cveasie - Tumblr blog

[cveasie]

i want to share with you some of my favourite graffiti from Pompeii

“Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!“ 

“Amplicatus, I know that Icarus is buggering you. Salvius wrote this.“ 

“We two dear men, friends forever, were here. If you want to know our names, they are Gaius and Aulus.“

“Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion.“

“On April 19th, I made bread.“

“ I have buggered men.“

“If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girlfriend.“

“It took 640 paces to walk back and forth between here and there ten times.“

“Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than when they every have before!“

“Epaphra is not good at ball games.”

“Two friends were here.  While they were, they had bad service in every way from a guy named Epaphroditus.  They threw him out and spent 105 and half sestertii most agreeably on whores.“

“Secundus likes to screw boys.“

[cveasie]

"Suppose we now take an hour off, for friendship?"

[cveasie]

Disco Academia

Open Access academic works written about Disco Elysium:

Urban Shivers: Recoding Actual Space in Disco Elysium (2022) by Arina R. Medvedeva

Baltic Screen Media Review Volume 9 (2021): Issue 1 (December 2021) - This entire issue is dedicated to works on DE, there are ten separate articles herein.

Not just Playing: Potential in Enhancing Second Language Learning through Games (2023) by Xiangyi Zhang

Screenshots as Photography in Gamescapes: An Annotated Psychogeography of Imaginary Places (2023) by Mafalda Gamboa et al.

Potentially paywalled articles, check if you have access through your local library or other sources.

The Voices of Game Worlds: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Disco Elysium (2022) by Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen and Míša Hejná

Disco Pinball: Declining Games and Depression in Disco Elysium (2024) by Ryan Banfi

Our Bodies, Our Incoherent Selves: Games and Shifting Concepts of Identity and Narrative in Contemporary Storytelling (2018) by Julialicia Case

[cveasie]

there is a huge difference between criticizing an institution and criticizing individual behavior. i can criticize the makeup industry without criticizing the 14 year old girl who uses concealer because she’s self-conscious about her acne; i can criticize the plastic surgery industry without vilifying the woman who decided to get a nose job after two decades of pointed comments and bullying. it is intellectually dishonest to respond to an institutional criticism as if it were a personal attack; on the flip side, it is cruel and unnecessary to leverage personal attacks in the name of institutional criticism

if i see one (1) more person respond to a perfectly reasonable beauty-industry-critical sentiment with “but i personally enjoy eyeshadow. why are you attacking people who like eyeshadow :(” or “exactly, all women who wear makeup are miserable and brainwashed” i am going to climb a tree and bite the top of it

[cveasie]

Not to brag but I’m a solid 3/10

[cveasie]

I'm aro and autistic which means that I will talk about romance as a very strange and confusing social and psychological phenomenon, and ask allo ppl questions like I'm in a field research, in a normal conversation.

[cveasie]

impostor syndrome is a common problem in academia. For example my colleagues keep putting me in the airlock and ejecting me into space

[cveasie]

thinking about how aventurine and dr ratio are foils for each other again…. aventurine averting the gaze of an aeon while ratio was so desperate to gain it, aventurine’s coyness and honeyed words contrasted again ratio’s bluntness and sharp tongue, ratio’s intelligence coming from books and research whereas aventurine’s came from his life experiences and suffering, ratio believing that all life has value and aventurine seeing no meaning in life

they are just so compelling to me, how they oppose yet complement each other. i think the choice to intertwine their character arcs with each other was such a good one !!!

aventurine’s interactions with veritas provide him (ratio) with some much needed depth, we get to see ratio actually care about someone rather than simply being told that he cares about others like we were in his character stories. the piece of advice that ratio gives to aventurine to read is also so so important not just because it changes the course of aventurine’s life but also because it further solidifies ratio’s belief that all life has meaning to the audience

side note: the line “i wish you the best of luck” is just so sweet, veritas knows that aventurine does not need his well wishes but rather his encouragement

ok now i need to talk about aventurine. as i have mentioned earlier, the note veritas gave to aventurine is changes the course of his life. he is such a lonely character, he cannot fully trust anyone and no one can fully trust him. aventurine has been fighting on his own for so long that he forgot what being a friend means hence why he uses it so liberally with the other characters

this makes acheron’s use of the word “friend” when referring to veritas in the screenshot below so important, as it signifies that aventurine no longer has to walk on his own

another side note: i acknowledge that it was acheron that gave aventurine a second chance at life but it should be known that veritas gave him the knowledge to truly make the most of this second chance

ratio giving aventurine that note does not just give aventurine something from the waking world to cling onto but also symbolises veritas walking with aventurine on his journey to the other side

sorry if this analysis is too surface level, i’m tired and just want to get my thoughts out :)

[cveasie]

2.1 Penacony Spoilers!

I know the scene after Ratio's "betrayal" can be read a lot of ways but I am shocked I haven't seen more people interpret it as Ratio being so worried about Aventurine that he couldn't stay away even though he was supposed to.

We know:

1) Ratio absolutely knew Aventurine's plan from start to finish, both his gamble to create "death" in the dream and with the three cornerstones. (Wish people would stop underselling Ratio in their analyses; "Three chips are enough" is a direct enough clue that, genius as he is, Ratio would never miss.)

2) In his own words, Ratio was acting according to Aventurine's instructions while in Dewlight Pavilion and with Sunday and felt that he did a good job not giving them away.

I think most people are on the same page up to there, but then I've seen a lot of people interpreting this scene after Aventurine leaves Sunday's mansion as Aventurine being genuinely angry at Ratio (possibly after having gaslit himself into thinking Ratio was actually betraying him).

But this doesn't make much sense to me because:

1) Ratio actually has nothing to gain by selling Aventurine out to Sunday. They're on the same side in this mission. Information about a Stelleron on Penacony wouldn't be news anyone with a brain like Ratio's and why would he need someone else's research on Stellerons when he already has ties to the Genius Society through Screwllum and Herta, as well as the Astral Express where the Trailblazer is actively housing a Stelleron?

2) One of Aventurine's most notable lines of dialogue is how it's perfectly fine and expected for "friends" to use each other and backstab. This is his default understanding of partners--why would he suddenly be mad about something he expected from the start?

3) If the betrayal wasn't already planned and was just a possibility based on Aventurine's understanding of Ratio, why would he ever have revealed there were "three chips" (aka three cornerstones) in play? If even the betrayal over Topaz's stone wasn't planned, just assumed, why would Aventurine reveal the existence of the third stone? He would gain nothing from doing so.

Instead, I think it makes a lot more sense to interpret Aventurine's frustration with Ratio in this later scene as annoyance over Ratio taking an "unnecessary" risk:

1) As far as Sunday knows, Ratio had just very seriously betrayed Aventurine, completely selling him out and essentially sending him to his execution.

2) In the scene afterward, Aventurine is out in public in the middle of Penacony where The Family's eyes are always watching, yet Ratio walks right up to him to check on him. Why would someone who just sold you out come up to you immediately afterward to check on your health?!

3) It's only natural that Aventurine would pump the brakes and go "Wow, didn't think you'd show yourself after you just betrayed me, remember?" Because that's the act they are supposed to be keeping up! They're still being monitored; it's not safe to break character!

But Ratio is a genius, right, so why would he break character here? From the standpoint of the ploy itself, revealing to the Family that he and Aventurine were still on the same side would only jeopardize the plan, not help it.

The logical explanation, then, is that Ratio went to Aventurine here because he felt like he had to.

He had to check in and make sure the situation was still under Aventurine's control.

(In fact, the entire exchange through the middle of this scene is Aventurine and Ratio confirming the rest of their plot in a veiled manner: Ratio brings up the plan and mentions what's concealed in the gift money bag, Aventurine confirms the cornerstone is good to go; Ratio asks what his next step will be; Aventurine says he's going to do the insane thing of handing out cash while looking pathetic [aka fishing for Sparkle]. Ratio essentially asks if he's crazy enough to take the final gamble with his own life, which Aventurine confirms, and then Ratio sets them up for the finale by gifting him the doctor's note.)

Ratio was willing to risk ruining their entire plan--something Aventurine does seem to be frustrated about at first--just to ensure Aventurine still felt all right about the situation.

He needed to deliver his note demanding Aventurine stay alive.

He needed to tell Aventurine to come to him if the situation got too painful to bear.

In short, Ratio was worried enough that he could not stay away even though, for the sake of their plot, it would have made significantly more sense for him not to appear. The gain of breaking character was worth more to him than the risk of being caught.

You honestly don't even have to take this in a shipping context. The real point here is that Ratio is an incredibly good person who wasn't okay with Aventurine's self-sacrificial plan and who felt morally compelled to check on a person in pain. He's a healer through and through, and ignoring Aventurine in this condition--ignoring someone who was taking so much risk on themselves--simply wasn't possible for him, no matter the danger it posed to the plan.

But for those who do ship Ratio and Aventurine... I hope more people will come to see this scene as another example of Ratio's genuine concern for his mission partner! He did not have to appear here at all; it would have made much more sense for him to leave Aventurine to his own devices to uphold the illusion of their "betrayal." He showed up in this scene--very likely against Aventurine's expectations--because he was concerned for Aventurine's situation and wanted to ensure Aventurine knew he could fall back on Ratio's support at any time if the plan went awry.

tl;dr: I wish people would stop interpreting this scene as the aftermath of a betrayal. Aventurine wasn't ticked off with Ratio in this scene because he felt like he'd genuinely been backstabbed; he was ticked off because Ratio was literally breaking their pre-established "betrayer" character just to be fussy over Aventurine's safety and well-being. (Okay, and to double check on the plan, but let's be real, the first part was definitely more important. 👌)

[cveasie]

Aventurine is literally sort of Ratio's muse and I can't stop thinking about it

HEY POTENTIAL SPOILER WARNINGS FOR HONKAI STAR RAIL VERSION 2.1 PENACONY STORY?????

A friend forced me to make this post lmao, they said the masses needed to know. ANYWAY I recently read Dr. Ratio's character story parts cause my Avenratio (Aventio, Ratiorine?) brain has been all over them and I realized I never read his story before

Something that sets apart Ratio as a genius compared to the actual Genius Society is how human he is. Despite his demeanor and off-putting personality he's an empathetic and caring character! More than he lets on! And this is most obvious WITH Aventurine.

The funny thing is the more you read into Ratio's backstory the more you realize he's viewed as someone too knowledgeable to be seen as human. Because his story isn't told AT ALL from his own POV, it's all outsiders and their assumptions of him. But when you read Ratio's own voicelines and goals, you realize that his aspiration is literally to INSPIRE people to recognize that knowledge can exist and thrive without the existence of "geniuses."

But everyone treat him as the opposite of what he wants to be. Because they assume that like the Genius Society, he's trying to achieve something more than what he is.

Ratio doesn't want to be a part of the Genius Society. Why do you think he calls himself a "Mundanite"? He's literally trying to humanize himself when he lives up to the title of "mundane" because the world has already stolen a lot of his humanity from him because they just see him as a "genius"

He puts himself on the same level as the common people because he WANTS to understand them. He doesn't strive for godhood like Ruan Mei or consider how to create new universes to explore the history of Aeons like Herta. He's a DOCTOR. A doctor of the PEOPLE.

Anyway, this brings me back to Aventurine...

In Ratio's character details this stands out to me because it's one of Ratio's major goals:

Firmly believing that intellect and creativity are not confined to geniuses, he seeks to distribute knowledge to the entire universe to cure the persistent disease named ignorance.

Aventurine is literally what Ratio strives to teach the universe to not ignore because they get too caught up on "geniuses" when it can be the "mundane" makes the universe what it is.

Aventurine is both intellectual and creative and Ratio is one of the few people that understand that. Aventurine is literally a muse of sorts for Ratio because Aventurine is the type of person Ratio wants the universe to recognize.

Just look at how Ratio sees Aventurine compared to the Genius Society members!!!

Aventurine is a genius in his own right. An orphan and slave from a dying planet with no formal education made it to the IPC as a key ambassador, gambling with stakes no one dared to gambled with, and always walked away winning. He's smart in all the ways education does not teach, he's smart from EXPERIENCE. It's not just his luck, Aventurine is more than just his luck, it's his wits and personality and charm and quick-thinking that make Aventurine a "mundane genius." Ratio is one of the few that recognizes that about him.

Aventurine is the epitome of what Ratio wants the world to recognize. Aventurine is a muse that inspires Ratio to continue pursuing knowledge outside of the Genius Society, inspiring him to educate the universe about their own ignorance to the "mundane" around them.

Anyway that's why I love them. Ratio as a character cannot be fully understood without Aventurine. They are intertwined!!

[cveasie]

the heartache of being aroace is so crushing. i was born to love fiercely and all encompassing. i want to cook for you. i want to take you on picnics. i want to take care of you when you’re sick. i want to sit in silence with you. i want to share my life with you.

but no, i don’t want to kiss you. i don’t want to have sex. i don’t even really like holding hands. i’m sorry. i know its not enough. i’m sorry i’m not more.

please let me love you anyways.

[cveasie]

being romance repulsed but wanting a partner like i just want a bestie to live with in a little cottage on the outskirts of a little town and we have a garden that we grow herbs to do spells with and fruits and veggies to sell at the farmer's market. is that too much to ask?

[cveasie]

academic rivals to lovers but they actually like eachother. they may not be friends, but they sometimes study together and respect one another. the rivalry aspect is fun for them. they feel like the other person is one of the few reliable people in the group.

if you'd ask person A about person B, they'd tell you that, "sure, theyre annoying as hell with their overly opinionated ass, but they always bring the best candy to the study sessions. oh, and they always laugh while expressing their views. and that B is one of the nicest people A has ever met, you just gotta crack the pretentious shell that they carry"

if you'd ask person B about person A, they'd tell you that "they're a bit too loud, but surprisingly smart". they'd smile fondly while saying that.

[cveasie]

why is trying to make a new friend so embarrassing. hi. me again. asking for your attention once more even though i am literally just some random person to you. it's because i want to be not just a random person to you. please understand

[cveasie]

can someone hire me as a lighthouse keeper. my grip on reality is soooo stable and i will behave so normally under conditions of extreme isolation. and i promise i wont try to fuck the light

[cveasie]

"i would kill for you" "i would die for you" okay but would you forgive me if i forgot something important for the 51204th time in a row even though i tried my best to remember

[cveasie]

really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.