My blogpost is late this week because I was trying to get into Final Fantasy Dissidia NT and participate in a tournament. Had this worked, my content for the week was going to be my first ESL footage and I was really excited about that, but I pulled a major noob mistake by not knowing how to get on a team. I will now be spending the next three weeks trying to find a team to join or recruit someone to my team. Let me know if you want to join my team or if I can join your team, my PSN tag is Hidariude7 and I play as Kefka.
For those not familiar with Dissidia, it's a fighting game featuring the major characters from the Final Fantasy series. This seems like a good idea, but Square Enix took it a step too far by reinventing the wheel and trying to make a new system that is different from all other fighting gams. Whereas most games simply use combos to reduce health, in Dissidia there is also bravery, represented by a number above your health bar that represents all of your other combat stats such as defense and attack power. Most attacks are meant to take your opponents bravery and add it to your own, and when bravery drops to zero, the next bravery attack leads to break status during which time the broken character is vulnerable to HP attacks. The system can be very complicated, but once you figure it out it is basically just beating up your enemies and putting on a good show, which can be entertaining to watch as well as participate in. What makes NT more complicated than the original is that you now go three on three, which can make it very difficult to figure out who is who and what is going on. Oh and then there is the summon system, which FF players love, in theory at least; in practice it is a nightmare because now there is yet another character on the field obscuring your vision and randomly doing a lot of crap you have no control of and you feel like you have even less control of your own character. Despite the complications, the more I play it the more I get how it works and with a little more practice, I think I'll be a contender.
While I try to get the hang of NT and provide more comprehensive information, let me also provide a review of Game of You from Sandman. This volume focuses less on the Sandman himself and more on a part of his world involving some characters that have a past with the Sandman. The primary character is Barbie, who appeared in an earlier volume and has since been having dreamless sleep and getting by after a bad break up from Ken. Then, a giant dog appears, Martin Tenbones from The Land, a place in Barbie's dreams back when she did dream, only now the dog is in the real world to provide Barbie wiht a dreamstone that she uses to return to The Land in her dreams. Barbie herself is pretty one-dimensional, relatable in the sense that she is so underdeveloped, she cold be any of us. And yet, she is the cnter of the story because The Land is threatened by a nightmare known as the Cuckoo who is effectively Barbie's childhood that she left behind in her dreams and now wants to be free to become something else on it's own, but must kill Barbie to sever the connection that keeps it bound to the Land. The Land is currently shaped by Barbie's subconcious, eventually revealed that her friends native to the dream were inspired by her dreams. And yet the Land is not truly her world, it was created for someone known as Alianora, but when she didn't accept the mantle of ruling The Land, it began passing through many wannabe princesses until it fell on Barbie, although it is unclear why after so long and so many, the Cuckoo manifested for Barbie alone. Far more interesting are the characters from the waking world, Thessaly the witch, Foxglove and Hazel the lesbians, Wanda the transgender formerly known as Alvin, and George who is used by the Cuckoo until he gets killed and used by Thessaly. LGBT issues are brought up by these characters that are both dated back to the early '90s and yet horrifyingly current by showing that we have more linguistic comprehension on the subject, and yet little more understanding from the more narrow-minded people out there. Hazel in particular is not only a lesbian, but seems to be mentally challenged, she'd clearly be lost without her lover Foxglove. Foxglove is interesting because her ex was one of the victims of Doctor Dee at the 24 hour diner from Volume 1. Thessaly turns out to be interesting because she is a witch capable of necromancy and travel to the Dreaming and shows her hand when the Cuckoo uses George to attack the dreams of the tenants of the building but underestimated the witch who would bring an end to that little scheme. Thessaly starts out seeming to be a hero, but eventually turns out to be more of an anti-hero who simply wants revenge on the Cuckoo for disturbing her sleep and doesn't really care about any of the others she drags into her vendetta. Another particularly interesting thing to note is the recurrence of the theme of the Crone, the Mother, and the Maiden, with Thessaly being the Crone, Hazel who accidentally got herself knocked up because she's the kind of lesbian who never learned male anatomy because it wasn't relevant to her life until the one time that it was, which leaves Foxglove as the Maiden by default. Of the three volumes I've read so far, this trio has been referenced in one way or another every time, and clearly, Gaiman considers them to be as important as the Endless. The irrelevance of everyone involved becomes painfully clear when Morpheus finally catches up and absorbs The Land and brings it to an end, and then speaks with the protagonists with supreme indifference, particularly Thessaly who thinks she's above it all until he remids her that no matter how long she has lived, she's still just another mortal who will be gone in the blink of an eye compared to Dream and his kind. Thessaly has plenty of spunk as if she is something special, and she is compared to everyone else, but then Morpheus just puts her in her place and she acts like she's still better than the rest, but we know she got pwned.
So my next reading project is Brief Lives from Sandman, and I'll still be workign on Dissidia NT, but the really big deal is Flower City Comic Con in two weeks, where I'll be working, selling my books, and this will be my first time at his particular con. Stay tuned and stay gold!
7th Moon
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Sandman Dream Country
So I reviewed Midsummer Night's Dream a few weeks ago which is one of four stories in volume 3 Dream Country and now I will review th other four.
The first story is about the muse Calliope, the only one of the four stories in this volume that is truly relevant to the larger story. Calliope was captured by an author who uses her for sexual pleasure and a writing career, then transfers ownership to another writer who needs her for the sequel to his first best seller. Calliope's story mirrors the story of Dream in that she is an immortal imprisoned on the whims of mortals. Also, she was a lover of Morpheus when he went by that name and was mother to Orpheus, as well as the daughter of the trinity he called when he needed to find his powers when he was released. Also, the story takes place at the same time as his imprisonment, so when he escapes and finally reaches out to his ex-lover,he is a bit more sympathetic than he would have been before. He tries to negotiate her freedom from the author, buthe insists that he needs her for ideas. Dream decides to screw with the mortal by giving him more ideas than he can work with all at once. As a writer, I found this particular part most interesting as he starts saying ideas for stories each summarized in a single sentence. I couldn't help but think Gaiman used this moment to scrawl out all of the ideas he'd eer had that he just couldn't actually develop. Non-writers may not understand this, bt for every great story that is written, the writer has a few dozen ideas that never got past the first draft. Another interesting thought in the back of my mind is that according to Wikipedia, Dream's assistant lucien has a library that contains all of the books that were imagined but never written, so I'd love to know how many shelves had to be suddenly dedicated to the works that the author in this story came up with under the influence of Dream. Anyway, the mental stress breaks th author an dhe releases the muse, so it did work, but only another writer could possibly fathom what torture it is to go from no ideas, to too many, and then back again.
Dream of a Thousand Cats comes off as a joke for cat lovers, a cat travels the Dreaming to find Dream in feline form and he explains that cats once ruled the world and kept humans as pets, but then humans dreamed of the world we know and when a thousand of them dreamed that dream together, they awoke to find it true, suggesting that if a thousand cas dreamed of the way things were they could change it back. Two cats discuss the preachings of the one and while one believes in the dream, the other skeptically quips that a thousand cats could never be organized to do the same thing at the same time, not even dream. One intersting thing about this story is how the cat finds Dream in the form of a cat, but his voice seems the same and the three gatekeepers remain the same as well, but his castle is now a cave, suggesting that while Dream and his realm have some theme of consistency, it is still subject to the perspective of the beholder.
Finally, the volume closes with another visit with Death, Dream's older yet younger looking sister. This is the first part of the series to not involve the titular character at all, and is only tangentially related by Death dealing with the tragedy of a suicidal immortal. Rainie is a metamorph, transformed by the Egyptian Sun God Ra to fight Apep. An ancient artifact was found to channel divine power to transform humans into beings capable of transforming their bodies into raw elements at will, the downside being that once they transform they can never revert to normal flesh and spend the rest of their lives as a patchwork of raw natural elements. At first she was meant to be a superhero, but when she was no longer needed to save the world, she was stuck as an outcast. The worst part is that the nature of her body means that she can't be killed because she is no longer made of any sort of living tissue and can reform any parts that she loses. During one of her worst moments, Death happens to be upstairs attending to one of Rainie's neighbors and comes down to check on her. Death cannot simply take Rainie, she has to actually die by some other means and then Death can finish her work. To do this she must ask Ra the Sun herself. It works and Rainie is put out of her misery. The story is incredibly deep because it basically advocates suicide, but it also poses an extreme circumstance of a life truly not worth living, one that cannot and will not end until she chooses to take matters into her own hands. Death here is no villain, she's just the end of a mortal's journey, and in fact she is a friend to someone who needs her. The more you think about it the deeper it gets. Or maybe Gaiman just decided to wrap up looses ends with an otherwise forgotten character in his publisher's stable. Either way, this one is brilliant as it is depressing.
The first story is about the muse Calliope, the only one of the four stories in this volume that is truly relevant to the larger story. Calliope was captured by an author who uses her for sexual pleasure and a writing career, then transfers ownership to another writer who needs her for the sequel to his first best seller. Calliope's story mirrors the story of Dream in that she is an immortal imprisoned on the whims of mortals. Also, she was a lover of Morpheus when he went by that name and was mother to Orpheus, as well as the daughter of the trinity he called when he needed to find his powers when he was released. Also, the story takes place at the same time as his imprisonment, so when he escapes and finally reaches out to his ex-lover,he is a bit more sympathetic than he would have been before. He tries to negotiate her freedom from the author, buthe insists that he needs her for ideas. Dream decides to screw with the mortal by giving him more ideas than he can work with all at once. As a writer, I found this particular part most interesting as he starts saying ideas for stories each summarized in a single sentence. I couldn't help but think Gaiman used this moment to scrawl out all of the ideas he'd eer had that he just couldn't actually develop. Non-writers may not understand this, bt for every great story that is written, the writer has a few dozen ideas that never got past the first draft. Another interesting thought in the back of my mind is that according to Wikipedia, Dream's assistant lucien has a library that contains all of the books that were imagined but never written, so I'd love to know how many shelves had to be suddenly dedicated to the works that the author in this story came up with under the influence of Dream. Anyway, the mental stress breaks th author an dhe releases the muse, so it did work, but only another writer could possibly fathom what torture it is to go from no ideas, to too many, and then back again.
Dream of a Thousand Cats comes off as a joke for cat lovers, a cat travels the Dreaming to find Dream in feline form and he explains that cats once ruled the world and kept humans as pets, but then humans dreamed of the world we know and when a thousand of them dreamed that dream together, they awoke to find it true, suggesting that if a thousand cas dreamed of the way things were they could change it back. Two cats discuss the preachings of the one and while one believes in the dream, the other skeptically quips that a thousand cats could never be organized to do the same thing at the same time, not even dream. One intersting thing about this story is how the cat finds Dream in the form of a cat, but his voice seems the same and the three gatekeepers remain the same as well, but his castle is now a cave, suggesting that while Dream and his realm have some theme of consistency, it is still subject to the perspective of the beholder.
Finally, the volume closes with another visit with Death, Dream's older yet younger looking sister. This is the first part of the series to not involve the titular character at all, and is only tangentially related by Death dealing with the tragedy of a suicidal immortal. Rainie is a metamorph, transformed by the Egyptian Sun God Ra to fight Apep. An ancient artifact was found to channel divine power to transform humans into beings capable of transforming their bodies into raw elements at will, the downside being that once they transform they can never revert to normal flesh and spend the rest of their lives as a patchwork of raw natural elements. At first she was meant to be a superhero, but when she was no longer needed to save the world, she was stuck as an outcast. The worst part is that the nature of her body means that she can't be killed because she is no longer made of any sort of living tissue and can reform any parts that she loses. During one of her worst moments, Death happens to be upstairs attending to one of Rainie's neighbors and comes down to check on her. Death cannot simply take Rainie, she has to actually die by some other means and then Death can finish her work. To do this she must ask Ra the Sun herself. It works and Rainie is put out of her misery. The story is incredibly deep because it basically advocates suicide, but it also poses an extreme circumstance of a life truly not worth living, one that cannot and will not end until she chooses to take matters into her own hands. Death here is no villain, she's just the end of a mortal's journey, and in fact she is a friend to someone who needs her. The more you think about it the deeper it gets. Or maybe Gaiman just decided to wrap up looses ends with an otherwise forgotten character in his publisher's stable. Either way, this one is brilliant as it is depressing.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Sandman Preludes and Nocturnes
So I read the first volume of Sandman and the best part of it for me is that it has convinced me that I too can be a comic book author because if this is the greatest work of it's time for the genre, the bar is set where I believe I can reach it. Mind you, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just that, I am an aspiring author after all, and I haveto say, my first six chapters of 7th Moon are about as good as this, and in the afterword, even Neil Gaiman admits this was a bit clunky. I guess we all go through that, even the greats, and I needed to read it. Part of it is that it's like how the Beatles don't impress me yet so many musicians say they were inspired by the Beatles, the thing is the Beatles were the first to do it so in their time they were original and revolutionary, but since they ave been copied by everyone great since, that sound is no longer original. The artist is still great for their time, and they deserve credit for inspiring everyone else.
Sandman was revolutionary for a number of special reasons, one is that it was the third version of Sandman for DC comics, and how Gaiman was able to integrate the other versions into his completely different rendition is inspired. Gaiman's Sandman is suposed to be an eternal being that wears a helmet that resembles a gas mask like DC's first Sandman wore. This Sandman, more properly known as Dream or Morpheus, was captured at troughly the same time in the past that the other Sandman first appeared, who was actually a temporary replacment for the true Sandman while he was incapacitated, the nature filling the void of power, a fact which is alluded to in a couple of panels. The second Sandman had the nightmares Brute and Glob, who are also mentioned in this book, tying together all of the Sandman versions as aspects of the true Sandman.
Anyway, Dream is trapped and three items are taken from him with his power. After years of suffering, he escapes and does the worst thing he can to his captor, trap him in a never ending nightmare. This first part ofthe story gives us an idea of the nature of Dream, that his influence is such that people's sleep patterns change because he is not able to set their dreams right, or in the case of the unfortunate Mr Burgess who dared to keep him prisoner, to purposely set their dreams completely wrong.
He tries to go home to the Dreaming where we meet some wierd folks that exist only in dreams, althought thy have been ripped from obscure DC titles and retconned into being a part of this world.
Next he needs to reclaim the items of magic, and he gets his directions from a bizarre Oracle tht gives answers as vague as fortune cookies. The first is his pouch of sand, which is just a literal symbol of him being the Sandman, but it has a wierd effect on mortals, as one person uses it like the most powerful drug ever, one in which the trips don't just feel real, they acually are when the addict turns her own home into a literal nightmare of surreal nature. John Constantine helps Dream to find his friend who is the unfortunate addict, beyond Dream's help except for ending her misery. John was brought in mainly because he was introduced in Swamp Thing, which Gaiman wanted to work on so he gets to be the mrtal who acts nonchalant about hanging out with the divine.
The next part is arguably the true highlight of this volume, Dream visiting Hell to reclaim his helmet from a demon who got it as part of a deal with a mortal who had taken it from Dream and to get it back the must fight over it. The interesting part is that when an immortal demon fights an even more immortal abstract in humanoid form, hand-to-hand combat isn't the way to go, they are on a high enough level that they play a game of becoming different things to see who can become the superior form. the game is one-upsmanship, but Dream plays the last card by claiming he is hope, which the demon has no counter to. However while Dream wins his mask, Lucifer tries to imprison Dream, but Dream posits that Hell has no power without dreams of better circumstances to break the souls of and he walks out victorious.
The next three chapters focus on Doctor Destiny who uses Dream's last tool to torture other people. The interesting thing here is that Doctor Destiny and his powers already existed in DC comics, and this part was written basically just to pit the true King of Dreams against this imposter. Once Dream wins he is whole once again.
Finally, Dream feels melancholy and feeds pigeons, drawing the attention his sister Death. They have a family hear to heart while she goes on her rounds, taking people as they die, The deaths range from tragic to natural, but Death seems indifferent, though comforting somehow. She's a goth but she comes off sweet, the bearer of the ultimate bad news, she is really coming to soften the blow more than just reaping souls. Dream snaps out of his funk and the world returns to normal, dreams and all.
The impressive thing in the end is that Dream and Deathless are Endless, eternal beings that predate even the gods, and yet they are remarkably humble. Ulimately, Neil Gaiman is going to be remembered for being able to make the divine relatable as if they are human while constantly reminding us that they are not. If I can write half as good as this, I can be a huge success. Fortunately, I believe that I can and already have. Perhaps I just need an artist...
Sandman was revolutionary for a number of special reasons, one is that it was the third version of Sandman for DC comics, and how Gaiman was able to integrate the other versions into his completely different rendition is inspired. Gaiman's Sandman is suposed to be an eternal being that wears a helmet that resembles a gas mask like DC's first Sandman wore. This Sandman, more properly known as Dream or Morpheus, was captured at troughly the same time in the past that the other Sandman first appeared, who was actually a temporary replacment for the true Sandman while he was incapacitated, the nature filling the void of power, a fact which is alluded to in a couple of panels. The second Sandman had the nightmares Brute and Glob, who are also mentioned in this book, tying together all of the Sandman versions as aspects of the true Sandman.
Anyway, Dream is trapped and three items are taken from him with his power. After years of suffering, he escapes and does the worst thing he can to his captor, trap him in a never ending nightmare. This first part ofthe story gives us an idea of the nature of Dream, that his influence is such that people's sleep patterns change because he is not able to set their dreams right, or in the case of the unfortunate Mr Burgess who dared to keep him prisoner, to purposely set their dreams completely wrong.
He tries to go home to the Dreaming where we meet some wierd folks that exist only in dreams, althought thy have been ripped from obscure DC titles and retconned into being a part of this world.
Next he needs to reclaim the items of magic, and he gets his directions from a bizarre Oracle tht gives answers as vague as fortune cookies. The first is his pouch of sand, which is just a literal symbol of him being the Sandman, but it has a wierd effect on mortals, as one person uses it like the most powerful drug ever, one in which the trips don't just feel real, they acually are when the addict turns her own home into a literal nightmare of surreal nature. John Constantine helps Dream to find his friend who is the unfortunate addict, beyond Dream's help except for ending her misery. John was brought in mainly because he was introduced in Swamp Thing, which Gaiman wanted to work on so he gets to be the mrtal who acts nonchalant about hanging out with the divine.
The next part is arguably the true highlight of this volume, Dream visiting Hell to reclaim his helmet from a demon who got it as part of a deal with a mortal who had taken it from Dream and to get it back the must fight over it. The interesting part is that when an immortal demon fights an even more immortal abstract in humanoid form, hand-to-hand combat isn't the way to go, they are on a high enough level that they play a game of becoming different things to see who can become the superior form. the game is one-upsmanship, but Dream plays the last card by claiming he is hope, which the demon has no counter to. However while Dream wins his mask, Lucifer tries to imprison Dream, but Dream posits that Hell has no power without dreams of better circumstances to break the souls of and he walks out victorious.
The next three chapters focus on Doctor Destiny who uses Dream's last tool to torture other people. The interesting thing here is that Doctor Destiny and his powers already existed in DC comics, and this part was written basically just to pit the true King of Dreams against this imposter. Once Dream wins he is whole once again.
Finally, Dream feels melancholy and feeds pigeons, drawing the attention his sister Death. They have a family hear to heart while she goes on her rounds, taking people as they die, The deaths range from tragic to natural, but Death seems indifferent, though comforting somehow. She's a goth but she comes off sweet, the bearer of the ultimate bad news, she is really coming to soften the blow more than just reaping souls. Dream snaps out of his funk and the world returns to normal, dreams and all.
The impressive thing in the end is that Dream and Deathless are Endless, eternal beings that predate even the gods, and yet they are remarkably humble. Ulimately, Neil Gaiman is going to be remembered for being able to make the divine relatable as if they are human while constantly reminding us that they are not. If I can write half as good as this, I can be a huge success. Fortunately, I believe that I can and already have. Perhaps I just need an artist...
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Sandman Midsummer Night's Dream
I just recently decided to get into a classic, Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I got volumes 1 and 3, and while I have just started reading them, I did get through Midsummer Night's Dream the only graphic novel to win a the World Fantasy Award for short story. Rumor has it that once the committee behind the award changed the rules to make sure no comic book ever won again, although they claim they nevr changed the rules, it's just that no other comic was ever found worthy of a nomination. Knowing this legend, I had to read it to find out what the hoopla was about. I have to say, with all due respect to Mr. Gaiman and the community that gave him the award, it's not quite worth the hype. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story, but nothing about it stands out as being so unique as the legend that surrounds it would suggest.
The story itself is something of a standalone in the saga of Dream, the personification of his eponymous abstract concept, and his collaboration with William Shakespeare on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which is original in that Dream has the first performance presented to an audience of the actual fairies that are mentioned in the play. The story opens right before the play begins, with Shakespeare and his company of actors bringing their costumes, props and whatever set they can carry to the middle of nowhere to meet Dream who has been patronizing the Bard in exchange for two plays, the first being this one. He then brings the audience, King Auberon, Queen Titania, Puck, Peaseblossom, and the rest of the court that remains nameless. Except for Auberon and Titania who mostly appear human, the rest are vaguely human at best, yet despite their frightening appearance, they are here only to observe the play. There is quite a bit of humor to be found in the entire production as some actors are intimidated by the otherworldly fairies while others are preoccupied with how they will be paid. Dream sits between Auberon and Titania while Dream discusses the events with Titania. The real scene stealers are Peaseblossom and two nameless cohorts who heckle the players for inaccuracy and Puck who is so delighted with the play that he takes over his own namesake role just to be a part of it.
My biggest criticism of this is that the action switches between the play itself and the greater story so haphazardly that it's hard to tell the two apart and it interferes with following the story. On my first read through, I was too distracted by the pacing to enjoy what was happening and somethign was lost about the inherent farce of it all, a good concept that seemed to be poorly executed because too much of the story assumes we know everyone involved, but most of the series has dealt with Dream after this, so the assumption of familiarity is not supported since this is the first time Dream is presented with any of these characters and there is no proper background given, Dream's past with the fairies is implied but never fully explained. Maybe I just want to know too many details.
By next week I should have finished Preludes and Nocturnes and should have a review ready by then. Until then, sweet dreams.
The story itself is something of a standalone in the saga of Dream, the personification of his eponymous abstract concept, and his collaboration with William Shakespeare on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which is original in that Dream has the first performance presented to an audience of the actual fairies that are mentioned in the play. The story opens right before the play begins, with Shakespeare and his company of actors bringing their costumes, props and whatever set they can carry to the middle of nowhere to meet Dream who has been patronizing the Bard in exchange for two plays, the first being this one. He then brings the audience, King Auberon, Queen Titania, Puck, Peaseblossom, and the rest of the court that remains nameless. Except for Auberon and Titania who mostly appear human, the rest are vaguely human at best, yet despite their frightening appearance, they are here only to observe the play. There is quite a bit of humor to be found in the entire production as some actors are intimidated by the otherworldly fairies while others are preoccupied with how they will be paid. Dream sits between Auberon and Titania while Dream discusses the events with Titania. The real scene stealers are Peaseblossom and two nameless cohorts who heckle the players for inaccuracy and Puck who is so delighted with the play that he takes over his own namesake role just to be a part of it.
My biggest criticism of this is that the action switches between the play itself and the greater story so haphazardly that it's hard to tell the two apart and it interferes with following the story. On my first read through, I was too distracted by the pacing to enjoy what was happening and somethign was lost about the inherent farce of it all, a good concept that seemed to be poorly executed because too much of the story assumes we know everyone involved, but most of the series has dealt with Dream after this, so the assumption of familiarity is not supported since this is the first time Dream is presented with any of these characters and there is no proper background given, Dream's past with the fairies is implied but never fully explained. Maybe I just want to know too many details.
By next week I should have finished Preludes and Nocturnes and should have a review ready by then. Until then, sweet dreams.
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