#and i think i might actually leave that as his backstory maybe??? unclear. but he is still very much made of hope and love | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bihansthot · 10 months

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Figured I'd pop in and ask you this question:

So I'm writing some lore for my oc and I was wondering if you had any sources for how Bi-Han is as a brother. The thing I'm working on is supposed to be angsty given what Bodaway's backstory is, but I'm afraid that with what little I know about Bi-Han I might accidentally make him into a complete prick. Like I want there to be some tension and distance between my oc and Bi-Han but like not to the point of Bi-Han being ooc if that makes sense?

You don't have to answer this right away, as I understand you've got a lot on your plate. I know I've already said this, but I do hope things get a bit better for you ^.^

Hello love! So, I have a couple posts I’ve made in the past about this that I’ve mentioned it before here, here, here, here and here.

I feel very strongly that at least in Midway and NRS timelines not including MK1 (2023) Bi-Han was a fiercely protective yet asshole of a brother, the type to pick on Kuai Liang himself but kick anyone else’s ass who tries to start anything with his little brother. I’ve often rambled that Bi-Han protected Kuai Liang growing up and would often confess to misdeeds Kuai Liang was actually responsible for because he didn’t want his little brother to suffer. I personally headcanon Bi-Han has a pretty scared up back from being beat with bamboo (which was a common punishment in Imperial China) so often when the brothers were growing up. I don’t think you have to worry about making him too much of a prick because short answer he is one, long answer he’s a prick but he has good reason to be one. He’s the oldest, he has all the responsibilities and burdens that come with being the oldest brother as well as the Grandmaster’s grandson (their Grandfather is Grandmaster before Sektor’s father takes over which leads me to believe in the older time lines Papa Zero is dead, it’s unclear if Bi-Han did it or not). He’s treated and raised differently than Kuai Liang is, he’s raised to be crueler and colder than Kuai Liang because he should be the next Grandmaster or at least that was the game plan until Papa Zero dies. Bi-Han most likely had to kill their Grandfather or their father or maybe both in order to become the next Sub-Zero and to do that he has to kill his emotions at a very young age but he doesn’t want Kuai Liang to be the same way. So, he makes sure he’s always the bad guy so Kuai Liang doesn’t have to be, he always takes care of things. He’s a very dedicated and hardworking individual and had to step into the role of both big brother and father figure for Kuai Liang. They’re all each other had until Tomas joins the Lin Kuei and suddenly Bi-Han finds himself with two little brothers to look out for and protect.

I base a lot off this off of how desperate Kuai Liang is to find out what happened to Bi-Han in MK9 and in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (which isn’t really canon but it’s kharacter building so we’re gonna use it) he absolutely sobs about the loss of Bi-Han. You do not hunt down someone or sob about a loss if you don’t genuinely love and care about that person. So, that solidifies to me that Bi-Han was an excellent older brother or else Kuai Liang wouldn’t have hunted Hanzo down, he wouldn’t have been in tears fighting his brother’s killer, he wouldn’t be distraught with grief and loss and wouldn’t live on in his brother’s place if Kuai Liang didn’t love and genuinely admire Bi-Han. A bad older brother doesn’t get that, a bad older brother gets a “oh pity, did he leave a will?” I actually have another piece that touches a bit on their relationship but implies they were actually twins which you can read here. Bi-Han is an asshole yes, but he’s also a good brother, you can be both, my brothers are great examples of this. They are absolute assholes to each other and occasionally to me but still would do absolutely anything for any of us. They teased and bullied me growing up just like Bi-Han teased and bullied Kuai but they covered up for me when I got in trouble just like Bi-Han covered up for Kuai Liang.

Bi-Han is a very complicated, layered asshole, he’s not just pompous ego and bravado. If you haven’t watched it I would really recommend watching a play through of Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero it gives a really good idea on Bi-Han’s attitude of asshole but reluctantly does the right thing when he needs to. The story mode for MK9 is also helpful to see his attitude as a kharacter but unfortunately there’s really nothing showing Bi-Han and Kuai Liang together. So all we have to go off of is how Kuai Liang reacts to Bi-Han’s death. Bi-Han as Noob Saibot famously tell Kuai Liang that “we share blood but we are not brothers” because Noob Saibot is Bi-Han stripped of every positive feeling and emotion. Kuai Liang parrots his back to him in MK11 so they very much have a strained relationship after Bi-Han’s death but not while he was alive, I refuse to believe that.

Basically it’s up to a lot of interpretation because we don’t see any of their childhood or them even interacting with each other but I have written a lot on my take about their relationship. Like I suggested though if you haven’t already, please watch Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle or the Realms and feel free to ask or DM me any questions you have. I’m also more than happy to give you my discord username if you’d rather chat there but I’m more than happy to chat about all things Bi-Han and Lin Kuei and discuss how their kharacter progression looks like.

That invitation is for anyone in the fandom if they have any Sub-Zero Bros or Lin Kuei questions, I’m not Boon or Papa Tobias but I have been playing the games since 1992 and have a very good grasp of the lore. I also love what if situations and extrapolating logical conclusions to those situations and think about Bi-Han basically constantly. I’d much rather you lovelies come to me than try and google things and wind up on the weird fan wiki that says Bi-Han is 36 when he’s 32 and gives Sektor and Cyrax fake names, spoilers Felix is NOT Cyrax’s name, it’s just a made up fan name used by this sketch ass wiki same with Sektor, they don’t have canon names. Bi-Han, Kuai Liang and Tomas Vbrada are the only canon names for the love of the Elder Gods stay off this cursed fanmade wiki. Please. Also, I’ve said this before too but please, please don’t make the mistake of thinking Liang is a surname, it isn’t, Kuai Liang is his full first name, just like Bi-Han is his complete first name, the Sub-Zero brothers do not have a canon last name. Only Tomas has a canon last name in the Lin Kuei.

Ok I think that maybe answers your question, hopefully I know there was some powerful rambling in there. There’s a lot of stuff to sort through so like I said if any of you lovelies have questions please feel free to ask me.

@den-kunn I’m tagging you in this because I’ve seen you use Felix for Cyrax and if that’s a personal choice than by all means go for it but I don’t want you to be mislead by that fan wiki and think it’s his canon name when it’s not. I’m just trying to look out for you if you don’t want me to though that’s totally fine just let me know. I’m not trying to police anyone or anything I just know that fan wiki is notorious for spreading the wrong information and I don’t want you lovelies getting confused or mislead by the misinformation that wiki spreads. Because there are mean people out there that will start shit over the small inaccuracies and I don’t want any of you lovelies getting chewed out because this stupid fan wiki made something up.💙

If anyone else wants to be tagged in Lin Kuei or Sub-Zero Bros lore stuff and rambling then just let me know and I’m more than happy to start a tag list. Have a good night lovelies 💙

#mortal kombat #bi han #sub zero #og sub zero #kuai liang #sub zero bros #noob saibot #lore dump #lin kuei #sol rambles about the lin kuei

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darnestdungeon · 2 years

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regarding that ask about Dismas and candlemaking... didn't RH remove candlemaking from his backstory in DD2 because it wasn't cool enough for their vision of him…?

I'm not sure, I gave up on DD2 for now, frankly (._.)

but if they rewrote his backstory, do you think it means it's a completely different reality from DD1 altogether? items and some story bits disapprove it, but... I dunno anymore, really, what even to make out of it all.

Hi hi! I wouldn’t go and say Red Hook outright erased the candlemaking from Dismas’s backstory– I feel more like they… forgot about it (lol)? Like, they just didn’t show us that part of his past, if that makes sense? Dismas could have still been an apprentice before he got involved in crime! Here, I’ve made a diagram to show what I mean:

DD2 HWM backstory follows him from prison to the incident, the blue bits are things that never once showed in DD1 backstory (the distance between the dots do not represent time length).

Personally, I feel like the whole rat-eating thing weakens the incident– as in, he accepted this one last job cause he was desperate and hungry, he needed the money, what choice did he even have? It was way more tragic to think of the incident as him being overconfident in his robbery skills after years on the road (“I never miss” and all that). He *could* have been a humble candlemaker instead but nope, he chose the life of crime, he caused the death of an innocent mom and kid out of a hunger for gold and thrill. This Dismas badly needs redemption. DD2 HWM? Not as much.

But yeah, to answer your question about whether DD2 is an entirely different reality from DD1, I do like to believe it’s some sort of branching alternate universe (mostly to cope with the fact I dislike DD2 Dismas) but it’s hard to say as of now, we don’t have the full story out yet. There are some elements in DD2 that seem to point towards a connection to DD1 universe, but the nature of this connection is unclear: is DD2 set directly in the future of DD1 events, facing the aftermath of defeating the HoD (or failing to defeat it)? Is it an alternate timeline where we don’t get stuck in DD1 looped ending, as in, something broke the loop? Or is it something else entirely? We just don’t know, we might never know! I’m sure it will be easier to draw some theories once all the acts are out though.

For now, all we can do is compile the nods towards DD1 lore found in DD2! I haven’t played DD2 in a long time, so I might be missing some, but here are the ones I can remember:

RETURNING NPCS

Just like with some heroes, there are a few familiar NPCs back from the first game! Half of them didn’t seem to change or age much (save for a new sick arm scar), but the Nomad got a silver lock and the Caretaker/Hoarder went totally gray. Maybe this means DD2 is set in a timeline posterior to DD1 events, maybe it means nothing.

About the Hoarder, the Highwayman is the only one who seems to recognize him somehow. Maybe due to the fact we always start each DD1 save with the Caretaker bringing Dismas and Reynauld to the Hamlet? Is this some sort of memory from another life? When leaving the Hoarder node, the HWM might say this bark: "I swear I've seen him before someplace..."

To give us more to think about, the Academic (DD2’s narrator) has this to say about him: "His attention is unfocused, as though he is in two places at once."

No idea if this means something or if it’s just a meta nod towards DD1 (probably the latter). It’s curious to me the Hoarder seems to be carrying some heirlooms, he clearly has a bust and a portrait in his pack. Is he clinging to what remains of the Hamlet?

ANCESTOR’S PORTRAIT

Speaking of portraits, there’s actually an Ancestor’s Portrait in DD2! It can be randomly found in the Academic’s Study, it’s named as ‘unsettling portrait’ in the files, and the Academic line about it is so interesting: “A handsome rendering of that devilish degenerate who so eagerly welcomed us to his table.”

Again, I haven’t been playing DD2 at all (I haven’t even reached the second act boss), so I don’t know much lore wise to say if the Ancestor holds any significance to DD2 events. All I know is that the Academic and the Protégé (the player) held a common interest in the occult, and their studies brought them to many places over the world– apparently the Ancestor’s table was one of them! I wonder what was in for the Ancestor in hosting for those two?

THE SLUICE

The last thing that comes to mind that seems to connect DD2 to DD1 events is the Sluice, an unfinished DD2 region that brings back the Pigmen we typically find in DD1 warrens. One of the enemies is even named Wilbur, just like the Swine Prince’s little minion-- though DD2 Wilbur is way bigger, like a grown up version of it. When choosing to go to the Sluice, the Academic mentions this:

"The swine were first reported by denizens of a small hamlet nestled on the western coast."

Many people take this line as hard evidence that DD2 *is* in the same universe as DD1, but again, it’s so hard to tell. I still like the branching alternate universe better, as in, maybe DD2 is set in a universe where there was no heir to receive the letter. There was no Dismas and Reynauld at the Old Road, there was nobody to fight the corruption on the Estate. Maybe that’s when the Pigmen spilled out of the Warrens, they grew and reproduced unchecked! The NPCs flee from the doomed Hamlet, the darkness spreads and it all eventually leads to DD2 events. Can you even call this the same universe as DD1 if there’s no Heir (player)?

In the event of this being an alternate universe, there’s nothing stopping us from imagining other events happened differently in here as well, such as Dismas’s backstory (all of this just for that lol). But oh well, I guess we’ll find out more once the game launches!

#darkest dungeon #DD2 SPOILERS #darkest dungeon 2 #darnest answers

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bugsinthebayou · 1 year

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this is an official request for rambles abt ur turtle ocs

OKAY SO

first: Levina

a black-knobbed map turtle. she fights with a kusarigama, and im thinking of making her ninpō being invisibility, maybe? shes named after Levina Teerlinc. i didnt wanna break up the naming theme of the turtles. she and mikey are the same size and age. shes very excitable. she and mikey get along really well. they spar quite often, and their weapons getting tangled is a common occurrence. once she starts talking its hard to get her to stop. when it comes to battle, she likes to jump in without forethought, and messes around to make the fight last longer for fun.

its only a few months after she and the mad dogs meet when they offer her a mask. its in the main area of the lair. mikey holds it up to her with a grin. the other turtles are behind him, also excited. she accepts immediately and puts it on as fast as she could. pink really suits her. its her favorite color, afterall.

second: Atlas

a leatherback sea turtle. she fights with a sort of spear or trident, not sure yet. i dont know what her ninpō would be. she doesnt follow along the naming theme. shes as old as the older twin. shes slightly shorter than raph, but still growing and will one day be bigger than him. she doesnt talk much. she'll say something if she deems it necessary (orders, questions, requests), but usually prefers to remain silent. even in those moments she keeps her words to a minimum. she obverses the world around her, and analyzes the words and actions of people (friends or enemies). atlas likes to have a read on who someone is deep down. she prefers having plans before fighting, and when fighting she tries to end it quickly. she doesnt get along extremely well with any of the turtles like levi does with mikey, but she enjoys their company.

she is offered a mask at one point. its in the training room. the lights are low, like she prefers. shes meditating. raph, only raph, kneels behind her, holding out a hand. he says nothing, but she knows hes there anyway. atlas turns to look at him and his offering. she pushes herself forward a bit, enough to reach him. she brings her claws up and gently closes raph's fingers around the turquoise fabric in his palm. "not yet," she whispers. she isn't close enough to the turtles to wear such a symbol of kinship. raph nods, and leaves her to her meditation.

backstories!!

so the stuff with lou draxums lab happen as normal, only the four boys are mutated, and lou escapes with them.

in the chaos, draxum manages to retrieve just enough ooze to mutate two more turtles

he takes a few weeks to get a stable-enough living situation, and then hunts down two turtles.

a black-knobbed map turtle, and a leatherback sea turtle.

he mutates them, and starts rasing them.

he waits until theyre a bit younger than the mad dogs are in the short "turtle tots" to start training them

atlas takes to it quickly. she likes the adrenaline rush it gives

levi doesnt enjoy the serious part of it. she prefers spars that are more for fun

when theyre roughly 9/10, draxum takes them to the hidden city for the first time.

during this trip, levi gets lost, and draxum n atlas are unable to locate her

now heres where is gets a bit unclear for levi.

im not sure exactly what happens to her. ive played around with some ideas and i think her being adopted by a battle nexus champion might be interesting? not sure, but its on the table. sometime during this levi finds out shes actually a girl

atlas is distraught at the loss of levi, and her skill during training drops drastically.

draxum is faced with two choices.

let atlas take a break and comfort her through their loss, or order her to toughen up and increase training.

he ultimately decides to let atlas mourn, letting her train on her own accord.

she gets back into the swing of things roughly a year after levi goes missing.

when shes 13-ish she marches up to draxum and declares that she is, infact, a girl, and that he cant stop her from being one.

they meet sometime in s2. atlas is still living with draxum after his redemption, and levi's. doing whatever it is shes doing.

technically atlas has known the mad dogs longer than theyve known levi, but due to atlas' reserved nature, they arent as good friends

#answered #anon pog #oc: atlas #oc: levina #i have a favorite. its pretty obvious who it is

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shuuji-thoughts · 18 days

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on Sweet Bean - Naomi Kawase (2015)

Initial Impressions

This was also a pretty mixed experience. The contents on their own are quite wholesome and laid-back, the narrative is easy to follow, and it's consistently well presented. That being said, it was kind of boring and predictable as fuck. The only thing I didn't quite see coming was the Leprocy thing, despite it clearly being hinted at from the beginning, but that was the one thing I actually really appreciated about the film, as I can't really think of another piece of media that centers around leprocy off the top of my head, so it's nice to see some rare representation.

Further Critique

I genuinely can't think of much to say about this one. Theme-wise it's pretty straightforward. Tokue frequently talks about freedom, the freedom of youth, the freedom to fly like a bird, the freedom to be out in the sun, (not so) subtly hinting at the heavily restricted life she's been forced to live locked up in a facility since she was a child due to her illness. She also talks a lot about the importance of appreciating the rich sensory experiences available all around us, namely those found in nature, and frequently comments on the beauty of the cherry blossom trees near the shop (potential impermanence undertones???). Oddly, there's not nearly as much of an emphasis on food as one might expect given the subject material, but I would imagine Tokue's deep appreciation for An ties back to the whole appreciation of sensory experiences thing.

There were certainly a lot of things I found a bit odd about this film. Obviously, there's the aforementioned dragged-out feeling present throughout, particularly because of just how much time is spent in that cramped kitchen, leaving much to be desired in terms of visual variety. Additionally, Sentaro's character personally felt extremely odd and underutilized. He was shown experiencing intense turmoil at multiple points throughout the film, but to me it felt like those scenes weren't at all sufficiently built up to. I had almost no reason to sympathize with him until way towards the end of the film when the owner brings in his young future replacement and talks of plans to remodel the shop. His backstory too felt extremely underutilized and poorly explained, and I wish we would have gotten a little more exploration of his character, as that would have certainly gone a long way toward making this film less bland. Now that I think about it, that was probably my main issue with the film. It just doesn't really do anything with its characters. Lots of things happen, but nobody really grows and changes much, nor do they like deal with the shit in their past or anything like that, they are kinda just mostly static throughout. Of course, by the end of the film, Sentaro is seen working at his own stall, but it's unclear how that happened or why, so I didn't really see the point in showing that? Idk maybe I missed something, but for me at least the film felt generally lacking in a lot of areas. Overall, a moderately wholesome and enjoyable experience with some much needed representation and a basic, albiet cute message. 6/10

#japanese film

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labarch · 3 years

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Attempt at a Witch Hat Atelier timeline

We are still missing a lot of backstory for our main cast, but I thought I’d try and write a timeline based on what we know so far, and explore where their storylines might intersect.

I am pulling these numbers out of my hat for convenience sake, but here are some approximate ages for the characters: at the start of the manga, let’s say Coco, Tetia and Agott are all 12, Riche is 11, and Qifrey and Olruggio are 28.

20-23 years ago: Olruggio leaves his birth town Godley and moves to the Great Hall, maybe as young as 5 years old.

While many witches are born in the Great Hall, Olruggio comes from a town called Godley in the North. Yet he doesn’t remember Utowin, who came from the same place. We know that young witches usually start their training between the age of 7 and 10, but since witch society is awfully elitist, Olruggio would have been sent there as soon as his talent for magic became apparent.

Being ripped from his home at an extremely young age could explain his fear of being unwanted and left behind: he overworks himself as a way to feel useful and validated, is defensive about his own feelings, and he gets agitated and sometimes aggressive whenever Qifrey hides things from him.

20 years ago: arrival of Qifrey at the Great Hall at age 8. Olruggio befriends him soon afterwards. The both of them start sneaking out at night to chase Brimhats.

8 year old Qifrey was one fierce little thing, you have to give him that. His abuse at the hands of the Brimhats was brutal enough to break a grown man, but he picks himself up and goes right after them like “Alright jerks, you’ve got some explaining to do and I want my eyeball back!”.

Also it cracks me up that Olruggio was carrying this massive book in their flashback. Gotta love that his reaction to Qifrey’s “Let’s go chase some terrorists!” was “Sure, let me just pack my homework =>”.

Finally, there might be a slightly more selfish motivation for Olruggio’s fast friendship and devotion to Qifrey. Olruggio’s self-esteem lies in his ability to help people, so he would naturally be drawn to someone helpless. It’s unclear how much of Qifrey’s memory was missing: apparently he didn’t know about birthdays. How many other basic concepts was he missing? Did he know how to read? Between that, his lack of knowledge about magic and his injury, he was probably completely dependent on Olruggio at the beginning. Given Olruggio’s wish that they go back to “the good old times” when they were always together, I am wondering whether some hidden part of him misses being essential to someone. It’s well-intentioned, but not entirely healthy, especially if he is using Qifrey as a coping mechanism for his own insecurities.

14 years ago: Olruggio and Qifrey make a pledge of (betrothal) friendship, exchange tassels and attempt the Librarian test at age 14. It is their last adventure together, but Qifrey will continue his investigations on his own, to Olruggio’s disappointment and betrayal. Qifrey starts wearing his half-tinted glasses.

In the pledge flashback, they are wearing their old tassels, but they have swapped them by the time they undertake the third test. Also, when he remembers that pledge, Olruggio says that Qifrey’s investigation “should have ended at the Tower of Books”. The tower is the last likely place where Qifrey could have found answers about his past and a non-forbidden way of getting his eye back. Olruggio probably made him promise that he would stop his search afterwards.

Beldaruit says that he thought Qifrey had given up on his search after the third test, but Olruggio tells a slightly different story. Apparently he thought Qifrey “finally stopped causing trouble” after taking in apprentices, which means he was still behaving suspiciously right up until he became a teacher. Alaira also comments on Qifrey’s interest in the Brimhats in the first volume, so clearly his investigations were common knowledge among his friends, even as an adult.

Olruggio’s anger whenever the Brimhats are mentioned would then be caused not just by his own fear of forbidden magic, but by the reminder that Qifrey broke his promise to him, and refused to leave his past behind. Naturally, Olruggio doesn’t know about Qifrey’s change in circumstances: he is no longer looking to retrieve what he lost, but trying to stop an impending threat.

Qifrey’s discoveries in the Tower of Books also seem to have renewed his disgust towards his own scar: he starts wearing glasses shortly afterwards, even though his eyesight hasn’t yet started deteriorating.

14-5 years ago: in that interval, Coco’s father dies of illness. Olruggio becomes more and more famous for his magical items, and is given the title “Shining Torch” / “Master of Lights”. His glowstone paths become widely popular, and are installed around the castle near Coco’s mom. Both Qifrey and Olruggio pass the fourth test and complete their training.

At this stage, I really doubt that Qifrey intended to become a teacher. Whatever information he found at the Tower of Books convinced him he had to stop the Brimhats’ plan. He was probably planning to complete his training and then go straight on to his quest, not really expecting to return alive.

There are also hints that this was a strained period for Qifrey and Olruggio: Olruggio mentions that he would like them to confide in each other “just like old times”, which implies that they grew more distant after the Librarian test. I’m suspecting that Qifrey was trying to slowly remove himself from Olruggio’s life, hoping Olruggio would be so famous and beloved by the time they graduated that he would forget about Qifrey and barely notice his disappearance. Qifrey’s self-esteem isn’t the best y’all.

5 years ago: Coco receives the magic picture book from Iguin at age 7 at the Silver Night Festival. The Brimhats stop showing signs of activity. Qifrey takes on his first apprentice (probably Tetia, age 7). He interrupts his investigation of the Brimhats and creates the atelier. Olruggio becomes his Watchful Eye.

We don’t know exactly how old Coco was when she got her book, but her tiny chubby face makes me think she was 6-7. Alaira also tells us in the first volume that the incident with Coco’s mother is the first sign of Brimhat activity in five years. I am thinking that after Iguin gave away the book, he instructed the other Brimhats to keep a low profile until his scheme could hatch.

I also wonder whether Coco getting her book might coincide with Qifrey becoming a teacher and creating his atelier. Given that Qifrey is probably tied to Iguin’s schemes, how coincidental is it that Qifrey wandered into Coco’s village and set her fate in motion? Perhaps Iguin contrived for them to live in the same area so that they would meet eventually. Either he somehow influenced Qifrey’s choice of location for his atelier, or he selected Coco as his “child of hope” because of her relative proximity as well as her love for magic.

7 years old is when we could expect Tetia to have passed the first test. For now we know little about her backstory, but we can guess a few things: she is enthusiastic and ambitious, but gets easily side-tracked by pet projects and struggles to stick to the curriculum. She craves positive feedback and is worried her spells and interests will be condemned as frivolous. It makes me think that she passed her first test early, but was then mistreated by her first teachers for being too childish.

We’ve seen that Qifrey has a compulsive tendency to adopt children in distress. It would fit his character if he became a teacher on impulse. Maybe he had to pass the fifth test in a rush to be allowed to keep Tetia by his side. This also brought Olruggio back into his life, as he was the only one willing to follow him away from the atelier as Watchful Eye.

The complicity between Tetia and Qifrey, and Tetia taking on the role of a big sister for both Riche and Coco, also make me think she was Qifrey’s first apprentice. Tetia is often shown teasing Qifrey, quoting both Qifrey and Olruggio, and imitating Qifrey’s teaching style: I can totally see them as a little family of three at some point in the past.

4 years ago: Riche starts training under her brother’s master, a creepy asshole, at age 7.

We actually have a clear timestamp for that one in chapter 25, woohoo! Riche’s old teacher can eat a brick.

3-2 years ago: Qifrey and Olruggio learn about Riche’s mistreatment in her old atelier and promptly adopt her. Beldaruit takes on Ririfin as an apprentice. Qifrey’s eyesight starts deteriorating. He adds the light protection glyph to his glasses.

Before that time, Qifrey might have intended to put his quest on hold until after Tetia’s graduation, but now his impending blindness puts him on a time limit. He can’t do a lot about it however, since the Brimhats have been keeping a low profile for years and are not leaving him any clue.

It’s unclear how long Riche stayed at her old atelier, and whether she joined Qifrey before or after Agott. I’m hoping she made it out as soon as possible.

2 years ago: Agott passes the first test at age 10. She gets accused of stealing someone else’s spell, is rejected from her prestigious family’s apprenticeship, and joins Qifrey’s atelier.

Agott has been treated harshly by her family for not being enough of a genius. She mentions passing the first test at 10, the upper end of the normal age range. She was probably given a hard time for starting her apprenticeship so “late”, which explains why she is now adamant about passing the other tests as quickly as possible.

I wonder whether she felt ambivalent about joining Qifrey’s atelier at first. On the one hand, Qifrey was taught by the Sage of Education himself and is clearly very powerful. On the other hand, he has only a couple students and lives in a weird little school in the middle of nowhere, a big fall from grace compared to her prestigious upbringing. I wonder whether Qifrey went to find her after he heard she was the object of nasty rumours (he knows a thing or two about those), and Agott didn’t feel like she had other options.

0 year ago: Coco and Qifrey meet. Iguin goes “F***ing finally, I thought I’d have to watch that humdrum one-eyed twink bake potatoes for another five years. It’s dragon-slaying time now baby!!!”

#witch hat atelier #witch hat meta #qifrey #olruggio #tbna #coco #riche #agott #everyone has a horrible time at the Great Hall: a wha timeline #Olruggio the wonder child arriving at the Great Hall at age 5 wrapped in an anxiety blanket and clinging to a plush toy #protect him #no mention of treefrey this time what are the odds

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thepapergirlandthespiegelman · 3 years

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Castlevania Season 4: I’m not mad, just disappointed

Season 4 is poorly written fanfiction, which is...better than a lot of things could be, I guess.

Spoilers below the cut.

Content warning: trauma, sexual assault, psychological manipulation

The Gods Have Had a Change of Heart

Or, “Season 3 Blocked and Ignored”

Season 3 felt like the fabric of the universe had been twisted just to inflict additional pain. Season 4 overcompensates in the other direction; trauma evaporates, and good things happen for no other reason than to make our favorite characters happy.

The Season 3 finale left two characters in particular totally devastated: Alucard and Hector. Alucard is violently betrayed in a horrifying sexual assault by the first two people he’s spoken to since Trevor and Sypha left. He ends up killing them in self-defense and puts their bodies on stakes outside the castle, alluding to his father’s habit of doing so and potentially hinting at a turn toward evil. Hector is seduced by Lenore and then enslaved using a magic ring.

Yet at the start of Season 4, it’s as if these things never happened. Alucard is troubled, but not totally devastated, certainly not evil. Taka and Sumi are referenced in exactly one conversation with new character, Greta, in which she says the rather tactless throwaway line, “I had a boyfriend and girlfriend at the same time once. But they never tried to kill me.” Hector is nominally imprisoned, but immediately seems highly agentic, perhaps even more so than before. He studies, lays traps, and makes secret plans with other people. Furthermore, his relationship with Lenore is completely transformed. From falling to his knees in abject horror and despair at being enslaved, he suddenly switches to light banter, in what is apparently a basically okay, mutually enjoyed romantic/sexual relationship. Manipulative, selfish Lenore is now a sympathetic character struggling to reconcile her own role and feelings with Carmilla’s plans.

The events of season 3 happened, remaining canon in the most basic, literal sense. But the emotional weight attached to them has disappeared into thin air.

Not gonna lie, I did breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that Alucard and Hector were okay. I’m soft-hearted! I don’t like seeing characters I like suffer! I mean, conflict is important, and I can deal with (or even enjoy in a certain sense) seeing characters suffer if it makes sense and serves a narrative purpose. But as far as I can tell, the season 3 finale was nothing more than lurid, meaningless violence. I probably wouldn’t have continued watching the show if it devolved into nothing more than finding novel ways to torture the characters.

Still, it doesn’t feel quite right to pretend like nothing happened either. Or, really, not that nothing happened, but that those things didn’t matter, didn’t hurt, didn’t leave lasting scars. That’s...almost kind of worse.

But, I thought, I can sort of forgive this sudden shift in the stars, given that there may have been some sort of change in creative direction relating to Ellis’ decreased involvement with the show.* Plus, season 3 was insanity. It’s not like it was full of great writing choices, so if we quietly ignore some of them, maybe that’s for the best.

*I only later learned that Netflix actually chose to continue with Ellis’ season 4 scripts. It is not lost on me that maybe Ellis doesn’t know how to write about the lasting effects of traumatic sexual experiences or how power dynamics can make a sexual relationship problematic because he doesn’t understand that those things exist.

Characters Being Nobody and Nothing Happening

Pretty Pictures, Not Much Else

Unfortunately, the disconnect between seasons 3 and 4 isn’t the only problem with this season. Although I felt that season 4 was a bit less boring than season 3 (I particularly enjoyed some of the earlier episodes of season 4), it suffers from the same basic problems of Characters Being Nobody and Nothing Happening.

None of the characters experience any significant development, let alone any sort of coherent arc. Sypha has changed slightly, becoming more rough and jaded. I did really like the scene where she talks about becoming the kind of person who says “shit.” I think it really speaks to how entering into a relationship with someone means taking on aspects of their lifestyle, and how that can change you in ways that you can’t predict and therefore can’t exactly “agree” to. Sometimes those changes are good, sometimes they’re bad, sometimes they’re neutral, and sometimes it’s difficult to know. But you have to accept that you’re sacrificing some aspects of the person that you could have been if you chose to live completely independently, or with someone else.

Trevor really hasn’t changed since season 1 when he first decided to take up the mantle of hero again. Likewise with Alucard. Hector and Lenore change, as previously noted, but that change is sudden, jarring, and occurs completely off screen in between seasons 3 and 4. Carmilla dies as exactly as she lived: bitter, angry, and violent. Saint Germain just kind of...gets fucked over in a nonsensical subplot, which is its own whole can of worms.

We also get several new characters in season 4, none of whom have developed personalities or motives, nor do they develop any of those things over the course of the season: Greta, Zamfir, Varney, Ratko.

And nobody. Does. Anything.

Trevor and Sypha spend the entire season trying to explore and aid Targoviste, which comes to absolutely nothing. They’re unable to help anyone, Zamfir dies, and they end up just jumping through a magic portal to the actually relevant subplot in the finale. Carmilla literally does little more than draw maps until she’s ultimately killed. Hector plays a minor role in Saint Germain’s extraction of Dracula from Hell; otherwise, he and Lenore basically just exchange banter. Saint Germain does sort of do some stuff? But it’s often unclear how he’s made his connections, who the people who are helping him are, or what exactly he’s doing in terms of his magic beyond “whatever it takes to get back to his lover.”

Sure, there are fight scenes, but they feel meaningless. There’s no context, no stakes. There’s also a LOT of dialogue, and it is. Not well written. Exposition is embarrassingly clumsy at times, and the philosophical musings are cliche at best, muddled and confusing at worst. There’s just not all that much going on.

That is, except for Isaac. But more on him in a second.

What Kind of Show Is This?

When the plot line adapted from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse ended with season 2, the show struggled to establish a new identity.

Despite nominally dealing with themes like whether humanity is inherently good or evil and how to cope with wrongdoing and loss, seasons 1 and 2 ultimately boiled down to a pretty generic action-adventure/fantasy plot with found family/power of friendship elements. Main characters Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard don’t really wrestle with big philosophical questions or suffer any major defeats. They know that they have to take down Dracula for the good of the world, and they work together as a team to do it, with a little character development relating to their various backstories sprinkled in.

Then season 3 happened, and things got weird. The trio is broken up for what feels like a pretty trivial reason—Alucard has to protect the castle and Belmont hold, I guess? And the result of that decision is that the dynamics for the three main characters are completely unbalanced.

Ellis openly admits that he basically went feral with the writing of season 3, and it shows. The messaging in seasons 1 and 2 was cliche, but consistent. The message of season 3? Anyone’s guess.

Season 4 reversed the darkening of tone from season 3, but shares its inability to pick a story and tell it.

Isaac is the Main Character

Always has been.

While I can’t say that his character or arc are perfect, I can say that he actually has a character and an arc. He starts off motivated by his fierce loyalty to Dracula, then has to struggle to find his purpose once Dracula is gone. He goes from subservient to agentic. He goes from fully endorsing the genocide of humanity and not caring about his own life to seeing some worth in humans and genuinely wanting to live. He has an interesting moment that deepens our understanding of what night creatures are, while also serving as an exploration of the meaning of one’s fundamental nature. Most importantly, these changes happen naturally over the course of the show. They never feel forced or out of the blue, and while I feel like even more could have been done with Isaac’s character, there’s a lot to appreciate about what is there.

If there’s any thread holding Castlevania as a single, coherent work together, it’s Isaac. Not only is his character the best executed and the most coherent over the course of the show, his character explores themes that are larger than himself and relevant to the show as a whole, like those mentioned earlier: misanthropy versus a belief in the value of humanity; the ability to go beyond one’s “nature” or initial circumstances; and how to respond to being wronged or losing something important to you. Exploring the individual lives of characters is great, but really good writing usually requires going beyond that to reflect on broader questions and ideas. Isaac is the only character here that serves that larger purpose.

Sorry...I Just Don’t Buy It

The season 4 finale is crazy, although in a different way from season 3′s.

Varney being Death makes no sense on several different levels. I’m not going to spend a lot of time picking that particular plot twist apart, but I will talk about why I think it doesn’t work at the largest scale, and how I think season 4 might have been done better.

Last minute twists with zero foreshadowing are rarely a good idea, and this is no exception. Why introduce this “Death” entity at the last minute to be the most important battle of the season? The finale of the entire show, even? Besides the lack of logic or emotional buildup, this robs the show of the opportunity to make use of the antagonists that it already has. Since Dracula died, Carmilla has been the obvious choice for a new big bad. Why hasn’t she done more?

Season 4 feels crowded with characters and plot lines that amount to nothing. Why not bring some of these characters together? If Carmilla is the main antagonist, how come she never meets any of the protagonists (except Hector, who is a pretty minor player in this ecosystem) or even affects them in any way?

Season 4 feels like maybe it was trying to make something out of season 3 and the model that it presented, but it ultimately fails to do so. The writers throw the trio back together at the end anyway, so why not have them rejoin sooner and work together? Maybe Sypha and Trevor’s past experience with Saint Germain could have helped Alucard and Greta piece together what he was plotting sooner, rather than all four of them being completely blindsided by it in the penultimate episode. (Sypha and Trevor know that someone is trying to resurrect Dracula, but they fail to find out any actual detail about the plans, despite their supposed attempts.) Have characters actually do stuff, figure stuff out, advance the plot!

Likewise, maybe Carmilla becomes aware of Saint Germain’s scheming, sees it as a threat, and tries to take him down. Maybe she tries to get involved and somehow use alchemy or the Infinite Corridor to her own benefit. What does it look like when power-hungry Carmilla, who wants to rule the world, finds out there’s an entire multiverse out there? That could easily set her up to be a foil to Saint Germain, causing him to realize that what he’s doing is wrong.

What actually ended up happening in the show feels disjointed and often empty. In particular, most of the events that happen in the last two episodes just don’t really work for me. I didn’t like Trevor suddenly sacrificing himself to this random, new, super powerful enemy, or how the gems and dagger that he found just happened to be the perfect weapon to kill this new enemy, or how he inexplicably returns from the dead.

This kind of thing is what I mean when I say that this season feels like fanfiction. Trevor comes back from the dead for no discernible reason other than that it would really suck if he died. Greta as a character seems to literally only exist to be Alucard’s girlfriend and support him so that he doesn’t have to continue to be alone and potentially turn evil. Alucard’s trauma from Taka and Sumi and Hector’s trauma from Lenore are both conveniently erased. Even Dracula and Lisa are resurrected somehow and get their happy ending. And it’s like, I guess I prefer deus ex machina to the opposite (Does that have a name? When everything is going well but then something terrible happens for no reason other than to make things worse for the characters?), but they’re both bad writing.

God. This isn’t even getting into what happened with the Council of Sisters. And I don’t even really like those characters, but that doesn’t mean I want to see their characters handled poorly.

I’m not sorry that I watched until the end, but I can’t in good faith recommend the show as a whole. If you’ve yet to watch Castlevania, just stop at the end of season 2. While there are some shining moments in seasons 3 and 4 (4 more than 3), it’s just really not worth it.

#review #thoughts #television #animation #adult animation #video game adaptation #fantasy #Netflix #Netflix Original #Castlevania #storytelling #writing #characters #plot #character development #vampires #Isaac (Castlevania)

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ruby-whistler · 3 years

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I recently took your latest survey and I was having some thoughts like I tend to do and thought I would try to understand your POV better and give some insight into mine. I wouldn’t consider myself a “apologist” for any character and actually really hate how the term is used, but in general I disagree with the main opinion I’ve seen on your blog which is that Dream should get a redemption arc. However, my reasoning isn’t one that I see you commonly argue against. (Being that dream shouldn’t get a redemption arc because he’s done bad things.) You always ask some interesting questions, I enjoy taking your surveys, I’ve done all the ones I’ve seen on my dash. So I’d like to in turn ask for your opinion on some things and see your opinion on my POV, if that is ok with you. I just find it interesting to discuss.

the view I see a lot of Dream apologist have is that everyone should have the opportunity for a good ending, which is true.

But I feel like it kind of misses the point of well, we are discussing characters, not real people. Now of course, what we say and write about characters can still have an impact, but I feel like sometimes this fandom in particular goes too far down the route of seeing these characters as people. To the point where anything said about the character is seen as proof of that persons morals, and not something said about a story.

For example, going back to the point about how everyone should have the opportunity to heal, I think that is true. But the fact of the matter is, not everyone will. It’s not realistic. So it makes sense that in stories, not ever y antagonist will have a redemption. I think there’s a huge difference between saying you don’t want a character to heal in a story, and saying you don’t want someone to in real life. For me it completely depends on how well it would work narratively in the story, not how much I think the particular character deserves it.

There’s a reason why the whole “power of friendship” trope is often mocked. It’s because it’s anticlimactic. It takes away all the stakes, leaving you with a rather stale, and hard-to-believe ending. People who have had a considerable downward spiral often can’t be completely derailed by a simple “no, this isn’t right” or a brief act of kindness. To better explain this I think it would help to take a step back from the story and characters we are attached to and just take a look at different stories that are pretty well known. Just to kind of put what I’m trying to say into perspective better.

I’ll take Marvels Infinity war/endgame as a example here because I think a lot of parallels can be drawn from Thanos to c!dream. (And I used to be really into marvel.) What with the whole “greater good” “one big happy family” thing they want to achieve through harm, murder, and total control. Also the disc war finale was literally pulled from endgame lol. With both characters we can see they have at the very least a not terrible motive. If you look closely enough it’s possible to sympathize with them. Less so for me with c!dream simply because we haven’t gotten a real solid backstory or reasoning from him, besides pieced together fanon that we have no real way of determining the accuracy of yet. But I get that some people do really like the character. But keeping along those lines of comparing the two, they’ve both done a ton a very terrible things, and don’t seem to feel any regret for them. (Actually, scratch that, there are scenes that imply thanos at least did feel somewhat bad about what he was doing, another reason that he’s more sympathetic for me. Of course you could claim that c!dream is less emotional or just doesn’t show it, which could be true, but there’s also the claim that he just doesn’t care, which could also very well be true. Again, we sadly don’t have too much insight to his character, which is a shame in my opinion. I’d like the see more of the writers intent.)

So the reason for my comparison is to ask this question, taking away all bias. do you think that giving thanos a redemption arc would of been the right way to take the story. Again, I think both their arcs are easily comparable, seeing as the dsmp pretty much took direct inspiration from those movies in the latter part of season 2. This might be a bit harder to answer if you haven’t seen it but you could easily look up a summary if you wanted to, or just take my word for it that they are pretty similar lol.

Becuase, if the answer is no, then I’m not sure how much some of the points you’ve made on this blog hold up. Besides being based off your liking of the character, which is valid. (there’s a reason why fanfic and fanart exists) but that doesn’t mean that such a ending would be good for a story. Again, I can understand why you would want a redemption for c!dream, just like I want my favorite characters to have a happy ending, but that doesn’t mean I actually want it to happen. Above all else I want a good story.

Just to clarify, I’m not asking if you think these characters deserve redemption. I’m asking if you think it would work well narratively and give a solid conclusion. Because, like I mentioned earlier, this is a story. We arnt discussing the fate of real people here. Having a villain not be redeemed is not the same as saying people who have done really bad things should not be redeemed. Likewise, having a villain be redeemed isn’t saying what they did was ok. Villain redemptions can be well done, but they have to make sense narratively and be satisfying. In this case, I personally believe a redemption for Dream would not be interesting or compelling in the slightest, for the same reason I don’t think endgame ending in a redemption arc for thanos would be interesting or compelling in the slightest, despite the fact that I like both characters.

Part of the reason I brought up marvel at all is I want to kind of reframe the story, because I feel like this fandom has a oddly unique way of viewing the characters and story. Like I mentioned, the characters are often discussed like they are real people. Discussing c!dreams fate is treated like your discussing the fate of a real man, not a character in a story. I think there are some possible reasons for this. For one, all the characters are somewhat attached to their steamers counterpart. So, we feel more attached to them as a whole, and they feel more like real people. Another reason could be that you can watch almost any perspective you like, and leave out any ones you wish to as well. It’s a bit like a choose your own adventure book. So, in a way, pretty much every character could be considered a protagonist.

Which is where I can see a possible argument against my point. In a story where every character is the protagonist, the only satisfying outcome would be one that pleases fans of every POV. Which is where I can see this argument take place of “well, do you think ___ deserves a good ending? Then what about ___?? Surely you must think everyone does, or you just have bad morals!”. It’s a unique situation that I don’t think I’ve seen before. Of course, everyone has their favorites in a story, but the difference here is there are no supporting characters or solid antagonist.

And honestly, I think originally Wilbur saw the possibility of that problem arising, which is why he once stated that he wanted the characters to serve the narrative, not the other way around. It’s interesting that we didn’t have nearly as much discussion like this back when Wilbur was writing, because the story was much more conventional. But by the time we got to season three, that sentiment had been pretty much completely thrown out the window, leaving us with what we have today.

This is why I personally prefer the previous narrative. On one hand, this current way of story telling is very unique, and has a lot of potential, but comes with a lot of downsides. Conventional story structure just,,, doesn’t work out as well. Which is why I personally see the best course of action as using Dream as the overall antagonist. Giving Dream a tragic backstory, hidden motives, and eventual redemption arc just wouldn’t do much for the story in my opinion. Sure, it would make people who enjoy and sympathize with his character happy, but it runs into the problem of all the storylines being very separate. Like yeah we can have a separate redemption arc for each and every character, but I just don’t see how we would get an actual story out of that. I think a central villain could really pull things together, but at the moment it’s unclear if that is what they are going for. I guess we’ll just have to see where things go? Maybe there’s some answers to our questions in the aforementioned Dream lore stream? I personally believe he is being written as a central antagonistic character, but I can see where the opinion that he is not comes from, despite not personally wanting the story to take that direction.

I know this is very long, and I apologize, but seeing as you often make surveys and things asking for others povs, which I would imagine results in pages of paragraphs, I figured you wouldn’t be opposed to this. I’d like to hear your opinion/thoughts, but if you don’t want to respond I am fine with that.

alrigh, putting this one onder the ol’ cut because the ask is long enough /lh

so, i don’t actually take “everyone deserves to heal” as an argument why c!dream should have a redemption arc - more like an anti-argument for why he shouldn’t. my main reasons for why i believe he should be redeemed is 1. it’s the only thing that makes sense for the story 2. it’s the thing that makes the most sense for the character 3. he just genuinely deserves better after what he’s gone through 4. at this point anything else would send a really bad message 5. he’s the perfect character with the perfect setup to get one. it’s not just because i like him.

i don’t take what people say about characters deserving redemption as proof of their real life morals, or an example for how they’d treat real people, however i can still say these takes are atrocious, make no sense, or even upsetting and make me want to interact with the person less. they’re often born from bias and are completely illogical from both an objective and a philosophical sense, which is why i speak out about them, not for real life morality issues. this fandom has some of the most ridiculous and unsettling views of the story i’ve seen.

stories are not meant to be 100% realistic. art is supposed to have an improvement of real life - redemption arcs in stories that are well-written aren’t invalidated just because in real life, people don’t become better more often than not. if all bad people became good people, that would be cool actually - it’s not what’s gonna happen in real life, but doesn’t mean i should be opposed to it if it’s pulled off well.

alright, full disclosure, i have never watched a marvel movie in my life. i don’t plan to, really, i read books instead of watching movies most of the time. with the limited knowledge i have of thanos, i’d say some parallels can be drawn, but they’re not the same character at all, nor is their personality, story, or narrative the same. we have gotten confirmation on the fact his goal is peace and for people to get along, and i don’t know what you mean by “pieced together fanon”, but people believe or deny what they want, so whatever. i’d argue he’s easier to sympathize with, but then again, i haven’t watched marvel movies, so in my mind thanos is less a “sympathize” and more of a “understand his motives” type of guy.

i think that if thanos was a character in an environment of less than thirty people, with a home he owned and his family torn apart and divided, becoming more and more ruthless in attempts to stop people from starting long-winded conflict, who has proven again and again to care about people, but employ horrible tactics less despite and more as a result of it, and was defeated and abused in a cruel prison system for several months, while the narrative deliberately shows of his humanity - then yes, i think he should be redeemed. if that is not thanos, then perhaps you should’ve chosen a better comparison, or not used one at all.

seems very out of character to me. perhaps if you think c!dream and thanos are really the same person, you should start considering actual canon more than your own feelings about the character. just a suggestion.

i myself think that everyone on the smp deserves to heal and be redeemed, however i think c!dream will be the only person to get an arc in the upcoming months, because everything is pointing towards the fact and at this point it is pretty obvious the story has picked that option to go with. this is purely story and narrative-based, and my feelings match up with it more than the other way around.

i believe that a redemption arc for c!dream would, because of recent as well as older developments, be the only compelling and interesting writing choice in the upcoming arc. you disagreeing - well, i guess that’ll be your opinion until you’re proven wrong or not. however i strongly disagree because of the themes, narrative and characterization that seem to strongly disagree with you on the subject as well.

cc!wilbur’s literal last wish when leaving the writing was to keep all characters morally grey, no overall antagonist or protagonist. and the writers did a hell of a good job with that, however i guess the fandom wasn’t ready for darker and more philosophically difficult themes to be explored so they promptly switched to a pure black-and-white view of the story (which cc!wilbur straight up criticized them for), i think to try and gain a moral high-ground or something?? idk, they ruined the thing for themselves though, it was definitely not the writers’ fault.

there is no “the story” from a narrative stand-point. all of the characters have wildly different narratives and outlooks. if c!dream’s redemption wouldn’t do much for the story you are watching? honestly why should i care, the dream smp is more complex than that.

if you think c!dream should stay the overall antagonist, maybe you’ve already lost track of the lore. quackity at the moment seems to be the character with the most potential to make a negative impact on several characters’ narrative (hence becoming an antagonist of at least part of the overall story) while c!dream is stuck being the literal victim of his in a prison that is deliberately framed by the writers as dehumanizing and corrupt. if “this character’s vulnerability is being exposed and he is being actively traumatized and outdone by a different villainous character” doesn’t scream “extremely likely redemption arc” to you, i don’t know what will.

c!dream hasn’t been the “central antagonist” for the past six months and there are like three characters already fighting over filling in the spot. if you don’t want the narrative to take that direction? i am sorry, but i don’t think there is much you can do about it.

#my asks #anon #long post

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lady-griffin · 4 years

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Hello! I was just wondering if I could ask your opinion on something :DD I was just thinking about how differently Maria's life would have been if the events of the game still followed. Would her heart be satisfied with not gaining any friends but instead a lover? Can the four boys mend the relationship between Maria and her mother like Katarina did? Would being engaged with a noble/prince give her emotional freedom or would she be ostracized by society even more? Thoughts?

I have so many thoughts on how Katarina’s impact on everyone is so much more significant than Maria’s impact/change on the guys and their impact on Maria in the game.

No shade towards Maria or the guys, but…I mean its Katarina. She’s a goddamn force of nature. None of them can compare to the positive wreckage of Hurricane Katarina.

I would say that Maria’s heart would be “satisfied” with a lover, but more because all Maria wanted was someone to look at her and see her for who she was and it’s clear that each of the guys did that for Maria, in the game’s timeline.

However, just because she’s satisfied with her situation with a romantic partner (because it’s better) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best situation for her or even that healthy for her.

While sure her relationships in Fortune Lover with the guys puts her in a better place than she started, we still have to ask how much better?

Potential Spoilers Below

It was hard for me to organize my thoughts for this question...so I’m sorry if it’s nonsensical Anon (and sorry for any grammar mistakes).

Thank you for asking me this!!

We know from Katarina, that Fortune Lover never went into Maria’s backstory. Katarina knows nothing about Maria’s backstory and even got the wrong impression from what the game chose to show her about Maria.

When Katarina played the game, she thought Maria was simply an unstoppable genius; but in the real world of Fortune Lover it’s clear that Maria worked so goddamn hard.

Maria got where she is, not because she’s another Geordo, but because she put so much time and effort into getting herself at that level.

Maria is very similar to Mary in that regard.

In Hamefura (and Fortune Lover), so many characters only see “Perfect Mary” and not all the work, time and pain she put herself through to get to that point.

That’s basically Maria’s situation with those who play Fortune Lover. They only see the end result, not her countless years of effort and struggle.

But Katarina does see it and recognize Maria for her hard work, after she meets Maria.

Each time Katarina talks about the plot or a certain event, it’s largely about how Maria emotionally saves the guys or heals them.

While the guys do physically save her form the bullies (at least Geordo and Keith), the focus is clearly more on how Maria saves their broken and lonely hearts rather than how they save her own lonely and broken heart.

Her being saved (like how the guys were) by the guys isn’t really a factor in Fortune Lover. Because she’s the vehicle for the player.

Because it’s an Otome game, the game developers clearly didn’t care enough to develop Maria further than what they needed, unlike the guys, who are the main draw of the game.

And however, this world came into existence - The game being unknowing based off the world or the world existing because of the game. The actual world of Fortune Lover, what we see in Hamefura, greatly expands and fills in the gaps that Fortune Lover left behind.

It’s safe to say that the guys didn’t impact Maria’s relationship with her mother.

While it is possible Nicol and Sophia did visit Maria’s home on Nicol’s route, I highly doubt it.

Katarina doesn’t compare her own visit to anything that happens in the game – so the guys more than likely did nothing to help mend Maria and her mother’s relationship.

On the other hand, Katarina is the catalyst for Maria and her mother.

In the Light Novel, Maria’s mother sees how happy her daughter is (with Katarina and Keith) and realizes that she needs to be better. She’s known that for a while now; but it’s finally just hitting her in that moment that if she doesn’t act soon, she’ll be left behind by her daughter and be unable to mend their relationship.

Maria’s mother can’t stay frozen in her own despair and depression if she wants to be with her daughter.

Which gives me the impression that in the game, while never brought up, Maria does leave her mother behind.

I mean she probably doesn’t abandon her mother and if she marries one of the guys, she can easily improve her mother’s situation with money.

But that’s rather hollow in comparison to Maria and her mom working on their relationship together and getting to a better place together.

Katarina doesn’t do the work for Maria and her mother, but because of Katarina, Maria is in a better place to mend her relationship with her mother and vice versa.

Katarina is the catalyst for Maria’s Mother’s self-improvement. Which is very true of Katarina with the majority of the characters she impacts in the story.

Fortune Lover - Bad Endings

I am definitely looking into this way more deeply than I should.

But given how Maria can either receive a good or bad ending with each of the guys, indicates that an actual relationship (in ‘reality’) with each guy is a dangerous thing for Maria to embark on. We can look at it like this –

If Maria’s relationship doesn’t go well with each guy, she’s so screwed…so very screwed.

Geordo’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – that probably weighed on Maria’s conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – With Katarina dead and no Geordo to protect her, it doesn’t seem crazy that the Claes family (not Keith) might or would try to retaliate against Maria.

Geordo self-exiles himself, leaving her behind – Basically the one person she bonded with and put all of her energy into leaves her. She’s alone once more. There’s also a good chance the kingdom will blame her (since Katarina’s dead) for their beloved Prince leaving them – so she’s going to be ostracized by nobles and commoners alike

Not great all-around.

Also given how twisted Geordo is in the game’s timeline, a part of me wonders if Geordo actually did love Maria in his bad route.

Or if he was simply using Maria as a reason to get rid of Katarina and escape his noble life.

Dark? Yes. Possible? I think so.

Keith’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – again, probably weighed on Maria conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – This time Maria is a key part in not only Katarina’s death, but to the Claes family losing their heir…so not great for Maria.

Injury – Maria gets injured by Katarina...or Keith is the one who gets injured, it’s unclear to me. But basically, there’s a chance she gets physically injured.

Keith disappears (goes into hiding, leaving her behind) – Once more the person she put her time and attention into leaves her. She’s all alone. Again. Nobles still probably don’t like her and neither do the commoners and there’s probably so many more vicious rumors about her at this point, because of Keith killing his sister.

Now in Alan and Nicol’s Bad Routes the consequences are less dire, significantly so, but it’s not a stretch to say Maria would still end up alone and maybe even more isolated than she started when she got their bad endings.

And of course, there is the one Bad Route where the whole Student Council (including Maria) gets murdered…

Basically, going pass the point where the game ends, Maria’s life is made so much worse by the bad routes.

Now if Katarina and Maria stopped being friends, it’s not exactly going to be rainbows and butterflies for Maria either.

But I just don’t see things being that dire for Maria IF Katarina’s bad route was to come to pass (so to speak).

I think one benefit befriending Katarina, is that if she were to leave someone (death/non-death reasons), she leaves the person in a better place.

In all honestly though, if Maria fails at romancing Katarina than basically Katarina’s bad route is that you just remain friends with her…so you know, still fucking great.

Also the Katarina route is essentially the friendship route for Maria.

Largely because the Student Council are a large group of close, childhood friends (who are all in love with Katarina) and they all befriend Maria. Which is different than how the student council was in Fortune Lover.

While Katarina is definitely the point of focus for Maria, Maria’s social group has far exceeded her expectations, not just with the student council, but even beyond them.

Fortune Lover - Good Endings (?)

Geordo and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Personally, I find it difficult to imagine that these the game versions of these two would live happily ever after.

It just seems like such a stretch that Maria undoes the 16 years of Geordo’s fucked up life and disposition in one year and everything is great and dandy afterwards.

But we are told that they do end up happily ever after, so we’re going to take the story’s word on the matter.

Maria would still end up so goddamn isolated. I mean she would be ostracized by noble society to such a scary and threatening degree if she ended up with Geordo.

Katarina is a Duke’s Daughter; she is at the top of the social hierarchy and we’ve seen how certain nobles treat her. So, imagine what Maria’s treatment would be like.

After years of being socially isolated in her town, to being bullied and socially isolated at school, to gaining all that hatred and jealousy of all those noble girls who love Geordo.

I don’t think anyone could handle that.

Geordo would probably try to get back at those people and take care of them (to possibly a dangerous degree), which I don’t think would help Maria and might even cause her to further retreat into herself.

Given how Hamefura pulls the curtains behind Fortune Lover, I just find it so difficult to truly see Maria being happy with Geordo (and vice versa).

But it’s not exactly peaches and roses with the other guys.

Alan and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

She’s definitely would be socially isolated and bullied by noble society. Probably not to the degree she would be with Geordo…but still pretty badly.

I can easily see so many noble girls being upset that even though Alan leaves the perfect Mary, he chooses the commoner Maria over them.

I guess it’s possibly for Geordo and Alan to leave their princely lives for Maria, but again, I see Maria taking the brunt of that decision from the nobles.

Nicol and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

While Nicol is described as the most normal, he and Sophia are clearly co-dependent on one another in the game, to such an unhealthy degree.

I’m sure if we knew more about Nicol’s route, Fortune Lover would have said that Maria saved the two siblings from the isolated world they only shared with one another.

But would she have? Or would she simply end up joining their isolated world?

Again, Nicol has so fans (men and women), I just see Maria being socially isolated and ostracized by noble society.

And unlike the other guys, there’s no way Nicol would abandon his duties to his family or to his noble life – he feels a great deal of responsibility towards his family and as his father’s heir.

So while her good ending with Nicol could still be a legit good ending for her, I still see some snags for the two of them.

Keith and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Probably the happiest one, in all honesty.

In the Light Novels, it’s stated that Keith and Maria elope together and Keith abandons his position as the Claes heir. Which yeah, that makes absolute sense.

There’s no way Luigi Claes would be happy with his heir marrying the girl who he would absolutely blame for his beloved daughter’s exilement? No way.

So those two would escape Noble Society together…so they would probably be okay and be able to live normal lives.

Though I will admit, it does seem like they would probably become co-dependent on one another.

Seeing as both of them have been neglected, emotionally abused, isolated and bullied by others and neither of them have probably learned the proper tools in handling all of that.

Also, I doubt there’s therapy in this world…so yeah.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t be able to save one another from their loneliness and build a foundation off of their shared experiences…but given how Fortune Lover focuses on Maria saving Keith from his loneliness and not so much the other way around –

Maria would probably be doing the brunt of the emotional work in their relationship.

…Okay, I may have been way too dark on Maria’s happy endings with the guys.

It’s more than likely her situation if she had ended up with one one of them she would’ve been fine and a lot better than what I’ve portrayed above.

But I still think she would;ve been socially isolated and ostracized (to varying degrees), while still being emotional repressed herself.

One of the reasons why Katarina saving everyone feels severely more balanced than Maria saving everyone one… is that Katarina is well-adjusted.

I mean emotionally speaking she was doing so much better than everyone else when she first met them.

Don’t get me wrong, Katarina has plenty of her own problems and issues – from her self-esteem to legit thinking her friends would abandon her or even kill her.

But Katarina was able to save everyone by just being herself.

And while Fortune Lover and Katarina basically presume that’s true for Maria… it’s not.

Because we see and get to know the real Maria and see how emotionally repressed, she was before she met Katarina.

Her saving each of the guys or all of them together, probably cost her, her own emotional freedom and salvation.

There’s the saying, the saddest people smile the brightest.

Which is not a bad saying, but it can imply a somewhat dark idea if you think about it.

The saddest people have to smile bright to save others, because they know what it’s like to be sad and don’t want that from others.

That gives the impression that those sad people don’t allow themselves to be sad or at least not in front of other people, because they always have to happy and smile brightly for others.

I think that’s Maria’s in a nutshell in Fortune Lover.

One of the beauties of Hamefura is that we see Maria needed to be saved as much as everyone else did.

She was pain and crying out as well, but since she was just the vehicle for the game and player, she wasn’t truly saved.

Maria says her big finale line to Katarina, the one that she always says to the guy she ends up with at the end of the game.

But I think the weight of it, is so much more real with Katarina than it was in Fortune Lover with the guys.

Maybe I’m completely off base, but it just feels more like it comes from a genuine desire when directed towards Katarina rather than a deeply rooted fear of being alone again.

Again, that could just be me.

I think Maria being with Katarina, platonic or romantic, is immensely healthier for Maria as an individual.

For me, I would always choose having multiple good to epic friendships over one epic romance that I’m completely dependent on.

Thaks for the ask anon. And I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense, it was just hard for me to organize and write down my thoughts for some odd reason.

#Maria Campbell #Katarina Claes #Hamefura #Otome Game No Hametsu Flag #Destruction Flag Otome #Bakarina #My Next Life As a Villainess #Fortune Lover #Anonymous

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byron-von-raum · 4 years

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Rebodied Toy Soldier Theory

Despite having a backstory and a semi-solid characterization for the Toy Soldier there’s a lot of questions we still have about it! To be expected among this impossible group of space pirates to be confused about their backstory and what makes them tick, in this way literally, but I have a theory that could answer a lot of those pressing questions.

Warning for image of choking, implied abuse, implied sex work, and canon typical fucked up stuff, especially UDAD related

So we don’t actually know in all certainty where the Toy Soldier is from. We have a few clues to help us out, though.

1. The Toy Soldier was somewhere with very traditional English practices “She taught him how to take proper English tea and how to talk like a real officer [...]” - SotTS (The Story of the Toy Soldier)

2. It came around not long after a revolution “She once had a handsome fiance, but he had died in a long ago revolution. [...] The Toy Soldier was her favorite. He wore her fiance’s old uniform.” - SotTS

3. There is a Salvation Army or something similar on the same planet/colony

[ID: The Toy Soldier hitting a drum behind a procession of Salvation Army representatives with a sign above them reading “The Salvation Army.” An arrow points to the Toy Soldier in the back. A woman in the front tries to hand a pamphlet with a cross on it to a passerby. /END ID]

4. The planet/colony was knowledgable and within reach of the King Cole War “[...] the Toy Soldier joined the ranks of the Rose Reds and fought in the bloody conflict of the Revolution.” - SotTS

5. The planet is close enough to the City from UDAD to have products imported from there.

You may be asking, “wait, Frankie, how do you know that?” Well, my dear friends, it’s actually rather stuble, but warnings for and image of choking, although crude.

[ID: A pencil drawing of the Toy Soldier choking out a woman with long, pale hair while she sleeps. A wine bottle lays empty above her head on the pillow. /END ID]

This lady is the Angel, a woman that the Toy Soldier fell in love with, presumably before leaving its original planet. So this scene also presumably happens on that same planet. Up in the top right corner is a wine bottle that reads “Dionysus 2011″ which is a product of Dionysus back in the City.

With that information, we know that products from the City were imported to this planet/colony. Whether this planet is, in fact, Earth or maybe just a colony of Earth is unclear and not entirely important. What is important is what other products the City might have had.

Re-bodying

“Orpheus’ story isn’t unusual: a broke young musician with a dead fiance, just another life chew up by the City. This broke young musician didn’t accept that though. Didn’t care that he didn’t have the money to have mind from the Acheron rebodied, or that those as were came back wrong.” - “Hades” Ulysses Dies at Dawn

Rebodying in the City is when someone takes a mind from the Acheron and places it in a new body. Someone dead being brought back. Now, let’s go back to the start of The Story of the Toy Soldier and take another gander at that rich old lady and her clockwork collection.

[ID: An old lady in a fancy dress smoking and leading the Toy Soldier away from a group of inanimate clockworks as it looks back at them. /END ID]

The most notable part of this image, I think, is the contrast between the Toy Soldier and the other clockworks. The other clockworks stand very still with no expression and seem more like dolls than the Toy Soldier, who holds close to itself and follows, looks nervous, looks confused. From this image alone, it’s clear the Toy Soldier isn’t like the other clockworks.

“But Frankie!” I hear you cry. “There’s no evidence that the rebodied people are put in animatronic bodies! Even in one of the fictions, the other people from the City think the Toy Soldier looks odd!”

“Understandly, Narcissus now refused to have a Somnambulist in the house, and shuddered every time his eyes met the vacant gaze of one outside in the street. He was even deeply suspicious of the Toy Soldier at Dionysus’ speakeasy, despite its unconventional yet obvious sentience.” - Orpheus and Narcissus Go on a Trip to the Seaside

Well, first of all, that’s one person who finds the Toy Soldier uneasy and even then he was more concerned that it was a Somnambulist than it being a clockwork. I find that weird in of itself but that’s not exactly the point, is it? In fact, Orpheus at one point even thinks of the Toy Soldier as a strange re-bodying job.

“They’d soon promoted one of the nymphs to fill his place though: a bizarre prancing, whirring thing that would frolic and cavort for the clients’ amusement, flaunting an incongruously innocent joie de vivre. Some said it had stolen the voice of an angel, but Orpheus thought it sounded pretty human to him. It looked like another bizarre re-bodying job, although apparently it had been bought at a knockdown price from one of Dionysus’ business partners, Parsiphäe Minos, after the genius automaton designer had found it in her basement a while back.” - Orpheus, Dionysus, Muriatic Acid, and the Strange Whirring Thing

“Another strange re-bodying job?” you ask. “What other re-bodying job has Orpheus seen?”

Well, first of all, I think you’re missing the point but I’ll show you anyway.

“Orpheus had also heard recently of a new consultant based at Delphi (a strange re-bodied job by the sound of it) who would give good “moral” advice to assuage the guilt of atrocity wreakers: everything was excusable as long as the ends justified the means.” - Orpheus, Dionysus, Muriatic Acid, and the Strange Whirring Thing

What’s interesting about this is that Brian, who is referenced here, is in fact a strange re-bodied job. He was technically re-bodied into his all-metal body.

That’s beside the point. The important thing is that, although these wooden and metallic re-bodyings are strange, they are only strange. They aren’t impossible, they aren’t incredibly uncommon, and they aren’t questioned. They’re just strange. Perhaps, the technology for this type of re-bodying isn’t the most uncommon thing out there if there isn’t a body available. Perhaps, even, the bodies just look more “human” when re-bodied than the Toy Soldier or Drumbot Brian do.

So, back to the point of the imported products from the City on the Toy Soldier’s originally colony and the fact that those who are re-bodied never come back quite right, we come to the climax of the theory:

The Toy Soldier is a re-bodied version of the old lady’s dead fiance.

Let’s corral all the evidence:

1. The old lady favors the Toy Soldier and acted like it was her dead fiance, even going as far as to have the Toy Soldier say things like “I love you” to her

“Sometimes she made him say things he didn’t understand.” - SotTS

[ID: A pencil drawing of a spilled teacup, a thrown high hell, and a shattered tea saucer at the foot of a chair. There’s a speech bubble that reads “I love you.” /END ID]

2. Products were imported to this planet from the City

3. Re-bodying jobs that look like Drumbot Brian or the Toy Soldier are only considered “strange” (at least by Orpheus)

4. No one in the City entirely thought the Toy Soldier as odd except for looking re-bodied

Conclusion: The Toy Soldier is a re-bodied version of the old woman’s fiance after he died in the revolution. Liking clockworks, the old lady had her re-bodied fiance look like a clockwork. The Toy Soldier didn’t come back quite right, which is common for a re-bodying job. Frustrated with this, the old lady taught the Toy Soldier things that would make it more similar to her dead fiance like how to compliment her, what to say to sound like a real officer, and to tell her it loves her.

Now, this has a lot of implications in a lot of directions that you are free to speculate on and I would also love to hear other people’s input. Either way, thanks for reading my inane theory and thanks to the people in the various Discord servers I’m in for helping me with this!

#the toy soldier #the mechanisms #the story of the toy soldier #orpheus dionysus muriatic acid and the strange whirring things #orpheus and narcissus go to the seaside #jessica law #because she wrote these I'm pretty sure #and also it's her art #lisping

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mask131 · 3 years

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AHS look-back: Afterbirth

We tackle the finale of season 1! Woohoo!

For a final time - SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE EPISODE DON’T LOOK AT THIS! And I’ll take notes along as I rewatch the episode.

# Honestly I really love the joke of having the ghosts casually observe and seriously talk as the new couple owning the house is having sex between them. I’m sorry but it is good comedy.

# I am wondering if the good and “innocent” spirit of the house rebelling against its dark influence is a sign that, now that the house got what “it” wanted with the birth of the baby, it is maybe relaxing a bit its influence, releasing a bit of the grip it had on all the ghosts before? I know this is what they describe in later seasons, but I am wondering if it was already implied here. I also love how, after an entire season trying to avoid the usual haunted house horror tropes and clichés (or playing with them), now they are fully embracing them.

I also like how it is a call-back to an earlier line, when Hayden said the house had a “power” that the ghosts could use. So far only malevolent ghosts used this power, such as Tate and Hayden - but now we finally get to see what can happen if benevolent spirits actually use the same power.

# I love how this first season treated its background characters, because despite them having not much screentime they are still given enough characterization and material to be interesting and “complete”. Take Lorraine. She was first a faceless character in Larry’s backstory; then we get to see her face but again it is merely to act as a character in Larry’s story. Then we finally see her ghost, and it is implied that she is rather a benevolent spirit, but then plot twist – she is part of the negative ones! And second plot twist she was actually there since the beginning and responsible for Ben’s earlier sleepwalking. It all feels natural and complete, and doesn’t leave unanswered questions because they went with a tight point of view and window for her story – which is normal for a background character – but they avoided her coming off as a one-episode note or as utterly useless to the plot. That was nicely done.

# We can here appreciate a bit Tate’s evolution, with how he becomes unable to kill someone if this person is looking at him or facing him. It shows he changed…

… or does it? You see, when you think back, when he killed the kids at his school and burned Larry, he did so while on crystal meth and cocaine, which probably put him in a secondary state that might have helped him get rid of his inhibitions. And then, when he had to commit horrors as a ghost (killing Chad and Patrick, raping Vivien) he used the Rubber Suit – he also used it to attack Ben. One could argue that not only does it conceals his identity but it also helps him better commit the horrors without having to face the consequences (which, as I explained before, is a big theme of the second half of the season). I don’t know, I am throwing my thought around here, but did Tate really change, or does he just reveal something that was always there?

# Ah… interesting. Ben identifies Tate as a psychopath. Now it is really strange because I distinctly remembered Ben calling Tate a “sociopath”, hence why I referred to Tate as such during the entire duration of the look-back. I’ll need to make some research, let’s see.

After looking back briefly at the difference between sociopathy and psychopathy I would say Tate is actually more of a sociopath than a psychopath, but it is unclear. Sociopath have more of an erratic and impulsive behavior, acting criminally out of impulse and without long-term planning (something we see with him shooting his school, or killing Chad and Patrick) ; sociopaths are easily angered and can have violent outbursts and react badly to things (as Tate does), and while sociopath have a hard time forming relationships because they lack empathy, they can actually get attached to people or groups with a similar mind to them (which is what visibly happened with Violet, since they bonded on their likeness with each other). Sociopaths are also considered to be “made” rather than born, usually out of negative household, severe trauma or abuse (which are things Tate went through as a child). While the tendency to manipulate others and a lack of guilt for their actions is shared by the two pathies, there are also some of Tate’s traits that fit a psychopath: a desire to minimize the risks for themselves or their role whenever they engage in criminal activity ; an ability to present themselves as charming and trustworthy fooling people into believing they are loving, normal people… and psychopathy is considered to be something you are born with, which fits the idea that each of Constance’s children was born with a “deformity” but Tate’s was mental instead of physical.

Honestly I have no idea anymore if Tate is a sociopath or psychopath. And since I am no psychologist or psychiatrist I cannot give a definitive answer. So I’ll leave it as a cross between the two (hell, can one be both a sociopath and psychopath at the same time? I don’t know).

# I think one of the weaknesses of this finale episode is that they played the ghosts a bit too “straight” in their existence in the house. If we are only given this finale is seems the ghosts are like regular living occupants of the house, the only difference being they can become invisible at will, teleport themselves and do not have physical needs, but otherwise hang around the house as a regular person would. This unfortunately overlooks this idea implied with the other episodes that time and space do not work the same for ghosts as for humans. The ghosts are sometimes present but invisible, but other times they are also not present, implying they did not always cohabit on the same plane as the living and maybe went “somewhere else”. But in this finale we are only shown ghosts coexisting on the same plane as the living, which raises some questions… It is not a big flaw, and they do address how time and space does not work the same when you are alive or dead, but it is an overlook that can lead to misinterpretations.

# I know some people don’t like this ending, but honestly I do not mind it. After all the horror inflicted on people that often did not deserve it, a happy ending is not unwelcome, and they do not ignore the darkness of the house – the evil spirits are still here, and there is the baby Antichrist. And actors have noted in their interviews that one of the perversions of the show is that it made sure that the only way the Harmons could ever get a fully happy ending was by killing them all and reuniting them in death. It stays fundamentally something tragic, and this happiness is still bittersweet and limited.

# Another fun fact: up until the last minute they planned to include a reference to the fourth child of Constance. At the hair salon there would have been lines of dialogue about a “handsome albino” son of Constance, but it was cut at the last minute.

# In fact, it is really interesting to look at the original plans for the seasons – articles mentioned that originally, when it was first created, the season was supposed to be thirteen episodes in total, not twelve, with the finale being two hours long. However they didn’t have enough time to film, shoot and air everything, so they had to work around it (which explains why some subplots and storylines were cut). As the middle of the seasons, the producers wanted the series to drop the thirteenth episode altogether and make episode 12 a one-hour long finale, to which Ryan Murphy answered by proposing a thirteen episodes series but with the finale being only 90 minutes long (or maybe episode 12 being the finale and 90 minutes long? The article is quite vague) – though ultimately they ended up making only 12 episodes and the last only 50 minutes. This might explain how things feel a bit rushed here, but overall I think it was for the good of the show because we know how, when left with too much room, the AHS team goes overboard.

# In his interview for this episode with Entertainment Weekly, Ryan Murphy gave a few bits of interesting info. For example the prologue was not meant to imply that the House “pulled in” the Harmons or attracted them – it was simply a sequence of “house porn” because the house was just so beautiful they wanted to indulge in it one last time. Ryan Murphy also said that the scene where Vivien stabs Ben is probably the “end of the Rubber Man” because by doing so the Harmons ruined the rubber suit – which unlike ghosts cannot “heal” (and this comments make it all the more interesting when you see the Rubber Man reappear). He also mentioned that for the season they wanted to try to create something feeling a bit like an “Edgar Allan Poe” novella.

# Finally there are those great questions and answers that I’ll leave uncut below:

Vivien seemed so at peace with everything even throughout Ben potentially moving and her seeing her living baby.

That was purposeful. Unlike most of the people in the house, in fact maybe the only one, she died surrounded by love. So I think that made her a little more at peace: accepting, not fighting. She sorta died at peace in some weird way. I was really excited that in the afterlife they have such great blow-dryers.

Also they have stylists!

They do. You look really good when you’re dead. What I loved about that is that I think everybody, particularly women, would like to think they looked most beautiful in the afterlife. So it made sense to me that she did that.

It seemed like at the end, the Harmons had figured out how to exist in the house without interacting with the unpleasant folks like Tate and Hayden.

Yes. I always thought that the Harmons would become the alpha people of that house, particularly Vivien. I thought she would be the matriarch. I personally think Violet will never speak to Tate again. I feel like he deserved pain. I think the biggest justice for him could be to not get the one thing he wanted, which is love.

Basically Tate’s and Hayden’s comeuppance is that they end up alone.

That’s exactly right. That’s what we wanted for them. Alone and tormented.

And I loved that Moira got what she always wanted, which was a family.

Yes, exactly. She progressed beyond her servitude and was seen as a true member of the family and a woman. I always thought, amongst all the characters, she was the most tragic to me. I’m glad that she got her happy ending.

#ahs #american horror story #murder house #season 1 #look back #tate #tate langdon #moira #vivien #violet #ben #harmon #rubber man #lorraine #ghosts

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c0konk · 3 years

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[finale spoilers!]

so, like, uh... am I the only one who didn’t like the twist that Webby was April + a clone + Scrooge’s clone? like,,, I find it so dumb (it was good in execution!! it’s just,,, it doesn’t sit right with me) the whole thing regarding Webby messed with my experience,, and,,, wasn’t this supposed to be, like, Huey’s season? I get getting canceled and all that but... idk I didn’t leave this finale feeling the way I know I should’ve. The way I feel about it is unclear and I’m not sure what to think of it. My excitement into this was the same for the Gravity Falls ending- one I was absolutely hyped for and left feeling happy and completed. This just kind of... fell flat. And maybe that was because I put too high of expectations? The trailers really got me hyped (Webby tearfully hugging Beakley and Huey running into Dewey and Louie’s arms) and the actual scenes just... weren’t it. Webby being the one to find the paper? I didn’t really like that either. Scrooge said the rightful heir (I’m pretty sure anyway I literally watched this episodes hours ago) and to me, Webby just isn’t that (also Webby calling Scrooge dad really put me off). The show is about family. It also shows found family. Webby and Beakley were found family. They were honorary members. This finale kind of throws that away; “she was related to Scrooge the whole time!” I saw a post saying that April could’ve been her own character; locked in one of those cells and being a failed experiment. That could’ve worked! I honestly would’ve liked that more. That aside though, the action scenes were amazing! Launchpad getting the gizmo suit was top tier and the twist the Manny was a gargoyle was great. ALSO!! Bradford turning out to be the one who told Della about the spear? And then cutting the funding for it?? In this fandom, we hate one (1) character and his name is Bradford Buzzard. Della and Donald having that fight and stuff because Donald wants to leave was great too. I wish we saw more of their interactions. Lowkey also wished we got more triplets. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we got backstory on Webby but I still feel like we didn’t get enough Huey. I will say, I was expecting/hoping for something like Louie and Dewey got kidnapped/sucked into the machine from Let’s Get Dangerous! (the scene where Huey walks into a destroyed room looking kind of dejected) and eventually reunites with them (running into their arms, tearful). It could’ve put a bit more growth in Huey’s character since he loves being a triplet and as the eldest, prides himself on taking care of his brothers. With them gone (possibly forever), he has to adapt and stay as calm as he can. The B plot would revolve around Webby, May, and June (that way you could get both characters some closure and a story that tests their wits). Anyway those were my thoughts about the finale,, I might write something where I rewrite the finale,,, idk maybe I’m just an over dramatic crybaby lol edit: I’m totally gonna write that KSKSJKSKS

#ducktales #webby vanderquack #webbigail vanderquack #the last adventure!#spoilers

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sternbilder · 3 years

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#yttd spoilers

ok so I talked about this briefly with @jageunyeoujari but we were discussing the possibility of either Joe or Sara being the child of the policeman from Keiji’s backstory and this theory has been living rent-free in my head as I’ve been watching this LP so here is an incoherent dump of evidence wild speculation that I’m recording for future me

evidence that points to Mr. Policeman being Joe’s dad:

they have exactly the same vibe. like, come on.

they look kind of similar to me? they have similar looking eyes at least

assuming Keiji was around 10 when he met Mr. Policeman and he's in his late 20s now, the timeline lines up since Joe is 17 and Mr. Policeman was expecting his first child then

in the manga, one of Joe's classmates mentions that Joe’s family is struggling financially--something that would be likely if he grew up in a single parent household, which could have either happened because of Keiji’s murder of Mr. Policeman, or if Mr. Policeman had left his family after losing his job

speaking of Mr. Policeman being estranged from his family, this could actually apply to both Sara or Joe’s cases, but I actually don’t think this is too wild of a guess. first, it’s likely that Mr. Policeman’s death was only in the last 3 years, i.e., after the last AI personality update, judging from what Sara says when examining Keiji’s AI in the monitor room (he “seems different somehow,” i.e., before his traumatic accidental murder). if not dead, then IMO it’s likely that Mr. Policeman was missing for all this time. we know that Keiji had not had contact with Mr. Policeman before joining the police force from his conversation with Megumi, and he also seemed shocked to see him as the “criminal” in that incident where he ended up shooting him. from what we know of Keiji wouldn’t it make more sense that he couldn’t contact him rather than didn’t? and if this is the case, it doesn’t seem like a wild possibility that the reason he couldn’t reach him is that he had deliberately cut ties with the people he knew and tried to start a life elsewhere--after all, depending on the “official” reasons for his dismissal from the police, this could have carried social stigma, which may have caused a rift with his family, perhaps even so much that he would have had to distance himself from them?

during introductions, Joe brings up the possibility of the death game being tied to organized crime, and suggests that someone among the group could be a traitor. Keiji bursts out laughing, and this is never explained, but what if he was thinking something along the lines of "like father, like son" wrt his amateur detective-ing?

during the first discussion, Joe initially distrusts everyone, including Keiji, but is immediately more friendly to Keiji as soon as he reveals out he's a policeman. this could just be a normal response to being stuck in a hostage situation, but none of the other characters seem to have as strong of a reaction as Joe, one possible explanation for which could be that he has a personal connection to the police?

when searching for the doll parts, Joe decides to pair up with Keiji for seemingly no reason, even if Sara asks him if he wants to pair up. later, as they’re leaving the blue room, Joe stops Keiji again hoping to speak to him--what if he knew something about Keiji and was trying to suss out information? for example, what if he knew that Mr. Policeman/his dad had a connection to someone named Keiji who was hoping to be a policeman and was trying to determine if this Keiji was that same person?

later, when you talk to Joe again in the bar, Joe is suspicious of Keiji again, even wondering if he's a cop at all. he then asks Sara to look more into him. it reads as though he was trying to question Keiji about his past but Keiji wasn't opening up for some reason, which could be because Keiji doesn’t want Joe to find out about his involvement in Mr. Policeman/his dad’s death

when investigating the bar, Gin mentions his drunkard dad at one point and Joe goes uncharacteristically quiet. this might be a stretch but Keiji mentions later that Mr. Policeman had lost his job while investigating corruption inside the police force. what if Mr. Policeman/Joe's dad started drinking after losing his job as a police officer? alternatively, what if Gin’s comment made Joe sad because he also never got to be close to his own father on account of his being dead or missing?

when Keiji is investigating Mishima's body, Joe is the one who first asks Keiji if he has someone he respects. this could just be him making small talk, but it could also be that he has a hunch that he’s trying to confirm and he’s looking for opportunities to connect the dots

there’s a part during chapter 1 when investigating with Keiji where you ask him who he’s got on his mind. Keiji answers that Joe has been on his mind, but then immediately changes the subject. this could just be because Joe is suspicious of Keiji still, but I have to wonder if they have some kind of connection, after all

this isn’t actual evidence but it’s strongly implied that Keiji has been suffering from hallucinations of Mr. Policeman ever since his accidental murder (very similar to Sara’s hallucinations of Joe) and boy wouldn’t it be Sinnoh Matic Parallels if they were father and son

evidence that points to Mr. Policeman being Sara’s (biological) dad:

I mean, if Keiji knew that Mr. Policeman’s daughter was a girl around her age named Sara, then this would explain everything about why Keiji trusts Sara immediately and tries so hard to protect her at all costs,

Sara and Mr. Policeman both have orange hair, though to be fair, so does Sara's mom (who we have no reason to believe isn’t her biological mother)

we know that Mr. Chidouin isn't Sara’s real dad, but she isn’t aware of this, meaning she was either adopted, or her mother remarried when she was very young. the timeline is unclear, but it is theoretically possible that this is around the same time that Mr. Policeman had been laid off by the police, which could have been a factor for divorce, especially if, like mentioned earlier, the police coverup painted his behavior as somehow unsavory or socially unacceptable (which could also explain why her mother never told Sara). for example, say this was around 15 years ago--Keiji would have been around 12, and Sara would only have been 2 (making her very possibly too young to remember). since Megumi is the one who fired him, I can’t see how she could have been any younger than around 25 at this time, so this presumes that she’s around 40 now, but it wouldn’t be the wildest thing to assume she’s older than she looks

we know that, for whatever reason, 1) Sara is central to the death game, 2) Mr. Chidouin is at least involved if not the mastermind, and 3) Mr. Chidouin was not Sara's biological father. this might also be a reach, but what if Sara's mother’s remarriage and Mr. Policeman’s losing his job (and/or his death) were all part of Mr. Chidouin’s plans to eventually have Sara participate in the death game? this goes along with another theory I had where I have a feeling that for some reason the winner of the Hades Incident/the author of the Memorandum (which I suspect is Mr. Chidouin) is trying to recreate that incident with, if not exact clones of the participants, people who are very close to fitting their profiles. it’s implied that the organization running the game has been at least closely monitoring, if not engineering specific events/circumstances in the lives of the participants, so it’s possible that Sara was being “groomed” for this event, specifically to play the role of leader-girl-who-died-in-the-Hades-incident. if this is the case, then it could also be true that 1) the choice of Sara to fill this role could have been deliberate, and Mr. Chidouin meddled in Mr. Policeman’s life with the intention of getting custody of Sara specifically, or 2) Mr. Chidouin just happened to be looking for a child around Sara’s age to fill the role at the time and Mr. Policeman’s dismissal made her a convenient target due to the timing

if Mr. Chidouin was part of the Hades Incident and was somehow involved in Mr. Policeman’s/Sara’s biological father’s death, this may even explain why Keiji knew about that specific case. after all, it sounds like it was something that happened decades ago, that was likely to be hushed up, or at least not talked about anymore (maybe it was even the thing Mr. Policeman was looking into and got him fired?). it is a bit out of place that Keiji would know so much about it, unless he happened to find a lead while looking into the circumstances around Mr. Policeman’s expulsion/death. maybe he somehow found a connection between Mr. Policeman’s family and the Chidouins/Hades Incident?

evidence that points to Mr. Policeman being both of their dads:

none but hey they could be twins and what Japanese mystery visual novel that has AI clones and shit doesn’t also have a plot point involving twins

#/#//#///#////#/////#cam thoughts #jageunyeoujari #liveblog: yttd

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commentaryvorg · 4 years

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Danganronpa V3 Commentary Extra: Rantaro’s Love Hotel Event

At one point I vaguely mentioned that I might make a post covering Rantaro’s Love Hotel event sometime. Unlike most of these events, Rantaro’s one is in fact very good, to the point that it might actually be my favourite piece of Rantaro content. So if I ever wanted to briefly talk about some of the things that are interesting about Rantaro that aren’t relevant in the main storyline, this is honestly the best way for me to do it.

(And maybe there’s also a not-so-Rantaro-specific reason I want to talk about this, too.)

Obligatory warning: this is side-mode bonus content, but I will be mentioning endgame spoilers; don’t read this if you haven’t finished the main story of the game.

First off, understanding this event requires knowledge of what we learn in Rantaro’s FTEs. So, while I don’t quite want to go out of my way to cover those line-by-line, here’s the gist of them for anyone who doesn’t know.

Rantaro’s family is fairly rich and travels around a lot, and one time while in a foreign country, he lost track of his little sister, who was supposed to be following behind him, and she vanished. Ever since then, he’s been doing everything he can to get her back, travelling all over the place and getting himself into all kinds of dangerous scenarios.

Rantaro feels as though his Ultimate should be something like Ultimate Useless Older Brother for letting this happen to his sister in the first place. But Shuichi concludes after hearing the story that maybe Rantaro’s actually the Ultimate Big Brother. It’s not Rantaro’s fault that he lost her, and he’s been trying so hard since then to get her back, essentially devoting his whole life to it, which sounds like the best kind of big brother there is.

After Shuichi agrees to use his detective skills to help Rantaro find his sister, Rantaro then casually adds that, oh by the way, he’s actually got twelve younger sisters who all went missing in similar ways on separate trips.

…And this is the point at which I go “yep, that backstory’s definitely fictional”. Letting it happen once could have been an accidental lapse of attention, sure. But after that, Rantaro would have been extra determined to protect his remaining sisters and not lose them too, so there’s absolutely no way he would have let it happen again eleven more times. That’s just wanton carelessness, as if Rantaro doesn’t actually give a damn about his sisters’ safety at all, which is very clearly the opposite of the truth about him. This only makes sense if it’s fake memories and never actually happened.

(But man, no wonder he hates himself, since he genuinely believes that he really did somehow just carelessly let that happen to every single one of his sisters like the worst big brother in the world.)

Rantaro’s backstory here doesn’t really have much bearing on his role in the canon plot, since his issues there are an entirely separate story fuelled by the whole Survivor Perk thing. Still, this does somewhat help explain why Rantaro is the type of person he is. He probably already had trouble trusting people and feeling like he deserved to be trusted even without the Survivor Perk handicap making it worse – recall fresh-out-of-season-52 Rantaro telling his future self to “trust no-one”. And yet, despite that, he also has a very strong instinct to look out for others and be protective like the big brother he is, hence trying to end the killing game despite his hesitation to trust anyone. His protective instinct might lean towards girls in particular, since they’d be more likely to remind him of his sisters – he did comment at one point that he was worried Kaede’s proactiveness might get her in trouble with Monokuma. (This is why I headcanon that the two survivors from season 52 were both girls; I just think it’d be fun if part of why Rantaro sacrificed himself for them was that they reminded him a little of his sisters and he wanted to protect them at least where he’d failed before.)

So anyway, Rantaro’s Love Hotel event, aka an event where Shuichi has to play the role of the subject’s “ideal fantasy”, which doesn’t have to mean something romantic, shock horror, because this one is entirely platonic. In it, Shuichi finds himself being treated as a student whom Rantaro is something like a private tutor for.

Rantaro: “That’s why you’re my favourite student. Good job! Good work, Shuichi!”

Shuichi: (As he showered me with praise, he lightly tussled my hair with a smile.) […] “R-Rantaro… I’m not a little kid…” (Even if this is his fantasy, it feels weird to be talked to like that.)

Rantaro: “…‘Rantaro,’ huh?”

(His tone had changed. He pulled his hand away, dejected.)

Rantaro: “Not that long ago… you were calling me ‘Big Brother.’”

Except it’s clearly more than that. Rantaro has come to think of this student as like a surrogate younger sibling figure, no doubt to fill the painful gap while his sisters are still missing.

It’s unclear, though, whether he actually has a student like this in real life. This could just be his fantasy of wanting to feel like a big brother again – a fantasy constrained by the unchangeable reality that his sisters are gone and it’s impossible for them to just magically be there, so his subconscious went for the most plausible alternative instead.

Rantaro: “Haha… I guess I made you hate me… didn’t I, Shuichi?”

Apparently Rantaro is all too liable to assume that any “younger sibling” of his would obviously turn to hating him at the slightest provocation. (His sisters must hate him for letting them fall into whatever awful situation they’re in right now, right? They’re definitely blaming it all on him.)

The reason for “Shuichi” supposedly hating Rantaro here is that Rantaro recently announced he’d be leaving on a trip soon – presumably another expedition to try and find his sisters – and can’t even say why.

(Shuichi doesn’t figure out that this is about his sisters, which I guess is because it’s possible to get this event without having done Rantaro’s FTEs in which Shuichi learns about that.)

Rantaro: “I know I’m being selfish, Shuichi. I’m sorry, but I want to shelter you from danger as much as I can…”

Shuichi: “What? Danger…?”

Rantaro: “Haha, whoops, guess I shouldn’t have said that… Forget it.”

Shuichi: “No, Rantaro, I won’t. Not with that look on your face…”

Rantaro: “Some teacher I am, huh? Making you worry about me…”

Obviously it’s terrible of Rantaro as a teacher (as a big brother) to make Shuichi worry about him. That’s not how things are supposed to go in this arrangement at all, so Shuichi should definitely just forget all about it and stop worrying.

(yes hello guess who this is beginning to remind me of, are you maybe starting to see that other reason I wanted to cover this event)

Rantaro: “But you don’t have to worry about a thing. Nothing will ever hurt you. I will protect you. I promise. No one precious to me will ever get hurt again.”

There is absolutely no way someone this fiercely protective would ever have let each of his precious little sisters disappear on him twelve times over. No way. It’s so cruel that Rantaro’s fake memories are making him believe he must secretly be the kind of callously careless person who would let it happen. He’s bound to feel like these assurances otherwise are really just empty words that he’ll always end up betraying when it matters, because he would have promised the same thing to eleven of his sisters, more and more fervently each time, and look what happened anyway.

Shuichi: “W-Wait, Rantaro!” (I don’t really understand, but here goes…) “That… That hurts me, Rantaro. Thinking about you carrying this burden all by yourself hurts me.”

Meanwhile, look at Shuichi hating to see someone he cares about carrying a burden all by themselves, and confronting that person with the fact that they’re hurting him by not letting him help. I wonder who else Shuichi might have said this to, hm? If only he’d known.

Shuichi: “Maybe you see me as just a student, so you don’t think I can protect you… But I don’t *want* to be sheltered and oblivious to everything.”

Rantaro: “Shuichi…”

And look at how Shuichi doesn’t want this person to be hiding their troubles from him in an attempt to protect him, because he can protect them too. This unbalanced arrangement of strictly one-directional help and support while the other person suffers alone was never what Shuichi signed up for.

(If only they’d realise that they need and deserve to be supported, and that needing it doesn’t mean they can’t still support others themselves.)

Shuichi: “Rantaro, you’re going to quit being my tutor, right? So I’m not just your student. I’m your *friend*. You can tell me anything. I know I can help you.”

Shuichi’s approach to this is exactly what he does in Kaito’s Harmonious Heart event and I love it. Rantaro’s trying to insist they have this tutor/student (big brother/little brother) relationship that means Rantaro has to hide all his worries and problems and bear all of that by himself to keep Shuichi safe and oblivious and not worried – but no. Shuichi is having none of that nonsense that puts so much extra undue pressure on Rantaro, because they are friends and he wants to help. Just like with Kaito – he sees this as the best, simplest way to get through to his friend and stop them being so goddamn selfless, and it is.

(Or, well, he and Rantaro might not even technically be friends in this Love Hotel event if Shuichi hasn’t done his FTEs. Still, Shuichi is playing this role of someone who views Rantaro as a tutor/big brother/friend, so he’s acting out what he would do if a person he cared about in that way was behaving like this. Sure, Rantaro never even mentioned that they’re specifically friends, but Shuichi extrapolated from the situation that obviously this person would consider Rantaro a friend as well as those other things. Shuichi is good.)

Rantaro: “Are you sure about this, Shuichi? You’re at the point of no return…

Shuichi: “I would never want you to face it alone, Rantaro…”

Rantaro: “You’ve really come into your own. Haha… Alright, I give up. I’ll tell you everything.”

Looks like it worked! Rantaro now has (in his fantasy) not just a surrogate little brother, but a friend and comrade who’s going to help him and be there for him as he searches for his sisters. Which is probably a lot more beneficial for him in the long run than just yet another younger sibling for him to feel like he’s letting down one way or another.

Rantaro: “Just… until the end of this lesson, can we act like nothing’s changed? The time that I’ve spent as your teacher… has been such a comfort to me.”

I also really like this, because it shows that Shuichi’s response to all this wasn’t Rantaro’s fantasy. Rantaro wanted to just re-experience the feeling of spending time with a younger sibling who’s safe and protected and is never ever going to get hurt or be in danger at all. And Shuichi essentially threw that out and told Rantaro not what he wanted to hear, but what he needed to hear – that he needs to stop being so selfless and let the people who care about him help him for once, because they don’t want him to be suffering alone and he deserves better than that.

This is a really great event because it’s a rare – and really well-done – showcase of Rantaro’s issues from his backstory. They’re some pretty fun issues, so it’s honestly a big shame that they’re basically not relevant at all in the main story and only even come up in bonus bits like this. (Granted, someone had to be the first to die, and the way it was done with Rantaro was probably one of the best ways to make that person still feel fairly narratively relevant and not like a complete throwaway – but it does sadly mean that most of his potential as a character and not as a mysterious plot device had to be squandered.)

But that’s not all; I also really like this event because of Shuichi’s role in it. From what little I gather of how these mostly-stupid Love Hotel scenes go, it probably doesn’t usually even matter that it’s Shuichi in them, because he’s just a placeholder forced to play this role no matter how uncomfortable it makes him and how unlike him it is. But in this one, Shuichi being here does make a difference. Not everyone would have responded to Rantaro’s situation like this, but Shuichi did, because he’s a really good friend who’d never want to let the people he cares about carry their burdens alone.

So not only is this a great event for showcasing Rantaro’s issues, but it’s also great for showing us how good and supportive of a friend Shuichi has the potential to be, even towards people who are stubbornly trying to put themselves in a one-sided protector role that has to carry burdens alone. Shuichi was always exactly the right kind of person to help Kaito with his problems, too – if only he’d known what Kaito was hiding from him in the first place.

(Also, man, if Rantaro had lived longer, he and Kaito could have had some very interesting interactions. I love how many characters in this story it’s possible to draw parallels and contrasts to Kaito with.)

#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #commentary #salmon team #extra #(don't expect these extras to be regular or numerous; i just happened to want to talk about this)

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

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It’s discussed a lot about how Callum will react to Runaan when he gets out of the coin, but how do you think some of the other human characters would react to him? Like Soren, Amaya and Gren (it’s unclear if Gren ever actually *saw* Runaan, but for argument’s sake, let’s say he did.)

Ooh what a fun question, anon!

Let’s see, Soren. Well, by the time Runaan is freed, Soren will probably have had months or years as Rayla’s ally, even if he spends all his time with Ezran as his Crownguard. I also hope that Soren gets some real-world experience and education at the Storm Spire and in Lux Aurea before he returns to Katolis, if Ezran’s going to return to being king (which, idk, technically I think Soren’s king now, actually, as VIren’s heir, but that’s a whole ‘nother post).

Soren is a genuinely warm guy. If he gets some time to learn about what Avizandum and Zubeia’s side of the war has been like, as well as Khessa and Janai’s, he’ll have a pretty balanced viewpoint on the conflict as a whole, which will make him a really solid adviser for Ezran, considering the training and actual battle experience he already has.

He may even contribute to the chain of events that frees Runaan, since he’s the one who put Runaan in the dungeon in the first place. His piece of the puzzle is that Runaan isn’t dead, and was imprisoned instead of being killed, and he knows exactly where and how, and also what Runaan looks like. He got a fistful of that long white hair, which is Runaan’s most distinctive physical trait (out of several, okay), so if anyone ever brings up that hair–Soren included–it’ll be obvious who’s being referred to, and that could direct various characters in their hunt/quest to free/locate him.

But what would he do upon seeing Runaan again? They’ll definitely remember each other. I think the key element will be this: time has passed eventfully for Soren, but it won’t have passed in the same way for Runaan. He’ll be stuck, trapped out of the world, alone with the same thoughts over and over again and no new input to help him grow and change. So Soren will probably have come a long way in his personal development, while Runaan won’t have done much more than spin in circles and rethink his choices.

I think the first thing Runaan would do is go on the defensive–or the offensive–with any weapon he can possibly get his hands on, and the first thing Soren would do is to hold up his hands and say, “Whoa there, Rayla’s Pointy Dad Number Two, I’m not gonna pull your hair this time. Promise.

“And uhh, look. I wanna apologize on behalf of my dad. Viren. The old High Mage who kept you prisoner? I made some bad choices when I listened to him. And what he did to you was wrong. And I was wrong to help him. I thought I was helping my country when I did what he and my sister told me to do. But I ended up hurting people who didn’t deserve it.

“And Rayla–she’s great, by the way, taught me how to sweep the leg and everything–she’s helped me understand a lot about myself.. Because she and I, we have a lot in common. Trying to do the best we can for our dads being one of those things, and all.

“So, what I’m trying to say while you’re still deciding if you’re gonna stab me is this: I’m sorry. I’ve been to the Storm Spire, I’ve lived in Lux Aurea, and I, I get it now. The whole war thing. And, who we are inside it. People like you and me. Warriors, fighting to protect people we love. I’ve learned to see more than I ever thought I could. More than my dad wanted me to.

“So… really please don’t stab me, because I’m just trying to do what my king says: we don’t have to fight back. We don’t have to continue the cycle. You killed my last king, and I couldn’t stop you. And, yeah, that still hurts, not gonna lie. But Ezran’s my king now. And I’d follow him to the ends of the earth. If… the earth… has ends. Geometry wasn’t my best class. Anyway. So how about we talk, you and me, okay, just a couple of badasses, and we’ll try not to fall back on old habits, yeah? Cool. And… how many pushups do you think you can do?”

And Runaan hasn’t said a single word the whole time. He’s just let Soren go on and on and on. But Soren’s been paying attention to Rayla, trying to understand his new ally whenever he can. So he’s been very slowly stepping closer to Runaan, keeping his hands in sight and open, using Rayla’s mannerisms. And that whole message hits Runaan just as hard as hearing Rayla’s name on Soren’s lips. Soren does know Rayla. Knows her well. Things have changed. And he’s going to need to go slow so he doesn’t make a mistake. He’ll never let Soren into his blind spot, but he’ll play along after that show of information. He’ll look Soren up and down and say, “More than you can,” and Soren will grin like a little kid, because he’s just made peace instead of war, and he’s so proud of himself!

Aww, Soren is like hay. He’s great.

Amaya: afawk she hasn’t met Runaan directly, so unless they have some clashy backstory, Amaya’s attitude toward him will be a combination of “This dude killed my brother-in-law/king” and “this dude is my nephew’s girlfriend’s dad”.

By the time Amaya meets Runaan, she’ll know about Rayllum and how strong and steady it’s become. She’ll have Janai by her side. She’ll know about the power of love, and that overt aggression toward Runaan for taking Harrow won’t go over well with Rayla, and maybe not with Callum either. Plus, they’re all trying to move forward in peace, and her relationship with Janai is a big symbol of that. So on one hand, she’s a walking symbol of peace through love. And on the other, she can offer Runaan an olive branch to achieve peace through forgiveness.

A big influence is going to be how well Amaya and Rayla get along. I’d love to see Amaya teaching Rayla ASL because Rayla wants to be able to send silent messages. It’s a very Moonshadow form of communication, and Runaan talks a lot with his hands already, so Rayla’s primed for a new language there, I think. And the more time they spend bonding, the more Amaya’s tolerance will rise.

She may have the hardest time forgiving Runaan, out of everyone. Callum has a huge heart. Ezran is a soft boy through and through. Soren would identify with Rayla pretty strongly, with their dark dads. Gren’s too nice not to feel for Runaan. But Amaya’s whole job has been defending Katolis from elves. And she failed, and her brother-in-law died at Runaan’s hands. So part of her hangup with him will be her own guilt. I’m not sure they’ll ever be friendly.

Callum has more reason to hate Runaan than Amaya, but he’s young and in love with Runaan’s daughter, so he’s got motive and ability to be emotionally flexible. Amaya, for all her love of Janai, might not be quite as flexible toward a Moonshadow assassin whose actions put her nephew on the throne and destabilized Katolis, leaving it vulnerable to a coup and warmongering at Viren’s hands.

So, I think their meeting might go a bit like this: Amaya sees Runaan for the first time after he’s freed. It’s probably not immediately after. He’ll have a chance to find some shirts and eat something, probably heal up as much as he’s going to. And then they’ll come face to face. They’ll warily study each other for a long moment. And then Amaya will shrug and smirk, and Runaan will narrow his eyes, and she’ll punch him as hard as she can, and he’ll let her. Everyone will get caught off guard. Janai and Ethari, if they’re there, will step forward immediately to see to their partners and eye each other warily. But it’ll be Amaya and Runaan who tell them to calm down. Everything just got worked out, as much as it’s ever going to be.

Unless someone attacks Rayllum. Then I’ll get my cherished hc of Runaan and Amaya fighting back to back. It won’t matter what they’re fighting against. They’ll both be all in. Trusting Rayllum’s other stabby parent would definitely bond them more than anything else ever could.

And now for my sweet boy Gren: Gren is really empathetic, and he knows what Runaan’s last days before the coin were like. Gren had it easy--food, water, light, getting to stand up, not having to endure the odd magical experiment. Runaan wasn’t so lucky. We all saw the level of concern Gren had for his fellow prisoner down the hallway when Runaan started screaming. We saw his horror as he realized what Viren had done and how Runaan was still alive inside that creepy tiny prison coin.

Gren probably didn’t get a very good look at Runaan in the coin, but he’s very good with voices, and he’d recognize Runaan’s in a heartbeat. He could hear everything he and Viren said down the hall. He knew to ask about Xadian fruit, which means he overheard the “Moonshadow elf thing” comment. He knew darn well that Runaan was a Moonshadow--could easily guess that he was one of the assassins--and he was still horrified at his fate. Gren doesn’t carry a weapon--he prefers to talk. And talk and talk and talk. I bet there are plenty of things Gren wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy, and getting coined is one of them now.

So this poor soft dungeon boy, who called down the hall trying to get Runaan to chat and never got an answer, only heard him talking to Viren, what would his reaction be upon seeing Runaan again? Upon hearing him?

Gren would wait for all the “more important” people to speak to Runaan first. Janai, Amaya, Rayla and Callum. And then he’d step forward when Runaan was available and try to have a quick word. He’d stand mirroring Runaan, trying to use Moonshadow body language as best he could. Maybe he picked some of it up from Rayla. And he’d want to speak, but have no real idea what to say.

“Hey. I’m glad you’re okay. What Viren did to you was... wrong. Really wrong. No one should have to go through that, no matter what. I... just wanted you to know that I’m sorry. I... would’ve helped you out... but...” And here Gren gets caught up in his own memories. He’d tried to stay positive in the dungeon, and he could help himself all day long, but he couldn’t help the guy screaming down the hall. Gren’s no pushover, but that whole experience was really hard for him. The walls of that dungeon start to close in around him again.

“You did,” Runaan says. Reluctantly, but not unkindly. He was too busy trying to hunger strike to appreciate Gren’s overtures of friendliness, but once in the coin, Runaan had ages to contemplate every tiny detail of his imprisonment and what led to it. And Gren would be a bafflingly bright spot. No discernible motive. Just a soft, genuine human who tried to cheer Runaan up despite knowing who he was and what he had done.

And that’s all the encouragement Gren needs. He got to be helpful and communicate and do something good, and that’s all he’s ever wanted to do. He’ll glue himself to Runaan’s side for as long as the elf will put up with him, trying to learn as much as he can about Moonshadows. And Runaan will let him, for the most part, because the true measure of a person is how they treat someone who can do nothing for them. And when Runaan could offer Gren absolutely nothing in the dungeon, Gren offered him kindness and consideration. That’s worth a little bit of Moonshadow trust, and Gren will eagerly use what he leans from Runaan to aid in his ability to make peaceful overtures between Xadia and Katolis.

I think that in general, human reactions to Runaan will be muted by the existence of Rayllum. If Rayla weren’t his daughter, and if Callum weren’t her boyfriend, then I do think some characters would react more angrily to him. But Rayllum is bringing peace and holding it together as the first link, and no one wants to challenge that and cause war again over an enemy combatant who was doing his job by taking out a kingkiller. In the face of Rayllum’s peace and love, Runaan will probably get a bit softer of a landing than he deserves. The humans will get a chance to do what Ezran did: to forgive instead of striking back.

#soren #amaya #gren #runaan #tdp speculation #tdp #asks #janai #ethari #callum #rayla #ezran #viren

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edwardsvirginity · 4 years

Text

And now... I introduce my best friend to Eclipse!

--0000000--

[riley’s first appearance]

Friend: who's that

mike?

(the rest of the commentary for the movie is under the readmore!)

--0000000--

[bella reciting the opening monologue: some say the world will end in fire…]

Friend: wow…drama queen

--0000000--

[Edward and bella in the meadow]

Friend: is this real or is this more of her crazy headspace

--0000000--

Edward: marry me

Bella: I have an English final

Friend: wow……. Rude

--0000000--

[Charlie grounding bella]

Friend: charlie…. is the only sane character tbh lmfao

he knows an abusive relationship when he sees one

--0000000--

[Edward sabatoges bella’s truck]

Friend: Y I K E S

A B U S I V E

this is not romantic lol

--0000000--

Renee: I just want to make sure ur making the right choices for you

Friend: she's NOT

--0000000--

[renee gives bella the quilt from all their trips]

Friend: awwww

except she's selling out her fam for bloodsuckers

--0000000--

[all the cullens wait for Victoria in the forest]

Friend: is it whatshername

the redheaded bitch

--0000000--

Friend: i'm just gonna say….alice and carlisle are the only valid vampires

Me: whyso?

Friend: idk anything about jasper and emmett, edward is weird, who else even is there

--0000000--

Me: [pauses movie because a spider has appeared by my head and I’m freaking out]

[it lands on my laptop and I scream and close it]

Ok… we can resume

Friend: what happened?

Me: [explains]

Him: ? ? ? why didn't you kill it?!

Me: killing it requires getting close enough to touch it, and that's Too Close

i don't kill spiders

anyway

Him: what?!? lmfao

you don't kill spiders

Me: killing them is too scary

Him: i'd rather kill it and know it's dead than wonder where it is

wow

me: i just scream until someone else comes to do it for me

him: that's a lot to take in

--0000000--

[jake confronting Edward about being on their territory]

Edward: I was trying to protect u by not telling u abt Victoria

Friend: mmmm yikes

bella just needs to move tf back to florida

this is….Too Much

--0000000--

[bella goes to lapush]

Friend: tbh i like his pack

--0000000--

Leah: if ur here to torture jake some more u can leave

Friend: oooooh

burn

--0000000--

[movie introduces imprinting]

Friend: tbh i think that whole concept is insane™ and i dont get it

bc it like absolves you of your own…actions

& removes the other person's choice

it's really fucking creepy

--0000000--

Friend: also it would be soooo weird to be able to read people's thoughts

Me: i know it would freak me out

i would hate being able to hear everything my packmates thought

Friend: i don't need anyone else to know how horny i am

--0000000--

[Jacob arguing with bella about the cullens]

Jacob: theyre not even alive

Friend: "they're not even alive" y i k e s

--0000000--

[riley creeping in bella’s house]

Friend: man i'd be sleepin with a shotgun lmfao

& like 12 dogs

--0000000--

[Edward yelling at bella abt bella disappearing with jake]

Me: he’s so overprotective

Friend: she needs it tho

Me: because she's such a danger magnet?

Friend: um….yeah

& she is a fucking damsel in distress

she has no power of her own :((

--0000000--

Friend: he's so…ugly

me: Edward?

Friend: yeah ……….

--0000000--

[Jake appears shirtless]

Edward: doesn’t he own a shirt

Friend: “doesn't he own a shirt"

LMFAO edward voicing my thoughts

--0000000--

[Edward kissing bella before passing her off to jake, who immediately hugs her]

Friend: the way they …. fight with each other by using her body :|

--0000000--

Friend: what do native americans think of this?

Me: [explains]

Friend: so what is the redeeming quality of these movies exactly lmfao

Me: they’re… fun?

Friend: i guess

like indiana jones

racist trash, but fun(?)

--0000000--

Me: I hate his sideburns in this movie

Friend: don't think they're that bad

his whole face tho is not great

especially pale af

--0000000--

[nonconsensual kiss scene]

Jake: ill fight until ur heart stops beating

Bella: u wont have to wait for long

Friend: YIKES

--0000000--

[Edward and Jake fighting post-punch]

Jake: she’s not sure what she wants

Friend: Y I K E S

--0000000--

[Carlisle bandaging bella]

Friend: carlisle is so hot

i wanna marry dr. carlisle

the way he medicines everyone up…

wow

[..]

edward is useless

seduce Carlisle

[..]

edward's been alive 100 years and hasn't become a doctor??? c'mon

--0000000--

[Rosalie killing her rapists]

Friend: LM FAO

love that

W O W

that's a more interesting story than bella's LMFAO

--0000000--

[Rosalie trying to convince bella to stay human]

Rose: there’s one thing you’ll want more than Edward… one thing you’ll kill for… blood

Friend: ohhh….

SHE REAL

--0000000--

Friend: & also bella's assumption that Edward is That Great

she's 18….. she hasn't even TRIED college boys

[..]

has she even had sex with anyone, ever?

--0000000--

Friend: Evil Dakota Fanning is ….. scary af

--0000000--

Friend: i'll say what i want about stephanie meyer being a fucked up mormon…. but her music taste is p good

Me: she didn’t do the soundtracks

Friend: ummm…i remember stephanie meyer specifically thanking Muse in her books

in the "acknolwedgements" section

or did you, the twilight princess, not read that part

--0000000--

[graduation party]

Friend: I feel like there should be a twilight spoof..

where a high school girl has to choose between dating a furry and a goth

bc that's what this feels like to me

--0000000--

Friend: he freaks me out

the beefy one

--0000000--

[training scene]

Friend: jasper's kinda sexy too

well, everyone looks good next to robert :|

--0000000--

[jasper’s backstory]

Friend: jasper was a confederate soldier?!?!??!

what?? lmfao

confederate vampires? thanks i hate it

--0000000--

Friend: didn't he have like a life and morals before becoming a vampire or

i mean i guess he's a confederate so maybe not but

--0000000--

[jasper’s backstory]

Friend: he just listens to her lmfao

his Evil Mexican Bruja

--0000000--

[about Victoria]

Friend: she should just make someone sexy a vampire and fuck them tho

she has the power here

--0000000--

[about Jacob]

Friend: is there a REASON he never wears a shirt?

--0000000--

[Jake trying to convince bella she has feelings for him]

Jake: you can love more than one person… like sam, Emily, and leah

Friend: thruple!

that's the only resolution here

jacob & edward need to fuck each other and get over it

there's too much tension between them

--0000000--

Alice: you and Edward will have the house to yourself tonight

Friend: oooooo

Alice: you’re welcome

Friend: LMFAO

alice is a bro

--0000000--

Bella [immediately after the scene with Alice]: hey dad, I was wondering

Friend: hey dad… i was wondering. do you have any condoms

--0000000--

Bella: dad I’m a virgin

Friend: not for long….

--0000000--

Friend: but like honestly it's all so deeply unclear to me

he has like no blood, right?

HOW does he get hard

Me: he’s always hard

Friend: i don't think that's how that works

--0000000--

[Edward and bella in edward’s room]

Bella: I wanna ask u something

Friend: "can we fuck"

--0000000--

Friend: i feel like "becoming a vampire" is just a metaphor for "losing virginity"

--0000000--

[Bella tried to jump Edward]

Edward: bella…no

Friend: ???????????

they already kiss and stuff?????????

Me: yeah

i think he's worried he'd like. fuck her to death

idk… her vulva is delicate i guess

Friend: they could do some Other Stuff

Me: yeah i know

edward is just…. too old school to understand anything but piv

Friend: fuck her to death…with his flaccid vampire dick

[..]

this is so………Weird

?????????? sex is not a sin

--0000000--

[Edward talking abt how he would have courted bella in 1918]

Friend: ???????????? i dont believe that at all

people fucked in the 1800s

edward is a fucking weirdo

[Edward starts his grand speech]

Friend: Ew

this is…. a Lot

tbh it's Not Sexy that he can't adapt to a more feminist era

[Edward proposes]

Friend: this is…… a Lot

he Keeps Asking

[bella accepts]

Friend: she's only saying yes because she's horny!!!!

--0000000--

Friend: also….tbh it's sad that these vampires have to deny their instincts and have no control over themselves

like ….maybe they should just be euthanized

Me: :O

Friend: is it fair to deny them their nature???

we don't force tigers to be vegetarians

what is the difference

Me: because… they're sentient and intellectual and can decide for themselves not to eat humans

Friend: i'm not sure i buy that

Me: you think they're not smart enough to make their own decision not to eat humans?

Friend: it seems like they have to be rehabilitated to deny a very natural instinct that they have no control over

are the cullens themselves a metaphor for mormonism?

Me: yeah but carlisle CHOSE a vegetarial lifestyle… no one forced it on him

Friend: i guess

but at what cost

lmao

--0000000--

[tent scene]

Jacob: I am hotter than u

Friend: LMFAO

--0000000--

Friend: why didn't they bring more blankets?????

how fucking cold is it

Dumbasses

--0000000--

[Edward and jake arguing over bella]

Friend: idk bella….

i'd rather fuck a hot wolf than a freezing rock hard PussyDestroying Vampire

those wolves are HUGE…. huge dicks im sure

--0000000--

[Edward talking about how he doesn’t want bella to be a vamp to jake]

Friend: i feel like they're Bonding

over their inability to control this woman lmfao

--0000000--

[jake and Edward fighting over bella]

Friend: bella is not that interesting? ? ? ?

--0000000--

Edward: if you weren’t trying to steal bella I might actually like u

Friend: wow

THIS is where they should fuck

t h r u p l e

look deep into each other's eyes

--0000000--

Friend: she'd warm up if they were having sex

--0000000--

[post tent scene]

Friend: she's not even wearing a hat rn

bella…what the fuck

--0000000--

[Edward and bella talking about being engaged, jake overhears]

Bella: it’s the 21st century

Friend: yeah, it is the 21st century…. marry them both

--0000000--

[bella asks jake to kiss her]

Friend: what the FUCK is happening

--0000000--

[bella and jake making out]

Friend: she's not even wearing anything warm

--0000000--

[battle]

Friend: carlisle…. kung fu master

Me: renaissance man

Friend: only breaks the hippocratic oath when absolutely necessary

--0000000--

[confrontation with riley and Victoria, Edward trying to convince riley to turn on Victoria]

Edward: think about it riley.. .you’re from forks… you know the area

Friend: "you're from forks… who would want that"

--0000000--

[Carlisle healing jake]

Friend: god…..my sexy, classy dad

… so smart….. so kind

--0000000--

Bella: I’m not normal

Friend: bella….you are SO normal

the reason every middle school girl read these books and thought they were like bella is bc you are just THAT normal

--0000000--

Edward: I guess we should start planning the wedding

Bella: no… something more difficult first… more dangerous

Friend: is she still talking about her virginity

#best friend movie night #eclipse #twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight saga #tts #the twilight saga #twilight revival #twilight in 2020 #twilightenment #twilight: eclipse #let me know what you guys think of this format as opposed to the endless reblogging

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