#sene's brainrot corner

[senespera4]

I'm like a week and a half late to the party but here's my thoughts on Book Heathcliff/Wild Hunt Heathcliff

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I think everyone who said that in disco elysium you can just completely ignore the main story and pursue random side quest threads are being a tad misleading and it's mostly because for like 70% of the game's runtime you are Literally Stuck and your best option is just talking to random people and understanding their lives and hoping that serendipity rewards you with some kind of clue or new ability to find more clues.

I feel like the intended emotional arc is frustration at the lack of progress on the case followed by interest in the actual people there followed by emotional investment and joy at uncovering all of these stories both textual and implied before you inevitably stumble onto a clue and all of that emotional investment carries over.

A lot of the "side quests" I feel like dovetail really nicely into the main quest, if not in a plot way, then thematically. The main quest is absolutely the meat of the story and it is where all of the important messaging and thematic content is.

//spoilers

The Insulindian Phasmid side quest feels so thematically relevant and the resulting conversation that you unlock with the Phasmid itself is So Rich With Meaning that it doesn't even feel optional, like I genuinely think if you didn't pursue that whole quest line you've missed a part of what the game is trying to say

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there's only two types of FKA Twigs songs. That tweet and then this

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In light of recent FGO-related events

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I can't believe I have to post about this but the. The fucking-- Honkai Star Rail's writers are fucking insane and I have to write an analysis on the Literal Meme Update With The Funny Monkey Mascot

so uh spoilers for HSR version 2.6 Trailblaze Continuance, I swear I have an interesting angle with this (I'm only like halfway through the story too god fucking dammit)

This game has Opinions about educators and influencers and it is not afraid to be Extremely Blunt about how much they hate specific types of these "idea spreaders." I'm going to sort of work backwards from the point that I'm at (the reveal that Dr. Primitive is behind this) because I'm really just rambling right now and there's not much structure to this but I Need To Get My Thoughts Out

Dr. Primitive being involved in this isn't just an attempt to connect some tidbits from the Simulated Universe into the main story, I think they purposely chose him and this absurd and stupid banana theme because they wanted to comment on how when you have a bad "idea spreader" it's Bad bad. Dr. Primitive is positioned as an ultimate authority on knowledge by virtue of an Emanator, and yet his actions cause a reduction in knowledge because he is Actively causing people to regress back into monkeys.

This makes sense when you consider the two BananAdvisors you've fought up to this point in the story.

The first is a stubborn and close-minded art teacher, one that is clearly just attempting to spread their own propaganda about what art is truly worth something. They assign you a subject when the intent of the class is to paint something you want, they actively punish you for painting what you want, and instead of giving pointers on how to improve your art they will simply bash it and bash YOU until you have no motivation to continue. This fucking bitch did that shit to Chaletka Live and it was so infuriating to watch because you could just tell that he didn't care about her at all, all he wanted was Results. And if you can't produce results, you're a worthless piece of trash that shouldn't even exist in the first place.

The second is a fucking capitalist grifter-ass business professor who promotes extremely toxic "customer-first" paradigms that erode the worker and continuously consume them until there's nothing left. What's worse, his direct student is actively dragged into a similar mindset. Richie is Struggling, he is actively sacrificing his personal life for his business pursuits, believing that if he simply plays the capitalism game (and yes I am going to analyze this as anti-capitalist because I have an angle that HSR is an inherently anti-capitalist text I can't believe I'm fucking saying that that's such a stupid sentence) he will eventually reach success and happiness. As long as he pleases the customer, he will be successful. But the moment he outlives his usefulness, the moment he stops showing any sort of future promise to his employer, this is what happens

He is reduced to a mere resource sink, a mere datapoint on a spreadsheet which the accountant has decided is no longer producing enough profit to justify the costs. His humanity is stripped away, he is silenced, and worst of all he is coerced into doing so WILLINGLY because his employer and advisor and mentor manages to convince him that this is the right path for him, that he would be of more use to society as a speechless monkey than as a human with dreams and desires that are inconvenient for the business model.

This shit was the most infuriating thing to me. It reveals how the BananAdvisor knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He reduces Richie to something lesser, and acts surprised when you protest that he no longer has a voice because "things that are lesser naturally cannot speak." Because he made him that way. Because he purposely removed his ability to speak for himself.

I think the fact that the music continues to be the same goofy track throughout this entire scene of Abject Horrors contributes even further to that feeling of hostility that's made it so hard for me to get through this story quest without textually yelling at the characters. It feels like everything in the world is telling you that you're wrong for feeling this way, that your horror is laughable, mockable, even. Because this is the way the world works, and if you're horrified by it then you're simply too stupid to claw your way to the top, and you'd be better off as Literal Merchandise.

But also this is a lot of really serious analysis and I can't possibly ignore how this entire thing is themed in the most goofy, shitpost-y way imaginable. The monkeys are a deliberate choice, obviously, as a metaphor for regression of intelligence (and I think there's maybe something to be argued that it's a little bit too close to the "sheeple" trope but put a pin in that cuz I do think it's better executed than how that trope usually is), but they're also just like. Funny lmao. And really stupid. And it is also just multiple consecutive hours of banana jokes and I am going to clobber Dr. Primitive for making me endure this.

But I do think the shitpost factor is intentional. Because one of the main comments I've made about the banana visuals and shit is that I feel like HSR is doing some cocomelon shit to me.

And it's just like. The more I think about it the more the truth of that statement just smacks me in the face, cuz Cocomelon has been described as like visuoauditory crack for toddlers, and it's like. It's the numbing effect of how baldfacedly Stupid it is, you know. It's like the equivalent of jangling keys in front of a toddler, it is an overstimulating mess of colors and visuals that make no sense that's designed to just turn your brain off, and I think this is where HSRs criticism of "idea spreaders" extends from just educators in the case of the BananAdvisors to social media influencers in general. Like, I'm sure you've seen some of those tiktok livestreams that are just completely inexplicable reactions to viewer donations where the streamer is basically just entirely at the viewers' command, or the way AI generated Slop is all flashy bullshit and no substance. HSR, I feel, heavily dislikes this kind of stuff because they consider it to be "brainrot ideas" in that they actively turn your brain off because they actively prevent you from thinking about it.

HSR in general clearly has no respect for shitty educators or substanceless influencers because they show them as a Vile and Evil Force manipulating people into becoming speechless monkeys who have no thoughts of their own and simply indulge in meaningless """happiness"""

Back to the pin, this obviously has some connections to the "sheeple" trope, but I think HSR is being a little bit better about this because it does not place like. Any of the blame on the people actually being manipulated. Rappa and the rest of the Astral Express have a clear understanding that it is the fault of the people who benefit from the general public having their brains shut off at all times, and they're very sympathetic towards people who still end up in this kind of situation. It's not because they're stupid, it's because exploitative people and systems have tricked them there, and they have to be broken out of The Ooze

And that's why Rappa has so many indicators of rebellion and non-conformity. She's a graffiti-spraying rapper precisely because she is fighting against a homogenizing force of evil that wants to take away people's motivation and individuality to feed into the machine. Her song's major theme is about waking people up, getting them to see that the rules are purpose-built to suck them dry, and for them to rebel in their own personal way through personal expression. So it's really no surprise that they made her a cyberpunk aesthetic graffiti-spraying rapper ninja lmao

Tl;Dr this latest story is a commentary on how authority figures can purposely spread bad ideas in order to control the people they have authority over, and how this is a result of a system that actively sucks the people within it dry of all they're worth before tossing them aside. It's about capitalism, it's about toxic grifter culture, it's about social media brainrot, it's about breaking the rules when they're designed to hurt you, and hopefully once I finish it it ends up being about the importance of critical thinking and understanding what you want your place in the world to be, and to then defiantly carve out that little place no matter what stands in your way instead of just shutting your brain off and just going with what the people who are "qualified" say, no matter how insane and manipulative the things they say can be.

[senespera4]

//Arknights Babel spoilers

//Also FFXIV:Shadowbringers spoilers

//I have no idea if this is EDA spoilers but he's there

if I had a nickel for every time a video game character chose genocide over letting the new civilization built on top of the ruins of their previous one live I'd have two

Put their asses into therapy (it won't work lmao)

also my friend mentioned something about characters named the doctor who have amnesia and do genocide so we can add him to the list too lmao

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I've seen this post at least three times but I gotta add on some thoughts cuz this is such a funny concept

I'm like 99% sure the mandate of heaven was purely used in vague terms to justify a current emperor's rule/justify overthrowing an emperor. I'm not sure if anyone ever actually defined that someone that isn't the current emperor has the mandate.

That does mean. that it is entirely possible for you to, if you managed to overthrow the government during imperial china, to install whoever you wanted and go "this guy has the mandate of heaven now" and I think people would more or less go along with it until your installed mandate holder either fucked up badly enough or a natural disaster occurred

I would like to therefore amend this post by saying that if I were in a position to claim that someone holds the mandate of heaven, I would say that my cat has it and that I (or someone more qualified to serve as head of state) am acting as his interpreter and regent

and I'm only doing this because cats are haughty little shits and I love the idea of one of them being an emperor LMAO

Theres no rule saying a dog can't have the mandate of heaven

[senespera4]

I think my relationship with kurotetsu shippers is primarily a love-hate one because on the one hand yes, I need more cutesy content of them being friends and on the other hand sTOP MAKING THEM HORNY FOR EACH OTHER

like they get to do queerplatonic friendship but the moment they start making out is when I hit the extremely loud incorrect buzzer before shouting "MISCHARACTERIZING KURO AGAIN MINUS FIVE POINTS" into the nearest megaphone

like yea tetora is Down Bad for kuro (some would even say down Horrendous) but Kuro Is Not he is either visibly uncomfortable, confused, or changes subject quickly whenever tetora starts simping a little bit too hard (Opera Chapter 2 (TL: citrinesea) is the most obvious example I can think of but it kinda happens in some other stories like CROSS FIRE (TL: Leader of Festivals) too)

He values him purely as a friend and person to mentor THEY DO NOT FUCK KURO WOULD NOT ALLOW IT

I do think their friendship goes a little bit beyond usual friendship because they are so close to each other but that is it that is literally it kuro does not have romantic feelings for tetora he's too busy trying to put nazuna in a maid dress

[senespera4]

I've been having multiple moments these past few months but I do have. drawings. little doodles. of my guys (kuro and koga).

they are part of a werewolf AU no I will not elaborate I still haven't finished writing it yet

also yea kaoru's there (there's more but I haven't felt the need to draw them yet)

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I have this crack modern AU Patrochilles fic idea which essentially boils down to "comedy fic in which Apollo is a petty bitch and decides to trap Achilles in the torture matrix as revenge for killing his boyfriend Hector also his side bitch Paris is there"

so basically Apollo says "man you killed Hector. Fuck you. I'm throwing you into an endless loop of reincarnation and you'll never be able to be with your boyfriend ever again."

Except Poseidon catches wind of this and since he and Patroclus used to fuck (this is canon actually, go look at Patroclus' wiki page) he's like "okay well lemme just drop Patroclus back in too" and in retaliation Apollo drops Hector and Paris in to try and pull strings and get them to interfere with each other and it's a whole thing.

The full relationship chart is like

Paris -> Apollo (Side Bitch)

Apollo -> Hector (Gay)

Paris -> Achilles (killed)

Achilles -> Hector (killed)

Achilles <--> Patroclus (Gay)

Patroclus <- Poseidon (Sugar Daddy/Weirdly Supportive Ex)

Apollo <--> Poseidon (feuding)

Paris <--> Hector (inexplicably into each other [It's because of Apollo lmao he's the worst])

Might add in some one-off characters for some funny shit but otherwise yeah.

[senespera4]

okay so now that Archer's kit in HSR has been leaked I can confidently drop my own kit I made up as a prediction without confusing the shit out of people. I got exactly two things right (talent was moved to his IRL E1 and changed to fit his core mechanic and his Trace 2 doesn't include the +1 SP at battle start that I gave him) with just the knowledge that he "would make a sparkle main happy" and "deals damage using his skill" (yes I did technically misinterpret that second statement but whatever)

Also yes I stole like 70% of this kit from his fate/extra iteration even though the crossover is specifically with F/UBW I just like the idea of his kit in fate/extra lmao it's more mechanically satisfying to me

Basic Attack 1 - Kanshou and Bakuya

Basic Attack 2 - Hrunting (Inflicts Def Down for 3 turns)

Basic Attack 3 - Caladbolg II (Reduces toughness regardless of weakness present)

Basic Attack 4 - Excalibur Image (Big Multiplier + Reduces toughness regardless of weakness present in addition to consuming all remaining SP while dealing 50% of max HP as damage to himself. For each additional point of SP consumed past the amount used to cast Excalibur Image, increases damage multiplier of the attack by 30% and reduces the self-damage by 10%)

Skill - Pre-Projection (Enhances Basic Attack up to three times)

Ult - Unlimited Bladeworks (100% Action Advance, Next Enhanced Basic doesn't use SP, Deploys Unlimited Bladeworks Field which grants access to Excalibur Image and increases Archer's crit rate. Lasts for three turns)

Talent - Extra Attack (After three actions, grant an additional action. Alternatively, if defeating an enemy, grant an additional action. During additional action, SP is not consumed or gained (when using Skill, can only use it a number of times up to the current amount of SP))

Trace 1 - Independent Action (Adds 50% of Archer's Crit Rate to Crit Dmg, with a max bonus of 50% Crit Dmg)

Trace 2 - Mana Loading (Gain +1 SP at battle start and increase Max SP by 1)

Trace 3 - Clairvoyance (Using skill increases Quantum RES PEN by 5% for the next attack)

Technique - Circuit Connect (Deploy the Unlimited Bladeworks Field at the start of battle)

E1 - When using Hrunting, immediately grant Archer an additional action. Does not reset the turn count from Archer's talent. This effect's use count increases by 1 when Archer uses Unlimited Bladeworks

E2 - When using Excalibur Image, refund 1 SP after use

E4 - Gain +5% Quantum Damage Bonus every time Archer gains an additional action up to +25%

E6 - Excalibur Image's self-damage effect is reduced to 30% Max HP. For each additional 10% reduction to the self-damage effect, additionally increases the Crit Dmg of Excalibur Image by 20%

[senespera4]

if there's one thing I need in canto 6 after reading the first four chapters of wuthering heights it's that I need Hareton to

exist

be the most insufferable little shit possible

[senespera4]

hi FRAME what if i died (the english translated lyrics are just run through google translate so don't put that much stock into it but also aughghgghggg)

Your Honor They're Gay For Each Other

[senespera4]

Escaping from the tags to explain my interpretation lol

There's nothing there because I think Heathcliff as he is right now is literally incapable of maintaining a healthy romantic relationship, it'll always devolve into either unhealthily obsessive/reverent behavior (see: Wuthering Heights and whatever the fuck he was doing with Cathy after he returned from running away) or some fucked up controlling and emotionally abusive relationship (see: my funny little (nsfw) meurcliff fic where I extrapolated a bit on both Limbus Company and Wuthering Heights Heathcliff's characters to figure out what kinda shit he'd be up to if he were also dating men) that also just reeks of a rebound because he's still too busy having a normal one over cathy

He's in a better state in Limbus Company than in Wuthering Heights obviously but he still feels like he's one step from slipping into book Heathcliff territory (you could interpret his refusal to give up on finding a way to bring back Cathy in a less favorable light and see it as a lingering fixation on someone who is equal parts romantic interest and goddess figure) and in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is all about control. He needs to send the Earnshaws and Lintons to Hell as revenge and he needs control to do it, and the moment he meets any sort of resistance he'll flip his shit to remove that resistance (see: basically his entire relationship with Isabella Linton). So I extrapolated that over to a relationship with Meursault, who really wants someone to be giving him instructions because he's an extremely passive man who is also probably extremely disconcerted by how ambiguous the world is (Meursault is just straight up autistic there is evidence for this both in the synopses I read for The Stranger and his character in Limbus Company yes I still haven't read The Stranger I need to do that.,.,.,.) and you can kinda see how smashing these two men together like barbie dolls could result in pain and suffering of catastrophic proportions

Which is what I want, so that's why I'm a meurcliff shipper (also because I think they're both hot but that's besides the point)

y'all know that one trend thats like "draw this and ur fav ship"