an interesting lens to analyze pathologic would be through the ways it references commedia dell'arte. part of it is that the conventions of commedia have left a lasting imprint on theatre, puppetry, and performance in general, but i think there are some very specific nods as well.

for an obvious point, farcical character archetypes represented by masks were an essential aspect of the art form. pathologic not only uses that concept in mark immortell's masked plays, it also uses the same two types of masks: a flat mask that covers the face with holes for eyes and mouth (also comparable to ancient greek theatre masks), and a mask featuring an exaggerated, beak-like nose.

i'd say there are also references to the commedia archetypes in the actual characters themselves. for example, i'd be surprised if "vulgar comedies" wasn't an intentional reference:

(i don't have a clear translation of "площадных комедий", the term that clara uses for "vulgar comedies" in russian, but the russian wikipedia page for commedia dell'arte is the first thing to come up when I google it.)

that's not to say i think the game is trying to completely frame dankovsky as il dottore, the laughable caricature of a psuedointellectual. but clara certainly sees him as one! and arguably his characterization is closer to this archetype in her route, as well as in the pathologic 2 haruspex route (mister "i was blessed with a naturally high intelligence", among other hits). these differences are possibly an indication of unreliable narrator.

after all, changeling's route is from the POV of a religiously-fixated teenager who sees the world in terms of stark good and evil, and whose character is bifurcated between pure good and pure evil herself. arguably the NPCs in her route act as elevated, exaggerated versions of themselves due to her perspective. and pathologic 2 leans harder on the "it's all a play" framing device than the original game did, giving the player a role to embody and making NPCs feel more like characters who exist for the purpose of the play (and for artemy as the protagonist) than as fully realized people. hence how in p2!artemy's first and last confrontation with the bachelor, you find him staged dramatically in a room cast in mood lighting as though his sole purpose is to wait there for you to enter. (well, either that or it's just that he's a drama queen.)

at least, that's one interpretation of why he comes off as more of a pompous twit depending on the route. another aspect of commedia dell'arte is that the protagonists often go unmasked, and relatively unexaggerated, compared to the masked villains and comic relief characters. bachelor is the protagonist of his own story, and arguably the deuteragonist of the haruspex route. but in changeling route and p2 his role is more of a bit player among many, cranked up into the role of learned fool.

I truly feel like im going insane - did you make that post about daniil and artemy's transness, and the differences between them? it had something about how artemy's transness brings him close to things that grow, and daniil's is connected to him being obsessed with eternity etc

...that sounds familiar, but i don't remember whose post that was, or how long ago it was wittten! i'm on mobile right now so my search capabilities are limited. i can try and find it when i get back home, but if someone finds it before me i'd appreciate a link to it!

y'all sleeping on Astarion/Lae'zel bc this moment is so...the way the flippant demeanor drops and he doesn't hesitate to call her out for sticking with her version of Cazador like their relationship is so underrated fr...

sitting down writing this bullshit like let me peel it like an onion a bit and elaborate why this pairing is fascinating to me

It's really interesting how during the most cathartic, life-altering moment in Astarion's questline, the reactions of the other companions are more about the moral wrongness/guilt of sacrificing innocent lives. Lae'zel doesn't do that and instead relates to his hurt.

She knows what's he's feeling, the lack of control, the unfairness of being powerless for too long. This is a woman who just found out her entire life purpose was built on lies, discarded and hunted by her own people after outliving her usefulness, and groomed to basically die for an insane power-hungry lich queen. She knows all too well that power isn't always real freedom. Her first instinct is to empathize with Astarion to steer him away from his hate and resentment.

Astarion/Lae'zel is so interesting to me because they're such a classic "can we make each other worse or make a better person out of the other?".

They both have genuine appreciation for violence and respect each other's ruthlessness. Astarion was used as a weapon of seduction while Lae'zel was of warfare. Sex with people is meaningless and not real intimacy for them, and while both have little understanding/experience of interpersonal relationships beyond the physical, they still feel and love very deeply. They have no frame of reference for things like friendship and warmth, but they badly want all of that and more, even if they don't know it yet.

In-game they can sleep with each other, which is basically the foundation of the normal Tav/Astarion romance. Lae'zel saw him during combat and got horny, who knows. Astarion who's used to luring people with his charms, takes up Lae'zel's blunt offer because she's a strong hardened warrior that can provide protection and be a worthy ally, and he doesn't know how to say no. Navigating the complications between one who wants to be seen beyond as a sex object, and one who comes from a totally alien culture with no concept of love/family/connections and only sex is honestly really compelling to me. It's a transactional, mutually beneficial thing with no emotional expectations. Once you get past the skeevy rockiness of their early relationship, I really like the idea of them slowly seeing something past the exterior and realizing they may have harshly misjudged the other, an unspoken friendship blooms, and in comes the realization that they are essentially loners longing for kindness and a comforting touch in the most desperate of situations.

Lae'zel is prideful, direct, has no sense of courtship talk, and doesn't hold back her thoughts the slightest--she's not sweet/agreeable and what you see is really what you get, which I imagine would be disarming for Astarion who's used to vacuous flattery and has difficulty trusting others. But she's also insanely protective, passionate, loyal, and an initiator-- every romance scene is triggered by her first and she's always showing effort towards her relationships, which would mesh well with Astarion who does need someone to nudge him.

She doesn't purposely suppress her feelings, she's just simply at loss at how to express them sometimes due to her wildly different upbringing. She stops the sparring match you agree to and an easy vulnerability slips instantly out of her: "I don't want to hurt you. I want to protect you, and for you to protect me." and "Thus far I've taunted you, devoured you, battled you. Now I want more than anything to soothe you." are romantic as fuck and Astarion of all people really needs to hear that tbh.

Astarion is also someone who struggles with reinforcing his boundaries, and a key theme in Lae'zel's romance is that she encourages and wants you to challenge her and learn to stand your ground. It's not gentlest method, but hey, relationships are about having to make an effort to learn each other's language.

I think he also would take pleasure "educating her on the matters of Fay-run" (I believe there's a whole banter with him teasing her and teaching her pet names) and would get a kick out of coaxing Lae'zel out of her shell with her shyness at showing public affection, and making her blush. Also it simply would be fucking funny to see Astarion who's used to easy seduction, trying to pass a persuasion check just to get a smooch and generally having to work to earn regular kisses from Lae'zel lmfaooo

Lae'zel also initially struggles to see her chains as chains. When she learns about Vlaakith's betrayal, she copes instantly through denial and shuts it down. Astarion is NOT having it and calls her out, he knows her well enough to recognize that she would value blunt honesty above all.

I imagine he also despises her lack of self-preservation, the way her entire identity is tied to duty and being in service of others, and doesn't understand her desire to still help/liberate the people that want her dead and are hunting her down. He wants to make this duty-bound soldier realize that looking out for herself, and putting herself first may not be the worst thing in the world.

They're so similar to each other but are also polar opposites in some ways that make a more equal, balanced romance I think. It's not a simple, one-sided, feel-good "she/he can fix her/him" fantasy because both of them have to earn each other's love, actually cut through the other's flaws, and actively motivate each other to be better versions of themselves.

They're not at all the other's ideal guiding hand. It's rough, jagged, and imperfect, but that's how healing goes. It's so far from being the healthiest relationship -- but even if their belief systems differ, their moral compass does often align. I imagine it's a slight relief for them to have a partner where there would be less shame and judgment when they expectedly, occasionally slip up and fall into their bad habits.

Also, man, the "You showed me the betweens and beyonds. Beyond war and peace, beyond passion and obsession, most importantly, you showed me freedom.", "First you were my wound, now you were my cure.", "But you saw something else in me - someone else I could be. Someone who could break the cycle of power and terror that started centuries ago.." lines really hit hard when applied to them.

Of course, they can also make each other worse, feed into the other's negative traits that will bring out the worst part of themselves. It's this duality of their pairing that is very interesting to explore, the way it can steer in either direction because it's an intense, fraught relationship at its core.

As friendship names go, “eclipse duo” is a gently tragic reflection of Forever and Bad’s current state of affairs.

‘Eclipse’ extends to both a lunar and solar eclipse, the shadow of one consuming the other for a time, before receding to allow light to shine once more. Ruin and reflection, bright light hidden then revealed once more. The distance between them grows like shadow as they still repeatedly try to reach out to one another, failing to recognise the compassion in the gesture due to the edge present in their words and deeds. Swords cut both ways, while scythes thrust deep and deadly into unarmored opponents. And in spite of wounds they receive, self inflicted or otherwise, they still try.

I do think that the honesty with which Forever spoke about being on the pills — that much as he had hated it, it had been the intervention needed in that moment — gave Bad pause. Forever let him see just how tired he was, let the loudness he’s been forcing since his rescue to drop, a trust that Bad wants but cannot reciprocate thanks to the equally casual admission that Forever used Dapper’s absence as a means to get Bad’s attention — for the sake of a Federation worker. As president, he placed the Federation over a fellow resident and friend, used his child to do it. Forever knew that if he could get Bad to talk, to admit to something, it would be by dropping Dapper’s name - but he did not reckon with that being what Bad has feared, has always believed to be inevitable: Bad feared which side Forever would (be forced to) choose after winning the election, and now from his (warped, paranoid) perspective, that really has come to pass. Lines crossed, if only in his own mind. No matter what Forever says from here on out, Bad cannot see them as on the same side, not any more. (They are, but they aren’t, but they are.)

They cannot cross the space between them, even as they both silently acknowledge that they care, care deeply. It’s incredibly sad, seeing the light return only as they take a step back again. Caught in one another’s gravity.

I think, I fear, there may be irreconcilable differences that will leave this friendship wounded beyond healing once all is said and done. If the Island ever lets things remain “done” - that in itself is the torture of their prison home, as the hamster wheel spins. But I do trust the players, who are clearly enjoying themselves in the midst of this muddle. (As well they should!!). I hope that this part of the ongoing story tells what they want, and sets up future paths they can explore - together and apart.

highkey obsessed with this series of events:

Dazai having an emotional reaction to remembering Mori as "the embodiment of rationality. Like a math equation, he stays cool and commands the situation."

Dazai learning that Mori wants him back.

Dazai DEFENDING HIMSELF ("Cruelty? Come now. Just part of the procedure. It bores me, really.") when Higuchi brings up his past cruelty. "Your blood is as dark as the Mafia itself."

Dazai learning that they're there on Mori's orders to protect him.

Dazai learns that they are protecting him from Q, who he is obviously absolutely terrified of for reasons we don't quite have explained to us.

This means that Mori (the paragon of rationality in Dazai's mind) intentionally released Q, which Dazai thinks is absolutely fucking stupid and terrible, to the point where he doesn't even believe it at first.

Dazai experiencing Atsushi under Q's control.

Dazai letting Q leave despite telling Q he's going to kill them and pluck their heart out.

Dazai (looking fucking exhausted by this point) thinking about how he can't take the time to ponder the morality behind the ADA's plans. (And assumedly the PM's as well.)

Dazai tenderly taking Atsushi by the face only to viciously slap him and tell him to stop pitying himself.

Like goddamn my boy is having a TERRIBLE 20 minutes here. I have no idea if I'm off base here, but it almost makes me wonder if Dazai's little speech toward Atsushi is also directed at himself a little bit 🙃

A matter of survival

About the high-stakes framing of the game to addressing trauma and maladptive behavior using its most overt portayal: Shuuji.

cw: mentions of self-harm, death, trauma

Shuuji’s mistreatment of Lopmon being a metaphor for self-harm and a way to externalize his self-loathing as well as a way to portray the parental abuse he endured (continues to endure?) is a well-known fact by now (I want to believe). While Shuuji getting devoured by Wendimon is generally seen as comeuppance for his treatment of Lopmon, from the in-game description of the creature (Wendigomon is not completely evil, and kindness hides somewhere deep in his heart. But the power of rage suppresses this kindness, making him devote himself to destruction) and the fact it merges both Lopmon and Shuuji to finally voice their pain and downright suicidal ideation, it should be clear the imagery corresponds to Shuuji being swallowed by his own darkness, fully epitomizing the extremely destructive downward spiral he’s been since the beginning of the game.

In the vanilla pre-timeline split, the debacle wraps up with Shuuji’s death whereas in the Truthful route, after Ryo calls him out, Shuuji gets a very needed wake-up call and apologies to Lopmon, getting the chance to change his ways. Of special note is that Ryo not only punches and berates Shuuji—bringing his behavior into perspective— but he also seeks to demonstrate to him that even though he’s at his worst, he still has a place in the group, the others will still try to help him. This places the idea of Shuuji getting support and addressing his trauma and the pernicious behavior stemming from it as a literal life-or-death matter; for leaving it unchecked completely shuts down the possibility of him ever growing more authentic to himself since he ends up being completely at mercy of his anger and pain without any regard to reason nor kindness (not to mention the literally dying).

 This idea not only applies to Shuuji and Ryo, but arguably to most of the cast. When the kids can’t meaningfully address their underlying anxieties and troublesome behaviors and don’t get the support they need, the ensuing result is usually their death (after some really intense lashing out in certain cases—Aoi and Kaito). In this way, parts 3 and 5 —especially 5— could be said to be a cornerstone and primer to Survive core messaging: for the group’s continual survival and growth to be possible at all, it’s absolutely essential to foster a caring community for them.

one of my favorite things from patho 2 has to be isidor’s presence throughout the narrative.  he’s never really there, but the idea of him as a person haunts the story.  one of the best examples is the dream sequence where artemy starts naming the albinos.  all of them start out with what appears to be a pointer before being named.  however, when isidor shows up, this pointer is never changed to his name.

this feels thematically appropriate.  in programming, a pointer is a portion of reserved memory that redirects to a different place in memory where information is stored.  in essence, it’s a box dedicated to holding a nonspecific object in a specific shape.  this feels like the devs are saying, “we have created a space in this story for this character, but they only exist outside of it”

Pathologic Fest Day 1 - For Three

The stage was set- for three

Their rehearsals had gone as best as they could and there was nothing more to do before the act began. But the actors were not yet on set, backstage was filled with their murmurs and steps, worried and excited and dreading the act set out for them ahead.

The three- was it four? Knew that the stage was waiting, that their crowd of one would enter on that high balcony, and they would act, but for the moment they could fuss, and make sure everything was perfect for that first scene.

The script was strange, their instructions stranger, to act as though it was still a rehearsal of sorts, though that did not stop the quiet pacing and repeating of lines from the Bachelor, or the silent worry of the Haruspex, especially not the dread of the Changling at having to become two within the act. They were roles they had taken before, many times for many people, but each one was different in it's own right, while there were set endings, set paths, no run of the play was the same, and neither was their player.

Reblogged the best of my portfolio into the queue so for the near future enjoy the reverse-chronological tour of my archives it will take a week

what the fuck was Krell's plan, anyway?

like.

1)Become evil

2)suck at your job. like worse than anyone has sucked at their job.

3)???????????????????

4) profit? somehow??

yes I know if it worked take out the 212th and/or 501st etc but also man, 'I ordered them to kill each other.... and they did!! is not like, Machiavellian Cunning, that's just 'the brainwashed military cult raised to follow orders followed my orders'. Like good job. You have risen to the military intelligence of a ww1 general ordering his men over the top directly into gunfire. head of the class.

I have a crush on my hot goth Meta she is so cool and I am trying to be so normal about it

is there ever any text implying that artemy spent his time away from town-on-gorkhon in the capital, in either game? a good portion of fanwork or discussion about pre-canon artemy puts him in the capital, but i don't think that's intended to be the case.

the narrated introduction at the beginning of his route in classic states that "Artemy has been travelling from town to town learning theoretical and practical surgery for several years". i can't recall if specifics of where he's been are ever stated in pathologic 2, aside from the dialogue options which imply his studies were interrupted by being conscripted as a soldier.

but i can't think of anything he says ever implying that he's been to the capital, so i'm inclined to believe that he hasn't. i imagine he's probably been to medical schools in smaller cities, though, as well as some hands-on apprenticeships. i think the implied itinerant lifestyle in his years prior to returning is worth emphasizing more, too. it gives the impression that he never really had the chance to put roots down anywhere while he was away, while also not feeling fully connected to his hometown either due to leaving at a relatively young age.

(the first game hits the idea that he's disconnected from the town especially hard, with virtually everyone but big vlad and rubin acting like he's an outsider who they've never met before. i think on some level this works, 10 years is a long time, but patho2's attempts to make it feel like he has at least distant familiarity with the town's older residents is one of the better moves it makes.)

The Weight of The Banner

Recently played through the whole Banner Saga trilogy with a good buddy who’d never tried the games before. He fell so in love with it I had to make him a piece based around the choices he made. (Also @ all my pathologic followers, if you like games about slow walking and starving to death with good character writing, try the banner saga series PLEASE)

Random Patho 2 Thoughts While Playing The Game (spoilers!) #7

The cemetary lies halfway between the Town on the Gorkhon and the Kin camp; might be a stretch, but taking the placement literally could mean that between the town/Townsfolk and the Kin lies death/the dead, that they are connected and separated by death (symbolized, perhaps, most accutely by Isidor Burakh, whose funeral follows Kin traditions but is also visited by townsfolk etc.)

Remember that golden butterfly painting in Stillwater? I'm thinking about it way too often

Goin' down to Gorkhon gonna see if I can't unwind Plague angel faces everywhere people shouting "There he is, get him!"

Hey remember when I made a music video for my Pathologic meets South Park AU? Welp. Here it is again but with two tiny changes that were bothering me.