#WHO IS HE. i need to ruminate on this

[kind-of-a-shitty-wizard]

i know this has been said before but it really tickles me that the other TAZ arc antagonists had to be corrupted by the relics before doing anything evil but that jenkins was ALREADY an awful person. this man killed people and took their money. he was NOT corrupted his ass didnt even TOUCH the relic

[57sfinest]

i wanted to look at the symbolism of the ocean in disco elysium because it features so prominently in the setting. insulinde being an isola comprised of islands, martinaise as a port town financially anchored by its ocean trade. the divisions brought by water that we see in the geography: how the canal separates the working district of martinaise from the even poorer, commerce-less village-- how the river esperance separates the worst ghettos of revachol and jamrock from the more rebuilt and financially stable districts-- how, for example, lilienne looks across the bay of revachol to the wealthy district of la delta, a poignant moment of separation between someone desperately poor and the towers of wealth built out of the ruins of revachol. we see water, and often the sea specifically, acting as a divider in various contexts. 

the ocean of time and distance that separates dora and harry, that separates klaasje from oranje:

then, further into the idea of the ocean as representative of time: in various contexts i see the ocean as representing the past. memory residing under the waves, and each of us living above water-- in the present-- but often still helpless to the tides when we’re not careful. to me this is cemented by the implication that the pale is commonly theorized as an *outer ocean* (juxtaposed with harry’s introspective skill, inland empire!!): the pale is the past, and if the pale is seen as an outer ocean, then right there is a tangible connection between the two. memory and the past as an ocean, dangerous if you don’t respect its power, but ultimately navigable. there is frequent reference made to the fact that the bombed ruins of martinaise are sinking or lost into the ocean, lost to the past, now only memory. 

and harry, who is living in the past and being consumed by nostalgia like a rot, drives his car into the ocean. harry’s badge, which is conflated with his identity in the aftermath of his amnesia, was underwater before he pulled it from the car: until he got it, his entire identity was lost with his memory in the past. klaasje’s documents, too, presumed lost to the ocean, a loss of who she was or claimed to be (until you meet the phasmid). lilienne’s husband was lost to the waves, and in the same lines she’ll dismiss your concerns-- he’s in the past now, she’s really not too upset. the cleaning lady, abandoned by the world, who has only her own memories for company in her sea-beaten room. in the context of ruby’s near-suicide in the shack, how inland specifies how the “waves had calmed” as she put the gun away: ruby distancing herself from the past that she thinks is chasing her to form a better plan. the working-class husband, who, had his corpse fallen through the boardwalk into the ocean, would have been lost to the past, living only in the memory of billie and their daughters.

for me, the final dream had some of the heaviest but most subtle inclusions of the ocean symbolism. it’s brought on by looking into the ocean around the seafort and takes place under the ocean somewhere. even before the dream, dora is alluded to in the context of the sea. she moved across the ocean and now, to him, she’s lost under it. she’s trapped in his memory.

where we see things half-submerged or partially oceanic, we see a bridge between the past and the present being represented. something partially lost to the past but still with a foot in the here and now. harry’s half-sunken car, in part a representation of his career: part of his past, yes, but still very much in his present. one of the primary spiritual practices we hear of is the volta do mar: originally a palefarer’s practice to keep them grounded in an onslaught by the past, and its meaning is *return from the sea*. when harry tries to turn back time, he wants to go back to a time when the sun had not yet sunk into the sea-- when the light in his life didn’t reside solely in the past.

also in this context, something that really struck me was how harry will sometimes think of himself in the context of the sea. first is the sea monster thought, brought about by the broken plaza: him as a creature submerged in the past, terrorizing the present. and seafaring brought up to represent a kind of compromise between living in the present and acknowledging the draw of nostalgia. even joyce in her limited knowledge of harry compares him to a “half-submerged ruin”. and when harry is prompted into introspection by the dros predicament, inland empire becomes the *inland sea*.

and i really want to make a final, individual point of this. the whirling-in-rags music is sea power’s song “fire escape in the sea”. there is an explicit reference made to the song by shivers as well, and i think the choice of this song is very intentional. the whirling-in-rags is where harry forgot his whole life, the whole world, and it’s where he wakes up and begins to piece it all back together. the whirling-in-rags is harry’s fire escape in the sea. his bridge between his past and his present, his last-ditch attempt at escape from the tortures of his subconscious. 

(this is by no means exhaustive, there are a lot of other moments where the sea comes in, but i included the moments that spoke to me most. you’re welcome to add your own!)

[kitnita]

well, let's leave this all behind us on the road

ty dellandrea, gm jim nill agreed ‘it was time’ to part ways ahead of trade to san jose by lia assimakopoulos for the dallas morning news, june 24, 2024; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea on locker cleanout day via the dallas stars, june 4, 2024; "october" by HAPPY LANDING; dallas stars vs. san jose sharks in dallas, texas on october 15, 2024; ty dellandrea & jake oettinger pose for jake's 100th win on february 29, 2024 via the dallas stars; stars’ jake oettinger and ty dellandrea share a special bond: ‘we’ve done it all’ by saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; jake oettinger is at home with the stars by matthew defranks for the dallas morning news, october 10, 2022; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea pose with their first nhl goal & first nhl win pucks via jeff toates, january 28, 2021; jake oettinger on ty dellandrea after game 4 vs. vegas, april 29, 2024; "blue" by laura elliot; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea on the bench after practice via the dallas stars, march 8, 2024; "rearview" by brenn!; jake oettinger with his arm around ty dellandrea after game 5 vs. vegas via trey hill, may 27, 2023; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; lia assimakopoulos for the dallas morning news, june 24, 2024; sharks sign ty dellandrea for nhl.com, july 4, 2024; ty dellandrea cradling jake oettinger's face via jake oettinger's instagram, june 19, 2024; "rearview" by brenn!; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea before morning skate via saad yousuf, january 10, 2024; jake oettinger on ty dellandrea after game 4 vs. vegas, april 29, 2024; jake oettinger & ty dellandrea pose with their first nhl goal & first nhl win pucks via jake oettinger's instagram, january 28, 2021; saad yousuf for the athletic, may 29, 2023; "october" by HAPPY LANDING.

[twinstxrs]

there’s probably something deeply wrong with me because every time i see someone react to the pok gukgak interrogation scene it’s like “oh no oh my god is riz’s dad a bad guy?” when the first time i saw that scene my only thought was “oh my god is riz’s dad HOT??”

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[desertsportshipping]

Wes had to know. He was Team Snagem's top member, he had to be aware of their alliance with Cipher. He had to know that the Pokemon he stole would be abused to be turned into Shadow Pokemon, especially since Team Snagem members were given some.

He was okay with it. At the end of the day, all he cared about were himself and Espeon and Umbreon. As long as the three of them were alright, Wes didn't give a shit about anyone else.

Until they wanted to turn Espeon and Umbreon into Shadow Pokemon. That was the last straw. He blew up the base (you cannot tell me that all the Snagem members made it out in time and that Wes gave a shit) and bailed, taking the small Snag Machine with him as insurance. Since the Snag Machine was fragile, anyone wanting to take it from him would have to be careful not to break it.

It was sheer coincidence that he ran into Rui. The only reason he agreed to accompany her was because Umbreon and Espeon insisted. She wanted to rescue the Shadow Pokemon, the Pokemon that he'd helped create, and heal them.

Rui was aware that he was an ex member of Team Snagem, but she wasn't aware about his direct hand in the creation of Shadow Pokemon. She was aware of the destruction of the Snagem Hideout, but she told herself that her gallant hero wouldn't have let the explosions kill anyone (even though they definitely did).

Over the course of their travels, Rui rubbed off on Wes, and he found himself opening up. Not to Rui (a little bit to Rui, but he doesn't realize it), but to his Pokemon. It really sank in once he was at the Shadow Pokemon lab, and could see the torture Pokemon had to go through to become Shadow Pokemon.

Wes never vocalizes the growing guilt he's feeling to Rui, or the fact that he's been aware of Cipher and their plans for a while. At first it was because he believed it was none of her business, but then it was because he didn't want to disappoint her and burst whatever image she has in her head of him, and he feels it's a part of his atonement for his part in hurting so many Pokemon.

But then, at the top of Realgam Tower, Gonzap spills everything. About how Team Snagem was working with Cipher to supply with them Pokemon, and about how Wes was complicit and didn't give a shit until they wanted to turn his Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon.

Rui, unable to reconcile this information with the boy she'd been traveling with, runs away. She leaves Wes to fight Gonzap and the beginning of the Realgam Challenge on his own. She also finds it much harder to push away the fact that Wes has killed, and if pressed definitely would again.

Silva talks some sense into her, and she comes to the realization that while Team Snagem Wes and her friend Wes are the same person, he has changed over the course of their journey (she also justified the murders in her head by saying that those deaths were necessary for Wes to escape, she still doesn't like it but she understands it). So she goes up to reunite with Wes, and help him defeat Cipher.

She apologized for running away, but their friendship never fully recovered after that.

When Rui left for Unova, Wes ran himself into the ground, clinging to the title she had given him of "Champion of Orre." Duking put his foot down, giving him everything he needed to leave Orre and have a clean slate in another region.

When he arrived at Galar, he found himself wandering the Wild Areas aimlessly, until he helped an injured Rookidee return to its mother. That's when he decided he'd become the protector of the wild Pokemon in Galar, the first time he'd had a purpose he chose for himself.

Finally, away from Orre, he could exit survival mode and start to heal.

[monstermp3]

.

[dockaspbrak]

In another life itd be cool if i had a night time only roommate who like came out of a wall and was a human version of an owl (not vibes but horrible lab accident) and we chatted and socialized when i have insomnia and cant sleep so its like. A positive opportunity instead of a failure that will be pointed out 150 times tomorrow

[nozomijoestar]

Took me a while to realize but I can see similarities in how Asuka seems to process grief and how Guts from Berserk also processed his grief after the Eclipse. They both get so overwhelmed by the wrong that happened to them (father's hospitalization vs the Eclipse and a lifetime of misery) their reaction isn't to seek comfort in others or help/protect their loved one who needs them after the tragedy, it's to go off and inflict their pain on others to self soothe, as if that'll release the feeling from their minds.

The difference is that Guts was called out for this by Rickert and Godo. He needed to snap out of wanting to prioritize ridding his own pain to remember Casca needed him, and that Casca even in the state she was in was all the good in his life who went through the same experience with him. Guts had to remember he loves Casca more than he wants to self destruct. Like Godo told him he was a sword called fear with cracks in it. He feared sitting with his pain and grief and seeing it on the person he loved after so much violation. He feared vulnerability.

Asuka doesn't do this reevaluatation and has no one to call her out for her self destructive coping canonically. She can't sit with anything bad or face looking at it on a loved one either. That's too bad and helpless of a feeling. She's just as much made of fear (primarily from any helplessness as much as violations of her inner ethics) which fuels her anger, but her one personal attachment to her father who needs her isn't enough to make her want to reevaluate what she does at all. Instead his tragedy is the permission she needs to self destruct and destroy in the process, not like Guts who always told himself everything was for Casca and the fallen Hawks, who always reminded himself of the pain to justify the bloodletting.

Unlike Guts I think she'd be stubborn even accepting to listen to someone pointing her behavior out. Though her anger toward Feng did start out carrying a reminder this vengeance is for Dad even if it kills her in 5, even in 5's branching narratives that excuse falls apart when she continues in the tournament for her own pleasure during her route. The moment vengeance is achieved critically injured Dad is out of her mind. Her behavior during 6 repeats this process, preferring to hurt herself and others rather than sit to process a shitty feeling over her and the world's situation. Like Guts in this state she pushes away anyone and everyone else including any comforts because the anger isn't resolved, the fear isn't resolved, the pain isn't resolved.

They're both used to everyone being against them and having to fight for survival until they found joy in it as a side effect. And because of that independence born from isolation when something like the tragedies that happened takes place they put resolving their pain not on sharing with others but into scorching the earth along with themselves.

I don't say this either to imply they're exactly alike or that they have enough similarities to make a true character comparison because they absolutely don't. There's also some stuff I'm leaving out simply because Guts is a far more complex character in ways where there's nothing from Asuka to compare against (I would say Kazuya is the closest, more fitting Tekken comparison for substituting Guts vs Asuka style notes). I just find it interesting that even across wildly different stories the outline for an angry, self destructive, terrified person who thinks self destruction makes them strong and puts them in control uses a lot of the same foundation. And the contrast in their depths really shows how far you can push the concept depending on what you want or need for the character.

[naggingatlas]

i looove putting spark over songs about like heroes and saving the world (tom cardy's 'level clear', uncle outrage's 'saved the world' <- nice voice hc for him!. and 'my superhero movie'.) when he like. Did. Not : ) funney.

[doomednarrative]

Could never understand being a Michinaga hater the guy has carried the Entire series for me at this point

[cheemerthelizard]

Just found the absolute worst take on YikYak 😭

[shadow-bender]

.

[craykae]

was gonna go to my friend's funeral tomorrow but I got my period today whyyy :(

[dullahandyke]

Well I've not really done work on that essay that's due tonight BUT I did more thinkering on Ringo. So its ok

[sakitenmaenjoyer]

tsukasa's so funny bc in earlier stories whenever he showed a hint of anything negative he'd go "AUGHHHHHHH IM A USELESS PIECE IF SHIT. WAIT DONT THINK THAT WAY I HAVE TO BE BETTER"