#NPC Analysis
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⚖️Let's Flesh-Out Strahd: Part 5⚖️
This time on LFOS we're diving into Strahd's sense of justice and moral code and how fucked up yet eerily logical they are...
I got into this a bit in his personality type post, but here's a bit more of an explanation of his moral code and (more specifically) warped sense of justice. As usual (and apparently I need to now disclaimer this because it's not obvious to some people) I am talking 2e Strahd, not the shallow husk 5e tries to pawn off. There is basically no material to work off for any analysis for 5e Strahd, so! This isn't going to help you if you're going to stubbornly stick to 5e's rules as written. This post is only helpful for 2e, 2e/5e hybrid, or 5e homebrew Ravenloft/CoS DMs and enthusiasts. Any ways, on with the show!
Lawful evil, my beloved and home alignment. My cold, dead, INTJ heart sings when I get to pick apart my fellow lawful evil gremlins and blatantly call out how they're unhealthy. But for starters, lawful evil only means a person with a custom moral code who is frequently willing to do things considered amoral to achieve their goals and who hold what would be considered amoral points on said moral code. That's a big word salad way of saying "lawful evil is only as evil as society makes it". And that's what makes LE villains so interesting morally! Because nearly every LE villain will, say, always honor their word. Which is something NG and CG heroes will not always (or often) do! Dichotomies make the world go round, kids. But what about Strahd? Where does he stand on this? Because LE is probably the most diverse alignment, due to the sheer number of custom-made warped moral codes each LE character can have. This is where this post gets a bit tricky. Let me preface by saying that every DMs takes are valid (to an extent, but that's another argument for another day) and it is valid to take a different spin on Strahd. All DMs leave their own mark and flare on their Ravenloft. That being said, I am doing my best to stick to what I semi-objectively view as a cannon based outline of his moral code. But as always, codes can fluctuate slightly, circumstances can force unusual behavior, and people can somewhat change. Now enough talk, lets dig in.
Strahd's moral code is and should always be fucked up but completely, logically, understandable. This man doesn't do anything based off of conjecture, emotion, or because someone "told him so". If you cannot write a flowchart or essay charting back the reasoning for each vague point on his vague moral code, something has gone seriously wrong. For starters, the biggest foundation of his horrid little sense of morality is duty. Duty is the drive to Strahd, especially when he's in a "healthier" place. Post War Against Azalin Strahd is where you truly see this come into play. Running Barovia is his duty, protecting Barovia is his duty, if he does not he will be extremely depressed and have no purpose in his unending hellscape. So! Duty, duty is where it all falls in line. Building from this is where things get warped. Because Strahd is Barovian, Strahd is in Ravenloft, Strahd is a Von Zarovich, and a very traumatized one at that. Not killing someone simply because its "wrong" is not only laughable but utterly foreign to someone with his background and personality. He's going to always run a cost-benefit analysis on whether or not a brutal action like killing is going to bit him in the ass, but if it is in his or the nation's best interest? Welp, sucks for that guy. But beyond this, sparing a life or no, he really doesn't care whether or not the person lives. INTJs are very slow to trust and care, which is especially true with an unhealthy INTJ like Strahd. His threshold for giving a shit is so high, and unless you've really wormed your way into his heart, he will not feel a thing when killing you, and will certainly not stay his hand due to emotion. This mindset can be applied to nearly every aspect of his moral code. He's predisposed to the more brutal options, but he'll think outside the evil box if it furthers his goals. In books such as War Against Azalin, we see him mature to the point that he knows how to use seeming like a merciful (but firm) person to his advantage when dispensing justice. As a rule of thumb for anything with his moral code, punishment should befit the crime, mercy should befit the circumstance- not a drop more, not a drop less. You have to think extremely logically with this man, otherwise you're going to wind up with a trope on your hands.
Now, so far I have made it sound like Strahd has zero emotions and runs like a computer with fangs and bat wings. This, however, is not true- not true in the slightest. I'll do another post on emotional processing for him, but as a TL;dr: Strahd very much can and does feel emotions, he just filters out what he'll address and what he'll ignore. Depending on where he is in his life, he'll have more or less of the emotional "flow" stopped up, but he'll always have a very high filter for the emotions he's feeling. Younger Strahd tries (and fails) to just shut everything off- which bites him in the ass and leads to explosive depressive death spirals. Older Strahd is a bit more ok with letting the emotions come in… but he's got a WONDERFUL filter that keeps him from letting those sway him. So when it comes to his moral code? He might genuinely feel bad about having to kill a noble he's acquaintances with, but his threshold is too high for him to let that sway his decision making. Yeah, it really sucks- but justice isn't personal, its just business. And this, my dears, is the crux of it all. "It's just business". For every-day "justice" and morality, especially in relation to his duties as a leader, it's not personal- it truly is "just business". Things only start getting personal when you hit his family or betray him specifically. Start actively trying to tear apart his country? Start trying to kill Rahadin? Gain his trust and then shatter it? Well, then it is very personal. Strahd has very few things which override his base logical instincts, family being one of them. One of the only times you'll see him going solely off of emotion is when people he loves are involved- which is EXTREMELY rare. Rahadin, Alek Gwilym, and maybe his bats are the only examples of people he'd kill for, no questions asked (and yes, Tatyana was left out intentionally. But that's another essay for another day~).
When things get personal is when his warped little brain gets more interesting. Personal vendettas can supersede some of his baser "duty based" safeguards and can get downright nasty in ways he (usually) restrains himself from in regards to "every day" morality. Punishment befits the crime takes charge and every ounce of emotional pain the crime causes or could have caused is factored in to that decision making. He is not going to blow up and punch someone, he is not going to stoop to burning your house down. No, that is to pedestrian, too simple, and not tailor made to make the guilty suffer. How good he is at this very gruesome aspect of twisted karma, once again, depends on his age. However, the older, more experienced, and more creative he gets? The far more imaginative and patient he'll be when it comes to ruining some fool's life. It can be hard to describe what I mean without an example so here's one from my current Ravenloft campaign:
Strahd got his bloody little hands on Richten after spending decades stewing and seething over the doctor's little book which may or may not have outed him as a kin slayer, a neurotic monster, and as a potential vampire (e.g., he's pissed about the canonical Richten's Guide to Vampires). So what is his solution to gain recompense for this "injustice"? Obviously it is to cook up a lycanthropy "cure" which turns the patient into a dhampir after about a month and then to leak this to Richten as he's writing his guide to werewolves. Convoluted? Yes. Brilliant? Absolutely. This checks off every box on his mental checklist for dispensing petty, vindictive, justice. Richten's little stunt put Strahd, Barovia, and most of the Ravenloft vampires in danger. Richten published information that was a personal attack on Strahd which could have serious political ramifications in the wrong hands. Richten needed to be dealt with, but killing him would have merely telegraphed how important and valid his book was. The solution? Completely discredit the man, shatter his reputation. This not only helps counteract Richten's little leak, but acts as pretty karmic vengeance for Strahd on a personal level. Killing Richten is too simple. Waiting long enough to have plausible deniability, spending a weekend manically cooking up a dhampir cocktail, and orchestrating it all to topple a hunter's empire and shatter the man's spirit? That, that is convolutedly genius enough to not only work, but work to terrifying levels of success.
But in the end, my dears, Strahd does not seek to destroy or kill when he wants to dispense "justice". He wants to ruin you. He doesn't want you to die. He wants you to wish you'd never been born.
(DISCLAIMER: As usual, I am not an expert or professional in psychology! But I'm in training to be one! As a side note, I am a DM writing from a personal stance of moral nuance. I can recognize the lines of evil and good, absolutely! But when writing analyses of these characters or writing them in general? I have to be objective! Logic zone for now, because that's the best way to learn about a creature's motivations ^w^)
#LFOS#One fucked up moral code coming right up#strahd von zarovich#strahd#ravenloft#dnd#curse of strahd#dungeons and dungeons#dungeon master#dnd npc#NPC analysis
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FEW3H NPC Analysis Pt. 3 - Countries outside of Fodlan
We all know that Fodlan has a fraught history with its neighbors. Claims of invasion, impending war, and forced isolation by the Central Church have made a mess of discussions about foreign policy by fans of the games. So in 3 Hopes, what prejudices and reconciliations do we see between Fodlan's general populace and those outside their borders?
This analysis takes a look into how citizens of Fodlan feel about various foreign countries through what the NPCs say. Sreng, Duscur, Almyra, Morfis, Dagda, and Brigid are all mentioned at least once by generic units throughout the camps in 3 Hopes.
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. The data was manually tagged & compiled, so may have errors. Also, counting was weird for this one, so %s might be off. Dataset used
Analysis Background
Sentiment was split by foreign and domestic army members for all but Scarlet Blaze, where there are no NPC foreigners in your camp. The Tragedy of Duscur also got a separate category because it's a major negative event people mention, but the NPCs do not necessarily equate that to Fodlan or Duscur being evil.
Summary
Sreng is viewed completely negatively on all paths because there's both a language barrier and generations of invasions from them, much like Almyra before Nader swapped sides. You'll notice Almyra has similar negativity attached to it. For those who need more context, I've detailed Sreng's history and common misconceptions that have been disproven in 3 Hopes at the end of this analysis.
Scarlet Blaze NPCs largely don't care about the world outside Fodlan, though they're aware of international trading. Golden Wildfire NPCs mostly ignore foreigners or only talk about them being a threat. Azure Gleam NPCs dislike Sreng for their invasions but are making massive strides with Duscur.
Scarlet Blaze
Unsurprisingly, Scarlet Blaze doesn't talk much about other nations since it's primarily focused on domestic affairs, and Brigid's promised 'new relationship' is kept secret. In the small amount of text it does have, it mentions Morfis and trade routes across the sea that seem to be well-established.
Golden Wildfire
Despite the focus on Almyra early in Golden Wildfire, it has the least amount of awareness or positivity shown by NPCs about foreign nations. Of the positive comments we get, the two by Fodlan natives are about Tiana's story (which they think is a fairytale) and rumors of Nader being both horrific and kind. It's noted that Almyran NPC(s) follow Fodlan rules because Nader says they need to, but all Almyran voices and mentions disappear entirely after chapter 12.
There is also no mention of Almyra by Fodlan NPCs after Chapter 9, nor of sharing cultures or trusting or hating them at all. Some members of the army are pro Sreng attacking the Kingdom (their enemy) when that happens in Chapter 12, going as far as saying they should have told Sreng the Margrave was dead, though that plan was shot down by Claude.
Azure Gleam
Azure Gleam is relatively meaty when it comes to foreign relations, featuring both the restoration of Duscur and ongoing Sreng raids potentially orchestrated by Cornelia. Their one mention of Dagda and Brigid is negative because it mentions the old war, not because they dislike the people from there. Since Petra is an optional recruit, all talk of her spearheading Fodlan relations as Queen is locked to her dialogue.
There is a notable amount of culture-sharing going on with Duscur from both sides in Azure Gleam. Naturally, the positive sentiment is somewhat stronger from the Duscur Generals than Kingdom soldiers, since the Duscur troops are volunteer-only and can self-select away from the Kingdom army.
Regarding Sreng
There are a lot of misconceptions around Sreng and Faerghus' relationship due to 3 Houses being unclear regarding who owned what land when. This has led to most people in the past (myself included) believing that Lambert stole a bunch of land, causing Sreng to attack them in retaliation.
New textual evidence in 3 Hopes suggests they are NOT attacking to 'get back land' from modern Faerghus. It is likely that, while still an aggressive act, no part of Sreng was annexed in Lambert's campaign. Sreng has been raiding raided Fodlan for 300+ years with no change in border.
Per the ingame description of Sreng:
"Sreng was once the name of an enormous peninsula to the north of Fodlan. Today, only the northern half has kept the moniker, while the southern half now falls under the dominion of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Several warlike clans call this great wasteland their home. Certain areas of the region are comprised of rocky desert."
Yes, "Sreng" used to refer to a peninsula to the north of Fodlan. However, you can see from the map that the full peninsula includes not just Gautier, but Fraldarius and Blaiddyd territories as well.
You could argue that the peninsula here doesn't refer to the whole thing, implying the Gautier lands near the border were 'stolen' recently, but we can see that's unlikely from the "Military History of Partholon":
Harpstring Moon, Year 892
The Sreng people mounted a large-scale invasion. They crossed the Ruska Mountains in the north and descended south into Faerghus.
King Banfig built a string of strongholds along the north of his domain, from Blaiddyd to Fraldarius, including Conand Tower.
Wyvern Moon, Year 895
Having finally forced Sreng to retreat, Faerghus was in position to counterattack. However, Sreng's resistance and the harsh, snowy conditions caused them to abandon their attack. Thus, hostilities drew to a close.
After the campaign, a young and fierce general by the name of Laetitia Zoe Gautier, royal knight and descendant of the elite hero Gautier, was widely praised.
Great Tree Moon, Year 896
Banfig confers the northern part of his territory on Laetitia. She is given the title of margrave and tasked with defending Faerghus's border.
Laetitia sets to work strengthening defenses in the north, constructing strongholds throughout the Ruska Mountains on the border with Sreng, and reclaiming the Lance of Ruin from the Church of Seiros.
If you map out this history, it implies Gautier territories have belonged to Faerghus since at least 896 in the least-generous reading. In the most generous, the fact Faerghus failed to counterattack Sreng in 895 means that land was already Fodlan's when Sreng invaded in 892. It is entirely possible, given what we know about Nemesis, that the peninsula was actually split during his time, although there is no concrete evidence of this.
At least 10 generations of hostilities with no land exchanging hands is supported by other in-universe factors as well. Most notably, that Sreng and Faerghus didn't have any language sharing until Leif was taken, which is highly unlikely for territories conquered within the last generation.
Leif himself said his raid was necessary for his way of life, perhaps a reference to Sreng's resource poverty or culture, but not that the Gautiers stole his land.
Don't hate us for this! Our way of life hangs in the balance!
He also says:
This payback has been years in the making, Gautier! Hahahaha!
But that doesn't necessarily have to refer to any sort of land exchange. More likely it relates to cultural or personal history.
Per the "Military History of Partholon" :
Horsebow Moon, Year 1169
The Kingdom Army is progressing northwest through the peninsula, but while engaging the Sreng chief Oleg and his forces, a gigantic beast suddenly enters the fray. It lays waste to both sides. Lambert sustains grave injuries, and Oleg disappears into a ravine.
Oleg's son offers his own youngest child Leif as a prisoner to House Gautier to broker peace.
Leif was a war prisoner from the nation that had killed that Margrave Gautier's wife, and yet was raised by him. At that point, the Margrave was known as the Wall of Ice and had given up on peace between their peoples. He was notorious for being a great general, but a poor, cold father to even his blood sons. Seeing how Miklan and Sylvain were treated, it's natural that a prisoner of a hated enemy like Leif would grow up resentful of Faerghus, and specifically, Gautier.
Unfortunately, there is still a large loose end in Sreng's recent history. We still don't know why Lambert's campaign happened - vengeance for the Margrave's wife? A deterrent counterattack to stop the ongoing raids? A failed attempt to conquer? What we do know is that Sreng has been raiding Faerghus for generations, before and after it, continuing a cycle of mistrust between their peoples.
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CW: consent issues, bodily autonomy, SA, Astarion lore
ok so the Astarion act 2 hug scene in my playthrough was delightful but watching a vid of the other outcomes afterwards absolutely DESTROYED me!!!! I feel like I haven’t seen a lot of references to these lines of dialogue (for obvious reasons, I don’t think a lot of ppl pick that line of questioning cuz its very cruel) but maybe they are discussed frequently and I’m just not super active in the fandom on here. Either way, Neil’s delivery of this was heartbreaking and I can’t stop thinking about it
These lines really work to re-contextualize so much of his behaviour up to that point, I would argue more than some of the sweet ones do if you respond positively to him. There’s a terrifying amount of honesty in some of these lines. He’s just told you how fucked up his relationship with sexuality has been for the past 2 centuries and it’s almost like he’s battling between still trying to appease you and going “but didn’t you just hear what I said? This isn’t want I want” and trying to explain himself further because maybe then someone will finally get it.
And the scene you can possibly get afterwards where you pressure him into sex is brutal. I’m so glad the game recognizes this as a really fucked up thing to do and if you pressure him then no matter what he’ll break up with you the morning after because he’s tired of being used. It’s definitely the saddest and quietest Astarion is up to that point in the game and it’s such a huge contrast to his normal performative personality.
Astarion just sitting silently after having spent an entire night disassociating while being pressured for sex IMMEDIATELY after explaining how uncomfortable that makes him to the first person he kinda cared about in 200 years is insane and I almost can’t believe that’s a possible outcome in the game.
All my screenshots were from this very helpful youtube clip btw:
youtube
I highly recommend scrolling through that video if you want extra insight on him as a character, I feel there are a lot of important and emotional pieces of dialogue for Astarion that are hidden behind cruel/shitty Tav choices so a lot of ppl may not end up seeing them. I love BG3 but this is one of the first cutscenes that’s really effected me emotionally, both the normal gentle version I got to see in my own playthrough and the cold cruel versions you can find on youtube.
#Astarion#baldurs gate 3#bg3#baldurs gate astarion#bg3 spoilers#This is my first playthrough so no spoilers pls#bg3 analysis#vampire#cw sa mention#bg3 tav#Anyway ill be crying in a corner about this for a while#He deserves hugs#And friends#and so much therapy#Bg3 really knows how to make me care about its npcs and companions#Youtube
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thinkin about how kuwabara's always like "oh puh-lease you guys don't scare me your punches are nothing compared to YUSUKE URAMESHI'S. URAMESHI beats me up all the time and that's how i got strong and URAMESHI is my rival and i still have to kick URAMESHI'S ass so i gotta win this fight and not croak so i can come back home to URAMESHI. to fight him ofc". like. what's all this my man? a simple "i've had worse" or "you guys are weak" would do. like half of the people he says this to are only vaguely aware of yusuke as a person so it's not even necessarily a dig they'll understand. but instead he's all ridiculous like this bc 1) every fight reminds him of yusuke (and also they never feel as epic or significant as the yusuke fights) 2) he needs to proclaim this unique connection he has with yusuke to the world, even back when it was just "guy who he pummels most often" and 3) he's gotta hype up how strong yusuke is bc he thinks the world of him. psh my BEST FRIEND AND RIVAL YUSUKE URAMESHI is stronger than you therefore you're inferior to me somehow. bc they're a packaged deal. they're a team. they're inseparable concepts. bc kuwabara doesn't know who he is without yusuke. anyway
#what a ridiculous little man. he's my favorite orange bug#kuwabara oblivion npc dialogue like 'ive fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you...!' but the mudcrab is yusuke#(<- incomprehensible and not funny to anyone but me)#yyh#yu yu hakusho#kuwameshi#kazuma kuwabara#is this analysis or me bullying him? both :)
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And don’t get me started on THE GHOST CITIZENS
WE ALL LOVED THEM FROM BOOKS
AND FOR A GOOD REASON
Starting with those beauties on the way to the city, HELLO THEREEE
BABY DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR SKIN YOU’RE GORGEOUS AND ADORABLE
And what about her friend over there?
INSTANT ICON
WHY IS THIS FACE SO RELATABLE???? LIKE SERIOUSLY??? IS IT JUST ME????
Look at them go
She’s an icon, she’s a legend and she is the moment
The mom of the group, obviously
THIS SHOT NOW, LADY WIND MASTER :"D
Probably the only shot so far that fits the “Spot the main character” meme BUT NOT FOR XIE LIAN :"д
YET THE LADIES STILL FEEL SO UNIQUE and the moment itself is so adorable, the way they feel like your average gals and not creepy scary inhuman ghosts???
THIS is what TGCF is all about!
#tian guan ci fu#tgcf#tgcf donghua#tgcf 2#tgcf season 2#tgcf thoughts#tgcf analysis#xie lian#shi qingxuan#ghost citizens#the npcs are not npcing and i love it#tgcf meta
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Do you have any SDV hot takes?
Boy do I ever Anon! Thank you for giving me the chance to get on my soapbox about this.
Shane doesn't relapse when he is happily married to the Farmer. The popular "relapse" interpretation is based on faulty assumptions about what substance abuse recovery is supposed to look like and flat-out misreadings of the text of the game.
Shane doesn't "start" drinking again: he never stops, just reduces the amount he drinks. (Unless we are supposed to interpret the phrase "cut back" in the 7 Heart Event as meaning "quit” or "gave up” for some reason. Or if we ignore the new 1.6 dialogue about him drinking less after his 6 Heart event.)
Shane's mess is not a consequence of uncontrolled drinking, but a consequence of his depression and possible under-managed ADHD. His room at Marnie's remains exactly as messy when he's in recovery as it is when he's spiraling, so the drinking has no effect on his cleanliness.
”Okay,” you might say, “but he still shouldn’t drink, and he should pick up his room.” And sure, yeah. Ideally we should all do the same. But that’s not always a fair or realistic expectation for everyone. Not everyone can quit their addictions or bad habits cold turkey. Not everyone is going to be the model citizen. That doesn’t mean they can’t live happy lives. That doesn’t mean they don’t have value. That doesn’t mean Shane doesn’t have value.
So instead of complaining about the ways that Shane fails to measure up to typical adult standards, it may be more productive to ask: is he happy? Is he doing okay?
By any reasonable measure, a married Shane is living his best possible life. He‘s surprised and delighted to be your trophy husband. He doesn’t have to worry about taking a soul-sucking job or struggling with unemployment. His drinking isn’t causing him any problems, and if he can’t keep his personal space clean, at least he doesn’t let his mess spread to the rest of the house. He has his own little coop for Charlie and it’s just adorable to watch him bounce her up and down. He actually makes time for Jas.
I am not requiring everyone to love Shane the way he is written, or to make space in their farmhouse for him. But please, have realistic expectations for the character that exists. And do make friends with him. He gives you an OP recipe and access to blue chickens!
#My other hot take is that people shouldn’t install mods that “fix” NPC character flaws#Yeah it bothers me too when Penny pushes George’s wheelchair without consent or when Clint gets on his “Nice Guy” hobbyhorse#But CA gave these characters flaws for a reason#Flaws add interest and depth to characters#Instead of knee jerk rejecting my discomfort with the character’s bad behavior#I can sit with it and reflect on my own behavior and values#And I can recognize the worth even in characters who don’t share my values#Or who don’t change and grow in the “right” way#After all I’m not gonna share all your values#Or always change and grow the way I ought to#But we all gotta live together and give each other a little grace#Anywho those are my hot takes#Thank you for your time#shane stardew valley#stardew valley#media analysis#media criticism#media literacy
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Yes Hermie's "Normal only likes me because he craves validation" statement was very poignant when looking at Normal's crush on him, but I think it's also very representative of Hermie's abandonment issues and low self worth.
He can't fathom a reason why someone would want to actually be his friend or, god forbid, actually like him romantically because he's so used to rejection and abandonment from his parents and I imagine his peers as well. He's so used to people using him for one thing or another so when he's shown any type of affection he tries to dismiss all of it before he becomes attached to it and the person ultimately disappoints him.
#watching hermie develop from a joke bit character to one of the most pivotal npcs in the season has been crazy#anywayyyy idk if this analysis is sound but I'd bet anything that they both like each other they just need to work through their#characters arcs before they'd be ready to like actually do anything about it#into the void#dndads#dungeons and daddies#oakworthy
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Another thing (among many) that Warrior Nun gets absolutely right is its cast full of women and how they're treated throughout.
By gifting us with a diverse selection of female characters, each with their own backgrounds, looks, desires, virtues, flaws, we are treated to a wonderful mosaic of what women can be and effectively are. Proud, scared, selfish, hurt, strong, vulnerable, cunning, selfless, determined, evil, good... Each one of them can be individually and duly explored without making it look like a comment on some ideal sort of "Woman", without slipping into stereotype and the usual dullness that many other narratives reserve for their female characters.
By having (many) more than only a single interesting, well-rounded woman, by allowing each of them to be complex and human rather than just a prop for some man or eye candy for a male audience, the world of WN seems to us a lot more like something we can recognise, something truthful, unlike many other stories we've seen before — and that is one hell of a breath of fresh air.
#warrior nun#(i say this when i as an rpg gamemaster only ever come up with female npcs for my players to interact with)#(but then that's just the point. we take our interesting female characters from our own imagination most of the time)#(it's hard to find them in mainstream media especially in *handfuls* like in WN where everybody has their own story to tell)#and i know everyone knows this but i felt like saying it all the same#analysis and similar#exercises in observation
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If my counts are right, Yuuki is at least 7 years older than Mizuki.
Ok so we know a few things.
One: Mizuki is on the first year of hs (going by en for simplicity), they have 2 more years to go
We also know Yuuki has been through college (usually 4 years for a fashion/design major) and is working outside of the country since Mizuki's last year of middle achool.
2 years of hs+ 4 years of college AT LEAST+one year working
7 years. Easily she could've done more years on uni by studying a few more things.
So that leaves Mizuki at 15/16yo on the first year, and Yuuki with 22/23 yo on the smallest amount of age difference there possibly is.
#project sekai#proseka#prosekai#colorful stage#pjsekai#puroseka#Mizuki akiyama#mizusis#yuuki akiyama#why did i do an analysis to know the age of an npc? idk i wanted to its midnight i wake up 6am we ball
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Ravenloft DM Musing*:
The Von Zarovich family probably suffered from a cocktail of personality, mood, and psychotic disorders.
Strahd’s meltdown™️ has the characteristics of a major depressive psychotic episode, possibly brought on from the overwhelming strain of both running the country and grappling with the death of his parents! In lore it was very sudden and tragic, and would have left Strahd to finally grapple with a LOT of childhood trauma that he’d never fully be able to resolve now that his parents were dead.
But psychotic and mood disorders don’t usually exist in a vacuum! There is usually a very strong hereditary component, meaning Strahd likely inherited the predisposition and risk factors from a close family member! A close family member like, say, his mother Ravenia. Though there’s little to no concrete lore standing for this headcannon, I personally run with the idea that Ravenia suffered from bipolar II and was possibly rather low functioning at that. The major, crippling depressive episodes that come with the disorder would have given her ample time to ruminate over the loss of her son Strahd (and possibly Strum) to the military. Barov most likely bullied her into enlisting the boys (because let’s face it, no mother willingly puts their kid in the military at age seven) and when Sergei came along, she had over a decade of depression fuelled regret put in to her relationship with the youngest Von Zarovich. It would explain why he was treated so differently, why he was so unusually pampered. Ravenia had reached her breaking point, and somehow managed to put her foot down and protect Sergei, at the expense of far overdoing his upbringing. If you want to run further with this (as I have) I headcannon that Strum likely suffered from a more mild case of bipolar II which he passed down the family line. This generic predisposition eventually led to lovely Lyssa Von Zarovich who I personally feel has a lovely little cocktail of a psychotic and mood disorder (Schizoaffective disorder) but that’s just my take on things, and is mostly due to how delusional and parabolic her mental stability seems to be.
Which brings us to Barov, my behated. Barov was a domineering, withholding, callous, and likely abusive man (he put his seven year old into the military, kids. That’s abusive even by irl medieval standards). Judging by what I can glean of his behaviour from Strahd’s HEAVILY biased little emo biography, I wouldn’t be surprised if Barov either had personality disordered tendencies, if not full blown Antisocial Personality Disorder (Psychopathic subtype). And oh look at that, personality disorders have hereditary components. To be clear, do I think Strahd has ASPD? No. He’s got some seriously unhealthy behaviours, but he’s not consistently disordered. It’s very circumstantial and I wouldn’t say he fits the full criteria of ASPD or Narcissistic personality disorder. I think he’s a very sick little man whose been warped by trauma and ya know- messing with the dark powers. HOEVER I do think he’s got some hereditary tendencies towards psychopathic behaviour. He’s eerily good at compartmentalizing emotions and has a much higher threshold for empathetic responses.
In summation- Strahd himself is a cocktail of an abusive past (I might do a bigger post on my reasoning for that later) and a really shitty genetic background. Villains aren’t born, they’re made. And unfortunately Strahd (IMO) had the deck stacked against him, at the very least when it comes to mental health. Thank you, if you read this far! Let me know your takes in the comments!
(*Disclaimer: I’m not a professional psychologist, but I will be in 2 years! I also suffer from several of the aforementioned brain issues, so it stood out to me when some NPC experiences were eerily familiar! These are just my takes on how I run these NPCs and interpret their past!!! Feel free to steal or disagree, fellow DMs)
#DM Musings#NPC Analysis#ravenloft#strahd von zarovich#curse of strahd#barovia#dnd#dnd npc#strahd#dungeon master#ravenloft2e#Ravenia Von Zarovich#barov von zarovich#strum Von zarovich
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FEW3H NPC Analysis Pt. 1 - Social Mobility & Mistreatment of Commoners
We've all heard the endless, open-ended debates about what the lords and their friends will or will not do for the people of Fodlan, and that's made more ambiguous than ever in 3 Hopes where end cards don't exist. So I figured, why not see what the people themselves have to say about how they're being treated in each path?
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. The data was manually tagged & compiled, so may have errors. Dataset used
Analysis Background
Only NPC dialogue is considered in this analysis to represent 'the people'. Comments or promises by non-generic characters are not included.
Any events of mobility or mistreatment mentioned needed to be specific for them to be included, and the speaker needed to reference being a commoner if speaking about their own experience. All lines from confirmed commoners I could find were included in the dataset, regardless of subject. 2 of the Azure Gleam lines were borderline, but neither mentioned mistreatment or upward mobility, so I left them in the dataset.
Summary
According to NPCs, the best treatment of commoners as already implemented by the end of the game is in Azure Gleam, and the worst is ironically Scarlet Blaze, despite the game repeatedly saying that changes specifically aimed at class reform have taken place. Golden Wildfire makes almost no mentions of class disparity between nobles and commoners at all.
Scarlet Blaze
The only explicit mistreatment of commoners by nobility is seen in Scarlet Blaze, not once but twice. First to Shez, who is berated by an Imperial General in Chapter 7 for not paying their respects and having a "stench". Another Imperial General in Chapter 13 wants revenge because Viscount Fenja (who turned traitor at that point) had ridiculed her father for being a commoner. These incidents seem to have happened after the two years of class reform in the empire have already occured, although it's possible Viscount Fenja's insults were earlier.
As far as upward mobility, the only commoner confirmed by NPCs to have been given status in this path is Shez, although you do meet a hopeful soldier that believes Shez will be the start of more change. There is also the possibility that the Imperial General with a commoner father is also a commoner, but I couldn't find a confirmation.
Golden Wildfire
Golden Wildfire doesn't deal with commoners at all as a social policy. There isn't anything good or bad that happens with them. The only mention I found was that some believe their King doesn't care what they think.
Azure Gleam
Azure Gleam explicitly mentions several commoners getting knighted, both named (Ashe) and unnamed characters. We also, like in Scarlet Blaze, see NPCs hopeful of starting over or making a name for themselves. There are more of them here, with specific examples beyond Shez of why they think it's a feasible dream, most notably Ashe, Miklan, and Dedue.
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Made this to accompany an analysis i made of Poob
Analysis under read more!!
Continuing this analysis in text bc of the limit:
Its not just that Poob shows genuine care for FleshCousin, ousin, it's it's also how you can almost see their tone change in their dialogue when they tell it to get some sleep. It's almost gentle in a way.
The fact that Poob doesn't hurt you the first time you hit them shows the lengths of their patience, you have to genuinely try several times for them to get back at you. (Though that could very likely just be a game mechanic.)
And the way that Poob frowns when you destroy their apartment, yet says that it's okay when talking about it to other npcs shows how Poob handles themself differently compared to how they handle others.
They're a genuine sweetheart whose emotional intelligence isn't really given much credit when it comes to how others may interpret them, since it's mostly outshined by their personality on the surface.
Even if you may not consider them the nicest, you can tell they have at least some awareness of their words. In conclusion, I love Poob <3 If you don't like them thats alr too
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While I was studying Cacao character designs for clothing references I noticed some things:
All the NPCs listed as “cacao warriors” (and two npcs with names, Peanut Choco and Cube Choco) have a simpler purple belt and black and purple clothing:
And the NPCs described as “watchers” (and caramel arrow cookie) have brown belts with golden circles, as well as brown clothing with a pattern.
Just thought it’d be interesting to share! I think this is supposed to indicate rank.
#cookie run#cookie run kingdom#dark cacao kingdom#character design analysis#cookie run npc#pastelposting#ref is finished btw#I’ll post it tomorrow
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YOUR QUIZ IS FUCKING BROKEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET A SILLY CHARACTER NOT THIS CAUCASIAN DESTINATION ASSHOLE
OOC: IT'S NOT BROKEN >:( yes taiga is an asshole but also he is a very jaded person who has been running away from his grief and denying himself the right to form bonds and have feelings for the sake of sparing himself future potential suffering and because he's been repressing for so long when finally faced with that grief head on he lashed out and while that isn't a true excuse for what was truly an incredibly cruel act you have to understand there's much more to him than that goofy song and being a bit of a dick
in terms of positive qualities taiga really was a fantastic mentor to kohane and despite how quirky some of his methods were he was definitely what she needed at the time to improve as a performer rather than just a singer. also he did keep his promise, despite the fact it definitely had a psychological toll on him, but he did it because that was what his sister asked of him. he was also a pretty good uncle figure for an in her childhood and encouraged ken to spend more time on an because she needed that. frankly, she still certainly needed more attention than she was given even then, but without taiga i'm sure it'd have been even worse.
plus, he's a part of THE RADder! his relationships with ken, vivid bad squad, and vivid street as a whole are all so interesting. he's had such a massive impact on the people around him, for better or for worse, because so many people admire him and value him as a singer AND as a person. so please don't view getting taiga as a negative result! i could tell you just how flawed all the characters in that quiz are as well as all their good qualities too, hehe. he's a really interesting person and i'm sure that means you are too!
#ooc post#ask#megullumverrr#character analysis#i could gush about every VBS NPC#and quite a few of the other NPCs as well#like arisa and shinei and nanamin#and all the leo/need NPCs#and emus siblings and asahi and sakurako#and im sure once im done catching up with events#i only have 30 or so left to read in terms of JP events#id love to be able to psychoanalyse ALL the NPCs#no one adores each and every one of them more than me baby
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THOSE DUDES AND DUDERINAS AROUND FX? WHY SO GORGEOUS??
Those fine ladies as well, hello????
The pals behind SQX??? Especially the lavender-eyed on the right??? Can I get your number, sir???
And we all know and love this gorgeous woman from the trailer, how u doing sweetheart?
But WHY DO I FIND EVEN VIEWS FROM THE BACK ATTRACTIVE???
THAT BLUE HAIRED ON THE LEFT? KINDA HOT??? And that blurry dude in the centre? Why does his posture hold more personality than me????
Haoliners WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???
#tian guan ci fu#tgcf#tgcf donghua#tgcf season 2#tgcf thoughts#tgcf analysis#tgcf NPCs that DO NOT LOOK LIKE NPCs
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this is a subject change but also a question that for fandom-hermitage reasons i am genuinely curious as to the answers to, bc i don't think i've ever seen anyone have a conclusive hc about it. anyway,
if you're split between multiple regions choose the one that you lean more towards or that feels most likely to you to be the canon answer. also feel free to elaborate in tags/comments on your answer 👀
#the nemesis speaks#pla analysis#kalos/galar/paldea get squished into one bc i feel like none of them will be very popular picks and i've only got the 10 slots#anyway given that there's like. literally no overt hints we're given afaik (unless some minor npc has a lore drop in dialogue later on)#and her descendants are in sinnoh so no great evidence there. so it's fairly ambiguous#i feel like it might be kanto since a farm worker does mention there's a group of pokemon battlers there#otoh the ranger regions DO canonically have a very distinct current and historical relationship with pokemon to the mainline regions#and zisu's style is specifically described as a ''martial art'' involving pokemon#so they are also a distinct possibility if you believe they exist in the same continuity#and then there's the fact that she knows about cyllene's history being from hoenn. so it could also be there#i don't know. there's a few potential backstories i'm toying with for her but i'm curious what other people think#but idk!#woah when did they add the ability to edit poll posts???
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