#cause the gap between intro and show is insane actually

[srslylini]

Arcane season 2 intro tells us a whole different story than what the show turns out to be.

it's actually been quite disconcerting for me to watch the show and I now realized it's mostly also with how the intro paints a totally different piece of art than the show. This intro feels a lot more in tune with season 1, though it also doesn't fit there either.

don't get me wrong I LIKE season two's intro, it's actually insanely good and would the story be what the intro promises then... we wouldn't be here actually

[dragobirbcat]

I had an idea. (Wow, crazy. I know.) So, I have temporary access to a whiteboard table during the weekdays that I like to doodle on sometimes. I was doodling one day with some things on the mind & I doodled a character. I took one look at the character & thus the idea started to form. Over the next few days, I thought up more characters, thought up more ideas for the idea, etc.

Before the tangent runs any longer, behold, the idea. This is the MC:

Her name is Dahlia. (My pfp is her digitized as her digital form is now. I'm still working on digitizing my doodles & giving them a little more detail digitally, etc.) She likes bows & other things small children like. She's 7 years old. She was born with eyes too big. Like, uncanny levels of big. Everyone looking at her face is unnerved by it to some compacity. Except for 3 people.

Her parents:

Her mother doesn't have a name as of right now (name suggestions are welcome). Her mother always has her eyes closed. (Why? Who knows? Me, but I'm not telling because if this were to actually turn into something, I'll reveal it in the thing.) Her mother is where she gets her love of bows from. I'm still thinking of ideas for her mostly, she's the character I've thought about the least as of rn.

Laurence, Dahlia's father, is considered to be the 'normal' one of their little family. He's got no outwardly weird characteristics. Laurence hates the 'normal' label because it often leads to comments like 'how could he love a daughter who looks like that?' Or 'why does he stay with those freaks & not get with someone normal?' & many others.

So Laurence has made it his personal mission to be seen as just as weird as his family. Doing the most random stuff. Eating insane & we'd consider 'gross' food combos. Etc. Causing people to be like 'it makes sense now'. Only for them to forget about it by the next time they speak. So he continues to do, say, eat odd things hoping it'll stick at some point.

The 3rd & final person, her best (& only) friend:

This is Jeremy. As shown in the image, the reason he doesn't find Dahlia's face unnerving, is because he's never been able to see it. He sits behind Dahlia on the bus, they only talk through the little gap between the seat & the wall, & anytime they even have the chance of Jeremy seeing her face, a random thing conveniently shows up between them or around them, blocking his view. Sudden tunnel detour & things are dark, they sit on the only available bench which has an overgrown bush growing directly down the middle & is too thick to see through, etc.

Basically the story is just the shenanigans of people reacting to Dahlia & Laurence's looks/antics. Also the varying randomness of 'what's gonna block her face this time?' And Just general goofy scenarios with these characters. More to be added as time passes, heck I'm gonna try to get a possible intro/pt 1 thing going next week as a kind of Christmas Present.

If you read my ramblings through, I applaud & thank you & want to know your possible thoughts on this, any part of this at all.

[livi-writes]

Chapter 0: Intro

Seoul High School was packed with students. They bustled about the halls, chattering along with their friends and classmates. Kang Taehyun grumbled to himself as he walked down the school corridor, nudging past people as he went. He tried to turn up the music on his phone, only to be further disappointed when the volume wouldn’t rise any further. Eventually, he got tired of pushing past people, and stood still in the middle of the hall. 

He inhaled deeply, then let the air out slowly. Taehyun’s eyes drifted closed, and a familiar, comforting chill slid up his spine. Behind his eyelids, he saw the all familiar light blue glow of magic he knew was radiating off of him. His eyes opened slowly, and he lowered the volume on his phone as everything slowed around him. The people walked slower, and their voices got lower and dragged out, until they completely stopped. The entire hallway, and school, if Taehyun had succeeded, had completely froze. 

Kang Taehyun had stopped time.  

He dragged his feet over to a gap between some frozen students, and sat on the floor. The young teen leaned against the wall, fishing his phone out of his pocket, and restarted the song he was trying to listen to before. He rested his head against the wall, letting his eyes slip shut as he let the sound of the music embrace him, easing his tired mind.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Choi Soobin sat in class, completely engrossed in his quiz. He scribbled down answer after answer, too lost in his work to notice the eerie silence that had fallen over the room. He finished the last question with ease, raising his hand as he finished writing. Slowly, he looked up from his completed work and up to the teacher. 

“I’m do-” he froze as his eyes widened at the sight before him. The teacher, and students weren't moving. Or breathing, for that matter. He stood up and looked around the classroom. For a split second, he felt his anxiety spike. However, as soon as he began to freak, he quickly realized what had happened. He darted out of the room, looking for a specific junior. 

"Taehyun!!" 

Said boy looked up from his place on the ground, watching Soobin as he slid across the glossy school floor tiles. He watched Soobin with a blank face, as the raven haired teen tried to catch his breath, his cheeks flushed pink. 

Once Soobin caught his breath, he looked down at the bored teen accusingly. 

"What did I say about stopping time at school?" 

"To do it when it's necessary." Taehyun blinked up at Soobin

"Yes-No!! I said to only stop time when it is absolutely necessary, which is never during school hours!!" Soobin looked down at his friend incredulously.

Taehyun shrugged, looking away from the older male, and stared at nothing in particular in front of him. “It was absolutely necessary.”

“Then what happened? Are you hurt?” 

“...no.”

Soobin stood in disbelief for a second. “If you're not hurt, then what was so important that you needed to stop time?”

Taehyun didn’t speak for a second; he knew he would get scolded for his reasoning, but he also knew he’d get caught in a lie. Soobin’s magic fed off of aura anyway; he could always read Taehyun like an open book. Taehyun looked up at Soobin through his eyelashes, his cheeks puffed out in slight embarrassment. 

“I had to... listen to my song..” he mumbled under his breath.

Soobin blinked owlishly at the other teen. He huffed, but decided not to argue. At least Taehyun wasn’t using his magic for some kind of malicious reason. He peeked down at the younger boy’s phone, squinting his eyes. 

“...what song are you listening to?”

Taehyun flashed his phone screen at Soobin, and the raven haired teen looked at the screen, his eyes widening a bit. 

“Hey, that's my favorite song.”

Taehyun let a tiny smile raise on his lips, before taking one AirPod out of his ear, gesturing it up to Soobin. 

“I know. Come listen.” 

Soobin knew he shouldn’t have caved; but he couldn’t help himself. It was his favorite song after all. He sat next to Taehyun on the ground, took the AirPod, and turned back to his friend. 

“Only this song. After this, you have to start time back up and get to class. Okay?”

Taehyun looked away, pressing his head against the wall, letting his eyes slip closed once more. Next to him, Soobin put the airpod into his ear, copying Taehyun’s pose as he rested his own head against the wall.

“Fine. Just one song.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Choi Beomgyu clutched his books to his chest tightly, walking fast with his head down. He just had to make it to the library and he’d be safe. ‘Jeez’, he thought to himself. ‘Could my body move any slower?’ He stared at his own feet, and hoped he’d gain the ability of super speed before-

Before he could finish his own thoughts, he was pushed on the shoulder. The force made him turn, and the same hand that pushed him shoved him backwards. The force made Beomgyu’s back slam into the metal behind him. The door was then harshly thrown into the rest of the metal, letting out a loud booming noise as the lock clicked in place. 

Once again, Choi Beomgyu was shoved into a locker. 

He huffed, and pressed his head to the locker door, listening to the sounds of mocking laughter from the other side. His eyes cast down at the ‘Later loser!’ he heard, keeping quiet.

 Being quiet was easier than fighting. Beomgyu thought over his own morals as he waited for the hallway to clear, his ears focused on the footsteps on the other side of the metal door. Why didn’t he fight back? He was telekinetic for christ’s sake. He could throw those mindless bullies down the hall without lifting a finger; and yet, he took all the crap they shoved his way. Beomgyu took a deep breath, urging his nerves to calm back down. 

No, he wouldn’t fight back, even if given the chance (which he has been presented with. Several times.) He knew that he would have an advantage over those bullies, and he didn’t want to abuse his power. If they needed to shove him into every locker in the world to feel better about themselves, Beomgyu thought it was best to just leave them be. They’d get taught a lesson in the real world. 

Yet, no matter how much he excused their behavior, he did find it quite inconvenient. His shoulder blades and back were always sore, and probably bruised in ugly mixtures of blues, purples and yellows. He wouldn’t know anymore; Beomgyu got tired of checking the damage. 

Beomgyu shook off his thoughts, clearing his head and paying attention to the world outside of the locker he was trapped in. He was met with silence, which meant he could finally let himself out. The teen brought his empty hand up to the locker, closing his eyes and scrunching his eyebrows. He focused hard, until he could feel the machinery of the lock under his fingertips. His fingertips then pressed into the locker door harder, and he could feel the gears begin to move. 

Slowly, Beomgyu used his telekinesis to unlock the locker, and once he felt the click he’d been all too familiar with, his magic opened the door fully. Carefully, he stepped out of the locker, scanning the hall again to make sure he was alone. He then turned back to his temporary cell, and softly closed it shut. 

Beomgyu straightened out his clothes and let out a huff, before making his way to the library. 

“Thank god I have study hall.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Choi Yeonjun thanked the librarian for his book and made his way to the table he and Kai Kamal Huening occupied. He watched Kai with a soft smile as the younger boy sat at the table alone, trying to solve his math homework. Yeonjun moved to sit next to his young friend, opening his book and reading. 

Meanwhile, Kai stared at his paper helplessly as his mind wandered to every possible thing he could think of. He rubbed the eraser end of his pencil into his hair, his face turning to a pout. 

‘Focus Kai, c’mon...focus…’

 But nothing was more treacherous than sitting around in a quiet library while quietly trying to solve impossible math problems… quietly. He knew he promised Yeonjun he’d actually try to do his homework on his own first; but he really didn’t want to sit in confused silence anymore. It was driving him insane. Kai tried not to break the silence, his body practically vibrating with pent up energy before the dam finally burst. 

“Hey. Yeonjun-”

He looked over to his older friend, and his eyes darted down to the book he was holding. His eyes widened at the book, realizing it was one of his favorite manga. 

“Ohmygosh Jun, that series is amazing! My sister showed it to me when-” 

Yeonjun whipped his head to Kai, shushing him immediately, and they began to talk over each other. 

“No, Kai, you're supposed to be working-”

“Yeah I know, but I didn’t it understand and-”

The two started bickering, talking over each other. From the outside, it looked somewhat aggressive- like an argument. In reality, this was just how they communicated, and it was just a part of their exuberant friendship. They got weird looks from other students; not that they noticed to begin with. They kept going back and forth until Kai got distracted by Beomgyu shuffling closer into the library. Kai cut off Yeonjun’s rant, his attention completely shifting. 

“Beom!! Beomgyu!! Over here!” he called, his arms waving wildly. 

Beomgyu looked up from his shoes, his face blushing in surprise, and deepening in embarrassment when he noticed the amount of students staring at him. He could tell they were begging him to get his friend to shut up, so he quickly went over to the table Kai and Yeonjun occupied, before plopping down. 

“Yes, Kai. I’m here, hello. Please stop yelling in the library…” 

Kai beamed at Beomgyu, blissfully unaware of the scene he caused. 

“Hiya Beom! Jun and I were just talking about this manga that came out not too long ago, see he’s got the book? Anyway, it’s really good, it’s about-” Kai began his rant from the beginning, overwhelming Beomgyu immediately. He peeked down at the work in front of Kai, before looking over to Yeonjun. 

“Math?” he whispered to his older friend. 

Yeonjun nodded halfheartedly, and whispered back “You know how it is.” 

Beomgyu looked back to Kai, who was still rambling on a mile a minute. He tried to keep up with Kai’s fast speech, or at least, he tried to pretend like he was keeping up, nodding along here and there, giving an occasional ‘uh huh’ or a ‘yep.’

Yeonjun looked at his two friends, smiling softly to himself, before going back to his book. He couldn’t deny it, it was a pretty good manga after all.  He kept reading while Beomgyu had eventually gotten Kai to refocus on his work, only by promising to help him the entire time (mainly an excuse to do his own homework, since they had the same teacher; not that that bothered Kai at all.) They sat together until the bell for lunch rang, and the three got packed up and walked to the lunchroom together. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trio from the library walked into the busy, loud lunchroom. Yeonjun and Kai made their way over to the lunch line, where Soobin and Taehyun were already standing. Beomgyu, on the other hand, went over to the group’s usual table before another bully could find him standing alone. Usually, he’d wait for Soobin or Yeonjun to go with him, but he was too hungry to wait for them to settle down. He sat down, pulled his lunch out of his bag, and started munching on his sandwich, his mind dozing off as he ate. Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai all sat on the opposite side of the table, while Taehyun sat next to Beomgyu. 

They chatted about their morning classes, and about Taehyun’s time stopping ‘adventure’ (which was quite funny once Yeonjun realized that that was why he was stuck in the bathroom. The group babbled on like a normal group of teens, until a kid snuck his way behind Beomgyu, a tray of food in his hands. The kid dumped his food over Beomgyu, laughing heartily as he walked away. Yeonjun's hands immediately began to sizzle against the table as he moved to stand, but Soobin caught him and shook his head. 

'No burning bullies into a crisp.'

Yeonjun grumbled under his breath, moving his hands under the table. His fire magic left two hand-shaped burns in the wood, and Soobin slid Yeonjun’s lunch tray over the damaged material to hide it.

Taehyun helped Beomgyu clean his hair as much as possible, offering to go to the bathroom with him to clean up, and maybe find a shirt in his locker. Kai, the usually bouncy personality, sat completely still, his eyes locked on the asshat that spilled food over his friend. 

Kai watched the kid walk around a bit before going to the water fountain near the doors to the lunchroom. Kai watched as he drank water, his hands clenched. Kai focused on the pipes under the fountain, his eyebrows scrunching. He pent up his energy before letting it loose, and the fountain shot water up at the bully, soaking him almost completely and knocking him to the ground. The entire lunchroom whipped around to face him, some staring in shock; most laughing their heads off. The group watched as the kid grumbled to himself and quickly walked out of the cafeteria.

Yeonjun leaned over the table to look past Soobin, giving him a happy look. Soobin and Beomgyu, on the other hand, both whipped their heads over to the youngest of the group, distaste on their features. 

“Kai!!” They both whisper-yelled at their youngest friend. 

Kai shrugged his shoulders in response, his hands going up with them, and one of his eyebrows raised up in a confused expression. “What?” 

Beomgyu huffed at him, choosing to get up and clean himself off before his next class, Taehyun following behind him. Soobin, on the other hand, couldn’t let it slide. 

He watched Beomgyu and Taehyun leave, then whipped his head to face Kai, who froze in his spot. “Kai Kamal Huening!” Soobin glared at his youngest friend. “What do you think you’re doing?!” 

Kai pouted in response, slouching his shoulders to make himself smaller. “That guy threw his food on Beomgyu. I just thought that-”

“No, no you didn’t think! Did you not hear me earlier?” he cut Kai off, exasperated for having to have this conversation for the second time in one day. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “I’ve had this conversation with all of you already. We can’t risk getting caught. We don’t know what anyone would do to us if they found out.”

Kai visibly deflated, showing Soobin that, yes, he did know better, but he still wanted to argue his point. Kai opened his mouth to say something, but Yeonjun jumped in. 

“Bin, you know he was just looking out for Beom, he won’t do it again,” he turned to Kai, “isn’t that right?”

Kai smiled at Yeonjun in gratitude, glad his oldest friend decided to take his side. “Yeah, right!” He turned back to Soobin, his eyes glittering, his head quickly bobbing up and down; seemingly already leaving the scolding behind. “I won’t do it again Binnie!! Promise!”

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs SAO S1

The real question is how no one has arrested this game creator yet 

There are only two types of game players those who create their avatars to look as much like them as possible and those who want to be a pretty princess 

“2,000 people have died so far” well that escalated quickly

Lmao @ Kirito’s group-work anxiety same my guy same

I don’t trust Blue Haired Knight he is hanging back at the rear while everyone else fights 

Well he’s dead now so I suppose it’s irrelevant

I like that Kirito was phased by the fact his partner was a pretty girl for about five seconds before he was calling out battle tactics

Jesus Kirito went from plucky young boy to Edgelord in ten seconds

“Are you talking about suicide?” “That’s not such a bad idea” I mean... u right

I can’t be the only one wondering what’s happening to their bodies while they’re spending literal months in this game unable to eat or defecate

How do u think Kirito’s mum would feel about him sleeping in bed with girls

Kirito made friends and they all died so quickly yikes 

All of Kirito’s decisions are made so abruptly he decided to adopt Silica out of nowhere

Nice to know romance isn’t dead in the virtual reality hellscape

Things are so happy right now I’m sure everything’s about to go terribly fucking awry

Apparently Kirito is a bounty hunter now these time lapses are wild

I can’t believe Asuna is taking Kirito on a date in exchange for letting her nap

Grimlock is a name that screams evil but I’m honestly more suspicious of Yoriko

It seems me being suspicious of someone means they’re immediately going to die lmao

Nope I was correct the first time whoops

“How many times you been married anyway?” Kirito pls 

“I had to kill her while she was still my wife” calm down Othello

Kirito, explaining marriage: “If you marry someone, that means you already like whatever you know about them, doesn’t it? And if you discovered something you didn’t know about them before and fell in love with that too, then that would be awesome?”

Dfghjkfhgkjdhgksd;hf

Lisbeth: Brr it’s cold

Kirito: Well damn Lisbeth I can’t control the weather

But if Asuna has a date and it’s not with Kirito who else are these teens romancing 

“Especially if that someone’s a girl like you, Lis” the biggest recurring trope in this anime is that Kirito is inadvertently romantic 

Lis is such a good friend she sees that Asuna likes Kirito and immediately backs down

“It’s been almost two years since this game of death began” yikes how decrepit must your real body be what about your family what if some of these players have children you are a child

These domestic virtual times are sweet but depressing because their lives are a lie

Sfdjhgdfhgkjh does Asuna’s bodyguard have a titty detector that senses when someone is touching her

“Hey, Klein, still alive huh?” Kirito’s social skill are so great

Lmao @ Kirito punching Klein for trying to hit on Asuna even he seemed surprised by it

I appreciate the plot twist of dual wielding because it’s cool but not like unreasonable within the context of the story

I really do not like that Asuna is basically the prize in this duel 

It’s really zero percent surprising that this event turned to murder so quickly

Literally every choice Kirito makes is so abrupt like I know he likes Asuna but he went from reluctantly joining her guild to kissing her and vowing to stay by her side forever in like a day calm down Romeo 

Gfkhgkjdfhgkfhgkjhfkgj Kirito just wanted to hang but Asuna thought he wanted to bang I’m crying

“And then... we’d get married” I know you’ve been in this game a long time but I feel like you are definitely still minors

This show is the definition of that escalated quickly they decided to get married one minute ago and now they have a house in the woods

“Is he younger than me?!” ASUNA I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MARRIED HIM WITHOUT KNOWING HIS AGE WHAT IF HE’S 12 AND YOU’RE 17 AND ALSO IF YOU DON’T KNOW HIS AGE WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BOY YOU JUST MARRIED

They’ve still got separate beds and haven’t seen each other naked but also I don’t know what I expected they’re like 15 

I can’t believe they’ve just adopted a child this is insane they are really embracing the ‘I do what I want’ philosophy

You can never escape the stranglehold of capitalism even in virtual reality

“Your mom’s crazy strong, isn’t she?” they’ve really embraced their roles as Yuhi’s parents huh

“I’d rather trust her and regret it than not trust her and regret it” what a lovely philosophy Kirito

It’s really cute that they’re like this little family and all but also really fucked up and sad because they’re not her parents and who knows if Yuhi’s even real

Oh my goodness their baby is a robot 

“Remember, you’re our child” this is going to be upsetting

Did they just promise to recreate their robot baby christ how do you plan on raising her

“Nice job, honey,” this is so funny he’s so proud of his wife the fish slayer

Finally addressing the reality of their decrepit comatose bodies

I knew we couldn’t trust Captain Cheekbones 

I’ve never heard “I promise I’m gonna end this world” said in such an optimistic tone

Whoa they’re both dead that is not where I thought this was going but I guess they went full Romeo and Juliet huh

Well this plot twist makes a lot more sense also how is no one in this hospital stopping Kazuto from escaping the hospital surely a nurse notice him flatline

Is this intro meant to imply that these guys continue to play MMO games after their extremely traumatic two year comas

How exactly did Kazuto explain his relationship with Asuna to her family

Is Asuna’s father going to marry off his comatose daughter?? Surely there are laws against this 

“If I proposed and she could speak, I’m pretty sure her answer would be no” WHAT THE FUCK 

Kazuto makes it sound like she’s just moving away instead of being married against her will while in a coma 

“In the end your heart belongs to her” Is Suguha in love with Kazuto because even if you’re not siblings you’re still cousins ew pls stop

Robot baby has returned

Kirito does not know the meaning of low profile

I am not okay with this cousin-fucking vibe that’s going on Leafa u need to stop

This dude is a fucking rapist I hate him 

How is Kazuto’s education going I wonder considering he just lost two years of his life 

“Do you feel the same way about him?” Obviously not bc she’s too busy wanting to fuck her cousin

Dickface accidentally giving Asuna hope by confirming that Kirito lives

“Did he.... set you that way?” Leafa is asking if Kirito has a daddy kink

This level of drama and dedication to not letting anyone die must not make sense to someone who does not know he was trapped in a life-or-death game coma

It’s funny to see how quickly Kirito has jumped on the killing train now that there’s no longer a danger of actually killing someone

Although with Asuna there it stands to reason that there is potential to hurt someone because there are still some people whose nervous systems are still tied to the game

I can’t believe that Kirito is delaying stopping his girlfriend’s real-life marriage to deal with in-game politics where are your priorities dude 

Kirito as a news anchor: Violence in video games is ruining this generation

Honestly this boy has never been anything less than 200% Extra a day in his life how does he expect to get Asuna if he is causing a ruckus everywhere he goes

Lmao @ everyone hitting on Kirito while he is lowkey thinking about how he’s married 

I can’t wait for Asuna to murder her forced fiance

“Do I want to be a good sister? Or...” do you want to fuck your cousin? It is the latter and it’s unsettling

“I’m in love with my brother, and that’s something I can’t tell anyone about ever” at least you’ve registered that it’s incest but doesn’t mean it doesn’t give me the heebie jeebies still

Without the context it might just seem like Kazuto and Asuna are a weird couple that calls each other mommy and daddy 

I guess Kirito brought a sword to an arrow fight 

“I can do this on my own,” he said immediately after dying

Leafa tried to give Kirito the Hug of Passionate Restraint but instead gave him the Shoulder Grab of “You’re Making a Poor Decision”

Suguha coming to the realization that her life has twice as much incest as she thought it did

I DON’T KNOW WHO IS MORE UNCOMFORTABLE RN ME OR KAZUTO

“I’m sorry” Don’t apologize Kazuto it’s not your fault your sister/cousin wants to bang you

“Right then and there, I swore to close the gap that had grown between us over the last couple of years” looks like that gap was closed a little too well my guy 

That’s a lot of love confessions in a very short time frame 

What are you apologizing for homie literally all you did was exist and be a good human being 

I fucking hate Sugo he is the worst person alive

I think this is the first time I’ve seen someone assaulted on screen in an anime I feel sick to my stomach

What kind of honourable ass shit is this Kirito just gave his enemy a sword

I guess honour only extends so far when you’re tossing someone’s bisected body into the air to impale them

What the fuck are you gonna kill a teenage boy Sugo 

Well if you’re gonna get stabbed a hospital is the best place for it to happen

THIS IS THE REAL WORLD KAZUTO YOU CAN’T JUST KILL PEOPLE YOU DON’T LIKE 

Kazuto should really get those stab wounds treated

Lmao @ these priorities “well you just woke up from a coma it’s time to meet and make out”

Pretending you have objection to PDA Ms. Let’s Get Married at 16

I like how they all come out of the VR world and they’re all still fuckin nerds

Kirito is such a good big brother to his creepy little sister

[thebakedbeans]

Dark Souls Narrative Review

Alright here we go again, it’s been a LONG time but the last narrative review got some more views so here I am again; and to make up for the gap I’m going to release 2 reviews back to back. This time it’s just going to be a narrative review with a focus on mechanics as metaphor. The game this time is Dark Souls, a game very near and dear to my heart. I’d like to talk about what the narrative does right, and how the game presents some of its ideas through its mechanics.

So jumping right into this. I could be wrong about this but every game that has a narrative usually has some central theme, feeling, or idea it tries to get across. Dark Souls’ is the idea of triumph over incredible odds. Hundreds of people have written about how the game accomplishes this theme, but I’d like to take a look at how specific mechanics and set pieces reinforce it.

When you as the player first start a new game, you’re greeted with an intro cinematic that both shows a bleak oppressive world and the legends that conquered it. Sets the tone well, the player understands both the general atmosphere and the relative strength of these legends. The player even sits in their jail cell looking hopeless until someone else drops the key into your cell. Then your character stands up and they look hideous; nothing like you made them in the character creation screen. The only weapon they have is a “broken straight sword” that does dismal damage. In terms of starting a game, Dark Souls makes you seem weak and utterly powerless. Contrast that with the cutscene the player just saw with literal gods throwing lighting, and you can see how the game start makes you seem insignificant.

Within minutes you’re greeted with a boss that seems insurmountable; and it’s the first actual enemy you encounter. It towers over you and almost every attack takes away significant portions of your HP pool. So you run away and feel like you’ll be unable to defeat this first boss. But then you go through the rest of the tutorial and learn the basic controls and get your items and the game shows its true colors. It gives you an edge over the first boss by allowing you to halve its HP pool. Suddenly this boss doesn’t seem so impossible; and the player feels that fighting chance.

That is, in my opinion, the core feeling that Dark Souls conveys. It echoes this feeling all throughout the design. The interconnectivity of the world forces you to re traverse areas you’ve beaten; areas that probably have you a difficult time with on your first run through. But now you get to go back stronger, better equipped, and more experienced. Those enemies that were so troublesome before become fodder; you mow right through them. Dying again and again to the enemies in Undead Burg on my first day only to go back later and get through the section without taking a hit is a moment of empowerment few games can replicate.

The game doesn’t restrict you either. You see something interesting, you can go there and find out what it is. There’s no rail roading or hand holding, allowing players to set their own goals. There’s no best build,  gear, or really any best playstyle. Whatever you want to do or use, it’s viable. The game just encourages you to become skilled enough to the point where the weapons and armor you want to use, can be used.

Some weapons and armor sets in Dark Souls are just better than others, that’s a fact. But you’re never relegated to using them. What I mean by that is that in some games, using the “rusty old dagger” just plain will not do much damage (if any at all). I think the term is, non-viable. Things the player can do, but have such a minimal effect that it’s fruitless to do it.  But here everything is viable. Fuck there are videos if people beating the game using the rock band drum kit as a controller. I’ve seen people do Boxing runs where they just use fists and no armor; Their damage to enemies is less, but it’s not such a minimal amount; their attacks have some impact behind them, even though it’s significantly less than if they’d used a weapon. It’s insane, but the players and thus the characters are skilled/strong enough to be able to do it. It’s reflective of how encouraging the game can be. So when people say the atmosphere of a Souls game is depressing, I say that it’s not; the games gives you embers of hope all throughout and really does fill the player with a sort of brightness amidst its sea of darkness.

When I ask for games with more interactive narratives, this is what I’m referring to. A game where the narrative is reinforced by the mechanics and actions the players takes. These are video games after all, different from movies and tv. Not saying that those are bad forms of media, or that we should always strive for 100% interactive narratives; but I think having games that do this do 2 things. First, it allows us to tell more personalized and unique stories; My chosen undead was a psychotic ugly piece of shit, and yours may have been different. How many mediums have access to that type of narrowcasting to such a degree? The second thing it allows is for games to differentiate themselves from movies and cinema. I know gamers and game makers have been reaching for some recognition for awhile now; and most of us want the respect that other media receives. But I’m not sure we can do that until we stand out in some way. We’ll never make better movies than the movie industry. However we can make better interactivity than movies or any other media.

Dark Souls is one of those games where the mechanics serve a reinforcement for the narrative. From the way you learn to play, to the feelings you get as you progress; Dark Souls manages to weave a narrative that really intertwines the player’s actions and thoughts with that of the character’s and the game world.

I know i’m not bringing up any new point really, all of this has been said analyzed and said by other before. Though i’m not sure how many people have brought up the point that Dark Souls is a game that does an excellent job aligning the player’s mindset with their characters.

Let me elaborate on this. You know how in most games, you role play as the main character? But you never really allow yourself to fully become them. Sure the game allows you to think as if you were that character; saying what they would say and doing what they would do. However, there isn’t a 100% synchronization going on. Dark Souls, while also not achieving this 100% sync (no game really can) gets closer to it than anything else I’ve ever played.

The game really puts you in the shoes of the Chosen Undead. Both of you start out completely inexperienced and foreign to Lordran. The rules and systems of the world are a mystery. But the game never railroads you on a set path. You (and the Chosen Undead) go somewhere because you chose to go there. Yes there is that “fate of the undead’ prophecy thing, but it’s very lax in terms of how and when you do things. Essentially the game adapts to your pace as a player, and thus as the Chosen Undead.

By not restricting players/characters and letting them choose their path/gear/morals, Dark Souls gives you the sense that you are boundless in capability and able to accomplish anything as long as you really have the desire to do so. You want to go to The Catacombs first? Go for it. It’ll be hard as all hell, but for those who really want it, Dark Souls lets them.

As you and your character learn more about the world, you get better at navigating it. The immersion here really makes you feel like you’re learning how it all works. At the same time you as the player learn this, you character does too. For an example of this not working, take Mass Effect for example. I’ll use the first one as it’s supposedly the most RPGish of the trilogy (and we don’t speak about Andromeda). As the player gains knowledge of the world, Shepard already knows everything. As you get better at the gameplay, Shepherd is not narrative wise getting better at fighting people. Mechanically yes, he/she is; but it’s never like anyone tells you that you’ve gotten better at shooting people since Eden Prime, the first mission.

Dark Souls, as you get better at the game, your character actually gets stronger and more skilled in a narrative sense. I mean look at the moveset of the starting weapons. It really doesn’t look like your character has any extensive training. They look like they’re just swinging their weapon around in a mostly logical manner. If I gave a longsword to someone who had no fencing experience, they could do all the same moves that the Chosen Undead could with a standard longsword. If i give a gun to someone who’s never shot a gun before, I doubt they’d be as accurate or effective as Shepard is. But as you go through the game you learn how to use your weapons, and suddenly the swings and attacks you use seem more practiced. Like you have previous fencing experience to know what moves to do, and when to do them. It’s knowledge both the player and character gain, and serves as a great example of seamless transition between gameplay and narrative mechanics.

The last example of gameplay bleeding into the narrative isn’t profound or anything it’s just a neat idea. See when undead give up they hollow, meaning they lose their minds and wander aimlessly. They lose all will to do anything. I personally think this is reflected when players stop playing the game, or give up. Because as long as a player is controlling their chosen undead, that chosen undead has a task or a will to do something. A player who puts down the controller, never plays again, essentially removes the agency and will of their chosen undead to do anything. That undead never gains the ability to do things again, as they have no player inputting controls; so for all intents and purposes, the player has caused their chosen undead to hollow. In fact I’d even argue story wise, that those hollowed characters are the undead before you who failed the Chosen Undead quest. The game states that you are not the first undead undertake this journey. Many have failed before you; I’d like to think that all the players that gave up on the game make up the chosen undead who’ve failed.

I know i’ve just given a lot of tangential examples, and it’s probably hard to read. But I think each of the examples given show how good of a job Dark Souls does at weaving together gameplay and narrative. Whether or not this is intentional is something I’d love to ask From Software, as I have no idea. If we had more games that could do this type of stuff, then imo games would really come into their own as a unique medium. As game narratives are now, there isn’t a massive amount of difference between the way our “narrative heavy” games tell stories as compared to other media. Not saying that they don’t have good stories to tell; however the way they tell them isn’t drastically different. You play the game, you get a cut scene. The interactivity between player, characters, and the overall story don’t really have any cohesion. Having that connection enhances a player’s connection as their able to make it their own and It’s one of the reasons why I want games to have more gameplay supporting narrative mechanics.