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clusterassets · 6 years

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New world news from Time: Vanilla Is Nearly as Expensive as Silver. That Spells Trouble for Madagascar

On a recent Saturday afternoon in Sahabevava village, on the east coast of Madagascar, 46-year-old vanilla farmer Lydia Soa brandished the latest in anti-theft tracking devices: a hand-carved wooden stamp studded with a series of small steel pins. She had recently gone through the vines of her small plantation, stamping thousands of green vanilla pods with her unique producer code MK021. In theory, thieves could still steal her crop, but her branded pods would reveal their perfidy at the local market. “Now I can sleep at night, and when I wake up, my vanilla will still be there,” she says, with a relieved grin.

These days, vanilla theft is a big business in Madagascar. That may seem like a distant problem, but its repercussions are likely to be felt at your favorite dessert parlor this summer. Climate change, crime and speculation mean the price of the fragrant spice has skyrocketed from $20 a kilo five years ago to $515 in June. Ice-cream makers are faced with the agonizing choice of raising prices, pulling vanilla ice cream from the shelves, or even—to the horror of many—replacing real vanilla with a synthetic version sourced from petroleum products.

An innovative new program, spearheaded by some of the world’s biggest vanilla buyers, is tackling the problem head on by reducing theft, educating farmers, and making crops more resilient to the ravages of climate change. The aim is to stabilize the price of vanilla so that farmers will keep growing, and companies will keep buying.

Evolutionarily speaking, vanilla should have died out long ago. Now farmed far from its native Mexico and the bees that evolved to fertilize it, vanilla orchids have to be pollinated by hand in a time-consuming process—the small white flowers bloom once a year, for one day only. Then it takes another nine months for the fruits to mature into pods, which then have to be cured for several more weeks in alternating baths of steam, sun and shade before they can be incorporated into your favorite vanilla ice cream.

A byword for boring, vanilla tends to be taken for granted. Yet without it cookies lose their zing, milk chocolate its fragrance, crème brûlée its flare and Calvin Klein’s Obsession its sweet, earthy base. And without vanilla, some 80,000 farmers in Madagascar, which supplies 80% of the world’s crop, would lose their livelihood.

In a stark warning of climate change to come, a pair of tropical cyclones wiped out much of 2017’s Madagascan crop, sending prices higher than $600 a kilo. But higher costs don’t necessarily benefit the small family farmers whose futures depend on the fickle fruit. At a dollar per bean in one of the poorest countries of the world, farmers have had to contend with vanilla thieves who snatch the just-before-ripe pods straight from the vines knowing that they will fetch a decent price even if green. To counter the theft, farmers harvest their own crops early, flooding the market with low quality beans that lack the intense flavor that only emerges just before the mid-July harvest. As a result, the quality plummets and so does the price. Farmers tear out their vines in frustration, then scarcity pushes the price up again, creating a vicious cycle of vanilla boom and bust.

Read more: Vanilla shortage could lead to ice-cream price spike

In terms of cost, vanilla is easily the most volatile spice on the planet, says Gilbert Ghostine, CEO of Firmenich, a Swiss fragrance and flavor house that buys around 300 tons of vanilla a year—more than a tenth of the global supply. That volatility is putting vanilla’s very future at risk. “When the price is at $20, you have lots of farmers who say, ‘I’m not making money out of this. I’m walking away.’ And when it’s at $600, you have lots of companies saying, ‘I don’t want to use natural vanilla anymore because I can’t make money.’” The last time the price of vanilla spiked, to $400 a kilo in 2003, nearly 30% of buyers turned to vanilla substitutes and synthetic flavoring, says Dominique Roques, Firmenich’s vice president for natural flavors. The market for real vanilla eventually recovered, but continued fluctuations are making food companies wary. It’s not easy to reformulate recipes, and changing labels is expensive.

Masy Andriantsoa/Livelihoods FundsThe price of vanilla was $515 per kilogram on June 1 2018. Silver was priced at $527 per kilogram.

All but the most die-hard vanilla ice cream aficionados would have a hard time telling the difference between real vanilla and artificial flavoring, at least until they turn the container around and start reading the ingredients. That just may be the lifeline for Madagascar’s farmers. Consumers are increasingly demanding natural products in their food, says Roques, and ‘vanillic aldehyde’ doesn’t necessarily sit well with someone about to pay eight dollars for a pint of vanilla caramel swirl.

Which is why French food purveyor Danone, French utilities company Veolia, Firmenich and Mars Inc. are investing $10 million into the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming, an mpact investment fund that will, among other things, stabilize a crop that most people don’t even think about. It’s part of an emerging trend among food companies to streamline their supply chain, knowing the importance of being able to tell consumers that the ingredients in their products are not only natural and pronounceable, but also that no humans were harmed in the process of procuring them.

Read more: Hershey makes a big change to chocolate recipe

“It is absolutely critical that our supply chains are sustainable,” says Victoria B. Mars, a member of the Board of Directors for Mars, Inc., and a fourth generation member of the Mars family. “If we don’t have the raw materials, we can’t make our products. If our farmers are not able to make a decent living, we won’t have the raw materials we need.”

In Madagascar, the Livelihoods Fund has partnered with local NGO Fanamby on a $2 million project to provide farmers with vanilla seedlings and teach them sustainable practices that avoid the carbon-producing, erosion-inducing slash and burn methods of traditional agriculture. At the same time they are dealing with the theft problem by helping farmers organize neighborhood vanilla watch programs and supplying them with the coded stamps. When there is a theft, Fanamby now goes to the authorities to press a complaint so that farmers in remote areas don’t have to leave their crops in the middle of harvest season.

Meanwhile, the three food and flavor companies have signed a contract agreeing to buy the vanilla directly from the 1,000 or so farmers in the cooperative, rather than through the middlemen who can take up to a 60% cut for themselves. In return, the farmers have committed to sell only to the investors for the next 10 years, at a 2-4% premium over market price.

Read more: Giulio Di Sturco goes inside Madagascar’s cocoa war

It isn’t just about corporate social responsibility, says Ghostine, though that does play a part. It’s self-preservation. As the world’s second largest flavors and fragrance company, Firmenich supplies vanilla extracts to leading brands, such as Guerlain (Madagascan vanilla is the cornerstone of its Shalimar perfume), Häagen-Dazs and Mars, which uses vanilla not just in milk chocolate, but in the caramel strip on a Twix bar. Though Firmenich also supplies synthetic and natural vanillin flavors derived from clove, cinnamon and wood, real vanilla is a luxury that needs to be preserved at the source, says Ghostine. “We are making sure that the crops are harvested properly. We are increasing the yield. We are ensuring that communities still have a passion for investing in these crops and that their children are not going to the cities just to find jobs.”

Vanilla isn’t the only product that is getting the Livelihoods treatment. The fund is looking at other crops too, from cocoa to coconut, rice, palm oil and shea butter. Each of those commodities has a complex and, at times, sinister supply chain that could benefit from greater transparency and streamlining, revolutionizing the industry in the process, says Livelihoods Ventures president and co-founder Bernard Giraud. Vanilla, he says, is the Mount Everest of commodities. “If we can do it with vanilla, we can do it with anything.”

New vanilla vines take three years to mature, so it will be a while yet before the Livelihoods program, now in its second year, bears fruit. In the meantime, Soa is plotting ever more dire punishments for anyone who does attempt to steal her current crop. At the moment vanilla thieves face 3-4 years in prison. As far as she is concerned, that’s not enough. She wants a life sentence. “You invest all your life in growing the vanilla. Stealing it is the same thing as killing someone.”

June 13, 2018 at 03:13PM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com

#Time #world #news #ClusterAssets #ClusterAsset #Cluster Asset Inc.#ClusterAssets Inc.

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inkblackorchid · 11 months

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Yusei built her a duel runner from scratch, from scraps, because of course he did

2. They upgraded it for her all together!!!!!!!!!!

Look at how happy they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at how happy she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are ALL friends and I love them so much!!!

#yugioh 5ds #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #yusei fudo #crow hogan #jack atlas #If the rest of the show from this point on had been nothing but moments like this #of them all supporting one another #I honestly wouldn't have minded one bit ngl #I love them so much......................#they CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER your honor #orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 75 #screencaps #I've got more to yell about regarding episode 75 but I needed to get this out of my system first things first

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inkblackorchid · 6 months

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"I no longer feel despair", "I won't despair", "I will no longer despair", says most despairing man android in the world.

#more news at 11 #yugioh 5ds #aporia (5ds)#orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 143 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 7 months

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I think it says a lot about Crow that his deepest desire isn't actually to experience what life would have been like with his own parents, but that the orphans he used to look after had had the luxury of being with theirs.

#yugioh 5ds #crow hogan #sherry leblanc #rejoice crow fans #now that I've finally seen this duel again it means I have all the screenshot material #that I need for the second part of my big Crow post #so I'll def slap that together once I have the time #also unrelated but #this duel is why I 100% understand why some people are really into firebirdshipping #and why some people are really into ravenknightshipping #the dynamics are there! Aki Crow and Sherry as a trio are great!#(and they all share the burden of being screwed over by the writers but shhhhhhhh)#orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 140 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 7 months

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*cradles his face in my hands, kissing his forehead softly* You absolute IDIOT MY GOD YOU'RE A DISASTER

YOU UTTER BUFFOON YOUR FRIENDS CARE ABOUT YOU DAMN IT

Surprised Pikachu Face

This guy, I swear.

#yugioh 5ds #yusei fudo #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #jack atlas #*bonks Yusei on the head*#this boy has So Many Issues!!!!#see this here?#this is yusei's fatal flaw #he fundamentally doesn't understand how important to people he is #worse yet you could extrapolate from that that he doesn't think he's important Period.#this guy is an absolute mess I love him so much #LEARN. THAT PEOPLE. CARE ABOUT YOU. DUMBASS!#I wanted to make this post yesterday already but ended up being so tired that I forgot #anyway #orchid rambles #orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 138 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 7 months

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Love how this outtro contains both the biggest slap in the face the show has to offer as well as arguably my favourite shot of all outtros, full stop.

#yugioh 5ds #yusei fudo #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #faithshipping #orchid watches 5ds (again)#anyway guess who deadass forgot that the recap episode was a thing that existed #I do always like seeing Carly but ep 130 is easily a contender for the most forgettable episode in the entire show #also.#the d r e a d as I realised that I've reached the final stretch of the show #like this is it. this is the final outtro.#when I tell you I literally felt my heart sink knowing I'm about to get to the final WRGP duel and the ark cradle arc #and CRY LIKE AN IDIOT OVER THE ENDING AGAIN #I'm in too deep help me #I've said it before but THE GRIP THIS SHOW HAS ON ME AFTER TEN YEARS #anyway so if you're wondering why my rewatch is going at s snail's pace now?#IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS #I'M NOT READY TO CRY DAMN IT #episode 130 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 9 months

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Ok. I know the Diablo Attack/Placido duel episodes are very serious and all but. I cannot get over how small Yusei is compared to Jack and Bruno.

Look at him! He's pint-sized! Smol and sweet!

#yugioh 5ds #yusei fudo #jack atlas #bruno/antinomy #I am keeping this screenshot for posterity this is hilarious to me #he's so small!#alternatively: how fucking tall are Bruno and Jack #like hello??????#orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 105 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 9 months

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I was gonna try to keep my mouth shut, but I can't. I just can't. I have to go on another Aki rant because I feel like I'm going to explode. It's about this scene:

This drives me insane and I'm putting this under a readmore. Expect incoherent screaming, all ye who enter here.

Ok. Ok. I have so many issues with this scene. Specifically, with the way it develops later, when Aki's busy trying to figure out how to save a child from being swept up by a storm:

And I just. Look, I think the fact that I already wrote a fic that basically completely turns Aki's reaction here on its head should basically tell you everything. But! But. Allow me to defend why I think this whole scene is one big heap of horseshit, with a bit of analysis of canon and actual evidence to back up my claims and shit.

The thing is, I have seen people give this scene a charitable read. I've seen people be happy for Aki to enjoy freedom from the psychic powers that have given her so much trouble in her life. And the thing is, if this were season one or season two Aki, I would be completely on board with that take. Unfortunately, this scene is preceded by the pre-WRGP arc. But more on that below.

Moreover, I can make an educated guess about what they were going for here (in terms of messaging, because this is a kids' show at the end of the day and messaging is something you have to be properly concerned with when it comes to these). I can imagine it running somewhere along the lines of "you don't need special powers to be a hero". Or even "you can grow past the hurt and/or the mistakes in your life and still become a good person or even a hero". And really, I wish I could believe that take. It's just. The writing simply doesn't add up. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

This is where we get back to the pre-WRGP arc. And not just that, actually, but the timeskip between the dark signers and pre-WRGP arc, too. Because the thing is, the last time we have seen Aki in anguish about her powers on-screen by the time the episodes above (108-109) arrive was during the DS arc, during the duel with her father, which happened during episodes 40-41. 40. to. 41. This was over sixty episodes ago at this point. And after that, that's it. As far as the DS arc is concerned, Aki's conflict about her powers is resolved the second she controls them for the first time when her father tries to interfere in her second duel against Yusei.

(Yeah, remember this moment? That was literally the last time we saw Aki in conflict with her powers.)

And I know some people would argue "but what about the dark signer duel with Misty?". And yes, I get it. Misty does accuse her of having murdered her brother with her powers and Aki gets incredibly (understandably) upset about it. But the thing is, we know that's fake, and during the duel, Aki knows that, too. She goes as far as insisting that there were no casualties at the duel where Misty thinks Toby died.

(Yes, I have screenshot proof for literally every dumb little thing in this show, why do you ask?)

It's only after Misty keeps pushing and backing her into a corner during their duel (and literally gaslighting her) that she begins to believe Misty's version of the events. Which is why this doesn't "count" as Aki being in conflict with her powers the way her second duel with Yusei does. At least not to me, feel free to debate me over this if you wanna.

Okay, but what am I driving at here? Fair question. Let me hop back to after the dark signers' defeat.

So, we know there's a half-year timeskip between the DS and the pre-WRGP arc (which was allegedly enough for NDC to connect the city and Satellite, deal with all the social issues that entailed, and also build a giant duel network, which I will never believe but I digress). Unfortunately, what exactly our main characters did during that timeskip is never addressed, it's just kind of there to segway immediately into the WRGP setup. So the only thing we can do is guess at what they got up to based on where they are as people by the time we get back to them during the start of the pre-WRGP arc. So where's Aki at when we see her again after the dark signers' defeat then?

Oh, she's attending duel academy again now! That's nice. So that probably means the student body isn't scared shitless of her anymore and she's not being ostracised anymore.

Wow, she's an exceptional student! That means she must be a really good duellist. So she got the hang of her powers, then?

...Ah.

Do you start to see my problem? Past the DS arc, we are not being given any indication that Aki is still struggling with her powers or still resents them or herself like she used to. You could be forgiven for thinking that she's healed in the meantime. She's fine. She has accepted herself and can now use her powers safely. Which makes her later claiming "she no longer needs that cursed power" a bit... hmmm. And another thing. The fact that she refers to it as "cursed" rubs me the wrong way. After the defeat of the dark signers, she literally never does that even a single time before the moment in the hospital during the storm. (I'd post all the screenshots to prove it here but for one, tumblr doesn't allow it, and for two, I hope you'll believe I did my due diligence without it.)

And it just irks me. If the powers are still a "curse" to Aki by episodes 108-109, why give us the moment above?

And why give us this moment, where she saves Sherry, Yusei, and herself with those powers?

And why give us this moment, where she literally uses her powers at a public event to protect people, and is evidently not cussed out as a witch for it? Neither of these moments do anything to indicate that Aki still hates her powers. They don't indicate that she sees them as a "beast of burden" or necessary evil of a sort, either. On the contrary, I don't think it would be too out there to claim all these moments make her look rather badass. Like a small celebration of "hey, now she can finally use these powers for cool and not evil things!".

Yet, somehow, we still end up with episodes 108-109, where the writers expect the audience to buy that Aki was secretly still hoping she might eventually be rid of these powers after all. And maybe this would be easier to swallow if there weren't also the fact that they later literally go back on it to add to this confusing mess. Because the thing is, we all know the finale scene after the three-way duel with Sherry where Aki protects them with her powers (which have suddenly reappeared, aha!) again and also finds out she can use these powers to heal. So not only is the framing of Aki suddenly being glad to have lost her powers extremely weird, it's also temporary anyway!

So my question is. What was the point. What was the point of all this if the writers ended up going back on it anyway? Because I want to believe there's a reasonable, charitable explanation that also makes sense with what they show us in terms of Aki's characterisation past the DS arc, but if there is, I cannot for the life of me find it. If anything, this whole thing feels like it completely contradicts itself.

First, they tie up Aki's conflict with her powers with a neat bow after she manages not to hurt her father anymore. Then, they launch into the pre-WRGP arc and blatantly tell us that she can now control them. No questions asked. Indisputable fact, and we get nothing that contradicts that, either. Then, we get a bunch of setup showing her using her powers, too, and what's more, we get other significant players in the cast taking notice of it, too, as though it might become relevant. Because Sherry isn't the only one who gets curious about Aki's powers.

(I will never understand how Placido's hood works together with his horn-thingies and have stopped trying at this point.)

The literal, central antagonists of season 3-4 also take notice of it. Like that means something. Like it'll come up again later. But, well. We know it doesn't.

Instead, she suddenly loses her powers out of nowhere (and we are never given a reason for it, either, which does nothing to make this writing decision seem anymore understandable). And, look. The thing that upsets me most about this isn't even the fact that it feels a little inconsistent with Aki's character post DS arc. If that were the only problem, I could still suspend my disbelief far enough to go along with the idea that she secretly still hated her powers quietly in the background and wanted them gone anyway. What really pisses me off is that it reeks of zero setup and knee-jerk decisions in the writing room ten miles against the wind. If they wanted us to believe Aki's glad to be rid of her powers, why give absolutely no indication that she's at odds with them past episode 41 anymore? Why let her state outright that she can now control them? Why show her on several occasions using them to her own and other people's benefit, the way a hero would? And if her powers are supposed to vanish and it's supposed to make sense, why is there no reason for it? They already used cyborg timetravel at that point, they could have literally come up with any nonsense related to that and it would have probably made at least more sense than just letting her powers vanish for no reason at all. Also, if the message behind all this is supposed to be either of the things I mentioned way above—if the idea the audience is supposed to be getting is either "you don't need special powers to be a hero" or "your past and/or your mistakes don't define you and you can heal and grow past them"—why reintroduce the powers, which, in this reading, would be a symbol of Aki's pain, of her mistakes and her dreaded past, at the very end, during the finale, then? It just doesn't add up, and it frustrates me to no end.

The writers wanted to make the moment Aki realises she can help people (well, one person, a child) without her powers seem triumphant so bad, but every time I watch it, it just completely falls flat for me. This isn't a triumph, this is a hot mess of bad writing decisions. All I'm saying is, if they wanted me to buy that Aki would be happy about losing her powers here, they were missing a hefty amount of setup and also shouldn't actually have given them back to her during the finale (no, not even as healing powers).

Moreover... I'll freely admit I also have a personal problem with this scene. I've seen this show and these episodes several times by now, and during my last rewatch and my current one, something about this scene has been creeping up on me, and I think I've figured out what that is now. So I talked about the possible message behind this scene already, and the reading I've given so far was fairly forgiving. But the thing is, there is another reading that has occurred to me that I can't unsee anymore. As much as you could make a valid case that this scene is trying to say that people don't need to be special to be heroes and save others, that past mistakes don't define us, and yadda yadda, there's also a much, much less pleasant way to interpret this scene: "You're better off if you don't stand out." And I'll freely admit, this interpretation probably occurs to me specifically because I was considered a "weird kid" at school, singled out by bullies, and avoided by "popular" kids (take a wild guess why I relate to Aki so much!). And over the years, you learn to downplay that "weirdness" because you become desperate to be accepted by someone, anyone. And given everything the show gives us about Aki's relationship with her powers, it'd make sense that this idea would be buried somewhere in her head, too. It's better not to stand out. Don't be weird. Sand down your edges so there's no chance people could get upset about them. You're better off being whatever everyone else considers "normal" than being whoever you are. It doesn't matter if this is a part of who you are, just become someone else. Someone who's easier to accept. Who's easier to love. You don't need your "weirdness".

You don't need this cursed power.

You know, the "cursed power" that Aki had from the beginning of the show, that was a part of her for years, and that the show didn't give any indication could vanish. The power that we were led to believe would just be there forever, because it was simply a part of Aki, not a conscious thing she (or the narrative) could choose. The power that we were, for all intents and purposes, led to believe she had mastered and maybe even accepted along the way. But sure, let's get rid of that. It's better if she's """normal""". And more convenient for the writers, too! After all, if she doesn't have powers anymore, they can't cause plotholes (of which the WRGP already has enough) and can't possibly give Aki any more badass moments, which makes it that much easier to sideline her. And let's package this weird, shittily set-up moment in a message about how she's better off without her powers anyway. She's happy! It makes complete sense that she's happy. She's finally normal like everyone else. Ignore the way people who might relate to the character could possibly interpret this moment differently. And ignore how none of the writing surrounding this moment makes sense.

...Sigh.

Okay, I think I've let off enough steam. I just. Yeah. I'm sorry, but I cannot for the life of me view this scene in a favourable way and watching it today made me want to chew glass tbh. My only solace is that they went back on this trainwreck writing decision in the finale. Which, really, just makes this whole mess really, really pointless, doesn't it?

For anyone who stuck around this long, thanks for reading. Sorry if this got extra-rant-y. Idk man, I just think “it’s worth the effort to accept yourself as you are, even with all the bits you might not like at first” would have been a better message than whatever this turned out to be.

#yugioh 5ds #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #ygo 5ds #5ds #character analysis #orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 108 #episode 109 #orchid rambles

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inkblackorchid · 6 months

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~That's childhood trauma, baby!!!!!~

#yugioh 5ds #jack atlas #rua (5ds)#ruka (5ds)#leo (5ds)#luna (5ds)#christ I forgot how HARSH this duel is #stop making him cry Aporia!!!!!!!!#stop it god damn it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#this is child abuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 142 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 10 months

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I love how this episode effortlessly conveys that both Jack and Carly can and will get themselves involved in stupid, dangerous things if they think it's worth it.

#jack atlas #carly nagisa #carly carmine #yugioh 5ds #orchid watches 5ds (again)#screencaps #episode 76 #kinda wish they'd gone to smoke out the duel runner theft ring together ngl #even though I know Carly couldn't have realistically contributed much what with her being neither a duellist nor a physical fighter #but I can dream

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inkblackorchid · 9 months

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Is this an objectively terrible idea? Absolutely.

Do I adore Crow for going through with it anyway (and getting really fired up on Aki's behalf)? ABSOLUTELY.

#yugioh 5ds #crow hogan #orchid watches 5ds (again)#this is why I can totally see firebirdshipping even if it's not my ship personally btw #crow and aki legit have a very good dynamic and I will die on that hill #episode 104 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 4 months

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Finishing 5Ds moodboard

#yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #5ds #yugioh memes #YES it took me until now to finish the rewatch #YES I devoured the last 7 episodes in one go #NO I don't wanna talk about it #I was STRUGGLING okay #take my old-ass crusty memes just take them #I am not okay #orchid watches 5ds (again)#(I have so much more to yell about. god I have so much more to yell about)#(but r/n there is only the energy for memes)#(let me hide my pain by making silly nonsense posts)#orchid rambles

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inkblackorchid · 1 year

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Found some energy again and now I feel a burning need to go back and talk about the Jack/Carly dark signer duel because, in all honesty, I think this may be the best of the dark signer duels, full stop. At the very least, it easily makes the top three in terms of stakes, character dynamics, and sheer drama. But what I really feel the need to talk about is what this duel does for Jack's character because I feel like there's a lot to unpack here. Long post ahead.

So, first off, I freely admit that I dunk a lot on Jack, and I can't help but feel like that's partially the point of his character during the early parts of the show. He's a standoffish, overly proud guy who comes across as kind of a dick, he betrayed Yusei and stole from him, and both our protagonist and we as the audience are being given every reason to not hate him, precisely, but to at the very least want to see him go down. His ego is so massively bloated and the way he constantly goes on about thinking he's a better duellist than Yusei makes you root for his downfall at the Fortune Cup. Considering he's the rival character, I think this is all perfect. I eagerly anticipate Jack getting his butt handed back to him on a silver platter every time, and it works great.

That said, this characterisation would get a little stale if they'd tried to run with it the whole show, I think, which is why I'm glad they didn't. However, that doesn't mean I don't have my gripes with where they went with Jack. This is obviously my personal opinion and no one's pressured to agree with me, and I speak from a standpoint of nothing but love for this show because I just adore it with all its quirks, crazy bits, and, occasionally, dropped plot threads. The only reason I even feel such an urge to post about this in the first place is because I love this show to pieces, which is why I like to turn the bits that didn't work for me over in my mind, allowing me to imagine where things could have gone instead. Jack is, for the most part, a good character who has a good spot in the narrative, but I do feel that he looses a few things from the third season onward that previously made him extra compelling in the first and second season. But I'm not here to talk about season three and cyborg shenanigans just yet.

Instead, let's talk about the dark signers arc. Because this arc gives us such an interesting perspective on Jack. He starts the whole season out by suffering his greatest defeat at the hands of Yusei, in public, before a crowd that was as good as convinced he'd win—as convinced as he himself was. And it's an intriguing spot for him because he's been standing on this pedestal the entire time, and then Yusei just comes in and knocks it right out from under his feet. Jack may not be an overly emotional character, but he is, indubitably, at his lowest point after he loses in the Fortune Cup.

Enter Carly, who couldn't be much more different from Jack if she actively tried. (Although they do share some very interesting core aspects.) She provides us with an immediate, stark contrast to Jack that shines a light on both their most prominent character traits by letting them bounce off one another. Jack's stoic and cold, Carly's bubbly and energetic. Jack's proud and self-assured, Carly's a bit awkward and stumbles occasionally. However, both of them are driven and stubborn. They both want to prove themselves, you could even argue that they share the same goal: Make more of their lives. Except, Jack technically achieved that goal and now plummeted back down, whereas Carly's still chasing it.

What interests me even more, though, is how Jack acts around Carly, because I think if you showed someone only Fortune Cup Jack and then told this person that the same character would later fall in love with an awkward reporter girl who's constantly on the brink of getting fired and uses her deck mainly for fortune-telling, they would not be very inclined to believe you. Sure, he's still standoffish and proud, but the fact alone that he immediately tolerates Carly's presence, to the point of duelling together with her without much issue? Fortune Cup Jack would never.

Carly has such a profound impact on Jack as a person, it's extremely compelling to watch every time. At this low point where he is after Yusei defeats him, she catches him and gives him a new perspective that allows him to finally see himself as something other than King of turbo duels, and not only that, she also softly takes him down a peg and gets him to see that his belief that every person has to stand for themselves, that bonds to other people are useless and only a hindrance, was wrong, that no man is an island. I really wanna highlight this because in a show where this exact message is the main philosophy of Yusei, the protagonist, one might have expected him to teach Jack that. But he doesn't. Carly does. Jack even confirms as much himself.

And what makes this hit even harder is that he doesn't simply tell this to Carly herself, he reaffirms it in the duel against Goodwin, too, knowing well that the man himself, Yusei, and Crow can hear. I have to put this exchange here because it drives me insane:

The thing is, if this were Fortune Cup Jack, Goodwin would be right on the money here. But no-longer-King Jack? Post-Carly Jack?

(Can I also say that my brain starts short-circuiting every time I hear Jack literally confirm, with his own damned words, that he loved Carly? Because he did!!! That's canon!!!!!)

People (and those people absolutely include me) often talk about how much of a disservice cutting her out of the story later did to Carly, but you know what? As far as I'm concerned, it also did a disservice to Jack. Here, at the end of the DS arc, we have Jack with a nice bit of character development, with a lesson learned, setting out for a new path in life. And then what do they do for the pre-WRGP and WRGP arc? Basically reset his arc two thirds of the way and pretend he has to learn this exact thing again. Sure, he lives together with Yusei and Crow later, meaning he at least tolerates the whole "bonds" thing, but in comparison to the Jack up here, it feels a bit... off. Not to speak of the later episodes where they act like Jack has to relearn how to do teamwork from scratch for the WRGP, even though he is shown right in this final dark signer duel, playing perfectly on the same wavelength with his foster brothers. (Though the fake Jack episode is still good on its own, don't get me wrong; it's just questionable whether they really needed to make Jack learn the same lesson twice instead of giving him a different focus later.) Not to speak of the fact that turning Carly into a glorified cardboard cutout later essentially cuts him off from any further, interesting interactions with her that could dig into the deeper aspects of the character. Because whether you ship these two or not, I don't think anyone can deny that Carly shone a light on Jack's character that no other person in canon managed to. So I will forever lament how Carly was axed post DS arc, but honestly, Jack also suffered from the sudden change in Carly's writing.

I like to imagine all the scenarios we could have gotten if they'd decided to follow through with this character development for Jack, or, hell, if they'd simply decided to properly work through everything that happened between Carly and Jack. We could have gotten Jack really coming to terms with what it means to tread the new path he chose for himself. We could have gotten him maybe not apologise (I don't think he's the kind of guy to apologise, lmao), but at the very least talk to Yusei and maybe Crow about his betrayal. And I mean, Kiryu got to remember being a dark signer later, so why didn't Carly? There was so much untapped potential for dear, sweet Carly coming to terms with her violent actions while being guided by Aslla Piscu there, and Jack could have been central to that, in a sort of returning-the-favour way. Or, if they had to push him back almost to square one, they could have made that a plot point. Have Carly remark on his strange demeanour. Have them bounce off each other again, figuring out where they stand with each other and with themselves.

It just feels like there was a lot of character writing there that could have been great but was never even considered. And in the end, this hinders both Jack's and Carly's journey.

As far as their previous dynamic and dark signer duel is concerned, though? That is Jack at his absolute best for me.

#carly nagisa #carly carmine #jack atlas #yugioh 5ds #character analysis #orchid rambles #orchid watches 5ds (again)#screencaps #carly my sweet girl you were robbed so bad #these two also give me a lot of feelings #finally got to post this though at least

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inkblackorchid · 8 months

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Ok but this is such juicy interpersonal conflict. This is mwah, chef's kiss. The questions this introduces. Was Dragan the only duellist of note who was forced to lose against Jack on purpose or was there a whole slew of them? How many people did Jack actually beat legitimately before the Fortune Cup? How much more other than the PR stuff was fabricated for Jack's image?

Also, this is an absolutely unacceptable blow to Jack's pride—his expression in the fourth screenshot here really says it all. This is such a good way to call back to season 1 Jack and really get him invested in this match. I love this choice.

#jack atlas #yugioh 5ds #dragan (5ds)#the ragnarok match is mostly a pissing contest between celestial entities tbh #but I think the team does have a solid introduction #and this bit here is really just the cherry on top #also can you tell I've gotten slower in my rewatch because I'm dreading the ending hahahahaha #(I already know I'll cry at the finale again help me)#orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 123 #screencaps

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inkblackorchid · 1 year

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Sigh.

Screw it, I have to talk about it. Watching episodes 56 and 57, but especially the latter, hurts my heart every time I do it. Yusei has had some emotional moments up until this point, but I would, without the shadow of a doubt, claim that this is definitely his most emotional moment in the entire show. And the thing is, it's so unnecessary, and not in the "this is a poor writing decision"-kind of way. Quite the opposite. Allow me to elaborate under the readmore because I have a feeling this post is going to get long.

A question I had for a long while before I really started bothering to analyse the show, especially for fic writing, was when and how Yusei found out that his parents were leading developers in the Moment reactor that ended up causing Satellite's separation, killed presumably hundreds of people, and caused a lot of the misery in his own life, too. The thing is, the show never gives a definitive answer to that. Only context clues. We can infer from Yusei's reaction the first time Goodwin mentions his father and the Moment research before the signers depart for Satellite that this circumstance isn't news to him. Furthermore, we can infer from Crow's reaction to the impassioned speech Yusei gives in episode 57 that he must have known about his parents' identities for a while.

Personally, I take this to mean that Yusei has known about his parents' involvement in the Moment research for several years at this point—in fact, I'd go as far as saying that he's known about it since his childhood, and there's a reason why I think that: To a child, the line of thinking "my dad developed this giant machine that ended up blowing up and killing a lot of people, even many of my friends' parents" makes complete sense. (Even taking into account the cover-up the city did, pretending the whole explosion was a tectonic shift—because you can't convince me even for one second that the people in Satellite who lived close enough to the reactor didn't see that the Moment explosion happened first.) And I really feel the need to stress that this explanation is something I think especially a child could have come up with. Because with all the context the show gives us about the Zero Reverse incident, it's easy to see that there were a lot more factors involved there than just "man built bad machine, bad machine exploded". In fact, this drives me up a wall so badly I need to dig into it for a second.

With all the exposition Roman/Rudger gives us in this duel, we learn several things about the late Professor Fudo. Chiefly among them, three things: He was extremely smart, he had a project with the potential to change the future on his hands, and most of all, he was extremely passionate about that project, to the point of Roman/Rudger making this comparison:

The reason I'm mentioning that is because despite all the above-mentioned factors, Professor Fudo was 100%, completely ready to shut down his entire project when he realised it could become dangerous for the city and its people. And as someone who's worked with people engrossed in their own research projects, albeit in a completely different field, let me just say this: Giving up a project of this scale is not a decision you make lightly. Scientific research, as intriguing as it sounds and looks from the outside, can be an absolutely draining affair of trying to get funding for an idea, and fighting to keep that funding later down the line, sometimes even forcing you to pay for things with your own money for a while just to keep the project alive. At a point like the one Yusei's dad was at here, this project would have already had exorbitant amounts of money put towards it, not to speak of countless hours of labour from qualified professionals. This would have been a humongous undertaking, not to speak of the fact that it was likely to be the thing that could have defined the Professor's entire career (even though I don't think that's why he was so invested in it). So I'm going to say it again, because this drives me nuts: Deciding to not simply change the direction of a project like this, to not simply try a different approach, but to instead step away, install containment seals and shut the thing down entirely, taking the whole damned idea back to the drawing board, is. not. a decision any self-respecting researcher would have made lightly. And that's without talking about the sponsors' reactions to the Professor deciding to shut the project down.

The Professor may not have been willing to risk the city populace's lives for this project, but the sponsors certainly were. And so was Roman/Rudger, because by that point, he'd already been tempted by the darkness to give in to his worst impulses. It's honestly tragic because with all the facts laid out like that—everything from the project going out of control due to factors Yusei's father couldn't control, to him deciding to shut down what would have been the project of a lifetime, to Iliaster using their shadowy machinations to tempt Roman/Rudger, to him replacing the Professor as head of the project at the sponsors' behest because they wanted a return on what money they invested into it, all the way up to Roman/Rudger purposefully blowing up the reactor in order to be reborn as a dark signer—I, for my part, couldn't find it in me to blame Yusei's dad for everything that happened. Sure, he's somewhere at the start of the causal chain that lead to the Zero Reverse, but saying it was his fault is vastly oversimplifying the whole dilemma, in my opinion. Unfortunately, we all know that there's one person who can't find it in himself to forgive Professor Fudo for being part of the chain of events that led to the Zero Reverse.

And you know what makes this extra painful? Not only is Yusei blaming his dad, who was trying his damndest to prevent this catastrophe, for what happened, he goes as far as blaming himself for it, too, on behalf of being the late Professor's son. What drives me absolutely insane about this is that there's no need for him to. Even if the Professor had, somehow, been directly responsible for the Zero Reverse, that would still not make Yusei, his son, in any way culpable. None of what happened was even remotely Yusei's fault, and he couldn't have done anything to prevent it, either. He was an infant. This is what I meant by it being unnecessary above—Yusei is carrying this insane amount of guilt around, even though there's no reason for him to. Though I don't think he could be convinced of it, come hell or high water, Yusei is blameless when it comes to the Zero Reverse. What kills me is that Crow even tells him as much:

But. BUT. There's one more thing I absolutely need to stress: While seeing Yusei shoulder all this blame for a thing he's not responsible for and that I don't consider his father responsible for, either, is painful to watch, my frustration with it does not come from the fact that I consider it sloppy writing, or a character inconsistency, or any other such thing. In fact, I think it's the opposite. Granted, this is obviously built on my headcanon that Yusei has known who his parents were since he was a child, and thus came up with his rather simplistic, causal explanation of "my father invented a thing that caused a horrible catastrophe" without looking at (or even being able to look at, considering how hush-hush the public maintenance department and M.I.D.S. apparently kept the Zero Reverse thing) all the additional factors surrounding the Zero Reverse. And that this simplistic, condemning view of his father and his past had several years to fester, at that. But assuming for a second that this guess of mine is correct, I think the writing around Yusei's guilt complex is actually spot-on. Being confronted with this as a child, he would jump to the conclusion that his father was the reason the catastrophe that changed the lives of everyone he cares about for the worse happened. He would think that as that man's son, he has a responsibility to make up for his father's devastating mistake. And he would willingly put on blinkers, never stopping to consider whether there could have been other factors that contributed to causing the catastrophe, and never stopping to consider whether the friends he's so dedicated to compensating for the losses his father caused them even actually think that he's to blame.

It's like. My frustration with this aspect of Yusei's character is endless. I want to shake him and tell him to stop being so stupid and taking the blame for this insane thing. But at the same time? That's good character writing. That makes perfect sense. And my frustration is earned because I can't help but feel that this is exactly what Yusei's complex is supposed to evoke. So yeah. I love this writing choice, and I want to throw something against the wall every time Yusei gives this speech.

#yusei fudo #yugioh 5ds #professor fudo #zero reverse #character analysis #this whole thing makes me want to bang my head against the wall every time #idk if anyone actually thinks that yusei's dad carries any blame like he does #but if anyone like that is out there: for one please tell me why you think that (I mean this sincerely)#and for two feel free to call me a professor fudo apologist #zero reverse was neither yusei's nor his dad's fault and this is a hill I'm willing to die on #ANYWAY #orchid watches 5ds (again)#episode 57 #orchid rambles

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