The Men of Nancy Drew Games Pt 3

 Here is the last post of me cringe-rating men from Herinteractive's Nancy Drew games. Keep in mind there may be some game spoilers. I do not directly reveal culprits, though you may be able to figure it out based on the information here. 

Courtesy of Tumblr

I am going from Captive Curse to Midnight In Salem. I will not be doing the two dossiers' men. If you want that please comment and respond. If I see no comments I will not return to it. Without further adieu, I will finish off the cringe ratings. 

Just a reminder, these are opinions. If you love a character I don't, you can feel free to love that character to your heart's content. The ratings will go from 1 (no cringe) to 10 (all of the cringe). 

Captive Curse

Karl Weschler - He is primarily here for comedy and to provide a fun mini-game. His character does have a weird story about a doppelganger and may play with figurines, but I only give him a 2. After all, he makes you traipse out to the woods and take a picture of the monster because he wants to believe it was Lucas the whole time. 

Lukas Mittlemeier - He's a kid that pulls a prank or two on Nancy and many pranks on Karl. Long story short, he's a fun character to play another mini-game with. He also ends up dropping something that gives you access to the security booth. He's a helpful kid that even rewards you with Raid cards for playing his game. He's a 2, just because of that bucket prank that makes you wear a new dress. 

Alibi In Ashes

*I am excluding Ned, George, and Bess because they are usually in contact with Nancy already.*

Chief McGinnis - I love this one. He knows Nancy didn't do it, but he's between a rock and hard place. He gives you the run of the station and probably purposely never leaves his office. Even with that, he didn't try too hard to not arrest Nancy, so he's a 3. Nancy and Chief McGinnis have always had a bit of a rocky relationship.

Alexie Markovic - This man's second language is sarcasm and he's been through all this before Nancy ever has. He's an ally. However, if you try to be Bess and talk to him you will not get past the vase without knocking it over. I love this one, too, but he doesn't like to cooperate with Nancy's friends without sarcastic complaining. He's a 2 to 3 (depending on what character you use). 

Tomb of the Lost Queen

Abdullah Bakhoum - "Be Ramses with me!" This one has an ego larger than the Pharaohs. He has a history of staging sites, as well. He's a 7. 

Courtesy of Tumblr

Dylan Carter - This one is rather fun. If you prompt his tour guide speech you can ask the stupidest question you can think of. He's great and rather attractive. He is a 1, even with the black-market situation. 

Deadly Device

Victor Lossett - Victor refuses to give you access to the lab, gets mad when you make headway on the case, eventually fires you, and then turns out to be even worse than you thought he was. Seriously, he's a 10. 

Mason Quinto - I love beating his score in aggregation and messing with his personally organized pens and office supplies. He's fun to mess with. He's also about as helpful to talk to as a brick wall. While you get some things from him, he isn't open to you at all.  He's a 5 for being generally unhelpful. 

Gray Cortright - Gray dislikes people. That is him in one sentence. Given that, he also sees through Nancy's cover like it's made of clear glass. He was loyal to Niko and protects his research. He's a 1 to 2. 

I won't be including Niko because we never met him until he was dead. 

Ghost of Thornton Hall

Wade Thornton - He's an intelligent man with rough edges. He's a victim of a family that has more or less told him he's an outsider, much like what happened to Harper. If you've played the game you know he's gone to jail for being a whistleblower. He's a 1. Wade is the sanest of the family in my opinion. 

Colton Birchfield - Poor, sweet Colton has been trapped in a situation where the woman he actually loves was chased away by his family just so he could be taken into the Thornton family by marriage. He clearly has had some mental issues and is judged for this. I feel bad for him the whole game. He's a 1. 

The Silent Spy

Ewan Macleod - I don't think much about him. He doesn't have too much depth if you look at the storyline. He's also lied to you.  He's a 3. Ewan doesn't bug me all that much, but he isn't a great character all around. 

Alec Fell - Alec is generally helpful. He finds your luggage for you. He finds Moira for you. He's not hard to look at, either. He's a 1. 

The Shattered Medallion

Sonny Joon - We finally meet the intern we see evidence of everywhere, and he turns out to be as strange as we thought. He's taken the show hostage. After a while, he sends us looking for some alien device that we actually find. He's a 2. There are no words to explain him. 

Patrick Dowsett - Again, lack of depth. This man is not much at all in the plot, which doesn't make sense anyway. He sinks like a gorilla, apparently. He's also not much of a conversationalist. He's a 5 for being mostly useless. 

Labyrinth of Lies

Thanos Ganas - He's a member of the greek mafia, in a plot to smuggle museum artifacts. Thanos is dangerous according to the Hardy boys. He's a man of few words. While he's not hard to look at, I'd hate to meet him in a dark alley. He's a 2 to 3 because he's a mafia man. 

Grigor Karakinos - He, too, is in on this plot. Grigor, at least, helps Nancy at the end. He's also kind of thick with flattery. If he applied himself he'd be a good actor, but obviously, the show is in such a state it is not even presentable. He's a 2. 

Sea of Darkness

Soren Bergursson - He appears helpful in the beginning, but proves to be less so later. He is considered an outsider despite being born in Iceland. For reasons I won't state, he's a 5 to 6. 

Magnus Kiljansson - The poor man doesn't know how to maintain a relationship very well. He also got held captive in an ice cave by the time we meet him. He's who we're hired to find. He's got tunnel vision to rival even Nancy's (and she forgot her anniversary dinner). He's a 2.

Gunnar Tonnisson - He's so sweet and funny. He may not be overly popular, but I love this guy. He calls Dagny a Minke and Nancy a fish. Gunnar is also accompanied by a sad story, of how he lost his family to the sea. I want to hug this man every time I hear it. He's a 1. 

Midnight In Salem

I am not rating the cringy graphics, so please understand that. I'm looking at character based on dialogue options. 

Judge Danforth - Judges are supposed to base things on evidence. Despite Mei having no evidence to prove her guilty, Judge Danforth decides she's the culprit on prejudice alone. He deserves that speech Nancy gives him at the end game conversation. He's a 7-9. He also blames Mei for his son's activities, which aren't her fault. 

Jason Danforth - He thinks he's a lady killer. He's not. While that doesn't put him in a good light to begin with, he's also being used and being prevented from a friendship with Mei. He's a 5 after I reflect on some of the strings being pulled on him behind the scenes. 

Courtesy of Behindthevoiceactors

And with that, I conclude this series, which I did just for kicks and giggles. I may just do the women of the games after a while if no better blog ideas are brought up or come about. Thank you for reading my opinions and feel free to discuss in the comments what you think. 

Sources:

Nancy Drew | Nancy Drew Wiki | Fandom

List of Nancy Drew video games - Wikipedia

The Men of Nancy Drew Games Pt. 2 of 3

 Once again I find myself rating the cringe of Nancy Drew men. see Pt. 1 of 3 for the beginning of the blog series. It will be split into 3 parts for the sake of length. Let's continue. 

Courtesy of thenancydrew.wikia.com

Starting at game number 11 and ending at number 23, this will work the following way. The rating system goes from 1 to 10, 1 being no cringe at all and 10 being all of the cringe. Ready? I'm just going to jump into this and go. Reasons for my opinions, which you don't have to agree with, will be explained.

There will be spoilers. If you haven't played these games, read with caution and maybe come back after you have played them. You've been warned. Note that culprits are not directly revealed in this blog.

Curse of Blackmoor Manor

Nigel Mookerjee - He is a 7 to 8, maybe 9 on the scale. I think his memoirs are the most boring thing on the planet. While it is hilarious to watch him scream at a moving statue, he's not a joy to interact with and is only slightly helpful. 

I could rate Hugh Penvellyn, but he's a phone contact. What I will say about him is that he probably isn't helping Linda by being on call constantly to other countries. He also isn't helping Jane by leaving her alone with only a tutor, his aunt, and a parrot. Simply stated, he isn't present to be supporting his family emotionally. It didn't help the situation. You can see it in how she constantly wants to play games with Nancy. Jane needed help before and now she needs even more. 

Secret of the Old Clock

Richard Topham - He's full of himself, a fraud, and he took advantage of an older man to get his money. He's a 10 because he is a jerk. 

Jim Archer - While I dearly wish we weren't told to sew his wife's dress, he is otherwise a nice man. He would have gotten money from Crowley and clearly needed it to save his business. 1 is his rating. 

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon

Tino Balducci - He sucks because he treats the Hardy Boys and Nancy like they are inferior, although they obviously can solve the mystery better than he can. 10, straight up 10. 

Courtesy of hisgames.org

John Grey - I find him interesting. He doesn't like Tino, which bodes well for his rating, and he seems to have common sense. I give him a 1. 

Danger by Design

Dieter von Schwesterkrank - He is only slightly full of himself. I'd have to give him a 2 because of his ego. 

Jean-Michel Traquenard - This one is a 3 to 4. He gave us quite a lot of information and offered us food. Unfortunately, he has an even bigger ego than Dieter. 

The Creature of Kapu Cave

Big Island Mike Mapu - He is all about his business, to the point that he makes us go string shells instead of giving us jeep keys. I enjoy that, but all the same, it does hold you back from the Nancy part of the game. He's a 3 for making us go through hoops to go do our job.

Dr. Malachi Craven - His temper is lethal. You make one mistake and you can get fired from Hili Hili. For that reason, he is a 5. He jumps all over Nancy for asking about the Hili Hili security pass. He is right in the middle because he at least apologizes. He also stares into space as you talk to him. 

White Wolf of Icicle Creek

Ollie Randall - He's a 3 because he's trying to kill the wolf. He's also a 3 because he shoves a lot of chores on Nancy along with everything else we have to do. Otherwise, he's a man who loves his daughter and there is nothing else wrong with him. 

Yanni Volkstaia - He has an ego the size of Texas, thinks he's superior to all his competitors, and is generally not a joy to talk to. He's a 6 to 7. 

Bill Kessler - He's all about fishing. His family used to own the lodge. He's a fun guy that generally just sleeps or plays fox-and-geese. I give him a 1. 

Lou Talbot - While he's not a good conversationalist, I don't see much wrong with Lou. Lou may have indeed stolen the rex bone, but he let us have it back. He gets a 2. 

Legend of the Crystal Skull

Henry Bolet Jr. - This poor guy has to sort through the entire estate. He's also dealing with a horrible girlfriend who is forcing him to give expensive gifts to keep her happy. He's a 1. 

Courtesy of Youtube.com

Lamont Warrick - He's a junk collector and runs the local antique shop. You can find anything there, from an alien in a container to a mummy. We make this poor, poor man go through so much and he still doesn't seem to hate us. He's a 3 only because he went to the funeral to ask about the estate junk. 

Gilbert Buford - He seems to flirt with Bess, or he may just be southernly polite. Either way, it is a little weird. He's a 3. 

Phantom of Venice

Colin Baxter - He snaps at you randomly throughout the entire game, for "breaking" a microscope that wasn't broken at one point. He's also not good at knowing good sausage from bad. He lies to cover up that situation out of embarrassment. Did I mention the slides of tesserae he makes you sit through? And his snappy reaction when you back away from them? He's an 8.5 to 9.5 rating. 

Enrico Tazza - He makes you play cards to get information, but aside from that game (which I thoroughly enjoy) he's not cringy at all. He's a 1. 

Antonio Fango - You only watch him from the building across the street. He's fond of pigeons, which is no crime. While he's a criminal, he also gives me no reason to cringe. Another 1. 

The Haunting of Castle Malloy

Matt Simmons - This is the groom that Nancy finds locked in an underground lab. Going on vibes alone, he doesn't seem to be a bad dude, just an unlucky one and a prankster. He gets a 1. 

Kit Foley - This one is still pining for the bride. He has an old photo of them together with him, which he brought to the wedding, where she was marrying someone else. He was quick to say that Matt had run off (he hadn't). He's a 4 because he needs to let go of the idea Kyler is taking him back. 

Donal Delany - Oh boy, let's talk about the good people. The Celtic lore that he used to explain Matt's disappearance is less than sound thinking. He rates around 4 to 4.5 just for the "good people" explanation. 

Ransom of the Seven Ships

Johnny Rolle - Let me see, how about a 10? Not only does he use us to get off the island, but he's pretending to be someone else the entire time. All he does is take advantage of Nancy. 

Courtesy of Herinteractive

Trail of the Twister

Scott Varnell - His temper is on a short fuse. He's also quite moody all the time. I give him a 2 for reasons that involve the end game. 

"Frosty" Harlow - What I dislike the most about this game is doing all that work to fix the camera and getting reamed by both Scott and Frosty for not fixing it. Worse? Frosty knew the truth and left us out to dry. He sold the footage to someone else. He's a 3.5 to 4 for leaving us in that awkward position. 

Chase Releford - I like this one. He's a fun guy with a good sense of hard work. I'd shoot the breeze with him any day, so he's a 1. 

Pa - Pa is an interesting, sad soul. You can tell he does gossip, though he makes a show that he doesn't when you overhear Brooke come in looking for some juicy tidbits. He's a 1, too. 

Shadow at Waters Edge

Rentaro - This man does not know when to quit when it comes to getting his way. He pressures his girlfriend into leaving constantly, though she never does. You'll notice that he's the most talkative of the bunch here, probably telling you more than he should. He's a 7 for reasons that deal with the ending.

Courtesy of Pinterest

Stay tuned for part three and stay sleuthy!

Sources:

Nancy Drew | Nancy Drew Wiki | Fandom

List of Nancy Drew video games - Wikipedia

The Men of Nancy Drew Games Pt. 1 of 3

 Nancy Drew from the Herinteractive games encounters many men during her travels. Some are a bit cringy, depending on your perspective on her age and the situation of the case. Some are highly cringy. Let's dive into that topic.

 Courtesy of Tumblr

We're going to go through the men of Nancy Drew games and rate them on cringy-ness. The rating system will work like this; 1 is no trace of cringe and 10 is cringe to max. These are my opinions, ladies and gents, so please feel free to comment your opinions and please respect mine. I will state reasons for every man. This does not include Ned, Frank, or Joe because they are constant characters and don't depend on the case at hand. I also don't intend to do phone contacts.

This contains mild spoilers, fellow gamers and blog readers, so please read at your own risk if you haven't played any of these. You have been warned. I will not culprit reveal directly.

Secrets Can Kill 

 The original and the remake have the same characters, minus one. I am including both under this umbrella. 

Daryl Gray - He is a flirt. He is more attractive in 2D than 3D, but the rating remains the same. He is at least closer to Nancy's age than some of the other men, keep in mind, so it depends entirely on how loyal you are to Ned. I am a loyal girl, so I give him a 3 to 5 because he still flirts despite knowing of Ned's existence. 

Hal Tanaka - Hal doesn't flirt with Nancy, doesn't do anything but study, and his only flaw is cheating on an essay. 1 is his rating because he does nothing to deserve anything above that. 

Hulk Sanchez - He is a "typical jock" that gets annoyed when you keep asking questions. He does begin to flirt with you, but gets put out with you after you start asking questions about jake. This sounds at least realistic to someone who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.  He's a 2, only because he's a bit of a stereotype.

Detective Beech - He is an 8, mostly because he is so obviously not who he says he is. He also has a hissy fit over losing something, causing Daryl to think he's less than okay. I won't say more about him, but he's definitely not who he says he is. 

Stay Tuned for Danger 

Rick Arlen - Rick is older than Nancy. He actively flirts with her, as well. He's kind of gross to me. "Stay beautiful" is the line that my husband jokes about when we talk about iconic lines in herinteractive games. He's a 10 on my cringe meter, but a negative 10 on physical attraction.

Dwayne Powers - He shows up in a later game and I'll only reference him here because giving that information is a spoiler already. He is a wildly unbalanced man who thinks life is a soap opera. 10, straight up 10. 

Ralph the security guard - He's aces. We love him. 1 because he has no cringe at all. 

Message in a Haunted Mansion

Charlie Murphy - He's a student secretly living in the mansion and working on renovations. I like him and find no fault in him at all. He's easily a 1. 

Louis Chandler - He owns Chandler interiors and was brought on by Rose. He leaves his laptop on with the least protection I've ever seen. He's a 2, only because he gets mad at you for reading a book he tried to hide, a book that you could have easily found before he did. 

Treasure in the Royal Tower

Dexter Egan - He sends you to do what he should be doing, gets a bit upset when you ask him to fix your radiator, but otherwise is a great, helpful man. He gets you into the tower, so he's a 1. 

Jacques Brunais - If you look for it, he will flirt slightly, even though he has a fiance. Long story short, 5. He gets insanely mad when you get hit on the head and lose his medallion. He isn't nice. 

The Final Scene

Brady Armstrong - Mr. "Wholesomely smoldering" is about a 9, only because he doesn't flirt with Nancy. On the other hand, he also mucks up her investigation and is sickeningly obsessed with his public image. Not to mention he turns out to be more connected to the theatre than you think. I won't say more.

Nicholas Falcone - He is a supremely helpful human being that actually helps you find evidence of previous ownership. I have nothing to cringe about. He is an activist that is on the scene to save the theatre. He's an ally, not the enemy, so he's a 1. 

Joseph Hughes - Sweet, sweet Joseph, who doesn't turn out to be so balanced in the head, has nothing to lose. His brother, whom he claims to be starting a movie theatre with later, is dead. He's a 2 to 3 for the sole reason that he keeps throwing a monkey wrench into proving credibility with the police. That and something I will hold back on telling you. 

Secret of the Scarlet Hand

 Courtesy of Youtube

Henrik Van Der Hune - He is slightly strange after he falls from the temple exhibit, but otherwise fine. He literally hands you the information you need to solve the game in his computer files. He's the most helpful character in the entirety of the museum. 1 is his rating. 

Alejandro del Rio - He uses you to get Joanna fired. He's withheld vital information in order to get a copy of a file. He's a jerk. For that reason, he's a 5. 

Taylor Sinclair - "Want a cookie? They're from Oaxaca!" He wears a tie that could hypnotize any human being. Also, other reasons that I won't say.  9 is his rating. 

Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake

Red Knott - He shows up in the yard making bird calls. Otherwise, he's fine. While he has no patience for people, I don't blame him for that. He's a 2, only because of the bird noises and bird pictures. 

Jeff Akers - Mr. give-you-a-ticket-for-nearly-burning-to-death is a rule enforcer to the end. He desperately tries to hide that his family worked for Malone. He's a 3 because of the shed incident and his love for giving tickets. 

Haunted Carousel

Elliot Chen - The hopeless procrastinator is the artist for the park. He is behind in his work and loves questions because they give him an excuse to take a break. He's a 2 to 3 due to his general vibe and "dark aura".

Harlan Bishop - He's the security guard that is on parole. He's a good dude, except for wanting the private code to Ingrid's workshop. For this, he is a 2 to 3. 

Danger on Deception Island

Holt Scotto - He's running for harbor master. He doesn't like when you hang around the lighthouse. At the end of the day he's helpful, though he calls you "girly" at least once. He's a 1.

Andy Jason - He is all about whaling and his business. He's a 2 because he doesn't seem to care about anything but his business.

Secret of Shadow Ranch

Dave Gregory - Basically, he's into Nancy and he's nice. He's a 1. 

Tex Britten - He can't say anything but "no" at times. He's the head wrangler, so he takes care of the horses. He keeps giving you chores, too. He's a 2 because he keeps giving you chores.

Shorty Thurmond - Well, he's a 7. He isn't a good singer and isn't known for good food. He also has other reasons I won't speak of. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

For the next ten ratings please stay tuned until next week and "Stay Beautiful!"

Sources:

Nancy Drew | Nancy Drew Wiki | Fandom

List of Nancy Drew video games - Wikipedia

differences in game audience

The game audience is extremely important when it comes to marketing. Age of player and maturity really does factor into this, since a seven-year-old is not going to be playing FNAF or Portal with too much success, nor is a 38-year-old going to find any challenge in a Reader Rabbit game. This is why the rating of a game matters. 

Courtesy of mll.fi

You truly do need to know what you are playing when you buy any form of videogame. The rating system is built for that purpose, so little kids don't pick up a game like Grand Theft Auto or Phasmophobia. It ranges from EC (early childhood) to AO (adults only). Understandably, parents and anyone who doesn't want pornographic content care about this rating system. 

Game designers also consider audience age and maturity during the design process. This looks like hint systems built into games aimed at everyone and kids, as well as no hint systems in Portal and many horror games. Yes, hints can be built in for all ages, but adult-aged games generally don't hand the answer to you on a silver platter. You can go online for some of that help. Long story short, kids will have hints obviously stated (Nancy Drew games on Junior level or early Nancy Drew games) while Portal leaves you all by your lonesome to figure it out. Before the internet, some players couldn't finish a game without buying a strategy guide. Now we have them abundantly (as long as the game has been released at least a few months).

Adult themes can show up in games such as Herinteractive's Nancy Drew series. However, they are subtly placed so the player themselves can put the pieces together. Most horror games do this. Ghost of Thornton Hall is like this. You see, younger players may not find it or put the ideas fully together, while the adults will find it. It makes a game playable for younger audiences, yet enjoyable for adults. Nancy Drew games are playable and enjoyable for adults and kids - especially since the audience is either growing up or adults playing with their kids. 

The Rating System Explained

Here's a breakdown of what each rating means, for reference. 

EC - Early childhood, ages 3 plus, no crude content

E - Everyone, ages 6 plus, some crude content and a variety of mischief/comic slapstick

T- Teen, ages 13 plus, violence and language and suggestive themes

M - Mature, ages 17 plus, mature sexual themes and more intense Teen category

AO- Adults only, ages 18 plus, graphic depictions of sex and violence

RP - Rating pending, rating on the way

As you can all see, this gives you a sense of what gameplay will bring you. E is the most common rating that you see in a public space. Most everyone can enjoy that game and find it fun. Parents have an active responsibility. You ultimately pay for the game as a parent by giving an allowance or directly shopping with your kids. Parents have control over what can and can't be played. While it is true some kids will hide the games and play them while their parents are not home, parents need to be paying attention to the rating systems. There is no law to make it illegal to sell kids games above their age range. Parents are solely responsible for making that judgment call. Just because everyone has it does not mean your child should. Your young child may not be mature enough to understand what is and isn't real or appropriate behavior. AOs are also rare, so keep in mind they are not going to be displayed in public for both public decency and rarity reasons. 

Hint Systems

Kids need more obvious hint systems. Plain and simple. Common sense does not always allow a young child to know what to do next. On the other side of things, I could solve some puzzles in seconds without help somehow and struggle with them in adulthood. How? The world may never know. Also, kids don't overthink like adults. Either way, Nancy in the Herineractive games may state the terribly obvious next step because the game is suggested for ages 10 and up. Junior and Senior mode allows challenge options and less hints to those who don't want the easier puzzles. This easily makes it an E game for all ages (and I mean all ages, looking at the fanbase). 

Courtesy of blogspot.com
Bulletin board code from Secrets Can Kill Remastered

I talk about Portal 1 and 2 because no hint system exists. Truly. None. You need help? Consult Youtube or a walkthrough. I don't see young kids doing well with this game. My husband didn't beat this alone. It requires a gamer who thinks way outside the box. Some kids might do decently on it, if I'm thinking about the gifted kids who need more challenge, but the average kid will inevitably get quite frustrated and potentially stop playing. This was aimed at adults, based on the dialogue as well. The main AI is rather mean-spirited and not friendly. 

Good hint systems shouldn't give you the answer on a silver platter unless it is necessary and you can't beat it without beating your head on the wall. Again, later Nancy Drews do this well by providing a hint system that gives smaller hints, then the solution if you're desperate. You can call people for hints in some games. Bottom line, the solution can't be found in the hint system by accident. Small nudges within the game dialogue or even in the setting can also be good to set up. If a portrait on the wall can show you half the solution to the puzzle box in the corner it gives the player a push in the right direction. Kids may need a more on-the-nose hint, yet I still think it depends on the kid in question as to how much they need. No matter what, kids' games are more direct with hints. 

Adult Themes

Here comes the dialogue and plotline of the game. Adult themes can be dark and subtle or in your face. A graphic sex scene is not subtle, but a rumpled bed and a pack of condoms on the dresser are less blatant-ish (especially if you see it, but don't get a verbal confirmation of it). Subtle hints that have to be noticed through the player exploring are wonderful for making the player put together the entire situation. This is how you can hide a darker plotline in a lighter one. Rather than showing graphic images and verbal confirmation, you can put a journal page or two scattered around the house to reveal what happened.

Courtesy of Pinterest

Thornton Hall, again, does this with a note in the basement. No one speaks of it. Not one question can be asked through Nancy about it. Yet, some theorize that Clara not being told who her daddy is and that note are connected, leading to the conclusion that her father was an older relative of hers (incest, if you don't catch my meaning). The subtle clues scattered in games give backstory. Game theorists feed off this type of explorative storytelling, which makes players want to explore it all before progressing the game. 

Adult-only games don't bother with subtle anything. You don't have to tap-dance around players who aren't mature enough to get it. I find these to be graphic games I don't play. Pornographic content is stuffed into these games, which is why AO is a rare rating. Pornography is plentiful online, I know, but yet AO is rare for a game to receive. I don't have to say what these contain, most likely, given these are feeding fantasies that probably shouldn't be fed. 

Sources:

Video Game Rating System (childdevelopmentinfo.com)

Video Game Content Ratings: Does Anyone Care Anymore? | The Artifice (the-artifice.com)

What makes a good hint system? (getpostcurious.com)

Mirage : A character study

When I watched The Incredibles (the first one, for clarification purposes) I looked at Mirage as someone who might not have been fully down with the plan. Is it possible she did the bidding of Syndrome under romantic pressure? Was she used by Syndrome to get to Mr. Incredible and did he create a relationship to do so exclusively? 

Courtesy of Tumblr

While she is definitely guilty of helping Syndrome murder Supers, what I want to know is her motivation. She was down to do all the dirty work of Syndrome, but why? She clearly wasn't in it to murder children based on her reaction to Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl declaring there were children on the plane. Obviously, she was only signed up to kill the Supers they were targeting. Syndrome shows how unbalanced and sociopathic he truly is, even letting her be potentially snapped in half by a furious Mr. Incredible. You'll note that this is when she snaps back on Syndrome and literally undoes all the work she did to lure Mr. Incredible to the island. This points to her motivation being directly connected to Syndrome himself. 

I used to think Syndrome killed her, but given that Syndrome left the island and then got betrayed by his own cape I think that's quite impossible. He was never aware that he was betrayed by Mirage. It is no longer a mystery to me what she did. I honestly think she left the island and ran off somewhere. Comics say she works for the NSA. We'll never know where she went in between because she's too good at espionage. Long story short, I do think that Syndrome could have killed her if the plot had let him return to the island, but the plot of the story never had him return. Capes were truly a bad idea. 

Evidence of Romantic Connection

Body language is one of the keys to catching a romance in the air. He takes her by the chin early on. You don't usually do that when you are just friends. Either Syndrome or Mirage wants it to be more and it isn't, or it was a romantic connection and she's seeing through him. She shoves Syndrome away from Mr. Incredible to save him. Again, the betrayal timing happens after she learns he doesn't care about killing children or her life. It may have been developing as time went on. The video below is a theory (one that some agree and disagree on) that may also explain why she'd even work for him. Some people think he had psych-related powers and was working for the US government on the sly, which may be where Mirage came in. 

What I've found is that Mirage does have a romance blooming with Syndrome, until he decides to gamble her life like it was worth less than a penny. It is clear that she sees him as misunderstood, rather than unstable. She has convinced herself he has good qualities and cares about her. This delusion ends the minute he tells Mr. Incredible to go ahead and kill her. She also has some moral lines, allegedly, because she has serious qualms with killing children that aren't her targets. 

Morals and Ambitions

To be sure, we're not looking at a saint. She is guilty of tracking and having a hand in killing Supers. She sees an opportunity for power in Syndrome that shifts slightly as the movie plot continues. Emotion is there, yes, but how much has she already done? Mirage pays for none of her crimes and ends up recruited by the NSA (possibly to make up for her crimes). Maybe she had a choice between the NSA and prison. We'll never know for sure unless someone actually states what happened in future comics or movies. 

An attraction to power is not something that leads down a saintly road. Power is something that gets taken by force and never leaves you on stable ground. It can also blow you in a different direction every time someone you're attached to gets power stripped from them. If the only connection to Syndrome was power, I'd say she undid her hard work against herself, but I don't think that is fully true. Yes, Syndrome had power - a whole island of technology, too -, but he crossed a line by attempting to kill children (which is a principle even some hardened resistance fighters of WWII sometimes maintained). It isn't coming out of left field to say that Syndrome crossed a line by also gambling her life, especially given that there is a romantic element in play. Power was her motive for killing Supers, yet I highly doubt her motive for betraying Syndrome had anything to do with power (unless she did consider he was a bit off-kilter and could be a sinking ship). 

Another possibility that remains is whether Syndrome needed her anymore. She bent to his every whim, found Mr. Incredible and several Supers for him, and yet Syndrome was going to let Mr. Incredible crush her. This reflects that he may have led her on until he had what he wanted. Mr. Incredible was the target he was going for, if I understand him correctly, due to a childhood grudge. He had to wade through several Supers to get there. Now that Syndrome has what he wants, what use is Mirage? She could have seen the red flags and the change in Syndrome after Mr. Incredible was on the island. The real Syndrome comes out for her to see and she may have betrayed him, then run off for the sake of self-preservation. The scene where he gambled her life was proof she was now disposable and she was not going to be treated like a pawn.

Conclusions

All this comes down to three connections to Syndrome, which are power, a romantic relationship, and ambition., She had the ambition to be his second in command, the romance to keep her tied to him, and the attraction to power that kept her working for him. He revealed she was a pawn in his game when he gambled her life, resulting in romantic devastation and the realization that she was now disposable. The motive for the crimes may have been her love for Syndrome and his power, but the motive for her undoing her work was the way he gambled her life and crossed lines for petty revenge purposes. No angels here, ladies and gents, but we do have a smart woman who saw the red flags and ran before he could actually dispose of her. I do believe he could have murdered her along with the other Supers they killed, had he lived to the end of the movie. A sociopathic manipulator like him could have absolutely murdered his second in command (since he'd done it so many times already and had no qualms about killing innocent Supers).

Sources:

 https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Mirage_(The_Incredibles)#:~:text=Mirage%20is%20the%20secondary%20antagonist,to%20pass%20off%20her%20life.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/453245149992616085/

https://the-incredibles.fandom.com/wiki/Mirage

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/930166

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/movie/the-incredibles/cast/mirage-elizabeth-pea

Censorship in Cartoons and Comics

How much of your cartoons and comics are censored? How much can content creators get away with and publishers let pass to the public? Today we're finding out. 

Courtesy of animatedtimes.com

Comic books have been legitimately censored for a long time. While there is a Marvel Knights category for only adults, the majority of it has to be acceptable to the public to be sold. Horror comics had a real heck of a time due to extensive censoring and not being able to use specific words. Even then, you can open a Green Arrow comic and find a bit more of Black Canary than you bargained for. It almost depends on the artist who made the book, if we're truly honest. Yet, I know that comics have been under specific standards for years. There are R-rated comic books (Deadpool and many more) out there. Some of them are not mainstream. 

As for cartoons, the 1980s and 1990s got a lot past the censors that kids wouldn't have even recognized. Adults, however, can immediately recognize it. I watched a Scooby Doo movie that literally explained Wicca. If you don't know Wicca you'd never have noticed (which none of my family did, so none of us did). Long story short, a lot can get inserted into kids' movies and cartoons that quite possibly shouldn't be there. Like comics, you can also get more than you bargained for. The difference in kids' movies is that it just happens to fly miles over a young child's head and land in the face of the parents. Comics are generally picked up by junior high age and up, making the content less likely to fly over their heads.

I will say this now and be done with it. Yes, pornography has made it into nearly every media form, including cartoons and comics. I will not be focusing on that aspect, but do want to acknowledge that it does exist and needs to be dealt with. 

Comics 

Comic books land all over the board on ratings. There are indeed genres (Marvel Knights, for example) that come with the expectation of less censorship. Moon Knight and Morbius are two examples of Marvel Knights characters, which were marketed to adults so they had to deal with less censoring. Forums online will tell you that plenty of nudity made it into comic books. Test that theory at your own risk. Dark plotlines in Batman tend to show up because of the Joker and several other violent criminals. Green Arrow can't keep his hands off Black Canary - or even finish dinner without losing self-control. There are adults who actually do want to see nude characters (hardly shocking after the pornography business has been so successful) and have talked about this on forums online, though they do think that those comic books should have a marked rating or some way of showing it contains adult content. 

Courtesy of centralrecorder.com

With all that, how can the comics possibly be censored? Well, it depends on what time your comic book was written. There was a time period of moral panic over comic books. McCarthyism (cold war panic) hit comic artists hard. Comics Code said what you could and couldn't put in your book after that point. Good had to win, the government was respected, and no divorce was allowed. Basically, it tied up comic artists and threw some of their creative ideas into the garbage can. It made it so that only kids could enjoy comics (which isn't true anymore). The 1930s to 1950s was a time of war and the cold war, making any comic entertainment that could distract the public a booming business. Look at Captain America and Wonder Woman, who both debuted in 1941. At that point, comics took off, but horror comics were extremely restricted for a long time due to pressure from church groups because parents thought they caused juvenile delinquency. People like Fredric Wertham made comics seem like they were sexually aggressive (though he was misguided) and people followed him. This was about the time Comics Code came about, cutting off the creativity of many artists for years to come. TV trying to take the place of comics didn't help. 

Here is a list of what the Comics Code said:

- a clear line between bad and good (good had to win)  - no sexy or nude images  

- no torture  - no werewolves, vampires, zombies, ghouls   - no slang or vulgar language

- no dealing with race or religious prejudice 

Courtesy of getwallpapers.com

In short, only superheroes really made it through this filter and that is why we see so much of it, instead of romance and western storylines. Batman was changed into the campy, kid-friendly character that inspired the old TV show, instead of the gritty character he'd been and is now. Underground comics came into being as a result of this code. The code's grip loosened as time marched on, but the code truly died when comic artists' publishers decided to sell to comic book stores themselves, dropping distributors and dropping the code on the way. In this way, it does depend on when the book was written, so today you'll see less filtering than you did in 1950. Frankly, you see less censoring as time marches on, anyway. 

Cartoons

There have been many content creators who constantly push the envelope on what they can slip past censors. What you also have to take into account is that adults have to watch movies with their kids. In short, you have to also entertain adults. Animaniacs, Spongebob, Rocko's Modern Life, Victorious, Fairly Odd Parents, Looney Tunes, Icarly, Hey Arnold, Rugrats, Johnny Bravo, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Powerpuff Girls..... All these shows got adult jokes through the censors - and some did habitually. Rocko's Modern Life was a bunch of adult jokes crammed in with the hope that the censors wouldn't catch it. Half the time, they didn't. You'll notice that the cartoons aimed at adults are not listed here, because adults don't need as much censoring as kids' cartoons do. Go watch some of those shows and count how many times that innuendos made it in. Another notable one is Totally Spies, which I grew up on and own DVDs of. It has been called fetish fuel before (though a kid would never have noticed). I'll let Saberspark explain in the video below. 

Many cartoons have to get past censors to get released. Yes, cartoons got away with a lot (Looney Tunes especially), but there are some cartoons that Disney locked in a vault and you have to sign a paper to watch. Some are kept for historical purposes only, never to be released for public viewing again. The rating system is part of this system, ensuring you know what you are getting into when you put in that movie or turn on your TV. War cartoons got less censoring and it is not consistent, sometimes even hypocritical. War cartoons can sometimes make you cringe a bit. The military got training videos that show nude depictions of women. The thing is that censoring can happen post-production now, as opposed to prior permission after looking at the script. Creators lose some of their content without their permission. Kids' cartoons get this treatment most often. For the most part, we do rely on self-censoring (as parents and adults). What our society censors depends entirely on what our society finds appropriate, which explains why media doesn't always age gracefully. Censoring is also not catching everything, as proven by Rocko's Modern Life. 

Conclusions

What it all boils down to is this; what our society deems appropriate gets broadcasted or published more easily. I have always suspected that the 1950s cold war damaged our society by creating unnecessary rules. I keep finding proof of this in many ways, from gender rules that put us in boxes to rules that keep artists from releasing unique creations. It seems like cartoons didn't suffer as much as comics did. 

It is great advice to watch everything and read everything with your brain turned on. This doesn't mean you can't enjoy it; it simply means that you should know what messages are being broadcasted through your TV and any forms of media. Kids don't do this naturally, so do this for them as a parent. I don't advocate censorship that severely restricted comics into practically one genre, but I do believe there are some things kids shouldn't see. Be aware that censors don't catch everything in your kids' cartoons. Censorship will change with our society's whims. 

 https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/120201/has-any-marvel-or-dc-comic-ever-shown-graphic-nudity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_comics

https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/26842-nudity-and-sex-in-comics-books/

https://www.vox.com/2014/12/15/7326605/comic-book-censorship

https://the-artifice.com/comic-books-adults-history-stigmatization/

https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2018/04/comic-books-censorship-and-moral-panic/

https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/spider-man-versus-censorship-short-history-comics-code/

Censorship in American Animation Essay Example For Students - 964 words | Artscolumbia

18 Things From Kids' Shows That Got Past Censors (screenrant.com)

24 Filthy Adult Jokes In Cartoons You Completely Missed As A Kid – Page 9 (whatculture.com)

Media Featuring Stay At Home Dads

Media that features stay-at-home dads is out there, from Johnny Test to The Incredibles. There is a movie titled Mr. Mom, as well. Is there still a stigma, or is it becoming more common as we work from home?

Courtesy of 123moviesweb.net

Stay-at-home parents are not uncommon, especially female parents. What we find in Johnny Test is that his dad is doing all the cooking, cleaning, and keeping track (if he even can after all they do) of the kids. He has to make sure the twins don't blow up the house and Johnny doesn't just let them do whatever they want to him (and we know how that works out). For those that don't know the TV show Johnny Test, it doesn't work out well and everything turns to chaos. Also, the mother comes home in a suit and skirt as if she's some sort of lawyer. Realizing that Johnny's dad is a stay-at-home made me wonder just how much representation stay-at-home fathers get in media. Instead, my research led me into the stigmas of being a stay-at-home dad. 

Apparently, people have not gotten past the idea that men can be full-time caregivers. Lining up playdates with groups of other people gets real awkward. You may have to ask ten people to get three or fewer yes answers. Fellow men doing this struggle have trouble finding each other because they aren't all that common. Having a wife that works a job that constantly travels is one reason that men sometimes do this. They take on caregiving full-time to give their wives the freedom to do their jobs well. The reversal of the 1950s idea that men work and women take on the children is uncommon, making the Johnny Test and Mr. Mom situation slightly weird to some people. The fact of the matter is simply this; you can't always have a nanny. When fathers do find each other doing the Mr. Mom, they all get together and have fun in a group. 

When it does appear in media

We see it in Johnny Test, Mr. Mom, and The Incredibles. Where is it also? Anime. Unfortunately, it is sometimes used for comedic relief more than anything. The media pokes fun at men staying home or calls it babysitting. The masculine standard does not often include housework - even today. Now that I think of it, even putting Mr. Test in an apron served as comic relief. All he did was yell, stress, clean the floor, tell the girls not to burn the house down, and make bad meatloaf and/or dinner. He was not portrayed as manly and let his kids walk all over him. Mr. Incredible is different, obviously, because of the superhero he is. Mr. Mom was a comedy movie in the first place, yet it didn't treat the dad like he was any less of a man. Representation is all over the place in interpretation. The Shining features a stay-at-home dad, but given the plot, I'd say that wasn't a great example to follow.

Courtesy of Toonzone

Full House was a situation of a widower. This is not what I'm talking about. I am talking about the choice (without the death of a loved one) to stay home to care for the kids so your spouse can work with flexibility. This can also be the choice to work remotely to stay-at-home parent. Being widowed changes every aspect of your life and the living spouse often has to work to make ends meet, making them unlikely stay-at-homes unless they work remotely.

Film and TV

Aside from cartoons, we have other representations in media. The fact is that this is not common in most cartoons and is more common in other media forms, negative and positive impressions. Here are a few examples of good portrayals in film and TV shows. 

In Army Wives we see one character, Roland Burton, care for his kids while his wife goes into the military. This is not bungled to make him look bad. Instead, they show him being a great father with a strong marriage. 

Again, Mr. Mom is a film that truly shows how hard it is to parent full time. Because the main character Jack has been laid off, his wife ends up working long hours away from home advertising tuna. This is one movie that shows men can be great caregivers full time, even if it wasn't going to be a forever position (because he gets his job back). 

Conclusion

The problem here is that most cases in media are single parents or widowers, which doesn't fit the standard I put for Stay-at-home for this blog. Full House and several others are cases of a spouse dying, leaving no other choice. The 1950s standard of women caring for the kids while men work has not left the building. Sometimes unemployment leaves men at home with kids or they work remotely from home. It's all wrapped up in gender policing and masculinity. While some men do choose to actively care for their kids full time, it isn't supported by others around them all the time. Representation needs to change for the better so men who choose to do so can stay home with their kids. We need to break that 1950s standard to make it acceptable for male child care. 

Courtesy of insider.com
Let's break out of the 1950s - for the sake of men and women!

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/06/17/619557786/stay-at-home-dads-still-struggle-with-diapers-drool-stigma-and-isolation

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/

https://johnnytest.fandom.com/wiki/Hugh_Test#:~:text=Hugh%20Test%20is%20the%20uptight,a%20character%20in%20Johnny%20Test.

https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/176187/the-rarity-of-the-stay-at-home-father-in-media

4 Films and TV Shows That Portray Fatherhood In A Positive Light - HelloFlo

Our Favorite Stay-at-Home Dads in Movies (tvovermind.com)

Stay at Home Dads | Psychology Today