As Part Of My Unhealthy Mindset, Ive Been Hyper Fixating, So This Post Is Probably A Part Of That. Sorry

As part of my unhealthy mindset, I’ve been hyper fixating, so this post is probably a part of that. Sorry for not writing as much, my heart’s just not been in it.

Anyway. So, if you have seen my blog and you haven’t guessed by now, I’m aromantic/demiromantic asexual, which can get weird. Lately I’ve been playing dating sims bc I think they’re hilarious and usually enjoy some of the sweet moments (which has lead to some weird conversations about my romantic inclinations with a friend), but suddenly it left-turned into a Batman kick… due to telltale’s Batman series. This first part of this conversation is relevant bc I had a really… weird experience playing both seasons.

I played season one making Bruce as friendly as possible, even to the point of rejecting selina’s advances so we could be friends. There was a small moment that displeased me in the way it was handled bc a friendly gesture lead to it getting hot and heavy and then I shot it down but the relationship healed shortly after. Overall, I left season one feeling like my Bruce and Selina were incredibly close friends and would do anything for each other.

Season two has been different. I’m not even finished with it yet, I just finished episode 5, but I definitely had a weird experience where my aroace status kind of made it difficult. For context, a friend has been staying with me and she got to hear me complain and grouse that I would have to backtrack bc I made Bruce say something and something completely different came out of his mouth. for telltale games I have a rule that I am allowed to reload the scene if and only if the character says something I aggressively didn’t mean for them to say but ONLY IF I haven’t heard the other character’s reaction to it. I actually broke this rule during a conversation with Selina bc I was so shocked by how Bruce reacted that I didn’t escape in time. He didn’t say anything bad, but I was still trying to keep a friendship and not romantic relationship with Selina. The two of them had this intimate conversation where she mentioned he made her feel better than she thought she was and Bruce had just shown her the bat cave. I picked the “we’re friends” option thinking it would be something to show solidarity and that I care. Instead I got Bruce distancing himself from her proclamation and asking her to just be co-workers.

I began ranting about how annoyed I was and my friend said, “you’re frustrated bc your thinking like an asexual person, not Batman.” This trend continued with a few other moments, but I’ll admit I got tired of the many options that treated Bruce befriending Selina instead of pursuing her romantically as a ‘bad path’ or rejection. I have so many reasons why they should be friends not the least of which being Bruce isn’t mentally healthy enough for a romantic relationship and Selina needs to have a relationship with decidedly fewer complications and chances for manipulation for either party. Let me have my protagonist have a best friend that gets him and cares about him. I know some people said that could be what John is for him and I did have Bruce try to befriend John in earnestness, but there was definitely a separation there where it felt like either Bruce was holding John at arm’s length or John was not seeing Bruce as he was but either a symbol to emulate or a hypocrite (and I was trying very hard to not be that).

I still love telltale’s Batman season 1 and 2, but here I was trying to give Bruce Wayne a support system that got him and cared about him and he cares about them in turn. I got that a little, but I had to sacrifice Batman and unintentionally lie to Tiffany in the process, had to deal with the whole John situation which left the relationship in an unequal place (in different ways and not necessarily in Bruce’s favor), and in a romance with Selina who I was aiming to be the biggest support. It was fun, but I’ll admit that disappointed me. In the end, the only relationship I was fully satisfied with was with Jim Gordon (and even then I wish Bruce could have confided in him. Legally he can’t for so many reasons, but still).

I did get to essentially tell Waller to go fuck herself though, and that was nice.

The Negative Character Arc of Vito Scaletta Part 3: Act 2

Remember that character arc essay I was going to do? Me neither. Geez. It feels like I’ve posted more today than I have in the last few months combined. Thanks lack of giving a fuck with school and upcoming finals. I’m doing part time school next semester, so hopefully it won’t be so bad (it’s has been a BAD semester guys). The next one will be published tomorrow.

In writing, the second act is the story’s ‘rising action’ and shows the character’s various attempts to solve the problem that came from the last character arc, usually finding themselves stuck in increasingly worse or higher stakes situations. This is where the meat of the character arc (or the slow burn aspect of it) takes place. Quick warning: this is going to be a LONG post. I’m going to try and just use the basics, but the second act of this story covers the second half of Enemy of the State all the way to A Friend of Ours. That’s eight out of sixteen missions (fifteen if you don’t count the unplayable prologue). A lot of character interactions are going to be left out, simply because there’s a lot here and I’m just going to relate it to the character arc. This does mean that what we do have of Joe’s arc here is going to be left out as well. For those that read these, let me know if you want me to do a short part 5 about Joe’s aborted positive character arc or not. Let’s get on with it!

Beat 4: The First Pinch Point (Series of Discomforting Events)

The fourth beat (or the first of act two) is the story’s conflict firmly underway; the tutorial is over baby. In a negative character arc, we have several events that are firmly in place to shake the lie and the truth that the character is facing, but we are only starting the second act. For the disillusionment arc, the events are meant to show the tragic truth that the character will eventually come to, but they repeatedly cling to the lie instead. They end up being repeatedly ‘punished’ for this until the next beat. It’s important to note that this is a SERIES of events, not a single one. 

Most obviously this starts with the mess of the OPA job and its aftermath. Now, nothing about the job directly is the issue (yet), but the way the stamps are handled afterwards (not getting enough money) counts as a little punishment, and it is instrumental in helping him achieve the midpoint. Murphy’s law is another one (one that also affects the midpoint), as it’s a robbery that ends up as a catastrophe of blood and without a payout. The only mission that doesn’t really fit for this part is The Buzzsaw. The Buzzsaw is still a very important chapter, but it is more important for the establishment of Vito and Joe and what exactly they’re willing to do. It also references the fact that Vito has already killed, further emphasizing how the system spat him out. 

Beat 5: The Midpoint

You should be halfway through your story by now and suddenly an event occurs that forces your character to confront their Lie and Truth, but, unlike all of the previous small events, the consequences of this are irreversible: your character recognizes the other side for what it is. In the Disillusionment arc, this means your character can now mentally articulate the tragic truth they will eventually come to, questioning the Lie they’ve believed for the first time. Do keep in mind that they are still not embracing the Truth, they just realize that it is an option or compare it to their Lie seriously for the first time. An important point to make is that they may not voice the thought or even realize this themselves, but it is part of their psyche.

Here I will take a quick sidestep to talk about the ‘Tragic Truth’ of the story. I’ve been avoiding it up until now because of how important this is and how quietly the midpoint reveals it. So, Vito’s normal world is one in which people are either at the whims of the system or they’re part of the group that runs it. His Lie is that he needs influence to be part of the group that runs it (or subverts it while running it as the mob do), and this is needed for his happiness. The truth, the tragic unfortunate truth, is that it is not possible for Vito to achieve his wants by operating under his Lie. The Truth of this story is that everyone is at the whims of a system, regardless of the appearance of power and influence and only a select few are excluded from that group (usually beholden to each other). More importantly (and the part Vito won’t realize until the very end), the system was against Vito from the beginning. He is the son of a poor immigrant that got stuck working an awful job. His forays into the mafia kept him as an associate or soldato and, despite his connections, he just wasn’t the kind of person that could achieve the success he wanted. The problem with that is that Vito tries so hard to be an adult, to be independent, when so much of his adult life and formative years are spent in surroundings of violence where independence is taken from you. The dice were loaded and the deck was stacked; he didn’t stand a chance.

This is important, because the midpoint of our story occurs when Vito is thrown into a new system, one he will spend six years in. I’m talking about Time Well Spent. (Hoo boy).

Up until he gets arrested, Vito has been gaining clout with the mafia. He believes that he has a decent ranking and has made a name for himself. You may be wondering how him getting arrested might shake his Lie, considering that arrest is an expected part of a criminal lifestyle. This comes less from the fact that he got arrested and more from the fact that he got no support afterwards. Luca Gurino hires a lawyer, ostensibly to get Vito out of prison, but it is quickly pointed out that he is there more to keep Vito quiet. Vito thought that his maturity would allow him to take care of himself, that the connections he was getting would help him solve these problems, but they did not. He thought that with his new adulthood, he could help take care of his family, but instead his mother dies and all of the money he had been saving went to his sister, not to take care of her but for a funeral. Everything he had gained (’earned’) was gone, and the person that helps him get out of is it Joe, but telling him that prison operates under a different system. Joe points Vito in the direction of Leo Galante, who operates as a father figure by helping Vito navigate his Normal World in the way Vito’s father couldn’t. Leo is aware of the truth and even hints at it when we see how he is in prison. The prison system works for Leo, but even he admits that he operates under the will of others. 

Vito can articulate his tragic truth: there is always a system. Someone always works for someone, and his lifestyle, the Lie he believes, will not get him the money, power, and maturity he craves. However, this is only the midpoint. This is not something that Vito believes, but a worldview that he recognizes is there. To him, he realizes that his previous Lie was incorrect, but instead choses to expand his Lie and incorporate part of the Tragic Truth into it. Sure, there will always be a system and what he was doing before wasn’t working. This was made clear when Leo Galante points out that Vito and Joe were getting duped and that the whole road to being Made Men that they were on was just a way to keep them busy. Now, however, he’s found someone new who can get him the success he craves. He still has a chance. Vito hasn’t realized that he never did.

Beat 6: The Second Pinch Point (Series of Devolving Events)

By now, the protagonist has seen the Truth (in this kind of arc) and can no longer look away. More and more they see how their Lie no longer functions the way it should. They see the limits. They start to use the Truth to operate in their world, no longer relying on their Lie, and this rewards them and allows them to get the thing they want. Vito is a unique case because of how closely his Lie and Truth are intertwined. The real difference is in whether or not he can succeed in the system that he is in and how. If he believes his Lie, Vito continues to operate as if he can actually gain something by working in the mafia, which he will do for the majority of these missions. The Truth shows him that it doesn’t and it won’t work. At the beginning of the In Loving Memory of Francesco Potenza, it does appear that everything has worked out and Vito’s new estimation of who is actually in charge has landed him a powerful ally; after all, Leo got him out of prison four years early. As the chapter goes on, however, Vito’s celebration is at the whims of Eddie Scarpa, to the point where they end the chapter burying a body for him because (in that moment) they are his lackies. It’s more played for comedy, so not really significant, but it is something to consider.

The Wild Ones and Balls and Beans stand in stark contrast to one another. This is because the Wild Ones furthers our story while Balls and Beans is a significant ‘step back’ or so it would appear. In the Wild Ones, Joe’s cigarette scheme ends with them having reality shoved in their face when the stock is messed up and they end up owing Eddie tons of money, both hurting their reputations and making it clear that the camaraderie they felt the previous night meant nothing when the chips were down. Opposed to that is Balls and Beans, where Vito gets of a glimpse of ‘mafia loyalty’ and becomes a made men. For me, that whole encounter was tinged with some bitterness, despite how victorious Vito probably felt. This is also major set up for act 3, but I will get there when I get there. Room Service is important mostly for Joe, but it just is another moment where Vito sees how disposable the people are and how fragile the peace between the mob families are when he and Joe are instructed to really start a war.

This comes to a head when Vito operates using his Tragic Truth by saving Leo Galante in A Friend of Ours. He is still clinging to his Lie to a certain degree by believing that he is important to Leo Galante (which, to be fair, he is; just not as much as he believes), but he also recognizes some of the truth of the system. Who is he if Leo Galante is disposable? The man was someone that everyone respected, but now his death is being ordered, and it is his friend that has to do it. On this lower level, Vito recognizes that there is no honor among thieves, but there can be among friends. He is seeing that the system he believes that can make him successful will do nothing to help him at the end of the day. So, he takes matters into his own hands and goes against orders out of a sense of loyalty to this man and appeals to the loyalty of his friend to let them go. 

It works, but Vito may have learned the wrong lesson. He now sees that the system isn’t working the way he thought it was, but he still doesn’t realize that he can’t succeed in it and it is actively trying to push back against him.

finding out the heights of your internet friends is always the weirdest thing

New story!

This is called The Queen and Her Heir and is trying to explore an alternate universe of the Gotham tv show where Ra’s Al-Ghul essentially created a mother-son relationship between Barbara Kean and Bruce Wayne. I also plan to prominently include the Sirens, because those three and their relationships were gone way too soon.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Wheel of Time Book Club Eye of the World Prologue: Dragonmount

Let’s start at the beginning! (A very good place to start)

Full disclosure: my first read I didn’t finish the series. I got through a good chunk (a little over halfway) and then a friend spoiled the rest for me... extensively. I started doing my own research afterwards so that we could have actual conversations, but starting around book 8 or 9, it’ll sort of be and not be new territory for me. It’s definitely gotten to the point where I’m a little unsure what I’ve read and what I’ve not, so I might suddenly (in those books) say “oh! I don’t remember this!”.

In the meantime, let’s talk the prologue to the Eye of the World. I think I’ve decided on spoilers, because I want to discuss the foreshadowing in the series so SPOILER WARNING.

I think I ended up reading the prologue about three times because it’s just so good. I think it definitely exemplifies what I enjoy about Jordan’s writing and gives the reader a taste of what is to come. Not only does it set the tone with the descriptions (a very visceral tone), but it also introduces us to two major characters: Lews Therin Telamon and ‘Elan Morin Tedronai’.

I absolutely love their interactions and how we can juxtapose them with their interactions later in the series (technically?). It definitely sets up Lews Therin’s madness, not to mention it works really well with Rand’s own issues later and his fear of killing those he cares about and when he almost does. 

One thing that I didn’t notice before was the implication from Elan (since that is what he is referred to as, that is what I will call him here) that Lews Therin was named Dragon and did not embrace it, so it wasn’t a celebrated title even then. Maybe it was addressed later in the series than I read and was never discussed or maybe I just don’t remember that plot point. Either way, he was probably named such by his enemies instead of it being a title to show admiration for his power. Naturally, Elan starts listing off all of Lews Therin’s titles and accomplishments, which I’ll admit struck me as a bit of weird exposition first time around, but it fits with what we know of Elan’s personality, so it doesn’t bother me on reread. He’s so grandiose.

I love the early glimpse we get of Elan’s morality and what lead him to the dark. “This war has not lasted ten years, but since the beginning of time. You and I have fought a thousand battles with the turning of the Wheel, a thousand times a thousand, and we will fight until time dies and the Shadow is triumphant!” It definitely sounds like an evil “you may have won this round, but I’ll get you eventually,” but upon reread it’s more like he’s explaining his logic. 

Also just “What hand slew Ilyena Sunhair, Kinslayer? Not mine. Not mine. What hand struck down every life that bore a drop of your blood, everyone who loved you, everyone you loved? Not mine, Kinslayer. Not mine. Remember, and know the price of opposing Shai’tan!” Just. My heart. Especially with the awful way he responds. Then we have the creation of Dragonmount and two excerpts from texts from the fourth age (which is the age AFTER the series and thus would also reflect the knowledge gained in that time) discussing what happened afterwards. The two are The Breaking of the World (alternate title Aleth nin Taerin alta Camora) and The Cycle of the Dragon (Charal Drianaan te Calamon). If anyone remembers what those languages are supposed to be, please let me know. I’m curious.

Please leave replies or comments so that we can discuss this chapter or anything I missed, be it foreshadowing or small details that interest you. I have a friend that’s read the books, but there’s only so often/much that I can inflict my hyperfixation on her.