sureokyeahwhatever

[sureokyeahwhatever]

to assist any fellow dumb people who were PRETTY SURE that the phrase "Sousou no Frieren" was a pun or wordplay or something but you weren't really sure

(arguable spoilers for up to about episode 9 or so)

When the demon guy called her "Frieren the Slayer" and the cool title card dropped that said "FRIEREN THE SLAYER", you probably caught on to the fact that he literally calls her "Sousou no Frieren" (which is what the title card says in Japanese, which is way cooler bc it's a hokey title card drop like 2+ hours into the series and that's hilarious). I read the manga before I started watching the show, so I didn't get the audio cue the first time around.

The official translation of the title is "Beyond Journey's End" which is perfectly fine. This isn't a discussion about "how to translate something and retain all the original meaning" because that's obviously impossible. You probably also have seen that lots of places call it "Frieren at the Funeral" which is probably more literal to the most common usage of "Sousou" (a two kanji word with the respective meanings of "interment" and "to escort/send), which is (more or less) used to mean "see someone off" in a sad funerary sense. It doesn't mean "funeral" literally, since it usually implies the literal act of attendence, it's kind of like the word "exequial" in English in that sense -- it doesn't mean "funeral", it just kind of... implies "funeral" and all of its (usually) sad connotations.

So, we have a few different translations from "Sousou no Frieren", depending on context : "Frieren the Slayer", "Frieren at the Funeral", and I guess if you wanted to really try to wrap those up into one you could say something pretentious like "The Exequial Frieren". There's a cool parallel here with English, where we have two really goofy devices that would very literally fit here -- "funeral-bringer" and "funeral-goer" -- which Japanese has very neatly mashed into one very cool "Sousou".

So yeah. She "sees off" her old adventuring companions at the end of their life, and she also "sees off" the demons that she kills. Frieren the Slayer and Frieren the Funeral Goer as literally "Frieren: the one who sees us off at the end of our lives". Neat!

(source: like 3 Reddit threads and 4 or 5 japanese to English dictionaries. I don't speak a word of this stuff. I just got to that title drop where the guy says "Frieren the Slayer", turned swiftly to my wife and went "wait is that a fucking pun" and wanted to save others from the humiliation of having to go on reddit to figure it out)

#sousou no frieren #frieren #frieren: beyond journey's end

[sureokyeahwhatever]

hmm.

[sureokyeahwhatever]

i just finished renai flops. if you haven't seen it, you should watch it! you might not like it, but it's one of those shows that I feel is guaranteed to give you some kind of strong opinion, and I think that makes it worth it on its own! please do not read this if you haven't seen it!

... but if you have already seen it, that ending is really all over the place, right?

Like, I can take or leave the final sequence. Everything after mongfa's death felt a little too melodramatic for me to keep being fully engaged with -- like, I straight up cried when she gave her death monologue, but I was a little too drained to cry AGAIN two more times so I felt kind of checked out.

But REALLY, the thing that got me was the fucking boxes. I mean, he leaves the virtual world, starts going back to school, graduates, and it really feels like he's ready to move on from his past and start moving forward and make new friends, find new love, etc.. Then -- basically literally -- the ghost of his dead ex-girlfriend is delivered to him at his door and he can now continue to live in a harem with the shattered, dead soul of his former lover.

I'm sorry man, that's crazy. I REALLY liked those characters (especially mongfa and Amelia) by the end, so it hurt to see them go, but to just bring them back and say to the MC "you don't have to move on! you can wallow in the past forever! there's no need to grieve!" feels wild to me!

like, I definitely get that the girls are basically human now, for all intents and purposes. I have no issue with that. What's weird is that they possess the soul and memories of his dead ex and the whole thing feels kind of weird. It's really a rare example of a show that feels completely finished in 12 eps but I think could have REALLY benefited from being 24. Or even just a few OVAs.

I don't know. Again, I liked it. I dropped it after episode 1 because it felt a little fetishy (and the dog "joke" was weird... They do that joke like 3 times across the show!). Some guy on a forum was like "dude you have to watch at least to episode 7" (honestly, I think it made me enjoy the show less. It's the kind of show that really benefits from NOT KNOWING that there's a twist and being genuinely surprised) and the all-over-the-placeness of the first few eps really grabbed me. But that's just the kind of show this is, it's down then it's up then it's down then it's way up then it's down again. It's martial arts then it's harem fun times then it's dick jokes (the "no balls... No dick either..." line was honestly PRETTY funny) then it's real, actual death then it's tits out on the beach then it's philosophy. And I think that's a good thing! It's my favorite thing about the show: it's all over the place. And that's really cool, I think.

so yeah. I think trying to manufacture a happy ending from what was a really, genuinely tragic story makes the last bit feel kind of genuinely perverse. but also, would an ending where the MC just gets healthier in a normal way and makes new friends and maybe trys to start a new relationship make me happy? I don't think so; it wouldn't be fitting for such a rollercoaster of a show, so maybe this ending that FILLS ME with a desperate need to talk about it is exactly what a show like this deserves.

either way. pretty good 👍

#renai flops #love flops #恋愛フロップス

[sureokyeahwhatever]

kind of funny, though likely (?) unintentional. the colors for Andy and Leyley are the same as the ones for Kyousuke and Kirino from the end of the Oreimo opening

#oreimo #ore no imouto ga konnani kawaii wake ga nai #the coffin of andy and leyley #tcoaal #coffincest

[sureokyeahwhatever]

The anarchs are not the “good guys” on vtm, there’s no good guys. China town definitely is a step down but the parallels between the Kuei-jin and the vampires are interesting. Ming Xiao is no different from Lacroix or Jack.

while I more or less agree with most of that (Ming bad, anarchs not "good"), i definitely think the game goes out of its way to -- at least on a first play through -- really push you toward trusting Jack and generally liking the anarchs.

first of all, just an anecdote from my playthrough, I went to the beach in Santa Monica and I talked to the psychic lady. She tells you a bunch of stuff you don't understand yet about "going to china" and "don't open it", but she also says there are only two people you can trust: jack and mercurio. And yeah. Those are basically the only two people in the game who don't really judge you regardless of your decisions.

Jack also is very clearly meant to come across as the "freebie" character that you don't have to worry about. He leads you through the tutorial, he doesn't get mad when you sell out Nines, and he doesn't even really seem to give a shit who you side with. He just kind of gets that it's an impossible situation.

So I don't know, while I think Jack is a pretty flawed character (especially in regards to the way he feels about the Kuei-Jin), it doesn't really seem like the game itself thinks he's a flawed character, if that makes sense. Him and Nines and the anarchs are positioned mostly as "guys who are fighting the power" which, while not making you "good" automatically, certainly makes you more sympathetic, especially in a game so steeped grungy 2000s punk culture.

But yeah. It's an ImSim, of course there's no good guys, that would be super lame. My problem was that they both had an OBJECTIVELY bad faction to side with in the form of the Kuei-Jin and also handled it in what I would consider to be a racist and immature way and I think that's just kind of boring. Of the three "side with someone" options, you can side with the bourgeois guys but this is a grungy 2000s punk goth aesthetic vampire game why on earth would you do that? You can side with the Kuei-Jin who kill you in a cutscene which is just a boring way to resolve that arc, I'm sorry. Or you can side with the "fight the power" guys. I don't know. Yeah, they're not the "good guys", but the game definitely is pointing you in a specific direction here.

But again, that's not even really my problem with the Kuei-Jin. There's nothing "wrong" with having a sneaky, conniving faction who backstab you in a game like this. That sort of thing actually fits right in. My problem was that they had the sneaky, conniving faction be built so heavily on racist tropes of the "untrustworthy Chinese" and had everyone else in the game be inherently biased against them. Whether a player perceives this as "racist writing" or not, it's certainly not interesting writing.

In a game where you the player are constantly being used as a pawn for the anarchs and the bourgeois faction and constantly lied to by everyone, I found it kind of unsatisfying that the group which is so clearly "racially Othered" (to say that in the most pretentious way possible) is not only discriminated against, but is, by the logic of the game, CORRECTLY discriminated against. I thought the game was all about fighting the power and being a punk! Having a story present and then affirm racist stereotypes is the least punk thing of all time!

Anyway, sorry for responding with a fucking essay hahahaha. I loved the game, it just lost me at the end when I felt like the writing shifted from "fight the power" to "don't trust the Chinese" 🫥

Thanks for the ask :) have a nice day

#vampire the masquerade #vampire the masquerade bloodlines #vtm bloodlines #vtm

[sureokyeahwhatever]

i saw on another post that there's this flavor text where ashley, upon observing Andrews bed, makes a sarcastic "yeah, he TOTALLY had SO many nightmares" remark. that stuck with me like crazy. i love the idea that while, yeah, Andrew is traumatized to hell and back, it's not actually AS bad as he lets on. He's convinced himself that he has non-stop panic attacks and nightmares because it gives him a guilt-free excuse to sleep with Ashley whenever he wants because "he can't help it". He's always looking for ways to get get closer physically without seeming like he's the one making the decision. There's probably a great deal of frustration that comes from the fact that Ashley doesn't really seem interested in "making moves" on him, so he has had to find increasingly elaborate ways to have physical contact without seeming like it's him "initiating".

I think everyone has kind of been there (not with their sibling, of course) at some point. You're not sure if the person your flirting with is into it so you kind of brush their hand on "accident" and then they maybe brush your leg on "accident" and then the accidents get increasingly frequent and there's no real point at which it became "intentional", it just kind of kept happening and escalating without need for conversation while keeping a degree of plausible deniability. I think that's what's happened with Andrew. Like with the cg where he has his hand in her belt loop. He's just slowly become more and more physically close to her over the years, all the while never "taking accountability" (if you could call it that) for doing so. I think the reason (other than the obvious one) he gets so red when he gets the vision is kind of just the anxiety of seeing himself take that kind of initiative with it. He wanted it to happen, but he wanted to happen "on accident". He wanted to be "manipulated" into it, or something to that effect. I think that's also why he sheepishly says "idk.. sometimes you just kind of seem like you're.. like THAT" because he wants to put the "blame" (if you can call it that) on her. It's frustrating to him that she doesn't say "yes, please I always wanted to fuck you". She says "yeah, I figured it'd happen at some point", as in, "I figured you'd eventually become bold enough to do the thing you've obviously been dancing around for years". It's frustrating because he wants to be able to say "SHE'S the one who wants this, I can't do anything about it. She's pulling the strings here... Such a shame..."

Ok i have to talk about how Andrew seems. How do i put this. Hornier? For Ashley, than Ashley is for him- which i find both extremely funny and narratively fascinating. Also how Ashley views sex as transactional let's go:

Ashley is obsessed with Andrew, that's obvious, blah blah we don't even need to get into it; but when the topic of sex arises, we mostly only see her pursue it as a means to an end. She suggests that she may be able to escape the apartment through a pregnancy, or procure money through acting as a call girl whilst in the motel. 

Each time, it's Andrew who expresses disdain and stops her from going through with what would otherwise be a rather clinical approach to sex on her end. Ashley puts very little stock in the worth of sex, and seems to border on completely uninterested in it. 

Even with Andrew, she internally suggests it matters very little to her. She could take or leave sex with him, so long as he stays around. But Andrew is far more keen on sex and sexual practices; he's apparently (decently) popular with woman and is self described as "not celibate", much to Ashley's chagrin.

When Andrew brings up sex, it's never tactically, like Ashley. When he asks his girlfriend to put up her hair, or bitterly refuses to allow Ashley a sexual partner- even when it would benefit them both AND wouldn't bother her at all- it's just. So telling. So. Indicative of SOMETHING about him. He's the one that's always touching her, and how deeply red he flushes after the dream sequence is insane... And! The way he has an internal space in his mind dedicated to Ashley HARASSING one of his ex's, furious over the fact that she can't give him the sex he so clearly enjoys. Is. We'll say 'hilarious', instead of 'pitiful'.

#this game has dug its way into my skull like a worm

[sureokyeahwhatever]

i finished vampire the masquerade bloodlines after chipping away at it for a couple weeks after work. Those first 2/3rds of the game are a genuine masterpiece, but man, that last third gets really, really weird and racist.

The thing is, is that I actually have very little to say about that first 2/3rds. It's just good. The design is great, it's well balanced, it's open ended, it has great characters. It's wonderful. This part of the game feels like a real, worthy successor to Deux Ex. There's just nothing more to say, I think.

...

And that's why I almost have a hard time believing it's written by the same people as the last bit. The whole game up to that point (up to just before chinatown) is pretty darn smartly written with some relatively cogent social commentary. The quality of the missions also takes a really, really steep dive in that section too (lots of run and gun hallways, lots of extremely buggy areas, shitty boss fights, etc. But that's honestly understandable because balancing the endgame of an ImSim is practically impossible). Idk, it feels like a totally different game. I could almost just forgive all of that though, if it weren't for the ungodly and seemingly genuine racism with regards to the east Asian vampires.

Like. Ok. If we're being VERY charitable and we just flatly forgive all of the misguided-though-not-malintentioned 2000s era attempts at humor-via-stereotype (dialogue options referencing "tentacles" directed at a young japanese woman; old chinese guys who are always loud and drunk; jingoistic WWII-surviving japanese soldier; Chinese businessman speaking in riddles and mentioning the I-Ching; so on and so on) the whole handling of the "chinese vampire" storyline is psychotically racist.

You first hear of these guys -- the Kuei-Jin, which I learn from the wiki is a portmanteau of the Mandarin word for ghost and a the Japanese word for person, which... ok. -- as being basically like animals. They slaughter who ever they see, lots of people in the bourgeois faction see them as a nuisance, the people in the anarchist faction see them as "invaders from the east," which already had me like "Jesus fucking Christ, maybe these anarchist guys aren't cool after all". But anyway, you go to Chinatown to talk to them and -- by my estimation -- they were basically the same as everyone else. They're protective of their territory, they're secretive, they're paranoid of outsiders... I mean, yeah, they're fucking vampires and apparently all the other vampires see them as sub-human, so yeah, I'd be paranoid and secretive around me too.

The thing is, is that you have this anarchist friend who you tell everything to -- Jack -- and I wanted to go tell him "hey, I don't think these guys are so bad. Maybe we misjudged them" or something like that. And there was a dialogue option along the lines of that, but when I said it, his response was something to the effect of "don't let them sweet talk you with their 'spiritual path' bullshit. That stuff ain't for /us/". Which, I heard and again, said "ah! Interesting writing decision! We're learning that Jack ALSO has flaws like everyone else! he's not just some perfectly cool, levelheaded badass -- he has unjustified prejudices just like everyone else!" So I continued the story under the assumption that, yes, while the surface level of the whole "Chinese vampire" thing was being handled in a really immature, racist way, and in-universe all the other factions seemed to see them as exactly that -- racist stereotypes of conniving, backstabbing Chinese mafia goons -- this was all setting up an interesting "let's all learn to put our cultural differences aside and defeat those rich assholes who want to rule LA"-style ending. This would not be the case.

There was a moment towards the end that I THOUGHT confirmed my suspicion. You are told by the leader of the bourgeois faction to convince the anarchist faction to ally with them so they can, together, take down the Kuei-Jin. Around this time you also are intercepted by the leader of the Kuei-Jin who straight up warns you "hey, that bourgeois guy set me up. He's about to set you up too. Be careful. I hope we can be friends in the future." So I get this information and go straight to the anarchist faction with the intention to say "Ok, bourgeois guys are obviously doing a power play. Now's the time to join with the Kuei-Jin and take them out. We'll settle our petty differences later." (Side note, yes, I understand they were recently at war, but war happens in these situations. The best way to prevent another war is actively making peace. Not by just constantly threatening to go BACK to war). But no such option was available. Instead, all the options were different variations on "Let's join with the bourgeois faction and kill those Chinese guys!" What? But I don't want to kill those guys! And I don't really trust either of these other factions either because the anarchists are racists and the bourgeois guys are, well, bourgeois guys.

So eventually the "ending-tron 3000" comes up in the form of a conversation with a taxi driver which, as far as ending-trons go, is pretty cute. If you decide to ally with the Kuei-Jin two things happen: one, everyone hates you because it's completely impossible to convince anyone that they are anything other than parasites, and two, they kill you in a cutscene and you die in the ocean, which, all things considered, is probably the worst possible way this whole story line could have been handled. There was an opportunity here to have an exceptionally interesting moment where you bring people together to fight in solidarity against those who seek to concentrate their power over the city and all it's inhabitants. There could have been an ending where you work together with the Kuei-Jin and the anarchists to get rid of the bourgeois faction, render the "anarchist" faction system redundant, and allow LA vampires to establish their own federated society where people can live where and how they please without the iron fist of some Ivory tower pretty boys telling everyone how to live their lives. You could establish a system of vampire democracy across LA, with all the benefits and negatives that it brings. Would LA then be crushed under the heel of the bourgeois faction coming in from other cities? Or would it be able to stand the test of time and serve as an example for other cities to rise up and do the same? There's some interesting stuff here, both politically and for individual characters as perhaps you have to work extra hard to get Jack and the rest of the anarchists to believe that the Kuei-Jin are, despite superficial differences, just vampires like they are and that they all share common interests.

Instead, the game goes hard in the other direction. It calls you an idiot for trusting those eastern invaders and basically says "you should have listened to everyone else when they were mumbling under their breath about how you can't trust those Kuei-Jin as far as you can throw them". i.e., you were an idiot for not being racist enough. Like, I can understand the general theme of "trust no one", since it permeates through the whole game, but to literally introduce a faction of "conniving foreigners" who everyone hates, and then to have that hate be perfectly justified just feels boring, hateful, and honestly like a waste of a third of what was otherwise a great, great game.

Anyway. The game is good. Great, even! It's really hard to make an ImSim, so even though the last third has some rough (ROUGH) design flaws and bugs, I'm happy to look past that. However, it's really easy to not just put Chinese people in your game and make them evil stereotypes that everyone rightfully hates, so that's harder to look past.

I would say the ideal way to experience the game is to marathon the first chapter up to downtown, play less and less frequently from downtown up until the end of hollywood or so, and gradually lose interest around the time that you're asked to go to Chinatown. I think if you did that, you'd end up remembering the game very fondly.

#vampire the masquerade #vampire the masquerade bloodlines #bloodlines #vtm bloodlines #vtm

[sureokyeahwhatever]

the funniest thing about this story is that I have seen people be like "wow, this was such a nice game until they did... THAT. i mean... they're siblings! it's disgusting. why did THAT have to be in the game!?" like dawg they sacrifice their parents to the devil and eat their bodies. basically just for fun. like, it wasn't even a life or death thing like with the other guy. if the morality of the sexual tension between these two fictional characters is what disturbs you to the point of no longer enjoying the game, i think your compass needs recalibrating. and also why did you pick up the game I've exclusively seen referred to as the "cannibal incest game" to begin with

#the coffin of andy and leyley #gravecest #this is probably my favorite thing ive played through in years though