#the idea is there but the execution isn’t. so perhaps don’t ruin someone’s interactions. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anonymouslyangsty · 3 years

Note

I would love to hear about Taka secretly being the murderer instead of Toko!!

HEHEHEH I now have an excuse to talk about the Brainrot. Also gosh. This is real long. And kinda just a string of thoughts, though no more so than usual I guess. I got into this one

First and foremost, we got to establish how close to the Toko/Syo situation Taka would be in this case. For the sake of simplicity, we'll say it's another situation of Taka and Ishida being separate personalities, just like with Toko and Syo. I think there's definitely merit to them being the same person, but I'd have to think that over since...well I've never thought of this concept from that mindset before.

Let's consider Taka not knowing. I like that it's kinda a metaphor to some degree? Because as kids, we all have a very black and white, pure idea of morality and justice. Don't steal from others, don't lie, don't hurt people, ect. And that clear cut morality is very much in line with Taka as a character. He follows the rules! All the time! Even in a death game he'll yell at you for running in the halls. And this morality of his is so pure and simple, to the point of being childish.

But morality is not black and white in the real word. It's complicated, with tons of different factors to consider more often than not. Is it already to steal if you'll starve otherwise? Is it alright to lie if the person you're lying to has bad intentions, even if they are a authority figure? Is it okay to hurt someone if doing so saves others? Morality isn't clear cut and sometimes rules need to be broken. But when we're immature, it's easy not to realize this.

So having Taka not know about Ishida would be representative of this concept of immature vs mature morality. The immature morality, the black and white view, is unaware of the need for complexity. This would be Taka, because Taka seems unable to accept grey morally. His interactions with Mondo reflect that. When he thought Mondo was bad, he was totally bad. He was violent, lazy, and a criminal. When he decided Mondo was good, he was totally good. He was the perfect man, unable to do any harm, let alone kill someone.

So Ishida would be the mature morality, the one who realizes that the idealistic views of the immature morality are just that, an ideal, not reality. Ishida would understand that Taka's belief that, if he can just bring his ideas and morals into politics everything can be solved, is wrong. Corruption runs deeper than Taka's willing or ready to confront. And even with all the hard work in the world, Kiyotaka isn't going to be able to solve everything.

How do you solve society's issues when the avenues to legally solve it are corrupt? Who do you call when the cops abuse the people? When the billionaire has all the judges paid off? How can you uproot corruption when so many politicians benefit from it and strive to perpetuate it?

You can't. And that's what Ishida's there for. Ishi is more of the revolutionary that Taka is, the one who's willing to break the rules to ultimately create a better world to live in.

So yeah. Ishida is a murderer. He kills corrupt authority figures, those who'd would lie and bribe their way out of trouble if he didn't kill them. Because for far too long justice has only affected those who couldn't pay their way out of it. I guess he's kinda a Sparkling Justice kinda situation, motivation wise.

His calling card would definitely be different from Syo's. He'd probably leave a file of all the crimes the politician was executed for. Nobody knows how he gets the info, since so much of it was covered up, but he has it. Along with this, his victims are always decapitated. This is in reference to the French Revolution, where the people rose up and used a guillotine on the ruling class. (I’m sure there’s a more Japanese appropriate revolution I could make reference of, but I don’t know what it is.)

Now actually, how does Ishida get all that info on his victims? Not sure fully myself, but he probably uses Takaaki's position as an officer to his benifit. I'm sure he can get a lot of confidential information by breaking into police files. He has his ways.

Also, it should be noted that someone like Mondo wouldn't become a target for Ishida. Ishida doesn't deal with petty criminals, or even serial killers. He deals with criminals that'll powerful enough to manipulate the justice system to their advantage. Ishida only kills those the law refuses to deal with.

Unlike Toko and Syo, I think that Kiyotaka would be totally unaware of Ishida. I like the idea of Ishida attempting to protect Taka from what he does. Because Taka is everything Ishida fights for; to protect innocence by destroying corruption. So Ishida wouldn't want Taka to know about what he does.

Perhaps fittingly, this isn't exactly a good thing. How can Taka grow as a person, learn to be a leader himself, if he isn't aware of the corrupt world he's getting into? Taka does need to evolve into mature morality, but Ishida won't let him in his desire to protect Taka. Ishida keeps Taka innocent and naive, which isn't always a good thing.

Moving on, I want to talk about backstory for this AU. It's basically the same. Toranosuke's corrupt in his actions as Prime Minister, probably cheating many out of their livelihoods and ruining lives in the process. He's eventually found out, leaving him and his family in dept. As far as I know, Toranosuke never serves a prison sentence. I don't know why he didn't in canon, but I'm going to say he bribed his way out of it in this AU.

And all of this is...upsetting to Taka to say the least (I'm going to say Taka's like 8-10 at this point) . Because even if his father tries to hide it from him, Taka's aware of the fallout of what his grandfather did. The thousands who were cheated, the workers left jobless, the safety violations that were ignored. He knows what his grandfather did was wrong. And everybody, from the news reporters, to the people on the street, to even his own teachers, say Toranosuke should be imprisoned for what he did.

The situation is terribly unfair. Why should everyone hate him because of what his grandfather did? Why should his dad have to work all day just because of Toranosuke? Why isn't his grandfather in jail if he did so many bad things?

Kiyotaka is a passionate boy, and while he's well behaved, that level of passion wouldn't be easy for a 10 year old's willpower to contain. I think that eventually the stress of everything becomes too much. The constant bullying at school, the fact that he never sees his father anymore, the fact that his mother left them after grandfather got in trouble. It's all a lot for a child. And Toranosuke, the man behind all that heartache, is still there. An old, withered man, just laying in bed while everyone else suffers for his mistakes.

It's not fair. It's not fair that the bad guy gets away with it, and Taka hates his grandfather so much for it. Perhaps if Toranosuke had spoken to him, had said anything in explanation for what he'd done, Taka could've dealt with it better. But he didn't, so Taka didn't.

I think Taka eventually does something drastic. It's not planned or calculated in any way, more like a child having the worst possible meltdown. Perhaps he pulls out his grandfather's life support, or he smothers the man with a pillow. Either way, Toranosuke Ishimaru dies at the hands of his grandson, a young boy who couldn't handle the stress the world put on him.

And Taka's horrified when he realizes what he's done. Because he just killed someone, someone who had hurt so many people, but someone nonetheless. And regardless of how angry Taka was with his grandfather, he honestly didn't mean to kill the man.

So Taka does what any terrified child would do. He runs as far away as possible, with absolutely no plan. And it's days later before anyone finds him and brings him home. He's completely catonic when Takaaki finally finds him.

Taka's fingerprints being on the crime scene wouldn't be suspicious, since he lives there and is in charge of taking care of Toranosuke while Takaaki's out. So it wouldn't be hard to assume someone came in, killed Toranosuke, then cleaned up any evidence before leaving. After all, Toronosuke was dead for hours before Takaaki returned home.

It's possible that Takaaki knows what actually happened. I mean, Taka's still Taka. He'd probably confess what'd happened once he's less catonic. But, regardless of if Takaaki believes the confession, he sure as hell isn't going to accept it.

It’s the only time Takaaki ever yelled at his son. Not out of anger, but a panicked terror of not knowing if his son was deeply traumatized and blaming himself. or if he was truly guilty of murdering Toranosuke. He makes Taka swear to never say he killed his grandfather again.

And somewhere in the midst of all that issue, Ishida starts being a thing. Perhaps it comes from Taka’s immaturity; his childish views on morality are completely incompatible with what he’d done. And how he’s promised to never bring it up again, but that means that he can’t do the right thing and confess. It’s a horrific contradiction and a horrific situation.

Perhaps Ishida is Taka’s means of coping with that. Taka doesn’t remember what happened on that day, but Ishida does. Ishida carries the burden of that day and, as Taka gets older, all the other deaths.

Does Takaaki know about his son’s vigilantism? Who knows.

Anyway, as for in the death game. I would still say the murderer gets revealed in ch2, but I’m not quite sure how. There’s no way that Taka could tell anyone he’s Ishida (or whatever the media calls this ‘mysterious killer’), since he himself honestly doesn’t know.

I feel like it would be possible for Togami to catch him however, assuming there’s info on his case in the library. When the secrets are passed out, Taka would probably be pretty vocal about his being a “total false accusation”. After all, there’s no way he killed his own grandfather! These so called secrets are clearly just slander, right?

Given how honest Taka’s shown himself to be, Togami might think that’s suspicious that he likely honestly doesn’t remember his secret happening. Which might be enough for him to connect Taka to the string of murders. After all, Toranosuke would fit the bill of the killer’s usual victims.

I guess to get Ishida to front, Togami would have to convince both the class and Taka that he’s the aformentioned murderer. It would be...A very bad time for Taka. Bringing up a lot of repressed memories.

Also, gotta talk about Ishida a tad more! With Toko and Syo, the fact that they have such different personalities is part of the charm. So, it seems kinda lame to keep Ishida as “just Taka but loud and rude” like in canon. Not to mention that Ishida wasn’t made with Mondo in mind, so it wouldn’t make sense.

My first thought is that Ishida is almost the total opposite of Taka. He’s still just as militant as Taka, but he’s far more serious, less expressive. He probably very openly consiters making Togami his next target for the whole mutilating a corpse thing, but decides not to on the grounds that he’s a minor (and also because they’re in a death game and Ishida doesn’t want to risk Taka dying)

Also I’m realizing that, if Togami sets up the killer like he does in canon...That means he cuts off Chihiro’s head….Ew

#Not sure if I'm happy with all the details of this #but whatever #I just think it's a cool idea even if I haven't thought it out fullyl #Taka #Danganronpa #kiyotaka ishimaru #an ask tag

25 notes · View notes

belphegorbillickin · 3 years

Note

Honestly, I love Mammon but I'm sick of his sweetness. I see him EVERYWHERE, and it's like the others don't exist. I like it when characters lose their calm you know? Esp that time when we reject Satan's pact, I really liked how he got worked up over such a thing lmao. And of course, most of the ones who tried killing mc had stupid reasons, except for Lucifer imo, but since when did demons make sense?

Alright, sure, they can still be sweet, but imagine if they ACTUALLY were dark characters. Corrupting human souls, selfish desires, blah blah. I'm not saying they can't love mc, ofc they can be sweet and lovable, but that doesn't mean they'd lose their normal habits and quirks. You cannot differentiate between them and normal humans now. The traits that would portray them as demons isn't there.

And perhaps yes, routes would've been fun. Right/wrong answers? Seems legit lmao. But like you said, the characters could've been done so much better.

I liked them at the start, now that I think of it asmo was never really what he seemed to be at the start, but in the recent events to me, at least, he's all but that. Diavolo, Barbatos, they have potential to be dark characters lmao. Asmo too, esp abt Helene, he sure was manipulative. Seeing Satan just be about cats/books upsets me bcuz he's one of my favs, and like you said, I feel he could've been a MUCH better character, plus idk he seems like he could be dark too. Other than beel & mammon, and I really don't know about belphie since he's become pretty sweet now, I feel everyone else could be written as characters with darker, more fitting demon personalities.

Though I love how we can go on about one topic for ages lmao. Lmk if my rambles become too annoying lol – 🍹

Don't worry about it, I really enjoy talking about it and I'm the queen of rambling lol. It's actually kinda hard for me to be concise when it comes to things like this.

And yes! Satan's reaction to rejection was exactly what I was thinking about when I mentioned that. I don't doubt most of the others would've reacted the same either tbh, but the difference between his reason for wanting to kill MC and his brothers' felt very different imo.

I'm kinda repeating myself, but I think people really overlook how cold Asmo was regarding getting MC killed. In that sense I can see how they get along with each other so well. I think I huge part of that is people coming in knowing that they're all gonna love MC and MC can't die so they don't even think about threats or subtle manipulation, but he's one of the most malicious imo since it was so cool-headed and planned.

Kind of like the theories about Barbatos and/or Diavolo purposefully sending you to a traumatic death because executing Belphie would cause the brothers to revolt. (Which I believe to extent btw.) Those four stand out as a lot more demonic imo because they can't be called crimes of passion. I miss the days where they both just casually admitted to taking part in a torture dungeon.

Personally I love the idea of unavoidable demonic corruption. Like the "tragic lovers suffering from fate" trope but where the demon isn't just an innocent victim that can't control it at all and MC doesn't just take it happily without consequences.

I'm not against MC suffering the consequences of a demon boyfriend, far from it, but even if you don't go the direct route there's so many ways to do it.

Even just slowly losing your morals because all the demons (and old-ass human with some most likely odd moral quirks, if only from being alive so long in horrible times) around you treat horrible things as something as mundane as breathing. Even if they snap back at least acknowledging it is a huge step up.

I'd be terrified and paranoid 24/7 knowing everyone around me wants to literally eat me and has eaten humans before. Even if they hated the taste or something knowing they're capable of it is scary af.

Like a Beelzebub who truly doesn't mean to hurt MC but doesn't think twice about breaking their beloved pet's bones right in front of them. A Beelzebub that finds it just as hard to avoid eating humans as he did in the intro even when he knows he shouldn't harm MC's family.

Or even just a Beelzebub so wracked by guilt and light on morals that can't bring himself to not always enthusiastically take Belphie's side even when he knows it's hurting MC. A kind of parasitic relationship where Beel guilts MC into staying and helps Belphie trap & manipulate them in ways Belphie could never do by himself.

A Leviathan that finds it increasingly hard to keep his jealously inwards now that he has someone to fight for and can't feel secure unless he can feel their envy. A Belphegor that slowly manipulates MC into abandoning all of their responsibilities and friends until their life is ruined and they have to depend on him.

I get that some of them are a bit harder to do without reminding people of irl abuse they may have faced, namely Satan, Levi, Lucifer, and ofc Asmo, but there are ways to make it more supernatural and less mundane. Besides there are way, way worse otomes out there that don't even market themselves as dark like Obey Me did.

I find it interesting that so much of the fanbase absolutely hates those kind of themes when they're so hard to avoid in otome and it was kind marketed towards people who like it. Like I genuinely wonder how they heard about it and got through demons insulting & trying to kill them in the early days of Obey Me before you knew they got better.

In the end though none of that can really happen without routes imo. Those kind of storylines can't be done well in the 10 seconds of individual interaction we get, even a whole lesson is too little time. And again even people who like darker things might freak out when Asmo's the one doing it or get turned off by Levi so they won't risk their money. It's so frustrating seeing the lost potential and knowing it's probably never gonna happen.

Speaking of I always thought Mammon was pretty robbed too. Not only did he never have the same freedom to harm MC as the others, but he was also directly responsible for their safety. Like sure they'd all be punished, but you have a different mindset when an authority figure constantly makes you aware and you have more chances to bond.

I think even cannon Mammon would've been more dangerous and a lot more rude if he wasn't their babysitter. The others, except Satan & Belphie ofc, probably would've been "nicer" and more controlled knowing Lucifer was breathing down their neck too imo.

Like he does seem less violent and hot-headed than the others, but they're not the same circumstances. Even a while after the pact he'd probably sell MC in an instant if he knew he wasn't going to be severely punished.

A lot of his possessiveness feels like a dog guarding a bone rather than true jealously imo, even when they're doing it as endearing thing. People automatically assuming he was lying when he said he'd rather MC die than be saved by someone else, but was he really at that point? Just because someone is tsundere at times doesn't mean they're incapable of being honest or not that into someone.

That's also kinda what I meant by infatuation too. Like sure they could like a human, but that doesn't mean they'll be that upset when they die or will never get bored. It's kind of like those people that immediately get a new pet after theirs dies, or even before so they don't have to be without a dog for a single second. Or the kind of demon that wants to "ruin" you with their sin until you can't go on as the ultimate act of love, even though they know it'll kill you.

#asks #personal

7 notes · View notes

emerald-amidst-gold · 3 years

Note

Ohh maybe 1, 2, 3, and 28? 👀

*takes a sip from my can of soda* Ahhh~! Caffeine for the soul~ >:3

But you know what's better for the soul? Questions! Curiosity! RAMBLING ABOUT CHILDREN! >:D Let's GOOOO!

1. What would your Warden generally think of your Hawke and your inquisitor?

Rylen:

Now, I kind of see Elise eventually meeting or at least, reaching out to Rylen after the events in Kirkwall. After all, she’s an Amell, and so is Hawke. They’re literally the only family each other has (that’s not ‘found’ family, that is.). So, I think Elise would reach out through a letter or somehow manage a visit to her cousin and...connect. She would see him as inspiring; Rylen always manages a smile and a quip. However, if they were to spend more and more time interacting with each other, Elise would see that Hawke isn’t very well put together, especially after the Chantry explosion. She would question why Rylen chose the templars, why he executed Anders who was a like a brother to her, but eventually she would come to understand the whys. Elise would see it as no different as when she decided to spare Loghain at the Landsmeet; they did what they believed to be right and what would be best in that very moment. Both Rylen and Elise sacrificed their own happiness for the benefit of others, and were still blamed for future complications and there’s something comforting in a finding another who can relate. :3

Fane:

So, I actually have some later fic ideas for a confrontation between Elise and Fane (after Trespasser, kind of Pre-DA4 shenanas~), and suffice it to say, these two have similar ways of thinking, but their methods are entirely different. Fane is rash, prone to barreling head first into conflict without thinking about those around him. Elise is analytical, always assessing and placing the pieces in her head to make sure everyone comes out alive. This isn’t to say Fane doesn’t care about his comrades; he does. There’s countless, countless times he takes a blow for someone else without batting an eye or thinking that he could die. He just doesn’t plan; he acts. Fane can get lost in the moment of battle, in the heady scent of chaos and blood. Elise, at first meeting him, would see him as any typical warrior; eager for battle and a garden of death. But if they were to sit down and talk...I think she might find him endearing and fascinating. More or less she would think, ‘He’s so mature for someone so young. I mean, he’s twenty-four, but...he speaks as if he’s older. His speech is manicured, measured as if decided upon carefully. And his eyes...there’s pain, a deep, deep pain. Like some of the older Wardens, those just hearing the Calling. But also...hope? Conviction? Who are you, Inquisitor? What has the world done to you?’

2. What would your Hawke generally think of your warden and your Inquisitor?

Elise:

Rylen would probably have the same opinion of Elise as she does with him. They’re family, split apart due the misconceptions and fear, and my Hawke cherishes family. He lost everyone else he could rightly consider family. Fenris, Varric, Sebastian, Isabela, and Merrill are the only people he can call family now. (Anders and Aveline are complicated. I won’t go into that can of worms. For now~ >:3) He would definitely feel a level of guilt for what he had to do in Kirkwall with Anders, with the mages, with...everything, but Rylen just tries to make it through another day. If he and Elise started to interact I think it would be extremely beneficial to Rylen. Elise is patient, sometimes stern, and not afraid to lay all the facts out. Rylen would admire that since he’s had to go through life wearing a mask, a smile, a facade just to placate someone else. He would see Elise as another sister and his opinion of her would probably be along the lines of, ‘I won’t let another member of my family be torn from me. Father, Bethany, Carver...Mother.. I failed them. I won’t fail her. I won’t fail her. She’s bright and she keeps her head held high. Heh, now I see how she killed an Archdemon and lived to tell the tale. ...Bet the lightning has something to do with that, too.’

Fane:

Rylen and Fane, in my head, actually hit it off from the get go. They’ve both had to take mantles of power, even though they never, never wanted to. Though, for different reasons, of course. But Rylen would find Fane inspiring and wholly capable of doing what must be done. He’d be kind of put off that most of his well thought out jokes and pokes would fall flat on Fane, but eventually, Rylen would see why that is. (Draconic nature withstanding.) Also, once my Hawke found out Fane is dragon? OHHHH, BUDDY. There would be yelling and screeching and cries of, ‘WHY DO I KEEP MEETING DRAGONS, FENRIS?! FIRST THE WITCH, NOW THE INQUISITOR?! ..I’m done. I’m putting my daggers down and stealing away into the mountains. Varric, you wanna come with? I know you’re fed up with this shit, too! Don’t lie! DON’T. LIE.’

3. What would your Inquisitor generally think of your warden and your Hawke?

Elise:

Fane would probably think of Elise as...interesting. Not in a bad way. Just...interesting. Fane isn’t comfortable with Wardens after Adamant. He learns that he can hear the corruption inside of them and that terrifies him. And confuses him. And makes him go, ‘What the fuck am I? I don’t even know anymore. Why do I try?’ But, if he were to get over that and, like I said with Elise, talk? He would have another perspective of the men and women that had let fear take them by the throat. It wouldn’t change his feelings regarding the Wardens entirely, but one level mind, one open mind, is enough to make Fane tap into his nature and consider other sides of a very, very large cube.

‘She’s more...quiet than the others. Maybe because it’s just her? No...Loghain was still loud as fuck when it was just him, so why? Ugh, I’m so sick of these puzzles. At least she’s more stable, but I can see the pain in her eyes; green like mine, but missing the gold. Maybe the Taint is stronger than she thinks? Perhaps, but still she fights, still she claws her way towards something that may be impossible. ...Hmph. How typical. A similarity. This world continues to confound.’

Rylen:

Fane respects Rylen after spending some time to feel him out, know his cues, and piece together which is his actual face. Once that happens, Fane can move into respect with my Hawke. These two have a fairly similar moral compass; pragmatism regarding most decisions. Again, they both have been thrust into a position without asking for it, so that would be a stepping stone upon the bonding path. All in all, Fane’s general opinion of Rylen would be, ‘He’s worn that mask of smiles and bright, grey eyes for too long. It’s cracking at the edges, wearing down to mere mortar. Then again, I have my own mask. I’m in no position to judge and condemn, but...it’s worrying. Even the strongest wings can be torn and all that greets is the earth below. I hope your wings don’t falter, Champion. It would be disappointing for the world to lose someone who cares when those who should are content to point the finger towards anyone but themselves.’

28. What is their favourite location within their own game and what would be their favourite in each others?

Fane: The Emprise du Lion! Snowwwww! Coooold! Ice dragooooon! >:3 ...minus the red lyrium. *snorts*

Origins: Hmm, I think Fane would like the Brecilian Forest. He enjoys forests as much as he enjoys the cold, the ice, and the snow. He likes the animals, even though he tries not to interfere with them, and he likes the quiet. No chattering, no demands. Only trees, leaves, and the occasional whistle of wind. Also, Fane likes to investigate ancient ruins. He’s not interested in the history, really. He just wants to see if he can find any remnants about his kin that the elves may have left behind. :3

DA2: Probably Sundermount since again, wilderness. Fane doesn’t do too well in crowded areas and Kirkwall would make his heart rate sky rocket. Not just because of the people, but because of the size. Those cramped streets of Lowtown would just make him...eugh. *shivers*

Elise: She adores Orzammar! Especially the Shaperate! The dwarves fascinate Elise since not many tomes in the Circle went into depth about them! :D And if we want to with Awakening areas, I would saaaay...Amaranthine. She’s always like towns and cities due to not being able to experience them until the Blight! :3

Inquisition: Elise would adore the Frostback Basin. Like, really enjoy it! All that flora and Avaar culture and wilderness? MMMM!

DA2: Definitely the Wounded Coast. Hands down. My daughter enjoys the sea so much. The salt in the air, the feel of sand, and the pretty, pretty shells and rolling waves? Every Circle mages’ wet dream. *waggles eyebrows*

Rylen: So, if we’re not talking like open world areas in the game, I would definitely say Rylen’s favorite place is the Hanged Man. The man needs a drink to deal with Kirkwall. Just saying. It’s also where he can just...be himself with the people who know him.

Inquisition: Hinterlands. He’s a FERELDAN. He wants his MABARI to RUN in native land! He wants to...go home. ;3;

Origins: I like to think the Hawke family went all over Ferelden before settling in Lothering. I mean, they kind of do, but maybe for more than a few months at a time? So, Rylen would enjoy Denerim. He likes to go where people are, where life is. He likes crowds because he can blend into them and not be tracked down until he wants to be tracked down. ...My Hawke just wants to live in peace with his glowy elf husband and run a mabari ranch. Is that too much to ask, Bioware?! Let Hawke REST!

Woo! That was FUN! It really got me thinking, too! X3 Thank you so much, friend! <3

7 notes · View notes

hanbereviews · 3 years

Text

Kageyuki Shiraishi Route Review

We’re almost done y’all, Shiraishi is the second to last route you play chronologically in Collar x Malice and as such is one of the more complex characters in the game. A lot of things are revealed via Shiraishi, pretty much a good 90% of the secrets behind the greater plot in the game. Some of those secrets are going to be revealed here, but only as they pertain to my review and Shiraishi’s character. Warning, Shirashi’s my all time favorite in collar x malice so my final thoughts are definitely going to be a glowing endorsement of him. I mean, he’s got cat ears! What’s not to love?

Characterization

Phenomenal, dare I say showstopping. Shiraishi in my opinion is the toughest nut to crack in Collar x Malice and while I won’t argue he’s the most complex character in the otome genre (I certainly would put up a fight about that though), his characterization and his development throughout the plot is amazing. Shiraishi’s a criminal psychologist, a profiler who until being on his route is mysterious and doesn’t care for human connections all that much. Most of what you know about him is he’s incredibly flippant, and his assistant hates him. So it’s not surprising his working with Ichika turns him into a polarizing figure.

To put it bluntly, he starts off as a huge dick. In a normal circumstance you’d have to be a complete saint to put up with him, he’s rude, has zero social etiquette to the point you’re led to believe it’s intentional and the way he talks down to people can be infuriating. However I think what kept me going throughout this route was how Ichika reacted.

See, the payoff is enormous, because there’s effort from each side of the relationship to work out their differences and get to know each other more. Ichika immediately writes off Shiraishi as someone she intensely dislikes, but after speaking with the other detectives she makes an effort to understand him better. Shiraishi on the other hand, in an effort to work better with her on their case begins to learn her likes and dislikes, her temperament and generally kind of bumbles his way through cozying up to her. He gets her gifts, he tries to spend time with her. It’s kind of fun to watch because the burden this time isn’t 100% on Ichika to fix a man’s issues.

Though like I said, he’s polarizing. I could definitely see a world where you’re either a Shiraishi lover or a Shiraishi hater. But in my opinion that’s what makes his character all the more interesting throughout the route.

Plot Relevance

Shiraishi’s route is filled with an abundance of plot, but before we get to the big reveals about Adonis, let's talk about his Adonis pairs.

Shiraishi’s enemies in this case are a pair of twins named Shion and Suzune Uno. Who went through the tragedy of their mother and father dying and are on a revenge streak. While I think the general idea of the plot is good, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The entire lynchpin of the case is that the twins’ mother was a schoolteacher, and due to a well off student organizing a harassment campaign against her she had a psychotic break, attempted to kill them (which their father prevented by sacrificing himself instead), and then took her own life. Since then they swore to get revenge on everyone who wronged her. Pic of them down below

My problem with this is how wholly unrealistic it is. If it wasn’t a student, say a principal or another teacher orchestrating this campaign I’d get it. It’s hard to deal with authority in schools, and not one culture is a stranger to a teacher abusing their position when they don’t get what they want. But even if you could call the explanation plausible I think it sends a pretty odd message when you craft a scenario where a student is completely able to ruin a teachers’ life and reputation. But outside of that, the twins came off completely sympathetic. And there was even a very non ableist description of DID included that wasn’t exactly a plot point, but was pretty decently handled I’d say. No multiple personalities murdering people, just the acknowledgment that one was there.

Now other than that, we have the super fun stuff! Shiraishi’s route reveals a lot about Adonis’s internal structure and reveals perhaps the biggest thing (GIGANTIC SPOILER WARNING) Shirashi’s actually a brainwashed member of the organization! See there’s an ever looming idea that there’s a mole for Adonis in the police, turns out Shiraishi’s that very mole. This part was very well written and flowed into the narrative, now for all the explanations surrounding that reveal. Well I’ll leave that to the game.

Character Interaction

Ichika gets a girls coalition in this route. Since she interacts so frequently with Shirashi she ends up becoming friends with his assistant, and she already has a female friend in the police force to start with. So she gets to have regular girls night outs! The girls are a pretty endearing trio, and I found myself giving a little half smile at their interactions. Ichika definitely needs someone who isn't an emotionally constipated man to have a real conversation with from time to time so this was a big refresher.

With Shiraishi, I described a bit of their relationship above. But when he and Ichika get closer leading up to his reveal as the mole it’s incredibly sweet. Shiraishi displays a unique love for cats that explains the incredibly embarrassing cat memorabilia he wears around his job. And you start to learn his lack of etiquette isn’t him being an asshole on purpose. He just genuinely hasn’t gotten much social interaction. He doesn’t have many friends, and the way he talks can be frustrating and hard to navigate. Now, he’s a grown man, so I’m not gonna pretend like a lot of the way he talks is intentional. But I became super endeared to him as I saw a much softer and more genuine side.

Final Thoughts

Route gets a solid 8.5/10 for me. Shiraishi’s awesome, this route was very well constructed even if I had a lot of qualms with the actual story regarding the murder case and Ichika was pretty proactive! I enjoyed thoroughly going through this entire thing, and I hope to see more Kageyuki Shiraishi’s as I go through more joseimuke and otome games.

#hantome review

4 notes · View notes

beneaththetangles · 3 years

Text

Light Novel Club, Chapter 29: Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 3

Welcome to our Light Novel Club discussion of Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 3! We are back with Mia, the Great Sage of the Empire, and her attempts to save the Empire and her own skin. Sure, she may have escaped the guillotine, but there may still be other threats to her livelihood in the future… especially when her granddaughter from the future pays a time-traveling visit!

Joining me in this discussion are Jeskai Angel, Gaheret, and marthaurion! As a reminder, the discussions are held on our public Beneath the Tangles Discord server, so anyone can join our discussions. Go to the end of this post if you want to see what novels we are reading next if you want to join our next discussions!

-----

1. What are your overall thoughts on the book?

stardf29: Seeing as this is the start of a new story arc, I think this volume worked pretty well to set up the next challenge Mia has to deal with. It confirmed my suspicions that there is a demonic force, the Chaos Serpents, that were truly behind the problems that led to Mia’s execution in the last timeline, and even in this current timeline they are continuing to try to cause problems. Bringing Mia’s granddaughter from a bad future provides an interesting “replacement” to the diary, but nevertheless the threat of Rafina going overzealous is there. That said, given that this volume has more of a focus on school activities and is still setting up things to come, it’s also not quite as interesting as the last volume was, which is to be expected. It’s still very entertaining, and sets things up well for future volumes.

Jeskai Angel: It’s great, as expected of Tearmoon Empire. I agree that whole student-council-election plot was…not the most interesting thing, though it still provided many opportunities for humor and character development. I think I mentioned this back when we covered vol. 2, but I appreciated how the narrative wove the new arc into Mia’s original story. I also thought it was great that we’re still getting flashbacks to Mia’s first life (e.g., the birthday observance chapter). She’s altered the timeline and no longer has to worry about that particular fate, but she still experienced those events and they still affect her. I like seeing that kind of continuity / consistency. It was also interesting to learn more about the church and its place within the setting.

Gaheret: As for me, I did like the school council election plot more than the Remno plot (which felt less believable to me, speaking in general). It provided very interesting insights into the religion of Rafina´s Church and of the politics of this world, and I find that topic fascinating. A somewhat sacral democratic election! Ritual attires and baths! Symbolic colours! Moral issues concerning political campaigns! Dukes with theme colours! A tyrant theocratic Empire! A secret society trying to undermine the established religion! Justice and mercy! A proto-alliance against the Serpents! Mia´s theological thoughts! Rafina cracking! It was all great. In general, I´d say that I like Tearmoon Empire more in its St. Noel setting, where Mia can make the most of her knowledge of the future, the geopolitical/social/emotional game is everywhere, coincidences regarding future events are less far-fetched, she knows more or less everyone and more or less anticipates what the challenges of the school year will be, as she is revisiting a known scenario in which she has failed once. I liked this one a lot.

marthaurion: Been a while, so I don’t remember all of the details. I remember being surprised that the diary went away so soon in the story, but the fact that it opens the way for Miabel to enter the story is interesting. It would have been very easy (and safe) to keep the diary as an updating glimpse into Mia’s future, so I appreciate that it’s dumped to give way for new things. I like the idea in general that Mia’s life doesn’t completely revolve around a single tragedy in her future. As a side note, I thought it was funny that Mia dodges tragedy at the guillotine, securing a pleasant life for herself, but immediately ruins it again because she doesn’t want a lot of kids. I think some of this is carried over from the previous volume, but I think we get to see how this plays out in the overall story in this volume.

2. What are your thoughts on the new characters that are either introduced in this volume, or that we see more of this volume?

Jeskai Angel: Starting with her name (literally being a portmanteau of “Mia” and “Abel”), Bel is fun. Mia’s jealousy at the way everyone dotes on her granddaughter is also hilarious. Bel also has a tendency to blurt out truths that Mia hadn’t intended to share. And Bel serves an important role in confirming for us as readers that Mia is the beneficiary of some form of divine providence. Bel’s arrival is unmistakably an answer to Mia’s plea for guidance.

Finally, I think the Bel’s flashbacks (which are still in the future from Mia’s point of view) are another neat way of demonstrating Mia’s effect on the timeline. In her first life, most people rejected and abandoned Mia, but with just the changes she’s made so far, there are now a ton of people who treasure Mia so highly that they’re willing to die for her granddaughter. It’s a weird combination of sad and heartwarming. I want to learn more about how this has affected Bel. We know the royal guard died protecting Mia in her first life, and that Anne and Ludwig were loyal to the end, but beyond that, Mia’s first life experience was all about rejection. Not so for Bel, who was beloved by many, but instead has to deal with the trauma of seeing them all die for her.

Gaheret: Miabel was interesting to read about, but I cannot help but think that her plot could have been much more interesting. What if, for example, she had had some reason to hold a grudge against Mia, or perhaps Rafina? What if their personalities had been starkly different? What if the world of her grandmother had been so different from hers as our world is from the 1970´s, or as 1830 was from 1789, and she just couldn´t adjust? What if she saw things very differently? What if she had been evil or mischievous, or had created some sort of problem between Mia and Abel, or had befriended someone against Mia´s wishes? And, the one I feel the most to be a missed opportunity, what if she had been the one person able to see through her? I think Mia needs someone, anyone, that doesn´t misinterpret everything she does, someone she can be completely frank with. I know I would, if I were in her position. Miabel would have been great in that respect. I thought things were going there when she rejected the cookie and noticed how Mia had gone to Anne´s bed, but they didn´t.

marthaurion: Miabel was a fun addition to the cast. So far, she seems a bit incomplete, given the nature of her arrival. I would have expected a visitor from the future to contribute more than passing a single message from a future Ludwig, which makes me think she’s here for more than that. I’m also curious how temporary her visit is meant to be. If it’s truly temporary, then I think there’s a unique opportunity to provide the story with someone who doesn’t necessarily have to worship Mia. It might take some effort to get her there from her current state of reverence, but she could be the first person with whom Mia can be actually truthful.

stardf29: Miabel is, as mentioned, the “replacement” of the diary as far as a source of information about a bad future, and one that is even more personal, given that she isn’t just a book but a living, breathing person. And because she is going off her memory and records of Mia’s life, she’s also… not quite as reliable of a source, which can certainly make things interesting, as we see here with how she drives Mia towards becoming student council president.

As a character, she is basically a younger Mia, lacking in the wisdom and knowledge Mia has acquired over both her lives, but also lacking the spoiled-brattiness that Mia had once upon a time and lost during her new life. And yes, she’s a lot of fun overall with her interactions with others. I definitely get the sense that she’s finally being given a chance to enjoy life as a kid when she had previously had the whole issue of survival to deal with. She perhaps hasn’t had that much character development at the moment, as the story is still more focused on Mia, and it does make me wonder what Miabel will do going forward. Will she be forced at some point to return back to her old timeline, at which point one would hope she has learned and grown enough to rescue the Tearmoon of that timeline? Or is she stuck in this timeline and will simply continue to be Mia’s “sister”?

Jeskai Angel: Sapphias was a fun red herring. He’s initially set up as a potential enemy…but then turns out to be a just a boy trying to impress the girl he likes. The narrator makes fun of Mia for her groundless suspicions, and by extension, I think, also makes fun of us the readers for suspecting Sapphias. The other facet of his character that jumped out at me is that he’s yet another instance of Mia’s tendency to have a positive influence on those around her. Sapphias starts out as an arrogant jerk, but by the end of the volume he’s happily and humbly accepting a position as subordinate to Tiona, the girl he’d sneered at earlier.

Gaheret: Sapphias. There you have an interesting name. According to Flavius Josephus, Joshua Ben Sapphias was a leader of the Zealots during the war which ended with the destruction of the Temple, the one during which the Christians were advised to flee Jerusalem. He was of high upbringing, the governor of the city. The fact that one of the Dukes, related to Mia, is joining the revolutionaries also has Philippe Égalité vibes. Philippe, the “Godfather of the Revolution”, was a Borbon and married to the wealthiest lady of France, yet he was a Jacobin, the Masonic “Grand Orient de France” and a revolutionary leader who antagonised Marie Antoinette and voted for the death of the king. All of which didn´t spare him the guillotine, though.

As for the actual Sapphias, it seems that he is not the Serpent (I think it´s Ruby, but I could be wrong), and I like he being in the Student Council. In the end, Serpents aside, which caused Tearmoon´s Revolution was a morally compromised aristocracy who abused its privileges, behaved irresponsibly, was quarrelsome and didn´t cooperate. The incident at the frontier, the Tiona issue during the ball, Ludwig´s complaints and the new information we receive in this volume make this abundantly clear. So the main task of Mia is reforming her ruling class, both so they can work together and so they can behave (more or less) for the good of the people and in a way fitting of Rafina´s standards. Thus, Sapphias, who behaves arrogantly and dishonourably during the election, but doesn´t want to let his betrothed down, is perfect to illustrate this sort of change. He working with Mia under Tiona and Rafina is a brilliant move, and I think he will be a very interesting character.

Ruby. We see very little of the future Red Moon Duchess. I think she is an Oscar François de Jarjeyes/Rose of Versailles reference, and I suspect her of being the Serpent. This, both because she seems proficient with the sword and because she seems to be rubbing salt in the wound concerning Esmeralda´s grievances, and she seems clever. She also seems clever. And I´d say that the Red Moon sounds the most villain-like of the four moons.

stardf29: Sapphias, and on that same note Esmeralda and Ruby, are very reminiscent of “old” Mia. They have her self-centeredness and lack the perspective the current Mia has to recognize the larger-scale consequences of that selfishness, but at the same time they don’t seem to be truly malicious. Well, that might just be saying, they don’t quite have the mental capacity to do anything truly malicious… And yeah, the fake-out that Sapphias had nothing to do with the Chaos Serpents and just wants to impress the girl he likes is great.

That said, the main difference between Sapphias and the other two Etoiles we’ve met is that Sapphias has gotten a full dose of Mia’s power of unintentional inspiration, and is on track to becoming a better person. So the real question is… how will Mia change the lives of Esmeralda and Ruby?

Jeskai Angel: Shout-out to the mysterious Citrina, who hasn’t even shown up in person yet. With Sapphias, Esmeralda, and Ruby becoming more prominent in the narrative, it seems logical that Citrina will have a part to play as well. I can’t help but wonder about the fourth gem-themed ducal scion: it’s hard not to suspect the author of holding something back by talking about her yet keeping her off-stage.

3. What do you think of how previous characters have changed or developed in this volume?

Jeskai Angel: In terms of development for a returning character, Sion was the big winner of vol. 2, and for vol. 3, it’s Rafina. She was pretty vague prior to this — somebody connected with religion and hostile to Mia in her first life, but that’s about it. This volume shows more about her background, motivations, mental/emotional state, and social position. Within the setting, she’s basically like heir of the Pope, if the papacy were a hereditary position. For a kid her age, no wonder that’s a lot of stress!

This volume did a pretty good job of letting many of the notable previous characters get a moment or two in the spotlight, even while the main focus was still on Mia, Rafina, and the new (or new-ish) characters. I think my favorite moment was the conversation between Ludwig and Dion, where Ludwig lays out how Mia somehow inspires people to want to be better. It’s cool to see that Ludwig has such a surprisingly good grasp of Mia’s effect on others. But then we also get to see someone in the middle of changing due to Mia’s influence (i.e., Dion) reflecting on how he himself is changing, and deciding quite deliberately to let her continuing affecting him.

Gaheret: Turning to the already-established characters, Esmeralda being Mia´s friend in the previous timeline, yet abandoning her in the time of greatest need is a very interesting development. As Sapphias, she makes a great antagonist and may be the character who, right now, keeps more of the Mia that was. Unlike Shion and Rafina, people that she could more or less avoid, Mia is going to have to deal with her, because she will soon be one of the top members of her nobility. She is also an antagonist both to Tiona and to Mia herself, and it is clear that she has taken to heart Mia´s refusal to join her party. Her conversation with Sapphias is very interesting, too, both because it tells us that these people are connected and honour that, even if they can´t stand each other, and because of the detail that she thinks he is badmouthing Mia, but she is not, because she thinks Mia was in the wrong to disdain a kinswoman of high rank. Now she has chosen Sapphias over her, and it is foreseeable that he will start changing, so she could feel insulted again, and threatened by that change. The narrator tells us that she has plans of her own, and she could easily become the main non-Serpent antagonist very soon.

Dion. This is my favourite development. I found Dion Alaia to be a dangerous battle-addict who could betray his leader the moment he disagrees with her, and become downright murderous. I still find him to be as unnerving as Mia finds him. What if Rafina hadn´t taken the matter of his infiltration with a sword well, as she had every right to do? Why does he think it´s OK to be the only one to enter a school with a weapon? The Reaper, seriously? But to be willing to put his sword aside and take a different road in life for the good of Mia and the Empire, abandoning the dream of dying in the battlefield, is a very significant step for him. And that conversation with Ludwig, it is clear that he is willing to grow, to trust, to change. He may become a true soldier, one who takes the sword to protect the peace and then returns to other kinds of service. Which is the greatest example of the Mia effect I have yet seen, except for…

Rafina! In volume one, I said she had a threatening aura, always judging and condemning while using her influence one way or another. In this volume, we see the reason for this: she has always longed for a friend, yet her friends behave cruelly towards others, which implied that, were she not powerful and important, she may had the same fate. Embedded in ritual, loved by the commoners, unflinching, elegant, the main wall against the Tearmoon nobility ethos, her Empress Prelate was every bit as terrifying as the Penal King, yet somehow more justified. The Serpents discredited her religion precisely by exploiting her weaknesses and make their own destruction her absolute priority, and convincing her of abandoning her neutral, diarchical stance, so carefully built, towards theocracy. Her religion, which feels like a Christianity without Christ, reminded me of Israel at the time of the Maccabees, in need of the plan of salvation which shows mercy to the sinners. And thus, the lesson of forgiveness and mercy Mia inadvertently delivered her, beautifully represented in the red/white contrast, was precisely what she needed. Her stepping down was beautiful. She may be my favourite character right now, and the living proof that Mia is an agent of Providence.

Tiona, Shion, Keithwood, Chloe. Well, too little Tiona, once again. I want her to go beyond her newfound devotion to Mia, and start having her own thoughts, projects and dreams. She was a revolutionary leader, as well as Shion´s princess and her Tearmoon counterpart. She was the “Saint of the Revolution”, a St. Joan D´Arc figure that had everything Mia wanted, and her direct rival. In the new timeline, she may have not lost her family or her dominion, but she has (for now) lost everything else. I want to hear more of her. Prince Shion is ironic and cool as always, yet, according to Keithwood, still not over his heartbreak. So I think the conflict when Mia requests his support and flatters him (barefoot in the sand and at full power of her beauty, if we are to believe Keithwood, who barely escapes Mia´s attraction this time), should be greater. Especially due considering how she behaved in the previous volume. This happens in front of Abel, too, which should awaken his insecurities. Concerning Chloe, I liked how she reasons concerning the supernatural and ghosts, and the fact Mia trusts her to the extent of showing one of her weaknesses. I like how their friendship is going.

Ludwig, Abel and Anne. Concerning Mia´s “inner circle”, Ludwig interestingly described the “Mia effect” to Dion Alaia (he knows everything except that it is unintentional and providential) while creating the opportunity for him to change, and is a major player as the educator of Miabel. His future self also provided the decisive clue concerning the election, and Mia gave proof of her deep trust in him by blindly following his advice. He is a keen observer, and a good leader. As for Abel, everything goes smoothly, perhaps a little bit too smoothly, except that he is yet to know Mia´s “other side”. Miabel doesn´t tell us if he ever discovered it in the other timeline, either. Anne, whose kind, merciful nature is confirmed once again, regards Mia increasingly as a little sister, and actually sees her being afraid or lazy, which is good (even if she still regards her as a prodigy of wisdom). It seems to me that Miabel and her may have provided an interesting subplot, as she is her mother figure, only fifty or so years younger, and Miabel is keeping Anne separated from Mia and of her studies. That should bring conflict, or reveals or something, but it hasn´t, or not yet. In any case, she remains the most trustworthy, loyal and caring of all the characters.

And, finally, Mia. “Tiona’s answer blindsided Mia; she hadn’t considered that line of reasoning, and it was made all the more convincing by the fact that she had firsthand experience of an undoubtedly supernatural phenomenon. Ever since her mind-boggling leap through time, she’d been a believer. Not for any profound or philosophical reason, mind you. She just figured that a miracle like that could only have been the work of God. “The almighty God has bestowed something terribly special upon me. That makes me… the chosen one, in a way…” she mused in a profound moment of whatever the opposite of humility is”. But Narrator-san is wrong here: humilitas est veritas, and Mia is the chosen one, not due to her merits or wisdom. She is conscious that it is her duty to grow, be better while still being old Mia, and save many others, and that she is in a providential position to do so. When she going against Rafina in the election, scared as she is, it´s a big moment for her. I found the moments in which she goes through water purification, chooses guillotine red, drinks from the calyx of martyrs and sits in the Student Council after the ritual election to be very moving and powerful, more so because she is blind to most of it. It is the same for us, most of the time. Mia is not a “phoney saint”, but a very compelling saint-in-the-making with a political role to fulfil, and even if her relationship with this world´s God is indirect, it is increasingly real, because she is cooperating. She has all my sympathy.

At this point, I think that Mia´s biggest problem is that, were Rafina, Shion, Dion Alaia, Sapphias or perhaps even Tiona to know what she has been thinking all along, their friendship would probably not last. Abel, Anne and Ludwig would suffer a blow, but Anne and Ludwig remained loyal to her when she was selfish, and Mia has chosen Abel and helped him, not by mistake. That is a great weight, and there is something both comedic and tragic about all those misunderstandings. She has trusted the benevolent God of her world, though, and it seems that His providence is acting, so I hope it all ends well.

stardf29: Rafina definitely got the most out of this volume, particularly in seeing how stressed out she is about all her responsibilities, but also how she feels like she can’t let anyone else take on those responsibilities, either. It’s easy to see how, in the original timeline, this could lead to Empress Prelate Rafina, someone who believes “I am the only one who can fix what is wrong with the world”, but ultimately only hurts the world more because of her actions.

Thankfully, Mia shows her that she has people she can trust to reduce her workload and help her deal with issues like the Chaos Serpents. She may still have plenty to do, but she doesn’t have to burn herself out doing it.

Mia: I think my favorite bit here was how she had learned the importance of asking questions when needed, and how she observed Tiona and Sapphias in order to determine when to ask questions. Few things really are as valuable in life as the willingness to ask questions to learn what you do not know.

For other characters, I do like how some of the minor characters like Lynsha and Monica from the last volume find a role here in this volume. As the Mia support network grows, we could have quite the team ready to deal with whatever the Chaos Serpents try to throw at them.

Mia still has to deal with crap from horses, though. This time, literally.

4. What do you think of the story’s establishment of the “Chaos Serpents” as the greater evil in this world?

Jeskai Angel: I think the story had three options here: conclude, become a school slice-of-life romcom, or introduce some sort of larger conflict for Mia to overcome. The Chaos Serpents represent the third option, an antagonistic presence that can fuel further adventures. With the story increasingly suggesting Mia is the beneficiary of divine intervention and that Bel’s appearance is an answer to prayer, also it makes sense to add a spiritual (that is, demonic) dimension to her opposition.

I’m also glad this volume mostly kept us in the dark about the Chaos Serpents. We learned they exist…and that’s about it. Obviously, the story will eventually need to reveal more, but by leaving readers mostly ignorant at this stage, the narrative puts us in the same position as Mia, Rafina, and company. We know the Chaos Serpents are out there, and we know a few characters who are clearly not part of them. Beyond that, we can only wonder who might be a Chaos Serpent or what they might be doing now.

Gaheret: The Serpents are really cool villains. They sound like a mix of Dostoyevski´s demi-Satanic, demi-Nihilist anarchists leaded by Paul Stepanovich, the Frenchmasons which influenced the French revolution and standard Satanic cults. They oppose every authority, but hate above all religious authority. They have infiltrated the political structures, with an eye to influential positions. As spies, terrorists, criminal organisations and secret societies in the real world often do, they are able to use the paranoia they create against those who oppose them, and who may end up seeing conspirators everywhere and hurting their own causes. Rafina sent a general against then, and discovered that he was a member of the secret society (that literally happen in Spain with Rafael del Riego). I think they are a very good choice for villains.

marthaurion: Seems promising to me. Referring back to what I said earlier, this seemed a bit necessary to make the time shift possible. It was easy to buy that that Mia originally doomed herself to failure, but it would be hard to accept that this happens again and again, despite her flagrant ineptitude. So, I think it makes sense to add an evil organization that can provide the consistent force driving her to change her future. Plus, there’s a sense of comedy in seeing her bumble through their carefully thought-out conspiracies.

stardf29: Yeah, I really liked the establishment of the Chaos Serpents as the “main” villain, for a number of reasons. One reason is that it addresses the whole idea that Mia was singularly responsible for all of Tearmoon’s problems in the old timeline. It was already an unfair accusation in the first volume, showing how the “revolutionary” army wasn’t particularly in the right, and now it is clear that making Mia a scapegoat for the revolution was exactly what the Serpents wanted. They aren’t a “new” villain, but are now being revealed as the ones that are truly behind everything.

And then there is how these Chaos Serpents give off the feeling of a Satanic cult, and how there may be a sort of “God vs. Satan” element to the story. That certainly makes for an interesting way to view the story, especially from a Christian perspective.

Also, I like the idea of Mia thwarting the Serpents by, well, being Mia. For all of the Serpents’ machinations, they simply are no match for a girl with some foresight, some kindness, and a lot of charisma.

As an additional thought: if we think of this story as being inspired by actual historical events like the French Revolution, it creates an interesting thing to think about: how events like the French Revolution may have been influenced by Satan himself. Maybe there weren’t actual Satanic cultists secretly influencing things, but it’s not hard to think of how the Enemy’s lies might have affected historic events.

5. What did you think of the religious symbols and rituals in the story?

Jeskai Angel: I liked it. I guess what surprises me about the story’s use of religious imagery was how…respectful (?) it was. I feel like ninety-nine times out of a hundred, any organization that appears in light novels / manga / anime and bears the least resemblance to Christianity (and the Roman Catholic Church in particular) is going to be evil. In my experience, it’s actually pretty unusual to see a religion like this portrayed positively. Even in the case of the “Empress Prelate” in Bel’s timeline, it’s pretty clearly depicted as Rafina becoming corrupted and abandoning her true duties as a religious leader. That is, the problem is one leader falling to temptation, NOT the church as a whole being fundamentally corrupt.

And the story doesn’t just portray the church positively, but also…substantively? Church-like religions that show up in light novels / anime are often extremely vague in terms of details like who or what they worship, sacred texts they follow, rituals, structure, purpose, etc., to the point that one wonders why such institutions even exist (other than to provide employment for evil popes). But in this volume, we confirm that the religion has a bible, worships one god, what the church’s role is in within society at large, the range of attitudes toward it, etc. It felt like the author might have done research and was genuinely trying to present a somewhat coherent religion in the story’s setting, rather than just borrowing random stuff to make a cardboard cutout of a religion.

Gaheret: Reflecting about it these days, I think that Rafina gets purified of her main flaw during the rite of purification (hence the tears), and surrenders her position after drinking the cup of sacrifice and martyredom. She is giving the Empress the direct governing power in the sacred election, and yet giving her guidance and counsel.

stardf29: I’m not as familiar with religious imagery, but I do agree that it is very refreshing to see the Church being portrayed positively in a light novel. This is one place in particular where the Chaos Serpents works very well as the villain, as it sets up a nice “good vs. evil” conflict, which I think is all too often made to be either too “morally gray” or make for too much of a “human” problem. Here we have a grand evil force, and a “God” opposed to that evil.

6. Do you agree with Mia that she was chosen by God for a mission? And in that case, what do you think it is?

Jeskai Angel: I do agree with Mia. She’s quite right that dying and going back in time with an evolving diary is NOT a natural phenomenon: divine intervention is the most logical explanation. It actually reminds of a line near the end the great C.S. Lewis novel Till We Have Faces: “This age of ours will one day be the distant past. And the Divine Nature can change the past. Nothing is yet in its true form.” I don’t think Mia’s experience is quite what Lewis had in mind (LOL), but the underlying concept that God can intervene in what we perceive as “the past” rings true. The idea was quite striking to me when I read TWHF in college years ago (as shown by the fact that I remembered it well enough to look it up and find the exact quote), and inclines me to see Mia’s time leap as a totally possible thing for a god to do.

This volume adds a couple of important points. First, I think that by fleshing out the Central Orthodox Church somewhat, the existence of a god within the story feels more plausible. Second, there’s the whole business with Bel showing up. As I mentioned before, the story makes it clear that Mia seeks guidance, and Bel promptly shows up with knowledge from the future. I can’t see that as anything but an answered prayer. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find,” indeed. Finally, I think the Chaos Serpents actually make a pretty good case for the existence of a god in the story. It’s strange that someone like Jem would display such an intense aversion to the setting’s bible if that book is just a bunch of myths and fables, but makes far more sense if (in the setting) the bible is a genuine sacred text from a very real god.

I suppose at this point it seems likely that in terms of the overall narrative, Mia’s mission is to thwart the Chaos Serpents. However, I can’t help but wonder about the Mia Effect. From Anne (the first) to Sapphias (the most recent), Mia keeps positively influencing individuals who come into her sphere. Maybe Mia’s mission isn’t to defeat a civilization-destroying evil cult. Maybe her mission is just to change someone’s life for the better.

stardf29: Oh, I 100% agree Mia was chosen by “God” to go back in time. And I think that highlights something very true about our God: God does not choose “perfect” people for His missions. He chooses broken, sinful people. And not just “kinda sinful” people, but people who still have huge sins to work through.

So what is Mia’s mission? Sure, it’s to thwart the Chaos Serpents and save Tearmoon, and I also agree with Jeskai about how there’s also the element of inspiring the people around her to become better as well. And if I may throw one more thing on there: it’s also to grow herself as a person. And those three things are not separate missions; they are all connected together in a greater mission to, well, simply make everything better. In terms of our own faith, it’s the whole idea of “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

7. Final Thoughts

stardf29: So I would like to take this moment to promote J-Novel Club’s premium e-books, which often have some bonus content, and in this case there’s a very special bonus story… done in the form of a mini choose-your-own-adventure style “otome game” where Mia can end up interacting with one of the many other characters based on your choices. I especially like how it uses the hyperlink feature of e-books to make choices and jump around the book, as well as make it easy to go back to the start. It’s mainly just slice-of-life fluff, but it’s still a fun extra for those buying direct from JNC.

Gaheret: Now that you say it, the choose-your-own-adventure idea is very fitting to the Tearmoon Empire story as a whole. For now, I’m enjoying the ride very much, I think the author is pushing the story in interesting directions, and I wonder about the endgame.

=====

If you read through our discussion, thank you for following along!

If you are interested in joining future Light Novel Club discussions, I bet you want to know what novels to read. Well, later this month, we will be starting discussion on Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! Vol. 1! This is another story about a princess who goes back in time to try to stop the fall of her country, so it will be interesting to see how this novel approaches the concept differently. Discussion starts on April 20th, but don’t worry if you need more time to read it, as discussion will run into the first week of May as well.

If you want to look towards our May discussion, you have a good amount of time to read up through Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2! With the anime adaptation having recently finished, it is a great time to get back to this series and look at how Tomozaki’s attempt to master the game of life goes as he comes up against some unique challenges. Our discussion opens on May 21st!

Have fun reading, and join our Discord if you want to join in on our Light Novel Club discussions!

#Light Novels #Tearmoon Empire #Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari #BtT Light Novel Club #Articles #Author: Jeskai Angel #Author: Gaheret #Author: marthaurion #Author: stardf29

2 notes · View notes

singularname · 4 years

Text

ooc: cats 2019 was hot garbage that doesn’t belong in the jellicle junkyard. Below are my thoughts and my review. I get pretty technical at points. So here you go. PERSONAL BLOGS DO NOT REBLOG! Liking and commenting and sending me asks about stuff is fine. But please do not reblog. I’m sure more thoughts will come out as I discuss things and such, but these are my first impressions.

positives ( will be above the cut ):

You could tell who the broadway singers were and they stood out.

Munk was good, but I have some thoughts but overall he was good. He was probably the only one that even remotely understood his character, but he still had a few off beats.

Jennifer killed it, no i wont take critiques. Memory was pretty good.

Mungo and Rumple made the debut version of their song likeable (cause I do not like the debut version of their song) yet i have thoughts.

Bustopher Jones (the song) was decent, out of all the reworked numbers it fit the best and didn’t seem to far from the reworked plot or the original, so it was a good middle ground. James did well, he’s no operatic singer, but he did well, best of the non-trained leads at least.

Gus was good but his song was a bit boring he needed someone more to play off of as that is what acting is partially

Skimble may just have been the best part of the whole damn thing. The inclusion of tap into his number was pretty smart. I do wish more of his accent shined through though.

The rundown theater worked it would have worked better if they kept it all there.

negatives ( below the cut ):

Dance was sacrificed for cinamtography which was a damn shame. this musical is one of the premier dance musicals

Munk’s voice at the beginning was far too high, and did not exude power. It got better.

Victoria being the stand in for the audience was stupid and pointless. Especially with the fact that Addressing of Cats was kept in and broke the fourth wall.

Victoria’s acceptance of Grizabella was pointless because the jellicles hadn’t accepted her, she wasn’t even considered a jellicle yet. Her agency in that number meant nothing. If she had been a jellicle it would have been better. A better audience stand in would be the fucking kittens cause its their first ball.

The lack of touching made the touching that was their awkward. It was like they were all afraid to touch and interact with each other. And the CGI didn’t help, like when Munk lifted Victoria off the car at the beginning which looked like he wasn’t grabbing her at all which we know isn’t true.

Tugger had no point in the musical because he sang his number and disappeared, and not by fucking Macavity. Jason could have done more with the character, he had the right voice, but its like he wasn’t trying.

Jenny-Any-Dots was ruined. She wasn’t a respectable cat, and the mice were stupid. Sorry, I mean the idea was cute in theory, I liked that, but the execution was stupid. And the zipping of her skin NO. It just works better with the cats acting it out like they act out skimble’s number or bustopher’s number. It didn’t add anythign to the cats sing the songs about themselves because that idea was dropped when Skimble and Bustopher even sang their songs. Like its a poor idea and poorly executed, especially since the original is like gossip the cats gossiping about who could be chosen.

Who will it be echoed only once? UGH. The chorus was fucking weak in the few moments they were given to stand out.

Speaking of clothing, the clothing choices made no sense, along with proportion of human clothing. If I put a watch around a cat’s neck it would fucking choke. Yet a ring can fit around a cat’s arm? Some of the clothing was too human like all of Misto’s costume (which why was he wearing it the full time? he looked better without it).

The replacement of coricopat and tantomile for the hip hop twins was utterly stupid and useless.

Some of the framing of songs and such especially at the beginning was bad. But that could also be because it takes you about 4 songs to get your eyeballs used to the damn CGI.

Mungo and Rumple were good, but Rumple would have been better if she kept the accent up like Mungo did. I loved seeing them do a burglary, but I prefer the musical version where the scare the cats away under the guise of macavity then have fun in the junkyard.

Growltiger had promise as a song but they only gave us a line followed by a joke so that was stupid. The whole barge shit was stupid. Their were no stakes and we never see the other cats get off the damn barge. Also griddlebone poor poor griddlebone.

The opening number was missing so many things like decent choreography. None of the choreography made them look feline, they looked like humans doing a mix of jazz and ballet. Just turning their hands over instead of open hands would have been a tremendous change. But like I said earlier what choreography there was was sacrificed for cinematography so you could see what you were supposed to see instead of letting the audience watch and see it on their own with some lighting suggestions to draw the eye away from the main dancing.

I think the concept of Skimble’s number was great, but I thought taking them out of the ballroom was stupid. But it was the strongest number and the one besides memory which had the most relation back to the original.

Why were their so many songs and verses cut? Naming of cats named only plain names, not the fun names which is where we get names of our characters from! Like half the cast is named in that number. It made the chorus seem distant and impersonal, along with the lack of touch.

Robbie should have gotten the same treatment as the girl playing victoria he had almost a bigger role than her, aside from her little grizabella moments which all of those important grizabella moments were done in seclusion. Half the reason they have agency in the stage show is because other cats can see her.

The lack of touch! enough said.

Tugger not singing Mistoffelees song upset me. Robbie did good, but he is not Tugger. Mistoffelees song was ruined by all the pausing and bullshit. There was not a climax to the song at all because it was always stopped and restarted. it felt like a dinky kids roller coaster that had no real payoff because Misto has no confidence so when Deuts appears it may not have been because of Misto at all just saying.

Old Deuts was... bad. Judi was pitchy at best (sing talking the lines just don’t work), and just not very convincing. Her presence wasn’t commanding or authoritative no matter how much Robbie tried.

Bomby was fucked three ways to hell. Taylor was okay, but the song Macavity was ruined with the catnip and all the bullshit with that. Macavity is a cautionary tale, and doesn’t fit in with the actual purpose the musical wanted it to be. Her song wasn’t as a good as normal, and it missed aspects that having it as a duet brought.

Beautiful ghosts was absolutely pointless, and quite petty of a song. Perhaps if we knew more about Victoria or she was a jellicle it would have made sense, but it just seemed very disconnected.

I am mourning the cut of Peeks and Pollicles. Because it explain its a dog, so when Bomby says it in Macavity you have a connection to the word. Here it just seemed like a nonsense word. Plus no rumpus cat. Cutting it means that Munk’s normal song was changed to skimble, and i guess misto. Also cutting it means you take a whole number away from the chorus, and thus you loose more personality of the chorus cats.

The chorus seemed absolutely pointless because you never could watch them and focus on them. They were just their not interacting with one another, not doing anything really. All of what makes the jellicles a tribe was taken away because these cats seem like strangers to one another. Not to mention taking away their solos at the beginning is a crime and again takes away from the personality of each individual chorus cat.

Jason should have sang misto’s song cause it would have given him a purpose besides a star to get butts in seats. he was their and i half wanted him to sing the end where victoria did because then he would have had a purpose but nope.

The cutting of so many verses from songs was just a shame. The musical inspires people to take up ballet, and jazz, and tap but all of it was cut for cinematography purposes and to make you look at the main actors in a different shot so their is no inspiration for the dance.

Skimble’s number had an awkward shot on the train bridge that was so far away you couldn’t even see the silhouettes any more.

I mentioned proportion earlier but like the train tracks were way off, i mean we’ve all seen Aristocats right?

Victoria not having her moment after naming of cats was sad. And whatever moment their was ruined by the assassination of misto’s character. Cause it was bad. He never questions himself as being good in the stage show just where his powers come from. But here he has no steadiness in if he is good or not, and he’s just badly characterized.

The kittens had no excitement for Tugger in his song. None of them did they seemed more happy about the milk rather than this hunk in front of them.

Macavity was shit. Seeing him throughout took away from him being mysterious and threatening. Seeing him fall at the end with Griz floating away was absolutely stupid and cartoonish and TS Eliot is rolling in his grave at that alone. Why he is not a zombie yet coming to kill Tom Hooper for fucking his poems up is beyond me. Also Macavity is a ginger cat... but he had no hint of red hair on him at all.

The jellicle ball dance sequence was bad. It wasn’t just that they weren’t cat like it was that what’s his face was trying to do a Sugar Plum Fairy and have them all dance to the quieter notes in the musical which made it seem disjointed. Sugar Plum Fairy works like that because its a light number she is supposed to make you listen for what she’s dancing too not just what you are hearing. This did not work.

The plot was stupid. The competition and stealing of cats was stupid. It was not needed. The had the element of putting on a show and talking about cats getting chosen they didn’t need macavity for more than that, or to make him want to be chosen. Him being a threat alone is good enough.

Munk did not get his fight. That was given to the damn cats on the barge. I am not happy with that.

I wish the named cats were more present in the bigger group. They blended into the background before their own songs, and then they disappeared because of the shitty capturing the cats plot device that was shitty and not needed. It took away from your familiarity with the cats who were present because we know nothing about those cats at all.

A moment of silence for all the chorus cats we don’t see or know, or were written off, and had no interpersonal relationships with each other. Literally the lack of touching between them makes it seem like all these cats are strangers to each other. Robbie tried.

Another moment of silence for Gillian Lynne’s choreography. The nuance she gave to it, that was all lost and gone.

Finally the CGI the hands were inconsistent, as was the face stuff. They had whiskers but they were hard to see, and because they had no nose or mouth (cat versions) defined it didn’t feel right, and we know it was possible to do both since the actors wore makeup.

#ooc: out of cats

2 notes · View notes

slainfury · 5 years

Text

RAVUS & NOCTIS: A COMPLICATED MATTER

so we’re essentially given breadcrumbs at best in regards to defining the relationship between ravus and noctis. the basic outlook is that the two in the present gaming timeline don’t get along and that ravus despises noctis; but i think it’s more than that, i want to take it further than that. so, to some extent, this is headcanon based and applicable only to my blog ( and the noctis whom i have developed this meta with )

i want to start with the reminder that these two were childhood friends as well. do i have any scenes / dialogue to prove this ? well, no. given that we barely have three minutes worth of screentime for noctis and luna’s childhood flashbacks as is ( y’know, the girl he’s someday to marry / the oracle to help him lead ) it’s no surprise that any exploration between him and ravus is left in the dust. but it takes a little common sense, really: he’s luna’s brother, after all, and her only sibling. given how close these two are, i think it’s safe to say -- at the very least -- he and noct had friendly interactions with one another. generally, i charactertize the childhood relationship as this: noct, a canonically shy and introverted child, likely somewhat intimidated by the older ravus. and in the meantime ravus was polite and friendly, treating him no differently than he would with luna -- even if any attempts to have long lasting conversations with the boy were futile.

take a look at this screenshot from the opening scene of kingsglaive ;

ravus, in the background, smiling just as his mother sylva is. he is just as welcoming of regis and noctis as she is. there is no indication whatsoever that back then he ‘disliked’ or ‘barely tolerated’ the lucis caelum family. in fact, anyone who makes these claims has no justification to that whatsoever -- both their kingdoms were intact, all was well, and for ravus and noct -- two children -- the war was a seemingly faraway event. troubling, perhaps, but their knowledge of it at that moment then was nowhere near the extent as their parents was.

and then comes tragedy, mere minutes later. his mother slaughtered before his very eyes, her blood literally splattering on his face. he, too, is wounded and left alone in the wildfires begging regis for his help. but regis ( to no fault of his own, imo ) chooses to save his son -- his injured, then - wheelchair bound son that’s incapable of running -- and makes the attempt to save luna because she’s closeby. ravus is not. it’s the most difficult decision any parent can make, choosing to leave behind a child.

and so, ravus resents regis. but not noctis.

ravus is very much aware that this has little to do with noctis. noctis isn’t the reason that tenebrae was attacked. it wasn’t noctis whom sylva chose to heroically sacrifice her life for. it wasn’t noctis that took off running and abandoned him.

ravus resents regis, the adult. the king, who had forsaken innocent people and selfishly escaped with his own life. regis, who has seemingly done nothing since after he and his sister were taken prisoner by niflheim. regis, who focused on the walls of refuge within his won kingdom and too preoccupied to worry for tenebrae after it and its queen bled and died for him.

and so i again, i say, ravus hates regis. not noctis.

so why the resentment? why the bitterness upon their reunion?

it isn’t directed towards noctis, the person. it is to life, to how noctis has essentially had it easier than him. it is to the seemingly carefree attitude noctis presents with ( in ravus’ eyes ) and how he doesn’t seem to understand that. noctis wasn’t stripped of his titles and crown, watched his kingdom set aflame. noctis wasn’t beaten and humiliated, a helpless witness more or less forced to watch his sister be assaulted and exploited for her powers. noctis wasn’t forced to bear the burden of expecting to somehow miraculously rise up and rule as a boy - king, and be blamed anyhow for failing.

( yes, noctis endures horrible things. his life is tragic, as well. and at the present timeline in the game, noctis has just lost his father and home as well. his entire set - up is pure tragedy, as he was more or less born to die. we as the audience know this; ravus does not. additionally, the comparisons which an embittered ravus is making is in reference to their childhoods. aside from the loss of his mother, which happened prior to the events of the fall of tenebrae, noctis lived a relatively safe and happy life in the walls of insomnia as opposed to ravus’ life as a prisoner of war. )

- it is also worth noting that even when insomnia falls / the death of regis, noctis has the love and support of his friends at his side. his friends, all adults who are capable of handling themselves and not dependent on him. ravus did not have that. he had lunafreya, his little sister who was dependent on him, and that’s about it. for all we know, any and all of ravus’ friends were taken prisoner or executed shortly after the fall of tenebrae for remaining nox fleuret loyalists and not submitting to niflheim.

more evidence regarding my point, that ravus hates noctis’ attitude but not noctis:

- you received the storm’s blessing. and yet, you know nothing of the consequences.

said consequences being the failing health of lunafreya, the woman they both love. for all her mighty and heroic efforts in contacting with the gods, it takes a toll on her health each and every time. it is quite literally killing lunafreya to serve noctis, to fulfill a duty she feels obligated to fulfill. and noctis, someone who claims to love his sister dearly, apparently has no idea of that all. this infuriates ravus. how can her husband - to - be just seemingly run about idly with his friends, with not a care in the world as luna is dying over some ancient prophecy?

- first the lucians stole me my mother. ... and now they make a sacrifice of my sister!

remember, it was a lucian prophecy that foretold all of this. but again, noctis ravus doesn’t outright say noctis at any point in time. he never says “he makes a sacrifice of my sister”; he refers to the ancestors instead.

the following scene, wherein he attempts to attack / kill noctis is exactly what it looks like. i’m not going to try and divulge it into something else. but there’s a simple explanation: grief. this man has lost everything in this very moment. everything he has ever done since the murder of his mother was for the sake of his sister, for the sake of preserving their family through all this horror and tragedy. and yet, despite it all, he has failed. all the horrible deeds he himself has committed were for nothing or all in vain. it seems plausible to me that someone so grief - stricken by such tremendous loss would make poor choices, all emotion based, and temporarily lose his mind.

moments later, ravus saves noctis from ardyn / from certain death -- just as lunafreya had. ravus, too, has now accepted the importance of noctis’ destiny. he no longer denies the prophecy and its belonging to noctis. and more importantly, recognizes the need for noctis to be alive. to ( from ravus’ perspective and knowledge, not ours ) rule insomnia after eradicating the darkness, truly becoming the light.

it’s why he dies in the main timeline recognizing noctis as the one true king. it’s why he dies failing to deliver regis’ sword to noctis.

it’s why he succeeds in the alternate ep ignis timeline

because together, when the darkness is eradicated, they will remain. there is work to be done, and neither will be able to accomplish it without the other. the ruins of insomnia and ashes of tenebrae will be rebult by two kings.

and two brothers.

#❪ 🗡️ .◦.˚・ﾟ✧ ┊❝ ━━━ to resist was to fail; for it was written in fate. / ( headcanons. )#meta.#this is my pride n joy pls love it

5 notes · View notes

toonstarterz · 6 years

Text

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #133

This is old news at this point, I adore how this series can take mundane, everyday occurrences, and have them be precursors to something more substantial later on. They did it for moments like Tomoko inadvertently causing the Kyoto trip from even happening or how she just so happened to learn Nemo’s secret from Ogino, and now it’s happening with this lunch date that was planned in the previous chapter. Considering how the previous cafeteria chapters include talking about dicks and “Attack on Kabaneri”, I’m certain there will be no shortage of laughs here.

Chapter 133: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Connect With Everyone

The relationship (if you can call it that) between Tomoko and Okada has always been an interesting one since the latter is probably the closest thing Tomoko envisions as the typical popular, preppy girl. The barrier between them is thick enough that even Nemo has to ask permission to bring Okada along instead of doing that assume-she’s-okay-with-it move she often does.

Now you see, this is the kind of line that could’ve easily been executed in a way that would paint Okada as a clichéd tsundere. The reason why Pineapple-chan doesn’t fall into this trap is because Okada, unlike a usual tsundere, doesn’t mask who she is. Sure, she expresses discomfort in her explanation, but it’s more of trying to rectify a mistake she’s already admitted to rather than any overzealous denial.

Ain’t that the class representative of Tomoko’s class last year? Only Nico Tanigawa would make the class rep character inconsequential in a manga.

Number #182 on the Masterlist of Acceptable Social Etiquette that the Writer of this Review has Fucked Up at Some Point in His Life.

Perhaps this my Western sensibilities talking, but I don’t see the issue with choosing something cheap when someone is treating you. Most people I know would appreciate the consideration. Now, there have been a few times in this series where being “considerate” is equated with “pitying”, which is understandable if there is a clear social/financial divide between the two parties. But the idea that a simple act of kindness like treating someone is a “trend”, as Tomoko seems to imply, is unsettling in how needlessly grand of a gesture it’s become.

Whether you’re a prep or an otaku, we all love udon.

See, the fact that Komiyama even bothers to bring up her history with Tomoko says a lot about what her relationship with the latter means to her. Nemo compared her three-year relationship with Tomoko with that of Komiyama’s, but Komiyama actually felt the need to specify that she’s known Tomoko longer than that, as if their relationship were weighted with more value for it. Despite what they say, Tomoko and Komiyama’s frenemy bond has shaped them to an extent that can only be described as friendship.

...er, right?

It’s understandable that Okada would think that, as there’s no evidence that she’s ever had a real enemy before. Now in regards to being in sync. Tomoko and Komiyama are a case of being too much in sync. People with abrasive personalities tend to click well with more mild-mannered people, since they can even each other out. But Tomoko and Komiyama are basically fire fighting against fire, and that unyielding nature often doesn’t produce sunshine and flowers.

But at the same time, fire can also reinforce each other, and I believe this is what Okada is alluding to here. That even if they collide with each other, its a mutual collision that can produce not pure-hearted friendship, but a healthy dislike. Tomoko and Komiyama are long past keeping up appearances in front of others, and it’s that shared understanding that may have actually benefited the two girls in the long run.

There’s sooo much to pull apart here on how in Tomoko’s fantasy, she’s coding Komiyama as a male while she plays the implied female love interest. I won’t go as far as to say its some internalized heteronormativity, but that her first instinct is to refer to very obvious heterosexual relationships in manga and anime simply because that’s what she consumes. I’d sure like to see Komi’s version of this.

This leads me to wonder...would Tomoko be friends with Komiyama if Tomoki wasn’t part of the equation? I’d say their relationship would be better, but still not exactly friends.

Nemo at it again with the potshots against Tomoko. But lo and behold, it’s not Tomoko who offers a retort, as we’ve come to expect...

...but the Queen of Quiet Fury, Yuri Tamura.

We’ve only had a couple of glimpses thus far in this manga of Yuri taking the initiative, but past history with her tells us that Yuri is only like that when something she treasures is in danger of being lost. Simply put, the fact that she’s forcing herself in the conversation is more drastic than her using Tomoki as social “warfare”.

Judging from Mako’s I-don’t-wanna-be-here expression, I don’t think Yuri’s being totally honest. My belief is that Yuri kept dropping not-so-hinted hints that she wants to stalk them during lunch, and Mako took it upon her reluctant shoulders to organize the stakeout.

I like how organically all of the connections (hence the title) are being drawn together. They don’t really take the forefront and occupy any important dialogue. Rather, the realizations that the character experience are all in the back of their minds, acting more as the glue to naturally develop these connections later on, which keeps the lunch from looking like a contrived excuse to force characters to meet each other.

You asked for this, Nemo. There’s no turning back.

Yuri and Nemo “competing” for Tomoko’s attention was a very obvious development, but to actually see it in motion is another thing entirely. It keeps it fresh because it’s not just two girls constantly ragging on each other. They each have different approaches to this “competition”, with Nemo’s upfront-but-calculated moves having trouble against Yuri’s understated-but-relentless defenses. And especially with Yuri having more ammunition like “knowing Naruse-san”, it’s going to be an intense battle.

For all you continuity buffs out there.

Three consecutive punchlines in one panel? How do you do it, Nico Tanigawa?

Okay, but in all seriousness, I was not expecting Yuri to play the sleeve-grab card. That’s the sort of shit one says to brag about some sexualized non-sexual contact, and Yuri never seemed like the type who’d want to paint themselves in that light. Of course, it could also be interpreted as desperation on Yuri’s part, using any sort of experience she has that Nemo doesn’t, even if it’s something as minuscule as touching Tomoko’s brother.

Mako needs a vacation.

Here we have a rare sighting of the Normie Okada, out of her element amongst the ravenous, mentally-disturbed Non-normies.

I must admit, Komiyama’s diminished screentime as of late has left me with a disappointing void. My theory is that Nico Tanigawa is having trouble furthering the Tomo-Komi dynamic since they’ve stopped actively antagonizing each other. But in a way, it makes me appreciate Komiyama more in the times she does show up since no other character can pull off sexually-repressed nerd-rage like her.

Itou truly is the Yuri-prototype.

Tomoko calling her friends “friends” never ceases to be heartwarming.

One of the most unique things in this frenemyship is that Tomoko has absolutely no scruples with how she handles Komiyama. With her other friends, Tomoko will present herself as socially equal or lesser than them, but Komiyama is only one she’ll interact to with a sense of superiority. That said, splashing water in Komiyama’s face and chiding her like a rebellious cat is a strangely truthful comparison of their relationship.

It’s a bit hard to notice at times, but Komiyama is a tad more humble now than she used to be. Her lust/crush on Tomoki is unwavering as always, but she does seem to be aware that her more ravenous behavior is usually inappropriate, and will either apologize accordingly or restrain herself from saying anything at all. The fact that the Lottes’ continuous losses play a role in this is a good way to mesh Komiyama’s two core hobbies: baseball and perversion.

I really do wish we saw more of Itou at times. She’s currently the most “uncorrupted” girl in the group.

If this is gonna be foreshadowing an interaction where Komiyama ends up ruining Okada’s already crushed innocence a second time, I say...bring it on.

And then we have Nemo with the ellipses of amusement.

I’m sure that Yuri coming to terms with Tomoko calling her a friend is something fans have been clamoring for a while, and so it’s oddly refreshing to see it here in such an understated way. But given that this is Watamote and the smallest detail often spiral into something larger, I’m certain this is something Yuri will be internalizing for chapters to come.

Yoshida treating Tomoki like a child is so ironically precious since Tomoki is probably three times more mature than she is. It certainly plays to a part of Yoshida’s personality that’s been established for a while now, with her fancying herself as someone older, experienced, and savvy when she’s basically a little kid in a teenager’s body. Or to put it another way, her yankee-ish way of speaking is somewhat performative like a twelve-year-old swearing up a storm ‘cause they think it makes them sound grown-up.

It’s funny how moments of intimacy can be entirely undercut based on the person who’s doing it. Wrapping your arm around someone is an act of familiarity that can imply a desire for, well, desire. But Yoshida has the purity of a freshly fallen snowflake, so there’s no sense of attraction to be found here. To Yoshida, Tomoki is just some younger dude that isn’t as “worldly” as her, and any notion of Tomoki as an object of desire is completely lost on her.

Yes, Yoshida may be a violent delinquent. Yes, Nemoto may be a calculating gadfly. Yes, Ucchi is an undeniable stalker (where is she, anyway?). But a pissed off, sexual deviant Komiyama is by far the most dangerous force in the Watamote universe.

This was, at its core, a setup chapter. A little light on the jokes with more focus on building up the chapters that follow it. But you know, that’s not really such a bad thing, because even at its worst, Watamote is “pretty damn good”, with the subsequent chapters of their respective arcs reaching heights of awesomeness you didn’t think were possible. This may have been a tasty appetizer, but the main course is shaping up to be positively exquisite.

#watamote #watamote review #no matter how i look at it it's you guys' fault i'm not popular!#chapter 133 #tomoko kuroki #hina nemoto #akane okada #kotomi komiyama #itou #yuri tamura #mako tanaka #masaki yoshida #tomoki kuroki #review

74 notes · View notes

morosemariposa · 5 years

Text

2019 Skate America

This year we’re headed to Las Vegas, Nevada for the first event in the 2019-20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. For the next six weeks we get to watch all our favorite skaters compete for a chance to qualify and compete at the Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. Starting with Skate America I have to say this was a difficult competition for me to watch. I live in America so NBC Universal has the broadcasting rights for Figure Skating but I refuse to pay for their streaming service because I can’t afford it. I’ve searched for streams so I could watch it live and gave up then watched the videos of their performances on YouTube. I wonder if all the Grand Prix events are going to be this difficult to watch.

MEN’S SP The men’s event is pretty stacked in this competition. I was pretty excited for a lot of the men here. About 66% of them didn’t perform well, some of them weren’t scored properly and only 50% of the men tried with their costumes.

Koshiro Shimada - I really love the music in his short program. It’s obvious that he likes performing this program and the elements that he did he did well but it’s a shame that he popped the 4T. I love his interactions with Stephane in the K&K and I’m happy for him not letting that pop ruin the program. It was ugly but it didn’t take away from the performance.

Kazuki Tomono - The energy and the performance execution was there but the jumps weren’t. It’s a shame because the program could be could if the jumps weren’t a mess. Perhaps if would be better for Kazuki to do only one quad in the short and make it stable. It’s still early in the season but it’s interesting to see the competition among the Japanese men and see who’ll get that 3rd spot to the World Championships.

Boyang Jin - It wasn’t a good jumping day for Boyang. A pop on the 4Lz and a fall on the 3A but he managed to score relatively well. He wasn’t happy with his skate and I don’t blame him. He can do better than this, he already has done better than this. I imagine Boyang will be in good form during Chinese Nationals.

Dmitri Aliev - DIMA!!! Somebody came to compete. Finally the first good skate of the short program. A little iffy landing of the 4T but who cares the interpretation of the music and performance was some of the best here. He was definitely underscored in the PCS. P.S. How is Dima not first or second in PCS?

Jason Brown - I’m not a fan of the music but I like that Jason is branching out to different styles of music. The pop on the 3A is disappointing because his score would’ve been in the 90′s if he’d landed it. P.S. How is Jason not first in PCS?

Nathan Chen - It was a great skate and deserving of first but the PCS score wasn’t deserving of first. I don’t care for La Boheme much but I can tell that this was choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne because it uses similar choreographic movements from Nathan’s short program last season. The costume needs to change. It’s literally the same from last season’s short program. It bunches up at the shoulders and it’s not flattering.

Keegan Messing - Skaters definitely get better with age and Keegan is a great example of that. His jumps were solid and secure and the performance was steady throughout the entire program. This was good for him.

MEN’S FP Every man in the first group had falls. No one was clean. The second group did better but I was underwhelmed by the free programs and costume choices of the men here. It’s like the men aren’t trying anymore. The only ones I can depend on to bring me color and sparkles to their costumes are the Japanese men. It’s going to be interesting seeing these men compete at their second Grand Prix events in the coming weeks. The medal winners deserved their accolades and some of the medal contenders let their chance slip by but hopefully they’ll bring it the next time.

Koshiro Shimada - I don’t care about the jumps when it comes to Koshiro. I just love watching him skate. He’s fresh new talent and I’m going to enjoy watching him develop as a skater over the course of his career. He’s a tall ball of sunshine and so cute and committed to his career and I love that he has someone like Stephane to guide him on his journey.

Kazuki Tomono - Talk about committing to the performance. Kazuki fully committed and it paid off. I may not like “Moulin Rouge” but if a skater gives their all to it then I can be sold on it. The opening 4T3T was so beautiful it’s a shame that he couldn’t get the second quad but I don’t care because I was with him in the performance and that’s what really matters to me.

Boyang Jin - He looked defeated in the program. I really hope that he comes back to the way he used to be. I still think it’s a good idea to have the 4Lz as the first jump because he needs to get use to it but he needs to not give up or hold back from the rest of his program. A fall isn’t the end of a program it can still be saved by what you do after the fall.

Jason Brown - Another Schindler’s List program. The first three jumping passes were all done to even tone music and then it changed on the fourth jump and onward. I don’t know what his interpretation of the music is suppose to be. It felt like the elements especially the spins , which were executed well, weren’t tailored to the music. They were there because they were required to be in the program but they weren’t part of the program. Did I explain that right? 90′s in PCS is totally deserved. Great job Jason! Congrats on the Silver Medal!

Keegan Messing - First impression is that this is the same outfit he wore for the short program. I don’t like it. Get a different shirt color at least. The program elements, spins, jumps, stsq, and chsq, it feels like it was just thrown together in the program. None of the placements made sense and the music wasn’t interpreted at all. That opening 3Lz was beautiful and he did a good job overall in the competition.

Dmitri Aliev - This is a rare instance where Dima wans’t listening to the music. There was no awareness that music was even being played. After the pop on the first jump there was disconnect and a focus on getting the rest of the jumps out. That didn’t turn out well but at least he got all his combos. Congrats on the Bronze Medal Dima!!

Nathan Chen - First, this costume is horrendous and unacceptable for an Elton John program. If your going to do an Elton John program there need to be glitter and feathers in the costume. Also it’s reminiscent of his early costume for his free program last season. I don’t know what to say about the program. I don’t like it. This is the second time I’ve seen it performed and I thought I could like it but I don’t and that’s fine. There are lot’s of programs out there but I can appreciate that what Nathan did well he did really well and he deserved to win.

LADIES’ SP This Ladies’ event was well skated. I was surprised that all three Russian girls struggled here and two out of three Japanese girls did well. Besides that it was enjoyable to watch. I can always count on women to give me good clean skates.

Mako Yamashita - It wasn’t a good jumping day for Mako and a repeated program isn’t going to do her any favors because that music is grating to the ears. Why wasn’t she given a new short program? Mihoko Higuchi I know you could’ve choreographed a new program for her. If not a new program then a new dress maybe.

Anna Shcherbakova - She seemed nervous through the program and the fall was surprising because it came out of nowhere. She’s understandably upset about it because she did every element and falls because she picked the ice during the StSq. The Russian Gauntlet is real and all the Russian girls are competing against each other for a spot at the Grand Prix Final and most importantly the World Championships. I believe she can pull it off in the free skate. She’s the type to not be deterred from a mistake.

Eunsoo Lim - I like the little accents she added to this program. There’s a little more engagement with the music and the technical elements could’ve been done better but it wasn’t a disaster. I hope she kills it in the free skate.

Wakaba Higuchi - YAY! Wakaba skated clean. I think Sia’s “Bird Set Free” is big music for her and the performance wasn’t there for me. She did everything well but there was disconnect from the music itself. The movements honestly could belong to any music and that’s the most unfortunate thing about this program for me. I don’t think I’ll ever like it. But I was so happy for her and she was so cute when she looked surprised at the score. Great job Wakaba!

Kaori Sakamoto - KAO-CHAN!!! I loved it. First things first the dress is beautiful. Red is her color, she looked great. Then the jumps were great too. The distance she got on her 3F3T combo was amazing and her signature entry into the 3L is magical as always. I love this program for her and I like that she seems to have fun when performing it. First in all PCS marks, she deserves it.

LADIES’ FP I didn’t watch any of the Ladies’ free skate until the videos were on YouTube. So I was discretely avoiding the placements of each woman so in a way I watched it sort of live. It was overall a good event not great group one didn’t come alive until Eunsoo showed up but by then I was losing hope in good performances. Group two had mostly good skates but in reality the top three did have the best performances and they deserved their medals.

Mako Yamashita - This is an instance where I would’ve preferred she kept her program from last season. This new free program isn’t for her. She made a lot of technical mistakes and it felt like she wasn’t performing the program and definitely wasn’t competing. She can still change the program but I don’t know if that’s a good idea either. This music just isn’t for her. She could really benefit in the long run with classical music. Some beautiful lyrical pieces from Debussy or Chopin I feel would be more appropriate for her age and her technical ability.

Eunsoo Lim - I like this “Sabrina” soundtrack program for Eunsoo. It’s cute and age appropriate. The music is light and delicate, she interprets light music incredibly well. She only had a problem on two jumps but her spins were good and the chsq was cute. I just really like Eunsoo, she’s such a talented beautiful skater.

Anna Shcherbakova - I don’t know what to say. She did everything she set out to do. Two 4Lz’s is hard to beat and the moment she finished it was clear that she won. The costume reveal with the change of music is brilliant and every time she performs this program it’s going to be my favorite part. This was a commanding performance and she was confident and in control throughout. It’s great that she was able to come back from her small mistake in the short program and deliver in this way. Congratulations on a deserved first place.

Wakaba Huguchi - It’s hard to follow someone who did two quads and got a great score overall. For wakaba especially because she’s in medal contention to she really couldn’t have afforded her fall on the 3Lz and and pops on both the 3L and 2A. She had to be clean to potentially get a medal and unfortunately this performance wasn’t going to get her one. The interpretation wasn’t there and it’s almost like the program got away from her.

Kaori Sakamoto - Kaori has the same problem Wakaba had in her program. She popped two of her jumps and that’s something that cost her some points. She’s the highest ranking Japanese lady here but she needed to do better to potentially win a medal and qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

Skate America was underwhelming. I wasn’t really excited for any of the winners because they all predictably won. The exciting part of the competition was all the skaters who won 2nd and 3rd place. The real fight was for those medals. I wasn’t able to watch any of the disciplines live and that’s too bad because skating is always more fun to watch when it’s live. I was so excited for the Grand Prix Series to start and when it finally did it was to a competition that was annoying to watch. Some of the skates had great skates and the 2nd and 3rd place finishers were the highlight for this competition. It’s going to be interesting to see who qualifies for the final now that they have the potential.

#figure skating #2019 Skate America #2019/2020 figure skating season #ISU Grand Prix Series

0 notes

sanctferum · 7 years

Text

Dangan Ronpa V3, chapter 3 free time!

Time to explore!

There’s a hidden Monokuma in Kaede’s lab. Ryoma’s lab’s been cleaned up by Monokuma, and the shower room is inaccessible because Shuichi doesn’t need to take a shower. The gym has also been cleaned up, and the inner tube in the pool has been neatly put away.

OK, the blackboards show different things in different chapters when you go into search mode. Or maybe it’s because we’re playing as Shuichi? I didn’t check them last chapter.

Monokuma knows. He knows that in order to be a Dangan Ronpa player character, an ahoge is necessary.

Another hidden Monokuma’s in the boiler room.

Oh, we can retry the escape game, huh?

Well, that didn’t work. I wonder what would even happen if we completed it successfully?

Found another Hidden Monokuma near the Kumasutra Hotel. I bet the last one is in the racing minigame again…

The casino minigames now include Mind Mine and Psyche Taxi equivalents.

Treasure Hunter Monolith: the music reminds me WAY too much of Chiaki’s execution music from DR2…

Outlaw Run: I am still very bad at this minigame. Give me Logic Dive back!

Don’t know how to unlock any category besides “Kind” for these minigames. Betting max coins didn’t work, getting an S rank didn’t work. Advancing a chapter hasn’t worked for the Hangman’s Gambit one, either.

Oh, did the exchange always sell Monopad themes?

Anyways, on to the actual free time! I’m gonna hang out with Kaito.

Kaito is still upset people are lumping Maki and Kirumi into the “murderous fiend” category. Let’s calm him down with this moon buggy model!

Kaito tell us about how astronaut training is super intense, and it’s a lot of work…but the universe is a harsh place. He’s got to be able to handle crazy situations if he wants to explore it. For the first two years of training, he learned the basic skills needed to be an astronaut – medicine, engineering, scuba diving, linguistics, survival training…pretty much everything.

There’s a training facility for astronauts at the bottom of the ocean? The most important thing for an astronaut is communication and teamwork. No one person can hope to explore space by themselves…you need a team, and you need to trust in that team. The facility at the bottom of the ocean helps people learn to work as a team. Also, as part of communication training, you have to master other languages and cultures…Kaito is fluent in Japanese, English, and Russian. He might be an idiot sometimes, but Kaito sure is incredible…

Bedtime already? I wonder if trying the escape game took up a portion of free time?

The Monokubs sure look beat up…well two of them at least. Monodam sure is harsh…

Time to train with Kaito! On our way out, we see Angie, who’s still trying to convert everyone. She claims to be prepared to work with everyone to make the Academy a paradise on Earth. Considering how well her last attempt at that went…hmmm.

Shuichi shows up to the usual training spot, but Kaito is nowhere to be f-

Oh. There he is, dragging Maki behind him. Well, I guess we’re all training together, huh?

Kaito kept ringing her doorbell till Maki answered. Then he dragged her here.

Maki thinks the whole idea is stupid and heads back to her room. Kaito tries to convince her to stay by…Kaito. Kaito, that’s stupid. You aren’t the hero of this story, and Maki isn’t gonna be willing to be your sidekick.

Kaito does say that from his perspective he might be the hero, but from our perspectives, we each are the hero of our own stories.

Maki knows from experience that this will all end in tears. But Kaito calls her out on the what he believes is the real reason she isn’t interacting with anyone. She’s afraid. She’s running away, when she should be standing tall and fighting.

Maki is getting pissed. Kaito, this is…

…going to work out well after all. Maki agrees to train, just so Kaito will stop bugging her about it.

And now. 100 pushups! Shuichi’s body is in hell, Kaito is going along…Maki is almost done. You don’t become an assassin by being out of shape.

Kaito tells her to show up for training tomorrow too. Maki ignores him and walks away.

Ah, so it ties back into what he was saying in the free time event. Teamwork…if you see someone who is weak, you help them become strong. Someone is suffering? You can’t just walk away. Kaito mentions that Shuichi and Maki’s cases are a bit different. Back to the rest of the pushups.

Monokuma Theater ti-

…Monodam Theater time.

He’s wearing a leather jacket and Kamina shades.

Morning announcement. Everyone will gather in the gym to get along, huh? Assembling in the gym is usually a rather bad thing. I’m not sure what to expect.

Kiyo mentions how he overslept, but is usually up by 6 AM and ready to go at 7:30 AM. A half hour to get ready? Is it because of his uniform? Kaito is also around but not going to the gym yet. He’s gonna make sure Maki comes with him to the gym, since everyone needs to show up. If someone doesn’t, who knows what could happen.

Outside, Himiko is complaining about having to go to the gym so early in the morning. Shuichi is apprehensive about all this, and Himiko mentions a student council meeting. What? Oh. Oh boy. Angie wants to throw a party…Atua decreed it would be a pool party?

Monokuma shows up. Looking awful still, huh? Is he gonna tempt us to peek on the girls’ pool party? Is this the scene that the Man’s Desire Gun or whatever unlocks?

Monokuma just stares at us until we randomly have a fantasy come up in our mind. A Man’s Fantasy, to be specific. Oh boy. Shuichi finds himself unable to resist it. Swimsuits…a zany-yet-romantic scene…yet, on the other hand, if anyone saw him, Tenko would beat him half to death twice…oh well, if such is the price we must pay…

Inside the Academy now…Keebo’s also worried about the sudden summons. Another motive, most likely. Keebo is determined to stop anyone from killing, no matter what!

In the gym, which again, has been cleaned up post-trial, we find everyone else. Miu talks about the computer on the 4th floor…the specs are insane…

Keebo is jealous of the computer. Godammit, I know Miu was being super suggestive at you, but…come on. You’re basically a computer yourself, anyways.

Kokichi is unnerved by Maki’s presence, and immediately begins trying to ruin the fragile atmosphere. Then Gonta shows up. He’s about to tell us something serious about the courtyard, possibly something that will help us make sense of “horse a”? Then the Monokubs show up before he can finish his sentence.

Monodam has a motive, all right. A motive to get along?

Tsumigi and Keebo…I’m getting the feeling Angie brainwashed them into her Atua cult too…Himiko was already in, but, um…

The motive will inspire fear like never before…forcing the Ultimates to unite to fight against it. Monotaro and Monophanie prepare to present, on Monodam’s behalf, the motive! It’s…a transfer student. What?

Resurrect one of the four people who’ve died so far…? How? Using the computer? Are we gonna resurrect Kaede? Or perhaps Kirumi, since she’s important to the world? Rantaro, so we might learn his talent? Ryoma…probably wouldn’t care to be resurrected. Anyways, what the fuck, and also, that’s the meaning behind the chapter title.

The Necronomicon? We’ve got a copy of that?

Once resurrected, we can welcome the student back, or, if we want to, kill them off again immediately. They’ll be part of the game again, in other words. Thanks for telling us that, Monotaro.

Monodam has no such thanks. Monotaro blames his exposition of killing on old habits.

Monodam instructs Monophanie to punish Monotaro…this is a complete reversal, the students are being spared and it’s Monotaro and Monophanie who are in deep shit. Monotaro doesn’t want to be punished by Monophanie, since he mocks for dumb shit all the time. Monophanie, remembering those times, decides sure, she’ll do it. Then the Kubs leave.

How can anyone believe that the dead can be resurrected? Well, Kiyo thinks that not believing it to because it’s scientifically impossible is folly in and of itself.

Funeral ceremonies…like the one we saw of ourselves…

Sending the dead to the next world. HMMM.

Kiyo believes souls are real…but they can’t be reached once the person is dead. Resurrecting the dead is impossible.

Angie believes it isn’t so strange, though. It’s not so much bringing the dead back to life as returning the dead to us…the difference is, the crime scenes were cleaned up perfectly. Perhaps the dead…had their deaths faked by Monokuma or themselves? In which case, they’re alive? Could the bodies have been fakes? If Monokuma and the Exisals can exist, is it possible for realistic corpses to?

Shuichi wants all this to be true, but he can’t believe it really is. To do so would be to turn away from the truth.

Gonta brings up that if the students were alive, they’d have to be here somewhere. Maybe one of them wrote “horse a” in the courtyard. He was gonna tell us something about the courtyard. Was it that the message is now longer?

“Twnm I”?

I see. The horse message wasn’t meant to be read from top to bottom. It was meant to be read from left to right. TH, WOR, SE, N, I, MA…?

And the Monokubs left the Necronomicon here for us. It’s definitely a motive…but what kind? Maybe it’s a motive like this: we ignore it and the four people who are still alive somehow die for real? Angie is very appreciative of Gonta’s story…she goes over and hugs him…is she…she’s trying to get him to believe in Atua. Soon she’ll have brainwashed like half the survivors.

A gentle grandma? Isn’t Atua a handsome man? Himiko says Atua’s appearance depends on who’s looking. Kokichi thinks that sure is suspiciously convenient. Angie invites Gonta to the student council that Himiko mentioned. Apparently it’s part of Angie’s plan to stop the killing game. Keebo, Himiko, Tenko, Tsumugi, and Angie all met up and agreed to make the Ultimate Academy Student Council. Angie came up with the idea, and is Student Council President. Which means Atua is the one really in charge. Of course. Kokichi declares them brainwashed…Kiyo agrees. The Ultimate Academy, under the conditions of the killing game, is the perfect breeding grounds for a cult. And this has all the markings of a cult. Keebo, Tenko, and Tsumugi, and now Gonta, have been taken in by this nonsense…Tenko even put aside her love for Himiko to give her love to Atua instead.

Maki points out how clear of a trap the resurrection ritual is…but it’s to no avail. The Student Council members are beyond the reach of logic or reason. Meanwhile, Kaito’s been really quiet this whole time, and I’m somewhat worried about him.

But there’s no time to be worried…we need to head to the pool and spy on the girls, pronto!

Two girls wearing only bikini bottoms. One girl wearing pantaloons. And Tenko, fully in the nude. Enjoy the view, Shuichi, I guess? (Or, you could just ask Miu to flash you? Where is she anyways? Was she not invited? Guess not, student council girls only)

Himiko would rather conserve her MP than use them to grow her boobs as big as Tenko’s. She’s awfully jealous. Tenko reassures her that Himiko’s boobs may be small, but they’re nicely shaped. Angie, meanwhile, is trying to grope Tsumugi’s boobs. Shuichi witness it all and immediately remembers that this is morally wrong and stupid. Too late, dude. Too late.

Afterwards we return to our room. Time to go hang out with people! Not sure who, though…Himiko, maybe. Next time!

#Dangan Ronpa #Danganronpa V3 #Dangan Ronpa V3

2 notes · View notes

kalbinos · 4 years

Text

Prequel Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy

After seeing the last sequel movie, I can confirm that I don’t like the sequel trilogy as a whole. Having a story written by two directors that just want to play “who’s lightsaber is bigger” instead of following a plan that clearly didn’t exist makes the story annoying and does a lot of damage to a galaxy far far away. TLJ, whatever you might think to yourself, is awful, and ROTSkywalker was doomed from the start.

And it annoys me to hell, because I see a lot of ideas that could have been studied. Finn could have been a really cool concept, if they didn’t forgot what he was halfway through the first movie. Poe should have had more interactions, instead of having his abilities be shunned (because he saved the Rebellion/sorry, the Resistance with the least efficient bombers in the whole saga...they had hyperdrives ?!) and be wasted to enhance Holdo. The OT characters could have been mentors without taking too much room, but they were used to cash on nostalgia. Rey is a mess, getting everything she wants and even stealing a name “even if her family isn’t what makes her”...

But why do I hate the sequels and not the prequels ?

Mind you, unlike what Ryan Johnson want you to believe, ESB was the most loved Star Wars movie of all time, getting awards left and right. So the OT in the fandom is loved. So one of the explanation for why some don’t like the prequels could be that it isn’t the OT all over again...unlike the Sequels, which stole everything from EU and the OT.

The prequels were different, a more political and intrigued trilogy, explaining the rise of Palpatine in control, while Jedi were too far up their own rear, undefeated for too long, and the Republic was corrupt, where the effort to save the galaxy from the return of the Sith were doomed from the start as the Sith were already there, where the Chosen One was the final piece of the puzzle to a plan only a Sith would have made.

Even if it was not well executed, the story was here, the characters were on a rail to start from finish, ponctuated by strong scenes.

I’m pretty sure that if Lucas had someone just rewriting the execution of some scenes and dialogues, the Prequels would have been perfect. But it’s done this way, sadly.

Also, nothing in the Prequels destroyed the Star Wars lore. Midichlorians are a pretty good way to explain force sensitivity, because it’s just potential, you still have to train to use the Force. Anakin was the Chosen One, a being made by the Force (revealed later to be Palpatine’s doing with Sith Alchemy in comics), but he still got his ass kicked in AOTC, and I’m sure that Grievous could have defeated him. Hell, Luke won against Vader in ROTJ because he used his anger, so even him wasn’t perfect, and he’s the direct spawn of Anakin. Rey...is just good. She bested Kylo thrice, how is he a threat ? She beat Luke and the Emperor because she can and have all the Jedi with her, which means she still didn’t bring balance to the Force, being a Light Sided user would at some point bring a Dark Side user and wars will start again. See what I mean ? Ths is what happens when you don’t have midichlorians. Hard Magic rules vs Soft Magic plot powers.

The Phantom Menace is quoted as the worst Star Wars movie, and I get why. It was the first time a Prequel was made, and it needed to find his place in the saga, so they did some mistakes but managed to correct them later on. This was also my critics towards TFA. I didn’t like many choices JJ made (Phasma being already gone, Han Solo here to be killed, Rey being Reydiculous, the movie being a remake of ANH), but I remembered that Phantom Menace also have those issues. Anakin was a Gary Stu at first, winning the pod race when the plot needed it, piloting and destroying the big bad ship in the end and also get taken as Padawan even if it was against the rules. But those were corrected at episode 2, showing that he’s unstable, quick to anger and even if he’s the Chosen One, he still have a long way to become a Jedi Master, which he does by fighting in the Clone Wars, a conflict that changed the galaxy and himself. His fall to the Dark Side was always planned, and he went there, because of his actions and desires, Darth Maul was killed and he didn’t get any lines, you see my point. TFA is better than TPM, not saying the opposite, but the sequels of TFA failed at fixing the mistakes and I’m pretty sure the potential wasted later on by TLJ clouds my judgement of TFA. It’s like if instead of putting Jar Jar in the background, Lucas decided to keep him with the group of protagonists, being the same clumsy and stupid gungan. That’s how I felt.

Also the Disney/Hollywood circle-jerk is going to ruin movies as a whole, every sequels of famous franchise are trying the whole “subversion” thing. Remember the Predator ? Well now he’s shit next to the Super Predator, which was given autism super powers. Terminator ? John Connor is dead, here’s a mexican girl instead. Everything needs to be bigger than before, the past is shitty, kill it if you have to. Death Stars needs to be bigger, then overshadowed by Star Destroyers that can destroy planets. Creativity is dead, and Hollywood killed it. And I’m not talking about adaptations, Alita is good and the Marvel movies built up one of the biggest franchises ever. But it seems people in control of media wants the public to love certain things. Remember how they panicked with Joker ? I’ll avoid to be political, as I’m not an expert in politics, I’ll just say that : even if the agenda is supposed to be for the greater good, it is still an agenda, information and journalism should not have an agenda. Media can be used to control, and a peaceful utopia demands as much control as a dystopia. Take your soma and go watch the screen.

The Prequels will always be subject of subjectivity, hell I might be also a victim of denying how bad it is because of investments. The thing is I saw the 6 Star Wars movies in 2008 on a pirated dvd in Morocco. And I liked them all. Perhaps the french dub made the dialog less “cringy”, as we tend to make some lines better or worse. I’m sure objectivity would make the Prequels bad, but you can’t tell me objectivity won’t see the Sequels and see how worse it is.

So, it is my opinion, it is why I prefer the Prequels to the Sequels. I’m open to debate, even if I don’t quite know how to use tumblr well, so let’s hope I can respond to any requests. I believe that opinions can be changed with facts and logic, and I hope I give some people something to think about, and not just straight up change them to sequel haters. You’re free to enjoy any movies you want, and even the crapiest ones could have some sort of awesomeness to it, like The Room. But we know that The Room is bad.

#star wars #prequel #trilogy #sequel

0 notes

barbosaasouza · 5 years

Text

Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun

The following is a guest post from developer David Stark (reposted with permission from their site) on exploring common monetizing delay mechanics to make the purposely-unfun Sandstorm.

We’ve all played mobile games that get steadily more hostile towards the player as time goes on. The kind of game that wants so desperately for you to become a paying customer that it puts increasing roadblocks in front of you. Pay to skip the wait. Pay to remove the limit. Pay to get a boost, skip the ads, make the numbers go up faster.

Sandstorm is a game that was sparked by a conversation about the intentionality of these kind of mechanics, and the idea that a game could be purposefully unfun.

Background

Some background – in the early days following the Cookie Clicker craze, I wrote a game called CivClicker – one of the seminal games in the genre (though now long forgotten), it blended the clicker mechanics of incremental games with worker management and tech-tree progress inspired by god games. Not a mobile developer myself, and happy to get the game in front of more people, I licensed the game to a company so that they could make a mobile port.

The port was, to no-one’s surprise, awful.

The company had taken the core game and tried to bake in mechanics to monetize it. In their case, they chose delay mechanics. Want to research a new tech? You need to spend the resources, and you need to wait a day. Pay to buy in-game currency. Spend in-game currency to skip the wait and get it instantly. Not uncommon, and at the beginning of the game basically just an inconvenience.

But it steadily got worse. Mechanics that in the original game were carefully balanced to provide a sense of progress were gated off behind increasingly long delays. Active play became impossible – it ended up more like something to check in on once a day and press some more buttons so I could check in tomorrow. I eventually quit playing after a while, deeply frustrated with the experience and lamenting that my name had been connected with it.

The experience, originally created to provide a sense of steady and fun progression, had been ruined by a lack of intentionality in design – or rather, a perversion of that intention, designed to manipulate and coerce. The game wasn’t designed to be fun. It was designed to suck you in, and then hurt you until you paid up or left.

On a roll after finishing this year’s js13k, I wanted a quick project that would tide me over until the judging. A conversation with a friend about the experiences above sparked an interesting idea: what if a game was designed with those kind of anti-fun delay mechanics as the core experience? Would it be fun at all? What would it tell us about game design, about play, and about players?

Games As Art

I’ve always been a proponent of the creation and analysis of games as art pieces. As interactive media, games are in a unique position to communicate certain ideas, feelings, and messages from creator to audience, or even from audience to audience.

What does it mean to say that delay mechanics are unfun? Well, to start with, we are making a bunch of assumptions about what “fun” means. There’s a sense, and I think it’s common, that games should be interesting, stimulating and above all, responsive.

A game that feels unpredictable, or has floaty controls, or doesn’t give you a sense of control is hard to stick with. Elements of polish like sound and visual effects, screen shake and controller rumble are all designed to give direct sensory feedback to the player. An unresponsive game is almost synonymous with bad design – or perhaps more accurately, responsiveness is seen as a mark of well-executed design. Game feel is a nebulous term but everyone knows it when they encounter it, and it seems to me that responsiveness is core to good game feel.

A delay mechanic, by its nature, disconnects the player’s action from the outcome. It cuts the feedback loop, the Skinner Box lever-reward connection that drives so many game interactions. Just one more turn. Just one more level. The core loop, the 30 seconds of button-reward-button-reward gameplay that’s designed to be addictive, to hook you. It’s all cut short by the delay.

This is, of course, why the delay ramps up. They don’t start you out waiting for an entire day. They start you out with 30 seconds. You can wait half a minute, can’t you? Then the next one is a minute. Then two. Then five. And so on – until you’re checking in once a day to see if your countdowns have finished and you can keep playing the game, or else you get frustrated and pay to play now.

But what does a game look like when it deliberately eschews the conventional wisdom of action and immediate reward? Could such a game even be fun to play at all? Honestly – I think the answer is no. But the experience, and working out why, is illuminating.

Designing An Unfun Experience

Indie dev means a lot of interation and a lot of playtesting your own game. The very first work I did on Sandstorm was to implement the input delay that I wanted to overshadow the entire experience.

The idea was to have the user operate a Mars rover, with realistic delay between input and action (the end result was a bit more complicated than that, but broadly speaking that’s what ended up happening), so I started out with a delay of 182 seconds – the time required for light to travel the theoretical minimum distance between Earth and Mars of 54,600,000km.

This input delay immediately got in my way. I couldn’t implement movement or other controls while having to wait 3 minutes before even getting a response: that would be madness. And it was! But it showed me something important. Even testing it once I knew it was working was torture. My brain expected instant response. It’s been trained by years of clicking buttons while staring at screens to demand it.

And so I did what anyone would do, if they could. I turned it off.

Not only that, but I kept the delay off most of the way through development. I did turn it on again occasionally to check that it was still working the way I wanted, and that the experience I was building in my head matched the experience I was expecting the player to have. Each time, I turned it off again – I justified that to myself as it getting in the way, slowing me down, and acting as a pointless obstruction to development, all of which are definitely true. There was a nagging feeling at the back of my head that it was unfun and I should get rid of it.

I wondered if anyone would want to play a game like this. I’m not sure I wanted to, and I made the damn thing. But it was important to me that the game exist in that form, unapologetic and with no way to turn it off. I wanted it to exist as an object model of what not to do; to take a cute and simple game and make it almost literally unplayable. And I wondered what it said about me, that I couldn’t play my own game. It was a challenge.

Themes And Rewards

When I originally envisioned the game, I thought about it having a quiet loneliness and isolation to it. “My battery is low and it’s getting dark”, a poetic interpretation of Opportunity’s final communication with earth, perfectly encapsulates the feeling.

These are themes that have been weighing on me personally as someone with PTSD and depression, and I wanted to communicate them through the game. On the surface it was a perfect vehicle for it – a lonely Mars rover isolated from literally everyone, having to survive on its own and with a “connection” to an operator, the physical limits of which stretch the definition of the word.

But as I worked on it and contemplated what the delay actually meant, and what the experience of the player was actually going to be like, I realized that the player wasn’t going to be the lonely one. The player was the operator, experiencing frustration, forced to wait, needing to exercise patience. And so the themes shifted away from the melancholic and towards the phlegmatic. I still connect with the rover on a personal level, but the game is – in the end – about the player.

There are fragments within the game that can be collected, bearing quotations. There’s a Bennett Foddy-esque quality to them, an external reminder of the metanarrative of the game. Unlike Getting Over It, though, I didn’t want to interject myself and my feelings into those quotes. I might be intentionally putting the overall experience in front of the player, but my intent was to keep them disconnected from both the game and the experience of the game – to act as external anchoring points and opportunities for reflection.

There’s no achievement or bonus for collecting all of them, by the way. In fact, the game doesn’t care if you collect any of them. But they’re there, and require no small amount of dedication and patience to collect. The rewards are, much like the reward for finishing the game, largely intrinsic.

Conclusions

Ultimately, this is a game about overcoming the way games have trained you to expect an immediate response. If you want to see the end, you need to be patient. If you can stand to be with your own thoughts, then it might even be a meditative experience. However if, like me, you can’t play it without switching to something else – well, I don’t blame you. It’s deliberately unfun.

Sandstorm is available now on the developer’s site.

The post Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

0 notes

barbosaasouza · 5 years

Text

Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun

The following is a guest post from developer David Stark (reposted with permission from their site) on exploring common monetizing delay mechanics to make the purposely-unfun Sandstorm.

Sandstorm is a game that was sparked by a conversation about the intentionality of these kind of mechanics, and the idea that a game could be purposefully unfun.

Background

The port was, to no-one’s surprise, awful.

Games As Art

Designing An Unfun Experience

Indie dev means a lot of interation and a lot of playtesting your own game. The very first work I did on Sandstorm was to implement the input delay that I wanted to overshadow the entire experience.

And so I did what anyone would do, if they could. I turned it off.

Themes And Rewards

Conclusions

Sandstorm is available now on the developer’s site.

The post Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

Developer Insight: Why I Made A Game That Isn’t Fun published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

0 notes