#Am I insane?

[kanethegoofster]

[sunhatllama]

If you couldn't tell, my package finally arrived

[overleftdown]

this is going to be my somewhat-brief analysis (buckle in, it's not brief at all) of preluding scenes to farleigh and olivers... scene, lmao. because i can't read micro-expressions and social cues IRL, but i can for movies! also, i want to give my understanding of farleigh's character using the most substantial part of his arc. i disagree so much with a lot of people's takes on farleigh. i needed to talk extensively about it.

[0:58:46] farleigh makes eye contact with a footman. this is one of the footmen that farleigh mentions to felix in a later scene, which i'll also go into. what's interesting about this subtle interaction is how wildly differently you could consider it, depending on how you choose to view farleigh as a character. if you go the "mirror of oliver," route, then this eye contact could be the moment farleigh decides the route he's going to take to confront felix.

on the other hand, the hand that i believe makes more sense, farleigh is genuine in his confrontation with felix. the eye contact he shares with the footman is reciprocated; the footman holds it, even as his body pulls back and his head turns. this gives the idea that they are making a connection. the expression farleigh makes afterwards is also an indication that farleigh isn't plotting or scheming to earn pity points; he feels a connection and comradery with the only other black people at saltburn. when the footman turns away, unneeded anymore (this can be a parallel to farleigh), farleigh glances down, back up, then purses his lips. he looks dejected, in my opinion. this is immediately followed by farleigh's dig at oliver; "i think oliver looks like he'd rather throw himself out of a window.

food for thought.

[0:59:9] elsbeth: you can invite all your friends. farleigh: what friends?

this can obviously be a petty dig. and it is, in some ways. but i think a lot of these petty digs are because farleigh has been here before. he has watched his cousin drag home mediocre and tragic (presumably) white boys for perceived self-benefit. whether felix wants entertainment, wants to quell his guilty conscious (both of which are motivations for his mother), felix seems to have these fleeting possessive relationships with the friends he brings back to saltburn. he could also be queer and deeply repressed, lmfao.

i digress; farleigh is sick and tired. the first thing he says to oliver, before oliver even got to felix, was bitchy as all hell. after that, farleigh had more incentive to belittle oliver; yes, his comments about mannerisms, class, and overall character were petty. they were also all of the qualities that farleigh couldn't afford to have. farleigh is pointing out that oliver has no social life, yet still gets a 200-person party full of people that don't even know his name. this is tragically unfair, at least in farleigh's mind.

[1:01:25] felix: and fucking farleigh, what a little shit stirrer. oliver: well, someone has to entertain us all. felix: ...right. oliver: that's why we love him.

there's a clear disregard of humanity and depth, when felix concedes that farleigh is "entertainment." the sheer fact that felix would immediately believe oliver, a "stranger (as venetia so eloquently puts)" over a close family member, is odd on it's own. there are probably more reasons for distrust; everyone in saltburn is a shit stirrer, and farleigh does put on a particularly good show.

that's intentional, though. farleigh is very intentionally entertainment. otherwise, why would the cattons keep him around? they're welcoming people to their house as family, because they want a break from the reality of soul sucking wealth. because they want entertainment. elsbeth with her friend, who's only real personality traits are being pitiful and visibly different. felix, with his summer pet projects like oliver. farleigh can't be a temporary show; he needs to keep coming back. he needs sir james to support his mother.

[1:02:40] farleigh: i'm not saying my mother isn't completely idiotic when it comes to money. felix: you just have to be firm with her. farleigh: well i can't call her and tell her no! felix: i know, i know, you've said that. i know, i understand. farleigh: no, you don't know! you don't, it's humiliating. felix: it's very hard.

felix's approach to discussing other people's issues--that he does not relate to--makes me giggle sometimes. not that he's malicious or a fumbling idiot, but because of this scene specifically. in just this chunk of dialogue, you have the "i understand" and "you don't understand" conflict. an age old one. a common representation of someone who has never lived a specific struggle yet frames themselves as knowledgeable. felix seems to enjoy the "it's very hard" verbiage. the manner in which he speaks to oliver about his supposed impoverishment and struggles is very similar to the way he speaks to farleigh, in this scene.

i don't know what else to say about this. you can make your own inferences on felix's dialogue, i suppose.

[1:02:50] farleigh: i'm sorry, but it's a bit fucking shitty. you're all throwing oliver a party for 200 people while my mother lives in squalor. felix: well, she's hardly living in squalor, mate. farleigh: well she can't pay her bills so she will be! okay? at the rate she's going, she will be.

GAH. again, this dialogue can be considered in two different ways. farleigh could be hyperbolizing in order to play into the catton savior complex. or he could be completely genuine in his anxiety surrounding his mother's finances. it's very important that you recognize the fact that farleigh isn't arguing about himself, in this situation. he's talking about his mother. later in the conversation, he recenters himself as a person of color. but the original conflict is about whether or not his mom is living comfortably. this arguably affects him, but not entirely. he could continue to maintain his oxford-student-and-saltburn-resident character and continue to frolic around while his mom struggles to make responsible decisions.

[1:03:02] felix: right, well that's exactly why dads concerned about helping her. he doesn't want to enable her. he wants her to learn how to stand on her own two feet. farleigh: yeah, like he does?

and farleigh ate.

[1:03:09] farleigh: i mean, you know how this looks, right? making me come to you with a begging bowl. felix: what are you implying? farleigh: i think you know what i'm implying, felix. why don't you ask liam and joshua? felix: who... who the fuck are liam and joshua!? farleigh: ...your footmen.

farleigh's mannerisms in this portion of the scene GAG me. the easy confidence, the self-assured and confrontational attitude. the cocky wave of his shoulders and tilt of his head. he smirks, scoffs, makes and holds eye contact as emphasis to what he is accusing. the way he says "i think you know what i'm implying" even though i'm not quite sure if felix did. this really hammers in the implicit nature of the cattons' treatment of farleigh.

[1:03:33] felix: oh, oh. that is... that is low, farleigh. farleigh: okay. felix: jesus christ, mate! seriously, is that where you wanna take this!? farleigh: right. felix: make it a race thing!? what the fuck! i mean, we're your family, we hardly even notice that you're... different, or anything like that! farleigh: mmm. felix: i never know our footmen's names!

GAGGED. i eat up this scene and lick my fingers. "wohohoho, i don't see color! i can't believe you'd make it a race thing!" i know i should cut felix some slack, but this is just a little too real. although i've cut farleigh some slack for his classism.

the complete change in farleigh's mannerisms from the previous timestamp to this one is EDIBLE. i can't cope with it. his smile as felix says "that is low" is so painfully real. it says "i've been here before and maybe i was expecting this." for a second, felix is almost entertainingly cliche. then the exasperation hits. farleigh just looks tired. he blinks rapidly, smooths over his eyebrow with his hand, vocalizes his disbelief in felix's denial. "we hardly even notice you're different," to which farleigh crosses his arms (defensive), raises his eyebrows, nods along.

i won't include the final few lines of this conversation cuz i'm blabbing FAR too much, but farleigh's expressions of absolutely exhaustion and disappointment as felix says they've "been more generous then most"... i'm so sick. it doesn't matter what other families would do, because this family passes out charity like it's their favorite pastime. farleigh is your best american girl.

oliver, overhearing this conversation, immediately knows what his next plan of action is. compare himself to farleigh. and really, it's funny, because oliver misses the obvious differences between him and farleigh. just like everyone else. he will never feel different, not in the same way farleigh does. not with farleigh's relationship to the cattons, the legacy of his parents, and his blackness.

[1:06:32] (godfather's karaoke scene, AKA apple bottom jeans. he's a disgusting manchild and he throws his jacket at his wife.) is it odd to point out that another one of the only visible black characters is being degraded/mistreated/disregarded? not crazy, right? especially following the conversation about bias two scenes ago.

[1:07:02] farleigh: y'know, i think i'd fuck richard the III. he's so insecure, so you'd know he'd put in the work, right? oliver: or you could just fuck me, right?

here, i think there's a level of projection that farleigh is using in his line about insecurity. not only is it made known that farleigh uses sex as a tool (with teachers, specifically), but it's also made known that farleigh believes/knows that he is treated differently due to his race and/or family history. oliver seems to have clocked this, considering he relates himself to richard the III, then tells farleigh they have similar experiences.

[1:07:34] oliver: y'know, if you ever wanna talk to anyone, you can talk to me, farleigh. farleigh: ...what do you mean? oliver: well, i know you're going through a hard time at home. i know how that feels, when things are so precarious. it's terrifying... and lonely. and it must be so fucking weird, having to ask them for everything. and i know you fucking hate me. farleigh: i... i don't hate you. oliver: but... if you ever wanted me to talk to them, to see if there's... if i can help in any way... just ask. farleigh: ...okay.

i love this movie. have i said that yet? i bet you definitely couldn't tell by this post. this conversation is so... there's so much to talk about.

i'll start with some of my favorite of farleigh's mannerisms/expressions. when oliver first cuts their... tensions with "you can talk to me," farleigh pulls back slightly, sits up slightly, looks across oliver's face. there's a level of shock to it, but. farleigh was comfortable with oliver, his sworn enemy, flirting with him. yet, he pulled back at a genuine offer of support. some see this as farleigh always wanting oliver sexually, but i think it's more nuanced than that. when oliver says "terrifying... and lonely" that's when the camera cuts back to farleigh. he previously wore a half-smile that is now dropping; "lonely" was the hardest word to swallow. his lip is quivering. he looks up in an almost-eye roll when he says, "i don't hate you." he's laughing when oliver finishes, like he finds it all funny, yet the way he says "okay" makes him seem genuine. however... clearly not, considering the next portion of this scene!

even though oliver is lying out of his ass, everything he's saying is a description of farleigh. people grossly misunderstand farleigh's character, even when it's laid onto a banquette sized table through this portion of the movie. he's insecure, desperate, terrified, unsure, and lonely. farleigh, with so many friends and so many scandalous choices, is so fucking lonely. he knows he doesn't belong here, so he jams his ill-fitting puzzle piece into the saltburn jigsaw and crosses his fingers.

he tells oliver he doesn't hate him, and he looks like he's struggling to spit it out. he looks up towards the ceiling, closes his eyes like he's gathering himself. again, people take this as a bonding moment. the next portion of the scene contradicts this. honestly, i'm not completely sure, either. i think he's honest when he says he doesn't hate oliver. so, what? he's jealous, definitely. he wants to hold the same power as oliver, a foreign entity with somehow so much more privilege than farleigh. maybe that bred a certain kind of infatuation; the need to emulate what you'll never be. of course, he sees himself in the boys felix brings home; they, just like farleigh, need or want something from the cattons (although i object to the idea that farleigh is somehow "a mirror" of oliver). do what you will with this word vomit, i don't know where i'm going here.

and OH MY GOD "if you ever wanted me to talk to them, to see if there's... if i can help in any way," is diabolical. so terribly diabolical. the sheer idea that oliver knows, is pummeling it into farleigh's face, that he has authority over farleigh's life like that? that he knew felix for six months and he can somehow "talk to" farleigh's family about treating farleigh better... vomit inducing. farleigh is actually your best american girl.

[1:09:39] (karaoke scene) elsbeth, so uncomfortable with the idea that oliver is using them. i suppose that's the manner of wealthy people; they don't want to believe that they're only good for their money. but... they did that to themselves, in a way. they enjoy the pet projects, the charity work, the ego boost that comes with inviting the "lesser" to saltburn. hanjob on a haybale, golden big boy summer, right? everyone in the room is scandalized. farleigh is having the time of his fucking life. yet, here's the kicker,

[1:10:10] oliver: this is your song too, farleigh. come finish it. farleigh: only if you insist!

and then farleigh gives the performance of his life, by the way. people died. but... nobody is uncomfortable. literally no one. no one shudders or gasps at the scandal of oliver saying "this is your song, too" over the karaoke microphone; everyone heard. nobody cares. they all know. they start clapping farleigh on, cheering. elsbeth relaxes back onto her bed of cushions, because farleigh is entertaining. the change in mood is soooo... interesting.

[1:10:45] curse this scene, i don't even want to talk about it. it was hot, oliver and farleigh are so homoerotic, whatever yadayada. just like every other sexual scene in this movie, it is riddled with a suffocating kind of uncomfortable tension. we are made intimate third-party witnesses to carnal, sinful, emotionally ambiguous scenes. when i pointed out farleigh seemed more comfortable with flirting then comfort, when i said farleigh uses sex as a tool, when i said farleigh was projecting with "he's so insecure, so you know he'd put in the work." i just overthink. but any person that has sexual relationships with teachers needs intensive therapy and that cannot be denied. however, it's oliver, that uses sex as a tool throughout this movie. another uncomfortable parallel between the two characters.

something about farleigh's expression throughout this scene is... kind of hurtful. the way the moonlight just barely illuminates the light in his eyes, whereas any detail of oliver's face is shrouded in darkness. it make's farleigh look young, innocent, real. (sidenote, as i'm watching, i have to mention this. the way farleigh says that second "no" is so funny. "...no...?" LMFAO). man, i don't even know what to say, past this. the whole dominant dynamic, farleigh saying "i'm going to behave" is a little too painful considering the context leading up to this scene. it's freaky. it's so very oliver.

this is way too long but i could make so many more connections with their final confrontation at oliver's birthday party. i'm drowning in thoughts. what i really wanted to highlight was how ambiguous farleigh's character is, and how differently a lot of his scenes can be perceived. i've decided that farleigh is a sympathetic character, similar to oliver but so much less powerful. some people hate farleigh! so. there's that. the end! thanks to anyone who read this whole thing!

[musashi]

i had someone in a server today say that a few hours was "not a lot of time" and i am feeling so fucking detached from reality so uh

[iamamythologicalcreature]

Sentences or Sketches or Something... Sunday

Hello strangers! It's been a long time since I last did a progress post of any kind - thank you everyone who's continued to tag me so I don't get left behind! And thanks to @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @blackberrysummerblog, @thewholelemon, @mooncello, @monbons, @prettygoododds, @shrekgogurt, and @youarenevertooold for tagging me, today. (I feel so loved! <3) I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's up to.

It's still Sunday in my neck of the woods, though just barely. And yes, I've used my "sentences" banner, but... It's a bit more chaotic than that. Honestly, I wasn't sure about doing a post today because I'm a bit all over the place, but then I figured... eh, why not? I am all over the place LOL.

So here's your snippet from the collective efforts of Jo's creativity, lately, under the cut. (Because I ramble...)

On the Haunting of Simon Snow... I haven't forgotten about it! Nor is it abandoned. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, I have a rough draft, which basically amounts to an outline, meaning I have way too much figured out to just let the story fade away. XD I attempted to work on Chapter 2 earlier this month, and ran into some roadblocks - of the architectural variety.

So I've started to research manor houses and English estates like mad. I'm going to do the thing. I'm going to figure out Pitch Manor. Why? Because my brain won't let me gloss over paltry details such as the location of Simon in the grand scheme of the house, or how and where the roof attaches and where that tree is going to be. It's annoying, but I figure... This is a fun puzzle, too. One I hope to be able to share with the fandom at large once it's complete.

This little snippet is from an early design I've since scrapped (but you never know what might come around, again.)

"That's great, Jo, but how about some sentences?"

Okay. Ahem. Here's... some Simon sentences... that have just been scribbled out. *cough*

I sit there and listen to the man on the other side as he blathers on about extra fees associated with estate deliveries due to distance and blah blah bloody fucking blah. I wish he’d just say it. Just say 'this is the Pitch Manor tax.' No one ever does. But everyone charges it.

I HAVE WRITTEN SEE THERE'S PROOF.

Okay, moving on...

The other thing I'm working on is illustrations for @mooncello's beautiful fanfic, "Lost Boys." I just posted art from Chapter 1 here, and I'm working on art for Chapter 2, now. The story is stuffed to the gills with absolutely gorgeous imagery, so choosing what to illustrate is a challenge. Hopefully it all works out, and in the meantime, here are a couple doodles.

(I was telling Heath last night... this morning...? about how all illustrations start out as baby sketches XD These are the little babes in the creative nursery, basically. Also I have never posted baby sketches before and I'm kinda nervous about it. But. Well. >.> )

THERE YOU HAVE IT. A couple of my reasons for being so entirely absent from all other aspects of the fandom. (Also I got hit with the flu super hard, but doing better now!)

Tags for future wipsdays/hello's! @leithillustration, @artsyunderstudy (thank you for listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor), @erzbethluna, @nightimedreamersworld, @cutestkilla (thank you for also listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor sorry I'm reworking it again XD), @angelsfalling16, @fatalfangirl, @hushed-chorus (thank you for being my secret-garden-enabler XD), @rimeswithpurple, @best--dress, @whatevertheweather, @ileadacharmedlife, @scribble-tier, @imagineacoolusername, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @alleycat0306, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @tender-ministrations, @katmiscellanious, @anxious-m3ss, @bubble-gumhead, @ebbpettier, @facewithoutheart, @bazzybelle, @theimpossibledemon, @aristocratic-otter, @ic3-que3n, @palimpsessed, @raenestee

[b4sorex1a]

I had a twitter moot who told me that Barcelona should just open an OnlyFans for their players and that would save them from debt... I didn't know how to react to that information but

Yeah I’d pay for a Gavi Onlyfans moment,, just to help Xavi and the club ofc…

[sag3-th3-mag3]

TUBBO I AGREE WITH YOU

IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT WHAT IF THE FEDERATION BUGS THEIR WORKERS!! LIKE THE FEDERATION BADGE. THATS WHY THEY KNOW EVERYTHING!!

I AM GOING INSANE

[emptyadderallbottle]

Something I've noticed about Ballistic's name

His name is August

He has sculptures of Greek/Roman(?) Gods (I don't remember which one 😭)

But I need to know, IS HIS NAME/CHARACTER A REFERENCE TO FUCKING AUGUSTUS CAESER

THE ROMAN EMPERORER????

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO ANYONE ELSE????

[gothcroissant]

starting to sincerely believe I am losing friends/not getting invited to things for the sin of showing up to indoor events in a mask?

[75percentbullshit]

So I was dreaming you see and in said dream I was doing something, I'm not sure what it was but it was weird. And then, out of nowhere, Jeff Bezos puts a hand on my shoulder and says: "My homie in queer, what the fuck are you doing?" With the same cadence as 'My brother in christ'.

I then proceded to wake up at 4 am, unable to go back to sleep.

[revon-aurora-borealis]

gen z humor really is broken, i am fucking wheezing at this page

"among us" AHAHWHWHHWHHWHWHWGWGWGGWBSEHGWHHHSSHSHEHWHHEH&HEHHEHWHWHWHHWUWUWUU2UWUWU2U2U2U2U2UU2UWU2U2UU

I HAVE TO HOLD IN MY LAUGHTER RN SO IM LEGIT JUST DOING THIS

[screechingzephyrr]

IS Ao3 DOWN??????? OR AM I INSANE

[dafuq-lyrehc]

Bro, why is writing an ask so scary??? Tumblr, why can’t you save an ask as a draft?? Please, I am anxious! Let me type something and then immediately leave it so I can prevent myself from overthinking. Then, I can come back later with a clear mind. You want me to commit NOW?? Also, how do you talk to people? I almost typed “I hope this finds you well”??? Is it okay to use people’s names if you’ve never used it before? What’s the formatting for an ask for one of the games? Is it rude to just put the question? Is it weird to say things other than the question? What are the rulesssss???

[hissterical-nyaan]

Ignoring my responsibilities, burrowed under my blankets sobbing with my new book 💅🏼

[punk-as-in-fuck-you]

why is 2000s scenemo danny johnson not more popular is this just a me thing

[96percentdone]

I liked AINI a lot, but the game would be seriously improved if they just made Ryuki the protagonist, because he's the one that has a story arc, and a meaningful tie to the case, and meanwhile it's very clear that both Mizukis exist not to have character arcs but for the sake of the timeline twist. More under the cut.

Part One: The Mizuki Problem

Date Mizuki doesn't have a character arc, which is a shame, because she's a rightly beloved character from the first game, and with the way her story ended there, they could have done so much more with her in the lead role. You don't even have to change any of the plot points of AINI for this, bar the meta ones. You could keep her as a genetic experiment and clone, dealing with the revelation that her shitty parents actually adopted her, while struggling because once again her father (Date) was ripped away from her. She'll even learn she has a sister, who watched over her and tried to protect her, but in doing so left her alone. That's a lot of meaty stuff! It's a lot to wrestle with, to make peace with. To grow up as a girl who had to raise herself, and the loneliness that entails, the longing for a different childhood, imagining what could have been. She'd be an excellent counterpart to Amame, who also went down her violent path out of love for her family, and is now just as paralyzed by regret. It's all right there!!

But they can't explore any of that. They rush past her feelings about all of those things, bringing them up for a scene, and then resolve them in a later scene with no in between. They do this for three key reasons, two of which I'll talk about here. The first is that half of her screen time is not actually her, it is Bibi. So they nixed half the time to explore it. Oops. But the more offensive problem, at least in my eyes, is the no spoilers policy that informed the writing. This game has a spoiler toggle, and that means the game has to be completely understandable to a hypothetical player without relying on any knowledge from the first game. Any references to the first game have to be short enough they can be excised without audiences feeling like they missed something important. So if her character arc is based on her trauma, trauma that was a key thing to explore in the first game, and how that trauma informs how she responds the revelations/events of this game—well, then anyone who is playing without spoilers for the first game would be barred from her half of the story. So we get one scene where she brings up her complicated feelings about this, where all the dialogue related to the first game can be easily cut, and then a follow up where she expresses she's fine with all this actually, and that's all she's allowed to have. I can't imagine the version of the game as it is with no spoilers, where the only thing she contends with is being a clone. How weak; how insubstantial.

Kuranushi Mizuki is first and foremost a plot device. I am not saying this because I hate her (I do not); it is just objective fact. In order for the writers to deceive us about what events happen in the past and what happens in the future, there needs to be a Mizuki identical to the one in the present six years in the past. Enter Bibi. Because of this, Bibi does not have a character arc. She can't, because she has to pass as Date Mizuki. This is the third reason that they can't give Date Mizuki a character arc: both Mizukis have to be indistinct from each other so as not to give the game up before they want to reveal the real flow chart. If they were to really get into the meat of either of their traumas, then it would cause greater suspicion in the players before the writers are ready to show their hands.

And that's unfortunate. Kuranushi Mizuki could easily be a great secondary character that could enhance Mizuki's story, in the same way our Mizuki was to Date. She's her sister, her progenitor, and everything she does is out of a desire to protect her, even her misguided choices. Their reunion, and rebuilding of a sisterly bond after they both overcome the ways their various traumatic upbringings affected them could be extremely emotional, and a worthwhile read. But they can't do any of that. Because "Mizuki" as a protagonist exists to serve the meta plot twist about the timeline, and distinct character journeys would undermine that. Because any arc that the Mizukis would undergo together would have to discuss the things that happened to our Mizuki in the first game, and they can't do that, because the game has to be a comprehensible entry point for new players.

Part Two: Ryuki's Half Slaps!

You know who doesn't have these problems? Ryuki. Ryuki Kuruto was introduced in this game, which means there is no prior context that's locked off from new players entering the series. All of Ryuki's screen-time is actually just his own, because he's an adult so they don't need to invent another identical looking character to explain why he still looks the same in both time periods. Now, he still risks having two character arcs that conflict with each other, if the Ryuki of 6 years ago has different priorities and needs compared to his present self, however the game resolves this one just fine.

Ryuki is wracked by trauma, no matter what half of the timeline he's in. The thing that he needs most is to make peace with his mistakes and trauma. His brother's tragic death and his resulting warped sense of justice, his failings during the initial HB investigation being informed by the trauma of his brother's death that happened around that time and with identical results, how that lead to Tearer manipulating and using him, and his endless guilt over that betrayal. At any point in his story, he's spiralling, just for different reasons, and you can blur the details on that just enough so every scene moves seamlessly from one to the next. The detail blurring even justifies itself because of TC-PERGE and his other mental illnesses have fucked with his perception of time and the world around him. Ryuki's side just works. He's a character with a story that's designed to work with the structure they want to have.

And you can tell it works, that Ryuki as a protagonist truly hits because I don't think a single person has played this game who came away hating him. So many people love Ryuki. It's so easy to love Ryuki, because things are happening with him, not just to him. He gets worse, he gets so much worse the more time we spend with him, and we want him to get better because when he seems to be doing alright, he's a likeable guy! He's a dork!! He's awkward!! He has his silly little hero worship gay crush on Date!! We don't want him to suffer, to go through the things he does, we want him to get better and find peace. As someone stuck on his past decisions wrestling with endless regrets, he's another foil to Amame. Someone who makes choices and wonders what it would have been like if he could undo them (hello diverge route). He's just a well-written protagonist!!

Part Three: Split Protagonists? Split Story. False Timeline? Cancelled Story.

There's only one problem: he has to share the game with two Mizukis, who have nothing going on internally, and much of what they have going on externally has very little to do with him. Bibi hates him for what he did to her under Tearer's influence, which should be very relevant and add to his story, but the structure impedes that somewhat. 18-year-old Bibi sees Ryuki just as a coworker until he shoots her. She can't value him as a friend, or have any feelings stronger than 'he's a guy she works with sometimes' because Mizuki doesn't really know him or have a relationship with him, and that would be a contradiction that gives the game up. (I mean, they could just give our Mizuki reasons care a lot about him too, but they chose not to try). Then she hates him, because he shot her and made her condition worse, a betrayal that would hurt more if I felt like they had a meaningful bond, but they don't have one. Still, there is some weight there, so I'll give them that. We mostly see this enmity from her when she's the masked woman, so...when we don't know it's her, or why she hates him, because it's a plot twist. Good replay value. But she gets over it pretty fast at the end. Still, I'll forgive all this, because it is the only thing either Mizuki has going on that really has to do with him.

Our Mizuki does not seem to care at all about her eye; she likes having Aiba, which is the opposite of a conflict. She doesn't know Ryuki betrayed them either, and she doesn't have a relationship with him, so she does a lot of investigating into the half body serial killings which she cares about for....some reason. I guess because she was there? I would say it's because of what happened to Date during explosion end, how it ripped her family apart again, but I already talked about how they can't and won't get into that, so she cares for like no reason at all. She similarly treats what happened to Kizuna as just kind of this tragic accident, but it's not what motivates her. Nothing motivates her. She investigates a bunch of stuff, and sometimes she sees Ryuki, but she doesn't have any motivations related to him, so every minute he spends off screen while she's at the helm has adds nothing to his story, for the sake of a character they refuse to give one.

I lied earlier when I said Bibi has nothing going on. Unlike her sister she has motives, and because she was a character introduced in this game she can have a character arc related to those motives because it won't spoil the first one. There's still the damning problem regarding the fact that she categorically can't be her own character in any of the scenes we play as her, but she has a motive. The hitch is her impetus has nothing to do with the HB incident, which is the thing most affecting Ryuki. She's investigating the Horadori Institute's genetic experiments on children, because that's why Horadori abused her and her sister. The things she learns about Tearer happen while trying to do something else. Horadori and Shigure didn't abduct Uru to genetically modify him; he was just a organ donor for their son. He experienced abuses, but they aren't the abuses she underwent, so they're not the focus of her investigation. The stuff that happened to Gen and Shouma is of more importance to her, because it's the same as what happened to her. Narratively, this is why Gen and Shouma are genetic experiments. They further her investigation, and add to her story. Or at least they would, if she didn't have to pass for Mizuki all the time when you play as her. We don't get to truly explore how she feels about there being other victims she could not protect, who contend with their traumas just like she does. We don't really see her make peace with all that happened, or decide to let go and move on—it just is why she's doing the things she does, while looking suspicious in a mask. Another potential character arc wasted by meta component.

Why are the strings that tie our three protagonists together so thin? To be clear, both Mizukis are extremely tied together, for obvious reasons. But their ties to Ryuki are weak. Bibi was betrayed by him and knows it, so she doesn't trust him, and wants Mizuki to stay away from him because of it, but Mizuki doesn't have a lot of strong opinions about him. He was just a guy she met while he was investigating, and he was there when she lost her eye (and dad), and now he's doing worse. He's very fucked up about what he's done to everyone, including them, because of the HB case, but one Mizuki isn't motivated by the HB case, and the other Mizuki just isn't motivated by anything. Their side adds to Ryuki's story when he's present in the scenes, but when he's gone, so is his storyline. I loved when Date talked Ryuki out of his downward spiral, and I loved his big damn heroes moment, and his sacrifice and forgiveness, and seeing him alive and well at the end. But I wish I could have seen him react to Amame's second somnium. I wish I could have seen him more in the investigations. I wish that when he was offscreen, the things that happened still reflected him in some way, just like how I wish that both Mizukis were allowed to have character arcs on full display throughout the entire game.

There is one protagonist who is affected by the plot of the game, who has ties to the other leads, and undergoes a journey in his half, but is out of focus in the back half in favor of the other two leads, but the other two protagonists are blocked from having anything, because of the restrictions imposed by meta and production elements of the game.

Part Four: So can it be fixed?

Well sure it can. The beautiful thing about fiction is there are any number of ways to solve a writing problem. The first is fuck the no spoilers policy straight to hell, even ignoring everything I just talked about, it affects the game in a bunch of smaller, annoying ways, and kinda steps on Date's story in the last game by not letting him exist in his actual body. You can take any approach you want after that knowing that whatever you do with returning characters it will acknowledge and further what came before.

After that though, there's a lot of options. You don't even have to throw the meta fuckshit to hell! I sorta opened this whole analysis with one, but I'm gonna list a few, and what kind of things they might entail, in order of the amount of work it involves:

Make Ryuki the sole protagonist. Have every part of the investigation be his own from his eyes. You can keep the timeline twist, it would still work for the reasons I said it worked in his half earlier. He's the one with the motivations, he's the one most directly affected by the HB case, and I'm fairly certain the game was initially structured with him as the sole protagonist in mind until they made some changes to account for Mizuki's popularity. It's also the easiest to do because a lot of the material for it is just already there, you just have to expand it. Mizuki and Bibi can both exist and work to serve the time fuckshit in the same way they do in canon, and he can still by what happened to them, and even investigate the stuff more personal to Bibi. Maybe he does that in part because he thinks he owes it to her, in the same way he thinks solving the HB case is what he owes to everyone. It's easy, it's strong, you can give our Mizuki emotional beats where she reacts to those reveals and struggles with her trauma, etc, but she does it as a prominent secondary character like she did in the first game, but hey she gets to do something!! She and Bibi can even afford to be more distinct from each other, more expressive of their differing motivations and needs, but their presence can blur together because Ryuki's sense of reality is fucked up. I'll admit this one is also my favorite, but can you blame me? It has everything in the base game in its best form, with the character it was designed for at the center, and it improves on all the weaker shit.

Move the Timeline Later: As in, set the events of the game in 2026, so everyone is old enough to be an adult. This one you cut Bibi. Mizuki gets to be Mizuki the entire time you play as her, and because we told the no spoiler policy to go to hell, she can have character arcs!! and motivations!!! Of course, you don't get the Bibi related stuff, but there's still plenty there. The other major change you'd have to make though is give her and Ryuki a more significant relationship. You can keep the time fuckshit, cause she'll just look the same in the past and present like basically everyone else (a detail other people nitpick but I don't give a shit about because it's just anime logic who cares). This one is roughly the same amount of work as the first one, because again the base is there, you just need to add a character story to Mizuki, and better tie to Ryuki's, which is done by changing their relationship.

Sole Protag Ryuki, no returning characters: This is the same as the other one, but you don't have to worry about old characters. In many ways this might be seem easier than the first one, cause your cast is smaller, but if you keep Bibi (because she's a new character), you need to rework her and all of her relationships. Even if you just graft her relationship she had with Mizuki onto someone who already exists in the game and don't invent another OC—you see where the extra work comes in. Again, you could cut her entirely, but I think the story is weaker as a whole if there is no character who exemplifies Ryuki's guilt and self hatred, and that's Bibi, who hates him for his betrayal. So...I'd keep her, even if it's more work, especially since he's your sole protagonist.

Sole Protagonist Mizuki: This one is for the people who want Mizuki to be the protagonist of her own game by herself, because it has very little to do most of the plot of nirvana initiative. Thus, it'ss objectively the most work. This one is gonna play more like the first game, set several years down the line, and it expands on Mizuki's story from the first game in her history as a child of abuse and neglect, and the stress of recently losing her dad again. The investigation is a serial killing incident, but the serial killing is directly tied to Horadori's genetic experiments, like say all the victims are people at his lab guilty of abusing people. There's no time fuckshit, there is no meta element, it's not the HB case, and all the characters stuff related to the HB side of things will have to be reworked so they're about the new case and/or the experiments instead. So like....Somezuki Uru wants revenge for the experiments done to him, that ruined his life, for example. Bibi still exists in a prominent secondary role, she can even be the masked woman for the first part of it until her reveal, which further's Mizuki's story, and because explosion end won't happen, Date will have to disappear for other reasons related to this case (like he got too close and the killer, Uru, abducted him to get rid of the threat), especially if you want that to motivate Mizuki. You might have to cut Ryuki for this story though, unless you rebuild his entire character so every last bit of his trauma connects to this new case you're inventing wholecloth, but I mean if this is the fix you're invested in, you're already doing so much work, so you might as well.

Conclusion: Man....

It's a shame the game was fucked from the start because of the dumbass no spoiler policy. You can make everything else work except that. The real enemy is studio execs who think marketing to the nonexistent demo of "people who play sequels without playing earlier entries" is a good idea.

Thank you for your time if you read this. This was way longer than I thought it would be.