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lucem-stellarum · 7 months

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So this is what, the 3rd time Porter has been decked by a character because of his attitude? At minimum?

Under the cut for long and rambling character and literary analysis

We have the initial fight 4-5 years ago between Porter and Vincent

We have Lovely getting him during their "Switzerland" talk before the Summit

Now we have Asher at the Summit (part II electric boogaloo)

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if we're even supposed to like him as a character. Sure, he's charismatic. Porter got Treasure wrapped around his finger in less than an hour. But Mr. Redacted is usually pretty clear about delineating between who is intended to be the characters we're supposed to be supporting (with enough moral grayness to make them complex and interesting). So many of his characters are a great example of the difference between the narrative 'protagonist' and the narrative 'hero'. Going back to the more technical literary term, a protagonist* is the character the story is about, but they're not necessarily the same as the hero of the story. Yandere!Ivan was a great protagonist, but he's very obviously the villain of that plotline. If you want a classic example, Michael Corleone (The Godfather) is a villain protagonist.

*I'll point out that depending on what exact definition you're using for "protagonist" that you can argue that the listener character is supposed to be the main character. I don't think that fits because in many of Redacted's cases the listener falls into the "sexy lamp" trope, where by design they have few if any character traits of their own so we as listeners can project on them. To me, they're the point of view character, which though usually is not always the same as the protagonist. IMO, a protagonist should play a more active role in the story. Overall it's a fascinating way of capitalizing on the limitations of Mr. Redacted's chosen medium, and I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this phenomenon.

Most characters fall into either the 'hero' or 'villain' category. Characters like David, Asher, Vincent, Elliott, Guy, Ollie, and Gavin are all clearly hero protagonists**. Their respective stories revolve around their interactions with the listener character, they're the good, upstanding citizens that we want to support. They've got flaws, sure, but for the most part they're meant to be appealing characters that we agree with. Characters like Marcus, Yandere!Ivan, and Regulus are clearly the villain protagonists; they're the "bad guys", we want them to fail in whatever terrible thing they're trying to do. (Which isn't to say you can't enjoy their particular brand of twisted. Dark characters and themes are important and have their place).

**with the caveat that different focal length of a particular story can change who is the technical 'protagonist' and 'antagonist'. Kody, in his Water Elemental videos, is a 'villain protagonist'; when you look at the DAMN series overall he's better classified an antagonist of season 1. The fact that there's so many perspective changes across Mr. Redacted's overall work means that a lot of these terms can get muddied depending on which specific set of videos you're referring to.

Which brings me to the 3rd type of protagonist, the anti-hero. The anti-hero is a protagonist that the reader/listener wants to succeed, but generally lacks the traditional/universal moral traits that usually define the classic hero protagonist. Examples of an anti-hero protagonist include: Deadpool, Walter White (Breaking Bad), Huckleberry Finn. In particular, the mark of a well-written antihero protagonist is the fact that it can be difficult to distinguish them from a villain protagonist. Vega is a good example of this; in the Sadism's Hold/DAMN S1 series he's an antagonist for Freelancer and Yandere!Ivan. He graduates to a villain protagonist in early Carpe Deus, and with his stated goal of preventing another Cacophony he's morphing into an anti-hero in the more recent videos. I'm sure you can get hyper-specific if you start going through all the TVTropes pages to find the perfect flavor for individual characters, but most major protagonists can be classified as one of those three groups (with eternal, ongoing debates on where specifically you draw those particular lines based on your particular morals).

Bringing it back to Porter, I'm not sure that he's meant to be an anti-hero. He's charming, intelligent, capable, and likeable (to those not biased by his history like Vincent and Sam). But I don't think we're supposed to support him as a character overall. We've had too many "hero" characters come to conflict with him; Vincent, Asher, and Lovely explicitly. Even without getting into the fine distinctions between a protagonist/supporting character/POV character that's an awful lot of animosity from some very well established people. We might not know all of his goals/motives yet because they haven't been revealed to us (Porter wants to support William, wants to gain 'power', but why? What history drives him? What is his specific end goal with that power?) but his manipulation of other people, ruthlessness, and his own acknowledged boot-licking to increase his own social power disqualify him from a traditional "hero protagonist" role. An anti-hero is one we still are intended by the author to want to support, a character we want to see succeed. But because Mr. Redacted keeps putting Porter into direct conflict with more traditional protagonists it sets him up to be an opposing force; by definition he is an antagonist to our established hero protagonists.

I've talked a lot about the different types of protagonists and some of the minute distinctions between the different types of protagonists. Antagonists can be even more variable; you have your classic Devil, Sauron, and Darth Vader trying to kill your protagonist heroes. Technically speaking, antagonists don't necessarily have to be characters, either, they can be forces or concepts. An antagonist is just someone or something that opposes the protagonist. I won't divert into the different types of conflict in a story, but I'll point out how much more variety there is for your villains than your heroes based on their particular blend of moral alignment and narrative framing. (It's a lot easier to make things go wrong than it is to make things go well). You can also have sympathetic antagonists, where the villain has acceptable motives even if their methods are objectionable and cement their status as villains. Think the Wicked Witch of the West; Dorothy killed her sister, revenge is an entirely reasonable motive even if we're not supposed to be on her side. Adam and Quinn are the clearest unsympathetic antagonist villain characters in Redacted-verse. Blake is a sympathetic antagonist, vacillating between a villain and an anti-hero depending on whether we're looking at him from Sunshine or Bestie's POV.

As far as my initial claim that we're not supposed to like Porter, we have to consider which lens we're looking at him through. From Vincent's perspective he's an unredeemable asshole. William, however, clearly sees something in him. Other characters we trust that don't have that skewed perspective because of baggage, like Asher, don't like him either. While Porter is the protagonist of his own videos (you are the main character inside your own head) he's not being cast as a classical hero. Morality wise, even in his own story he's an anti-hero at best (he wasn't honestly trying to warn Treasure off, he was luring them in to SkySide). He's got the potential to be sympathetic (at least, according to Sam and William) but he's outnumbered in the narrative of protagonists (at the very least, by Vincent, Lovely, Asher, and there's evidence for Milo and David because of what he put Sweetheart up to) who consider him an antagonist, causing them problems or otherwise being obstructive. Considering the weight of numbers and length of existence in the overall story Mr Redacted is telling, Porter so far is generally being portrayed as an antagonist to our hero protagonists but not necessarily as a villain (like Vincent wants him to be) of Close Knit's caliber. So, this leaves him in a very interesting position on the morality/perspective spectrum. Essentially:

[Photo ID: a graph running from Villain to Hero along the horizontal axis and Protagonist to Antagonist along the vertical axis. Gavin, Lasko, Guy, Ollie, Caelum, David, Asher, Milo, Vincent (post-Adam) are in the Hero-Protagonist Corner. Regulus, Yandere!Ivan, Kody, Vega (DAMN S1) are in the Villain-Antagonist Corner. Vega (early) is in the Villain Protagonist Corner. Vincent (early) and Vega (later) are in the Protagonist Antihero area. Porter is in the Antagonist Antihero area. /end ID]

Because of these mostly negative relationships to our established characters I don't think he's meant to be "supportable". There's too many reasons someone could write him off as unredeemable, based off of his history, his current actions, and his morals. Mr Redacted obviously intended us to be pitted against certain characters like Adam, Kody, and Yandere!Ivan in the same way the author intends us to like and support wholesome characters like David, Huxley, and Guy. I think Porter was written in such a way that we're supposed to disapprove of him despite his likeability in the same way we're "supposed to" disapprove of most of the Imperium characters or Alexis. There's a glimmer of "redemption" deep down for how good they could be if the universe was a little kinder towards them and they didn't have to resort to morally questionable (at best) actions and perspectives, but harsh circumstances left them protecting themselves with sharp edges designed to make anyone who gets too close bleed. Character complexity is attractive, but that's not the same thing as being sympathetic.

After all of this I have to say, death of the author is 100% valid as a concept. At least half of a story is determined by the reader themselves, and this in particular is just my interpretation of these particular facts and classifications. Depending on how you want to weight certain factors and perspectives you can come to a completely different conclusion. By trying to define a particular character the act of applying a definition means you have to be reductive; making a decision on which box to put them in flattens out their complexities. You don't have to APPROVE of a character to LIKE them. There's also a difference between a morally GOOD character and a COMPELLING character. Not every character has to be redeemed, it's not a prerequisite for finding them interesting. Just because Mr Redacted wants us to hate certain characters doesn't mean everyone is obligated to; you're entitled to your own opinion.

#redacted asmr #redacted porter #character analysis #character criticism #to be safe #I'm trying to keep an open mind #I don't like him #but I find him fascinating #i want to put him under a microscope and study him #nuance is important #idk if anything I've said here about authorial intentions is contradicted by the podcast but #word of god is NOT the same thing as canon #i was thinking my thoughts and came up with this

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wonder-worker · 8 months

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Where exactly does the idea that "everyone hated the Woodvilles and were glad that Richard got rid of them" come from? Because the Croyland Chronicler is quite clear on the fact that:

“The duke of Gloucester received the same high office of Protector of the kingdom ... The feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist being appointed as the day upon which the coronation of the king would take place without fail ... Still, however, a circumstance which caused the greatest doubts was the detention of the king’s relatives and servants in prison; besides the fact that the Protector did not, with a sufficient degree of considerateness, take measure for the preservation of the dignity and safety of the queen.”

This doesn't strike me as a council who approved of Richard’s actions against the Woodvilles and were happy that they were finally out of the way, it strikes me as a council that was extremely sympathetic to their plight and very worried and baffled about what was happening to them. We also know that the council would reject Richard's demand to execute Anthony Woodville and Richard Gray, which clearly indicates that they did not just sympathize with the Woodvilles but were actively defensive of them as well.

#Elizabeth Woodville #the Woodvilles #15th century #english history #anthony woodville #my post #it also seems like even though the council agreed to appoint Richard as Protector #they were quite clear on the fact that they wanted Edward V to be crowned as quickly as possible ('without fail')#which is what they had all wanted directly after Edward IV's death as well #imo that DOES put a huge question mark on the popular idea that Edward IV supposedly appointed Richard 'Protector' on his deathbed #if Edward DID do that (and it isn't what he wanted in his 1475 will even though his heir was only 4 years old at the time)#why would his council randomly reject it in favor of crowning Edward V directly?#the Woodvilles and Richard were on very good terms throughout Edward's reign and Richard was by all accounts loyal and highly-regarded #so there's no reason to NOT give him the position. Unless ofc they were following Edward's will which didn't want a Protector for his son #which Rosemary Horrox also believes (see Richard III: A Study of Service)#and that's not even mentioning the contradictions with the Croyland Chronicle and Mancini regarding Edward's will + the council #Mancini says Edward IV named Richard Protector/Croyland mentions nothing of the sort but instead emphasizes Edward's executors #Mancini says the council were divided on whether to name Richard Protector or have a council / Croyland doesn't mention anything #like this but instead emphasizes that the council were 'all' united in the desire to see Edward V crowned as quickly as possible #etc

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mollysunder · 6 months

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Silco, Vander, and Grace for the Ones Who Hurt Us the Most

Sometimes I feel like we all really need to sit with the fact that Silco was ready, willing, and wanting for Vander to return to his side after Vander tried and failed to kill him. What Vander did was a genuine life altering act of betrayal that Silco had to live with the mental, emotional, and medical consequences for years after. You can bet if Jinx hadn't shot Silco, the river toxins would've gotten him just a little later. And in spite of the ways Vander's actions ruined his life, that Vander admits to even (but doesn't apologize for), Silco rationalized it just as much for Vander as he did himself.

Silco decided that the man he loved the most nearly killed him (and in a way is still killing him) for a greater purpose, which didn't make everything okay, but it made it reasonable. And this rationalization has bled into every aspect of his life because the way Silco treats Zaun is the way he treats himself. If you're weak the people who love you and you love back will hurt you. They are right to permanently alter the trajectory of your existence to make the right calls, because as long you survive it, you will be stronger. He's made Shimmer the lifeblood of Zaun, because Silco is literally dependent on it to live as well. It works for him, so it works for Zaun.

The most warped part is, Silco was mostly right! He had violent rise in Zaun and completely changed the course of its development. Yet he managed to create a Zaun that couldn't be cowed or bullied either economically or militarily by Piltover the way it was in the past. I can't help but think how it all must twist and burn, because if Silco understood he was succeeding at the impossible, then doesn't that mean it all reinforced his logic around Vander? That this man you loved hurt you in a way that can't be taken back for the rest of your life, and he was right to do it? So that means Silco was right to change, to want to be back by Vander's side, because he was the one who needed to reinvent himself to be worthy of control, right?

No matter the success Silco reaped he had to recognize the dissonance between this logic and reality, because despite the bastard he could be, Silco would never do any of what was done to him onto Jinx. Sure Silco would simulate his traumas into life lessons and heavily sanitized rituals, but he never betrayed her or abandoned her when she became detriment to his position. Obviously Vander also never gave up on his kids either (#cinematicparallels), but we don't know if Silco was ever in a position to betray someone the way Vander did him, or if he ever wanted to prior to it. So even as Silco recognizes that Vander changed to protect the children he loves so much, he must wonder if the way Vander and he loved eachother just wasn't it enough? If the way Silco cared for Vander was reciprocal, a deep love whether romantic or platonic, then why wasn't Silco afforded a similar grace to stay by his side?

Silco had to live with all these contradictions and still chose to embrace Vander's memory. In a complete contrast to Vander, Silco didn't obscure who Vander was to Zaun politically or personally. Silco allowed a statue of Vander to stand, and went to it for comfort, he regularly talked about his life with Vander before and after the betrayal with Jinx. Meanwhile, from what the audience can see, Silco's presence was almost fully hidden from the newest generation sans the scar Silco gave him, which Vander hides with a bracer. All I can end up thinking is that must be easier for Silco to keep loving Vander like this, it's how he gives himself the grace for it.

#arcane #silco #vander arcane #silco and vander #zaundads #arcane meta #these guys are absolutely the most #sometime i think silco would love if Vander's showed up by his window wh style #seriously tho #they way silco just rationalized Vander's betrayal FOR vander needs to be studied #even jinx makes a face when she'd hear his stories #like c'mon man #silco still loving vander in spite of the betrayal but this care contradicts the “perspective” of Silco’s new outlook on life #and yet he finds a way becuz he's a hypocrite that will gladly turn his philosophy into the weirdest pretzel #just say you were hurtand he sucks for that #like damn

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rexscanonwife · 1 month

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Grrggh...good morning everypony = w = I rewatched the episode of the ppg reboot where Utonium gets a girlfriend...

#jane journals #self insert talk #🔬 starkissed scientist 🔬#i woke up at 5 in the gah damn morning and MY HEADPHONES are gone so im gonna have to ride the bus w/o them >:[#hell on earth 10 dead 4 missing!!!#and i choose to do this before i go ajfjg #anyways this sucks #like im not bothered by love interests but this whole reboot is ass and the characters are badly written #but theres like....at least one or two cute moments where utonium is smooth with it >//<#it cant even get the FIRST THING RIGHT ABOUT HIM THO #in literally THE FIRST EPISODE he says that spiders creep him out and they basically just. not even ignore but contradict it entirely #for why? the purpose of this ep where the love interest studies spiders and turns into one ig #they could say that hes PRETENDING to like them because he likes her. but they didnt do that #ALSO why spider? why not werewolf? that would be hot #and the love interest is that bland brand of 'adorkable' thats so disingenuous #on the other hand i DO like spiders. and the way she talks to one and like treats it like a pet...yeah id do that ._.#and idk they always write utonium as way more harsh than he'd usually be especially with bubbles #he wouldnt tell her shes being SELFISH by not wanting to give away her last piece of popcorn to a spider #especially when she barely got any #maybe he'd remind her that its GOOD to be generous BUT NOT CALL HER SELFISH #but yeah....theres maybe a moment or two 😒#like when his love interest spoils a whole MOVIE for the girls and ofc theyre upset #but he holds her face and says 'everything i need to see is right here'...>//<#THAT was smooth #and idk they don't play with the idea of the girls wanting to break them up ENOUGH #they just write one fake email and its done. then spider reveal #it sucks maybe i shouldnt have started my day this way 😂😂😂#whatever hopefully work is good!!#and i always have og utoniom to think about 🥺👉👈💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘

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bucephaly · 3 months

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Did I tell yall abt that time I was telling my older brother about indigenous agriculture and how it's generally way more sustainable than western agriculture

And my brother was like 'that sounds like the noble savage stereotype' ........

#it pissed me off so much #he read one book [the dawn of everything] and then tried to. frankly. mansplain all the shit to me #like i said once 'pottery wasnt usually used by nomadic people because you cant carry it around easily'#and he went 'ive told you before! people didnt just settle down once and stay there they went back and forth!'#[talking abt the beginnings of agriculture] and it pissed me offfff #like! what did i say contradicted that. why do you think you know more abt this shit than the person who studied it for years #just cuz you read one book #fuck off

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 1 year

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Since we have entirely no reason whatsoever to think that it did take place, that answers that question once and for all.

In any event, that isn't actually true. Even if a resurrection did take place, even if that can be verified, that doesn't vindicate everything else, like walking on water. Those have to be substantiated independently.

Even if we got solid confirmation of an alien species visiting our planet, that doesn't validate the crop-circles or all the freaky anal-probing crap.

#Easter #christianity #Henry M. Morris #jesus christ #resurrection myth #resurrection #bible #bible study #bible contradictions #contradictions #self refuting #reasons christianity is false #religion #religion is a mental illness

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tuesdayisfordancing · 5 months

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Fics where people force garbage “sleep hygiene” techniques on their insomniac friends my nemesis.

#like half the sleep advice I was so EMPHATICALLY given by my various doctors have now been contradicted by new studies #and most of the other half are contradicted by my life experiences #THE FICS ARE OBJECTIVELY FINE I JUST DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM #as with all fantasies where someone forces you to take care of yourself they are not 1:1 examples of how a caring friend should behave in #real life and that’s FINE

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urne-buriall · 10 months

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so I remember the outage at Kate in this update the first time around. she's a nurse and should know better than to tell John what Dean said, especially when Dean is stuck in this very isolated place with him. and that's all true, she should know

but we don't know how exactly the conversation started. there's just one clue for us: Dean's been working in the barn for some time before he decides to pick up the phone and call Cas. he hasn't heard the phone ring, or he might wonder about the line being in use

this tells us that John called Kate, not the other way around

the rest below a cut because it's what I think, but it's not in the text for a few reasons, and as is my calling, it just makes things complicated with no black or white resolution

John called Kate. not because he knows anything has gone on, just to have a chat. his kid just stormed out and it's time to work on his other family, where he can start fresh. (Sam called it in his last scene. he's astute that way.) but this means Kate's plan to take some time and think about everything she just learned goes out the window. not ready to talk to John, she probably tried to get off the line, but he needled. picked up there was something off and tried to ask if there was some issue between them (with Sam walking out, a statement of failure on John's part, he's not gonna play the loser twice in a row)

not wanting to draw attention to the fact that there IS an issue, maybe she thought she could be clever. confirm the truth of the surprising things Dean told her. maybe she started by asking about Sam, thinking she'll catch John in a lie. and oh, Sam, he's gone back to school, yeah, they start early there. has John said how proud he is of that kid, how he could get into any college in the world from here? and Adam will be a smart one like Sam, no doubt about it, and go to a smartypants school too, or whatever school Kate wants him in. it's hard when the kids are far from home but at least Dean's stayed close by and John's always got him for the farm, he's invaluable for that

and this is. not what she expected. during her visit, they seemed like such a put-together household, which is what John is reflecting now. which is not what Dean said over the phone. and I think she's still cautious, but now she's confused, and she tries asking another canny question but she slips up. it wouldn't take much to trigger John's suspicion, and he has one goal, which is: don't lose Kate

and he says he can tell something's the matter and she tries to say there isn't and that's when we get into the kind of back and forth where John is playing to his strength. hell, he'd even offer to hang up and give her some time, but in a way that now she's the one apologizing (just like Dean apologizes in another scene, when he isn't the one who should be saying sorry). and when he asks what's changed she admits she had a strange call from Dean and she doesn't know what to make of it. she still doesn't intend to say anything about the content of that call, but John knows enough. he knows what to ask, what to plant, what to make her question Dean's motives until she is revealing more and he's twisting up her doubts and reflecting them back and insisting Dean's story doesn't add up, which, maybe it doesn't? and this is confusing, upsetting, she doesn't know which way is up, and John is just so certain. has an explanation for everything

by the time the call is ending she's just agreeing with everything John's saying because he's shot down every single other point so efficiently that it seems there's no purpose in searching for exhausting counterarguments with him. and she's confused and defeated. and once she hangs up, she knows less than when she started. she doesn't know if the sick feeling in her stomach is worry that Dean was telling the truth and she's just betrayed him or if it's the distaste of Adam having a half-brother, one he's met and adores, who's a sociopath that would make up anything to keep her away. she's stuck between two realities because she knows someone is lying to her very well but can't tell which one

she doesn't speak to John again, letting his calls go to voicemail. if she thinks about making a tip, she doesn't know who it will help or hurt. a week after this, she gets a call from Dean at a different number. she is partly relieved to hear his voice because she's been concerned she got it all wrong, but also unsure at the start of whether she'll be hearing another fabulation to keep her away

Dean's not looking for sympathy or an apology or any of that. he's not calling to accuse her or even tell her directly of her role in that final fight. he just says that he wanted her to know he's pressing charges with the police, here's the case number and this is Jody's extension, and that if Kate and Adam would like to set up no-contact orders it wouldn't be a bad idea and they could piggy-back off Dean's case. he's applying to be Sam's legal guardian, and he doesn't have a fixed place to stay yet but here's where to write or call. that if it's alright with Kate, he'd like to stay in touch with Adam, even if what they share is a rotten dad

she knows, then. she puts the pieces together and I think that guilt plagues her. she apologizes, desperately apologizes and tries to explain, and Dean goes quiet. then says he knows what his dad is like. he always believed John too. it's not an "I forgive you" but it's a sense of commiseration. he wouldn't wish John on anybody, and everything that happened was done by John, not her

#spirit of the west daily #this is a story and not a case study on helping abuse victims #people don't do the right thing in every moment #and anyone who is in John's range is going to be lied to and deliberately deceived #to Kate‚ John is the father of her kid who's been reconnecting with her and hinting at marriage #Dean contradicted the version of reality John presented her for months and now John is reaffirming it and he's the one she thinks she knows #and she thought she had a read on Dean from her brief visit and she thought she had a read on John #but she's wrong about one of them and her judgement is shot and John would capitalize on that #the relationship between Dean and Kate would likely be rather cool after this #but I see him staying connected with Adam and having him out for visits in later years

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trainingdummyrabbit · 4 months

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long, wistful sigh . my desire to do more writing vs the hours of reading i have to do to actually understand the intricacies of the setting...

#yes yes i know things but it always feels like theres some 'actually in chapter 5 of this sideseries it directly contradicts this and says-'#or like . even from stuff ive Already Read Thru like. man. always feels like im missin somethin. ijust wanna put Guys in Situations man orz #like i know ishould try anyway but also . wawa wawawaaa wawa waaaa :') ineed to study.........#piktalk #anyway ive managed to stay up to a reasonable time so <33 snzz time. yip

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thesilverlady · 7 months

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So Aemond reasoning why he should become the king is because he knows how to read and how to use a sword? I am assuming all of Westros nobles are illiterate and doesn't know how to hold a sword except for Aemond ofc.

skskskska well, in the show aemond meant more that he's capable, studious, and worthier than - in this case - his brother. He was just listing his "superior" qualities because accordingly to the show, aegon is supposed to be a lazy drunk.

Now the silly thing, is how he "forgot" his niece and nephew from his brother existed so 💀 If he wanted aegon to run or to usurp him anytime in the future he'd still have to deal with them

#ask reply #in this context I'm not counting team black characters because aemond wouldn't consider them a challenge to the succession #but yeah basically aemond says “I'm better than aegon because I train. I study and thus I should be king”#it's stupid in my opinion because in the show we never saw any of them studying and young aegon was capable of swordfighting as we saw #with Jace. He simply lacks the motivation and had to be pushed.#also it contradicts aemond's later actions #who stupidly challenges Lucerys when he's protected by the law of the realm. in public mind you and then chases after him #so.... basically he came of as those guys that claim to be spool smart and then proceed to do one disaster after the other 💀#<- i swear I'm not bashing aemond. But there's a reason I prefer book him and that's because of consistency (& fun)

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hundredsmelt · 3 days

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𝐨𝐨𝐜. i've been thinking and the long and short of it is⸻ the main points of canon divergence in my blog are as follows:

the timeline leading up to in-game events. namely, the sui of this blog's canon is primarily a treacherous and sadistic god, despite siding temporarily with the people of yan during the great hunt. n.ian's change of heart comes only many centuries after her own rampages, and only then is she revered as a deity of metallurgy and creation. ( as a side note: as much as i love the flavor text for her second module, it makes the history of sui and his relationship with the yanese a hundred times more confusing than it already is. so this is what i'm sticking with until/unless we get a clearer account as some point )

n.ian's smithing being an acquired skill that is exacerbated by their innate godly powers, rather than a preset affinity that they were simply spawned with. as far as i know, there isn't any text in canon that directly contradicts this, but there are vague implications both ways. i want to emphasize the fact that n.ian has not and does not aim to change humanity at its core, nor to give it power and knowledge gratuitously. she has come to nurture a symbiotic relationship with humans and is maturing alongside them technically and emotionally. divine intervention on her part happens in subtle ways to prepare humanity for future threats. it's a key element of her character that her path parallels humanity's, and that both are not one and the same.

her old violent tendencies still playing a relevant part in her current personality, in that she may think of fighting as fun, boring, or a reminder of the identity she's outgrown ( all three in varying proportions, depending on the situation ). either way, it's not so much that she feels shame or self-hatred for the way she used to be, and more that she recognizes it as a part of herself, actively choosing to overshadow and/or channel it however she sees fit. i think it very much defeats the purpose of basing her on the real life new year's beast myth if she doesn't embody change to its full capacity, and that means acknowledging all phases of her growth cycle.

#typing this out made me realize that at the end of the day im not a huge fan of how misanthropic the game's writing is at times #and that it REALLY clashes with what i like in n.ian as a part of the universe of a.rknights and in stories in general #then again. a lot of this only bothers me because the game never addresses it #or contradicts itself a lot (erroneous translations have been a thing in ak but i dont want to buy into that argument too much)#a part of me wants to go back to when n.ian had just been released #and her lore was essentially what you could extrapolate from her name her design her dialogue her op files etc etc #i do like that theres a mix of influences to her now and that we have a wider perspective on the true impact of her existence on terra #but i cant help leaning into what drew me to her initially. to quote n.ian herself. its wicked cool #‘ 淬火 🗡 STUDY.

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flockrest · 9 months

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wow. finally here to talk about my take on forms of rito languages!! it's a doozy, folks. there will be four i'll be exploring: rito script, rito shorthand, rito key, and birdsong. all under the cut, so here we go!

RITO SCRIPT

i believe this would most likely be cuneiform in nature, if only due to the constraints of rito morphology. i doubt they have any innate, very fine motor control in their wings ( "hands" ) given how big their feathers ( "fingers"? ) are, so impressions and/or inked signs that can be made with wedge-tipped styluses seem a little more logical than the more motion-heavy strokes needed for, say, something like hylian script — which they still use around the village for the sake of non-rito visitors ( notably carved into wood ), but many rito are better readers than they are writers of hylian script! not all, but that's the general trend!

okay, now...i am not a linguist. but i'm thinking the old system ( like. prior to, during, and a little after dineli's time ) was more logographic, and was used way, WAY less than rito was spoken. over the millennia, through language contact ( especially applicable to the rito, who were traditionally nomads and a bulk of whom are still travellers by nature ) and the natural evolution of their spoken analogue, rito script has developed into more of a logosyllabary! still used notably less than its verbal equivalent, but not to the extent of back then; all fledglings in rito village are taught to a decent level of literacy now.

i don't have a physical demonstration in mind because i don't have the brain juices for creating a whole conlang...but i want to emphasise that this script is reflective of spoken rito, which is a tonal language ( THIS IS IMPORTANT ) and not alphabetical.

RITO SHORTHAND

rito stenography of rito script! finds even rarer cases of use than its longhand, but that's just how it is with most shorthands, isn't it? penn is especially proficient in this — his draft notes for reporting are exclusively in this shorthand. makes it harder for those who might want information when he isn't willing to give it to read, and speed is a critical thing when you're on the field! also his notebook is tiny. his pen when it's in his "hand"? tiny. he is not writing longhand in that thing.

i have a more concrete image in my head about this system! it's primarily informed by and based on modern musical notation!! it would still vaguely resemble rito script ofc, but i think this would be neat given how music-entrenched rito culture is...and it's fun to think about possible uses for it as a code! is it sheet music or a message? it will be obvious to rito ( even to those unfamiliar with shorthand, if only in that "huh, this does not read like music" sense ), but to most non-rito? a mystery they don't even realise is a mystery slkfjkdf

RITO KEY

separate from any scripts; this is nonverbal rito communication! misleading title, i know ( <- weak for connecting music to the birdies in any way i can ). their signed language, so to speak, in that words and meanings are conveyed through manual/physical articulation rather than verbal — but there are still some vocal aspects to it as well? very little, and less defined in that it's just like...whistles, trills, warbles, and other actual bird noises ( almost dipping into birdsong ). these aren't necessary most of the time; they're used to accentuate or clarify signs, not outright replace them.

i like to think that their signs, when grounded, place heavy emphasis on wings, shoulders, head positions, etc. there's not a lot of individually bending wingtips/"fingers" — "hand" movements are mostly ( but not all ) fully splayed or fully clenched, if that makes sense? and facial expressions would be very important too, as it is with most signed languages.

and signs when flying...i'm thinking maybe flight patterns? possibly whole flight motions? this is where the vocal side of rito key might really come into play, but again isn't strictly necessary — especially if you're a good flier. does convey less specifics than its grounded form though.

most grown travellers and warriors know rito key. it's a useful language to learn! can offer the advantage of subtle but active coordination on the battlefield and such.

BIRDSONG

this is, essentially, "birdspeak". natural language of birds, including rito! penn proved that rito can speak to birds to such a depth that they are his primary informants, and even though literally nothing in the game indicates this is a universal thing, i am RUNNING with this tidbit and saying yeah. this is an inherent thing for the rito. not in that they're born with an automatic understanding of it, but in that it's the easiest thing for them to learn. like their first language! do you see my vision? do you see it! i get to decide this, it's my sleepover!! ( affectionate )

this is much more simplistic than any other language a rito would know; there are no specific words that would equate to specific meaning. it's all ( bird ) sounds! no nuance to this language. it's very direct, straightforward, and in-the-moment. a major case of interpretation =/= translation, which is why an actual rito language naturally arose sdlfsjdfk

#* arrowhead / study.#* plumule / study.#* powder down / study.#* field notes / study.#* wisps / study.#* roosting / ooc.#not me scouring this thing for the 10th time for anything that could be a contradiction in my thoughts or previous studies lsfkdlg #i think. we are good. i think we are good.#I AM HITTING POST. HERE WE GO. WOE WALL OF TEXT BE UPON YE #ngl though i had fun compiling my thoughts this time :)#special thank you to hilary for getting me to think about rit.o key!!#long post cw #* vanes / study.

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