#and to the extent there is biased i think he is as biased in favor of 'willy' as he is of himself asdkfsad;

[tanadrin]

Was there anything actually juicy in Clinton's emails? The media behavior reads like half an attempt to appear more principled b/c of the criticism they got in 2016, and half an attempt to swing the election for Trump because he's better for their business.

not super juicy. i do think there's a differential in how the media covers trump vs other candidates (even other republicans) bc he's so bizarre and they don't know how to handle them, but i don't think it's as calculated as "he's better for their business"

you have to remember that conservatives have spend decades screaming about how the media is unfair to them and biased in favor of liberals and bc media figures want to be the important biased neutral arbiters of democracy (bc that is how they perceive themseves) and they want to try to preserve access to political figures, they have spent a lot of time and effort trying to perform neutrality. this doesn't work of course--there's a reason why the right eventually spawned its own media ecosystem; no amount of bending over backwards to both-sides issues like global warming will appease basically dishonest actors--but it has produced this weird asymmetry where they report on trump like he's a much more normal candidate than he is, reported on his administration like it was a much more coherent realization of policy goals than it was, and sane wash a lot of statements that are either simply incoherent or are menacing and deranged. and they reassure themselves that he can't possibly mean the menacing and deranged things, or that if he does he won't be able to realize them, and after all wasn't the first trump term pretty OK after all?

obviously, i think this is a mistake--the first time around trump was impeded by his own incompetence and that of the people under him, and the fact that, not really knowing what to expect, some actually sane people ended up attached to his administration. i don't think that's likely to be quite the same in a second go-round. but normalcy bias is powerful. it affects a lot of people who aren't journalists, too. and even if you think he isn't likely to succeed, i think the responsible way to report on someone declaring that they are going to attempt to deport millions and seize direct control of major cities and shut down media outlets that offend them is to report that they intend to sdeport millions and seize direct control of major cities and shut down media outlets that offend them, not to try to interpret their pronouncements through the lens of anodyne "economic policy" or w/e. if the flagship outlets of media were really making a rational risk-benefit calculation on whether a second trump term would be good for them, they would be much more strenuously opposing him, because he has promised a scorched-earth campaign of revenge against them, you know?

but actually a lot of the dysfunction of american political coverage is the result of a social incentive structure that's been slowly emerging for more than forty years, driven in part by the incestuousness of the beltway media-political environment and the self-conception and ego of media figures. honestly i think it started as the conspiratorial right moved into mainstream conservative and republican politics in the last three decades of the 20th century. in order for that conspiratorial attitude to really take hold, you had to creative a social structure that isolated people from the broader political consensus, to get them to stop trusting shared sources of authority and information, and that resulted in sustained attacks against the supposed flagrant bias of american news media as a whole, and this process accelerated as distinct right-wing outlets like fox were established. but it was a frog-in-the-pot situation, and many republican politicians were willing to take on this new style of rhetoric that seemed to win votes (and no doubt many believed it to some extent, since it flattered their preconceptions).

but eventually the break became too great--birtherism, the tea party, qanon. mainstream republican politicians realized they'd called up something they couldn't put down; but it was too late to right the ship. trump is the avatar of all that conspiracism and rage, and he took over the republican party. but the tectonic social forces that produced him have been slow and kind of indirect, and a lot of people are still coasting on attitudes and approaches to politics that are ten, twenty, thirty years out of date.

[book-extravagance]

1. For me, by far the biggest takeaway from Spare was Harry's claim that it was Clarence House that did most of the leaking against him and Meghan—and, too, that it was Charles and Camilla also fed the press the story about Will's alleged affair with Rose Hanbury.

As someone who had previously thought William was behind most of the Sussex-related leaking, that was... interesting.

2. Another great point of interest for me is Harry coming to William's defense on the issue of his "laziness"? Harry claimed it was unfair that the papers ragged on William for being "work-shy" when in fact Will could only do the work that Charles funded.

I find claim #1 pretty plausible. I think Harry is still very biased in favor of his brother when it comes to #2 (but I'm keeping an open mind as I continue my royal studies, perhaps he is right. Certainly it's a factor to keep in mind.)

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

Vaguely inspired by the convo about racial biases with Jason but sort of going in detail a bit more, and also I'm making an excuse to rant about Bill.

This fandom does have a continual habit of ignoring/sidelining black characters I feel, and this does in part come down to Starkid itself having few main black roles (which is why I'm so excited for Cinderella's Castle) and being proportionally predominantly white, but even when there are main black characters I just feel like they get ignored a lot more, or at least sidelined within fanon in favor of white characters.

Like Bill, for example, isn't unpopular at all. I think everyone loves Bill I've never seen hate for him but I also never see anyone... talk about him. Not in detail. I never see Bill analyses, or people talk in depth about his role in TGWDLM or Watcher World, or people talk about him period outside of just "I like Bill, he's cool". And I feel like that isn't fair! I love Bill so much! Like, for example, you see people analyze Paul and his relationship to Pokey, you see people analyze Ted and Tinky, but Bill and Blinky are just... never mentioned. Not to the same extent.

And I'm not trying to get on a soapbox here saying people are being intentionally racist, but it makes me sad to see characters like Bill be sidelined because I think he's really interesting. Hopefully when(if?) Bottle Imps comes out, we'll get to see more of him.

I was just ranting about Bill but this all applies to Frank too, honestly. I don't like Frank as much as I like Bill but I definitely feel like if he was white he'd be a lot more popular. Is that a hot take? I don't know. This isn't a Starkid special this is like- every single fandom ever but I think it's important to point out.

~~~

[general-cyno]

ehh it's just me musing but. I do find it a little curious that (depending on who likes whom I guess) cora is usually either seen as some saintly flawless goofy figure or a brainwashed cop who got killed because he refused to try and save his brother. I do think his character is not exactly easy to pinpoint, considering he appears for a very short time and in a flashback nonetheless, plus the fact that he's dead means no further fleshing out of his character - broadly speaking - outside of the people who knew him and are willing to provide insight on what he was like, though that'd still be kinda biased.

however I believe there's actually a bunch of things that were straight up shown and some that can be pieced together from what little panel/screen time he had: ie how he's seemingly more bad tempered, impulsive and violent than he's portrayed as in fanon at times, albeit motivated by his own priorities at the moment (trying to kick the shit out of law to stop him from exposing cora to doflamingo) + his sense of what's right and wrong and to whom it applies (punching medical staff and setting hospitals on fire for mistreating law, whom he'd been trying to help).

specifically about the navy and doflamingo part... it irks me a little, tbh. partly because it removes what little agency cora had during the flashbacks and sort of waters down his motivation to stop his brother. it's not just whatever crimes doflamingo was committing or planning to back then and the navy wanting to put a stop to that - the thing is that cora was influenced, at least to an extent, to oppose doflamingo based on their childhood experiences with (ofc) the more negative ones, which include doffy murdering their father right in front of him, overshadowing anything else. as he tells law, cora can't fathom how their kind parents could've borne someone as evil as his brother. and yet. that's the other thing. cora was very much a child, and younger than doflamingo at that, when the elder DQs chose to leave marijoa and all that it entailed after. between all the traumatic events he lived through and later being raised by a marine (sengoku of all people), I'll be the first to say his perception of those events, of their parents and doffy himself is not really the most unbiased or reliable. we don't see him questioning the existence of celestial dragons (beyond warning law he's in danger when cora finds out about the D) nor the nature of the WG/the marines and the antagonistic role they play in OP's universe. we didn't have him long enough for those things to be put to question deeply anyway, especially not wrt to doflamingo, so imo it makes sense that his focus wasn't on "saving" but stopping him.

that said... he does witness the worst of it, kind of. through law. law is the very reason why I don't agree with the idea of cora being simply a brainwashed cop. this guy watched how people (those who should care) mistreated, dehumanized and demonized a sick child over prejudices caused by the lies the nobles and WG itself relied on to sweep their own corruption under the rug. he saw first hand how all those doctors ran to call the WG to kill the child and how they answered to do that. and what did he do? he lied and betrayed the organization he'd been part of (presumably for more than the years he spent undercover) and the man who'd raised him like a son just to save the kid that everyone, even the so called justice, had turned his back on and would've gotten rid of if given the chance. heck, when he first brought up the topic of law with sengoku, the man basically told him not to favor him too much for it could jeopardize his mission.

but perhaps the biggest proof is that he lied to law about being a marine when the latter directly asked if cora was one. as he later admits, cora lied to him about this because he didn't want law to hate him - and knowing all law lived through (flevance), seeing some of it himself (their hospital shenanigans) and what law told him as well, cora knew he had plenty of understandable and justified reasons to hate anyone ever slightly associated with the marines or the WG, including cora. to me, someone who's completely blinded by the navy/WG propaganda and follows their every order to the letter without thought wouldn't have denied his own affiliation nor been so determined to ditch being a marine and make an enemy out of those institutions (even if that also meant betraying his father figure) just to save, protect and do right by a child who'd been clearly failed by them. at no point did cora ever try to argue that Not All Marines, much less express any other sentiments of that sort to law.

on a similar vein, despite insisting doflamingo was evil and an agent of destruction - law is also the proof cora was somewhat aware that his brother (and people like doflamingo) normally don't pop out of nowhere and do Terrible Things just because. that maybe in other (better) circumstances, doffy might've become someone different and/or made different choices. after all, cora is the one who points out the similarities between doflamingo and law, and eventually does his best to turn law's life around so that he won't follow the same path. should he have tried to save doflamingo as well? when? how? would it have worked? who knows. and if you ask me, regardless of their similarities at that moment in time, doffy was already a grown ass man compared to law and cora himself was just an even younger kid when shit hit the fan in their childhood. I'm not sure doflamingo (as an adult) would've been particularly receptive of "help" either, considering his disdain for the kindness in cora and their father that he saw as a weakness. not to mention waaay too many other factors that come into play also (trebol and co's grooming and influence for example). still, one of them did pull the literal trigger in the end and it wasn't cora, so there's that.

all in all, for a character with such a short lived amount of time in the story - cora is quite the complex one and so very compelling. characterizing him as just strictly one thing or the other can be a little reductive but the fact that his character can be explored beyond that in the first place (once more, despite his lil bit of alive and onscreen moments) is what's fun and says a lot about the writing itself.

[risingscorchingsuns]

OHHH MY GOD YOU CANT MAKE ME WAIT A FUCKING WEEK FOR THIS. YOU CANT MAKE ME WAIT A WEEK FOR THE MUZAN KAGAYA CONFRONTATION YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME. FUCKING HELL OH MY GODDDD

hiiiii im feeling so normal right now!!!!!!!!!!!! *barely contained frenzy of biting and screaming*

anyway thoughts on this weeks ep!!! <3

- tanjiro. please. please i love you baby but i will never understand why you decided it was a good idea to go “🥺 are you fighting about ohagi? ill make lots!!” tanjiro honey they are TRAINING

-/pos btw. I love him he’s iconic for this

-shoutout to giyuu for immediately finding out about Sanemi’s favorite food and being like “:) if I bring some to him we’ll be best friends :)” giyuu sweetheart i love you. ive been waiting so long to see this scene animated god I love them. im not even much of a sanegiyuu shipper i just think this whole scene is iconic

- the ECHOES of muzan’s FOOTSTEPS right after Sanemi realizes they’ve been infiltrated????? holy fuck it is CHILLING. ohhhhhh mygoooodddd. oh my god im going INSANE

- holy shit, I feel like it’s massively under-discussed how dark Gyomei’s backstory is. Like… the whole scene really pounds it in how brutal his experiences were. His disgust at having to fight, much beyond what a normal human would tolerate. He likely had to keep caving the demon’s head in over and over because it kept regenerating. Holy shit. The color choice of everything being monochrome except for the blood is particularly chilling. I love when media uses that palette and KNY does it so good

- AUGHHHH his smile when he pats tanjiro 🥺🥺🥺 he thinks about Sayo…. GOD I love the Hashira

- I’d love to read more character analysis on Gyomei. I feel like we didn’t get as much context for his character as we deserved- why he continued to fight, despite how disgusted he is by his own strength, why he trained Genya despite his general distrust, especially towards children? Ultimately, I believe it comes down to Gyomei being a genuinely gentle human, and I’d love to read more analysis on how he maintains that. Maybe his own repetitive action helps him. I wrote a big paragraph about questions about his character, but wound up deleting it because I found myself answering them as I wrote. Regardless, if Gyomei is anybody’s blorbo to the extent that Kyojuro is mine I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on him- I think he’s a massively underrated character and I’d love to understand him deeper!

-OUGHHH THE MUSIC!!!!!!! god I am LOVING the theme they did with the sanegiyuu fight that shit went CRAZYYYY. and the ANIMATION. look im biased because i love the way water breathing looks but godddd its so pretty. also drop ripple thrust mentioned!!!! we haven’t seen that form since Susamaru!!!

-is the next episode gonna be the last in this season?????????? where are they cutting this off?????? god i wish i could reread the manga but i lent the set to a friend so he could read it pain agony MY CROSS REFERENCES

- [MANGA SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]

-I’m presuming Zenitsu’s letter was about his Master’s suicide, and Kaigaku’s transformation. I think it was really clever of ufotable to put this scene in Gyomei’s episode, and put spotlights on Kaigaku being the kid that first betrayed Gyomei- I think that fact was only actually mentioned in a Taisho Era Secret. That’s gonna blow a lot of minds in the finale arc lol

-I wish we got more development on Zenitsu in this arc. His processing of the letter, his departure from Tanjiro and the others. I think Zenitsu is also a really misunderstood character, and this arc doesn’t exactly do him many favors in that regard. I wish we’d gotten a bit of filler vis-a-vis his development, but I’m hoping we still get that in his fight with Kaigaku.

[mageknight14]

Something I always find funny when it comes to TWEWY discussion is how people tend to take Hanekoma’s words at face-value when it comes to the TWEWY mythos and his opinions on the Shinjuku games’ structure and take everything he says as fact when the games show, subtly or not, that he’s a heavily biased source who will outright LIE in the Secret Reports and that he’s not always the right moral viewpoint.

And that’s what I honestly love about his character because like any well-written character, he is often fraught with his own subjectivity.

I think an important thing to note is that in the Secret Reports, there is a small mistranslation that shapes a lot of what Hanekoma has to say regarding the events that takes place within the story; namely, Rindo DOESN’T have a high Imagination. It’s actually rather low or mediocre and his Replay power mainly comes from his pin, with Nagi and Fret being the real powerhouses.

(Shout-outs to my friend ζ for this great document!)

In the original ENG translation, the report went "For better or for worse, he is able to maintain abnormally high levels of Imagination, thereby increasing the accuracy of each Replay."

When in actuality, it’s "The higher [the] levels of Imagination he is able to maintain, [the] increas[ed] accuracy of each Replay." Which basically means that Replay relies on him maintaining the focus of his Imagination, rather than how much Imagination he has in general. It also fits in well what we know about Rindo and how he contrasts his team. Nagi is a huge otaku with a passion for her favorite gacha game, Fret is a fashionista that’s caught up on the latest trends, Shoka has her entire thing with Gatto Nero and Neku and Beat are winners of the last Reaper’s Game, with the former already having high amounts of Imagination even before he got sucked into the game due to a combination of his love for urban culture and the arts and Hanekoma’s graffiti subconsciously raising his Imagination levels even higher. Meanwhile, all Rindo has is the words of a social media guru that he mindlessly parrots and a mobile game that he casually plays. Not exactly grounds for cultivating a high level of Imagination, no? That said, Rindo is still able to function as a potent user of Replay due to his ability to hold a LOT of information in his head at one time, giving him a holistic view of the situation that makes him be able to piece together character relationships and bits of information in a way that he can use to his advantage to turn a bad situation around to his favor. W1D5, W2D2, W3D3, and the final day are especially great examples of this.

This is an important distinction to make because Hanekoma actually dismisses Rindo multiple times due to his low Imagination, in contrast to how supportive he was of Neku in the first game. Hanekoma's prioritization of Imagination is him believing that it is a necessary foundation for people to have in order to face adversity; to interpret their world; to grow, self-analyze, and to properly contribute to society. With that in mind, Rindo not having a good level of Imagination to him is indicative of a kid whose potential to do all these things is not as impressive and therefore would probably fail the Shinjuku Reaper’s Game. And to some extent, he’s right since Rindo does fuck up at times and stagnate when people he believes to be more capable show up to potentially solve his problems for him; taking away his responsibilities from him.

However, Rindo does grow from his mistakes, which ultimately culminates into him rejecting the offer for Haz to solve everything for him in favor of striving for a better future for both him and the people he cares about and the Shinjuku Game’s ruleset does make him come out of his shell as a leader, which was what ultimately saved all of them in the end, not his Imagination levels. It’s important to note that unlike the others, Rindo doesn’t actively participate in Operation Awakening: he’s the guy who gets the pieces to go where they need to go in order to have the operation go by smoothly and navigates them to do their job correctly. Operation Awakening ultimately succeeds due to Rindo’s skill as a leader, which Hanekoma did not view as something to make ado about. Hanekoma's vibe was that imagination, and by proxy, the things it provides a person to do, is something that is predisposed..but Rindo proved that you don't have to be predisposed to imagination to do really amazing things or affect change on a grand scale; you can learn how to do it through your experiences. There’s a reason why World is Yours, which is basically Rindo’s theme, has the phrase "Making mistakes is proof that you’re challenged. The World is Yours."

This is also a pretty big contrast when you consider how the Shibuya Game operated, which was heavily biased towards high Imagination people to excel further while pushing low Imagination people out of the running. I mean think about it: out of a normal week in the original game (Week 1), only Neku and Shiki survived legitimately (Beat only got by due to Hanekoma’s intervention in order to make him a wild card later on). But because they have high Imagination, Hanekoma is fine with such a low survival rate for the others. If someone only cares about supporting the already "gifted", then it makes sense that Hanekoma would only focus on a model that promotes Imagination gain and self-reflection for those he deems worthy, i.e. already have good Imagination.

That’s not even getting into how the nature of psychs and pins already predisposes low Imagination people to be weeded out in the original game. And of course, there’s also this Report from the original to consider.

"So, what happens to those who survive the week? Those whose Imagination is less than outstanding are broken down into Soul, while those with excellent Imagination become Reapers. The most talented of these may travel to the next plane, inhabited by Us Angels."

Remember Sota and Nao? By Hanekoma’s and the Shibuya Game’s logic, those two deserved to be absorbed into Soul by account of them not being able to survive but it’s because how the Game operates, that’s just how it has to be, even though the circumstances were out of their control and they are shown to be genuinely good people. From Hanekoma's view, he sees the act of facilitating Imagination as the means to progress evolution; a way to improve the health of world's laws. And why wouldn't he, right? By focusing on Imagination, you are promoting people to think better, to build self-awareness, to grow and change into better people; to reflect. Hanekoma finds this to be ideal, but maybe doesn't consider the vast ways with which people could achieve high Imagination. Hanekoma essentially viewed the lack of focus on Imagination specifically in the Shinjuku Games as precluding the capacity to grow and change, but failed to account for ways in which the team system could allow for growth and self-reflection in other ways even without an entry fee, and arguably more so because of it. The great thing about Hanekoma as a character is that while he has good intentions, he still falls under the Higher Plane mentality of "the ends justify the means" and this leads to a heavily biased perspective from his end. Just take a look these excerpts from the original game’s secret reports:

"My art is widely accepted in Shibuya."

"This proves that those with Imaginations sufficient to create the future are gathering in the area. Shibuya's future is looking very bright."

"I imbue my art with two command codes. The first is "Enjoy the moment more". This strengthens the Imagination. The proxy received this signal loud and clear, though past trauma precluded him from responding accordingly."

"The second code, "Gather", calls to those with strong Imaginations. Hence the inevitability: why wouldn't the Composer find his worthy proxy standing in front of my graffiti?"

When you break it down, he’s essentially saying "My art is so good that it is propelling Shibuya into a better future. Just ignore how I implant my own codes within it to specifically cultivate Imagination." Sounds just a bit egotistical, doesn’t it?

Shibuya is a hub of youth culture and is where new trends are born. Of course the UG of it would value individuality and creativity -> influencing others through art and passion. Shinjuku is both a business district but also has a very expansive night culture. It’s considered "adult" in comparison so of course the UG would value having to work with many, many different kinds of people -> being able to navigate and work with people to your advantage. This also helps to explain why the concept of entry fees aren’t a thing because the team set-up is the challenge in and of itself. Obviously Shiba’s version of the game is an anomaly so huge teams like that probably wouldn’t exist in a "normal" version of the game.

But being a leader in and of itself puts that individual in the best position to ascend and gain power within the UG, but then the leader is burdened with being in charge of the individuals under them. Meaning they have to learn to balance the two and work with their team. Likewise, just joining a team means you end up at the mercy of just following along with what your leader says, meaning without the ability to actually challenge or discuss things openly, you will also fail as an individual within that team.

Let’s compare Fuya and Kanon’s teams for this example: Fuya is explicitly noted to have a high Imagination but that didn’t stop him or his team from repeatedly coming into second-to-last place and the mental breakdown he’s currently having while Kanon doesn’t have a whole lot yet she has her head on her shoulders and the social skills needed to be an effective leader, hence why she and her team are able to survive relatively comfortably in the middle. Just having high Imagination or high qualities won’t be enough on its own if you’re unable to work together and balance out your respective strengths The Wicked Twisters end up being the best example of this ideal since they’re able to work together and clash thoughtfully as a team and support one another in times of needs, with the final day in particular running entirely on this concept. If just a single piece was out of place, the entire thing would’ve fallen apart.

Ultimately, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them.

Then we must compare how the respective Games are operated. The Shibuya Reaper missions (other than the one assigned by Kitaniji) tended to be pretty simple: go here, defeat Noise, etc. The other stuff such as the need to fix 777’s lighting seemed less about intentionally giving a mission and more incidental. They additionally have harrier Reapers, who more or less fit as the game’s RNG element with their job being to actively hunt down Players like animals. With this and giving the Players simple missions with little structure to go on but letting them have to figure out any resultant complications, the Shibuya Game is a lot more chaotic. By contrast, the Shinjuku Reapers are a lot more involved and administrative, which is fitting considering their business aesthetic. You have them being around to answer questions (unless you’re Shoka but she’s had to do this repeating structure for ages without a shake-up of things so it makes sense that she would be sick of it), preventing unfair interference, providing help, and generally ‘administering’ the missions. You have ordered events like the Scramble Slams, with the commentator actively, well, commentating, more involved missions like decals being set up ahead of time, spot-the-difference missions, a pig treasure hunt, etc…

Of course, there are certainly chaotic elements as well (bribing Reapers for more points, having to act on the whims of the Game Masters, teams forming alliances with one another, etc) but for the most part, it’s a much more controlled structure and it really fits in well when you consider the individuality vs sociality mindset of Shibuya and Shinjuku respectively and shows why Hanekoma, an Angel infatuated with Shibuya, would look down on the Shinjuku games in comparison. In his mind, Shibuya’s more emergent mechanics and interactions allow for more Imagination to be cultivated and to him, Imagination is the sole important thing to focus on. But Rindo’s growth disproves that mentality quite a bit and shows that, like many things, there’s room for compromise between both sides. It may also reflect the devs' changing opinions as culture has changed. In 2007 Nomura and company may have focused more on individual talent under the idea of the spirited sole artist, but by 2018, they realized that leadership and followership, and the ability to work in teams, also really fucking matters. Individuality is still important at the end of the day, hence why Rindo needed to get his shit together and not just become a follower like he was before in order to achieve better things for himself and others, but accepting and learning to balance different viewpoints in order to achieve a desired solution is also extremely important.

At the end of the day, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them and even Hanekoma himself seems to realize this when he praises Rindo’s ultimate decision and the courage he had to have to make that choice and sincerely hopes to meet him someday.

Ultimately, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them. And even Hanekoma himself seems to realize this when he praises Rindo for this courage he had to make his final decision and that he sincerely hopes to meet him someday.

[archivalofsins]

I think a lot of how people engage with Kazui and Shidou's characters and to an extent the rest of the cast-

Has a lot to do with the mindset of not wanting to be like that person. I feel like in Kazui, Shidou, and Mikoto's interpretations there's a trend of projecting parenthood onto them.

So, a lot of why they'll remain in favor or fall out of it boils down to one mentality people of all ages share,

"I don't want to be like my parent(s)."

This ended up really kicking Mahiru in the ass. Because her displays of traditional femininity align with the overbearing mother stereotype. The sort who will go, "But you look so cute in dresses? This used to be your favorite." So a lot of people who may have issues with that consciously or subconsciously wound up vilifying her more.

This is also why a lot of people like these feminine traits and habits when they're attached to male characters more.

Because some people again whether subconsciously or not recognize that they wanted more present, attentive, and possibly softer father figures. Of course this is heavily rooted in gender biases in regard to parenting specifically.

This may also tie into why Kotoko's more rigid and blunt nature as well as Yuno's more cold and dismissive one are viewed more favorably. It's this fixation on deviating from gendered norms that ultimately contributes to a harsher, more rigid view of gender instead of a more nuanced one.

Kazui suffers from this the most.

As he failed at traditional masculine responsibilities by failing to maintain his marriage in the eyes of viewers. This failing was scrutinized heavily during trial two possibly because it fit neatly into failed man stereotype that most cultures adhere to.

In many people eyes the worst sort of man is one who tricks women or others into wasting their time on them with no intention of ever being fully committed.

The half in half out sort.

Something that may have conjured for many the image of the failed husband or absentee father. Even though there were no children involved in the scenario at all,

Q.08 If you could have one of the other prisoners as your family, who would you pick?

Kazui: Maybe Amane. Having children was the furthest thing imaginable in our family.

Still this construct of the failed man ultimately ended up making his verdict a real back and forth,

In fact his verdict was one of the only ones to remain closest to his first trial one,

Only falling beneath it by a negligible percent honestly.

I feel this is because of not only what we just discussed in regards to parenting above- But because yes there is certain type a man that people widely detest regardless of culture. Those are men who fail to live up to the responsibilities ascribed to their gender for any applicable reason.

Something Milgram has never shied away from,

Q.06 What would you say is the difference between adults and children?

Kazui: Responsibility. Adults can’t just do whatever they want.

Q.19 Are you happy with your gender?

Futa: Well, relatively speaking. There’s a kind of expectation that if you’re a man you have to work though, which is a pain.

Q.02 Do you think you were loved?

Kazui: Yeah, I was loved. I wasn’t able to make it work, though.

Q.02 Have you ever thought about changing jobs?

Mikoto: Never. I worked hard and managed to be employed in such a big company, so even if it's stressful I want to do my best, and one day it'll all pay off.

Q.09 What was the cause your parents' divorce?

Mikoto: He chose work over family. But well, at least that's what my mom told me, so who knows!

Q.15 What do you think of Marriage?

Kazui: A big benefit is the credibility you get in society I also thought maybe it would make something change for me.

Q.03 Do you have a desire to get married?

Mikoto: Yup. But that’s a story for after I’ve accumulated a good enough track record and go independent though.

This is why Shidou has such a favorable image when it comes to this. Because he is the successful man.

The man who did his best to balance work and family,

The man who did not fail due to personal error but because of an unpreventable tragedy. A man who was portrayed as kind soft and loving at home but committed and dutiful when it came to his profession.

This plays a great role in the parental attributes projected onto his characterization by fans. As well as the way fans of other male prisoners have mirrored this projection of traits onto their favorites in hopes of endearing them to the broader audience in the same way Shidou has been. It doesn't matter if the characters mindsets and stated priorities align with these parental features.

All that matters is their better than the conventional bad parent.

23/09/02 (Yuno’s Birthday)

So that they have a warmer and more approachable air. Something that's immensely difficult to do with a character such as Kazui. Since he is a more inward person. His conversational skills are curt and lack warmth. He's a very traditional older man and does nothing to hide that.

Going as far as to highlight his own age from the jump and consistently do so,

Kazui: I heard you’ve been helping Shidou-kun out. ……er, sorry if this comes across as rude, but it’s kind of unexpected. It always seemed like you didn’t care that much about other people.

Yuno: Hmm? What’s with that all of a sudden. I mean, you’re right, I don’t care much. But if there’s someone dying in front of you anyone would do what they could to help, right? And anyway, aren’t you the same? You usually don’t care much either, right?

Kazui: ……I wonder. This old man isn’t as much of a thinker as you are. I mean, until now I’ve been in an environment where it’s all about having physical strength. So I’ve never really thought about stuff like that.

Yuno: Haha, we’re the same in that we’re both liars too. I guess the difference is the reasons we lie. You care about yourself, so lie to protect yourself. I don’t care about anyone at all, including myself.

It isn't as difficult to project that softer caretaking role onto Mikoto or Futa. Since Mikoto is an older brother himself and many people can use his relationship to his sibling and his mothers single parent status to project maternal traits upon him. While Futa makes it clear that his focus within Milgram is looking out for those younger than himself which allows for that same protective and paternal nature to be applied.

Yet with Kazui while not impossible it's quite difficult to project that same parental affection and consideration onto him.

Because even if he's stated he wants kids in various ways,

20/06/30

Mu: ……yeah, that’s right, since I went to an all-girls school.

I’m not really used to being around adult men…… other than Papa.

Kazui: I see…… I get why a big guy like me could be scary for you, then. Hm? Ah…… Kusunoki-chan. Sorry for asking out of the blue, but how old is your father?

Mu: Eh……? Um…… I think he’s 41……

Kazui: ……it wouldn’t be strange for me to have a kid around your age then, huh. I’m getting old. Well, nothing to be gained by thinking about it……

24/06/27 (Amane’s Birthday)

Kazui: We never really thought about having kids in my family.

So because of that, it’s a bit dazzling having you here. I am still worried about you though, despite everything. If things were different, it wouldn’t be that weird for me to have my own kid about your age.

Amane: ……not having children is just a different way one can choose to live. Bringing new life into the world is something to be respected, but it isn’t a guarantee or measure of happiness. If this is the choice you made based on your own environment and responsibilities, then you can feel pride in your choice.

Kazui: Ah, I guess so. I mean, hypothetically, even if I did want kids. Children can easily be influenced by the way their parents raise them. I understand that first-hand.

And I know I can’t take on that responsibility.

Yeah. Well, if there’s anything this old man can say to the next generation. I think you should do what you like. Do things the way you want to. Whether you’re a child or not, it doesn’t matter. Don’t lie to your own true feelings.

Amane: Who do you think you’re lecturing…… I don’t need you to tell me that. I’m faithful to my own feelings.

Q.08 If you could have one of the other prisoners as your family, who would you pick?

Kazui: Maybe Amane. Having children was the furthest thing imaginable in our family.

He has also stated that he would be a bad father. That he is not ready for the sort of responsibility that entails. Unlike with Futa, Shidou, and Mikoto; I think the inability to frame Kazui in this way ultimately hinders his ability to be fully endeared to the wider audience.

Unlike his male peers, who are easier to project these attributes on. Something that allows them to seem more approachable, considerate, and caring which allows the audience to humanize them more easily. In contrast to Kazui who's characterization implies a level of separation between himself and the audience. Only further cemented by his fixation on and repetition of his age which serves to display the gap in experiences between him and others in the environment he finds himself in now.

[the-lonely-crow]

Celia Ripley Thoughts

ok these are some observations/theories/headcanons i have about Ms. Ripley and seeing as things have started to get Crazy on podcast i figured this was a good time to write them all down in a semi organized and coherent collection.

From her first appearance i was struck by the fact that her personality is vastly different than either Lynne Hammond or Archives!Celia. At first i thought this was because she was the Celia from the Protocol universe but as Things have happened I’m thinking actually her super perky friendly personality is not really genuine.

She knows far more than she’s letting on and has no interest in telling anyone, even Sam. She actually seems like she’s trying to keep information from Sam or at least control what information he gets and when.

In the meeting with Gerry Celia kept distracting Gerry from the questions Sam was trying to ask. She interrupted Sam twice just as he was about to ask a question to ask about first his house and then the painting. Ill get more into this in a second when i talk about my theory as to what is going on with her but mostly she just seemed excited to have met Gerry Keay and to have gotten a painting out of it.

Celia recognized Jon’s voice the first time she heard Chester read a case but just now decided to mention Jon and Martin to Sam. This goes back into me thinking that she seems to be wanting to keep information from Sam.

I think Sam really likes Celia but I don’t think Celia’s feelings are nearly as genuine for him. It is possible that I’m biased but all of her flirty interactions with him have felt stilted and a bit fake in the same way that her general bubbly personality does. Personally i think she is trying to get as much information from him before she shows any of her own cards.

I saw someone else mention this as well but Celia seems to be like the audience insert for people listening to Protocol who also listened to TMA. Not just with the information she knows but with how excited she was to meet Gerry.

Couple of theories:

I think that if you travel to at least the Protocol universe you have to kill your counterpart if you want to remain stable in the new universe. Conservation of mass and all that. We see that with Darrien he’s bene fine and taken over the other Darriens life with most people none the wiser. I think Celia didn’t kill her counterpart and that’s why she keeps getting teleported in front of cars and trains and things. We know from Anya Villette’s statement that when you travel to the Archives universe you sort of merge with your counterpart (her friends still recognized her and its not mentioned that there were two of her but her friends were “distant”) so i think the kill your double thing is specific to the Protocol universe. It’s possible that this is why she couldn’t take Jack with her if she went back because he wouldn’t have a counterpart to merge with. He just fully doesn’t exist in the other world.

I think Celia intentionally dimension hopped as a favor (as much as someone does favors for their former cult leaders) to Georgie and Melanie. This is gonna touch on my general theory for what the Archives universe looked like post 200 that i wont explain further here for sake of time. Suffice to say i think it was Bad for pretty much everyone even after everything went back to “normal”. I think the hilltop road rift was still active after everything but Georgie Melanie and Basira were too busy trying to help out as the only three people alive who didn’t just spend several months in their worst nightmares to do anything about it. This is when i think Celia, as someone with no memories of any friends or family to reconnect with, volunteered to go see what was on the other side of the rift. Before she left i think Melanie and Basira (and Georgie to a lesser extent) gave her all the information they could on the supernatural including their history with the archives and important people that might be able to help (people like Gerry Keay). I think they told her mostly to gather information and maybe look for jon and martin if she could and come back. Having jack obviously would have complicated that but i do think that’s why she’s knows this universe’s Georgie.

I think one of two things probably happened to lead her to apply at the OIAR. Either 1) she was doing her own research and got to a point where a random unconnected civilian gets to the end of their resources so went to find a place where she could have more access to information or 2) after getting to the new universe she settled down and got comfortable. Like i said I don’t think things were good in the Archives universe, I’m sure a whole new world probably would have felt like a fresh start. She had a fling, had jack, had a normal job. And then ran into something that forced her to get involved again.

Anyway am very excited to see where they go with her i think she’s neat :]

[sovonight]

since it's come up a couple times, i thought i'd just make a post about it! here we go:

i keep seeing you talk about this xan guy, but who is he?

xan is a potential companion in baldur's gate, the first game in the baldur's gate series. in the vanilla game, he has basic voice lines that play in reaction to commands, other companions, and the locations you're in. in fact, all of his voice lines can be viewed in the "quotes" section on the wiki; that's the extent of the content he has.

wait, i thought he was a full-fledged companion with friendship and romance paths? also, isn't he in baldur's gate 2?

he is, but only with the use of mods!

BG1NPC adds xan's banter, commentary, and romance path to bg1 (alongside a lot of other things, take a look at the readme!)

Xan's friendship path adds xan's friendship path to bg1

Xan BG2 NPC adds xan to bg2, as well as 2 romance paths, a friendship path, and a new soundset

Alternate Xan Soundset for BG2 restores xan's bg1 soundset to him in bg2, because nothing beats the original

if you want to romance him, make sure to play as an elf, unless you're ready for a bit of heartbreak ;( non-elves can romance him for a bit in bg1, but at one point you'll be forced to break it off.

i'm interested in playing the series, but where should i start?

i've broken it down here!

do you have any other mod recs?

i still play with the original (non-ee) games, so a lot of my mods are just widescreen fixes & bug fixes that are already covered in the ee games. but one list i have on hand is glittergear's bg2 mod recs!

why don't you like xan in bg2?

spoilers ahead, but:

i don't agree with his characterization and the execution of his romance paths as a whole

his bonded bg2 romance is worse than his bg1 romance, and intimacy with him almost always involves sex now, when it didn't before

he's been made ridiculously old

he's out of character, and many of his reactions are just odd

i don't agree with his death, and here's more paragraphs why

bonded xan is too ready to serve goddess!charname, when based on past behavior i'd think he would have a firm stance against it

his player-initiated dialogue options are poorly thought out

he was altered to have proficiency in darts instead of slings. darts fucking suck, why would you do this to him

his behavior would hurt radri, a lot

the list goes on

why are you still drawing/writing about him in bg2, then?

i love xan and radri together, i can't just write him out of bg2

😔 i can fix him 😔

but you think xan in bg1 is perfect, right?

not totally, i've always felt like his romance was biased in favor of one personality type

he is SO ace-coded to me, but his author clearly had a different vision for him

there's more, but they're all minor nitpicks compared to my complaints about him in bg2

you've complained a lot about him, so what do you even like about xan??

he's just so ridiculous, in the best ways

he can be snippy and dramatic, but also so kind

i love his romance in bg1

i enjoy his habit of carrying charname for romantic gestures, even though radri is like 200 lbs with light armor, and he's, what, 130 lbs sopping wet? i know, he was probably written with an elven waif of a charname in mind, but it's almost sweeter to think of him going out of his way to make it happen

you keep mentioning radri, but who is she?

my gorion's ward, my bhaalspawn, my charname, my beloved protagonist

she's like the kicked puppy to xan's pathetic kitten

here's an introduction, but honestly, it's easier just to read about them

why do you like the series, but not baldur's gate 3?

baldur's gate 3 has next to nothing to do with the series and should've been named something else

i was disappointed by it when i did play it

there's a sexual overtone over the entirety of the game

i'm tired of romances that put sex first

it's impossible for me to relax and enjoy the game

again, it's a really horny game

i'm just way too ace for it

bg3 overtakes all search results when trying to search for information on bg1 (which, being titled baldur's gate, doesn't get the benefit of a number to set it apart from the other games). sure, filters exist, but that doesn't change the fact that an era of easy information retrieval is over

what do you think about the references to xan in baldur's gate 3?

i want to die

i would rather kill xan myself than let bg3 touch him

it's a small mercy that he wasn't cursed with an actual cameo

[nalyra-dreaming]

I apologize in advance because this is about the unreliable narrative topic, but I did have a question/thought and I hadn't really seen it quite discussed in this way, but it is very possible that I missed it.

At this point, we have multiple confirmations that Louis is unreliable, that S1 will be viewed differently after S2, and that at its core Louis' memory is the way it is right now to try and protect him in some way. These are just facts. The only real speculation left is what he is unreliable about. So, if it isn't about whether Lestat deserved the events of ep 7, what could his unreliable memories actually be about? Even trying to play devil's advocate to be fully prepared for S2, I can't really think of anything that would logically fit.

There is a big difference between Louis being a little biased in his own favor or not having Lestat's perspective (and there are many examples of this sort of "unreliableness" from Louis in S1) and Louis' memories being wrong to the point that he knows they are wrong and he is seeking help to discover the truth. That being a major plot point has to be something big in the narrative. It can't just be if it was raining.

The biggest issue to me really does come down to if Lestat deserved what happened to him. If the S1 narrative remains exactly the same then I do think he deserved it and whatever other suffering he has to go through on his way to the redemption arc they would have planned for him. However, if that core remains the same, what horrible truth does Louis need to be protected from then? We know ep 5 and 7 have specifically been named for the revisits. I guess Louis might need to be protected from the truth that he didn't kill Lestat himself, but then why the need to revisit ep 5 at all? I have seen the idea that Louis is actually in denial about just how abusive Lestat was, but that doesn't make logical sense to me for a variety of reasons both already in the text (like the changes from the first interview) and the way they are currently promoting the show. Would Louis just need to be protected from the truth of not doing everything he could to stop Lestat and protect Claudia, as in he didn't really help directly in ep 7 and he feels guilty about it? Again, that doesn't change how viewers see S1 overall; it would just change the ending, and it doesn't make sense with a lot of other elements. It also doesn't really fit Jacob Anderson's recent discussion of the books and show either.

This all comes with the disclaimer that I don't believe Lestat will be retconned into the perfect husband or theirs a perfect marriage or that the actual mutual fight in ep 5 didn't happen at all. It is really the difference between what events deserve or even require Lestat's murder and what events mean that Louis and Lestat really needed vampire marriage counseling for lack of a better way to put it.

To return to my main question, what could Louis be unreliable about to the extent he needs protection from the truth if it isn't about why Lestat "died" and by extension Claudia and her true nature. I want to be prepared, but I can't really think of anything else that fits all of the evidence and fits with the books and what has been said about the books by those making the show.

I hope my thoughts make sense. I just really wanted to discuss this, and your analysis is always so thoughtful to me.

Hey! (sorry this took a moment)

Okay, so first off - Louis being unreliable is a mixture of a few things.

First, there's memory. It's a "monster", and that is what the raining falls under, imho. Little details. Dates, too. All the dates are off on the show, the speech on the radio given twice, etc. Details. Even vampires do not have perfect memories.

Secondly, there's the things Louis is (maybe still) bitter about. Jacob called that Louis being a "bitter ex who presents their former partner as a monster", so that is still a factor as well. (This is the only part where actual "lying" may come into play, but all in all it's not that huge of a factor in this second interview, imho).

Thirdly there are parts Louis is (still) doing intentionally - like protecting Claudia's image. Painting her in a more favorable light, because he loves her. (Rather understandable!)

And lastly - there is the fact that his memory has been "tinkered" with (I'm not going to pull up all the quotes here, I think you know them by now^^, let me know if you need them.) THAT is the part Jacob referred to at the panel, with Louis trying to regain his true memories.

Now, given what we know already will be in s2, and given the further seasons and their content I also doubt that whatever retcon they'll do in ep5 will be to make Lestat worse.

Like, how could it be worse. Seriously. And where and how would you go to what's to come from there.

It would also contradict Rolin Jones' various statements, which I am also not going to pull up again here^^.

But no, Lestat will not be retconned into a perfect husband and father, lol. He made mistakes, and probably lots of them. There are reasons why Louis is a bitter ex.

So.

To (try to) answer your question:

I have talked about ep5, at length, let me know if you need the various posts and source, but in real quick, I think that part will be revisited to show that while the fight happened (and it did show this utter power discrepancy) it stopped upstairs. When Claudia looks into the mirror. That is a deliberate shot, with meaning. The drop will likely be something Armand planted, because it is eerily close to something he does to Lestat - and Lestat later does to him. The dragging outside... IF it happened then a hint in ep6 will play into it. Though if they reveal that already?! I'm not sure. But the discussion there with Claudia, and Lestat's words can easily also have been part of the actual fight. Or when it stopped.

Episode 5 and the aftermath serve to "prove" that Louis and Claudia needed to kill Lestat. And that is the crux of the matter, right there. Because while Lestat says in his own novel that he never blamed Claudia, and might have done something like that himself... (and I am aware that a lot of people see this as proof for what the show showed there) - in the book context he refers to damning her to darkness in such a small body, and making her so utterly reliant on them. Because he is aware of what he did to her through that fact alone.

Which brings us to episode 7 and the "kill". I think it will be Claudia who wielded the knife, and Louis standing by, as in the book. There were some bts photos of that shoot, with the twins, and Sam and Claudia, and somewhere there is a statement that Jacob had already left. It makes sense that they would have filmed that already.

Louis... is trying to protect Claudia (as he should). And Armand... is trying to protect Louis (by now), and influencing as he sees fit. Not everything, no, but of course his own experiences with Lestat (and we will get to see some of those in s2) have left their own marks.

Armand literally thought Louis would snap out of his grief over Claudia’s death. He says he protects Louis from himself.

I think the tinkering is an attempt to try and free Louis of that grief. And his longing. Parts selfishly to keep Louis ro himself, parts in a desperate attempt to help Louis.

Armand cut the pages of the diary, imho. The ripped out ones may yet come into play for the trial. And, given the Merrick revelations of those pages… those pages might very well be what will bring in the retcons. Because Claudia’s diary in Merrick brought huge revelations.

I concur with you there that the things Louis needs protection from are likely things that pertain to Lestat and Claudia.

The shifts will reveal imho that Louis did not want to kill Lestat (we already know that, imho), and that not everything was as dire as told. And that Claudia was not as pure as Louis wants to remember her as. Which is in line with the books.

Anything else will be details.

Armand in Dubai is trying to keep Louis from suicide. Because Louis knows that things are not adding up, he’s not stupid. And Armand (rightfully) fears the (repeated) impact of the truth. A truth he is not exactly uninvolved in either.

So to close this - actually it boils down to what you already said^^. There will be details maybe. But the main parts will be the already mentioned parts. The rest… will click into place in further seasons.

[beevean]

Today I feel much more charitable, so I decide to bring a more neutral comparison than usual.

I see a parallel between N!Hector trapping Lenore in a cage, ready to let N!Isaac kill him but pleading him to spare her, which means condemning her to a fate of being the only survivor of the fall of the castle and the death of its Lady and the knowledge that she failed and everything she worked for was completely pointless and her sisters were right in thinking she was just a stupid girl...

... and Hector sparing Isaac in their fight while crawling away to die alone, forcing Isaac to witness the ruins of the castle and realize he has lost his home, his Lord, his powers and his friend, tormented by the knowledge that he failed and he disappointed his Lord once more and he will never be able to rise from Hector's shadow.

It's an interesting scenario. Cruel mercy to the highest order, at the expense of one's own life, made worthless.

Of course, Hector's decision to spare Isaac is much more interesting to think about, because it's never explained nor hinted why he did it, and we can only rely on context and subtext. Isaac, being Isaac, sees it in the worst way: "Is this the arrogance of the superior one?" He thinks Hector, the favored General, wanted to rub his victory in his face. "My body is the proof of Your expectations for him." He fears Dracula's disappointment that, once again, he wasn't able to match Hector: his inferiority complex is gnawing at him. "Had you cut off my head, I wouldn't have to see this!" It's obvious that Isaac would have killed himself first thing if the thought of getting revenge didn't give him the strength to live on; he sees being forced to live as being forced to feel pain and humiliation, and this is why he decides to make Hector suffer as much as he can.

But these are only Isaac's thoughts, and he's obviously biased: did Hector really want to humiliate his former friend, is he truly that spiteful? Or perhaps he lacked the courage to finish him off, moved by a misplaced sense of mercy? Did he think he'd die on his own, and he didn't want Isaac's blood on his hands? Or did he simply not care, because his priority was getting away as fast as possible and damned all the consequences?

And why does Hector want to die? Didn't he get what he wanted, freedom from Dracula, the freedom to live as a human being? Was the guilt of killing so many innocents so heavy, that he didn't have the strength to live on in the world of humans that already rejected him when he was still sinless? Or perhaps it was the guilt of nearly killing his former friend, the only person who could remotely understand him? Was it only a matter of pride, dying as far away from Dracula as possible, choosing death as a free man rather than a cushy life as a weapon?

We have no answers, and we don't need them, because we can put the pieces together by ourselves. My personal interpretation is that yes, in some part, Hector cared about Isaac: their relationship was strained and they were already diverging in personalities and morals, but we still see Hector seeking empathy from Isaac when he brings back the severed hands ("You're human too, aren't you?"). When Isaac intercepts him, he expresses his anger against the humans who have chased them away, something Hector can still relate to despite his choice to throw it all away. And despite wanting to kill him, Isaac was noble enough to bring Hector a sword, so that they could fight fairly: he, too, cares to an extent, even if he's eager to punish the traitor. All of this considered, I can imagine that Hector didn't have it in him to give him the coup de graçe. Dracula's most efficient, coldest General still has a hint of softness in him. Which means that yes, he chose to let himself die out of guilt both for his sins and for Isaac, having at least achieved the symbolic freedom to die as a man. But if someone wants to see it as Hector not even caring enough about Isaac's fate, only selfishly concerned with himself, maybe even as a final show of how much stronger he is so he better not be underestimated, it's not impossible.

With N!Hector it's all much more straightfoward. He likes Lenore: if his previous sarcasm and the snappy way he reminded her of the way she "solved his problem" could have hinted at simmering resentment, this act shows that there's no spite in his heart. He has fully forgiven her for her betrayal, and doesn't consider her Carmilla's accomplice after the talk they had previously; charitably, he could see her choice to check on him rather than Carmilla as proof that she has switched alliances, or maybe he empathizes with her as both of them felt lied to by their Lord/Lady. This is not payback to him, shown by the fact that after Carmilla kills herself, he admits he only wants Lenore in his life, because he has nothing else. If Hector fully freed himself of Dracula's and Isaac's influence, rejecting his power, the safety of his castle and position for the sake of his principles, N!Hector's decision to stay in the castle and with Lenore of his own free will, even after severing the bond that forced him with her, sends the clearest message: "I love you despite everything".

(and I'm not even considering that the sin N!Hector was ready to be executed for was betraying Dracula, long after he should have understood that it was not a mistake - although I can be even more generous and think that after all the torture he went through, after he was made to feel like a failure of a human being good only to be kicked around, no wonder he'd lose his will to live)

I would like to draw a parallel between his actions here and the fact that ever since he was a child, N!Hector forced dead animals to live on so that they could keep him company, a childish definition of love that fits well in vampire society. On one hand, it would make sense and greatly combine kindness and selfishness which is the main reason I find N!Hector compelling; on the other, it would be yet another proof that all this time, he didn't grow up - until Lenore decides to kill herself, and then he finally realizes he can't force people to stay with him. Problem is, since he was fully convinced N!Isaac would kill him, this is a moot point: he didn't care about Lenore's company until he was made to live. It was fully for her sake.

The other parallel I could draw is that this is more or less what Lenore had done to him. Lenore in S3 wanted to keep N!Hector safe from her sisters, who didn't see the point in keeping him and were ready to replace him with mercenaries. Her way to make him needed was to force him into the position of her pet, and by doing so, he lied to him, betrayed him, raped him by deception (the story forgets about her intention of repeating the experience for the sake of making her redeemable), and forced a cursed ring on him that would bring him pain if he thought of running away or rebelling. And sure, N!Hector got a good deal in that he was allowed freedom of the castle and nice quarters, but he was obviously devastated that he was trapped and made into a tool by the woman he trusted. Likewise, N!Hector forced Lenore into a cage and spared her life, but he did so by going behind her back and aiding the man who killed Carmilla and conquered the castle. If Lenore, in theory, held no malice, N!Hector didn't either. However, needless to say, karmic punishment was the furthest thing from his mind for all the reasons I said above; and besides, the final teaching was "revenge is for children and it's time to grow up", so this is more of a narrative parallel than a character parallel. i suppose i have other reasons for reminding everyone of what lenore did :)

The only conclusion that can be drawn is simply that N!Hector thought Lenore, and only her, was too good to deserve death, and didn't consider the emotional toll that letting her live would cause her until she sunned herself and he had to let her go, the only character development he has. I would have loved if he had shown more resentment and confusion towards her for the bipolar way she has treated him, to make the choice more poignantly ambiguous and less... well, what I always complain about.

Nevertheless, this brand of accidentally cruel mercy is an inherently cool concept. It's just that, like many good ideas in NFCV, the game series did it better.

[tarnishedinquirer]

Case: Fort Haight

While traveling I came upon a particularly large ruin arch, bridging the gap between a cliff and a nearby hill.

As I approached, I heard someone calling out for help. Something told me that it wasn't the Demi-humans lurking below the arch. Instead, it was a pompous ass named Kenneth Haight. He looked at me like you'd look at something stuck on your shoe and couldn't even hide the contempt in his voice. Seemed disgusted that a mere Tarnished had been the one to rescue him.

He claimed to be the next in line to Limgrave, but I'll believe that when I see his pedigree. When he asked me to reclaim his fort for him, I was about to tell him to stuff it until he mentioned who had taken the castle from him.

"A knight commander from Stormveil took it. A fool, and plumb mad to boot! Simply obsessed with blood!"

That got my attention. Blood, huh? Another trace of this mysterious "blood lord"? Well, couldn't turn that down. His promised reward was as lavish as it was vague, but information is its own reward.

Speaking of which, he offered a wealth of information about Godrick. Granted, it was in the form of an unrelenting string of invectives, but it was nonetheless very informative. Doubts of Godrick's legitimacy, shameful defeats, dishonorable behavior... Granted, the source is a little biased, but I've seen nothing to contradict him either.

Had a detour on my way there involving a wolf, but I'll talk about that in a different entry.

Eventually I found my way out of the woods, but before I could assault the castle, I found myself with an army already at my back. Normally I'm better at detecting ambushes, but visibility is limited in the woods, so I rode right past a tribe of demi-humans.

They didn't really stand a chance, and after I took care of them, a nearby ghost gave me a little context. He said that the Demi-humans mother had been taken by the knight "bedeviled by blood." He implored Lord Kenneth to return, but I think his faith was a little misplaced.

So the demi-humans are attacking the castle to rescue their mother? I guess it's too much to hope for cooperation, but they could still serve as a distraction. I waited until the next wave charged up the hill and past the barricades, then looped around the back of the castle with Torrent.

Found some unusual flowers growing around the castle. Voice called the "Bloodrose" and it was easy to see why. They were slick with blood, seemed to be oozing out of their petals. It said they grow in festering blood. Cessblood, perhaps?

The voice said it was beloved by those who favored the Lord of Blood and added, "glory to his inevitable reign!"

It rarely editorializes to that extent. Was it on his side?

The demihumans did a good job distracting the the soldiers. The only one really standing in my way was a Pumpkinhead, and as tough as they can be, they don't do well against a wolf pack.

The courtyard was dominated by the massive corpse of the demi-human mother, but I didn't have much time to appreciate it before I was set upon by giant rats, presumably here for the feast. Long-necks (the first I'd seen alive) started throwing firebombs at me from above, so I had no choice but to press on.

The keep's master seemed to be your basic Godrick Knight, but as soon as he saw me, he swung his sword with an arc of blood, similar to Bloody Finger Nerijus. He was tougher than your average knight as well, but in the end, he was still just as predictable as his erstwhile brethren. He couldn't keep track of the glintblades when they were behind him.

I collected my spoils, including an ash of war for his bloody slash ability, and a Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook detailing recipes for Bloodrose. At the very top of the lookout tower, I found half a medallion depicting a masked figure.

The voice told me I could find its twin to the east, and that with the two I could get to the Altus Plateau, wherever that is. I've been east, and I don't plan to go back there anytime soon. If I gotta go to Altus, I'll probably find another way.

Task complete, I returned to Ken for my lavish reward.

A dagger. How generous.

All the voice had to say is that it was made from Erdsteel, had a grass crest engraving, and that it was a noble's self-defense weapon, all stuff I could have deduced on my own. Sensing my disappointment, he also offered to knight me into his service, all I had to do was visit him at the fort once he pacified the Demi-humans.

I'll go back and check on him later. Not because I want to be a knight to such a pompous ass, but because I want to see him squirm once he truly runs out of excuses.

Mystery: This case ties into the larger "Lord of Blood" mystery. Either Godrick was unaware of the usurpation at Fort Haight, or he supported it. If he supported it, then he must be allied to the Lord of Blood, and must have gotten something out of the arrangement. And somehow, killing the Demi-human Mother was part of the Lord of Blood's plans. I don't see the big picture here. There's nothing connecting the Lord of Blood followers I've met so far.

How does the blood knight connect to Nerijus?

Why did he kill the demi-human queen? Because blood touched by grace would not fester, and would not sprout Bloodroses.

Does Godrick know? If so, did he get anything out of it?

Is Kenneth Haight's claim legitimate? No.

Who can take the throne of Stormveil?

Post-script: I returned later to the castle. The Demi-humans had reoccupied it were none too pleased to see me, but still took orders from Kenneth Haight. So at least that part was true. Beyond that, he sounded utterly crushed. Gone was his haughty demeanor. He didn't seem pleased to see me either, but confessed that he didn't have the authority to grant me a title. He even admitted that he was not of the proper lineage and could not take the throne of Stormveil.

I'll give the guy some minor credit. He vowed to find someone who could take that throne. I'll keep a lookout, but it's a moot point until I unseat Godrick.

Additionally, during my adventures I recovered some beast blood. The voice informed me that blood with the gold flecks of grace would never rot or fester, which reminded me of how Kenneth Haight referred to the Demi-humans as outside the light of Grace. If Bloodroses grow from festering blood, then the blood of normal beasts and men could not be used. Only the blood of those who reject or are rejected by grace could sprout Bloodroses. A Demi-human queen would be a strong source of such blood.

[anawkwardlady]

OK, a take that crossed my mind: can we discuss how Ryukishi loves his characters so much that he's ready to forgive even the worst of them? EVEN KINZO???

First, there is no debate that he writes with love.

Also, he writes about violence, from the point of view about both the perpetrator and the victim, and without judgement. Which is amazing! He shows how violence is devastating for the victim, but he also shows how the complex mindset of the people that are to commit such acts, related to isolation and trauma.

He shows that it's possible to break the generational cycle of violence, with communication (to de-isolate) and love.

And I love how violence is not shown as a moral failure, but as a product of past violence, and as prepetrator are not depicted as monsters but as humans.

But Kinzo, seriously? Do I need to explain what he inflicted on Kuwadorian Beatrice? And his children? And the lessons I should get from Chiru is "Battler looks like Kinzo, he should be proud of it" and "Ange should remember Kinzo as a kind grandfather". HE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE FORGIVENESS, EXCEPT SOBBING AT THE FEET OF THE MOST TRAUMATIZED CHARACTER OF THE SERIES.

And finally, my hot take: the only characters who are not forgiven are Teppei Hōjō and Rina Mamiya, because unlike Kinzo, Ryukishi does not love them.

I get the point but I think it's more complicated. it's not so much a "we're forgiving Kinzo" narrative and more a "a lot of characters are trying to cope and deal with the complex feelings they're dealing with" thing.

For exemple, I don't think Chiru's message is that Battler should be proud of being like Kinzo but a mix of trying to convey what Kinzo's and Kuwadorian Beatrice dynamic was like through BATTLER and chick Beato, Sayo's complex feelings towards Kinzo's and her circumstances of birth, Tohya understanding Sayo's feelings and coping with his own situation and what Battler represented to her and Battler wanting Ange to be happy. Battler's message in EP8 was not so much to remember Kinzo as someone's kind I think, but that everything Ange experienced was the worst of everyone and therefore her view was distorted and bringing a lot of pain to her. He wants her to also remember to cherish the good they had because he wants her to be happy. He is her brother so his view is biased in favor of protecting her.

All of this will make things more gray and blur the lines because it inherently will bring some sort of romanticism. I do think theres discussion to have on to which extent it does become enabling and so on but yeah, I think it's a also more nuanced than Ryukishi telling us that Kinzo was not that bad. It's tricky! I had the same complex thoughts about the whole Ange taking some "responsibility" on Eva's abuse thing. On one hand, it's her view and way to cope with it and theres not one acceptable way a victim should react and grow, on the other hand... Yeah I left meh about the message sometimes.

And for your last part : wasn't Teppei somehow "forgiven" by the narrative in GouSotsu? (i didn't watched it all so idk) also I have to admit I always was a bit annoyed that Rena's dad wasn't seen in that same light just because he wasn't overtly physically abusive despite being extremely abusive nonetheless but thats another subject. ANYWAY

[hrodvitnon]

Idea I had about the Iwi and their Guardian Titan.

A lot of people favor bringing Phosphora back as it makes more sense for the lore for it to not be Mothra- and I do kinda agree with that to an extent.

But… what about Battra? There's been talk of him being in Abraxasverse, but I feel he could actually be hugely important for some later events (Xenilla). Him being the Iwi's patron Titan makes a lot of sense as he may see them as the purist form of humanity- one that lives in harmony with nature instead of- what the rest of humanity does. He could've entrusted them the gift of the summoning ritual for whenever things got bad on their end or for when they believed The Planet needed protection.

Additionally- I'm an advocate for Battra as a major player in Abraxasverse. Especially as a Mothra foil as that could be a really cool exploration of both her and him as characters. Think of Mothra as an Oath of Ancients Paladin while Battra rocks the Oath of Vengeance against the Planet's enemies with extreme prejudice.

Also, and excuse me for getting Final Fantasy brained here, I think it's really a cool concept that Battra is associated with Black and Mothra is associated with White, and they're each the Planet's greatest assets (cough Black and White materia cough). Imagine if Mothra's healing and restorative prowess was inverted into destructive prowess.

Also- I personally think that Battra could have more authority then even Godzilla, Shimo, or Ozzy. Hear me out on this one: The Planet usually entrusts the job of keeping balance to Goji, Mothra, and the others. They do a good job a lot of the time- but sometimes even they're prone to getting biases about certain things (seeing potential in humanity even though they're a threat to the natural world, not wanting to kill Xenilla because they believe Ozzy can still be saved). Battra would not think like this. His loyalty to the planet would be absolute at all times and he'd only make his presence known when there's a world-ending threat that he suspects Mothra would need help with- or whenever he feels the need to remind the others of their jobs. I reckon this would lead to Battra having a very dynamic relationship with both the Iwi and the Titans. He'd be a portent, in many ways, a sign that the Planet is suffering or under threat- but he'd also be a sign of strength, of action; that the Planet is to go war with her enemies and she needs her Vanguard. If Mothra's the planet's All-Mother of Peace- he's the All-Father and God of War.

For this reason, I'd like to contextualize him as being the Titan's version of Admiral Stenz, or something similar. The Commander-in Chief of the Titans who only shows up when there's a bitter war to win. He'd wield the same amount of power as the King and Queen- essentially their Lord Commander who doesn't answer to them, but the only authority higher then them- the Planet Herself. Another idea I find really interesting- he could also exercise a form of executive power to make himself King, should shit get really out of hand. Essentially instituting a form of Martial Law amongst the Titans.

This would make his relationship to the Titans very complicated- especially with Mothra. She may see him as an older brother (especially if they grew up together, which I totally vibe with too) and hold love for him in that way. He may even reciprocate- but he has to put his duty above everything, and expect others to do the same. He may even see a disagreement between them as a betrayal- how could his beloved sister stand by while their home is decimated by the encroachment of the humans? How could any of the Titans? On one hand- Mothra's happy to see him whenever he drops by, but it's always 50/50 if he's here to help or get pissed at someone for not doing their job. Goji would feel a very similar way. Battra is an enormously helpful ally when he wants to be, but Goji's almost always the first person he yells at if shit's gone bad. He also can't really retaliate as Battra's basically his boss (or- his boss's messenger). I wanna stress that I don't see Battra as the Planet's mindless weapon- just someone fiercely loyal who tolerates nothing less then perfection when serving the Great Mother.

I've also seen people suggest that he may hold contempt for the synthetic Titans (Dagon, Abraxas, Biollante)- but I feel like he'd be a little more sympathetic to them, especially if they're making the best of their new lots in life in service to the Planet. He may be a little grossed out by them- but I feel he'd be infinitely angrier at the people who inflicted this torment on them. Like- he'd see Shin or Ladon once, hear about what happened with Apex, and then proceed to storm to Godzilla and Mothra and absolutely tear into them for not eviscerating every single Apex employee that draws breath for such a blatant affront to nature and act of cruelty. He'd be irate to hear that they think of themselves as parents to them if humanity got to go unpunished for this shit (read: They did not go unpunished- but in Battra's eyes anything less then millions of deaths in retaliation counts as unpunished).

Wow this turned into a big Battra HC ask- lol. Insert obligatory apology for ask box bombing. In conclusion: bat cool.

I do like this take on Battra! He provides an interesting foil to Mothra and isn't entirely wrong about the humans who actively mess around with the planet, he's just fiercely devoted to Earth; he hears "Apex employees who were just trying to do their jobs" and thinks "accomplice by inaction/apathy". I also like the idea that he doesn't immediately hate "unnatural" Titans and instead is like "you're strange, but your soul is as true as any."

(Ha, when the words Final Fantasy hit my eyes I thought "oh, like White Magic and Black Magic! Holy and Flare! ...oh yeah, materia. Close enough!")

[artbyblastweave]

Drop your Lois Lane hot takes

(also if you're not a Superman fan, what would you recommend starting off with?)

So MAWS Lois Lane very pointedly has some significant character flaws, generally justified by her backstory and often the opposite side of the conventional "positive" Lois Qualities that she exhibits. Trust issues stemming from her canon-typical dysfunction with her father, upstream of her whole truth-to-power thing. Self-esteem issues and a sense of inadequacy, upstream of her tenacity and singleminded pursuit of her goals. Downstream from her self-esteem issues you've got a sensitivity to perceived betrayal or the idea that people are only pretending to value her. Self-assurance and confidence... that manifests as bouts of myopic thinking or lack of consideration for others. There's a level on which I like this more than S:TAS- she was fun in that, but the purpose there wasn't to give her any kind of arc. She's much more dynamic in this, she has a palpable crisis, and it all combines into a perfect cocktail demonstrating why she reacts so very, very badly to being out of the loop on Superman. In her position it's not insane to assume that Clark expressed interest in her just to jerk her around and sabotage her investigation more thoroughly. But in practice... I (and those watching with me, who joined me in screaming at the TV a bunch during the last couple episodes) felt that the narrative was both-sidesing the dynamic a bit uncomfortably, because Clark has very good reason to not trust Lois specifically with sensitive information. Their first interaction involved her manipulating him for the sake of advancing her career. She's been screaming from the rooftops that she dislikes Superman, wants to expose Superman's secrets, and he was on the verge of coming clean with her before that came up. She functionally threatens to kill herself to force him to out himself, right after he got back from the government (and very likely her father specifically!) trying to assassinate him. Very little of this was coherently voiced when they're having it out, and as a result it felt like the narrative was much more sympathetic to Lois's stance than Clarks, treating his concealing the information as the root of the problem here. And when Jimmy brings up that he's known for years but understood that it was probably a deeply personal situation that Clark would bring up when he was comfortable- that's not a catalyst for introspection about whether Lois is entitled to the information, it isn't used as the point to push the idea that both parties have valid motivations here. It's mostly just the catalyst for another gag where now Jimmy is upset that Clark told Lois first (without. You know. the context.) I walked away thinking that Clark doesn't have a disproportionate amount to apologize for in this situation. Not nothing, but not the brunt. The reconciliation arc really breezed past the fact that she threw herself off a building to force the issue. Any relationship where throwing yourself off a building is a tool in the toolbox seems like it might be on shaky ground, communicatively!

The thing is, well, honestly there's a few things. I'm willing to accept off the bat that I might be lily-orcharding a perfectly unobjectionable creative decision to some extent, because by default I'm really biased in favor of anyone trying to keep deeply compromising information about their identities away from their loved ones for fear of their negative reaction, and that's coloring the intensity of my negative response. Another thing is that I think the show is kind of a victim of the megashort season runs of contemporary cartoons- I mean we'll be lucky if we get 30 episodes of this show total, every arc is gonna be at least somewhat pinched when you get 10 episodes and change per season. And a third, final thing is that the season isn't over yet, and they've left themselves with a great springboard from which to address my misgivings.

Clark leans into the idea that he's the one at fault, begs forgiveness, and so on, but that's actually in character for this version; given that one of his biggest drives is to be accepted, it makes sense that he'd do whatever he thought he had to get things smoothed out as quickly as possible, even if there's still a lot going unaddressed below the surface. And Episode 7 (6?) is basically entirely about how Lois's character flaws, scaled up and appended to power, can turn out really really bad. Kryptonite is introduced in this continuity by a bunch of alternate-universe Lois Lanes who try to kill Superman without giving him the benefit of the doubt- all while never expressly communicating to anyone that the root of their concern is how badly things went with their own Supermen. Lois meets an army of herself and immediately, correctly assumes that they aren't on the up-and-up, that they're holding something back. And the episode ends with her in possession of both a Superman-killing tool and information engineered to set off her well-established paranoid tendencies about Clark.

So if the show is being smart- and there's a very good chance that it is- the next leg is going to be about how for a superhero, just being open about your secret identity to your loved ones isn't necessarily going to be enough to defuse the underlying tensions and failures to communicate; the fact that they really speed-ran the reconciliation is going to turn out to be deliberate, a bandaid fix on the deeper problem, and a much worse reckoning is in the pipes once it becomes obvious that Task Force X is headed by her estranged father. (Which seems like the twist they're going for with that- they've never said the general's name out loud, so I think they're going for a fakeout where we all assume it's Wade Eiling but it turns out to actually be Sam Lane.) However. I've definitely watched a bunch of shows where I kept going "If the show is smart," "If the show is smart," and then the show wasn't smart, and it just turned out that the writers themselves hadn't chewed on the implications of what they were depicting as much as I had. I've got high hopes, though.

(tagging @st-just, @best-wizard, and @howlingguardian, who all also asked for the elaboration.)

[catlokis-blog]

Tell me about how Bubby also has NPD I want to hear your ramblings

alright!! there might be some moments of mischaracterization (i feel like that's not the right word but i'd be framing him differently than the intention yk?) because i haven't rewatched hlvrai for a hot second! but!! here is my bubby narcissist theory, brought to you by someone with the disorder

probably the most obvious one is that bubby is EXTREMELY self-centered and confident. to a nearly satirical degree. he's often described as "crass" or "egotistical" because he's constantly talking about himself, how good he is, & talks huge about himself because he made to be the ultimate lifeform, duhh.

but it's also been shown he has some STRONG self doubts in the extent of how "perfect" he really is in moments of weakness, it's especially highlighted during his betrayal arc (ill come back to this) once he's been brought into his tube again, but it's also even highlighted during small moments in the commentary when he would stop praising himself briefly to doubt "is my plan working?" before immediately switching back to "yess, yes, im the best"

he's also been shown to be a compulsive liar towards tommy a lot with his "classic pranks" which is a habit that can come in a lot of npd patients, usually as a form of self-preservation or some other defense mechanism. (benrey also has a similar symptom here, where his memory will rewrite events to be biased in his favor! but this isn't about him)

his short temper and somewhat bitter attitude can also be easily taken as a lack of empathy for those he doesn't consider "on his level", so to speak, noting strong disregard to anything gordon really has to worry about - this doesn't mean he doesn't have his moments, however, just that he shoves it to the side a lot

another thing about his temper - he's very destructive! narcissistic personality disorder comes hand-in-hand with destructive anger issues, usually targetted towards the thing that's causing them the most frustration, but it could also really be anything (such as the random scientists he decides to kill)

probably the thing that solidified it the most for me was the concept of the betrayal arc as a whole, though. his only reason for going with it because he was convinced that nothing was his fault - but it had to be someone's, because people with narcissistic personality disorder can really struggle to figure a "that's life" kind of thing. he immediately pointed the blame to gordon once he realized gordon had failed the experiment, and instead of benrey helping correct his misleading train of thought, he fed into it and led bubby to assist in getting gordon's arm chopped off

something that, may i add, bubby did not want to happen!

npd is often caused by trauma, which could easily be a result of his tube and being a case of study, but that's more of a theorizing part.

i think the main reason why i take all of this as a personality disorder headcanon and not a "he's just a little charmingly shitty" way is that even once he's redeemed these qualities never go away - and nobody seems to mind that. nobody is constantly telling him that he needs to "fix his attitude" - they just learn how to understand him :)

this is kind of thrown together very like... haphazardly i can't explain it all very well BUT that is my opinion!! bubby npd haver