After so many years of watching anime, movies, tv shows, and studying other forms of medium I've come to realize this. I think the term recurring villain is a little played out. I know there is an old saying: "His or her villain defines every great hero." It is the villains that help the hero grow and sometimes vice versa, but I just hate how the term recurring villain has been abused.
A hero defeats the villain in an epic battle; a bad guy is either killed or imprisoned. Then ends up being freed or brought back in some ill-conceived manner. The antagonist ends up fighting the hero again, rinse and repeat. Which makes the hero look not only incompetent but erases their previous achievements in defeating the villain.
However, in some works of fiction, a hero ends up fighting a new Big Bad. If there is one thing I liked from Buffy, it is that no matter who her previous villain is there is always a bigger fish.
One exception I'd make is a grand scheme villain. The kind of villain where a hero has to overcome a lot to defeat. Palpatine, DCAU Darkseid, and Hydra from the MCU. Especially since they have that whole cut off one head then more will follow thing going but just picture how sweet it would be when they're defeated for good.
Villains are good when they're needed for a hero to overcome an arc but once they've fulfilled their purpose then pull the plug. To avoid redundancy.
As someone who enjoys a well-written antagonist, a person should take steps to make sure the antagonist doesn't overstay his welcome.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Major Writing Pet Peeves
Original Fiction
Damsels In Distress: Either its an action heroine or a non-action heroine doesn't matter, it is still a tired cliche that does a complete disservice to a female character. If all a character is to get rescued 24/7 then there are two options: improve the character or put the character on a bus.
Stuffed In A Fridge: Killing a character, either male or female, just to rile a protagonist is just lazy writing. Especially then the target in question is nothing more than a plot device to spur some kind of roaring rampage of revenge.
Invincible Characters: A character that casually wins any outcome without having to work for it. When done so often you just have to ask yourself; "Why bother?"
Shock Valued Deaths: Death is inevitable and, unfortunately, unexpected but find a reason to do it other than just to spark an emotion out of a reader
Meaningless Rape Scene: Ok to address the elephant in the room, if you do have to use a rape scene then please treat it with as much respect as possible. Do not, by any means, treat it as cheap fanservice or completely ignore it later on. It is violating and nightmarish and should be treated as such.
Designated Heroes: Unless if the characters around them are aware that the hero is an ass/bitch but the hero's too delusional to see that. But don't make said, jerk hero a jerk sue. Make them be called out on it.
Love Triangles: Utterly despise them. Nothing good comes out of any participants involve.
Fan Fiction
Character Bashing: I get it. Some people need to vent, I write my share of vent fics too. However if there is a character whom I despise then I'd try to make the character better than said character was in canon.
Damsels In Distress: Either its an action heroine or a non-action heroine doesn't matter, it is still a tired cliche that does a complete disservice to a female character. If all a character is to get rescued 24/7 then there are two options: improve the character or put the character on a bus.
Stuffed In A Fridge: Killing a character, either male or female, just to rile a protagonist is just lazy writing. Especially then the target in question is nothing more than a plot device to spur some kind of roaring rampage of revenge.
Invincible Characters: A character that casually wins any outcome without having to work for it. When done so often you just have to ask yourself; "Why bother?"
Shock Valued Deaths: Death is inevitable and, unfortunately, unexpected but find a reason to do it other than just to spark an emotion out of a reader
Meaningless Rape Scene: Ok to address the elephant in the room, if you do have to use a rape scene then please treat it with as much respect as possible. Do not, by any means, treat it as cheap fanservice or completely ignore it later on. It is violating and nightmarish and should be treated as such.
Designated Heroes: Unless if the characters around them are aware that the hero is an ass/bitch but the hero's too delusional to see that. But don't make said, jerk hero a jerk sue. Make them be called out on it.
Love Triangles: Utterly despise them. Nothing good comes out of any participants involve.
Fan Fiction
Character Bashing: I get it. Some people need to vent, I write my share of vent fics too. However if there is a character whom I despise then I'd try to make the character better than said character was in canon.
Monday, July 25, 2016
The Killing Joke: A Animated Fan Fic By One of The Once Great Animated Writers(Rant)
Disclaimer: Before I get on a rant I just want to point out that if there is anyone out there who love the film then power to ya,there is something about the movie that you like. Hell, I commend you for it. But I'm not one of them. So respect that.
I'm not what you'd call a fan of The Killing Joke but I appreciate the impact that it made in comic culture. Especially as it was the comic that made Batman stories evolve to what it is right now. The comic is the epitome of love it or hate it.
So when I heard that it was going to be made in animated format, I was intrigued. Sure I didn't want to instantly buy the animated movie but, when hearing about the participants involved, I was curious as to where they were going to go with it. And boy did it go somewhere. Right in the toilet along with the rest of the fecal matter.
In the beginning, I had nothing but apathy when I heard about the controversy surrounding the movie. Because I had a rather meh reaction. Cause after what I went through with Dawn of Justice I figure, it couldn't be worse. And I was hoping that perhaps the film could be surprisingly good despite the controversy and end up like Ghostbusters where it didn't deserve the controversy behind the film. Yet it manage to achieve my expectations. It manage to be a movie that was worse than Dawn of Justice. At least with Dawn of Justice I can point out a couple of things that I liked in that. Wonder Woman and the Superman vs Batman fight. And I would at least acknowledge that Dawn of Justice was made by people who had no idea what they were doing and produced a cluttered mess. But I'd take that over people who knew that they were baking a cake made out of fecal matter because they were curious how a shit cake would look.
They took one of the most iconic characters and managed to make him unlikable. Batman had flaws but some good writers would at least acknowledge that there is a good person who'd strive to fight in the name of justice while trying to hold onto his humanity. That was one of the things I felt the Nolan Batman films did well. Other than the shitty ending in The Dark Knight Rises. They turned Batman into an asshole who toyed with Batgirl's emotions just so his agenda could be fulfilled and he ended up having sex with her and have little to no hesitation or regret.
People may shit on Watchman but I honestly felt that it played a good homage to Alan Moore's comic and I felt that the movie version of the ending made sense. And I liked the animated version of For The Man Who Has Everything. Cause it was soo good that it didn't felt like an adaptation to me. It felt like a stand-alone Justice League Unlimited episode. But this animated movie felt like it was made by a guy who wanted his Batman/Batgirl wet dream to be produced in animated format rather than paying homage to Alan Moore's work. And it wouldn't surprise me if Bruce Timm was jerking off during that roof top sequence. And he pretty much turned Barbara into a sex symbol. Which I found more insulting than Whedon's portrayal of Ultron cause at least with Ultron I was more confused on if I were watching a Transformers movie than an Avengers movie.
As someone who have read the comic, the shooting scene was nightmarish and ugly as fuck. Meanwhile, the animated movie took its sweet time to provide a close up of Barbara's breast while panning down in a manner that anime shows would when they're doing a fanservice scene. Before Joker proceeds to do the unthinkable.
Then the movie closes out with the debut of Oracle but after all that I just gave zero fucks because the heroes in that movie were so unlikable. They could rival the characters in Arrow when it comes to unlikability.
So overall I give The Killing Joke a F++. Because this movie is so bad that it deserves two pluses.
Don't waste your time with this fan fic or the comic. Instead, I'd personally recommend Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow if you want a comic written by Alan Moore. A good comic that caps of Silver Age Superman.
I'm not what you'd call a fan of The Killing Joke but I appreciate the impact that it made in comic culture. Especially as it was the comic that made Batman stories evolve to what it is right now. The comic is the epitome of love it or hate it.
So when I heard that it was going to be made in animated format, I was intrigued. Sure I didn't want to instantly buy the animated movie but, when hearing about the participants involved, I was curious as to where they were going to go with it. And boy did it go somewhere. Right in the toilet along with the rest of the fecal matter.
In the beginning, I had nothing but apathy when I heard about the controversy surrounding the movie. Because I had a rather meh reaction. Cause after what I went through with Dawn of Justice I figure, it couldn't be worse. And I was hoping that perhaps the film could be surprisingly good despite the controversy and end up like Ghostbusters where it didn't deserve the controversy behind the film. Yet it manage to achieve my expectations. It manage to be a movie that was worse than Dawn of Justice. At least with Dawn of Justice I can point out a couple of things that I liked in that. Wonder Woman and the Superman vs Batman fight. And I would at least acknowledge that Dawn of Justice was made by people who had no idea what they were doing and produced a cluttered mess. But I'd take that over people who knew that they were baking a cake made out of fecal matter because they were curious how a shit cake would look.
They took one of the most iconic characters and managed to make him unlikable. Batman had flaws but some good writers would at least acknowledge that there is a good person who'd strive to fight in the name of justice while trying to hold onto his humanity. That was one of the things I felt the Nolan Batman films did well. Other than the shitty ending in The Dark Knight Rises. They turned Batman into an asshole who toyed with Batgirl's emotions just so his agenda could be fulfilled and he ended up having sex with her and have little to no hesitation or regret.
People may shit on Watchman but I honestly felt that it played a good homage to Alan Moore's comic and I felt that the movie version of the ending made sense. And I liked the animated version of For The Man Who Has Everything. Cause it was soo good that it didn't felt like an adaptation to me. It felt like a stand-alone Justice League Unlimited episode. But this animated movie felt like it was made by a guy who wanted his Batman/Batgirl wet dream to be produced in animated format rather than paying homage to Alan Moore's work. And it wouldn't surprise me if Bruce Timm was jerking off during that roof top sequence. And he pretty much turned Barbara into a sex symbol. Which I found more insulting than Whedon's portrayal of Ultron cause at least with Ultron I was more confused on if I were watching a Transformers movie than an Avengers movie.
As someone who have read the comic, the shooting scene was nightmarish and ugly as fuck. Meanwhile, the animated movie took its sweet time to provide a close up of Barbara's breast while panning down in a manner that anime shows would when they're doing a fanservice scene. Before Joker proceeds to do the unthinkable.
Then the movie closes out with the debut of Oracle but after all that I just gave zero fucks because the heroes in that movie were so unlikable. They could rival the characters in Arrow when it comes to unlikability.
So overall I give The Killing Joke a F++. Because this movie is so bad that it deserves two pluses.
Don't waste your time with this fan fic or the comic. Instead, I'd personally recommend Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow if you want a comic written by Alan Moore. A good comic that caps of Silver Age Superman.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Anime Review: Tsukiuta, The Animation
Pretty boys galore. What else can I say about this series? Especially since this is only one episode in.
This is one of those series that isn't subtle on what it is and who its catering to. And I admit I have a bit of a guilty pleasure involving animes with pretty boys. Especially ones in a Dude Looks Like A Lady territory. It wasn't boring and its a good time killer, even if the concept is a slice of life series.
Overall I give the anime a solid B+.
Probably wondering what drew me into a series like this? Not gonna lie, there is a small part of me that hopes a situation would end in a massive sex orgy. Don't judge me!
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