>Just put things in your own words.
Which often degenerates into tl;dr text hell. Besides, after spending one too many hours reading tropes, one starts actually thinking with tropes. It's even number 49 on "You Know You Read Too Much TV Tropes When". It's also part of the reason there might be some misunderstanding or confusion, as I'm thinking with tropes and you're not. By linking to tropes instead, I was attempting to rectify that, and apparently failing. So as I shrug, Unlimited Text Walls.
>It's obvious why in Suspiria's case. In Bern's case, she would feel betrayed by Maytag. Bern would never allow innocent people to die simply because Maytag likes the murderer.
Mary's an innocent whom nobody had any problems with killing. Her dietary habits are akin to people killing and eating cows, only she doesn't have the option of switching to veganism, and some cows are responsible for her needing to eat them in the first place. Oh the irony. But I digress.
Does Bern think it's alright to let one innocent person die simply because it's more convenient? Is there some scale regarding the prioritization of innocence? Are some innocents more important than others? What exactly is an innocent? Is blaming a victim for being kidnapped and converted to forced cannibalism via body horror really just grounds for revoking "innocence"? Isn't that more of a cop out unbefitting one who once sought to become a heroic knight? The point about Nessy, though, is a bit of fridge brilliance. Which is lost on someone with an ever increasing dislike for the character since her better half is already gone. As the comic anviliciously points out, it's her fault that Kin's dead. Which is only excusable because she saved Bern, unless you're someone who's not a fan of Bern. Yeah...
Even setting the hypocrisy and questionable morality of characters aside, there's still one gaping plot hole that's ripped open and never resolved. I didn't even put it together until now, even though it should've been painfully obvious.
Why would innocent people even have had to die? Apparently, Eschelon can rebuild limbs. They have the technology. Even if Mary's stuck living as a cannibalistic monster, couldn't their technological Infinite Flesh Works have helped to manage her condition so that she no longer needed to feed on the living? In fact, would she even have had to in the first place if some random know-something person had bothered to suggest such a thing, instead of the villagers locking her up, starving her and then trying to kill her? In that context, didn't they kind of have it coming? Why didn't May mention it when she was going on about her arm being regrown? Why would she even have to regrow it repeatedly? Couldn't she just have had them regrow one arm, and then make a bunch of spares for Mary to munch on? Or, better yet, couldn't Mary, as a nigh invulnerable immortal capable of self-regeneration, have traded her value as a research subject to the Eschelon
scientists wizards who specialize in matters of flesh in exchange for a continued supply of artificially generated sustenance? Wouldn't that have been the perfect, most obvious solution to Mary's dietary woes?
I guess what I'm asking is...is Maytag an idiot? Because she seems to have just casually handwaved the smartest thing she's ever said in favor of suggesting Mary become a superhero and not mentioned it again, even when talking to the Phalanx. She was so focused on the cure that she completely ignored the possibility that Mary might have been able to live a relatively peaceful life if people just stopped trying to kill her. To have a sensible outcome for the plot be completely ignored is a little jarring. Rather than making me see the err of my criticism, you've actually caused me to stumble upon an even better point of contention by chance, something I overlooked simply because the idea is presented in only one panel and treated like a joke. But...it wasn't a joke. It was the best, most sensible conclusion the arc could've possibly had. A conclusion so obvious, it's hard to understand whether the comic condemning Mary was because of anything more than plot induced stupidity.
The fridge horror gets worse later in the comic. If "
anyone can grow flesh in a jar", why didn't Maytag, who came off as well versed with body part replacement as she went into squicky detail about various injuries, even
try to convince
genius level three plus sorceress Inverness to
grow some flesh in a jar? The ease with which the entire arc could've been resolved happily, and the realization that Maytag sabotaged the ending by handwaving the idea, makes it even harder to stomach her betrayal, as the comic (unintentionally?) goes on to make the point that she had both the knowledge and opportunity to save Mary from her fate. I'm not sure if it was intentional on her part, but the unfortunate implication is that, however many are killed by Mary past that point, Maytag is solely to blame for their deaths. In that context, the arc doubles as a moral event horizon for her. It's...actually kind of hilarious that one of the main cast could set up such shocking fridge horror while simultaneously pulling a karma houdini.
On a side note, one of my greatest disappointments was that because the Mary arc was poorly handled, Danzig never got to see just how well the Thin Man's experiments work out for their recruits. I'm sorry, bro, but that was definitely a missed moment of epic. The expression on Danzig's face would've been just...absolutely hilarious. Of course, I'm assuming that, when faced with a nigh unstoppable eldritch abomination that would prefer to eat it off, even Danzig would be pretty horrified at how the thin man's experiments had gone horribly right. It saddens me that such glorious karmic retribution never came to be.
>Expecting sex whenever you feel like it without regards to how the other person feels could be seen as selfish. Didn't Bernadette have a sensible reason for refusing in that case?
No. I once saw an image macro that was a screenshot from an adult anime. It depicted the character asking how another could love someone if said character wasn't willing to eat her...*ahem*. And aside from the stomach turning squickiness of it, it doubled as a heartwarming truth. How can someone claim to love a person if they're just going to make excuses to get out of being intimate whenever it's convenient?
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't really seem like Bern truly loves May as much as she thinks she does. Because words are cheap, and saying it just isn't enough for me, as a reader, to believe it. It seems like little to no development has been made since Bern came out way back in the earlier chapters, all while May comes off as bending over backward to make a relationship work with someone who doesn't seem to even want it to. There seems to be a dissonance with how you intend their relationship to come off as, and the disproportionate development that always seems to favor Bern not changing much. The more I think about it, the more she, pardon my language, comes off as a selfish bitch. I'm not saying I'd like to see her get freaky. But denying sex is basically the universal indicator of a dysfunctional relationship. Sure, there was that truth spell thing, but it seems like Bern's mostly lying to herself and is, in reality, incapable of accepting May for who she actually is. Her dismissing Maytag's behavior as a phase even comes off as a little demented, more so if she herself isn't even willing to take full responsibility for keeping her significant other properly satisfied whenever possible.
Of course, the fact that Bern's prudish in a land with magic birth control and magic STD protection is in and of itself nonsensical, further enforcing the perception that she just wants May as more of a trophy wife than an equal partner. Being possessive just for the sake of wanting someone to make you feel special? The entire relationship seems to be some sort of twisted emotional bondage play with May always winding up psychologically bending like a contortionist to fit into Bern's vision of an ideal lover. I don't know whether to be sickened or horrified at the imagery. As touching as their relationship is, their completely incompatible lifestyles make it hard to stomach.
>I don't see that as the limit to his role.
You're half-right in that he's not even good at that role, given all the times he's opted to be a doormat. I guess I mischaracterized him based on the early chapters when he was a decoy protagonist propped up by Maytag's fleeting interest in him. Those badass goggles turned out to do nothing after all. In reality, Crest is the most worthless character in the comic. He's not good at sorcery or swordsmanship. When it comes to combat, he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Which is why being an awesome moral filibuster is just about the only purpose he could possibly serve. When he fails to do even that, well, I guess being Nessy's body pillow really is about the best he can do. Then again, at least his mother would be proud. Unless Nessy's on the magic, in which case he'll have been objectified and demoted down to the status of "toy".
It's a shame, because he was introduced as the type who had potential, the kind of character who'd become some sort of badass normal like Orransong. Instead, he's been condemned to nice guy limbo since he dropped out of the Maytag School of
Sex Self Improvement. Thinking back...his decay probably started the moment he dropped out of Knight School during his backstory. But in-comic, it was when he thoughtlessly left Dice behind, even after learning that she was totally into him and was probably a perfect match due to her own shyness problems. Definitely a waste of a good plot. Crest x Dice x Inverness would even make a good OT3, if only because bedding two sorceresses could be interpreted as a de facto asset that would bump him up to mage knight status regardles of whether the magic was even his.
Instead, he hasn't accomplished anything since. I wonder,
why does he still want to travel with a group of people who make him look incompetent? I think his mother was wrong to kick him out. Clearly, she was under the same false impression that Maytag would keep mentoring him. Ha! Crest staying in Solstice (with Dice!) would've probably given him more opportunity to make something of himself, as opposed to his current life of always being overshadowed by awesome 24/7/365. Maybe he should change his name to Krillin or Sokka. Barring the introduction of ass pull super powers, which would be absolutely horrible, it's hard to see how he could ever remain relevant during an adventure where he's faced with professional warriors and brilliant magicians. Without Maytag's guidance, he's degenerated from everyman back into the respectable loser he started off as. In a way, being put on the same bus as Shepard might've been the most merciful fate the comic could've given him. Because the humiliation of being kicked out by his mother and subsequently neglected by his "mentor", well, it's hard not to sympathize with the character for the bum hand the comic's dealt him. Did there really need to be a token male character? It seems like they all get screwed (figuratively), die or just leave. This leads to the unfortunate implication that male protagonists are only there to be used as plot devices, and not for any real long term character development. Cue unfortunate parallels with the role of modern men. The point is, instead of developing Crest further, the comic went back to focusing on two characters whose treatment of others and even one another makes them somewhat unlikeable. Crest is now as relevant to the comic as he is to their relationship. By which I mean he's currently not at all relevant, even failing to be an effective morality chain for Nessy.
To hell with personal responsibility. It'd be nice to see one of the female characters step out of the kitchen, take his hand and walk him back into the realm of badassery that, once upon a chapter, he had almost reached. Because after 25 chapters of un-development, it really doesn't seem like he's capable of getting there on his own, even with strong female role models. Or maybe that's the problem, that he doesn't have a
male Kamina to ignite the greatness of his inner Simon. I mean, he's already got the goggles. Just not the
friendship amongst men. Yeah...the guy's got a severe deficit of sex and inspiration, which isn't helped by his ability to just rely on his comrades to fix everything. At least in Solstice, his lone-wolfness drove him to become a badass card shark.
Did...did the comic change writers after chapter 10? Because it feels a little like Eureka Seven Ao or Gundam Seed Destiny, in that the comic seemed to know what it wanted to accomplish in the beginning, and then completely forgot it during a tone and character shift halfway into the plot. I wouldn't blame Crest's voice actor if he dismissed everything after 10 as fanon discontinuity. I kid, of course. But I
am left with the impression that he's an expy of the protagonists of those shows. He starts off as the main character of the new series, only for the old characters to come back, steal the spotlight by being awesome and forget he even exists. Crest even gets paired up with one of the extras whose original object of affection is no longer attainable. Sadly, he differs in the sense that Crest doesn't even get a defining moment of awesome where he actually tries to take back what was originally his by impaling one or both of the heroines with extreme prejudice. With his sword. The one held in his hands. The one used to penetrate his adversaries. The one as hard as steel. Uh...alright, I'm not really sure how to descriptively differentiate between the two. But, previously unintended double entendre and rape subtext aside, Crest suffers from a significant lack of anger. The power of hate is pretty much the only weapon a character born of the useless loser archetype has at his disposal. And Crest doesn't even have that. What, exactly, is he actually good for?
>Personally I thought the Bloody Mary arc did build up to something and both Bernadette and Maytag got to shine in it. Anyway, I think good drama is when the characters are faced with moral dilemma that don't have easy answers.
Yeah. They shined during the arc, but in the end, they ultimately failed to accomplish anything. One character was dead, one was emotionally distraught, one lost an arm, one nearly died and Crest cheered them on. It was more of a "look how heroic these two are acting" arc than a "these two did something heroic" one. I guess my standards are just higher, in that I expect main characters to find not just an answer to a moral dilemma, but the right answer, otherwise they come off as failure heroes who make you wonder just why the plot focuses on them in the first place. Heroes are supposed to be able to earn their happy ending, so when they don't...well, they wind up inspiring little more than disappointment. It wouldn't have been so bad if those first 10 chapters hadn't raised expectations in the first place by introducing them as the invincible knight and almighty
janitor jester. In later appearances, they haven't really lived up to those standards. The only consolation is that they're still not as pathetic as Crest. Then again, aside from Crest himself, what still-living character
is?