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The Dark Duo – Directive 8020 – Part 1-3

It didn’t take long for things to start falling apart for our plucky gang of spacefaring pioneers. Still, it’s up to us to make sure they stay out of danger.

EPILEPSY WARNING! FLASHING LIGHTS!

Streamed on my Twitch channel.
Acharky is also on Twitch.

One of the things I’ve been vocal about pushing back on is this CinemaSins-y concept of “This movie/game sucks because the characters don’t act realistically/intelligently.” There are a few reasons for this.

• People in real life often, especially in stressful circumstances, do not behave rationally. I know a lot of people who struggle to manage and regulate their emotions, and when they’re in states of heightened emotions it can be difficult for them to be measured and even-handed. There are strategies for coping, but the response is still there. The “people are rational actors” mode of thought that dictates much of sociological and economic thought is one I have come to question more as I grow older and wiser.
  
• If every character behaved calmly and rationally in response to every given scenario, we would not have a plot. Mistakes are often what drive tense and dramatic moments in fiction. Perfect characters are static characters, without room to grow or develop over the course of the story. Most of the characters I identify with have flaws that they struggle against and overcome, and they need to first have those flaws first before they can do that.

I have more to say about the disastrous effect CinemaSins has had of pop culture, but that’s best left for another time.