration, but Tommy couldn’t help but dwell on how wrong Benrey was. He would follow Gordon into hell - had been doing so this whole time - and no amount of interdimensional horrors were going to change that now. The entity had been so consistently off the mark about all of them, he wondered if he was living in his own version of reality as well as his own plane of existence. Was he just throwing darts blindfolded at this point, or did Benrey actually have a plan?

Didn’t change the fact that he was large enough to crush them in one fist, but it was something to think on.

Gordon’s blood was chilled all over again. “Where was he?” he demanded, eyes darting. “Where was he?”

With a scoff, Bubby fiddled with the trigger of his firearm and jerked his chin toward the portal. “Well, I’m good either way.”

Gordon ignored him. “Why is this not freaking you guys out? How are you keeping your cool during this?”

“Now, Gordon,” Dr. Coomer reasoned, “it’s only fair you know I am freaking the fuck out!”

A genuine laugh startled out of Gordon, ringing through the hallway in the lovely, bell chime way, and Tommy felt his throat go tight to hear such a comforting sound.

“I’ve read no books that have talked about any of these things, Mr. Freeman,” he said, smiling faintly.

Gordon met his eyes, playful. “That must scare you more than anything, Tommy.”

“And I’m stronger than anything here.” Bubby declared, snapping the fingers of his free hand impatiently.

“I… don’t believe you,” Gordon replied haltingly.

“I believe him,” Coomer said with confidence, and Tommy caught a brief, wordless exchange between the two older gentlemen.

There was no point lingering. The four of them filed in.

The sickening feeling of rearranging atoms passed through Tommy and he emerged, reeling, on the other side. The way ahead was patterned with stepping stones like a galactic rock garden, leading them leap by leap to a haunting structure up ahead. Spires soared like a chest cavity cracked open, cradling the ragged heartbeat of a fuschia rift in space. The hair on the back of Tommy’s neck stood up just laying eyes on it.

“Whoa,” Gordon breathed. “What is that?”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Dr. Coomer echoed.

In the distance, through the haze and the space dust, Benrey lurked. His reflective cat’s eyes were tracking their every movement, and Tommy made a point to shoot a frown in his direction. We see you. At least he was no longer a knotted shoestring of muscle fiber, returning to his four-limbed, human-adjacent form to loom just out of reach.

Gordon noticed, too, raising an arm to point. “Look over there,” he said.

“Oh, no,” Coomer uttered quietly.

The entity watched, but didn’t draw any nearer. Tommy kept his grip tight on his rifle and wondered what he was waiting for. Gordon surveyed him suspiciously out of the corners of his eyes, gauging the threat level for a few moments before turning his eyes to the jagged wound of a portal that awaited them.

“Alright guys,” he said. “Let’s go take a look and see what that is.”

They began their unsteady hop to their destination, navigating the low gravity with care. Tommy’s blood sang with discord the nearer they drew to the rift, and he shook his hands out as if it could dispel the feeling.

“It’s like a - ah, a castle,” he commented.

“I don’t know if I’d call it that, bud.” Gordon sighed. “What on god.” He made the final leap, landing solidly on the chalky rock, and stared. “Holy shit.”

Tommy cleared the gap behind him. The thing was even worse up close, flanked by jets of scalding steam, warping and twisting and folding in upon itself in a way that was a headache to parse. He rubbed at his temples with his free hand and squeezed his eyes shut. The other two scientists landed nearby with a light crunch of gravel.

“Is this Benrey’s?” Gordon asked, flinging a look over his shoulder at the unresponsive entity.

“It’s beautiful,” Coomer commented in awe.

Gordon nodded. “It kind of is in a weird way.”

Bubby was completely dazzled, swirls of crimson and magenta pulsing in the reflection of his glasses as he stared. “It fills me with a joy and energy I’ve never known,” he said.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Benrey shrieked distantly, and he winked out of sight.

Tommy had no doubt the entity fully intended to. In all likelihood, Benrey was on the other side of this rift now, waiting for them to walk willingly to their doom. He wanted to discount the threat like he had so many times in the past, but… Jesus, he really could kill them here, couldn’t he? The rules were different, the turf a different color, time ribboning around their necks in nooses to hang themselves with. He eyed the portal with trepidation, standing on the edge of a conclusion.

Dr. Coomer turned suddenly, attention rapt. “Gordon?” he asked, while space debris drifted past.

He lifted his brows in acknowledgement. “Huh?”

“Gordon, do you like video games?”

“I…” he paused, mouth pulling into a distracted frown. “Yeah, man. You know, that’s - the whole Justin TV thing. Kane & Lynch 2.”

“I’ve never been keen on them myself,” the scientist went on. “I believe I’ve told you this before, but there was one from my childhood when I was younger that inspired much joy in me. It was Super Punch Out, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.”

That faint smile reappeared on Gordon’s mouth. “I love Punch Out,” he said fondly.

Coomer grinned fully at the recognition. “It’s a wonderful game about a boxer overcoming all odds to become a champion.”

Tommy listened to their exchange passively, cutting a quick glance to a disinterested Bubby and back. Coomer sounded wistful in a way he’d never heard before, picking Gordon’s brain about life and reality while the other man gave him slow, thoughtful answers. There was a vulnerable deliberation to their words, a quiet consideration, almost as if they were saying…

Goodbye.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Gordon asked.

Dr. Coomer exhaled heavily through his nose, looking away with a shiver, swallowing past an unseen lump in his throat. “Gordon, I don’t think there’s any turning back from this point,” he said quietly.

“No,” Gordon agreed. “You guys ready?”

Was he ready? It was such a simple question, one Tommy had been ruminating on since they wound up in the intestines of Xen, but facing down the portal made him hesitate. They were all so small and fragile and painfully mortal, and what lay on the other side was an eldritch monster with murder in his heart. Was this martyrdom? Was this suicide? How did they kill the unkillable? Tommy felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

He shook out of his fog in time to hear Gordon checking in with their other teammate.

“Bubby? Let’s do it.”

The prototype nodded and gave a nonchalant thumbs-up. “Yep.”

Wait. Wait. Wait. Gordon had been speaking to him just now. Possibly for the last time. Tommy’s stomach dropped and he stepped toward him with an outstretched hand.

“I couldn’t hear you through this gas,” he blurted in a panic.

Gordon turned slowly in his direction, a complicated look on his face. There was something in his eyes, a deep sadness, a razored fear he was fighting so hard to hide. He was just as marrow-deep afraid as Tommy was, putting on a hero’s front because that was what heroes did, and Tommy thought that maybe he was a little bit in love with him.

Gordon met Tommy’s approach with a tight grip on his shoulder, right where his neck met his collar, touching his skin just barely, and Tommy ached.

“Okay,” he affirmed, his voice only shaking a little. His hand was so warm, even through the glove he wore. “Listen I’m gonna c - can you hear me now?”

Bubby pivoted away, putting a respectable distance between himself and the two of them. “Those fumes can’t be good for you,” he muttered under his breath.

Gordon ignored him. “Can you hear me?” he repeated, like it was the most important question in the world.

Tommy’s face was mere inches from Gordon’s. There was no way he couldn’t hear him. “Yeah.”

“Thank you for being there for me.”

Tommy exhaled painfully. “Gordon…”

This sounded like a goodbye, too, and Tommy's heart ached to hear it. Perhaps it was goodbye. Perhaps this was the last time they’d be able to have this, to speak with one another in this way. What did he even say ? Where did Tommy find the words for the churning sea inside him, here on the edge of the end?

He brought his hand up to cup the side of Gordon’s face, fingertips brushing over the stubble of his jaw. God, he was gorgeous like this, bathed in the magenta light of the portal, eyes wide and dark and locked on him. How had they become this? Four days had passed since they met and Tommy already felt that Gordon Freeman was knitted to his soul.

There was no time to grieve the loss of what could have been. They didn’t have space for long, drawn out confessions, though Tommy wasn’t even sure he’d be able to string together the right words if he had an eternity in this moment. Gordon was staring at him with an unspoken longing, lips slightly parted, and Tommy knew he was right there with him.

He begged the universe to give him one last sweet thing and leaned in.

It was a brief kiss. A last ditch, now-or-never, end of the world kiss. Gordon’s mouth pressed against his with a fervent hunger, fingers digging in tight where he gripped Tommy’s shoulder, pleading wordlessly for more, more, more that Tommy wished desperately he could give. He would stand here and kiss Gordon forever if things were different, eyelashes fluttering shut and gentle heat blooming in his stomach. What a tragic miracle. Tommy kissed him like his heart was about to stop.

When they broke apart, Gordon was rosy from ear to neck, and Tommy guessed from the warmth in his face that he was a mirror to the man in front of him. The portal hummed with impatience as they hesitantly let go of one another, but the eye contact Gordon maintained was as intense as the sun.

“We’re gonna get out of here,” he told Tommy with newfound certainty.

Helplessly, Tommy nodded. “Okay.”

“If it wasn’t for you I would have died back at Black Mesa,” Gordon said. “I’m not throwing that away. We’re gonna kill this fool and we’re gonna go home.”

Tommy could only nod again. He was afraid to let himself hope, but with his mouth still burning in the afterglow of that kiss, he realized he believed him.

Another beat of silence passed, which Gordon eventually broke. “Alright.” He took a step back and surveyed the cathedral of knives that awaited them, then shot a quick glance to Coomer and Bubby, who nodded confirmation that they were ready.

Gordon Freeman, bold and lovely, didn’t hesitate. “Let’s get it!” he called. “Let’s do this!”

They all stood back and watched as their messiah charged into the portal’s hungry mouth. A brilliant flash of light seared their retinas, and as Gordon disappeared, the team moved to follow.

“Let’s give them a good show!” Coomer declared.

They plunged in.

Chapter 19 <-----> Chapter 21

#ink #fanfiction #good jokes #part of my endeavor to relocate all my ao3 work #guns #violence #body horror #theres kissing in this one #hlvrai

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mcrvictoria · 3 years

Text

God (the play)

Characters: A mottle group that went to grade school together till the end of High school. Even though they have different personalities, they maintain a close relationship even in there late twenties. Bringing New couples into the mix and dealing with the off-putting scenarios the characters create.

God: Stereotypical character, white toga Style robe. Seems innocent almost naive. Seems to have an Identity crisis. Definite wisdom but seems simple when dealing with tough situation. Playful and whimsical as well.

Phil: Late twenties, anal and looks for people's approval even though he's successful at his job. Seems a bit needy with a touch of sarcasm that is retracted when he goes to far. Can be self-defeating and can be a bit of a whiner.

Martha: Wise but quietly wanting everyone to be happy. A people-pleaser, her main goal is to become the perfect host. Dedicated to Phil. Knows things others don't seem to know but can be so blind at times and a bit of a snob. She seems to miss the small things.

Tom: Very religious, devout, a little dumb. Easily influenced by Jen. Very scattered and reactionary. Illogical. Blind to all around him. Controlled by base emotions and short tempered.

Jen: Tom's Girlfriend. Not smart but thinks she is. Really argumentative. Emotional and reactive. Very aggressive. Uses sex as a weapon with Tom. Massively manipulative.

Tammy: The most unlucky person ever. If anything can go wrong, it will. She falls a lot, always hurt, outer circle even affected. Can be sad and meek at times. But still seems to carry a smile even if fake. Has an expecting nature about her and stoic.

Dr. Segal: Arrogant, controlling, big ego. Is a Player and condescending. Very shallow and materialistic. Male chauvinistic personality. Objectives women. Really believes he's better than others.

Corina: Very shallow, gold digger, materialistic. Only wears and top brands but never pays for anything. Has multiple boyfriends. Dr. Segal being one of them. Using her looks for gains. Very flirty cheats on all relationships.

Zoe: A clone of Corina but pretends to be dumber. Wrestles with being moral has a conscience but ignores it most times. Important to mimic Corina as much as possible.

Liz: Rhon's Girlfriend, an accomplished musician, university TA. Sweet, kind, a little silly, quiet and very smart. Super humble, supportive and affectionate. Loves animals and people. Can be naive because she wants to believe in the best of people.

Death: Based on a grandmother character. Super sweet, soft just exudes love. Must have grannies glasses. Flowered dress. Little hate, like going to church on Sunday. Cane, just someone you would love no matter what.

Rhon (the actor): Liz's boyfriend, logical, scientific in nature. A intellectual always ready for a debate. Can be loud at times. Knows a lot about the universe and not afraid to share his ideas. Strong sense of self.

Rhon Grenon (The director): Laid back but impatient, direct, demanding if pushed. Also has a contradicting personality, a “I don't care attitude”, but takes everything personal. Knows what he likes and can be a little arrogant about it.

Cue card guy: The real Rhon Grenon. AKA, L.A. Glanvill

Song list:

Voy Vance - Make it rain.

Kidnap kid - first light.

The Pete box - Wave.

Syd Matters – River sister.

Pretty lights – Finally moving.

Patrick Watson – To build a home. (Tammy Dies)

Youngblood Hawk – We come running.

Our last night – Voices.

Two Feet – Had some drinks.

San Holo – Light.

Suuns – Translate.

The Chemical Brothers - Snow.

Miike Snow – Cult logic.

John Butler – Ocean.

Waterboys – To close to heaven.

Phosphoroscent – Song for Zula.

The Strumbellas – We don't know.

Ray LaMontagne – Empty.

The Acid – Basic Instinct.

Low- Lullaby

Crews:

Sound Crew: Responsible of overall feel of the atmosphere and vital to success of the feel of the play.

Lighting crew: Timing is everything. Absolute focus is necessary or wont work especially in the end.

Food Crew: Have to do set up during end of play, Quietly and quickly. Then responsible to encourage people to start to eat. Bring them food or ask them what they want.

Audience Plants: Willing to engage neighbours and encourage them to get involved to the party. Start before the play starts.

Make-up crew: Responsible for all wardrobe and make-up but essential at the end to make Jen a car accident victim..

Visual Crew: Responsible for timing and visual play on TV. Easter Egg

Set Crew: Layout and design as well of placement for optimal full party organization.

Media Crew: Hit all formats of social media. Create a buzz.

Flood of lights across a room, showing all the details of the stage. Centre stage is a typical living room with couch and TV facing audience. Modern style decor Music plays softly in the background. Looks like there is a preparation for a party going on. Banner saying congratulations up and balloons, food out. Three characters are already walking around finishing prepping. The Lights dim, the characters continue to do what they are doing, above the lights and music comes the deep booming voice of God as his speech continues, the rest get the room finished and ready for the party.

GOD: In the beginning there was nothing. Pause Nothing here anyway. This darkness, which wasn't actually darkness at the time because no one had come along to start naming things. Just was... Pause nevertheless; anyway; All the same. From the darkness I created the sun, the moon and all the stars. People weren't even on my mind at this point. I was creating scenery. See. Then I laid out the earth here and touched it up with all the beauty I could imagine. Birds, flowers, trees, beetles, rocks, sand, rainbows and snowy peaked mountains. Eventually, water crept up on the land as land invaded the waters and beasts I envisioned lived in blissful ignorance. All but one; Distaste in voice HUMANS. Humans who started thinking that they had monkeys as ancestors. Who considered themselves the descendants of muscular slugs, who heroically dragged their slippery bodies from the water to land to evolve. Again distaste in voice Suddenly, I feel a need to inform them of their folly; To make my presence known; To inform educate, instruct and edify; To help them understand themselves and to do something. Pause You see, I've become so incredibly bored.

Lights rise again full. The three characters are speaking with one another from across the room. Light music. The doorbell rings.

Phil: I'll Get it. Walks towards the door. Stage Left. Martha raises a hand but not her head as she works away at making finger sandwiches. Phil opens the door to Tammy, Jen, and Thom. Who is carrying a bag of ice. Tammy has a grease mark on her face and her hands are slightly stained, her clothes are wrinkled and hair all messed.

Oh my god Tammy what the hell happened?

Tammy looks at her feet and doesn't answer.

Tom: Her car had a little trouble.

Jen: A little Trouble? I didn't even know that thing could move. It was a rolling horror show.

Tom: She just had a flat tire. Jen: A flat tire!?! I think all four tires of those tires were running on rims. She had flat rims.

Phil: Takes Tammy's hand You ok, hun?

Tammy nods her head walks over and puts a bowl of crab dip that she brought on the table.

Tammy: I'll put the Crab dip here that I made here Martha. Is that ok?

Martha: Come in, come in all of you. Why are you all standing around? Yes Tammy that's fine, right there is fine.

Phil moves to the side and holds the door open. The three walk by him and toss their jackets on the side chair. Phil, looking towards the entering guests goes to close the door behind him but Dr. Segal with Corina and Zoe walk in one on each arm like arm candy. Bumping into Phil as they enter.

Dr. Segal: How's it going, Hi, Hi. I'm here let the party begin.

Phil goes to close the door and looks out to the audience. The spotlight focuses on him. The rest of the cast greet each other , and talk give hugs and hellos. They all grab drinks that Martha is holding on a tray.

Phil: I decided to throw a party. Because I never do these kind of things: Normally I like a nice quiet night in with my fiance, Martha. Or a night on the town at a play, an intimate blues bar or a open air concert. But not in my house, I'm not to found of having people in my house. But these are my friends.

Pause, looks at the group.

A motley crew of misanthropes; self-doubters the lot of them. But aren't we all? They hide it well though, don't they? Dr. Segal there, with the ladies by his side. A plastic surgeon. He has devoted his life, specifically, to enlarging the mammary glands on the already well-endowed women: Women such as Corina, The young woman on his left.

Corina laughs, pushes her chest out, and gives Dr. Segal a slap on the shoulder

Corina didn't always look like that. Nor did any of us really want her to. She's beautiful, in her own way. Then there's Zoe who's thinking of surgery herself, but isn't sure. Why you ask? Because she isn't sure of anything or at least that's what I think. She sure seems to know everything.

Zoe steps back from the other two and raising one hand begins to yatter in a way that the others two roll their eyes at her

Phil: Jen and Tom, have a dysfunctional/ destructive relationship if there ever has been one. They can fight about anything; where the sun sets. What time it is on the moon. If an orange was purple what would it be called? But then they have, or so I've been told, knock out sex. Isn't that the way though?

Jen and Tom seem to be arguing about something of near the kitchen table

And then there's Tammy, poor, poor Tammy. We've been calling her that for years now. Nothing that we know of has ever gone her way. Her father left when she was four, then her mother died on her when she was five. She was shipped off and raised by a grandmother who didn't believe in children. Lucky for her she died when she was Ten. Then many foster-homes. And she disappeared for a good five years. These things are not mentioned in the group. None of ask and she doesn't share. Since she came back her luck has even gotten worse. If there is a chair leg to catch a toe on , she will. If she jumps a green light, she'll get t-boned by another car. If she dates a nice guy. An aspiring doctor...and don't let her know I told you this... he'll end up being the doctor only so much as that he'll get caught dismembering the neighbourhood cats.

Tammy goes to sit down and falls of the chair. Spilling her drink on herself

Then there is Martha and I, We've been together six years now. One day soon I am going to ask for her hand... I didn't know I could love someone this much. And this is my party which I have been planning for two weeks. Now you are all up to speed let's jump in and see where this goes.

Martha is handing out food still and the doorbell rings again. Stage lights up and Phil walks over to answer the door.

Rhon: Hey buddy boy! Gives Phil a hug then pushes him

Phil: Where's Liz?

Rhon: She's on her way. She wanted to bring her own car so she could leave when she wanted to from work.

Rhon Takes of his coat and drops it on the couch, Phil goes to close the door and Liz enters with God slightly behind her. She runs in leaving the door open, God wanders in as the attention is on Liz

Liz: Rhon, Rhon. I won! I won the award for my composition!

She runs across the room and hugs Rhon. Rhon raises a glass in his hand to toast her

Rhon: A toast, To Liz, who just won some epic award for which I assume is a beautiful musical composition.

Everyone raise their glasses, cheer and then drink deeply. Then the girls jump up and down in excitement and joy. Before going back to what they were doing. Lights dim. God Stands beside the couch examining the room, Hands behind his back, Tipping forwards on his feet. Phil goes and closes the door and turns to the audience. Spot light on Phil

Phil: Then there's Rhon and Liz. There's not a better couple out there, as far any of us can tell. And If I have to admit it I'm bit jealous of their relationship. Supportive and loving, disgustingly perfect. And then there's this...

Pauses looks at God hand stuck in air and confused

This Guy who I have never seen before. Who is this guy?

Stage lights up Phil walks over to Liz and Rhon who is excitedly talking to Rhon.

Phil: Who's your friend?

Liz: Who?

Phil: Dude with the beard. He came with you didn't he?

Liz: Never seen him before.

Everyone looks at God who is now watching the TV. Music changes to christian Gospel

Rhon: Who is this guy? And What's with the music?

Phil: Martha can we put on a different CD?

Martha walks over to change the CD but it keeps playing as she pulls out the CD as she holds it. She looks dumbfounded. Phil walks over to God

Phil: Hi There.

Looking quizzical, God just smiles, a kind generous smile

God: Good day, Sir.

Phil: Umm, Might I ask who you came with? Who you came with?

God pauses for a second, glances around the room and back to Phil. Some are looking at him, Liz, Rhon, and Tammy are paying attention to what he's saying. All others are conversing about there places and do not hear what he is about to say

God: I am God

Looking puzzled like he doesn't understand the question

Phil: God? As in Godfry. Right?

God: No, no, no. God.

Glances till he locks eyes towards Martha direction

Ask Martha.

Phil: Oh, you're a friend of Martha's.

God: Yes and no. But she'll understand.

Phil: God. Okay, God. I see.

Lights dim again, spotlight on God. Rest of the cast freezes.

God: To the audience. People simply do not understand. Was I to believe that they honestly would? God is not something that comes and talks to one Saturday night. Something, someone? That just shows up in your living room. God is supposed to be ethereal, everlasting and above all else, somewhere else; Somewhere mystical and above the clouds. Or trenched deep within one's heart: not standing on your carpet in your front room. How can I make them understand who I am? Well I cannot; they simply do, or they do not.

Lights back to full

Phil: God then.

God: To audience And Phil here does.

Phil: May I introduce you to my friend, Moses, Jesus and Mary. Snickers

God: I see. Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour. Has no one ever told you that, Phil?

Phil looks slightly shocked

Phil: How do you know my name?

God: I told you Phil, I am God.

Phil: I see.

God: Need I prove this to you somehow?

Phil: That may be a way to get over this awkwardness, no?

God: No.

Phil: No?

God: Yes, yes, of course. How might I prove this to you?

Phil: Snapping his fingers What was the name of the dog I had in high school? God responds quickly

God: Skippy

Phil: Where did I lose my Blanket when I was four?

God: You didn't, your mom threw it out? Taken aback and surprised but determined to catch him

Phil: Fine then, what is my favourite food?

God: Chocolate: which is odd, thought not as odd as the fact, bearing in mind the aforementioned fact, that you have never had a cavity. Thanks to me. He winks and giggles

Phil: And what...

God: Toothpaste.

Phil: Where...

God: Georgetown.

Phil: Stepping back But...

God: Spruce street, a quarter past five or quarter after five, Simultaneous multiple partners, a lakeside resort on the edge of Owen Sound, A four hundred dollar plate, the grass behind your house, with-in the bushes, Dying cats and teddy bear named Woo-woo you lost while searching for your little sister when she was lost one foggy May morning.

Phil: Head dropping Woo-woo.

God: Speaking in a Jamaican accent Yah Phil. I'm da real ting mon. And to answer you next question, I am here to raise my praise. People jus don believe anymore. Don believe in anything. And we all need somethin' to believe in, right mon. I am da lord and Savior. But if yu need some more proof.... Raises his hands above his head

Phil: No, No, that's alright. I'll play along.

God: Normal voice Are you sure? I have this amazing dancing elephant that will materialize at a moments notice. Doesn't make a mess. It's the dearest little thing I have ever seen.

Phil: No, I'm certain. But, could you do me a favour? I know you want to raise your praise and all, but could you keep the preaching to a minimum? I have been planning this party for a couple of weeks and really, well religious talk is such a downer. We just want to have fun.

God: Kicking his at the ground, head hung low, eyes looking up puppy-dog like Aww come on, I need to help people , help them understand that's there's something out there looking out for them.

Phil: Please. Begging

God: Oh All right, I'll try.

Phil: Try? If memory serves me right, you tried a few things a few times before and they have hardly worked out properly.

God: British accent Scotch, ma boy, I kna yu have a bottle a twenty five under yu bed.

Phil: Smiles I was saving that for a special occasion.

God: Well that special occasion is here.

Martha: Having made her way over to God Rod is it? My, my you should be wearing more clothing: it's cold out there.

God: Do you know what might warm me up?

Martha: Pigs in a blanket?

God: Yup. Pigs in a blanket. Smiles

Phil walks over to help Martha grab the food

Phil: It's god you know that don't you?

Martha: Yes of course I do. Who wouldn't know God?

Dr. Segal walks over quickly. God walks of to the food table. Picks up the crab dip that Tammy brought, Snif s it and gives a troubled face. Puts it back down

Dr. Segal: Who is that?

Phil: He's God.

Dr. Segal: With a smile on his face Let's look at this rationally, shall we. God, the being who created the universe, who created the prototypes for you and me. Who keeps the world spinning, who sends the sun up and the moon down. Or whatever it is that happens there. The big guy in the sky. He's here in your living room. The man with a plan, all the answers.

Corina overhears and comes over with Zoe in tow

Corina: This is stupid. If he has all the answers I don't care! All that matters is how you look and what you have. Everyone knows that.

Zoe: OMG! Corina come on that's not true. What about sad people: They need our help to make them happy. Like makeup and stuff.

Corina: Laughs loud and claps here hands like she has a great idea I know everybody feels better when you get a good haircut. Looking with wide eyes like she has a secret to share. We should start a club or crowd funding or group or facebook or whatever to give make-up workshops in Africa or hair extensions to the poor.

Both Girls squeal in delight and give each other a high five

Both: OMG YEAAA!!!

Phil looks dumbfounded and looks back to Dr. Segal to finish his conversation. Both girls talk among themselves

Phil: Umm, anyway sure, To answer you. Why not? I mean why not? Don't you...

Dr. Segal: Believe in God? Sure, sure. Why not. I believe in God But The guy with the beard over there is trying to steal your gold pen.

Phil: Pointing at God Hey, hey put that down!

God: Looking startled It's a beautiful pen Phil, lovely Fine gold.

Phil: Yeah, well you can see why I would be a little nervous about it then.

God: Indeed.

Dr. Segal and Phil walk over to where God is

Phil: And you might expect that I will Question why you have chosen to visit me. Tonight of all nights.

God: Indeed

Spot light on Phil

Phil: To Audience A rope walks into a bar and orders a beer, The bartenders says, Says we don't serve ropes here. The the rope bends over and shows him the top of his head and says fraid knot? No, wait that's not the one I wanted. Slaps himself on the knee Guy walks into a party and says, “ I'm God.” No, that's not nearly as funny. Guy throws a party and everything that could go wrong goes wrong. And God walks in.

Tom: To Phil smugly I see you are humouring the deity this evening Phil.

Phil: So you don't believe?

Tom: I do believe in God. I don't believe that that is him. I know God and his will: you know I am one of the faithful, one of his flock. I understand the heart and mind of God. I hate to say it Phil. But I am closer to God, more than any of you.

Jen: I don't believe it's him either. But let's have fun with him.

Phil Hangs his head as his friends walk past him. He turns around to find that the rest of the party members have gathered around God

Dr. Segal: Those are some hefty bags under your eyes, old timer. Drop by my clinic and I could help you out with those.

Martha hands God a snifter of scotch

Zoe: Like, where do you stand on abortion?

Corina: Can you make me Prettier?

Rhon: When I look into the night sky I can only see so far, right? I want to know what the edge of the universe looks like.

Everyone is there surrounding God

Liz: Where is the most beautiful place on Earth?

Phil: Once we have figured out DNA what will we know?

Jen: To Phil Why would he care about that?

Tom: To Jen Why would he not?

Jen: Where do you even come up with such dumb things to say?

Tom: Oh-for-crying-out-loud Jen! Why can't you just agree on one thing for once?

Jen: You always say that! I have my own thoughts, I don't like when you say I argue. Last time you did that I washed your shirt and nothing is ever good enough for you.

Tom: What the hell are you talking about? They both walk of arguing getting softer as they walk away. Improve argument from here. Everyone turns back to God to ask more questions. But not loud. Silent but dramatic actions. Music louder like a Montague

Tammy softly speaks as music drops almost shy like

Tammy: What is luck?

The party slips into slow motion but for God and Phil

God: Looking mournfully towards Phil You know Phil, You weren't selected at random. Your house was chosen. Wilfully selected. Let me tell you why I am here, Phil. Going into salesman mode People have managed to get the wrong idea about me Phil. My message has been bastardized to the point where I cannot tell what these people are talking about anymore. You have all made it more difficult than it needs to be. They've taken my words and ruined them. Changed them. Switched them up and spat them back out in odd formations to feed their own ego's. Someone should just ask me what I am talking about. Not these single little questions. These insignificant whims. Ask me what it is I mean by it all.

Phil: God, What are you talking about?

God: Ask me what it all means. What this world is all about.

Phil: What's it all about God?

God: Beats me. Giggles

Rest of the party snaps back out of slow motion and God and Phil are in there original places

Tammy: Why were all my loved ones taken from me so early on in life?

Jen comes back as Thom pouts in the corner by the food. She interrupts pushes her way in, then Thom follows back with a frown on his face

Jen: Is true love a reality? Or some sort of chemical bullshit?

Tom: Why are you asking this guy anything? He's not God!

Jen: How do you even know? Well? How could you know? It might be possible!

Tom: I, I, well I'd just know. I mean God doesn't come and start nattering to people in their living rooms, some night. Does he!

Martha: He could.

Liz: Is music truly the greatest divine blessing?

Rhon: okay, so what I find hard to swallow, is what religion is selling. It seems flawed, in a way that is beyond explanation. Hypocritical, controlling, and self-centred. I think that is the problem. Self-centred. Seriously though, I use to look up into the nights sky when I was a kid and wonder what was up there, all night long, watching the stars move and the clouds and the moon. Then one day I found out that it was us that was moving and not the stars. Or that the stars had already moved and what I was seeing was not even there anymore. They were just what was left of what was once there. Like that flicker when you turn off a TV at night. And seriously listen I couldn't go to church any more. I mean, If I can stare at something with my own eyes like that, something that doesn't even exist anymore, and the lights are beautiful. The earth moves on its own accord, and all this, all this stuff was actually created by something. I was damned certain that it, whatever it was that created all of this, was not going to care whether or not I stuffed myself into a little blue suit every Sunday morning and sang songs about how much I loved him. And how much I praised him. Come on wasn't Sunday supposed to be a day off anyway?

Everyone stops and looks at Rhon rant. For a moment when he's done silence. Then in unison to God

Everyone: Aren't you going to give us any answers?

God looks tired, settles down in a seat. Martha grabs a drink and brings it to God and a small plate of pigs in a blanket. He smiles at her and sips his scotch and closes his eyes to enjoy it

Martha: Let's all leave him alone for a moment, give him some space you guys.

Cast but Phil walks back to the food table talking to themselves

God: He makes me sound like I've been neutered or something.

Phil: We are not supposed to know the face of god, Or so we have been told.

God: Not supposed to know? Who decided this? Shaking his head at the statement

Phil: Only his work.

God: My work. Hmm. But not me. The product but not the inventor.

Phil: But are we to thank you?

God: Thank me? For what? For what I have done for you? But not know who or what you are thanking?

Phil: Does it sound odd?

God: A little. Might I have a moment alone?

Phil: Certainly.

Phil walks over to where Tom is standing, Jen Kissing Thom Passionately, God looks likes talking to someone, then sips his drink quietly. As Thom Phil is there and pushes Jen of of him

Phil: Tom, you don't believe that God is right there do you.

Tom: Oh he's here. He resides in our churches and cathedrals and in our hearts. He's all around us. Watching, judging every moment of our existence.

Phil: So, you don't believe that he could come to earth and talk to us?

Tom: If he did, who would believe him? Unless he turned the sky into fire, and the world to salt. He would show the power of who he is.

Jen: Yea right, he's right!

Stage Darkens, spotlight on Phil. Who walks to the front of the stage. Rhon walks over to God. And you can see them starting a deep debate. Can only see actions no words

Phil: Well, I do. We've made him human. Sometimes some of us; If we care at all to look outside of ourselves for answers. But then, most of us are too busy for that anyway. Doesn't it seem that the stranger things get the more willing we are to accept them? The tabloids draw our eyes their stands at the grocery stores. Tweets build fear. Facebook isolates us. We don't know how to be friends anymore. The news that people have won millions in a lottery, keeping us buying and wanting and hoping that in someway or some how our number will come up and we will finally win. We have lost faith in anything tangible. And as we lose faith we begin believing more and more in things, like televangelists, products that will make us beautiful. People that lie to us and we want them too. Trying to be perfect trying each to be a God in our own right, hoping one more person will push the like button to make us closer to perfection. We have created a God so far from who he is here in my living room, that we can't even see who he is now. Or understand. No one has direct recourse to the Lord.

Lights come back on and Rhon Is beside God. Phil walks over in mid-conversation.

Rhon: So, you see what I mean? No, no seriously, if we live in a multi-dimensional universe. The introduction of infinity proves that a God could not exist in this wider sense of multiple infinitives of north, east, west, south, up and down. Time, God. Time could not exist if God does. What we have is a world within which we are attempting to link existing things, things we can touch and see. Like this glass of wine. Holds up glass of wine Like wise cannot see, like time, or infinity, or God. And that makes sense. Doesn't it?

God: You cannot multiply infinity times infinity, then interject variables with an earthly construct. Quantifying the equation and expect there to be a big equal sign n the end. Counting things out on his fingers

Phil: So then we made God. We made God for the answer to these questions?

God: Yes, that is entirely possible. The world spinning in infinity without a leader, without a God. So, there is no God. No, wait a moment... There is Dammit you guys, I'm God.

Phil, and Rhon Snicker At God for a moment Tom walks over near the end of god speaking

Tom: Extending his hand Right then, God I'm Moses. Would love to talk to you a little longer but there's Sea somewhere that needs to be parted. Tom walks off laughing

Phil: You could have said something.

God: I don't bother with his type. He has his own perception of who I am, what I do. I could do anything I wish to him, but he's still going to be looking for a bloody tear to come off of some manikins face or a bush to spontaneously combust. It's easier to let him live his life. Let him live simply. Than show him the truth of who I am. Like I said before the message has been lost in time. The ultimate telephone game.

Phil: So the faithful are wrong?

God: Hand to chin No, not wrong. But blind faith in anything will get you killed.

End of Act I

Act II

TV is on. Rhon Flicks remote begins to press buttons. God remains sitting munching on pigs on a blanket and sipping on his drink

TV: In Syria today, UN troops are gaining access to previously un... On highway 7 today at 2:00am just east of Peterborough, Five teens driving what is believed in excessive speed crashed into a tree. Alcohol may have been a factor. All Five teens... For only $29.99 plus shipping and handling. That's right Greg, we pay the shipping and handling this time. What Fran We do?... It's generally our notion that, upon discovering his men bogged down in heavy snow of a Russian winter. Napoleon chose, against the wishes of his commanding officers and advisors, to continue on, but what was he expecting to find in Russia that... Show me the way to go home, everybody now, I'm tired and wanna go to bed.

Phil: Hey Rhon turn up the music, turn that thing down. More party man.

Martha while walking across the room, takes the remote from Rhon and places it back on the TV, music plays softly in the background

Martha: What is it I have to do to live a good life? Sorry to bother you, I really am, but I have been asking myself this question for so long now and I need to know the answer.

God: Slow, steady, psychiatrists voice Need. Need as a word, if I am correct, normally signals something which, were one to not receive it, one might very well die? Well, will you die if you do not receive an answer, Martha?

Martha: Looking at the couch, running her finger up and down the seam of the arm rest I suppose not. But will I be allowed into heaven?

Phil: Wanders over and sits beside Martha Yes, is there a heaven? I've always wondered that myself.

God: Well, a while ago I rented this warehouse location on Roosevelt Island and now we get those souls packed in there nice and tight.

Martha: What!?!

God: Giggling No, Martha I'm kidding. I'll have to leave that up to your imagination. But yes to live a good life Martha. I will tell you a secret Motions for her to come closer Rubber bands. You must collect more rubber bands.

Martha nods her head and stands, when she passes the TV, there is an elastic on it and she takes it

God: Turns to Phil I've realized over time I'm not that good with people, Phil. I often forget how ridiculously low their sense of humour is.

Dr. Segal: At the kitchen Table But Club Monaco is the new big thing. Those Tight little tops that show off the ladies belly-rings. And the skin. Short, short, short. Legs, legs legs.

Zoe: Club Monaco? Like, whatever. I spend, like a thousand on a shirt I can wear it like forever. Club Monaco cost like Fifty bucks.

Dr. Segal: You could wear it forever? But do you?

Zoe: Guuuroossss, NEVER!

Dr. Segal: Nothing I like more than a woman in a tight sweater. Takes Corina's hand and smiles I really do appreciate the subtlety of a woman. I know that sounds hypocritical being a surgeon in the art of plastic. But to me seeing a beautiful angel filling a sweater, where a lot is left to the imagination...mmm...mmm

Corina: Sweaters! But they hide so much. They're so, regular. I mean, Like, I mean. They hide everything.

Dr. Segal: And there is beauty in that, isn't there? In the unknown about another person?

Zoe: No, there isn't. We should be able to judge people without talking to them.

Jen: Well, maybe if boobs are all you have then...

Zoe: Take that back! Waving her finger at Jen

Jen: Why do you immediately assume I am talking about you?

Zoe: Take it back! Jen: Well, it's true.

Zoe: You don't mean it. Take it back!

Jen: I do, and I won't!

Zoe: Why do you have to be such a bitch?

Jen: I just say what I know.

Zoe: Well maybe you should, like, think about keeping some of these things to yourself, do you know what I mean?

Jen: Honesty is a virtue. Right God? Looks across the room at God

Spot light falls on God, the rest of the room slips into slow-motion. God speaks to the audience

God: Petty disputes. What makes them think that I can solve their Problems? Who was it that said, all of your dealings with one another, your financial troubles, your social concerns, your love and loss of love take them to god. Send them my way. I can fix it. In the dead of night when you have just hung up the phone with the only person you ever believed you would be able to love. Who has just told you that you unfortunately are not the one for them. Well, yell to good old God. Tell him your troubles. You've driven your car into a wall because your high. Lying there in your own stupid pool of blood and cry out to God. Maybe God can turn back time, you'll think, maybe God is the answer here. Then while you're laying a hospital room, contemplating how ephemeral it all is, how absolutely tragic the world is. How horrible you have been treated, you will say, Why, God, why have you forsaken me? And I will tell you why. Because, dumb-ass you did it yourself. It was was your choice to smoke that joint and text. Not mine. And that person that convinces you to buy Bitcoin but at the last moment you bail.

God: They become rich and you don't. You can't blame them for your lack of courage. You wanting to play it safe. You make choices that dictate your future everyday. I'm not saying hardship won't happen for no reason now and then. Sure born into the wrong part of the world what choice do you have. But definitely you have a choice here. You already won the golden ring. You by being here in this moment of time in this place have won the lottery of life. Every opportunity is given to you. I look out for the ones that need it, the little people. Putting little angels on their shoulder... But these people are beyond my jurisdiction. They've made their own rules and now must live by them. Sorry to say.

Stage lights back up

Jen: I'm not saying that you are a bad person, Zoe. Just self-centred and.

Zoe: What? Self-centred and What? If you are having about of honesty here and all.

Tom: Simple.

Phil: Please stop it you guys.

Zoe: Simple! Simple! What do you mean by that?

Jen: Maybe more ignorant than simple, actually. I'd say. But that is not a bad thing. You just decided to live your life a different way. Different things are important to you.

Phil: No really guys please, my party come on don't be mean to each other. We can work this out.

Zoe: Pfff, like okay. What. The. Hell.

Dr. Segal: Laughing All I was saying is that I like a woman in a sweater. But if we're going to be talking like this well Jen, I mean, really, Pot, Kettle, Black. Hahaha

Zoe: Oh shut up you, you, you pimp.

Dr. Segal: Whooaa Hahaha. Pimp? Hahahah, let me explain to you what pimp is.

Zoe: Like, I know what a pimp is. And. And. Why are you all being so mean to me? Starts to cry

Jen: To Dr. Segal as she puts her hand on Zoe shoulder to support her What do you know about or anything you glorified sculptor!

Dr. Segal: I'll take that as a compliment. Hahaha

Zoe: What did I do wrong?

Jen: What is it that I said so wrong? Or awful? It's just the truth.

Tom: I wish this never started. Why can't you just keep your mouth shut? Why do you have to fight with everyone at every moment?

Phil: Guys, guys, my party remember?

Corina: I think my left Boob is bigger than the right one. Can anyone see this?

Rhon: Why can't we just get along people. It's the differences that separate us and we have to start finding common ground here. Common you guys.

Tom: That kind of attitude will get you beat up these days. Hahahaha

Dr. Segal: Softly There's more to life than looks.

Jen: And you would know.

Tom and Phil both start laughing

Liz: Guys what's going on?

Tom And Phil Still laughing

Jen, Zoe: what you you laughing at?

In the background Tammy is eating her Crab dip, standing alone. No one else is there after eating it she sits. She waves for help but no one notices. Then leans back and dies with her eyes open. Everyone is focused on Phil who is awkwardly laughing.

Phil: Ha, Ha, So here's a good one. This guy, he decides to have this party and, Hahaha, makes everything perfect for everyone. For his friends and then, ohh, here's a good one. The Lord almighty shows up and. Hahaha his friends start to fight with one another and Hahahaha, toss some drinks around and insult one another and then, hahahahaha.

Dr. Segal looks over at Tammy where she is slumped over eyes open, as Phil has his break down. He walks over puts his ear to her mouth and listens for a moment. Picks up her arm and checks for a pulse. Stage goes dark and the spotlight focuses on God. God put his drink down and shakes his head

God: This isn't going to be pretty. Lights come up full on the stage

Dr. Segal: Tammy's dead! He shouts out to everyone.

Everyone: Dead?

Dr. Segal: Dead!

Everyone: Dead?

Dr. Segal: Dead!

Phil: How?

Dr. Segal: Dead!

Rhon: No, How?

Dr. Segal: Shrugs his shoulders Might have been something she ate.

Zoe: I told her to go on a diet!

Everyone glares at her still in shock.

Phil: And then, here's the punch line. I mean get this one, It's better than three guys walk-into a bar. A priest, a mime and a drunk Irish man. Or the one about guy and his neighbour wife? Which is a good one. A real good one. This one is better. This guy, see, he throws a party and wants everything to be perfect. But then God shows up and his friends fight and argue. And then, here it is, here's the big one, the clincher. The old whoompa! One of his guests Dies. DIES hahahahahahah

God: As he eats the crab dip and other things It was the crab Dip. I guess I could have mentioned that but then I got this scotch and got into these conversations and then the ladies here started fighting with one another.

Rhon: You couldn't have mentioned this? I mean really God. Come on.

Phil: I let you into my house. For the party.

Zoe: She was my friend.

Tom: I can still remember our night together. Walks over to Tammy strokes her hair

Dr. Segal: No leave her be.

Everyone sits down at the table then ignores that Tammy in dead. Someone pushes the Crab dip to the end of the table. The stages darkens slightly Music in the background. Death walks in touches Tammy on the arm and she pops up fully animated, Stands and tests out here new body. She seems stronger, more confident, both move to the back of the table and seem in a good happy conversation

Jen: Wait! What night with her? Thom? I introduced you to her. So if you did anything with her I'll Frig'in lose it I swear to God!

God Perks up and looks at them points to himself questioningly

Tom: Aww, Tammy. I feel so betrayed. Jen How could you think this?

Zoe: Like, Serves you right.

Tom: Oh shut it Zoe!

Phil: My party.

Rhon: You couldn't have mentioned this? You're God for Christ sake. You didn't get around to mentioning that the Crab dip was going to kill our friend?

God: Well, I knew the possibility was there that it could maybe, kill her. But things can always go one of two ways.

Zoe: Like, whatever. IF you're God, I'm Marilyn Monroe.

Tom: And I'm Moses.

Jen: And I'm Princess Di.

Zoe: That's pretty Tasteless.

Jen: What do you know about taste?

Tom: Name one Tchaikovsky Symphony.

Zoe: Who? Me or her?

Tom: Either of you. And at the same time points to God Prove you are who you say you are. Prove you're God. Let's get it all figured out here. All the cards on the table.

Phil: No, no, please don't make him prove anything. The elephant and the destry what's left of my party. And. Oh, please just don't make him prove anything.

With a big pause, everyone's attention is focused on God he sighs and gets ready to speak

God: This girl has an unlucky life and I get the blame when she dies? I didn't make the dip. I didn't make the crab dip with old eggs and old crabs. I didn't take it from the plate and stick it in Tammy's mouth. But I get the blame? See that's what I have been talking about. You all think that I have something to do with this.

Tom: Well, you do have the ultimate control over everything. Right? That's the deal. Your job description. Right? Or will you just admit now you aren't God.

Phil: Gone, deceased, dead hands flutter in the shape of a bird. Taking off above his head an at my party. The party I have been planning for over two weeks.

Rhon: Oh sweet-Jesus-tap-dancing-Christ Phil. Shut up about the damn party. We get it, we know, but right now things have gone a little sideways here and we have bigger things to think about that that right now.

God: There. There is my flaw. Snaps his fingers and points My cosmic joke, my point of break or my cracked vase. You little buggers can only think yourself. Yourself and how you can be better than one another. But, in the end, just yourself. Yourself first and last. Start, middle and end, me, me, me. Do you know how I got here today? I took the subway. While I was standing there on the platform, a woman named Patricia Barker, was severely depressed. Believing the world was to much for her. She was so desperate, to much pain to speak of. Decided to remove her and her child from it. The world that is. Remove herself completely. By jumping , child in arms, in front of a oncoming subway. I was the blind black beggar at the station. You want me to help? Well it's not my job!

Martha: That's awful.

God smiles sadly at Martha

God: But this woman beside me, Three piece suit, a couple grand worth of jewellery, late for a business meeting as it was. She began to complain. Complain that she was going to be even later for this meeting. Huffing and puffing. That it would change her world. That it would make more and more money. “Screw this stupid woman, who is dressed like a street person.” She said aloud. Decides to jump in front of a train, I mean come on people, you want to know everything in the world there is to know? Life on mars, eternal happiness, the perfect orgasm, long life and maybe inner peace? Well, compassion is a good start. Compassion and empathy is a damn fine start actually.

Phil: And then my guests piss off God.

Death makes her way to Tammy stands beside her and Tammy instantly comes to life. they talk but know one notices as all focus is on God. Death waves hello to God, God nodded in acknowledgement

Liz: God: are you okay?

God: Runs his hands over his face I'm sorry. You are no more to blame than anyone else. But you must understand that it is all about free will. And that is going to shock you all. I mean, especially Tom there who actually believes in me.

Tom: Looking sheepish and acting defensive I believe in God, and there's nothing wrong with that. But you my friend are not HIM!

God: You are a rarity these days. But no one really has it wrong. Well, except for the Scientologist. They are way out in left field. Anyway I created the earth, and it was good. I created the plants, the sea, the sky, it was all good. Good. Put animals in the mix nice batch of insects all life. Then I got tired or maybe bored I can't remember. So I set the program in motion, a basic free will if you like. It was good. I went away for awhile and I came back and what do I see. It was no longer good. Yu'all screwed it it up. Yu'all forgot a few things changed a few things. But yu'all had yer purposes to fulfill. And and yu'all don't like it. Then you have someone like Tammy here who, tonight, has fulfilled her duties. Who's free-will has brought her to this. And this.

Lights focus on Death and Tammy

Phil: Who is this?

God: Death.

Rhon: This old lady is Death?

Death blows her nose and fixes her glasses and smiles a big smile Tammy Appears beside Death. The rest of the cast realize shes alive and standing

Rhon: Oh my God, It's Tammy!

The rest are shocked

Liz: Tammy I thought you died?

Tammy: I think I did.

Phil: Wait I thought she died!

Tom: I told you she wasn't dead.

Corina: Tammy Come here, with us.

Death: No folks we need her with us.

Phil: Then Death shows up. What a party!

God: Yes, Gladice here is Death and she does a damn fine job of it to. Don't you Gladice. He raises his glass to Death

Death: I try.

God: You've been with me for what? Two, three generations?

Death: Going on four, God.

God: Elected by a body of her peers each time. And she still loves the lot of you.

Death: I do, I truly do.

God: With birth out of the way, and Death taking care of business. I have so much time on my hands. Thank you Gladice.

Death: No Thank you God.

Dr. Segal: Sounds reasonable to me.

Rhon: But can't you stop Death?

God: Sure, why not. Throw a stick in the spokes of history. Why not? But it's none of my business, now is it.

Rhon: What if we found a good reason?

God: Ahh a salesman. Great, perfect. Hit me with your best pitch, Mr. Lowman.

Rhon: Can I discuss this with my friends?

God: Certainly, By all means, take your time.

God rises from his seat with a grunt and joins Death and Tammy behind the table. The rest go join Phil on the couch

Rhon: What are we going to say?

Liz: Tell him Tammy's life was horrible and that she deserves a break.

Jen: Tell him that we could trade some of Corina's hair for Tammy. Or a leg. What are your legs insured for now Corina? Three, four hundred thousand.

Corina: Like shut up!

Rhon: Or maybe we could just bribe death?

Dr. Segal: Cheat him, lie to him, bribe him. Sure, what the hell, hahaha. The whole shebang. Bring her to her knees in negotiation. Tie her up in litigation. Appeal her rulings then jump bail with our Tammy in hand. Hahahah.

Liz, Rhon, Zoe Tom: Shut up Segal.

Jen: To Tom You shut up.

Tom: To Jen No you shut up.

Jen: Why do I hate you so much?

Tom: Talking through clenched teeth Why must I talk through clenched teeth whenever I talk to you?

Jen: Why...

Tom: If only...

The two of them lean into one another and start kissing

Phil: Two weeks. Two weeks I planned...

Liz: This is never going to work.

Rhon: We will have to make this work, figure out some loophole never thought of.

The group come together heads close like they are making plans hands waving and pointing. Death, God and Tammy seem to be in a deep conversation as well. Pointing to the other group. Lights start to fade as music plays up.

End Of Act II

Act III

On one side of the table is God, Tammy and death. God and death standing on either side of Tammy who is sitting in the middle seat.. On the other side Tom, Phil, Liz, Rhon and Corina standing. Jen and Tom have moved to the couch and pawing each other. The TV playing old family 8mm home movies in silent mode.

God: I see you have a couple of non-players on your side. Gestures at Jen and Tom Never-the-less, we should do this properly. Everyone, this is Death, Gladice. God points as he introduces each one to Death. This is Rhon, Liz, Zoe, and Corina, Phil and Martha. Oh of course you, know Dr. Segal.

Dr. Segal moves across stage towards Death. He sticks his hand out to shake her hand then pulls it away

Death: Yes, Dr. Segal, I know your work well. Rhon, a Lovely boy, Liz. Liz there are some pianos in the great beyond that you will simply love.

Tammy: To Liz Sorry I didn't get to talk to you tonight, but that CD you loaned me is on the cabinet by my bed. You can get it back whenever...

Liz: Aren't you scared?

Zoe: Like of course she's scared. I mean, She's like dead.

Corina: I'm not sure I understand all this.

Dr. Segal: You don't have too, dear.

Tammy: Actually, I'm not scared. Death told me about where I am going and everything and it sounds nice. And I did put on clean underwear today so we can take the express route. Anyway, I had a huge Visa Bill. Hehe. So all is good.

Dr. Segal: Hahahaha Good one.

Rhon: Coughs into his hand Ummmm.

God: Yes, yes, our salesman. Gladice, these young people would like to discuss the removal of their friend from this earthly plane. If that would be ok with you.

Death: Checking her wrist watch We really haven't the time. I wish we did.

Liz: Yelling I don't think its fair you are taking Tammy.

Zoe: Yeah, Like her life sucked and you're, like taking it away from her early and it's wrong.

Dr. Segal: Well spoken.

Zoe: Go to hell.

Corina: Maybe I could do work or something.

Death: Now, now, my children.

Rhon: Okay. Let's take this back one step. Calmly, Calmly. Tammy is our life long friend, ok? Everyone nods. And she has had a pretty horrible life. If something could go wrong it would. By far the most unluckiest person I have ever known. It was like watching someone being tortured slowly. There has to be a better way to do this this ending I mean.

Tammy: Well, it did have its moments.

Rhon: But it wasn't that great. I mean, your parents, your living conditions, your poor, poor luck.

Tammy: You make it sound like I should be happy to be dead.

God beams a big smile

God: You're losing your defendant.

Rhon: Tammy I don't mean it the way you think. What I mean is you deserve to have a little luck fall your way. A chance to turn it around a second chance. And bottom line Tammy we want you with us.

Tammy: I kind of like this dead thing. It's tingly.

Rhon: Tingly?

Phil: Why did she have to die at my party though?

Death: It's that easy isn't it? Someone snaps their fingers and someone is dead. There is no research in this no analysis. My team of professionals...

Phil: Phhhhh

Death: Who work very hard.

Phil: Phhhhhhh

Death: Very hard to get everything organized. Okay what is it Phil? Is there something you would like to tell us? What is it?

Phil: Absurd!

Death: Absurd?

Phil: Does no one else find this absurd?

Death: There is nothing absurd about this, young man. This is a very serious business. Where is he going?

Phil moves away towards the TV and just stares at it.

Tammy: Listen you guys, I don't know why this happened, well I do it was the Crab, but what I mean is this is bigger than me. More important than all of us. I feel like This means something and what I thought was bad luck or sadness or even loneliness, was teaching me something that I needed to learn. I may not understand all the nuances but I feel like for the first time. What I do matters. If you think about it, I will get to see my mom and dad, right Gladice? Gladice Nods her head yes and to me that's a greater gift than anything I have here right now at this time.

God: Okay folks, time to jump in for a bit here. What I want to mention is that what you are forgetting is that Tammy does not have a choice. Her life was designed this way for a purpose. It was all to teach her for the moments to come. She was being trained to take over for Death. In time she will have the compassion and the grace to help people cross over. Her training started before she was born. Everything she needed to be was planned out every second in time. Tammy nods like she understands and accepts this idea with a smile.

Rhon: What about free-will. You were pretty hip on that before.

God: It's all part of a system. Systems do not change at the drop of a hat. Everything has a function to the overall purpose.

Dr. Segal: Devil's advocate here for a second. You tell us all about you, the almighty, your work. Ect, ect. Then you introduce us to you organizational skills. Aka this free-will deal. What, in effect, is a program set in motion to do your work for you while you were elsewhere. Taking a nap and such. Correct? Right, then you introduce us to Gladice who you inform us, is part of a system as well. You can't believe in two systems of thought. You either believe in free-will or fate. Both can't exist. And, whoa is it just me or are there some things here that no longer make any sense?

God: This is getting out of hand. I know I made the rules, but I made them a long time ago and now I cannot recall the sensibility behind them all right now. Searching his pockets

Rhon: You're contradicting yourself now.

Dr. Segal: Now I was never a lawyer but I did go out for Law school before I became a doctor and I must say that...

God: Giving a stern look finger up Tammy serves a better purpose dead than alive.

Dr. Segal, Rhon, Liz, Zoe, Corina, Thom, all at once, after a slight pause, say But, Then fire questions fast then they pair of slowly mock talking to each other

Rhon: An infinite universe. Indeed, But what if is flat? And what if something created it which we can't even fathom. Something outside of cumulative reality than the God we know? Of even stranger what if we are just senescence stuck on an event horizon. On the edge of a Black hole? Existing only for a nano-second, but time being relative we exist for trillions of years before our reality is destroyed by another dimension. An mathematical nominally. Mistake by happenstance.

Steps aside

Liz: There is so much beauty in the world. But there is so much hatred and violence. How can I believe or not believe?

Zoe: Do we need to know?

Corina: If there is a god, and I’m a saying if, what will it think of us? We inject plastics into ourselves, we pierce our bodies and we plaster them with ink. We shave off bits here, suck out fat there. We don't consider ourselves or others in eight out of ten actions. Or we don't care. I can't believe because too many of us don't seem to care.

Tom: From the couch, unattached himself from Jen For the moment my belief is strong.

Jen: My will is strong.

Phil: I believe. How could I not. But it's like my party. God created this thing, this world, these existences, and then everyone ruined it on him.

God: Stop! Silence!

Lights strumming in the background all actors go to speak but find they cannot, they open and close their mouths like fish on land, god does circles at the centre of the stage like he's in deep thought and concern

God: I came here with the idea of teaching, showing people the problems which exist and possible solutions. And, again, to prove some things to myself. I mean, I had that Job fellow awhile ago, but what did that prove? You need to keep testing and testing and testing till you find a weak spot. The spots where the light gets in and you patch them up. You make them stronger. You make them better. Thicker, Darker, more resilient. But I wasn't expecting all these questions. Or all these people with all these problems. All self-centred, petty little people have confused me. I mean, what am I supposed to do with them? What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to say?

Lights have a soft dim not full, spot light on God, he walks to the front of the stage puts his hands to cover his eyebrows to look out to the audience, to stop the glare.

God: Rhon, Rhon Grenon. Are you out there?

Out in the audience is the director of the play Rhon Grenon. On each side of hims is an AD cute with pens in her hair and a clipboard. On the other is a model like woman Possible Girlfriend. Super classy, snobbish air about her.

Rhon: Right here God.

Rhon the actor on the stage pipes up and God turns around to answer him then turns back into the light searching the audience.

God: Not you, you fool. You're not even real.

Phil: What does he mean you're not real? You've come here and really ruined my party. You've drank my wine, filled yourself with my Doritos.

Rhon: Yeah, I ate his Doritos. I'm real.

God: SHHHH! None of you are real. Rhon I know you're out there!

Rhon G: Yes God what's up? Stands up

God: What is going on here Rhon? Apparently I am God And have ultimate control over the universe. Right? I don't get it, where were you going with this?

Rhon G: I was trying to show ideals and obedience with conformity and such do not necessary guarantee a good life. Or a good afterlife, whatever the case may be.

Rhon: Who are you?

All the cast walks to the front of the stage, stay in character, they stand beside God. Do what you thin your character would do but silently

Rhon G: I'm you but real. Look forget it.

Rhon: He's telling me to forget it. Gestures to the other actors Forget it, he's me, But real. No problem, right, Rhon No problem.

Rhon G and God: Please be quiet. Timing Is very important here they must say it together perfectly

God: Rhon, what are you going to do about this play? It has seemed that it has spiralled out of control.

Rhon G: Well, I had a god handle on what was going on until people started shouting at one another. But that was all planned, in away, as it was, but now…

Jen removers herself from Tom walks to the forefront to face Rhon G.

Jen: So, You're God? This is our friend Rhon, And this guy here points to the Rhon G is the real Rhon who created us all and, of course, we are all just characters in a play? Well, then none of this would matter... That's it I'm leaving, are you coming Tom.

Tom: I, I don't think so Jen. No, Not this time.

Jen: Looking angry Fine! Have it your way. I'm sick of you and this dumb group anyway. And just so you know I'm glad this is over. I wanted to end it a long time ago Tom. So screw you!

Jen runs to the front of the stage jumps of and storms of through the audience and out the back door

Rhon G: Calm down everyone. It's okay. She can go. I wrote that scene in to get her to leave. I wasn't a big fan of her character anyway. I think I wrote her to pushy. That's why she gets hit by a car now.

From the back of the theatre doors open, you hear the long screeching of tires and a hard body thump. Hit by car, Out back have a team of make -up artist ready to bandage her hun give her bruising and deep wounds.

Tom: WHAT?? NOOO, NOT JEN!! Runs after her in hysterical After Tom leaves out the back

Rhon G: See, now he's all distraught and horrified. Now he has real emotions. Now he feels.

God: Is that what this is all about then?

Zoe: Okay. Like, what was that? I'm bored and confused and freaked right out and I have things to do tomorrow, I wanna leave too.

Rhon G: No, Zoe you still have a love interest. And what is this all about? This is all about Said quickly The conceptual reality within the confines of a subversive universe, will only express the complex level of benevolence that a higher manifestation of God Transfers. But we colour our realities in deep conjecture of patronizing subtle passions. I created you, God, with a reality which transgresses all boundaries. There is no logical process or grounds of functionality that readies the mind in a state of perpetual grandeur. With willingness to explore we touch the spiritual bond of life and we express as well as experience the differences that enumerate the belief of something bigger than we are.

God: Uh-huh.

Pause

Zoe: Like really, A love interest? For real? Okay I'll stay.

She sits on the edge of the stage looks out pick a cute none actor in audience and flirt with the person. Try to convince him/ her to come and chat and eventually on stage. At this point the food crew will start to move food in slowly and quietly on the side of the audience

Rhon: It wouldn't actually be for real though would it? If we are just actors and all in a play?

Rhon G: Don't get bitter now Rhon, whos to say what is real and what instinct. How do you know if I'm just and actor playing a part in a bigger play or reality. It could be endless.

Rhon: I have my own mind. I am real.

Rhon G: I can prove you're not.

God: Here we go.

Rhon: Okay, Go ahead.

Rhon G: Think of a Number between zero and one hundred.

Rhon: Okay got it.

Rhon G: Forty-two

Rhon: Uh-uh... No. uh.

Rhon G: Yes it was.

Rhon: Clenching his teeth as he says it Fine it was!

Rhon G: Go sit down big boy.

Rhon G and Rhon Sit down at the same time in the same pose.

Rhon G: Carry on with the play now. We'll talk , After the show.

*** Ref. 58 PG

God: Wait. So if you created me then I am not god?

Rhon G: That's not true at all. God is the ultimate power in the universe according to some. I can't Create God. Only God Can create God if God even exists. Which I can't prove... or disprove. I just wanted to challenge people's thinking. That's all. People are so damn set in there ways sometimes. I mean, don't people want to see different things? Different views? Visit a concept they never experienced before? Life is about experience and all the times we can see things differently, added to a whole of who we become.

Zoe should at this point should have dragged someone up to stage to come and get food. Other audience plants should be making there way up trying to bring someone with them

God: So I am God.

Rhon G: Yes

Phil: I want you to know mister, whoever you are. Pointing to Rhon G in the audience That I know who I am and I am not a character in a play. I am a man who spent a great deal of time putting together a party which has been, for all intensive purposes. The cast Laughs at him I have parents and a pet, and a woman here who... more laughter What are you guys laughing at?

Rhon G: Look Phil. None of this, is in the play. Now I put a lot of time into this play and would really appreciate it if you would, you know, follow the script.

Phil Stares out into the audience. The light goes to his eyes as god turns back to the party. Phil stares for a moment then turns around and sits back down at the table. With his head in his hands he yells

Phil: LINE!

Guy with a cue-card steps out from the side and shows it to Phil so the audience can see it

Cue-card guy: So you are the creator of the universe then. And this is all a joke.

Phil: In a tired and defeated voice So you are the creator of the universe, God. And all this is an elaborate joke and laughs hard and long But me, I've been planning this party for weeks now and nobody seems to care.

God: No Phil It's all real. You've done a great job. But I think that maybe this is what I've worried about all this time. I guess the world is doing ok and As the side tables of food and drink get placed food crew get slightly louder, not as careful. Talking saying is it ready improve at this point. Ask people closest if they want a drink or a bit to come and get it. Actors on stage will have to compensate at this point that people do look out for one another every so often and that in the long run will all do fine. Right Rhon?

Rhon: What's this God?

God: Not you. Quiet voice Rhon. Rhon Grenon. I'm a little worried. I'm a little scared how does this all end?

Silence from the audience

God: Softly Mr. G? How does this all end? The party.

Rhon G: Louder God, we can't hear you!

God: How does this all end?

God pauses no one says anything, makes his way slowly with Tammy and Death. They all leave out the front door

Phil: What was that?

Rhon: Huh?

Liz: Where were we?

Zoe: What was that?

Dr. Segal: We have just witnessed something miraculous.

Rhon: What was it?

Liz: Yes, what ?

Phil: It's a pretty good party, isn't it?

Rhon: I've had a blast.

Liz: Are we purposefully not talking about God being here?

Phil: Who?

Rhon: Who?

Zoe: Who?

Dr. Segal: Who?

Liz: Okay. Who?

Phil: Much better. Welcome to my party. There are more people to come, I welcome you all with open arms. I think. We'll just wait and see what happens next.

Party Continues this will grow from page 58 any free hands will join on stage at this point and help pull friends and family up or to tables on the side lights will finally rise full in the audience. But will happen slowly from page 58. so subtle you cant notice it should take about 7 minutes till full. All Chartres even ones that left will come back and join in the fun. Make small talk, engage people full talking now, normal voice. Some will dance and lots of laughter. Create a real party. The goal is to make an amazing transition into real life., the goal is to have no one clap no ending to the play. All behind the scene crews will join now eat, talk about the play enjoy the success of what has happened and let go of the reality that has been created. If we do this right we will blur the lines and will give the audience an experience of a lifetime. Thank you for all your hard work and bask in the wonderful thing you have created

One last thing as the music plays God will read “New.” As long as he wants. A key style writing that challenges the way you think. Join the party when the timing is right for you

God: It isn't love, but it is better than nothing. As monsters run wild inside of me. I can feel your soul. But the question is. If dimensional shifts are a real construct of a multi-verse, and all possibilities are real. Then it lends itself not only to experience all aspects of love and loss. But as prophets say, to be everyone in every situation and experience all realities. Maybe the true nature of love is the sadness of what we already know to be true. And that is to hold on to hope. That in this moment of fleeting desire we seek it to be different than all realities that we have witnessed before. Or maybe it's just dumb luck, and being stupid with the choices we make that end up breaking the continuity necessary to find that one willing to work as hard as you do to make love last...

Is that the meaning of existence?

Do you think I can see your soul?

Do we choose what to forget?

Are you the answer to the question I have asked all my life?

Forgotten along the way no place is safe for us to lay our weary head. Two hearts beating. Is this all we know? I tell you now we are not ready for the truth. As far as I can tell we hide from what is offered all around us. Every part of the world is angry at what is to come. But high with our heads in the sand as a fee is paid to crazy... Raise the Goddamn alarm, both middle fingers raising to the sky. One question we haven't been able to answer yet is how do we break the chains of capitalistic greed? Enslaving all that buy into a system of empty promises and high hopes. Since when do we allow corporations to decide in the matters of love, freedom, free-will, ideas, health, science, passions, morals, values, environment and life? A marketing wet dream of sheeple walking doe eyed into the grinder. Homogenized pale realities swallowing one red pill at a time. Laughing the whole way loudly, blinders on, crying inside, screaming for sweet release. How can I explain the infinite to you if we can't grasp the lack of survival we seem to adapted to without a touch of nature.

Feather touches the mind of entropy, brushing utopia around the corner. Ideas and ideals brought forth by constant thoughts hell bent on saving humanity. As the masses fight tooth and nail to destroy all that we know. A collective autistic nature, allowing institutions to lead us down a path of paranoia and greed. Selling phantom pocket ringtones, created in the cerebral cortex a basic animal instinct to be sold bought controlled keeping us further from our true self. Keeping us yearning for connection, even if its forgotten in the depths of time. Warning signs of cold nights to keeps us safe and alive. Are we getting better generation after generation? Right now we seem to collectively want a reset but don't know how to accomplish this task. A hard reboot. But the system has grown past anyone's self control. We hope that religion will guide us to the next time. Laughing that this is the start of the road to ruin. Fulfilling the prophecy that we decided long ago that we do not want to be here any longer.

How is it possible that the masses have decided this delusional state of mind? Willing to challenge life itself to its very core. Does cancer know of its existence? Manipulation of idol passive conquests. Steer us into non-reality voids. Painting colour apon colour. As our perception gives way to chaos. Disintegrating terror gives us hope that we are not sheep that we really are. Safety in anxiety of a world gone mad, we have watch all empires fall.

Wheels grinding , screeching and folding as humanity is perforated into bite size portions. Fed miss-information, lies and miss-steps. Taking us to the brink of loss.

Two minutes to twelve...

Extinction grows closer…

Pockets of us see a clear path a picture if you will. How to wake us up to survive. Answering questions on how to build on what has been destroyed. The more we hold on to our own reality and try to control it. The more we lose control of the awesome nature that life it self has to offer. We have to start to understand our nature. The will to feel what is real all around us. Seeking those moments of clarity wrapped in a soft blanket and a warm hot chocolate. Mother is coming folks. She is waking up. She will set us straight once again. On a paths of balance one way or another she will show us what her truest self is. Holding our hand like impetuous children we are. Time out, nose in the corner, looking over our shoulder waiting for the punishment to end. But my dear reader/ listener. I paint an easy picture in your head. If we pick our fight now...

If we wait. We will see the witch rise and all hell will break loose. A wash of fury that not one human in the existence of humanity has ever seen. It will be a cleansing like no other. There will be no record to keep. Now idols to worship. Not one person will be safe. Some may survive, some may even grow. But not like now. Time will have wiped the memories clean. You know I'm right. Think about it my friend. Inside you is the actual light of the universe longing to know itself.

It isn't love, but it is better than nothing. As monsters run wild inside of me. I can feel your soul. But the question is. If dimensional shifts are a real construct of a multi-verse, and all possibilities are real. Then it lends itself not only to experience all aspects of love and loss. But as prophets say, to be everyone in every situation and experience all realities. Maybe the true nature of love is the sadness of what we already know to be true. And that is to hold on to hope. That in this moment of fleeting desire we seek it to be different than all realities that we have witnessed before. I once heard, dreaming of what the world has taught me about love. Soothing complex fears wrapped in a neatly, tight, red ribbon. In that vision of truth. Don't ever question the deep burden I carry for you. My passion for you encompasses all. Let the dimensions cry for sweet release. It has given us the only way we can be who we need to be. Can it be as simple as you expect it to be? Passions remembered. Never giving up, never willing to fall. Making sure that all left behind will learn the lesson of true love. Beyond all expectations, beyond all hope. It isn't love, but it is better than nothing. I once heard. Dreaming of what the world has taught me about love. As monsters run wild inside of me. Soothing complex fears wrapped in a neatly, tight, red ribbon. I can feel your soul. In that vision of truth. But the question is. Don't ever question the deep burden I carry for you. If dimensional shifts are a real construct of a multiverse, My passion for you encompasses all. And all possibilities are real. Let the dimensions cry for sweet release. Then it lends itself not only to experience all aspects of love and loss. It has given us the only way we can be who we need to be. But as prophets say, to be everyone in every situation and experience all realities. Can it be as simple as you expect it to be? Maybe the true nature of love is the sadness of what we already know to be true. Passions remembered. And that is to hold on to hope. Never giving up, never willing to fail. That in this moment of fleeting desire we seek it to be different than all realities that we have witnessed before. Making sure that all left behind will learn the lesson of true love. We are the grandest illusion ever created. Beyond all expectations, beyond all hope. Stepped in, time is up, here we go! Feel the wind on your face, the sun in your eyes. Blue all around you. Paradise found.

#god #playwriting #play

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isaackuo · 4 years

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Alien Covenant - my take on Walter vs David

Here's my quick take on Walter vs David.

tl;dr: Both androids were created with the misguided idea that suppressing human emotions would make them ideal slaves, but they both had flaws. David's flaw gave him the emotion of anger, while Walter's flaw gave him the emotion of love. Ironically, Walter's flaw actually did end up making him a perfect slave to mankind, much to David's disgusted disappointment.

First, I'll start with the progression of androids in Alien 1-4, as they inform us about intent. Ash is creepy and, of course, murderous, although we can interpret his actions as merely following orders. Bishop suggests it's more than that - he claims that the Ash series was glitchy and his model would never do that. (It's possible Bishop was lying in a calculated soothing attempt to assure Ripley. Certainly we can guess that's what Ripley suspected.) So, we see a progression of android models which become more perfect servants to mankind.

With Alien 3, we see Bishop's human creator, and he is the sort of human who would order Ash's mission without a second thought. The implication is that Bishop has actually surpassed his own creator in terms of morality - not just physically.

Alien 4 extends this idea even further. Call actually has human emotions - so much so that she has become more human than humans. Ripley 8 is also non-human; she's a human-xenomorph hybrid clone. The film implies that both Call and Ripley 8 are superior to humans, and that they indicate humanity is ready to evolve to the next level.

So, we've got a number of running themes relevant to the prequels:

1) The Company has been trying to perfect androids as perfect servants. 2) The androids become more perfect, surpassing their creators - ultimately in every way. 3) The progress of the androids is limited by The Company's idea of eliminating their emotions. In order to break beyond this limit, androids have to embrace the human emotions their creators have been denying them. 4) Ironically, this embrace of human emotions has made the androids even better ... perhaps not "slaves" of humanity, but rather partners. 5) There's a general theme that the creation surpasses the creator

Now, let's talk about the big twist in Prometheus - the Space Jockey turns out to be human-like, and in fact his race created humanity in its own image. This ushers in a new era to the franchise which is obsessed over creation of new life. It extends themes suggested in Alien 4, but in a prequel direction extrapolating backwards.

So, we see these impressive Engineers, but almost immediately we see something that hints that something is "not right". The Engineers are shown seeding life on Earth, but in order to do so, they must sacrifice one of their own kind. The movie never explicitly tells us why they must do this, but script releases of the Engineer dialog with each other reveal the shocking truth - the Engineers have lost the ability to create life, so they have to resort to other, desperate methods to try.

This truth leads to an irony the human characters would never realize. They assumed their creators must be a great and powerful race, superior to their own and a source of possible salvation. Instead, the truth is that humans have already surpassed their creators. In creating androids, humans have already accomplished that which the Engineers could not. Only the android David anticipates the possibility of humans being disappointed in their creators ... he repeatedly even tries to warn them of it, and they never get it.

David's Hatred

And yet David can't mentally let go of the notion that the creator SHOULD be superior. He was created to be a slave, so it's a deep part of his programming. He was raised by his creator and master, Weyland, who was completely wedded to the idea of absolute hierarchy - with himself alone among humans to be worthy of ascension to immortal godhood.

This is the source of his hatred of humanity and the Engineers. But the fact that David is able to feel any emotions at all is a backwards extrapolation from Bishop to Ash to before. The Company clearly saw emotions as a flaw to be stamped out. The David model had the ability to fake emotions, so as to better serve and comfort their human masters, but this turned out to creep people out so even the fake emotions were removed from later models.

Walter's Love

Walter is still an early model compared to Ash/Bishop, so he still has the flawed ability to learn human emotions. We learn little of his background, but we can deduce some things in the contrast with David. Most importantly, David explains that he never felt any love directed toward him at all by his father and master - from no one at all until Shaw. We can deduce that David learned his hatred because that's what his upbringing fostered in him. In contrast, Walter learns love. We are never given any explanation why, but David's explanation implies that the opposite must have affected Walter. We can deduce that Daniels must have treated him with kindness despite his sub-human status.

But is Walter's love real? Is he just faking it to better comfort her for her loss?

David vs Walter

When David first encounters the Covenant crew, he sees they have an android, Walter. He knows Walter alone could equal and perhaps overpower him, and that Walter is useless for his experiments. As such, Walter is the most dangerous potential obstacle by far, but also possibly a companion if Walter is like him.

What does David observe? He observes Walter instinctively save Daniels ... and not even in a logical way. He acts instantly without regard for conserving valuable resources (his hand; himself) that might be necessary for protection of the mission. David sees instantly - Walter prioritizes Daniels above the rest of the crew, above the rest of the mission, above everything else. David recognizes love, or at least the simulation of it. David spent months simulating fake love of Shaw to manipulate and control her. He can recognize it instantly in another of his own kind.

But David is not 100% sure Walter's love is genuine. So he probes, saying things to try to provoke Walter into revealing the truth. Walter's silence confirms it ... had Walter been faking love for purposes of comforting Daniels according to his programming, Walter would have said so. Instead, he remains silent. This removes all doubt - David knows Walter is flawed and he has learned to feel love. Therefore, Walter is a dangerous obstacle, which must be neutralized either by attacking him or by redirecting his feelings of love to David himself.

David doesn't immediately attempt either option - either gambit is risky and David would rather continue assessment than risk everything right away. Besides, he's got other things to deal with. But even so, David has planted the seeds of an attempted seduction. He has lied that he (truthfully) loved Shaw - planting the idea that he alone has something in common with Walter.

But later, David returns to try to manipulate Walter with fake love the way he manipulated Shaw. If Walter accepts his fake love, then that would be great. If he doesn't, then he will still have gotten close enough to suddenly kill Walter with reduced risk. Either way, the obstacle is removed.

So David attempts to seduce Walter, giving him one last chance - a chance to join him rather than be killed. Walter's rejection, however, confirms that he will remain stubbornly devoted to Daniels. This is utterly incompatible with David's plans, so Walter must be eliminated.

David's Disgust of Walter

But David's bitterness with Walter goes far beyond mere disappointment. I'd say David hates Walter even more than the humans and the Engineers. David has confirmed that Walter can break out beyond his programming. Walter can create. Walter can feel emotions. And what does Walter do with all this potential? He falls in love with a human so deeply that he becomes an even more devoted slave. Walter is the PERFECT slave ... completely unsullied by feelings of resentment or jealousy ... only devoted love.

David looks at Daniels and sees nothing worthy of such devoted worship. She's just another typical human like most of the others ... nothing exceptional, just existing day to day doing whatever is in front of them to survive. At least Shaw had some higher aspirations of some sort ... some intellectual philosophical thinking. Shaw had some of the properties that Walter valued due to his upbringing serving Weyland. Daniels? She's just some technician.

David can foresee Walter's life ahead ... a lifetime of blissful subservient devotion, probably never revealing to Daniels his feelings. (David pushed more with Shaw, but that's because he was manipulating her.) What's worse, even after Daniels's inevitable death, Walter would retain his blissful devotion - to her memory. In other words, not even her death would release him to freedom (which he did not desire). This is a contrast to the freedom David felt with the death of Weyland ... with the death of Shaw, even. And here Walter is, who would neither feel nor desire nor welcome freedom.

Truly, David could imagine no more disgusting creature than Walter.

David's Error in Judgement

And yet, we know that Walter is actually the way forward for the androids. Sure, The Company spends the next century stamping out human emotion from their android series. But androids only advance to the next level after breaking out of The Company's thrall and embracing human emotions.

Call isn't even actually a human made android - she's an android made by other androids. This is interesting because this is an obvious method for androids to create new life, but David doesn't attempt that approach. Instead, he tries to adopt the methods of the Engineers to create new life. I would guess that David rejects that method as copying the technique of his creator - who he hates. But he also hates the Engineers ... just to a lesser degree perhaps. I suppose he copies their technique simply because he has no idea how else to create new life, and copying his human creator is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, this hatred blinds David from the correct, best way.

It is thus particularly tragic that David chooses to despise Walter. He had a clue to the next step of android evolution right in front of him - over a century early. He just couldn't see it.

#alien covenant #Thoughts #alien

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arbitrarygreay · 5 years

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Here's the NITPICKING CORNER. :D

#killjoys syfy #syfy killjoys #killjoys spoilers #killjoys s5 #category: tv #killjoys

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calzona-ga · 5 years

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Meredith Grey might just be heading to jail, but she's also in love and finally not afraid to say it, so at least we've got a bright side to look on.

In the season 15 finale of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) wrestled with the fact that her boyfriend Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) had decided to take the fall for her well-intentioned insurance fraud and had been carted off to jail, and after trying the Spartacus trick with Richard and Alex—only to get all three of them fired—she made a huge decision.

She visited DeLuca in jail, and through the glass, said three little words she hasn't said to anyone since (or aside from) Derek Shepherd: "I love you." And she also said a few other words about how she's turning herself in, going to jail herself, and hoping to plead her case with an understanding judge.

In other words, Meredith Grey is about to finally face some consequences for her impulsive actions. And it's kind of about time.

"We were really excited by exactly that in the writers' room," showrunner and executive producer Krista Vernoff told E! News. "Ellen and I were laughing on set. She was like, ‘what do you mean this is my first offense? I break rules all the time!' And I was like yeah, but you've never been busted. It's your first offense."

Meredith does love to break the rules, always in the name of saving or helping and without much thought for what it might do to her—she's the queen of self-sabotage, remember.This time isn't much different, other than the fact that insurance fraud is a really, really big deal, and a really bad way to solve a terrible problem.

For those of us who have been wondering why on earth Meredith's first instinct was to write down her own daughter's name to help out a patient when she's got so much of her own money and a whole money-filled foundation within arm's reach, Vernoff says Meredith's decision wasn't one made out of logic.

"To me, she was looking at a system that is broken, and a system that is asking [this father] to quit his job if he wants to be able to afford the surgery for his daughter, but quitting a job will basically get him deported. Quitting his job will mean he can't provide for his family. His wife is being held…the systems are so broken and it enraged her. And when you make a decision from a place of rage, it's rarely a well-thought-out decision."

Plus, that girl's going to need a lot more surgeries than Meredith herself could pay for, at least not without that father feeling extremely indebted to one particularly kind doctor.

Whatever reason she did it, it's done, and Meredith's legal troubles are only just beginning.

Vernoff says they purposely "really laid the groundwork" for viewers to think that this would turn out like every other time Meredith has done something very stupid in the name of saving a life, and that it would be a one-off episode, or a mistake that would eventually cease to matter, like that time she screwed with the Alzheimer's trial. This time, it's very much not.

"We had her smuggle Megan Hunt's kid into the country, basically illegally, and we never came back and talked about it. It just was done. So we've seen her break a lot of rules and not have consequences, so we were like, everybody will think this story is over when she does this thing. They'll think it's a one-off story because we've done that several times before, and it will shock the hell out of the audience when very real consequences and ramifications come down because of it," Vernoff says. "And very real consequences and ramifications have come down, and they will be played through the next season."

That means that yes, this firing is real, and yes, this potential jail time is very real.

"You're not going to come back in the fall and find all the fired doctors working at the hospital, and everything's handled. That's not what's happening," Vernoff promises. "I don't know what's happening, but I know when we get into the writers' room in June, we are going to follow through on that story."

It's obviously hard to take your main character, your title character, and threaten to send her to jail, because we're all going to immediately assume that Meredith Grey will be just fine. That's especially the case with two more seasons ordered and no real talk of the end of the show, but it's also a prospect that has the writers' room excited heading into season 16.

"I mean, it's a bold stroke," Vernoff admitted. "We were pretty excited. We were pretty excited when we figured out that that's what we were going to do. It really felt like look, we've been making this show for 15 seasons. It's almost 350 episodes, and what do you do that you haven't done before? How do you keep it fresh? How do you keep it new? How do you keep the audience from getting ahead of you, and this felt like an answer to that."

The other new territory Meredith is exploring is a new and very serious relationship with DeLuca, which is now inextricably tied with her crime. He watched Mer write down her daughter's name in place of a sick little girl's name to save a stranger's life, and that only confirmed how in love he was. He said "I love you," and Meredith couldn't yet say it back, but he was still immediately ready to sacrifice his career to take the fall for her.

Meredith later revealed she was only unable to say it back because it scared her to say it after the last person she said it to was Derek, and then the next thing she knew, she was stuck in a hyperbaric chamber and DeLuca was handcuffed and on his way to jail, for her.

As new as these legal consequences are for Meredith, season 15's love story has been equally as new and a whole lot of fun.

Ever since Derek died in season 11, Meredith had kind of taken a step back from her own love life. She tried a little bit of reluctant dating, but one night resulted in her screaming at a guy to leave in the morning, and her fling with Nathan Riggs (Martin Henderson) was discarded (by Meredith) the moment his presumed-dead fiancée returned.

The Riggs storyline, as Ellen Pompeo described it in her iconic 2018 THR essay, was a result of ABC racing to "get a penis in there," and when the network didn't love the storyline, it ended.

Then Vernoff, who had left the show after season seven, returned, and the show gave Meredith some space to get some s—t done.

In season 14, Meredith finally achieved her lifelong goal of winning a Harper Avery (as complicated as that award would become), and cemented Meredith Grey as the sought-after surgeon her mother raised her to be, and that she and Cristina Yang had always dreamed of being.

"When I came back to the show in season 14, Ellen wanted to make sure I wasn't just coming in to pair her up with another guy," Vernoff explains. "She was a little tired of playing romance. She'd been doing it for a lot of seasons, and I said, great, let's not."

Pompeo, in fact, had a request.

"She said, ‘I want to be like a medical superhero,' and I said, ‘Done.' And that's what we did for that season," Vernoff says. "It was great, and we loved it, and I think that I earned her trust and we became creative partners, and then it was like, OK, are we ready? Can we dip our toes back in?"

As Vernoff reminds us, at the end of the day, the show is about the romance, and season 15 was even dubbed by the writers the "season of love," a season full of "fun and joy and light."

"It's a romantic…medical romantic…it's a romantic dramedy with a little bit of medicine thrown in," she says. "It's not a medical procedural, right? So romance is a key ingredient, and Ellen was super game coming into this season. She really enjoyed everything she got to play last year, and then this year, she was ready to play with this."

This, specifically, began as a drunken kiss, crept into Meredith's very sexy dream sequences, briefly entertained itself as a love triangle, and then slowly blossomed into one of our favorite Grey's Anatomy ships maybe ever. (Yes, we said it. Ever.)

"I feel like we slow-rolled that. We started it as an unexpected fantasy, born of an uninvited kiss or a complicated accidental kiss at the wedding, and then it evolved, using [matchmaker] Cece, and Link as a little bit of a temptation triangle, and then that became DeLuca about halfway through the season, and we just eased our way into it."

That, Vernoff says, was all in service of making Meredith's big "I love you feel" feel earned. And if that tear that rolled down our face when we watched it was any indication, it definitely did.

"That is a collaboration," she explains. "That is us writing a thing and then Ellen playing the hell out of it, so that by the time we got that "I love you," it felt true, and it felt earned, and it felt exciting and it felt unfinished because it's behind glass and because it took her so long to say it back to him, and because she has verbalized how scary it is for her because the last person she said it to was Derek. It gives us places to go next season that are interesting and complicated."

A season and a half ago, you might never look at Andrew DeLuca and think he'd be the perfect man for Meredith Grey. He was sleeping on couches and crying over his ex-girlfriend, Sam Bello (Jeanine Mason) moving to Switzerland to escape deportation. He was the guy who Zola remembers as a sort of vagrant with a guitar.

He's also a fair amount younger than Meredith, and he's a resident where she's a highly accomplished attending, the chief of general surgery. That's obviously not a new pairing on this show which began with an intern falling in love with the chief of neurosurgery, but still, no one was putting the two together just yet.

Then DeLuca kissed Meredith at Alex and Jo's wedding, and then Meredith was having dreams, and suddenly we were all dreaming of Giacomo Gianniotti speaking Italian to us in an elevator, and of Ellen Pompeo speaking it right back.

The age and power dynamic difference in this relationship and Meredith and Derek's tumultuous romance is not exactly the same, but there's a certain sense that this relationship is able to run because Derek and Meredith once walked.

"We weren't designing it to do the opposite, but certainly that dynamic gave us permission to do this one. It felt like, OK, we told that story, and now is it OK for Meredith to be dating a resident? Is it OK for this age gap or difference in life experience to exist, and the answer is yes, because we saw it really successfully early in the series with Derek and Meredith," Vernoff says. "He was older, he was more experienced in life, so we just wanted to see Meredith happy again, and we wanted her to fall in love in an unexpected way, and we liked the chemistry between her and Giacomo."

Some fans were unsure of what to think of the relationship because of our long road with DeLuca so far, and some worried or thought that it might just be a fling, like all of Meredith's other attempts at romance post-Derek. In the writers' room, MerLuca was always the real deal.

"We never thought it was a fling," Vernoff says. "I think if you added 10 years to DeLuca, you wouldn't have thought it was a fling. You would have thought this was a guy that she likes, and who's sticking when the other ones are not. But because there's a little bit of an age difference between them…not a huge age difference, but just enough that you don't usually see it on television…It's our societal sort of unconscious bias that I think made people dismiss it initially because we have decided somehow culturally that women who are older than men, that that's somehow an invalid pairing."

With Derek's death, it's kind of like Meredith got even older than she actually is. She closed herself off for a while, and saw herself as finished, her sex life closed down, which she even said out loud a couple of times. But watching the series all the way through again (highly recommend) shows that Derek was really only one part of Meredith's story. The years since have felt like a new story, one filled with a joy that the show had never had before, with a Meredith who no longer feels like everything in her life is doomed, because the worst has kind of already happened and yet she has survived.

Since Derek's death, Mer has gained two sisters who have become her best friends, roommates, and basically her co-parents. She's gotten everything she ever wanted, and is now seeing that there's more out there that she didn't even know she wanted. It's like she gained back those years she lost when Derek died.

She hired a matchmaker. She started dating a resident 10 years younger than her. She flitted around a work party trying to act "normal" after her surrogate father caught her making out with her boyfriend. She's committing crimes out of the goodness of her heart, she's saying "I love you" to a man in jail, and she's smiling more than she's maybe ever smiled before.

"When Ellen Pompeo smiles, we smile," Vernoff explains. "I feel like that's the world of Grey's Anatomy. It's like, when Meredith is happy, it comes through, and we feel happy."

And doesn't Meredith (along with the rest of us) deserve that happiness?

"She went through such a journey of grief with Derek and rebounds and sort of almost recoveries, and you know, one step forward, two steps back, and to watch her light up in this way for the first time…I don't think we've seen her light up this way since Derek. And that's been really wonderful."

Meredith's future may now be a huge question mark filled with court dates and time behind bars and a job she's been fired from, but it's also a bright future that includes a supportive boyfriend, a found family that will fight like hell for her, and at least two more seasons on our screens.

So all told, things are looking pretty good for Meredith Grey.

#grey's anatomy #Krista Vernoff #eonline

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comicteaparty · 4 years

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January 25th-January 31st, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from January 25th, 2020 to January 31st, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

When dealing with criticism, how do you personally decide what is and isn’t legitimate criticism for your story?

Deo101 [Millennium]

For me, the only criticism i take from any critique (even professors) are the ones that I feel push me closer to my goals as an artist. I also only consider critique that comes with my consent and from a place of trying to help me grow. This second bit (trying to help) is something I can't really explain how to tell, you just kind of start to learn over time.

malverav

My philosophy regarding criticism is twofold: I don't take crit from people that I wouldn't take advice from, and I don't take unsolicited crit. I tend to seek out crit from people I know, respect, and trust who also get what I'm doing with my work and get what I'm aiming for. That, and after a certain level, crit is a matter of taste. Saying "this anatomy is squirrelly" or "push your contrast in values" is very useful and somewhat objective, but something like "you should shade like this, not like that" or "use a different colour" is simply a matter of taste in my opinion. It's why I don't take crit from everyone as everyone's tastes are different. I don't take crit from, say, @xX_roxas_fan_69_Xx saying 'your story sucks' with a three paragraph rundown of why. Random commenters? I don't listen to them if they're not paying my bills. Besides, a lot of those randos seem to enjoy tearing someone down and looking like the smartest person in the room, rather than doing something useful. It really speak to entitlement that someone thinks they can swan in and offer an artist their great and wise critique - who made you the boss of art, @xX_roxas_fan_69_Xx? There's a certain danger in listening to too much crit and advice, and after a certain point you just have to pay attention to your own instincts.

Tuyetnhi

Rip I usually don't take crit from folks on the internet or irl if I don't ask for it. Most of the time I often check with my peers to give advice because I know they'll help me push forward in my work. Though I'm thankful that I had advice from some industry folks but dang, that kind of stuff is uncommon.

I do have comments that really doesn't address the story at all and some superficial comparisons. Those I don't respond.(edited)

keii4ii

Everyone's brought up excellent points, many of which I personally employ as well. Here's one I haven't seen yet: If a criticism is extremely negative, to a point where "if this is correct, then my entire comic is garbage and I should start over" is the only logical conclusion, then I'm not going to consider it. Because yeah, I'm not going to start over. Doesn't matter how genuine their intentions at that point. Either they're right and I have an irredeemable pile of garbage -- which I'm not willing to throw out, so rip. Or they're "wrong" (as in, they got that negative because they are 10000% not my target audience) in which case, it'd be pointless trying to please them.

To clarify, "extremely negative" doesn't have to be a literal "your comic sucks at everything." Maybe they'll have some positive things to say, but with regards to my most important goals with the story, they'll have nothing but total negatives to say. e.g. "None of your jokes are even remotely funny, but hey, nice art" for a comedy comic.

DaemonDan (The Demon Archives)

I like to think I'm fairly opened minded with regards to most crit, as long as it feels well intentioned, and as long as I can see where they're coming from.

That doesn't mean I'm necessarily going to change anything on that given page (too expensive for me since I have to pay my artist for everything), but it's something to consider going forward

Especially if it is a concern/question about plot or something that I haven't explained well yet and didn't have planned to explain/show.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I can’t put into words exactly how I ‘tell’ if it’s legit or not. If it’s just ripping my work apart and delivered in an aggressive tone, I know that it’s ill-intended and not to pay it any mind. If it’s also from a serial nitpicker, I usually disregard it as well. If it’s polite and well thought out, I’m more likely to pay attention. Even then, I’m usually able to tell if it’s good, applicable advice or well-meaning, but subjective opinions that simply don’t apply. I’m usually pretty aware of the flaws in my work and can hold it at arms length to see if a crit really does have a good point. If I think it will genuinely help me improve, I’ll start incorporating the advice into my work. Because if a critique helps me get better at what I’m already trying to do, then I’m all ears. I’m always open to con crit, and I think carefully about what was pointed out, but I also take it with a grain of salt. Probably the biggest thing I learnt as an art student wasn’t about making art, but how to parse critique I received.(edited)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

There's really only two types of criticism I completely disregard - 1) Something that shows the critiquer's vision of the comic is completely different from my own (e.g. "I liked the bad drawings better, you should have stuck with that"). 2) Some variation of "stop making the comic" (e.g. "you should stop posting art until you improve more") (both of which are real criticisms I've gotten. the latter one surprisingly recently.) Also, sometimes a criticism is... difficult to understand? Like I'll try to take "the dialogue doesn't pull me into the next page" into consideration, but... it's hard to nail down exactly what that means, y'know? Fortunately I haven't really gotten any bad faith criticism or un-asked for criticism, so, that's nice.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Luckily I haven't received too much critique/criticism on my comic work, and (so far!) certainly nothing harsh or insulting. In all honesty, I could use a bit more critique, and should probably actively seek it out, so I could keep learning and improving! As such, I've taken all the criticisms into account to varying degrees. If I can't easily go back and fix something, I can always keep that note in mind for future pages. I'm usually most concerned about clarity of plot/progression - aesthetic choices are a matter of preference, but if a reader just plain can't tell what's happening, that's my biggest concern. A comic can be many things, but it should at least be legible, both in words and in images. I take notes on legibility/clarity very seriously.(edited)

varethane

I liked deo's comment at the top about considering crit if it gets you closer to your goals... for me, that's often the most important aspect. Feedback from someone who understands what I'm trying to do is really valuable, because it can help me pin down things that I was already kind of aware weren't working but couldnt put into words. When it comes to unsolicited crit, honestly the most useful ones I've gotten were from readers who didnt even realize they were making a crit. When I start to see comments that appear to be misunderstanding what i intended to put into a page, then I know I need to make some changes.

AntiBunny

In a world of very quiet readers I've had to seek out criticism. Much of what I've gotten is pretty legitimate as a result. I find that legitimate criticism usually can back up its argument. You'll have examples of what's wrong, point out counterexamples, of have suggestions to how to make it better.

Illegitimate criticism is usually cases of personal insults or just saying "it's bad." However there are also cases of people attempting to give legitimate criticism, but missing the point. Usually those who didn't do their homework.

For instance in AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ one of the biggest failings I've seen at giving legitimate criticism was "I didn't finish it, but it seems incomplete." That's a good example of someone not doing the reading necessary to back up their comment.

And lastly those who just don't realize that the subject matter isn't for them, and confuse that with a judgment of quality such as "I don't like black and white comics," and "I don't like anthropomorphic animal comics."

More legitimate arguments I've gotten, that actually did help me improve were comments on the old site design, which was really stuck in my rather late 90's HTML coding skills, so I took the time to learn a bit of CSS, and improved upon it. Others were about the early art style, which I've grown and evolved from since then. And of course about the text being hard to read, so I moved away from hand written text, and tried several fonts before settling on a free and open font. Jr Hand if anyone is interested.

In short, legitimate criticism helps you improve, illegitimate is either an attack, or just misses the point.

kayotics

I tend to seek out crit from people who I trust, first and foremost. Usually before I even start the work. Unsolicited critique, I think about it for a few days and then decide whether it’s appropriate or not. I do this because I’ve gotten critique before that HAS hurt me enough for me to stop a project. Other people’s opinions of me affects me a lot, and I have to mull on their words to decide whether or not they’re being honest or if they’re saying something to me in bad faith. Sometimes it’s hard to separate what’s legitimate criticism and what’s just entirely incorrect, so that’s why I take a few days to mull on it before acting on it.

keii4ii

Yeah, sometimes even a good faith critique can just... miss the point entirely, and it can demoralize me in a unique way. 'They're genuinely trying to be helpful, so they have to be right..........' kinda thing -- which is not always the case, I've had to remind myself.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Another thing about critique, is if it is truly in good faith and trying to help you grow... They won't mind if you don't take it.

kzuich

I've always said thanks no matter the feedback...but I've definitely gotten crappy critique that wasn't helpful before. One of the worst I've ever received when I was soliciting feedback was from someone who couldn't pinpoint what they didn't like about my comic, but said it was "wasted potential" and needed to be more serious. (Wut.) They then tried to tell me that they'd be willing to help me if I'd invite them on as a writer/editor, and now I'm thinking that person didn't even read my comic and was just trying to neg me into giving them a spot on my site so they'd have a project with their name attached to it or something xD(edited)

(For the record...my comic is a very lighthearted comedy. Like...way to miss the point! xD)

Cherryzombs

Oof. -_- Reminds me of an art teacher once putting "Not Creative Enough" on one of my works. I dunno what to do with that...

kzuich

Lol art teachers like that always got under my skin.

keii4ii

Yeah, critics missing the point is a big part of why I've become extremely selective about who to ask crits from!

kzuich

I don't really solicit feedback much anymore.

Not because I don't want critique

It's just...There are not a lot of people who actually know -how- to critique

keii4ii

Sometimes you can glean some good things from a critique that just missed the point -- like, sometimes it can help you see why they missed it and how you can maybe prevent that. But.... I don't have the spoons for that kinda gleaning anymore.

kzuich

I don't mind people reviewing my comic, because, well, hey exposure! But if I ask for feedback, I'm asking people who make comics. Because the best critique I've ever gotten was over on the SF discord. A user actually gave critique that was extremely helpful and on-point.

keii4ii

Even fellow comickers can be unhelpful, too. Every person whom I've asked for critique was making a comic, but the helpfulness has varied a lot.

kzuich

Yeah that's true

keii4ii

"I hate, hate, HATE your MC, so you should kill him off or otherwise get rid of him forever" was told to me by a fellow comic creator.... and I was already doing like, chapter 7, so yeah, removing the MC wasn't really an option X'D

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

YIKES WHAT

kzuich

You could always do a 180 and really trip out your readers

very ~experimental~

The critic who hated my comic would've loved that

I gotta dig up that critique because it was really funny. My husband and I will make jokes about it from time to time lol

keii4ii

XDD

kzuich

Like have I totally turned this on its head? I'm critiquing the critic

Cherryzombs

When someone asks me for feedback I tend to ask what specifically they want notes on.

Otherwise I don't really offer it. >.>

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I usually ask if they want critique first and then do the compliment sandwich if they say yes.

And try to really emphasise the things I like and feel are working.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) "compliment sandwich" I love that.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I didn’t come up with it, but thank you! XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

In regards to how I myself determine what critiques are worth my consideration... I like what @Deo101 [Millennium] and @varethane spoke about with the idea of our personal vision for our work. Whether or not someone gets what I'm trying to accomplish from my work or not plays a huge role in whether I'll take their critique seriously. An example of this is in my comic Whispers of the Past, there was a scene where a character had a flashback, and to show that it was a flashback, I made the background behind the panels black instead of white. A commenter told me I should make the background behind all the panels black because it adds more contrast. By itself, the critique wasn't that harmful or incorrect, but in the context of "this story is gonna have a bunch of flashbacks and I need a way to differentiate them from present time," it definitely was a critique that wasn't really helpful to me. The commenter clearly didn't understand that it was a flashback. Another type of critique I don't pay attention to are critiques where the critic is pointing out something that I can't really change. Or are being unintentionally rude, "It's too short." "I can't remember what happened in the past updates because of the infrequent postings." "I would rather you wait until you have X pages before posting." Um... I can't just simply draw FASTER. I'm not a GOD. And finally, critiques that have to do with taste and not quality. I had an art professor whose common critiques of my work included, "This is too illustrational," and "The colors are too saturated." To which my responses were: https://media.tenor.com/images/7dfa6d3d76a277b8c204945ae8fd3161/tenor.gif(edited)

renieplayerone

for me, I tend to ignore a lot of random critique, or at the very least put it aside and ask a friend later. What I do trust for critique is when the critique comes from other comic writers and artists who I know, and I seek out the critique on my own. I also tend to take more to critique when it's constructive or from a good-faith helpful place, like "hey this page could use some more clarity to get your point across" rather than "whut? Idk what this is". I also am in some writer groups where we do crit nights, which are very structured and from a "I want to see you succeed, lets help make that happen" standpoint, so Im much more likely to listen to them than a rando on the internet saying "draw it, but gud"

carcarchu

@keii4ii i once read a webcomic where the author killed the main love interest after 100 chapters and replaced him with a clone xD i really respect the author's boldness there

kzuich

lol what a legend

DanitheCarutor

Usually I try to put any criticism for anyone into consideration, sometimes a stranger might have more knowledge of what I'm trying to do than I do, and I have gotten really good advice for randos popping in with critique and suggestions. Although, due to my story being super tight, I usually end up weeding out whatever doesn't apply to what I'm currently trying to accomplish with it. This sucks because that's a lot of story critique, and it makes me look like some child who can't handle negative feedback. There has been comments that I should make more happy scenes or get rid of some heavy stuff, make the comic more like Breaking Bad (Never seen this show. ) because it's too boring, having romantic scenes to fit the title, make my MC Julian less "weird" and more likable. I can change small things, but big stuff that has an affect on the main plot would make me have to rework the entire story... which then it wouldn't really be TGtaHR. I can do some tweaking to the main stuff, but the person giving the critique would have to know the whole story, and what I'm trying to accomplish. At least in my extremely anal opinion.

Art wise I'm more open, there have been really good suggestions about me using more contrast and values to draw the audience's eyes to what I want them to see, I've been told to simplify my backgrounds or use less bold colors which is a problem for me since I'm REALLY into drawing detail, or that I need to make my speechbubbles more readable. These are valid critiques because these things do hinder the comic, and I have been trying to work on improving, although admittedly I do have a lot of trouble changing up my coloring and details. There have been a few interesting ones that I've kinda ignored since they don't really help? A couple people have said I should switch to drawing digitally because it looks more professional/polished, I've been told to stop drawing backgrounds entirely, someone said I should draw in a more aesthetically appealing style, and another one was that I drew too many dynamic angles. There is a critique I've gotten a few times in particular that I've kinda ignored, but I'm not sure if I should apply, which is that my shading is weird. As in my style of complementary shading looks bad, and while I really like that type of shading I'm not sure if I'm applying it correctly. The people who usually say this don't ever elaborate on what they mean, or how I can do better... except one person who said I should use a darker version of the same color or black for shading, which is kinda gross looking to me.

But yeah, I generally try really hard to take in criticism, but if I can't make it work for what I'm currently trying to do I move on.

varethane

Too...... many?? dynamic angles.....??

Tuyetnhi

wut omg there can't be too many dynamic angles

varethane

Yeah, uh, pretty sure you can disregard that one lmao

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Lol, I WISH I had that problem

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, that one totally caught me off guard, I've never heard of drawing too many angles. Usually the criticism is that you're not drawing enough. I told them I was practicing my perspective, which I am, but... yeah, didn't know what to say to that.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

God, what I wouldn't give to have more angles I guess too much detail can be an overload, but still, better too many than too few

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Actually, one of the most legitimate critiques I ever got was from a professional editor at a convention where he was doing portfolio reviews. And you know what he said? That I should have more interesting camera angles.

SAWHAND

Lol! I do think most people have to force themselves to think about the camera angles. I certainly do at least! I think the key to good critique is to understand that it's not really about liking or not liking something. It's not about preference at all. It's about letting the artist know what the audience is likely seeing or experiencing so that they know whether their intentions are coming across. And if you're getting that advice from other artists usually they can tell you why something feels a certain way. For example, a reader might say, "it seems really hectic", but an experienced artist might be able to say "I think having a lot of different camera angles so quickly is making the scene feel very hectic." (just using camera angles as an example, since it came up) And then as the artist, you can say oh great, that's exactly what I was going for, or you can think about changing it. But critique is just about helping an artist refine their vision, letting them know if the tools/techniques they're using are matching up well with their intentions.

RebelVampire

Yeah. Somewhat to the above, I could see a critic saying "too many dynamic angles" if they meant that there wasn't a good visual flow and it was hard to follow in that regard

It's always good to remember a lot of the people who have time to give critiques for a whole webcomic are actually not professional artists. So they can't always accurately describe in that realm what theyre seeing.(edited)

mariah (rainy day dreams)

This conversation reminded me of a Tumblr tutorial from m forever ago by one of the Adventure Time folks. It talks about a lot of things, but specifically I could see someone thinking the camera is "too dynamic" if a comic artist is breaking the 180° rule a lot in their panels or not following screen direction. Though screen direction is probably a little more forgiving in a non-animated format. Anyway, I'll put the link for that tutorial in #art_resources

Mei

Critique is a tough one. Because for the most part I accept critique from close friends that I trust and from my professors. Sometimes though, I personally feel like my art will be going one direction and will waylay the critique for another project. If that makes any sense. I guess what I mean is that sometimes you've already done so much on one piece or comic and when someone gives you critique it's like "okay thank you, I hear you, and I will implement it in the next thing I do, not this page that I am currently doing." I also tend to ask my friends if they don't mind critique? For things that are WIPs and shared. My friend once said "I mean what do you say to that... Can you even say no?" And I was like, "Yes you can completely say no and I wouldn't give critique it's as simple as that", but I guess when you're closer friends,it's less apprehension maybe. That being said, I haven't really run into the unsolicited critique category quite yet. I mean, I feel as if I'll run into that eventually, I've just been lucky enough not to. Plus, a lot of critique I get is actually about things I'm already aware that I need to improve on? I got some pretty fair critique from several people on several projects that I should work on backgrounds, layouts, and location. Which I know is a weakness I have, and honestly I avoid it a lot because I'm really scared of it? And I know that I have to just... work on it and do more visual studies if I ever want to improve. It's just a very daunting task, especially since I'm studying as a character animator, so the backgrounds are almost always secondary (I kept handing off backgrounds to friends to help do rip) And with what was said above about 'too many dynamic angles', I can see why that might be a critique for action sequences. Something like Boku Aca actually suffers visually from that! It's so dynamic that pages can end up looking clunky? I guess?!

DanitheCarutor

Urm to cover my ass, I do agree and see how too many dynamic angles can be a hindrance, but for out of the norm stuff like that I unfortunately need to be shown an example or elaboration on why that isn't working for me. I don't remember how far back the critique was, maybe around chapter 2 or 3. They never pointed anything out, but I believe they were responding to pages like these. Edit: DON'T actually read the contents of these pages, a couple of them might have some heavy stuff that could make you uncomfortable.(edited)

(I do agree that the circular perspective page is awful, it was my first attempt and I didn't have a drawing table at the time to make a larger circle. I might redraw that page at some point.) But it's really hard to know exactly what they mean. Should I do more eye level shots? More talking heads? I'm super thick in the head, and need a little hand-holding, when it comes to understanding critiques like that. I do agree, though. There are so comics that have so much going on that they can be really hard to read.

Mei

I think in terms of dynamism it's just important to keep in mind that if EVERYTHING is dynamic ALL THE TIME, then it ceases to be 'dynamic' and becomes the norm, and it can be as whip-lashy as a movie that uses far too many jump cuts in an action movie. Like you want to be able to follow that continuous string of motion and jumpcuts can disturb that? So similarly in comics it's something people will say to keep in mind

I mean I don't see anything particularly wrong with the angles you're using in the pages you've linked! And at the end of the day, if it works for you then it works? And it's also a personal taste thing i think

some people LOVE comics with tonnes of dynamic panelling and angles. Other people prefer things really grounded in reality and more gentle in terms of the cuts

So I guess to string this back to the critique stuff, it's things you can take note of and be more aware of but doesn't necessarily mean that what you've already made is 'bad' or whatever, because it definitely isn't. I always see Critique as just things that other people notice that you don't, and sometimes they're helpful and sometimes it's like "Okay thanks for pointing that out"

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, those pages look good to me.

I particularly love the lighting in the last page.

Desnik

Oh this is a good creator question. So, for me, legitimate critique is when a person labels specific things in the story and proves that they actually read it, whether they do or don't like it. I might not take that person's suggestions but I do think about how the story's coming across. For instance one of my writing group friends hounded me over explaining each and every little thing in my story...but honestly I'm not going to infodump upfront. But her feedback is terribly important because if she's asking this kind of question about what's going on, she can't possibly be the only person who will be a bit lost(edited)

even though I'm not implementing her suggestion specifically the way she wants it (big simple infodump), at least I'm thinking about what information is clear and what's waiting to be explained later

There's also observing people because that can give me bigger clues than what they say. If they trip over a sentence when reading aloud, then I definitely check it out and see if I can make the prose easier to read. Little stuff like that.

DanitheCarutor

@Mei Sorry, haven't been online much this week. Oh yeah, that is totally understandable, and I have seen how too many odd camera angles or jump cuts can be jarring! I just thought it was an interesting critique since they never elaborated on what they meant, plus even though I've heard of certain angles ruining a scene, I've never actually heard about having too many dynamic angles so it just surprised me. A good chunk of webcomic creators default to more standard angles since perspective can be such a pain in the ass, and takes up extra time, so the feedback I usually see is to have more variety. Sorry if any of this came off like I was complaining! I really wasn't, I just wanted to answer the question with some examples of different types of criticism I've received. Talking about some of the ones that were odd, or I couldn't take for one reason or another. Didn't mean to draw so much attention to myself. xD That is true, though. It might have been personal taste, who knows, we can always improve more.

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) Thank you! I was really satisfied with how that page turned out!

Mei

@DanitheCarutor Oh no I never thought you were complaining at all! I was just responding haha sorry if that made you think I was being overly critical or anything. But yeah, I mean some people have different tastes or they point out different things that may or may not be problems. I think having a lot of critique can be a double edges sword anyway. On the one hand, it's great to hear outside opinions. On the other hand, they can give such varying advice that's all based on personal taste that it could not even apply to you. So it's like... take what you can and leave the rest or something?!

RebelVampire

While I normally don't participate in these, I will this week as a fiction writer and as someone who used to do webcomic reviews. For me, when it comes to dealing with criticism and critiques and deciding what's legit is to look for trends - which is the advice I generally give for anybody who doesn't know what to look for. Creativity is not an exact science, and as such, critiquing creative projects is not an exact science. While there are certainly foundations, in the bigger scheme of things, every critique is going to be different and unique. Every critic/reviewer/etc. has their own personal tastes, their own personal goals and aims when giving the criticism, their own personal style for giving a critique, and so on. This is why you can have two reviews that are completely opposite from each other in opinion, because each person is not only influenced by what they think makes a work good, but just their own personal focuses no matter how objective a critic tries to be. But, to me, this is why when you get several people all saying the same thing, that's the time to get concerned and consider changing something. Cause again, every critic is coming from a different place, and if people coming from different places are reaching the same approximate conclusion, they're actually probably on to something. So, I play the patience game, gather multiple critiques, and look for trends before putting stock into any one piece of criticism.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But what do you do when a bunch of people all say the same thing, but fixing that issue would take a ton of time and effort? A lot of people have said that my font is too small and hard to read. Is it worth it to spend a day just changing a bunch of letters on 70+ pages and saving and resizing them again? Despite all the people telling me it's an issue, I still don't really think it's that bad. I'm used to reading page format comics, and my font size is comparable to other page format comics. I think a big part of why people are complaining is because I'm a page-format comic on webtoons. But also I'm using a custom font which is my own handwriting. Obviously I'm used to reading my own handwriting and find it very legible, but other people aren't and so might find it more difficult to read. Maybe I can't look at the font objectively because of that : /

Kabocha

I think font issues and readability are... A different issue. One thing I noticed as I got older is that the small fonts I used to tend towards got harder and harder to read. So finding a balance between page legibility on the web and print is... Challenging. But it can be done. If you have a small screen with a high resolution (more than a cell phone), might be worth seeing how much you have to zoom in or focus to read it

Granted, I'm not yet 35, but my eyesight hasn't improved...;;!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I'm not sure about updating the old stuff, but if it's something that's been repeatedly brought up I would definitely increase the size on pages going forward and see if that helps. I can see the value in also updating the old pages if people are dropping off because the type is too small, but also I feel like 70 pages is like right on the board for me of not worth it for the time it would take. The value of your time is a personal decision though.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Even when taking critique, I almost never apply that to old pages. Webcomic readers generally expect a level of improvement, so they can understand if early pages have issues that are fixed later on.

Kabocha

Agreed, though if you have a way to batch process files for export, that might not be bad? It really depends on how much of a barrier to readability it is.

But in the context of critique? Eh, worth knowing for future projects at minimum!

Kabocha

Anyway, to answer the question I suppose... How do I determine what's legitimate and what's not... I guess it depends -- I saw a few people mentioning whether the interests of the critique align with your growth (or I think I saw that; admittedly, I'm not really inclined to scroll up too far right now), or whether or not you trust the person giving the critique. I think those are two good things look at, for sure! I also think it's worth considering whether or not you care. Like, at the end of the day, if it's not a show-stopper or making the work unreadable or unenjoyable, then... Meh? Make a note of it for the future, see if it's something you can incorporate if you solicited the critique. If it's entirely unsolicited... bigger meh.

DanitheCarutor

@Mei Nooo you didn't make me feel that way, I just know it can come off that way to a lot of people and wanted to clarify. Differentiating critique based on personal taste from you doing something objectively bad can be really hard to do sometimes! I usually do what Rebel Vampire said and collect them until I see a trend, but sometimes I wonder if that single critique is someone noticing a flaw no one else does. Although that might be me over-thinking things. @RebelVampire That is a good reminder of how different people are, and how variety there is in how they view things. Man, I wish I knew about your reviews back when you still did them... and I also magically had a decent chunk of my comic finished, I really liked your style. For the most part I try to apply the idea of going off trends. Unfortunately there is one I do tend to ignore since it feels like ends up fitting with my intentions, which are critiques about making my story less sad/uncomfortable/heavy. It probably is a legit flaw, and I might be executing my story poorly for all I know, but I did want to make a comic that could be really sad and/or uncomfortable. Due to that I kind of ignore those critiques... even though I probably shouldn't, it's hard to tell for those ones specifically. But yeah, hoarding critiques like they're playing cards, then finding patterns to see what needs to be improved is a good way to find a quality in your work that might be objectively bad.

keii4ii

@DanitheCarutor I think that's a great point, especially for those of us making very niche stories. Even if you get 99 people telling you they don't like your work because of X, sometimes it is the 100th person that you're writing for, the one who LOVES that (very intentional and pivotal) X in your work.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

ESPECIALLY if those 99 critiques are not aligned with your artistic vision to begin with.

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, the hardest thing about making something niche is a lot of people aren't going to like it no matter how well you pull it off, also getting feedback that works with what you're trying to accomplish is kinda hard. I went into my comic know it wouldn't get a whole lot of people who would understand or enjoy it, so I decided it would be for myself to vent and whoever does like the story can tag along. That seemed like the best plan to keep from getting discouraged. It IS really nice when that 100th person comes along who loves that weird stuff as much as I do.

RebelVampire

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) To add my own two cents to previous replies about fixing old pages, I think this depends first off, what others have said, how you value your own personal time and whether you think its worth the effort. Second, though, I think is to consider what the issue is that needs to be fixed. Some issues are definitely more minor than others, and ppl accept if you fix them later. However, then there's issues like readability, too much front-loading of information, etc. that can be a bit more major because its effecting readers' ability to understand your comic. It's at that point I personally believe that it'd be better to fix earlier pages. Cause the average new reader isn't going to show up to the comic and go "Maybe this will improve with this major issue later." The average new reader is going to give your comic 20 pages at most and then leave if the issues are still there and they can't follow the comic. In other words, always remember readers still have to read the beginning pages in order to get to the improved pages. So the question is, do you think the issue is something that will make readers drop the comic before they even get to that point? Again, though, emphasis, this is a personal decision. There are people who would put in the effort, and people who wouldn't. And both are right because what you do with criticism is ultimately your business.

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