#and yet. he compels me.

[christadeguchi]

the most rancid man alive

[that1notetaker]

Getting out of the comfort zone can be uncomfortable.

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 4 - Nuthin' but Boothill Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] [Pt. 5] [Pt. 6]

[franzias-cave]

Augustine the First was the closest thing you had ever experienced to human plex.

[earlgodwin]

"Both Oakes and Grainger have always done well when given the right material, and each has some terrifically frightening silent moments: an uncontrollable clenching of fists from Juan as he is exiled to Spain, a subtle grin from Lucrezia as she hears her brother's groans of pleasure shift to agony." — The A.V club

[thecruellestmonth]

"Jason does it to himself... a tragedy of his own making..."

Yes!

"...He is stubbornly depriving himself of good relationship with his dad and siblings! If only he'd behave at a minimally decent level, then he'd be embraced by his wonderful family. Alas, he has made himself all alone."

Nah, that's the opposite of correct. Could not get any more wrong.

Jason is a tragedy of his own making because he won't let his loved ones go. According to a decent amount of canon evidence and some common sense, he'd be a much healthier, more successful person if he didn't have this family.

Unfortunately, he keeps attempting to find a way to live with them. In varying ways and extents, Jason's loved ones have shown they can accept his death and move on, without his loss compromising their fundamental identity. Jason is the one who rips himself apart, burns himself, hides himself in costume after costume—all to transform himself into a monster too strong to be forced to unhook his claws from the people he loves.

You will pry his loved ones from his cold, dead hands. And after that, he'll come back for them anyway.

[waitineedaname]

tbh it is incredible how compelling bingge and shen jiu are considering they're characters who ceased to exist as soon as the novel began

[guujikaroko]

I went to read Ratio's messages again and:

He encourages Stelle to enroll on Veritas Prime, a.k.a his very own alma mater, for REALSIES. Not only that, but:

He's willing to personally recommend her. P e r s o n a l l y.

And that's kinda surprising, in a good way. Like, I know Ratio isn't a condescending prick that thinks himself above others (or, well... There's a lot more to him than the condescension, is what I mean to say), but he looked at Stelle and saw potential in her. Veritas Ratio, the man who'd rather wear a fucking plaster head in front of his students because he's allergic to dumbassery, looked at Stelle, our resident unhinged raccoon, and saw enough potential to personally encourage and oversee her pursuit of knowledge.

Look at this! He's genuinely interested in her worldview and her opinions! He doesn't consider a waste of time to discuss topics with her! He spent the entirety of this message batch simulating a debate with her and sharing knowledge on the subject!

Again, it's not like I thought Ratio was incapable of any of this, but I never imagined that he'd be like that with the Trailblazer either. It's surprising, but in a very pleasant way? Like, "wow, I wasn't expecting this dynamic to be so genuine but it is and I like it". Honestly, I'll never not be impressed by Ratio and his particular ways of showcasing kindness to others/seeking companionship. He's such a compelling character.

Oh, and this is my favorite message batch of his. He feels tired by the monotony of his projects and he decides to relax by... Humoring Stelle? He goes and says "Hey, think of something you want and I'll make up a project" and Stelle, huge dork that she is, goes "Make me a cool weapon!" and "Make the Express move forever!" and he just... Does it? Sends a project of transforming the Express into a mecha?? Says he wants to disassemble the Express to figure it out???

It feels like I'm rambling for nothing but this is truly disarming to me. It's easy to dismiss Stelle as a goofball (and she very much IS a goofball) but Ratio actually takes her seriously and seeks to nurture her progress. Beyond that, he honestly likes to entertain her ideas and thinks that hearing her out is a positive thing.

If I had to describe their relationship, I'd say it's all very cute, in a pure and wholesome way, and I cannot believe I'm using these words to describe Veritas freaking Ratio out of all characters. This gotta be a new kind of brainworm.

[skitskatdacat63]

Roleswap anyone??

Tell me Fernando wouldn't make a fantastic general/emperor, and that Napoleon wouldn't make a fanastic driver/tp!!

[brynnmclean]

saw a post questioning shipping Senua and Thórgestr and started to reblog it with a tag novel-- felt weird about doing that since this is lengthy and potentially derailing, so making my own post instead. Spitballing under the cut:

First off, any time someone is like, "the real reason people ship this is because they find the dude attractive," this is SO funny to me as someone who doesn't find men attractive IRL and has fiercely loved Senua since I played the first game, like-- actually I find the dynamic between those two characters to be compelling and interesting precisely because of all the baggage between them re: their backgrounds, the rough (put mildly!) beginning of their relationship, all the things they don't talk about, and them finding a common enemy/common ground to work with. The explicit parallels between them stated in-game scratched an itch in my brain. The minute they pointed out the dark rot on his arm, it was like, "oh! hello there! NOW I'm interested in whatever your whole deal is" for me. Also, idk man, I too would follow Senua around after she knocked me into the dirt and then showed me a way to fight the giants that I very much wanted to fight instead of appease.

The idea that Thórgestr was part of the Orkney Raid that killed and mutilated Dillion is VERY interesting food for thought, even if I don't personally have that headcanon (surely there are more viking raiding groups than just the Bjorg). I think the Furies or the Shadow said something similar about Fargrimr (his kin murdered yours, you shouldn't save him, etc.) so I completely get that line of thought, but I think the game left it ambiguous enough that it's up for interpretation. Would I read fic with that premise? Yeah, I'd check that out. Could Senua forgive Thorgestr if his people were involved? Sounds fun to explore.

If (ha, when?) I write fic, I'd have to think more about it especially wrt timelines, like when did the Bjorg start specifically raiding for slaves for giant food sacrifices vs. killing people for resources and wealth? How far off are we from the old gods "dying" and the volcano erupting? Was it indeed a different group of raiders who made a deal with Zynbel, attacked Senua's home, and made the sacrifice at that time to Hela?

At the very least, I think there's a time jump between the end of Hellblade I and the beginning of Hellblade II since Senua wasn't alone on that slave ship and at least one of the (brief) survivors knew her by name. I wouldn't mind exploring that gap of time, too.

In any case I do agree that it would take a VERY long time for Senua to consciously catch feelings for anyone let alone Thorgestr with all their collective baggage. The idea of them having a relationship beyond friendship in the far off future of an AU where he survives is the only one that can make sense in my brain, personally. It would take time! Time they didn't get in the game! But I think there are a lot of different roads that could take, and some of them might be healthier than others. Shipping them certainly isn't forgetting or excusing what happened to Dillion-- or even mutually exclusive from still shipping Senua and Dillion. Or, frankly, also shipping Senua and Astridr, because I can see that ship too.

One of the nice things about all the details Ninja Theory didn't expand upon and that they left that ending so open is that the sky's the limit. I'm VERY interested in seeing fandom tackle this game as we get farther from the initial release.

[itsafternoonpast5]

thinking about their friendship so hard

[drwafton]

Made fanart of you-

I'm sorry if this version of you I made you a God-

"I have to say this art is well done! I wouldn't exactly call myself a god though. Still I appreciate it."

[coldforestnight]

Guess what movie I watched for Father's Day btw.

[completeoveranalysis]

[10]

More of what I was saying just before - the peak contrast of Kyle’s actual dying blood falling through the air, while Evil Wolverine smiles confidently in his very best All According to Keikaku face.

The cleanliness of him, completely untouched by the absolutely devastating battle we’ve just survived, entirely unaffected by the blood of his closest ally literally right in front of his face. 

And the look of it all! This is like the big expensive fancy portrait to hang in the drawing room of a noble estate. It’s gorgeous in a way that Evil Wolverine does not deserve but the Clamp of it all is fantastic.

Like I’m sorry Evil Wolverine, you weren’t even close to winning the villain poll the other week, but at least you get maximum CLAMP art attention! 

I mean we know better than to actually listen to what Evil Wolverine says, ever, but kind of hilarious that Kyle dies in front of him and all Evil Wolverine can do is say, “Well, he wasn’t even good at that then, was he?”

Ignoring the fact that if the job is “body double” he quite literally performed that task perfectly. He DID take the hit intended to kill Evil Wolverine. No-one saw through the illusion. Not Lava Lamp, not Kurogane, not Fai. It genuinely worked. 

Kyle did exactly what he wanted and Evil Wolverine is out here saying no he didn’t.  

The sheer desperation of this man to always be right, to always be in control, when he can’t be, leading him to lie when things actually DO go exactly to plan. 

Unless he was expecting Kyle Rondary alone to hold off the Tsubasa Family?

I suppose if he was counting on Syaoran by himself being enough to take them all out - which, FAIR, he absolutely did. But EVEN THEN he made Kyle sit in the disguise chair, looking like him, to clean up anyone left over? JUST IN CASE it didn’t work? Which is a lot left to KYLE RONDART of all people. 

In which case Evil Wolverine is admitting that ONCE AGAIN his plans suck and fail and he can never get them to go right. 

And all over again it’s because people love each other that his plans die and he never accounts for that. 

And all he can do is blame Kyle Rondart instead, who was just supposed to sit there and not know what was coming for him.

Which... again, he did.

BUT WHY AM I DEFENDING KYLE RONDART OF ALL PEOPLE, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER NICK

Meanwhile Lava Lamp sees Evil Wolverine sitting there calmly with Sakura’s empty body and just begins to LOSE IT. 

And honestly I probably would too if I wasn't so unreasonably THRILLED about the sudden Kyle Murder we were treated with

The triple use of Evil Wolverine's name? The SCREAMING as the background turns to static behind him?

UNDERSTANDABLE!

This would probably be devastating, to think it was finally over, just for a moment, only to find out that it was just a trick. To have Syaoran sacrifice his life to attack Evil Wolverine only to find out that he’s completely untouched. To see him still holding Sakura’s body like it's just another useful item to him, and wasting Kyle’s life almost needlessly and then insult him as he dies. 

It would be, as they say, not a very good day. 

And I’m absolutely FASCINATED by that last angle, with Kyle’s body in the foreground and Lava Lamp screaming behind it. As if even KYLE’S death is a wrong that Evil Wolverine has committed. As if even THAT has added to Lava Lamp’s distress in the moment, on top of the LIFETIMES of crimes he has committed against literally everyone in the universe. 

Justice for Kyle?

Emotional Justice for Kyle Rondart in MY Tsubasa Reservoir?

It’s MORE LIKELY THAN I THINK

[crescentfool]

i've been doing a bunch of tartarus runs in reload lately, and it got me thinking about how i miss certain ways FES's clunky gameplay can characterize minato… (ramble about the great clock mechanic + leveling up party members in reload vs fes under the cut)

when i got to yabbashah block in tartarus (block 3), i remember commending the developers for adding the great clock mechanic. it's a much more convenient way to keep party members at the protagonist's level- so when you think about p3 from the perspective of trying to make it easier for people to play, the mechanic succeeds in this respect.

but now that i'm in adamah block, and that i've done lots of my once-a-month tartarus runs… i think that i got a little too dependent on it, and the way that i played through reload feels like a vastly different experience from how i played FES.

in reload, my party's levels are very lopsided. minato, yukari, akihiko, mitsuru, and fuuka are all level 90+, meanwhile junpei and aigis are at level 79, and then… poor ken and koromaru are at 71 and 64 respectively. (i never got to have a great clock for them…)

meanwhile, in FES, my party's levels were much more evenly distributed and were at least level 90. i did all of this manually for every monthly tartarus run because i enjoyed having options available for the taratarus guardians and monthly operations.

with how i perceive minato, i feel that the way i played FES feels more in-line with his character than me dawdling around waiting for the great clocks in reload.

FES's gameplay loop left me with the very strong impression that minato has to work twice as hard as everyone else in SEES does. it makes sense because, yeah, he's the leader, but something about having minato run through tartarus multiple times with different groups of people just to make sure that they are adequately prepared speaks volumes about his character, to me.

and while the tired mechanic is present in reload to some degree, most notably with allowing you to freely raise your courage stat when you visit edogawa after school… the tiredness system doesn't hit the same way that FES does, i think.

the way your party members in FES will call it quits when they return to the entrance floor at tartarus when they're tired, versus minato, in spite of all his tiredness and sickness, still pushes through tartarus because it's his responsibility…. idk!!! i miss that! i feel like this really hammers home the difference between minato and the rest of SEES, how minato doesn't really see himself as a human with needs worth respecting as long as he's useful to someone.

i don't think that tartarus being tedious (in FES especially) is not what most people would describe as fun, and i can respect people thinking it's a slog. but, regardless of how it feels to play, it doesn't change that FES's gameplay loop is a fundamental building block in how i perceive minato…

of course, i do recognize that you can just opt to NOT use the great clock in reload (and it's great when players are offered the choice to not partake in mechanics)! i definitely think that if someone really wanted to, they could manually level up party members, but i do feel that kind of playstyle isn't necessarily "incentivized" to the type of people who are into playing games for Having a Good Time. it's kind of like… "why would you do that when there's a much more convenient option available to you."

in any case! despite my woes, i do want to emphasize that i'm glad that reload has a much more smoother gameplay loop than the original P3 did, because it does make the game more accessible to people. having played both FES and reload, it feels very strongly apparent to me how the core gameplay formula of persona has really been refined in the past 18 years (to think og p3 was 2006 and reload is 2024.. time flies!). and reload has made revisiting a story that i love so dearly much, much easier because the gameplay just bops!

at the same time, due to my "i miss characterization informed by weird and dated FES gameplay quirks" woes, i still think that playing FES is worthwhile. (really, i feel this way about all iterations of p3! i think it's worthwhile to see what each version and side media has to say even if it doesn't Land™ for you.) but i also understand why people wouldn't want to play it, so i will keep writing posts about things i liked from FES's gameplay because i'm still very fond of FES (especially in respects to minato. these mechanics are so telling about him!!!) 💪

[aregebidan]

Always thinking about a genre aware Maglor kidnapping the twins as a particularly self-destructive way of escaping the story he’s trapped in. I think he’d absolutely be the type of person to appreciate the supposed “poetic justice” of his “foster sons” eventually killing him—it would strike a nice balance between satisfying the “audience,” aka whatever part of him that believes it would be appropriate for him to have such a cruel end, and establishing that he wasn’t pure evil despite everything (the children he raised destroyed him = he had enough decency to raise them to be capable of striking him down).

Even if the twins’ own ideas about the concept of kinslaying would inhibit them from giving him a “clean end,” an absolute exit from the story, he spends his days during and after the War of Wrath secretly hoping for some kind of recompense from them. A singer views the world in terms of linear stories, requiring endings to give it meaning. He orphaned the twins and raised them to stand up for themselves, he taught them everything he knew, surely they will repay him by making him into a defeated villain and thus finally introducing some degree of fairness into his life-narrative? 

(But Elros could never confine himself to rules and conventions, and Elrond hasn’t spent years teaching himself to be a healer only to be trapped in the avenging-angel role that his captor/mentor has ascribed to him. The next time they meet, a sizeable part of his initial kindness stems from spite. Maglor took the twins because he was looking for a sufficiently poetic end. Elrond feels sorry for him, but he also adamantly refuses to give him any of the satisfaction.)