So let me get this straight. TOTK!Rauru had repeatedly requested that the Gerudo join the ‘protective embrace’ of his kingdom, to serve him. Protection from whom? The monster clans? If anything, the Gerudo seem at the peak of their power! They have some measure of control over the molduga, the fiercest of the desert’s monsters. It’s also established elsewhere that the Secret Stones merely amplify one’s existing power—that one would catapult Ganon to near-unstoppable heights speaks of his already formidable might. With him at the helm, the Gerudo were ready and willing to invade Hyrule. Until Rauru demonstrated a superweapon that quite literally vaporized any notion of a military assault—a superweapon that Rauru (and his cohort) brazenly wears. Ganon is entreating a party wearing nuclear launch codes around their necks! And those aren’t even the only Secret Stones in Rauru’s possession, later handing those out as he sees fit to the Sages. Of course, the narrative portrays Rauru as someone who would never abuse that kind of power—he’s a Good King. But that’s a terrifying Sword of Damocles.
Yep. Pretty much.
Also I'd like to point out that apparently, Rauru's "sin", and what passes off as his character arc (so far, I haven't finished the whole game yet), is that he was too confident that he'd keep Ganondorf under control as a vassal? Like, okay what were the options otherwise? What should he have done that he didn't do? Like in OoT/TP beforehand: was Rauru supposed to simply imprison the king of a foreign nation just because he didn't pass the vibe check --or worse, kill him off? And then what happens to the gerudo? I feel like we've gone down this road before, and it didn't lead anywhere pretty...
This is what I mean about the poor character writing in this game: I think Rauru is supposed to be the emotional core of the story, and he might be the only one with an "arc" so far, but his flaw/regret is... a whole bunch of nothing? Unless you think he should have commited genocide to protect his kingdom from evil, according to the game that refuses to examine his actions/power, there's nothing he should have done differently besides... not having his wife be murdered? That's not a character arc, that's just an unfortunate event you participated in unwillingly!! To make a comparaison that is worth being brought up: the king of Hyrule in BotW worked much better in that regard, because he is indeed partially responsible for the fall of his kingdom through the pressure he inflicted upon his daughter and the prideful belief that he could control a force of nature (Calamity Ganon being treated as such in that game) through technology; both of these attitudes costing him everything, condemning his daughter to a century-long fight and said technology ruling the lands through terror in his stead. As a ghost, he haunts the wreckage waiting for the hero to wake up to try and finally correct his mistakes through Link.
I think they kind of wanted to do that again in TotK, but it extremely doesn't land in my opinion because Rauru has no flaw --beyond, apparently, not being bigoted enough?
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i have yet to look into fear and hunger 2: termina much but my view on daan as a character is forever damaged because i learned that one of his actual, canon, legit death scenes is one where he gets shamed into being a furry that scratches his balls for all eternity. i'm sorry i let out the loudest cackle while watching his moonscorched death
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you know i had a fun little vp idea i wanted to do for the cyberpunk anniversary but i haven't had the energy to even touch it recently so i'll just settle with saying that this game impacted me in ways i never thought it would when i first picked it up 3 years ago. i knew i would enjoy it, i had been looking forward to it for a long time, and despite a ~controversial~ launch, i had a fucking blast from day 1 (on ps4 no less). regardless of bugs and memes and public dunking, the story grabbed me like nothing else could at the time, and it reignited so much of my passion and motivation for art that i had lost in the clutches of mental illness and i'll always be grateful for that. it introduced me to so many wonderful people (some whom i carry very close to my heart), and maybe most personally surprising, it gave me an outlet to understand parts of myself that i had been too afraid to acknowledge for a long time, the courage to accept and embrace myself as non-binary, and allow myself to just BE without trying to convince myself i'm crazy. that's not what i expected from the get-go but it's been a really fun journey to be on ngl
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Wait, so you mentioned a few times you've got Strong Feelings about 7RS, so uh. could you articulate those feelings please?
they are just so fuckin....
like aight my initial reactions to some of the broadcasts were this
(didn't have it figured out yet that Suns used they/them at that time)
because like lets set the setting for NSH here, alright? he has this friend he's been loving for who knows how fucking long. after all the Ancients left everybody was ought to feel lonely and thank the all good in this world he has probably found solace in this other iterator, Looks to the Moon. she means a lot to him. he wants her to be okay
so he tells this to this one other guy he's been talking with and also finding solace in. he tells them that he really cares for Moon, that they've been close, that he's so fucking scared right now for her because he just doesn't want her to be hurt. he cares for her to SUCH extent that he leaves behind his jokester shtick (and local therapist friend shtick, as per me headcanons and perception) and actually grows cold and actually kind of fucking bitey????
like in one broadcast i was marvelling over how healthy their communication actually seemed, next moment i know NSH is hammering it into Suns how much of a fucking idiot they are for all of this. the THERAPIST FRIEND goes OUT of his way to ATTACK HIS FRIEND (however subtly and verbally). that is INSANE to me, i'm often in the position of the therapist friend and it usually takes so much for me to actively attack and then give a cold shoulder to the bud???
and on top of all of this Suns goes ahead and call this entire dooming fucking situation a "SETBACK" to Pebbles' development into a satisfactory enough cynical person, i'm going to fucking throttle this toaster.
but at the other hand, despite all of this, Suns isn't necessarily a bad person! i'm not actually saying that nor i actually think that. they obviously care for people (Pebbles, Spear), but they are just so fucking emotionally stupid that they don't know how to go about it or they just really realize a thing much Later. they are slow as shit when it comes to processing emotions. they are analytical and very logic based, which isn't a bad thing but yanno! no matter how you are as a person you are still responsible how you are going to act towards the people around you. you are expected to Not Hurt others and such a thing as actually Hurting someone will not be accepted
low empathy or low sympathy or lack of experience with the emotional aspect of life does not equal or excuse being a shit person
again, but they do care. all of the iterators are fucked up by a religion taken to extremist reaches (as per my understanding of the lore and the RW world). so naturally, they are going to believe that sending step by step instructions on how to commit suicide is a good thing. so i don't actually blame them for that, even though it is horrifying when We look at it. it's how they showed that they care for this little pink fool. they tell him that everything is useless and they are fated to run in circles over and over again. that it is good to lose your ambitions and the fire of a fight in you. they truly think That is the best course of action one can take- the whole Society believes in that and because of That these helplessness inducing advices are signs of care and love
they want Pebbles to be happy. they want to lead him to safety and show him how things work. protect him from the tiring useless fight that is swimming against the stream of a river
and yet they are so cold and hurtful. Suns is a mess of opposites- the warm and kinder ones forced behind their Exact negatives
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