do you guys every think abt death vs immortality as a thoroughline in like. literally all of the mechs albums.
old king cole is explicitly warped by immortality (never to forgive he would eternal live, his hands dyed red by gore - can be read a few ways depending on where u place the emphasis, but at the very least communicates that his wrath is facilitated By his immortality), and the olympians commit attrocities in order to hold onto their wealth and the immortality that it grants them (murdering arachne, yanking heracles' chain the second he tries to go freelance, having a monopoly on the acheron etc). the value they put on immortality and living forever, and the fear they have of ever possibly losing it, has completely warped their morals and priorities.
and while it comes up less in tbi, there's still significant emphasis placed on how odin has been in power for a century (both thor + the narrator bring it up, and there's also an emphasis on how long ago the bifrost project was started, and how 'no one left living' can explain its science). her villain monologue in rangarok iv places the extinction of asgard as an honour - a ruin that no one can possibly rebuild from is called 'apotheosis'. and as she says at the end, the idea that no one can possibly outlive her is a key draw for odin. asgard dies with her.
in hnoc, the only really immortal character is brian (and we only really know that bc of knowledge we get from outside the album), but the axis of life and death as a privilege vs a curse is still very present. 'mordred's gift to Arthur could be love in his own eyes / fating him alone to keep the life to which he clings', not only posits that the gift of survival isn't inherently good + kind (which the audience would immediately recognise as love, not possibly love), but places emphasis on the fact that arthur is now utterly alone. the station's death at the hands of mordred is hardly a happy one ('Its people damned, doomed by a man who's lost all his regrets'), but arthur's fate is arguably worse. severed from the finality and closure of death, what does he become? [insert that one cool theory abt hnoc arthur becoming old king cole here]
it's like. on a meta level, the reason we as fans don't put much emphasis on the depravity + cruelty of the mechs is bc the people portraying the mechs are all charismatic + skilled performers. in live gigs they're all portraying the fun side of their characters - roasting each other, bantering with the audience, making fun of the characters they're singing about, referencing off-screen violence - bc if they portrayed their lore too literally they'd be comitting felonies LMAOOO
but narratively, its like. literally every album is a meditation on the ways that the glorification of immortality can ruin civilisations - can ruin galaxies. whether its rooted in the fear of you specifically dying, or of being outlived, or overpowered or forgotten, or if its done for the sake of someone else's survival... it's all corrosive. if u refuse to accept the indisputable impermanence of life, you lose the ability to value it, and u numb urself to the reality of just how fucked up it is to cut another person's life short for any reason.
like. i do think some of the mechs started as good people, and some of them even might still have ethical standards, but i REALLY cannot stop thinking about how fucking. fascinating it is that this group of immortals who are KNOWN for basically considering nothing but how fun and/or violent any given activity will be, have basically filled their entire discography with songs about how their continued existence is corrosive and brings tragedy + ruin wherever they go.
so how self-aware are they? do you think those old morals + ethics still linger in their mind, when they're writing down these tragedies? they willingly self identify as liars + thieves + bastards, etc etc, and they seem to have no trouble identifying the 'bad guys' in the various albums (ie: humanising snow + cinders + rose, but not king cole), but do those concepts actually mean anything emotionally, or even theoretically, for them all beyond their dramatic potential? do they remember their lives before they were mechanised as it actually happened, or do they remember it as lyrics to a song? is it possible to be entirely self aware abt ur own capacity for violence (as jonny in paticular claims to be), if you no longer relate to violence as anything other than a narrative device - a means to an end, whether comedic or dramatic?
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The visual mirroring between these two moments is just so good.
The differnce between Crowley's genuine attempt to disuade Aziraphle thinking that he is doing good (soon he'll take off his glasses and show his eyes, the mark of his demonic nature, to Aziraphale as a threat - a reminder of what he is) and his warning reminder to Aziraphale that hell can't think this was a decision he made in his right mind (moving in close and tilting his head to look at Aziraphale over the top of his glasses, not as a threat but to remove a layer between them and show his seriousness unobstructed)
The differnce between the resolve in the set of Aziraphales jaw as he stares into the face of his supposed enemy (his belief in Crowley's goodness is so defiant, something we know Aziraphale needs to muster a lot of courage to bring about in himself) and his fond smile as his friend gives him the same admonishment he has hundreds - thousands? - of times before (he can count on Crowley's goodness as a given, the ease and softness he feels with Crowley is so natural to his character)
Just. So. Good.
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i so wish i liked sweet tea it sounds so nice and refreshing but im not gonna lie. if theres any sugar in my tea at all i fucking hate it. just plain iced tea slaps though <3
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ughhh god me and the innate attraction to fill out a random ass ship chart every 6 months. i did this before but it wasn't detailed enough so i hated this. i THINK this is detailed enough i don't know i actually doubt it. i saw something doing this chart for bsp and then i wanted to do it for mtt poly vut then i literally forgot who did it originally 😭😭😭
doing the bottom left section was cracking me up because killer is such an enigma. "be nice!" and then "but also treat me like shit!" what a goddamn freak bro he needs get shipped off to therapy. and then its something nice and fluffy like physical affection and then it immediately 180s to emotional vulnerability. like hello pick a side you fucking freak. and for the slidey bar ones notice how killer is almost ALWAYS on one of the ends??? he has to be one of the extremes or else he dies it seems.
the closeness over time chart 😭😭 they doNOT get along. i was gonna put another dip near the end but i was like "ehhhh they have more than enough issues the people will get it". also for the bugs one i think dust would love bugs. hes very used to them and even made friends with some. but horror would HATE THEM. all the bugs died out in horrortales famine so he hasn't seem em in a couple years. so when he does its a whole ass jumpscare
GODDD i love qpr horrordust. theyre soooo qpr coded my queerplatonic freaks. bitches. i like how on the love languages chart each of the mtt satisfies one of the others. none of them would get gifts theyre too fucked up and lazy 4 that. horror would be confused if someone gave him a gift (horrortale w/ alizas ketchup thing) killer would just forget about it or ditch it in a few days. and then dust would actually accept it but he wouldn't know wtf to do with it if it doesn't have an obvious use
for strategist/impulsive I WAS STRUGGLING. because like all of these bitches are cunning AND emotional. horror is definition of sceming from the sides but he also has his outbursts. dust is always planning ahead but like horror he has outbursts. i guess killer isn't a strategist bc he just always has a vibe of whats gonna happen but (not so surprisingly) he has outbursts even if he claims hes not emotional. so i had to choose,,,,,
i was also tempted to just put them all at arrogant. because they're definitely all stuck up assholes. but i was like nahhhhh... horror's the only one that would be regularly arrogant. dust's just self assured and confident whilr killer has no idea when hes even being arrogant
music category ehehehe. horror would LOVE natural sounds like rain and leaves rustling bc its not too overwhelming for his screwed up processing thanks ti his head damage. dust would totally listen to undertale osts if they existed in utmv. also other osts. i think he would totally be a gamer. also classical music. and killer has no preference (just like everything in his damn life FORM YOUR OWN OPINIONS YOU BITCH!!!!)
i think this just cemented my stance on arohorror acedust and go with the flow killer. killer would have absolutely zero preference on ANYTHING became he genuinely does not give two fucks. and for arohorror (you can't spell horror with ro. which is in aromatic. woahhhh) i just think he would be icked out by romantic handholding and dates and stuff. it just feels RIGHT. but he'd be decently ok with tangoing. and dust is just the opposite. he'd be uncomfortable and grossed out by sexual behaviors but he'd absolutely be a romantic. i think dust would be a romantic he just gives off those vibes. as a person on the ace and maybe aro spectrum i have to blast my favs with the aroace beam. it's just mandatory
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I do think Withers has a really subtle background character arc in bg3. Because at the start it is really clear he doesn't want to be here and he's being forced to clean up his mess by Helm and probably Ao. He doesn't really care either. Everything ends so nothing really matters, he'd like to go back to his paperwork now please.
Except he's stuck babysitting a bunch of traumatized dumbasses as they stumble into dealing with the most recent bad idea of his three fuck-up disappointments. So he brings them back when they die for a pittance, lets them pay for some vengeful ghosts to come back as flesh and blood to wreak bloody vengeance on the Absolute, and starts to... comment, on what's going on, as he follows them on their adventure.
Next thing you know Withers is like, doing things unprompted. He refuses to bring back Alfira (or Quil) but that's an act of compassion, keeping the poor girl from the Urge and letting her rest, his actual duty as a god of death. He tells Arabella to follow her destiny and does that thing to make her grief go away which honestly freaks me out but seems to be him trying to help her. He shows up at Moonrise and prompts us to consider why the Dead Three would want a bunch of soulless illithids that would give them no power, getting us to think of the big picture.
And by the end (especially if you do a resist!Durge playthrough) Withers is actively interfering and seems genuinely invested! He brings Durge back from the dead, free of their father! He encourages us before the final fight with the Netherbrain! He's real fucking smug that the Dead Three lost when he never seemed to care about the destruction they caused before! He throws a reunion party and many of his lines are genuinely touching or kind! Especially if a companion died permanently! He has tea with Gale's mom and Tara! He's like, socializing and shit! Yes, everything is temporary and we all die, but there's great beauty in fighting for that precious time and living it to the fullest!
Basically Wither's character arc is this meme, all because Helm made him go outside and touch grass.
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