#questions of significance

[helshades]

According to recent polls, 53% of the French are currently afraid of participating in a demonstration against Macron's pension system counter-reform for fear of police violence.

You'll tell me, this is precisely why the police are allowed to do practically anything at this hour in total impunity—ranging from sexually assaulting female protesters to throwing riot grenades onto balconies to punching press in the face to driving a motorbike on a protester's leg to shooting people in the face with rubber bullets to—but it does bear repeating.

You have no idea how much I despise the 'ACAB' phrase, by the way. This is the sort of brainless cry that completely misses point of police violence as it only individualises that violence, reduces it to a mere matter of people versus people who enjoy smalltime power and to hit others, but police violence is not it; rather, it's about the nature of a regime and the way it would weaponise public force to protect antidemocratic interests against this of the People.

I want the Police to be funded properly, to hire good people who will investigate crimes and find missing children and protect, as per its initial mission. I don't want less of it, I want it to be different; to serve the City. True responsibility for the abominable situation at present, actual guilt, is not 'the police', in the end: it is, evidently, the government's. The State's. You can infer many things about a regime by looking at the way its police is found to treat its citizens.

[suncaptor]

Self-monitoring test (not to be taken as any sort of serious assessment) for if you’re a high or low self-monitor. Is your reaction to situations often dependent on social cues you can then alter your presentation towards, or guided by your inner sense of self and not changed in a given social setting?

[incognitopolls]

Birth order meaning whether you're the oldest, middle, youngest, or an only child.

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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[emloafs]

annoying people have demetri alexopolous as their favorite cobra kai character

(it's me i'm annoying people)

[pan-perkozeq]

NiSH I beg you, share more about the n a n o m a c h i n e s please

{ Ask and you shall receive }

Too much time spent on the details but I think it was worth it lol

[inkdemonapologist]

My BatDR Take That Used To Be Hot But I Left It Out On The Windowsill To Cool So You Should Be Able to Eat It Now Without Burning Your Tongue

its not actually that hot, is what im saying

Anyway my BatDR hot take is that BatDR's story is not fundamentally worse than BatIM with one exception; an exception that, for BatIM, covers a multitude of sins:

BatIM has a theme.

I can't presume the intentions of the creators, but if I had to write an essay on the themes in BatIM, it wouldn't be hard to pick one out: the cost of obsession, or even just, the ruin Joey brought on the studio. In the very first chapter, Henry asks "Joey, what were you doing?" and every single thing in the rest of the game revolves around that central question: what WAS Joey doing? Each audiolog is a snippet of the studio's path to this messed up state; each character you meet is someone ruined by Joey. The major antagonists echo Joey's flaws -- obsession with Bendy as more than a cartoon, obsession with perfection, obsession with fame and greatness and legacy -- but even without that, they're also each a picture of how the lives of people caught in the path of Joey's dream were ruined by it. Bertrum, for example, doesn't match the concept of rubberhose cartoons, but as yet another person screwed over by Joey, he fits the central question of the story, so he feels like he belongs here. Ultimately, in a narrative sense, the Ink Demon isn't the story's monster -- Joey is; the Ink Demon is just the consequence of his reckless ambition.

But what's the theme or central question of BatDR?

You can... try to pick out a theme. There's some promising options, because it feels like the story WANTED a theme, stating its emotional intentions more overtly -- "there's always a choice" to leave the darkness and chose hope; family and the struggle of living in a heavy legacy's shadow; or even just good old mewtwo-brand The Circumstance's Of One's Birth Are Irrelevant, It Is What You Do With The Gift Of Life That Determines Who You Are.

I think, even WITH the clumsy execution of Joey's "arc" and Audrey's lack of real choices, any of those could work about as well as BatIM. But unlike BatIM, the majority of the game doesn't tie in. Joey's tour can be considered relevant -- a picture of the family legacy and the "darkness" that Audrey doesn't yet know she's inheriting -- but like, the audiologs and hints and environment of BatDR are mostly teasing the question of What Is Gent Up To, and the takeover of Gent is detached from Audrey's choices, her family, her legacy, and Gent never really becomes a relevant threat to those things in this game. The Cult of Amok and the Ghost Train have nothing to do with any of these ideas. It might've been neat if Audrey had ever considered, "Did my father really drive all these people insane?", a hint of actually having to wonder about the darkness in her past. Even Wilson only barely brushes against these concepts; he doesn't like Joey and he also is trying to escape his family's heavy legacy, but it doesn't really reflect on his actions and we don't find that last part out until he's about to be dead.

There's also the question Wilson poses of "real" people versus ink creations, and what counts as valid "life." It would be an interesting theme with a lot to build off of in this setting, it ties into Wilson more as Wilson seems to represent the opinion that Inky Things Aren't Really Alive, which could've tied to Audrey (as an ink-person who has yet to accept that part of herself) and maybe given Wilson a reason to think it's fine to sacrifice her, it could've even tied to Gent (who don't even seem to value human life) -- but after Wilson asks the question, it doesn't tie into the direction things go. He smooshes a little Bendy, we see hints of his disregard for Betty, and then everyone continues with their plan to destroy the Ink Demon without any further moral quandaries about inky life.

The thing is, when you compare an element like, say, audiologs, there's a lot of differences you can point to -- but I don't actually think Lacie Benton's audiolog is notably better, taken on its own, than Grace Conway's or Kitty Thompson's, and yet tons of people were intrigued enough to flesh out Lacie. None of them are big plot points or compelling characters on their own; Lacie and Grace both give us a little note on what it's like working in the Studio, and Kitty shares a little bit on how Gent's expansion is affecting people. But when Lacie talks about Bertrum trying to make a creepy animatronic, that ties back into Joey's ill-fated schemes that are the point of the whole story. The question we're asking through the whole game is "what happened here?" so the fandom is interested in who Lacie is and what her life was like and extrapolates a whole person out of a couple sentences. But that's not the question in BatDR -- what has Wilson done to the Cycle and the Demon? Why? Who is Audrey really, and why is she here? Telling us new things about the Studio's fate seems strangely irrelevant to those questions, just an attempt to create a Mystery To Speculate On like the previous game did... but what question you're asking and how it fits into your story's main theme, like, matters. I absolutely believe that one clock animator guy would've been in EVERYONE'S crew if he'd been introduced in BatIM, but the context makes a difference; fleshing him out feels less relevant here.

The explanations of how and why Wilson did everything he did are baffling and handwavey, but in and of itself that's not a worse problem than anything else in the franchise -- I STILL don't understand why the Ink Machine needs pipes in the walls or even how it works, there's no good reason for Sammy to believe the Ink Demon will "set him free," most of Alice's motives don't make sense, etc etc etc. But the thing is that in BatDR, the wibbly bit is the closest thing to a central question we have! Wilson, what were you doing? The theme doesn't really explore or connect to that question, so the explanations that are finally tossed our way feel lacking in a way that BatIM's handwaved elements don't. There's a lot about Joey's motivation in BatIM that we can't know, but the heart of it resonates -- Joey wanted something, he was willing to exploit people to get it, and he became obsessed and prioritised that dream at any cost. We'll weather a thousand logistical inconsistencies if it's got heart.

But all of that said.... to be honest, I don't think Lacie overtly fits that theme anyway. Even, like, Sammy is iffy -- we don't really know what happened to him, only that he didn't used to be made of ink and worship Bendy, and now he does. We assume Joey's nonsense had something to do with what happened to him (though the books later assert his influence was indirect at best), because when there's a pattern, we can fill in the blank. So many fan creators found a place for Lacie, Grant, and Shawn in the cycle as butcher clones or lost ones, so many people imagined that Wally must be the Boris we meet, because that would've fit the pattern, the idea that the point of what we're seeing is the downfall of the studio. It's not actually that BatIM did a great job tying everything together -- it's that BatIM gave us a compelling idea and that was all it took to make everything else SEEM like it could find a place to fit. This is what I mean when I say BatIM's theme covers a multitude of sins. There's a LOT of characters in BatIM that don't make sense. There's a lot of inconsistencies and things that just sort of happen without any real reason. Characters don't really have "arcs" so much as different states they happen to be in at different times. But because there's a central question and the story doesn't wander away from it, our pattern-loving human brains will slot in all the pieces and do all the work to make the story feel at least somewhat coherent.

The things that happened in BatDR aren't a whole lot less coherent than BatIM imo, they just don't tie into a bigger theme or any of the questions the story's asking, making "how do they fit into all this" feel irrelevant, making it easier to forget entire sections and harder to get invested in audiolog characters. I think a lot of the other criticisms people have for BatDR's story are very valid, but I also suspect that if BatDR had a more successful theme/central question, then a lot of its flaws would be easier to overlook -- just like BatIM.

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Broke (2016): BBC Sherlock is a phenomenal piece of media and anything that seems like a flaw just hasn't been fully explored yet

Woke (2020): BBC Sherlock is an incredibly flawed series run by an egotistical writer, it never deserved the hype and is actively bad on so many fronts (especially representation)

Bespoke (2024): BBC Sherlock is flawed and bogged down by increasingly poor writing, which many fans refused to see while it was airing, leading to hugely misplaced expectations (particularly for the final series), AND it has the seeds of some compelling characterizations and portrayals, some genuinely solid performances, and touches--albeit imperfectly--on complexities that are still being discussed today (particularly as it relates to the relationship between Sherlock and John). The huge cultural impact of the show has created a massive pendulum effect in its public perception, leading to most people today remembering a caricature of the show (whether positive or negative) rather than appreciating its nuanced merits and failings...that being said Season 4 sucked

[myrkulitescourge]

imo karlach’s soul coin usage seems like it should have been a little more significant than it was.

she only ever really stops to consider the magnitude of burning through a person’s soul for power during an origin playthrough—otherwise she rationalizes to the player that they’re doomed anyway, and if using them gives her an edge in combat, why not use them for good instead of leaving them to be used by evil? the dialogue with lann tarv in act 2, where he tells the story of each soul he's handing over to her, tries to humanize each soul coin, and still she doesn’t really budge and disapproves pretty heavily if she's told no in regards to using them.

it just seems like something that could have caused some kind of conflict between her and wyll, given he sold his soul to a devil in dire circumstances and takes issue with the player for sleeping with mizora, because she 1) is mizora, and 2) similarly expends tormented souls during her romance scene, even if for a different purpose. but it just... never really comes up?

i love karlach. but that seems like it should have gone Somewhere, from a writing standpoint? karlach values wyll as a person but is willing to use currency forged from souls like his for the sake of a temporary power up. she knows the soul is consumed when she uses them. that whole exchange with lann tarv is there to emphasize that every soul coin she destroys was a person once. but it all kind of loses narrative purpose if this combination of factors doesn't mean anything? karlach doesn't change at all in her willingness to use soul coins, no matter what the player says or how much she cares for wyll.

idk. missed opportunity that wyll doesn't have any dialogue about this, of all things.

[carlyraejepsans]

HELPP i found out about character AIs and im losing it over calling deltarune sans "a more manipulative personality" 😭😭 like whatt we've only seen this man like 2 times

sorry im being a hater hgfjdks but you're the sans understander

lmaoo character.ai, look where the fall of ai dungeon got us, smh. thank you for the compliment though!

[greensaplinggrace]

the darkling says “fine, make me your villain” because he is. what’s not clicking

[sableeira]

holy shit if there is no way to detach Fyodor from the body he has taken over, Bram is the first character named after an author who played a significant role to die in the bsd main manga

[aritany]

i can’t understand what possesses people to be publicly mean about other people’s writing.

this isn’t a “stop it, you’re hurting my feelings :(” post due to recent events, either—i don’t care. say what you want, opinions are opinions and i’m not trying to stifle anyone.

i just genuinely don’t get the purpose of trashing anybody’s writing. is it to warn people off of spending money on a book they didn’t like? that’s the ONLY thing i can think of that has a real constructive purpose, otherwise it just makes me squint. are you just mean? is that all it is?

[regallibellbright]

Headcanon: Literally all Keyblade Wielders, and frankly possibly all magic users in the Kingdom Hearts universe, have a baseline magic level SO STUPID HIGH that it makes the entire rest of the Extended Final Fantasy Canon look at them and go “yeah, no, let’s not touch that.”

Evidence: You know how hard it’s supposed to be to cast Flare, as a baseline? Much less higher-level Flares? You know how we all laugh about Donald Duck being the strongest Red Mage in the entire canon because he uses a prefix that has literally only ever otherwise been seen by an endboss in Bravely Default who was explicitly on significant powerups? With laser-precision?

Yeah, I remind you that up until Chi, the only version of Flare we see anyone use (except Duck Flare, which is just fireworks,) is the Mega one. You know, the version BAHAMUT uses.

Sora learns it starting in Chain of Memories. All of the Wayfinders can use it. DATA-SORA can use it.

I’m not even sure it always takes up extra slots in a command deck.

In conclusion: Keyblade magic is ridiculous and scary, and if you transplant any random magic user from Kingdom Hearts in the rest of the Final Fantasy extended canon, all the other magic users will either ask them to teach them or run away screaming, depending on their self-preservation instincts. It’s not just Donald, or that Minnie Mouse is a top-tier white mage, or that Mickey Mouse and Xehanort both use the strongest Stop spell we see ANYWHERE in the canon, they’re all Just Like That.

[hdra77]

(pfp anon again hi sorry you're just so much fun to bother)

Ehehe more questions: some people depict NSH with antennae, is there any reason yours doesn't have any? Is there any AU where you'd give him some? Is he Sad because No Antennae or is he Perfectly Content?

hello again!! i'd say hes just built different like that or he did something so remotely stupid that he lost them. i could honestly see him doing something like that actually LMAO tinkering and messing around with his antennae out of pure boredom and he decided to just, keep it

he is pretty chill with it though, like he just accepted it and thought 'oh hey this isn't so bad at all!! i look good!'

now as for the AUs!! theres usually 4 of them but voided au shares the same design as this sig

so far theres just one whose got an antennae LMAO also,, disarray au sig design sneak peak 👀

have a little doodle of him with a pair of antennae !!

[pratchettquotes]

"And that's why I don't like magic, Captain, 'cos it's magic. You can't ask questions, it's magic. It doesn't explain anything, it's magic. You don't know where it comes from, it's magic! That's what I don't like about magic, it does everything by magic!"

"That's the significant factor, sir, there's no doubt about it," said Carrot.

Terry Pratchett, Thud!