Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Pet Peeves And/Or Berserk Buttons


I, like many people, has pet peeves. I just can't stand them even if I did manage to see through the entirety of whatever I'm watching. Again, this is not a list; I am merely subjecting to what people want: hate. Just what is wrong with you people?! How about we get started on this?

Waste of Potential - I do not like potential being wasted. The writers either had to be stupid or blind to not see the potential they can have to make what they're making so great.

Final Fantasy XIII... man, was that a bad game? It has so much potential. Spoony touched some of the aspects and even he had noted the lack of potential there. MarzGurl has a better emphasis and expansion on certain details than he does so I would recommend watching her reviews. Spoony's reviews may be analytic but he focused on certain details and rambled a lot like a commentary.

It could've been a story of nationalism, individual vs a group, mortality, purpose of life, fate, and loss. It could have been taken in a better direction in the hands of a better writer. Everything doesn't flow well and make you think should you care for these characters? With the exception of one who you can actively care about, the rest of the cast felt tacked on and don't know what else to do but talk about what they are meant to do (life's purpose here....except they handle it amateurishly mixing in with the characters just going to places and going to places where these areas would have no impact on them or the gamer).

Nothing was foreshadowed and just came out of nowhere. Nothing was explained and could've been explained to the audience. They expected us, the gamer, to know what's going on already even though they should tell us what is this all about.

Gameplay's horrible, holding your hand like a baby whenever diverted to something you wanted to see;get what they are going for but it didn't work out. Not to mention, you can't immerse yourself in the world. Overhearing conversations doesn't count.

The ending is the worse case of Deus Ex Machina ever.

Still, potential wasted is never a good thing. They got everything they need but refused to do anything with it.

Bad Parenting - This pisses me off a lot. They might be well-meaning but the effect on their children was horrendous. Even in fiction, there are portrayals that depict you should never parent your child. I can like realistic bad parenting but seriously some are just out there for winning an award of worst parenting ever.

For all their bullsh*t, Gendo Ikari or anyone else for that matter didn't help Shinji out of his problems even though they said they'll help him. What they are doing is outright killing the boy. I thought NGE was good even though there are some WTF moments. Just what they are doing is leaving him dwell in his own problems and helping it. Ignoring your child to achieve your own goals make you a horrible parent and guardian. Well-meaning but look at your child for f*ck's sake! He does not know his child at all.

I can give you more examples but it would make this section too long.

Bullies - They are so cliched. I don't usually care for cliches as long as they are executed well. They don't act like real bullies but over-exaggerated caricatures.

We never seen from the sides of bullies. I take in offense of bullying of course since I used to be a victim of bullying.

Bullying is a sensitive issue for me and I hope it can resolve peacefully without the deaths of the victims.

Useless Characters who are there for decorations - They're just there. They don't have any impact to the story or anything at all. Their so-called character development may as well be horrendous and dumb.

Just make some characters impacting or get rid of them completely. That would make it easier on the story.

Rape/Stalking as Love - It's not. It's creepy and disgusting. What they believe is love is actually lust. They don't actually know each other personally. I won't give any examples since one example exemplified what is wrong with it.

Bashing Characters - So you hate a character, good for you. I won't judge you for it. However for the sake of your plot, do resist your hatred. In most bashing fics, the characters are out of character to the point you can't recognize them. I may not like certain characters myself but for the sake of whoever reading would be taking out of the universe, make the characters relatively in-character or respect them.

I even stopped reading multiple potentially good fics because of its bashing; for all they are well-written plots and characterization, the bashing and glorification of certain characters take me out of the world and I avoid it like a plague. It takes me out of the universe and I felt I cannot stand reading more when all they do is show the flaws. Sure, you can show the flaws of the characters but don't overblown it to the point they are irredeemable. These characters are unforgivable in some eyes but if they can earn a second chance (which most bashing fics refused to do so), then it would give a chance.

Show humanity that they are still people with flaws and redeemable traits. That's all I can really ask for in bashing fics.

It also goes hand in hand with Shipping Wars, specifically Die for Your Ship. Holy crap!

Do you really hate that character just because it interferes with the relationship you envisions better?

That's immature and illogical I am sick of seeing how characters I dislike (I may not like them but does not call for some show of humiliation) being thrashed about, victimizing them and glorifying the other person. This argument is over.

Do take in consideration of the reader and who might read it.

Disrespect for Others and Their Opinions - You are allowed to have your freedom of speech but you do not have the right to take away others' right. Such disrespect would cost you respect and sympathy because in your eyes not sharing the same opinion as you is blasphemy.

Don't be ridiculous you are so popular you can control others. You can have your opinion but you have to respect others for their opinion. Just be happy that there are people who share the same opinion as you. You don't have to tell those who don't share the same opinion as you that they suck and need to reconsider their life just because they like something you don't like.

That's cruel and offensive.

Bias Steamroller - I can ignore this in the case of comedy or satirical like That Guy With the Glasses. Hell, at least they say that people like what they like. However, there are just some people who won't allow themselves to be fair even at the face of something they hate. Doug Walker hates the Liar Revealed twists yet he said in several of his reviews that sometimes the movie can either fall flat from the beginning or stand on its own because of the liar revealed twist. Doug even stated in his Cars reviews that he hated the concept behind Cars and he judged the movie based on its merits. Even before his list of Top Ten Movies He Hates but Everyone Loves, he stated that fans like what they like. Yeah, but even he had his limit with fans who are so stupid even after what he said at the beginning of the video.

Even in the face of the most ridiculous yaoi and shounenai, I tried to find the good part to balance out the bad. I always tried to be fair even in the face of negativity. If you go up there in your professional mask, expect it to lose it since there are hints you showed you know nothing of what you are reviewing. Reviewing means to divorce yourself of your personal preferences and hold at something in a rational standpoint. Narrative, characterization, pacing, themes are objective but how we viewed how they are used are subjective.

To have your personal hatred for something take over your consideration for a fair review is just unprofessional. Look at X-Play and their hatred for Nintendo, anime, anything they hate really. I know that licensed games of no matter what adaptation may not always be good but come on! The hatred clouded what's left of integrity and professionalism that show had left, leaving virtually nothing to uphold their status. That Tales of the Abyss revealed just how much they don't know anything and even they admit that.they don't play any game they reviewed.

I was never been a fan of Confused Matthew and I allow his opinion as long as he doesn't lord it over his fans. What I cannot stand is his ignorance if he just researched (and the fact he is just asking to be spoon-fed what element to make a good movie in his own standards so I think his reviews tend to be very narrow and not really fair). He only seen anime movies and that's that. Even Doug Walker who reviewed the English Dub of Sailor Moon and some Studio Ghibli movies said that he didn't exactly knew much about anime either. For god's sake, he loves Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop and Ed's one of his favorite characters of all time. Even in his Power Rangers Turbo review, even he said there are people out there who liked something you considered stupid and we all too have something stupid we like. Doug Walker is always a compassionate reviewer so he's nice always. For something he don't understand, at least he makes it funny in the case of Digimon the Movie.

Letting your bias take over is just the worst thing you could possibly do. Even though Code Geass got some flak from me, I still try to find some good. Hell, even in fucking Guilty Crown, I can even admit there is some good in the pile of nonsense.

However, reviewers can still take a shot at fans...for very good reasons if they see it. See The Amazing Atheist and X-Play for their disrespectful ignorance. Doug and Rob Walker and several others take shot at the most unpleasant portions of the fandom, calling them out on their idiocy but would they intentionally be ignorant. They have to know which area they are ignorant at and should not tackle it to the point their so-called fans are berating them for their ignorance.

In some ways, it's like a take that to the audience and certain portions of the fandom. Really, given all my kindness, there's Fan Dumb out there not willing to take anything the writer wanted.

Taking Away My Choice - Usually I am very apathetic but what I hate anything more is to take away my choice of liking or not liking and forcing me to conform. I don't use the word 'hate' lightly. I can like and dislike things easily but hate is something on a whole new ball-game.

Forcing something popular in my face every single damn time would really not make me like it. That would make me jaded. You could say I was like that towards TS3 and Frozen.

Let me tell this: all those glowing reviews would put up high expectations for me. And I judge these movies by their own merit. While I enjoyed them on a subjective level, objectively they are not the best thing ever. These are not masterpieces no matter how many times I looked at it.

Even till this day, I avoid the Frozen fandom. Whatever enjoyment I got out of the film was vanishing because of the fandom. The publicity helped the movie along to the point it's ridiculous.

Toy Story...I'm neutral somewhat but I am quite vocal that TS3 is not brilliant and its flaws should be emphasized to everyone. I love Toy Story 1 and 2, growing up with them. 3 on the other hand... It's enjoyable and decent but it didn't go the extra mile and repetitive and not to mention loads of characters who are reduced to jokes or one-liners. I could go on about TS3's flaws but it's not the point of this section.

I don't even hate those two movies above. I'm just disappointed with their execution and potential they didn't take.

It's even worse when it comes to that out-of-control shipping fandom Rise of the Tangled Frozen Dragons...add every single animated movie protagonist's movie titles in upcoming years. That's not even an exaggeration: seriously people are already shipping Tip and Hiro! Every single time I try to find a piece that doesn't have to do with that fandom. It's not jackpot. It's Fool's Gold.

When I hate, I really hate. I am mostly neutral so if something forced onto my face...

Every single product has its flaws and one must acknowledge it but please don't say "It's the greatest thing ever! You must like it!" in my face. It can mean something to you but you must acknowledge the flaws.