I saw loads of potential in the original trilogy, and think it’s rad. I still like the series, even the later two for their flaws.
But then you include the LGBTQUIZA thing [might’ve gotten it wrong there, apologies]
And characters like Miss Boss who still faces ‘repression’.
And it’s just dumping on more and more and more and more ‘social’ issues on a society that has proven to hate each other for the dumbest of reasons at times.
The one thing this series got right though? Race was never once an issue of contention. And representation was aplenty.
I mean people are always going to discriminate and have prejudices. You can’t really change that. What matters more (at least in my opinion, apologies if this is offensive) is that you are deemed equal in the eyes of the government and law. You can just ignore random people who still think you’re less then them because of your race or orientation. Is when the government considers you less then others that you start having a real problem. At this point Miss Boss is kind of beating the dead horse.
It always struck me as displaying a fundamental misunderstanding of how gender works.
Why is StageShow written like a faux queen, what genderclichés ‘does’ she have to live up to (going by what she says in canon) and why?
Why are Culic’s powers equalled with his gender, when never before or after powers are genderlocked (also: great motive, still murder)?
Why are Zehirs counted as queer? We learn later on (through how things are written), that Zehirs and intersex peeps are two different groups.
Which can be read as the junk of Zehirs being fully developed AND them identifying with what they’ve been assigned at birth.
Likewise the use of ‘ze’ and ‘here’ as ‘neutral’ pronouns… just SCREAMS that there is still massive oppression going on against peeps that are not cis.
Like StageShow goes ‘turn it off’, punches someone, says they’re gonna retch their dinner, telling everyone to shut up, don’t defend this, and rants like hell.
Like did I think a discussion about Culic’s gender ambiguity was weird? Yes, a bit? I could see why there would be a desire to talk on it I guess though.
But this seems so off-base.
It seemed like ‘Yo Culic might be genderqueer, and we wanna say their actions don’t represent us, also this might explain more persecution Culic’s been through possibly.’
Like I get it’s supposed to be StageShow going ‘YOUR PROBLEMS AREN’T PROBLEMS, MY PROBLEMS ARE PROBLEMS.’ sorta spiel. But jesus that detour was already a weirdly fucking placed plot point in the book to begin with; to hear someone go
‘THIS MOSQUITO TERRORIST IS CIS EVEN IF THEY DRINK BLOOD LIKE GIRL MOSQUITOS AND I WON’T LISTEN TO THE ZEHIR TELL ME THAT HE’S GENDERQUEER BECAUSE OF IT’
I’m just sittin’ here like ‘What is this incomprehensible mess? What happened to the superhero show drama and my steamy romance with Black Magic?’
Well, what’s the scene in canon?
They watch the press conference thing, Monk goes ‘culic is misunderstood because his powers clearly mean he’s genderqueer on top of being ani-powered’, the Bear wants to f*ck monk and uses the wrong pronouns, stageshow corrects him, he goes on to be transmisic, and everyone goes on to play oppression olympics.
My main beef with these characters is that they appear to have been solely created for this scene.
Like, look at StageShow, her powers or connections etc are never a topic when she gets the spotlight. Only ver that she’s trans. And in HR3 Monk (again, cis) scolds her for not using her platform enough for queer activism… what?
EDIT:
But I believe we can agree on this:
The scene might easily have worked better had someone pointed out that Zehirs are cis and that by declaring them the third gender everyone else not cis and/or out of the binary was thrown under the bus. That just cause culic can do X that doesn’t make him genderqueer.
This series says it alot. ‘You haven’t done enough.’
You can play Redemption Season as the most radical, publically adored, hero that never compromises their motives and still saves JK.
And in a emotional tantrum JK has the gall to tell you ‘You’re not doing enough for the people!’
When I first played as a Private person who basically said ‘I’m here for my family, screw y’all.’ I was like ‘You right JK, probably could do a bit more.’
But the fact she calls you out when you’re trying and have made leaps, and bounds, and she’s been monitoring all the love people’ve given you online and knows full-well the help you’ve given people just by being you?
Just made me go ‘whaaat’.
Don’t get me wrong; I can see it happening, but it’s like ‘when do I do good enough for you?’
Sergi seems to have a good intend bringing these topics in, but the result is akin to putting ALL your favorite foods into a cake at once.
Don’t get me wrong; I can see it happening, but it’s like ‘when do I do good enough for you?’
It’s like eating a boiled egg within a sandwich that’s been deep fat fried, coated in icing’n’sprinkles and left soaking in pickle juice…
What I meant by that analogy is that the topics presented within the story seem to be like someone’s breakfast, lunch and dinner along with someone’s favourite snacks which you yourself have never tried have been thrown into a single, thrown together meal for someone else that is expected to be enjoyed or ‘mix well’ without the chef tasting the quality beforehand.
When you find yourself using terms such as: “Again,” or “As I said before” please be cognitive that repeating your position over and over can lead to circular argumentation.
To avoid that: if you have already stated your position, please take a short break and allow others to share their perspective too. Please avoid repetitively hammering a single view.
So far everyone has been doing a fair job of agreeing to disagree and not going down the rabbit hole of arguing circularly.
Does GG feel kinda inconsistent as a whole in some ways?
From manipulating you; to giving you Asylum and asking for forgiveness, to learning from his mistakes by…employing Mara and manipulating everyone?
Like he leads a Super-Hero front.
And it feels so freaking odd because GG is just one producer/handler. And from how it felt/was written in the Hero Project [don’t know if Redemption Season reveals if GG handled more than one person or if that was a show-change for the new season]
But it felt like he was the ONLY Producer. And when he oversteps his executive bounds to argue with the contestants; The Bear working alongside with StageShow who knows his name; I’m just ‘why has GG suddenly risen in prominence?’
Then in the sequel, he ends up holding that entire manor set-up from his parents I think; and I’m just a bit flabbergasted at the ‘nice you conveniently have a place for us to crash.’
And when Null vouches for him constantly and he does seem earnestly sorry; I go for it, sure, ascended extra.
But then his politics and clashing with the DPPR head come Redemption Season, left me a baffled.
I’m not sure if he’s trying to play the ‘necessary evil’ role in his producing, or what, but everytime he’s on the page I feel like shaking my head in disappointment.
Seems to me from a story point of view that GG’s attempting to repent and alter his ways yet is still bogged down from his past and the pressures of work.
From a meta one… It reminds me of someone who forgets about their creation and therefore unravels their personalities a little more each time they appear.
I am glad I am not the only one who thought that, so many times I chose the wrong thing because I tried to ‘switch it up’ as recommended… shit the whole learning other techniques ruined my ignite check, because I tried to balance out between my different martial moves I didn’t have enough in either side of offense/defense, and I didn’t want to use the physical stat check because I previously done it dealing with SS, and was advised against doing the same thing.
