Blog Update: Like a Virgin

 

This post contains spoilers.

I once read that knowing spoilers going in makes experiencing a work of fiction more enjoyable. I think that’s bullshit. 

 

The first time you experience something should be marked by unknowing, by eagerness and anticipation and uncertainty. Directors, writers and designers plan around this - not always in the best or most enjoyable ways, but then everyone's a critic. I don’t think we should be spoiling things for ourselves. In fact, I'd say that leans in to the predigested, preapproved way many of us consume media, both fictional and non-fictional. It’s unrewarding and even unhealthy at times. But I've spoiled things for myself a lot.

 

When I was younger, I read a lot of TVTropes. Most classics, hell, most media beyond children's books, came to me predigested. Almost every story that I encounter nowadays comes to me as a known quantity, not through deliberate exposure but rather osmosis. Rare is the time I choose to experience something as early as possible. The last two games I bought on release were Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun and Devil May Cry V. Even then, by the time I’d finished them - the latter in only a handful of days - I knew some of what was to come second hand. For my disinterest in what is current, on what is in the discourse, the gap between those titles should suffice as evidence. Music, too, I pay little attention to what is current, with the exception of Lana Del Rey's albums. I've watched a few movies in theaters, but not too many. And most of these are known quantities in some respect. I mostly make an effort to make it to the cinema for directors I already enjoy, like Denis Villeneuve and Martin McDonagh. DMC 5 was the long-awaited return to form of one of my favourite franchises. It's rare that I experience something completely unknown. This is especially the case in the realm of video games. I've been playing The Evil Within 2 lately, a game I'm playing so blind I decided to skip the first game (I joke, I kid… somewhat). But I've also made use of a guide, particularly for locker keys (which can substantially boost your resource pool) and weapon locations, among other things. Am I ruining some of the sense of discovery? Sure. But I decided I'd rather cast a wider net, gain more power, than commit to a proper experience of the scavenging side of the resource game. The "spoilers" within the guide are ruining the intended experience. But I’m doing so because I've chosen to have a different sort of experience. Really, it's blatant disrespect for the art of the game on my part.

 

Recently I had an almost virginal experience with a new text. A literal text in this case - the first three books of The Black Company series, of which I knew very little about going in beyond the broad premise and a handful of plot beats. I tore through them in about eight days. It wasn’t just novelty that compelled me to devour the three novels. There were other important elements too: small character moments, philosophical pondering, gravitas, clever turns. These elements and more carried me through, even as the books ramped up the scale and hurtled towards the seemingly inevitable gates-of-Mordor type conclusion. With more spoilers, the experience would have been fundamentally different, possibly ruined. I certainly wouldn't have read them so quickly, and likely not as eagerly and excitedly as I did. Experiencing The Black Company without foreknowledge was the perfect experience. It’s a shame I treat so few others with the same respect.

 

I read a couple of other series recently as well, ones that I did have spoilers for. The first was Phil Kelly’s Farsight duology. I knew some of the extended lore around the character, specifically two things: his break away from the broader T’au Empire, and his acquisition of a magical blade. Both these events (sort of) mark the climax of the second novel, Empire of Lies, a climax briefly portrayed in the prologue of the first. In this way, the books (and setting) spoil the direction of the plot. But it wasn’t my biggest problem with them. An engaging use of mysteries and twists might have helped the books, but their foundation was too poor for me to have cared much either way. 

 

A more compelling example might be my experience with the first two books of the Unhewn Throne trilogy. I knew very little about this series going in - I didn’t even understand the significance of Kaden, the first of three sibling protagonists to be introduced, until I idly checked the blurb and realised where the story was leading. And it probably would have been better for me not to read that blurb. But I read the first book without spoiling any more, and I loved the constant reveals. I’m sure the pace of the plot would have felt much slower if I’d known what was coming, if I wasn’t blindsided by reveals like the role of the Cestriim. And then, after such a pure experience of a wonderful read, I was seized by a fit of insanity (well, boredom, but what difference is there?) and I read a bunch of spoilers for the rest of the trilogy. Thank you, TVTropes. I began reading The Providence of Fire with a dampened enthusiasm, put out by my brief moment of weakness. I had the identities/alter-egos of three characters revealed to me, identities which I thought must be twists saved for the final book. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. One was a mid-book twists, and the unsatisfying reveal of this secret to a second character mirrored my own lack of surprise at the first. The second was the final reveal of the book, the bombshell that ended the penultimate chapter. And the third was unceremoniously dropped in between, quickly spoken of during a climactic confrontation between others. For all my anticipation had been undermined, my interest was saved by the structure of the story. Much of the narrative had little to do with these identities, even as the lay under the surface. The hints at the nature of one were a little less interesting, but there was enough going on around it that each relevant chapter remained thrilling. I was spoiled, but the story was not, because it was too dense and compelling to be undone by the sneaking of several secrets. By the close of the book, I was eager for the conclusion of the trilogy, ready to embark upon the experience without foreknowledge.

 

What then, of spoilers? Clearly, they can diminish an experience but not always ruin it. Much of this comes down to the nature of both the experience and the extra knowledge. Whether the latter will undo the former depends on what the spoiler is and what the experience should be. You shouldn't spoil yourself, but just because you've taken a peak doesn't mean you are spoiled.

 

Coda:

 

It’s been a rough few months lately. Long Covid in particular has done a number on my wellbeing and my lifestyle: no exercise, little energy, less rest (and more need for it). I’ve taken up a few new hobbies to fill in the time, and to reduce the impact on my body and brain. The sprialling down the drain on Twitter has seen me take a step back from social media as well, not that I ever did much more than browse. But it’s reduced my interest in the blog, at least temporarily. As you can see above, I’ve taken a step back into reading - I’d hazard a guess that the last prose book I read would have been about six years ago, either Beowulf or American Psycho. The latter, by the way, was an excellent experience (similar to the way I might conceive of some video games as experiential) which I did not finish. I had had my fill, and I didn’t need more. I still think it’s a wonderful achievement, in a way that I wouldn’t praise a video game too long and repetitive to finish. Anyway. Tangents tangents tangents. I also got into Warhammer - that is, painting miniatures - by way of the two Farsight novels by way of Boltgun. Strange times for me indeed. Hobbies aside, work has been busy and more engaging. As of late, I’m ending the day just looking to rest, not to stretch my intellectual muscles.

 

Between that and diving into Pillars of Eternity, I hadn’t had a lot to say about video games. I might have a little more to come. Sure, there was the near-completed Fallen Order piece that I’ve shelved, but that was more about my relationship with Star Wars in general. It’s not really what I’ve been trying to do on here, which is to explore the strengths and pitfalls of the interactive medium. Discussing past flings with megafranchises is kind of the opposite of what I want my identity as a writer (or perhaps critic!!) to be. I’d idly considered writing short pieces on the games that I’ve tried on Playstation Plus and then dropped (hello, Shredder’s Revenge, Samurai Warriors 5, Shadow of War). But it’s all starting to feel like nibbling around the edge, like playing the same sort of thing over and over and complaining that the mainstream thrust of the video game industry produced the same sort of miserable sludge. It’s time for me to stop trying to experience the medium in its entirety. It’s time for me to stop bitching about the same thing over and over and over and over. Knowing me though, my habits won’t change. So if you want to keep coming here and reading complaints about “number go up” mentality, about flawed progression mechanics and pathetic implementation of interactive elements, I’ll probably still be here.

 

Or maybe not, maybe I’ll start experiencing and discussing the things that I love the most. Maybe you’ll be able to come here for discussion of linear shooter campaigns and beat-em-ups and stealth games and interactive fiction. Out go the overly-stuffed everything games, in come the actually interesting things in between the cracks. In the meantime, I might do a little September wrap up as part of my potential return to writing.

 

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.