#Character analysis more like but... you know

[summergoodwife]

Yeah I'm gonna be very blunt, I think you've majorly misinterpreted wide swathes of the discourse and opinions surrounding Paul. This includes all the responses to your post that you're replying to here.

There are many parts of this addition that fly wide of what anyone's actually saying, and I am confident making that statement, having spent huge amounts of time digging around the pits of this fandom, on this site, for more than a year at this point. Things like "what about post-lobotomy Harrow" aren't a gotcha at all; nobody talking about the tragedy and horror inherent to Paul is saying "but Harrowhark's lobotomy was peachy." Harrow's lobotomy is the most popularly cited example of "the horrors of love."

I don't wanna be an asshole, and I know this will come off like that, so, sorry, but: the stuff about supporting nonbinary people, and the whole of point three, make it look to me like this has become an extremely emotionally loaded character for you for a lot of reasons that aren't well-informed by the text or strongly relevant to any popular (or even existent) analysis of them. This take of mine is also based on what you were saying in the replies to the post. As I see it, you're defending this character almost like they're a real person, you're defending their happiness and their moral standing—their critics aren't approaching it like this. They're viewing a character. That doesn't mean they're "unable to immerse themselves," it means they're able to recognize the significance of the fourth wall in discourse.

Something I think people don't acknowledge or appreciate enough about Paul is that they existed before their full official birth. They were test run temporarily. In (chapter) 9, in the beach flashback, Camilla becomes Camilla-and-Palamedes, not quite with Paul's eyes but with one of Cam's and one of Pal's, and Nona recognizes them as a new person who smiles at her with a new person's smile.

Afterward, Camilla-and-Palamedes return to being Camilla separated from Palamedes. This happened at least once, but despite the horrific toll it takes on Camilla's body after the fact, the way Pyrrha yells at them at times also implies this happened a more than once.

Now please consider that alongside Camilla crying with absolute relief. Camilla who knows what it feels like to be Paul, or at least a proto version of Paul, and so deeply enthusiastically proclaims, "Palamedes, yes. My whole life, yes. Yes, forever, yes. Life is too short and love is too long." Camilla who has addressed him by name on-screen exactly once before this moment (as a child in Doctor Sex, when they finally dropped all professional airs and let themselves be stupid kids laughing until it hurt) breaking that out here of all places. Palamedes who has suffered so much guilt about the burden she's taken on in his name, knowing full well she wouldn't stop even if he begged her to, who also knows what if feels like to be Paul and how much they can do when they're like that. Camilla and Palamedes who understand that accessing that power in half measures will also kill them both, but in a way that makes them useless to everyone else they love, and without doing so at all they can be of very little use, but going all in will make them a nearly unstoppable asset.

Would you truly tell me you would have rather had them suffer being forever divided by a matter of seconds? "Love and freedom don't coexist" but Paul is the closest thing they will ever have to it. Is your attachment to who they were worth hating who they've become, even knowing that they made this decision fully informed, having tested it and decided together it's what they both wanted more than anything in the world?

You can miss them and still be happy for them. You can be sad that they're no longer the same and still recognize the beauty and triumph in what they've become. If you loved Camilla and you loved Palamedes, how can you not love Paul? Would you really look at them of all characters and proclaim without irony that you're taking your love away?

[iluvbuckets]

can you make school globes a series?

how can we go back to being friends?

 paige bueckers x fem!reader 

summary: school globes part 2

warnings: angsty!!!!, mentions of making out, mutual pining, kinda idiots in love

word count: 2.7k

notes: clearly i like making my characters spell it out lol unedited

✷✷✷

after paige pulled away, neither of you said anything.

she looked at you for a few moments with a giddy smile and a blush covering her cheeks, but she quickly looked away to pick up her controller again. you continued to stare at her, watching as she indulged herself in another round of her game. 

oddly enough, you felt calm. when you were preparing for this very moment in your head, you expected it to be messy and dramatic, but it was just wholesome. you couldn’t have asked for a better first kiss with a better person, and you just wanted to do it again and again and again.

you didn’t talk about it for the rest of the night. what was there to talk about? you both wanted to kiss each other and that’s what you did. despite the obvious display of affection, it still felt like too much to confess your feelings out loud. you just assumed she felt the same way since she didn’t say anything either.

since it was a school night and paige would definitely be showing up to the school gym at five-thirty the following morning, you went home around ten. she wanted to convince you to stay so you could have some more time together, but she also didn’t want to keep you awake if you didn’t have to be. ultimately, she didn’t fight you when you said you better be heading home, especially because she knew she would see you again as soon as possible tomorrow anyway.

it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to walk you out to your car at the end of the night. she had always done that since you got your license, and before that, she would walk you up to your house when her dad would drop you off. she just wanted to make sure you made it inside, you know? 

this time, though, it felt different. the air between you two felt loaded with something neither of you were brave enough to speak out loud. every brush of your shoulders or knuckles sent electricity through both of you, though you tried not to make it obvious. when you finally arrived at your car, you both paused and stared at each other expectantly. 

she looked so innocent and nervous as she stood there awkwardly, a distinct contrast to her usual confident demeanor. her fingers fidgeted with the pockets of her sweatpants and she seemed to be looking anywhere but your eyes.

“i’ll see you tomorrow,” she said quietly and noncommittally, like she wasn’t ready to let you go just yet.

she bit her lip, then hesitantly leaned forward and placed a quick peck against your lips like she wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. still, your heart did flips in your chest. as she pulled away, you noticed she was doing that adorable smile she always did that made her eyes close.

as you drove home, you couldn’t help but touch your fingers to your lips to reminisce on the feeling.

and it becomes normal.

you don’t talk about it after. you don’t talk about feelings. nothing changes. except every time you were saying goodbye, as long as no one was around, you would give each other quick pecks like it was nothing, like it was something normal for friends to do. maybe it was to some people, but it definitely wasn’t normal to have feelings stir in your heart every time it happened.

you weren’t sure what it was about this particular friday night, though. it wasn’t any different than your usual hangouts. you were doing homework together, and it wasn’t due until monday but you had plans to go to a party at your friend’s house the next day so you wanted it done in advance. 

you were scribbling the answers to short-answer questions on your psychology homework, an analysis of different disorders or something. your head was hanging low and your posture was terrible–it was safe to say you probably resembled the letter c in that moment. paige was sat in front of you, leaning back against her wall because her bed didn’t have a headboard. she wasn’t doing homework, though, she was watching you the very same way you were watching her the first time you almost kissed (but you didn’t know that, of course).

when you were about halfway through one of your answers, paige slowly crawled forward toward you. she gently grabbed your homework from your lap, setting it to the side so that she could have your full attention. she was sitting on her legs, her arms holding her up as her knuckles pressed into the soft blanket in front of her. her eyes studied your expression for a moment before she brushed your noses together.

“can i kiss you?” she whispered, her eyes shifting to stare at your mouth.

you sucked in a nervous breath, then nodded slowly. she leaned in, capturing your lips in a gentle kiss. you didn’t know what you were expecting, but you definitely didn’t expect her hand to lightly push your shoulder back until you were lying with your back flat on the bed. she moved to straddle your hips, and your hands automatically landed on her waist.

she parted her lips slowly, trying to lead you into open-mouthed kisses rather than simple pecks like you were used to. there was something hesitant about the way she was kissing you, like she was thinking too hard about copying something she had seen.

you pulled away slightly, studying the way her expression contorted into something you couldn’t read. she looked so good like this; her hair making a curtain over your head, her hands placed on either side of the bed next to your head caging you in. she tasted like burt’s bees chapstick and she smelled like paige. the familiar smell that felt like coming home after a long day and was all consuming. she smiled down at you as she used one hand to gather her hair and throw it over one shoulder.

“have you been watching videos on how to make out?” you ask playfully, tracing circles into her sides with your fingers.

she blushed a little, but laughed it off. “shut up,” she whispered as she bent down again for more.

it was your first proper make-out session, so you could definitely cross that off your bucket list.

after that, paige decided that she loved kissing. and you did too; though, you weren’t sure if you loved kissing or just loved kissing paige.

every chance she got, she was pulling you closer to her for a kiss. well, it had definitely branched beyond the realm of just calling it a kiss into full-on making out. whether it was in the front seat of your car in the back of the parking lot before school, behind the bleachers in the gym during lunch, or even just in her room while you two were supposed to be doing homework. you were surprised that neither of your parents hadn’t noticed your red, swollen lips yet. but that could’ve been from anything, especially since it was winter in minnesota so your lips could’ve just been chapped and irritated.

one day, the after effects of an intense, hour-long kiss was hard to hide. not because of your lips, though, but because paige had accidentally gotten bold and left a faint hickey on the side of your neck. you didn’t even notice until one of your friends pointed it out at lunch, so your parents could’ve seen and you didn’t even know. but that was honestly the least of your worries.

“who gave you that?” maria asked excitedly, pointing to your neck. you looked up from your sandwich with your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“gave me what?” you asked, swallowing the bite you had just taken. 

“that hickey,” she replied like it was obvious, looking to sam who was sitting next to her. you were suddenly very aware of how close paige was sitting next to you, her entire thigh pressed against yours on the bench and your shoulders bumping every time you move. 

her body froze but she still managed to choke on her own food, coughing to try to get it unstuck. maria gave her a strange look, but didn’t say anything. which you couldn’t blame her. if you didn’t know why she choked on her food, you would’ve thought that reaction was weird as hell, too.

you attempted to shrug nonchalantly like it wasn’t a big deal. 

“who is the lucky guy?” sam asked. maria was smiling to ear to ear, loving that you were finally doing something other than hang out with paige. little did she know, though.

“oh,” you started awkwardly to try to buy some time for an excuse, “um, you don’t know him.” 

maria and sam immediately started asking you all kinds of interrogative questions about the mystery guy while barely giving you time to answer, trying to figure out every detail about him. how far you two went. how you met him. how often you see him. you didn’t get a chance to start answering before paige abruptly stood, grabbed her lunch off the table, not even sparing an explanation as she stormed out of the room. 

your lips parted in shock at her reaction and you glanced at her as she walked away, but you didn’t stop her. you knew that if you did, it would be harder to explain and you weren’t ready to have speculation like that.

“what’s her problem?” maria asked. 

“she must’ve had a bad practice this morning,” you mumbled.

no one pressed the issue any further and you were so grateful for that. all you could think about was chasing after her, to ask her if she was okay. you didn’t really know why she was so upset about it, though, because it’s not like the guy you were talking about was real. 

you thought that maybe she just needed a second to cool off and everything would be fine, but she didn’t come back before lunch ended. you didn’t share any afternoon classes together, but she would always text you whenever she had a moment to pull out her phone. she didn’t. you didn’t hear from her for the rest of the day. 

since you didn’t hear from her, you decided that you would stay home that night instead of going to her house while she was at practice like you usually would. you figured it was for the best since she was clearly upset and she would reach out when she’s ready. this was the first time you two were having anything even remotely close to an argument, so you didn’t really know how to navigate this.

it was the worst night for it to happen, too, because it was the night of maria’s birthday party. you were supposed to go alone anyway because paige was going to be dropped off directly from practice, but it still felt odd when you were on weird terms. 

and it was odd. paige’s practice wasn’t over yet, but the party had already started. it was in maria’s basement, her parents conveniently not home like the classic cliche high school party. she used the opportunity to invite boys over too, and you had somehow found yourself talking to one. it felt weird to be standing there against the wall without the girl you would consider your other half, the one that everyone knew you couldn’t do anything without. 

usually you would’ve tried to be interested in the conversation, at least to be nice, but you couldn’t. you were staring into his eyes as he spoke, but you couldn’t help but compare them. they were blue, but not as blue as paige’s and they didn’t have the same sparkle that she would have when she looked at you. there was a glint of something, probably lust like a typical teenage boy, but paige looked at you like you were the sun. 

you didn’t even notice paige walk in, too lost in thought to even realize that her practice had ended fifteen minutes ago. she noticed you, though. her jaw clenched, nostrils flared, and fists clenched at her side when she saw you talking to the boy in front of you. 

from her point of view, it looked like you were flirting. you both were leaning against the wall, your head tilted to the side in a seemingly flirty way, and you were standing close–too close for paige’s liking. he had a smile on his face and you had a small one too, but he wasn’t the reason why. 

she debated just leaving it, accepting the fact that you just weren’t that into her like she was into you, but there was something nagging her to keep from doing so. she immediately started toward you, walking with purpose. you didn’t even notice that she was approaching you until she grabbed your wrist to drag you into the nearby hallway. 

“paige–” you gasped in surprise, shooting an apologetic look to the boy in front of you. he looks confused for a second, but then just smiles at you in disappointment. she practically throws you into the hall, and you nearly trip over your own feet. “that was–”

“do you like him?” she interrupted. her eyes were shifting over your face quickly trying to find an answer without words. they held an intensity that made you unbelievably nervous.

“what?” you blinked in shock from the question.

she took a step closer, your noses almost brushing from the proximity. “do you like him?”

“no, i–we were just talking,” you replied quietly, feeling little embarrassed suddenly. you almost wonder if your heart is even beating in a normal rhythm anymore. 

she nodded. “i don’t like seeing you talk to him.”

you tilted your head in confusion at her words. “why?” you almost hesitated to ask.

“he likes you. i heard him say he was going to ask you out at our joint practice three days ago.” 

she watched you carefully for your reaction, clearly trying to see if that was something that you wanted or not. 

you knew where this was going, but honestly, you wanted her to say it. you had enough of dancing around these feelings the last couple weeks. it was obvious how she felt–the jealousy only bringing it out into the open. 

“so?” you challenged. 

she chewed on her cheek, clearly annoyed with the way you were playing dumb.

before she could open her mouth, you quickly added: “why does it matter if he does?”

she exhaled sharply at your words. “because–” she cut herself off, looking down at her feet briefly before looking back at you. her eyes suddenly held an emotion that was something entirely different than a few moments ago, a fondness. “i want you to myself.”

the words seemed to echo in your head over and over again to the point where you were second-guessing if you actually heard them. you swallowed hard, trying to find the correct response. you wanted her, you swear you did, but you suddenly felt the weight of the situation on your shoulders. if you approached this situation incorrectly, you could lose your best friend. 

“paige, we’re just–you’re my best friend,” you said. you fully intended on that being the start to your sentence to add more, but you didn’t really know what to say. 

you didn’t get the chance to anyway, because she took a step back while nodding her head, her face contorting into either disappointment or understanding–you couldn’t tell.

“right,” she said, clapping her hands together. “besties. that’s it.” she awkwardly pointed at you before turning around and rushing in the other direction without a second glance. 

your shoulders slumped, and you knew you just made a huge mistake. 

[croquis-el]

Hi croquis! I love your posts and analysis! Recently I saw some posts from japanese artists mentioning Naruhodo explicitly talks about "hating smoking" or something similar to "hating the smell of smoking" perhaps, would you happen to know about this? I'm not sure if this could come from the OG games (and perhaps removed from the translations?) or some interview or some other extra thing, which would make more sense imo. But perhaps you happen to know about? Also what is your favourite game? Do you have a favourite character? Hugs!

Naruhodō & Smoking

You won't believe it, I didn't know how to bring this up and I'm so glad you asked about it! Thank you!

Perhaps I'll destroy someone's world, ideas and canons, but yes, in the Japanese version his comments about smoking and cigarettes are different. Somewhere the localization is literally: MORE EMOTIONS NEEDED; and somewhere: well, here you can express yourself less precisely.

Here is exactly the second option.

上品な黒檀のシガレットケースと、

純金製のライター、かな?

An elegant ebony cigarette case and a lighter made of pure gold, I guess?

うちも、お客さんのテーブルに何か置こうよ。

Let's put something on the table for the customers too.

タバコ、キライなんだけど。

But I don't like cigarettes, you see.

あめとか、ガムでもいいよ。

Candy or gum would be fine.

････いいね、それ。

...I like that.

Naruhodo uses the word キライ (kirai) in his answer - disliked, hated

By the way, this word was already used in the previous post about cleaning. It literally expresses open disgust, antipathy and intolerance. So, he literally says "Cigarettes? What crap."

At the same time, he kind of feels awkward because his personal preferences will not match those of the visitors, so he tries to soften his answer with the expression なんだけど (nandakedo).

In this context, "なんだけど" expresses a softened objection or personal preference that goes against the proposal. It's as if Naruhodō is saying, "I'd put something in there, but (my personal opinion) I don't like cigarettes." So when Mayoi suggested putting candy or gum, Naruhodō awkwardly agreed.

So, our man would rather chew gum than smoke a cigarette.

If anyone wants to find this dialogue: Case 1-4, Visit to Hoshikage's (Grossberg's) Office, Mayoi should definitely be with us, tap on table for guests.

___________________________________________

I love the first trilogy with all my heart. It's just an endless treasure chest. No less beloved is the Great Ace Attorney (Dai Gyakuten Saiban) duology.

I'll answer about my favorite characters once again. I'm ready to sing odes to Ryunosuke Naruhodō (I forgot to mention him in the answer earlier) and his descendant Ryuichi Naruhodō (they are the great dragons). Another favorite is prosecutor Jin Yugami (Simon Blackwill). He's so wonderful, I can't.

Hugs 🫂

[finnsblood]

You seem like the only person who talks about Beomsok. So I gotta ask. Please can you do his character analysis? I only understood that he wanted to be the big man in their trio and he also wanted to be Suho's favorite. But that doesn't explain why he would go so far as to almost get them killed

hiii anon so ive written this like 5 times over in my head and i can’t seem to have the right words or vocabulary for what i want to convey about beomseoks character but i will try to explain his perspective? a little bit more?

( disclaimer : talking abt netflix adaptation!!!!!!!!! & also also i havent watched whc1 in a minute. so sorry if anything’s straight up wrong ! and also if u can’t tell i’m a little partial to beomseok because i find him interesting overall but i try to be objective. no sieun or suho hate here i adore them and none of this was their fault <3 nor am i defending him!! hes an asshole. just unfortunately a very complex one……thank u 4 reading :D )

okay so i personally think theres multiple reasons in which beomseok rationalized / justified his actions but i think some of the biggest factors in his behaviors come down to three things: misdirected anger from his abusers, jealousy, and idealization (all to / of suho). suho was everything beomseok wasn’t - physically strong, clever (mostly in social situations- due to how awkward beomseok could get in the show i assume that wasn’t his strong point), bubbly and friendly. for someone like beomseok, envy and resentment can fester quite easily, since suho more or less embodies something he wants to become - powerful, or right, or anything of that sort. and no less, suho was beomseoks best friend - outside of suho, sieun and beomseok didn’t have a relationship (drugging someone doesn’t make a good starter for a friendship, apologized for or not) and it was partly due to suho being the ‘center’ of the group, where attention was mostly paid to him. since beomseok both idealized and wanted to be suho, and fixated on him, jealousy was also easy to fester. beomseok didn’t like feeling excluded or not payed attention to. youngis arrival and how easily she intergrated into suho & sieuns life and how much attention they paid to her - and also, having bonding moments beomseok was not part of (sieun getting them food) - naturally made beomseok jealous. hes an insecure teenager. hes irrational. he’s emotional. this is part of the reason why beomseok did what he did.

despite being strong, suho constantly portrayed a type of restraint (in which the show proves this this by suhos own words to sieun— ‘dont cross the line’) and did not want himself, or others, to potentially cause unnecessary suffering to someone who deserves it or not. beomseok viewed this as an act of control when suho stopped him from beating someone with a mic - and despite good reasons (suho didn’t know the extent of which the bullies beat beomseok, and beomseok was already acting unstable and suho didn’t want to escalate the situation etc etc..) - beomseok, again, is irrational and unstable and traumatized. so any act like that, even if it was stopping beomseok from hurting someone, was an act of control in beomseoks mind, because suho was denying him revenge. and beomseok hates being controlled. hes been controlled by his father - his abuser, his tormentor, and not even that, hes been controlled by the bullies. the flashback scene where beomseok is being beaten & also being ordered around probably wasn’t a one time thing (considering he had to be transferred because it got that bad - and side note, imagine how bad that had to be, beomseoks dad didn’t even transfer him after learning he got KIDNAPPED by a GANG???)

so yeah. beomseok lashed out then and the events after only further damaged beomseoks mental health i think. suho wanted to leave him alone to calm down but beomseok was clearly Not Getting Better, and i think that’s why sieun wanted suho to at least.. like .. talk to beomseok? think abt the situation further rather then just wait for beomseok to come back? sorry if this is all over the place!!!!

also i wanted to talk abt this for the longest time but the whole reason beomseok started hanging out with Those People was because they VALIDATED HIM. for the wrong reasons, sure, but they weren’t like sieun - who didn’t know how to say that he appreciated his friends directly, and that wasn’t his fault at all, it just wasn’t what beomseok needed - and suho, who didn’t really say those things out loud, instead expressed his affection through physical actions (putting an arm around beomseoks shoulders, that whole gay ass scene where he puts his helmet on sieun). look at this way - beomseok needed words of affirmation. sieun expressed his affection through small acts of service. suho expressed his affection through either physical contact or quality time. you see how this wouldnt work out in the long run? anyway, yeah, the bullies beomseok was with definitely vaildated beomseok (like saying ‘youre amazing,’ [or whatever was said to him after he gave that group money] or like encouraging him to do things like bully his tormentors rather than stop him etc etc) but for the wrong REASONS!!!!!!!!! beomseok didn’t care that they were draining his money, he just wanted to be liked - with it being said to him! it’s not sieuns fault or suhos, they couldn’t ever know beomseok needed that.!!!!! but it’s a reason why he went with those guys. they weren’t real friends like suho or sieun but beomseok felt good with them so he probably didn’t care at all or was too blinded to actually see it.

anyways the events after that probably only cemented the fact that beomseok didn’t view them as friends anymore. when sieun reached out he didn’t listen, because he probably thought, well, why didn’t you do this before? and suho was handling the situation badly - for beomseok at least, to me he was doing his best - and suho thought beomseok needed a wait up call But he Definitely Did Not! he got the idea to beat up suho from the bullies he hung out with. and he liked the idea. he liked the power of it and the thrill; it’s kind of messed up, but he was taking back control after having it taken away from him so many times. just in the absolute worst way possible. he wanted the thrill of power because it made him feel good nd it was probably the only place in his life where he could have Control and Power. so he went through with it.

beomseoks goal wasn’t to kill or put suho in a coma, it was just to beat him up. he was entirely fixated on suho. sieun was collateral in his mind. i think theres multiple parts where he shows a kind of guilt / remorse during the whole thing, but he definitely didn’t want sieun hurt. he tried to convince sieun to back off. he wanted sieun to leave nd say nothing. which, sieun, of course wouldnt - but at that point beomseok just put on a cold mask and let it happen. which I personally think is FUCKED UP!!!! but yes his main goal was always suho. the whole coma thing was unintended & he wasn’t ever thinking of his actions. he knew it was bad, yes, but he never thought fully and he was very very emotional and reckless during that time, which led to very very bad decisions. i think hes an asshole for doing all of this but honestly hes very complex & well written.

ending this off here because as i was writing i lost my fire & also don’t know if i should CONTINUE because i havent watched whc1 in a bit and i very desperately need to rewatch it. hopefully i just havent ranted for a lot of words

[bigriceenthusiast]

not to be insufferable about arcane again, but for all my complaining, i do think caitlyn could've had a really good arc, the writing was just weak

now, before i say anything, please stay with me + give this a shot

we go back to the french revolution (i know, i promise this is relevant): louis xvi and his wife, marie antoinette, are ruling monarchs of france. their lower-class subjects are living in truly vile conditions. they are parents, some records go as far as to suggest that they were caring parents, and the queen, specifically, loved her children dearly. their subjects still starved, though.

alas, the people finally snap; they can't do this anymore. when the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich. so, revolution comes, and the monarchs are killed, violence floods the streets, only one child survives.

told from their perspective? brutal, violent, tragic. told from the people's perspective? brutal, violent, liberating.

no one in this day and age will argue with me that the french revolution was a bad or unnecessary thing, no matter how much it may have sucked for the royal family.

however, this story isn't about louis xvi or marie antoinette or their three dead children or even their one surviving daughter. this story is about caitlyn kiramman, a fictional character that you can relate to and sympathize with precisely because she is fictional and you, as a viewer, are attached to her in some very real, human capacity that is both lacking and irrelevant in real historical discussions about the french revolution of all things

still, this is the same situation. and before ANYONE tries to argue with me, i'd like to point out there is a direct reference to the french revolution equating jinx to liberty guiding the people which i'm still mad about so it works perfectly for this analysis

now caitlyn's arc could've gone one of two ways, and i'm upset because they were fence sitting and didn't go either:

1.- we accept caitlyn becomes unethical. period. it's okay for a character to do despicable things and have us still like them, it's okay for them to be morally gray. but that's not what we see in arcane: instead, her actions are brushed over, and immediately forgiven in a way that doesn't make sense for the in-universe characters simply because she defeated some "big bad" at the end so she isn't the true villain

narratively, she's treated as a hero while she does not embody traditional heroic ideals. the difference between heroes and anti heroes is not whether if we should like and root for them, it's their motivations, methods, and morals. caitlyn doesn't work as a narrative hero and the story shouldn't treat her as such (this is ignoring how rushed her arc was absolutely every moment she was on screen)

caitlyn can be an anti-hero, she can have a corruption arc. she can have revenge, she can embody corrupt systems and still be sympathetic, but there is a narrative dissonance between her actions and her consequences/perception

2.- caitlyn is pushed even further towards her desire to heal the cities. caitlyn becomes radical in her hope and utilizes her power to be better than her mother, to work towards a kinder, juster world in her understanding that the loss of her mother was due to her own oppression.

she could try to mitigate that oppression to avoid future tragedy, think about zaunite kids who've also brutally lost their parents much younger (ie- her girlfriend), she could become an in-system revolutionary and use the political power she holds to do good

then she'd be a hero: tragedy would push her towards the opposite direction, and the way she's treated and perceived narratively would align with her plot and actions, but that didn't happen. hence people finding the whole thing infuriating

now, you may say but that's unrealistic! i mean, sure, you can think so but hope is essentially a revolutionary act and to push to heal the systems that hurt you instead of further push down the people who tried to fight for their own rights is inherently more heroic than a corruption arc

and to make myself so clear: i DON'T mind gray morality, or corruption arcs. the problem was it was horribly written.

my point is: from caitlyn's perspective what happened to her mother was a brutal, criminal act of violence and tragedy. from zaun's perspective? it was a brutal act of violence and hope

just as the french revolution wasn't about marie thérese charlotte, the bombing of piltover's council wasn't about caitlyn kiramman's feelings. she was morally wrong, and from a narrative perspective that's okay because the story as a whole is about her but please stop pretending otherwise

[thedemonscrawler]

I 100% agree with this, and I wanted to add on two points to the meta-analysis

Eclipse didn't get his redemption arc until after his death. Narratively, Nexus' whole arc is equivalent to Eclipse's first two lives, something that ended rather famously at the wrong end of a space laser. He wasn't redeemed within the scope of his initial plot. He didn't deserve redemption at that point in his story, and he didn't get it. Only after he had stopped being an antagonist was he eligible for redemption, because his plotline as the bad guy was over.

Eclipse didn't wake up one day as a better person. He woke up as a depressed, bitter, aimless bastard who got dragged inside like a sick feral cat because he no longer had a reason to be an antagonist. That was his role shift that made it possible for a redemption to be believable.

You know who else was eligible to be redeemed due to a weakened antagonistic motive, and were passed over? Bloodmoon. Their story was at a point where they could have been picked to calm down and be domesticated, yet the writers didn't want that direction for them. Because, like Fable said-- they're characters in a story. They have roles.

I will challenge one point in the post, and that's calling Nexus the 'narrative unfavorite or scapegoat'. In a story the narrative unfavorite is the character who isn't written or is pushed aside.

And unfortunately for Nexus, he was a favorite. The writers wanted to focus a plot on him, and they wanted to focus a tragic plot on him. Again, like Fable said, this was a decision that could have been made for any of the characters, because it's a story and stories have tragic plots. It's a decision that will be made for more characters, even if the execution is different.

And like... the whole point of fanworks are that they're transformative works. Fanfiction is literally looking at canon and going 'mmm but what if it was different'. Of course there are people who want to come up with a redemption arc for Nexus-- there's nothing cringe about that! There are people that wanted Eclipse redeemed way before the show did it. There are people that want Bloodmoon redeemed, or Solar's Moon, or any other antagonist.

So like. Don't be dicks about it? Let people play in their sandboxes?

We all have stuff we like and dislike and don’t care about and that’s a-okay. There’s a difference between that and constantly derailing people’s fun to say rude insulting things about the thing they like while they’re trying to talk about it.

Liking Nexus and wanting to imagine him getting a redemption arc isn’t cringe, some of you guys are just mean

People go to great lengths to defend their faves, seemingly afraid they’ll get the same treatment Nexus did both by the fans and the series and become the demonised unfavourite - the scapegoat who can do no right. At the same time many insist Nexus and his fans somehow uniquely “deserve” this treatment (Nexus can’t, he’s made up - his fans don’t, some people are just mean) and that these things befell Nexus specifically for an actual reason.

They did.

The reason was the writers wanted something new for the character.

Not him not trying hard enough to grieve better or be a better victim of Ruin’s actions. Not him “liking Solar more than Sun”. Not New Moon being the “worse” choice out of him and Moon (meta reason given is Moon literally came back because they needed a Moon - of course Moon was the better choice out of him and Nexus who was an active threat at the time, the reverse would’ve been true if it’d been New Moon vs Moon with the killcode actively causing damage). Not him being more villainous than Ruin or Eclipse (I am not going to be debating whether genocide or murder is morally better or worse than verbally, psychologically and physically harming a small handful of people, sorry). Not something that was subtly established throughout his entire time as New Moon. Not something that was planned from the start. Just a change in direction. That holds literally no moral weight - that’s not something to hate each other over. The writers are allowed to do that - it also needs to be understood as being a writing decision that, although it was retroactively woven into the narrative to some degree, was made on a whim.

It could’ve more or less been any character this happened to. It still could happen to basically any of them. They’re made up, they don’t make their own choices, they don’t get to fight against what the writers want, they don’t get to make appeals on narrative decisions. You’re not watching a documentary of a fictional world where in-story choices aren’t made for a meta narrative reason - sometimes writing decisions are made on the fly due to the nature of the medium. And when the characters’ choices don’t fit within the established narrative aside from to be a change for the sake of change (literally the meta reason given for Nexus going evil) and the in-story reason that has been repeatedly established for the entire villain arc is literally psychosis plus ingesting a substance that made the character in question quite literally lose his mind as demonstrated and explained by multiple other characters - both mitigating factors that didn’t need to be included if they weren’t supposed to be taken into account when considering how this character got to where he got - when his villain arc alone required a mastermind interloper character to step in and manipulate his every step into villainy, his decisions can’t be reasonably treated as 100% informed or as part of his established in-story disordered “personality”, because we already know they happened because they needed to happen for the story to progress the way the writers wanted it to, and yet still effort was put into heavily mitigating his ability to make good choices, which shouldn’t just be written off or ignored because you want to bash the character or make his fans feel bad for liking him.

More food for thought: Nexus isn’t blameless or a good guy. He’s done bad things. Despite Dark Sun’s involvement, despite the nsp, despite the grief, despite the psychosis. You don’t have to like him, pretend to find him good or interesting, or give him a pass. You can hate his guts. But you know who else was unequivocally considered a bad guy who didn’t deserve a pass at the time he died (twice, maybe three times in fact)? Eclipse. You know who accomplished more damaging acts of villainy and had just as bad or worse intentions than Nexus at the time of his death(s)? Eclipse.

And the difference between the two - the thing that sees Nexus written off as an irredeemable “psychopath” (respectfully, both this and “narcissist” are misappropriated terms for stigmatised disorders so it’s best not to use them in this circumstance btw) while Eclipse is now praised for taking all these steps in the right direction - is that the writers chose to give Eclipse a redemption arc and they didn’t choose to go down that route with Nexus. Nexus was not more uniquely “deserving” of being the narrative unfavourite or the scapegoat. He just wasn’t chosen to get better - he wasn’t allowed to do better. That could have been Eclipse. That could have been Ruin. In this case it was Nexus. Like it or not, that’s just simply how it happened.

I’m allowed to care about that and imagine more possibilities. You’re allowed to not care about that and dislike him. You don’t get a pass for bullying people over it.

There is literally no good reason to demonise Nexus or his fans more than any other character or keep telling them what he is or isn’t “capable of” or “correct” them and laugh at them for imagining alternative outcomes they might like better. The canonical answer is: he’s not capable of anything anymore, he’s not in the story. The non-canonical answer is: let people use their own imaginations, especially when the writers have decided they don’t want to or have chosen not to use this character anymore. That’s not a diss on them. It is what it is.

Have you seen the DCA fandom? The DCA isn’t canonically a mermaid or a spy or a god or anyone’s love interest. The DCA doesn’t get adopted in canon. No one let that stop them from having fun, and honestly power to them for their creativity and acceptance even when they disagree. Imagination isn’t cringe - it’s a good thing. It’s great that people enjoy this character that much actually. We all have stuff we like and dislike and don’t care about and that’s a-okay. There’s a difference between that and constantly derailing people’s fun to say rude insulting things about the thing they like while they’re trying to talk about it. You’re not hurting Nexus - Nexus isn’t real, he isn’t capable of being hurt. You’re hurting real people for the crime of liking a made up character in a way you don’t like or agree with. Say what you like about things being cringe - that’s worse than cringe. I don’t care how badly you want to find someone or a group of people you can say it’s acceptable to bully for some reason. You’re not being cute and sassy, you’re just being mean. People are allowed to harmlessly enjoy themselves (especially if their fave happened to draw the short end of the stick in canon) even if you don’t like it or find it annoying - please give other people that level of consideration at least.

(And no I won’t be derailing this to debate Nexus’ morality or whether you think that I’m somehow saying he didn’t make any of his own choices or didn’t do anything wrong (tl;dr I didn’t). Respectfully, this post is about meta narrative analysis and fandom meanness and how yes, basically any character could’ve been and could still be Nexus’d.)

[fopal]

Caleb’s Writing Appreciation Post

SPOILERS ON CALEB’S MYTH, ANCEDOTE, CARDS, AND MAIN STORY.

I might edit this.

Yes, I acknowledge it’s a game and maybe I’m taking it too seriously but I feel like I need to get this off my chest as I feel it’s the reason I create anything in the first place. Also, this is my interpretation. You’re free to agree or disagree.

Caleb from Love and Deepspace is my favorite and I like that he’s not perfect. I never really thought about why I liked him until I started seeing more analysis on his character. In a world where some of us don’t get to grow up with a happy beginning it’s nice to see what I consider a realistic depiction of PTSD. To be able to be seen and not dehumanized more than PTSD victims already are. (I DO NOT SPEAK FOR EVERYONE WHO SUFFERS FROM PTSD OR CPTSD)

There are countless media that can depict it unseriously, barely cover it, and villainize it because in a way it’s easy to. It’s easy for people to accept that the hero moved on and made their own happy ending even through the pain but that’s so invalidating. Some people can but not everyone can make peace with themselves as they don’t know how to.

Caleb is a guy who doesn’t know if he can achieve peace, instead relying on MC for what could probably be his happiness and salvation. His purpose is her and that breaks my heart because Caleb is already enough. He shouldn’t need to rely on MC for that but I understand why he does. I think what breaks my heart is the four star cards because they show Caleb in a way we didn’t get to see in the game. He’s a nerd, a role model, beloved by peers, a leader, respectful but genuinely playful. I don’t see a mask like I do in the main story. Sure he hides his feelings for MC but the rest feels real. All of it. He is so humanized and we get to see the type of person who just looks forward to what he can do. Appreciating the life he has and maybe, I like to think this, sees himself moving on and capable of healing. Healing without MC and just being able to see them separate instead of a combined pair forever.

Yet the reminder of death in the DAA is what stops Caleb because death doesn’t just mean what we all know of it, an absence, but a reintroduction. As we interpreted MC and Caleb were both experimented on by Ever. Yet every time MC died, her memories were erased and Caleb had to reintroduce himself. Messing with his psyche and damaging any structured existence of their relationship at the time. The anecdote explores his powerlessness and the constant reintroduction of the concept of death that came back to haunt him in his childhood.

How he physically doesn’t see himself enough because at the end of the day Caleb is human and he understands his limit. He can’t come back from the dead, he can't stop time, he can’t fly or has abilities that could move the world. He is just a guy which is another layer to loving Caleb because Rafayel is a merman, Sylus is a dragon, and Xavier is an alien. You get the jist. Yes, they all have powers but Caleb knows that his ability useful yet it can't necessarily change what he ultimately is. A human who can’t change the fate that is death because death does come for everyone.

He just is who he is. This is also an interpretation on my part but I deeply believe Caleb hates himself. Not just for what he did in the main story but because he isn’t strong enough for what dangers lurk in the dark. He knows they exist and what is also heartbreaking is his paranoia is correct. There are people out there waiting to hurt him and in a way he feels justified for his anxieties. He is constantly proven throughout his life that there are dangers out there waiting to kill him and MC. I think he wants to be proven wrong but it ultimately isn’t the case.

So yes, we covered Caleb is a human being who constantly is reminded death exists especially when he is made to write letters EVERYTIME he does a mission with the DAA. It might be just me but that is too much even if the intention was good. I don’t know if Caleb was lying in that five star, Floating Floraletter, that the DAA made him do it but seriously wow. That definitely isn’t helpful for his psyche. If he was the only one who did it and the DAA legit didn’t even make that a rule, then it just shows another layer of his helplessness along with trauma of the repetition that the worst part of your past will come back again.

We get to see this weighing on him especially being separated from MC for the first time when he joins the DAA. The reintroduction of death in his life and how he tries to mask this pain in front of others who see him as this rising star. He never saw himself that way, he acknowledges that he’s a good pilot but never was crazy about it. His mental evaluations are the most obvious instance showing his decline in his mental state and I think it’s because his nonchalance with his life stems from the self hatred that he isn’t strong enough which we covered. As he continues on, I think we get the most obvious and important writing of his character which is the accident. He believes he's going to die. He believes his fate has led him up to this and from what we know of the story he isn’t proven wrong about that.

How is Caleb supposed to believe his fears are irrational when the world proves they aren’t?

I think we also get to understand his trauma the most from his accident and in a way what he went through with Ever. How he felt during those days and what sort of beliefs they forced him to accept of himself which is that this is meant to happen. He has to see this as hopeless, Ever made him believe that and that he is a weapon which dehumanizes himself in the process. A weapon for MC. But when that weapon is useless or finds itself at its end then it serves no purpose. He has no purpose but what Ever made him believe and what the world in fact reinforces about those beliefs.

Something I also like about Caleb is he doesn’t use his trauma as an excuse. Never. He doesn’t even mention it to MC. She finds out about the letters on her own and from what I heard in the five star card Painful Signal, she finds out what Ever did to him. (I don’t have Painful Signal but I’m hoping everyday that it will come back 😭I also maybe be wrong but I want to experience it myself). Caleb doesn’t define himself with his trauma and I also maybe wrong about this but I don’t even think he knows how deeply his trauma is affecting him. He doesn’t even try to work through it because he doesn’t think he should as MC’s is more important. Which delves into another thing I want to get into which is codependent relationships.

Like he shouldn’t depend on MC for his happiness and should care more for himself because he is hurting MC by not doing so. Caleb is hurting the one of the most important people in MC’s life, himself. She loves Caleb but he doesn’t from what I figured, love himself especially from what the toring chip is doing in the main story. I don’t even know if he can healthily love himself with that stupid chip. How can someone love someone who doesn’t love themselves?

Yes, Caleb has done awful things. I know. Drugging MC, lying, locking her in a room, and suffocating her independence along with privacy but they make sense. I think it’s another reason why Caleb can’t love himself because he does harmful things whether it be motivated by the chip or otherwise that just validate that “yeah I deserve this because I am only those mistakes. Look what’ve you done, all you do is hurt her even if it is for her own good.” There is a conflict in his character but it all stems from an unresolved trauma that he can’t understand.

I want to say more but yeah this is just a part of why I love him because he represents what literature should represent which is written stories that speak for those who aren’t heard. People who need something to feel seen and heard whether it be trauma or relationships.

Caleb is enough and so is anyone who experienced things similar to him or are struggling with their mental health. You don’t need others for your happiness because it is possible to live your life instead of it being a survival. It’s easy for me to say those words and it is completely different applying them but healing is possible albeit as long as it’s difficult. However, it is possible and I hope it finds whoever is struggling.

[radicaldreemurrs]

silly question that may be outside of the scope of this blog but HOW do i get good at analyzing media and understanding the themes.

well like all skills it takes practice! analysis is breaking down a work into its parts and trying to see what message it's giving by putting the pieces back together in a way that makes sense to you. the way i tend to do this is through analogue, which is relating things in a work to other things of which i've already built a more thorough understanding. sometimes a work will set this up for you, by weaving parallels together and evoking that repetition on purpose to get a thematic resonance out of the audience. undertale and deltarune are very notable for doing this in their music, for instance.

i'd say think about what resonates with you in a work, and try to think about why it does; think what moments a character has that particularly connect with you for personal reasons, or what about a certain section of a game evokes such a powerful feeling in you. because ultimately that's all art's ever trying to do! it's an author trying to say something through abstracted modes of communication that form a narrative, and in trying to say these things, evoking certain emotions from an audience to see who might resonate with the work, who might understand, and drive the point home further through that.

ultimately, analysis is about finding meaning, whether it's your own personal resonance with the work or something you suspect the author to have intended with it, or some intersection of the two! now, don't confuse analysis for decoding either, which is this idea that the author has injected hidden meaning into a work that is meant for only certain kinds of people to piece together to communicate some strange form of solidarity in ideology. that's not what good art does, good art makes an argument to be picked apart on an individual level and interpreted personally in ways that might resonate with what the author meant, but might be colored completely differently by unique perspective!!!

basically, just think about what you find compelling in a work, think about why that is, dive into the work and pick out specific details that feed into your reading of the work, and present it like an argument, in favor of your personal interpretation of things. and it's not a fight to win, either, it's something to connect with others over, it's something for people to see your perspective and be like "oh i never thought about it that way, that's interesting!" and then they offer their own perspectives and enlighten you in turn, and it is through this that art facilitates connection! not that everyone is always going to agree on certain interpretations either — everyone's experience is different — but if you never try, how will you know how people feel about the way you see things?

[aegagrusscholarship]

an analysis of rain world names

this is a rewrite of an earlier post i have made since watcher has now came out. i have touched up the information contained within and formatted it in a hopefully better format.

this document is an analysis of canon names only. i say names are 'valid' or 'invalid' in this document as a shorthand for saying that they adhere to the rules laid out by canon examples, or they do not adhere to these rules. this is for ease of reading. this is not a personal judgement on whether the name in question should or should not be used.

i believe that canon is only ever a guideline. this document is written due to my interest in understanding canon only. i do not believe that anyone should follow these analyses to the letter if they do not want to- and i would be a hypocrite if i insisted on it, as i have named my own characters 'invalid' names as well.

this document does not analyze the meaning of names, only the formats. the meanings are a second can of worms that deserves its own analysis.

========================== OVERALL: WORD CHOICE

The world of Rain World is not our own world. Words that are specific to Earth species (i.e. ligers, ravens) or words that are from human popular culture (...i cannot think of examples but you know what I mean) are likely invalid for Rain World names. Overly scientific words (i.e. chemical names) are also likely invalid.

Also they are always written in one language (in my, the author's case, it would be English). We will not get random German words which are not already loanwords to English in a name.

========================== SLUGCATS:

survivor monk hunter watcher

spearmaster artificer gourmand rivulet saint

Base game and Downpour have slightly different naming conventions (AKA just the Rivulet). This counts Watcher as basegame as it is written by the original writing team.

Base game slugcat names are always a descriptor of a person's job or actions. A person can be a survivor, or a monk, or a hunter, or a watcher. I would say it is their occupation, but that is not exactly correct. Still, it's close enough that I'm including it here. 

Downpour slugcat names follow the same format of describing what a person can be, with the exceptions of the Spearmaster and the Rivulet.

"Spearmaster" is technically a portmanteau, though the concept of a spear master is exactly as expected. It is also a descriptor of a person. We can surmise that portmanteaus that flow well enough are valid according to Downpour.

A rivulet is a small stream, or a small droplet of water running down a surface. This is not a description of a person, but it is a metaphorical description of the Rivulet as a slugcat. So we can surmise that slightly more metaphorical descriptions of a slugcat's personal qualities are also valid according to Downpour.

========================== ANCIENTS AND ITERATORS: OBJECTS AND CONNECTORS

Ancient and iterator names follow the same set of rules. They always contain a descriptor (an adjective, verb, or adverb) describing a linguistic 'object' (a noun that describes a physical thing, or a noun that describes a concept).

The difference is that iterator names are one phrase and thus contain one object. Ancient names are two phrases with two objects. Ancient names are joined by either a comma or a connector word.

When referring to these objects, care must be taken to distinguish between the concept and the individual, specifically using the words 'the' and a/an/one/etc. 

For example: The concept of crows does not exist in the real world as a physical thing. Therefore, if you were to refer to the concept, you would say "the crows". However, if you want to refer to a crow as a physical thing, you cannot say "the crow" as no one knows which exact crow you are talking about. In this case, you would use "a crow" or "one crow". Drawing upon canon names, "Looks to The Moon" refers to the concept of the moon. "A Bell, Eighteen Amber Leaves" refers to a hypothetical physical bell. The hypothetical name "Watches The Tree" is an invalid name as it is referring to a hypothetical real tree, but seems to refer to a specific individual.

Connectors are words like "to", "and", "upon", etc. Words which can connect two unrelated parts of a phrase. These are sometimes used in place of commas in ancient names to connect the two parts together.

========================== ITERATORS:

looks to the moon five pebbles erratic pulse no significant harassment seven red suns sliver of straw chasing wind/grey wind unparalleled innocence

pleading intellect wandering omen gazing stars secluded instinct epoch of clouds

actions ------------------- action-connect-object | action-object

Always in present tense.

There are two categories of the action-object format. The first, using verbs not ending in '-ing', is a category with only a single example. It appears that there needs to be a connecting word that tells the reader the verb applies to the object, too. May be iterator-unique as this does not appear in ancient names.

[Looks] [to] [The Moon]

Other examples use a verb ending in '-ing'. They do not seem to connect the words with any other words.

[Chasing] [Wind] [Pleading] [Intellect] [Wandering] [Omen] [Gazing] [Stars]

numerical concepts -------- number-object

The number can be definite or indefinite. Examples of indefinite numbers are seen in ancient names, next section. It could be argued that iterator names never are indefinite numbers; this will be further explained in the ancient names section.

Examples of definite numbers are a number in word form followed by whatever object it is describing. Seven Red Suns is an odd case, see following section on prefixes.

[Five] [Pebbles] [Seven] [Red Suns]

non-numerical concepts ---- adjective-object | adjective-of-object

Similar to the action category, but using adjectives (descriptions) rather than verbs (actions). 

[Erratic] [Pulse] [No Significant] [Harassment] [Grey] [Wind] [Unparalleled] [Innocence] [Secluded] [Instinct]

They can also be a description-of-object if the phrase makes more sense that way. This happens when the phrase is implicitly a singular quantity of the object in question- i.e. "a sliver of straw", "an epoch of clouds". In name form you cut off the 'a' or 'an' to form these names.

[Sliver] of [Straw] [Epoch] of [Clouds]

prefixes ------------------ number-adjective-object | negator-adjective-object

It appears that some names are compounded or negated:

[Seven] [Red Suns] [No] [Significant Harassment]

What I mean here is that Red Suns and Significant Harassment are both technically non-numerical concepts. 

However, Seven Red Suns uses a numerical value as a prefix making it a compound numerical/non-numerical name. This is also seen in ancient names, so we can assume the format of number-adjective-object is a valid compound format.

As for negation, it is just a negated non-numerical concept. We see only a single example of this in No Significant Harassment where it negates the rest of the concept with the word 'no'. I do not know if this is possible for numerical concepts (unlikely) or actions (possible, but I am not seeing a way to make the phrase sound good). May be iterator-unique as no ancient names use this.

========================== ANCIENTS:

nineteen spades, endless reflections four needles under plentiful leaves droplets upon five large droplets a bell, eighteen amber beads six grains of gravel, mountains abound two sprouts, twelve brackets

spinning top

twelve beads among burning skies distant towers upon cracked earth rhinestones beneath shattered glass eight spots on a blind eye

connecting the phrases -----

Either you don't connect the phrases and stick a comma there, or you do connect them and use a word that evokes some way of one of the phrases doing something/being affected by the other phrase. What else should I say here.

actions -------------------- action-object

It appears verbs not ending in "-ing" are unique to iterators, as all ancient names seem to use verbs ending in "-ing". This cannot be confirmed due to a lack of examples.

Verbs ending in "-ing" work the same way as for iterator names.

twelve beads among [Burning] [Skies]

numerical concepts --------- number-object

Same as for iterators. I can't be assed to list all names that apply anymore, you get the gist of it.

[Nineteen] [Spades], endless reflections [Four] [Needles] under plentiful leaves

Some names use "a" or "an" in place of the numerical value "one". 

[A] [Blind Eye] [A] [Bell]

This is where indefinite amounts come into play, though! This is where it is implied that there is a numerical value of an object, but it does not specify the numerical value. Therefore, uniquely, these name segments consist of a single word with an implied-but-omitted descriptor:

[] [Droplets] upon five large droplets [] [Rhinestones] beneath shattered glass

Due to the omitted descriptor I have a theory indefinite amounts are invalid iterator names since they would then be a single word, and it appears ancient/iterator names are at least two words no matter what.

non-numerical concepts ----- adjective-object | adjective-of-object | object-adjective

First two formats are same as for iterators. 

There is an example of the object coming before the descriptor in Mountains Abound, where the object being described is 'mountains' and they are said to be bountiful. May be ancient-unique as we do not see any iterator names using this format.

prefixes ------------------- number-adjective-object

We see more examples of the compounded number-adjective-object format here:

[A] [Blind Eye] [Five] [Large Droplets] [Eighteen] [Amber Beads]

========================== EXTRA NOTES

chasing/grey winds It appears it is valid to give iterators two names where the object stays consistent but the descriptor changes. In Winds' case, the descriptor is either an action or non-numerical concept.

(action-object, chasing-winds) (adjective-object, grey-winds)

spinning top Their name is an action name (action-object, spinning-top). Uniquely, their name is formatted like an iterator name with a single object. This seems to imply that iterator names are valid children's names and vice versa.

Makes sense why they share the same naming rules, then.

[trekscribbles]

Failsafe: Chapter Three

...I came across the John Rogers line "Eliot's job is to be the failsafe that never fails". And I couldn't help thinking... What happens if the failsafe does fail?

Chapter One Chapter Two

(Disclaimer: This is a relatively rough draft and subject to change when I post to AO3.)

The heat was everywhere—liquid fire racing through his veins, pumping poison deeper into his body with every straining heartbeat. He felt individual drops of sweat beading on his forehead, but they did nothing to cool the feverish flush under his skin, the sensation of broken glass and molten lead. His breath snagged in his dry throat.

Rapid breathing, said a faint, clinical voice in his head. Elevated heart rate. Dizziness. Counter with slow, deep breaths.

He inhaled, forcing air into burning lungs, and stared up at the ceiling.

“What do you know?” asked the man next to him.

“Know?” Eliot grated out. “About what?”

The man touched his arm, and he tried to flinch away. Something held his wrist down.

“What do you know about Dr. Grossman?” the man said patiently.

Dr. Grossman. The mark. He was here to talk to him, to find out—

No. Focus on something else.

There were halos around the lights, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“What do you know about Dr. Grossman?” the man repeated.

“He’s a doctor,” Eliot said.

“Yes,” the man said. Eliot heard a smile in his voice. “So are you. You realized something about his patients, didn’t you? Something about the drugs he was using.”

Scopolamine overdoses. Patient deaths. Dr. Gatraer came to them, came to Nate.

Can’t think about Nate.

“Scopolamine,” Eliot said. “And solanumine. That’s what you gave me.”

The man laughed. “Solanumine only, I’m afraid. It shows up as scopolamine on a tox screen because the compositions are so similar. That’s the beauty of it. No one even knows what we’re testing.”

“But why…” Eliot panted. “Why did… I…?”

The man’s voice oozed false sympathy. “I apologize, that would be the solanumine at work. It causes… well, let’s call it brain fog. It makes you more susceptible to questioning. So let’s have it, Dr. Baker. There’s no point in fighting it. The solanumine won’t let you.”

A spike of fear ripped through him—he had to fight, had to keep things back, had to protect—but no, he didn’t. He was Dr. Baker. The man had just said so, hadn’t he? Dr. Baker didn’t have anything to hide.

“The truth now,” the man said.

“The truth,” Dr. Baker agreed. “I talked him. Grossman.”

The man stepped closer. “About what?”

“Baseball,” Dr. Baker said.

“What else?”

“He asked if I had a pen.”

“What else?”

“Cafeteria food. He told me… avoid the jello. Haven’t had jello since I was a kid.”

The man took a frustrated breath. “What about the drugs? Did he tell you where he was getting his supply?”

So that’s what this was about. The supplier would have had Grossman under surveillance, and he couldn’t risk discovery—this man, he was connected, was possibly the supplier himself, possibly a lieutenant—but Dr. Baker wouldn’t know that, so he shuffled it to the back of his mind and centered his attention on the numbness spreading through his fingers.

“Grossman didn’t want to… talk about his work,” he said.

There was a long pause. A boot scraped over the floor, and Eliot turned his head automatically toward the sound.

“Interesting,” the man said quietly. “You’re resisting. Avoiding my questions.”

Eliot didn’t answer. A tight feeling worked its way across his chest, like something heavy was being pushed onto his ribs.

“You’ve received training,” the man said. “Where?”

Training. Tactical analysis, interrogation resistance, weapons proficiency, field combat.

Grifting. Acting. Character backstory. 

“Medical training,” Dr. Baker said. “MD program… University of Nebraska, Om—Omaha center.”

The man pushed away from the table. “All right, then. If you won’t cooperate, let’s try another dose.”

Eliot jerked his arm, but the restraints held fast.

“It’s hard to get it right the first time,” the man said. “And if you’ve had experience with this kind of thing in the past… if you’ve built up a tolerance...”

Leather dug into Eliot’s right wrist, plastic into the other. A zip tie, replacing the strap he’d torn free.

“You’re already experiencing physical symptoms,” the man went on. “Headache, sensitivity to light, tachycardia. That will increase with another dose. It should stimulate more of a psychological reaction as well. Confusion. Obedience. Possible paranoia. Of course, there are risks—we should be monitoring your heart rate and blood pressure, but unfortunately, they don’t keep that kind of equipment in the morgue.”

Eliot turned his wrist under the strap, but it didn’t stop the needle. Pain seared up his arm, through his chest—he drew in a stuttering breath, grinding his teeth together to keep from crying out.

“Let’s try this again,” the man said. “You’re here to find out about Dr. Grossman’s supplier.”

“Yes.”

The word dragged itself through Eliot’s teeth, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

The man grinned. “And who are you working for?”

“Inde… independent contractor.”

“The name.”

There was blood in his mouth. His breath came in short gasps, faster and shallower with every heartbeat. “Name,” he said, his voice grating and raw. “What’s yours?”

“All right,” the man said conversationally. “If it makes you feel better, you can call me Hart. Your turn.”

 “It’s—it doesn’t matter. It’s fake.”

“What is?”

“My name,” Eliot rasped. “My boss’s name. Fake. All of them.”

“What does your boss want with Dr. Grossman?”

“The supplier.” Eliot tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry. His chest was heaving now. “Sup-supply—The—”

“He’s hyperventilating,” murmured one of Hart’s men. “He’ll pass out if he doesn’t calm down.”

Hart sighed. “Get him a sedative. But keep him conscious—we’re finally getting somewhere.”

Eliot thrashed, but it was useless—another needle slid into his skin, pushing more drugs into his system, and his racing heart slowed. It shouldn’t have worked so quickly, but then, he couldn’t be sure how much time had passed. That was the problem with sedatives. It might have been 30 seconds or 30 minutes. He couldn’t tell. 

His eyes drifted closed. His muscles began the agonizing process of forced relaxation.

He let out a long exhale and laid still.

“Dr. Baker,” Hart said. “Look at me.”

Eliot didn’t move.

“Dr. Baker.” A pause. “Dammit, you gave him too much. No, no more doses. We have to keep him alive until we know who he’s working for. Get him up, we’ll take him back to Mr. Rosner. He can finish the interrogation.”

Hands on his again, on his wrists, his ankles. The straps fell away. A blade severed the zip tie. Someone gripped under his arm to sit him up.

Eliot bolted upright and grabbed the man next to him, throwing him into Hart. He kicked off the table, stumbled—the light speared through his eyes, so he closed them and pictured the room and the men in it. A step to his right; he pivoted to catch the punch he felt coming, knocked it away, jabbed back. A body fell at his feet. A clatter of tools on a tray—scalpels, knives—what else? Did any of them have guns? He couldn’t remember.

Memory loss. Side effect of the sedative.

A fist caught Eliot in the cheek, knocking him back against the table. He brought up his elbow to block the next punch. Missed. The force of the blow knocked him off balance, and for a second he was too disoriented to move—but his opponent grunted and gave away his position, and Eliot struck, shoved back, stepped away.

They weren’t where he thought they were. The sedative may not have knocked him out, but it had dulled his reactions. His perceptions were compromised. He couldn’t trust himself. 

It didn’t matter. As long as he was awake, he had to fight.

When the next punch came at his stomach, he turned it aside and countered with an elbow to the other man’s face. Hands on his shoulder yanked him toward the table. He twisted beneath them and snapped a jab into someone’s mouth.

Everything went dark.

Eliot blinked hard, opening his eyes to the lack of cutting light, but there was nothing.

Ocular distress. Pressure on the optical nerves. Blindness.

The men around him hesitated, and Eliot did what he was trained to do and took advantage of their confusion. Another man went down.

“Go,” Hart shouted. “Leave him. Get back to Rosner.”

The men scattered for the door, and Eliot staggered against the table, breathing heavily. Hart was escaping. Could he let them escape? What had he told him? He’d thought about Nate—about the team. Had he said their names? He couldn’t remember. Hart had asked him who he was working for, and he’d—yes, he’d said Nate’s name. He’d put him in danger. Put the whole team in danger.

He couldn’t let them leave the building.

Eliot took a breath, spat blood from his mouth, and followed the men into the hall.

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[clowns0cks]

“you never would you coward. (would you…?)”

the master getting teary eyed and scared when he realises the doctor is really considering to pull the trigger but still daring him to do it. He needs to know, he needs to see if the doctor is capable of it. is he? would he really? why is he still pointing the gun at him?

“go on then. do it.”

But he doesn’t want to die. you can hear it in his voice and see it in his face but he needs to know how far the doctor is willing to go. And besides he’s the master. He’s not gonna back down and plead. At least not in this regeneration. the subtle and terrorised headshake after works very well as there’s one part of the script missing in this scene

“don’t.”

and the doctor won’t.

[rexomi]

Something something. Making Solas a liar in Veilguard actively brings back a problem they fixed working on Inquisition.

On December 20 2019 VGS posted an interview with Trick Weekes about their work on Solas. This whole sentence is a link so its large enough for mobile but also disclaimer this is before they changed their name so deadname warning.

Here's a transcription I found here which is where i took the screenshots above. Since I know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to an online radio interview.

I however highlighted the main point since most of you are not reading the screenshots anyway but skimming through. Rant under Read-more. Also bc i try to not be too negative on people's dashs but also i wanna ramble some more.

"But he lied a lot more. And it really weakened his character."

You can tell this happened during the game. Solas lies only once within Inquisition. He says something he can't be vague about and you push him so he lies, badly. He usually tells the truth vaguely. Typically Solas lies no more than Blackwall.

I fully believe that if in Inquisition your inquisitor figured out that Solas was Fen’harel and asked him bluntly to his face he'd confess. He might even be impressed. But why would you ever start to think that. No one assumes that their coworker is actually Poseidon regardless of how much they love the beach and ocean.

He hides in your expectations.

You can't ask him about being an ancient elf or being Fen'harel of myth because those aren't very probable. They're astronomically low to be truth within that universe. And outside, no one finished DA2 and went i wonder if one of our next companions is the Dread Wolf. Sera said, impossible things can't be surprises. He doesn't have to lie so when the truth comes out it's becomes obvious on a second playthrough.

They then actively bring back a problem they fixed in Inquisitions development. That they were open about fixing. That having a character that outright lies to you makes you have no intention of even hearing out the character. It retroactively undercuts Inquisition bc i see people trying to find Solas' lies in it when they aren't going to find any beyond the court intrigue.

It undercuts any lore we do get from Solas bc people dismiss it outright as being a lie from Mr "I abhor blood magic". I feel like shaking people's shoulders like no, dont do it.

They retconned him guys i have proof from 2019.

And its like if you hate Solas is this even satisfying? Like that's not Solas. His motivations are gone (that's a whole other post) and so is his core personality trait. It's like they went here's the Dreadwolf but during the ten years they replaced the smug asshole who was insufferably right with a 20 yo senior chihuahua that doesnt have any teeth.

My favorite villains are those that tell the truth. Because nothing hurts more than the truth. Can you imagine if he told you the truth. If he told you horrible things that you dismissed as lies to only be true. Wouldn't Varric’s death have more weight if he told you Varric was dead only for you - for everyone - to see him in the Lighthouse. If it was a spirit who took his shape to help you or even because it saw something worth reflecting in your memories.

So you dismiss him until it's revealed near the end oh he was telling the truth and you have an oh shit maybe he was right about other things but its too late to try and stop any of the truths he told you which could be from allies/companions betraying to stuff about Ghilan'nain and Elgarnan.

Like the only way to redeem Solas was to listen to him and by going out of your way to address problems he sees and you can find the alternative to tearing down the Veil by a series a little puzzle pieces throughout the game.

Have it be he will only listen to you if you listen to him. That he'll reject your other solution bc why the hell would he trust you if you couldnt extend the same.

Like Solas couldve been a great villian and he should've been great for both the haters and those that liked him. Not only the romance but for those who became his friend. Like i keep coming back to if i hated Solas would i be satisfied with Veilguard.

And the answer is no because that isnt Solas.

Tricking him has no weight bc he's an idiot in Veilguard like not even in the ending bc doesn't notice you switch the dagger around like right in front of him but none of his actions make sense. Ppl have mentioned the regret prison makes no sense for Elgarnan and Ghilan'nain bc they don't have regrets.

Attacking Solas has no weight because he literally needs the shit kicked out of him by a dragon for it to even begin to work. They literally need him to be at deaths door before its realistic that Rook could take him in a fight.

Redeem has no weight bc of the massive retcons to his motivations. They had to retcon the post credits scene bc even if Flemythal went hey i don't want you to do this Dai Solas wouldve went okay but that doesnt solve my other problems with the veil including the corruption of spirits and the fact its in literal shambles so i guess is still coming down.

I'm just disappointed. By the end of Trespasser they had a great villian and they just tossed it to the side and reverted him and people are arguing about a character who's sole defining trait in Veilguard is a problem they solved before Inquisition launched.

Basically we can sum it up with a screenshot.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS Severance AU: Get me out of here.

[katabay]

PAGLUIB

way back in like. march?? I took a stab at writing some kind of kabitserye type of story but it was a mess: it kept veering off into murder mystery drama territory because I was reading a lot of murder mystery novels around then and it Wasn't Good because I hadn't tried writing mysteries, let alone murder mysteries, before lmao

I did write a handful of short mystery stories since then, so next year I might take a stab at this idea again now that I'm no longer jumping head first into a genre pool I don't know how to swim in :)

[abnomi]

EVERY REASON (that i can think of) AS TO WHY TURBO/KING CANDY IS NEURODIVERGENT 💥💥

i would like to make a disclaimer first and foremost about the obvious, being that Turbo/King Candy is heavily implied to have narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Very often, characters with these disorders are portrayed as villains, and Turbo is no exception to this. There's nothing wrong with antagonistic characters having said disorders, per se, but when the only representation available for people with these conditions are found in characters you're not supposed to root for, it can be really disheartening. i won't be erasing these parts of him because i feel it would be in poor taste to gloss over those core elements of who he is, but plz keep in mind that having any kind of personality disorder doesn't make anyone inherently evil!!!🌞 your ACTIONS make you, not your brain

Also if anyone has any suggestions or other ideas for his neurodiversity, i would love to hear them! please do share!! I LOVE PSYCHOANALYZING CHARACTERS AND HEARING OTHER PEOPLE PSYCHOANALYZE THEM !!!! YAY🎉 if u agree or disagree with any of my points I'd love to discuss them further :-]

without further ado... click read more to find out…😈 be ready for a lot of reaches

💥 ADHD 💥

STIMMING

Turbo's constantly moving around in some way; he's a very expressive character! even as King Candy, he can't seem to conceal his frequent giggling. it's a big habit of his; he seems to do it involuntarily to regulate himself, including when he's nervous or uncomfortable.

he seems to display other repetitive behaviors as well, like doing his iconic thumbs-up pose, sticking out his tongue, or hopping around gleefully. he is but a jovial court jester..

i personally like to think that his phrases, "Turbo-tastic!" and "Have some candy!" are vocal stims of his, although i equally really love the interpretation that these (and the aforementioned stims) are tics :-]

another headcanon; i think it would make a lot of sense for him to have an oral fixation of some sort (ignoring the whole sigmund freud part of the term ermm...); just lots of biting, chewing, needing to have something in his mouth. It would align with the whole idea that he smokes, too

HYPERACTIVITY

we can clearly see throughout the film that Turbo has a lot of energy, made abundantly clear by his mannerisms and general behavior. he's constantly moving, using exaggerated expressions and gestures to communicate + express himself. He's one of the most animated and bouncy characters in the movie, next to Vanellope! it's silly how a character not very grounded in reality is such a threat, but i suppose that's what makes him so threatening in the first place...

another factor in this is how he is very adrenaline-seeking, craving activities that give him a rush (sugar rush...😂😂). more on that in a bit!!

HYPERFIXATION

Turbo's fixation with winning is all-consuming for him; it's an obsession. he doesn't appear to care about much else, if anything besides it. this could be interpreted as a hyperfixation for him (or special interest if ur all about that autism lifestyle), as it overtakes all of his focus and impedes every process of his mind.

it's clear that racing is much more than a passion for him, and while that fact is due to how he was programmed, it's a major character trait of his regardless that could be correlated to neurodivergence.

HYPERFOCUS

There seems to be a big theme of "all or nothing" when it comes to Turbo. he will either be fully dedicated to something or brush it aside without a second thought. it can't be denied that he fully wraps himself up in what he wants, whether it's a conflict he can't let go of or a new pursuit he's hungrily chasing after. 

ultimately, his dedication varies depending on if it is relevant to him and his interests or not, but this aspect of him still shares patterns with neurodivergent thought processes.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION

Seeing as he has a tendency to cheat in his use of code to spawn in whatever his heart desires, it can be assumed that this could do with Turbo wanting instant gratification to fill that bitter, empty void inside of him. while this could simply be brushed aside as greed and his belief that he is obligated to have access to whatever he wants, this trait is consistent with his generally dopamine-seeking behavior and wanting to be instantly rewarded by his actions. His obsession with needing to feel good directly relates to his need for another buzz, constantly after the next rush. (a sugar rush if you will☺☺☺)

ADRENALINE-SEEKING

Closely related to the previous speculation, Turbo always seems to be chasing his next high. he loves the thrill of action and being surrounded by crowds of people below him. it's why his big thing is racing! people cheer him on, he can do whatever he wants, he can go really fast and look cool..

it's possible that a big aspect of why he does this is to distract himself from any kind of pain, because pain = vulnerability. bro does NOT know how to independently cope with his own problems.. HE MAD AS HELLLLL!!! 😂😂

STRUGGLE WITH SELF CARE

(i know this is reaching but bear with me... 🐻) going off of his appearance and tendency to make poor decisions, it can be gathered that this man lacks skill in the self care department. his yellowing teeth and sunken eyes not only serve to complement his design, but also give way to the idea that he neglects himself in favor for whatever weird scheme he's up to.

of course, Turbo does prioritize himself above everyone else, but he doesn't strike me as the type to care much about how others think he smells. him being a bother to anyone isn't a concern of his. he cares about whatever gets him the most praise and attention from as many people as possible, which is winning and racing. Who cares about how clean he is when he's up on a podium holding a shiny, golden trophy, anyway?

It's likely that he had to step his game up when he went under disguise as king candy, which is why he looks well-groomed in comparison to his more corpse-like appearance. Ugly hoe. it can also be assumed that he's had more time to focus on himself because everyone loves him without question... Well, except for Vanellope, but who cares about her, right?

also, i know he makes a condescending comment to Ralph about how bad his breath smells, but it's made abundantly clear that Turbo is a massive hypocrite. his comment doesn't erase the possibility that he has suffered from such "halitosis" as well.

💥 ANXIETY 💥

GENERAL ANXIOUS BEHAVIOR

i know, i know, this could technically be chalked up to be "Turbo is nervously giggling and shit because he's scared of getting caught," but guys. g

even in the flashback scene, we can see how easily stressed he can become in an alarmingly short period of time. he is extremely insecure, therefore i am led to believe he is not only emotionally dysregulated, but also by extension, anxiety ridden.

yes, this is purely speculative, but who's to say that he wasn't like this before? being high-strung and intense are significant facets of his personality consistently portrayed throughout the film. as long as he is getting exactly what he wants, he is happy; the moment he loses even a blip of control, however, he immediately grows extremely tense.

if Turbo wasn't anxious about his disguise as King Candy before, he was anxious about how much attention he was receiving on a given day. if not that, then he'd be anxious over how he presents himself. He hates how he can't control how other people perceive him, which is why he is constantly trying to act like he's better than he is.

its why he justifies his behavior to himself, proudly making others refer to him as the "rightful ruler" of sugar rush and relishing in the attention of his countless underlings. Any secure and stable person would NOT ACT LIKE THIS!!!!😭😭😭

FIGHT OR FLIGHT

As we can see a handful of times on screen, Turbo's instinct to protect himself is very easily activated.

 his fear manifests in anger and aggression. we can see at multiple points how easy it is to upset him or fluster him; his anger is one side of the same coin, the opposite end being his fear and paranoia.

Going off of this point, have you noticed that Turbo is either satisfied or furious without much of an in-between? how the second something isn't under his manipulation, he lashes out and fights back? I'm led to believe that this is how he responds to fear (AAUAAYAUUUUGGHHH 🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡). This guy is so against the idea of being vulnerable, that even when afraid, he will utilize violence to regain his dominance over the situation at hand.

CONTROL + PARANOIA

Turbo's always trying to writhe or fight his way out of uncomfortable situations, unable to exist outside of his comfort zone for seconds at a time.

his defensive, paranoid, and controlling behavior are all reflections of how deeply insecure this man is. He feels such an intense need for everything to go exactly how he expects it to go that the moment he senses any kind of threat, he instantly jumps to defend himself and what he feels that he has "earned," regardless of whether there truly is a threat or not.

this could potentially be a coping mechanism for his anxiety and sense of stability; can't forget to mention how territorial he is!! he jumps to conclusions about what others' intentions are before they even get a chance to reply, as seen with his first encounter with Ralph in the movie. 

the racer is so internally discombobulated that he seeks any sense of stability on his environment, including on those around him. his sense of self is so warped that he copes with constant distraction; being under the spotlight, being actively racing, having to be showered with attention, having others make him feel good because he doesn't know how to do it for himself. he needs to feel like everything is under control, lest everything falls apart.

"...if there's ONE thing I can't abide, it's ANYTHING out of order!"

💥 NPD 💥

INFLATED SENSE OF SELF IMPORTANCE

Turbo's most in-your-face trait above all else. It's made more than crystal clear in every scene he's in that his arrogance is a determining factor in how he interacts with others. This is exactly what drives him to desperately crave admiration, to chase after others he's envious of because he thinks he is obligated to take what they have.

he seems to genuinely think he is entitled to get whatever he wants, just because he is inherently "special" or "better" than everyone else. Why else would he have made himself a king, a step above princess?

EXCESSIVE NEED FOR ADMIRATION

Turbo's self worth is COMPLETELY dependent on the opinions of children and teenagers. I think i don't need to say any more than that, but i will. (Evil).

As cartoonishly massive as his ego is, i think that it's fair to assume that Turbo has a very unstable sense of self, distorting his perception of his own worth down with it. his near-constant flaunting and need to be the best is a dead giveaway to his deeply-ridden self-doubt. The foundation of his stability is built around how "good" he is (at racing and winning), how powerful he is, whether or not he is being prioritized above everyone else, whether or not he is the absolute best, etc. etc.

The racer outright manipulates others to shower him with admiration and undeserved appreciation. He is incapable of forming a true sense of internal value, instead heavily and codependently relying on others to form it for him. if he isn't the best, he may as well just be nothing.

INTENSE JEALOUSY

He reacts so severely to what he perceives as others taking away what is rightfully his that it only goes to solidify my previous points even further. the second someone else is getting more attention than him, Turbo will bend over backwards to rip back the praise he believes he so rightly deserves.

being extremely competitive, he will one-up against anyone he thinks of as a threat, dedicating himself to taking them down to the best of his ability, and making sure they STAY down to top it all off.

INABILITY TO HANDLE CRITICISM

if we really dissect the entire one-off joke with Turbo insisting that his stolen pink castle is actually "salmon," along with all of his other domineering behaviors, we can garner that he is very persistent in how he wants others to view him. i wholeheartedly believe that this would translate into him not only being defensive over his supposed "ownership" of Sugar Rush, but also over himself and his own insecurities.

He needs to feel good about himself or else he will die and quite literally try to kill everyone.

LACK OF EMPATHY

He appears to have a fondness for making jokes in very poor taste. Turbo has a big sense of humor, but it's always at the expense of others. Be it a pun about a "fungeon," or jumping to protect himself with a joke about "hitting a guy with glasses," he has a tendency to take serious situations very lightly. It's not that he's unaware of the weight of it; he simply doesn't take it Seriously.

its admittedly impressive how he was able to feign empathy so well for Ralph; it goes to show how he is very capable of understanding that what he's doing is wrong, but ultimately does nothing to change his behavior because it doesn't impact him personally. 

i would like to honor this part of him, because even in the possible alternate path of a redemption arc, his struggle with empathy can be explored in a variety of interesting ways :-] he can understand complicated emotions and situations on an analytical level, but he doesn't feel for them unless it has to do with him specifically. (this obviously doesn't make him inherently evil, his ACTIONS make him evil)

💥 ASPD 💥

LACK OF REMORSE/GUILT

One of Turbo's core characteristics is just how far he is willing to go for his own self-interest with lack of regard for how it impacts everyone else. he has absolutely no concern for how anyone else feels besides himself, willing to go so far as to attempt to mutilate a 9-year-old to achieve his petty goals.

Turbo is shameless when it comes to how he goes about getting his way. While I'd like to believe he isn't fully incapable of feeling regret, he doesn't showcase feeling it in the movie itself. The most regret he'll feel is when he slips up and exposes himself. anything else is the fault of everyone else; he is untouchable in his eyes.

DECEITFUL TENDENCIES + LYING

Where do i even start with this one.

well, first of all, let's acknowledge the... erm, horse? in the room? 🐎😅(Please someone help me there is a horse in my room help helphel) being that Turbo went under disguise as King Candy for at least a decade. Even before this, there's a good chance that he's already had plenty of experience with lies and manipulation. i'd be willing to bet on this!!

one of his specialties is being proficient in manipulation, be it the code of games or the minds of people. theyre basically the same thing to him, anyway... I'm sure you all know the scene where he uses 16 manipulation tactics against Ralph and wins. this was Obviously not the first time he'd done this.

REPETITION OF HARMFUL BEHAVIORS

Time and time again, Turbo can't seem to help himself when it comes to poor decision-making. he never internalizes that his bad choices aren't JUST bad for others, but also for himself, continuing to escalate further and further into very dangerous behaviors until he literally dies.

Here's a list of bad decisions he has made! (at least, that we know of)

Pinning himself above his peers

Harassment + stalking

Carelessly charging through GCS with his car, endangering countless civilians

Attempting to take over a game that isn't his x2

Vehicular manslaughter

Implied mass murder + attempted murder, attempted mutilation

Mass endangerment

Breaking and entering, theft, usurpation, plagiarism

and more!!!!!!!

AND HE LEARNS FROM ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THIS!!! with some of the items listed here, he's attempted to do multiple times! Absolute buffoon.

RECKLESS DISREGARD FOR SAFETY OF SELF AND OTHERS

Considering how he was willing to charge into a game that wasn't his own with the awareness that it could permanently kill him, going as far as to recklessly crash into another car (albeit it's possible this was unintentional), it's easy to gather that he doesn't seem to consider anyone's safety at all in the spur of the moment.

IMPULSITIVITY

his impulsivity and disregard for safety both go hand-in-hand. When it gets to a certain point, Turbo's emotions will boil over and blow up in a cold rage, thus causing him to spiral and act on impulse, becoming a detrimental force to himself as well as everyone around him.

What's interesting is how much restraint he is capable of; he typically is very strategic in how he orchestrates his plans! but once he reaches his breaking point, he snaps and leaves all of his hard work behind in favor of something that calls for his immediate attention.

💥 ETC. 💥

extra tidbits i didnt have enough energy to fully delve into :-]

BPD

Fear of abandonment

Blurry sense of identity

Feelings of emptiness

Self destructive tendencies

Emotional instability

Explosive anger

ODD (oppositional defiant disorder)

He seems so infatuated with his own autonomy that he gets to the point of being resistant and defiant

Resisting against the rules of the world that he directly caused as a result of his own actions, being that one shouldn't "go Turbo."

Enjoys upsetting/getting a rise out of others. this is more speculative as i am going off of the assumption that he thinks pissing people off is funny, based on his other behavioral patterns. (cruel sense of humor, wanting to feel above others via control & manipulation, enjoyment of inflicting pain onto others)

Forcefully defends himself and refuses any kind of criticism

Lashes out when he feels slighted

Excessive persistence despite all odds, whether it's beneficial to him or not

ok bye!! thank you if you managed to read this far ^^ peace and love take care of yourself! all in all turbo is so neurodivergent ok please Okay <3 get this thing his meds