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bettsfic · 3 months

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it took 140 hours, but i finally finished my first playthrough of baldur's gate 3. overall i'm insane about it but there are a few things that really pissed me off. my (many) thoughts in no particular order under the cut.

i forced myself to play the full game totally vanilla, no mods even though i'm so bad at games i usually need cheats to make it to the end. not to mention i've hated inventory management in every game i've ever played (except genshin. love u, hyv). but i was patient, and i played on explorer mode, and i savescummed the hell out of it (hence 140 hours). but as SOON as i finished the epilogue, i turned around and installed 30 mods, most of which are QoL things that shouldn't even need to be modded (vertical camera pitch, WASD option, stackable items, sortable inventory, highlight ALL interactable objects).

i decided i wanted to play both a Dark Urge playthrough and an I'm Just Ken playthrough, but after making two new characters and, through my endless youtube diving, accidentally getting spoiled on what i think is the major durge reveal, i decided simply to make Ken the Dark Urge.

every other minute he goes, "Hi! I'm Ken," and then thinks about murder. it's great.

obvs he's going to romance Shadowheart (although i may download the poly mod and romance everyone).

MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

here are my Thoughts, in no particular order, because i don't know where else to put them:

i didn't enjoy romancing Astarion as much as i thought i would, because i came to see him less as a romantic interest and ended up identifying with him more than my Tav. that said, i'm very excited to do Astarion's origin playthrough

i ended up enjoying my Halsin romance more, because it was a more traditional slowburn, and Halsin's quest was totally external conflict. on one hand, that made me less interested in him as a character overall; on the other, it was SO SATISFYING to find out he had been Pining for me the whole time. sometimes i just need a little bodice-ripper content, as a treat

obviously i'm also into Astarion/Halsin and Astarion/Halsin/Tav

however the only viable fic idea i have is Astarion/Shadowheart? i blame this fanvid

no, really, what was so different about Early Access that OP got this much Astarion/Shadowheart material? the description in the video says they were disappointed by how their dynamic had changed for full release

okay, time or my biggest beef:

Haarlep pissed me off almost enough to stop playing the game. not in a purity way, but in a "this is just bad writing" way

i mean, your options are to kill him or fuck him. that's not consent. and when you agree to fuck him, you have to roll several checks to keep him from killing you. then he steals your likeness so that whenever he has sex with someone else, you have a spontaneous orgasm

i wanted to dismiss it as dead dove, but the point of dead dove is that 1) it is labeled, and there was no indication whatsoever i was about to walk into this, and 2) dead dove implies the creator is aware that the content is filth for filth's sake. i saw no evidence that that quest was anything more than the sniffing panties buff of D:OS2

the sadist in the goblin camp? that's good filth. you have a little public BDSM demo that you can easily nope out of, and if you finish it you get a permanent buff. your companions have fun things to say. and there's no major quest attached to it, so you can completely walk past it. and the Drow twins were the same. and Mizora. just horny content for players who enjoy that kind of thing, and easily disregarded for players who don't. i don't understand why Haarlep had to be different

like, you're looking around for the hammer. you come across Haarlep, who is bored and wants to have fun with you. maybe he offers the promise of a buff that will help in the coming battle with the Absolute. if your romanced character is in the party, you have a dialogue option to talk to them about it first. maybe in parting, he gives you a hint about where to find the hammer, and it's in a completely different room

but no, you *have* to interact with him to advance the quest, can't talk your way out of it, and it leaves you with a skeevy pseudo-debuff

when i went to look it up, i saw so many forum posts of people being like, hmm this made me really uncomfortable, and (presumably) men responding, it was consensual! you have the option to kill him! and it's frightening that so many people think that way

also when you have a female Tav and you choose a male Haarlep, the animation doesn't change to account for the position. Haarlep straddles you the whole time. and that just made me interpret the scene as a male succubus rape fantasy

and your companions have to WATCH. and they don't intervene or even say anything about it. if you've romanced Astarion and he's in your party, you get one point of disapproval and that's it. like he wouldn't have an Opinion over that kind of coercion? i saw some youtube videos and know that he says something about it much later when you spontaneously orgasm, but that's it

i hope there's something i'm missing, and someone will come into my ask and go "ummm actually" and tell me some important factoid of game development that will make me interpret the scene differently

i ended up resetting and just not doing the House of Hope questline. i didn't bother with the hammer, either. honestly the whole Githyanki plot confused me and i was more invested in my conflict with the Emperor. i ended up siding with him and killing Orpheus so that no one would have to turn into a mindflayer. i was expecting to have to persuade him out of taking the crown himself, but he just noped off for some reason

this is another thing i wonder if i missed. i never understood his motivations or goals beyond "protect you" and "manipulate you." so he's Balduran and he killed his dragon and...what else? to what end? it would have been more satisfying to me if he planned to take the crown for himself but decides not to because of the bond he's forged with you. but maybe i can interpret it that way anyway

yes i fucked the Emperor

but i fucked him in Guardian form

like a COWARD

i was very torn about all the characters' final decisions. in the end, i kept Jenheart and spawn Astarion. i let Wyll and Karlach choose for themselves (and loved their ending together). i couldn't prioritize Gale or Lae'zel this playthrough because i was focused on too many other things, and i got their bad endings (although i ended on good terms with Lae'zel despite killing Orpheus?)

i played as a beast master ranger (i mained a beast master hunter in WoW for years) and i've seen in several places on the internet that it's supposedly the worst subclass, but let me tell you...

the bird companion. nobody is talking about the bird companion. by the end, it has two actions, the ability to blind, and your bird can call in two more birds. you can have a total of FOUR BIRDS

the red dragon in the final battle? couldn't do shit. it spent the entire time blinded by my bird. nearly everyone on the battlefield was dead by the end, but my bird still had over 50% of its HP. the bird is BROKEN

in my I'm Just Ken playthrough, i'm going to multiclass Shadowheart into a raven girl. the birds spoiled me and i can't imagine playing without them now

it's weird to me that there's penis physics but no boob physics. did anyone else notice that? you wiggle the male avatar and the dick moves. you wiggle the female avatar and her boobs are like rocks. even when she's lying down, the boobs stay exactly as they are

listen, i have a lot of complaints. the bugs made the game nearly unplayable for me. i know they're putting out patches fast, but i think it'll still be years before i would recommend this game to someone who is on the fence about playing it. if you're not immediately dropping everything to fuck the hot sad vampire, you might as well wait until the game is cleaner at like hotfix 856

BUT

i've never experienced anything like this game. every decision matters. every character has a story. there are so many potential paths and opportunities that it's literally impossible for the fan wiki to be completely accurate. i cried at least 4 times, and by the end, saying goodbye to Karlach, i was actually sobbing. i'm old enough now to know that these states of immersion into fictional worlds are rarer than they used to be, and i'm so grateful to this game for giving me so many hours of fun and escape

unlike books, movies, and tv, where i get invested and move on and rarely read or watch anything twice, video games are always such a learning curve for me that when i get into a game, i stay there. i have thousands of hours into Genshin and SDV, and i have a feeling BG3 will be the same. this game is so, so flawed, but it's ambitious beyond any narrative i've ever encountered, and i really admire it for that

i would love to find a Discord server for it that's not overwhelmingly huge, just the people writing fic and making art. it's been a long time since i've been involved in a fandom and i really miss it

#bg3

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lightwormlol · 3 years

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ACOFAS REVIEW -INC SPOILERS

4.5 stars.

Okay, so! This was the first book I was able to finish in 2021. I've kinda been in a reading slump, and struggling to get past the 30-50% of books. I think its because I took essentially 3 months off my normal (daily) reading schedule and have been prioritising other things (health, fitness, job applications etc) - I think it's a testament to how addicted I was to this that I finished and consumed this at the rate I did! I recently went back and added some things to my ACOWAR review. To briefly summarise, I feel that, at the time I read it, it kind of gave me what I needed, but it definitely isn't getting a re read - my love for feysand has definitely lessened over time, but honestly i'm not that mad at sarah for this, as I find that whenever I've passed the sexual tension part of relationships in books, I tend to get bored of the domestic bliss. Like, leave that shit for an epilogue and keep it at that? As someone generally averse to relationships, but there is definitely a grace period for how long I can actively be smitten with a couple... before it becomes sickly. Taking all this into account, I honestly was nervous for this book, its release date totally took me by surprise, and I read it on a whim. As a Nessian shipper (I mean we didn't really have a choice after acomaf but to delve into the world of fanfic to keep us going) - this book gave me most of what I wanted and needed from them! I think,(some) kudos to SJM, for not disappointing in their relationship. This was definitely a character > plot driven story. In terms of the plot, I wasn't really invested until around the 38% mark? I'm not sure if I was adjusting to the writing style (lots of dramatic. sentences. that. are. so. abrupt. Nesta Archeron. Death etc) - or if it was bc I hadn't read an SJM book since the novella, which I basically skimmed. I was obviously reading for Nessian, but I didn't really feel intrigued by the wider plot (death gods, the human queens? Given I had lost my previous obsession with the world/ have outgrown 'fandom' culture, that made me actively update my knowledge, I couldn't remember a lot!) I think its clear that SJM excels character driven stories, but I think her worldbuilding and execution is significantly better in the throne of glass franchise. Now, I did say this was a character driven story. This is mostly regarding Nesta, Cassian and Azriel. I loved pretty much any interaction they had! I love a good training montage. Ngl though, I think, unless you possess an ardent love for Nessian, you're not going to be particularly wowed by this, if you've read heir of fire, or even acomaf. I obviously am never going to be able to be objective, because I've loved nessian so much from 2017-now, but I loved the dynamic those two (and three - friendship wise between nes/cass/az). One of the highlights of ACOWAR for me was the snippets of Az, showing tenderness, and opening up to the newer members of the inner circle (and i'm excluding any hint of an Elriel ship because FUCK THAT LOL) For me, the tip with SJM books is: once you outgrow them/the particular mode of narrative style, is to not anticipate anything other than a character driven story, albeit one riddled with smut. I personally am a romance heavy reader, so I'm honestly deconditioned to it at this point, (like, when I see reviewers scandalised I'm like... wow, the amount of trash I have consumed in the last five years loool.) While I disagree with the fact SJM marketed this series as y/a (or maybe it wasn't her per se, but the key booksellers definitely did this for her) - I think its clear enough now she's descended into the adult/borderline erotica genre.(very mild imo). I personally like to adopt a policy of skimming sex scenes when I find the dialogue cringy (most the time it is lets be honest any talking is v second hand embarrassment). Cassian and Nesta were definitely better than Rhys and Feyre post chapter 55 though! I was so glad there weren't a million moments of Cass/Nesta betraying their arousal with their scents, in front of everyone (like feysand, the voyeuristic pda pricks they are). I found the slowburn ish nature of their relationship great, and I actually think if you're a virgo/emotionally stunted reader, you will be happy with their relationship dynamic. It contrasts with the daemati sexual snark of acomaf, but it felt right, and authentic. This book was a journey of personal growth, for Nesta. It is clear SJM loves books about strong women, and maybe thats what makes me love this book so much. I think, out of all the archeron sisters, I love Nesta the most. This is for my Rose Calloway fans, my misunderstood, somewhat cold/left out girls, who are less receptive to being vulnerable. If you're a slowburn fan, it's not Mariana Zapata levels of slowburn, imo it's the perfect combo. Addictive enough that I don't want to put it down, but not so fast moving that I couldn't believe it. I loved the sex without emotion relationship they had!! This is honestly never done in mainstream n/a fantasy, unless its a caricature of a 'slut' that normally rivals the main character, lmao. Even if their inner conflict was p transparent, this gave me everything I needed! I know this is vapid lol but I also love the physical dynamic between the two, they just look so good together, the amount of fanart I'm going to reacquaint myself with after this review!! I adored seeing Nesta grow, (even if towards the end I kind of resented her sudden acceptance into the inner circle, i get SJM loves her and just wanted a fluffy ending, but, as a Nesta like character, it's awkward and stilted on her end to adjust to the inner circle like this - i mean, hugging rhys, really??)

I think, if I had to compare this to any other SJM book, I would say Chaols book (though I obviously preferred this). That being said, I felt less attached to new characters in this book than I was in even Chaols book (and even then ngl I remember nothing?) Obviously I loved what it represented, as a trio of traumatised women. I just, didn't love this the way I loved other inner circle members! I get that they gave Nesta exactly what they needed, a family that doesn't hold the history of her sisters, who she doesn't have to worry about holding preconceived notions of disappointment. I loved this for her! Even then.. I just wasn't attached to either of them. I found their interactions cute - but boring. Towards the end, when their stories/pasts are revealed, I couldn't help but cringe slightly, I can't put my finger on why, but I just didn't buy it. Maybe it's the brit in me but I couldn't be moved by this slightly forced bonding moment.. which was so anticlimactic. My 'aww how cute' tolerance is defo deserved for characters whose tropes I love. Maybe they just didn't fit into this list. Maybe I'm just being a cow here?

Now, let's speak about the real star of the show.... A FUCKING MAGICAL HOUSE FRIEND??? YESSSSSSS. IF YOU ARE AN ILONA ANDREWS INNKEEPERS CHRONICLES FAN, U WILL LOVE! How was the animation of this somehow more touching than all of nesta's other friendships combined? Exactly what I ordered, thank you. This trope somehow touches more than any material bonding!! The cute witch x house dynamic (also maybe howls moving castle vibes?) I loved the trying to reach the target of 10,000 steps (a little Celaena HOF). I think this, heir of fire and acomaf are my favourite SJM books for this reason. Gripes: I definitely had some personal gripes with how other members of the inner circle treated Nesta (rhys i'm looking at you. Disappointed doesn't even cover it.) I inherently take offence to any elain scene, as i'm so over bland characters whose existence is reduced to wanting to fucking plant flowers?? like?? really? To go from moriel to that is such a downgrade, even if I fell out of love with Mor due to the way she snubbed Nesta (you're a 500 year old being and you can't see someone is clearly traumatised?). I adore Az so much, but if it aint polyamorous, I cannot see any pairing with Elain making me happy. (wouldn’t mind gwyn though) I think the whole mating bond that I do not want is a good dynamic, but I really hate that everyone has to be mates in this world. I don't think we were that surprised, but it would've been nice if the somehow, idk, developed a strong bond over time, without it being preordained? Like, even if they do not all actively stay with their mate, given how disproportionate mates are among the general population, what's the likelihood 6 members of the inner circle (including lucien) have mates?

My advice? Read this book if you love nessian and the acotar world in general, but don't expect the world building to be consistent with greater fantasy series'. This style of story is obviously what to expect. She writes what she likes, and if her fantasy is this - then who are we, as readers, to expect otherwise?

Final rating: 4.5 (no, i'm not objective, but objectivity does not exist if you are a real, human being, lol)

Original Characters: 5/5 (nessian/az/house wise) 1/5 (feysand - really over how they essentially take over the very end of the book - ugh, I wanted nesta's arc to be wholly separate from them) Writing style: 3.5 Cringe Scale: Low, with the exception of some dialogue. New Characters: 2 Plot: I went into it with a 2 and came out with a 4. Not in terms of complexity, but in terms of how addictive and enjoyable this reading experience was! (less)

#acofas #sjm #sarah j maas #acotar #nesta #nesta archeron #nessian

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hrbumga · 4 years

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Review: Deathless, Cathrynne M. Valente

Overall Rating: 2.5/5 stars.

This review contains heckin’ spoilers. I had about as mixed feelings as you could have about this book. On one hand, I can see where it gets it’s hype—a lot of the descriptions are beautiful, Valente manages to weave a rich tapestry of images and situations so that each page dazzles you anew. The thing is, I think I liked this book. Think. To be honest, I’m not totally sure. While rewritten fairytales for adults is a genre I’m drawn to, I think there were a lot of issues I had with this book, and furthermore some of the strangest things about Deathless actually didn’t take place within its pages at all. Let’s put a pin in that.

Structural Integrity

I can’t tell if the structure was the thing I took the most issue with, or if it was just the first thing I noticed. I’m mostly going to focus on the prologue and parts 1 and 2, since that’s where I have the issue.

The prologue opens with a boy (when I say boy I mean little kid, I think he was like 9 or 10) standing trial for not being available to fight in The War(TM). One of the people trying him is Marya Morevna, our protagonist. In a moment of kindness, she tells the boy to turn, run, and never look back, letting him escape punishment. Are we going to remember this? Of course, it’s the prologue, an introduction to the core of the story. Does it come up again? Kinda. In part 6, we loop back around to it, which makes me think part 6 should’ve been more of an epilogue to pair with the prologue.

So anyway, all we really derive from that is Marya is either a traitor to whatever war she’s a part of or is sympathetic to children. Or both. Which, okay, having a prologue mainly focused on the character we’ll be following makes sense. We either see who she is or who she was, and we get a sense that this Marya is/was a strong yet kind hearted character. Put a pin in that.

Part 1 is Marya’s upbringing, taking place either right before or during the Bolshevik Revolution. There’s a lovely, fairytale-esque portion in the beginning where as a little girl, she watches from her window as birds hop down from the tree outside, transform into handsome, wealthy men ask to marry the girl in the window and in turn, each of Marya’s three older sisters are married off. She waits for her turn and is teased by schoolmates for believing in magic. As time goes on, more families move into her cramped home for communal living and she visits the house elves that live between the walls, who tell her that Papa Koschei, the Tsar of Life (a kind of god/demigod figure in folklore from what I can gather), will come for her soon. She visits a creepy widow next door who turns out to be the Tsaritsa of the Hour who tells her pretty much the same.

Finally, on cue, a handsome young man named Koschei, who is in fact an ancient, old, old man comes to the door to take her away from this life of poverty and be his fiancée. Marya is roughly sixteen at this point. The part ends with him grooming her while spiriting her away to the magic land of Buyan. When I say grooming, I mean he’s literally taking her willpower away as though it’s an object, slowly, over time. Part 1 ends with Marya disobeying his order not to speak (literally all she says is she’s feeling a little better after being violently ill all journey) and he punishes her by biting her tongue til she bleeds.

Then part 2 kicks off! The beginning of part 2 begins with Zemlehyed the leshy and Naganya the vintovnik bickering. Classic them! Then Madame Lebedeva hops off her horse from a firebird hunt.

If you just said, “wait, back up, who are these people? What’s a leshy?” you are not alone! Oh, eventually Marya turns up too. Yeah, turns out there’s been a major time skip from the point where Marya was a starving, impoverished child to a magical being’s bride-to-be, who’s dressed in jewels and gold, has three whimsical pals that are framed as though we’ve already been endeared to them, and is super into her kinky BDSM lifestyle with her ancient groom. This transition has taken a year. Mind you, Marya isn’t just our protagonist, she’s the one the narration follows, so any internal monologue with her grappling with whateverthehell happened in that year is just something the reader doesn’t get.

Sure, her and her whimsical folktale fae friends have snappy dialogue and seem close, but we see literally nothing of how they get there. It’s a neck-snapping tonal whiplash from part 1 and frankly, had this not been a book club pick I would have DNF’d at the beginning of part 2 so quickly.

That’s a big issue I have with this. The parts don’t have much of a narrative through line, not really. The time jumps are janky and messy, we’re tossed in the deep end constantly. I think if the book had begun with part 2, I wouldn’t have minded the deep-endedness, that’s how books are at first. Have part 1 be a prologue or split up in flashbacks. But no, you read part 1, get accustomed to what the book is, and then quick as a whip you’re in a completely different novel altogether. It doesn’t read as cute or clever, but rather awkward and annoying.

While the beginning of part 2 has flimsy explanations of what leshy and vintovik are, as well as other Russian creatures and characters, it’s all missile launched at you so quickly you don’t have time to actually absorb any of it.

The Book Doesn’t Breathe

Boy howdy, for a story with Buyan, where the buildings literally have flesh and blood, it sure doesn’t leave space for air. Like I mentioned before, it often tosses unfamiliar terminology, stories, archetypes, and situations at you all at once without a moment’s notice. If the book is trying to cater to a new adult demographic in America, it doesn’t do an adequate job of hosting the reader in this new strange world. It’s a shame, really, because Valente describes things incredibly vividly and beautifully. Description in this book? Great. However, it feels as though character and plot development were sacrificed in the process. You’re yanked from one cast to the next, and Marya has very little impact on anything at all.

Okay, so, Naganya is this spunky steampunk-like troll creature. One of the main (thus, new) characters in part 2. She’s introduced as a close friend of Marya’s, which, okay. Moving on. They go on a wacky adventure! You see their relationship organically. While you’re still frustrated there was no build, you’re kinda on board. Okay, great. End of part 2? Naganya’s murdered. Slaughtered, in fact, pretty brutally. Gone, dead. Didn’t matter. Moving on to part 3’s cast!

While Naganya’s ghost is referenced and Marya’s like, “F in the chat, that was a bummer dude,” that’s about all we get. Again, there’s no insight into whether she gives a damn. She uses sentences like “I loved my friends, them being dead is a downer” but it’s extremely tell-don’t-show. The thing is, in part 3, it’s ten years later and Marya is a hardened war general in her late 20s who simply doesn’t have the time or emotional energy to deal with that stuff.

Marya, Paperdoll Protagonist

I was watching a video essay where the essayist mentioned that Disney princesses in the Disney Renaissance were passive protagonists. Even if they were the main character, the story wasn’t about their growth and development, but rather it was about them being a free spirited teen who eventually settles down with a man. The heroes get the emotional arcs, not the heroines. Nearly all princesses from this era were more just placed in a setting and waded through it as things happened around them. Flat, unchanging, stagnant, like dolls.

Marya is like that.

Our protagonist never has any agency in the book. She’s groomed as a child, pushed around by Baba Yaga in part 2, pushed around by her husbands in part 3, and so on. She literally is just rolling with the punches. At a couple points she mentions wanting to free a bunch of sweatshop workers, but the narrative doesn’t budge, but rather tells her “no,” and railroads her forward in the predestined plot line like a bad D&D Dungeon Master.

Now, real quick, I don’t necessarily think this is inherently a bad thing as a narrative. Highlighting Marya’s lack of agency could be interesting and lead to a story that’s satisfying to read. It might not be how I would want a heroine to be treated but hey, different strokes. Here’s the problem: some Russian readers and reviewers have pointed out that this is absolutely antithetical to who Marya was in original Russian folklore. She was a warrior queen. She didn’t have to beg and cajole her way to power, she had it all along. Subverting traditional fairytales is also not inherently bad, though it’s been pointed out that this subversion in particular does a disservice to the character. Not to mention that Valente isn’t Russian herself, didn’t grow up listening to these tales, but rather seems to have appropriated them for her own gain. I’m not Russian, I can’t speak to whether or not Valente mistreated original texts, but I encourage readers to look into reviews written by Russian people who’ve read and reacted to the book. (Note: in the interest of attempting to be balanced, there is a review from a Russian who really liked Valente’s treatment, so there’s also that.)

Here are some of the more critical reviews:

Nastassja’s Review

Kogiopsis’s Review (which links to a couple others as well)

Liz’s Review

Did I cherry-pick these reviews because they aligned with my feelings? Yeah, admittedly, I did, and I encourage anyone to read through all of the reviews at their leisure if they’re really interested in potentially reading, because most of the reviews are good ones.

The Diptych Conspiracy: A Space Opera

The strangest thing I found while reading Deathless actually has nothing to do with the text itself, but rather the metatextual… idk, nature? of the book. As of now, and seemingly since very early after Deathless was published in 2011, it’s been marketed as part of a series called the Leningrad Diptych.

Valente announced on her personal blog that there would be a companion book of sorts that didn’t follow the same storyline as Deathless, but was made to act as a spiritual parallel.

She announced that Deathless would have a twin, Matryoshka, which was picked up by Tor, the same publisher who published Deathless, to be released in 2015. That’s where things get sticky.

If you google “matryoshka valente,” you get a couple of hits. When you click those hits, they take you to webpages that allegedly are selling Matryoshka according to titles and headers on the page. However, the book listed was published in 2019, not 2015. And the book’s description has nothing about Russian folklore or historical fiction, but something about a metagalactic space empire. And also, the book cover says it’s called Space Opera.

???????????????????

I wasn’t alone in my confusion though, thanks to this gem of a comment on Goodreads:

Apparently, at some point, the twin in the Leningrad Diptych was listed as an entry on Goodreads at one point. It was unnamed at the time, perhaps the title wasn’t announced for publishing yet. Then, inexplicably, Valente (who is a Goodreads author and therefore is able to edit her profile and her book entries) overwrote the entry entirely. Apparently, Matryoshka has been “postponed indefinitely.” I can’t find official word on this, but nothing has been mentioned about this book since 2013, so I have to assume that’s correct.

Okay, then why overwrite the entry? Why transform Matryoshka into Space Opera, this confusing some auto-updated websites and more importantly confusing me, 7 years later, at 2am when I have COVID and can’t sleep?

I have absolutely no basis for this, but I have a theory. Valente announces Matryoshka and creates a listing on Goodreads for the upcoming book (was the book actually okayed for publishing? Could she have announced it before it was played so her following pushed the publisher into okaying it? Probably not likely and I don’t know, but that’s besides the point). Anyway, she gets all this hype up about this new book, and Goodreads users add it to their to-read lists.

Then, something happens. The book is trunked, writer’s block happens, 30-50 feral hogs destroy all the existing copies, the publisher cancels it, whatever. It’s a bummer (no, really, I know I dumped on Deathless earlier but I’d be interested in the companion novel). Life goes on, Valente writes a new novel, sci-fi this time. That’s a completely different genre though, and fans might be antsy if you announce Space Opera while Matryoshka is theoretically still on the table.

So you simply overwrite the entry. Wipe Matryoshka from Goodreads, swap it with Space Opera when no one is looking.

Now, a bunch of people have your new sci-fi book on their to-read list and are none the wiser. When the book is finally released in 2019, they all get notifications that the book they want is ready, hooray! Most don’t bat an eye, maybe reserve a copy. Some might go, “oh, I don’t remember saving this book, but here it is. And it’s an author I like, so I must’ve done it.” Plus, everyone on their friends list gets a lil nudge in their algorithms that’s like “hey, Sue marked Space Opera as want-to-read. I’ll bet you’d like it too.” Your unknown sci-fi novel is suddenly in front of a lot of eyeballs and on a lot of wishlists, while the previous book is quietly swept under the rug. Success. You never mention the other book again. Matryoshka, who?

But again, I’m looking waaaaay too far into this. As of first writing this It’s 2am, I’m on day three of COVID-aligned symptoms, still waiting for my test results which is scary, therefore I can’t sleep. Also I’m a little bored.

Anyway, Deathless was alright I guess.

#deathless #catherynne m valente #review

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secretsfromwholecloth · 4 years

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Deadfire, day 11.

I just noticed that the room with the flesh construct controller is labeled “Flesh Management”. Because of course we had to go for maximum creepy with everything here, right?

Giving the flesh construct controller a prostate massage is one of the highlights of the series.

Oh, hello, Giftwrapper. Here you go, Edér, an adorable spider friend.

“Maybe they are not so smelly after all.” Why thank you, Sissak, that’s one of the best compliments I’ve gotten this whole playthrough!

“You have seen what cannot be unseen!” Some of the shit that goes on in this place? Damn right I have.

I am deeply amused at Edér’s protective outburst at Anlaf sticking his arm down the screamy thing being followed by Fassina nonchalantly saying, “Better you than me.”

Maybe one day I’ll run a Watcher who uses Llengrath’s spell here rather than Tayn’s—I can think of one or two who should have if not for their player’s weakness—but this one’s Team Tayn all the way.

All right, the moment of truth: Is Retina going to hatch this time? At least now I know to reload if it doesn’t.

*sigh* Nope, reload time. Let me try something—maybe it’s going into the Scriptorium afterwards and getting sucked into Tayn and Llengrath’s argument that’s fucking things up?

You know, throughout this DLC in particular, Edér and Rekke have very similar reactions to most things, controlling for their differing experiences and speech patterns. Killing the Memory Hoarder is a striking exception, though—contrast Rekke’s “Why would god let this happen?” with Edér’s “Reminds me of a wedding I went to once.”

Xoti, I realize you want the big man to like you, but you don’t have to loudly agree with everything he says.

Anyway. Back to the Collections to finish mopping up and see if the little abomination actually hatches this time.

It didn’t hatch until I got back to the Temple of Revelations lobby, but it finally did! I’m so glad to not be deprived of tiny hugs this time.

I never took a proper look at the description of Whispers from the Depths before. “Sometimes, it tickles.”

“Now I have two friends, and I feel richer than ever.” Oh no, more Bekarna feelings.

The History of Eora series contains some creepy information from the beginning, but it takes a turn for the far, far creepier when it starts covering the future.

For reasons I can’t really go into here, Volume XVI: The End of the Gods makes me smile and eyebrow a little. ““Who’s there?” the voice of nothing asked, and it was answered by no one.”

Well, Fyonlecg’s hinting that other civilizations did something similar to Engwith, or worked with them beyond the ones we know of, is certainly quite a sequel hook.

I think I’ll put the body back to sleep this time. I like the ending it gets, and it seems a reasonable thing to do.

Well, I was going to put it back to sleep, but apparently I killed it instead? I suppose that’ll have to do.

It’s very sweet how friendly and optimistic Tayn still is even if you kill the body. One day I’ll see if that still holds if you went Team Llengrath all the way and killed the prisoners in the Collections.

Tayn, Bekarna, go on, give each other a hug. You both need it.

It’s a thing people do when they’re carrying a lot of pain around and haven’t been supported in dealing with it that they get really mad when someone else looks like upstaging them, whether with their own pain or with their achievements. Tayn’s jealous outburst, and Bekarna having to talk him down by appealing to his ego before he’s willing to support her, is...yeah, I super get it. But I hope they can stay friends now that they’ve gotten that out of the way.

If someone’s going in cold, I can definitely see them finding out that Magran doesn’t want the three shards put together, doing it to spite her because of all the problems she’s caused throughout the series (you’re not the boss of me, fire mom!), and realizing too late that they played into Woedica’s hands instead.

Anyway. Without a last faction quest to do, I think it’s Ukaizo time. My regular endgame party is Edér, Xoti, Tekēhu, and Rekke, and there’s nothing going on in this playthrough that would make me want to change that up.

So I didn’t have to fight any of the factions in the channel, but on the other hand, oh shit, Guardian. I was really not expecting to meet this thing—I freed Scyorielaphas like I usually do, and he normally takes care of it. Well, let’s take advantage and explore his dialogue tree.

“Where would you even stab something like that?” Well, Edér, I suppose you, Rekke, and Anlaf can figure that out on the fly.

Well, that wasn’t bad at all, but I’m glad I had Story mode on to fight the Guardian for the first time.

Oh, babies. I wish I could hug all of you, but I’ll settle for claiming my Rekke hug. (And if any of you think the hug isn’t the main reason he’s part of my standard Ukaizo party, you don’t know me very well.)

Tekēhu atop Ondra’s Spire. You know the bit I’m talking about. Which is the main reason he’s part of my standard Ukaizo party.

(To round out the rest of it for the newbies, Edér is simply undroppable, and I figure Xoti will want to talk to her god. If I have to start dropping people because of faction alliances or romances or whatever, Xoti goes first, then Rekke, but it does make me sad.)

Looks like my adventures here won’t be completely rival-free; here’s the hazanui come to bother me one last time. I’m glad it’s her, I would’ve been sad to make poor Tekēhu fight his queen again or to have to turn on Aeldys after building such a good working relationship. Or even to have to fight Castol. It’s Castol if the VTC comes after you, right?

I’m a little sad that Karū didn’t bring Atsura with her, I would’ve loved to give him a good stabbing.

Tekēhu landed the killing blow on the hazanui. Good work, fishboy, I hope you enjoyed that.

“All but three hold gargantuan skeletons”—we’ve seen Abydon’s body, we just dealt with Wael’s, I guess the third one is meant to be Galawain’s hidden somewhere on Kazuwari? Erūke said something about the huge skeleton in the part of the Beyond linked to the statue being Galawain’s, but it wasn’t made particularly clear that the remains of his body in the Here were nearby. It does make sense, though.

Oh, Waidwen. Quick, come get a spirit hug while the camera’s back is turned.

I love that the sidekicks have Grand Promenade conversations now, but I wish they could’ve gotten chats with Eothas as well. I imagine Rekke’s would’ve been quite intriguing.

Making my usual last request of Eothas, a haven for the lost souls, since I don’t have reason to do much else.

Ha, I thought so. The narrator pronounces “Ofecchia” as /oˈfε.ki.ə/, about what I’d expect, so Wakoyo’s /ɑ.fə.ˈtʃi.nə/ is clearly a mispronunciation in-universe. My theory that he’s doing it deliberately because it’s a Vailian name and fuck the Vailians still stands.

Yeah, I don’t love the epilogue for the solo ending. But it’s nice to have had the experience this once.

Other than the Gullet becoming a second home for the Príncipi, I’ve gotten most of my usual endings. Including the Dawnstars collectively taking up sickles and lanterns and becoming Harvesters, while Xoti lays hers aside to become what a proper Dawnstar was before this. Clearly a memo got missed somewhere.

Come on, Hafjórn, I told you to leave that stupid iceberg. This “squat in the temple and become reclusive and fanatical about keeping everyone else out” business doesn’t look like leaving to me.

Welp, time for me to take a bow and then find something else to occupy my days with. Whew, that was fun.

#pillars of eternity #deadfire #watcher Anlaf

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bertytravelsfar · 4 years

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Ten Years - Ten Fics

Ten years of Sherlock deserves marking, and for me, the best bit about Sherlock is the fans. What a talented bunch of buggers you are! You embroider, knit, rhyme, sing, paint, draw, crochet, role-play, photograph and manip, quilt, bake, cosplay, discuss, meet up and write some of the best fanfiction there is. This is my tiny contribution to today’s proceedings - my (current) favourite ten fics and why -hey, maybe you have missed one of these. Who knows?

I watched from the first episode and I read from about 2015 but didn’t pick up a pen until 2017 when life gave me a little hiatus of my own. I thought I’d written my last story and that I was a very lucky reader to be in such an active, skilled fandom, but the lure of Sherlock and John pulled me back into writing and I’m thrilled that they did. I’ve read a lot of stories and have been amused, entertained, devastated, enthralled and delighted by the range of work out there. So here are my current top ten (which was as hard as hell to pick!). Ask me next month and it will different again, but on this anniversary day, these are the stories that fill me with Sherlock-y love and appreciation for this incredible fandom.Read the tags before you partake in the feast - my cup of tea might not be yours! In no particular order —

The Ice Skating AU - Working on the Edges by earlgreytea68.

What can I say about this one that hasn’t already been said? This is a recognisable John and Sherlock but in a totally AU field. Sherlock is a figure skater, John is a hockey player and it’s the Winter Olympics. The supporting cast are all there and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time as I read it. The dialogue is spot on, the excitement is hold your breath-worthy. One of the first things I read in Sherlock fandom and has never been out of my top ten since.

The Mountain Rescue AU - Whiteout by sincewhendoyoucalme_John.

Based on The Horn, this is a story about AirZermatt - the mountain rescue helicopter crew. Their rescue expert is Sherlock Holmes and their paramedic is John Watson. Again the rest of the cast are in there somewhere, cleverly placed. This story is a punch in the heart and saves the biggest one until the end, when you see the story behind it. Written like an episode, it follows the action as a camera crew filming a documentary, which gives it an extra twist as John and Sherlock try to avoid the cameras. It’s top ten because of the tension, the evasion and the epilogue.

The Friends to Lovers Fic - What Friends Do by agirlsname.

This story took my breath away. Stunning voices and flawless writing in a story about Sherlock’s naivety when John moves in with him. He has no reference point, never before having had a friendship like the one he has with John. And John, although nominally in the wrong here, is just as adrift as Sherlock is, in his way. A gorgeous, delicate dance of falling in love and feeling betrayed. Also, because I fangirl-ed the author SO hard on this one, she became a friend instead of telling me to stop being weird, as she should have done!

The Dark Materials Crossover - The Republic of Heaven by Blind_Author.

Even if you haven’t read Philip Pullman’s classic series, this story is a treasure. In a world where everyone has a daemon, John and Sherlock and their friends are misfits, thrown together by chance. Moriarty is the new whisper on the underground and as the boys and their daemons become embroiled in this new danger, it’s their differences that will be the deciding factor. I’m a sucker for soul-mates like the daemons in this story, and even when the boys are being slow about it, their interactions are gorgeous.

The Classic - The Quiet Man by ivyblossom

All in John’s POV, this story has a place in the all time Sherlock Hall of Fame. After the Fall, John is not doing very well, and even when his friend is returned to him, John still struggles to keep reality and dreams apart. It is heartbreakingly immersive as we watch Dr Watson struggle, written as this is, in the style of an inner monologue. Fascinating, affecting and stylish.

The Hot One - The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by XistentialAngst.

This list wouldn’t be complete without the story that has made a lot of Johnlockers VERY happy. This story is one that takes you by surprise, expecting x-rated shenanigans (which you get, oh yes!) but with a side order of brilliant character work. Oooooh! at the good times, Awwwwww! at the sweetness and sigh with happiness at the ending. And a good time was had by all.

The Folk Tale Story - The Curse of the Cool Coat by IncognitoBae

From my incoherent notes, I believe I enjoyed this one quite a lot! It’s a retelling of the Selkie myth with Sherlock as the Selkie and John as the man who falls in love with him. It’s beautiful and wistful and clever, with great voices. With an unusual style and at just under 5K words, it’s not long, but every word has impact. A beautiful story, well told.

The Classic II - Points by Lifeonmars

In my notes on this story I have written, ‘If John had to have a Mary, this is the Mary he deserved.’ A fix-it, it is a long, sweet, slow build towards what we always already knew and they did too, ultimately - that Sherlock and John were made for each other. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

The WIP - Noctiluca Scintillans by Alexaprilgarden

I don’t normally read WIPs. I have read too many that have left me high and dry. This one is one I have made an exception for. And AU, teenlock story it begins with two boys on holiday without their parents for the first time. Meeting on a campsite in France, the writing in this story is so visceral that you cannot help but be drawn in by their emerging love affair. Sunshine, sand, sea and angst - the boys are just how I imagined teenaged John and Sherlock would be. It has two more chapters to come, but with so much to savour I can wait.

The Go-to Happiness Fic - Because Blah Blah Blah Happy by cwb

This story has saved many a day for me. Feeling low, feeling worn down, feeling anxious - whatever it is, this story brings a grin to my face and a lightness to my heart. It’s hilariously written but with a sweet message and I want to leave more kudos than I’m allowed to avoid scaring the author! John has had it with Sherlock’s ways and writes him a list of grievances. Laugh out loud funny and wipe a tear from your eye happy!

The truth is I could go on and on - there are SO DAMN MANY PERFECT STORIES in this fandom and a hundred other authors whose work I want to highlight here, more 10/10 fics than I can pick from. Writers who are still here, others who have moved on, some who turn out brilliant work over and over, and others who write one perfect story and call it quits.

Again, if you want to read any of these, then read the tags! Most are M or E, and some of the have trigger topics in them.I’d love to read anyone else’s top ten, if they can narrow it down and I look forward to writing my next top ten - maybe for my birthday later this year.

So thank you, Sherlock Fandom. Congratulations on being Ten Years Old!

Remember - Read Safely - Watch the Tags - Feed the Authors with kudos!

#johnlock fic recs #my top ten #thegameisstillon #ten years of sherlock

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sbooksbowm · 4 years

Text

The ‘Does this make sense?’ check: Chapter 3, Part 2, paratexts

Part 2 examines paratexts, which are all the texts in a work that is not the body (i.e. the title, the tags, the chapter titles, summaries, author notes, appendices, etc. as opposed to the actual story). I look at how paratexts, particularly tags, are crucial infrastructure for signaling a fic’s content and setting reader expectations.

Part 2: Paratexts and signaling interpretation

I define paratexts as written or chosen by the writer for the purposes of enabling ‘legitimate critical interpretation’ [1]. Under these criteria, in fanfiction posted on AO3, the tags, title, summary, prompts, and notes are paratexts because the fic writer selects or writes those elements herself, often narrating in tags, summaries, or notes her writing process or her interpretive intentions. Conversely, unless a writer explicitly cites extratextual information, one cannot claim that a given text post is a paratext to that piece; rather, it may be an intertextual reference (e.g. ideasofmarch tags ‘the jackson files’ with ‘based on a Tumblr post’ but does not explicitly cite it).

Paratexts actualize Coppa’s definition of fanfiction as shaped by ‘the literary conventions, expectations, and desires of that community’ [2]. Tags, summaries, and notes are ‘labels indicating a set of narrative and thematic expectations’ that establish how a fic speaks to those literary conventions, expectations, and desires [3]. Barker echoes this, arguing that paratexts ‘have in some significant way to point towards the work they are attached to, draw attention to features in it, entail and imply things about it, provide points of reference and relevance in relation to the work, suggest and contribute to the mode of participation in it’ [4]. Tags, author notes, and summaries all directly point towards the work. In particular, tags categorize features of a work by denoting the relationship pairing, the characters involved, the characterizations chosen, perspectives, and more techniques employed by the author to differentiate the work while signaling its familiar tropes. Tags also enable participation; tags allow readers to filter out what they do and do not want to read, allowing them to find fic that interests them.

Tags and expressing boundaries

Tags on AO3 provide fundamental infrastructure for readers to navigate works. Tags are open-ended gifts, in that they are generated and organized to the benefit of the entire fandom, not an individual creator, sitting firmly in the ‘community’ zone of the community model [5]. Tags organize the archive, filter works, signal basic content, and allow writers to summarize and highlight key aspects of the story, such as driving relationships or central characters. Busse describes the use of paratexts as a mode of collective signaling that holds writer and reader to certain expectations, solidifying the reader-writer relationship:

‘Moreover, within fandom, readers and writers have collectively negotiated a way to signal content via notes and tags, effectively formalizing the reader–writer contract common to all reading experiences. By signposting pairing, genre, tropes, and warnings, the author allows readers to make an educated decision about whether they want to read a story, which in turn holds the writer responsible if their tags are deemed insufficient’ [6].

Paratexts are a method for a writer to direct their story to a reader, but they’re also a mode of preinterpretation on the reader’s part in selecting and expecting certain elements in a story. Herzog takes this further, arguing that a fic’s title, summary, disclaimers, ratings, and pairings ‘provide to the writers an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with the readers, initiating communication by offering information, prompts for interaction, or comments on their story’ [7]. In other words, the use of paratexts opens up a dialogue between reader and writer around expectations, likes and dislikes, and continuations. This kind of communication is an extreme, rather than a rule, of reader participation. For example, the comments on the fic that I examined for this dissertation were mostly affirmative: thanking the writer for her work, pointing out sections that were particularly poignant for the reader, lauding the quality of the story. Only on dirgewithoutmusic’s ‘boy with a scar’ series did I semi-regularly observe comments with suggestions of prompts for other one-shot alternative universe imaginings of Harry Potter. This type of behavior aligns with the precedent dirge set by regularly citing the reader-submitted prompts in her author notes.

The tag selection box on AO3 auto-completes key words paratexts is somewhat constrained, so the paratexts available to a writer are partially predetermined, which maintains the boundaries of fic categorization. While predetermined tags streamline organization, overusing tags overpopulates results. Readers use tags to filter for the works they want to read, and there are many posts about how to navigate tags and how to tag one’s own work [8]. A misuse of this paratextual system muddies its usefulness and meaning for all users, and LullabyKnell wrote an extensive guide to tagging on Tumblr in attempts to ameliorate this issue. She distinguishes between no tagging and over-tagging: ‘If you have written niche content, then tags can be how you get your content out there to readers, past the mega-popular slash pairings’ but ‘over-tagging makes it difficult to find fic that really focuses on minor characters or on popular background characters’ [9].

Tags are part of the AO3 infrastructure and are managed by tag wranglers, who group similar tags that express the same fannish idea. For example, a disambiguation of a tag, such as ‘Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue’, includes all of the tags expressing that idea (e.g. ‘canon until epilogue’, ‘(ignoring the epilogue)’, ‘for people who hate The Epilogue of Doom’) [10]. Goodman describes the rigorous classification of fandom as a managerial method to allow the multiplicity of text. That is, the classification of fandom allows for myriad, and often contradictory, interpretations of text that proliferate in fandom. She asks: ‘If fan creation is premised on multiplicity, on the noncontradiction of different performances of the ﬁction under question, then how can fans so rigorously demand unity in the collective understanding of the ﬁctional universe?’ [11]. The answer looks like tags: the ‘self-regulating, archival, and taxonomic tendencies of fandom. Fan works, particularly ﬁctions, are rigorously organized by a series of different classiﬁcations’, which not only allow readers to find what they desire, but to avoid that which is uninteresting, uncomfortable, or outright heresy to them [12]. Adhering to this system doubly reinforces the community as context and recipient: the fandom-specific community is able to navigate to the fic and the fic contributes to the corpus of fandom text, and the community of [AO3, fanfiction readers] is strengthened from the participation in this self-regulating system.

Martin Barker, ‘Speaking of “paratexts”: A theoretical revisitation’, p.240.

Francesca Coppa, The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age, p.9.

Coppa, p.9.

Barker, p.242.

Tisha Turk, ‘Fan work: Labor, worth, and participation in fandom’s gift economy’, 3.2.

Kristina Busse, Framing fan fiction, p.117.

Alexandra Herzog, ‘“">But this is my story and this is how I wanted to write it”: Author’s notes as a fannish claim to power in fan fiction writing’, 1.2.

storiesintheashes, ‘Hi Anon, @ao3commentoftheday…’, Tumblr, 29 July, 2020; LullabyKnell Ficlets, ‘How I Tag on AO3 – A Beginner’s Guide’, Tumblr, 29 April, 2019; ao3commentoftheday, ‘What does it mean when a fic is marked…’, Tumblr, July 2020.

LullabyKnell Ficlets, ‘How I Tag on AO3 – A Beginner’s Guide’, Tumblr.

Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue, tag disambiguation, Archive of Our Own.

Lesley Goodman, ‘Disappointing Fans: Fandom, Fictional Theory, and the Death of the Author’, p.666.

Goodman, p.666.

#does this make sense check #dissertation #research #Martin Barker #Francesca Coppa #Tisha Turk #Kristina Busse #Alexandra Herzog #Lesley Goodman #LullabyKnell #fic readers #paratexts #reader response #tags #AO3 infrastructure

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3 Chapter 20

• Note: Screenshots for Hana are from @kennaxval , HIMEME YouTube Channel for Drake and Vika Avey YouTube Channel for Maxwell. Alright. Looks like this book will take another two chapters, fam!

• I feel like one will be for the final showdown between Liam and Anton, and the eventual aftermath, and the last one will be an epilogue of sorts, where the MC either has her coronation or is honoured in a special ceremony for her bravery. But I could be wrong, so don't take me altogether on my word.

• Wanna know how to be friendzoned by your spouse at your own wedding reception? Be Hana.

• I'm serious. Even if she's fucking married to you she's still expected to play the part of Professional Best Friend™. She acts more the bridesmaid than the actual bride.

• Title: A Warm Reception. Well that reception is about to get scalding hot by the end of this chapter!

• The chapter begins with a lovely sweet scene with your husband/wife (it's so nice to finally say it!!) and what they're looking forward to at the reception. In the options you get to hint at the main course you picked (if you paid the diamonds) or the cake (if you paid the diamonds) + the toast (for which you will now pay diamonds).

• We meet Ana de Luca at the boutique and she shows us a dress that...still looks like it would be more suitable for a wedding instead.

Okay maybe a little risque for a wedding...but still. I guess I'm more used to the bride changing into a different colour for the reception (for us Malayali Christians, we usually change into saris of whatever colour - but mostly red - after the wedding and the mass is over).

Well of course I'm choosing this. The other option is the dreaded LBD (alright not that dreaded. It's a lot better than Bluebelle, after all).

• Madeleine is extra snippy and snarky compared to her usual, and is determined to change her job description from Press Sec to Professional ClamJammer/Cockblocker™.

• Look, you lucky sods who did the fling option. My MC has had no sex since Valtoria and SHE. IS. THIRSTY.

• So we enter the hall, congratulated and complimented like any regular wedded couple, our friends surrounding us with joy and promises of a good time. Court members like Kiara and Penelope confess to crying over your vows (I'm guessing this crops up only if you chose the vow diamond option in Chapter 18).

• Boy they really are laying it in thick with Liam's heartbreak if he's not marrying you aren't they. Like they HAVE to drill it in you that THIS MAN STILL LOVES YOU AND IS IN PAIIIIIN before this entire betrayal fiasco occurs. They're like a few lines short of literally writing it on the poor man's forehead.

• In each playthrough, once you're done getting felicitations from everyone, you then get to meet the rest of the groom/bride's families.

In Liam's playthrough Regina and Leo tell Liam how proud they are of him, and Leo is impressed at his wedding taking place in Bossina Cathedral (hinting at the fact that if you married him in RoE, he was one of the few royals who did not get married there). In Drake's playthrough, the MC meets Bianca, and we find out more about both her and Jackson (Jackson wasn't a big fan of big events with lots of people, and Bianca can't wrap her head around the gazillion spoons and their purpose on the dinner table. Don't let your future son-in-law Bertrand catch you saying that, Bianca!). In Hana's playthrough, Xinghai and Lorelai sound nostalgic, and Lorelai tells Hana that she wishes Hana had let her braid her hair. Hana tenses up at the comment, but given the speech Lorelai gives later on, it seems more like a sentimental moment she wanted to share with Hana before the wedding. In Maxwell's playthrough, the family members are Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie, and Savannah uses her time with the newlyweds to...make pointed remarks about "how hard it is to take the leap" and give Bertrand shade for taking their relationship further yet. Um. Okay Savannah.

• We then move on to the main course. Now if you didn't buy the group scene at the festival in Castelserraillian, you do have a main course - they just don't specify what it is. If you do, however, the main course you chose will unlock a scene with the LI that recommended it. The chicken tagine unlocks some playful dialogue between Liam and Leo about how much Liam disliked this dish and how much his tastes have changed since then. The ash-e reshteh unlocks a cute scene between Hana and her parents about their experience in Iran during the Persian New Year, including a sweet story about how Lorelei had lost her bag and ended up walking around in a t-shirt instead. The feijoada stew doesn't give us any extra stories, but it does unlock a funny scene where Bertrand looks suspiciously at the stew ("It smells like...Drake". Bertrand Bertrand Bertrand. If only you knew how much grovelling you'd have to do in front of Drake later), Drake encourages him to try it, and Bertrand is bowled over by the taste. I guess that's to be expected, considering Drake only specified that he liked the taste of the stew rather than assign any personal connection to it. Overall...nice touch having the food item connected to the LI that suggested it to you, and it makes me a little sadder about the fact that they didn't assign one to Maxwell at all.

• The LI you married gives their speech for free, each in their own unique style, each giving us an insight into their individual stories:

In their individual ways, each LI stresses on how their love story wasn't expected to work out, but did despite all the odds. Both Maxwell and Drake are self-deprecating: one speaks of how he - even now - cannot imagine that this beautiful feisty woman would choose a 'cynical bastard' like him, while the other highlights how fairytale-like her journey was expected to be and how he was the court jester who shouldn't have been getting the girl, but did. (Lol I also noticed that the married Drake now calls his spouse "Walker" 😄 Edit: Looks like this is by option. @i-dream-so-i-write tells me that in the carriage scene post the wedding, you get to choose what he should call you, which I missed. Nice touch!). Hana speaks of how her feelings towards the MC gradually developed over time, becoming stronger and more difficult to ignore even though she knew they were both supposed to be here on the same purpose (ie. vying for Liam's hand). Liam's highlights his constant fears that their relationship would be brought to an abrupt end several times, but above all, he speaks of her as Cordonia's Queen, reminds his subjects that she has proved her worth as a leader time and again. This is important, because it's a reminder that Liam will always belong to two: to his country, and to the woman who marries him.

• You then get a diamond option to hear the toasts of all your friends (the remaining LIs + Olivia) + a family member of that particular LI. In each playthrough, there are discrepancies: ones that seemed odd and confusing to me at first but that clearly show a pattern. Each LI will have just one fellow LI who will speak about them as well, rather than just the MC, and a family member who will reflect on that person's growth. Out of all of them, Olivia addresses only one directly with substantial attention to the LI: and that is Liam (she has a line directed to Drake that is doubtless funny but actually doesn't add anything and could have been done without really). Each one ends with a final toast from Bertrand. So here's what the breakdown of the toasts in each playthrough:

Liam: Toasts given by Drake, Olivia, Maxwell, Hana and Bertrand. Family member: Leo.

Leo's speech is primarily about bringing us back to the roots of the TRR story (his abdication and the aftermath of it all is how this story begins, after all), and reminding us of how it all began. He acknowledges the toll his decision must have taken on Liam, but also makes it clear that the MC has helped Liam find the balance between his duties and his needs that he so clearly needed.

The LI who focuses on Liam is Drake. This is but natural, given their deep bond and personal history. He speaks of Liam's "heart of gold" that matches the literal gold he's got around, and considers him his brother.

Maxwell and Hana focus on the MC, and only cursorily mention Liam (Maxwell does cute finger guns though lol).

Olivia's toast is special to the MC because it's where she makes clear her respect for her, and confesses that though she hated her in the beginning it turned into respect. Liam is perhaps the only LI Olivia properly acknowledges:

In the rest of the playthroughs, Olivia may end up being Liam's eventual Queen, but in this one - she is affirming that whether he belongs to her or not, he remains her inspiration and she will always care for him. Kinda like a fitting goodbye to that dream I guess? Comparatively, she ignores the other LIs, except for Drake whom she baits and then declines to make a toast for.

Bertrand speaks of his personal journey with the MC, but does not make more than a cursory mention of Liam and the fact that the MC is now Queen.

Drake: Toasts given by Liam, Hana, Maxwell, Olivia and Bertrand. Family member: Savannah.

Savannah's toast is more centered around the MC than it is Drake, and possibly gives the MC more credit than is wise. Like yes, if the MC chooses she can convince Drake to actually reach out and talk to his sister, but she wasn't the one who - in Savannah's words - "found" Savannah. That was all on Drake. Drake was the one who found the address. He was the one who took initiative to check it out and see who stayed there. All the MC does is maybe give him the required push to stay, and even that is optional. In any case...when Savannah does talk about Drake it is to reaffirm his deep denial that there was anything between them up until he was able to get engaged to the MC.

The LI who focuses on Drake is Liam. He speaks of their long-standing friendship, how Drake deserves happiness, and hints at how much he has sacrificed for Cordonia without taking anything in return.

Again, Maxwell and Hana do not mention Drake except in passing, and their toasts are mostly dedicated to their friendship with the MC.

Olivia's toast is basically added here just because Olivia-roasting-Drake is popular, and I think it falls a little flat really.

Bertrand, being Drake's future brother-in-law, speaks briefly of his affection for the Walker family and therefore affirms his respect for Drake based on what he has heard of him from Savannah.

Hana: Toasts by Maxwell, Liam, Drake, Olivia and Bertrand. Family member: Lorelai.

Lorelai's toast ties in with what she tells Hana at the beginning of the reception. She brings up the way she used to braid Hana's hair as a reference point to her childhood, speaking at length of how close they were even if the relationship was a strained one. She speaks of how afraid she was of losing Hana, and how she is now coming to terms with the fact that by setting her free she is actually becoming closer to Hana than she ever imagined. Which is nice...but as with most things Hana related...it's a whitewashed pretty picture that really doesn't delve properly into this relationship as it has been depicted before.

The LI that focuses on Hana is Maxwell. It's clear that there is a tiny element of hero-worship there ("when I grow up I want to be like Hana Lee"). He acknowledges her particular manner of caring for people, her amazing dance skills and her kindness. It's quite sweet, even though frustrating because I've seen more of the LIs laud Hana's perfections in lieu of proper characterization. But that aside. It's sweet.

In this case, it is Liam and Drake who do not focus on Hana, instead stopping at their toast to the MC. Olivia does not directly address Hana either.

Bertrand, as with Liam's playthrough, doesn't have much to say about Hana the way he does about Drake and (understandably) Maxwell.

Maxwell: Maxwell's has only four options - the remaining LIs and Olivia. This is because Bertrand, Maxwell's brother and only surviving family, is also the MC's sponsor and speaks in that capacity as well. In the case of Maxwell's playthrough, he represents both the bride and the groom.

Bertrand's toast here is pretty much an extension of his toast in the other playthroughs, with him exploring his history with his brother. He recognizes Maxwell's gifts, acknowledges the childlike quality that is a part of him, confesses there is so much about Maxwell that he doesn't and may never really understand, and apologizes for making him feel like he deserves less than to know his brother is proud of him. It reflects on the journey the Beaumont brothers have taken, and how he finally realizes Maxwell's worth.

The LI that focuses on Maxwell is Hana. Like Maxwell she speaks of his excellent dancing skills, but then again she also speaks of his zest for life, his sense of humour, his playful spirit.

Liam and Drake focus on the MC instead of Maxwell, which feels a bit odd since they've known him for long enough as well, but I can appreciate that Liam and Drake are closer to each other than to anyone else in the group, and so are Hana and Maxwell.

Again, Olivia does not say anything about Maxwell either.

It looks like they decided to center the toasts around the MC for the most part, with a few insights on the LI from those closest to them. They spread that out by including a family member and an LI close to to them, and additionally in Liam's case, Olivia.

• Seeing Hakim try to say "WOO" and then ask if he's doing it right if you ask everyone to say make some noise, has to be the cutest thing about this chapter xD

•

Yes Esther. He picked the song. From the HSS soundtrack.

• Each LI then speaks about/alludes to their previous dances with you. Liam recalls the first dance at the Masquerade, Hana alludes to the many dances they have done over the course of the story (mostly because dancing with her is optional), Drake speaks about wanting to get things right especially on their special day and Maxwell speaks about having the right mood and music depending on the situation. Quite sweet.

• Once the wedding dance is done, the LIs dance in a group together. Liam twirls Hana, Hana performs ballet, Maxwell challenges Drake to do spin kicks, Drake does some killer spin kicks, crediting self-defense with teaching him those moves. Penelope (and Kiara, very cautiously once she realizes Maxwell is volunteering to coach because she clearly wants all her bones intact by the end of the night) is so impressed she asks to be coached. Maxwell does the coaching.

• Olivia is not here, and Maxwell assumes she's gone to check out the hors d'ouvres. Hmm. Hmm.

• Cake cutting time! Now technically, if you didn't buy this option, it still happens - you just don't get to see what they're cutting. Choosing your cake allows you to see it and (more importantly in my opinion) gives you some lovely food descriptions. You also get gag options for cake cutting and for either feeding the cake to your spouse or smearing it all over their faces.

• If you're getting married to Liam and bought the gastrodiplomacy scene in Castelserraillian, you get an extra chocolate souffle. I wasn't sure they would remember this one post hiatus, but looks like they did. Now if only they'd remember Hana was an actual character deserving of a good arc with that much accuracy...

• If you bought the cake scene, you also get to surprise your spouse with an extra dessert. Liam is willing to share his baklava with you after being outed by his brother as being a Joey (I DON'T SHARE FOOD), Hana loves the hot chocolate and wants to refine her recipe based on it, Maxwell calls it the "second best cake" he's had (the first being their wedding cake). Drake's is the s'mores, but the playthrough I saw shows him enjoying the Cordonian Ruby pie (which honestly looks more like its been filled with berries than apples) and speaking of how nice it is to have one down-to-earth dessert. I'm guessing he must have either a similar reaction to the s'mores, or there's some reminiscing of the time he prepared it for her back in Book 2.

• The scene now shifts to BertVannah, who are having an argument. Savannah looks pissed off about Bertrand not calling and informing her about the attack in the boutique (gee, I wonder how that conversation would've gone. "Hey honey. At the brink of death here. Toodles!"). But her real ire is because she wants to take things to the next level but is getting mixed signals from Bertrand. She tells him she will probably be joining her mother in Texas instead. The timing of all this is supposed to be terrible, because Bertrand was planning to propose. With that ruby ring from LoveHacks.

• What ensues is a diamond scene to help Bertrand give Savannah her fairytale proposal, one last exercise in teaching Bertrand words and this couple to hold hands. Whether you choose it or not, Bertrand proposes, Savannah says yes and we find out her middle name is Jane.

• The diamond scene itself is quite sweet. It begins with Bertrand buttering up to Drake to get his approval, the highlight of which is him imitating a chicken to prove to Drake that he would do anything for Savannah. It then moves ahead to the Cordonian barbershop quartet (Liam, Drake, Maxwell, Bertrand) agreeing to get together after their last appearance in Book 2 to help him with the proposal, which will be sung to Savannah during the bridal bouquet toss.

• Somehow, no matter what, the TRR writing team have to remind us that they don't consider Hana a bride at her own wedding:

They somehow forget that Hana is a bride in this part of the Hana playthrough, have her round up the bridesmaids when that should be done by someone else (Madeleine or Kiara or literally any other woman), and make her stand in her fucking wedding gown in the line with the other bridesmaids. It's bad enough that she remains the "professional best friend" even after you're engaged, has to wear black at her own bachelorette and a glitch in the game during the ceremony directly affects her fans more than anyone else. Like if I were Hana I would circle the photo album of this day and mark it WORST WEDDING EVER. Yes. In red 😠

The MC is really out there treating her bride like a wedding planner on their wedding day. So much for making this wedding Hana's dream wedding, MC. Such love much wow.

• Proposal done, it's now time to give the LIs their gifts. Very nice, very emotional, they all love what you got them and they're all adorable.

You get the usual with the remaining LIs, and some extra kissing with your spouses. Overall, quite nice.

That's a lie Hana and you know it.

• So Olivia is completely MIA post the toast, Gladys is walking around looking poker faced, Bastien is taking Mara's place while (I'm guessing) she recovers...and Madeleine is still being a colossal cockblocker/clam jam.

• You get a few last minute conversations with Kiara and Penelope, including a default acknowledgement of how much Kiara sacrificed to be here and how tough it was for her (nice try, PB, but I'm not forgiving you for Lythikos).

•

We get a lovely call-back to the first chapter of Book 1, by having Not Henney be part of our wedding.

• Regina then comes up to talk to you, admitting that she was wrong in thinking that the MC would be "dangerous for Cordonia", and is now happy you're here.

• Gladys then comes and asks us to accompany her because someone is "impatient" to be with us.

• Uh huh, uh huh, I thought. Time for a diamond sex scene?

• But nope. It's free. (Waiiiiitaminute. Something is not quite right about this. We can't be boinking with our fiancé/es for free. What's going on!)

• ...oh. OH.

• Shame on you Gladys!

• When I asked you to call me Lamb Shawarma I didn't mean for you to turn me into one!

General Thoughts:

• If you're marrying Hana, Drake or Maxwell, they are lured into the maze first, and used as bait to catch hold of the MC. If you're marrying Liam, however, you're the bait.

• Prior to this, Olivia is missing as well, possibly for Anton to establish his "rightful" claim over his wife (good luck with that, buddy. I'd love for this to end with one of her knives on your throat) in the next chapter.

• Which is probably why Liam having feelings for the MC keeps coming up so much in the final few chapters. It propells him into anger either way, and seeing Olivia in a danger as well allows Liam to finally wake up to his possible feelings for her in the other playthroughs (I hope?)

• I think there will be a duel. I think it will be a parallel to the Costume Gala duel between Drake and Neville, except here the stakes are much much higher. Which is why Neville is shown in the chapter, after a long time of not being shown at all even though it's clear he's still part of the tour. He's probably there as a way to foreshadow what is to come. Also, it works as a bit of an inverse.

In the Costume Gala duel, Drake was clearly the underdog, and Neville clearly the noble who needed to be taught a lesson. Drake has spoken about agreeing to the duel to prove that as a commoner he has his worth and dignity, and it doesn't need to be trampled on.

In this duel, Anton appears to be the underdog fighting valiantly against the king of a "tyrannical" dynasty, and this is a rhetoric that at least some people take seriously, as we saw in the riot in Chapter 17, and in a little of what Gladys says before the betrayal.

But here...the tables are turned. Anton is the power-hungry candidate for the throne who is willing to destroy the livelihood of Cordonia's farmers and throw the economy of the country into shambles (ironically, since his father was part of the Sons of Earth), to get access to the throne. Liam has been established over and over as someone who genuinely cares for his people and wants them to prosper with him, not have himself prosper at their expense. So in this case, the non-noble here is established as the one who would be absolutely wrong for the country, and Liam as the monarch Cordonia needs and deserves.

• I wonder how much of this chapter will the actual duel take. I'm guessing half of it, with the LI, Liam, Olivia and the MC then going through the aftermath, and then eventually moving into the Coronation/honouring ceremony of the finale in another chapter.

• There will (hopefully) be some focus on Liam's emotional state? That man has been through way too much shit minus any space to actually talk about what he's been through. It's high time he gets his space to really open up about his trauma and actually get to heal, because this book has been keeping his state of mind in limbo for way longer than it should. It's been poorly worked on and poorly built, his overall crisis arc, but I'm hoping this coming chapter will make up for that.

• I deserve TWO sex scenes for the kind of crap I have to put up with at my own fucking wedding. An attack the day before! An attack before I dress! An attack at my reception! What BRIDE goes through this shit!

I'd better get great lingerie and explosive sex for the kind of stress getting married in Cordonia takes out of me.

• So technically Gladys is supposed to be our surprise element this chapter, and I guess it makes sense, since she is a recently introduced character and you can push her forward as shady without making it very obvious because she only enters the story when the book is close to being done.

• One thing I did find interesting is that if you choose to thank her while she leads you to the hedge maze, she looks sad and speaks of how "the nobles are usually too busy thinking of themselves on a night like tonight", leading the MC to feel sorry she's had such a bad experience. Which kinda gives us a hint why she might be in cahoots with Anton in the first place. Anton is not a nobleman (though he is married into a noble family), and seems to be preying on commoner emotions to get support for overthrowing Liam's government. I'm sorry Gladys, but I think you've been fooled.

• That's it for this chapter, guys. On to Chapter 21!

#the royal romance #long post #liam x mc #king liam #drake x mc #drake walker #hana x mc #hana lee #maxwell x mc #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #bertrand beaumont #savannah walker #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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completely-unqualified · 6 years

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12 Angry Men - Loneliness

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The lights are now on, the actors are in position and the camera rolls. But who put them there and why? Why is the camera there and why are the actors so close or so far from it? The answer? Well i don't know, after all i am completely unqualified. Yet there is one film that made me wonder. Why? Why do I feel the loneliness of this specific character so vividly and so intensely. Is it the performance, the character positioning, the dialogue, the framing or maybe all of the above? 12 Angry Men made me think harder about movies in general. But why?

Look at where the characters sit

In one of the last scenes of the movie the stage has been set. After an exhausting dialogue eleven out of the twelve men of the jury are now convinced that the accused young boy is innocent. For the first time, almost everyone agrees on that but one of them persists to disagree.

Can you guess who that man is? While there are a lot of characters in frame, loneliness is echoing. The camera shows us a lot of the room, placing one man right in the middle (1).

Three characters (2-4) are looking directly towards him; it’s them against him and their gaze is not random since they all look at the same man in the middle of the frame. There is a man that has his back turned (5) while another one is standing up (6).

So many people yet a lonely character. Everything on frame focuses at the same man, everything “screams” that he for some reason is alone, in disagreement with everyone else. So, the positioning of the characters can say a lot about the emotions of a scene.

The director cuts and we see the reverse shot. Now character’s expressions are different. The man on the left (1) is looking towards the man on the right (2), avoiding the gaze of his companions, letting us feel his loneliness. The man on the right (2) is looking at the empty room, expressing the disagreement between the rest of the jury and the man on the left (1). One man stands out (3). A lot of the room is showcased through the camera lens, however there’s still focus on the man right in the middle. He is the only one of the men to be standing up and the only one that looks directly into the eyes of the man in front of him (1). Who has the most power in the room? Who has the leading position? Imagine being seated, avoiding the gaze of a man only a few meters away from you, while he is standing up looking directly into your eyes. How would you feel?

So, framing and character positioning can inform us visually about the power distribution and the emotions in a scene.

The Two Cuts

The art of film making has a lot of tools in order to visually interpret a script. One of them is the process of editing. Cutting between frames can simply show us the different perspectives in a scene or reveal a character, but it can also be used for so much more. Only the first character is framed alone (1st picture). Every other character is framed with one or two other companions in the same picture. Simple and elegant. Showcase a man alone, then exaggerate loneliness by showing the other characters framed together. Cut between those shots in order to highlight the emotion the director wants to exude. This cut will be repeated twice more until the end of the scene since, after all, a character alone makes a great contrast with characters framed together.

So, a cut between frames can tell us a lot about the emotions of a scene, too.

One Against the Other

One man seated (1st picture) and one man standing (2nd picture). One man framed with a closer shot (2nd picture) than the other (1st picture).

One man has the strongest presence in the room. I will let you guess who that man is; framing the characters closer to the camera usually establishes a stronger connection with the viewers. The fact that the whole frame is being filled with the presence of a single man informs us that he is the only one important to gaze in this particular moment. So a character framed alone can infer that the room is arguing with him, that he is left out but it can also be used as a tool to establish power and intimacy with the audience.

So, how do we distinguish between them? The two pictures seem identical. The answer; through contrast. The man on the first picture is framed a little bit farther away from the camera than the man on the second and the man on the second is standing up literally looking down on the man on the first frame. Watching the scene play out one can notice that the first one (1st picture) feels left out, alone, while the second one (2nd picture) feels more powerful.

Epilogue

Retrospectively, the filmmakers used the simplest techniques that one can utilize. They either show the character in a room full of people having the eyes of everyone stuck to him, or they frame him alone. A character can be alone in a frame full of people. Knowing that, the filmmakers set the rest of the characters in a position that establishes and empowers this feeling. They frame them in groups and cut between the man sitting alone and the rest of them sitting together in order to enhance the sentiment of loneliness.

But there is another man that does not “obey” to this visual rule. There is a man who is framed alone standing up almost “schooling” the seated ones. So, in the very same scene the director and his crew used a character framed alone for two entirely different reasons. To show loneliness and power. But, they make sure that one of the two men framed alone is at least standing up and is closer to the camera in order to establish who is the powerful and who is the powerless.

So why, why did the filmmakers decide to frame the characters as they framed them, or position them as they did? Why did they decide to cut when they cut? Storytelling, feeling. The script described a man in opposition with everyone else in the room, a man left alone against eleven other characters.Throughout the scene there is a main feeling that they want to highlight “This character is alone in a room full of opposing people”. Every choice that the filmmakers made traces back to this feeling. And yes, the dialogues play a major role in highlighting this particular sentiment, but, after all cinema is a visual medium. So, rather than letting the script tell us the story, there are films that enhance it visually through framing, character positioning and cuts. This is why I felt the loneliness of the character, because I didn’t only hear it through the dialogue, but I also saw it on screen.

#film #filmaker #filmaking #12 angry men #classic films #director #movie #cinema #film essay #essay

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josiahtrelawnyy · 5 years

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So, who really is Arthur’s cut second love interest? Let’s chat.

So, I don’t think anyone will ever see this post since I’m new to the fandom and don’t have a following on Tumblr, but I’m so curious so I decided to write up a masterpost on who the second love interest is. I think we should be able to gauge a proper candidate which checks marks all the boxes to this mystery ... Though it probably won’t be uncovered unless Rockstar officially reveals who, and or, files are found indicating who, but I doubt Rockstar will ever reveal it.

Since this is a masterpost this is SUPER LONG, HUGE warning:

[CANDIDATES]

* Abigail - Abigail is excluded out of this narrative as she’s married to John and only loves John. The bit Arthur jots down about her in his journal tends to be misinterpreted by many, Arthur doesn’t want Abigail like that. ❌

* Mary Linton - Mary Linton is excluded from this narrative. She is 1 out of 2 love interests for Arthur. She isn’t apart of the cut content. ❌

* Eliza - A waitress from Arthur’s past who he had one night stand with which ended up with his son Issac being born. Arthur would visit Issac and Eliza every several months and help them financially but agreed to be apart of their lives with Eliza being aware that him being apart of their lives is a danger though she didn’t mind.

* Mary-Beth - an optimistic 21-year old who has never married and or from what we know been in a relationship before. She’s a hopeless romantic daydreaming about love and a prince to sweep her off her feet.

* Sadie - A married woman who’s been a widow for a short time span of 6 months who lives in the gang because she has no one else. Formerly married to Jake Adler for 3-years before his murder. 8 years have flown by in the epilogue and Sadie indicates she is ready to move on, though it could be taken as a joke. Either way, her husband is never once mentioned in the EP.

* Charlotte - A married woman who’s given up on life out of desperation because she has no idea about nature and how to survive on her own after her husband’s passing. She is a city girl with no skills. She’s been a widow for only a day when Arthur meets her.

Now we have Dan Houser’s quote to help us dissect who this second love interest was; “At one point, protagonist Arthur Morgan had two love interests, but “we decided one of them didn’t work,” says Dan. And whole missions were removed because “they were never going to work technically or be quite slick enough, or they felt superfluous. We removed a mission on a train where you had to deal with bounty hunters, because it was fun at first, but then it wasn’t. This part of the process is always about compromise and horse trading. Everyone always loses bits of the game they love.”

There are words here that are keywords that need to be highlighted. Though, I don’t know if Dan is referring to that bit for whole missions or specifically the love interest but, “superfluous” ... “they were never going to work technically” ... “be quite slick enough.” ... “Didn’t work.”

If he is referring to whole missions and not the second love interest then those keywords can be ignored.

[Why I personally think it was Sadie (JUST my OWN opinion and theory.)]

* Arthur writes about Sadie in his journal more than once, I don’t think Arthur writes about anyone else that much besides Mary. So, I think Mary and Sadie have the most journal entries about them. (Though, someone needs to double check on this.) One particular page though is noteworthy where he states; “I ever get on her wrong side, I am a dead man! I don't intend to - she's a fine woman, amusing and good hearted and decent angry.” So from this entry, we can absolutely see Arthur is attracted to Sadie as he refers her as a ‘fine woman’ I don’t take that as courtesy, or in a friendship POV (but, hey, maybe I’m wrong, what do you think?) If this quote is truly out of attraction, then why would R* bother with that if their intention when they first wrote up Sadie was purely suppose to be platonic? Big questions to think about. The only person he calls a fine woman other than Sadie is Mary. He shows no attraction to any other camp girls as well, besides Sadie.

* After the O’Driscoll revenge trip, there is a massive difference on the wordplay dialogue, both have completely two different meanings and it purely depends on your honor. If you have low-honor, Sadie calls Arthur her best friend, if you have high-honor she says he’s the best man she’s ever known apart from her deceased husband, Jake. This one in my opinion is a big eyebrow raiser and makes me want to take a step for a bit, first of all, putting Arthur on the same wavelength on her husband is massive, considering Jake Adler wasn’t an outlaw, or a killer, he was a normal honorable man who did honest work, while Arthur is (we know he has a good heart, but his past makes him bad.) So, the fact that Sadie is making that statement is big. She doesn’t judge him, she doesn’t care. She’s comparing him to the person she loved like crazy. Since when does a best friend get compared to a person’s husband? Never.

Secondly, if Rockstar again intended and wrote Sadie only for platonic purposes, than why is the low-honor dialogue her calling him a best friend, if they were only meant to be purely platonic, than wouldn’t the high-honor statement be, “you’re my best friend” not, “you’re the best man, I’ve known?” There’s a lot to think about here. The low-honor bit is a complete “friend zone” while the high-honor seems to have an open window for a more romantic narrative type of route. Keep in mind, Sadie is only Arthur for like what, 6 months? While she’s known Jake for god knows how long, and she’s already putting giving him the best man she’s ever met title, seriously? Come on....

* Both Sadie and Arthur become instant best pals, they’re the closest to one another in the gang, Sadie only trusts Arthur, despite barely knowing him. She doesn’t even trust Abigail who has helped her through a lot. The question is, how do they become instantly so close out of the blue when there isn’t no relationship development if R* hadn’t cut anything?

* In the epilogue, Sadie will not ride with anyone these days after the passing of Arthur. She makes this clear to John and tells John directly that she doesn’t “do” friendships because she “isn’t good with people.” (Which isn’t true, by the way.) She has turned to isolation and completely closed off, as if the last bit of what kept her going was clearly Arthur but now that he’s gone, she’s become a lone wolf entirely and refuses to let anyone in her life. Her riding with Arthur seemed to be a personal thing, considering she won’t ride with John unless it’s business related though we use to see her riding with Arthur all the time, and her even volunteering to ride with Arthur even when Arthur never asked her to.

* If you follow Sadie into the Rhodes general store she tells the clerk, it’s “Mrs.” Not “Miss” and then she says she’s “Mrs. Kilgore.” Now obviously, the gang alias is “Kilgore” so all the gang members use it, though, I still don’t think this changes the fact that she outright calls Arthur, “Mr. Kilgore.” (”Don’t worry about me, Mr. Kilgore, go get your mail.”) Implying to the clerk that Arthur is her husband because she corrected the clerk earlier that she was “Mrs” a married woman.... I mean, come on, why would R* bother putting that if Sadie was never meant to be a love interest at one point, what is the point of that interaction, espeically if they were “supposedly” only platonic? No way.

* Sadie calls Arthur “honey” in Chapter 6. Now readers, you may be thinking, “that’s just typical female southern accent talk! They all call people honey.” Though, I don’t think this is out of “courtesy” or “typical southern talk” as Sadie never uses the word “honey” throughout any chapter so it’s definitely not apart of her attitude, or common courtesy. Right before she calls him “honey” she moves her eyes to the left, implying that she’s lying to Arthur about being a better shooter. Why would she lie? .... The answer is, because she wanted to protect him. She even admits, and knows he’s capable of handling and grabbing Abigail himself, but she refuses to let anything happen to him, THEN, the line is followed up with her calling him, “honey” and then saying; “just do it my way, it’s for the best.” It’s for the best is referring for his sake. So that line to me absolutely screams it’s out of an intimacy perspective rather than platonic courtesy.

What fuels this “honey” scene even more is the fact that she won’t even let Arthur row the boat, he can handle rowing a boat too and he even complains to her when she starts rowing. That’s all Sadie protecting him. I mean, if he was only written as her best friend, I’m pretty sure she’d let him row the boat.

* There is a recurring theme of; “You and me is all we need.” This line is said by Sadie more than once. One of the moments she says it is when his gang members of 20 years abandon him while Sadie is watching and he sadly says how many years he’s given the gang. It’s said, I think one or two more times (?) though, I find this interesting how she says this when his family dumps him and betrays him, yet she’s the person there for him. I don’t think this is a coincidence, I think this is done on purpose and still fuels a possible romantic narrative that was meant to happen.

* You have the option to help or not help Sadie. I believe this also happens with Mary. Though this happens with Charles as well, but the scene with Sadie is a lot similar to Mary’s while Charles just gives a quick: “I understand.” While Arthur will tell Sadie to leave the O’Driscolls because she’s “better than that” she will say, “Sadly, that ain’t true..” An emotional moment happens and they part. The same is with Mary, he’ll tell her she needs to find someone else to run her errands and she’ll say, “I miss you.” So, it seems to me, there was going to be a love triangle between Mary and Sadie from this type of setup judging by the decline/help interactions. One thing that’s also noteworthy is he tells Sadie, “revenge is a fool’s game.” Which is interesting because of the EP seems to come into play with this.

* Back to the; “revenge is a fool’s game.” Why does Sadie seek revenge and remind John of their revenge promise if she never had loved Arthur? The weird part is, Sadie’s mission was to get revenge for her husband that’s what she badly wanted. So, why would she want revenge for Arthur so bad? By the way, it was Sadie’s plan, and revenge with. John was focused on his family and went to the Yukon and Sadie had no clue he was going to come back while she heard talk of Micah. Charles was in Saint Denis (he took everything hard.) Though he wasn’t apart of the revenge promise, and or, focused on ever getting revenge. So, that is proof that John and Charles would’ve never got involved with killing Micah if Sadie never reminded them, because it was Sadie’s plan all along. “Revenge is a fool’s game.” Isn’t that funny? Her husband is also never once mentioned in the epilogue, her focus is Arthur’s revenge. By the way, Sadie and Micah NEVER Interaction ONCE out all 6 chapters, only the beginning of the game briefly when he accidentally burned her home down which she doesn’t blame Micah. They don’t have bad blood, nor is Micah rude to her. So why would she want revenge so bad on Micah when they didn't have bad blood between them?

* The big eye opener is Sadie’s official Rockstar bio. “A widow who is hell-bent on taking revenge upon those who killed her husband. Relentless and afraid of nothing and no one. The wrong woman to cross, but very loyal to those she loves.” I think the big keyword here is the word “loves” - Sadie is loyal to absolutely no one besides Arthur. Proof of this is Chapter 5-6 where she doesn’t follow Dutch but only will follow Arthur, this is also seen via the Rainfall’s mission if you choose to help RF. Again, the question is, why would R* write that bio out if she was only meant to be platonic? Who does Sadie love that she’s loyal to? ... Literally the answer is Arthur.

* Arthur’s emotional reaction is a complete outburst when anything happens to Sadie while with others, he’s completely fine. Take Tilly as an example, when Tilly gets kidnapped, Arthur is completely chill, and not really worried. It’s Grimshaw who goes mental. It’s the same with Jack, he is chill and say’s calmly, “we’ll get them back.” While with Sadie it’s a completely different emotional interaction from him. So, if she was purely to be platonic, wouldn’t his interaction be the chill response like he gives for the Tilly scenes?

* Hosea’s foreshadowing. In the beginning on the bear hunt, Hosea mentions Bessie. He says him and Bessie made it work because Bessie knew what he exactly was and because of it, she 100% accepted him as to why they worked. THOUGH, Hosea specifically says to Arthur there is NO escape to the outlaw life. Sadie instantly accepts Arthur for who he is and knowing what he is while nobody else will, e.g Mary Linton (again, possible love triangle.) She tells Arthur he’s as good as her husband, her husband was no killer, so that big wordplay there connects with Hosea’s foreshadowing. Sadie accepts him inside and out. That’s clearly done on purpose. Plus, this foreshadowing also relates to John. Him and Abigail worked because she accepts John for who he is, which is an outlaw, but they’ll forever be on the run like Hosea said because there isn’t an escape. This seems like a hint toward Mary Linton, showing Arthur and Mary would never be together, ever because it’s impossible. It’s just a dream. While it fits Sadie.

* When you give Sadie her harmonica, it’s completely different than what the other characters get. E.g when you give Dutch his pipe, Arthur says, says; “So, I found you a pipe.” Dutch just laughs and says; “Well will you look at that!” And then hands Arthur spurs. That was it. Same with Mary Beth, she gives Arthur a ring and just says thanks. While with Sadie it’s a long personal exchange and he says he looks forward to her hearing it Sadie responds by saying she only plays for her husband and is going to keep it that way and Arthur responds by saying fair enough, Sadie thanks him and says that was real kind of him. While Mary Beth just says; “Oh thank you, Arthur. Here take this, something I acquired along the way.” That’s it. Same with Tilly, it’s “Oh, it’s beautiful, thank you. Here please take this.” Kieran says; “Oh you actually.. Well thank you. This will make a good batch alright.” That’s it. So from here you can see Sadie and Arthur’s request action is not only longer, but it’s personal. While the rest of the camp members just say; “THANKS, TAKE THIS” I also noticed Sadie’s request wasn’t a request, she never asked for a harmonica, she said she use to play as the harmonica and she doesn’t want no petty while the camp members all directly want or, mention they want something. So, I think that’s interesting how Sadie’s is the only one that stands out and is unique/personal and the longest. So the idea of “platonic only” once again falls.

* Sadie is the only person who gets to slap Arthur. Literally Rockstar made time to animate Sadie and give her a slapping animation. Abigail will slap John once during a camp interaction when they’re fighting, Karen will slap Sean but she misses when she’s mad at him and he laughs. I find it interesting only Sadie can slap him and Grimshaw, but Grimshaw’s is a whole cut scene. Karen doesn’t let men walk over her, yet she won’t slap Arthur. Even Tilly says “Karen isn’t one to mess with.” So, it’s interesting how they only gave that animation to Sadie only.

* Sadie is the only character from the gang OUT of 23 characters who is concerned about Arthur's health, asks him about it and was taking care of him. Won't let him row the boat, lied to him, honey scene. She was the only one scared of losing him. Charles and Mary-Beth and the other gang members literally accept his death, Sadie is the only one concerned. The question is why if she wasn't the intended second love interest?

* Arthur writes about saying he'd be down with Black Belle if he was born in her era, so he does like the wild crazy type girls who handle themselves. Sadie is literally similar to Black Belle.

* In the optional Rainfall mission there is a cut scene after Arthur saves Eagle Flies and says he’ll be returning EF to his father and tells Dutch and everyone (with Sadie watching and the camera focusing on her not just Dutch) that Dutch left him to die. Afterwards, Charles says he’s coming and the camera dramatically cuts to Sadie and Sadie yells “AND SO WILL I” looking real sad. Though Arthur won’t look at her or let her come. As Charles and Arthur leaves Sadie says; “Be safe, Arthur” quietly. Again, back to the same question, if she was meant to be only platonic, why is Sadie so worried about his safety when Charles is with him? Plus what’s up with that specific camera moment? Hm... She also helps him with the military soldiers and her and Charles say they ride with him only, proving they chose Arthur, not the gang and loyal to him.

Why I don't think it's the other girls (MY own opinion):

* Mary Beth is 21. She’s smitten with Kieran which is revealed officially by Chapter 4. She was never a widow, therefore making it easily to pair her with Arthur. How would Mary Beth fall into R’s reasoning of “didn’t work” when there is no con’s to pairing him with Mary Beth besides their age gap? She isn’t a widow. Mary Beth also ditches the gang in Chapter 6 without saying goodbye to Arthur. You’d think if she loved him, she would’ve stuck around, but out of all 3 young camp girls, it’s Tilly who stays the longest. She also seems pretty moved on with her life in the EP, instead of having a guy she’s focused on her career, and seems not bothered by his death compared to John, Sadie and Charles. I think this is strong proof that Mary-Beth was never intended to be a LS. Plus, Mary Beth’s “dance” and “confessions” aren’t unique, you either dance with Karen or M.B it’s a random pick and you confess to all 3 girls. M.B, Karen and Tilly. It just randomly picked in your playthrough.

* I don’t think it’s Charlotte because Charlotte had just ended up as widow when Arthur meets her. She’s desperate and hopeless because she’s literally on the brink of death because she’s a city girl with no survival skills. Her kiss to Arthur was a cheek kiss which seemed to be out of grace, cherish, and thankfulness because Arthur literally saved her life. I don’t take the cheek kiss romantic at all. They have no dialogue between one another that ever hinted romance. Charlotte seems to be by far older than Arthur as well because by the EP her hair is almost entirely grey and she looks to be Hosea’s age.

Not to mention, this is contradictory to the PTSD narrative with Eliza. Arthur refuses to hookup with prostitutes and normal girls because of Eliza’s death because if he gets involved with them, it’s a danger to them. He even turns down Mary Linton because of this telling her he has a price on his head far too large and if he gets involved with Mary she’s doomed. It’s just pure contradiction.

Besides, Charlotte and Arthur only knew each other for 3 days. You can’t love someone in 3 days especially when her husband JUST died on day 1 out of 3. He can barely walk, and is coughing up blood, I’m not sure how anyone got a romantic angle out of that. If he was to survive, no way would he been able to live in Annesburg either, he needs somewhere hot and Charlotte refused to move out of AB for the sake of her husband’s dreams. I think Charlotte was purposely to fill his redemption arc just like Hamish. A complete side optional mission with a lovely reward (a cheek kiss and him feeling better for saving some, while he gets Buell a golden cremllo horse.) There’s the theme.

* Eliza I think is impossible. She was a waitress who had a one night stand with Arthur. There is absolutely no indication there was any real romance or love between the two other than the fact that he had a child out of a knock up mistake and is involved for the sake of her child, which is why it’s mentioned he helped financially. It seems Eliza had been dead for at least a decade before the story starts which would bring us to his early 20′s. How could a romance narrative been possible when she’s dead? ... 5-hours of content with Eliza wouldn’t make sense either considering Issac and he’s on the run from the Pinkertons, I don’t know how it would ever fit in the current story and since the crosses are shown in the trailer (which we assume is Eliza and Issac), seems like they’ve been dead way before. So I think the love interest definitely has to be someone CURRENT.

So there you have it folks who read this (if anyone ever does.) These were my points. I personally think it was always Sadie, but then they removed it because it made no sense because technically, it can’t work since the story only goes for 6 chapters and she’s still mourning her husband. The time they get closer than ever is 5-6, when he’s just about to die. It was obvious Arthur was always going to die, the only way it could’ve worked if they had an alternative ending where he lived. It’s funny though because Mary Linton is set up the same way, never meant to end up with Arthur and even if she did, it wouldn’t ever work because he’s sick but the reason they probably kept Mary’s plot because the game makes it clear him and Mary were never going to happen from Hosea’s bear hunt. Doomed the moment they begun. (Just a “pretty dream”) as Mary put it. They were incompatible, and because they were doomed from the start, it works with his illness plot angle especially in a tragic tone.

I think people need to forget about big points too in this argument like; "Sadie was mourning her husband!" I mean, Mary, Charlotte and Sadie were all mourning. You need to judge by the dialog to uncover who was the romantic plot. That'll make it easier to dissect.

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tumblunni · 6 years

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augh man i actually can’t find a track listing of what route themes played in what areas, damn cos theyre all named for one route but appear on like three others?? i dunno if i’m correct about this being the particular one that gets a BGM override in the area of sendoff spring that the game dumps you back into after beating the distortion world or if i maybe im just misremembering it cos this song has the most ‘triumphant retun’ type tune, i gues? i just know it hit me right in the heart to have one of the happy route tunes return after hours of ominous hell world and depressing confrontations with cyrus and it plays as cynthia goes on a long speech about how proud she is of u T_T and then u could just fly home if you had the right pokemon in your party, but i didnt so i got to have a triumphant victory lap walking back thru the route in all the swaying flowers like FUCK YEAH THIS IS THE WORLD I SAVED (even tho it still sucks that you couldnt save cyrus, and im glad he’s had more sympathetic portrayals in later cameo appearances so MAYBE if we ever get a remake they might add a better conclusion to his plot...)

BUT ANYWAY YEAH this is such a fuckin happy ending bop it absolutely deserved to be the pokemon equivelant of the epilogue in undertale where u run thru the whole world and see new dialogue for everybody which INCIDENTALLY is something pokemon should also add yo, instead of just having sinnoh be one of the best ending credits for showing the same thing in cutscene form. I wanted to actually play myself biking home 2 twinleaf and running into my virtual mom’s arms but thanks for doing it for me I guess!! XD also BW2 had the same thing and i still cried even tho i didnt like that generation as much. THEY HAD!! THE ADDED CINAMATOGRAPHY!! TO THE BIG RUN INTO MOM’S ARMS!! aaaaugh fully 3d games why dont you do this, why cant i actually see it animated now aaAUUUUU alola mom was the best mom too, where are her hugs T_T

aaaaaaaargh i wanna go watch the DPPT credits again and cry i cant even rememebr what differences there were? cos platinum was the one i replayed for my nostalgic anniversary weeping aaaaaugh why is it such a good game auuuugh aaaaugh i know i probably only think its the best cos it helped me thru a tough time in my life but WHATEVER

youtube

weep at weird similarity song with me weep at how its extra nostalgic cos i remember hearing greenday on the radio at the time LOL

aaaaugh why dont i know how to animate i really wanna make a higher res ending thing showing a bunch of epilogue highlight pics like sun and moon’s ending FUCK DAMN WHY AM I SINNOH FANDOMING AGAIN I BLAME U, RANDOM MUSIC POST!!!

#blunni thoughts

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jira-chii · 5 years

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Their Future

This is Part 2 of a quest analysis featuring Sayu and Suguru.

Part 1 here

Spoiler warning

NB: For my reference I call the settings of the first quest World 1 and the second World 2

The second Sayu and Suguru quest is called ‘Their Future’. It is actually set in World 2 and is essentially Sayu and Suguru’s story in a parallel timeline.

What is immediately noticeable is how similar the beginnings of both quests are.

One day we encountered a mysterious boy.

Similar to the first quest, this one starts with an escape from the facility, then Suguru approaching Yuki and asking for her cooperation to defeat an organisation. There are a few minor differences in this first half which solidly place this quest in the setting of World 2. Suguru names the organization he is trying to take down: Nostalgia. He is asking for Yuki's help because he has heard they have taken down countless members of Nostalgia. Though the details of the events are slightly different, Suguru acts in exactly the same way. However this quest starts to diverge from the plot of the World 1 quest when Yuki peers into Suguru’s memories.

“Tch, so you looked at my memories”

In this timeline, the orphanage delivers Sayu to Nostalgia. After being caught spying on one of the experiments involving Sayu, Suguru asks to go along with her as well. The two decide to make a run for it one day but Sayu has been weakened by the experiments and can’t run anymore. She tells Suguru to go on without her, live an ordinary life for her sake, and be happy in her place.

Of course, Suguru can’t do that, especially because he knows Nostalgia is planning to get rid of her in three days, so he vows to come back and save her.

Where the World 1 Yuki only saw Suguru’s memories when he started to attack them, Yuki here does it while he is still our ally. This means all of them are now on the same page and Takuya and Yuki now know enough about Suguru to confidently make the decision to help him. Additionally, Takuya is able to empathise with Sayu’s plight because he was once a captive of the organisation as well (World 2 beginning of main story).

Meanwhile, Sayu reflects on her life as she prepares herself for the experiment that will kill her. We see the same flashbacks as Yuki saw in the other quest/timeline. However Sayu’s perspective adds a deeper layer of meaning. When Suguru blushed after she teased him, she realised there were still human feelings inside her. When she shares her earphones with him she thought of it like giving him half of her life. With the Christmas present she was so happy she forgot to cry. Sayu was ready to completely give up, but Suguru made life worth living. She concludes it wasn’t such a bad life at all because Suguru was there. As she readies herself to face death, suddenly a friendly neighbourhood Beo appears.

Beo accuses Sayu of mentally twisting reality to placate herself with a false sense of satisfaction: “Are you really sure that's how you feel? Isn't escaping together with Suguru much more satisfying?” Then, like a trained salesman, he reveals the tarot card. “I’ll give you this tarot card. It has the power of ‘revival’. If you use it, the experiment won’t kill you. You’ll get to escape with Suguru and live happily ever after with him.”

Unlike his other desperate victims however, even in the face of death Sayu stands her ground and remains true to her values.

“What Suguru and I wished for was a normal life. That card is probably not normal, and even if I live, the experiments will eventually turn me into a monster. When that time comes, I can no longer return to being a human.”

Sayu has firmly resolved to die normally as a human. She has lived her life to the fullest, without regret. Because after all, if she was not ‘God’s Child’, she would not have been able to meet Suguru. All the pain was worth it, a small sacrifice to be able to spend time with him.

Beo, realising he can't change her mind, gives up.

Nostalgia are getting rid of Sayu because her power levels have dwindled so much to the point she is no longer useful to them. The reason for this is actually Suguru, who had planted such a strong concept of ‘normality’ in her that the ‘God’ part of God's Child started to wither away. However as the experiment is about to begin, Kikyou immediately calls on them to stop. Suguru has broken into the facility, and seeing her beloved place himself in danger to save her has caused Sayu’s power to rise to the highest level it has ever been. Kikyou plans to use this to their advantage. In a tragically similar climax to the other quest, they hijack Sayu’s consciousness in order to kill Suguru. Kikyou notes the irony that Sayu’s strong feelings of not wanting Suguru to get hurt is the basis of the power that will kill him.

Suguru finds Sayu, who tells him to run before it’s too late. She then evolves. Her thoughts are erratic but she manages to utter a plea for somebody to kill her. Yuki notes in an almost uncharacteristically calculating way that even though Sayu is powerful her defense is weak. In contrast, poor Suguru weakly begs us not to hurt Sayu any further.

“Please stop...stop attacking Sayu...”

But we kill her anyway.

Sayu dies, leaving Suguru devastated and in denial. Beo notes it is a bad habit of humans to try to avoid harsh realities. Sayu is dead, and Suguru has to face that fact. But then he turns around and dangles a single thread of hope in front of him.

“This tarot card can revive her, but there is a tiny price to pay. For example, Sayu might look slightly different from how she was before. She might not even be human anymore. Even then would you still love her? “

Suguru's answer is tragically predictable. Beo’s smile is sinister as he announces: “Blind love is beautiful, don't you think?“

Sayu is revived and turns into a monster, however Suguru gets incredibly offended when he hears Yuki call her one.

“Don't you dare call her that! Sayu isn't a monster, nor is she God's child! Sayu is just...a normal girl!”

Then we fight them. The ‘normal’ couple have the power of revival, meaning no matter how many times we beat them they come back to life.

Suddenly though, Sayu says something…

‘Normal’ girl Sayu: (says something only Suguru can understand)

Suguru: “Man Sayu, you are really attached to humans, but if you say so, we’ll spare them. I don’t care as long as I can be with you.”

Then the two disappear in a flash. Fighting us is not even worth their time anymore.

Takuya and Yuki are left conflicted. Was what we did the right thing? The wrong thing? Thanks to us, Sayu is now a monster and Suguru has probably made some questionable life decisions. But they look...happy?

Yuki concludes with the important lesson she learned that day: There are forces way more powerful than we can imagine in this world. That was the important lesson we learned, and so I resolved to never forget that day.

In an epilogue we find the ‘normal’ couple celebrating Christmas. Suguru got Sayu a present: it’s new clothes for Nico.

Now let’s start our ‘normal life’

~~Analysis Time~~

Sayu and Suguru’s quests are one of the most emotionally impactful stories I have ever experienced in Shoumetsu Toshi (both quests emotionally impact me in very different ways though).

While on the surface it is clear they are not quite the same story, structurally there are a heap of plot similarities. Even ignoring the fact that Suguru and Sayu’s memories together are almost exactly the same, both quests start with Yuki’s recount of an “encounter with a mysterious boy”, Suguru asking for Yuki’s cooperation, and then eventually Yuki peering into his memories. In World 2, the three make it to the facility to rescue Sayu instead of Sayu escaping and meeting Suguru at a rendezvous point in World 1. However the tragedy that occurs is almost exactly the same, just with the roles reversed. Kikyou and Taiyou’s actions are also eerily similar.

That said, the similarities of both stories also highlight some interesting differences, namely the actions of Takuya and Yuki. I have noted before that Sayu and Suguru are essentially the same characters in both timelines, right down to their dialogue. What is different from our perspective though, is how Takuya and Yuki behave.

World 2 Yuki peers into Suguru’s memories early on, providing a common knowledge that acts as a foundation for cooperation. Instead of running from him, this Yuki attempted to understand him and his motives better. I think this is possible because in World 2 Yuki did not have a traumatising situation happen to her like World 1 Yuki. She has led basically a normal and happy life (this is, of course, before she finds out who Kikyou really is), and so her perspective overall is more positive and progressive. She has the confidence to ask Suguru what his problem is, and explain they can’t help if he isn’t willing to talk. Also, as mentioned previously, the Takuya in World 2 is able to relate as a captive of the organisation. The combination of these two factors means that, in contrast to World 1, where Suguru is our enemy by the second quest stage, in World 2 he remains our ally, and the power of the three working together allows them to actually progress to the facility in this timeline.

However, even with the three cooperating, the ending could ultimately not be changed. I think this says something quite important about how parallel worlds work in this game, which is: you ultimately can’t change your fate (unless something decidedly not-normal interferes). This reinforces what we have learnt from the experiences of multiple other characters tampering with different timelines (namely, Satoru and Souma). Suguru and Sayu’s stories even hit a lot of similar plot points to Souma’s. In particular: Yuki is forced to kill an opponent she does not want to fight against, World 2 Sayu pleas for somebody to kill her, and World 1 Sayu laments: “Why can’t we be happy?” The only factor that seemingly made any difference to the tragic nature of the story was Beo’s tarot card. Even then, the results are ambiguous (I guess the lesson I learned that day was that Shoumetsu Toshi does not give out happy endings for free).

I also noticed some very interesting differences with the main motifs. In World 1, Suguru is symbolised by an Angel: he is the ‘Guardian Angel’ that will protect ‘God’s Child’. The imagery is otherworldly, Suguru is a heavenly figure. The emphasis is on the contrast he makes with Sayu: they are light and dark, Heaven and the Underworld. This also references their ending in that timeline, where they are only reunited in death.

However, in World 2, Suguru’s importance lies in the fact he is human. His presence allows ‘God’s Child’ to experience ‘human’ emotions. Sayu actually loses her power because the possibility of a ‘normal life’ with Suguru is so appealing to her. Note that Sayu is the same in both quests, but it is only in World 2 that we realise what humanity really means to her. That is, Suguru was the only thing tethering Sayu to her humanity at all. And I guess that just made me realise the true connotation of Suguru’s actions in World 1. By discarding his humanity, Suguru symbolically threw away all hope of normality for the both of them...which happens to be exactly what he does in World 2.

What’s the takeaway from this, then? I guess what I am trying to say is, at his very core, Suguru was always ready to give up ‘normality’ to be with Sayu. This would have been true in every timeline and is the reason why these two will never find their ideal happy ending. Another way to think of it is that the ending we got in World 2 is as happy an ending as we will ever get for these two.

#shoumetsu toshi #sayu #suguru #analysis #long post #spoilers #their future

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